I signed up for the six paid to read email sites that comparerewards listed in her blog and have already started making money. Sure, its peanuts, or pennies, but its still something. It definitely falls under the something for nothing category, although technically, its something for almost nothing.

In my pursuit of the penny, with the subject of people keep giving me money heading, I was given yet another cent extra in change because the store did not want to give me four pennies. They gave me a nickle instead. This brings my total of free money up to $0.94. When I reach one dollar I'll have to go back and see what day I began tracking on. I think its only been about 2 weeks.

Well, today was payday so I had to spend money. After the kids got off to school we drove to town and paid:

1. Mortgage on our house, $400, payment amount is $375.86, regular payment and $24.14 to extra principal.
2. Bank of America Visa, $850.
3. Power bill, $110 (this will change either June or July, as they readjust for the budget program.
4. Lunch out at the appropriately titled Cinco de Mayo, $38 for the two of us, plus take home for the kids, and enough leftovers for 2 more meals for me and DH.
5. Costco (I kept my resolve of not shopping at Costco for a whole month) for just a few items we were completely out of, chili, cheese, 10 pound bag of fries, pepperoni (for homemade pizza), hoagie rolls, 50 pound bag of bread flour, and crackers, came to $70. I never walk out of Costco under $100, so I was thrilled.

Then we had to go back home and to the elementary school to watch the egg drop the fourth graders were doing. Each child had to come up with packaging that would protect an egg from cracking if it were dropped from 25 feet. Rose's worked and the egg didn't crack. There were 80 kids and approximately half of them broke. It was fun watching, but in the back of my head I kept thinking how far all those eggs would go to feed people. I didn't like the idea of that kind of waste, even for a science/physics lesson that was pretty cool.

After school we had to come back to town (ouch, that's $18 in gas just today). We also filled up at the Arco, which was running at $3.13 a gallon, everywhere else is $3.27 except Costco. So that was $40 into the gas tank.

We still have to buy printer ink. Oh, and Rose is having dance pictures with her class tonight in her recital costume, so that's another $14.

Believe it or not we still have nearly $300 left to pay for upcoming bills. Next payday will only have 4.5 hours on it, so I had to hold some cash back. The only bills coming due next week are cell phone and water delivery (some might call this a luxury, but we've had e.coli in our tap water too many times due to problems at the water district, so its not, and its cheaper than buying bottled water).

So that's where things stand today.

I've been really thinking about what I can do to get the savings ball rolling a little faster, but I'm kind of hiding from it at this point. I will be able to figure this out after keeping the spending journal all month. I see a little bit in just the four days I have tracked and its all in the areas I figured it would be in. This is of course, eating out. This is going to be the hardest thing for me.

I am a right fine cook but there are days when I just don't wanna (insert pentulent toddler's whine here). Even though I have everything prepped and ready to go and can be done in the kitchen in less than 15 minutes, I still go up against this resistance some days. I am a lazy cook, that is my biggest road block. I may be good at it, but that has been more by accident and good training than by any real effort on my part.

We have planned one meal out this week and that is an 11:00 lunch tomorrow at our favorite Mexican place. We are going early because it is Cinco de Mayo and because lunch portions are cheaper than dinner portions and to avoid the crowds. It will be just DH and me as the kids are in school all day, so it won't be quite as expensive.

This one meal out was the only one we had planned for this two week period and we went out yesterday when we shouldn't have because we both had a case of lazy cook's disease. And DS was not in school yesterday so he came, too, which was more expensive.

I've got to keep this under control, so I am making a goal that after tomorrow there will be no more unplanned restaurant meals. I am going to do my level best to stick to that and report in on how I did with this goal every day.

Well, technically one more sample came in the mail today but it is a really good one. I got the Glad Force Flex garbage bag. I only signed up for this on the 12th of April and it came in 22 days, even though it sad 4 to 6 weeks. Nice turn around time there.

I also signed up for four more freebies today. Nice little freebie flurry after the drought.

I don't know what has gotten into me today. I'm not usually this chatty. Or maybe I am and it just usually comes out in one long burst.

It's been a few days since I've updated this, but I now have been given a grand total of $0.93 by people who did not want to make proper change. I know this is very silly to keep track of, but I also get a kick out of it, so there you go.

DH and I had a long talk and we have decided to try to sell the Blazer. I say try because I don't know if there is anyone out there who is willing to pay for a vehicle that averages 16 mpg during this current gas crisis. Under the cheaper gas days we probably could have seen $4000 for it, but now, who knows?

It is a luxury model we bought used and is in excellent shape and has been well-maintained but I think at this point we'd only get $2000 for it. But even with that, it would cut our insurance in half almost. And it would give us a start to our new (to us) car fund.

DH is in Alaska so much of the time that it is silly to try to keep and maintain two vehicles. We will keep the better car and use it as our trade in when we do purchase a new one in a few years. It gets just over 20 mpg and is more comfortable and easier to drive anyway.

Today is the day of my electronic funds transfer, so there is now $10 more in long term savings, bringing my total to $195. $60 more until I can open an ING account and get the $25 bonus. I have to keep a minimum of $5 in this CU savings account to keep it open, so that's why it is $60 more instead of $55.

