We purchased a used flute on eBay yesterday. It wasn't really that used though, might have been a demonstration model. It actually looks pretty new. We figured we saved over $400 by buying this one rather than new from our local music store.

This flute will be for our youngest daughter and it is the same model as her sister's, which we did buy new. It has been a great flute for her, thus why we wanted the same one and as close to new as we could get.

Our daughter will pay 10% of the cost. We don't really NEED the money from her, but we did make her sister pay the same amount when we upgraded the flute. I think it is gives them a little ownership and knowledge about the cost of things. And sure, I don't mind paying a little less on my end!

I completed two Pinecone surveys in the last 24 hours. I have two items with bids on eBay. I claimed some Bing rewards for Swagbucks, which will help me redeem for two Amazon gift cards on Swagbucks when the code arrives. Little snowflakes on their way!

I'm getting ready for guests AGAIN. More food will need to be purchased. My parents will take me for lunch tomorrow, so that is one less meal I need to purchase. I also have all that soup, chili and bread from our party a couple weeks ago that I will be using up.

I've been trying to do better with workouts and food. I skipped two days of working out, but I'm determined to go today (right after I post this). Did really great tracking food up until last Saturday when we were watching football and my husband kept getting out more snacks! At the days following have been better, but not under my goal. Keep trying, right?

I sold an item on eBay over the weekend. The net profit was $23.79. Two of the items listed didn't sell, so they have been relisted and I added another one.

I really want to be decluttering this month, but I did only get to the entry way last week. I wrote a little more about the topic and some areas I may consider on

Your Organized Friend.

We are busy this month with band events and guests. It is quite enough to keep up with that, but I will do my best to dig in and find some things we no longer need. Maybe there will be more items to list on eBay!

The biggest thing I need to remind myself is that looking for things to purge only takes a few minutes each day. I'm sure I can find 10 minutes even if I have all these guests and things to get done.

In other financial news, our mortgage payment for October had $474.64 in principal reduction. Plus, we automatically send in $103.72 towards principal each month as well.

Have you sold anything recently? Do you consider October a good month to purge and declutter? I'd love to hear about any decluttering or purging you do, and even how long it took you!

My oldest kitty is 10 today! We sang Happy Birthday to her. She is clueless, but it was fun for us.

We paid $758.83 towards the principal balance on our mortgage in the month of September. This might be the least we have paid this year! I did skip a $275 payment that I have been making nearly all year. We just had a lot of expenses this month, and I need that cash. It may mean I have to make up the difference later in the year to get to my goal.

Most of the balance reduction was from our regular payment, but the snowflakes I accumulated did exceed the extra I send in to round up our payment. The break down is below:



For the year, we have paid $11,240.93 on the balance. The goal is just under $14K, specifically $13,993.00. That means we have just $2,752.07 to go to meet the goal by year end. This is an average of $917. Since the principal portion of our payment is generally $472+, the other portion has to come from extra payments and snowflakes. Prior to this month our extra payments were $378. That means I only really need $67 in snowflakes each month. I may not make as big of extra payments from income if I can get more snowflakes.

I did relist three items on Ebay yesterday. I did want to list a couple more things, but I wasn't motivated enough. It will be fun to see if I can come up with some new sources of snowflakes in the next few months.

How much debt did you pay off in September? Any amount is good in my book. Don't let my high debt pay off amounts scare you. Sending in just an extra $5 is sooo worth it, because over time it all adds up and makes a difference!

I accumulated $182.20 in extra money(or snowflakes) for the month of September. All the cash went to pay down the mortgage!

Here's where the money came from:


Also, it could have been higher if I was able to redeem some of my Southwest Rapids Rewards points. That would have been $200+. (See other posts for why I can't redeem...yet.) I also could have redeemed $200+ from our newest credit card Citi Thank You Preferred, but I'm holding off to determine if we will use this money for a new fridge.

I do have a Pinecone survey reward being transferred to my bank account and an Ooma $20 referral reward that will be counted as the first snowflakes of October.

