I ended the month with $30, so I essentially saved more than a dollar a day. I haven't decided whether I'm goin to try and save $5 bills instead for March so I guess I need to make up my mind soon. I also ordered a $25 AGC via SB today

I got my tax return yesterday, I decided to add $30 to it to bring the total to an even $1500. I will send $500 as an extra mortgage payment, $500 to my Bahama 2013 fund and $500 for me. I'm thinking about getting an Ipad but haven't decided on that either and I will wait until next week to check out the Ipad 3. Do any of you have an Ipad? If so what are your thoughts?

Finally I decided to juice today instead of a smoothie. I made my very own veggie concotion: cucumber,carrot,tomato,and brocoli It wasn't too bad.

The last time I checked the IRS website, it stated I would get my federal return in March. Well I checked my USAA account today and there it was! I got back $1463 and will be adding to the Biggest Loser Debt Challenge I posted about earlier. I need to decide how I'm going to allocate it as well. I have really been wanting an Ipad

This challenge was started by a member of the Dave Ramsey forums and I thought I would tell everyone about it and see if anyone wanted to join in. The way the 8-week challenge is designed is simple.

1) If you sign up you need to commit to pay off (or save if you are debt free)the following amounts.

$250 Gerbal
$500 Hamster
$1000 Bulldog
$2500 Piggy
$5000 Hippo
$7500 Rhino
$10000 Elephant
$15000+ Whale

I'm going for the Hippo($5,000). The amounts include any minimums that you're already paying. I'm debt free so I will be using my funds to pay extra on mortgage, adding to vacation fund, and saving to buy a new computer or IPAD.

2) Make a plan on how you will do it and share.


3) Post weekly updates/progress report on the weekend outlining your success.



Another part of the challenge is to make a vision board and share with everyone but I will make this optional. If you do decide to make one, please have it posted by Mar 11th.

I will keep a running tally of everyone that decides to join, any takers!!!

Last week I was out of town visiting a sick family member and I'm happy to be back home. Traveling definitely throws things off from eating right to working out but today is a new day.

While gone, I did continue my green smoothies but they were the store bought kind. Today I made a fresh one and I can definitely tell the difference. I also worked out today. It was good getting a good sweat in.

On a financial note, I have 27 one dollar bills saved. Staring 1 March I think I switch things up and save all 5 dollar bills instead. Today has also be a good day for Swagbucks, between the extra codes and normal searches, I earned 94SB. That doesn't include SBTV!

Well I missed my smoothies for Saturday and Sunday became I'm still out of town. Instead of buying a blender, I bought the big jug of Odawalla Green machine. I've had 8 ounces both yesterday and today. I can definitely tell the difference between the store brand(much sweeter) and when I make them fresh. But I guess it's better than nothing. I will back home on Saturday, so I will be getting back on track Sunday.

I'm still thinking up a challenge for March, any suggestions are welcomed.

I currently have 24 dollar bills saved up for the month thus far. I also received a $10 check from ebates so I will be adding that as well.

I used up the last bit of fresh greens that I had today since I will be heading out of town in the morning but before I go I still plan on having a smoothie for breakfast. I will use the frozen green peas I have. Today I had:

Pomegrante juice
kale
celery
pineapple
blackberries
frozen banana

Sweet and delicious!

I finally got to try a juice that I found on Jack Lalanne's website and it was extremely refreshing. Tomorrow I will finish up the last little bit of kale I have since I will be out of town all next week.

Basil
2 apples
1/2 lime

I can't believe we're halfway through the month. I already told creditcardfree that we have to come up with another healthy challenge for March. Any good ideas out there? Well I had my smoothie as a mid-morning snack.

1 cup water
kale
frozen strawberries
half banana
tangerine
pineapple

I got a call today from USAA fraud dept stating there had been a hold placed on my card due to strange activity. It looks like someone got a hold of my debit card number online and was trying to buy bus tickets. All of this supposedly happened around the middle of last month so of course I asked why was I just being notified a month later but they didn't have a answer for that. I guess I would have known if I used my debit card but that account is mainly used for saving my snowflakes every month. Oh well, at least the little funds I have are safe. They will be sending me another card within the next few days.

On another note, a poster on the Dave Ramsey forum stated that one of the Amazon giftcards she ordered was somehow stolen from her account. She stated she never received an email stating it had posted but when she checked and tried to add it to her Amazon account, it stated it had already been used and she knows she hadn't added it. Reading her post made me get off my butt and apply the cards I had just sitting there to my account. I never heard of this happening before but I guess it does. You might want to apply your cards to your account if u haven't already!

Boy was mine sweet today, I think it was the tangerine I added. Whatever it was, sure made it good.

1 cup water
kale
frozen blackberries
frozen banana
1 tangerine
1 TBSP flaxseed

@Creditcardfree: any tips about how I can survive next week when I'm out of town? If they don't have a blender I'm thinking about buying a cheap one or buying big bottle of the healthy green smoothies sold in the store.

I had a smoothie this morning after working out. I don't know why it's so hard to go workout but I'm always happy that I did when I'm done. What's up with that?

Like my accountability partner, I also tried a new ingredient today. It's also Meatless Monday for me, so today should be pretty good.

1 cup water
Kale
Frozen strawberries
Frozen banana
Pineapple

Today's smoothie was light and simple. This week I'm focusing on using up whatever veggies/fruits I have in the house becuase I'm heading out of town on Saturday. I'm amazed at how this challenge has changed me thus far becuase I'm thinking ahead as to how I'm going to continue while I'm away. If they don't have a blender when I get there, they will once I leave

Romaine lettuce
Water
frozen strawberries
frozen mango

I went to Zumba again today and I must say it kicked my butt; my legs are sore already. Last week I went To Zumba Advance class but it seems like I feel it more today from the Zumba basic class.

Today I decided to juice instead and if you read Creditcardfree's post it's all about accountability. Today I got somewhat of a late start so I didn't have a smoothie for breakfast and by the time I got back from Zumba I'm tired. But after I read her post I knew I had to stay focused and I'm so glad I did. Today's juice was very refreshing!

Celery
1/2 cucumber
1/2 lemon
kale
2 apples

Another first today, I had pomagrante juice with my smoothie and it was good.

Pomagrante juice
kale
blueberries
yogurt
oatmeal
flax seeds

I can definitely see making green smoothies/juice a habit becuase it's such a small step that does so much good for your body!

I just got the last one I was missing and it was worth 15SBs. To make it extra funny, I did a search on "swagbucks" and that's how I won!! They've already added the extra 14SBs for collecting all 5. How many have u collected? Keep swagging!!

I can definitely tell the difference between spinach and kale. Either kale is strong or I didn't include enough fruits but it's still drinkable. I'm having it as mid-morning snack.

1 cup water
kale
blueberries
frozen banana
orange
1 TBSP flax seeds

I decided to juice today and having it as a mid-morning snack. It's pretty similar to yesterday but I definitely see why this recipe is for juice and not smoothie. Today's experiment is much better. I'm stopping by the store today to pick up some kale.

Romaine lettuce
lemon
celery
cucumber
green grapes
an apple

Today I had my smoothie for lunch versus breakfast. I also learned things like apples/celery/lemons need to be cut into smaller pieces for my Vitamix but then again it doesn't help that the recipe I used was for a juver versus a blender..oops! It still turned it fine. I will make the juice tomorrow; it's the juice from the documentary Sick Fat and Nearly Dead.

Mean Green Juice
4 stalks of celery
1 cucumber
1 ginger root - (thumb size)
1/2 lemon
2 green apples
6 kale leaves ( I used the last bit of spinach I had)

Starting out the month strong becuase I currently have $12. This is mainly due to beginning of the month grocery shopping. I also received a $25 AGC via Swagbucks today with 2 $5 cards still pending. Speaking of swagbucks, my last search hit for 26SB bringing my daily total for searches today to 44SB!

Anyone else out there saving $1 bills? If so, how r u doing?

Happy Monday! I've worked out, took my vitamin and had my smoothie. Today I tried a recipe that Chuck(fellow SA blogger)recommended and it was pretty tasty.

The Purple Monster

1 cup cranberry juice
1/2 c of oatmeal
2 TBSP of plain yogurt
1 TBSP of flax seeds
handful of spinach
1 c of blueberries
few cubes of ice

I decided to juice today instead of a smoothie and it was all veggies. It was pretty good.

spinach
cilantro
tomato
carrots
green pepper
celery

Using up the little bit of spinach I have then I will give kale a try for the first time!

There's a swagcode available on the blog until 2:00PST. It's worth 7 SB. I heard today there maybe alot of codes in honor of the Super Bowl. Happy Swagging!

Here I am again and another succesful day. I actually went to Zumba this morning and it was pretty fun. Today I made:

1/2 cup of water
handful of spinach
cup of blueberries
frozen banana
1 TBSP of flax seeds

Well today I had my smoothie(tasted more like a treat), walked the dog and took my vitamin.

P. Chocolate Smoothie

1 c almond milk
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 c frozen green peas
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

I decided to have it as a mid morning snack instead of breakfast. You can't taste the peas, mainly the cocoa. It's only 108 calories

At the beginning of last month, I signed up for the Blockbuster special offer. I was suppose to get 1000SB but never did. I waited a couple of weeks and finally contacted customer service of Peanut Labs(that's who was sponsoring the deal). I had to contact them first before attempting with Swagbucks customer service. Needless to say I didn't hear anything back from them by the end of the month so I contacted Swagbucks.

Within a day or two of my email complaint my account was finally credited my 1000SB!! Thank you very much, I will go and order my AGCs with that

I will also be keeping my eye on the hourly winner on their homepage, they're giving away 4000SB for this month. That would be sweet to snag!

Another refreshing drink to start the day off.

1 c water
2 c romaine lettuce
1 TBS flax seed
1 banana
1 c blueberries

The berries made it purple in color instead of green; this is a little trick I read about to trick the kids into drinking smoothies with veggies. You should join creditcardfree and I on our monthly green smoothie challenge!

Well I'm at it again and I already have $3. As I posted before, I saved $43 last month. Anyone else want to join in? Every little bit helps and small amounts add up!

Day 1 Completed and I took my vitamin as well

1 small frozen ripe banana, peeled
2 cups baby spinach
1 tbsp PB2
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk'
½ cup yogurt

Creditcardfree, where u at?