Hobby: Saving Money

The "Cash Stash"

2009-01-23T16:56:00.001-08:00

I just posted my 2009 goals on my other blog, and thought I'd elaborate here on our financial goals. So here goes:

Submit to my husband.
Finances are one area that this can be tough for me. By nature, I am more frugal and a crazy budgeter. I think it's fun (thus, the blog). Hubs, on the other hand, is the spender. He is absolutely commited to living well within our means, but sometimes my extreme "let's save" nature doesn't align with his plans to live a little more comfortably in the present.

Pay cash for a new-to-us vehicle for hubs.
The ol' Jetta could die out on us any day. And hubs' did just finish school, so deserves a new toy. He's a car junkie, so I am resigned to the fact that cars will always be a high priority in our budgets. At the same time, we don't have a ton of extra cash lying around. We've agreed to a couple "acceptable" models and have priced out a vehichle year that should fit our target budget. If all goes well, we should be able to complete this by July.

Fund the "cash stash" to be used as needed.
We (okay, I) have a target dollar amount in mind to contribute to the "cash stash" this year. The "cash stash" was our compromise based on our natural tendencies, the uncertainty of the econonmy and reality that we don't know exactly where jobs are going to take us in the next year.

If it were my decision alone, I'd try to knock out the student loans as fast as possible. I hate debt of any kind. And, while they're a big number, with both of us working right now, we could probably do it in 12-18 months. But...

We also want to buy a house, and this could be used toward the start of a down payment. Our current residence is not large enough for us and kids, which we would like to have in the next few years. Or...

One or both of us could lose jobs this year and this would beef up our current three-month emergency fund.

Essentially, it's a holding zone (in an ING Direct savings account) for the year, until we see where it is needed most. There is just enough uncertainty in our lives right now that the loss of some interest (the loans are a couple percentage points higher than the interest on the ING Direct) is worth it to us to keep flexibility as the year unfolds.

Unless disaster strikes, at the end of the year we will make a large lump-sum payment - we just haven't determined exactly where yet.

Nothing interesting here

2008-08-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

There is currently absolutely nothing interesting that would make you read this blog. I do what I can to save money. I plan menus and sporadically follow through on them. But you know what, if you're reading this, so do you. So why read what I have to write?

That is the question I am asking myself this very minute. So far, nothing good comes to mind. So, here's some facts about me:

- I have never had any credit card debt. I have had a credit card for many years, but have paid off the balance in full EVERY SINGLE TIME.
- I had a car loan once. It was a four year loan. I paid it off in 18 months. The final balance was paid for by my annual bonus. Since then I haven't put a single penny into a car replacement fund.
- I bought furniture on a loan once. It was a 0% for six months deal. I paid it off in two. With another company bonus (granted, I knew the bonus was coming when I bought the furniture and that's the only reason I did it).
- I have a 401k and have always contributed enough for the company match. I still probably don't contribute enough for an adequate retirement.
- I don't understand how the majority of Americans who own houses were able to afford them.
- If I don't have a solid plan in place, I'm pretty good at spending the money that I do have.

In general, we am pretty good at using windfalls (ie gifts, bonuses, tax refunds) for major purchase or debt repayment.We aren't so good at chipping away more than a minumum month by month. We have money in the budget for savings every month. But more often than not, something comes up that eats into that allotted amount. One month it was a camping trip. Most months it's school projects (apparently the monthly school project budget isn't large enough). Does this mean that I'm failing at saving or that our budget is unrealistic?

My husband graduates from school this December. We'll finish with a pretty sizeable chunk of student loans. As we look at paying those off, I am trying to figure out a way to pay additional principal consistently, not just when we have windfalls. Particularly since I'm not counting on a bonus next year.

Deal Shopping

2008-08-20T11:18:00.001-07:00

This week I have done a deal shopping marathon (well, at least for me), hitting up three Rite-Aid's and a Walgreens.

Here are the results:

I almost stuck to my August goal of only buying things that were immediately needed or free.

