Saturday, February 7, 2015

Tally Up



If you are currently experiencing tons of snow and cold temperatures I feel for you.  February always felt like such a long way away from Spring when we lived in Alberta.  Here on Vancouver Island we are experiencing a lot of rain which is our typical winter.  We have had no snow which is unusual, it usually snows at least once a year.  
Apparently the weather gods heard I bought a second shovel in anticipation of the big snow dump and decided against it.  The back lawn is so saturated it feels a bit like a swamp when you step on it.  Our puppy Buddy thinks we are crazy for trying to convince him he needs to do his business outside when it is dark, windy and raining sideways.  He looks like I am punishing him but we figured out if we take a flashlight out and stand in the rain with him eventually it will happen - he is a fast learner.

I tallied up all our grocery purchases in January which included 3 adults and all food/cleaning/over the counter medications and nonfood products.  The goal was $650 and we ended up at $660.  Fairly close.  Now that my stepdaughter has moved out the budget is being reduced to $450.  It wouldn't be so difficult to stay on track except we spend so much on over the counter medications for our various maladies.  Only about half of it is actual food.  I was going to increase it a little but have decided against that as we are sending money to my stepdaughter so the extra will go to that.

As previously posted I have a goal this year of paying for Christmas with as little cash as possible.  The total budget is $1000 for 4 kids and two parents.  We don't gift throughout the year except on birthdays and the kids are definitely not spoiled so we do spend a bit on them at Christmas because we want to and because we can afford to.  Hopefully, we have to spend less hard earned cash this year and can take advantage of more points/freebies to lessen the cost.  So far:



Christmas 2015

$25 Walmartphotocentre.ca credit from late order in Dec 2014
$27.68 Amazon.ca GCs from using Swagbucks
$20 PC Plus points from Shopping at Superstore
$77.46 Cash Infolinks blog income
$10 in Shoppers Drug Mart points
$160.14

The year started off with a bang in this regard.  I cashed out my blog income and took advertising off my blog because it became a pain in the but.  That $77.46 went into my savings account earmarked for the Christmas fund.  I have already earned $25 in amazon.ca GCs from using Swagbucks this year and added that to the $2.68 left over from last year.

If you wish to join I would appreciate you using my affiliate link:
Join Swagbucks Here


Since joining Swagbucks 4 years ago I have earned $480 in gift certificates.  You earn by watching videos, playing games, answering polls and the easiest is downloading their chrome extension where by doing searches you can win Swagbucks (it takes approximately 10 searches before you may see a win).  If you join and refer others they have a special right now that anyone you refer you will receive 10% of their lifetime earnings - a great deal for doing nothing. I only spend a few minutes a day on it - they don't expire and it is a great way if on a tight budget to earn gift certificates for gifts or extras in your home .  Last year I used $80 and bought hubby a workout heart monitor which he uses daily. They recently changed how they email out amazon Gift certificate codes and now I usually receive them within a couple days of ordering them instead of weeks like previously.

I have been a bit homebound so almost no shopping this week as with Buddy in the house we have been watching him like a hawk and taking him outside every 90 minutes.  As he gets older he can hold it longer.  We are so happy we have him - he brings joy to us every day.  More Puppy pictures later - I figured we needed one Puppy photo free post lol.

22 comments:

  1. Are you sure Buddy isn't learning that his humans will light the way and keep him company every night (even through rain, sleet, snow, hail) to go out and do his business? If so, he is probably smarter than all of us. - Margy

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    1. At night now I just stand by the door and won't let him in until he does his business - quicker that way, you are definitely right.

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  2. Pets are wonderful in so many ways - I'm sure I'm much less stressed now that I have the kittens to cuddle and nuzzle and kiss and play with etc.....though they can also be little rascals but they're so cute I forgive them instantly (not like kids!! :)
    It could be that all the rain speeds up Buddy's learning curve outside!!

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    1. He definitely takes some stress out of this household. Kids can piss us off for days, the dog - instantly forgiven with that sweet look of his :)

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  3. I wonder if it would be worth your while to become an Amazon.ca affiliate. Very few people do it with The Canadian version of Amazon, and if you have a lot of Canadian readers it could be worth your while. I know I would visit through your site when we buy anything once we get back to Canada. :-)

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    1. We are an amazon.com affiliate on our corporate website for hubby's book but I kind of want to keep that off this blog since I rarely spend any real money it is difficult to make recommendations.

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  4. You are doing so well with your Christmas money!!! I'm still at $0.
    And potty training is easier for some dogs than others. Our rott took forever to train, our wolf was only a couple of weeks. Miss them both.

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    1. He gets the potty training thing except on the carpet - hubby thought he was being nice and let him into his office today while I was out, he peed twice(Buddy not hubby lol). Hubby needs to learn better :)

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  5. We want Buddy pics...we want Buddy pics...
    Jane x

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  6. I tried the swagbucks thing but it was too much of a time suck and it seemed to take forever to earn a $5 gift cert. Plus it also resulted in tons of spam emails which I still seem to be getting. Funds for ads on my blog are slow to build. It takes about 3 months to accrue $100 for me. Apparently my photos and ad sizes are not optimal according the the dashboard stats. Some days I make more, some days I only make a penny, but it's something! I hope the sun comes out for you soon. Give buddy a belly rub for me. :-)

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    1. Adsense froze me out when I closed one blog and opened another - but it took forever with infolinks to make anything so decided just to drop it altogether. So glad you are making some blog income now!

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  7. Yes we want Buddy pictures! One thing about foul weather potty training, your puppy doesn't get into the habit of hanging around outside playing or being distracted then forgetting to pee. Sometimes I think winter training like that works best!

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    1. More on the way today. He definitely is an outside player but is learning due to our rain that sometimes you have to speed pee :)

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  8. Love the photos of Buddy so far. Absolutely gorgeous.

    This is a great challenge CC. I'm excited to see how you get on.

    Sft x

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  9. I wrote a comment and deleated it! Rats!

    I have a Tangerine account for Xmas and they draw money every payday.

    We had a snowy weekend and had to shovel twice so far....but the snow is light and fluffy. I will check out swagbucks to see if I can join being a resident from Quebec. Give a kiss to Buddy for me

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    1. You don't get to join in too much for Quebec unfortunately. My stepson is headed out there for his basic training this weekend - hopefully he will gain some Canadian culture!

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  10. I wish I could get in the loop on Swagbucks. I can't seem to earn anything there. I do better writing at CGP Gallery. Last year I earned money at Bubblews. No longer, because they changed the pay scale. I am glad I do not rely on internet income!

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    1. I just do a few things every day and it seems to add up here and there. I save them up and either splurge on myself or my family - but this year will save for Christmas

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  11. You guys did astoundingly well, especially with so many adults in to feed. I need to start using swagbucks asap. I have an account and just don't use it for no good reason.

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    1. I play 10 games a day = 10 swagbucks, do the poll, do noso and search. It takes very little time. Plus my games I try and lose the quickest rather than win lol.

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