Banker Gurl's More Bang For Your Buck!

My bride was in town for her dress fitting so we decided while the boys were at the Bachelor Party we would go shopping for our own grand finale! I had a lot of fun and got a lot of good deals on SUPER cute clothes!

Target
$30.00 Yellow Bikini on clearance for $7.48
Total Spent = $7.48
Total Saved = $22.52

JCP - $10 off coupon
$12.00 Lace Tanktop, on sale for $5.99, minus $4.28 coupon = $1.71
$14.00 Cami, on sale for $7.99, minus $5.72 coupon = $2.27
$15.00 Bow Headband, on sale for $9.99
$18.00 Lace Tee, on clearance for $7.20
$26.00 Crochet Flyaway, on clearance for $10.40
$26.00 Grey Cargidan, on sale for $14.99
Total Spent = $46.56
Total Saved = $64.44

Total Spent = $54.04
Total Saved = $86.96

May 2011 Savings update
As of May 1, 2011:

Regular Savings:
Emergency Fund $2375
Anniversary Cruise $3640
Home Maintanence $150
Mortgage Payoff Account $5
Cushion $1470
HSA $4040
New Car $2010 - Complete
New Lawn Mower (cash) $800 - Complete
Laptop $405 - Complete
Washer and Dryer $1000 - Complete
Vacation - $2540 - Complete
Total Regular Savings = $18,345.00

Retirement Savings:
Retirement Hold Account $1140
Roth IRA $3495
Rollover IRA $1375
401K $14,975
403B $10,000 (est)
Total Retirement Savings = $30,985.00

Total Savings = $49,330
Up $1,620 from last month! Woot woot!

Current Balance $13,925.00
+$100.00 Detention Money - To Home Improvements
+$7.73 ING Interest
+$5.00 HSBC Interest
+$27.27 Even Out Amount
New Balance $14,065.00

ING $9630.00
Home Improvements(cash) $800.00
HSBC $3635.00
Total = $14,065.00

Whoo hoo! We made it to the next $1000 mark!

Current Balance $13,865.00
+$85.00 to retirement hold account
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $13,925.00

ING $9595.00
Home Improvements(cash) $700.00
HSBC $3630.00
Total = $13,925.00

On 4/30/11 we will get interest for the month and then I will put in my even out amounts to get us to $14K! It will be short lived, but still exciting that we are getting "up there".

Well the wedding is in just 2 1/2 weeks and we have not had to use the MOH money. I just paid for everything out of checking as it came up, so still have the full $500 set aside in savings. So I moved the $500 to the EF since that is the next fund we are working on. Now the EF is at $2300 and the goal is $3000 for this year, so we are getting there. This summer will be rough, but we just have to be diligent!

Our CC bill cut for the month.....a normal month is about $1200 - $1400.......this month it cut at $2400!!! AWWWW!!! A lot of it is from DH's trip to TX, he spend a lot of money on food, drinks, entertainment and some shopping. I am glad he had a nice trip, but YIKES! Since we are already playing catch up as is, I doubt we will be able to make it through the next month without taking out of svings to cover this bill....sad face...

Happy Easter everyone! I have not been getting many entries in this month. I have been super busy with stuff for this wedding and working my booty off at the gym. I am down 12 lbs and would like to be down 11 more by the wedding.....but only 3 weeks left and even though I tried REALLY hard at Easter it is still slowing me down. We went out of town for Easter, but only spend about $30 for food we had to bring to the party. Also went to a casino there and lost about $100, but was fun family time, so it was worth it.
Just got home from a walk, so happy for sunny weather finally!!

Had the Bachelorette party for the wedding I am MOH in this last weekend. I was pretty happy how the costs went. I stayed with the bride to be, so no hotel costs. I took $60 out of the ATM and still had $21 left at the end of the night. I did use my credit card for dinner and at one bar, but that was only about $30 total. Then the next day I had lunch, $8, and had to fill my tank to go back home, $50. Overall pretty cheap time considered how much we drank. It was a very fun time and I didn't even puke!.......ok maybe just a little. :0 Haahaa!

A friend of mine was on Wheel of Fortune today and won $56K!!!!!!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!

Current Balance $13,630.00
+$25.00 to EF
+$25.00 to Home Improvements
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$85.00 to retirement hold account
New Balance $13,865.00

ING $9535.00
Home Improvements(cash) $700.00
HSBC $3630.00
Total = $13,865.00


Closing in on $14K....hoping we can get there before we have to payoff the washer and dryer and then savings goes down $1000.

Well I made a little progress with the mortgage company about the fees I have been trying to get reimbursed (yes it's still going on....). I have still been fighting with them, trying to get supervisors to call me back and faxing in more information to them. Very annoying and frustrating. But today I logged on to check my balance since they messed up my last payment as well. I didn't post about that on here because I was soooo mad at the time that they had messed up another payment that I was ready to break something. I had sent in a principle payment for April, I wrote ALL over the payment coupon and check that it was for PRINCIPLE PAYMENT ONLY and they still applied it to May's payment......A N G R Y ! ! ! ! ! Anyways, I was logging on to make sure that they had corrected that (which they did) and saw that they have now credited me back the $12.50 I had to pay to make the online payment for March. So that is something at least. They credited the $12.50 to my principle balance, so that takes the mortgage down to $132,437.50. So now since the $60 was credited back from my bank and the mortgage company gave back the $12.50 fee, we are technically back to even. Still hoping the mortgage company will give back the $60 as they are the ones responsible for it. But if they don't at least now we are not out anything except for time and frustration.

So I was originally going to label this "No spend weekend". DH is out of town and I was going to try to spend $0 this weekend. The fridge is full of food, my car is full of gas, and no reason to go spend any money. But 5 min ago a good friend of mine called and said he got in a fight with his girlfriend last night and went home early. Then this morning he went to his gf house to say he was sorry, and when he got there, there was another guy in the house! So he is super depressed and called to talk and wants to go get a drink tonight and talk about it. Poor guy. So I will go out for a few drinks with him, but will try not to spend too much. Either way that should be my only expense of the weekend.

DH is gone for the long weekend. He got sent to TX for work trip, JEALOUS! So I made a huge to do list to get some stuff done and get some spring cleaning done.

(X)1)Mail Netflix
(X)2)Write up calender
(X)3)Wash Dishes
(X)4)Clean out fridge
(X)5)Clean out freezer
(X)6)Wipe down fridge/freezer
(X)7)Dinner with Mom
(X)8)Clean out microwave
(X)9)Wash laundry
(X)10)Put away clothes in bedroom
(X)11)Wash bedding
(X)12)Walk electric bill to drop box
(X)13)File
(X)14)Pay DH's medical bill
( )15)Clean off landing
( )16)Wrap wedding present
( )17)Write MOH speech
(X)18)Blog
( )19)Put rugs in bathroom
( )20)Pick up bedroom
( )21)Pick up living room
( )22)Sweep floor
( )23)Mop floor
( )24)Clean out garbage closet
( )25)4/9/11 Workout
( )26)4/10/11 Workout
(X)27)Order free Coke shirt
(X)28)Renew vehicle registration
(X)29)Update 100K Club on WIR
(X)30)Organize tupperware cupboard
(X)31)Clean and pluck grapes
(X)32)Pay Discover Card

ETA - Added a few more to do and crossed off quite a few already this morning!

DH got a check in the mail from his Dad for $100. He is so nice!! So DH decided to keep half for himself for "fun" money, and put the other $50 in the lawn mower fund. Since the lawn mower fund is now up to $700 I am going to rename that Home Improvements since it is going to be for more then just a lawn mower.

Current Balance $13,680.00
+$50.00 FIL Bonus Money
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$12.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $13,630.00

ING $9400.00
Home Improvements(cash) $700.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,630.00

Current Balance $13,630.00
+$50.00 Detention money to lawn mower fund
New Balance $13,680.00

ING $9500.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $650.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,680.00

April 2011 Savings update
As of April 1, 2011:

Regular Savings:
Emergency Fund $1805
Anniversary Cruise $3530
Home Maintanence $120
Cushion $1420
HSA $3975
New Car $2005 - Complete
New Lawn Mower (cash) $600 - Complete
MOH $505 - Complete
Laptop $405 - Complete
Washer and Dryer $1000 - Complete
Vacation - $2535 - Complete
Total Regular Savings = $17,900.00

Retirement Savings:
Retirement Hold Account $1100
Roth IRA $3320
Rollover IRA $1375
401K $14,015
403B $10,000 (est)
Total Retirement Savings = $29,810.00

Total Savings = $47,710
Up $2,230 from last month! Woot woot!

Current Balance $13,490.00
+$7.21 ING Interest
+$27.79 Even Out Amount
+$20.00 to EF
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $13,630.00

ING $9500.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $600.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,630.00

Also my 401K hit the next thousand mark today, $14K!

