The first week back was hard to get back into the swing of things, but somehow I managed to get through it.

I did end up losing Round 2 of the diet*bet I'm participating in - a $40 loss! I'll get it for Round 3!! (need 5.2 lbs by Feb 5)
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After getting my final paycheck for 2013 I logged into Tax@ct and did my preliminary taxes. In 2013 I upped my allowances so I got more money in each paycheck. Before inputting info for American Ed credit and tax savers credit, that gave me a refund of $52. After inputting the info, it gave me a credit of about $400. The state info wasn't ready, so I don't know what that'll be like yet. Whatever money I get back from taxes will be going straight to the moving fund!

In doing my taxes I was glad to find out that I was correct in figuring out that I would not owe any capital gains on the stocks I sold earlier in 2013.

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I wrote to Bings customer service about my first reward email that I think I'd deleted (hadn't realized what it'd look like.) They resent me the info! So I had the $5 AGC from the first reward, and then 500 SBs from the second reward. That gave me enough SBs to redeem for a $15 AGC (with enough left over for my February 5 $5 AGC's.)

I also took a Pinecone survey yesterday, so that'll be another $3 soon.

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I've now added to my list of apps/websites that are paying me to exercise / eat right.

Previous list:
GymPact (now just Pact) - pays you to workout, to log calories through My Fitness Pal, and to eat fruits/veggies

Achievemint.com - pays you for steps, RunKeeper activities, MFP food logging, monitoring your weight, etc.

Walgreen's Balance Rewards - Pays for fitbit steps, and monitoring weight

NEW

earndit.com - earn points for steps and turn into prizes and/or giftcards

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Some excitement with my car this week ...

I'd noticed the low tire pressure light on for a couple weeks (before vacation) but figured it was just from the cold weather. Thursday after school I noticed that my tire was completely flat. My purse was at home (.7/10 mile) so I drove home to get it. I'd helped NE change his tire this Christmas so thought I'd try my hand at it on mine ... couldn't get the spare tire out of the trunk. Decided that if my tire was ruined, it was already ruined, and if it wasn't, that a mile or so wasn't going to make that much of a difference.

At the mechanics he took my tire off and showed me the nail in my tire. He also emptied out several cups worth of black dust, and showed me the side of the tire. Yep. Ruined. So I tell him I'll go ahead and get a new tire. It's $88 -gulp. This mechanic doesn't take plastic ... all I had on me was $10. So I went across the street to the local mom and pop store and got $100.

When I went to pay, the lady at first was like -- "It's $88." I told her, yes, I gave you $100. Oh (she recounts it.) Then she gives me a $10 bill. I'm puzzled and tell her that I think my change is closer to $12 - she says the mechanic told her not to worry about change. Huh?! She then gives me $2 and apologizes saying she wasn't feeling very well. Um ... okay.

So the tire was supposed to be there on Friday. I left work as soon as the last bus was gone and got over there. Apparently the tire delivery guy was sick, so no tire. The mechanic had fixed my old tire so I could drive on it - but had also warned me that with it being so thin on one side that there was danger of a blowout. My tire should be here by Tuesday. So that made for a staying at home kind of weekend.

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I looked on Craigslist for a few hours yesterday at housing options in NE. I know it's WAY early but still it's good to have some ideas. I found a studio apartment (404sf)for $300/month that allows cats! I hope that option is still available in June.

I also found this really cool option that is about 30 minutes from NEs place out in the country. It is a very rustic cabin - no running water, but has electricity - you have to park about 1500 feet away from the front door. It has a wood stove for backup heat. It's not really practical, but it sure was fun to think about.

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I found out that my car loan isn't quite at the $1000 mark yet. After my December payment it was at a balance of ~$1300. So after the January payment it is now at a balance of ~$1000. That means that my last $300 payment will be in April instead of March. That's a bit frustrating, but at least it will still be paid off before I move.