I received 2 of the payments from Powells. Unfortunately it was $6.25 less than I thought (didn't meet the conditions, my bad), but it did total $22.75, which will be added to my challenge along with the $.03 I found on the street .

I also went to the post office and mailed the box of books for the third Powells order, so I should see that in about 2 weeks.

I've amassed 29 credits on Paperback Swap, and 2 more on the way. I think the next step in my challenge will be to check out high value books for sale on cash 4 books and see if I can get any of them through paperback swap. It's a bit of a risk in that the paperback swap books take about 2 weeks to get here, and the prices on cash 4 books changes, but given that I'll have no money out of pocket it may be a risk worth taking.

My challenge is now up to $109.87, so my other next step is to open up a bank account with a sign-up bonus. I have an offer at Chase for $100, but before I sign up I'll check out a few others to see if there's anything better. I'll use this new account as my "Freedom Account" that Mary Hunt talks about.

All in all, a good day...

Wednesday:

Felt well enough to run a bunch of errands including:
1) Went to library to pay for lost cd ($20-grrr). I've searched high and low, but if I'll try again because if I find it within 30 days I'll get $15 back.

2) Went to Staples and bought some stuff for hubby using a Staples Rewards check (no out of pocket).

Also finished helping DD with her Social Studies project. I hate projects. Can't they just sit at the desks and do reading, writing, and arithmetic?!

And I did spend money. Bought tickets for the opening night of New Moon for the family and Grandma. We can't wait for it to hit the second run theater!

Thursday:
Feeling 95% back to normal. One more good night sleep ought to do it. Great challenge day!
1) Found $.34 ($.01 in Hoboken and $.33 all at once in NYC). That makes $.35 so far. I'll start tracking this on the side separately, but it will also be added in the challenge.
2) Mailed the last round of books to Powells and sold another $34.25 that I need to box up and get out in the mail tomorrow or Saturday. I am tickled pink with the way this is going!

I also got my $10 Kelloggs rebate. Won't go to my challenge, but will go to my checking acct .

I saw a great Dave Ramsey show yesterday. I don't usually watch him, but the topic was unique things people were doing to make extra money (not just the 2nd job in retail kind of thing). The ideas were great, and so creative, ranging from giving drum lessons, donating plasma, driving around to look at foreclosed homes for insurance companies ($8/house!). I started watching halfway through...I wish I taped it. I didn't hear anything that I could do myself, but it sure gets the creative juices flowing.

And if nothing else good came of my being sick, I am FINALLY, FINALLY caught up on my laundry! My goal is to keep from getting so behind on that again.

Feeling a little perkier today. Still tired, but was able to get up and around. Went to dad's house for a few hours to go through his mail, pay the bills, etc.

On the way home I stopped by the library to return the video we borrowed. While I was there, I inventoried the used books for sale. Took about 45 minutes, and I was able to find 6 books to sell for $6.50 (cost to me - $2). A net of $4.50 is not great, but I'll take it and add it to my challenge.

I also received a notice from Paypal that I received my Cash4Books payment of $16.61, so that brings my challenge to $74 and counting.

I FINALLY got out of the house today and got something accomplished!

I went back to the library to pick up the rest of those books from the book sale. The bad news is that of the 18 I was looking for, I could only find 13, and in the week and a half that passed since I initially priced them, Powell is no longer accepting 2 of them.

The good news is that I was still able to pick up 11 books which I can sell for $22.50 (cost to me = $5.75).

The other good news is that the reason I couldn't find the rest is that it seems like they got a boatload of new books in for the sale, so I'll have to stop back when I get more time and go through the new ones.

I completed a rebate for laundry detergent that will go out in the mail tomorrow.

I also scored huge on A&P doubling $1 coupons last week. Bought shaving gel for hubby for $.37, a box of Celestial Seasons tea for $.50, and a jar of Smart Balance peanut butter for $.99. If only I could always find deals this good...

We're having our first fire of the season tonight. It was in the high 40s all day, but felt so much colder! Our tradition in the winter is to light a fire on Friday nights and play board games with the kids (and a glass or two of wine!). It's a great way to kick off the weekend.

Today was successful because I had both kids home sick and still managed to be productive!

Took DD to the doctor and he said her strep test came back negative - it's just a cold. They told DS the same thing before the overnight strep test came back positive, so we're waiting to see if we get a call tomorrow. Either way, she's not in terrible shape, and DS seems to be on the mend. Lux, I'm going to stock up on the Sambucol for next time (because there WILL be a next time).

Fortunately hubby was home for most of the day, so I was able to make a big dent in my to-do list. Did pretty much everything except:

1) Go to library to pick up the rest of the books to sell (Tues/Wed)
2) Call Verizon Wireless - I dropped a service last month and it's still showing up on my bill (Tues)

I also am almost caught up on my mound of laundry. At least what's left is all in baskets instead of covering the floor of my closet!

I made out great at the grocery store today. A&P had 4 "super coupons" where they'd double $1 coupons to $2 (normally they only double to $.99). I got Smart Balance butter spread, Smart Balance butter sticks, Danimals, and 2 Friendship sour creams for free, after using the coupons. I also had a coupon for a free Ronzoni pasta and a free roll of Marcal paper towels. I bought a bottle of laundry detergent that will be free after rebate and, as an unexpected bonus, I got a catalina coupon for $3 oyno from the detergent company. So I'll count that $3 toward my challenge. When all was said and done, I bought about $97 worth of groceries for $57. Not bad. I have 2 more sets of 4, so I'll have to get back there by Wednesday.

DS's birthday is Friday, so I need to do some shopping for him. Our anniversary is Thursday, but we went away in August to celebrate, so that should be low key. I need to start thinking about Christmas so it doesn't sneak up on me the way everything else has this year!

ETA: I had $4 left over from my allowance last week, so I put that toward my challenge. I'm up to $65.14 now.

On Monday, I blogged about hitting a local library's used book sale. I found 7 books that I could sell for $16.61 (-$3 to buy them) and I was quite pleased with myself.

Last night, while surfing the forums, I came across a post about selling used books to Powells Books online. I still had the list of all the ISBN #s that I wrote down from the book sale, so I jumped onto Powell's website and checked them out. Ready for this? Powells will buy 18 books for $43! Assuming that they're all hardcover, I'll have to pay $1 each, for a net of $25. The best part is that I already did the leg work of copying the ISBNs during my first go-round, and was really careful to identify the location of each book by shelf, so all I need to do is stop back there, pick them out and box them up! Assuming I can find them all, this book sale will have netted me over $38 toward my $20 challenge. Not too shabby! I'm not sure if I'll get over there tonight, but if not, tomorrow, Saturday at the latest.

My $13.75 rebate check from Caregivers Marketplace came in the mail yesterday, along with the rebate from Seattle's Best Coffee, so I added another $14.75 to my challenge.

Today's To-Dos:
1) Go to post office and mail books.
2) Drop off grocery gift cards

What a crummy day. 50 degrees, damp, rainy. I would have done anything to stay in bed for a few more hours, but I had to get the kids to school and me to work. Blah...

I had a terrific day yesterday. Ran all my errands. I closed out a checking account I had at Citibank and was shocked that neither the customer service person nor the teller asked me why I was closing it. I had no great reason, I just didn't need it anymore, but figured that they would be interested in why they were losing a customer. Guess not.

I also went to the post office and mailed some books. Another book was claimed last night, so that will have to go out tomorrow. Getting rid of these books is like a slow leak, but it's really adding up.

Speaking of adding up, I went to one of the local libraries that has an ongoing book sale, looking for books I could buy and resell on Cash4books .net. This is really hit or miss, because you never know how many books they're selling, if they're the right ones, etc. This particular one was pretty big (probably 150-200 books). I did ok. I found 7 books to sell for $16.61. It cost me $3 to buy them, and cash4books pays the shipping. So I'm netting $13.31 for my $20 challenge. Door to door it took me about 1 1/2 hours, which works out to $8.87/hr, tax free. I'll take it. They have to go to the post office tomorrow too. I'll also write myself a note on the calendar to go back again in 3 months.

Here's today's to-do list:
1) Transfer money from Paypal to checking
2) Check out times for New Moon on 11/20 and preorder tickets (we're rabid Twilight fans...)
3)Package up the books for the post office tomorrow.
4) Get checkbook / budget up to date.

That's it. It's a pretty small list because I'm so sluggish today that I know not much else will get done. So why put it down, not do it, and feel bad about it?

I received the full credit of $13.38 from Cash4books. It was deposited into my Paypal account today. Not bad. Took just over 2 weeks. So that's $13.38 more for the challenge, bringing me up to a whopping $49.39. I may have to scrounge around the house for some change to get it up to $50!

Two more books were claimed on paperback swap, so I'll need to add "going to the post office" on my list of to-dos tomorrow.

Hubby will be travelling over the next few weeks, so I plan to take a few vacation days while he's gone (to cover pickup and drop off of the kids, NOT to celebrate the fact that he's gone and have a wild party). I'm hoping to use the time to organize and declutter more of the house. Where to begin?

I was pretty productive today. Here goes:

(X) Sign kids up for Basketball and Indoor Soccer ($350 ouch).
(X) Update credit cards / budget spreadsheet.
(X) Contact Caregivers Marketplace re rebate
(X) Contact Staples re Easy Rewards
(X) Mail dad's credit card bill

I emailed Caregivers Marketplace because I was expecting a rebate of $13.75, but the check I got in the mail was for $11.75. The customer rep emailed me right back and told me that the $11.75 was for a previous rebate I submitted, and I'll be getting the $13.75 next week. Hot dog, that's another $11.75 to my $20 Challenge!

I also picked a penny up on the street today, so it's actually $11.76. (Baselle, I'm still amazed that you found $20 in a year. I work in NYC and was sure that I'd find a few cents each day. I've been looking for about a week now, and that penny is all I've seen).

I planned out my next attack for the $20 challenge. I like the book/dvd thing and most of the libraries in my county have used book sales. I went online and got the schedule for each one, and I'm planning on hitting them over the next few months. I'll write down the ISBNs, use the library computer to check right away what will/won't be accepted, then buy the ones I can resell. In most cases, hardcovers are $.50-$1, paperbacks are $.25-$.50 and DVDs are $1 or less. I'm hoping that I'll strike some gold (or silver at least). I'm not at all a garage sale person, but I bet the same approach would apply there, especially for DVDs.

Big day tomorrow, with lots to do. Here's the list in advance, so I can get cracking on it first thing:
( )Drop off gift cards
( )Go to bank
( )Close Citibank Checking account
( )Submit and mail credit card rewards form (there's about $450 there. What am I waiting for?!)
( )Finalize menu for Saturday and grocery shop
( )Laundry (DD needs uniform for Saturday, so this is a must!)

I'm inspired by everyone cranking through their "to-do" lists, so I'm going to try posting my top 5 to-dos on my blog to keep me accountable. So here they are:

1) Complete the paperwork to be reimbursed for my kids' dentist visits.

2) Deposit check at the bank and set up transfer to money market emergency fund.

3) Go to post office and mail paperback swap book.

4) Pickup grocery gift cards for school fundraiser.

5) Register for 2010 health benefits at work (it's open enrollment time!).

Let's see how I do...

OK, on to my class trip rant. I'm all for kids going on field trips to enrich whatever learning goes on in school. But it's costing me a fortune! Last week, 2 permission slips came home in the backpack for DD. The first is for them to see a Broadway show ($102), the other was for a teambuilding field trip ($34). She had one earlier in the year for Ellis Island ($32). DS already had a field trip for ($28). This was all unbudgeted (though you'd think after 6 years in the school, I'd realize that I get hit for stuff like this every year and plan for it. Lesson learned for next year!). Anyway, is it all really necessary, or can they sit in school and do reading, writing, and arithmetic?

$20 challenge update: I received notification from second spin .com that they accepted my order and deposited $11 in my paypal account. Not bad for getting rid of 4 dvds that we never would have watched again. The turnaround time was pretty quick - less than 2 weeks from order to payment. I'd definitely recommend them. They also take cds and video games. So that brings my $20 challenge up to a whopping $24.25! Woohoo!

I signed up for an account on cash4books and sold 6 books for a total of $12.99, plus a 3% Paypal Bonus = $13.38. I'll box them up and get them to the post office tomorrow, and add that to my $20 challenge when I get the money.

I also signed up for an account on second spin and sold 4 DVDs for a total of $11. The bummer is that I need to pay for shipping, which will eat into the profit a bit, but still better than nothing. The difference will go to the $20 challenge also.

Four people requested books that I posted on Paperback Swap. No money for these, but I'll get them out of my house, and I'll get credits for books that I want to buy in the future. Those will go out tomorrow as well.

And finally, I have a rebate check for $13.75 from the Caregivers Marketplace that will count toward the $20 Challenge. For anyone who doesn't know about Caregivers Marketplace, you should check it out. They give you rebates on all sorts of items that caregivers (both of babies and elderly) would need. For example, Diapers, Depends, Polident, Ensure, etc. You submit your receipts and they give you $ back for each (usually $.75-$1). They're prompt with the payments. This will be the third rebate I've filed with them.

I'm not planning to include coupon/rebate savings in my challenge unless it's something I would have bought anyway, or if I made a profit (e.g., free after rebate and a coupon). In this case, I bought stuff for my dad during my monthly shopping trip for him that he reimbursed me for. The rebate is gravy, so I'll count it.

I'll update my sidebar to keep track of my Challenge on the progress. The books could work. I had some success with that a few years ago. We'll see.

Tomorrow should be quiet. It's supposed to rain all day (no soccer practice? Fingers crossed). I have to return some clothes to Target. And of course, get to the post office!

I logged most of my books into Cash4books.net. I can sell 5 for about $10 (but one of them I want to read again before I sell, so I'm going to make good use of my long commute tomorrow, then process them tomorrow night).

I cross checked the books on ebookdrop.com, but they weren't buying any of them. At the same time, I logged any books I didn't sell onto paperbackswap.com. You don't get paid for these books (members swap them for free), but for every book of mine someone wants, I get a credit to get a book for free. Comes in handy to buy Christmas gifts, kids' summer reading lists, etc.).

Then, someone in the forums mentioned secondspin.com as an option for selling used dvds. I logged a bunch of our dvds in. Many were only getting $.25 or $.50, so I'll hold onto them, but quite a few were getting $2 and one got $5. Initially, I think I'll part with 4 (for $11) and see how smoothly it goes.

So I'm going to process these orders tomorrow night and assuming I get the checks, that will be an extra $20 or so toward my challenge. Hmmm, a 100% return in 1 day. Wish I could keep that up!

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly for the day, ugly first:

I made the second payment on the cc that was due 10/5, so it's now paid off in full. I'll have to wait until my next statement comes out on the 13th to see what the late fee / interest damage is. At least I have a week to work on my story for the customer rep...

The bad:
Bought pizza at work yesterday, $5 on my id. This is the first slip up since I started.

Bought a bagel and coffee this morning, $1.94. Paid cash out of my allowance.

Went to Target to get fall/winter clothes for DS. I knew it was coming (he's growing like a week) and it was budgeted. Used my debit card. The key: I was all by myself. In and out in 1/2 hour, spending less then I would have if my "helpers" were with me.

The good:

Paid off the credit card.

Balanced my check book and projected out through the end of the month.

Starting the $20 challenge (see below).

Printed out a bunch of rebate forms, matched them up with coupons I have. Showtime has a $25 Visa gift card rebate for signing up for 3 months. We just signed up a few weeks ago so we could catch Dexter (one of our favorite shows) with the intent of dropping it after the season is over. If the rebate goes through, that will just about pay for the 3 months.

I have some money from my birthday, so I'm going to take $20 and start the challenge. I'm going to start slow, post some books on half.com, check cash4books, bottle deposits, some coupon and rebate savings. I'll get more creative after that...

WooHoo! I put up my first 3 auctions ever on Ebay. 1 didn't sell, 1 sold for $1.25+ shipping, and 1 sold for a whopping $23.57+shipping. When I tell you that this last thing was a gift that I received that I never had any use for, and it's been sitting in my closet for literally the last 10 years, that $23.57 feels like $100 to me! This will be the first deposit into my $20 challenge (minus the ebay and paypal fees, of course).

Meeting with the school today to see how they'll handle son's speech therapy needs. I'll post an update later.

I'm going to try another order with Peapod tonight. Also have to stop by CVS to get some of their freebie deals...

I went shopping while the kids were in school today. First stop: Walgreens, to take advantage of their monthly rebates.

Bought 3 packages of Kotex @$3.49 each = $10.47, minus $3 in coupons = $7.47. Will get back $10 Walgreens gift card, leaving me with 3 free packages +$2.53. I have a bit of a stockpile from the last time they ran this deal, but they don't go bad, so may as well stock up. Also bought a Zone nutrition bar ($1.50, far), and children's Tylenol and Motrin. (Buy 1 of each get a $5 gift card. Used a $1 coupon, too).

I then went to Shoprite. Didn't do quite as well here, as I needed to buy hubby's (expensive) razor blades, and they had beef tenderloin roasts on sale, for $4.99/lb and $5.99/lb. So I bought one of each. I'll freeze one for Christmas dinner, the other I'll make into filet mignon steaks, and beef bourgignon.

I received a $5 Walgreens gift card from last month's rebates, so I'll need to add that to my challenge, bringing my total to $90.36. Missed out on a $25 offer from Citibank to pay 3 bills online. Disappointed in myself, but the offer expired on 8/31, and things have been crazy the last few weeks so I'm not going to lose sleep over it. THere'll be other offers. I also have an offer for credit protection on my credit card. These strike me as an amazing waste of money, but if they're going to pay me $20 to try it out for 30 days, I may as well. Just need to write myself a note to cancel...

I decided to quit the 2006 $20 challenge at the end of July, when I used the money I was saving for vacation. I think I was a bit burnt out, between the whole e bookdrop experience earlier in the year, and all of the bank account openings.

That said, every time I get an unexpected source of income, I immediately think "Challenge Money"! I miss it, especially as I read everyone else's entries about how they're doing. So I decided to dip my toe back in the challenge pool!

My challenge savings account (the first one I ever opened with a bonus!) currently has $61.65 in it. I don't have a goal for the money - I'm just going to accumulate it until something strikes me.

Today in the mail, I received a $13.71 Eckerd rebate and a $10 Walgreens gift card so I'll transfer that today, bringing the account to $85.36.

On the Outstanding Items list, I have a few things to add:

$10 Chase bonus for online bill pay
$10 Pepsi rebate
$24 Bali (Buy2Get1 Free, *2)
$10 Everyday Values grocery voucher
$10 Everyday Values grocery voucher #2

I think there are others; I'll check my notes and add to it later. I'm excited to be back in the game...

OK, I'm back from the Jersey shore. Weather was great, kids had a ton of fun. Now it's time to get serious. First piece of good news: I got the $200 pool rebate. Quickest turnaround I've ever seen! This will need to go into the checking account to offset the cost of the thing. I also received the $3.xx Lysol rebate and a $16.47 half.com payment, both of which I'm putting into my savings account. (I'm officially done with the $20 challenge through the end of the year, but I'm still going to save stuff like this separately).

I'm also starting to get organized (tall order). I renewed the registration for my car, due by the end of the month. (Learned THAT lesson!) $76.50 to the state of NJ...don't know why it's so much, but they have you over a barrel. I also have two $10 rebates from all those free trials from a few months back. Not sure if they'll pay out, but it's definitely worth the $.37 stamp. Finally, need to mail in the $10 Kelloggs Eggo rebate.

Speaking of Kelloggs, I'm not sure if I blogged about two great deals from my last shopping trip. I bought 10 boxes of Eggo Waffles for $20. I got a $10 coupon for my next order at checkout, and will get a $10 check through the mail in rebate making them effectively free. I also bought 4 boxes of Barber Chicken (2-ct). They were $2/box, and I had $5 in coupons, making them $.75/box, or $.38/chicken. Can't beat that for dinner! I like them because they're fast and easy when I forget to defrost something else...

I need to look over this week's circular and do my shopping tomorrow. I also need to order some discount gift cards for back-to-school shopping. (I've been putting this off because it requires me to go through my daughter's closet, which is a huge chore!). That's about it for today!

First, a few musings about our vacation in the Outerbanks: 1) I've never seen thunderstorms like I did there. Every late afternoon, the skies would open up and absolutely POUR! Torrential! Luckily it didn't affect the day too much, as we were good about getting out to the beach mid-morning, pool in the afternoon, so the kids were ready for a break when the storms came. 2) What should have been an 8.5-9 hour trip took 12.5 hours on the way home. Every road we took had traffic or an accident, and we ran into major thunderstorms between Washington and Baltimore, then again in NJ. Got home at 10:15 on Sunday and we were all exhausted. But we did have a great time!

I updated my net worth when I got back and was up just under 2% for the month. I need to finalize the June numbers and see what July looks like.

A few good pieces of news when I got back: First, the $14000 transfer from the HELOC to the 0% card went through, leaving me with a HELOC balance of about $1700. I'll try to pay that off as quickly as possible, then tackle the 2 0% cards. Second, Citibank deposited the $200 bonus I was supposed to get for opening that account. I also got a few rebates in the mail that I was waiting for.

As for the challenge, I'm thinking about wrapping it up for the year, too. The Citi bonus was the last big thing outstanding, and I was planning on using the money for my trip to California at the end of this month, so I'll be draining all the money from the account.

Of course, I'll still take advantage of rebates, book sales, etc., but that money will be going toward the HELOC, instead of into a separate account. I need to take a break from the bank offers and free trials, which were a big part of the money I've made so far this year. I loved the challenge, though, and will be back in 2007!

My next step is to recap the first half of the year and see what's good, what's bad and what's ugly.

Recapping the last few days: Saturday, we did indeed go to the town fair. What a fun day! The fireworks were GREAT and the kids loved the games and rides. The weather, which has been close to 90 for days, was great. Glad to see my property tax dollars hard at work . We spent $31 for dinner, which bought burgers, dogs, and soda for 5 kids and 3 adults. Not too bad, and the proceeds support the firehouse. Sister bought Italian Ices afterwards. Well worth it.

Father's Day was quiet. I was able to use gift cards I had on hand to buy his gifts, so that worked out well. He slept late, I made breakfast, then we went to MIL's for a BBQ. Another fun day, but felt like 100 degrees! Man it was hot!

DD finishes school tomorrow. She had 1/2 days today and tomorrow, so I'm working from home. My great buy of the day: I got a 30-pack of Klondike bars for $2.99. Normally $9.99, BJs had a $1.00 off coupon, and I had a free coupon up to $6. We don't normally buy them, but I like to have them around for those times that I run out of ice cream. (Another deal - I went there to get a case of Ensure Plus for Dad. Normally $36/case in ShopRite, $32.99 in BJs. Again, they had a $4 coupon, and I had a $1 mfr coupon, so I got the case for $27.99 or $7/6-pack.)

On to the challenge front, I still need to call Citibank about the $100 bonus, but did get an email that they'll give me $25 if I pay 5 bills by the end of the month. Seems easy enough. I also received in the mail a $15 check from my Citi credit card if I enrolled in credit protector. I've thrown so many of these out over the years, but I deposited this one. I have a 30-day free trial (and already made a note in my calendar to cancel), and they don't charge you the (really high) fee if you don't carry a balance (which I don't). So it seemed like a good risk...Also found 2 quarters in the grass, but I gave one each to my kids for their piggy banks. A pretty good day...

Hubby is away through Wednesday, and we're driving to NC on Sunday morning, so my goal is to use up the perishables we have on hand so nothing spoils. I also need to start thinking about what I'm going to pack so I can make sure I have the right laundry done...

I never recapped my challenge at the end of April or May, so I took a look at it now. I added $70 from 7 days worth of commuting savings, and some misc. savings (half.com deposit, coupon savings, etc.), bringing my new total to:

New Total: $1079.75/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $5 (PNC gas voucher), $5 (PNC Gas Voucher 2), $10 Shoppers Essential Voucher, $20 Passport to Fun Voucher, $30 Sprint phone card.

Coupon Train Total: $37.29

My breakdown goes like this:

1) Bank bonuses ($900) - $225 in hand, another $200 on the way, and an offer for a $75 bonus that I'll take advantage of if I can get my act together before the offer expires. So I'm on track with this, though I may lower the goal because I'm drained from doing so many of these.

2) Books ($360) - $158.07 and counting. Doing ok without ebookdrop, though I'm considering placing a small order with them using books around the house to see if they've got their act back together. I'd feel much better if Diva Jen could get her situation with them resolved...

3) Rebates ($120) - Already have $123.50 in hand, with more outstanding. It's amazing how many are out there...

4) Recycle ($100) - $1.95 'Nuff said.

5) Other - $346.93, thanks primarily to the trial memberships

6) Everyday savings - $224.30, thanks primarily to my new commute and coupon savings.

So I'm over halfway to my goal. The three big things have been the trial memberships ($250 worth of gift cards for $12), the rebates (they're everywhere!), and the $10/day from my commute, which is really adding up. Always on the hunt for new and interesting ways to build it, though...

Crazy as usual...Anyway, here's what's been happening:

May ended on a good note, thanks to my brother paying me back. I'll total up the categories this weekend and post my progress. Looking forward, June is going to be an expensive month. We owe the other half of our beach house rental for vacation, the towing charge for the car, gardening-related expenses, etc.

The savings from my commute has been useful. $10/day has been going to my challenge, and $10/day has been going to the HELOC. So I was able to pay down $90 on that. (A drop in the bucket, but a start).

On the challenge front, I'm adding the following: $50 (commute), $8 (FritoLay), $4 (April Walgreens), and $.25 (April Eckerd), for a total of $62.25. I also mailed out 3 half.com books for $4.53, so the net add is $57.72, bringing my new total to $953.09. Almost halfway there.

New Total: $953.09/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), $10 gas voucher (Jan-Mar), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $5 (PNC gas voucher), $10 EV gas voucher, $30 Sprint phone card, ??(half.com)

I made it through the last week without grocery shopping. I mailed out the caboose ($2.79), bringing my coupon train savings to $35.29. Pretty good...

Oh, another cost of my disorganization: I was late making my car payment this month, and was charged a $9.50 fee. I pay online on the 15th of the month with my other bills, and for some reason, I overlooked this one. I had it set up on auto-pay a while back and ran into a problem with it, but I may try it again to prevent another oversight like this. So between the car getting towed and the late payment, my disorganization cost me $129.50 this month! YIKES!

I'm reaping more rewards from my new commute. Tonight I checked out the parking situation at the station which would give me the absolute best deal. I drove into the brand new parking lot, plenty of spaces, clean and well lit. When I went to the ticket machine to see how one goes about paying for the parking, I saw several big signs that parking is FREE until September 1st! It doesn't get any better than this! I will be heading there tomorrow morning, and $10 more to my challenge account for today.

Sold 2 books at half.com for a total of $4.50. It usually costs me less to ship than they reimburse me; I'll update the total when I actually ship them out.

Also on the challenge front, Chase emailed me to say that they're so glad I opened an account with them a few months ago, wouldn't I like to consider opening a second checking account with them, for a bonus of $75? Well sure, I'd love to! I have until mid-June to get it done, so I'll tackle it sometime over the next few weeks.

Still need to take care of some financial housekeeping. My problem is that by the time I think of it, it's usually too late in the day.

New Total: $895.37/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), $10 gas voucher (Jan-Mar), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $8 Tostitos rebate, 4.00 (Apr Walgreens), $.25 (Apr Eckerd), $5 (PNC gas voucher), $10 EV gas voucher, $30 Sprint phone card, ??(half.com)

Coupon Train Savings Total: $10.08

I opened a bank account last month to get the $50 bonus. I received my first statement today and it had a $12 maintenance fee listed! I called up and explained that the account I signed up for was free everything, no fees. The rep agreed and said she would put through a credit right away. But I hung up wondering if they make this "mistake" on purpose, knowing that some (many?) people really don't pay close attention to the fees and don't challenge them. $12/month is highway robbery!

I had a great weekend shopping! I'm adding $10.63 to my challenge for coupon-train coupons and rebates that I used, and another $10 to my challenge for using my new commute today. I'm also gearing up for my big grocery trip later this week.

I took care of some paperwork today, completing my Eckerd and Walgreens rebates, completing a gas voucher and a voucher for a $30 Sprint phone card from Everyday Values. I need to cancel that membership tonight or tomorrow.

So an all-around pretty good day today.

New Total: $885.37/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), $10 gas voucher (Jan-Mar), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $8 Tostitos rebate, 4.00 (Apr Walgreens), $.25 (Apr Eckerd), $5 (PNC gas voucher)

Coupon Train Savings Total: $10.08

I sent in a rebate for Listerine. The bottle had a rebate tag around its neck. I glanced quickly at it, and didn't see that the expiration date was 6/30/05 (I thought it was 6/30/06!). So I sent it in and it was returned to me. Ugh. I'm going to check the rebate forum to see if there's a different Listerine rebate I can use the receipt for, otherwise I'm out a few bucks...

Day 2 of the commute went well. I transferred another $10 to my challenge account, and $20 to the HELOC. Wahoo!

New Total: $864.74/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), $10 gas voucher (Jan-Mar), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $8 Tostitos rebate, 4.00 (Apr Walgreens), $.25 (Apr Eckerd), $5 (PNC gas voucher)

Hot dog! The new commute worked out very nicely. I made the connections with no problem, and it only took a few more minutes than normal.

Best news is that I found a new twist on the commute that may make it even better! If I go to a different stop on the line, I can park for $2.50 instead of $7, which would save $4.50/day=$22.50/week=$90/month MORE than what I'm already saving by doing today's commute!

I also convinced hubby that $10/day of my savings can go to the challenge account to help pay for our trip, and the rest of each day's savings will go toward the HELOC balance.

Also a good mail day. I received another $10 gas voucher from one of those trial memberships. Glad to see they're paying out, despite the fact that I cancelled. So that's $20 more for my challenge today!

New Total: $854.74/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), $10 gas voucher (Jan-Mar), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $8 Tostitos rebate, 4.00 (Apr Walgreens), $.25 (Apr Eckerd), $5 (PNC gas voucher).

Tomorrow should be busy and quiet at work. Nothing on for tomorrow night, a bunch of local errands (and a badly needed cut and color) on Saturday, and down to my dad's to do shopping on Sunday.

I came up with 5 different ways to commute to my job, all of which are less expensive than my current route. I think one of them will work out everyday, so I'm going to try it out tomorrow. (The rest depend on where my kids are and when they need to be picked up). The new daily commute adds up like this:

Gas: ~$10.50 (vs. $12)
Tolls: $1.40 (vs. $2.05)
Parking: $7 (vs. $20)
Mass Transit: $6 (vs. $3)

Total: ~25/day vs. $37.05. Doesn't Jean Chatzky have a book about saving $10/day? Here it is! And if I can take advantage of some of the other options sometimes, they're even cheaper (and of course, working from home or vacation is the best!).

So I'll try it out tomorrow and see how it goes. Because the kids' schedules and mine change, I'll need to plan out each week or month to see what the best combination is for me. I really hope the timing of this new way works!

On to my coupon train savings: I went to the store today and saved $3.50 using coupons from the train. I paid 4.05 to send the train on, so I'm down -$.55. Not to worry, I'm saving my coupons for a week or two from now when I get to use my 20-30% off certificate.

On to the regular challenge: I called Citi and confirmed that I would be getting the first $100 by June 15th, and the second $100 90 days thereafter. A long wait for sure, but for $200, I'll suffer. I received the $5 Green Giant rebate and another $10 gas voucher, so I'll add the $15 to the challenge, bringing me up to:

New Total: $849.74/$2000

Outstanding items: $100 (Citi bonus 1), $100 (Citi bonus 2), $2 (Chandon rebate), IDT Phone card(s)(?), $8 Tostitos rebate, 4.00 (Apr Walgreens), $.25 (Apr Eckerd), $5 (PNC gas voucher), $10 (EV gas voucher).

I mentioned a while back that we were moving our trip up to the end of July. I checked about using Frequent Flyer miles but none are available on the flights we checked. Regular r/t flights are running in the neighborhood of $450. We were only planning on paying for one (and were hoping it would be cheaper), so I'm going to need to absorb this too. Perhaps my $10/day savings with my commute can fund it...

So this woman contacted me and was interested in buying some books I had listed at half.com. Then she tells me that she's actually interested in ALL of the books in the series that I had (29 in all). She asked me to calculate the total bill + shipping and I got back to her with an email Saturday afternoon. Then, NOTHING. So I send her another email on Sunday to make sure she got my email and wanted to go forward. She finally sends me an email at 9:00 Sunday night to say sorry, she actually found some books at a discount store that she bought instead, but she'd keep me in mind for future purchases (don't bother!).

HELLO? She contacts me, she knows how much the books are because they're listed at half.com, I get back to her in record time, then she bags it, after we agreed in principle and were just working out the details. Is it me or is that totally rude? Not to mention deflating because I was really looking forward to the contribution to my challenge account.

So I realize that I could never do the ebay thing full-time. It's just too frustrating when you run into people like this. Sorry for the rant, had to get it off my chest.

Other than that, had a great Mother's Day with the kids...got some nice flowers and a gift certificate for a massage. Hope all the moms (current, future, grandmas, etc.) had a great day!

So I mentioned last night that I received an email from someone looking to purchase Magic School Bus books as a gift. I wrote her back figuring that she'd buy a few and I'd make a couple of bucks. Well, she wants to buy ALL 29 OF THEM!!! At $2 each, I'll be adding $58 to my challenge! (I'm charging her actual shipping costs, so that will be a wash). Even nicer...we've agreed to have her make payment thru Paypal directly, and I'll ship them out Monday, bypassing Half.com and their fees! That's a TREMENDOUS boost to my challenge and it has completely made my day!

Spent the morning sipping coffee, checking out the Sunday coupon inserts and making my grocery list for the week. Cleaned out all of my desk drawers over the last two days, so while that's like a drop in the ocean in terms of the disorganization in my house, it's a start and I'm pretty happy with it.

Off to enjoy the rest of my day...

Wow, that last entry was a downer...I'm now officially over myself!

It's going to be a dreary rainy weekend, which is ok by me. We've got a birthday party and communion party tomorrow (still need to get the communion gift). Sunday we're going to MIL's for the afternoon. We usually pick up hanging baskets for her, and flowers for hubby's aunts. I'll be hoping (lucky) to keep it under $50.

I'm excited about an email I received today. I have a number of Magic School Bus books listed on half.com. Someone emailed to check the shape of the books, because they wanted them for gifts. I wrote back that they were practically new, and to let me know which ones she wanted. I'm hoping that she'll buy a few of them, which will add $2 each to my challenge.

My goal this weekend (in addition to relaxing) is to start the review of my budget. I took out a new finance book from the library...mostly the same stuff, but I'll use it as reference as I go through my list.

On Saturday I received the second round of the coupon train. I decided to keep track of what I'm saving versus shipping costs. I marked all of the coupons I took out with a red dot, so I would recognize them in the envelope with the rest of my coupons. Periodically I'll add the amount I've saved to my challenge total.

I mailed out the package today, so my total is -$4.05. Can't wait till next week's shopping trip!