Banker Gurl's More Bang For Your Buck!

Our Federal Return was received in our checking account this morning! YEAH! It was $2308.00....we are taking $2000 to Deadwood next weekend (not sure what we are doing with what we bring back yet). And I put the $308 into savings...I rounded up to meet the Sept 2014 Savings Goal. YIPEE!! Also hit $29K...it will only be for a min since we have to pay the Property Taxes next week, but if we bring home a decent amount from Deadwood we will still be right up there....been a long time that I have been sniffing at the door of $30K....

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1800/$1800 - Goal Met!!
New Focus = Short Term EF $210/$1000

Current Balance $28,720.00
+$308.00 From Federal Tax Return
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
+$65.00 To meet Sept 2014 Goal
New Balance $29,095.00

ING $25,555.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3100.00
Total = $29,095.00

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1425/$1800

Current Balance $28,785.00
+$17.86 ING Interest
+$27.14 Even Out Amount
-$112.00 to ING Roth IRA
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $28,720.00

ING $25,180.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3100.00
Total = $28,720.00

Jergens Lotion 3oz (Bought 6)
Regular Price $2.57 Each
-$2.00 off 2 Lotions (CVS Coupon Machine Coupon)
*Received $5.00 EB when you buy ANY 2 Jergens (Received 3 EBs)
Final Price = -$1.58 Money Maker!! Made .26 for each bottle I bought!!
(Marked $1.50 each for rummage sale)

Colgate Total Travel Size 4 Packs (Bought 6)
Regular Price $3.39 Each
-$2.25 off Colgate Total(3)(CVS Coupon Machine Coupon)
*Received $3.00 EB on each (Received 6 EBs)
Final Price -$4.41 Money Maker!! Made .74 for each 4pk I bought!!
(Marked $2.00 each for rummage sale, if they don't sell in the 4pks I may open them up and sell for .50 each for the small tubes)
*ETA - Sold 2 4pks for $2.00 at 9/4/14 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 7 individual tubes for .50 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 1 4pk for $2.00 on FB on 12/1/14
5 individual tubes remaining

Skintimate Shave Gel (Bought 3)
Regular Price $3.79
*Received $2.00 EB on each (Received 3EBs)
Final Price $1.79! (Free on CVS GC)
(Keeping these)

Glade Customizable Scented Oil Plugin Starter Kit
Regular Price $10.99
-$5.99 Sale Price
-$3.00 Mfr Coupon
-$1.50 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
Final Price = .50!! (Free on CVS GC)
(Kept this)

Softsoap Bodywash 18oz (Bought 2)
Regular Price $4.79
-$1.79 Each Sale Price
-$1.00 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
*Received $2.00 EB on 2
Final Price = $1.50 each! (Free on CVS GC)
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $2.50 each on 3/17/14 (in a 4 for $10 deal) to a coworker = $5.00 Profit!

Potential profit of $32.00!!!


Totals so far on CVS Gift Card Challenge
Cost of merchandise = $211.53
My cost on gift cards = $39.86
Paid OOP = $2.73

DH and I went and spent Saturday night at the casino. Had a nice relaxing time and even came home $40 ahead. Stuck the $40 in the mortgage checking account for March's principle. Also had a lot of change that I put in the piggy bank...probably about $10 worth.

Now time to get ready for the Super Bowl! (and by that I mean time to get ready to eat!)

$5.00 Balance
+$40.00 Casino Win
=$45.00 New Balance

We are getting back
$2308.00 Federal
$260.00 State
=$2568 Total

$568 will go to savings

$2000 we are going to take on a trip to Deadwood for Valentines Day. Not sure what the plan will be for what we bring home...savings or mortgage. Leaning towards savings right now.

Feels like fooooorrreeevvvveeerrr since I got to put any money in savings! Been working lots of OT, and finally done with Christmas bills, so got to make a lil drop in the bucket. Also still doing good on eating out and casinoing!

