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Archive for October, 2015

Open Enrollment

October 31st, 2015 at 02:49 am

My husband's open enrollment at his work ended just before mine started, so we had only estimates to compare.

Since he is one of those lucky people that NEVER needs a doctor and I am one of those that goes all the time (thyroid disease, etc), we figured it made sense to have him go through his insurance since he'd never make the deductible.

And I will put my daughter & myself onto my employer's insurance.

I also am planning to utilize every extra benefit that I can. This includes Medical coverage that also provides a contribution from my employer to my HSA of $1500. I am contributing $2500 to the HSA myself.

I am also utilizing the Family Care HSA. Daycare costs will be more than the $5k maximum it allows, so the HSA will be fully utilized in 2016. Work contributes 50 cents to every dollar, so I will put in $3333.33 over the course of the year and they will put in $1666.67. So basically - free money & pre-tax funds to use toward day care!

I am keeping my 401k contributions at 14%, with the 6% company match, that's 20% of the salary.

The increased costs for medical for the baby, increased HSA contributions and the daycare FSA will significantly decrease my take home pay, but in the long run, the savings will be worth it!

Household Frugality

October 23rd, 2015 at 05:30 pm

Our household expenses have skyrocketed lately - partially due to baby and part due to being home more. I am working hard to make every purchase be as productive as possible.

Target has a deal on toilet paper - I was able to get TWO packages of 48 Double Rolls for $29.25. They have a subscription promotion, I used my Redcard Debit card.

Then I used a $25 gift card I earned on a diaper deal from the other day. After all that, I paid $4.25 out of pocket for 96 double rolls of toilet paper. Can't beat that deal!

I also got a great deal on paper towels as well. Two Bounty Huge Rolls (set of 8)at discount for $26.59. I used a $20 gift card from my deal the other day, paying $6.59 out of pocket.

We still have $20 in Target gift cards from the Diaper deal. I am keeping an eye out for a good paper towels deal LOL

I also was notified by babies'r'us that their promotion for our Baby Registry has hit. They gave us a $169.38 gift card to use there by Feb 23, 2016. That will go a long way! We also still have $200 in BRU gift cards that we have been gifted. I hope to use them well.

Nice Target deal on diapers!

October 18th, 2015 at 10:23 pm

A site I follow shared a nice target deal on diapers!

I purchased 6 packs of diapers at $24.99, plus some diaper cream for $1.27. This gave me a total of $151.21

I then was eligible for a $25 gift card for spending $150 on baby items.

And eligible for $20 for buying 3 diaper packs at once. I earned this twice.

So my total of $151.21 was then reduced by $7.56 for using my Target Redcard (5% off). Final price $143.65 for 6 large boxes of diapers.

I used a $60 Visa gift card that we received as part of our baby shower and I earned $65 I Target gift cards.

Can't beat that deal!!

Alternative Income

October 18th, 2015 at 10:07 pm

I met my gifts/Christmas budget goal for 2015 and have started on 2016.

For the 2015 budget, the funds were made up of automatic savings of $60 per month, small amounts of cashflow and some from alternative income.

2015's alterative income has included:

$10 from Gyft
$350.69 Credit card rewards
$36.23 Ebates
$76 Chang jar
$20 Bing Rewards
$10 MyCokeRewards
$28.35 Settlement check
$49 insurance reimbursement
$40 inbox dollars
$25 Mypoints

TOTAL $645.27

Can't beat that!

Any further extra money is going to my 2016 Gifts/Christmas fund.

So far, I have:

1365 My Points (Goal 3500-3700)
332 Bing Rewards (Goal 475 for next $5 AGC)
2420 Recyclebank points (no goal exactly)
$10.20 Inbox Dollars (GOAL $30)
1572 Mycokerewards (Goal 1400 for $20 gc)
$6.61 Shopathome
$6.31 Ebates

My Oct, Nov & Dec's auto budget ($60/mo) is going directly into the 2016 fund for a nice jump start. I already had set aside some overtime funds as well. More family to buy for with all the new kiddos (my new little one, my sister-in-law's new baby, etc)

Payday!

October 18th, 2015 at 03:49 am

Yesterday was payday and because there is an extra paycheck this month, more went to non-normal expenses than the monthly ones.

After normal bills, doubling the grocery budget (due to extra baby expenses this month), gas, etc., I was able to:
-put $500 into the new home fund
-put $70 into the EF
-have $200 to new clothing.
-rollover $100 into baby savings (rolled over FB sale income)

Post-pregnancy, thanks to the gestational diabetes, I have lost 30 pounds between my pre-pregnancy weight and today. So I am down 2 jeans sizes & am in need of some new clothes before returning to work. A great problem to have!

Payday Last Week

October 8th, 2015 at 03:30 am

Last Friday was payday!

Normal bills get paid - car insurance, Netflix, electric and allotted amounts go to sinking funds (Personal/Beauty, Medical, Gifts, Auto, Vacation), and cash reserves are set aside for pet expenses, groceries, gas & entertainment...

I put $736 to the new house fund! big amounts still as there are no daycare expenses yet.

Need to remember how far I've come this year!

October 2nd, 2015 at 01:00 am

Lately, with all the new expenses and how much I am beginning to hate our current home, I am feeling a bit behind with our goals.

But we're not. And I just needed to look back at the changes over the year to see that!

In 2015,

I have:
-Paid off $15,019.95 in credit card debt that I came into the marriage with (Current CC Debt: $0)
-I paid off my car loan $1,595.93
-Purchased a crib $319.99
-Purchased a glider/ottoman $493.98
-Cash-flowed Gutter/Soffit Repairs $1933
-Cash-flowed car repair: $499.67
-Cash-flowed house painting $750


That is total change of $20,612.52 in debt/expenses

PLUS I have put $1500 into the New Home Fund YTD

*Please note that I say a lot of "I" because my husband and I have separate & joint accounts. He and I each wanted to pay off our debt from prior to the marriage. I don't have track of his debt payment, but he is almost done as well!

So what I need to remember, as of 10/1/2015, I have had a positive financial change in the amount of $22,112.52!!!!