Week #33 - a day short and a dollar late!

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to week #33 of the world famous OCD Savings Blog! So what should we talk about this week?! I don't really have anything planned so I'm just gonna type about a few things that recently came up and see what happens!

So you all know about the issues I have with customer service right? Well, it happened again! It was with Sirius Satellite Radio who I have had MANY issues with over the last 7 years. This time they did not send me a bill even though I pay extra ($2 per billing cycle) to get a paper statement in the mail. What they did was just use a credit on my account to renew a radio and never notified me. May not sound like a big deal, but they renewed it at the highest possible rate rather than giving me a chance to change to a longer/cheaper per month plan. Well, after about an hour on the phone of yelling at a man with a very thick Indian accent who insisted his name was "Steve" I got the radio they renewed extended for 5 months for no additional cost. I did invest the time, but its actually kind of cathartic to yell at someone that you've never met and will never speak to again and then get something free out of it in the end!

I did spend some money in the last couple of weeks to do some necessary repairs to my car. I can't complain to much because the car has 125,000 miles on it and up until last week I had only changed the tires twice, replaced the windshield once and replaced the front brake pads once. Besides oil changes that was it! So last week I had to get another set of tires and I had to have the brakes done. It ended up that I only did the rear brakes, but he did the pads and the rotors. He also found a broken coil spring that needs to be replaced once I get the part and he suggested that I replace a couple of belts to be proactive. Its a friend that did the work for a very fair price and I trust all his suggestions. That being said, it still sucks to spend money on car repairs! Luckily, I just took the money out of my 'car savings account' to pay for the parts and labor!

I have been trying to track how many miles I drive to get to different places that I need to go. I recently found a new way home from work that cuts out about 10-15 miles, but I need to do it a few times and see how much longer, if any, it adds to the trip and see if saving the miles is worth it. With the price of gas its worth cutting out any miles you can unless its a huge inconvenience!

I think that's about all I got for you guys and no one has really been commenting with suggestions or giving me ideas on what else to talk about... so you should do that and help me out!! Ok... this week I got a paycheck, but it was only for 4 days of work because I had to skip a day last week in order to do something I needed to complete for my current school program. Unfortunately it could only be done during my work hours so I missed the day. It was my choice to take it unpaid because I could have used a personal day, but I like to save those for as late in the year as possible! So my check was for $495.73 ($31.30 to the 401K). I really should put the entire check in the mortgage account, but I'm going to take $100 and put it in my regular checking account so I can keep the balance in the black. I think that even though only $395.73 will go toward the mortgage I should be okay for the month, but worst case I still have last weeks 'extra check' stashed away in my checkbook register! Yes... I know you're waiting to hear it, but I DID do my $20 vacation transfer... I'm OCD do you really think I could ever skip it!? Here's the wrap up...

Here is the week 33 wrap up:
$31.30 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund


Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1136.47 in my 401K
$660.00 in the vacation fund
$75.80 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$150.00 in my vet bill savings
$1583.00 in my money market
$1032.99 in my car account

For this weeks bonus I will tell you that my wife booked our vacation to Disney World for October of this year. Its kind of a vacation/anniversary trip and almost like a replacement honeymoon since last year when we went on vacation around the time of our wedding Hurricane Sandy kind of killed most of our plans! So maybe for next week I'll try to have some more details on what we booked and how we saved in the process! What are your vacation plans this year and did you cut any costs on it? Coupons? AAA Discount?

Week #32 - the extra week!

So August has 5 Fridays which means 5 paydays based on how I do my budget that means an extra paycheck! The first 'extra' paycheck of the year went toward the medical bills when I had my gallbladder taken out. The second 'extra' check went toward a trip to NYC I took with some friends. Well, except for having a very low checkbook balance, August hasn't shown any signs of an emergency so I don't have any concret plans for the check yet.

Since I don't have any plans for it what I'm gonna do is just set it aside uncashed in my checkbook until either I decide or I'm worried about the check being past its valid date. So with that being said I really have almost no news at all for this blog! I'll give you the details... the check is for $613.83 ($39.12 to the 401k) and thats about it for payday news!

