Baby Step 3 - CHECK!

Well, it's official - we have completed Baby Step 3! 6 months of emergency funds ($30,000) saved. It feels great!!

The money is definitely tempting to my husband (who wants new windows, new patio furniture, to remodel and expand the house . . .) but there is no way I'm giving up this security! Luckily our short term savings is starting to grow now too - up to $5,000 already. So, we should be able to get him some of the things he wants soon.

I have to admit that this whole process has turned me from a spender into somewhat of a saver. I actually feel a little reluctant to even dip into the $5,000. It is so hard to prioritize what to spend the money on. I just want to be conservative and spend our funds wisely.

Now we can finally begin (much too late!) to focus on saving for college for our 3 daughters. Our oldest is already 13 and will be going to college in just 5 short years. Not a lot of time to save the hundreds of thousands that will be needed.

Isn't it crazy - just as soon as something is crossed off the list, it's time to work on the next step! It's like the finish line is always moving!

But, I have to admit, when we began this process 3 years ago - being where we are today seemed almost impossible. I am so grateful to Dave Ramsey and all my PF Blogger friends for showing me the way and encouraging me to stay on track!

I am truly blessed!

Looking Good

Well, things are looking up a bit. May will be a big income month for us. My husband will get an extra paycheck (being paid every other Friday, with an extra Friday in the month); we are expecting a large tax refund of $7,500; I have several craft shows booked and am budgeting $500 (as most the money I keep in the business); we are getting a check from FEMA for $500 our flooded basement, and I have several babysitting days lined up accounting for another $200.

So, looks like we will be able to finish the Emergency Fund of $30,000 and put another $8,000 into short term savings!! I really can't believe it!

We will finally be able to start saving for college and do some much needed home repairs. The Dave Ramsey Plan really works!!! :)

Emergency Funds Are Boring

I think that's the bottom line with our current financial situation.

I enjoyed the post 11 Ways To Spice Up Your Emergency Fund over at Get Rich Slowly, but mostly I was just happy to see someone point out what I've been feeling for the past several month - building an emergency fund just isn't exciting.

Although Baby Step 2 was a long journey to pay off all our debts, it came with a tremendous sense of accomplishment each month. It was like Debt was the enemy and I was pumped up to fight fight fight until I won.

The fire seems to have fizzled considerably.

In one way this is surprising to me because I am a worrier. And in these bad economic times, I would think I would feel more pressure to build that emergency fund up and up and up, but progress seems slow. My husbands company isn't doing well right now and his comissions have all but dried up. This leaves very little "extra" money in the budget to put towards the emergency fund.

Now, I have been doing really well selling my pendants at local craft shows. Last weekend I made $550, the weekend before I made $220, and the weekend before I made $1,050 (my highest so far!) - so, you would think that our emergency fund would be growing, but - not so much.

I haven't been great at tracking all the reasons it hasn't, but the few that come to mind are 1.) had to repair car for $250, 2.) husband went on a weekend trip for $400, 3.) I bought new stuff for our bathrooms for $600 (yikes!), 4.) I spent too much on back to school clothes for the kids, and probably lots more that I can't think of right now.

I hate to say it, but I think I have to spend a little time thinking about the reality that we could actually NEED our emergency fund in the not too distant future. I might need a little reality check and a little FEAR to make me behave with money right now. And the reality is that sales are waaaay down at my husband's company. Last quarter (Q1) was the worst ever. This quarter (Q2) isn't looking any better. Q2 ends in November and some of the people who work under my husband will probably be let go at that time. At the end of Q3 (February), if things don't get better, teams will probably be merged and my husband's position could be in jeopardy. He has already updated his resume . . .

Given that I am a worrier with a very big security gland - I need to realize how important our emergency fund is and get it pumped up fast!

We currently have $20,000 saved (not $22,000 as I previously posted as some funds didn't ever actually make it in there), and we need to work fast to get it up to $30,000 (or more).

Wish me luck!

This Week's Menu

I was inspired by Money Funk to plan out my menus for the week. Here's what I came up with (all from out of my pantry and freezer):

Sunday - Rotisserie Chicken
Monday - Chicken Fajitas
Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Shepherd's Pie
Friday - Homemade Pizzas
Saturday - Eat Out

Have you planned your meals for the week?

Is This Worth It? 4.44% APY

I saw an ad on t.v. today for a local bank that is offering an on line savings account that pays 4.44% APY (on balances up to $25,000).

Here are the stipulations:
Sign up to receive monthly e-Statements
Receive at least one direct deposit per statement
Make at least 15 debit card purchase transactions per statement
Use Home Banking and Bill Pay at least once per statement

I was thinking of maybe keeping my FFEF in here. My FFEF goal is $30,000.

The hard part of those requirements are making 15 debit card purchase transactions per statement. It seems (though I'm not sure) that just withdrawing the money from an ATM wouldn't count. (Although they do offer free ATM withdraws from their banks and refund up to $10 per month of any ATM fees that other banks charge.)

Anyway - it's not like I want to make 15 purchases every month - but 4.44% interest on $25,000 is like $94 a month.

Do you think it's worth it? Any suggestions on fulfillling the purchase requirements easily?

Thanks for any input!

Daily Progress

The Good:
- I cut coupons for groceries today. It's been a while since I did this. I used to really be good about scouring the flyers for coupons and sales and combining them to get the best deals. I used to really enjoy it and want to get back into it again.
- I had a good jewelry order for 10 pendants today. Yeay!
- I packed a lunch for my two daughters to bring to school today. Much more economical than paying $5.25 (for the 2) for lunch.

The Bad:
- I threw out some spoiled food from the refrigerator. A reminder that I need to do a better job at
managing our food consumption and plan the meals around leftovers and food that will expire soon.

The Cost of Tonight's Dinner

I have been craving going out to eat, but for the benefit of our budget I have been trying hard not to. So, I decided to calculate how much my home cooked dinner cost.

Here goes. We had Chicken Marsala with rice and mixed vegetables for 5 people.

Boneless Chicken: $3.33 (1/3 of a $10 family pack)
Marsala Wine: $1.00 (1/4 of $4 bottle)
Flour: $ .10
Butter: $ .25
Mixed Veggies: $ .75 (3/4 of $ .99 bag)
Rice (store brand Rice A Roni): $ .59
TOTAL: $6.02

So, the total for dinner at home for 5 people was $6.02. If we had gone to our family's favorite local restaurant, the bill for the 5 of us would have been about $46.00!

Want To Save On Your Electric Bill?

In recent months we have done a good job at lowering our electric bill by being diligent about turning off and unplugging electrical items when not in use.

In order to find ways to save even more, I decided to research the cost of using ordinary electrical appliances. I used a great tool called "Calculate Your Electric Cost" over at the Saving Electricity site. (I used $.12 as the cost for the electricity, which is the national average. Your cost could be different, but the list below will still be helpful in noticing which appliances cost the most to use.)

Clothes Dryer - $.48 per hour
Oven - $.48 per hour
Dishwasher - $.40 per hour
Toaster - $.15 per hour ($.01 per 5 minutes)
Microwave - $.15 per hour ($.01 per 5 minutes)
Coffee Maker - $.10 per hour ($.01 per 5 minutes)
Stove Top Burner - $.09 per hour ($.01 per 5 minutes)
Refrigerator - $.03 per hour ($.79 per 24 hours)
60 Watt Light Bulb - $.01 per hour ($.06 per 8 hours)
Laptop Computer - $0 per hour ($.04 per 8 hours)
Clock Radio - $0 per hour ($.01 per 24 hours)
27" Widescreen TV - $.01 per hour

Deals This Week

Deals this week:

WALGREENS:

01-11 RP	Suave Deodorant 1.4 oz (see Grocery Coupon Database for additional cpn) -- charity!	3	$0.94	$0.27	71
01-11 RP	Suave Hair Care 15 oz (see Grocery Coupon Database for additional cpn) -- charity!	3	$0.89	$0.22	75
01-11 S	Kotex Pads 14-24 ct	1	$2.94	$1.94	34
01-18 PG	Gillette Mach 3 Razors 3 ct	2	$6.12	$3.06	50
01-18 RP	Hellmanns Mayonnaise 18 oz (see Grocery Coupon Database for additional cpn expiring 2/1)	1	$2.00	$1.40	30
01-18 RP	Lipton Recipe Secrets Mix 2 pk (see Grocery Coupon Database for additional cpn)	2	$1.22	$0.92	25
01-18 RP	Quilted Northern Bath Tissue 6 dbl roll	1	$4.12	$3.12	24
01-25 S	Post Honey Bunches Of Oats 17-19 oz	2	$2.68	$2.18	19
Total Price:	$20.27		Total Savings:	41%

CVS

Cpn. Out Description Qty. Sale Price Final Price % Saved

Pepsi Products, 12 pk 12 oz cans -- qualifies for $10 Extra Bucks with $20 PepsiCo purchase 1 $3.33 $3.33 26

Pepsi Products, 2L bottle -- qualifies for $10 Extra Bucks with $20 PepsiCo purchase 1 $1.25 $1.25 21

12-14 PG Pantene Restoratives shampoo or conditioner, 8.5-14.2 oz -- final price is after $3 Extra Bucks -- limit 5 --- charity! 1 $1.99 FREE 100

01-04 GM Nature Valley Granola Bars Twin Pack - final price is after $3 Extra Bucks (limit 3) 1 $3.99 $3.49 30

01-11 S Kotex Pads, 16-20 ct with Bonus Pantiliners, 16 ct - final price is after $2 Extra Bucks (limit 5) -- Charity! 1 $2.00 $1.00 80

01-18 PG Gillette shampoo or conditioner, 8.5-14.2 oz -- final price is after $3 Extra Bucks -- limit 5 (see cpn database for additional cpns) --- charity! 1 $1.99 FREE 100

01-25 S Post Cereals: Trail Mix or Crunch 17 oz, Shredded Wheat 16.4 oz, Honey Bunches of Oats 14.5 oz Cocoa or Fruity Pebbles 13 oz - BOGO (see cpn database for additional cpns) 2 $2.30 $1.80 61

Total Price:
$12.65 Total Savings: 64%

Walgreens

I have been focusing on being better with my grocery and household shopping.

I always remember Amy Dacycayn saying in her book The Complete Tightwad Gazette, that she used her price book to figure the best price on every item and that nothing would induce her to pay more than that price.

That is my goal. Stop paying more than my lowest price.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Walgreens to take advantage of these specials:

Walgreens Cold/Flu Liquid - coupon $3 off
Walgreens Ibuprophen 50 - coupon $1 off
AutoExpressions Elite Auto Air Freshener - FREE after rebate
Revlon Matte lipstick - $1 off coupon from newsp - FREE after rebate (up to $10!)
Orajel Cold Sore med - FREE after rebate
Walgreens Cold med - buy 3 get $5 rebate - buy 5 get $10 rebate
Kraft products - spend $15 get $5 rebate
Electrasol - $1.50 rebate
Paper Plates 72 - $.99 w/coupon lt. 2
Lays Chips - $2
Cheez It - $1.99
Quaker Chewy Granola 18 - $7
Walg Zip Sandwich 50 - $ .99 lt. 2
Walg Pain Relief - 2/$4.99
Walg Cold Allergy - BIGI Free (plus rebate)
Walg Chap Aid - 2/$1 w/coupon
Kellogg's Cereal - $1.99 lt. 4
Walg Ibuprofen - BIGI Free
Colgate toothpaste - $2.99 - $2 Register Rewards = $.99

Side Bar Updates

I have updated some of my Sidebars.


Debt Payoff Progress

Starting Debt: $44,000
Current Debt: $23,144
Total Paid: $20,966

I'm a little disappointed that it's been 20 months and we have only paid off $20,966. I would have thought that we would be more than half way to having these debts paid off by now.

I guess I can be happy that at least we are moving in the right direction.

And I do remember that during this time we have also taken a vacation to Disney World (planned with the children prior to starting our debt free journey)and paid cash (about $4,000), and we bought tickets (with cash) to take my whole family to Florida for my sister's wedding (about $1,000), and we replaced our very old mattress ($1,000), and we replaced our broken dishwasher ($1,000), and we replaced our old and broken water heater ($1,000).

