Money Monday :: Ebates

Hey y'all. 

How is your Monday going?  Our house was surprised with yet another day at home for RG, this time due to a illness at her babysitter's and not her own.  I'm super thankful that, in the "baby sickness" lottery, we managed to draw "ear infection" rather than "unidentifiable rash", which is what is keeping my babysitter's kid down in the dumps.  As soon as he's feeling better, though, Riley's gonna smother him with open-mouthed slobber kisses, since she loves to test the Dr.'s "no longer contagious after 24 hours" hypothesis.  We'll let you know.

Anyhow, being home allows me a little bit of time, and when I have time (and a looming deadline of Christmas in 37 days for motivation), I love to do a bit of online shopping.  You know I do.  This is no surprise.  But, couple that little fact that I discovered Friday's mail in my Jeep (things get lost, ya know?) and realized that I had a Big Fat Check from Ebates, and I knew I should tell you about it.

Now, I know that not everyone shops online like I do.  In fact, most people don't and its probably for the best.  Because when you start having toilet paper delivered to your house, you've crossed a line somewhere.  But since you're reading this here b-log, you know how to navigate the interwebs.  Either that or someone at your local library stepped away from their seat and you're being nosey.  Step. Off.  Their 30 minutes isn't up yet.  

Sorry.

But since you know how to use the interwebs, you might do some online shopping occasionally.  And if you do, even occassionally, you should check out Ebates.

Here's how Ebates goes.  You want to shop online.  You first navigate to www.ebates.com (which will keep you logged in if you so choose, so you don't have to do that after the first time), type the store you want into the search bar, and when it comes up, you click on it.  Magic happens.  Ebates disappears, and you're suddenly at the main website of the store you wanted to shop at.  You go through, business as usual, check out, use a promo code from somewhere else if you've got it, and done.  

Except for the magic that happened, it was a regular online shopping trip with one extra step.  That magic, however, is what is going to cause a Big Fat Check to arrive at your door.  I believe they are mailed out every quarter.  Mine this quarter was for $9.22.  My mom's was for $15.something.  Its not huge.  But its exciting, and a bonus if you were going to spend the money anyhow.  It says my next one is going to be for $19.89, but I actually returned some of the stuff, so it'll probably go down.  No biggie.

As you see, if you refer someone and they use Ebates, you get a "qualified referral".  Which is what you would be for me if you use THIS LINK RIGHT HERE and start making the magic happen.  But if I were you, I wouldn't tell your mom to come check out this post and get signed up.  Nope.  I'd send her your own personal link, so that you can get a qualified referral, too.  Because in the math of Ebates, Qualified referral = Cash Money.  $5 per, to be exact, with bonuses for volume.  I'm just sayin'. 

Oh, and you cannot refer yourself.  Trust me.  I've tried.

Anyhow, particularly if you were planning on hitting up Cyber Monday or just simply doing your Black Friday shopping from home this year, this is a great way to end up with some extra cash in your pocket after all is said and done.  I've also used this with HomeDepot (6% ) where I buy online, ask for in-store pickup, and then an hour later when the baby is up from her nap, go get what I needed (an orbital sander).  Still costs me what it would have in the store, but I got $1.79 back.  Old Navy? 5%.  Target? 4%.  Which doesn't feel like much, until it adds up!

I'm thinking about giving you some money talk each Monday.  For at least a week.  We'll see where this goes.  But what about you?  Do you have any online shopping tips for us?  

<3 M.

February Freeze

Guess what my house didn't have until today?  (And don't say curtains, that's (a) a sore spot, and (b) still not finished).

I'll give you a hint:

And by "hint", I meant I'd totally give it away and thus end the guessing game.

SIDENOTE: My niece seriously wants you to guess when she says "Guess what?!" or "Guess who I saw?!"  It's adorable.

Yes, that's right.  Handsome and I have survived almost 4 years without owning an ice cube tray.  Talk about First World problems, here, people, things were starting to get a little dicey.  I mean, we had ice, but no trays.  How?  Ice machine in the freezer.  Bazinga.

But with our latest move and our craigslist-freezer, we found ourselves without any means of making ice.  Which wasn't really a problem, until I decided that I must make smoothies or die trying.  You'll notice that I even grabbed a specialty tray, for this exact expressed purpose.

Ideal for blenders, AND made in the U.S. of A.  It's like winning the lottery, for American smoothie makers.

So now that I've got the trappings (Magic Bullet is already in the cupboards, just waiting for it's first job!), I need some smoothie recipes.  Anyone try the green smoothies yet?  Any good ideas for me?  

Birthday Monies, True Love, and Personal Loans ** UPDATE **

** Itidal's loan has been completely bought up!  But don't worry, there's still ton's of people who could use your help to build a better life for them & their families!  AND I have confirmation that it's 100% legit.  WOOT! **

Handsome and I went out on the town today.  Lunch date (my favorite kind, more on that later), thrift stores, riding around in the car; it was beautiful.  Other than the fact that Handsome's back is rebelling after the 3+ hour wood chopping spree he went on last weekend, so I was basically on a date with crippled, 30-years-from-now-Handsome.  But hey, that's all part of the vows, right?

Dude has mad skillz when it comes to this stuff.
Took me 26 swings (I counted).  Took him 4.
Now if only it didn't leave him stooped and shuffling.

Anyhow, we had a fan-flippin-tastic lunch at Larkin's on the River.  All fans of the Monte Cristo with parmesan crust on both sides (!!) raise your hand.  [20 second pause while I raise my hands (yes, both) enthusiastically]  But we only hit two of the shops that (prepare for a shock to your system) Handsome had planned out ahead of time.  Yes, that's right.  Mr. Spontaneous himself, Mr. What do you mean by "reservation", Mr. ... something else that implies procrastination as a life choice.  He picked out, beforehand, and without needing me there, 6 thrift stores, a quilt shop (!), and a consignment shop, plus where we were having lunch.  It was amazing.  

Seriously, I'm still reeling.  I don't know if I've been on a pre-planned date that I didn't plan since... Senior year of undergrad??  And maybe I said "We should go to the drive-in next weekend" anyhow...  Plus, he picked out a quilt/fabric store.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  The only reason H. ever has anything to do with my sewing is because he likes the little yelps I make when I prick my finger with the pins.  That's it.  So to purposely plan to go look at quilts and fabric and odds and ends, well, let me tell you.  It doesn't get much more romantic than that.  That's true love, people, you heard it right here.  Young/Unmarried girls, look for someone who would do that.  That's how you know he's a real keeper.

My "keeper"
Also, picture-taking capabilities are a bonus.