I did cash in some cans this week and I was able to add $10.50 to the piggybank and even though my checking account balance is low I still did my $20 weekly transfer. So here is the wrap up...

Here is the week 32 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$10.50 to the piggy bank

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1105.17 in my 401K
$640.00 in the vacation fund
$75.80 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$150.00 in my vet bill savings
$1583.00 in my money market
$1032.99 in my car account

I dont really have any bonus news either, but I'll let you know in advance that I missed a day of work this week so the paycheck I tell you about next Friday will be short 8 hours of pay.... GASP, what ever will we do!?

 

Week #31 - negative balances & weekend plans

ok... so I've always known that my budget has some flaws in it, but doing this blog for the last 30 weeks has helped highlight them even more for me. If it wasn't for the 'hidden' money in my checking account I would have been overdrawn multiple times over the last few months, but having that cushion means that if my checkbook register says I'm negative $37.72 I'm actually still okay. Every once in awhile if things get real bad I'll take a bit of money out of my 'hidden' money and add it to my balance, but I haven't done that in a long time. Generally if I even have to borrow the 'hidden' money for something I make sure I replace it.

Well this month the budget holes are pretty obvious because when got my paycheck this week and looked at what I owed on my credit card (which was used only for gas last month) and the little bit that my checkbook was in the 'negative' it looks like I only have a couple of hundred dollars for the month and that would mean paying for everything I need to do for the next FIVE weeks! I'm pretty sure that I can't make that work, but I haven't figured out what I'm going to do about it yet. One idea is to take a little bit of cash from each of the other monthly paychecks and put it in my checking account. It will mean I don't save as much, but its what I will probably have to do.

I've got a couple of things coming up this weekend that will all cost money and I've been so wrapped up with being in school that I didn't really prepare for them like I usually do. This Saturday my wife and I will be getting up early and heading to Boston for the comic-con. Usually I only go to things like that where there is something very specific that I want to see or do and I didn't plan to go this year, but then they added my favorite artist, Terry Moore to the list of guests. I bought a book that Terry did a couple of years ago and each was supposed to come with a sketch in it, but he ran out of time and shipped them without the drawings. Because of that he said that anyone that has the book and can meet him will get a free sketch in the book. So I will be going to the comic-con mainly to get my original Terry Moore sketch.

After the comic-con we will be heading to a birthday party for one of my friends. He is turning 8 years old and the only thing he wants for his birthday is an XBox 360. Most people will be getting him gift cards to go towards getting the XBox, but I haven't decided what I'll be getting him yet even though the party is only 2 days away! I really need to figure that out asap!

That is all for this weekends plans, but there are other things coming up that sadly I will most likely skip because I'm being cheap with myself. I wanted to go to a Monster Movie convention in New Jersey this month to meet a few people that I would like to have sign a movie poster I have, but its a long drive and a very expensive day just for something like that! There is also a great music festival that I wanted to go to next weekend, but again its so expensive to be away and out of the house for 2-3 days plus the price of tickets to see the bands.

Ok... enough complaining... this week I got a paycheck for $613.82 ($39.12 to my 401K). I already mentioned that the check would be going into my regular checking account and the only money I really saved at all this week was my $20 vacation transfer. August is a 5 week month so we will see how that plays out when we get there. I know I have to miss a day of work (probably unpaid) next week because I have to complete a job shadowing at a school as part of the grade to get the certificate for the program I'm in right now. That will probably effect what I do with the check that ends up being short, but we'll deal with that when it happens. Also, I might have some cans to return for next week! So here is the wrap up for this week....

Here is the week 31 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1066.05 in my 401K
$620.00 in the vacation fund
$65.30 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$150.00 in my vet bill savings
$1583.00 in my money market
$1032.99 in my car account

For this weeks bonus I will just ask you a question. If you are paid weekly then there are 4 months per year that you get an extra paycheck (5 week months), what do you do with that 'extra money'? I've given you examples of how it works out for me. In March I used my 5th check to help pay for the bills from my gallbladder surgery. Then in May I used it to pay for a trip I took to New York with some friends. I'm hoping the one for August can either be officially saved or at least set aside for something unforeseen as of now, then I get another one in November that I will probably save for Christmas shopping bills! So, if your budget is usually based on 4 weeks worth of pay then what do you do with the 5th week? If August is 5 weeks for you (if you're paid on Fridays) then why not try and save at least a portion of that extra check! Whether you save it or not leave a comment with your plans for that extra check & let me know how it works out!

Week #30 - Bank Errors, Live Music & Extra Cash!

Ok... let me start off by letting you know that the issue I wrote about in last weeks 'bonus section' where one of my accounts showed a $50 withdrawal that I didn't do has been fixed. It was a teller error and the money was returned to my account so the crisis has been averted!

This week I got another item I ordered with my Coke points. Its a messenger style bag, but its actually pretty shitty and I wish I hadn't ordered it. I'll most likely end up giving it away or throwing it out because I wont use it. At least it didn't cost me anything in reality. I did use 600 points to get it, but I have a ton of points I haven't entered yet and I don't order stuff all that often so its not the end of the world.

I have a few things coming up over the next few weekends that I have to try and budget for, or at least figure out where to take the money for! This Saturday there is a show (concert) that I'll be going to. Its a whole bunch of bands, mostly from RI, but its an all day thing so I will have to eat lunch & dinner out and I'm sure I will buy a couple of CDs or T-shirts from the bands that are playing. Then the Saturday after that is the annual Boston Comiccon which costs $25 just to get into! On top of that maybe I'll buy something, but there will also be gas to drive to Boston and I'm sure you can't park for free! Then I have to go straight from Comiccon to a friends birthday party in Burraville, RI. He's turning 8 and I want to get him a cool gift (still not sure what to get yet!) so there are a few expenses coming up!

School is going well and that bill has been paid so there is no worry there which is nice. I do however have to eat dinner on the go on school nights (Tuesdays & Thursdays). I have been getting a wrap-sandwich from Subway and a bottle of soda which ends up costing about $5.50. That's a pretty cheap dinner so I'm not complaining, but it is more money out of my checking account twice a week. Good thing those Subway points are still adding up!

There was also a trip to Philadelphia that I wanted to make next month, but I don't think that will work out so I wont have to worry about money for that. There is another band coming to Boston that I'll be going to see near the end of August, but I might be able to get into that one for free if it all works out. Its good to have low friends in high places sometimes!

The only other thing that happened this week was I went on a day trip to Maine with some friends in a band and I sold shirts for them at the show. It was actually a pretty good night and I sold a lot of stuff so when it was all said and done they paid me $100 for the days work. It was a long day but it was lots of fun and totally worth it!

Ok... with all that said, lets get down to the money talk! This week I got a paycheck for $612.82 ($39.12 went to my 401K). I'm going to take $50.00 and put it in my quarterly loan payment account, $25.00 into the potential vet bill account and put the remaining $537.82 into the mortgage account. I did make that additional $100 from helping my friends band and I already deposited that into regular checking account which had gotten pretty low. I didn't have any cans to return this week,but I did my standard $20 vacation transfer! So here is the wrap up...

Here is the week 30 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$25.00 to the future vet bill account
$20.00 to my vacation fund

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1026.96 in my 401K
$600.00 in the vacation fund
$65.30 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$150.00 in my vet bill savings
$1583.00 in my money market
$1032.99 in my car account

For this weeks bonus I'm gonna do something that I've done a couple of times over the last 30 weeks, but I just want to make sure you see that simply by putting aside $20 a week I have saved $600 in my vacation account! Maybe you're saying you cant do that and you don't have an extra $20 a week, well even if you did 1/2 of that you would have $300. Whether you saved it for a vacation, a party, a fancy dinner, new clothes... whatever... you would have cash on hand just by cutting out 1 fast food meal per week, 1 pack of cigarettes or a couple of trips to Dunkin Donuts. Saving is something that anyone can do, but everyone makes excuses about why they can't do. Just decide you're going to do it, set an achievable goal and start today!

