Fight for EVERY penny!

In my quest to becoming an extreme couponer, I have really starting to look at the price of many different products.  As a once brand-name-only girl, I have found great value in buying the store brands of some things (not everything!) and I have also found that many of the generic brand foods taste exactly like the expensive name brand ones.

This brings me to my latest shopping trip:  A big trip to Walmart!  Now I don't know about you, but I hate Walmart... I hate it with a passion.  It is always over crowded and there are never enough registers open so you wait in line for 35 minutes before you can even check out.  I. hate.it.

But in the interest of saving the most money, I also am fully aware that they usually have the best prices, mainly on non-food items like deodorant and razors, which was the primary focus of my shopping trip!  I cut coupons for hours and went in with my guns blazing to get great savings!  I gave up many of the brands that I like to buy to buy things that I could get a better value on.

  This was my cart after the toiletries section.  Before coupons the total was about $50... I got all of this for $15!  I was pretty excited about my savings.

Unfortunately in the food department there wasn't too many things I had coupons for and only really saved a total of $5, but I bought a lot of food that was the Walmart brand and food that was on sale anyway.  All produce and meats I had already purchased at Giant Eagle because I don't like Walmart's variety!

So, we get to the register and there is only ONE person in front of us.  Thank goodness!  When I am using a ton of coupons, I try to pick out the most competent looking cashier so that our transaction runs smoothly.  So I picked Jean, who proudly wore a badge that said "10 years of service" and wore her plastic gloves on her hands with pride.  I figured this would be a piece of cake.

Well, Jean, I'm guessing your 10 years of service have not been behind the register because let me tell you... you are by far the worst cashier ever!

First off, I have been working in customer service my whole life.  I know it sucks and I know people can be rude, but I try really hard to have everything on the belt ready to go, line up the divider for the people behind us and have my coupons organized by the time you start ringing.  So when the items weren't in the right order on the belt like Jean wanted, she very meanly would yell to hand her things.  Ummm... pretty sure that's your job to get them in the bags Jean, but whatever.

So then we get to the coupons.  The first coupon was for $2 off Right Guard when you buy two (which we did).  She couldn't get the coupon to scan so she hands it back to me and says we didn't buy two.  I correct her and tell her to look at the receipt she clearly scanned two.  This goes on for every.single.coupon.  about 3/4 of the way through I had to pee... hey, small bladder here at 9 months pregnant! So I left it up to my husband to finish.

When I come out of the bathroom he is handing me the receipt making sure she got everything.  She didn't.  She missed a $6 off coupon!  Now I am not leaving the store with a $6 off coupon missing... if it were $0.50 maybe but definitely not $6!  So we get a manager and he goes back, finds the coupon and tells Jean to fix it.

Now Jean should be VERY happy that my ever-so-patient husband told me to wait at the benches as I was getting very cranky and he would get our refund.  As she handed him the money she exclaims "I'm not sure why you are doing this, you clearly saw me scan the coupon and are just trying for extra money!"  Kevin just politely showed her the receipt and said the coupon was not on there.

I didn't hear about any of this until we got in the car or I would have demanded an apology and a manager immediately.  I am the customer and regardless of what was going on, we did not deserve to be talked to like that in front of other people.  Not to mention it was Jean who made the mistake in the first place!

I will make sure I never choose Jean as my cashier if I ever see her in Walmart again, but I am NOT sorry that I fought for my $6 off that was rightfully mine!  When you are pinching your pennies, every single one counts!!

Don't Ever Underestimate Discount Stores

I grew up with what I call an extreme bargain hunter.  We would spend every Saturday at thrift and discount stores looking for the best bargains.  One of my fondest memories with my mother is spending her last mother's day antiquing in a little town about an hour from our house.  I bought her a wicker stool to hold a plant for $5.  She was unbelievably happy and we had a wonderful day!

