Post Your Wins

[disneysteve]

We got our Ebates cash back check for $30.12 for the quarter. That brings our total cash back since we started using the app in November to $42.00. Free money is always good.

[scfr]

We just closed on our house. Sold it for a bit more than we expected, and netted quite a bit more than the "on the books" (on the net worth statement) valuation. We considered the investment potential of our house when we bought, and our choice of neighborhood and house ended up being pretty good. Pre-sale spruceup costs and post-inspection repairs were less than anticipated, RE commission was less than budgeted (used a 1% commission agent). The final result is a little bump to the NW.

A smaller win, but still pretty good, is that we ended up selling our older car before our move, again for more than expected and above "on the books" valuation. DH gets credit for that win, both for maintaining the car and for the sales effort. And now we have just one car instead of two, so that is a definite "reduced expenses" win.

Also, we successfully moved and kept our costs pretty darn low. I only spent $30 on packing/moving supplies. I did all the packing and DH did most of the loading. We drove the truck ourselves, staying at hotels using points along the way. DH did some of the unloading, but we did pay $160 for unloading help (worth every penny). I still have unpacking to do. *Yawn*

I ended up starting back at work sooner than expected, only 2 days after we arrived at our new place. I would have been happy having a few more days to get more settled before starting, but it's still an income win and I'll take it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This is not a monetary win but I brought my triglycerides from 450 (very high) down to 150 (about normal) by drastically changing to an ultra low fat diet and prescribed statin medication. It was hard work but worth it. It used to be so easy buying fast food or take out but I no longer eat out. And I used to eat tons of processed meats, sausages, hot dogs, spam, cold cuts, pork, beef, etc. Now only boiled chicken, ground turkey 99% fat free, egg white (discard yolks), fat free milk, etc.

[disneysteve]

A couple of weeks ago my printer died. It is almost 9 years old so I wasn't terribly upset, but I had recently put in new cartridges and had already bought a back up set because I like to keep a set on hand. So about $60 for the new ones plus the unused portion of the ones already in use. If I bought a new printer, all of that would go to waste.

I looked on the box from the ink cartridge at the list of printers that use that cartridge. Then I searched on ebay for anyone selling the newest models on the list. I found someone selling one used for $15 plus $17 shipping. I bid and won the auction. The printer came yesterday. I hooked it up, put in the started cartridges from the old printer, and it works great. So for just $32, I got a "new" printer that is several models newer than the one I had and all of the cartridges I have won't go to waste.

[Gailete]

This is not a monetary win but I brought my triglycerides from 450 (very high) down to 150 (about normal) by drastically changing to an ultra low fat diet and prescribed statin medication. It was hard work but worth it. It used to be so easy buying fast food or take out but I no longer eat out. And I used to eat tons of processed meats, sausages, hot dogs, spam, cold cuts, pork, beef, etc. Now only boiled chicken, ground turkey 99% fat free, egg white (discard yolks), fat free milk, etc.

Love it. My sister and I have problems with our tryglcerides. She at one point was hitting 2000 (I have no clue how it is doing now) and the highest my number was 1600. Don't have an MI Dr. DisneySteve! Anyhow over the years for me I took Niacin plus fish oil for years. We read some articles a couple of years back that caused me to drop the Niacin, so just the fish oil 1200mg capsules 4/day. Throughout the years after lab work, I would get these frantic calls from nurses that didn't remember the rule of thumb with lab work is to compare it to the earlier labs. So they call in a panic - Your trig. are 400! I'm like hey that's great and then stunned silence on the end of the phone. The last time I had that lab run I also asked for an a1c due to diabetes in the family along with the high triglycerides. THAT was the number I was worried about. So when we got the paniced phone call this time I thought I was about to hear that my a1c was through the roof. Nope, it was my trigylcerides hovering around 200! A bit below I think. I will not take any of the meds as I have enough pain in my legs already thank you, but the Fish Oil has been doing the job. Nor have I been on any kind of special diet. Not saying you don't need to be, but that fish oil really works and usually can be bought on sale at CVS. If it isn't on sale or you don't have a coupon for it, wait a week and you will find it on sale.

