Day three of the 31 day no spend challenge-
Things are going great! Over the weekend, I took some things I make and some of our beeswax to a small farmer’s market that a friend of mine runs and sold $25 in product. That doesn’t sound like much, but it was great! $15 of that goes to a non-profit thing I am doing, which is making hats for the homeless, cancer patients and babies in need. I was convicted of this in Dec of last year when the homeless shelters ran out of hats, gloves and scarves right after Christmas and there was so much left of Winter!
I also took about 125 items to a consignment sale. I sold 52 of them and made $128, so again, I was very happy. All of that will go toward a debt. We also get between $50-60 per month for allowing Google to monitor where we go on the internet (as if they aren’t already doing it), so I figured, we might as well get paid for it! I wish I had a link for you to subscribe to it, but it is not an open program and something that came to us randomly. Last year, we made so much, they were required to send us a 1099! This is something that gives us just a little bit of added income when we need it and they offer special programs from time to time as well.
The other thing I do is use a survey company called Survey Savvy. I have done very well with them also, making about $10/month for very short surveys. You can find out more about that here!
I also take part in Google Opinion Rewards, which is available through the Google Play Store. They only pay in credits, but I have purchased a book and they can also be used on games.
The only other site I use is MyPoints. I have been a member with them since 1999 and I get a gift card or two per year depending on how often I look at emails. If you would like a referral to MyPoints.com, send me an email and I will make sure you get one!
I have been noticing some interesting things about when I tell people about the 30 day challenge. I have been given free stuff, told they feel sorry for me and one person told me it was “wrong”!
I love to hear what people think about this, but I have come to realize just how ingrained the need to “buy” has become. Today, I purposely drove myself to Walmart just to see how I would feel about not spending anything at the store. I cannot tell you how many times I stopped to look at something and said, “Oh, it’s only a $1.” or “I’ve been needing one of those!” I would then quickly remind myself that even though I have money in my pocket, it would all be staying right there! I shook my head at myself more than once, but realized that companies have taught us to buy. They have taught us with commercials, displays, print ads, etc. Whatever they can do to appeal to us to make us think we “need” that item vs “want”. I then walked out empty handed and felt great for beating the system this once.
I also want to tell you all the things I have been able to get for FREE in the last 3 days-
– a cookie bar from a friend who felt sorry for me
– 4 drinks that I “purchased” with a $3.00 coupon off my next shopping order (thanks Catalina coupons!)
– 8 free fish & fries from Long John Silvers on their free food day
– free cookies and coffee at church
– church picnic and swim
– leftover tea & water from Sunday morning service for lunch (we brought our lunch to church since we weren’t going home between church and the picnic)
– $50 meal at Longhorn steakhouse (thank you free gift card!)
So I have decided to keep track of how many free things I get for 30 days. I think it’s pretty cool to get free stuff, I don’t know about you!
I still have a $5 Chipotle gift card to use, so I won’t be going without a Coke here and there! Also, every week, Dillons (Kroger) has a free Friday download, so I will make sure not to miss that. This week was a Hormel Meal.
If I can get as much free stuff as I think I can, I will continue this practice well after we have ended our 30 day challenge, simply to help with our monthly budget.
I had never thought before to ask for the leftover tea and lemonade after Sunday service. it just gets dumped down the sink, so why not take it home and not let it go to waste?
So what are your frugal ideas? Please comment and let me know!
frugalchoices 