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1415/$1800

Current Balance $28,210.00
+$350.00 to Escrow Savings
+$150.00 to Sept 2014 Savings
+$100.00 to ING Retirement Hold Account
-$28.00 to Roth IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $28,785.00

ING $25,245.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3100.00
Total = $28,785.00

Got my taxes filed yesterday! We are getting $2308 for Federal Return and $260 for State Return. Not for sure on what we are going to do with them yet. I am trying to make DH provide some input on this as I do all the money stuff and I want his thoughts as of course it's his $$$ too. Will probably decide by next week what the plan will be.

February 2014 Mortgage Payment

Balance $96,945.00
+$222.17 Interest
-$1218.88 Regular Payment
-$318.29 Principle Payment
-$30.00 Mortgage Checking Principle Payment
New Balance $95,600.00

Escrow Savings Account
=$2470.00

It's snowing again....what better time to update the mortgage snowflakes!!
Added some change (not as much as usual since we have cut back on going to the casino = win!) and I also earned another $5.00 from a debit card promotion at my bank.

$5.00 Balance
+$5.00 Debit Card Promo
+$25.00 Coin
=$35.00 New Balance

$35.00 Balance
-$30.00 February 2014 Mortgage Principle
=$5.00 New Balance

Got some good deals on Softsoap Bodywash this week at CVS. I have gone through a lot of this at the rummage sale and it really flies off the tables, so glad to have a good deal on it for some money making action!

I did the deal three times, and I had 1 CVS Coupon to use on bodywash, so I listed this twice as once I got the 4 for $1.00 each and then the other two times I got them for $1.50 each since I didn't have a coupon.

Softsoap Bodywash 18oz (Bought 4)
Regular Price $4.79 Each
-$1.79 Sale Price Each
-$2.00 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
*Received $6.00 EB when you buy 4
Final Price = $1.00 each!! (Free on CVS GC)
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 4 for $10.00 on FB on 3/16/14 = $10.00 Profit!

Softsoap Bodywash 18oz (Bought 8)
Regular Price $4.79 Each
-$1.79 Sale Price Each
*Received $6.00 EB when you buy 4
Final Price = $1.50 each!!
($2.73 paid OOP, rest on GC because I had used up my CVS GC in my wallet and didn't have another one with)
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 7 for 4 for $10.00 on a FB in a deal with the Mouthwash, so (7 x $2.50 = $17.50) - $2.38 paid OOP = $15.12 Profit on 3/15/14
*ETA - Sold 1 for $2.50 (in a 4 for $10 deal) = $2.16 Profit
Total Profit on the 12 bodywashs = $27.28!!


Possible profit of $32.00!

Here is my CVS shopping for the last 2 weeks to update my $250 CVS GC Challenge

I also got 6 candy bars for free in the last 2 weeks.

Mars Candy Bars (Bought 3)
Regular Price $1.19 Each
-.44 Sale Price Each
-.75 Each CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
Final Price - 3 Free Candy Bars!!

Nestle Candy Bars (Bought 3)
Regular Price $1.19 Each
-.40 Sale Price Each
*Received .79 EB on each
Final Price - 3 Free Candy Bars!!
(THESE ARE ALL FOR DH SINCE I'M DOING THE BIGGEST LOSER!!)

12pk Coke (Bought 6)
Regular Price $5.30 Each
-$1.96 Sale Price Each
*Received $5.00 EB on 6
Final Price - $2.50 per 12pk = .28 per can!!
(Free on CVS GC)

Souper Meal - $1.00

Totals so far on CVS Gift Card Challenge
Cost of merchandise = $143.83
My cost on gift cards = $36.98
Paid OOP = $2.73

Winter 2014 Biggest Loser

Week Three - Weigh In
Pounds Lost this week = -.8lbs
Total pounds lost = 9.6lbs
% weight loss = 5.25%
Place = 1st out of 7 people
(Total weight loss since highest weight = 16.8lbs)

Went the wrong direction this week, but only by a smidge and am happy with the overall direction. My goal for the week is to make sure I am drinking more water. I just went and filled my bottle to the top!!