And on top of that we are paying cash monthly for our daughter's braces ($100/month). And we have almost $5,500 in savings.

I guess that's not too bad. Definitely an improvement over how we were living and spending before February 2007!



Savings Progress

• Emergency Fund: $1,000
• Jewelry Biz Earnings: $994
• Other: $3,500
• Total in Savings: $5,494.00

Our monthly savings total varies quite a bit from month to month. Here is my savings projections for the next 14 months. (Keep in mind that we have temporarily stopped paying extra on our last debt, a HELOC for $23,000, to put extra into savings due to the uncertain economic situation in our country.)

Savings Projections
11/08 $5,494
12/08 $4,794
01/09 $7,694
02/09 $8,694
03/09 $7,694
04/09 $7,194
05/09 $7,494
06/09 $7,994
07/09 $19,394
08/09 $18,894
09/09 $17,894
10/09 $19,894
11/09 $18,194
12/09 $17,794


Extra Earnings

Starting in November I am also going to once again begin tracking all extra income that I am able to earn. This will include tracking income and expenses (thus profit) for my jewelry business.

Finding Meals In My Pantry

In conjunction with the Forget The Joneses Project and the 21 Day Spending Freeze, I am going to take a look in my pantry and freezer and see how many meals I can come up with.

I tend to buy in bulk and freeze a lot of things so I can hopefully come up with a lot!

1. Frozen Chicken Pot Pie
2. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
3. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
4. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
5. Kielbasa, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frzn kielbasa, rice, frozen veggies)
6. Steak, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frzn steak, rice, frozen veggies)
7. Tacos, Tortilla Chips, Salsa (frzn hamb, seasoning, tortillas, shells, cheese, salsa,*s. cream)
8. Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti (frozen chicken, frozen broccoli, ziti, parmesean cheese, butter,*milk)
9. Chicken, Rice, Vegetables (frozen chicken breasts, rice, frozen veggies)
10. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (elbow noodles, cheese, *milk)
11. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (elbow noodles, cheese, *milk)
12. American Chop Suey (elbow noodles, tomato sauce, frozen hamburger)
13. Homemade Pizza (frozen dough, tomato sauce, cheese)
14. Chicken Noodle Soup (frozen chicken, canned broth, egg noodles, frozen veggies)
15. Lasagna (noodles, mozzarella cheese, canned sauce, parm. cheese, *ricotta cheese)
16. Mexican Casserole (flour tortillas, cheese, canned enchilada sauce, green chiles)
17. Chicken Fajitas (frozen chicken, onions, seasoning, cheese, salsa, *s. cream, * flour tortillas)
18. Chili (frozen hamburger, seasoning, beans, cheese)
19. Beef stew (frozen beef, canned beef broth, seasoning, frozen veggies, *potatoes)
20. Chicken Picata, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frozen chicken, lemon juice, capers, flour, butter)
21. Chicken Picata, Rice, Frozen Vegetables
22. Chicken Marsala, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frozen chicken, marsala wine, flour, butter)
23. Chicken Marsala, Rice, Frozen Vegetables
24. Ravioli, Tomato Sauce (frozen ravioli, canned sauce)
25. Ravioli, Tomato Sauce

I have a total of 21 frozen chicken breasts in my freezer.
I have a total of 6 lbs of hamburger in my freezer.

* I will need to purchase these items: s. cream, potatoes, ricotta cheese, milk.

So, it appears that I have enough dinner meals to make it through the 21 day spending freeze.

How many meals can you find in your pantry?

After Holiday Sales - How To Make Them Work

This post was featured in the Festival of Frugality #149 as an Editor's Pick this week!

I am a big fan of shopping for clearance items after a holiday.

Every year I host a huge Halloween party to celebrate the birthdays of two of my daughters that have birthdays near Halloween. We do an elaborate Haunted House, so I am always on the lookout for cool new Halloween novelties. After Halloween, I can usually find a bunch for 90% off!

This is terrific. But there is another step that I seem to forget every year - and that is to check out what you bought last year before you purchase anything new this year!

This bit me twice so far this year.

