Do You Need Extra Cash?

So this will be quick.  If you are in need of extra cash go to https://www.instagc.com/420755
You can earn as little or much as you want.  It is great if you have a bill to pay each month that is an extra like Netflix.  I make sure I make enough each month to cover Netflix.  I get to watch my shows and movies and I never actually pay for it.

You can watch videos, take surveys, print coupons, and so many other things to earn points and from now until the end of the year they are giving you a bonus!  For the points you earn each week you will earn a percentage extra as a bonus.  The more points you earn the bigger the bonus percentage gets.  You could pay for your whole Christmas if you really wanted to.  I have been using it for a few years.  Last year I made over $400 extra dollars just using this site.  This year I am behind but I have still made over $100.  By the time this month is over I will have earned enough to cover Netflix for a year and have a little extra.  What are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading.  Until next time.

A Money Check In

So I was doing a series of posts on how to pay down your debt and save a little.  I shared how I use my small change to grow my savings and ways that I earn extra money and Amazon points so I can keep up on my spending and putting money away.  I do not make a lot of money by any means but I have putt away $500 in one savings and about $150 in another.  Plus I got all of my daughter's sweet 16 decorations for free so far.  Plus her gifts and I have already started purchasing her Christmas gifts.

I have been able to go without using my credit cards for quite a while now which is raising my credit score.  It is not rising in speedy leaps but it is rising which is getting me baby steps closer to where I want to be.  One of these days I will be debt free and be able to do what I want because my score will be amazing.  It will make it so I can get things I want and have low interest rates which will be like paying same as cash.  A lot of things I will be able to pay cash for because I will have money in my savings to do what I want with.

The secret is that it isn't a race to get there it is about taking the steps to get there.  If you are always trying to put away $20 but have to use it because that is a big chunk out of your budget then what is the point you are getting no where.  If you save a little at a time so that you really don't notice then you will not feel burdened by actually saving money.

Believe me if I can do this so can you.  Even if you just start by saving pennies.  After that you can work your way up.  The hardest part is starting.  it is like losing weight, they say the first 10 pounds is the hardest but once you do your body gets going and you can keep going because you are motivated.  Once you save $10 you will want to do $20 and then $30. It will be exciting to see your balance going up.

Get started.  Do not wait.  If I can do it on a single income you can make it work too.  I am here if you have questions or just need motivation.  Do not hesitate to talk to me.  I am happy to help.

Getting to Savings

So I hope you are doing well with your savings and paying down your debt.  Even after not having a regular 9-5 job I am still making sure to work on my bills and putting a little away.  It is not as much as I used to do to the circumstances but I have not given up.

I have stayed dedicated to using my surveys and other income earning opportunities.  I just finished buying more medical stuff for my daughter using the points I had and I am on my way to getting her the birthday gifts for her sweet 16.  I am so excited to realize I have more in the bank now than when I worked a regular job every day.  I knew as a kid I was meant for something different but as I have grown and had a child I felt like I needed to fit into the mainstream world.  After the recent events it just confirmed that I am not meant for a typical job.

As I am looking for my great idea, I continue to use the extra income so it does not get eaten up in a month.  Been there done that and it is not fun. So I have given you a few of my favorites so far and now her come a couple more.  These take a little longer to add up but it does add up and you can use them simultaneously so between the 2 of them you can cash out $60.  It may not seem like a lot but when added to the other earnings it can make a difference.   I just used one to buy my daughters expensive vitamins.

You open emails, watch videos, and can take surveys.  The first one is Inbox Dollars (http://www.inboxdollars.com/?r=ref17133614&s=7).  The next one is Send Earnings (http://www.sendearnings.com/?r=ref4476777&s=7).  Each email is $.02, videos depend on the video, and surveys vary as well.  It will not make you rich but again it adds up.  Each cash out is $30 so again the two together mean an extra $60.  Who couldn't use an extra $60.

Ok time to go make some money.  No excuses.  My daughter was in the ER and I knew it would be awhile so I took my laptop and while she watched TV or was getting a test done and the Dr's were not there, I worked on making money.  Remember Instagc that I told you about in the previous post's?  Yeah I have made over $100 this year just using that.  It doesn't include the other sites at all.

We are on this journey together and we will make it.  Share your stories, ask questions we are here for eachother.

Use Your Opinion To Make Money

So getting back to to making some extra money I have some more ways to help you get some extra funds to help with paying bills and adding to your savings account.  Believe me they work.  I have actually cashed out from everything I am telling you about.  I am only going to tell you about ones that I have actually earned money from.  My two other posts have information about ways that I have actually made money.

As a reminder of one of my favorite is InstaGC (https://www.instagc.com/420755).  I was just able to purchase $140.00 worth of birthday decorations for $10 byways are  using the points I earned to get Amazon codes.  I really like this site because you can get cash or gift cards.  I have cashed out money as well but right now i am working on a sweet 16 party so it is going to that.  I do about $1 a day as my goal but there are some people on there that have made $20 a day.  I just want to do other things during the day.

My other ways are surveys.  They can take some time to complete and it does take some dedication but you can make some money.  One that I started in the beginning is Opinion Outpost (opinionoutpost.com).  You can get cash, Amazon codes, and some other things as well.  You take surveys they send to your email and they are worth different point values once you get the amount you need to cash out then you can get the item you want.  This one is also good because you can cash out $10 at a time which is nice because the others you have to earn $25-$50 before cash out.  That means you can have money faster so it is quite helpful.

Another is Survey Savvy (http://www.surveysavvy.com/?m=5766848).  This is hit and miss on getting qualified on the surveys but the reason I like them so much is because you can cash out for $1.  See I am very inpatient about wanting to cash out so this one is nice because I do not have to wait long.  As soon as my account is credited I can send for a check.  I really like that idea.  So this is a good one if you are like me.

Well if you are like me you don't want to read a super long page either so I am going to stop for now.  I will give you some more options to choose from in other posts so you do not get overwhelmed.  We are in this together and I am here to help.  I want to help you get the freedom from debt you are looking for and I am doing it with you.

Just A Brief Moment

I am a little behind I know I need to give the next way I earn money.  I am actually doing a lot more, I am no longer working as of last Monday.  It has been great actually other than less money to work with at this point now but I refuse to give up on my debt free journey.  Currently I am working on earning Amazon points to pay for my daughters sweet 16 party.

I am super happy so far not working.  I have been able to be here for my daughter and actually get the rest that I need personally to recover mentally from all the stuff that has been going on.  I am not saying go out and quit your job but, I really feel that some people are not meant to work in a corporate world.  Ever since I was a kid I knew that I was not suited to work for the big companies and after many unhappy long years I am looking into pursuing something that is actually suited for me.

I will be back with more money making opportunities soon so do not worry,  Until then check out the older post for previously mentioned ways to earn and keep on working on the debt free journey.  God did not make you to struggle so stick with me, we can do this together.

Get Money Back From Shopping

I hope you are doing well with your savings and debt reduction.  It is such a great feeling to know that you are getting closer to living the way you want.  You should really be proud of yourself for taking this journey.  No matter how far you have gotten just be proud of yourself that you are continuing to work on it.  Some weeks will be easier and some you may have to make some adjustments due to an unexpected situation.  The goal is to keep going.  I have paid off 2 cards I have about $600 in savings and I am about to pay most of the balance off on another.

Today I am going to tell you how I get money back when I shop.  I like to use Ebates. You can check it out by clicking this link http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=beL25MhNpsK0Et5ppi%2FbBQ%3D%3D&eeid=28187 ( if you sign up I get a referral for this one)  You can shop at a ton of stores online and then depending on the store you will get either a percentage of your purchase back or a set dollar amount.  So far I have gotten back about $30 and my next check is already up to $16 from just making the purchases I already wanted to any way. Also I like that they have a reminder button you can download to your computer so if you are on the site of a company they work with it starts flashing so you can be reminded to get money back.

I have gotten money for buying things from Victoria Secret, Fingerhut, Amazon, Ebay, Kohl's, JcPenney, Jelly Belly candy, and I even got money back for doing my Taxes online with Turbo Tax.  It is really nice to get money back for buying things you need anyway.  Also during Christmas it is great because you can get some money back on all the gifts you buy so it doesn't seem so bad afterward.  Who couldn't use some money back after Christmas.

