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Shared Oct 12, 2012 comment

Frugal Photo Friday: Food and Fun

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 12, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to Frugal Photo Friday! This month, I am partnering with Rebekah from SimplyRebekah.com. Each Friday we are sharing pictures of simple ways that we save money. This week’s themes are food and fun.

It’s no secret that I love Aldi. Their produce prices are often the best around. And buying staple ingredients there on weeks when I don’t want to mess with coupons helps to keep my grocery budget low.

You know what I like best about Aldi? The store is so small and straight-forward. There aren’t two dozen choices of Italian salad dressing to choose from. There’s just one.

It simplifies shopping and saves me time and brain power. Plus, I love that I can run in and run out with my groceries — well, unless there’s a long line. But the checkers are typically very, very fast so a long line usually moves quickly.

Psst! They also have fantastic prices on floral bouquets.

Now is the time to buy pumpkins to cook and puree for winter baking. It’s usually much cheaper than buying pumpkin in a can. Plus, it’s a lot fresher — especially since pumpkins are on sale right now.

If baking a pumpkin seems like a lot of work, you might try the method I discovered last year to bake pumpkins whole in the oven. It was so simple and didn’t require a lot of elbow grease to cut the thing open before cooking, unlike every other method I’ve tried.

Or, if baking pumpkins whole scares you, here’s how to bake pumpkins in the crockpot.

Looking for some delicious pumpkin ideas? Check out all the pumpkin recipes I’ve posted recently. Or, check out this extensive list of over 30 pumpkin ideas on Keeper of the Home.

We don’t spend a lot of money on fun at our house. We make up our own fun.

Sure, it might be a little messy… like when Silas had a blast painting my nails this week. 🙂

I try to remind myself that messiness is the result of lots of creativity. And creativity is a good thing to encourage in kids, right? Therefore messes are good. Or at least that’s what I try to remind myself when I see things strewn around the house in the name of the latest idea the kids have come up with. 🙂

{Photos are of are experiment making Homemade Flubber.}

Head over to SimplyRebekah to see the savings that Rebekah is sharing today.

Now it is your turn to share the simple ways that you save. Share your link below or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FrugalPhotoFriday. All of the link-up details and themes for each week can be found here.

Shared Oct 12, 2012 comment

How to Instill a Strong Work Ethic in Children From a Young Age

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 12, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m over on Keeper Of the Home this week talking about How to Instill a Strong Work Ethic in Children From a Young Age. Here’s a snippet from my post:

My parents wanted their children to leave home with three things: a deep love for God, integrity, and a strong work ethic. They were so motivated to teach us the value of hard work that they set a goal to move out to the country by the time we were in our early teens.

With much prayer and effort, their goal was realized. And boy did we learn how to work! I have fond and not-so-fond memories of lots of back-breaking work: gardening for hours on end, dragging hoses all over the acreage to water the new trees we had planted, and spending much of the day on Friday taking care of the seven acres of the land that were planted in grass.

Truth be told, I wasn’t always so thrilled at all the work they expected us to do. Sweating in the heat and developing sore muscles on a regular basis weren’t necessarily what I’d consider fun. But looking back, I’m so thankful for the character I developed through all those hours of laboring in the hot Kansas sun.

The lessons in diligence and perseverance have been invaluable to me as a wife, mom, and business owner today. Truly, I believe one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was instilling in me a strong work ethic from an early age.

Read the full post.

By the way, in case you wonder what Silas is doing in the picture above: he’s helping me grind wheat in our grain mill. 🙂

Shared Oct 11, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Become an Online Tutor (Day 10)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 11, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

Guest post from Alaina of Telecommuting Mommies

Working as an online tutor is a great way to make extra cash in your free time, and it doesn’t take much to get started. Check out the different options available and you may be able to start earning in time for the holidays.

What Is an Online Tutor?

Local tutoring centers have been around for many years, offering a place for children of all ages to be tutored in a variety of subjects either after school or in the evening. Many families are now turning to a more flexible alternative for their children by using online tutors.

