Back on a Budget

It has been a while since I complained about being on a tight budget. Well we are back on one. Just when we were getting ahead Sydney got cancer, I got skin cancer and had a hysterectomy, and while we were hoping to have a tax refund we ending up owing...a LOT! Tony and I are fortunate we do not have credit card debt so when things like this happen it is not completely devastating. We were very lucky while all this was going on we received a zero percent interest offer through my discover card so we used one card and then transferred it all to discover, interest free for a year. 


So now we do carry a balance but are anxious to pay it off as quickly as possible before the year is up. I could not imagine all of this hitting us if we carried a credit card balance. The last statics I read was the the average household credit card balance went up from $7k to $10k. That is a lot of money to have on a credit card! I strongly encourage people reading this blog to focus on paying off your debt as quickly as possible. It is such a great feeling when the cards are paid for and it is going to save you so much money in the long run. 


We cancelled two of our trips this year. I really did not want to because we were going to go to NYC to celebrate my 30th birthday. NYC will always be there and even better is my friend Tanya will be flying in from Florida for my 30th so Tony will be throwing me a party. We still are going to go to St. Croix in November. Of course we bought those plane tickets just a week before our financial melt down. 


Alright the fun challenge for me. How long do I go before I buy something I don't need. We will have to see....I am pretty determined this time until I see a pair of Michael Kors shoes on sale.

4th of July Weekend

This year Tony and I did not go to WI for the 4th of July. It did feel a little strange not being around family this time of year but we did make the most of our weekend.

Friday night we went to First Friday which Raleigh puts on the first Friday of every month. The galleries open up for viewing along with wine, snacks, and discounted specials at local restaurants. This was the first time Tony and I went to this event. We had a lot of fun but the art was not what we expected. It was terrible. We visited art galleries in Palm Springs and Scottsdale in the past and saw amazing art. Raleigh's art tour was put on by people that rented space to display their art. Most of it was so bad and you have to wonder how they price this garbage. I saw one framed art that was three pieces of wall paper in strips and they wanted like $600 for it. Are you kidding me? We did at least find a neat African store and homemade lotions. Tony and I met up with our friends and by that point in the night I had a few drinks in me. They took video of my last fall riding a mechanical bull and now they have video of me hula hooping while buzzed.

Saturday evening I made fondue. The first batch was horrible. I tried a new recipe and the cheese stuck together. My friend and I had to run out and get the ingredients for a different fondue that I made in the past. I did not get any pictures of it but can tell you this German Beer Fondue is really good. After dinner we met up with our other friends to watch the fireworks. The fireworks reminded me of Bill. He always used to volunteer with the fireworks. It was like for a moment in time he was still with us.

Sunday was a grill out at our friend's parent's house. They have a pool so we got a lot of exercise in. We went back Monday for more swimming.

Saturday I found these really cool hanging lights for outside at Ross. They were $6 for 3. I hung them from the trees. I found some items in my house to make glass candle holders. I took sea shells, votive candles, canning jars, ribbon, and sand to make these. It was super simple and the fact it did not cost me any thing was even better. All of the candle light and tiki torches really light up or back yard.



Hanging lights from Ross


German Cheddar and Beer Fondue
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Prep Time: 10 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 12 min Level:
Easy Serves: 4 servings Ingredients

Ingredients: 1 sack, 10 ounces, 2 1/2 cups, shredded sharp Cheddar, available on dairy aisle
1/4 to 1/3 pound, 4 to 6 ounces, Gruyere, shredded
1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup German lager beer
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
A few drops hot sauce
A few drops Worcestershire sauce

For Serving:
1 1/2 pounds cubed or thick sliced and browned wursts: knock, brat 
1 package mini party franks (recommended: Boars Head)
1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
1 small jar mini Gherkin pickles, drained
1 small jar pickled onions, available on vegetable aisle
1 small, round loaf rye, pumpernickel or sour dough bread, cubed

Directions:
Combine cheeses in a bowl with flour. Add beer to a small pot and bring up to a bubble over medium heat. Reduce the heat to simmer and add cheese in handfuls. Stir constantly, melting the cheese in batches. Stir in a figure-eight pattern with wooden spoon. When the cheese has been incorporated fully, stir in the mustard, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Transfer fondue to warm fondue pot.

