Well we've finally jumped on the VoIP wagon and are in the process of changing our home telephone. I did a little research and calculated that our local and long distance cost over the last 12 months was $541. That does not include the $50 calling card that I used while out of town, or the $25 we spent for long distance with OneSuite. So... taking all that in to account we've switched to a unlimited calling plan that's a flat $199 for a year. Plus we even get to keep our same phone number, and will get an additional 'Anywhere' number. I'm sure that one will come in handy when I graduate and start my own business.

So.... will it be for the best? Only time will tell. But saving $400 right off the bat doesn't hurt one bit.
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While I've been on the 'money saving' binge several other ways of saving money have come to mind.
1. Made an appointment to have our attic re-insulated since the insulation up there has settled, and is less than 12 inches thick.

2. Make plans to finish weather stripping around doors until they can be replaced. Our French doors leak so much that its actually harder to heat the den than any other part of the house.

3. Buy pipe insulation and a water heater wrap. Insulate exposed pipes running from the hotwater heater. Even though they are inside the basement, they are still losing heat.

Thats all for now... so maybe by this time next year our heating bill will be a lot less. Yes... these are things that should have been done before winter, but since we've only been in the house for 2 years we weren't sure of the actual energy costs until now. (two years to compare)
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I woke up this morning to two sales on things I'd listed online. One item was a book that I had to read for class called Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, and the other two items purchased were Laroma Espresso makers (new). So I have an additional $32.74 to add to my $20 Challenge balance.
Since those funds are automatically deposited into my checking account I'll just transfer them directly into my special ING account.

Yeah!! It's nice waking up to three sales!!!

Hmmm.... speaking of espresso. I think I'll go make myself a nice cappuccino.

Have you ever received a piece of mail and just assumed it was another regular mailing... not bothering to look at it good before putting it into the keep pile on the kitchen bar? Well while going through tax forms and getting ready to file our taxes, hubby found a check we didn't know we had received. So I'll be adding that little divident check to my $20 Challenge.

I'll be going through all the mail and paying more attention to what comes in. For some reason I just thought this money was reinvested, but for some reason they sent it to us... I'll have to check in to the reason behind that one.

On to other things.. I answered a few questionaires for $1 and as soon as they are processed I'll add those to the Challenge pot too.

Added to Challenge Account: $299.28
New Total: $354.61

I sold another book over on Half.com so I now have another $7.49 (after shipping) to add to my $20 challenge. Just when I thought I was at a stand still...

Balance: $55.33

On Friday I logged in to view my free credit report and found a new section of information. It's a listing of all the people/credit card companies that my information had been given out to. Well once they have your info, they check your credit then send out a application. One company has inquired into my credit history once a month for the past year! (A total of 12 companies were looking into my credit too) It's not supposed to hurt your credit with these types of inquires since they only see your Name, Address, Employment, etc, but I just don't like it at all! Well... no more of that.

I finally decided to Opt Out. I know this will cull some of them, but I hope it helps if only a little.

ClarkHoward.com has a little more info about the service if you want to research it yourself.

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Savings:
Turned in to the cable company the second Dvr we had which will save us $7.99/month = $95.88 a year (before taxes), and I cancelled my Stamps.com account that I haven't used much because I'm not a "selling fool" over on eBay like I used to be.. saving us $15.99/month = $191.88 for the year.
(I won't add this to my $20 challenge since it's not actual cash flow coming in.)
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Not much going on this weekend... I think Nascar is on tv, but I haven't been watching. Ok.. off to see what I can find to list on eBay.

This morning I set up my new savings account over at ING so that I'm able to keep up with my $20 Challenge money. My local banks interest rate is awful, so at %3.80 its a little better deal. To move my challenge money I'll just transfer it over as it comes in from my current checking account.

Plus "If your friend opens an account with at least $250, we will also deposit a $25 bonus in their new account and a $10 thank you bonus in your Orange Savings Account."

So... if anyone is interested just leave a message and I'll send you the link to get the $25 bonus. Plus they have a special going on right now that will pay %4.75 on new deposits.

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Challenge Balance

$47.84

I sold a book on half.com yesterday, so that's another $6.35 added to the total. Not too bad for just a weeks work, eh?

New total: $47.84

Well I went by Platos Closet and sold a few items this morning. Even though they only bought a few shirts, I still came home with $14.90 to add to my Challenge.

I also listed some things for sale over on Amazon

A couple weeks ago I cleaned out some clothes that I rarely if ever wear and boxed them up. Not knowing what to do with them they have just been sitting in the closet. Well I saw a commercial on tv for a new store in town called Platos Closet. They buy gently used name brand clothing thats currently popular with teen and college aged kids.

Well... I went through that box and picked out all the Tommy, Mudd, Sak, Gap, and AE clothing that was in there. (Most I'd purchased via yard sales.. so that makes this even better.) My plan is to drop everything by there sometime tommorrow and see how much they pay. I know it won't be a whole lot.. but who knows. I used to sell stuff like this on eBay, but since clothing is so heavy, its just not practical for folks to buy it.

I'll keep you posted!

Hi All!
I'm new here, but wanted to jump into the challenge. Better late than never eh?
A little about myself: I'm a 40 yr old full-time college student working on my BS/BA in Information Systems and Network Security (currently a senior). I'm currently unemployed, by choice, and love coming up with ideas on how to save a little extra money. I'm also married to a wonderful guy who supports me in all I do.

Hmmm... my challenge to myself is to take $20 and save it into a nice graduation trip for hubby and myself next year.


I'll update soon!

Current balance: $0