Financial Fitness February: Day 4 (And a Money Saving Tip)

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Day 4 of February wasn’t too crazy for me, here’s what went down financially:

1.) More “Investments” In Items to Resell - I am trying to make a point to get around to all the major retailers in my area since getting back to Fargo.

I am trying to get a good amount of inventory as I work towards making reselling my biggest source of income in 2020.

Now is actually a great time to be doing this I have found as most stores are running winter clearance trying to get rid of all the left over inventory from the holidays and make room for new items.

MONEY SAVING TIP: Take advantage of store clearance events in your area. If you can, research ahead of time to see when they will be running them and use those times to purchase items you need but can wait to get a deal on.

Since I know that most people reading this are not resellers, I still thought it is worth mentioning. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond today and found they were running a Red Dot clearance event which means you take an additional 80% off the lowest marked price. This also includes clearance priced items, if they have a red dot sticker!

By taking advantage of this, I was able to get for example an item on clearance for $7.50 for only $1.50! thumb

2.) Free Lunch - Okay, so today II met with my former boss to discuss some things about digital marketing and he was so kind as to pay for my lunch today. Thanks Matthew!

All I have to say about this is obviously, one should never take advantage of someone to get something from them. However, at the same time, one should never be too proud to let someone else provide something for you.

Most of us feel really good when we give to others, and we should also remember to allow others to have the opportunity to do the same.

3.) Savings on Gas - Recently, a lot of gas stations have been competing with each other by offering rewards and incentives for purchasing gas from them. I like to take advantage of these as much as possible.

Today, I purchased $5 of gas from the Exxon Mobile as I have their app which gives me points for gas purchases which can later be redeemed for gas or other things. Gas was cheaper here than the station right next to it so I chose this one to save a little.

The reason I only got $5 was because I have some gas coupons to another gas station but I left them at home, so I decided to wait to fill up the tank until I can use those. Also, one of my credit cards currently is offering a 10% cash back on purchases from that same gas station so I figured I would maximize my savings by filling up there! (Will share the numbers with you when I fill up tomorrow)

FUN FACT: Totally unrelated but Tesla Stocks have risen over 100% since this time last month… so if you had invested just one month ago, you would have doubled your money.

LESSON LEARNED: Saving money is important no matter how small the amount. The actual savings on gas I made may only add up to pennies in actual value but over time pennies become nickels, nickels become dimes and before you know it you have saved dollars!

I am sure there are some other financial wins I am missing but I don’t want to bore you by making this post longer than it already is. So that will be wrap for today!

Did you make any decisions that had an impact on your finances today? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

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I like how you are detailing your savings…what a window into someone else’s world. Some things that I am trying (actually started in December 2019) include: (1) stopped buying personal protection disposable items, saving me upwards of $30-$35 a month (2) allowing myself only 1 quick meal out a week (3) cooking enough food (casseroles, macaroni dishes [i.e., American goulash], chicken parts) on Sunday or Monday for the week so I’m not tempted to eat out (4) buying deli ham/turkey and sourdough to make sandwiches for my lunch. (5) I too use the Exxon app to get savings on gas (6) last month (January), I made about $105 with mystery shopping. (7) continuing with Fetch and Inbox Dollars (haven’t cashed in yet)–trying to wait until I get $30 each (8) also doing some evaluator work for Appen.

My main focus this year is enlarging my immediate emergency fund and eliminating as much debt as possible. I have some personal objectives as well: continuing to take training courses to stay abreast of changes in my field and other topics of interest such as Google Analytics, SEO for e.g., (yes, I’m retired, but I still like to take on freelance work); working on some knitting projects; getting myself in shape for the surgeries that are coming this year; saving up in hopes that I can make my friend’s Naval reunion this year as I missed it in 2019 due to illness (bummer); attend church more often for the peace it provides.