You are doing great.  Keep up the good work.  We are in this together and I know you can do this.

Making Money For Saving

Ok so now you have had time to go over all the other steps and get used to it.  Hopefully by now you have gotten the hang of things and have a system that works for you.  I know at first it takes some getting used to and sticking to it can be a challenge.  I have faith in you that you got this.  If I can do it I know you can too.

At this point you should have made a few of your weekly payments and even if it is small you should be seeing your balance slowly going down.  This is the goal.  No matter if it is a dollar a week or $100, the objective is to get the balance to be smaller.  It is not about how fast you go but getting the balance down is.  It is about still being able to eat but pay bills and start having an emergency  fund so credit cards are not always needed to solve an emergency.  We want those to be the last resort at this point.

So one way I make extra money is by using a site called INSTAGC.  To visit the site click http://www.instagc.com/420755  This can be used on computer or smart phone.  There are different ways to make money on this site.  You can watch videos, take survey, download games, even print coupons.  It is extremely easy.In my spare time this year I have made over $40.  Roughly $20 extra month so that is pretty good.  You can put that in your savings account or use it to make your weekly payments.  I have made about a $1 a day this month already.  Using my earnings from this site and another I will explain in another post I was able to buy my daughter a new backpack.  It cost $53 with shipping and I paid $0.  To the right is a picture that shows the type she got.  I got it from Amazon so I used my points for Amazon codes and put them on my balance until I had enough to pay for the whole thing.

So even if you only made $1 a day that would still be $30 extra a month.  That is $360 extra dollars a year. Think of what you could do to knock out debt or add to your savings with that much extra a year.  I am earning points as I type by watching videos.  It is really that easy.

In my next post I will go over some other money making tips that add up.  I hope you are learning on this journey.  Remember I am here with you taking the same journey.  We can do this together.

Just Checking In

We talked a lot about how to get started on the debt elimination journey and creating a savings.  I hope things are going well for you and you have started to make a dent in your bills.  Whether you are paying it off $1 or $100 at a time, the objective is to keep going.

To keep you motivated since we started this journey together I have accomplished paying off two cards and have saved almost $200.  I share this because I want you to know that you can do it.  I do not even make $18000 a year so if I can do it I know you can too.

I have faith in you that you can do this,  You just have to stick with your plan.  You made a goal and a commitment to get debt free.  Lets keep going together.  Remember the great feeling you will have once you pay off all the debt you owe.  Knowing you will have extra money each month because you do not owe $100's of dollars to credit cards and student loans.

I am proud of you for the hard work you are doing.  I am proud of you for deciding to finally get out of debt.  You have taken a big step and I know you can do it.  I will be here each step of the way to help you as much as I can.

Soon I will start telling you about the ways that I make extra money in my spare time to help off set the money that I am putting toward my debt.  I am actually buying my daughter a new backpack and because I work to make extra money and gift cards I am getting this $50 backpack for free.  So it is absolutely worth the effort.

Until next time, I am glad we are on this journey together.

Happy New Year!

So it is 2015.  Hopefully you have learned a few tips to give you a great year.  I am really excited about this year.  I feel like I am going to get somewhere.  I feel like that My debt is going to be gone this year other than student loans.  Those are going to be the last things I tackle.  I will be using the many I get from saving so much to make the payment.  It will be refreshing to know that is the end of my debt.

I hope that you guys will have a great year and start to get ahead on your debt.  It is really a great feeling to get to keep some of that money you work so hard to make.  It is tiring to go to work every day and have nothing to show for it.  I will be so excited when I start getting paid and the money is actually mine to do as I wish not figure out who I can pay this week and who will have to wait until the next payday.  I get 3 pay checks this month and taxes are right around the corner.

The best thing about taxes is you can pay off something.  I don't care if it is the smallest bill you have, pay it off.  That will free up not only your money but it will help free you from stress.  Then you can concentrate on other bills.  I already know what I am doing with my taxes.  I have been planning it for months.  I know what I want to accomplish when I get my return.  I know what I need to do to get ahead.

You should sit down and make a list.  It doesn't matter if you don't know how much you are going to get.  You know what you need to pay off.  So put it in writing from most important to what you would like to pay off but can wait a minute.  The goal is to be ready so when that money gets there.  You will have a set plan.  Then you follow it.  That is all there is too it.  Now if between now and then something major happens you can adjust the list but the main thing is to be ready and have a plan.  The problem is that most people get so excited about getting them they start thinking about all the stuff they can buy.  They make these purchases but never take care of the old debt so then they have all this new stuff but still no money.  Not a good plan.  You just start regretting what you did and then you really can't enjoy the new stuff.

So I hope you will join me this year in making this year our best debt free year ever.  I hope that you will find your way to becoming debt free.  What ever works for you I hope you will use it and get to a comfortable relationship with your money.

How Do We Save Money We Don't Have

So there are articles everywhere on how to save money.  They explain how to save a bunch and get your debt paid off.  The problem you ask?  Well they always use big number like saving hundreds or thousands at once.  Sometimes it is even you should save 50% of your income.  Well if you are like me you don't have that kind of money.  If you put that much in savings your bills would never get paid off.  So what is the solution?

Well I have tried a lot of things.  One thing that was useful was the envelope system.  This is where you take out the exact amount of money you will spend from your pay check and label an envelope for each thing you would spend money on.  For example your car loan, groceries, eating out if you intend on doing that.  You only take cash out of the envelope that you intend on using it for.  Once the envelope is empty you have no more money for that particular activity until you get paid again.  In theory it really does work, if you can stick with it.  I was able to for  little while but then I found myself sneaking a dollar from this envelope to go to the other envelope and then I gave up.  If you can do it then by all means go for it.  Just wasn't my thing.

What did work you ask?  Saving the money I already had.  Didn't I just say I had none to save?  Well that is the trick.  First you get a jar and a savings account.  Preferably find a saving that you will earn decent interest from.  Then comes the easy part.  Say you have a $20 and you spend say $13.75,   You now have 6.25 in change.  Take the $1.25 and put it in the jar.  Every time you get coin or dollar bill you put it in the jar.  You are less likely to miss small change than you are trying to put away a $10 each time.  Then when your jar is full you take it and put it in your savings.  Then the best part it is so easy.  You leave it there.  For me it is a little easier because I work at a bank so I can deposit mine as soon as I get them.

The beauty of this is that you don't really notice your money going because it is such a small amount at a time.  I mean will you really notice that $.20 cents is not in your pocket.  Most likely not.  It is actually nice to not carry around loads of change.  It adds up quicker than you think.  Before you know it you will have saved $100 easy.  Now you have options once it builds up.  My advice?  Leave it alone as long as you can.  Although if you have saved $100 and have a bill that needs to be paid off then do it.  The nice thing is what you can do with that extra money.  This will be the topic of my next post.

Remember if you have ideas please share.  We are in this together.  You may have a suggestion that I have not even thought of.  Thank you for reading and see you next time.

Ditch The Debit Card!!!!!!

Ok, so I know what you are thinking,  This lady is crazy!  You can not possibly  make it through the day without your little plastic friend.  It would bring an end to your world if you didn't have that little rectangle available at all times.  If you could not simply swipe the card through the reader then what would you possibly do?  It is ok I have a plan and a reason.

So true a debit card is convenient.  Yes it is way more simple than carry around cash. The thing is that problems can also arise out of a debit card that can really wreck your road to recovery.  Debit cards are so easy to use that a person can get carried away just swiping all the time.  One little mistake and you could be cleaning up the mess for an extra month or more.  Who wants to deal with all of that when you are already trying to get your budget together.

 1.  You go on a day of errands and have to hit 5 stores that day. You do good on the first couple of stops making sure you put your receipt away but by the 4th store you are tired and just want to be done and forget to get it.  While this seems easy enough, what if it is for gas and it only shows up as 0.00 because it is still pending and you wait 2 days to fill in your check book.  You forget how much you spent and guess you are $3.00 off on your guess now your book is wrong and you go about your spending.  Then BAM!!!! Over draft charge.  You may even forget to write it in all together in the first place and there it is a fee just because you forgot one transaction.  Now you are negative and either have to keep using the card and make it worse, use your credit card which will now incur interest or dip into your savings.  All of which defeat the whole purpose of what you are working for.

2.  You buy a trial of something because you can put it on your card and it seems cheap.  Then you forget to cancel it and now you are paying $80 for a trial item because they have your card number and can automatically bill you.  Once again you are hit with fees and looking to pay for everything you just did again defeating the purpose.

3.  As we have found time and time again they are not super secure either and when you are trying to save money because you don't have any, you can't afford an act of fraud.  Depending on the situation it could take 30 days before you get your money back.  My guess is if you are reading this then you can not afford to wait 30 days to get your money back

Now lets get to what you should do.  CASH!  That is right plane old paper bills and coins.  This is the perfect way to stay on track.  I am not saying no electronic use.  You can pay your bills online to save driving every where and wasting gas which of course costs money.  You keep track of how much you have after bills by doing that in a check log.  What is left after you get paid and deduct your bills is the cash you have to spend until your next payday.  THAT IS IT.

You only get what your check log says you have.  You then take out the cash and that is what you use.  This is also helpful because it is more visual too.  You are physically giving away your hard earned money which can be harder the less you have.  When you actually have to hand over a $5 for that one cup of coffee it starts to sink in that you are giving away a lot of money for one little thing.  You go out to eat and you have to use a $20 and only get a $5 back it really does hit a nerve and you will start watching what you are doing more.  When you only have $20 left and payday is still 4 days away you will be much more careful.

How do I know this?  I have been doing it now for 5 months.  I don't even have an ATM card now.  There are times where things have come up and unfortunately I have had to use a card or my savings and that is also life.  The important thing is that because I have been working to change my situation I actually had money on my card or cash in the savings.  I made sure to keep myself accountable.

It isn't always easy and I know every situation is unique.  I am not going to tell you to save $50 every check because I couldn't do it and still have money.  I am giving you tips to help you get the start you need and you can customize it to fit you.  I work at a bank so I can get the money out when needed but you may still need an ATM card just in case, that is what will work for you.  Until next time.  Keep up the good work.  I would love to hear if any one has been using my steps and how it is working for them.

Great News

Thanks to the wonderful people at Rent-A-Center I have a laptop again.  I will be picking up where we left off on my debt help series.  I am very excited to get back to this so that I can share how I am getting my life turned around and back on track.  I hope you come back and learn some steps that have helped me so much.  I will do a re-cap of what I talked about before and then we will get into Ditch the debit card.  I know it sounds crazy but i have been without one for 2 months now and doing great.  See you soon!!!!!!

Saving Money and Getting Out of Debt: To Budget or Not To Budget

I would first like to thank all of you for reading this blog.  I am very excited to announce that I have 1000 views as of today. I hope that I am helping people.  I set out to just start  blog and see where it went.  It has become more than that, it is now a place where I am determined to have an impact on peoples life.  Thank you for reading and being with me.

So we are on the journey to financial freedom.  A lot of people feel that having a budget is he holy grail of saving.  They claim it will keep you on track each month, that it will hold you accountable for your spending.  This does work for some people. 

Me personally, I do not use one.  I always forget to update them and then they make no sense.  Also for me it is just a reminder of how broke I am all the time.  I just do not find them helpful.  I am not saying do not use one, I am just saying I do not like using them.  This is something you will have to decide on your own if it is gong to be helpful or not.

If you decide to use one, make sure it will work for you.  If you are not a complex number person then do not choose a complex way to budget.  Go with the basics.  There are free budget forms on the internet that make it easy to do.  Make sure you are honest with the numbers.  You will not fix the problem if you are not willing to be honest about it.  Make sure you have all the numbers and categories you need.  Then simply add up your bills and essentials then subtract them from your income.  This will be the extra money you will have to work with. 

At this point hopefully you have a positive number.  What ever it is this will be the money you will use to Save and get out of debt.  Even if it is only $1 I can help you work with this. It will be weird at first but you can do it.  I am in this with you I am doing it right now so I know what I am talking about.  I only work part time but I have paid off a credit cards and my car.  This is with just y pay  check and every now and then I get child support but not every month.  I also have an IRA and two college funds going for m daughter.  If I can do it so can you.  Please feel free to ask questions I am here to help.

Saving Money and Getting Out of Debt: The Beginning

So You want to save money and get out of debt?  This is actually the first step.  Admitting that you need to get out of debt is how you get going.  A lot of people don't like to admit there is a problem.  If you can not do that then you will not be able to go any farther.

You have to start by admitting that you got yourself into a bad spot and now you need to get out.  Many people spend their years spending and digging the whole and then when they retire they have no way to take care of themselves.  They end up creating debt and then when they are gone their family has to take care of the problem.  This is not the position you want to leave your children in.

You have to commit today, right this minute that even if you do not want to take the steps I have used that you will do something to improve your finances.  You have to get the whole family on board and make sure they know what you are working toward.  If you are saving and your spouse is still over spending it will get you nowhere.  Have a family meeting immediately and put down  your foot.  Make it known that the family needs to make some changes for a better future.  If you are single then you need to make this commitment to yourself and hold yourself  accountable.  Your future depends on you doing your part.

If you are ready to improve your finances then stick with me.  I am going to walk you through different ways that will help you get things under control.  It is not going to always be easy but you are going to be happy you did it in the end.

Follow up

So this week was supposed to start a series on saving money and slowly getting ahead.  Unfortunately I was not able to start this week due to some personal issues.  I will be starting the series on Monday.  I really hope to have you here so we can go through this journey together.  I really am excited to help you all succeed in your financial future.  Please come back Monday and bring your positive attitude because we are going to make some changes.  This will be the beginning of financial freedom.  I hope to see you here.

Get ready

Ok so I have been working on saving money and paying bills.  So far I have learned how coupon and got 2 laundry detergents for $.84 for both not each but both.  I paid off my car loan one of my credit cards and the loan I got for my phone.  If you want to learn how I did this and see if I can help you then come back starting Monday June 2nd where I will start posting what I have learned and done to start turning my life around.  We all need a boost so I am here to give one if you are ready to take it.

Getting Ready For The New Year

So it is almost here and I am getting my lists and such together.  I have a big list and so I have a lot of things to do to make those things happen.  There are many small things I will have to do to get to my goals.  With out a plan I am not going to make my goals so  I am putting in the hard work and this year I am going to make these goals happen.

So here are a couple of goals I will be working on this year.  I am going to get my house cleaned and organized.  If you don't already know when I moved back to MI I had to move into my parents house which they left all of their stuff here when they moved.  I am left with cleaning it up and repairing anything wrong with it.  Unfortunately I am part time so I do not have a lot of money so it has been hard.  I plan on making it happen in 2014.

I also plan on losing 30 pounds at least.  If you saw my previous post you know that I am  going to be sharing my weight loss journey over the next year.  It will not be easy and I must admit I am not off to a good start but I have some things in place to get going so I plan to make this year the year I get back to a healthy weight.

I also have a goal to save $5,000 by the end of the year.  I think of all my goals this will be the hardest.  Being part time I do not make a ton.  I will however be getting child support so that will help with my daughters expenses so I can put that money aside once I start receiving support plus I am selling items on Ebay and I am doing surveys.  I have also gotten back into couponing so that save me money.  I also have some other things to make extra money so I am working on it being enough to put stuff away toward this goal. 

So plans are in place but the real challenge will be doing them.  I am the only one that can be held accountable so I have to work hard or it will not get done.   What are your goals for this year and how do you plan to accomplish them?  Are they small or is this the year you go for the big one?  Whatever your goal do it.  Make this the year you make it happen and we can do it together.  We can cheer eachother on along the way.  Lets make this year count. 

Starting Again

So I was doing really well with the blog and then got distracted but I see many people are still looking.  I am going to get back to it and we will see where it goes from there.  I have been up to so much this year.  I have been just so busy and working on so many different things. 

This year I started out separated and not feeling to happy.  I am now only three months away from my divorce and doing ok.  I have gone back to church more often and I am feeling much better in my faith now.  I am learning a better way to pray and to trust God even more.  It is nice when you can just feel great about things. 

 My job not so awesome but I have one and right now that is a bonus.  I can kinda pay my bills and I can feed my daughter and myself so that feels good.  My car is almost paid off so that will be nice when I am done with that.  It will be extra money to put toward some other bills.  I have been turned down for full time three different time so that has been a little crushing for me.  I applied for another one but not getting too excited about it because I have a feeling I am not getting which has a lot to do with the position itself and a little with my employers.

I have reduced my medications drastically which has been a very nice change for me.  My daughter has been having less seizures which is very exciting and her grades are up from last year along with her reading skills improving this year.  This is something she has struggled with for years.  She also got nominated for the new Leadership club at school.  She makes me so proud.

I have also been working on getting my business up and going strong.   I have made some changes to what I am doing and I hope I can get things going so I can work for myself and have more time with my daughter.  She is growing up to so fast I want to get as much time with her as I can before college comes around

Well that is a quick catch up of some of the things that have been going on with me since I have been absent from writing.  I hope I can keep you interested and get things going on the blog regularly again.  Thanks for reading.

Upsetting Day So Lets Talk Savings

So today did not go as planned at all.  I was not able to get anything that I wanted to done so I am not very happy.  I could not get on the site to finish my divorce papers so I was not able to go file.  My cable was out and couldn't get it fixed so that was annoying.  So today we are going to talk about savings and points apps.  I am going to cover them over the next couple days.

For today we are going to talk about Shop Kicks.  If you do not already know what this is, it is a phone app where you earn points for shopping and then redeem the points for awards.  It is very easy.  You just take your phone with you when shopping and it will alert you to the different kicks you can earn.  You can earn kicks for just walking into a store or by scanning the specific merchandise.

So far my favorite place to get kicks from is Target.  I have earned bonus boards there which is when you scan a full group of specified items.  I also earned $2 to shop just for getting kicks and entering the store.  They also have books as they are called.  You can look through specific store to see the latest items they have.  Some times for looking through the books you earn bonus kicks.  They can be right then or some are issued the next time you go to that specific store.  It is free and you are earning stuff from doing it.

The hardest part for me is when I am just running in and out of a store I some times forget my phone so I miss out on kicks.  The good news though is that they are free so I am not losing anything by forgetting.  It can be a little frustrating when you are so close to getting the level of points you want but that is the good thing, you can always earn more. 

You can use it to make shopping fun for the kids.  You can do the bonus boards as scavenger hunts and they can help.  It will earn you kicks and it will keep them occupied helping to look for the items.  I mean who couldn't use a way to entertain the kids while shopping.  The bonus is you can earn free stuff doing it too.

The prizes are pretty good.  They range from gift cards to merchandise, they even have it so if you earn enough points you can get a Vespa scooter.  The nice thing about it is that you are already going shopping so why not get something back.  If you are interested in trying it out http://get.shopkick.com/lithium12388

Still So Busy Does The Stuff Stop Coming

So today at work was crazy.  I kept making all kinds of small mistakes that were so annoying just because they were so minor yet mistakes. I did however get out an hour early so that was nice although I still didn't get home until the same time so that was not fun.  I have so much I want to get done but no time.  I have been working 6 days a week so that really cuts into my time.  The problem is that I am part-time so it does not add up to as much as you would think.  Last year I didn't even clear 20000.  So while in theory it sounds good not so much.

I must admit though that I am happy to have a job.  There are many people who are jobless so it could be worse than it really is.  I really am glad that I can sorta pay bills and take care of my daughter.  There are times my budget is more than tight.  I mean the budget is sooo tight my bills are like a muffin top spilling over, but with no job it would be even worse so I have to be positive on some level.

I am still very confused on what is going on in my life but I also know that being angry and sad all the time is not going to help anything.  I some how need to find better balance in my life.  I am so stressed all the time about how I am going to get things done it completely takes over my life and I get really emotionally drained as talked about in yesterdays post.   I need to start learning techniques to help me just let all this go and be more invilved in life instead of worrying about it so much.

Well that is my thought for today.  I need to get to my other things before bed and that will be soon since I have still not been getting much sleep trying to get it done.  Have a great day