Priorities

This is my sweetie, meddling. JP turned one year old and is busier than ever. So, am I. The girls stay with me five days a week and while I had considered returning to work, I have no time. At this point, working outside my home looks like picking up overnight shifts and sleeping five hours before receiving the baby.

While I know people do this, it is not the best plan for having free available attention on a regular basis. No, there is not time for a nap as after school pick up is at 2:40 pm. Then snacks, play, review of day, dinner, baths, relax, and bedtime. The girls stay overnight twice a week as well.

We are back up at 6:45 am to prepare for school drop off for the kindergartner and wreaking havoc for the baby. In a world of free exploration, there are no playpens. Or, without playpens baby wreaks havoc. Either way, I live in a daycare. I provide a happy, healthy, safe environment for my grand-daughters to grow and explore the world.

With this goal in mind, I realize it is time to reshape my budget to adjust to the income I presently earn, rather than the one I had planned to bring home.

By commitment, I give 10% first. In the past I was saving 10%, then paying bills with the rest. As I barely earn what covers my expenses, I have saved less. Thankfully, my savings will serve as a safety net should the need arise (to pay bills). I have run up a bit of debt compensating for my lack of income, but am paying it off consistently.

This blog is dedicated to my process of enjoying my life outside of being a wage slave. So, I've been managing on two days work a week, some part-time contract office work, and online earnings. I cashed in my i-Say points for $10 gift card and am working toward my next $25 PayPal gift card with Swag bucks. When I need something I search Amazon first because I keep a credit there (through Swag bucks) and use Swag bucks to place orders (shop and earn) then PayPal to pay for them, unless I have a gift card for the store. Finally, I have a gold bracelet I am going to sell this week. I rarely wore it. The saddest part of selling jewelry is that I cannot get back what the giver paid for it.

In what spare time there is, I drink beer and crochet on cool evening. In the picture up top, JP is wearing her new slippers. Generally, I write in my head. By the time I get back to paper or computer I have forgotten what I thought. Life is busy, hectic even. My time is filled with love and laughter, cookies and tea, and little girls who love ribbons and bows or sticks and mud.

Nap time ends in a minute...

Make today a great day!!!

Namaste

It's a New Day!

As you know, November 11, 2011 I quit my job.

I had a plan. Travel. Drink beer. Write.

I was off to a good start, but was waylaid. We'll call that done around Juneteenth 2012. By that time, I needed money - a job, so I would be Just Over Broke.

I lallygagged through a miserably hot summer, fermented everything I could find and played with my grand-daughter. I struggled through months of job search. I worked part-time.

No matter what distress I might conjure to share, the truth is I am living well. I have enough. I do enough. I am enough. There is money in the bank to pay the bills that roll in. I have a small savings. My health is okay. It could be better. I limit my complaining.

Here is the post I promised somewhere in the previous three hundred - how I manage on little of nothing, but time. My whole blog - addresses this question, but this post is about money, and surveys in particular.

I complete lots of surveys. Some are better than others and lots are changing, so jump in where is makes sense for you.

• SwagBucks I've been searching with SwagBucks for the past month. I saw those post on FB and read the reviews on other blogs, then finally committed to signing up. Basically, you earn points by searching the web, completing surveys, tasks, or special activities. There are give away points posted on the SB blog, FB page and Twitter. There are extra points gifted for your birthday, Mega Bucks Fridays, and just because searching. It is random variable reward. Since November 9, 2012 I have collected five Amazon gift cards at 450 points each. Soon I will redeem 2500 points for $25 PayPal card. That's CASH! Check it out. Easy to sign up and the tool bar allows search from any tab.
• Pinecone Research conduct product marketing surveys. They offer a cash incentive though less than it once was. I've been part of the research panel for years and it is open only by invitation. Most surveys take 10 - 15 minutes and the current payout is $3. It is the most interesting of the survey choices, except,
• Community Marketing and Insights This research company is geared toward helping business leaders understand LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender) communities. They offer both paid surveys and sweepstakes opportunities. Opportunities include surveys and focus groups. Open by invitation.
• ThirdAge Advisory Leaders This panel is geared toward "mature" participants (50 years +). I have had minimal luck completing their surveys. The incentive is $3 and pays out at $20. I can never decide if I know too much in the technology realms to too little in the investment. As with many cash incentive programs, there seems to be the expectation that the participant will be making major purchases in the next six to twelve months. 
• Harris Polls were my favorite surveys for years. They were interesting to complete with high point rewards. Points are converted to actual gifts or gift cards. I redeemed points for a full body massage pad (with heat) and Amazon gift cards. Recently, this company has changed their process. Now there are qualifying questions before the survey. I decide in advance how many questions I am willing to wade through. There are plenty of other choices out there. Redeem 1250 points for $10 gift card (electronic).
• Zoom Panel Take surveys. Earn points. Redeem them for gift cards, merchandise, or donate to charitable organizations. While there are lots of invitations, I find I am rarely qualified these days. Could be I am a very different consumer than I once was. My last redemption was the glass cordless water kettle in September 2012. I love it! It is well worth the time invested.
• iSay by Ipsos Again, take surveys, earn points and redeem for charity, gift cards, PayPal and cash. The biggest difference in sites is the number of point awarded and redemption levels. 1000 points equals $10 gift cards/payout.  

