Here's the April Salvation Army Donation....Better Late Than Never!

So we finally got the April donation together.
Since he's been out of town, Hubs will be dropping it off later today at Sallie's.
Yes, it's May now, but I'm counting this all as April's booty.
Most of this is stuff I bought(for very cheap)to sell on eBay but because of one reason or another, it never left my house(or more accurately, my storage unit).
I haven't found the time to arrange it all nicely for a photo shoot so it's just random shots of boxes of crap basically.
Enjoy!lol

 That Hallmark collectible(the big blue box)never sold.  The fabric pieces are going too.  The white one has huge bright colored circus animals on it...the fabric is nylon, like underslip or nightgown nylon.  There are 5 yards of it.
Whatever was I thinking when I bought that?

 The candle shaped Christmas lights are from when Hubs and I first set up housekeeping.  They never stayed upright on the Christmas tree....plus they are ugly.lol
There's some more nylon fabric...who buys this stuff besides me?
The trout shower curtain hooks were another momentary lapse in judegement....who does there bathroom in a trout theme?  Well, this IS Pennsyltucky.....
Lastly in that shot are some old unused school folders.  Pokemon or Beetleborgs anyone?lol

 In this shot, among the free toiletries they are sitting on, are some kid's books I won at a Chinese Auction years ago.  Mary Kate and Ashley books.  No wonder no one here ever read them.....
Also a couple of other picture type books and a set of Pokemon cards still in sheets from Burger King.

 Here is some really random stuff.....a Disney beanie, a Batman birthday candle, a Batman Spin Pop thingy, some assorted Happy Meal toys still in the packages and an Aaron Carter book underneath it all.
My daughter was obsessed with Aaron Carter when she was a preteen.  At 18, her taste in men has improved.....I think.

 Here is a shot of 4 vinatge board games I bought at a country auction over 10 years ago.  See what I mean about how I am good at acquiring but not so fast about getting rid of(one way or another)?
1 of these games is older than me!  Like me though, nobody wants this vintage stuff.

 A cat in the hat plush doll still in it's box.  It's suppose to talk when you pull the string...not so much.
3 bobblehead dolls of Kim Possible characters.  It was a Disney cartoon show.  I don't even remember it...I guess my kids didn't watch/like it.  Yes, even they have standards. ;-)  The one good thing about this show is alot of kids finally learned what a Naked Mole Rat is.
There is also a Hot Wheels calendar from 2003....wtf?
A Jimmy Neutron action figure....again with the Disney junk.  And a Star Wars Micro Machines toy I can't give away.....go figure.....

 Sharoooooooon!
#2 son is "into" Ozzy now.  He calls his bass Sharon.lol  He would kill me if he knew I was sending 3 Ozzy Dolls off to Sallies.  Please don't rat me out.

 4 sets of Nesting Dolls.....3 The Muppets themed ones and a set of Cheech & Chong dolls.  Too bad I knew hooked up with a pothead on eBay.....
There are also 2 Johnny Lightning brand cars in this box.  2 cars decorated with an "eBay" theme.  For awhile eBay wouldn't allow you to sell these on eBay.  eBay is schizophrenic like that sometimes.

But here is the best photo......

A collection of 8 Track tapes.
No, these are not mine.
Daughter's old boss from a couple of jobs ago gave them to her.
He was obviously decluttering HIS garage.
So Daughter brought them home to clutter OUR garage.
Some are broken(but could be fixed if you know what you are doing), some are missing labels.
They have sat in the garage for over a year now.
I question my daughter's judgement sometimes.....she brought these home and she doesn't have an 8-track player.
She's had a full year to find one and hasn't found the time or 'umph' to do so....so out these babies go.

I am slowly reclaiming my garage.
How about you?

Sluggy

Sometimes Being an Inattentive Idiot Pays!...and Sometimes it Just Makes You an Idiot

First let me share my 1st trip to Weis Markets this week.
I took advantage of the Nestle Catalina Deal--Buy $30(reg. retail shelf not sale price)in select Nestle products & Get an $8 Catalina Q.
My teens love this stuff but I only buy it when it's part of a Cat Deal or at a great sale price.   This Catalina wasn't a great deal since I had no Qs to bring the cost down even more, but we deal with what we have to work with around here. ;-)

I got.....

1 Instant Coffee(for Hubs)
5 Nesquick Powder Mix
Total Reg. Shelf price was $31.74, the sale prices brought the total for this stuff to $27.94 and garnered me an $8 Cat Q.

I also bought....
3 x Burrito packs on sale for $3 each
2 x FreshExpress Salad on sale BOGO=$3.79 for both
1 x head of Lettuce on sale $1.99
My grand total for all came to $41.72...and I received that $8 Catalina Q.

The Savings was only 21% for this order but with that Cat to roll, the rest of my orders this week should improve in the savings percentage.

So I went back Tuesday evening and that's when I lost my mind and became a shopping idiot.
I picked up....

1 x Taster Choice instant coffee(again, for Hubs)
3 x Nesquick Powder
4 x Nesquick Liquid(turns out the liquid is a better value than the powder-sometimes it pays to actually read a label.lol)
Since I was chatting with the cashier I didn't figure out that I had picked up the WRONG SIZE COFFEE container until after she handed me the receipt.
UGH.
So off to Customer Service I trotted to explain that I bought the wrong coffee thing and my whole transaction got screwed up because of it and I needed it fixed so I could get my $8 Cat.  ;-)

Since they don't have a Catalina machine at the CS register(now THAT is stupid!), they couldn't just rering stuff and produce an $8 Cat instead of the $5 Cat I had gotten buying this stuff the first time.
The teenage CS gal was confused about what to do, so the manager got involved and he was even more confused....he wanted to refund me the cash I paid but NOT for the $8 Cat I had used and then have me rebuy everything(with the lower priced correct coffee item)back at the register....this would have had me pay that $8 again in more cash, cash that he wasn't going to give me back for the Cat.
Now y'all are all confused to, aren't you?

The solution was to return EVERYTHING, give me a refund(+ $8 to reuse in lieu of the Cat I had used that they didn't return)and go rebuy everything at the register.
Sounds like a colossal PITA but doable, right?

Except the CS register wouldn't let me return some items for what I had paid(the sale prices)...it insisted on giving me back reg. retail price on them.
Crazy, huh?
In the end the manager said just give her back the full reg. retail price for everything AND $8 for the $8 Cat I had used to pay.  And they also let me keep the $5 Cat the original transaction had generated.
So I spent $23.12 & an $8 Cat, then I got $34.02 cash back & a $5 Cat. so I gained $7.90-$2.90 cash and $5 in Cat. for doing the return.
I rebought everything(using the $5 free Cat)and paid $21.52 of the $34.02 they gave me back & got Another $8 Cat.
So I am OOP $10.62 for this transaction.
I should have paid $26.52 + $8 Cat for an OOP of $18.52.
Instead I paid $31.12 + $8 Cat for an OOP of $23.12.
Take $2.90 for the extra cash the return gave me from my final OOP and it's $15.62.
Then take the value of the 'free' $5 Cat off of my final OOP and I've spent $10.62 cash for this transaction.

Is everyone still with me here?lol

So I ended up getting a great deal on this transaction all because I was inattentive and picked up the wrong sized container.


But after wards, being an idiot didn't help my trip to Rite-Aid go as well.....

I went to pick up a prescription for #2 son, so I did a little shopping since I was there.

3 x Revlon Emery Boards @ 40% off=$3.03
1 x Revlon Crazy Shine Buffer @ 40% off=$2.09
1 x Breathe Right Strips $5.99 w/wellness discount=$4.79
Subtotal....$9.91

I was going to add a filler item so I could use $10 in +Ups but.....
I forgot to bring my stash of +Ups with me!!!
Double UGH!

And I didn't have time to run home and get them before the store closed.

So I used 1 $1 off any Purchase AdPerks/VV Q and a $5.99/1 R-A Breathe Right Q for a Q total of $6.99.
$9.91-$6.99=$2.92 + $.28 tax=$3.20 OOP
I had to put the whole amount on my free Rite-Aid gift card so Zero OOP.
I so disliked using so much money off my gift card.
It usually takes me a MONTH to go through $3.20 of gift card money.
bleh.

I did receive 2 x $4 +Ups wyb 2 Revlon Tools, so $8 in +Up Rewards.
The nail buffer also qualified for a $2 SCR #34.

I STILL can't believe I left the house without my +Ups......GAAAH!

I also had Hubs pick up 3 newspapers for me on Sunday at Rite-Aid since I was not up to leaving the house that day.  He followed directions well and added a small filler so I could use a $3 +Ups to pay, and put the .62¢ change on my Rite-Aid gift card.
And he KEPT the candy filler for himself!
The nerve of him.....
He was under great pressure to get this right after his trip to Lowe's on Saturday.

I just mention this newspaper acquiring trip since I need to include it in the Rite-Aid tallies below.


THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$3.82 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$19.18
SCR qualified for...$2.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$8.00
+Up Rewards spent.....$3.00
+Up Rewards left to spend.....$60.52 And I have $43.20 left on my gift card.


GRAND TOTALS--MAY Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......5
Total Spent....$4.30 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$226.31
SCR qualified for....$2.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for May SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 4/30.....$55.52
+Up Rewards spent....$5.00
+Up Rewards earned....$14.52
+Up Rewards left....$60.52  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....April Totals

I present to you April of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my APRIL End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really 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 $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up April in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with.......$6500.35.

Income
We had $1823.86 left over from our income after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $62.99 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and the Tax Refund of $4613.50 you have a deposit of $6,500.35 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  We came in well over that amount due to the tax refund mostly.  Since we've been short of our monthly goal for all 3 of the previous months, this month's total sure helps to boost our yearly total so far!

Outgo
As for the expenses in April....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The credit card bill was just over $600.
*The electric bill went down another $73.
*We ONLY spent $244 on car repairs/maintenance.  Unfortunately, this amount is great for us. ugh
*Dr. and test copays were only $13.83 this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
*Hubs took out way more WAM than normal this month.
*The real estate taxes were due this month(municipal and county).
*We had a vet visit for the beagle with the bad back.  She cost $77 for that one visit.
*We had a dental payment of $82.

Mostly the cash withdrawals and the annual taxes paid this month were the worst "bad things".


The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in April was more than $140 under budget.

What's ahead for May.......
Unless something comes up(and doesn't it always seem to!lol), it's just the usual suspects this month--electric, water, phone, cable, food, prescriptions, dr. visits, etc.
We do have the yearly dogs' vet visit this month but it shouldn't be as bad as it has been in the past because we are down to 2 dogs now and we kept them on heartworm meds all year so there won't be any re-testing fees for that this year.

So If I can keep the food spending on budget(in the face of having all 3 teens home in May), we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 4 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $11,636.88.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!
Before April's addition we were running about half of what we need to save to this point, to meet our goal for the year.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your April financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

Meal Plan, Smeal Plan....Sometimes You Have to Abandon What You Do in the Short Term

I haven't been posting meal plans lately because well, my plans have been concocted on a daily basis.
Mostly they have been daily "what can we throw together today" plans, not weekly well thought-out plans.
Yeah, I could post a weekly plan but it would look something like....

Sunday--meat TBA, veg TBA, carb TBA
Monday--meat TBA, veg TBA, carb TBA
Tuesday--carb sub for meat TBA, veg TBA

You see what I mean?lol

Since I've been trying to eat down what is here already, here's how I've been creating my meals.
I'm not scouring the grocery ads and planning meals and buying specific foods.

I've gone to the freezer each morning and dug out a hunk of animal protein I already have here.  Then I figure out what treatment to give it(roast, grill, saute, etc.), what sauce it needs(if any from the stockpiled items), and then I pop my head back into the freezer around noon and find a veggie to go with the hunk of protein du jour, either as a side dish or to throw into a casserole treatment.  I'll head into the stockpile about an hour before dinner time and grab a carb item(rice, taters, rolls, pasta, etc.).
And Voila!.....it's dinner.
I guess I've been operating in 1950's housewife mode because this is what she must have done each day.
And if she didn't have a hunk of something frozen(and since freezers were sketchy things back then and not temperature reliable she probably didn't keep much frozen on hand), she went to the store to pick up something fresh every day or so.

If I lack something I have Hubs stop on the way home and pick it up but mostly I try to make-do with what is here.
Not very creative or labor intensive but it's sort of homemade and it's frugal.
At least it isn't fast food or tv dinners.lol

This have been working on many levels for us lately.
Hubs has been getting home at different times each evening.
#2 son has had various Band rehearsals so he's been home at irregular hours and not on solid food for the next few days after his Orthodontic visit.
Daughter often doesn't eat here and I never know from one day to the next or even 3 hours ahead if she will be dining at Chez Sluggy or not.
So doing a pre-set weekly plan hasn't been a good fit for us this past month.

So this 1st week in May, the Meal Plan is going to so something like this....

Sunday....leftovers DONE
Monday....Teriyaki Barbecue chicken thighs, mac and cheese, brussel sprouts DONE
Tuesday....whatever I feel like eating(no one else will be eating here this evening but me)
Wednesday.....another last minute meal thrown together from what is on hand and/or leftovers(possibly 2 eating home this evening, but most likely just me again)
Thursday....Ravioli, Tossed Salad
Friday....leftovers or Soup & Sandwich
Saturday....Burritos and Chili

Next month, after #1 son(who is on a strange eating schedule as well)gets home from college, I think I am going to go with a weekly plan where I will cook large meals 2 or 3 days of the week only.  This will give us a dinner for that day plus I'll cook extra so we can eat off of the leftovers for a day or even two more. 
For example, a large pot of chili, which can last for 3 dinners or more......a large pot of Pork Ragu which can see us through 3-4 meals.......a large pan of Chicken Enchiladas which can stretch out to 2-3 meals...these would be good choices and keep me out of the kitchen for long stretches. 8-))

Ok, this has turned into a rambling stream of half ideas with no point to it all so I'll stop now.

The point to take away from this is that you shouldn't come looking for Meal Plans here anytime soon.
If you can find a better more frugal point to this please let me know! ;-)

Sluggy

April Budget Results.....Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2011.

I have posted April's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in April.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $4.20
Value  $5.38
Savings  22%


BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $20.45
Value  $74.02
Savings  72.37%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $4.51

Qs/Ads  $.48
Value  $4.99
Savings  9.62%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $10.69
Value  $20.52
Savings  48%

RITE AID
OOP  $6.77 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $770.79
Value  $822.27
Savings  99.17% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

SAFEWAY
OOP  $1.49($25 put on free gift card
Qs/Ads/gift card  $13.92
Value  $40.41
Savings  96.31%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $61.09
Qs/Ads  $52.31
Value  $113.40
Savings   46.13%

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN APRIL

Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR...$56.99
Subtotal........$62.99

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES

Subtotal....$0.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$62.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Ocean Spray.....sample and $1 Q

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%,  Safeway at 96.31% and the Bread Outlet at 72.37%.  I shopped at 7 stores in April.


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$102.43
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$978.56
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1080.99 with Rite-Aid figured in
TOTAL Savings of...................................90.52%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$62.99

TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$39.44
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$1041.55
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1080.99
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................96.35%

Since my Rite-Aid shopping(which contains No OOP)always skews my savings percentages, I like to figure my Totals without the Rite-Aid numbers also.
TOTAL OOP after Rebates.....$39.44
TOTAL Value of Items Purchases(w/out Rite-Aid items)....$258.72
TOTAL Savings After Rebates(w/out Rite-Aid items).....84.75%

This closes out the April spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
We ate down the freezer/stockpile again this month.  Add in that there were few stocking up opportunities(aka great deals)so I stayed out of the food stores most of the month and thus didn't spend alot of the $250 food budget.  3 out of the 4 months in 2011 so far have come in well under that budgeted amount.
I could probably do another under $100 in food spending month in May since we still have enough veg and meat left in the freezer to only have to buy milk, fresh produce and a few items we run out of this month.

What's ahead for May.....
Since #1 son(aka the Eating Machine) will be home this month, I suspect I'll be sending more than $40 on food this month.  I also plan to get some bulk items at the restaurant supply store and take advantage of a 2 Catalina Deals this week at Weis(coffee/choc. milk mix and pet food).
I plan on spending all $250 of my food budget this month.

We also will be having a family Graduation Party in early June, so I plan on picking up some things ahead of time for that in the coming weeks.  Sort of spreading out the expenses for that over 2 months instead of spending it all in June.
This means I may go over my budget this month.
But I figure, since I've averaged only $130 per month each month in food spending in 2011 so far(I give myself $250 per month for food), I have $480 +/- in the budget money I've earmarked for food for the last 4 months but haven't spent yet.  That means I've only spent barely half of what is budgeted for food for the last 4 months!
I figure I've got some 'wiggle room' when it comes to spending on food next month.

How did you do in April with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for May?
Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.


Sluggy