I looked on MyMoneyBlog this morning and saw that he updated the Southwest Airlines promotion with an expiration date of early August 7. That is tomorrow!

The link specifically for that is

here. The link also shows how you can buy Chase Visa cards with no fee right now to meet the requirement. Good idea if you would have trouble meeting the $2000 in spending in 3 months.

I'm still not sure if we will redeem our rewards for airline tickets or $500 in gift cards. We don't have a trip planned right now. We also live two hours from an airport that serves Southwest. We've driven before to get better rates, so it isn't out of the question. Just not sure I ever wanted to do it again. Decisions, decisions!

As I stated in my early post, I'll update you on our Southwest Airlines card spending tomorrow...from what I can tell we are more than halfway there.

I wrote this post last night and saved as a draft, but I see that now that I posted it it shows as though I posted it last night...so this is just little bump!

July was a spectacular month for accumulated snowflakes. And really there were some snowballs in there to help! Those credit card rewards were key to making this month so great. I was proud to actually get a few things on Ebay and earn a little more cash towards this new goal. Total snowflake earnings for July.....$748.39!!!!



All snowflakes are going directly to pay down principal on our mortgage. I sent in just an extra $56 last month. This month I have already sent in the $250 check from Citi Thank You Rewards. And today, I'm sending in the remaining snowflakes $498.39. I think I should actually just round it up to an even $500. I think I can swing the extra $1.61 from my own pocket. Don't you?

My Snowflakes for Equity ticker shows a goal of $1000. I think I might need to revise the goal, since I'm almost there! I didn't quite expect all the credit card rewards when I made the goal. I'll have to really think through what I think we can accomplish before the end of the year.

It was asked in my last post about our mortgage pay down progress. Before today's extra principal payment I think we have paid a total of $5000 from the principal balance. That is a bit of a guess. I will work on getting more details for my next post. This is something I've been needing to do so that I'm tracking our progress a little better.

So, how do you think we did for July? Did I accumulate enough snowflakes?

Something came on fast for me overnight. I won't go into personal details, but I'm glad my husband was home to drive my oldest to school. He bought me soup and gatorade. He even heated the soup up, brought me another blanket. Sometimes it is nice to be taken care of, not that I want to be sick too often!!

While I have been sleeping, my husband has mowed the lawn and sprayed for weeds. Now he's cleaning out my van. Nice that he can keep himself busy!

I've showered and feeling better, but just a little low on energy. I'm going to rally so I can take my oldest daughter to an appointment she has after school. I'm sure I'll be wanting to nap by the time I return, so I guess DH will be on kitchen duty this evening.

When was the last time you were sick? Do you have someone that takes care of you when you are sick? Stay healthy this weekend!

My husband and I discussed a donation to the Red Cross this morning for disaster relief in Oklahoma. We tend to agree on amount pretty easily. We go with our gut and don't second guess it. Helping others in any way you can is ALWAYS the right thing to do.

Any small amount helps in these situation because as we all know small amounts together equal larger amounts. I have suggested ways to save on my blog many times, but even if you are struggling financially there is always a few dollars you can give.

If you going to go to lunch today, skip it, and donate that money. Check your pockets, purse, couch cushions, car ashtray, and drawers for loose change. Turn in some aluminum cans. Sell a couple CDs, books, or an old cell phone for cash. Return that shirt or pair of shoes you just bought. Sell a gift card online for cash. Donate points you earn from an earning site like Swagbucks or MyPoints. Donate airline miles. Babysit or mow someone's lawn this week and donate your earnings. Sell something on eBay or craigslist.

Please find a way to give something to help those that are in need right now! Do you have another creative idea to find money to give? Please share it in the comments.

I've been looking into high yield dividend mutual funds as a possibility for investing our down payment money for the next house. This would be an alternative to keeping the money in our money market account paying 0.85%.

