We paid the car off on Friday, 7/29/11. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. This was a HUGE milestone for us, as it's now one less thing for us to have to worry about. We've had a couple of Negative Nellys who were trying to discourage us, but as Dave says, if we're being made fun of, then we're doing something right.
However, with this accomplishment, we reach a "hurry up and wait" point. Jonny's school plans for his CPA test prep have changed once more...hopefully for the final time this time. The latest plan is that he's going to take his final 4 classes this Fall to meet the 150 credit hours he needed to get his CPA license. Originally he was going to wait until Spring to take those classes, due to a particular elective being offered. He was able to get into another class in its place for the Fall. So now the new plan is that in the Spring he'll begin taking the 4 parts of the CPA exam.
He's taking classes at night, so he'll have the availability to take on a full time regular working hours job, IF he can find one. He still hasn't been able to find anything more permanent. We are fairly certain though, that his current employer will keep him through December, but once he's done with Fall classes, if he hasn't gotten something else lined up, then he's not going to have an income anymore. This is a worst case scenario that I really REALLY hope doesn't happen. Since is is a possibility, though, this means we HAVE to temporarily halt the baby steps and build up as much cash as possible. We are entering Storm Clouds mode. Why? Because my income alone is not enough to cover our regular expenses plus student loan payments. If we didn't have the student loans, my income would cover our basic living expenses. But because off the student loans, we don't have the luxury of being a 1 income only family.
So....for the next 5 months, we're going to follow our written budget, pay the minimums on the student loans, and anything extra at the end that would "normally" be applied as a snowball payment to the student loan, is going to be put into our emergency fund. This will cover us so that if we have a few months of him being unemployed, we'll still have a way to pay the bills. I pray though, that he'll find a full time job soon, and we can resume working the baby steps.
Until next time....
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Extreme Couponing: Sorority House Style (Part 5)
Yes, it most certainly CAN be done! Even though the table below has alot of red numbers, indicating that I was over the target budget for that individual item, the few green items held such a significant savings that it offset the red items.
I did take the paper towels from yesterday back to Kmart. The 20% One Day Event at Big Lots had almost all of the rest of the items on the list, including a better deal on paper towels, and because of the 20% discount, I was able to finish shopping today. The only item I didn't get was the Vanilla Scents, which I intend to get early in August. I think that I'll be able to find some Febreze room spray coupons soon.
Total spent so far is $206.93. I need to save about $6 for vanilla room spray, to account for tax, which leaves $38.07. I have been told that the chapter wants to buy a Brita water pitcher and some filters. I need to confirm if they have a pitcher already and need just the filters, or if they also need the pitcher. Once I confirm, I'll be able to shop for these as well.
Here's a picture of what $206.93 looks like:
I did take the paper towels from yesterday back to Kmart. The 20% One Day Event at Big Lots had almost all of the rest of the items on the list, including a better deal on paper towels, and because of the 20% discount, I was able to finish shopping today. The only item I didn't get was the Vanilla Scents, which I intend to get early in August. I think that I'll be able to find some Febreze room spray coupons soon.
Total spent so far is $206.93. I need to save about $6 for vanilla room spray, to account for tax, which leaves $38.07. I have been told that the chapter wants to buy a Brita water pitcher and some filters. I need to confirm if they have a pitcher already and need just the filters, or if they also need the pitcher. Once I confirm, I'll be able to shop for these as well.
Here's a picture of what $206.93 looks like:
| Item | Quantity | Budget(50%) | Actual After Tax | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toilet Paper | 104 rolls | $36.00 | $28.89 | 27 megarolls = 108 regular rolls |
| Paper Towels | 52 rolls | $25.00 | $31.10** | 4 packs of 15 = 60 rolls |
| Trash Bags | 400 Bags | $52.00 | $32.04 | 3 packs of 150 = 450 bags |
| Dish Soap | 12 Bottles | $18.00 | $18.63** | 5 large refill bottles, 1 small bottle to refill and leave on counter |
| Dishwasher Liquid | 24 Bottles | $72.00 | $41.34 | 330 dishwasher packs, slightly less than 1 per day |
| Bath/Kitchen Hand Soap | 24 Bottles | $12.00 | $14.98 | 5 large refill bottles = 24 regular bottles |
| Magic Eraser | 1 pack | $2.50 | $3.24 | 1 pack of 4 |
| Napkins | 6 packs | $4.50 | $6.48 | 3 packs of 200 napkins |
| Kleenex | 12 Boxes | $9.00 | $9.63** | 8 Family boxes = 14 regular boxes |
| Windex | 2 Bottles | $3.00 | $3.89 | |
| Bathroom Cleaner | 2 Bottles | $3.00 | $3.46 | |
| Kitchen Cleaner | 3 Bottles | $4.50 | $2.59 | |
| SOS Pads | 1 box | $2.00 | $0.82 | Box of 15 |
| Sponges | 2 packs | $2.00 | $3.96 | 2 packs of 4 |
| Rags | 2 bundles | $1.00 | $4.32 | 1 pack of 18 - didn’t want the girls wasting paper towels to clean counters! |
| Duster | 1 | $1.50 | $1.56** | |
| Vanilla Scents | ??? | $5.00 | $--- | Did not purchase yet |
| Total | $250.00 | $206.93 | ** Indicates over budget only because of tax OR bulk quantities and tax. |
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Extreme Couponing: Sorority House Style (Part 4)
Finding decent paper towels at less than $0.50 a roll is extremely difficult. I've been casually shopping prices everywhere I go for the last month. If you are payinmg more than $1 per roll, you're spending way too much....but to try to cut that price in half DOES make things very challenging.
Dont get me wrong. I DID find a 3 pack of Dollar General brand paper towels for $1.50 today, which was their regular price. But the size of the rolls were small, and they did not look very absorbent. I couldn't, with a good conscience, buy these paper towels for college students. They would have needed to use more to get the job done, which would have been wasteful.
Luckily, since I'm under budget on the other items I have already purchased, I have that extra amount to use for other items that it's just too difficult to meet the 50% of retail price goal. I finally found a GREAT deal of Sparkle paper towels at Kmart today. Regular price for 8 rolls was 6.79, which is a "good" price at less than $1 per roll. They aren't as high quality as Bounty, but it's a good product. The sale price was $4.99 for an 8 pack. I bought 7 packs for $37.38 with tax, or about $0.67 per roll
I'm torn about this purchase. I know that it was a good price, but it still was not $0.50 per roll, like I wanted. I'm still under total budget, and I'm confident that I'll be able to get the rest of the items I need and not go over the total budget.
I'm going to see what kind of deal I can get at Big Lots tomorrow with the 20% off entire purchase 1 day special they have going on. If I can find a better deal, I'm going to take these back to Kmart. I'm sure I'll get a few more of the remaining items on the list tomorrow as well.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Washington makes me sick.
"Republicans are insisting they will note vote to raise the debt limit without major spending cuts; Democrats are refusing to sign off on cuts of such magnitude without at least some tax increases as well. Republicans say they won't sign off on any tax hikes at all, including those Obama wants targeting the wealthiest Americans or closing loopholes to corporations."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43645224/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/obama-warns-against-short-term-debt-deal/
Washington really needs to go through FPU. If you don't have the money, you cannot spend it! Raising taxes on Americans should not be the equivalent of asking for a credit limit increase. Washington needs to make a prioritized budget, and if the program falls below the line of where the money runs out, then that program doesn't get funded. If you need more money to fund more programs, you need to find the individual equivalent of finding a part time job! Hiking taxes on Americans is not the part time job income generator.
Good job, Democrats, you refuse to grow up and realize that you cannot stretch the dollar any further than it will actually go. If you cannot afford it, you cannot buy it. Quit throwing a temper-tantrum and demanding a "raise" (read: increased debt ceiling) just so you can continue to give deadbeats a frikkin handout.
Republicans, you aren't much better. Have you no backbone? "Oh, well, if cuts are agreed upon by the dems, then we'll vote to increase the debt limit." Um, no....no increased debt limit is needed. If cuts are made, then no increase will be necessary. SIMPLE CUTS are needed to balance the budget. Period. No tax increase, no increased debt.
Dumb politicians.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43645224/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/obama-warns-against-short-term-debt-deal/
Washington really needs to go through FPU. If you don't have the money, you cannot spend it! Raising taxes on Americans should not be the equivalent of asking for a credit limit increase. Washington needs to make a prioritized budget, and if the program falls below the line of where the money runs out, then that program doesn't get funded. If you need more money to fund more programs, you need to find the individual equivalent of finding a part time job! Hiking taxes on Americans is not the part time job income generator.
Good job, Democrats, you refuse to grow up and realize that you cannot stretch the dollar any further than it will actually go. If you cannot afford it, you cannot buy it. Quit throwing a temper-tantrum and demanding a "raise" (read: increased debt ceiling) just so you can continue to give deadbeats a frikkin handout.
Republicans, you aren't much better. Have you no backbone? "Oh, well, if cuts are agreed upon by the dems, then we'll vote to increase the debt limit." Um, no....no increased debt limit is needed. If cuts are made, then no increase will be necessary. SIMPLE CUTS are needed to balance the budget. Period. No tax increase, no increased debt.
Dumb politicians.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
"I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up"
Behold, a post on a message board I frequent.
I am 28 years old, male
married, 3 kids (3, 21 months, 1 month)
I was active duty military
now I am in the reserves
I am full time in seminary (masters level theological education)
we live off the GI bill, monthly drill pay, and what I make part-time working security about 2,100/month
I have 2.5 years left of the GI bill, after that I have no idea what I am going to do
I have never prepared, pursued, or interviewed for a "real job"
I am interested in real estate
I have no idea what I will do in 2.5 years
After several questions and responses from other users, we find out that this guy has no desire whatsoever to be a pastor. Mmmkay, so why are you in masters level seminary? His response was
my entering seminary was a condition for me to get out of the Army early
I am a chaplain candidate in the Army Reserve
at the completion of my degree I will be qualified to be a US Army Chaplain
if I do that I would most likely join the Reserves
I still need a "9-5"
I have no interest in becoming a "pastor"
My first thought was that this guy, bless his heart, found a way to scam his way out of his military obligation early. But I think there's a hole in his story somewhere, because usually to qualify for those kind of programs, you have to commit to serving a certain amount of time. I mean, I got out of the Navy 3 months early so I could start college in August rather than having to wait until January, but it wasn't on the wings of a special program to make me more valuable to the navy.... it just saved them 3 months worth of giving me a paycheck when my ship was decommissioning and they would have placed me somewhere temporarily anyway.
But besides all of that....I'm really interested in the fact that this guy is living on/using his GIBill to learn a skill trade that he *might* only use 1 weekend a month. That would be fine and good if you could live off the army reserves paycheck you would earn, but last time I checked, a reservist paycheck is only a few hundred bucks, depending on your rank. Why in the world would you fluff around for 2.5 years to learn a trade you have no desire to use, when you could be using that time to learn skills that will help you support your family in the long run?
This is not the first time I've heard of a veteran who didn't use his benefits wisely. Sure, he served, he earned it and can use it how he sees fit, but he's going to be in for a reality shock if he doesn't figure out what he wants to be when he grows up.
I am 28 years old, male
married, 3 kids (3, 21 months, 1 month)
I was active duty military
now I am in the reserves
I am full time in seminary (masters level theological education)
we live off the GI bill, monthly drill pay, and what I make part-time working security about 2,100/month
I have 2.5 years left of the GI bill, after that I have no idea what I am going to do
I have never prepared, pursued, or interviewed for a "real job"
I am interested in real estate
I have no idea what I will do in 2.5 years
After several questions and responses from other users, we find out that this guy has no desire whatsoever to be a pastor. Mmmkay, so why are you in masters level seminary? His response was
my entering seminary was a condition for me to get out of the Army early
I am a chaplain candidate in the Army Reserve
at the completion of my degree I will be qualified to be a US Army Chaplain
if I do that I would most likely join the Reserves
I still need a "9-5"
I have no interest in becoming a "pastor"
My first thought was that this guy, bless his heart, found a way to scam his way out of his military obligation early. But I think there's a hole in his story somewhere, because usually to qualify for those kind of programs, you have to commit to serving a certain amount of time. I mean, I got out of the Navy 3 months early so I could start college in August rather than having to wait until January, but it wasn't on the wings of a special program to make me more valuable to the navy.... it just saved them 3 months worth of giving me a paycheck when my ship was decommissioning and they would have placed me somewhere temporarily anyway.
But besides all of that....I'm really interested in the fact that this guy is living on/using his GIBill to learn a skill trade that he *might* only use 1 weekend a month. That would be fine and good if you could live off the army reserves paycheck you would earn, but last time I checked, a reservist paycheck is only a few hundred bucks, depending on your rank. Why in the world would you fluff around for 2.5 years to learn a trade you have no desire to use, when you could be using that time to learn skills that will help you support your family in the long run?
This is not the first time I've heard of a veteran who didn't use his benefits wisely. Sure, he served, he earned it and can use it how he sees fit, but he's going to be in for a reality shock if he doesn't figure out what he wants to be when he grows up.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Extreme Couponing: Sorority House Style (Part 3)
I picked up dishwasher pacs and trash bags at Sams Club tonight. I looked over the weekend at the prices at Target and Dollar General for these items, and thought I was going to get a pretty decent deal if I had gone with either of those options. However, Sam's Club had the best deal in the end.
My budget for trash bags was $52.00 for 400 bags, which calculates out to $0.13 per bag. At Target, I found a way to get drawstring bags for $0.11 each, or tie flap bags for just under $0.07 each. I was told to go for best value, but I had to get a second opinion before I did anything else. For me personally, best value trash bags = least expensive. On the other hand, a college student may think the best value includes the convenience of drawstrings. After consulting with my contact, I was told to do whatever I felt was best....
Today, I got lucky. I went to Sams Club to check out the prices. They had their store brand, Members Mark, drawstring trash bags in packs of 150, for $10.68 (after tax). This came out to $0.071 per bag. I figured that THIS was the best value. Drawstring bags at the approximate price I had found for the tie flap bags. Yeah, they aren't name brand, but for goodness sake, it's trash bags. I bought 3 packages for a total of $32.04 after tax.
The next item I bought was dishwasher packs. The list originally asked for the dishwasher liquid that you squirt into the compartment. I personally do not like this liquid because I think it's easy to become wasteful with it, annnnnd, it's way over priced. So I decided to go with dishwasher packs. I estimated that the dishwasher would need to be run once per day. This may need to be re-evaluated, but for purposes of shopping, I had a goal of purchasing around 365 packs.
I had a budget of $72.00 for dishwasher liquid. I converted this to the packs so $72/365 packs = $0.19 per pack. This is the low side of "normal" retail price. The Finish brand packs run about $0.19 each, where as the Cascade packs run around $0.24 each.
Sams Club had Cascade in packs of 115 for $19.96, or slightly more than 0.17 each. This was under budget, but I wanted to do better. Finish brand were in packs of 90 for $12.98, or slightly more than $0.14 each. I still wanted to do better. Plus, the advantage to Cascade versus Finish is that Finish packs are individually wrapped, which means you have to take them out of the plastic wrap before plopping them in the dishwasher. The Cascade ones go in as they are. I currently use Finish at home right now, because they were the most affordable option the last time I bought for myself....but I HATE the plastic wrap. I knew the these college students would not like it. Sooooo, I looked at the Members Mark brand, which was comparable to Cascade. Same type of packaging as Cascade, but came in packs of 110 for $12.88, or $13.78 after tax - This came out to less than $0.13 per pack. BINGO!
My only remaining dilemma with the dishwasher detergent was that I either needed to buy 3 boxes totalling 330 (35 less than the 365 I wanted) or buy 4 packs, which would put me at 440, or 75 over my target. I decided to err on the conservative side today and only go with 3. I can always go back for a 4th pack later if I need to. My total for 3 packs was $41.34.
So my shopping trip today resulted in 450 garbage bags, and 330 dishwasher packs for $73.38. My budget was $52+$72 = $124.00. I came in under budget by $50.62. Whoop Whoop! This under budget stuff is DEFINITELY going to help when I start going for the items that are more difficult to meet the 50% of retail target that was assigned to me. I'm working on the easy stuff for now... Will tackle those more difficult items later on.
So as a recap so far, here are the items I've purchased, and a breakdown of how far under budget I am:
My budget for trash bags was $52.00 for 400 bags, which calculates out to $0.13 per bag. At Target, I found a way to get drawstring bags for $0.11 each, or tie flap bags for just under $0.07 each. I was told to go for best value, but I had to get a second opinion before I did anything else. For me personally, best value trash bags = least expensive. On the other hand, a college student may think the best value includes the convenience of drawstrings. After consulting with my contact, I was told to do whatever I felt was best....
Today, I got lucky. I went to Sams Club to check out the prices. They had their store brand, Members Mark, drawstring trash bags in packs of 150, for $10.68 (after tax). This came out to $0.071 per bag. I figured that THIS was the best value. Drawstring bags at the approximate price I had found for the tie flap bags. Yeah, they aren't name brand, but for goodness sake, it's trash bags. I bought 3 packages for a total of $32.04 after tax.
The next item I bought was dishwasher packs. The list originally asked for the dishwasher liquid that you squirt into the compartment. I personally do not like this liquid because I think it's easy to become wasteful with it, annnnnd, it's way over priced. So I decided to go with dishwasher packs. I estimated that the dishwasher would need to be run once per day. This may need to be re-evaluated, but for purposes of shopping, I had a goal of purchasing around 365 packs.
I had a budget of $72.00 for dishwasher liquid. I converted this to the packs so $72/365 packs = $0.19 per pack. This is the low side of "normal" retail price. The Finish brand packs run about $0.19 each, where as the Cascade packs run around $0.24 each.
Sams Club had Cascade in packs of 115 for $19.96, or slightly more than 0.17 each. This was under budget, but I wanted to do better. Finish brand were in packs of 90 for $12.98, or slightly more than $0.14 each. I still wanted to do better. Plus, the advantage to Cascade versus Finish is that Finish packs are individually wrapped, which means you have to take them out of the plastic wrap before plopping them in the dishwasher. The Cascade ones go in as they are. I currently use Finish at home right now, because they were the most affordable option the last time I bought for myself....but I HATE the plastic wrap. I knew the these college students would not like it. Sooooo, I looked at the Members Mark brand, which was comparable to Cascade. Same type of packaging as Cascade, but came in packs of 110 for $12.88, or $13.78 after tax - This came out to less than $0.13 per pack. BINGO!
My only remaining dilemma with the dishwasher detergent was that I either needed to buy 3 boxes totalling 330 (35 less than the 365 I wanted) or buy 4 packs, which would put me at 440, or 75 over my target. I decided to err on the conservative side today and only go with 3. I can always go back for a 4th pack later if I need to. My total for 3 packs was $41.34.
So my shopping trip today resulted in 450 garbage bags, and 330 dishwasher packs for $73.38. My budget was $52+$72 = $124.00. I came in under budget by $50.62. Whoop Whoop! This under budget stuff is DEFINITELY going to help when I start going for the items that are more difficult to meet the 50% of retail target that was assigned to me. I'm working on the easy stuff for now... Will tackle those more difficult items later on.
So as a recap so far, here are the items I've purchased, and a breakdown of how far under budget I am:
| Item | Quantity | Estimated Retail | Budget(50%) | Actual With Tax | Final Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toilet Paper | 104 rolls | $72.00 | $36.00 | $28.89 | 27 megarolls = 108 regular rolls bought |
| Trash Bags - Large/Tall | 400 Bags | $104.00 | $52.00 | $32.04 | 450 Trash Bags bought |
| Dishwasher Liquid | 24 Bottles/365 packs | $144.00 | $72.00 | $41.34 | 330 packs bought |
| Kleenex | 12 Boxes | $18.00 | $9.00 | $9.63 | 8 Family boxes = 14 regular boxes bought |
| Totels | $338.00 | $169.00 | $111.90 | $57.10 under budget, or $226.10 under estimated retail |
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Extreme Couponing: Sorority House Style (Part 2)
Well, CVS was a bust today. The 30% coupon I had was only good on non-sale items, and the only other coupons I had to stack with were for items already on sale. Even with 30% off of these items, I wasn't finding the deals I wanted to find. I realized that the budget I was given is going to be difficult for some items, especially once tax is factored in, but I still feel confident I can do this.
To break it down a little easier so that I was able to determine if it was a good deal or not, I calculated the unit budget for items. For example: 104 rolls of toilet paper at a $36.00 budget meant I could spend approximately $0.35 per roll. Then you run into the issue of double rolls and mega (quad) rolls. The cost of toilet paper is insanely expensive if you don't have a goal in mind. If you buy toilet paper just to buy toilet paper, you may risk paying over a dollar a roll, which is ridiculous.
