I got a piece of mail from a TV rating company that I would normally just trash. Today I opened it and it was asking me to complete a quick survey. The cool thing is that they included $2 in cash just for considering the survey and it stated they would send $5 after the survey is returned. Quick and easy snowflake and future snowflake!!

I few days ago I bought some ink from 123inkjets(thanks for the info CCF) and I went through Ebates first. Normally after I get an email stating my item has been shipped, I would get notification from Ebates stating I earned cash back. For whatever reason, I never got the email from Ebates. So last night I sent them an email informing them of the problem and once I submitted my order information to them they went ahead and credited my account for the amount of the rebate. I mean all of this took place in less than a couple hours. Now that's what I call customer service, plus I got my $9 rebate because the cash back was 16%. Now I just hope this ink works in my printer so I don't have to return it!

I few days ago I bought some ink from 123inkjets(thanks for the info CCF) and I went through Ebates first. Normally after I get an email stating my item has been shipped, I would get notification from Ebates stating I earned cash back. For whatever reason, I never got the email from Ebates. So last night I sent them an email informing them of the problem and once I submitted my order information to them they went ahead and credited my account for the amount of the rebate. I mean all of this took place in less than a couple hours. Now that's what I call customer service, plus I got my $9 rebate because the cash back was 16%. Now I just hope this ink works in my printer so I don't have to return it!

Last month I joined Navy Federal Credit Union to take advantage of new member incentive and special rate on CD. Now they have a CC offer where if you spend $3000 in the first 3 months, you get 60,000 points which can only be redeemed towards travel only(up to a $600 plane ticket). There's no annual fee the first year and only $49 after that and the points don't expire so I can use them whenever. I know for sure I will be taking 1 if not 2 trips in 2014 but not sure if it comes up to $600 or not but still. I can easily charge the $3K by charging the property taxes on my rental property which isn't due until Jan 2014 but I will pay in 2013 to take the tax write-off. The only thing is that think the assessor charged extra for paying by credit card but I believe I would still come out ahead of the game. I'm going to call tomorrow to see how much extra before I decide.

If I decide to do this and once the points are awarded, I would just decrease my vacation fund by the same amount and send towards the mortgage. What do u think? Sound like a good plan? Man I have to make sure I keep up with all of these reward cards

My birthday is coming up so I decided to treat myself to a new phone. The phone I use to have was the original Iphone so I wanted something faster. I thought I was just going to end up getting a new Iphone until I checked out the Samsung Galaxy III. Walmart was selling the Galaxy for 97 cents, yes you read that right, 97 cents but of course you needed to sign a new 2 year contract. I'm currently with AT&T so I was ok with that. The icing that sealed the deal was that on top of that they were also giving $40 Walmart giftcards! Unfortunately I'm going to be charged an $36 activation fee although I'm a existing member but that shows up on my next bill.

With that in mind I called AT&T to see if they could waive the fee since I've been with them for so long but the guy said they couldn't but what he did do was look at my current plan and suggested that I drop down since I don't use that much data. No need to be paying for it if I don't use it so that's what I did. That will save me $20 a month from here on out, which really makes the fee only $16.

I'm thinking about just counting the full $40 as snowflakes and paying the activation fee out of my "blow" money. What do you think?? Overall I'm winning in this situation so I'm happy with that!!!

As scfr posted about in August, SmartyPig is an actual bank that's currently paying 1% and they even pay you extra when you redeem some of your funds on to a gift card. I've had an account with them for a few months now and I don't know why I haven't thought of this before. Every month I get paid my monthly GI bill benefit for taking classes and I normally just let it sit in my USAA account until I need to pay tuition. I get paid monthly but because I'm a veteran the school allows me to participate in payment deferral so payment isn't due until 65 days after the course starts. I just started another class 3 October so tuition won't get charged until 8 Dec. I can at least earn almost 2months of interest on $3400. It's not much but its more than what I'm getting now. As many of us has said before, small amounts add up over time and I will take it!

Now I need to think about which giftcards I might need and take advantage of the extra cash back they give.

I just got approved for the Citi Thank You card. After I spend $1500 in 3 months, I will get $200 in gift cards. I looked on their site and there are quite a few stores I can go with including Walmart. Spending $1500 is not going to be a problem either because I will just charge my tuition and take care of that in one month! There's no annual fee with this card either so that makes it even better. Here's to more snowflakes coming my way!

