I visited my parents and did my taxes with my mom on Saturday. For the second year running I should be getting a nice fat refund! I know that a lot of financial advisors say that you should have your withholdings adjusted so you don't overpay the government (they made interest on all that money this year, not me), but for me it is a great "forced savings" plan. If I had that extra money in my paycheck every month, it would probably go the way of most of the rest of my paycheck; when the lump sum lands in my checking account, I will immediately transfer pretty much all of it to my emergency fund.
I would highly recommend socking away your refund if you are getting one. Mine bailed me out last year when I unexpectedly had to purchase a "new" car. If you don't have an EF, this is a painless way to start one. If you have one, this is a great way to give it an extra boost.
I went to Rite Aid on my way to work today. I'm still having a love/hate relationship with their rebate program-- I love it, but I've noticed that I don't get the promised rebates when I use a coupon to cover some of the purchase price. I called the customer service line today and spoke with a representative who told me that coupons should NOT invalidate rebate offers and shouldn't affect anything unless it's a buy-one-get-one coupon (that might possibly cause two items to ring up as only one).
So, having gleaned the best deals from the weekly circular in the Sunday paper and written down all of the pertinent information, I gathered my coupons and the unexpected $5 gift certificate the store had sent me for participating in their rebate program. I got a little cartful of bubble bath, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo/conditioner, makeup, and Brita filters. It came to $27-something, but I should be getting a lot of that back in rebates (the filters were a 3-pack on sale for $14.99, so that accounts for half of the total right there). The key here is that I am going to enter the receit tonight, at the beginning of the week. When it processes in a couple of days, I will carefully examine my applied rebates (they email you and tell you the status has updated) against the store circular. If I'm not getting a rebate that I should get, I will take the receipt and the items back to the store, "return" them, and repurchase them. The new receipt should then work, as long as I get back to the store and do my return/repurchase THIS WEEK while all of these offers are still valid. It's a pain, but it's worth if it you have a significant number of rebates due to you.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Resisting Temptation...or not
Well first off Kelly I have some blacking you can use for your shoes or you could just pick some up at Wal Mart etc...
For you readers this is some amazing stuff that comes either in a can or a plastic applicator jar thingamie that can make boots look brand new for a day and semi new for months. I remember my parents using the white stuff on their sneakers back when everyone wore white sneakers. Just head to the shoe section where they keep the shoe laces. Yep, right there next to the weather all sprays.
As for re-heeling the shoes I can't really help...I know such magical places exist but have never seen a shoe repair shop though I think a boot repair place may exist about half an hour from me.
I thought I'd write a little on my methods of resisting temptation since I spent my weekend not doing it. Call it a penance blog. :)
Method 1: Don't Go There.
Don't go to the store until and unless you have to. Just avoid it. When you do go don't wander around just get what you need and leave. Remember (or remember the movies) where the big department stores were in skyscrapers and spanned many floors and compare them to the giant sprawling mega marts of today. The reason for the change is that in bygone days people would just skip the floors on which they had no business and therefore not spend any money on those floors. Now you're forced to wander the entire store to pick up the basics and encounter all the want items along the way. Therefore if at all possible just don't go and keep the trip short if you do. The longer you're in there the more likely you are to spend money you weren't planning on.
Method 2 Think:
Ok, you went there and then you wandered; you wandered into the high risk areas too didn't you? The worst part is you found something you want. It happens to the best of us. For me it's the craft section, I have a hard time believing that I will ever have too many craft supplies. First take a look around you, are you in Goodwill or Aeropostale? That's a good indicator of how much trouble you're in. Be prepared to walk away from whatever it is you want for a few minutes, for a few hours, days or forever. Do you need it? Do you have 25 of them and no room to put this one or would it actually fill a need or serious want for you? Do you absolutely love it, wanted one for a while or would have if you'd known it existed? If you can't justify it don't even bother.