I did make some financial moves that will generate some extra money in future months. I opened a Discover CashBack Checking account for a $50 bonus. I opened a joint US Bank Checking account for a $200 reward, as well as set up a CD at Navy Federal Credit Union which will net us 5% interest on $5,000 over then next year.

I'm happy with the snowflake progress of the past month and looking forward to those future rewards? Did you track your extra money earned this month? How much did you accumulate? Did you save it or pay down debt?

I'm making two soups/stews for our party. I made traditional chili using the famous Better Homes & Garden cookbook. I'm also making a Moroccan Lentil Soup in case anyone doesn't want to do the chili. I love both personally.

I prechopped green pepper, onion and carrots yesterday, which made getting started on the soups today VERY easy. In fact, as of 10 am this morning they are done!

We purchased alcohol and beverages last night. I did find a rebate on the rum, but that was it. We very likely bought more than needed, but decided it would get used eventually, and it could make an excuse for another gathering!

I will buy salad ingredients today. I also think I will make the corn bread later today as well. I feel pretty good about getting ready for the party. I also think one of the wives wants to come over early in case I need help. I will let her. I can have her help me get food into containers and put plates and cups out. And it will be fun! If she doesn't end up coming, it will be no big deal.

I will do my kitchen floor cleaning first thing in the morning. It will needed it after all my baking and food prep.

I did complete a Pinecone survey a day or two ago. The credit to my account has been redeemed for cash.

What is your favorite soup to eat or make?

I opened a Discover Cashback Checking account today. I thought I may have missed the cutoff for the $50 offer, as the mailer stated the deadline was September 15. When I logged on to the offer, it was available!

I did need to make a minimum opening deposit of $25. That is the only requirement other than being a Discover credit card holder. The $50 bonus will be credited by December 12, but possibly sooner.

I was thinking it was too bad my husband doesn't have his Discover card, as I could have had him open the account too. Oh, well.

I do have the ability to refer people to the Discover credit card, not the checking account. You would earn $50 for opening the account and making your first purchase, and I would also earn $50. I do need your email address to send you the personalized invite. If you leave it in the comments, I will delete it as soon as I send the invite. I will not keep your email address or use it for any other purpose. Only open credit cards if you can pay for all purchases in full before you are charged interest. It's the only way to use them!

Do you have a Discover credit card or checking account? Have you been using the card for 5% cash back this past quarter?

I sent in some snowflakes to the mortgage this morning. I used $18.24 in Amazon gift cards obtained from Southwest rewards and Bing/Swagbucks. I also had a $3 payment from Pinecone and earned $5 using the Ibotta coupon app. This means we now have $26.24 less mortgage debt!! I like less debt.

So far for the month of September, we have accumulated $182.20 worth of snowflakes which all have been sent in to the mortgage.

I did skip an extra mortgage principal payment this month equal to $275. I used it to pay off some charges on credit cards. Charges that are not costing us interest, but would if I didn't use that money. I'm still ahead of schedule on my mortgage goal, so that is what helped sway my decision to use the money on the purchases versus the mortgage. And I didn't really want to pull from savings! I like my savings intact.

Where are you getting your extra funds (snowflakes) this month? How much have you accumulated.

Updated: We are not getting the puppy referenced in my post. I did more research and agree with those of you posting that a Jack Russell is not the dog for us with cats. Thanks for responding!

Our family is considering getting a puppy. A female Jack Russell. We are visiting it on Saturday! It is a little daunting since as a family we have not owned a dog, only two cats. My husband and I each had a dog growing up.

I now need to read up on how to introduce a puppy to cats and have them get along. I read about them needing to be crated or on leash in the house until we(the pack leader) can control the dog and teach it to not chase the cats.

What else should we know? Share anything or point me to a book that would be helpful.

(In other news, I got another $20 reward from Ooma for referring someone to their services. At this point, I'm making money on my home phone!)

