I don’t know about you, but I have the worst allergies!  Mine aren’t necessarily spring related, but dust & dry conditions of the winter make me wake up with sinus headaches, sneezing and itchy eyes.  When my allergies flare up my productivity is cut in half.  Thank goodness you can’t see me blogging on a bad allergy day… but you can imagine the pile of tissues near the desk!

I’m a Claritin user myself simply because I can’t afford to suffer with allergies. Not only does it make it difficult to do administrative tasks for my blog and social media consultant business, but when I need to record videos for product reviews or hop on a conference call, it’s no fun to sneeze into the microphone and stopping to blow my nose is not an option!

The film is a crazy, over-the-top look at two versions of one busy woman’s day who is juggling work, life and family while also dealing with allergies. In the first version of her day, Brooke’s character doesn’t take her allergy medication, and her non-stop allergy symptoms cause an impossibly upside-down day, where nothing goes right and everything goes wrong. In the second version, she treats her allergies and has an impossibly outrageous day, so much so, that there is no limit to what she can achieve.

To view the trailer and see behind-the-scenes footage, visit www.YouTube.com/Claritin. For more information on allergies and Claritin, visit www.claritin.com

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Burst Media on behalf of Claritin®. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, but my opinions are my own.

I’m about to go on a 30-No-Shopping Challenge to not only curb my spending but to save up for a potential move.  I’ve been doing a lot of shopping lately and while I have to say I have excellent taste and can spot a bargain, I am not quite happy with the fact that I’m not saving more.  I’m bleeding out the funds that should be socked away for an expensive post-graduation life.

Here’s what I’ve come to discover…beyond the surefire signs of an out of control credit bill/spending more than you earn, there are some subtle signs and trip-ups that are leading to an out of control budget.

  Read more →

The following is a Frugal Feature guest post:

Choosing the right handbag can make or break your outfit. Unfortunately, buying the handbag you really want can also break your budget. http://www.moneysupermarket.com/current-accounts/ can help you get the bag you want in a much more affordable manner. If you save, finance smartly and plan ahead, you should be able to get the bag you want to complete your outfit.

Read more →

You may have heard of a timeshare – it’s a type of ownership of a property where you get to “own” an allotted amount of time to use the property.  Typically, most timeshares are for 1 week, and units are similar to a condo, with 1-2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a family room.  Many individuals buy a timeshare to have a place to vacation at least once a year.  Some timeshares even allow you to trade your unit for different properties, so you don’t have to stay in the same place every year.

But what if you don’t want to buy a timeshare?  If you are looking to travel to a vacation destination, you may want to look at timeshare rentals instead of traditional hotels, because you could save money compared to a normal hotel stay.

Why Rent a Timeshare?

If you’re going to be travelling soon and are looking to stay in a hotel, you should look at renting a timeshare instead.  Renting a timeshare can be cheaper than staying in a traditional hotel room.  Plus, since most timeshares are very similar to a condo (with kitchens, multiple bedrooms, and family rooms), you will probably get more space and rooms for your money compared to a traditional hotel room.

Also, since there are kitchens and multiple rooms, timeshares make the ideal place for families to stay.  You can have a kid’s room and a room to yourself, and you can use the kitchen to make food, so you can save money on eating out.  Plus, just having the kitchen allows you to have snacks and other treats laying around, so you don’t always have to go out if you don’t want to.

What’s The Catch?

There is no catch, other than you usually have to book for a week’s stay, instead of anytime like you could for a traditional hotel.  Basically, if the owner of the timeshare isn’t going to be using it, they may try to rent it to recoup some of their costs, like annual fees.  As such, if you rent the timeshare, you will usually come out ahead!

This frugal feature was provided by Money Supermarket

As Benjamin Franklin once said, “a penny saved is a penny earned.” While he made this quip hundreds of years ago, this quote seems even more relevant today. In our current sluggish economy, many consumers are struggling to find ways to save money on daily expenses. Here are several steps you can take to watch your savings add up this year.

Couponing

More and more shoppers are clipping coupons to save money at the grocery store. Despite the common misconception that couponing takes massive amounts of time, it’s really quite simple.

Just gather coupons from your Sunday paper, print coupons from the internet, grab blinkies from the grocery store or buy multiples from a coupon clipping service. Find sales flyers for the stores that you frequent and match up the sale items with coupons. To make things even easier, look for couponing blogs that post weekly sales and coupon match-ups.

  Read more →