Gift Card Organizing

We try to use gift cards whenever possible.  All year long we take advantage of promotions that offer perks with gift card purchases.  Often we earn Air Miles on gift card purchases, and during Christmas stores often give a freebie with a gift card purchase.
 
Keep your receipts!  I used to staple receipts to the gift card after I bought them. It worked well, and I would put them all in a bag.  It worked well, but boy it got messy!  The receipts would sometimes become separated and all of them would have to be taken out to find particular gift cards.
 Today I picked up a plastic folder at the Dollarama for $2.30.  I used a permanent marker, and a pen and began to get organized.
On each receipt I wrote a number in pen, and the corresponding number on the actual gift card in marker.  One section of the folder will be used to store all receipts.  KEEPING RECEIPTS IS IMPORTANT! Sometimes there are problems with a gift card, and having the receipt fixes the problem fast. Just this month I had a $400 gift card not work, with the receipt and a wonderful store employee it was fixed fast. That would have been a costly mistake.

After all the receipts and gift cards were labelled, I sorted them by stores. Each section of the folder was labelled and the corresponding gift card was filed. It was a great time for me to take an inventory of the gift cards that I have.  Even though we watch our money closely, I was pleasantly surprised by one of the gift cards that I found. 

After a gift card gets used, I will destroy the receipt. This will help with the organization.  When I use partial amounts of a gift card, I wrap the last receipt around the gift card. Then I know the balance.  When I remember, I use a permanent marker and write the balance on the card.  If I really had my act together I would carry a marker in my purse, but I don't have my act quite together lol. 

Baby steps to getting on financial track, you got this! 

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Freebies!

By now you know how much I love to save money.  I am quite proud of being frugal and cheap. Using coupons and stockpiling items has really helped our family save money. I use the things in our stockpile to throw in our family's Christmas presents. I have been able to donate toilet paper and paper towel each season to my daughters' girl guide troops. We have donated items to local women's shelters, and animal shelters.  Making donations to these places may have been a challenge for us if it had not been for the stock pile of items.  Many agencies are often in need of items, not just monetary donations.  Through using coupons and shopping sales, this is a great way for people to make donations at no charge, or very small amount.
Last week I ordered a new baby kit from Enfamil on Swagbucks. http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Donats

 It earned me 50 Swagbucks too!  I got 4 free product coupons in the mail! Two of them were for baby formula, one was a baby bottle and one was for baby bottle nipples.  I picked up the items at Shoppers Drug Mart, earning Optimum points on the free items in the process. I didn't even realize that yesterday was a bonus day for points, I earned $10 worth of points doing this! I then brought them to work to be donated to our local Food Bank.  I was able to donate $48 worth of items at no cost to me, and I am sure that they will be appreciated.  You can do things like this too!
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Flyers Night

FLYERS

Flyers Night and I don't mean a hockey game!

Flyer Time! Tuesday evening there is a little red plastic bag on my doorstep that excites me.  I love the flyers! The people that deliver the flyers know I love flyers, they beep the horn when they drop off the flyers. I make a mug of green tea and get ready for 20 minutes of home budget work. 

When I first started to watch my prices, I would write down when I got home from the store how much I paid for an item, and record the size of the item.  I would then figure out cost per unit…how much the item costs per ml, L, g and kg.  It gets a bit tricky as some items are priced per pound, be aware.  I am not the math person, and my husband gets calls from me time to time at the store asking him to figure this out fast! It can get over whelming at the store to do this when you are in the moment. 

** Look closely on the shelf on the item tag with the price, the cost per unit is there. I have always thought it was on regular price, but my friend that owns a store told me it is often done on sale items too! When I started getting hard core about pricing, it must not have been included on sale items, and I started the habit. I now will stop!  Just be conscious about cost per unit, you will save! 

I first sort the flyers by the grocery stores that I prefer.  No Frills in my town is my favorite grocery store and I start there. The owner is present, and is very helpful.  There is also the PC Plus program, and they Price Match.

I have small note paper that fits inside my coupon folder.   I make my own notepads. I write the store name as a heading, write the price of the item, and the name of the item.  If I have a coupon for the item I circle the item on my list. 

A deal I fell for...thankful for returns!

Coffee.  I need coffee! Seriously I have an addiction. My body goes through some nasty things when I don't have coffee early in the morning.
Wednesday night I popped in to the Superstore to see what the daily Bonus PC points deal was for the day. ( I scored well on Christmas PJS on Monday).
Bonus PC Points on Coffee was calling me to the aisle, it was like my body knew to go to that section.  There was a deal for every $10 spent on President's Choice coffee, earn 2000 Bonus PC points. This equates to $2 to redeem when you hit $20.
Quickly I scanned my PC app and found 1000 Bonus PC Points for every $5 spent on PC brand coffee, and PC coffee was on sale for $10 a 950g can.  I know that PC offers can be stacked, so I got caught up in the moment.
I bought 4 cans of coffee, spent $40 in money, and earned the $8 in PC points for the Wednesday offer, and $8 in my personal offers, meaning 16000 points ($16) to cash out when I hit 20,000 points.
If I calculate the points in with the cash paid, it worked out to $6 per 950g can of coffee!  SCORE!!
BUT WAIT....
When I came home I added the PC coffee to my Folgers coffee stock pile with 7 cans , and remembered my rate for the 920g can of Folgers coffee.
This coffee goes on sale often for $5.97 sometimes as low as $4.88.   I always find Folgers coffee coupons at the Super Store. The coffee that has been in my pantry a few weeks was on sale for $5.97 at No Frills, and I used $2 off coupons for the coffee, bringing it to $3.97 of actual cash spent, vs the $10 actual cost spent on the PC coffee.
4 cans of PC coffee equals $40 ($6 after points per can) .  4 cans of Folgers with coupons used prior equals $15.88 (3.97 per can or $4.97 with the $1 coupon)
Currently in my coupon book I have Folgers coffee coupons for $1.00 off expires May 31. Even if it goes on sale again for $5.97  and use the coupon it would be $4.97 actual cash.
The next morning I returned the 4 cans of PC coffee to Super Store and got the $40 back.
MORALE OF THE STORY:
We all get caught up in a deal from time to time.  Most of the time it is not too late to fix it, return the non deal when you have your mind clear.
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Christmas Budgeting

It is October, why am I worried about Christmas?   It is expensive, and you may be spending more money than you even realize.

 A quick Google search and I found that for 2016 the average American spent $935.58 on Christmas including food and decorations.   I couldn’t find a Canadian stat, but I am guessing it is close to this number. Calculate what you spend, and divide it by 12 to sock money away for the Christmas budget all year long.  Create an envelope solely for this purpose. 

Christmas is December 25^th every year, and I suggest you always have a spot in your budget for it.  Not planning for this large amount can really damage your hard budgeting work and lead to you starting the new year doing damage control. You still have 2 months to prepare for the big day, and 4 pay days.  Start preparing for Christmas now. 

I always try to scale back my Christmas to be smaller than the one before.  Not only does the price of things drive me bonkers, but I can’t handle all the clutter from the toys and ‘stuff’ around my house. 

Make a list of EVERYONE you need to buy for.  Family, and friends may come to mind easily, add in 2 gifts to wrap and stick under the tree in case someone shows up with a gift and you don’t have something for them.  If you exchange gifts with all of your family and friends, you may want to have a chat about cutting out this tradition. I know some families put everyone’s name in hat at Christmas dinner, and draw one name to buy a gift for the following year.  This can save you money and headache looking for gifts.  We don’t buy gifts for adults in my family. We buy gifts for the kids.  Two of the little kids live in BC and shipping gifts can be expensive.  Two years ago I had coupons for a free Hasbro toy worth $20 and sent them to the parents to pick them up a gift.  Last year I sent out a gift card to their parents, this year I am going to have Amazon ship the gift to their door to save money.  Be creative.

I use our home made wine for gifts our friends since it costs under $2 to make including the gift bag.  Don’t forget your child’s bus driver, teacher and activities leaders.  I don’t go over the top for this, I spend $5 or less on these gifts.  A coffee card means a lot. I have also shown up to my child’s activity with hot chocolate in a travel mug for the leader to drink too, and collect the mug at pick up. That is free and means the world to them. 

When I think about Christmas I think about all the yummy food and snacks that are eaten.  There are also more parties to prepare food to bring.  Make a list of the extra food you prepare during the holidays and add that into your December food budget.  I ball park that I will attend 3 parties each holiday season.  I have a few go to recipes I use, and allot $15 per holiday party, so that adds $45 to my food budget. I host Christmas dinner at our house every year, and I plan $50 for that in my December grocery budget. 

I shop all year long for Christmas gifts. Each child has their own large tote.  I put items that I buy after holiday sales and even new in package finds from yard sales.  On the weekend I sorted out the gifts, and   I managed to spend $70 for two stockings, and on gifts $192.  I’m happy with those numbers for two children.  I have a gift for my parents to pick up $20 each, and 2 cousins $20 each, and then I am done. That will bring my Christmas budget including the extra food to $437 spent on Christmas. If this was spent in one shot it would shock me, but a little bit each month makes it more manageable. Based on my budget, I should be putting $37 a month in my Christmas envelope. 

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A book to start your financial independance

I love to read. This book, The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey is the best financial book I have ever read. I suggest before you purchase this book to take a night to talk to your partner first.
Talk about your financial dreams. Then order this book on the link below.
It is a fast read. I made lots of notes as I read it, grab a highlighter and start dreaming!

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September Budget... Kid Activities

I don't know about you, but September always feels like the start of a new year.  Kids off to school and the beginning of new routines.
Which leads me to the kid activities!  We have two kids that are now 7 and 9 and boy are they busy!  I always say that we are cutting down the activities that they sign up for but something always sneaks in.
Today it was gymnastics.  Now there is an activity for the girls Monday to Thursday which lead to some hefty up front fees. OUCH!
We have an envelope in our cash budget system labelled Kid Activities.  Original eh? Each month we put a set amount of money in the envelope for the kids. Let's face it, they always want to do something.  Gymnastics and dance is paid for based on term, no more fees until the real new year.  Guides and Brownies is paid for in June for the year. But wait, there is a weekly dues. I always write a cheque and pay them for the year to keep it in the budget while also not relying on my bad memory as we are rushing out the door.
Even though all activities are allotted their money for the fall activities, the key is to keep saving. Keep adding to the envelope to build up the fund for the next round.
September also means back to school and after school child care for some.  Count these items in your budget. You may even start an envelope system too!
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