Challenge! $1000 in 80 days!

We're down to the last of the money we need for our trip. What better way to do it than by decluttering!

I made a goal of $1000 in 80 days! Starting 8/25. That works into roughly 12.5 a day.

$1,000

8/25: Sold 2 boxes of leftover Girl Scout Cookies- $10 8/25: Nerd Flea Market: $108 (Was $143, but cost of booth was $15 and a pop Ive been wanting for almost 2 years was priced below market value so I nabbed that at $20.) Balance: $892

8/26 Percy Jackson Bracelet - $14 Balance: $878 Posted over $1600 worth of fabric on Facebook. Join me in the challenge!

Joining weight watchers with Hashimotos after curing Hypothyroism.

Back in February of 2012 I came off my thyroid meds. Levothyroxine. I became pregnant with my son and knowing from past experience I knew their thyroid usually worked for mine. (according to my OBGyn).
My OB monitored my thyroid numbers very closely and advised I stay off. For the first year after my son was born I got my numbers tested every 6 weeks. Then every 6 months. Now yearly. My t3, t4 and tsh levels haven't budged enough that the doctors want to put me back on thyroid medication. But I STILL felt like crap.

Back in October 2017, my husband and I did an inflatable race. It was a 5k (that was more like a 10k if you add in how far the parking lot was). By the last half hour, I was sore, my ankles hurt, my fingers felt fat and huge. I was extremely uncomfortable. But I made it, and I was damn proud of myself. 

Until I looked at the pictures after. I was EXTREMELY swollen. This drew red flags and I went to google and searched everything to do with swelling. A lot of which brought me back to hypothyroidism and going gluten free. So October 2017, I became gluten "sensitive" (Meaning I understand a lot of my first will have cross contaminations). This was extremely hard for me as I love snacks, so for the first month I practically only ate soups and salads.

Finally my yearly blood draw came up. This time, I got my antibodies rechecked in Feb 2018 and they were CRAZY (not as crazy as when I was first diagnosed with Hashimotos Hypothyroidism). Except 9 years ago, they didn't really know there was a difference between the two. After talking to my endocrinologist, he has informed me that I have cured my hypothyroidism and now only have Hashimotos which can still cause me to go into a "remission" of sorts and get hypothyroidism back. UNLESS I continue to take care of the problem.

We also found out I was severely deficient in vitamin D (something that's common with Hashimotos). So now, 3 months later, and 6 months off Gluten, I feel better, MOST days. It's now time to get back in charge of my weight loss. The tools are in place. My hypothyroidism is gone, I have my Hashimotos mostly under control, my vitamin D levels should be close to normal (will check again in 7 weeks), and I have a Disney trip in less than 7 months I plan to take!

Weight watchers is doing a free month with select plans, so I thought, why not try this? Can't hurt right?

I've logged two days, I haven't starved myself and I'm amazed at the points I gain when I do eat something "naughty" (14 points for that 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce with my chicken and broccoli! HOLY COW!)

My goal is to lose 50 pounds in 200 days (just under 2 pounds a week) and 10 inches total. I'll post my measurements Sunday. Wish me luck! 

Update on Disney Funds!

We're now 208 days away!

So here's the update on where we are now!

Last time I posted about the amazing travel agency I found: Magical Vacations Travel (P.S. I absolutely love the Dis/Dreams Unlimited. They are by far amazing and helpful! I only went with MVT because the rate was unbeatable. Check out both: wdwinfo.com / dreamsunlimitedtravel.com / magicalvacationstravel.com)

Disney Gift Card: 470.62

DSA check: $75

Free Money I've earned on SB since 11/25: 749.83

Total: 1295.45: Paid: $185 = 1110.45

My daughter also has $45 saved for her bibbidi bobbidi boutique trip.

I also have other savings put aside just in case we're short with free money, but I'm hoping to not dip into that.


Here's our original trip update:

Ticket Cost: 1267.35 for the 3, and 829.64 = 2096.99

Hotel (All stars Music): 1574.26 - I'm hoping this cost will go down as we get closer. I'm hoping to pay around 1120.

