JustLisa

Back when we had a lot in savings, we used our local credit union because we weren't aware of any higher rates. Thanks to the internet, you can now compare online banking, find a savings account or checking account and earn more interest today with SavingsAccounts.com. This is a fairly new site but has rate comparisons for the higher interest banks. The bank I have my credit card through pays 6% for savings. (I didn't know that but it sure explains why my card rate is so high.) That's a really good rate for savings. I think most banks are around 3.5%.

I tallied up today that I have made $311.97 from blog marketing. That's in a period of almost three months. When I take out the taxes from that it works out to my goal of having enough to pay the orthodontist and the gas to get up there. Yay! My only frustration is that I miss all the opportunities posted throughout the day and have slim pickings left over when I get a chance to look over them at night. That is partially my own fault because I won't write about just any old thing. It really is a good way to make a few extra bucks a month so long as you do remember that you're responsible for paying taxes on your earnings.

If my page ranking were higher, I'd be able to snag really high dollar opportunities instead of $5 here and there. On the weekends I have time, I am trying to do things to increase the popularity of this site again. I can't get too popular or my hosting fees will jump. I ran into that in the early days and can't afford to do that again. I would like to make even more and start a vacation fund so that we can take the kids to a beach somewhere. C. was with us when we went to Virginia Beach for twenty minutes but the other two haven't seen an ocean. I would like to fly to California but I think I'll never fly. We can drive to Florida.

Of course I can't think of money without wishing I had new steps on the front and back of the house or electricity in the garage or a new roof. Oh yeah, I could easily spend every dime that came my way.

Every year I say I am going to do something thoughtful for graduation gifts and every year I end up doing the old card with money standby. This year I have several special graduates that really deserve something better. I'm thinking about nameplate jewelry. I used to have really cool nameplate earrings but gave them up when I grew my hair long years ago. Found Emily's name for a pretty necklace. I generally don't like pearls but this pearl ring is very pretty.

As their domain name implies, you can also design your own custom jewelry and they will make it for you. You can view a wide variety of their custom work on this page. The cupcake pendant is a sweet story. (oh! Play on words!)

Today Em had a ball tournament (the last one!!) in Missouri, a little over an hour away. Her team ended up finishing third out of ten teams. On the way home, we stopped at Taco Bell where I had the following discussion with Ben.

Me: Benj, we should take a long trip this summer.
Ben: Yeah! We could go to Kansas City!! (KC is less than two hours away)
Me: Noooo, think BIIIGGGG, dude. Like Florida to the beach or something.
Ben: Oh, I could live with that.

Then I told him I wanted to go to Saint Augustine, the oldest colony in the US, blah blah blah and how it would be educational and fun. He said "Lisa, you lost me at educational." HA!

Tonight was the local Pheasant's Forever banquet and we decided to take C. since he's a teenager this year. We bought a bunch of raffle tickets and he bought one for a pellet gun. Todd bought some tickets to win the big Browning Gold Fusion something or other rifle. For all of our raffle tickets we ended up with a giant spray can of lubricating oil and a "hoot flute" turkey call thing. C. did win the pellet gun but that's it. No new rifle for Todd. Oh darn.

Came home and opened the big box that Faith had sent to Em for her room makeover. Pink goodness inside that made Em very happy. The most important piece was broken so we have to figure out how to salvage that. The box was packed very, very well and I have never had UPS deliver anything broken before. Frustrating.

Received my first complaint(?) about justlisa being an informercial pimped out to sell links or something similar to that. It was from a friend who I've told to kiss my ass on many occasions. This time will be no exception. Anyone who doesn't like it is more than welcome to send $60 a month for the orthodontist payment and I'll stop pimping links. Simple as that. I do what I have to do and try to make up for it with interesting entries such as this one. haha

Payday Loan Lowdown is a blog covering payday loan news. As tempting as a payday or cash advance loan can be, they are really dangerous if they are not researched carefully. I took one years ago in Kansas to pay the rent on time and found out later the interest rate was outrageous. At the time I was in a panic and I did not even look. The one thing I learned the hard way was that the longer you keep the loan, the more it costs you. This site gives loads of good advice and warns of the common pitfalls such as not reading the fine print like I neglected to do.

