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Home > Archive: January, 2007

Archive for January, 2007

Koodos to Dillon's for Penta Water

January 27th, 2007 at 06:51 pm

After I did my grocery shopping today (the whole store was on sale, so I saved over $19.00 with a coupon and bunch of stuff on sale), I realized I had forgotten to buy a loaf of bread, so I went back to get it. After paying, I thought "I should stop and give these people some koodos." The Dillon's store here recently starting getting Penta water, which is way better than any other bottled water on the market. See the website for Penta Water for why it is so good and good for you. I stopped and filled out a customer comment card thanking them for obtaining this product for the store. I feel so fortunate, because the last time I was able to buy this water on a regular basis was when I lived in St. Louis and that was almost 2 years ago.

$20 Challenge and Debt Payoff

January 27th, 2007 at 02:55 pm

I have collected coins and bills totaling $6.50 for a deposit to my checking account. When the deposit clears, I will send it directly to the credit card.

I am beginning to fell really prosperous and wealthy. I am continuing to see the debt amount coming down and down and down. It's very exciting and inspiring at the same time. I am also continuing to see my savings and retirement go up and up and up.

I just talked with the retirement guy from the company I use through my work and we adjusted my allocations to be more aggressive. I just started contributing last year and I am 36. I need to start being more aggressive with my investing since I have had a late start. I hear some investment people say you can figure in what you social security benefits will be into your "income" you will receive when you retire. I am not sure there will be social security when I retire, so I don't intend to depend on it. When my raise comes through next spring (probably about 3%), I am going to increase my retirement contributions by 1% and also my budget allocations for debt payoff and savings.

$20 Challenge

January 21st, 2007 at 08:26 pm

I have an extra $.19 to add to my challenge money, bringing my January total to $18.49. I told my dh about a book on the giveaway shelf at the library that I thought he might like me to pick up. It only costs $.50 and he gave me $.69. He called the extra money "transportation fees." Go figure. ;P

Survey Earnings

January 20th, 2007 at 04:20 pm


Hello, everyone. I just requested a check from one of my survey companies. It's only $5.00, but when it gets here, it's going right into my Challenge money and to the credit card before it can be spent on something else.

More Debt Paid Off

January 18th, 2007 at 01:49 am



Howdy, friends and neighbors. I sent $17.00 of my Challenge money to the cc today. I deposited it on Monday and had to wait for the deposit to clear.

I had a very low spend day. I did not drive, because my car is still stuck in the ice and also the passenger door will not close. It's a very old car. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, though. I got a ride to work with a co-worker and took the city bus home. The city bus is kind of an odd way to phrase the "bus" we have here because the "bus system" is two busses than make the exact same route around our town. It only costs $.50 to ride. The last time I paid $.50 to ride a bus was in 1994 when I had to ride the bus a couple of times in Springfield, Missouri during bad weather! I took my lunch with me and only bought a soda out of the machine.

This is not really a picture of our bus, but it looks a lot like it.

$20 Challenge

January 15th, 2007 at 02:28 pm

Hey, I was just doing the laundry and found $1.30 in change in pockets of clothes. This brings my Challenge total for the month to $18.30.

This is fun!

Off Topic Humor on YouTube

January 14th, 2007 at 01:41 am

I think it's important to not only think positively, but to laugh a lot. I think it takes your focus off of any problems you may be having, financial or otherwise.

I go to YouTube sometimes and look at funny videos about animals, kids, or other stuff. I just saw this funny video on YouTube that is hysterical. I thought you guys might get a kick out of it, too.

Fun With a Deer

My Paycheck

January 14th, 2007 at 12:36 am



I just noticed something weird about my paycheck. It's $21 higher than usual. I doublechecked to make sure they charged for health insurance (yes) and retirement (yes). All okay there. Then, I remembered that the health insurance premiums went down due to lower costs incurred by members. We found this out during the annual insurance meeting in September. I had just forgotten about it until now. It looks like I can re-do my budget. I feel really prosperous, even though it's only $21. I am so thankful for good health and for having a good job with health insurance. This is really unexpected and I really feel like celebrating. (Hear a serious, Walter Kronkite-like voice here.) No money will be spent in celebrating this win.

Wow. This is fun.