We went to see Garth Brooks in concert on Saturday in Chicago. It was fabulous!!!!

Now I'm playing catch up on everything needing to be done here at home along with paying bills since today is payday. I'm also trying to estimate my husband's travel reimbursements for a couple of recent trips. He actually worked Saturday and Sunday morning in Chicago, so our transportation, hotel and some food were covered! This made the cost of the trip far less expensive. The work part wasn't even originally planned for the date we chose to go to the concert.

I just wrote a check for $55.11 for my daughter's high school graduation cap, gown and tassel (and maybe a stole?). They get to keep everything! When I graduated, we only kept the cap and tassel. The gowns were rented and turned back in right after graduation. We are skipping the fancy announcements since she doesn't care for them. We will likely make our own...although as I write that I'm really wondering if we should just get 25 of them. Those would cost $28.75. Although, then I'm realizing those wouldn't have her name on them, and to get the name cards adds even more ($18+). Now I'm back to making our own. Since ALL of our family is out of town, we really don't expect too many of them to make the trip for the ceremony. She also isn't into the open house party thing either. So...we'll keep it simple and frugal.

I had over $31 from Chase Rewards that I redeemed and matched with an extra mortgage payment. Included in that payment was a recent purchase made with Amazon gift cards and our US Bank rewards. This all means $57.12 in snowflakes and less mortgage debt. I like that!!

I have earned more than $5 from Ibotta and should be able to cash out now. I just need to make that request. I completed a Pinecone survey last night and received credit this morning, so claimed my cash!

I went shopping for groceries today and spent under $90! It seems like forever since my bill was so low. I did try to make our meal plan using things we already had on hand. Tonight I made egg casserole because I had the milk, eggs and bread on hand. I did buy mushrooms, sausage and cheese for it. Would have been cheaper to just do eggs and toast, but I will use the extra cheddar cheese for tacos later in the week and extra sausage on our pizza. I made sure to use my Target Cartwheel app for savings, as well as a few printed coupons. I always love a successful trip at the grocery store!

Now I need a nap! It's been a tiring few days. How was your weekend? Did anyone else see Garth Brooks?

Our cell phone bill is $246. This is with Verizon. I'm sure those of you with Ting are sitting there with your mouth hanging open!!

We have been using our US Bank Cash+ card to charge our cell phone bill so that we can get 5% off each month. This month that was a discount/reward of $12.30.

Once the statement closes, I apply the reward to the statement balance and then pay the remainder. Today that meant $233.80 out of pocket.

It appears I can pick this same 5% discount on cell phone services for next quarter, too. So I'm signing up again.

Someday, I may get Ting or a similar service. But for now, I'm happy with the additional 5% discount offered by my US Bank credit card.

I bought 24 boxes of Puffs tissues last week on Amazon. I believe they arrive tomorrow. I'm interested to see how big of a box that is!!

Last night, I finally remembered to reorder my daughter's allergy medicine. Generic Zyrtec, 365 pills for $17.25 shipped in two days with our Prime Membership. I hate to admit but her bottle we bought quite awhile back expired in May! It seemed to still be working, but I'd like her to get the full effect of unexpired medicine.

Those purchases were made with Amazon gift cards that were redeemed with points on our Southwest Rapids Rewards Visa. So since it was free to us on purchases anyway, I made an equal payment to our mortgage. The amount was $38.93. Less debt!!

Have you ever purchased 24 boxes of tissues at one time?!

Check out the junk I got rid of at

Your Organized Friend.

I did make progress yesterday in establishing our new Navy Federal Credit Union accounts. I need to get the $5000 in there before I can open the CD. Or at least that seems the easiest way to do that. The transfer is in process and likely will not be completed until next week. This is the first time I have taken money from our money market account since 2011!!

I also opened a US Bank Checking account. I received a mailed offer to open one for $200. It does require a direct deposits of $500 in a month and I think for just one month, but since we now have extra money that we are just planning to save, I will direct deposit those funds long enough to get the bonus. US Bank indicated they will let me know when my account is ready to use. Once it is, I will log on to my husband's My Pay account and direct the deposit. Should be pretty easy!

