Crazy About Cloth? Maybe.

Patrick is consistently sleeping eleven hours straight at night now. His parents really appreciate it, especially his mommy. If you were this cute while you slept, you'd probably sleep all the time too.

I finally received the gDiapers and got them prewashed and tried them out. They don't work for overnights, but then most diapers would be stretched at eleven hours (we still haven't found anything that works better than Swaddlebees and Blueberry pockets for overnights). The gDiapers are cute, absorbent, well-fitting, and convenient. They're easy to use than the prefolds and covers but you can get more use out of them than the pocket. My biggest complaint is that they are secured in the back. It's a little difficult to turn a wiggly baby over to fasten the diaper. I will attempt to turn the diaper around and see if it works that way. Overall, I like the gDiapers. I cashed in at Swagbucks for four $5 Walmart gift cards this week for the express purpose of purchasing more gDiapers.

I also had a chance to prewash and test out the new Fuzzibunz pocket this week and I have to say, I love it. First off, Fuzzibunz donates $1 from the sale of this color-Light It Up Blue-to Autism Speaks. No, they didn't add $1 to the cost of the diaper. It comes out of their profit. Second, it's less bulky than other pockets, including the Swaddlebees and Blueberrys I like so much. They're just as absorbent, however. And I really like the color.  

Here's the new play toy Jonny has spent so much time on lately. It's a Lenovo IdeaPad A1. It's an Android-based tablet that I bought on Amazon with money earned from GPT sites. The cover was also purchased with earned Amazon gift cards.

This Saturday will be Jonny's first go at being the sole caregiver for Patrick. A friend is getting married and I'm in the wedding. I trust him to take care of Patrick, that isn't the problem. I'm just not ready to leave him for very long yet. 

April Redemptions

Here are my redemptions for the month of April.  That's a total of $164.80 in one month. Or somewhere close depending on how poorly I've added. I also cashed in for 25FB credits at 4Loot. I haven't cashed out at Bing yet, but with continued luck I will redeem a $5 AGC this month. 

Swagbucks: $25 Amazon, $10 Domino's, $10 donation to Autism Speaks

Irazoo: $20 Amazon

Instant Gift Cards: $10 Amazon

Jingit: $32.35

Calyp: $37.45

Superpoints: $10 Amazon

Social Moms: $10 Amazon

Lifetime Totals:

Swagbucks (since 11/03/11):
$225 Amazon
$10 Domino's
$1 donation to Children's Miracle Network,
$10 donation to Autism Speaks
Irazoo (since 12/01/11): 
$35 Amazon
Instant Gift Cards (since 1/16/12): 
$30 Amazon
Jingit (since 11/17/11): 
$62.07
Calyp (since 1/1/12): 
$136.88
Superpoints (since 11/8/11): 
$10 Amazon
Social Moms (since 3/17/12): 
$10 Amazon

That's over $500 since November!

One For the Money, Two For the Show

First off, let me say that I am wholeheartedly against Amendment One. And this does not have as much to do with my support of gay rights as it does with my support of human rights. Gay marriage is already banned in North Carolina. This bill, if passed into law, would make marriage the only domestic legal union recognized in North Carolina. That is not restricted to gay couples, but also straight couples. That means if a woman has a restraining order against an ex-boyfriend, the restraining order could be removed due to it not being a recognized domestic union. Please go read the amendment before you vote. You can vote early from now until May 5th. Polls will be open on May 8. Please do not vote ignorantly on this issue. It does not affect only gay people. 

My new tablet was delivered earlier this week, along with Patrick's new Light It Up Blue Fuzzibunz diaper. Fuzzibuzz donated $1 from the cost of the diaper to Autism Speaks. The picture below was taken with my tablet's back camera. Patrick's rocking his new Meadow Green Blueberry diaper. Jonny has enjoyed playing with my new tablet, especially Draw Something. If you're playing a Draw Something game with me, you're probably not playing with me. It's probably Jonny.

We went to the lake this afternoon for a cousin's birthday. Patrick hung out on the deck with the adults while Austin played with his cousins in the yard. Unfortunately, after his cousins left Austin decided to play by himself. He threw a rotten egg to see what would happen. What happens, you might ask? The egg explodes all over the person throwing the egg and it smells awful. On the way to the van to leave, Austin also found a baby bird that had left the nest. He decided he needed to spray it with water. Apparently, the bird wanted him to. 

