Ms. Financial Literacy

My Preferred Cashback Programs: Ebates and Mr. Rebates

One way to save money while shopping online is to start on a cashback site. You are going to make the purchases anyway, why not get a little something back at the same time? These types of sites develop relationships with retailers and get paid to refer customers (they earn a small commission of each purchase you make when you use their direct link to visit a merchant). The sites then share a portion of their referral revenue with you.

In some cases, you might earn a bonus (such as $5 or $10) just for signing up and making a qualifying purchase. You can also apply coupons displayed on the merchants’ websites ON TOP OF the cash back to stack your savings! If you happen to shop during the holidays, lookout for retailers that offer double or triple cash back. Sometimes the cashback amount can be up to 10%. To me, that’s a very great deal. It’s like saving on taxes and some more while shopping through these cashback sites.

How Cashback Programs Work

Rather than going directly to a retailer’s website, you would first log in to your preferred cashback site, search for the store you want to shop at (if the store is a participating merchant, you’d see the amount of cash back being displayed), click on a link that would take you to that merchant’s site (your click-through from the cashback site activates a code in the merchant’s shopping cart that will make sure that you are credited with the cash back), and then complete your shopping as usual. After the cashback site verifies your transaction, the earnings get approved (cash back typically show up in your account within few days). This earning is based on the dollar amount of your purchase and the cashback offer at the time of purchase.

cashback ebates mr rebates

My Experience with Cashback Programs

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Financial Empowerment, Financial Freedom, Financial Journey

Push for Change (that You Wish to See)

I am not a sales person. Marketing is not my forte. I don’t like taking risks or putting myself out there. Promoting myself and my work feel downright unnatural. Yet, most of the work I’ve been doing related to this blog needs me to be creative, social and promotional. In the process of developing those skills, I have to learn to face and overcome some of my biggest fears. And that has been hard. However, frequently, I find myself pushing harder (in personal growth) so that I can do more. Advocating for a way of life that I truly believe in and feel passionate about is worthwhile.

Push for the change that you wish to see.

It’s been a little over two months since I published my first post. For weeks, I hesitated clicking on the “Publish” button. Despite having a clear vision and a powerful message I want to share with the world, I had self doubts. Seeing that I was struggling with my feelings, my husband reminded me of my cause. In my husband’s exact words: “You care about the girls and women in this world. You’ve got a beautiful message to share with them. Your contents are important to spread”. Over time, his encouragement provided me the clarity and strength I needed to work through my doubts. And I’m grateful for him.

This blog has been growing in readership. Thank you for taking the time to share your financial stories with me. I’ve been inspired and I’ll continue doing my best to be resourceful. You can always reach me through email and Twitter and Facebook direct messages. To the 78 of you (!!!) who have subscribed to my weekly newsletter, thank you for being my loyal readers. Thank you for welcoming my messages into your Inbox. Your support gives me the energy and motivation to keep bringing new contents to you. I am touched knowing that my messages have inspired and encouraged so many of you to seek financial clarity and financial confidence. I love this community and am grateful we’re able to connect through the Internet!

Push For Change

My husband and I used to be very private about our financial life. We allowed money topics to be a taboo during conversations. Starting this blog has been adventurous for us. However, we aren’t doing this alone.

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Financial Planning, Investment, Retirement Planning, Work and Career

Three Perspectives on Contributing to the 401(k): Dollar-Cost Averaging, Front-Loading and Back-Loading

When you have a buffer of savings and you want to invest that money, do you invest in small chunks spread out over time or in a lump sum all at once? Do you do a mix? How do you decide when to use which strategy? What do you pay attention to? How do you evaluate your investment returns? Maybe you don’t have a preference and just do what feels good or right for your situation?

Three Perspectives on Contributing to the 401(k): Dollar-Cost Averaging, Front-Loading and Back-Loading

Contributing to your 401(k) is a form of investment. As we strive to become diligent and prudent investors, it’s worth taking a look at some of the different perspectives investors generally use to contribute to their accounts. What are the advantages and disadvantages? As you will read, I don’t recommend one strategy over another. I share why my husband and I use a particular strategy given our particular situation during a particular time. From our story, I hope you’ll see why one strategy worked for us at one time and another worked better for us at another time. Ultimately, you need to decide what’s best for you. Knowledge is power. The more you learn, the more you become aware of what’s possible for you. As a result, you’ll be able to make informed financial decisions.

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Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Work and Career

What is a 401 (k)? What is it Not? Getting Down to the Basics

401k

Your 401(k) can be your vehicle to millionaire status! It promises a lot, doesn’t it? The popular message is that if you begin contributing to your individual account while in your 20s and continue doing so until traditional retirement age, you would become a millionaire and multi-millionaire. The Financial Samurai created a chart illustrating how much you can potentially save in your lifetime. How do you like the numbers?

401k Retirement Savings Potential If You Max It Out

Yet, navigating the 401(k) process can be complex. Anyone telling you the 401(k) plan is the easiest way to save for retirement still has lots of homework to do. While your employer takes care of some things for you once you opt in, you still need to do a lot on your part to truly maximize the plan’s benefits. If you are willing to put in the time, the work is manageable. You also have access to a lot of free resources and support (such as your HR/employer, your investment brokerage, personal finance books and Online publications).

For many people, having access to a 401(k) plan through an employer might be their first exposure to investing. How can you make such major, long-term decisions when you don’t have much of a clue what the plan is or what choices you have?

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Kids and Money

Four Ways I Am Teaching My Toddler about Ownership and the Value of Caring for Her Belongings

Ever wonder what life is like for a young child growing up in a money savvy household?

My husband and I are committed to raising a money savvy child. And we are starting early. At 25-months old, our daughter, Ruby, has limited exposure to money and currency exchange.

Where do we even begin?

How does one go about teaching a toddler about money, saving money and being frugal with money?

Teaching Toddlers about Ownership and the Value of Caring for One's Belongings

My husband and I looked for teaching opportunities. After a few months of careful observations, we saw the need to teach Ruby about the meaning of ownership and respect for property. This form of teaching has many money consequences. Money not spent on replacing objects is money being saved.

Think about how much money parents might spend replacing their children’s broken or lost objects. What about the amount of money adults in the household spend to replace their things due to a child’s carelessness or negligence? My husband’s supervisor has a term for this kind of spending. It’s the “child tax”. And what about the times when a child tears up as he/she takes money out of the piggy bank to buy a replacement item?

In this post, I discuss four approaches my husband and I have been using to teach our daughter about ownership and the value of caring for her belongings. As you read, you’ll notice a pattern in our approaches. We leverage what Ruby already knows and build upon her knowledge base. This way, we can have some confidence that she understands what we’re trying to instill in her.

How It All Began

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