I forgot to mention in my previous post the two biggest blessings of the previous two days.

Yesterday, while on my lunch hour, I went to deposit a check into my account. While I was there, I mentioned that I needed to order checks, but that I had moved since I last ordered checks. Could I still do that online and have the correct address on them? The teller said, "I can do that for you right now. Do you get the free checks, or do you get ones you have to pay for?" My jaw probably about dropped to the floor. "Free checks? As in free?" I asked. She said that they are free, but not fancy. I told her that I don't care. I just use them to pay bills, so they don't need to be fancy. Wow. I didn't think that banks did anything for free anymore.

Also, today I got my water and sewer bill from the city where I live. I don't know how it happened, but somehow I had some kind of credit or something on my account and my current bill is only $5.74. I quickly paid it without question. No need to question the blessings of the universe.

I feel so blessed when stuff like this happens to me.

I logged in to one of my survey places and found that I have enough points to cash in. I will get a paypal deposit for $5.00. When I get the money, I will set it aside for the Conference Challenge.

I got $20.00 from the atm yesterday and added it to the Conference Challenge.

I also received a $6.00 check in the mail from the Dollar General CFL Bulb Rebate. I will cash it on Monday and put it into the Conference Challenge.

My goal on my next payday (September 5th) is to put $80.00 into the Conference Challenge.

Woo-Hoo!

Last Friday while on vacation, I had to transfer $50.00 out of savings in order to pay for gas to take my dh to the vet hospital 3 hours away. Well, at least I had the $50.00. :|

Well, I got paid again on Friday. I also received a $20.00 survey check in the mail. The survey check and an extra $40.00 from my paycheck have been set aside for the Conference Challenge, bringing the total to $63.00. I set aside $30.00 into my savings.

My retirement account is bigger and is currently at $12,682.81. Wow.

My hospital bill is down to $978.58. I just keep chopping away at it and pretty soon it will disappear.

Also, I went to the grocery store today. The store was having massive sales on everything, including Butterball turkey strips. There is approximately 2 servings in a box. I usually buy two boxes and it is enough for me to make something like chicken soup. Yum. Well, today turkey strips were on sale for 5 for $10.00. Yes, I know this does not sound very frugal and that if I just buy fresh chicken or turkey, I could make my soup even more cheaply, but I absolutely hate pulling meat off the bone, so this is worth it to me. This price is very cheap considering the boxes are usually $3.99, I think, and I only buy them on sale and with a coupon. I had a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 boxes, so I bought 4 boxes, bringing the per box total to $1.50 and total amount to $6.00. With that I have enough chicken to make 2 weeks worth of lunches. Cool beans. I also realized when making my shopping list that I have turkey sausage links in my freezer that I need to eat. I set out to find something to pair them with. I love sauerkraut and almost bought some, but I settled on a cheaper and healthier alternative. Red beans and rice. That should make about 2-3 more lunches for me.

This morning I went to a co-worker's house in a nearby town. She has been doing a lot of work on renovating her house and getting rid of old stuff she no longer needs or wants. Good for me. She was getting rid of one of those particle board type cabinets with the doors on the front. She also wanted to get rid of a small bookcase. I was willing to pay $40.00 for both together, but she would not accept more than $20.00.

I work at a university and received an email yesterday that a church was doing a "giveaway sale" of all kinds of things like clothing, household items, etc. You can bet I was there almost when the doors opened. I took away a small cardboard box full of clothing. I seem to have an eternal need for those Dockers type pants, as mine seem to quickly fade from black to gray and I look unprofessional. I gave the church a little bit of money which they were confused about, but I told them I can afford to pay and did not feel right walking away with so much stuff. They were all smiles and gratitude.

Wow. I feel so lucky. I have some stuff that I need and other people are is rid of stuff they do not need. The universe works in mysterious ways.

I just got a survey check in the mail, so that means $6.00 more for the Conference Challenge.

