I can’t believe how fast the year has gone by and it is almost holiday season again.  During the end of the year I usually like to reflect on my goals on earning money online through various methods.  Things that I did well and things that I did poorly.

Here is my earning for 2011 (you can see my 2010 earning here):

2011 has been an incredible year for me as I moved from a very stable job to contracting.  While contracting offers more money than a stable job, you are well aware of the fact that you might be gone tomorrow.  As a result I am a lot more focused at work than compared to before.  Sadly that means I didn’t have as much time to do paid surveys and other online activities in comparison to before.

Overall, I am really happy that my Adsense earning and Amazon affiliate have increased quite a bit compared to  last year.  Even though if I subtract the cost and divide by the hours I spent on those activities my hour wage is probably still in single digits.   I do have to say that at the end of the day the only thing that really mattered is write high quality content.  If your site produces high quality content, eventually you will gain readership and money will gradually come in.

Even though my earning looks high, my cost has increased quite a bit too.  My hosting & domain cost came out to be well above $600 for the year.  This is a result of me purchasing way too many domains thinking each one is a great idea.  The reality is I am both unmotivated by those topics and just don’t have as much time at hand.   As a result lots of domains just sit there wasted.  (My new year resolution include clean up the domains I have and only keep the ones that I will work on.)

Either way I hope you have a good 2011 and here is to a better 2012.  Happy holidays everyone!

This one is for all the Starbucks lovers out there.  Currently they are offering a promotion where if you purchase 4 Starbucks Card eGifts with your Visa card you will get a $5 Starbucks Card eGift for free!  Effectively you can purchase $20 worth of eGifts and get $5 free.

I have been a Netflix user for years and even though I do stop and restart the service from time to time I am extremely happy with the level of service they provided.  However, as many of you are aware, Netflix is planning on increasing their price by separating out the DVD and streaming.  Previously for $9.99 you can get unlimited streaming + 1 dvd out at a time (the price was increased not that long ago from $7.99).  Now Netflix wants $15.99 for the same service of unlimited streaming + 1 dvd out at a time.  I watch a lot of movies and television shows such that I can accept $9.99 for one month.

As a frugal person I don’t know what to make of this.  $16 a month or $200 a year might just be the tipping point in which I decide to go rent movies from Redbox or join Hulu plus.  There are a lot of unhappy customers expressing their angers on Facebook and Netflix blogs and I definitely belong in the unhappy camp regarding the latest fee increase.  It really is hard to justify when your stock price is at an unbelievable all time high and you are recording massive amount of profits.  I guess it is time to start researching on the best ways to get my content..

Valentine’s Day can be quite an expensive holiday for those people who focuses on sharing their passion on this specific date.  Just before you are recovering slowly from your Christmas purchases you must dig deep into your pockets again for this special occasion.
If you need to watch your wallet without appear cheap, consider the following economical ways to spend the holiday.

1.  Cook your own meal – while it is nice to go to a fancy restaurant on Valentine’s day, the restaurants tend to be crowded and the food usually is not as good.  In that case, why not cook your own special meal?  You can put together something simple and you don’t have to dress up for it.

2.  Give thoughtful but inexpensive gifts – Most people gives flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, or jewelry for Valentine but those can get expensive as the merchants increases the price just for that one day.  Why not get your special someone the book he/she has always been looking for?  How about that simple but cut car decoration?

3.  Hold back on flower purchase – I personally don’t like the idea of purchasing flowers.  They are extremely pricey for Valentine’s day and only last for a few days.  I do have a couple coworkers cut flowers from their own backyard on Valentine’s day.  If you must buy flowers, consider purchasing the flowers a day in advance.  The price is simply exorbitant on Valentine’s day.

4.  Watch a romatic movie at home – Personally I would enjoy staying home and watch a romantic comedy.  With Netflix streaming and the availability of Redbox, there are plenty of options available for this special day.

5.  Show your love with music – Does your special someone love to listen to music?  A music CD is a great Valentine gift as songs stay with us even when we grow old.  I still remember the different songs I listen to at different stage of my life.  If you are creative, mix your own!

Amazon is currently offering a $2 credit per account with code VDAYMP3S.  You can enter the code here to get the $2 credit to your account.

