I had a slight decrease in my net worth this month, but I expected it. I spent a lot of money on flights (4 separate trips) and Christmas gifts. I'm going to work hard to save my pennies in the next few months, but I'm relatively happy with my small decrease :)
I had a great Thanksgiving with my family. I was definitely sad to see them go, but it was fantastic having them in town for a few days.
In other news, I have completed my thesis. I need to have a format check and turn it in! I'm ready to have it finished and out of my hands!
This weekend I'm going to Boston with the bf. I'm looking forward to a "fun" trip...no work, no conferences, no presentations. I'm not really sure what we're going to do, but I'm still excited!
My car died today! I had to pay $60 for towing, and then $187 for a diagnostic test and a new battery. I had brake work done earlier this month.
My car maintenance account is empty. For the $250 today, I'm going to have to pull it from my emergency fund. I know my emergency fund is there for this reason, but I'm still frustrated to pour $1500 into my car in the past two months.
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED
UPrinting is offering one of my lucky readers 50 custom Thank You Cards with plain envelopes (3.5"x5" folded) to help ring in the holiday season.
For writing this post, UPrinting is also giving me a set of custom thank you cards! I plan on using mine to write notes to everyone that gives me a gift this holiday season. I read once that Jackie Kennedy would write thank you notes within a day of receiving a gift. I have to admit that I wish I could be that motivated, but I will make an effort to write little notes to my family and friends...
UPrinting is giving the contest winner plain envelopes, but they do offer envelope printing! I would love to get rid of all of my little address labels and have my address already printed on business envelopes!
This offer is open to US residents only. FREE UPS Ground Shipping for US residents.
You can enter by
I saw the post on Krystal's blog that you can only redeem your Swagbucks for 5 prizes per month. Since I ordered two prizes in September ($10 total in Amazon gift certificates) and 3 in October ($15 total), I don't think I will hit the maximum limit if I only redeem for Amazon gift certificates.
However, I thought that I might have to avoid the smaller point prizes. I just noticed that you can download songs for varying amounts of Swagbucks (1-20/song), and I was considering downloading Beyonce's "If I Were A Boy" to add to my running playlist.
I went to the Swagbucks blog to get to the bottom of this fiasco!
I earned another $5 gift certificate through Swagbucks yesterday. I'm working back up to my pre-book order Amazon gift card total!
I also need to think about saving up for my books next semester!
I've had a few readers ask about how I earn my Swagbucks. As far as I can tell, I just earn them when I search. I have changed the search engine in the upper right hand corner of my browser to swagbucks, so I use swagbucks every time I search. I don't think I search for things an abnormal amount, but I don't really have a good answer to how many searches I do per day.
My title makes me sound like an adult! I'm not sure if I feel comfortable with that or not.
I'm in Miami for a few days for school. I traveled alone, but I know a few people in the area. I really like my hotel. I thought I would be more productive here, but that hasn't happened yet. I have a hard time working on my thesis when there is a TV with cable in my room!
Yesterday I completed about 2 hours of work total. I will have this afternoon off, so I hope to get a little bit of work done. I will try to write tomorrow morning and on my flight home.
I need to have my thesis finished in a week, so I'm definitely feeling the pressure!
I just redeemed 45 swagbucks for a $5 Amazon.com gift certificate. I've been busy with school, so I haven't had time to fill out surveys, but I'm able to search with swagbucks with zero effort. I have to do the searches anyway, so it's great that I'm able to earn a few dollars to pay for my books (and to put toward an iPod).
This $5 gift card will bring my total back up to $30 in Amazon gift cards. I still have $40 in cash from MySurvey. I need an additional $70 in order to buy the new iPod nano (5th generation with a pausable radio and video camera).
I redeemed about $25 of my Amazon giftcards that I earned through Swagbucks. I needed to purchase a textbook that I forgot to purchase at the beginning of the semester. I thought my textbook was more important than a new iPod, so I'll just have to wait a little bit longer.
I currently have $25 in Amazon gift cards and $40 in cash (earned through MySurvey) saved up for a new iPod nano (5th generation, in blue).
My travel fund took a hit when I bought my ticket home for Christmas (~$450) last week. I also need to renew my passport--$75 fee + $9 for pictures. In order to keep costs down, I redeemed 10,000 miles to save $100 on my flight to Boston. The ticket still was $200.
This will bring my travel fund to around $450. Since I have all of my travel planned and paid for through 2009, I am happy with the amount of money left in my travel fund. I am going to switch my focus to saving for Christmas gifts for my family.
I canceled my Netflix subscription yesterday. I've been too busy to watch any of the movies that I rented. It's only $10/month, but if I'm not using the service it's not worth the money. I will probably pick up the service again in February when my workload becomes more manageable.
I'm working on cutting down expenses. Netflix was the first thing to go, but I plan on limiting and cutting out quite a few other things in the next few weeks.
I'm getting closer to getting the iPod! I just ordered another $10 check through MySurvey. This brings the cash to $40 and $50 in Amazon giftcards. I need to save another $50 before I can buy a new iPod nano.
I'm getting closer to my iPod dream...I redeemed my swagbucks for another $5 Amazon gift card!
If you can't tell, I love Swagbucks! I set it as my primary search engine for my browser, and I'm getting gift cards for doing what I would anyway!
Recently I've been feeling overwhelmed with work. Last night, I stayed up until 2 a.m. working on homework, research, and other school related things. I feel like I can't get caught up!
I know that I need to buckle down and do it...but I can't stop freaking out about the amount of work that I have to finish.
British Airways has an amazing opportunity to win a Business Opportunity Grant. If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, or inventor; this essay contest is something that you should check out!
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, having a face-to-face meeting improves the relationship with the client and helps to increase your earnings. With this in mind, British Airways is launching a new campaign for business travel. To kick off the campaign, British Airways is offering an amazing opportunities to small businesses. Even in the recession, it is important to maintain solid client relationships. British Airways is working on making that an easy thing to do.
What can you win? British Airways is offering companies 10 round-trip Club World business class flights, 5 free British Airways Cargo freight shipment of up to 500 kilos to worldwide destinations, $1000 towards accomodations at Courtyard by Marriott, 5 Regus Businessworld Gold Cards providing access to business lounges worldwide, and a Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer.
Why would you want to enter? This gives a company a way to grow their business and increase their client relationships with minimal cost. It also is a great way to get that start-up going, launch a new idea, and make your dreams happen!
What do you need to do to enter? Visit British Airways page on the Business Opportunity Grant.
I received a refund from a vision appointment that I had in March. There was no explanation, just a $35 check. I plan on adding the money to my gift fund because it could really use some help before I start purchasing Christmas gifts!
I love unexpected money!
Since my budget is limited for Christmas gifts this year, I'm going to have to be a little more creative than I have in the past.
I made two large purchases today. My car insurance for the next 6 months is paid (~$390). I also purchased my plane ticket to go home over Christmas (~$450).
I used my new Delta card to purchase the ticket, but I opted to fly Southwest. The Southwest ticket was a little over $100 less and I don't have to pay to check my luggage. For most trips, I suck it up and pack only carry-on luggage. For Christmas I have to be realistic. My mother will go overboard on gifts (as she does every year), so I will definitely need a large suitcase to carry home my new wardrobe.
In the next few weeks,
Marketing Tips
Direct postcard mailing is an efficient method to reach a geographic target market. You may also include envelopes with print labels and print catalogs for higher saturation. To reach those visiting a geographic region, use print posters placed in high-traffic areas.
