Extra Money for Christmas !!!

So I decided not to use the money I have been making from cashcrate for my bills... instead I am saving them for Christmas presents.... I would rather use the money for Christmas than pay more to my debt right now and either not have money for Christmas or end up putting more charges on credit cards !!! I was not able to do as much on cashcrate last month as I would have liked- I have been real busy with my 9 to 5 job, but that is going to change this month.... I would like to make over $100 in November... and I should be able to ....

Yeah !!! hit the $550 in extra money !!

Between working with cash crate and Associated Content (writing articles) I have earned over $550 !!! Working to get cc debt paid off, but I must admit I have had to tap into this money for little things like GAS !!

BUT I did earn enough with cash crate to get the $250.00 in free gas. The way it works is, one you earn enough (I think $100 in 90 days) you are enrolled to receive $25 gas gift card for every $100 of gas you buy. Once you have $100 in receipts, you mail it in along with a voucher and you are sent a $25 gas card ! This runs for 10 months- for a total of $250. This is an awesome why to earn some perks !! Who could not use $250 in gas. I easily put $100 in my tank within 2 weeks !!!

Great bonuses in addition to making extra money !

Cash Crate is offering great bonuses right now. They actually have two going on.

The first one is for a $250 gas card. If you earn $100 in a 90 day period, you will be issued a certificate and you will send in your gas receipts to cash crate and cash crate will issue you gas cards- up to $250. ($25 per month for 10 months)

The second one is a GREAT Contest. You will earn "crates" for each survey completed, each referral, each daily survey. The top 50 members who have the highest crate will win prizes, including a Wii, LCD TV, Ipod touch, Xbox 360, Digital Camera, DVD player, gift cards. Check it out. It is listed under contests, under your home page. About the pictures of the prizes, your "crate" counting will be listed.

This is such an awesome bonus- in addition to still earning money every month !!!!

$250 in Free Gas !!

Cashcrate is offering a great reward in addition to your cash earnings. If you earn $100 or more in a 90 days period, you will receive $250 worth of free gas cards.

If you have not already joined, click here for the link and you can start earning cash and credit towards your $100 so that you can get your $250 worth of gas cards.

Mystery Shopping

If anyone is interested in Mystery Shopping, please email me at singlemompayingoffdebt@live.com with your first and last name and your email address. I will send this information to the administrators of the mystery shopping company that I work for and they will send you an email containing the information for you to sign up.

Writing Articles for Online Publishing

I wanted to you know you that I recently began writing short articles on popular subjects. You can click this link (or the green box to the right) to see my articles. I have written 9 so far, but only one is appearing. The other ones are in que to be posted and hopefully will be active in the next week.

Here is a list of the articles I have written: (some are still processing, so if you want to read about one particular subject and it is not live yet and available when you click, check back in a few days)

The Dangers of Myspace.com

To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate

How to Clean Up After a Hurricane

How to Host a Spooky Halloween Party

How to Succeed at Making Money Online

How to Earn Extra Money as a Mystery Shopper

How to Make the Best Deviled Egg Appetizer Ever

How to Improve Your Credit Score

Gardasil: Benefits for Adult Females?

As I publish more articles, I will update my list. Hope you enjoy. Let me know if you have any topics that you are interested in - I can certainly always use tips.

I am thinking about creating a bunch of articles title "Single Mom's Guide to ______" . I could potentially do an article about anything that can fill in the blank - Single Mom's Guide to Changing a Car Tire, Single Mom's Guide to Dating, etc.

August Payment

I received my August payment yesterday. It was for $72.80. Cashcrate also made a few changes that began in September. The first thing is that you are able to choose to have your money sent directly to your paypal account. The dates stay the same- you will either get paid on the 1st or the 15th (depending on what level member you are).

Mystery Shopping

First let me apologize. I am new to blogging and for some reason all of your comments from a few weeks ago regarding wanting more information on mystery shopping did not get sent to my email address and the comments left on my blog somehow went without me seeing them.

I emailed more information to all of you who asked for more info. Let me know if you have any questions.

I am pretty sure that I got my blog linked to email me properly when someone posts a comment.

August 2008

WORK AT HOME GIVING YOUR OPINIONS AND REVIEWING PRODUCTS

Are you interested in earning money for reviewing various products and websites at your convenience, around your already busy schedule?