I talk a lot here about money it seems. There's never been a time in my life when money has not been an issue. There is always something hanging over my head but thankfully it's been years since I've been in any real financial danger. The one time I was staring down the barrel of losing everything was so frightening and I made some bad choices that still impact my credit rating today.

It seems the UK is experiencing a debt crisis similar to what we have in the United States. The MoneyWize site is a repository of information about loans with sections devoted to Secured Loans, Personal Loans, and
Car Loans. If you find yourself in a financial jam, take the time to slow down and research your options so you don't unknowingly add to your problem by going for an easy quick fix.

Whoa! This is huge news for payperpost bloggers. They are going to start a new promotion for blog advertising called 1k Tuesdays. Every Tuesday this month, they will release an opportunity worth a thousand bucks! That's $1000 guaranteed for whoever snags it. There is not a specific release time but rather a twelve hour window between 12AM and 12PM in which they will let it go up for grabs. That pretty much eliminates me since I will only be able to check the site maybe once between 6AM and 9AM. If they did it on the weekends, I'd be more likely to have a chance.

There is a blogger named Colleen who is the highest earning blogger and this could allow someone else to take over first place. Not me of course but maybe my friend Julie. She has two growing boys and could use 1k for groceries I bet! Maybe Faithie will get it and split it with me cuz we's gots the love. hahaha

Finally, an auction site so different from your standard online auction that it's actually worth mentioning. The lowest unique bid wins at bid4prizes. The keyword is "unique". You can bid a penny but chances are good many others will do that also. This is an extremely interesting concept in that it seems like a hoax at first glance. If you stop and think about it though, people will bid low and, if the prize is good enough, they will continue to build on their bid in hopes of winning. It is more competitive than a single bid raise and also more like playing a game against others. Right now there is a Scion car with a unique bid between 1 and 21 cents. In my opinion, those are ugly but it'd be worth 22 cents. Only joking. Of course I'd drive it since my own car is terminally ill and I can't bring myself to replace it.

Another neat aspect is that each time you bid, you are awarded points and can spend those points on items in the store.

If you are looking for aftermarket car accessories, Yo Car sells interior and exterior accessories and performance parts to pimp your ride. When I first saw the site, I got excited about the installation videos. That is one of things we often use the internet for; looking up how to instructions and diagrams. Must haves for the do it yourself crowd.

The site is still growing so they don't actually have any videos up yet but that will be a very helpful feature for their customers when it's up and running. Ohhhh, they also have a blog with entries containing nice pictures and more detailed descriptions.

We finally locked in our vacation so I'm working on bookkeeping items this morning to make sure I have sufficient funds for the journey. Ironically, as I am cursing under my breath, trying to download transactions from my bank account, I came across a posting for quickbooks accounting.

Anyone who has known me for longer than ten minutes knows that I despise money and suck at math. I completely rely on software and online banking to keep somewhat normal looking books. When the online banking isn't working, like today, I am fit to be tied. It would be nice to have someone take care of this for me. On their "why us" page, they say "We basically want you to outsource your headaches to us!" AMEN! I'd love to give this headache to them.

I was looking at their payroll services and was a little confused about how full service could cost less than self service then realized that they reference the full service cost per month and the self service as per pay period. Still at $3 per month per pay period, that's a bargain if you don't have the time or patience for monetary matters.

I remember in high school we did a project where we pretended to trade stocks. It was like math and I sucked. I didn't understand it and still don't. What is intraday options strategy? My friend Kurt would know but if you are like me, you probably don't have a clue. I didn't even know what OEX meant until I looked it up. It's the ticker symbol for the Standard & Poor 100. Still confused? I am.

The OEX Options site does a good job of explaining the overall gist of stock trading by comparing stocks to fruit and you to a fruit vendor. You want the best fruit and you want to sell it for as high a price as possible. They also have other teaching articles that go into more depth about blue chip stock, profits and losses, etc. If you subscribe to OEX Options, you get notifications alerting you to the best trades as well as teaching the hows and the whys of being a better stock trader.

