Christmas came and went and it was a blast! Having a 4 year old and an one and a half year old made this time of year AWESOME! I love my kids and I love their excitement for life. I did a lot of posts on how my goal for Christmas was $600 and I made that goal happen here. It only took about 6 months to save that much for Christmas. I also have a huge family to shop for, so knowing how to shop clearance and online deals helps. It looked like I spent a lot on some one, when in reality I spent $10 or less. Shhh, don't tell them. :) I take part in about 5-6 survey sites. Some I use for surveys and others I use for just collecting points. Some one asked me to break those down, so here it goes...
Swagbucks.com: by far my favorite site. They have surveys, polls, videos to watch, shop and earn, web searching and my favorite is using coupons from their site. All of these allow me to earn points. You can join this site by clicking on my points bar on the blog.
MySurvey.com: Strictly surveys. I love them because they some times send free products to test out. I have gotten perfume, toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, food, and other great stuff. You earn a good amount of points too.
Mypoints. com: they are similar to swagbucks but I don't take surveys on this site. They have the shop and earn (similar to ebates.com). But I earn most of my points by email. Now you have to be ok with junk mail to do this site. You earn points just by going to the webiste that is in the email. Most emails give you 5 points just for clicking on the link to go to the website. There is nothing else to it. I get about 50-60 points a week doing this.
Epoll: very slow moving site. But when you do get a survey emailed to you its worth a lot of points.
I have about 2 more survey sites that I am a part of but my Windows crashed and my sites are on that and I can't remember the names of them right now. Sorry.
I also earn extra cash by saving all my gift cards I earn by buying things in bulk that I would normally buy eventually. I use coupons as well and that brings down my price.
I recycle cans too. I also save all my spare change. I never pay with change. Anything I sell on craigslist or a yard sale gets put towards the fund. And the last thing I do and you don't need kids for this, is I am signed up with Pampers Gifts to Grow and Huggies rewards. You get point codes that add up to get great stuff. I got a gift card off one and a toy for my youngest on the other. You just search for codes or follow them on facebook and they post codes all the time.
Hope this helps some of you out there wondering how to start fund and save for it. Let me know if you have more questions. I will be updating our vacation fund soon. Stay tuned. I hope to have Windows up and running again soon so I can post some pictures too!.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Saturday, November 17, 2012
My thoughts about Black Thursday/Friday...
Joel said I had to start this by saying Target does not endorse or support the thoughts and opinions of this post.
Ok.
As a wife of a Target employee I am not opposed to them being open on Thanksgiving day. Its retail. In the end they are about the $$$. I don't complain that grocery stores, movie theaters, gas stations or restuarants are open on this day. And if we are honest, a lot of people don't complain about those either. We like to fill up our tank on Thanksgiving morning on our way to our destination instead of having to think about it the night before. We like be able to eat out when there is nothing else to do. Or go to the movies. We like that grocery stores are open when we realize we forgot to get one main ingredient for our big meal.
So why should it be different for Target? My only concern is that they are open over night. Why not just open during the day? I know its because customers love the rush and feel of getting a good deal in the middle of the night. But I worry about employees that are not use to working overnight, driving home the next morning feeling tired and worn out. That just doesn't seem safe. I also know that ALL Targets ask for volunteers to work those shifts first. And they always have more than they need. Why? Because they offer incentive. They make it worth it. So if you don't want to work that shift, then don't volunteer. Let some one else who doesn't mind take that shift. I am tired of complaints about it because of a few people who think its not right. Get over it. Its retail. Its money for the company. I am thankful that Target has taken into count that some people were working both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Now they are offering that each employee get one of those days off.
They care about family. I know this. Joel had to work those awful shifts in the past. But our family time together was never compromised on any holiday. Target has been good to us and we know that Joel's hard work and his hours could be a lot worse some where else.
So when I see articles like this I get frustrated because people shouldn't be surprised that they are trying to keep up with the competition. GO TARGET!!!!
Ok.