With cash crate there is no minimum time requirement. Any amount of time and any time of the day you are available you can work. This is perfect for stay at home moms, someone working to get their debt paid down, students looking to earn a few extra dollars for gas, and anyone looking for extra cash to supplement their monthly income.

Payments are generated on the 20th of the month following the month after the work was completed. Minimum payout is $20.00. Example: If you earn $20 or more in September, your check will be generated and mailed on October 20th. You have the option to select the payout. Some people want to have a higher payout (such as $50) and can indicate so on their application registration. You now also have the option of paypal to receive your monthly payments.

My first month I made over $70 and my second month I made over $100. It just depends on how much time you want to put in. So far, in 5 months, I have made over $300.00. I stay pretty busy with an active 12 year old son, so I can not give as much time as I would like to, but the money I earn comes in handy. It is great knowing that I can work a few nights from the convenience of my home office.

Please check out cash crate for additional information and to register.

I will stay with you once you join and will help however I can. I want to to succeed and have as much, maybe more, success than I have had. This is a reputable company and the proof speaks for itself. Please see the photographs of one of my checks from them that is contained within my blog.

I do not want to promise you that you are "guaranteed to make over $1000 or more per month". I want you to go into this with all of the truth that I know from being a member for the last couple of months. And I want you to know the secrets and ways to be as successful as you can. Trust me, I learned some of my tips the hard way, but have since improved the way I complete the survery and opinions, which allows me to be more efficient and have a quicker earning potential. You can earn anywhere from $0.15 to $125.00 per opinion or survey completed. Just depends on how much time and energy you want to put into earning extra money. Some surveys - very few- are trial offers that do require a credit card- but you do not have to do them if you do not want to. Also, new surveys are updated as new companies get on board- so even if you run through all of the in your first month, surveys will be added.

Everyone over 13 anywhere in the world is encouraged to register and try it out for themselves. However, those people in the United States have more available offers, which means more surveys available, which means more money earned. Don't take my word for it. It is free to register, free to try it out. Just give it a shot for one month. If you are not happy with your earnings or decide you are unhappy with the job opportunity, you can delete your account at anytime. There are no strings or catches to this. It is free. No sign up fees or account maintenance fee. Also, there is no fee to process your check. This site pays actual cash.

Here are some tips for earning success:

When you decide to complete a survey- read the description. This will tell you what the survey entails. Sometimes it is to register and confirm your email. Sometimes it is to complete an offer or participate in the survey. Sometimes it is to completed at least two offers on the "final steps" page.

If you are completing any offers other than the completed at least two offers on the "final steps" page, you do not have to do complete a Silver/Gold/Bronze offer- you can do the survey, but once you get to the page indicating that you need to complete a silver/gold/bronze offer, you can stop there. Unless it says in the description that you need to completed at least two offers on the "final steps" page, you do not have to complete it.

Also, some of them, once you get to submit after clicking "no" to all offers, will have a window pop up that says "you must say yes to one offer". At that point, click yes to one view the ad, and click either "no thanks" or "skip".

Some of the surveys are a few pages, but as long as you click either skip/no, thanks/no to the advertisement on the pages following registration, everything is credited. Some are ads basically to review companies advertisements. Since the do not call list was started advertisers are having trouble getting consumers to hear their pitch.

I would create a seperate email soley for the purpose of doing surveys because part of the way the company works and is able to pay money is they give out your email to companies so that they can email you information about their product. Some of the surveys require that you confirm and you will receive a seperate email from that site, with a link within that email to confirm. I do not want anyone to be caught off guard by the large amount of emails you will receive. Other than needing to confirm a survey here and there, you will not need to open the emails. I usually go in and mark all to delete when I do not have any that I needed to confirm via email.

Please note also that if you put your phone number (which you are required to do on some of the surveys), you will get phone calls. By signing up you give them permission to contact you. I have caller id, so I either do not answer it or I simply tell them I am not interested. You do not have to speak to them in order to have your account credited through the site.

I found that it works better if I complete a few a day, rather than a whole bunch. Some of the surveys are by the same site, so if you complete more than one, it will probably only approve one pending offer that you completed. Once it confirms, go on and do another one. You can usually tell the companies that are the same. For example, I usually go through a complete a few a night (or every few nights), but I make sure I only complete 1 participate in survey, 1 complete the survey, 1 fill out the information. Since chances are the same company has a few of the "participate in the survey" offers, I wait until one credits before I complete another one.

