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Archive for August, 2008

Conference Challenge Additions

August 31st, 2008 at 05:59 pm

I got $20.00 from the atm yesterday and added it to the Conference Challenge.

I also received a $6.00 check in the mail from the Dollar General CFL Bulb Rebate. I will cash it on Monday and put it into the Conference Challenge.

My goal on my next payday (September 5th) is to put $80.00 into the Conference Challenge.

Woo-Hoo!

Another Payday... And I am More Prosperous (Continued)

August 24th, 2008 at 02:38 am

Last Friday while on vacation, I had to transfer $50.00 out of savings in order to pay for gas to take my dh to the vet hospital 3 hours away. Well, at least I had the $50.00. :|

Well, I got paid again on Friday. I also received a $20.00 survey check in the mail. The survey check and an extra $40.00 from my paycheck have been set aside for the Conference Challenge, bringing the total to $63.00. I set aside $30.00 into my savings.

My retirement account is bigger and is currently at $12,682.81. Wow.

My hospital bill is down to $978.58. I just keep chopping away at it and pretty soon it will disappear. Big Grin

Also, I went to the grocery store today. The store was having massive sales on everything, including Butterball turkey strips. There is approximately 2 servings in a box. I usually buy two boxes and it is enough for me to make something like chicken soup. Yum. Well, today turkey strips were on sale for 5 for $10.00. Yes, I know this does not sound very frugal and that if I just buy fresh chicken or turkey, I could make my soup even more cheaply, but I absolutely hate pulling meat off the bone, so this is worth it to me. This price is very cheap considering the boxes are usually $3.99, I think, and I only buy them on sale and with a coupon. I had a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 boxes, so I bought 4 boxes, bringing the per box total to $1.50 and total amount to $6.00. With that I have enough chicken to make 2 weeks worth of lunches. Cool beans. I also realized when making my shopping list that I have turkey sausage links in my freezer that I need to eat. I set out to find something to pair them with. I love sauerkraut and almost bought some, but I settled on a cheaper and healthier alternative. Red beans and rice. That should make about 2-3 more lunches for me.

This morning I went to a co-worker's house in a nearby town. She has been doing a lot of work on renovating her house and getting rid of old stuff she no longer needs or wants. Good for me. She was getting rid of one of those particle board type cabinets with the doors on the front. She also wanted to get rid of a small bookcase. I was willing to pay $40.00 for both together, but she would not accept more than $20.00. Big Grin

I work at a university and received an email yesterday that a church was doing a "giveaway sale" of all kinds of things like clothing, household items, etc. You can bet I was there almost when the doors opened. I took away a small cardboard box full of clothing. I seem to have an eternal need for those Dockers type pants, as mine seem to quickly fade from black to gray and I look unprofessional. I gave the church a little bit of money which they were confused about, but I told them I can afford to pay and did not feel right walking away with so much stuff. They were all smiles and gratitude.

Wow. I feel so lucky. I have some stuff that I need and other people are is rid of stuff they do not need. The universe works in mysterious ways.

Survey Loot and Conference Challenge

August 12th, 2008 at 01:31 am

I just got a survey check in the mail, so that means $6.00 more for the Conference Challenge.

More Debt Paid Off

August 12th, 2008 at 01:20 am


I got another bill in the mail today for Hospital Debt #2. I went ahead and paid it, because it is due before my next payday. This brings that debt down to $2302.60. Yes! I like this.

Dollar General CFL Rebate

August 10th, 2008 at 08:14 pm

I went to Dollar General yesterday to buy some stuff, including CFL lightbulbs. Their CFLs are way cheaper than anywhere else in town and they are the same brand! Anyway, the price of the bulbs at my store is $4.00, but you can pick up a form to get $3.00 back for each bulb you buy. There is a maximum rebate of $6.00. Cool. I get to get CFLs which generate less heat and use less electricity. Very important these days. When I get my rebate, I will put it into the Conference Challenge!

Conference Challenge

August 10th, 2008 at 08:07 pm

This probably sounds like a funny name for a Challenge. I have to go to a conference for my work next June. Actually, I have a choice of two different conferences, one that would cost about $1500 and the other about $1000. I would like to do a presentation at one of them. If my proposal for a presentation is accepted, I can get extra money from my employer to go, but I will not get reimbursed after I return. My boss did tell me I could put my airfire on the organization's credit card but that there is some drawback. I also emailed a colleague in Hawaii about sharing a hotel room. Great, so I'm going!

Anyway, to avoid last minute panic or putting anything on my credit card, I am setting aside any survey loot, rebates, and other "found money" aside for going to this conference.

Currently, this fund has $23.00 in it. I am expecting a paypal deposit of $20.00 from a survey site soon and also $6.00 for a CFL lightbulb rebate.

Another Payday More Prosperous

August 9th, 2008 at 05:48 am


I just got paid again today. Since I have moved into my new home close to work, I have not noticed any earthshaking results, but I have obviously spent a lot less money on gas. Also, because I am not driving to work, I am not as tempted to go out for lunch. Both great things. In addition, the day before my payday this week, I still had $30.70 in my checking account in addition to the fact that the money I put in savings actually stayed in savings. Woo-hoo!

Anyway, my savings account total is $250.34 and my retirement is $12,511.81. I will make a credit card payment of $50.00 tomorrow.

Also, I just completed a bunch of surveys and cashed in survey points for $20.00. Woo-hoo! I need to set aside money to go to a conference next June, so that's what I will use that money to do.

The picture above is not actually one of my furbabies, but they have done this. (My furbabies won't hardly sit still long enough to take a picture.)

Spending Summary

August 2nd, 2008 at 08:35 pm

Well, I have been working really hard at reducing my overall spending. Since moving into my new house only a 7 minute walk away from walk, I did not have to buy gas for 2 weeks. I bought $15.13 in gas today because I was driving my truck and the gas gauge was at 1/4 of a tank.

As for my other spending today, I first went to the veterinarian's office to get flea medicine and ear mite medicine for the cats. That was about $30.00. (I can't seem to find the receipt right now.)

Walgreens here had a coupon in the weekly ad that proved to be lucrative. There was an ad for Hunts tomato sauce for 3 8oz. cans for $1.00. There was a maximum amount per purchase of 6 cans, so I bought 6 cans. At my regular grocery, they are usually $1.00 each. I would happily buy generic, except that my hubby complains loudly about how they don't stack well in the cupboard. (!?) I also bought a spiral notebook for my hubby, which was on sale. I wound up spending a total of $5.35 at Walgreens.

I bought some cheap staple basics at Dollar General, including tuna fish, pork and beans, relish, Manwich, V-8 juice, and Gatorade. I wound up spending $22.37 here.

At my regular grocery store, I used a coupon for $1.00 off 2 packages of Butterball chicken strips. I really love these things and they are easy to incoporate into any recipe like soups, wraps, salads, etc. They are already fully cooked, so they can just be thrown in after everything else is cooked. I brought my own shopping bags (those weird looking nylon bags that all the stores seem to be selling these days) and with the coupon, wound up spending $69.49 at the grocery store.

I can't exactly figure out what I am doing wrong. I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS make a list and never go into the store hungry. I always get what is on the list unless I see something on sale that is a staple food product in our home. I don't buy tv dinners, a lot of brand names, etc., but no matter what I do, I seem to spend about $100.00 a week for groceries for me, my hubby, and two cats. That counts cleaning products, toilet paper, as well as food to create my lunches for work, etc. We don't have any kids and we don't have people over for parties. We buy a bottle of booze about 1 time per month. I have watched food prices skyrocket though in the last year. For example, at my grocery store about 1 year ago, Hellman's Canola Mayo was usually about $3.19 per 32 oz jar (expensive by my standards) unless it was on sale. I usually waited for coupons and sales to get the best deal. Now, it is $5.91. I know that prices are going up, but that's ridiculous, and unfortunately, that brand is not at any of the discount stores. For myself, I don't really care, as I don't eat a whole lot of mayo, but my hubby won't eat regular mayo because it has soybean oil in it.

Anyone have any good strategies to share?