First, I let my five year old get a costume that she fell in love with at CVS last week. It was on sale for 25% off, and I had $7 in extra bucks, so I went ahead and purchased the costume (for $11 before using the xtra bucks). What I had not remembered was that I had purchased her a costume (actually 2 costumes!) on clearance after Halloween last year! Of course I could return the unused costume to CVS but my daughter is already really in love with it. (She does like the other costumes, but prefers this one.) So - I'm going to let her keep it. I'm sure all of these costumes will fit her again next year (and hopefully I'll remember before purchasing another one next year!).

Second, I purchased a Halloween pinata on sale at Target and later found one that I had also purchased on clearance after Halloween last year. I returned the new pinata to Target, but lesson learned.

I hope to remember this lesson at Christmas time - and check to see what I have (probably bought on clearance last year) before purchasing anything new!

Saving On The Electric Bill

I saw an episode on Oprah this week where a woman said she lowered her electric bill from $264 a month to $60 a month. She said the main thing she did was to unplug everything when not in use because these "phantom charges" really add up.

Then I read about using most of your appliances mostly during off peak hours as there is a big price difference between peak time and off peak time. So, I looked up the prices for my electric company and here is what I found:

Peak Hours:

January 1—March 8: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
March 9—April 5: 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.*
April 6—October 25: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
October 26—November 1: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.*
November 2—December 31: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.


Distribution Charge
Peak Hours
Off-Peak Hours
6.525¢/kWh
0.419¢/kWh
Transmission Charge 1.256¢/kWh
Transition Charge
Peak Hours
Off-Peak Hours
0.703¢/kWh
0.059¢/kWh
Demand Side Management Charge 0.250¢/kWh
Renewables Charge 0.050¢/kWh

So, seems like it could make a real impact if I did laundry and such either early in the morning or late at night.

Going to give it a try.

How I Do Our Grocery Shopping

(My computer is finally back and working now, so I should be back to posting daily again!)

I've been thinking about our grocery budget and how I seem to be slipping a little in this area, so I thought I would write a post to share with others and to remind myself of how to make the most of your grocery budget.

1. Plan Menus For The Week Using Calendasr (keeping it flexible enough to change)
First I get out my calendar and see what we have scheduled for the upcoming week. Using those plans as a guide, I plan a dinner menu for each night of the upcoming week. If we have a busy evening I will plan a less complicated meal that requires very little prep. I will also keep in mind some meals that may allow for leftovers that can be reheated the next night or used to make a slight variation of a meal the next night (like leftover chicken used for chicken soup, etc.).

2. Go Through The Local Grocery Store Sale Flyers
Next I go through each grocery flyer. I use a small notebook to write a small list of sales that I would consider for each store. I indicate the item and the price. I do this for each of 4 grocery stores and 3 pharmacy type stores. (This sounds tedious but really only takes about 10 minutes.)

3. Go Through Coupons
First I go through my stash of coupons tossing any that have expired and pulling any aside for items I will need to buy this week or for items that are on sale somewhere this week. Next I clip the coupons from the Sunday paper. I put aside any for items I will need to buy this week or for items that are on sale somewhere this week. When I find a coupon that matches up with a sale, I indicate the price after coupon on my grocery stores price list. The rest I save for a possible future grocery trip. This process takes about another 10 minutes.

4. Evaluate Sales/Coupons/Stores
Next, armed with all the informatio I need (what I need to buy, what is on sale, what I have a coupon for), I decide which store or stores I will be shopping at. (I usually pick the top 3.)

5. Go Shopping
I usually do my main grocery shopping on one day, and stop at two other stores just to pick up great sale items on another day.

I think I'll go get my calendar, grocery flyers, and coupons and get started now!

Save Money With Small Changes

It isn't easy to find money for savings. Most budgets are stretched already. The rising cost of food and fuel make it that much more difficult to find any extra funds in your budget. But if you want to save more money or to add to your debt snowball a review of any frequent small expenses can be a good place to start.