In a large skillet, bring 2-inches of water to a boil and blanch the cauliflower for 2 to 3 minutes, drain and arrange around the fondue pot.

In the same pan, bring the cooking water back to a boil and add the mini franks and sliced wursts. Cook, uncovered until all the liquid has evaporated. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan to crisp the casings. Pile wursts and dogs near fondue. Complete the dipping selections with dishes of pickles, onions and cubed bread.

Where Target is Failing

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses problems Target is having with their brand identity. Are they a cheap retailer or are they a chic low cost store? How about they ask the consumer to explain what they have done wrong.

I used to love to go into Target and look around. But last year when I was unemployed I did some price comparisons and found they are not very good on prices.

Groceries: Target was anywhere from 5 to 25% higher on their prices compared to Walmart. I did not just spot check a few items. My list was over 150 items long and compared prices to Walmart, BJ’s, and Lowes’ Foods. Walmart beat out each retailer on just about every item except for the items I can buy in bulk at BJ’s. Bulk is a more expensive upfront cost but the unit price is cheaper. I also had enough information to know if using a coupon at Walmart was still cheaper than using the same coupon at Lowes’ where it is doubled. Another problem I found at the Target where I use in Brier Creek is many of the items on the shelf are expired! Yogurt is their worst offender.

Health and Beauty Items: Target still was more expensive with their health and beauty items but they do have a few Target brand items I like. The Target brand eye make up remover is very good compared to the Neutrogena. I tried the Walmart version in the past and it stung my eyes. Both for about the same price give or take a few pennies. Target brand make up remover cloths are very nice too. Again Walmart failed in this area. I also found with the Target brand multi-vitamins they are they only brand that do not make me vomit.

Clothing: Once in a while I still will surf through the clothing section at Target but maybe buy a handful of things a year. Where Target is failing here is their quality versus the prices is not very good. Their women’s Mossimo t-shirts are the same price as the ones from Ann Taylor Loft’s when they are on sale. Ann Taylor’s quality is far better. Their swimwear is the same price as swimwear in Victoria’s Secret. I cannot compare Walmart’s section because I do not ever visit their clothing area.

When I look for a cheap cute dress Target is the last place I go. My normal stops for clothing are Kohl’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Ross, and Macy’s. For a brand loyal customer like me Target’s prices will have to be incredibly lower or extremely cute for me to even consider buying clothes from Target.

Oh, if you are a Kohl’s shopper and ever pay full price for anything in their store you need to be added to Anderson Cooper ridiculous list. Everything in their store will go on sale at some point in time.

House wares: By far the worst section in Target. Most of their items are rarely ever on sale and you can find the same item at Kohl’s. Kohl’s may have the same item priced higher BUT Kohl’s always puts things on sale and if you are a great customer like I am, I receive coupons all the time for 10-30% off above and beyond the sale price. Kohl’s comes out to be a better deal. Same goes for Kohl’s versus Walmart.

Black Friday: Ever stop into Target on Black Friday? Well don’t bother. While other retailers are offering anywhere from 30-60% off Christmas décor Target is normally only offering 10%.

Pharmacy: The only place I still stop at in Target. The only reason I go to this pharmacy is because once a month Target has a $10 gift card on new prescriptions. I then use that gift card to buy items that are on sale or buy my eye make up remover and facial cloths.

Electronics: Another place I do not even bother with. HH Gregg and Best Buy are only a mile from the Target I shop at. They have better prices, more options, and better quality.

Credit Card: Target offers 5% off all purchases used with their Target credit card. I am not a fan of store credit cards but do have a Kohl’s and Macy’s card because the rewards are so amazing – of course I pay it off every month. Why in the world would I have a Target credit card to only save 5%? Kohl’s goes up to 30% on their cards depending on the timing. My Macy’s card I get 20% off and $20 off a $50 purchase every month! Target is failing with their credit card perks. A 5% savings using their card is not justified when their groceries are 5-25% higher than Walmart.