Snowflakes that is I mailed the item that I sold on Ebay yesterday so I'm going to count that towards this month's snowflake total. After all fees I calculated clearing $108. I also got paid $3 for a Pinecone survey.

Finally I just got a $5 Target GC for purchasing a product that I ALWAYS use. I took advantage of this same offer a couple months ago I think so I was happy to see it back so soon. I also had $3 in coupons to off set the total. So as of today my October snowflakes are $116!! Not too shabby for being the second of the month

I'm part of the Dave Ramsey forum and his motto is "Cash is King". Well in September a few of us challenged ourselves to use cash only except on those areas we previously identified. For me, I only used my debit card for gas and automatic bill payments last month. I'm happy to report that I only used my debit card once last month when I wasn't suppose to. I count that as a success because by doing that I still had $30 in my grocery virtual envelope(YNAB).

We are doing the challenge again this month and day one has been a success!

The payment for the $125 Ebay sale I made yesterday cleared PayPal today! I will mail it off tomorrow and include the funds in my October snowflake total. I'm also waiting payment for a Pinecone survey I took over the weekend. What a way to start the month!!

I finally got off my butt and listed on Ebay a Nintendo 3DS system that my daughter got over 2 years ago but only played it a few times so it's basically still new. I listed it as an auction but also with the Buy Now Option(which I never used before) for $125. I listed it at 1:00 and it sold at 3:00!

Looks like the buyer sent payment already too but I got an email from PayPal saying they're reviewing the transaction(I've never had that happen) Hopefully they clear it quick so I can get it in the mail.

Boom, $125 in 2 hours, I'm really going to go crazy listing stuff now!!

If you have old CDs/Movies/Games just sitting around, you may want to check out www.secondspin.com. Right now they are giving an additional 20% bonus for the stuff you sell. Use promo code SELLMORE13 at checkout. I've used them previously in the past and never had a problem but make sure you read the rules about shipping reimbursement to avoid confusion.

The bonus is only good thru 30 Sep so I better get busy checking

I logged into my Navy Federal Credit Union Account and saw that my military retirement pay is already sitting there. I wasn't really worried because I always keep a month of expenses sitting in my checking so that I'm a month ahead but it was still great to see this early. I just hope all of our active duty personnel get paid without delay!!

I'm currently working on my doctorate degree by using the Montgomery GI Bill from my time in the military. Well I just found out that my monthly entitlement is increasing by $84 starting 1 Oct. Since my school tuition is not increasing, I'm going to count that $84 as snowflakes. Now I will just pray that the government doesn't shut down and screw everything up!

I think I got this from someone here last year but wanted to repost since I just used it again with success! Anyone have those gift cards that you use up until there is a couple of bucks here or there and you just can't figure out what to do with them? This goes for those generic Visa/Mastercard/AMEX/Discover gift cards of course (not merchant cards.)
If you do any shopping online it might be worth it to consider cashing them at Amazon. Amazon will issue a gift card directly to your email and you can redeem the gift cards on your account and accumulate a balance that you can spend at checkout. As long as you have a minimum of 15 cents you should be able to redeem the card there. I just did it on a Vanilla Giftcard that only had a balance of $2.54 and I got my Amazon giftcard email immediately. It's only $2.54 but I'll take it.

Instructions: When you get to the home page on Amazon click on "Gift Cards" at the very top. Then click on "Email" under the ways to send option on the left of the screen. Then chose the card you want under email delivery(I just chose the first one). Under "enter your gift card details" put in your amount of the gift card and then fill it out so that you are the recipient (putting your email address in the Recipient e-mail field.) Then click "Add to order" and then proceed to checkout. While you're checking out it asks you for the card number you want to use. Put in the gift card number and the expiration of the gift card if it has one. Under name put your name (that worked for me.) Then finish checkout. You should get two emails. One showing the purchase and then a follow up one with the gift card number and the amount.