Plane Tickets: ~800

Food: Groceries through instacart. One character meal: $275 (saves us $20+ by checking her in before shes 10)

Souvenirs: $200 (budgeted $400 for January and had almost $150 left over.)

Bibbity Bobbity Boutique - $100 (My daughter is earning this as this is what she wants. She will be doing extra chores to earn this - Earned $45! $55 left.)

Uber to family house for Thanksgiving: $60

Total Estimated: 5106.25

Updated:

Ticket Cost: 1533.62 for all 4, I may upgrade to AP while we're down there but I'm not sure if I'm going again next year or not.

Hotel (Pop Century): 1012.50 (WOOHOO! Saved 561.76)

Plane Tickets: ~800 (This will be updated May 31st when Southwest opens their airlines.)

Food: Groceries through instacart. One character meal: $275 (saves us $20+ by checking her in before shes 10)

Souvenirs: $200 (budgeted $400 for January and had almost $150 left over.)

Bibbity Bobbity Boutique - $100 (My daughter is earning this as this is what she wants. She will be doing extra chores to earn this - Earned $45! $55 left.)

Uber to family house for Thanksgiving: $60

Total Estimated: 3881.12
Total Savings from Original Quote: $1225.13
Total Left to earn FREE: 2585.67 in 6 months. Basically the cost of the hotel/tickets. (2546.12)

12.43/day or 87/wk

Swagbucks Lyft Offer! Info on Driving for Lyft

Wow Lyft is up to $205 if you sign on and drive ONCE.

So I signed up.

DISCLAIMER: Be sure to check into your car insurance and state laws! This is information for Mass.
Liberty Mutual is who I have for insurance and they won't cancel you for ride shares. I believe Lyft does notify your company. But depending on how quick you are to on board and do your first ride you can get the ride share insurance taken off. Be sure to contact your insurance company. Especially if you're only doing the one ride. (I'll admit, I didn't until after. Not smart on my part.)

Anyway! Here's my experience.

I started the process April 17th.
You have to upload quite a few documents (reg, license, picture, proof of ins, etc.) I didn't have my registration on me, so I went to our RMV website and sent a copy of that one.

Background check, Registration and Insurance coverage have to be reviewed. Insurance coverage was reviewed pretty quick. Registration was approved the next day. Background check was approved April 20th. I received a text saying it was approved.

Now I went to the app store and downloaded both apps, because I wanted to know pricing and such. So I open Lyft and check for how much a trip costs. From my house to my local grocery store (1.6 miles away) was $6.65. Not unreasonable to be honest. Pretty much just getting gas. When I zoomed out I could see the little cars nearby that were on shift.

In Massachusetts we're required to have the background check paper (they'll email it to you) and "Lyft" decals in both from and back. I made these with my cricut maker on removable vinyl on transfer paper so I can remove them when I'm not driving. Remember to check your states requirements (Lyft directs you)

I then went into the Lyft Driver app and completed some training. Then asked my husband to download the app. I'm not sure if they'd catch on, but my legal last name and my swagbucks address are different to my husbands last name and my current address. So I took advantage of that to test the waters. We took a trip to the mall a few hours later and on the way home opened up both apps. We checked to ensure no one else was around, then I turned my self from offline to online (I was the only "car" in the area)

He went through the app, put in his pickup, drop off and payment and requested a ride. Since I was closest (and only one on shift at that time actually) it pinged to me. You have about 5-10 seconds to accept the ride before it moves on to someone else. You can only see the name of the person before you have to accept or miss it.

So I accepted it, and started driving to "his" house. Followed the prompts in the app and it was straight forward. As soon as you hit drop off, your earnings pop up. I drove to the grocery store after and my husband tipped me (you keep 100% of tips) and gave me a 5 star rating. But I was able to rate him too. Lyft won't place you with the same customer if you rated them a 3 or below.