Patrick is growing so fast! He's starting to really enjoy his Exersaucer, especially when Austin is playing with him. It's rather convenient since he can sit in the Exersaucer while I'm cooking. It's hard to believe that less than four months ago this little guy was happy just laying on his daddy's shoulder, sleeping. 

If you're apprehensive about joining Jingit, what are you waiting for? The weekly limit reset today and I hit my $12 weekly limit this afternoon in about half an hour. That's $24/hour. Can you not spare a half an hour, while you're doing other things, to watch a few videos for a few bucks? Depending on your vehicle, you could make enough to pay for a full tank of gas every month. 

Weekend Update

Austin, Jonny, and I (and Patrick) did our first 5k Saturday. It was an amazing turnout. The Dan River Autism Awareness 5k raised over $12,000 its first year. We all had a great time, especially Austin. You know it's a fun time when there are balloon animals. Next year, we'll start earlier and get in on all the festivities. Here's Team Austin, minus Jonny who was in the bathroom at the time.

I've never seen a baby eat so much or go through as many diapers as Patrick. It's a good thing we use cloth diapers. Otherwise, we'd still be buying diapers every other day. Yes, every other day. That's like $7 a day in diapers. I guess a lot of babies probably need diaper changes that often, but Patrick refuses to sit in a wet or dirty diaper, whether it's disposable or cloth. If he starts crying, the first thing we do now is check to see if he needs a diaper change as it's the most likely. He eats every two hours-some times less-and we change his diaper about every thirty minutes unless he's asleep. It's a good thing he sleeps through the night because his daytime schedule wears me out. 

I joined Bing Rewards today. I can't believe how easy it is. It's not going to make me rich, probably $5 per month, at most, but it couldn't be much easier. You get a reward limit each day and you earn 1 point for every two searches up to that limit. My limit was ten today so I searched twenty times. It took me about two minutes. They have a variety of rewards to choose from: Amazon gift cards, Xbox Live subscription, Redbox codes, Hulu Plus subscription, along with others. The $5 Amazon gift card (my go-to reward) is 525 points. If my limit is ten every day, it'll take me less than two months to earn that. I've heard that eight is the lowest limit. If you'd like to give Bing Rewards a try, click HERE. You don't lose anything by giving it a test drive.

Jingit has started a new campaign. In addition to watching video ads on their website and doing check-ins at places like Walmart, they now have ads placed around Walmart.com (with other websites to follow, I hope). You go to Walmart.com, look around their site some, find an ad with the Jingit curl, and click. You'll get a pop-up window with the Jingit homepage and a video ad will appear momentarily. Once the video is finished, money will be added to your balance. Also, if you'll notice, the weekly limits have increased. If you originally had a limit of $5, it has been increased to $10. Through the month of April, there will be three ads available each day. If you're getting $0.50 per ad, you'll meet that limit easily. That's an easy $40 per month. I'm already at $3.00 for the week and my Jingit week starts today. That's $3.00 just today. Not too shabby.

Diapers, Races, and Money! Oh, My!

Overview of Diapering Systems

POCKETS-First, I'll start with my family's personal favorite, the pocket. This is a shell with an attached lining. There is an opening (usually in the back) for a liner. You stuff the pocket and you're ready to go. They're a little more time-consuming than an AIO, but dries faster and is more absorbent. Right now, we use Swaddlebees and Blueberry pockets. We prefer the Swaddlebees. While the Blueberry diapers are softer, it's often more difficult to tell if it's wet. Pockets are our preference for nighttime because of their absorbency and there is room to add more liners if needed.

PREFOLDS W/COVER-Our second favorite is a prefold (PF) with a cover. We use Gerber PFs with Baby Beehinds covers. The best thing about this system is that it is the most economical system. You can fold the PF into the cover or secure the PF to the baby with a Snappi then put the cover on (we typically use the latter method). With wet diapers, you can wipe down the cover and replace the PF. With dirty diapers, you should replace the cover as well. We have about ten PFs and three covers. This system is a little time-consuming and I prefer not to use PFs at night. PF are my preference for taking out in public. It seems odd since they're more work, but they also take up less room. I can take one cover and a few PFs for a few hours.

