Savings Saturday: Swagbucks

I have a great admiration for Swagbucks. I hesitate to use the word love, but I might just say it.

I love Swagbucks!

Someone introduced me to Swagbucks about a year ago and I was immediately a fan! I did not know it was possible to earn rewards by doing somethings I ALWAYS do- search the internet. There are a gob of reward sites, which I will talk about soon, but Swagbucks is by far the best.

One of the reasons I love Swagbucks is because I heard about it at a time when I was asking God to show me how I could be creative in saving and spending money as we moved from two incomes to living off of our savings. I know God will always provide and it is HIM who gives us all things, but in a small way Swagbucks is an answer to direct prayer.

As I think about Proverbs 31 I see a woman who was constantly looking for ways to provide for her family. She was not waiting for her husband to bring home the check. She was not just focused on spending that income wisely. SHE was seeking ways to provide- by BOTH being frugal and by bringing in income.

There are so many ways, in America, to get things for free. I have also started couponing and am amazed at how much can be saved by planning, waiting and trying new things. Why would I by pasta for $0.99, which is a great deal, when I could get it for free? Why would I by a generic brand of diapers for $0.14 a diaper when I can get Pampers for $0.12 a diaper?

Anyway, back to Swagbucks. Sign up HERE, download the toolbar and use it for all your internet searching. You will begin to win Swag bucks and can use them to purchase all sorts of things in the Swagstore. My favorite is the $5 Amazon gift card for 450 Swag Bucks. I "buy" the gift card and then load it to my Amazon account where it never expires. It is just sitting there waiting for me to buy something!

So, you ask, "How much have you made in this year?" It has averaged about $10 a month.

For. Doing. Nothing. (Except something I already do- search the internet.)

We have purchased baby shower gifts, birthday presents, a book I wanted and diapers. And I still have about $80 in my Amazon account and a couple more $5 gift cards on the way. It has been such a blessing!

Savings Saturday: Books!

(NOTE: Ok, so having an alliteration for every day of the week might be overload, but I think it will help me write more frequently and keep my thoughts somewhat organized.)

Today Joel and I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around town. We had breakfast at Chick-fil-A (LOVE them) and then went to a nearby Christian bookstore in search of some books about this generation.

The Christian bookstore could only offer us books by or endorsed by Rob Bell, Brian McLaren and other emergent pastors (holding back a major rant here!). We were disappointed and decided to go to Goodwill instead. We have found that Goodwill usually has a nice selection of Christian books (sadly) and we would much rather pay $0.99 than $15.95.

The only problem is that it is pretty hit and miss at Goodwill, too. We still love to try and it is relaxing (to us) to browse cheap books. We usually see a lot of books that we already own like My Utmost for His Highest (there is ALWAYS a copy at thrift stores, sad, sad), Boy Meets Girl, and Fresh Wind Fresh Fire (all books we would highly recommend).

We did not find any books on the subject we were looking for, but we did find one amazing deal: The Two Towers Extended Edition DVD set for $2.99! Wooohoooooo! We also bought a potty training book for starting to train before 12 months for $0.99, a Bible memorization devotional called Memorize This for $0.99 and the above mentioned copy of Boy Meets Girl for $0.99.

I thought those were all amazing finds! We were driving home and, low and behold, noticed the Borders bookstore was going out of business and had things up to 80% off! We were in the bargain hunting mood so we decided to stop in there as well. We did not find any reliable books on the topic we originally set out to find, but I did get two books I had been *wanting.* They are: The Vaccine Book for $4.90 and Happy Baby: The Organic Guide to Baby's First 24 Months for $5.20.

TOTAL book/ DVD purchases: $16
Original Value: about $110.00
Savings of: 85%

Financial Friday: Thanksgiving

Money has always been intriguing to me. What is it, really? How does money travel from one person to another? What builds an economy? Is it more than numbers? What can I do with it? How much can I save? How far can it go when stretched?

I love having money. I loved watching my bank account grow. I like feeling the "security" (real or not) that having a savings account can bring. Saving money has always been important to me and being careful with how I spend money even more crucial.

The last year I have had to face the loss of money, for several reasons, and God has been teaching me a great deal about letting go. I need to trust Him. He will provide all we need. And, as a matter of fact, I need less money in the bank than I think.

I hope to spend more time writing about my struggles and what I am learning, but for today I wanted to share something I got in the mail:

12 Keys to Financial Stability
TRANSFER ownership back to God (Col. 1:16-17, 1 Chron. 29:11-12)

HUMBLY adjust your lifestyle to live below your means (Pr. 21:20, Dt. 25:13, 1 Pet 5:5-7)

AVOID or eliminate growing indebtedness and surety (Pr. 22:7, Dt. 28:15, 43, 44, Ez. 28:18-18)

NAVIGATE away from financial temptations (Ps. 119:36-37, Tit. 2:12, Rom. 13:14)

KNOW your financial status and goals (Pr. 27:23-24, Pr. 21:5)

SHARE with people in need (Pr. 22:9, Jam. 1:27, 2 Cor. 9:9)

GIVE to God first as your highest financial priority (1 Ki. 17:13-16, Dt. 14:22-23, 2 Cor. 8:7)

INVOLVE yourself in productive work (Pr. 10:4, Pr. 13:4, Mt. 6:33, 2 Thess. 3:9-13)

VIEW every need and desire as a chance to trust God (Mt. 6:11, Ps. 34:10, Ecc. 2:26)

INSERT time into your week to manage your finances (1 Cor. 16:2, Pr. 13:16, 14:23, 24:3, Is. 32:8)

NEVER be dishonest (Pr. 13:11, Pr. 20:17, Pr. 10:2, Eph. 4:28)

GAIN Biblical understanding (Ps. 119:11, 2 Chron. 26:5, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)