This has opened up another telecommuting option, especially for those with a background in education or tutoring. The position can include everything from helping a child with their homework to tutoring college-level subjects.

What Equipment and Experience is Required to Be an Online Tutor?

All of the online tutoring companies require you to own your own computer and have high-speed internet. A select few may have more specific computer requirements, including how much computer memory you must have available.

Experience required for the job varies greatly from company to company depending on what subjects and grades you will be tutoring. Companies may be looking for anything from having “strong knowledge” in a subject, all the way up to holding a PhD.

Most companies do require a college degree but it does not have to be in any specific subject. Some companies ask for prior teaching or tutoring experience.

I Have No Teaching Experience, Where Should I Start?

If tutoring online sounds interesting to you but you have no prior teaching or tutoring experience, evaluate what your experience is. Do you have a bachelor’s degree or even just a few years of college? That alone can make you eligible for some of the positions. For instance, for most subjects, Tutor.com requires that you have surpassed your second year in a college education, while other subjects it requires a college degree.

Do you have a special talent or an area that you excel in? For example, Kaplan hires tutors for all the major standardized tests like SAT, ACT, GRE, etc. They do not require a teaching degree or any teaching experience but you must have scored in the 90th percentile for the test that you would be applying to tutor for.

If you are fluent in another language, there are companies like Open English, eTeacher, or Verbal Planet that will hire you as an online language instructor. Some companies, like Limu, even hire tutors for different hobbies.

Teaching “practical” adult classes at Nimblemind is another way to tutor a subject you feel qualified in. Once you have tutoring experience at some of these companies then it will be easier for you to get hired with the others that do require tutoring experience.

How Many Hours a Week Do You Have to Work?

Some of these companies will hire you as an employee, but most consider you an independent contractor. Once you are hired, you would specify what hours you are available and how many hours a week you can work. Then, specific tutoring jobs would be assigned to you.

Other companies will simply verify your credentials and certify you before posting your contact information on their website in order to connect you with those looking for a tutor. In this case, you are technically running your own online tutoring business. Those in need of a tutor will contact you and it’s up to you to set up times and decide how many clients to take on at once.

You would essentially be self-employed, the website would just be more of a way to facilitate tutors and students finding one another. In the long run, this option probably has the potential to make more money but may also include more prep work as far as finding clients and marketing yourself.

How Much Will You Get Paid Per Hour?

Pay varies based on the level and subject you are tutoring. College-level classes are going to pay more than elementary level. Contractors with a PhD will make more than those with a bachelor’s degree.

Pay can range from $9 for an hour up to $30. Some sites let you set your own price and that may determine how many people contact you..

What Companies Are Hiring Online Tutors Right Now?

Revolution Prep is currently hiring tutors for SAT/ACT prep so if you scored really high on either of those tests you may qualify.

Connections Academy is hiring an elementary online tutor, requirements are a bachelors degree.

HomeworkHelp.com is hiring tutors and only requires a two year or four year college degree.

Eduwizards is hiring K-12 Math, Science and Reading Tutors. Bachelors degree required.

Tutor.com is hiring tutors who “Possess strong content knowledge in English, math, science, or social studies at the level you wish to tutor”

Aim4A and Brainfuse are also currently accepting applications for online tutors.

What Other Educational Based Work-At-Home Jobs Are Out There?

Besides tutoring online, there are other teaching jobs that can be done online. Several companies and colleges out there will hire online teachers for college-level classes if qualified. And did you know there are companies like Connections Academy, a virtual K-12 public school, that hire teachers for every subject (including P.E.) to work from home?

Also, remember all those standardized tests you had to take throughout school? The majority of the test gets graded by a computer but any written portions, such as the essays, have to be graded by a person… and that person can be you. Companies like Pearson and ETS Scoring hire people to score these online.

For several of the tests you need only a bachelor’s degree in any subject to qualify, for others you need a teaching degree. The scoring is done seasonally after the tests are given so it is not year-round work but it is a great flexible job that usually pays pretty well, usually between $15-$20 an hour.

Have you worked as an online tutor before? If so, tell us about your experiences!