AIOs/AI2s-The AIO/AI2 is our least favorite. They're easy to use-just pull them out of the dryer and they're ready to go-but they are less absorbent and take longer to dry. We use the AIOs during the day when we change Patrick as soon as he soils his diaper. At night, he may go twelve hours between diapers changes and the AIOs simply will not last that long without leaking. We use Grovia AIOs and while I'm happy with the engineering, they're just not as versatile as pockets or prefolds.

FITTEDS W/COVER-As a disclaimer, I have not actually used fitted diapers. I think it's silly since I'm capable of pinning a Snappi on a PF myself. A fitted diaper is basically a PF that has been assembled and has snaps or applix. They are not one size and one fitted diaper is about the same cost as a pack of PFs. With this system, you secure the fitted diaper onto the baby and secure the cover over the fitted diaper.

HYBRID-Hybrid diapers are diapers that are both reusable and disposable. Confused? Basically, imagine a reusable AIO with a disposable liner. These can also be used with reusable liners. I haven't used these because I'm not entirely sure it's not a waste. If you only use the disposable liners it will take you longer to recoup the initial costs. These are ideal for vacations as it reduces the amount of diapers you would need to carry. I haven't used this system due to the fact that my son uses all of his diaper. I've tried adding a liner to his diapers turning them into AI2s, but he just ends up soiling the diaper and the liner. I've ordered a diaper in this system to try out.

If you have the time and ability, I suggest trying your hand at assembling your own cloth diapers. I have absolutely no abilities in the sewing department, but my aunt was able to help me out. Our prototype left much to be desired, but it was a learning experience. I've used the prototype for about a month now. I know what needs to be changed and how to make the diaper better. I was able to get all the material for six diapers for $40. I can use the materials to make pockets, covers, fitteds, PF, or AIOs. The first diaper was a pocket. I'm thinking the other five will be pockets and covers. I may attempt to make one AIO and a fitted. I found everything I needed to make the diaper below at our local Hobby Lobby and inside my house (the lining is one of Jonny's old 100% cotton t-shirts).

I ordered Econobum PFs and a cover and gDiapers from Walmart online earlier this week. The Econobums arrived yesterday. I've already washed them and they're ready to go. He's been wearing them since he got up at 9:15am. We've done one change already. I'm a little skeptical since the leg openings don't seem to be tight enough (and Patrick has chunky thighs). No leaks this time, but I'm not sure how it will hold up with poop. I love the unbleached cotton PFs that came in the pack, though. So much better than than bleached Gerber diapers I'm using. I'm reserving judgment of Econobums until we use them overnight and they undergo the ultimate test-a potential blowout. Hopefully, the gDiapers will arrive today and I'll get to try them out this weekend.

Don't forget, the Dan River Autism Awareness 5k is Saturday at Dan Daniel Park. The race begins at 10am. Jonny, Austin, Patrick, and I will be there. Heather and Tammy will be there as well! Go Team Austin! Proceeds will be donated to Autism Speaks. For more information about Autism Speaks, click HERE. Also, in honor of Autism Awareness Month, I will be donating to Autism Speaks 100% of the Swagbucks earned from the SBTV mobile app in April.

I won a $20 Amazon gift card today from Social Moms, one of the GPT sites I use. It's always excited to win stuff. That's my second win on a GPT site this week!

Here's my cashout from my main sites so far this month:
Swagbucks: $25.00
Irazoo: $20.00
InstaGC: $7.00
Social Moms: $10.00
Calyp: $37.45
Jingit: $6.00
Superpoints: $10.00

That's $115.45 cashed out so far this month.

Cloth Diapering is Girly

Continuing on with the Real Diaper Week theme, it might be surprising but men are capable of changing a cloth diaper. My husband does it every day. No, he doesn't used duct tape and super glue. I don't think. He hasn't yet gotten the hang of stuffing the pockets and hes's still getting the hang of folding a prefold but it works. So far, he's not interested in changing a cloth diaper on-the-go. But that was our compromise: he'd use cloth diapers at home as long as we could do disposable in public. I'm hopeful he'll adapt and get on-board with changing him into cloth in public. I do admit, it's more difficult considering how often I change Patrick in the car or on my lap. Much more difficult with a cloth diaper, but not impossible. 

We use Swaddlebees and Blueberry pocket diapers, Grovia AIOs, and Baby BeeHinds covers with our prefolds. We love the pockets. We use them primarily at night because they are so absorbent. The prefolds are a little more work, but cheaper. We rarely use the prefolds/cover at night as it requires more concentration than we're capable of at 3am. Jonny dislikes the AIOs. They're the easiest-you just take it out the dryer and snap it on, no assembly required-but least absorbent. Patrick doesn't wear these at night because they almost always leaks after a few hours and he sleeps more than six hours straight at night. We use these during the day when I'm changing him as soon as he's wet or dirty. 

Now, where I buy my cloth diapers. The majority of my diapers to this point have been purchased from ecomom. I've found good deals through Plum District and gotten diaper for a fraction of the cost. Ecomom often has sales also. The Black Friday sale was hugely popular-$40 off $100. I highly suggest you check them both out. The remainder of my cloth diapers have been purchased through Amazon using money I've made on various GPT sites.

A Little Bit About Irazoo

Another $5 AGC from Irazoo posted today. Irazoo is just so easy. If you're not doing it, you're missing out. If all you want to do is the bare minimum, you can get 10 points per day in games (all you have to do is open the window and wait for it to credit-1pt/game), 5 points for going checking out the offer walls and a minimum of 10 points for each search. I can generally get a search win every 1 1/2-2 hours. If you search just 6 times, that's 60 points. And there are Treasure Codes worth at least 10 points about every week. All of that will take you less than ten minutes a day. I do all the dailies (games, offer wall, at least three searches/day, and the treasure codes), I get a few points a day from referrals, I try a few surveys, and I do a few offers from the offer wall and I manage about $5/week. 

A little bit about the offers. Irazoo generally pays better than Swagbucks on offers. The conversion rate is  6pts=$0.01. It seems low, but if you look at how much AGCs cost at SB and compare them to Irazoo and you look at how much they each pay for things, you'll see that Irazoo is the better deal. The first wall (or tab) I check is Matomy. The only thing I do there is videos. There aren't always videos, but if they're there you can get some easy points that way. Just play them and go do something else for a couple of minutes. After that, I check Trial Pay. I generally only use Trial Pay for special offers I'm willing to pay for (great for gifts) as they generally pay the most and are the most reliable. But they also have Lab42, a survey group that has quick surveys for a fair amount. At Irazoo, they're worth 300 points. That's a dollar. They don't always have surveys and if they do, I don't always qualify, but I check throughout the day. Then, I head over to Radium One. They're reliable (I rarely have to submit a ticket) and they have a good amount of easy offers from which to choose. Some videos, some sample/coupon offers (submit your information and a new email every time), maybe a Facebook application. Just read the description under the title and see if it's something you want to do. The more instructions, the less likely is to credit. [As a sidenote, Hushmail is the application I use for a new email address. It's easy to sign up and easy to log in. If you don't sign in for two weeks, it self-destructs. Perfect for offers that require email confirmation.] Gambit is a good place to look for more videos. Then, I head over to Peanut Labs and see if they have any surveys. They're generally pretty easy, pay well, and will DQ you pretty quickly if you don't fit the qualifications. Lastly, I check Sponsor Pay and Super Rewards-only for high-paying offers because they often don't credit for me.

Best part about Irazoo is the fact that all the cards are exactly the same amount. $5 AGC=3000pts, $10 AGC=6000pts, etc. If you want to give Irazoo a try, click HERE. And feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Tax Day is Coming!

Well, if today wasn't Sunday it would be tax day. And as such, I've always celebrate 4/15 as tax day or as I like to call it, Fair Tax Day. It's a day when I try to share with people the wonderful idea that is the Fair Tax. If you're not an American, feel free to skip to the next paragraph as this will not interest you. The Fair Tax is an amazing idea, especially for those of us who enjoy reusing as much as possible-such as hand-me-downs, shopping at Goodwill and yard sales, and borrowing. My family barely ever buys anything new (except food, but a lot of that comes from a garden). With the Fair Tax, you don't pay taxes on your income. Instead you pay taxes on 'new goods'. You wouldn't pay federal taxes on items purchased used. How great is that!?! Hate it that thugs don't pay taxes on stolen money or drug money and are driving around in Hummers? Upset that welfare recipients are purchasing expensive televisions? With the Fair Tax, they would be taxed on those new goods. Click HERE for more information.

