March 01, 2018

Some Cool Clearance Finds

Good grief! I feel like the days and weeks are flying by. It's March 2018 already?!

Anyway, I don't have a whole lot for Thrifty Thursday, but I thought I'd share a couple of things I found on clearance. Also, I have to share how our new furnace has made a difference in our energy bill (so exciting, right?).

First, I needed to buy coasters for my living room and/or bedroom (I only have four good ones, and I kept moving two of them from living room to bedroom to living room...). I wanted some that were like the heavy coasters I had at home already, but I was always forgetting to look for a set when I'd go to the store.

When I was at the store recently, I was walking past all the end caps where clearance items usually are, and I spotted some coasters. They were gray and yellow, which matched my bedroom perfectly, and they were on clearance for $6.74 (regularly $8.99).

Several times at this particular store, I've scanned clearance items to check the price and found out they were actually even cheaper than the clearance sticker.


So, I found a scanner and checked the price. They were on clearance for 79 CENTS! Yes, that is less than a dollar for the pack of four coasters. When I got home, I saw that there were two that were just yellow and white, which match my living room. I couldn't have picked better ones for what I needed, and they were only 79 cents!

At the same store (different day), I was looking for some pajamas for the kids, and I was browsing a clearance rack of clothes. I saw a really cute, nice quality Detroit Lions jacket on clearance for 50% off. But it was regularly $75, so $37.50 was still way too much for me to impulsively spend on a jacket.

I brought it over to a price scanner, and it was marked down to $7.50!!


I couldn't believe it. So, needless to say, I bought it. (This is a terrible picture, but I only took it to send to my sister, not to post on my blog--and I'm too lazy to go take a better one right now).

In other news, we got our end-of-the-year statement from our electric company, and I normally wouldn't have paid much attention to it (we do a budget plan, which means we pay the same amount every month--calculated by our average use of the previous year). The "settlement month" is in January, where the new bill amount for the year is calculated.

When I saw the bill was drastically lower, I wondered why--and then I realized it had to be because of the new furnace we bought. Remember when our furnace died in 2016? I was completely shocked at how expensive it is to replace a furnace/air conditioning, even when saving quite a bit on labor fees due to knowing someone who installs them as a side job.

Anyway, after our furnace died, we had no choice but to replace it. I had NO idea just how much money it would save us on our electric bills! (We have a gas furnace, but also central air; so the summer months use more electricity than the winter months. Spring and fall are usually the lowest cost, because we don't run the furnace or the air for a little while).

I wish I had all of 2016's history, but the furthest back I can get from the website is September through December. The bills are from the previous month's usage, so the one dated in September was actually August's electrical usage.

Check this out!


I still cannot believe the difference. Seems the furnace dying wasn't such a terrible thing after all ;) Although, by the time the furnace pays for itself by way of energy savings, it'll probably be time for a new one anyway! ha.

As far as our credit card debt goes, we weren't able to pay down as much as I would have liked for February--we were able to pay just under $800. We had several extra expenses pop up--nothing like needing a new furnace, thank God, but just to register for the half-marathon that Jerry and I are doing (and the kids running the 5K) was over $200 (I paid for my brother's 5K as well, because he is only doing it to run with my kids). Running races as a family is not cheap!

So, I'm hoping that our final credit card payment will be in April. It's so exciting that we will soon be debt-free!


4 comments:

  1. I couldn't believe the difference when we replaced our AC! Makes me wish we had done it sooner!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Katie, I so enjoy your Thrifty Thursday posts. That may sound weird, cause I get something out of every post, but this subject is very helpful right now. Please keep them coming! Have you thought about what your family will do in April or May when you are debt-free and clear? By following the same budget, you could not only avoid where you started, but do even greater things. Do your cool Katie research and plan for the future. Teach us how to save for college, or other life goals. Keep the momentum going! This has been so interesting. Best to you and Jerry.
    --Lise from Indy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie, I so enjoy your Thrifty Thursday posts. I get something out of every post, but this subject is very helpful right now. Please keep them coming! Have you thought about what your family will do in April or May when you are debt-free and clear? By following the same budget, you could not only avoid where you started, but do even greater things. Do your cool Katie research and plan for the future. Teach us how to save for college, or other life goals. Keep the momentum going! This has been so interesting. Best to you and Jerry.
    --Lise from Indy

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVE these posts! I had to chuckle at you "only" paying $800 down on your debt! WAY better than adding to it! We are almost 100% debt free. We are working on paying off our home. Such an exciting journey!

    ReplyDelete

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