So after not having much luck on prices at CVS, we went to Big Lots. I ended up purchasing the toilet paper and facial tissue while I was there because the deals were just too good to pass up. I bought 3 packs of 9 megarolls (9 megarolls = 36 regular rolls) at $9.00 per pack (3 packs of 9 megarolls = 108 regular rolls). This was a total of $27 pre-tax. That comes out to $1 per megaroll, or the equivalent of $0.25 per regular roll. These rolls are HUGE. They are by far the fattest rolls of toilet paper I have ever seen. I'm enough of a nerd that I checked the number of sheets per megaroll to other packs of regular and double rolls, and this was definitely the best deal. My only concern is that the budgeted amount was based on 2 regular rolls per week, so this basically means that 1 megaroll should ideally last for 2 weeks. This is for the bathroom on the main level of the house, not the bathrooms in their individual rooms. Hopefully, it will last as it's intended. At the end of the summer once everything else has been purchased, if there is any money left, we'll re-evaluate if more TP should be purchased.
I also bought Puffs facial tissue - not Kleenex brand. This is another product that if you aren't careful, you will spend an arm and a leg for. The budgeted amount for "Kleenex" was $9, at 1 box per month for 12 months, or $0.75 per box. At CVS, Publix, whereever, tissue is easily $3+ per box, unless you got the generic cheap crap, which I'm trying to avoid if I can (though, inevitably, some items will end up being generics when all is said and done). I knew this was going to be difficult to beat. At Big Lots, there were some value packs of multiple boxes packaged together. The best deal I found was Puffs brand, large family size boxes. There were 8 family size boxes that claimed to be the equivalent of 14 regular boxes, which was more than the 12 requested. I argued with myself for a while if this was an appropriate buy, and I finally decided yes. The cost was exactly $9 prior to tax, but I wasn't worried since I came under budget on the TP, the tax wouldn't be an issue when I went to pay.
So, the total budget for the two items I purchased today was $45 (remember, estimated regular retail was $90), and after tax, the total bill was $38.52...so I was under budget by $6.48. I'm looking forward to collecting coupons and searching deals for the rest of the products, and will keep you all posted.
Hope you're all having a good weekend!
To break it down a little easier so that I was able to determine if it was a good deal or not, I calculated the unit budget for items. For example: 104 rolls of toilet paper at a $36.00 budget meant I could spend approximately $0.35 per roll. Then you run into the issue of double rolls and mega (quad) rolls. The cost of toilet paper is insanely expensive if you don't have a goal in mind. If you buy toilet paper just to buy toilet paper, you may risk paying over a dollar a roll, which is ridiculous.
So after not having much luck on prices at CVS, we went to Big Lots. I ended up purchasing the toilet paper and facial tissue while I was there because the deals were just too good to pass up. I bought 3 packs of 9 megarolls (9 megarolls = 36 regular rolls) at $9.00 per pack (3 packs of 9 megarolls = 108 regular rolls). This was a total of $27 pre-tax. That comes out to $1 per megaroll, or the equivalent of $0.25 per regular roll. These rolls are HUGE. They are by far the fattest rolls of toilet paper I have ever seen. I'm enough of a nerd that I checked the number of sheets per megaroll to other packs of regular and double rolls, and this was definitely the best deal. My only concern is that the budgeted amount was based on 2 regular rolls per week, so this basically means that 1 megaroll should ideally last for 2 weeks. This is for the bathroom on the main level of the house, not the bathrooms in their individual rooms. Hopefully, it will last as it's intended. At the end of the summer once everything else has been purchased, if there is any money left, we'll re-evaluate if more TP should be purchased.
I also bought Puffs facial tissue - not Kleenex brand. This is another product that if you aren't careful, you will spend an arm and a leg for. The budgeted amount for "Kleenex" was $9, at 1 box per month for 12 months, or $0.75 per box. At CVS, Publix, whereever, tissue is easily $3+ per box, unless you got the generic cheap crap, which I'm trying to avoid if I can (though, inevitably, some items will end up being generics when all is said and done). I knew this was going to be difficult to beat. At Big Lots, there were some value packs of multiple boxes packaged together. The best deal I found was Puffs brand, large family size boxes. There were 8 family size boxes that claimed to be the equivalent of 14 regular boxes, which was more than the 12 requested. I argued with myself for a while if this was an appropriate buy, and I finally decided yes. The cost was exactly $9 prior to tax, but I wasn't worried since I came under budget on the TP, the tax wouldn't be an issue when I went to pay.
So, the total budget for the two items I purchased today was $45 (remember, estimated regular retail was $90), and after tax, the total bill was $38.52...so I was under budget by $6.48. I'm looking forward to collecting coupons and searching deals for the rest of the products, and will keep you all posted.
Hope you're all having a good weekend!
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