Shopping This Week So Far

Last Friday I went to Weis and spent $26.43....well I spent $29.43 but was overcharged $1.03 for some onions so I got the full overcharged amount back on Monday($3) making my OOP $26.43. Everything on sale except as noted, regular retail value of $45.52.

Items bought included.....
2 bags of sugar $1.27 each after coupon
5 cartons of organic chicken broth 50% at $1.19 each.
1 head iceberg lettuce 50% at .99¢
1.19 lb. tomatoes on the vine at $1.48 lb.
1 bag of spinach 50% off
1 clamshell of salad green 50% off
1 bag of sweet onions $1.97(overcharged)
1 bag of red potatoes $1.97
2 containers of sour cream $1.50 each
1 quart Greek yogurt $3.99
1 package onion rolls $3.49 *full price*

I also hit the Bakery/Bread Outlet that day and stocked us up on bread products for most of the month.....2 bags of bagels, 3 bags of assorted rolls/buns and 3 loaves of bread for $9.25 OOP.
Regular retail of $36.81 on all that.

Since I had closed out October's food spending already all this above goes onto November's totals.

This brought my food spending to $35.68.

I went to the town South of us here yesterday to see a movie and picked up these deals while I was there......

3 x dozen Large Eggs on sale 3/$5=$5.00
.86 lb. Catfish Fillets on sale $6.97 lb.=$5.85
1 x bag of dark potato chips on sale=$2.00
Total.....$12.85 OOP

Bonus points as the eggs were from a local poultry farm.

Tomorrow starts the new ads at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  Nothing there excites me this week except maybe the 8 O'clock coffee is BOGO and I think there is a $1/1 Q in the inserts making for some cheap coffee.

At this point I am at $48.53 for groceries in November.
$251.47 left to spend for the month.

My current shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner--
celery
rutabaga
whipped cream

Sluggy

$28K Savings Challenge.....October 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 October report.....

I have posted my October 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 October with a HUGE amount leftover.
The extra amount we ended the month of October with?.......$6422.33

Income

We had $5,548.51 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in October totaled $873.82.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, a bonus Hubs received and a rebate check.

This brought us to our gain of $6,422.33
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.
*  The cash withdrawals were the same amount as in September.
*  The water bill was down .42¢.
*  The electric bill was only up $7.26 from last month and that's even with putting the heat on now and again in Oct. so I call this a win!
*  The gas card bill was down $96.30.(More gas was put on the regular c/c.)

HERE are the BAD THINGS(and the not so bad)
.
*  The credit card bill was up $430.67 from September's bill(but we did go on vacation so not so bad).
*  There was an irregular bill expense--the car insurance paid(6 months worth).
*  Medical bill payments were up $786.10 from September's bills(foot expenses and cataract surgery co-pays.)
*  We spent $320 cash on "fun" at the Church auction.

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located  HERE.  I spend well under my $300 budgeted amount(on this report grocery money comes out of "Cash")on that expense.

October was a fairly expensive month for us, but not the most expensive for 2015.  6 months of car insurance payments, high medical bill co-pays due this month and our annual fundraiser attendance boosted our bills total for October.
Our "regular" bills, outside of these other bills, for October came to $2266.85.

The 2015 TOTAL.....
With 10 months accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2015 is $34,089.76.
That savings amount averages $3,408.97 a month put into savings so far. 
We have surpassed our $28K Savings Goal by $6,089.76 at this point in the year.
And there are two more months left to save some more!
Woohoo!!!


Final thoughts on October---
More monthly bills were down rather than up except for the credit card and we had an extra paycheck this month.
3 irregular bills put a kybosh on socking even more money away this month.
But even so we put a LOT of money away in October!

THOUGHTS going forward into November----
No irregular bills this month, except for if any medical charges come through from either the foot episode or the cataract surgery ongoing saga. 8-(
I have under $200 in store card charges(clothing for College Boy and some Xmas presents)due this month.
No extra paychecks or much "other income" expected in November so it should be a boring, middle to low outgo and income month for us.

With 10 months behind us we have surpassed our savings goal in 2015.
Even so, I am NOT letting up on socking cash away for the last 2 months of the year.  If everything goes as planned and if the bills for these 2 months in 2015 follow along with what we saw in these same months in 2014, I could be looking at putting away another $5K before the year is out.  That would put our total saved in 2015 at just over $39,000, a full $11,000 more than I set out to save.
This would be amazing to me but only time and our spending will tell if we get to this stretch goal or not.

So how was your October financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
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 a want?

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 or commiserate with you!

Sluggy

Random Stuff Lately

Let's see.....

*  The "spare" car(the one CB drives when he is home)konked out before we left on our trip.
The battery died apparently so Hubs recharged it.  It ran fine the day before we left when Hubs took it for a spin.
Then when we got home from IL Hubs tried to take it out to get a Sunday paper and the battery was dead, again!

Then Hubs recharges the battery again and takes the blasted car up to the auto shop and they can't find anything wrong with it.  The battery is now holding a charge and no other electrical system item is draining the battery.
So Hubs says to just replace the battery and do the inspection that is due.
The auto shop checks the paperwork and this battery was 6 days past being in warranty.
Great!
Well we are just good customers for so long here that the auto shop guys replaces the battery for free.
Nice!!!

So far so good it's still running and we are only out the cost of the yearly inspection.
I thought going in this would be an expensive repair but it didn't turn out that way.

*  This is the state of the Candy Supply on the morning after Halloween.  I had two mostly full gigantic bowls and now we are down to 1 bowl plus a little bit.
We had hardly any ghouls at the door wanting candy last night.  It's a good thing I didn't buy tons of candy, huh?
It would be such a shame to have to eat all that stuff myself. lolz
We were the only house on the cul de sac with their porch light on giving out treats.
I guess all the families here are older now with no kids left at home or older teens.
I think this will be our last Trick or Treating Season.


*  We got lots of work done around here this weekend.  Hubs raked leaves, got the garden mostly put to bed, did some housekeeping in the garage, put all the deck furniture away, cleaned out the kitchen junk drawer, my desk drawer and I cleaned the door shelves in the fridge(I spilled an entire bag of walnuts on them so sort of HAD TO clean them then. lolz).

Now it's on to cleaning out a couple of boxes in the living room and getting some things on eBay.

*  There is a woodpecker here that has fallen in love with our vinyl siding.......
I can't get this stupid bird to leave our house alone!   Hopefully he will realize it's vinyl and stick to the trees in the yard.

*  I can't believe that Thanksgiving is less than a month away now and we have to pick up College Boy in 3 WEEKS for the holiday.
Then it's back 2+ weeks later to pick him up for Winter break until late January.
Didn't we just drop him off for this semester?
Where does the time go???

*  The weather here this week is crazy warm for November.  Highs in the 70's the next few days
This is November in Northern PA!?!
I will have the windows open this week for the last gasps of fresh air until Spring 2016.....

Another good thing is that the heat is NOT ON....in November!
Yay!
I'll take the savings where I can get them.

*  I heard from a childhood friend yesterday I haven't been in contact with since 2007.  She had been on my mind strongly when the calendar rolled over into October.  She isn't online at all and the only number I had for her was a 20 year old landline but her daughter I knew was on FB, but I couldn't remember her married surname.  It finally came to me right before we went on vacation and I sent her a friend request.  When we got back from our trip she had "friend-ed" me so I asked her if her mom was still living at the addy I had for her.  She went on to give me her new phone number and let me know that my friend's husband had died the beginning of October.  I never met her husband George. They were married 10 years.  This was my friend's third spouse(divorced x 1, widowed x 2).
No wonder she was on my mind earlier in the month......

So I called her last week but it went to voice mail.  She called me back yesterday and we talked for a long time.  She's doing good despite life events and she's contemplating relocating to a different part of the country.  I invited her to visit here anytime and the next time I am down in VA I'll make a point of getting over to see her.

*  In Rite-Aid news......I'll be returning to Rite-Aid to do some shopping during their Black Friday sales.  I don't have enough Plenti Points to just buy all the freebies they'll be offering in one fell swoop(on either of our Plenti/Wellness cards)so I'll buy half and go back the next day and get the other half of the freebies once the points kick in.
Speaking of freebies everything offered is really low cost items this year there for BF.  It's disappointing.  I'd like it better if they offered less freebies but of higher cost/value and more the things I need.
And again this year those Philips ear buds offered as a freebie......really?  These have been a BF Deal freebie for something like 6 years now!  How about some different items howaboutit?

The only coupons(which after points would turn these freebies into moneymakers)so far I can find for any Freebie Deals are for Clean & Clear shampoo.  If you go HERE and sign up for email offers you'll get to print 2 copies of a $1/1 shampoo coupon.

The other Rite-Aid new is that they are being bought up by Walgreen's.  Of course this is a big merging(making them the biggest combined drugstore chain in the US)so it will take eons to do this deal, thus stores won't be consolidated and/or closed for a long time yet so no immediate worries on your drugstore shopping plans.
But they will be forced by industry regulations to close or sell-off between 500 and 1000 stores.

