97%

I was pretty proud of our boy this past week, for a bunch of things.

He wanted more Lego, so Dad, training a future entrepreneur, told him he should find a way to raise money to buy some.  I sure hope he learns that hard work is what gets you things, not just handouts from your parents.  So since we were camping, collecting cans seemed to be a no-brainer.  We went around our loop of the campground Sunday night and around another Monday morning, and after rinsing them all in the backyard Tuesday, Sarcan handed over $41.65.  That's a lot of cans!  And a lot of Lego!

We had also said we'd pay half, so after Sarcan we headed to ToysRUs, got his $30 set he wanted and he still has $25 towards the other big set he wants.  He's thrilled to have the Volcano Exploration Truck, and I'm thrilled that he had a good experience doing some work and seeing a reward for it.

(In other Lego news, I picked up a bulk lot today - over 1000 pieces for $25 is a pretty sweet deal - and now we have over 7000 pieces...  But it gets used!  A lot!)

Another reason I was proud of N is that he didn't really want to go to school.  At all.  He wanted to skip every class before it even started.  But Tuesday after lunch he got ready with no fuss and when we got there he told Mrs. Palero that he was excited about what they were going to be learning!  Whew.  I was not looking forward to school being a fight.  And today was a bit the same - "I don't want to go" followed by "I had an awesome time."

And number three:  He got his 4 year immunizations yesterday (after ToysRUs and before he put the set together ALL BY HIMSELF).  He was distracted by the Lego box while we were waiting, but didn't make a fuss at all and chatted up the nurse who was suitably charmed and said he was a great communicator and was so ready for Kindergarten already.  He even counted her down to the shot and said it didn't hurt much.  He is ornery about a lot of things like school and going for this shot and eating lots of food, but comes around in the end and does just fine.

Except for pants.  This summer he only wore camo shorts and it looks like this fall only fuzzy pants will do.  Fleece lined.  Sigh.  We pick our battles...

Oh, and he is 97th percentile in height and 97th percentile in weight.  Very proportionate.  :)

Pinching Pennies

I found a few ways to get a little extra trickle of income over the past weeks, so thought I'd share and see if you use the same or have any other ideas for pinching pennies.

I got the Varage Sale app on my phone a few weeks ago as another place to advertise the items worth reselling from our ongoing purging of extra stuff and outgrown boy toys.  We have often listed things on Kijiji and Used Regina (we find more people use Kijiji around here), but Varage Sale seems to be better for smaller items, and it really is simpler to use; just take a photo and add a caption, category, and price. Done.  I've had a few sales from there.

I signed up for Ebates last fall and never used it, since we rarely shop online, but I remembered to use it last month when we ordered my new sewing machine from Amazon, then used it for a coffee order from Keureg, then again with Amazon for some new faucets for our broken tub that we couldn't find anywhere in the city.  This is super easy to use, too - sign in, then click on the store you want to shop from, and get 1% cash back or more.  Our coffee order was 6% cash back, which was sweet.  If you have to shop online, or like to, you may as well get money back for it.  It looks like they transfer you whatever you've earned every few weeks or so.

Checkout 51 is an app I read about a few times; I rarely jump on an idea the first time I hear about it.  This one is a list of items that get you cash back when you buy them - sort of like a coupon but in retrospect.  You take a photo of your receipt and upload it, then get credit for each listed item on it.  The items change every week; the first week there were 3 things I actually needed and had on my list, but this past week there was nothing.  So we'll have to wait and see if it actually is worth doing in the long run.  You can request payout once you reach $20, so you'll have to stick with it for a while to make it pay.

The loyalty card that makes the biggest difference for me on a regular basis is PC Points - I have the PC Mastercard that I use for all my groceries, so the points add up quickly.  It doesn't take long to get to $20 off.  It does grow exponentially, so I do try to save this one up for Christmas or when I have a larger than normal cartful, or when I know we have extra expenses coming up.

Another one I save up with is the Plum Rewards Card from Chapters.  I am a book borrower & rarely buy them, but Chapters is a good place for gifts and magazines, so usually by Christmas I have enough on there to help with the Christmas shopping.

What are your go-to money back tools?