Blue Chip stocks are those companies that are generally worth billions, thus established in their field, often a household name, and pay steady or rising dividends each year (paraphrased from

Investopedia). The mutual funds I'm looking at invest in these blue chip stocks, like Coca Cola, IBM, UPS, and Exxon.

The returns on these funds the last few years are definitely better than the 0.85% we are getting on our money market. Of course, the money market account is less risky than stocks. Stocks do fluctuate, thus that risk scares me a little bit given this is a short term investment of 2 years...maybe 3.

I do need to convince my husband it is the right thing to do. I think he will trust my judgement. Thus I really need to convince myself!!

Generally, this isn't something I would advise anyone to do because of the risk, but with additional risk, often comes additional reward. Does anyone reading this know of anything that should keep me from taking the risk of investing in a Dividend Growth fund?

I'm looking at VDIGX and VDAIX, which are both held at Vanguard. Both have 5 star ratings from Morningstar. If we had held VDIGX two years ago, our money would have increased by nearly $7K by now. However, if our two year period was April 2007 to today, we would have lost $6,700 from our initial investment.

The dividends that are paid would be reinvested to buy more shares, and would be taxed just like ordinary income, which is no different than if we earned interest. If someone were to hold this fund in a retirement account, those reinvested dividends are tax deferred until retirement.

I feel positive about the over all outlook, so I think it should be a buy. What do you think? Anything else I should look at?

I went to Menard's today to have our storm door price adjusted. We purchased the door for $299 plus tax. At the time there was an 11% rebate promotion going on, so I did send that in. The day after we purchased the door, it was on sale for $269. Whoa. A 10% mark down.

Menard's is a home improvement store if you aren't familiar with the name. They are interesting in that any rebates they offer come back to you in the form of a merchandise credit check. This can only be used in their stores.

Right now we have about $40 worth of rebates being processed, plus today I had the door price adjusted which resulted in another credit at the store in the amount of about $32!

I'm sure we will be buying more things there as summer arrives, so not a big deal that the money is a credit, but sometimes I really wish they would just give cash back!!

Do you like cash back as store credit or cash? Are you aware of Menard's? Do you like the store, or prefer others?

We earned $28.34 in interest on the money we have in our money market account. I just save it...no real purpose other than to grow our savings.

My husband mentioned last night that he may get called at a moments notice to go to trainings or meetings. This is due to sequestration. The money for putting reservists on orders to do these additional duties just isn't there. Since he is full time and already being paid, he is likely to get pulled. Ick! I get it, but I don't have to enjoy it right?

Is sequestration effecting you in any way?

I spent about 10 minutes last night checking our credit reports online at

annualcreditreport.com. That is the free site where you can get a copy of your credit report from each of the three reporting agencies. You can get one free from each of them every 12 months. I actually check just one of them every four months, so that I'm checking with some frequency, but still just getting one from each agency per year.

It had been awhile since I checked. To get back on track, I decided to put reminders on email calendar for April, August and December. I also indicated in the reminder which agency to check with.

All was good with this check at Experian, with a small exception. I noticed that my husband's report showed a previous employer that he never worked for. He did apply there years ago. I asked that it be deleted and as of this morning that report no longer shows that employer. Easy!!

Do you check your credit report on a regular basis? Do you have a system to remember to do this simple task?

Time to update you on our status of our 2013 financial goals since the first quarter of the year is now behind us. The goals are listed below, and I've indicated where we are next to each one.

1) Make maximum contribution to both of our Roth IRA's. And contribute 7% to husband's TSP. This goal is on track. We are contributing $458.33 each month to each of our Roth IRA accounts. The contributions are set up to withdrawal from our checking account automatically. Therefore, we never forget! And of course, the TSP is automatic from my husband's paycheck, too!

2) Pay off truck loan. This was completed March 5. Yippee!

3) Snowflake a Free Christmas, goal again is $750. As of March 31, I have saved $419.02...all from sources outside of our income.

4) Save $4,000 ($2000 each daughter) for college. This goal is on track as well because we automatically invest $167 monthly from our checking account for each daughter.

