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Archive for March, 2011

Conference Challenge, Payday, Lunch Challenge, and Debt Payments

April 1st, 2011 at 01:13 am

Well, I get paid again tomorrow. Hubby is going to the bank to make the mortgage payment which has already been allocated from my two previous paychecks, so no problem there.

I am also making another payment on Hospital Debt #1, bringing the balance to $177.58. Woo-Hoo!

Because I am already done paying on Hospital Debt #2 (!!!!) and I have 3 paydays in April, I am allocating a little extra money towards debt payment on the credit card, the Conference Challenge, and home maintenance.

I plan on spending around $50 to $60 on a new ceiling fan Saturday.

I am also allocating $150 to the Conference Challenge, bring my balance to $1056.44! Woo-Hoo! I will add more to that after going grocery shopping and paying the credit card bill, etc.

I am not sure how much I will pay on the credit card. Hmm...

For the Lunch Challenge, I am thinking of making lentil soup. I hear it's yummy and nutritious, so here goes!

More Survey Money Arriving Soon

March 30th, 2011 at 04:17 am

Well, I just got an email telling me that survey money will be arriving soon, about a week or so. That will be $25.00

Also, I cashed in my beezag points for $8.00. Thanks to beezag doing some kind of special this month where a lot of their videos were 250 points instead of the usually 20 or something.

So, when those go through, I will have another $33.00 in the Conference Challenge. woo-hoo

Survey Money and Savings Update

March 28th, 2011 at 10:43 pm

Unfortunately, part of the money that went to pay for the car repair came out of my emergency savings. I am bummed, because it took about 6 months to get it to almost $600 and I had to take some out. I am bummed, but happy I did not have to resort to a credit card. I also have to remind myself that that is what emergency savings is for -- unplanned expenses like car engines. My savings balance is now $305.72. :|

On a happy note, I got a $20.00 survey check in the mail which went straight to my Conference Challenge.

I also got a paypal deposit of $25.40 from another survey company.

That brings my conference challenge balance to $898.44.

All I can say is Woo-Hoo!

Toilet Fixed . . . Sort of

March 26th, 2011 at 11:58 pm

Well, after hubby picked up the car from the mechanic on Monday, he went by Home Depot and bought a new flapper to replace the old flapper in our toilet. It was only $3.14!! Wow. I expected it to be $20.00 or something. He said the flapper is the one part that is the most frequent to fall apart and cause the toilet to run. He put it in the toilet and for the first couple of hours, it was completely silent. Then, we started hearing it run a little bit. Well, we may have to replace something else in the toilet, but at least it has stopped the almost non-stop running. Looking forward to lower water bills!!

Conference Challenge Update

March 24th, 2011 at 03:22 am

I just got a paypal payment from a survey company for $25.40! That goes straight to my Conference Challenge and brings my balance to $878.44.

Car Repair Completed

March 21st, 2011 at 11:19 pm

Woo-Hoo! I am doing a happy dance now! My car is fixed, so I don't have to take the bus or walk anymore. We can now go to the store any day of the week and not have to worry about taking the bus or a cab home! No joke, we have been doing that since the beginning of October. Our car's engine died because of a busted camshaft. Apparently, Pontiac Prixs have a problem that way at least for the 1995 model. Knowing that, we are going to start saving up right away to buy an entirely different car in 2 years or less. We will look for something 5 years old or less with less than 100,000 miles on it, and also something where we can either buy it outright or make a down payment of at least 30% so that the payments are not so bad.

Payday, Debt Payoff, and Lunch Challenge

March 19th, 2011 at 09:40 pm

Hello, everyone. I got paid again on Friday. More money went to savings and retirement. Speaking of which, I need to update those numbers. Done as of 5:11pm on 3-19-2011.

The repairs to the car should be complete on Wednesday and we can go pick it up. That will be a relief. Hubby and I agree we should immediately start saving for a replacement car. We thought seriously about getting a different car now, but everything we looked at was out of our price range and we did not want to go into debt for a car so shortly after buying a house. I also added more money to the Conference Challenge. I cashed in some survey points, which will get added to the Conference Challenge.

I also hit another major milestone. I PAID OFF HOSPITAL DEBT #2!! Woo-hoo!



This debt was close to $10,000 in 2006. My husband had no insurance and I had to take him to the ER. He has insurance now thanks to my pointing out it might have cost less than 1/2 that if he had had insurance.

In other news, the Lunch Challenge continues. Next week, it is Spring Break at the college I work at. I will be working Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday through Friday I will be on vacation. My progress so far this much is that I have eaten lunch out once on last Friday. I spent about $10.00. I also bought ice tea or soda several times, but I bring my own cup which makes it cheaper because they give a discount for that. Here are my lunches for next week:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - leaf lettuce salad, carrots, cucumbers, tuna in foil packet, oil and vinegar for dressing, orange or apple, water

Wednesday - Wednesday is the day we expect to pick up our car, so I think we may go out to lunch to celebrate

Friday - maybe an almond butter sandwich on gluten free bread, orange, apple, carrots, water

Another thing I have planned to do on Wednesday is to go to Home Depot and buy stuff to fix our toilet that runs frequently. Our last water bill is $60 and we only have 2 people living in our house. I think the water bill should be about 1/2 that much. Have any of you ever fixed a running toilet? Is it difficult?

Lunch Challenge

March 13th, 2011 at 03:12 pm

Well, we had a little family drama last night, which resulted in me being up later than I like and not sleeping well when I did get to sleep. I feel exhausted now and just want to go back to bed.

Here are my lunches for the week:

Tuna salad sandwich, mayo, gluten free bread, yellow apple, raw carrots, snack size ziploc bag of cashew nuts, and bottle of filtered water.

Okay, I am going to drink a cup of tea and then go to bed.