I always enjoyed the savings but being that we have moved around so much, I never got back into the habit of finding the best deals.  Sure, I always shopped the sales racks at Target or in the malls, but I forgot how much fun getting extreme bargains really is!

I am all about thrift and consignment shops and truly believe that something does not have to be new to be great.  However, there is something about brand new that I also greatly enjoy.  Therefore, discount stores are the way to go!

Sure, TJ Maxx and Marshalls have good deals, but truthfully there are better deals out there.  For instance, last Christmas I wanted to get my husband and dog a few stocking stuffers so I headed out to Big Lots to find a few "junky" items.  While digging around in their $5 bin, I found three seasons of my all-time favorite TV show, 7th Heaven, each for $5.  These go on amazon for about $25 per season!  I was overjoyed!  And yes, I still found the Christmas presents I originally came for, but who can pass up a fantastic deal for themselves too! :)

Anyway, today I was feeling down in the dumps.  I lost my job on Monday (It was a contract job and they didn't need me any longer) leaving me without an income and in an extreme depressive state as I know it will be impossible to find a job at 8 months pregnant.  We really counted on that little income, especially as the due date nears.

So I did what every responsible saver and adult who just lost their job should do... I went shopping!  OK, probably not the best move, but I needed something to lift my spirits!  Since we moved back to my hometown I know where all the best bargain places are.  We have this store called Gabriel Brother's where they sell overstocked and damaged items from many different retailers.  This is where I used to buy the majority of my NY and Co clothes from because they were seriously $3/sweater!

I needed a rug for the baby's room and I just wanted to walk through the baby clothes!  Well, I found a rug with no price tag on it, and another rug for our hallway (we are so not used to all hardwood floors!).  Each rug was only $4.99 (the hallway was a runner and the baby's room was a large area rug that covers most of the floor!)  Onto the baby clothes -- they were having a buy one get one 50% off sale!  I got a few little outfits... many of them Disney or Dr. Seuss and two packs of Disney washcloths.  Total spent $21!!!!

I know many people who won't go to these type of stores because they don't like checking the merchandise to make sure it is damage-free or they don't like the clientele that frequent these stores.  Well all I can say to that is they are missing out!!!  My discount-shopping days are coming back to me and I love the hunt!  My next challenge is to find some cowboy boots for a wedding I'm in....  here's to hoping!

Happy Bargain Hunting Friends!!!

Nesting

I think I have finally started nesting!  With 10 weeks left to go, I have such a huge urge to get everything set up and ready top go!  I guess this started about two weeks ago when I started panicking that we didn't have a crib yet.  The price of cribs, not unlike changing tables, is kind of ridiculous!  I refuse to pay $300 for a crib!  Originally I had planned on getting the crib for free using swag bucks and other savings sites with gift cards I had accumulated, but when I realized what else that money could go for, I decided to try good old Craigslist.

Wouldn't you know that I found a perfect, white sleigh crib that matches the rest of the furniture in the nursery perfectly!  I am so happy with it and it only cost us a mere $50.  So in total in the nursery we have spent $80 on nursery furniture.  I would say that is quite a steal since many people I know have spent hundreds and honestly, our stuff is just as nice (I'm a picky bargain hunter!!)

While getting everything ready upstairs it inspired me to look downstairs in the basement for things that may not have gotten unpacked.  While I was down there I found a cute little wooden table that would be just perfect for the nursery and perfect for next to my rocker to set a drink on!  I grabbed a can of purple spray paint that I used to make letters for baby girl's dresser and set to work painting the table.  Then I found a wicker shelving unit that we had in a bathroom in our old house that would be perfect to hold some everyday items in the baby's room.  I grabbed some white spray paint and set to work on that!  The only problem is that it was once black so it is going to take a few coats of spray paint to get it white and looking good enough to hang up.  That means that nothing else is needed in the nursery... no tables, no shelves, we have everything (well, minus all the stuff we registered for that we hope to get at the baby shower!)