Taking a lunch break and a moment to remind people why I love blog advertising. I did lose some readers and had a handful of complaints when I started doing PayPerPost but as I've said before, you do what you have to do. I try to keep our medical stuff separate from everything else which means paying for the orthodontist and the toe out of a different pot of money. This works really well as it allows us to do things like take a short family vacation.

Problem was I was tapped out and when Julie turned me on to PPP, I thought what a great idea. I don't need to make a living from it. I just need to bring in that bit of extra a month to pay things that aren't on the budget. Who budgets for a broken toe or my stupid finger? (Yes! STILL with the finger!!)

It's worked out great so far. I'm in my sixth month of doing it and have made a little over $500. Put some of that back to pay the tax man, donate every tenth opportunity to Habitat for Humanity and it leaves enough to fill in the gap. Sometimes I wish I was able to take the bigger money opportunities but then I am reminded that I have what I need. If you need more and have a high traffic site, it's a good way use what you already have to make some bucks.

My aunt is the luckiest person I know. She can go to the casino and turn a nickel into $50. I can go through $5 worth of nickels in under 15 minutes and have on every occasion. Nonetheless, I'm trying out the contests at whogets.com. Any site that offers potentially free stuff and promises not to spam me to death is worth checking out. I've already entered two contests. After the initial signup, it's easy to enter. If you don't want to wait to see if you win something, you can go ahead and buy it. Cool concept and actually kind of fun.

Now there's even more reasons to blog for money. In addition to getting paid to promote things you believe in, now there's HDTV Tuesdays. PayPerPost is adding all sorts of cool things to opportunities. Too difficult for me to grab since I am restricted time wise to when I can post here but maybe some of my online pals could get something cool.

Tomorrow they are giving away a Slingbox, Nintendo Wii, Yamaha Surround Sound System or a Logitech universal remote. The HDTV will come later I guess. I could use a Nintendo Wii. For the kids of course. They already gave away a PlayStation 3 which would be my first choice. Me, not the kids.

Special shout out to Bid4Prizes for sponsoring cool things like this. I know there are still some of you who are skeptical. My mother in particular was just sure that PPP was a scam of some sort but I've already collected and spent actual money. It's all above board and the idea of giving free goodies as well as money is a great business model. My only gripe is that there often aren't opportunities I feel comfortable writing about or don't believe in. If I have a problem with it, I just don't take it.

Anyway, Faithie, if you win a Nintendo Wii, I will be mad at you for about ten seconds. After I cool down, I'll ask you if I can please have it. hahaha

What was that creeepy movie that had that line? Pet Semetery?

Anyway, I used to play checkers with my great grandmother a lot and the cousins and I would often pretend to play backgammon at her house but I don't think any of us really knew how to play it.

Now you and I can learn to play backgammon online. Apparently this is already a hot game to play online in North American and now BackgammonMasters.com is expanding worldwide with a particular focus on bringing the online game to Latin America. As such, they are opening offices in Central America to better serve that part of the world. Full press release follows below.

Both sites that I have linked to provide really detailed instructions on the game and the terminology. I didn't even know the game had terminology. When a player immediately redoubles and retains ownership of the cube, it is called a beaver. Who knew? Well, I guess you did if you already play backgammon.

PRESS RELEASE

http://www.BackgammonMasters.com online game company is expanding worldwide, placing its attention and resources on Latin American markets. By being the first-ever and only company to introduce an online version of the popular Spanish dice game, Perudo, (in addition to their poker and backgammon) BackgammonMasters has now established itself as an industry leader in most, if not all, of the world’s major online game playing regions. This increased activity in Latin markets has resulted in the need for the company to open a branch office in Central America.

Report by Gammonish.com – backgammon online resource for news and information. More about backgammon online and online backgammon game rules can be found at http://www.gammonish.com.

I had quite a long wait in the doctor's office yesterday so I passed the time flipping through magazines. One of them had a cover blurb "The most important insurance you don't have". The article was about long term care insurance but after dealing with my dad's death, I would have thought it would have been life insurance. My dad was in long term care that was covered by the state but his burial expenses were left to his children to cover. Thankfully he had taken a small policy that was enough to cover a funeral leaving just the headstone for us to buy out of our pockets. He waited too long until his health had declined so much that he couldn't purchase a larger policy. It's important to buy life insurance while you are you younger and in good health to get a really good rate.
If you'd like information about purchasing life insurance online, visit SecureInsuranceQuotes.com.