There is no doubt that Rite-Aid stores will close around here.  R-A is Harrisburg, PA based so there are many many stores in this region.
Just in my area there are 3 Wags and 10 R-A stores which when combined as Wags stores would over-saturate this area.
If they rebrand the R-A stores then mine will become a Wags but it is in no danger of closing as there is no nearby Wags to compete.

Will be interesting to see how this all shakes out but I am NOT looking forward to dealing with the Walgreens system of offers/deals/rewards.  I may have to go back to CVS hounding again.  bleh.
Plus all those Rite-Aid employees will have to learn the new Wags Points and Rewards systems and there will undoubtedly be problems and issues for customers.
double bleh.

*  My laptop is having issues.  It may be time to "put er down".
Being able to get online comes and goes these days and accessing my email program is spotty at best. I am trying to get it running better but if I throw it through the window in frustration give up I might be looking at purchasing a new machine soon.
As of November my laptop is closing in on 3 years old.  I got it right after my dr. tried to kill me back in Feb. 2013.

So if I don't update in a timely manner(for me)that's probably why I am not around.  I can jump on Hubs laptop to check my web based email so if someone needs to contact me try my "slugmama atyahoo dotcom" email instead of the email linked to my blogger account until my world is back in balance.

*  As for the money here--things are going swimmingly(except for maybe having to buy a new computer).  3 paychecks in October did good things for our bottom line.  Just trying to keep as much of the money that comes in from going back out again. ;-)  Eating from the freezer this month, keeping the heat off while it's unseasonably warm, staying out of the stores(or online)to shop for entertainment and jumping back on eBay at the Holidays to make a little extra change all help in that regard.

What's up in your world?

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Back from Vacation and I Don't Want to Do Anything" Edition--

Back home and I just have no "umph".  Not many photos taken this week nor did I go anywhere except 2 stores for groceries so the photo is of a beer I had Saturday night.  A coconut porter from Maui Brewing I bought while in Fredericksburg, VA.  I must say I was not impressed and there was no coconut evident in this brew.

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce, steamed Mixed Veggie
2. Monday--Fish or Shrimp, Butternut Squash, Cole Slaw
3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Harvard Beets, Garlic mashed Potatoes
4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(Hubs request), Collards
5. Thursday--Chicken something, Roasted Veggies
6. Friday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Leftover Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftover Pork Chops, Corn Casserole, ?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce, steamed Mixed Veggie
2. Monday--Potato crusted Cod, Butternut Squash, Cole Slaw
3. Tuesday--Dinner out at TGIFriday's(I had a big salad)
4. Wednesday--Pork Chops, Harvard Beets, leftover Cole Slaw
5. Thursday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(Hubs request), Caesar Salad
6. Friday--Chicken Parm, Stir-fry Veggies
7. Saturday--Broiled Salmon, Corn Casserole, leftover Butternut Squash

First week back from vacation so there were no leftovers starting out.
I'm on a mission to make room in the freezer presently so I wanted to pull meals from frozen stuff last week.
I only made 2 pork chops so didn't have chop leftovers for later in the week.  The Tuna Noodle Casserole also didn't happen but I broiled some Salmon instead.

As for my grocery spending last week......Maine Source and a small(free)trip to Walmart saw my food spending last week come to $45.30.  This brought the October grocery spending to a total of $237.64.  Quite low for a whole month and I'll gladly take it! 8-)

Leftovers going into this week....cheese ravioli w/meat sauce, harvard beets(I made double for planned-overs), spaghetti and meatballs and corn casserole.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Leftover Ravioli w/Meat Sauce, sauted Cabbage(leftover from the Cole Slaw head)
2. Monday--Pan Grilled Chicken w/sauce, Spinach Salad, leftover Corn Casserole
3. Tuesday--Leftover Spaghetti w/meatballs, Caesar Salad
4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, leftover Beets
5. Thursday--Tacos or Taco Salad
6. Friday--Tuna Noodle Casserole or Broiled Rock Fish(depending on my mood), Tossed Salad, ?
7. Saturday--Leftovers of some kind

What I need to buy for this menu?.........nothing.  I have or bought everything needed for this menu last week at the store.
Not much so far I want in Loss Leaders at the stores except some eggs on sale for $1.67 dozen.  Don't know yet what the Weis ads will have starting Thursday.

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

November 1 Net Worth Snapshot

We are $13,411.70 up from last month's net worth(only liquid cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).  Over $6K of that if due to savings put away in November from our household accounts.  The other half of the uptick is from our retirement/investment accounts.

We are also $136,670.49 up from one year ago, the November 1st of 2014 net worth.


Sluggy