I hope this helps! I'm adding that $2.54 to my monthly snowflakes

Last month I opened up an account with Navy Federal Credit Union to take advantage of being able to purchase a 1 year CD that's earning 3%. After opening the account, I learned that they had a special going on for new members that opened an account in the month of August would also get $100. Well my $100 hit my account today! Too bad I already paid my extra towards mortgage principle for September yesterday or I could have sent in a little bit more. My bank only allows me 1 extra online payment a month but I can go inside the branch.

With what I sent yesterday, I now own over 60% of my house!!

Has anyone every used the prepaid cell phone service? If so did u experience any problems. I'm looking at ways to cut my cell phone bill. Tonight on HSN I noticed that that had a special for an LG smartphone with TracFone. It comes with 1400 minutes that's good for a year, triple the minutes for lifetime after that, phone cover and car charger all for $79 and free shipping. The other good thing is that I get to keep my current #. I'm going to look back through my old bills and average up my minutes. Going this route could possibly save me over $100 a month the first year if can stretch 1400 minutes.

On 19 Aug, I ordered 2 $50 Wal-Mart gift cards from my Southwest reward card bonus. I finally received them today just in time to use toward my September grocery budget. I have reduced my grocery budget by $100 and will send it to the mortgage instead. I will count include that $100 in my September snowflake total as soon as I put it on the mortgage!

I got an offer in the mail for the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card with 150 reward dollar offer. I only have to spend $500 within the next 3 months to get the reward so that will not be a problem. I will get the rewards issued as a statement credit since they charge you a fee to order the gift cards.

I'm still waiting on a few on my Rapid Rewards gift cards that I ordered on 19 Aug. I checked the system yesterday and it stated they were mailed on the 27th so hopefully soon. Since it takes so long to receive, I'm going to go ahead and order the remainder $400 in Walmart gift cards. I will use them mainly toward groceries and then adjust my grocery budget accordingly and send that to the mortgage. Myself and CCF are doing pretty much the same thing

Last month I signed up for the BoA card where I get $200 and the Southwest card where I get $500 in rewards. Well today they both are available!! With the BoA card, if I redeem straight into my checking account with them I get an extra 10% so right now my reward balance is $229. I ran into a slight problem with the Southwest card because over the weekend it stated my reward points had been awarded. However, when I was playing around with it and trying to redeem for a Walmart gift card it wouldn't let me. This morning I had to call and explain the problem and they stated for whatever reason, my credit card had not been linked to the rapid rewards and that's why I was getting that error. They stated it should be corrected by the end of the day and I just checked again and it has indeed been fixed.

Another thing I noticed with redeeming for the gift card is that the highest denomination is $50 so I would have to order 10 in order to redeem all of my points. As a matter of fact I have 52,000 because of the other charges. I think for now I will just redeem one at a time and use it for groceries but I haven't made up my mind just yet. What do you guys think? The $229 is going towards the mortgage for sure and when I purchase a gift card for groceries, I will reduce the budget by that amount and put towards the mortgage as well.

$700 in snowflakes in one day is sweet!

A couple days ago I posted about opening up an account with Navy Federal Credit Union to take advantage of earning 3% on a 1 year CD. Well, I was playing around on the site today and notice another special offer. Basically if you join in August, open a checking in August and set up direct deposit, they will deposit $100 into your account after direct deposit goes into effect. I had to call to make sure I was eligible because in the fine print it stated that the offer must be mentioned when the account was opened. The person stated I'm indeed eligible for the $100 after my direct deposit hits which should be 1 Sep.

Once again in order to join NFCU, you must be affiliated with the military some type of way. If you decide to join I would love the referral because not only would I get $50 so will you!

I've had savings account with ING for a while now but I decided to go back to banking with SmartyPig.com I know it's a funny name but they are paying 1% versus .75 at ING. I like them because it allows you to set-up goals and save towards them. Once you have reached your goal, you just transfer funds to an existing linked account or you can even put it on a gift card where you receive an additional % as a bonus. The accounts that I currently have at ING is for new car fund, travel and my emergency fund which I will now move over. I might add a goal for Christmas and other yearly expenses like property taxes, etc..

Earning .25% more may not seem like much but I'll take it!

