Food Spending December Week 4/Meal Planning January Week 1

And this is what happens to you if you fall asleep while the family is opening presents on Christmas morning.  You become the most festive beagle on the block! lol
We reuse the bows from one year to the next, so we need a place to put them aside so they don't end up in the trash bag........

As for meals?
Here is what actually got served last week....

Sunday--Chicken Enchiladas

Monday--Christmas Eve dinner at Chinese Restaurant

Tuesday--Ravioli w/Marinara Sauce, Standing Rib Roast, Roasted Vegetables, Green Beans, Rolls, Pies

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--Pork Chops, homemade Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

Friday--Pizza, a green veggie from the freezer

Saturday--Leftovers

The food spending last week(the 24th to the 30th)came in at $110.70 for 7 days.  This includes the rib roast that cost, as one astute reader noted, "as much as a coat".

As I have finished food shopping for December(no food buying today, the 31st)I spent $439.11 in total for the month.  Pretty good considering the stocking up and the Holiday food excess.

Going into this week, I have these leftovers--ravioli, rolls(not to mention fudge and pie).

***********************

Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Caramelized Onions,Potato Salad

Monday--Date Lunch Out w/Hubs, then leftovers and appetizers for New Years at home

Tuesday--Tacos, Corn

Wednesday--Baked Salmon, leftover P. Salad, Caesar Salad, leftover rolls

Thursday--Cheesesteaks, Green Beans

Friday--Fried Shrimp, French Fries, Beets, any leftover veggies

Saturday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself or Breakfast for Dinner

I have everything here already to make these meals.....ground beef for tacos, salmon, roast beef for cheesesteaks, shrimp are all in the freezer.  I might treat Hubs to country ham rolls tomorrow morning since we still have a plethora of rolls.  I used that last $5 voucher to buy romaine lettuce and some ground beef on Sunday, so we have all foodstuffs to make this menu now.

There will only be 3 at home this coming week to cook for.


Sluggy

My Last Rite-Aid Update for 2012

Can you believe I had another $5 in +Up Rewards expiring Sunday?
Yep.


So up to Rite-Aid I went this afternoon.....

1 x Breathe Right strips w/Gold discount=$5.35
1 x Blistex on sale=$1.50
2 x Ziploc bags on sale $2=$4.00
SubTotal.......$10.85

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Breathe Right(coupons dotcom)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Breathe Right VV/AdPerks IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Ziploc bags ManuQ(12/2 SS insert)=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$5.00

$10.85-$5.00=$5.85+.06¢ tax=$5.91

I used my $5 +Up Reward and put the .91¢ on my gift card(which is below $2 now).
I received back $2.50 in +Up Rewards($1 wyb2 Ziplocs, $1.50 Blistex).
I also can submit the Breathe Right purchase for SCRebate #10, which will net me $2 in cash.
So in the end, I "spent down" .50¢ of my +Ups after Qs, +Ups gained and the cash rebate.

And since this is my last purchase of 2012 at Rite-Aid, here is my update on Totals and the End of December Rite-Aid Total.....


This trip to Rite-Aid--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items.....$17.26
+Ups coming into this trip....$35.00
+Ups used....$5.00
+Ups earned......$2.50
+Ups at the end.....$32.50

 
**GRAND TOTALS FOR DECEMBER**

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$785.79
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$16.00
Other Rebates due......$3.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $0.00
Savings Rate.....102.42 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$47.00+
+Ups used....$271.00+
+Ups received...$256.50+
+Ups currently...$32.50+   

 In the end, for December, I got $785.79 in goodies for FREE and I will get back $19.00 in cash for various rebates for buying all this stuff.


Sluggy

$10 +Ups + Snow = Mission Accomplished

Well I thought I could get up, dressed and out to Rite-Aid to use those expiring today +Ups before the snow started.
And I was wrong. 8-P

So I sat here watching the live Weather Channel online map to see when the precipitation would let up a bit and rushed out when the dry spot hit my town.
Mission accomplished and I am home and we are in for the day.
It's nasty out there!

2 x Nivea Body Wash on sale=$8.00
1 x Nivea Renewal Body Scrub on sale-$4.00
SubTotal.....$12.00

I used 1 x $2/1 Nivea Renewal IPQ, making my Total after Qs $10.00
I paid with my expiring $10 +Up Reward.
I received a $10 +Up Reward for "Spending $20 on Nivea items" Deal.

Rolling that $10 +Ups out for another 2 weeks, waiting for a good deal on something I need.

These Body Washes are BLUEBERRY.
I guess I'll smell like a fruit salad or a pie after using these. lol



This trip to Rite-Aid--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items.....$21.87
+Ups coming into this trip....$35.00
+Ups used....$10.00
+Ups earned......$10.00
+Ups at the end.....$35.00

*And here are my MONTHLY TOTALS*
 
GRAND TOTALS FOR DECEMBER so far.......

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$768.53
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$14.00
Other Rebates due......$3.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $0.00
Savings Rate.....102.79 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$47.00+
+Ups used....$266.00+
+Ups received...$254.00+
+Ups currently...$35.00+   




The daughter came home early from work and has been sick with a cold and some chest gunk.  I took that chicken stock I made last Sunday when I cooked the chicken for the Enchiladas and put some chicken, onions, celery, carrots and garlic and made a pot of Chicken Soup.  I'm waiting on her to see which she wants--noodles, potatoes or rice in it.
Or she might want to turn this into Chicken and Dumplings.


Stay warm and dry where you are today! 8-)


Sluggy  
 

How the 2012 Goals Turned Out....

Readers might remember that I set up a List of personal Hopes/Goals for 2012 back in January.
This post is my End of the Year Check-In for my list and to see how I did(or didn't do) on the Goals I set out to accomplish 12 months ago.

Sluggy's Personal List of Goals for 2012

1.  Get all the tax and college Paperwork completed and filed by the end of February.
PASS....one of the few things I can totally cross off the list until next year...which starts in less than a WEEK.  LOLOL

2.  Convert all my vinyl LPs to CDs and purge the LPs from my life.
FAIL on the record digitizing.
Six months into the year, I changed that Goal to Digitizing all my photographs, since I purchased a handheld scanner with a gift card I received for Christmas in 2011.  I have stacks of scrapbooks from my mother plus a stack of scrapbooks from when my kids were small to digitize.  In the last 6 months I scanned 2 whole books worth of photos.  I am VERY far behind but I "AM" working on this project.  I didn't realize it was such a large project and I misjudged the amount of time involved.  
This "new" Goal goes onto the list of Projects for 2013.

3.  Continue to Declutter everywhere.  Finish the garage and move what's in the living room into the garage so that the house is 100% done by April.  Be out of the storage unit by December.
FAIL--well, the house is NOT 100% done yet so that's a fail.   
I have continued to declutter in 2012 but it hasn't been nearly what I did in 2011 and it's not done yet.  I didn't reopen the eBay store until November, so I didn't sell off all the sellable items yet.  I still have things in the storage unit.  
I need to throw this Goal onto 2013 as well.

4.  Complete 4 house projects in 2012.  2 inside/2 outside
FAIL.  Projects identified and the cash is there, but we haven't pulled the trigger yet on any of them.  I need to sit down with Hubs and set up a step-by-step process for getting these projects done in 2013.

5.  Read 20 books this year.
FAIL.  I read 6 books.  Most years I read much more.  I just wasn't feeling it in 2012.

6.  Rework the stockpile.  Make it healthier and more compact.
PASS.  I reorganized and thinned it twice in 2012.  I loaded up Oldest son Thursday evening with stockpile items to take back to school and I'll make a pass through the stockpile on Sunday again and glean some more items to give to the B-I-L.  

7.  Finish up the eBay sales by May.
FAIL  
I shut down eBay before Christmas 2011 and didn't do any eBay sales this year until November.  I will sell for 3 more months(Jan-Mar. 2013) and then shut it down for good.

8.  Get the sewing going again.  Go through projects in-progress and alterations pile and get rid of stuff.  Sew clothes for myself for a change!
FAIL
I did nothing except hems some pants for Hubs and daughter, and finish some pj pants for daughter. 

9.  Get the Etsy Store up and running. 
FAIL
Just didn't get to that one at all.


10.  Spend more time with family, especially Hubs.
PASS  Have taken a couple of vacations with Hubs alone in 2012.  Have tried to spend time with the kids with mixed results.  Oldest has been home a total of 9 days in 2012.  Daughter moved home in May so we've been working on our relationship and I think it is better.  Youngest tries to spend as little time as possible with us, since he's almost 17. lol

I need to face the fact that our "kids" are now past the ages of doing things together as a family.  Oldest moved out basically when he left for college in 2009 and has only come home for brief visits since.  Summers he spent living/working at summer camp so he wasn't home when school ended for the year.  Daughter is living at home this school year but is wanting to move out into an apartment as soon as it's feasible.  At least she'll be nearby.  #2 Son is busy with school, band, driving, trying to get a 'real' job and his girlfriend so he's about to fly from the nest too.

11.  Lose 40 lbs...there, I said it!  Now I have to do it!!
FAIL.  I lost 7 lbs.  At least I didn't gain.....ugh.  I need to get more serious with this one in 2013.


12.  Continue the Savings Challenge with a goal of $20K for 2012.
PASS.  We hit the goal and then some!  We have $26,000.00+ saved right now and I haven't added in December's money yet.

13.  Continue to be Frugal whenever possible and live well below our means!
PASS.  We spend way below our means each month generally.  In a bad/expensive month, we still spend less than we make, though sometimes with not a lot of room to spare.
I know we could have been more frugal sometimes, but I'm happy with our general level of frugality.

14.  Take at least 1 REAL vacation and ENJOY IT!
PASS.  Hubs and I took 2 short vacations.  They were short, but not jam packed and we just did what we felt like doing at the moment.  They were low stress trips.

So, in the end, 2012 was a real mixed bag of result for me.
I Failed more than I Passed this year.......an 8 to 6 ratio.

 I was just not as ambitious as I thought I'd be and bit off more than I could finish.  
As I look ahead to my Goals for 2013 this weekend, I'll mull over how realistic my expectations were in 2012.

 How did you do on your Goals for the 2012?
Sluggy

Expiring Rewards Again

Just a boring old report on what I got at Rite-Aid Friday with my expiring +Up Rewards.
While I couldn't find any deals that truly rolled my +Ups for another 2 weeks, I did find a few deals that gave me back some +Ups and were items I could use.  I had $20 expiring Friday so here is what I found to "buy".  It's all about the hair, the skin, the toilets and the chocolate.....

2 x L'Oreal EverPure Shampoo BOGO50%=$11.08
2 x Simple Pleasures chocolate on sale $3=$6.00
2 x Nivea Renewal Scrub on sale $4=$8.00
2 x Scrubbing Bubble Toilet Gel on sale(Wellness discount lower $3.83=$7.66
SubTotal.....$32.74

Coupons Used
1 x $3/2 L'Oreal items IPQ=$3.00
2 x $1.50/1 Simple Pleasures IPQ=$3.00
2 x Nivea Renewal Scrub IPQ=$4.00
1 x $2/2 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Gel Load2Card=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$12.00

$32.74-$12.00=$20.74+.02¢tax=$20.76

I used $20 in +Up Rewards and put the .76¢ on my gift card.
I received $8 in +Ups($3 wyb $10 L'Oreal, $2 wyb 2 Simple Pleasures, $3 wyb 2 Scrubbing Bubbles).
I also have tracking $8 of products toward a "Spend $20, Get $10 Nivea" Deal.
(I'll buy 3 more $4 on sale Nivea items tomorrow for $12, use another $2/1 Q for a total OOP of $10, use a $10 +Ups to pay and get another $10 +Ups back.)

I need to call CS since I had a $2/1 L'Oreal item Load2Card that did NOT come off!  I had to take off a $2 item after all my Qs were applied to keep my total at $20.  Hopefully I'll be getting a $2 +Ups for that Q in the mail in a week or so.

Starting on Sunday with the new weekly ad for 12/30-1/5, Rite-Aid is having a new Promotion.  Buy items in the store identified by a red price tag icon and they count toward a $20 +Up Reward once you have bought $100 worth of items.  And then for every increment of $50 spent of these select products, you will earn another $5 +Up Reward to a total of $250 in products and $50 in +Up Rewards.
It's all explained on page 4 of the Sales ad for next week that starts on Sunday.



This trip to Rite-Aid--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items.....$47.92
+Ups coming into this trip....$47.00
+Ups used....$20.00
+Ups earned......$8.00
+Ups at the end.....$35.00

*And here are my MONTHLY TOTALS*
 
GRAND TOTALS FOR DECEMBER so far.......

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$746.66
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$14.00
Other Rebates due......$3.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $0.00
Savings Rate.....102.73 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$47.00+
+Ups used....$256.00+
+Ups received...$244.00+
+Ups currently...$35.00+   

Sluggy