 

PS. I feel like I kinda phoned it in this week and the blog doesn't have much info in it. If you noticed too then I'm sorry and I'll try to do better next week even though there wont be much saving next week.

Week #29 - Cheap Glasses & Free Lunch!

wow... here we are at week #29 if my silly little blog. I have to admit that I have some times when I just want to stop doing it because I see that only a few people have viewed it, but the feedback I get from a few of you (and my general OCD nature) are what keep me going! So a huge thank you to the OCD Savings Blog weekly readers and supporters. If you haven't joined please check out the Facebook group and contribute your tips, hints and even sales you find on the go! Here is the link... www.facebook.com/groups/ocdsavings

 There has not been a lot going on in the world of money this past week. I did get the free lunch bag that I ordered from Coca-Cola using my Coke points and I started using that to bring my lunch to work. I also went back to the Coke website and ordered a different bag that was also completely free using just my points. I'm a fan of Coca-Cola so I like some of the stuff they offer anyway, but when its something I can actually use or need and its free its pretty awesome!

August 15th is the 2 year anniversary since I got my last pair of free safety glasses at work which means I am eligible to get another pair. I went and got the forms from the HR department today and will be booking an eye exam soon. Two years ago when I went for an exam I gave them my Blue Cross card knowing that my insurance didn't cover any eye exams. I figured I would eventually get a bill to pay from the doctor, but two years later I still didn't get a bill so I think I'll have to find a different doctor to go to or risk them pulling my records and having to pay the bill! No matter where I go I'll get the form filled out and get a free pair of glasses through work, then I'll take all the measurements and prescription info and go to ZenniOptical.com and pick up a new pair of super cheap prescription sunglasses and maybe an extra pair of regular glasses for an emergency. If you haven't used Zenni, I highly recommend them. I got prescription sunglasses for $20 and they work perfect!

So this is the third week of the month which usually means my whole check will be going into my mortgage account, but I'm going to change it up this month! I got a little bit of overtime which made this check a big higher than usual so I will be putting this check towards my savings. The check I got is for $648.63 ($41.47 to my 401K) and I'm going to space it out in a few different spots. I'm going to take $148.63 off the top and put it in my regular checking account as part of my 'enjoy life' initiative. The remaining $500 will be broken down like this: $325.00 to the money market savings, $150 to the future car savings and $25 to the future vet bill account.

In addition to my paycheck I also cashed in some deposit cans & bottles, some of which were donated to me by a reader. I have to admit that I had mixed emotions about taking them because part of me felt like she should have cashed them herself and saved the money, but it was a little more free cash for me! So I ended up with $8.60 in can money to put in the piggy bank and I also did my weekly $20 vacation transfer. On to the wrap up....

Here is the week 29 wrap up:
$41.47 to my 401K
$325.00 to the money market savings
$150.00 to the future car savings
$25.00 to the future vet bill account
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$8.60 to the piggy bank

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$987.84 in my 401K
$580.00 in the vacation fund
$65.30 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$125.00 in my vet bill savings
$1583.00 in my money market
$1032.99 in my car account

 Bonus Round.... I always speak very highly of the bank I got to, but that doesn't mean they are perfect and never make mistakes. Last Friday I deposited most of my check in my mortgage account, but I put $50 in my loan repayment account. Well the teller made an error and when I checked my online banking it showed a $50 deposit and a $50 withdraw on the same day. Knowing I didn't take any money out and no cash back I called the 800# for the bank and they are in the process of fixing the error as I type this. The moral is... make sure you check your bank balances!!

Week #28 - Small Checks & Big Bills

So last week I was in a crappy mood and ended up posting the blog late because I took an extra day off to make a four day weekend over 4th of July. I don't have much of a story to tell this week, but I'll give you an update on some stuff that has gone on in the world of spending & saving..

