Payday Musings and Survey Stuff

I paid the bills this week. I pay them twice a month: on the 15th and on the last day of the month. I know a lot of people who are stressed out when it comes time to pay the bills, and I can understand the feeling of having too much month left at the end of the money.

But I kind of like paying bills. I always have. I remember when I was first married and I told my mom that I enjoyed it. She laughed and said "You'll get over it." I had a whole ritual... I'd get out the checkbook, a beverage and a calculator. I'd get comfortable and I'd make a little ceremony out of it. I'd turn something that could be drudgery into practicing the proverbial art of seeing the glass as half full. No matter how little we had, we had something to be thankful for! We were able to pay for housing, for electricity and cable and telephones. We were getting it done. Now, 16 years later, things have changed a bit. I pay 99% of our bills online, and rarely need to fill out any checks. But the feelings of gratitude have stayed the same, and mom, I still enjoy the process. :)

I'm thinking of it now because this has been a difficult, difficult month in terms of money. A lot of new expenses... some expected, some not-so-expected. Our credit cards, previously tucked safely into our wallets, have once again come out to play. Most of it was paid off with this last check, but a portion of it was not. Not a good month, and it's only half over!

Still, we're paying our bills and pushing on through. Just like 16 years ago, we're getting it done. We'll do it.

Finally, a couple of months ago I posted a blog about taking surveys, and shared some of my tips. I've increased my survey taking - and subsequent money-making - tenfold since then, as well as signed up at more than a dozen more great sites. I decided to give it a little more attention than I can give in just a blog, so I've been working on a website (yay!) It will have a list of links of my favorite sites, my tips, and FAQs for your perusal. I'll be posting the link very soon.