Sunday, March 30, 2008
Extra Income
| By Lynn Forgy It's almost the end of the month, and I have prepared my budget for April. In reviewing the numbers, unless any additional (unexpected) expenses creep in I have enough to cover everything and will be able to throw an additional $300 at my debt snowball. In addition to my full-time job, I have a part-time office job and also supplement my income by mystery shopping and participating in surveys. There are numerous websites promising easy, fast income, but I have come up with several that I have tried AND received an actual check or paypal payment.  I have been keeping up with my additional income (from surveys, research and mystery shopping), and below are the companies along with the amount I have earned since the beginning of the year: 1) PineCone Research - $9.00 2) ShopNChek (now known as MarketForce) - $9.50 ($8.00 shop fee, $1.50 reimbursement), $233.02 ($167.00 shop fee, $66.02 reimbursement) 3) Hits4Pay - $25.00 4) Lightspeed - $10 5) Confero (mystery shopping) - $65.00 ($50 shop fee, $15 reimbursement) 6) Shoppers View (mystery shopping) - $14 (shop fee) March supplemental income is not listed, because the shops completed in March will not be paid until April. The above amounts are for January and February, for a total (minus reimbursement/expenses) is $298.00. Mystery shopping can be a good way to earn a little extra money to put towards your debt, but it can also be time consuming. Not only do you have to drive to the location in most cases, you also have to conduct the shop, drive back home, upload pictures and/or receipts, and complete the report. I have gotten quicker about completing the reports, particularly since I have been doing more and more shops. I do not think, however, that one could make a full-time career out of it, at least not me. |
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Murphy & Me
| By Lynn Forgy Happy Easter! The day started off wonderfully - we were able to get to the Sunrise Service at church on time (6:30 a.m.)! And I had marked off a few things on my "To Do" list yesterday, so the day was to be relaxing and carefree... But then who should show up but Murphy! Oh, I knew he would come around eventually, he always does, just to let me know that he hasn't forgotten about me. He's like part of the family - the part that you wish belongs to someone else's family. We were taking a leisurely Sunday drive, and had stopped at a convenience store. I was waiting in the car, when I thought I felt something stuck to my back tooth. Hmm, I thought to myself, what could it be? After several seconds of reviewing what I had eaten, I came to the correct conclusion - another tooth had broken! ARGGGGH! And just in case you didn't know or perhaps have forgotten, I just finished paying for my crown and root canal last month - $1600! So now I'll have to have another filling, at a minimum. The tooth doesn't hurt, thank goodness, but I am a little angry with myself - like this is something I had some control over, or at least could have put off until May or June when I would have the money. But realistically, I probably wouldn't have it then so I don't suppose it makes much difference when my tooth decides to break off :) After we came home, and I had gotten accustomed to giving the dentist my paycheck, I ate lunch and then decided to mow some of the backyard. First, I broke the gas can and spilled some of the gas that I had purchased earlier (gas that seems to cost almost as much as a Coach bag - not that I have any of those). Then, so I would really know Murphy was around, I broke the lawn mower! OK, I didn't break it beyond repair (I think), but the cord will have to be replaced and it will be weeks before I can get it back, so the neighbors will all think to themselves how disgusting I am to let my lawn (mostly weeds, actually) become so disastrous looking. I tell myself it could be worse. And thankfully I do have my Baby Emergency Fund in place if I really need it. So for now, I won't freak out. |
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Pantry Challenge
| By Lynn Forgy Perhaps it has to do with my obsessive compulsive disorder (self-diagnosed, of course), but one of my (many) pet peeves is to have items in the cupboard and cabinets that don't belong. Let me explain: when I go grocery shopping, I ALWAYS have a week's worth of dinners and the accompanying ingredients I need. If it's not on my list, I don't buy it. If there is a can of green beans in the cabinet that is not on the weekly menu, I sort of freak out. But then this sort of occurrence turns out to be a blessing when I run short on grocery money (sometimes using it to fund other categories that I hadn't planned on in my budget). I was sent this link in one of the groups I belong to several months ago: Cooking By Numbers. You simply check the ingredients you have on hand, and you are shown some choices and recipes that you could make with the ingredients you provided. To be honest, my cupboards are looking pretty sparse at the moment, with only a few stray cans of vegetables. But if anyone's up for a Pantry Challenge, you could save some money on your grocery bill and apply the savings to your Debt Snowball! |
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Update on Debt Snowball
