Ktmarvels's Personal Finance Blog

I went to CVS and they are having Loreal Vive shampoo and conditioner buy one get one free. I also had two coupons for buy one get one free. I went there today and got four bottles and only had to pay tax! I also did another one of their deals and got $15 ECB which can be used in future weeks. Between the coupons and sales I saved 31.96!

Next I went to Walgreen's and stocked up on some pens and 3x5 index cards. I saved a total $9.17 and even though I spent $3.61 I didn't pay anything out of pocket since I have a gift card from them.

I'm adding the savings from both of these to the challenge.

New additions: $ 41.13
Previous total: $560.47
Total, since 4/15: $601.60

DH and I have been attending church online. Now, before you start thinking I'm a cult member let me tell you a little bit about how we got involved. We were stationed in Corpus Christi, TX and started going to Real Life Fellowship and immediately fell in love with it. When we moved to Florida we were sad that we would be losing this great church and that we would have to find a new one. About the same time that we moved, Real Life started up an online "campus". It can be found at:

www.reallifeconnect.org

They tape one of the Corpus Christi services and play it online Saturday at 7pm Central and Sunday 11 am Central for the world to see. There also is a chat room feature where you can talk with other people who are watching the service and also with Chris, the online pastor.

I think this church would be great for anyone, but I see it fulfilling a very special role in the military. First of all, I know for the past 2 years while training DH has hardly lived in one spot for longer than 8 months. Repeatedly finding new churches is hard and frankly we haven't always done it. With this online church you can still be connecting with the same people no matter where you are living.

My favorite reason though is that families can still attend church together while deployed. I know that having that shared experiences even while he's gone would be special and nice. We already have at least one member who is stationed in Bahrain.

The two services are Saturday at 7 pm Central and Sunday 11am Central. Check it out yourself at Real Life Online www.reallifeconnect.org or pass it on to someone who might be interested. DH and I usually attend the Sunday service if you want to say hi!

DH and I were out of town for pretty much the last week and a half of June so we didn’t do to well keeping track of our spending. While we went home (Oregon) for a weekend we didn’t really spend any money—-one of the perks of being with the parents. Last weekend we went off for our 1 year anniversary and we spent quite a bit of money, but almost all of it was covered by a gift from our best man. This month we also moved quite a bit of money around that also messed with our budget numbers. We opened Roth IRA accounts with Vanguard and maxed them out. So no hard numbers to post, but we did good this month.

Yesterday I did our normal monthly checking account drain. Since I did in the beginning of July, and July is an odd month, all of that money went to pay off our cars—$1,500! This paid off a huge chunk out of my car loan, about 18%. We also put $125 to our dining room account and $125 toward our 2008 Roths. Frankly I was happy that we were putting that much toward the car, but at the same time I was a little nervous about not specifically putting any money away toward savings. But come August, we’ll be saving all of it. So it will all work out in the end. Besides, if something catastrophic happens, we still have our EF and down payment savings accounts we can raid.

So I am really excited to see the balance of the cars continue to fall. Even if we only pay the minimum balance from here on out, we have already saved a year-and-a-half of payments!

Went grocery shopping tonight. We were in desperate need of food since we had pretty much been out of town for a week and a half and since we are having people over tomorrow for dinner we had to pick up some extra stuff. Using coupons I saved 9.25 so that will go to the challenge.

I also got a check in the mail for $24 from doing surveys. I love getting those checks!


New additions: $ 33.25
Previous total: $527.22
Total, since 4/15: $560.47

A while back DH and I had a money date and determined how we were going to divide up our surplus each month. Since that time we have added some new goals so we needed to fix our plan accordingly. So here is our new plan:

Between the 1st and the 5th of each month we will drain the checking account down to our 'buffer level'. That money will then be divided up accordingly depending on if the month is an even month or an odd month.

Even months:
*$100 will go to our dining room table fund
*Half of the remaining amount will go to our down payment fund
*The other half will go to our retirement sub-account (for our ’08 Roths)
*The interest earned on the savings account will also be put in the retirement account
*We will pay the minimum on our car loans

Odd months:
*$100 will go to our dining room table fund
*$100 will go to our retirement fund
*The interest from the savings account will go to our retirement fund
*The rest will be applied to our car loans…mine specifically since it has the higher interest rate.

