IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FRIDAY FOR OCTOBER 25th

Hi everone,

How has your week been?  Mine has been full of all sorts of things...BUT I've been really knocking it out of the ballpark on sales at work this week.  My main goal is to really develop personal relationships with all of my customers, because I want them to feel like welcome guests when they walk into the store.  I also strive to have them leave happier then when they walked in. In any case, I've been really thankful that for the most part I am totally exceeding my sales goals every day I'm scheduled to work and that is a praise :) :) :)

My VitaCost order arrived really fast.  I ordered it last Friday morning and it arrived by the following Monday afternoon (October 21st).  Here is a look at what I ordered:

Click here to read my post from last week. I detailed exactly what I purchased and what it cost from the VitaCost.com website versus buying it at my local grocery store.

I was really surprised to see that they sold the Eez-Gum threaders.  Those are like giant flexible plastic "needles" that help you to thread the dental floss underneath the metal wires of braces.  So I'm going to keep a detailed diary of when I use each product and when it runs out. It'll give me an idea of how fast I go through a product.  That in turn will give me a better idea of how much to order next time.

I don't really "need" to buy a natural soap, except I do believe that what you put on your skin gets partially absorbed into the skin.  It's true. The skin is the largest organ of your body, so treat it right.  I can only speak for myself, but I notice that when I use gluten free or natural products on my skin, I don't have a skin reaction like I do with regular "soaps" etc. 

Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out how to budget on a variable income.  So I'll fill you in on that some more later this afternoon. 

I get paid on a weekly basis, but my hours can vary quite a bit. If you have ever worked retail, you know exactly what this is like. Add to that, that my job is only part-time, but I have the opportuntiy for full-time hours, when there are available shifts to pick up. Case in point, this week, I only have 17.75 hours, but NEXT week, I'll have 30 hours. 

I found this really simple, but very good article on the Dave Ramsey website. It's about how to make a zero-based budget.  Dave Ramsey has been a huge inspiration for me in wanting to be comletely out of debt in the first place.

I also found this article to be really helpful. It's really simple and straight-forward and it's great if you need an idea for how to budget when your income and your hours vary quite a bit from week to week. Dave Ramsey's daughter, Rachel Cruze, also has a really neat nifty website.  She wrote a really easy to understand blog post about budgeting with a variable income. Click here to read that article.


Now my budgeting got a serious monkey wrench thrown into it, because I had to make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist in between visits with the orthodontist (when I get new wires put on my braces). That's going to cost a little bit, so the solution to that is pick up extra hours at work.

So next week, I'll try and fill you in a little bit more on how I do a zero-based budget from week to week...and how I still manage to live and have some sort of fun on my very tiny income.

I have to say that VitaCost really does a good job, even with their cardboard boxes. They use some space on the boxes to provide good, healthy recipes for sweet treats :) :) As if it couldn't get any cooler or more practical, I also saw this on the inside flap of the box:

There are even some frugal ways to repurpose this box. It is quite the sturdy box, too. 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to you all, Heather :) :) :)

IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FRIDAY FOR OCTOBER 18th, 2013

Hi everyone,

Wow, is my head ever swimming. It seems like I was in a rut in terms of how I was going to come up with a game plan for knocking out my student loan debt etc. Now that I'm starting to turn my dream into a concrete vision, all these ideas are swimming around in my head.

I am starting with small baby steps. 

One thing that I like to do is to make a list of things that I'll be "needing" in the future.  Here is a list of things that I will definitely be needing at some point, but I don't have to buy them right away:

First thing, the word "Einkaufszettel" is German for "shopping list". I still write it out that way, ever since I lived in Germany as a study abroad student. 

In any case,  these are things that I'll be needing to buy in the near future.  The MAC lipstick and lip gloss are really nice, neutral colors that I can wear anytime. It's funny, because I'm almost out of both colors.

I almost stopped by work to buy some today after church. However, I didn't really have a piece about it and I kept asking myself the question: Do I really NEED this right now or can I wait just a little bit longer before I plunk down money for this?

My answer was: I CAN wait and I will wait a little bit longer.

One thing I have learned is that just because you have the money to buy something RIGHT NOW doesn't mean you have to.  So I will wait until I'm completely out before I replenish my make-up inventory :) 


I do wear braces, so dental floss is a MUST right now.  I go through that stuff really fast.  The same for the toothpaste. Since I'm paying out-of-pocket for my orthodontic care, I want to make sure that I get my money's worth and that means taking very good care of my teeth.

The toothpaste is gluten free and so is the shampoo and conditoner on my list. I do use the Raspberry Shine. Here's a photo again of the conditioner:

I was paying $8.99 a bottle for the shampoo and conditioner and probably about $6 for the toothpaste.  They are gluten free products and those things are important to me. So I am willing to make the sacrifice for those things.

HOWEVER, a very sweet reader sent me a private email the other day and told me of a really great site, where I could get my conditioner for much less. The site is called Swanson Vitamins.  Click here to visit their site. I found my conditioner listed here for about $4.98...yeah, my jaw dropped to the floor, too. With as often as I use this product and even factoring in shipping, I won't be buying it at my local store anymore.

There's also another site called VitaCost that has awesome natural and organic products at really great prices. Click here to visit them. The last time I checked I found my shampoo and conditioner selling here for about $4.98 a bottle and my special toothpaste for $3.98 a tube. the BEST part is that shipping is free on orders over $49 and they often have free shipping specials on smaller orders.

I don't normally spend that much at one time on my hair and body care products. However, with such great deals, I can afford to make a BIG purchase now, knowing that I'm saving a LOT of money in the long run. 

Today is payday. I'll let you know what I end up ordering, what the total is and what I ordered.

UPDATE at 6:23 p.m Pacific Standard Time:

Hi everyone ;) :) Okay, so I ended up having to place my order as a "guest", but I was able to reset my password this afternoon after work.  WOW, did I save a boatload of money...at least a lot for me.

After work, I went to my local store where I usually most of these products I'm about to tell you about.  If I payed full price (including tax) for everything I ordered today, it would have been $91.99.

As it happens, with my VitaCost order I only paid $50.31. There was no tax and it was FREE shipping because I ordered over $49 worth of product :)

That's a savings of 45%. That is HUGE in my checkbook and that frees up that much more money to put towards paying off bills etc.  I just placed the order this morning and it should arrive in 1-4 business days.

Here's the breakdown of what I purchased. I will highlight in BLUE what the regular retail was and factor in the taxes at the end.  Unless otherwise specified, I only ordered a quantity of ONE of certain items. In other cases, I ordered multiples because it's something I know that I will use consistently.

South of France Bar Soap Acai Pomegranate - 8.8 ox
$3.94 / $6.39

Desert Essence Dental Floss - Tea Tree Oil - 50 yds
$2.29 x 4 qty / $3.99

GUM Eez-Thru Floss Threaders - 25 pieces
$2.96 / $3.29
I will say that this one came as a surprise, because I didn't even know that VitaCost carried this, but they DO :) :) :) I use these ALL THE TIME to help me with flossing. They're necessary in order to floss the teeth while going through the process of braces on the teeth.

Auromere Herbal Toothpaste Fresh Mint - 4 oz
$3.44 / $5.99

Desert Essence Organics Shampoo Raspberry Shine for All Hair Types - 8 oz
$5.29 x 3 qty / $8.99

Desert Essence Organics Raspberry Conditioner Red Raspberry - 8 fl oz.
$4.98 x 3 qty / $8.99

So here is the breakdown again. Hopefully it's a little easier to see this way:

Vitacost Order total (no tax/free shipping) - $50.13

Regular Retail (including sales tax 7.5%)  - $91.99

That means I saved a total of 45%. What does that mean?

Serious CHACHING back into my wallet :) :) :)

I can hardly wait for my VitaCost order to arrive. When it does, I'll show you all a photo. In the meantime, enjoy this vintage beauty :) :) It's a vintage Ford Mustang that I saw in the mall parking lot a few days ago:

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)