All in all, I think it was another winning day in this bargain hunters quest to not spend money and still have great stuff!

Wasting away again on invitations....

Have you ever been in a situation where you have to decide between two things and you really have no idea which way to go?

Yeah, I was so there the other day.  I was working on baby shower invitations for my upcoming shower and I couldn't decide whether to order these really cute ones on Etsy or should I design them myself?  Both gave me the option to print from my own computer so printing wasn't even a consideration.  I needed to choose whether or not to spend $15 on having them done for me or spend hours at the computer messing around with my design programs to get them to be what I wanted.

Ultimately, I picked designing them myself.  I went with a VERY simple starfish invite and printed them on colored cardstock.  I do admit, they looked pretty nice.  I also included a nice poem insert about bringing a new or used book instead of a card and addressed and sealed all 48 invitations.  

I hand-delivered them to my office co-workers to save on postage and was all set to buy stamps on my way home to mail the rest. That's when it all went downhill.  My boss came in and was asking me about the shower and casually asked where I was registered.  I found this a little odd, since there was a registry card in with the invitation.

That's when I had my OMG moment.  I totally meant to go to my car and include those registry cards before I sealed the invite.  FAIL.  Major FAIL!  To make it all worse, I took off the part on the invite that stated where I was registered RIGHT before I hit print because I had those handy little inserts.

So here I sit, on my day off, opening, re-addressing and re-stuffing the envelopes and mailing out the invites that were already done.  Maybe I should have saved all the time designing them and spent the money to order them... at least I wouldn't have wasted hours and hours doing this and instead only wasted a few hours re-doing the envelopes.

I guess the silver lining is that I never got around to putting those stamps on the ruined envelopes....

Health Benefits

I posted before about using your company benefits to save yourself money on everyday things that you might not even know you have benefits for!

Well, today I learned the same goes for your health benefits!  We have good health coverage under Kevin's plan.  I have always known that, especially being in the health insurance business myself.  I know what our copays and our deductibles are and what is covered and when.  What I didn't know about was the other benefits that it carried.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were chatting about breast pumps.  Awesome, I know... the things you talk about what you are getting ready to have a baby!  Poor Kevin...   Anyway, I was complaining that they are $450 in the store and that it is ridiculous!

I was contemplating applying for WIC since I won't have a job and by my initial contact, we are on the boarder of qualifying.  But I just can't bring myself to do it.  I am not about abusing the Welfare system and I know that we can make it through without it.  Nothing against those people who do use WIC, as I think it is a great program and helps many, many women.  I just don't think in our situation it is fair to  use when we are OK without it.  At least for now...  But for those of you who DO need it, one of the benefits they offer is a breast pump!

But anyway, she was telling me that her health insurance covered her breast pump! Umm.. what?! That is so crazy!  So low-and-behold, I called UPMC today and they cover it at 100% as long as my doctor writes a script for it!  YES PLEASE!

That is such a weight off our shoulders as this was a huge baby expense we were dreading! If my friend wouldn't have mentioned it, I would have never known that this was even available!

And this goes for much more than pregnancy-related things also.  I did know from work that many times insurance will cover oxygen and other health-related necessities in your home at 100% under your durable medical equipment benefits!

What I was unaware of is that our insurance also offers discounts on things like spas and gym memberships!  That in itself is so amazing!  Maybe after we pop this little one out, we will invest in the gym membership deal...  One thing is for sure.... we need it! :)

So go and check out all your health benefits and start saving money!!!

There's Nothing Better Than Free!!!

Sorry for the long delay in posting!  We finally moved and have been using all of our spare time trying to get settled in and trying to clean/paint our old place!  I will be so happy after this week once we are all done with the other place and can just concentrate on our own place!

In addition, we are starting to kick into gear with getting ready for baby!  One thing that I totally knew, but I think refused to admit, is that babies need a lot of stuff.... and that stuff is expensive!

