Meal Planning March Week 3 & Food Spending March Week 2 & 1

 

 

I never got around to my Meal Plan/Food Spending post for last week due to my dental issues and not feeling up to much of anything the last few weeks.  Sorry about that!

 

I never actually made a meal plan last week because I didn't cook much if any last week.  I've been living on soups and soft foods and the family just hasn't wanted to join me on this exciting menu....go figure! lol

So some things were pulled from the freezer or cobbled together without my find hand being involved.  Then the Daughter decided she'd had enough of your father's halfa$$ed meals and stepped up and volunteered to cook a couple of times.  Of course those evenings were hard on ME because I had to be handy to answer a billion questions because the child refuses to follow a recipe.  And then she gets all mad when things don't turn out right and blames me. ugh!

I. Can't. Win.

All I can recall was they had pork chops with cabbage and sweet potatoes, a tuna noodle casserole, a pizza, there was some Chinese take-out......

I really didn't care really what they ate.

I knew they weren't starving was good enough for me. lol

 

The food spending the last 2 weeks?

Yes, it's 2 weeks worth since I didn't report in last week.  $98.04 has been spent of the $400 food budget.  That includes $5.78 spent at the Bread Outlet on the one day I felt human and stopped in there to get some bread and rolls while out running errands.  21 days left in the month and we have $301.96 left in the budget to spend.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--I think there is a pork chops and 2 sweet potatoes leftover.

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

Sunday-Leftovers or Pizza

Monday--Sloppy Joes on Rolls, Corn

Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread

Wednesday--? Depends on how the dental appt. goes

Thursday--Tacos

Friday--Fish "Fry", Broccoli

Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?  

Ground Beef, Romaine lettuce and I might be out of Cheddar Cheese.  Daughter is doing Slim Fast shakes so we are running through milk and soy milk this week as well.
$35-$40 in spending should be enough this week.

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

$20K Savings Challenge....FEBRUARY Update

In our family we save money.
It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the February report.....

I have posted my FEBRUARY End of Month $20K $AVING$ 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 $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up February in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$1,375.97

Income
We had $1267.88 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in a per diem check for mileage for some business traveling, some bank interest and some rebate checks, and we get another $108.09.  This brought our gain to $1,375.97 for February.

*Hubs did get a Bonus for the year in Feb.  I don't count that because this money is earmarked to go right into the College Account for the kids' educational expenses.  Yes, we could have gone and blown that money on a very nice trip, a new car, a full bathroom and kitchen remodel, or many other ways.

But since we are out of debt, have no mortgage and fund our retirement account, we feel it's better spent on funding the college costs.  We have taken yearly bonuses for many years and tucked them aside for college money for the kids.  With what we have now, we are just about $10K short of having enough to fully pay the last kid to go to college(a state school).  If next year Hubs receive 1 more bonus, even a small one, we will have finished funding college the year BEFORE the last kid here needs to enroll.  I never thought all those years ago we'd be able to have the money ready and waiting BEFORE the last one got to college!  That gives me greater satisfaction than any new car smell ever could. ;-)

Outgo

As for the expenses this February, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was $385 lower.

* The "cash" withdrawals were $100 lower.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill(which includes heating)went up by $99.  Feb. is our most expensive month for electric.

*  The semi-annual car insurance bill was due this month.

*  The dental bills were high due to my tooth problem and a dentist bill I paid for Hubs work in Dec.

The Food Budget costs for FEBRUARY are in another post, which is located HERE

We managed to stay within our $400 food budget in February.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 2 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $4,137.03.

We just missed our $1,666.67 target goal for the month, but not by much.  Considering the high electric bill every Feb. and the car insurance and unexpected dental bills, I'd call Feb. a WIN for us on the money front.

Looking ahead for March......
 

*  We have the Municipal taxes due this month.

*  The electric bill should start going down this month(thankfully!).

*  I'll pay the yearly sewage bill in one lump payment instead of quarterly.  It will save us about $10 a month this way and I have the cash aside for it so why not? ;-)

*  Medical bills will be a little higher since we are working on paying the deductibles to our limit, so the co-pays aren't kicking in yet til we get those paid off.
*  I was looking at the credit card bill to be about half of what it was in February until Hubs tv died last weekend.  There went $400 on the credit card and the bill is hovering at $900 now between that purchase, the $50 I spent on new nightgowns for myself and $100 of spending for #2 Son's birthday last month.

Between all this and cash withdrawals Hubs makes, we'll be lucky to hit $1,666.67 in savings after all is paid in March.

So how was your February financially?

Are you still paying off debt from last Christmas you put on credit?
Did you spend less than the income you made in February?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in February and what did you do with it?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debt or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2013.

I have posted February'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 February.  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.
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OLLIE'S

OOP  $20.57

Value  $42.09

Savings   51.13%

RITE-AID

OOP  $0.00

Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $97.63

Value  $97.63

Savings   100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $138.50

Qs/Ads  $84.61

Value  $223.11

Savings  38%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $204.23

Qs/Ads  $112.20

Value  $316.43

Savings  35.46%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN February.....$16.99

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$15.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$16.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 100%,  Ollie's at 51.13% and Shursave affiliate market at 38%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month. 8-)

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$363.30

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$315.96

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$679.26

TOTAL Savings of...................................46.52%

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into February with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I have $36.70 leftover in my February food envelope. 

I didn't count the number of Qs that were redeemed in Feb. but I do know it was quite low.   The little I bought at Rite-Aid for no money greatly affected my savings rate this month. 

Looking ahead to March---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  It seems to be working for us at this amount. 

 

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

2013 Total Saved $769.55

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $1,423.09

2013 Yearly Total Spent $653.54

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 54.08%

How much did you spend on food in February?
 

Sluggy

February's To-Do List Final Tally

Here is my final report on my February Goals from my To-Do List....

Make new Price Book--DONE!

Clean out InkFrog files & Close Account--Not Done...still re-evaluating whether I want to do this or not.

Scan 1 scrapbook of photos--In Progress and about halway through this scrapbook.  I need to ramp this up or I'll never get all these books of photos digitized.

Read L. Seabrook Book--DONE!  It's a great book for History buffs interested in the Southern view on things.

Read RG Williams Book--In Progress  This book is slow going and a little "dry".

Do Taxes--DONE!  Thank you God!!  Now Hubs has to do the local taxes.

Do FAFSA--DONE!  Only had to do 1 this year.

Declutter and Make 1 Load for SA--DONE and it's been taken to the Salvation Army.  I have begun another load too.

List items on local Tag Sale site--Not Done.  The local site isn't worth even posting things on.  The local economy is so bad nothing put on there is selling unless it's a necessity, like a car or a space heater, etc.  I'll take a FAIL and take this one off my agenda.

Dental Appt.--Done....sort of.  I go back in 1 week and will either get relief or have this tooth pulled.

I had a good month overall, since I got all the paperwork and the Price Book done, did some decluttering and read 1 book.  Other than taxes, my February wasn't very aggressive or chocked full of goals, was it?

I am off to figure out what goals I want to set for March.
How did you do in Feb. on your list of things to do?

Sluggy
 

2 Quickies

I forgot to post a tiny trip to Rite-Aid a week or so ago.....

2 x Dove Men's Body Wash $2.50(Raincheck)=$5.00
I used 2 x $2/1 ManuQs to bring my cost down to $1.00 for both of these bad boys.
I paid with a $1 + Up Rewards.

This Trip......
Value of items bought....$12.58
 +Ups Used.....$0
 +Ups Received....$0

**GRAND TOTALS FOR FEBRUARY**

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$97.63
Savings Rate of  100%
Rebates due......$0.00

+Ups at beginning of month...$20.00+
+Ups used....$28.00+
+Ups received...$17.00+
Gave my Daughter all my +Ups to use....
+Ups currently...$0+   

Just 3 little trips to Rite-Aid this month.
My $9 in +Ups were expiring on Thursday so I gave them to my daughter to use, meaning I have Zero +Ups now.
I'll be taking a break from Rite-Aid for a couple months, unless something incredible pops up that I really really need.


The other thing is that I cobbled together a load of goodies to take to the Salvation Army 2 weekends ago.
Here is the Porn.....

Not a huge load but some choice bits, some of which you can't really see in the photos.  Trust me, I made a written list and they are there.....lol

My tooth hurts worse than BEFORE the dentist worked on it last Wednesday!
I'll be calling them tomorrow morning.  If I can't get some relief I may just have the tooth pulled before the appointment on the 13th.  I have a feeling that's where we are heading anyway, so why spend more cash on a tooth they aren't going to be able to save?
Ugh!

I'll be back when I feel more human.....
Until then I'll be throwing crap into boxes to haul out of here to charity.  That's about all I am good for when I am feeling this way.

Sluggy