20 Months Old

My baby has just turned 20 months old! I can't believe that in just a few more months she will be 2. The time has gone by so fast. It seems like she was just learning to sit up and crawl and now she's running around talking (constantly) and singing. I feel so blessed just to have her in my life and so proud to be her mommy. I just thought I would share a photo with everyone. This is Mya just being silly...

Riddex Plus

Every year I seem to have a problem with unwanted visitors showing up in my house. No, I'm not talking about friends or family members...I'm talking about mice. We live in a very wooded area and the little furry creatures somehow always seem to find their way inside. In the past I have tried using an exterminator and setting traps. But to me it just seems mean to kill them. I don't want them dead, I just want them to stay away from my house.

This year I have decided to try something new. Riddex has come out with a new product called the Riddex Plus. You simply plug it into an outlet and turn it on, turning the wiring in your home into a giant digital repeller that chases those unwanted mice, roaches and other pests away for good. The best part is that with no poisons, traps or fumes to deal with its completely safe for children and pets.

Focus Groups

I have already done a few focus groups (both online and in person) and I have to say that they have all paid very well. All of the focus groups that I have done so far have been through the paid survey companies. However, there is a great website that lets you find offline focus groups in your area. They seem to have a lot more to offer in the bigger cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Chicago but I have seen some in smaller cities as well, with the pay ranging anywhere from $30 to $300!

**this is not a sponsored post

Pars Institute San Dimas

Have you been considering cosmetic surgery but keep putting it off because of the cost?

The Pars Institute of plastic surgery San Dimas offers a wide range of cosmetic procedures at affordable prices. From eyebrow lifts to breast augmentation, Pars and their team of Beverly Hills board certified plastic surgeons give their patients round the clock care in their comfortable state of the art facilities. Right now they even have a Mommy Makeover special, which includes a Tummy Tuck, Breast Rejuvenation and Liposuction for only $9999! So if this is something you are interested in, check out their website and discover a new you today!

Payment Proofs

I know that it has been awhile since I have posted some of my payment proofs. I have received quite a few checks since the beginning of the month but my scanner quit working so I haven't been able to upload them. I should be getting a new scanner tonight so I should have a lot of new payments (both check and paypal) up in the next few days! For a look at some of the older proofs that I have already posted, be sure to check the "Payment Proof" link to the right of this post.

My A/C Nightmare

I remember, it was way back in 1999 and I had just moved to Florida. It was about 95 degrees and very humid. I got in my car and started it up only to find that my air conditioner wasn't working. At the time I was pretty broke so I had to wait until my dad came down a few weeks later to see if he could fix it. It was awful! I had to drive about 25 minutes to get to work and by the time I got there and stepped out of the car it looked like I had just gotten out of the pool. So gross! Eventually I found out that all I needed was a new A/C compressor. I was able to get one from 1AirConditioning.com..
Whether you are looking for an Auto A/C Compressor, A/C Condensers, Air conditioning Evaporators, Driers or Expansion Devices, 1AirConditioning.com has a great selection of New and Remanufactured products available and ready to ship.

Paid Blogging- My Progress So Far

I had said in a previous post that I would give an update on my progress with paid blogging. So far it has been going great and I love it! I did my first opp. at PayPerPost back on May 30th. Since then I have done 8 more with my total earnings currently at $83.50! I think that's pretty good! Of course I hope to gradually increase my earnings over the next few months. I will be adding my personal blog to my PPP account soon. You have to have 10 approved posts to add another blog, so only 1 more to go for me! I also just did my first post for Social Spark. So far I have made $7 with them. I have also submitted my blog to a few other sites, but I am still waiting for approval on those.

Charitable Auctions

So, now that you have made some extra money online..what do you do with it? As much as I would like to say that I save every penny I make, the truth is that I usually end up spending a good portion of it shopping on sites like Amazon and Ebay. But I have recently discovered another auction site that I think you all should know about.

Charitable Auctions is a non profit organization that, through their auction website IDonateToCharity.org, helps other non profit organizations raise money for their charities.
On this site they are able to set up a free storefront to sell items that have been donated by other people or businesses. To see what they have to offer just click here on the View Our Auction Website link. I think this is such a great idea. At least now I don't have to feel so guilty for shopping knowing that the money I am spending is going to a worthy cause.

