Post Your Wins

[Milly]

Canned Pumpkin @ $0.008/oz

I just went to the grocery store and saw the large cans of pumpkin (29oz) were on super sale for $0.25/can and expires in October. I used a discounted gift card and bought them at an additional 4% off, bringing my cost down to $0.24/can or $0.008/oz. If only I had my usual $3 off $15 coupon... As long as it doesn't all become desert, that's quite the cheap nutrition!

Needless to say, I loaded up. I figured if I have any leftover at Thanksgiving, I'll just cook them all into pies. There's no way they won't get eaten and they should still be okay to eat one month past date.

[james.hendrickson]

I just went to the grocery store and saw the large cans of pumpkin (29oz) were on super sale for $0.25/can and expires in October. I used a discounted gift card and bought them at an additional 4% off, bringing my cost down to $0.24/can or $0.008/oz. If only I had my usual $3 off $15 coupon... As long as it doesn't all become desert, that's quite the cheap nutrition!

Needless to say, I loaded up. I figured if I have any leftover at Thanksgiving, I'll just cook them all into pies. There's no way they won't get eaten and they should still be okay to eat one month past date.

We went to the local Kroger here in Portland, Oregon. They were having a one day only sale on Campbells chunky soup. Usually the soup goes for $2.50 per can, but the sale was offering 4 cans for 3 dollars. We bought forty cans.

[disneysteve]

I was working on taxes yesterday and discovered two survey checks that I had neglected to deposit before filing. They totaled $70.

Today, I was reviewing the year-end summary for my Discover card and checked how much I have in cash back. I redeemed $30.61 as a credit to my bill.

We went to CVS the other day and on the receipt was a coupon for 40% off any one item and another coupon for $1 of Bonus Bucks. I went over today and picked up a bottle of my wife's hair conditioner, normally $21.49 for just $13.10. She doesn't typically buy it there. She gets it cheaper on Amazon. But this was still cheaper than Amazon's price.

[scfr]

Opened a bank account for a $300 bonus.

A couple months ago I decided to stop buying delicious but expensive Starbucks Via coffee (used when DH is out of town for single-serves instead of a brewed pot). I tried a couple different freeze-dried brands, and found one I like. It's not as tasty as Via, but it is about 1/10th the cost per cup, and I have now officially acclimated to where I no longer miss the Via.

[msomnipotent]

I'm planning my daughter's 13th birthday party. I found a $50 coupon plus 6% cash back for a Living Social for a photo booth rental, and the rental rate for our clubhouse went down $50. Because the photo booth is so big, there isn't room for a DJ. I ordered the 3 month trial of Amazon music for $2.99 on a whim for Christmas and it will be canceled the week after her party, so I have music covered. Since we are telling everyone not to bring a gift, I no longer feel the need to do party favors. The photo booth should be enough. I got a $100 Domino's gift card for free from credit card points and it was "on sale" as well. That should be just enough to feed the kids, and I still have enough left for a $25 gift card since this one was 9,000 points instead of 11,000. Yay!

I renewed Reader's Digests for $3.99 a year. I decided to splurge and get a gift subscription for the cottage at the same price, too.

I booked our flights to AZ for March. It was only about $100 per person out of pocket since we had vouchers from giving up our seats last time. I lucked out and was able to book a night at one of the motels inside the Grand Canyon this time. They are normally booked up well before now.

While technically not a win, I'm counting this one as such. My husband got a new 4k TV. I originally wasn't going to go with since I am trying hard not to get the flu, but decided to go at the last minute. I saved us over $1,000 by going. Of course the salesman started upselling and we were suddenly looking at the more expensive model and soundbars, but I held firm to the model we decided on. I managed to talk my husband down from getting the 5 year warranty, but he still bought the 2 year. Now I feel obligated to make sure we use it. On a sad note, we are all sick now. I knew I would get sick as soon as I left the house.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I just returned from a 4 night Carnival cruise from Long Beach, CA to Mexico. Yes my win came from the onboard casino and I came home with $300 more than I took onto the ship. This was my 2nd cruise ever in my lifetime. My first was in 2007 on Royal Caribbean from Long Beach, CA to Mexico as well.


Another win was my bowel prep kit for an upcoming colonoscopy. My insurance didn't cover an expensive $350 bowel prep kit so I got my Dr. to order another bowel prep kit which was covered 100% (zero dollars on my end). Golly that was a shocker when CVS told me the bowel prep kit would be $350, yikes!

[disneysteve]

This post could go here or in decluttering or a couple of other places but I chose here.

I listed my daughter's books from last semester on Amazon this past week. I listed 15 books. I have already sold 5 of them.

Our cost: $53.47
Sold for: $36.99

So we've recovered nearly 70% of the cost. I'd call that a win.

Total book costs for the semester were $178.72 so we've already gotten back 20% of that and still have 12 more books to sell (I didn't list them all as she's still using a couple).

[scfr]

Booked a flight to visit family on the West Coast. Chose a $214 Basic Economy fare (no seat choice) and took the credit card offering a $200 statement credit for first booking (after calling to make sure I met the "once in a lifetime" qualification requirement). Net cost $14. Even my DH, who is a cheap air fare master, was impressed.

[Gailete]

While it may not sound like a win. Today I got home to find all sorts of packages. One bulky envelope was sent as a promotional item to get us to buy lots of their pens to use as promotional things. For me it is just a pen until I started looking and the paperwork that came with it. At the other end of the was soft tip to use with cell phones etc. to substitute for your fingers. part of my biggest problems with my cheap cell phone is trying to type in numbers as I inevitably hit two letters/numbers and messing things up. I will be keeping this close to my cell phone for sure. Sometimes it is the littlest things that can make us happy. Also got a foodsaver vacuum system for free to use and review.

One big savings this past week is in the envelopes that I use to ship my patterns in. They come in big bulky boxes cost around 40cents/envelope and just the UPS shipping on them is about $18 per size/box. My son that also sells patterns said he has been using plastic envelopes and so I am trying them. I got the equivilant of 4 big bulky boxes of envelopes for less than the cost of shipping the four boxes, and they all are sitting next to me barely taking up any room at all. A huge savings of both money and space. Also as the first class mail rates have gone up, they weigh about .3-.6 ounces less than the bubble envelopes, so many times I may not get sent over to the next higher ounce in cost, because they are so much lighter in weight. Three way savings here!

[rennigade]

Started my new job and went over HR stuff. Since I dont need healthcare through my employer I get a $5k bonus each year since they dont have to foot the medical bill for spouse and I. That was a nice surprise. It will be paid throughout the year in each of my paychecks. Extra $400ish every 2 weeks...although its taxed.

[bjl584]

I just scored a big win on coal.
I burn anthracite rice coal to heat my house.

Lowes had bagged coal on clearance for $2 per bag.
The local supplier where I normally buy coal sells it for $6 per bag.

I picked up a total of 68 bags for $136.
Normally, that would cost me $408.
For a savings of $272.

I'm now sitting on a total of around 2 ton of coal.
That's enough to get me through the rest of this winter and still have some left over to get me part way through next.

[Gailete]

I just scored a big win on coal.
I burn anthracite rice coal to heat my house.

Lowes had bagged coal on clearance for $2 per bag.
The local supplier where I normally buy coal sells it for $6 per bag.

I picked up a total of 68 bags for $136.
Normally, that would cost me $408.
For a savings of $272.

I'm now sitting on a total of around 2 ton of coal.
That's enough to get me through the rest of this winter and still have some left over to get me part way through next.

As someone that isn't on 'normal' fuel to heat houses, I wanted to give a cheer for you! It is so hard to control heat bills in the first place. Congrats on the great find. Do you only have the one Lowes, or any other home improvement places that might have more? I would be scrounging for every bag I could find at that sort of price.

