July Frugalistas

[heartlikealion]

I don't know if it counts as saving yet because I keep buying! But I've been buying stuff on sale for later. Toys R Us had the Calico Critters cozy cottage on sale and they gave me $5 store credit despite canceling part of my order. So that brought the price of the cottage down some more and I decided to buy it and store it away for either dd's birthday or Christmas. Meanwhile I got an exclusive Groupon offer which I found while searching my mailbox with the word groupon or toys r us. It said $20 Toys R Us gift card for the cost of $10. So I bought one and it won't expire for some time so that is being set aside most likely for Christmas shopping in late Nov/Dec (check your email if you think you got one. Offer expires today I believe).

 

Periodically Best Buy puts the dynex portable chargers on sale for like $2-$3. Right now they have a bunch (car, wall and portable) on sale so I'm trying to figure out who would use one and buy a few as Christmas gifts. Even possible office gifts for dh's coworkers this year. I kinda want to figure out who has an iphone so I know if I should get the matching cord. I'll go inside the store with my Shopkick app and get some points for visiting the store/scanning items plus points for the purchases by having them scan the app barcode at checkout. That is if I make it over that way before the sale ends.

 

I have a $10 Walmart giftcard pending from ebates. I bought some school supplies there recently so I told dh the gift card will go toward groceries. I'm getting closer to a gift card on Swagbucks. I'm not sure if I'll redeem the Amazon one or the Barnes & Noble one. There's a book I want at B&N for ds and with the gift card + educator discount it's quite a good price. It's a leather bound Greek mythology book, but I think it only has four stories. B&N is next to the Apple camp where ds is attending this week so I'll be there already.

 

dh earned two Amazon gift cards recently with ibotta. We found out our router is failing so he used them toward the cost of a new one.

 

I'm researching more apps to see what else I can do. I've been very good with scanning our receipts for Savings Catcher the last several weeks. We have a tiny bit of cash back there. And I'm looking into something called Fetch Rewards.

 

Sometimes I will deliberately order things online for store pick up to get cash back credit for online shopping. I think we really need to consider doing this for groceries. We have not tried it yet and I don't remember if there's a fee at Sam's Club.

Edited July 17, 2017 by heartlikealion

[mommyoffive]

Yup!  It saves us $3,000.  It was almost $2,000 for tickets and I couldn't find any car large enough for the 5 of us for less than $1,400.  Never mind that we would also need to leave our dog for 21 days and pay around $450 to have her looked after.

 

So.....driving the SUV, dropping the dog off in Dallas with friends, $0.  

 

Sounds great.   Amazing that you can drive cross country and back for only $500. (Gas I mean)

 

Have fun. 

[mommyoffive]

I don't know if it counts as saving yet because I keep buying! But I've been buying stuff on sale for later. Toys R Us had the Calico Critters cozy cottage on sale and they gave me $5 store credit despite canceling part of my order. So that brought the price of the cottage down some more and I decided to buy it and store it away for either dd's birthday or Christmas. Meanwhile I got an exclusive Groupon offer which I found while searching my mailbox with the word groupon or toys r us. It said $20 Toys R Us gift card for the cost of $10. So I bought one and it won't expire for some time so that is being set aside most likely for Christmas shopping in late Nov/Dec (check your email if you think you got one. Offer expires today I believe).

 

Periodically Best Buy puts the dynex portable chargers on sale for like $2-$3. Right now they have a bunch (car, wall and portable) on sale so I'm trying to figure out who would use one and buy a few as Christmas gifts. Even possible office gifts for dh's coworkers this year. I kinda want to figure out who has an iphone so I know if I should get the matching cord. I'll go inside the store with my Shopkick app and get some points for visiting the store/scanning items plus points for the purchases by having them scan the app barcode at checkout. That is if I make it over that way before the sale ends.

 

I have a $10 Walmart giftcard pending from ebates. I bought some school supplies there recently so I told dh the gift card will go toward groceries. I'm getting closer to a gift card on Swagbucks. I'm not sure if I'll redeem the Amazon one or the Barnes & Noble one. There's a book I want at B&N for ds and with the gift card + educator discount it's quite a good price. It's a leather bound Greek mythology book, but I think it only has four stories. B&N is next to the Apple camp where ds is attending this week so I'll be there already.

 

dh earned two Amazon gift cards recently with ibotta. We found out our router is failing so he used them toward the cost of a new one.

 

I'm researching more apps to see what else I can do. I've been very good with scanning our receipts for Savings Catcher the last several weeks. We have a tiny bit of cash back there. And I'm looking into something called Fetch Rewards.

 

Sometimes I will deliberately order things online for store pick up to get cash back credit for online shopping. I think we really need to consider doing this for groceries. We have not tried it yet and I don't remember if there's a fee at Sam's Club.

 

 

Smart.  I should do that more.  

I think walmart offers a discount on stuff if you do that. 

 

https://www.walmart.com/cp/store-pickup/2281929

[heartlikealion]

Smart.  I should do that more.  

I think walmart offers a discount on stuff if you do that. 

 

https://www.walmart.com/cp/store-pickup/2281929

 

The discount only works on certain items. I think it worked once for me since the program started? I end up at WM a few times a month so I usually don't mind doing pick up to avoid shipping costs.

[mommyoffive]

The discount only works on certain items. I think it worked once for me since the program started? I end up at WM a few times a month so I usually don't mind doing pick up to avoid shipping costs.

 

Yup.  I know it only works on certain things, but nice to see if something you want is there.   Just a thought.

 

 

Have you ordered fresh food from Jet yet? 

 

I haven't tried it myself, just got an email where you can get $15 off $50 fresh food order

 

With the Code FRESHJULY   good until 8-15

 

https://jet.com/c/fresh-food/produce/27900400?jcmp=em:cp:20170712_FreshY:trial:fresh:s:na:y:l:1

 

 

Wow, just looked at their prices and they are great.   

 

Like 1.49 for a lb of strawberries?  Awesome .  

[heartlikealion]

One time we started to compile a pantry order for Amazon, but dh decided against it. I guess it wasn't cheaper for us? I will take a look at Jet. My nearest Walmart doesn't offer grocery pick up, but another one we go to sometimes does and is near the Sam's we go to so technically we could probably pick up food from both quickly if we utilized it. I don't know what are better prices... in store or online on groceries. Never really looked that closely.

[mommyoffive]

Scott's Cheap Flights just sent out this 

 

Big Sale to Europe from last week is back

 

Just booked another trip.   These dates are from August to May next year.  

 

ROUNDTRIP PRICES:

Atlanta (ATL):

Paris (PAR) - $536
Rome (FCO) - $428

Boston (BOS):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $499*
Frankfurt (FRA) - $440
Munich (MUC) - $456
Rome (FCO) - $428
Zurich (ZRH) - $442

Burbank (BUR):

London (LON) - $537

Calgary (YYC):

London (LON) - $725 CAD*

Charlotte (CLT):

Paris (PAR) - $444
Rome (FCO) - $435

Chicago (ORD):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $408
Brussels (BRU) - $434
Frankfurt (FRA) - $490
Luxembourg (LUX) - $447
Munich (MUC) - $482
Shannon (SNN) - $409
Zurich (ZRH) - $450

Cincinnati (CVG):

Paris (PAR) - $525

Dallas (DFW):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $379
Paris (PAR) - $418
Rome (FCO) - $422

Detroit (DTW):

London (LON) - $461
Paris (PAR) - $579
Rome (FCO) - $437

Edmonton (YEG):

London (LON) - $722 CAD

Ft. Lauderdale (FLL):

Paris (PAR) - $484
Rome (FCO) - $431

Halifax (YHZ):

London (LON) - $729 CAD

Houston (IAH):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $448
Malaga (AGP) - $493

Las Vegas (LAS):

London (LON) - $573

Los Angeles (LAX):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $465
Frankfurt (FRA) - $494
Munich (MUC) - $478
Rome (FCO) - $389
Zurich (ZRH) - $442

Miami (MIA):

Barcelona (BCN) - $519*
Frankfurt (FRA) - $492
London (LON) - $592
Munich (MUC) - $482
Rome (FCO) - $432
Paris (PAR) - $475*
Zurich (ZRH) - $433

