The Transitioning Period--Adjustments Personal and Financial

* Just a post on my thoughts and ideas as we adjust to our new financial reality. *

So with Hubs retired and we are back from our grand road trip adventure, we have settled into our "new normal".
And so far, this new normal isn't too different from the old normal. 8-)

Especially until the 401K becomes available to us in October we needed to be seriously conscious of ALL our spending, especially the types that are discretionary to some degree.

Grocery spending and electricity and water usage have been scrutinized plus all "want" spending as well.  I've made a concerted effort to only run energy hog appliances during off-peak hours(after 5 pm to 7 am).  Not having to use heat or a/c has also gone a long way to keeping the energy bill down.

Hubs had a "light bulb" moment a week ago Friday.  When he worked, he use to get $ out of the bank every other Friday, $200 a pop of WAM(walking around money).  This is money he doesn't have to account for how and where it's spent.  I gave up a long time ago with trying to get him to save me receipts so we could track all his cash spending.

When we had our retirement budget meeting back in June we agreed on $100 per person per month of WAM.  Now that he doesn't need to buy coffee and/or lunch at work, plus he doesn't need to chip into office gifts, get as many haircuts and basically doesn't go anywhere, he really just needs a hundred a month for his wallet.  If he needs to buy gas or something for the house, etc. or I send him to the grocery store for something he is suppose to use his credit card.

So he was telling me that Thursday that he was going to the bank tomorrow I just looked at him and asked why.  Hubs said to get his WAM.  I just looked at him and said, "You've already got your WAM.  What? Are you out of money already??  I've still got my whole $100.".
He then went on to deny that he agreed to only getting $100 a month for WAM so I showed him the paper we wrote the retirement budget down on.  I guess he thought I wouldn't remember or something. hahaha
I guess he finally realizes that his financial day-to-day has been impacted by retiring.

One thing I did when we got back from our trip was take an inventory of our canned/jarred/boxed food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods. 
Here are the things we don't need to buy for the immediate future(I'd say we can safely hold off all this spending until 2018)---
* shampoo
* toothpaste
* tooth brushes
* mouthwash
* razors
* soap/body wash
* OTC meds
* hand soap
* dish soap
* dishwasher tabs
* laundry detergent
* bleach
* toilet paper
* facial tissues
* drinks
* cold cereal
* corn meal
* pasta
* canned tomatoes
* coffee
* olive oil
* peanut butter
* salad dressing
* croutons
And now includes tea bags after the Deal I gt on those on Friday.

Unless one of the items above is free, I am not buying them for the time being.

We've gotten quite a few projects completed or started around here since getting back from our trip.  Other than having to purchase supplies for some of these projects it has been a low expense month in some ways. (Not counting paying school taxes and the healthcare insurance premium.)  And speaking of premiums, we have also finally received 3 months of healthcare premium reimbursement.  Yay!!!  Going forward we will be submitting for reimbursement monthly so I don't have to use regular savings or monthly annuity income to cover this cost. 8-)

I am also staring a Sinking Fund for next year's irregular bills.  In the old days, back when Hubs was earning a nice paycheck I could just cash flow all these bills without having to dip into savings.  Now though we are living on half of what he use to bring home per month. In order to have enough saved up when each one comes due a Sinking Fund makes sense.  It's sort of like your mortgage company requiring you to pay more than your actual mortgage each month so they can also pay the real estate taxes for you too.

Here's my list of  irregular bills--

* home owner's insurance x 2(until the LA house sells)
* car insurance(semi-annual)
* garbage bill(quarterly)
* real estate taxes(annual)
* school taxes(annual)
* sewage(annual)

Presently this all accounts for $7654.77 worth of bills per year.  Break that down monthly and I need to put aside at least $637.90 per month to cover these costs.
Starting in October I'll be putting $650 of our annuity into this Sinking Fund.  I am figuring with deposits monthly and how our irregular bills flow month to month I'll be able to cash flow from this sinking fund through the end of 2018 if I start it in October which gives me a few extra months of putting cash aside(for a big bill due in March).

Here is how the Fund will play out(if no bills rise in 2018)......

October deposit $650-$84 irregular garbage bill=$566 carried forward to Nov.
November deposit $650+$566=$1216-car insurance $864.65=$351.35.
December deposit $650+$351.35=1001.35 with no irregular bills due.
January deposit $650+$1001.35=1651.35-garbage bill $84=$1567.35.
February deposit $650+$1567.35=$2217.35.
March deposit $650+$2217.35=$2867.35-$1371.85 real estate taxes + $430.68 sewage=$1064.82
April deposit $650+$1064.82=$1714.82-$84 garbage=$1630.82
May deposit $650+1630.82=$2280.82-$864.65 car insurance=$1416.17
June deposit $650+$1415.17=$2066.17-$1016.63 house insurance(if the house isn't sold yet)=$1049.54
July deposit $650+$1049.54=$1699.54-$84 garbage bill=$1615.54
August deposit $650+$1615.54=$2265.54-$668.00 house insurance=$1597.54
September deposit $650+$1597.54=$2247.54-$2102.31 school taxes=$145.23
October deposit $650+$145.23=$795.23-$84 garbage bill=$711.23
November deposit $650+$711.23=$1361.23-$864.65 car insurance=$496.58
December deposit $650+$496.58=$1146.58 with no irregular bills due.

I figure I'll be able to carry over $1146.58 of Sinking Funds into 2019 at which time we'll revisit paying the irregular bills that way.

February and December I have no irregular bills due.  Not having any bills taken out of the December and then the February deposit helps me get ready to pay the real estate taxes in March.
Once we sell the LA house June will also not have any irregular bills due that month(and this will help a bit with paying the school taxes in September from then on).

Financially things are going ok for now.  I suspect the electric bill will start it's inevitable climb in October once the heat goes on and won't let up until next April. Oh of the joys of living in the North East. ;-)  We shouldn't have a problem though covering the high electric months of Winter.

I am hoping I may be able to keep our monthly spending down within our monthly annuity payment for normal expenses long term.  This would mean just tapping the 401K monies for things like trips and the high deductible at the beginning of the year for the health insurance that we need to pay OOP before any benefits kick in.  Thus the 401K monies would last even longer than we thought they would.

That's about all I can think of now on this subject.  If other thoughts come up I'll address them.

Do you have Sinking Funds?  Have they helped you stay on track with your money and bills?
Was there something that happened that made you realize the finances are different now once you retired?
Are you adjusting to retirement?  What have been the challenges for you with it?  What have been the unexpected benefits?


Sluggy

Sometimes You're the Windshield & Sometimes You're the Bug

So remember when I bought those Shell gas cards to use on our Summer road trip back in May?

I earned $30 in Plenti Points buying these.

Fast forward to Day 2 of our trip, July 19th.  While passing through lower IL before we hit the Missouri border we stopped in New Baden IL to get gas at a Shell station.

Hubs swiped one of the $50 gift cards and started pumping gas into the rental car.  When Hubs hit $2.98 worth of gas the pump shut off.  He tried to swipe the card again and it now indicated that the gift card had no money left on it.
WTF?!?

A station employee was outside emptying the garbage receptacles at the pumps so we asked him what was wrong.  He took the card inside to check the balance and indeed it was now empty, no money on it.
So I asked him to check a couple of other gas cards I had(all of which had had $50 of value put onto them)and they all had no money left on them.
We ended up using our Mastercard to finish filling the car and continued on with our travels.

Since I didn't have the receipts with me from when the gas cards were activated at Rite-Aid back in May and we didn't have a secure online connection while staying at motels there really wasn't much I could do about this situation until we returned home.
So I carted these gift cards across the country and back home to PA.

Once we got home I went up to Rite-Aid and they said to contact Shell first.
I just saw this turning out badly, with Rite-Aid blaming Shell and Shell blaming Rite-Aid me being out $300. 8-(

Well I found where to contact the company that issues these Shell cards online(it's not Shell!)and called their customer service line.
I spoke with "Linda"(in India)and after about 20 minutes of going over it all and giving her my card numbers, because she had to check each gas gift card, a definite pattern of fraud emerged.

Card #1 was emptied on July 7th in Highland California.
Card #2 was emptied on July 8th in Highland Caliifornia.
Card #3 was emptied on July 9th in Fontana California.
Card #4 was emptied on July 11th in Fontana California.
Card #5 was used/emptied on July 15th in Fontana, Carlton and Riverside California.
Card # 6 was used on July 18th in San Bernardino California.  They left $2.98 on this gas card and that was the one we attempted to use on July 19th.

All these towns are located in San Bernardino County in CA.
Let me add that I have never even been in San Bernardino County. 8-(

I then had to scan all the cards and the receipts from when I bought/activated the cards and send a very long email to dispute the charges on all 6 of the gift cards.
After not hearing back for over a week they finally responded to my inquiry and said they would send me a secure gas card with the $298.02 of value that was stolen from me, which I received.
And yes, this card works and so far, so good, and nobody has siphoned off any funds.

It was disappointing the hoops I had to jump through, plus we don't really have any Shell stations around here so I can only use this card when we travel.  But then again, it came in handy when we went to see our eldest son late last week for a few days.

But at least the company made good on the gift cards but the worry in the back of my mind the whole trip did take away from my enjoyment(ok, a little but not a lot lol).

Hopefully when we travel in the future we'll be able to find Shell stations to use this gift card at.
But I will think twice in the future about purchasing gift cards.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the September 22nd Edition

*  Eldest son experienced a change in life status recently so we went down to Va to assist him in finding bedroom furniture for his apartment.  Eldest is a not very well paid new teacher and he just bought a car(after being car-less for an entire year)so money is real tight for him right now.  There would be no perusing expensive furniture stores for a matching bedroom suite.

While he worked on Friday we visited many, many thrift stores scouting out the furniture prospects.
At the Goodwill no furniture we could use but I did find College Boy a Xmas present.........hehehe

We found 3 candidates for a bedroom night stand in our travels.  We took some photos and after viewing them later, Eldest picked this one to go and purchase on Saturday.......

It has some style, was "real wood" and sturdy and the best part it was only $8.
Sold!

After about 6 thrift stores and no luck we saw this dresser sitting out in front of a junk store across the street from a thrift store we checked out........

Again, real wood and fairly sturdy and large enough to hold his stuff.  Knowing it was a deal at $55 I went ahead and paid for it and we went back on Saturday to arrange for delivery.

After checking out some mattress stores Eldest decided on a temper-pedic type foam mattress and a platform type bed frame/headboard.
The "discount" mattress store wanted upwards of $3500 for a queen sized 14" foam mattress and frame/platform.
hahahaha
No wonder people have to make payments and buy a bed on time at those prices!

So it was either buy a cheapy regular mattress and box spring at a store, or get a good mattress for cheap online.
He opted for the good mattress online where his dad and I got ours along with a platform bed frame/headboard.
He's all good in the bedroom department(mattress/frame/headboard/dresser/night stand)for a grand total of $770.

*  Remember all these that I have been collecting(mostly at Rite-Aid for free)all year........

This past week I turned it into this..........

$80 in cold hard cash.

*  While in Va we got Domino's for dinner on Friday using an old gift card so no new money OOP.

A Stormtrooper was riding shotgun for that delivery driver.
"Keep calm and join the dark side" as the back window suggested.

*  Almost free razors at Rite-Aid, free barbecue sauce at the Shursave market, and a few items bought while on the road to VA and back as shared already are my grocery finds.

*  In Goodwill I also scored a stocking stuffer for one of the kids and it was that week's 50% colored tag so half price off a thrift store price.  Rah!
In Walmart in WV I scored some clearance clothing too.......

Sleep tank tops for Daughter for $1 each.
I also found Daughter something I had already bought at the local Walmart for $4 cheaper so I bought it and will return the one that was more $. ;-)

A Summer nightie for me for $7.

And a Wonder Woman sleep shirt for me for $3.
Because I am "Fierce" when it comes to saving $. lolz

What have you done lately that is frugal?

Sluggy

Shopping This Week

Here's the little bit of shopping I did since last Thursday.

While in Virginia over the weekend I picked up a few things to bring home...........

Some Walmart brand mayo when we did grocery shopping with Eldest son.
Hubs and I hit Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!)while Eldest was working on Friday and I picked up some applesauce and mandarin orange cups and 2 bags of rice.
Then on the ride home we hit a Food Lion along the way to look for discounted meat deals and I picked up 4 containers of bouillon cubes for cheaper than I can find them for at home.

I also got a pork butt for $1.29 lb...............

I would have bought more(3 more I think)if we had brought the large cooler with us, but alas, we only have the small handheld one.
I want to smoke some butts, cut them to size and then put them into the chest freezer.  That way, we can have barbecue pork anytime we want this Fall/Winter.  You just can't smoke outside here once teh cold hits.  My smoker isn't electric, it's charcoal so the wind and cold keep you from regulating the smoking temperature.

Moving on.........

On Tuesday I had to go to Rite-Aid for drugs so I also picked these up.......

2 x Daylogic 3 blade razors on sale$5=$10.00
Add tax of .60¢ and this came to $10.60 which I paid for with PPs.
I earned back $10 in Plenti Points so .60¢ spent down in points for two razors.

The local Shursave market had a One Day sale(today)so I stopped in and picked up a few things..........

Their private label Greek yogurt was .50¢ a cup today only so I picked up 10.  I get the plain ones and use them to mix with sour cream in recipes(and dips)to bring calorie count and fat content down.  I also use these for breakfast, with the additional of a little honey or fruit and granola and flax seed.  I find the already fruited ones just too sweet.
The turkey breast are half price all week, .99¢ lb. with a limit of 2.  This makes for a cheap protein for dinners.

Cauliflower heads were .99¢ today only and the broccoli crowns were .99¢ all week.  The barbecue sauce was free with the e-coupon attached to my store card.

I am hoping to find a good deal on pork butts/shoulders this weekend or early next week as I'll be smoking said butts/shoulders then.
It looks like no tomato canning or relish making will happen this year.  We missed the peak of tomato picking at the farm we go to since we were gone the end of last week and the weekend.  I could still pick peppers for relish but I am just not "into" it right now.

I haven't been sleeping well so I am going to go attempt a nap, if the construction workers building a massive garage down the road stay on break long enough for me to conk out.

Did y'all find any good loss leaders at the stores this week?

Sluggy

Frugal Cooking

While down in Virginia to see our Eldest son late last week I did a bit of cooking for him.  We didn't want to spend on Eating-out much and didn't want Eldest to pay for that either(Eldest is quite generous and will splash out for meals without being asked to pick up a tab.)  Plus cooking is one of the few things I can do for him at his age.  ;-)

He needed to go grocery shopping so I picked up a few items as well at Walmart when we went with him.  Eldest always grocery shops at Walmart as he isn't into hunting the best price and can't be bothered to go from store to store so he shops at "the Mart" as it's convenient and he uses their Savings Catcher feature.

Eldest loves leftovers and his usual MO when cooking is the prepare a large container or two of some food and eat off of it for dinner all week.  He cooks well but he really doesn't want to spend his precious free time during workdays making meals so this works for him....cooking on weekends and eating the leftovers during the week.

I purchased a small beef roast, a package of 4 boneless pork loins(prepped like a cube steak and discounted), a pack of hamburger rolls, a head of lettuce, 2 lbs. of whole mushrooms, a canister of panko bread crumbs, a bottle of ketchup and 1 onion.  I had also picked up a container of sour cream at Aldi's when Hubs and had gone there the day before while Eldest was working.
I spent $30.09 on all this.
I also had at my disposal, back at his apartment, cooking oil, flour, spices, rice and mayo.

Before we went out on Saturday I prepped the beef roast by halving it.  I cut one half into bite-sized pieces and used them in a large pot of Beef Stroganoff along with the whole 2 lbs. of mushrooms(which got added later).  The ratio was 2/3 'shrooms to 1/3 meat basically.  It cooked away in a crock pot most of the day and was served over rice that evening.  This fed the three of us handily(Eldest had seconds)and also left him at least 3 additional meals worth for later.

On Sunday I prepped the pork pieces, first by flattening them more, then salting and peppering them.  Each was coated in seasoned panko and sauteed in a skillet, then drained on paper towels.  Add lettuce(slice of raw onions and tomato optional)and mayo on a warm bun and you've got a filling pork tenderloin sandwich, something I developed a taste for in the Midwest a few Summers ago.

I had planned to serve these for lunch on Sunday but Hubs and I decided to bug out on Sunday rather than Monday so I prepared these for breakfast on Sunday instead.
By flattening the pork slices I was able to get 7 portions(3 were large enough to cut them in half after pounding them)that would fit on a hamburger bun.  After we ate our fill, Eldest was left with two portions to eat at another time.

The other half of the beef roast was frozen for later use.  I told Eldest he could season it and put it in his crock pot to cook while he was in school and just throw a potato and some other veg in the microwave when he got home and have dinner ready in short order.
I also recommended the leftovers of his roast could be cut up and with the addition of carrots, onions, garlic, and any other veg he preferred(potato, green beans, etc.)in his crockpot he could have a nice stew later on.  I figure using that hunk of roast this way would get him at least 3 more servings from it.  Adding it to a stew with vegetables would extend how many meals it would make.

All totaled I spent $30.09 on 14 helpings of meals(both the ones we ate then and the ones that will be eaten later).
Plus Eldest got to keep half the container of sour cream, most of a bottle of ketchup, most of a head of lettuce, 3 hamburger buns and half a canister of panko crumbs to incorporate into future meals.

If Eldest had all 14 helpings for himself this would have fed him for lunches and dinners for a whole week.

Sluggy