Rebates are Da Bomb!

Last week on my first trip to Rite-Aid when I bought the razor pack, bottled water and 4 Suave 'poos, you remember, right?
Anyway this trip turned out even better than I thought it would......

The deal was this..........
The Suave 'Poo is 2/$6 and you get back $3 in Plenti Pts. when you spend $10 on this item.
So 4 bottles cost me $12(over the $10 threshold), minus 1 x $3/2 Suave ManuQ(from Sunday's inserts) + minus 1 x $3/2 Suave Load2Card Q.
$12-$6=$6 + $3 in Pts. back.
BUT.....there is a SavingStar electronic Q for $3/2 Suave 'Poos so I'll get $3 in a cash back rebate in that account making this deal $12-$6Qs=$6-$3 Pts.=$3-$3 Savingstar rebate=$0.
Free 'Poo!

I got notice of my rebate this morning and not only did I get the $3/2 Suave Q clipped to my SavingStar account but another $2/2 Suave Q clipped to that same account.....so $5 back instead of $3 back in rebates, making my free 'poo now a $2 moneymaker 'poo!
8-)

Yes it's the little things in life that make my heart sing sometimes......

Sluggy
 

September 1 Net Worth Snapshot

We are $8,044.51 up from last month's net worth(only cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values). 
Most of our money is no longer in the market(being so close to having to live off of this money)so the recent roller coaster ride on there hasn't affected our retirement monies much.

We are also $123,222.31 up from one year ago, the September 1st of 2014 net worth.

Imagine what our retirement accounts pile of money could do if interest rates weren't almost nil.
Bring on the Fed raising the interest rates....it's about time!
A nice run up on the rates in the next 3 years would please me immensely.....

Sluggy

A Couple of Genealogy Break Throughs!

Not that my Hubs is even remotely interested in his ancestry but I have been working on and off on his family tree since I signed up for an Ancestry website account.

His paternal side search has been slow going over the years because A-his grandfather was the first one of that line to immigrate to America and it was in the early 20th century and, B-the spelling of the name is always mangled in official documents in this country.

Since I don't have an international Ancestry dotcom account any document in other countries has been off limits to me, except for a few.
Add in that Hubs didn't even know his paternal grandmother's correct name and there wasn't much on this part of the tree, while his mother's side I can go back at least 3 and as many as 5 on some lines of her ancestry.  A truly lopsided, stubby tree. lolz

Then this past Sunday I went back to recheck if there were any new "hints" on the paternal side of that tree.
And someone evidently had either been to Sicily or had someone in Sicily do some document searching for them because they have a tree on Ancestry with Hubs paternal line(s) going back 4-5 generations past Hubs grandfather, complete with photos of the documents proving it all!

Then also on Sunday someone doing genealogical research for a family emailed that she has found a DNA match with a person in that family and College Boy's dna sample which I uploaded to the GEDMatch website.  It's a family with origins in Italy so I know the match is from genes CB inherited from Hubs and not me.

We have been emailing and we think we have isolated the particular line in common.  Hubs 2 x Great Grandmother on his father's, father's, father's line has the same surname as this family working with the genealogist who contacted me.

And had I not found the information on this other tree for Hubs' ancestors on Ancestry on Sunday, I couldn't have helped make this connection at all!

The problem is I have very little on this line's surname, only the father of Hubs 2xGGrandmother and it dead ends there(dates or places either other than Sicily)so I hope this genealogist can make the link from her family to this fragment of a line in Hubs' tree.

This doesn't help me on my ancestral search but I am nonetheless thrilled.  Having more to pass down to my kids and beyond is great!

Sluggy

2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....August Update

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2015.

I have posted August'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 August.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My 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. 
Remember too that youngest son's friend often stays over at our house during the school break and eats here sometimes so I was feeding an additional person sporadically in August.

******************
BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $3.75
Value  $15.36
Savings  75.58%

FOOD LION
OOP  $35.72
Qs/Ads  $17.03
Value  $52.75
Savings  32.28%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $81.09
Value $143.19
Savings  43.37%

PRODUCE STAND
OOP  $26.00
Value  $34.00
Savings  23.52%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card $104.95
Value  $104.95
Savings  100%

 

SAM'S CLUB
OOP  $187.01
Value  $580.33
Savings  67.77%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $136.39

Qs/Ads  $241.70

Value  $378.09

Savings  63.93%
 

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 75.58% and Sam's Club at 67.77%.  My WORST savings rate was the Produce Stand at 23.52%(but what I got was the freshest).

