I had to wait a couple weeks longer then some of my friends did for theirs, but my stimulus check finally arrived last Thursday. In today's blog post, I thought I'd share what I'm using my check for, and a few extra ideas for other things you can do with them. And I'm also sharing a fun and preppy spring outfit!
Today's blog post is a fun one, and hopefully it will be an informative one as well! One of my best friends, Ciera, is joining me to co-write this today. Every now and then on the blog I enjoy having friends help me write posts on a subject that they know a lot about, and Ciera was the perfect pick for this subject.
I met Ciera during freshman orientation at the college that I went to freshman year, which was now almost eight (!!) years ago. Even though I transferred colleges sophomore year, we remained good friends for the rest of undergrad. Ciera moved to Charlotte after she got her first job, and we lived together as roommates for our first year post-grad. Upon the end of our year-long apartment lease, I moved to Vermont in April 2017 for my first radio job and began a lease on a one bedroom apartment. Ciera meanwhile stayed in Charlotte and bought her first HOUSE at the ripe age of 22! I was so excited that she closed on it just before I moved, so I was able to see it with her before I left for Vermont.
Since we parted ways as roommates three years ago, I've gone on to live in two more apartments here in Virginia, and have remained content as a renter during my 20s. Ciera ended up successfully selling her first home in Charlotte, and bought a new one in Texas when her job transferred here there in 2018. Renting has 100% been the right choice for my lifestyle since college, and buying has been 100% right for Ciera and her lifestyle. What we have in common is both of us are 25, four-ish years out of college, and single (Ciera has a boyfriend but I mean single in terms of not being married). Yet our living situations are very different.
I'm going to share what I think are a few of the pros and cons for renting as a single 20-something, and then Ciera will share some pros and cons that she's experienced with home ownership. It can be tough as a single woman to have to figure out decisions for your housing and future on your own- we both know that firsthand! When you're married or in a serious live-in relationship, making a choice on housing is completely different as you most likely have two full-time incomes, with two people to take on the responsibility of whatever type of home you choose. It's very different when you're a single adult, which is why I wanted to write this blog post.
One of my resolutions for the year 2019 was the finish paying off my remaining student loan debt. My initial goal was to have it paid by the end of the year, then that goal got moved up to before my birthday (early September)... but I ended up becoming debt free in mid-July 2019!!
Everyone's journey with paying off school looks very different- I have friends with 10x the amount of debt that I had, and friends whose parents paid for their entire education or who had full ride scholarships. Knowing that everyone's situation is super different, I still wanted to share my own story in hopes it might encourage someone! Even if you don't have school loan debt, maybe my story could still inspire you with another type of debt (like credit card debt or car payments).
Happy Monday Friends! I've mentioned in the past few Midweek Ramblings posts about how I am currently doing a two month shopping fast. I wanted to give a little more explanation of that in today's blog post! I have done one month long shopping fasts a few times before and also blogged about that, but never one for two months.
Travel is one of my favorite things in the world! Whether visiting somewhere domestically or abroad, I truly believe that every destination has something that makes it unique and awesome to be discovered. The major downside to traveling of course? It can be expensive. Over the past few years, I've been figuring out tips, tricks, and methods to travel cheaply, but still comfortably. While this isn't the stage of life that I can be jetting off on two-week long global adventures, I have learned how to maximize weekend and long weekend trips, and get the most bang for my buck! Sharing the travel tips that have worked for me in today's post!
Today I'm sharing a few of my secrets to getting gift cards for shopping online or in-store at everyone's favorite department store!
Today's post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!
Nordstrom is definitely one of the top retailers of choice in the fashion blogging world these days. I'm personally more of a Nordstrom Rack fan than a true Nordy girl, but don't get me wrong- there are lots of things that I love about regular Nordstrom as well! I definitely look forward to the big Anniversary Sale every July, and some of my favorite purchases in my closet have been made during this sale. I really appreciate how Nordstrom carries hundreds of the best brands- everything from high-end designer labels, to their affordable house brands like BP. There's something for everyone!
Affordable fashion has always been a focus of this blog, and as much fun as retail therapy can be, it's always better to choose financial security over an impulsive shopping spree. If you are on a tight budget either because of being a full-time student, paying off loans or debt, or working at a job that's making it hard to make ends meet, these are the types of things that need to come before blowing a ton of money in things like the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. Sometimes with the consumerism side of fashion blogging it can be hard to remember that! (It can even be hard for me to do so for myself!) Anyways, it's a lot better to feel guilt free about shopping at one of your favorite stores if you're shopping with gift cards that you got for free! Today I'm giving you my three life hacks for getting free Nordstrom gift cards. Because here's to #TreatingYoSelf... responsibly of course!
1. Getting a Nordstrom credit card for store purchases: This one probably seems like a given, but it just makes sense it you enjoy shopping at Nordstrom! Their credit card has so many advantages, first and foremost the fact that all purchases give you the chance to earn Nordstrom Notes (gift certificates). There are also many double and even triple points shopping days throughout the year for cardholders, so if you're shopping at those times with your Nordstrom Card you're even closer to your next Note. I don't spend enough at Nordstrom to become a high level card holder (I'm just a Level 1), but even so I've already earned a few Notes for shopping in the two years that I've had my card.
2. Redeem your regular credit card rewards for Nordstrom gift cards: This will be a whole separate blog post topic... but if you're using a debit card or cash instead of a credit card for your daily purchases.... STOP that ASAP and get yourself a no fees rewards credit card of some type. There are tons to choose from. Last year, I had enough credit card rewards accumulated from one of my regular credit cards to redeem for Nordstrom gift cards that covered most of my Anniversary Sale purchases! Most no-fee rewards credit cards have a marketplace that you can redeem your points for gift cards in. You can usually redeem them on all types of things (gift cards for restaurants, retailers, travel, etc), and last year I chose to redeem most of my points towards Anniversary Sale purchases!
3. Sign up for a reputable online survey panel: Here's the last way that I've been earning free gift cards to shop at Nordstrom this year, and probably my biggest #LifeHack way out of the three. I've been quite open here on the blog that during my first months in Vermont last year, outside of work and blogging I really didn't have much of a social life. That gave me a lot of free time that I didn't know what to do with, so one thing that I started doing for awhile was taking online surveys through a reputable panel. There are lots of scammy survey websites which can end up doing more harm than good to your computer, or don't actually pay or reward you for taking them... BUT there are also many reputable websites too. I did my research and joined one of the larger survey platforms, and then started doing one or two every weekday, which would take me approximately 30 minutes. On the platform I use you earn points for taking surveys, and once you have a certain amount you can redeem them either for Paypal cash, or gift cards. I redeemed my points for Nordstrom gift cards so I could treat myself! To date, I've earned $75 in Nordstrom gift cards from online surveys. That's not bad for something easy, free, and not super time consuming. I bet if I was taking more surveys a day and also doing them weekends, I could be earning even more points and then gift cards!
If you're interested in signing up for the survey panel that I use, email me and I'm happy to refer you!
So those are my three tips for getting gift cards to shop for free at Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack! Do you have any hacks for getting gift cards to your favorite stores? Share below! I'm also linking a few of my current Nordstrom favorites:
Today's post might be a Southern Belle in Training first! I'm bringing back old blog content, I think the technical term is "repurposing." I've seen other bloggers do this time and time again with their most popular posts, and I'm all about trying new things, so I figured it's time I finally give this a try in 2018! One of my most popular blog posts of all time was one that I wrote in December 2016, entitled "How I Saved Almost $1,400 in 2016." As I wrote in that post, at the time that was one of the only New Year's resolutions in my life that I'd ever successfully kept! I'm doing the same savings plan again for 2018, so I thought I would revisit this popular blog post again, because at only 10 days into January it's not too late to add on another resolution for the year, especially one that's so easy and financially beneficial!
To recap: in December 2015 (when I was a senior in college), I knew that my savings account needed some work. In order to keep more money in my checking account, I had kept pulling money out of my savings for "fun" expenses during fall semester of my senior year, like weekend trips, nights out, sorority expenses, etc. Nothing that qualified as an emergency expense or a good reason to pull money out of savings. I knew I need to start revaluing the difference between my checking and savings accounts, and starting building my savings again. I wanted to find a savings plan that I could complete in 2016. My goal was to have at minimum $1,000 in savings by the end of the year, but hopefully more.
I was so excited when I found the 52-Week Savings plan! I decided to complete it in 2016, and can tell y'all now that I was SUCCESSFUL that year in doing so! 😊 I was seriously so excited when I wrote my first blog post about this savings plan in 2016- prior to this, I had never had much luck with completing a New Year's resolution! It is the easiest thing in the world to do if you commit to it- are you ready for this?
You transfer the dollar amount from your checking to your savings account that matches up to the week of the year that it is, and do this every week for 52 weeks. So last week, the first week in January, transfer $1! This week is the second week of the year, so it's $2. The first week in March is the 10th week of the year, so $10 goes into savings. And so on and so forth. Amounts do get higher as the year goes on, and they're highest in November and December, as those are later weeks of the year. (That is something to be aware of and prepare for, as holiday expenses need to be factored into a budget during the end of the year, but you don't want to lose sight of the savings plan either.) Trust me though- you will feel AMAZING when you deposit that $52 and complete the plan during the last week of December.
All in all, if you complete the plan for all 52 weeks, you'll have $1,378 in your savings account at the end of the year. WOW! That's a whole emergency savings account right there. If you already do have money in savings, you can still do this plan and could use the money to make a significant payment on your student loans, or put it towards an amazing vacation for the following year. If you think you're not able to commit to doing this- let me convince you otherwise! I was a full-time student with minimal income from babysitting and blogging during the year that I did this, and I was still able to complete it. This year I'm excited to tackle it with both my primary bank account (where my job paychecks go) and also my blogging bank account. Double the savings, double the benefits at the end of the year!
When I did this savings plan the first time in 2016 I was still regularly using a Lilly Pulitzer agenda for school, so I went through at the start of the year and wrote down how much I'd be depositing into savings on each Monday, so that I wouldn't forget to do it! Now I use iCal on my phone and computer to manage my life instead of an agenda, so I went through and already set deposit reminders for every week for the next few months. Be sure to either write down or set electronic deposit reminders- whatever works best for you!
Last week's deposit amount was only $1, so it's not too late if you still want to join me in this challenge!! You would simply make a $3 deposit this week. I promise you won't regret doing this... your savings account will thank you, and at the end of the year you'll have a lot of financial peace of mind!
To check out the original blog post that I wrote about doing this- click here!
Become more educated about personal finance is a goal of mine for this year and next. The first book that I'm reading in 2018 is actually about financial literacy for millennials and so far I'm loving it! Please let me know if you'd like to see more blog posts/content on these topics as I continue to educate myself!!
