The Mom Weekly Volume 69: December 3, 2024
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
Notes:
Yes, I realize that part of this newsletter is kind of a “repeat” of last week’s “action item.” But I expanded on it, and posted it to my neglected Your Money Mom website, and sent it to that email list yesterday (so you might be receiving it twice!). But it’s worth a look.
Also: I have pre-scheduled the next few weeks of The Mom Weekly, since as you know there will be some travel involved in the coming weeks. And I’m pre-scheduling because, for the first time in many years, I will not bring my laptop, as I do on almost every trip.
So if there is any breaking news, know that it won’t be covered in these pages—not that it ever was!
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Two Modest (but Rewarding) Money Tips (Mom’s Occasional Money Advice )
(You can also read this on the Your Money Mom website, if you want!)
I’ve not been too active here on Your Money Mom in recent times. But that’s not because I’m not giving money advice. I’m just not doing much of it online!
Despite that, I often have valuable information to share, since I’m still the money nerd that everyone knows and loves. I just wonder what is the best way to do this well, and reach a good number of people. In the meantime two modest but “rewarding” money tip are getting me back to posting here.
I would appreciate your thoughts about what kind of content you would like to see from me, and how often, and in what form. I’m pondering options (Substack, maybe?). Your feedback is welcome! You can hit reply to this email, and it will come directly to me.
Friendly Money Advice: Always Check Friends/Family for Referrals Before Signing Up for Something
On to today’s first money tip!
Whenever you’re about to sign up for a service or get something, find out if there’s a referral link you can use to help a friend or family member. I do this often with websites I trust and want to support, but it also works well with friends and family members.
Case in point:
Less than a year ago, I heard something (for the millionth time) about Rakuten, the free online shopping portal/app/browser extension to get rebates for online shopping.
Surprisingly, I had never joined, even when it was Ebates. I think I had been using the Honey extension on my browser; and while it helped with coupon codes, I wasn’t getting many rebates.
Anyway, I thought, it’s probably time to sign up. And before I did, I stopped and thought, I wonder if anyone has a referral link? So I texted the family, and one of my kids had a referral offer that gave us each $30 for me signing up. Nice! Neither one of us would have gotten anything if I had just signed up for Rakuten.
My experience with Rakuten
Now that I’ve been using Rakuten for awhile, I’m kind of impressed at how easy it is to get some decent rebates. t’s not life-changing money, but it’s not “nothing,” and it’s worth doing, in my opinion.
For instance, I had to make a Shutterfly purchase the other day to keep my account current, and I see I got $5.32 back.
I ordered glasses from EyeBuyDirect last week, and got $31.60 back (that was because of an increased offer, which I don’t remember now—occasionally Rakuten will give you a higher percentage back, like 20 percent, on a purchase). More about EyeBuyDirect below!
Right now, Rakuten has a $40 signup bonus. That means just for signing up, the new member gets $40, and your referrer (me, if you’d like) also gets $40. Not bad! This referral link (click here) is good until December 8, 2024.
I think everyone who uses Rakuten has the $40 offer, so if you have a family member who uses Rakuten, feel free to ask them for theirs, to keep the $ in the family.
Final Rakuten hack: when I first signed up, I got “double” points back that week. I think that is still the offer, but just know when you do sign up, that clock starts. I wish I had known about it ahead of time to plan for some purchases.
Check for referral links when you are shopping
So back to EyeBuyDirect. You may have noticed it was a link—and that’s my referral code.
As I mentioned above, I got Rakuten cash back from purchasing glasses from EyeBuyDirect, something I’ve done for years. It turns out that EyeBuyDirect has a referral program.
When I was writing about EyeBuyDirect, I thought, I wonder if there is a referral link. And it turns out there is! So I have added it in here. Again, if you have a friend or a family member who uses EBD, and want to use their referral code, please do!
I just want to double underline that whenever you are spending money or signing up for something online, it’s good to check with a friend or family member to try to avoid “leaving money on the table.”
Paypal Fundraising Hub
Money tip number two!
Now that it’s almost Giving Tuesday, I hope you are all considering some charitable giving. I know we are at our house.
I have also been trying to meet the minimum spend on a new-to-me credit card so I can get the sign-up bonus. I hesitate to share the referral link, because I don’t want people to sign up for credit cards unless they are actively seeking credit card rewards, and not in credit card debt. If you have interest in my referral link, just reply to this email, or search around for the best offer for you. Donating to a charity, using a credit card that offers points and other perks, is a win/win for all.
Many charities ask you to contribute extra to cover the credit card payment processing fees, which is fair! But as I chip in, I always think, wouldn’t it be nice if credit card companies didn’t charge charities the payment processing fee?
And then I learned that there is a way to donate to (some) charities without payment processing fees for either the charity or the donor.
It’s called PayPal Fundraising Hub
What’s great about this is that PayPal covers the payment processing fees for these charitable donations. The charity doesn’t have to pay, and you don’t have to pay.
From PayPal:
PayPal covers all transaction fees. You’re donating to PayPal Giving Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity, subject to its terms. Donations can take up to 45 days to get to your chosen charity. It’s rare, but if we can’t send your money to this charity, we’ll ask you to recommend another. If we can’t reach you, we’ll send it to a similar charity and keep you updated. Your donation is typically tax-deductible in the US.
I can find at least a few of the charities I donate to here. It’s a great way to donate if you want to use a credit card (for points or other benefits, not to go into debt, of course!). It’s really a win/win for everyone.
I may also ask some of our local charities to consider joining PayPal Fundraising Hub; as far as I can tell, it’s free to join, and there are no downsides.
Your Turn
I hope you enjoyed these modest but “rewarding” money tips.
Have you had any great referral bonus offers lately? Any good tips for saving, giving, or spending money well?
Let me know!
Remember, you’re doing well with your money, and you can do better!
Nancy
Your Money Mom
Interesting/Notable
Tolkien Gives George R. R. Martin the Smack Down or Why Happy Endings in Fantasy Are a Requirement
A must-read!!!
An Action Item: Consider (continuing /starting) the St. Andrew Christmas Novena
I wrote about this last year, and so I’m going to share again. The St. Andrew Christmas novena began last Saturday, as it does every year on November 30, but it’s ongoing, so you can jump in at any time.
The St. Andrew Novena is an interesting novena. It starts on the feast of St. Andrew, which is November 30, and ends on December 24. You are meant to pray the pray 15x a day. You can read about it here on the Hallow website.
Now, 15 times a day may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. I have an album in 15 photos of different artist versions of the prayer. Some are repeated. What I do is “favorite” a prayer once I’ve said it, and come back to the album when I have a chance. Once all of the photos are favorited, I’m finished for the day. The next day, I remove them from favorites, and so on, through the novena. It’s worked really well for me. This year I decided to create my own. I quickly created five different ones in a graphic design program, and they are now part of the album.
Here’s a screenshot (from last year!) of my album of St. Andrew Novenas:
Here are a couple of individual ones that you can save if you would like:
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