My Debt Free Life

The Tithes that Bind

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:33:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I've been complaining for months that I have NO extra money, my expenses continually creep up, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I've applied to numerous part time jobs, taken on extra work when I can, sold everything I can, and yet I can't seem to get ahead. So what's a girl to do?

My thoughts? TITHE! Maybe it seems a little wacky to think that I should give more when I can't make ends meet now, but let me explain...

Several years ago, I took a Crown Financial class at my church. I learned biblical principles on managing money. I tithed 10%, religiously. And you know what? I always had enough. Don't ask me how - all I know is it worked. I still had to pinch pennies, but I didn't worry so much, which made everything seem like it would be okay.

For the past year, give or take a few months, I haven't been tithing the full 10%. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I haven't. And not only do I struggle each month to pay the bills, sometimes borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, I am filled with worry.

The sermon at church this morning was on stewardship. God rewards those who are faithful. I realize that my "rewards" may not be a gigantic increase in my income, or that all my debt will be paid off miraculously. But I do believe that I will feel better and that God will reward me in some manner.

So I'm making a conscious decision, and a commitment to God - each check I receive, every bit of income I get, I will set aside 10% to give back to God. I plan on keeping a record or a journal for 3 months to see what has happened during that time. I don't expect to be worse off at the end of the 3 months than I am now, and in fact, I feel like something good will come from this experience.

Ways to Get Out of Debt...

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:52:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I am so sick of googling "ways to get out debt", and finding the same boring stuff. Like I haven't already quit eating out, and line drying my clothes, and buying generic brands, and on, and on, and on.

Does no one have any useful suggestions? I admit that these are good places to start, but what about when you've done all those things, and more, and are still in debt?

Things I've done to get out of debt by cutting expenses:
1) Disconnect Satellite TV
2) Quit using the oven in the summer (we did use it once a week, on Fridays, for pizza night - other than that, it was crockpot or electric skillet meals)
3) Do not step foot in department stores - buy clothes at thrift stores
4) Plan menus using lots of rice and very little meat
5) Make homemade laundry detergent (we had to discontinue this practice due to a rash)
6) Make homemade deodorant (again, had to discontinue due to a severe rash development - very unpleasant!)
7) Make homemade cleaning products using vinegar
8) Mystery shopping - good way to buy Christmas presents and get reimbursed for the purchase
9) Line dry clothing
10) Set thermostat at 80-82 in the summer, and 60-62 in the winter

Yet through all of these cost cutting measures, I am progressing very, very, VERY slowly. And yes, I'm frustrated! I mean, what good is saving $20 each month on the electric bill when I have dental bills for thousands of dollars, the toilet starts leaking and has to be replaced, the air conditioner breaks, etc.?

Any comments, suggestions, advice, ideas are welcome!

What if...

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:32:00 +0000

By Anna Mae Peabody

What if...

I sold EVERYTHING in my house?

Really. I'm serious. OK, except for a few clothes, and a couple of place settings. Oh, and of course my family.

There would definitely be slim pickings right now, especially considering that I sold the living room furniture 2 weeks ago. (We're sitting on fold up chairs, you know the kind that people use on their lawns or sit in to watch their kids soccer games). Hmmm, so that leaves the bedroom furniture (none of it matches), a couple of odd chairs (real chairs, though, and made out of wood!), clothes (from Goodwill), "art" (that's funny), towels (with holes in them), and dishes (covered in cracks and chips). I hadn't really thought about it until today, when I was looking through the house to see what we had left that was "saleable". I noticed that just like the yard sales we had gone to last weekend, all our stuff shows signs of use, lots of it. (I wouldn't even buy my stuff).

So I've been asking myself - what do I do now? My budget is down to the minimum, I've sold everything I can, and I can't seem to get ahead. I used my $1000 emergency fund last month for a dental procedure. I need to have another $950 by August to finish the dental work. School will be starting soon, which means books and supplies must be bought. There are house repairs that will need to be done very soon, and on, and on, and on.

