Shew's Life Adventures

As I sit here quarantined from the Coronavirus, I am day dreaming of my time last summer spent vacationing in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite, one of the most beautiful and captivating places I have ever traveled. My heart yearns to return sooner than later. If Yosemite is not on your bucket list, you should add this magnificent national park.  While our visit to Yosemite was only a few days due to the fact we were trying to hit several national parks on our road trip last June, we were able to squeeze in a hike to Vernal Falls.  I tried watching some YouTube videos the night before our hike to get an idea of what we were in for the following day.  Going in late June meant that the snow melt had just occurred and the rivers and waterfalls were roaring.  The videos I found to watch were of hikers in late July and August and gave no justice to the monster we were about to encounter.  The people in these videos climbed up the rocks and along the path like they were just out taking a

I always get rather excited when I find little ways to save a few dollars here and there. After finding these savings I like to share my little hidden gems with other people. In most cases, I have found that most people haven't found these little gems either. Now for some, they feel they have better things to do with their time or their time is more valuable to spend doing some of the things to save a few dollars. Understandable!! But if you are like me and you like small instant gratification, then in these weekly blogs I will teach you a few of the ways I have saved or earned a few dollars here and there. So this week's Saving Sunday will cover a program I just entered into last month.  I had seen the signs in CVS promoting their program Carepass  for months but never took much interest into the program until a manager explained all the benefits to me.  I will not go into great detail about CVS and their ExtraCare program.  I will say you will need to enro

So I may send this one out early.  I am currently quarantined at home and extremely bored.  So I figured I would type up another Saving Sunday post.  Today's post is going to cover AARP Rewards.  (https://www.aarp.org/rewards) This is a free program for anyone of any age to participate in.  Sadly, AARP revamped their program at the end of last year. Previously everyone got treated the same in the program. With the new changes there is not much good to the program without an AARP membership.   I will discuss the program with and without a membership. When you sign up for the program you receive the ability to earn points.  You can redeem them for instant wins, gift cards, or services.  There are a several ways to earn points through the program.  These include taking quizzes, watching videos, receiving newsletters, and attaching fitness trackers.  There is a max of 7,500 points per day that can be earned.  I personally like to watch videos and earn my points.  Sometimes I ju

I am hoping I only have a few of these posts to make. Currently my family is being asked to stay quarantined until we receive the test results for a young man that was working around my husband on Monday.  I jokingly have watched the news of Italy and thought a quarantine didn't sound to bad.  I mean who doesn't want to take a few days off work? Well let me tell you, my thoughts have drastically changed. The second you lose the right to go to work, store, gym, or where else you like to frequent, you realize quickly this is far from enjoyable. I am thankful I did take precautions over the weekend and buy plenty of groceries to last a few weeks.  Let's start back at the beginning so everyone can realize how easily they too could be in this exact situation.  On Monday my husband, adult son, and myself went to work like we do every day. My husband had previously been on a job in Kansas City but was asked to assist on a different job Monday.  Being an electrician

I always get rather excited when I find little ways to save a few dollars here and there. After finding these savings I like to share my little hidden gems with other people. In most cases, I have found that most people haven't found these little gems either. Now for some, they feel they have better things to do with their time or their time is more valuable to spend doing some of the things to save a few dollars. Understandable!! But if you are like me and you like small instant gratification, then in these weekly blogs I will teach you a few of the ways I have saved or earned a few dollars here and there. So for week three let's talk about Ibotta. This one has been around for several years. As time goes on Ibotta seems to get a little better each passing year. To be honest, I am shocked when I speak to someone about Ibotta and they are clueless about what I'm talking about. So what it is? It is an app on your phone where you go through the weekly offers

I always get rather excited when I find little ways to save a few dollars here and there. After finding these savings I like to share my little hidden gems with other people. In most cases, I have found that most people haven't found these little gems either. Now for some, they feel they have better things to do with their time or their time is more valuable to spend doing some of the things to save a few dollars. Understandable!! But if you are like me and you like small instant gratification, then in these weekly blogs I will teach you a few of the ways I have saved or earned a few dollars here and there. So for blog #2 we are going to talk about flying through Southwest Airlines. Now most experienced travelers may already know all the ends and outs of how to save when flying. But if you are like me and don't fly all that often, then I hope you learn something from this blog. I had been waiting to book our tickets for our upcoming trip to Florida and watched the ticke