John Michael and I had the pleasure of going to Jekyll Island and saying at The Ocean Club Resort in April. It was truly one of our favorite vacations together thus far! I’m going to be sharing our highlights, along with places to check out if you decide to vacation there in the future.

We arrived late on Friday night, but we were able to see the beach from our balcony which was awesome! They had a lot of red lights up around the pool and hot tub. We later learned that this helps sea turtles because the turtles don’t like that color light and won’t be drawn to it.

Our suite was so large and gorgeous. It had doors that separated the suite into 3 smaller rooms. We spent a lot of time hanging out in our suite enjoying the balcony!

On Saturday, we headed to Jekyll Mosaic museum for a tour around the island to learn more about the history. We were all separated into our own little sections of the trolly in order to be covid safe. Our driver shared a lot of information about the buildings, the first people who lived on the island, and so much more. We got to tour the Rockefeller Household which had a lot of the original furniture still in it!

After the awesome tour, and checking out the museum, we headed back to Ocean Club and went to the beach. The staff is incredibly amazing at the resort. They got us all set up with chairs, an umbrella, and plenty of towels. The weather was still a bit chilly, but we loved getting to just hang out at the ocean. Afterwards, we took a quick dip in the pool and hot tub.

Then we went off to explore the island some more and figure out somewhere to eat for dinner. We decided on The Wharf which was super popular, and the menu looked delicious. If you stay at Jekyll Island Club or Ocean Club, you get priority seating which saved us 1.5 hours of waiting. The food was truly out of this world. I got a Shirley temple since I’m pregnant and can’t have yummy cocktails.

The next morning, we ate at the restaurant connected to Ocean Club called Eighty Kitchen. They were able to make me a gluten free French toast menu which was delicious. Then we hopped in our car and did a quick drive over to the Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue center. We learned so much about turtles, the injuries that happen, and how the rescue center helps heal them and send them back into the wild. If they aren’t able to be released, they are sent to a zoo.

We went over to the Island Club Resort (which is part of Ocean Club as well!) and checked out the inside of the resort. I learned that Lilly Pulitzer used to vacation there which was a fun fact to learn! The resort has a professional croquet team. They wear all white and compete on the lawn of the resort. We got an unplanned private lesson from one of the members of the team. John Michael and I had played a lot of croquet with his family and learned that we were doing it all wrong. So, we had a fun time playing the proper way. John Michael beat me 5-2!

Afterwards, we decided to do a fun birthday celebration back at Eighty Kitchen. The food was out of this world! We got GF salad and pizza that I’m still dreaming about! Plus, the servers were so kind and accommodating because I can only eat certain things pregnant!

On our last morning there, we went to Jekyll Wheels and rented bikes. We rode almost the entire island. We even stumbled across an alligator! We were super sad to head back home. We will definitely return back to Jekyll island and Jekyll Island Club Resort in the future!

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Sign up HERE and spend $40 on qualifying purchases between now and December 31st: you’ll receive $40 in Cash Back! Hurry before this offer ends.

What is Rakuten?

Rakuten is a free rewards app that lets you earn cash back through your purchases. But how does that work? Stores pay Rakuten a commission for sending you their way. It’s hard to beat FREE money!

How Do I redeem cash back?

There are three ways to earn cash back with Rakuten

1. Shop directly on Rakuten.com

2. Shop on the Rakuten App

3. Use the free Rakuten browser extension

Which Stores can I shop at?

Currently, you can earn cash back at over 2,500 stores and Rakuten’s shop marketplace.

• Amazon

• Walmart

• Walgreens

• Old Navy

• eBay

• Target
  And so much more!

The Rakuten Cash Back Button - Browser Extension

After signing up for Rakuten, you need to download the browser extension for Google Chrome. The button is also a great way to save while shopping. You simply navigate to the online store of your choosing! The Cash Back Button will automatically appear if Rakuten works with the site.

If the store does not offer Cash Back with Rakuten, the button will not appear.

Note: it is important to activate the button before adding items to your cart. If you do not, cash back will not be applied to those items.

1. Activate Cash Back

2. Automatically Applies Coupons

3. See Lower Prices

This is an example of a recent purchase that I made using the Cash Back Button in my browser. After my purchase, Rakuten will automatically tell me how much Cash Back I have earned. It’s a small amount, but it ads up quick! It’s always great having cash back into my wallet!

In-store Cash Back

You can earn cash back in-store just like shopping online. There are three easy steps to begin earning.

1. Select your offer.

2. Link the offer to your credit card.

3. Pay with the linked card to earn Cash Back!

How much can I make with Rakuten?

