I received a mailer yesterday from Verizon advising that I need to re-validate my employement status to keep my discount on the account. I went on to their website and completed the validation to keep my 21% discount! If you have Verizon be sure to check with them if your employer offers any kind of discount through them, I believe they have 100's of businesses that they give discounts to (discount varies by employer), and all you have to do is validate your employement with them occasionally (I think the last time I had to do this was at least 2-3 years ago).

We made it through January without buying any groceries! Well I did buy 2 gallons of milk, but that is it. We got rid of so much food in our pantry and freezer. Out of the pantry, tons of soup, boxes of rice-a-roni, macaroni and cheese, dry noodle mixes, chicken helper, pasta sauces, oatmeal, cereal, and canned fruit. And out of the freezer, lots of chicken breasts, pot pies, TV dinners, shredded cheese and bags of veggies.
DH is making the call on what we will buy for February. He would like to go another whole month without buying anything except for milk. I think this is a great idea as we did find a lot of things that needed to be used up before they went bad, but it is very hard for me to pass up the super deals I see at the grocery store. I am not much of a "grocery" shopper. I normally keep the house pretty well stocked and then just go buy things when they are on super good sale and don't have to worry about ever making a $100+ shopping trip or buying things when they aren't on sale or I don't have coupons for. But DH knows what he is doing, so I will follow his lead on this one, so far it's working great.

So I just realized that we could go through all of January with only paying for gas and utilities! That would be fabulouso!

Food - DH mentioned yesterday that he would like to not buy any groceries this month (except for milk). We have tons of food in the cupboards and freezer, and he wants to try to use some of that up. Good plan hubby! Also we have giftcards for TGIFridays, Applebees, and Ruby Tuesdays that we got from Christmas, so our weekly eating out would easily be covered with those.

Toiletries/Misc - We are well stocked on everything, but if something did come up, I have my $100 CVS giftcard I got for Christmas, and also $30 in Target giftcards.

Gifts - We have no babies, weddings, BDs or gift holidays in January, whoo hoo!

Entertainment - We are pretty busy all month and have been going to the gym a lot, so other then the normal bills or netflix, cable and internet, nothing else should be needed.

Can't wait to see a nice tiny Discover bill for January!

I went to CVS and stumbled on this great candy deal! They had the 11.18oz bag (the regular size bags for Halloween) of Fun Size Snickers and Fun Size Peanut Butter Snickers on sale for $1.00! I was just going to get about 10 bags for myself, but I called my Mom to let her in on the deal and she was with my Dad and bro and they both requested 10 bags a piece. So I picked up 30 bags for me, 10 for Dad, and 10 for bro.
I also used a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon making them even cheaper! So after my dad and bro pay me back for their candy, I got 30 bags for $20, which is .66 per bag!

Snickers - Bought 30 Bags
Regular Price $4.39 per bag
-$3.39 Sale Price per bag
-$10.00 CVS Coupon
Final Price $20, just .66 per bag!!
Plus I used a free

I saved over $190!! So I will leave one bag out for DH to munch on and throw the rest in the freezer for Halloween Candy for next year!! Sweet!!

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
11/2/12 Bonanza - Discount on meal $3.00
11/2/12 Bowling - BOGO Free Game of Bowling $4.50
11/19/12 Space Aliens - Free cup of soup $2.99
11/28/12 Brunos Pizza - Free dessert $3.99
12/19/12 Simonsons - .05 off per gallon .55
12/19/12 Simonsons - Free Fountain Pop $1.49
_________________________________
Total Saved $54.96

Time to get in all of those things that need to be turned in by the end of the year!

My work gives $200 for "fitness" expenses (gym fees, workout equipment, DVDs, a whole lot of options). I filled out the form and submitted our last 4 months of gym charges ($25 per month per person for 2 people). So September, October, November and December were free gym months for me and DH!

