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Archive for April, 2012

My Snowflakes Became a Snowball!

April 30th, 2012 at 11:30 pm

Wow! My Christmas Fund for 2012 is adding up very fast. For April, I was able to sock away $61.95 from various sources, primarily Pinecone surveys, Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks and MySurvey rewards. My new Christmas fund total is $433.36!

I have quite a few Swagbucks I plan to redeem in May and I'm still waiting for another $10 from MySurveys. I also know of another $6 in Pinecone survey payments to arrive in May as well. That's at least another $40 for May. I will try to make my goal to get the Christmas fund over $500 by the end of May. I think I can do it!!

Here's the current list of funds and sources:

Rental Home Insurance

April 26th, 2012 at 09:57 pm

If we need to rent our home, I found out that USAA offers Rental Home Insurance. This is different than if you are renting a home from somebody. This insurance is also referred to as fire insurance. It covers the dwelling, personal liability for legal and medical costs AND coverage for lost income.

I haven't yet inquired into the cost, but I would guess it would be less than our current homeowner's policy that covers our personal belongings as well.

One learns something new everyday it seems. What did you learn today?

The $20 Arrived Finally

April 25th, 2012 at 01:37 pm

The $20 reward I ordered from MySurvey on April 4 finally arrived in my Paypal account yesterday. I had inquired with them and they indicated their processing system was backed up. I do have another reward of $10 pending with them. I hope that this one doesn't take quite so long!

This money is being added to the Christmas fund! I will have an update in a few days with my total and April's funding sources.

How is your Christmas fund going? Is it growing fast?

It Does Pay to Wait

April 24th, 2012 at 06:21 pm

We decided just yesterday to have DH fly home one more time before his class is out at the end of May. We looked at flights yesterday for the weekend he can get away and the cheapest ticket was $489.

This morning I checked one site and saw $689. Yikes. I thought Tuesday was the day to buy tickets! I actually I read that 3pm eastern was the time the tickets were repriced by the airlines. Anyway, I went off to the gym, did a few things around the house and it was now late morning.

After clearing all my cookies from the computer, I check again. The price for the ticket we wanted was $342.20. Talk about a savings! I have yet to get a ticket for this route for less than that.

What is the best deal you have grabbed on an airline ticket in recent months?

An Offer ?

April 24th, 2012 at 03:23 am

Wow!! I'm really starting to feel that our house will sell and maybe even this week. We have three showings scheduled tomorrow. Two of them are repeat clients that want to see the house again with their parents. They are coming to my house at the same time tomorrow night. There will be at least 10 people milling about the house deciding if it is right for them.

Fingers and toes crossed. Prayers said. And I already had a celebratory glass of wine! Smile Send the good vibes this way.

Pinecone Survey Link

April 22nd, 2012 at 04:23 pm

It's been so long since I signed up for Pinecone Research surveys that I forgot that one needs an active link to get to the sign up form. Because of the discussion in other blogs, I went looking for a link on Google. Guess what? I found one.

Pinecone Research is a free, legitimate survey company that pays $3 for every survey you complete. The money arrives in your Paypal account the business day following your survey completion. The surveys are relatively easy and often require you to try a product in your home. After the trial, you complete another survey with your final opinion.

There are no kickbacks or incentives to me for referring you to this

Text is link for Pinecone. and Link is https://www.pineconeresearch.com/Signup/Signup_Form.aspx
link for Pinecone.

I have been averaging about $15 a month with Pinecone in recent months, but it can be less at times. The nice thing is you only a complete a survey when they send a link to your email address. So no extra time wasted on surveys you don't qualify for!

Are you a Pinecone member? Tell us what you think of them, so others can know if it is right for them.

Another $10

April 20th, 2012 at 07:23 pm

I redeemed more points today from MySurvey. I picked paypal funds in the amount of $10. I redeemed points earlier this month for $20 and have not yet received those yet. I sent an email inquiry about that. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have my $30 from them. I said before I was done with them, but I did a big survey recently that made it worth staying with them for the next $10...but now I think I'm done. I just need to get that money in my account!

I will add this money to my 2012 Christmas Fund!

The house is still on the market. We have had lots of activity and showings. It has only been three weeks. There has been one second showing, but they decided on another house. We have another two showings schedule for the weekend. There is also another party that wants to view the house again with her brother. I guess they need to schedule a time to come together. It will sell and I'm looking for that offer to come soon!!

