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?

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.

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!!

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!

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?

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?

Sold another item!! I love these Buy It Now Ebay buyers. I will drop it in the mail tomorrow. After that sale, I'm netting $67.16 on four items!!!!!

So with one item left, I decided to add another listing tonight. It is also a Buy It Now listing. I expect it should sell pretty quickly, too.

I have a few other, possibly less profitable items, to list on Sunday ready to go also.

A very good round of Ebay this week makes me happy. What makes you happy?

I sold two more items today on ebay. Obviously, they were sold with a Buy It Now option, which was the more expensive option for the buyer. And a little more profit for me!!

I only have two items left. I'm sure one will sell. The other is a little iffy. However, I might relist with a lower price if it doesn't sell this week.

I will attempt to pull some more items out this week that can be sold and have them ready to list on Sunday. I'll try to make a several week cycle of ebay sales.

I will also be putting a few things on craigslist this weekend. A tube tv, a coffee maker, and a stereo receiver.

My old neighbors (and really good friends) are having a garage sale in my old town at the end of the month. We did garage sale together for the last five years I think. I'm interested in going mostly for the social aspect. Any profits I make would hopefully help cover the cost of gas. I will be traveling close to two hours each direction. Luckily, one of them would put me up for the night if I decide to stay over. Decisions, decisions.

That the selling status update from here!

I already sold an item on ebay. Remember how I mentioned Box Tops for Education several months back? That's what I sold. A simple buy it now transaction. I haven't added up my proceeds, but likely close to $10. Not bad for a little bit of paper and limited work.

My biggest advice for selling on ebay...consider everything as a possible ebay item. Take the time to look up the completed listings to see if anyone has sold the item recently and for how much. It only takes a moment to check!

What is the most unusal or profitable item you have sold on ebay in the past?

I pulled out about 5 items yesterday that I should be able to easily sell on ebay. I took pictures, found boxes and packaging, weighed the items, and did research for starting price.

I will upload my items this Sunday evening for 7 day auctions. Some will be fixed priced and may sell earlier.

I did notice that Halloween costumes are starting to be bought and sold. I have one I bought new for $50 Crazy, I know. I bought it knowing I could recoup more than half the cost on ebay. I will start the bidding at $29 and hope for a bit more.

What else do you think sells well this time of year? Anyone else selling on ebay right now? If not, join me, and lets make some money on our clutter!!

As I've mentioned before, I'm collecting small bits of cash, primarily from non-income/free sources to pay for Christmas 2012. I call these snowflakes.

I received notification of a deposit from Ebates into my paypal account. The amount was $18.11!! The rebate is from a purchase of two ceiling fans.

I also received $3 from Pinecone from completing a survey for them yesterday.

I'm transferring that cash to my bank account where I'm keeping track of all the Christmas money I have thus far.

And if I haven't mentioned it, I already redeemed $20 worth of Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards this month!! I am only 15 away from redeeming one more.

I hope to get some things listed on ebay or craigslist this weekend. That cash will go to pay for Christmas as well!

It's practically a snowstorm around here! How is your Christmas Fund?

I've been adding small amounts of money since the beginning of the year, which I refer to as snowflakes, towards our Christmas Fund. As of August 31, the balance of our fund is $856.86!! My goal was $750 and we have surpassed that this month.

Here's where the money came from this month:


Can you believe it? $174 in one month!!

We also have accumulated reward points on a debit and credit card that so far could be redeemed for cash in the amount of $152.75. I have yet to redeem so that cash is not included in our snowflake total.

This snowball is rolling! And there will be no need to worry about money for Christmas gifts.

We purchased a new internet router for our home on Saturday. We bought it at Target and used our Red Card to receive 5% off. There was also a sale on the router that offered a $10 Target gift card. That gift card is our first snowflake for July. I will save it for Christmas shopping!

We received a check in the mail yesterday for $56. It appears to be a refund of overpayment for internet services DH was using on the east coast. We'll take it. Right now, I'm not planning to add this to the snowflake account. Although if we weren't in the middle of moving in and many new expenses I probably would!

Anyone going to start saving snowflakes for Christmas that hasn't started yet? It is not too late to save something!

June was a slower month for accumulating snowflakes to add to our Christmas Fund. I'm sure it is a result of being in the moving process.

I added $41.00 to the fund broken down like this:


The new total of the Christmas fund is now $583.86. The goal is still $750, with only $166 to go. I'm might even guess that I will exceed the goal!

It isn't to late to start accumulating snowflakes for your own Christmas fund. Something saved is better than zero. Good luck and let me know how you do!

I was able to snag another $5 Amazon gift card for the month of June from Swagbucks. This extra time in the hotel is worth something!

I used some of my free time to call all the utilities and services we will have at our new home. I actually have to put a deposit down with our city for water. They require this for all new customers. It will get credited/refunded back after 12 months of on time payments. A little irritating considering we are always on time with our bills. But it tends to be part of the moving process.

DH submitted his travel voucher with the Army. Fingers crossed he submitted it correctly. He wasn't too confident unfortunately. Hopefully, that money will arrive soon.

We definitely have lots of things we want to buy as we establish ourselves in our new home. We will just go all out and get it all done right away or try to cash flow it a bit. Undecided on that part. We just need to keep our heads out of the sand and make good financial decisions.

Closing on our home is Monday!! Everything seems to be on track for that to happen just as originally scheduled. The movers may not bring our things until after the holiday. It will all work out. We are definitely ready to be in our new home!

A few more snowflakes have fallen and are being added to our 2012 Christmas Fund. I redeemed Swagbucks for another $5 Amazon gift card, my third this month. I'm a little slow with the Swagbucks this month because of moving.

We were given a convenience store gift card worth $10 last month when we watched a neighbors cats. I decided to use the gift card and save $10 in my checking account.

I expect to receive a $3 Pinecone deposit in my Paypal account today for a survey I completed last night.

Another $18 towards the Christmas Fund is a good thing. Have you had any snowflakes falling at your place? How big is your Christmas fund?

We are closing on the house we sold today. We actually don't have to do much since we already signed all the paperwork.

We stayed in a hotel last night. We are picking up our cats soon. One of them needs medication so she can relax a bit and maybe not be so loud! We also need to vaccuum up the cat hair. After that we'll leave the keys, lock the door and start traveling east.

The nice thing is we are walking away with cash from the sale. And it's more than we put down. I think paying off our home equity loan a couple years ago made a big difference. The money is being wired to our bank account. I'll need to start looking into ways to earn some money on the cash.

The closing on the next home is less than two weeks away. Can't wait to stop living out of a suitcase and get back to blogging about something other than moving!

I'm still waiting for one buyer to make their payment for an Ebay purchase. I just want to get it mailed and have that cash in my account. Maybe it will be paid by the time I wake up!

We went looking at schools and houses in our new city. It was a lot of information to take in, but it was all good. We haven't decided on a house and will need to look again.

Our trip to visit included an overnight at a hotel and meals out. I'm sure we spent over $300 with the hotel, meals and fuel. We didn't plan very well. But it is done and not all of our visits will include an overnight, but it was needed to make all the school visits and appointments.

I sold two more items on Ebay yesterday. I don't have the net proceeds yet. I'm still waiting for payment. I will add the proceeds to my Christmas funds. I expect the amount to be about $12.

We are school and house hunting in our new town tomorrow. We will spend one night in a hotel. We have already received a partial advance for DH travel expenses and the dislocation allowance. The money will sure help with the moving expenses. It is all the little things that seem to add up with a move.

I have more snowflakes to add to my 2012 Christmas fund. I received $3 from Pinecone for completing a survey. I also sold one item on ebay, with the Buy It Now option and netted $15.50! That's another $18.50 to add for the month of May.

I did receive the $25 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks yesterday, too. I already mentioned it here, but I have added to my Amazon account.

I have two more items listed on Ebay that will end on Sunday night. I think they both have a high chance of selling since so many people are watching them! Those proceeds will be added to the Christmas fund, too.

Again...have a wonderful weekend!!

