Income & Spending.....November 2023

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings and social security payments, I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the November report--

I had 2 goals for November....

The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.

The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fund may be applied toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2023.  

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up November in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of November with?....$1,243.53

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in November---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3,672.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $953.52

Total "Income" for November....$7,276.18

Expenses in November---

*  Irregular bills in November were $1,450.94

*  Variable Expenses in November came to $3,410.52

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,171.19*

Total Expenses....$6,032.65

$7,276.18-$6,032.65=$1,243.53

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare, I include his Vision Care, and his Medicare supplement in this number with my Healthcare Premium.  His Part B comes directly out of his SS check before we get it.

Slush into November of $44,604.70 and the addition of $1,243.53 November's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $45,848.23

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,243.53

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this November here are the good and the bad side of things.....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, cell phone bill, Health Insurance premium, vision care, Hubs supplement plan and internet were the same as last month.

*  The electric bill went down by $5.92.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The Mastercard c/c was $37.56 higher than in October.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $64.02 higher than last month.

*  The Aviator c/c was $1044.98 higher than in October.

*  We had 4 irregular bills in November--

*  The bill of $420.00 for yearly garbage pickup.

*  We had an irregular bill for $208.37 for a yearly vet visit.

*  Hubs had a car repair of $810.57(brakes and tires).

*  I had to join AARP to get the Medigap Supplement/Part D Plan I wanted so $12.00 paid for a year.

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post HERE   Food costs are included in the credit card payments(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS for NOVEMBER 2023---Even though we paid OOP less for groceries/HBA/paper products this month we also had more credit card charges for non-food/household stuff.  Interest earned was up in November which is good.

THOUGHTS going forward into DECEMBER 2023---Who the heck knows??  Long Term Care Premiums will be due in the irregular bill department, the dishwasher "may" be installed this month and the dogs are being groomer this month. I have to pay in full for the cruise we booked plus it's Christmas and my daughter's birthday this month so that will cost us.  And we are going to PA to see our youngest, with stops in MD, VA and maybe AL on what may be my Farewell Tour Road Trip which will put more mileage on the credit cards.  December will be a financial hit but we can afford it.

So how was your November financially?

Did you spend less than the income you had in November?

Did you stay within your budget or not?

What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?

Did you pay down/off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

Sluggy

The November Food Spending of 2023

Onward to November's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for November 2023.

I have posted November's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in November.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

KROGER

OOP  $84.31

Qs/Gift Cards $336.92

Value $421.23

Savings  79.98%

OLLIE'S

OOP $9.76

Value $15.98

Savings  38.92%

SUPER 1 FOODS

OOP  $4.88

Value  $7.77

Savings  37.00%

WALMART

OOP  $207.13

Qs/Gift Cards $207.86

Value  $414.99

Savings  50.09%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at Walmart with a savings of 50.09%.  My worse rate was at Super 1 Foods with 37.00%.  

I shopped at 4 different stores in NOVEMBER.

TOTAL Spent in November......$306.08

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$553.89

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$859.97

TOTAL Savings of........64.41%

This closes out the NOVEMBER food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....The leftover travel stipend  monies helped pay for some food after we got home.  I also made strategic purchases with rebates as is my want.

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 26.62% in November to 64.41% compared to October's 37.79% savings average.  The big factor is such a great difference in the savings rate came from that leftover stipend money from the trip to Ohio and catching some good deals.  Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people)I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 11 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $4,460.35 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2023.

2023 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$4,460.35

2023 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$7,757.88

2023 Grand Total Saved...............................$3,297.53

2023 Yearly Savings Total..............................42.51%

The average per month amount spent is $405.49 in 2023 at this point.

LOOKING AHEAD TO DECEMBER......December will be a crapshoot.  We have plans to travel to see family for part of the month so there should be less food spending than usual.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Coupons dotcom, Shopmium, Checkout 51 and other miscellaneous rebates sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gives me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that.

At the end of the third quarter of the year, I'd accumulated--$962.99 in Ibotta(most in my bank account as I don't like to leave Ibotta monies on the platform), $309.40 in Paypal from Shopmium ,Coupons dotcom as well as an odd rebate or two from another source, $43.35 in Kroger Cash Back I haven't spent, $36.78 in Shop Kick, $62.20 in Swag Bucks to redeem, $16.75 on Alexa for Amazon gift cards and some points on Fetch that aren't even worth considering at this point.  Without counting the Fetch that's $1,431.47 in cash or scrip total to put toward the grocery spending in 2023 which lowers my OOP on food spending to $2,342.73 give or take at that point.  I'll add in what rebates where earned in the fourth quarter too once 2023 is in the books. 8-)

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in November?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

*  Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?