Bottom line for me: Target used to be a great place to shop. Then, as stated in the article, their strategies started confusing consumers. Prices went up while quality remained neutral, and their savings programs do not even compare to other retailers. My few suggestions for Target: (1) lower their prices to Walmart’s level or even lower, (2) match the quality of the clothing to the price, meaning lower the price of the cloths, (3) bigger sales, and (4) better credit card rewards. Their profits per item may sink but if people buy more because of lower prices their overall profits increase, therefore, putting them back in steady competition with other retailers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112885/target-retailer-cachet-wsj

Earning Some Extra Cash

I finally had my garage sale this past weekend. It was a little slow compared to previous years because the million dollar homes not far from where I live had a huge sale going on as well. I still made $250 that will be used towards our vacation in Aruba. I may hold another one next month for the rest of my stuff since there was not that great of a turn out this year.

I did some more negotiating with my bills. My promotion I had with my phone service through Time Warner was up so my bill jumped up $15 a month. I called them and was able to get under a new promotion for my internet service so that dropped my bill $20 a month for a year. I still may call DirecTV and see where I can cut back as well. In the summer Tony and I do not watch much TV so it does not make sense to pay $100 a month for something we hardly use.

My friend Elissa got together with her coworkers and placed a Tastefully Simple order. I am so thankful she did that for me. I have another party in a little less than two weeks and am hoping for good sales. Tony and I need all the extra cash we can earn for our wedding vow renewal. Yes! I just announced it. Tony and I decided to renew our wedding vows in Aruba on the beach. It does come with a hefty price tag since there is not a lot of competition on a small island. We were originally looking for a photographer but with how much the photographer costs we decide why not just do the vow renewal. It is our 10 year anniversary so we want to do it up right. This does mean we have to put off some other projects around the house. The covered patio we were planning on finishing this year probably will not happen until late fall or spring next year now. We do have some of the material bought already but it will have to sit there until we can afford to do the roof right.

Extreme Couponing

I use coupons all the time when shopping. I probably save around $100 - $150 a month on groceries. Mom told me about Extreme Couponing so I had to record it. These people are f'ing crazy. One episode I watched the lady had around $1800 in groceries and paid around $103 for it. She bought about 70 things of mustard because it came to 39 cents. Who needs 70 mustards and how in the world are you going to use it before it expires?! I maybe use one or two a year. Why not just buy 2 or 5 but 70? Instead she spent and extra $25 on mustard she did not need and will likely spoil. Oh, and I just loved how she had to constantly touch up her make up for her image. Make up does not cover up crazy. I did not see any fresh fruits or vegetables except for the lady that had a coupon for bananas.

There is a reason this show comes on TV after Hoarders. These people are hoarders and let their couponing take over their house. I have one shelf and my pantry for items I buy on sale. Items I know I need. Not 100 things of Excedrin PM because they are free. These people have an addiction to how much they can save and in doing so buy way more than they need. The two shows I watched none of these people donated to charity. Another lady bough 90 bags of croutons because they were free. What in the world are you going to do with 90 bags of croutons that expire in 6 months? I did not see any decent meals these people can make. Lots of sugary cereal for the kids. I completely understand stocking up on laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, and other cleaning supplies if they come out to be nearly free BUT they should not take over your house and your living space. There will always be more coupons in the future so 100 things of paper towel is unnecessary. One lady even stored them in a shower! Even deodorant has an expiration date.

My take on this is couponing is great when done within reason. Buy what you need and if there is a great sale there is no need to buy 100 of each item. Depending on the item maybe max it out at 5, 20, or even 30. There will always be more coupons and another sale. Do not let the feeling of how much you saved overtake reality and over take your house. I like to cook and have homemade meals. I like variety. I like fresh fruits and vegetables. No way could I eat like these people.

