I have begun decluttering the basement this week. Of course, I will have multiple posts this week on

Your Organized Friend to keep you updated on that. I added an option on the right sidebar of the blog to get email updates when there is a new post. I think it works. If you are interested feel free to sign up.

Payday is Thursday. I will use some of the extra funds to pay off the Discover card. I used this to buy all the paint for our living and kitchen area. Actually we have enough to paint our bedroom and bathroom yet. I used the Discover card because they were offering 5% back on Home Improvement stores. I can already see about $17+ in rewards. The plan was to pull the cash from savings, but when their is extra in a current paycheck I prefer to use that money so it doesn't feel like I am touching the savings.

I have two bids on some music I decluttered earlier in the month. I moved them to auctions after two weeks listed as Buy It Now. People do like an auction!

Will you use a credit card at a Home Improvement store this spring for any additional rewards? Do you like fixed prices or auctions?

I paid off the balance in full on four different cards this morning: Target, Kohls, Discover and Capital One. I redeemed rewards on the Capital One cards in the amount of $20.75.

After those payments were made I sent in an extra mortgage payment in the amount of $45.75, which included the $25 Visa gift card I used on Thursday that had been a bonus from US Bank.

I'm feeling a bit disorganized in the last two weeks, so I hope to make a dent in getting some things done this week that will help me feel like I am back on track. For today, I will get to the gym and post office. I will also wash some bedding, as well as find a little time to declutter the basement. You can see what my basement storage area looks like before I start working on it at

Your Organized Friend. I hope to post some progress reports this week that show improvement. We were down there last night during a tornado warning but I didn't feel like working on anything during a storm. Turns out no tornado in our direct path or really in the vicinity. Better safe than sorry I guess.

Another thing I think I can get done today, and you might want to do as well, is check our Experian credit reports. I have my calendar set up to remind me every four months to check one of the three credit bureaus for free at annualcreditreport.com . I was notified at the beginning of this month and I still have not completed that simple task! I think I can do that today and then I can delete the email reminder I received!

Did you pay any cards off in full recently? Do you check your credit reports regularly? Do you have tasks you want to complete today?

Last week was so busy. I expect that it will take me a few days to catch up some financial tasks and get those posted to my blog. Thanks for understanding.

I used a $25 Visa gift card that I received from US Bank and I forgot to send the match into the mortgage, so I will get that done soon. We need to go shopping today for some clothes for our oldest daughter. Our first stop will be Kohl's so we can attempt to use the gift cards we have there.

I made another Ebay sale and have some auctions ending today. They are all Buy It Now offerings, so I think this week I will relist to true auctions and just get them sold for the going rate. If they don't sell, then they go to the garage sale or if not sold there donated.

I need to start back on the decluttering this week. I have a couple days I will set aside to do some major work on the basement or the garage. I will decide which to do based on the weather!

Have you been busy? Are you playing catch up on your goals? Will you be decluttering anything this week? Do you have anything you are trying to sell?

I made a extra mortgage payment this morning in the amount of $73.68. This includes the $50 Walmart gift card I spent, $3 from Pinecone, $10.17 from Ebay sales, and $7.51 left from a $100 gift.

More later, busy here. Just had to pop in for a moment to say we have less debt!

I'm still really busy. Today I have guest arriving. They will spend the night, so I have a bed to make, and meals to plan and buy groceries for. I need to squeeze my workout in. I'd like a little time to catch up on finances, but it may not happen.

I used another $50 Walmart gift card the other day. All on regular needs for our household. I will match this with yet another extra mortgage payment.

I sold four DVDs on Ebay. My net proceeds were $13.71. I am moving this to checking along with a $3 Pinecone survey payment. Again, this money will go to the mortgage.

I helped a friend start packing for a move yesterday. She did great in getting rid of some things at the same time as we were packing. No sense in moving something that you no longer want. One thing we noticed she had was empty boxes from product purchases. We kept a few, but most were recycled.

This is a quick post today, since I'm short on time.

Done painting. A little more clean up to do. Relieved!

Received the $25 Visa card from my US Cash+ Visa spending. Snowflake!

I received another $20 Ooma referral, I'm up to 3 now. Money!

See...that was quick. More tomorrow!

