Here’s What Our Team Has Done Behind The Scenes in March!

Here’s what our Hip2Save team members have been up to when we’re off the clock…

We’re back with more exciting behind-the-scenes at Hip! 

We’re continuing our super fun off-the-clock Hip series and giving you all a sneak peek into our lives behind the scenes every month!

Each month, we share Hip deals our team has personally scored, something we’re doing, or something we’re currently reading! And as always, thanks for being here, Hipsters! ❤️

---

Here’s what our team has been up to in March:

---

Emily paid off her car after fighting for a 0% interest rate during the crazy car market. 

Paying off her car has been extremely exciting on the budget front! 👏🏻 What made it even easier and faster for Emily was initially fighting for a 0% interest rate when she bought her car! And in case you’re in the market to buy a car soon, here are some helpful buying tips she shared that could help you save or be a better negotiator:

Great job, Emily! 🎉

---

My family and I built a large raised garden bed to feed our family and our neighbors. 

We wrapped up our raised garden bed just in time for Spring! Sadly, we originally bought these large timbers last year for a bocce court that didn’t end up panning out in our backyard project, but on the bright side, they made for an amazingly beefy raised garden! We took advantage of the awkward narrow space on the side of our driveway and we’ll be saving a ton on groceries come time for harvesting! Even better, our hope is that this 16-foot by 5.5-foot garden will be enough to share with all of our wonderful neighbors. 🥰

---

Kaitlyn went to Chicago for her sister’s birthday and scored some freebies since March is Women’s History Month.

Kaitlyn was so excited to spend some sister time in Chicago and had such a great time with friends and family! She said they stayed at a really cool museum hotel which elevated the whole trip! What’s even better is that they were offering freebies for all the ladies such as early check-in and check-out and complimentary wine-tasting events! Cheers to that!

She even squeezed in a Jonas Brothers concert when she got back home.

Kaitlyn had a full circle moment during the Jonas Brothers mini eras residency in NYC! She said the album they played is actually from the very first concert she ever went to when she was eight years old. WOW! 🤩

---

Melissa and her family took a quick trip to Austin for Spring break and used credit card points for their hotel.

Melissa and her family took a trip down to Austin for Spring break and saved $175 on their hotel by using saved-up credit card points. To save money on food they made lunches to take during their day exploring which allowed them to spend a little more on dinners. Plus, like many large cities, there are so many free activities and sites so they were sure to take advantage of those as well.

---

Liz also saved on her family’s hotel for their Orlando Spring break getaway.

Liz shared that she and her family went to Orlando for Spring break and she used Hotwire to book a hotel for 3 nights for under $300 (regularly $700)! 😱 She said it’s always her go-to for booking and saving on their vacations. She said the hotel they stayed at this time had a pool, lazy river, water slide, and basketball/tennis courts so it was an amazing few days of relaxation!

---

Alli just went to see the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom which is another free thing you can do in DC every Spring.

Oh, spring is definitely in the air when you’re at the cherry blossoms! 😍 Every early Spring in DC you can catch the spectacular sights of so many pink cherry blossoms in all their glory. Alli and her husband gushed over the pretty petals and did other free stuff like visiting the National Air and Space Museum and the Library of Congress! Something she also learned was to look into the events happening at the places you’re visiting. The Library of Congress happened to be having it’s Rare Book Room open while they were there which she said was SO cool being an avid reader!

---

Nicole’s family remembered her late father-in-law and scored an unexpected deal on Instacart they weren’t expecting. 

Nicole’s father-in-law passed away just after Christmas last year, so for his birthday this March, they decided to host a big family dinner at her home in his honor. He was a REALLY fantastic cook, so they opted to make one of the recipes he was best known for – his smoked brisket. What they didn’t expect was to be fully refunded for the ENTIRE thing! 🤯 After trying to get ahold of an Instacart rep to discuss the $25 increase (compared to the sticker on their meat) no one was available and instead they were refunded for the entire brisket that fed their whole family. 🤗 Looks like her father-in-law was really looking out. 🥰

They also saved money on their big family dinner by making desserts from boxed baked goods she scored during after-Christmas 90% off clearance and picking up another Door Dash order which gave them $10 credit for a grocery pick-up. Man, it really pays off to buy groceries online! 👏🏻

---

Here’s some super hot deals our team has scored this month:

---

Liz’s favorite buy this month is easily her AeroGarden which is already booming. 

Liz scored an AeroGarden deal last month and finally got around to getting it set up. She said her veggies and herbs are growing like crazy now which is amazing because she typically can’t keep plants alive. She said this kit is just perfect since all she has to do is make sure it has water and leave it alone to grow! What’s even more amazing is that she had one seed pod that didn’t sprout so she called the company and they sent us another one free of charge because each pod comes with a 100% guarantee to sprout! Sweet!

---

Alli bought these Old Navy joggers on sale which she thinks are a good Althlea dupe.

Alli bought these joggers when they were 40% off for cardholders, making them only $23.99! According to Alli, she said they’re way more comfortable than leggings but they give you a similar look. She also shared that they’re true to size and well worth the purchase! Arguably, they’d make a great Athleta dupe, but according to Collin, the more expensive joggers she loves still trump them all. 😆

---

Nicole made a free baby book with the Shutterfly promo code we recently shared and just paid for shipping. 

Nicole made a cute Shutterfly photo book with 9 months’ worth of pictures of her baby when they were offering unlimited free pages! She shared that the books are free when you use the app and you just pay around $8 for shipping. You can easily upload all the pictures right in the app from your phone and they automatically get laid out in the book so it couldn’t be easier!

---

Here’s a few books our team read this month:

---

Alli flew through this intense thriller because she was dying to know what happened. 

Alli said she’s so behind on reading this month because she needed a break after the intensity of this book. She said this book was super good and not at all what she was expecting. In fact, she flew it to try and figure out what was going on and was rooting for the main character during the whole book! Overall she definitely recommends this read if you like easy thrillers!

---

Alli managed to squeeze in another read this month which she almost didn’t finish but she’s so glad she did.

Alli said she almost didn’t finish this book because when you start it, it’s confusing since you feel like you’re thrown into the middle of the story. However, she said not to be discouraged and to keep going! It’s a creatively crafted book that is set in the past (she thinks?) and is also futuristic. She said when you finish it, you’ll understand! 😉

---

Liz finished the book Lightlark which TikTok made her buy.

Liz said this book took her only two days to read because it was so good! Lightlark is a beautiful fantasy story with lots of twists and turns, so it definitely kept Liz interested the entire time. She said it gave her Maze Runner/Hunger Games vibes and it’s actually being made into a movie so now’s a great time to read it before its release!

---

Well, Hip2Savers, on that note, we’re going to get back to bringing you all the best deals.

We’ll bring back more exciting news next month! ❤️ Happy Spring!!! (Finally!) 🌷