I am setting up 2 new challenges for DH and I!

October Discover Card Challenge

I am challenging DH and I to see how low we can get our Discover card for our Oct statement (Sept 28 - Oct 27). No "extra" purchases, limiting eating out, fast food and fuel as much as we can. Last month our statement $1900 and this month was $1600.....according to our "budget" we should be around $1200. Hmm. So I am challenging us to get it as close to the $1200 as we can. I would really like to see it under $1300.


CVS Giftcard Challenge

I cashed in $45 of our Discover card cashback rewards for a $50 CVS giftcard today. I am going to see how long I can make that last with EBs and how much merchandise I can get for FREE with this FREE $50 giftcard!

1st Purchase
ThermaCare Heat Patch $3.79
Total OOP $3.79
Received $3.79 EB (FREE!)

2nd Purchase
Re-nu Contact Solution
Regular Price $9.99
-$1.00 Sale Price
-$2.00 mfr coupon
-$3.79 EB from last purchase
Total OOP $3.20
Received $7.00 EB

So I got both items for $6.99 OOP, and I still have a $7.00 EB, so I actually made .01 by purchasing these items in this way! Whoo hoo! Hope I can keep finding deals where CVS pays me to take their merchandise home.

I will use the contact solution, but not the Therma Care Heat Patch. My Dad uses those, so I just gave it to him since it was free other then tax.

Well I only worked one shift for about 6 1/2 hours and I got to go pick my tips up on Monday. $23.69! Not bad! They are shared tips and then divided by the number of hours you work. With tips I am making a little over $11 an hour, which I am happy with for an easy part time job. So for now I am just going to save that money seperate till I decide for sure what I want to do with it. I am only going to add this to the $20K Challenge in $5 increments so that it doesn't get confusing, so I just added $20 to that instead of $23.69.

Tips total - $23.69
Wage total - $0
Total Bingo Money - $23.69

Still can't decide if I want to save this for a snowblower or to the EF, or the mortgage savings account.....hmmm......oh well no hurry on what to decide.

Current Balance $11,620.00
-$178.00 to Roth IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
+$20.00 Bingo Tips
+$135.00 Cross Country Money
+$100.00 to September 2012 Savings
+$100.00 to EF
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $11,885.00

Bingo Money $20.00
ING $7430.00
Home Improvements(cash) $235.00
HSBC $4200.00
Total = $11,885.00.

I sent in a rebate for pop today. Menards had 6 packs on sale for $1.50 with a rebate of .75 per pack. So I bought 4 that we can sell at the rummage sale, the end price will be .75 for a 6 pack, only 13 cents per can.

Yesterday was my first day at my second job at the Bingo hall. It was super fun! It is definitely a crazy enviroment and I was beat when I got home, but I think the job will be a good fit because I like a fast paced enviroment.
I caught on very quickly, though Bingo is a lot more confusing then I thought it would be.....lots of different kinds of games and different packages you can buy for different costs.
Tomorrow I can pick up my first set of tips, probably won't be much at all as it is shared tips and then divided by the number of hours you worked, and I only worked 7 hours this week....but something is better then nothing and I am still trying to decide exactly what savings I want this going towards....

october 2011 Mortgage Payment

Balance $126,850.00
+$396.41 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
-$577.84 Principle Payment ($35.00 in change)
New Balance $125,665.00


$125K = 125 months left = 10.42 years left

Next month we will meet our goal for the year (getting under $125K), I can't wait!!

First Purchase
8ct Excedrin .99
8ct Excedrin .99
Total OOP $2.10
Received $1.98 EB

Second Purchase
4 cans Progresso Soup Regular $2.99 per can ($11.96)
On sale for 4 cans/$5
-$1.00 CVS coupon
-$1.98 EB from last purchase
Total OOP $2.02
Total saved $9.94

2 bottles of Excedrin and 4 cans of Pregresso for $4.12 OOP!



There were a few other things I wanted to get that were on good sale, but the coupons I need for them are at work, so I will try to get them tomorrow.

My work is changing their payroll in March 2012. Currently we get paid for 1 week that we have worked and the next week that we have not worked yet.
The payroll is going to change to getting paid for the last 2 weeks that you worked. So for 1 paycheck in March we will only get paid for 1 week to make the adjustment. A lot of people are freaking out about it, but I don't think it will be a big deal since my paychecks are pretty small since I have taxes, 401K, HSA, medical premium and charitable donations taken out before I see any of it. So I will only be missing about $400 and I also get a bonus in March that should cover any missing pay.

My Mom's friend had brought a ton of stuff for the last rummage sale, and when it was over she said we could have what we wanted from her stuff and donate or toss what we didn't want.

I finished going through everything as well as weeding out our old stuff that wasn't selling. I ended up taking 4 boxes to donate. I also took 4 prom/bridesmaids dress and 2 graduation gowns and donated them to a local charity that helps homeless teams with normal teenage activities like prom etc.

I found several items that I wanted to keep for myself to wear.
4 Tanktops
2 T-shirts
1 Cardigan
4 Long Sleeve shirts
1 Sweater
1 Pair of shorts
2 Skirts
So I then went through my closet and picked out all the same items to get rid of of my own. A perfect exchange, I got 15 new items for FREE and got rid of 15 of my old clothes that I don't wear anymore. This is a great way to keep the clutter down in your closet when you get new clothes.

Then I went through everything she had left and marked them for the next rummage sale.
60 Shirts
35 Pairs of Pants
5 Dresses
3 Skirts
3 Coats

Should make a pretty nice profit on all of it at the next sale!

*ETA - Here is what I have sold so far from this stuff:

5/18/12 $7.50
6/23/12 $11.25
8/24/12 $20.50
9/7/12 $57.75
6/15/13 $9.00
Total made so far - $106.00 Free!!

One of our local grocery stores had a good sale on cereal, plus you got a free gallon of milk when you buy 3 boxes.
5 boxes of cereal plus a gallon of milk for $9!

I went back to JCP today and bought the rest of the flip flops.....another 15 flip flops for .17 per pair. They did not have the extra 15% off today. Total saved on this purchase was $147.45 and total spent was $2.70!

Then I went to CVS to pick up a few things.

4 boxes of Cheerios
-Regular $3.39 per box
-On sale for $2.50 per box
-Minus $1.00 off of 4 mfr coupon
-End price is $2.25 per box
-Savings of $4.56

Scanned our CVS card and got a BOGO Free coupon on 5 Gum
-Regular $1.57 per pack
-On sale for $1.00 per pack
-Minus $1.57 BOGO coupon
-End price of .21 cents per pack!!
-Savings of $2.71

3 cases JBT 24 pack of Bottled Water
-Regular price $3.99 per case
-On sale for $2.22
-Savings of $5.31

Then I used $3.69 EB I had from last week, so my total OOP was $12.40.

Total spent between CVS and JCP was $15.10 and total saved was $165.32!

All of this for just $15.10!

I made out like a bandit today at the mall.


Victoria Secret
-Free Lace bridal thong
-Paid $0
-Saved $14.50

JCPenney
Swim trunks for DH
-Regular Price $35.00
-Clearanced for $1.97
-Additional 15% off
-Paid $1.77
-Saved $33.33

Mens Flipfops - Bought 21 pairs
-Regular Price $10.00 a piece
-Clearanced for .17
-Additional 15% off
-Paid .14 a piece ($3.12 for 21 pairs)
-Saved $207.06
*ETA - Sold 2 pairs at the 8/24/12 rummage sale for $3.00 each = $5.72 profit
*ETA - Sold 5 pairs at the 9/7/12 rummage sale for $3.00 each = $14.30 profit
*ETA - Sold 1 pair at the 6/15/13 rummage sale for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Sold 1 pair at the 8/23/13 rummage sale for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Sold 2 pair at the 9/5/13 rummage sale for $3.00 = $5.72 profit
*ETA - Sold 1 pair on 3/17/14 to a coworker for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Sold 1 pair on 9/4/14 rummage sale for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Gave 1 to BFs sister
*ETA - Sold 1 pair on FB on 6/17/16 for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Sold 2 pair on FB on 7/24/16 for $3.00 = $2.86 profit
*ETA - Sold 3 pair at the 5/5/17 rummage sale for $2.00 each = $5.58 profit
*ETA - Sold 1 pair for $2.00 on FB on 10/1/17 = $1.86 profit
Profit = $50.34

Total for the day
Purchased 23 items for $4.89 and saved $254.89!!!!

WOW! The swimtrunks and 1 pair of flipflops went to DH. The rest of the flip flops I marked for $3.00 a piece for the rummage sale. When I sell all 20 pairs that would be a profit of $57.20!

I may stop back tomorrow if I have time and pick a few more pairs if there are any left.

Forgot to add this one on to the total yesterday.

Current Balance $11,535.00
+$85.00 to retirement hold account
New Balance $11,620.00

ING $7320.00
Home Improvements(cash) $100.00
HSBC $4200.00
Total = $11,620.00

DH got his first paycheck for Cross Country. We thought that he would be getting it all at once, or at least in a few paychecks, but turns out it is spread out during the whole school year. So each paycheck it is an extra $275 per paycheck. I asked DH what he wants to do since it is his money. He wants to save 1/2 for home maintenance/improvements so we can get a new patio door, and 1/2 for saving for something fun. So the portion that is going to the new patio door I will show on the $20K Challenge, but the other half I am not going to track on here since it will be spent I suppose....but it's his extra work, so he gets to pick how it is done.
We also started the September 2012 savings account.

Current Balance $10,925.00
-$355.00 To checking
-$20.00 for new toilet sear and new shower handle
+$600.00 Rummage Sale Money
+$100.00 to September 2012 Savings Account
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$25.00 to Mortgage Payoff Account
+$25.00 to Home Maintenance
+$135.00 to Home Maintenance from CC pay
New Balance $11,535.00

ING $7235.00
Home Improvements(cash) $100.00
HSBC $4200.00
Total = $11,535.00

Also met 2 more goals!
Checking Cushion $1800
HSA $5000

I don't track those numbers towards the $20K Challenge since they are not funds we can use for whatever we want. Super happy with how we are doing on our goals for the year! We have to go back and re-meet the EF goal since that was where we pulled from during the paycheck shortage, but everything else is going very well!