Secondspin.com returned a game to me because I forgot to include an accessory. Well, I found the accesory and will be selling the item to them once again. I'm also selling more DVDs that I haven't watched in years so the order I just placed came up to $23.50. Those snowflakes may not come in until June but we will see. To make things even better, secondspin.com is located on shopathome.com website so that's another 4% coming back to me.

If you haven't checked out shopathome.com, you should becuase they pay you to shop at stores you normally would order from online anyway. I'll take that free money. I have a link to them on my sidebar if you're interested.

I received the last of two checks from Secondspin.com today totaling $87.82. That brings my total snowflakes for the month thus far up to $191.82. My goal is to get to $250!

I received 2 checks from Pinecone today and I sold my Roku for $50. I got an email from SecondSpin.com that they've processed my other two orders so I should be receiving that payment before the month is out as well. So I'm over halfway through the month and my total is $104. That doesn't include my AGCs from SB, checks pending fron secondspin, or my five dollar bills. This is turning out to be a pretty good month for snowflakes eventhough it's 101 here today in Vegas

A couple nights ago I made a purchase at beauty.com. The next morning I got an email stating their "20% Family and Friends" event started. I went online to cancel my order so that I could reorder and get 20% off but the order couldn't be cancelled because it was too far in the process I guess. Well I decided to send an email and ask if I could still get the 20% off since I made my order just the night before. Believe it or not, they agreed and and gave me a refund of the difference!! Now that's customer service!

If you have any shopping to do online, you may want to check out Ebates if you haven't already. They're currently offering 13% cashback at over 100 stores. Might as well get paid for shopping you were going to do anyway, if it's in your budget of course


http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?re...GDT3IZze4i5pM7TA%3D%3D

I received another $3 payment from Pinecone today. I just completed another survey and have another waiting in my inbox.

I also ordered 2 $5 AGCs from Swagbucks today.

These small amounts sure adds up!

I just received this email about what appears to be a great opportunity for certain vetereans. I hope it helps someone.

"We will start accepting applications for the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP)on May 15th for training that begins on or after July 1, 2012. If you are an unemployed Veteran, you may be eligible to receive 12 months of training assistance equal to the full-time monthly payment rate under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty program (currently $1,473 per month). You must pursue a program approved for VA benefits offered by a community college or technical school. The program must lead to a high demand occupation and result in an Associate Degree, Non-College Degree or a Certificate. Don't forget to sign up early as participation in the program is limited to a total of 99,000 Veterans with only 45,000 Veterans allowed to participate prior to October 1, 2012.

VA will publish more details on the program as they become available at our VOW website."

If you have any books laying around, you may want to check out cash4books.net to see if they're buying. They also pay for shipping. If you enter bonus code HiddenCash at checkout, you get an additional 15%.

I've used them plenty and never had a problem; I'm off to see if they're buying any of my books!


http://www.cash4books.net/index.php?ref=230767

Here's what I got today. 2 things that I've never tried but will thanks to BB is artichokes and Jicama.

Just wanted to pass on the below about the military starting to offer Roth TSP contributions for both civilians and military. I wish they had the Roth option before I retired but oh well. I maybe starting a civilian position with the VA soon but that's another post. The link takes you to the article.

http://www.dfas.mil/pressroom/dfasnewsreleasearchive/Release0412002.html

If you haven't already, check out www.secondspin.com They buy old CD's, DVDs, and games. They also reimburse you for shipping up to a certain point so making sure you read the shipping policy. Until 3 May you get a 20% bonus on anything you sell. I went through some old DVDs and CDs that were sitting around and made $47! I will definitely be going through more stuff tomorrow.

I was able sock away $50 for April, so that brings my Bahama 2013 fund to $168. My goal is to have $500 in that fund before I go in Mar 2013. My total snowflakes for the month is $748! The majority of that was from back payment I received from the VA, This was only a partial payment, I'm expecting a much bigger snowball within the next couple of months.

Lastly, at the beginning of March I particpated in a Biggest Loser/Savings Debt Challenge on the Dave Ramsey forum. My goal was $5000, I finished the challenged at $5613!! Over the 8 weeks of the challenge, the total debt paid or saved was over $455,000! That's just outstanding; there will be another challenge starting up next week that I will post about.

Yesterday I received a rebate check from shopathome.com for $37. If you haven't checked it out yet please do so, it's a site that pays you a certain percentage for shopping at certain online stores. Can't go wrong for getting paid for doing shopping you would normally do online anyway.(see my side bar for link).

Today I received a $10 rebate check as well. So for the month of April I already have $47 worth of snowflakes.

Also to date I've save $3925 towards my Biggest Loser Savings Challenge I'm participating in. My goal is $5000 and I should reach that next week when my rental payment comes in.

Finally, I have $5 towards this month's $5 challenge as well. Not too shabby!!

I added $420 to my Roth IRA so my new total for this challenge is $3445, more than half way to 5K goal.

My AGC total via SB is now $115, I'm saving those for Christmas 2012. My total so far is $380! Here it is the first day of Spring and I'm writing about Christmas. I've also saved $30 in 5 dollar bills in my monthly $5 bill challenge.

Last note, I had a green smoothie today. Romaine lettuce, apple, orange, blueberries and flax seeds. Great first day of Spring!

My goal is to save/payoff $5000 from 1 Mar-26 April. Today I sent $1125 to an extra principal payment on the mortgage. I cashed $100 in rewards from my PerkStreet account since they are making major changes soon. I also finally received $300 bonus check for opening a Chase Freedom card; I will add that to my Christmas fund. So my total since starting is now $3025!!

I just won 100SB!!! Good Mega Friday for me, how are your Swag searches going today??

My tax return hit yesterday but I waited until today, so I'm at $1500/5000. I'm breaking out my goals as below:

Extra Mortgage Principal Payment: $500/$3160
Retirement: 0/$840
Bahamas 2013: $500/$500 Done
New Computer/Ipad/Tablet: $500/$500 Done

Laura, how's it going for you today? Looks like it will be just us two here.

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!