I went to Dollar General yesterday to buy some stuff, including CFL lightbulbs. Their CFLs are way cheaper than anywhere else in town and they are the same brand! Anyway, the price of the bulbs at my store is $4.00, but you can pick up a form to get $3.00 back for each bulb you buy. There is a maximum rebate of $6.00. Cool. I get to get CFLs which generate less heat and use less electricity. Very important these days. When I get my rebate, I will put it into the Conference Challenge!

This probably sounds like a funny name for a Challenge. I have to go to a conference for my work next June. Actually, I have a choice of two different conferences, one that would cost about $1500 and the other about $1000. I would like to do a presentation at one of them. If my proposal for a presentation is accepted, I can get extra money from my employer to go, but I will not get reimbursed after I return. My boss did tell me I could put my airfire on the organization's credit card but that there is some drawback. I also emailed a colleague in Hawaii about sharing a hotel room. Great, so I'm going!

Anyway, to avoid last minute panic or putting anything on my credit card, I am setting aside any survey loot, rebates, and other "found money" aside for going to this conference.

Currently, this fund has $23.00 in it. I am expecting a paypal deposit of $20.00 from a survey site soon and also $6.00 for a CFL lightbulb rebate.

Hello, everyone. I got paid again on Friday. My retirement (403b) is automatically taken from my pay and deposited for me. Good thing, too. I am not tempted into spending it. My portfolio is now a little over $12,000. Hospital debt #2 is now down to $998.58. Woo-Hoo! I also send the cc $40.00. $10.00 of that came from one of my survey places sending my survey loot. I just cashed in points totaling $6.40 from a another survey place this morning. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get the check and I will zip it off to the cc at lightning speed.

I transferred $30.00 to savings. Now that I have moved into my new home that is only a few blocks from my work, I am hoping to see some huge dividends from that. Obviously, gas savings will be one of them since I am walking to work. (I have not had to buy gas in a week and a half.) I am planning on saving back a little more than I was normally from each paycheck and dividing it between savings and the cc. I haven't figured out how much yet, though.

I learned something important recently when doing a cc payment. It is possible for me to schedule a cc payment when I do it online. That way if I have deposited a survey check or something that I know will clear in a certain period of time, I could schedule the payment for after that. Way cool! That way I would not be tempted to spend it for something else.

I recently went on a trip out of town for work. I received my reimbursement a few days ago and sent $50.00 of it to the credit card. Yippee!

Howdy, all. I have had a good couple of days. I got paid on Friday and immediately took the $14.00 leftover from my last paycheck and zipped it off the cc quickly before it could be spent on something else.

I also transferred $20 into my savings at the atm before it could be spent elsewhere.

I also just made another $75.00 payment on Hospital Debt #2, bringing it down to $2602.60.

A couple of months ago, I went to Walgreens and filled out a survey later. They recently sent me a $5.00 gift card for participating. Wa-hoo!

I needed some aloe vera juice yesterday from Walgrees. It costs around $10.00, but I used my gift card which brought my purchase down to $5.72 with tax.

Well, I am off the grocery store this morning to search for frugal, yet health meals. I am going to try to eat beef-free for a week or so, as I am having a lot of health problems and think they may be related to eating beef.

The picture of the cat doesn't have anything to do with my post, but it is a picture of my other cat, Morgaine. Merlin is the one at the left side of my page.

Well, the tax refund thing didn't turn out exactly the way I hoped. Our tv (imagine 27" tube tv that is so heavy it requires at least two people to carry it) was about to croak. It has increasingly had lines on the screen as well as color problems for awhile now. Our tv is virtually our only source of entertainment. We rent dvds from Netflix, but we do not have cable or satellite. We had both done some research online and had a good idea of what we could afford and what we wanted. We went to Best Buy and wound up buying a floor model, which netted us about $150.00 off of the sale price. The original, before-sale price was around about $200 more. After we brought the tv home, I quickly determined we had around $41.00 leftover. I added that $41.00 to $5.00 cash I deposited to the checking account. Before I could spend it on anything, I wrote a check and sent it to my doctor's office to pay off a good hunk of my doctor's bill. Around March 7th or so, I should get a GlobalTestmarket check for $50.00, which I will use to pay off more of that debt.

