Sign up for a free sample pack of Milk-Bone's new Trail Mix dog treats. They are described as "crunchy, chewy, wholesome, delicious" and made with rolled oats, real beef and sweet potato.
Allow 4-6 weeks for your sample pack to arrive.
5.16.2012
FREE Sample Milk-Bone Trail Mix Treats
Sign up for a free sample pack of Milk-Bone's new Trail Mix dog treats. They are described as "crunchy, chewy, wholesome, delicious" and made with rolled oats, real beef and sweet potato.
Allow 4-6 weeks for your sample pack to arrive.
5.11.2012
March-April Credit Card Debt Recap
We started 2011 with $13,402.24 on our credit cards, worked super hard all year at paying them off and started 2012 with just $3,600.00 left to pay off. We're trying to pay that off by November when the 0% interest promotion ends. Follow along to see if we make it!
So how did we do these past two months with paying off our credit card balances? Here's my latest recap of March and April, and you'll see we're chugging right along.
At the beginning of March, our credit card totals looked like this:
CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,400.00
_____________________
Total - $3,400.00
And then at the end of April, our totals looked like this:
CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $2,800.00
_____________________
Total - $2,100.00
Yay, we paid off a total of $1,300.... $600 in March and $700 in April!!!
If we could keep this up, we could certainly pay this off by November. But with this impending drop of income looming over us like a dark cloud, we're really unsure how things are going to play out. I guess we'll see. But yay for great progress!
To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.
So how did we do these past two months with paying off our credit card balances? Here's my latest recap of March and April, and you'll see we're chugging right along.
At the beginning of March, our credit card totals looked like this:
CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,400.00
_____________________
Total - $3,400.00
And then at the end of April, our totals looked like this:
CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $2,800.00
_____________________
Total - $2,100.00
Yay, we paid off a total of $1,300.... $600 in March and $700 in April!!!
If we could keep this up, we could certainly pay this off by November. But with this impending drop of income looming over us like a dark cloud, we're really unsure how things are going to play out. I guess we'll see. But yay for great progress!
To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.
5.10.2012
Kindle ebook Freebie: Pushed Too Far
Looking for some free reading material for your Kindle?
Download a copy of the book, Pushed Too Far, by Ann Voss Peterson. It's a police procedural thriller and has great reviews! But best of all, it's FREE!
Remember, if you don't have a Kindle, you can still enjoy these ebook freebies! Simply download a free Kindle reading app for your computer, smartphone, iPod or iPad.
Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase through my link, I'll receive a few cents. This is at no cost to you and helps support this blog. Thanks!
5.08.2012
Car Accidents, Vacation, Surgery, Court and more...
So I've been absent from my blog for quite some time now. Life has sure been a roller coaster for our family this year. And not in the Weeee! fun type of way, but in the OMG I'm so scared of every turn, sort of way.
We started the year off by getting a letter from our neighbor's attorney stating that they were taking us to court. Fun! This has been the neighbor from hell, btw. More on that at a later date!
Then we got notice in February that the Hubby's job would be ending in May. Ughh. No fun. He's got a week and a half left. We've cut expenses as much as we could, but considering we already live a pretty frugal life, there isn't much to cut.
In March we took our first ever family vacation, which was also the only vacation Hubby and I have been on since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. It'll be 7 years on the 21st of May!!!
Of course, it's weird to go on vacation right after you find out you are losing your only source of income. But, the trip had been planned since the middle of last year and had been paid for last year as well.
Also, the trip was to Disney and we had the free meal plan, so we ended up not spending any money on food. At all. We even came home with extra food... snacks and bottled drinks that were all free with our plan, but were well beyond what we normally eat in a day. Oh, and we had our spending money already saved up from selling stuff on craigslist, etc. Then we opted to spend a little less and brought some of the money home with us.
We drove to Disney World from New Jersey... which was awesome. Except for the part when we were almost there... like 2 exits away and we were in an accident. We had our kids (ages 4 and 6) all excited and looking for our exit number. Then BAM this lady ahead of us FELL ASLEEP while driving about 65mph on the highway.
She lost control of her car, went off the road, hit a street light, spun around and came speeding straight at us. The Hubby immediately hit the breaks and was trying to figure out how to avoid this collision, without hitting anyone else on the crowded 4-lane highway. But then the woman swerved her car, spun around, went across the other lanes and came to rest on the other side of the highway in a bit of a ditch. Somehow she managed to not hit a single solitary car on that highway. Amazing.
All good, right? Well not exactly. As we were watching this woman's car come straight at us, then spin around and go across the highway, the light post that she had hit, was crashing down.... from above us.
Luckily we were paying attention and noticed this huge thing coming down and Hubby hit the breaks and we were able to stop without it crushing down on our roof. Instead, it landed just in front of us as we came to a screeching stop and our car went up and over it with our front end.
We were so incredibly lucky to not have been crushed by this thing, especially with our children in the car. If the Hubby had been just a fraction of a second slower in hitting the breaks, we'd be in a far different situation. So thankful for my smart, quick-thinking, focused Hubby. Our car was drivable, but definitely damaged underneath and on the front end. Repairs came to about $1300.
Anyway, what a start to our first family vacation! We had to sit in the hotel room making a zillion phone calls to the insurance company and getting that all reported and straightened out. Then off to the car dealership to get the car looked at to be sure it was safe to drive back to NJ after our vacation. So we lost a bunch of Disney park time handling all of that. Which sucked, but at least we had a fabulous time the rest of the trip! And hey, we were all extremely grateful to be alive and well. The kiddos definitely got lots of extra hugs.
So then we swing along to April.... and I'm in ANOTHER car accident. This time it was just my 4 year old son and I in the car.
There's about $7000 in repairs this time around. Plus new booster seats for the kiddos... you know carseats and booster seats always have to be replaced after an accident, right? Yup and the insurance company should cover them as well.
I'm too angry at this point to go into those details, but we'll leave it at that I wasn't at fault and another woman was speeding and not watching the road when she slammed into my car. My air bag was deployed, which hit my arm and caused my arm to slam into my chest at a great force. And I broke my wrist. My son was completely unharmed once again, which I'm so incredibly thankful for. And he was so brave through it all... never even shed a tear, as I was hysterical. All he did was reach out and calmly said "Whoa" after we were hit, lol.
My wrist fracture was severe enough that it warranted surgery. Ughh, of course. Because that's just part of my luck lately. So I had surgery 2 weeks ago to repair it with a metal plate in my arm held in with 6 screws. I'll spare you those photos, lol.
Well this one isn't so bad...
So, here we are in May, I'm recovering, my wrist is splinted and unusable. I'm starting physical therapy tomorrow. I have to retrain my wrist to move, bend, turn and twist. Because it does none of those things now. Bummer.
In less than 2 weeks the Hubby will be unemployed. Our income will be dramatically reduced and I don't know how we'll afford to keep our house, not that we really want to (remember the neighbors I mentioned above?? ughh.). And now with my arm in this condition, I can't even try to get a job to supplement his unemployment. I can't do much with one arm and I can't even drive for awhile. Oh and I still don't even have my car back anyway.
Quite a long sob story, I know. It's been incredibly hard not to wallow in self pity. I try to remind myself, on a daily basis, how lucky we are to be alive, together and to be pretty darn healthy. I try to be happy for all that we have and to be humbled that there are so many others with much more severe problems. But still. I'm bummed. I never saw any of this coming... not that anyone does.
Everyday, I make sure to enjoy my Hubby and my kids and our extended family and friends. I am trying hard to focus on those things and not on our unfortunate circumstances. People tell me to keep my head up, but it's so hard when it's been one thing after another every month so far this year. I actually cringe to think what June might bring, or any of the months that follow.
So anyway, I'm back to blogging. Trying to type as best I can, even if it takes me all day, lol. But I need this outlet to vent my frustrations, my worries, my joys. I enjoy the bloggy interactions with my readers. I enjoy the sense of community. But also, I miss being held accountable for all my savings, earnings and debt repayments that I normally share here.
It's good to be back :)
We started the year off by getting a letter from our neighbor's attorney stating that they were taking us to court. Fun! This has been the neighbor from hell, btw. More on that at a later date!
Then we got notice in February that the Hubby's job would be ending in May. Ughh. No fun. He's got a week and a half left. We've cut expenses as much as we could, but considering we already live a pretty frugal life, there isn't much to cut.
In March we took our first ever family vacation, which was also the only vacation Hubby and I have been on since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. It'll be 7 years on the 21st of May!!!
Of course, it's weird to go on vacation right after you find out you are losing your only source of income. But, the trip had been planned since the middle of last year and had been paid for last year as well.
Also, the trip was to Disney and we had the free meal plan, so we ended up not spending any money on food. At all. We even came home with extra food... snacks and bottled drinks that were all free with our plan, but were well beyond what we normally eat in a day. Oh, and we had our spending money already saved up from selling stuff on craigslist, etc. Then we opted to spend a little less and brought some of the money home with us.
We drove to Disney World from New Jersey... which was awesome. Except for the part when we were almost there... like 2 exits away and we were in an accident. We had our kids (ages 4 and 6) all excited and looking for our exit number. Then BAM this lady ahead of us FELL ASLEEP while driving about 65mph on the highway.
She lost control of her car, went off the road, hit a street light, spun around and came speeding straight at us. The Hubby immediately hit the breaks and was trying to figure out how to avoid this collision, without hitting anyone else on the crowded 4-lane highway. But then the woman swerved her car, spun around, went across the other lanes and came to rest on the other side of the highway in a bit of a ditch. Somehow she managed to not hit a single solitary car on that highway. Amazing.
All good, right? Well not exactly. As we were watching this woman's car come straight at us, then spin around and go across the highway, the light post that she had hit, was crashing down.... from above us.
Luckily we were paying attention and noticed this huge thing coming down and Hubby hit the breaks and we were able to stop without it crushing down on our roof. Instead, it landed just in front of us as we came to a screeching stop and our car went up and over it with our front end.
We were so incredibly lucky to not have been crushed by this thing, especially with our children in the car. If the Hubby had been just a fraction of a second slower in hitting the breaks, we'd be in a far different situation. So thankful for my smart, quick-thinking, focused Hubby. Our car was drivable, but definitely damaged underneath and on the front end. Repairs came to about $1300.
Anyway, what a start to our first family vacation! We had to sit in the hotel room making a zillion phone calls to the insurance company and getting that all reported and straightened out. Then off to the car dealership to get the car looked at to be sure it was safe to drive back to NJ after our vacation. So we lost a bunch of Disney park time handling all of that. Which sucked, but at least we had a fabulous time the rest of the trip! And hey, we were all extremely grateful to be alive and well. The kiddos definitely got lots of extra hugs.
So then we swing along to April.... and I'm in ANOTHER car accident. This time it was just my 4 year old son and I in the car.
There's about $7000 in repairs this time around. Plus new booster seats for the kiddos... you know carseats and booster seats always have to be replaced after an accident, right? Yup and the insurance company should cover them as well.
I'm too angry at this point to go into those details, but we'll leave it at that I wasn't at fault and another woman was speeding and not watching the road when she slammed into my car. My air bag was deployed, which hit my arm and caused my arm to slam into my chest at a great force. And I broke my wrist. My son was completely unharmed once again, which I'm so incredibly thankful for. And he was so brave through it all... never even shed a tear, as I was hysterical. All he did was reach out and calmly said "Whoa" after we were hit, lol.
My wrist fracture was severe enough that it warranted surgery. Ughh, of course. Because that's just part of my luck lately. So I had surgery 2 weeks ago to repair it with a metal plate in my arm held in with 6 screws. I'll spare you those photos, lol.
Well this one isn't so bad...
So, here we are in May, I'm recovering, my wrist is splinted and unusable. I'm starting physical therapy tomorrow. I have to retrain my wrist to move, bend, turn and twist. Because it does none of those things now. Bummer.
In less than 2 weeks the Hubby will be unemployed. Our income will be dramatically reduced and I don't know how we'll afford to keep our house, not that we really want to (remember the neighbors I mentioned above?? ughh.). And now with my arm in this condition, I can't even try to get a job to supplement his unemployment. I can't do much with one arm and I can't even drive for awhile. Oh and I still don't even have my car back anyway.
Quite a long sob story, I know. It's been incredibly hard not to wallow in self pity. I try to remind myself, on a daily basis, how lucky we are to be alive, together and to be pretty darn healthy. I try to be happy for all that we have and to be humbled that there are so many others with much more severe problems. But still. I'm bummed. I never saw any of this coming... not that anyone does.
Everyday, I make sure to enjoy my Hubby and my kids and our extended family and friends. I am trying hard to focus on those things and not on our unfortunate circumstances. People tell me to keep my head up, but it's so hard when it's been one thing after another every month so far this year. I actually cringe to think what June might bring, or any of the months that follow.
So anyway, I'm back to blogging. Trying to type as best I can, even if it takes me all day, lol. But I need this outlet to vent my frustrations, my worries, my joys. I enjoy the bloggy interactions with my readers. I enjoy the sense of community. But also, I miss being held accountable for all my savings, earnings and debt repayments that I normally share here.
It's good to be back :)
Savings & Earnings Recap 3/25 - 5/5
How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.
It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. I've gotten pretty behind in my recaps, so here's my recap for the past month or so, 3/25/12 - 5/5/12.
Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$0.50...... FGI Research survey
$5.00...... Amazon gift card ($5 for a $10 gc - AmazonLocal deal)
$10.00.... Amazon gift card earned with Swagbucks search engine
$12.00.... American Consumer Opinions surveys
$25.00.... Target gift cards for in-store promotions
$30.00.... Amazon gift card from Connected Advisors Survey Community
$26.35.... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$0.05...... PayPal Debit Card cash back
$27.83.... Mr. Rebates (cash back for shopping)
$30.00.... Amazon.com gift card from ClearVoice Surveys
Total: $166.73
Coupon Savings
$55.46..... Target (coupons + discounts for using Target card & reusable bags)
$30.00..... Fashion Bug (coupon + $10 cash back rebate redeemed)
$5.00....... CVS
$22.55..... Acme (grocery coupons)
$2.00....... Walmart
$56.27..... Kohl's (20% off coupon code + Kohl's cash redeemed )
$27.55..... The Children's Place (25% off coupon code)
$10.00..... Pat's Pizzeria (cash back redeemed)
$6.92....... Drugstore.com (cash back redeemed + $5 off coupon)
It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. I've gotten pretty behind in my recaps, so here's my recap for the past month or so, 3/25/12 - 5/5/12.
Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$0.50...... FGI Research survey
$5.00...... Amazon gift card ($5 for a $10 gc - AmazonLocal deal)
$10.00.... Amazon gift card earned with Swagbucks search engine
$12.00.... American Consumer Opinions surveys
$25.00.... Target gift cards for in-store promotions
$30.00.... Amazon gift card from Connected Advisors Survey Community
$26.35.... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$0.05...... PayPal Debit Card cash back
$27.83.... Mr. Rebates (cash back for shopping)
$30.00.... Amazon.com gift card from ClearVoice Surveys
Total: $166.73
Coupon Savings
$55.46..... Target (coupons + discounts for using Target card & reusable bags)
$30.00..... Fashion Bug (coupon + $10 cash back rebate redeemed)
$5.00....... CVS
$22.55..... Acme (grocery coupons)
$2.00....... Walmart
$56.27..... Kohl's (20% off coupon code + Kohl's cash redeemed )
$27.55..... The Children's Place (25% off coupon code)
$10.00..... Pat's Pizzeria (cash back redeemed)
$6.92....... Drugstore.com (cash back redeemed + $5 off coupon)
Total: $215.75
Freebies Received
Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal sample box (Still available!)
Shampoo & Conditioner samples
Martha Stewart Living magazines (free year subscription!)
Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $701.12
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $682.50
Find my previous weekly recaps here.
Freebies Received
Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal sample box (Still available!)
Shampoo & Conditioner samples
Martha Stewart Living magazines (free year subscription!)
Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $701.12
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $682.50
Find my previous weekly recaps here.
3.27.2012
Savings & Earnings Recap 3/18 - 3/24
How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.
It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 3/18/12 - 3/24/12.
Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$26.55..... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$25.00..... Amazon gift card earned from SuperPoints (LOVE this site!)
$5.00....... Amazon gift card earned through Swagbucks search engine
Total: $56.55
Coupon Savings
$6.99....... Friendly's (B1G1 free entree coupon!)
$9.89....... Snapfish (100 prints for $5, shipped)
$24.40..... Acme (grocery coupons)
It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 3/18/12 - 3/24/12.
Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$26.55..... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$25.00..... Amazon gift card earned from SuperPoints (LOVE this site!)
$5.00....... Amazon gift card earned through Swagbucks search engine
Total: $56.55
Coupon Savings
$6.99....... Friendly's (B1G1 free entree coupon!)
$9.89....... Snapfish (100 prints for $5, shipped)
$24.40..... Acme (grocery coupons)
Total: $41.28
Freebies Received
Address labels
Disney stickers
Tide Pods sample
Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $534.39
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $466.75
Find my previous weekly recaps here.
Freebies Received
Address labels
Disney stickers
Tide Pods sample
Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $534.39
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $466.75
Find my previous weekly recaps here.
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