As a wife of a Target employee I am not opposed to them being open on Thanksgiving day. Its retail. In the end they are about the $$$. I don't complain that grocery stores, movie theaters, gas stations or restuarants are open on this day. And if we are honest, a lot of people don't complain about those either. We like to fill up our tank on Thanksgiving morning on our way to our destination instead of having to think about it the night before. We like be able to eat out when there is nothing else to do. Or go to the movies. We like that grocery stores are open when we realize we forgot to get one main ingredient for our big meal.
So why should it be different for Target? My only concern is that they are open over night. Why not just open during the day? I know its because customers love the rush and feel of getting a good deal in the middle of the night. But I worry about employees that are not use to working overnight, driving home the next morning feeling tired and worn out. That just doesn't seem safe. I also know that ALL Targets ask for volunteers to work those shifts first. And they always have more than they need. Why? Because they offer incentive. They make it worth it. So if you don't want to work that shift, then don't volunteer. Let some one else who doesn't mind take that shift. I am tired of complaints about it because of a few people who think its not right. Get over it. Its retail. Its money for the company. I am thankful that Target has taken into count that some people were working both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Now they are offering that each employee get one of those days off.
They care about family. I know this. Joel had to work those awful shifts in the past. But our family time together was never compromised on any holiday. Target has been good to us and we know that Joel's hard work and his hours could be a lot worse some where else.
So when I see articles like this I get frustrated because people shouldn't be surprised that they are trying to keep up with the competition. GO TARGET!!!!
Monday, November 12, 2012
We Have a Vacation Destination
We have been going back and forth. Talking about the perks of each place. Asking Nathan what he wants to do. Looking at dates when we would want to go. Looking at prices and the cost of everything else besides tickets. And I think we have finally decided on where we are going and when.
Drum roll please...
Sept. 2013 (Wow I feel so old just typing that) we are headed to Disneyland for a 2-3 day adventure there!!!!!!!!!
We were talking about Legoland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, etc. And we decided we really, really, REALLY want to see Cars Land. Now when I say we are going more than one day, what I mean is that as a family we will go one day. Then Nathan and I will go by ourselves another day. Joel can only handle so much vacation stuff. I on the other hand would go to Disneyland every day if I could!!! I miss living 10 minutes away and having an annual pass. My college roommates and I use to take a "study break" and go for just a couple of rides! FANTASTIC! I miss that. :) We may even stay a night or two in one of the hotels if we can swing it. That's my actual dream vacation. To stay right at the park, in one of their hotel suites, and go to the park every day and being able to head back to the hotel to rest and maybe (if we are lucky) watch the fireworks show from our room! :) But we are very happy to stay with my mom (10 minutes away) and let her cook for us (FREE!) and watch the boys for us (FOR FREE) so we can have some date time too (maybe at Disneyland too). So its no longer the Zehring Vacation Fund. Its Disneyland 2013 Fund!!!!! Stay tuned for a new deposit. Its looking good! :)
Drum roll please...
Sept. 2013 (Wow I feel so old just typing that) we are headed to Disneyland for a 2-3 day adventure there!!!!!!!!!
We were talking about Legoland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, etc. And we decided we really, really, REALLY want to see Cars Land. Now when I say we are going more than one day, what I mean is that as a family we will go one day. Then Nathan and I will go by ourselves another day. Joel can only handle so much vacation stuff. I on the other hand would go to Disneyland every day if I could!!! I miss living 10 minutes away and having an annual pass. My college roommates and I use to take a "study break" and go for just a couple of rides! FANTASTIC! I miss that. :) We may even stay a night or two in one of the hotels if we can swing it. That's my actual dream vacation. To stay right at the park, in one of their hotel suites, and go to the park every day and being able to head back to the hotel to rest and maybe (if we are lucky) watch the fireworks show from our room! :) But we are very happy to stay with my mom (10 minutes away) and let her cook for us (FREE!) and watch the boys for us (FOR FREE) so we can have some date time too (maybe at Disneyland too). So its no longer the Zehring Vacation Fund. Its Disneyland 2013 Fund!!!!! Stay tuned for a new deposit. Its looking good! :)
Friday, October 19, 2012
The Long Awaited Vacation Fund Update
I don't have pictures of everything because its been a long time!!! And most of these contributions are from the online surveys that I take part in.
Aug. 8th was the last time I brought up the Zehring Vacation Fund. And since then I have cashed out quite a bit of surveys. Since Aug. 8 and before Sept. 25th I cashed out $30 in survey points. $20 from one site and $5 from two other sites. As you can see from the picture below I have logged everything.
Then on 9/25 I cashed out another $10 from a survey site.
On 9/27 I received a $5 Lowes gift card from another survey site. I would have done cash but we needed to get a new ceiling fan and a Lowes gift card was less points than the cash gift card so I just took the money from our budget and traded it. We also used out $11.77 in change and took it to a Coinstar machine to get a Lowes gift card. There is no charge for getting a gift card. So again I just traded.
On 10/2 I cashed out $35 from another survey site. Just FYI, I am a part of about 5 or 6 survey sites. And I spend a little time each day, usually after the kids' bed time, and complete some surveys. On this day as well, I cashed out all of my Huggies Rewards points to get a Christmas gift for Zachary. So I figure that was about $10 that I will take out of our Christmas budget and move to our Vacation Fund.
On 10/18 I cashed out $15 from a survey site and then at Fry's Grocery Store I recieved $20 in Catalina coupons for my next trip. So I will take $20 from our grocery budget and trade.
Then today, at Target I received 2 $5 gift cards for buying All detergent and Snuggle. With coupons and my discount there I save almost 50%. And we are now well stocked up on that stuff.
Also a while back Joel and I each received $25 Target Gift Cards for doing an online health assessment for our insurance through Target. We also received a $10 gift card from Kohls and I used it to buy Joel a work shirt. So again we switched it out.
And that is the update on our fund. I told ya it would be worth the wait! Right?!
So let's add it up...
$30 from before 9/25
$10 from 9/25
$5 plus $11.77 change on 9/27
$35 on 10/2
$10 from Christmas fund
$15 and $20 Catalina coupons from 10/18
$10 Target GC from 10/19
$60 from health assessments and Kohls
Total: $ 206.77
Grand Total so far saved: $228.55
NOT TOO SHABBY!!!!!!
Aug. 8th was the last time I brought up the Zehring Vacation Fund. And since then I have cashed out quite a bit of surveys. Since Aug. 8 and before Sept. 25th I cashed out $30 in survey points. $20 from one site and $5 from two other sites. As you can see from the picture below I have logged everything.
Then on 9/25 I cashed out another $10 from a survey site.
On 9/27 I received a $5 Lowes gift card from another survey site. I would have done cash but we needed to get a new ceiling fan and a Lowes gift card was less points than the cash gift card so I just took the money from our budget and traded it. We also used out $11.77 in change and took it to a Coinstar machine to get a Lowes gift card. There is no charge for getting a gift card. So again I just traded.
On 10/2 I cashed out $35 from another survey site. Just FYI, I am a part of about 5 or 6 survey sites. And I spend a little time each day, usually after the kids' bed time, and complete some surveys. On this day as well, I cashed out all of my Huggies Rewards points to get a Christmas gift for Zachary. So I figure that was about $10 that I will take out of our Christmas budget and move to our Vacation Fund.
On 10/18 I cashed out $15 from a survey site and then at Fry's Grocery Store I recieved $20 in Catalina coupons for my next trip. So I will take $20 from our grocery budget and trade.
Then today, at Target I received 2 $5 gift cards for buying All detergent and Snuggle. With coupons and my discount there I save almost 50%. And we are now well stocked up on that stuff.
Also a while back Joel and I each received $25 Target Gift Cards for doing an online health assessment for our insurance through Target. We also received a $10 gift card from Kohls and I used it to buy Joel a work shirt. So again we switched it out.
And that is the update on our fund. I told ya it would be worth the wait! Right?!
So let's add it up...
