Tipping Cleaning Staff At Hotels

I read, awhile ago, that it was expected that hotel consumers leave tips for the hotel cleaning staff.  I had never heard of this before and, frankly, never thought about it.

I was out of town earlier this week and stayed 2 nights in a hotel for a business trip.  While at the hotel I remembered the article and decided to leave a $5 tip for the cleaning staff.  As I was only there for 2 nights I did not use or request any cleaning services (I kept the privacy sign on the door) I felt $5 was an appropriate amount    It felt nice to be able to do that (I will not be reimbursed for the tip) and not worry about whether I had enough money.  I also figured it would count towards my do something new every month goal!

What are your thoughts?  Do you leave tips for the cleaning staff at hotels?

Paycheck Increase...Finally!

I finally got to see what my paycheck looks like due to the tax cuts. My employer issues paychecks on the 15th and the last day of the month, so we just got paid yesterday, 2/15/18.   I ended up with an increase of $100 a paycheck!  I have already decided that the $100 at the end of the month will go towards an extra principal payment on the mortgage.  That will make the extra principal payments total $384 a month.  The other $100 will go towards funding my retirement accounts or savings goals. 

Tax Cuts

I have yet to get an increased paycheck based on the tax cuts for 2018.  I am hopeful that my first February paycheck (2/15) will result in some increased tax home pay.  I have played with some calculators online at it seems I should be bringing home an extra $45 a paycheck.  I think the extra $45 at the end of the month (2/28 paycheck) will go towards the mortgage.  I think the extra $45 from my mid month paycheck will go towards either retirement (until I hit my yearly number) or my new mattress/bedroom furniture fund (To replace my 15 year old mattress). 

Have you noticed any increases in your take home pay?  What do you plan to do with the increase?  

Income Streams

This year I have been working on increasing my income streams.  I really want to increase my income in order to boost my savings and in order to have some income in the case of the loss of my main job. 

In January I started Mturk and I earned about $39 for the month.  I started slacking off towards the end of the month, but I need to get back to submitting about 10 HITS a day. 

I also added Google Adsense to my blog with the hope of gaining a little bit of income.  I don't really know how Adsense works, but it was easy to set up.  As far as I can tell I have not earned anything from Google Adsense. This does not surprise me as I generally don't click on ads when I visit blogs. 

My longstanding income stream (other than my W-2 job) is my savings account.  This only earns 1% interest, last year I earned $81.   While $81 a year surely will not replace my main job, it definitely will help in a pinch.  I likely will split the $81 between my car replacement fund and my EF.  However, for now, the $81 will just sit in my savings account and help me earn more interest.  My goal is to earn over $100 in interest on my savings account this year. I hate the thought of pulling money out of my savings account to replace my car as my interest earnings will decrease. 

I have a cashback credit card which earns 1.5% cashback on all items.  I need to work on using this credit card more often for gas, etc. so that I can increase the cashback earned.  Every dollar helps and if I have to spend the money I might as well earn a little cashback/discount. 

Oh and Welcome to February!