I've Confused Myself

I have been keeping elaborate records of everything that I am spending, saving, wasting, making and so on. I confused myself yesterday because of all this complicated record keeping and made a payment too large towards my Chase Visa, and somehow didn't count for a $60 automatic payment. I'll be fine with a little juggling of money, but it's all too much effort. So yesterday, I pared down my overly complicated record-keeping a bit. I still keep track of everything, but in a simpler manner. In terms of what I show on my blog, it doesn't make much difference except to the Monthly Challenge. I've decided to do make the time period of the challenge one regular month at a time as opposed to the 15th - 15th, I had originally planned. So I sent off the May challenge amount towards debt, and updated the Monthly Challenge Bar to reflect only my June snowflakes.

I will receive some money later this month that I can use to pay off the remaining of my Chase Visa balance. I think that after that I shall channel all Monthly Challenge money towards my freedom account until it reaches $1000. Talking about snowflakes, I listed a 24" Weber charcoal grill (that the previous tenant of my apartment had left behind) on Craigslist for $15. I have someone coming to look at it today. I hope he buys it... more money is always great. :-)

UPDATE: The man did not buy my grill. He was into competition barbeques (never knew such a thing existed), and did not think my grill would match his needs. Hopefully with the summer just starting, others will be interested.

Random Thought - Economic Stimulus

Rumors of a new economic stimulus check are floating around. I feel rather horrible saying this - despite the pitiable, debt-laden state the U.S. economy is in, I would very much like to get a second stimulus check to add towards my own debt reduction.

Online Survey Cash

I got paid for taking online surveys. I never thought I'd actually get to
cash out, but today I received two checks - $10 from Opinion Outpost, and $3 from Pinecone Research. $13 more dollars to go towards my first Monthly Challenge. I find that I spend a lot more time trying to qualify for online surveys that actually taking ones I qualify for. However, getting paid is wonderful. I probably spent way too much time for a $13 compensation, but getting this money was wonderfully sweet! In addition to the ones I already mentioned, other online survey sites that I recommend are: MyPoints and Global Test Market. I haven't tried too many others, but I believe that there are some really good options out there. I love making money like this - if only I got paid all the time for my opinions!

Dog-Sitting Cash

Yay! I landed my first job in the Baby/Pet/House Sitting/Walking job. When I applied for the baby-sitting job that paid too little, I asked a friend whose children I occasionally baby-sit (for free, since I love the kids) for a reference. I think she was a little taken aback by my looking for side-jobs, but obliged by giving me reference. Now, a week and a half later, she asked if I would like to dog-sit for her while she and her family go camping with friends this weekend. I wanted to do it for free for her, but she insisted that she would pay me. She said she'd pay me $8/day which is just under what the kennel charges apparently, and I agreed. Aren't people supportive and sweet? Everyone's always trying to help out - I've found so many people so receptive to this money saving/making journey I am on. So, the little doggie (she's only a few months old, and a real sweetheart) got dropped off at my place last night. And I'll have $24/- more to put towards my monthly challenge come next week. :-)

I watched the news today about the skyrocketing oil prices - shooting up once again. Oil is at $134.67 nearing an all-time high of $135.09. Gas prices are bound to follow suit. My sister has borrowed my car for a month, so I'm commuting by bus and walking a great deal more and I really don't miss having to pour huge amounts of money into my gas tank. Maybe once I get the car back next month, I'll continue doing what I am doing now. I'd sell my car to help reduce payments and debt, but I use it so often to travel that I sure hanging on to it is a better idea than hiring rental cars each time. Oh well... it's progress that is my goal, not perfection.

P.S. I sold some DVD's on Amazon and added the money towards my May-June monthly challenge which is now at $185.79, which is way above my goal amount. I have fully-funded my first monthly challenge with one week still to go. I didn't think I could do it, but have - and the feeling is delicious! In another week, all that money goes to pay half of my Chase Visa debt.

I Joined PayPerPost !!!

My Blog just got approved for payperpost. I am very excited. PayPerPost (PPP) is an exciting service that offers bloggers money to blog. I first heard about it through some of the blogs I frequent. I also watched testimonial videos on YouTube about how wonderful PPP is. I was skeptical at first about it – “Yeah right! You just get paid money to do what you like – there must be a catch”. Shady and cynical thoughts along those lines raced through my mind. But everyone seemed to be raving about it, and I decided to do some additional research. I read testimonials on several other blogs, looked through the various blog forums and communities and so on. I was astonished to see that everyone without exception seemed to really like PPP. So, I decided to join it – and am happy about this decision. So from now on, I shall periodically be featuring paid reviews on my blog!

Here is how PPP works – It’s simple beyond measure. If you’re a blogger, you sign up for PPP, they approve your blog, you avail of advertising opportunities listed on PPP and review or write about products etc., your post is approved, and then, just like that, YOU GET PAID! But beyond just getting paid, I have found PPP extremely useful in a variety of different ways. I also discovered several exciting and new blogs through the PPP site. PPP’s website is very functional and easy to navigate. And what’s most exciting to me are the forums. The PPP forums are full of bloggers – it’s a great place to meet other bloggers and discuss almost anything under the sun with them. The participants of the forums are wonderful – welcoming, helpful and always ready to help or advice. There is also a great sense of camaraderie and community on the PPP forums. And this has been my experience of only a few days – I look forward eagerly to all the PPP delights I haven’t discovered yet. Having fun and earning lots of money to help eliminate my debt and start saving – what else could be as perfect??

A New Outlook

The cooking at home challenge failed on Day 1 - I ended up buying a sandwich for $3.75 at the cafeteria because I was lazy and slow and did not have time to pack lunch for today. This shall not happen tomorrow. I did cook a bunch of dishes yesterday, so I have homemade food ready for a few days. On Friday, I am dining with a friend at an all-you-can-eat buffet, but it won't cost much since we have coupons for $4.00 dinners each. And on Saturday, a friend is taking me out to a posh restaurant to eat - and I won't have to pay. On all other days, I lunch and dine on the concoctions of my own labor!

I have something quite exciting to share - I have been blogging only for a month now, and watching my spending only for a few months. Yesterday, as I walked down the grocery aisle (on an empty stomach too), I saw so many items that would have tempted me in my pre-frugal days, but which no longer held any attractions for me. I saw packets of potato crisps, donut holes and other yummy looking processed food and felt no yearning to purchase or consume any of them. I also saw other non-eatable erstwhile tempters, and kept thinking, "Who in their right minds would pay $... for THAT!?!?" Needless to say, I walked out with only what I had intended on getting. I hadn't expected to see such dramatic changes in my attitude so quickly. But, isn't it lovely?

Cooking At Home Challenge

Payday rolled around, and I have less money than usual since my contract for May was only a half-month contract. So, I have decided to implement something that I have tried often but never succeeded in - cook and eat at home everyday! I have lots of stuff in my pantry and if I wisely plan meals and shop for the basics only, I will be able to pull through the summer without any trouble. Also, I had loaned my sister $350/- which she will return sometime this month. With that, and my May-June Challenge money, I should be able to pay off my Chase Visa debt and still have my head above water.

As a side note - I did not take the baby-sitting job that paid $2.5/hr. :-)