Shopping & Cash!

This weekend I did a little shopping at one of my favorite stores: New York & Company. I used one of the coupons I get for being a member and saved about $20 bucks on mostly already discounted clothes. Got a new pair of jeans, a sweater, and tons of really cute underwear (I'm a sucker for really cute underwear). Lots of their merchandise is 70% off right now and lots of jeans are 50%. You can sign up on their website to get coupons or check out the link below for some great online coupons.

New York and Co coupons powered by RetailMeNot.com

Good news to report about the surveys I've been taking. The checks are still rolling in. I got $20.50 this month and my associated content views are accumulating faster. I also got a free cutting board, regal cinemas gift card, and a book!

Also, as a side note, the diet's still going good. I found out how to fit Quizno's into meal plan tomorrow and Mike is pretty psyched about that.

MyPoints and a new diet

Two things I'd like to tell you about today and they're kind of related. The first is a program called MyPoints. I got involved with them through BzzAgent and soon came to spend more of my time with MyPoints then I did with the other! MyPoints is different than a survey site. There are several ways you can earn points. You can make purchases from online retailers using a link on their site (you earn points based on what you spend). You can visit websites they promote (you get five points for going to the website and sometimes more for signing up or making a purchase). You can print coupons off the site (you get points once the coupons are redeemed). The points can be redeemed for gift cards, like Barnes & Noble, movie theaters, Bath & Body Works, Amazon, etc. So far I've gotten three gift cards from them and it's all very legit. If you're patient enough to deal with the e-mails they send, this might be a good fit for you. Once a week I sort my email so I've got only MyPoints emails in front of me and click on each, get my points, and delete them. If you're interested in joining, I'd love to refer you (another perk is you get points for referring friends!), or you can just go to the website (http://www.mypoints.com/) and sign-up.

One of the sites I discovered recently through MyPoints turned out to be a bit of a life saver. It's called SparkPeople.com. I know; it sounds hokey. It's a diet/fitness website to help people lose weight and meet various other health goals. The idea is that with support and help you can reach your health goals. It's free to sign up; no catch or gimmick I've seen yet, except some videos and fitness equipment you can buy from the website. I was amazed how much there is to do! There is a nutrition planner that has been vital to me sticking to the diet. They give you meal plans (and yes, you can specify vegetarian) and it helps you count calories. You can adjust all the plans to what you eat and have handy. They give you a goal weight and goal calories to burn, as well as a fitness planner to help you exercise. They have online workout videos. You can create your own sparkle webpage. There are a multitude of groups you can belong to (including a vegetarian/vegan group) that provide community to give you the support and answers you need. You get sparklepoints whenever you do well sticking to your plans. Honestly I don't think you can do anything with the points, but I guess it's a nice gesture. Kind of like the gold star you get in grade school. Check it out at http://www.sparkpeople.com!

Tips on Grocery Shopping

I just wrote an article for Associated Content about grocery shopping tips. You can check it out here. I also have an article with tips on how to create a budget. Associated Content is a great way to make some extra dough. I usually get anywhere from $2-3.50 per article (paid via PayPal) and for every 1000 views you get $1.50, so it does the work while you're not working.

It's a short blog entry today because Lost is about to come on. Woohoo! Mike and I are making our own pizza to celebrate. Pillsbury pizza dough with soy cheese and soy pepperoni. I can't wait!

Kashi TLC Cereal Bars!

Kashi TLC Cereal Bar. Strawberry, 6-Count Bars (Pack of 6)

I got a neat freebie last week. It was a new cereal bar from Kashi. It's vegan (if you don't count the honey) and pretty tasty. They also sent me a slew of coupons good for $2 off. I couldn't find them at Harris Teeter but rumor has it you can get them at Wal-Mart for only $2.50. That means with the coupon they'd only be $.50 a box! The coupons expire 3/31/09 and there's more than I could use in a lifetime. Please, if you're interested, let me know and I'll send some to you.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far! After a short break from my blog, I am looking forward to having more posts. I love interaction so feel free to comment on anything you like! I just finished reading the first book in the series True Blood is based on:
I recommend it if you enjoy the show. I haven't decided yet if I'll read the rest of the series as I don't want to get too ahead of the show.

I'm planning on trying a new non-survey program called Swagbucks. Basically you use the site to search and you randomly get "bucks" of random amounts. Supposedly you can't get more than two bucks of some denomination per day (although you can sometimes get codes that automatically award bucks). So far all I've gotten is $1 bucks, but I've heard that it can happen that you get more. You use the bucks to get prizes on the site. You can get a $10 Bath and Body Works giftcard for 115. So yes, if you're only getting $1 or $2 a day that will take a while. The way I see it is it doesn't take long to do (you can use it to look up a site you were already going to) and it's kinda fun (you never know when your buck will appear or how much it will be). I think there's also a deal where you get the same bucks your friends do when they sign up under your referral so it might be easier to rack up the bucks depending on how many you refer. The jury's still out on this one since I've just started, but I'll keep you posted!