Purple Flower's Finance Blog

I sold 4 items on Ebay this month. All of them were electronic/computer items. After fees/shipping, I made $428.22. I feel that is definitely a nice addition to the extra income fund.

I think I have a few more items I can list next month before the seller fees change again at the end of March!

Yesterday, I listed 3 items on Craigslist. So far the responses have been spam I don't have much luck selling merchandise on Craigslist.

Looks like today will be another NSD!!

Yesterday I got a $2 check in the mail from Survey Savvy. I will add that to my extra income fund.

Today after work I stopped at Wal-mart. I found 1 penny in the parking lot and another by the exit door.

I love finding money!

I completed a Pinecone survey this weekend. I received a PayPal payment today for $3.

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At work today, I found a penny in the bathroom.

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I received a voice mail message from a scheduler with a mystery shopping company. I did assignments with this company previously. She stated that a mystery shop was available in my area. Generally, when a scheduler calls it means that a deadline is nearing and there are still assignments that need to be scheduled. Otherwise, an email is sent to make mystery shoppers aware of upcoming assignments and it is possible to self-assign a specific job.

Anyway, I suspected that the scheduler was desperate to assign a shop. I returned her call after I left work. She asked if I could do a restaurant mystery shop either tonight or tomorrow. The shopper previously assigned to this job failed to communicate with the scheduler and didn't enter the report online by the assignment due date. A $10 bonus was offered plus a reimbursement of $25 for the meal. Since I didn't have anything planned for this evening, I accepted the assignment. The scheduler kept thanking me throughout the conversation. I'm glad I made her day! When I got home from work, I gathered up the children and we were on our way to the restaurant. It turns out I spent $32.71 including tip. So I'm making a couple of extra dollars, plus a free meal!!

I had 2 NSDs this weekend. No need to go anywhere and spend money!

I got a refund check in the mail yesterday from the cable company. We switched from cable to satellite TV and I had a few days credit left since we switched in the middle of the billing cycle. The amount of the check was $7.79. I will add that to the extra income fund since the money was already budgeted for cable.

Have a great Sunday!

Yesterday I received a refund check in the mail for $5.19. Also I got a Paypal deposit for $33.17 reimbursement for a mystery shop.

Today I just traded some coupons with a fellow coupon fanatic. She sent me $2.20 through Pay Pal for those.

So a bit over $40 to send to the extra income fund!

Last Sunday I listed 5 items on Ebay. All of those are ending today. Each item has bids and plenty of watchers. I will be happy to get rid of some clutter and have some extra money.

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Normally I use Turbo Tax to do my federal taxes, but I'm researching other options this year. Even though I get a discount through an investment company, it stills ends up costing *at least* $50. I'm thinking about using Tax Act since it is free for everyone with no income limits...Does anyone have any feedback using Tax Act? I doubt that I'm getting a refund. I may just complete the online forms and save it. Then I can submit it closer to the deadline. We will see what happens...

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Last night I did another mystery shop at a restaurant. I just finished submitting the information online a bit ago. We stopped at Wal-mart to get a few things. I found a nickel in the parking lot and a penny on the floor near the exit doors.

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Have a nice Sunday! I will post the Ebay profits in a few days!!

I'm adding $108.42 to the extra income fund since the last time I updated it. This money is from:

$35.00....Mystery Shop Reimbursement
$69.32....Refund Checks
$00.19....You Data
$00.11....Found Money
$03.80....Coupon Trade Sale

That brings my total to $8,272.36!!

I received a refund check for $10.98 from Rite Aid yesterday.

In addition, I earned a whopping 9 cents from You Data this week that has been added to my Pay Pal account.

So a little extra money going towards the extra income fund!

I had another day off work today due to the weather. I have been home for 2 days now, so 2 NSDs. I didn't actually get the driveway shoveled completely until today. My muscles are really aching now!!

Tomorrow evening I have a restaurant mystery shop to do. I will probably run a few errands as well.

I had off work today due to the snow storm. I'm not sure about going to work tomorrow either because it is still snowing with blizzard-like conditions. My children had off today as well. I shoveled part of the driveway, but it is drifted again plus there is additional snow...

I found a nickel and 3 pennies walking to the building where I work yesterday. Then, I stopped at Staples before heading home. I bought DD a calculator and some pencil lead using my Staples Rewards certificate, so I paid $0 OOP. Near the checkout area I found another penny.

My internet access has been intermittent today...I hope that it doesn't go completely out!

Yesterday I received 2 refund checks in the amount of $14.48, which will be added to the extra income fund.

We are expected to get *at least* another foot of snow tonight into tomorrow....probably will be another NSD!!

Since we had so much snow this weekend, I didn't go anywhere or spend any money for 2 days.

Today I listed 5 items on Ebay. There are bids on 2 items so far and numerous watchers!

