How I Make/Save Money with my Phone

Aren't cell phones amazing?! They are basically tiny little computers that fit in our skinny jeans and save us money!

I thought it might be a good idea to share a couple of my favorite apps that are super simple and have saved, even earned, me money.

My favorite money making app is Shopkick.

All you do is open the app when you walk in certain stores such as Target (where we all shop), JcPenny, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and more. When you open the app you typically get anywhere from 30 to 100 kicks (sometimes even 200). In some stores you can scan certain products to get you additional kicks. Many times these range from 10 to 100 kicks per scan. Once you have accumulated enough kicks you can cash them in for gift cards. Using Target as an example: you can cash in as few as 500 kicks for a $2 gift card or 6250 kicks for a $25 gift card.

I have earned a total of 14,500 kicks which is equal to over $50 in gift cards. I have cashed in enough of my kicks to equal $35 worth of gift cards at JcPenny and currently have 5,750 kicks I can use whenever I want. The gift cards are codes that pop up almost instantly on your phone when you redeem them. You show the cashier the code which they enter as a gift card and ta-dah, free stuff!

How cool is that?

I'll do a follow up post to discuss a couple of the other apps I use to save money. What are your favorite money saving apps? Tell me in the comments below.

Enjoy and happy Shopkicking!

IKEA in KANSAS!

As mentioned in my previous post, IKEA in Kansas has opened not 5 miles from my office and it is equal parts awesome and bad news bears (because it will take all my money).

Let me mention that I had been to the IKEA in Florida a couple times so I knew what to expect when going into the store for the first time but that didn't stop it from being magical.

The store opened on September 10th, a Wednesday. I couldn't contain my excitement so I drove over and around the store on my lunch hour. Realizing that there was going to be no way to get in and out in an hour I just admired from a distance. (I may have issues.) Let me just say that there were cops and security at every intersection, stoplight and possible crossing within a mile radius of this place. They were keeping the traffic flowing by manually changing the stoplights.

I made it to Friday the 12th before I couldn't wait any longer and I ventured out again over my lunch hour. I parked on the second story of the parking garage and speed walked my way through the throngs of people that didn't realize I was on a time crunch.

The following are a few of my thoughts while visiting IKEA:

• Don't these people have jobs? I realize I'm here too but there are literally entire families here. And couples, who look like they're on dates.
  
• Why in the world would you bring multiple children to this place? Especially on the week it opened. I realize they have childcare but anyone with half a brain would realize it's going to be full.
  
• I want all the things.
• Man, I really feel sorry for the guy that has to use the little hand-clicker (technical name for it obviously) to keep track of the amount of people that come in.
  
• Some lady just ran away from her table asking me to watch her (probably) 1 year old little girl because her 4 year old-ish wild child boy just ran away.
• I wonder if she's regretting bringing her kids now.
• What is in this Pepsi? It's very possibly the best thing I have ever drank.
•  I'm pretty sure I have a goofy grin on my face right now.
• I might need a second job to pay for my future Ikea purchases.
• The chicken strips aren't as good as I thought they would be. Might need to try the meatballs next time.
• I want all the things. No really, I do.
• Get out of my way.

Okay, that about sums up the highlights of my visit. Obviously once wasn't enough though because I went back this past Friday also. I have yet to buy anything outside of lunch and I'm starting to wonder if this might turn into a weekly thing. We shall see!

Has anyone else visited the new IKEA, in Kansas, yet? What did you buy?

What's your favorite item(s) to purchase at IKEA?

Technically this photo was taken at the IKEA in Orlando when we were there in August but you get the idea. I like it.

Mom, you're photo taking skills need a little fine tuning. Just saying.

We can all pretend that's more tan than it is shadow.  

7 Quick Takes {20}

1. I have a new neice! This is my brother-in-laws little girl and she was born on Tuesday. Her name is Journey Rose and as you can see is super adorable. I can't wait to meet her in real life!

Isn't she a doll?!

2. This weekend I have another photo session. The leaves are gorgeous around here right now and I'm so glad people are wanting to do photos with all the fall colors. If you're in the area and needing photos done let me know:) 

3. I'm considering reopening my Etsy shop with different printables but I think I need to do quite a bit of work before it's ready. I'm also not sure if I have the time to get it ready. Priorities I guess. Does anyone that reads this thing have an Etsy shop? Do you like it? Do you have any suggestions for me to make mine successful?

