Well just shut the door and turned out the porch light. Ran out of candy at 391 trick or treaters! Next year I need to remember to check my blog to see how many kids we get cause every year we get more then the last and run out. NUTS!!

A loooooong time ago I posted about how I had made a coupon box for my work. I took a notecard box and put all my coupons in there, then I cut up a cardboard cereal box and made little cardboard dividers for Baby, Food, Medicine, Misc, Personal Products and Pets. I filed the coupons by catagory and then by expiration date. I keep the box on my desk and asked others to bring in coupons they won't use, and to take any coupons they would like. I love it, I get tons of coupons, and since I use coupons a lot this was working great. But I noticed that not took many of my coworkers were using it, only maybe 2 or 3 regularily. So I tried something different, I made an Excel Spreadsheet of all of the coupons, listing them in the same catagories as above. Then I made a seperate column for the expiration date and the quantity I have of each coupon. I emailed this out to my coworkers and they loved it! I gave one coworker 19 coupons today, and another told me I saved her at least $15 when she went shopping yesterday! YEAH! So happy to share my love of coupons!

Another car repair...blah! I had to have my catalic (sp) convertor replaced. My car is 10 years old and has 152K miles on it, so I guess it was time to replace that. My car could barely get up to speed in a 40mph zone. So the money stinks, but I am glad my car is back to being a safe vehicle! I think I am going to start a seperate EF, one for short term, one for long term. Otherwise it seems I will never get anywhere on that EF. It is my achilles!

Current Balance $24,580.00
-$1000.00 Car Repair and Overspending
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$100.00 To EF
+$100.00 to Sept 2013 Savings
+$250.00 Cross Country Money to Home Improvements
New Balance $24,115.00

Bingo Money (cash) $1620.00
ING $19,770.00 ($4000.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$1350.00
HSBC $1375.00
Total = $24,115.00

Bingo Money
Tips total - $2006.61
Wage total - $3617.32
Total Bingo Money - $5623.93

10/9/12 Brunos Pizza - Free Calzone $6.99
10/9/12 Brunos Pizza - Free Pop $2.29
10/16/12 Pita Pit - BOGO Free Pita $6.79
10/24/12 Gloria Jeans - BOGO Free Drink $5.09
10/27/12 Bonanza - Discount on meal $3.00
10/27/12 Cold Stone Creamery - Discount on 2 $3.34
10/30/12 Brunos Pizza - Free Med Pizza $10.99
_________________________________
Total Saved $38.49

Thanks to "Money Maker" for irritating me enough to get me to clean the toilet! Much appreciated! I finished cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the shower, floor, mirror and toilet. All the drawers and cabinets were already finished. So now I am done with the bedroom and the bathroom in my Cleaning/Purging/Organizing Quest! I am also happy to report I have been staying on top of the bedroom, cleaning it each weekend so I don't have to start this all over as soon as I'm done...lol. Next up is the hall closet, which is where we store our extra toiletries, towels and linens.

The free item in this weeks grocery add was Old Orchard Juice. I was able to get my hands on 20 coupons! I gave some to my Dad and bro and kept the rest. Ended up with 13 bottles of FREE juice!



Then on to CVS which was awesome this week!

Tampax Radiant 32ct
Regular Price $8.49
-$1.00 Sale Price
-$1.00 CVS Coupon
-$3.00 Mfr Coupon
*Received $2.00 EB
Final Price $1.49! (Just .05 per tampon!)

Always/Tampax Radiant Trial Sets (Bought 3)
Regular Price $1.99
-$2.00 Always Radiant Mfr Coupon
Final Price .01 Money Maker per box!
(Marked for $1.25 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $1.25 at 8/23/13 rummage sale

Dawn Olay Hand Renewal (Bought 4)
Regular Price $1.99
-$1.00 Sale Price
-.75 Mfr Coupon on each
Final Price .24 each!

Revlon Nail Clipper (Bought 3, that was all they had)
Regular Price $3.19 each
*Receive $7.00 EB for every 2 you buy
Final Price .31 Money Maker for each clipper!!
(Marked for $1.50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $1.50 each at 9/5/13 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 1 for $1.50 at 3/17/14 rummage sale
=$5.43 Profit on clippers!

Revlon 24 Compact Emory Boards (Bought 15)
Regular Price $3.59 each
*Receive $7.00 EB for every 2 you buy
Final Price .09 each! (Free CVS GC)
(Marked for $1.50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 4 on FB for $1.00 each on 11/8/15
*ETA - Sold 1 for $1.50 at 5/5/17 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 1 for $1.00 on FB on 7/30/18
*ETA - Sold 1 for $1.00 on FB on 2/23/20

When I was checking out I had 2 more items that totaled $9.78 pre-tax, and I used $3.75 worth of coupons on the items. I ended up deciding not to get them, so the cashier deleted them from the transaction, but never took off the coupons, so I still got $3.75 off my total for items I didn't purchase. I also used a $10 off $50 purchase coupon from CVS....so I came out WAY ahead on actual out of pocket cost today.

Tampax(1) $1.49
Always/Tampax Set(3) +.03 Money Maker
Dawn(4) .96
Revlon Nail Clipper(3) +.93 Money Maker
Revlon Emory Boards(15) $1.35
Coupons for items not purchased +$3.75
$10.00 off $50.00 Purchase Coupon +$10.00
Total = $10.91 Profit on transaction!!!!!
Plus if I sell the Tampax kits and Revlon items I will make another $30.75!!! SCORE!

I definitely want to try to get more of the Revlon items. I will go in later this week and get a rain check since they didn't have many in store.

