Category Archives: Saving Money

CVS Shopping

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I made a couple of stops at CVS this week and am super excited to share what I was able to purchase for $9!

I guess the first thing to explain is why I made 2 separate trips. I usually on Friday go ahead and check out Southern Savers to put together and print out my shopping list for CVS. Because of my attempt to stay on budget for September and October, I decided to wait until at least Wednesday before shopping. I just added the list and coupons in my purse. I ended up with a little bit of extra time on Wednesday so I decided to stop at a different CVS.  The first thing that made this a great trip was that quarterly ECB printed on Wednesday as well. I was able to save an additional $6 by using the ones that print for the fall quarter. I also did not realize that Twizzlers were part of the printable deal for the week so I had not found any coupons for them on Wednesday when I stopped.  I was able to locate several excellent coupons on Wednesday night. Twizzlers are Matt’s favorite candy so once he found out that I was going to be purchasing Twizzlers he was ok with making a quick stop during our busy Thursday.

Now to the fun stuff! I spent $9, and saved $53 or 86%.  I was able to purchase 9 bags of candy including 3 bags of Twiizzlers and 2 pack of Listerine Pocket pacs!   I have hidden most of the candy so that we can use for Halloween at the end of the month!  I just could not pass up a deal for candy at less than $1 a bag!

Unfortunately I have already looked at the list for CVS starting on Sunday and don’t even plan a trip this week. But since we are stocked up on candy it is not a loss!

October Budget Challenge

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I have decided to join Carla in her October Budget Challenge. One of the reason that I so enjoying reading Carla’s blog is that she is real, she does not try to pad number or just say hey I am going to do this and then forget to tell us what is up even it is ugly.  So now on to me… I have already talked about how we are trying to save money so now I am going to put some numbers to the challenge.

My big goal for the month will be to have $600 in our Michigan trip fund by the end of the month.   I am hoping to do this mainly by saving money from small areas such as gas, groceries and utilities. In addition, I have placed several items up for sale and will be receiving the cash for these as well. I am also hoping to get a small bump in income from Matt this month.

So my goal for the week is very similar to Carla’s…… stay on budget. Currently as of today, I have spent $265 of our $600 grocery budget, so my goal is to definitely not spend anything else on groceries for the week.

I will be updating on Thursday/Friday of each week as this is usually payday.

 

September in Review

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Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month  Post number 14 for the month.  So close yet so far!

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 175 by December 2014.  This has been a really frustrating month for me. I am stuck at a number that I don’t like. I have been trying to get to the Y to exercise but once or twice a week is all I have been able to fit in.

Financial Goals:

1.  Pay off all debit by July 2015, except for mortgage.  Goal met for this month.

2. Emergency Fund to $2000.  Still no progress.

. 3. Groceries: Spend $600 a month . Goal Met  Total spent $599. This has taken deliberate effort on my part. We have not shopped in three weeks now and I am planning to keep shopping to a minimum in October and November as well.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month with any remaining to be move to Auto fund for repairs.  Total Spent $$37. Goal MET.  I am not going to be moving this money instead we are saving for our trip and all extra money is being placed in that fund.

I am excited because after selling our small playhouse we have $45  surplus for the month!  I hope to build up even more in the months to come.

This does not look like a great month on paper but I am happy with where we are with most things and  plan to stay the course.

 

Low Spending Week #3 September 27th.

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We are officially in our third week of attempting to find extra money in our budget for a trip. Find out the initial details here. Last week we did awesome and to be honest it was much easier as it was not a pay week and we really had no  spending other than a quick trip to the CVS.  This week was a little more difficulty.

First the good news, I did stop in at Aldi to pick up salsa and lettuce. The total cost of the trip was $3.44. That keeps me under our $600 grocery budget by $2.66. I will most likely stop at Aldi either today or tomorrow to spend this on a dozen eggs and a 2L Diet Coke.  Both of the cars needed gas this week but  with the cost of gas Slowly going down we still have $54 left for the month of September. I am anticipating that this too will be used prior to Wednesday for the van but  even so we have managed to stay on track for the month in both these areas!!  I was also able to purchase Amanda’s birthday present and stayed under budget.

Now the not so great news, we are going to be purchasing cheerleading uniforms for both the girls this week. This is not an unexpected expense but it is one that I will have to incorporate and for the short time it will move some money that I had hoped to place in the trip fund.

October starts on Wednesday, I am definitely going to plan on it being a low spend/no spend month. I may even join a couple of challenges on other blogs to help keep me motivated. I had originally plan to spend $100 or less on groceries for October, however because of a mistake at Costco, I will need to increase this to $200 or less. I will have to pay our yearly membership fee of $110 out of this amount. So $90 or less will be the challenge.  I am going to be honest and say upfront this amount may need to be increased to $300 for the month or $190 after membership. We are continuing to try and clean out our pantries and freezers. I am actually starting to see a change in these. We have empty spaces in both the bathroom closet and the kitchen pantry. I am down to 2 bottles of Diet Coke and Matt just told me that he has less than a months supply of K cups. I will watch for sales on both these items in October but that will also mean some additional shopping as well.  We are planning a trip to Costco next Saturday and this will be probably the most difficult part of the challenge at least for me. Costco is a place that you always see a good deal and we have always grabbed a couple of extra items that are on sale just because we can. I have already started a list and hopefully this will make it easier to stick to the must be out of it to purchase rule but we shall see.

Spending Update for the Week

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Last week, I talked a lot about the goals we have over the next two and half months for saving money for a trip to visit family. This is where it starts.

This has been a great week in terms of this goal for us. We have received out water and electric bills for the month of October. Both were lower than the budgeted amount so that savings of $30 will go into our trip.

Next up is our spending, if you recall I had $7 left for the remaining 2 weeks of September to stay on budget. This week I have spent $1.02 which leaves $5.98 for the next week and half.  We ran out of baking soda so I picked up two boxes.  I did go to CVS this week, I was able to purchase 2 bottles of body wash for Matt and 2 Starbuck’s refresher. I used the CVS gift card that I have so nothing was spent out of pocket. I still have $2 on the gift card in addition to 3.50 in ECB.

I was also able to generate (hopefully) a little extra cash as well. I took 80 pieces of clothing to a consignment sale and we have placed our plastic playhouse up for sale on Craiglist.

Overall I am very excited for being able to stay on track so far and add $30 to our trip fun. The menu is planned for next week so I am looking forward to another week of low to no spending!

Thursday Random, Budget Related Thoughts

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I made the comment last week that September was turning into a very expensive month. I am relieved to say that things have calmed down a bit and although it will still be an expensive over all month, I am hoping that we can stay on track budget wise.

As of today, I have spent $380 of our $600 monthly grocery budget. This does include a 120# of chicken from Zaycon food, that will not be picked up until mid-October. I currently am planning to do a freezer cooking day with my BFF on Saturday which will add somewhere between $50 to $100 to the budget. This will give us another 10 crock pot meal for use as well. I am expecting $20 in rebate cards from my stock up of Tide Detergent. I will be using this as they come in and moving $20 into our special saving funds, which I will explain in a minute. I also have $7 left on a gift card from CVS. My goal for the rest of the month is to speed as little as possible on groceries. I will definitely be under budget this month, the only question will be by how much?

Currently we have $240 remaining in our gas budget for the month. I estimate we will need to use at least $180 of this but should be able to hang on to the remaining $60.

I was able to finish out Zach’s clothing needs for the fall by purchasing some clothes from a friend!  She has the next size up as well so if Zach decides to grow I have an option to purchase  without breaking the budget again.

The weather has been very usually in North Carolina this week. Beginning on the 7th, we have not used out central air. I am so excited about this, I have been keeping a close eye on the weather and realized that today (Thursday) was the warmest out of the week. The temperature did get up in the high 80’s and the temperature in the house was sitting at 84, but we survived and with a cold front passing through along with rain, our goal is to make it at least 2 weeks without central air in September. We are usually able to enjoy a lower electricity bill for October and November so this should generate some nice savings for us.

Now for the announcement of where these savings are headed.  We would like to make a trip to Michigan to visit with Matt’s family over the Thanksgiving holiday. However, after much discussion and a hard look at our budget, we agree that in order to make this trip we will need to save around $1800 for the trip. So we are both search for any extra money in our budget in addition to searching for extra ways to earn money. For us this is a lofty goal for an 8 week period but I am excited to see where this challenge leads us!

 

August in Review

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Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month  Post number 15!  Goal met!  Busy month again but at least that gives me something to say!

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December 2014.   I have only lost 2# this month and definitely have not made it with exercising 3x  a week. I said last month I was rethinking this goal and have decided to increase it to 175 which is the point I stayed between the girls and little kids in addition to the point I was at when I met and married Matt. I know this is probably not where most people think I should be but it is where I am comfortable and plan to stay!

Financial Goals:

1.  Pay off all debit by July 2015, except for mortgage.   Updated this goal again this month as other than credit card debit we have a personal loan and after taking a hard look at this we have changed our plan to get all debit paid off !  At this point, I am unsure if we will stay debt free but it is a goal I want to achieve prior to making any other larger purchases.  Goal met for this month.

2. Emergency Fund to $2000.  We are sliding backwards again on this goal. I can’t seem to get my self ahead on this goal. It is currently sitting at $100.

. 3. Groceries: Spend $600 a month . Goal Met  Total spent $600. I had planned to come in way under for the month but with some of the purchases we made at the beach in addition to stocking up on meat. I am glad to report that we did not go over for the month. In September, the plan is to make a huge chicken purchase but little else so I hope to be under for the next couple of months.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month with any remaining to be move to Auto fund for repairs.  Total Spent $499.72. Goal MET.   I did add an additional $100 to the budget this month for our trip. The amount spent includes a small repair on the van and inspection, taxes and tags for the car!  Hopefully we have gone over the hump with gas spending for the year!

Overall I did meet 4 of 6 goals. This is the same ratio as last month but different goals achieved. I am feeling much more optimistic about our finances so that is a huge step for me.

I have noticed that during the month of September, several of the blogs I regularly read are doing challenges for saving money and/or cutting the budget for the month. I am not going to participate officially with any, but I do hope to place a little more in savings this month. One of the reason, that I am choosing not to join in is that currently our budget does not have any wiggle room. If we stick to budget, than that is huge and means additional savings but in addition we are in the middle of Birthday season and I have already started slowing purchasing Christmas gifts, so no extra spending may be difficult as well.

Thursday Shopping

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We need to have a couple of pairs of glasses worked on in Winston this week so after checking out a couple of ads, I decided we would make a couple of stops to coupon as well. Overall I am very pleased and actually think this is one of my better savings trips overall.

First stop was Harris Teeter- I spent $14 and saved $65 or 82%   This include 5 packs of Oscar Myer hot dogs for $0.51 each, 2 cups of Greek yogurts-free, Laughing Cow Cheese and hair products!

The second stop was at Target- I spent $27 and saved $50 with $3.00 remaining on a gift card. The saving was 65%, however because Target prices are lower than most this is actually a huge deal. My purchased included 10 boxes of cereal, 5 2L drinks, 2 packs of juice boxes, 4 Rev sandwich  wraps, a couple packs of cookie dough and some school supplies.

Finally stop was Home Depot.  I do have a Home Depot Credit Card and usually use it to make purchases for the house. Over the last two years, I have not paid any interest or fees to this card so I am not opposed to use it. I received in the mail on Thursday a 10% your entire purchase coupon. We were able to purchase a new gas grill for less than $150 combining this coupon and a great sale. I am not even sure how to calculate the saving but wanted to include it so that you know to watch your mail and use what companies send you!

I do want to mention one more stop we made but it was actually in Lexington. We went to the Food Lion to pick up some pasta salad mixes for Zach’s birthday party. We had excellent timing and walked in just as the meat was being reduced. So we decided to go ahead and grab what looked good and we knew we could use. This ended up being around $110 of meat including hamburger, beef and chicken. At first you might think this is not a great deal but in addition to the hamburger we already have this should be enough meat for us till mid to late October.

Overall I am very pleased with this shopping day!