April No Spend Update

I am still doing great with my April No Spend Challenge. Another weekend down and no unnecessary spending. I did buy my nieces birthday gifts and some wrinkle creams but still not unnecessary. I am starting not to miss shopping and definitely do not miss that feeling of guilt after I bought too much stuff. I am not falling for the coupons retailers send me. Before I would not pass up 15, 20, even 30% off and Kohls or Macys but now I realize while it is a great discount, I do not need anything. With all the cutting back I've been doing it does look like Tony and I will be able to buy the rest of the materials for our covered porch this month. He also has been putting in a lot of overtime to help pay for the recent vet bills and and taxes. We are so lucky Tony has the ability to put in overtime and that he is willing to do it for the family. I am so grateful to him for everything he has been doing lately.

I participated in a Mary Kay, Thirty-One, and Tastefully Simple open house on Sunday. For a small party my sales were not bad and I have one party booked out of it. Possibly one more. For about 3 hours worth of work I made $60 put had to put about half of that back into the party kit for the next party. It sounds like the party I am going to have next month is going to be huge. My friend Leigh and I are going to do a combined show again. It is nice to give people a variety for shopping.

April No Spend and Weight Up Date

Other than the few items Tony bought me last week, my no spend challenge this month has been going great. There was a jacket on sale at BJ’s I tried on but put it back on the rack. A year ago I would have bought it without even thinking twice. I am pretty proud of myself with how well I am doing. Saturday I went to The Southern Women’s Show with a friend and Tony went to the Cigar Expo with her husband. While in there I did not even think about spending money on anything. Pat on the back for me. However next month when I allow myself to buy something it is going to be new cardigans for work. I wear them everyday since the office is cold and I am wearing out the elbows.

I did not try out any new recipes this weekend. I really love the Greek Turkey burgers I made a few months back and made those Saturday. If you have not tried this recipe yet you really need to. They are amazing. I’ve been focusing more on eating what we have to keep our grocery bill down this month. I do have a large stock of nonperishable items and meat in the freezer.

I am down to 133.8 pounds now! I am only 3 more away from my lightest last year. Now I have to lose another weight watcher point though. I am already hungry enough the way it is and to lose another point is going to be hard. Really I would deduct the point at 130 pounds but my implants weigh about 4 pounds so my real weight is 129.8. Once I get to a comfortable weight I would not mind trying the Mediterranean diet which focuses on healthy oils, nuts, greens, and seafood – which I will not be eating the seafood.

Three years ago or so I asked Sprint to block picture mail and internet access on our phones since we do not have that plan. Yes I am too cheap to have internet on my phone. Lately I noticed we were getting billed for picture mail. They were small charges so I never really paid much attention to it. Tony and I never even receive notification we received picture mail so we do not know who was sending it to us. I went back through two years worth of Sprint bills online and found in November 2009 we started getting billed for picture mail again. Over the about year and a half it came to $7 in charges. Not a whole lot but I was mad we were being billed for them especially since we were not receiving notifications. I called Sprint to find out what was going on and my contract changed in 2009 and they did not roll over the internet and picture mail block. She credited me $75! I would have been happy with a $7 credit. Thank you Sprint!

My April No Spending Challenge

For the month of April I am going to attempt not to do any wasteful spending. I have cut back greatly since being unemployed but I do still enjoy the occasional new pair of shoes, new dress, etc. Well for the month of April that is all out. No new shoes, no new dress, no unnecessary item for the house, zip. April is a month of bills. URG…federal tax, vehicle tax, yearly termite inspection, Oscar’s dental work (Milo had his in March), and I am sure there are some more I am missing. After those items are paid for the money I normally budget for unnecessary items (such as clothing, iTunes, eBay, travel, donations, gifts) will be used to buy some more supplies for the covered patio we are building.

Of course as I write this there is a new INC dress out for $90 that will be perfect for my upcoming beach vacations. I am in love with this dress and my $20 off of $50 expires April 26 at Macys. SUCKS! Honey if you want to surprise me with this dress I am a size small, $20 off coupon is in my coupon binder, and your Macy’s card is in my wallet. Use MrRebates.com for additional savings. ID is my yahoo email and you know my favorite password. Hey…I said my spending was done for April but did not say my husband’s wasn’t. A girl can try, right? http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=542431&CategoryID=26513#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D56 Before I lost my job I would buy clothing and items for the house if I liked it. Now I have to LOVE it to buy it.

March sucked as well with vet bills, surprise vehicle expenses, and we were not about to give up our sanity by canceling our trip to Charleston. We made it through without dipping into savings or using credit cards. I will say I did pretty good in Charleston for spending. The only things I bought for myself was an olive oil dispenser and a sponge holder for the kitchen. Both handmade by artists in Charleston and only cost me $31. But for the month of April even items like that will be cut out of my spending. Tony bought two shirts and a flag for the garage. Every town he visits he buys a Harley shirt with the dealers name and location on it.

We packed our lunches on the trip which saved us $40 - $50 right there. It is just a smart thing to do when traveling to save money and your waistline. I cannot eat out every single meal of the day. Our hotel had free breakfast but I brought my low fat oatmeal with.

Last month I finally decided to give up ordering wine when out to dinner unless it is a special occasion. For whatever reason the last few times eating out the restaurants have passed off two buck chuck as a nice wine. The heck if I am going to pay $7 a glass for wine that is going to give me a hangover the next day. I will just have a glass when we get home. My wine is under $7 a bottle! If you look at the bigger picture if I buy one glass of wine out to dinner 50 weeks a year that is $350 on shit wine. No thank you.

Another goal I have for April is to hold a garage sale towards the end of the month. Last year Tony and I made $700 from selling stuff we did not use. I know we will not hit that number again this year because there is not a whole lot to sell but even $200 would be nice. Anytime I receive cash it gets stashed away for vacations. Tony and I took that $700 to Curacao with us. This money will be for Aruba. I am sure there still are items shoved away in my attic that can go. I really need to clean out my closet and get ride of some shoes! Well, April is just a few days away. Lets see how I do.

Grocery Store Savings

Kroger is an awesome grocery store where I live. I do most of my grocery shopping at Walmart and BJ’s but go to Kroger for their sale items. There sales are amazing and their produce is really fresh. About once a month they run a special with select items. It is buy 10 of the items and get $5 off. Mix and match. These deals are so amazing. Particularly because the items are also on sale on top of taking the $5 discount. Here is everything I bought.

12 – Smart Ones Microwave Meals $1.38 – $1.68 each
4 – Bumble Bee Tuna – $0.49 each
7 – Pasta Roni - $0.79 each
8 – Rozini Smart Pasta - $0.49 each
9 – Del Monte canned tomatoes - $0.69 each
3 – Bird’s Eye Microwave Bag pasta and rice $1.49 each
3 – Classico Pasta Sauce - $1.99 each

Not in the 10 for $5 deal but on sale.
3 for $10 Morning Star Corn Dogs
Strawberries

I combined my manufactures coupons with the discounts along with a coupon from my City Pass book for $5 off a $50 purchase. Total before coupons and discounts $120. Total after coupons, $48.44.

The Rozini pasta is our favorite pasta that is around $1.50 at Walmart. Two of them were free after my coupon I combined with it. I had three coupons for a $1 off two boxes of the Pasta Roni. The pasta sauce came to 99 cents each after my other coupons I combined with it. Unfortunately for me a few days later Harris Teeter came out with a great sale on Classico pasta sauce and it only would have been 29 cents a jar. It really pays to do your research when grocery shopping. I could not have seen that great deal at Harris Teeter but still ended up paying a good price.

Since January I have been really committed to keeping our grocery bill under $800 a month. The last three years our monthly average has been around $1100 a month. I did a great job keeping it down when I was unemployed but stopped paying a lot of attention to it after I found a job. The biggest thing for me to save money is to plan out the grocery list for two weeks. Put down items for this week’s grocery list I need now and which coupons will expire that week and the following week for items I can wait a bit longer on. This helps so much! I am not over buying on items I do not need. Of course I stocked up at Kroger because the prices were too good not to but in the long run it saves me money. I am happy to report I have been able to stay under the $800 mark so far this year and that even includes going all natural and/or organic meat and eggs and having fresh fruit and vegetables. It pays to map out my grocery shopping. Lately I’ve been stopping at four different stores each week for the best deals just like I did when I was unemployed. The stores are a mix of Walmart, BJ’s, Lowes, Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter, and Earth Fare.

