Rebating and Side Monies for 2011 Totals

Well to sum up my rebating efforts in 2011 were, to use a kind term, Half Assed!lol

In 2011 I received $433.22 in rebates.  This is way down from my previous year's total of $1160+. HERE is my post from last year on my 2010 Rebating Totals.

Keep in mind that I do NOT live in a NBPR state(that's No Beer Purchase Required)so I don't do those awesome alcoholic rebates that net you free or close-to-free food.  If I tried to do the NBPR rebates, I would be required to spend money on booze and appear to be an alcoholic.  The former would make me go insane and the latter would make me not care about being frugal, now would it?lolol

Even $433.22 is pathetic in Rebating circles.
In my defense, the rebating opportunities outside of NBPRs tightened up even more in 2011 from 2010.  Add in that Rite-Aid didn't have nearly as many good SCR opportunities last year.

And the primary reason I sucked at rebating last year?....I just didn't make much of an effort.

My side income did much better however.
* I netted $48 in Pinecone payments.  I didn't do all the surveys offered however.  Yes I was a slacker there too.

* After a rather slow start, I cashed in for $60 in checks with Toluna and I am halfway to another $20 check.  I need to give a thank you! shout out to SonyaAnn for turning me on(oh, don't go there!lol)to them.  While my demographic gets dumped out of most of the surveys, I kept persevering and actually got some cash monies....ka-ching! ;-)  I do find that on occasion surveys would freeze up and not be recorded as complete, thus I would go through all that effort for NOTHING(and I have let them know just How I Feel on that score.lol) and then other surveys are so damned looooong and booooring and if I think it's boring, well, it's a doozy! 8-)

* The big winner for me in 2011 income was Focus Forward, where I earned $880.  I did some surveys with them but their main thing is focus group work.  Some of it is short term and some can take weeks but you pick and choose what you want to do, once you qualify, that is.
If anyone wants to join their team please use my referral link HERE.  Thanks if you do!

* As for making money advertising on my blog.....I made nothing in 2011.  That's not quite right....I made something but not enough for anyone to cut me a check.  I should be seeing a check within the next 3 months or so unless everyone stops coming by here to say "Hey!" tomorrow.

All side income came to $988.  Too bad that's all reportable income and the $433.22 in rebates isn't.  The other way around works better for me.lol


* Gift cards came to $76.  That includes gift card rebates, gift cards sent to me for reviews/promotions/marketing purposes and gift cards I won in other people's giveaways.
In 2010 I received over $500 in free gift cards.  2011 wasn't a very good year for me but something is better than nothing, right?lol

* I received 45 Free Items, mostly in the form of Free Item Coupons that I redeemed, rather than actual free products mailed to me.  The previous year I received many more Free Items, mostly from companies jumping onto the Facebook promotion bandwagon.  Not as many or as lucrative Facebook offers in 2011.  I see 2012 being even more of a Freebie desert on Facebook(with the exception of a company launching a new product).

So did you do any rebating or survey/focus group work in 2011?
What are your totals looking like for the year?
How do you feel about continuing to rebate and/or do internet side work in 2012?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Sluggy

More Rite-Aid Shopping for Free & e-Coupon Program Problems

So I went back to Rite-Aid on Tuesday night and bought another set of the items I bought on the 2nd with a couple of additions......

The additional items were the 6 pair of No Nonsense Socks and the big bottle of Alcohol(rubbing, not drinking). ;-)

The socks were on a raincheck from early in December when they were BOGO50%off and gave a $3 +Up Rewards wyb 2 pair.  $1.99 socks, 1/2 off 2nd pr. at $.99=$2.98 w/ $3 +Up wyb 2=FREE Socks!

The Ear Buds I have a raincheck for are still out of stock so no Freebies there yet.

The alcohol......oh my.  If you go onto Rite-Aid's website you'll see that they are touting their "load your coupons onto your loyalty card so you don't have to use paper coupons" program.  Yes, Rite-Aid is attempting to step into the electronic age like the grocery store chains that have e-coupons.
Unfortunately, Rite-Aid's system is NOT working.  I loaded an e-coupon for .50¢ off a 32. oz. bottle of 70% Rite-Aid brand Rubbing Alcohol onto my Wellness Card a couple of days before heading out to buy the bottle in the photo.  While I got my 20% Wellness discount on the item, the coupon did NOT come off my order.
Bleh!

