Category: Goals

Categories
Goals Uncategorized

Ultimate Couponing Trip/Buy out the baby section

So, after the showers were over there were still several many things that we wanted or needed before the baby arrived, so we added more things to the registry (like the rest of the furniture we wanted, because we had a 10% off registry completion coupon) and went.  We did buy the dresser and a chest of drawers that day, so that’s added in the total, but it started at $770, YIKES!!  Luckily my math said we’d spend at least 700, so this wasn’t too shocking (the worst/best part – we didn’t have anything over $30 in our buggy, aside from the furniture – it was literally a ton of smaller stuff).  Then I handed over my coupons totaling $60!!! ($42.90 for registry completion, and another $17.99 in manufactures/store coupons on specific items) Then I handed over my several gift cards (thank you friends and family!) and cash (we did some minimal grocery/other shopping while we were there and paid cash for that $40 worth of stuff) and the total came to right under $550.

The best part?  That was Saturday…on Sunday, there was a lovely sale paper, as usual.  The loveliest/worst part?  The dresser and chest we’d just bought the day before were in it for a total of $50 less than we paid for it.  I went in, while the ad was still good, and asked for a price adjustment.  With just my receipt in hand, I was given a gift card for the difference (I could have gotten part back on my card and part back on a gift card, but I was already planning $30+ in purchases, and expecting to spend most, if not all, of the $50).  Thank you Target for making it that easy!  So, the total of the trip was only $500!  AND we got a dresser and a chest of drawers, which accounts for over half of the total we paid!  After that, and a minor (less than $80) amazon shopping trip (with our 10% registry completion on amazon items coupon), we were ready for the baby to come (as far as the stuff is concerned at least).  We won’t discuss the process that was putting the dresser together (or that the chest of drawers is still in the box behind the door).  We’ll just say that the dresser is a great size, we’re happy with it, and it’s already full (aka why we also got the chest of drawers).

Note – This does not count towards my coupon goal, but as it is related, I’m still excited about it.  Also, neither target nor amazon did anything to get mentioned in post, aside from providing us registry completion coupons, just like the do everyone else with a registry.

Categories
CNC Router Finding a Church Goals Internet Marketing Running my first 5k

Goal Progress: January 29

CNC Router

I got the x and y axes built on January 15th, but I haven’t touched it since
image

Affiliate Website

Bad news. I made a concerted effort to promote several products as an Amazon Affiliate. Like, I’m really proud how much work I did. I even got linked by much bigger blogs a couple of times and my traffic was about double my normal weekly traffic.

I made $2. In the last two weeks. Suck.

I’m not really sure what to do about that. That was pretty much the perfect storm and it totally cratered.

Run a 5k

I did a couple of things toward this in the last two weeks. First, I bought a ru, running shirt. I also increased the distance that Casey and I walk by another 600m, bringing to total to a little over 4km. I also tested out a Couch to 5k app on my phone just to see what it would do. The dry run worked out pretty well and I plan on taking my first run this afternoon.

Finding a church

On January 22, we went to church with some friends of ours. The church bills itself as a community church based on the Nazarenes, but we walked away feeling like we had just attended a service at any Nazarene church. It’s not really our style, but at least we made an effort.

This week, we were planning on attending a church that is within walking distance to our house. Unfortunately, we had a family emergency that took precedence. We’ll get back on that next week.

Categories
CNC Router Finding a Church Goals Internet Marketing Running my first 5k

Goal Progress: Jan 15

CNC Router

I bought the MDF on Wednesday and had the guy at Lowe’s cut it into 2ft x 4ft sections so it would fit in my Jeep. The controller came in on Friday from China and when I went to pick it up at our Post Office, the postal worker had a quizzical look on her face and said, “China? What?”

I guess they don’t get much of that around here.

I also bought all the hardware necessary to put it together. I think. This might be a 10-Lowe’s-Trip project. I’ve already been three times.

So, I have everything I need. Once I publish this, I’m heading to the garage to cut the MDF into the individual pieces and start assembly. The software required to get the controller going is called EMC2 and it’s not playing nicely with the 10 year old computer I decided to install it on.

Affiliate Website

The baby websites I mentioned last week have gotten some traffic, but not much. No one has clicked an affiliate link, and I don’t blame them–the site is a little spammy looking right now. My main site made a little over $11 last week, and this week I plan on doing some reviews of products I’ve been really pleased with. That should generate some affiliate sales.

The big news, though, is that I got a new job with a raise that can only be described as jaw-droppingly awesome. I now make 80% more than I made last April, and I filled the position I vacated at that time. What recession?

Run a 5k

Yesterday I bought some new running shoes at a discount place. The $100 shoes were purchased for $30. I bought my last pair there about two years ago and have been very pleased. This week I may actually sign up for the 5k.

Finding a church

I’ve been meaning to call our friends who live nearby and go to church with them,  but I haven’t yet. So, still no progress here.

That’s all I have for this week. I did get a lot accomplished that wasn’t necessarily part of my goals, like buying a new jacket and putting together an IKEA cabinet we purchased back in November. I also finished installing the custom pull-outs in one of our kitchen cabinets. More on that later.

Categories
CNC Router Finding a Church Goals Internet Marketing Running my first 5k

Goal Progress: Jan 6

In order to hold myself accountable, I’m going to try to post weekly progress reports for my 2012 goals. Right now this site has like 10 subscribers and the only people who directly visit the site are Nikki and myself, so this is more for me than for the non-existent you 😀

CNC Router

I have the motors and most of the hardware sitting in the garage right now. The plan is to buy the MDF next Thursday or Friday and start making the machine on Saturday or Sunday.

 Affiliate Website

Two days after I posted my goals, we received a baby gift that included bibs with website names on them. In what can only be described as a “Someone needs to get fired” moment, they didn’t buy the domain names so I did. So far, I haven’t made any money off the sites but they are getting a little bit of traffic. I made about $120 in December across all my sites, but I think that might be artificially inflated by people we know clicking on affiliate links. So far this year, I’ve made…..eleven cents.

Run a 5k

I’ve added 300 meters to the walks that Casey and I take in preparation for running 5,000 meters. Next weekend I’m planning on buying new running shoes. The couch to 5k program takes 10 weeks, and the 5k I’m thinking of running is in April, so I have to start training in about 3 weeks. I’d prefer to do my runs in the morning, but I don’t think that’s realistic. I like to sleep too much.

Finding a church

I haven’t done squat about this other than talk to Nikki about it. I’ve got a training class this weekend so I can’t attend a service. Next weekend she’s out of town and I may or may not try to attend a service on my own.

For this week I’m pretty happy with my progress on the router and the 5k. The affiliate website is kind of meh, and I’m falling flat on finding a church. Now I know what I need to work on for next week.