Five-night stay for two, including round-trip airfare, at The Grand Sunset Princess Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

Eighteen little words I’d like to hear right after the phrase “you’ve won.”

I’d be okay hearing them after 40%, 50%, or 60% off, too. Which is what you’ll find every day at BookIt.com, a leading travel website fearing vacation deals from your nearest airport to destinations worldwide.

You may have noticed over the past five years of posting my spending habits that I love to travel. And that I’m also a little OCD (how many people do you know write down where they spent every dollar for five years?) so traveling means lots of research, bargain hunting, and cost comparison.

BookIt basically rewards you for doing your research. Hotels. Flights. Package deals. All right there. Ready to book. So the next time you’re looking to blow this popsicle stand, you know exactly where to look.

Oh, and why do I deserve to win a trip to Mexico? Cause I will tweet the shit out of that trip. Tweeting is good. Vacation is good. BookIt is good.

By posting this information I am entered to win a five-night stay for two, including round-trip airfare, at The Grand Sunset Princess Resort in Cancun, Mexico. All opinions are 100% my own. Please see my site policy with any questions.

Tax time has me rummaging through shoe boxes full of receipts, which is always quite the eye opener. While filing away all the 2010 FSA paperwork, it became abundantly clear that prescription eye glasses are my biggest health care expense.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite grateful that an astigmatism is my biggest health care concern, but the price of a yearly exam and new glasses can be a strain, and I understand why people put it off until absolutely necessary.

One great way to keep health care expenses in check is by ordering prescription glasses from Zenni Optical. For as little as $6.95 a pair, you can get frames and prescription lenses with anti-scratch coating and UV protection.

I’ve been a customer of Zenni Optical for years, and I can tell you firsthand that my orders have always been accurate, prompt, and stylish. Their website was just redesigned, making it much more user friendly, and much more tempting to order a pair of glasses for everyday of the week. Especially these full frame glasses which look like my everyday glasses but with a pop of color (green – my favorite color).

Do you order from Zenni Optical? Do you have any other tips for keeping health care costs down?

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine. Please see my site policy with any questions.

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Please see my site policy with any questions.

One day, after graduating college, I was standing in the foyer of my apartment building checking my mail. After opening a credit card bill, the utility bill, the cable bill, and another credit card bill, I realized I didn’t have a grasp on how many bills I had.

I never knew what to expect in my mail box. When a bill came, I slipped it in my checkbook and paid it as soon as payday rolled around. I’d never missed a payment but there was no rhyme or reason to my money management.

In that moment, my budget was born. Well, first I panicked and then my budget was born.

I don’t like to complicate things, especially where money is concerned, so my budget is a simple spreadsheet. I don’t use any fancy formulas or software. I list the date, take home pay, and each and every account payable, including savings and miscellaneous expenditures. The total is the amount of cash left in my pocket after all bills are paid, which is then divvied up for entertainment, clothing, groceries, and unforeseeables.

The numbers aren’t accurate, but this is generally what my budget looks like. The gray accounts are paid in full, the green accounts are soon to be paid in full, and everything else is a recurring payment. See? Not fancy.

My budget will always be a work in progress. I rearrange entries, highlight monthly priorities, and keep separate tabs with more in depth information on accounts with outstanding balances. It may not be an exact science, but it gives me a good idea of where my obligations are and most importantly, it works for me.

What does your budget look like? Any tips? Tricks? Recommendations?

This is a sponsored guest post. Please see my site policy with any questions.

efile – The Smart Choice for Taxpayers in 2011

2011 is the best year yet to prepare your taxes online and to efile your tax return. Did you know that during the 2010 Tax Season almost 70% of all U.S. individual taxpayers either efiled their taxes themselves or efiled through a tax professional? That’s almost 100 million people! What do they know about IRS-efile that paper filers don’t? Read on and find out what makes efile such a smart choice…

efile is More Accurate

IRS-efile is more accurate than filling out a tax return on paper because the software drastically reduces filing and math errors. The IRS has stated that paper tax returns have an average error rate of 20%, but electronically filed tax returns have a typical error rate of only 1%. The tax software will perform all necessary calculations for you, so there are no math errors to be made, and it will let you know if you are missing necessary information on any forms.