So I have six more weeks to go, although I may add another $5 tomorrow (payday) if there is anything left after the credit card payment and our own mortgage payment, and all the utilities.

I got our propane bill yesterday in the mail. It dropped from $262 to $167 and of course will drop much more this next time since the furnace is off now.

Not this time, but next time DH comes home we are going to start bringing in wood. We have to figure out who we need to get the permit from, but we are going to go out on one of the gravel bars by the river and cut up dead wood that has washed on shore during flood season. Just have to avoid salmon season.

I saw an ad for an online Citi savings account offering 4.5% interest. That might break my 15 year resolve of never doing any business with Citi. Hmm, I'll have to think on it.

It's another gorgeous day here in the foothills and windy, so I'm off to hang towels on the clothesline. Laundry never ends, does it?

I signed up for 2 more things tonight, 1 a trail offer for a product evaluation worth $18, but had to pay S&H of $6.95, which will be reimbursed if I choose not to keep it, which I will choose, even though I plan on evalutating the software properly. I had this offer available through 3 different companies and went with the one with the biggest payoff.

Then I signed up for Eversave for $1.50 signup. I could have signed up for it with MyPoints but the points offered were so piddly, I'd rather have the cash, even though it will be July for this current batch of signups to pay up.

I also signed up for 2 freebies, after not having any I thought I'd use since the 29th.

I did a long survey today, they said 20 minutes but it was closer to 30, that I got 100 points for at NFO. Their surveys are usually only 10 points. I'm not sure how many points it takes to get anything from them, things are starting to get blurry, though I do have it all written down in my notebook. Can't be disorganized on this stuff.

Gas prices were at $3.27 on the border town near us. It's still less at the Arco, but I don't know for how much longer. We have to fill up on Friday and I am not looking forward to that.

I got my first real sample in the mail today. I don't count the DVD for RVing, because it is not really something that I will be able to use for anything in my real life. At least not right now.

I got the Reach flosser, a pretty blue one. I am really looking forward to using this tonight as my back teeth are tightly packed and it can be hard to get back there with floss. My dental hygeniest used one on me once and I loved it. Of course, I managed to lose that one before I could ever used it. I used to be very disorganized. Not anymore, so I'll keep track of this one! It's already in my toothbrush holder.

I found an old coin jar that went missing about 2 years ago and it had enough dimes and quarters to roll up one each, so I will have $15 more to add to the freezer money account. Cool. That will go in on Friday.

Deposited $11 worth of rolled coin to my freezer money account. Of course, I forgot the envelope with the bills in it at home. I took it out of my purse so I wasn't carrying it around and then forgot I didn't have it. Oh, well, it will keep until Friday when more banking stuff needs to be done.

I still need to take the aluminum cans in, but can do that Friday when I make my next trip to town. I just need to remember to do it.

Signed up for 3 trial offers today:
Great Fun for $1 for 30 days, $8 signup payment with a $20 gas card.
Buyer's Edge, free 30 days, $4 signup.
And Red Blossom, free 2 weeks, $17 signup.
Total $29.

I haven't had a chance to look through the freebies for yesterday or today yet. I have laundry hanging on the clothesline.

I took a good look at my dishwasher and it has 3 settings, heavy duty wash, normal wash, and short wash. Since I pre-rinse everything there is not reason for me to be doing the first two, so I am trying it on short wash. The dishes looked clean. I also have never used heat dry, and when it finishes the wash cycle I am turning it off. It would go for another ten minutes or so if I didn't and it basically does nothing since heat dry isn't on.

I don't know how much more we can decrease our electric bill, but I'd like to find out! Once I get that expense cut down as low as possible, than I'll pick a new thing to cut down on and see where that goes.

I didn't go through yesterday's mail until I got offline last night. I got 2 Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards from Every Day Values, total of $20! Yippee! $1 out and $19 in. Not bad for a few minutes of filling in forms. Now I just have to remember to cancel it before the 30 days are up.

DH has been wanting to get a digital food scale to help him on his diet, so I'll have to go see what they have there and how much it costs.

As I mentioned previously, DH comes home tomorrow. So far this new saving thing has gone fairly well. With DH stuck up in the arctic circle in barracks with no access to a place to spend money, its been up to me. With him home, I'm not sure it will remain easy. He has always been the main spender in the relationship. Well, maybe that isn't true. He's always been the first spender. I've always been the rebound spender. As in, DH just spent all this money on himself, what do I get?

That sort of thinking has been curtailed somewhat over the last couple of years, but I'm just so unsure of what is going to happen with him actually home. We have talked about it and agreed what we are going to do, but will he keep up his end or will he not, and then the two of us fall back into old destructive spending habits?

He will only be home for one week this hitch and that will help with lessening urges to spend, but it isn't easy on the family when he doesn't come home for the full two weeks. And it looks like he may be working more 3 and 1's instead of 2 and 2's for awhile. Financially, I can't complain. Each extra week means a very tidy sum of money, and an extra large credit card payment for that month. Emotionally, its really tough on the kids. I don't like it either, but I'm a loner, always have been so I cope better than most would, I think.

