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Archive for November, 2019

Two Things

November 20th, 2019 at 02:45 pm

Does my blog look blown up to the rest of you? It starts to load correctly, but then just looks huge (or maybe wide) on the screen. Thanks for the feedback!

The second thing is that we received another utility rebate check in the mail for $27.73. This one was also to be direct deposited. I received an email back from the utility servicing company that they are looking into why it was not direct deposited as directed by us.

Extra Money!!

November 16th, 2019 at 02:44 pm

Did you know you can sign up with the post office to see the mail that is arriving in your mailbox that day? The email we received shows we are receiving our utility rebate today. It's over $60. I'm a little annoyed because it is supposed to be direct deposited!

We earned a $13 reward on our US Bank credit card. I always pick a credit for this account. I just show the transaction in YNAB as a deposit to our Big Goal.

I'm working on earning more Swagbucks so I can redeem an Amazon gift card. I will use it to pay for most the DnD book we are giving our daughter for Christmas. After I buy that I will attempt to get another 2200 Swagbucks points for a Google Play gift card.

I have done a significant portion of our Christmas shopping at this point. I'm nearly done with my parents and may actually take the gift with us for Thanksgiving, so that I don't have to mail it. It depends on how much room I have in my suitcase, and the weight of my suitcase.

My husband parks at those offsite lots near the airport when he travels for work, he earned enough free parking days for our next trip to cover three days! This saved us about $40.

I sold an item I made on eBay. It was extra fabric, so I sold it cheap and made nearly $4.

Also my husband's expenses for a recent trip were under the per diem amount so we have $105 which we added to our Big Goal.

I'm hoping to redeem Fetch Rewards again soon, too. I've noticed Planter's nuts are quite the help in the points adding up. Do you use Fetch? It's much easier than Ibotta. My referral code is FQ8U1, which you enter when you sign up for the first time. You can find the app in the App Store or Google Play store for free. Once you scan your first receipt, you will receive 2000 points.

Are you finding extra money for your debt, your savings or your holiday spending? Share in the comments!

Christmas Gifts, Dungeons and Dragons, Insurance and More

November 7th, 2019 at 09:00 pm

I've purchased several Christmas gifts this week. I have bought two items each for our daughter's. I also made a photo book for my husband through SnapFish. It is full of pictures of him and our daughter's. I originally planned to do the photo book for Father's Day but I didn't stay motivated and focused. I finally made the effort and got it done. It will be delivered by next Saturday and I paid $27 with shipping.

Our youngest daughter is starting to play Dungeons and Dragons with some new university friends. Does anyone have experience and point me to a book or something that might be helpful as she learns the game? I thought it would make a great Christmas gift.

Our renters and auto insurance payment made it on to our credit card yesterday. I do have the full amount saved, $2,616. I recalculated how much I need to save monthly in order to have enough to pay future bills and the registrations on all three cars and came up with $366. I had increased our savings after we got our daughter's car in May, but didn't quite start it soon enough, so I had to play catch up this last month. I'm primarily posting this for my own record.

With Veteran's Day coming up, the stores are offering all sorts of discounts. Amazon is offering their Prime Membership to military affiliated individuals for $79, which is $40 off the regular price. We actually just renewed in September, but I went ahead and took advantage of the offer. This extends our membership until September 2021.

I think we will do some clothes shopping this weekend for a few needed items we need and want before the holidays. We will attempt to take advantage of some discounts, but at the same time not spend too much money!

Big Goal Savings: October

November 5th, 2019 at 01:25 pm

While we continue to pay ourselves back for the car down payment we continue to send money to our savings goal. As of last month we are 35.2% complete.

October Big Goal Additions
Paycheck 10/1 $175.00
Paycheck 10/15 $175.00
Total Interest $188.52
Total $538.52
New YTD Big Goal Total $8,032.22
New Big Goal Total $71,017.67

October brings us to 35.5% of goal. Still heading in the right direction!

Paying Ourselves Back: October Update

November 5th, 2019 at 01:18 pm

We are paying ourselves back for money we put down on our daughter's car in May. I am putting all sources of extra funds towards that goal. Here's what I found in October:

US Bank $12.52
Chase Rewards $11.45
Amex Rewards $70.38
Boxed Amex Offer $15
ATM Rebate $3.00
Coop Rebate $8.99
eBay Sales $10.36
Pinecone Surveys $3.00
Extra travel funds $28.72
USAA Reward $1.00
Total $164.42

I think I earned a $25 Amazon gift card through Swagbucks, but it looks like I didn't add that to YNAB as a deposit. I will let that slide. I need to be a little more careful, making sure to put the equivalent into savings when I earn one of those!

Prior Payback Balance: $1,724.18
New Payback Balance: $1,559.76

Progress has been a little slower recently. Our auto and renters insurance is so high here and we had to adjust our sinking fund so that could get paid on time. Otherwise I might have had some extra funds to through at it.

October 2019 Interest Earned

November 5th, 2019 at 01:01 pm

Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month:

FNBO $63.76
NFCU $124.73
USAA $0.03
Total $188.52

This money is saved towards our Big Goal. I will update that in another post. I think back to when we earned very small amounts of interest each month. I never once used that interest to pay debt, it has always been saved. It's a great habit that I am glad we established!

Are you tracking your interest? Do you save it or spend it?