Wednesday, December 2, 2009

November Net Worth

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 :)

Monday, November 30, 2009

Awesome Weekend!

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!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving! Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

  1. My family. They're amazing, supportive, and so helpful (see #2).
  2. My freshly cleaned condo. My mom and sister spent about an hour helping me clean my condo last night. I let things slide while I was traveling and trying to finish my thesis. Now my place is livable again!
  3. Having my thesis written! I have a few formatting things left, but I've already received the feeback from my advisor and readers.
  4. Upcoming trip to Boston. I'm looking forward to a weekend away. This trip isn't for a conference or any other speaking engagement. It's only for fun!
  5. Morning runs.
  6. My iPod nano. I have been saving up for a new nano, but my current iPod is working great! I'm not really in a hurry to replace my current one (as long as it's working).
  7. My bike. I bought it used for a great deal. Plus, it's a fun bike to ride!
  8. My car is working!
  9. My emergency fund. It makes me feel safe and secure when things go wrong.
  10. My condo. It's small (550 sq. ft), but it's all mine. While purchasing my own place might not have been my best financial move, the condo has provided a safe haven away from school. I don't think I could have achieved this sense of home with an apartment.
What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

More Car Problems!

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.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Giveaway: 50 Custom Thank You Cards from UPrinting.com

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

  • leaving a comment on this post on how you plan to use the custom thank you cards (please include your e-mail address).
For extra entries:
  • Become a follower of my blog (1 entry)
  • Follow me on twitter (1 entry)
  • Tweet about the giveaway (2 entries). Please include @savingforhome @uprinting with trending topic #giveaway. Please provide the link to the tweet in your comment.
  • Blog about the giveaway with a link to this post and to LargeFormatPosters.com (5 entries) Please provide a link to your blog post.
To be counted for more than one entry, please leave a comment for each additional entry. For example, if you blog about the giveaway, leave 5 comments (at least one should have a link to your post).

The contest will end Wednesday, November 25th at 6:00 PM EST. I will select the winner of the 50 custom thank you cards using a random number generator. If you are a winner, please respond within 72 hours to claim your prize. ***GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED****

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Swagbucks 5 prize limit decoded!

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!

  • Each prize now has a 5 order per calendar month limit per person. That doesn't mean that you can only get 5 prizes per month, it just means you can only get the same prize 5 times per month.
I can handle only getting $25 in Amazon gift certificates per month (higher $$ gift cards are offered, but the rate isn't as good as the $5). I might start redeeming my Swagbucks for Christmas gifts (books for Mom, poster for my sister, etc.).

While I am disappointed there is a limit on the number of $5 Amazon gift certificates I can redeem, I'll have to get a little more creative with my Swagbucks usage if I find a way to get at TON one month :)


Search & Win

Saturday, November 7, 2009

I <3 Swagbucks!

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.


Search & Win

Friday, November 6, 2009

Away on business...

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!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Working on getting back to where I was...

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).


Search & Win

iPod Savings Setback

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).


Search & Win

Friday, October 30, 2009

Travel Expenses!

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.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Cancelled Netflix

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.

Getting Closer!

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.

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If anyone is keeping track, I have made a total of $510 through MySurvey.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Another gift card!

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!



Search & Win

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Drowning!

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.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Calling all Entrepreneurs

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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.



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Unexpected check...

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!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Christmas Gifts

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.

  • Dad - T-shirt from my school. He's wanted one for a while. I purchased it with a rebate from purchasing my books. I'm also looking to get him a book or something.
  • Mom - I'm thinking about getting her a framed picture from Sister 1's wedding. We haven't had a family picture taken in a while, so I thought it would be something different.
  • Sister 1 - ?
  • Sister 2 - ?
  • Sister 1's husband - ?
  • Grandma - ?
  • Boyfriend - ?
Any creative ideas?

Update - Sense To Dollars asked me about my family's hobbies in order to give better recommendations.

My dad is really into sports...

and so is my sister's husband. My sister's husband also really likes video games. I gave him one of the Call of Duty games last year.

Sister 1 runs a little bit, has a golden retriever, and is just starting to cook. She's also trying to become more frugal, which is awesome!

Sister 2 is still in college...and I think she really just likes to party.

Grandma likes to cook and clean. She still lives alone and maintains almost an acre of property. She is coming down south for the winter, so I could get her something (a ticket, a gift certificate, etc) to a place down here.

Mom always asks for the most boring things. This year she asked for hand towels (sister 1 already bought them). In the past I have purchased skin care products (masks, moisturizers, etc), underwear (yep, we switched my mom out of grannie panties), and books (she LOVES to read). I would normally buy her a book, but she reads SO much it is impossible to know what she's read.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Spending Money...

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,

  • I will also purchase an additional plane ticket to visit friends on the east coast. I hope to spend less than $300 on the flight because the trip will be far enough away from the holidays (in between Thanksgiving and Christmas) to be affected by the holiday ticket spikes.
  • New running shoes, ~$90
  • Brake repair, ~$500
  • Christmas gifts - I'm trying to be inventive, but I'm not having much luck.

Lusting after...




Oh Kindle DX! I want you so much!

With it's current price tag there isn't a chance that I would buy it...but it's fun to look at...