1. Avoid unncessary temptation to spend money. If you know you are having a "lean" month due to exceptionally high utility bills or other reasons, avoid unnecessary temptation. Avoid shopping malls, catalog, internet or email ads, movie theatres, and the candy aisle at the grocery store, etc. Oh, and don't take other people with you to the grocery store. They will only add stuff to the cart you don't need.

2. Once a week, get some "mad money" from the atm or your bank. This money could be for the occasional snack, coffee, etc. I do this and it helps to avoid those mystery debits that I forget to write down in my check register. Best of all, when it's all gone, it's gone until I go to the atm again on Saturday.

3. Improve your health. I have decided to gradually give up drinking colas both for my health and my pocketbook. This amounts to probably around $2.00 or so a day, but added up over a whole year, it amounts to a lot of money I could use to pay off debt or save for the future. So far, I am down to drinking about 12 oz. of soda a day. I bought myself a mug today so that I can drink tea or water at work. Besides the dollar or two this costs us daily, I figure there are other hidden costs too, like being sick more.

4. If you know you want to do something that will cost money that you cannot come up with right away, first figure out what you want to do and when you want to do it. Find out how much you think it will cost and then create a plan for doing it. I did this last year when I wanted to go to a conference for work. Instead of adding to credit card debt, I set aside money for the trip for months and also cashed in survey points for check and gift cards for food. I also do this with property taxes. I have a Christmas Club account to which I add a certain amount every month. When the taxes come due, I just transfer the money and write the check. No sweat.

5. Mrrebate.com is my friend. Anytime I want to order something online, I check this website to see if the company is listed there or if there is another company there that has the product I need. Signing into mrrebate.com and then clicking on the company website frequently nets me a rebate or coupon code I did not know about. Once your rebates build up to a certain amount (I think it's $25.00), you can request a check.

6. If mrrebate.com (above) does not work, I go to Google and type in the name of the product and coupon code. If a coupon code is available, usually I will get a few websites that tell me what it is. This has saved me hundreds of dollars at least.

7. I do lots of surveys, which net me $5.00 to $10.00 here and there. When I get a survey check in the mail or by Paypal, I look around and see if there any bills that need to be paid and pay them with it. If not, it goes right to the credit card. When it gets paid off, it will go to savings.

Oh, and I really love this quote by Michael J. Fox.

I recently submitted a tip to Daytipper.com and it was published. Yippee! Whenever you submit a tip to Daytipper and it is publisher, they pay you $3.00. I should get my payment soon.

I also recently cashed in my points at Global Test Market, a survey company. Now, please understand that I do a lot of survey for different companies, which do occasionally pay with a $5.00 check here and there. I am supposed to get $50.00. Wow. I don't think I have ever gotten that much from a survey company before.

Not to worry, my savingadvice buddies. My loot will not be spent on shinies or bottles of Coca Cola. Both will go directly to the checking account and as soon as the deposit clears, they will be sent lightening fast to the credit card company.

Jeffrey emailed me several days ago and told me I had won second place in the "Things I Wish I Had Known" contest. I just wanted to say a big, heartfelt "Thank You" to everyone who voted for me. I was really surprise. You can be sure this money is going straight to the credit card.

Hi. Has anyone out there cashed in points at Global Testmarket. I just cashed mine in and am confused about the amount of check I will get. It's supposed to be 5 cents for point. So, if I'm doing my math right, I multiply .05 by 1000 and get $50.00. Can that be right?

I have never gotten $50.00 from a survey company before. This one is going right to the credit card.

A few people have posted comments wanting to know about survey sites. I participate in quite a few. Mostly, I seem to get checks or paypal deposits of amounts like $5 or $10 here and there. One time I had enough Harris Poll points build up to request a Samsonite laptop case for my laptop computer. It is probably worth at least $40 and I did not have a laptop case before, so I was very happy. Someone I supervise at work won a vacation from one survey company.

I have heard nay-sayers say that it takes a lot of time to do surveys. The truth is that most surveys I do take 5-10 minutes of my time that I do in the process of reading my email or postal mail. Others says that it's a waste of time and that you can never make money doing surveys. It is true that unless a survey entitles you to a contest entry for a lot of money, you probably won't make a lot of money.

Small amounts of money here and there doesn't seem like it would make a lot of difference, but that is money you can put into paying off debt, saving for a future expense, or putting into your retirement.

I participate in surveys at several companies, including Survey Savvy, NFO, NPDOR, Lightspeed, Global Test Market, Opinion Outpost, and E-Poll. Some of them have referral programs, which benefits me and the person I refer. Send me a message with your email and I will send you referrals.

Oh, if any of you knows where there is a banner of Pinecone, please let me know. I would really like to be on that list. I have heard that all of Pinecone's surveys pay and better than any I am on right now.

Hey, everybody! No, I am not dead and I didn't decide to abandon you guys and my blog. But I am having a lot of trouble with my laptop at home to access the internet. So, I usually access my email at work during a break or a slow day. Because I work at a university, today is a very slow day because all the students have vacated the campus. But the work still goes on, so here I am.

Anyway, I have a bounty of coupons that I would like to share and hope that someone has some that I can use also.

Here are the coupons I have:

Colgate Toothpaste
Orbit Gum
Chuck E Cheese's
Betty Crocker Seasoned Skillets or AuGratin Potatoes
Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles
Egg Beaters
Fleischmann's
Slim Jim
Ore-Ida
Reddi Whip
Orville Redenbacher
Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Banquet Boneless Chicken
Act II Popcorn
Crunch N Munch
Sara Lee Products (Dillon's Coupon)
Air Wick
Lysol
Edward's Key Lime Pie
Energizer batteries
Soft Scrub
Hunt's Snack Pack
Betty Crocker Frosting
Betty Crocker Cake Mix
Glass Plus
Off! Outdoor Candle
Nestle Coffee Mate

Coupons I Would Like to Have:

Oscar Mayer Lunchmeat
Hellman's
any kind of wheat bread
Cheerios
Life Cereal
Heinz ketchup
Star Kist Tuna
Manwich
Folger's Coffee
toothbrushes, any brand
Floss
Tom's of Maine Toothpaste
Kraft or Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese

If you would like to work out a trade, please send me a message with your email address in it, so we can exchange mailing addresses.

Howdy, friends and neighbors.

I just got back from the grocery store and I have to tell you about some really weird stuff about my shopping trip. I wasn't really looking for any special bargains. I did take a long some coupons that I got from Kashi, but I just put it out the universe that whatever I needed would be provided to me. For once, I didn't really concern myself so much with the cost, but whether I got everything I needed. I didn't bring a calculator and didn't stand around debating the per unit cost of anything. Everything I needed was on sale. I just got what I needed and would up spending under my allotted amount for the week.

I had a coupon for $1.00 of 2 packages of Farmland sausage. Farmland sausage was on sale Buy One Get One Free, so I got 2 packages of sausage for $1.29 total, when they normally are $2.29 each. I also had a $.40 cents off coupon for 2 cans of Manwich. Manwich, which is usually $1.31, was on sale for $1.00 per can, so I basically got 1 can free. I had 2 $1.00 coupons for Hungry Man or Swanson dinners. Swanson dinners were on Closeout for $1.79 each, so I got two dinners for $0.79 each.

The other weird stuff is that I am one week from payday and I have approximately $300 in my checking account. I just got a hospital bill in the mail. I think I will go ahead and make a payment. This is so weird, but I am not knocking it.