GPT News- MyMakeUpMoney

I have been a member of the GPT site MyMakeupMoney for many months. I have always liked the site and was disappointed when the site was recently put up for auction. However, I just received in email yesterday with some good news! The site is now open again with new owners- TheTwoDivas Network!
They have already begun putting up new offers and have lowered the minimum payout from $20 to $10! Also, from July 1st through July 30th MyMakeupMoney will be holding a referral contest. The contest will pay the top 3 spots. First place wins $25, Second place wins $20 and Third place will receive $15. All prize money will be instantly paid out via PayPal on July 31st.

Abra Cadabra!

Do you believe in magic? I know I do! Ever since I was little I have been fascinated by magic and magicians. I remember when I was about 8 yrs. old my friends and I would put on our own magic shows for the younger kids in the neighborhood. We really had no idea what we were doing but it was still a lot of fun! I have watched biographies and specials on everyone from Harry Houdini to modern day illusionists like David Copperfield and David Blaine. Over the years the tricks and illusions keep getting more and more spectacular. But out of all the magicians that I have ever seen, the one that has impressed me the most is Criss Angel. He is amazing!! Have you ever seen his TV show "Mindfreak"? He has done everything from levitating from one building to another to walking through glass and even walking on water! How does he do that??

Currently appearing in the new Cirque du Soleil show CRISS ANGEL Believe at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Criss Angel stars as an enigmatic Victorian Noble. This show "transcends any preconceived notion of what it means to be emotionally engaged by the arts of mysticism and illusion".
For your chance to see Criss Angel live, simply text the word "Believe" to 22122 and you will be entered into a contest to win 2 free tickets!

Increasing Traffic To Your Blog

One thing I have been spending some more time on recently is trying to increase the amount of traffic to my blog. I have submitted my blog to a few directories and blog lists, traffic exchanges like LinkReferral and Traffic Swarm, etc.. Then I came across Entrecard. This is definitely the easiest way to increase traffic that I have found so far. And it really works!

If you are not yet familiar with Entrecard, you first sign up and submit your blog. Then you are given a your own "card" with your blog name and a code to add the Entrecard Widget to your blog. After that you can begin earning points by logging in and "dropping cards". To drop your card you just browse the blogs, pick one that interests you, visit their blog and click on "drop" on their Entrecard widget. So simple! You are allowed 300 drops per day (1 per blog). You can then go to your Drops Inbox and see which bloggers have visited and dropped cards on your blog. Some of you may have also noticed the "Entrecard Blog of the Day" featured to the right of this post. You can use the points that you earn to buy advertising on other blogs, like the one shown here.

In the short time I have been using Entrecard, my Alexa ranking has gone from 5,000,000+ to its current rank of 552,916. I think hat is a huge jump! I have also gotten a lot of return visitors, more feed subscribers and even found some great blogs that I now visit regularly!

Liquid Force Wakeboards

Now that summer is finally here, one of my favorite ways to relax and have fun is to go to the beach! Every year for the 4th of July we go to my uncles house on Lake Charlevoix up in Northern Michigan. Last summer while I was there I tried wakeboarding for the first time. My nephews had just gotten these really cool Liquid Force Wakeboards for their birthday and they were daring all of the adults to try them out. It was so much fun and I actually thought it was a lot easier than water skiing.

This year I decided to get my own wakeboard. For those of you out there that are into wakeboarding, you should really check out ModernSkate.com. They have a great selection of Liquid Force Wakeboards, bindings, wakeboard accessories, vests, swimwear and much more!! Everything a wakeboarding enthusiast needs to enjoy their day at the beach!

Another GPT Site Is Closing....

Over the past few months there have been a lot of changes in the GPT industry. Several sites have closed, including 3 of my personal favorites Fairy Tale Treasures, Mermaids Sand Dollars and Raining Riches. Many reasons have been given for the site closings including an increase in fraud, not enough member participation, and in some cases admins. venturing into other areas and not having enough time to devote to the GPT site anymore.
The latest GPT site to announce its closing is My Cash Carnival. For those of you that are MCC members, you will receive your pending payouts and pending prizes. The admin. will also be approving completed offers until June 22. Anyone that is able to reach the $10 cashout by that date will be paid.

Domain Name Scorecard

If you have started an online business, chances are one of the most important first steps was setting up your own domain name. Did you choose a name that described your business? Or maybe just a catchy name that would be easy to remember? Now that your business is up and running, do you feel that you made the right decision?

Having the right domain name can potentially affect the success of your business. If you are interested in seeing how well your domain name is working for your business, I would recommend taking a domain name analysis. It's a free quiz only takes about a minute to complete. After answering the 3 simple questions you are given a domain name scorecard, along with solutions for improving your score.

When I took the test, my domain name scored a 1 out of 10. Yikes! One of the suggested ways for improving my score was to register other available extensions. For example instead of just having a .com domain, I could also register the extensions .net or .biz. That's good advice, in my opinion. The quiz actually covers 6 key areas of domain name success. So if you have your own website, you really should try this out. It couldn't hurt and you never know what useful tips they might have for you and your business!

PTC Upgrades + Referral Packages?

I know I have said this many times before. When trying to make money online it is not necessary to spend money to make money. But there are a few PTC sites that I really like that have been paying consistently and I am now considering either upgrading and/or buying a referral package. Have any of you out there already done this? If you have, what sites did you upgrade on? If you bought referrals, were they active? Do you have any sites that you would recommend? Any comments or feedback are welcome!!

Go Green with Total Merchandise

Do you want to "Go Green"? Lately, I have been making more of an effort to do what I can to protect the environment. I recycle, take public transportation (when I can), and just recently started buying Eco friendly cleaning products. Every little bit helps! If this is something that you are interested in, there is a great website you should check out called Total Merchandise.

Based out of the UK, Total Merchandise offers a wide variety of Eco Friendly Products. You will find stuff for the home office or every day use including mugs, t-shirts, umbrellas, recycled pens, pencils and mousepads, a bamboo flash drive and even an Eco- friendly printed usb. I had know idea you could actually get a wooden usb!

If you are looking for a gift or just something with a personal touch, they have
the Promotional wooden usb and the Promotional bio-degradable bags. For the usb you can choose either the Slimline or the Wider model with the leather neck strap. Made from real maple or beech wood, the usb comes with FREE etching. Why not put your name or business logo on it? I really like the bags because I could use them for shopping, as a purse or even as a diaper bag!

WAH Job or Home Based Business??

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been doing a lot of research on working from home. If this is something that you are considering, one thing you will need to decide is if you want a WAH Job or a Home Business.

What is the difference?


A WAH Job is, in many ways, like any other job. Whether you work for a specific individual or a company, you will be given tasks or assignments that need to be completed. The big difference is that with most WAH jobs you are hired, not as an employee but as an independent contractor. As an independent contractor you are responsible for paying your own taxes as the company you are working for will not be withholding them.


With a Home Based Business you are in charge! You first need to come up with a product or idea that you want to market. Then you need to find people or companies interested in what you have to offer. As with a WAH job you are responsible for your own taxes. You are also responsible for every other aspect of your business such as filling orders, advertising and possibly hiring and paying others to help you.

Whichever route you decide to take, I would strongly suggest first making a list of your strengths, talents, and your financial and personal goals. With this information in front of you it will hopefully make your decision a lot easier.

SocialSpark Is Live!

Yes, SocialSpark is live! Bloggers like myself now have yet another way to make some extra money online. SocialSpark is similar to PPP in that it is a place where bloggers and advertisers come together. I have done a few opps for PPP and I love it, so I thought why not give SocialSpark a try?

So far my favorite thing about SocialSpark is that it seems a lot more like a blogging community. After signing up I was able to create my profile. Now I am able to view other members blogs, add friends, review and give feedback on their posts and see what others have to say about mine.

I just had my blog approved today so I haven't taken any opps yet. But I will be checking the Marketplace out later to see what they have to offer.
One thing that I'm not sure I like is the way they handle their paid opps. On PPP if you see an available opp you can grab it and write the post right then. On SocialSpark if see one that you qualify for and you try to take it, it may say "wait for slot". That means you have been put on a waiting list. Then, if they notify you that the opp. has become available you have 12 hours to write the post. That might seem like a a lot of time but for someone that isn't online often or,
is only on at certain times of the day they could miss the email or the deadline. That would be really frustrating!

Overall I like what I have seen at SocialSpark. If you are interested in getting paid to blog you should at least check them out. They are definitely off to a great start!


*This is a Sponsored Post

Answer Trivia Questions For Cash, Gift Cards and More!

I have been making money on GPT sites for awhile now. I almost always stick to the Freebie offers, so after a year of completing hundreds of offers my selection of new offers to do has gradually gone down. Lately, another way that I have been earning on some of the GPT sites is by answering trivia questions. Usually these sites will have a new trivia question every day, or at least every few days. Some of the questions I already know and others I have to do a little research to find the answers. If you answer correctly you earn points and then, after you have accumulated a certain number of points you can redeem them for (depending on the GPT site) gift cards, cash, free referrals and more!

Reading and Writing At 19 Months??

My daughter Mya loves books. She is only 19 months old so obviously she can't read yet. But she has fooled a few people into thinking she can. There are 2 books that I have read to her so many times she knows all the words AND knows when to turn the pages. It is so cute!