I like this new plan because it means that each month we are putting away money for our Roth IRAs and saving up for the dining room table.

Gosh I've been really bad about updating and tracking my challenge money. Over the past few weeks I've gotten $29 for surveys and a $10 rebate. I also got my first rebate back from Walgreen's, but since that is in the form of a gift card I'm not going to count it for the challenge. Hopefully I'll get better about doing and tracking challenge again!

New additions: $ 39
Previous total: $488.22
Total, since 4/15: $527.22

Today is DH and my 1 year anniversary. It has been a fun and wonderful year. Our best man gave us our wedding gift a couple of weeks ago and he said that the money must be sent on something frivolous. We decided to spend it on a weekend away. Friday we drove up and had lunch in Savannah, GA at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. If you ever have the chance to go there, do it! It serves up traditional southern food family style. The tables seat 10 people and you meet people from all over the country. We had a very nice meal with a young couple from Michigan, an older couple from Pennsylvania and a family that had just moved nearby.

After lunch and wandering around Savannah some, we headed up to Beaufort, South Carolina. We spent the evening wandering around the shops in the downtown area. We also went and saw Ratatouille which DH has been dying to see. Saturday we went to Hunting Island and hung out on the beach. Then we had dinner in the historic district again. Every chance we got we walked through the waterfront area because the area was just so beautiful. There was so much water and lush greenery.

We really had a good time this weekend and it was a good way to celebrate our first year of marriage.

I've been talking about setting up Roths for DH and I for several months now, but this week everything got settled financially and we opened, and fully funded, Roths for both of us. Since the money didn't get posted until the weekend we only have $4K in there right now, but I'm looking forward to seeing it (hopefully) rise with the market!

We decided to go with Vanguard and their target retirement accounts. I liked that it was balanced and we don't have to think about making it more conservative as we get closer to retirement. This month when I do my monthly rearranging of funds I'll earmark $100 of our extra money for our Roth saving sub-account. While its only a small amount it will get us started on our 2008 contributions. Somehow we'll have to find 10K to max it out too!

DH had an investment account with BOA that had just been sitting there. We decided to cash it out and use the money to open Roth IRAs. There was almost enough money to max out his account and we are going to use money from the life insurance to make up the difference and to fully fund mine. Yesterday we mailed the checks off to our bank so when they clear, I'll be opening Roths for us.

I think we're opening up through Vanguard and we'll probably just put it in a Target Retirement fund. That way we don't have to think about it. Maybe as we get closer to retirement or more knowledgeable about all that investing stuff we'll switch.

I'd like it if eventually we'd save all 2007 to max out 2008 and then save all 2008 to max out 2009. Since 2007 is already covered, we just need to start saving for 2008. I'm not quite sure how to do this since all of our 'extra' money was already earmarked for our car loans or down payment. Maybe I'll take like $200 out of what would be our down payment and earmark it for the Roth...although that won't max it out, it will help some. Also we probably won't be purchasing a house for a while so I don't feel as bad 'stealing' from this account.

Went shopping today and saved $9.15 from using coupons. Since I went to the commissary I really saved more than that as the other grocery stores are more expensive and the commissary had some things on sale. I'm adding that to the challenge.

On a unrelated note DH's and my alma mater (Oregon State) is currently playing the second baseball game of the super regional. If we win tonight against Michigan we'll return to Omaha for the third consecutive time and to defend our title as national champions. If we happen to lose, we'll play Michigan tomorrow and, since I'm sure we'll win, we'll then go to Omaha! Go Beavs!

New additions: $ 9.15
Previous total: $479.07
Total, since 4/15: $488.22

DH and I rarely go out to movies. We have the 1 movie at a time deal from Blockbuster Online and for about $10 a month we can see pretty much as many movies as we want. A goal of mine is to see the top 100 movies and all of the acadamy award winners so that's what's in our Blockbuster que. After we watch the one that's been sent to us, we go to the store and get a new release to watch. It makes for a nice blend of new and old movies.

