There is a "cash back" offer for amazon

I, like most students, love using amazon.  We mostly use swagbuck earned giftcards, but will use the amazon chase if we are spending more than we have earned from swagbucks.  However, today I have learned of two better ways to get "cash back" or similar when shopping on amazon this holiday season.

First, discover is allowing 5% cash back on all online shopping, including amazon, up to $1500, until December 31st.  That is a better deal that three points for every dollar you spend on amazon, that you can get from amazon chase.  It does require that you sign up, but there is no cost involved.  However, not everyone has a discover, is there another way to get money back while shopping at amazon?  For some items, yes.

Swagbucks is offering for a limited time 6 swagbucks for purchasing any jewelry, clothing, watches, handbags and purses, shoes and strange category called MYHABIT. It does not matter if you a credit card or a gift card, you can still get points back from swagbucks.  Go to this link to start.   http://www.swagbucks.com/shop?merchid=793

Happy shopping everyone!

College Student: No time or money, what to do?

When I go to most frugal blogs, many of the things they recommend to do take a lot of time.  It seems you can do things cheaply and spend a lot of time or throw money at a situation and spend very little time.  But as a student, we have no time and no money so what can you do?

Take advantage of the blogs of those who have already found the deals.  I live in Buffalo, NY so I check http://triciasfrugalfinds.com/ weekly to see if there are any deals I like at tops.  This saves me the time of checking the circular and online coupon sites.  Then, if I have time, I check http://www.iheartcvs.com/ as well for deals.  I used to check iheartwags.com and http://www.iheartriteaid.com/ but have decided that the time to organize all of that was not worth it and I had to cut it down to one store.  CVS is the best deal for me, because I get gift cards from discover and mypoints plus the EBs last longer than walgreens cash back system.

Also, give yourself a break.  Classes and lack of time because of class, ebb and flow.  Be the most frugal when you have extra time, and be less frugal when you have less time.  This week, because my exam was on Tuesday and lectures do not start up till next monday I will be doing a bunch of CVS runs as well as a Tops run (or two depending on the sales come Sunday).  Take advantage of rain checks when you can and ask for help when you need it.

It can take about three months to get into a habit so try to make a frugal goal per semester, and that can help you get good at one frugal trick, which can save you time.  Keep in mind what will give you the best bang for you buck (or time), because you have little of either.  Anyone have ideas for being frugal when also short on time?  Post in the comments if so...