efile Is More Secure

efiling is much safer and more secure than old-fashioned paper filing because your tax return will be safely encrypted and transmitted to the IRS. When you efile, nothing will get lost, damaged, or stolen in the mail. The privacy and confidentiality of your personal information will be protected when you efile.

efile Is Faster

efiling will not only get your tax return to the IRS faster than the Postal Service ever could; when you use efile, you will get your tax refund much faster as well. When you efile and choose to have your refund direct deposited to your bank account, you will get your refund money faster than any paper check in the mail possibly could. With efile and direct deposit, you could even get your refund in as few as 8 days from the time the IRS accepts your efiled return.

efile Can Even Be Free

The efile.com FREE FEDERAL EDITION is absolutely free and guides you through a simple online tax interview. If you meet the requirements listed below, you can efile and pay nothing.

Here is how you qualify for the eFile FREE Federal Edition:

• Your filing status is either: single or married filing jointly
• Your total taxable income is below $100,000
• Your income only comes from: wages, salaries, unemployment, tips, taxable scholarship and fellowship grants, taxable interest of $1,500 or less, or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends
• You do not claim any dependents
• You do not itemize deductions
• You do not claim any additional standard deductions (e.g. property tax or new car tax)
• You do not claim tax credits other than the Earned Income Credit and Making Work Pay Credit
• You have not received any Advance Earned Income Credit payments
• If married filing jointly, both you and your spouse are under 65 and not blind
• You do not owe any Household Employment taxes (on wages paid to a household employee)
• You are not involved as a debtor in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Try efile in 2011!

7 out of 10 individual taxpayers efiled in 2010, and the figures are sure to be higher in 2011 as more and more people learn about the many benefits of efiling. Nearly 100 million taxpayers already know that efiling is the easiest, fastest, and safest way to file taxes and get a tax refund. Now you do, too.

efile makes taxes easier. So why not get started today? Try an IRS-approved, trustworthy efile provider like efile.com.

Fine. I admit it. I’m a shopper. I like to shop. When I’m bored, shopping is a viable option to pass my time. When I’m upset, a new purse does make me feel better.

What I’m not, is a fool.

I know how to shop smart, compare prices, and hunt for bargains. Whether I’m looking for a laptop messenger bag or new dishes, CSN is a great place to start my search. With over 200 online stores, they carry most anything I could want and their prices continually beat their competitors – I know, I’ve compared!

There’s no shame in shopping! Are you a shopper? Do you have a go-to bargain hunting strategy?

CSN provided me with gift certificate in exchange for my post. All opinions are 100% mine. Please see my site policy with any questions.

I have a new partner on my personal blog that provided a special coupon code that I thought I would share!

Take 15% your prescription eyeglass purchase with GlassesUSA.com when you use the code WhatsUP.

If you know me, you know I’m fanatical about eyeglasses. I have a dozen pairs of glasses and love to wear a different pair every day. I haven’t yet ordered from GlassesUSA, but they have a great selection of name brand frames and the latest styles, not to mention all the prescription options my eye doctor offers, so I’m excited to order a new pair of glasses in the new year!

Have you ordered from GlassesUSA? How was your experience?

Everyone knows the holidays are expensive. There are presents to buy, travel to book, more groceries than you’d think possible to eat, and lights to power on bushes, trees, and rooftops. If you’re prepared, you’ve budgeted for the additional expenses. You’ve put aside a little each paycheck or you have a Christmas bonus you’re banking on.

But no matter how much you budget, there’s always one expense you’re likely to overlook. For me, that expense is holiday cards. Thankfully, there are ways to keep unanticipated (or poorly planed for) costs down, like with budget friendly options for sending holiday greetings to all your friends and family from Shutterfly. 

Shutterfly has Christmas photo cardsfrom as low as $0.32 each in a wide variety of traditional, retro, and whimsical designs which can all be personalized with photos and text to reflect your family’s unique style. I’ve ordered holiday cards from Shutterfly last year and was impressed with the quality of their prints and their quick (and reasonably priced) shipping.

Remember to check for coupon codes to make your holiday dollars stretch even further! Right now, you can use the coupon code SHIP30 for FREE shipping on all orders over $30.

I love sending Christmas cards almost as much as I love receiving them, and with Shutterfly I can send holiday cheer to everyone and their brother while sticking to my holiday budget (even if I forget till the last minute).

This is a sponsored post. I received a coupon code for free holiday cards. Please see my site policy with any questions.