Looking Forward to the Rest of 2016

I am sitting here on a hot and hazy Saturday morning looking at what is ahead here at Chez Sluggy for the rest of the year.

We are almost halfway through August already(can't say as I am NOT happy that the hot weather is leaving soon!lol).

College Boy will be leaving to go back to school in 2 weeks.
I have barely seen him all Summer!  It's been all I could do to corral him to A-get his school bill paid(you have to do this online through his account)and B-get me the info so I could reserve and pay for his textbooks.
He's been working full time this Summer and filling his off hours with rehearsing with various bands, playing gigs with various bands, hanging out with friends, and yes, sleeping as little as humanly possible.  Ah to be young and full of energy..... ;-)

Before you know it, September will be here.

There is the family reunion in Virginia the end of that month.  At this point I am on the fence about going this year.  One of the few relatives who talks to me at this thing(and I actually "know" somewhat)died back in January and no one bothered to tell me until I took the Daughter to visit my brother in July.  Another thing for me to have hurt feelings over besides the sadness I feel at losing this family member.
Between my frame of mind at the moment and just feeling old and not up to anymore traveling right now I might just stay home this year.

Then Hubs will get a hankering to go somewhere in October as he is want to do.
I would love to return to Ocean City Maryland this year as we were last there 2 Octobers ago.  Last year we went to visit my crazy cousin Sonya Ann in October. 8-)

 I do love it down in OC in October when the tourists have left but the weather is still nice and we can get an oceanfront room for $100 a night.  It always seems like our last hurrah before Winter sets in.....
But I don't know if I want to travel again in October this year.  Plus the expense of vacationing?  I just don't want more vacation expenses right now.

Speaking of expenses, we've had a lot of them up to this point this year.
I am still trying to slog through Daughter's medical stuff from Louisiana to match up payments to bills to EOBs.

I figured out that one doctor was overpaid by us to the tune of $126.  So back in early June I had Daughter call their billing office and find out when they were going to return our money.  Well they weren't actually going to send our over payment back until we found it and requested it! Unreal.....

So we asked for the money to be sent back and were told it would take another month's billing cycle before they could cut us a check.
So Augusts 3rd, while I was in Maine the check finally arrived......(identifying info has been blacked out)

Please not that no one there bothered to SIGN THE CHECK!
Ass hats.....
So this meant yet another call to Louisiana to figure out what to do with this.
They want it sent back so someone can sign it.....I wonder how long THAT will take after waiting almost 2 months for this one?!?

The problem reusing this check is that my Daughter only has an online bank and she has to take pictures of checks to deposit them and since the online bank rejected this particular check/number, she needs a whole new check or the bank won't accept it.
Ugh.
So now I get to try to deposit this into my account IF it ever gets returned AND signed.

It's always something isn't it?  8-P

At the rate the bills are piling up this year I am having serious doubts I can get to my savings goal for the year.
We really shouldn't do anymore vacationing in light of this.  Hubs can still take the time off but we can stay home and putter or take local trips if he wants to "do" something.
Maybe I can talk him into cleaning out the shed as a "FUN" activity on his vacation? 8-)

It's not that I don't have the money to cover the bills, for which I am thankful, but spending on non-necessities just doesn't seem prudent for the rest of this year.
Plus I need to reserve some of December's savings to help cover the high-deductible on our medical insurance when it rolls over in January.  I know our premiums will go up(meaning more deducted from the paychecks)plus our deductible may also rise(we'll get the details on that in October).

And then there is that holiday coming up in December......don't make me say it's name! lolz
I have very little put aside so far for the "Bacchanalia of spending" in December.  I have a bit tucked back and have a few things bought but nowhere near the amount I like to have set aside at this point in the year.

But I keep telling myself that as long is everyone is healthy and well it will all be fine.

So what does your remainder of 2016 look like?

Sluggy

April BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in April.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5. No kids under 13.


CARONE'S
OOP $67.96
Qs/Ads $29.67
Value $97.63
Savings 30.5%

CVS
OOP $62.31
Qs/Ads $366.29
Value $430.81
Savings 85.50%

GERRITY'S
OOP $58.03
Qs/Ads $41.46
Value $99.49
Savings 41.50%

GIANT
OOP $31.98
Qs/Ads $54.88
Value $87.94
Savings 63.64%

KMART
OOP $112.83
Qs/Ads $405.00
Value $534.24
Savings 79%


PRICE CHOPPER
OOP $143.94
Qs/Ads $432.62
Value $581.52
Savings 75.25%

REDNER'S
OOP $58.74
Qs/Ads $32.42
Value $90.41
Savings 35%

RITE AID
OOP $62.01
Qs/Ads $253.44
Value $362.14
Savings 83%

SHOPRITE
OOP $90.97
Qs/Ads $120.34
Value $211.31
Savings 57%

TARGET
OOP $6.11
Qs/Ads $15.80
Value $21.88
Savings 72%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $113.56
Qs/Ads $2621.92
Value $2764.80
Savings 96%

WALMART
OOP $7.16
Qs/Ads $27.50
Value $34.36
Savings 79%

WEGMAN'S
OOP $6.45
Qs/Ads $10.98
Value $17.43
Savings 63%

WEIS
OOP $241.78
Qs/Ads $427.51
Value $667.08
Savings 64%

TOTAL Out of Pocket.............................$1104.32
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings....$4839.83
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$6001.04
TOTAL Savings % for APRIL......................81.50%

I've decided NOT to track CVS ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons". Rebates will also show up in the Monthly Totals when spent, but I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.

REBATES RECV'D. IN APRIL
Rite-Aid Gift Card from Bayer..$10.00
Rite-Aid SCR.......$2.00
Walgreen's Gift Card...$21.96
Windex Rebate.......$2.50
Sucrets Rebate......$1.50
Organix Rebate......$4.99
Vitamin Rebate......$4.99
Pinecone Survey.....$9.00
Pepsi/Frito-Lay Coupons worth...$15.00
TOTAL Value of Rebates....$71.94

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were at Rite-Aid 83%, at CVS 85.5% & Walgreens at 96%!
This closes out the April spending.

Onward to Marvelous MAY and let's see if I can keep it under $700 for Out of Pocket & break 82% in Savings.

Sluggy

MARCH MADNESS...NOT the Basketball Kind

Ok, here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2009.

I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.
Grab a cup of something, this could take awhile.

These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.
We are a family of 5. No kids under 13.

CARONE'S

OOP $83.82
Qs/Ads $62.75
Value $146.57
Savings 42.82%

CVS

OOP $19.27
Qs/Ads $330.84

Value $350.11
Savings 94.50%

KMART

OOP $45.06

Qs/Ads $146.55

Value $191.61

Savings 76.48%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP $67.97

Qs/Ads $216.61

Value $284.58

Savings 76.12%

REDNER'S

OOP $30.64

Qs/Ads $15.99

Value $46.63

Savings 34.30%

RITE AID

OOP $20.82

Qs/Ads $77.25

Value $98.07

Savings 78.78%

TARGET

OOP $25.48

Qs/Ads $63.92

Value $89.40

Savings 71.50%

WALGREEN'S

OOP $136.72

Qs/Ads $628.34

Value $765.06

Savings 82.13%

WALMART

OOP $78.37

Qs/Ads $42.45

Value $120.82

Savings 35.13%

WEIS

OOP $306.60

Qs/Ads $335.75

Value $642.35

Savings 52.27%

TOTAL Out of Pocket.............................$855.39

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings....$1940.45

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2795.84

TOTAL Savings % for MARCH......................69.415%

I've decided NOT to track CVS ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons". Rebates will also show up in the Monthly Totals when spent, but I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.

REBATES RECV'D. IN MARCH

Gravy Train.......2x $1 Qs

Suave.................Free Item Q

CVS/Hershey....$5 Gift Card

Rite-Aid............$40.98

Samy..................$7.99

Dr. Pepper.........Free Item Q

Duncan Hines....$2.25

Walgreen's........$56.07 Gift Card

TOTAL Value.....$118.88

$855.39 is fairly good for the month. Way over my Low Spend Goal for March of $250.00 but I've already justified that.

Damn you to hell Heinz, Hormel & Kraft! lolol

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 78.78%, Walgreen's at 82.13% & CVS at an amazing 94.50%!

This closes out the March spending.

Onward to April and let's see if I can keep it under $500 for Out of Pocket this month & break 70% in Savings.

Sluggy

March Food Budget....torpedoed by Heinz & Kraft & Hormel

Ok, first off, I am insane.

