Blue Eyes Personal Finance Blog

I got $6.88 in refund checks in the mail this week.

Today I transferred a prescription from another pharmacy for DD to earn a $25 GC at Rite Aid. The copay for generic prescriptions is $15, so I profited $10 there.

I recently got reimbursed for the Cheesecake Factory mystery shop I did a few weeks ago. The repayment of monies spent is rewarded in the form of a GC, so I got $30 for that. I have another mystery shop scheduled there for tonight, so I am able to use the GC for the assignment. This one I'm doing tonight pays $40 reimbursement!

So I will add the $40 from the GCs + the refund checks to my extra income fund for the week.

Have a great evening!!

Last week I had 3 items end on Ebay. After fees/shipping I netted $27.15 for those.

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Today we went to Walmart, Wegman's, & CVS.
I had a $50 GC for Wegman's that I received almost 2 years ago at Christmas time from my employer. There aren't any nearby where I live, although there is one close to my Saturday job. Since my commute is so long, I just never felt like stopping to go grocery shopping after work. Anyway, I have never been to a Wegman's, and I was impressed with the quality/freshness of the foods. I have always heard excellent comments about their exceptional customer service as well. It definitely is a nicer, upscale grocery store in comparison to what I've seen around this area. I plan to return there again whenever I'm in the area because I still have $ left on the GC.
I bought (3) baby carrots 0.79/lb, 2 lb. blueberries $4.99, radishes 1.19/lb, 2 1b. strawberries $3, plus some other items, but the prices were the same or lower than Walmart (where I usually get fruits/vegs)& a lot fresher!

I found a penny at the entrance door at CVS.

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So, I'm adding $27.16 to the extra income fund!

This morning on my way to work I stopped to fill up my gas tank and found a penny by the gas pump. Then driving home from work I went to the same convenience store to pick up an early edition Sunday paper and at a nearby Coinstar machine, I spotted 2 pennies lying on the floor!

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It was a fairly good mail day also. I got a sample pouch of Dunkin Donuts coffee that I had requested several weeks ago + a Citicard Rewards check for $57.44.

So $57.47 more to the extra income fund!

I've been so busy lately, that I haven't posted an entry here in more than a week!

It seems like I may be a bit overwhelmed recently. I do work six days/week and have been doing that for a few years, so I don't think that is the problem. Last week, we had some activity or event to do each night.

DD & I went on a shopping spree at Kohl's...spent a little over $200 (save ~$93 with 30% off). She was helping me choose some clothes for myself. It seems like I have a closet full of scrubs and athletic wear, but nothing much casual or dressy. That was fun!

Then, another night we went to a pet store & bought a Yorkshire Terrier. The children have been wanting a puppy for several months now.

Also, I took DS to a local baseball game. He earned 2 free tickets at school for perfect attendance for last school year. I spent $17 there on food/drinks. He really enjoyed it as he has never been to a game before.

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I've been busy doing mystery shops also. I did one at The Cheesecake Factory. I took the children along with me. None of us had ever been there before, and let me tell you I was really impressed with the service and quality of the food.
I also did a mystery shop at Texas Roadhouse with my BF. I do mystery shops there quite often.

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I had 2 items listed on Ebay within the last week and both sold, so I will post the net sales on those in a couple of days.

I didn't even post my extra income total from last week. I guess I will add it to deposit for this week.

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It seems that I don't have much of an interest in tracking expenses anymore. Of course, I'm aware of the main monthly expenses (mortgage, utilities, student loan payment), but I'm tired of diligently accounting for each penny that I spend on a regular basis. And I've been doing just that for months now...but I don't know if I can keep it up. It is very tedious, especially when one has an organization issue like myself!

So that's my update for the last week!

Today I found a penny by the gas pump when I was filling up my car.

Then in the mail I received a Rite Aid refund check for $4.99 + the title to my car that I paid off last week!!

So a pretty good mail day and $5 to add to the extra income fund for next week!

I have $481.43 to add to my account for this week:

$415.57...Saturday job
$058.72...Mystery shop reimbursement/fees
$007.00...Surveys
$000.14...You Data income

So I now have $3,677.13 in the extra income fund.