I think it's about time for us to shop for a new health insurance company but I need to stick it out until this past years string of injuries drops off. The doc ordered even more therapy for my finger over the next few weeks and I hate to think what that is going to cost us.

I didn't even know such a thing existed. I just recently did a balance transfer because I wasn't making much leeway on my balance and another company offered a year with no interest.

There is now a search engine to find Low Interest Credit Cards as well as balance transfer cards, cards for poor credit, gas cards and cards that give rewards or airline miles. Some have zero percent for balance transfers which is just an awesome deal if you find yourself a slave to 15% interest or more.

In the continuing effort to make money blogging, I welcome any new opportunities that allow me to recoup some hosting fees and make some extra for the boys teeth.

The former PPP system only allowed for bloggers to login and browse the opps they were qualified for. More often than not, an opportunity had already been used up by the time I got to it late in the evening so I missed all the good stuff.

PayPerPost Direct makes it possible for advertisers to contact bloggers directly. I can still browse the opportunities available on the PPP site and try to take them as they fit into my time and expertise but now, in addition, if an advertiser likes my blog and writing style, they can click on the PPP Direct badge on my site and make me an offer.

PayPerPost has worked out a system to handle the transaction without interfering with the terms. The price and wordcount and all other details are worked out exclusively between the advertiser and the blogger. Other sites charge a lot of overhead for this feature but PayPerPost only takes a ten percent service fee. About half of that fee goes to PayPal for handling the financial portion of the transactions. Sounds like a great deal to me!

Big news! PayPerPost has raised another 7 million dollars!

I've been doing this for almost 9 years now and never dreamed there would be such a thing as blogger outreach in a marketing type fashion.

The question floating around is 'what to do with the money?'. I guess I think you need to invest right back in yourself or your company while taking care of those who helped you along the way.

Since I'm in the web business, I love servers. On our vacation I saw a rack of servers in a hotel closet and felt like I needed to run in and hug each one individually. You can never have one fast enough or big enough so I'd use part of the money on the server infrastructure. Maybe some blade servers. Pay me to admin them. HA!

The contests are a great way to build excitement and give back to the community who built this idea into what it is now. When there is a contest running, those new servers will come in handy to balance the load as posties refresh their screens, hoping to hit the big opp. Maybe put some money towards a prize every day. More things at night when I'm available. I am just full of ideas!

Press Release:
The PayPerPost Revolution Accelerates, Sponsored
Blogging Marketplace Secures $7 Million Series B

Draper Fisher Jurvetson leads round and joins Board of Directors

ORLANDO, FL – (June 12, 2007) – PayPerPost, the leading marketplace for advertisers to reach bloggers and other consumer content creators, today announced it has completed a $7 million second round investment led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, an investor in the company's Series A and one of the world’s leading high-technology venture capital firms. The financing brings the total amount of capital raised by PayPerPost to over $10 million, giving the company considerable resources for further development as the industry’s leading Consumer Generated Advertising marketplace. Additional participants in the round include existing investors Inflexion Partners and Village Ventures as well as new investor DFJ Gotham. With this investment, DFJ Managing Director Josh Stein also joins PayPerPost’s Board of Directors.

“PayPerPost created this exciting new advertising space and has established itself as the industry leader,” said Ted Murphy, chief executive officer of PayPerPost. “Although we’ve only used a portion of our first round capital, this added support from investors unlocks significant growth potential. Our content creator and advertiser ROI metrics clearly demonstrate the upside for PayPerPost’s model. We intend to use this capital to build the infrastructure, visibility and professional expertise necessary to reach and retain a greater network of advertisers and content creators than ever before.”

Since its founding in June of 2006, PayPerPost has signed more than 6,500 advertisers to its groundbreaking service, which has enabled Consumer Content Creators to be compensated for their efforts discussing specific companies, products or services via blogs, videos or other media. The content creators are required to disclose relationships with advertisers on their blog, providing transparency for the end reader. Over 125,000 Internet postings, most in the form of blogs, have already earned money for their creators through PayPerPost’s innovative marketplace. PayPerPost recently released PayPerPost Direct, a disruptive new service that allows advertisers to contract and negotiate directly with individual bloggers they identify through a safe, managed system.

“PayPerPost has laid a strong foundation for the future,” noted Tim Draper, founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “It continues to attract a critical mass of participants from both the advertising and blogging communities. Analogous to Overture’s sponsored search model, we believe PayPerPost’s business model holds disruptive potential and will enable the company to thrive in the evolving paid-content arena.”

To mark the $7 million dollar funding, PayPerPost has launched a new website detailing the company’s service offering at http://www.payperpost.com. Bloggers and advertisers can easily sign up at the site and begin leveraging the self service marketplace.

I never used to bother with clipping coupons but I do use them a lot on the internet. Now that C. has a car, we'll probably be checking the coupons for JC Whitney coupons to buy auto parts. The Home Depot coupons have 20% off ceiling fans. I'm thinking about putting a ceiling fan in the living room. I just don't know how big of a pain it is to put an overhead light in where there isn't one at all.

Reading this story this morning about how millions of dollars of tax money is "melting away" as the surplus ice FEMA ordered for Katrina victims is being melted. In the article, someone is quoted as asking if it's unsafe for humans, why can't they use it for fish. I wonder why can't they use it to fight the wildfires and drought around our nation.

Stories like this enrage me. As a private citizen, I'm held accountable from every direction if I mismanage my money but the government can mismanage it all they want.

A friend and I were talking the other night about our house payments and how they pay $200 extra a month to knock out the principal. They said they look at their amoritization schedule every month and it's shocking how much goes to interest. I know that is true but I used to prefer to be ignorant about such things. Nowt hat I am not a kid anymore, I've started thinking about retirement and how to best handle my finances between now and then.

I found this really helpful loan calculator that breaks down interest and principal but also provides a year-end recap at the end of each year. Our year one says:

You will spend $8,144.79 on your loan in year 1
$7,372.08 will go towards INTEREST
$772.71 will go towards PRINCIPAL

When you look at it in plain english like that, it gives you a whole new level of insight. Less than a thousand bucks towards actually paying this thing off. YIKES!!! I'm rethinking that new car I want in two years. Go punch some numbers in and be amazed!

Christopher's going to need new boots for hunting this year. His feet are growing so fast that he's already outgrown his school shoes bought just two months ago. I'm looking at camo Danner boots. These boots have a lace cover which is great feature for turkey hunting when they go clear out in the tules through cockleburs and sticktights. Waterproof and insulated with Gortex are big bonuses for hunting.

For Todd, Danner boots makes "cop" boots and even still make the pair he used to wear. Shipping is free on orders over $100. That's pretty much any product since they are quality boots and not cheapies. The prices are very competitive though and remember, you get what you pay for.

I have never understood stocks or bonds or trading or any tricks of the wealthy. I know how to work for a paycheck and stretch it to the last penny then repeat. I have much respect, and jealousy, for the people who do know how to start, grow and reap from a successful business.

I wish I could go to New York City for the Wealth Expo sponsored by MyWallSt.net: Your Financial Social Network.

Unfortunately I have no wealth with which to travel to NYC and that is also the weekend I have to horse and llama sit. If I had the money and no prior commitment, I'd go see my NYC friends and attend the seminar given by Colleen De Baise of SmartMoney on the “Top Five Things to Consider Before You Buy A Franchise”. I have often thought of investing in a franchise and keep it on my list of things to try and accomplish. It would be Ruby Tuesdays or a Long John Silvers.

Since I don't have any seed money, I'd need to also attend “Unlimited Financing… Without a Personal Guarantee” so I could get started. I would like to know how people without money get a business started. I think I could grow one if I could just get the door open. If someone goes to this expo, please let me know what you learned.