And now for an update on my little ones. Patrick is rolling over from his belly to his back like a champ now. And today he sat upright by himself for a prolonged amount of time. We even manage to get a video. Here's a picture of him sitting up all by himself.

I can't believe he's gotten so big. He's three months old already. Austin has been working with Heather on his math lately and is improving. This Saturday is the Dan River Autism Awareness 5k. Austin is really pumped about it. What kid wouldn't be excited to have a 5k team named after him? Go Team Austin! He doesn't know it yet, but I even ordered Team Austin buttons for myself, Jonny, Austin, Tammy, Heather, and whoever else ends up on Team Austin. 

And moving on to GPT sites. I'm testing out quite a few new sites right now. Some I like, some are mediocre. There aren't any I hate right now, so that's a plus. Social Moms is quite lucrative. I managed to earn $20 last month and all you have to do is comment on a few articles, tweet a few articles, and complete the activities in a couple of emails. It couldn't be much easier. And my account doesn't even work correctly! More than half of my points are going to another account and I haven't managed to get them merged yet. Customer service leaves much to be desired, however. I've been in contact with them about the issue for about a month now and, well, basically nothing happens. But I'm still making an easy $20 so it's obviously not too big an issue. I've been playing Booty Slots in my spare time. It's a Facebook application where you can earn real money, playing with fake money. I have $8.96 right now and I've been playing for a few weeks now. You have to have $25 to cash out. Obviously I'm not going to get rich without putting real money into it, but I'm patient and it only takes a few minutes a day. Also, I've been playing aroound on 4Loot. You get paid in Facebook credits on this site. I've already earned enough basically doing the easy contests (although there are videos, surveys, and search wins) on their Facebook page for 2 FB credits. I'll be using those to earn more Doubloons on Booty Slots so I can earn real money. I'm also testing out Zoombucks. I don't like it as much as Swagbucks, Irazoo, Jingit, InstaGC, Calyp, and Social Moms so I don't use it as much. $10 Amazon gift cards start at 1000zb so at 206zb I still have quite a way to go, but I also don't play on it much. And finally ChaCha. ChaCha is similar Calyp in that you get paid to post ads. However, while you only get paid to post at Calyp, with ChaCha you only get paid for clicks. So that means I only earn pennies per day. And you cash out at $25. We'll see how well this works, I guess.

It's Been Awhile

I should post a new blog. It's been awhile. I don't have the time for the long blog posts I did before the baby arrived, but I'll do what I can. It's been awhile since I updated.

First, JINGIT IS BACK! Wait, maybe I didn't yell loudly enough. I got 3 ads yesterday for a total of $1.50. That is so fantastic since Calyp has been having problems lately.

Second, Calyp has been having problems lately. I need more followers here in order to increase my "reach" (read: popularity) so I can earn more for each ad I post. If you'd be so inclined, I would appreciate more followers.

Third, Swagbucks has been doing earning challenges lately, with bonuses offered if you meet the daily goal and the bonuses being doubled if you meet all the daily goals at the end of the challenge. I'm excited by this. It gives me an incentive to work harder at Swagbucks. I've been slacking there lately. I like free pennies.

Fourth, I've been doing really well at Irazoo the past month or so. I've averaged about $5/week there. Not too shabby. It takes awhile to get the codes for gift cards, but the payout is higher than Swagbucks.

Fifth, InstaGC has become one of my new favorite earning sites. I've earned over $20 since I started in February. The gift cards are, well, instant. As soon as I cash out, the code is sent to my email.

And lastly, I finally cashed out at Superpoints! Cashed out on Sunday, $10 AGC in my email on Monday. I still don't know if I would say I love them. It took me four months to get that $10, but I did get paid.

After buying a computer (yes, a computer), a few cloth diapers, and a wireless keyboard/mouse combo in the past couple of months solely with Amazon gift cards earned from various sites, I now have over $200 in my account again. Back to deciding if I want that Kindle Fire or not.