Wow, 2 posts in one day! I guess this is what happens when you actually have energy! Actually, the boyfriend and I had been planning to go to both Costco and Target for some time now. Cosco to get him on the membership plan now that we live at the same address and Target for another rack for the kitchen (we have a serious lack of closet/cabinet space in the apartment).
At Costco we gassed up his truck for $3.45 a gallon, and also bought a lb jar of sliced dried garlic (we love garlic and I use a lot of it in my cooking). The jar cost $6.15, but I had a giftcard with a low balance on it, so it cost us $4.98 Oop.
Then we stopped at Target for a rack for the kitchen. It's a "chrome" 4-tierd wired one that should be good for some pots and pans. It was $29.99. We also scoured the clearance racks and found some Puffs 4-box tissues on sale for $2.50 which I had a $1 off coupon for, and I found a Venus Embrace razor pack on clearance for $6 which I had a $2 coupon for. For the 3 items, we wound up spending $39, but since I have a $100 giftcard from capital one we spent nothing Oop.
Running tally for this week: $24.27/$59.22
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Labor Day Sales - CVS, Rite Aid, Safeway & Giant
I'll probably have to do another shopping trip this week, but I wanted to snatch up the deals at the drugstore and get something to cook for dinner, the boyfriend commented that pork would be nice - and it was on sale for $2.99/lb for a tenderloin.
First was Rite Aid, where I purchased:
$1.99 1 box of Rice Krispies with Strawberries
$14.99 L'Oreal Advanced Wrinkle ... something (full amount back in rebates)
- $1/1 Rice Krispies
- $3/1 L'Oreal
= $13.88, but used giftcard so $0.00 Oop and I'll be receiving $14.99 back
Next was CVS, where I purchased:
$8.99 Claritin D-24 hr
$2.99 Colgate Advanced Whitening
$5.99 Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara
$5.99 Covergirl Wetslicks
- $1/1 Neutrogena
- $1/1 Colgate
- $2/1 Claritin
- $2/$10 CVS
- $3 Extrabucks
- $2 Extrabucks
- $2 Extrabucks
- $1.49 Extrabucks
= $9.74 Oop
Received $3 (Neutrogena), $5.99 (Covergirl), $2 (Colgate), $1 (Claritin) Extrabucks back = 11.99 in Extrabucks!
Next was Giant where I picked up the pork tenderloin. I paid $5.41, but put it on one of the newly acquired giftcards, so $0.00 Oop.
Last was Safeway, I purchased:
$3.99 Planters cashews
$2.50 Planters peanuts
$1.50 6 packs of Kool Aid Lemonade
$4.00 2 bags of Bursts White Cheddar
$2.48 Skim Milk
$.89 wheat bread
$.82 1 green pepper
$1.37 1.38 lb of bartlett pears
- $3 (buy 3 Kraft, get $3 off Planters deal - expired today)
- $3 (")
- $1/1 Bursts
- $1/1 Bursts
Total= $9.55 Oop
Running tally for this week: $19.29/$59.22
Last week's total was $40.78, I was $9.22 under budget, which I will roll to this week.
First was Rite Aid, where I purchased:
$1.99 1 box of Rice Krispies with Strawberries
$14.99 L'Oreal Advanced Wrinkle ... something (full amount back in rebates)
- $1/1 Rice Krispies
- $3/1 L'Oreal
= $13.88, but used giftcard so $0.00 Oop and I'll be receiving $14.99 back
Next was CVS, where I purchased:
$8.99 Claritin D-24 hr
$2.99 Colgate Advanced Whitening
$5.99 Neutrogena Healthy Volume mascara
$5.99 Covergirl Wetslicks
- $1/1 Neutrogena
- $1/1 Colgate
- $2/1 Claritin
- $2/$10 CVS
- $3 Extrabucks
- $2 Extrabucks
- $2 Extrabucks
- $1.49 Extrabucks
= $9.74 Oop
Received $3 (Neutrogena), $5.99 (Covergirl), $2 (Colgate), $1 (Claritin) Extrabucks back = 11.99 in Extrabucks!
