Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

SandiSAHM wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:11 pm
alliesmama4 wrote: Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:18 pm I do Pinecone Research. they do not send daily invites but you are in a rotation and now they do some prescreening however when I do get a survey from them I am usually guaranteed $3.00. Sometimes they will send you products to try and after you give your report they give you another $3.00.. They have sent me some yummy food over this past year.. I priced one of the foods at around $10.00 plus they sent a similar food from another company to compare tastes. Sometimes it is a household product.

I use to do Opinion Outpost but I think they have dropped me due to my age..at least that is my impression. When I made inquires they said my e-mail address came back as not being active.. They re-instated me but then a few weeks later I was dropped again. In the first e- mail I had questioned them regarding my age and they were so apologetic that it was an e-mail problem.. I think they cannot verbalize age discrimination but a lot of survey's do seem to have reasons like this survey is closed or we have enough etc once my age is disclosed. They send lots of surveys and after 100 points you can get $10.00 or go for gift cards I like the cash to buy things at local stores that do not have gift cards..

I do MyPoints which gives you lots of way to get points but I just do searches, the daily poll, and survey's. It can get frustrating because as soon as I put my age of 72 down I seem to be automatically disqualified. However some of the surveys will give you 5 points if you are disqualified. Another place I go to is BING. You can get a gift gift card for Amazon and they have limited gift cards that I am not interested in.. However it is money that I would not otherwise have. Janet Alliesmama .
I do Mypoints & I hate to say it but I think I get disqualified a lot for being prematurely "retired." If you don't work, it seems there isn't that much interest in your opinion.

It may also be my geography; people in the midwest don't have as much cred as either coast ;)
I have been retired since I was 53 and now 72 and it never seemed to matter until I got much older ie the last few years.. I do agree that sometimes they are looking for a younger group of people.. On My Points, not too long ago, they questioned my age and I said 72.. They said..." are you sure?" I thought what the heck? They said less than 1% of people in my age group are on line.. I thought that is weird. Most of the people I know in my age group are on line.. I basically do a lot of searches where I get the most points. I am curious by nature and can come up with a lot of things to do searches on. I did do a survey not too long ago and received over 500 points which qualified me for a blood pressure study in my area. the Drs office called the other day.. If accepted I will receive 550.00.. Another time I qualified sort of for a diabetic study. At first when I told them I have a rare inherited form of ALS they were not sure. However they called me back and asked for me to come over and do the blood test and they would give me 75.00.. The blood work would then be sent to any Dr I wanted them to. I did go and they sent the blood work to my Dr. They called me again for a diabetic nueropahty study and I was planning on going but that is when the second rotator cuff tendon in my shoulder decided to tear completely.. If you are at loose ends and able you might look in to Acurian Research. They are sometimes looking for people for studies and pay decent money. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
2dogs+someCats
Posts: 845
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 7:46 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by 2dogs+someCats »

Today money was spent but all on necessities - mostly food. $40.40 at Save A Lot and $11.16 at Dollar Tree. About half of the Save A Lot order was pet food and kitty litter. Purchases also included a big tub of all purpose cleaning solution and bathroom tissue. Other than that - food.

I still need to get flour. I didn't get it at Save A Lot because I have been buying the 4 lb. bags at Dollar Tree - but Dollar Tree didn't have them today. I did notice that Save A Lot dropped the price on 5 lb. of flour from $1.59 to $1.49. So I will pay about .30 cents per pound instead of .25 cents per pound. I will survive. :-)

I am all set on food and household items for 2 to 3 weeks other than the flour I still need to get and I will pick up some more soy or almond milk. I am still always looking for sales, coupon deals, etc. but instead of shopping weekly I will be shopping when I absolutely need to. I may miss some "great deals" - but I believe not being in the stores as often will save me money overall.

I was pleased to find some good produce today - a big bag of clementines for $2.99 and they are great - so sweet and delicious - I ate two of them as soon as I got home. Also picked up a head of cabbage (that goes on sale tomorrow for .39/lb and I paid .69/lb. - GRRRR!!), one yellow onion, two bananas, and two bags of frozen broccoli.

I got a big bag of "instant corn flour" for making tortillas. I don't want to use my baking flour for that anymore. Also a bag of split peas and a bag of black beans and more brown rice. Other odds and ends - eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, coffee, a can of carrots, strawberry jam, brown sugar and baking soda.

It is good to be stocked up on the basics. I will be cooking and baking tomorrow to turn some of the stash into healthy meals for the upcoming work week.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I did spend some actual grocery money today at Save a Lot. Needed veggies, 1/2 and 1/2 for my coffee, sausage and I bought some tortilla chips $ 8.00 and change. I still had $ 2.00 in survey money so went to the Farm and Home store to buy doggie nephew some treats came to $1.76. I am still in budget and will try to stretch everything with what I already have in the house. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by SandiSAHM »

5 of 22 days. 22.7%

I thought I was going to get a solid 5 days of not spending this week, but it'll only be 4. The dog has a rash, she's going to the vet on Friday. So, come Friday I'll be at 8 of 26, or 30.77% and that is likely as good as things are going to get for January :?

She's been to a vet twice for this already, they put her on prednisone both times. Both times it cleared up... until 2 weeks after she's OFF the prednisone, then it's back.

Both times we went to a huge vet/kennel/groomer combo place less than 2 miles from the house. Nice enough vets but all of them look fresh out of school, and all have said 'I've never seen anything like THAT before' regarding the rash. Friday she goes to our old vet who is 15 miles away in a traffic disaster area but in his 70s has more experience in his little finger than ALL these newbies combined. I bet HE'S seen this before. And hopefully will know how to make it go away once & for all.

Let that be a lesson to me!! Convenience isn't even a consideration when it comes to healthcare, be it human or canine. Not anymore!
Momof2
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:42 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2 »

Friday was my payday, so the monthly bills were paid. I also went to the grocery stores (Aldi and Pubix) over the weekend since I needed a couple of items along with cat food and litter. I did spend more than I needed for my meals this week, but still within my budgeted amount. There were some really good sales for items that I will need within the next couple of months, (coffee and boneless chicken breasts) along with a few other items that were on sale that I can incorporate into my meals over the next couple of weeks. I also picked up the fresh fruits and veggies- I have been using frozen the last few weeks and miss fresh.

I am doing well with minimal waste and using up items. Yesterday alone I used up a partial loaf of homemade Italian bread, partial jar of honey that was beginning to crystalize, some bananas (in Crockpot Baked French Toast- breakfast for the week), rest of a head of celery (gave to rabbits as their daily fresh veggie), rest of a bag of pastry flour (made vanilla wafers to use in banana pudding), box of banana pudding, more bananas (in banana pudding along with the homemade vanilla wafers to go as a treat in my lunches this week), rest of the sour cream, some plain Greek yogurt, hamburger bun from freezer (seafood salad sandwich), a large onion (onion rings and the tiny bits in an orange salad), 4 tangerines, and remaining container of lime juice (Onion and Orange Salad).

In addition to the above, I used a partial package of frozen broccoli (side-dish for dinner Saturday night), and a package of bacon that was nearing the expiration date (saved 8 slices to use in dinner tonight and the rest I placed in the freezer to pull out and use as needed. Tonight I used up another onion, some potatoes (bought specifically for the Bacon and Potato Soup I made for dinner), and more homemade Italian bread (garlic bread). I also ate the rest of the Onion and Orange salad with the soup and garlic bread. I baked some sweet potatoes so that they would not go bad. I will take those in my lunches this week or place in freezer in a couple of days if it looks like they are not going to be used. Today for lunch I used the rest of the pasta dish I made late last week to use up a can of artichoke hearts and some sea scallops from the freezer. I also used up the last banana I bought over the weekend.

My last planned spend for the weekend was to the dollar store to pick up hand soap. I tend to buy hand soap, body wash, deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste in quantities to last around 6 months. Since I used the last bottle of hand soap, I needed more- still in budget and an allowed spend.

I had not planned on having to replace my coffee carafe, but it broke. It was not the glass part, but the handle. I had been using it, but it was getting worse, and I feared that it would break while I was holding it with hot coffee and it would cause a burn. I found a universal pot on Amazon for less than half the price of the brand name replacement. It was too tall. I took the lid off of the old one and put it on the new one, so now it works. I threw out the old pot and the new lid.

Last, I filled my car with gas (also an allowed and planned expense). I should be good for a string of no spend days for a while.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Momof2 Great save on the coffee pot..Also you have been doing a lot of lovely cooking from scratch.. Yum on the bacon and potato soup, homemade onion rings and homemade vanilla wafers.. I am impressed. I have recipes for them but never seem to get around to doing making them. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
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