This time of year gets very busy getting ready for the Holidays.  There’s cleaning, shopping, cooking, cards, decorating, baking, parties, etc.  I’m always looking for ways to save time so I can get more done.

 

This year I learn about a great idea that saved me a lot of time on sending out my Christmas Cards.  In years past I have tried many different ideas.  A few years I even hand made each card.  The past few years we went with a photo postcard and a family letter.  I started printing out my labels on the computer and that saved a lot of time but didn’t look that great.

 

This year I was introduced to Send Out Cards at the end of November.  My first thought was it would be a great program to keep in touch with all my clients during the year.  It would streamline sending out Birthday and holiday cards so I signed up. The clock was ticking so I had to get busy quickly. I found the system very easy to learn.  I chose my birthday cards to send out in December, worked on adding the database of names and addresses and then started designing my Christmas Card.  My husband always writes the family newsletter so I just used that on the inside of the card. I updated my Christmas list addresses added them to the program and with a few clicks of the mouse I was able to send out 142 cards.  The company will print them and fold them and place them in a hand stamped, addressed envelope with our return address on the outside.  It’s sealed shut and mailed out for me. Now that all the addresses are in the program sending out next years cards will go even quicker.

 

I can also send out gifts with my cards or gift cards all with the click of a mouse.

 

This has saved me so much time now I have to get back to my shopping.  Time is running out to order things online. I started doing most of my shopping online a few years ago when I learned about cash back sites like Big Crumbs and EBates. Not only do I get to use coupons and discounts but they pay me back a % of my purchase from shopping thru their portal. Big Crumbs will even give you 5.00 when you sign up. I don’t have to brave the cold, find a parking space and fight the crowds my selections are delivered right to the door and most of the time with free shipping.  If you stick with the big box stores the items can be  returned or exchanged easily.

 

I’m off to do my shopping.  Hope some of these hints will save you time and money this year.

Merry Christmas!

I like to think I got the best deal on the things I buy and I don’t really like shopping. Shopping online lets me check out the best deals all over the Internet and then when I make my purchase I always use a shopping portal that gives me a rebate on my purchase and coupon code too.

 

My two favorite shopping portals are BigCrumbs and EBates and I check them both to see which has the largest rebate for where I’m shopping.  I’m often able to use online coupons and get free shipping too.

 

For example today I went shopping for a swimsuit.  A little history here I recently lost  -88 lbs on this program.  Yep, I was shocked too.  Nothing ever worked for me but this works for everyone that follows it and it’s easy.  I’m now a Free Health Coach with the company and I would be happy to help you lose weight and get healthy too.

 

Sorry, where was I?  Oh ya, I needed a new swim suit so I was looking at my copy of the Land’s End catalog and got an idea of what I wanted.  I got an email from Lands end yesterday with a 25% off swimwear coupon code and free shipping deal till April 12th. Next I went to my 2 favorite portals BigCrumbs first and they don’t offer rebates on Land’s End but EBates does.  So I logged into my EBates account and started shopping from that page so I would get credit. That’s very important you need to start your shopping from the portal for credit.

 

The Land’s End email also had a clickable link that takes you to their site but then you don’t get the rebate.  Always shop from the portal.  On the Land’s End email in fine print it tells you the coupon discount code and pin to use at check out.  Here it is if you want use it too.

 

Or at checkout, on the Billing Information page, go to the section labeled “Promotion Code” (above the credit card payment box) and manually enter the Promotion Code APRIL12 and PIN 2027 in the space provided.

 

So I placed all my items in the shopping cart and checked out I made sure to add my coupon code and pin and I even had a gift card to use.  I doubled check to make sure my shipping was free and I got my 25% off and It used my gift card for payment and it did everything correctly.

 

I saved 25% or $43.39, got free shipping and I’ll be getting 2% cash back from EBates.  

 

Some stores offer 15% back on purchases. 

FYI

The portals I use are FREE to sign up and some even pay you.  Ebates will give you $5.00 when you make your first purchase  start from here then they will pay you $5.00 for each friend you send over that also shops from there. It’s a community like facebook but you can make money and save money all in one place. Bigcrumbs also pays you when your friends save money.

I use shopping portals for all my online shopping along with coupon codes.  It really saves me time and money around the holidays.

If you would like to be part of my group on EBates click here to sign up

To be part of my group on Bigcrumbs click here

Happy Saving To You All!

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