15 Minute Suggestion

I have a tendency to come up with completely unrealistic challenges that then fizzle out by day 3. The first day I am all gung-ho and all over that challenge. The second day I have lost most of my interest in the challenge but I am embarrassed to admit that I was completely unrealistic about the challenge I created ($200 in 9 weeks...really???). Then by the third day, I slunk away and hope no one ever brings up the subject again.

This time around I am trying to be more reasonable. I have come up with a 15 minute suggestion. I am suggesting to myself that each evening I work on surveys and swagbucks for 15 minutes. If I can do more than that would be awesome but as long as I hit 15 minutes I will feel that I reached my daily goal.

My long term goal is that as I get used to the first 15 minutes, I can slowly add more time each day and get into a groove. I am never going to be able to do hours a day doing this but I will keep at it and I am excited to see my results at the end of the year.

Jen and I have a couple of goals that we would like to obtain with this challenge and blog. This year we would like to have these different sites help us fund our Christmas Budget. The other thing we would like to do (or at least me) is help pay for our vacation this coming Fall. Nothing has been decided but there has been talk of Disney!

We will get back to you next week (hopefully Monday) with the result of how our week went!

How do you guys handle challenges? Do you start small or go big? If you go big, how to you keep yourself motivated? We would love to hear in the comments about your challenges!

7 Weeks = $200 Challenge

I am embarrassed to admit that my start of the challenge has been less than stellar. It keeps getting pushed to the back burner. I decided to issue myself a challenge (because I do better if I call myself out). I tend to get carried away with my challenges and then fizzle out pretty shortly. I am trying to pick something that will be doable but I need to push myself.

I have my trip to Chile coming up in less than 8 weeks (Yikes!!! How did that happen so fast). I am so super stressed trying to figure out how to finish finance the trip. I have the money but it gets so old penny pinching at this point. I need to keep reminding myself that the reward at the end will be worth it.

Sorry I got off on a tangent. I was supposed to be talking about my challenge. I would like to focus on money I can use on the trip. I have about 7 weeks (to allow myself time to redeem for my gift cards or have it deposited it into PayPal). I am challenging myself to earn $200 in the 7 weeks which will be about $25 a week. This amount would be greatly appreciated on the trip.

I will focus mostly on Swagbucks during this period because they have the fastest turn around in getting you gift cards. I will also use Shop Kicks (while we are out and about shopping during the week) to earn a gift card for Target to get last minute trip stuff.

I currently have 898 points in Swagbucks (which is equal to about $8.98). So I really only have about $191.02 to go to reach my goal. I definitely will focus on surveys because that is where you have a lot of earning potential. I will try to do my searches there too instead of using google as much. If anyone hears of some good ways to earn points I am open to all suggestions.

I currently have 1,260 points with my Shop Kicks account. This is enough to get me a $5 Target reward. I am thinking if I could get up to $25 that would be the perfect amount to get my last minute items and snacks for the plane. Considering it took me forever and a day to get the 1,260, I am not sure how realistic that goal is. However, I haven't be actively trying to get the points so I may have hope. My youngest and I may take a trip to Target today to scan products.

This is my loosely put together plan. I would love to hear about any other places with great earning potential (especially if they have a fast turn around getting you the gift card). I will be back next week to report my earnings for the week!

Megan

How are we going to do this?!?

Hi!

I bet you are wondering what this is all about and when we are going to get posting! 

Okay let me start by telling you a little bit about what I plan to  accomplish this Christmas budget goal. 

Let me tell you about a couple things I plan to do to accomplish my $50 out-of-pocket Christmas challenge. While I may use other avenues that I come up with or find (and if I do I will be happy to share them with you) throughout this journey some of my main resources will be:

• Facebook (local yard sale pages) or eBay -  taking advantage of selling stuff I already have (Use extreme caution and good judgement if going this route) 
• Swagsbucks - Click here to sign up and get 150 points to get you started! (our referral link) 
• Rebates I receive, 
• Store credit (extraCare bucks, promotional gift cards, promotional earnings, 
• usertesting.com
• Sales/Deals
• and more.