$20 Challenge, Payday, and Leftovers

January 13th, 2007 at 11:56 pm



Howdy, folks. Well, the sad story is that I had to use my $38.20 in Challenge Money for a trip to a nearby city to take my husband to a doctor. However, I did find $17.00 cash after searching through my purse, pockets, etc. which I am going to deposit to checking on Monday and swiftly send it to the credit card before it can be spent. This brings my January challenge amount back down to $17.00 and my credit card balance to $1961.83. I also made payments on our medical bills, bringing our total debt to $7080.20. Yeah!! I don't think I can go to the bank until Monday, though, because there is a winter storm warning in effect and our car is not starting reliably. The storm is supposed to pass around Monday, I heard. The roads are also icy and makes even walking somewhat treacherous.

I also reinstituted a rule I had been using for awhile. At the end of a pay period (day of payday), whatever money is leftover in my checking from last payday I will divide up equally among my Dream and Short Term Savings accounts. For awhile, I had not had any leftovers or at least not much and so had not done this. I had $62.76 leftover in my account Friday before payday, so I divided it and put it into the two accounts. I like this game.

$20 Challenge

January 7th, 2007 at 05:41 pm

I just found a dime on the laundry room floor, which brings my total for January to $38.20. All this money is rolling in in dribs and drabs, but it is rolling in.


Prosperity Blog

January 7th, 2007 at 04:41 pm

Hello, everyone. Wow. Today is a great day. I think today is going to be a no-spend day for me, as I have mostly just been reading email and blogging all day. DH and I will probably do a Harry Potter marathon later.



I am so grateful for the things I do have. I am grateful that I have a good job with lots of job security. My predecessor in my job left with a lot of things that need to be done, but that just adds to the game for me. I am having fun with it, so it's not always really like work.

I just found out that a chiropractor is practicing in the town where I live. He practices the same kind of chiropractic medicine (Sacro Occipital Technique) as another doctor I knew in St. Louis who did amazing work on health problems I had. My arm had been hurting for weeks and I suddenly found out this new chiropractor was praciticing. With a couple of treatments, he got my arm to feeling much better. I am so thrilled about that I could just dance on the ceiling.

$20 Challenge

January 7th, 2007 at 03:09 pm



Hey, I just found a penny in my wallet. I have no idea where it came from, but I'm going to just put it in the piggy and be grateful. This brings my total for January to $38.10.

Yippee!

New Year's Resolutions

January 6th, 2007 at 09:33 pm



Hi, everyone. I just got my copy of my AAA magazine, Journeys, for this month. There is an article on saving money that I thought other people might find valuable.

Make Money Matters a New Year's Resolution
http://www.aaajourneys.com/readweb.asp?articleid=145&activeblock=1

See you later everybody.

$20 Challenge

January 6th, 2007 at 07:42 pm

Hey, I just got the gas bill today and found a surprise. It seems that the deposit that we had to put down to open an account earns interest. The company credited $6.29 worth of interest to our bill, so $6.29 more will be going to the credit card on Friday the 12th. This brings my total for the month to $38.09.

Surveys I Do for Pay

January 4th, 2007 at 11:50 pm

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.

$20 Challenge

January 4th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

I'm adding another $.03 to the challenge, which brings me to a total of $31.80 for the month of January.

Woo-hoo! This is fun!

$20 Challenge

January 2nd, 2007 at 11:24 pm

I have another $4.05 to add to the Challenge. That makes $31.77 for a monthly total so far.

I like this rollercoaster ride!

Pursuit of Happyness

January 1st, 2007 at 11:09 pm

I don't usually do movies reviews, but I just had to tell you all about this movie, "Pursuit of Happyness", because it is so inspiring and humbling. It is based on a real story about a guy named Chris Gardner, who had no education beyond high school, no money, and no other resources. He had several dead end jobs, including being a door to door salesman. By accident, he finds out about an internship for future stock brokers and applies. In the next six months of stock broker training, he was evicted from his apartment, constantly without money, and sleeping in homeless shelters, but he survives and even thrives. I will let you find out how it ends, but it's an inspirational story and a great movie that I think we should all see.

I really feel thankful for being able to go to college and graduate school. I had scholarships and grants while I studied and got out of school owing very little on student loans. I now have a job in the field I trained in and love my work.