We have finally signed a final agreement with the buyers on the home repairs. We will hire a contractor to resecure the deck, and reset and caulk protruding nails. We will personally paint the caulked areas. We will not be replacing the interior door.

I had the contractor revise the estimate, which came down from $2300, to about $1600. I realized he still had painting included. He revised it again to $1200. I finally said that is too much. Can you get closer to $800? He said he could do $800 worth of repairs. I said, yes!!

This means the contractor may not get to all the nails, but we can pop a few in and caulk while we are up painting. The buyer will still get a receipt from the contractor for repairs and the work will still get done.

Oh and the really great news...my husband graduated from his class and is driving back home!! I might actually see him tomorrow...or early on Saturday. Enjoy your extended weekend!

Apparently the buyers agent has an inability to write well. The wording on the inspection addendum did state ALL nails, but that was not the intention. They only want the nails that are currently protruding from the siding fixed. And only those nails caulked and painted.

We have not signed the addendum yet, but hope to by the end of the day.

I sent an email over the weekend to a handyman inquiring about the repairs we need done. Unfortunately, it's a no go. They are booked in the time frame we need the repairs done.

I also sent an email to another contractor we have worked with before. Fingers crossed he calls and is available to complete the work!

I researched one other company that looks promising with good reviews. I will attempt to call this afternoon, if I don't hear from the previously mentioned man.

I'm getting to the point where these repairs are stressing me out. They are simple, but yet with one rejection from a reliable and busy company I'm a little concerned. We may need to just acknowledge the deficiencies to the buyer and provide a credit to compensate.

I hope this is cleared up by the end of the day!!

In other news...I did receive another pinecone survey payment of $3. And if I didn't already mention it, and I may have, I redeemed swagbucks for a $25 Amazon gift card. I also put three items up for sale on ebay last night. Two pairs of nearly new sandals and a pair of capris. A little extra cash would be nice!!

We have finished negotiations with the buyer of our home. We ended up netting out at $6K under our list price. We would have felt better at $4-5K under, but we didn't want to lose the deal over $1000 dollars. We close mid June!

Our realtor did check with the client that saw our house for the second time yesterday, but they had decided against making an offer. So there was not any price war bidding going on.

We are just happy to have a buyer. Now to get through the inspection without too much negotiating!!

I have to say I think those 47 days were some of the longest and busiest of my life. It is hard to keep a home spic and span that long without getting burn out!

Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful mothers!!

We have received an offer to purchase our home!! We would need to close by June 18th, which is fine by us.

Funny thing is this was a last minute showing this morning...less than an hour to prepare. We also just had a showing this afternoon by another client that saw our house about three weeks ago. I'm really wondering if another offer will come in.

Either way...It is sold!!

For the month of May I already have $41 to add to my Christmas Fund. I received $10 from MySurvey in my paypal account, two $3 deposits from Pinecone. I also redeemed points with Swagbucks for five $5 Amazon.com gift certificates. I should be able to accumulated enough points to redeem for a $25 certificate shortly, too.

How is your Christmas fund stacking up?

I did end up sending an email to ING/Sharebuilder about the $75 bonus money I received back in January and should have been able to withdraw by today. I waited the obligatory 120 days and attempted to withdraw the funds. Unfortunately, the bonus money currently shows as unavailable for withdrawal. Ugh! Here is the response I received..errors included.

Your wait is almost over. Our bonuses are on hold from withdraw for a few months to encourage customers to use the money towards investments. I can confirm you should be able to withdraw this money by the end of this week, you could even try to do so tomorrow. Just click on the Accounts tab > Transfer Money > Deposit & Withdraw.

That being said, this is an investment account. If you plan on making an investment, but aren't sure where to get started, take our Research Tab for a spin. Take the Research tab for a spin. You'll find helpful tools such as the Investment Screener, Market Movers, and even PortfolioBuilder if you’d like some guidance based on your financial goals and your comfort level with risk.

I will attempt to withdraw tomorrow and Friday to see if the email is correct. If not, I will email them back to see what the problem is. I will let you know tomorrow what happens!

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: