Hemorrhaging money...

Argh. Between double rent in June (new place's lease starts June 1, current lease ends June 30), and all my other responsibilities, I had to take $1500 of my emergency fund/school money out, leaving me with $7780 instead of my lovely $9200. Gone are my aspirations of a $12000 goal in the wake of all my impending costs.

1) I bought camping gear in May. Good deal, yes. Needed (for school), yes.
$300. I do love my tent, sleeping bag, and backpack, though--well worth it. sleeping pad and tent footprint to go.

2) Routine car maintainance turned into my annual very-used car tax. $416 for oil change, rear wheel brake cylinder replacements, a/c recharge, two new tires, and rotation, in addition to regular fluid checks. I usually spend about $1k a year maintaining my 98 Neon. That's like an $85 car payment a month, no interest. It got 31 mpg the past two weeks! not bad at all.

3) My phone died, 2 weeks from when I was due for a $100 voucher for a new one. argh!!! I'm going on vacation in a week, so I can't go without one til then...and I was in the field doing work, so I needed a phone. So, I had to buy one out of pocket. Another $110.

4) Boyfriend's bday coming up. Another $100 (plus dinner).

5) Stupid scam of a rental place. $118.

6) Car registration due. $120.

7) Extra month's rent. $500

TOTAL extraneous purchases: $1664!!!!

Oh my Lord! Over a whole paycheck's worth of extra expenses in one month. That is insane. and that didn't include my plane ticket to VA/NYC in June or my expenses in NYC on vacation! Hopefully July will get back on track a bit and I can recover the $1500 I now owe my emergency/school fund.

Also, I have a few things cooking besides my deal of the week gimmick.

1) I'm trying not to go to the grocery store for as long as possible--this means I'm eating up all the extra stuff in my fridge/freezer/cabinet. This also saves me the time and effort of transporting it to the new place later in June.

2) I'm cashing out my coins. I put all my coins in a jar or in my car. It's time to break that sucker out and get an extra $25.

3) I'm expecting my $50 cash back from my cc. $25 AMEX from using Thrifty. $45 or more from fatwallet, $20 from ebates, and several gift cards from cashing in hotel points.

4) I may come up with more, like deals for applying for credit cards, or cashduck or something, I don't know.

Wish me luck!

Deal of the Week!

Unfortunately, I didn't have any coupons that match up with any free stuff this week, but that's my fault. One thing I've learned--keep ALL coupons that haven't expired, you never know what you may get paid to buy.

This week, luckily, CVS is having a sale on RGX body spray for men--the sale is for $3.99 but you get $4.99 back in ECB's--effectively, they are paying me a dollar to buy it. I plan on doing this with both of my cards and making $2. Some lucky guy at Goodwill or homeless shelter will use the RGX's, I'm sure.

update

so my bf and i signed our lease for our new place this past weekend. I'm so excited! I finally have a place of my own (almost), plus I get to live with someone I like, have someone to keep me company, keep rent prices down, and provide protection.

also...my rent decreased by $80 bucks/mo, my electricity bill will go down by $30 a month due to solar panels, my gas bill will go down because my work commute will decrease by 8 miles each way, and I'm shopping around for internet/cable deals (we may not get cable at all).

that should help offset medical insurance and other incidentals that will INCREASE once i'm in school/not living where I am currently.

Oh! and I did my deal of the week

Stay-free is free after ECB this week at CVS, I used a $1 coupon, so I effectively received one dollar for buying it! Yay!

Gift Card Mania!

Oh my goodness. I had to take the stack of gift cards OUT of my wallet and into my messenger bag I carry around with me everywhere, because my wallet was getting impossible to close! Here's a good inventory:

-$30 Longs gift card (received today for my prescription transfer (which cost me a $25 copay--that's the way to do it, in my opinion--make money off of medical expenses.). Action: to be saved for school

--$30 REI gift card, received for opening an REI credit card. Action: to be used to subsidize the rest of my camping gear (sleeping pad, footprint for my tent, etc.)

--$50 in Von's gift cards, from redeeming hotel points, Action: to be saved for school

--$25 in Express gift card, received when I complained about crappy customer service (they didn't allow me to redeem a coupon, even though it was perfectly valid) Action: to be redeemed when I 'need' clothing or get a hankering for shopping when I'm in the doldrums when I'm in school

--$75 in Target gift cards, from redeeming hotel points, gotten through work, Action: to be used while I'm in school

--$10 Subway gift card, received at Christmas Action: I think I'll save this for school, as well.

Expecting: another $25 from points accumulated during this week's stay at a hotel, plus another $50 coming from my credit card points, plus $25 from a promotion that Thrifty rent-a-car is doing: rent a full-sized car and use an AMEX to pay for it, and get $25 AMEX gift card. But I won't count those until I've received them. Total in gift cards: $220 Total plus expected: $320. !!!

That is fabulous. I especially like that I've got myself covered for groceries (von's), drug store items (Long's), clothing (Express), camping (REI), and other random items (Target). That should get me by for at least a couple of weeks if I play it right, just long enough to get my next paycheck if I'm in a pinch. So--yet another emergency fund on top of my normal one.

In the next couple of months, I should be able to gather more and more of them--$30 gift cards from transferring my prescription every month, and $50 every time I get enough points on my cc, and at least $25 every time I stay in a hotel for a week.

Wow, it's exhausting, but it's amazing the ways you can find to make a little extra money, WHILE living your life virtually the same way. I've now found a way to make my field outings (both hotel stays and car rentals) more profitable--and also my prescriptions--and also my everyday purchases--and also my online purchases!

Out like a bandit

So i'm trying to make up for my collosal mistake of trusting and giving my hard-earned money to that bogus rental place.

I was able to get all this at CVS, and they paid ME .50 cents in the end!

2 packs of 4 rolls of CVS toilet paper, 2.49 each
Revlon colorstay lip gloss 9.99
Revlon blush 9.29
Revlon nail files 1.29

Total: $25.55

Used: $3 off Revlon product
coupon for buy one CVS product, get one free
1 coupon for $5 off a $20 order at CVS
6.54 ECB's
Total: 8.52, plus tax, which came to 9.41 paid out of pocket, BUT:

got: $10 ECB for buying $20 worth of Revlon products
another coupon for $5 off purchase of $20 or more

Next week there's another money-maker, you get stayfree pads for free after ECB's. There is a coupon for $1 out there, so they will pay me $1 to get a product I already use!

My bf thinks this is a waste of my time, but honestly, I have fun doing it, and when I don't go crazy trying to get a deal, I only lose time. I don't even lose gas because the CVS is across the street from me and I walk over unless I'm also getting groceries next door. he thinks I should be spending my time researching stocks, but I don't have the extra money to buy stocks right now--when I max out my 401K and roth ira in the future, and have extra money, THEN I will look into buying stocks and having taxable accounts. these money-making schemes of mine are inching (ok, micromillimetering) me along to getting to that point. I'm not only making 50 cents or an extra dollar a week, I'm also getting a product I already use for free. I think that's a good distinction--if I can cut down my expenses on all the stuff I have to buy for daily use (shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, toilet paper...), I can save more and spend more on stuff I feel is WORTHY of my money. I hate wasting money on crap I don't get much enjoyment out of...a dollar a week is 52 bucks a year, which is a good dinner out. Add in the savings for the stuff I'm getting for free and don't have to buy, and I'm getting a good vacation out of the deal each year!

If I can just start doing this with my groceries, I would be home-free. $250 a month is way too much to spend on food. I basically use it for fuel, because since I had mono three years ago I can't taste much anymore. It's really too bad, but it keeps me slim, and from overeating junk food, so I can't complain too much.

Yeah, we got tricked!

So this company required $118 to view this perfect house we wanted to rent. They say it's available, even though their website says it isn't, so with their assurances we go ahead and fax over our infomation and a rental application.

They send me back an email with a list of rental properties that DO! NOT! INCLUDE! the property we wanted. I immediately called them and they say it must have been rented already. Really?! I tell them I want my money back since we were misled. They keep saying that they will find us a place, blah blah blah, but I'm not having it. I finally get the woman to say that she can void it out, but I need to call back a little later.

I call back later, and they say that it's policy that they can't since we signed a contract.

At this point, i am just frustrated beyond belief. I went home to workat 3, since I couldn't stand to be at work, which is stressful in itself.

So that was Tuesday. Yesterday, my bf took the reins since he knew I was just out of gas on this and arranged 4 viewings. Two of them were fabulous places, and another one is one we could see ourselves in but wasn't exactly right, so he did very good overall. We hadn't found anything remotely good in the ten or so places we'd seen so far.

We decided last night that this place 5 miles from work is pretty perfect, so we jumped on it and sent in our application last night. Hopefully we get it, but it's ok if we don't, because there's at least one more property in this complex for rent at this price.

this place is toward the expensive end of my in-school budget, but it fits. It is nestled towards the mountains near the city and we will get a great view driving toward it after work. It also feels comfortable and like home. I could immediately picture myself there, and it had that certain 'X' factor--a knot in my stomach that I didn't know was there untangled itself after I looked around it a bit. It also has alot of what we wanted--parking spaces, a washer-dryer in unit, 2 bed, 2 baths of equal (large) size, and close to work (no garage, but my awesome bf was willing to overlook his priority because I loved it so much). Also--and this is a great bonus--the energy is supplied by solar panels at the complex, so our energy bills will be a mere $20/mo, even if we blast the A/C! Sweet!

the landlords are a couple that owns the condo, which is much better than a realty or big non-personal corporation.

Cross your fingers and hope we get it!!

In the meantime, I have to call that rip-off place and get a half-refund. !

Scheisse, it's a scam

So my bf and I are looking for places...and believe me, it's getting incredibly stressful, even after only two weeks of looking. I am constantly perusing craigslist, backpage, and rent.com for suitable living quarters, calling people that never call back, or making an appointment to see a place and then they don't show up, etc. It. is. tiring. My bf and I get annoyed with each other a little more often, and it makes me wonder if we are suited to live with each other, even if we have our own rooms/bathrooms.

So, I happen to check c-list at work today at lunch, and there is a fantastic place, in our price range, what we want and more, AND in a neighborhood that we've driven through and deemed highly desireable. I called a mere hour after it was posted. Score, right?

No.

It turns out the only way to see this place is to go to this rental agency that charges $118 for two people to apply/see places/etc. They have a database of listings and we have access to all of it--we don't have to pay application or credit check fees for any places at all after that first fee is paid. If we don't find a place, they keep $50. Is this a good deal or not?? Is this place worth it? What if we don't get it?

Also, we went to the rental place after work and the girl (different from the one I talked to on the phone earlier) made a mistake and said the one we wanted wasn't available. So we got home and checked c-list--it was still up, and when we called the office again, the lady said it was available! wtf?? Then, we went to the website and it said it was available, just for 98 bucks more than they had it listed for in the first place.

omg. driving me crazy!!! Is this a scam or what? I am not thinking it is worth paying that just to have them yank our chain and dangle the carrot in front of our noses.

A new way my employer pays me...

Every little bit counts, is my new philosophy! I'll do anything nowadays to save a few cents. It makes those times when I do stupid things balance out.

So I had this master plan to get my camping gear from REI through ebates, thereby getting an extra 3% back. Awesome. But then tonight I had an epiphany...what if I booked my hotel stays for work through ebates or fatwallet (they work the same way, from what I can tell)? So I looked online for staying in the same place I normally do and booking through hotels.com on fatwallet, I can get 4% back! No way! Tomorrow I'm rebooking my hotel for the week of May 20 through fatwallet/hotels.com. With this, I will get over $25 back! This is in addition to the hotel points that I accrue by staying at this place! I can redeem my points to get a $25 gift card every time I spend a week at this particular hotel. So, in addition to getting food for a week, I get an extra $50! This is a spectacular find.

I only wish I discovered all of this sooner. I keep wishing that I had never been in debt--given what I've saved in the past 4-5 months, imagine what I could have done over the past 2 years! and while my rent was $575 or $615 a month! I imagine I would have an amazing payment for a new-to-me car by now, have saved up a huge amount in my 401K and Roths, have a great emergency fund that didn't double as my back to school fund, enough to travel to a few places I've been meaning to, and, almost absolutely, have enough to quit my job for a few months to pursue other career possibilities.

What a waste of time!

My secret stash of money

I have a secret: I don't charge ALL of my purchases. Sometimes, I feel guilty for charging a lunch here, a snack there, or other small but not-necessary item. So, what I do to alleviate the guilt is to take $250 cash out every 3-4 months and use that cash to pay for the guilty pleasures. Once the pay period that I took the money out of is over, I don't even think about the cash, and it just sits in my wallet until a small 'want' occurs.

I know it would make more sense to just charge the item and earn 1% cash back on it, and put the $250 into my savings to earn interest, but doing it this way alleviates my guilt and basically allows me to 'cheat' my budget for the month without doing any damage whatsoever.

That $250 has been in my wallet since January, and I still have a little less than a hundred bucks left now, at the beginning of May. And actually, I had to use $80 for a bribe to a cop in Mexico a couple of weekends ago, so that's not too bad (that's a whole other story!).

So anyway, that's my secret.

I am still scared of debt...

Agh! I don't know how to use debt correctly!

After all I've been through the past couple of years, I STILL can't get a handle on spending money. Here's the sitch, Wade:

I use a cash-back cc for ALL of my purchases (except for very few, but I'll get to those later)--this works amazingly well, I've already gotten a few hundred bucks back in just the year I've had it. It's through Chase bank, and it's not offered to new customers, unfortunately. For some reason, I snagged it back when it was offered (the cashback program didn't even register with me at the time; I think I got it for the 0% interest offer for balance transfers). Anyway, I get 5% cashback (or retail gift cards, or whatever I want) on my gas, groceries, and drug store purchases. On everything else, I get 1%. It really adds up!!

Anyway, I am now in the habit of paying off the balance, whatever it's showing as on the website, every week. I wasn't really paying attention earlier, but charges post on there a few days later than the day I actually charge them, so I think I was trying to keep up with the balance before it got to be too big. I see those numbers climb into the $500-$600 range and I start to freak out.

It's more psychological than anything--after all, I'm paying back the entirety of the balance, just in weekly chunks instead of all at once. But that doesn't take into account the interest-free grace period that I could be taking advantage of. This really didn't become an issue until a couple of weeks ago, when I charged my plane ticket home for a wedding this summer. It was only $350, and I can definitely afford it, but it made my cc balance jump hugely. After all the work I did to have a positive net worth, this gets to me... So, I started to pay it off, in large chunks again, when I realized I'd already paid the balance for last month, and then some. My due date for the $350 I charged in April is actually...June 8. So, ideally, I'd transfer all the money I owe to my savings instead of my cc company every week, then take the money out on June 7.

This idea, while logical, and the best money-making scheme over the long run, runs contrary to the grain of my philosophy: DO NOT TAKE MONEY OUT EXCEPT IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. I think of my HSBC/emergency fund like I think of those fire extinguisher cases--do not break glass except for fire. I just don't like the idea of seeing my savings balance drop or my cc bill skyrocket. I also do not want to get in the habit of pulling money out--I may get tempted to take a little extra out for whatever. Ugh.

I have got to work on this. Maybe I'll do a test run and see if I can stomach a month of transferring my cc money weekly to my HSBC acct. I just have to get the timing of pulling money out of the account correct so I don't go overdue on my cc bill or overdraft my checking acct.

No Deal of the Week

This was a crappy week for DOTW--I can't find any way to make money off of something. However, there are lots of free deals, esp. at Rite Aid. Every week, Rite Aid, Long's, CVS, or Walgreens has some free stuff through their frequent shopper programs. I like Rite-Aid's the best, because all you do is go there, buy the stuff, and then enter it into their website, and they send you the money back! Easy cheesy. CVS is good because Albertson's takes their extra care bucks you can earn and you can use them for groceries. At Long's you have to use a stamp to mail in the rebate form every month, and I'm new to Walgreen's, so I'm not sure how they work.

I can start posting the free stuff I find, if there isn't a money back idea, but I didn't write it down for this week since I didn't need any of the free stuff and I didn't have to go to the drug store for anything (don't want to waste $3.50/gallon gas!). But I will start keeping track, it's kind of fun.

I am a good influence.

On another note, my bf is totally getting into saving money. At least, the idea of it. He's very much in debt and does crazy things that I wouldn't do, like buy a brand new car or motorcycle or whatever on a whim. But I think I'm rubbing off a little bit. He now joins me during coupon clipping time on Sundays with glee. At my urging, he used the 20% off coupon I told him about for his purchase at REI. I don't think he actually needed that messenger bag he bought, but he was going to buy it without the coupon, so that's a start. I actually think it's kind of good that he is somewhat frivolous about money--it's good for me sometimes to not worry about saving 50 cents here or there, or get me out of my house for a night out. Otherwise, I would never go or do much of anything!

I heart shopping

I know, that's the last thing a post should be titled on a pf blog. I was in a horrible mood after work today, because I took an hour and a half out of my day to attend my skeeball tournament and then I wasn't picked to play in it! How 'bout a heads up so as not to waste time/gas?? grrrr. I wish I could say it was fun anyway, but it wasn't. I have to stop hanging out with work people so much. They are getting annoying.

My bf was also there and wasn't chosen to play, so we left early and went to REI to pick up my tent! My brand-new, huge (37 square feet), beautiful, 2 person, 3 season, backpacking tent. I heart it. I already set it up in my room and lay in it. It was ~$150 retail, but was on sale for $94. Tax was about $8, so it should have been $158 retail, $102 on sale. $15 was a gift card, $5 was an REI dividend, so I ended up paying $82. ! Plus! I get 5% cash back through the REI credit card I used, AND 3% from ebates. So my $150 tent is actually costing me ~$76. Half off!

I felt much better laying in my tent in my room, contemplating my money-savvy-ness. I should repost this with the title, "I heart smart shopping."

What NOT to do when you are told you are going to die:

Wow! I hope those dinners were worth it. This really puts perspective on balancing frugality and enjoying life.

What would YOU do if you were diagnosed to die in a year? The same thing?

Honestly, I can't say that I wouldn't. I mean, credit scores and all the stuff that is the holy grail of personal finance means absolutely squat if you are facing death. I would definitely make sure there was enough $$ for my funeral, give it to my parents as a gift, and then I'd quit my job and travel...probably (gasp!) running up my credit card bills again. What would it matter? as long as my parents had the $$ for the funeral, the debts would be wiped out upon my death. ooh. this is morbid. My blood pressure was high today in the doctor's office...

Mother cracker.

So I went to get one of my goals done (see this post): #13. Make eye appt. to get more contact lenses. I had an appt. on Saturday, but we switched insurance companies at work, so they couldn't verify my insurance coverage at Lenscrafter's. So, I had to go today. First, they have to call, and it takes foreeevvvveeerrr, everything's ok, and then I take the exam. They then inform me AFTER everything that I will owe $80 for a 'contact lens fitting fee' even though my prescription, type and brand of contact lens, and everything else is the exact same as last year. I went to this place last year, too--so basically Lenscrafter's is a scam! Please, why would I need a new fitting if everything stayed the same and was fine?? and why wouldn't my insurance cover that if I 'needed' it? Also, they said my coverage was only $120 when on the website, it said it was $150. Insurance and the whole medical profession is awful, I don't understand it at all!!

have OCD about this saving for school topic...

Working on my deals of the week...doesn't look as good as last week, but, oh well.

Also, I have now made it so that I can make $6.25/hr, after taxes, at my job this fall and still be within a reasonable budget and not feel too deprived or eat ramen every night for dinner. Have to nail down the actual hourly rate...but I'm positive it's at least twice that. And if it is at least twice that? I will use only half of what I initially saved up for the school year! Now, to make sure I have money for miscellaneous purchases, furniture for the new place, and a cushion in case my car breaks.

Have: $9180
Old Goal: $9000 (or $1000 per month during September to May)
New Goal: $10,800 ($1000 per month, plus ~$200 per month as a cushion)
How am I going to save that?
By contributing roughly $550 per month in the months of June, July, and August, giving me about $2600 to live off of during those months. That is do-able, given that I live off of about $2000 (or less) per month now, and during those months I will have extra expenses such as a security deposit, tuition, registration, fees, books, etc. in preparation for school.

Not counted in my tally: an interest free loan my mom agreed to give to me during school, to the tune of $5000. She is expecting a large windfall from my grandparents' death, and so thinks she can afford it once that happens. She has reneged on promises like this before (not because she's flaky, but because my dad spent the money on stupid stuff or he or my sister was hospitalized). So I'm not including that money in my tally--if I receive it, it will sit in my HSBC account, gaining interest, and act as an emergency fund while my current savings are used for expenses. That way, if my car breaks down, I have money to immediately buy a new(er) one, without dipping into my expense money. At the end of May, if I haven't used the $5000, I will slowly repay it as my checks increase since I will then have a full-time job (and pay) again. What I earn in interest on the money will go to my mom; I'd feel guilty keeping the interest, since that is what she would have made if she'd kept the money.

Also, CD rates aren't that great now (only a percentage point above the interest rate at HSBC), so her investment in me is like putting the money in a 9 month CD (if I don't use the money). At least, that's the way I'm looking at it.

If I do end up using the money, I only have to pay $5000 back, not the interest as well, so that's no big deal. Meanwhile, that $5000 will be growing at a rate of more than $20 a month (if rates stay at 5.05%)!

So, time to get back to the grind...ugh. Four more months of this before I can go part-time!

A little breakdown today, but it'll be fine...

I was feeling terribly down in the dumps today...it was a beautiful day, lunch was free due to a building bbq at work, and on the surface, everything was fine. There has been some bad news in my family in the past week, though--my sister, who has some difficulties with college (she's 26 and still a junior), and has a mental illness (akin to bipolar disorder, but not quite as manic), was hospitalized yet AGAIN, for the 6th year in a row. Last year it lasted 3-4 months, causing her to lose her job, withdraw from her school semester, and her boyfriend to break up with her. Not to mention, rack up insane medical bills for her hospitalization. This year, the same has already happened.

I feel awful for her--she's scared, in a place with hundreds of insane people, and hangs up on me and my mom and dad whenever we try to call. I feel helpless and scared for her future--aside from the mental illness, for financial reasons. she was proud of herself for saving TEN dollars last month. which promptly was spent on junk food when she craved it. She and her illness are other reasons why I keep such careful track of my money. She will be dependent on me when my parents get too old to take care of her.

But the news had an opposite effect on me today. Instead of wanting to save absolutely everything in sight, I wanted to blow money. just buy crap to distract myself. I only allowed myself to go to the grocery store, though--and ended up spending $15 on unhealthy food i don't need (oh! and also a $5 mother's day card that plays music. I couldn't resist, she's going to love it!). But i really don't care right now. Since I've made my goal, I need a break. I've already put $700 in my account from my paycheck i received yesterday, so that's good.

I was going to write and say that I gave myself permission to blow a couple hundo's on something or other, but I realized that I can't do that--my bf and I are looking for places to live, hopefully mid-June since I have so much travel for work, and travel for personal reasons coming up. But that means I will have to come up with a first months rent while also paying for my current place, plus a security deposit. I won't get my security deposit from this place until July, so I will have to float my May check to do all that.

Sigh. Oh well. I don't need new crap, I suppose. I probably would end up returning all of it anyway...but it would have been fun to be footloose and carefree for just a moment.

And finally Deals of the Week

[EDIT: shoot, the math isn't formatted correctly, but you get the idea...]

So my Sunday paper had a coupon for $4 off carefree hair remover leg creme. Also attached was a rebate form to fill out and get up to $3 back. It was on sale at Rite Aid for $6.99, with a single check rebate of $3 through Rite-Aid's rewards program. So, I bought it for $6.99, couponed it down with the $4 coupon to $2.99, will get a $2.99 rebate check in the mail, and will also receive a profit of $3.00 from Rite-Aid as a SCR.

got that?

Sale price: -$6.99
coupon: +$4.00
mail-in rebate: (up to $3, or purchase price): +$2.99
Rite Aid's Single check rebate: +$3.00
My profit (without subtracting tax): +$3.00

Yay!

Also a coupon was stuck to the box saying that I could get a free lotion with purchase, so I got that for free as well.

In addition, this trip to Rite-Aid I also made a dollar on a bottle of Citre-Shine conditioner. A coupon for $1 off was in the sunday paper, and Rite Aid had a single Check rebate on Citre Shine, making it free. Math:

Citre Shine Conditioner Sale Price: -$3.99
Coupon in paper: +$1.00
Rite Aid Single check rebate: +$3.99
Final cost (profit): +$1.00

At CVS:

Sale price for Schick intuition razor: -$8.99
$4 Coupon for Schick intuition razor: +$4.00
$6 CVS extra care bucks for buying razor: +$6.00
Total profit: +$1.00!!

A total profit of five dollars, just for having coupons! Now, I don't actually use these products, so they are going into my bag for the local women's shelter the next time I drop off stuff. they are basically paying me to donate goods! Hmm, is it too greedy to claim that on my taxes?

Are deals worth it?

Lately, I have been trying to cut down on my 'necessary' spending by taking advantage of coupon, rebate, and store rewards programs at drug and grocery stores--most notably, CVS. I am thoroughly stocked up on Softsoap body wash (10 containers, free!), Crest toothpaste (10 tubes, free!), and many other deals. On some of them, I had coupons too, so they actually paid me to buy the stuff. What could be better than that??

Maybe having more time. I mean, I know it's lame, but I'm having an AWESOME time with couponing and sale-ing as my new hobby. As with anything, it can be taken to the extremes. I have been matching up sales to coupons and perusing the CVS and Rite Aid sales flyers for weeks now, clipping coupons from the sunday paper, and having a grand old time, minus the wierd looks I get from the cashiers when they ring me up.

But, there are serious drawbacks to my new hobby:
1) extra time clipping coupons and in the store, trying to find a certain item that is on sale. Sometimes it's out of stock, in which case I have to drive to another store or come back later. Waste of time and gas.
2) buying extra stuff just because it's on sale. I've been doing this lately, too--and not just to 'stock up' as was my goal. I don't know that the coupon savings are offsetting the extra outlay of cash, or if i'm just breaking even. I'm re-aiming my focus on having coupons for the items that I would buy anyway, or getting stuff for free, minus tax.
3) Being picky and crazy over a few cents.

Number 3 is the reason for this post--today after work I went into CVS to resolve an issue, but the lady did not speak English very well and refused to refund my 99c. Now, I was in the neighborhood of this CVS anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to try to resolve this matter. At first. The lady refused to work with me, or call her manager, even though there were lots of people behind me in line. She kept saying that I got my money even though I know I didn't. She was, plainly put, terrible at her job. Rude and didn't know the details that she should be trained on...she just kept telling me the same line even when I explained ten times, showed her my receipt and the sales flyer a couple times, how she was wrong. Then, she made up some other excuse as to why she couldn't do anything when she finally understood.

So, I exclaimed, THIS IS REDICULOUS, and left in a huff after she pushed everything back towards me, like get out of the store. I was so angry! over 99c!! At that point, it was the principle of the thing--Why should I look stupid and be embarrassed and refused my own money when THEY screwed up?? I shouldn't. So I drove to a CVS ten minutes away, explained everything again, and waited for the manager for ten more minutes just so she could tell me all I had to do was call an 800 number and they'd fix it. Did I call that number? You bet your bottom I did, and I'll go into CVS in a couple days and collect my 99c. It turns out someone entered in the wrong amount so everyone that bought what i did was missing 99c.

So I prevailed, but the stress, anger, gas, time, breath wasted on this ordeal is insane. Just stupid. at what point will i let go?? It seems that now that I have the big money leaks fixed I am focusing on getting the tiny ones controlled, and dude, I'm not sure it's worth it.

I'll try it for a little while longer--I need to start tracking my rewards vs. my outlay to see if it's paying off. at the very least, it's fun when it works correctly!

Financial Spring Cleaning Time!

The Women in Red message board has a thread about making financial spring-cleaning goals--the idea is to write down all the things you've been meaning to do for a long time but never get around to them, and then others will encourage you and hold you accountable for doing them. Here are mine:

Credit Card Maintenance:
1) Check credit score/report once more before I look for a new apartment. (Immediately)
2) Clean it out, cancel cc's that I don't use (keep the two I've held the longest, obviously) AFTER I get approved for my apartment (just in case it affects my score). (in two months)
3) Apply for 0% interest for a year before school/part-time starts. This will serve as my emergency fund so my real emergency fund can grow in interest until the APR increases. (in August 2007)

Housekeeping:
4) Declutter and go through belongings--donate to goodwill/women's shelter. (before moving; in next month)
5) Copy CD's; match CD cases with CD's; sell CD's to used music store (will help with decluttering as well--before moving; in next month)
6) Go through papers; remove what isn't necessary (in next month).

Financial Planning:
7) Find place to put passwords, accounts, etc. together for my mom in the event of my death.
8) Make a will.
9) Make some sort of medical power of attorney document.

Car Maintenance:
10) Get rattle checked out.
11) Get oil changed, brakes checked out, tire tread checked out.

Body Maintenance:
12) Dr's appt for prescription for next year. (in May)
13) Eye appt. for contacts for next year. (this week)
14) Dentist appt. to get fillings. (before August)
15) Surgeon to get wisdom teeth taken out. (before August)

Work:
16) Finalize pay scale for part-time. (in next two months)
17) Finalize insurance (keep dental?) for part-time. (ditto)
18) Finalize tuition reimbursement. (ditto)

Most people post about getting their trusts together and getting more life insurance. I'm not there yet...Baby steps!

What are your goals?