Now I get the great joyful job of calling corporate customer service about this newest snafu.  I guess I'll bring up the Orbit gum deal from before Christmas when I didn't get my $3 in +Ups back for buying 3 packs of gum that week too.
I plan on voicing my displeasure about something always not ringing up right/+Ups not printing right that seems to be de rigeur at Rite-Aid lately.
To have everything go smoothly at the register would just be a pleasure I haven't had in a great while!

UPDATE**
Just got off the phone with Rite-Aid.  This was the second call, the first girl was a Wellness person and couldn't help me with this e-coupon issue so she transferred me and after 4 min. on hold they disconnected me. grrrr
So I called back and explained the issue and was told I am one of the first to call about problems with the e-coupons(LUCKY ME!!!)in the country.  I am suppose to get a call back from some High Mucky-Muck about this issue to see what is going on.
Frankly I don't CARE what is going on, I just want my .50¢ discount!
And I want to stop having issues with Rite-Aid EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND!
 


At any rate, I spent $5 in +Up Rewards, put the remaining $.79 OOP on my free Rite-Aid gift card and received $2 in +Up Rewards back for the Centrum Supplements. 
No cash spent out of pocket yet again.

This order brought me up to $50 toward earning the $20 Resolution +Up Reward.  $50 left to spend to get that.
I can also submit for another $4 in Centrum supplement SCRs and the Oral-B toothbrush SCR under BIL's account.

I have to go back to Rite-Aid before Saturday night, as I still have $3 in +Ups expiring this week.
I don't know what I'll spend that on.  There is nothing I 'need' that's cheap this week.  I could get some Pantene conditioner for #2 son but since he cut his hair he isn't using it as much.  I'll find something we can use that also qualifies toward the Resolution Reward.

What has everyone else bought at Rite-Aid this week?
And have you tried loading and using the e-coupons on your Wellness card yet?

Sluggy

It's Time for Another Brain Dump

So I came to bed the other night.  I am laying there tossing and turning as is my usual MO, when Hubs started laughing.  I turned to make a sarcastic remark to him and saw he was dead asleep!
I have never known him to laugh in his sleep.  I was almost tempted to wake him up just to see what was so darn funny that I was missing.

I could have used a laugh after having Daughter home again for 15+ days.
Why oh why do winter college breaks have to be so loooooong?!  I don't remember mine dragging out for MORE than a MONTH!!
I love the girl but geez, she is Drama Central and High Maintenance.
Plus she and the youngest don't get along, which ramps up the negative energy around here.
I sort of got use to having some tranquility in my life the past few months.

And yes, both of my college student kids brought me Dirty Laundry for Christmas!
Fortunately, they both have working appendages and can run the washer themselves because after I told them what it was going to cost them to have ME do their stinking laundry, they made time to take care of that chore themselves.
Some day......I'll get them fully trained. ;-)

I am happy with how the whole eBay thing turned out this season.  The weirdos and stoopid buyers are good for a laugh(usually that's after the fact, NOT while I'm having to deal with them!lol).  I didn't have any buyers flake on me and not pay....this is a FIRST for the Holidays!
I sold a good deal for ok to good prices but there were some big ticket items that didn't go before Christmas.  I put the store on vacation settings about 5 days before Christmas because, from past experience, I KNOW I don't want to deal with the panicked last-minute Christmas buyers.
Ever.
Again.
I was going to wait a week or two into January to open the store back up, but a little voice instead of me said, whattheheck!....open it up the week after Christmas.
And I'm glad I did because I sold 3 of those big ticket items between Christmas and New Years!
Go me! ;-)


Hubs was home all week from work from the day before Christmas until  this past Tuesday.
I'll just say this.....
3 kids, 1 husband and 2 annoying dogs for 1 week solid can drive a person to drink.

I think this Husband Day Care is a GREAT idea!
I just remembered it's alternative name....the BAR.lol

Between my glasses of wine nerve medicine, Hubs and I got some quality couples time in and did some paperwork/filing/getting stuff together for taxes so it's not all on me to slog through.  We also sat down and went through our goals for 2012 and went through the financial stuff to see just where we are with the money at the moment.
Speaking of money, I am trying hard to ignore the fact that I have to write checks amounting to $15,000+ in the coming weeks.   It's the price we pay to keep the two oldest in college and NOT HOME!


Funny Spam Time!
I did a review of a product back during the summer of 2010.  It was a boxed supper-type product called "Good Earth"....it's from Betty Crocker or something and based on the meals they serve at Good Earth eateries, of which there are NONE around here, so I am clueless as to what they serve.
Anyway, I get a comment to moderate about 6 weeks ago.....a comment posted on that Blog Post from over a year ago.

Here is the blog post title...."Good Earth Review and GIVEAWAY TIME!"

Here is the comment......verbatim....
"okay so i have to read the good earth for school but it is soo boring every time i try to read it i doze off because it is soo boring.  HELP!"

Yes folks, she thought my product review was a review of the classic book, THE GOOD EARTH by Pearl S. Buck.
I should have directed her to the excellent old movie of the book with Paul Muni and Luise Ranier.  I believe Ms. Ranier won an Oscar for that role?(I just looked and Ms. Ranier is still alive at 101 and is having a birthday next Thursday!)
Of course, if the commenter found the book boring I kinda think she'd find the film stinko too.  Maybe an updated version starring Lucy Liu and Jet Li as poor dirt farmers in rural China would be more exciting to her?  Or maybe not......

What I DO know is that Mormons are H.O.T.
I have more keyword searches hit on my blog for this one word than any othere topic.
Maybe I need to talk about Mormons and my favorite "Plig" family more often?
Or I could just direct you over to This Blog HERE to get your fix of Those Wacky Browns.
Thanks go out to 444 Express for the heads up on that blog.
*And on a side note--don't Google Search Images for the word "Plig"....unless you are looking for lots of images of pigs.

Other keywords sending me viewers recently are.....
cat hoarding
cat hoarders(these are perennially among my tops search words....WTF?!?!)
mead xpanz 2" organizer binder, new release (huh?)
good grades in school ornament

And my most popular post last week was my BRAIN DUMP from mid November!
Really?
That train wreck of wackiness gets 144 pageviews and saving $34 THOUSAND DOLLARS in 1 year gets 20???
Even my jackwagon Sunny D and Rum(yum, yum)post got 49 hits.
I give up!
People are wacked......

And speaking of wack jobs....

There is a blog(which shall not be named here)I have off and on followed for a year or so.  It touts itself as a PF(thats "Personal Finance" to all you non-PF peeps)blog.  She isn't a prolific blogger like yours truly, but she posted a monthly networth accounting and then shortly afterwards, a spending accouting each month.  After a few months I noticed that her networth always went up yet her spending was always MORE than her income.  After seeing this consistently I commented and was "pooh-poohed" with the retort that her checkbook always balances out and any overage is covered by their savings.....though they never show this savings acct. in their accounting each month.
The numbers just didn't add up for me.

And over the year she continued to overspend their income by $1K to $2K each month(except for 1 month when it was only $250+).  They never lived within their income a single month in the last year.

And then she stopped posting her spending report this past summer and soon after her networth report.
When they bought a rental property when they had no money to do so and it needed renovations as well, and they continued to spend on frivolous crap(eating out and expensive hobbies)and had HELOC loans, credit card balances, 2 student loans still(in their 30's) each month, along with all the other bills and a mortgage, I threw up my hands.

Let's review--
Spending more each month than you make.
Buying rental property with advances on credit cards and HELOCs.
Buying rental property that needs renovating and you don't have the cash and/or the ability to do any of the work yourself.
Still paying off Student loans will into your 30's.
Eating out and spending large amounts on food each month.
Spending on non-essentials like fancy manis, hair salons, coffee, clothing.
Taking in rescue cats that have chronic conditions that need serious vet care(surgery/pills/etc.)on an ongoing basis.
Going on expensive vacations.

While she is NOT giving out financial advise, I hope people don't see this as a good example of how to handle your finances.
Of course, she is not disclosing everything so there may be money stuff coming in/going out that the blog doesn't show(and after her previous blog was brought to my attention, I honestly believe this is true), so I shouldn't judge her just from what she posts.
It's just my humble opinion folks that she has a long way to go in her money journey.  I just hate to see people make that journey to Money Valhalla even longer and more painful than is has to be.

I really need to sit down and figure out where the blog and my life by default is going in 2012.  I need to set some new goals and review old goals to see what still works for me and what I need to trash.
I also need to update/redo the blog list as it is sorely out of date.
In addition, I have to get rid of the Holiday theme and find something a tag more exciting than my green background.   Hopefully what I come up with won't hurt your eyes like a Mexican Bus....

Sluggy

The GREAT PURGE of 2011.....Final Numbers!

