Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

I'm doing a brain dump on ideas of ways to save. I want to help my sister. My sister works as a first grade teacher. Her husband has been unemployed for 15 months. Unemployment has stopped, although he has asked for an extention. He has been denied, and is currently appealing.

From what I've been told by my sister, they have reduced spending. Only recently did she cancel Netflix, but not cable. I did talk to her on the phone while she was in a drive thru the other night. She had just finished an 11 hour day and didn't want to cook. She mentioned getting her eyebrows waxed, apparently only twice a year.

Our husbands both had their birthday this last weekend. I asked if we should skip birthday giving this year. She had already bought an iTunes gift card. It was worth $25, but she used a $10 Target gift card she received free when she could a flu shot, so spent less. I sent my brother in law a $40 check since he turned 40.

I did tell her about the Chase Slate card with the zero balance transfer fee and 0% interest. She did apply and transfered a credit card balance. I mentioned that she might consider selling some old landscape rock that has been piled in her back yard. She said she thought that too, even though her original plan was to put the rock in other areas of their yard. Not sure if that plan has any legs.

They are a couple that seem slow to move on things, but I'm concerned that they will get futher in debt if they don't make some more drastic changes. So I'm just brainstorming for now based on what I know about her. I will let her know of things I think of when the situation arises.

Make own laundry detergent.
Don't buy greeting cards.
Skip birthday and holiday gifts.
Color her own hair.
Make a meal list, and a grocery list of low cost meals. Make meals ahead and freeze.
Buy a DivaCup (look it up if you want to know).
Ask for medication samples from doctor.
Sell things on craigslist (they have plenty to sell).
Stop drinking soda.
Refinance mortgage, if they can qualify on her income alone.
Sell one of their cars (husband bikes nearly everywhere anyway).
Sell used books.
Cancel newspaper, recycling pick up service.
Cancel cable.
Make own cleaning products.
No car washes.
Cancel landline (think it's bundled with internet though).
Skip all pedicures, manicures, and eyebrow waxes.

Okay...my brainstorm is done for now. I may add more later. I know you don't know my sister, but do you have any good ideas for the average american who's income has been cut in half?

I found some extra funds for the truck loan. The paypal proceeds from the last four sales for $107.55, and an excess in our escrow account for auto expenses of $33.50 are making this happen.

I just sent a total payment of $141.05 to the loan, which will bring our principal balance to $7,219.00! I will have another regularly scheduled payment after payday on the first of the month, which will bring the balance under $7K!

Things are moving right along and the little amounts do add up and make a difference. I can't wait to see how fast we can get this loan paid off.

I added up the purchases we have made on our Chase Sapphire card. We have spent $1,591.85, which puts us more than halfway to our goal of spending $3000.

Chase Sapphire will give us $400 in rewards for reaching that amount. We will definitely be putting that $400 bonus towards our truck loan payoff!

It looks like I just activated this account at the beginning of October! Geez...that is a lot of spending, but we are putting EVERYTHING on the card, including utilities, hair cuts, auto registrations, gas, and food. I will actually be running a couple errands today and putting more money on the card!

It feels odd to be promoting spending, but we do spend anyway, so the cash bonus at the end is a great incentive to get our loan paid off. I have a feeling I will have my husband apply for this card after we reach this first goal.

And by the way, for those of you who also have the Chase Sapphire card, what do you think that card is made of? It seems heavy and a bit like metal! It feels different than any card I've ever had.

My ebay auctions have ended. I sold four items in the last two weeks, netting me $107.57! Can't complain there. I think this money is heading to the truck loan. I will decide when the money arrives in my bank account later this week.

For the month of October, my snowflakes are $25 in Amazon.com gift cards, a $10 Gap gift card, a $10 iTunes gift card (all from Swagbucks) and $6 from Pinecone surveys.

Grand total of snowflakes so far for the month of October $158.57. Happy dancin' in my snowflakes! What snowflakes have you accumulated this month?

The good news is that I have two items on ebay with bids and one with 16 people watching it. There is another one listed, but may not pan out to anything. Those auctions end Sunday. I will likely have a couple more things to add at that time.

The rest is money out of our pocket, but a result of some great sales. I browsed Eddie Bauer yesterday and found XL Tall polo shirts that my Dad loves for $9.09 each! These retail for $32.95. I will give to him for Christmas or more likely his birthday in May. He usually wants some of them by then.

We found weed killer in the brand and form my husband prefers marked 50% off at Target. We snagged five for the next weed season. It should last longer since we don't usually put down that much in one season. It never goes on sale that cheap.