Rather than having a "Yard Sale", I've decided to have a "Junk Sale". Oh, the process might be similar, but the prices will be lower! It might be kind of fun - until someone turns up their nose at my favorite T-shirt that I've priced at $.05 (only because it has holes in the arm pits, but it's comfy!). And everybody should recognize right away that the headless Barbie on the table for a quarter is a collector's item!

I think I might be on to something here...

Food Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:26:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

Lately, I've noticed that the amount of money I spend on groceries each week is steadily increasing. So I'm on a quest to break this cycle.

While searching the internet, I found a link to U.S. Department of Agriculture website with a recipe database. You can search by cost per serving, meal type, etc. The results show the recipe, nutritional information, as well as cost per serving.

Of course, with summer just around the corner I don't really want to use the oven. I love cooking in the crockpot because not only do I not have to use the oven (which makes the A/C run longer which increases my electric bill), I don't have to "cook" as much.

Several months ago, I spent hours searching the internet for cheap, frugal recipes. I printed these out and put them in a 3 ring binder. I refer back to this when I'm feeling my grocery budget getting out of hand.

This week's menu includes the following:

1) Homemade pizza (cost about $6.00 total)
2) Stuffing with vegetables in the crockpot (approximately $2.00)
3) Squash, mashed potatoes, and broccoli (approximately $5.00)
4) Baked potatoes ($2-$4 depending on toppings)
5) Homemade Macaroni and cheese and baked beans (approximately $4.00)
6) Cheese sandwiches and chips (approximately $5.00, depending on type of chips purchased)

While the total of the above menu is around $26, this doesn't include personal hygiene items, paper products, etc. which I include in my grocery budget. I suppose if I were honest the reason I spend more than I intend during my visits to the grocery is that I purchase lotions, etc. Also not included above is my daughter's lunch items (she likes Lean Pockets and other frozen meals that are convenient to pop in the microwave).

A good idea for keeping the non-food items in the grocery costs low, I could use coupons and only by those products that are on sale. One of my favorite resources for coupons is HotCouponWorld.com. Not only does this site have coupons, but lots of freebie offers too!

Fat Free Sugar Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:14:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

OK, I can't remember where I found this recipe (somewhere online) - but they're great! Super easy, and budget friendly.

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup Egg Beaters (I have used the generic and found the results aren't as good, but they're still edible)

Mix the above ingredients. Place spoonfuls on pan. You can put sprinkles on the top of the cookies at this point, or sugar if you'd like. Bake at 350 degrees for about 7-8 minutes.

Demo for Dollars

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:44:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I started another part-time job yesterday: grocery store demonstrations. This might work for some of you, interested in earning extra money and comfortable doing customer service work. The ability to stand for hours, a friendly smile and the ability to speak to the public are good skills to have for this type of work.

Another positive aspect of the job is that you can choose what days you would like to work.

The main drawback for me was the fact that I had to stand for long periods of time without sitting. I will take a rug to stand on next time, as I have heard that this helps quite a bit.

Cheap Meals

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

Here are some ideas for really cheap meals:

1) Chili (if you put it in the crockpot to cook, you can save some money on your electricity bill)
- 2 cans of beans ($1.00)
- 1 can tomato paste ($.35)
- 1 packet chili seasoning ($.40)
TOTAL: $1.75

2) Vegetable soup (again, put it in the crockpot)
- 1 can mixed vegetables ($.50)
- leftover vegetables if you have any (if not, use 1 or 2 potatoes, a can of green beans or other beans, etc.) (approximately $.50)
- chicken bouillon ($.25)
TOTAL: $1.25

3) Corn chowder (in the crockpot)
- 2 potatoes ($.50)
- 1 can creamed corn ($.50)
- 1 can corn ($.50)
- Milk (I use the powdered milk and water it down somewhat) (approximate cost $.50)
- Chicken bouillon ($.50)
TOTAL: $2.50

4) Veggies & Rice (steam the vegetables, and put the rice in the microwave to lower electricity costs)
- 1 bag frozen veggies ($1.00)
- Rice (approximately $.50)
- Soy sauce ($.25)
TOTAL: $1.75

**Got any ideas for cheap meals? Email me to add yours to the list!

GRRRR....

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:53:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I'm sure some of you can understand my frustration - whenever I think I might be just a little bit ahead, WHAM - some unexpected expense smacks me in the face!

A brief summary - I did my taxes, and thought I would get a nice refund to pay off my student loan debt and then put half of the remaindert in my 3-6 month emergency fund and the other half towards my upcoming dental surgery.

So what happened? First, I got a bill from my daughter's dentist. $312 remaining from what the insurance wouldn't pay. OK, so I thought that wasn't too bad. I can handle $312. I just made the little deduction in my notebook.

And then? I got ANOTHER bill from my daughter's periodontist. Apparently, the insurance didn't want to pay for that consultation either (I think she had actually reached her limit for the year and I wasn't aware of it - long story, but that's the gist). Another $110.

So I made another deduction. And another, and another...

What was I left with?

Well, I had enough to pay off my student loan (Yeah!! Finally). And I'll be able to pay the aforementioned dental bills ($422). And I'll be able to pay back one-half of what I owe to a family member that fronted me the money for my daughter's root canal.

So instead of being finished with Baby Step 2 (my original plan), I am still stuck here, and with the following debts:

$600 - remaining payment for root canal
$3050 - dental surgery (mine)

Sometimes I just feel like giving up - except I know I wouldn't be any better off, particularly since I performed surgery on my credit cards. Grrrr...

Frugal Friday Tip

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:29:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

My aunt gave me a tip about saving money on the heating bill - remove the hose hooked up to your dryer vent, cover it with a sock, and let the heat enter the house rather than venting outside.

Drastic Times Call for Drastic Measures

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:05:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

It seems like the news, the radio, television, as well as the newspaper all bear the same grim story regarding this country's financial situation. I have not been laid off (yet), thank God, but I have not been immune to the effects of our economy nor has some of my family. My money doesn't stretch as far as it used to (I remember 10 years ago when we moved to Georgia and I was amazed that the price of gas was only $.88 per gallon!).

Tightening my financial belt was something I was doing to decrease my debt as quickly as possible. Now I feel like I need to do it more for the fact that I have no idea if I'll have a job next week, or tomorrow.

This has been on my mind a lot lately, of course. I realize, though, that it is a perfect example of how God may be using the economy and my fear of what could be coming to make me rely more on Him. When I was a child, I was the only one in the family that had money in the piggy bank - I was known by adult and child alike as a saver. Now when my family talks about it me, the words used are frugal, cheap, or thrifty.

I have come to the point that I am preparing myself to do something I don't really want to do, but I feel it is necessary - cut the cable! I know, I probably should have done it long ago. If I had, perhaps my fear would be considerably less.

My "Drastic Measures" Action Plan (what I plan on doing to cut my expenses to only the absolute necessities) include:

1) Disconnect the cable

2) Reduce the internet speed (I need some form of communication with the outside world - so I'll reduce the speed to the lowest but draw the line at dial-up, at least for now)

3) Health insurance - I shopped around and got a new policy this month that will save me $32 per month

4) No shopping - This hasn't been a problem for me since I quit going to the thrift stores, never visit the mall, and only buy things when I'm mystery shopping (where my purchase is usually fully reimbursed)

5) Groceries - I have $100 budgeted for this category, but sometimes have gone over. I plan on watching more closely the sale items at my local grocery stores and planning menus around those items. I may also go back to the 2 times per month grocery shopping, versus the 1 time per week that I go now - I seem to spend more money when I go weekly.

6) Sell household items - I have gone through the house several times and gathered things up to sell online. I belong to a Yahoo group that is sort of like an online yard sale which is in my area. I have had more luck selling items on this list than I have on craigslist. My action plan is to continue to go through the house, weekly, and select items that are not "necessary" and attempt to sell them.

I know these may not sound like epiphanies - but the cable one in particular is huge for me. I like to be able to watch the television if I want to. About a year ago, I reduced the cable package we had to the very basic where we only get about 20 channels. So truthfully I probably won't even miss it. After all, I can get my fill of bad news any time I want on the internet.

Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:07:00 +0000

By W. Haynes

For several years, there has been a deep-seated longing in me to do something about the invisible or unseen members of our society. At least that's how I see them - those living in poverty or very close to it.

I want to visit these people, see their homes, understand their lives and what it's like for them on a day to day basis. I've been told, however, that this curiosity on my part may in fact offend these people that I am so interested in. That surprised me - I don't think I would be offended if someone was truly interested in seeing how I lived, appreciated how hard it was at times to pay the bills, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

I am by no means wealthy, but I am not destitute or even what the government considers low income. I just want to do something, to bring attention to people that are often ignored or forgotten. It seems to me that for some people it's too painful to recognize them as fellow human beings, or maybe it reminds us of where we could find ourselves or where we came from.

I came across a website that I found interesting, and perhaps you might as well.

Better Budgeting.com

Other sites of interest:

The Poverty Site - Of particular interest to me was the daily spending calculator (I put in my totals and found, to my surprise, that I spend a great deal more than $2 per day.

Bartering

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:18:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

My monthly expenses have seemed to increase lately, with dental work, grocery prices, and everything else seemingly going up in price. My income, on the other hand, seems to be going down. With the holidays, instead of working 3 10 hour days, I only worked 2 last week and the same will probably apply to the upcoming week.

With that in mind, I have been considering starting a local barter network. The problem is I don't feel like I have much to offer. I need lots of stuff (electrical, plumbing, and dental work to name a few), yet my skills don't seem as valuable in comparison. My skills include cleaning, billing and invoicing, receptionist, organizing, and secretarial work.

I suppose I could start the board (maybe on Yahoo Groups), and see what comes of it. I have nothing to lose by doing that, and I might find an undiscovered skill that I could barter with!

Anyone have any ideas, comments, success stories they'd like to share?

Cheap Meals

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:56:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

On the menu for this week are some extremely cheap meals (all my money seems to be disappearing in my mouth -- on my teeth).

1) Baked beans and cornbread:
Large Can of Bush's Vegetarian beans - $1.50
Cornbread (I buy a mix that requires egg and milk) - $.45
Total $1.95

2) Pizza:
Dough (homemade, less than $.25)
Sauce - $.88
Cheese (I buy the fat free, but Wal-mart and Kroger usually have shredded cheese on sale for $1.50) - $3.00
$3.88

3) Corn Casserole:
Cornbread (I buy the mix, adding a little more butter to make it more soupy) - $.45
Corn (creamed corn and regular) - $1.00
Sour cream - $.90
Total $2.35

4) Cheesy Potatoes and Broccoli:
Potatoes (I have these already, but a 10 pound bag is now $3.98 at the local Wal-mart)
Cheese - $3.00
Broccoli (I buy the frozen bags) - $1.00
Total $4.00

5) Fried Rice:
Rice (a large box is $2.00, and I'll use about 1/4 of the box) - $.50
Shrimp (small bag of frozen shrimp) - $2.50
Onion (have this on hand)
Green Pepper (it will probably be $1.00 each at the grocery, so I'll wait until these go on sale to have green peppers in my fried rice)
Egg - $.25
Total $3.25

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:20:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

As I said in my post yesterday, I have had a lot of drama in the past several weeks. Maybe a more accurate word would be setbacks. I like to make lists, so here goes...