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1265/$1800

Current Balance $28,120.00
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$100.00 to ING Retirement Hold Account
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $28,210.00

ING $24,670.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3100.00
Total = $28,210.00

Crazy Days at the mall and picked up some items at Claires. It was 10 for $10 and I got 20 items.



Pink Beaded Coin Purse (Bought 3)
Regular Price $9.50 each
My Price $1.00 each
(Marked $3.00 each for the rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 3 at 9/4/14 rummage sale for $3.00 each
Profit = $6.00

Locker Rug (Bought 2)
Regular Price $10.00 each
My Price $1.00 each
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $3.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $4.00

Cell Phone Covers (Bought 10)
Regular Price $10.00 each
My Price $1.00 each
(Marked $4.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $4.00 at 9/4/14 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 3 for $4.00 each at 5/5/17 rummage sale

Sea Glass Manicure Sets (Bought 3)
Regular Price $8.50 each
My Price $1.00 each
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 to coworker for $2.50 on 4/7/14
*ETA - Sold 2 for $3.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $5.50

Pink Crochet Hats (Bought 2)
Regular Price $10.00 each
My Price $1.00 each
(Marked $3.50 each for rummage sale)

Total spent = $20.00
Possible total sales = $71.00
Possible profit = $51.00!!

Everything is marked and boxed up for spring rummage sale time.

The city I live in currently has 3 grocery stores. 2 of them are just one store each, the 3rd has 3 locations and is building a 4th, they also have another location in the next city just 7 miles away. We also have 2 Walmarts that have full grocery areas, as well as a Target that has a good amount of groceries.
The large chain store seems to have more expensive groceries, so we always went to store #1 for our primary shopping, as they seemed to have a lower prices, and then I would scout deals from the other stores. Now the chain store is buying that location. So they will have 6 locations in 2 cities. And that only leaves us with store #2, Walmart and Target. I don't usually ever shop at Walmart or Target, especially not for groceries. It's just too hectic (especially at Walmart), lines are outrageous(Walmart) and I have heard a lot of horror stories about the produce (Walmart again...). Also DH prefers to shop local if at all possible.
So yesterday we went to store #2 for some deals, all items with coupons from their add and some manufacturer coupons. My total was $56, after coupons it was $36. Was happy with the deals, but then yesterday I looked through my receipt and looks like at least 2 of the coupons scanned and then said "items not purchased" so didn't take off the coupons. Took my receipt in and they quickly refunded me $4, taking my total down to $32.

Here is what I got:
Chobani Yogurts 10 @ .88 each
Imperial Margarine Sticks 4pk .99
Apples 5lb bag $2.76
Garlic .22lb at $3.98 p/lb .87
Frozen Broccoli 16oz bag 3 @ .77 each
Hormel Sizzlers Sausage 2 @ .98
Land O Frost Sandwich Meat 2 @ $1.77 each
Canned Mushrooms 6.5oz 2 @ .68
Starkist Tuna 3 @ .68
Ranch Dressing 2 @ $1.88
Cheerios 8.9oz box 4 @ $1.14
Baked Lays 6.25oz bag $1.97
Fiora 12pk TP $1.97

I just bought items that we use and that were good sales for us. Happy with the shopping. Going to need to stay on top of the deals, especially now with more limited options.

Winter 2014 Biggest Loser

Week Two - Weigh In
Pounds Lost this week = 6.4lbs
Total pounds lost = 10.4lbs
% weight loss = 5.69%
Place = 1st out of 7 people
(Total weight loss since highest weight = 17.6lbs)

I made up sheets to track our spending on eating out and gambling to help us get a handle on those problem spending areas. We have been doing very well at making sure we get all of our amounts written down. Eye opening to see something written down almost everyday. Well now that we can see how extremely bad we are at eating out we can stop that!! Gambling only has one entry, and DH has been very good at being in charge of that. He also wants us to track grocery spending so we can see that against the eating out spending, so we are doing that as well. And I am trying again to make spending sheets for groceries to get the best price points for the items we buy the most. I have tried to do this before and lost interest, so hoping to stick with it this time.