Last night I did a lengthier Pinecone survey with a $5 reimbursement instead of the usual $3. The money was deposited into my Paypal account this morning.

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Then I received a DD in my checking account from a mystery shopping company that I do assignments for in the amount of $58.72 (including reimbursements & shopping fees) for May.

So some additional funds for the extra income account

I'm depositing $108.21 to the extra income fund for this week:

$74.30...Net Ebay Sales
$13.00...Surveys
$10.76...May interest
$07.67...Refund checks
$02.01...Found money
$00.47...You Data earnings


Have a great Sunday all!

Today I made a final payment of $2,102 (actual payoff figure) to the car loan. Even though I was paying at least $70 towards the principal each month, it didn't seem like I would get it paid off much earlier than February 2010 (end of contract)anyway.

So basically I've been thinking about doing this for a few weeks/months. Creditcardfree made a comment on one of my posts in regards to having enough money in my extra income fund to pay off the car loan. I believe I was swayed by that too

Since my extra income fund has been growing at a nice pace, I decided that I could use $ from that account for the car loan and still be able to attain my goal of $8,000 by the end of 2009. That is if I can manage to hang on to my Saturday job in the upcoming months. Since this extra income is the main reason my account grows so rapidly.

As of May I quit my one Saturday job to be able to work *every* Saturday at the better paying position. It seems like I have been ranging from $700-800/month since the change now, so hopefully this goal is still within my reach. We shall see how it goes...

I've updated the sidebar, so the new balance in the extra income account is $3,087.49.

Thanks creditcardfree for your advice!

I had an Ebay auction end yesterday. After shipping/fees, etc. I netted $74.30 for an electronics item. Not bad...I will add that to the extra income fund, along with the penny I found walking through the laundromat to where DD works.

I filed a dispute for an unpaid item I had listed on Ebay. The bidder/buyer hasn't responded to any email or tried to contact me in any way. It has been over 7 days that the auction ended. We will see what happens there...

A week or two ago I completed a health care survey where the compensation is a gift card of my choice. I haven't picked it out yet, but I will add this $10 to my extra income fund.

I also got $3 from Pinecone in my Paypal account today for a survey I did the other day.

So $13 survey income so far this week

Today after work I went with DD to Wal-mart. As we were walking through the parking lot to the store, I noticed some dollar bills in the middle of the road. Now I haven't found anything but coins in probably years. I was very excited to have found 2-$1 bills!!

Also, I got a refund check in the mail today for $2.99.

So a total of $4.99 to send to the extra income fund!

I'm adding $424.03 to the extra income fund for this week:

$415.58 Saturday income
$003.75 Sold coupons
$003.78 Ebay net sales
$000.82 You Data earnings
$000.10 Found money


I now have over $5,000 in the extra income fund. I've updated the sidebar with this deposit.

Have a great evening all!!

Earlier this week I sold some coupons through an advertiser when I subscribed to a refunding magazine (from years ago who I've been in contact with sporadically just for this purpose). I received $3.75 in Paypal for that.

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I found another dime today at Wal-mart near the checkout area.

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Also, I listed another item on Ebay on Monday. It has many watchers & bids on it already. I got payments today from 2 auctions that ended last week. I'm still waiting on one more payment. I need to ship those items out tomorrow. I'll figure the net sales after costs probably tomorrow.

I have $68.82 to add to the extra income fund for this week:

$65.02 Net Ebay Sales
$00.03 Found Money
$03.77 You Data income

I now have $4765.46 in the extra income fund!

This week I have earned $1.20 from You Data. Not a lot, but certainly better than nothing.


I stopped to fill up my car with gas today and found a penny by the gas pump. That's 3 cents I've located this week!!

Have a great evening!

At work in the hallway I found a penny today. More to the extra income fund!!

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Since my regular monthly car payment was applied to my account, I now owe less than $2100. With the additional principal payments of at least $70/month, I should easily have this paid off before the end of the year.

After deducting shipping/fees from the items I sold on Ebay so far this week, I have gained a bit over $65. Not bad I suppose!

I have a few more items listed only 1 has a bid on it, but several watchers on many of the items.

