1. I am blessed with a husband who loves me and takes care of me.

2. I am healthier now than I have been in a long time. I am working hard to get even better.

3. I have a good job and will likely have tenure (job for life) in about 2 years.

4. I have the beginning of a good retirement account. When I have my cc and medical debt paid off, I want to increase it.

5. I have significant debt paid off.

6. I have two working vehicles.

7. I have two beautiful cats.

Well, I got paid again on Friday. My hospital debt #1 is down to $918.58 and #2 is down to $2077.60. I have not yet paid the cc, but will sometime tonight. I also got a check for grant money to attend a conference next June. That along with a little bit from this paycheck and a small survey check brings my Conference Challenge total to (drum roll here) $1890.00 with $1015.00 of that being locally available. I need to plan for a contingency of not having a hotel roommate at the conference and so I need to gather about another $650.00. Once my conference presentation has been approved, I can ask my work to buy my plane ticket. Yea! A couple of more steps closer to freedom.

Howdy, everyone. I was wondering what you all use to track your finances. I need to have something that costs very little, is portable (so that I can take it anywhere), and is easy to use. My initial thought is something like a moleskin notebook to write notes about what I spend money on or planner pages to track expenses. It just seems like my money just disappears and I hope something like this will help me to find the leaks!

I have made any entries in awhile. I have had so much stuff going on that it is hard to get around to it. As of now, my hospital debt #1 is down to $938.58 and #2 is down to $2152.60. Woo-hoo!

DH and I have already discussed what to do with our text refund next year. Yes, I know it is a ways off, but it never hurts to plan. Whatever we get, whether it is $1000 or $500, 1/2 will be spent on hospital debt #1 and 1/2 on something fun. We seem to concentrate so much on debt that we forget to have some fun. By spending say $250 on the debt, I would be wiping out more than 1 year's worth of payments. Woo-hoo!

Well, I got paid again today. I already wrote out my checks to pay bills last night. I have paid $20 to hospital bill #1, bringing the balance to $958.58. I will also pay $30 on the cc. I will get $60 tomorrow for the Conference Challenge. My retirement has also gone up to $13,017.35.

Last Friday, I mentioned to my dh as I was balancing my checkbook that it seemed odd that I had a $500 balance in my checkbook even though I was 8 days away from payday. Ususally, it is about $100 by that point. I have figured out it is a bad idea to mention a surplus of money near him, because he said, "Well let's go to Hastings, then, because there is a book I would like to get." Then, "a book" become a cup of Starbucks and dinner out. Zap. Cha-ching! There goes a good portion of my "surplus." I had forgotten entirely that I had made an allowance for visit to the dentist this morning (which wound up costing me $60.00 more than what I thought it would) and the visit to the chiropractor tomorrow. Oh, well, live and learn.

I got the bill for hospital debt #2 in the mail on Friday. I made the September payment of $75.00, bringing the balance to $2227.60. Yes. This is good.

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 got another bill in the mail today for Hospital Debt #2. I went ahead and paid it, because it is due before my next payday. This brings that debt down to $2302.60. Yes! I like this.

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.

I just got paid again today. Since I have moved into my new home close to work, I have not noticed any earthshaking results, but I have obviously spent a lot less money on gas. Also, because I am not driving to work, I am not as tempted to go out for lunch. Both great things. In addition, the day before my payday this week, I still had $30.70 in my checking account in addition to the fact that the money I put in savings actually stayed in savings. Woo-hoo!

Anyway, my savings account total is $250.34 and my retirement is $12,511.81. I will make a credit card payment of $50.00 tomorrow.

Also, I just completed a bunch of surveys and cashed in survey points for $20.00. Woo-hoo! I need to set aside money to go to a conference next June, so that's what I will use that money to do.

The picture above is not actually one of my furbabies, but they have done this. (My furbabies won't hardly sit still long enough to take a picture.)

Well, I have been working really hard at reducing my overall spending. Since moving into my new house only a 7 minute walk away from walk, I did not have to buy gas for 2 weeks. I bought $15.13 in gas today because I was driving my truck and the gas gauge was at 1/4 of a tank.

As for my other spending today, I first went to the veterinarian's office to get flea medicine and ear mite medicine for the cats. That was about $30.00. (I can't seem to find the receipt right now.)

Walgreens here had a coupon in the weekly ad that proved to be lucrative. There was an ad for Hunts tomato sauce for 3 8oz. cans for $1.00. There was a maximum amount per purchase of 6 cans, so I bought 6 cans. At my regular grocery, they are usually $1.00 each. I would happily buy generic, except that my hubby complains loudly about how they don't stack well in the cupboard. (!?) I also bought a spiral notebook for my hubby, which was on sale. I wound up spending a total of $5.35 at Walgreens.