There are lots of other sites and I have signed up for a dozen more. They are not included because either I didn't qualify for their surveys after multiple choices or the payout is too low for the time invested. Time = Points = Money. Unless I am just piddling with no intention of being productive, I will not invest more time than a survey is worth. I'll update this post if I find more money earning sites that are worth my time. Until then, do you have a favorite money earning site? Please share in the comment section.

Also, if you are interested in a referral link, leave a note.

Live long and prosper!

UPDATE -

Here is the best review site I have found, yet. Survey Police. I still have several that have not made their list to check. I'll let you know.

05.29.13 Update -
Pinecone has changed their reward system to points that can then be converted to gifts or cash. So far, the points equal the previous cash incentive, but now it is a long drawn out process to get the funds. The advantage of Pinecone is that when qualified, you also get to test products in your home and complete a follow-up survey which pays as well.

On the subject of products, check out BzzAgent.

• Discover and try new products and services
• Introduce friends to new products (and share special offers)
• Influence big name brands with your feedback

New Choices

I quit my job to write, travel and drink beer. As you remember, or can read, things were going according to ideal. I am thankful for the these last (nearly) six months and am now embarking on the next adventure. While I made two trips to the west coast in this time, most of my travels have been back to my family of origin, dealing with illness, death, and more illness. It is a double blessing that my life and time opened to allow this experience (and more grist for the writing mill).

On the streets of San Francisco. Is this trust?

But since I like living inside and really love my particular home, I am heading back to work. My internal chatter had me committed to part-time employment and focusing my maintaining my frugal lifestyle, but as I have applied for more and more jobs, I am opening to the possibility that I can return to work full-time and still live as I do.

There are some things that take way more money that I have available - gutters, windows, moonshine, and my favorite liqueurs. Yeah, I make much of what I love, but there are those out there who have perfected the process and I want to check them out.

I started a part-time job Monday and came home to an invitation to interview for a full-time job next week. I am hopeful and encouraged. I am even a little excited. Perhaps, this will be far more interesting than I had previously imagined.

I'll let you now.

More Money?

Spend less. Give more.

Holiday season thrift tips were abundant and now that the New Year has arrived it is either time to continue conscious spending or settle created debt. If there is still old debt floating on the balance sheets, this is a great opportunity to resolve that as well.

Spend less.

• Know how much you need to live – housing, utilities, food, fuel, insurance – necessities
• Know how much you are spending monthly and identify where every cent goes. How much is funneled into the miscellaneous category? Include clothes, meals and snacks away from home, and all expenditures beyond necessities.
• Identify the bare minimum for your life and family. Each of us has a ideal standard of what we need and how we are willing to live. When we know what that is, we can make decisions more clearly about what we are willing to change.
• How much is your ego costing you? Egos are vultures and will strip you of your cash and available credit. The ego knows your secret desires and will declare eminent death if left unfed. Changes in choice and habit will be challenged from within with fear of loss and limitation. Be thoughtful, precise and aware.
• With a visual of spending habits, subtract the necessary from the pattern of spending. This is the resource. It is from this balance that we will pay off debt, save, and give more.

Give more.

I give in love because I love to give. Sharing opens our hearts to others, to the human experience. We are blessed to have more than we need and the opportunity to share brings the realization of our blessing directly to us. Give to places or organizations that serve in an area that interest you or that feed you spiritually. Give sufficiently that you feel the experience in giving.

If giving is already part of your commitment, give more. Acknowledge that you have more than enough. Is there any doubt? Check the numbers again. Spending, saving, and giving each have emotional tags. We calculate and understand the numbers cognitively, but at disbursement we face deep seeded ideas about money. As we open, examine, embrace and accept these ideas we are free to choose which actually serve our lives.

Imagine there is more than enough. As we accept this realization, we find there is even more.

There is enough of everything for every one, even you.