Truck Loan Balance Decrease

April 18th, 2012 at 01:13 pm

We made our regular payment on the truck loan, thus the principal balance has decreased again!! We paid $33.25 in interest this month. Our principal balance decreased by $295.88.

Our new loan balance is $11,231.43! It looks like we will be under $11K next month. Smile

Premium Decrease

April 17th, 2012 at 09:34 pm

I'm not sure why, but our 6 month auto insurance premium was just adjusted...days after I paid the current premium. It looks like I should expect a refund of about $12.88!

I could return the money to the savings account I use for paying this bill or designate it to the emergency fund. I'll decide when I actually see the funds.

It's always nice to get a reduction on a bill. Has that happened to you recently?

Utility Savings

April 16th, 2012 at 05:49 pm

I set aside $155 each month for DH's utilities. After paying one, I had $95. Last night he paid the second one in the amount of $65. That left $30!! I guess the weather is mild there, too.

I have put the $30 into the emergency fund. Some of the emergency fund money might go to handle moving expenses or towards a down payment, if we go that route. Our goal is to stash aside as much cash as possible. This just helps that goal.

How were your utilities this month? Better or worse?

Another $6 to the Christmas Fund

April 13th, 2012 at 02:08 pm

I have received $6 from Pinecone Research in the last couple days for surveys completed. I'm also testing a product that came in the mail and will get to do another survey after trying it.

I'm adding the money to the Christmas fund. I will update at the end of the month what the final tally is!

Looking Forward to Payday

April 12th, 2012 at 03:09 am

I don't usually have much opinion about payday. We pay bills, save some money when we can and have money to spend on what we need and sometimes things we want.

This week payday is arriving a bit early since the 15th falls on a weekend. Thus DH gets paid on Friday. This payday will be the last time we have to pay for my husband's apartment rental. Woohoo!! I also expect we will get to save several hundred dollars. I like saving. Smile

Yep, I'm looking forward to payday. How about you? Do you count the days to payday or do you just forget about it?

Another Snowflake, Ect.

April 7th, 2012 at 10:35 pm

I redeemed more points at Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift card yesterday. I think I'm maxed out the $5 ones for this month!! Now to save for something else.

Our house has been listed on market for 11 days and we have had 9 showings. All neutral feedback, nothing negative. Apparently, those 9 just aren't interested in this house. The showings have slowed down as we have approached the holiday weekend. It's kind of nice, since I can relax a bit and not have to keep things quite so orderly for a couple days.

I see many of you are tracking your daily expenses. I've had to opt out of that one. It's too much to track for me right now. It seems the spending here has slowed a bit though. I like that!!

Enjoy the holiday!

Even More Snowflakes!

April 5th, 2012 at 12:16 am

I did get another $5 Amazon gift card redeemed today from Swagbucks. I knew I was close!!

I also did a few surveys with MySurveys today. One of them took forever and gave me 300 points. This helped push my points high enough to redeem for a $20 Paypal deposit. I think I'm done with that company though. It takes way to long to get enough points to redeem for anything!

It's nice to have a few more snowflakes to add to my Christmas fund! How are your goals going?

Under Budget = Snowflake

April 4th, 2012 at 03:36 am

I added a snowflake to my Christmas Fund in the amount of $10.89. This was because my water bill came in under budget by that amount. Always love that!

I found four quarters in my purse, so I'm adding that $1 as well.

And to top it off, I earned another $5 in Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks. I'm pretty close to earning another one, too. I have several offers that didn't credit recently, so I'm checking with customer support on those.

I've used small amounts of money here and there to accomplish all sorts of goals, including getting of debt and saving for a vacation. This one is just as fun. Christmas shopping is going to be even more fun this year! How is your Christmas fund coming along?

January Through March Snowflakes

April 2nd, 2012 at 03:16 pm

I've added more to our 2012 Christmas Fund in the month of March to the tune of $67.38. Or maybe another $21 more. I seem to have more in my Christmas fund that my Excel sheet was actually tracking. I guess this is good. I'm just a bit perplexed about where the money came from!! Thus I have a line for unknown sources. Smile

My end of March total is $371.41. Considering my goal for the year is $700, I'm on track to make the goal and then some if I keep up the pace.

Here's the breakdown:


How are your Christmas flakes stacking up?