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My grocery store visit ($105 before savings) on Monday was a stock up trip on BOGOs (buy one get one free) and at the same time I had $1.50 total in paper coupons for 2 of the BOGOs plus another $1.00 digital coupon on a BOGO because I have a loyalty card from that store and am signed up for their digitals, plus the trip earned me 1983 points at Fetch (I’m ready to cash out for a $10 gift card thru Fetch) and $1.85 towards my total at Ibotta which leaves me only 35 cents shy of being able to cash out $20 this round with Ibotta. I paid with a cash rewards credit card where I pay the total balance every month so further saved a percentage on the total purchase. Also purchased 2 items that honor Box Tops for Education and scanning my receipt earned 40 cents for my Grandkids’ school.

The only “unnecessary” purchase influenced by any of the cash-back apps or coupons was for Fetch for a beer I’ve never tried. But then again, I am always trying new craft beers so was it “unnecessary”?

I also used a 60% off coupon at a craft store to purchase an educational STEM toy for the annual Christmas toy drive since I was shopping in the same plaza. I do that every so often during the year so we have a nice variety to donate. I use our business rewards credit card which is paid off every month, as well, so there was a further percentage off and the purchase is also a tax write-off for our business.

After reading about some of the other cash out apps here at PH, I searched for some of the apps mentioned and was a bit overwhelmed at all the ones available that popped up over at Google, so I want to take some time to read about more opportunities!

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I did make some decisions today that impact my finances. Yesterday, I received my security deposit back from my former apartment, and paid it entirely to what is left on my vehicle. I debated if I should put it in my emergency fund or not, but decided that paying down the car was a better move. I will have the car paid off in 6 months.

Super psyched. Also this week, I got back to budgeting, etc, with my ‘financial partner’. We meet every 2 weeks for an hour to deal with our money. Keeps us accountable and encourages good decisions. Its been a game changer.

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@moore.income do you use the other cash back gas apps and other apps around Driving? You just scan your receipt, it doesn’t interfere with your actual cash back you get by using a specific card. apps like GetUpside, trunow, GasBuddy, OnMyWay, and Miles?

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@sthom Looks like you are on track well with a solid plan in place!

My wife has just recently started planning and making meals for the week as well. Not only does it save us money and keep us from eating out, it is also helpful to keep me from overeating which is helping me with some much needed weight loss.

Mystery shopping is a great source of extra income and also a good way to eat out on someone else’s dime! Of course, it is not the healthiest option, but in my town there are at least 4-5 different restaurants to shop a month.

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@mintjulep Coupons and BOGOs are great ways to save! I personally need to learn to do better with physical coupons. I know they can be really helpful but I tend to not think about them as much and I don’t really have a good source to get them.

Kohl’s is really the only store I have mastered the coupon game at.

What you say about the large number of cash out apps is true, and the problem is, a lot of them are either fake or don’t work like they say they do so they end up being a waste of time. So taking some time to research them further is actually a great idea!

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@kellyfromkeene Those are some great WINS! Thanks for sharing!

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Matthew Peterson posted:

@moore.income do you use the other cash back gas apps and other apps around Driving? You just scan your receipt, it doesn’t interfere with your actual cash back you get by using a specific card. apps like GetUpside, trunow, GasBuddy, OnMyWay, and Miles?

@matthew.peterson I have tried out GetUpside before. But the time I did, I went out of my way to go to an approved gas station while I was traveling and it resulted in nothing for me so I kind of gave up on it. I should probably look into one of those apps again but it was a bit discouraging at the time.

I did have OnMyWay installed while my wife and I drove around 48 states but I don’t think it worked most of the time and my results ended up being $152.80 in earnings to date.

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I go out for lunch with a group of ladies once a month (cheaper than dinner). I saved half (servings are usually large) to bring home and ate it today for lunch. SO, it’s (almost) like a free lunch!! haha

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@dboothe I love it when I go to a restaurant that serves enough for me to have an extra meal!

But I’m kind of a big eater so those restaurants are harder to find for me laugh

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My husband is too, so HE never gets a “free lunch”. LOL

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