Giveaway Results!

I numbered all the valid entries(81)and had Random dotorg pick the winner and it was entry #26 so the winner is............

Jen G.!

AnonymousSeptember 15, 2017 at 11:57 AM

I need some new tweezers!

Jen G. (I'll send my email address.)

Congratulations to Jen G.

You have 48 hours to email me from the email addy you used to enter the giveaway to claim your prize.

Please send me your full name and snail mail address and I'll get this box 'o goodies out in the mail to you asap.

Thanks to everyone who played along this time and come back soon as there will be another fine box of things to win next month(sometime next week if I can get my proverbial sh*t together!).  8-)))

Sluggy

Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter my current Giveaway so hop to it.
Entry time closes at 11:59 pm ET tonight.
I'll pick a winner on Wednesday and hopefully get the info I need to ship this box of goodies out before the week is out.

Here is the LINK to go enter or use the Link on the right hand side bar.
Good luck to all!


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "There is Handicapped and Then There is 'Handicapped' " Edition--

Here is another clueless person parking in a none parking spot at a Walmart in WV.  Yellow cross marks are NOT a parking space.....it is the space BETWEEN the parking spaces.
Why is this so hard to understand?
Heck next thing you know these folks will be just pulling their cars up to the doors onto the sidewalk and leaving them there. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Leftovers(or Eating-Out while on the road)

2. Monday--Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

3. Tuesday--Leftover Beef Pie

4. Wednesday--Leftover Haluski

5. Thursday--Leftover Ham, Sugar Snap Peas
6. Friday--Leftovers if still available or ?
7. Saturday--Leftovers if still available or ?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--We ate a late lunch on the road and no dinner

2. Monday--Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

3. Tuesday--Leftover Beef Pie

4. Wednesday--Leftover Ham, Potato Salad, Sauteed Cabbage

5. Thursday--Fish, Glazed Carrots, Cheddar Biscuits(Hubs cooked!!)
6. Friday--Fend for Yourself(I had a pbj)
7. Saturday--Pork Tenderloin, Cauliflower in cheese sauce

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners(or mostly home cooked), 3 nights of leftovers, 1 night of eating-out(for me and Hubs)and 0 nights of Take-Out.  

When I made Halushki the week before, it only used up half a huge head of cabbage.  So I sauteed the other half with onions and added some bacon for a side last week.

I made 1 trip to Weis Markets, 1 trip to the Shursave Market  and with what I bought in VA last week, it brought the weekly food spending to $68.67 last week, and bringing food spending in September to $276.99 so far.  I have $73.01 left to stay under $350 spent for the month on food and 6 days left in the month.  I should stay under that budgeted amount unless I find some pork butts to smoke.  ;-) 

My savings percentages last week and for the month to-date?   Last week's percentage was 57.36% and the monthly ends up at 48.72% as well(without Rite-Aid trips added in). 

Leftovers going into this week.......a hunk of baked ham, Halushki, Potato Salad, Sauteed Cabbage, Pork Tenderloin, Cauliflower in Sauce, Beef Pie.

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

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken with Roasted Veggies

2. Monday--Tuna Noodles Casserole, leftover Cabbage

3. Tuesday--Beef and Broccoli over Rice

4. Wednesday--Something with Ham, Roasted Asparagus

5. Thursday--Mac and Cheese w/Ham, Sugar Snap Peas
6. Friday--Leftover Pork Tenderloin, Leftover Cauliflower
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 1-2 nights of leftovers and ? nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out.
I'll be trying to find ways to use up that ham hunk this week.  I am still clueless about what to serve on Saturday and am hoping inspiration hits between now and then. lolz

What I need to buy for this menu?  Nothing really as I have all the ingredients I need to make this lot.

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

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