this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

I have been doing on-line tutoring for the past four years. Last year, the company I work for instated a new policy which meant I needed  a current teaching license in order to stay employed. For a variety of reasons, I let the teaching certificate I previously had (from a different state) lapse a few years back. I knew right away that I wanted to get the license, it just involved me taking a few tests and paying a lot of money, but shortly after I registered for the first test I started thinking that maybe I didn't want to spend the money. My hours decreased quite a bit and I wondered if it would really be worth the effort and money.

I received the official teaching certificate in the mail last week and now I have no regrets. Though I don't intend to use it for more than my part time tutoring gig, it feels so nice to have it. I like knowing that, if I ever needed to or wanted to, I could get a teaching job.

Yesterday's post was all about spending money on things that give you some money in return versus things that do not (the majority of purchases), so it seems appropriate to follow it up with a post about these gals:

These three chickens joined our household a week and a half ago. The older one should start laying any time now. In addition to providing us with eggs, we also hope they will help rid our garden of bugs and weeds!

We've wanted chickens for awhile and the day after my husband started planning the coop (an expense I wasn't too thrilled about, but clearly a necessary one if we were going to get chickens), he stumbled upon a free one. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and asked the right question!

Earlier this month, my husband and I were arguing over how much money to spend on improving the garden this year. He just wants things to grow better, and I'm content with how they are and feel like we've thrown enough money into it and we are in no way saving money with this garden. Fed up with my argument, he pointed to the couch and asked me, "well, how much money is that couch making you?"

I must admit he had a point. Everything we have does not have to make us money, in fact just about everything in the house yields us no financial gains at all. So why on earth am I so concerned with making sure the garden does?

Most things are just meant to be enjoyed or meant to be functional. Sure, one could always sell items and make some money that way, but using that as a reason to buy something in the first place isn't usually a smart idea.

I still stand my ground though.

Sales are great, but any money-wise person will tell you that you must be careful not to purchase things simply because they are on sale - in other words, make sure it's something you need!

At Target yesterday, I realized I am totally guilty of breaking this frugal rule. I saw a baby outfit at a great price and didn't think twice about buying it. It's too small for any of my kids, and I don't have a recipient in mind for it, but I now own it. I remember several years ago grabbing a little boy's dress outfit at Target even though my son was too big for it. It was three dollars and some odd cents and I couldn't just leave it there on the rack, dressy outfits for baby boys are hard to come by! Had I known I would have had two more baby boys, I would have kept it for myself, instead I passed it along to someone else.

Are you guilty too?

Ever since discovering the blog Knock-Off Wood, I've been itching to create something. I didn't end up using a project from that site, but rather tried to re-create something I saw on another site. But in an effort to use some wood that I already had, keep it from weighing too much, and because I really had no idea what I was doing, my end result was nothing like what I envisioned. I love it though! Here's a quick rundown of what I did.

After sanding, I glued the sides to the base and added a bit of molding to help the books stay in place.

 Then I broke out the power tools and drilled some holes and screwed the pieces together.

Now time to paint

And it's ready to hang on the wall (preferably straight, but the fact that it hasn't fallen off is a plus regardless of it's crookedness).


This didn't end up being as frugal of a project as I was hoping.  But I've totally caught the carpentry bug and what I learned from this project will help me create future frugal projects.

I'm adding this to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.

Have you blogged about something you made recently? Leave me a link in the comment section - I'd love to see it. What to join in next week? Send me an email and I'll be sure to link to you in next week's post.

My post on my son's desire for a chore chart is part of this week's carnival of personal finance  over at The Wisdom Journal- go check it out!

Five years ago, I embarked into the world of online surveys. I initially joined quite a few and have discovered a few new ones since then. I find them to be a great way to earn a little extra pocket change. There are so many different sites out there, below are the ones that I think are worth the effort, meaning I think that the time I put into them is fairly compensated. Your experience with these sites may vary since you most likely don't match the same demographics that I do!

My Survey* - This is one of the first ones that I joined and it's perhaps the only one that's survived since then! Each initial survey quick and always worth some points, then based on your answers, you may or may not qualify for a longer survey that will be worth more points. I've also had several chances to test out products using this site, mainly diapers and wipes.  You can redeem your points for cash, gift cards, and more.

Swagbucks* - Swagbucks doesn't involve surveys, it's built around searching the internet. This is something you do anyway, so it's an easy way to earn a little bit of extra pocket change. Each internet search (using their search engine) gives you the chance to win some swagbucks (SB). There are also other ways to earn SB, such as internet shopping or finding special codes hidden around the website, facebook page, blog, and twitter. There are a variety of prizes to redeem your SB with. I always opt for Amazon.com gift codes and usually have enough to redeem for one every 4-6 weeks.

HCD Research* - These surveys deal mainly with current events and political issues. One nice part of this survey site is that for each survey you qualify for and complete, you'll receive an email with the results of the survey. It's kind of fun to see what others think about the topic at hand. This site allows you to redeem your survey points for cash.

My Points - This is another non-survey site, though there are a few random survey opportunities. You earn points by reading emails and shopping online. I always earn my points through reading emails -which is actually clicking through to the site advertised in the email. Your points can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards.

Epoll - These are mainly entertainment related surveys. A time or two, I've received DVDs of pilot episodes of TV shows to watch and review.

Keynote Research Panel - I only receive these a few times a year, but they only take 30-45 minutes of my time, they're fun, and I earn a $10 Amazon gift certificate for each one. This panel is a little different, you will evaluate websites by attempting a variety of tasks.

Do you do any online surveys? What are your favorite sites?

*These are affiliate links, meaning if you click on them and then join the site, I do benefit from it.

In February we overdrew our checking account again. Last time this happened, we asked the bank to reverse the overdraft charge (on the basis that this was the first time we had ever done that) and they did. When it happened again, I was pretty sure we were just stuck because I couldn't imagine that they'd agree to reverse charges again for us.

The last time my husband was at the bank, he picked up some material on their new savings account. I was looking through this last week and noticed that our checking account has a feature where they will reverse the charges for one overdraft per calendar year - you just have to ask. The last time we had them reverse charges was last year, so the bank gladly reversed the charge for me.

It certainly is beneficial to know the features of our account. And it never hurts to ask.

It's two days after Easter and my house has been overtaken by approximately 537 bazillion plastic eggs. Eggs that will be packed away very soon. But will I keep them or put them in the yard sale pile?

These are eggs that I've saved year after year so that I don't have to re-buy them each year, but when a friend mentioned that she saved hers from the previous year even though she usually doesn't, I started rethinking this. They take up space, are used for about three days total, and really I could purchase all I need each year for just a few dollars. I do have the space, but I'm not so much in love with the closets full of stacked boxes look and it would be nice to eliminate one.

In terms of clutter, it seems better to just get rid of them. But in the money-saving sense, why get rid of something I'm going to just buy again later?

photo by Stuart Conner