Minneapolis (MSP):

London (LON) - $478
Paris (PAR) - $595

Montreal (YUL):

London (LON) - $720 CAD*

New York City (EWR):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $471 
Barcelona (BCN) - $475 
Basel (BSL) - $412
Brussels (BRU) - $478 
Dublin (DUB) - $543*
Dusseldorf (DUS) - $516 
Geneva (GVA) - $453 
London (LON) - $487 
Madrid (MAD) - $436
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) - $506 
Paris (PAR) - $426*
Rome (FCO) - $453 
Valencia (VLC) - $470 
Zurich (ZRH) - $377*

New York City (JFK):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $464 
Barcelona (BCN) - $472 
Basel (BSL) - $413
Brussels (BRU) - $478 
Dublin (DUB) - $522
Geneva (GVA) - $437 
London (LON) - $521* 
Madrid (MAD) - $431
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) - $480 
Paris (PAR) - $426*
Rome (FCO) - $445*
Tenerife (TCI) - $480 
Valencia (VLC) - $470 
Zurich (ZRH) - $386*

New York City (LGA):

Barcelona (BCN) - $530 
Basel (BSL) - $442
Brussels (BRU) - $567 
Dublin (DUB) - $567 
Geneva (GVA) - $492 
London (LON) - $567 
Madrid (MAD) - $453
Paris (PAR) - $477 
Rome (FCO) - $461
Valencia (VLC) - $582
Zurich (ZRH) - $388 

Oakland (OAK):

London (LON) - $517

Ontario (ONT):

London (LON) - $537

Orlando (MCO):

London (LON) - $534

Ottawa (YOW):

London (LON) - $726 CAD

Philadelphia (PHL):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $457
Rome (FCO) - $425

Pittsburgh (PIT):

Paris (PAR) - $542

Portland (PDX):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $510
London (LON) - $457

Quebec (YQB):

London (LON) - $741 CAD

Raleigh (RDU):

Paris (PAR) - $525

Salt Lake City (SLC):

London (LON) - $489
Paris (PAR) - $532

San Francisco (SFO):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $465
Frankfurt (FRA) - $494
Munich (MUC) - $479 
Paris (PAR) - $544
Zurich (ZRH) - $464

San Jose (SJC):

London (LON) - $580*

Seattle (SEA):

Amsterdam (AMS) - $510
Paris (PAR) - $560

St. John’s (YYT):

London (LON) - $580 CAD

Toronto (YYZ):

London (LON) - $593 CAD*

Washington DC (BWI): 

Barcelona (BCN) - $417
Basel (BSL) - $467 
Brussels (BRU) - $475 
Dublin (DUB) - $420 
Dusseldorf (DUS) - $493
Frankfurt (FRA) - $494 
Geneva (GVA) - $466
Hamburg (HAM) - $478 
Madrid (MAD) - $411
Munich (MUC) - $480 
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) - $438 
Paris (PAR) - $508 
Rome (FCO) - $441
Tenerife (TCI) - $439 
Valencia (VLC) - $440 
Zurich (ZRH) - $474 

Washington DC (DCA):

Barcelona (BCN) - $407 
Basel (BSL) - $472
Brussels (BRU) - $449 
Dublin (DUB) - $406 
Frankfurt (FRA) - $494 
Geneva (GVA) - $455
Hamburg (HAM) - $478 
Madrid (MAD) - $411
Munich (MUC) - $480 
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) - $436 
Paris (PAR) - $573 
Rome (FCO) - $440 
Tenerife (TCI) - $434 
Valencia (VLC) - $434
Zurich (ZRH) - $484

Washington DC (IAD):

Barcelona (BCN) - $421
Basel (BSL) - $465
Brussels (BRU) - $429 
Dublin (DUB) - $426 
Dusseldorf (DUS) - $500
Frankfurt (FRA) - $479 
Geneva (GVA) - $448 
Hamburg (HAM) - $478 
London (LON) - $512
Madrid (MAD) - $411
Munich (MUC) - $504 
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) - $454 
Paris (PAR) - $462
Rome (FCO) - $430 
Tenerife (TCI) - $443 
Zurich (ZRH) - $478

[hjffkj]

My awesome mil bought me some Ikea bins I needed in return for me putting together her little Ikea bench. So was saved that hassle and I saved about $25. Now I can reorganize our Legos.

