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Archive for February, 2011

March 2011 Mortgage

February 26th, 2011 at 11:26 pm

Balance $134,680.00
+$420.88 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
-$527.31 Principle Payment ($40 in change)
New Balance $133,570.00

$133K = 133 months = 11.08 years left!

Vickie's Coupons

February 26th, 2011 at 12:07 am

(VS1/2011) Got my first free undies coupon of the year from Victoria's Secret. Good for 1 Free Incredible Hip Hugger, so I will have to go in the next week or 2 to get my free chonies. Normally these coupons come with a 2nd coupon good for $10 off any bra, but I never use that because I don't buy my bras at VS, they are way to expensive, and can get just as good or better quality at department stores. But this time the 2nd coupon was for $10 off any purchase! So I will probably use that one too, try to find some undies for $12 or so then I can get 2 prs of undies for $2. That is the plan, we'll see what I can find!

Also I have been seeing some commercials for P&G Brand Saver coupons coming out in Feb 27th newspaper. We don't get the paper (free online) so I am going to try to get to the gym early on Sunday so I can get the coupons from their newspaper. Smile

$20K Update and my Super Secret Stash!

February 25th, 2011 at 11:51 pm

I have a Super Secret Stash (SSS) of cash. It started with just keeping a $5 here, a $10 here....then I added some $20's, some of DH's Christmas money and now we have $500 in the SSS. I didn't want this money to have to have any label. It's not savings, it's not to go on the mortgage, make a large purchase, or go on a trip....I just want it there for if we want to buy/do something we would have money that was unaccounted for so it would not come out of savings.
Last night DH and I went to the casino. We were trying to hold off till we go to Deadwood in a few weeks. But we both had a long week and thought it would be fun to go chill out for awhile. So we took some money out of the SSS and went up, and the very first game we played we put in $10, we were betting .50 cents and hit $80! Whoo hoo! The night kept going like that and we ended up coming home $380 ahead plus a bucket of change! Yeah! So I am putting $100 into the ING New Car Fund, putting the change towards the mortgage and putting the remaining $280 back in the Super Secret Stash! SSS is now at $780.00!


Current Balance $11,790.00
+$100.00 Casino Win - To New Car Fund
New Balance $11,890.00

ING $8110.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $350.00
HSBC $3430.00
Total = $11,890.00

Next week we should hit $12K! So excited!

$20K Update

February 23rd, 2011 at 02:08 am

Current Balance $11,815.00
-$28.00 to Roth IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $11,790.00

ING $8010.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $350.00
HSBC $3430.00
Total = $11,790.00

Good Deals at CVS

February 22nd, 2011 at 03:17 am

So while we were waiting around at CVS for DH's meds we found some good deals. Valentines Candy was 75% off!

$.97 Kleenex - Saved $1.02
$.97 Kleenex - Saved $1.02
$1.25 Big Heart Strawberry Chocolates - Saved $3.74
$1.25 Big Heart of Mini Candy Bars - Saved $3.74
$1.25 Big Heart of Mini Candy Bars - Saved $3.74
$.75 Mini Heart Box of Chocolates - Saved $2.24

Total Spent $6.83!
Total Saved was $15.50!

Now the chocolates we definitely not needs......but 75% off of Valentines Candy is a great deal. All of the candy was for DH except the Strawberry Cream Chocolates were for me (just had one and it was AH-Mazing!). DH will freeze the rest and eat them for the next month or two. Of couse we were out of Kleenex again since I was sick for so long, but am feeling lots better, so these should last for more then a week this time.

I also signed up for their "extra care rewards" card. So starting in April I should get 2% back from any purchases made in Jan - March 2011. I don't shop at CVS very often, usually only when we are getting an RX, but every little bit of savings helps!

Poor hubby!

February 22nd, 2011 at 02:48 am

Here is my DH's ankle Frown

My husband only weighs 140 lbs, so you can imagine how fat this ankle is!

Ewww...nasty bruise!
He went to the Dr today and luckily it is just a bad sprain. Happy it is not broken! Looks horrible though...office visit, xray, crutches and rx. Don't know how much the office visit and the xray are yet, but the crutches were $60, and the generic rx was $4.16 (brand name would have been $53!!). Wish I would have been with him, cause I would have told him not to get crutches with the dr, could have got them at CVS for half that price.....oh well, the crutches are for adults 5'2 to 5'11, so either one of us can use them, and we should never have to buy crutches again. And the rx was super cheap so that was good.

Another Drs bill..... :(

February 20th, 2011 at 11:43 pm

DH and I went out of town for the weekend. He was in a basketball tournament about 100 miles away. I thought it would be a resonably cheap weekend. We were riding up with another player, and also rooming with 2 other players, so that and food and shouldn't be more then $100 for the whole weekend. Well we gave $25 a piece for the hotel room, paid for a tank of gas $33, snacks $4, breakfast day 1 $5, admission to the tournamant for me $5 (!!), $21 lunch day 1, $14 lunch day 2, $25 booze. So that's already $157!! Then the very first game DH and a big guy from the other team got tangled up and fell, and the big guy rolled up DH's foot and ankle. That was yesterday morning and he has been severly limping since then and his ankle is humungous and bruised. We were going to go to the walkin clinic when we got home, but the weather was bad here and by the time we got back to town the clinic was closed. So I think he will need to go in tomorrow to get it looked at. So after that the weekend will most likely cost over $300....ouch to that, and ouch to DH's ankle. Frown

Walkin Clinic cost how much???

February 17th, 2011 at 12:46 am

Checked my medical claims online and saw that my claim for the walkin clinic was received. $180!! Yikes! My insurance's negotiated rate is $162, and since I am on a HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan), we are responsible for the whole amount until we get to $3200 deductible. Luckily we have our HSA, which is at $3500 so we will just pay it out of that. But it is still pukey how much it costs just to be seen for 4 min to get some cold medicine.

$20K Update - ING over $8K :)

February 17th, 2011 at 12:35 am

Current Balance $11,730.00
+$85.00 Retirement Hold account
New Balance $11,815.00

ING $8035.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $350.00
HSBC $3430.00
Total = $11,815.00

Yeah, my ING accounts are over $8K!

DH did not get the detention pay on this paycheck, so no extra to put in yet, but next paycheck he should have at least $100 in detention pay. Half of that will be for him for "fun" money and half will go into the lawn mower/vacuum fund.

Best Buy - Not gonna get me!

February 14th, 2011 at 03:19 am

Ok, normally I am not one to be like "Oh the credit card companies are evil" and yadda yadda. I believe if someone chooses to borrow from a credit card company that is their choice and their decision and every person needs to learn to use this "service" responsibly and not blame their credit card if they have to pay interest or fees cause they didn't follow the guideline. Ok, off my soapbox.... the point of this post was, I feel like our Best Buy CC is trying to trick us into fees! We have a Best Buy CC that we got our laptop on for 0% interest for 18 months. The agreement is to pay at least the minimum payment every month, and pay the entire balance before 12/11 and there will be no interest and no fees. We have done several 0% deals before and have never had any trouble with them as we always follow the agreement and make sure we pay the balance at least a month before the 0% runs out. The minimum payment on the BB card was $10 a month. I was paying $20 a month every month, and even set up a auto pay online to pay $20 everymonth, that way when it was due we only had $200 left to pay and that money is already sitting in savings. So for 8 months now we have been paying $20 a month on auto pay....la la la....everything is fine. They I get this months statement and the min payment has gone from $10 to $25? HUH?! I have never seen a min payment go up as the balance went down......usually if your balance is going down then your minimum payment would go down, or at least stay the same. So I am so lucky I noticed that, cause I could have easily opened it and thought "oh BB is on autopay, so don't need to worry about this bill" and then I would have gotten slammed with a fee plus all of the deferred interest would have hit the card. UGH So really don't get what that was about. Lesson to all, make sure you check your statements even if you know what they are SUPPOSED to say!

Mortgage Meter

February 14th, 2011 at 02:46 am

I didn't have much to do today.....DH turned on some Netflix and I sat at the kitchen table and made a Mortgage Meter. I took a few large pages of accountant lined paper, taped them together and labled each line from $160K - $0 in increments of $1000. Then I drew a large thermometer going through all of the pages. Then I took a pink highlighter and filled in the lines from $160K - $135K. Everytime we get under another $1000 mark (we should go down at least $1000 each month) I can highlight the next row. Smile Dorky I know, but visual motivation helps me. I put it on the side of the fridge and DH laughed at me. Smile

$20K Update - Payday

February 14th, 2011 at 02:38 am

Current Balance $11,580.00
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$25.00 to New Car Fund
+$25.00 to Home Improvement Fund
New Balance $11,730.00

ING $7950.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $350.00
HSBC $3430.00
Total = $11,730.00

DH gets paid on 2/15. If he gets paid for his detention hours on this paycheck I will be able to put some more into the lawn mower/vacuum fund.

Feeling restless.....

Got my federal return today!

February 12th, 2011 at 01:33 am

We got our federal return today, $1574.00. YEAH! For now we are just holding on to it since most of it is going with for our trip to Deadwood in March. I already put $100 out of it into savings last week on anticipation of getting the return. I would like to put the rest in savings, but I would have to take it out in 3 weeks, so I will just hold off and hopefully we will bring a lot back from Deadwood!

Trying to find affordable tanning

February 10th, 2011 at 07:42 pm

It's time for me to start tanning for my MOH job in May. As I am from the Midwest, my mother is a red head, and I am a freckle faced girl.....I need to start getting my tan on 3 months before my friend's big day. So I called several tanning salons today to get some price quotes. I want to get an unlimited monthly package so I don't have to worry about minutes/sessions. I have to start out really low so I don't burn, like 3 min the first time, so if that is counted as a session it would be a rip off for me. My gym has unlimited tanning for $10 a month, which is really cheap, but you can't tan on the weekends, you ALWAYS have to wait in line to get a bed (they only have 3) and the beds don't seem to be as effective as the beds at tanning salons (they probably don't change their lightbulbs as often).
So the quotes I got were:
$18.88 plus buy a bottle of lotion ($10 - $15)
$36.95
$40
$55 - $75 depending on minutes
So looks like the cheapest I could get would be about $30 a month. Our I could go to my gym and get all 3 months of tanning for $30. Hmmmm.....I guess that helps me make my decision, even if I have to wait in line, paying 1/3 of the price is a good deal. Plus maybe it will make me go to the gym more! Smile

Will spring cleaning bring spring???

