$28K Savings Challenge......April 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 or these other categories.

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, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account. 

For 2015 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $28,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the April report.....

I have posted my April End of Month $28K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

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 $2,333.33.

I have to report that we finished up April with a HUGE amount of leftover cash.
The extra amount we ended the month of April with?.......$6,343.83

Income

We had $6,207.11 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in April totaled $136.72.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $6343.83
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Phone charges, internet and  were approximately the same as last month.
*  Electric bill went down $150.88 from March's bill because of a decrease in heating.
*  Cash withdrawals went down by $230.48
 

HERE are the BAD THINGS
.
*  Water bill was up $12.37 from March's bill.  Don't know why.
*  We had 1 irregular bill from a dental visit.
*  Gas card bill went up $100.12 from March's bill.  2 round trips worth of gasoline to College Boy's school and Hubs putting most of his gas spending on this c/c rather than our other c/c.

*  The credit card bill was up $886.86 from March's statement.  Almost $800 of this increase was for prepaid hotel charges for our May trip.  While I didn't like seeing that big c/c bill it's nice to know that once we get home from our trip a sizeable chunk of vacation charges will already be paid. ;-)
 

The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE.  I actually came in under budget on food/toiletries for April.....well, $1.41 over. ;-)
 

The 2015 TOTAL.....
With 4 months accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2015 is $15,039.21.
That averages $3,759.80+ a month so far and is about $1,426.47 more than we need to put away every month to reach the $28K goal for the year.

THOUGHTS going forward into May----

Irregular bills coming in May......semi-annual car insurance bill comes due for our 2 main cars.  This comes to about $1500 a year now.  The bill for the spare car(for College Boy to use while home)comes due in August so we won't worry about that one now.
I am figuring our "nut" this month will be about $2,500 unless we purchase a freezer in the next week which increases our credit card bill for May.


With 4 months behind us we have $15039.21 down and $12,960.79 left to save in 20015.  That means we are over HALWAY to our yearly goal.  The amount left to save breaks down into $1,620.10 per month for the next 8 months of the year. I think we can easily do this number each month.
 

 

So how was your April financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in April?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on something you wanted?
 

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

Sluggy

Stocking Up for the Home Bound Time & Beyond

 

 

Where I had my cataract surgery.

 

1 Day out and we're doing fine.  Do you think this Ray Charles look will catch on? 

 

**A reminder to go enter Sonya Ann's Giveaway!  Use this link HERE.

She'll be coming back from Vegas next week and as soon as she sobers up unpacks, she'll pick a winner so don't wait to enter!

 

In preparation of my not being able to drive for about a week(due to my cataract surgery)I withdrew my May food budget monies from the bank this past week and spent a good part of my time before Thursday hitting up the various stores for groceries.
I'll add that I was getting antsy to get out of the house anyway, as the impending house-bound period coming up was closing in on me. ;-)

I went to Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)as I had a 10% your shopping trip card sent to me earlier in the year that was expiring soon.......

2 x Wheat Thins crackers $1.68 -50% discount=$1.68
3 x Chicken Stock $1.29-10% discount=$3.48
2 x Olive Oil $1.99-10% discount=$1.79
1 x Dill Pickles $1.49=10% discount=$1.34
3 x Ramen bowls .79¢=10% discount=$2.13
4 x Peach Iced Tea packets .99¢=10% discount=$3.16
1 x Nutmeg $1.49-10% discount=$1.34
1 x Pumpkin Pie Spice mix .99¢=10% discount=.89¢
1 x Chex granola .99¢-10% discount=.89¢
1x Russell Stover Easter Egg .25¢-10% discount=.22¢
Total spent.....$16.92
Reg. retail of items=$35.11

There was a trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets last Saturday too(no picture)to do the PepsiCo Spend $40/Get $10 OYNO Deal....
8 x 8 packs of G2 Gatorade=$40
I also picked up---
1 x J Martin bacon $3.00-$1/1 Weis Q=$2.00
1 x load of Pumpernickel bread $3.39-50% disc.=$1.69
1 x Perdue breaded chicken cutlets 40% disc.=$2.40
1 x Bear Naked granola on sale $2.99-$1.25/1 IPQ=$1.74
Total spent....$50.22(+$2.40tax)
Reg. retail of items=$70.17

A quick run into Sam's Club--again, not picture.
1 case G2 Gatorade=$12.98
1 large pack of Pastrami lunchmeat(for hubs lunches)=$12.88
Total spent.....$26.64
Reg. retail of items=$37.07

A stop at Target--

1 x hummus on sale=$2.50
1 x lime juice on sale=.79¢
Total Spent.....$3.29
Reg. retail=$4.58

And I picked up these, coming to a blog giveaway in the coming months......

3 x Maybelline mascara $4.49 reg.=$13.47
3 x $2/1 Maybelline Qs on coupons dotcom=$6.00
$13.47-$6=$7.47
I used a $5 Target gift card I had making it--
$2.47+.15¢ tax=$2.62
And I earned another $5 Target gift card for buying 3 of these, so $2.62 OOP or .87¢ each.

Then on Wednesday I hit Weis and the local Shursave stores one last time.......

ShurSave--

8 x OEP green chiles on sale 4/$5=$10.00
1 x Chicken thighs on sale=$3.55 *
2 x BYTC(house brand)Bacon on sale w/flyer Q=$3.98
1 x Kingsford Charcoal on sale=$8.99 *not pictured*
2 x Glad plastic wrap=$5.66
2 x Glad trash bags=$11.38
Total Spent......$43.14(w/tax)
Reg. retail=$54.45

*The Old El Paso was on sale plus if you spent $10 you got $3 off a pack of beef or chicken, so the thighs only cost me .55¢ after the discount was applied.
I also had clipped a SavingStar electronic Q for $1/3 OEP items so I'll see another $1 rebate in my SavingStar account soon, meaning 8 cans of chiles and a pack of chicken "cost" me $9.55 in the end.

**The Kingsford and Glad products are part of a Spend $25/Get $10 OYNO Deal.  I spent $26.03 and earned $10 rebate on next purchase.
The Glad items also counted toward my SavingStar Spent $25/Get $5 Rebate Deal and put me over $25 for that, so I'll get another $5 cash in my SavingStar account.

After all savings and rebates I "spent" $37.14 on this order.

Then one last trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets......

They are running an .88¢ when you buy in multiples of 8 Deal on many products.  I got 16 of these products--

5 x 6 packs of Flavored Water .88¢=$4.40 *not pictured*
2 x Weis olives .88¢=$1.76
9 x G2Gatorade quarts .88¢=$7.92 *not pictured*
1 x Weis dill pickles=$1.88 *not pictured*
1 x shredded Carrots reg. price=$2.29
1 x 50% bakery lemon pie=$3.49 I needed some comfort ;-)
2 x Sargento shredded cheese on sale=$5.00
2 x seasoned chicken breasts on sale=$7.68
1.79 lb. gourmet burgers=$8.04
1.14 lb. angus beef steak=$7.40
2 x 2lb. boxed of hamburger patties on sale $6.99ea.=$13.98
Subtotal.....$63.84

Coupons Used
2 x .50¢/1 Sargento IPQ doubled to $1 each(coupons dotcom)=$2.00
1 x $2/wyb $40 Weis Q Code(for doing a feedback survey)=$2.00
3 x $3 instant meat discount=$9.00
2 x $2 instant meat discount=$4.00
1 x $1 instant meat discount=$1.00
Coupon Total....$18.00

$63.84 + .72¢ tax=$64.56-$18=$46.56 OOP

A savings rate of 52%!

I am most proud of snagging these though......

These 2lb. burger packs retail for $12.99 each.
They were on sale this week for $6.99 each.
With $3 off instant stickers made them $3.99 out the door.
That's $2 a lb. for ground beef!

When College Boy is home there are many burgers and tacos consumed so this was a great buy just now as he is coming home next weekend for the Summer.
If you don't want to use them as burgers it's no trouble at all the thaw and chop them up to make taco filling.  A multi-tasking food purchase. lol

I spent a whopping $191.43 on food this week during 6 shopping trips.
Regular retail on what I got was $312.70.

And I earned $21 in cash rebates and/or store credit for later.

Sluggy



 

Just Call Me Cyclops

Well I survived the surgery.

I am getting real tired of walking around and looking at stuff with one eye shut so I can use my glasses.

And I look like someone punched in the eye(all black and blue around my eye).
The woman sitting in the prep area next to me was getting her second eye done and she was 95!
And I was by far the youngest patient in the facility.

It's over so let the healing begin.
And I am so bad at putting eye drops in my own eye.....I may have to refill these bottles of drops! lolz

Sluggy

Lots of Little Things

This week is flying by and here are a bunch of little things I wanted to talk about......

* I have hit 50 miles of cycling for the month as of last night.  My goal for April was 30 miles, as I got in 22 miles in March so I thought that was a modest increase.   I am really going to have to think about what to "up" the target to for May.  Considering we'll be traveling for half the month and I'll be getting other kinds of exercise, plus probably won't have access to an exercise bike I don't know if I should change the goal.  Maybe just play it by ear and get in as much cycling as I can will suffice for a goal next month?

* I went ahead and did some grocery shopping the past couple of days on May's food budget money.
Since I won't be able to drive starting tomorrow for about a week I went ahead and got my food money cash at the bank and picked up some deals.
And speaking of eye surgery......

* I am a tad annoyed at this eye doctor thing.  It's a massive operation that he runs.  When I was giving all the forms and info about this surgery last month they wrote down all my follow up appointments but did NOT give me a time to report for the surgery, just the date.  The form said I would be called "a few days before" that date with what time to arrive for surgery.
Well, I am suppose to go in tomorrow, Thursday but as of yesterday Tuesday I still hadn't been contacted with the information.  Plus I keep getting forms in the mail from them the past month that need signing and returning, with notes attached that this dept. or that forgot to have me sign something.
This gives me NO FAITH that they will call or something else will happen to screw this up.
So I had to end up calling them yesterday asking for my surgery time.
Hey! I am suppose to put expensive drops in my eyes starting on Wed. and if everything wasn't in order yet and they were going to cancel this surgery date I wanted to know BEFORE I started using those drops.  Plus rescheduling this procedure anytime soon would be problematic as we are going away next month and I couldn't fit in follow-up appointments at appropriate intervals, etc.
Ugh.

I ran some errands and while I was gone I got two, COUNT 'EM  TWO phone calls from different people at the doctor's office about my surgery time.  So as of now, we are still on for this cataract surgery.

I must say that I am a bit scared about it all.  Anything involving my eyes freaks me out.  Heck, I have a real hard time putting drops in my eyes, what am I going to do once they come at me with scalpels?! 8-(
I hope they have a real good sedative for me, and maybe a straight jacket.
Don't expect to see me post much if anything in the next couple of days since my eyeball will be out of commission for awhile.

* I got a food bank donation up to the local church.  I put the stuff in my car which made me remember to take it all over while I was out bopping around town.

 That's 10 jugs of laundry detergent....

And 4 jars of peanut butter

Since I no longer extreme coupon my donations are a tad more modest.  But I still pick up extra when I find a really good deal.  I get to give without it costing me lots of ca$h and the food bank gets supplies.

* I got my new Rite-Aid card in the mail last week.....

It came in a big fancy envelope with all kinds of information.
Between the +Ups Reward program going away AND now the Video Values Program has been discontinued(!)I have serious doubts about what kind of savings I can see with this new Plenti deal.
I won't be able to drive mostly next week so I don't know if I'll even go in the first week the new program is in force.  I may just sit back and wait until I hear back from others who it's working for them before I venture out into uncharted waters at Rite-Aid.
Except.....

* There is one deal I want to do at Rite-Aid next week and if you have a Rite-Aid in your area Rivulet, you may want to get there and pick this up since you use Dawn.

Next week Rite-Aid has DAWN dish soap on sale, 3 bottle for $3 and buy 3 and earn 100 Plenti Pts.
There is a .25¢/1 Q on Dawn on Coupons dotcom.  Print 3 Qs(using 2 different computers since you can only print 2 per computer).
$3-.75¢=$2.25 OOP and earn $1 worth of Plenti pts.  So effectively $1.25 for 3 bottles of Dawn.
And remember to get a rain check if they are out!

* I sold another piece of fabric on Etsy this week. rah. 
That makes 7 pieces sold since I relisted a bunch of fabrics earlier this month.  Once August gets here and they all expire I'll see if I want to relist any of the 60 or so fall/winter fabrics I still have.