Also been on the hubby to get me his workout and healthy eating points, we also get money put in our HSA for doing this, up to $600 per member, or $1200 per family just for entering your healthy choices! I have already earned all of my incentives for the year, but still need the last few months of tracking from DH.

Down to just 2 presents left to buy for Christmas! YEAH!

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
11/2/12 Bonanza - Discount on meal $3.00
11/2/12 Bowling - BOGO Free Game of Bowling $4.50
11/19/12 Space Aliens - Free cup of soup $2.99
11/28/12 Brunos Pizza - Free dessert $3.99
_________________________________
Total Saved $52.97

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
11/2/12 Bonanza - Discount on meal $3.00
11/2/12 Bowling - BOGO Free Game of Bowling $4.50
11/19/12 Space Aliens - Free cup of soup $2.99
_________________________________
Total Saved $48.98

The coupon I used yesterday was actually for Space Aliens BBQ Pit, which is no longer in business, but KUDOS to Space Aliens Bar and Grill for letting me use those coupons there even though it was technically not for their establishment. (I did not get the same service with a Donut Hole coupon at BearScat Bakery....)

I won the Biggest Loser today! YEAH! I won $40. Normally I would post how I was doing on here, but I didn't do good at all....and neither did anyone else that was doing it. We all had a rough time...I think it is that transition from warm weather time to indoor cuddling time and no one had any ambition. I know I sure didn't! But I did end up winning, so that was awesome. I am going to add the $40 to the mortgage payment for December 2012. I also have a ton of change I need to get cashed in to add to the mortgage payment.
Today is the day I get to see my paystub, but I don't get my paycheck till Friday. I have been working my booty off with OT and my paycheck was $360.00 more then usual! WHOOHOO! I already have 5 hrs of OT in this week too. It can be exausting, but really trying to keep it up as that can help make huge dents in the mortgage and help me from having to take out of savings for the holidays.

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
11/2/12 Bonanza - Discount on meal $3.00
11/2/12 Bowling - BOGO Free Game of Bowling $4.50
_________________________________
Total Saved $45.99

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!

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

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!

We are in OE at my work for health insurance. I am enrolling in the same benefits as last year and my deductible and premium are both staying the same, so that is good, no increase!
DH and I both got a $25.00 per month ($600.00 per year between the 2 of us) credit for meeting metabolic testing criteria. We also each got $25.00 per month ($600.00 per year between the 2 of us) for being non-smokers. So that is $1200 per year I am saving on insurance premiums just for being healthy!
So my monthly insurance premium is $50. Whoo hoo!
My employer gives a yearly contribution of $600 to our HSA. I look forward to seeing that hefty boost each year, and this year it is increasing to $800! So that is like a $200 increase in my pay! Just had to share as that news made my day!

Our local bank that carries our checking account offered a $5.00 deposit for using your debit card 5 times in September. I rarely use my debit card except for the ATM since we get cashback with Discover, but I made sure I used it the 5 times this month and am now just waiting for the $5.00 deposit for FREE!
*ETA - I see I did get this $5.00 credit at the end of October! YEAH!

Also I have a credit card with Juniper Bank and I got a flyer in the mail for 5% cash back for October, November, December on purchases. So I called and registered for that. I don't use that card too often, but probably once a month or so.

Last week I asked for opinions on if I should keep saving or put more towards the mortgage. I appreciate everyone's opinions so I could make a good decision. For now I decided to keep savings, mostly because my car has been acting up (taking it in on Wed) and we have so many home improvements/repairs that will need to be done in the next year or two. I will keep paying about $300 extra on the mortgage each month and maybe throw some extra now and then. But will mostly be focusing on savings still. Someday I will be comfortable putting all the extra towards the mortgage, just not there yet.

OK please weigh in and let me know what you think.

We have met all of our goals for the year (see left side of screen). It shows the cushion still not met, but I put $10 a week towards that and only have about $40 left, so it will be met very soon.

