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Archive for August, 2011

Lots of Deals and To-Dos!

August 30th, 2011 at 04:54 pm

I have had a lot of online 'savings' I have been working on recently - to lead up to some Christmas deals/gifts.

-My boyfriend & I Are movie nuts and go a few times a month to the movies. In an effort to control spending, I purchased Fandango dollars through my work employee benefits at 16% off. Not too shabby.

-Snapfish emailed me a deal where I send my online photo album to 5 friends & they will credit me 100 4x6 prints - this is great for a little photo book I was preparing for my mom. Will just have to pay shipping, I think.

-I found a deal with Amazon Video on Demand where if you tweet about the deal, they give you a $5 video on demand credit. This is great since I have a Roku box & can use Amazon VOD.

-I found a deal for a small Yankee candle $1.49 plus free shipping, then $1.49 rebate through a site that I use

-I have been maximizing my MyPoints offers by reading emails, signing up for newsletters (to my junkmail hotmail account for sign ups like this). I am at 3104 points & want to get to 3500 quickly!

- I plan on pausing my Netflix for the month of September. I will utilize the free (But mostly lame) channels on my Roku box & the library for my entertainment. I can pause my subscription for a few months, I think

- I am heading to Rite-Aid today. I found a deal on their Always pads/panty liners (sorry if TMI!) I have two $1 off coupons that expire today. Will essentially be getting them for 1/2 price

- I am utilizing a groupon I purchased a while back for a local Wine Shop. I stopped by yesterday & they were out ofth e wines that I wanted - so the owner personally extended my offer (it is set to expire) and invited me back today after the shipment comes. I plan on taking them up on it. I will be able to buy 3 very nice wines with the groupon. These are slightly higher quality & will go to my wine obsessed friends only Smile

- I am running back to Victoria's Secret. I have a coupon for a free pair of undies AND $10 off a purchase

So lots of savings today! I am working on my budget as payday is tomorrow and my Germany trip is in about two weeks. THings will be REALLY tight. I have to get on financial lockdown between now & the trip and for a while after!


***Edited to add the following***
-I also requested online a free sample of foodstorage. We will see if it comes in the mail
-Same with a free Welches fruit snack
-I registered to win a party for JOhnsonville Pizza. It would be awesome to win!
-I also found a deal with a new (to me) website much like Groupon except on a smaller scale. They have a $10 credit for joining & the daily deal today was a collapsable water bottle. I was able to buy FOUR bottles for $4.00 after using the credit. I have 4 specific friends in mind who would love this gift!

If anyone is interested in getting this or a similar deal through the site, let me know. I would only need your email to send you a link. I got my referral from a friend & she really recommends the site.

Many Accomplishments Today !

August 23rd, 2011 at 12:05 am

Today, in between work, I was able to accomplish a lot today!

-Called about a medical bill. Did all the legwork to prove THEIR error and still got the runaround. In the end, they confirmed I was right Smile Worth the 20 minutes on the phone

-Mailed 2 entries into an Acme sweepstakes. I had free envelopes & postage, so what can it hurt?

-Mailed a check for the water bill instead of paying a $1.50 online fee (don't you hate that?)

-Mailed a complaint letter to the CEO of Walmart. I tried contacting the store through email & a call to the store's manager, with no response in over a week. At this point, its absolutely ridiculous. So I wrote a letter regarding an incident where I was in line behind a woman who was berating the cashier (totally sympathize with the cashier at this point!). However when the customer left, it was my turn in line and instead of helping me, the cashier and the manager who had stepped in to help started a conversation where the cashier said "All customers are liars" and the manager agreed. What the heck? Ignore your next customer to degrade all the people who shop at your store? Hopefully the letter will turn into a teachable moment for those employees

-I listed a TON of stuff on Craigslist. I have only sold 1 DVD to a woman for $4.00, but it was so worth it to see her 7 year old daughter jumping up and down and screaming because she was getting The Dark Crystal Smile Totally made my & her day!

-I deposited $255 in cash towards my Germany trip as well as a $9.10 Ebates check. I had to laugh, when I picked up the mail coming back into the neighborhood, there was a $50.00 rewards check from Chase Smile

Lots Accomplished Today!

August 22nd, 2011 at 10:19 pm

It's only 4:30 pm & I have accomplished a lot (while at work!)

-Called about medical bill. Paid the copay back in March, but they keep billing me. I contacted the HSA to get info & insisted the doctor's office do their due dilligent. By being a little forceful, I was able to get them to fix the problem

-Listed a bunch of items on Craistlist: Movies, blankets, baskets, small tables. I have 2 meetings within 10 minutes of each other in the same place today to sell 2 of the dvds. $4.00 in hand. 1 person paid, 1 person no showed.

-Yesterday was a No SPENDER! The first in quite a while. The boyfriend made dinner & I got to relax. I even made sure to prep food for work & remembered to store it in his fridge, so I had breakfast, lunch & drinks and didn't have to shell out any money.

-I went to the library - had to pay a $1.00 fine - but picked up 2 movies: Winning Season & Rest Stop

-I mailed 2 entries to an Acme sweepstakes. Free envelopes & stamps, so it ever hurts Smile

-I mailed a complaint to Walmart's CEO. I had a terrible incident where a customer was harrassing an employee (which I sympathize with). However, when the customer left, the cashier & the manager who had been called over had a conversation, stating "all customers are liars". Cashier said it, Manager agreed. Right in front of me. I emailed customer service AND left a message for the store manager. With no response, I sent the letter. I just hope its a teachable moment for those employees.

-I stopped by the bank & deposited cash saved towards the Germany trip ($255) plus $9.10 Ebates check. When I got back home, I found a $50 rewards check from Chase. Oh well, will deposit later on!

-Tonight, I am staying in. There will be some cleaning, some lounging and some making of dinner Smile

Great weekend, To-Do list, Meal Planning

August 21st, 2011 at 07:24 pm

I'm having a great weekend. I didn't get much of my To-Do list done, BUT I did get lots of Me time & much needed rest.

Friday, I fixed a coworker's WorkAtHome access. Only took me a few minutes & I got a beer out of the deal Smile Afterwards, I was able to come home & enjoy some dvds from the library and shows on the dvr while decluttering my kitchen.

Saturday, I did some grocery shopping & was able to score some good deals. I took an inventory of the pantry, freezer & fridge and made a meal plan.

Sat night, my BF came over & we watched the Original Fright Night and I made dinner. Used up frozen breaded chicken patties,pasta sauce from & a 1/2 box of macaroni noodles from the pantry & some mozzerella, green beans & salad from the fridge.

This morning, I made breakfast from stuff in the fridge & pantry. I have been doing some organizing & cleaning, prepped food to pack to work this week, and am resting before going to my boyfriend's house for our weekly True Blood Dinner with our friends.

Hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did Smile

Weekend, To-Do List & Meal Planning

August 21st, 2011 at 06:28 pm

I haven't gotten everything I wanted to off the To-Do list this weekend. But I have accomplished what I needed, which was getting some serious downtime.

Friday I went to a coworker/friend's after work & helped fix a problem with her computer. Payment was in beer, it only took 5 minutes Smile

Then I went home and did some kitchen decluttering & laundry & watched a bunch of library movies & DVR'd shows!

Saturday, I did some grocery shopping & then took an inventory of my fridge, freezer & pantry. Did some meal planning! I am out of grocery funds Smile

Saturday night, the BF came over. We watched the original Fright Night on dvd. I made dinner with breaded chicken patties I found in the freezer & a half box of macaroni noodles & pasta sauce from the pantry. Salad from the farmer's market trip. He supplied ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

This morning, I made scrambled eggs with cheese & hashbrowns and tonight I will be getting a nice dinner at his place, so we're even Smile

I am spending the day watching DVR/Netflix doing some organizing, paperwork & cleaning. Heading to my parents to pick up something then to the his place to hang out before dinner.