I still want to open the Discover checking account for the $50, but I have some time (end of the month) and I want to get the other accounts going first.

Our vehicle registrations are due in October and both vehicles will cost us less than last year! This is simply because the vehicles are older. The van went from $329 per year to $251. Savings $78. The truck went from $150 to $120. I save for these all year, so this means I will have some extra funds and should adjust how much I save each month going forward.

Have you opened a new bank account lately? Did you get a bonus? Have you had any bills come due that were lower than expected?

We have less mortgage debt because of extra payments and snowflakes sent in and applied to the principal balance.

We paid off $1,214.02, of which only $365.18 was from non income sources. About half of the remainder was from our regular payment. The rest was extra payments we committed to paying to meet our mortgage goal this year.

Again, that goal was to pay down $13,993, which brings us to an even $X15,000 balance. In the first eight months of the year we have paid $10,482.10. Only $3,510.90 left to pay towards our goal. That averages $877.73 per month. No problem considering most months have been far more!

Do you also have less debt than you did at the beginning of August?

I was able to save $365.18 in snowflakes for the month of August. For the newbies, that means I found money from sources other than income. I call them snowflakes, since they add up to snowballs over time. I send all snowflake money to our mortgage to pay down the balance.

The goal this year was to accumulate $4000 in snowflakes. I met that goal THIS month! The new total since the beginning of 2014 is $4,052.21. And if you didn't notice there are 4 more months of 2014. We are way ahead of schedule!!

Here is where the August snowflakes came from:



Right now I think the plan is to still send the extra to the mortgage. It is tempting to divert the money elsewhere because it seems there are lots of expenses coming up. For now I will keep the status quo.

How many snowflakes did you accumulate in August?

I know I'm the one that suggested this selling challenge on Saving Advice, but I'm sure getting off to a slow start! Can I blame it on school starting last week? I have had items listed and I have sold a few. These items just aren't big profit makers for me.

In the entire month of August I put $44.83 back into our pockets. I mean I'm not making a true profit on items I purchased and am selling used for less. I put this money to the mortgage of course. So the selling does pay off in less debt and over time, a little less interest paid!

I have an item to relist tonight or tomorrow, since I had a non paying bidder. There are still four items listed, that I may switch to auctions. Undecided. I know there are a couple books on Half.com, but those will just sit there until they sell. Although by December they will go to Goodwill if no one shows interest by the end of the year. Can't have excess clutter for too long!

Are you selling anything? Do you think sales are slow or brisk for you right now?

The only money spent today at our house was for groceries and gas. Husband just went to fill up his truck, so I'll say around $60 to fill it up. The groceries were from Target. I had three physical coupons, used Target's cartwheel app for other discounts, and redeemed two $5 gift cards I obtained a few days ago. The charge to my Target Red card was $113.05.

I started using the Ibotta app for additional rebates on things I buy. I earned a little cash for buying ground beef and bread today. The other day I earned a rebate for buying Kleenex tissues. I'm up to a whole $2! It will add up over time though.

I also started using Two Grand app for tracking food. It is all based on pictures, rather than counting calories. I need something new to keep my interest so I'm going to give it a try. Eating too much food is my problem right now. If I eat I'm getting some exercise, although I need more. I've had more water today because of the app, so that is a plus.

I also harvested some herbs today. Specifically, oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary. My mom purchased and planted them, but then sent them with me when they were out of town for nearly two weeks. I tried to send them back last time I visited, but she said they weren't doing as well as they were here. So I was to keep them. I used them fresh only once or twice. Today, I set most of them up to dry in bags and the basil to freeze. I will find out if she wants them now. If not, I got free herbs!

How was your spending this weekend? Have you started any new apps that you like? Do you use herbs in your cooking or baking? Do you have a favorite?

We used a $50 Kohl's gift card yesterday. The gift card was earned from Southwest Rapids Rewards card. Since the items we bought with the gift card would have been purchased with cash anyway, that money goes to pay down our mortgage.

I'm less than $1 away from meeting the $4,000 snowflake goal for the year. At this point, I knew I would make it, since there are several pending snowflakes in the works.

Less debt, is always good!

Today is payday. I paid off charges made to various credit cards, so we are back to zero on all except one. No interest has accrued on any of course!

I made a big payment towards the principal balance of our mortgage in the amount of $349.41. This includes the planned $275 we make on the loan at mid month. We accumulated $48.08 in rewards on the Chase Freedom card over the last two months. That snowflake money was included in the payment in addition to some Pinecone survey and eBay proceeds. It all adds up to reduce debt! We only have a little over $3,600 to meet our the goal of paying off nearly $14K on the mortgage this year.

I have a bid on one item on eBay. There are several items listed and most at Buy It Now prices, so one has to wait until someone pulls the buy trigger. I may change these on Sunday to get some movement on them. I want the cash for them now.

I still haven't hit $100K in my Roth IRA account yet. The market has been down recently, but it could still happen this year. And I don't mind buying some more shares at lower prices!

I hope everyone has a thrify weekend!

I balanced our checkbook today after our statement closed for the month. I did actually miss recording a small payment (less than $10) this past month. At least the bill was still paid! My check book is an online Excel register program that I found free online. I don't have the link for it, but I did a quick search and see there are still options out there. Be careful to pick one that has good ratings and reviews, so you don't download a virus.

For the past two months, I have charged our Verizon bill to my US Bank Cash+ card. One of the categories I chose for this quarter was 5% back for cell phone providers. Considering our bill is fairly high, this is a nice little discount off the bill. This month the rewards were $12.31. I redeem the rewards in full for a credit and paid the remaining amount. I consider the rewards a snowflake and will match the amount with a payment to the mortgage.

My Citi Thank You rewards card has already closed on the first statement. I have not had the card long at all. Although long enough to rack up $260 in charges, the bulk of that was for electricity and a flute maintenence repair bill.

I helped at school yesterday afternoon and this morning. Band camp has begun and uniforms are being fitted. I'm helping to hem pants. It feels like a quilting bee type of event with several ladies hand sewing in one place! I did mention my wedding gown donation to a few women. One told me today she keeps thinking about it and will likely donate her dress as well. So cool!

Do you balance your checkbook anymore? Anyone still using pen and paper? Anyone else getting rewards on cell phone charges? Do you know how to sew?

I used up the remaining $50 Walmart gift cards obtained from Southwest credit card rewards. The money was spent on mundane household goods, including treats for band camp.

I also made a purchase of $4.95 using Amazon gift cards obtained in this case from Bing and Swagbucks rewards.

As I like to do, I matched my spending on gift cards with a payment to our mortgage in the amount of $54.95. This will all go to reduce principal. Less debt. I like that!

We still have $50 in Amazon gift cards, around $32 on a Kohl's card and another $50 to Lowe's that we have not spent yet. I'm in no rush. If we don't need anything, we don't need to go buying it!

I'm waiting for a Pinecone payment to be deposited into my PayPal account. Once that happens I will transfer the cash in there (around $14) to our checking account so I can add that money to the mortgage as well.

Everything is moving right along! Did you make any extra mortgage payments this month? Was it a planned amount, or some extra money you found?

I made another sale on eBay last night. It looks like a net of $7.99...another snowflake! I added a few more items for sale on Half.com and eBay. Many of my items are listed as Buy It Now and are 30 day listings. They could really sell at anytime.

I will get that item mailed and also take my wedding dress to the post office. I was able to get the dress into a fairly small box (8x7x6). It weighs just under 2 pounds and will only cost about $7 to mail. I have requested confirmation that my dress is received and a tax donation acknowlegement. I also did take some lace, pearls, and silk material from the dress, for my own keepsake uses. It has really been a joy to have taken the dress out of the box that it has been preserved in for 18 years. It really was a great dress! I'm glad I'm moving it on, since my daughter's aren't interested and it can go to a good cause.