Total cost of the ride for him: $15.08 plus $2.00 tip= 17.08
Total earnings for me: 9.89 plus $2.00 tip = 11.89
Total "cost" : $5.19 (fees are about 34.4%)
Will receive: $216.89
Total Profit: $211.70
Not bad for my first ride! They're also doing promotions for your first $300 or your first $500. (I've see it vary on location)

If interested in joining Lyft and you're not on swagbucks, use code Amy09197.

If you want to join swagbucks: Join here!


UPDATE: 4/22 Amount is pending in my swagbucks.

Update! 8 weeks later

It's been 8 weeks since I posted our first post on how much we've saved. We actually used the Disney gift card to buy some magic bands because they were on sale for $4 each! But we added a bit to that as well.

So where do we stand now?

Disney Gift Card: 151.51

DSA check: $75

Free Money I've earned on SB: 619.23

Total: 845.74 in free money!

My daughter also has $45 saved for her bibbidi bobbidi boutique trip.

I also have other savings put aside just in case we're short with free money, but I'm hoping to not dip into that.

So in 8 weeks I've made an additional $139 in free money. I need to step up my game!


Here's our trip update:


Ticket Cost: 1267.35 for the 3, and 829.64 = 2096.99

Hotel (All stars Music): 1574.26 - I'm hoping this cost will go down as we get closer. I'm hoping to pay around 1120.

Plane Tickets: ~800

Food: Groceries through instacart. One character meal: $275 (saves us $20+ by checking her in before shes 10)

Souvenirs: $200 (budgeted $400 for January and had almost $150 left over.)

Bibbity Bobbity Boutique - $100 (My daughter is earning this as this is what she wants. She will be doing extra chores to earn this - Earned $45! $55 left.)

Uber to family house for Thanksgiving: $60

Total Estimated: 5106.25

Getting free clothes and money back with Swagbucks!

Reaching your daily goals in swagbucks can sometimes be a challenge. There are ways to do your shopping and get your daily points though. We've talked a little about how you can earn with Swagbucks. (Check the previous post!)

If you haven't signed up yet, click here to join: Join Swagbucks!

So how can you earn free clothes with Swagbucks?

Well the first half of January I've made $50.14. Not as much as I'd like, but we moved January 1st and both my son and husbands birthdays are the beginning half of January, so I've been a bit busy. So I transferred that $50 to my paypal account (Takes around 2 days).

Notice: Your first $25 of the month you redeem at stores (not paypal), you can get a discount of 12% ($3) through the redeem option.

I saw Old Navy was offering 5% sb (Swagbucks) back and up to 75% off clearance! So I decided to check out the sale. Activating the 5% back through swagbucks.

They were having $15 jeans, $3-10 leggings for girls, and so much more! I added 8 things to my cart. Total retail would have been: 146.78. They were also offering 20% off! So with the clearance/sale discounts and the 20% off, my 8 items came to 51.32 (I was $10 short and shipping was free at 50, otherwise shipping was $7. I essentially paid the extra $3 for more items.)

It works out to $6.42 each! (When you're buying jeans and leggings, it's a pretty good deal.)

I clicked back into swagbucks and searched "My gift cards". It's a separate site where you can buy gift cards and earn swagbucks! I searched old navy and it was offering 4% back! I ordered a $50 gift card to Old Navy. They were having a Winter Wonderland sale and I got 300 swagbucks ($3) back instantly! Helping me reach my daily goals.

I used paypal to check out. The $50 I just redeemed from earning!

It says it takes up to 2 days, but I've always received mine in 5 minutes.

I then went back to Old Navy and redeemed the gift card and paid $1.32 on my card.

So how did I get it free?

With ever $25 purchase, you get $10 back to spend later (I believe this runs similar to Hot Topics Hot Cash program and you get 10 off 20.) So I received $20 to spend later, and in around 30 days I'll make another $2.55 from the 5% cash back from Swagbucks.

Bringing my total to $1.32 out of pocket, with $20 cash back and $2.55 coming in 30 days. Profit of 21.23! Even if I don't use the $20 cash back, it's still $1.68 profit.