Ramblings-n-Writings

Sorry for the delay in posting my first Writing Wednesday article. We were out of the house for a good part of the afternoon, and by the time I settled down to write, our internet connection was messed up. Apparently, after spending about 40 minutes on the phone with tech support, the problem wasn’t on our end, but instead our satellite (the one in the sky that our little satellite talks to) has issues and is being worked on. Ho-hum.

For the first Writing Wednesday, I thought I’d introduce you to Associated Content. One of my goals for the first couple of months in 2008 is to find some small ways to supplement our income. Associated Content is one of those ways. If you enjoy writing short articles, reviews, poetry, short stories,
editorial opinions or just about anything, consider joining Associated
Content to receive an income from your pieces.

What is Associated Content? Basically, it is a site where freelance writers can submit pieces on any subject, and receive payments for how many times those articles are viewed. Anyone can go to the site and read the articles. In fact, on the right side of this page, you should see a widget listing the articles I’ve published since I’ve started. Two are articles that previously appeared as blog posts here, and two others are recipes that I submitted in answer to a “call.”

What’s a “call”? In an effort to have relevant content, AC puts out “calls” or prompts for articles. The prompts might be about current events (recent calls included various topics on the Super Bowl as well as Super Tuesday) or more obscure topics like organic foods or certain types of recipes. When I see a “call” I like, I claim the call, write my article, and submit the article by the deadline in the call.

Take some time this week to check out AC and maybe it will work for you too. If you want to get started now, click on the AC box near the bottom of the column to the right.

Do you generate an income through writing? If so, what do you do? Have you found any online resources that are beneficial for writers? Leave a comment about your writing experiences and maybe we’ll explore those areas in future Writing Wednesdays!

Our trip to CVS and Krogers this week was pretty profitable. I was a little disappointed in Krogers because quite a few of the good deals weren’t in stock. I could have asked for rain checks on the items, but I didn’t feel like spending my time doing that. I did learn that Wednesday and Thursday are stock days, so when the sales are good, we are better off going Thursday afternoon or Friday in order to buy the exceptionally good sale items.

Krogers recap: In the beginning of the month, we do a “stock up” grocery trip. In our area, the best sales tend to be within the first two weeks of the month and we take full advantage of those sales. I try to buy any items that we are running low on as well as anything unusual that we don’t typically purchase but is on sale. We purchased 66 items, spent $86.14, and saved $59.51 (41%) with sales and coupons.

CVS recap: (For a simple explanation of how CVS works, click here.)
Transaction #1
Maybelline eyeshadow trio $5.49
Total: $5.49
Minus $5.29 ECBs
Total Paid: 21 cents
Earned: $5.49 ECBs

Transaction #2
(2) Dove Chocolate $6 (2/$6, $1 off 2 coupon)
Maybelline eyeshadow trio $5.49
(2) Snickers bar $1.38 (69 cents each, B1G1 coupon)
Total: $12.47
Minus: $1.69 coupons & $7.49 ECBs (all I had)
Total Paid: $3.99
Earned: $7.49 ECBs (For CVS newbies, this is an example of “rolling” your ECBs – I paid with $7.49 in ECBs and earned the same amount in return.)

Transaction #3
(2) Clear Care 12 oz $14 ($6.99 each – this is an awesome price for my contact solution which is rarely ever on sale.,Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to buy more.)
Total: $13.98
Minus: $7.49 ECBs
Total Paid: $6.88
Earned: Clear Care rebate of $6.99

When I take the rebate into account, my total out of pocket for the trip was $4.10. At this point, I’m out of ECBs and probably won’t visit CVS for awhile (unless there’s a really awesome deal!) since we have a good supply of all our toiletries and household products (at least two months worth). So far, for the year, we have saved $120.64 at CVS and spent approximately $45, including a $20 prescription. When it is time to shop at CVS again, I plan on considering the $6.99 rebate as something like ECBs so I have some $$ to start with.

If you’d like to see more awesome deals from CVS and other stores, jump on over to Money Saving Mom’s blog.