I bought some cheap staple basics at Dollar General, including tuna fish, pork and beans, relish, Manwich, V-8 juice, and Gatorade. I wound up spending $22.37 here.

At my regular grocery store, I used a coupon for $1.00 off 2 packages of Butterball chicken strips. I really love these things and they are easy to incoporate into any recipe like soups, wraps, salads, etc. They are already fully cooked, so they can just be thrown in after everything else is cooked. I brought my own shopping bags (those weird looking nylon bags that all the stores seem to be selling these days) and with the coupon, wound up spending $69.49 at the grocery store.

I can't exactly figure out what I am doing wrong. I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS make a list and never go into the store hungry. I always get what is on the list unless I see something on sale that is a staple food product in our home. I don't buy tv dinners, a lot of brand names, etc., but no matter what I do, I seem to spend about $100.00 a week for groceries for me, my hubby, and two cats. That counts cleaning products, toilet paper, as well as food to create my lunches for work, etc. We don't have any kids and we don't have people over for parties. We buy a bottle of booze about 1 time per month. I have watched food prices skyrocket though in the last year. For example, at my grocery store about 1 year ago, Hellman's Canola Mayo was usually about $3.19 per 32 oz jar (expensive by my standards) unless it was on sale. I usually waited for coupons and sales to get the best deal. Now, it is $5.91. I know that prices are going up, but that's ridiculous, and unfortunately, that brand is not at any of the discount stores. For myself, I don't really care, as I don't eat a whole lot of mayo, but my hubby won't eat regular mayo because it has soybean oil in it.

Anyone have any good strategies to share?

1. Short Term Savings Account
This one was particularly true when my husband and I were making payments on a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. We were over $50,000 in debt when we started and were required to make payments of $550.00 a month or risk being taken into court and sued for amount due. Having a short term savings account helped us to weather numerous emergencies, like flat tires, being sick and needing money for co-pays, etc.

2. Doing Surveys
Of course, doing surveys does not net a lot of money like an extra job, but it does give you an occasional $5.00 or $10.00 here and there. I even got $50.00 a couple of times. Another time, I got a really nice case for my laptop computer.

3. Online payment for credit card
Doing online payments for the credit card means I pay less in interest. It also allows me to make several small payments each money when I get survey money, rebate money, etc.

4. Shopping at Discount Stores
Shopping at stores like Dollar General has allowed me to keep more money in my pocket where it belongs. This is especially the case lately when the prices for groceries have been going sky high. For example, in the last year, Hellmann's Canola Oil Mayo has gone from $3.19 to $5.91 in my local grocery store. Ouch. Unfortunately, this brand in not available in Dollar General, but a lot of other things, like Heinz Ketchup, Jiffy Peanut Butter, white vinegar, raisins, pork and beans, Manwich, etc. are available there. What floors me is that the only people I buy food for are me, my husband, and our 2 cats. Yet, there are some weeks, even when shopping at Dollar General, I wind up spending $100.00 on us. Don't get me wrong. I make a list and get what is on the list. I use coupons when the item I need is cheaper with a coupon than any other brand is without a coupon. I also bring my own shopping bags, for which I get a discount. In other words, I don't buy junk food, ice cream, cookies, a lot of red meat, etc., all things which tend to be expensive.

5. Taking My Lunch to Work
Taking my lunch to work saves me at least $30.00 per week easy. I work at a college campus and if I eat in one of the campus eateries, I pay around $6.30 to eat lunch. If I make my own lunch and bring it, I can usually do so for around $1.50. Big savings and less headache for me. In addition, I can also make my own iced tea and take it in a thermos, saving me around $15.00 per week. Wow.

6. Realizing That I am Not Alone.
Regarding finances, it seems that no matter the pay scale, my friends, family, and co-workers are all feeling the pinch in their finances. Most people point the price of gas as the cause, but it is more complicated than that. The value of the dollar is going down - a lot. That impacts the price of food, airline tickets, gas, and anything else you can think of. The support I receive my friends, family, and co-workers is phenomenal because we all seem to be in the same boat. No one pressures anyone else to "go to lunch because we deserve it."

7. Keeping a penny jar.
It probably sounds silly, but I keep a penny jar. Okay, so it's actually a can that my mother used to keep buttons in. But, I keep coins in it. Whenever my purse starts to get a little heavy from the coins in it, I empty them into the can. Once in a awhile I have to raid it for something - like right before payday when my checking account is running on fumes. But for the most part, I am able to accumulate coins in it and then cash them in and deposit them to my checking. I use that to make an extra payment to the cc.

8. Having my retirement deducted from my paycheck.
I admit it. I am weak. If I had to make direct payments to my retirement every month, I probably would not do it. Having it directly taken out of my pay by my employer has disciplined me. I love it. And I love the idea of retirement.

9. The feeling I get when I successfully make a debt payment.
I love the feeling I get when I successfully make a debt payment. It's even better when I pay off a debt in full. Wow. The freedom that paid-off debt gives you is better than... well, a lot of things.



10. Living Close Enough to Work to Walk.
I have not been doing this long enough to realize all of the financial benefits. However, I have not had to buy gas in a week and a half. I am also more physically fit from all the walking. I will do a review of spending after about 2 months to see how it is all going, but I do expect to benefit from it in several ways, including have more financial freedom to pay off debt and increase savings.

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 got paid again on Friday. This is the first paycheck with this year's raise. Basically, I have about $35.00 more net pay because my retirement contribution is a percentage of my pay instead of being a certain amount, so it went up too. I have paid off more debt on my cc and hospital debt #2. Bill for Hospital Debt #1 should come in a couple of days and I will make a payment on it.

This picture is not of my furballs, though mine have actually done something like this when chasing after flies in the house. The cat that is jumping actually looks a little like my cat, Morgaine.

Well, my picture above doesn't have anything to do with my blog, but I love it. It is not a picture of one of my furballs, though.

Well, here I am again. Another payday. More debt paid off and more money saved. Investments for retirement have gone up. Progress is being made, a little more slowly than I would like.

My other bit of success is that my hubby and I found another house to rent that is much nicer than where we are living and only a 5 minute walk away from work. Yes, I did say (or rather write) walk to work! It is very close and solves multiple problems, such as:

1) less money spent on gas

2) easier to get to work on extreme cold weather days when I can't get my car or truck to thaw out

3) I also think I will be less tempted to spend money on snacks and other things at convenience stores. The route I will have to walk to get to work does not go near a convenience store, so I will have to "rough it" with pre-packed snacks from home and whatever I can get from a vending machine.

Also, I will be getting a 3.5% raise in my salary beginning in July. I will not be spending my new-found loot on televisions and Coca-Cola. I will be paying twice as much as I am currently paying on hospital bill #2. I will also put twice as much into my savings as I am currently.

Wow. I feel very accomplished.

I thought I would give everyone an update on a weekly basis how I am doing with the 3x5 Account. See my earlier blog at

http://crazyliblady.savingadvice.com/2008/06/01/the-3x5-savi... for the details. It's really weird how having to write down every single purchase makes you really think about it and say to yourself "Do I need this?" and "What am I going to use it for?" Believe it or not, I think I have actually decreased my spending as a result of having to be conscious of it. I highly recommend doing this.



6/1 3 gallons of gas $10.11 on debit card
6/1 24 oz. iced tea and candy $1.09 cash
6/1 payment to credit card with lottery ticket winnings
6/2 20 oz soda and nuts $1.91 cash
6/2 snickers bars and 12 oz soda $1.10 cash
6/3 bottled iced tea $1.81 cash
6/3 32 oz soda and cookies $2.02 cash
6/4 20 oz coke and crackers $2.02 cash
6/4 cookies $.50 cash
6/4 took $60 out of checking to give my dh to buy a new shower head (we have separate checking accounts), but it turned out landlord had old, working shower head which was way better than what we had. And I got my $60 back!
6/5 32 oz iced tea $1.06 cash
6/5 12 oz soda and candy bar $1.10 cash
6/5 trip to Home Depot for weed killer $21.95 Debit
6/6 24 oz iced tea $1.17 cash
6/6 shipping supplies for bookmooch books $2.98 cash
6/6 shipping bookmooch books $5.16 cash

Since much of my expenditures are for iced tea or other drinks, I think I would like to get a big thermos to make iced tea and take that to work. That should cut down a lot on my trips to convenience stores on work days just for iced tea. I think I will also buy some bulk packages of crackers to take to work for munching. Much cheaper. Hmmm... Starting to think about things logically... Scary...

Well, last Friday was another payday. I have more debt paid off, more savings accumulated, and more retirement money invested.

We bought a lottery ticket about 2 weeks ago. My dh finally got around to checking it and it is a $3 winner. He gave it to me to do something with it. I cashed it in and promptly deposited it for sending to the cc. I guess $3 is not much, but it is something.

Another payday and I am more prosperous!

I got paid on Friday and paid off more debt. More money has been added to savings and retirement. Yippee! Slowly but surely as the tortoise said...

Hi, everyone. I have updated some of my numbers. I update the cc balance to reflect what it actually is right now. It has been yo-yoing up and down. I think that is soon to change. One of the reasons that I was charging so much to the card is that when the hubby and I would go on a road trip, we would have to rent a car, because we were not confident about taking our cars on long trips. Anyway, read my previous blog about getting rid of a 1968 Mustang for more info. We now have a road-worthy vehicle when can get us where we need to go. The hubby is not going to like me paying so much on the cc, but I want it paid off NOW! I am tired of feeling like I have no money and can't buy things I want and need because of it. Savings account #1 is at a local bank and the other one is an online account. I just opened it.