So my question is now that we have met all of the goals for the year...Should we:

A) Set some new/additional goals
-Beefing up the EF
-Beefing up the new car fund
-Saving for specific home improvements (We NEED a new patio door, new garage door...we WANT to put in a sprinkler system...and our AC is on the fritz)

or

B) Since we've met all the goals for the year, put all extra funds to the mortgage, and use the existing savings for the above projects as needed. Then make new savings goals for 2013 and start saving again then.

The reason I want to even look at option B is because as many of you may know....there is ALWAYS something to save for! And now seemed like a good time to break from savings and make a dent in the mortgage since we surpassed the $20K challenge and are nearly to $25K (not counting retirement or our HSA).

Please let me know any thoughts you have as any extra input or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you!

Super Clean Car Wash $4.49 - Limit 2
Free after Mail in Rebate
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 at 8/23/13 rummage sale

Love, Peace, and the Planet Hair Products $9.00 - Limit 10
Free after Mail in Rebate
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 at 8/24/12 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 9 for $3.00 at 9/7/12 rummage sale
Profit of $30.00 on the Hair Products!!


Marked everything for $3.00 each and already put away for the next rummage sale in August.

Also got an extra 11% rebate, I have 4 receipts to send in for this, just on this purchase I will get $10.89.

So if I sell them all that would be $36.00 plus the $10.89 rebate, so that would be a profit of $46.89!

If you use any stamps at all, make sure you stock up today! Stamp prices go up tomorrow from .44 to .45 each. I don't use stamps very often since the majority of our bills are paid automatically with our Discover Card, but of course there occasionally is a rebate, card, or letter that I need a stamp for. The last time I bought stamps was 5/11/08. I bought 100 forever stamps (kept the receipt) for .41 and still have 14 of those left. So now I bought another 100 @ .44 each and those should last me about 4 years since we still have some of the last batch left. I know it's only pennies, but they all add up!

If you are familiar with my blog you know how much I love Discover Card, so I though I would share another perk they are offering now.
If you have a card you can go to their website and sign up for 2% unlimited cash back on internet, cable and phone for all of 2012! All you have to do is log in to your account at discovercard.com and click on cashback rewards and there should be a banner to click to sign up. Yeah for free money!

Well here it is!! Here is everything I got with my FREE $50 giftcard for CVS!

.99 Candy Corn 8oz
$2.49 Pumpkin Carving Tool
$7.99 Olay Body Wash 23.6oz
$8.98 Scope Mouthwash 1 Liter (2)
Free Scope Mouthwash Sample Size
$2.77 Edge Shave Foam 7oz
$3.59 Skintimate Shave Cream 10oz
$9.98 Cover Girl Blush (2)
$6.29 2pk Crest 6.2oz each
$2.00 Lint Roller (2)
$2.57 St. Joseph's Aspirin 36ct
$1.37 Suave Deoderant 1.4oz
$4.99 Mitchum Clinical Strength Deoderant 2.5oz
$5.97 Dawn Hand Renewal Dishsoap 9oz (3)
$8.79 Almay Mascara
$2.27 Ivory Bar Soap 3pk
$5.00 Grout-It-Out Pen
$5.00 CD Renewal Kit
$6.38 Speedstick Deoderant 3oz (2)
$9.48 Old Spice Body Wash 18oz (2)
$3.99 Crest Complete Tootpaste 4oz
$2.97 American Greeting Cards (3)
$7.18 Mr. Clean Magic Erasers 2pk (2)
$2.37 Gillette Shaving Foam 2.5oz
$15.00 Bag Holder (3)
$10.00 Car Wiper (2)
$22.79 Prevacid 24hr 18ct
$23.92 Progresso Soup (8)
$19.99 Pur-Absorb Iron Supplement 28pk
$33.87 Glade Sense and Spray Starter Kits (3)
$10.95 Bowl Appetite Dinners (5)
$13.29 Venus Embrace Razor, 2 refills and holder
Total $268.21

! ! ! ! ! ! ! A M A Z I N G ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

So I got a FREE giftcard from my Discover Card Rewards and used it to score $268.21 worth of free toiletries, food and household supplies from CVS!

