In the Black

Following are some recent personal finance articles I have written.

Reasons not to cut up your credit cards even if you are not charging

Benefits of Cutting up credit cards

How to spend $5 less a day

Personal finance tips for teenagers

Personal finance tips for retirees

This week through Saturday, June 22 CVS and Walgreens both have Purex laundry detergent on sale, Buy 1 get 2 free. The price at CVS is $6.49, so it comes to $2.16 per bottle.

At SunMart stores this week you can purchase select Kelloggs cereals 3/$9.00. In addition, there is a coupon in the flyer to get 2 more boxes and a gallon of milk free when you purchase the 3 boxes.

The cereals included are Cocoa Krispies, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Crispix and a variety of Special K flavors.

The sale runs from Sunday, June 16 thru Saturday, June 22.

I have posted several times about shopping at drugstores such as Walgreens and CVS. The sale prices at both stores run from Sunday thru Saturday. The flyers can be found in most Sunday newspapers and on their websites. There are many blogs that list deals that can be found at the stores each week and any coupons that may be available. One of these is Money Saving Mom.

I recently received an email with the total I saved from April 2012 thru April 2013. I purchase most of my Health & Beauty items, some groceries and many other items at CVS. I also purchase gift cards and other gift items and they count towards my quarterly spending. This amount can be saved just by having an ExtraCare Card.

You can register for the ExtraCare card for free and get sale prices on certain items each week. In addition, they offer ExtraCare Bucks (ECB) on certain items each week, which are coupons for a certain amount to use on a future purchase within a month. Many cases, the ECB is the same as what you are paying for the item. So if you use the ECB on another purchase, it is like getting the original item for free. If you have a manufacturer coupon for the item you could “make” money on it.

ExtraBucks Rewards:
Quarterly Rewards $83.56
Weekly Ad Items $350.31
Beauty Club $10.00

ExtraSavings:
Sale Price Savings
(From using ExtraCare card)$955.35
ExtraCare Coupon Center $23.75
Exclusive Coupons $254.66

Total Savings & Rewards $1,677.57

This is one way I have found to save money of items I need. I shop for most of the items I need at the drugstores and grocery stores instead of going to WalMart, Target and other stores.

Making your own popsicles is a way to both save money and know what ingredients are in them. Many of the items you purchase have more sugar and ingredients than when you make your own.

I purchased these popsicle molds at Family Dollar for $1. I saw some at another store that were about half the size and were $5. They are smaller than most of the fudge pops or popsicles that you purchase in the stores, this may also help you with portion control.

I used this recipe for fudge pops since I had all of the items on hand.

Some of the recipes I found called for sweetened condensed milk or whipping cream.

This is one recipe that I haven’t tried yet recipe with just instant chocolate pudding and milk.

There are many recipes on line for popsicles and fudge pops.

One of the activities for kids during the summer are movie specials. Fargo Theatre is having kids movies on Wednesdays at 10 am and 1 pm from June 12 thru July 24. All seats are $3 and small soda & popcorn for $2. The movie for June 12 is Rise of the Guardians.

Marcus Theatres is showing kids movies Tuesdays thru Thursdays at 10:00 for $2 with popcorn and soda for $2.50. The series begins on June 18 and the movie will be Earth.

Many public libraries offer free movies at certain times during the summer.

I saw in today’s newspaper that Hornbahcers stores have head lettuce on sale 3/$1, Sunday thru Tuesday, June 9-11.

Here is the update of the progress of my goals for May.

For my exercise goal, have been doing the 30 Day Squat Challenge. I am about 11 days into a second month of it. There are other versions such as this. Besides the Squat Challenge I have also been doing some walking outside. In May I went on a West Coast cruise. I only gained 2 pounds, usually I gain about 5 pounds when I go on a cruise. I have heard some people can put on 10-15 pounds in that week. I continued the 30 day Squat Challenge, walked quite a bit and watched what I ate. I enjoyed myself but tried to practice moderation when dining. Just because there is food everywhere doesn’t mean you need to spend all week eating. I have been able to lose that 2 pounds in the few weeks since I returned. Other times I was not able to lose the extra weight between annual cruises.

I have been following the 52 Week Saving Plan. Even if you don’t want to participate in this program, anything you can save makes a difference. I have also heard of savings a dollar a day for a year.

I have been following the YouVersion.com plan to read the Bible in a year. I have kept up with it for January thru May.

One of my goals is to write an e-book a month. For May I published an E-Book,
Summer Survival Tips with tips and ideas of ways to keep your kids entertained during the summer.
Here are the other Ebooks I have written.

I have also been keeping up with the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks program by reading at least one book a week. The latest books I read were The Ultimate Gift and The Ultimate Journey by Jim Stovall and really enjoyed them

There are a variety of ways you can save even more money at Target. There are printable coupons that you can print out for savings on certain items. These can be stacked with manufacturer coupons if available. You can also download an I Phone or Android Target app and receive coupons on your mobile phone or device. You show the cashier the code on your phone to receive the savings.

There is a new savings program at Target called Cartwheel. Here is a post from Totally Target explaining the new program. You will need a Facebook account and a mobile phone to be eligible for these savings.

Target also regularly has specials where if you buy a certain number or dollar amount of a product you will receive a $5 gift card. This deal can get even better if you have manufacturer coupons for the items.

Personally, I don’t shop at Target very often. As I have posted before I can purchase most of the items I need at CVS, Walgreens and the grocery stores. They are smaller stores and I can get in and out quicker than Target and I feel there is less temptation to make impulse purchases.

To celebrate their 55th Anniversary, Pizza Hut is offering a large one topping pizza for $5.55 thru Saturday, June 15. To get the offer, you must place your order online and choose to carry out.

I did it yesterday and it was $5.96 with tax.