Here are some pictures of the snow we got:

when I got a call earlier this week asking me to work today. Normally I would have definitely jumped at the chance, since I could certainly use the $. Plus, this is the job I formerly worked at on Saturdays...however, with 2-3 feet of snow predicted for that area today would have made it virtually impossible for me to get there! They call me so rarely to fill-in, I just really wish I could have done it. On a good day with no precipitation it would take me about 1 1/2 hr to get there, but certainly worth the pay. I don't think I could have gotten there in my Honda Civic.

I called them back to decline the offer, explaining my concerns and the receptionist said that if the winter storm was too bad, they would most likely cancel the scheduled patients anyway. I told them to keep me in mind in the future when a clinician wanted a day off.

So the snow stopped falling a couple of hours ago here. DS and a few neighborhood children shoveled the driveway. It looks like we got about 20 inches!

According to the forecast, we are supposed to get about 12 inches of snow tonight, then another 4-6 tomorrow with blizzard-like conditions!!

I received Staples Rewards in the mail today totaling $30.80, of which $6 was from recycling printer cartridges.

Looks like I will be having another couple of NSDs!!

I got another refund check in the mail from Rite Aid today for $4.99, which I will add to my extra income fund.

Yesterday, I received 3 refund checks in the mail totaling $7.48. I will add that to my extra income account.

Today may be another NSD...we will see!

I had 2 NSD this weekend. I didn't go anywhere on Saturday or Sunday. It felt great not to be spending money, not to mention the gasoline I saved by not running a bunch of errands!

This past week I decided to call the telephone company to see if I could get a better monthly rate on internet service. Currently, I am paying $31.99/month for high-speed internet. The rep I spoke with told me that there wasn't any promotion on internet service. She did say, however, that if I bundled Direct TV (which I recently subscribed to), phone, and internet together I could save some money. I would save $6/month on top of the promo rate on Direct TV. The internet would decrease from $31.99 to $24.99. The phone would increase from $29.99 to $34.99, but would include unlimited long distance service (which I currently don't have). So given that, I will be saving $8/month with the phone company.

Since I don't have my wireless service with this same provider, I couldn't bundle that into the package. I have a family plan with DD, but I was paying an extra $16.99/month for early nights/weekends. I won't need that feature any longer. I will just watch the calling times and use the land line phone more often. DD mainly texts so I think this will work out fine for us.

So with these changes, I am anticipating a savings of about $25/month!!

I got 19 cents added to my Pay Pal account from You Data yesterday. Also, I found a penny at the gas station while running errands last night.

Today I have been doing some surveys. I requested a payout of $2 from Survey Savvy.

It looks like today will be another NSD!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

I received a refund check in the mail today for $9.98. Also I traded some coupons (which were useless to me) with a coupon queen for $3.80. Plus yesterday I found a penny at the grocery store!


I will add these to my extra income fund.

According to an email I received today, a new fee structure will be enacted effective 3/30/10. The "first 5 listings free" each month will be replaced by this:
* List Auction-style FREE--no Insertion Fees--when you start your Auction-style listing under $1.

* Get new, lower Insertion Fees for all other start prices.

* Either way, pay one easy Final Value Fee of 9% of the winning bid (but never more than $50)-and pay only if your item sells.

* List in Fixed Price for 50¢, with Final Value Fees for the most part staying the same.

This new standard fee structure will replace the current "first 5 listings free"--you'll pay no Insertion Fees whenever you list Auction-style and start pricing under $1!*

I really don't know if this *new* structure is more cost-effective for the seller. I will have to check it out.

Today was another no spender for me.

I got another refund check in the mail today for $17.72 for the Olay Quench Lotion. I will add that to the extra income fund!

Yesterday I found a penny while at the grocery store. I also received a refund check in the mail for $3.69.

I had Direct TV installed yesterday. So far everything is fine. Many more options than with cable TV and much less expensive .

Today was another no-spender!!

Have a safe evening!

I have scheduled for a Direct TV installation tomorrow. I've been comparing both Dish & Direct for a couple of weeks. I have heard good AND bad points about both. Direct TV seems to be a better value at least in my area with promotions, rebates, etc. I just am tired of my ever-increasing cable TV bill combined with less & less channels over the last several years. I should have made a change years ago, but it was just convenient and I was comfortable with it.

Anyway, I hope that I've made the right choice. I know I will save at least $20/month, at least during the promo period of 2 years. I just hope that I am happy with the quality of Direct TV and their customer service.

I received reimbursement in my Pay Pal account yesterday for doing a mystery shop last month. I will add $35 to my extra income for the week.

I have an additional $47.32 to add to my extra income fund for this week. All of it was refund checks except for $3 from surveys.

I now have $8,163.94 in that account!

Yesterday I have another no spender.

I got a total of $16.28 in refund checks today in the mail. Also, I got a product to sample from Pinecone based on a survey I did last weekend.

Today may be another NSD...we will see!!

I got another refund check in the mail yesterday for $7.55.

Today is payday. I get paid semi-monthly, so this time it was a 3 week stretch!

Have a great day!

I received $3 in my PayPal account today for a survey I completed over the weekend. I will add that to the extra income fund!

Have a great evening!