Next was Giant where I picked up the pork tenderloin. I paid $5.41, but put it on one of the newly acquired giftcards, so $0.00 Oop.
Last was Safeway, I purchased:
$3.99 Planters cashews
$2.50 Planters peanuts
$1.50 6 packs of Kool Aid Lemonade
$4.00 2 bags of Bursts White Cheddar
$2.48 Skim Milk
$.89 wheat bread
$.82 1 green pepper
$1.37 1.38 lb of bartlett pears
- $3 (buy 3 Kraft, get $3 off Planters deal - expired today)
- $3 (")
- $1/1 Bursts
- $1/1 Bursts
Total= $9.55 Oop
Running tally for this week: $19.29/$59.22
Last week's total was $40.78, I was $9.22 under budget, which I will roll to this week.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Free $ At Giant!
Getting a daily paper, we usually wind up with at least doubles of some of the circulars. This week, we had doubles of the Giant one, including doubles of the transfer Rx, get a $20 gift card coupons. My boyfriend had already redeemed one of them yesterday but had another Rx to fill (the poor thing has a pretty nasty sinus infection!) so he asked me whether or not I thought they would accept it again today. I said it didn't hurt to try. Turns out, they didn't even raise an eyebrow and now we have $40 in gift cards to Giant (that is at least a week's worth of groceries for us!).
Tonight's dinner was a leftover hamburger crumbled and some fresh and frozen vegetables in quick scrambled eggs, and I'm making this recipe again from over at Money Saving Mom for dessert. If you remember from last time, I changed the recipe around a bit. This time, I did some alterations again.
I used:
4 eggs
6 cups of oats
3/4 c sugar
1 c applesauce
1 c low-sugar peach mango juice
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. canola oil
We'll see how it turns out. This time I'm planning on freezing half of it for snacks since last time we lost half of it due to mold. Boo! Hopefully individually wrapped frozen portions will keep it from going bad this time.
Tonight's dinner was a leftover hamburger crumbled and some fresh and frozen vegetables in quick scrambled eggs, and I'm making this recipe again from over at Money Saving Mom for dessert. If you remember from last time, I changed the recipe around a bit. This time, I did some alterations again.
I used:
4 eggs
6 cups of oats
3/4 c sugar
1 c applesauce
1 c low-sugar peach mango juice
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. canola oil
We'll see how it turns out. This time I'm planning on freezing half of it for snacks since last time we lost half of it due to mold. Boo! Hopefully individually wrapped frozen portions will keep it from going bad this time.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Quick Stop
I was meeting some coworkers for dinner today but had some time to spare beforehand so I stopped at Rite Aid to pick up some Pert Plus for the boyfriend and I wanted a quick snack because our plans to eat dinner weren't till after 7pm.
I purchased:
$.88 1 rice krispy treat
$1.50 1 EZ Roll tape
$2.99 Pert Plus
- $2/1 Pert Plus
= $3.64 Oop, but I used a gift card, so it was technically $0.00 Oop, and I'll be getting $2 back for the Pert Plus and $1.50 back for the tape through Rite Aid's rebate program, so the items would "cost" me $.14 even if I hadn't used a giftcard !
Still running weekly tally: $40.78
I purchased:
$.88 1 rice krispy treat
$1.50 1 EZ Roll tape
$2.99 Pert Plus
- $2/1 Pert Plus
= $3.64 Oop, but I used a gift card, so it was technically $0.00 Oop, and I'll be getting $2 back for the Pert Plus and $1.50 back for the tape through Rite Aid's rebate program, so the items would "cost" me $.14 even if I hadn't used a giftcard !
Still running weekly tally: $40.78
Credit Cards
I know most budgeting and finance blogs will tell you that credit cards are evil and they are just a mechanism for debt. Most blogs recommend getting rid of credit cards and using cash to pay for most purchases.
I disagree.