Every week, for the first few weeks I will detail how I am using each of these methods to earn enough to accomplish my $50 out of pocket Christmas. My total Christmas budget is $1,200. This may change over time and if it does I will keep you guys posted. 

Jen



(Disclaimer: All opinions stated anywhere on this blog are our own. They reflect our own experiences and our opinions only. This blog contain numerous links to external websites. We make no guarantee as to the reliability or privacy policy of these sites; any info you submit to other sites, you submit at your own risk. We will be trying out sites as we see fit and we will share our experiences with them as they happen to us. We cannot guarantee anything other than the fact that these are our opinions/experiences and they are our own. From time to time, we may post referral links and ask if you don't mind and are signing up anyway, please use them, but of course you surely do not have to. They are just a way to help us out while costing you nothing) 

Introduction

Hi and Welcome to Challenge TBD.

Our goal here is to support and challenge each other and mostly have some fun. We are starting off this New Year with our “Deck The Savings Challenge”.  While this will be the main purpose of this blog, we hope to incorporate other ideas, thoughts and tips too. We will hopefully add some product reviews and saving ideas along the way as well.

My name is Jen and I am a stay-at-home mom of a four-year-old little boy with boundless energy.  I am currently going to school full-time online while I am making sure the house is running smoothly (well as smoothly as you can with a energetic 4-year old). I have been married for almost 8 years and I have a wonderful and supportive husband. I am now going to turn it over to my friend and co-blogger (is that a word?!),  Megan. We have been friends for about 20 years and we are currently living a few states apart.

 Hi Guys! My name is Megan and I am a  single Mom of two children, I have a 16-year old boy (how the heck did that happen?) and a 5-year old boy, who also has boundless energy, go figure!  I hope that Jen and I are able to offer two different perspectives to these Challenges!

So here’s the idea…..We are going to challenge ourselves to spend out of pocket no more than $50 for our entire Christmas budget.  To do this,  we will use all those fun little ways to save and earn extra money out there. These may include Swagbucks, Ebates, Selling items on eBay or Facebook group sites, rebates etc.  We are not promoting ANY of these sites and will only be recording our experiences and opinions. The basic idea came from this blog, Cha-Ching on a String Blog: How I only Spent $50 on Christmas. We are going to see if we can do it, using similar techniques but with our own rules and twists. This was our inspiration though. We are also going to detail some of our experiences and thoughts along the way, to enhance the experience or to have anyone interested who may want to try it too!  I learned of the blog post above from one of the blogs I follow, Money Saving Mom, who also offers deals, savings and other helpful tips.  

So we have spent November, (because let’s be honest December was just to crazy!) checking out different ways to earn “money” and checking out what works for us and what doesn’t. This will be an ongoing process throughout the year but we wanted somewhere to start.

Jen mentioned that she is a stay-at-home Mom with a 4-year old. She and her family live on one salary and pay for her to go to school. Not only that but she has a crazy big family! I lose track of her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. This doesn't even factor in that both of her Parents have remarried and there is lots of family to buy Christmas present. Her husband is Italian (need I say more about the size of his family)!

I don't have nearly as big of a family to buy for but my Christmas budget still often feels like it is strangling me come December every year (I don't know why it seems like such a surprise every year even though it comes around the same time each year). Between shopping for my small family, running Holiday parties, and planning Christmas dinner, my budget is always stretched thin.

To make it interesting I am also going to add in another mini challenge for the next 9 weeks. My younger son, my Mom, and I are headed to Chile in just over two months. We are doing this so my son can meet his family from his Father's side. His Dad is paying for a lot of the expenses but I am still trying to come up with (what feels like) insane amounts of money. Jen and I have agreed for the next 9 weeks I can use my budget towards the trip.

We hope you will join us on this adventure for the next year (don't worry we are already cooking up challenges for the coming years...you aren't getting rid of us after only a year :)). We love comments and suggestions. Please join in with us for all the fun!