[Soror]

in other news, dh bought me grocery store flowers and chocolate for our anniversary but we cooked at home and watched a movie on Hulu.

 

dh is working tonight, as well as today (problems at work) so that is an extra 8 hrs pay, on top of the 8 hrs OT he did on Sat.

 

I've been asked to sub teach yoga next week, 3 class at $15 each, not a bunch but it is something and we got our insurance refunds (switched companies) and it was $50 more($1050 total- my refund for 6 months of house insurance was about $150 shy of paying for a whole year with the new company with better coverage and the same ded) than I expected that is going to savings.

 

on expenses dh had to buy new insoles, his wore through. 

 

 

 

Squee, just saw this in email too and trying to search down specific flights, where you going and with whom?

 

Scott's Cheap Flights just sent out this 

 

Big Sale to Europe from last week is back

 

 

Edited July 18, 2017 by soror

[Soror]

And we just got word that FIL's cancer has spread (the family stuff I was alluding to earlier), any plans will have to be put on hold as the prognosis is very not good.

[mommyoffive]

And we just got word that FIL's cancer has spread (the family stuff I was alluding to earlier), any plans will have to be put on hold as the prognosis is very not good.

 

I am so sorry.   Sending lots of prayers to him. 

[mommyoffive]

in other news, dh bought me grocery store flowers and chocolate for our anniversary but we cooked at home and watched a movie on Hulu.

 

dh is working tonight, as well as today (problems at work) so that is an extra 8 hrs pay, on top of the 8 hrs OT he did on Sat.

 

I've been asked to sub teach yoga next week, 3 class at $15 each, not a bunch but it is something and we got our insurance refunds (switched companies) and it was $50 more($1050 total- my refund for 6 months of house insurance was about $150 shy of paying for a whole year with the new company with better coverage and the same ded) than I expected that is going to savings.

 

on expenses dh had to buy new insoles, his wore through. 

 

 

 

Squee, just saw this in email too and trying to search down specific flights, where you going and with whom?

 

 

Sounds like a nice anniversary. 

 

 

Yeah for OT.

Awesome on teaching and saving on insurance. 

 

What insurance did you switch?  I going to look into ours and see if I can get cheaper homeowners.   

 

Did you see that Scott's just sent out another email about more cities listed?    Honestly it isn't the best sale that I have seen.   I remember awhile back there was a good sale from small airports for 375.   But I can't remember if that was able to book over the summer.  

[Soror]

recent spending:

Dollar Tree- $14 toiletries (soap, shampoo, flossers, clothes pins (since we've been hanging clothes on the line again etc)

 

Aldi- $104- groceries- $9 over budget I realized as we were checking out that the kids put 3 jars of pickles in the cart and 2 loaves of           bread(gf bread is $4 a loaf)- so the extras were put away to be used next week

 

Aldi-$8- dogfood- we finally made it through the stash of food dh's coworker gave us

 

hulu- 11.99

 

gas- $25

 

academy sports- $16- finally used our $10 off coupons- used 1 coupon for 2 free camp chairs(some of ours are broke) and the other to get dh some Scout pants for cheap

 

Wal-Mart- $3.92- tire pressure gauge- ours went awol- our tire pump has broken too which means we'll have to buy a new one

 

I'm annoyed with dh, he's spending about $20 a week on drinks and snacks I guess. He packs his lunch every day but his car has no air and it has been blistering hot. BUT the thing is that it shouldn't take $4 a day for drinks for 1 hot 30 min drive home. IMO we had this discussion that we werent spending any money unnecessarily and that is a good chunk for the month besides the fact that it is horrible for him. To me if he wants to continue this habit then we at least need to buy some stuff ahead so it is cheaper. 

Sounds like a nice anniversary. 

 

 

Yeah for OT.

Awesome on teaching and saving on insurance. 

 

What insurance did you switch?  I going to look into ours and see if I can get cheaper homeowners.   

