I Don't Know How To Get Rid Of That Ad for "Paybox."

Forget paybox. It changed names, is a complete dud. I just don't know how to get that ad off my blog. I'll try harder.

I sometimes repeat myself, so, bear with me. I participate in a program with Small Business Knowledge Center in Chicago. In this program, you send them your junk emails and snail mails on certain topics, mostly credit card, banking, financial, travel. Other stuff, they send you a list of what they are looking for. You earn points for all the junk you send them. For every 2,000 points, which you could probably do every month, you earn a $20 GC of your choice. I've been doing this for about, I think, 4 years. I just learned that they also accept your credit card bills. I'll go first and see if they hijack my accounts to steal from me. I doubt it. They have always been upfront and honest with me. I get a credit report update every 3 months and nothing bad has ever happened to me for participating in this program. I'll be happy to sign you up, if you wish. Just send your name, address, and email address and I can get them to shoot you an invite. I'll tell you this; once, I accidentally sent them a new credit card I had just gotten. They sent it back in a few days with a note that it looked too important for them to have. Nothing bad happened. I do earn a few points for referring you. I will give you that. I don't want to be dishonest about my motives. Having a $20 GC to Chili's or Ruby Tuesday's comes in handy sometimes. I gave my nephew a $20 Red Lobster card for Christmas that I earned from SBKC.

Foo! Food Lion is going out of business in my city. My step-mom and I are going tomorrow. I think what's left will be 75% off. Looking for coffee and canned goods. I never really shopped FL, so, I won't miss them too much. My only concern is that it's going to increase WalMart's business, and, have I ever mentioned this before, I HATE WALMART!!! The Walton's are morally bankrupt and treat their employees poorly. Get off your soapbox, Vicki. Sorry.

Well, if you want to sign up for the free GC, let me know. It's a great program.

I'm Probably The Last To Know

Did you know that you can turn in your empty Starbucks coffee bag for a free tall brewed coffee? How many bags has I thrown away? Too many. Just learned this. It's on the side of the bag, but, who reads that stuff, anyway?

Do You Mystery Shop?

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but, I am a mystery shopper. I'm pretty picky about the shops I will take. If I have to drive 30 mile round trip to do an $8 shop, no way. I prefer hotel and some restaurant shops. Rick and I just got back from a 5 day trip of hotel mystery shopping within 100 miles of home. We have 4 more this month. I hate to admit it, but, I do the "cheap" stays. To balance that, we sometimes do "high dollar" shops. This month, I will earn enough frequent stay points to go to Destin, FL for 3 nights free. I have about 150K of Hilton points that we are saving to go to Key West this fall. By working the points programs, I have gone to Hawaii with my aunt 4 1/2 years ago, Manchester, NH, for a week 3 years ago, and another single trip to Hawaii about a year and a half ago. That time, I went first class on the air, stayed 7 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Waikiki. I'm telling you, if you have the time or inclination to do mystery shops and you are a member of the hotel's frequent stay program, you can get a free vacation. I admit that I have some CC that are attached to my frequent stay memberships, but, mostly, I earn from staying at hotels on someone else's dime. It's nice to get away from home for a few days. I guess if you have a few children, it would be harder to do. I'm pretty much foot loose and fancy free. I can pick them up at the drop of a hat and go.

I don't have any really great coupon deals to pass along to you right now, so, I thought I would plant the seed for mystery shopping. Doesn't pay anything, but, you get a nice night out and earn some points, if you sign up with their programs.

If you are interested in mystery shopping, go to www.volition.com and see the listings for mystery shopping. There are over 200 companies in North America that you can sign up with. I know, it's a drag signing up with each one individually, but, it might be worth the work for you.

Happy shopping!

