Today is another no spender for me.

Since our Easter meal, I have done several loads of laundry which I hung outside. It is a nice day, with a slight breeze.

I still need to finish my state & local taxes. Also, I want to list some stuff on Ebay this week. Tomorrow it is back to work. Then after work, I have a mystery shop to do.



Have a nice, frugal weekend!!

I haven't spent any money today. In fact I did not leave the house.

Earlier today I did some yard work...picked up sticks/debris and mowed part of the back yard. We are to get rain the next few days, so I'm expecting to mow the rest later in the week.

Also, I clipped coupons from the five inserts that were in the newspaper today. I have some rebates to get ready to mail out, then next I plan on working on the budget.

Have a great Sunday!!

Today in the mail I received another $10.68 in refund checks. I also received the instant VIA Starbucks coffee samples that I requested a few weeks ago.

Last night I completed a Pinecone survey and today the money ($3) was in my Paypal account. Extremely efficient

I had another no-spender today also!!

So another $13.68 to throw into the extra income fund at the end of the week!

Yesterday was a NSD for me. Had a birthday party at work for a co-worker + no need to run any errands.

My balance on my car loan is now a bit over $3212, so I think it will be feasible to pay that off by the end of 2009!

Have a great day!

Today was a NSD for me. Not much going on here other than I found a penny yesterday at the grocery store.

More to add to the extra income fund!

Have a great evening!

Today I didn't spend any money. I spent the day decluttering the house a bit. Went through some papers on my desk and shredded the unimportant ones & filed some statements. I generally get at least 4-5 professional journals each month, so I had a pile of those to read through. I discarded some of them, but saved a few that I want to spend more time to read a little closer.

I also located several items to list on Ebay maybe sometime this week.

Have a nice frugal week everyone!

I didn't spend any money today. Actually I didn't go out to eat at work at all this week either!


I got a $3 check in the mail from Survey Savvy that I requested not that long ago...so some extra income fund money!!

Today was a NSD for me. I went to work, but stayed in for lunch break as I didn't have any errands to run + it was snowy and I didn't want to venture out. It was a bit difficult even getting to work this morning.

Other than that, not much new here. I requested a payout from Survey Savvy for $7 so I am expecting that check in a few weeks.

Have a great evening!!

Yesterday I got the CC Rewards check in the mail from Citibank that I requested last week. The amount is $68.07, which will get deposited to the extra income fund.

Then I went to Walmart with a few co-workers at lunch time. I didn't buy anything there, but I did pick up a penny near the cash register area as I was waiting in line with a friend of mine.

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Today was another NSD for me!!

Today is going to be another no-spender. We have more than enough food for at least a week. There is plenty of gas in the vehicles also.

I looked at the coupon inserts in the Sunday newspaper and didn't seem worth much this week. I'm going to get some refund offers ready to mail out tomorrow for some items I purchased yesterday.

I updated my profiles on Global Test Market surveys. I have over 500 points there so I am half-way to cashing out with that company. I requested a $3 check from Survey Spot today also.

Have a relaxing Sunday!!

Today was another NSD. I didn't use any gas or spend any money!

I recently had my car inspected and the mechanic advised me that my tires will need replaced in the near future, although the tread was fine to pass inspection. The current, original tires on the vehicle served me well...~65,000 miles. The shop where I had the inspection done gave me a quote on 4 new tires with a B3G1F promotion. It is close to $400 including everything. I have been browsing on www.tirerack.com to see if I can get better pricing. I was just wondering if anyone here actually purchased tires with that company. I think Fern mentioned it awhile back.

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I started working on my taxes. Last year I had my withholding amount adjusted with one of my employers because I didn't want a large refund. I may have to adjust that again. It appears as though I owe the government more money. That doesn't make me very happy. I will see what can be done to alter the withholding once again so at least I get a small refund instead of having to pay in when tax season rolls around.

Have a great day!

Today, I took my lunch to work as I usually do. Didn't have any errands to run over lunch hour; therefore today was an NSD!

Yesterday was a NSD for me. I didn't go anywhere at all.

I signed in to one of my credit cards and noticed that I received another credit limit increase of $2400. Since November 2008 my limit increased by $3600.

Even though my FICO score dropped 30 points from the previous month, I am still eligible for credit increases. I'm not aware as to why my score fell that much as I have been current on payments for years, no new lines of credit since last month, nothing extravagant charged on existing cards, etc. One of my CC has been closed by the company for lack of usage...maybe that has an effect.

Have a super Monday!

Even though I brought my lunch to work today, I really had a craving for the Chinese buffet. None of my co-workers wanted to go there. Instead they invited me to go along to a fast-food restaurant. I don't particularly like fast food. So I declined, and I wasn't about to go to the Chinese restaurant by myself. I saved about $8 by eating what I packed for lunch instead of going out! Yea!! I rarely go out anyhow...maybe twice/month.

Some of these co-workers will be complaining in a few days that they don't have money for their mortgage or groceries, yet they constantly go out for lunch. I guess I don't get it! But they don't want to get me started about finances. I would tell them exactly why they don't have money left for the basic essentials, based on conversations they have with me (which is none of my business, but they try to drag me into it).

Anyway, sorry about the rant.

So today was another NSD for me! Yea!!

Yesterday was a NSD for me. The children did not have school, although I went to work.

I also received a refund check from Chapstick for $1.99, so that will go to the extra income fund.

