Be A Wealthy Warrior

Navy Federal is currently offering a 15 month CD @ 2.25%. Minimum to open $50, max deposit of $50k. I just took advantage of it and plan to roll in funds from a CD that matures at the end of the month as well. Prefect timing

Today only you can purchase giftcards online or in-store for 10% off. Max is $300. I used my Discover card to pay and will receive an additional 5% since Target is the bonus category for the quarter and giftcards are not excluded. Don't worry, I do pay may credit card bills in full every month!

Yesterday I returned an item to Kohl's so that's $43.25 added. I also picked up a few groceries and by using by store rewards card, I saved $11.49. Finally today I just swept some low hanging fruit that was remaining in a few YNAB categories. I was able to power up by $9.89. I started this game with $5, 5 days ago and I already have over $100 just by being more intentional. I'm excited to see what September brings!

Money Game
Started: August 27, 2017
Current Level: 63
Amount: $103.31
Amount needed to reach next level: $4.81

Yesterday I posted about a money game that a friend of my created. It's like tracking snowflakes but also more like a game at the same time. Today was a good day. I was able to power up based on 3 transactions for $13:

1. Used Target GC to purchase 9.75 worth of groceries so I reduced grocery envelope by same amount
2. Used Target Red Debit card to purchase $25 Itunes GC for niece's bday. By using Red card I saved 5%, $1.25
3. Used a $2 coupon at Winco

LadieA Money Game
Started: August 27, 2017
Level: 29
Amount: $19.82
Amount needed to reach next level: .76

I'm a part of an online group thats follows Dave Ramsey's principles. Well another member of the group created this "money game" that she's been doing for the past year. The concept is the same as tracking your snowflakes but she's treating it more like a game and you move to different levels as you progress. Over the last 12 months, she's been able to save over 20k in "found money" or what I call snowflakes. If you're interested, her blog can expalin better than I can (https://homemoneygame.wordpress.com/)

Since paying off my mortgage a few years ago, I haven't been as diligent as I used to be but as of today that has changed. I'm starting the money game with $5 as it recommends and I want to see how far I can get over the next year. I already swept an additional $1.82 from YNAB categories that I won't use during the rest of August. So my starting point is below and I will post here often with my updates. I hope of you decide to join in. You will need to read the blog to find out about the levels and she provides a google doc as well.

Money Game
Started: August 27, 2017
Level: 7
Amount: $6.82
Amount needed to reach next level: .22

Hello everyone! I know I haven't posted lately but I wanted to post that Navy Federal currently is offering a 5 month CD at 3%. I jumped on it becuase I have another CD that matures with them on 5 Aug so I will just roll the proceeds over.

@CCF, I know you bank with NFCU as well and immediately thought of you!

I am now Dr. Ann!!! I successfully defended my dissertation, CLASS of 2017!!!!

I currently have a CD with Navy Federal that matures in Aug. I'm going to take advantage of a 17 month CD at 2% they are currently offering. I only have about 3k sitting in my account with them currently so I'll start there since I don't know how long the offer will last. However, I will transfer more funds since I can add up to a max of 50K once CD is purchased. Don't think I will add that much though.

A couple days ago I posted about whether I should apply for a card which was offering 100,000 bonus points. Well I applied the same day and was approved. To my surprise, I received the card yesterday. That's the fastest I've ever gotten a card delivered but then again they sent it via UPS Express. They must want to make sure customers have immediate access with the $450 annual fee. I explained in my previous post how I would negate that large fee down to only $50.

I also called Chase this morning to clarify a few questions about the annual fee. Another unexpected surprise was that an actual person answered the phone. No recordings whatsoever! I was shocked and told the lady as well. I found out that if I decided I no longer wanted the card but wanted to keep the points, I could downgrade to another card that doesn't have a fee. In addition to that, and the annual fee will be prorated and the balance of what I paid will be refunded. I think this is going to be a win/win situation after all.

With that, I just made my first purchase toward the $4k requirement to earn the bonus points

Currently Chase Sapphire Reserve is offering 100k bonus points if you spend 4k in 3 months. I can do that with no problem because school tuition due in February.The points equals $1500 travel value or $1000 in cash The kicker is that there is a $450 annual fee. However before you stop reading in your tracks, here are the main benefits that offset that fee. 1. You get a up to $300 statement credit for any travel purchases (flights, hotel, cruise, rental car, etc...). 2. You get a $100 credit if you apply for the Global Entry program. This program includes TSA Pre-check (which is $85 by itself) and expedited custom procedures as well. So with that in mind, the annual fee is only $50.

I will be completing my doctorate degree this year and plan to complete quite a few celebratory trips. As of now, I'm going to Cancun in July, Africa in September, and Hawaii in December.

With all of this in mind, would you apply for the card??

Most of my life I never really had to worry about my weight but it seems like the older I get the pounds start to creep on. My friend was telling me she tried and likes the Fast Metabolism Diet (FMD). Actually the word diet stand for Did I Eat Today. The premises behind it is to jump start your metabolism by confusing it. Each week there are 3 phases where you different things. I ordered the book a few days ago and the stuff I read so far makes totally perfect sense. It reminded me that I definitely need to start incorporating some weight training into my routine.

Anyway, without going into too much detail. I will take part in a 2-week FMD challenge. You can read more about the program: https://hayliepomroy.com/books/the-fast-metabolism-diet/

Happy New Year everyone! One of my goals is to get back to this site on a more regular basis so here I am. This year I will doing the 52 -week money challenge and it's already off to a great start. Over the weekend, I sold and got paid for a couple items that sold on Ebay. I netted $89.69, so I will use that to fund weeks 37 and 52. As you can see I don't follow the challenge in order because I fund it via snowflakes. At this time the goal for the challenge money will go into my travel budget.

Anyone else doing the challenge this year?

As some of you may know, I'm currently working on my doctoral degree. My hope and prayer is that I and my now dear friend Vee finishes in December. I meet Vee through classes since the beginning in April 2013, and we have been on this journey together ever since. Well we have been discussing how we are going to reward ourselves for coming this far. Even if we don't finish in December, we will be pretty close and seeing how we are both single parents, we decided we both need a well deserved break so we are going to reward ourselves either way. So from 31 Dec - 7 Jan we are going on a 7-day cruise!!!! We leave out of Fort Lauderdale, heading to Grand Turk (Turk and Caicos Islands, San Juan(Puerto Rico), St. Thomas(U.S. Virgin Islands) and Amber Cove (Dominic Republic). The cost of the cruise only portion is $1008 each and that already includes taxes. While I already have the money available in my vacation fund, I will still try and find snowflakes to lessen how much I will have to touch my vacation funds.

So far, I opened a card with Hilton Honors(received yesterday) that's currently offering 75,000 bonus points if you spend $2000 within 3 months. This is no problem becuase I have quite a few annual expenses that's coming due next month, so this will cover I know for sure at least 1 night, maybe both at the Embassy Suites in Miami. I love staying at Embassy Suites because every night from 5-8, they offer a free happy hour!! Also they offer free full breakfast as well.

Also a couple months back I took advantage of the Capital One QuickSilver card that paid $100 bonus after spending $500. Well I just check my account and the bonus has already been applied. Normally some companies wait until that statement closes to apply rewards but not in this case so that's great!!


Projected travel cost:

Cruise: $1008 (already paid $250 for deposit so new balance is $758)
Hotel: done, will pay for using cc points
Airfare: appx $400, looking into current points and more cc promotions

Cruise Snowflakes so far:
$100

**Disclaimer, I am completely debt free including a paid for home. I don't recommend credit cards if yo don't have the capability to pay them in full every month.

Today I got approved for the HH promo of 75,000 bonus points when you spend $2000 in 3 months. That won't be a problem because I have a few annual bills coming due in the next few months. I will use those points to pay for a hotel stay in Miami at the Embassy Suites in December when I'm going on a cruise!!! More on that in my next post

I love staying at Embassy suites because they have free happy hours every evening and included free breakfast!!

I placed a small bet on the football game yesterday and I won $38. So that brings my monthly total to $79.11. My Feb goal is $150

I just received $41.11 in my Paypal account from Ebates. I love getting paid for the normal online shopping I would do!

Jan snowflakes total: $270.63

$15 Trader Joe Giftcard that I received for Christmas that I used yesterday. So I'm reducing my grocery budget by the same amount
$62 CC rewards
$42 Sold some items via Amazon trade-in program so they applied the amount as gift card to my account
$31 Sold an item on Ebay and received payment via PayPal yesterday
$60.63 under-budget for December so I'm rolling that to my snowflake category in YNAB
$10 Target GC
$50 Sold an old tv to a friend, she still owes me $25

Great start to the year, bring on February! My goal is $150

One of my goals for 2016 is to take one day a month and disconnect from the computer/social media. Well that day for me will be tomorrow. I'm off to remove the Facebook app from my phone and make a to-do list for tomorrow. Anyone care to join in??