I pointed out a candle in a scent I LOVE at Target to my husband. I also pointed out that it was on clearance and that he should buy it. Of course, he didn't want to buy in front of me! I hope he snags it. I may swing by and get one for my mom and sister for their birthdays, but I'm going to think on that one. I don't want to buy just because it is on sale. I want the gift to be something they would really want.

Have you snagged any great deals lately? Are you holiday shopping yet? Have you sold anything?

Our regular payment of $329.13 was applied to our loan yesterday. We paid $22.11 in interest and for the first time ever paid over $300 towards principal. Actual principal reduction was $307.02!!

The new balance of the truck loan is now $7,360.05.

I'm getting excited at how fast things seem to be moving on reducing this debt. The recent things I sold on ebay will be applied once I have the cash in my bank account. I'm also considering another lump sum that we don't currently have allocated to anything (although it is tentatively set aside for furniture). I also think the rewards we have earned from credit/debit card rewards may also be applied to the loan. I have lots of ideas! We'll see how they play out in the next few months.

I sold a coat on ebay last night. I may have under priced it, since it sold within two hours of listing it! Oh well, I tried to sell it for the same amount at a garage sale and it didn't go then. If it sells online for the same, I shouldn't care really.

Right now my two ebay sells have netted me $71.42 that will get sent to that truck loan!

So far no luck on those items I have listed on craigslist...as PatientSaver mentioned in the comments it may be a sign of the times. I don't even feel the items are listed high at all, but if you are watching pennies these items are likely wants rather than needs.

I still have three active ebay listings that have Buy It Now options, but the auctions are scheduled to end on Sunday.

I noticed recently that I have been a member of ebay since December 2001! I don't think I started selling right away, but I know I've been selling our used stuff since the girls were little, so it could be close to that date. How long have you been on ebay? Longer than me?

I listed three items on ebay last night. The costume I made two years ago sold tonight with the Buy It Now option. It was listed for nearly $70 including shipping. Not sure what the profit is yet, but I'm pleased that my hard work paid off. It did take hours to make!

Only minor interest in the couple of things I have on craigslist. Someone may be over tomorrow for a tv and antenna, which would put $20 in our pocket. Not real sure how interested this person since they are bit slow responding to email.

I have some more things I will get posted to ebay tomorrow. I have books, a coat and a jacket. Oh, and a pair of shoes that was discovered as outgrown this weekend. I do like that you can list items for free on ebay now (actually a limit of 50 per month). That way if you only waste time putting something up rather than fees on top of it.

I will be hemming a pair of hand me down pants for my daughter tomorrow to be ready for her first band concert of the year. It is always nice when I don't have to buy something for an event...of course, this is where we needed new shoes. So money was spent.

I'll keep you updated on the sales, of course, but what do you think about the profit from these sales going to the truck loan? I think it would be a good idea considering I seem to have plenty saved for Christmas at this point.

I finally got around to listing several things on craigslist this afternoon. If all items sell, we will net $110.

One of the items has a short listing, since I really think it will sell better on ebay. I indicated the short listing in the ad, so that if someone who sees it is interested they will act fast!

I also realized a homemade Halloween costume I made my daughter two years ago will likely sell fast on ebay. As it turns out this costume doesn't really exist at a retail store. That's why I made one!! The current one listed is selling for $47. So with DD's permission, I'm listing that costume tomorrow along with some other outgrown clothing items.

Fingers crossed for a week full of sales! Are you selling anything right now?

Roth IRA Contributions: We didn't contribute in the first half of the year, so I'm now playing catchup. I started the regular contributions of $416.66 each in July. Those automatic payments will add up to $2499.96 by the end of the year. This leaves us short of maxing out our Roth IRA's for 2012. Today, I authorized a purchase for each of us in the amount of $850. I will make more lump sum purchases in November and December to get us up to the $5000 maximum contribution limit for the year.

Snowflakes: Surprise! I have accumulated more snowflakes for the Christmas fund. So far this month, I have earned $48 in gift cards and cash. I really need to get some craiglist items up!!

Chase Sapphire: We have started using our Chase Sapphire Card. Already we have charged $1,018.27 towards the $3,000 spending limit. Auto registrations and utilities have been the bulk of the spending so far. All just regular stuff! I can't wait for that $400 bonus.

Truck Loan: Payday is Monday, so watch for our regular payment to post soon after and see the balance go down for the second time this month!