I opened a few different email accounts. (I did not heed my own advise to open a completely seperate email before signing up). Once you sign up with the site, you have to use the ORIGINAL email address that you signed up using to complete daily surveys but the other surveys can be completed using different email address.

Every day or so delete your cookies from your computer. Once you delete them the survey companys information is not imbedded in your computer and surveys should complete quicker. If you need additional help, let me know and I will help as best I can. If I can not help, I will refer you to an administrator who can assist you.

Please note that only one account is availalble on each server/Ip address. So really only one person per house is able to register.

Also, you can do 2 daily surveys, each for 0.80 daily (some you have to qualify for). So right there if you only do that you can make $48/month, without doing any of the surveys.

Again, this is a great opportunity to

• improve your credit score by earning additional income to put towards your credit cards or mortgage payments installments
• pay off your car
• save money for a down payment for a new car
• with gas prices now, who could not use an additional second income
• start saving early for Christmas presents
• save money for a much needed vacation, maybe a cruise
• save for home improvements

CASH CRATE

Update

Sorry guys for no new updates recently. I should be receiving my check from cashcrate shortly and as soon as I do, I will scan and post it online along with an update for the month. Check back in a few days for an update. Thanks to all for checking this out.

Please share with me your own success story in paying down debt or with cashcrate.

CHECK ARRIVED !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a copy of the check I received today from my earnings for March from cashcrate.com. So far for the month of April I have $82.02 and another $3.00 in pending offers. (Remember the checks for April will be cut around May 20th.)

Tips for earning money on cash crate

Cashcrate !!

Some people have emailed me asking how cashcrate actually works and not to naviage the site correctly. I decided to post the email that I was sending to them. PLEASE EMAIL ME if you have ANY questions !! I am here to help ! I wanted to go ahead and post this since there maybe a day delay in responding to your email and I know some people are anxious to get started earning money.

The following is the email:

This site pays money for taking surveys. It does not pay much but it adds up. I earned $74.92 last month. There are no fees to join and on the 20th of the month following the month the surveys were completed, they mail a check out to you. (I will get my check around the 20th of April- for the surveys completed in March- once I receive it I will scan it and load it so everyone can see the check) .

Some of the surveys are a few pages, but as long as you click either skip/no, thanks/no to the advertisement on the pages following registration, everything is credited. Some are ads basically to review companies advertisements. Since the do not call list was started advertisers are having trouble getting consumers to hear their pitch. If you decide to do it, DO NOT do any of the surveys that say you have to complete a Silver/Gold/Bronze offer- you can do the survey, but once you get to the page indicating that you need to complete a silver/gold/bronze offer, you can stop there. Also, some of them, once you get to submit after clicking "no" to all offers, will have a window pop up that says "you must say yes to one offer". At that point, click yes to one view the ad, and click either "no thanks" or "skip".

I would create a seperate email soley for the purpose of doing surveys because part of the way the company works and is able to pay money is they give out your email to companies so that they can email you information about their product. Some of the surveys require that you confirm and you will receive a seperate email from that site, with a link within that email to confirm. I do not want anyone to be caught off guard by the large amount of emails you will receive. Other than needing to confirm a survey here and there, you will not need to open the emails. I usually go in and mark all to delete when I do not have any that I needed to confirm via email.

Please note also that if you put your phone number (which you are required to do on some of the surveys, you will get phone calls. By signing up you give them permission to contact you. I have caller id, so I either do not answer it or I simply tell them I am not interested. You do not have to speak to them in order to have your account credited through the site.

One pointer- I found that it works better if I complete a few a day, rather than a whole bunch. Some of the surveys are by the same site, so if you complete more than one, it will probably only approve one pending offer that you completed. Once it confirms, go on and do another one. You can usually tell the companies that are the same. For example, I usually go through a complete a few a night (or every few nights), but I make sure I only complete 1 participate in survey, 1 complete the survey, 1 fill out the information. Since chances are the same company has the "participate in the survey" I wait until one credits before I complete another one.

Second pointer- I opened a few different email accounts. (I did not heed my own advise to open a completely seperate email before signing up). Once you sign up with the site, you have to use the ORIGINAL email address that you signed up using to complete daily surveys but the other surveys can be completed using different email address.

Third pointer- every day or so delete your cookies from your computer. Once you delete them the survey companys information is not imbedded in your computer and surveys should complete quicker. Check out this link if you need help or do not know how to delete your cookies. If you need additional help, email me and I will help.