Now for those of you going how in the world do you spend $800 or even more than that at the grocery store? My cost also includes toiletries, pet supplies, and cleaning supplies. Tony and I also take our lunch to work every day. Save your receipts for a month and add it up. I think you will be surprised at how much you actually spend.

Being Satisfied with what I have

Over the last few years Tony and I have been very undecided about what to do with our house. Do we move? Do we stay put? We finally decided after over five years of living in our home we are going to stay put for a long time. Right now we are locked into a 30 year mortgage at 5.875%. Today we sign application papers at BB&T to refinance our mortgage to 15 years at 3.75%! Our payments will be a little more than they are right now but not by much. If we stay at our house for 15 years I will have the house paid off by the time I am 43. Now I do doubt we will be there a full 15 years but we will have a nice down payment on the next house.

After a lot of thinking we decided with the location of our house and how much work we put into it we really would just like to sit back and enjoy what we accomplished. Still more to do with completing the patio and getting new carpet but everything else feels complete. Our house is large enough for the two of us if not too big and we have a great back yard. Sucks being off a busy road but when it is not rush hour it is really not that bad.

It seems like as Tony and I get older we realize having the latest and greatest things are not worth it. I would love a bigger home and a new car and we can afford it but at some point we stepped back and decided to be satisfied with what we have. Maybe that is what more people need to do. Stop trying to get the nicer car, the nicer house, the newest TV and just be happy with what you have. Having extra money for his motorcycle and traveling are more important to us. I am looking to our future now and we both do not want to work forever. I just read in a magazine the other day to spend money on experiences, not things. If I try to keep up with the latest I am going to miss out on experiences.

Now a bit of therapy I need. Stop filling my closet full of new clothes and be happy with what I have. Maybe the next time I get the urge to go shopping I start making new outfits out of the clothes I already have.

Then about the new car since you all know I really want one. I gave up on it. I am good with what I have. Although Tony does not seem to believe since I have always gone back and forth. The difference is whenever I wanted a new car I went out and bought it without even thinking twice. This last year I keep going back and forth and can’t even decide on what type of car. That tells me I am just not ready for a change and need to be satisfied with the car I have. Tony’s job is bringing me back to reality if I start talking about a new car again. He can put his foot down and say I don’t think so. Even though I could get a cheaper payment than what I have now the bigger picture is having less than two years left on my car loan and only having $9,000 more to pay off. Just like with the mortgage. We were just fine with our payments going up and having to pay the refinance fees since our home will be paid down at a much quicker rate. It is about the future and not the present.

Early Birthday Celebration

The weekend went by so fast. Saturday Tony and I celebrated my birthday early. We went to Milton's Pizza for dinner. I had a coupon for a free pizza for my birthday. Then we went to see Grown Ups at the theater. Grown Ups had mixed reviews. Tony and I laughed through the entire thing. If you like Adam Sandler and Chris Rock then you will like this movie.

Sunday we stuffed ourselves at dinner. I made the Hungry Girl cheese sticks, pasta, sausage, salad, garlic bread, and chocolate banana bread. Chocolate banana bread may sound disgusting but it is really good. It is low fat too so I do not feel guilty getting my chocolate fix with it.

I scored big time at Kroger yesterday. They had Gatorade and pasta roni for 49 cent each. Tony buys the Gatorade at the gas station for 2 for $5. I bought 30 of them for him so he can pack one with when he is out on the bike. Tony and I eat pasta roni a lot as a side with pork and chicken. I am happy when I see it on sale for $1 a box so with them at 49 cents a box I bought 20 boxes. I am sure we will go through all 20 boxes by the end of the year. Sounds funny to stock up on pasta roni and Gatorade but it will pay for itself.

My headaches are back today and I am miserable. I am sick to my stomach and the Excedrin is not working. I have a prescription for headache medicine the doctor in the ER gave me. I am starting to realize I am going to have to fill it. I do not like taking prescription pain meds but my over the counter meds are not working.

Abs of Steel

Last night I decided to try a new ab exercise I found in All You magazine. I have been doing hundreds of crunches a week since I was about 14 years old and the last five years or so it turned into thousands a week. Yes, I do 1000 crunches each time I work out. So I have a hard time trading my daily 1000 crunches for new exercises. The pilates ab exercises in All You magazine only took me about 20 minutes to do if even that. I did not feel like I got much out of it so I did some of the exercises a few more times. I woke up this morning feeling fine and told myself that was too easy and I am going back to my crunches.

About twice a year I touch up my hardwood flooring with stain and fill in all the dents the dogs put in it. Today it took me two hours on my hands and knees fixing all the nicks. When I finally got up and was ready to take a shower my abs felt like someone punched me for a few hours straight. They hurt so badly! I am now convinced I am going to have to switch up my work out every few months. It is easy to stick with the same routine but I now realize I was not getting every muscle. I am going to research some other arm and leg exercises as well.

My plum and peach jam did not turn out bad. It was not to die for but was not horrible. Tony likes it on an English muffin. I don’t care for it since I do not like plums to begin with.

I found out my out of pocket expenses for the two day delay on the trip are covered through our travel insurance policy we purchased. I did not save all my receipts but my credit card statements are good enough proof. I am so thrilled the expenses are going to be covered. Well…wait…we will see what happens after I submit the claim. Cross your fingers for me.

Sometimes Going Cheap Does Not Pay

I bought flea and tick control from Walmart for my dogs. In the past I always bought Frontline from Doctor’s Foster and Smith. I decided to save money by going cheap in this area. I looked over everything on the Adam’s brand flea and tick control and it looked like it does exactly the same thing as Frontline. I applied it to each of my three dogs and it was a mess. It is so much more oily than Frontline. I applied it four days ago and my dogs still look like grease monkeys from the ’80’s. Well what I did not think about was how this stuff would rub off on my bedding. Sydney slept next to the bed by Tony and stained the bed skirt. Not just a small spot. A huge area. Oscar sleeps in bed with us so of course he got it on the duvet. What makes me want to cry…my duvet is $270 and my bed skirt is $120 at Macy’s. I did buy an extra duvet last year that is still in the package but not the bed skirt. I washed and oxy cleaned the bed skirt and duvet and it is not coming out. I went to macys.com and found my bed skirt is on sale for $70 and with my Macy’s rewards I can get it for $50 plus shipping. I am not going to put the new bed skirt on until I use up all the Adam’s flea and tick treatment. So I saved $58 by using Adams for a three month supply but spent that amount on a new bed skirt. Frontline never damaged my bedding.

All you have to do is ask

I made several phone calls to companies to try to reduce my bills since being laid off. Below are my successes.

My first call was to DirectTV. I went to the lowest package possible which is not even advertised on their website and I cancelled HBO. While cancelling HBO the service representative asked if I would be interested in another movie station. Gee…I just told him I lost my job and he is trying to sell me on something else. I told him not unless you can give it to me for free. He paused for a few seconds and offered me three free months of Showtime. SCORE! When Tony got home that evening he turned on the TV and the first channel he always goes to is ESPN. All the sudden I hear yelling from downstairs with Tony freaking out that ESPN and CNN are no longer part of our package. He insists I get our old channels back. I told him he can look up sports online and this is the way it is going to be for a while. We are saving about $50 a month with our cut backs on DirectTV.

Next was Time Warner Cable for my home phone and internet service. I explained my situation and they offered me a promotional rate for my home phone so I did not have to down grade. I saved another $16 a month there. I could downgrade my internet speed to save another $10 but since I am constantly searching for jobs online I might drive myself insane with a slow internet speed.

There is not much I can change with Sprint. I already have a business discount rate but Sprint did come to my aid with the international calling fees I had to make while in Curacao because of American Airlines (that is another story). I asked if I could get the international calling charges waived since I had to make emergency phone calls due to a day delay getting off the island because of American Airlines. Fees Waived except for the calls I had to make to American Airlines when they screwed up my new tickets. They said I should recoup those costs from American Airlines. Still waiting on a response to my letter to them.