One of my friends just gave Mya this beautiful book of nursery rhymes that had been hers when she was little. I thought that was so sweet of her so I decided to have Mya make her a little Thank You card. I gave her some crayons and let her draw and scribble. She had so much fun! Yes, not only can she read but she can write too!! Ok maybe not, but it is definitely something I want to encourage.

I love sending out thank you cards. Unfortunately my handwriting is terrible (it actually looks alot like Mya's scribbling) so I usually don't make my own. But I still like to send a card that can express exactly what I want to say. Cards Direct has beautiful cards for any occasion. From Birthday and Anniversary cards to Photo/Custom cards and Business Thank You cards like the one shown here:




What I like most about their cards is that you can personalize them with your own message and return address in the colors and styles that you want!

PTC Sites Raising Cashouts = Frustrating!

I don't know if its a new trend or just my bad luck, but lately it seems like every time I have been just a few cents away from cashing out on a PTC site I find out that the site has raised their minimum payout. I think it has happened at least 3 or 4 times just in the past 2 weeks. I know that eventually I will reach the new cashout amount. I'm just hoping that when I do they won't surprise me and raise them again!!

Escali Scales

The other day my daughter and my niece broke my bathroom scale. Its an old ugly stand up model, the kind that when you stand on it the little dial points to your weight...which always seems to be a pound or two off anyway because it never goes all the way back down to zero when you get off. You know the kind I'm talking about, right?

Ok so my sweet angelic daughter and niece were fighting over who was going to stand on it first and knocked it over, breaking off the dial. So, now I need a new bathroom scale. This time I definitely want a smaller digital scale.I really like the Escali scales at Scales Etc. The Escali line offers bathroom scales, kitchen scales, digital scales and more! The scales are both fashionable and affordable and come in a variety of colors to match your room decor.

Finding A Good PTC Site

Over the past year I have joined a lot of PTC sites. Most of them have been great sites and good money makers. There are also a few sites that have turned out to be scams. By scam I mean that the site either failed to pay me when I cashed out or the site just disappeared without warning. Because of this I am now more selective about which PTC sites I join.

If you are thinking about joining a new PTC site, consider doing a little research first. Look up the site and find out what others have to say about them. A lot of PTC sites have their own forum. If you can, check out the forum before joining the site to see what the members have to say. How long has the site been around. Do the members have any complaints? Have they been getting paid? Does the site admin. post on the forum? Does the admin. respond quickly to trouble tickets and emails? If there is no contact info available on the site, I would suggest staying away from that site altogether.

Another thing you can do is check the site stats. Site stats are usually found on the main page. If, for example, you see that a site has 8000 members but has only paid out $200 or if you check back a few times and see the total paid to members stays the same, OR if the site stats are not displayed at all, there is a good chance that it could be a scam.

511 Shorts For Fathers Day?

Can you believe Father's Day is almost here? Only 7 more days!! I have been searching online, trying to find a gift for my father. I wanted to get him something that he would not only like but could actually use. Then I came across these really great 511 Shorts. There are various styles (including some for women and kids) available on the website, but the one that caught my eye was the mens 511 Tactical Shorts. These shorts are made to be stylish and durable. Made from 100% Cotton Tactical Canvas they have seven pockets in all including a pocket for your cell phone/knife/flashlight. They even have a utility tool strap. My dad works as a builder and is always carrying tools around with him so I know he would love these shorts. Finally, I think I might have found the perfect Father's Day gift!

It Has Been A Loooong Week!

So, I know I haven't posted much lately. It has been a crazy, busy and tiring week around here. This was the first week of summer vacation, which for me means more kids at daycare. And even though it's FINALLY above 70 degrees here in Michigan, it has been raining almost every day so the kids have been cooped up inside. Between that and having a wedding and a few graduations/open houses to go to I have to say I am so glad the week is over!!

One more thing I managed to do this week was total up my online earnings for May. It was a really good month for me...I earned just over $410!! Woo-hoo!

Pinecone Research- 2 More Payments!

Just received 2 payments from Pinecone Research! One payment was for a survey that I had completed and the other was for a product test.

First Payment from IOCS

I recently did my first paid survey for the Institute for Online Consumer Studies. They pay via Paypal a few weeks after you complete a survey for them. Here is my payment proof.

Neobux Payment

I have received my first payment from Neobux! At Neobux you can earn up to $0.02 (2 cents) per click. Minimum for first cashout is $2. Payments made via Alertpay. And the best part?? When you request your payment you get paid instantly!