Things I've done recently to save $

Hey, I know it's been forever since I've posted, um, anything. But I'm alive, I've just been using the stockpile more than building it, particularly since my storage space has decreased (though I do have a very nice size closet/pantry dedicated entirely to hounding- it's just full!). I figured I'd go over some of the more day-to-day things I've been doing.

1) Transferred my prescription around. I've done this twice in the past 45 days, getting a $30 credit/gc at a grocery store each time. I like eating for free, don't you?

2) Coinstar'd my spare change into a CVS gift card- for free! Coinstar waives their fee if you get a gift card instead of cash (thier website lets you know which machines have which GC options).

3) Using Swagbucks as my search engine. So far, I've accumulated $30 in amazon gift cards (which are stackable) and deposited them in an amazon account. Just for doing searches and referring a few friends- I love that site.

4) Tracking my expenses. Just knowing that I have to write it down makes me think twice about something I want.

5) Submitted my FSA claims as they come up. I'm less likely to lose the reciepts this way, and I get my moola back faster.

I'm hoping to get some good hounding in this weekend at CVS, WAGS, and RA. We will see!

Target Trip

I'm going to start this post with the caveat that only the Razor deal and Tide deal is good now (slash elsewhere). My local Target just opened a grocery section last month and had sent out some promotional home mailers with Target Q's that are what made my trip such a good deal for me.

So, we'll start with the stuff that is still good.

Schick Razor $6.99, sale (normally $8.29 at my location)
-$4 MC from last week's paper
-$4 Target Q from this week's paper
=$1.01 overage!

Tide, 100 oz, $10.99
-$1 MC from this week's paper
-$1 Target Q (mine was from the mailer, but I believe there is another recent one out)
=$8.99
The smaller bottles are also on sale at CVS this week for a lower OOP, but I like to use the Total Care which are not included in the CVS sales (if your CVS even carries that kind) and per ounce it's a comparable deal.

Simply Lemonade, $2.04 with CRV
-$0.75 Target Q from my Mailer
=$1.29

2*Tostitos, sale $2.50 (plus free salsa when you buy 2)
-$1/2 Target Q from my Mailer
=$4 for both

Salsa, $0 (from above deal)

A&H Baking Soda (larger size, for my stinky sink!) $1.18

Subtotal: $26.10 before CRV and sales tax
-$5/25 Target Q from my Mailer
-all other Q's mentioned above
+ remaining sales tax
=$10.06 OOP!

I hope the Razor and/or Tide scenario helps. The Tostitos deal isn't bad either if you like their salsa. I'm not a fan personally, but I needed to get to $25 and I do like the scoop chips for guac.

Lata!
Annathy

Saving and Traveling- Hotels!

So, we all have this dilemma. Hotels are expensive. Always. Like, several times more per night than my rent (even in the middle of nowhere, and I rent in the land of overpriced beachyness... or beachiness- I'm not sure of the correct grammer there). The good news is there are a few benefits to them.


1) You don't need your own shampoo. Unless you're really picky and/or allergic. I rarely use all the things they put in the room, but I find they generally replace them after day 1 because I put them in the shower (where I... use them!) instead of on the counter. So I like to take these and keep them as an emergency stash. They also work really well paired with guest towels to make your company feel plush (if you have a borderline rediculous stockpile of J&J buddies, I may have stolen and tweaked this tip from you). I also take them with me if I'm staying with friends or family (particularly the soap bars) for some occasion.

2) Rewards. Again it depends on the chain. Hilton does points + miles so you earn both, but the amount of points needed to redeem a free room can be about twice as many as their nemesis Marriott. (Disclaimer: I mostly stay at Hilton b/c my coworkers prefer it and we try to share rental cars, but I worked at a Marriott through college and I think the brands are pretty comparable). Smaller chains tend to offer less predictable rewards- for example Omni gave me a get your second weekend night free certificate awhile back when I checked in, but they don't have a specific point based program. Even online brokers are beginning to get into the deal (unlike airlines who mostly don't award miles through expedia/hotwire type purchases). However, they are usually specific to their purchase website, not the brand or all stays. I hear Radisson (part of Gold Points) has some of the best rewards, but unfortunately I really, really dislike their sleep-number beds.



Of course, there are also things to watch out for:

1) Parking. To me, this is the equivalent of a checked bag fee on airlines. Once you're there, you are stuck with it. So when you're looking around, check the prices. Especially if you are staying downtown or near a touristy area (sporting stadium, zoo, etc) where parking is premium.

2) Breakfast. This can be huge, depending on who you're traveling with. For families I think it is almost always better to stay somewhere with a free breakfast, but if that isn't possible look for rates that include it. Usually the price difference is about the amount of one adult breakfast, making your spouse and/or children nearly free. Also, even if breakfast is crazy expensive and you have no option 2.5 (see directly below), pastries from the local grocer are always cheaper than dining out.

2.5) Mini fridge or fridge. The mini is ALMOST as good as free breakfast. You can buy groceries for a fraction of what eating out costs. Mini fridges are getting relatively common at "family friendly" hotels, but always check. Full size fridges are even better, generally found in long term hotels (which do take short term reservations) which often times feature full kitchens. These hotels allow you the flexibility to make breakfast and dinner at your hotel and only eat lunch out during your daily activities, but can cost more depending on the area.

3) Internet. If you just need directions somewhere the desk staff should be able to take care of that, but if your teenagers are addicted to facebook (and the prospect of listening to them whine about it all week makes you queesy) or you need to check your work email to ensure the world didn't end (you might be an earthquake specialist in San Francisco... I don't know), this is a free bonus to look for.

4) Pools. If this is important to you, call ahead! You'll want to make sure they aren't painting the thing or doing work on it for the duration of your trip, and get an idea of the pool size, indoor or outdoor, and if there are other pools you can use (like if sister hotels are adjacent, they will usually let guests of either hotel use their pool- especially if one is indoor and the other outdoor).

5) Transportation. If you're flying in, see if the hotel offers a shuttle service that would keep you from needing a rental car or cab.

Saving and Traveling

These are two words that don't always go well together. After all, most of the things associated with traveling are pretty expensive- hotels, airfare, rental cars, eating out. But, there are ways to save yourself moola from these activities. Since I've been traveling a lot lately and it's reduced my other hounding, I'd like to share some of the ways I've found to do this. And today is... airlines!



Airfare- I like to check sidestep.com, and I hear airfarewatchdog is also an excellent site. But the bottom line is to look around. Even if you try to stick with the same airline, make sure they aren't way above market price for your flight. If you can, buy in advance. About 2 weeks before is a pretty good time, mostly you want to avoid the window within one week of travel. I've found that booking really far in advance is hit or miss because of the speculation of fuel costs in advance, but early is almost always cheaper if you are planning to go somewhere around a holiday.



Baggage- Check the policies before you book! You almost have to think of it as part of the price of the ticket. Some airlines let you check one free, but most charge $15 for your first bag and $25 for your second. So if you're going on a weekend thing and can handle carry-on, no biggie. But if you're checking a bag odds are you need to tack $30 onto your round-trip airfare when you're comparing.



Airline rewards- Always, always, always sign up! Even if you fly an airline only one time, you may earn enough "miles" or rewards to get something that helps you. For example, Northwest's program allows you to get newspaper subscriptions in a lot of cities. I can get the LA times for a whole year for 887 miles if I just want Sunday, or 1000 miles for weekend (Fri-Sun) service. Wa-la! Free coupons for a year from a single roundtrip flight! I get a fair amount of magazines this way too, I'm hoping "all you" will someday be an option on at least one airline.



If you do fly a lot, it's beneficial to stay with the same airline when you can since elite status usually garners you bonus miles to get free flights faster, some forgo the bag check fee for elite, and you are more likely to get upgraded. If you usually fly long flights it may benefit you to pick one which rewards based on mileage. I usually fly shorter flights, so I like Southwest which doesn't care how far the flight is. Also check what the fees are- many airlines now charge $50 to book your "free" flight. Keep in mind where they fly too. I fly Southwest a lot, but they'd be a bad airline to pick for rewards if my goal was to go to Hawaii considering they don't leave the continental US.



Credit Cards- Completely depends on the card and how much you use it. Make sure to check out all the benefits and costs. The ones with annual fees usually give you better rewards, but if you don't use it much it's not enough to defray the cost. Some like Continental also give you benefits like not paying to check your first bag when you have their card, I think Alaska gives you a free companion pass each year which acts as a buy one get one for $50 (booking fee). Only you know what works for you. I don't have any of these cards, but I'll admit I'm considering the Southwest one since I fly them a lot.

Next up will be hotels :-D

Fly-by

Wowsers! Time does fly, especially when I do! I went out of town for 4th of July, came back for a night before flying 1000 miles for work that week, was out in the field 70% of this past week, fly off tomorrow morning for work again, and then I'm staying at a friends close to the airport the night we come back so I don't have to drive home for the 11 hours between that flight and my one to Nashville this weekend (one of my good friends is getting married... yay!). These travel times seem to come in spurts, and this one has been crazier than usual.