We are using those gift cards we redeemed from our Southwest Rapids Rewards bonus. I have used $150 worth at Walmart. My husband bought a tablet from Amazon this weekend and used $100 Amazon.com gift cards. The tablet is a splurge, and a promotion gift. He hasn't been promoted yet, but the man rarely wants for anything, so when he seemed to be wishing for one, I suggested he just get it. The price was a lower than we were seeing in stores.

So with those gift cards used, I need to match the spending with money sent to our mortgage. In this case, $250! I will use $150 from current spending and $100 from savings to be replaced with my husband's first check at promotion (which is likely June).

I made another Ebay sale, which I need to ship today. I also made another $20 from a referral to Ooma. More cash!! Love it.

I'm still painting today. It will be a beautiful day, and I hope during coats one and two I can get out and take a walk in honor of Earth Day. Maybe I can take a bag with me and pick up some trash? Will you do anything to honor the Earth on this day?

Cash is flowing in!

I did sell that couch and love seat mentioned yesterday for a nice $150. The man was excited and said it was for his wife. Now I have more room in my garage. If you want a peek at my garage and how cluttered it is, minus the couches, head over to

Your Organized Friend and see some of my before pictures. I will be getting the garage in shape before our garage sale next month.

I sold a CD on Ebay that I need to get in the mail. I probably only made about $2. But less clutter and more cash makes me happy!

I also referred someone to Ooma, so I have a $20 referral credit. That effectively will cover 5 months of service, which is really just the Federal taxes of about $3.75 a month. I won't get the cash for six weeks or more, but it will be mine then!

We are prepped for painting and will be getting started shortly. I'm thrilled my husband took some time off so we can work together on this beautiful spring day.

In other good news, I lost 1.8 pounds! I'm very happy about this since last week I didn't show any weight loss on the scale. I watched the food intake even closer this week and it made a difference. Gee, kind of like watching the spending. Who would have thought?!

Are you sprucing up your living space (indoors or outdoors) this weekend? Do you have any extra cash or snowflakes flowing in this weekend?

We used our muscles last night to bring an older couch and love seat up from our basement and into our garage. I took pictures while they were still in the basement and promptly listed them for sale on Craigslist. I have quite a few emails to start responding to. I think there will be someone who will buy them. We are only asking $150, for the set. We have had them 18 years, so we think that is a fair price, for the condition. I think the pictures look better than they really are!

In other news, I have spent $140 worth of gift cards at Walmart. I will need to send the money I would have spent off to the mortgage. I might make it an even $150, since the gift cards are in $50 increments. Easier to keep track of. It's been a good snowflake month!

I took about 10 minutes to look at my linen closet yesterday. I found about three or four things to toss and another four things for the donate bin. If you want to see my linen closet, I have pictures on

Your Organized Friend.

My husband is off for the next four days. We are going to do some painting, as well as, spend some time with our girls. No big holiday plans other than being together.

Do you buy used furniture? Did you get any decluttering done yesterday? What is your favorite Easter candy?

I closed my husband's Chase Southwest Rapids Rewards Plus card. I just received confirmation by secure email. We received all the gift cards on Friday. We did have a balance of around $150 that I paid late last week. This was after the statement closed and included the annual fee of $69. After receiving the confirmation of closure, I realized I will not get points for $80 worth of purchases. Oh, well I don't think those points could be redeemed for anything anyway! Just something to be aware of. I'm also glad to have that account closed as we had a credit line of $27,900. That is not a typo!

Here's part of the response we received when closing the account.

Please be assured that we have closed the account as
requested. Since the annual fee of $69.00 was billed to
your account within 60 days of the date the account was
closed, a refund of the fee will automatically post to
your account.

The refund happens automatically! I let you know when I see it on the account. I think it could happen this week. When it does I will request a check.

I'm going to tidy up my house, measure for paint and hand wash some clothes. Once I have all that done I might get some decluttering done. If I do, I will have the results over at

Your Organized Friend.

I'm still on a roll with getting my workouts in at least five days a week. I just need to really watch my calories this week so I can see results on the scale!

Have you closed a credit card account recently? What is the largest line of credit you have ever had? Is your house tidy right now? Anyone else keeping up with working out?

Remember those Ooma referral bonuses I received amounting to $100 on my US Bank Visa? Since I wasn't able to easily get US Bank to send me a check, I used the credit on my account to pay our electric bill of about $93, this month's Ooma taxes of about $4, and a trip to Subway for $9. Now I actually owe a little money to US Bank.

I will be sending that money I would have spent on those items to our mortgage since I had the referral money to cover them.

I haven't done much decluttering this weekend. I have tried to just keep up with basic tasks like unloading the dishwasher and putting things away after I use them. I have two new posts up on

Your Organized Friend that might inspire you to do a few things around you home, if you are interested.

I mentioned that I found several DVDs and CDs to get rid of in last weeks decluttering. I will be putting many of those on Ebay for sale tonight. I'm hoping for about $20 in sales if all works out. I will probably keep the listings going until the garage sale. If not sold by then someone else will get a pretty nice deal.

Do you get more decluttering done during the week or on the weekend?

Our 18th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. But my husband has to work for the Army. Boo. And this sure isn't the first time the Army has been in the way of celebrating on our day. I convinced him to take the today off so we could spend time together! I think we might use a $25 Olive Garden gift card we received last summer to have lunch out together, if he is up for that.

I'm not sure I will get any decluttering done, but if I do I will report it sometime tomorrow. My post about yesterday's decluttering is up on

Your Organized Friend. I introduced my donate bin on the blog, too.

Our gift cards from Southwest Rapids Rewards are arriving today. I was notified to expect the package by the shipper. I made our final payment including the $69 annual fee. Once I have the cards and the payment clears I will ask for cancellation by secure message online and at the same time inquire about a refund of the annual fee. I expect they will cancel and grant the refund, which will take a few days to be applied. Once it shows the return of the refund, I can request a check to be cut. That is how it has worked in the past, so I don't expect this time to be different.

Do you celebrate events early, late, or just skip if you cannot celebrate on the actual date? Do you have a donate bin in your home?

I sold our old table and chairs on craiglist for $150 yesterday! I have now seen that new $100 bill. Interesting look. I have not decided if this money is going to the mortgage or to save for some other furniture upgrades. We still have a couch and loveseat to sell for a similar amount. That money could easily buy a new entertainment center for our basement. So it is tempting to hold on to.

I also sold an item on Ebay, too. It is already in the mail. My net proceeds were $10.71. That money WILL be going to the mortgage to pay down the principal. I'm expecting a Pinecone payment into my Paypal account today or tomorrow. I will withdraw both amounts after that occurs.

I was notified yesterday that our gift cards from our Southwest Rewards are being delivered tomorrow! Just in time, since I heard both my girls mention their need for clothes. This means I can use those Kohl's gift cards!

Yesterday was not nearly as busy as the day before, but I did have an appointment in the morning. I also had to get my daughter to a late lesson last night. I did manage to fit in some small decluttering tasks, which I documented on

Your Organized Friend. I also noticed my husband must be a little inspired by my decluttering. He pulled out 5-6 shirts and a pair of sneakers he no longer wants. I think he may have put those items in my garage sale pile, too. That makes me happy!

Did you sell anything recently? Do you plan to have a garage sale this spring or summer? What decluttering task could you get done today? Should I keep that cash for a future furtniture purchase or put it on the mortgage?

I am making another big payment towards the mortgage today. Recent snowflakes that I don't want to melt total $174.97. This month has been much better than last for snowflakes!

I noticed the IRS has cashed our tax payment check. I guess that is good. Now I know everything is taken care of for this tax season.

Yesterday was busy, but I did get a chance to do some basic decluttering. To find out about that you need to

click here, to visit Your Organized Friend.

I was able to get my Mad Men DVDs watched so that has been listed on Ebay along with a Creative Memories item that was found in my daughter's closet. Fingers crossed for sales! I still may get our table sold this week, if the man that was interested on Sunday gets back to me.

There is lots of good news this morning. I logged on to my husband's Discover account and found his $150 bonus was applied. I have already requested direct deposit. No need for gift cards since I did just order $550 worth from our Southwest rewards on Friday.



Our city emailed me back this morning with our water bill amount. It was $79.29 and will be withdrawn from our account on Thursday. I usually allocate $95 for water (which actually includes a sewer debt payment, and trash). I think I will send the $15.71 difference to the mortgage as a snowflake.