I took advantage of an offer at Target.com and bought 4 Dove deodorants for $2.44 each and received a $ 5 Target GC in return. This was the first I've used the pick-up in store option which meant I paid no shipping. The process was very easy and I was in and out. I'm counting that gift card as a snowflake

One of my goals for the year is to fund Christmas by finding and tracking all snowflakes(Goal $1200). Man this year is starting off great!

Current snowflakes: $139.63/$1200

$15 Trader Joe Giftcard that I received for Christmas that I used yesterday. So I'm reducing my grocery budget by the same amount
$43 CC rewards
$49 Sold some items via Amazon trade-in program so they applied the amount as gift card to my account
$31 Sold an item on Ebay and received payment via PayPal yesterday
$1.63 under-budget for December so I'm rolling that to my snowflake category in YNAB

I am going to try and make it to Target today to take advantage of the spend $50 save $15 on certain household goods that I saw in the weekly ad. I have a few $2 off Tide coupons that I can take advantage of with it I'm going to see if there are any cartwheel deals as well. Might as well stock up!

Hello to everyone and Happy Holidays! I dropped off the radar because I have been consumed with working on my doctoral degree. While I am still working on it, I'm at the point where things are more manageable. I am glad to see some familiar names, especially CreditCardFree I see you still tracking those snowflakes and I love it! Since paying off my mortgage in Dec 2014, I haven't been as active with tracking my snowflakes and I must admit I miss it so here I am!!

Yesterday I got a $25 Applebees gift-card courtesy of my gas company since we were without service for 2 days. Today I received $23 from Ebates.

New Feb total: $2,048

Just got hit by an avalanche! I received a $2,000 reimbursement check of health care premiums I had to pay in 2014 until the military retiree system finally smartened up! My snowflake goal for 2015 is $6500 so as of now I'm sitting at $2,251. Not too shabby Now that I don't have a mortgage, I love being able to throw snow at whatever goal I like. This $2000 is going towards my celebration trip to the Bahamas in July!!!

I've been doing this challenge for the last few years and this year is no exception. Instead of funding it totally out of my budget, I save all my one dollar bills and any snowflakes I receive as well. Last year the funds were used for Christmas and also to throw at mortgage. This year I will use it to fund my trip to the Bahamas. I don't normally go in order but instead I jump around as the snowflakes are earned. So far I've complete weeks 32, 10 and 2.

Anyone else doing the challenge again this year?

I'm a day late but it’s all good The last time I posted, I announced that I had just paid off my mortgage. Over the last couple of days I finished on my first budget without a mortgage and man all I can say is that it is a feeling that cannot be totally put into words.

In 2014 my goal was to reach $10,000 in snowflakes. Thanks to CCF for encouraging me to aim high so in doing so I was able to surpass my goal with $10,952 in snowflakes!! A big chunk of that comes from various CC rewards and some amended tax returns that I completed.

My 2015 snowflake goal will be $6500 and I'm already off to a good start. First I redeemed $20 in Wal-Mart gift cards via Perk and I received $10 Kohl's justfyour reward. So that's $30 only 2 days into the year! Instead of throwing snowflakes at the mortgage this year, everything will be going to help fund my celebration trip to the Bahamas in August 

So has anyone else set a 2015 snowflake goal? I know CCF will be but who else will be joining us?

I PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE TODAY!!!

Currently NFCU is offering for a limited time, a one year CD at 5% APY, max CD amount $5,000. You have to be a member(some how associated with the military)of the credit union to take advantage. It doesn't say anything about needing direct deposit but please read details for yourself.I took advantage of it this morning!

I just sold an unused $50 Itunes giftcard on Ebay for $63! Why would someone pay $63 for something they can buy for $50?Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining just curious. They have already paid via PayPal and I provided the code via message so no need to ship actual card...Sweet Snowflake!!

Just wanted to post about a new program Walmart has that I found out about last week. I downloaded the app but you can also go to Walmart online and sign up for an online acct. You then take a receipt from the last 7 days and enter the receipt number into the savings catcher. You can do up to 7 receipts per week, and they must be within the last 7 days. Walmart scans other stores to see if you could've gotten anything cheaper. If something cheaper is found, you get the difference in a gift card. On your savings catcher page you will see your GC balance, or your "reward dollars."

I just entered my first receipt on Friday and was rewarded 36 cents to my account last night. I wasn't expecting much because I already price matched with ads because I didn't know about this program but I'm glad to see it worked.