Some Good News!

No, not my tooth, but......

#2 Son passed his Driver's road test on Saturday!
And there was much rejoicing through the land.....

Now I get to have my car insurance bill raised a bazillion $s for another under age 25 driver, and a male one at that.
Ugh.
At least #1 Son will be getting kicked off the car insurance in the not too distant future, as soon as he graduates and procures a real job.  Until then, he's still on the plan but paying for his share of it as soon as he graduates.

But it's good to have all of them FINISHED with the trials of learning to drive.  At least Hubs is glad that part of parenting is finished with for him.  Yes, he taught all of them to drive.  I volunteered to do it but after Daughter ran into the front of the CVS that time, for some reason nobody wants me to teach them anymore.  Good thing, because I don't think my nerves could have taken it. lol

More money going out to the big car insurance company.
The trade off is no more having to chauffeur the kids around to lessons, jobs, practices and friends houses.
Yes....yes, I can live with that! ;-)

And we are the evil parents who do NOT buy new cars for the kids when they get their licenses.
From what my kids have always told me, we are the ONLY people on the planet who don't reward their kids thus.  ALL their friends' parents buy them new cars.
Right.
Who would do that?......give an expensive machine to a 16 year old without a fully developed brain?
Please tell me that I am not the only one who thinks that this would be a silly idea.

But then again, I keep thinking back to that first case in the 1980's where a Long Island teen killed his father because he made the son drive one of their old cars to school and not the new car.
We hear about one or two of these situations every year now, along with teens killing their parents over not letting them do other things, like date some one or throw a party, etc.
Obviously these kids haven't been raised right to begin with and in order to keep the peace(such that it is)it's easier to just give in and pray the kid leaves home as soon as they turn 18.

I find it disheartening and sad though, what our culture and peer pressure, if given full reign over the parental authority, can turn our young people into.

At any rate the car deal here is thus......
We, the parents do NOT buy you a car just because you get your license.  We have a 3rd car you can drive but you have to work out scheduling with your sibling, who is also driving that car.   We pay for the insurance and maintenance.  You pay for the gas, unless you are driving to school, then we pay that part of the gas expense.
#2 Son has grumbled a bit but he knows he has it better than some.  One of his friends is not allowed(per his parents)to get his license until he can pay his share of the car insurance.  This is in addition to any gas he uses.
Finding this out gives me a little leverage.....I can always threaten to make him pay for his share of the insurance should his grades take a nosedive due to all the joyriding he'll want to be doing now. ;-)

So tell me, if money were no object, would you give your newly minted teenage driver a new vehicle?
What about the other costs of a car?......would you as the parent pick up the costs of registration, gasoline, insurance and maintenance too?
Would you have any conditions attached to the car and it's use?

Sluggy

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

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