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

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

Some day I'd like to spread all the cash I've saved out on the bed and lay on it.  This puppy has the right idea.....
  

On to the November report.....

I have posted my NOVEMBER 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 November in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of November with?.......$3,686.66!

Income
We had $3681.89 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.77 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & you get a total of $3686.66.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
This month we blew that goal out of the water! 8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in November......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went up only $67.....that's good seeing as the heat was on!

* The food spending was almost on budget at $263.10
* The credit card bill was $1000+ BUT....almost half of that was money we spent on our mini vacation to Delaware, so we are pulling money out of what we saved in the Savings Challenge last year to pay that part of the bill.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...yay!!
* I opened my eBay Store up temporarily for the holidays to bring in a little coin, though I am not counting this income as part of the Savings Challenge because it will be spent....but it's STILL a good thing!lol

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The water bill went up $10.
* Had $154 in unexpected medical associated bills to pay. (A dr. bill from this past summer when Daughter went and saw a dr. not in our plan so insurance won't pay any of it and #2 son lost his retainer so we had to pay for a replacement.)
*  Still a LARGE amount of cash withdrawals.  I went through Hubs receipts last month and there was no unusual spending...except he spends a lot on food and coffee during the day at work  I have nagged, pestered, whined, cajoled, bribed, offered sex all to get him to take his lunch and coffee.  Nothing convinces him.  I'm done trying.   ;-)
*  December means Christmas gift spending so the C/C bill will be high.  It's already at $500+ going into Xmas shopping season.  Add in the $200 in home improvement gift cards I put on the c/c last weekend.

The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located HERE.  We kept almost to the food budget amount so I am calling this good considering the month included the big TURKEY DAY meal.

What's ahead for December.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.
*  The electric bill will increase as Dec. is colder than Nov.

* Though Christmas is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for December.
* The credit card will be high.  With Christmas that's a given since I don't carry large amounts of cash on me when out holiday shopping.  But we don't buy more on the card than we can pay off each month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 11 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $30,105.95.
We are $1,894.05 away from reaching our final goal for the year. Unless there is some catastrophe that wipes out our money in December we WILL hit our goal of $32K saved in 2011!

To add to my confidence that we will succeed is the fact that we will get THREE Paychecks in December because of when the paydays fall.  This means an extra whole paycheck in December...woot!!!  We will have enough if something bad happens to the budget and can still Live Christmas Large and tie it up with a red bow! 8-))))

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 still have that.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt 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.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your November 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

Look Who I Saw Today!

I was down at the mall outside of Philly today and guess who I saw there?
Judy over at We May Be Poor, But We Are Happy may SAY she's going for job interviews but she took another pain pill and THIS is really how she is spending her free time!
Turn your speakers up and check it out....

Sluggy

Keyword Searches...HUH?!?!

I like to go look at my Stats every now and again on Blogger and see what words people search for that leads them to wind up on my blog.
Usually it's something boring like Slugmama or Don't Read This It's Boring, which is what people who are too lazy to put my blog's URL as a Bookmark into their Favorites and just Google my blog title every time they want to come visit me do.  That's fine too but why not go ahead and follow or bookmark me to save yourself some time and typing! ;-)

But I like to see what bizarre search words or phrases lead people to my blog door.
Here are a few from last week.....

cat hoarding
pet hoarding
cat hoarders
aspirin
dishwasher detergent
kmart
sheeple black friday

And the BEST WEIRD search word/phrase was.....

hhhsssssshhhhjkkkkll

WTF?!?!LOLOL

I really don't think I'm very hhhsssssshhhhjkkkkll, do you?

So go look at your keyword searches and tell me what interesting words/phrases you find! 8-)

Sluggy

eBay Follies....Longish but Kind of Funny

It's been a pretty good week on eBay for me.
Yah, yah, I know....y'all are getting tired of hearing about this, right?lol

While things aren't flying out the door I've been kept busy with getting rid of(selling)things.  In the past 27 days I have listed 140 items.  Not quite the 150 I wanted to get done but it's close enough for me to feel a sense of accomplishment. 8-)

As of this morning, I've sold 49 items and I have a couple of Best Offers to rule on so I might be up to 50 by this afternoon.

Cyber Monday's sales were steady but not frantic.
And then on Tuesday things dropped off substantially.....except when I get something listed, there is a frenzy of questions to seller(and/or offers if I put that feature on an item)within the first few hours of it being 'live' on the site.  I actually sold something within an hour of listing it yesterday.
But unfortunately most things don't fly off the shelf like that. 8-(
eBay is way down from what it use to be like during the High Selling Season of Oct/Nov/Dec.
Ahhhh, the good old days....lol

I've had some really interesting potential buyers this week.

*A woman who bought an item from me about 7 years ago bought something from me last week.  How do I know this?  Because she sent me a long email telling me this, with many details, which jogged my memory and I actually sort of remembered her.  She was nice to deal with back then and still is, but the main thing I remembered about her was that she was very cheap and never wanted to pay for Priority mail shipping and was always trying to get a better deal out of me.  She is still sending me chatty emails and I just don't want to be her friend so I feel bad ignoring her.
That's the thing about eBay.   Some buyers want to have a relationship with you beyond the buyer/seller interchange.  They cross the line from friendly buyer into needy territory......I want your money but I really don't want to be BFFs if I meet you on eBay.lol

*Someone emailed me about a Star Wars action figure case I am selling that is out of production(from 1999)but new in the package.  She wants to replace a vintage case her son had gotten years ago, now that her grandson was using his SW toys, because that old case was falling apart.  She asked me a bazillion questions that the only way I would know the answers would be if I ripped open the sealed package and inspected the interior of said case.  This is not something I would under any circumstances do(unless the person bought it first and PAID FOR IT and asked me to open it before shipping it off).
After those bazillion questions that I couldn't possibly answer, she wanted to know how long would it take to get it without telling me WHERE she wanted it shipped to OR WHAT MAILING RATE she wanted to pay for. 

Then to top this all off and push it into the "Seriously, get a clue!" category, she offered me half of what I was asking for it...and I had NO Best Offer feature enabled on the item NOR is my price for this item outrageously high.

Since I am a nice person(most of the time...lol), I answered the 2 questions I could, told her why I couldn't give her more information, told her I wasn't taking half of what I needed for this item and directed her to a listing for a lovely used identical case for cheap and said goodbye.
I could have ignored her or told her to kiss my pastey white a$$ but I've still got a little bit of Holiday spirit left......but it's wearing thin I tell ya! ;-)

*How about two different cases where potential buyers emailed me frantically wanting to know where my listing disappeared to when I sold an item that they had put on their "watch list".  One even demanded that I relist the item so they could buy it!  The nerve of someone else buying it...humph!  Well if you really wanted it, you should have bought it instead of just watching it.
I have never understood why someone puts a Fixed Price/Buy It Now item on a watch list.....it's not like it's an auction and they don't want to miss the end of the auction and bid on it then so they win it.  You just have to hit the button and Buy It idiot.....no auction sniping needed!lol

*The impatient buyers from overseas.  I don't quote overseas shipping automatically in my listing details like I do domestic shipping.  Overseas shipping is a tad more complicated with too many variables to just give a cookie cutter response.  Some items can't go cheap rate(1st Class)due to size or weight restrictions.  And then there are countries where I will not ship to using 1st Class rates....countries with massive corruption in their postal systems(many of which are privately held)where packages regularly go missing and end up stolen.  That would be Italy.....Jamaica......and parts of Mexico to name a few.  I am also reticent to ship to places with oppressive communist or dictator-ish governments.....like some "use to be Soviet Union" countries, China, parts of the Middle East.  If you are in those places you need to wait until you ask me if I will/can ship an item to you and what rate I will allow it to go.
Add in that often overseas shipping is a LOT more anyway than these buyers assume.

I will get overseas buyers who ask me for a shipping quote and then since I don't answer them immediately, they go ahead and buy the item. 

I've had one of them last week do this and then pay me without including any extra for the shipping of the item. lol

This week I had a guy buy without finding out the shipping to Italy would be at least $40 since I won't send 1st Class rate to there.  He ended up paying for Express Mail rate for $48!  Heck, I thought Italy was declaring bankruptcy....this guy obviously didn't get the memo yet.;-)
Then I had someone buy without finding out the shipping to China.  I've already had one package returned to me from China that was undeliverable so I am reticent about sending there anymore.  Seems like China actually holds their citizens to the "you can only import certain goods/certain value of items per year" rule.  If someone in China(Hong Kong not withstanding)asks for a shipping quote I remind them to ascertain whether the item is allowed to be received by them.

Another person yesterday in Canada bought an item and immediately paid me.  They chose a random number out of the air and included that much extra in their payment for shipping.  They sent no note or explanation about this payment, including no expectation of which shipping rate they assumed this extra bit of money would buy them.  So now I have to figure out the shipping options quote and email them.  If what they sent is enough to cover the shipping they expect, that's fine, but if it isn't......I have to refund the whole payment and wait for them to send me to correct amount....and I have to email them and hope they see my email and respond in a timely fashion.   That's the thing that gets me.....buyers expect me to instantaneously respond to their inquiries, shipping their package immediately after they pay and post feedback a nanosecond after they pay me.  But when I need information out of them?.....Oh, they are in no hurry whatsoever to respond.  But if their non-response means I can't ship their item and it gets held up for any amount of time, they are hell on wheels bitchy at me. *sigh* lol

But even though eBay selling during the Holidays can be stressful...especially if you are an ethical seller with a conscience who cares about during things the right way....this year I am NOT letting it get to me like I did in past years. 
Because basically, I don't give a shit. ;-)
I don't care about my rating....ok, I do care to do things the right way, but if you have a hair up your ass and just want to go on eBay to screw with someone and ruin their Seller reputation to make yourself feel like a big deal(I've dealt with those in the past), I don't care if you leave me unwarranted bad feedback.  The whole feedback system is a joke and has been for years since they took any serious repercussions against Buyers out of the equation but left all the feedback power in the hands of the Buyers.  Sellers can't do anything to a bad buyer.....can't leave them negative feedback.  But a bad buyer can not only leave sellers uncalled for bad feedback but they can ding them on their 5 star rating for something that is beyond the sellers control--the cost of postage/shipping.  If I don't give FREE Shipping(something that I have to pay for out of my tiny profit and more and more buyers are expecting even though I can't write off the cost of shipping like huge corp. like Amazon can)and charge what it actually costs to ship something, my SHIPPING AND HANDLING Star gets downgraded by them.  This star really needs to be called something else since I don't CHARGE SHIPPING, the Post Office CHARGES it. I merely collect it.  And not only that put I get the great honor of HAVING TO PAY eBAY A FEE ON THAT SHIPPING MONEY THAT I DON'T CHARGE OR GET TO KEEP.  AND i GET TO PAY PAYPAL A FEE ON THAT SHIPPING MONEY I COLLECT FOR THE PO TOO.
And yes, I am shouting here.....

So I don't give a rat's a$$ about what my buyers think about my prices.  You buy it or you don't, your choice.  You pay me what it costs and I ship your thing to you.  You want to leave me nasty comments, fine.  Have at it!  I don't care because when I am done selling off my crap I am leaving eBay and it's Black Hearted Business Model far behind.
Cutting ya loose eBay....with a smile on my face(ok, maybe a smirk!)and a skip in my step because I'll never have to endure this again.

Yah, I'll miss the funny buyers and shaking my head at the "WHAT were they thinking!?!?" buyers but I am retiring as a Master Shipping Box Reconfigurer. 
I'm hanging up my postal scale, tape, yardstick and scissors after this last hurrah.

Sluggy

November Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for NOVEMBER 2011.

I have posted November'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 November.  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(3-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $17.89

Value  $72.44

Savings  75.30%

LUCAS FARMS(local produce market)

OOP  $13.02 

Value  $27.33

Savings  52.36%

RESTAURANT SUPPLY STORE
OOP  $32.50

Value  $75.90

Savings 57.20%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $104.43

Qs/Ads  $173.15
Value  $277.58
Savings  62.38%

WALMART 

OOP  $3.60

Qs/Ads  $0
Value  $3.60

Savings  0%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $99.66

Qs/Ads  $261.51
Value  $361.17
Savings  72.40% 

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 NOVEMBER
Pinecone...$3.00
Subtotal........$3.00

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

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero  *more pathetic-ness*

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bakery Outlet at 75.30%, Weis at 72.40% and the Shursave Stores at 62.38%.
I shopped at 6 different stores in November.....well really it was 8 but 3 of them were Shursaves so I counted them as the same store. ;-)


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$271.10  soooo close!lol

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$546.92

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$818.02
TOTAL Savings of...................................66.86%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$3.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$268.10
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$549.92
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$818.02
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................67.22%

This closes out the November spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-I came very close to staying on my $250 food budget in November.  I cashed in a grocery store gift card and did a couple of different Catalina Deals(can you say GRAVY?lol)this month.  I also bought a second turkey in November and did a wee bit of stocking up on dairy/baking supplies.

Oh! Wait a minute.....actually if you look at my October food budget post I set a $300 budget for November so I came in UNDER!

Go me!!lol

Now I'm sure that if I had remembered I gave myself a $300 food kitty last month, wanna bet I would have spent $320?  8-)

What's ahead for December.....
As always I'll keep an eye out for Catalina deals I can use.  I am going to try to use up some meats/proteins in the freezer this month before we get to Christmas.  The freezer needs a good defrosting and clean out.  Using up will help keep the food spending in check since I foresee a big Ham purchase in 3 weeks or so for a big Christmas Dinner and that hunk o' meat will cost mucho coinage!

With 1 month left in the year, we have spent a total of $2,772.85 of our income on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $252.08 per month.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $13,287.59 so far this year.
That's a savings of $10,514.74 or 79.07%.

How did you do in November with your Food Budget?  Did the Turkey Holiday dinner bust your budget(not to mention your belt!lol)

What are your challenges for December?  Any family coming to stay....Holiday Celebrations?..  Do you throw parties and how do you budget for that?...or is your/the childs'/the spouse's school/work/Holiday extracurricular activities 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