Just finished prepping a bunch of food for this week! Some partially prepped, some fully.

Breakfasts and morning snacks:
3 servings almonds (Mon-Wed)
5 servings strawberry yogurt (Mon-Fri)
5 servings celery & carrots with ranch dip (2 made, 3 to be made) (Mon-Friday)
4 servings cottage cheese (Mon-Thurs)

Lunches/Afternoon snacks:
Salad with macaroni leftovers (Mon)
Salads (Tues-Fri)
Leftover breaded chicken patties (Tues, Thurs)
Tuna sandwiches (to be made )(Thurs-Fri

Meal Plan for Dinners: Will be home for dinner Mon, Wed, and Thurs
Chicken taco salad
Shake n Bake chicken & potatoes
Chicken patty & macaroni (leftovers)

Game Plan for the Weekend!

August 19th, 2011 at 06:09 pm

The weekend is upon us! I have been running around a LOT lately. Little social butterfly Smile I have purposefuly cancelled plans tonight just to be able to get stuff down at home.

I have (fun) obligations this weekend. Date night with the boyfriend Saturday. I am planning on cooking & we are going to watch the original Fright Night & then Fright Night 2. We loved the movie as kids & are looking forward to seeing the remake. I own the movie on dvd, so this will be a frugal night in!

Sunday night will be our True Blood Dinner with friends. I will have to bring something for it, but I have no idea what it will be yet!

So tonight, I have a few goals.

1. Eat dinner at home
2. Enjoy some netflix/dvr/library movies
3. Give self a pedi
4. Start cleaning bedroom
5. Finish laundry
6. Groom Cats
7. Go to bed early!

Getting back into the swing - $ odds/ends

August 18th, 2011 at 08:24 pm

Well, yesterday I paid all of my bills and I am now left with entertainment & grocery spending between now & the 31st. Fun!

I went to Acme with some coupons - 1 manaufacturer and 2 Acme (for their rebranding of Everday Essentials pasta & sauce).

I purchased:
vinegar
1 jar EE pasta sauce
2 boxes EE whole wheat pasta
4 cans Progresso soup
1 large bag of chips
1 box Barilla pasta
...
For a total of $8.27 after coupons. And when I got home I realized that one of the soups didnt get bagged. So I will be going back for it!

I have $28.66 left in my grocery budget (which is fine because I will only need veggies/fruit/dairy.

I have $59.27 left in entertainment. I am definitely looking to add to this - I have a weekend at a friend's house next weekend. But thats plenty of time to list & sell some stuff on Craigslist!

I am packing my lunch and will continue to do so through September. I am working to sell a bunch of things to add cash to my spending money for Germany next month.

I also have another potential roommate coming to look at my place today. SHe's a friend of a friend & needs a new place as our friend is getting married. SHe would move in around the beginning of October.

Additionally - I received an Ebates check for $9.10. This is going to the Germany fund!

MyPoints & Today's spending

August 16th, 2011 at 12:56 am

I don't normally talk about the things I do to earn extras, but I have to give a shout out to MyPoints. The site is easy to join. You sign up, recieve a few emails a day, open then & click the link to the referred site. No actual purchases necessary & as the points (usually 5 per email) add up, then you can redeem for a gift card.

I was looking over the site tonight & realized that they have stats for me. I have been a member for 4 years and in that time, I have earned 17,725 points & redeemed 14,750. To give you an idea, a $25 gift card is usually roughly 3750 points.

If anyone is interested in joining, please give me your email & I will be happy to send you a referral!

And for the 2nd part of my post: Today, I went grocery shopping at Acme ($15.41) and Walmart ($24.93). The Walmart total includes 2- 40 lb bags of kitty litter! I stocked up Smile

Coming off a 10 day Staycation!

August 15th, 2011 at 04:38 pm

So I was on vacation all last week, plus the prior Friday. My big vacation trip is next month (Oktoberfest in Germany!) So this vacation was very low key.

Friday the 5th, I had lunch with my parents (free) & my nephew, mowed their lawn & vegged at home that night. WAtched a few movies off Netflix/from the library

Saturday the 6th - I went to a winery for an event. $10 to get in, $8.00 for a specialty drink & $15 to purchase a bottle of wine. I packed food and my friends & I shared a picnic, enjoyed the band & scenery.

SUnday the 7th - BBQ at the boyfriend's and then watched True Blood with friends.

Monday the 8th - Lunch with my college roommate and her daughter (free - Since her daughter's 3, I went to their house for sandwiches. I brought cookies leftover from the winery picnic). In the afternoon, I went canoing with my nephew (age 10). It was a very uncoordinated, but FUN effort ($3 to get into the park, $8 for the rental.) I Stayed in that night & did some cleaning.

Tuesday the 9th - Went for a 2 hour hike & picnic with 3 friends & a dog Smile It was beautiful weather. THat evening, I met another friend for 2 for 1 tickets at the movies ($6.00 total for both tickets) and then half price burgers at a local restaurant ($5-ish)

Wednesday the 10th - Saw the Help with friends. Read the book, loved the movie ($8)! We went out to lunch after ($15). THat evening, my boyfriend came over & we watched a movie from the library.

Thursday the 11th - Ran errands, packed & left for the beach. My boyfriend's roommate had invited 8 of us down to his parent's beach house. BF & roommate had to work Friday, but it was from home, so they could do that at the beach. I spent about $35 on alcohol to contribute to the parties. The host's mom had been at the beach house earlier in the day & had left us chicken & beef stew for diner, so no cooking!)

Friday the 12th - while the boys worked, the rest of us had a light breakfast, then played tennis at the community's court (Free). We then went to the pool (free), ordered lunch ($8 for a sub) and hung around. THat evening, we made tacos & played board games (I had brought 2). We made some drinks, played some music, danced around and just had tons of fun. We had several cameras & videos going Smile

SAturday the 13th - We made a big breakfast, slept in. After breakfast people split up - some went to the beach, some the tennis courts, I stayed and had a much needed nap! Haha. Afterwards, I went to the pool & read for a while. That night, we got dolled up & went to the resort town at the beach. Cabbed it in & back, but had a blast!

Sunday, we had a leisurely breakfast, then all headed home except for the boyfriend & I. We were meeting one of his friends for lunch about a half hour away. We had a drink at the bar while waiting, then we got a call that the friend & her husband were stuck in traffic. So we ended up having lunch & leaving. It was nice ($40)

That night, we went back to the boyfriends for our weekly True Blood Dinner. We were all too tired to cook, so we ordered in. BF paid for dinner as I picked up the lunch tab Wink

Today, I am back to work with a HUMUNGOUS to-do list. Instead of 5 THings, I need to get about 15 done. And I am going to make it work! haha.

1. HOA chores (Est 1/2 hour of time needed)
2. Rent free movie from redbox promo [DONE]
3. Email about mypoints to friend, email friend of a friend about possibly renting the spare room when this roommate moves out at the end of next month [DONE and DONE]
4. Budget (today was payday)
5. Grocery shop [DONE]
6. Make meal plan [DONE]
7. Find passport in paperwork
8. Laundry-wash bathroom rugs [DONE]
9. Clean bedroom
10. Clean, polish furniture in basement. take pictures for sale
11. Xmas plan (Update budget)
12. Pack gym bag & library bag
13. Make lunch for tomorrow and prep for other lunches [DONE]
14. Change cat litter
15. Watch Redbox movie [DONE]
16. Grab coupons & magazines from Mom's house [DONE]
17. Post mail
18. MyPoints - get points, refer friends [DONE]
19. Clear Home Email [DONE]
20. Research breadmaker
21. Sort stuff for GoodWill [DONE]
22. Take inventory of stuff roommate left behind
23.
Lastly: Get to bed early (Ha!)