1) The root canal ($2000 including the crown) that I had last year continued to get worse - I went to the oral surgeon who told me that I could either have an apicoectomy ($1000) that might work, or I could extract it ($250) and go with an implant ($3500 including the crown). (BTW - did you know that those lovely little crowns they put on your teeth, you know, the ones that cost about $1000, are actually not worth anything! It may seem stupid, but as frugal as I am I asked the oral surgeon if the existing crown could be "recycled" and placed on my implant. In case you have ever wondered the same thing, the answer is NO!)

My thoughts were, with the way my luck was going and the problems I have with my teeth (genetic maybe, one dentist told me it looked like I never had fluoride when I was younger, who knows) I would spend the money for the apicoectomy and then have it fail. Not only would I be out the root canal money, but the second surgery, and then the additional money for the extraction and implant.

So I elected to have it taken out. Now I have to wait 2 to 6 months for the implant. That's good, though - it allows me time to save up the money.

2) My daughter had a tooth issue as well the same week. She is too young, according to the periodontist, to have an implant so they would not pull it (it was one of her back molars). Instead, they said the only thing to do was a root canal. Guess how much that was - $1200! She does have insurance, but the endodontist would not bill the insurance until after I had paid the money up front.

Just a side note - $1200 is more than 3/4 what I bring home each month. After much prayer and pleading with God, he answered my prayer and the money to pay up front for the root canal was given to me.

3) Another tooth issue for me - I won't go into too much detail, but it seems another of my teeth (or possibly 2 teeth) need a root canal. I hesitate to throw more money away on these as I have had 2 that both failed. We'll see in another month or two after I have saved up enough to go back to the dentist.

4) My health insurance premium is set to go up in another month (9 months before they said it would!). Needless to say, I've been shopping around for a new provider.

5) Our dryer is on its last leg - literally. We can only dry clothes for about 15 minutes. I then hang them up to air dry.

I had been so excited to pay off my student loan at the end of the year, a mere 5 days away - I could see the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, my path has been blocked and I can't move forward and feel like I have instead moved backward.

The funny thing is that I'm not really worried anymore. I probably should be, but I'm not. I have my baby emergency fund in place, I've saved enough of my 1099 income for taxes, my car is paid for, and my other bills are current. I don't know if these situations have been tests, or trials, or whatever - maybe they have happened so that when (not if) I finally get out of debt I will be able to truly appreciate it.

Your comments, thoughts, and stories are welcome.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:45:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

So much "drama" has happened in the past couple of weeks, but I'll get into that on my next post. I wanted to wish my faithful reader(s) a Merry Christmas :)

Christmas Gift Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:09:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

In our family, we have tried several ideas for gift giving over the years. These have included drawing a name from a hat, keeping the price of the gift under $5, and my all time favorite - giving "free" gifts.

Last year, we instituted the "free" gifts and will do so again this year. I LOVE this! It's a chance for us to be creative, and can sometimes be very humorous when opening the presents.

My free gifts come from a variety of places.

1) Free Samples - I request as many free samples as I can find. I have gotten coffee samples, free meal coupons, bath and beauty products, etc.

2) Mystery Shopping - For some of the shops I do, I have to purchase something. I try to buy something that is within the reimbursement guidelines, and I look for things for individuals on my list. I have gotten glasses (the kind you drink from), shirts and other clothing, home and garden items, etc. Depending on what type of shops I accept, the list is seemingly endless!

3) Surveys - I have signed up with MyPoints.com, and have earned enough points for a $10 gift card from Kohl's. MyPoints has a variety of merchants from which to choose.

Check back for other ideas regarding cheap or free Christmas gift ideas!

Preparing for Baby Step 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:30:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

At the end of the year, I will once again take a look at my assets and liabilities. This information will be typed in a financial statement (very basic, of course, since I have not a lot of one and what seems like an over-abundance of the other) so that I can see my progress since the same time last year.

Prior to this, however, I hope to have completed Baby Step 2. As you can see from the bar on the right, I have only $999 remaining to finish this step. The remainder is my student loan, and I hope to have it paid off by the end of December.