Made several stops shopping:

Victoria Secret (VS2/2011)
Coupons:
-Free Lace HipHugger $10.50
-$10 off. Used on $11.50 undies.
Total spent = $1.60
Total saved = $20.50

Bath&Body
Coupons:
-Free travel size item. Used on $5.00 Spray.
Total spent = $0
Total saved = $5.00

JCPenney
Hit the clearance rack in the lingerie dept to get some much needed bras.
1) $35.00 bra, on clearance for $17.50, plus 15% off, = $14.87
2) $20.00 bra, on clearance for $3.97, plus 15% off, = $3.37
Total spent = $19.33
Total saved = $36.76

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Total spent at 3 stores = $20.93
Total saved at 3 stores = $62.26
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I went to Target and got the bridal shower gift and wedding gift for the wedding I am the MOH in. Spent $50 and got a canister set, some cute spring spatulas, a tumbler set and a game. Also got a basketball for DH that was on sale ($4.30 off).

Also went to Red Lobster today and used my $10 coupon. Yeah for Lobsterfest! So yummy!

Our next savings goal on the list for this year is the Emergency Fund. Currently it is at $1400, and our goal for the year is $3000.
I had set up savings accounts with ING for our Laptop and Washer/Dryer that are both on 0% financing. So we had $600 in the Laptop savings, and $1200 in the Washer/Dryer savings to cover the full amounts of the 0% loans. But for both loans I have to make the minimum payment, so the balances of each have gone down and now have extra funds in both of those accounts. So I transferred $200 out of each of the accounts to the EF. Now the EF is up to $1800, over half way to that goal! I also have $500 set aside for my MOH duties in May. So far I have been able to hold onto all of those funds. I paid for my dress back in September and was able to pay for it out of checking. I am going to buy gifts this week, but should be able to cover those out of checking as well. Hopefully I can hold onto most or all of the MOH funds and then that can be transferred to the EF as well.

April 2011 Mortgage

Here is the extra payment that got applied 2 weeks ago:

Balance $134,097.31
+$419.05 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
-$527.31 Principle Payment (March's PP)
New Balance $132,985.48

And here is the principle payment we are sending in for April with my account number in humungous letters written in 2 different spots on the check, and circled 4 times on the payment coupon.

Balance $132,985.48
-$535.48 Principle Payment ($45 in coin)
New Balance $132,450.00

For those that are wondering....I am STILL argueing with the mortgage company. After I called and talked to a supervisor 9 days ago....he said he would call me back in 2 days. I heard nothing back and have been calling everyday or everyother day and keep being told he is out sick or he will call me back tomorrow. Yesterday I called and asked for the supervisor's supervisor, they said supervisor #1 emailed you that he will call you back on 3/29/11. I never got any email, and let them know how I feel about their terrible customer service. So I will be calling back again Tuesday if I don't hear from him, which I am sure I won't. I think they are hoping I will just give up.....unfortunatley for them they don't know me very well....I might not get my fees back from them, but I will at least get a real answer by the end of this....

Current Balance $13,515.00
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even out Amount
New Balance $13,490.00

ING $9360
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $600.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,490.00

DH got a check for $10.76 back from the school for buying school supplies, so I transferred $15 to the EF.

Current Balance $13,500.00
+$15.00 to EF
New Balance $13,515.00

ING $9385.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $600.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,515.00

My aunt and uncle have been telling my husband and I how fun Wendover, NV is for awhile now, and apparently last time they went they put us on the mailing list because we got a flyer from Wendover a few days ago.
It is for roundtrip airfair, 3 night stay, and $100 in coupons for free play, food etc. All for only $189 per person! Our trip to Deadwood cost that much and that was only for 2 nights and driving for 10 hours instead of flying for 2 hours. So we decided to do that as an end of the school year/my birthday/our 4 yr anniversary trip. I am so excited! But it is not till the end of May, so gotta cool my heals for awhile.

www.wendoverfun.com

Question:
Hey, I was noticing you have your savings at $13K. It seems like no matter how much I put into emergency savings, I can't get it much beyond $500. What is your secret?


Banker Gurl Says:

Well, although we have areas of overspending we still need to work on (eating out, gambling) in general we keep our costs down. We also have no debt other then the house, so that frees up a lot more cash for us, then if we had a car loan, SL or CC to make payments on. You have probably heard the saying "They nickle and dime you to death". My best savings "secret" is that we nickle and dime our savings to death. Everytime we get $5 in a birthday card, $10 rebate, or any kind of "unexpected/bonus money" I always try to put it in savings. I have many friends who only think if you have $100 or more that is what you put in savings. But that is silly, $5 adds up too, and if you only wait till you have $100 to put in savings you may be waiting a long time. If you find $3 in the bottom of your purse that you didn't know you had, put it in savings. Every penny does count, and you don't even feel the "Strain" of savings if you are constantly doing a little drop in the bucket here and there.