I can't stockpile propane. It is hard enough to get them to bring it to us! I did write the a letter the other day (had to wait until I could write a sensible letter without screaming at them) to the company that left us stranded in bitter cold (almost zero) weather for 4 days over the New Year's weekend without any heat or hot water. I told them I what I expected from them. I wanted $100 to replace the extra electric we had to pay for keeping out house warm enough to survive by keeping the stove and space heaters going non-stop for 4 days. AND more than anything, I WANT an apology and to know their plan of action so that doesn't happen again. I suspect I'll hear not much of anything.

[bjl584]

As someone that isn't on 'normal' fuel to heat houses, I wanted to give a cheer for you! It is so hard to control heat bills in the first place. Congrats on the great find. Do you only have the one Lowes, or any other home improvement places that might have more? I would be scrounging for every bag I could find at that sort of price.

I can't stockpile propane. It is hard enough to get them to bring it to us! I did write the a letter the other day (had to wait until I could write a sensible letter without screaming at them) to the company that left us stranded in bitter cold (almost zero) weather for 4 days over the New Year's weekend without any heat or hot water. I told them I what I expected from them. I wanted $100 to replace the extra electric we had to pay for keeping out house warm enough to survive by keeping the stove and space heaters going non-stop for 4 days. AND more than anything, I WANT an apology and to know their plan of action so that doesn't happen again. I suspect I'll hear not much of anything.

That particular Lowes is the only big box retailer around me that sells coal as far as I know. I normally buy it from a landscape supply company up the street from me. They sell it for $300 a ton bagged and $250 a ton loose. It takes about 2.5 tons to get through a winter. I keep my eye out for deals on it. Sometimes you can find it on Craigslist for a good price.

I also have an oil furnace. I currently have about 250 gallons of oil in reserves. My tanks will hold 500 gallons total. 500 gallons will get me through the winter. I'm waiting for a pull back in oil prices before I fill up. Last I checked home heating fuel was selling for $2.50 a gallon delivered. I can be patient with it since the oil furnace is shut down. I'm only using the coal stoker currently.

It's currently cheaper to heat with coal. Especially with the deal I just got on it.

I feel you heating with propane. That can get pricey.

[Gailete]

I feel you heating with propane. That can get pricey.

Oh does it ever. My first winter here was the first I had ever dealt with propane. I was having a heart attack every month when I would get these horrendous bills for $700-800 with a 5% discount when paid within 5 days. Lets just say that we didn't have that sort of money hanging around the house. The next year we did the prebay even though we had to charge it. Most winter's we can do it for $2000/year more or less. Last year left us with enough fuel to get us to New Year's weekend. But it is always a case of your guess is as good as mind. The only good thing is that we have two on-going business here so part of the utilities costs are tacked onto them. But we still have to pay it every September almost the same day that we have to school taxes! No wonder we are always broke!

[bjl584]

Oh does it ever. My first winter here was the first I had ever dealt with propane. I was having a heart attack every month when I would get these horrendous bills for $700-800 with a 5% discount when paid within 5 days. Lets just say that we didn't have that sort of money hanging around the house. The next year we did the prebay even though we had to charge it. Most winter's we can do it for $2000/year more or less. Last year left us with enough fuel to get us to New Year's weekend. But it is always a case of your guess is as good as mind. The only good thing is that we have two on-going business here so part of the utilities costs are tacked onto them. But we still have to pay it every September almost the same day that we have to school taxes! No wonder we are always broke!

I would run from propane as fast as I could. Any other form of heat would pay for itself in a couple of seasons. Oil would cost you about half unless fuel jumped up $4 a gallon. Coal would get you there for about a third of what you are paying now. The nice thing about coal is that it is not trading on the commodity markets, so the price is stable and doesn't change much. The downside is you will have to deal with feeding a coal fire. It's a little more work, but I don't mind it. It's a lot better than dealing with wood heat.