[Gailete]

I can't remember if I had mentioned this or not, but in October my Mom and step-dad distributed $1000 in cash to each of us as our inheritance just incase they end up in nursing homes which eventually take everything by way of Medicaid. When I got this money I spent some on making a $100 bill into $10s for our snow shoveler who doesn't take checks. I also needed to repair my stair climber. Other than that I have been eeking it out and I decided that it was my inheritance and likely to be the only chunk of money like that I would ever get so I decided it was mine. I didn't want to use it all on groceries (I used some of it on groceries as when it came we were Mother Hubbards cupboard at that point) and the utility bills. I wanted some money for a few of the things I wanted to check into. So I have used some for buying card making magazines, all that come with a 'free gifts' of stamps, dies, pretty papers etc. I'm hoping to combine the card making with quilting and other sewing things. So I am having Fun, learning new things and still have $400 left! Year ago during my divorce from my first husband I knew I would get part of his pension when he retired. I figured he had put me through enough anguish that I wanted to use that money for fund things for ME. Never has happened. It just goes into the pot of money we have to work on so I have never had one thing I could point to and say I got that from my 'pension' I guess that is why I feel so strongly about this inheritance being my money.

[disneysteve]

My wife and I went out to dinner tonight. I made a reservation through Open Table and made sure to pick a place and time that earned us the bonus 1,000 reward points (normal reservations are 100 points). That brought our point total to 2,300. At 2,000 you get a $20 credit toward your next meal so we've now earned that and can use it next time we go out. I've never been careful to look for the 1,000 point places but it definitely pays to do so as every 2nd meal you get $20 back. I don't know when we'll go out again but usually once a month or so we end up doing something so next time around will be $20 cheaper.

[scfr]

I'm learning about my new town, figuring out which grocery stores have the best prices on what items. I've figured out the most efficient driving routes, and which gas stations on those routes offer the best prices. I got my new library card, so I have "free" entertainment and education (books, DVDs, magazines). I found a good local bank that is offering decent rates.

A fair amount of my energy these days is trying to help my elderly mother. As far as financial wins for her, I've been running some errands or ordering for her online and helping her save a bit by using the same strategies I employ for myself (price comparison shopping, 5% discount at Target using the RedCard, etc.) A big win for her was that we got one of her storage units cleared out over the weekend, which will save her $100 per month. $100 a month will do a lot to help keep her fed & warm.

[Gailete]

I try to weekly write down how my stock account and IRAs are doing. I have been thrilled to see the numbers going up. I got a dividend on one stock that is now increasing the value of that stock monthly by $20. But the neatest thing is seeing in the increase in our IRAs. If you had asked me last year at this time if I would have over $40K in our IRAs I would have laughed, but today we do, actually $42K While I know that this isn't a huge amount in the whole scheme of things, it is enough that if we cashed it in to use, it would be enough for about 3-4 years of the extra money the pattern business brings in and not counting what hubby will be eligible for on SS as well. I would be thrilled to hit about $100K in the IRAs before I can no longer even do the pattern business. But in the last month, we went up $2K! Being able to put some money from our rental sale into the IRAs has made a huge difference.

I still have to do taxes as well as getting caught up with some other things, but I have been extra tired lately which means I'm not getting things done, frustrating. I do hate having a chronic illness that is chipping away at my energy.

[pollard987]

congrats i wish you will be success.

[msomnipotent]

My husband is getting a 3% raise and a decent bonus. It is less than before but we were half expecting to get nothing due to the company being bought. Also, my daughter's braces will "only" cost $4,100 if we pay in full next month. I was expecting more towards $6,000, so I'm relieved.

[disneysteve]

My husband is getting a 3% raise and a decent bonus. It is less than before but we were half expecting to get nothing due to the company being bought.

In today's world, a 3% raise and a bonus is definitely cause for celebration.

You reminded me that I didn't share my little win. We got an increase in our per diem pay rate which is for shifts worked beyond our contracted hours. The rate went up about 17% on weekdays and 28% on weekends. That isn't a huge change for me as I rarely do more than 4 extra hours per week but it's still nice.

[scfr]

Just got signed up for an easy $100 bank bonus (check DepositAccounts.com or other similar web sites if you are interested in bank bonuses). I think it's better that anyone interested in bank bonuses check those sites from time to time instead of relying on Saving Advice for updates. Some of those deals come and go quickly.

Scored a good deal on a clearance item at Costco: 3-pack of "gourmet" par-baked bread for $1.97, so 66-cents a loaf.

[disneysteve]

I just picked up a few discounted Target gift cards. Total face value $372.43. Discount of 9.02%. Savings $33.59. Total paid $338.84.

And that's why I never bothered getting a Target Red card to get the 5% discount.

[Thrif-t]

I guess I have one. My DD and I are heading down to Disney for a girls weekend. I got a post card to do a DVC phone tour for a $25 gc. Since I've done one in the past, I was literally on the phone 3 minutes. The guy said I see you've done one before, I'll email you all the info, then a week later you'll get it in the mail. The next day I got my $25 gc emailed to me. Easiest $25 I ever made.