Small expenses that are repeated frequently can add up to a lot of money. The "latte factor" is a well known example where giving up your daily latte can save you a significant amount of money over time. But maybe you're not a coffee drinker so you ignored this advice. But maybe there is another small item that you repeatedly pay for that you haven't evaluated yet? Do you pay a daily toll that you could avoid by driving an extra 5 minutes? Do you treat yourself to a daily candy bar as an afternoon pick me up? For me, my daily small expense is Diet Coke. A lot of Diet Coke. This is an area where I could definitely save money.

I go through about five 12 packs of Diet Coke a week. (Waaay too much!) Although I do try to buy it on sale, I spend, on average, $15 a week on this expense, or roughly $60+ per month. If I were to instead put that $60 a month into a mutual fund earning 12% interest (a supposition that is often asserted as possible by Dave Ramsey), after 25 years I would have $112,863.99! Now I really like Diet Coke, but not to the tune of over a hundred thousand dollars!

Now just because giving up a frequent small expense will save you money, doesn't necessarily mean that you should feel compelled to give it up. You should evaluate your small recurring expenses in terms of value.

The first question you should ask yourself is "Is this spending in line with my values?".

For me, drinking Diet Coke is not in line with my values. It has no nutritional value and has been linked with medical problems (including possibly cancer). Your small expense might be perfectly in line with your values and wouldn't necessarily be on the chopping block for this reason.

But, next you should ask yourself "Do I derive sufficient value for this expense in terms of how much life energy I am trading for it?".

This is an important question raised by Joe Dominguez in his amazing book, Your Money Or Your Life. The book points out that we all have a limited amount of time here on earth and asserts that money is something we trade our life energy for. Therefore, you should evaluate your spending to be sure that you feel you are getting sufficient value for the amount of time (life energy) that you are trading for it.

To get a realistic assessment you need to calculate your real hourly wage. This involves figuring out how much time you give to your job (including commuting time, decompressing time, etc.) and how much you earn (subtracting taxes, money spent commuting, money spent on work related expenses, work lunches, convenience foods, etc.). For my family, our real hourly wage figures out to $23.50 per hour. My spending on Diet Coke costs my family more than 2 1/2 hours of life energy a month. Not horrible, but we wouldn't mind getting back an additional 2 1/2 hours from work time.

In the end, only you can evaluate if your spending is in alignment with your values and if it is providing you with sufficient value. What will pass the tests for one person would be considered ridiculous by another. Personal finance is personal, after all.

The important thing is to take the time to evaluate your spending. Small changes can save significant money.




* Save To Del.icio.us *

Read more on this topic in Your Money or Your Life (Part 1), The Daily Tracking of Expenses Experiment is Over, and Trouble With Tracking.

Good Deals This Month

Here are a few good deals (free!) that I am taking advantage this month. I am stocking up on these items to give as gifts (or little "add-ons" to gifts) or as stocking stuffers or extras in the Easter basket.

Staples:
- Package of 8 Staedtler Colored Permanent Markers - $12.99 (free after rebate)
Purchase at Staples between 2/3/08 and 2/9/08 then submit rebate on line. (Whoops, just realized that it's too late to take advantage of this now. I purchased on 2/9.)

Walgreens:
- Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner, or Masque - up to $4.29 (free after rebate)
- Softsoap Spa Radiant Body Wash - up to $4.49 (free after rebate)
- Mennen Speed Stick Deodoarant - up to $3.99 (free after rebate)
Purchase items at Walgreens between 1/25/08 and 2/23/08. Residents of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Tennessee can submit rebates on line at www.walgreens.com. Residents of other states must complete rebate form from the EasySaver cataglog available at Walgreens. Choose to get your rebate in the form of a Walgreens gift card and get a 10% bonus!)



I figure that every little bit helps and you can't beat free! Earlier this month I already got some Garnier Nutritioniste facial cleanser, Garnier Nutritioniste moisturizer, Fructis shampoo, and now Fructis conditioner, all for free (after rebate). Then I got a free sample of some Lacoste Pink perfume in the mail. I am adding all these items that I got for free to the birthday gift I'm giving to my sister (a sweater). She will enjoy these items and it will make my small sweater gift into a whole bag of fun stuff for her!

Great Deals at CVS This Week!

