Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics

My latest Vox Box also contained the Goody Ouchless ribbon elastics pictured above. 

I'm always losing elastics, so these couldn't have come at a better time! At first I was a little skeptical about these. I have very soft, thin hair and figured these would just fall out of my hair since they're made of  pretty shimmery ribbon. But I was wrong! I've used them multiple times now, and they hold my pony tail up just as well as the plain black no-frills elastics I normally use. I love the colors they come in too. The gray, silver and black are all neutral enough that I can wear them in my hair when I go to work. And the purple and red are perfect for when I'm home. 

I wouldn't have purchased these on my own (for the reason listed above), so I'm glad I got a chance to try them and be pleasantly surprised. 

Product Information:

• Soft, stretchy material that looks beautiful on the wrist or in the hair!
• From America’s #1 elastics brand, Goody® Ouchless®
• Unique knot style hair ties are perfect for personalizing or dressing up your look.

• *I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster.

Dr. Scholl's® For Her High Heel Insoles

I recently received my latest Vox Box from Influenster (which is totally free to sign up for - I have 2 invitations left...leave a comment if you'd like one). It included all of the products shown in the top photo.

One of the things I received was high heel insoles by Dr. Scholl's. I put them in one of my favorite pair of heels. I've always loved these heels, but they are very high and make my feet hurt after a short time. 

The insoles go in easily and stick to the inside of the shoes. The insoles have plenty of "cushion" and it seems to be made some kind of gel. 

I used to wear heels all the time, even though they kill my feet, but eventually I decided I'd rather be comfortable and usually go with flats or wedges. I decided to wear these heels out last week. I managed to keep them on the whole time I was out  (about 3 hours) and didn't notice any pain at all.

I'd definitely recommend these to anyone who gets foot pain when wearing heels. The only concern I have is how well they'd stay stuck in the shoes if I were to wear heels often. I personally don't wear heels very often, so for me it isn't an issue, but could be for someone else.

* I received this product complimentary from Influenster.

January 13 - 19

This week I cashed out my endorse account and put the money in my savings account. ($23.14) I also received a  rebate check for $1.66 for some Andes mints I bought last month. I tallied up my eBay profits so far for the new year....$141.68. That means I've earned a total of $200.93 in extra cash and gift cards for the year!

Last Sunday I splurged and bought my new niece a St. Patricks Day outfit. I ran some errands and earned some shopkick points too. At Rite Aid I picked up the following items:

10 bags of Sixlets (75% off) $.32 each...$3.20

1 Neosporin essentials kit $13.99 used $2/1 coupon....$11.99

2 Kellogg's cereals 2/$4....used $1/2 coupon....$3

Total OOP: $19.39

Will submit Neosporin for a rebate of $13.99 and I also received $1 back for the cereal on my ibotta app.

I received two bzzkits in the mail this week. One for Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal and one for Morning Star veggie burgers. (No photos of the second kit since it's just a freebie coupon) Has anyone tried this cereal before? It looks delish!

 I didn't do much money saving other than that this week. I had to work lots of overtime this week, which means I didn't have a lot of time to prepare meals. I got coffee and ordered take out once during the week and treated a coworker to a coffee and lunch. At least the 25.5 hours of overtime should help make up for the splurges this week.

Lastly, on Saturday I kind of broke my shopping ban by acquiring a new clothing item. I received an email notifying me I had earned a $15 reward from Express. I went to the mall to see if I could find anything for $15. I lucked out...they had the bins of clearance clothing out plus a sign advertising 50% off all of the already marked down items. I found the sweater pictured below...originally $49.50...marked down to $29.99 minus the 50% off sale....$14.99. I used my reward coupon and got it for totally free! I also stopped by Bath & Body Works to get some of the small hand sanitizers for my purse. I also scored a free lotion thanks to a Facebook coupon. I paid a total of $5.31 for everything in the photo.

January 6-12

On Sunday I went shopping with my best friend and then out to lunch. I didn't buy anything at the stores but did earn about 150 shopkick points while I was out. We did lunch at the Macaroni Grill. I had $15 worth of gift cards, but still spent $13. (I had the waitress take the gift card off of the total and then we split the bill. I'm never quite sure what proper etiquette is when redeeming restaurant gift cards while out with friends. Anyone?)

Sunday night I listed a bunch of items on eBay. I had 32 items for sale...I'll be posting my total profit on the items I sold tomorrow.

I had the day off on Monday. I had to stop at Michael's for some picture frames. I got two new 8"x10" prints for Christmas that I wanted to frame, plus I made some artwork on 11"x14" cardboard that needed to be framed as well. I purchased a four pack of 8x10 black document frames on sale for $9.99. All of the 11x14 frames were over $30. I decided to buy a mat with an 11x14 opening so I could use a frame I had at home. The mat was $5 or $6. I had a 40% off coupon for one regular priced item (mat). My total was $14.43 and I paid using an AMEX gift card.

I received a deposit from half.com for some books I sold back in December. The total amount of the deposit was  $26.83, but after I deducted the cost of the shipping that was originally taken out of my checking account, the total profit is $19.45. That amount was added to my extra money/gift cards earned.