Groceries and Meals: We had company at our house for four nights over the weekend. I think we spent over $200 stocking up for guests! Turns out we over bought. And my husband did say, "Don't you think this is too much food?". Not that it is an excuse, but I think my desire for fall comfort foods kicked in and I bought them all! It seems like we have a nice variety and plenty of things to eat. I just look in the pantry, fridge and freezer to determine what should be made. I think there is enough on hand to last through Monday!

Charity Contributions: I wrote a check to charity today. We are actually participating in a Walk N Roll for Spina Bifida later this month. A good friend's daughter (and our former neighbor) has this disability and we are walking to raise awareness.

Very thankful for all that we have including our health. What are you thankful for today?

I've noticed there are quite a few people on the Saving Advice blogs that do not know how to put links in their blogs. Sure you can just copy and paste it in, but to make it cleaner you need to add some tags before and after the actual address link.

There is a list of tags you can use right above the text box where you type your blog entry. If you click on the hyperlink vB Code it will take you to

a post in the forums explaining how to use these tags in more detail. They are very easy to use. And it makes your blog cleaner and more professional!

If you have questions...just ask! I'd be happy to attempt to explain.

On Tuesday, we had a whole house humidifier installed on our furnace. We went without one for many year early in our marriage and for one year at our last house. Not fun! Dry air is awful.

This humidifier will put out 12 gallons of warm moist air each and every day this winter. It should make the house feel even warmer, too.

The cost was $350. I only wish my Chase Sapphire card had arrived by that time, but it was two days late! We have the money set aside...so not a big deal.

Do you use a humidifier in the winter on your furnace? Does the air get as dry in warmer winter areas as it does here in the midwest?

In light of the

Slate card mishap, I decided to go a different route. Make money from spending, rather than save money from paying down debt. Odd I know!

I applied for the Chase Sapphire card and was approved. I haven't received the card, but I can see the account online. Odd also.

We will need to spend $3,000 in the next three months to earn $400 worth of rewards that can be redeemed for cold hard cash. Guess where this cash will go? Yep, a nice drop in the bucket on the truck loan when it is all said and done.

We need to pay our auto insurance premium ($420), vehicle registrations ($480) this month. We will also put our regular bills on the card amounting to about $400 per month. I expect we will also use it for everyday spending...so that we aren't tempted to buy something just to meet the $3000 minimum. It should go just fine.

After the rewards? Closing the account ASAP! It has a $95 annual fee after the first year. I may have my husband open one early in the next year, but it will depend on the offer at the time, how this dip works out, and if we think we can meet the minimum again at that time.

I don't really like messing with credit cards, but when you pay them off and earn some snazzy rewards at the same time...it's hard not to! Bring on the $400!!

ETA: It came in the mail today. I activated it. I have changed all the auto bills to be paid with it and charged the electric bill already! I told my husband to use it for everything he normally would use it for until I tell him not to.

As planned, I made an extra principal payment to our truck loan in the amount of $230.05. This is the difference in our mortgage payment because of the lower escrow withholding.

The new balance is 7667.07!! Moving right along.

I think I did even better in September than I did in August in accumulating little snowflakes to add to our Christmas Fund. Fun!!

Here's the break down for the month:


A total of $252.28 more money in our pocket to be used to pay for Christmas. The ebay sales this month made a big difference. I sold a couple of cameras, two routers, a digital converter box, two pairs of girls jeans, box tops for education, a halloween costume and a pair of dance shoes.

The total 2012 Christmas Fund balance is now at: $1,104.14. Again, I expect this to be more than enough for Christmas. Once I determine the amount of leftover Christmas funds, I will be adding those to the truck payoff!!

Wow! I can't believe that September is behind us. This year is flying by. It was a good month for interest on our money market where we earned $34.88. This was the first full month our house proceeds were included in the earnings.

I'll take it, but I do wish interest rates for earning on our money were higher.

I did drive back to my old neighborhood yesterday for the day to participate in the garage sale. I went primarily for the time with friends. And it was a great time, but the time went much too fast!! Turns out we didn't have as much traffic as usual. It could be because of road construction on the main road nearby, or that the signs weren't placed where I usually put them!?

I made a whopping $20! Only enough to really break even on the gas...if that. However, I have added this sale money to my Christmas Snowflake Fund.

I also made a Ebay sale with a Buy It Now option. My net profit is $12.54. This is snowflake money, too!!

I will wrap up my earnings for the month after my final ebay sales are in on Sunday night. It looks to have been a great month for accumulating snowflakes.

I did bring quite a few garage sale items home. Many would be good canidates for craigslist. Now to get motivated on those!! The rest will be donated to Goodwill before the end of the year.

