Inbox Dollars - Another Site for Making Some Extra Money

You can check out Inbox Dollars, which is similar to My Points. You earn $5.00 just for signing up. You can request a check after you earn $30.00. You can earn money by completing surveys, playing games, reading emails.

Today I earned the $5.00, plus $0.50 for completing a very short profile survey, $0.15 for signing up for HotWire newsletters and $0.02 for opening an email! All that in just about 10 minutes!

You can sign up here or you can click the Banner on my sidebar for Inbox Dollars.

Unrelated - Federal Adoption Tax Credit Set to Expire - A Call for Help

Many of you may know me from my other blog, but some of you may not. My husband and I adopted our son from Izhevsk, Russia in 2008. His adoption is truly the best thing we have ever done and the best decision we have ever made. We thank God every day that his life was entrusted to us.

I've been reading a lot lately on adoptions, researching, thinking about adopting again, etc. While we aren't ready to adopt again just yet, it is on our minds.

I had heard the tax credit was going to expire so I did some research. Sure enough the federal adoption tax credit is set to expire December, 2010. This credit is what makes adoption affordable for many families, whether it be domestic or international. Our local Congressman, in the House of Representatives, currently supports The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee of 2009 H.R. 213, which would prevent the "sunset" of the tax credit.

However our two Senators are currently not listed as being supporters or co-sponsors of the bill.So in an effort to keep this going I wrote 3 letters yesterday which I am mailing today. One to thank our Congressman who currently supports the bill and the other 2 to ask for support from our 2 Senators.

Please I urge you to write your Senators, or call, if that's easier, to ask them to support the bill. I'm sending a copy of our Christmas card with our letter so they can see the family the tax credit helped to create.

You can track the Bill here as well as see who currently supports it.

You can find your US House Representative here.
You can find your US Senate Representatives here.

Here's a copy of my letter - feel free to use it as a template for yours, but be sure to write from your heart about what adoption means to you.

Dear Sentor ________:

My family and I are constituents in 'City, State'. It has come to my attention that the adoption tax credit is set to expire December of 2010. I wanted to write to ask you to support extending or renewing the credit. (The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee of 2009 H.R. 213).

We adopted our son from Russia in April of 2008. With expenses totaling more than $__________ (insert your number here), the adoption tax credit was a big help last year in helping us pay off a small loan we took out to complete the adoption.

Our son is the best thing that has ever happened to us and the best decision that we have made as a married couple in over 13 years.

While in Russia we were able to see other orphans, like our son, living in the orphanages. I will never forget the day we went in to his room and there were about 15 other children playing. Our son, even though we'd only met him for a few short hours the day before, immediately ran for me and started patting my legs. Suddenly I was surrounded by 4 little boys, all patting my legs for my attention. Then suddenly the most heart warming and at the same time heart breaking thing I saw was when I turned to look at my husband, who had squatted down and was rubbing the back of a small little girl who was hugging his neck as if to say "Take me, Pick me". I will never forget the look on his face that day. We would have happily taken every last child in that room if we could have.

Our hope is to one day adopt another child, but without the credit we feel that we would not be able to offset any of the expenses enough to afford another adoption, whether it be domestic or international.

I've included our 2009 Christmas photo card for you to see that adoption makes families and good ones at that!

Our son is three years old and has been home a year and a half now. He has almost passed the mark of spending more time in a family than in an orphanage. All children should have that chance.

Please support the adoption tax credit so that many families will find that adoption can be affordable, and for others like us, give us the chance to adopt again. Most importantly, support the adoption tax credit for the children who have yet to come home.

Sincerely,Rachel

I hope these letters make a difference.

Prilosec OTC Sample

Wal-Mart is offering a Free Sample of Prilosec OTC. You do have to answer 2 questions to see if you qualify.

Homemade Simple Coupon Booklet - Available Again

The Homemade Simple Coupon Booklet is available again. It contains over $35.00 in money saving coupons!

CVS Scenario - Some Great Freebies - No ECBs Required

I scanned my CVS card today at the store scanner and received a $5.00 off any 2 Excedrin products so I headed over to the aisle with the pain relievers - sure enough I found the On The Go Packs (the tubes containing 10 tablets -pictured below) for $2.49 a piece. I purchased two, making them both free. It might be worth scanning your CVS card if your near a CVS!

Also you can get a 3-pack of Ivory bar soap for free if you got a paper yesterday and received the P&G coupon insert. The bars are priced at $0.99 and there is a $1.00 off coupon in the P&G insert!

You can still, before the 31st, get a Neosporin Lip Health tube (pictured below for free also). They are priced at $5.39 at my store (some stores at $5.50) but there is a clip free coupon (meaning just have the cashier scan your CVS card for an instant deduction) and then use the $3.00 printable coupon here. This makes the tube totally free!

I purchased the below for $1.45 OOP - I did use $3.00 ECBs on this one shamelessly as I did not receive any back - but I still have leftover ($7.00 ECBs)

Clairol Root Touch Up - $4.99, used $1.00 off MQ from yesterdays P&G insert

2 Excedrin On The Go Tubes - $249 each, used $5.00 off any 2 Excedrin CVS coupon from scanner

1 Neosporin Lip Health - $5.39, used $2.50 clip free coupon (scanned CVS card) and the $3.00 off printable mentioned above

1 3 bar pack of Ivory soap - $0.99, used $1.00 off MQ from yesterdays P&G insert

Used $3.00 ECBs, paid $1.45 OOP for all items!

What are you waiting for - go grab the Neosporin, the Ivory and the Excedrin (if you get the coupon from the scanner) all for free!!

One Free Swagbucks Code

Head over to your Swagbucks Homepage and the Code is listed right there on the front page where it says 'Christmas'. If you don't have an account, you can sign up for one and get 3 Swagbucks here. You can use your Swagbucks for Paypal money or lots of different prizes. One of my favorites is the $5.00 Amazon gift card. You can load them right into your account and then when you are ready to purchase something you can pay with your gift card balance!

Huggies Pull-Ups Free Sample

Costco is currently offering a free sample of Huggies Pull-Ups. You can choose from Boy or Girl sizes 2T-3T, 3T-4T, OR 4T-5T. No membership number required.

Free Subscription to Boating Magazine

ValueMags is offering a free 12 issue subscription to Boating Magazine. No strings attached and completely free. I enjoy several subscriptions from them and then donate the magazines to hospitals and doctor's offices.

Facebook Freebie - International Delight Creamer (Again!)

This time the Facebook Freebie works a little differently for International Delight Creamer. They are mailing coupons out to the first 100,000 fans to request one. Just go to International Delight Creamer Facebook Page and click on the "Holiday Giveaway" tab, fill out the form and you can expect your coupon in 4 to 6 weeks. I got two coupons last around and they are delicious!

1 Free Swagbuck!

If you have a Swagbucks account, then enter the word Dreidel and hit "Gimme" and you'll get 1 free Swagbuck added to your account. You can redeem your bucks for prizes and gift cards! I'm not sure how long this is good for, so do it quick!

If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks, you can do it today and get 3 bucks just for signing up!