Shop for Free: How I'm Helping My Sister Pay for Her Honeymoon Cruise

Hello and good morning everyone! I wanted to throw a post together explaining how I'm helping my sister and her fiance pay for their Honeymoon cruise for FREE.


Here is a little backstory. My sister, Reagan and her fiance Tim have been together for almost 5 years now. They have tried to put a wedding together a few times but it has always fallen through. They have 4 children! Tristan and Cadence (4 and 2 this March) and Hayden and Holden (7-month-old twins!) They decided to elope to Las Vegas in October utilizing points they have from playing the MyVegas game on Facebook. I will have to do a whole blog post alone on MyVegas but it's a game you play where you gather these gold coins that you can redeem for things like hotel room stays, free buffets, show tickets...there is even a redemption for an actual wedding! So she's wanting to use all these points that have to try to pay as much as they can using just their points. I think this will be amazing. She wanted to go on a cruise as well, considering that Vegas is only a few hours from Los Angeles and the port in Long Beach. Carnival has 2 ships that leave out of the port one being the Imagination which is the cruise ship we sailed on many years ago.

So what happened was she booked it paying the deposit of $98 during a sale! Super exciting right? But this is going to the Wedding/Honeymoon of paying for stuff in an alternative way. I'm a planner. I'm huge into planning trips. I never get to go but I 've planned at least 10 cruises and watched as the day comes and goes. But this is different, this is for my sister.

The first thing I did when they even decided to do this Vegas escape wedding was set them both up with different survey companies. I get tons of free gift cards just from doing surveys and they were excited to be able to try and pay for things without actually paying them with real money. Make sense?

Now they are booked. The total of their booking before the deposit was $819.72 which includes the prepaid gratuities. They were booked in an interior cabin on the Main Deck (Deck 4, almost at the bottom of the boat.) But I know Carnival like the back of my hand and I waited. Wasn't even two weeks later they ran a different sale. With THIS sale you got an upgrade to the cabin as well as $50 in onboard credit to spend on anything you wanted.

Stay with me I know this is a long and boring post but you will want to see how they went from owing $819 on their cruise to owing $490 in just a month without spending much of their own money.

I immediately filled out the Carnival Price Protection form to request the $50 credit as well as the upgrade in the cabin. It wasn't even a few hours later that not only did I receive the $50 credit but also a bill that they owed another $52 towards their deposit. I was expecting that but I knew they had that money so it was fine, that was money that would have to be paid anyway right? So I had them pay the $52 making their total deposit towards the cruise just $150. That is the only "real" money they have spent. So we did get the $50 in onboard spending now to kick up the upgrade in the cabin. I called Carnival and talked to a lovely lady who understood exactly what I was trying to do. Without raising the price that they paid for the cabin I was able to move them from the Main deck (deck 5 remember) up to the Empress deck (Deck 7). I think this is an amazing place for them to be, deck 7 is the deck you walk onto when you Embark on your cruise. They are literally just a few hundred feet from their room when they walk on board the ship on day one. With Tim's bad back this would be great for him. Not tons of long walks to make it to the elevator and just steps from the Atrium and guest services.

So we've upgraded, had some onboard credit added to the room and still our total balance due now after the $150 deposit is $669 and some change. Keep in mind Tim and Reagan have been doing surveys for various companies, Tim mostly has Reagan works and sometimes she forgets to do them. lol. Tim alone had amassed almost $75 on Swagbucks by this time and he decided to redeem. He redeemed for Visa gift cards, not only that but he also had some money sitting in PayPal from other Survey companies. So all in all...Tim and Reagan have redeemed for over $176 in survey money and made payments to their cruise with that money! How awesome is that?

But that's not all folks! Tim and Reagan both wanted the Faster to the Fun package. This is the package that lets them board very quickly and have their room ready as soon as they step foot on the ship. It was priced at $49.95. Tim redeemed $50 from Swagbucks and bought that package. He didn't pay one red cent for that package and now they have an awesome package. I did take that other .05 from that gift card and made a .05 payment. Every penny counts right?

