BITS Personal Finance Blog

I've tried posting this entry twice.  Not sure what happened, but it never posted.  So here goes another shot:

I've been terribly sick all week.  Coughing, sneezing, runny nose - the whole bit - completely run down and lacking energy.  I went to the doctor and he thinks it's viral, so I just need to wait for it to run its course.  In the meantime, he prescribed me a ZPac to hold on to in case it doesn't go away, along with some cough medicine and eye drops.

As bad as I feel, I definitely take time to reflect on how grateful I am to have a job with paid sick time, and a great benefits program that covers doctors and prescriptions with minimal outlays.  My daughter turns 26 at the end of the year and will be rolling off of my insurance.  I need to help her find some good solid coverage, because I'm really uncomfortable at the thought of her being uninsured.  That's definitely on my to-do list over the next month or two.

Hope everyone dealing with this weekend's storms stay safe!

As part of my decluttering / organizing / purging resolution, I'm trying to get away from a mindset of waste.  I'm always quick to throw things out, and I live with my family who never want to part with anything, so it's a fine line.  Yesterday, I came across a large piece of luggage with a broken main zipper.  It's completely unusable, and has been this way for years.  I was all set to toss it, but instead, I emailed Samsonite with a picture of the zipper, and asked if it may be covered under warranty (I no longer have the receipt).  While the rep wouldn't commit, he did email me the form to submit to the repair center, along with the picture, and it sounds like it should be repairable.  Best case - the repair is covered and will be free; otherwise, hopefully just a minor cost.  Luggage is *so* expensive; it would be a huge win for me if I could get this repaired for little or no cost!

My other big win over the past few days was cleaning out some old wallets/pocketbooks and finding a $25 Staples gift card and $25 Walgreens gift card, both with full value!  Based on some other papers in there I think these date back to 2015 or so.  

I also cleaned out a trunk that I had been storing in my son's room for years (and years, and years).  I knew it had some of my husband's clothes, but didn't remember the specifics.  There were some shirts, shorts, and pants, about 2/3 of which were not salvageable (and so went in the trash).  The rest still fit and are in good shape, so they're getting cleaned and will go into his closet.

Once I figure out how to get my side panel updated, I'm going to start tracking the money I save, the costs I avoid, and the costs I incur as part of this year-long effort.  I'm excited to see the results! (Also, a thanks to those who commented on my last post - great idea to donate the ear thermometer sleeves and other items)!

I like Kohls.  I really do.  I feel like I can always find what I need, and usually at a good price.  However, their Kohls Cash program is infuriating!  The bonus is only good for a short time, and so many brands are excluded.  I always end up either forgetting to use it before it expires, or I try to use it on ineligible products.

This year, I did a bunch of Christmas shopping at Kohls and ended up with $80 in Kohls Cash, to be used from 12/26-12/31.  I reminded myself in the moment that I'd need to spend it, and I put it right into my wallet.  Fast-forward to New Years Day (1/1!) when my husband asked "what did we end up doing with the Kohls Cash?"  After a string of expletives and a 10-minute rant on why our disorganization is costing us a fortune (the whole point of this blog), I threw the Kohls cash on a pile of papers to be thrown out.

I always thought they were useless after the expiration date, but for some reason, decided to google "expired Kohls Cash" and found that, while you can't use it online, stores may honor it for 7-10 days past the end date.  I needed to return a few things anyway (which dropped the value from $80 to $60), but yes, indeed, they honor it for up to a week.  I ended up buying my husband some undershirts that he would have needed later in the year.  While checking out, the cashier let me know that I still have $22 in other Kohls bonuses that end on 1/31 (why, I have no idea), so I'm marking my calendars and setting alarms now to make sure I don't forget again!

In other news, I started my decluttering/organizing resolution yesterday and today, cleaning up a few cabinets and shelves in the bathroom.  My "ugh" moment - we have *9* bottles of spf 50 sunscreen.  Seems every time we need it, we go out and buy it (and this stuff is expensive)!  Some of it is recently expired but I'll use it anyway.  I'm not buying any more until it's gone.  The other "ugh" moment was realizing we have 3 packages of the little plastic sleeves that go on the ear thermometer.  My kids are grown.  If we use that 5 times/year it's alot, yet I now have 150 little plastic covers.  Hoping we'll never be sick enough to go through all of them, so I'll need to find something clever to do with them all.  Any ideas?

Happy January 2nd!

I haven't been paying alot of attention to our finances over the past few years.  We're pretty comfortable (which I think has made it easy to ignore).  Over the past few months, I've seen the impact of our disorganization (buying things that we already have) and waste (particularly with food that goes bad before we can use it up).  Importantly, hubby has seen the same, and is committed to doing something about it with me.

My goals for 2024:

1) declutter my house by focusing on one small space per day (a shelf, or a drawer, etc).  Small enough to eliminate the excuse that we don't have time to do it.  I have a list of about 200 such spaces, some easier than others to deal with; 

2) reduce the amount of waste we have in the kitchen through better menu planning, grocery shopping, use of leftovers, etc.  I've also been really getting into gardening, so I'll look to grow some things myself as well; and,

3) look to cut costs in other areas, in ways that don't negatively impact our quality of life.

I'll spend the weekend doing a bit more planning and will kick off with (hopefully) near-daily updates of my progress!