Over the course of the last week, I have added some more snowflakes to our ever growing Christmas Fund. I may seriously have to start moving some of the money to our truck loan, because I don't think I need this much money for Christmas!! And, of course, that is all a good thing.

I've added a $10 JC Penney gift card earned through Swagbucks, $4.73 from a Half.com sale, and my Sunday ebay sale netted $8.39. I expect to add some garage sale proceeds (big day is tomorrow) this month, but so far September has brought in $173.86.

Total snowflakes for the Christmas fund are now at $1025.72. Isn't it amazing how small amounts of cash over a course of 9 months can add up?

I did sell two pairs of girls jeans on ebay this last week. My other 4 items did not sell. I relisted three. One now has a bid! I think after fees I will have just under $9 to add to the Christmas Fund. Or the truck loan (it may be time to switch gears!).

I will spend today pulling and pricing garage sale items. I am making a two hour trip back to my old neighborhood for the day to hang with good friends and maybe sell a few items. I'm really focusing on the friendship aspect of the whole thing. Financially it isn't the best way to profit from a garage sale considering the price of gas and the limited amount of things I have to sell!

Yep. We activated and cancelled the credit card all in one day. When my husband activated the card today he asked for balance transfer checks. He was told they would not be available for the account for three months. Not sure why.

He explained we were transfering a balance from our auto loan to the card. The customer service agent said he could help us over the phone or we could transfer online. Since my husband was on his lunch break he picked online to keep the call shorter.

I took over after the activation and set up the online account. I looked for transferring the balance and could tell it seemed to only be for credit cards. We don't have credit card balances!!

I sent an email inquiry to customer service who have now responded to let us know that unsecured and secured loans (auto loans, student loans, and home equity lines) cannot be paid off with this card. Boo! Hiss!

I guess I'm not too savvy with this credit cards stuff as I'd like to think...or Chase just didn't make it very clear. I guess it is all good. I will just keep paying down the truck loan as originally planned.

We would have saved over $300 in interest by changing to zero percent and having it paid off in 15 months. I like to find a way to offset that money...maybe by applying for a card offer with a bonus would be the better way to go!

Are any of you surprised by this turn of events? I feel kind of silly.

We received our Chase Slate card in the mail this weekend. My husband will be activating it shortly. We will be requesting balance transfer checks soon, too.

Chase gave us a $7,500 credit limit, so we will be able to transfer nearly all of the truck loan balance to this card. It has 0% for 15 months and it is free to transfer balances. Yes...free. Otherwise, I wouldn't be transfering this money at all!

This offer is available for anyone to apply on the

Chase website. No guarantee of your acceptance of course. It's really only good if you are paying interest on a credit card or loan and you can pay the charges off in the 15 months. Of course, if you can get a reprieve from any interest for 15 months and move the money for free it may be worth...I'll let you do that math!

I'll let you know how this transfer all works out and how the loan balance reduces to zero...super fast!!

We have a slush fund. Not sure where I got that term. Maybe Dave Ramsey.

For us a slush fund is stash of cash in our second account that is a bit seperate from our emergency fund. We don't touch the emergency fund, unless it is an emergency (or we can pay ourselves back in like 12 seconds)!

My husband is paid twice per month. Each paycheck is allocated to bills, investments, $900 cash for groceries, gas and miscellaneous. Left over cash gets put towards our goal...which is the truck now! It basically comes down to a zero based budget...every dollar goes somewhere.

However, I don't track every budget category known to man. It's too much work! So sometimes we do spend more than our paycheck, or more than that $900 that I allocate to variable expenses for the pay period.

Where does that extra money come from? The slush fund. I just transfer what money I need from there from time to time. Sometimes it's less than $20, sometimes it is more. The slush fund only have a few hundred dollars in it. If it gets down to zero or close to it, then I add some funds from a paycheck. Right now that would mean a little less to send into the truck loan.

We do pretty well keeping our spending within the limit we have given ourselves, but is nice to have a slush fund to dip into for those expenses that one doesn't always forsee.

Do you have a slush fund? Do you keep it in cash, another account, or right with your other funds?

I'm starting another blog, over at Blogger. I'm primarily doing this so that Google will be more likely to approve this blog here on SavingAdvice for Google Adsense! They denied me the first round.

The new blog has four posts at the moment. I copied, pasted, edited and published posts I have on my sidebar here. The content seemed like a good place to start that blog with.

Please come visit me over at

Our Money Blog. I hope that this might be a great way to start telling our financial story from the beginning. A place that I might be more likely to share with people I actually know in real life.

Thanks for visiting me there! But don't worry, I'll be here too. You can't get rid of me too fast.

I can officially report we have less debt. The truck loan balance is now $7,897.12! We made our 2012 goal to get under $8K.

We were able to get the balance down with a lump sum principal payment of $1,840 and our regular payment, of which $300.18 was principal reduction.

We have applied and were approved for the Chase Slate credit card that currently has 0% interest for 15 months and free (yes free) balance transfers. Once the card comes in the mail we will request a balance transfer check to pay off this loan. We will have no problem paying the additional balance off in 15 months since we plan to make minimum payments of $559 each month. I would guess we will find additional money to throw at the loan as well to be done much sooner. And no additional interest!!!

Anyone else apply for the Chase Slate card to lower your interest? You can find the offer on the Chase website if want to reduce your interest rate on your own debt.

I'm getting several more items ready to list on ebay this evening. I have found the boxes, envelopes and packing materials. I have taken pictures. I have weighed the items. I'm even charging a battery on one of them!

I never did get any items up on craigslist this weekend. Darn...the next three weekends are going to be busy too! Band competitions are about to become our world. I may still get the items up tonight.

Just checked on the listing that has yet to sell tonight and see someone is now watching it. Only three hours left. If it doesn't sell I'm going to relist and lower the price.

While I was researching ebay sales, I saw that there is a seller called jenniferscollegefund. Clever. And a nice way to focus where that money goes, too. Want to share your ebay name, or tell a clever one you have seen?

I made $96.63 this week with Ebay sales. That is profit after the fees! I will also be putting a few more things up this Sunday, as well as, likely relisting an item from this week that seems to be overpriced.

I received a $3 payment from Pinecone Surveys this week, too!

All those funds have been transferred to my bank account and added to the Christmas Fund...which is now over $1000. Based on last years spending, this is way more than I need to fund Christmas. I hope that means I can set the extra aside for Vacation...or maybe that truck loan will need another payment.

Little amounts add up over time! What ways are you making small amounts of cash to meet your goals?

I mentioned yesterday that the escrow refund check arrived in the mail and that I was pondering applying it to our truck loan. Well, I ponder no more. I just made an online payment towards the loan in the amount of $1840!

It will arrive and be applied Monday along with our regular payment, thus I will estimate our principal balance to be approximately $8,197.30. That's before the regular payment, which will put us under $8K!

I will post again once the payment is applied and I update the sidebar. Wow. No regrets on that. I'm ready to be done with this loan!!

We will begin adding at least $230 extra per month to this loan, which is how much our mortgage payment was reduced because the escrow account was not correct. With our regular payment, that makes a total payment of $559 every month. I'm pretty sure we can find more money each month, too. We just have to keep our "new house" spending low!

The escrow check from Wells Fargo arrived today! Over $1800 that I'm pretty sure just needs to go to pay down that truck loan. I'm going to mull it over a bit more this evening.

The $25 Red Robin gift card I redeemed from MyPoints arrived today too. The other gift card, $10 BP, arrived on Monday. I have already counted this money in the Christmas money.

I did make another ebay sale!! The item I added Tuesday night sold last night and I mailed it today. It looks like I have netted over $97 on five items. One is still listed...and while it has been viewed, no one is watching it. I would guess I have it priced to high.

It is fun to see money coming in the mail, even if it is expected. Did you get any money in the mail or your bank account today?

I went to our new vet. Office visit was $37.50. The vet diagnosed our kitty with a UTI and prescribed two weeks worth of antibiotic. One week of the antibiotic is $25. Today, I paid $64.25 total since there is tax on the prescription.

He wants me to come by next week for the other strip of antibiotics, since he was hesitant in prescribing it in the first place...couldn't feel her bladder (she is overweight) and could not extract anything. "If she's worse...then we'll need to do something else anyway." said the vet.

I sure hope he doesn't charge me such a hefty fee for another office visit if I only need the rest of the antibiotic.

Pet care adds up fast. Glad I have cash to pay for it!

My youngest (age 5) kitty is going to the vet this afternoon. That is her in the sidebar picture. She's not using the litter box, but my dirty laundry to pee in! Ugh. I cleaned out the litter box, and removed the top, she's now going in there every few minutes, but I'm not seeing much of anything there.

I'm guessing a UTI. She has a 2pm appointment with her new vet...who works just three doors down from our house. I'm thinking of walking her there on the leash, but probably won't since she isn't used to long leash walks...just a lap or two around in the yard really. Instead she will need to get in her kennel. Not that she will like that.

Fingers crossed she heals well and that the fee is inexpensive.