FEBRUARY $AVING$ CHALLENGE TOTALS

If you look closely at my right sidebar, you will notice that I updated my 60K $aving$ Challenge Totals for February a couple of days ago. I had hoped to just sneak it in and not have to post about it, but alas, I was caught.

Like I mentioned before, this month is NOT pretty!

While I practically Doubled my eBay sales(thanks in part to that nice guy in The Netherlands), the loose change in the house seems to have dried up. Ok, of the two, I'd rather have more eBay sales than change.lol

We ended Feb. with a net Loss of $157.97.

Negative savings.

Not good.

EVER!

I knew mid-month when we received the Bill Trifecta-a 6 month car insurance premium notice, the unexpected auto repair & the bill for the kitchen countertops,
February would be a wash.

The last 2 items appeared on the MONSTER CREDIT CARD BILL.

Monster to the tune of $2902.85.

The countertops and the auto repair account for $2126.49 of that monster, so in reality, the normal expenditures on it were only $776.36. That includes some online paid bills, most of the gasoline purchases and some Birthdays eating out money. (Dec-Feb. is our Birthday Landmine Field for spending on eating out.)

So if you take off the unusual expenses, we 'could' have had $215.67 left at the end of the month to dump into the SCG.

But we had emergencies. That is why you have Emergency funds....the shock absorbers for buffering those monetary bumps in the road of your money.

Soooo....we deduct that negative $157.97 from our Grand Total Saved & we are down to $3216.67 Saved for the year.

The target goal for 2 months in:$10K.

We are more behinder than last month.

*sigh*

Looking at the bright side....

The credit card statement period closes on March 11th. We currently have $548.39 in purchases on it. If I can keep from buying gasoline for 7 more days, I can have a much lower Mastercard bill to pay this month.

I heart $548.39 bills alot more than $2902.85 bills.

And I have set a $150/250 Low Spend Food Budget for March(See my Food Budget Part II post). That should result in a much lower expenditure for groceries than last month's total of $863.42.

Please help me stick to this March grocery budget.

If you see me in the grocery store with a fist full of coupons and that food lust look in my eyes, throw me in a cart and wheel me out!

Looking on the Not-So-Bright side....

Coming up this month however is the yearly local tax bill and the sewage bill. The sewage bill is hardly a blip on the spending screen but the Tax Bill is significant. Even more reason to keep all other expenditures down. I like to pay it before April 1, as we get a discount if we do. And whenever any governmental entity offers you a discount, TAKE IT!

Always.

Sluggy

New Counters & Sink Revealed!

As promised, here is the close-up of the new counter color/pattern.

And here is the photo of the countertops installed.

And I just love my new sink & faucet!

The sink is super deep and oversized. What was there before was a 2 small sink arrangement. You couldn't fit a sheet pan or large roaster/griddle/saute pan in the sink to clean it properly. I always ended up soaked with water trying to clean those items. It will be wonderful to actually stay dry when doing pots & pans by hand. I know some folks like having two sinks but I never have.

Our old faucet had been broken for almost a year. It was one of those cheapy lift the handle and swivel it to adjust the temperature one-handled type of faucets. Something had worn out internally that made it so you couldn't turn the water flow off by pushing down on the handle. You had to grab the base of the faucet and push down with some force to shut off the water. I had been doing that so long it feels strange to not have to 'wrassle'(southern redneck word for wrestle) with the faucet.lolol

And can you believe what they charge for a faucet anymore? Great GoogleyMoogley! Husband had to pick my jaw up off the Lowe's Warehouse Floor when we bought this one in January. It was almost $200....and that was a CHEAP model! Well, cheap for a 'not economy' value one. If I wanted to forego eating for a month, I could have bought the $600 model. Ack!

I have to give a shout out to the Installer, Dave. He was wonderful! It's rare you find someone who enjoys his work and goes the extra mile to take longer and do a job RIGHT and not just get it done quickly & haphazardly, so he can be off to the next job. He works freelance as well as contracting with Lowe's so if you are in Northeast PA and need countertop work, he's your man. Write me for his number.

Except for painting the blue tiles in the backsplash walls and fixing the ceiling damage from the Great Toilet Clog of 2007, I am finished with the kitchen fixups.
It's onward and upward to the next project on the list....the Master Bathroom redo.

Sluggy

New Counter Tops Today Yippee!!!

So we moved here 8+ yrs. ago. It was NOT the house I wanted to buy but like The Rolling Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want". I have spent the last 7 yrs. slowing fixing the kitchen up. Here's a photo of the kitchen before we cleaned it out last night.

