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Archive for October, 2009

10-28-09 Shopping at Target

October 28th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

Got some good use of coupons today
1)Always Infinity Panty Liners - 16 count
-Coupon for Free Box (savings $3.99)
2)Puffs Tissues - 3 box pack
-3 Super size boxes for same price as 3 Regular size boxes
- $1 off coupon (savings $1.00 plus extra tissues from super size boxes)
3)Gain Fabric Softner 120 sheets
- Checked price againest store brand and cost was the same
- $1 off coupon (savings $1.00)

Plus we got a $1 off coupon for Skintimate shave gel when we checked out. I will definitely use that as well (I hate the generic shave foam....that stuff kills my skin!)

Think we did ok!

10-28-09 Free Stuff

October 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm

Todays Free Stuff in the mail:
-Fiber One oats and chocolate bar
-Fiber One honey clusters cereal 1 cup box (plus $5.00 in coupons for Fiber One)
-Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo and Conditioner Samples
-Carefree Panty Liner

Remeber to check out the brands websites for free samples!

Week of 10-25-09 To Do

October 26th, 2009 at 02:00 am

(X)Mail utility bill - due 11-5-09
(X)Mail BOFA bill - due 11-17-09
( )Put spare tire away
( )Put extra tire in shed
( )Rake yard
(X)Buy Halloween Candy
(X)Call Dr
( )Waiting for dental EOB
-( )DOS 10-10-09
( )Waiting for medical EOB
-( )DOS 10-18-09
-( )DOS 10-21-09
-( )DOS 10-22-09
(X)My Payday 10-30-09
-(X)$50 to EF
-(X)$50 to vacation fund
-(X)$70 to Roth
-(X)6% to 401K
(X)DH Payday 10-30-09
-(X)$50 to EF
-(X)$50 to vacation fund
-(X)10% to 403B
( )No eating out - FAILED
I will update with (X) when each is completed.
Hmmmm.....Wednesday already and have only checked off 2......well I do have flu like symptoms....so I will blame those!

Maybe I should just let him do the shopping

October 26th, 2009 at 12:32 am

My husband had Friday off from work. He went shopping for himself for some much needed jeans. Here is how he did:
-2 pairs of jeans
Reg $30.00 - on sale for $14.99 a piece!
-2 polo shirts
Reg $30.00 - on clearance for $1.97 a piece!
-Christmas Gift for his grandmother
Womens Vest - Reg $54.00 - on sale for $32.40
Very proud of hubby for getting some great deals and also for knocking one off of the Christmas shopping list!
Oh by the way these deals were at JCP so if you are looking for clothes/gifts right now they have a lot of good sales and clearance.

My Cushy Cushion

October 25th, 2009 at 03:45 am

I know some people keep hundreds or even thousands in their checking account at all times as a buffer. Well I am not one of those people. I transfer everything I can into savings (maybe even to a fault) and only leave the necessary amount in checking. See if there is any money in my checking account it seems to disappear somehow. A few years ago I had a line of credit (LOC) at my local bank. I used my LOC all the time. I was horrible with it, paying $2 fee everytime it advanced money into my checking account plus something like 18% interest. Everytime I got paid I would pay it back right away. But within a few days it would be advanced again....and the cycle would continue. In 2008 we switched banks. The new bank had a different LOC system. Their LOC did not have any fees when it advanced, it just had a once a year fee of $20 - you had to pay the $20 fee up front, and whether or not you used the LOC throughout the year you still pay the $20 fee plus interest if it is advanced. This was not something I was willing to pay for as a "what if" (I realize I was probably paying way more then $20 a year when you add up all the $2 fees from the old LOC but it just didn't register). So I decided not to sign up for the LOC. Instead I started my own LOC/Cushion. Each week I would write $10 "out" of my checkbook. I would write a line item in the check registry that says "Cushion $10" and subtract the $10 from my balance. Then the next week I would write "Cushion $20" and subtract the new $10 from the balance. I kept doing this each week and now my cushion is up to $600 and still growing. So if I dip under our actual balance a little that $600 is in there just in case. I am thinking once I get to $1000 I will take $500 of it and send it to the mortgage. Then move back up again etc. The trick to keeping this simple (at least for me) is that each week when I add the new entry I keep the balance added up on the new line "Cushion $600" so that I always know how much it is and don't have to add up every $10 entry, and when I write the new entry in, I check the "cleared box" for last weeks entry so there is always only one line that is showing as an outstanding amount. Then when I balance my checkbook I can just subtract the total as an outstanding check. I am pretty proud of my self made cushion and it has worked great for us so far. It is a FREE LOC! Smile

The Coupon Box

October 23rd, 2009 at 02:11 am

Last week I brought a little index card box to work. I put the few coupons I had that I would not use in it. And I wrote COUPONS on the top. Then I sent out an email to my dept that anyone could bring or take coupons as they pleased. I was a little worried that some would look down on this, or think it was silly. I was very surprised to immedicatley get a positive reaction! I got a few "Thank you" and "That's a great idea" emails! And the next day several coworkers brought coupons in. Now the box is very full, over 100 coupons! I have used over $8 in coupons for household/beauty products that I would normally buy anyways. Smile I have seen 4 others take coupons too, I hope others are checking it too, as there are TONS of coupons for all kinds of products and I am sure that there is someone that could benefit from them. Anyways it is working great so far and an added bonus is that I can first dibs since it is on my desk Smile heehee!

Financial To Do's this week

October 22nd, 2009 at 05:43 am

Ok - only 2 days left in the week, but still feeling the need to make a list because I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
(Also on a side note, my planner is my BFF and if you don't use one you should give it a try, it has changed my life!)
1) Print out open enrollment forms for 2010 Health Insurance and enroll - DONE
2) Call Health Insurance and see if they have a deductible carryover option (we switched from DH's insurance to mine in Sept 09) DONE - No deductible credit Frown
3) Call Health Insurance and find out what is happening with $74 reimbursement I sent in 3 weeks ago. DONE - Not getting it Frown
4) Make photo copies of $10 rebate for UV Vodka (gift for my 21 y/o cousins BD, only $5 after rebate!) and send in rebate. DONE
5) Buy storage file for end of 2009. Every year I use a small portable file to file throughout the year and then I get a larger storage file that I can fit 3-4 years of files in and put away at end of year.
Hmm..that should do it for now....I better get crackalackin tomorrow.

We WILL be mortgage FREE!

October 21st, 2009 at 12:41 am

Hi! My husband and I are trying our darndest to pay off our mortgage as fast as we can without dramatically altering our quality of life. Right now I am 25 and DH is 27, we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be mortgage free by the time DH is 40.
Current Time Line
September 2007 - Took out $160K mortgage, 30 years at 5.75%
November 2007 - First Payment due
April 2009 - Refinanced $144K balance to 20 year, 4.80%
Here are the extra principle payments we have made so far:
November 2007 - $217.99
December 2007 - $217.99
January 2008 - $217.99
February 2008 - $217.99
March 2008 - $251.60
April 2008 - $391.10
May 2008 - $258.44
June 2008 - $396.40
July 2008 - $273.69
August 2008 - $371.55
September 2008 -$318.94
October 2008 - $416.57
November 2008 - $313.72
December 2008 - $411.34
January 2009 - $408.49
February 2009 - $5.64
March 2009 - $313.69
April 2009 No payment due to refinance
May 2009 - $344.57
June 2009 - $341.73
July 2009 - $38.88
August 2009 - $387.26
September 2009 -$544.21
October 2009 - $500.51

Originally I was figuring the extra payments to make our total payment an even number.....but I quickly changed that to making exta payments that bring our balance to an even amount (I am an even number FANATIC).
I use a spreadsheet I found online at vertex42.com it is amazing and lets me easily see how much we need to pay to get to the next milestone, plus has a seperate column for my principle payments so it is always up to date.
2010 is looking like it may bring hefty medical bills (UGH!)so I am planning on a flat principle payment of $350, then the couple extra dollars down to the next even amount, and then our change bucket each month, usually $10-$20 bucks a month.
If we don't have to pay as much as expected for medical maybe we can throw some more at it near the end of 2010.

FREE Stuff!

October 21st, 2009 at 12:01 am

OK, everyone loves FREE stuff right!? DH and I have been searching for free products online the last couple of weeks and so far it is going really well. Here is what we have gotten Free so far.
-Kashi blueberry cereal 4oz box
-6 pack Nescafe Sample coffees
-Nature Valley Granola Bar (plus .50 coupon)
-Nature Valley Nut Cluster (plus .75 coupon)
-2 tubes Aquafresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste .8oz
-6 Tampax tampons ($11 in P&G coupons)
-Head'n'Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner Samples
-Total Cereal 1 cup
-Lacoste Fragrance Sample
-Juicy Juice Water bottle
-3 Always Panty Liners
-BOGO coupon for DQ 16oz Blizzard
-BOGO coupon Auntie Anne's Softpretzels
-Bath'n'Body Travel Size Lotion
and today 10-20-09
-Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner Samples
-Burts Bees Acne Solution
-Coupon Booklet for Nabisco Products

Some of my favorite sites to get free stuff that we have found are :
Shopathome.com
pgeverydaysolutions.com

Christmas Shopping 2009

October 20th, 2009 at 03:15 am

I stated Christmas Shopping a few months ago and was hoping to be done by the end of October. Well with only 2 weeks left it is not looking like I will be done by then....but hopefully by the middle of November.
Here is how I am doing -
Husband - Hmmm..nothing definite yet, but anything Red Sox will work
Mom - She wants flips flops..yes it is Dec in ND and that is what she wants...
Dad - Ugh....No ideas!
Brother #1 - thinking grill set and maybe some house stuff as he and SIL just bought a house
Brother #2 - 18 y/o and refuses to give me any gift ideas
Sister-in-Law - DONE! Margarita Shaker and Hand Juicer - $17.89 total!
Uncle - DONE! NFL Shop Steelers Hat that I got for FREE for sending in bottle caps from Mountain Dew bottles (hey I am addicted, what can I say!)
Cousin - DONE! Book from Barnes and Noble.com, I bought a used version that said status "new" and used a GC that I had won at work, total cost $6.74, plus a Dr. Scholls "Love my Sole" pack $8.67.
Friend #1 - DONE! Book from B&N again, and used another GC, total cost $11.07
Friend #2 - DONE! Book from Target on sale $9.84
Friend #3 - Maybe a DVD set?
MIL, FIL, SIL #2 and DH's Grandma - DH is in charge of, but probably $20-$30 a piece.
I think that is everyone (Yes I have more then 3 friends! Just only 3 that I buy for.)
Total Christmas Budget = $400.00
Totals as of 10/19/09
$54.21 spent on 5 people!
5 people done out of 15

I LOVE GOALS! - Long Term Goals

October 20th, 2009 at 02:39 am

I love goals! I find them incredibly motivational as well as helpful for organizing my life. So I think goals is a good place to start my blog. Sadly it is not currently the beginning of the year......aka the BEST time to make goals.....also 2009 has sucked pretty hard on the personal level for me and I would really like it to be over soon! But even though there are only a couple of months left I still have goals I am working on.....plus starting to plan for 2010 goals. I will put those in another post. Here are my current long term financial goals.
Long Term Goals:
1) Payoff Mortgage by my 36th BD (11 years left)
2) Continue to live debt free other then mortgage
3) Save up for long and short term goals