2 Dep hair gel: BOGO

2 St. Ives elements: BOGO sale + BOGO coupon = FREE!

2 St. Ives body wash: BOGO - 2 $1/1 coupons = ridiculously cheap (and I needed body wash!)

1 Crest toothpaste: RA free after rebate

1 Garnier Brilliant Shine: RA free after rebate (raincheck)

1 toothbrush: not on sale (Husband was in dire need)

2 Sensodyne ProNamel toothpaste: BOGO 50% @ Walgreens - 2 $1/1 coupons

2 Lipton tea: on sale with a coupon. We drink a lot of iced tea!

Overall, I feel pretty good about the week. We only spent $6.13 out of pocket, and it was on items that Husband needed. At this point, we have a decent stockpile of items. I am also starting to build my Walgreens rebate gift card, so I hope that our monthly OOP will continue to go down as I am able to wait for the best deals.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

We didn't follow last week's menu plan very well. Actually at all. The weather was at or around 100 degrees most of the week, which made it way too hot for cooking in our non-air conditioned house. You'll notice quite a few repeats from last week:

Breakfasts: oatmeal, cereal, yogurt or smoothies

Lunches: sandwiches, leftovers

Dinners:
Monday: Beans 'n rice
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: baked potatoes
Thursday: sausage and polenta
Friday: burgers and onion rings

Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: homemade pesto pasta

Check out more menu's over at Org. Junkie here.

8/10 Wal-Mart Deals

2008-08-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

We don't have a Wal-Mart within several miles of any of my normal driving routes, so I rarely shop there. However, I was headed to a baby shower last week and realized I would be driving right past one. I had heard rumor that the prices on Planters/Kraft products made that coupon a pretty darn good deal, so I thought I should stop in. Here's the result:

- 2 jars Planters peanuts

- 6 boxes Kraft Mac & Cheese (my all time favorite comfort food!)

- 1 box Just Bunches

- 1 trial size Gold Bond lotion

Sub total: 11.83

Total OOP (after coupons): 2.83!

This was the first time I ever got overage from a coupon, so I was pretty excited. The clerk was concerned with my internet coupons (the Planters/Kraft ones), but didn't notice/care about the overage from the other. I had printed a copy of Wal-Mart's corporate policy that clearly stated that they accept IPs. A manager happened to be walking by right then and confirmed that they do indeed accept IPs.

Naturally a line had formed behind me by then.

Does anyone else feel guilty for holding up the line when deal shopping?

Stockpile vs Clutter

2008-08-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I did a major hall closet re-org. As I've started to accumulate a stockpile of deals from Walgreens and RiteAid, my shove-it-in-until-it-fits method wasn't quite working. A stockpile does no good if you don't know where anything is.

Well, I now have a couple of nice, neat shelves for stockpiled items, organized by type (ie all the shampoos together, etc). What I discovered though, is that I have a plethora of clutter that has accumulated over the years, used partially and have stayed in the cupboards. For example, the 8+ bottles/jars of scented lotions and creams. It kills me to know that I paid good money for each of these and that they haven't gotten used.

Do I throw them all out and start fresh? Or do I keep them as a reminder of my non-frugal days and as motivation to keep up with the deal shopping?

I can't bring myself to throw them out, although I am disgusted that I have moved some of these at least four times. I am going to work on using them up, but made myself a firm goal: these will not move again. If they aren't used by the time we move, they are going in the trash.

And from now on, I am only stockpiling items that I will actually use and that have been "purchased" for a darn good deal.

Next project: the kitchen.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-08-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is my first foray into the official Menu Plan Monday, so here goes:

I'm typically pretty good at planning, and not so good at actually following through with my plan.

Breakfasts: oatmeal, cereal and/or banana bread

Lunches: sandwiches, leftovers

Dinners

Monday: Pork chops and potatoes

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Sausages and polenta

Thursday: baked potatoes

Friday: Baked Dijon chicken with noodles

Saturday: Beans 'n rice

Sunday: Family birthday dinner

Free lunch!

2008-08-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

There's no such thing as a free lunch, you say? Wrong!

Yesterday I was doing some impromptu store visits for work with a colleague. Naturally we timed this so that it ran into lunch time and my lunch was safely back in the fridge at the office

My colleague decided to grab a quick Jamba Juice since we were in the mall. As we were walking up to the counter, I had an "aha!" moment. There was a free smoothie coupon in the paper last week! And lucky me, I actually had my coupon file with me. So, she bought her smoothie, I got my free smoothie...and then...the extra. The girl behind the counter asked, "Do you want a free pretzel?" I said, "What?" thinking that I had heard her wrong. Perhaps it was a sample or something. Nope, indeed they were giving away a completely free, no strings attached pretzel (even heated up for you!).

I like free, but I'd have to say, the pretzels were only mediocre. Even if it was free again, I'd probably pass. The smoothie was fantastic though. I love it when they have free coupons for those!

a few thoughts

2008-08-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

One: I need to put some pictures on here.

Two: I don't like doing the dishes, but I realize it is a frugal thing to do. If I don't, we end up eating out!

RiteAid Rebate Issue

2008-08-07T19:05:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: I called RiteAid's SCR number and found out that even though the sign said FAR and the ad said "any facial cleanser" that I missed the clause that said it needed to be product on sale for $7.99 - mine was on sale for $7.49 and thus didn't qualify. I'll be returning it today. Given that the ad did not specifiy sizes or anything like that, this doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the RiteAid SCR program. I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet, but certainly am skeptical.

On Monday, I hit up my local RiteAid on my lunch hour to score some deals. Since my goal this month is to only buy free after rebate items (and I'm trying to only buy things I will actually use), I purchased:

- 1 Olay regenerist face cleanser
- 1 Revlon nail enamel (so I don't have any excuses for getting a pedicure!)
- 1 Gillette Fusion Power razor

Once I got home, I promptly entered my receipt information online so I wouldn't forget.

Today, I got an email from RiteAid that my receipt info had been processed. When I logged in, the Olay cleanser had been denied rebate, based on a different rebate that required the purchase of two Olay items. I then spent a few minutes digging around the RiteAid site to see how to resolve that. I ended up submitting an online form with my issue...we'll see if I get an actual response. Good thing I haven't used it yet, because if the rebate doesn't come through it's getting returned!

July Recap

2008-08-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

For the month of July our food and household spending breaks down like this:

18% - household (includes prescriptions)
53% - grocery
29% - dining out

Overall, we were $21 over budget.

What we did well: stocked up on household goods (50% of the expense was water filters that will last us 6 months), bought free after rebate items

What we need to do better: not overbuy groceries (our pantry is plenty full), re-evaluate dining out strategy

August goals:
Stay within budget!
Buy only groceries that are needed for the given week
Only purchase household goods that are FAR or needed immediately (ie toilet paper)

On a positive note, our current budget is only 38% more than my personal budget was when I was single. Considering that I married a 6′ 3″ amateur chef, I’d say we’re doing pretty good. And our monthly spending is down about 20% from what it was 6 months ago. If we have reduced spending hat much during a time of inflation, I’d say we’ve done a good job (especially considering how stocked our pantry currently is). Now I just need to actually cook from the stockpile.

Exciting things in the mail

2008-07-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

This week I got two super exciting things in the mail. One is my first Walgreens rebate gift card - I got $11 back on a gift card for an initial OOP of $9.98 with an original retail $19.96. Not too shabby.

Also, today I received my first PaperBackSwap book in the mail. So far I've mailed out four books, have another three to mail out tomorrow and have gotten one. It is a bit of an outlay in postage, but I figure it is still well worth it. I have accumulated quite a few books over the years and am working on organizing and only keeping the books I'll re-read multiple times. I am a big reader, so this does leave quite a few still on the shelf. I started PBS by only posting books I wanted to get rid of that Powell's wouldn't buy back. (Although I do still have the bag of Powell's books sitting in the living room - I need to actually send them in!)

PS - Yes, I fully realize that I use too many exclamation points and connector words such as "however" and "also." What you don't see are the times I write and then go through and edit out a bunch before I send/post.

Don't overthink it

2008-07-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

So, I've always been somewhat frugal, at least compared to those around me, but have been trying to step it up a notch in the last few months. I've been lurking on all sorts of PF/frugal blogs and figured I may as well start my own. No real goal here other than getting my thoughts on paper and sharing what's working for me. I tend to way overthink things and have been pondering a blog for awhile. Nothing special about tonight, I just decided to take the plunge.

In good news, I participated in the Safeway Summer Marathon promotion and so far have gotten over $150 worth of groceries for $47 OOP! And I still have a $10 catalina left.