Before I left for Curacao I had to see the doctor for my ear. I had blockage in my ear and it is not very safe to fly with ear issues. When she was getting ready to hand me my prescription I asked if she had a sample I could have since I am unemployed. She disappeared for a while and then came back with the nasal spray she took from another doctor’s stash to help me. Saved about a $20 copay there.

I redeemed Marriott points for the trip to Curacao. I was given a garden view room for free. Upon arrival I asked for an upgrade with my gold status. Bam! Upgraded to ocean view. My surprise stay because of American Airlines landed Tony and I another night in Curacao at the Renaissance by Marriott. Again I asked for an upgrade because of my status and we were put in the Executive one bedroom suite.

I called my auto and home insurance company, All State. I did not want to make any changes to my policy but wanted to know if there are any additional savings I qualify for. My agent did a re-write of my policy and I am saving $30 a month on my auto and $45 a year on my home insurance. My policy stated the same with no changes in coverage.

My schedule for my trip to WI in July and August keeps changing with United Airlines. When I called the airline to see what was going on it turns out they are slowly pulling their services out of central WI. Because of the inconvenience of my schedule now Tony and I each received $250 ticket vouchers to use in the next year. Just a simple phone call. Too bad American Airlines will not take any complaints by phone…assholes.

The point of this posting is to have the guts to just ask if you want something. The worst they can say is no. You would be amazed how far just asking with a smile or sweet tone will go with people. I have been mastering this art for the last few years and it is amazing all the upgrades and savings I received because of just asking.

Grocery Store Savings and Ending Stupid Spending

I have always cut coupons but now more than ever I have to find creative ways to save. I created a spreadsheet and wrote down all the items I buy on a monthly basis in the rows and the stores I shop at in the columns. I visited Walmart, Target, BJs, and Lowes and wrote down the price of each item and calculated the unit cost. This took a long time to complete but am very happy I did. I always thought Walmart was cheaper on everything and they are not! I also was able to figure out if something was cheaper at Lowes when the coupon is doubled versus just using the coupon at Walmart. My spreadsheet is 8 pages long. My monthly grocery bill prior to being unemployed was around $1100 - $1400. This included pet supplies (I have three dogs and a cat), beauty products, and cleaning supplies. My first month of unemployment my grocery bill was $643.07. I am so proud of myself. It helps I am one of those crazy people that stocks up on food when there is an incredible sale. My friends always make fun of me about how many cans of vegetables I have but they sure are coming in handy right now considering when I bought the Del Monte vegetables I only paid about 35 cents a can and they are in the stores for around a dollar a can. I buy meat on clearance and am not ashamed. I always bought meat on clearance in the past just more so now. People freak out over brown beef. Hello! It would be that color if it were not for the oxygen that is injected in. It is just as safe.

My eating out expenses prior to me being unemployed were $120 - $250 a month. Even when I had a job my husband and I only ate out once a week and he went out to lunch once a week. Eating out is such a waste of money if you do it all the time. My first month unemployed our eating out expenses were $81 excluding what we had to spend on vacation. Not too bad but I hope to have it even less this month. When we do eat out now I will buy coupons from Restaurant.com when they are 80% off.

Stupid Stupid Spending: Shopping...who does not like to shop? My monthly department store and clothing costs before being unemployed were between $1,000 and $1,500 for Tony and me. Now my budget is $50. Luckily I have more clothes than I can imagine. I know you all are wondering how someone can spend that kind of money on clothes each month. I wonder myself. Much of the expense was for things around the house. I did a lot of redecorating but I do love clothes. You don't have to tell me twice...how much I spent each month was just stupid. But I was smart with my 401k and put in the max I could. I just wish I would have bought less and saved more. Changing my spending habits in this category is not going to be easy but I really do not have a choice in the matter. I do not have credit card debt other than what my husband I just had to charge on our vacation. Only about $700 on a 0% credit card. Not bad and I do not indent on charging any thing else. I could easily pay it off with money out of my savings account but it seems smarter to leave it on a 0% card and leave more money in the savings account. Lets see how I do over the next few months. I am under some serious retail therapy.

It is going to be hard not to donate to good causes. I always took out the checkbook for animal shelters and other fundraising events for causes I fully believe in. I still want to donate but it will have to wait until I am employed.