Alaina shares her twelve years of work-from-home experience at her blog Telecommuting Mommies. She also opens up her personal life as a homeschooling, blogging, work at home Mom of four at The Maestro Mom.

Shared Oct 11, 2012 comment

How to earn up to $0.62 from Jingit per day

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 11, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Have you signed up for Jingit yet? If not, you definitely want to do so, especially if your budget is really tight.

It’s a simple way to earn a little money every day. And while it might not seem like much, every little bit adds up, right?

Did you know that you can re-watch videos on Jingit and get more credit for them? A commentor posted about this and I investigated it and, sure enough, it works.

Once you’ve signed up for Jingit and watched all the videos in your account, you can then come back every day and copy and paste the following links into your browser to earn $0.62 every day.

Earn $0.25 from JELL-O Mix Ins (can be watched once per day)

Earn $0.25 from JELL-O 4 Packs (can be watched once per day)

https://www.jingit.com/hosted/widget?partnerId=11&displayAdId=1stday_300x250_Ggt4&parentWindowUri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FCheerios-Toasted-Whole-Grain-Oat-Cereal-18-oz%2F10311410# (can be watched once per day)

Yes, $0.62 isn’t much. But these little bits of income add up to a nice side stream of income and gift cards over time. And this small stream of income can be a huge help to a tight budget!

Read all about Jingit and how it works here.

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Shared Oct 10, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Make Money Selling Your Used Books (Day 9)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 10, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

I wrote about making money with Amazon’s Trade-In Program earlier. That’s a great way to earn Amazon credit for used books, DVDs, CDs, and electronics. However, if you have lots of used books you’d like to sell, I’d recommend taking the time to check out how much you’d get from a few different sites.

Often, the price you can get for your books will vary between the different sites. So it’s worth it to spend a little time checking out multiple sites to see which one will pay you the most for your books!

Here are four recommended sites to check into if you have used books to sell:

1. Cash4Books

Type in the ISBN number of your books on Cash4Books.net and you’ll instantly be given a quote for how much they’ll pay you for your books. If you chose to accept their offer, you’ll be able to print out a postage-paid label. Then, just ship your books to them.

Once they receive your books, you’ll receive payment via Paypal or check. Payment is processed within three business days of your books being received and processed by Cash4Books.

2. MyBookBuyer

MyBookBuyer is very similar to Cash4Books. However, they specialize in buying back textbooks and you’ll often get a higher rate for textbooks from them than you’d get from Cash4Books.net.

Again, just type in the ISBN number, accept the quote (if you like it!), and print the pre-paid shipping label. Once they receive the books, they’ll pay you via check or Paypal within three business days of receiving your books.

Here’s what Krista said:

I saw the Cash4books site on your extra earning page and decided to check them out. I didn’t have much luck, so I decided to see if there were other places out there.

I found MyBookBuyer and started checking books with them. I am getting ready to send in 17 books which, if all are accepted, will net me $68. On the other site, I was only going to make $21. So, if you’re considering selling books, it pays to check multiple sites! -Krista

3. Amazon’s Trade-In Program

I wrote more extensively about this here. The gist of it is to search for your product on the Amazon Trade-In Store to see how much Amazon will pay you for a Trade In. If the price seems fair, click through to verify the condition, title, and price.

Follow the steps to print the postage-paid shipping label. You can choose to go with free UPS shipping (you’ll need to drop your package off at the nearest UPS location) or shipping via the U.S. Postal Service (you can give your package to your mail carrier or drop it off at the nearest post office).

Ship out the item in a timely manner. Once it has been received by Amazon, they will check it to verify that it is eligible and in the condition you promised. Items considered to be not acceptable will be returned. Return shipping is free, but you will not receive any Amazon.com Gift Card amount for the returned items.

After your item has been received and approved by Amazon.com, they will issue your Amazon credit. You can use this credit to purchase anything on Amazon.com.

4. Half.com

Half.com offers an Instant Sale option which is similar to Cash4Books and MyBookBuyer in that you type in the ISBN number, get a quote, accept the quote, print a label, ship your books, and get paid within a few days. However, you’ll likely make more money if you list your books individually and wait for a buyer to purchase them.