In preparation of this wonderful event, I have been looking forward to Baby Step 3. At this step, I would be saving 3 to 6 months of living expenses. This would include my basics: mortgage, groceries, utilities, electricity, health insurance, life insurance, and tithing. I have been debating whether or not to include phone, cable, and other "necessities"; however, I think that it would cause me less stress if I were to just include those things that I shouldn't live without. I could live without cable, although probably not happily, and the same could be said of my cell phone. My total for monthly living expenses would be $1,500 per month, and I would need to have $4,500 to $9,000 in my fully funded emergency fund for Baby Step 3.

Thinking about the length of time I would need to complete Baby Step 3 is not good for my digestion. Although if I put it into perspective, it will take a lot less time to accomplish this step than it did to finish Baby Step 2.

I'd love to hear from others out there who are working on the steps!

How to Get Things for Free

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:54:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

With the cost of groceries, health insurance, and basically everything else going up these days, I thought it might be helpful to put together a small list of some things I've gotten for free.

1) Dental exams/cleaning - It's true! I received a free dental cleaning and exam ($177) by conducting a dental mystery shop.

2) Eye exam and new glasses - Again, through a mystery shop.

3) I'm not sure how I found this site, but they have movies available to watch for free:
Watch-movies.net

4) Books - There are several sites where you can give away books and receive them, and only pay for the shipping cost.
- Bookmooch
- You can get a free Cookbook
-This website has an article on how to get free books Creditpanda

5) HotCouponWorld.com - Lots of coupons, freebies, and more!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:55:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I have been so busy working and homeschooling, that it seems like I never have enough time to do anything else (such as update the blog). I'm not left with enough energy at the end of the day to be creative, hence no new "wonderful" ideas on how to save money or increase income.

I'm still on Baby Step #2 - the Debt Snowball (see DaveRamsey.com for commplete Baby Step listing. But I only have $2499 left to go on my student loan and I'm done! (*Note - Make that $1874, because I just made an online payment). I want to have this paid off by Christmas, BUT...

Murphy keeps coming around, and each time I feel like I've taken a step forward I take another 1 or 2, sometimes even 3, back. Let's take an example from October, shall we?

I had a root canal at the end of last year (which was almost $2000!), and although I didn't have any pain after the root canal I continued to have occasional slight swelling on my gum. I went back to the dentist last week, and of course Murphy had to tag along. I was told that I have a root fracture where the root canal was done, so I need to have this corrected by the oral surgeon. Guess how much that's going to cost - $1,000!

After I left the dentist's office, I called the oral surgeon to get a quote. Once they told me the cost, I of course started tearing up and feeling sorry for myself. I can't get ahead, woe is me, yada yada.

Long story short - my expected expenses for the month of November = $4600. My expected income for November equals about half of that. I will get some money from mystery shopping, which will probably leave me with a shortfall of about $1600 to $2000. If I don't pay the full $1250 I wanted to pay on my student loan but instead pay only $625, I'll have a shortage of about $1,000.

Unfortunately, I'm all out of ideas on how to cut expenses - I don't think I can cut them anymore. My necessities are already cut to the bare minimum. Increasing my income I suppose is the only alternative. But again, I'm all out of ideas on how to do this. I don't have anything left to sell, and even if I did it doesn't seem like too many people are buying. Lots of people are in the same boat as me, right?

So my prayer is that God provide for my needs. Which He has up to this point, and will continue to do. I just WANT to finish Baby Step #2, and I want to do this now!

One Way to Save Money - $$$

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:37:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I am frugal, some people may say cheap. But within the past 2 months, I've gotten 2 relatively expensive services for free. The first was an eye exam and glasses for my daughter ($110), and the other was my dental cleaning and exam ($180). I was able to get these great deals by signing up as a mystery shopper!

There are so many different types of mystery shops available - car repair, oil changes, fast food, casual dining, fine dining, clothing, cell phones, etc., etc. I signed up with 1 company in January of this year, and my list of companies that I shop for has grown to about 30!