While searching for ways to earn higher interest on my money, I discovered that Navy Federal Credit Union is offering a 1 year Easy Start Certificate which earns 3%. As we all know, 3% is hard to find these days! The max you can contribute is $3,000 and you must have savings and checking with them. In order to be a member of NFCU, you must be affiliated with the military someway, active duty, reserve, guard, civilian employee, retiree or a family member of someone who is. You only need $5 to open the savings and you need direct deposit of at least $300 going to checking to qualify as well. I already opened up both accounts online and have set-up to have my direct deposit t be changed over which should take effect 1 Sep. I will also transfer the $3K from my savings to fund the certificate all at once. You do have the option of funding monthly with whatever amount you can afford.

I think I will keep my account with USAA and just transfer funds monthly to cover my automated payments. This way I don’t have to change anything else. If this is something that you are possibly interested in please use me as a referral because not only will I get $50, you get $50 as well as long as all requirements are met. If you decide to open an account let me know and I can provide you my info. Please read all information carefully at

I took advantage of the Southwest card that CCF had previously posted about and received it today. I already charged my tuition payment and that only leaves $100 to charge to meet the $2000 requirement. After that I will sit back and wait on the reward points to hit my account and will probably use it for half travel and half Walmart gift card but we will see. I also cashed in $12 from Pinecone surveys.

I just wanted to drop in and give an update since I've been MIA since May. I have been reading posts but just not updating for whatever reason.School is still keeping me busy but it's going great so far. I'm now in my second course after receiving an A in my first so I'm happy about that.

Financially everything is going smoothly but I haven't been as intense with my snowflaking until lately. Following the steps of Creditcardfree, I've been taking advantage of some credit card offers. I just received my BOA Visa which gives $200 bonus after spending only $500 in 3 months. I activated the card today and immediately paid my homeowners insurance renewal which was $700 so now I will just sit back and wait on the bonus to hit. The one thing that I also like about this card is that if I cash in my rewards into my BOA checking account, then I get an additional 10% bonus, so that bonus will be at least $220 if not more since I will probably charge more because of that feature.

I also applied for the Southwest card and as soon as I get that, I will charge my tuition to it which will take care of that requirement. One question I do have for those that has been doing this longer than me, do you close the accounts after the bonus pays so that you don't have to pay the annual fee if there is one?

I just wanted to pop in real quick to provide an update. I haven't posted much because school is taking up my free time but I have been reading some of the posts. I'm not sure if I posted this or not but my rental property finally got new tenants the middle of April after being vacant since March. That allowed me to continue to throw rental income at my primary mortgage and I'm happy to report I now own over 50% of my house!!

I made it!! This morning I was up at 5:08 so there was only 1 day during the challenge that I didn't met my goal of 5:30. Although today is the last day, I plan on continuing to get up early. Since I've started school since the challenge began, this time in the morning allows me at least that time to get a few things done if all else gets chaotic. Another habit that I've picked up from the challenge is that I now make up my bed as soon as I wake up. I started doing this to stop me from getting back in the bed

I think the key to success for this challenge was: 1 going to bed early 2. making the decision to get up in the morning even though there were times I didn't feel like it, 3. being realistic and giving myself wiggle room on the weekend

I hope that this a new habit for many of you although you may not have done as well as you think you should have. None of us are perfect, but at least we are trying!!!

I'm happy to report that I have renters again for my property in South Carolina. It has been vacant since March so I'm happy it didn't take too long. This property is paid for so I use that money to throw at my mortgage. I hope to have my mortgage paid off by 2015 but I should own 50% of my home next month(more to come later about that milestone)!

Since my PhD studies started today I'm going to change up how I do the Early to Rise Challenge. Instead of reading the e-book and watching my Joyce Meyer devotional, I'm going to work on my Financial Counseling Certification first thing. That way I will at least get to work on it for at least 1 hour during the day.

So that means I'm going to start reading and listening to the devotional at night before I go to bed. At least that should stop me from watching TV before going to bed

Yesterday was my disconnect day so I didn't visit the forums at all. Unfortunately yesterday was also the first day of the Early to Rise challenge that I didn't get up early The alarm went off but I just didn't feel like getting up so I didn't. Oh well, today is a new day and I got up at 5:04!

Today is also the official start day of my PhD studies. I'm nervous and excited at the same time but I will be ok once I get into the swing of things.

Nothing much to report financially except I completed a Pinecone survey on Tuesday and will get $3 in snowflakes for it. Like I've said many times, little amounts add up over time.