Since my last update 2 weeks ago, I am adding the following to my savings for CC #3:

$ 387.04 Saturday job
3.00 Pine Cone
5.00 Consumer Opinion Survey
67.39 Rite Aid Refund Check
.12 Found Money
.89 Interest on savings
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$ 463.44 Total

I still need to figure out the profits from the Ebay items I sold now that all the auctions are over.

Have a pleasant Sunday!

Today I got a refund check from Rite Aid for $67.39 so I will add that to CC savings account. You can't beat getting FAR items and combining them with manufacturers' coupons. It is a good way to try out items new to the market...without risk! Usually I can accumulate much more than my family can use, so generally around the holidays I donate a few bags of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. to Red Cross or another local charity or homeless shelter.

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Earlier this week I picked my daughter up from school for an appointment and found a penny as we were walking to the car. Of course she was embarrassed that her friends may have seen me pick it up!! Oh well!

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I requested another rewards check from my Citibank CC for about $64. The rewards have been adding up quickly as I use my CC for any bill payments that I can...including utilities and medical. Actually the real reason it has been a little overboard in the past few months is because I have recently started to use the CC for attorney costs/fees; however, now that the divorce has been settled...it shouldn't be too out of line now. Anyway, I pay it off every month so Citi doesn't make any $ off of me! Smile

Well...I'm off to work on the finances!

Yesterday, I stopped at a convenience store to use the ATM and I found a penny.

Today when I was at the mall with DD, I found a dime by the gumball machines. So that is $0.11 to the CC savings.

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We stopped at CVS to use some Extra Bucks I earned last week. I got a 12 pack of CVS brand toilet paper on sale for $5.49, Excedrin 20 ct box for $3.99, and 2 candy bars for 0.99. My total was $10.47 and I had $9.99 in Extra Bucks so my grand total was $0.48 plus I earned another $3.99 EB for purchasing the Excedrin!!

Today I received a check for $5 from American Consumer Opinion surveys, which I will add to my savings account for CC #3.

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I discovered that I can now do Walgreen's monthly rebates online finally. It is very similar to Rite Aid's (which I am very familiar with!) I entered my receipt this morning and requested the check for this month. I should get that in a couple of weeks.

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After work today, I stopped at the grocery store for some fresh veggies:

3 pints grape tomatoes 0.99/each
2-1 lb. bags of baby carrots 0.99/each
apples 0.77/lb.
2 stalks of celery 0.99/each

I thought those were some great deals, at least for my area.

Have a good evening!

Yesterday, I went to Walgreens to get some FAR items. I got the following items:

Chemistry Leave-in Conditioner $7.99
Nivea for Men Body Wash 4.99
Crest Pro Health TP 2.99
Revlon Nail Enamel 4.49
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20.46

I had 2 $1 coupons (one for the body wash and another for the TP). My total with tax was $19.51. I will get a rebate for $20.46, so I will be making money on this trip.

That location was out of the L'oreal RevitaLift Anti-Wrinkle lotion and the LypSyl Lip Moisturizer that I was also interested in purchasing which were FAR as well. I think I will stop Saturday on my way to work to check another location to see if they have those items. It is on my route to work, so I wouldn't be wasting gas to just go and check.

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I found a nickel at work on Saturday, so I will add that to my CC Savings when I make the deposit for this week.

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Other than that, I spent yesterday packaging some Ebay items that I sold. I still have items listed with bidders and watchers...yeah!!

I am adding extra income from the last week to my savings and updating the sidebar info. The total deposit is $447.21!! It really helps that I am using my Saturday job income to fund this account.

$ 39.00 Texas Roadhouse Mystery Shop
Reimbursement
230.88 Saturday job pay
60.00 Contact Lens Refund Check
117.33 Saturday job pay
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$447.21

I have some more bids on the Ebay items I listed. One of the auctions is over tomorrow night, so I'm hoping to be able to soon add more $ to the CC.

Of the Ebay items that I listed yesterday, 1 of them has bids, with 3 watchers. Another item has 1 watcher, so I'm hoping that I will get rid of some of this clutter around here.