5) Pay for new intermediate flute with cash, about $1500. The flute was purchased in late January. We put it on a credit card to reap the rewards. I paid the flute off in full at the beginning of March. No interest was charged. We have paid our saving account back $1000. Just another $500 to go.

6) Save $2K for vacation. Not sure where we might go, so that is a pretty vague goal at this point! Eek. No plans and no money right now.

7) Landscaping and furniture purchases. Pay with cash and decide on a limit! No plans here yet. We will purchase when we find what we are looking for and will pay cash. We are not interested any zero interest offers either!

There is where we are. Obviously, we are doing well with retirement and college savings. We also have zero non mortgage debt and it will remain that way! Clearly, I'm working on some other savings goals that are more pay as we go. I do feel a little vague on those. Very hard to meet a goal when the target is not in focus. I'll work on getting those goals nailed down soon.

How are you doing on your 2013 financial goals? Share here or post your own update on your blog.

Psst...I did write a little more on mutual funds on

Our Money Blog. Great thoughts for newbies!

I spoke to a friend recently. She mentioned that she helped her sister find a washer and dryer. The sister made some reference that she should buy the washer and dryer now because her tax refund was arriving. My understanding was the sister's washer and dryer were still working, but yet instead of saving the tax refund it was being spent on something that may not work in the future.

Isn't this backwards thinking? It is quite possible the washer and or dryer would continue to work into the future. It seems like that kind of logic will continue to cause problems and replacing things needlessly just because the money is available and on hand.

If I were to advise her sister, or my friend who seemed to agree with the logic, I would suggest at a minimum saving the cash until the need for a new washer and or dryer was necessary. I would also consider using the tax refund money to pay other bills before making a purchase of needless items.

If one's washer or dryer were to fail and you don't have hundreds of dollars to replace, you have to look at options outside of individual ownership. In this case, it would be less expensive to do laundry at friend's, relative's or laundry mat, while saving up for a the new appliance. I also would look at used appliances from a store, which might provide a type of warranty, or looking on Craigslist.

Have you heard of others who think about money backwards? Maybe you have done it yourself recently or in the past? What could you have done different?

I was doing a survey on Swagbucks for my local gas utility about their website. It had me log in to my account, to test different features. While I was there I clicked on 'Budget Billing' and signed up.

I've been on budget billing before, but when we began service for our new home it was not available. After nearly nine months of billing, we are eligible. Our payment will be $43 per month. I have it set up to review every three months. Right now the highest our bill has been is $101, and as low as $7! We only use gas for our furnace and fireplace, so when it warms up we don't use much gas.

Budget billing is a great way to keep utilities even and easier to plan. There are adjustments, but I've always been notified at least one month in advance. Do you use budget billing for any of your utilities?

See my earlier post today about the truck loan!

I've said it here a few times: the establishment and maintaining of our emergency fund is what put us on the path to building wealth and staying out of credit card debt.

We started our marriage without an emergency fund. Although we did get some nice cash gifts, including $1000 from my parents. That is where our emergency fund began. We had already bought and paid for enough furniture to fit in our apartment. We were happy with what we had, so we decided to save it.

I suppose that decision right there comes from somewhere, but we did consciously make that decision to hold on to that money. I'm not sure we even called it an emergency fund then. I didn't know about Suze Orman, Mary Hunt, or Dave Ramsey, all who would have encouraged the emergency fund.

I know many people who do not have an emergency fund and they all struggle in some way financially. For many it means debt in every form, for others it is relying on others for help, and most of them don't even save much, if any, for retirement.

Establishing an emergency fund is the one thing you must start. And it often means sacrifice to do so. In our case, we didn't sacrifice much with the first $1K, but in later years, we went without many things to make sure we had established and maintained a rainy day fund.

I will tell you that every sacrifice you make to establish your emergency fund is worth it. It is worth it to forgo cable, even if the big game is on. It is worth it, to eat simple meals at home. It is worth it to keep your tax refund in your savings account than buying a new big screen television. It is worth doing your own nails, or coloring your own hair. Many here on Saving Advice would agree.

Yes, you will have to give up some things, if you are living paycheck to paycheck. The exercise in sacrifice for this one goal will teach you more than you can know. You will find you can live without many things and still be happy.

Emergencies happen. People get sick, or in accidents. People lose their jobs. The water heater or garage door breaks. Your pet is injured. Many many things come up in life that can not be planned. An emergency fund catches you when those unplanned events come up.

Sacrificing as much as you can for a short time to establish an emergency fund is so worth it. If it sounds like I'm talking to you, I am. You don't need a new car now. The vacation CAN wait. You can watch the big game for free at your friends house or a bar. You can do your own nails and hair coloring. You don't need to buy that new thing, yet. You can wait. You will live. That new thing might be cheaper on Ebay in six months. You need to establish your emergency fund now. You NEED to, no excuses. It has to come first.

Yes, you might have debt and you could pay it off with your tax refund. If your refund covers all your debts then yes, pay it off. And then start on your savings. However, if it will take you many many months to pay off your debt, turn your tax refund into your starter emergency fund. Five hundred to $1000 is a great beginning. Let it sit there in an account. Look at it, but don't touch. It's for emergencies.

No more excuses. It's time to start your emergency fund. Tell me how you started your emergency fund. Any advice to readers on ways to save? Where to save? Join in the discussion, now!

I think I'm pretty frugal when it comes to my beauty regimen. Part of it comes from what I'm willing to put on and in my body, and the rest come just from being frugal.

I use the following everyday:
Bar Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Deodorant (happens to last nearly a year)
Mousse
Lotion
Toothpaste
All in one contact solution

I use a razor and make the blade last. If I start getting small cuts, I know it's time to replace. I have the same razor handle since college.

I wear makeup only a couple times a month. I have one of each in my makeup bag:
Eye shadow
Eye liner
Blush
Lipstick
Liquid foundation
Loose powder

I used a hair dryer. Pull my hair back in a headband, or pony tail. I never use hair color or have my hair dyed. It's natural (and yes, there are a few gray hairs). I have two nail polish colors that I will wear on my toenails in the summer months. The rest of the year, nothing! Yes, I own a metal nail file, handed down from my mother.

I have a body spray my husband gave me a couple years ago. I wear it a couple times a month. I don't know if you have read, but 'fragrance' as an ingredient could be anything. Companies don't have to disclose where it comes from.

I probably won't win a beauty pageant, but I haven't scared anyone away with my looks or my smell yet! This routine does cost money, but by many women's standards it does tend to the low end. Do you have a frugal beauty routine? How much do you think you spend on your hygiene? Could you find a way to spend less, or skip part of your routine?

I've been trying to pay attention to the things I do that are frugal. I know I do them, and often take them for granted. I figure someone may find them useful.

I made my grocery list for the week while taking inventory of my cupboards. I found cream of wheat,barley, frozen onion/celery, refried beans, pasta, and ground beef. Luckily, I won't be using those for one dish! I'm going to use the cream of wheat up for my breakfast this week and maybe even next! I will add a pound of mushrooms to make mushroom barley soup, which will include the onion and celery. We will have taco dip. I had to buy sour cream, tomatoes and tortilla chips. The pasta and ground beef will go together. I picked up fresh green beans to eat with it. It does help to use what you have on hand!

I cut open a tube of lotion this morning. It was enough for one more rub down after my shower. I also scavenged the bottle of lotion my husband threw in the trash. I will use the remainder he failed to use for tomorrow. I will also recycle the bottle rather than throw it away. (He does have some bad habits.)

I combined trips today, to save on gas. I went by the library to drop off books on my way to the grocery store. I noticed on my way to the library there is a dry cleaner nearby. I like that we don't have dry clean clothes, thus no money needs to be spent there.