Our daughter returned home from her Washington DC trip last night. She is so tired from early mornings. She sure didn't want to get up this morning. But she did it! She left here with $60 of her own money for spending. She bought a t shirt, a post card, and some snacks/food. She came home with nearly $15. She even mentioned looking at a magnet to buy that was 2x3 inches for $6. She thought it was overpriced, so she skipped buying it! I do like the T shirt she picked out.

Here's a link to the latest decluttering at our house on Your Organized Friend. Today I need to finish that project up by tackling this bin:



I don't really want to work on it, but I'm hoping it will go fast once I get going. I may time myself and see how long it really takes. Do you ever find yourself procrastinating a job because it seems like it will take a long time, but then you do it and realize it didn't take long at all? Strange phenomena.

I actually did get some decluttering done. I even have a lead on the table I listed. Not sure if legit yet or not.

I wrote about the chaos under the sink at

Your Organized Friend. Let me know what you think!

The Southwest card statement closed earlier this week. I could see the bonus miles were rewarded. So, I went looking at my husband's Rapids Reward account. No deposit. Yet. I looked again today. No deposit. What? How long does it take? It seemed fast last time!

On a whim, I checked my Rapid Rewards account. The deposit was made there! I haven't even had a Southwest Visa yet, but I did open the rewards account awhile back when there was an offer for 2,000 miles for opening the account. I must have put the wrong rewards number on the application. Or maybe I did it on purpose and didn't remember. This will allow to actually redeem those 2000 miles along with the 53,000+ miles my husband earned on this latest Southwest Visa offer.

We will getting $550 worth of gift cards in all. I will be ordering those later today, likely a combination of Kohl's, Lowe's, Walmart and Amazon. If I remember right the Walmart cards were the easiest to spend since I could buy groceries and household items we buy everyday.

Not sure what I will get done on the organizing front today. I have a volunteer obligation later, but I still might have a few minutes to dive into a pile of things somewhere.

In fitness news, I lost 1 pound this week. I did five days of cardio and four days of lifting weights. I've been getting a few squats in here at home too. I feel so much better and I'm noticing clothes fitting much looser. This morning my husband said my face looks a little thinner. A wife does like to hear that!

Any odd things happen to you that surprised you a bit? Will you be organizing anything today? What is the one place that you find the hardest to organize or keep clutter free? Did you lose any weight this week on your fitness plan?

Today, I only tackled a pile of brochures and handouts from that college visit we had last month. There were some duplicates to recycle, as well as some maps we just don't need. I was able to reduce the pile by half. It only took five minutes. No picture, as the change is not very noticeable. I was hoping to tackle more today, but a phone call from my mom, and my husband home for lunch changed my schedule. I did get the sheets on the girls beds washed! Oh, I did find that grocery bag trick I mentioned yesterday on Your Organized Friend. I posted

the video on my blog over there today.

Our electric bill was under $100, which never happens. Turns out they only billed us for 18 days. Last month was 32 days. Not sure why this is, but it works for me. I think I will end up paying it with the Ooma credit that is on my US Bank Visa card. That will leave us with less than $7 in credit on the card, which I'm sure I can 'spend' somewhere! Once I use up the credit I will send my $100 Ooma referral money to the mortgage.

March has been our slowest month so far this year in regards to snowflakes, but I did have plenty of sources of these funds. The little amounts do add up! Anyone can save small amounts and make them count towards a goal. This month those small amounts came to $247.39! And if your read my blog often, you know that this money is applied to our mortgage to pay down the balance. So far this year we have paid off $1,610.88 in mortgage debt with just snowflake money. We are not quite to our goal of $4,000, but we are getting closer to the halfway point. I expect we will get to the 50% point in the month of April.



Have you recently started saving small amounts of money towards a goal? I'd love to hear what you are working towards. Anyone have a new source for snowflakes?

I just sent off two snowflakes to the mortgage in the amount of $201.20! That money combined with our regular mortgage payment and the extra $103+ I tack on each month, will bring our mortgage down below the $X25,000 threshold! Yippee!! That means less than $9K to go to meet our mortgage goal for the year.

That $200+ is my $150 Discover bonus that I had deposited into our checking account and a check for $51.20 which was our Washington DC fundraising proceeds. I prepaid the trip in full, so the fundraising dollars came back once I had a credit balance. That is about the amount my daughter will take for spending money, but she is to take that from her own savings, since we paid for the trip.

I made another BIG payment to our Chase Southwest card today. It was just over $809. That covered a work trip my husband was reimbursed for and some other miscellaneous spending. The first statement has not closed yet, but when it does I will make our final payment. That payment will include the $69 annual fee, which I will pay. I will then close the account and ask for a refund of the fee.

I'm going to participate, as best I can, in the declutter/organizing challenge for the month of April. I did complete my goal of 20 workouts last month. I also lifted weights 10 times. I started counting calories in mid to late February. I have lost 11 pounds since then. I feel great!!

I will detail March snowflakes and mortgage principal paid in tomorrow's post. It will not include the two items mentioned above since those were not allocated until April.

Did your April begin with a snowflake? Are you joining in on the declutter and organizing challenge? How did you do with your exercise goals in March?

It's the end of the month, and my husband's paycheck is pending deposit. I went ahead and recorded all the bills that automatically draft this next pay period. First is the mortgage payment of $1,415 which included an extra $103+ as a principal payment.

I also went online and made a large payment on our Southwest card. It was $961.70 to cover our recent Honda maintenance expense, our cell phone bill and other miscellaneous spending from last pay period. There is still a balance on the card. Much of that is some travel expenses by my husband. We should get most of the reimbursement very soon. I'm hoping tomorrow. Once we do I will send all that in and get the card down to zero again.

I set aside $50 for Christmas, $114 towards our auto registration and insurance, and the $57 for the 52 Weekly Savings Challenge. I wrote one check for a school field trip and another for a flute lesson later tonight. I will be getting cash out for allowances, and another future flute lesson. Oh yes, some of the cash I need to get is for my daughter's birthday. She received a check for her birthday and she wanted me to get cash for it.

At this point, I plan to send the check for our taxes late next week, around April 11. We have the $413 in our account now, so I can mail anytime. I'm just waiting as long as I can to pay! I will go ahead and right the check, and stamp and address the envelope. I sure don't want to forget to pay the government.

I'm waiting to hear about the $100 credit I have on my US Bank card. I want them to mail me a check, but I have not heard back yet. The credit is from those Ooma referrals I received. If they won't send a check, I will use the card to pay a utility bill and just take the difference to send to the mortgage.

Are you paid on the first of the month? Do you record all your bills for that pay period right away? Or only record when it actually happens?

I guess my procrastination did not pay. The Discover reward gift cards I was looking at are no longer available! I really wanted to use $80 in rewards to get a Lowe's $100 gift card. It is no longer an option for me. That did help me to decide.

I'm taking the cash! It will be in our bank account in 72 hours. Of course, soon after we know that I will be sending it into the mortgage.

I made an Amazon purchase today for my husband's razor blades, which will likely last him over a year, maybe two! I used $10 in AGC that I received from Swagbucks earlier this month, AND $9.79 in Discover rewards on his account. I still had to pay over $9 out of pocket, but now I can see the matching rewards to mortgage.

It all feels good. I like using rewards to pay for things, even the mortgage!

I have received my referral rewards from Ooma! I had five worth $20 each, so $100 total. The money has been credited to my US Bank Visa. I had have a zero balance on the card and I have left it open because I knew these credits were coming soon. I'm also waiting for a $25 gift card reward from US Bank. I'm not closing the card until I receive ALL my rewards!

I'm not sure how I will get that $100 credit. I could make a purchase and use it up, or request a check. I am undecided at the moment. So many rewards and decisions to make lately! All good, of course.

I did notice there was a banner on the SA blog page for a Citi Thank You Preferred card. I clicked on it. The offer is $200 for spending $1500. Not the best reward ever, but not terrible either. I know DH has not had this card yet, so I'm thinking about it. However, he may need to wait a month or two to apply.

I can't decide how to redeem our first Discover reward of $150. Cash is what I was planning and expecting when I applied for the card. However, there are options to redeem for gift cards. One example of why this is a good deal: a $100 Lowe's gift card for $80 of our rewards.

The Lowe's card is one we would definitely use with summer coming. We plan to do some painting, fertilize the lawn, and plant a few bushes.

The other gift cards aren't overly appealing. Lots of restaurants and places we don't shop. Of course, I'm sure I could find something! I also know our only choice for redeeming our $500+ in rewards on the Southwest Visa, besides an airline ticket, is gift cards. That is a lot of gift cards!

What would you do? Is the cash better, or is getting the most value better?

Good news. Bad news.

Good news, MY Discover statement closed yesterday. This is the first one since I met the spending requirement and my $150 bonus was awarded! Woo Hoo!! Now I get to decide if I take gift cards or cash. I REALLY want cash, but I know that I get more for my reward dollars if I take the gift cards. I'll be browsing those later.

So Discover seems to be lying! My husband met the spending requirement as of his last statement in early March. No bonus reward applied. I inquired. They stated it would take 8 plus weeks to be applied. I responded that I'm aware others have received it much sooner. The next response was similar but indicated it would be applied the next time the statement closes. This is now early April. The fifth of the month I think. So they are lying...or their customer service is incompetent. At this point, I'm just going to wait. It is not worth the stress and effort to get the reward 10 earlier than I'm currently expecting it. Now if it is NOT applied on the 5th...I will not be happy.

Okay...the good news is there is a reward!! I will focus on the good news.

I received a $3 Pinecone survey payment last week. Just today I requested that money be moved from my Paypal account to our checking account.

I also ordered two $5 Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks last week. I got them the next day! I have never received any redemption from them so fast. For now, those are loaded on our Amazon account, until our next purchase. I will officially account for them as snowflakes when used. I also plan to use the $9+ in Discover rewards when I make that next Amazon.com purchase. It is the only way I can get those last rewards off that card!

Not sure if I wrote about this yet. We HAVE met the $2000 spending requirement on DHs Southwest Visa and then some. I noticed my husband put some more work trip transactions on there today. I don't see another worthwhile Southwest offer for me to apply for. I think we are at a little standstill for now with credit card offers. There are not any compelling offers that we haven't already done in the last year. But the cash and gift cards have not yet arrived for the recent cards, so there will be some big snowflakes soon.

I still need to finish our taxes. I'm pretty sure I've entered everything in. We owe $413. I was going to put this on that Southwest card, but we spent up to the minimum before I could get the taxes filed. I expect I will just pay by check and avoid the fee. Is it right that I can file and wait to mail the check by April 15? I think it is and I'm sure I can look that up to be sure.

I did write a post on my other blog today about a discussion we had with our girls the other day. Oh, and in fitness news, I have done 30 minutes of cardio the last two mornings and lifted weights. I feel so much better! I'm on track to meet my fitness goals this month. Yippee!!

We have the truck at the Honda Dealer today. It was due for an oil change, tire rotation and one of the fluids replaced. As it turns out the mileage is nearly 60,000 which means it is time for some other fluid maintenance as well. We do follow the recommendations of the manufacturer and have found that it really pays off. It's another reason Honda vehicles last so long. Of course it does cost some cash! The estimate is about $400 for all the things that we are having done today.

This wasn't planned exactly, but we set cash aside knowing these things come up, so no worries. We will put it on the Southwest card and likely meet the $2000 minimum spending after that charge. I actually still have items I planned to charge on the card to meet the minimum...so it seems it could be time for a new card already!

In other financial news, I was able to cash out Bing Rewards for a 500 Swagbucks code. I have not redeemed it yet. I should just do it whenever, as I'm not keeping up with Swagbucks this month. I needed a break. I also claimed a $15 Amazon gift card from Lean Cuisine Delicious Rewards. It already arrived by email and I applied it to our Amazon account. That's another snowflake!

I'm still on track with my workouts, although a little behind on my weight lifting goal. I think I may see a change on the scale this week!

I think today will consist of some spring cleaning. We need to get that cat hair out from under the beds. And while we have the beds moved, we might as well strip off the quilts and wash those as well.

Happy Spring SA friends!

We were away for a few days visiting a college for my daughter, thus the lack of posts for the last few days. When we returned, there was a check in the mail. (Just imagined some angels singing for that one!) It was for a refund of some vitamins that were 'guaranteed to work or your money back'. They have worked a little, but thought we could still get some of the money back we have spent on them. The amount was $25. I think I actually spent less than that for one bottle. It must be the amount the give regardless of what you spent. I will get that check deposited and sent off to the mortgage.

My daughter wasn't feeling well yesterday when we returned so we skipped her flute lesson. Saved $20 for the time being. We hope to get with her accompanist soon to practice her flute solo. More money to shell out for that, so this savings can likely go to that cost.

My daughter got a free T-shirt on her college visit for filling out a survey. Of course, we did pay $10 each when we registered for the visit. Thus I'm sure those funds went towards our meals, parking and that T shirt!

The trip also consisted of a few snacks along the way, fuel and one stop at Subway. It was fairly inexpensive, since my parents provided several meals and free lodging. Appreciate that!

That is the financial news of late. Have you received a free meal recently? Did you get any snowflakes in the mail?

I can finally report another credit card bonus! I feel like these are taking forever to get my hands one, even though I know they are in the works. I had to wait for the statement to cycle closed again before the bonus was available. I could see it there since last month, but it wasn't available to redeem. I was able to redeem $115.76 from US Bank Cash+ Visa card. I had this one applied as a credit. I then owed $33+ which I have already paid. This card offered a $25 bonus if you redeem more than $100. I do get the bonus, but it is a Visa Check card which has to be mailed and takes about 6 weeks to receive. Ugh! Really I am happy about the cash, just frustrated with the delays.

That reward is another snowflake, of course! I sent it in to the mortgage yesterday with $25 from Swagbucks, a Pinecone survey and ATM rebate money recently received. We have $147.27 less debt on our mortgage to pay. Yippee!!

Payday is officially tomorrow, but I have already started paying bills, including credit card balances. Yesterday, I made payments on the US Bank card, my husband's Discover, and our Target Red Card. The paycheck is pending, but will be a hard deposit tomorrow. I think I will spend a few minutes and make a payment on my Discover to get that nearly paid off. I have just another $5 to spend to meet the goal...which I think will happen when I get a car wash later today. I'm also waiting on a refund (I ended up sending that clothes washer part back, since the problem seemed to resolve itself. No more leaking. Anyway, I hoping the refund arrives before the statement closes in less than two weeks. At this rate with Discover we should both get our $150 bonuses in April. I guess I can wait until then.

My snowflake accumulations for March just may not be as high as January and February. My best chance for another big influx for this month is to sell some old furniture (sofa, loveseat, kitchen table and chairs). I let you know when I get those listed and then sold.

The gym workouts continue! I am definitely committed now. I have 10 cardio workouts done and 4 weight lifting sessions complete. I'm already planning ahead to how to fit my workouts around a mini trip we are taking early next week. My husband is on board with the counting of calories, so that is a big help. He is pretty good getting his workouts in when he can as the Army does need fit soldiers. In fact, some of them are working out three days a week at their workplace gym. It just feels good to be making progress towards a fitter me!

Are you inpatient with getting your credit card rewards? Which card do you think rewards the fastest? If you are in on the March Fitness challenge, how are you coming along?

I found two pennies in the parking lot in front of the post office today. It made me wonder how much money has been sitting on the ground this winter, or even pushed into snowbanks along the road. I bet there is some money to be found looking in those melting snow piles. Of course, I only found my two cents out in the open. I wasn't digging through dirty snow!

I made it to the gym today! I did my thirty minutes of cardio and got out of there, so I could accomplish more at home. I have now had 8 workouts this month, so getting closer to the goal of 20. I have completed 3 of 10 weight lifting workouts so far, too!

Part of my day did include running a few errands. I need contact solution, bar soap, and a 40 watt light bulb. I also bought a mesh strainer for about $4 on clearance. That was a last minute purchase, but I think I jumped on it because I never see one that low in price. It was the amount I was willing to spend and I know I will use it when rinsing lentils and quinoa.

I went to another grocery store to get my daughter the yogurt she likes. None of the big containers on the shelf. I bought three little ones and will have to go back next week to see if they have the larger containers in stock. I also bought butter, quart of milk, and a strip steak for fajitas later this week.

I didn't pay close attention but I think all of those items I purchased today were close to $50! It might have been a little less, but I sure didn't get much for that money it seemed. I guess some of those things were just pricey though, too.

I claimed the money from another Pinecone survey. I expect that money to be in my Paypal account tomorrow. Another little snowflake on the horizon.

Have you found any money on the ground recently? Do you think yours had been covered by snow for some time?