Dan's Supermarket

Suave Lotion on sale for $1.99
-$2.00 Mfr coupon
Final Price - Free!!
*ETA - I had planned on keeping this lotion, but I ended up selling it on 3/17/14 to a coworker for $2.50 = $2.50 Profit!


Target

El Moterey Frozen Burritos (Bought 14)
$1.19 each
-$1.19 Mfr coupon (Had 14 coupons)
Final Price - 14 Free Burritos!

November 2012 Mortgage Payment

Balance $119,995.00
+$274.99 Interest
+$319.07 Escrow
-$1537.95 Regular Payment
-$401.11 Principle Payment
New Balance $118,650.00

Whoo hoo! I used enough coupons to make my money back on the coupon book! Still have TONS to use and most are good until 6/30/13. I also went through the book and took out the ones I was sure I wouldn't use. I gave some coupons for Platos Closet and Once Upon a Child to coworkers, and gave my bro a coupon for a free fish for his aquarium.

10/9/12 Brunos Pizza - Free Calzone $6.99
10/9/12 Brunos Pizza - Free Pop $2.29
10/16/12 Pita Pit - BOGO Free Pita $6.79
10/24/12 Gloria Jeans - BOGO Free Drink $5.09
_________________________________
Total Saved $21.16

Lots of good deals and freebies at CVS this week! My Mom is out of town so I got to use my card, DH's card, Mom's card and her bf's card...so got to do a few deals 4 times.
I missed 2 deals cause they were sold out, they had a free pumpkin carving tool and also a good deal on Glade items, but I was too slow.

I am doing another CVS Challenge to see how much I can get for a $50 CVS giftcard that I got for free from my Discover Rewards. Got a good start with all these deals.


Here is the breakdown of my loot:

Di-Gel Antacid 12oz (Bought 4)
Regular Price $8.29 each
-$3.29 Sale Price
-$2.00 Mfr Coupon
*Recieved $3.00 EB
Final Price - 4 bottles FREE!
(Marked $4.00 (?) each for rummage sale)
*ETA - These did not sell before they got close to expiration so I donated them to friends and family

St Joseph Aspirin 120 tablets (Bought 4)
Regular Price $6.49 each
-$1.49 Sale Price
-$2.25 Mfr Coupon
*Received $3.00 EB
Final Price =.25 profit per box, $1.00 profit on 4 bottles!
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 at 8/23/13 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 at 9/5/13 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 2 for $3.00 each on 3/17/14 to coworker
=$10.00 Profit!!

American Greeting Cards (Bought 12)
Regular Price .99 each
*Sale - Buy 3, get $3.00 EB
Final Price = .03 profit for every 3 purchased
.12 profit on 12 cards!

Xtra Laundry Detergent 48oz bottle (Bought 6)
Regular Price $2.67 each
-$1.20 Sale Price
-$3.00 CVS Coupon off $15.00 Purchase
Final Price .97 each!!

Gain 9oz Dishsoap
Regular Price $1.67
-.68 Sale Price
-.25 Mfr Coupon
Final Price .76

Covergirl Lashblast Mascara
Regular Price $8.89
-.89 Sale Price
-$2.00 Mfr Coupon
*Received $2.00 EB
Final Price $4.00 - Free on CVS GC
Had to get this to use the coupon below for the eyeshadow.
(Marked for $4.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $4.00 at 6/15/13 rummage sale
Profit = $4.00

Covergirl Eye-Enhancers Eyeshadow
Regular Price $3.99
-$3.25 Mfr Coupon(Buy mascara get eyeshadow free, up to $3.25)
Final Price .74! - Free on CVS GC
(Marked for $3.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $2.50 on FB on 9/27/14
Profit = $2.50

Zantac 150mg, 24 tablets
Regular Price $10.49
-$1.50 Sale Price
-$5.00 Mfr Coupon
-$2.00 CVS Coupon machine
*Received $2.00 EB
Final Price - Free!!
(Marked $6.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $6.00 at 8/23/13 rummage sale

Tampax Radiant 32ct Tampons
Regular Price $8.49
-$1.50 Sale Price
-$3.00 Mfr Coupon
*Received $2.00 EB
Final price $1.99!!
(Got lots of great coupons again from this box!)

I also got this giant bottle of Purrell from Macs hardware.

Purrell Hand Sanitizer 20oz bottle
Regular Price $5.49
-$4.50 Sale Price
-$1.00 Mfr Coupon
Final Price - FREE!
(Marked $3.50 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $2.00 at 8/23/13 rummage sale, I had it marked for $3.50 originally but I marked it down because it was near it's expiration date.

There is a new P&G Rebate available. When you purchase $50 worth of select P&G products you can mail in for a $15 rebate. The $50 purchase is BEFORE coupons, so this can be a great deal!
The participating brands include: Aussie, Clairol, CoverGirl, Crest 3D Whitestrips, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Ivory, Olay, Pantene, Puffs, Safeguard, Secret & Venus.
Here is the link for the rebate form:
http://www.olay.com/en-US/Images/offers/Rebate%20Form.pdf

I haven't purchased my items yet, but I printed out the form, filled it out, and put it in my coupon holder so it is ready to go when I do!

It's getting towards the end of the year, so have started thinking about savings and mortgage goals for next year. We did awesome on savings goals this year, met every goal by August! As for the mortgage we did not meet our goal of getting to $110K, this was due to refinancing, so the mortgage went up with closing costs, and also we didn't have to make any payment to the mortgage for 2 months.
I haven't worked out the exact numbers for next years savings yet, but I do know I want to get the mortgage under $100K. One of my steps to help achieve that is to make a goal of putting our entire tax refund towards the house. Every year we always put the tax refund in savings (usually about $1500), but I think savings is good enough this year that we could put it towards the house. That would feel soooo good!