$60K Savings Challenge AUGUST Totals.....Expensive Month but at least it's not Negative

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I am once again able to say that we finished up August barely in THE BLACK.
The amount put into Savings for August was $789.25.

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just under $2K this month. We had some big unusual purchases like a new stove, hotel bills again, gas purchases for trips and other costs associated with summer fun.

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but I am still sitting out on eBay.  I miss the cash coming in from that source but I dread jumping back in and dealing with all the problems selling there brings.

On the recurring utilities front, we saw an increase of $2.46 in the electric bill from July. A negligible amount as we haven't run the A/C hardly at all in August, just like we didn't run it in July.

The water bill saw a dramatic decrease! We went from $97.24 in July to $38.87 in August!  I guess patching that hole in the pool and not having to run water constantly into the pool was the reason.  I hope hubby can resolve future pool issues quickly next year so we don't WASTE all that money on unnecessary water.  It's just so wrong.....

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located Here.  Food/Toiletries spending in August was my lowest monthly total for the year.  I'm hoping to stay out of the stores more this month and have set a September Food Budget of $250.

With #1 son going off to college(college textbooks & a laptop computer), more summer fun expenses(like entrance fees to various experiences), replacing a vehicle's windshield, other school(graphing calculator for daughter, back-to-school clothing expenses for 2 kids) & marching band expenses, August turned into an expensive month.  I was hoping for at least a $1K savings for the month.
Didn't quite happen.

But considering that we just paid over $6 THOUSAND DOLLARS in CASH for #1 son's 1st Semester of College, I don't feel so bad about only saving $789.25.

Let me repeat that.....
We paid for #1 son's 1st Semester of College in CASH.
Yes, I AM boasting here!  8-))
Hubby & I have worked darn hard to save all that money and have gotten to a place in our financial lives where we can pay CASH for college.
No payment plans.
No loans.
C-A-S-H.

We started our married lives with me as a waitress heading back to graduate school and him in his 2nd yr. studying for his Masters.
We were pretty broke like most regular people who are just starting off in life.
On our 1st Anniversary, with his degree in hand, we embarked on life with no jobs and about 15 thousand in Student Loan debt.  That was 1983.  15 Thousand in Student Loans was ALOT in 1983 dollars.

Yes, we did live with family briefly at two points in our marriage when we were just starting out but we bought our first house WITHOUT large sums of money given to us from family.  We were very proud that we waited until we could afford the home to buy it.  We did have a mortgage however.
After buying that house, we made paying off the student loans the priority and paid them in full in 2 years.
14 years after buying our 1st home, we bought our 2nd home.  At that point we were able to put a rather large down payment on that home and carried TWO Mortgages for almost a year until the 1st home sold.  I don't recommend buying another house BEFORE you sell the old one.lol  The point is, because of buying a modest house the 1st time and living frugally, we were financially able to put a large downpayment on house #2 AND carry that extra mortgage WITHOUT too much difficulty.
Then we paid off the 2nd house fully in 6 years and have remainded Totally Debt-Free since 2006.

We celebrated our 27th wedding Anniversary last week.  We have worked 27 yrs. living frugally to get to the level of financial freedom where we are now.
The moral of my story is if we can do it, you can to!
It takes time but you have to just keep going.....even when you stumble and don't keep with your budget one month, just pick yourself up and try again next month.


We are Eight Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $15,635.41 for the year.


What's ahead for September....
Less food spending.
Trying to track small outlays of cash better.  These add up to big outlays over time.
No travel this month so no unusual hotels, gas, food expenses.
No big ticket purchases foreseen this month and no items to buy for the kids.

I'd love to stash away $2K this month.  It should be do-able unless something comes up.

Be sure and check out how others are doing with their finances this month at MONEY SAVING MOM.

Sluggy

A Great Giveaway over at I AM A MONEY MAGNET!

Jamie, over at I Am a Money Magnet is having a Giveaway!
You can win a copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Educating Esme-Diary of a Teacher's First Year.  
It sounds like an interesting book to read....especially if you are or have a teacher in your life.

Entries close on September 8th so hurry!
Go on over and enter HERE.
I did. ;-)

Sluggy

August BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in August.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 as of 8/30). No kids under 13.


ACME
OOP $113.86 (this drops to $73.86 after $40 Rebate)
Qs/Ads $1180.19
Value $1294.05
Savings  91.20% (94.30% after Rebate)


CARONE'S
OOP $1.29
Qs/Ads $0.00
Value $1.29
Savings  0%

CVS
OOP $2.72
Qs/Ads $236.10
Value $238.82
Savings 98.85%

KMART
OOP $47.84
Qs/Ads $648.28
Value $696.12
Savings 93.13%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP $123.43
Qs/Ads $263.32
Value $386.75
Savings 68.10%

RITE AID
OOP $219.39
Qs/Ads $525.75
Value $745.14
Savings 70.55%   **This is before Single Check Rebate of $184.66 & Gift Cards($15) earned.**

TARGET
OOP $15.38
Qs/Ads $20.00
Value $35.38
Savings 56.50%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $41.60
Qs/Ads $311.98
Value $353.58
Savings 85.50%

WEIS
OOP $69.87
Qs/Ads $90.71
Value $160.58
Savings 57.50%

I've decided NOT to track CVS's 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 AUGUST

Rite-Aid SCR........$85.00
Reynolds Foil........$4.19
Centrum..........$19.99
Pinecone Research....$3.00
Physician's Formula....$7.13
Staples Checks....$20.33
Subtotal........$139.64

FREE ITEMS
Gillette Shampoo x 2 Coupon
Wrigleys Coupon

COUPONS
Swiss Tea
Nabisco

GIFT CARDS & PrePaid VISA CARDS
Rite Aid  $25.00
Staples   $33.96
SubTotal...$58.96

TOTAL Value of Cash/Visa/Gift Card Rebates Received..$198.60

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from CVS at 98.85%, Kmart at 93.13% and Acme at 91.20%.
Walgreen's was a distant 4th this month because of sending hubby to buy stuff.  If there is a problem(coupon won't scan, item rings up wrong, etc.), he doesn't say anything....he just pays whatever they tell him to.
Oy!lol

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$645.10
TOTAL of Rebates...................................$198.60

TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$446.50

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$2266.61
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2911.71
TOTAL Savings % for AUGUST....................84.67%

This closes out the August spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
After the Rebates(money coming back into the budget), I was able finally to achieve a Food Budget spending UNDER $500.
Yippee!!! 8-)))

Our garden finally produced some veggies this month.  I have only canned/frozen a bit of the harvest however for the coming winter.  We lost all the tomatoes to the late blight and many plants just didn't sprout or fruit out.  I am not set up for winter gardening in this climate but I'll try to gather locally a large assortment of fall crops for the makeshift root cellar in the garage.

 Most of the Food spending this month was for stockpile purchases(canned/bottled/bagged items).  We were eating alot from the freezer to empty it out some so we could fit in the local farm purchases.  I generally start buying extra local produce around Late Aug./Early Sept. for the freezer. 

What's ahead for September.....
I want to ease up on couponing in September.  I have 1 child away at college, so less mouths to feed=less spending on food.  I am stocked to the gills in the stockpile and still too full in the freezer.  Besides, I am burned out right now on couponing.  This month was CRAZY with shopping!  Between the Acme Deal in early August and TWO weeks of KMart Double Coupons, I am so ready to sit my butt home and just do some serious organizing.  My stockpile is in shambles as is my coupon binder!

I am going to try to AVOID the Grocery Store for at least 2 weeks this month, except for fresh fruit, potatoes, milk, flour & cheese.  We have enough meat and rice/noodles to last the month.  I am shooting for spending the bulk of my food budget at the farm market in September.
I will give myself a $250 food budget for the month.

I just hope the stores don't come up with some great deals I can't resist!lol


Sluggy

Crockpotting Your Steel Cut Oats

So I love me some Steel Cut Oats for Breakfast.
It's good for you and it's yummy with the addition of various fruits and/or spices.
But it just takes FOREVER to cook on the stovetop!
Or at least it seems that way.

Most people get up Hungry.
You want to eat NOW, not in 30 or 45 minutes.
So you reach for a less healthy alternative to your oats....like a Toaster Pastry or a Doughnut or a Danish.
Because it's there.
Because it's ready to eat.

So here is a trick to have your Oats ready to eat when you roll out of bed in the morning so you don't reach for the sweet carb-loaded bread products.

Get out your Crockpot & slow cook 'em!

Yep, your crockpot.
It's genius I tell ya, genius!

Before going to bed, put the desired amount of steel cut oats in your crockpot with the appropriate amount of water and salt.
Turn your crockpot on LOW.
Go to bed.
In the morning, turn the crockpot off.
Your oats will be ready to dish out and add whatever you like to add--sweeteners, spices, nuts, etc.
Eat and Enjoy!

Personally, I'm going to try making Apple & Cinnamon Oats for tomorrow morning.
I'll put the oats, water & salt in and then add a little apple juice and spices like cinnamon & ginger.
Then I'll set it to cook on low overnight.
In the morning, I'll add some walnuts, brown sugar and a freshly chopped up apple before serving.

Crockpot Oats is great for a quick breakfast for the kids rushing off to school or the grown-ups rushing off to work with no time to fix anything.

Sluggy

FREE Pasta Sauce Giveaway....Go Enter Now!

 

Common Sense With Money is having a wonderful Giveaway for a 6 month's Supply of RAGU Pasta Sauce!  She went to Blogher and Ragu supplied her with Product Coupons to hold this Giveaway.

I wish someone would send me to Blogher too so I could spread Sunshine around the Internet!

Go check out the details & enter over HERE.
This Giveaway ends on September 6th, so hurry!

Sluggy