March To-Do List....Update

So how did I do with my March To-Do List?


MARCH

*  Pick up CB from School  DONE
Duly picked up and fed for a week while on Spring Break.

*  Take CB back to School  DONE
Hubs actually took him back.  My contribution was baking CB cookies to take back with him so he doesn't starve between end of break and the end of the semester.

*  Pay Bills  DONE
I done paid them all.  Go. Me.

*  Bike 65 Miles  FAIL

As you can see I only got in 46.18 miles.  I was falling off the mark mid month but still progressing and then I got a stomach flu.  8-(  No more bike at that point......

*  Paint 2 Items  FAIL
Nope.  Didn't do it.  But I did get my paints out.  Baby steps here people, baby steps.....

*  Sew and Complete 1 Item  IN PROGRESS
I decided to make canvas grocery bags.  I have a few rolls of canvas fabric and webbing/strapping I bought on eBay about 10 years ago.  I have cut out 2 bags so far.  I'll cut all of them out before production sewing them all at the same time.  I may not finish this project before the month is out however.

*  Mail CB's Taxes  DONE
CB came home, signed the forms and off they went to the IRS and State Revenue Departments.  He has already gotten his refund as well.
Boy, my kids never appreciate me until they leave home and have to do this shit on their own! lolz

*  Finish Book DONE
Was I ever glad to finish that one....what a snoozefest! lol

*  Nag Hubs about doing Local Taxes  DONE
He was duly nagged and last weekend he got around to doing them. ugh.

*  Buy Stuff for new Bathroom  DONE
We hit Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!) a couple of weeks ago and picked up a new bath rug and a wastebasket that is smaller and fits in the space we have for one in the room now and spent about $12 total on those 2 things.
We also hit K-Mart the week before Ollie's and I got 2 nice white hand towels and a toothbrush holder for FREE, using my Shop Your Way Points.
Nice. 8-)

*  Seal Grout in new Bathroom  FAIL  
Despite my nagging efforts this didn't get done but will happen this coming weekend if I have to get down on the floor myself and do it.

*  Get Construction Binder from Tony  DONE
Finally had the post construction inspection and product/job binder is now in the house.
rah.

*  Plan trip to LA  IN PROGRESS
I've got the route there figured out and hotels booked for the "going" and the stay in LA.  Just have to figure out what route to take home, what to see, and where to sleep.  I hope to get this finished by next week.

Now it's time to work on my April To-Do List.

How did y'all do getting stuff on your list in March knocked off?

Sluggy

April 1st Net Worth Snapshot

We are up $6,800.14 from last month's net worth overall(only liquid cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).
However, in just the non-retirement accounts(savings, cash on hand, bonds, etc.)we are DOWN $3,695.68.  This is due to paying for the renovation project we had done in Feb./March from these monies.
Oh well.....you win some, you lose some, and I am ok with this trade-off....less cash, better and functional surroundings.  '-)

We are up $104,375.25 however from one year ago, the April 1st of 2015 net worth snapshot.  This is due to the retirement account earnings and additions.
So things are still ok with me here as overall we are trending further ahead than we were a year ago.

Once Hubs retires I will miss these little monthly look backs, when we move from acquisition mode with money to spend-down mode. ;-)

Sluggy

2016 $38K Savings Challenge.....March 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 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $38,000 this year, $10K more than my goal for last year.

I have reconsidered and changed my Goal from $40K to $38K for 2016.  With some things coming down the pike this year I thought it prudent to back up my Goal a couple of thousand.  8-)

On to the March report.....

I have posted my March End of Month $38K $AVING$ 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 $3,166.66.

I have to report that we finished up March with a large amount leftover exceeding my target amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of March with?.......$4947.49

Income

We had $2,803.42 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in March totaled $2389.61.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, a tax refund and 2 stock dividends.

This brought us to our gain of $4947.49
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges, water bill, and internet were approximately the same as last month.
*  The March electric bill was actually down $63.66 from February's bill.  With electric heat this is an amazing total for heat and lights, etc. in northern, mountainous PA. February and March are generally our highest electric bill months in the year.  I will be glad to see the electric start to slowing decrease even more for the next 7 months.
*  The credit card bill was down $474.99 from last month.  No travel and little shopping=not much spending on that card, other than gas purchases.
*  The gas card bill was down $46.67 as Hubs put more gas purchases on the Mastercard.
*  We received a tax refund this month.
*  The monthly medical bills were down $1,150.29 from February's total.  Yep, we paid off all those high deductibles now for the year.
rah.
go
me.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Of course we had Real Estate taxes due in March and a sewage bill to offset all that medical bill we didn't have this month.
It's always something, isn't it? 8-(

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

March was a pretty expensive month for us.  The regular bills were very low this month coming in at under $1800, but we had taxes and a yearly sewer bill to offset that.  Still we were able to save quite a bit even with those expenses.

With 3 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $9414.82.

Final thoughts on March---
I am happy with what we socked away in March given the irregular expenses.
And compared to March 2015 we put $1150.37 more into savings this March
.
We have $9K+ saved so far in 2016, and we are only $8.185 behind at this point in the year.
We will be catching up for sure with the financial goals in April when the first 3 paycheck month of the year rolls around.
Yay 3 paycheck months!

THOUGHTS going forward into April----

I happily await April, the first tree paycheck of the year month for us. In addition I should receive a check for blogging in April which is a happy extra.  8-)

We do have a big car insurance bill due in April(under $1K though)but even so we will be able to catch-up(and even get a bit ahead)with where we should be with our savings goal for the year in this month.
May and June we have no irregular large bills so we should gain traction if we can keep the credit card bill under control.  I can do that IF we don't travel and we are suppose to travel in May so the bills will roll in from travel in the May and June c/c statements. sigh.

Again, it's so hard to save when you want to "live" life too because that means spending something.  ;-)

So how was your March financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in March?
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!

As we go forward into 2016 why not make this new year the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you don't already now or increase what you bank now for your future self.
Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "I Got Nothing Here" Edition......
Been sick(not bad sick though)and have accomplished very little this past week beyond eating, sleeping and lazying around.
I don't even have a photo of the snow we got yesterday.
bleh.
Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Baked Ham, Corn Casserole, Monte Carlo Veggie Blend, Deviled Eggs, Dinner Rolls
2. Monday--Subway Sandwiches(Iz tired of cooking!lol)
3. Tuesday--Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
4. Wednesday--Cod, Baked Potatoes, Corn on cob(freezer), Leftover Asparagus
5. Thursday---Chicken Thighs(some way), Veggies-maybe leftover Sunday veggies?
6. Friday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Sugar Snap Peas
7. Saturday--Leftover Chicken Thighs(if we have any) or Fish, Potato Salad, Veggies of some kind

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Baked Ham, Corn Casserole, Monte Carlo Veggie Blend, Deviled Eggs, Dinner Rolls
2. Monday--Subway Sandwiches
3. Tuesday--Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
4. Wednesday--Cod, Corn on cob(freezer), Potato Salad
5. Thursday---Chicken Pot Pie(Hubs had leftover Spaghetti)
6. Friday--Egg Drop Soup(Hubs had Egg Foo Yung)
7. Saturday--Tacos

4 meals cooked at home.
2 new meals, 1 night of leftovers, 1 night of processed food(pot pie), and 2 nights of take-out.  I have not been feeling up to snuff lately so have slacked off on the cooking for awhile.

As for my grocery spending...... Hubs made 3 quickie trips last week and I spent $18.00 total.
I have spent $18 in all for April so far and have $232 left of my food budget with 28 days to go.

Leftovers going into this week......baked ham, potato salad and taco meat.  We have eaten most of the leftovers up(well Hubs did really).  Not many leftovers remain so I've got to jump back into cooking, like it or not. 8-(

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

1. Sunday--Meatloaf, Leftover Easter Veggies, Baked Potato
2. Monday--Leftover Tacos/Taco Salad
3. Tuesday--Hubs Birthday meal Out
4. Wednesday--Tandoori style Chicken Thighs, Rice, Harvard Beets
5. Thursday---Beef Bourguinon, Bread
6. Friday--Leftover Ham on Rolls, ?
7. Saturday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Sugar Snap Peas

This week will see 4 new meals cooked and 2 meals of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not) and 1 meal Out/Take-out.
Friday I am drawing a blank on so you get to see next week what we actually had. lol

I haven't been in the stores since a week or so ago so that will change in the coming days.  We really don't need anything as Hubs mini-trips have kept us in fresh produce and there are still plenty of freezer/pantry stocks.
Depending on how this week goes I may be less ambitious with the cooking and just do simpler meals.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Been Sick & Blah

I've been feeling not so great this week.  Might have had a stomach bug around Friday.  Having vertigo and sinus issues, feeling lethargic....you name it, I've felt it. lolz
But I'm feeling better today but still weak and tired.
I've been working on my end of March posts between running to the bathroom(TMI I know).
Now I am going to sit down and figure out the meal plan for the coming week...which won't be too difficult if I just move all the meals I didn't make last week to this coming week's schedule. lolz

Since I didn't get out to the grocery stores at all last week I don't have much grocery spending so far in April.  Hubs picked up a handful of items for us over the course of the week.

I did send Hubs out on Wednesday night as he wanted to go to the liquor store right next door to Weis(PMITA)Markets.  I sent him into Weis to do a deal I didn't get around to doing last week.
If you bought 2 x "ICBINB" margarine, which was on sale for $2.50 a container, you got $1 off an 18 ct. of large eggs(which are $3.55 reg. retail).  I sent him off to buy these three items along with 2 x .55¢/1 ICBINB Qs(which double up to $1 at Weis).
$9.13 reg. retail-.58¢ on sale items=$8.55-$1 on the eggs=$7.55-$2 in coupons=$5.55.  There was also a $1.50/2 ICBINB Rebate on SavingStar(which I have already gotten credit for in my account)so in the end these 3 items cost me $4.05 OOP.
That's about my only frugal shopping accomplishment for this week. ;-)

It snowed here last night and we awoke to an inch or so on the ground.
Happy April!!! ha
And it's windy as hell and the cold is coming right in through the walls and more of the same is expected tomorrow.  End of the week it should warm up to the 50's-60's(at least during the day).
I hope it's not this dreadful out by Wednesday as I must go out to a consult with a surgeon and the walk from the parking lot will be brutal in these temperatures.

The project manager from Lowe's finally came to the house this past week to check on the bathroom job and put in a work order for the 3 small issues remaining.  We are lucky we got our reno job on the contractor's schedule back in February when we did because project manager nows says that the contractor is backed up into JULY with work!  People poured into the store late Feb. through March signing contracts for work and there is now a 3 month backlog! Geez.

We need work done in the other upstairs bathroom but we can wait and this backlog gives us time to save up the money for that job now instead of yanking funds from the emergency fund for it.  It's looking like we won't get that job done until early next year or December of this year at this point.

Just not much being accomplished around here lately.  No Rite-Aid trips either.
Oh well.
Not much else to report in on so I'll sign off.

What's going on with y'all?

Sluggy