Some Terms and Conditions:

Promotional offer valid for a limited time only and subject to change. Promotional offer is valid from February 7, 2011, at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, through February 14, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. You must redeem the code by February 14, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

Coupons.com has some new coupons this week. Be sure to check it out if you are working your way toward extreme couponing.  I will probably be using the $5 off $25 at Family Dollar Stores to pick up some of the household items.

Here is the list:

$5.00 OFF $25 at Family Dollar Stores
$1.50 OFF 1 Box Of Peace Cereal
$1.50 OFF 1 Nestle Fun Size Valentine Exchange Pack
$1.00 OFF 1 Bottle of Any A.1.Steak Sauce
$1.00 OFF 1 Package Oscar Mayer Carving Meat
$0.75 OFF 1 Shake ‘N Bake Product
$0.75 OFF 1 Package of Rhodes Warm-N-Serv Rolls
$0.75 OFF 1 Any Bob Evans Frozen Sandwich
$0.50 OFF 1 Any Bob Evans Refrigerated Side
$0.50 OFF 1 Any Bob Evans Sausage
$0.50 OFF any 2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls
Buy One Get One FREE Nestle Purified Water
$7.00 OFF any 1 Florastor Probiotic
$3.00 OFF 1 Schick Quattro for Women Trimstyle
$2.00 OFF any 1 Nature’s Bounty Your Life Vitamins
$1.00 OFF any one PediaCare Product
Buy One Get One FREE Cesar Bistro Dog Food
Buy One Get One FREE ProPlan Select Can Food
$10.00 OFF Purina BREEZE Litter System
$3.00 OFF ProPlan Select Cat Food (3.5lbs or larger)
$3.00 OFF ProPlan Select Dog Food (albs or larger)
$2.00 OFF 12 cans of Purina Mighty Dog
$1.00 OFF 1 Purina Beneful Brand Snackin Slices
$1.00 OFF 1 3lb Or Larger Bag Purina Cat Chow Cat Food
$1.00 OFF 1 5lb Or Larger Bag-Purina Fit & Trim Dog Food
$10.00 OFF The Sound of Music 45th Anniversary Collection On Blu-ray

With the tax season fast approaching once again it is time to consider your tax options.  If you are a simple tax return you may want to consider both H&R Block and Turbo Tax as your tax solution.  Both of them offer free editions of their software and that include check for errors and accuracy guarantee.

Both of them also have an eFile option!

Now everyone has received their $20 from the LivingSocial deal everyone can start browsing Amazon for all the different items to purchase.  If you are a frugal person who enjoys to play video games then you are in luck!  Amazon is currently offering a deal where if you purchase two games you can get a third one free.  The promotion includes a lot of popular video games title such as Gran Turismo 5, Red Dead Redemption, Wii Party and many more.  So be sure to check it out if you just finished playing the games you received for Christmas!

After watching the extreme couponing show, I am inspired to start using coupons on my daily purchases.  Here are the list of latest coupons from coupon.com,
$3.00 OFF 1 Multipack of BOOST Nutritional Drink
$3.00 OFF 1 WONKA Exceptionals Assorted Chocolate Tin Heart
$2.00 OFF 1 WONKA Exceptionals Assorted Chocolate Heart Box
$1.50 OFF 1 Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree
$1.00 OFF any 1lb of LAND O LAKES Deli Cheese
$1.00 OFF 1 POLLY-O Mozzarella or Ricotta Cheese
$1.00 OFF 2 Refrigerated JELL-O Gelatin, Pudding or Mousse
$1.00 OFF 2 Penn Maid Cottage Cheese
$0.75 OFF 1 Loaf Of Roman Meal Bread
$0.55 OFF 1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal
$0.50 OFF 2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel
$4.00 OFF 1 FocusFactor
$3.00 OFF 1 Flex-a-Min Product
$2.00 OFF 1 RID Product
$2.00 OFF 1 AmLactin Moisturizing Body Lotion
$2.00 OFF 2 Reach Toothbrushes
$1.00 OFF 1 REACH Dental Floss
$4.00 OFF 1 Glade Automatic Spray Starter Kit
$3.00 OFF 1 Scrubbing Bubble Power Sprayer Starter Kit
$1.50 OFF 1 Glade Automatic Spray Refill
$1.00 OFF 1 Tilex Mold and Mildew
$1.00 OFF 1 Spot Shot
$1.00 OFF 24 cans of Fancy Feast
Buy Two Get One FREE Cesar Bistro
Buy One Get One FREE Greenies Dental Chew