In April 2007 I did not have a good credit score. It frustrated me because not only did I want to buy a house in the next few years, but it was a hassle to open up any new accounts. Getting a cell phone plan in my own name without a deposit was completely out of the question and that made me feel depressed about the future. So I applied for a secured Visa through Bank of America to help build my credit.
In the 8 months I had the card, I paid it faithfully on time and actually had automatic payments sent to it every week from my checking account. I never carried a balance and generally never had more than $100 charged to the card on any given day.
By December of 2007, Bank of America upgraded me to a regular credit card and doubled my balance. Through those 8 months of paying the card faithfully, I was able to raise my credit score from 649 to over 700 simply by paying on time.
In December of 2007 I also applied for a Capital One credit card. I have a similar set up with this card. I automatically transfer $100 to the card every week from my checking account. The only difference with this card is it is one of their rewards cards. So I receive 5 points per $1 on everything bought at grocery, gas and drugstores (and 1 points per $1 on everything else). Because the rewards are higher for some things and not for others, I only use the card for grocery gas and drugstores. I have a budget set up already for grocery and drugstore purchases, so it is not often that after my $100 weekly allowance, I have more than $100 sitting leftover in the account.
I do pay an annual fee. It is $29. The reason I did this is because if I were to not pay an annual fee, I would only get 2 points per $1 on the purchases I get 5 points per $1 on now.
In the last 6 months, I have been able to redeem $150 worth of gift certificates from Capital One. I always pay on time and never carry a balance so I do not pay any interest.
In the next 2 weeks, I will have enough money for another $50 giftcard, making my net gain $171 even including the annual fee.
Those $150 have helped buy furniture for the new apartment and even our wireless router. I only cash in when I have enough for the biggest "deal" with the points. You can cash in 750 points for a $5 giftcard, 1500 points for a $10, 2500 points for a $20 giftcard, etc. However, if you redeem at 5000 points, you receive a $50 giftcard, 10,000 points a $100 gift card... so it's only worthwhile for me to redeem at 5000 points and above.
I'll say that winding up with $171 just from using this card is a frugal skill, if you are careful with them, credit cards can be useful tools.
I disagree.
In April 2007 I did not have a good credit score. It frustrated me because not only did I want to buy a house in the next few years, but it was a hassle to open up any new accounts. Getting a cell phone plan in my own name without a deposit was completely out of the question and that made me feel depressed about the future. So I applied for a secured Visa through Bank of America to help build my credit.
In the 8 months I had the card, I paid it faithfully on time and actually had automatic payments sent to it every week from my checking account. I never carried a balance and generally never had more than $100 charged to the card on any given day.
By December of 2007, Bank of America upgraded me to a regular credit card and doubled my balance. Through those 8 months of paying the card faithfully, I was able to raise my credit score from 649 to over 700 simply by paying on time.
In December of 2007 I also applied for a Capital One credit card. I have a similar set up with this card. I automatically transfer $100 to the card every week from my checking account. The only difference with this card is it is one of their rewards cards. So I receive 5 points per $1 on everything bought at grocery, gas and drugstores (and 1 points per $1 on everything else). Because the rewards are higher for some things and not for others, I only use the card for grocery gas and drugstores. I have a budget set up already for grocery and drugstore purchases, so it is not often that after my $100 weekly allowance, I have more than $100 sitting leftover in the account.
I do pay an annual fee. It is $29. The reason I did this is because if I were to not pay an annual fee, I would only get 2 points per $1 on the purchases I get 5 points per $1 on now.
In the last 6 months, I have been able to redeem $150 worth of gift certificates from Capital One. I always pay on time and never carry a balance so I do not pay any interest.
In the next 2 weeks, I will have enough money for another $50 giftcard, making my net gain $171 even including the annual fee.
Those $150 have helped buy furniture for the new apartment and even our wireless router. I only cash in when I have enough for the biggest "deal" with the points. You can cash in 750 points for a $5 giftcard, 1500 points for a $10, 2500 points for a $20 giftcard, etc. However, if you redeem at 5000 points, you receive a $50 giftcard, 10,000 points a $100 gift card... so it's only worthwhile for me to redeem at 5000 points and above.