4. Even though this week has been really busy at both work and home, I kinda like it. I feel like I am way more productive on everything in general. Maybe I should add some more to my list. 

5. So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to meet my blog friend in real life this weekend and I'm pretty excited about it. While texting the other day we both wondered how exactly is meeting a blog friend supposed to work...

Like omg.
I have no idea why I said like so many times because I definitely don't talk like that. 

6. Apparently I'm getting old because my Facebook feed is no longer filled with scantily clad college girls (scantily clad?? I really am old) and instead was filled with hundreds (literally) of  photos of small children and babies. Looks like a ninja turtle and super hero were among the favorite outfits for the year. Being the old person that I am I spent my evening at the gym, followed, by two 50 cent Sonic corndogs (good thing I worked out) and then my couch catching up on DVR. And, thank goodness Erin posted a photo of her Halloween outfit to remind me that I still needed to catch up on my next Netflix episode of Breaking Bad. 

7. When do the black friday ads come out?!! I've been stalking all the websites that post the ads early but I haven't found many yet and I'm getting impatient! Black Friday is this month and I can't wait. It's seriously one of my favorite days of the year. 

Sidenote: Is it weird that I got engaged on Black Friday 3 years ago? I remember sitting at lunch with my mom and her BFF Karen (hi Karen!) and we discussed when Seth and might get engaged....I secretly wondered if it might be that night but didn't really know. Surprise! 

Okay, that's all for today but it got me thinking that maybe I'll post the next part of our story soon. 

Happy Fall Friday!

Linking up over at Conversion Diary.

Better Than a Thrift Shop Shopping

I realize it's Wednesday already so I'm not going to recap my weekend but I do want to recap some amazing bargains I got! 

First let me say, I'm not trendy, not in the slightest actually. I prefer tennis shoes and my KU hoodie to just about any clothing options out there. It's comfy and it keeps me warm in the antarctic temperatures my work environment so kindly provides me with. Plus I work in a place were you better wear tennies and hoodies because your clothes have a potential to get dirty. 

That being said I found some pretty great deals at JcPenney's on Sunday. I had two "$10 off any $10 purchase" coupons so I decided to go in to see if there was something I could use them on. 

By the time I left I had a pair of denim shorts, hot pink shorts, a blue belt, a plain pink scoop neck tee, a fitted black tank top, a dressy-er black tank top shirt (I'm sure it has a special name but I don't know what) and a light weight black scarf with blue polka dots. 

Add caption

When checking out the cashier scanned a 15% off coupon for me and took my two $10 off coupons and I spent a grand total of .25 cents! Um, yes please! That's my kind of shopping right there people. 

The Blog Life

Yesterday as I was getting ready for bed I decided I felt like I had a blogger kind of day. 

I worked my normal 8-5 job and emailed a bloggy friend, read some blogs, and perused Pinterest during downtime. 

After work, I stopped at a hardware store and picked up some paint, a gunny sack and a few pieces of bamboo. Might sound random, but it's not. 

Stopped in at Hobby Lobby to discover that even though it's 97° outside and June, that won't stop them from putting out the fall decorations. Instagramed that obviously. 

seriously??

Texted my cousin about the cute 4th of July outfit she should totally get her daughter. 

Couldn't decide what shoes...

Stumbled upon several aisles of 80% off home decor and went a little crazy. Okay, not too crazy but crazy enough that when the husband called I said, "Sure honey, you should totally buy that new golf bag!" I also managed to find the two items that I went in for in the first place. Winning. 

Swung by the Dollar Tree to pick up a couple crafting items that were needed and found a couple additional bargains. No big deal.

Made it home in time to do a little spray painting, burlapping and other crafting (that will be seen here tomorrow) before it got dark. 

Played with the puppy and watered my rapidly growing garden.

Came inside and made up a quick Pinterest chicken recipe that was super yummy. 

Watched some reality tv, Pretty Wicked Moms. Followed it up with an episode of Call the Midwife and fell asleep. 

If that's not the blog life, I don't know what is.