The sky is the limit! You can earn as much as you want with Rakuten. The key is to remember to use the app! A good reminder is keeping it on the home screen of your phone. Below is a screenshot of my Cash Back balance. As you can see, I have been collecting a good amount!

Where’s my money?

As you can see from the screenshot above, Rakuten will mail you a check with your Cash Back earnings. You also can set up to be paid through PayPal.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on any of the referral links, we may receive a small commission. We only share about companies and apps that we love and use ourselves.

Hi there and welcome back! As most of us know, almost every grocery or convenience store has a “rewards” program. You sign up with an email or phone number or use a key chain barcode to scan at the register. You earn points or discounts that can later be redeemed. What if I told you there is a way to start double-dipping rewards just by scanning your receipt?

Today we are talking about Fetch Rewards. It is a free app that rewards you for scanning your receipts at grocery stores.

The best thing is there are no ads, scanning barcodes, or surveys. All you have to do is scan the receipt in-app to start receiving rewards. It’s that easy! So far we have earned over $200 by using the app!

Why Fetch Rewards?

Fetch works differently than other rewards apps. Other apps earn rewards by where you shop. In Fetch, you earn points by the product that you buy. With the points, you can redeem digital gift cards to stores like Amazon, Target, and many more. Fetch accepts receipts from grocery stores, drug stores, drug stores, and big-box retailers.

It’s so easy!

1. Scan Receipt

2. Earn Points

3. Get Rewards

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on any of the referral links, we may receive a small commission. We only share about companies and apps that we love and use ourselves.

Hi, John Michael here. I’m going to be sharing about one of my favorite website extensions that has helped me and Carrie Grace save $1000’s of dollars over the years.

Honey is one of my favorite Google Extensions when shopping online. Whenever I am shopping for gifts or myself, I use Honey before checking out. The widget automatically applies online coupons to your cart. It also tracks items and alerts you when it goes on sale.

For those you are not familiar with Google Extensions, they are applications that run inside the Chrome browser and provide additional functionality and integration with third-party websites or services.

Recently I was looking for a new pair of running shoes. I hopped on over to Adidas site to see the selection. I found a pair of the Puremotion Shoes and added them to my cart.

Even before I go to my cart for checkout, Honey immediately notifies me that there are a potential for savings by alerting me in the extension bar. Next I go to my shopping cart to apply the coupons.

The extension usually expands automatically to prompt you to apply coupons. If the coupons work with your items, the prices will automatically will be updated. Honey found a 25% off coupon! I saved $17.50 on these new pair of shoes!

But that’s not all that Honey does! Have you ever felt like kicking yourself for missing out on a great deal? Another great thing about the extension is the ability to view past prices and alert you when prices drop in the future. I have been keeping an eye on an Apple Watch to get for my wife. She loves to run and the watch would help her log her runs.

On the Amazon store, we see that watch is currently $20 off. She loves pink and gold so I’m very excited that style is on sale. Before we make the purchase, I check one more thing using Honey. I am able to view the pricing trends of the watch up to the last 120 days it has been listed. To do this, we hover over the image where it says “Save.” Then click on the blue hyperlink to view pricing trends. Looking at the chart below, I can see that the price has dropped to as low as $299 several times which is a $100 savings!

Now if I would like to wait for the prices to drop even more I can! I now can add the Apple Watch to my Honey Droplist. For the next 60 days, it will monitor the price and will email me when it drops!

Hi and welcome to The Savvy Simpsons blog. We are Carrie Grace & John Michael Simpson (yep, we’ve got double first names!), a newlywed couple living in Durham, North Carolina. Our whole adult lives we’ve look to save costs on our expenses, and then especially as we wedding planned and moved in together. We want to teach you how you can save with during groceries store shopping, traveling, hotels, entertainment, and much more without breaking the bank

Hi, Carrie Grace here!

I’m a former teacher turned motivational speaker. I've had the privilege of traveling all over the USA delivering 100s of keynotes to a wide range of audiences. I'm a big risk taker and believe that the impossible is possible! I grew up in a frugal family and learned by watching how my parents managed money. I've always been one to stretch a dollar, search for good bargains, and snag amazing travel deals. Over the last decade, I've been able to score last-minute front row seats to concerts for fractions of the face value cost, flew for 2 pennies (you read that right!), and even went to the movies for free.

Hi, John Michael here!

I’m a commercial photographer who loves shooting product shots for small business owners. My work mainly consists of portraiture, food, products. I’m also my wife’s in house photographer for her Instagram account. I’ve always kept a keen eye out for great sales and deals. Not to mention, I’m the frugal one here, so it has been a very good deal for me to spend my hard-earned dollars.

We look forward to sharing our family’s journey and all our money-saving tips and hacks with you.