Another Great Month

I can hardly believe how well I've done for the past two months. July's total out-of-pocket grocery spending is only $49.09. For the year, I've spent $728.53 and coupon use is an amazing $2197.79. That means I can average $94 per month for the balance of the year and still come in under budget. I bought during July, as I recall, 30 lbs. of cat food. It's about time for more and I don't have any really good Qs for it, so, August will be a higher overall total, I'm afraid.

I scored another $25 CVS GC this week with the purchase of a prescription. I've also scored several restaurant GC from various internet survey sites. Even though I don't include my restaurant meals in my grocery budget, I still want to keep that as low as possible.

My dad's really getting into this flea market thing. He takes me every Saturday; he sells tomatoes, I sell my stockpile items. He's made this our "father-daughter bonding" activity. I'm glad he enjoys it so much, but, getting up at 3:30 every Saturday morning is a bummer!

I Think I've Got This Thing Figured Out

I've spent $49 for groceries this month and that includes buying a lot of cat food twice. I'm really proud of myself for keeping spending so low. I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this!

Oh, goood news. Got my refrigerator repaired; $30. Talk about a bargain! My handy-man guy does not charge what he is really worth. He's a diamond in the rough.

My dad is doing pretty well. He has 7 more radiation treatments, then, the doctors will pow-wow and decide what to do next, if anything. He's weak, but, keeps putting one foot in front of the other. He just won't give up.

I don't anticipate spending any more for groceries this month. I think the $49 is going to be the total for July. Yea, me!

Wow! I'm Cookin' This Month!

It's the 26th of the month and I have only spent $42.71. That was mostly cat food on two occasions. My secret? I've been ignoring the Walgreens and CVS deals. You wouldn't believe how much they suck out of me when I think I'm getting a "deal."

I received another $25 GC at CVS for a prescription filled. I think I have about $90 in GC right now for CVS.

I've been selling some of my stockpile at the flea market for the past 3 weeks. I've made about $265 on things that I only spent a few cents for. American Express will see an extra payment this month! Really, I needed to do something. One hundred bottles of body wash is just excessive, even for an avid couponer. I have found that Tabasco sauce and meat marinades go pretty fast. The slowest mover? Toothpaste. I don't get that.

Oh, this is funny. A woman who had been to my area of the flea market and bought some things came back and asked for toothpaste and a toothbrush. I had just sold all my brushes. She said her husband was trying to clean some old belt buckles. So, I sold her a tube of paste and a Scotch-Brite cleaning pad, the same thing as a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It's just funny what sells and what doesn't.

My dad takes his tomatoes to the flea market. Last week, he sold $95 worth in about 4 hours. Now, that is amazing! People (a lot of repeat customers) were actually lined up to get tomatoes from his table. One woman asked for his address and phone number so she could come midweek and buy tomatoes from him at his house!

Only five days left in the month. I may spend another $10 or so at the grocery. That's going to really turbo-charge my savings. It looks like I'm going to make goal this year even after a rocky start.

I'm Right On Schedule

I've purchased cat food twice this month, among other things. I'm still a bit under $40 and the month is 2/3 over. I feel really good about my progress.

I was dismayed earlier in the month to find that Purina Cat Chow had been downsized from 16 lb. to 14 lb. The price seems to have gone up, too. I was in Target this morning and found the "old" cat chow in 16 lb. bags. The price was much better than I had been paying lately, too.

I think I've been able to keep costs lower than normal for the past 2 months because I am ignoring the Walgreens and CVS deals. I'm going to have to go to CVS in a day or two to use some expiring ECBs. Oddly enough, I can't think of anything to buy! They have some "back-to-school" items that are FAR, but, I don't have any children in the household and I've got boxes of pens and pencils! Listen to me; I'm complaining that I've got too much of things! That's upside down.

A Little Luck At The Flea Market

I went with my dad to the flea market this weekend. He sells tomatoes from his garden. I was trying to unload my excess stockpile. I made $144. It was mostly things that I only paid .25 or less for. We are planning to go again next weekend. It's a good thing I made so much money; my new hard drive cost $182! I'm back in business, though, and the computer is working great. I'm just disappointed that I lost all of my documents. It's nothing I can't live without, but, it leaves me "adrift," if you know what I mean. I keep track of all expenses and income. That's all gone.

I'm going to have to break down and go to the grocery tomorrow. I'm out of coffee cream, nothing to make a sandwich with, a few other things. I'm only at about $12 this month, so, it's looking good. Keep me on track, people! I want to make goal this year.

Computer Crash! AAAGGGGHHH!!!

Thankfully, I posted my year-to-date totals on June 30. The next day, my laptop hard drive crashed and I lost all data. I am trying to re-create some of my spreadsheet, but, all I have to go on is that I had spent a net out-of-pocket of $679.44 through June 30 and my coupon, store cards, and store-specific GC total was $2135.65. I'll pick up from there. I don't know how much I had received in rebates, but, I had adjusted my net oop to reflect those numbers.

When I picked up my laptop, I asked the tech about how long to expect a laptop hard drive to last. He said about 3 years. I came home and happened to run across the date that I purchased this computer. The hard drive lasted 3 years and 29 days. I guess he's right!

Most of you who are reading this are members of HCW. I had a spreadsheet for all my trades with everyone's name and address and what was traded. That's all gone. I've got to start all over with that.

You know, I have become much more dependent on computers than I ever realized. Losing all this data has really left me in the dark in many areas. I kept track of how much I spent on gas and figured the mileage for each tank of gas. I guess that's not such a big loss, but, it just gives you an idea of what kinds of things we depend on and how it can all go away in one puff of wind.

Well, onward we go. I have only bought cat food this month, so, I'm at about $10 so far. I have a stack of receipts from the time my computer died. I may find one or two more receipts that I've forgotten, but, it won't be much.

I never thought I would need to back up my information. Hah! What a lesson I learned!

Update

I just returned home from vacation yesterday after spending 10 days in New England. I think I may have told you that I was attending a sweepstakes convention. Well, I won some stuff; a Garmin GPS, an HP photo printer, 120 stamps, and address book. They also gave away to everyoe a $30 board game similar to Monopoly, but, with a New England slant to it, water bottle, COUPONS for free popcorn (you just never know where those Qs will turn up!), a very nice tote bag, some free razors and men's body wash. The convention was a blast. Met a lot of very nice people. Met a man who, with his wife, have won 12 cars over the years. One couple had won more than 60 trips. Man, I'm really bush league compared to those folks!

I haven't spent any money on groceries so far this month. I will have to pick up a few things today or tomorrow. Before I left for vacation, I had to throw out some bread and dairy products. Well, I didn't exactly "throw away" the dairy. The cats got a big bowl of milk! I didn't want to come home to a stinky refrigerator.

I used free GC for 5 of my meals while I was on vacation. Also, because of my status with Hilton, my $10.85 breakfast was comp'd every day for 7 days while at the convention. We had several meals included with our convention fee. I really spent very little money for this trip except my rental car.

I met an "internet friend" while in Boston. I met her on a travel-related forum. She took me on a walking tour of Boston. She took me to Quincy Market where there were so many food vendors that you can't decide where to eat. I had some authentic clam chowder. Delicious! She invited me to her home for dinner. She and her family couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. This was really a big step to actually set up a "meet" with someone you only know in cyberspace.

Anyway, back to reality and the normal day-to-day routine. I'm going to really buckle down and try harder to make goal this month. Cat food is necessary, but, not much else.