Longtime readers will remember I posted back in May of 2011 about my Great Purge of 2011.
The post is HERE.
That was when I posted my intention to Declutter my home/life BIGTIME in 2011.
I actually began sending loads to Salvation Army in February of 2011 and had already donated 3 carloads to charity by the time I publicly announced 2011 was The Year of the Purge.

I just finished going through all my paperwork in preparation for tax time later this month and here are the final results for The Great Purge of 2011.
*Now before you freak about when you see the amount of things I got rid of, remember that I was emptying a storage unit of merchandise as well as personal items in my home.

16 Loads of Stuff
OR
1,016 Items were donated to charity and left my house.

In addition.....
3 Loads of Food/Toiletries
OR
314 Items were donated to the local Food Bank.
(This doesn't include the items given to family in need.)

I know many of you enjoyed my Decluttering P*rn last year.
And I am here to tell you that you are in luck!

While I had a great year of getting rid of stuff at Chez Sluggy in 2011, the job is/was so massive that not everything that needs to leave has left yet.......
Meaning the Great Purge of 2011 is extending into the Great Purge of 2012!

Yes, another year of P*rn until it is all G.O.N.E.

I've already got half of a load ready to go to Salvation Army later this week....woohoo!

So stick around for more Decluttering P*rn here at "Don't Read This; It's Boring!".

I know some of my blogging friends were on the decluttering warpath at some point last year.....MARK and ALEX M. to name a couple.  They both did(or are doing)a fantastic job!  A round of applause to each of them. 8-)

So what about you?.....Did you declutter in 2011?
Do you need to declutter in 2012?

Why don't you join along and get rid of all that crap that isn't working in your life!
Just make a commitment and get moving on it!!
And once you start letting go of stuff, stop bringing more stuff in to replace it!
Yeah, it's kind of important to do that STOP buying/collecting part unless you just want to ALWAYS be intensely decluttering until you die.

Leave a comment about your decluttering successes of 2011 and your hopes and plans for 2012.
We all want to see your p*rn and cheer YOU on too!

Sluggy
 

Happy New Rite-Aid Year!

So this deal actually got me out of my warm jammies and into clothing to go to Rite-Aid in.lol

2 x Centrum ProNutrients supplements on sale BOGO50%off(reg. $12.29)=$18.43
2 x Colgate Optic White Toothbrush on sale $3.49=$6.98
1 x Oral-B Xaction Power White Toothbrush on sale=$5.99
SubTotal....$31.40

Coupons Used
2 x $5/1 ProNutrients IPQ(on red plum website)=$10.00
2 x $4/1 ProNutrients AdPerks/VV Q=$8.00
2 x $3/1 Colgate Optic White Toothbrush AdPerks/VV Q=$6.00
1 x $1/2 Colgate Toothbrush ManuQ(1/1 insert)=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Oral-B Power White Toothbrush ManQ(1/1 insert)=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$28.00

$31.40-$28.00=$3.40
I used $3 in +Up Rewards expiring this week and put the .40¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card.

I received $2 +Up Rewards back(wyb 2 ProNutrients).
I also qualified for $6.99 in Single Check Rebates--$2.99 for the Oral-B toothbrush and 2 x $2 for each ProNutrient supplements.

So I'm "down" $1 in +Ups but I'm getting $6.99 in cash back on this transaction......or I "spent" $1.40 in +Ups and gift card credit but Rite-Aid is paying me $6.99 in CASH for this stuff.  Either way you look at it, it works for me!lol


The Colgate toothbrushes and ProNutrients stuff qualify toward the BUY&SAVE $20+Up Resolution Reward.  Spend $100 in qualifying items and get a $20 +Up Reward back.  The amount is tracking on your receipt and this transaction got me to $25.  It actually should have been $25.41 so I'm thinking it's not recording increments less than $1?  Maybe it will roll over and record that .41¢ once I buy another .59¢ worth of qualifying product??

If you want to do this deal you'd better hurry because the ProNutrient SCR is only good on purchases made through 1/3/12, which is today!  It's still a good deal but you don't get $4 back unless you buy the supplements today.

Sluggy

December Food Spending Week 5, Meal Plan January Week 1

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.
Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  Some I look at surely stand up to being innovative and attractive even by today's standards, some are very "kitchy" lol now and then there are those that fall under the heading of "It SEEMED like a great idea at the time!".
With that I give you the Pepto-Bismol Nightmare Kitchen....