* I am slowing getting through my daughter's things she left here when she moved to Louisiana.  They are still all strewn about my living room but the piles are getting smaller.  I've bagged up 3 more piles of stuff for Salvation Army and thrown away another bag full of old worn out clothing.  Some of the items I was going to bring to her(clothes and toiletries)I had bought for her, she now can't wear(underwear) or doesn't need(tampons). So I guess I'll be putting that stuff up on eBay once my Summer traveling is done.  Or if I just don't want to bother it can go to Salvation Army(underwear) and the food bank(tampons).  Thankfully I no longer have need for tampons.... ;-)

* I am chomping at the bit to do my Savings Challenge numbers for April and my May 1 net worth.
We had a third paycheck this month and kept our expenses low, so the savings will be MASSIVE!
Can't wait to post that one since it will be a big kick in the pants toward our goal.

* I found my phone charger cord!  It has been missing for ages......I hardly ever use my cell phone.  I just turn it on to make a call or if I am anticipating receiving a call.  Last week I used the phone quite a bit and the battery died, so suddenly, finding the charger was a big deal and on my radar.
I dug through the bookcase by my desk where I shove stuff like that and found it.
I also found the plastic casing piece for one of the end of it that came off in my car last Summer(while traveling)so was able to duct tape that back on as well.  My phone is now fully charged and I know SONYA ANN is ruing the day I found that charger.  Maybe I should prank call her while she's in Vegas.  I should wait until 7am tomorrow when she is hung over and trying to sleep, right? ;-)
And speaking of Sonya Ann.....

* Sonya is having a $25 Amazone gift code Giveaway on her blog while she is partying hardy in Vegas.  So go on over and enter it HERE and tell her I sent ya!
Oh, and you have to split the winnings with me if you win it. 8-)

And speaking of giveaways--don't forget that my Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway is open until May 10th and you can enter every day on that one too!

Sluggy
 

2015 Food & Toiletries Spending......April Update

*I am posting this a few days early since I am done shopping for the month.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2015.

I have posted April's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2015 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.  I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals SumMy spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(2-3 at home this month). No kids under 19.

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

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $9.00
Value $18.50
Savings  51.35%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $112.79
Qs/Ads $80.63
Value $193.42
Savings  41.69%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $27.64
Qs/Ads $20.03
Value $47.67
Savings  42.02%

RITE-AID *(see below)
OOP  $1.55
Qs/Ads/+UPs  $66.13
Value  $67.68
Savings  97.71%

 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $13.23

Qs/Ads  $6.09

Value  $19.32

Savings  31.52%

TARGET
OOP  $33.76
Qs/Ads $33.41
Value $67.17
Savings  49.74%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $103.44

Qs/Ads  $85.65

Value  $189.09

Savings  45.30%
 

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 97.71%, Dollar Tree at 51.35% and Target at 49.74%.  My WORST savings rate was the Shursave store at 31.52%.



I shopped at 7 different stores this past month. 

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $301.41

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$241.44

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$542.85

TOTAL Savings of...................................44.48%
TOTAL Savings WITHOUT Rite-Aid.............36.89%

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into April wanting to do a $300 monthly spending and actually accomplished this....if you don't count the $1.55 I spent at Rite-Aid which put me $1.41 over.  ;-)

The monthly savings percentage went down by 25.28% in April to 44.48% compared to March's 69.76% average.
Didn't I tell y'all when I stopped buying stuff at Rite-Aid my percentages would plummet? 8-(

The savings rate for the year so far now stands at 65%.  That's a 3.70% decrease in savings over March's YTD total.  It's still hanging in well over a 40% savings rate for the year but will be going down further unless I jump back into Rite-Aid shopping at a savings rate comparable to before they ditched the +Ups Rewards Program.

I have spent a total of $1,233.86 on food/toiletries in 2015.  That averages out to $308.46andahalf per month.
I'm pretty happy with that.

LOOKING AHEAD To MAY.........

I want to continue to eat down some of our stockpiles of canned/boxed food and empty out the freezer a bit more. We will be back up to 3 adults for May since College Boy comes home on the 9th for the Summer.

I will mostly probably need to increase my food spending in May to accommodate another mouth to feed and buy items Hubs and I don't eat but that College Boy considers essentials.

I won't set a number yet but will play things by ear.  We'll be traveling for part of May so the eating out/vacation spending will increase and the food budget spending may actually not increase even with another person to feed.

What I am trying to say is that May will be a total crapshoot.  8-)
 

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

 

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in April?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
 

Sluggy