Frugal Friday.....July 7th Edition

Not a lot on the frugal front to report this week, but here's a few.........

*  Hubs and I had lunch out on the 3rd when we went out to run errands.  We went to Bob Evans for a late lunch(after 2pm).  We used a 30% off your meal Q so paid $15.90 instead of $22.72.

*  Minute Maid juices is running a Catalina Promotion through the end of 2017 at Weis(might be available at your store too so worth checking out if you buy a lot of OJ).  For every 5 cartons you get a Catalina off $2 on your next order.......

Good thing is that these Catalinas expire 1/5/18!
I think what I'll do is hold onto them and cash however many I get the end of the year in at Weis for my Xmas dinner shopping.
Who knows?  I could save enough to pay for a nice hunk of roast or something! 8-)
And of course, I'll ONLY buy MM OJ when it's on sale to get them(and pair Qs with the sale when available).

*  I smoked a pork butt and two slabs of ribs from the freezer on Monday........

The ribs got wrapped in foil and finished off in the crock pot on Tuesday morning in time for our 4th of July picnic.
The pork butt got put into a larger crock pot on Wednesday night and cooked overnight on low and the resulting barbecue was eaten on buns with Cole slaw for dinner on Thursday night.  Mmmm!
Better and cheaper than going out to a BBQ joint here(MUCH cheaper as BBQ is a high falootin' deal in these parts).

*  We cashed in a Savings Bond that was no longer accruing interest.  Now we just need to sit down and decide where to put that money, hopefully somewhere it can earn more than .0001%.  8-(
Keeping fully matured SBonds is not smart.  Get your money and either use to pay down debt, a mortgage, etc. or stash it elsewhere where it can grow more money for you!


*  Last Fantastic Friday I bought a pack of Lemon Lemon and a pack of Izze drinks........

They were $1.99 per pack on sale.  I wasn't going to just buy 2 Lemon Lemon ones but there was a separate $1 cash rebate on Ibotta for both LL and Izze(limit of 1 per brand).  They had a lemon-lime variety of Izze so that's pretty close to what LL is.
And I had a $1/2 Izze and/or LemonLemon Weis Booklet Q too.

So it was 2 x $1.99=$3.98-$1Q-$2 in Rebates=.98¢ OOP or .49¢ per 8 pack.

*  I made WV hot dog chili to put on our July 4th picnic dogs.  It turned out mighty fine(I've never made hot dog chili before).  Much better than that canned runny slop they sell in the stores.

I also made Macaroni Salad which is also cheaper to make and tastes better than what they sell in the grocery store.

*  I have come up with a genius plan for food for College Boy for when he returns to school.
Since he is a Senior this next semester he doesn't have to take a meal plan from the University.
So no $1700+ to $1900+ food costs per semester. Ever. Again.
I'll reveal my ingenious plan in a later post but I will say I don't know why I didn't think of this before now!  Anybody want to guess my plan to save money on food for him?

That's all I gots.....
What about you?  What frugal feats did you achieve this past week??

Sluggy

It's Done!

Hubs' career that is.
Friday was his last day at work.

The kids and I went to one of his two retirement luncheons/parties a couple of weeks ago.

After a buffet lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, College Boy had to leave but Daughter and I waited in Hubs' cubicle until it was time to go down to the retirement "party".

Hubs' showed us his Perfect Attendance award for 1989-a paper clip holder. lolz

Then he showed us his "Sherpa" Award pins.
I bet you didn't know Hubs' was a mountain guide in the Himalayas, did you? lolz

His company had some kind of internal employee awards called this, for those who showed leadership and teaching skills or something.
Anyway, he has four of 'em.

Then it was time to head down to a room outside the cafeteria.

One of his coworkers had reserved the room and decorated.
And best of all, they bought a BIIIIG CAKE! ;-)

We sat around and his coworkers reminisced about the "good times".

A few folks stayed awhile but many floated in and out as their schedules allowed to say goodbye and eat some cake.

His bosses boss(pictured above)came from Corporate in Newark, NJ and made a short speech.
She had wonderful things to say about Hubs.
Don't go giving him an even Bigger swelled head now and then shove him out the door for me to deal with 24/7, ok?!!

A couple of coworkers made a short funny video about Hubs.
Before you watch it, let me tell you that Hubs' line of work was Retirement Services for Prudential.
He worked in contracts there so he was responsible for the wording of benefits contracts for your employer if you had Pru as a provider probably.  He worked with lawyers(both internal company ones and those working for the clients) and the Pru salesman who sold the products(don't get him started on them!lol).  He also had to remember/deal with all the federal and state statutes and regulations going back to the 1970's.

Some of the jokes many won't get but here is the video......

After a couple of hours Daughter and I took off for home.  Hubs still had work to do that day.

Hubs got another luncheon last week at the Woodbridge NJ Pru Retirement facility as he often had to travel there for work as well and had a lot of colleagues and friends there too.

And now it is done.

I still remember his first day back in March of 1984.  We were living in the basement of his parents' house.  He borrowed my car to go to the interview for a claims processing job at the Parsippany NJ Prudential Group Medical Insurance unit.
His English skills on the aptitude test they gave him got him booted over to the Contracts Department and he got an entry level position.
He worked in Group Insurance and started out writing those little booklets that your employer gives you to explain your medical benefits.

He spent a year early on in Marketing at Pru in Roseland, NJ but went back to Contracts.  After awhile he transferred to the Contracts department in Retirement Services and when Prudential opened a new building in Scranton, PA in the late 1990's he transferred there.
And the rest, as they say, is history.

 Sluggy

2017 Savings Challenge......June 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 savings 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 2017 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.
I have decided to lower the goal amount to save for the year to $35K.
Then Hubs decided to retire the end of June 2017, so this changes my goal again.

* I'm going to half my goal now, since I've got 6 months to get to the Savings Challenge Goal this year since Hubs is retiring effective June 30th.
This means the new revised goal is $17.5K for 2017 which was half of $35K.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my June End of Month $17.5K $AVING$ 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 $2,9916.66.

I have to report that we finished up June and the end of my 2017 Savings Challenge strong.
The extra amount we ended the month of June with?.......$2954.79

Income

We had $2570.23 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in June totaled $384.56.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts, two stock dividend checks and two per diem reimbursements.

This brought us to our gain of $2954.79
Since we have no debt, this all goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this June, 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(Within $1 or so).
*  The cash withdrawals were $$349.50 lower than in May.  I only withdrew $60 for the whole month and Hubs kept to his budgeted amount for WAM.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $20.69 higher than in May.
*  The electric bill was $25.23 more than last month's mostly due to the washer/dryer running more and the kids turned on the a/c units in their rooms.
*  The gas credit card bill was $52.03 higher in June from May's amount.  This is due to Hubs putting less gas purchases on this c/c over the Master card.
*  The credit card bill was $630.71 higher in June than in May.  This was mostly May charges like VA trip spending.
*  The medical bills were $5.40 higher this month over last month's bills.
*  We had to pay 6 months of insurance on the LA house in June.
*  I paid a $178.20 dental bill which catches us up with what we owe on co-insurance to the dentist.

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

With 6 months accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2017 is $21,100.42.
We have surpassed our revised goal by $3600.42.  Woohoo!


FINAL THOUGHTS on June---
We had a fairly high expense month in June.  Most of our regular bills were  higher than in May(though overall only about $400 more)and then we had two irregular bills due(one of them over $1K)plus the credit card bill was over $1K for various reasons.  So in the end, not a terrible month but not a great one either.

Compared to June 2016 we saved $992.13 MORE to put into savings this June.  June always seems to be a higher expense month for us.

THOUGHTS going forward into July of 2017----
The regular bills will be about the same as in June since the credit card bill for our trip charges in July will come due in August.  I won't be here for half of July to monitor the kids aka "them that leave lights and a/c on when not in the room people" using the utilities(water/electric)so who knows how high they will be.
As for irregular bills, we have no irregular bills in July but, that being said, we will have bills associated with getting the LA house on the market(putting water and lights on in our name plus changing the locks and paying someone to repair stuff)this month.
Between the trip and putting the house on the market July may be a budget buster since we will be operating on a reduced income until October.  Things will still get paid though, out of our deep cash reserves until Fall.
It will all work out in the end once we start tapping the 401K account and we get this LA house sold.

So this marks the end of my regular Yearly Savings Challenge feature.  Since we won't have regular paychecks coming in as income I was going to discontinue this feature on the blog.  We won't have enough disposable income going forward to have savings each month to put away.
Or at least I don't think we will.
But I'll put the question to you, the readers.
Would you find it instructive/helpful/interesting for me to post about trying to save going forward in retirement now?
Let me know.

So how was your June financially?
  

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

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

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

Rite-Aid Porn This Week

Here is what I purchased at Rite-Aid over the last two days.

I would have bought it all in one big transaction but P&G has gotten snippy about using their coupons.  Check out the wording on them some time.  They use to say "limit of 4 identical/like Qs in one transaction".  Now it's "limit of two or ONE identical/like Qs per day per household" or something to that effect.
What?!?

Anyway, it's not that the Qs beep or anything if you try to use more than the limit stated on the Q.
It's just that the cashier may limit you if they are a stickler for reading every single line on every single Q you try to redeem.

So I had to do two transactions over the course of Sunday and Monday.
Sigh.....

I have discovered that everybody here(except me)wants to use Head and Shoulders or some other dandruff type shampoo(also my eldest and his finacée too and I supply them with 'poo sometimes as well).
Sigh.  So I have been on a quest to find it for cheap.
We also can use dish soap if it's cheap.
Daughter also wanted me to find her some "feminine needs" for cheap.

I paired all these wants/needs with a P&G Plenti Offer this week of "Spend $30, Get $15 Back in PPs"(limit of 4 Offers per card). * I think this Deal is a July monthly one, not a weekly one so maybe there will be good ways in which to utilize it later on in the month too.*

10 x Head & Shoulders 'Poo cheaper w/20% Wellness disc. than sale price($5.99)=$59.90
4 x Pantene 'Poo cheaper w/20% Wellness disc. than sale price($3.99)=$15.96
3 x Tampax Pearl tampons on sale($3.99)=$11.97
3 x Dawn dish soap on sale(.99¢)=$2.97
1 x Colgate toothpaste on sale=$3.99*not part of P&G Deal*
SubTotal.......$94.79

Coupons Used
3 x $5/2 Head & Shoulders 'Poo ManuQ=$15.00
4 x $2/1 Head & Shoulders 'Poo (3 ManuQ/1 IPQ)=$8.00
4 x $2/1 Pantene 'Poo IPQ=$8.00
3 x $2/1 Tampax tampons ManuQ=$6.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothpaste ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothpaste In-AdQ=$2.00
1 x .25¢/1 Dawn Load2CardQ=.25¢
Coupon Total.......$41.25

$94.79-$41.25=$53.54

Except on the first transaction I did on Sunday a $2/1 Load2CardQ also came off too(I think it was for 1 of the bottles of Head & Shoulders)so I had $43.25 in Qs come off.

$94.79-$43.25=$51.54 + $2.74tax=$54.28.

I paid in Plenti Points and earned back $45 in new PPs.
$54.28-$45PPs=$9.28 OOP in Points.

Or $9.28 divided by the 21 items I purchased means I "paid" .44¢ per item.

"Paid" because no money changed hands and I "spent down" $9.28 in Plenti points.

That's my kind of shopping! '-)


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Together All The Time" Edition--

Like this pair of mourning doves which have taken up residence in my backyard, Hubs and I are now together all the time.  Yes, he retired as of Friday and now I have a shadow around the house 24/7.
Goodness what have I done? lolz


Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Lobster, Grilled Corn on Cob

2. Monday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad

3. Tuesday--Subway sandwiches using gift card

4. Wednesday--Steak, Fried Zuke, Corn Casserole

5. Thursday--Lemon Pepper Chicken with Zuke over Rice
6. Friday--Chicken Marsala over Noodles, Mixed Veggies(Daughter cooking)
7. Saturday-Fish and ?(Daughter cooking)

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Lobster, Grilled Corn on Cob

2. Monday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad

3. Tuesday--Chinese Take-Out

4. Wednesday--Steak, Fried Zuke, Corn Casserole

5. Thursday--Lemon Pepper Chicken with Zuke over Rice
6. Friday--Chicken Marsala over Noodles and Mushrooms(Daughter cooking)
7. Saturday-Fish and Stir-Fry Veggies in Teriyaki Sauce(Daughter cooking)

Last week saw 6 nights of home cooked dinners, 0 nights of leftovers and 1 night of Take-Out.
Nobody was feeling Subway so we got Chinese instead on the night Hubs wasn't home for dinner.

I made 1 trip to the Weis Markets for $32.93, a trip to Price Chopper for $52.49 and a trip to Maine Source for $53.33, which all totaled came to $138.75 OOP.  This brings my June food spending total to $535.03.  There are 0 days left in the month. 

My savings percentages last week was 52.41% which brings the month's percentage to 66.16%. 

Leftovers going into this week.......zuke in sauce, rice, corn casserole, salmon, stir-fry veggies, chicken Marsala w/fettuccine and mushrooms.
We've got lots of bits and bobs of leftovers.  With Hubs home now for lunch during the week I don't foresee anything NOT being eaten.  ;-)

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sammiches

3. Tuesday--Hot Dogs, Burgers, Ribs, Mac Salad, Pie

4. Wednesday--Barbecue Pork, Rolls, Coleslaw

5. Thursday--Tacos or Taco Salad
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday-? Daughter cooking

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers and 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out.  Daughter is cooking again this Saturday and I've got no clue what she wants to prepare.

What I need to buy for this menu? Ground Beef for hamburgers and hot dog chili, Cole slaw mix, buns and rolls, maybe a bell pepper and celery(the mac salad).  I am sure Hubs will want to pick up beer for the cook-out 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