1- I've been collecting 'Coke Points' off of the bottle caps & soda boxes for a couple of years now and I have over 5000 points saved on-line. I check the catalog of gifts you can get every once in a while to see if there is anything new and I have used points a few times to get a t-shirt, a coke bottle shaped cake pan & a few other things. Recently I needed a new lunch bag for bringing food to work and instead of buying one with real money, I found one on the Coca-Cola website and ordered it for 300 Coke Points which pretty much means I got it free!

2- I talked about making complaints when service or products are not what they should be and I recently got 2 $10 gift certificates from the corporate office of a local convenience store chain because of some band products I bought from one of their stores. When I brought them to the store and asked if I could use it to buy just 1 bottle of soda they said yes, but when I did they gave me back the remainder in cash.... once again... Free Money!

3- I didn't tell this story, but I went to Applebees with my wife and mother-in-law for dinner a couple of weeks ago and they screwed up 2 out of 3 meals. We let the waitress know and the manager came over and said they were remaking the food, but when we got the bill they had not taken even 1 item off the bill. We didn't say anything, but when I got home I sent an email and filled out a survey which got me a call from a district manager. I explained what happened and he apologized and then a few days later I got a $20 gift certificate in the mail!

4- I have a pretty standard Saturday routine that starts with a trip to Rubber Chicken Comics (Main St. Bellingham, MA) followed by lunch at the Subway next door. I have a points card for Subway and have accumulated over 200 points, which is enough for 3-4 free sandwiches, but can be used for free smaller items also. They just started a promotion called '$4 Lunch' which is a 6" sandwich and fountain soda for... you guessed it, $4. I have been getting the $4 lunch and using 15 of my 'Subway Points' to get a free bag of chips which means I'm eating a filling lunch for under $5!

5- I was on a shopping trip with my wife at an Old Navy store and while she was shopping I checked out the t-shirts. I found a pretty cool Delorean shirt that was actually just a Delorean graphic and not a Back to the Future image. Old Navy was having a 30% off everything sale, but I also managed to find the only shirt on the rack that had a discount price tag of $4.95 on it (regular price was $15.95 I think). When it was rung up it came up at full price, but when we pointed out to the clerk that there was a discount tag on it, he changed it to $4.95 and also gave us the 30% off making the shirt about $3.50. Even with the amount of shirts I already have I couldn't turn down that bargain!

Ok... so hopefully you can take a couple of those things and turn them into a bargain or savings of your own. Now on to the weekly wrap up... I got a paycheck for only $495.73 ($31.30 was added to my 401K) because I took July 5th off to make a 4 day weekend after the July 4th holiday. I was going to deposit the full check into the mortgage account because its a smaller check, but I'm still going to put $50 in the loan repayment account and the remaining $445.73 towards the mortgage. I also did my $20 vacation transfer again even though after paying my credit card bill the checking account is looking a little thin!

Here is the week 28 wrap up:
$31.30 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$50.00 to the loan repayment account

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$946.37 in my 401K
$560.00 in the vacation fund
$56.70 in the piggy bank
$400.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$100.00 in my vet bill savings
$1258.00 in my money market
$882.99 in my car account

For this weeks bonus I'll just let you know that I got my car tax bill in last week. As much as it sucks to pay car taxes it was nice to know that I had money set aside to use for car expenses in my 'car savings account'. I just wrote a check, mailed it out and transferred the same amount from the car account to the regular checking account and I'm still left with money for repairs or a potential car down payment in the future. So start saving for those things now and you wont have to panic when the bills come in down the road!

Week #27 - no readers, no story...

I got a paycheck for $613.82 ($39.12 to my 401K). I deposited the whole thing into my checking account to pay bills and did my $20 vacation transfer.

Here is the week 27 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund

Which makes the 2013 totals:
$915.07 in my 401K
$540.00 in the vacation fund
$56.70 in the piggy bank
$350.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$100.00 in my vet bill savings
$1258.00 in my money market
$882.99 in my car account



Thats it.