3 ways to save on your household budget

 I am a firm believer in reviewing what I pay for household bills on a monthly basis to make sure they  have not added any hidden fees or just increased the bill for no reason. Even if you do not track your budget on a monthly basis taking steps to keep track of how much your spending and making sure that number does not increase is very important to me. Below I will give you some tips on what to watch out for.

1. Cable Bill: No matter what I do I can't bring myself to completely cut the cable, but even thought I keep paying for it, that does not mean I want to overpay. So at least once a year I have to spend about 30 minutes to an hour taking to reps from Time Warner about why my bill has to increase eventhough   I am not receiving any extra channels or services. This is very frustrating and eventually I will just let it get cut off and add internet service back with another company.

2.  Cell Phone Bill: The #1 thing to remember when dealing with any company is that there is always room for negotiation when there is competition. Multiple times I have been able to get my cell phone bill lowered just by calling and asking what the can do for me. My wife actually got it lowered over $20.00 the last time it was lowered while also doubling the amount of data we were getting. So don't be afraid to ask usually they are willing to lower your bill to keep you as a customer.

3.  Utilities: Household utilities aren't something I have tried to negotiate but I believe you can still try to trim cost here by doing a few different things.
    One of the things I have done is change all my light bulbs in my house to the new more energy efficient light bulbs. This definitely has cut my power bill down by a bit.
  Another thing to do to lower your electric bill is to make sure you are washing full loads whether it be clothes or dishes this will cut down on the power you are using.

Tips on how to save money on your grocery bill

Save money on your grocery bill with Ibotta

  In my household I am the main grocery shopper and I love to find ways to save money while I am shopping whether it be using coupons, shopping for bogo deals or even using one of my favorite money saving apps Ibotta. Below I will show how Ibotta works and how I use it to earn cash back on groceries and other household essentials.

1. Sign up for Ibotta here and get a $10.00 bonus after you redeem your first cash back rebate.
2. All you have to do is search for an item that you have purchased

3. Once you have selected the item that you purchased it will ask you to verify your purchase. To verify your purchase on Ibotta all you have to do is click verify purchase and it will either have you watch a short video or answer a survey question either way it only takes a few seconds. The next step will have you scan the item you purchased and then take a picture of the receipt with your smartphone.

 Ibotta is very easy to use and I have earned countless rebates with Ibotta.  They also offers bonuses to help you boost you're cash back total.

Click here to Sign up for Ibotta 

Dinner Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Rollups

Cheesy Chicken Rollups is one of my family's favorite dinner recipes and it is fairly easy to make. I start with some of the easy Crockpot Chicken to make this hearty recipe.

 Ingredients:
1lb shredded Chicken pre-cooked(rotisserie Chicken would work also)
4 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I use a 4-cheese blend)
2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2 cans Cream of chicken soup (I used one 98% fat free and one cream of chicken w/herbs)

Step 1: Shred 1 lb of Chicken
Step 2: In a large bowl mix chicken, 2 cans of cream of chicken, 3  cups of cheese, add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3: Roll out Crescent rolls in triangles and fill with mixture from step 2. Fill Pyrex dish with the filled Crescent rolls until they are gone.
Step 4: Add left over chicken mixture to the top and put a cup or so of shredded cheese on top before placing in the oven.
Step 5: Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and cook for 25 minutes or so.