I've not been couponing much these days, though I recently spent a boatload of rebate money right before the 4th at Costco (I have the Costco Amex and my rebate has to be redeemed there- it CAN be redeemed for cash though, so it's not like I was obligated to spend all this dough there), and I used a lot of Costco coupons and got tons of trashbags (I really like theirs), clorox wipes, air wick refills (I know I'm not supposed to pay for these, but my stores always seem OOS when they are free or a MM and with Q they were about $1 each), swiffer wipes, lysol bathroom cleaner, sunscreen (which I'll submit for FSA reimbursement since it is over spf 30), a PUR faucet mount, off-brand huggable hangers, some easy meal stuff like the spinach and cheese ravioli you just boil (which keeps me from getting take-out more often) and two shamefully large bottles of quality liquor.

Today I stopped by WAGS and picked up the Bic disposable razors. They have them on sale for $2.99 this week and there was a $2 coupon in today's paper. Even with SoCal taxes it came to $1.27 which I paid with my GC for a $0 OOP. Not free, but I'm OK with that price for 4 razors, especially since I didn't make it out to CVS for the free one last week.

Also I have basically finished organizing the new place and hopefully before the end of the month I will post pictures of my stockpile.

New (or Improved) Budget

I can hardly believe it has been all the way since June 4th that I last posted! Yikes!! Things have been so crazy with moving, though I'm almost settled now (almost being the key word) in the new place, and the old we just have the walk through tomorrow with our landlord. It's super clean but I doubt that will help them- they've only had one showing since they put the rent sign up 2 weeks ago.

I also took a look at my budget thinking that moving is a good time to do some rework on the darn thing. Most articles use budgets of percentages whereas I've just been trying to spend a set dollar amount or save a certain amount, and I'm hoping this new plan will keep me just a smidge closer to sane.

(Deep Breath)... Here goes...

24% Taxes/Unchangeable deductions (medical, dental, FSA- stuff I can only change once a year)
20% 401(k) Contribution
15% Rent (includes utilities)
10% Long Term Savings for a home, retirement, etc
5% Short Term Savings for 'sometimes' expenses like car insurance, vacations, weddings, etc
8% Roth IRA Contribution (which requires me rolling the thing over to a firm that doesn't stink)
18% Other spend including groceries, gas, and fun money

The hard parts are the Roth and the Long Term Savings. I've set up the 5% to come from my checking to my savings and I'll reroute when I need it to pay for these things, but the 10% I need to find something solid and looooow maintenance to put it in. I'm thinking index funds, but to go with ETFs or Mutuals? One that follows S&P or two to three to cover different spectrums? I've read up some, but it's so hard to pick what is best with the fees and everything. As for the Roth I just need to roll it over, the people it's with now don't have an office out here, and I don't like them anyways.
Not to mention sticking to the budget. That might not be a walk in the park, either.

Old Navy, Baby!

So I finally got to Old Navy to use the $50/$100 coupon I found during the oldnavyweekly.com reload Sunday night. Let's take a peek at my new clothes, shall we?

Disclaimer: I sound a little like an ON advertisement below, but it's been a loooong time since I've bought clothes for me that weren't specifically to improve my work wardrobe, and I'm a little excited.

We'll start with the dresses ($15 each sale price). They aren't fancy or anything, but perfect little sundresses. And in case you missed it a few posts back, I'm moving to the beach... I plan on wearing things with the word "sun" in them a lot. Sundress, sunglasses, sunscreen, sun... okay, that's all I got.

What is this? Color, in my wardrobe! Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

Of course, two dresses aren't enough, I can't wear them all the time... so we'll get some blue shorts and a bright green skirt, too! Skirt $15 on sale, shorts $19.50 regular price

Now, I suppose I should get some practical things for work... how about two tank tops to go under my liter dress shirts? $5 each, sale price. And I loved these shoes, $19.50 they're cute, feel comfy enough, and they are a small wedge, which I like- with the big ones I think "uh I'll just take a normal heel thanks".

As for the socks that snuck in, those are for this "GYM" thing I'm trying to go to right now. These were good thick socks, and I was just a little shy of $100, so I threw them in at $6.50 ($5 each if you buy 2+)

So my subtotal came to $100.50, which was just $50.50 after coupon! Plus tax. Stupid California. But I bought it in OC instead of LA county, so at least the tax wasn't as high as it could have been.