Method 3 Sticker Shock:
Now look at the price tag. Whatever it is are you willing to pay that for it? Could you find a better deal and are you likely to? If it doesn't have a price tag take it to an empty register and make the first words out of your mouth "This doesn't have a tag." so no one is expecting you to buy anything. Take the item with you and give it a good once over and find things (if there are any) that you don't like about it or put it down for a while and see if it looses its magic.
The longer the debate is the more likely you don't need it. The idea is to think how happy it would make you and how likely you are to come across one again. If the score is high in the first and low in the last and you're willing to part with the cash, go for it. If you're still not sure go on the rest of your errands if you have to or go home and think about it if you need to. Odds are whatever it is will be there when you go back and the odds also say that you won't.
Now that's the long drawn out version of the debate that very few items actually go through. I've had about 3 in the last few years I can think of that went through that whole process but the idea is simply to break things up between see want and buy so that I do as little of it as possible.
A few other tricks are not keeping large wads of cash in my wallet which helps since I have an aversion to using plastic. I also have a max splurge amount of $20 that keeps me from spending too much on things for me that I don't need at a time.
Of course you remember this is a penance blog so what items passed the test?
Car seat covers for my non stain resistant upholstery. Admittedly I was excited to buy car accessories since they're so cool and I could never justify it before.
Jacket that is so WW2 chic I could die. I went into the Goodwill to get a motocross jacket if I found one and to do a little Mothers day pre shopping. I found the jacket that should fill the craving and only spent 4 dollars. I love second hand stores.
Yarn. I'm a bad girl.
On the up side I ended up using some of that yarn to make my mother a really nice scarf for Mother's day so really the trip was a success.:)
For you readers this is some amazing stuff that comes either in a can or a plastic applicator jar thingamie that can make boots look brand new for a day and semi new for months. I remember my parents using the white stuff on their sneakers back when everyone wore white sneakers. Just head to the shoe section where they keep the shoe laces. Yep, right there next to the weather all sprays.
As for re-heeling the shoes I can't really help...I know such magical places exist but have never seen a shoe repair shop though I think a boot repair place may exist about half an hour from me.
I thought I'd write a little on my methods of resisting temptation since I spent my weekend not doing it. Call it a penance blog. :)
Method 1: Don't Go There.
Don't go to the store until and unless you have to. Just avoid it. When you do go don't wander around just get what you need and leave. Remember (or remember the movies) where the big department stores were in skyscrapers and spanned many floors and compare them to the giant sprawling mega marts of today. The reason for the change is that in bygone days people would just skip the floors on which they had no business and therefore not spend any money on those floors. Now you're forced to wander the entire store to pick up the basics and encounter all the want items along the way. Therefore if at all possible just don't go and keep the trip short if you do. The longer you're in there the more likely you are to spend money you weren't planning on.
Method 2 Think:
Ok, you went there and then you wandered; you wandered into the high risk areas too didn't you? The worst part is you found something you want. It happens to the best of us. For me it's the craft section, I have a hard time believing that I will ever have too many craft supplies. First take a look around you, are you in Goodwill or Aeropostale? That's a good indicator of how much trouble you're in. Be prepared to walk away from whatever it is you want for a few minutes, for a few hours, days or forever. Do you need it? Do you have 25 of them and no room to put this one or would it actually fill a need or serious want for you? Do you absolutely love it, wanted one for a while or would have if you'd known it existed? If you can't justify it don't even bother.
Method 3 Sticker Shock:
Now look at the price tag. Whatever it is are you willing to pay that for it? Could you find a better deal and are you likely to? If it doesn't have a price tag take it to an empty register and make the first words out of your mouth "This doesn't have a tag." so no one is expecting you to buy anything. Take the item with you and give it a good once over and find things (if there are any) that you don't like about it or put it down for a while and see if it looses its magic.
The longer the debate is the more likely you don't need it. The idea is to think how happy it would make you and how likely you are to come across one again. If the score is high in the first and low in the last and you're willing to part with the cash, go for it. If you're still not sure go on the rest of your errands if you have to or go home and think about it if you need to. Odds are whatever it is will be there when you go back and the odds also say that you won't.
Now that's the long drawn out version of the debate that very few items actually go through. I've had about 3 in the last few years I can think of that went through that whole process but the idea is simply to break things up between see want and buy so that I do as little of it as possible.
A few other tricks are not keeping large wads of cash in my wallet which helps since I have an aversion to using plastic. I also have a max splurge amount of $20 that keeps me from spending too much on things for me that I don't need at a time.
Of course you remember this is a penance blog so what items passed the test?
Car seat covers for my non stain resistant upholstery. Admittedly I was excited to buy car accessories since they're so cool and I could never justify it before.
Jacket that is so WW2 chic I could die. I went into the Goodwill to get a motocross jacket if I found one and to do a little Mothers day pre shopping. I found the jacket that should fill the craving and only spent 4 dollars. I love second hand stores.
Yarn. I'm a bad girl.
On the up side I ended up using some of that yarn to make my mother a really nice scarf for Mother's day so really the trip was a success.:)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Winter weekend getaway, no funds required
Am I posting too much?
Oh, well.
I just got back from a lovely weekend getaway in the country at a place with a pool table, satellite TV, beautiful country roads for long rambles, overstuffed leather couches, and a completely stocked kitchen. It didn't cost me a cent. Well, unless you count the gas to drive the half an hour there... and the $2.50 I spent on a bag of Chex Mix.
My boyfriend is house- and dog-sitting for one of the supervisors where he works. He's not getting paid for it, but he's allowed to have people over, use the laundry room, and eat whatever food he wants. We had a wonderful, relaxing post-Valentine weekend all to ourselves for free. I know one of my friends from college is house-sitting this week, too. I've never done it personally, but it is one of the advantages of being young, responsible, and relatively unattached-- it makes you a prime candidate for house-sitting gigs. Usually these houses are nicer than wherever you yourself currently live. :) This place, for instance, would put super-pricey resort condos and cabins to shame with its amenities. You can pay $100 a night for a fairly basic state park cabin for two at this time of year. At a lodge, that can jump to $300-$500 for a weekend. So this was a very pleasant windfall of a minibreak. So what that the house's owners are in Florida and you're stuck somewhere looking at snow? They're paying a lot and you get a change of scenery and all the comforts of a real home for free.
I stopped at Rite Aid on my way to work this afternoon and picked up some toothpaste, 20 dishwasher detergent tabs, and Kleenexes. The cost of each of these items will be less than a dollar (after I submit my receipt for the rebate on the detergent). Lack of planning forced me to buy a birthday card for my sort-of nephew, as well. It really does only take a few minutes to clip and file the Sunday coupons and go through the weekly sales flyer to make a shopping list, and it can be well worth it. I have a longer list that involves choices and coupons, but I will save that for a trip later this week when I have more time.
Oh, well.
I just got back from a lovely weekend getaway in the country at a place with a pool table, satellite TV, beautiful country roads for long rambles, overstuffed leather couches, and a completely stocked kitchen. It didn't cost me a cent. Well, unless you count the gas to drive the half an hour there... and the $2.50 I spent on a bag of Chex Mix.
My boyfriend is house- and dog-sitting for one of the supervisors where he works. He's not getting paid for it, but he's allowed to have people over, use the laundry room, and eat whatever food he wants. We had a wonderful, relaxing post-Valentine weekend all to ourselves for free. I know one of my friends from college is house-sitting this week, too. I've never done it personally, but it is one of the advantages of being young, responsible, and relatively unattached-- it makes you a prime candidate for house-sitting gigs. Usually these houses are nicer than wherever you yourself currently live. :) This place, for instance, would put super-pricey resort condos and cabins to shame with its amenities. You can pay $100 a night for a fairly basic state park cabin for two at this time of year. At a lodge, that can jump to $300-$500 for a weekend. So this was a very pleasant windfall of a minibreak. So what that the house's owners are in Florida and you're stuck somewhere looking at snow? They're paying a lot and you get a change of scenery and all the comforts of a real home for free.
I stopped at Rite Aid on my way to work this afternoon and picked up some toothpaste, 20 dishwasher detergent tabs, and Kleenexes. The cost of each of these items will be less than a dollar (after I submit my receipt for the rebate on the detergent). Lack of planning forced me to buy a birthday card for my sort-of nephew, as well. It really does only take a few minutes to clip and file the Sunday coupons and go through the weekly sales flyer to make a shopping list, and it can be well worth it. I have a longer list that involves choices and coupons, but I will save that for a trip later this week when I have more time.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Happiness is a quick fix
An interesting article about "how to buy happiness." I myself can attest to the happy-factor of adopting a pet (my cat is worth every cent I've ever spent on him-- including the $70 adoption fee and the initial vet visits and vaccinations, and the extra $15 in rent I pay every month that allows me to keep him). Some of the other things mentioned seemed like good ideas-- especially the greenhouse to kick-start spring in chilly climes. I want one! I wonder if I can build one on my balcony? :) Probably not.
What have you repaired lately? In the last week, I've fixed two of my favorite winter staples-- my hat and my purse. The fabric was pulling away from one of the decorative side buttons on my hat, but a little Arlene's Tacky Glue on my way out the door fixed that. Then the strap that holds down the decorative buckle on my purse flap pulled out of the hole it was supposed to be tucked inside. I re-tucked it a couple of times, but it kept pulling out, and finally I couldn't get it back in anymore. A baby brass safety pin is now holding it in place.
I also just taped up a binder that was splitting along the edge of its spine.
I don't even think about quick, easy fixes like that, but once in a while I realize that a lot of people would just throw something like that out. If I didn't love the items in question so much, I might have been tempted, myself (which is another argument for buying only quality items that you really like).
Now I need to find a way to repair wearing shoe heels. My favorite work shoes (which I've worn almost every day for a year and a half) are finally starting to wear down a bit at the back edge of the heel, and I need to find a way to re-black them where the outer coating has worn through and the white plastic heel is gleaming through. They just kind of look dirty all of the time right now, but I love those shoes and don't want to give them up any time soon.
What have you repaired lately? In the last week, I've fixed two of my favorite winter staples-- my hat and my purse. The fabric was pulling away from one of the decorative side buttons on my hat, but a little Arlene's Tacky Glue on my way out the door fixed that. Then the strap that holds down the decorative buckle on my purse flap pulled out of the hole it was supposed to be tucked inside. I re-tucked it a couple of times, but it kept pulling out, and finally I couldn't get it back in anymore. A baby brass safety pin is now holding it in place.
I also just taped up a binder that was splitting along the edge of its spine.
I don't even think about quick, easy fixes like that, but once in a while I realize that a lot of people would just throw something like that out. If I didn't love the items in question so much, I might have been tempted, myself (which is another argument for buying only quality items that you really like).
Now I need to find a way to repair wearing shoe heels. My favorite work shoes (which I've worn almost every day for a year and a half) are finally starting to wear down a bit at the back edge of the heel, and I need to find a way to re-black them where the outer coating has worn through and the white plastic heel is gleaming through. They just kind of look dirty all of the time right now, but I love those shoes and don't want to give them up any time soon.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Some Star Wars inspiration
Just saw this post over at Wise Bread about how the good guys in Star Wars can also be our heroes in frugality.
For the record, the plural of Jedi is also Jedi-- Jedis is incorrect ("It was used in the movies!" you say. Yes, it was-- by a 9-year-old hick.).
For the record, the plural of Jedi is also Jedi-- Jedis is incorrect ("It was used in the movies!" you say. Yes, it was-- by a 9-year-old hick.).
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