Today was a day of shopping. We didn’t actually do any building, but we did score some sweet deals, save $445, and then spend quality time with Becky’s family for her dad’s birthday.
Habitat ReStore – Saved $345
Can I just officially declare that the Habitat ReStore is my favorite store ever? Every time we go in, it’s like a treasure hunt for van build awesomeness. We never know what we’re going to find, but we’re pretty sure it’s going to be amazing. And somehow, things show up right when we need them. We don’t always buy something when we visit the store, but about 50% of the time we find things we do need. Today we found several things we needed.
We bought 3 brand new packs of EPS foam board insulation for $2 each. That’s $6 total for about $30 worth of insulation! It is 3/4″ thickness, so it is perfect for insulating the bulkhead and bulkhead door. It’s not the best insulation (EPS is basically styrofoam that you would see cups or coolers made out of). The R value for 3/4″ is 2.65. Still, the price and thickness were perfect for our needs, and we saved $24 on the insulation.
There was also a door sweep that we picked up for $2. It was brand new and still in the package as well. We need several of these to cover the gaps between the bulkhead door and the bulkhead wall, to insulate the living space from the cab as much as possible. They retail for $8, so we saved $6 on the door sweep.
Finally, the score of the whole build… beautiful wood cabinet doors, and matching shelves. They are strawberry blonde light colored wood, beautifully crafted cabinet doors. We picked up 12 doors, 3 large shelves, and a bundle of 3 small shelves for $5 each. Including tax, we spent about $84. Cabinet doors retail for $30-$50 a piece!! So assuming $30 each + some extra for the shelves, we saved about $315 on the cabinet doors!
Total saved at Habitat for Humanity: $345
Battery Sale – Saved $25
The marine batteries we will be using for the solar system are Champion Marine 29HM850CH from Pep Boys. They retail for $105, and then there is a $27 core charge, which you get back when you trade in your old battery (this encourages recycling the lead). Total cost for each battery would be $132, and we need 3 of them for a total of about $400. Since we aren’t replacing old batteries, we are on the look out for batteries in the trash, on craigslist, and from family and friends so that we can recoup that charge.
Last week, we tried a trick where we placed the batteries in our online cart at PepBoys.com while we were signed in with our account. Sometimes, if you abandon a cart with items in it, the company will email or mail you coupons to incentivize you to complete your purchase. This didn’t work.
Since most of our solar array has come in, we decided we wanted to buy at least one battery to get it set up. There was a 20% off sale on the batteries online, so we sent in an order and selected “pay in store.” The store didn’t get the order by the time we arrived, but they said they would honor the online price. When the battery run up they actually had a 25% off in-store sale that applied. I tried to also use a $25 off $100 coupon that I had gotten by signing up for text alerts, but it wouldn’t stack with the sale. With the 25% off sale, we saved $25 on the battery.
Our strategy is to buy one of the 3 batteries we need, wait a week to see if they send any coupons, then buy more. The sale is a really good price for these batteries, and we think it will last.
The battery has a 1 year warranty, so if you have any problems, you can exchange it as long as you have a receipt. So I need to make a copy of the receipt and place it in our van binder, where we keep track of all of our receipts, maintenance, warranties, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about the binder, comment below! I am thinking of sharing it as a printable PDF.
Windows & Solar Arrived (with problems)
Our bunk windows for next to our bed showed up. They’re perfect and actually match the step truck windows that we got at the junkyard SUPER well. Unfortunately, the crappy plastic latch was already broken on one of the windows. We were hoping to install the windows tomorrow, so this kind of puts a pause on that unfortunately. We filed a complaint on Amazon and requested that they send us a new latch, instead of returning the windows. Even though the latch is riveted in, Austin can drill it out and attach the replacement latch.
Our package 3 of 3 for our solar array finally arrived! We were SO excited until… we opened the box. We got our inverter, cables and remote switch for the inverter. But still no charge controller, wiring, or mounting brackets. Our FedEx tracking number says that there were only 3 packages, and that everything was delivered. However, we’re missing several pieces of our Renogy solar starter kit. There’s no way we could have overlooked any items (I triple checked) because none of the boxes were big enough to contain extra items. I reached out to Renogy customer support and hope they can send the rest of the items soon.
Our First Diesel Fill Up!
When we bought our van, it had about a quarter tank of gas. We’ve only driven it about 70 miles since then. Finally, today the gas light came on.
So, we used the Gas Buddy app to find the cheapest Diesel near us. We live in NJ, so all gas stations have attendants that pump the gasoline for you (you don’t even get out of the car). But, today I learned that diesel is self serve in most places in NJ! Austin already knew this. We saved money by finding the cheapest diesel in our area, and then used the PNC Cash Rewards credit card for the first time and got 4% back on gas! The total came out to $49, and at 4% back we saved about $2. Not much on one fill-up, but that will save us hundreds over the course of the next year as we travel.
We also calibrated the ScanGauge to give us fillup and gas mileage information. We should start getting accurate information (such as how many miles left on our tank) after our second fill-up, which we need to do once the gauge drops to 1/4 tank.
$10 off PayPal
Austin randomly got an email from PayPal offering him $10 off his next purchase through PayPal, so he added it to his account and we will use it before 9/30 to get some free money!
$15 Credit on Amazon Order
Austin was targeted for the “Get a $15 credit when you purchase $50 in Amazon Gift Cards” promotion on Amazon.
Here’s how it works:
Buy a $50 Amazon eGift card and send it to yourself. We used our Chase Freedom card to get 5% back on the purchase of the gift card. Make sure when you purchase the gift card that the coupon you clipped is applied and it gives you a note that you’ll get a $15 promotional credit. You should receive an email with it almost instantaneously. Then apply it to your account.
You may have to wait up to 3 days to get the $15 promotional credit, which is only usable on things that are fulfilled by Amazon.com. But this will save you $15!
Now we are waiting for the promotional credit to arrive so we can send in our next Amazon order and save $15!
Garbage Picking
Our neighbor put out a bunch of furniture and housewares at the curb in a garbage pile. So naturally, we headed over to check it out. This is the same neighbor we scored $20 worth of plywood from previously. I got 2 large salad/serving bowls, 2 short wide-mouthed Ball jars, 2 storage boxes, and a brand new scratch off map of the world (worth $30!). The total estimated value of the free items is about $50!
Total Savings
Our savings today were significant: $345 at Habitat ReStore, $25 on the battery, $10 off PayPal, $15 off Amazon, and $50 of free items from the garbage.
Total savings was $445.
9/19/2020
Build Day #21
Hours Worked: 2
- Austin – 1
- Becky – 1
- Total Project Hours: 225
Money Spent: $201
- EPS Insulation (Habitat ReStore) – $6
- Door Sweep (Habitat ReStore) – $2
- Cabinet Doors (Habitat ReStore) – $84
- Marine Battery (Pep Boys) – $109
- Total Project Spending: $19,666
Tasks Complete: 0
Questions Googled: 1
- Pep Boys Coupons
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