| By Lynn Forgy My original goal was to pay off the 2 remaining debts in my Debt Snowball: Car loan and student loan. The total of both in December was around $16K, and I wanted to have $15K paid off by the end of May 2008.  The total currently is down to $15,250, which doesn't sound that great when I think that it's been almost 3 months. However, I have been putting my extra income (from my part-time job, mystery shopping, and tax refund) into my ING account until I have enough to pay a substantial portion. So, I tallied up the numbers yesterday and at the end of the month will be putting $4,997.11 towards my debt - this amount represents my tax refund, plus the extra money I made last year that has just been sitting in the account waiting for this moment. That means I have $10,252.89 left to get rid of the Debt Snowball. My mystery shopping has slowed down this month, mainly due to there not being enough shops at the times I can go (due to work, etc.) and gas has gotten so expensive that it doesn't pay to only do 1 shop at a location, then drive 20 minutes to another location. But last month, I made enough extra money to make a tiny dent in my snowball. I haven't totaled the numbers from my part-time jobs from January to present, but will do that at the end of the month when I make the large payment on the debt. Bringing in more money for the snowball: 1) We will be having a gigantic yard sale within the next several weeks - I'm selling almost everything. My daughter is frightened that her stuff is next :) 2) I've also started advertising for cleaning services, yet I'm hesitant because I don't know when I will have the time to actually clean someone's house. 3) I have cut expenses as much as I can at this point. We still have a basic TV package, but that's our family entertainment so I'm reluctant to cut that luxury. This is all I've been able to come up with up to this point. Other Thoughts: *I haven't quite gotten the hang of the coupon thing yet - I'm too cheap to buy the newspaper to get the coupons, and I don't want to spend an entire day driving to different stores to get the best deal. I'm still working on it. *I check craigslist occasionally for jobs (jobs that I could do once, or on an as-needed, very part time basis). |
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Blog Carnival
| Check out our blog, among many others, on the Blog Carnival: Carnival of Personal Finance |
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Budget Friendly Meal Planning
| By Lynn Forgy I have been working on planning an entire month's worth of menus, along with an accompanying grocery list, to post on the site. I want to have this information up by the 1st of April, and if any readers have a very cheap, yet healthy, meal idea you'd like to share, let me know. If you want to submit a link to an article on your blog, that will be accepted as well. Thanks! |
Freegan
| By Lynn Forgy I LOVE getting things for free, and I even think I like being frugal (some people would say cheap, but frugal sounds much better). I got an email last week about a new subculture - the FREEGAN. What? Is that like a Vegan, was my first thought. I searched the internet, and About.com defines freeganism as "an anti-consumerist movement. It takes issue with society's focus on buying new and throwing away old (but still useful) items. In the simplest terms, freeganism is a reaction against the waste of resources. Participants, known as "freegans," have two main goals: to buy as little as possible and to use only what they need."  If you would like more information from About.com, click here. Some of the common actions of a Freegan include:
As for the dumpster diving, I have long wanted to attempt this feat. Perhaps this summer I'll make a go of it. If there are any Freegans out there, send us an email or link to your blog letting us know how you do it! |
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Frugal Links
| By Lynn Forgy Below are some links to money saving and/or frugal websites that you may find helpful: BetterBudgeting Budget101 Stretcher LivingOnADime Essortment Frugal.Families Coupon Resources: SmartSource.com Coupons.com CoolSavings.com |
Splurging
| By Lynn Forgy Yesterday at the grocery store - I splurged, a lot. At least for me. My normal grocery budget per month is $100. I spent almost that entire amount yesterday, and this month is only beginning. I did get enough groceries for meals for 2 weeks, as well as my daughter's school lunches. I knew prior to going that I was going to overspend, and I even know why I felt the need to overspend. I have been on a very tight budget for a little over 2 years, and tightened the belt even more about 5 months ago. During that time, I was following my budget very well - no excess spending, etc. I sometimes get so tired of living on so little, so usually once every six months I'll overspend. At least this time it was on groceries rather than clothes (although I need those, too). And even $200 per month for my family's groceries is not unreasonable, it is just an expense that I will have to move from another category, which will most likely be my DEBT SNOWBALL. That's frustrating, to say the least. Although with the cost of gas going up so much, and even grocery prices and other necessities of life continuing to rise, and my pay not increasing of course, I should expect and even plan for this cost of living increase every so often. I have to work to not feel so guilty about the amount of money I spent on groceries, because we do need to eat. But on the other hand, I have to pay off my debt, and my original goal was to have all my debt paid off excluding the mortgage before the end of May 2008. I do not see how I can accomplish that, but I have been praying to God that this will happen. |