Although I am hoping to get most of my goodies from my baby shower and my registry, there are still certain things we are going to have to buy.... like the furniture!  A crib at Babies R Us is about $300!  Yeah... so not going to happen!  I have a few ideas for that, but I will get to them in a later post!  What I was concentrating on was getting a changing table.

I am not one of those people who can just stick the changing mattress on top of the dresser and can call it a day.  I am a total knick knack person and I need the dresser space to display all of the unnecessary things I am going to get for Lily!  So, I need a changing table for the actual diaper stuff!

Well if you have never looked for one of these let me tell you... they are NOT cheap!  They are ridiculously expensive for what they are... averaging over $100.  Yeah, again, not going to happen!

Lately I have been all about garage sales and consignment shops so I thought I would start with looking online!  Well, I found a great one on Craigslist!  Although it was about a 40 minute drive from our house, it was only $30 and it looked like it was in great condition!

Since I really hadn't budgeted the extra $30 for said changing table, I was trying to get creative, and since we were in the process of moving, I figured it was time to get rid of our unwanted stuff!  So we took a box of books to Half Price Books and made $30!  I had to control myself to get out of the store without spending any of that money as books are my weakness, but we did it!  That means that the changing table was FREE!!!

I sent my husband to get the table since I am not all about going alone to a stranger's home, especially while pregnant and it is in perfect condition... not even a scratch!  They even had the directions in plastic.  When I searched the table, it came up $120 new and they still sell it!

The saying is true... one person's trash is another person's treasure!  I adore my second-hand changing table!!!

Use Your Company Benefits!

If you work for a big company, chances are you are entitled to a benefit package.  Most people take advantage of their health care, short term disability and voluntary life insurance.  What many people don't realize though is that most companies offer much, much more!

I found this out yesterday and scored a serious savings!!

I was aware that my company offered discounts at many places, including Verizon (at 20% I was on top of that the day I got my first paycheck!), Sams Club and Dell Computers.  What I was unaware of were the other useful things they offer.

First off, they offer a service where you can call and they will do research on a product or service you are looking in to.  For instance, if you need to take your dog to a pet resort while you are on vacation, they will do the research for you and come up with a few options, including a full report on why they chose them.  That's pretty awesome!  Too bad they wouldn't do my job for me too...

Anyway, as I was exploring the website of things offered, I noticed that they have a contract with Microsoft.  When I bought my new laptop in December we went for super cheap and functional over anything extravagant. I can't complain... I love my laptop and it's been great for the $200 I spent on it!  What I didn't want to spend money on was the software I so desperately needed.  

Microsoft Office is essential to any computer.  I have an older version of Office that I can install, but many of the programs are not compatible and there were quite a few documents I couldn't open.  I was desperately trying to get by without it, but you can only do so much on a work computer where they track your every move.

Even in my most frugal state, I refuse to buy used software.  I feel that unfortunately people are not always honest and CDs and DVDs get scratched very easily.  If something is wrong with them, many times, you are out of money.  And what is the point losing money when you are trying to save it!

So after many weeks of looking online, I came to the conclusion that I was not spending $100-$150 on the software and I would just have to "borrow" my husband's computer to do my office stuff.

WELL, as I was searching my company Microsoft benefits, I found out that all employees get Office 2010 for $9.99!  Yes, only ten bucks!!!  Ummmm yes please!  So now I am happily creating documents and budgeting spreadsheets once again!

The moral of this little story -- use your company benefits -- ALL of them!  Or even if you don't use them, at least know what they have to offer in case you need them!

Survey Says

I have been doing a lot of research lately on finding ways to make money online.  One of the most popular suggestions have been to take online surveys for points on websites to earn gift cards.

I am completely on the fence about this concept.  

For one, I have been using Sunshine Rewards for a few years and have often tried to take advantage of their online survey opportunities.  Well it seemed no matter how hard I tried, I never, I mean NEVER qualified for the surveys they offered!  It was so frustrating that after a few days, I gave up and vowed to never do another survey attempt.

Plus, I don't always like to give out that much information on an online survey (i.e. I never give our annual household income out!).

Anyway, I signed up for a new website to earn points on called Swagbucks.  You can earn points for watching videos, playing games, filling out a daily poll, signing up for offers, searching the web and, of course, surveys.

I earned a few hundred points for watching some videos and searching the web but nothing too exciting.  A $5 Amazon gift card is about 450 points so I was about to abandon my attempt at paying for our diapers this way, when I decided to just TRY out the survey.

Well, just as Sunshine Rewards, I didn't qualify for any of them.  The nice thing about Swagbucks is at least they give you one point for trying to qualify.

Well today I had a breakthrough.  I decided that for one week, that's 7 full days, I am going to attempt to do all the surveys they offer.  So about the first eight of them I didn't qualify for.  Then I saw a new one pop up and I jumped on it quick.  The thing with surveys is the quicker you can get to them, the better your chance to qualify.

Well, it was a big survey... 400 points... and I GOT IT!  I was so excited!  And then, I got another one worth 100 points!  It was so exciting seeing my points go up so quickly!

I still can't say I'm totally sold on the whole survey thing.  Maybe next Wednesday, after my week of surveys is over, I will feel differently (depending on how many I actually get I guess!)  

Do any of you do surveys?  Have they actually worked out for you as far as the earnings go?  I would love some feedback!

Memorial Day Deals

   This is what $20 spent at Old Navy today got me!  I hope everyone had luck on their sales like I did and I hope that no one went too far overboard!!

Sometimes, you gotta shop!

It's a beautiful morning here in Pittsburgh!  The sun is shining, it's hot out already and its only 9:30 a.m., it is going to be a beautiful Memorial Day!  I am so happy to be going swimming and spending the day out in the sun with friends that are family!

I decided to get up early and get some stuff done.  I'm not a morning person so sometimes that is hard for me, but I got up about 7:45, showered, took out the dog and made brownies for the party this afternoon.  Once the brownies were safely put away (after I ate 3 for breakfast... ooops), I decided to jump online and work on clipping some coupons.

On my quest to save money, coupons are an essential part of my now daily routine.  I also was going to go onto Old Navy's website and see if there were any great sales on flip flops, as mine are quickly dying and I need to replace them.

I convinced myself that I only  needed flip flops, no other purchases allowed and that was all I was going to look at, this way I was going to not spend too much money.  As soon as I picked out my favorite colors I was going to walk across the street to the grocery store and get my gift card (gotta get those gas points!) and order those suckers through Ebates.  I had it all planned out.

That's when I saw it... their memorial day sale ad.  Obviously I knew they would be having sales and excellent deals and I even flipped through the tank top section when I saw they were having $4 tanks.  That's a good price, but I wasn't sure how long they would be sight unseen and target usually has everyday $6 tanks, so I was getting ready to head to the flippers when there was a little bubble that said tanks are $2 in stores!  TWO DOLLARS for tank tops.  I AM SO THERE!!!

I called my husband to let him know that I was going to buy a few tanks today and not to be mad when he gets home and sees the bags.  Kevin would actually never get mad, but this just lets me quietly validate my need for shopping!  He agreed and told me to have fun, but to be sure to use the credit card since we get points back for that and I'm not using Ebates!  Wow... I have trained him so well!

I think the most important thing when trying to save is to let yourself live at the same time... within reason!  I am not going to the store to spend $100 on new clothes that I don't necessarily "need" I just want.  I am most likely going to buy 3, possibly 4 tanks and spend under $10.  That's a deal that no one should pass up!  I think everyone should be heading out to Old Navy to buy summer tanks today!! (Unless you live in Pittsburgh, then stay away, I want a good variety when I go!)