Work has asked that we "do as much overtime as we can for January". So I am going to do what I can. Life has been hard lately, so it's hard to stay at work when I just want to be at home with DH, but work can also take your mind off of things, so I will try to do some serious OT. Due to the hours we are open, the very most I could do a week would be 12.5 hours. Which would be AWESOME for my paycheck.

Weightloss so far for 2014 has been going great! Have not been doing well with working out cause so busy and the above mentioned OT (did 5 hrs this week), but have been doing good on eating. Down 11 lbs since 1/1/14 as of this morning!

DH and I both got a lot of cleaning done today which was nice so now we can just relax on Sunday. I cleaned off the landing and swept and vacuumed it, cleaned the shower, put away all of my laundry, cleaned up my closet, picked up the bedroom, folded towels and vacuumed the bedroom. DH did all the dishes, washed 4 loads of laundry, put away his laundry, bought a few groceries, went to the gym, cleaned off and scrubbed all the kitchen counters and made dinner! PRODUCTIVE DAY!

I started a new Biggest Loser round at work. I got 7 people total signed up at $10 a piece, winner takes all! We are going till 4/1/14, so have 3 months to lose some weight and make some money! My goal is to be down 15lbs by 4/1/14. We have a couple hard hitters in the race, so not sure that even if I met my goal if I would be able to win, but would be happy just to have the weight off for Spring!

Today was the first check-in.



Winter 2014 Biggest Loser

Week One - Weigh In
Pounds Lost this week = 4lbs
Total pounds lost = 4lbs
% weight loss = 2.19%
Place = 3rd out of 7 people
(Total weight loss since highest weight = 11.2lbs)

I have $250 in CVS gift cards from credit card rewards. I am going to track the items I get with those gift cards and see how much I can get for FREE with my gift cards!

I am a little behind on posting my deals, but here are the items I have gotten in the last few weeks on my gift cards.


(Not everything is pictured)

Arizona Teas (Bought 2)
Regular Price .99
-.50 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
Final Price .49 each!!

CVS 1 Liter Mouthwash
Regular Price $3.19
-$1.20 Sale Price
-$1.00 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
-$1.00 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
Final Price - .99!!

Bayer Contour Next USB
Regular Price $29.49
-$19.50 Sale Price
*Received $9.99 EB
Final Price - FREE!!
(Marked $20.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - This did not sell so I donated on FB

Rolaids 10ct (Bought 3)
Regular Price .99 each
-.99 CVS Coupon Machine Coupon
Final Price - 3 rolls for FREE!!
(Marked .50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 3 for .50 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $1.50

Special K Bars (Bought 2)
Regular Price $4.39 each
-$1.89 Sale Price each
*Received $1.00 EB for buying 2
Final Price - $2.00 each!!

Totals so far on CVS Gift Card Challenge
Cost of merchandise = $46.41
My cost on gift cards = $4.98

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1265/$1800

Current Balance $27,975.00
+$18.16 ING Interest
+$26.84 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 to ING Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,120.00

ING $24,680.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3000.00
Total = $28,120.00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

January 2014 Savings Update

Regular Savings:
Home Maintenance ING $4670
Cushion $3110
HSA $10,750
New Patio Door (cash) $440
Escrow $2475
September 2014 $1220
Short Term Emergency Fund $205
Long Term Emergency Fund $1155 - Complete
New Car $10,260 - Complete
Vacation $3120 - Complete
Anniversary Cruise $3000
Total Regular Savings = $40,405.00

Retirement Savings:
Retirement Hold Account $1420
Roth IRA $8370
Rollover IRA $815
401K $31,000
403B $24,000 (est)
Total Retirement Savings = $65,605.00

Total Savings $106,010

Up $865 from last month!

Happy with that increase especially with the holidays! Cheers to a prosperous 2014!

I always find it useful to see what we have for gift cards after Christmas. Helps to plan for using them and not losing/forgetting about them.

$5.00 McDonalds - DH Christmas Gift
$5.00 Scheels - Christmas Gift
$10.00 Ruby Tuesdays - Gift from work
? Target - I believe this had $20 and was used once
$10.00 Target - Bought for a gift and not used
$20.00 Target - Bought for a gift and not used
$20.00 Target - DH Christmas Gift
$20.00 Scheels - Christmas Gift
$20.00 Pro Image - Christmas Gift
$25.00 Buffalo Wild Wings - DH Christmas Gift
$35.00 Wal-Mart - Gift from work
$100.00 ($50.00x2) CVS - Discover Card Rewards
$150.00($25.00x6) CVS - Citi Thank You Rewards

I got $50 for Christmas from my Grandmother-in-law so stuck that into savings. DH got a bunch of cash from several relatives, he is still deciding if that will go to savings or be fun money for him.

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1265/$1800

Current Balance $27,925.00
+$50.00 Christmas Money to Sept 2014 Savings
New Balance $27,975.00

ING $24,535.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3000.00
Total = $27,975.00

Well I made it 5 days on my 11 day No Spend Challenge. DH was in MT visiting family for the holidays, he wasn't supposed to come home till 1/1, but he called on 12/27 and asked me to meet him halfway to have a fun, little spontaneous getaway. So I drove to MT on Saturday and we stayed 2 nights and went to dinner, went gambling, hung out at the pool, slept in, watched football etc. It was a very nice, relaxing weekend away. So of course we had costs for gas, hotel, food and gambling. But somethings are more important then money. We are both back home now and getting revved up for a wonderful 2014!

Today is day 4 of my Eleven Day No Spend Challenge. I haven't spent a penny! YEAH! I will have to fill gas before the eleven days are up, I have about 1/4 of a tank left and 7 days to go. Otherwise doing great, not eating out and been entertaining myself at home with internet, cleaning the house and a puzzle!

I love finding new, useful ways to use something that would have otherwise been thrown away. For any of you that go to CVS and scan your card at their coupon machine, you know that you may get many coupons that you do not need/want. Then you have all of these little pieces of paper that you don't need, and no one else can use the coupons because they have to be used with your CVS card. I hate throwing them away, such a waste of paper.

For the past few months I have been keeping those coupons, waiting till I have a little stack of 10 or so (this usually only takes one trip to CVS to get this many) I then put them all upside down (there is nothing printed on the backs of the coupons) and I staple them all together, making a nice little notepad! I keep the little stacks on my desk and use them when I need to make a note or need scratch paper. They are very nice and conveniant because when I no longer need the top sheet, I can just rip it off since they are stapled together. I also let me coworkers know if they need any scratch paper I have lots.

**If anyone from CVS should ever read my blog** It would be awesome if you would let us view on the screen what coupons are available that day, and then we could just print out the ones we want. Save the Earth some trees and garbage, and save you some Dollars in the process!! Win for everyone!

DH and I definitely have 2 problem areas when it comes to spending. Eating out and gambling.

The eating out is mostly due to laziness. Neither one of us is a huge fan of cooking, DH cooks waaaaay more then I do. Eating out is easy, yummy, and a nice treat for us to do together...however in the last few years it has gone from a treat to a standard and we often eat out 3-4 times a week. And these are not McDonalds tabs, we usually go to sit down resterants and have beer with dinner, so the bill is normally around $25 - $35. We almost always have leftovers, which we ALWAYS eat at home or for lunch at work, so we aren't wasting that, but $100+ a week on eating out is crazyness...and bad for my waistline as well.

The gambling is our favorite hobby together. We like to go to the casino locally (about 45 min away), go on mini trip to other casinos in ND, MN and SD, and also go to Vegas once a year. We also play blackjack and bingo at the bar occasionally. We don't have kids or any debt other then the mortgage, so we can go whenever we want and don't have to worry about time/money that should be spent on other things. This is our leisure activity of choice, so I don't feel bad about spending money (and sometimes winning!) on gambling, but I also expect us to have and keep some limitations on it.

So I made some simple Excel sheets to help us get back on track with these 2 areas. I titled one Eating Out Spending/January 2014 (this one we will need to track monthly) and the other Gambling Spending 2014 (this one I should be able to track yearly). I set up columns for the date, the item (where we ate or where/what we gambled on), the amount, and a running total column. I already discussed this with DH and he is on board to track these items as well, so I will put the sheets on the fridge when I get home and I think this will really help us with our problem areas as we can see the exact amounts we are really spending.

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1215/$1800

Current Balance $28,550.00
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
-$400.00 DH Continuing Education Classes
-$300.00 Christmas Shopping
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $27,925.00

ING $24,485.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $3000.00
Total = $27,925.00

I was sad to take this money out, but we just can't cover it out of checking right now with all the overspending we have been doing. I didn't have seperate savings accounts for these 2 items (Continuing Ed and Christmas Shopping) because normally we would be able to absorb those costs in the checking account, so I ended up taking it out of the Home Improvements Fund. We have talked a lot about how we need to reign this in for the new year and I excited about going back up in savings again!

I have been working on my 2014 goals. Here is what I have so far:

2014 Goals

Debt
-Continue to live debt free other then mortgage
-Get mortgage from $98,300 to under $80,000


Savings
-Sept 2014 $1800 (add $585)
-Short Term EF $1000 (add $800)
-Long Term EF $2000 (add $850)
-Home Maintenance $7000 (add $2335)
-Vegas $3000 (Complete)
-New Car $10,000 (Complete)
-Anniversary Cruise $4000 (add $1000)
-Escrow $4650 (add $4200)
-Cushion $3600 (add $500)
-HSA $12,000 (add $3000)
-Any additional after goals are met will go to long term EF
-Total regular savings at the end of the year over $25K


Retirement
-Continue to contribute 6% to 401K
-Continue to contribute $100 per paycheck to ROTH IRA
-Review ING ROTH IRA Investments and reallocate so a larger portion is being invested


Other
-Lose 30 more lbs (Currently down 10)
-Work on being a better home owner (repairs, lawncare, gardening etc)
-Do quarterly review of progress on 2014 goals
-Live a positive life
-Continue working on decluttering house
-Track casino and eating out money monthly
-Be the best wife I can be

I have seen many on the blogs and on FB talking about the 52 Week Dollar Challenge. If you have never heard of it, it is a pretty simple concept to help you save a little money at a time and have a nice chunk at the end. Every week you save the amount of that week in dollars. So week 1 you save $1, week 2 you add $2, and continue on till week 52, you add $52. If you complete each week all year, you will have $1378 at the end of the year. I would like to try this with DH, and then use the funds at the end of the year to make a large principle payment at the beginning of 2015.
I love little games/strategies to help save money!!

DH is gone for eleven days, he went to visit his family for the holidays (we already did our Christmas with my family). I would have liked to go with him, but he has the time off since he is a teacher and I have to work so was not able to join him.
I went to the grocery store this morning and got some essentials (milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and cereal) and am going to try to spend $0 while he is gone. The only exceptions are if I need to fill gas (I might be able to make it the 11 days) or I have a few friends in town for the holidays that I rarely get to see, so may go to dinner or drinks with them. But other then that there should be no reason to spend any money while DH is gone. Have plenty of food in the house, and since I stockpile most household items I won't need anything that can't wait till he returns. Will be a nice change after all this Christmas spending!