The holidays are quickly approaching and as you scramble to get your shopping done, you see that huge rack of assorted gift cards. You can practically buy a gift card for anything you could think of these days. They are great for that person you have no idea what to get for or that person who has everything. Have a picky teenager on your list? Get them a gift card! How about that best friend who changes her mind often? Gift card! These cards are a lifesaver and the perfect gift when you get stumped.


Now gifts cards are great as gifts for others, but why can't they also be used in other situations? Today I am going to give you other ideas for using gift cards outside of the holiday season.

#1 Saving Money:

•  Eating out: Do you go out to lunch EVERYDAY at work? If you are trying to save some money, cutting back on eating out will save a lot. Buy yourself a gift card to the place you frequent the most in the amount of 1 meal and use it as a treat. You still get to pick the day you go out, but you will cut out 4 days saving you up to an average of $40 that week. 

•  Coffee Fanatics: Do you frequent Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts to much? Buy yourself a gift card in the amount of 2 drinks that you love. This will allow you to still enjoy your favorite treat, but it becomes just that: A treat. It will save you cash in the pocketbook and cut down on the "crack" that coffee tends to become.

#2 Fitness:

• Rewards: We all reward ourselves when we are on a fitness journey. When we hit those milestones its nice to buy ourselves something nice. Come up with an amount that works for you and when you meet that milestone use your gift card. It is a motivator without breaking the bank. 

•  Treats: You are allowed to treat yourself to a not so healthy snack once in awhile. This is where the gift card comes in. Use it similar to the saving money category. Load enough on the card to buy 1 treat. You can do this weekly or monthly. Your choice. Either way it saves you money and calories!

#3 Kids:

• Allowances: Money is fine, but kids sometimes are impulsive and buy things they don't need. Set them up with a gift card for something you know they want. This will help from frivolous spending and allow them to buy that item they really want.

#4 Online Shopping:

• A reloadable visa/mastercard is great for online purchases. You can shop online and ease your mind knowing you aren't handing out your credit card information.

• If you like to sign up for free offers or trials, it's a good idea to use a prepaid card so you don't get charged if you forget to cancel. I often use this option for my freebie addiction and I ALWAYS forget to cancel if I don't want to continue with the service. 

So there you have it. So many options to use a gift card outside of gift giving for others. What would you use them for? Leave me your ideas below!
 

Hi folks. I haven't done much blogging this week that wasn't for a giveaway and such, so today I wanted to tell the world some of those thoughts that have been on my mind this week.

1. The number one thought on my mind this week and for awhile now is, where the heck are all of the NY bloggers?! I don't mean NYC bloggers, I mean upstate and central NY. I am getting pretty jelly seeing all these great blogger meet ups. I would love to be able to network and get together for some wine coffee and have some good conversation. If that's you, PLEASE please send me a message!

2.  Speaking of NY bloggers, how the heck is it even possible that Buffalo just got slammed with almost 80 inches of snow. You didn't read that wrong, 80 FREAKIN INCHES of SNOW. I don't even know how to comprehend that. That's like a season of snow. Not 48 hours worth of snow. I am praying everyone is safe and staying warm. People are trapped in their homes and a dreaded warm up is happening next week AFTER they are forecasted to get another 24 inches of snow today.

3.  The holidays are quickly approaching. Thanksgiving is already a week a way. Better get moving if you haven't finalized your menu and shopping! With the holidays there are a lot of holiday giveaways sprouting up all over. In fact there are TWO on my page alone. I am co-hosting Cashing Through The Snow and a Kate Spade Cozy Giveaway. Get entered!

4.  In case you missed it, I am hosting a Holiday Tea Swap. My thoughts on this is, why are people commenting about how great an idea it is, yet not signing up? I am a fairly new blogger so I am still building my readership, but why are people afraid to enter my little swap?  I am not asking people to spend any amount of money, you can mail them virtually for nothing in an envelope and you get to meet a new friend! Give it a shot and, try some new tea, and meet a new friend! Sign up{ here }

5.  I got a fitness watch FINALLY. I went with the Garmin Vivofit and I LOVE IT. Its purple and I have kept it on all day and night. It tracks my steps, calories, and sleep. Its pretty fantastic. It's not uncomfortable to wear and it really is giving me a good idea of how many steps I am taking everyday. I would highly recommend it if you are in the market for one.

Well there ya have it. My thoughts for the week. Leave me a comment and let me know what you're been thinking this week. Happy Thursday!

I'm linking up today!

Hey guys! Back again to tell you about ANOTHER great giveaway I am participating in this week. Yesterday I posted {{ Cashing All The Way }}, a giveaway where you can win $195 buckaroos! Today you can enter to win some pretty fab Kate Spade goodies!

Also don't forget I am hosting a Holiday Tea Swap! If you love tea and want to try something new, sign up! Sign ups are until November 30th. You will get your swap buddy on December 1st. Lots of fun!

Sign Up For The Holiday Tea Swap!

It's snowing in the midwest. And maybe Texas too! As we brace for the Bomb Cyclone (this year's Polar Vortex), some of my blogging buddies came together to cozy you up with a Kate Spade Cozy Giveaway. It includes the cutest KS earrings that you've seen on all the blogger's wish lists (maybe even your own), some Kate Spade socks with some fab polka dots, and a $10 Starbucks gift card to warm you up as you cuddle up wherever you are. 
Anne | Betsy | Bex Liz | Trish | Linda Faith | Nina | Emelia  
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hello there lovelies! Its Monday, Thanksgiving is next week and I'm finally starting to feel the holiday bug. It's been cold out, and we even saw our first snowfall up here in the north. One of the things that really gets me prepared for all the cold days is a nice cup of tea. I am kind of a sucker for holiday teas.All of the aromas of spices just makes me warm to the core. Thinking about all of the options out there I thought, there has got to be some I never tried because they don't carry them in my area. And like that the Holiday Tea Swap was born! This will be a fun way to swap and try new teas as well as make a new friend. Send a cute holiday card along with some of your favorite teas and viola! All of your tea wishes are met!

Here are the deets:

 

~ Sign ups start today and will run through November 30th. I will randomly draw a name for everyone (You may not get the same person you are sending to) and notify you on December 1st.

~ Please send a minimum of 3 teas to your swap buddy. This is meant to be a swap to experiment with new teas so I am not asking you to send boxes of tea. Just send a few new teas for your buddy to try out.

~Because you are not sending out boxes of teas this should be easy to get shipped out. Please have your teas send out no later than December 10th.

~I will add a link up for everyone to link up a blog post about their swap so we can all see what everyone got to sample! This linkup will go live on Monday December 22nd.

~You do not need to be a blogger to participate and this is open internationally!

I really hope you will participate! This is going to be so much fun!

{{SIGN UP FOR THE TEA SWAP HERE! }}

~~~**~~~

 

So on Monday I posted I was going to partake in a winter reading challenge. I did not have books picked out yet so I decided since I have picked out most of my books I would give a quick update.


5 points: Free book of your choice : I was to the library and picked out a book the day I decided to do this challenge so that book is going to be Tales From My Closet by Jennifer Ann Moses (298 pages) Finished 11/13/14)