I didn't know if my full car payment amount would be debited from my checking account yesterday. Since I had paid earlier this month a separate check towards the principal, it caused great problems. Luckily, the correct amount was debited from the account. So everything is working out well there. I just have to mail my principal checks to a separate address now in the future to alleviate any additional issues/mix-ups for the financing company.

On another note, today was a NSD for me. Felt great not to part with any money today!

Yesterday was a NSD for me. Stayed home most of the day except to go pick up DD from a friend's house.

Today I got $1 from Greenfield online surveys deposited into my Paypal account. So a little extra income there!

Today I didn't spend any money or use any gas! I stayed home all day. It was relaxing...didn't do too much. In fact I wasn't feeling that well. I think it may have been from the shrimp we ate last night. No one else in the family got sick, but I was really nauseous.

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I'm sending $70 towards the principal on my car loan tomorrow, since that is the amount I am saving since refinancing my mortgage. I will continue to send that every month to help eliminate that debt a little quicker.

I have to review my expenses/income a little closer for the last few months. I think I may be able to save more money per month than I currently do. Lately, it seems like the only money I have saved is income from extra sources besides my full-time job income.

Besides it seems like I don't have any goals for 2009 other than eliminating CC #3 and my car loan. I will then most likely begin tackling my student loan, but I don't think I will be able to pay it off in '09 (the balance is over $12,000).

If I don't continue to save any extra income (from Saturday jobs, Ebay, surveys, etc.) and keep it separate from my regular income, I'm concerned that I may be tempted to spend it. I think I should have a savings for both types of income because then if I sign up for a 0% CC promotion offer again, I may not have such a difficult time accumulating the funds at the end of the offer.

I'm open to any ideas that anyone may have to send my way!

Have a great evening!

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!

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.

Yesterday I was reading the money section of the local newspaper. I found an article on price adjustments. Of course I knew about retailers in the local area that offer refunds/adjustments if you purchase an item on a Saturday, for example, and it goes on sale Monday. I just simply take my receipt to the customer service desk and either get a refund/credit. I've received price adjustments before, but only if I'm in the area running errands and such...I won't make a special trip back to the store.

Well anyway, there is website that tracks the cost of items once you set up an account. The website is www.priceprotectr.com. On the website they list 150 retailers across the country and their price adjustment policies. I wasn't aware of this time-saving service. Sometimes it could be difficult to follow sale flyers to determine if you would be eligible for a refund. I think I'm going to give this site a try. I hope it is a useful tool for others here as well.

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Today was a NSD for me. I haven't had one of those in weeks.

Have a nice evening!

Today I didn't spend any money.

For lunch I had leftovers from yesterday's catered meal.

Gas prices are $2.69/gal in my area; went down 10 cents/gal from yesterday!

Monday was a NSD for me. It seems I don't have many of those lately.

Today, I need to stop on my way to work to fill up my gas tank. Yesterday, the price was $2.99/gal. I have grocery store rewards that will save me $.10/gal., so I hope to pay $2.89 or less!

Have a good day!

So far this week I haven't spent any money yesterday or today.

I completed some surveys last night and signed up to get some free samples.

Nothing else much new here...have a good evening.

I've had 2 NSDs this week on Monday and Tuesday. Other than that I don't have too much to report. Today was payday so I am off to take care of my online accounts and budgeting.

I want to go to CVS tomorrow to take advantage of some of their sale items and extra buck rewards. I also have coupons to use on many of the items. I hope they still have the items, as it is fairly late in the week.

A co-worker brought me 2 yellow squash, 3 cucumbers, and some tomatoes from her garden. I would enjoy having my own vegetable garden, but I don't think I would have the time to work in it. It's difficult enough for me to keep up with the yard work.

I did not spend any money today. The first NSD of the month.

Yesterday, I had another NSD. Actually, I haven't had many of those this month.

I got the yard mowed and did some weeding along my fence. It was extremely hot/humid, but it needed to be done. DS helps me with the yard work frequently, but he was spending the day with a friend.

Yesterday and today were NSDs for me.

I finally got the temp pay from working in an office a couple of weeks ago. I will add that $503 to my savings account. Normally I get it that same day, but the office manager who writes the checks was on vacation when I worked those days.

Starting Saturday, I will work an additional 2 Saturdays a month. So for a month or two I'm thinking about working every Saturday alternating with the job which I've had for a year now. Since I think that will be too tiresome to do for a long period of time, I will save up some extra money and decide which job to keep and cut back to only 2 Saturdays a month. I don't know, I just don't want to get burnt out. Maybe I can use the extra money to save towards my Home Depot CC that has 0% interest until Jan 2009. I put replacement windows on that CC last year and definitely want to pay it in full before the offer expires.

I didn't spend any money today. I also didn't cook any "new" meals. I'm trying to clear the refrigerator of leftovers.
The children and I are leaving Wednesday night to go to my sister and BIL's cabin until the weekend and I don't want to waste the food that was already prepared.

Since I am off this week at my full-time job because the office is closed, I am working M-W doing temp jobs in two different offices. I will be getting a week paid vacation from my regular job plus extra from the 3 temp jobs. I plan to just put the extra money in my savings account. It makes it easier for me to relax knowing I added a bit more to my "cushion". It seems I always have and always will have difficulty justifying taking long vacations!! I feel like I should work a lot since I don't get any financial support from my children's father. I'm trying to compensate for the portion that I was receiving per month due to his disability.

This should be a fairly low cost trip since lodging will be free. I just need to allow gas and grocery money for vacation.

Yesterday, I had another NSD. I also requested a $10 check from doing surveys with Global Test Market since I earned 1000 points.

Have a great day everyone!