Special Date Night Thanks to Minimalism

Minimalism has many benefits and sometimes if done thoughtfully it can add some extra cash to your pocket.

In my last blog post about the demonstration of the box project in the decluttering of all my makeup and beauty products I was able to make money back during my decluttering. I sold my makeup that was unused (115 items including many samples) for $85! I was going to use this for a fun out of the box date night which is what I did.

Simple Happy Life is not just about how to declutter efficiently. I also want to show how this journey can add happiness to your life in unexpected ways and how you can live more when you own less.

So here I give you our date night.

There are two things that you need to know about me. The first is that I love is finding a deal/saving money and the second is that I love Groupon. When I get board and want to find something to do I usually peruse through Groupon. I love Groupon and even that might be an understatement! I think its great for things that you just want to try. It not only saves money but it is also great for some inspiration for new adventures and who doesn't want to go on a new adventure? So when planning this date night I went back to Groupon. Here I found a very fun list of things to do but I decided upon archery. I have never done it before and neither had Patrick but I knew he would be great at it and I was sure we would both enjoy it!

So I really wanted to keep the cost of the entire date night to the $85 that was given to us via the gift of decluttering. Here is the breakdown:

The cost of a privet archery class for two usually cost $110 at Next Step Archery in Washington but on Groupon it only cost $44 for a private lesson for two. However I was able to take off an extra $10 and ill tell you how to get 70% off this particular new adventure. Just remember these steps can be repeated for any Groupon adventure which may save you less or more depending on the adventure. 

First when you download the Groupon app they will keep you up to date on the great specials. About once every other month they will have a special where it says get 10% off a local deal or maybe the deal is $5 off $25, $10 off $50, or $15 off $75 or more. You should definitely plan to make use of these deals. I at the time was able to use the $5 off.

Once you have your Groupon adventure picked out you should make sure you purchase it through the Ebates app. If you haven't hear about Ebates in general let me tell you that it is such a great money saving app. After you download the app you can use it to get cash back on the purchases that you were going to make. At the end of each quarter you get a check mailed back to you. It is super easy and simple. If you have seen the commercials the big checks of like $1000 or more are often not minimalists so don't expect something like that BUT we used it just when we were buying things that we were already going to buy and our first check was about $250 the first time that we used it. Who doesn't want $250 back for things that you were going to purchase anyway? (If for some crazy reason you don't want that money for that extra 30 seconds of taping on your phone I have many suggestions on how you could spend that money ;)...I mean how cool would it be to be able to donate a good chunk of change every year to your favorite charity? Just think about it.)

So with Ebates Groupon is included. Sometimes it is specific like you can only use Ebates for goods that you buy on Groupon but every once in a while it is for everything. This time I was able to make use of the 7% back so I got $3.08 back. 

The last thing that helped me get the $10 off was by using my credit card to make this purchase. I made sure to use the credit card that gave me the most cash back.

So here are the steps:

Step 1: locate your deal on Groupon app

Step 2: wait for it to match up with a deal saver in the Groupon app

Step 3: log into your Ebates app, go to the Groupon page which will take you back to the Groupon website

Step 4: purchase your item or adventure and at check out add the code with the deal you waited for

Step 5: pay for it with a credit card that has great rewards 

It's really simple right? 

So all of this saved me 65% off the original price. The archery cost me $34 for two for a private lessons. 

Now I don't think its a date night unless we also get food. So this left us with $51 for dinner which is a very healthy budget. If you want to get an even bigger bang for the buck when you go out to eat make sure you find a place that has a great happy hour. I guarantee you will be pleased. 

If you want to get these apps click right here:

Groupon: https://www.groupon.com/visitor_referral/h/384a1ed7-f247-4045-ae43-30c4bc1ee7d6

Ebates:  https://www.ebates.com/r/JULIAU52?eeid=28187

I do get some commission if you use these links to sign up however this is not a sponsored post and I only suggest these apps because I use them in my everyday life and they save me a lot of money while getting me out there to enjoy life.

Archery was so much fun. If you take a look at the very last picture you are able to see the marks at the top of my target. Those were the first shots that I took at the start of the hour. By the end of the lesson I was able to get a few bullseyes. Being able to be decent at something completely new is such a great feeling and it was a lot of fun. Share with us what adventures you would like to go on and how minimalism could help you get there!

You can see the progress that I made in that one hour in this picture. See the marks on the white? Yeah....that was the first shots and within the hour I had hit a few bullseyes. It was such a great feeling!

Don't wait. Go find adventure now! When you come to the end of you'r life it's often not the things that you do that you regret...it's the things that you left undone.