...Ok, So I Lied

It's confession time! I told you two weeks ago that I was giving up on CVS Pharmacy. That was before I read about this deal at Money Saving Mom. I couldn't help myself, I had to check it out!

I stopped by CVS on my way to the grocery store and, what do you know, they actually had the deals I was looking for!

Here's what I got:

This is how it worked:

2 Covergirl Foundations: $18.98

1 Pepcid EZ Chews: $7.99

-$1.00 Covergirl coupon

-$9.49 Buy one, Get one free Covergirl coupon

-$2.00 Pepcid coupon

-$5.00 CVS $5 off $15 coupon

=$10.58 with sales tax

In return I got $17 in Extra Care Bucks plus I have a mail in rebate for the Pepcid EZ Chews that will net me $5.09 after postage. I spent $10.50 and have $22 to spend later.

I couldn't resist!

Favorite Blog Post 4/11/08

My favorite blog post this week was from Mrs. Micah. I really need to get a little more organized with an "alien abduction manual". This is a fun way of saying that you (and I) should have our financial paperwork organized in case something should happen to us. That way, our spouse (or whoever will take over our finances if something happens to us) isn't at a complete loss during a difficult time.

I'm off on another vacation next week. I'm heading to Washington DC (which, ironically enough, is where Mrs. Micah lives)!

A Gambling Lesson

No, I'm not going to teach you how to gamble!

As I mentioned last week, Dave Ramsey was interviewed by Dr. Dobson on the Focus on the Family radio show last Thursday. Toward the end of that broadcast, Dr. Dobson and Dave went off on a little tangent about how gambling in the US, specifically the lottery, is an exploitation of the poor. They had a lot of neat statistics and stories to back this up, but one statistic really stood out to me.

The Claim

The average lottery player spends $35.84 per month on the lottery. Dave went on to say that if you invest that $35.84 in a decent growth stock mutual fund from age 22 to age 72, you'd be a millionaire.

How funny is that? People are willing to spend $35 a month trying to become a millionaire via the lottery and only one in about a billion will succeed. If you take that same $35 a month and invest it instead, you're practically guaranteed to be a millionaire!

Checking It Out

I was a little skeptical of Dave's math, so I decided to look into his claim. Since I work for a financial services firm, I randomly chose two funds I knew had been around for 50 years, which is the number of years Dave's calculation of ages 22-72 would work out to.

I entered two American Funds into my calculator, Investment Company of America (AIVSX) and the Washington Mutual Fund (AWSHX). I tried to enter in everyone's favorite, the Vanguard 500 Index, but it's only been around for about 30 years. Also noteworthy is that AIVSX and AWSHX are actually growth and income funds, so a growth fund like Dave mentioned should perform even better!

$35/month invested for 50 years with dividends and capital gains reinvested brought AIVSX to a value of $1,079,117. Investing into AWSHX would also make you a millionaire at $1,078,581.

The Conclusion

It works! I found it to be completely amazing that a mere $35 can get you to a million dollars eventually. This information should be posted at all locations that sell lottery tickets. Do you think it would make a difference?

Saving Money on Your Wedding: Wrap-up

I've come to the end of my "Saving Money on Your Wedding" series. Today I'll mention a couple of miscellaneous ideas that I didn't cover in previous posts. I'll also link to each article in the series so that it's all in one spot.

Miscellaneous Ideas
-Keep the guest list small.
-Skip the party favors.
-Involve relatives and friends who have skills in needed areas (cake making, photography, decorating, etc.). Either pay them or let it be their wedding gift to you.
-Have your wedding on a Friday evening or Sunday afternoon.
-Make sure you get the negatives and/or the rights to your photos.
-Elope ;)

Check out this post at Unclutterer for more ideas. There are tons of them in the comments!

Do you have additional "miscellaneous" wedding-saving ideas? Leave them in the comments :)

Saving Money on Your Wedding Series
Introduction
Bridal Gowns
Bridal Accessories
Hair & Make-up
Groom's Attire
Invitations and Stationary
Flowers and Decorations
Attendant Gifts

Favorite Blog Post 4/4/08

This week, I'd like to bring your attention to a blog I always check out when I need a good laugh. Nick at Punny Money writes some really funny stuff about personal finance and the world we live in. So if you want to know about the kind of crap people are buying on Amazon or if you'd like to find out what Nick is willing to do for a bored millionaire, you really need to check him out!

To see a little more serious side of Nick, read about how you can ignore homeless people and not feel guilty about it. This post was very timely since I'll be going to Washington DC in two weeks on vacation. I've already donated to the Salvation Army, so I'll be sure to leave the cash at home :)

Attention Dave Ramsey Fans!

I know there are plenty of fans of Christian personal finance guru Dave Ramsey out there. I thought I'd let you all know that Focus on the Family is doing a two-part interview with Dave Ramsey that is airing today and tomorrow. If none of your local stations carry Focus on the Family programming, you can also listen to the interview as a podcast.

According to the website, Dave is going to be discussing how listeners can avoid impulse spending and unnecessary debt. The title of his discussion is Let the Buyer Beware.

I've never read his books, so I'm looking forward to hearing him speak!

I'm Giving Up On CVS

For the past couple of weeks, I've been checking out a lot of blogs on saving money and getting good deals on my household shopping. I've discovered that drug stores like CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens can provide some nice free-after-rebate items and other good deals if you do it right.

There are a ton of Walgreens in my area, so I've been having a lot of fun finding all the freebies and other good deals at Walgreens. There are, however, no Rite-Aids in my area and only one CVS.

After reading sites like Be Thrifty Like Us, I *heart* CVS, and Money Saving Mom, I decided last month to check the local CVS out. It's on the other side of town and not very convenient for me, so I went there when I was in the area for other errands. I went in the middle of March and noticed that all of the "freebies" were gone. Not too surprising, I guess.

I went back to CVS this past Saturday because I had found out that Extra Care Bucks on Softsoap were printing early. I was able to find and buy some Softsoap and got $9.98 in Extra Care Bucks! I was pretty excited.

Today, the April freebies started. I went to CVS after work and they were completely out of everything that was a really good deal. I was pretty bummed. I guess that's what happens when you have one CVS for about 150,000 people. I used up my $9.98 in Extra Care Bucks on some groceries and went home dejected.

So, that's my story and that is why I'm giving up on CVS, for now at least. If I find out about any more good deals that are printing out before being advertised, I'll still probably head over there to pick them up. I'll stick to Walgreens, though, for my monthly fix of freebies :)