$32K Savings Challenge......OCTOBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.
And I am still loving this photo from previous month's Savings Challenge posts.
Like everyone, I LOVE a special on crap.....but how do you ascertain if crap is fresh?
Does fresh crap smell.....fresh?

The theme this month is when it finally looks like you can save a boatload of money,  Lightning strikes....literally!, and costs you some of your traction.

On to the October report.....

I have posted my OCTOBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right 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 $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$2,882.92!

Income
We had $2788.98 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.94 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & the $89 I made selling some dolls, you get a total of $2882.92.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
We finally had a month where we matched or surpassed that goal!

Outgo
As for the expenses in October......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went down $40.

* The water bill went down $20.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...finally!!
* I sold some dolls laying around the house....booyah!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was over $1500 again!
* The food spending was over $600.  It's usually around $250 a month.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were very high. Hubs did agree to save his receipts so once I get those I can analyze where some of his money went.  Stay tuned.....

* The lightning strike the end of Sept. took out the following: my computer, my printer, #2 son's tv, the garage door opener, the router, the modem and at least 1 electrical outlet upstairs.  So far we've spent $1433.66 on replacing/repairing items.  After our policy deductible of $500, the insurance company refuses to pay an additional $328.44 on the $1433.66 we've had to spend, so we are out of pocket $828.44 for this event.  Some of this spending went on the credit card and will show up on next month's bill.

The insurance goons have been real buttholes.

This is the first claim we have EVER made on our homeowner's policy which we have had with this same company since 1986.  

1 claim in 25 years.

Wanna bet our rates go up next year?

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $3.00, I was still over $600 in food spending for the month.  I sucked at being frugal on food this month.  But I still have over a 79% savings rate on food for the year so I only suck a little.lol

What's ahead for November.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

*Though the big Thanksgiving meal is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for November.
* The credit card is hovering at just under $1K yet again, with 9 more days until the billing cycle closes.  We just can't seem to get it down under $500 per month, can we?
* Hubs commuting car needs a tune-up and oil change.  Every time we take it in, this always costs more than just those things so I am steeling for a car repair bill.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $26,419.29.
We are $247.31 off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $26,666.66 heading into November so we are just a little behind and the goal is still within reach!

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month or be throwing savings at your debt if you have some.

So come along and Challenge 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.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

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 October financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

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

Ushering November In with Decluttering P*rn!

Now that everyone is full of candy, bring on the decluttering p*rn!
This all left the building yesterday.......

 6 sets of Star Trek micro machines vehicles.....try not to weep SonyaAnn!

1 spare Keyboard
1 Precious Moments Jennifer figurine
1 Grateful Dead magnetic clock

1 Halloween wig
8 assorted ceramic Halloween figurines (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
1 glass Punch Bowl with ladle and Cups (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
Sometimes at that auction, if no one bids(like on the stuff above), they add it to something else that folks DO want to bid on.  I "won" this stuff when I won something else I really DID want, so off to Salvation Army it goes! ;-)

1 Star Trek Barbie and Ken Doll Set
1 Power Rangers Fanny pack
1 complete Inspector Gadget toy
1 Rolling Stones magnetic Clock
2 Power Rangers movie figures
3 rolls of Manatee Wallpaper Board
1 Energizer Bunny doll
1 miniature Racing car replica
1 cassette tape of Toy Story music
1 set Power Rangers fake fingernails LOL
1 F-P  truck
1 silk scarf from Aruba

2 Star Trek Bird of Prey Vehicles
2 THE TICK Action Figures
1 set of Pokemon color your own Tattoos

Dr. Bobblehead from The Nightmare B4 Xmas
2 Star Wars 12" Action Figures
1 Yoda Star Wars Complete Galaxy Figure Set


Sluggy

October Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2011.

I have posted October'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 October.  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(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $12.78
Value  $43.40
Savings  70.55%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $50.33
Qs/Ads  $40.00
Value  $90.33
Savings 44.29%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $257.26

Qs/Ads  $159.96
Value  $417.22
Savings  38.34%

FOOD LION
OOP  $36.87
Qs/Ads  $11.57
Value  $48.44
Savings  23.89%

GIANT PA  

OOP  $17.78

Qs/Ads  $24.74

Value  $42.52

Savings  58.19%

REDNER'S
OOP  $63.79
Qs/Ads  $74.56
Value  $138.35
Savings 53.90%

SAVE-A-LOT
OOP  $14.21
Qs/Ads  $6.40
Value  $20.61
Savings  31.06%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $152.04
Qs/Ads  $317.94
Value  $469.98
Savings  67.65% 

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 SEPTEMBER
Pinecone...$3.00
Subtotal........$3.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
$0.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$3.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

2 MyBlogSpark Giveaways

1 Shampoo & Conditioner to Test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bakery Outlet at 70.55%, Weis at 67.65 and GiantPa at 58.19%.
I shopped at 8 different stores in October.


TOTAL Out of Pocket....sit down for this one!.....$605.06
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$665.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1270.85
TOTAL Savings of...................................52.40%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$3.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$602.06
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$668.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1270.85
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................52.62%

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-I did indeed go WAAAAAY over my $250 food budget, as planned.  But there was a method to my madness here.  The local independent grocer has a 5 week program where if you hit a certain amount of purchases during that time, you get a gift certificate at the end of November.(They also threw in another Buy $30 of baking items, Get a $10 Catalina Q deal so these items qualify you for both certs.) So I've been buying items there to get me to the total I need for those 2 certs.  It's stuff I'd be buying anyway maybe in the next couple of months, so I'm just buying them a bit earlier to get the bonus cert.  I have been waiting until items go on sale, so at least I am not paying full retail for them, but I am not, for the most part, able to use coupons on the items there.

It's weird after 9 months(and the year before this one as well)to have spent so much money on groceries in 30 days time.  I look back about 4 years ago, to when I use to go the the grocery store with a "sort of list" and no meal plan whatsoever.  I would regularly spend $150-$200 a week and barely have anything left at the end of the week.  If I had to replenish staples(eggs, flour, butter, etc.), I'd spend even more.

What's ahead for November.....
I've still got some more spending to do to get to my gift cert. at the local independent grocer.  As for Turkey Day provisions, I'll need a bird and a few other things but not much to make that meal.
I'm going to try to use down the frozen foods I have here in November.  The freezer can use a clean out and a defrosting before winter sets in.  I'm going to shoot for $300 in food spending in November.

With 2 months left in the year, we have spent a total of $2,509.75 of our income on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $251.27 per month.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $12,469.57.
That's a savings of $9,959.82 or 79.85%.

How did you do in October with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for November?  Any family coming to stay....Holiday Celebrations?.....or is your school/work schedule too busy to shop/cook/eat as a family?

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

Rite-Aid October SCR Period Totals

The October Single Check Rebate Period ran from Sept. 28-Oct. 25.
I did exactly 1 Rite-Aid shopping trip during this time.
Obviously, this update will be short. lol



Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--OCTOBER Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......1
Total Spent....$.26 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Number of Items purchased.....1
Value of Items purchased....$21.49
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for September SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 9/6.....$0.00
+Up Rewards spent....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards left....$0.00  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Still not feeling like going back to Rite-Aid anytime soon.
Unless I find some more FREE ITEM Qs I need to use there.lol
I still have tons of HBA items left and haven't needed anything from Rite-Aid.
It's going to take something really great to get me back in there or running out of something.

On a bright note, I AM enjoying the break from Rite-Aid-ing!  It's nice to not have the stress of expiring +Ups to worry about. ;-)

Sluggy

Every Day I'm Shufflin'........Shufflin' Crap Around the House!

When you watch this think of me.....shufflin' crap around my house, cleaning and clearing it out and off to charity!

Cranking up the volume and shufflin' off to the living room to sort through more crap now....

Sluggy