$30 from before 9/25
$10 from 9/25
$5 plus $11.77 change on 9/27
$35 on 10/2
$10 from Christmas fund
$15 and $20 Catalina coupons from 10/18
$10 Target GC from 10/19
$60 from health assessments and Kohls
Total: $ 206.77
Grand Total so far saved: $228.55
NOT TOO SHABBY!!!!!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Ahhh! I am behind!
I know I'm behind on my posts for our vacation fund but this past month has been crazy. Work picked up so I am subbing more than I was a month ago. And I have taken on more responsibilities with our children's ministry at church. Along with that we had a birthday in the house! Nathan turned 4 this past week and we have been celebrating that. Plus, my car has been in and out of the shop. I will get to my update. There is some good stuff going on. Please have some patience with me. I can't wait to share all the good stuff that is coming. So to tide you over, here is a sweet photo of our family from the day at the farm!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Life Update...
It has been a month since Nathan has started preschool. And he LOVES it. Every time we pick him up he tells us everything they did. We are now starting to see improvement too. We couldn't get Nathan to use scissors for the life of us. His first booklet with scissors from school had every page taped back together because he couldn't figure out how to cut around the outside of the page. This last week, no taped pages! And Ms. Anne usually has something to tell us about Nathan's day. Whether she is blown away that he knows the name of every shape plus how many angles each shape has, or its that he staged a sit in with a pouty face and arms crossed because he wanted to play with toys instead of doing group time.
Nathan is still in swim classes and loving it. He can swim underwater to the edge if we give him a push. He is getting better about floating on his back. This is the biggest challenge because he doesn't like getting water in his ears.
Zachary is a walking machine now. Every Tuesday and Thursday if I am working Joel drops Nathan off at school and head to the park with Zachary. The sheer delight in Z's voice shows every time. He can climb stairs and loves the slide. Joel is constantly keeping the boys entertained and wearing them out at the same time!
Zachary is starting to say some words too. We have heard cracker, car, and more. Fun Fun Fun!!!!
Joel is training for two more weeks then its off to the new store. Can't wait until his first paycheck with the new raise in it! I want to stop subbing but this year its crucial. We are hoping this is my last year!!!!
There is our update.
Nathan is still in swim classes and loving it. He can swim underwater to the edge if we give him a push. He is getting better about floating on his back. This is the biggest challenge because he doesn't like getting water in his ears.
Zachary is a walking machine now. Every Tuesday and Thursday if I am working Joel drops Nathan off at school and head to the park with Zachary. The sheer delight in Z's voice shows every time. He can climb stairs and loves the slide. Joel is constantly keeping the boys entertained and wearing them out at the same time!
Zachary is starting to say some words too. We have heard cracker, car, and more. Fun Fun Fun!!!!
Joel is training for two more weeks then its off to the new store. Can't wait until his first paycheck with the new raise in it! I want to stop subbing but this year its crucial. We are hoping this is my last year!!!!
There is our update.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Zehring Vacation Fund
From my last post I mentioned that we didn't have a set plan. And we still don't. I thought we would go to Disneyland next year because of this awesome Cars Land video I saw. But then found out that my husbands parents might be able to get time shares in San Diego next year and go with us. So Sea World is back on the table. Both are great. But the cost will be different because of where we will stay. If we go to Disneyland we stay with my mom and eat there (FREE!). If we go to Sea World and can't get a time share for all of us we will pay for a hotel plus pay for food for a week. That's about $1000 more than if we went to Disneyland. So we are still trying to decide where and when we will go next year for our vacation.
Ok, now onto my first deposit. Its not much but a start. Target had some amazing deals a couple of weeks ago. I got $15 worth of gift cards for buying things like, mouthwash, cereal, nutrigrain bars, etc. All things we eat and need. And with our spare change I added up $6.78.
Total so far: $21.78 into our fund!!!!
Ok, now onto my first deposit. Its not much but a start. Target had some amazing deals a couple of weeks ago. I got $15 worth of gift cards for buying things like, mouthwash, cereal, nutrigrain bars, etc. All things we eat and need. And with our spare change I added up $6.78.
Total so far: $21.78 into our fund!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)