For Sonya Ann....CVS Trip!

So last month I went to CVS and got this........

I went back yesterday as it was expiring today to spend it and here is what I got..........

Finding decaffeinated tea bags at a good price is rough here so I jumped on this Spend $9 on Lipton or Hellman's and get $3 in ECB Deal.
After sale price of $3 a box and coupons worth $2.50 total and using my $5 ECB I spent $1.50 OOP and earned a $3 ECB.
**Just updated this to say that I'll get .40¢ of my OOP back as I have a Lipton offer in my SavingStar account, so $1.10 OOP after that rebate.**

Great!
Now I had to find a way to use this one!! lolz

The CVS kiosk spit out a $2.50 off Colgate toothpaste coupon and a $1.50 off $5 if you buy nuts coupon.
Now how to use some of this and get something I need/want, use this $3 ECB and keep my OOP lowish.

Before leaving home to go to CVS, I went to the CVS website and printed a few Qs I "might" need and then checked out a CVS Deal website to see what the Kiosk was printing out this week.

I put together a game plan while in the store and bought this stuff.........

1 x GE Abound unsalted cashews=$6.99
1 x GE Abound nut bar=$1.49
1 x Colgate toothpaste on sale=$3.00
3 x AG cards .99¢ea.=$2.97
SubTotal.......$14.45

Coupons Used
1 x $1.50 wyb $5 in GE nuts CVSKioskQ=$1.50
1 x $2/2 GE Abound CVSQ from website=$2.00
1 x $2.50/1 Colgate toothpaste CVSKioskQ=$2.50
1 x .50¢/1 Colgate toothpaste IPQ=.50¢
1 x $2/3 AG Greeting Cards CVSQ=$2.00
1 x $3 ECB from the Lipton tea I just bought=$3.00
Coupon Total........$11.50

$14.45-$11.50=$2.95+.10¢tax=$3.05 OOP

And then, just when I thought I was free of CVS, this spit out on my receipt........

Another $2 ECB!!! ack

Well, at this point I was done with CVS for the day so I put this in my coupon pouch and went home.
I have a month to come back and spend this before it expires.
I just didn't have anything left in my drugstore arsenal.  Now if PA was a place that the CVS stores have liquor you could buy like Sonya Ann's does......

I could have found something to buy EASY! lolz

So I am out $4.55 cash for all these purchases and have a $2 ECB to use.

Oh well......I guess I'll be CVSing another day..........

Sluggy

January To-Do List Outcome

Let's take a look at how I did with my January To-Do List.

JANUARY

* Inventory Stockpile FAIL  It has been too cold to spend long stretches of time out in the garage so this item goes onto Feb.'s list.

* Un-Decorate DONE

* Put Away Xmas Stuff DONE

* Take CB back to School  DONE

* Finish analyzing bills paid in 2015 and chart DONE  Most line items of spending were down in 2015 compared to 2014.  Nothing worrisome of note but all insurance and tax categories were all more in 2015 than in 2014, which is not surprising.  Another post on this point at a later date will surely appear on the blog.

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything paid and on time.  'Nuff said.....

* Bike 50 Miles DONE

Smashed that goal and biked 71.25 miles

* Sew hems on 2 Nightgowns  DONE  Now I have 2 new long sleeved nightgowns for the Winter and just in time for the cold.

* Start Taxes x 4(Fed, State x 2)  DONE partly Federal is done, CB's Federal mostly done(waiting on him to get me a figure on something).  Hadn't been able to do state taxes yet as forms were not available earlier in Jan.  This part continues onto Feb.'s list.

* Start Food Bank Donation(toiletries) DONE  I finished both the toiletries gathering and the food gathering.  Now I just have to inventory what I have to take up and lug it into the car so I can take it in.

* Reorganize Fabric Stash DONE I pulled out lots of pieces of fabric to donate to SA in December.  As a result the stash was quite higgledy-piggledy.  I went in and neatened and reorganized what is left on the shelves.

* Hold Giveaway DONE Giveaway is currently running and why haven't you entered yet?!?
Go HERE and remedy that right now!  8-)

* Read 2 Books DONE I finished 2 books- one I got at the thrift stores while visiting Sonya Ann in IL and the other was bought at Ollie's discount store for cheap.  One was a Biography of Cole Porter, the other was a novel called "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry".  The Cole Porter one was slow going through some of it but if you want to know everything there is to know about Mr. Porter's life go read it.

