Living the Frugal Life

MyPoints is a free rewards program online that allows you to earn points when you shop, book travel, play games, take surveys, and read the Bonus Mail sent your inbox daily. This is an easy way to gain points that will translate into gift cards.

While thinking about your Christmas shopping, why not make those purchases online? Shopping through MyPoints is an easy way to gain those valuable points that will enable you to reward yourself later. For example, Target.com is currently offering 5 points for every dollar you spend less than $74.99 and 10 points per dollar for anything over $75. That can easily add up to 1000 points!

Since you are going to make those purchases anyway, shop through MyPoints and reward yourself later.

My husband and I have been toying with the idea of selling our home within the next year. Before we really get into it, I wanted to see how much our house is worth. I discovered this website that will give you a free home valuation and recent home sales in your neighborhood.

HomeGain.com gave me a list of other houses in our neighborhood that have recently sold. They gave us the selling price and the date of the sale - all in the last 6 months. They have several other services, but this gave me a quick idea of our house’s value.

If you are thinking about selling your house, this should give you a good idea of where to start.

Yes! August 24 is my birthday. I am turning the big 30. As my dad loves to ask, “Have you accomplished all the goals you wanted to achieve by the time you turned 30?” That is a pretty big question, and my answer is that I am still trying to figure out exactly what I am want for myself. I had a blast during my 20’s and I expect my 30’s to be even better.

But, for now, I want my cake and I want to eat it too! FreeBirthday.com will send you a list of places across America where you can receive free stuff on your birthday. This “free stuff” can range from a free song to a free dessert. It’s nice to know your options! The list is updated daily. You just have to fill out a short form and they email you a list. When your birthday comes around, don’t forget to check it out.

According to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, consumers are allowed to request and obtain a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

In cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, the three major credit reporting agencies set up the website, annualcreditreport.com, to provide free access to annual credit reports.

Some states already offer a free annual credit report from each of the three agencies. Residents of Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont are entitled to one free series annually. Georgia residents are entitled to two free annual credit reports from each credit reporting agency. Colorado

AnnualCreditReport.com is the most trusted website to use for your annual credit report. You can purchase your credit score at the same website while you are requsting your annual credit report.

Even though I don’t have kids, all of our friends and family do. Whenever we go out to eat with anyone, I try to be considerate of the kids. I found this great website that you can search for restaurants in your area that offer “Kids Eat Free” specials.

MyKidsEatFree.com

Although I only found a couple of restaurants in my area, it gives me a couple of options to consider when eating out with friends with kids. If you know of any Kids Eat Free specials that aren’t listed, there is a contact form on the website so you can let them know.