Cravings Derail Our Budget

This pregnancy so far has been rough. I'm trying to remember my pregnancy with Marshal...I know I couldn't get out of bed in the morning without having a cracker or two. But this all day long nausea is getting old.

11 Weeks 4 Days Old Little Peanut

But the cravings are almost as bad as the nausea  And they are wreaking havoc on our budget. I typically am nagging hubby about eating out but I've been the worst offender over the last month and a half.

I've gone out of my way to go to my favorite Thai restaurant, which is almost 45 minutes away, at least three times. That's my most expensive craving...Galanga Thai and their Panang Curry makes my mouth water. :) If they were closer my budget would be out of this world high.

Between cravings and exhaustion, my endeavor to cook more foods at home has gone out the window. Pizza - Check. Burger King - check. Pho - Check. Local Sandwich Shop (lunch meat nuked of course) - Check.

It's getting out of hand and I'm not sure how to combat it! We truly cannot afford to continue to eat out so often.

Of course as I write this I'm craving Chinese Food.

I did make Panang Curry at home the other night...it wasn't the same but it did taste pretty good. I've never been able to make my favorite Chinese food though. My pizza recipe is decent. But I do love me some Dominoes.

What to do???

I will say that our grocery bill has shrunk...but not enough to justify eating out so much.

12 weeks down...can our budget survive the rest!?!

Do You Need Life Insurance?

Before I became an agent with Aflac, my instinctual answer to "Do you need life insurance?" would have been...of course, everyone does. 

Now, I would say...it depends. 

First, why do you think you need life insurance? Second, what kind of life insurance policy do you think you need? Third, how much do you need?

WHY?

In my opinion, almost everyone should have at least enough money when they die to pay for a funeral. The average funeral cost is around $6,000 and it has been rising every year since 1960. Of course, if yours will be an extravagant party you might want to plan for more.

Other than for funeral expenses, people typically need life insurance to cover the expenses left behind for their loved ones.

If you own a home and have a family, you need to have enough life insurance to cover those expenses. Some people also want to have enough to cover college expenses if they die while their kids are young.

My own father had enough life insurance that my mom was able to move us closer to our family, buy a new home, and a new van. It really took the financial burden off of her, allowing her to make decisions that benefited our family. 

If you're 65 with no kids at home and you own your own home you probably don't need a large life policy. I don't think it's a good idea to have a large life insurance policy as a means of inheritance for your family. 

WHAT KIND?

Thankfully, Aflac only sells two types so I don't have to know about all the different kinds of policies out there. I get to focus on Whole and Term. Even then, I find there are many people who don't know the difference between the two.

My co-worker Rachel has a great analogy.

Whole life insurance is like owning a home. It's "yours" as long as you live (and you make your payments/property taxes, etc) and traditionally builds in equity. It's an investment for most people. One of the benefits, like home ownership, is that you can borrow against a whole life policy's cash value once it has built up enough. Whole life is always more expensive than Term policies.

Term life is like renting a home. It's only yours for a set period of time...after which your landlord (or insurance company) will likely raise your rates if you want to keep your policy. Most younger couples with kids pick a 20 or 30 year term policy because it is much less expensive than a whole life policy. After those 20/30 years, they may not need to cover the same liabilities. Their kids should be moved out, through college, and they may even own their home with no mortgage payments. 

Once that Term is up...you can elect to renew at a higher rate or stop your policy.

There are other kinds of life policies (i.e. Universal) but I don't know a lot about those. 

HOW MUCH?

This is obviously going to vary based on your needs as identified above. I personally have enough so that if I were to pass my husband would be able to take time away from work to figure out what he's going to do...and for him to pay for a full time nanny, which he would need if he remained in his current career (which has required night and shift work). He needs much more coverage though because if he passed away I'd be in big trouble as he is the primary earner in our family. 

"insurance is intended to provide the income you are not able to provide due to an early death; it is payable only if you die. A separate savings element, possibly in the form of the accumulated cash values in the insurance policy, is needed to cover such expenses if you’re alive. People with children should have a minimum of $200,000 per child in life coverage in addition to their other needs."

Life insurance shouldn't (in my opinion) be treated as an investment...ESPECIALLY a term policy. You can only cash in if you DIE! It's just one aspect of your financial planning for your future.

This article is also great as a resource.

* I am NOT a financial advisor. I do sell life insurance policies through Aflac and am able to consult intelligently about those particular policies. =)

Fun Target Trip - Free Pens, Crayons, Markers, Air Freshener

Sometimes when I know there's a great deal at Target I can barely wait to get there...my coupons start burning a hole in my pocket!

I headed over there today to get some free stuff including...

• Scotch Tape (I actually "made" $0.25 on this one)
• 10 Pack of Pens
• Rose Art Markers (two packs) and a pack of crayons
• 3 Glade Air Fresheners ($2.99 - $3 coupon)

That was just the free stuff.

He LOVED his new Cars socks...I couldn't resist getting them even though they weren't on sale and I did not have a coupon. 

Then there were the great deals.

• 3 Glade Oil Diffusers - Regular $5.99 - $5 coupon = $0.99 each
• Hanes boys undies and socks - $5 off three coupon (If you buy the Hanes socks for $5 a pack you can get three packs for $10) - I got two packs of undies and one pack of socks for $17.92 (which is good for his undies and socks)
• V-8 Juice - Reg $3 - Sale price $2.50 - Coupon $1/2 = $2 each
• V-8 Canned Juice - Reg $2.99 - Sale $2.50 - Coupon $1/1 = $1.50 each (Even better deal if I'd found my Target coupon for $1/2...they'd be $1 for a 4 pack)

I got a few other items including a shirt that was on clearance and I had a coupon.

In total I saved $56 on items that we will use and are needed. Not too shabby!

BUT...in reviewing my receipt I see that I was overcharged for the deodorant. It was on the shelf marked $2.34 (or something like that) and I was charged full price. So when I swing back in I'll take it with me and ask for a price adjustment. Or a refund. :)

Ditching Cable

There was a point in my life where my TV was on almost 24 hours a day. Especially when I lived by myself...if I was home, the TV was on. Even at night...I'd leave it on all night.

After Marshal was born, I really wanted to cut back but it seemed impossible. Lately though I've noticed him becoming a little too interested in television shows. One, called Gravity Falls, came on immediately after our favorite Phineas and Ferb so I let him watch it...after all it was on Disney.

Since when do shows on Disney use words like "shut up" and "butthead"???

What the?!?

If someone had suggested to me five years ago that I'd be considering canceling our cable I'd have said they were nuts. To me it was as essential as food expenses.

Lately though I've stopped turning it on first thing when I walk in the door. I haven't even watched my DVR shows in two weeks. I'm not sure what changed but it's been really nice. I've gotten more done, including couponing and learning new recipes.

If we cut our cable entirely, I think we'd save over $75. Our bill right now is $185 but it includes our cable, internet, and phone. I really don't want to cancel our mainline phone. I don't know why but I'm not ready to take that step. We do need internet service as well but I think (haven't actually priced it yet) we can get both of those for less than $100 a month. I need to price it out to see if it makes sense to cancel cable and add something like Netflix.

It shocks me that I'm even thinking about canceling our cable...but I am not alone. For us, economics definitely play a part, but also the idea of my son becoming as addicted to TV as I am makes me sad. I want him to go play outside (when it isn't raining) or play with his Duplo. TV is not a necessity. It doesn't expand our minds and it sucks our time. It makes us think we need "things" from all the commercials blasting us with exciting products.

Essentially, TV makes us feel unhappy with the life we have...longing for things instead of appreciating what we have in front of us.

Paying $5 for $25 Groceries - Albertsons Savings

Tuesday I took the afternoon to run to WinCo and Albertsons. Sundays paper included doubles at Albertsons and that's an opportunity that I can't pass up. So off I went.

Albertsons was having a sale...certain items were on sale and when you purchased them you got coupons for money off your next order. And I had coupons for some of those items. AND now I had doublers. So it made for a super deal. I split my purchase into two orders to get the best deal and save on my produce.

ORDER ONE


Palmolive Dish Soap
Reg. $3.89
Sale $2.50
Buy 2 get $2 off next purchase
Coupon $1/1 - Doubled to $2/1
= $0.50 each PLUS $2 off my next order

Softsoap
Reg. $2.49
Sale $1.50
Buy 2 get $1 off next purchase
Coupon $0.50/2 - Doubled to $1/2
= $1 each PLUS $1 off my next order

Oscar Mayer
Reg. $6.99
Coupon from Oscar Mayer Facebook page = FREE hot dogs!

Albertsons Donut
Reg. $0.79
Free Coupon
= $0.00

TOTAL out of pocket = $3.70


ORDER TWO

Grapes $1.99/lb
$3.54 - $2 Albertsons coupon
= $1.54 out of pocket

So for $24.08 worth of grocery products I paid $5.24 out of pocket. Not bad for a 20 minute stop. The Palmolive and Softsoap coupons were printables that I'd printed out when they were initially available and I was waiting for the right time to use them. The Softsoap wasn't the *best* deal...I've gotten it for $0.50 a piece before. But it seems like it's getting more and more expensive and $1 is less than it is at Target for regular price.

But I love getting money off produce. :)

Good Deals in Groceries: July 4 - July 10

Got the ads for the local Olympia, WA area and here are some of the deals I see.

Remember, you can price match at Walmart and save yourself multiple trips. However they do have rules you have to follow so sometimes it requires a trip to the actual ad store. :)

GROCERY OUTLET

• $1.99 Stouffer's Frozen Entrees - Sesame Chicken or Shrimp Scampi
• $1.00 Kettle Brand Chips - Buy one for $1.99 and get one Free making them $1.00 each

I find grocery outlet to be hit and miss so I'm not posting a bunch of stuff from them. 


ALBERTSONS
I'm falling back into Albertsons lately. They are ridiculously expensive on non sale items but when they have a good sale, it's great. This week doesn't look as good as last week but there are a few things that stand out.

Price matching at Walmart is great, but Albertsons has a game promotion going on and you get tickets when you shop there...I've gotten some free stuff and coupons for products. I don't expect to win the million bucks, but I won't say no to a good deal and extra coupons.

• $2.50 Pepsi Soft Drinks 12 packs - Must buy 5 in a single transaction. There are $0.55 off 1 coupons out there (peelies) making these $1.95 a piece. GREAT stock up price!
• $0.88 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - PLUS buy 3 and get a free Easy Mac or Velveeta Cup
• $0.88 Hunts Pasta Sauce (limit 8)
• SCENARIO - Buy 4 Dove Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Treatment, or Styling Products @ $1.99 each = $7.76 Use 2 $1.50 off 2 Dove Printable CouponsFinal Cost $4.96 for four Dove products.(Not a bad price if you aren't going for totally free)

That's the most exciting stuff I see for Albertsons...not sure if I'll make a special trip this week or not.

SAFEWAY

Also an expensive store but they can have super sales too. 

• $2.50 General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios or Lucky Charms - Use a $1/2 to get Lucky Charms for $1.50 a box.
• $3.99 Van de Kamp's Seafood - There are a couple different coupons for van de Kamps online.

There isn't that many exciting deals out there this week. Do you see anything I've missed that gets you excited?

Printable Coupons Save You Money

In case you haven't noticed, I tweaked my blog just slightly so that I have "pages" up above...one of those pages is a Printable Coupons page. All you need to do is click the tab "Print Coupons" and select the coupons you want to print.

It's SO easy to save money these days without spending a lot of time on clipping coupons. I'm going to start posting finds from stores like Target, Fred Meyer, and Walgreens so that you can benefit from my time spent pouring over ads. I'll do my best to find coupons to match up with the sales too. 

Then just print the coupons you need and save money. Easy! 

New Month, New Budget

In June, we successfully stuck to a $200 cash budget for groceries. We won't be able to do that in July. It's just not sustainable for us since we went through quite a bit of our stock pile in the freezer.

But we do have quite a bit still so I am going to try to keep us to under $350 and still use cash only. That amount will include any Costco purchases as well as toiletries, soap, and eating out.

I'm hoping the weather will be nice so we can do a good amount of BBQing. We've got several pounds of chicken and almost seven pounds of pork in the freezer.

We'll see how July's budgeting goes but I'll definitely be keeping myself accountable by sharing our journey.

The Cash Has Been Found

I swear if my head wasn't attached I'd lose it. Hubby found the grocery money in a drawer. I knew it was in the house somewhere. Now I'll pay back our garage sale stash and I'll still have $11 left for this week.

We had an amazing mini vacation in Seattle and took money out of our vacation fund for it ... so it's a little misleading to say that we made it through the month on $200. But unless we need anything major this week we did it!

I used a lot of our stockpile in June so I am going to need to increase our monthly budget a little. But I'd like to see just how little I can spend in July. We are adding a new $500 payment to our bills starting August 1 and it will stretch us for sure.

We need to pay all our bills and start saving up for our goal of building a home. June was good practice but we definitely slipped up here and there. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to learn and increase our ability to save and spend less.

I Lost the Cash

So it appears that the biggest danger in using cash only for groceries isn't being limited in our spending...but in losing the cash!!!

I can't believe it, but I've actually misplaced the money envelope. I know it's in the house somewhere but I didn't have time to find it before leaving the house this morning.

ARG!

Thankfully we have some garage sale money tucked away in the safe so I "borrowed" from it to get groceries today. I know I'll find the envelope somewhere but it's a little disconcerting to not know where it is. There is $48 in an envelope somewhere in our house.

I know I'll find it eventually but this is something I need to be more careful about...always put the cash envelope in the same place!

Down to $48 and 1 1/2 weeks

Saturday was shopping day. I'd planned my recipes for the week, scanned the ads, printed my coupons, and made my list. It was a long Saturday starting with dropping Marshal off at his nanny's house. I just couldn't run all the errands I had, as quickly as I wanted, with him in tow.

After weight training at the gym, I headed to Target to do a mystery shop. I earned $13 for taking a couple pictures on my phone. From a previous shop, I can cash out $17 into my Paypal account or wait and earn more if jobs pop up soon. If I need extra groceries I may cash out. :)

I discovered Cash and Carry...they have a pound of butter for $1.77. When I need butter I'm going there.

I had $108 left of our monthly grocery budget and I gave myself $60 to spend because there was a great price on chicken breast at Albertsons...$1.99 a pound as opposed to $3.19 at Costco.

I spent $22.76 at Albertsons and $36.45 at Winco for a total of $59.21...officially under the budget I set for this trip!

I bought:

• 5 pounds of chicken breast
• 5+ pounds Pork Loin
• Bulk Bowtie Pasta
• 2 boxes of granola bars
• 3 Hillshire Farms sausage ropes
• Produce - onion, red pepper, bananas, 2 lb bag of carrots
• Bulk Granola (goes great in yogurt)
• Flour (about 7 lbs)
• Peach Salsa
• 2 lbs Lunch Meat
• Black Olives
• eggs
• Coke 12 pack (free)
• Milk
• Bulk seasoning

The bulk section at Winco is AMAZING!!! I got flour, spices, granola, and pasta for way cheaper than packaged. The spices in particular are amazingly cheap...I knew there was a reason I kept the old glass seasoning containers. :)

From now until June 30 we have $48 remaining for groceries. We shouldn't need any more meat until July. We have lots of pasta and flour for bread. I expect I'll need lunch meat, yogurt, milk, maybe eggs, and some produce. I'm hopeful we can make this challenge!

Cutting Down on Credit Use

By this time in the month our Visa normally seemed to be pushing the $1,000 mark. There were some months in the last year where we were making a two or three thousand dollar payment in order to pay the whole thing off. Some of these were major expenses that we'd anticipated and had cash in a savings account to cover but not all of them.

Our Visa is an awesome card in terms of the interest and the rewards. It is through our credit union so I don't recall the last time we had a late fee (even when I was a day or two late) or an interest payment. We've earned hundreds of dollars in rewards which I redeem for gift cards.

BUT...

It's still a credit card and it is obvious to me now that it enabled us to feel like we were sticking to a budget when we really weren't.

It is so easy to throw something extra in the cart when you don't have to worry about having the cash on hand. An extra box of cereal. Some chips. Oh why not that ice cream?

Not to mention eating out and other shopping trips where it was "only" $30 or $20 here and there. It added up fast.

Then the automatic payments that were scheduled. Our iPhone "insurance" of $17 a month PER phone. The Cell phone bill. The Cable bill. My Aflac insurance (the policies I had before becoming an agent are charged to my card...all the others come out of my monthly statement). Prepaid legal (now known as Legal Shield). Send Out Cards*. LA Fitness.

It all added up to a whopper of a bill each month. I still do not know how we've kept our heads above water so long.

First things first...we cancelled the iPhone insurance. We have emergency funds and if we had to replace our phones we would just go with the least expensive functional phone we could afford. Hubby spent quite a bit on a super secure, extra padded case too.

Next went the automatic $150 gym training payments...I had signed up for this a little over a year ago...and it came with a contract. The good news is that I get the lowest training rates (6 appointments a month). But the bad news is that it cost me $150 a month. Plus tax. :( Not cool. So that amount is now $27 for one automatically billed appointment a month. I've got plenty saved up and can cancel now at any time.

Then I started looking for a way to lower our Verizon bill. Amazingly I found out that through my work I could get 20% off. WOW! That is huge...like $40 huge. Can't wait for that one to kick in. We will keep making this payment via the Credit Card though because I do want points for bills that are 'static' each month. I take the money out of the checking account at payday and apply it toward the card so no interest payments.

I figure I've managed to trim at least $250 in automatic payments alone from the monthly bill.

As for the food bill...that's another topic entirely. Let's just say the grocery store hasn't seen my Visa for two weeks now...and hopefully won't see it ever again!

$200 Grocery Budget for June

Ever since I realized we spent $1,000 on groceries and food in one month I knew we had to make a change.

In June, hubby and I agreed to attempt to stick to a $200 grocery for the month of June.

We're almost half way through the month and we've spent $95.

We aren't starving. We aren't only eating top ramen.

It's definitely not a sustainable budget for us but it is a good "reset" amount. Because I'm pretty obsessive compulsive we have a large stock pile of things like peanut butter and frozen meats. I'd buy things when we didn't need them...because we might need them at some point.

This is good in a sense because there was always food in our house. But bad because hubby and I were often cleaning out the freezer saying "I didn't know we had that" and throwing it away because it was no good anymore. SO much waste!

In June we are focusing on eating from our stock and only buying things we truly need. Lots of frozen chicken has been used in the last two weeks as well as ground turkey recipes.

Some of my budget has had to go toward main ingredients that weren't already in my cupboard. Who knew real Maple Syrup was so expensive? Not to mention Sesame Oil.

But I'm shopping around and am even going to try the Cash and Carry where folks have told me they have really inexpensive cuts of meat.

Our Costco budget is separate and $50 for the month. Considering I would go in and often spend more than $150 each time with multiple trips each month, this was a big budget change for me. My last trip I spent $23. It was TOUGH!

But I am determined to become a better steward of the blessings God has given us.

Budget Living

If you aren't friends with me on Facebook you probably don't know about our budget issues. We got a letter in the mail from the IRS saying we owed them over $38,000.

Yup.

We're pretty sure it's not the real amount but we do owe some, and we knew we would come 2012 (long story having to do with converting my retirement plan from my last job) and 2013.

Anyway, it was a real eye opener to say the least. Not to mention that we are trying to buy property...another challenge in itself.

Even though we thought we were doing a good job of budgeting, in reality we were out of control.

I signed up for Mint (which I don't recommend at this time) and figured out that we spent over $1,000 in February on food - groceries, eating out, and things like diapers. $1,000!

I was flabbergasted. There are two adults and one less than three year old living in our home. There are no excuses for spending that much money. It's more than 25% of our take home pay!

How in the heck the Lord has provided for us in the last few years is beyond me because we obviously have been spending more than we make for years. And yet, we're really not in a heap of debt compared to what it could be.

So we're buckling down. I think it would be therapeutic to share my experience here so hopefully I will be able to blog more often ... it's been a little quiet around here.

To The Angry People Behind Me at Walmart

It wasn't my fault!

Walmart has a Price Matching policy. Part of that policy is that you don't have to actually bring the ads in with you...just tell them the price of the product you want to price match and the ad it came from. The staff are supposed to have the ads in the store for their local area.

The last couple of months I've had great success doing price matching...I just write up my list of price matches, what stores they were from, and took that list with me to Walmart and they adjusted the prices.

Today was a different day. I got in the line of the lady who I think is the front end manager...and a lady who I "fought" with several years ago over the coupon policy. I'm sure she doesn't remember me...although I was right and she was wrong.

So I had half a dozen items to price match, some of which were really great deals. Instead of going to multiple stores, I love being able to get stuff all in one place. Albertsons had Nestle Morsels on sale for $1.49. Safeway has Barilla Pasta Sauce for $1.69.

It was a very busy time at Walmart and after waiting in line at least 10 full minutes it was my turn...and there were at least four people with full carts behind me.

This lady INSISTED on checking the ads for each and every item I was price matching. Seriously.

I realize why...and I get it. But it didn't make the people behind me any less annoyed. I could hear the comments. It only added, maybe five minutes, but that's a long time in line.

On the plus side. I saved more than $21 using coupons and price matching. I love getting Chocolate Chips for $0.99 and S&W Beans for $0.24. Enduring a few grouchy comments is worth it for me.

Free Razors, Chocolate, and Gum, Oh My!

It only took me about 30 minutes to figure out my Sunday shopping trip. Luckily, Hip 2 Save had a perfect post for Walgreen's deals. For anyone who says they don't have time to coupon...I counter with sites like Hip 2 Save. When someone else does all the work for you, how can you not take advantage of the savings?

My out of pocket was approximately $9.00, give or take. I received $10 back in Walgreens Register Rewards.

The retail value of all items pictured is around $32. I got it all basically free *with the usual caveat that Register Rewards still have to be spent at Walgreens, but I'll use them to get other stuff for very little out of pocket.

I was pretty jazzed by this particular purchase. The gum was entirely free and the broth was $0.50 a can which is a good price and I use it a lot in the winter. The razor blades will be used when I can find a good deal on the actual razors (they were out) or I'll sell them at a garage sale. And the candy bars...won't last long in our house.

More Stockpiling Fun from Sunday

So, in my post yesterday I wrote about my Saturday shopping trip to Target where I saved over $70 with clearance, sale, and coupons.

On Sunday I ventured out once again and headed to Walgreens and Walmart. Walgreens is hit and miss for me. Sometimes when there are "free" items people get there really early and clear the shelves and there's nothing for me by the time I get there. Sunday that wasn't the case and I was pretty excited.

Walgreens is also a little tricky when it comes to getting good deals. They do something called "Register Rewards"...you buy something or multiple somethings and after you've paid the bill a little printer next to the register prints out "rewards" for dollars off your next order. Sunday I ended up earning $21 in Register Rewards.

The "savings" part can be misleading though if you're buying things you don't need...because those Register Rewards still cost you money. You don't get to take them and spend them anywhere else. They are used as credit on your next purchase at Walgreens. So while I "saved" $21, technically Walgreens still gets their $21. I just get to use my money to buy more stuff at their store.

I was able to get two "free" Hyland Kids Nightime Cough Medicine...$4.99 out of pocket and $4.99 back in Register Rewards. (And by the way,  you have to do split your orders if you to get more than one deal...only one RR per order). This is something that we will end up using so the $5 I spent out of pocket I get to use "again" to purchase something else that I need later.

I also got four big bags of M&Ms for $3.00...buy four for ten dollars, I used two $1/1 coupons, and got a $5 register rewards back, which I used on my next order.

Then I got Herbal Essences Shampoo and Styler for $1 a piece after coupons and register rewards. I actually prefer to get my shampoos free but I'm okay paying $1 a piece. Especially when regular price is $4.99.

All told, at Walgreens I ended up saving $21.12 and getting back $21 in RR. I have $9 more RR to use this week and will go use them to get stuff for Marshal's birthday party.

On to Walmart...only now I was getting a little tired. It's sometimes exhausting to make sure you get all the price matches and coupons lined up.

But I found small bags of Skittles on sale for $0.50 and I had two coupons for $1/2 so I got them for free. Free is my favorite!!!

I used $18.55 in coupons and used price matching to save an additional $21.00 for a total savings of $39.55.

So for the whole weekend I saved more than $150.00. My out of pocket at Target, Walgreens, and Walmart was around $260 (I was buying things that weren't on sale and I didn't have coupons for like hair rollers, a birthday gift for Marshal, etc...things we needed). Percentage wise I saved around 37%. Considering I probably spent $50 on items that weren't on sale or had coupons I think 37% is decent.

Was it worth the effort? Depends. If we had an infant I probably wouldn't be doing much couponing except for diapers. Putting my lists together took a couple of hours spread out over a couple of days after Marshal had gone to bed. The shopping itself took around 4 hours spread over two days. For me, that was alone time away from home.

Definitely worth it.

Weekend Score for my Stockpile

I'm a couponer. I used to be an obsessive couponer but having a baby made me focus on other things, obviously. Recently though I've started paying more attention to my former couponing ways and making a greater effort to carefully rebuild my stock pile.

So this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, I went shopping with a carefully written list and all my coupons organized. My goal was to save $50 on Saturday going to Target and at least that on Sunday at Walmart and Walgreens.

Couponing to stock pile can be hazardous to your cupboards. In the past I have bought things that we didn't need or never used because it was free or too good a deal to pass up. Now I attempt to strictly adhere to a need-only purchase policy. If we need an item now and I can get it for a good deal I will buy it. If I know that within the near future, or before an item expires, we will use an item and I can get a good deal, I will buy it.

So I headed to Target because they were having a sale on Kashi cereal. My hubby eats this cereal day and night. I bought twelve boxes. Regular price I would have paid $41.88. They were on sale for $2.99 a piece and if you bought 5 you got a free box. And I had $1.00 coupons for 9 boxes, $1.50 coupon for one, and two $1 Target coupons. I paid $17.40 for twelve boxes...$1.45 a box saving $2.04 per box ($24.48 total).

For my family this is a big score. I saved more than half on cereal that will get eaten within a couple of months. I now don't have to go pay full price every week for a couple of boxes of cereal for hubby to eat.

The cashier acted like I was insane and signed and made little snotty faces as she checked me out. My total savings was $71.38, taking into account price drops, clearance, sales, and coupons. I even got a baby gift for $1.12 on clearance.

I'll describe my Sunday trip in another post.

Time to Buy

We don't have a lot of extra cash. Most people don't. But if we did I would buy some stocks.

Crazy, you say?

Nope. Stocks are on sale right now. Specifically, the Aflac stock is down to around $36. When I first started it was around $50 something. Aflac is a GREAT and fundamentally solid company, but the stock is being dragged down by the market. So for me, this is a great time to buy stock in Aflac. Especially when I can take a monthly amount from my monthly statement.

If I had started investing $50 a month a year ago I'd get around one share each month. Now I'll get almost 1.5 shares.

I guess I'm an optimist. I see stocks dropping and think SALE! Or maybe I'm just a shopaholic. :)