* Plan 2016 Goals DONE  And posted HERE.

* Plan Travel for 2016  ON HOLD  There are some things up in the air around here and with my family so I am having to put the Travel Plans on hold for now.  I have tentative ideas but I can't book anything or have Hubs mark his work calendar for time off until  some things get settled.  We have at least 2 trips in the works for 2016 but that is as much as I can say at this point, one of which may include some family business and not just all pleasure.
Will revisit this To-Do Item at the end of Feb.

* Celebrate my Birthday DONE  
Me blowing out candles.  Hubs bought a teeny tiny cake the weekend after my birthday.

Puffed out cheeks for blowing is NOT a good look on me. lolz

So we did a decent job on knocking off the items on the January To-Do List.
One point gets put on hold and another gets continued into February.

Now it's onward into the wilds of February!

What would you like to accomplish this month?

Sluggy

February 1st 2016 Net Worth Snapshot

We are $6,524.55 up from last month's net worth(only liquid cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).  Over $2300K of that if due to savings put away in January from our household accounts.  The other almost $4200K is from our retirement/investment account gains.

We are also $102K up from one year ago, the January 1st of 2015 net worth snapshot.

Once Hubs retires I will miss these little monthly look backs, when we move from acquisition mode with money to spend-down mode. ;-)

Sluggy

Frugal Shopping Lately.....Kohl's & Rite-Aid

I had a $10 in Birthday Rewards from Kohl's that was expiring Jan. 31st plus a 20% off Q, so Hubs and I went up to Kohl's on Saturday to look around.
Here's what we got.........

1 x Bob Marley T for College Boy
2 x Vans shorts for College Boy
1 x Men's Dress Shirt for Hubs

After clearance pricing and additional 20% off all 4 came to $16.59.
After using my $10 reward I paid $6.59 for all!

$50 Vans shorts for $1.44 each?  Yes!!
Hubs shirt came out to $1.40 and the t-shirt was $2.31.
I used a tiny portion of a $25 Kohl's gift card I got at Rite-Aid last year(which gave me free Plenti points).

Savings of $161.41.
Yah, like I'd ever pay full retail for this stuff........*snort*

Speaking of Rite-Aid.....and when am I NOT speaking of Rite-Aid....lolz.....

This week starts the Rite-Aid February "Big Point Event"(BPE).  You get Plenti Points at various points along the way to spending $200.  The first threshold is spend $100, Get $20 in Plenti Points.

Here is what I bought so far that count toward the BPE.

4 x Suave Gold 'Poo and Conditioners on sale 2/$6=$12.00
2 x Suave Green bottle 'Poo on sale=$6.00
2 x Tresemme 'Poo/Conditioners on sale=$8.00
2 x GE light bulbs on sale=$7.98
1 x Chloraseptic drops on sale(20% wellness disc. better)=$4.23
2 x CeraVe cream(20% wellness disc.=$6.63)=$13.26
1 x Axe Deo on sale=$4.49
*I also used a rain check for Bic mechanical pencils..$1.00
SubTotal............$56.96

Coupons Used
2 x Suave Gold BOGOFree ManuQ(up to $2.88 ea.)=$5.76
1 x $3/2 Suave Gold ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $2/2 Suave green bottles ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $3/2 Tresemme ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $1.50/1 Chloraseptic item R-A FBQ=$1.50
1 x $1/1 Chloraseptic item IPQ=$1.00
1 x $4/1 CeraVe item ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 CeraVe item ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Axe Deo ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2 OYNO CatalinaQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Bic writing items ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$28.26

$56.96-$28.26=$28.70+$1.12 tax=$29.82

I used $29.82 in Plenti Points and earned $26.00 in new Plenti Points(2 x $4 Dove/Tresemme, 2 x $3 GE light bulbs, $4 Chloraseptic, $8 CeraVe) so I am "down" $3.82 in Points and have $55.96 tracking toward $100 in spending for the first $20 in BPE Plenti points reward.

