I’ve known about Live Solid for quite a while now, and I’m sorry I haven’t mentioned the Live Solid initiative on this site before now.  While this site is certainly all about shopping, I hope that in a small way it is also about being budget-conscious, which is where Live Solid fits into the equation.

The Live Solid movement was started by Sun Trust Bank last year.  Believe me when I say that you’d never know the website and Facebook page have any affiliation with a bank.  The site is not preachy and they never ask you to join Sun Trust, nor really make any mention of the bank.

What Live Solid does do is ask that we all get our “priorities straight and our finances in order.”  Why?  Because at that point “life is freer and more gratifying.”  LiveSolid.com and the Live Solid Facebook Page are full of tips toward accomplishing each of those goals.

At LiveSolid.com you’ll find sections devoted to eco-friendly weddings, planning a vacation, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and many other important topics.  The information that’s presented is interesting, relevant, and not even remotely preachy.  It is good advice, plain and simple.  Also, the topics are presented in varying formats; for example, you’ll find articles, videos, and audio files.

The Live Solid Facebook Page is very interactive, with frequent tips, questions, and polls.  I’m a fan of the page and get excited when I see something new has been posted as the little tidbits of wisdom often make me think.  Here are a couple of my favorites that have been posted recently, and which demonstrate the various topics that are presented for thought and discussion:

The Facebook Page also features contests, and various useful applications.  One of my favorite applications is the Daily Dollar.  The way Daily Dollar works is that you input a specific amount of money that you’d like to start saving per day.  I told the system that I’d like to start saving $1 per day.  A bunch of suggestions popped up and I chose the one that I thought I could possibly accomplish – Make Coffee.  {As in, stop going to Starbucks every morning.}  The program then told me that if I started making my own coffee every morning I wouldn’t save just $1 per day – I would save $3!  There are lots of other helpful hints for ways to save money, such as replacing the soles on a pair of shoes instead of buying a new pair, and planning meals from the pantry.

I love Live Solid because even though I could possibly be described as a shop-a-holic, I think Live Solid helps give a little bit of perspective.  I like that all of the tips are small things that can be easily completed.  And hey – saving money on little things like gas means more money for bargain shopping.

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Live Solid is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

In short, Shop It To Me is absolutely awesome.

There are quite a few things you can do on the site, such as find other fashion-focused blogs {like this one!}.  My favorite part of the site and the part they’re probably best known for is their deal hunting capabilities otherwise known as Salemail.

When you sign up for an account you tell Shop It To Me the brands that are of particular interest to you.  There are literally hundreds of brands to choose from.  H-U-N-D-R-E-D-S.

Based on your selection, you will receive one email as often as you designate {I do it weekly} letting you know when those brands are on sale.  They don’t just search one site looking for sales either – they search the entire internet in an effort to only bring you the best of the best.

Here’s an example of what your email would look like:

You’ll see the original prices and the sale prices.  The emails cover everything from clothing to shoes to accessories to handbags.  And how’s this for awesome – you can even limit your selections by size so when you receive your emails you won’t have to wade through a bunch of sales for items in the wrong sizes.

I don’t know how the technology works, but it’s really a great service, especially if there’s a brand or two that you love so much that you jump anytime the brand goes on sale.  These emails help you jump before everything is sold out!

Click here to sign up for a free Shop It To Me account.

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Shop It To Me is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

I promise this isn’t going to become a grocery site.  Although with that being said, if there are particularly good coupon deals I feel I should provide y’all with that information.  While we’re saving money on clothes and other fun stuff, why not save a little cash on the necessities of life?

Cellfire is another example of technology gone crazy… in a good way!  While sites like Coupons.com update on a regular basis with new coupons that can be printed out and redeemed at the grocery store, Cellfire is a different kind of coupon site.  Cellfire allows you to digitally load coupons onto your grocery store savings card.  {You know the ones… we’ve all got ‘em on our key chains!}

Currently the site works with the following grocery store savings cards: Baker’s City Market, Dillons, Fry’s, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC, King Soopers, Kroger, Owen’s Pay Less, QFC, Ralphs, Scott’s, Smith’s, Carrs, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Pavilions, Randall’s, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Vons, ShopRite

The way Cellfire works is that you sign up for an account using your cell phone number, which is tied to your grocery store savings card{s}.  Whenever new coupons are available you select the coupons you think you might want to use.

Once you have selected the coupons you think you might use you can attach them to your grocery store savings card.

{I hadn’t set up my card yet, but now that I have, Cellfire will automatically store my Dominick’s card number so I won’t have to keep reentering it into the system.}

And then voila – the next time you go to the store, you’ll have discounts waiting on your card.  So if you buy some Betty Crocker frosting and that was one of the coupons you chose, you’ll automatically save 50 cents when the teller swipes your card.

This is pretty neat technology, if not somewhat convoluted.  I think clipping coupons is easier because you have a visual reminder of the discounts you’ll receive, but alas – technology is the future and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cellfire, or at least the concept, really take off.

The following coupons are currently available to load onto your grocery savings card on Cellfire:

Betty Crocker Cookie Mix Save $.40

Betty Crocker Frosting Save $.50

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy TWO BOXES Betty Crocker(r) Fruit by the Foot(r)Fruit Gushers(r)   Fruit Roll-Ups(r) OR Fruit Roll-Ups(r) Fruit Stickerz(r) Fruit Flavored Snacks.

Betty Crocker Muffin Mix Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy any flavor/variety Betty Crocker(r) Box Muffin Mix or Fiber One Box Muffin Mix.

Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Save $.75
Save $0.75 when you buy TWO any flavor Betty Crocker(r) Box Supreme Brownie Mixes.

Betty Crocker Warm Delights Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy ONE any flavor Betty Crocker(r) Warm Delights(r) Bowls OR Betty Crocker(r) Warm Delights(r) Minis Bowls.

Chex Mix(r) or Snacks Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy any flavor 4.5 OZ. OR LARGER Chex Mix(r) OR Chex(r) 100 Calorie Snack.

Fiber One Muffin Mix Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy any flavor/variety Fiber One Box Muffin Mix.

Fiber One(r) Chewy Bar Save $.40
Save $0.40 when you buy ONE BOX any flavor Fiber One(r) Chewy Bars or Fiber One(r) 90 Calorie Chewy Bars.

Green Giant(r) vege’s Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy TWO any variety Green Giant(r) Frozen Boxed Vegetables.

Hamburger Helper(r) Save $.75
Save $0.75 when you buy THREE any flavor Hamburger Helper(r)  Tuna Helper(r) OR Chicken Helper(r) Home Cooked Skillet Meals.

Honey Nut Cheerios Save $.55
Save $0.55 when you buy ONE BOX Honey Nut Cheerios(r) cereal.

NV Granola Bars Save $.40
Save $0.40 when you buy ONE BOX any flavor/variety Nature Valley(r) Granola Bars.

NV Granola Nut Clustrs Save $1
Save $1.00 when you buy ONE BAG any flavor Nature Valley(r) Granola Nut Clusters.

PB Italian Meal Bred Save $.40
Save $0.40 when you buy any TWO Pillsbury(r) Italian Meal Breads (Includes any Loaves  Breadsticks  Dinner Rolls  and Pizza Crust).

PB Sweet Rolls Save $.40
Save $0.40 when you buy any TWO Pillsbury(r) Sweet Rolls OR Grands!(r) Sweet Rolls.

PB Toaster Strudel(r) Save $.55
Save $0.55 when you buy any TWO Pillsbury(r) Toaster Strudel(r) Pastries.

Pillsbury(r) Savorings(r) Save $1
Save $1.00 when you buy TWO any flavor/variety Pillsbury(r) Savorings(r) products.

Reeses(r) Puffs(r) Save $.55
Save $0.55 when you buy ONE BOX Reeses(r) Puffs(r) cereal.

Yoplait Kids Zone Save $.80
Save $0.80 when you buy TWO any flavor Yoplait(r) products listed: – Yoplait(r) Go-GURT(r) Yogurt – Yoplait(r) Trix(r) Multipack Yogurt.

Yoplait(r) Cups Save $.50
Save $0.50 when you buy SIX any variety Yoplait(r) Yogurt cups OR any flavor Yoplait(r) Original OR Light Smoothies.

Yoplait(r) Delights(tm) Save $1
Save $1.00 when you buy any flavor Yoplait(r) Delights Yogurt Multipack.

Yoplait(r) Fiber One(r) Save $1
Save $1.00 when you buy any flavor Yoplait(r) Fiber One(r) Yogurt Multipacks.

Any Biore Save $1
Save $1.00 when purchasing Biore products.

Select BAN Items Save $.75
Save $0.75 on Ban solids and roll-ons.

Toll House(r) Dough Save $.55
Save $0.55 when you purchase any (1) variety of Nestle(r) Toll House(r) Refrigerated Cookie Dough.

Toll House(r) Morsels
Save $.50  when you purchase any (1) variety of Nestle(r) Toll House(r) Morsels

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Cellfire is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Have you heard of Daily Checkout?

Daily Checkout, like Woot.com, sells one item every day.  Once they run out of that one item the sale is over.  The thing about Daily Checkout that sets it apart from other sites is that most of the items I see on the site are … Free.  Yes, Free.

It’s so strange and I don’t really understand how the site works or how they make money, but hey – that’s not for me to judge, is it?  If they want to give their stuff away to us then so be it!

For an example of the free goodness, here’s a screen shot from yesterday’s deal for a Hitachi Case:

This case could be useful, and for only $3.99 shipping and handling?  Color me sold.

Like I said, the Daily Checkout deal changes daily and I’d say the deals are free about 50% of the time and when they’re not free they’re uber cheap. I definitely recommend adding this site to your daily line-up.  You never know what free goodness could be awaiting you!

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Daily Checkout is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Just so you know, straight up, I have not used Alice.com myself.  But I read about it everywhere on the internetz, and feel it would be a disservice to not mention it here because it really does seem like a great site!

In short, Alice.com allows you to regularly and easily purchase the mundane necessities of life, such as toilet paper and toothpaste.  How so?  You tell Alice what you normally buy and then you can set up a schedule so that the site will remind you when it’s time to buy again {before you, oh so annoyingly, run out of said products}.

To check out the site, I decided to tell Alice that I was in dire need of some bar soap.  The following screen popped up, letting me know that 72 different types of bar soap are available, and they have 8 different coupons available for said bar soap.  {Yes! Coupons.  The site wants to help you save money!}

After that, it showed me all of the different types of bar soap they have available.  They had pretty much all of the usual suspects – Dove, Zest, Oil of Olay, etc. – at all different sizes and scents.

I decided to sort to see what products had coupons available, and here are a couple of the options that appeared:

As you can see, with a coupon I could grab 3 bars of Zest for $1.57, or 2 bars of Olay for $1.78.  Not bad.  I added the Olay to my cart and the following lady popped up, asking me if I wanted to make this a regular purchase:

Pretty neat, right? I have to say – this site really couldn’t be any simpler to use. 

Here’s another neat feature of Alice.com.  You can check the prices, to ensure that you’re getting the best deal!  Here’s the pricing comparison for my Olay soap:

Considering that my coupon is going to give me an additional $1 off, it appears that I would, indeed, be receiving a good deal on this product. And yes – you read that third column correctly – shipping is always free!

The site does ask that you buy a minimum of 6 products per purchase, although on my first purchase a box came up saying they would waive this requirement.

Joining Alice is free and you pay only for what you buy because, again, shipping is free.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Personally, I don’t mind going to the grocery store, but sometimes it’s a huge pain to plan a trip just to buy the necessities.  Alice seems like it would help cut down on those “in-between” trips, and also help keep you in the know when you might be about to run out of a product.  Alice is still relatively new, but the number of items they carry continues to increase.  When the site started out they were all abut the toilet paper and toothpaste.  Now, however, you can also find things like cereal bars and coffee for sale.

As if Alice.com wasn’t already convenient enough, the site just released a free iPhone app, so now you can order as soon as you remember you’re running out of something.  Ah, technology, I love thee.
 
Interested in joining Alice.com?  Click here to join and receive a $10 in your account after your purchase $50 in goods.

Are any of you already using Alice?  If so, what do you think?

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Alice.com is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

I really get a kick out of saving coupons from the paper each week.  Y’all know how much I love saving money when shopping for fun stuff online… so it stands to reason that I would want to save money on necessities too!

When I was growing up my parents were big into couponing.  When we went on our weekly trips to the grocery store, we didn’t buy anything (save for meat, milk, bread, and eggs) unless we had a coupon.  As a kiddo this would upset me to no end.  Life isn’t fair when you’re 8-years-old and can only have Fruit Roll-Ups once every three months.  I think it’s pretty accurate to say that I hated coupons!

Now that I’m an adult though and my parents aren’t here to buy my Fruit Roll-Ups (shhh…don’t tell anyone), I love coupons.  It takes a little bit of work, but it is SO worth it.  My boyfriend and I make a game out of seeing how much we can save every time we go grocery shopping.  We are by no means professional grocery shoppers (you will find plenty of those people on the internet), but we can usually save 30-40% off our grocery bill simply by having coupons for the things we were already going to buy. 