Hello. I thought I would write a post about my most recent win. My husband and I have made a deal to trade our 1968 Mustang for a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am. The guy with whom we are trading is a professional mechanic and wants a Mustang to make a present for his mother who had a Mustang many years ago but sold it. We really need a reliable family type vehicle because we are trying to get custody of my husband's granddaughter and need something better to get around than our 1990 Chevy Blazer. The heat and AC in our truck don't work very well and the front seats don't fold down to get into the back the way they should. The mileage is lousy. The Grand Am has smooth acceleration and braking, good gas mileage, brand new brakes, and good suspension. In short, everything works. We are so jazzed and blessed. The other guy is waiting for the title to come back from the state which should take a couple of weeks. Then, we will make the swap. In a weird sort of way, this will help us to accomplish a couple of things: reduce unnecessary spending and pay off debt in full. Whenever my husband and I have needed to go on any trip farther than a couple of hours away, we have usually rented a car. Yes, expensive I know, but we do not really trust either one of our old vehicles to make such a trip. I am so happy and content I can hardly speak!

While I had the day off today to handle some family business, I got a phone call from my doctor's office. It seems the remaining $149.19 on my bill is being written off. While I tried to tell the woman that I have every intention of paying for the bill in full, she told me to stop sending payments. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is being seen as some kind of charity case. I hope it doesn't show up on my credit report with a black mark next to it. Oh well, instead of looking at it that way though, I will look at it as someone having done something nice for me and I will "pay it forward" to someone else when I have the chance. I may have the chance to do that sooner than I originally thought. My stepdaughter has lost custody of her two month old daughter to the social services people in my state. This was due to my stepdaughter's complete inability to learn how to be a good mom to a special needs child despite weeks of "tutoring" by nurses and other specialists who truly wanted to help her learn to be a good mom. Well, my husband and I went to a hearing today to make our wishes known that we would like be the baby's foster parents, but all the judge did was assign a lawyer to the parents and order a continuance. I see this as a true blessing for the child and for my stepdaughter.

As far as the debt goes, I feel like celebrating. One more down and three more to go!

Well, as I wrote in my previous blog earlier today, I have already spent the tax return. My hubby and I have been throwing around ideas on what to do with our $1200. We were discussing what are the problems that result in major holes in the checkbook. Well, our debt makes a big impact, of course, but I could pay that off without a big deal if we had less basic monthly expenses. We have been talking about finding a different house to rent closer to my work. If it was within 1/2 a mile of my work, I could walk to work without a problem. This would accomplish a number of things: less money spent on gas, not having to buy a parking pass, and an easy way to get to work if the weather is bad. As it is, I live 3 miles from work, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I have asthma. While I can ride a bike or walk, I come to work exhausted and sweat - not a good idea because I work in a library where I am supposed to look professional. So, when we get our $1200, we plan to start looking for a different house to rent. If we can't find something right away, we will just keep that money in a separate savings account and basically forget it exists.

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.

I guess you all have probably heard about the impending "economic stimulus package." Well, I know that The Shrub is hoping that we all go out and spend it all on high-priced stereos and bottles of Coca-Cola. I don't know about you all, but I have a fairly specific plan on what to do with the combination of my tax return and tax rebate. Based on what my hubby has told me, we can expect at least $800 for a tax return, so here is my plan.

Assuming my tax return arrives around May, I will still owe about $135 on one doctor bill. First, I will call the doctor's office up and confirm that amount and send them a check right away.

Secondly, I want to pay off a large hunk of credit card debt, about $600.

Assuming we actually get an $800 tax return, that will leave about $65.00.

When the tax rebate check arrives ($1200 for me and the hubby and no kids), we need to replace our tv. I also consider this to be kind of a treat for paying off debt last year. It was old when we bought it at a thrift store more than 6 years ago and could not afford to buy anything else. The color is way off on the monitor and the whole thing needs to be replaced. My hubby wants an lcd tv. I saw a 26" lcd tv on bestbuy.com for $600.00. That sounds like a pretty good deal, because we don't need a real big one. In fact, I could easily go a lot smaller and have no problems at all. Anyone have any recommendations or advice on ones to not buy?

Anything that is leftover, which should be around $600 (and I plan to closely monitor this) will be sent at lightening speed to the credit card company.

Howdy, folks. I just updated my numbers on my medical debt. The numbers went up, but not because the actual debt increased. I found out I had either miscalculated or just entered it wrong. I decided that to avoid confusion, I would start keeping track of the medical debts separately rather than as a group.

Anyway, there it is.

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.