2019 Food Spending Report....The October Edition

* I am posting this a few days early as I am done food spending for October.  Anything bought between now and Nov. 1st will go on November's food budget. *

Onward to October's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2019.

I have posted October'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 October.  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 & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

ALDI'S
OOP  $44.08
Value  $78.06
Savings  43.53%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $11.89
Value  $49.30
Savings  75.88%

COSTCO
OOP  $46.90
Value  $79.78
Savings  41.21%

FOOD LION
OOP  $9.73
Value  $17.67
Savings  44.94%

MAINES
OOP  $6.85
Value  $13.81
Savings   50.40%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $44.86
Value  $75.93
Savings  40.92%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $27.15
Value  $51.97
Savings  47.76%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $300.24
Value  $300.24
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $17.24
Qs/Ads $

Value  $28.09

Savings 38.63%

WALMART
OOP  $41.06
Value  $62.56
Savings  34.37%

WEIS
OOP  $111.10
Qs/Ads  $
Value  $200.55
Savings  44.60%

WORLD MARKET
OOP  $7.16
Value  $19.02
Savings  62.35%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet 75.88% and World Market at 62.35%.   My worst savings rate was at Walmart with 34.37%.
I shopped at 12 different stores in October.....so many stores! lolz

TOTAL Spent.........................................$394.80

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$333.00

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$727.80

TOTAL Savings of ................................45.75%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for October w/R-A........$394.80
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$633.24
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1028.04
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................61.60%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent just under my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in October.
Go me. lolz

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 1.88% in October 2019 to 61.60% compared to the September's 63.48% savings average.


With 10 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3,908.56 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$3,908.56

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$ 13,614.83

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$ 9,706.27

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............71.29%

The average per month amount spent so far is $390.85 in 2019 which went up .43¢ per month in October.  That's a very slight increase.

LOOKING AHEAD To November 2019.......
I plan on calling in a lot of my chits in November.  I have a $15 P&G prepaid card, a $25 Shursave gift card, and various Target gift cards.  November means Turkey Day so there will be spending for that but most traditional Thanksgiving foods go on sale right before the holiday.  I make my own pies and rolls so those will not be costly.  And I am sure I have foods in the stockpile here I can use so other than buying a turkey the outlays won't be too pricey.
If I work it right we can eat down the freezer in November for the other 29 days of the month and not go overboard with food shopping.  I'll set the usual $400 budget but I'll see if we can do much better/lower.

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 October?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?

*  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

Income & Sending Report.....the June Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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.

Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--

* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019.  I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
                                                                                                                                                   
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired.  Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds?  Use those instead for now!

Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" at the top of the blog.

  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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June......
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 2019.

I can report that we finished up June in the BLACK!
The amount we ended the month of June with?.....$1733.94

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $579.33
* Stock Dividends of $109.27
* Medical payment refund of $443.36
Total "Income" for June....$6202.87

Expenses in June---

* Healthcare Premium for June was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in June came to $2064.85
* Irregular Expenses in June came to $555.41(long term care insurance premiums)
Total Expenses....$4447.93

We also had an expense we paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in June--We had 4 trees taken down on our property.  That was one of the big expenses/improvements we are paying for in 2019.  This cost $2,600.00 out of the Slush Fund.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.(Within $2 or so).
* The c/c bill was $44.04 less than in May.
*  The electric bill was $48.15 lower than last month(still no a/c used).
*  The gas card bill was $23.70 less than May.
*  The WAM/cash withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in May.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $2.28 higher than in May.
*  I had $169.86 in charges on my Amazon card(grad dinner).
*  There was a $21.00 charge for Chester to get a shot before boarding.
*  The "Doggie Spa" charged $189.00 for Chester's stay there.
*  We had $555.41 in LTC premiums due(irregular bill).
*  I paid $79.60 to the Dentist for Hubs fillings in June.

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

So we end June "income" in the black with $1733.94 leftover putting the Slush Fund at $23,610.36.
After subtracting the $2,600 for the tree removal the June Slush Fund stands at $21,010.36.

So you could look at June as either in the black or in the red really, depending on if you are a glass half full or glass half empty type person. lolz
We had extra leftover after paying all the bills but the tree project cost us $866.06 MORE than the leftover "income" which lowered the Slush Fund in June.

The Sinking Fund goes into July 2019 standing at $468.37 since nothing was paid out of it in June.

FINAL THOUGHTS on June---
It was a good spending month  We did have some unusual and/or irregular bills in June--mainly the Long Term Care quarterly premiums, a dental bill, the cost to board Chester for 6 days, a shot for Chester and taking a little extra cash for our trip.