What was FORMICA thinking?lol
I guess the he-men who obviously ran that company in the 1950's were trying to appeal to the women's feminine side?
Egads!!
It's a cute novelty but imagine having to walk into that room every morning at 7 am and fix your family breakfast(not to mention having to spend more time in there throughout the day).  No wonder our mothers drank and took up prescription sedatives.....

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Ham, Rolls from scratch, Deviled Eggs, Rutabaga, Green Beans, Cranberry Glop, assorted pies

MONDAY--Leftovers

TUESDAY--Leftovers

WEDNESDAY--Date Night-I have a free dinner for 2 to Applebee's

THURSDAY--Leftovers

FRIDAY--Cheese Steaks

SATURDAY--Crudites and chips with dip, homemade Pizza-using dough Hubs picked up last week for cheap

Instead of 2 meals to prepare, I made 3 meals. The ONLY explanation for making myself do more work than I wanted/had to was yes, I got tired of eating leftovers. lol

We still have a substantial amount of ham leftover to use this coming week.  I used the hunk of bulk bought roast beef deli meat #1 son wanted me to buy before Christmas(and then he didn't eat)to make the cheese steaks the night #2 had a sleepover.  Whatever meat was left after that was frozen.  We still have some barbecue pork and homemade rolls left to use up this week.

The food spending was fairly low last week.

In all, we spent $72.82 last week at the grocery/drug stores.....well not really, we actually only spent about $45 last week.  But this $72.82 amount includes $27.35 I spent the 2nd and 3rd week in December at Rite-Aid.  I forgot to add this amount in earlier this month, so I just tagged it onto my spending at the end of December.
I made 4 trips to various stores.   Reg. retail of $475.08(including the Rite-Aid items)so I saved 84.61% last week(mostly due to the Rite-Aid savings)....without R-A items it would have been about 60%.

My Dec. food spending total was $307.74.  Just over my budgeted amount of $300 for the month.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers-Pizzas, BBQ

MONDAY--Ham, Harvard Beets, Mashed Potatoes, another green Veggie

TUESDAY--Fish, Wild Rice, Apple Salad

WEDNESDAY--Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

THURSDAY--Omelets,Fruit Salad, Toast or E. Muffins

FRIDAY--Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
SATURDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Onions, Ginger Carrots

Items needed for this menu.....Salad Greens, Eggs, Rigatoni, Fruit, Milk.  There are some fish deals locally so I make do a little stocking up on that item.  No other plans for food shopping this week at the moment.
For January I am going to keep the $300 Food Budget since the daughter will be home for almost all of this month.  February's budget will go down to $250 since it will just be 3 of us again.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge.....DECEMBER & 2011 Grand Total RESULTS

Ok, here is my last Savings Challenge Update post for 2011.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my DECEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with?.......$4,355.36!

Income
We had $4186.70 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $6.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses, $.84 in Interest on the Checking Account, $141.82 in dividends, and a refund of $20 on our car insurance rate toward the Savings Challenge & you get a total of $4355.36.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
This month we blew that goal out of the water, thanks to an extra paycheck.  8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in December......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went up only $71.....that's good seeing as the heat was on!

* The food spending was almost on budget at $307.74
* The water bill was $50.50.  This is low when all the kids are home(extra showers and laundry).
* There were no taxes due this month...yay!!
* I continued to consistently sell in my eBay store in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was $1750+.  Even though $350 of that was fees paid to eBay on sales there we were still over our usual $1000 average on the credit card bill.  No matter the amount of the bill, it is paid off in full each month, ALWAYS.

* $1180 in car maintenance/repair bills.  Seems every time we take a car in for oil change or regular maintenance they find something else. ugh.
* Had $85 in unexpected medical associated bills to pay. (Need I mention #2 son lost his retainer AGAIN after getting the 1st replacement 2 weeks before hand, so we had to pay for ANOTHER replacement. He's repaying us for it with his allowance.)
*  Still a LARGE amount of cash withdrawals by Hubs. I'm not complaining this month because some of it was him buying me Christmas presents. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.  We kept almost to the food budget amount again in December so I am calling it all good.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 12 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2011 is $34,461.31.
YES!
We blew our $32K Goal out of the water!!!

The extra paycheck in December gave us a hefty amount to tuck away after all the bills were paid AND left lots of room for Christmas indulgence!

So how did your savings go for the year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?
If you don't have the former, start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies.
If you have the latter, start living below your means NOW and put a smaller amount away for emergencies and use the rest of your leftover cash each month to pay down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.
It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your Deember financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy