There's a New "Boy" in the House!

Before y'all get all excited, no we didn't get a new dog(Bite. Your. Tongue.)nor did we go adopt a child.

But there IS a new boy in the house.........

A Carboy to be exact!

This glass container, known as a carboy and used to brew spirits, has been sitting in my powder room under the sink for about 5 weeks now.
It is filled with fermenting Scottish Ale.
This means that my powder room smells like a brewery.

Hubs got an itch around Christmas time to try brewing his own hooch.  He asked for books on the subject and then, when he got an unexpected bonus at work, he decided to splurge a little and go out and buy a complete brewing set-up and a kit for making a batch of ale.  $300 and many hours in the kitchen turning it into a dirty dishes disaster zone, the picture above is what resulted.

Last weekend, the carboy got emptied, as the beer was ready for bottling.....

 

Just emptying the beer from the carboy into the pale with the spigot took quite awhile.....

The bottles were sterilized and awaited filling......

The bucket is all filled and just waiting on the attachment of the hose and the filling wand.....

Hubs decided to fill on the door to the dishwasher, as this can be a messy procedure.  That way, any overflows can be dumped into the dishwasher for easy clean up.......oh goody!, a dishwasher that smells like beer too!......

After the filling was done the capping process commenced.  Here are the bottle caps awaiting use, soaking in vodka.  And no, I didn't drink that leftover vodka after we were finished with it........vodka and I don't get along as my milkshake in Pittsburgh showed me......

Here is the beer all bottled and capped......

Hubs got 43 bottles out of that batch of ale.  He made 5 gallons but you do lose some along the way, due to not wanting to suck up the dead yeast in the bottom of your fermenting container, checking the specific gravity during fermentation, sampling, etc.

Now it is sequestered back in the powder room, wrapped in black trash bags, inside boxes(to keep the light out) until the final fermenting finishes.  The unveiling of Hub's first batch of home brew should be ready to imbibe in about 2 weeks.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "I'm 2 Days late & For Pete's Sake, Enough Already with the Winter Weather!" Edition

 

 

Here is what was planned last week---

 

Sunday--Breaded fish fillets(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have), Coleslaw(have)
Monday--Free Birthday Burger at Red Robin, #2 Son's burger out of Entertaining Budget, Hubs has leftovers
Tuesday--Chicken and Mushroom Parm(have), Pasta, Green Salad(have) with Feta Cheese(have)
Wednesday--Roasted Chicken(have), Assorted leftover side dishes(have)
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus(have)
Saturday--Leftovers

 

And here is what actually happened---

 

Sunday--Breaded fish fillets(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have), Coleslaw(have)
Monday--Free Birthday Burger at Red Robin, #2 Son's burger out of Entertaining Budget, Hubs had leftovers or burritos at home
Tuesday--Take-out Burgers & homemade Salad....you would think that I was full on burgers after the night before!
Wednesday--Pizza, Sugar Snap Peas w/Red Peppers
Thursday--Chicken Parm, "Sketti" for Hubs, Green Salad w/Tomatoes
Friday--Leftovers(Cauliflower, Coleslaw, Fish, Pizza, Sugar Snaps, Sketti)
Saturday--Leftovers-only 1 home to eat, Hubs/#2 ate on the road
 

The Mushroom Parm, Roast Chicken, Quiche didn't get served last week.

We had decidedly too much "convenience type food" last week.  The Parm & fish was pre-breaded, the pizza was frozen from a box, and burgers were out of a sack from BK. bleh.  I feel so bloated and this week it's back to more home cooking, but from scratch!

 

I spent a total of $103.87 on all food/toiletries spending last week, only since Feb. 1st and those trips to Rite-Aid the last few days of January where I used $ from February's budget.  The value of said goods was $336.32 regular retail, so I realized a 69% savings rate!

Go.

Me.

8-)))

 

Going into the new week here are the leftovers we had.......cauliflower(Hubs ate today for lunch), sketti(ditto), pizza.  Fresh produce to use....asparagus, rutabaga, sweet potato, collard greens.

 

Here is this week's meal plan---have of it's already been served---

Sunday--Leftovers or FFY(I was the only one home)
Monday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Grilled Asparagus
Tuesday--Kielbasa and Onions on Rolls, Brussell Sprouts
Wednesday--Roast Chicken, Collards, Smashed Rutabaga
Thursday--Eating Out, #2 away at District Band
Friday--Chicken Fajitas(using leftover chicken from Wed.)
Saturday--Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)

That makes 4 new meals, 2 leftover or planned over meals and 1 meal out.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......nothing since I went to the  $ store, the Bakery Outlet & Walmart (again!) on Sunday and am OOP $51+.

I need to look at the sales ads a bit closer to see if I want to pick up anything else this week, you know loss leaders....if the weather clears up long enough to shovel out and go somewhere before the next storm is due to hit.

Otherwise, I won't be shopping again this week and we'll make do with what is here, as ther eis plenty.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

 

Excuse me while I go try to finish thawing out my chicken.  I removed it from the freezer on Saturday and it's still hard enough to do damage if you hit someone in the head with it. lolz

Sluggy

He Has Already Checked Out of High School

It's been a good few days here at Chez Sluggy.
No, I am not talking about the snowy weather....Lord knows that is pretty but a bear if you have to go out in it....plus it's too danged cold for me this year.

I am talking about #2 Son here......he's had a good few days.
And you know what they say--If your teenager is happy, YOU are happy.
Or rather, YOU are relieved that you don't have to deal with as much drama, eye rolling, 'tudes, obstinance, defiance, and the like.

#2 Son had 2 college auditions this past weekend.

While many college-bound kids this time of year have already completed their applications and some even HAVE heard back on whether they are accepted or not, if you have an artistic type kid, they are still in the throes of the process.
Among the many hoops the college "dog and pony shows" make teens jump through, the art(fine, music, theatre, dance)student has an additional hoop to tackle--the Audition or Portfolio Submission.

#2 Son got 1 acceptance letter weeks ago(about 3 weeks?)from one of the four schools he has applied to.
One of our fine state schools, Mansfield, welcomed him into their fold, even before he had an audition.
Of course, this was just a general admission to the University, NOT an offer of a seat into their Music program, which is why he has to audition.
So even if he isn't accepted as a Music major, he can still go here as some other kind of major other than a Music one.  This was NOT welcomed news to #2 Son at the time.  He's an "all or nothing" type of fellow. 8-)

But I digress.....

This weekend began the month long audition process for #2 Son.  He has 4 auditions at 4 schools spread out over the first 3 weeks in February.

Saturday was the first, at Temple in Philly.
I was so anxious that it go well, being the 1st one AND the fact that Temple is his #1 choice at the moment.  It is also the school with stiff competition and not exactly a sure thing for him to get in.  He has the grades but his SAT's aren't the best and the music program is tough to get into.

His dad took him on Saturday and #2 Son thinks he did well and he came home with his spirits high.
Nothing more to say here as nobody gave him any indication on whether he gets the "thumb up or thumb down" on admission here.  We just have to watch and see what arrives in the mail.

Then on Sunday, they left for an overnight to that state school I talked about earlier, Mansfield University, so they would be there Monday morning for his scheduled audition for that school's music program.

While it's a state school with rolling admissions(not exactly tough to get into academically), reading about this school's music department online got me nervous about his odds of making it.

From the college's music program website.....
"We target enrollment for every studio, with an average of four or five seats opening up in each studio annually. Our average freshmen class is approximately 70 students."

That means each year they take 4 or 5 freshman per instrument and the music department's freshman class is about 70 in total, from a pool of about 300 applications.  So #2 Son had a 30% shot at getting in but that could be made better or worse depending on how many of those 300 others prospective students want to study flute.
And flute tends to be a very popular instrument for study. 8-(

So I crossed my fingers for him and waited until Hubs called me when it was over and they were on the way home.

#2 Son feels very positive about how he performed at this audition as well.
It didn't hurt that I let him attend the Summer Music Performance Camp they held last year and he worked with the Chair of the flute program then.  Plus she remembered him from that.

#2 says that they had a conversation and things were said to lead him to believe that he should be expecting a FAT envelope about their decision by the end of March. ;-)
I so hope that's true for his sake.

Which now means, going into the last 2 auditions #2 Son possibly has one in the proverbial bag already.
Though it's not his first choice if he gets into all 4 schools.
That would be Temple....at least it is, this week.
Next week?....who knows?! 8-)

So in 2 weeks Hubs takes him down to Richmond to his audition at VCU.
Virginia Commonwealth U. has what is considered one of the finest arts programs in the country at the moment.
It is his stretch school so we are just hoping for the best there and I'm hoping no matter the outcome, he has a positive experience.

Then a few days later it's time for #4 on the Audition Hit List at a local private school, Marywood University up in Scranton PA.

That's his "safety school".....sort of.  But we have hit a complication snag of sorts there because #2 Son doesn't "test well" and they are quite arbitrary about their statistical "requirements".  He wants to be a music education major at that place, however the education department has decided that he is 20 points from an arbitrary SAT score and will not admit him as a freshman education major...even though he has a 3.75 in his high school academic work.  He would have to go in as a music performance major and after successfully completing his 1st semester with a 3.0(B) average, he could transfer into that program and change his major.  So basically he has to prove himself because he doesn't test well on standardized exams.

#2 is NOT thrilled by this and I just rolled my eyes.

Between this "wrinkle" and the fact that he would have to live at home(what 18 year old wants to hear that?!LOL)to be able to swing this college financially, Marywood is on the bottom of his Favorite's List.
Can you blame him? ;-)

At any rate that is were we are with the Audition process at the moment.

#2 Son is having a hard time staying focused on high school at this point.  He has already checked out of high school emotionally.  He's spent a lot of time dealing with working on his pieces for these auditions, in addition to 2 school bands(concert and jazz)rehearsals, his garage band in his free time, plus keeping up with private flute lesson work.  Plus he had District Band auditions and practicing for that thrown into the fray!

He's having a hard time concentrating on his academic high school work now too.  He just wants that be done already, even though we keep telling him he has to "run through the tape" and not just meander up to the finish line to his high school diploma.

He is SO ready to just get on with the rest of his life, no matter where he ends up going and what he ends up doing.

I am ready too for him to be in college I think(living AWAY from home), if I don't think too hard about all that money we'll have to pony up when he goes.
Yes, we will get to spend a lot of money so he gets a degree that guarantees that he will be unemployable.  ;-)

Now it's time for me to get that FAFSA done, though in our case, it IS rather pointless......lolz

Sluggy



 

$24K Savings Challenge.....January Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.
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, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums 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 2014 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $24,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the January report.....

I have posted my January End of Month $24K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog 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 $2,000.

I have to report that we finished up January with very little spare money to put aside.
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$205.32.

Income
We had $142.78 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in January totaled $62.54.  This brought us to our gain of $205.32 for January.
Since we have no debt anymore, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Water and Phone were the same as December's totals.

*  I spent under $300 for food/toiletries in January.
*  The credit card bill was $300 less than December's bill.
*  The Cash withdrawals were $531.50 less than December.

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The cable bill went up $5 per mo. after having been reduced by $5 for the last 6 months of 2013.
I believe they need to be called up and talked to.

*  The electric bill was $67 MORE than December's bill.  Ok, it's a Polar Vortex thing.

*  The garbage bill(which I pay quarterly)was paid.
*  An unexpected car repair bill of $982.59 paid in January.
*  Some extra credit card charges(store card & Hub's Discover) of approx. $94.

 

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

The 2014 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 1 month accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2014 is $205.32. 
Not a very auspicious start to the new year and nowhere near the $2,000 I need to put back each month.
Usually we do better in January and have at least $1,000 extra income after the bills are all paid.

In other financial news--
I figured out how much of my Savings Challenge from 2012 is left now(since in 2014 it is no longer being used as an emergency fund, like it was in 2013)and can be put into "permanent savings" mode.
Of the $28,907.08 we saved in 2012, $23,611.66 was spent in 2013, leaving us $5,295.42 to throw into our permanent savings.  Not very much savings realized at the end of it all.

Our new emergency fund is the amount we saved in 2013, which totaled $24,033.60.
So we are off to 2014 with a nice sized fund for all those nasty surprises that might happen during this year.
 

 

Looking ahead for February......

*  I will continue to do this Savings Challenge and report in each month on how it is going.
 

*  Hubs and I still need to sit down and go over how we did with the bills/savings in 2013 and see if there are any areas we need to cut back.

*  The car insurance is due in February and the bill is here already.  It's over $1600 for 6 months.
bleh.  We have been paying our oldest son's car insurance bill for the last 6 months(as he transitioned into the workforce full time and being on his own).  He was suppose to start picking up the tab on his share in February.  This might not be happening as he is looking for a new job and he may be unemployed very soon or even more underemployed than he is now.
If anyone wants to tell me that the economy is improving, just go tell someone else because I don't want to hear it! 8-(

*  February, historically, has been a higher expense month for us.  Besides 6 month's of car insurance being due, we usually have a fairly large credit card bill(that gets paid off) and of course, paying out of pocket for all medical bills still, since the deductible hasn't been met for the year.  And our deductible went up $1K this year so I am not very hopeful that February will end with us still holding much cash.  But there is always March and a new month to do better if February bombs out.

 

So how was your January financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in January?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts 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

Food & Toiletries Spending.......January Totals

Onward to January's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2014.

I have posted January's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
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 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 17.
******************

RITE-AID
OOP  $1.71
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $75.37
Value  $77.08
Savings  97.78%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $106.10

Qs/Ads  $68.24

Value  $174.34

Savings  39.14%

WALMART
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/Gift Card  $86.90
Value  $86.90
Savings  100%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $189.56

Qs/Ads  $147.66

Value  $337.22

Savings  43.78%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Walmart at 100%, Rite-Aid at 97.78%, and Weis at 43.78%.  My WORST savings rate was 39.14% so I think I did exceptionally well in January on the value of what I got!
I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$297.37

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$298.17

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$595.54

TOTAL Savings of...................................50%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January wanting to cut my food/toiletries budget by $100, to $300 budgeted for ALL purchases.  I accomplished that feat in December so I wanted to try again this month.
I met that challenge.
Go me! 8-))

That $100 on a long ago paid for gift card I spent at Walmart went a good ways toward achieving a 50% savings rate in January.  Don't be expecting me to have more months as good as this one! lol

(Of course I DID withdraw some Feb. food spending funds the last few days and used it to get some deals on the February tab that weren't going to be around to get in Feb.  But that spending will be accounted for in the February Spending post.)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY......

Of course, I doubt I can sustain a $300 monthly food budget long term. 
I am going to try to come in under $300 on food for February but if I go over into the $400 range I won't be too upset, since $400 is my normal spending set point.

I will say that I found eating relatively healthy AND still keeping your food spending under $300 is HARD WORK!
It takes more planning, comparing and getting to certain stores, it takes changing your eating habits at times(having the same thing over and over or something you didn't really want to eat).  If I had to keep on a strict regiment of $300 a month due to income restraints it would wear on me.
To have to do it in the short term is interesting and a challenge and something I can get "into".

I don't know......am I just plain crazy to want to try to reduce our food spending by 25% of our usual budgeted amount....and amount which seems fairly LOW to begin with?
I have always been up for a money challenge I guess.

I figured with spending under $300 on food/toiletries this month, my Entertainment/Eating out spending would have been proportionately higher, right?

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for January and it came in at $96.86.
We ate out 3 times this month and had take-out twice, plus there was $ I gave to #2 Son for a run to McDonalds accounted for in that total.

Much of our meals out was paid for with free birthday certificates and one whole meal for 2 was comped at Lone Star.  Even with me eating for free at 3 restaurants plus a free pizza at one of those 3 restaurants, we still spent $55.93 at those 3 places.  That amount was for tip & drinks at one, just the tip where the meals were comped, and tip, salads and drinks at the third location.  Then $7.93 for #2 Son at Mickey D's.
$96.86 is not a lot to spend for 11 individual adult sized meals out + tips, but if it hadn't been for birthday meals we probably wouldn't have gone out/ordered in 6 times.

We have substantially cut down on our eating out spending for January.  That is a good thing..... 8-)

Without the Rite-Aid totals added in, my January Savings Rate is 43%.  Achieving a savings rate in the 40's is what I shoot for, with or without shopping at Rite-Aid.
 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

 

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $297.37.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in January?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy