June numbers - very late

I know this is wayyyyy late. I've been in holiday mode since the end of June. I've been lazing by the pool, shopping, dining out and just plain doing nothing. It's rare for me to just take time off like this, so I enjoyed it to the fullest. I had absolutely zero interest in writing a blog post, but that's all behind me now...lol. So onto the numbers we go.

It's been a really slow earning month on all point earning sites.Lots of things not working, so the numbers are low. I do,however, remain thankful for the extra cash in my pocket :)

Gift cards earned

Mypoints $0
Swagbucks : $25
IGC : $50 (Kohls, Target) 
Ibotta : $50 Walmart
Savingstar : $0 - not enough funds to cash out yet
Checkout51 - I requested a $20.75 check that will be added to $15K fund
Total gcs earned in January : $180 (excluding CK51) 

So onto the gc balances:

Kohls 
Previous balance $146.57
Added : $25 (Mypoints)
Spent : $106.21 Kohls + $50 Christmas gift transfer
New balance : $15.36

Target 
Previous balance $70
Added : $30 (Swagbucks, Bing) 
Spent : $0 
New balance : $100

Walmart 
Previous balance : $66.44
Added : $100 Ibotta & CC
Spent : $11.26 (Lance crackers)
Total : $155.18

Gap 
Previous balance : $40.27
Added : $0 
Spent : $0
Total : $40.27


Macy's 

Previous balance : $59.31
Earned $0
Spent : 0
New balance : $59.31

DSW - $25.00 + $5 reward

WHBM - $50.00

BBW - 

Previous balance : $15.00
Spent $15.00
Balance : $0 (pending credit which I still haven't received)

Starbucks : $35 

Total Gift Cards : $385.12

Total earned from online sales (after fees) : $195.33
Plus previous balance $465.57
Less expenses (27.11) $23.15 was for my BBW purchase
New Balance : $633.79

So we have a total of $1018.91 in cash and gcs for holiday shopping and whatever clothing items we need for the rest of the year. 

So, the Kohls number is a little off. I only shopped at Kohls once this month. However, I told my friend I was gonna order a gc through my CC as a Christmas gift. I wasn't sure about redeeming for a small amount, because I would've preferred a larger gc. So my friend told me to just get a gc to use for our household and then take the cash amount out of household (eg groceries) and save it towards a bigger gc. Brilliant idea. Then I thought, why not get a Kohls gc, buy some items to resell and use that money to buy a bigger gc. Even better idea. So off to Kohls I went with $50 gc and bought items to sell (which should bring me about $125). I also earned $10 Kohls cash which I used to buy 3 more items to sell, which should bring even more money. I'm counting on $150 total in my pocket. See how that $50 gc is growing :) BUTTTTTT The day after my Kohls trip I tried to redeem my CC points for a $50 Kohls gc. Except, they didn't have any Kohls gcs available :( So I ordered a Walmart gc instead, cause Walmart is on my shopping list too). 

So long story short. I traded a $50 Kohls for a $50 Walmart card. So these numbers are reflected on my gc amounts above.

$15K savings goal

Starting balance : $844.21
Plus 52 wk plan : $282.16
Plus sales : $181.53
Plus CK51 check : 20.75
Less purchases : $0
New Balance : $1328.65

$1 Savings
Previous balance : $76
Added : $15
Total : $91

$5 Savings 
Previous balance : $155
Added : $25
Total : $180

I sure hope that the point earning sites will pick up soon, because I still need to earn a lot of gcs for BF shopping and it's already the middle of July. Our cash situation is a lot better, so I don't know why I'm so worried. Probably because I feel less guilt when I pay with a gc versus cash. 

So that's our holiday savings/shopping numbers to date. How have you done with saving/shopping for Christmas?

I did quite a bit of drugstore shopping last week, so need to work on that post. I hit all 3 stores last week and stocked up on P&G items.