Sunday Share: Free Magazines!

I've been reading Rachel Singer Gorden's book "Point, Click, and Save - Mashup Mom's Guide to Saving and Making Money Online and found a whole chapter devoted to Fantastic Freebies! Did you know you can get magazine subscriptions completely free? FreeBizMag.com had all sorts of magazines - and not just business publications! In fact, I'm now signed up for Better House and Gardens, Family Circle, and Weight Watchers magazines!
Seems too good to be true? According to Rachel Singer Gorden: "Most consumer magazines don't make money on their subscriptions. They make it on the advertising. The more subscribers they have, the better they look to advertisers. The better they looks to advertisers, the more ads they can sell, and the more they can charge for those ads. So relax. You're doing them a favor by subscribing, even if you're not paying for that subsciption."

Results are in for April! What did I learn?

When I started this journey, I stated that my goal was to live a a fantastic fun life, spending little to no money. I also planned to monitor my spending habits so I see "where it's all going". Mortgage, utilities, medical expenses, basic groceries and health/hygiene needs are out of scope for this blog. Hair, makeup, clothes, entertainment, and fitness are all fair game. I'm even including my job and job-searching related expenses. I wanted to prove that you don't have to spend a lot or even any money to look good and and have a good time. So how did I spend $109 in the month of April?

Beauty:             $3
Clothes:            $0
Entertainment:  $0
Food:              $15
Job Related:    $97
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Total:              $115

And what did I get for this money? A whole new look in makeup, a breakfast and a lunch out, a dinner meeting at my local Project Management Institute Chapter, a job networking session, and new black pants and shoes for my new job as a barista. I also went on a camping trip, attended a job expo, free yoga class, free guided meditation classes, an extreme block party, a Girls Night Out, and volunteered. I cut my fast food expenses way down from last month - and now make my own coffee at home. Plus I'm eating much healthier at home.

Go Walk!

My daughter and I attended a Go Gurnee free walking event today. We both signed up to be Champions and got these blue t-shirts. There was a free raffle, and they shot the red t-shirts, one of which I caught!
Lots of communities are doing these Go events to "promote community values of health and wellness through education, service, spirit, and innovation."
For more information on Go Gurnee, go to
http://www.gurneeparkdistrict.com/programs/gogurnee