I got a couple of good coupons in the mail that I will need to use:

$10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Famous Footwear
-DH and I both need new tennies for summer, so we will watch for a good sale (FFW sometimes has but one get one free or other good sales) and go get some new shoes.

$10 off at Red Lobster when you use your Discover Card. The lobsterfest commercials on TV are killing me right now! So I am super happy we got a coupon/reason to go now!

Free travel size item of your choice at Bath and Body works, no purchase necessary.

Guess I better hit the mall soon!

I added $35 to the EF just to get my total to a nice even number.

Current Balance $13,465.00
+$35.00 to EF
New Balance $13,500.00

ING $9370.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $600.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,500.00

Today I did all the crummy paper work and faxed it into them. Ten min later I get an email that says they can not refund my fees since my account number was not on my check. I looked back and I have NEVER once written my account number on my check (but you can bet I will in the future) and not only have I NEVER written the account number on the check......the PAYMENT COMES WITH A PAYMENT COUPON WITH THE ACCOUNT NUMBER!!! And even if it didn't, type in my freaking name, match the name, spouse and address on the check to the loan number!! But anyways, it DID come with the loan coupon, so that is total BS about the account number. I called AGAIN today and spoke to a manager who didn't seem to be as useless as the others I spoke to and he is going to research and call me back. In the mean time, I sat in the driveup line for 20 min this morning at my local bank waiting for them to open at 7:30am and deposited $1000 to get me back in the black, but had already gotten $60 in fees. I called my bank to make sure that no checks had been sent back and they said no, and they OFFERED to credit back the fees without my even asking! LOVE my BANK! So I got the $60 back and now the fighting with the mortgage company is just on principle. If I get my $60 back I am going to but everyone at my bank some DQ!

March Mortgage

Balance $134,680.00
+$420.88 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
New Balance $134,097.31

April Mortgage

Balance $134,097.31
+$419.05 Interest
+$307.59 Escrow
-$1311.16 Regular Payment
-$527.31 Principle Payment
New Balance $132,985.48

Current Balance $13,230.00
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$25.00 to EF
+$25.00 to Home Improvements
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $13,465.00

ING $9335.00
Lawn Mower/Vacuum(cash) $600.00
HSBC $3530.00
Total = $13,465.00

This will probably have to go down temporarily to cover this mortgage fiasco, but we will see. Either way it would only be temporary.

I may explode from anger! So I checked my checking account about 16 times today to see if the mortgage checks we mailed on 3/1/11 has been put through....all day they have not gone through. I get home and check the mortgage website and BAM there they are...ok that's annoying since yesterday when I called they said they had not received them yet....but now they are showing posted on 3/14/11 (the day I called) whatever. I call the mortgage company and the girl tells me they did not have them when I called (at 5pm?!) but they must have gotten them right after that. I argued with her for a few minutes that I did not understand how it takes 14 days to get my payment, but was going no where so I said fine and got off the phone. So if they just got them then I have a day or a few to get the extra money into my checking to cover the 2nd payments. So I go to look at my checking account to see what I need to cover them.....and lo and behold the checks have already gone through my account! WHAT! NOT electronic debits, the ACTUAL CHECKS and I can already see the images of them, and on the back they are stamped RECEIVED 3/8/11!!!!! OMG SOOOOOO MAAAAAD! So I call back and I am just fuming and trying to remember that the girl I am talking to didn't so this, so don't kill her. So she tells me again the checks were just received yesterday, I tell her that is not physically possibly for the checks to be received by them, ran through their bank, and then ran through my bank(local bank) in 1 business day, and also your stamp is on my check. She can not give me a good reason why that would have happened, keeps telling me it should have been credited within 24 hours, yada yada. So I tell her, now I am going to be overdrawn tomorrow because I was not planning on having both payments go through my account, and although those checks did not overdraw my account, I have 4 withdrawls coming out in the morning and even if I wait at the bank in the morning for them to open, the bank is on real time, so any autowithdrawls will come out first and I will have 4 overdraft fees now. So she tells me I can print off the copy of the check showing it was received on 3/8/11, and print of my account history showing that I was overdrawn and then fax them in with a note asking for the OD fees to be returned to me. UGH what a hassle!! So I got her name and employee ID and said I would do that but also explained to her that I should not have to do that since they messed up and kept my check on the shelf for a week........I also demanded my $12.50 fee back (the one I had to pay for making the last minute fee to my mortgage yesterday), I told her to credit that to the mortgage principle. Supposedly she is going to take care of that. Blah, so I am dreading tomorrow morning, cause even if they do reimburse the fees it is super embarrassing, annoying and just aggravating!
So now my regular payment was credited to March, the principle payment was credited to March, and the 2nd payment I made was credited to April, so I don't have to make a payment till May.