 

Did you see that Scott's just sent out another email about more cities listed?    Honestly it isn't the best sale that I have seen.   I remember awhile back there was a good sale from small airports for 375.   But I can't remember if that was able to book over the summer.  

It is through CFM Insurance, a small company, not sure how wide range they are. We went through a local agent but he doesn't just do one company, he checks through a variety of different ones to find the best deal. We've used him forever and he always made sure we were treated right, we had no difficulty with our house fire and total loss. His company was taken over and then he ended up leaving and our rates kept going up so we went back to his individual company. Of course, after we canceled the old place said they could have gotten us a better deal but it was too late. So, you might start with the company you are using and see what they can do for you and then start calling around to compare.

[mommyoffive]

recent spending:

Dollar Tree- $14 toiletries (soap, shampoo, flossers, clothes pins (since we've been hanging clothes on the line again etc)

 

Aldi- $104- groceries- $9 over budget I realized as we were checking out that the kids put 3 jars of pickles in the cart and 2 loaves of           bread(gf bread is $4 a loaf)- so the extras were put away to be used next week

 

Aldi-$8- dogfood- we finally made it through the stash of food dh's coworker gave us

 

hulu- 11.99

 

gas- $25

 

academy sports- $16- finally used our $10 off coupons- used 1 coupon for 2 free camp chairs(some of ours are broke) and the other to get dh some Scout pants for cheap

 

Wal-Mart- $3.92- tire pressure gauge- ours went awol- our tire pump has broken too which means we'll have to buy a new one

 

I'm annoyed with dh, he's spending about $20 a week on drinks and snacks I guess. He packs his lunch every day but his car has no air and it has been blistering hot. BUT the thing is that it shouldn't take $4 a day for drinks for 1 hot 30 min drive home. IMO we had this discussion that we werent spending any money unnecessarily and that is a good chunk for the month besides the fact that it is horrible for him. To me if he wants to continue this habit then we at least need to buy some stuff ahead so it is cheaper. 

It is through CFM Insurance, a small company, not sure how wide range they are. We went through a local agent but he doesn't just do one company, he checks through a variety of different ones to find the best deal. We've used him forever and he always made sure we were treated right, we had no difficulty with our house fire and total loss. His company was taken over and then he ended up leaving and our rates kept going up so we went back to his individual company. Of course, after we canceled the old place said they could have gotten us a better deal but it was too late. So, you might start with the company you are using and see what they can do for you and then start calling around to compare.

 

 

Will do.  It is on my list this week. 

 

 

Today will be a spending day.  Grocery shopping, gas, and all that jazz.  

[SamanthaCarter]

My groceries came in at $70 this week! (Usually I spend $100-120/wk) Also, our dining out was four $.50 Frosties at Wendy's. :)

[Soror]

My groceries came in at $70 this week! (Usually I spend $100-120/wk) Also, our dining out was four $.50 Frosties at Wendy's. :)

Good job! And we had some of those 50 cent Frosties last week, the kids thought that was a cool treat :)

[heartlikealion]

I went to a potluck the other day. I sold items at the consignment store and used some of the cash to pay for most of the potluck item. I added myself to a Subway text message list and got a free sub when the kids and I had to eat out. I hate it when we spend money eating because we're out but sometimes we just get stuck. I am going to try to pack freezer packs and sandwiches or something next time.

[heartlikealion]

I don't know if you can buy the keychains all year or just around the holidays, but last Christmas Santa gave ds a Wendy's keychain for a free frosty anytime with a purchase. I've been meaning to get one of the 50 cent frosties for myself! Sam's Club has these $1 frozen treats, but they are huge.

[mommyoffive]

My groceries came in at $70 this week! (Usually I spend $100-120/wk) Also, our dining out was four $.50 Frosties at Wendy's. :)

 

Score!  You did great.

[mommyoffive]

One of my credit cards got hacked.   Glad they called me right away.

[Soror]

unexpected budget happenings-

in the middle of the night Sunday dh and I were awoken by this HUGE bang, the upper shelf in our closet, along with everything on it, of course, came crashing down. He had to go yesterday to buy replacement hardware(thankfully the shelf itself is ok) and some boards for reinforcement

 

$41 ouch!

 

In the good news front, I did discuss with dh how much his soda/snack habit was impacting the budget, not to be bossy but we had discussed that we would be going over everything purchased. Usually, he doesn't buy as much but w/ hotter temps and working nights he was relying on soda to keep him awake and cool him down. But the schedule is back to normal this week and he needs to drop the soda to lose a few lbs to earn money at the health screening next week. So, he is not buying soda this week but I've got to stop buy to buy some more low carb supplies. I've just been using zucchini from my garden but dd accidently pulled a HUGE plant out picking one so I don't have enough to supply us both (I use them for noodle & rice replacements). I'll probably pick up cheese sticks too for after work snack. I've already got jerky on hand.

 

Today is the first yoga class I've taught for money :) since becoming a registered yoga teacher.  I'm super nervous and have hardly slept

 

upcoming budget items:

 

school stuff- 

Well, I've tried to hold off but I think I am going to go ahead and purchase WWS with ds. I think he needs something more detailed than I had originally planned(thankfully my previous plans didn't cost much) PLUS we have a lot of stuff going on- FIL has had a reoccurrence of cancer and it doesn't look good. I need things that are easy to use for school as I expect life will be turning a bit upside down this year.

He is using the free sample now. I have found it for $20 used.

 

Art supplies- I found Artistic Pursuits for a steal last spring (only paid $5 for one book and $20 for another) but don't have the supplies to do all the projects, thankfully I do have some of the stuff already. I will still need to get some supplies for sculptures in a couple of months

 

$16

paint

 

re snacks/food when out: I usually try to pack too but the problem for me comes when we have something at the end of the week, I'm running out of quick foods. 

 

 

I don't know if you can buy the keychains all year or just around the holidays, but last Christmas Santa gave ds a Wendy's keychain for a free frosty anytime with a purchase. I've been meaning to get one of the 50 cent frosties for myself! Sam's Club has these $1 frozen treats, but they are huge.

I've not seen those. I'll have to keep an eye out. Do you remember how much they were?

One of my credit cards got hacked.   Glad they called me right away.

ack! Glad it was caught!

Edited July 25, 2017 by soror

[Baseball mom]

I haven't been as frugal as I needed to be. Mom's birthday and family in means I spent more.

 

What's so bad is I didn't spend to much on the gift but when I would go to store looking for ideas I would spend on other thing. That really messed me up.

 

This week I am hoping I can stay out of stores. Going to try to cook from pantry and freezer.

[hjffkj]

I got another pet sitting gig that'll make me $420 for 14 days of work 30 minutes a day! Not frugal obviously but helps my financial goals which is why I spend so much energy being frugal.

[hjffkj]

As far as frugality goes, now that my bday has past we are buckling down again. Gas, groceries, and an oil change are all we spending for the rest of July. The plan for August is no spending aside from gas and groceries.

[SamanthaCarter]

Blew some money on a few extra groceries and toiletries at Walmart this morning. Also canning jars to can apple butter with the grocery bag full of June apples that were gifted to me. I could make pints, but I wanted more half-pints for gift sized jams and fruit butters for Christmastime. Also curtain rods to hang the blackout curtains I got dh at Father's Day. Finally.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mommyoffive]

Last day of the month!

 

The last 2 weeks have been $$ at the store.  At least 60-$85 over budget.  

 

Tipped the swim coach $100

 

Planning another summer vacation.  Probably will do a fall vacation and then a winter one. 

 

Working on what credit cards to get next.

 

Trying to sell some junk in the garage.  

 

Donating things. 

 

Looking at co-op classes and they jacked up their class fees like crazy.  Used to be 10 bucks a class for 10 weeks, now it is btwn 50-$150

Thinking I probably won't do it.  The classes were ok at best.  It was fun to do it for the 10 bucks, but for that amount?  

 

Looking forward to the dance times to come out.  We will drop a lot of $$ for that. 

 

Watched a friend's dog for free.  

 

How is everyone else doing? 

[SKL]

Just placed the order for the kids' school clothes and supplies and some groceries.

 

Don't even ask.  :p

 

I see some more medical expenses in our future also.

 

And just got my car serviced.

 

And repairs on the house.

 

School tuition is due tomorrow.

 

On the positive side, my credit card bills are lower than usual for the past month.  :p

Edited July 31, 2017 by SKL

[heartlikealion]

unexpected budget happenings-

in the middle of the night Sunday dh and I were awoken by this HUGE bang, the upper shelf in our closet, along with everything on it, of course, came crashing down. He had to go yesterday to buy replacement hardware(thankfully the shelf itself is ok) and some boards for reinforcement

 

$41 ouch!

 

In the good news front, I did discuss with dh how much his soda/snack habit was impacting the budget, not to be bossy but we had discussed that we would be going over everything purchased. Usually, he doesn't buy as much but w/ hotter temps and working nights he was relying on soda to keep him awake and cool him down. But the schedule is back to normal this week and he needs to drop the soda to lose a few lbs to earn money at the health screening next week. So, he is not buying soda this week but I've got to stop buy to buy some more low carb supplies. I've just been using zucchini from my garden but dd accidently pulled a HUGE plant out picking one so I don't have enough to supply us both (I use them for noodle & rice replacements). I'll probably pick up cheese sticks too for after work snack. I've already got jerky on hand.

 

Today is the first yoga class I've taught for money :) since becoming a registered yoga teacher.  I'm super nervous and have hardly slept

 

upcoming budget items:

 

school stuff- 

Well, I've tried to hold off but I think I am going to go ahead and purchase WWS with ds. I think he needs something more detailed than I had originally planned(thankfully my previous plans didn't cost much) PLUS we have a lot of stuff going on- FIL has had a reoccurrence of cancer and it doesn't look good. I need things that are easy to use for school as I expect life will be turning a bit upside down this year.

He is using the free sample now. I have found it for $20 used.

 

Art supplies- I found Artistic Pursuits for a steal last spring (only paid $5 for one book and $20 for another) but don't have the supplies to do all the projects, thankfully I do have some of the stuff already. I will still need to get some supplies for sculptures in a couple of months

 

$16

paint

 

re snacks/food when out: I usually try to pack too but the problem for me comes when we have something at the end of the week, I'm running out of quick foods. 

 

 

I've not seen those. I'll have to keep an eye out. Do you remember how much they were?

ack! Glad it was caught!

 

I think the keychain was only $1! It was really cheap. It might be a seasonal thing. I'm not sure. I heard about it online I think and then just asked our store. I don't know if they even advertised it.

 

[heartlikealion]

The other day I read on a Target ad that Cat & Jack clothing have a one year guarantee. I asked Target to explain how to handle it if you need to return an item. Do you take it back to Target? They answered me and said I can bring it back to Target and the guarantee is on all their clothes (I am guessing they mean their brands. I think Circo is one of theirs, too). Well this really excites me because ds ripped a pair of brand new Cat & Jack khakis the first time he wore them to school. He was wearing a uniform and I didn't want to send him back in those pants so I thought what a waste!! I found the pants and if I can find the receipt I'll get back what I paid in store credit or exchange. But if I can't find the receipt they said they will give me the value of whatever the lowest price was in the past 90 days. I bought these pants when I think they were $12? And now they are $9.98? Either way I'm just glad I found the pants! Lol. I bought the pants near the end of the year because his others were high water. So there's a chance I might have the receipt.

[SamanthaCarter]

All curriculum, supplies and materials are purchased for the upcoming school year. $300 for three kids. Not too bad. The bad part is going to be tuition for some outside classes.

 

 

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Edited July 31, 2017 by SamanthaCarter

[mommyoffive]

All curriculum, supplies and materials are purchased for the upcoming school year. $300 for three kids. Not too bad. The bad part is going to be tuition for some outside classes.

 

 

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That spending is great.   I ordered all our stuff, but paid for by the charter. 

 

What outside classes are they doing? 

[SamanthaCarter]

That spending is great. I ordered all our stuff, but paid for by the charter.

 

What outside classes are they doing?

Monday Homeschool Academy. Youngest; three periods of Charlotte Mason inspired kinder. Middle; science, IEW, sewing. Oldest; chemistry/physics, IEW Linguistics, PE.

 

Wednesday PE for all three.