Ever since I started with the Secret Challenge, money seems to be multiplying in my checking account. I am not doing any really extraordinary, just thinking about it differently. I don't allow myself to worry about credit card debt. I just pay it like I would any other bill and get on with life. I am not allowing myself to worry about money anymore, like whether we will get a house or not. Does everyone need a house? Not really. I am just turning all of those stuff over to the larger powers in the universe and allowing them to decide how it is all going to come out.

At my work the other day, I saw an email where a group is collecting canned goods for the poor. I have decided to share in my bounty and buy some extra canned goods and take them to the group.

A blogger named Autumn has a great blog on this subject at http://autumnxbutterfly.savingadvice.com/2007/01/06/money-online_20042/.

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Someone else posted a blog about online stuff they do for pay. I have surveys sites that pay me or enter me into contents to win money. I don't make very much money from these sites, but I do make enough that once in awhile, I am able to put a little extra towards the credit card debt. Hope this helps you all out in your $20 Challenge or just putting a little extra jingle in your pocket. I always stay away from the ones that demand my home phone number, as survey people can be worse than telemarketers about calling in the middle of dinner with seemingly endless surveys.

E-poll
http://www.epoll.com/epoll/clients/logout.htm
At E-poll, you can get gift certificates, gift cards, movies passes, etc. No cash as far as I know.

Opinion Outpost
https://www.opinionoutpost.com/index.php
You can get cash from Opinion Outpost and filling out enough surveys.

Ad Paid
http://adpaid.com/ptr/pages/index.php
Look at advertising online and when you accumulate a certain number of "clicks," you can redeem your clicks for cash.

Lightspeed Panel
http://us.lightspeedpanel.com
Lightspeed Panel is a survey site that surveys members about all sorts of topics. After collecting points, you can redeem your points for cash, gift cards, merchandise, and music downloads.

National Family Opinion
http://www.mysurvey.com/
NFO is another survey site where you collect points for doing surveys and redeem those points for cash, gift cards, merchandise, etc.

Harris Poll
http://www.harrispollonline.com/
Harris Poll Online is a survey site where you collect points and redeem them for merchandise. I have yet to see cash offered, but I could be wrong. I got a really cool case for my laptop from this place.

Howdy, all.

Well, the end result with my $20 Challenge is a surprising $18.50. Not bad, I say, seeing as I started it on Dec. 26th, I think. I had budgeted $100 to the cc, so I sent that plus this $18.50 to the cc. I'm feeling really jazzed.

Add on top of that the fact that the college I work for has health insurance, which we only have to pay for twice a month. Since I got 3 paychecks in the long month of December, I have about $27.00 extra in my account. I am putting that on my $20 Challenge for January. Wow. That's cool. I've already met my $20 Challenge for January. I'm not stopping there, though.

I went grocery shopping this morning and saved $14.55 with store specials, my store card, and using my own bags.

I also made regular deposits to my Dream Account and Short Term Savings Accounts.

My husband will get his first paycheck, probably about $250, from his new job on Tuesday. It is the first step to getting our truck fixed so we can drive it. In the meantime, our car is also not very reliable, as we think it may have something wrong with the transmission. I have been riding my bike to work for the last 2 weeks (yes, it has been very cold, and some days, very warm here in the midwest) which has not only save me a lot of gas money, but has given more strength and stamina. (I have asthma, so this is important.)

Despite the car and truck problems, I feel really fortunate and blessed to be a part of this group that shares ideas about how to save money, the struggles to pay off debt, and create a better life. I want to wish the best for all of you and your families for 2007.

I don't usually like shopping, especially right before a holiday. I hate crowds, waiting in line, and everything that goes along with it. But today was a great day.

To start the day off, I went and cashed in my lottery ticket and got $7 cash. Whoopee.

I took that $7 along with $5.50 in rolled coins to the bank. It's going straight to the credit card later today. Yes, I know that $12.50 doesn't sound like much, but it is something.

