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Archive for February, 2014

February Flakes and More Rewards

February 28th, 2014 at 09:42 pm

My monthly snowflake total is $805! The majority of that came from CC rewards but that's the plan right. Speaking of CC rewards, I received the 2 $50 Kohl's gift cards that I ordered from my Discover account. My statement from my Southwest card closed and I've been awarded by 50,000 bonus points which I have to redeem via gift cards. That will go towards my March total because I will figure out what to order this weekend so I can eventually close this account and hopefully get the annual fee reimbursed. My 2014 snowflake totals thus far is $1902. Like CCF my initial goal was $4000 but that will get reached as soon as my tax refund hits. I will sit down this weekend and come up with a new snowflake target Smile

Feb snowflakes: $805

Swagbucks $10
$1 bills: $20
Cell phone reduction: $23
Under budget: $51
Ebates: $101
Discover rewards: $150
Navy Federal rewards: $450

3-way Split

February 23rd, 2014 at 07:27 pm

I previously posted about the options to use the rewards I recently earned from my Discover card. Well here's how it ended it. I actually had $157.69 in rewards:

2 $50 Kohl's gif cards: $90(u get a $50 card for $45...I'm counting the $10 bonus as snowflakes Smile

$50 statement credit..u can only redeem in $50 increments

Remaining $17.69 will be spent at Amazon...yes there's an option that allows you to use your rewards toward Amazon purchases.

I actually like all the redemption options that Discover allows Smile

Tax Class Pays Off Big Time!!

February 22nd, 2014 at 06:52 pm

Happy Saturday everyone! Well I previously posted how I like my part-time job of doing taxes but don't necessarily care for the franchise owners. Well instead of writing a post complaining, I'm here to praise what I have learned to far. Back in the fall I decided to take a local tax class which was free except the books which cost $37. I figured even if I didn't end up getting the part-time job, at least I would learn more about taxes.

Well I did get the job and let me tell you this been a humbling experience. Going into this I have been doing my own taxes for years because I'm pretty good with numbers. Well while at work this week, I was working on my own taxes(free perk of the job), the computer asked me about depreciating my rental property that I own in S.C. I don't every remember the online software of TurboTax or H&R Block asking me this but then again maybe it did and I just said no to the answers, who knows. To make a long story short, I asked my coworker who has worked there for over 10 years and he said I most definitely should be taking the depreciation expense. After running the numbers this increased my refund by $500!!! If that wasn't sweet enough, he also recommended that I amend my prior year returns(another free perk of the job). After completing an amendment for 2010-2012(u can only go back 3 years) the IRS owes me an additional $2000!!!! Amendments have to be filed via paper so I will not mail them in until I get my refund back for this year.

I share all of this with you to say make sure you truly understand taxes and take all of the deductions that are due to you!!! This year I will surprisingly be getting a refund of $3700 mainly because of my school expenses. Looks like I will definitely have to up my 2014 snowflake goal and all refunds will be thrown at the mortgage!!

More Rewards

February 21st, 2014 at 03:35 pm

My Discover statement closed last night so my $150 reward has hit. I was going to just take the rewards in the form of a statement credit but now I see they have gift card options and the cool thing about it is that if u go the gift card route, some qualify for a bonus. For example, if I buy a $45 Kohl's gift card, I would get $5 extra so that would be a $50 gift card for $45. Can't pass up free money right? I will sit down tonight and decide which cards I will order.

More Reward Snow

February 7th, 2014 at 01:35 am

I received $450 reward for spending 3k on my Navy Federal Credit Union card. I'm still working on Discover and Southwest Premium rewards but I hope to have those done this month before the statement cycle closes. My school tuition is what's really helping me meet these rewards early and what makes it even sweeter is that my tuition is coming from my GI Bill benefit Smile

As usual, cc rewards earned will go toward the mortgage.

February Flakes

February 4th, 2014 at 02:02 am

I also received my Ebates payment today in the amount of $100.72. I believe that's the biggest payment I've ever received from them and that's due to getting 2 referrals during their holiday promotion which netted me a $50 bonus. So if it were any of you reading this blog, thanks so much and I hope you enjoy Ebates as much as I do.

I also have a Pinecone survey that I will do tonight that will bring in more flakes. So once again these flakes are going towards my 52 Week Savings Challenge which now total $623. I only have $127 more to go and Christmas 2014 will be funded, lets see if I can make that happen this month Smile

Healthy January

February 1st, 2014 at 04:29 pm

One of my goals for the year was to eat healthier by eating less meat. So I started tracking every day which meals were meatless. I'm happy to say that out of the 31 days of the month I had at least 1 meatless everyday!! Also 15 days were actually 2 meals that were meatless. Of course my ultimate goal is to increase the number of days of which all 3 meals are meatless(only 1 this month) but I'm taking things slow. Two things that I believe assisted me is that I was participating in the 31 Day Green Smoothie challenge(completed 30 days out of 31) and also the fact that I wrote things down; and I will continue to do so. I also learned as with anything else, success is easier if you're prepared so I have to get better at having meatless meals ready that I can grab and go.

So overall I'm pretty darned pleased with my progress, not perfection Smile