July 2011- Living Off Of Your Stockpile Challenge and Chat ;)

[to1drland]

I've got some oop to report....will get it entered in the wiki tomorrow AM. The no n to August for me! see ya over there!

[KmmCo]

Finally went back and read the past weeks stuff!

Hugs to EP for the hard times ... Savings - good luck on the new house ... Sue - the tile work looks great ... SquawMama ... sound like you have lots of fun with the pets, so don't let DH stop that ...
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Anyway, starting my August now since I will get my grocery money from DH today. I paid all the 1st bills from my checking so the cash is out on my end- good thing he is around today! I need to gas up today or tomorrow too.

On the plus side, this month I have got all my bills paid ahead and put some extra on my credit cards - even had enough to buy my son a laptop for school and put a small deposit down on the ski trip for next January. The owners of the house I am renting for that don't take credit cards - so that is good for me!

I have been tracking my spending the last couple of months with some interesting discoveries. I don't spend as much on gasoline as I thought, but the little extras like taking the kiddo to the movies added up quick. My bills are really pretty low compared to our income, but the killer is my credit cards that I am trying to get paid down (minimum payments around $900)! I don't see any way to get them paid off in 3 years. The balances are dropping, but it doesn't seem like the minimum payments are getting much smaller in response.

Admitting that I probably spent more on this upcoming vacation that I should have - but at least it is all paid for in cash before I go except for gas and spending money. Paid Tahoe timeshare exchange fee last Dec, airfare in March, rental at Yosemite in June, car rental in July... August I will purchase National Park pass and airshow tickets ahead and we should be good to go! As you all know, I am packing along a lot of food for our trip so groceries expenses shouldn't be too terrible.

Definitely scaling down next years vacation a bit ... maybe stay in state or drive to WY or Utah ... thought about Grand Canyon but my son doesn't want to go there really so I told him to do a little research this weekend on what he wants to do ...

[to1drland]

my oop from yesterday-

fareway-10 lbs. porkloin, 10 lbs. chicken hindquarters, 5- 2 ltr. soda, can chiles in adobo, 3 tubs cottage cheese, 4 pk. mixed peppers, 2 lbs. bananas, 3 boxes little debbie snacks, doz. eggs,....... $40.77 oop

dollar tree- some misc. & snacks.....$9.95 oop


updating wiki in PURPLE!

[saving-n-va]

Done for the month. DEEP purple for me this month. Once we move I may have to up my monthly OOP anyway. I'll have some different stores to deal with down there. Yeah, I could drive up here if there are great deals to be had.

Today we go countertop shopping amongst other things. So many different types of countertops to consider.

Bought $100 worth of boxes and packing supplies yesterday (different budget) so when we get back I'm going to start packing the dining room and all the extra "stuff" in there. Once we close on the house we will take a few loads over, unpack, bring boxes back, repack, etc. Then hire some big hunky guys (one can hope right?) to move our furniture one weekend. Having 2 months from closing to move out of here will hopefully take a bit of the stress off of me since I can't miss any days from student teaching.

I'll see y'all over in August.

Just going thru 2 1/2 boxes that never got unpacked from the last move - 40 books going to charity, and 10 to a new preschool teacher at church. I'm sure there will be lots more going out the door before we move.


Edited to add: took all the boxes back and got a refund, went to Home Depot and got same size/type boxes for less than 1/2 of what the U-haul place had them for, plus 10% off with military ID.

[kittynip]

This weeks spending:

Kroger
Cat food, Kleenex, produce, popcorn, yogurt and turkey breast
oop $15.77

The new kitty is a little oinker. I need a good deal on Purina One.

[cjpsmom]

Adding 17.68...will update wiki.

[everprincess]

Total day of running...lots of OOP to report from my coupon hunt today. DS and DH leave at 5am in the morning. Off to get some sleep.

[kendra228]

Back from my overnight stay at Foxwoods Casino (free room), where we saw Steely Dan (free tickets), hung out in the VIP Lounge (free drinks & snacks) and then had dinner after the show (free again.) Saturday morning - High Stakes Bingo (mom bought the tickets), and then the Seafood Fest (free tickets.) Let's see, I think we gambled and lost only $5. And we bought a Junior's cheesecake for my SIL, who stayed here with dog Friday night. Total for our weekend - about 20 bucks.

[SquawMama]

Back from my overnight stay at Foxwoods Casino (free room), where we saw Steely Dan (free tickets), hung out in the VIP Lounge (free drinks & snacks) and then had dinner after the show (free again.) Saturday morning - High Stakes Bingo (mom bought the tickets), and then the Seafood Fest (free tickets.) Let's see, I think we gambled and lost only $5. And we bought a Junior's cheesecake for my SIL, who stayed here with dog Friday night. Total for our weekend - about 20 bucks.

WOW! Sounds like a super fun weekend! & MY favorite price! FREE!!! I love FREE!! good for you!

I really use the casino comps for whatever I can.

Every sunday I go to the casino & get my newspapers FREE & while I am there I pick up my Starbucks coffee grounds for FREE. I never pay for coffee anymore, its gotten so expensive.

Anyways , sounds like you had a great time & I am glad it was enhancee with FREE!!