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Coupons, BOGO offers and Peter Jennings

August 8th, 2005 at 02:07 pm

As I went to sleep last night, I heard on the radio that Peter Jennings (TV news anchor in the US) had died of lung cancer. It was only in April he announced the diagnosis, and he's already gone. He always looked rather youthful and healthy to me, and he'd supposedly stopped smoking 20 years ago, only to take it up again in the last few years. Even with all those non-smoking years, it still killed him. The only silver lining I can see about lung cancer is that it usually seems to kill quickly, rather than making you suffer for years on end.

The other day as I was flipping TV channels, and saw a repeat Oprah segment about what happens to your organs if you have unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking too much, or letting yourself get fat. They showed a pink, healthy looking lung of a non-smoker (who was, admittedly, dead from something else). Next to it they showed a gray, black-flecked, dead looking lung of a lifelong smoker.

I grew up around smokers, and although I had one uncle who had lung cancer, it's not what eventually killed him. I keep forgetting that smoking does actually KILL people; you are actually kind of lucky if something else happens to get you first.

My husband smokes. And I'm feeling really guilty that I've promoted his habit by signing him up for Kool coupons that come in the mail. Actually, I'd signed up under both our names. I figured he was going to smoke anyway, I might as well help him save a little money on it.

We both agreed it would be a bad idea to use the coupons for cartons, because we knew it would just encourage him to go through them faster. But it seems to me even the $1 off a pack coupons have upped his consumption. The fault is not completely mine--Kool has been having a lot of Buy One Get One Free packages recently, which just provides even more encouragement to buy and consume more.

I know too well the lure of coupons and other marketing gimmicks, and how it can make you buy more than you intended. If it just just affects your financial life, that's one thing. But this is something that can kill you. They banned TV ads for cigarettes for a good reason, but these coupons and BOGO offers seem to be even more powerful. And it makes me mad, at myself for participating in the marketing scheme, and at the powers that be that allow this kind of marketing to be used for cigarettes in the first place.

Week 1 - Over Budget

August 6th, 2005 at 10:20 pm

I put together a budget report on Quicken for 4-week period that's still based on the calendar month amounts I have budgeted there. It spit out that one week's worth of spending should be $125.29. I spent $145.56, or $20.27 more than I was supposed to.

There are a lot of little things I could have done differently, but mainly it's because I gave in to the lure of a bargain at Walgreen's. I only went to pick up the padded envelopes they had on sale, because I needed some before selling more on Amazon. But while there, I saw 2-packs of the specially marked Cheerios that have the rebate codes on them for free future boxes. They even had $1 coupons on them for Progresso soup! I bought 2 2-packs for $12. Also, I noticed they had a $3 rebate on razor blades I like so I bought a package for $10. They are things I'll need, but I don't need yet. And they were good deals, but not GREAT. Wish I could learn to resist this kind of temptation better!

End of the month stretch

July 22nd, 2005 at 03:20 pm

This is the first full month on my cheap-o 30 hours a month internet service. I'm down to about 4 1/2 hours, and there are 9 more days in the month, which means I have to be very careful and only stay online about half an hour a day. Thank goodness I can do a little extra surfing at work, on breaks or if I get in early. A month ago I was routinely online about 2 hours a day at home, and it took awhile to adjust downward--so I used up too many minutes early in the month. But I think I'll make it. It's still budgeting, whether it's time or money, which means it doesn't come naturally, for me anyway.

Money-wise, I'm doing better than I was last month at this point. But I'm still down to $55 in my "everyday expenses" category to last 9 more days. It's time to get more pet food, and I wanted to use a bunch of pet food coupons that expire July 31. But if I do a big stocking up to take advantage of the coupons, it won't leave me enough for regular groceries and more gas in the car. As usual, we're stocked up too far ahead on some things, and getting short on money for other things. I don't want to make it any worse. I think today I'll put the extra coupons in the exchange basket at work, so I'm not tempted to use them.

Cards, cards and more cards

July 15th, 2005 at 02:08 pm

I think I'll be shopping more at Target. Yesterday DMom and I stopped there after our lunch out. I figured I try to get as much done there as I could, being I had those discounted gift cards to use. It turned out great. Their prices aren't bad to begin with, and when you're saving another 20% on top... I saved myself extra stops at a dollar store and Petsmart and didn't pay very much more. Worth every extra penny to save trips! I plan on ordering more gift cards as soon as I can.

DMom and I had lunch at Charlie Brown's. She really likes their salad bar so we go there fairly often. It wasn't til yesterday I bothered to ask about their free "handshake card" program. You can get $10 gift certificates two different ways--each time your spending adds up to $200, and on your birthday. Or on the birthdays of the other family members you listed when you signed up. DMom's birthday is in a few weeks, so she should be getting a certificate right away; and DH's is in August, so we should get one for him soon also. Smile

I also joined BJ's Warehouse yesterday because of a 60-day free trial offer. I don't know if it'll be worthwhile, but I'm willing to give it a try. Yes, yet another card to try and cram into my wallet. Wink

The Reallionare book

July 11th, 2005 at 07:25 pm

What I liked about it--

--The author was obviously born with a gift for communicating, like Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan or Martin Luther King, Jr. It will be interesting to watch what he's doing in future years.
--He does obviously work hard, and has a lot of courage.
--He and his family have lived very interesting lives, and the book is a page-turner.


What bugs me about it--

--He has never actually held a job. His mother taught him that "only a fool would work himself to death for someone else," and that if you work a 9-5 job, all you will ever be is "Just Over Broke." Instead of suggesting people start side businesses, or start businesses later with money saved from a paycheck, he kind of makes it sound like we are all fools for working regular jobs at all.

--His mother had tried starting many businesses over the years, but they were still living in poverty when the book began. At one point she used the rent money to fund business proposal materials and didn't get the contract. All they were left with in the world was $40. She risked that rent money with several kids at home, knowing they'd probably be evicted, having experienced living in a car with them once already. She ended up applying for public assistance and food stamps. Nowhere in the book is anything said about this whole episode being a mistake, let alone irresponsible. Instead, his mother is held up as a hero.

--He was taught that "hustling" is a good thing. (I actually looked up definitions of hustling, just to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting what he meant. The definitions I found all pretty much have to do with pressuring people, deceiving them, misrepresenting yourself, and making ends meet through questionable means)

--He makes it sound like even though you have no money, you can become a partner in a new business and immediately be able to afford moving to a luxury apartment. This is supposedly what happened with his mother. I don't buy it, and I think it's a bad idea to give people false hopes about such quick results.

--In two little paragraphs at the end of the book, we find out that he actually LOST much of his money in late 2001.

Is is worth a read? Yes. Does it show a good plan to follow if you want to build financial security for the long term? Not exactly. As far as I'm concerned. the book is full of risky ideas I want to avoid! It's back to titles like Get Rich Slowly, for me. Wink

Deciding how to handle windfalls

June 26th, 2005 at 02:44 pm

A nice problem to have!

My mother is pretty generous with cash gifts for Christmas, birthdays and our anniversary. The thing is, often the money has gone right toward some kind of bill like car repairs, a new oven, etc. I've been glad to have the help, OTOH it's really a blow to the self-esteem to feel like we wouldn't be making it except for her help. Especially since I'm 48 and DH is about to turn 50. So what I've been trying to do with our budget is make sure we can cover all the necessities of life on our own and let the gifts be for extras or savings.

It was our anniversary yesterday, and the usual nice check has arrived in the mail. I've already set up automatic deductions from our checking account, sending 10% to our savings account for a new car and 10% as an extra payment on our (0%) credit card. The balance is what I'm still unsure about.

I want to be rid of the debt. I want to sock as much away in that new car savings account as I can. But I just signed up for two of those programs where you buy gift certificates at 20% off. It doesn't make sense to keep up the memberships at $14.95 a month and buy the GCs in dribs and drabs, with the savings barely covering the membership fee. What makes sense is figuring out how much I'd spend in a year at those stores anyway, buy the GCs all at once, and then quit at least one of the programs. That way, at least in theory, I'd be saving 20% off what I'd be spending on extras like clothing, plants, and home improvement projects anyway. This chunk of money would enable me to do that, and it's what I'd planned to do. But I seem to be chickening out.

I don't know if I've made a mistake in signing up for the programs or not. It's no biggie; I could buy nothing and just cancel before the 30 day trial period is up. Which is being more realistic and honest with myself--figuring I'd spend that money anyway and I might as well save 20%, OR, recognizing that as easy as it is to let small amounts of money slip through one's fingers week in and week out, I'd be better off putting this bigger chunk toward savings or debt while it's easy to do. Also, would I be able to save that 20% or even more by just shopping carefully and buying less? Will I feel stuck buying at the stores I have the GCs for even though I see a great sale somewhere else? Will I end up spending more because in the back of my mind, I'll be thinking about how much of a bargain I got on the GCs?

I guess at the most basic level, it comes down to spending vs. saving vs. paying on debt. They all seem to be pulling at me equally right at the moment.



Taking Actions

June 14th, 2005 at 02:08 pm

I was re-reading an old book I have, How To Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, & Live
Prosperously, by Jerrold Mundis. One concept I want to remember is to Take An Action.
I like it a lot better than just Doing Without.

His idea is, don't just sit around and wish things were better. Keep trying a variety of
things to make or save money. You have no control over the results, and many
ideas will fail. OTOH, some will succeed.

"Fish lay thousands of eggs. Only a tiny percentage of these ever hatch--yet there are a
lot of fish around. If I take ten actions and only three work, I've still made three gains I
couldn't have if I'd simply sat around wishing something were different. It's taking action
that counts."

When I think about it that way, I don't feel so bad about some of my ideas that haven't
worked out. There have also been successes. This morning I emailed a local movie
theater chain to see if they have a "secret shopper" program--you see movies for free but
also have to turn in reports on your experience at the theater. It was an idea in Budget Living
magazine. It may or may not work out--but you never know til you try!


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