So, if you can’t tell, I highly recommend couponing.  It makes economical cents.  (hahahaha)

If clipping coupons from the weekend paper isn’t something you relish doing, Coupons.com makes it even easier because you can print the coupons straight off the internet! 

The coupons available on Coupons.com update regularly and you can usually print multiples of each coupon, just in case there’s something you love and want to buy multiples of it.  I look through the site frequently and almost always find coupons for products I use, which makes it super easy to save a little bit of extra $$$.

If you haven’t already checked it out I highly recommend heading over to Coupons.com. 

Saving Money = Good.  Spending money when you could have saved just by having a coupon = Bad.

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Coupons.com is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

One of my favorite bloggers, MRM of Prep in the Big Apple, sent me a tip about a great service called Frucall.

Have you heard of Frucall? 

If not, you’re in luck…it’s a bargain shopper’s dream!

The idea behind Frucall is that if you’re out shopping and you’re not certain you’re getting a good deal you call Frucall, text Frucall, or do a mobile search on the Frucall website to see if you’re getting the best deal possible.  Pretty neat, right? 

Frucall pretty much eliminates the need to drive around town searching for the best deal on a book that has just been released.  What, you don’t do this?  Uh, me either…    Regardless, programs such as this that are designed to help us all save money make me very, very happy.  If you’re a frequent in-store shopper, Frucall is definitely worth checking out.

Click here to learn more about Frucall.

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Frucall is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

I think this is my first “Fantabulously Frugal Friday” re-do.  But with so many more people reading the site now, I thought that Swagbucks.com was worth another visit.
The concept behind Swag bucks is simple – you earn points for doing things you were already going to do.  Such as searching the internet.  If you search via the swagbucks search engine, you can win points.  (If you have the ability to install things on your work computer, Swagbucks has a toolbar you can install on the top of your browser that makes this much easier.  Then, technically, you can get paid a little extra for browsing the internet while you “work.”)  Additionally, if you shop via stores linked to Swagbucks, you can earn points.  If you refer your friends, you can earn points.  You can also earn points for commenting on the Swagbucks blog, completing a poll, or trading in old phones or video games.

You can, in turn, redeem all of those points you’re accumulating for various prizes.  And here’s the best part – you don’t need a lot of points to get prizes!  A $5 Amazon gift card will run you just 45 points (I received 6 points in the past 20 minutes.  45 points is nothing.)  There are lots of gifts to be found, but in my opinion, the gift cards are the best.  With the holidays rapidly approaching (eek!), these gift cards could really come in handy!  They’ve also recently begun offering cash back through Paypal as a gift option!  Straight cash, yo.

If you’re not yet signed up for Swagbucks, click here to sign up via my personal referral link.

I know there are some people out there who swear by Swagbucks.  Please share with us all other ways you utilize Swagbucks!

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Swag Bucks is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

Why? Local.com looks very similar to Yelp.com, one of my favorite websites when it comes to finding new restaurants to try. And indeed, Local.com has copious restaurant reviews for restaurants in the area for where you are conducting your search.

So let’s back up. On the homepage of the site you type in your location. Maybe it’s where you live, or maybe you want to try dinner in a neighboring city, or maybe you’re even on vacation and looking for a shop/restaurant/etc. Type that city into the Local.com homepage, and then choose what you’re looking for. In my case, I’m going to be looking for a local restaurant. After hitting the “Search” button, the page will be updated to reflect your new location, and exactly what it is you’re looking for.

For my Chicago restaurant search, I had a box containing the local weather. Another one told me the local traffic report (bad traffic everywhere)! Another box told me the restaurants that are near my location, and yet another showed me the restaurants that are the most reviewed (and gave me a link to the review). But here’s my favorite feature, and why this website is being included on Fantabulously Frugal Friday. There’s another box showcasing any restaurants that are offering coupons that I could take advantage of! How awesome is that?

Saving money … that’s what we like to do around here! Local.com may be a great tool in helping to find area discounts, and may definitely be worth checking out.

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Local.com is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.

The site finds every item that’s available that matches your search, and then provides you with the various buying options.

What I love to do is stroll through Borders, finding lots of books I would love to read. And then I’ll go on Half.com and buy them for a fraction of the price. I suppose it takes away some of the instant gratification, but it also keeps some money in my wallet, which I definitely enjoy!

(And again – I cannot stress this enough – if you are in college now, this site should be your best friend.)

Fantabulously Frugal Friday: Half.com is a post from: Fantabulously Frugal.