So....excuse me for not keeping up with the blog, I birthed a child and lost all track of time. I have found being fabulously frugal has been a lot more difficult with three children running a muck. Although I still use coupons regularly and rarely miss a great deal, staying disciplined has been VERY hard. I will eventually get back to highlighting coupon use and where the great deals are, but for this series of posts I wanted to focus on something that can be relevant to many, CHRISTMAS spending and budgets! let me explain:
I love ALL things Christmas. I love the decorations, the snow, the pine tree aroma, but especially I LOVE giving gifts. Now, you may be asking yourself, "has Katie lost her mind, it's only October, why is she talking about Christmas??". The question to that is no...I am actually quite clear headed (shocking). You see, if I want to purchase gifts for all the loved ones in my life, I need to BUDGET for them. I see too may people that overspend around Christmas time. I have vowed that I will not be one of them. I also REFUSE to be one of the CRAZED women running through target throwing toys mindlessly into the cart..REFUSE! I am better then that and you should want to be too!
O.K. so, here is the plan. I will highlight 25 different unique ways I used to make our Christmas money this year! EVERY penny spent on Christmas gifts this year will come from the "extra" money I earn from these 25 ways! **Disclaimer, I respect the fact that everyone has different traditions, principals and budgets around the Holidays **
So without further ado.......
DAY 1: How I made extra cash for our Holiday spending:
I sign up for random things. Sometimes it is a major blessing, sometimes not so much. About a year ago I signed up to be added to Fieldwork Denver's database. Fieldwork Denver is a company that organizes focus groups for company's. Basically, you sit at a round table discussing products/topics you use while people observe you behind a two way mirror. After you sit and share your opinion on the chosen topic/product, you get paid!
Ok, so I was a little weary when I signed up. It sounded too good to be true, but I figured $100 to talk to other people about products/topics/current events for 80 minutes sounded like a vacation. So I signed up and applied for every research group available. Sometimes they called, sometimes they didn't, sometimes I didn't qualify for the group, or other times I was unavailable for the days/times requested. But I hung in there and continued to apply. Alas, they called, I qualified and I was available.
I was a BIT nervous to attend my first research group, but AM SO THANKFUL I went. First of all, the Denver Fieldwork building is in the Wells Fargo building 26 floors up with AMAZING views of the city. Secondly, they feed you Jimmy Johns, chips, fruit, drinks,. and snacks. Some of you may not be impressed with that but for a busy mom to three, it felt like I was on a vacation! My group was ushered into the "round table room" to meet our facilitator. From that point on, you basically just talked about the chosen topic with the other people at the table. The topic for this particular round table was illegal immigration (amazing what I qualify for!). After 80 minutes they ended and I walked out to get my $100 Visa Gift card. Easy-Cheesy-Japanezee.
I currently have attended 3 different research groups and have been compensated the same every time. I did my third last week and earned $100 for our Christmas Fund. All I had to do was talk about Milk advertisements!!
If you are interested in being added to Fildwork's database, you can find more info HERE.
My hope is that I can encourage, guide and inspire you to be wise with your spending this Christmas season.
Blessings,
K
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