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Archive for July, 2014

More Traveling

July 31st, 2014 at 03:29 pm

I feel like I have spent the whole summer spending money on travel. In reality, it has all been planned. I do have one change, but it saved me money. I was going to see my family and friends in Michigan over Columbus Day weekend in October. I was checking plane fares weekly and suddenly they were increasing. I was seriously thinking of cancelling. Paying around $350 to fly from NH to Detroit is not my idea of being frugal. Since it's only a four day weekend driving was out of the question as was flying out of Boston (by time I pay for a shuttle there and back).

On Tuesday I found out my cousin is getting remarried Labor Day weekend and I also found out our schools here have a four day weekend (which means I can close the tutoring center four full days). I decided to look at flights that weekend and expected them to be outrageous. I found a flight and rental car for $298 total. This sure as heck beats $350 for just a flight! The one wrinkle is I will have to take a cab to the airport (6 miles) because my husband is flying home from Seattle that day, so he isn't available. My flight is at 5:30 am so I don't want to ask any friends either.

I will also have to get a wedding gift. One of my other cousins just separated from her husband so she is hurting a bit financially. I am hoping her and I can go together on a small gift. The best part of the whole deal is I have plenty of places to stay for free and all but one meal is already covered between invites to dinners, a barbecue, and the wedding.

In other news, I totaled up my July earnings for mystery shopping and the total came to $1132.58.

Amazon Prime Pantry

July 22nd, 2014 at 12:19 am

I am guessing this program is pretty new. I just stumbled upon it today. It is for Prime members and it is 5.99 for shipping everything you can fit in your box. As you add items, Amazon tells you how much room you have left. Delivery is 1-4 days.

There is not a huge selection so far, but it is a decent selection nonetheless. I found the prices to be fairly comparable to the big box stores. Maybe a few cents more, but I see advantages. I can save gas, shopping time, and best of all I can use my Amazon credit to increase my savings. There are also coupons available on certain items.

I just filled a box. I will let you know how the delivery goes. I only had $8 credit on my Amazon account due to recent birthdays. I ended up spending $51.84 including shipping for 14 items (shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap,sponges, lotion, paper towel, and a few food items). I told a friend and she asked how it was different from subscribe and save. The big difference is you are not having to order in bulk (which is great since we are only a family of three).

Curious what some of you will think after checking it out.

Spare Change

July 8th, 2014 at 10:58 am

I took my spare change to the credit union yesterday and deposited a total of $26.53 to my checking account. My DH has a medical bill that was higher than expected, and the deposit covers just about half of the increased cost.