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Archive for December, 2008

Wednesday Update

December 31st, 2008 at 11:24 pm

Today I worked, but only until lunchtime. But I am really tired for some reason. I guess it is good that we are staying home tonight, eating some shrimp and snacks, playing board games, etc. I don't know if I'll make it until midnight!

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I got $3 from Pinecone for a survey I completed the end of last week. Then today I got a refund check in the mail from Scrubbing Bubbles TMF offer for $5.19. Earlier this afternoon I signed up for several free samples--coffee, cereal, and eyeglass wipes.


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I was planning on going to Home Depot to pay off my last remaining CC which I thought was due 1/1/09. I decided to access my CC statement online and found out that I have until either the promotion end date or the statement due date, which is 1/6/09, whichever is later. I was so happy! That gives me a few more days to come up with some extra income, so that I have to withdraw less from my regular savings to make my payment. I don't know what difference five days will make, but every little bit adds up.

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I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Saturday Update!

December 27th, 2008 at 04:31 pm

Yesterday I did a mystery shop for an oil change at a dealership on my Honda. I've done these in the past many times on both of my vehicles. I don't often get to "sign-up" for these anymore due to a change in requirements in that they can only be done Monday through Friday. I used to always schedule the assignments on Saturdays since it was conveniently on my way to work. If there was a location near my full-time job (M-F), I would definitely get a chance to do them more frequently again.

Since I had off work yesterday(plus the vehicle was overdue for service), I figured it would be a good opportunity to see if any assignments were available and I was in luck. Fortunately, I was even able to schedule a service appointment at the dealership that was convenient for me also.

Anyway, the cost of the oil change & filter service was over $38, which I think is ridiculous when I normally pay less than $20 at chain oil change retailers. It is fully reimbursable plus I get a $8 shopper fee for completing the online questionnaire. You can't beat that!!

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Starting in January, I need to replenish funds to my savings account that I needed to "borrow" to pay off the 0% CC #3 promotion.

Also, since I am saving $71/month from refinancing my mortgage from 8.5% to 5% and going from a 30-yr to a 15-yr term, I think I will apply that to the principal of my car loan. My payments are automatically debited from my checking account, so probably instead of changing the paperwork to include a principal payment...I will send it by check monthly.

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I guess I will use the extra income sources for now (that I had been saving in a separate account to pay off the 0% CC) to add to my regular savings until it is fully funded again.

Have a great Saturday!

CC Savings Deposit Update

December 26th, 2008 at 04:39 pm

I'm depositing the following extra funds for the week into my CC savings account:

$240.11.....Saturday job
$230.88.....Christmas bonus
$ 53.97.....Rebate Checks
$ 0.01.....Found money

The total is $524.97.

Have a great day!

Interview, Holiday Bonus, etc.

December 24th, 2008 at 04:46 pm

Last week I had an interview for a Saturday only position. The interview went well and I am scheduled to do a working interview one Saturday in January. Currently, I work at two different offices on Saturdays (working 2 Saturdays/month at each). I am interested in finding a replacement job for one of the offices. I'm just tired of being taken advantage of, paid below the current rate for my profession, etc. The employer doesn't give COLA, let alone performance raises unless I address the issue. I feel like since I only work 2 Saturdays each month there that I am not really a part of the team, although I generate a good amount of production while I am there. I am not invited to any social get-to-gethers that are hosted by the employer, such as the holiday parties. I used to get a small bonus there each month, but not even that anymore, at least for me. Maybe the full-time people still have that benefit, I don't know or care for that matter. I guess I just need to be happy to have a supplemental income now in this recession; however, I do know that I don't have to stay there and put up with that treatment when other opportunities are available.

So I will see how the working interview goes and take it from there. It is a bit more of a commute, but if I'm not taken for granted and actually treated like a colleague...that's what I'm looking for in a job. We discussed the pay rate. It will pay several more dollars/hour than my current job. I told him what I was interested in making based on my experience, the location, etc. He agreed to it...no negotiating!

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In contrast to the job I was referring to at the beginning of the blog, my other Saturday job is great. Every employee is considered an asset, no matter how many hours/week you work. I feel appreciated, everyone works well as a team, both co-workers and patients like me, plus it pays me what I feel I am worth.

