I cashed out a $3 PTR at ReadRevenue yesterday. I qualified for a $15 market research study, where the product should be arriving this week for me to test. This is the first one that has no strings attatched. They send me the product, I test it, take a survey, I ship it back in the postage paid packaging and take another survey a week later. I'm excited.

I also filled out a qualification survey for another market research company with the same survey company that I'm doing the other one for so I am hopeful this may become a thing. I've been filling out surveys with this company for several months now before I got to this level. They do have paid surveys about every six weeks or so where I'll get a $4 or $5 check, so I know they pay out. Like that in a company.

I received a $25 Shell gas card in the mail today from MyPoints, so I am going to take $25 out of my gas fund and put it in savings this week. I'll make that $1000 one way or another.

Yesterday was soccer and the kids played pretty well. Tobias has the four mini-games and they tied two and lost one 2 to 1 and one 2 to 0. Rose's team lost 5 to 6, it would have been 7 to 6 but two goals were disqualified for offsides. Yet, the other team was frequently offsides and the ref never seemed to see that. Or the pushing. Although he did call the kicking and deliberate tripping. But I digress.

It was a good game and the other team only got their last two goals in the last 8 minutes of the game, usually they were trailing. It was exciting and fun to watch and our girls felt really good about it, considering they all thought if the ref had been calling the plays right on both sides, they would have won. Problem with a twelve year old ref, I suppose, but the soccer club takes what it can get.

We ended up spending $31.89 for dinner out at Round Table Pizza for the four of us. We go there even though it is a little pricier because they don't use MSG in making their pizzas, which Rose is very allergic to and I don't react well to, either. We have got our eating out down to 1 time a week and I am hoping to get it down to twice a week, which is hard during soccer season, with the ultimate goal being one time out a month.

I am doing more cooking ahead and that helps, but when you have to spend all day at the soccer park and keep a cooler in a boiling hot vehicle, I still worry about food safety. Food poisoning is never fun and I've had it often enough in my life that I just prefer to avoid the whole issue. And I don't want to be dragging a cooler around the fields, either. I already have enough to carry.

Still, there has to be some compromise that won't be so pricey each week. I suppose the dollar menu at McD's maybe, but that's less healthy than pizza (at least the way we order pizza). Maybe the grocery store deli might be an option. Well, cheaper but not necessarily healthy either. I'll have to think on it some more.

Finished reading "Smart Couples Finish Rich," by David Bach yesterday. Very good information and I highly reccommend it for both members of a married couple or for anyone living as a married couple with combined finances. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I'd say about 90 percent of it can be applied to my life. DH is going to read it next.

I have learned a lot about how to invest with retirement money and how to invest beyond retirement money. I'm surprised at how clueless I really was before reading this book. Now I think I have a good foundation on which to build.

I started reading "Smart Women Finish Rich," same author, just to see where the books vary and if there might not be something even more specific to me as a woman than me as part of a couple.

Can't remember if I mentioned that we paid out $32 this week for school pictures and sports pictures, for 2 kids, each package being the cheapest at $8 a piece.

I also have to write a check to fund Tobias's lunch account tomorrow, so that will be another $30. It just makes me life easier when he has hot lunch. I know it is an expense I should cut out, but right now, I'm not quite willing.