I guess I'll talk to him about all this. No use in keeping it to myself. It feels good to have gotten it out there in cyberspace, so I'm not obsessing on it all night and can sleep peacefully.

I really dislike school fundraisers. I didn't like doing them when I was in school and I don't like doing them as a parent either. I feel like if it isn't one thing it is another with that school. I miss homeschooling and not having to feel like I should be paying extra for stuff, but it was Rose's choice to go back to school at the start of 4th grade and I never had any intention of homeschooling Tobias, he wears me out too fast.

Anyway, this week the school is having the scholastic book fair. Unlike when I was a kid, it isn't just books they sell now. They have all kinds of trinkets and other garbage. I made Rose use her own money for trinkets and the diary she wanted. I did buy a couple of books for the kids, though.

They are also selling tickets for the school carnival right now which is Saturday. DH will be home and he can take the kids. I don't do crowded places, I'm not exactly claustrophobic, more like crowd phobic, it just really raises my anxiety levels.

I wasted a little money today on a meal out, I knew I was dealing with stress by eating fast food and that it wasn't wise, either healthwise or moneywise, but I did it anyway. Spent almost nine dollars, it was so unnecessary, but it did help with the stress so there you go.

We had a hail storm this morning (hello, Mother Nature? It's May!), and there was a threat of freezing tonight, so I took the shelves out of my portable greenhouse and stuck it over my two tomato plants. I really do not want to lose those. Now I'm glad I couldn't find the bean seeds because a freeze would keep them from sprouting.

I hung two loads of laundry today. I keep thinking I'm going to catch up, but then it rains. We are supposed to have yet another weather swing tomorrow and it will be at a high of 70. I don't know that I particularly believe them anymore, but we shall see.

I haven't signed up for any freebies or trial offers today. My laptop is making an atrocious noise. The fan keeps trying to commit suicide but so far hasn't succeeded. I am going to find out if I can get the fan replaced or not. I can't afford a new laptop yet, that is what all my survey money and mypoints g.c.'s will go for.

I don't particularly like using the desktop PC. The screen is too big and too close (can't adjust it further back or it will fall off the desk) and the chair is not comfortable, so hopefully the other is a fast fix. DH just had to have the mondo sized computer screen. The only thing I like about the PC is the ergonomic keyboard. Okay, I'm whining now, so enough of that.

I'm going to go wander through one of the survey sites and see if there isn't anything I can sign up for.

So April is over and I finally feel like I am one step beyond chaos. I started this blog on April 9th with $105 in my long term savings account, and today there is $185 in it. My only goal was to add $10 a week to it, but somewhere along the way I put in $50 that I didn't need. Maybe that won't happen every month, but I at least know that its a possibility. It all seems very strange.

I feel like the dream of finacial stability is reachable. Seems odd with such a small amount in savings, but it will get better and I will get better at putting money in. I don't feel helpless. I know its still a pretty steep hill I'm climbing, but at least I'm climbing.

I had to talk to my daughter tonight about using electricity. She had got it into her head that she couldn't turn the lights on at all, so she and her brother were sitting in the dark playing games from the light of the tv. I told her that we were trying to turn lights off in rooms we weren't using, not the ones we were in and that they didn't have to sit in the dark. I think she understands now. At least she turned on the light.

Maybe I've been a little overzealous about saving money, but I don't think I ever said she coudn't turn the lights on in a room she was in. Well, we'll see how it goes now that she understands the difference between wasting electricity and using electricity.

Frugal things I did today:
Hung 2 loads of laundry on the clothesline.
Baked a loaf of bread while the potroast was in the oven.
Cooked from my pantry and freezer.
Earned $8 for signing up for a free trial with gamefly, and 50 cents for signing up for another survey company, this one supposedly pays a minimum of $4 per survey, but we will see.

I did turn down one survey invitation today. It was paying $34.95 to evaluate and survey a dating site. Now I filled out a big profile on this survey site and one of the things it asks is marital status, so I don't know why the heck they are sending that offer to a married woman. I talked to DH about it and he said sign up for it, you don't have to do anything about it, but I just don't think it is ethical to do that. So I didn't. Sure wish I could have done it if I'd been single, though.

I've been thinking about what kind of goals I should have for May. Not quite sure exactly, but I probably should try to keep a complete accounting of all spending for a month. I have a pretty good idea of where we waste money, but I'm sure there are things that just slip by, as well. So I'll keep a little notebook in my purse and jot down everything I spend and for what and see where I might improve things.

Tomorrow I will have to buy some pole bean seeds. I don't know where they got to, and I know I had 2 packages of them but they aren't with my other seeds, so bummer. I did manage to weed the strawberry bed and cut down and weed half the herb bed. Managed to dig up a few starts of oregano, it likes to make babies in the walkways so I always dig them out and offer them on freecycle. We are going to have a garage sale this summer though, so maybe I'll sell them for a quarter each. Way cheaper than at a nursery, and not too expensive for garage sale pricing.