Last weekend we went and saw Knocked Up in the theater. I was blown away by how expensive it was. Now, I'm sure for those of you who go to movies more freqeuently or recently woun't be shocked by this price, it was $14 and I was surprized. We almost made the mistake of going to a show half an hour later and having to pay $18 dollars. Thankfully, I caught it in time and minimized the damage. I did find out that before noon on Friday, Sat, and Sun the tickets are only $5 each. So from now on that's when we'll be going!

When Spiderman 3 came out we went and saw it at the local drive in. It cost $4 a person (so $8), and I thought that was a stretch, but do-able to see a first-run movie.

DH and I already sat down and each listed 3 movies that we each want to see this summer in the theater, to plan and budget accordingly. However to not completely break our entertainment budget we'll probably be seeing them weekend mornings or evenings at the drive in.

Well classes started this week for me. I'm really not looking forward to them. I have my BS (and BA), but I have to take a couple of prerequisites for the pharmacy school in New Hampshire. I have to take a US History class because they don't accept AP tests and Intro to Sociology. I think Sociology would be fun, but our teacher is scatter brained and I doubt I'll get as much out of the class as I could. History should be ok though. It's not my favorite subject, but being married to a history major he'll be curious to know what we are covering.

I am taking these classes at the local community college. I figured since it's a daytime class that there would be some younger students...like freshman...in the class. Boy was I wrong, two of the three people in my history group are 16, and the third is only 18! Now, I'm only 24, but they are making me feel old! Actually I think it could be interesting to see how teenagers think these days, but I'm not used to being in class with teenagers and high schoolers.

Anyway I had to buy a new textbook for sociology as she's using a new book this year so there are no used copies. Our history class required a packet of three books. I bought a used packet for just over $40.

The textbook for the class is the same one I used for US history in high school. So I was kicking myself that I actually had the book but had to buy it. But with an 8 week class there was no way I could get it in time. I was also thinking that DH had the Frederick Douglas book we needed, but I wasn't sure if he got rid of it during our book purge. So I bought the books and went home. I discovered that DH had both the textbook and the Douglas book.

I was happy that he had them and I figured that I could return them and buy the third book separately. Well apparently the bookstore doesn't sell that book by itself, and, of course, it is the one book we have to bring to each class.

By then I was even more frustrated that I was going to have to pay for the entire packet just for that dang book. Then I remembered that libraries often have copies of the textbooks available for reference so I decided to check it out. Well not only did they have that book, it was in circulation so I was able to check it out!I'll probably have to check it out a couple of times during the term, but hey...it's free!

So I'm adding that $40 saved on textbooks to the challenge.
I'm also adding $10 saved from CVS this week. The actual total is more than that, but I don't have the receipt in front of me.


New additions: $ 50
Previous total: $429.07
Total, since 4/15: $479.07

I am really excited. A couple of weeks ago DH and I sat down and came up with a plan to get our finances in better shape. The number one goal was to be better about our budget. This month we did great.

These are the areas we were monitoring along with our ending totals:
Entertainment: 0
Dining out: +6
Study expenses: +5
Personal care: 0
Hobbies/Leisure: 0
Household/home improvement: +8
Groceries: -16
Gas/auto: -29

We only had two categories over for a total of -$27 dollars. Although yesterday while we were running errands DH and I spent in the gas and grocery categories knowing that we would be over. Figured it was better to spend while we were already out than make a separate trip in a couple of days, just so it would be in the correct month. But I am going to subtract these from the amount available for next month.

Now being in budget is something great and exciting, but I am most happy about all the money we are transferring to our savings account. I am going to wait until June (after the next car payment is taken out), and then I'm going to drain our checking account. Since June is an even month the money will be going to our savings account which is a catch-all for our EF (fully funded), down payment fund and dining room table fund. Guess how much I'll be adding!! $818.46! And this is in addition to the $344 I added in May before we decided to do the even/odd savings. So this month we've added over $1150 to our savings account!

What a wonderful feeling. I hope next month we can do the same or even better. It would be great to throw that amount toward the cars!

Today at the grocery store I saved $6.05 using coupons. In reality, though, we saved more than that. Bacardi has these new drink mixers, they look like frozen juice, but you add alcohol to make drinks like margaritas, daiquiris, and mojitos. Anyway we like those and Winn Dixie has them on sale 2 for $5 until the 4th of July, but I went to Food Lion the other day I found them on sale 3 for $6. I thought that was a good deal, but guess how much they were at the commissary??? $.99 each! Wow, talk about a markup at those other stores. We bought two of them and used a 55 cents off coupon.

I also got some hot dogs they were normally $2 a package, but were on sale for $1 a package, then I had a $1 off two coupon, so I got two packages for half the price of one. We don't eat hot dogs that often, but it makes me wish I had more coupons!

It was a sort of impromptu/unplanned trip to the store, but we ended up doing alright. I am trying to be better about menu planning, but it's hard cause it seems like we always just make the same stuff over again. I need to get better, more diverse recipes.

New additions: $ 6.05
Previous total: $423.02
Total, since 4/15: $429.07

Alright I've heard a lot of people who want to know more about the $20 challenge so here's my attempt to explain how I've approached it. First of all, it is a personal thing, ask 10 different people what they include and how they do it, you will get 10 different answers. The goal is to save money what ever way you do that is ultimately up to you.

Some have done it where you only include new ways of saving money, where, for instance, you wouldn't count the savings from coupons if you have always clipped coupons. Another interpretation is to use that $20 and use it to make money, like buying supplies to make something and sell it. Others reward themselves for doing things like exercising or not eating out by adding money to the challenge.

These are things I personally add to my challenge money:
*Money saved from coupons (I didn't clip coupons before joining this site, so technically it's a "new" savings)

*DH is the money maker in the family, I am currently tutoring part time, since it is extra money and very variable, I add that money to the challenge. If I had a 'real' job I wouldn't add that money.

*I take online surveys and add the money to the challenge (only after I have the check in my hand).

*I added the rebate from the telephone company because if it weren't for me remembering it and filling out the paperwork, we wouldn't have gotten that money.

*I DON'T add change that I find on the ground. That money just gets added to the coin jar.

I keep a running tally on the site of how much I make/save. I don't have a separate account or anything. Actually my savings is mostly virtual. It's either money that I sent to the bank or money that I didn't take out of the bank. Others actually keep their challenge money separate from their normal money (it makes it more real that way).

So ultimately just jump in and start saving! I was very surprised about how much money I saved just doing the little I did...and I've just been doing it a couple of months! Also, don't be afraid to change what the challenge means to you. If you want to try something different or like someones idea, just do it!

Made my weekly runs to Walgreen's and CVS. With coupons and extra bucks I saved $22. I can't wait until I get my Walgreen's rebate back so I won't have to pay out of pocket for all my goodies. I'm a little worried though that I'm going to get addicted to all this! I am trying to be good and only get items that we'll really use, but where there are such good deals it's hard sometimes. Thankfully I have a good husband who keeps me in line, but he's also good about letting me get the deals for things we need.


New additions: $ 22.00
Previous total: $401.02
Total, since 4/15: $423.02

Got another check in the mail from doing surveys! So I have $27 more for the challenge. However, I'm only going to add $7. When I first started the challenge I added the initial $20. I now want to take that out of the tally, so I am!

New additions: $ 7.00
Previous total: $394.02
Total, since 4/15: $401.02

I can't believe that in just under 6 weeks I've made/saved over $400!! And my "job" has only provided about $60 of that. Amazing.

Today was a nice day at the mailbox for me. I got two $5 checks from pinecone and a $40 check from tutoring.

New additions: $ 50.00
Previous total: $344.02
Total, since 4/15: $394.02

Saved $44 dollars at CVS today! They were having some good deals with Extra Bucks. I spent $20.50 on crackers and such and got about $60 worth of products free...and $10 Extra Buck to use for next time and $4 off $20 coupons.

I also got another pinecone check for $5.

New additions: $ 48.00
Previous total: $295.02
Total, since 4/15: $344.02

DH and I sat down this afternoon and discussed our finances. I feel pretty good about the decisions we made and I am really looking forward to starting on them. Here’s what we came up with:

1. We need to be better about sticking to our budget. We have had a ‘budget’ since we got married 10 months ago, but it never really got past the tracking our expenses mode. Meaning I use Money to see where our money goes and put that in the budget, but we rarely denied ourselves if it meant going over budget in a particular category. Part of that comes from the fact that we put everything on our CC which we pay off each month. So it was spending virtual money. To make up for this we have enacted the white board system from our college days. Basically we have a white board with our most variable expenses (entertainment, groceries, dining out, etc) and the amount budgeted for them. Then after a purchase in one of these categories it is subtracted from the total budgeted. This is along the lines of an envelope system, but it allows us to still use our CC and earn cash back from those purchases.

2. We are going to open Roth IRAs for both of us and max out the contributions for 2007. We are planning on opening a Vanguard Target Retirement account since it automatically becomes more conservative as we get older and we wouldn’t have to think about it.

3. We are going to maintain at least 10,000 in our savings account as an EF. This is the minimum needed to earn the higher rate of interest, and about 3 months expenses. DH is in the military, so he’s got pretty good job security. [Since this earns pretty good interest it is also going to be the holding for our other goal of saving for a down payment, so there will more likely always be more than this available to us if needed…plus our Roth if things got REALLY bad.]

4. Once a month I am going to drain our checking account down to a safe comfort level for us. This is so that we won’t bounce the few checks we write, but also so we can earn higher interest on that money. On odd months we are going to transfer that money to help pay off our cars and on even months it is going to go into our savings/EF/down payment account. If we stick to our budget, this amount could be about 1200 a month.

5. We are using the $10,000 I got from my dad’s life insurance to cover unexpected education and travel expenses. Looking back over the last 5 months expenses, tuition and other associated educational costs were by far the biggest budget busters. We weren’t really able to plan for these expenses and they were quite significant since I was considered an out of state resident. So, having this money to cover these expenses in the future will be budget a life saver.

Well DH and I are going to have a money date later this week to discuss our finances. My goals for the meeting are:

1. Go over our budget and show him where we've been spending. I enter it all in, so I have a slightly better picture, but I get bogged down in the day-to-day stuff that I don't really have a good idea of the big picture.

2. Find out how much more money we'll be getting each month. DH had been withholding taxes at a higher rate. Last month I fixed that so after the 15th we'll know how much less taxes are being withheld.

3. Figure out what to do with that money and the $230/month raise he'll be getting in the next month or so.

4. Figure out to do with $10K that we got from my Dad's life insurance money.

5. Celebrate that we paid an extra $1200 on our cars this month and now have officially reached our goal of 5 months expenses for our EF!!

We have a couple of different goals that we'll put the money towards.

1. Pharmacy school. We're planning on taking out loans for the tuition, but use cash to pay for books and other expenses.

2. Retirement accounts! I've been looking forward to opening a retirement account for a couple of months now.

3.Pay off our cars ($17K total, 9K at 5.99% and 8K at 3.59%)

4. House down payment.

Any suggestions or advice on how we should allocate that money? And I'll keep you updated on what we decide.


Also I got a check from pinecone a couple of days ago and picked up 6 cents at Winn Dixie that was left on the ground. So that'll be added to my challenge. I don't usually add change that I find, but DH made such a big deal about me picking it up that I'm going to add it!

New additions: $ 5.06
Previous total: $295.02
Total since 4/15: $300.08

Today I got a $16 check from surveyspot for taking surveys.

I've been taking surveys for just over 2 months now and have been pleasantly surprised with the money I've earned. I've already cashed out $43 cashed out and have earned another $32 or so on top of that.

New additions: $ 16.00
Previous total: $279.02
Total, since 4/15: $295.02

$14.44 Savings at CVS (and another $4 off $20 coupon)
$5 pinecone check
$2 Greenfield Online check


New additions: $ 21.44
Previous total: $ 257.58
Total, since 4/15: $ 279.02

I went to CVS and saved another $8.87 and 4 extra bucks and $4 off a $20 purchase. I think I'm done making the Walgreens/CVS runs for toiletries for a while. DH and I rarely use up toiletries (I just found out that he's been using the same bottle of shampoo for like 5 years!) so getting too many is just a waste.

I also agreed to fill out what we watch with Neilson and got $30 cash from it! I was expecting a check or somethingonce I sent it back completed, but they sent cash now.

New additions: $ 38.87
Previous total: $ 218.71
Total, since 4/15: $ 257.58

Well a week-and-a-half ago, I went to CVS and saved a bunch of money combining coupons and using Extra Bucks. I was really excited about that and how much I could save. So today I decided to try out Walgreens and their rebate program.

