[Total savings: $423]
June was not a very successful saving month. We had a conference to attend, which meant a road trip and things are never as cheap as they could be on a road trip. Plus, I hurt my back, which meant I wasn't able to do as much of the cooking or home maintenance as usual.
This is also the month that we started eating even healthier (and more expensive) foods & while we may have saved money on the purchasing of those foods, they cost more in the first place, so it's questionable how much we actually saved on food over the previous month. All the same, we're giving this a shot in hopes it will improve our long term health, which some might argue is immeasurable.
The Garden Update
My tomato, squash, and pepper plants are growing and have baby veggies, but nothing ripe yet. In a week or so, we'll probably start harvesting tomatoes and zucchini (woo hoo!). Still a couple weeks out for the cucumbers.
My raspberries and blueberries didn't do much this year. I think they're just in too shady a spot.
My Fig tree has lots of little figs, so I have to keep a close eye on it to ensure the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks don't get to them first.
Nothing yet on my Lemon, Lime, or Pear trees. I will probably have to move my Pear, eventually, as it just doesn't get enough sun. Thankfully, it's still small enough to warrant that.
I caught a couple of Gold Finches feasting on the seed heads of my bolted Bee Balm yesterday (kind of cool):
June
Week 1: (We saved $84)
- Continued to save on our Internet service (because we switched to TWC over AT&T)—[$12 savings per month]
- Continue to save on purchased modem instead of leasing from Internet provider @ $10/month in perpetuity—[$10 savings per month]
- Kept ac off for 2 of 7 days this week
- Took lunches to work. We started making healthier lunches with slightly more expensive ingredients, but the average cost isn't too far from what we were saving with less expensive ingredients— [$35 savings]
- Used ibotta* rebate for 2 Siggi's yogurts [$0.75 added to my ibotta acct.]
- BOGO on Siggi's Yogurt. This is more expensive than making it myself, but Siggi's is high in protein, low in sugar and uses milk from grass-fed cows. We bought 4, 5.3 oz containers—[$2.58 savings or 8¢/oz]
- This is not a savings over making my own yogurt, however. If I take that into account we're at -$10-ish / month.
- Got 5¢ off per gallon of gas (10 gallons)—[$0.50 savings]
- Bought Coffee on sale—[$2.00 savings]
- Continued to make coffee at home (I've sort of stopped calculating this on the monthly level)
- Used $30 Kohl's cash & $10 Yes2You Rewards—[$40.00 savings]
- Bought an introductory Yoga pass: 30 days for $30—[$20.00 savings]
Week 2: (We saved $49)
- Took lunches to work. We were at a conference for one day and ordered take out on the night we got back—[$29 savings]
- Kept the ac off for 1 of 7 days this week
- Bought gas for $1.89/gallon when driving back from our conference, the price at home was $2.15/gallon—[$2.00 savings]
- Had 2 meals out with family (& they paid), also had two meals out in which we paid, so it was pretty much a wash.
- We'll write off expenses from our trip (but we won't see those returns until next tax season)
- Used Target debit card—[$1.49 savings]
- Watched movie at home, thanks to Amazon Prime—[$16 savings over the matinee]
- Went to a free museum while in DC (at our conference).
- Continued to make coffee at home, but we bought a lot of coffee on the trip back, so we probably spent more than we saved on this.
Week 3: (We saved $80)
- Took lunches to work—[$35 savings]
- Got back to making dinners at home and eating leftovers.
- Used Target debit card for 5% savings [$3.73 savings]
- Used Cartwheel app (Target) [ $1.55 savings]
- Used ibotta* rebate for 2 Siggi's yogurts [$0.75 added to my ibotta acct.]
- Used SavingStar rebate that was automatically applied to my account because I connected my rewards accounts to my SavingStar account. [50¢ added to my SavingStar account]
- Used my grocery rewards card for extra sale savings—[$7 savings]
- Used $1 off coupon (for ice cream)—[$1.00 savings]
- Used Groupon coupon + Ebates code for discount on HVAC air filters—[$32 savings]
Week 4: (We saved $210)
- Took lunches to work—[$35 savings]
- Continued to make coffee at home
- Got our repeat delivery of our specialty cat litter from Petco to save 20% + no shipping—[$2.92 savings per bag x 2 bags = $5.84 savings]
- Bought gas at the cheaper gas station ($2.05 v.s $2.25 / gallon)—[$1.60 savings]
- Bought more Siggi's yogurt on sale (4 for $5 this time. Cost per 5 oz = $1.25 or 24¢ per ounce)—[$4.56 savings]
- Used ibotta* rebate for 2 Siggi's yogurts—[$0.75 added to my ibotta acct.]
- Kept the a/c off for most of the week (6/7 days)
- Bought perennials from the clearance rack at Lowe's—[$99 total savings]
- I bought 28 plants for $54, saving between $1-$6 per plant:
- 4 Coral Bells: orig. $9.48 / sale price $3 each
- 2 Japanese Holly Ferns: orig. $4.48 / sale price $3 each
- 5 Autumn Ferns: orig. $3.98 / sale price $1 each
- 10 Purple D'Oro Lilies: orig. $3.98 / sale price $1 each
- 4, 1 gallon English Lavender: orig. $6.48 / sale price $3 each
- 3 Siberian Iris: orig. $6.48 / sale price $3 each
- Plus, I used my Lowe's credit card for an additional 5% off—[$2.58 savings]
- Used Groupon + Ebates code for Thank you gift—[$18.75 savings]
- Bought items at CostCo for a discount:
- Wild Caught Salmon [$5 savings]
- Avocado Oil [$9 savings over the grocery store]
- Quinoa (4.5 lbs) [$26 savings]
- 4.9 oz box @ grocery store is $2.45
- 1 lb. = 16 oz.
- 4.5 lbs. = 72 oz.
- 72 oz. is the equivalent of 14.69 (4.9 oz) boxes
- 14.69 x $2.45 = $35.99
- CostCo 4.5 lb. Quinoa was on sale for $9.99
- Irish (pastured) butter [$2.79 savings]
The Summary
Taking lunches to work and making meals (& coffee) at home continue to have the biggest impact on savings, especially now that we're spending more on healthier groceries.
Utility Update
Compared to last month, our electric bill was $7 higher, but the billing cycle was 4 days longer, so we're pretty much even with last month's usage. Compared to the same month last year, however, our usage was down, saving us $17. We've had a couple of milder weeks this month, so that probably helped. We also kept the a/c off as long as possible, sometimes only running it in the evening when the house stayed a bit too warm to sleep.
I'm still saving up for an attic fan, btw. But we figured out that we need to get an electrician in first to check out the wiring in the attic, so that got back-burnered a little longer.
As for the gas bill, the only thing that runs is the water heater. Our bill this month was $7 less than last month, but on par with the same month from the previous year.
Utilities were pretty much a wash. We continue to save over the previous year, only slightly.
Actions we've taken:
- Installed programmable thermostat
- Keep the a/c off as long as possible
- When a/c is on, bump it up 2 degrees (runs between 72-76) & use ceiling fans when in the room
- Weather stripped the doors
- Turn lights off when not in room
- Replaced incandescent bulbs with Fluorescent / LED
- Keep the water heater at between 110-120 degrees
Rebate Savings:
| Amount Saved (So Far) This Year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Ibotta |
$15.45
| |
| Mobisave |
$3.30
|
|
| Checkout 51 |
$3.75
|
|
| Ebates |
$8.52
|
|
| Savingstar |
$3.50
|
|
| Cartwheel |
$8.43
|
|
| Target debit card |
$40.58
|
|
| Manufacturer coupons, coupon codes, & rebates (Mostly thanks to the Honey app & the Ebates app) |
$144
|
|
| Swagbucks |
n/a
|
|
| My Points |
n/a
|
|
| Groupon |
$32
|
|
Total
|
$247.60
|
*Note: the ibotta links above are affiliate links. If you sign up through any of those links, you can earn a $10-$20 welcome bonus and I will earn a $5 referral bonus.
The Mobisave, Savingstar, Honey, & Ebates links are also referral links. The sign up rewards vary, so try out the links and see if they'll save you any extra money.
No comments:
Post a Comment