Saving Mr. Lincoln - August 2013 Update

Saving Mr. Lincoln – August 2013 Update – my piggy bank!

The good news first: for my Saving Mr. Lincoln – August 2013 Update, I’m happy to report we saved a whopping 26 Mr. Lincoln’s! $130.00! In seven months, Charlie and I have saved $675.00! For those uninitiated with my “Saving Mr. Lincoln” posts, on February 12th of this year (President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday), I started saving all the five dollar bills (they have Lincoln’s picture on them) that I receive as change from a purchase or as a gift. In March, Charlie joined me in the challenge, so my reported savings include five dollar bills I receive from Charlie (my gifts!). To catch up, read the posts listed at the end of this post!

The bad news: I managed to only stick to 3 out of my 5 challenges that I posted in the Saving Mr. Lincoln – July 2013 Update. To recap those 5 challenges:

Challenge #1: don’t buy coffee drinks when out-and-about. Check.
Challenge #2: don’t buy fast food. Failed.
Challenge #3: when shopping (any kind of shopping; not just grocery shopping), make a list and stick to it! Failed.
Challenge #4: explore ways to have fun spending less money. Check.
Challenge #5: don’t buy anything else for the freezer until I use what I have. Failed.

So, let’s confess and address Challenge #2:

Vanessa from Australia arrived to spend a few days with us to celebrate our Blog-o-versary Party. Can you believe that someone flew all the way from Australia for us? Vanessa did. She’s an amazing person who happens to also be a blogger. You can check out her blog here: The Teensy Tiny Insignificant Details. The first thing I did, after picking Vanessa up from the airport, was take her to a favorite Thai restaurant and order food-to-go so that we could share it with Charlie. Does that really count? It wasn’t “fast food” because we had to go into the restaurant to order it plus wait about 10 minutes while they prepared it {grin}. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I’d been to this wonderful restaurant, I forgot the name of my favorite dish and ordered the wrong one instead! So, to me, the meal was semi-delicious because it wasn’t my favorite dish {grin}.
Then a few days later Vanessa and I went to the San Diego Zoo. While waiting for Tiffany and the Princesses P to arrive, Vanessa and I ate at one of the zoo’s burger joints. So, again, it wasn’t a “fast food” drive-thru restaurant, but in all fairness, it was “fast food”!

Whew! I feel better after confessing! On to Challenge #3:

I didn’t stick to this challenge at all. When I was at the grocery store, I bought things not on the list. And, out-and-about, I bought things I really didn’t need! This challenge is a huge problem for me and one that I continue to battle {grin}. When I’m in a store, it is rare that I walk out of a store empty-handed. For example, Vanessa wanted to treat herself for her birthday by buying some Le Creuset cookware. It’s cheaper here than in Australia. Le Creuset has an outlet store in a nearby outlet mall and we went there to see what they had. Even though I really don’t NEED Le Creuset cookware, I bought several pieces! But, even though I don’t need it, the pieces I bought are in sizes of cookware I didn’t have. So, that’s how I justified it. See, I have a problem {grin}.
Then, recently, I went “treasure shopping” with Tiffany and the Princesses. “Treasure shopping” for us is going to resale, consignment and non-profit resale shops to see what “goodies” they have. I’m always keeping an eye out for things that might add interest to our food recipe posts as food photography props. And, guess what? I found several things on this shopping expedition and I didn’t have a list! Complete failure.

I feel better!

Challenge #4 was a success. I had some free movie passes in my stash that I hadn’t used and Vanessa and I went to see “The Heat” starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. We loved it! Super funny girl power movie! Plus, Charlie and I have purchased annual passes to the San Diego Zoo & Safari Park for the last 24 years. And, our annual passes include free guests passes, so I had a free pass for Vanessa. In addition, we rode the Skyfari back-and-forth for free, got discounts on the bus tour for our entire party and got discounts on purchases. And, on one of the other days of Vanessa’s visit, we drove around parts of San Diego so that she could get a quick “overview” of what our beautiful county has to offer – a cheap way to spend the day. Of course, there was the cost of gas and we had lunch at a beachside restaurant!

I set myself up for failure with Challenge #5! With our Blog-o-versary Party looming, how could I ever NOT buy stuff for our stuffed freezer? That was a silly challenge knowing I had a party scheduled! But, I’m going to keep this one on the list and try to go at least a month without buying stuff for the freezer!

So, here are my challenges, once again, plus a sixth one (I keep the challenges on the list to motivate me plus, maybe, at some point I’ll succeed!):

Challenge #1: don’t buy coffee drinks when out-and-about.
Challenge #2: don’t buy fast food.
Challenge #3: when shopping (any kind of shopping; not just grocery shopping), make a list and stick to it!
Challenge #4: explore ways to have fun spending less money.
Challenge #5: don’t buy anything else for the freezer until I use what I have.
Challenge #6: use coupons when possible.

I’m not a big coupon user and I don’t spend time looking for coupons (no time in my toot sweet life!). But, if they “present” themselves to me, say for example, at the end of a receipt (you know, many retailers will have savings coupons on the ends of their printed receipts), and if it’s something I need within the coupon time, I’ll try to remember to use a coupon. Or, if I’m flipping through a magazine and see a coupon to a store that I frequent, I’ll rip it out and try to remember to use it. Or, if I’m ordering something on-line, I’ll search the web first to see if there is a coupon code to use.

This coupon challenge is a good one for me. It will help me be more aware.

How’s your Saving Mr. Lincoln challenge coming along? I’d love to hear from some of you in the comments. I know people are adopting this because several have told me in person that they are doing it! That makes me so happy {double big toothy grin}!

Tootles,

(other posts about Saving Mr. Lincoln)

(other posts about ways to save)

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