I love being able to get necessities, such as eye exams and dental exams, for free or deeply discounted. The money I saved is well worth completing the reports, scanning in the receipts, etc.

A good website to visit is JobSlinger.com. There you will find somewhat up to date mystery shop listings. I have found a few, but I mainly have been using it for ways to find additional companies to sign up with.

UPDATE - Debt Tracker

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:35:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I have been so busy working, that I haven't had time to update the blog. As of today, I have $2499 left to pay on my student loan. I am hopeful that this will be paid of by Christmas. Which means, of course, that I'll be done with Baby Step 2!

Upate on Income/Expenses

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:21:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

Time for an update on my income and expenses - below are some of the steps I've taken to increase my income and decrease my expenses:

(Image from library.thinquest.org)

Income:

1) Mystery Shopping - OK, I know I said I was going to "quit" for a while, but what can I say? It's not a lot of money, but I have managed to make anywhere from $200 to $600 extra per month. I will be posting a complete list of the companies that I've signed up for recently (roughly 20 to 30).

2) Hmmm...

(I'm working on this one)

Expenses:

1) Electric bill - As I've said before, the thermostat is set at 82 in the summer and in the low 60s in the winter. We're not using the dryer in the summer. Perhaps the biggest energy saver has been not using the oven during the summer. My electric bill is half what it was at this time last year.

2) Cable/Satellite - My daughter threw a fit, but I cut out all the extras on our satellite. We only get the basic channels, and have saved $35 per month.

3) Water - We're still using our buckets in the shower (reusing the water for laundry), take shorter showers, and only wash the clothes when we have enough for a full load.

4) Miscellaneous - I feel guilty even buying new clothes or splurging on anything for myself. I try to avoid shopping and thus avoid the temptation. That's not to say I don't buy new clothing, but I do limit the number of times I go shopping. Instead, I satisfy my "shopping needs" by doing the mystery shops. That way, I'm still buying "things", but I get reimbursed for them.

5) Christmas Presents - It is a little early to be talking about Christmas, I know. But I thought I'd share my family's gift exchange policy - it has to be free, not dead or alive, and it can't smell. This will save quite a bit of money in December. (HINT: I have gotten all my Christmas presents for this year from mystery shops).

DEBT TRACKER UPDATE: As of today, my student loan balance is down to $3500!!!!

Income Update

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:21:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

As I said in a recent post, I have decided to take a break from mystery shopping. That means, of course, that I'll have anywhere from $400 to $600 less income per month. Did I mention that my full time job is now part time? (My choice - so I could homeschool my daughter). So now my monthly income will be decreased by about $600-$800 total. I paid off my car last month, so that's one payment I don't have to worry about.

Which leaves the 1 remaining debt (other than the house) from my Debt Snowball - the dreaded STUDENT LOAN. The balance is about $4500 now.

The closer I get to paying my debt off, the more I crave not having to work. I don't mean that I don't want to work, but I don't want to HAVE to work.

When I Tithe...

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:14:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

I used to think that I was an anomoly - but since beginning my journey to debt freedom, I have met others with similar experiences. I'm referring to what happens when I tithe. It seems like the more I give, the more I get. I know that "it's more blessed to give than to receive", and that what I get doesn't necessarily always mean money. But it is amazing to me that when I tithe, my budget always works out, I haven't missed a payment, and I can usually put extra towards my debt snowball.

When I first began getting serious about not having any debt, I was taking a Crown Financial class. One of the classes had us making a budget for homework. I kept that piece of paper, too, by the way. When I look at it now, I think "How in the world did I even manage to feed my family?" But at that time, I always had money to pay my bills, and there was almost always a little something extra to put towards my debt. The thing was, though, that I gave to God what was his in the first place, and I did this before paying anything else. I was happier with my life, too.

To be honest, since I bought my house almost 3 years ago, my tithe hasn't been the 10% that it was in my "poor" days. Oh, it's usually around 5% which I guess isn't bad, but I know I should be giving the full 10%. And I don't think I'm as happy with my life as I was then. Perhaps one could say it's the stress of owning a home, the repairs, knowing that a job is necessary because to miss one paycheck would mean certain disaster. I don't really mean that type of happy, though. It's more of a feeling of knowing that I know the right thing to do, and almost disregarding what I'm supposed to do because I can't trust that God would provide for me.

So this, too, is one of my goals: to increase my tithing to 10% again.

An example from several years ago, again during my poor era, should illustrate what I mean. I had just spent all the money I had on bills and groceries, and I had one small bill (around $20) that I had to pay within the next couple of days. I wasn't due to receive a paycheck within that time period, and I was stressing about how I was going to pay this small bill. Granted, the amount was small and probably wouldn't have made much difference in the grand scheme of things. But I don't want to ignore my responsibilities, purposefully be late on a payment, etc. I think it was the day before the bill was due, and I was obsessing over this $20 bill. I came home, and per my usual custom got out to get the mail. Guess what was in there! A check to me for $20!!

I know that God will take care of me, but sometimes I have a hard time with that.

Increasing my tithe to 10% is my goal, as is paying off the remaining $4500 that I owe (student loan).

A Word to the Wise

noreply@blogger.com (Kerri) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:48:00 +0000

By Lynn Forgy

For those of you who are thinking of mystery shopping, or perhaps have already begun, I have a bit of advice for you. One disclaimer though - please don't let what I say here detract from your desire to mystery shop. Up until this experience, for the 8 months I've been doing this, I have had fun, gotten some cool (free) things, found some really neat stores, and met some nice people. It is a legitimate way to make some extra money.

First, I'll tell my story and then you can take what you want from it. I'm afraid I can't divulge too much detail, but maybe you can get an idea of what I mean anyway.

Almost 2 months ago, I did a shop at a business. My instructions were to act interested in a product sold by the business, interact with an associate and get a business card, and let the associate pitch the product. It went well, I did my job, and provided my honest feedback.

So earlier this week, I signed up for another shop at this same business, never dreaming that the associate would be there and even if he was I thought there was absolutely no chance he would remember me. Geez, was I wrong! Not only did he remember me, but he knew why I was there. I walked into the location, asked for assistance at the front desk, and the same guy came over to me. I recognized him, but I thought I was not memorable enough for him to remember me. He came up to me, with a smile on his face, and immediately confronted me. He said he knew who I was, why I was there, and of course I was sputtering and trying to act like I had no idea what he was talking about. (When I'm confronted like that, I usually just open my mouth like a fish out of water and it's not until later that I realize I should have said such and such, etc.) He led me back to his cubicle, sat down at his desk, and began to look through his handy dandy notebook in search of my previous information. He said lots of stuff, basically just calling me out and trying to get me to admit my purpose for being there. Then he really let me have it - did I not realize that people like me take up their time, when they could be making a sale, he told me I was very negative in my comments (I reread them later and saw that I had given him just an average rating), and he was upset to say the least, yada yada.

Long story short (too late?), I left the location without completing the shop. But it made me think - two things, really. The first is that I had absolutely no clue that the things I reported would go straight back to the employee I had interacted with. Even if I said just average things, not negative, perhaps they take it the wrong way. Rather than trying to get them to improve, maybe they think I'm criticizing them, personally. I didn't think of it that way. And I wouldn't want to make anyone feel badly about themselves - everyone has bad days. Who knows? Maybe it was me that caused them to provide less than stellar service.

Secondly - I should not go back to the same place that has a very low turnover rate. At least not until I drastically change my appearance :)

After some soul searching, I think I've decided to take a break from this part time job. I'm very tired (with all the shops I was doing, the travel time, plus the time it takes to enter the reports), it was almost like a full time job. Add to that my other part time job, and (formerly full time job) now second part time job, the fact that I've begun homeschooling my daughter, and it makes for a tiring week.

If anyone else has had their mystery shopping identity compromised, with some colorful stories to share, I would love to post them!