I wish I had a photo of what it looked like when we moved in, in 2000. There was a layer of gunk & dirt on the cabinets such that you couldn't really see the grain of the oak & cheap aluminum door handles with 'patina' which turned out to be oily dirt from too much frying and not enough cleaning. The table area had a dusty BLUE ceiling fan, which matched the dusty blue duck wallborder that ran from there into the attached family room. This wallborder/fan coordinated with the dusty blue colonial dot wallpaper w/an ivory background that covered the kitchen walls. Add in ugly tan vinyl flooring and 15 yr. old white/half broken appliances and you have my kitchen in 2000.

Here's a photo of the kitchen floor AFTER hubby tried to melt a saute pan on the stove and then carry it from the stovetop to the sink. Nice molten globs of metal pattern burned into the flooring, huh?

Actually, that floor wasn't the original kitchen floor. When we took it up, we found 2 more layers of vinyl flooring under it. The original was gold & brown and SCREAMED UGLY rather than 'whispered bland'.

I have slowly been changing out everything in the kitchen except the tile backsplash.

**********

Kitchen TimeLine

2001

We cleaned the cabinets and oiled up the wood until it shone. Then we invested in quality cabinet handles and face plates. Changed out the ceiling fan and light fixture.

2002

The wallpaper came down and paint went up. We added crown molding after the painting.

2004

Ripped up the flooring and had Ceramic Tile put down in the kitchen and front hallway. Changed out the window coverings to valances and a rolled bamboo shade.

2004-2007

Replaced the stove, refridgerator & dishwasher as they broke with stainless &/or black. Also replaced the non-working stove vent hood with stainless steel one.

2008

Which brings us to today, the day I get new countertops, a sink & a new faucet.

Finally!

I hated the old countertops. You can kind of see in the AFTER CLEANING photo the color. They are not as 'tan' as they look but rather a pale washed out yellow. NOT attractive. And the SEAM running diagonally across the corner of the long 'l shaped' counter is hideous. It looks like the 2 sides of the seam never matched thicknesses, so it was always noticeable that there was a seam there. Plus at some point before we moved here, someone let the area get saturated with water for an extended period of time, and the pressboard under the formica coating swelled where the water seeped into the seam and made the seam area raise up all down the seam. Then they never cleaned the countertops and it turned black. So I had a nice pale yellow counter with a big black diagonal LINE.

Attractive?

Not on your life!

But before the day is out, that will all be in the past. and my modest costing kitchen redo will be complete. Well, except for the tile backsplash, which has baby blue accent tiles. I plan on painting or reglazing or whatever you call it on those light blue tiles, as they don't go with my vision.

I think I did a pretty frugal job of it, not going with stone/granite counters and floors and top of the line appliances when less expensive would serve just as well. Plus I never replaced anything until it either broke, wore out or I could find someone who wanted it. I couldn't justify just sending perfectly good working appliances or materials into a landfill.

Check back later tonight for photos of the new Counters!

Sluggy

The Return of the White Stuff

I was just thinking Saturday, "We haven't gotten much snow this winter. I wonder if we'll have a drought this summer?" We had that freakishly warm spell in February and ALL the snow melted. I have lived in northern/mountainous Pennsylvania for 22+ yrs. and have NEVER seen a winter where all the snow cover has melted before the spring thaw.....until this year. Could spring be close by??

Evidently not. The photo above was taken from my front porch. I woke up this morning to a new inch of snow on the ground and we have 3 inches currently. And it's still snowing sporadically.

It generally snows here until after Easter.....that would be the late April Easter.

This snow was NOT predicted to hit us!

Can I just go back to bed now?

sluggy

Meal Plan Monday

Here's what is on the Menu at Sluggy's house this week.

I'm trying to use up all the leftover so we have no food waste this week. The beagles will take care of the leftover sweet potatoes and a bit of roasted turkey I found in the fridge from the week before.

Monday-Chicken Parmesan(carry over from last week, as I made Fried Chicken instead), Carrots(leftover from Pot Roast last week), Corn-on-the-cob

Tuesday-Take out(The new countertops are being installed this day!)

Wednesday-Spaghetti w/Meatballs & Sausage, Spinach Salad, Garlic Bread

Thursday-Chicken & Bean Enchiladas(leftover chicken from Sunday), Spanish Rice, Green Beans

Friday-Baked Fish, Steak Fries, Asparagus, Apple Sauce

Saturday-Clam (& Fish if leftover from night before)Chowder & Grilled Cheese or Chicken Sandwiches

Sunday-Kielbasa w/Onions & Peppers, Mixed Vegetables

Desserts for the Week-Pineapple, Carrot Cake, Hickory Farms Petit Fours

Organizing Junkie is the home to Menu Plan Monday.

Go see what's on her and many other Home Cooks' Menus for the week at Organizing Junkie's website.

Sluggy

Food Budget Part II

Ok, here are my grocery spending totals for Feb. 2009. Please sit down before you read if large sums of money make you queasy.