I got a $60 rebate check for some contact lenses that I ordered online for DD. I will add that to my CC savings account.

Have a good night!

As I noted in a previous post, I am using $ from surveys, refund checks, Saturday job earnings, etc. to fund my accounts for the CCs that are coming due in which the 0% offers end in the near future.

The following is income from the last 1-2 weeks that I am adding to my account:

$ 12.00-Survey checks
20.72-Refund checks
.10-Found at store
141.16-Saturday job
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$ 173.98

I'm am updating the side bar to reflect this deposit.

Have a great evening!

Yesterday I got 2 checks in the mail:

$15.72-Rite Aid Single Check Rebate
4.00-American Consumer Opinion
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$19.72

I will add this to my CC #1 savings account.

I got another check in the mail today. It was for $5 from a frying pan that I purchased a few weeks ago from Linens N Things. I will add that to my savings account.

Have a good evening.

Yesterday, I went to CVS to take advantage of some sale items that were in their weekly sales flyer.

I purchased $11.07 of candy/gum (which wasn't a necessity, but oh well!!), Revlon Limited Edition eye shadow $9.99, and Band-aids 30 ct. $2.99. I had a $1 coupon for the Band-aids. So the total for everything was $23.65 with tax. I received $17.49 back in Extra Buck Rewards, so the final cost was $6.16!!

Have a great day everyone!

I found a penny yesterday at Wal-mart at the checkout area.

I also got a Rite Aid rebate check in the mail for $30.93.

Both of these I will add to my savings account.

I haven't participated recently in the Walgreen's rebate program, but almost always get FAR items with Rite Aid's program.

Have a great day!

I've been noticing that for about the last month or so, the coupon inserts in the Sunday newspaper are very thin. The main reason I have home delivery is for the coupons. I had originally thought that the savings in coupons would outweigh the cost of the newspaper. Even though I am not brand loyal, there are barely any coupons in the inserts. Instead it is loaded with advertisements/catalog order items.

I may have to rethink my Sunday newspaper subscription.

Has anyone else noticed the lack of "good" manufacturer coupons?

In last Sunday's newspaper I saw a help wanted ad that I responded to by faxing my resume on Wednesday. It is a position for Saturdays only, which is what I'm currently interested in. I received a phone call that same day asking if I could come in for an interview. So I set it up for this morning. Right now I'm working 2 Saturdays/month in an office separate from my full-time position. I either want to supplement that by working 1 more Saturday/month or quit the other job since the pay would be much better in the nearby state where I recently got licensed. Anyway, the commute is 70 miles as opposed to 20, but the pay range is $10-15/hr. more there. I'm thinking even with the rise in gas prices, it may be worthwhile to pursue working in the metro area since I have an economical vehicle (Honda Civic). So the interview went well, and she said it is difficult to find people in the field to work Saturdays. She gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to the staff. She said she would call me back in the beginning of next week to see if my current Saturday schedule would work with when they have an availability. So we will see what happens.

Yesterday, I received a Citibank Reward Check for $63.54. Today I got a TMF Refund from Organix Shampoo for $6.99. I will add both of those to my savings account.

It has been difficult tracking my expenses/income this month (since I've never accounted for every cent), but it's almost the end of the month and it wasn't too bad once I got into the habit of it. Hopefully I can formulate a doable budget since I have a better idea of where all of my money has gone!!

Well, have a great weekend everyone!!

Even though it is very hot/humid here--93 degrees--I do not want to turn on the A/C. I have a whole house fan which is on and I have the windows open with the mini-blinds closed.

I got a refund check in the mail for $3.69 for Land O Lakes Butter and I had another NSD. I will add the check to my savings.

I did some yard work earlier and now I'm going to see how much money I spent this week, since this is the first week I have actually tracked all of my expenses.

Today, I got three checks in the mail. One was a mystery shopping reimbursement + shopper's fee for a breakfast assignment at a local restaurant-$10.89. Another was an A & H Plus Oxiclean Guarantee-$8.24, plus April Walgreen's Easy Saver-$4.99. I will add a total of $24.12 to my savings account.

I went to Rite Aid today and got A & H Laundry Detergent 100 oz., which was B1G1F. The regular price is $5.99 each. Each bottle also had a $2 coupon on it. So I got 2 bottles for $3.99. I also purchased Samy i style hair styler for $4.49 which will be FAR.

After that, I did a Rita's Italian Ice mystery shop. Next week, I have a Texas Roadhouse mystery shop to complete.

I ran these errands after I ate lunch that I brought to work. Some days I can't stand to sit in the lunch room and listen to all the co-workers issues for a whole hour. It overwhelms me!!

I got two refund checks in the mail from Rite Aid Single Check Rebates ($47.11) and Sambucol Black Elderberry Immune Support Tablets TMF offer ($8.99). I will add those to my savings account.

I also am scheduled to do a Staples mystery shop today and will run some errands in town while I am there in the area.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!!

I received my stimulus payment on Friday by direct deposit into my savings account for $1200. Yesterday, I received a check from Walgreen's March Easy Saver Rebate for $33.75 which will go to my checking account.

Earlier in the week, I received the professional license that I applied for last month. This will allow me to work in a larger city in a nearby state at a higher salary. Initially, I plan to just temp an extra Saturday or two a month for extra income. I already have a permanent Saturday job where I work every other Sat.


I got a letter from my attorney regarding the settlement of property with my ex-husband. Even though I have been divorced since July 2007, my attorney bifurcated the actual divorce decree from the financial aspect of the divorce. In April 2008, the Divorce Master sent my ex a recommendation on how she felt the property should be divided based on all the facts. It stated that I should receive the house and he is responsible for paying my attorneys fees/court costs. Since we were only physically living together for 1 1/2 years after we purchased the house, I have been paying on the mortgage for over 5 years with no input from him. Even when we were together, he didn't contribute that much to the mortgage due to his poor work ethics. Anyway, he had 20 days to appeal this recommendation. Now the time has expired, since he didn't take any further action. The letter from my attorney demands that he sign the deed and forward to him a certified check for $4700 in attorney fees. I seriously doubt that I will see that money. He currently is unemployed once again and has not paid any child support that he has been ordered to starting from the end of March 2008. I will just be satisfied with being able to refinance the mortgage to free up some extra money each month. The current mortgage rate is 8.5% on my loan, but I haven't been able to move forward with this since it was marital property.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

I enjoy doing the monthly freebate deals at the local pharmacy stores in my area: Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS.

Below is a listing of the March freebies I received at each store, as well as the amount of coupons that I used for the purchases:

Rite Aid

Hershey Bliss Meltaways 2.99
Scotch Sealing Tape 1.75
Skin Appetit Moist. Cream 9.99
Bic Soleil Razor 4.00
Salon Selectives Mousse 3.49
Rite Aid Pantiliners .99
Diabetic Tussin Mucous Relief 6.99
Total Rebate 30.20
-Coupons used 2.00

Walgreens

Garnier Fructis Stylers 3.99
Garnier Nutrition Skin Renew 12.99
Colgate Total Advanced TPaste 2.99
Listerine Smart Rinse 3.79
Yes To Carrots Body Butter 9.99
Total Rebate 30.75
-Coupons used 4.00

CVS

2 Hersheys Pot of Gold Candy 9.98
Oral B Toothbrush 4.99
Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor 8.99
Bag of Jelly Beans .99
Total ExtraBuck Offer 24.95
-Coupons used 2.00

Also received a free coupon at CVS for CVS Brand 24ct. Aleve and a free $25 giftcard with a new/transferred prescription.

So, all in all I think I earned a few dollars on the rebate items (even considering I paid sales tax on some items), thanks to using coupons!!

Since I am an avid rebater and participate monthly in these programs, I accumulate quite a stockpile of items each month. I share my surplus with family and/or donate some of the items to local homeless shelters/charities.

Well, I have to see what great rebates are available for April. I need to go look at the Sunday sales flyers/coupon inserts!!