So another $65.02 towards the extra income fund for this week!

I found a penny at the Wal-mart checkout area again. A little more extra income!!

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I feel like I'm getting sick...sore throat and generally just weak/tired. Hopefully I can stop it from progressing any further, but we shall see. I think I will have a hot cup of lemon tea now.

Yesterday I posted some more items on Ebay. Auctions on 2 of the items end today and both have bids on them. The other five items have several watchers. One of those items have a bid.

So I'm hoping for at least a bit of extra income. I will probably post my net Ebay income on the items ending this week by Wednesday.

Have a nice evening!!

I finally reached over 1000 Market Points with Global Test Market to cash out--1025 to be exact. So I will be getting a check for a bit over $50 from them in a few weeks. I took me a while to accumulate points this time...I didn't seem to have as many invites. The last check I received from GTM was in December 2008.

Have a great evening!!

I'm combining 2 weeks of extra income for my deposit this time:

$480.22 Saturday income
$060.00 Craigslist sale
$030.87 Ebay sales
$016.44 Refund checks
$054.91 Mystery shop fees/reimbursements
$050.00 Health care surveys
$000.18 Found money

That brings my grand total in this account to $4,696.64. I've updated my sidebar to reflect this deposit.

Have a great weekend!!

Out of the items I recently posted on Ebay, I sold all of the 5 items. I still have 3 items listed with watchers on two items + a bid on one item.

After the fees/shipping costs, I netted $30.87 (4 items) so far. I am still awaiting payment on 1 item. Certainly not a lot of money, but at least something + I cleared out some clutter in the house.

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A few weeks ago, I completed 3 health care related surveys. I received a total of $50 in my Paypal account this week for participating in those. So more extra income!!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Last week I took a continuing education course one evening relating to my field. It was for 3 hours & cost $95. I paid for it several weeks ago, then this week my employer reimbursed me for it. Since I had already budgeted that amount out of my pay, I decided to mail a check for that amount to the car loan principal.

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In the mail today, I received a refund check for $14.95, which will get added to the extra income fund.

Have a great evening!

I signed up to do several mystery shops this week at Rita's, Bruster's, and Sonic. I've already done the first two, the other one I will do tomorrow.

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I found a dime by the soft drink dispenser outside of Wal-mart today!

I'm going to combine last week's extra income with this week's deposit...it wasn't that much anyhow, but still it all adds up.

After work today, I stopped at Rite Aid to buy the FAR item for this week--got 2b Fat-tastic Mousse. By the checkout counter I spotted a penny there waiting for me!

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I've got several Ebay auctions ending tonight, so I will post my net income here in the next few days. Now I'm going to list a few other items.

Have a good evening!!

Earlier last week I listed an item on Craigslist. Now I've never had any luck selling anything I posted there. In fact, I listed this item before. At that time I got several responses from interested potential buyers. I was not at all successful because people would say they would meet me to look at the item and never showed up...didn't even have the sense or courtesy to call to cancel the appointment. It seems that is the rule, rather than the exception. Anyway, no luck selling the item a few months ago. Reluctantly, I re-listed the item because I really wanted to get rid of it. To my surprise, someone contacted me to make arrangements to meet me & actually followed through & purchased the item. She was a really nice person & was thoroughly interested so she paid me exactly what I posted in the ad. I explained to her that my previous experiences were not acceptable & that I appreciated the fact that she offered great communication & actually followed through on her committment to meet me. That surely is commendable these days (it seems)!! Anyway, I got $60 for the item. More extra income!!

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As far as Ebay goes, I have 6 items listed currently. Four of the 6 items have bids, with plenty of watchers. So it looks like I will have some extra money to throw into the extra income fund. I have about 4 more items to list that I've found around the house that I no longer need, so I will post them this week hopefully!

Have a great evening!!

I just wanted to wish all the mothers a very enjoyable & relaxing Mother's Day!!

Have a great day!

I found a nickel in the Walmart parking lot today, right by my car door!

Plus I got a refund check in the mail for $1.49.

More $ to the extra income fund!!

I found two pennies today...one at Walmart and another in my own dryer (someone failed to empty their pockets once again).

I will add this to my extra income fund!