Sluggy

Income & Spending for August 2023

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the August report--

I had 2 goals for August....

The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.

The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fund may be applied toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2023.  

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up August in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of August with?....$2,882.00

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3878.950

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $832.92

*  Rakuten Check of $4.57

Total "Income" for August....$7,325.05

Expenses in August---

*  Irregular bills in August were $172.91

*  Variable Expenses in August came to $2,934.05

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,336.09*

Total Expenses....$4,443.05

$7,325.05-$4,443.05=$2,882.00

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare, I include his Vision Care, his Part B and his Medicare supplement in this number with my Healthcare Premium.  His Part B comes directly out of his SS check.

Slush into August of $67,914.85 and the addition of $2,882.00, September's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $70,796.85

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,882.00.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this August here are the good and the bad side of things.....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance premium, vision care, Hubs supplement plan and internet were the same as last month.

*  The electric bill was $25.02 lower than in July.

*  The cellphone bill was $105.27 lower than last month.

*  There were no charges on either of our Amazon c/c's in August.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $200.61 less than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The Aviator c/c was $46.37 higher than in July.

*  We had an irregular bill for some clothing totaling $87.91.

*  We had another irregular bill for a handyman of $85.00.

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payments(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS for August 2023---August bills were lowkey and overall about $2K lower than July's bills.  The cellphone was a lot lower than in July due to paying for international service in June on the cruise for one of our phones.  That bill was due in July.  We won't have a $100+ savings on that bill going forward, one month to the next.  

THOUGHTS going forward into SEPTEMBER 2023---No irregular bills are due in September, so far.  There will be no vet bills unless one of the dogs comes down with something.  If the handyman gets back to us this month to install the countertop and sink, we'll have expenses there, but no clue yet on when the handyman will get to it and what it will cost.  

Otherwise, it's same old/same old here for September.

So how was your August financially?

Did you spend less than the income you had in August?

Did you stay within your budget or not?

What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?

Did you pay down/off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

Sluggy

Food Spending....the March Edition

Onward to March's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2023.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

BREAD OUTLET

OOP  $26.49

Value  $53.79

Savings  50.75%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $8.70

Value  $22.50

Savings  61.33%

KROGER

OOP  $229.43

Qs/Ads  $128.41

Value  $357.84

Savings  35.88%

SHOPPER VALUE

OOP  $31.89

Qs/Ads  $14.57

Value  $46.46

Savings  31.36%

WALMART

OOP  $177.28

Qs/free Gift Cards $69.87
Value  $247.15
Savings 28.27%

*********************
My best 2 Store Savings Totals were at Dollar General at 61.33% and the Bread Outlet at 50.75% .

I shopped at 5 different stores in March.   8-)

TOTAL Spent in March................$473.79

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$253.95

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$727.74

TOTAL Savings of ............................34.68%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....another less than stellar month for food spending.  I'm ok with it given my physical limitations in March and the fact that about $100 of this was dog food.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by .36% in March 2023 to 34.90% compared to the February's 35.26% savings average.  

With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $1,329.93 on groceries/HBA /paper goods in 2023.

2023 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1.329.93

2023Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$2,035.94

2023 Grand Total Saved...............................$706.01

2023 Yearly Savings Total..............................34.68%

The average per month amount spent is $443.31 in 2023 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD to April 2023...Other than splashing out for an Easter dinner I don't have any plans food wise other than eating down the freezer.  While not jam packed it's pretty full.  I'll have Hubs or myself pick up loss leaders we will eat in April but hope to keep food costs lower than in March.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

***Due to Technical Difficulties(danged weather and internet!)I didn't pick a Giveaway Winner yesterday.  I'll be back later today and do that so stay tuned........***

 The "The Birthday Week is Over" Edition...

It was a lowkey affair this year.  Hubs bought a cake and we still have half of it left so come on over it ya want a piece! lol  We went out to the only open Chinese Buffet restaurant left here(thanks Covid!)for lunch and then Hubs drove me to a new-to-me Walmart and a Rite-Aid on my regular rotation of RAs so I could finish my Ibotta Bonus.  We are just party animals, no?

My birthday coincides with the Feast Day of St. Agnes(who died a martyr's death because she would not marry).  First by being burned at the stake, and when that didn't work, then being beheaded.  Just like me and my Birthday buddy, Rasputin, we are/were all hard to kill. *snort*  St. Agnes Day is also said to be the coldest day of the year and boy, was it ever here!!  We had 3 snow days last week.

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned......

1. Sunday--Leftover Beef Pie

2. Monday--Fend for Yourself as I am not feeling well

3. Tuesday--Butternut Squash Ravioli w/Béchamel, Salad

4. Wednesday--Homemade flatbread Pizza, Salad
5. Thursday--? Hubs' night to cook

6.  Friday--Beef & Veggie Stir-fry, Rice

7. Saturday--More Leftovers?

And here's what actually happened........

1. Sunday--Leftover Beef Pie

2. Monday--Fend for Yourself as I am not feeling well

3. Tuesday--Don't remember so it must have been forgettable

4. Wednesday--Don't remember so it must have been forgettable
5. Thursday--I made Hubs Spaghetti and Meatballs, I didn't eat due to the big lunch out

6.  Friday--Lunch out at Chinese Buffet(no dinner), Cake

7. Saturday--Beef & Veggie Stir-Fry w/Noodles

Nothing very exciting here.  When it's so cold here I don't feel like cooking.  Used a free gift card to get Applebee's on shot night and paid for Chinese take-out this week too and I don't care because it was my birthday week and I didn't want to cook so there...pphhhhtttt!

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  a Pizza

*  a small London Broil

*  a whole Chicken

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  a handful of Meatballs

* 1/2 bag of stir-fry veggies

*  a small London Broil

I spent $147.15 on food/toiletries/HBA the last week. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $265.29 for January so far.  It would have been about $35 lower except at that new-to-me Walmart, the price scanner gun at my register was broken so I couldn't use some digital gift cards. 8-((

There are 7 shopping days left in January.  

I've earned $245.12 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $5.39 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $15.50 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 17,221 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I earned 2,105 Kicks from food shopping on Shop Kick in January. 

I've earned 1,946 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

I've earned $0 from food shopping on Tada in January.

That's $266.01 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $265.29 in grocery spending so in reality it's -.72¢ spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.  

rah...

My savings percentage for the last week was 56.28%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 61.97% so far(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week.....Beef Noodle Stir-Fry, Spaghetti and Meatballs

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Roast Carrots, Potatoes

2. Monday--Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--Butternut Squash Ravioli w/Béchamel, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Salad
5. Thursday--Leftovers? or No Clue

6.  Friday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

7. Saturday--Leftovers?

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  I may need milk but that's it.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy

  

Income & Spending 2020.....the August Report

 Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

  I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the August report---

I had 2 goals for August.......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fun may be to apply toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2020.

I can report that we finished up August in the red.
The amount we ended the month of August with?.....-$725.44

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $507.66

Total "Income" for August.....$5613.66

Expenses in August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in August were $594.00
* Variable Expenses in August came to $3,861.34
Total Expenses....$6,339.10

$5613.66-$6339.10= -$725.44
Slush into August of $29,359.07 in that Fund, subtract the $725.44 shortfall brings the Slush to $28,633.63 going into September.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $2241.06 for August.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this August, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were the same as last month.
*  The electric bill was $12.96 lower than in July.
* The Amazon c/c bill was $99.93 lower than last month.

* The gas c/c bill was $52.45 lower than in July.
*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $7.14 higher than last month.

*  The Mastercard c/c bill was $2,275.34 higher than in July.  Half of that was the love seat we paid for(but still haven't gotten)the car registrations, the U-Haul charge to move Ex-CB out, I bought a lot of gift cards and my ancestry account charge technically hit this month on the c/c(though I put some WAM in last month to cover most of it).

*  We had an irregular bill due in August-the house insurance annual premium.

*  We had a kennel bill for boarding the dogs for 2 nights as no one was available here to dog sit while I was in Hershey having a medical procedure and Hubs had to take me there.

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---
One small irregular bill last month so that was good but I did spend what I consider a lot at the grocery stores again, AND the credit card bill was quite high as there were some unusual expenses on that in August.  To add insult to injury all the banks I have investments with lowered their interest rates mid-July so we've seen less interest income coming in.  And with the state of the world lately I'd don't see that changing/reversing for some time to come. ugh.

We had slightly more expenses than income last month so we drew from our Slush Fund to cover that overage.  That pot of cash gives me peace of mind and let's me sleep at night. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into September 2020----

We have two irregular bills this month, the smallish long term care policy quarterly premiums and the school taxes on the house(about half of the total property taxes due yearly here in PA).  There will be a small 401K withdrawal to cover the school taxes this month.  The other irregular bill we can work into our regular income stream for September.

The electric bill and water bill should both be lower in September and I am hoping I can stay out of the grocery store too. ;-)

I am hoping for a lower expense month this month compared to August.

So how was your August financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in August?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!


Sluggy