Only one account is availalble on each server/Ip address. So really only one person per house is able to do it.

Also, you can do 2 daily surveys, each for 0.80 daily (some you have to qualify for). So right there if you only do that you can make $48/month, without doing any of the surveys.

cashcrate !

Please post on here and let me know how you are doing on cashcrate.

Expenses

UGH!! Summer is quickly approaching and I love it... I love no homework, no shuffling kid to/from events, hot weather and vacations !! But with that comes added expenses.... no only fees for summer camp, $$ for summer fun and vacations.. We usually go on one family trip and I go on a girls only trip. This year we are going on a cruise.. Luckily we have had to pay in installments, so it did not hurt so much- not like coughing up $500 at one time would hurt... I usually try to go to the beach with my son at some point during the summer... We have also been invited with family to go to Disney in Florida in July. That should be a lot of FUN !! Getting my debt paid down is going to suffer for a few months... Although I am NOT going to charge anything on them, I am only going to pay the minimums for the next two-three months....

I know we do not need to go on multiple vacations, or even one vacation a year. But I enjoy it and soon my son will not want to spend time with me as he approaches teenage/adult age :) I need to enjoy this time. I do not mind making minimum payments for the next two months so that I can swing this...

On another note, one thing that I have also found profitable is selling on ebay. I enrolled sites such as pampers, huggies, enfamil, gerber, platex, johnson & johnson, etc.- pretty much anything that sends you coupons. From there they send you coupons. Then I check online at ebay to see how the coupons sell and then I list them. Also when I get gift cards from limited, bath & body works, etc for free products or % off, I list them also on. It really does not amount to much $ but every little bit helps.

Another suggestion other than cashcrate is opinionplace.com. They typically email you a survey to complete every 10 days. They will automatically credit your paypal account with the amount payable by completing the survey. (Usually about $2.25) This money can then be transferred to your bank account that is linked up to your paypal account.

Hope all of this helps you all...

End of the Month

$74.80 + $212.00 = 286.80 total in extra money. $74.80 from cashcrate and $212 from Mystery Shopping. If any of you are interested in Mystery Shopping, please let me know and I can fill you in how to get started. It is more time consuming and detailed and can not be performed at your computer. You have to shop a certain business and then report on it via computer. I usually complete mine on my lunch hour. Some shops pay $10, some as much as $30.00.

Another month- no progress !!!!!!!

Current earnings: $64.04 earned this month and another $48.00 pending.

This could and should be higher- but I have been wrapped up with my day job and getting ready for Easter.

I noticed on my way home today that one gallon of gas is now $3.19... $3.19 !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a nightmare.

The only driving I do is necessary driving. I try not to drive unless necessary- such as work, errands, etc.

Hopefully when I get my check from cashcrate, it will help some with filling my tank up.. so much forn paying down these credit cards... another month, where the minimum will get paid and no money left over to pay more.

UGH !!!!!!!!!! So freaking frustrated !!!!!!!!!!!!! At this rate, I will be in DEBT FOREVER !!!!!!!!!!

Have a great Easter !!!!!!!!!

Gas prices

Is anyone else having a heart attack pulling up to the pump ?!?!?!?!? I swear, something really needs to be done with that... I do not even fill my tank all the way up because I know the number will be somewhere around $50 per tank... it seems more bearable doing $15.00 ever two days. I know it does not make much sense, but it works for me.

I called one of my credit card companies and got them to lower my interest rate two points, from 21.62 to 19.62... I just called and asked... I had to call a total of 4 times to get someone to do this for me at the company- all other operators said "no, sorry we can not", but for whatever reason (maybe my persistence) the customer service lady agreed to lower it for me. hey- very little bit helps...

Current cashcrate.com earnings $50.90 deposited to date and another $55.50 pending.
Also, I have been a mystery shopper since 2006 for a national company evaluating various locations of a company in the area near where I live. I did this a bunch in 2006, but did not do any in 2007 (got too busy with my full time job to be able to commit to anything outside of my office) but started doing it again in 2007. The jobs are really simple- you basically have to be observant. So far, just since taking on mystery jobs starting March 3, I have $189 that will be deposited into my electronic account in April.

Unfortunately my tax stimulus rebate check thing is already spent on past due commitments (that are not included in this blog re: my credit card debt). This was not credit card dept but a loan.

Try my hardest to get these bills paid down.

Going GREAT !!!