The WealthExpo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center

Friday, 10/19: 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. EDT w/ a cocktail hour to follow

Saturday, 10/20: 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. EDT w/ a cocktail hour to follow

Sunday, 10/21: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. EDT (no cocktail hour)

Yesterday I pulled up to the gas pumps and about had heart failure. I rarely put gas in the vehicles as it's just something Todd does so I don't get used to the outrageous prices. $3.32 a gallon. Good Lord. That's where our money is going! Todd has to drive about 800 miles a week to work and back so I guess I better start finding other ways to save if the economy is going to get worse.

One option I am entertaining is getting a car with much better gas mileage. Another is to use coupons at the store. My mother had no choice but to do that as a single mom and I always hated it. Swore I never would and I absolutely do not. Now may be the time where I have to start counting pennies. The Penny Pincher Gazette looks like a good place to get free grocery coupons. I like the fact that you can enter your zipcode and search stores for your area. You can browse the circulars then find Grocery Coupons. Neat!

Clarification on the new car. It's new to me but not new to the world. It's 5 years old with many miles on it but it's been very well taken care of and came with a warranty that lasts the length of my bank note. Works for me! We bought the Buick the same way years ago. The warranty lasted as long as the note and came in very handy at least twice a year. When the warranty ran out and each trip into the shop came out of our pockets, it was time to bid it farewell.

When we first signed the papers for this car, I looked at Todd and said "Five years?? What if I don't want the same car for five years???" I then remembered I'd had the Buick for almost eight and did fine. It will be fine. Do kinda wish I'd have gone for something that takes E85. The thing that sealed the deal for me is that the warranty includes roadside assistance and car rental, motel, food, etc if we have to leave it in a shop somewhere away from home. That will be great since we have started traveling more. It's easier to go once the kids are no longer little.

Speaking of which, we saw the cutest little girl the other day. She was probably around two years old and so adorable. Todd was looking at her with *that* look. I said "Oh god... you aren't thinking of having another are you?" and he said "Only if they'd stay like that." Stay like two??? Holy crap. Two's have like ten good minutes in a day. hahaha No more babies here! I got a car to pay for.

My Bill IQ is 71% / C which surprises me a lot. I am not one to worry about debt or financial planning. Unfortunately, it shows right now as gas prices skyrocket and the budget gets so tight I can't breathe. I swore off credit card debt yet I have it again. Citibank keeps sending me a fake check to ease my financial strain just by calling this 800 number to consolidate debt.

On the bills.com website, I read that if I pay only the minimum on a credit card, it will take 15 years or more to pay it off if I stop using it today. Wow! I also learned a lot about savings versus paying down debt. It does make more sense to put funds towards paying down a 17% interest credit card than it does to stick the same money in savings and earn 2 or 3%. These are the things I just don't think about. I’m also completely guilty of using extra, unexpected money for trips instead of paying something off.

One of the Bill IQ questions was about shopping around for best insurance rates. In a small town, most people buy insurance from their insurance man without shopping around. I've never checked rates anywhere else and have had the same insurance man for 20 years. I am sure a big company could beat the rate but I am not sure about the service.

I guess it’s a matter of priorities. Checking into the insurance is a good idea but I don’t think I will give up the trips. That is something new to me and I find I quite enjoy being irresponsible sometimes! In the instance of unexpected money, I’d rather die knowing I saw new places and made new friends than I would knowing that my credit card was paid down some more.

Every morning I get up and check the savings sites online for good deals. The last great deal I got was an iHome docking station for the kitchen. It mounts under the cabinet so I can put my iPod in it and play music while I am chained to the sink. Okay, so I’m not really ever chained to the sink but it sure does feel like it when the kid decides to purge his room of dirty dishes.

With gas prices threatening to bury us all, most can no longer afford to pay full retail on anything nowadays. For clothes I use Gap coupons or Old Navy. For work/techy things, the NewEgg promo code comes in handy.

I meet myself coming and going nowadays and barely remember my name so it's nice to have othere people deal watch for me! With savings.com I can get deal alerts and newsletters emailed to me so I don't even have to take the time to browse around myself. Of course I will because any kind of money savings becomes addictive and you never know when you will run across that item you just have to have.

My favorite feature is the free shipping tab. Again, gas prices bite us all on the butt with the cost to truck freight around too. Sometimes you can save the cost of your mechandise in shipping alone!