I also activated Saving Star account rebates for $4.00(.50¢ Axe Deo, $1.50/2 Suave green bottles, $2/2 Suave gold)so my transaction is now a .18¢ moneymaker.  8-)

I went back this morning and got another Chloraspetic drops and 2 Colgate toothpastes.
After sale prices, coupons and tax that order came to $8.21 and I received $8 in Plenti Points back(1 x $4 Chloraspetic, 2 x $2 Colgate).
I now have $66.17 tracking toward the $100 spending.

Then I used my son's card to buy all this.........

All the same deals(though I bought different products for the Unilever/Dove/Tresemme Deal)plus I also bought 2 x Colgate toothbrushes and stacked 2 x $2/1 in-ad Qs with the $1/2 Colgate toothbrush ManuQ from Sunday's paper.
Plenti points used with $1.75 tax......$39.64
Plenti points earned......$26.00

I also will get $6 in rebates from SavingStar($3/2 Dove hair care, $3/2 Noxzema cleaner)so earned the equivalent of $32, spent $39.64 so all this "cost" me $7.64.
I now have $57.89 tracking toward the $100 spending on this card to get the $20 BPE Reward.
I figure as long as I don't "spend" over $12.36 to get $42.11 more toward tracking products all this will be free.  8-)

And here is a little video about what I bought at Weis(PMITA)Markets today as well.
Lots of deals on soup, mac and cheese, chili, gum and condiments using sale prices/deals this week at Weis plus using coupons.
64% savings rate and 10 more gas points?
I'll take it.  ;-)




 What have you gotten for a good price lately?

Sluggy

2016 $38K Savings Challenge.....January Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings or these other categories.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account.

For 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $38,000 this year, $10K more than my goal for last year.

I have reconsidered and changed my Goal from $40K to $38K for 2016.  With some things coming down the pike this year I thought it prudent to back up my Goal a couple of thousand.  8-)

On to the January report.....

I have posted my January End of Month $38K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

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 $3,333.33.

I have to report that we finished up January with a goodly amount leftover but not my target amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of January with?.......$2,462.76

Income

We had $2,192.83 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in January totaled $269.93.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, a per diem and blogging revenue received that month.

This brought us to our gain of $2462.76
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this January, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges, water bill and internet were approximately the same as last month.
*  The electric bill was only up $126.69 from last month's bill.  With electric heat this is an amazing total for heat and lights, etc. for January in northern, mountainous PA. Our lowest January electric bill up til now was $359.28.  We beat that by $35+ this year.
*  The cash withdrawals were down $300 from December's totals.
*  The gas card was down by $37.53 in January.  This will mean higher c/c charges in Jan. as some gas was put on that card instead of the gas card.
*  Medical payments were down $340.12 from last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS(and the not so bad)
.
*  The credit card bill was up $492.64 from last month.  Some of this is Christmas spending, some medical and some College Boy's books for the semester.
*  There was a Discover bill to pay.
*  There was a Kohl's bill to pay.
*  I paid 3 months of garbage service ahead.  Usually I pay this semi-annually or annually in one big payment sometime in the first half of the year,  but in 2016 I will be making quarterly payments instead.

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.

January was a fairly expensive month for us, especially since all medical expenses are paid out of pocket as we haven't met our high deductible for the insurance yet in this calendar year.  This will continue into February.
We also had high credit card usage in late Dec./early Jan. so that bill was a bit more than I had planned.
Even with everything accounted for we did fairly well on our spending in January.

With 1 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $2,462.76.

Final thoughts on January---
Even with increased Holiday spending and medical costs we saved a substantial amount.
And compared to January 2015 we put nearly one thousand more into savings this January.

THOUGHTS going forward into February----

Big irregular bills due this month are car insurance and the medical bills(for once they are NOT mine!lolz but Hubs and Daughter)which will be paid totally out of pocket.  The medical is already at $1600+ for Feb. and Daughter's bills haven't arrived yet.  I think we may max out our HD in Feb. at this rate. 8-(
There is no travel or planned extra spending so far for February so I hope we can stash away at least $1K this month.
Only time will tell though.....

So how was your January financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in January?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

As we go forward into 2016 why not make this new year the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you don't already now or increase what you bank now for your future self.
Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy