The Money Jar

CVS Deals 7/26/09-8/1/09

>> Thursday, July 23, 2009

3 Day Sale(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)

Caliber composition book 100 sheets .99 cents
ECBs .99 cents
Free after ECBs

Pilot Easy Touch Pen 2 pk. .99 cents
ECBs .99 cents
Free after ECBs

Swingline tot stapler or Caliber sticky notes 2 pk. .99 cents
ECBs .99 cents
Free after ECBs

Caliber or CVS erasers 7-15 ct. push pins 100 ct. or binder clips 12 ct. .99 cents
ECBs .99 cents
Free after ECBs

Caliber Pencil or Index Card Case .99 cents
ECBs .99 cents
Free after ECBs

Colgate Total advanced toothpaste 4 oz. or 360 Clean toothbrush $2.88
ECBs $2
$1/1 Colgate Total
Free plus overage after Q and ECBs

Georgia Pacific Copy & Print paper 2/$10
ECBs $5
2 for $5

Neutrogena cosmetics B1G1
$3/1 Neutrogena Face Cosmetics 6/21/09 RP
$3/1 Neutrogena Cosmetics June All You

Weekly ECB Deals

CVS Tampons $1.99
ECBs $1.99
Free after ECBs

Lunch carrier psa $5.99
ECBs $3
$2.99 and up after ECBs

Arm & Hammer 2x liquid detergent 32 loads 2/$6.99
ECBs $2
2 for $4.99 after ECBs

Aussie or Herbal Essences shampoo, conditioner 10.1-13.5oz or styler 6-16oz $2.99
ECBs $1
$1/1 Aussie 7/5/09 PG
$1/1 Herbal Essences 7/5/09 PG
B1G1 Herbal Essences- Buy shampoo, conditioner or styling product and get styling product free 7/26/09 RP
.99 cents after Q and ECB or 2/.99 cents with the B1G1 Q and ECB

Schick Intuition, Titanium, Quattro Razor or Cartridges $8.99
ECBs $2
$4/1 Schick Quattro Titanium Razor 6/14/09 SS
$4/1 Schick Quattro Titanium Refill 6/14/09 SS
$4.00 off any Schick Quattro Women or Intuition Plus Razor or Refill; Titanium Razor, Trimmer, or Refill 7/26/09 SS
$2.99 after Q and ECBs

Spend $10 Get $5 ECB wyb Kashi TLC bars 6ct, crackers 9oz, Go Lean Crunch, Autumn Wheat, Heart to Heart or Kellogg's Smart Start cereal 12.4-17.5oz 3 for $10
$1.50 Kashi printable IE
$1.50 Kashi printable firefox
3 for .50 cents after 3 Qs and ECBs

Other Deals

Palmolive dish soap .88 cents
.25/1 Palmolive 7/26/09 SS
.63 cents each after Q

Excedrin 20 - 24 ct $2.99
$1/1 Excedrin printables
$1/1 off Excedrin 7/12/09 SS
$1.99 after Q

Coppertone or Nutra Shield Sunscreen $8.99
$5/1 Nutra Shield printable
$3.99 after Q

Starbucks Frappucchino 13.7oz Buy 2 Get 1 Free @ $2.79 each
$1/1 Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino Coffee Drink or Doubleshot Espresso Drink 6/21/09 SS
$2.58/ 3 bottles or $0.86 each with 3 Qs

True North Snacks 2 for $6
$1/1 True North Snacks printable
$2 each after Q

Emergency Mode

Well, that lovely reworked budget that I worked so hard on yesterday just got thrown out. My husband lost his job this morning. We were completely caught off guard by this, just not even remotely expecting it. We are now in emergency mode with the budget. There is no severance package this time around. There is no comfortable cushion in the checking account this time. We do however have our emergency fund and a lot of skills we've gained over the last year and a half. We trust that the Lord has this all worked out for us already and we just have to move forward and see where He is leading us. And if you like, you're welcome to come along for the ride.

TGIFridays: Bring Your Own Buddy Coupon

Want a reason to for a meal out with your buddies? Right now you can go here to print a coupon from T.G.I.Fridays and get $5 off an entree for each buddy you bring. Bring 1 buddy get $5 off, bring 2 buddies get $10 off, etc.

Reworking The Budget

>> Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I've been somewhat lazy about budgeting the last couple of months. I've needed to rework our budget for awhile now but have been avoiding it because it's not a very fun task. And honestly, I've been avoiding it because I really didn't want to have to look at how little wiggle room there is in it these days. So I spent a little time this morning doing what I've been avoiding, reworking the budget. Almost 8 months after my husband went back to work after his unemployment, we still seem to be adjusting to the new reduced income. When we made up our first budget about 15 months ago, we really didn't think about budgeting in terms of percentages. We just gave our money a place it had to go and put it there. This morning I was watching the Today show and their group of financial advisors gave the following percentage guidelines to use when creating your budget.
-10% long term savings
-35% home-mortgage/rent, property taxes, insurance, maintenance
-25% daily living expenses
-15% transportation-car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance
-15% other-debt reduction, etc.

So I sat down and started going over our expenses. It was somewhat discouraging but it is what it is. We are taking steps to reduce our living expenses and possibly increase our income over the next year or two but for now we have to make the best of our current situation.
Here is the reality of our current budget percentages:
-13.5% giving-This is non-negotiable for us.
-40% home-Ouch! Before the job loss this would have been less than 25%. If the housing market was in better shape, we'd go ahead and sell. For now we're staying put but exploring our options.
-15% transportation-We don't have a car payment thankfully! This really helps in this category. We can pay for gas and insurance and still have some left for future car savings and maintenance.
-4.5%-long term savings-The 10% suggested is supposed to be non-negotiable but that's just not our reality right now.
-27% daily living expenses-As much as I would like to trim this a bit I'm not sure how. We've cut things so much over the last year, I'm not sure where else to cut.

So now I have a better picture of our money and where it needs to go. It's just a matter of actually being able to put it there. We have back to school fees, multiple doctors and dentist appointment co-pays, birthdays and so many more extras coming up the next couple of months that making them all fit into the daily living expenses category is going to be a challenge. But I have a goal to work towards and will just have to be smart and creative to reach it.

I think it is easy to develop budget fatigue and lose sight of the big picture of your financial goals sometimes. It was helpful to take a fresh look at our finances and change the way I've been viewing budgeting. I feel re-energized in a way and ready to take on this new budget. How does your budget compare with the suggested percentages?

Disneystore.com: Free Lunch Tote With Backpack Purchase

Right now at Disneystore.com when you buy a backpack you can get the matching lunch tote free. Offer expires August 5, 2009. Go here for more details.

McAlister's Deli: Free Tea Day 7/23/09

Stop by McAlister's Deli to get free iced tea on July 23, 2009. Limit one per guest. Does not apply to catering or gallons. Go here for more details and to find a location near you.

Arby's Wednesday FREEbie

>> Tuesday, July 21, 2009

This week's freebie at Arby's is a free Roastburger with any soft drink purchase.

Winner Of $30 Skin Free Gift Certificate

The winner of the $30 Skin Free Gift Certificate is throughthehaze. Congratulations! You have 48 hours to contact me to claim your prize. Winner was chosen through random.org. with #3 picked. Thank you to everyone who entered. More giveaways are coming soon.

Deals Of The Week 7/25/09

I have a lot going on the next couple of weeks so I'm going to go ahead and post my shopping deals early this week. I only had $30 to work with this week so I just snagged a few deals and the things we needed. Here's what I bought.

CVS

I bought:
1 pkg. Caliber Filler Paper $2
1 CVS Pantiliners .89 cents
1 ReNu Contact solution $6.49 with $2 clip free coupon
Qs
$1/1 ReNu
$7.98 ECBs
Total OOP: .48 cents
Received: $2.89 ECBs

Walgreens:

I bought:
2 Kellogg's Rice Krispies $5
2 pencil sharpeners $1.18
1 cap erasers pk. .29 cents
1 Paper Mate pens 10 pk. .19 cents
2 Scotch tape .78 cents
1 Pilot G2 Pens $1
1 Paper Mate Mechanical pencils .19 cents
1 Penway No. 2 pencils 10 pk. .29 cents
1 pencil box .49 cents
4 Mentos gum $3.96 with In Ad Q
Qs
2-$1/1 Kellogg's cereal
4-.55/1 Mentos gum
$3 Register Reward
Total: $6.67
Pd. .66 cents that was left on a gift card
Total OOP: $6.01
Received $2 Register Rewards
I'm not sure what regular prices are on all of the school/office supplies but according to my receipt I saved $26.39 with sales and coupons.

WalMartI bought the rest of what I needed this week at Walmart.
I bought:
2 White Cloud big roll 4 pks. $4
1 roll paper towel .84 cents
1 GV wheat crackers $1.98
1 GV skim milk $1.58
1 GV applesauce $1.86
1 Ruffies garbage bags $1
1 Kraft shredded cheese $2.08
1 Borden cheese slices $2
1 watermelon $2.50
4 string cheese singles $1
2 Snickers bars $1
2 Twix bars $1
Qs
2-$1/1 White Cloud tissue
4-Free Mars chocolate Qs
Total OOP: $17.19

Total OOP for the week: $23.18