great and not so great things about 2008

Well.. I guess this would be an amazingly appropriate time for me to explore some awesome things about 2008... GOOD AND BAD.

Here is 2008 summed up, funny I just rattled this off to 2 co-workers today.. all in all I feel like a failure on some parts but in other areas feel as if I've accomplished more in one year than any other year of my life.

♥paid off $30,000 in 6 months. my story is outlined here and the 2nd part continued here
♥found out January 2008 that I would be laid off by March 2008. later they extended that date to April 11th 2008. Had our HR come in and explain unemployment to us, our benefits, severance, etc. Had another company come in and help us do our resumes and prepare for interviewing.
♥May 2008 I am laid off and my husband work drops hours down to 32 hours. His final checks after taxes, health/dental/vision, 401k blah blah blah is not much more than my unemployment checks.
♥June 2008 out of necessity I start learning grocery gaming/couponing/hounding. It took me awhile and I'm still learning, but I've gotten some great deals since and have learned so much about myself and my money.
♥September 5th 2008 my husband gets laid off!! ughhh.. he gets unemployment and severance and luckily found another job within 3 weeks. He only wound up getting 3 weeks of unemployment in the end.. but oh well.
♥October 2008 my husband starts his new job and I learn to live off his new checks (they are bigger because there is no insurance/401k taken out yet) so I start saving as much money as I can and start building an amazing (to me) emergency fund. This of course will change with his insurance now kicking in as well as 401k.
♥December 12th 2008, my boss calls me in for a meeting and asks me to come back to work MONDAY!! I went back the next week after a few snafu's and having to change around a ton of plans etc.
♥TODAY DECEMBER 31ST 2008 I got my first check from my new company and EVERY DIME went to savings. I had not one bill that has to be paid.

~I gained an amazing amount of weight in the last 18 months basically. I must get back on WW immediately. I can not believe I was off for basically 9 months and did no biking, hardly any walking, no running, walked the dog just once a day.
~I wasted an unbelievable amount of time not getting much done this year. I'm not sure how the days slid by so quickly at home, but they did.
~My parents paid for me to take medical transcription classes on line. I completed the medical terminology portion in the first few weeks I was off but after that I was concentrating so hard on saving money that I never did get any of my medical transcription done. I feel so bad about that.
~I got rid of our gym membership after not going for 6 months and bought a treadmill which now sits with about an inch of quarry dust on it in my garage. *sigh*

Okay... now I have to admit.. Unemployment DID have it's benefits. I was home to help numerous neighbors with their animals over the summer and house sit. I felt good being able to help them all.

I was home to help a friend who wound up with Guillian Barre Syndrome explained here with her kids. At first her mother was living in her home 24/7 so I went over to help her mom. I figured I could at least give her a break. Once she came home from the hospital then I was able to watch the kids while she went for physical therapy so her mom could return to her own household life.

I also was able to spend some time with my son, my husband, family, and friends. This was good, but also had some stress related because of the financial situation. Hanging out sometimes requires spending ca$h, so I was pretty honest with people about finances and letting them know I couldn't join them for dinner at fancy restaurants or go down town or travel. It just wasn't in the cards.

Okay I had a ton more to write here but seriously I can't even think of the things I wanted to touch on. Basically, a majority of the people I personally know had a pretty stinky 2008. I can't wait to kiss this year goodbye and am looking forward to a POSITIVE 2009.

which do you use?

I'm full of questions again the last few days... so I'm wondering out of all the little websites that offer you cash back or points to shop through their sites, which ones do you use? Right now I have so many accounts I can't even keep them straight HOWEVER whenever purchasing a product I go on each site and find out which pays the most back and which allows you to use coupon codes. Plus I always use my credit card that pays me back points towards it's own website. Here are a few I use.

www.ebates.com
www.cashbaq.com
www.mrrebates.com
www.thankyou.com
www.mypoints.com

I know there is at least one other I'm not thinking of right now. Tell me what you think about these sites and which you use.

Is there any double dip deals this month at Walgreens?

Just a question because I was looking at a few sites and didn't see any posted?? even over at www.iheartwags.com they didn't have anything posted... hmmm I know it's a bit late to be asking this but it slipped my mind until just today!

The 65 sq foot home, could you live there?

Jay over at Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has found a way to live green in many ways.. living in a 89 sq foot home since 1997 he runs a company that sells not only plans to these tiny homes but builds them and delivers them to you as well. Be sure to check out the you tube video's posted especially the one of his own personal home. I made sure to check out each of the layouts and thought that I would love to retire that way. Doubt my husband would be as excited about it, and stockpiling would be impossible.. but really.. with economic times being the way they are, living "green" would be so easy.. the green would be lining my pockets to keep me warm as well.. hmmmm check it out and let me know your thoughts on this...

BACK IN THE GAME!!

Went to CVS with $40.92 in ECBS and left with $59.97 in ECB's.. I spent $3 of my own money out of pocket and I barely used any coupons!! I wasn't prepared at all.. just wanted to go to roll what ECBS I had that were going to expire the 27th.




My CVS was substituting many items as long as it was either the same price or less and a comparable product. So this is what I wound up with. LQQk at the HUGE Listerine's I got!! wow. I wish I had brought coupons.. I also wish my dumb butt would have actually looked through my CVS envelope I had with me because I had a few CVS coupons I could have used.. doh!! Anyway.. I'm not feeling like listing out all the prices.. but basically I did two transactions so I could use a $10/$50 for the first transaction and a majority of my original $40 in ECB's.


BEARS JUST WON!!!

whoo hoo they played the Packers so that's awesome for Chicago!!

I miss all of you! My new/old job is VERY busy so I've been working a ton.. which is good and bad. I'm salary now so no OT but it's good because we need the work to keep us open and keep my job so I'll take it!

If I don't post again before Christmas, have a wonderful holiday everyone!!

2009 goals..

anyone got any? yeah.. I know some of you have already posted your goals and even your budgets for the following year. I seriously don't have the energy or time for that right now and really who knows what is going to bring this year.. so instead I'm proposing a dare for myself.. ut oh another challenge where I'm gonna last ooooh 3 days. Probably.

Well basically now that I've learned how to live on what unemployment pay is for 9 months including my husband getting laid off.. I'm thinking of staying with that frame of spending. 2008 has been a kick butt year for me to learn a ton about myself and really even though I've spent on things I probably shouldn't have in the end I'm pretty dang proud of how well I've done. We paid off our debt in 6 months, $30,000 in 6 months.. I still can't even believe that happened.

Ok so I'm thinking that my goal for next year should be to live off of my husband's paycheck and only 1 of my paychecks per month. I get paid on the first and last day of the month so I could actually use my checks to pay bills and my husbands for the goal/challenge...?? hmm or I could take half from each check and throw that into savings. Either way, we'd still be living the way we do now with stocked shelves full of food, toiletries, cat/dog food/items, and really all I would have to do for awhile would be to buy fresh veggies, fresh dairy, and meat. We've done it for 9 months why can't this continue?

get FREE or paid $5 for Entertainment books in the Chicago area!! (other places prices vary, but still great deals)

okay over at Choyster Cash she explains how to get Entertainment books for a great deal. The deal just keeps getting better the more you buy. I just bought one, I was already a Cashbaq member so I don't get the $5 sign up but mine worked out like this.

$25 regular book price
-$10 off from Entertainment book
-$5 off for signing up for auto renewal

$10 I put on my credit card but then I'll get the $10 back through Cashbaq.

If you know friends/relatives that you use these, it would be a great $5 gift!!