Archives for 2012

Decluttering: 2012 Project Simplify – Finished

April 2, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Simple Mom

With the beautiful weather outside, our family spent many hours outdoors this week. After lunch each day, my older daughter and I spend time tending our garden and keeping the tomatoes, basil, and strawberries well-watered.

Since I have not begun switching my children’s clothes from winter to spring, I have no pictures to share on that front. But to present results from Project Simplify, I will share my before and after pictures of my bedroom transformation.

When I switched my children’s clothing from summer to winter, my room housed all the piles of clothing. In a phrase, it was a mess! However, after packing, labeling, and cleaning, Paul and I got our room back. Are you ready for the pictures? I’m warning you, it is a little scary. 🙂

Before

After

Now that our bedroom remains clean and organized, I’m about to switch the children’s clothing again. So, I might have a mess for a week, but I will get my room back . . . eventually. 😉 Happy organizing!

Question: Did you take part in your own Project Simplify? If so, what did you tackle?

2012: Happy Palm Sunday!

April 1, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Flickr (James Emery)

Celebrating the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:1-11 ESV).

In celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, occurring the week of his death (Good Friday) and resurrection (Easter Sunday), may you mediate on His journey to the cross for you.

Happy Palm Sunday!

Tax-Favored Programs: Pre-Tax Group Insurance Premium

April 1, 2012 by Tracy

What a special day! Palm Sunday and April Fools’ Day! Just know that if someone throws you a curve, be ready for an April fools’ joke. Since playing pranks is not a typical activity in our household, this day usually occurs without incident. However, I never know what a day may bring. 😉

Last week, we began the next category in organizing our important documents. I began the tax-favored programs’ category with Health Savings Account (HSA) documents. Having had an HSA in the past, I kept those documents within this sixth file opening. Today, I will continue with this category focusing on the documents within this file slot now.

Summary Page

At the beginning of each category, I include a summary page with details on these accounts. Since I no longer have HSA documents, I place this summary page first which is before the pre-tax group insurance premium documents.

Pre-Tax Group Insurance Premium

Defined

Our pre-tax group insurance premium allows us to pay our health, dental, vision, and life insurance premiums with pretax dollars. When enrolled, our insurance premiums get paid first. Then the tax calculation runs the remaining paycheck amount before deducting the proper tax amount.

By paying our insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars, we get the tax benefit immediately. No forms or calculations need to be kept for tax preparation. What a great benefit!

Cost

With Paul’s current employer, we have the choice of accepting or rejecting this option. Since I cannot imagine rejecting this option, we accept it at a cost of $.12 per month or $1.44 annually, deducted before taxes. For us, the cost is minimal compared to the hundreds of dollars we save each year.

Our pre-tax group insurance premium provider offers the pre-tax option and the spending accounts: medical and dependent care. Though the one insurance company provides all three types, we can choose to enroll in none, one, two, or all three of these benefits.

At Paul’s previous employer, the pre-tax group insurance premium was an automatic benefit to us at no cost. Each business operates differently. If you are not sure if you have this option, you can contact the benefits’ administrator through the issuing employer for answers.

Documents

In my file, I have these following items housed behind our summary page:

1. Confirmation Notice of enrollment in the pre-tax group insurance premium feature

2. Brochure detailing the insurance premium feature

3. Privacy practices of issuing insurance company

Keeping these documents together and housed in the same file opening as the spending accounts, I can quickly find the information if a problem arises.

In using time wisely, I researched the pre-tax group insurance premium option and discovered that the benefit was worth the annual $1.44 cost for our family. As you organize your important documents, consider reviewing your options. You might be missing benefits that will save you hundreds of dollars. Happy organizing!

Question: Do you have access to a pre-tax group insurance premium?

Register Review: CVS – March 26, 2012 Edition

March 31, 2012 by Tracy

Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is another installment of Register Review, but from a drugstore perspective.

With most of our household items fully stocked, the only way drugstores can lure me into their doors is by offering a great deal on diapers or holiday items, or if my rewards are about to expire.

This week, CVS won me over. I shopped early in the week to snag these 12 items for $0.75 in 2 transactions. Yep, less than a dollar for 12 items. Want to see how?

When I entered the store, I scanned my CVS Extra Care Card at the red coupon machine. The machine ejected coupons. My children scanned the card again which resulted in more coupons. On the third scan, a message indicated that more coupons would be available tomorrow.

The coupons that print from the red coupon machine are CVS store coupons, which you can combined with manufacturer coupons. I received a CVS coupon for $1 off 2 seasonal M&Ms packages, and another coupon for $.25 off any 2 Mars Easter eggs. Knowing I was purchasing these two items, I added them to my CVS envelope to use at checkout.

Transaction #1

Allowed cashier to scan my Extra Care Card and my Green Bag Tag (which earns $1 in Extra Bucks for every 4^th scan – only one scan allowed per day)

Purchased 2 single Snicker Easter Eggs – earn $1 in Extra Bucks (store credit) when you buy 2 Mars Easter Eggs or Bunny Singles for $0.50 each (limit of 2 deals).

Subtotal: $1

Used CVS $0.25 off coupon

Total: $0.75 + $0 tax

Paid the $0.75 and received $1 in Extra Bucks (a coupon that prints at the bottom of my receipt)

*ahem* 2 of the Snicker eggs did not make the photograph 😉

Transaction #2

Allowed cashier to scan my Extra Care Card before ringing merchandise

Purchased 2 single Snicker Easter Eggs – earn $1 in Extra Bucks when you buy 2 Mars Easter Eggs or Bunny Singles for $0.50 each (second deal – limit reached)

1 bag of Gold Emblem Jelly Beans – earn $.99 in Extra Bucks when you buy these jelly beans for $.99 (limit 1)

1 Colgate 360 Toothbrush – earn $2 in Extra Bucks when one purchases this toothbrush for $2.99 (limit 2)

6 bags of M&Ms – $3, but buy one get one free (limit of 6). My store was already out of the seasonal peanut and almond varieties, so they substituted the non-seasonal version for my sale.

Subtotal: $13.98

Used the following coupons:

CVS $1 off coupon for 2 bags of seasonal M&M’s

4 – Manufacturer’s coupons for $1 off any 2 Mars Easter Items

1 – Manufacturer’s coupon for $1 off Colgate 360 toothbrush

Used the following Extra Bucks

$5.99 from a previous week

$1 from an earlier week’s green bag tag usage

$1 from Transaction #1 – rounded down to $.99

Total: $0 with $0 tax, and received Extra Bucks for $1 (Snickers eggs), $2 (toothbrush), and $0.99 (jelly beans).

For a total of $0.75, I purchased $33.31 of merchandise which is a 97.7% savings, and I have $3.99 in Extra Bucks to spend at CVS by April 24, 2012.

Taking the time to learn the drugstore game was time well spent. By matching sales, store coupons, and manufacturer coupons, the savings multiply. Long before I began seeing the deep discounts at the grocery store, I practiced and refined the drugstore game. I concentrated on CVS for a few months.

When I understood and had successful trips, I branched out to learn Walgreens. After nailing down the Walgreens system which is different from CVS, I learned Rite Aid which is unique from CVS and Walgreens.

Each store is different and learning the tips and tricks takes time, but for my family, it is using time wisely. Hope you have enjoyed these register reward breakdowns.

The sales in this post were for this week. However, the M&M and Snicker eggs were part of a 3-day sale that ended on Tuesday. The toothbrush deal will continue through today. If your store is out, request a rain check. Happy savings!

Question: Do you shop at CVS? Why or why not?