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Archive for November, 2011

CVS trip

November 30th, 2011 at 07:58 pm

I think I did pretty well today at CVS. My sister's baby shower is next week and so I bought a ton of diapers for her since I had coupons expiring today. I also bought some Tide HE detergent that I needed to get for our new front loaders.

7 jumbo packs of Pampers @ $9.50 each
6 Tide liquid detergents @ $5.94 each
Total value = $102.14

Less manufacturer coupons = $18.00
Less CVS Extra Bucks I had = $2.00
Less $10 gift card wyb $30 promotion = $30.00
Less Greentag Extra Bucks I earned = $1.00
Less Free pack of diapers wyb 6 = $9.50
Total coupons/promotions = $60.50

Total without tax = $41.64

And, just because I'm a nerd, I calculated my per unit cost... my Pampers to Tide ratio is 65/35 so that means that each pack of Pampers was just $3.87 each and each Tide detergent was just $2.42.

I think that's a pretty darn good haul for stuff I needed anyway.

Good news day!

November 29th, 2011 at 09:17 pm

So, January 2010 was the last time I received a raise (for earning my MBA). I just finished a 3 year certificate program this past summer and today I got my raise for earning that... My personnel director (love him!) asked for 5% on my behalf which was great but.... After some careful consideration and research, I went back to the boss and asked for 12.5% instead. And, wahoo! I got the 12.5%! I am so overjoyed, you don't even know how much!!! In my profession, there are no automatic raises for performance or cost of living or anything... so I have to "earn" every penny of every raise I ask for. With completing this certification, I honestly don't know what else I can do to earn another raise (short of getting a PhD) so I wanted to make sure I asked for enough and not to settle for just anything. I was going to just ask for 10% but after talking with a confidant, she suggested 15% and so I took it right down the middle. I did present both the 10% and the 12.5% scenarios to the boss and he elected the 12.5% number. It really is a fair amount (I didn't ask for the moon in comparison to my co-workers' pay) so I am very grateful!!! This goes into effect Dec 1 so what a wonderful Christmas present this is for me.

On another good news front, we have a second showing scheduled for our house tomorrow. This one sounds very promising as the couple went to the bank to talk numbers after seeing our house the first time this past Sat. I am trying to stay optimistic and am crossing all my fingers and toes that they will put in an offer --- so we can focus all our attention on the short sale house we just bought. We've only had our house for sale for 3 years now!

A month?

November 15th, 2011 at 03:35 pm

Gosh, has it really been nearly a month since I last posted? I need to be a better blogger. Smile

Things are going well with the short sale house. We've gutted the main bathroom down to the studs, hired a plumber to move some pipes around, and have dry walled everything back up. We still have a lot to do though:

-lay down tile
-buy vanities & toilet
-decorate (the fun stuff)

We did have to divert our attention from the bathroom for the past week though... to the laundry room. Our state was having its tax-free weekend on energy efficient appliances so we went ahead and scored a pretty nice deal on a stackable washer/dryer set. After all the discounts, we saved about $500 on the deal. So, in preparation for the delivery this week, we had to tackle the laundry room. Man, that was a chore as well with all the hole patching, replacement of the plumbing stuff, and painting... but all we have left now is to put up crown molding (there were issues where the walls met the ceiling).

Do you guys want pictures of any of the remodel as we go along? Or would it be more fun to get a full on before/after shots of the different projects?

Oh, and an update on the asbestos issue---- we sent off a sample and it came back NEGATIVE! This relieved my DH so much. Yay, for good news.