 

Sunday Shopping and Saving 8/17/2014

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Today is  the first official day of my vacation, but even so I did manage to enjoy both hopping and saving. Because my children, especially Kendall, are early risers we had planned to eat two meals out  today.  My mother gave me a coupon for Golden Corral, and we made this our first stop this morning. The coupon was for adult breakfast buffets which include your choice of milk, juice or coffee. The hostess also gave us the coupon price for the kid’s buffet as well, which means that all six of us ate for $35.  We found a really quick route to the beach and arrive in plenty of time for lunch. Actually, we shopped first because we had so much time. I had printed just in case the coupon for Outback Steakhouse, so we decided to splurge and enjoy this as well. We did end up spending $70 including tip but not bad considering the adults all had steak and the kids ended up finishing their meals for dinner.

We stopped at the Tanger Outlets but  only hit a couple of stores. Old Navy advertised an awesome sale and we were excited to find lots of items on the $5 tables however over half of these items did not ring up for $5 so we left disappointed.  I picked up several polo shirts for Zach and a pair of jeans as well. The Disney Store  was the kids choice, each of the three little kids has been saving money and doing extra chores for the past  two months and were excited to purchase some toys today. I was able to take advantage of the $10 pajama sale for all three little kids and myself. Matt found a cool shirt for under $10 so in the end, everyone was happy!

I had planned on saying this was going to be our most expensive day, however we are going to a dinner theater  tomorrow evening. I have already purchased the ticket so it is budgeted and covered but still really expensive!

Shopping Savings

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I have been able to get in some extra shopping over the past couple of days, so I thought I would share with you. I was able to pick up several items, including Lunchables to use in the girls lunches as they head back to school. Stocking up on these at $1.00 each is much better for us than the $2.85 a day for lunch at school. I am sure that as the year goes on we will be back to packing our own lunch combo but these are definitely worth the convenience at the stock up price.

Magic Mart– Not sure how wide spread this store is but I found some awesome deals yesterday with no coupons.
Hunt Pudding packs- $0.88
Lays Stax (Blue containers)  Barbecue or Sour Cream/Onion $0.88
Reese Peanut Butter 8 packs $1.03

Walmart–  I hate this store but need to pick up a birthday gift and decided to use some coupons while I was there.
Notebook Paper- $0.75 each- Not the best price but much cheaper than $1.59 which is the regular price.
Lunchables $1.00 each
Suave Kid’s Shampoo- $1.50 each, printable coupon $1.00 off so $0.50 each (I got two)
Mitchum Deodorant-$2.97-  $2.00 off coupon paid $0.97.  This is one of the few items I remain brand loyal to so I try to always buy at less than $1.00
Hawaiian Punch- $1.98- coupon for $1.00 off so I picked up two for $0.98 each
Minute Maid Juice- half gallon on sale 4 for $5, two $1.00 off 2 coupons and submitted to get a Walmart gift card $5.  I will update when I actually receive this gift card.  Even without the gift card less than $1 each.

Target– My favorite store!  I love the way they let you combine coupons. Read more about it here.
Sharpie Highlighters- 2 pack, $1.98 each, Mobile coupon for $1.00 off two. Ending up being $0.98
Scotch Tape- $1.02- Target Coupon for $1.00 off.
Post- It notes $0.99- Target coupon for $1.00 off
BIC mechanical pencils (8 count) $0.99 each, Target coupon for $1.00 off 2.
Skippy Peanut Butter Singles (6 pack) – $2.60- 30% off with cartwheel and $0.75 off 2 from newspaper.
Lunchables- Buy 5 get 5 free final price $0.75 each.
Light weight Gray jacket for Zach $5.00

CVS– I decided against working a $10 gift card deal this week. I am trying to save money for the beach and although the deals were good they were not rock bottom and honestly we didn’t need any so I just picked up the mandatory diet cokes and cereal.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal- 2 for $4, with 1 ECB with the purchase of 2. I had two  $0.50 off one coupons, plus a $0.50 deposit into my saving star account. They ended up being $1 a box so my buy price.

 

The biggest reward I got this weekend is by catching in my Saving Star money. This is a simple app that is tied to your individual reward cards or can be used by scanning in Walmart receipts as well. I had $12.15 deposit in my checking account on Saturday from this!