Then, I went to Walmart. I don't usually shop at Walmart because I hate walking through a huge store just to buy one thing I couldn't buy at some other store. I bought Vive Pro shampoo with a $1.00 off coupon, two boxes of Chore Boy scour pads with 2 $0.75 off coupons. I also bought a very small can of hairspray for those cold days when my hair is full of static when I get to work.


Next, I went to the grocery store and got everything I need for about $62.00. I saved over $15.00 between the coupons I used, my store card, and bringing my own bags.



I also went to three different thrift stores to look for a thermos with a glass liner. My doctor has told me to, if at all possible, avoid cooking in microwaves and avoid plastic food containers. Well, I wasn't able to find a thermos with a glass liner, but I did get a thermos. I will keep looking for another one and upgrade when I do. I also snagged a couple of coffee mugs for $0.19 each.

I am a happy camper. Now to update my spreadsheets and send my online payment to the credit card.

Howdy, friends and neighors.
Well, I went out into the big, bad world of shopping during Christmas season today. I have decided to only buy a couple of gifts this year. I bought one "gift" for an employee I supervise (I bought her pezz candy because she loves it) and a gift bag to put it in. I also bought some special pecans for my mother, which I will mail to her. I will also buy my uncle a sweatshirt from the school where I work.

When I used to live in major metro city, shopping, even for groceries, during Christmas was a complete nightmare. People thought nothing of slamming your cart, grabbing something out of your hand, and just being plan obnoxious and rude. Well, I live in a smaller town now, and it's a lot calmer here, but it's still not pleasant. So, I have decided that that's all the Christmas shopping I will do. Christmas doesn't really seem to be about family and togetherness anymore. It seems to be about who can buy whom the best or biggest gift.

Oh, on my trip to the grocery store today, I saved $13.32 between coupons and store specials with my store savings card.

My husband just found out yesterday that he will a local store manager for a tax preparation service office. We discussed what we are going to do with his pay. First, we are going to get the truck running again. (The mechanic has not looked at it yet, but based on our description of what happened, he thinks we need a new transfer box, a part that costs about $500 from a salvage yard.) After that, we want to pay off our credit card debt and set aside money for down payment and closing costs on a house.

These are my haves:
Coleman Natural - any product
Malt O Meal
Red Baron Pizza
2 bags of M&Ms, Starburst, Skittles, Twix, or Milky Way
Red Lobster
Cheerios
Pillsbury Sweet Rolls
General Mils Oatmeal Crisp Cereal
Taco Bell
Pam Cooking Spray
Pillsbury Shape Cookies
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
JCPenney Portrait Studio
Swanson Canned Chicken
Excedrin
Jergens Moisturizer
Blockbuster Movie/Game Rental (2)
Triaminic Infant Thin Strips
Triaminic - any product
Any Annie's Homegrown product
Theraflu - any product
Lenscrafters
Glade Air Infusions Spray
Glade Plugins Scented Oil Light Show Starter Package
Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refills
D-Con - any product
Rolaids - any variety
Pillsburg Oven Baked Biscuits
Maalox - any product
Gas-X - any product
Ex-lax - 2 24-ct products
Armour - good on Star Chili, stew, hash, or sloppy joe sauce
Comtrex - any product
Glade Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator
Any Flavor Yoplait Trix or Yoplait Kids Yogurt multipack
Pillsburg Oven Baked Dinner Rolls or Mini Loaves
Grands Flaky Supreme Cinnamon Rolls
Enova oil
Pillsbury Italian Meal Breads

I have tried listing these in the coupon trading forums on the main site, but have gotten no response and I just hate to see them go to waste. So, I thought I would try listing them in my blog. I want to trade coupons with someone, so that I can get some coupons I need, too. If you would like to part with any coupons, I need coupons for Oscar Mayer lunchmeat, Camel cigarettes, Hillshire Farm sausage, Jimmy Dean sausage, whole wheat bread, Smuckers Peanut Butter, and any kind of tea. I have a lot of others that I did not list, so if you are looking for something, let me know. Please send me a private message with your wants and mailing address and I will be happy to send them right out to you.