I'll say that winding up with $171 just from using this card is a frugal skill, if you are careful with them, credit cards can be useful tools.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
CVS
Did I mention how much I love CVS? If not, I'll mention it again. I love CVS.
We needed milk again so I was off to CVS. I also wanted to take advantage of the Pepsi/Sobe deal and also pick up some Gatorade (the boyfriend loves the lemon lime flavor) to complete the deal. Additionally, since I had 2-$1 off coupons for it and it was Buy 1 Get 1 Free, it was a prime time to restock on the Frosted Mini Wheats. I wound up being at a negative amount by the end of it all, hence the 2 candy bars - one of which I snacked on on the way home (those Take 5s are yummy!).
I purchased:
$.50 1 Hershey Take 5 candy bar
$.59 1 dark chocolate peanut M&Ms
$3.00 Diet Pepsi 12pack
$6.00 2 Diet Mountain Dew 12packs
$3.00 Sierra Mist 12pack
$2.00 2 Sobe drinks
$3.00 3 Gatorade drinks
$4.29 2 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
$4.09 1 gallon skim milk
$1.99 2 bags of Gold Emblem candy
- $1/2 CVS Gold Emblem print out coupon
- $2/$10 CVS coupon
- $1/1 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
- $1/1 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
- $1.49 free Sobe w/purchase of Pepsi 12pack (they used the full $1.49 even though it was on sale for $1!)
- $1.49 free Sobe
- $2.00 Extrabucks
- $3.00 Extrabucks
- $5.00 Extrabucks
- $11.98 Extrabucks
= .49 Oop
Received $5 in Extrabucks back from the Sobe Gatorade/Pepsi deals!
Running weekly tally: $40.78
We needed milk again so I was off to CVS. I also wanted to take advantage of the Pepsi/Sobe deal and also pick up some Gatorade (the boyfriend loves the lemon lime flavor) to complete the deal. Additionally, since I had 2-$1 off coupons for it and it was Buy 1 Get 1 Free, it was a prime time to restock on the Frosted Mini Wheats. I wound up being at a negative amount by the end of it all, hence the 2 candy bars - one of which I snacked on on the way home (those Take 5s are yummy!).
I purchased:
$.50 1 Hershey Take 5 candy bar
$.59 1 dark chocolate peanut M&Ms
$3.00 Diet Pepsi 12pack
$6.00 2 Diet Mountain Dew 12packs
$3.00 Sierra Mist 12pack
$2.00 2 Sobe drinks
$3.00 3 Gatorade drinks
$4.29 2 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
$4.09 1 gallon skim milk
$1.99 2 bags of Gold Emblem candy
- $1/2 CVS Gold Emblem print out coupon
- $2/$10 CVS coupon
- $1/1 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
- $1/1 Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats
- $1.49 free Sobe w/purchase of Pepsi 12pack (they used the full $1.49 even though it was on sale for $1!)
- $1.49 free Sobe
- $2.00 Extrabucks
- $3.00 Extrabucks
- $5.00 Extrabucks
- $11.98 Extrabucks
= .49 Oop
Received $5 in Extrabucks back from the Sobe Gatorade/Pepsi deals!
Running weekly tally: $40.78
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Hooray for cheap groceries! I made 2 stops today, CVS and Shoppers even though I was feeling a bit under the weather. I really had to force myself to get out of the house but we needed a couple of things at both places and I wanted to take advantage of the $10/$50 coupon I had for Shoppers with the triple $.50s and double $1.00s coupon promotion.
First stop was CVS:
$4.50 Stayfree Ultra pads with wings (32 ct)
$4.50 Stayfree Ultra pads with wings (32 ct)
$6.49 Viva 8-pack paper towels
$6.49 Viva 8-pack paper towels
$1.39 Kotex lightdays 16ct
$4.99 Platex Sport tampons 16ct
$5.99 Zipfizz pink lemonade
$5.99 Zipfizz pink lemonade
- $2/$10 CVS coupon
- $1/1 Viva
- $1/1 Viva
- $4.50 Buy 1 Get 1 Free Stayfree coupon
- $1/1 Playtex Sport
- $3 Extrabucks
- $5 Extrabucks
- $5 Extrabucks
- $10 Extrabucks
= $7.84 OOP
Received the following in Extrabucks:
$2 for the Viva
$5 for the Stayfree
$3 for the Playtex
$11.98 for the ZipFizz
$1.49 for the Kotex
= 23.47 back in Extrabucks!
The boyfriend will only use Viva paper towels so now we are set for quite some time!
I was pretty pleased with myself after CVS and just as pleased at Shoppers. I'm not going to list all the coupons I used, but I bought a good deal of stuff, 33 items in total, including meat and vegetables, and spent $32.45 (thanks to the $10/50 coupon from Post Points and all the multipliers - the sliced turkey turned out to be a mere $1.79 per package - usually $3.79 - with the doubled $1 coupons!).
pack of mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 bag baby carrots
1.58 lb of bananas
2.21 lb of fuji apples
2 packs of Luigis Italian Ice
frozen spinach
frozen organic corn
2 packs of hormel natural turkey breast
2 snack packs of musselmans applesauce
2 packs betty crocker delights microwave cakes
3 bottles of V8 Fusion light
4 packs of Hunts pudding cups
1 chex chocolate mix
1 cherrios snack mix
2 bottles of seltzer water
1 jar of french deli mustard
1 jar of french yellow mustard
2 bottles of kens salad dressing
1 pack of hamburger buns
1 box of Mueller macaroni
1 bottle of sobe water ($1.00 and was really thirsty at this point)
Running weekly tally: $40.29 I'm sure we'll be well under budget this week, yay!
First stop was CVS:
$4.50 Stayfree Ultra pads with wings (32 ct)
$4.50 Stayfree Ultra pads with wings (32 ct)
$6.49 Viva 8-pack paper towels
$6.49 Viva 8-pack paper towels
$1.39 Kotex lightdays 16ct
$4.99 Platex Sport tampons 16ct
$5.99 Zipfizz pink lemonade
$5.99 Zipfizz pink lemonade
- $2/$10 CVS coupon
- $1/1 Viva
- $1/1 Viva
- $4.50 Buy 1 Get 1 Free Stayfree coupon
- $1/1 Playtex Sport
- $3 Extrabucks
- $5 Extrabucks
- $5 Extrabucks
- $10 Extrabucks
= $7.84 OOP
Received the following in Extrabucks:
$2 for the Viva
$5 for the Stayfree
$3 for the Playtex
$11.98 for the ZipFizz
$1.49 for the Kotex
= 23.47 back in Extrabucks!
The boyfriend will only use Viva paper towels so now we are set for quite some time!
I was pretty pleased with myself after CVS and just as pleased at Shoppers. I'm not going to list all the coupons I used, but I bought a good deal of stuff, 33 items in total, including meat and vegetables, and spent $32.45 (thanks to the $10/50 coupon from Post Points and all the multipliers - the sliced turkey turned out to be a mere $1.79 per package - usually $3.79 - with the doubled $1 coupons!).
pack of mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 bag baby carrots
1.58 lb of bananas
2.21 lb of fuji apples
2 packs of Luigis Italian Ice
frozen spinach
frozen organic corn
2 packs of hormel natural turkey breast
2 snack packs of musselmans applesauce
2 packs betty crocker delights microwave cakes
3 bottles of V8 Fusion light
4 packs of Hunts pudding cups
1 chex chocolate mix
1 cherrios snack mix
2 bottles of seltzer water
1 jar of french deli mustard
1 jar of french yellow mustard
2 bottles of kens salad dressing
1 pack of hamburger buns
1 box of Mueller macaroni
1 bottle of sobe water ($1.00 and was really thirsty at this point)
Running weekly tally: $40.29 I'm sure we'll be well under budget this week, yay!
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