One more thing I wanted to discuss. We had some issues with some Pampers diapers. They were splitting and falling apart some even were broken as soon as we took them out of the package. I emailed Pampers and explained the situation. They were really awesome. They did want some photos which I did take and send over to them, after that they sent us a $25 gift card to purchase any diapers we wanted for the future. At that time we had enough diapers for all the kiddos so we bought $25 in onboard credit for their cruise.

So this is how they sit right now.

Their original cruise price was $819.78
Deposit paid: $150 leaving a balance due of $669.78
Total paid by Survey money: $179.78
Faster to the Fun Option: $49.95
Onboard Credit: $75 (Upgrade + $25 purchase)

Total in FREE money they have used on this cruise so far: $254.73

This leaves them with a balance right now of $490. Tim is still working hard on his surveys so I know that balance will go down. I'm super proud of them for doing this.

Now when it comes to packing for this whole trip (Vegas + Cruise) they will be utilizing some of the samples I get in the mail. Not only that but Tim has also received some Amazon gift cards from a few sites that only pay out in Amazon gift cards to buy things that they will need. He purchased some packing cubes (coupon brought them down to about $2.89), A carry-on bag (coupon brought it down to $2.95), a travel pillow set (coupon brought it down to $1.30), a black bowtie (coupon brought it down to $2),  and a black set of suspenders (Coupon brought it down to $1.29).





I also helped them set up a Carnival Honeymoon Registry which you can view here. Anyone can opt to make a purchase for them for their honeymoon you can pay for a photo from the photographs, pay on an excursion (I know they really want to do the Blowhole excursion in Ensenada!) or just pay on their cruise balance in general, so much to choose from and I can assure you they will be excited about any gifts they receive. They also have a small wishlist for their Vegas wedding on Amazon which you can see here.

If you have questions feel free to post them below or reach out to me on social media! If you know any other ways the couple can save just post below as well!

Updates and a Wedding!

Happy New Years everyone!! Seriously 2017 went by much too fast. So much changed last year. I moved to a new town with a new colder climate, the twins were born and I'm renovating a camper to move into. It's been so cold that nothing has really moved on it in a few months but hopefully, I will be moving into it within the next 3 months or so.

I have a lot of things I've gotten some great deals on items for the camper renovation so I thought I'd share that with you guys today! I don't have a lot but enough to save a good deal of money!

1. Recessed Light: I bought 1 recessed light from Amazon. I had a coupon code to get it for $2 and thanks to Survey gift cards I got it for free! I'm putting this probably in the hallway area of the camper.

2. Kitchen Cabinet Handles: I got a whole box of these for just $2! 10 of them but I will probably only use four or so. Got these from Amazon with a coupon code from Elite Deal Club.

3. A very small bookcase with a door. Super cute little bookcase. It's very small so it will be easy to fit it into the camper after I gut it. lol. It was on clearance on Walmart.com for just $13 and I traded a $50 Ticketmaster gift card I won for a $25 Walmart gift card. With that gift card plus 3 $5 Walmart gift cards I won from a Coke contest I was able to purchase this little bookshelf plus a set of adjustable bed rails. Super excited that I was able to snag both of those for FREE.

4. TV Wall Mount - This should hold my 13" Hello Kitty TV. I know, I know...I need a bigger tv. But until I get the funds for that my 13" will have to do. Got this for $1 from Amazon with a coupon that I got from Elite Deal Club. Super sturdy and functional.

5. Set of metal shower curtain hangers: I originally bought these for the kitchen in the main house, however, the shower curtain I bought arrived with some. So these were about $5.50 however I used survey money to pay for them so honestly...they were free. I'll just put them up for the camper because I do have a tiny shower in there. :)

Another update...my sister wants to get married in Vegas at the end
of May. So I'm going to do my best to try to get the money to go. It's going to be hard but I've never backed away from a college. The plane ticket is about $360 roundtrip...and I have a lot of MyVegas rewards to redeem as well so I'm going to try. We will see. I'll keep you all posted on my Vegas trip...if I'm able to go. I have a little bit already saved from survey companies and the Dosh app (you get money for referring people and the person who signs up gets $5 after adding their first card) so I'm hoping I can expound on that.

Hopping to grab a few more things soon. :) 

My Wish App Haul!

Things have begun rolling in on my Wish App haul! I ordered at the end of January so it has been coming in for a while, but I wanted to get a good amount before posting. So here is what I ordered and my reviews of them. Keep in mind all of these items were ordered for the RT Convention in May.

This is what I received. 

This is the picture
from Wish.

Luxury Pearl Crystal Rhinestone Tassel Bridal Sash Wedding Dress Belt" yes, this is how it is listed exactly on the site. I paid $4 for it and $2 for shipping so $6 total for this sash. Now I've said in the past I'm a plus sized girl, so I made sure to read all the reviews and the measurements and it does indeed fit. I ordered #3 with the champagne colored sash. So, I love it. It's very pretty, but if you didn't like the colors of the sashes it's basically just hot glued on, you can pull off the bling and attach to the color of your choice. They had several colors to choose from. The color I chose doesn't really match what they showed me on the listing, but it's okay for me, it will still work.

This is the picture
from Wish.

This is what I received.

I also received "Elegant Women's Ladies Faux Fur Collar Scarf Warm Warmer Shawl Stole Necklace" Okay, so this thing looks NOTHING like the photo. It looks like a tail. lol. I hate it. I really do. I mean I'll use it cause I paid $5 for this with $3 shipping. I'm considering asking for a refund that's how much I hate it.

This is what I received.

This is the picture

from Wish.

O.M.G. This is perfection. It is titled "Hot Splendid Gatsby Hairbands Europe and America style Pearl Tassels Queen Tiara". This is the life of my Roaring 20's costume. It's an exact replica of the headband that Carey Mulligan wore in. The picture does NOT do it justice, this thing is fantastic. If I were getting married, I'd be wearing it for that. It's so beautiful. I highly recommend this. Now I did have to bend the headband a bit because it comes a little small but it didn't warp it. It just fits better. It arrived in a box. The only item I received that arrived in a box. I paid $6 for it with $3 shipping. So worth it.

This is the photo from Wish.

This is what I received.

I also received "1PC Hot Red Cherry Bow Hair Clip for Pinup girls Retro Vintage rockabilly Hair Band hair Accessory Cheap Wholesale". This is cute. Looks just like the photo, it's a pretty big hair clip but it will be adorable for my Rockabilly costume. I paid $1 for it and $1 shipping. Well worth it!

This is what I received.

This is the picture from Wish.

I also received the glasses for my Rockabilly look. I love these, they are so cute. Paid $1 with $1 shipping. They had other colors, I wanted red and black though. I do like them! I took a very funky photo wearing them that I know use on Facebook and Twitter. lol. I'm thinking of ordering the other colors. 

I also ordered a few makeup brushes, but nothing special in those. I also got a phone case for $1 that had cacti all over it. It's so cute! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little accessory haul.

Cube Dayz

I'm sitting here sleepy, very sleepy, and I have a lot going on in my head.

My cousin, Rocky is getting married! Yay! He is marrying his longtime girlfriend Jennifer, we are excited for them. The thing is they have a slim to non-existent budget, when I say slim, I mean, we have a dress, and that's about it. SO I'm going to have to make wedding magic here. So if you are reading this and you have any wedding saving ideas (such as what the hell do I do about a tent for a huge field if we don't have the $800 for the tent) I do have some wedding things I've found and kept along the way simply in case someone needs it in my family if they are getting married (go figure, I plan ahead like that).

Her colors are Apple and White, they are marrying on Sept. 18th, 2010 (yeah SUPER close!) five bridesmaids, five groomsman, a ring bearer and a flower girl. Red and white roses I'm thinking and apple centerpieces, I'm pretty sure I can come up with the table centerpieces. Anyway I am looking for any ideas you guys have!

Rocky is 23 and he is the Airforce, Jennifer is 22 and she is in college to become a teacher. I'm  happy for them but I wish we had a huge budget so we can give her her dream wedding.

Anyway I am being watched like a hawk here at work so I will keep this posting short, I will be back later though!

Oh and feel free to comment, I have the settings set up for any comment so even if you are anonymous and have an idea, go ahead and let me know.