Tuesday, February 5, 2013

January Goals Final Check-In

This year I am going to Set my 2013 Goals by the Month instead of for the Year.
So each month I'll put up my TO DO LIST and cross off the goals as they are completed.
End of each month, I'll do a final check-in on what was accomplished and what wasn't.



This is January's Final Check-In......

* Gather Tax Records--DONE!  Now the REAL FUN begins as we actually DO the taxes.  lol

* Make New Price Book--IN PROGRESS  We are in Week 5 of this 6 Week process.  Price Book will be finished this month.

* Shut Down eBay Store--DONE!  Accomplished halfway through January.  Bill was also paid in full, despite eBay sending me WARNING LETTERS for 3 weeks.  It was difficult ignoring those letters, since I was getting a bill credit for unused eBay Store time, but I held off and I still misjudged my credit by $1.12.....meaning I have a credit with eBay of $1.12.  Maybe I should start sending them threatening letters that they owe me money and they'd better pay me or else!!!

* Clean out InkFrog files & Close Account--IN PROGRESS  I emptied about 100 picture files but then began rethinking shutting it down right now.  It's going to be a very large job to save all my files to my hard drive so I'll have this expense for a few more months. It goes onto February's List.

* Scan 1 scrapbook of photos--FAIL  I got the book picked out but haven't begun this project yet.  It goes onto February's List.

* Finish reading the John Lee Holt book--DONE!  This was difficult.  Being as it is the compilation of personal letters this ancestor wrote home to his wife and family, it had no editorial rewriting to make it "hang" together like a work of fiction type book.  So I did better with reading it continuously every day or so, rather than picking it up in fits and starts and reading short amounts every few weeks or once a month, as I had been tackling it.  But reading it continuously was also difficult emotionally because I felt truly connected to him(and am via DNA)and his plight and I knew how his life's journey ended, so I read with a most heavy heart.  I received the book in June of 2012 and because it was emotionally draining to read, I hadn't gotten very far by the end of the year, as I was forever putting the book down.  I changed my plan of attack on the book(pardon me John!lol)and despite the gloominess of my mood, read it through in January.
I guess unless you are a Southerner who has not been brainwashed by all the tomes of Yankee mythology and propaganda that passes for truth out there regarding Lincoln's War, you don't understand what is in the mind and hearts of the Southern people.  And you wouldn't have been affected like I was by this book.

* Put Christmas stuff away--DONE!  The putting away went quite smoothly this year and I believe was accomplished quicker than in years past.  Yay us!

* Defrost the Freezer--DONE!  Thanks to #2 Son one day when school was cancelled because of weather conditions, we knocked this one out of the ballpark in 3 hours.  It did involve food filled coolers, winter gloves, bowls of ice and rubber mallets. 'Nuf said.....

* Drop National Comsumer Panel/Nielsen Membership--DONE!  I've got to laugh because the first Sunday evening after I sent the Nielsen scanner back I was feeling all anxious and jumpy.  And then I realized why....Sunday evening was my deadline for scanning purchases into NCP for the week.  For the last few years, being a member of that group, I had been putting pressure on myself every Sunday to get everything scanned before the scanner started beeping and uploading the data.  I realized at that moment how much I HATED doing this!  Seriously, it was a lot of stupid grunt work for literally NO reward.  No money and little piddley "rewards" or prizes.  And they kept dangling the prize carrot in your face on a stick.  Add in that their instructions SUCKED and nothing worked like it was suppose to and they made you feel like it was YOUR fault.  And god forbid you have a problem with the equipment and had to actually call them.  Their CS people were surly at best and condescending and rude at worst.  You would think that they'd want to be helpful?  Ha!  They talked down to you like you were 6 years old and didn't know how to operate a toaster, let alone anything a bit more technologically advanced.  I guess that's what you get when you locate your call center/company on Long Island NY.  Now I am not condemning all folks from that part of the country, but from my experience with many of them(having lived and worked in the metro NY/NJ area)is that a high concentration of people from there are loud and obnoxious.  It would be very easy to get a bunch of people working there who exude attitude all day long in their every day life.  People who don't interact with people from that area of the country on a regular basis don't understand that this is normal operating mode in daily life, and don't appreciate being talked down to in that way.   I was part of a similar program years ago that was operated out of Charleston, South Carolina.  The difference in how those employees in their CS Dept. treated you was the day to the night(mare) that those Nielsen(aka National Consumer Panel)people were!

* Celebrate my Birthday!--DONE!  I think we did a right good job of celebrating me in January.  We did some nice eating out(nothing extravagant except the steak house)and used quite a few FREEBIES and gift cards, keeping the costs down.



So I completed 7, 2 In Progress rolled over into February and 1 Fail, which also rolls over into February's List.

I'm good with how I did on my January Goals.
February Goals are posted and this month will be more challenging given I've rolled these 3 goals onto what I already had planned.
Here's hoping your January Goals went smoothly!

Sluggy

Monday, February 4, 2013

JANUARY 2013 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending




Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2013.

I have posted January's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.  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(4-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
******************

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $211.88
Value  $211.88
Savings   100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $162.29
Qs/Ads  $138.58
Value  $300.87
Savings  46.06%

WEIS MARKETS
OOP  $127.95
Qs/Ads  $103.13
Value  $231.08
Savings  44.63%

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 January.....$16.00
GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$16.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES
5 x Free 12 packs Coke products
1 x Free 20 oz. Coke products
2 x Movie Tickets Coke Sweepstakes win
2 x Large Movie Sodas Coke Sweepstakes win

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 100%,  Shursave affiliate market at 46.06% and Weis markets at 44.63%.  l only shopped at 3 different stores this past month. 8-)


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$290.24
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$453.59
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$743.83
TOTAL Savings of...................................60.98%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I have $109.76 leftover in my January food envelope.  And I spent so little and even stocked up on pet food in January.
I redeemed 26 manufacturer's coupons at the 2 grocery stores(1/3 were Peelies, 1/3 were Instant Store discount Stickers and the last 1/3 were ManuQs) and 17 coupons at the drug store. 
I also earned and spent 1 x $10 Catalina Q at Weis.
I tried to get us to eat down some frozen foods this month so I could defrost my freezer.  I found some neglected items buried in the back which we make a pretty successful effort to use up.
Go us! ;-)

Looking ahead to February---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  It seems to be working for us at this amount.  I'll be changing over some food choices this month and I am curious to see how this affects our spending.

 
And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far--
2013 Total Saved $453.59

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $743.83

2013 Yearly Total Spent $290.24

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 60.98%



Sluggy

Meal Planning Feb. Week 2 & Food Spending Week 1

What do the White Rabbit and Sluggy have in common?
It's dinnertime here already and I am just now getting around to my weekly meal planning.
                                                                      

And here is what actually got served last week......


Sunday--KFC chicken, sides, biscuits
Monday--Pizza or Leftover KFC or Beef Tips
Tuesday--Steak dinner out(birthday meal)
Wednesday--Italian dinner out(birthday freebie)
Thursday--Sloppy Joes, corn
Friday--Fend for Yourself
Saturday--Chinese take-out(I had Eggplant in Garlic Sauce) 

I actually "cooked" but once last week.....IF you can call Sloppy Joes cooking. lol

The food spending last week?
Well it's only a couple of days since most of last week was still January(so that spending went onto my Jan. spending totals), but I was able to spend a whopping $72.18 on Saturday.  Granted $2.12 of that was tax, I stocked up on Mexican items(tortillas, salsa $8.75)and $33.75 of the spending was on dog foods.  The rest, $27.56, was spent on milk, fruit, veggies, bread and chicken.  I also received $11 in Catalinas for buying the pet food so I have future savings.

I am left at this point with $327.82 in my food budget for February.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--not much beyond a helping of Sloppy Joes is left and some rolls.  Hard to have leftovers if you don't actually cook or eat at home much in a week. lol
I didn't serve 2 of the meals last week so they roll over into this week.

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

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

Sunday--Chicken Fajitas
Monday--Taco Bell or Fend for Yourself
Tuesday--Salmon, Green Bean Casserole
Wednesday--Ham and Bean Soup, homemade Bread
Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Corn
Friday--Ravioli, Sausage Sauce, Caesar Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

Taco Bell for #2 Son this week but the rest of us are staying away from the fast food.

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?
Salad Greens and celery are needed.  I also need fruit and a few other things.   I haven't looked at the ads yet to see if there are any deals.  I'm looking to stay out of the stores so I'll try to keep the spending at $35 this week.


I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book. 
What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?



Sluggy

Sunday, February 3, 2013

What Goes On Sale in February?


                                       

It's February.  So what will one find are the good deals this month?

The obvious is candy.  The 14th of the month brings us St. Valentine's Day, so look for candy, especially the CHOCOLATE varieties to go on sale the first 2 weeks of the month.  Also items often thought of as  gifts for a sweetheart.....long stemmed roses and flowers, as well as items of an adult nature.....lubs, lingerie......ahem.....sex toys, etc.    Yes Sonya Ann, I said sex toys. ;-)  

February 10th is the Chinese New Year.  2013 is the Year of the Snake.  Look for Asian food products like soy/fish/plum/duck/ginger/teriyaki as well as other sauces, noodles, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, canned chow mein, soup mixes, etc.

It's National Hot Breakfast Month--look for hot cereals like oatmeal and wheat concoctions, syrups, frozen breakfast foods to be good deals.

Also National Canned Food Month--look for all kinds of canned foods, from veggies, fruits, meats and seafood, to pie fillings to be on sale.

The Fresh Seasonal Produce you may find at a lower cost this month(depending on what region of the country you are located in)includes Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach and Strawberries.

Anybody have any others?

Sluggy

 

 




The Fun Never Ends!

Do you know what time it is kiddies?
Yes, it's time for......


Not my desk, but it could be.

I am off to start the torture for another year.
I'll be back later tonight, if I don't decide I need to start drinking heavily instead.....

As we spend the next few weeks undergoing this needless torture, maybe it's a good time to bring the subject of totally transforming the way we are taxed and pay those taxes in this country.
While the lunacy of this tax system is fresh on your brain, go check this out A Better Way-The Fair Tax Plan.

Time to wrestle with forms and publications......*sigh*.....

Sluggy