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Challenge update

June 2nd, 2007 at 01:54 am

DH gave me $23.00 today. Sometimes when work is really busy, he will pitch in and really help the guys and gets some of the tip money. This week has been really busy, so $23.00 to add.

Also my former full-time client called and asked to me transcribe a meeting for them. They mailed me a check the day I took the work back instead of having to wait until the end of the month, but it took me until the end of the month to update my challenge!


$838.75
24.00 DH money
80.28 Extra work

$943.03 New total

My boss at the hospital called me about another doctor's office who's regular transcriptionist was out sick. I did 6.5 hours work for them, but still need to bill it out.

I will update my May totals later.

State Farm Alert!

May 21st, 2007 at 10:25 pm

Another check arrived in the mail. This was the smallest so far, only $8.50, but it has my husband's little Honda 90 as the vehicle. We generally only insure it 3 months out of the year during hunting season.

So I will add this to the challenge:
$830.25
8.50
838.75 new total.

Challenge update

May 16th, 2007 at 12:51 am

Okay today I cashed the State Farm check and 3 checks totalling $90.00, rebates from Verizon for signing up for cell phone service. This was in addition to the rebates I already received.

The other day I was looking for knitting books at local secondhand stores for babies. I found one for $16.00, so I figured I would go home and look on Amazon. So here are all these books in Amazon, but what kind of patterns do they have in them??

Then it hit me, the County Library! Thanks Thrifty Ray, you whole post about the library in your area must have been hanging in my mind somewhere...

Our county library had a ton of knitting books. I promptly went to the branch in the next town the next day and checked out one, along with a quilts for kids book, and pottery barn home office book, etc.

So today on the way to the next town over that has our bank and the library where I checked out the books, I stopped at our local office store and copied out of the books the patterns I was interested in. I copied two baby sweaters and 4 baby quilt patterns. It cost $1.66 for all the pages. So considering this, I am throwing in another $15.00 into the challenge because this is definitely a new thought on how to save money for me.

I still have not gone to the main branch yet to see what they have, but did put one book on hold by Debbie Bliss who has a bunch of baby knit books.

We really have a very good library system here in Humboldt and it has been severely underused by yours truly, but I plan to change that.

So I went to the bank and then to the library, then I put the $30.00 in the gas tank!

Also over the weekend my sister brought me a pair of Liz Claiborne jeans that were too big for her (did I mention I started Weight Watchers because my 8 year older sister looks younger than me!). The jeans would have cost at least $30.00 so I am adding that too. Oh may I say they are a bit stretchy and quite comfortable even though a bit small.

Unfortunately it cost DH over $70.00 to fill his truck today at $3.39 a gallon and I put in $30.00 to my old van at $3.59 a gallon, both today.


662.25
112.00 rebate checks
11.00 DH gave to me tips from work.
15.00 for using library.
30.00 new to me Liz Claiborne jeans.
830.25 New Total

Ending the month with a Rebate Check.

April 30th, 2007 at 09:43 pm

Thanks to whoever posted the note about the State Farm rebate. I received mine today!

636.18
18.30 Rebate Check from State Farm.
7.77 Savings from jeans I didn't know were on sale at Walmart when I took them to the check register.

662.25 New Challenge Total


Today is a no spend day, eating up the veges in the bin and thawing a couple of chicken breasts for dinner.

Monthly totals are pretty good, went over a bit in a couple of categories, but not bad all things considered.

PG&E $124.51, down from $171.16 last month.
Gasoline $420.72 (-20.72) overbudget, but DH did drive up to Oregon twice to OD's.
Groceries $294.17 (budget $300.00)

Pet (Landon) $136.40 (budet $200.00) for yearly visit and usual food/toys/grooming.

Household spending was a bit high because of carpet cleaning and the new sheets that were actually paid for with a rebate check $260.00.

The closest catetory:
Hobbies budget $10.00, spent $9.79 (under 21 cents!).


Costco Rebate and survey!

April 26th, 2007 at 09:48 pm

We received our Costco rebate a couple of weeks ago. We wandered around Costo trying to figure out what to buy, just like when we got the Gottschalk's rebate. We toyed with the idea of splitting it. DH ended up getting Turf Builder, some lettuce, a new set of sheets, I can't remember what else. I was going to buy a book and couldn't bring myself to pay even the Costco price for a new book. I knew I had some at home to read.

Then the other day DH called and said I received $2.00 in the mail for a survey. Later that evening, the survey people called, DH had given them OD's phone number and I answered questions on my asthma.

So new totals:
$525.49
108.59 Costco Rebate
2.00 Asthma survey

New Total: $636.18


My payroll work is done for the day so I am going to go work on the yard here at OD's. Then the bathrooms need to be cleaned, rugs washed and vacuuming done with a little Febreze on the furniture and we are close to ready for people to look.

One nice thing, with OD getting rid of stuff, she gave me a pair of DKNY active wear shoes that I love and are very comfortable. She bought them to walk in the snow?? I also got a couple of quilting books, leftover fabrics and a baby scrapbook she bought because it was so cheap! I am sending the scrapbook along with a quilt OD has made to my sister for her new first grandchild (a boy).

DH has decided Saturday is better so I will definitely be running low on coffee and filters by the time he gets here. Lentil soup for dinner tonight. I ate tacos three nights in a row!

I need to take the dogs for a walk too down to the mail and see if my phone charger and Sunday's Sopranos episode is there. DH mailed them to me on Monday.

Hidden Money

April 2nd, 2007 at 04:41 am

Today was a no spend day for us after talking DH out of going out to breakfast. OD was leaving to go home after spring break and she wanted my biscuits anyway...

Then DH was moving our couch to the laminate part of our living room since the carpet is getting cleaned on Tuesday. He found a rolled pack of quarters and some more change under the couch.

$494.97
$ 10.52 found money
$ 20.00 saved not going to breakfast

$525.49 new total

I also made about $700.00 more this month than planned, which will go towards our tax bill.

Back in 1979 I played an April Fool's joke on my husband by having my boss (orthopedic surgeon) put a cast on my arm. I went home and told DH that I had broken my arm at work. I could only stand it overnight and made my boss come in on Saturday and saw the cast off. I am so suspicious that anytime anyone says practically anything to me on April 1, I figure it is a joke.

Umm-I can't add-$20.00 challenge!

March 17th, 2007 at 03:46 pm

Okay my last post should have read.

$0.00
+ 158.22 Amex Rebate
.12 found change by washer/dryer
200.00 in Verizon/Costco rebates.
Total: $358.22

My latest additions:
Found $25.00 in a gift bag that still had a gift it in from a friend from my birthday in December. I think I stuck the money my mother gave me in the same bag. Then I found a quarter under the couch when I went to get my Roomba unstuck. Also DH and I went to the movies yesterday with free coupons that saved $11.50.

Okay and one more.... last week I found a $100.00 (okay a little less) gift certificate from the local Gottschalks's store that was a rebate for what we had charged in 2006. Usually it is a negligible, but we bought a new mattress this year so it was worth using. I found it two days before it expired!

So new total: $ $494.97

$20 Challenge

March 15th, 2007 at 12:26 am

I guess it's time to start or catch up.

My original $20.00 was spent on You Need A Budget budgeting spreadsheet.

This has made me so much more aware of spending, that and reading everyone's blogs.

So I am going to go back over my receipts and find any discounts/coupons/rebates, etc and add to my "account".

I will also add in "found money" and the difference between using "blue money" and the face value.

So today:
I received two $50.00 rebate checks from our new cell phones. We already received two other $50.00 rebates on the same phones. There was a rebate from Costco and a rebate from Verizon.

My husband's cell phone is paid by his business, so basically we added me onto his account and I will pay $25.00 a month.

I also found 12 cents on the floor around the washer this morning.

Oh and yesterday we got our annual rebate from our AMEX that was $158.22.

Woohoo it has been a good month!

Start:
$0.00
add: 178.34

Total: 178.34