Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Dinnerly is the Cheap and Easy Way to Make Dinner

A while ago I wrote a blog about meal kit delivery services (read about it here).  These are companies that mail you ingredients to make healthy meals.  I love this idea because it saves time by not having to go grocery shopping and it delivers fresh produce but just the right amount needed so nothing goes to waste but most of the services are quite expensive.  When I heard about a new company, Dinnerly, that claimed to be the cheaper option, I was interested.

See the source imageDinnerly offers 3 meals of 2 servings for only $30 plus $8.99 shipping.  Most other meal kit services are twice that price.  With the shipping factored in, that's only $13 a meal.  My husband and I often have leftovers as well, usually enough for one lunch.  Granted I can make meals for much cheaper than that, but as I said, not having to buy the groceries or plan saves time and energy which is worth something.  Plus you get to try new things that you might not have before. 

Why is Dinnerly so much cheaper?  They provide digital recipe cards instead of paper and have simple packaging which means less production costs.  They also have fewer ingredients per dish which cuts back on cost.  They also don't spend a lot of money on huge marketing campaigns.

Another thing that I like about Dinnerly is it is simpler than most other services.  With fewer ingredients, the dishes don't take as long to prepare and cook.  Most of their meals can be made in 30 minutes or less.

I have been getting the boxes for 3 weeks now and I have really enjoyed most of the meals.  They are tasty, simple to make, and cost effective! 

If you want to try a free box, comment below and I'll respond with your unique code!

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Earn Free Spirit Miles

Airline miles are a great way to be able to travel.  I really love it when you can get them for free so I jumped at the opportunity to earn free Spirit Miles by taking surveys.  Even though it's only a few hundred miles, it can add up over time and may be the difference between being able to get a ticket for free or not.  Sign up today here!


Sunday, January 7, 2018

Pet Insurance, A Cheaper Alternative: Save Money and Your Pet's Life!

Our new year did not start out well.  We came home at 4 in the morning Jan 1 after a fun long night out celebrating with friends to find our cat Tybalt crying and having thrown up clear foam several times all over the apartment. We took him to the ER vet and discovered he had swallowed a needle. Their recommendation was surgery which would cost $6,000 - $7,000.  That staggering number forced us to think about how much we were willing to spend on a pet.  Let me tell you, that is not an easy thing to do.  In one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make, we decided it was too expensive for us to be able to afford. We went with plan B, which was still a few thousand dollars, and luckily they were able to get it out by flushing his stomach. He is all better now and is very lucky that he made it through without any damage.

But all of this forced us to think about getting pet insurance.  We have two indoor cats and I never thought they would have any extreme health concerns that would cost that much.  But anything can have accidents.

In looking at all the options, most companies seemed to have roughly the same cost, between $50-$60 a month for two indoor cats.  Yikes!  That's $700 a year.  Considering the lack of need of health services in the years we've already had them and the amount of previous pets, that actually didn't seem like it would save us money in the long run.  Sure that's taking a gamble, but either way we couldn't afford it at this time.

But then I found out about Pets Best accident only insurance.  It is only $6 a month for cats (I think around $9 a month for dogs) and covers the treatment of pretty much all accidents, including exams, x-rays, surgeries, hospitalization and medications because of trauma, poisoning, bites (animal, insects, snakes), hit by car or moving vehicle, foreign body ingestion, bone fracture, laceration, cut, abrasion, wound, torn nail, or medical problems directly attributable to accidental injury.  It has a $250 deductible and 90% reimbursement (the highest I'd seen for pet insurance) and a $10,000 annual limit which was also on the higher end, especially considering the low rates.  This was exactly what we need at a price we can afford!

Of course if they were to get some serious illness that requires constant medication, that would be different.  This insurance doesn't cover cruciate ligament injuries or any illnesses or diseases, including infectious bacterial or viral diseases, parasitic infection, metabolic disorder, or cancer.

But for those people that want a cheaper option than full accident and wellness pet insurance, I believe this is the way to go.  This should help you for those crazy emergencies that pop up out of nowhere and you have to make a quick decision.  Our Tybalt would have been able to receive the surgery and we would have paid less out of pocket than we did for the cheaper alternative.  In fact, we would have paid less than just for the ER visit and examinations alone which were $700.

PLEASE look into pet insurance if you have pets. We never thought a bill would be that high from indoor cats but I would much rather pay a few hundred dollars each year than have to make a decision on how much our pet's life was worth to us again.

If you are interested in Pets Best accident only insurance, click here.