June Financial Update

Ok - I finally got around to tallying up my June numbers. All in all I did pretty well in June despite needing a new timing belt for my car.

Dave Ramsey style goals
1. Pay off all debt other than my mortgage. Wahoo!
2. Fully fund an emergency fund by the end of December 2010 - Started the month at 65% of goal, ended at 100%!

Retirement
3. Achieve 100% of goal for retirement savings by the time I turn 30. Basically I think it would be cool to achieve a certain number by the time I am 30. Right now I am at 80% of this goal. -
Right now I am looking at about 84% of goal (started month at 82%).

However, given market fluctuation can be unpredictable, I have secondary goals.
a. Open Roth IRA account - Haven't opened one yet
b. Max out this account for 2010. This may be ambitious but we'll see how far I get.
c. Contribute 2% more per month to 401K. Right now I am contributing the maximum employer match but I can be doing better. - Haven't started this yet.

Some other misc. goals I'd like to make progress on, but may end up being a little ambitious for this year - definitely possible in 2011 though!
4. Start making an extra principal payment per month before the end of 2010 - Not yet
5. Start contributing the equivalent of a car payment per month into a savings account by the end of 2010. My vehicle is 7 years old and shows no sign of stopping but eventually it will need to be replaced and I would like to pay for it with cash. - I started contributing money towards the purchase of a new to me car. I am hoping I won't need anything for the next few years so that I can pay in cash.

ReStore Deals!

As I've mentioned previously, I love the ReStore. If you are patient and willing to look around, there are some crazy good deals to be had.

I had another successful visit this past weekend. I scored a Thomasville dresser with mirror, end table, and chest of drawers. Condition wise, it is probably a very good on a scale from poor to excellent. I cannot put into words how excited I am about these pieces. As an adult I haven't had a set of furniture so it is pretty exciting to finally have a set I love. And even better than it didn't cost too much!
So here it is!
The end table:
The dresser. The flash made it look a little lighter than it really is.


The dresser and mirror. I need some help putting the mirror onto the dresser. It is too heavy for just one person!

Next on the agenda is to find headboards for the master bedroom and the guest room and also a desk.

Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Summer Rolls with a slightly spicy peanut sauce is my new favorite way to enjoy salad. They are ridiculously easy to make, look pretty, and taste great. Here is how you make them.
Start out by preparing whatever you are going to put in the rolls. I chose green and red peppers, carrots, chicken, rice noodles, and lettuce.

Next, soak the rice paper for about 10 seconds so that it becomes somewhat pliable. Then pile up the goodies onto one side of the paper.

Finally you roll the rolls up just like a burrito. Tonight I had mine with some leftover pasta salad and this Thai Peanut Sauce recipe (it is amazing!)

Grocery deals!

I was in the mood for some bargain shopping tonight so I grabbed my coupons, consulted Hip2Save and Southern Savers and headed to Target and Harris Teeter.
I think I did pretty well for a spur of the moment shopping trip!
First up is Target:

I got:
2 packages of Eggo Waffles
2 BBQ Sauces
1 Salad Dressing
1 Brownie Mix

Total OOP: $5.36
Total Savings: $5.72
Best deals - the BBQ sauce was $0.25 each and the salad dressing was $0.76. I didn't have a coupon for the brownie mix but it was regularly priced at $0.77 - SCORE!

Next up was Harris Teeter:
I got:
1 Jar of Skippy Natural Peanut Butter
2 Taco Seasoning
1 Chex MIx
1 Coconut Milk

Total OOP: $4.23
Total Savings: $5.80
Best deals - the taco seasoning was $0.40 each and the chex mix was $0.29

So my grand total was $9.59 for a decent amount of stuff! Not too shabby!

More CVS deals!

I have been having such good luck at CVS recently. I thought my deal on deodorant couldn't be beat but this might be coming close.

I ended up with 2 Gillette body washes, 2 right guard deodorants, 1 Gillette proglide razor (which for some reason comes with a battery...), 1 box of pop tarts, and 1 package of wafer cookies.

Here is how it worked out:

The poptarts and cookies were just filler. The cookies were $1 and the poptarts were on sale for $1.67.

The deodorants were $4.49 each regularly but they were BOGO and I had a $3/2 coupon making them $1.49 for both.

The body washes were on sale for $4 each with a $4 ECB (limit 2). I had a BOGO coupon making them $4 for both not counting the ECBs.

The razor was on sale for $9.97 with a $5 ECB. I also had a coupon for $4/1.

Finally I had a coupon for $5/$25 that I got in my email and a $5 ECB from my earlier CVS trip.

So the grand total out of pocket was $5.57 including tax. AND I GOT BACK $13 in ECBs.

Interestingly, I've managed to score deals on a number of 'man products' and yet I have no actual man living in my house. Now, a number of those products I have no problem using on my own but I'm not really in need of that much man body wash so I think I am going to be able to make a nice donation to a local shelter. All in all, I consider it a very successful CVS mission :)

Beautiful Sunset!

One thing I like about living in "the south" is the fact that we have thunderstorms just about every night. While fun on their own, it just gets better when they are followed by a beautiful sky.

Meal Plan, week of 6/14

Here is my plan for the week - it is going to be a busy one!

Breakfasts: Zucchini bread, oatmeal
Snacks: String cheese, brownies, misc veggies

Monday
Lunch: Pork chop, corn bread, steamed veggies
Dinner: Peanut butter sandwich on way to dance class

Tuesday
Lunch: Pork chop, corn bread, steamed veggie
Dinner: My week for hosting Candice! Pulled chicken sandwiches, corn on the cob

Wednesday
Lunch: Pork Chop, corn bread, veggies
Dinner: BBQ Chicken sandwich, corn on the cob

Thursday
Lunch: TBD based on what comes in CSA box
Dinner: Pizza from the freezer as I PACK!

Friday
GO ON VACATION