Wow, did I have a good mail day!!

Four products to test (soup, shampoo, conditioner and body wash). I will get paid $5 when I complete one of the test, but the others are unpaid (I get to keep the products, though).

There was also a $5 check from Pinecone to be added to the Challenge!

Old total = $657
New total = $662

I got a $7 rebate from Scott's in the mail yesterday so that will go into my challenge.
New total = $27.00

Went grocery shopping last night, and walked away with a little over $10 worth of free items. Two cartons of Egg Creations (bzzagent coupons worth $2.99/each) and a Nestle Choclatier Baking Chocolate bar from a coupon I requested online (worth $4.29). All my groceries were paid for from a GC that my employer gave out as a Christmas bonus. YAY!

Friday morning DH called me from work to tell me that a coworker's brother is selling a 52" TV and stand for $1000. He is moving to South Carolina because he can no longer to afford to live in this area. We have wanted a big screen TV for a looong time so we came very close to buying it. Being the mature adults that we are, hehe, we decided we NEED a new refrigerator and we don't NEED a big screen TV. Hoping we don't regret it later.

Last night we went to look for a 'big boy' bed for DS. We found a really awesome bunk bed with a desk on one end, a bookshelf on the other and a cabinet in the front. AND it matches the rest of the furniture in his bedroom too. We took measurements in his room this morning, and there isn't anywhere in his room to put it and have access to both ends. His room is HUGE but with 3 closets, 3 windows and built in drawers there just isn't enough wall space for a bed like that. So we 'saved' another $1000 on the bed and a mattress.

While we were there, I decided to try out a Serta Perfect Day mattress...It was heaven. Sigh. Truly the most comfortable mattress I have ever laid on. Cost = $3100!!!! DH really wants it though, so I think we will probably buy it when the store offers 5 years with no intrest..they do that a few times a year. It will cost about $50/month that way. Our old mattress is only about 7 years old, but we both toss and turn all night on it.

Today I closed an idle passbook savings account ($739) earning 1% interest. I put 1/2 of the money from the account toward debt and the other half in my ING account.

I also switched my checking account/package to one that requires a smaller minimum balance ($10k vs. $25k) I plan to use some of the money that I had to keep in the accounts at that bank to pay off our HELOC ($1700) and transfer most of what is left to an ING CD or something with higher interest.

DH and I signed up for a bzzblast where we each get a FREE Sonic Care electric toothbrush (each worth at least $65). If you are not familiar with bzzagent, check it out at www.bzzagent.com. I have received TONS of great products to try out.