The kicker was the tree removal.  Had we had to take that $2,600 out of the regular "income" in June we'd have been in the red for the month. Luckily we could tap the Slush Fund for that. ;-)
Regular expenses + tree removal was $866.06 MORE than our June income.  No matter how you look at it, the Slush Fund went down by $866.06 in June but we go into July with still over $21K in that Fund.

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2019----
We have no irregular bills this month but the credit card bill is going to be B-I-G, as in buy a tv(Daughter took her tv), take a vacation, do maintenance on Hubs' car, make a charitable donation, buy groceries, eat out BIG. lolz
We may get a small blogging revenue check(after paying shipping for giveaways I keep a little of that)which will help the bottom line.
I think we'll end up being in the red when all is said and done in July.  It's just a matter of how much in the hole we'll be and how much we'll have to pull from the Slush Fund to cover all the expenses.

So how was your June financially?
  

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

2019 Income & Spending Report......the February Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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.

Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--

* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019.  I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
                                                                                                                                                           
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired.  Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds?  Use those instead for now!

Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not take any more 401K withdrawals and use what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" at the top of the blog.

  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 February report---

I had 2 goals for February.....
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 2019.

I can report that we finished up February in the RED. *whomp whomp*
The amount we ended the month of February with?.....-$55.12

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in February---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1863.84
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $374.59
Total "Income" for February....$5,456.59


Expenses in February---

* Healthcare Premium for February was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)**
* Variable Expenses in February came to $3,663.04
Total Expenses....$5,511.71

** The folks holding our retirement medical reimbursement account screwed up last month's reimbursement and shorted us a bit.  This month we got that shortfall back so that amount is a bit higher than it usually is.

Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into February at $468.37. Nothing was paid from this fund so it goes into March at $468.37.


We went into February with $23,573.94 in the Slush Fund.
Deduct February's shortfall of $55.12 and the Slush Fund goes into March at $23,518.82.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as in January.(Within $2 or so).
*  The water bill was approx. the same as last month.
*  WAM monies was the same as in January.
*  The gas card bill was $30.61 less than last month(actually we didn't use the gas card last month).
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in January.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was up $67.84 from than last month.(Have I said how much I hate Winter and will      be glad when the kids move out yet?)
*  The c/c bill was $549.72 higher than last month.
*  Hubs had $27.71 in charges on his Discover card in February.
*  I had $30.16 in charges on my Amazon card(for a health supplement).

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

So we end February in the red with a shortfall of $55.12, which was pulled from the Slush Fund overage, leaving the Slush Fund at $23,518.82 heading into March.
The Sinking Fund goes into Marcy 2019 standing at $468.37 with no deposits made into it in Feb.

FINAL THOUGHTS on February---
I was prepared for it to be worse financially than it turned out to be.  While the c/c bill was higher than last month there was a lot of unavoidable spending on it.  Usual grocery spending and the monthly cell phone bill were on there but then we had ex-College Boy's birthday meal out, my new 2 pr. of glasses(could have been MUCH more $$$ if I had bought them at VisionWorks)and then there were three, count 'em three car expenses......1-my inspection and 4 new tires(and balancing), 2-Hubs' car inspection and 3- he needed new brakes/pads/etc. at a cost of $417.14.  So just those 5 irregular expenses came to $1,374.34.  Add in Hubs paid his chess subscription and then made a contribution to the Libertarian Party(which I contend he should pay for out of his WAM!loz)and we ended up with a rather high c/c bill for a non-Holiday spending month.
bleh.

THOUGHTS going forward into March 2019----
March........March will be ugly.
Besides a $2,152.50 eye doc bill(haven't met our medical deductible yet for 2019)I have to pay this week, we've got 3 irregular bills due in March; a quarterly long term care premium, county/municipal taxes on the house and the yearly sewage bill.  If none of these have gone up since 2018(don't know on two of them yet)we're looking at $2,357.94 for those 3+ the eye doc bill =$4,510.44 besides the usual suspects(reg. monthly bills).
These 4 bills will all be coming out of the Slush Fund.
Otherwise the all the regular bills should be about normal except for some trip eating out/travel expenses(gas/tolls/motels/etc.).  Again anything out of the ordinary we can pull from the Slush Fund to cover it if needed.
On the other hand.......there will be some dividend interest in March(not that that little bit of $$ will offset $4K in bills but it's "something" lol).
Any way I can keep spending in check in March I'll attempt it.  I'd like to keep the spending below our income level(except for those 4 irregular bills).  That will make me feel much better when March is over.

So how was your February financially?
  

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

Income & Spending Report.....September Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ until October)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.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up in August and September.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017(probably), the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the September report--
I had 2 goals for September......
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 apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in the next month.

I have to report that we finished up September in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of September with?.......$3145.15

Income

The income in September was the monthly annuity payment and the August overage of $562.41.

Other monies received in September totaled $5198.61.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts, two stock dividend checks and almost $5K of that gain was a reimbursement of 3 months of healthcare premiums(paid back from our RMSA account).  (Going forward I won't include the healthcare premium paid each month on our monthly bills as it will be automatically reimbursed now.)

This brought us to our gain of $3145.15  Thank goodness that healthcare premium reimbursement came in when it did!  Had it not, we would have been in the negative and would  have had to dip into regular savings to pay all the bills that came due in September.

Since we have no debt, this will get put aside to apply to the irregular bills coming due in October--a quarterly bill for long term care insurance and a quarterly garbage collection bill and then carry over into 2018 if it's not needed to pay bills before 2017 is over.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $6.54 higher than in August.
*  The gas card bill was $50.59 higher than last month.
*  The cash withdrawals were $220 higher than in August(because no cash was withdrawn in Aug.)
*  The electric bill was $9.77 higher than last month's bill.
*  The credit card bill was $807.79 higher in September compared to August
*  The medical bills were $1.79 higher this month over last month's bills.
*  School taxes were due.
*  We had a small dental bill to pay in September.
*  We had to pay the September health insurance premium of $1771.94.
*  We made two donations to charity(Houston Food Bank and Americares for Puerto Rico relief).  While these aren't "bad" things, having received our RMSA reimbursement meant we could cut two checks this month to these charities rather than having to wait until better cash flow in October to do so.

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE.

So we end September in the black with $3145.15 to apply to the two irregular bills due in October.
This will be more than enough to cover those two bills.


FINAL THOUGHTS on September---Lots of bills both regular and irregular were due in September.  And most of the regular bills were all a bit higher than the previous month. 

I have to keep stopping myself from freaking out when I pay bills and remind myself that no, our bills aren't higher.  It's just that some bills were paid out of Hub's paycheck(before he retired)automatically from his gross pay, before I got his take home pay.  Now those bills are needing to be physically paid by me.  They aren't NEW bills.  They are just getting paid differently.  Maybe in a month or two I can get that through my thick head. lolz

THOUGHTS going forward into October of 2017----

I'll be setting up a sinking fund to cover our irregular costs for 2018, meaning I'll set aside a specific amount each month in 2018($650)from the annuity payment so that when these irregulars come due I have cash enough in that account to pay those bills without dipping into regular savings.

There is one more big irregular bill in 2017 coming in November--the semi-annual car insurance premium of approx. $900.  I should be able to cover that with regular income this year but I think I'll begin the Sinking Fund in October of this year anyway and get a jump on the 2018 irregular expenses so we can cash flow all the irregulars in 2018.
Other than this, all the regular bills should be about the same in October as they were in September.

So how was your September financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in September?
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!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

$24K Challenge.......JUNE Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.
Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2014 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $24,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my June End of Month $24K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,000.

I have to report that we finished up June with a greater than needed amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of  June with?.......$2,302.33

Income
We had $2143.78 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in June totaled $158.55.  This included interest made on accounts, a allergy med rebate and 2 dividend checks.

This brought us to our gain of $2302.33.
Since we have no debt anymore, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  The electric bill went down $47.21 from May's bill.
*  The credit card bill was $2196.18 less than in May.  Some of the spending(for the car and sofa)on it came out of the Bonus money received earlier this year so didn't affect this Challenge(good) but did affect our Net Worth(bad).

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The cash withdrawals were $50 more than May.
*  Quarterly Garbage bill was due.
*  Private music lessons were $40 more than May.
*  We had a vet bill for the dog....her annual check-up and shots.
*  We had 2 dental bills to pay.

 

The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.

The 2014 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 6 months accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2014 is $11,672.54
That's only $327.46 short at this point of the $12,000.00 I should have put aside after 6 months.
I was $629.79 behind in May, I am less behind in June.

Yay!
  

 

Looking ahead for July......

*  I will continue to do this Savings Challenge and report in each month on how it is going.

*  The lime green chair purchase will be due on July's credit/card bill but so far we don't have massive amounts charged to the card....yet. lolz
 

 

So how was your June financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

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

Sluggy