After everything was done I spent a total of $36.08. I had $35.61 worth of coupons/savings which I’ll add to the challenge. I’ll be getting another $16.46 ($18.10 on gift card) back from the rebate, but I’ll add that when I get it. Today I got nearly $70 worth of stuff for less than $20! I could have saved (and spent) more, but I decided to only get items that we really use on a frequent basis. Like they had mouthwash on sale (and I had a coupon), but we already have a bottle and it’s lasted us forever since we never really use it.

Despite the wonderful savings, I’m sort of kicking myself because I could have saved another $3. The Walgreens add had a razor for sale with a coupon in the EasySaver catalog. Well I didn’t realize that it was an actual coupon that I needed, and not just an automatic thing like at CVS. It wasn't until I was figuring out how to send in the rebates that I realized I hadn't used the actual coupon. But I still used a manufacturer coupon so all was not lost. I just figure it was a $3 lesson on how to save money and I won’t ever make that mistake again. Besides, I’m still doing a lot better than I would have been doing.

I also got a check $5 from pinecone.

New additions: $40.61
Previous total: $178.10
Total, since 4/15: $ 218.71

DH is in the Navy, so he has the standard buzzed head. I often cut his hair myself, but every once in a while he'll get it cut by a professional. Well I cut it last night and I said something like, "well we saved $5." Well apparently I was wrong and it costs $8 to get it on base and about $10 in-town!! Holy cow, apparently I should be cutting boys' hair! So I'm adding that $8 to the challenge and never letting someone else cut it again!

We went grocery shopping today and had about $40 left in our budget. Using coupons we saved $3.10 and only spent about $30!

New additions: $11.10
Previous total: $167
Total, since 4/15: $ 178.10

I was feeling a little intimidated at first, but in less than 2 weeks I've managed to save $178!! Amazing.

I'm also excited because DH and I finally looked into Roth IRA's. We're planning on opening them AND maxing out our 2007 contributions next month!! More on this to come.

This may seem weird to some of you, but the fact that my husband gets paid on the 15th and 30th really messes with the budget. Our budgeting software (Money) tracks the money from the 1st to the 30th…as one would imagine. However, because of this it looks like we have a negative balance for most of the month. Then on the last day of the month we get paid and interest is credited and *whoosh* we have a positive balance (ideally…there were times when that didn’t happen).

It just makes keeping track of where we are and where we should be more difficult. It also creates a different sentiment. When I look at our budget I see, “oh, we’re only $900 in the hole this month” instead of “yay, we are saving an additional $200 this month.” Not a good feeling or motivator. You wouldn’t think that one day would make a difference, but it does. I also want my budget to match our actual accounts, so pretending he got paid on the first would probably be an even bigger hassle.

We put most everything we can on credit cards, and pay it off each month, so we don’t have to worry if we actually have the money in our checking account at the time or not, especially since we have bills due throughout the month.

Anyhow, I’ll make due. It really just involves an added step of subtraction, but it’s still a hassle.
Thanks for letting me rant.

I got $15 from tutoring.

Last night we went out with friends and the bartendter/waitress gave me a mistake beer ($3) and gave us our appetizers ($6)for free!

New additions: $24
Previous total: $143
Total, since 4/15: $167

*I went shopping at CVS and through coupons and extra bucks I saved $18! Plus DH and I got a lot of the toiletries that we've been needing.

*Got a check from Pinecone for $5.

*We also got our rebate from setting up our new phone and DSL, so that's another $100!


Previous total: $20
New additions: $123
New total: $143

It is so encouraging and interesting to see everyone else's $20 challenge grow and grow. So I've decided to start it myself. I think it will be exciting to see it grow...at least I hope it will grow!

I am very tempted to cheat and add the $10 that I've already deposited from Pinecone, but since that was a while ago I'm not going to. I'm forcing myself to start at the beginning as it will make the ending that much more meaningful.

I am in awe of the others here who already have hundreds and thousands in their $20 challenge. It's also a little intimidating, but I just have to remember that many started in January and me saving anything is better than saving nothing!

With that said:
$20 Challenge total: April 15: $20