Trade 6: The Vacation

Trade #6 takes us all the way to Arkansas!

Goodbye, Slot Machine, Hello......BRANSON VACATION!! 

Yes, you read that right, we traded the slot machine for over a $800 Branson Vacation (that we unfortunately have to trade!!). I was contacted by Dennis McCaslin of the Fort Smith Radio Group. He is into bartering and saw my ad on Craigslist. 

I had posted it in the Ft. Smith Craigslist, as I was getting no solid offers in Tulsa. After doing some research to make sure he was real and not a scam, I decided this trade was too good to pass up! We dropped AC off at my Mom's and headed to Fort Smith, AR...

When we arrived we went straight to the Radio Station to make the trade. They were in the middle of getting ready for a huge auction to help support the radio group. 

Fort Smith Radio Group (FSRG) runs five different stations in the Fort Smith area: The Fort 94.5, The Sports Hog 103.1 FM, Kool Oldies 104.7, KFPW AM 1230 and KHGG 1580 AM. We enjoyed listening to their Oldies station while driving around town. 

That's Karen Pharis, the Operations Manager of FSRG

Dennis was busy when we got there, so Karen jumped in for him. Afterwards, Karen interviewed me about my trading project. It was pretty cool! You can listen to it right here.

After the trade, we explored Fort Smith a little bit. 

There's a lot of history here, check out the video below!

Below are a few of the pictures we took at one of the original forts

Lots of great history here!

This is what they call Fort Smith #2. 

This is one of the areas where Civil War soldiers set up tents and slept

Part of the entrance gate to Fort Smith #2. 

All that exploring made us hungry and hot! Dennis had given us a certificate to eat at Ed Walker's Drive In. It's one of only two restaurants in the country that still serve curbside beer. 

They are famous for their French Dip Sandwich, so we both ordered one. It was DELICIOUS!! See that enormous burger? It's 5 lbs. Yep...5 lbs. If you can eat it in 45 minutes, including the fries, your meal is free. 

Amy would also like me to add that their sweet tea and onion rings were fantastic!

Now for the good stuff...

What's in that Branson envelope? 

Remember this is over  a $800 deal! 

In no particular order of coolness, here is everything that is included in this trade:

1. Two nights at the Branson Victorian Palace Hotel. This is a $220 value! 

2. Two VIP passes to Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditoriums 

3. Two tickets to the Dinosaur Museum & Haunted House

4. Two tickets to the Veterans Memorial Museum/Branson

5. Two admission tickets to see Grand Jubilee at the Ground Country Music Hall

6. Two tickets to see JEERK-Rhythm Artist Group in Branson, expires October 29th 2011

7. Two tickets valued at $200 to take part in the Branson Zipline and Canopy Tour. 

That is not all!!!! You have to EAT!!!!!!!!!!

 8.  $20 in Domino's Gift Certificates 

 9.  $20 in gift certificates to eat at Montana Mikes's 

10. $20 in gift certificates to Florentina's Ristorante Italiano

Thanks for reading! Follow us by email, or sign up and follow through  Google.

Here are a few sites on Fort Smith and the State of Arkansas

http://www.fortsmithar.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Smith,_Arkansas

http://www.nps.gov/fosm/index.htm

http://fortsmith.com/

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/Arkansas1.html

http://arklahomatoday.com/

The Time Has Come:TN6

     Trade day is finally here! 

Trade Number 6 is going to become a reality! In just a few hours my wife Amy and I will be traveling to the beautiful state of Arkansas. Our trade is going to take place in the historic city of Fort Smith, Arkansas with a company called the Fort Smith Radio Group. 

This company runs 5 radio stations in the Fort Smith, Arkansas demographic. While there, we will of course make the trade for the mystery vacation, as well as do an interview that will be heard by many. 

Just a few weeks ago I was contacted by a man named Dennis McCaslin who is the special events coordinator for the radio group. You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I received the email!

A little over a month or so ago I had put the slot machine on the Tulsa Craigslist. I did not have much luck in Tulsa. Everyone kept bombarding the Barter Section with cars and other random stuff. The slot machine kept getting lost in the mix. I'd gotten a few decent offers, but none of them really felt right, that was until I received an email almost 2 weeks ago around 2Am. 

I'm very skeptical of receiving emails at this time because most of them are spam and scams. Dennis had left his contact information, a little about the offer, and then that was it. 

Being uncertain if this was real or not, I did a little bit of homework. I first searched his name on Google, which pulled up several Dennis McCaslins, but there were a few professionals with that name and the offer seemed like it could have come from one of them.

One of them in particular was linked to a radio station. Still not convinced I did a search of his email and phone number provided. Sure enough both of them brought me back to the same radio station group. I immediately responded and agreed to the trade. I could not believe what had just happened! This was going to be huge for the project.

Our plans are to make the trade this afternoon, hang out, and then they are putting us up in a nice hotel for the night as well as throwing in a freaking awesome food voucher!

If you are new to the site and want to get a better understanding of where this project has come from, start with the very first post of the blog and work your way to the most recent. 

Thanks again to the Fort Smith Radio Group!

Clue #3:TN6

This will be my third and final clue. Today is the day I will tell you where we will be traveling to, and what the mystery vacation is.

Here it is: The vacation will be at a location where there are a lot of things to do and see. There will be plenty of time for sitting and there will be much laughter and amazement. That is all I have to say about that. I will reveal all the details after we make the trade :)

As far as where we are traveling to make the trade: This city is known for its military heritage and is also called "The Gateway to the Old West." I will reveal our travel plans by Friday as well as the big voice behind our trade!

Have a great week!

Clue # 2: TN6

I will give Elizabeth (who is currently in Kansas) credit for the guess that it must not be Kansas. Your guess is correct, I will not be traveling to Kansas....BUT, is the vacation going to be in Kansas? I guess you will have to wait to find out.

I will tell you that the state's football team is part of the SEC. That leaves a few guesses.

The radio station's genre might have something say about their state's team as well. Could this be a clue as to what kind of radio station this is?

First Clue:TN6

I will tell you that wherever we are going is cooler than Oklahoma, but not as cold as Colorado. That eliminates those two states as to where I could be traveling. That leaves: Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arkansas.

I will also tell you that the trade is for a vacation, but to where? I may have to hold onto that information for a little longer. 

I will also tell you that the trade is going to be with one of the big radio stations in the state I am going to, which we will also be doing an interview. 

And the last thing I will tell you is that the vacation is not in the state I am traveling to.

Any guesses?

Seed to Six

It all started with just one yellow mustard seed almost 8 months ago. Since then there have been five amazing trades, all with amazing stories. Prepare to be dazzled with Trade Number 6 (TN6)! Nearly 8 months ago Trade Me Out of Debt was an unknown blog to Google, but now you can find it on page one of Google on several different word searches. TN6 should bring Trade Me out of Debt to new heights and I am pretty confident it will get the word out.

   
Within the next 2 weeks or less ;) I will be traveling to one of the 6 states that boarders Oklahoma (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico). That being said, do you think I will be traveling: North, South, East or West? Or will it be it  be one of those diagonal directions, like when you hold your arms out when you play airplane with your kiddo and are about to make a crash landing?

As the date gets closer, I will give  hints as to what TN6 is.

Any guesses?

Need a Vacation?

Feeling like you need to get out and take a vacation?

 There just might be something in the works to make that happen

What is a vacation worth to you?

10 Things, Part 2

As promised (a little late), here is

 10 Things Most Anyone Can Do to Make Some Cash When You Are Flat Broke!

1) Most folks have lawns. You probably have a lawn mower. Find a lawn, mow it for 40 bucks or so...and there you have it. Half a tank of gas (if you drive a gas guzzler like the Trade Mobile!)

2) You know those annoying guys that go around the neighborhood, wanting to paint your street number on your curb? Become one of them. Buy some cheapo stencils at Home Depot, some spray paint, and hit the neighborhoods. Even if you only charge 5 bucks a house, and you do ten houses...that's $50 dollars. You could even make this a family affair if you want! People cant say no to cute little kid faces...especially when they are as cute as our daughter's!

3) Got pets? Pets poop. Turn that poop into gold. You could offer to pick up dog poo before proceeding with step #1, or just go house to house and find the laziest person in the world who wont even pick up dog poo. Have them pay you to do it. It's a crappy job, but somebody's gotta do it. (pun most definitely intended).

4) House sit for somebody. You could even incorporate steps 1-3 in this, and also include the family swim time from 10 Things, Part 1. Little Miss Jenkins cant lose her dentures if she is paying you to stay in her house, pick up her dog poo, mow her lawn, and paint her new address numbers! You deserve that cannonball into the deep end!

5) Have you ever seen the show Hoarders? I promise you there is a hoarder in almost every neighborhood. I know this from working at EMSA (an ambulance service). I have seen it all. I'm sure you can find somebody with some junk that just needs to get goin' out the do'! I've hauled junk for random people on Craigslist many times. This is easy because I have the Trade mobile. Get some trash bags and get to haulin'! Most trash men will take the stuff off the curb, so you can just put the trash out on trash day.

6) Garage sale!! Go through your house, get rid of that stuff you keep thinking you will use but you never do. Get rid of those pants you can't button anymore. Sale those Christmas plates your wife was dying to have but never used (ahem!). Sale it all if you want!

Garage sales are a great way to make a hundred bucks or so. Just make sure you spell "Garage" correctly on your sign. Amy saw a sign in our neighborhood that said "Garge sale". Oh boy. But hey, garge or garage sale...it will probably make enough to cover your electric bill!

7) Do you like dogs? Do you like walking? Try walking some dogs! I'm sure in this heat people would love to pawn that job off on somebody else. You can even bring your family along! May not seem glamorous, but what if you walked the same dog three times for say..ten bucks a pop? Thirty, big ones right there. That's probably your summer  natural gas bill right there.

8) Help somebody move. I know, most people don't really pay their friends for this, but it usually results in some free pizza and soda. So, a free meal is a few less dollars to spend! Also you can look on craigslist- people will pay for help hauling and moving stuff. Been there, done it, hauled the crap, dirtied the t shirt.

9) Rake leaves or shovel snow. We get it all here in Oklahoma. You could probably even use the people's trash bags or snow shovels...they would probably be glad to just have somebody do the work for them. Especially if they are older folks. I shoveled several driveways this winter for people on our street.

And finally.....if all else fails, turn to:

NUMBER 10!!) Get a cup. Find a street corner. Stand there and ask for money, and you will probably get some. I did it once to raise money for a missions trip. I made sure that was marked on the sign, but this will probably go over better than accosting people in parking lots trying to sell random little trinkets.

Hope you all enjoyed this. These little lists are fun, but honestly one thing that has gotten us through this financial drought has been prayer. We have prayed and prayed and have seen God show up in so many ways....even getting money from folks we don't even know! Or random Target gift cards showing up. It has been amazing to see God show up like that!

10 Things part 1

10 Things to do with your little ones when you are flat out broke.

Since we've had to reign in our budget in order to help pay off debt, the wife and I have had to think of fun things to do with AC that won't cost us much (or anything!). So, here we go, folks. In no particular order, here is: 

1) Take your child to the park. Turn off PBS cartoons, strap that little toot in the car seat, and go outside and play! You may say "But it's too hot to play outside!" And to this I say "And what time does your child wake up? 6 am like mine?" You should have breakfast in that babies belly by 7 and out the door by 7:30 when it's a cool 85 degrees.

2) Find a pool. Any pool. Do your neighbors have one? If so, watch their house for a week and record their coming and going patterns. Once you have that settled, wait for their car to leave, and slink on over to their pool for a fun time with your children.

Jump, dive, cannonball as much as you can..just make sure you remember how much time you have before little Miss Jenkins returns with her drugstore purchases and loses her dentures in shock over somebody in her pool.

But seriously, you must know somebody who has a pool, or casually mention to your mom that your kid loves to swim. Grandmas can never say no. On the rare occasion that Grandma says no, men, you get outside with a shovel and dig a hole. Fill it with water. Instant pool.

3) Go to the pet store and check out all the cool animals. AC gets a kick out of all the fish at PetSmart, and loves to bang tap on the glass and see the fish scatter. Sometimes the trips turn out to be real exciting when you happen to spot a dead guinea pig in it's cage and then get to see it's removal. The employee told me to tell Anna "Make sure you tell her it's sleeping!" She was hardly two at the time, I don't even think she cared.  True story.

4) Family dance time. Not going to lie, AC is wild about Justin Bieber's song "Baby", and even sings the "oooh" part of the chorus. So, we Amy puts the song on more times than I would like to admit, and we all they dance to it.

5) Diapers. We all have to buy them and they come in huge boxes. Put your child in the box and push her all around the house. It's lots of fun for them, and a nice little work out for you!

6) You got hosed!! No really, you can get hosed. Head outside, turn on the hose, and hand it to your child. Make sure you time this perfectly-- a great time is to do it after a hard days work and hot, no AC in your car, drive home. The hose feels great then. Also use this time to teach your daughter how to water the tree, so you can be a little more lazy.

7) Got crayons? Paint? Paintbrushes? Sit down at the table and let your inner artist come out! AC loves to "co-lon" (color) more than anything, and has been known to paint almost every inch of her body. Hey, the paint is washable and she's having fun!

8) Build a fort. Does this need explanation? I didn't think so. Okay, if you don't have boxes, drape blankets over the table and build an under the table fort.

9) Got flashlights and a bathroom? If your child loves flashlights as much as mine does, head to the bathroom, turn off the light, and show him/her how a flashlight works. He/she will love this and will throw a major hissy fit when it's time to stop. Speaking from experience here, folks.

and finally....number 10!!

10) JOSH'S SNO SHACK!!! About once a month, we decide we can spare 5 dollars and take a family voyage (it feels like a voyage since it's about 30 mins away) to Josh's Sno Shack and we all get a sno-cone. We justify this expenditure by telling ourselves that it's good hand-eye coordination for Anna (spoon to sno cone...sno cone to mouth..repeat..), and also, it makes a mess outside that we don't have to clean up. Win, win! Josh's is a Tulsa thing. If you don't have one, you need one!

Seriously folks, these are all things we do to keep ourselves entertained around here. There's a lot of free stuff you can do if you just stop to think about it, and we hope that maybe this helps you a little bit! Check back later this weekend for 10 Things to Most Anyone can do to Make Some $$ when you are flat out broke!

Peace y'all!
Amy

2 new posts coming this weekend!

Things have been a little slow lately as far as offers for the slot machine. I'm still confident that the right offer will come. Anyway, since this website talks about how I'm broke and trying to become un-broke, I've come up with an idea for 2 new posts!

The first post is going to be, "10 Things To Do With Your Little Ones When You're Flat Out Broke" Kind of a long title, but hey, I make the rules.

My second post will be, "10 Things Most Anyone Can Do to Make Some Extra Cash When Your Flat Out Broke." I'm sure I can come up with more than 10, but 10 just seemed like a good number.

Everyone stay cool out there and drink plenty of water!