Insane to think that I could anyway possibly stick to a self-imposed food budget of $250 in March for both buying needed grocery items for the weekly menu AND continuing to add to the stockpile in the pantry.

HA!

I sort of kept the weekly spending on food for the menu under $150 as planned. As reported in previous posts I only had to buy 3 or 4 items the last 2 weeks in order to prepare the dinner meals. Add to that the bread, juice & milk we run through quickly w/my 3 teenaged eating machines and you come out at around $150 for the month. That left $100 in the food budget for stockpiling deals I found for the whole month.

Then Price Chopper lured me in with TRIPLE COUPONS & awesome markdowns in their Dairy Dept. at the beginning of the month.

Then I had to take advantage of the Ronzoni Pasta coupons combined with the sale on Ronzoni at the stores in my Teeny Tiny Town to stock up on 14 boxes of pasta @ 50¢ a box.

Then I had to use those dog/cat food coupons to get Pet Kibble for cheaper, to stretch my $$ for the donation to the local Animal Shelter.

Then the chain grocery store in Teeny Tiny Town had Catalina Deals Week. Our Catalina Deals aren't as awesome as the ones at Kroger, Publix, etc. but it's all we gots here, so I had to buy those 10 bottles of Heinz and those 10 LARGE bags of Kraft Shredded Mozzarella(b/c my $1 Hellavu Cheese deal didn't include Mozzarella last month & we need italian cheese in this house, by gum!).

Then I had a stack of coupons for Hormel Chili I had to use before they expired & the grocery store's price freeze on Hormel Chili ended. We go through A LOT of chili here. the Eating Machines have to have something to go with those homemade Burritos, right?

Then the chain grocery store in TTT had boxed Green Giant Veggies for $1 & I had coupons that made them 50¢ a box.

Then that warehouse Grocery Store across the river had really really good price on Toilet Paper for which I had $2 coupons, so how could I not buy 10 packages?

Then it's time to fill those EASTER BASKETS, so finding candy cheaper is put on my radar and eventually purchased.

Then the chain grocery store in TTT clearanced their entire organic grocery dept. to $1 an item. How could I not purchase things we need/use at such low prices through the tears I shed over it's demise?

Then the hubby goes and decides to pick food things up at the store without consulting me.

Then that blasted chain grocery store in TTT said I had to use my Rewards Point last Wed. OR ELSE lose them & the 20% off one entire grocery bill shopping trip discount I had earned by buying stuff there. (This is 20% off BESIDES all the coupons I use!)

Then K-Mart had to go and have another DOUBLE COUPONS Week and I did have some coupons for things that I could stock up on.

In between all this, WAGS & CVS lured me in to get cheap or FREE Toiletries. Cheap doesn't sound dangerous to a budget, but cheap isn't Free and if you buy enough cheap, it DOES add up! Granted some of the cheap toiletries are going to find their way to the local women's domestic abuse shelter in April, but even so....

All this adds up to a combined total expenditure of $855.39 in March for Food & Toiletries.

To put a positive spin on this......

It IS $368.72 lowever than February's total.

And it IS less than the US Govt.'s food plan budget amount for their LOW COST Option of $1038-the option I decided to follow.

So I am not going to beat myself up over this mont's total. It was silly to try to stick to this little amount for 5 adults/teens especially when I was still building a stockpile.

What about April?

Well, let's see......now that the stockpile is pretty much done, I will not have to buy any of these things in April;pasta, ketchup, cheese(except parmesan), tomatoes or spaghetti sauce, chili, soup, cereal, granola bars, canned fruit, bacon, ground beef, frozen veggies, frozen fish, soy milk, sugar, toilet paper, napkins, facial tissue, paper towels(I'll rant about those another day), soap, crackers, seltzer, soda, deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, razors, hair coloring, air fresheners & bandaids.

Heck, I shouldn't have to buy any of the toiletries except the paper goods for 1-2 yrs. from now!

So where does this leave me in terms of a food/toiletries budget?

I'm going to try for a $500 limit for food/toiletries for April and I'm going to post a weekly update this coming month in order to try to keep a closer reign on my spending. If I have to check in with weekly totals, maybe I'll be less likely to be suspectible to the Torpedoes the stores have aimed at my budget.

Sluggy