Anyway, I was actually invited to the Christmas party for this job. No surprise though, but it is in comparing the 2 jobs!
The party was last Saturday evening at a nice seafood restaurant. We exchanged names for gifts with a limit of $25. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone outside of work enjoying themselves. I have only worked at this office since July 2008, and have been at the office previously mentioned since 2006. To my surprise, after dinner and the exchanging of the gifts, my employer distributed the Christmas bonuses. A very nice gesture and to know that EVERY employee is treated relatively the same. Now I'm sure the full-timers got larger bonuses, but rightfully so...they generate more production. I'm just thankful to have gotten something extra as appreciation for the work that I have done for my employer.

Sorry this is so long and a bit of a rant!


Found more money!!

December 23rd, 2008 at 04:28 am

Today in the locker room I found a penny.

At lunch time I went to CVS because I was overcharged on an item I purchased yesterday. Near the checkout counter I spotted another penny on the floor. My co-worker was with me. I don't think she appreciated it too much, but I told her that I pick up coins all the time that I find lying around.

Speaking of co-workers...maybe if more of them were frugal, personal finance fanatics like myself, they wouldn't have the financial woes that they speak of so often!!

$490.80 to CC Savings Account

December 21st, 2008 at 11:01 pm

It has been 2 weeks since I deposited any money into the CC #3 savings account. I am depositing $490.80 from the following extra sources of income:

$199.12.....Ebay profits
$ 4.00.....Surveys
$ 0.37.....Found money
$193.93.....Saturday job pay
$ 35.00.....Tex. Roadhouse Mys. Shop Reimbursement
$ 58.38.....Rite Aid Rebate Check

I'm over half-way there...just from additional sources of income. I will keep plugging away at it, but I only have a little over a week before the payment is due. I definitely will have to supplement with funds from my regular savings.

Have a great evening!

Found 2 cents

December 21st, 2008 at 03:30 pm

This past week I got a package from a seller on Ebay. Amidst all the packing material I found a penny!

Yesterday while at McDonalds I found another penny in the parking lot.

I haven't found any money recently, so I was quite surprised and thankful!!

Restaurant.com + Upromise Savings

December 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

I got an email today with the discount code that Thriftorama posted about recently; however, if you go through the Upromise link you can save an additional 15% towards college.

I never purchased on restaurant.com, but I am thinking about it.


Saturday Update

December 13th, 2008 at 08:19 pm

I was off work today. It is the first time in months that I had a Saturday off. Between my full-time job and the 2 Saturday jobs, of course I work 6 days/week. That only leaves me evenings and Sundays to catch up on cleaning, laundry, running errands, etc.

I was really nice to have off today. DD is working and DS is at a friend's house. Usually DD works evenings on weekends too, but she had to fill in for someone today. So I had the day to myself. I decluttered the house a bit and got rid of some junk, cleaned, and did laundry. Also, I did a couple of surveys online. When DD gets off work in about an hour, we are going to make some Christmas cookies.

Yesterday I filled up my gas tank for $13.50. I used my grocery rewards that I had earned on my frequent shopper card and saved $.20/gallon. I paid $1.37/gallon!!

I also stopped at Wal-mart to do some grocery shopping yesterday. I spent about $68 there for mainly all food items. I try to use $1 manufacturer coupons at Wal-mart because the grocery store I generally go to only doubles coupons up to $1. I saved about $10 with coupons.

I need to figure out my Ebay sales profits and come up with the weekly CC savings deposit.

This is going to be a NSD!!

Have a great day!

More Found $, Ebay Special, etc.

December 10th, 2008 at 03:50 am

This morning at work, I found another dime in a hallway between treatment rooms. I've come to realize that my co-workers are really careless about dropping coins in the locker room. I found a quarter in there that was lying on the counter. I didn't pick it up until my shift was nearly over, just to see if anyone claimed it throughout the course of the day. Since no one did, I decided it was mine!

It's crazy to me that these people don't worry about the change they drop. The majority of my co-workers really have problems managing their money from what I see and what they tell me. I'll save that for another post though!

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Tomorrow Ebay is having a 50% off special on listing fees for auction-style listings. I don't have anything more right now to list. I sold 2 items so far this week, and 4 items didn't sell. I'll post profits later this week.

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I received $1.00 deposited into my Paypal account for a survey from Greenfield online.

Have a great night!

Found another dime + a survey check!!

December 9th, 2008 at 04:40 am

Today in the locker room at work I found a dime. I was so happy! What's with all the coins on the ground lately?? Oh well...keep them coming because I'm not ashamed to pick them up. Whenever my DD is with me and I pick up change, she is so embarrassed!

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I received a survey check in the mail today from Global Test Market for $50.75. I had requested this in early November. I was beginning to wonder if I should follow up on it soon, but it states on the website that you should allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of it. Surely not as speedy as Pinecone checks used to be.

I would like the Paypal option for Global Test Market too, but I don't think that is available yet.

$209.39 to CC Savings

December 7th, 2008 at 08:13 pm

I am depositing $209.39 into my CC savings for the week:

$148.64....Saturday job
$ 56.19....Ebay sales profits
$ 0.10....Found money
$ 4.46....Coupons sold through refunding
site

Seems like I'm getting there, slowly but surely!

Another Ebay Update

December 7th, 2008 at 05:45 pm

Since my last update I have sold 6 more items and after fees I have made $56.19 in sales from Ebay. I will add that amount to my CC savings deposit for the week.

I still have 7 items listed. Two of the auctions end today and both items have bids on them. The other auctions will end later this week and most of them have multiple watchers. I don't know whether I will get any more decluttering done to list anything else before the holidays or not. We will see what happens.


Have a nice Sunday!

Found a dime...

December 7th, 2008 at 12:07 am

Today when DD and I were at the mall, I found a dime in the Hallmark store at the checkout counter. I will add that to CC savings.

It is snowing here now. We finally got back from the mall. The roads are getting slick. What should have only taken 15-20 minutes to get home in good weather took an hour tonight.

Have a great weekend!

$4.66

December 4th, 2008 at 03:20 am

For November I earned $4.66 in interest with my CC savings account. I'm updating the sidebar with that information.

I have less than one month to accumulate over half of the funds to pay off this CC in January '09. I'm trying really hard not to access too much of my regular savings account, and just using "extra" income that I don't really use to compile my budget. Maybe I can get 50% of the way there, but that would be a stretch...I definitely started concentrating on it too late!

NSD, Ebay Profits, CC Savings Update..

December 2nd, 2008 at 04:11 am

Today I didn't spend any money. I stayed in at lunch today (which I usually do) and ate a Lean Cuisine meal, frozen blueberries and red raspberries, and a slice of cheese. Most of the rest of my co-workers went to Chili's for lunch, but I didn't feel like spending $10 for the meal. Besides it was rainy and damp and I just didn't feel like leaving the building.

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Since last week I sold 5 items on Ebay with a profit of $108.80 after deducting fees. I was pleased with that. At least I made a little $ and freed up some more space in the house.

I still have 12 items listed with bids on 5 of them. There are also multiple watchers on many items.

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I am depositing $381.80 into my CC savings account from the following extra sources of income:

$108.80.....Ebay Profits
$145.00.....Escrow overage check
$ .01.....Found $
$ 61.99.....Citibank Cash Rewards
$ 66.00.....Refund Checks

I have updated the sidebar with this information.

Ebay status, found $, etc.

December 1st, 2008 at 12:50 pm

I received a payment (on 1 of the 2 items that I was still awaiting payment on) over the weekend. I messaged the other buyer that didn't pay to make them aware that I planned on relisting the item. She claimed that she needed to open another Paypal account (since she was locked out of her original account) and had to wait for a pin # after linking her bank account so it would be another several days before she could pay me??? Anyway, she told me to do whatever I had to do... So I relisted the item!

Another few items sold in over the weekend plus I listed some other things (mainly electronics). I will post the profits for the items that ended through November 30 either later today or tomorrow.

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Over the holiday I found a penny in a parking lot when we went shopping for some food.

The kids and I had a nice time visiting with my sister & BIL for Thanksgiving. We stayed there for a few days. It was refreshing to get away for a bit.

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I received a check in the mail from my mortgage escrow account due to an overage since I refinanced it a couple of months ago. It was for $145.

In addition, I received $56 in refund checks from Rite Aid, Land O Lakes Butter, and A & H Oxiclean Detergent.

All of these amounts will go to the CC savings deposit for the week. I will post a summary for that and update my sidebar later today.

Happy Cyber Monday!