2009: A Year in Review

I just had a thought. At this point, when I'm entering my info into my spreadsheet, I pretty much do it on autopilot, so I don't really think about it anymore. But I was just pondering what some of these numbers really mean. For example, if I spend $5 cash on a transaction, but get back $6 in rebates, that transaction was an overall profit of $1 and would be recorded in my profit category as $1. If I spent $4 in another transaction and get back $3 in rebates, that transaction cost me $1. Basically, these two transactions would then cancel each other out and overall, I'd be at zero. Does that make sense? Some transactions are profitable, and some aren't. So...(if I'm thinking about this correctly, and I like to think that I am), I can take the "Total Cost to Me" category, subtract the "Total Profit" category to see how much my goodies actually cost, right? (I should probably rename these categories so they are clearer)

So......in the year 2009, my Total Cost to Me category was $1,171.69 and my Total Profit was $1,909.79. If I subtract $1,171.69 from $1,909.79, that gives me an overall yearly profit of $738.10. Holy shnikes! That means I was PAID over $700 to take over $21,000 worth of merchandise out of the stores! Man oh man, you can't tell me coupons don't pay! :)

December Monthly Totals

• Merchandise Total (before coupons): $994.70
• Value of Coupons & Store Sales: $217.54
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Used: $394
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Earned: $605.39
• Rebates: $101.44
• Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $107.23
• Total Profit: $128.76
• # of Items: 209, # of Free Items: 96

Rebates Received

• $2.78 Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
• $10 Kraft/Nabisco crackers rebate
• $39.67 Rite Aid rebates in DBF's name
• $42.66 Rite Aid rebates in my name

Renewed my Tivo service for next year. I pay on a yearly basis, which saves me $26 versus paying monthly.

eBay profits - getting back into selling some stuff here. I'd been on an ebay hiatus for a while.

• $45 - sold a $50 iTunes gift card that I got at CVS. I paid $50, got back $10 EB and sold it for $45. Not too shabby.
• I also sold two $30 iTunes gift cards I bought at ShopRite. I paid $60, got back $10 as a catalina and sold them for $58.50 - so $8.50 profit (minus ebay and paypal fees).

And now, let's see how I did for the year, shall we?

2009 Yearly Totals

• Merchandise Total (before coupons): $21,240.28
• Value of Coupons & Store Sales: $12,700
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Used: $6,329.27
• Rewards/Gift Cards/EB's Earned: $6,313.66
• Rebates: $1,502.41
• Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $1,171.69
• Total Profit: $1,909.79
• # of Items: 5,672, # of Free Items: 3,739

This has been a great year for me financially. I've been able to pay off my car early and pay off all my remaining credit card debt. It feels wonderful! My goals for the upcoming year are to continue to boost my savings accounts. I've made great progress the past several months and its fantastic to finally have a cushion for myself.