Love my Discover Card and CVS!

Our challenge for our last statement was to get our bill under $1300 for the month. We did a good job but came in at $1346 - Over by $46.
I am still happy with how we did as the last few months it was over $1600 so this was a vast improvement!

Current Balance $13,005.00
+$5.00 HSBC Interest
+$5.86 ING Interest
+$34.14 Even Out Amount
+$3.00 Rebate from Menards
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $13,055.00

Bingo Money $690.00
ING $7800.00
Home Improvements(cash) $260.00
HSBC $4305.00
Total = $13,055.00

Added -0- to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $299.37
Wage total - $395.49
Total Bingo Money - $694.86

At my work they let us enter our workout minutes and healthy eating choices to get funds for your HSA. I am able to earn up to $500 a year and so is my husband. I reached my $500 this week! DH has not entered his information in a long time, so I need to get him moving on it as he has only earned $25 so far. It is a great program that they offer to help get extra funds into our HSA.


We also have a program to help with the premiums. My insurance premiums are only $600 a year ($25 a paycheck)for me and DH. They offer a metobolic screening test, and if you meet the requirements then you get credits to your insurance premium. I can earn $300 by meeting the 3 of the 5 criteria (blood pressure, blood sugar, waist circumference, cholesterol and triglcyerides) and DH can get a $300 credit just for doing the testing, he doesn't even need to meet any criteria. Last year the testing was only offered to the employees, not to the spouses. I met all 5 of the criteria last year, so I am expecting to get the full $600 credit, so I won't have to pay anything for health insurance premiums! Testing is in about 2 weeks so we should have the results in about a month and then we will know if we have any premium for 2012.

Target

I needed some new jeans for Bingo so I went and picked up a pair from Target. While we were there DH found some good deals for him on the clearance rack.

Khaki shorts - Regular $19.99 - Clearance $9.98
Dry Fit shirt - Regular $9.99 - Clearance $5.48

Saved $14.52

This was very weird as DH never buys clothes, but he wondered over to the clearance rack while I was in the dressing room. I am glad he did as now he will have shorts for next year that were 50% off!


Grocery Shopping

Went to the grocery store to get a few things and saw that they had Pillsbury cake mix, regular $1.71 a box, on sale for .80 a box. This is what we use for our cupcakes for the rummage sale. So I bought 15 boxes for $12, saving $13.65!! Only have to sell 2 cupcakes to make back the cost of the cake mix. This is also a great way to stock up for making cupcakes for DH's students, or if I bring a cake to work.

CVS
I scanned my EB Card and received an extra $1.50 EB from my Quarterly EB rewards!

1st Purchase

23.6oz Olay Body Wash
Regular Price $7.99
-$1.00 Sale Price
-$2.00 mfr coupon
*Received $2.00 EB
Final Price $2.99
*ETA - I had bought this to keep, but I had a buyer, so sold on 3/17/14 for $5.00 to a coworker = $2.01 Profit!

1 Liter Scope Mouthwash + a free sample mouthwash
Regular Price $4.49
-.40 Sale Price
-$2.00 mfr coupon

-$7.00 EB from last week
Total OOP $1.17

Received $2.00 EB from Olay
Received $1.50 EB from Scope


2nd Purchase

7oz Edge Shave Foam
Regular Price $2.77
-.78 Sale Price
-.55 mfr coupon

10 oz Skintimate Shave Cream
Regular Price $3.59
-$1.60 Sale Price

-$1.50 Quarterly EB
-$1.50 EB from last purchase
Total OOP .58


3rd Purchase

1 Liter Scope Mouthwash
Regular Price $4.49
-.40 Sale Price
-$2.00 mfr coupon
-$2.00 EB from last purchase

Total OOP .76

Received $1.50 EB from Scope



All of this for $2.51 OOP - Plus I still have $1.50 EB for next time.

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!

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.

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!