 

Monday afternoon choir for older two.

 

No other extracurriculars.

 

 

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[Soror]

I need to update but got really sick at the end of last week and am teaching 9-12 this week, if I did the math right I think my part of the pay is about $500, not bad for 15 hrs (of course that doesn't count my planning time but whatever, it's still good and the most money I've made since I officially worked 13 yrs ago. Anyway, I'm beyond exhausted keeping up with the kiddos, still recovering from being sick, and then not sleeping because I was nervous. 

 

We went over the grocery budget- the combo of me being sick (thus not able to cook or shop), dh doing lower carb, and ds' birthday that I somehow forgot to budget for. I've got to tally the damage but probably not until this weekend. I will say it could have been much worse, I had some frozen food for back-up that we were able to eat so they didn't eat out but I went through the stash.

Edited July 31, 2017 by soror

[mommyoffive]

Monday Homeschool Academy. Youngest; three periods of Charlotte Mason inspired kinder. Middle; science, IEW, sewing. Oldest; chemistry/physics, IEW Linguistics, PE.

 

Wednesday PE for all three.

 

Monday afternoon choir for older two.

 

No other extracurriculars.

 

 

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Is that your co-op?   It sounds great.  

 

It all adds up so fast doesn't it? 

[mommyoffive]

I need to update but got really sick at the end of last week and am teaching 9-12 this week, if I did the math right I think my part of the pay is about $500, not bad for 15 hrs (of course that doesn't count my planning time but whatever, it's still good and the most money I've made since I officially worked 13 yrs ago. Anyway, I'm beyond exhausted keeping up with the kiddos, still recovering from being sick, and then not sleeping because I was nervous. 

 

We went over the grocery budget- the combo of me being sick (thus not able to cook or shop), dh doing lower carb, and ds' birthday that I somehow forgot to budget for. I've got to tally the damage but probably not until this weekend. I will say it could have been much worse, I had some frozen food for back-up that we were able to eat so they didn't eat out but I went through the stash.

 

Great job with the job!  Do you have more plans on teaching. 

 

I hope you feel better soon.  It was awesome you built up that stash of food.  I am sure it saved lots.  

[heartlikealion]

At Walmart the other day they tried to convince us to try store pick up for grocery. I had thought about it and think I even saw a coupon code online, but I wasn't sure how it worked exactly. She told me that you'd get a pick up time? Or maybe we call, heck, I already forgot. And that you don't have to get out the car. Anyway, she gave me a postcard with a discount code on it for $10 off. I told dh we should try it and use the code. Easy way to save $10.

 

Ebates mailed me a $10 gift card for WM that will arrive within 30 days.

 

I'm working on a $25 gift card from swagbucks for Sam's Club. The $25 one is discounted 12% so instead of redeeming now for $10 I'm waiting.

Edited August 1, 2017 by heartlikealion

[SamanthaCarter]

I need to update but got really sick at the end of last week and am teaching 9-12 this week, if I did the math right I think my part of the pay is about $500, not bad for 15 hrs (of course that doesn't count my planning time but whatever, it's still good and the most money I've made since I officially worked 13 yrs ago. Anyway, I'm beyond exhausted keeping up with the kiddos, still recovering from being sick, and then not sleeping because I was nervous.

 

We went over the grocery budget- the combo of me being sick (thus not able to cook or shop), dh doing lower carb, and ds' birthday that I somehow forgot to budget for. I've got to tally the damage but probably not until this weekend. I will say it could have been much worse, I had some frozen food for back-up that we were able to eat so they didn't eat out but I went through the stash.

Good work on the extra income! I went way over on groceries this week but that was because I had to go all austere the last two weeks and we were running out of staples and reserves. $180. I think we're still within budget for the month.

 

 

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[heartlikealion]

I finally got in touch with my local 4H. They do intend to have archery!! This is not too far from my home. I would love this to be ds' extracurricular. He has a bow and target at home that dh bought (they haven't used yet). He might need another style bow later (according to the AIMS site they need a particular one).

 

Also trying to touch base with Boys & Girls Club to see if they are functioning and what they have going on. But with co-op and other stuff I think we will have enough to keep us busy.