This Monthly total includes Toiletries/HBAs/Paper Goods/Cleaning Products/Pet Food & Supplies....oh, and food too. We are a family of 5-2 parents & 3 eating machines, er....I mean teenagers(God help me).

Merchandise Value Total: $2524.90
Deduct....
Value of Coupons: $561.89
Store Sales Savings: $758.29
Rewards/Gift Cards/ECB's Used: $118.96
You get.....
Paid Out of Pocket: $1085.76

Savngs Total(Coupons/Sales/Rewards):$1439.14
Average % Saved: 56.9%

Rewards/ECB's Earned: $62.92
Rebates Sent For: $138.43
(ECB's & Gift Cards balance rolled over into next month: $20.99)

Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $863.42

I found a Food Plan chart from the USDA that I am going to use to set a monthly food budget. The chart is located Here.
The dollar amounts of the Plans are based on food prices for Dec. 2008, which is the latest month for which the info. is available. There are 4 levels of food spending-Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate Cost & Liberal. According to this governmental chart, my family should be spending anywhere from $784.30 a Month to eat on the cheap to $1542.40 a Month to dine on steak & caviar.....well, maybe NOT the caviar.
I am all about eating on the cheap but not so cheap that it has questionable nutritional value and/or it tastes bad. Yes, I let the kids eat their share of Pop Tarts and Kraft Mac & Cheese in the box but it's not an everyday thing and they get plenty of 'real' food most of the time. We eat well here and I'm not going to put the family on a ramen noodles and generic hot dog diet to save an extra buck or two.

But I just can't believe we spent that much on food for a month. Granted, I'd guesstimate that about $300-400 of what I spent was stocking up on things we use at incredibly LOW prices so that makes me feel a little better.

I guess I'm just shocked by the current cost of food. I read recently that food on avg. has gone up in price about 9-10% in the past year? Can that be right?!

I remember when husband & I were in college....back when dinosaurs roamed the earth as my kids say, but really it was the early 1980's/late 1970's. The two of us ate, albeit it WAS a meager menu, for $20 a week. Nowadays you can't even eat for 2 days on that! I use to wheel our little grocery handcart up the 6 short blocks to the big A&P on the main thoroughfare bordering the ghetto-esque part of the neighborhood in Baltimore. As starving students, we ate alot of Kraft Mac & Cheese with either hamburger or tuna fish mixed in, hot dogs & beans, hamburgers, pasta with sauce or for a special treat-Lasagna. You could buy a pound of mozzarella cheese for $1.99. Generic Kraft was 8 for $1., a can of tuna was 49 cents, pasta was 20 cents a box & spaghetti sauce was 89 cents a jar & a can of green beans was 29 cents. I'd love to go back to prices like that but not the quality of food it bought.

Except for the price of lobsters. I'd love to go back with my income TODAY to my 1st summer job in Maine in 1980. There was a guy selling lobsters out the back of his pick-up truck in the parking lot of the Stop & Shop. 1980 price for fresh just off the boat lobster in 1980 Maine?.....$2 lb.
To have a spare $20 and a Time Machine right about now.
I would eat myself into a lobster stupor.
Seriously.
In a heartbeat.

Back to the point.
I am going to try to stick to the "low cost" monthly food plan this year, the $1038.70 one.
That will include any stocking up I do too.
For Savings Challenge Goal Challenge purposes, I am going to put a Food Budget Limit of $250 for March however. I want to try to get through March with only buying milk, bread and fresh veggies/fruits, as I plan for us to eat down the pantry this month. I figure $150 and another $100 for any seriously low deals for stockpiling that may pop up later in the month.
Then for April, I'll go to the $1038.70 monthly budget.

So what do YOU spend for food a month at your house?
Do tell!

Sluggy

Food Budget and Low Spend on Food March

Hubby has always said I never do anything halfway. When I get 'into' something I jump in with both feet. The month of February was a blur of Couponing & Rebating for me. I am still wading through the mounds of grocery/drug store receipts but I know I waaaaay overspent stocking up on foods for the family at very good prices, in addition to my normal monthly grocery spending.

I am putting myself on a $150 grocery budget for what's left of the MONTH of March. Yes, I hit CVS AND Walgreen's on Sunday already this week, so I should have that out of my system for a few weeks now and can devote March to not spending & eating down on our stash of food.

I figure, with all the preserved, frozen, canned, boxed food I have stockpiled, we should only have to buy milk, some bread and maybe some fresh fruit & veggies sporadically to get through March. And we shouldn't need to buy any paper goods, cleaners or HBAs either this month. I am betting on $150 to cover the little we may need. Unless hubby runs through all his coffee, then all bets are off!lol

After I sit down and finish calculating the last 4 month's grocery totals in the morning, I can decide on a realistic monthly food budget for the rest of the year and post it.
Then I need to do a Menu Plan for the week, which I didn't get done on Sunday.
Sunday was one big mental block for me. Ugh

Sluggy