I just called Chase and cashed in some rewards worth $60. Not sure how I'm going to use it yet but I wanted to go ahead and cash in!

I previously posted that I've recommitted to studying to become a Financial Counselor. I'm starting with topic 6 of nine topics becuase the latter topics seems like more familiar territory. Well topic 6 has 6 chapters of reading. I started last night and have finished 3 out of 6. Thank goodness the chapters were somewhat short My goal is to have the remaining 3 chapters and review questions completed by 26 Nov(2 weeks)...I'm off to a good start.

One of my goals for the year was to take the tests to become an Accredited Financial Counselor through AFCPE. Well needless to say I'm not going to make that goal but I did order the first round of material. With me starting a new job a month ago, it helped me to realize that now that I'm retired from the military and choosing to work becuase I want to, not because I have to that I'm going to now focus on doing what I love.

So for November and many months to come, I'm focusing on becoming an AFC. It has really helped me to break this goal down into action steps. The first thing I already completed was to type up all the learning objectives and review questions for all 9 topics. By doing this beforehand, as I'm reading the chapters, I can annotate the page numbers to the answers as I go and then go back and write out the answers later. I find that I retain more by writing the answers out, no matter how long it may be.

Secondly I determined that there are 57 chapters to read along with a couple study guide topics. As of now instead of focusing on a certain number of chapters, I want to complete 1 topic every two weeks. That includes all reading and writing out the answers to the review questions. Instead of going in order I'm going to start with the topics that I feel somewhat comfortable with. So I will start with Topic 6 which covers "Credit"....imagine that as a starting place. I may read a little tonight but tommorrow will be my official start date with the goal of having it done by 26 Nov...wish me luck

I will use my blog to track my progress!

Freedom is indeed not free so Happy Veterans Day to all my fellow vets!!

I know most of you are probably like dang we aren't done with 2012 yet!! Since November is the main timeframe I start using my snowflakes for Christmas, I figured I will start saving this month for Christmas 2013. As you know, small snowflakes turn into snowballs over time so start early!

So far this month I have $6.10 going towards 2013, if I have leftovers from this year I will just roll it over. I haven't thought of a goal amount just yet.

It's never too early to start because Christmas comes on the same day every year

I got an email from ebates stating that instead of getting a rebate check for my earnings, if I chose an Amazon gift card instead that they would add a $1 to it. So instead of $5.10, I got $6.10!!

For those of u that haven't heard of Ebates, it pays u for the shopping u normally do at certain online stores anyway. You can check it out via my sidebar.

Another good mail day today, received a rebate check from shopathome.com for $20.53. New snowflake total: $36.53/$100!

I received a rebate check today for $16. My goal for the month is $100 in snowflakes!

At the beginning of the year I decided to track my monthly snowflake totals and report them here on a quarterly basis.

Q1: $2189.82
Q2: $7407.87
Q3: $462.13


I share this with u not to brag but to show u the power of snowflakes and how over time they can become snowballs. I read this statement in another poster's comments and I have to adopt it: "If you don't tell your money where to go, it will leave on its own" Stay focused everyone!!!

Please look into whether your state gives you an exemption for car registration/property taxes. I retired last year and recently learned that the state of Nevada does in fact give an exemption. So I went to the assessor's office with my DD214 in hand and got my voucher for $121. I registered my car this morning so instead of paying $196, I paid $75.

Just wanted to pass this info on so we are not missing out on any of our valued benefits!!

Found this great deal on hip2save.com and to make it even better, u get get a $5 catalina for your next purchase. This is good at Safeway and it's affiliate stores and you must be a Just 4 U member, which is free to join. I just did it at Von's and it worked perfectly. I will save this as a Christmas gift.

http://hip2save.com/2012/09/06...page-1/#comment-886414

Yesterday I received a check from Ebates for $6.92 and today I got 2 checks from Pinecone totaling $6. I'll be returning an item to the store tommorrow so that means more snowflakes!

I'm signing up for a class that starts 21 Aug. I was told that if you score 84% or above on the end of course test then they would give you a job application. Has anyone been through the course?

I'm looking at this as a possible side job while I work on my PhD this Fall.

I received a check from secondspin.com for $26.01 I also got an $5 AGC from SB so I've passed my $50 goal with a total so far of $53. That's not counting the $5 dollar bills I've saved this month!! Persistence is key

Currently you can get a $25 Itunes giftcard at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20. I got one today and will give it to my niece for Christmas

Today I got all of the below for $15:

Cauliflower
4 earns of corn
6 squash
kale
6 organic tomatoes
blueberries
6 peaches
8 apricots that resemble plums
honeydew melon
bananas
radishes

They had the 1 pound tub Earthbound Farms Organic Baby Spinach marked 2 for 99 cents. I immediately grabbed 2 with the intention of freezing most for later use. When I got to the counter, they rung up for $1 each but I informed the cashier about the sign. She called for help, I normally don't like holding up the line but oh well. Sure enough they were priced wrong but they gave it to me at the advertized price. Nice Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just received a $7 check from Cash4Books today in the mail. I also just completed a Pinecone survey so I should get $3 soon. Small amounts but it's still early in the month!!

Normally Ebates doesn't offer cash back for Amazon purchases until now for limited time only. If you order Shoes & Sandals, Grills & Patio Furniture, Swim Shop and Grocery & Gourmet Food, you get 3% cash back. I doubt if this work if you use Amazon gift card for payment but we can always try and see.

So if you have shopping to do anyway and it's with Amazon, you might as well go through Ebates to earn a few snowflakes. Just passing it on...

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

This book is free for download today on Amazon and it's not just for Kindle's either.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...reativeASIN=B0014YHKWM


I just finished reading the 1st chapter and picked up on two new tricks for grocery shopping:

1. Items on the front and back pages of the weekly flyers are likely to have the deepest discounts. Stores call them "loss leaders", meaning the store actually sells the item so cheap it loses money

2. Do your shopping on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday because sales generally start on Wednesdays, but the coupon to match that sale frequently dosn't come until Sunday.

I will definitely be paying closer attention

At the beginning of the year I decided to track my monthly snowflake totals and report them here on a quarterly basis. Quarter 1 total was $2189.82 and Quarter 2 total is $7407.87. The majority of the total for this quarter is from a back payment I received from the VA but it's a snowflake none the less.

I share this with u not to brag but to show u the power of snowflakes and how over time they can become snowballs. I read this statement in another poster comments and I have to adopt it: "If you don't tell your money where to go, it will leave on its own" Stay focused everyone!!!

A couple days ago i went to an event that was held at Whole Foods and wanted to share a few things I picked up.

1. Juicing organic fruits and veggies is best but if you don't get organic then you should definitely peel everything. I'm going to personally try and do better at buying organic. I know it's more expensive but our health is priceless right? Bountiful Baskets will help accomplish this as well

2. You should drink fresh juice on an empty stomach becuase it gets into your blood stream quicker. That's also the main difference between juicing and smoothies.

3. You should consume at least 16 ounces a day for optimal health. That can be broken up into two servings or done all at once. I tend to do mine all at once. But just remember whatever you do, something is better than nothing!

4. Be careful juicing alot of fruit becuase fruit contains alot of sugar. In the beginning that was me but now I'm more about incorporating more veggies.. Believe it or not, over time your taste buds will change. If a juice is too bitter, just add an apple(it sweetens it right up). One recipe that I've been doing lately is spinach,celery,cucumber,green apple,and a half of lemon. It's very refreshing.

5. Instead of buying expense produce wash sprays, wash your fruit and veggies in a water/apple cider venegar mix. Let the produce soak for 30 mins...

6. Here's to our health!!

www.onegreenplanet.org/news/the-dirty-dozen-an-updated-list-of-pesticide-heavy-fruits-and-veggies

In my quest to eat healthier, I ordered a individual meal plan from www.happyherbivore.com for $5. Every week she comes out with an individual or a family meal plan of quick and easy fat free and low fat vegan recipes. Like I said, today is my third day so far. I've had quinoa, chick peas, steamed kale and portabello mushrooms. These are all brand new experiences for me and I must say everything has been quite delicious. I'm not declaring that I'm giving up meat altogether but I would love to be able to cut down to one meat meal a day.

Each plan is updated every Wednesday and you get a calender, shopping list, recipes,etc..All for $5 I think it's been easy for me to maintain becuase the recipes are provided and are pretty simple. The grocery bill was a bit higher becuase I had to stock up on key healthy inggredients but another good think is that alot of the recipes call for similar things so it should balance out.

I received a check from my auto insurance company in the amount of $53.34..very nice surprise!

I sold a giftcard to Plastic Jungle for $20.75 and I got the check today.

First swagbuck search of the day is for 59 SBs!!

On the back on my paper Kohl's statement, it stated switch to electronic statement and get $10. So I went online and updated my account and today I received $10 in store credit. I will move $10 out of clothing budget to vacation budget! Gotta love free money!!

Finally received back payment from the VA......$6200!! $3200 will go on mortgage, $3000 will go in vacation fund!