I shopped at 7 different places this past month.   Lots of single transactions at lots of stores, 2 transactions at Maine Source and Sam's Club and 7 transactions at Weis Markets.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $469.96

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$838.72

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1308.68

TOTAL Savings of...................................64.09%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........60.96%

This closes out the August food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into August wanting to do a $350 food budget for the month and I overshot that goal by $119.96.

The monthly savings percentage went up by 16.08% in August to 64.96% compared to July's 48.88% average.

The savings rate for the whole year so far now stands at 59.09%.  That's a .97 increase in savings over July's YTD total(58.12%).  It's still hanging in well over a 40% savings rate for the year so it's all good. 

I have spent a total of $3273.52 on food/toiletries in 2015 so far at this point in the year. That averages out to $409.19 per month so just over $400 average per month.  Not a bad thing but I can do better.

A little overspending on the grocery budget in August meant a slight increase in the monthly averge so far for this year.  Let's see if I can bring it back down under $400 avg. per month for September.

LOOKING AHEAD To SEPTEMBER.........

We'll try for a $350 food budget for SEPTEMBER since it's just Hubs and I at home now.  We have the potential for 2 separate visits from friends/family in September(not sure yet how the month will shape up)so there could be some extra food spending.  I am not going to sweat it however.  If I go over some I'll try to cut back in October.  It's not like I don't have the money for a little extra, right?  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 August?
*  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

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Cleaning Up and Out" Edition--

 

It seems like all I did this week was clean.  But afterwards I looked around and nothing looked any better for my efforts!

 

Here is a success story from this weekend.....Hubs workbench in the garage.  I have been after him to clean/organize this for FIFTEEN YEARS!!!

It finally happened this weekend.

He finally got so fed up with not being able to find anything in/on/near it that he cleaned it out.

Stuff got moved if it shouldn't have been here and stuff got thrown out.

What was left got organized.

And I helped a bit since I was out there organizing/cleaning the stockpile shelves anyway. 

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--BLTs for lunch, Leftovers(I had squash and cornbread)for dinner
2. Monday--We might dine out, otherwise Leftovers
3. Tuesday--Chili, sauted mixed Veggies
4. Wednesday--Barbecue on Rolls, Cole Slaw
5. Thursday--Salmon, Scallops, sauted mixed Veggies
6. Friday--Lobster, boiled Potatoes, Corn on cob
7. Saturday--Hot Dogs, Potato Salad

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--BLTs for lunch, Leftovers(I had squash and cornbread)for dinner
2. Monday--Chinese take-out
3. Tuesday--Barbecue on Rolls, Zuke in tomato sauce
4. Wednesday--Hubs had leftover Chinese, I had a big salad and garlic bread
5. Thursday--Grilled marinated Pork Chops, Leftover Cornbread, Leftover Squash Casserole
6. Friday--Chinese take-out It's our Anniversary!
7. Saturday--leftover take-out

Chili moves to this week, I didn't buy any lobster and even the hot dogs didn't happen.  I thawed pork chops, we had take-out TWICE and then we ate nearly all the leftovers in the fridge.
 

As for my grocery spending last week.....5 trips to Rite-Aid and 4 trips to Weis made $64.92 flow from my pockets.  Not bad considering I bought a TON of foodstuffs last week(mostly pickles, cheese, condiments, sour cream, bbq sauce, salad dressing and Kool-aid plus marked down meats).
August food spending now stands at $469.96 in a month where I set a $350 food budget.
bleh.

Leftovers going into this week--a little barbecue and a little zuke in tomato sauce.  The bbq will get put into the freezer and the zuke will get eaten tonight.
I have a big bag of fresh mixed veggies and 2 bags of collards to use this coming week.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Collards, leftover zuke in sauce, fried Flounder
2. Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Zuke w/Tomato sauce, Garlic Bread
3. Tuesday--Mixed veggie Stir-fry, Garlic Soy chicken(using grilled chicken leftovers), Rice(for Hubs)
4. Wednesday--Chili(Hubs will have rice too)
5. Thursday--?
6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

I have company coming sometime after Wednesday, but I don't know when they are arriving and for how long, so I don't have a plan yet.  Might buy something to cook, might cook what I have, might go out to eat.
Not sure yet.
Read the blog later this week to find out. ;-)

What I need to buy for this menu?......nothing.  After organizing the garage stockpile I find I am out of panko crumbs so I might buy those this week if the price is right.  Otherwise that can wait.
No great deals in the store ads this week so I don't foresee any grocery spending here unless I need to run out for something later in the week.
 

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

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy