I've decided to check out rebates for Longs and Rite Aid in my area this month and decide if the prices just on things we need and would buy anyway do indeed save us some money. I may go out and check things out later today.

Money saving planned for today:
1. coffee at home
2. lunch at home
3. dinner at home (used up lots of leftovers last night, so I need to plan something for tonight)
4. paid two bills online (saved 74 cents in postage and the paper to write two checks)
5. will crochet during ballet today, rather than going out and inevitably buying something

Things I still need to take care of -
1. check insurance on Miata and find out if we can get it reduced
2. return a bottle of fish oil capsules - need to track down receipt first

Edited to add -
When all was said and done, I only bought one rebate item today. I registered my receipt as soon as I got home.

1. skipped coffee/tea while out - drank water (mine) with my purchased muffin
2. lunch at home
3. will make dinner at home
4. used media rate to mail a book
5. mailed two more cards at 37 cent rate
6. went for a walk as part of my migraine maintenance program - fewer migraines means less money spent on meds!
7. made one round-trip drive to DD's school instead of two - saved about 32 miles of driving

money earned today -
1. 45 minutes of tutoring

1. coffee at home - DH set it up last night
2. arranged carpooling for every day this week
3. ate leftovers for lunch
4. mailed some cards before the postage rates go up

Ballet starts back up today, and I owe tuition (half the usual amount, as there was a two-week break). I may go over to Kinkos while DD is dancing. I learned how to make little notepads from a friend and need to do some photocopying and trimming. I could also do it on my printer at home, and use my paper cutter, flimsy as it is. Hmmm...maybe I won't go to Kinkos after all. The compound that holds the paper together won't be here for at least a day or two - had to order it - so I have some time. I'll use the notepads as promotional items for DivaTribe. Since they aren't specifically for the boutique, I'm not counting that money spent in my challenge, though if they turn out well I'll certainly send them out with orders.

edited to add three more:
5. ate dinner at home
6. sat and crocheted during ballet - didn't go out to Kinkos or Starbucks
7. set up coffee tonight for tomorrow morning

I had two bills to pay, and one of them is not a recurring one that I normally pay via my credit union's free online billpay. I am out of stamps but realized that duh! I can pay it online! So I entered a new payee, and voila. Bill paid, and no trip to the post office.

I've spent a good deal of the morning today working on DivaTribe. I've had several new advertisers pay for space, so I needed to get them into the line up, and I'm working on a new set-up for the store that is more integrated into the main site's look and feel. I need to get going on a contest idea I have and start drafting up the newsletter to go out next week.

DD got a book for Christmas that she already has, so we're going to go out to Barnes and Noble and see about exchanging it for something else. We were right there yesterday, if only she'd brought the book along and reminded me that we need to exchange it.

Tidy up for visitors this evening
Work on Christmas cards - postmarked before Christmas day would be nice (got some done and mailed)
Get a load or two of laundry done
Get some crocheting done (got a good start on a new project)

We're having friends over for dessert this evening. DD is working on knitting a scarf for her friend. Should be a nice, quiet day. I can't think of any errands we need to run.

As others are setting 2006 financial goals, I suspect I'll do the same. Some of them will be continuing things that have worked this year, like moving money over each month to my ING account and DD's 529 plan. DH and I increased his 401k contribution after his raise, but I think we can increase a bit more without really feeling it too much, so that's something for us to look into. I've got a new business idea in the works for DivaTribe, so I can set some goals in that arena as well.

I finally filled out the form to get reimbursed for a book purchase. That's $32 coming back to me that I spent back in August. I used a $10 coupon yesterday for Venus razor blades. I got it in response to an email I'd sent to the company, letting them know that one of the blades was dull straight out of the box. I thought that was pretty smart of them, as now I continue to use their product (which I've used for years and years). I also used a Horizon coupon for milk. So it was a good coupon day. I went to the store to stock up on ingredients for holiday baking, plus milk and yogurt.

I have fallen behind in tracking food spending, so I may or may not get that updated this month. We'll see.

The other day I bought a peppermint mocha. I got charged for a grande when I only ordered a tall, and I went back after checking my receipt and got them to refund back the difference. I would have noticed it right off the bat except I had also bought a pastry and used a recycled sleeve to get 10% off my drink, so the pricing was different than what I'm used to. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was the principle of the matter.

I think we're going to get our Christmas tree this weekend. We go to the same lot every year, and this year they mailed us a $4 coupon.

I may sell another poncho this weekend, to a friend at church. I'm going to bring in all the stock I've made so far and sell one to her, and hopefully more to others who may wander over to see what we're doing. I'm trying to get one or two more made up before Sunday.