I went to CVS today and took advantage of the great deals they are having this week. Here's what I got and what I paid:

(10) packages of Lay's Potato Chips/Doritos Chips @ $2 each = $20.00
earned $10 in Extrabucks = $10 final cost ($1 per bag!)

(1) package Stayfree maxipads @ $3.29
earned $3.29 in Extrabucks = $0 final cost (free!)

(2) Garnier Nutritionist facial products @ $5.99 each = $11.98
minus (2) $2 off coupons on display near product = $7.98
earned $7 in Extrabucks = $ .98 final cost for 2 ($ .49 each!)

(1) package of Arm & Hammer toothpaste @ $1.99
minus $1 off coupon from flyers = $ .99
earned $1 in Extrabucks = $0 final cost (I actually earned $ .01!)

(2) 4 packs of Energizer Rechargable batteries @ $8 each = $16
minus $1 off coupon from flyers = $15
earned $6 in Extrabucks = $9.00 final cost ($4.50 each)

Great Coupon Deals This Week!

I found some great deals by combining sales and coupons this week, so I thought I'd share them:

Walgreens

Flintstone's vitamins - (buy 4 and get $10 in register rewards, use $1 off coupon in flyers, pay $6.50 each x 4 = $26 minus $1 coupon = $25, get $10 rewards, final cost = 4 for $15)

Delsym cough medicine - sale price $8 minus $2 off coupon in flyers, final cost = $6.

Cheerios cereal - sale price 2 for $3, minus $1 off 2 coupon, final cost = 2 for $2.

Walgreens soap - sale/coupon, final cost = 5 for $1.

Tylenol Cold & Children's Tylenol Cold - use (4) $1 off coupons in flyers, get $10 rewards if buy 4, final cost = 4 for $6.

Wheat thins - sale price 2 for $4, $1 off 3 coupon, final cost = 3 for $5.

Aquafresh gel trays - sale/coupon price - $27, $5 off coupon in flyer, final cost = $22.

(30) sponges - $4.


CVS

Palmolive dish soap - sale/coupon price $ .49, $1 off 2 coupon in flyer, final cost = 2 for FREE!

Children's Motrin & Children's Tylenol - sale price - $6, use two $2.50 off 2 coupons, buy 4 earn $10 rewards, final cost = 4 for $9.

Special K cereal - sale price 2 for $5, coupon in flyer for $1 off 2, final cost - 2 for $4.


RITE AID

Hefty trash bags (45) - sale price $5.50, $1 off coupon in flyer, final cost = $4.50.

Ziploc sandwich bags (50) - sale price $1.50, $1 off 2 coupon in flyer, final cost = 2 for $2.

goldfish crackers - 4 for $5.

Kellogg's cereal - 5 for $10, rebate for $5 - final cost = 5 for $5.


TARGET

Bounty paper towels - sale price $14 for 16 rolls, $1 off coupon in flyer, buy 2 get $5 Target gift card, final cost = 32 rolls of paper towels for $18.

Charmin toilet paper - sale price $13 for 60 rolls, buy 2 get $5 Target gift card, final cost = 120 rolls of toilet paper for $21.

Quaker chewy granola bars (jumbo pack of 23) - sale price $4, $1 off coupon in flyer - final cost = $3 for 23 granola bars.


Happy Shopping! :)

After Christmas Sales and Returns

Not everyone will agree with me on these ideas, but after the Holidays I do a lot of returns and take advantage of a lot of the sales.

After Christmas I try to return any unwanted gifts that my family received. I truly appreciate the thought behind the gift but find it wasteful to keep unwanted items. Many stores will not accept a return without a receipt or a gift receipt, but sometimes you can get a store credit. If I get a store credit, I either use it to buy something my family needs or I save it to purchase a gift for someone at a later time. If the items can't be returned, I usually save it to give to someone as a gift (re-gift) should it prove to be an acceptable item for such an occasion.

The other thing I do is to check to see if any of the items I purchased for Christmas have now been marked down on sale. If I find something that I already purchased on sale, I will buy the item at the sale price and later return it with the original higher receipt. This can save a significant amount of money.

This article has been included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #134 over at Mrs. Micah.