Don't deprive yourself of opportunities like this when you are trying to save.  You will more-than-likely burn out and end up spending serious money when $10 could have gotten you through 3 weeks without spending.  I think that should be in the savings 101 handbook... let yourself buy things you need occasionally!  Three new tanks are like a new wardrobe between wearing them and layering them.  Add colorful flippers on top of them and you feel like a new person!

Happy  Memorial Day everyone! I hope everyone scores some major discounts and savings today!

I love Ebates

So on my quest to get my Disney vacation paid for, I was following along with my blogger friend Carly (disneyweddingblog.com) who happened to do a whole blog about how to get a free Disney vacation from doing some online work!

I love Carly's blogs. They are witty and fun and truthful.  If you have any love for Disney at all, I highly suggest checking them out!

Anyway, she posted a link to Ebates as a way to earn cash back from shopping online.  Truthfully, I do not shop online that often anymore (wish I would have known about this during wedding planning!) But occasionally, there are things I need to order.

Well, all you do is sign up for this site (its free!) at http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=N5lCR5H7Jmbs%2B5n92bfFPg%3D%3D

After that, you just start shopping and you get cash back when you place orders!  Each store has a different amount you get back... but really what could be better than being paid for shopping?

When I was planning my wedding, I used Sunshine Rewards to do basically the same thing, and was able to pay for some of our hotel with my savings.  Well, they dropped a lot of their important vendors, and Ebates has EVERYTHING so it was an easy switch!  Not to mention, they have coupon codes available.  And with many stores doing free shipping, there is no reason NOT to shop online!

If that's not enough, when you sign up, you get to choose a $10 gift card that they automatically send you after your first purchase of $25 or more using their site!  Umm... hello, that's free money right there!

So for my first Ebates experience, I went with Express.  Express is not a store I shop in often.  Not only do the clothes not fit me (hello...preggo!) but I think their clothes are extremely expensive!  We have a store called Gabriel Brothers that sells their "damaged" stuff and my only Express clothing comes from there... at $3 a shirt!  Anyway, for whatever reason, I had $35 in gift cards there.  On top of that I got a $10 off birthday card in the mail for having a credit card (from back in my skinny days!).

Since I had the $10 off, I figured it would be a great time to go in and get some accessories.  I got a pair of sunglasses, a canary wristlet and a blue bangle bracelet for $35 after my coupon... the exact amount of my gift card.  Now I did pay for shipping, which ended up being $8 since I used my entire gift card.

However, I got $1 back from Ebates and qualified for my $10 gift card from Target (that's where I chose since I shop there the most!).  All in all, I came out $3 ahead and got some great stuff!

This site is definitely worth checking out!! I am officially addicted!!  To save more money, if your grocery store does gas points like ours does here in PA, go buy gift cards for the store you are going to shop in, get the gas points at the grocery store and the cash back online!  It's like double the savings, plus you are less likely to spend more than you wanted if you already pre-purchased a gift card!

Is money really everything?

I know, kind of a weird blog title for a blog that's supposed to be about saving.  But seriously, is money everything?

I know friends who have an overabundance of money, can travel whenever they want and never even look at their credit card statement before they pay it off (wouldn't that be nice... I scour ours making sure there are absolutely no mistakes!)  However, all the money in the world has not stopped them from losing parents, losing marriages and anything else that happens to the rest of us.

So I guess my question for the day is... how much does money really matter?

I have been toying with this question all morning as I am stuck on the couch due to some recent pregnancy complications.  This is the third time that these complications have reared its ugly head in the 21 weeks I've been pregnant.  There's no "medical" reason for them that they can discover, despite many tests and ultrasounds.  The word they throw out there... stress.  Most likely due to my work environment.

Well isn't that just great.  Like the last thing I need is to not be able to bring home an income before this baby is born and in the middle of us moving.  See, I recently left my position as business office manager is a very successful nursing home to take over the medical records director position.  This was supposed to be a great move for me, less stressful and more laid back.  WRONG.  Wrong on so many levels!  I walked into a complete disaster with tons of stuff to do and the person training me is not giving me very much time to learn a thing!  Most important, I am on my feet all day and have to lift and go through boxes.  Not the best job for a preggo.  Apparently my body tells me this job may not be the right fit!

So that brings me to the blog title... is money everything?  I have decided that, although my salary is decent and pays the bills, my health, my sanity and the health of my baby girl are SO MUCH more important than a paycheck!  Thankfully, I am married to an amazing man, who, all the way across the country on business, agrees with me completely and supports my (sometimes crazy) ideas and decisions.

Looks like this weekend is going to be a long weekend of thinking about what I need to do, being even more creative with money than I have been in the past (no fears... I am still going to get us to Disney this winter for free in addition to everything...) and figuring out a way to still earn at least a part-time income.

My goal is to have a plan by the time hubby comes home....

A Weekend of Fun

With our attempts at trying to save money/pay off debt/just try to get by, we have really limited ourselves in our "fun" spending.  We cut vacation out and instead of our yearly Florida trip we are going to visit a friend a few hours away.  We have bought nothing for ourselves outside of food and necessity.  There is a point where this gets very old and very tough.

Two things happened this week that made not spending money almost impossible... one is that we found out our baby-to-be in a girl and the second thing is that summer arrived in Pittsburgh and my growing belly does not accommodate any of my pre-pregnancy clothes.

So we needed to do some serious shopping!  Ok, well I needed to do some shopping for myself and we just couldn't help ourselves with buying things for the baby!

First stop:  Macy's.  I am not a fan of Macy's.  I don't shop there... ever.  I think they are usually overpriced and I find it very hard to find anything for my age (too old for the junior section, too young for the adult stuff).  Aside from dresses, shoes and purses, I am shopping elsewhere.  However, no matter how many times I make this known, my mother-in-law gets me a Macy's gift card for every occasion.  Part of me thinks she does it on purpose... but that's for another day...  So here I am with $100 in Macy's gift cards.  One thing you should know is that I'm a gift card hoarder.  I hold on to those suckers for rainy days where I just NEED to shop and don't have any money to do so.  I am also EXTREMELY frugal with gift cards.  I know, completely opposite of how I am with our real, hard-earned money.  I guess I just want my free money to go pretty far.

I found out through a friend that Motherhood Maternity has a shop inside Macy's and although you can't use Macy's coupons, you can use their gift cards.  I promptly gave up my dreams of new bedding and went straight to the maternity section.  I was able to get shorts, two tops and a bathing suit with my gift cards and still have $15 left over.  All in all, I think I did pretty well and I was comfortably cool during our 87 degree day in my shorts and tank.

Problem number one taken care of.

Problem number two:  I just NEEDED to buy things for little girl.  This was much harder as we would actually have to PAY for these things.  As luck would have it, there was a big consignment sale going on in our neighborhood.  My husband and I agreed that $100 would be more than enough to satisfy the weekend and that was all we could spend.

Now I know what you're thinking... $100 is a lot of money for clothes!  Well, it is but we were also looking for some things to keep at his mom's house for when we visit.  She lives 2 hours away and I am not lugging everything for each visit.

We walked out of there with a bouncer for MIL's house, four pairs of shoes (excessive I know, but they were soooo cute!), a bathing suit for Disney, a book for me about being a mommy, and a bunch of little outfits and onsies.  Total spent: $45.  I was extremely thrilled with my purchases (I only bought name-brand clothes from Gap, Old Navy and Disney) and I felt like we got a lot for our money.  Too bad I have to wait until October for her to get here!

Last but not least we stopped at the mall so Kevin could buy a new pair of shoes with his Dick's gift card.  Due to our awesome savings at the baby sale, we had extra money left over to put toward the shoes he really wanted.

We ended the night with a stop at Bahama Breeze for dinner, making it feel like we had a great "vacation" day saving money and getting what we needed.

Sunday morning we got up early and took our dog to the local animal shelter for his annual rabies shot at their $10 clinic.  MUCH cheaper than the local vet's office where we always seems to spend $200 for them to do an exam and shots and tell us he is healthy.

When we got home from our spending extravaganza weekend, we had $17 left in our pockets.  All in all I think we had a great weekend on a very small budget!

PS that $17 went right into our Disney-saving fund :)

Stretched to the Max

So my initial savings plan is not going as planned.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad -- our bills are paid, there's food in our mouths and we are happy.  BUT we still aren't getting anywhere.

So the question turned from how much can we save to WHY can't we save ANYTHING?  In our defense there are things that have come up that have wiped out our savings.  First, we are moving.... thank God!  We are going from paying $1600/month in rent to paying around $1000 for a townhouse in the neighborhood we want to stay in.  Much, much better.  But in order to get that townhouse, we had to spend our savings on a security deposit and first month's rent.  That's pretty hard to come up with when we're already paying a ridiculous rent in our current place.

Adding to that is the stress of knowing we are paying two rents in June!  UGH!  Not ideal but definitely necessary! 

I wish I could say that as soon as July rolls around we will be financially set but that is not the case either.  Our car needs some work (like $1000 worth of work with new tires and a new tailpipe thing...) in order to pass inspection.  Oh Pennsylvania how I love the mandatory annual inspection that never seems to have everything be ok.  Add on top of that bridal showers, baby showers, weddings and 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave and we are pretty much tapped out through the end of the year.

Time to start getting thrifty!  Without realizing it, my credit card gives me cash back each month in either credits to apply to my balance or I can cash out in gift cards.  Ummm the credit card just got a lot more use!  Not only is it earning me points, but it is helping us budget also as a better way to keep track of our monthly spending. 

So with all that is going on and all of our monthly bills, when I tell my husband I want to go to Disney World for a week in January for our anniversary and attend a Disney event that a blogger I follow is hosting, he looks at me like I have five heads.  I promise him that with my thriftiness I can get the trip paid for....   

Here we go....

Brand New Day

I am an over-spending, compulsive shopper.  Or should I say was.  

I grew up in a home where money was no object.  Don't get me wrong, the house I lived in needed some serious home improvements and we had the original 70's kitchen until about 2001, but there was nothing I went without. I was the kid who had a car at 16 when I didn't even get my license until 5 months into my 17th year.  The kid who went on exotic vacations, went on shopping sprees, spent the summers at the beach and was involved in every activity imaginable.  

I went to college without student loans and probably only really survived my first real job and apartment in Florida because my mom would send me money or come visit and buy us the things we needed.

But don't be fooled, I was also taught to fend for myself and that I did.  Once we (my now husband and I, along with our pets) moved back to Pittsburgh, I was able to pay our bills (mostly) on time and still do the fun things we like.... like going to Disney World 9 times that year!

Everything changed in 2009 when my mom passed away.  She left me a small inheritance and I did what every other person would would have been raised in my family would have done -- we vacationed and had an amazing Disney wedding!  Smart people would have saved or invested, but I was taught to live for today and to go out and live out my dreams.... so I did!

We were also left with a house that, looking back, there was no way we could have afforded to keep.  We stayed and paid the ridiculously high mortgage for a year and a half before deciding to move out to be near our friends on the other side of Pittsburgh.

Well, here were are a year later, paying almost $1500 in rent, with a decent amount of debt, struggling to get by.  I was used to buying whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, but when we went to apply for a mortgage and got turned down initially, my wheels started turning.

We are both working professionals who make a decent living for our age and I do not want to be stuck in renting hell nor do I want to be turned down for any kind of credit.  Maybe this is a wake-up call.  No more inappropriate spending.  Much easier said than done as I think as I was the queen of spending unnecessary money, but there comes a time where enough needs to be enough (I guess...)

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This blog will journey with us as we try to save, pay off debt and still live our lives without being "have-nots.