I did three loads of laundry. I used half the amount of soap, and half a dryer sheet for each load, since we have soft water.

Other than coffee, I drank water today. Straight from the tap. I even took my own water bottle to the gym.

We have spent part of our evening listening to music we already own, watching broadcast television and one quick show on Netflix. Simple, inexpensive entertainment. I will probably read my library book right before bed, too.

What did you do today that was frugal?

I read on

My Money Blog about a promotion to sell $200 in gift cards, get your cash, and get a $20 credit towards the purchase of a gift card on the site.

This promotion expires Saturday morning...so act fast if you are interested!

I woke late. My husband off to a battle assembly weekend of work. My girls starting to stir awake. I appreciated that the newspaper, paid for with airline miles, had been brought in out of the cold.

I warmed up water on the stove for tea. This is the start of a new habit. Tea instead of coffee and sugar. I enjoyed the first warm cup while I read the paper and clipped a couple coupons. Since I'm still working on the coffee change, I did break down and warmed up a cup of yesterday's leftover coffee and still added sugar. I purposely didn't make a new pot of coffee, because I expect that would have led to more than one cup of coffee.

I did not take a cold shower, which is too frugal for me, but used the conditioner I bought a year ago, since I never finished it. Curly hair can be stubborn at times, and requires a change of product, before said product has been used.

I have spent an hour or so reading my library book. It's a chick lit book, in my opinion, and not one I would normally pick. This author has grabbed my attention with her story telling. This is the third one of hers I have borrowed from the library and she has a few others I hope to read. I'm grateful for access to a library and the savings it brings to many.

We stayed home today, so we didn't use gas! We have played games, video and board. One daughter is drawing and using Photo Shop; the other is enjoying listening to a movie soundtrack she purchased with her iTunes gift card.

I took some time out to use some of my sewing skills today, too. I repaired a couple seams on two tote bags the girls use. I also began and finished a repair on my husband's uniform. He purchased hook and loop tape so that I could replace it with some that had lost it's ability to hook! I pulled off the old, and replaced the new. I actually had to partially remove two sleeve pockets in order to attach two of the pieces. Kind of a pain, but the repair did save a uniform shirt, which retails for about $40.

The other frugal event at our home today was laundry. Two big loads washed in cold water, with half the amount of detergent. We get away with less soap because of our soft water.

The sun has set and I see a dinner of pasta and vegetables in our near future. While the water boils, I will chop up some leftover celery and onion, and flash freeze it for a future soup. No waste today.

What did you do today that is considered frugal?

I have my blog settings set up so that I get an email when anyone leaves a comment on my blog. I have not been getting those for about three days now. I have checked my email spam folder and have nothing. I am receiving the updates from other blogs I have commented on. And my settings are still the same here.

I made a comment on the forums, but no response. Before, I contact Jeffrey and Nate, I thought I'd check with everyone here. Anyone else having this issue?

I did a quick total of our year end retirement balances. And things are up, up, up!!

We contributed $15,153.88 in 2012 in the TSP and Roth IRA's combined. Our total retirement accounts went up $42,464.89. We are quickly approaching another milestone, too. It sure makes up for those few years back where it was hard to see the balances go down.

Did you do okay with your retirement contributions and investing this year? Did you contribute? If not, you still have until April 15 to do so for 2012!

Thanks for reading my blog in 2012. It's been quite the journey with saving snowflakes for Christmas and as well as adjusting financially with the move. I appreciate your comments of support very much!

I think 2013 will be another awesome year here on CreditCardFree. I expect to do another year of Snowflakes for Christmas. I will have some updates on that very soon. If you stay tuned in 2013, you will hear about our final journey paying off the truck loan. I expect there will be more savings goals. I also foresee discussion about paying for big ticket items in cash, such as a teen car, a vacation and maybe another round of braces.

Anyone have any burning financial questions for the CCF household? I'll consider blogging about them in 2013, if you want to ask in the comments section. Have a safe and relaxing New Years Eve!

I'll be off the blogs for several days to spend time with family and friends. I wish all of you the joy, peace, and love of the season!

The $50 I redeemed from Swagbucks arrived right before the holiday in my PayPal account. I used $16 of it to buy my daughter a college football shirt since she grew out of the one she had. The rest? I'm still deciding. I don't think I need it for Christmas shopping, so it really should go to the truck loan.

I did shop on Black Friday. We went to Scheel's. We no longer live in a town with this store and I had a $12+ store credit to use. I bought my dad a pair of Smart Wool socks, since he mentioned the evening before that he could use a pair and they were on sale for $12.99! That deal worked out well.

We spent some money this weekend, but it mainly fuel and food for our out of town trip to visit family. It was well worth it, since we had a great time.

Did you shop on Black Friday? Or did you do a no spend day that day?

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Saving Advice friends! I'm thankful for you and all that you bring to this site. Enjoy your day of gratitude.

The Christmas Fund is full of snowflakes. It's amazing what one can accumulate in 10 months! I would love to encourage everyone to pick a goal and track your savings towards that goal. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

For October, I accumulated $201.57. Not as much as September, but still more than August, so I'm happy!



The ebay proceeds, of $107.57, were sent towards the principal of the truck loan last week. The rest is still available for Christmas shopping. I hope to complete my shopping early in December, with all excess Christmas funds going towards the truck loan.

And in case you are curious, the total cash I accumulated this year is $1,301.71. That averages out to over $130 each month!!

We have Delta miles that are expiring. These were awarded when we took our last Disney vacation in July 2009 and flew on Northwest. Delta merged with Northwest some time back. The miles don't expire if we have account activity...but I haven't flown since then and don't have plans to fly anytime soon. I think DH tends to fly American for Army travels, so he also has expiring miles.

Our only options are magazines and newspapers. We have over 21,000 miles. I redeemed 1482 miles for 3 months of service with our local newspaper. I wanted to try it anyway. I also redeemed another 1700 miles for one year subscriptions to Health, Prevention and Coastal Living magazines.

Now we still have nearly 18,000 miles to redeem. I sent my sister an email to see if she is interested in a magazine. I will also ask my husband if he wants any. Unfortunately, there aren't any good options for kids.

I will end up dontating the rest to charity, since I can't possibly read any more magazines than I already signed up for!

I wish I could get cash back, but alas it is not an option at our member level. It would be nice if airlines just lowered their prices instead of inflating them to reward us with magazines. Do you have miles to use? Do you redeem them for things other than airline tickets?

I'm in the midwest, but I know many of you on the east coast are facing Hurricane Sandy in the next few days! Please stay safe and let us know once the storm passes/have power that you are okay.

My tip, that I gave my husband last year in Virginia, is to turn the settings on your fridge and freezer to their coldest settings. It will help maintain cool temperatures longer.

See you on the other side of the storm!!

We took our van into the Honda Dealership today. Routine maintenence of an oil change and tire rotation. Taxes and fees brought the total to $43.88.

We opted to change the air filters ourselves. We purchased them on Amazon.com for a fraction of the cost the dealership would charge. We haven't changed them before, but found some YouTube videos explaining how to easily make this change. I love free information!

Have you used YouTube or another online source to help you save money?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please come visit me over at

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the snowflakes accumulated in July:



I'm in shock! I had no idea that I added so much to our Christmas fund this month. Nearly $100. I guess I was motivated. It sure helps to have goals on Swagbucks everyday too. Apparently, I'm a sucker for quite a few of those!

Our Christmas fund is so close to our $700 goal with $682.86. Or was our goal $750? Either way we are close! I'm guessing I'll exceed it by quite a bit.

How is your Christmas fund coming along? Have you started saving yet? Something saved is better than nothing. Start today!! And join

Swagbucks if you need a way to make a few dollars. Yes, that is a referral link. Good luck!