DH and I have still not sat down to talk about the spending. I think it might be best to try to show him on Friday (payday) when I'm paying bills. He can just observe and ask questions as I go along. If he gets really intersted, I might want to start YNAB (You Need A Budget). I think with us both having smart phones we could track spending into categories to see where we really are.

In other news, I did take the kitten to the humane society for our county. I decided that it was the best plan, since we weren't ready for another cat, I didn't want it in the hands of someone who would torture it, it's cute personality will win someone over and the humane society will do a great job at vetting a new owner. I did find that this shelter is committed to finding a home for each animal they serve no matter how long it takes. So I think it's a win for the kitty and us, too! I do plan to make a donation to the organization, since they didn't charge me anything for bringing in the found kitty. I think it would be good to help them out.

Any more sales out there this week? Do you support your humane society? Do you use YNAB, or another budgeting system? Do you share that system with your spouse or partner?

The Citi Thank You Preferred credit card arrived in the mail yesterday. I activated them today. We need to spend $1500 in 3 months to receive 20,000 points which is equal to $200 in gift cards and cash equivalents.

Each time we get a new card, I have to swap out the one we have been using. This time we pulled our Wells Fargo American Express cards out. I instructed my husband to use it for everything except gas since we are using the Chase Freedom card for 5% back on gas stations through the end of September. He will also use the Target Red Card if he buys anything at Target. He is such a good sport to play along with the credit card game. He does sometimes forget which card to use and ends up using the wrong one, but overall it isn't a big deal. As long as I keep the debt we carry to zero from month to month, he's happy!

In other news, I washed my silk wedding dress in cold water and woolite this morning. I cleaned out our basement bathtub first and did three rinses with cold water. Now the dress is drying over the tub. I don't expect it to shrink since it won't be in the dryer. As I wrote earlier in the week, it will get mailed to Helping Hands to be made into angel gowns.

The annual fee of $99 has been refunded to my Southwest Rapids Reward card that I closed last week. Or was it the week before? I think a check will get cut automatically, but I sent a secure message to them today anyway requesting it.

I've used a little more of my last $50 Walmart gift card. Once I use it all, I will send $50 to the mortgage as a snowflake.

I have some money tidbits today. I earned another $3 from Pinecone.

On eBay, I have a bid one one item and now someone watching another item.

I sent my $5 Starbucks egift card from Discover to my sister who is prepping her classroom for school. My mom is there helping. I thought they could use a coffee break sometime today. I've had the egift card in my email inbox since May! I think it's time someone used it.

Nothing is decided about college. We really enjoyed our visit to the college north of us. I personally would go there in an instant!

I purchased some items from iHerb today. I had over $9 in rewards, met the minimum spending for free shipping and paid less than $13 out of pocket for about $25 worth of items.

Citi Thank You card was not in the mail again today.

We decided not to go to our state fair, as it is now a two hour drive. We are coming up on the busy marching band season and need some time at home. I expect not going will save us nearly $150! That is a plus.

I'm going to open the box my wedding gown from 18 years ago is preserved in today. I will be trying it on and hoping I still fit in it(just kidding...that will never happen!!). Actually, I will be washing it and preparing to send it to an

organization that turns gowns in to Angel Gowns for babies who have died in the hospital. I have decided this is a better use for it than sitting in my closet. My daughters are not attached to it and don't have any interest in wearing it.

Those are my tidbits. Do you still have your wedding dress? Save any money this week? Will you visit your state fair?

I have sold three items recently on eBay and have net $27.18 after fees and shipping. Snowflake! I still have six items listed and I'm moving two to Half.com since there wasn't much interest on eBay this week. Those items may get donated at some point. I should note that I actually listed five new items yesterday. There are still more to list, but a little at a time works best for me!

We rented two instant watch movies on Amazon last week and used our Amazon.com credits I received from Bing Rewards and Swagbucks. That spending was $5.98. Snowflake!

I really don't like shopping at Walmart, but they have the kinds of things we normally buy (just usually at Target). Today, in the parking, lot there were police and sheriff vehicles and someone standing in handcuffs. This store backs up to Target and their parking lots are like night and day of each other! I didn't feel unsafe, although depending on what it was all about I probably would have left if it had started while I was there.

I bought 6 boxes of tissues and very large bottle of hand sanitizer for my sister who teaches kindergarten. I will give those to her later this fall. I also stocked my husband up on soap, deodorant, and shaving cream. And finally, I bought two bags of mulch since I realized quite a bit washed away last month in the rain. This shopping trip was about $35, but with other spending over the last week, we have used up two $50 gift cards at Walmart. Snowflake!

Right after I submit this post, I will make a $133.16 payment to our mortgage with this snowflake money. Less debt!

Can you say you have less debt today then you did yesterday? Do you give the teachers in your life extra supplies?

One of my listed items sold yesterday and I expect one will be bid on and sell later today. I made just over $10 on the first item. A few of the items are listed longer and may actually take longer to sell. I'm okay with that.

I hope to get more items listed later today. If there are a couple that don't sell I will likely relist. Eventually, I give up on items, but sometimes it just takes more time to find the buyer.

Do you have items you are selling right now?

We paid off $1,431.79 on our mortgage in the month of July! (ETA: Officially only $1,395.79 was for July, as $36 was counted for June) That includes the various snowflakes listed in my previous post, the principal portion of our regular payment and two schedule extra payments of $103.72 and $275.



The goal is to pay off $13,992 by the end of 2014. To bring us to an even $x15,000 balance. So far we have paid $9,268.08 of that amount. That is 66.2% of the goal in 7 months!

I fully expect that we will meet the goal. The only thing that could hinder us is something that would keep us from sending that extra $478.72 each month. Right now I don't know what that would even be.

I'm looking forward to seeing how much beyond the goal we can get to before the end of the year!

July snowflakes added up to $550.23. All the money was sent to the mortgage! So less debt. Most of the money came from the Wells Fargo American Express card reward, but the rest was an accumulation from many other sources. They add up!



There are quite a few other snowflakes pending and in the fire for future months. I'm always on the look out for new ones, if anyone has any ideas!

How did you do accumulating snowflakes in the month of July? Do you have any pending snowflakes?

Wow! That was super fast. The Southwest Rapids Rewards points I redeemed for gift cards on Monday arrived in the mail today.



I ended up redeeming 30K points for $300 worth of gift cards. I ordered $150 for Walmart, and $50 each for Lowe's, Kohl's and Amazon. It is a little ironic that I just spent $35 at Walmart yesterday! Could have used one of the gift cards if I had waited or they arrived earlier.

I still have $20K points I can redeem, but I'm still deciding whether to save for an airline ticket or cash in for another $200 in gift cards.

I am counting the gift cards as snowflakes. As I use the gift cards on items I would have spent cash on, I will send the cash to the mortgage.

Which gift card would you use first if these were yours? And what would you buy?

I applied for the Citi Thank You Preferred Visa today and was approved. After we spend $1500 we will get points that can be redeemed for gift cards or as I did in the past (and I hope is still available) a check made out to our mortgage company.

I registered the girls for school today. Paid $130, plus bought a geometer ($4). I skipped buying the family activity pass, as I think we likely didn't get our money's worth last year. We will just pay as we go this year.

I also did a little spending at Walmart this morning. The main reason was to buy painter's tape (because I'm painting my laundry room tomorrow). But I also got two packages of underwear for the girls marked at less than $7 for 8 pairs, a pair of workout carpi's for me, and a package of sheet protectors that was on one daughter's school supply list. I think I spent about $35 there, but all on needs!

Do your public schools charge a registration fee? Do you know what a geometer is? Does school starting remind you to buy undergarments?