Shopping, shopping and more shopping

The rush of holiday shopping is in full swing. Have you ever noticed that the younger generation's wish lists are becoming much more costly? I haven't figured out if it's because their tastes are more expensive or if things are just costing more. Either way, this time of the year makes a dent in everyone's wallet.

So how do you control the rising budget? Do you stick to your guns and set a limit and buy what you can within that limit? Or do you just buy what people want and let those purchases dictate the budget? Personally, I go with the former. I have to. I don't make enough money not to budget. When January credit card bills hit the mail, I don't want to hear a drumroll before I open the envelope. The holidays have gotten expensive but that doesn't have to break you. Set a limit and stay within it. Gift giving is not mandatory, it's voluntary.

Happy Holidays.

Jingle Cash at Walgreens

First, my apologies for not keeping up with this blog. That is changing soon as a whole new moneycents.net will be launched soon. It will be more user-friendly and much more money-saving deals will be available.

As for Jingle Cash at Walgreens, I am bit late on this one but it appears to be going on throughout the season. Basically, it's the same as their year-round Register Rewards, where they run promotions for certain items and you get "cash back" in the form of a coupon toward your next purchase. For example, this week you can buy 4 bags of Holiday M&Ms for $10 and get $5 in Jingle Cash. Or buy two Vicks products (Nyquil/Dayquil) for $10 and get $5 in Jingle Cash. Even better if you pair money off coupons with it.

The "cash" is printed out at the end of your purchase and is good for two weeks. There are a couple tricks you may want to know if you want to take advantage of deals more than once. For example, if you buy the M&Ms and then try to use the $5 Jingle Cash on buying the M&Ms again, it won't work. You cannot use the Jingle Cash for the same item. Plus, make sure you have enough items when using your Jingle Cash if you're looking at buying a more expensive item. You must have the same or more items than you do Jingle Cash and/or coupons. So you can't use $5, $2.50, and $3.00 Jingle Cash receipts if you're just buying one $10 item.

Happy Holidays!

Energy Audit

Wow, it's been months and months since I posted. I could pretend I lost my password but that just wouldn't be true. Been busy. Simple as that. I hope to be more diligent in the coming months but with all to do with the new house, well, it keeps us hopping.

Yesterday, we had an energy audit. Now I could give you a whole background on the house and such and how much we've already done (and some of the great service we have received) but suffice to say it's an old house with many a quirk. What sparked the energy audit, after having a high-efficiency HVAC system and tankless water heater put in, was a $265 gas bill. That was the kicker.

So these guys come in and set up a negative air flow at your front door and see where air is leaking in and out throughout your house. Wow.

My first thought was that they were going to say we needed to replace all of the windows. But no, they said that was a common misconception. While there was much air leaking from the windows, it was from around the windows. They told us how to fix the leaks, by removing the casings around the windows, caulking the space and replace the casings. Same with the outlets and light switches. We had the insulators already in place and they gave us the information to caulk around the electrical box to eliminate even more draft.

But what was the real eye opener was the actual calculation that they gave us. Now, we don't have the report yet but they said we had a point 6. My quick thought was "cool, a low number." But no. That number reflected that it took only about 2 hours to lose all the warm air from the house. Two hours! That's an awful lot of heat escaping in a short amount of time.

These guys were thorough. They took their time, they explained everything and they answered all of our questions. They were well worth every penny. You can find them at http://www.energysaver1.com if you're interested.

I'll let you know how the report goes.