Vicki

O.K. A New Year, A New Me

I have determined that we need to clean out the freezer before we buy any more groceries. We have more than 20 meals in the freezer, plus vegetables and such to boot. I will not allow Rick to go to the store before it is done. Today, I defrosted some of his "slumgulliom", which is German for "what's in the pot." Something like that. Anyway, we ate 6 month old soup today. I took a pack of beef kabobs out tonight for dinner tomorrow. Rick will have to figure out what to do with it. I'm really going to bear down on him to use what we have instead of filling up the freezer again. A good selection is all well and good,but, you have to prove that you know what to do with the old stuff before embarking on a new shopping trip. We have rice, potatoes, and mac & cheese to kill a horse. I think we should live off of stockpile for awhile. I don't know if I can Rick on board, but, I think I can. What advise would you give in my situation? Rick is the chef. He is mostly in charge of dinner, however, I make the best scrambled eggs for breakfast, so, he has to stand back. We have sausage and bacon galore for breakfast. I can do a pretty mean meal out of that. I also know how to make southern biscuits and gravy, if called upon. Oh, man, a breakfast of biscuits and gravy I can do. It's high in cholesterol, fat, and such. Kicks up the blood pressure quite a bit. Puts pounds on the hips. So, sue me!

Are Any Of You Frequent Flyers?

Over the past few years, I have earned enough mileage and hotel points to get 3 great vacations. Four and a half years ago, I took my aunt to Hawaii. A couple of years later, I had enough flight and hotel points for a week in New Hampshire. Last year, or should I say, in 2010, I went back to Hawaii at no cost for hotel and flight. I have enough points (almost, I'm working on it) for a free week in Key West and enough points for 2 free air tickets. If you have the right co-branded credit cards, and spend on your credit cards, you can do this, too. I don't pay cash for anything. Not even a $1 for a cup of coffee at McDonalds. I pay the balance each month and earn scads of points for these things. I know it goes against conventional wisdom to use a credit card for everything, but, if you don't overspend, you can pay the balance and not incur any interest charges. The points just keep rolling in. If you sign up now for the right credit cards, you get a bonus of points good for air or hotels. I use American Express Hilton Hhonors, American Express Delta Skymiles, and Marriott Rewards Visa. I have a few others, but, I don't use them too much. These are my main ones. I should say that if I refer you to Hilton Hhonors American Express, I earn a few points. I don't think I earn anything on the others. This is just to let you know that you can earn vacations with your regular spending.

I'm Trying To Get Back In The Swing Of Things.

I hope to have some deals and things for you in the future. I'm trying to get back into the couponing mode. Rick has made me stop and think about stuff I am buying. We just recently gave away 20 boxes of a baking or frying mix. I forgot the name brand. He's trying to get me in line with his thinking and i am revolting as much as I can! We are regularly giving to the rescue mission and the homeless day shelter. I can finally see the walls of my pantry.

My local store, Bi-Lo, had, for a few months, been spitting out great coupons on the register. Haven't seen anything in a while. I was getting paper towels and plastic cups free for a while. I have to guess that they are just not being so generous now as I am buying about the same things.

Woo-hoo! Firefox is my savior. I'm not getting the crash anymore like I was with IE. Who knows how this stuff works? I'm just glad to have found a platform to interact with you.

Are you interested in mystery shopping? Please leave me a note and I will tell you all I know about it. (Well, that wouldn't be much,but, I'll try.)

I don't get any in-store tearpads for coupons around here. They just don't exist. All I know about is the insert coupons and the few I trade for to get non-insert coupons. I don't know what is wrong with this city, but, NOBODY puts out the tearpads. I would complain, but, I don't know where to start.

We have a freezer full of meat to consume. Rick is kind of the "I'm bored, I'll cook," or "I'm sick of cooking, let's go out." I'd like very much to clean out the freezer before we buy more.

Before Christmas, we bought a few gift cards with extras. They give $5 or $10 when you buy a $25 GC. We are enjoying the benefits.

Have you tried Logan's Roadhouse lately? They have some great meals for about $11 or $12 and they will feed 2. We got the meatloaf with 2 sides and it was more than we could eat between the two of us. Of course, we drink our weight in liquor, so, it balances out.

I'll try to keep you up to date with specials and such. I've made a New Year's resolution to do better for you.