Tuesdays mail brought me a $5 Starbucks gift card from Bank of America. They sent it as a thank you for being an account holder. (I got one last year too!) So that brings my total of extra money/gift cards earned up to $34.45 for the year.

I got another invite for a Bzz Campaign...this time it's for veggie burgers. I'm trying to keep an open mind about these!

I worked 12 hours of overtime this week, and carpooled into work with a coworker one day.

Wednesday I was required to take an exam for work that was off site. I was unable to pack a lunch or dinner since I didn't have access to a fridge. I spent $4.57 on lunch and will receive a $9 reimbursement per my union contract as well as about $40 reimbursement for the mileage I put on my car getting to and from the exam. I also bought dinner at work later that night. ($8.15)

Thursday meant it was new offer day on my endorse app. I bought myself a medium iced coffee for $3.01 and will receive $3 back from the app. Love it! I'll be cashing my endorse account next week.

Saturday night I went out to dinner with two of my girlfriends. Total cost $17.

That's it! How did you guys do this week?

Holiday Vox Box

Here are the contents of my latest Vox Box from Influenster!

Included in the box is: 

1 Good Quikstyle hair brush 

1 packet of EBoost natural energy booster

1 Quaker Medleys oatmeal cup

1 NYC Lip Gloss

1 Kiss Nails giraffe print decal set

1 Coupon for $25 off a pair of shoes from Sole Society

Pretty sweet huh?

If anyone is interested in becoming a member of Influenster, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you an invite. I have 2 left!

Hamburger Soup Recipe

I found this recipe on Pinterest a while ago. I finally made it a couple weeks ago, and it was delicious!

I tweaked mine a bit so I could use things I had on hand. Here's my recipe...



Hamburger Soup

1 Tbls Olive Oil
1/2 a med sized onion, chopped
2 Tbls minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup, plus 1 can water
32 oz. box of beef broth
1/2 bag of mixed frozen veggies (corn, carrots, peas, green beans & lima beans)
1 cup cooked orzo

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic until the onions are just soft. Add ground beef, season with salt and cook until meat is longer pink. At this point, I drained all of the fat out of the pan and then dumped the contents into my crock pot along with the remaining ingredients.

I cooked the orzo separately and added it to the crock pot shortly before I served the soup.

January 1 - 5th

I did great spending wise this week! I fueled up my car on Wednesday and went to see a movie on Saturday night with a friend. Other than that, I didn't spend a dime.

I received $4 back on my gasoline purchase through endorse.

I also earned my first freebie of the year toward goal #3. I redeemed my I-say points from taking surveys for a $10 Amazon gift card.

This past week I made a huge batch of hamburger soup and I worked on a few DIY wall art projects. I'll post the recipe and pictures of the wall art in a separate post.

Yesterday I had a bunch of eBay listings end and sold five items. Once I calculate the shipping costs and fees, I'll add that total earned to my goal #3 total.

I was also invited to a new Bzz campaign this week to try out a new type of cereal. I'm looking forward to receiving that in the mail and trying it out.

Yesterday I spent the day running errands with my dad and doing some shopkicking while I was out. In just a week I've earned enough points for a $5 gift card....almost enough for a $10 one. And I haven't spent any money being in the stores.

This week I also found out that I did get the promotion at work and I also became an aunt. :)

Earning Extra Money

One of my goals for 2013 is to earn an extra $1000 in cash and gift cards from things like taking surveys, mail in rebates, rewards programs etc.

Here is a list of the programs, websites and mobile apps I plan to use.

1. My Discover card runs promotions where certain types of purchases will earn 5% cash back during a certain month. For me, the best deal is when they run it on gasoline (usually during the summer). I typically only use this credit card for the special 5% items. (For the record, I pay of my credit cards each month and NEVER carry a balance or pay interest.)

2. My Bank of America Visa also does cash back....3% on gas, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else. This card also gives a 10% bonus on your cash back if you have it deposited into your BOA account.

3. Ebates & Mr. Rebates. These cash back shopping sites are great. You earn a certain percentage of cash back on purchases at hundreds of online retailers. You just need to be sure to use their links to get to the retailers web page.

4. Endorse. This is a mobile app that I recently found. Each week they offer cash back on different items. You scan take a photo of your receipt with your smart phone, check off the items you bought and submit it. They have offers like 100% cash back on a cup of coffee or 10% back on a tank of gas.

5. Shopkick. This is another mobile app I was just introduced to last week. They give you points just for walking into certain stores in your area. You can also earn points for scanning the bar codes on certain items, by making purchases at certain stores and by clicking through their "look books." You can redeem your points for gift cards from places like Target, Best Buy, Starbucks etc.

6. Plink. This site gives you points when you link up your credit card and make purchases at certain retailers.

7. Mypoints. I've been a member of this site for about 6 years. I open a few emails every day and take surveys once in a while and usually get $50 - $100 in gift cards every year.



I also use the following sites to get freebies, coupons and sample products:

Vocal Point
MyInsite
She Speaks
Influenster - Leave a comment with your email address if you'd like an invite. I have 2 left!
BzzAgent


What sites/apps do you use to make extra money or earn gift cards?