February 9th, 2011 at 09:50 pm

At home sick again today. My cough and nose are still annoying, but overall feeling better, and my attitude has definitely improved.. Smile
So I decided to actually get out of bed and be a little productive today. I put away all of my 2010 papers that were in my file, took them all out, stapled everything together and put it in my long term file. Also stapled together all of the 2010 tax papers and put them in the long term file too.
Then I tackled my bedroom which was a total disaster. I had clothes everywhere. I am NOT good at putting away my laundry. Frown So I spent a good 3 hours folding clothes and organizing my closet. I will admit, I am a clothes horder. I find all kinds of reasons to keep clothes that don't fit me, or that I haven't worn in years. I could probably purge 50% of my closet and not notice. Well I couldn't bring myself to do that, but I did get some things pulled out.
I threw away a cardigan that was my favorite cardigan for work when I worked at JCP (in 1999!), it had a hole in the shoulder seam, my favorite jeans from highschool that I have had patched at least 3 times and have a hole in the crotch again...and a belt, also from when I worked at JCP and it was cheapy and the backing was completely unglued.
I found several things to put in the rummage sale, 2 pairs of sweatpants, 7 shirts, 2 tanktops, 2 bras, 1 book, and 1 carabiner (which I found in my bra drawer...have no idea where that came from??).
Being productive definitely helps me feel better when I am feeling sick. When you lay around all day then you just feel worthless and that makes me feel worse. So I am glad I got something done today!

How long could this possibly last?

February 8th, 2011 at 09:05 pm

I don't think I mentioned it on here. But I am sick. And I have been sick for over 2 weeks now. And I am SICK OF BEING SICK! Awww! I know it's that time of year and everything is going around, but enough already! So I am home in bed today. I also missed 3 days the week before last. So I am bummed cause not only do I feel like butt, but I am burning up my 2011 PTO, and my work does not have an employee friendly attendence policy. Blah. I have some kind of bronchitis sinus infection hybrid crap. Usually I fight through things on my own, but I couldn't take it anymore so went to the dr yesterday and got some meds. Hopefully I won't be knocked on my ass forever!

Coupons and Clearance - Stocking up on essentials

February 7th, 2011 at 04:21 am

Had a few coupons to use today and found a really good clearance deal!

Coupons
$3 off Venus Razor refills (wow razors are expensive!)
Buy one get one free on Mens Gillette deoderant
The cost of the deoderant was $4.24 each, so after coupon $2.12 each.

Then I found womens Secret deoderants on clearance. A 3 pack for $4.66! Super deal! Regular price for 1 secret deoderant is $4.23, and I got mine for $1.55 a piece! So I bought 2, 3 packs (6 deoderants). Definitely won't need to buy deoderant for either of us for a long time.

Total savings for the day:
$3 off razors cartridges
$4.24 Free Gillette deoderant
$2.68 X 6 = $16.08 Savings on 6 Secret Deoderants
Total $23.32

February 2011 Savings

February 4th, 2011 at 12:58 am

February 2011 Savings update
As of February 1, 2011:

Regular Savings:
Emergency Fund $1040
Anniversary Cruise $3330
Home Maintanence $60
New Lawn Mower (cash) $350
Cushion $1340
Car $760
HSA $3490
MOH $510 - Complete
Laptop $600 - Complete
Washer and Dryer $1200 - Complete
Vacation - $2525 - Complete
Total Regular Savings = $15,205.00

Retirement Savings:
Retirement Hold Account $900
Roth IRA $3140
Rollover IRA $1370
401K $12,700
403B $10,000
Total Retirement Savings = $28,110.00

Total Savings = $43,315.00

Up $1145 from last month. I am really excited that we were able to go up considering we took $750 out of savings to pay for our King Mattress, plus had a very large credit card bill for Christmas and overspending to handle as well. Closing in on $45K!

February 2011 Mortgage

February 3rd, 2011 at 11:13 pm

Balance $135,740.00
+$424.19 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
-$480.62 Principle Payment ($55 in change)
New Balance $134,680.00

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling!
I love that we are going down over $1K a month now! We hope to keep that up, so that means $134K = 134 months. Which is only 11.1 years left......or less! So if we stay at that pace I would be 37 or less! Yipee!

$20K Update - Got my state tax return!

February 3rd, 2011 at 11:04 pm

Current Balance $11,260.00
+$7.16 ING January Interest
+$42.84 Even Out Amount
+$285.00 State Tax Return + Anticipation of Fed Return
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$12.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $11,580.00

ING $7900.00
Lawn Mower(cash) $350.00
HSBC $3330.00
Total = $11,580.00

Slowly moving towards the next $1K mark. $12K is in my sites and I am hoping to get over that mark in March. Probably will only be close to it by the end of this month if all goes well. Smile