Affluent but Frugal

It was really hard for me to think about spending money to use the Weight Watchers program. I always thought, "Why should I pay for a program when I could use a million other things for free?" It seemed like a total racket. However, after struggling to lose weight for several months on my own and making zero progress, I signed up with a friend for Weight Watchers online. We agreed to do it together and encourage each other. This was my first-ever experience in trying Weight Watchers as I always opted for the free option before! When I signed up, I had a goal to lose 20 pounds and I thought I could do this during my discounted promotional period of 3 months. I paid around $50 for the first 3 months and it was $19.95 each month after that. At the end of my three months I was pleasantly surprised with how well I was doing and I had lost about 12 lbs, since it was working I decided to keep going. It took me 6 months to reach my goal to lose 20 lbs. So what makes WW worth it...

You can spend a lot of money on different programs to help you lose weight but which ones are worth it? One of these is workout streaming service Daily Burn. Here is my unbiased review after trying the service. Daily Burn is an exercise streaming service where you get access to a new workout every day, or you can also do it live at 9 am. The library has thousands of on-demand workouts and there is always something new to try, since something is added daily. I tried Daily Burn because I was looking for something to replace my gym membership. My favorite instructor left which led to my favorite class getting cancelled and I just didn't feel like it was worth it any more. I firmly believe a gym is worth the money if you go but without my favorite class, my motivation to go was very low and I couldn't justify the $50/month I was paying anymore as a result but this left an opening in my budget to spend up to $50/month on something else that would help support my overall healthy....

Trader Joe's has long been one of my favorite places to grocery shop! Not only do they have staples but they have amazing frozen food and lots of unique items that other stores don't carry. It's basically a hippie paradise of alternative foods. It's also amazing when you don't have lot of time to cook or meal prep because they have so many great pre-made and frozen foods. We can't meal prep all the time now can we? The really annoying thing about my TJ's store is there is NO internet or cell reception! Which means I cannot check point values while I'm in the store. Thus, it has been challenging for me to shop there and took a lot of trips to put this list together. If there are other must-haves from TJs please comment and I will update! If you're looking to save a few bucks on more basic items, check out my Aldi shopping list here . Or if you are new to WW check out my tips for getting your kitchen ready. All point values below were upda...

I have learned that planning is key on Weight Watchers (WW). If you prepare for success, you will be more likely to be successful. Other than healthy food, here is what you need to get started working the plan. Food scale I already had a food scale when I started WW from past healthy eating forays but when starting with WW, I actually bought a second one for my office! It is much easier to count many things by weight and it's more accurate. To be able to count your servings correctly a food scale is a must. You need 3 basic functions tare, weight in oz and weight in grams. This is the one I bought for my office , there are lots of options of Amazon for under $15. Non-stick pans One of the challenging things about cooking on WW for me was to use less oil for cooking. Using a little olive oil would quickly make my 0 point vegetables 1 point, or more if I was too heavy handed! Using less oil is great but you need good non-stick cookware to do it. I don't like Te...

I joined Weight Watchers in an attempt to get healthy! While I thought I ate pretty healthy, there was a lot of sugar and carbs in my diet and not enough vegetables. To keep WW more affordable, I recommend shopping mostly at Aldi where fruit and vegetables are very affordable compared to "mainstream" stores. If you're new to Aldi, c heck out my post on shopping there as it has a few quirks. If you need help with kitchen equipment that can help you with WW, check out my post on preparing your kitchen for success . I also really like Trader Joe's for fancier items, check out my TJs shopping list for WW  before your next trip there. So what should you buy to help you on your WW journey? All point values below were updated in March 2021 on the MyWW+ program, the points listed are for the blue plan. I recommend using your scanner to double check point values. Let's start with the fun stuff, the snacks! A lot of my snacks on the program are fruits and raw v...

If you've looked at any of past posts, you will notice I order from Amazon a lot.  For me, anyone that will deliver to my house (in 2 days!) has a big advantage because I don't like going to stores. If I don't like something, I send it back. The only downside to ordering online is we constantly have to take our recycling out because there are so many boxes! C'est la vie. Here are my tips to get the most from an Amazon Prime membership ! 1. Free shipping is a no-brainier I'm going to start with the most obvious. If you want to get the most from your membership, use it a lot. Check Amazon's selection and prices for everything. Consider when you want to go to the local Target to buy something that is .50 cheaper there than from Amazon that you are also using gas, wear on your car and time to get there an back, even if it's only 3 miles away. Using federal mileage reimbursement rates ( .53 per mile ) that is $3.18, plus your time. Also, let's be hon...

Rewards credit cards can be a great way to hustle extra money for travel or just life in general. Today's credit card companies are offering bigger and bigger incentives for opening and keeping accounts and I personally am very happy to cash in. If you are carrying credit card debt or have trouble controlling your spending, I do not recommend you credit card hack. For this approach to be beneficial for you, you need to pay off your balance every month. None of these cards have paid to be in this article. These are strictly my own views about what cards are helpful. Level 1: Maximizing your every day cash back For me this isn't even really hacking, just a little optimization of what you are already doing. You already buy groceries and gas so you might as well get rewards. You want to pay for everything you buy with a credit card including gas, groceries, utilities. If it can be paid for with a credit card use one. Can you pay your mortgage with a credit card? Probably not...