March Drug Store Game Part 3

I decided to go to CVS again because of the great deals they had on face products, hand soap, and I had a coupon I really wanted to use that expires the 31st. Here is how my trip went:

1 Ponds Wipes 30 ct: 3.99 - .50 mc
1 Ponds Cold Cream: 6.99 - 1.25 mc receive 5ecb w/ spend $10
1 Softsoap refill: 3.99 - 1 mc
1 Softsoap pump: 7.99 - 2 mc receive 4 ecb w/ purchase of 2
Kot liners 16 ct: 1.49 - 1.00 mc
Gummy bears: .88

Pretax total before coupons/ ecbs: 25.33
- 5 off $25 crt
- 6.75 mc
- 5 ecb
= 8.58 before tax
+ 1.38 tax

total oop: 9.96

earned: 9ecb
5 off $25 crt





Total CVS Spending for March: 42.06

Debt Tickers Update!

My citi bank loan payment posted and I now only owe $27,700.41 with all my loans combined! I feel like I am making headway again and it feels great!

Free Paper Towels at CVS!!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get some free paper towels at CVS. They sent me an email for either a reusable bag or recycled paper towel roll. I just so happened to be out of paper towels so this worked out well.

Household Changes = Spending

My roommate moved out yesterday and because originally we figured she would move out the 31st, my boyfriend is not moving in until next weekend. As excited as I am, I keep reminding myself that this is good because it gives me time to clean everything and figure out what we need to get. Namely, we need a full size bed. This of course means money which I don't have yet since I just wrote checks to a. my roommate and b. citi student loans (which has not posted yet). I only have enough left rent left for my half which is okay b/c my boyfriend gets paid the last day of the month and rent is due the first. This still makes me nervous even though I know my landlord usually does not deposit our checks until a couple of days later. Also, as far as the bed, I am sure my boyfriend can help too, yet I still am feeling stressed. He also eats more than I do, so I am going to have to adjust our food budget. Nevertheless, I cannot wait until he moves in!

BBC Top 100 List

Not really PF related, but since one of my goals is to read as many books from the library as possible, I thought I would post this. Despite my AP English days in High School, I have only read 10. Hopefully this will give me a boost to read more classics.


1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Why does it seem I am falling behind?

So, it is starting to seem like I am falling behind as far as my debt repayment. That's not really the case, but I feel that way since I have to pay for my boyfriend's security deposit and then he will pay me back his next payday at the end of the month. My roommate is moving out this weekend so I have to write her a check for a month and a half's rent (693.75), plus have enough left over to pay my portion of April's rent (462.50). It's not so bad because I get to deduct what she still owes me for utilities(241.77), but it means postponing my student loan payments. I guess I really shouldn't complain because it is only 451.98. I just don't like it that my debt is not decreasing right now.

Drug Store Game Part 2

Just wanted to do an update of how my drug store gaming is going this month. Here are my most recent trips:

CVS Trip 1:

Dove Soap 6 pack: $7.00 - $1.00 MC
Dove Shampoo: 4.00 - $1 MC
Dove Conditioner: 4.00 - $1.50 MC
Irish Spring Body Wash $4.99

(total MC coupons: - $3.50)
- $4 off $20 - email
- 10 ECB

total oop = $3.10

(Note: for some reason the ECBs did not print out and the manager had to do so manually, but was very nice about it.)

Walgreens Trip 1:
Bic Soleil 4 ct razor refill clearance 4.19 - 2.00 easy saver
Bic Soleil 4 ct razor refill clearance 4.19 - 2.00 easy saver
- $2.OO RR

Total oop = $3.24

CVS Trip 2:

Xtra Laundry Detergent: 1.99
Milk: 2.59
Bread: 1.29
- 5 ECB

Total oop = $.91

Total Spending for March: $32.10

Reflection: I realize that I may not be rolling over my ECBs and RRs as hardcore drug store gamers do, but I am trying to buy things I need and will actually use.

Current ECBs: $5 (+ received a CRT for $5 off a $25)
RR: $0

Emergency Fund Decision

I have read many articles on whether or not to have an emergency fund and I finally decided to start one. It is basically just my savings only I now have a goal. While paying off my student loan debt is still my priority, I think I will feel safer knowing I have some extra money staved away in case I get any unexpected expenses. My plan is to have $25 direct deposited from my checking to my savings every month plus whatever extra money I have at the end of the month once I have paid my debt. Of course, this may change once my boyfriend and I move in together (only 2 more weeks!)

Drug Store Game

So, I haven't really gotten into the whole drug store game in the past and still have mixed feelings about it, but this month I think I fell into its trap. I can see how some people get totally addicted to it and it does save money. I am just worried that I will become a hoarder if I do it every month. However, with my boyfriend moving in April 1st, I now have two people to buy for.

Here is what I have gotten so far for the month of March(Abbreviations are what I have found to be common knowledge among other drug store gamers):

CVS:
Trip 1: $.13 (tax only) Always Infinity - free coupon, earned 2 ECB

Trip 2: 3 f $10 Fructis Shampoo, conditioner, curl gel, - $1, -$1, earned 5 ECB
Crest Pro-health, 2.99, earned 2 ECB
Sure deodorants, 2.99x2, -$.75, -$1, earned 2 ECB
Always Infinity, 5.99, -$1, earned 2 ECB
- $5 off a $25 crt, - $4.74 mc, used 2ECB, total spent oop: $14.57

Trip 3: 3 f $10 GM cereal, - $1, earned 5 ECB
2 f $10 Garnier hair dye, - $2, earned 5 ECB
Kot. liners, 3.99 - $1.50 crt, earned 2 ECB
Palm. dish soap, 1.49, earned 1 ECB
- $5 OFF A $25 crt, - $3 mc, - $1.50 crt, used 11ECB, spent oop: $5.29

Trip 4: milk, $2.49, bread $1.29, used 3 ECB, spent oop: $.90
(These were essentials.)

Walgreens:

Trip 1: Colgate max, $3.49, earned $3.50 RR, spent oop $3.49+tax

Trip 2: Right guard deodorant, 2.99, earned $2 RR
Ajax .79 (w/ circular coupon)
- $3.50 RR, spent $.67

Total spent so far: $24.85, ECB balance: 10, RR: 2

I know this could be better, but I am still learning.

Monthly Spending

Last month, I went through the trouble of keeping track of everything - budget, spending, debt repayment, etc. I started out doing the same this time, but the whole thing has started to stress me out to the point that I feel it is not worth it. While I am still setting a budget, I have decided that going forward I am just going to keep track of my spending based on my checkbook. I will know if I am on track based on how much I have left in my checking account and how much debt I have been able to pay for the month. I think that this will be the most effective way for me to stay on track while simplifying things at the same time. Also, I am proud to say that I am finally under the 30K line! I only owe about 28K now. Yea!

Sign of the Times

I have a strange work schedule with Tuesday and Wednesday off, so yesterday my boyfriend decided to take me to our favorite pizza restaurant. I realize this is not frugal, but every now and then I like to splurge since I enjoy the ambiance so much. (And, I wasn't paying for this time.) When we first arrived, we were the only customers there, which wouldn't have been so bad except it stayed like that the entire time! I realize that less and less people are going out to eat and it was a weekday, but I still felt like it was a sign of all this economic downturn.