8/5 update: Goals: Earnings $400/$21.35 Swagbucks 6000/115 Shopkick 3500/1004 Did rebates yesterday - not as much as I wanted though because Walmart didn't carry a lot of the rebate items. I'll have to try another location later in the week. Listed a few items online. Hoping they sell so I can have a little extra for bus fare.

I have to disagree with most of these tbh. I use about half these apps myself and this article is blowing things way way out of perportion.

8/3 update: Goals: Earnings $400/$9.85 Swagbucks 6000/115 Shopkick 3500/694 Didn't make the store yesterday so no rebates to add. Going to try to make it there today.

Hoping the Hive can find what I cannot. Bombed out yet again on science and it's only day 2. Monarch science is just too preachy for us. I wanted it to work so badly - but it just won't. I love the format - but the content is just meh. Here's what I need: ~Open and go {like lifepac / ace paces} ~Secular. Or at the very least religion kept to optional boxes and not on quizzes. ~Not a ton of experiments / reports / projects ~General science overview NOT focused subject based ~Works for grades 5-7 {DD is 5th/6th, but I"m okay jumping a grade} ~Cost is a factor.

8/3 update: Goals: Earnings $400/$8.45 Swagbucks 6000/111 Shopkick 3500/694 ~I have to email Ibotta to straighten out a rebate - it didn't credit all of mine. None of the doubles and completely missed two all together. ~Got a $10/$10 shoes coupon in my email from Shopyourway - ordered a pair of sneakers that were $10 exactly with free instore pickup from sears. So free shoes! And I already was going there to pick up another pair of shoes I ordered to replace my sneakers I walked a hole into. Going today to do another shopping run. We'll see how much I can get done and how many rebates I can do.

lol No. Not even remotely possible! 6000 points on Swagbucks is about $65, using discounts when redeeming. 3000 points on Shopkick is about $12.

Doing something a little different this month. Trying to focus on bringing more in vs. saving because I have some big expenses coming up. Goals: Earnings $400/$7.25 Swagbucks 6000/0 Shopkick 3000/0 Not very frugal so far. Big grocery run yesterday and another still needed. Might go check out the salvage grocery if I can but honestly I'm not sure of the savings by the time I factor in the time getting there and back on bus or an uber if I buy too much. We'll see. I signed dd up for a one month free trial of Monarch, and using that for school for a month. I told her if she can complete it all in a month, I'll pay her $25 and give her off from everything but math until January. I figure it's a good bargain for both of us, and then I can call her 7th grade in January. And whatever she does get done is that much more done tbh.

Me too. That's part of why I've refused surgery / radiation because of the possible side effects of the meds to fix the resulting low thyroid. Interesting. The studies I've read out of Europe and Japan all say that over time the thyroid will usually burn itself out naturally and gradually shift to hypo. Medication to treat until then is common there. The only hiccup can be pregnancy - PTU is recommended over Methimazole during pregnancy. But after reading the studies, and talking with my endo, we both are comfortable with me considering a pregnancy while on a very low dose of methimazole {I can't take PTU due to the white blood cell reaction}. It will make me high risk though so it's not without downsides. The synthetic versions of replacements can have their own issues as well - I remember some people have trouble converting the synthetic version of T3 or t4 into the version the body breaks down natural hormones into. So you can have levels that say normal and fine, but still actually feel like crud from being hypo And on a completely unrelated note - Going Gluten free has resolved a LOT of my Grave's disease issues. I don't know if I'm celiac or not, but I definitely am gluten sensitive. Load me up on gluten and my thyroid goes crazy.

I've had chronically low Vit D for nearly a decade, and been on Methimazole for that time to treat graves as well. Not ONCE has anyone mentioned a link between the two. I'm floored to know there is an actual cause for why my body cant seem to produce Vit D in any amount. OP - I urge you to try meds first before burning out your thyroid with Iodine. Most american doctors are radiation and surgery happy, where most European ones lean towards meds. I've been on Methimazole for nearly 10 years now with no side effects. My dose has dropped dramatically over that time, and I'm now at such a low dose that it's considered "maintenance"

Neat! Also you can get Amazon Prime for $6 a month if you receive EBT benefits. Save not only on shipping but on entertainment

Heads up - JCPenny has Men's graphic Tee's with cute sayings for $5 online. And free shipping to store. Plus if you download the JCP App and sign up with a new account for the rewards program & link a card - you get a $10 reward after about 4 hours. I was able to grab 2 free t-shirts with sayings for my daughter - Sticking back for Christmas already!

Asking my fellow boardies for ideas. DD 10 is asking for a room makeover to get rid of her very pink little girl room. So far she's decided on pale silver walls, with purple and lime green curtains. Any ideas for neat things to do? Budget is a concern - she's paying for this makeover herself mostly.

I Desperately need a new printer. Ours has died and I'm sick of trudging to the library or UPS to print things. I'm buying myself a new one as a combo Birthday / start of school year present. I need: Black only {but if it does color that's nice too} Laser {Inkjet was eating me alive in costs} Wireless {I need to be able to print from my phone} Available from Amazon And preferably Less than than $75. Definitely less than $100.

No a/c for the 5th summer in a row. South Texas. Temps regularly go upper 90's and low 100's. We get by with lots of cold showers. And as little clothing as possible. On really bad days we go places. Our house is actually set up for a/c but previous owners rented and the renters stripped it. And it's poorly insulated enough to make window units really inefficient.

Same here. I LOVE amazon and Amazon Prime Now. for $6 a month {reduced rate due to receiving EBT benefits}, I can get all the NON-food stuff delivered to my door. For someone in the city, without a car and relying on public transit? It's a no brainer. And when I compared prices to Walmart / HEB locally - Amazon was on equal or CHEAPER in most cases. Yes grocery items they are a little higher on. But anything else? Equal or cheaper. I'm looking forward to the day when I can use my EBT benefits on Amazon. And yes it's coming - they are doing trials in parts of the east coast now. I'd much rather do that for most of our grocery items. And it also helps eliminate the problem of food deserts in some places - it's easy to put a warehouse and delivery drivers to cover a much larger area than a regular grocery store.

Talk to me about Monarch for 5th/6th grades please? Debating it for DD. We used lifepac last year for History and liked it. I'm considering Monarch so that dd can work fully independently. To both our benefits. We'll do the month trial for sure, but I'd like opinions as well.

Yeah. I'm iffy on this. Capaldi was a bit meh IMO.

I'm glad to hear this actually. And I've not yet been to PA tbh. But I'm drawn by the lower housing cost and the ease of visiting things on the East Coast with Megabus. I"m hoping I would love it as much as I think.

Most important would be transit. And housing. and slightly less so assistance. Everything else is gravy really and I can live without.

I posted a few months back and it was a theoretical move. Well the situation with the neighbors is deteriorating fast, and tbh I want out. My job is portable. My stuff I"m not attached to, and already paring down in case. PLEASE help me figure out where to look for homes! Areas I've already considered: ~Kalamazoo MI {too many relatives} ~Other cities in Texas {many of the same issues as current} ~Pittsburgh PA {I love and strongly am considering, except for the homeschooling laws} So - where would you move? This is my list of must haves. I'm okay with trade offs on this list too - I know I"m not going to find everything in one place! Good Public Transit system {basically can I use city bus / subway / etc 95% of the time and the occasional uber/taxi when absolutely needed}. I don't drive so this is a must. Low cost housing. Probably looking for a fixer upper in the under $45k range and putting sweat equity into it just as with my current home. I'm okay with a slightly bad neighborhood but not really bad. But my idea of slightly bad is probably most people's cruddy neighborhoods tbh. Basically if it's so bad that Pizza Hut won't deliver - then it's too bad for me lol. Good public library system. BIG bonus points if the library does things like check out passes for museums zoos etc. Decent secular or at least tolerant homeschooling network for middle school and higher kids Good homeschooling laws. DD isn't crazy about the idea of testing, and I hate the thought of having to get things reviewed etc Ideally, a college / community college nearby that allows dual enrollment prior to 16 {ours won't until 16 and it's putting a wrench in my theoretical high school planning}. Bonus if DE is free or nearly free. Easy to access grocery stores / etc. So not a food desert. A good network of local assistance programs {food pantry / utility assistance}. Especially the first couple of years while I'm working on the house, probably going to need to seek assistance at least a few times for things because money will be very tight. Good medical care available. I have a chronic health problem that needs followed by an endocrinologist.

It's supposed to be for Bexar County Texas Area folks only, but there is no verification for accounts made online at this time for Bibliotech. {http://bexarbibliotech.org } . And it has Many resources as well as Mango Languages.

That's actually part of why I'm considering moving. Our property taxes have gotten outrageous, with the value increasing 10% {limit} every year for several years. And my home is in no way work what they say! Same with the water bill - doubled in two years despite less use, plus every so often they decide they need another deposit.

This is a s/o of my moving thread a few weeks back. I'm still contemplating moving to a state other than Texas, and considering options. It's tough trying to find somewhere with a low enough cost of living, cheap enough housing, and a decent public transit system - adding in homeschooling is making it even harder to find a good fit! If you homeschool in a State other than Texas, can you outline the pros & cons of homeschooling in your state? I'm especially looking at places that do umbrella/ charter schools or similar and give funding for homeschoolers. As a low income homeschooler, I'm willing to make the trade off of testing for funds to give a better education than I can currently.

Try looking on Zillow for "make me move" listings in that area. It's kind of an unofficial listing by the homeowners of I'm willing to move for X price.

This catches me flack every time i say it in chicken groups BUT here goes. I don't buy chicken feed. EVER. My 6 hens are fed entirely on scraps, extra produce, and assorted bread. I keep a pitcher in the kitchen and toss scraps into it as I fix meals or clean the fridge. That includes things like meat, extra scrambled egg that didn't get eaten, pasta, etc. Once in a while if the protein level is low I add cat / dog food to the mix to up it. I also have a deal with a couple of local food pantry sites that I'll take things like produce past it's prime or bread packages that came open or had a spot of mold {I remove the mold before feeding}. That all becomes chicken feed too. They also get to scavenge for bugs too - I try to move the pen around the yard regularly to give them new places to dig. I figure that until the 30's/40's buying chicken feed wasn't a regular thing. And yet they laid just fine, eating scraps, bugs, etc. So why should that not work now?