I Sealed my Own Driveway

I found a huge opportunity to save money last week. Every 2 years I pay a company to seal my driveway, but I have noticed that many of my neighbors do thier own. I researched it and found that I can save a LOT of money doing it myself. I went to the local hardware store and bought the sealant and a roll on brush and went to town. It was surprisingly easy, although I don't think I did quite as good a job as the professionals. Still, it looks pretty good and I saved a whopping $120 ($60 for the project)! Unfortunately the paint roller broke and I had to buy another one. And then I ruined my pants so I had to buy new ones. At first I was very annoyed as this was going to cut into my profits, but in the end I found some unbelievably cheap $3.50 pants that are really good quality. They were so great I bought two! In the end I made $62.97 for the project. This puts me slightly ahead of the pace to meet my deadline of October 1st.

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Just when your day can't get any worse... it gets better

I had to drive my wife to class today and grumbled a bit when I had to pay $1.50 for parking. Then she bought a drink and the vending machine short changed her by a quarter. Grrr.... What could possibly happen to us next? Well I looked over and saw a crisp new $10 bill sitting on the ground. Suddenly I didn't care that we just lost $1.75. I added it all to my stake since found money is fair game. 6.25% closer to the end of step 16! I also checked my doubling bank account and found that I had made 2 cents in May and 6 cents in June. Not much but it is PASSIVE income, which is the best kind!

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Due date set for Current Level

I didn't realise that so much time has gone by since I completed step 15. One entire month! I was on vacation for some of it though, which is part of the reason I wasn't setting a due date. I didn't want to consider myself on the clock while I was trying to relax. The vacation is now done, so I will put my standard 3 months due date on, which means I need to complete step 16 by October 1st, 2010. I did make two purchases before my vacation that were not recorded. Firstly, I purchased a pair of pants for an unbelievable price of $3.50. These are used pants, but they are in good condition. I don't think I can use the base price of $20 like the last pair of pants since they are used and may wear out quicker, so I will half it and say they're regularly $10 for a savings of $6.50. Halfing that according to the rules for coupons/sales, etc. gives a profit of $3.25 to the project. I also bought 4 more jars of Ragu on sale for $0.99, for a savings of $3.20/2=$1.60 So that is $4.85 for the project. I'll need to do better than that at this level.

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Donated to Charity

I had $2.98 reserved for charity so I walked over to the grocery store today and bought 3 $0.99 cans of food for the food bank. Imagine my dismay when one of them only turned out to be $0.89 cents! I ended up with 11 cents so I put it in the blind dogs head again (in case you missed my earlier posts, it's like a giant dog piggy bank to support guide dogs or something). I must admit, I never realised how satisfying it is to donate, especially food which is something 'real' that families need. And it's all because of the doubling project. Awesome!

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Completed Level 15!

I usually go to a certain place to get my hair cut and in fact I went to get it done, but he was too busy that day. I usually would just try again, but instead I got my wife to cut my hair, which I havn't done in about 3 years. She did a really good job. I figure the money saved here qualifies since I almost certainly would have just gone the next day or so. If memory serves me corretly, his hair cuts cost about $12 and I usually tip him $3 (he is insanely fast - I am usually in and out of the store in five minutes; no joke!) Savings are always split between the project and the 'real' me, so that is $7.50 saved for the project, which puts me over the top for Level 15 for a total of $165.95. Splitting the extra gives $2.98 to charity and $2.97 to buy some thing for myself.

Level 16, here I come!

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More Deals

Today I went a bit out of my way to purchase something to save $2.50. In hind sight, it was not a good deal. I had to drive 8.8km there and back, which results in a cost of $0.88 to the project. Subtract this off the $2.50 savings and you get $1.62. Since the project only gets 1/2 of the profits from saving, this is a $0.81 cent gain, which is JUST what I need to make it qualify. This is fine, except we unexpectedly ended up in the area later at night to go to a restaurant, so if I had just waited a few hours I could have tacked on the $0.90 I wasted driving there the first time. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all. I also bought some Gatoraid for $3.99 (Reg $6.49), Apple Juice for $0.70 (On sale at Loblaws for $1.25 on what they apparently call a 'blowout'), and some shampoo for $1.99 (Reg $3.72). Calculating it all out, gives the project another $6.12 for a total of $158.65. I also calculated that otherwise, I've gone 4km out of my way, which translates to a 20c cost to the project. Only a buck sixty five to go!

More grocery savings

I bought some Gatoraid for $3.99 and priced it at $6.49 at my usual grocery store. I guess they don't consider it food because it is surprisingly taxed, which is bad for the real me and good for the double project (because I saved even more). I also bought some mayonaise for $2.97, which I priced at $4.79. This all comes to a gain of $2.32 for the project. I am creeping up to the finish. I wish there was something I could just buy and get it over with, but there weren't too many good deals this week. I guess I am starting to be stocked up with all the non-perishables we use so this method may slow down soon. Only $7.47 to go and then I am done level 15!