I’ve done this successfully many times and made good money — especially when Jesse was in law school and we’d sell his textbooks after he was finished with them! The downside to selling this way is that you have to hang onto your books and wait for someone to purchase them at the price you are asking.

It could take weeks or even months for a buyer to come along. And when they do, you have to package up the book, pay for shipping, ship the book within 72 hours, and wait to be paid. It’s not as convenient as the Instant Sale option is, but you will likely make quite a bit more money if you’re willing to have more patience and go to the effort of shipping a book every time an order is placed.

Have you sold used books before? If so, I’d love to hear about your experiences — and any tips or suggestions you have for the rest of us!

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Shared Oct 10, 2012 comment

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 10, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Silas and Kathrynne helped me make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies tonight. We had a blast making them together — and enjoying taste-testing the batter before baking the cookies.

These cookies were very easy to make. I substituted raw sugar for both the brown and regular sugar. And I subbed melted butter for the oil.

Oh and I didn’t see that I was supposed to mix the baking soda in the milk in time. I’d already mixed the baking soda into the dry ingredients, so I just went with that and left the milk out. I’m assuming the purpose of mixing it in is to prevent it from clumping and making a nice bitter bite in a cookie? But truly, that’s just a guess. Anyone know a better reason?

The final result was pretty good. I wouldn’t say they were fantastic. And they were not anywhere near as good as our family’s favorite Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies.

But they weren’t bad. Just different… I think most of that was because the pumpkin makes them more cake-y and softer than a typical cookie.

Shared Oct 10, 2012 comment

Reader tip: I’ve earned over $60 this week through MTurk.com

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 10, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here’s a great tip from reader, Nancy:

Hi–I read your blog and have an idea for one of your 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash for Christmas series. I do work on mturk.com (are you familiar with it? It’s run by Amazon.com).

There are lots of surveys on there and most of them tell you upfront if you qualify. I’ve earned over $60 this week doing surveys on there. You can spend the money you earn right on Amazon.com, or have it transferred to a bank account.

I wrote more about how it works and some tips I’ve learned on my blog post here. -Nancy

Shared Oct 10, 2012 comment

Addicted to Adrenaline

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 10, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m honored to be guest posting today on a site I love — (in)courage. If you’ve not subscribed to that site, I highly recommend it! It’s one of my favorite sites on the internet.

Anyway, I’m over there sharing candidly about being Addicted to Adrenaline. Here’s a snippet of my post:

This past summer, we went to Arkansas for our annual vacation at the lake with all of my extended family. As is customary, the guys went and rented jet skis one afternoon.

Being the generous-hearted person I am (read: the person who would rather read a book in the cool cabin than risk life and limb doing water sports. Ahem.), I offered to stay back at the cabin with our children while my husband went out to have fun on the jet ski.

About two hours later, my sister knocked on the cabin door and said that my mom was going to watch our children so I could go down and enjoy the jet ski with my husband. While I would certainly have rather stayed put, I knew my husband would love for me to go careening around on the jet ski with him. So I took our children over to my parent’s cabin to spend time with Grandma and I headed down to the boat dock where I was told I was supposed to meet up with my husband.

There weren’t any jet skis in sight, but I figured they’d be back soon. So I sat down on the dock and waited. And waited. And waited.

Read the full post over on (in)courage.

Shared Oct 9, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Become a Mystery Shopper (Day 8)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 9, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

You’ve probably seen the signs or ads promise you can make hundreds of dollars every month by shopping and going out to eat. And you’ve probably though it was too good to be true.

Well, those advertisements are likely a little over-the-top and just designed to get you to sign up for some overpriced list which you can find yourself with a little searching online. But mystery shopping is a very legitimate source of income and in many areas, the jobs are plentiful and the pay is decent.

Reader DB Landes says:

I do mystery shopping to get free groceries/take out and earn a bit of extra cash. You won’t get rich quick but by doing shopping I already do I get around $10-$25 extra every month by working for Market Force, plus I get reimbursed for what I eat/buy. -DB

What Skills Do You Need to Have to Become a Mystery Shopper?

A good mystery shopper is someone who is attentive to detail and thorough in everything they do. In addition, it is very important that you keep accurate records and follow instructions carefully. Many shops will require you to look for very specific things, keep track of the time, and ask specific questions — all without seeming suspicious or giving yourself away as a mystery shopper.

How Do You Get Started Working as a Mystery Shopper?

When I first began mystery shopping, I signed up for all of the mystery shopping companies I could find. I opened up a separate email account which was dedicated to mystery shopping emails and used that when I signed up. It took me hours to sign up with all of the companies and it was quite time-consuming, but the effort paid off as I ended up landing dozens of great mystery shopping jobs over the next two years.

Reader Cassie emailed in and suggested:

If your readers are interested in mystery shopping, they should check out the MSPA’s website (Mystery Shopper Provider’s Association) which acts as sort of a BBB for mystery shopping. The MSPA has a list of legitimate mystery shopping companies here that require no money out of pocket to shop for them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You should never pay to sign up with a mystery shopping company. They may ask for a fairly extensive application process to make sure that you are thorough, detailed, and qualified. They will ask for your social security number and other personal information (always make sure the site is secure and the company is legit before giving out personal information).

But a legitimate mystery shopping company should never ask for money upfront. If they do, run far, far away and don’t turn back. They are a scam company and you do not want to get mixed up with the likes of them!

Erin emailed me about her experiences with mystery shopping:

I heard about the idea of “mystery shopping” a few years ago, when my husband was in between coming home from a tour in Afghanistan, finding a temporary job, and returning to Active Duty Military. We needed a little extra cash, and this seemed to work well with my schedule.

At that time, I only had my son, but I’ve continued to do these shops with my second child. There are some very simple shops that pay $5 and $10, all the way up to more complex shops that pay out up to $200!

I also have taken on jobs that have compensated me for meals that my family and I have eaten. I get paid very quickly and I have never had any problems with any of the sites I’ve used. A few of them are:

Mystery Shoppers Provider Association
ICCDS
Beyond Hello
Kern Scheduling
National Shopping Service
Trend Source

Again, these are all real businesses. I have done jobs for every single one of these companies and have been paid for all of my work. -Erin

How Do You Find Out About Job Opportunities?

If you’ll thoroughly fill out all the applications and have patience, you’ll likely begin to see quite a number of job opportunities sent to you. Many times, these jobs are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so you’ll want to check your email for job openings a few times each day and be quick to respond to any which you are interested in. Some companies also have online job listings that you can apply for.

It typically takes a few months to build up a rapport with the companies. Don’t be discouraged if you get passed over for some of the better job opportunities in the beginning.

If you are patient and prove yourself, you’ll likely start to be offered better jobs. In fact, sometimes the company will start offering the job directly to you versus opening it up to others since they know you have done a great job in the past!

What Types of Jobs Are Available?

When I was mystery shopping, I did fast food shops, casual dining, high-end restaurants, gas stations, beauty supply stores, pet stores, and even a bowling alley, to name a few.

I found restaurant shops to be my favorite as they usually not only reimbursed for a meal for myself and my husband, but they also usually paid at least an extra $10 for the work involved. It was very worth it to me to get a nice free dinner date with my husband plus some cash, all for about 30 minutes of extra work!

How Much Will You Get Paid?

Most mystery shopping jobs pay between $7-$15 and include some sort of reimbursement as well. This is usually for an average of an hour’s worth of work, give or take. Once you’ve established yourself with a company, you may be offered jobs that pay $20 to $25 per hour, or more. These jobs are typically not offered to newbies.

Mystery shopping is a lot of work — especially in the beginning when you are first learning the ropes! If you stick with it, though, it can be a fun and rewarding experience that can also help supplement your income — or pay for some of your Christmas expenses!

Have you been a mystery shopper before? If so, I’d love to hear your tips and advice for someone who is considering dipping their toes into the world of mystery shopping.

Shared Oct 9, 2012 comment

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Frappe

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 9, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’ve never been a big fan of Frappes as I prefer my coffee hot. However, I saw this recipe for a Pumpkin Pie Frappe and knew I had to try it.

It didn’t disappoint. I changed a few things — as is to be expected of me! 🙂 I swapped whole milk for the coconut milk, raw sugar for the Stevia, and just threw in a lot of ice instead of actually freezing the coffee.

The end result was delicious — as pronounced by every family member at dinner tonight when I served it as a special treat. 🙂

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Shared Oct 9, 2012 comment

Reader tip: Earn gift cards with Crowdtap

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 9, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here’s another way to earn free gift cards, submitted by reader Ilyssa:

I had an idea to offer for your 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas series. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with, or have joined, Crowdtap yet. It’s a newer website that allows you to complete actions (very unique actions) to earn points. Your points can be redeemed for Amazon gift cards. I’ve only been a member for 5 months and I’ve already earned $75 in Amazon gift cards.

The actions are pretty fun actually. First, you can answer “Quick Hits” that are quick questions like, “What is your favorite fall accessory?” The Quick Hits range in point value from 10-50 points each. They also give you challenges which are worth 1,000 points to 40,000 points.

Recently, I’ve been challenged to make an AT&T themed pumpkin (1,000 points), have an Old Navy party where Crowdtap provided me with free coupons for 4 cardigans, skirts, and scarves (10,000 points), tweet about Woolite (1,000 points), share things on my Facebook wall (800 points) and the list goes on.

The Old Navy party has been my favorite action so far. I got to invite 3 friends to shop with me at Old Navy. Crowdtap provided us each with a coupon for a cardigan, skirt and scarf. We took tons of pictures and truly had a wonderful time.

I’ve had a great time on the site. I find the creative challenges fun and interesting. It’s really easy to join. And you can earn gift cards quick. A $10 Amazon gift card is only 20,000 points.

If you haven’t joined yet, it’s totally worth your time. Here’s my referral link, if you’re interested. They give 100 points for each person you refer. -Ilyssa

Shared Oct 9, 2012 comment

Ask the readers: How do you stay on a tight budget during the first trimester of pregnancy?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 9, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s question is from Katie:

I would love some insight on the following question: How do you stay inside a tight food budget during pregnancy — especially during the first trimester of morning sickness and random cravings? I’ll make a meal plan, go shopping, and two days later everything on the plan makes me queasy. I can squeeze some money out of the budget for snacks, but not for a new snack every day. Worse, my biggest cravings are for pricier foods like roasted nuts and fish and tons of whole fruit. -Katie

Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Oct 9, 2012 comment

Do It Yourself: Homemade Wooden Snap Blocks

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 9, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

ICanTeachMyChild.com shows you how to make homemade wooden snap blocks.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Bing Rewards (Day 7)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Bing Rewards is a way to earn credits for searching online and participating in daily offers. By spending just a few minutes per day, you can easily earn a $5 Amazon gift card every month.

Here’s what Jennifer says about Bing Rewards:

My husband and I use Bing Rewards to save up for things like free Redbox codes, Amazon gift cards, Xbox Live passes, etc. It works very much like Swagbucks. You make a free account and for every 2 searches using Bing, you earn points. Points are redeemable for a whole list of prizes. There are other daily deals and specials to earn extra points. Plus, the more lifetime points you earn the more privileges you get. Imagine giving each each of your kids a few Redbox codes in their Christmas stockings for the movie of their choice on family movie nights! -Jennifer

1. How Do You Sign Up?

Click here and sign up for an account. It appears like a Facebook account is required and the sign-up process takes less than a minute to complete.

Once you’ve signed up, go to the Bing Dashboard and you’ll have a few different offers you can complete and ways to fill out your profile in order to earn some credits from the get-go. I was able to earn 25 credits just by completing these things.

2. How Do You Earn Credit?

Every day, log into your Bing Rewards account and do 30 quick searches. You’ll earn a credit for every two searches you do. You can also check your Bing Rewards dashboard to see if there is a daily offer to complete to earn you 1-2 more credits.

I like Bing Rewards because it has a cap on how many points you can earn a day, which is nice because it’s quick, easy, and done, and then you don’t have to dwell on it. I’ve been doing it for 3 months now. You get 1 point per 2 searches, so it’s not a gambling game like Swagbucks. I just click on “related searches” on the side until I hit my goal. -From an email written by Cat who blogs at Cartwheels and Windmills

3. How Much Credit Can You Earn Per Month?

You can earn 15 credits per day by searching (30 searches = 15 credits). Plus, you should be able to complete one or two daily offers each day to net you another 1-2 credits. This totals 480 credits in a typical month if you log in every day and earn 16 points. This gives you enough to almost earn a free $5 Amazon gift card in one month.

If you achieve Gold status (which you can achieve pretty easily by being an active member of Bing Rewards for two months), an Amazon gift card is only 475 credits — which makes it totally doable to earn one $5 Amazon gift card each month!

4. What Can You Get With Your Credit?

You can purchase Amazon gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, Groupon credit, Skype credit, Redbox rentals, and more! Plus, they also offer you the opportunity to donate your credits through DonorsChoose. Here’s what Cat says:

One of my favorite rewards is a DonorsChoose.org $5 gift card. DonorsChoose is a site where teachers can submit projects they would like funded for their classrooms and people or foundations can donate to them. My sister is a teacher in a low-income elementary school and has posted a few projects to DonorsChoose. I told her I would alternate my Amazon gift cards with DonorsChoose ones–that was until Bing price dropped the DonorsChoose reward to 99 points! So instead of giving my sister’s class $5 for the project, they got $25. I’m throwing all my points at that until the promotion ends on 11/1.

5. Do You Have to Have Referrals To Really Make Bing Rewards Worth It?

Actually, no. In fact, you can only earn credits for the first 5 friends you refer. So this makes it fair for everyone — and those who have a larger social network won’t necessarily have any advantage over those who don’t have a big social media following.

Note: If you sign up, can you leave your referral link in the comments so that others can sign up under you? Update your comment to let us know when you’ve gotten five referrals. We want to help each other out as much as possible!

Have you used Bing Rewards before? If so, I’d love to hear about your experiences!

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

10 Goals For This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So I really, really bombed my goals last week. I started the week with high hopes and then those high hopes were quickly dashed by lots of unexpected interruptions, more pressing life things, and just plain tiredness.

I was kind of embarrassed to even post this update, but I figured maybe seeing so few things crossed off my list would encourage some of you who may be feeling like last week was a blur, too! So here goes…

Last week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read 3 chapters of The Stolen Necklace aloud to Kathrynne. Read 3 chapters of Still More Stories From Grandma’s Attic aloud to Kaitlynn. Read 10 picture books to Silas. Read at least 3 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

3. ~~Have a playdate with friends.~~

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Whose Voice the Waters Heard, Greater, Fully Alive, The Promise of a Mother’s Prayers, ~~Return~~, and Now, Discover Your Strengths.

5. Finish listening to Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

6. Exercise at least five times.

Homemaking Goals

7. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

~~8. Make at least two new recipes.~~

~~9. Have a garage sale.~~

Business Goals

10. Write three posts for other sites.

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read 3 chapters of The Stolen Necklace aloud to Kathrynne. Read 3 chapters of Still More Stories From Grandma’s Attic aloud to Kaitlynn. Read 10 picture books to Silas. Read at least 3 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Finish reading Whose Voice the Waters Heard, Greater, Fully Alive, The Promise of a Mother’s Prayers, and Now, Discover Your Strengths.

4. Finish listening to Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

5. Exercise at least five times. Start Couch to 10 K.

6. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night (I figured out some of my tiredness is a result of just plain not getting enough sleep — so I’m aiming to do what I can to resolve that issue this week!)

Homemaking Goals

7. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

8. Make at least two new recipes.

9. Host a baby shower.

Business Goals

10. Write three posts for other sites.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

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