Not Everybody "Hearts" Rite-Aid

I found this video by comedian Henry Rollins and just had to share it.

Yep, just call me Mutant Sluggy....lolz

Enjoy.
*Content warning-bad words.


Sluggy

2016 $38K 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 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $40,000 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 April report.....

I have posted my April 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 April with a large amount leftover exceeding my target amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of April with?.......$6,190.53

Income

We had $5787.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in April totaled $403.06.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, blogging revenue and items sold.

This brought us to our gain of $6190.53
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

*  First off, April is a 3 paycheck month so the entire bonus paycheck goes into savings. 8-)))

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.
*  The April electric bill was actually down $68.78 from March's bill.  Less heat means less electricity used.
*  The cash withdrawals/spending was down $330 from last month.
*  I received a check for blogging.  Not much but it was something.
*  I sold a book on Amazon.  This was a surprise because I had forgotten I still had a few listed on there. lol
*  I also sold some toiletries from the stockpile.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Water bill was up $12.95 from March as Hubs attempted to deal with a water heater issue.
*  The gas card bill was up $58.98 as Hubs put more gas purchases on this card.
*  The credit card bill was up $63.19 from last month.  I bought some clothes in April(undies and a swimsuit)so we spent a bit more than in March on the c/c.
*  The direct medical spending was up $30.92.  This was co-pays for Hubs eye issue.
*  Semi-annual car insurance premium was due for 2 of the cars.
*  I bought quite a few Summer weather clothing items as many of mine needed replacing.  I did however wait until there was a 50% off sale and I got good bargains on 8 articles of clothing including 3 dresses, another swimsuit and 4 shirts.
*  I prepaid on 6 of our hotel nights for our trip in May.  While not a "bad" thing per se, I'd rather put these charges on April's tally than on May's tally.  It helps to spread out the spending between the 2 months rather than have them all piled up on May's income, especially since April is a 3 paycheck month.

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

April was a pretty expensive month for us.  The regular bills were very low this month coming in at under $1800, but we had car insurance, clothing purchases and hotel charges prepaid to offset that. Still, we were able to save quite a bit even with those expenses.

With 4 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $15,605.35.

Final thoughts on April---
I am very happy with what we socked away in April given the irregular expenses this month.
But compared to April 2015 we put $153.30 less into savings this April.
.
We have $15,605.35 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $22,394.65 left to save at this point in the year to reach our goal of $38K.

THOUGHTS going forward into May----

We have no big irregular yearly bills due in May.  We will have a bit larger credit card bill however but nothing really huge.
Bills will go up in May with College Boy home for the Summer.  I am not worried about the bills for May, it's the June bills I am NOT looking forward to as 2 kids will be home full time that month plus most of the vacation charges will be on that month's c/c statement(which we pay in full each month).
bleck.

Darn you "life" for making me spend so much money and not save it all! lolz

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 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

May 1 Net Worth Snapshot

We are up $10,021.73 from last month's net worth overall(only liquid cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).
Two thirds of that gain was from the retirement account funds.  One third from the monies I save and control.

We are up $126,899.31 from one year ago, the May 1st of 2015 net worth snapshot.  Large sums of money generate goodly amounts even with a stagnant interest rate.
Curses on the FED though as we could really be earning much more if  it didn't artificially keep the rates in the basement. sigh.

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

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Got Another Giveaway Going On Now!" Edition......

There's another Giveaway going so be sure and enter.   I'll also throw some more chocolate into the box so don't miss out! ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Smoked BBQ Ribs, Cole Slaw, leftover COC
2. Monday--French Onion Soup
3. Tuesday--Something Leftover and Easy.....Tacos?
4. Wednesday--Leftover Ribs, etc.
5. Thursday--BBQ Baked Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes
6. Friday--Salmon, Noodles for Hubs, Veggie pulled from the freezer
7. Saturday--No clue yet

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Smoked BBQ Ribs, Cole Slaw, leftover COC
2. Monday--Chinese Take-out(I had a rough day.)
3. Tuesday--Leftover Take-out
4. Wednesday--Hubs had Leftover Rigatoni and Sauce, I had some Roasted Potatoes
5. Thursday--Leftover Ribs, Cole Slaw, Deviled Stuffed Clams
6. Friday--Meatball Subs, Tomato and Cuke Salad
7. Saturday--Hamburgers w/Lettuce and Tomato, Fries

4 meals cooked at home.
2 new meals, 2 nights of leftovers, and 3 nights of Take-Out(or their leftovers).
Mostly kept to the plan but no bbq chicken and French Onion Soup.  This all moves to this week.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $39.05 on Sunday.
I have spent $39.05 in all for May so far and have $260.95 left of my food budget with 29 days to go.

Leftovers going into this week.......a chunk of bbq ribs.  That's it.  I didn't finish my portion of the ribs as the rub I made up was too spicy for me.  Hubs will finish them this week, no doubt about that! lolz

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

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Cuke & Tomato Salad
2. Monday--BBQ Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes
3. Tuesday--French Onion Soup
4. Wednesday--FFY aka Fend for Yourself
5. Thursday--FFY
6. Friday--FFY
7. Saturday--Probably pizza and salad

This week will see 3 new meals cooked and 3 meals of leftovers or "Whatever You Can Find" and 1 meal of Take-Out on Saturday as that is when College Boy comes home.

What I need to buy for this menu.....nothing needed except maybe milk?
I'll also hit the bread outlet at some point.
Weis has Eight O'Clock Coffee BOGO until Wednesday so I'll use a Q and go get some really inexpensive coffee this week too.

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

Happenings Lately at Chez Sluggy

Here's what's been going on here at Chez Sluggy lately........

*  Well the cardiologist has cleared me for surgery in June.   My heart is a rock star....no sign of heart disease at all.  But I will always have that right-sided heart failure thing on my medical record now....stupid family doctor who tried to kill me!
(I see that the state finally suspended his medical license indefinitely in 2014.  About time!)

Anyway, if I decide to go through with this surgery for my HS condition I have been given the green light.  Now I just have to make 500 phone calls between the hospital business office and my insurance provider to see what this surgery will cost us out of pocket.  Then I'll weigh that factor along with the whether this surgery will actually give me any long term relief and see if I want to go through with the operation. I currently have a place on my right armpit that is paining me and the spot they were going to operate on is not flaring so WTF?!?
I don't know.  I am thinking more and more this is just not the right time to do this with all the other stuff going on here.


*  The cardiologist made a small change to my BP meds at this visit so I had to go to Rite-Aid to pick-up a new rx.
While I was there I bought this.......

Centrum vitamins(mints variety)were on sale last week at Rite-Aid for $6.99.  I had a $4/1 Vitamints IPQ so they were $2.99 using my Plenti Points.
No new PPs were generated but I had activated an offer in my Saving Star account for $4 cash back when I bought 1 Vitamints and the rebate has already hit my acount.
$2.99-$4=$1.03 moneymaker!

We needed this box of vitamins but seeing as I have to move all my stockpile of toiletries before my daughter returns home(it's looking like the end of May now is when she will come home)I have put myself on a Rite-Aid moratorium.  Unless it's something we are out of I am NOT buying anything at Rite-Aid for the foreseeable future!
Sorry if some of you will miss my Rite-Aid pillaging trips but this gal has got to do what this gal needs to! 8-)

*  And with that said this weekend Hubs and I have been moving crap around the house.  Fabric and toiletries have been put into tubs or shelves and relocated to other places in the house.  I am feeling my age about now and Mr. Tylenol is my special friend today.  It sucks to get old and have to do physically taxing work for pay OR no pay. 8-(

*  I went to a different Dollar Tree last week and bought this to finish off my bathroom redo....

3 rolls of vinyl liner to put under the new vanity/sink unit before I pile things under there.

All finished with 1 roll leftover.  This is the cheapest purchase in that whole renovating project. lolz

Then I finished putting all the bathroom stuff away and I am calling it done(except for hanging a painting back up in there and buying/hanging new blinds for the window.

Perhaps I'll buy another roll of vinyl in a matching pattern and put it down in the hall bathroom's cabinet too.

*  In the realm of "repurposing", I emptied an under bed storage container that use to hold gift wrap and gift bags.

I really never have occasion to use any of this stuff anymore, so it's all waiting on the sofa now to be taken to Sallie's Army.

And now that container is filled with "my" toiletries.....things I will use......

I also sold another $24 worth of toiletries on my town's FB selling page.
Go me! ;-)

*  I got this sample of Dove Body Wash in the mail from Rite-Aid last week along with a $3 off 1 Bottle coupon.
Curse you Rite-Aid!  Tempting me when I have no room to bring anymore free stuff home.

The Coupon is good until the end of July though so maybe by them I can lift my moratorium on R-A shopping.

*  Other than cooking, shlepping crap around and making piles of stuff to send to Sallie's, and figuring out how much $ we have left over from April's income, this is all that's been going on here.

*  This coming week I need to take my car in for it's last free service appointment(had it been 2 years since I bought that car already!?), take a load to Sallie's, buy some more storage tubs(maybe 3 will finish it off)and figure out where to put those three tubs, and finish relocating my fabric stash to the shelving we put up in the bedroom.
And then I get to go through all my clothes and pack for our trip to Louisiana.
Fun times, fun times.......
Add in a trip to the grocery store as I didn't go last week at all.
And then renting a cargo van to haul College Boy and all his crap home on Saturday.
This week is going to be just a load of laughs, ain't it? ;-)

By the time we climb into the car to go on our "vacation"(which had morphed into an anxiety ridden trip to take care of business rather than to have fun and relax)I will be spent already.

If I am MIA the next week or so I am just buried with things to get done here and am stressing out over it.

I hope your week goes well or at the very least you get through it unscathed.

Sluggy