Free Money for your School

Did you know that you can link your Stop & Shop card to your school? I was just surfing their site looking for deals when I stumbled upon the program.

To learn more about this program and to register your card to your local school, click here!

If your school is not registered, make sure to contact your principal to make sure the school gets registered fom the 2010-2011 school year.

Harder than I thought

Just for the record, saving money is a job. I feel like every time I save a few bucks, something comes along and my efforts get trampled over. For example, I just had to drop $400 into my car. It is at 100k (well, just about there) and of course there is a list of what needs to be done to a vehicle after the owner has used and abused it for that long. I only did half the list, partially because I had some of it done not too long ago when other issues came up with my vehicle. So, next oil change I will have to go back in for another $400 adventure. I hope that this is the end of the major maintenance upkeep for a bit. I intend on driving this car until I am forced to get a new vehicle - let's just hope my plan works!

I also installed a new bay window and new slider door about a week ago. The old ones were very inefficient, not to mention an eyesore. Oh, and the back door didn't lock very well. I had planned on doing this for a few years, so it is great that it is finally done. Cost a pretty penny, but with the amount of heat/cool air we were losing I am sure it will be worth it. Plus the resale value just increased a few bucks on the house for doing that.

I am just finding it harder and harder to save money. I have an auto save plan of $600 a month, but like I said... something happens and I have to end up removing that money from my online accounts to pay for some "emergency".

Hopefully things turn around soon!

ALLY bank

Have you see commercials for Ally bank? It is an online bank, like ING. I have seen more Ally commercials popping up recently. Perhaps it is because they are trying to attract people to put their tax returns into an account. Or maybe they just want to get the word out that they have great rates.

Speaking of great rates, I do currently use an ING account as my $10k challenge account. I have had it for years - I think I was still living in VA when I opened it. ING has great rates compared to my local credit union. No, I can't get my money on the spot with ING, but I have not had a need to do that in the past 6 years or so. I think I am good on that front. ING does offer a checking account where you can have an ATM card, etc., I just don't use their services for that.

This morning I decided to check out what this Ally bank was all about. I went to their website and they have better rates than ING. Hmmmm... I dug deeper. Ally not only has better savings and CD rates than ING and my local bank, but also better checking account rates. In fact the rate is about double that of my local credit union. Ally also has no minimum balance required on their accounts.

So what did I do? I opened an Ally savings account and an Ally checking account. I will not use the checking account for bill pay and such yet, but the option is there if I choose to do so. I also get an ATM Debit card for free and I can use it at ANY ATM and they refund all ATM usage charges.

I hate to say this, but I think this might be a better situation than my local credit union. I might actually try to use the Ally account to it's full potential for a bit to see how it goes.

Check out ING and Ally to see if they can help you save more money!

So far... so... ok

Here is the status: $900 in the account! Well, after tomorrow there will be.

I have been such a good girl. Really haven't been going out as much for food, watching what I spend. I have done a few things for myself though. I got my hair cut and colored. My grays were just out of control and my hair was scraggly. I also purchased an area rug for the living room as the carpet was scraggly.

I have come to the realization that $10k is probably a long shot. But, I am going to see how close I can get.

Half way through April!

It is just over half way through April, month 1. So far not so good. I have managed to put $600 into my savings account so far, but that is going to be mostly going towards my property taxes. I have done a much better job at not eating out and not buying stuff that I don't need.

I have not been successful in pinching pennies and making sure that I have my coupon binder with me at all times. I have been able to get my grandmother to save me the coupons that she doesn't want.

My downfall is cooking good food. I am really into trying new foods, especially Indian. I have been buying different ingredients that I need to do the dish. I spent $30 on spices and flours today at the spice store. But, that amount is far less than I would have spent on the same spices at the grocery store. I got a whole bag of spices for $2 where a small bottle at the grocery store would have cost $6. Amazing! I have found me a new ingredient hot spot!

Update on the no TV thing: apparently we have more than just local channels. So, we are able to still watch our favorite shows and we are not paying an arm and a leg for channels we don't need or want.

I decided to not get the Honda replacement part for my side view mirror. I could not justify spending $26 on the mirror part and then another $95 on the install. AutoZone had a stick on mirror for $7. Problem solved. Mirrored plastic works pretty well. I can see when I am driving!

No more dish TV!

Today is the last day of fun TV. No more Food Network, TLC, Discovery or History channel. But that is OK. We signed up for Netflix. Of course this "required" me to purchase a Playstation 3 to play the Blu-Ray discs. It was a birthday present for my loving boyfriend who is going to be putting up with my budget for the next year. Good thing is that he loves the Netflix instant streaming concept. All of his favorite old school movies are available for instant viewing!

Dish style TV savings = about $60 a month
Land line phone required by Dish style TV service = about $15 a month
Netflix cost with Blu-Ray upgrade = $11 a month

Sooooo... net savings of about $64 a month!

Yes, I do realize that the Playstation 3 was a bit of an excessive purchase. I tried the plain Blu-Ray route, but my boyfriend was determined to go return it and use the money for the PS3 no matter what I said to try to convince him otherwise. So, a PS3 is what we now have.

On the plus side, the lack of TV options will prompt us to actually do more around the house, exercise, etc. I am excited. I am sure we will have some cravings for Discovery or History channel, but we will get through it!

Let the challenges begin!

Murphy's law, correct? You know what I am talking about. If something is going to go wrong, it will go wrong at the most inopportune time. Here is what has gone against my plan in the past week so far:

• My dog needed a new set of bowls or accessories to slow his eating. He has been eating so fast that he chokes on his food and it affects him all day. Cost = $34
• The driver's side view mirror on my vehicle fell off while I was driving down the highway on my way home from work last night. Not the whole thing, just the glass. I never knew how much a driver actually depends on that little mirror until I didn't have one anymore! Cost for a new mirror from Honda = $27 (self installed - hopefully I won't break it). If I want Honda to install it they charge a full hour of labor = $95. I went to AutoZone and got a stick on piece of mirror for $7. If that looks horrible I will spend the $27 on the Honda mirror and keep my fingers crossed that my boyfriend can install it with out breaking it.
• Gas costs are rising! I have spent $40 since April 1 in gasoline! Ahhh!

I must stay on track but it has been less than a week and I am already having issues keeping to my budget!