Today is day six of working a little bit each night on online survery. So far, since Saturday, I have made a total of $77.87 in my account- $31.57 confirmed and $46.30 pending. This is wonderful.

As soon as I receive the check (around the 20th of next month) I will scan and post so that you can see for yourself.

If you have not checked it out yet, please do so.

Here is the link cashcrate.com

Email me if you have any questions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGH !!

STUDENT LOAN DEBT

Are any of you still paying off student loans from the 90's. I have a student loan from 1998 that I am still paying. Actually, I did not start paying it until once I was finished with school- well, then I took a couple of deferments so I only started paying it about 3 years ago. Another WONDERFUL (sarcastic) perk is that my monthly payment is only $25.00. While I am thrilled that I am not bound to make larger payments, at this rate it will take me a little over 7 years to get it paid off. I would like to pay more to this nagging pesky little monthly bill, but the reality is that the interest rate for my student loan is incredibly low and it makes no sense to pay it off before I pay off my high interest credit cards.

Total from cashcrate so far (just since Saturday) is (drum-roll please) $41.13....

Also, I am going through my closet to get rid of clothes that I just don't wear anymore... I am going to list them on ebay. Hopefully this will generate some additional income... A little extra cash wil help, especially at the pump... I don't want to have to take out a loan for my next fill-up...

Total Debt

$4250.00... WOW what a scary number... that is the total of my credit card debts !!! I got online and checked my five credit cards webpages to determine my total balance owed to each...

Card #1 $1700 (interest rate 24.7%)
Card #2 $300 (29.74%)
Card #3 $1000 (21.62%)
Card #4 $750 (16.4%)
Card #5 $500 (16.4)

According to Suze Orman's book, Women & Money, you should pay off the hightest interest rate credit card, no matter the balance. Since my lowest amount credit card is also the highest interest rate, I am going to get that one paid off first.

I absolutely loved Suze Orman's book, however, most of her suggestions, I am already doing... (i.e. higher deductable on my car insurance, interest earning checking account, balance my check book each month). So it is hard to find extra money from my regular paycheck to put towards credit card bills.

I began this journey, that I know so many other people have already taken, to gain financial freedom. I want to be able to have a savings account and know if something happens where I need to come up with money (such as minor health problems, car problems, etc.) I will have it. At this point, I could not even deal with so much as a flat tire without having to borrow money from family. I HATE living this way and I am determined to make a change. I started making CASH online from just completing surveys. I have already earned $13.05 and I have an additional $25.50 pending from offers I completed, just since Saturday. At this rate, I could have my debt paid off eight to nine months, with only working online 15 days out of the month.

If you are in the same position as I am with debt mounting up or if you are just looking to make some extra cash, check out cashcrate.com - it is absolutely FREE... no costs... you dont have to give them your bank account... they use your paypal account or they issue you a paper check.

Anyone else in a similiar position? Please share your experience. Any suggestion you might have or post and let us know what has been working for you to get out of debt.

Paying Off Debt

I decided to embark on this journey after reading other blogs written by women who found themself in the same position as I am- TOO MUCH DEBT. We all know how to get it paid off and that we need to get it paid off, especially if our credit cards are very high in interest rates. I have one card that is 29% interest rate. However, I have the problem of not having enough money left over from my paycheck to pay any additional money on the credit cards, other than the minimum. Even then sometimes I have to go right back to using the money just paid on the card to put gas in my car. I want to get out of this hole. I suspect that alot of people are in the same position as I am.

I began researching online- ways to make cash from using different sites on-line. I made sure that I did not join any sites that required a start up fee. No company that is legimite is going to make you pay ANY fee in return for your opinions. So far, after only two days, I have $13.05 in my cashcrate.com account and another $25.50 pending - JUST for MY OPINIONS.

I found out that the reason these companies pay ordinary people, just like you and me, for our opinions, is that since the installation of the do not call list, companies are prevented from contacting ordinary consumers. On-line is a way that you can complete different surveys for companies to give them your opinion.

Additionally, cashcrate.com allows you to complete 2 daily surveys, each for $0.80, just for completing. Simply by completing these two surveys daily, you can earn $48 in just one month. As soon as I receive my first payment I will post proof of the payment. Payments are paid out on the 20th of the month following the month that the surveys were completed. I expect to have my check from cashcrate on or around April 20th.

Check out this site and see for yourself. Please post and let me know how you are doing getting out of debt.