This Week on the Dining Table

The "Well I Did It Again!" Edition--

I messed up my ankle again. ugh.  Seems this happens every year or so, I overdo and then can't walk for a few days.  Hopefully it isn't the return of my nemesis, Mr. Blood Clot.   I am confined to the upstairs for at least today so the meal plan may veer waaay off since Hubs will have to be cooking(or, as is his wont, when faced with cooking, ordering in).
sigh to both the painful ankle and the ordering in......

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Lemon Pepper Chicken and Zuke, Rice

3. Tuesday--Grilled Steak, Grilled Zuke and Squash

4. Wednesday--Beef Pie

5. Thursday--Pork Ragu over Pasta, Salad

6. Friday--Tacos
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Grilled Steak, leftover Squash Casserole

3. Tuesday--Lemon Pepper Chicken and Zuke, Rice

4. Wednesday--Beef Pie

5. Thursday--Chinese take-out

6. Friday--Pork Ragu over Pasta, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of Take-Out or Eating Out.  We took the opportunity of the Daughter being out of town and Ex-College Boy at work to get Chinese take-out on Thursday night, so Tacos didn't happen.  They get moved to this week's menu.

We had some food waste this past week.  Mostly it's due to the Daughter going rouge and making food and then not finishing it.....do I count this as mine?

Trips to the Restaurant supply, Ollie's and the Shursave Markete brought the weekly food spending to $60.44 and the monthly total to $60.44.
I have 25 days left in my shopping month for August and have $340 left in the food budget to spend this month.

My savings percentage last week was 52.56%(without Rite-Aid trips)and August's monthly savings total comes to 52.56% so far.

Leftovers going into this week......1 helping of Zucchini Risotto, lots of Pork Ragu w/pasta and Zucchini, Chicken and Rice.

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

1. Sunday--Hot Dogs on Rolls, leftover Macaroni Salad(Hubs can handle this)

2. Monday--Pizza, Fried Zucchini(If I can get ex-College Boy to make the zuke)

3. Tuesday--Tacos or Taco Salad(Hubs can handle this)

4. Wednesday--Leftovers, Squash and Onions(Hubs can handle this, at least the leftovers part)

5. Thursday--Chicken and Dumplings(If I am well enough to traipse downstairs)

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 3-4 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out and 1 night of ?

What needs buying for this menu?  Only the pizza if Hubs opts out of cooking tonight.
Yeah, this is a half-assed plan due to circumstances beyond my control. ;-)

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?  I haven't even looked at the ads for this week and may not be in a condition to shop anyway.  Oh well....life is like that.

Sluggy

2018 Income & Spending Report.....July Update

Now that we are living on an annuity(like a pension) and 401K$ withdrawals(retirement savings), I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.  This leftover cash will go into a "Slush Fund" for now to be used if we have any emergencies come up during the year.  If we still have Slush Funds at the end of the year we'll decide then what to do with those funds.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018" at the top of the blog.

  I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the July 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for July......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fun may be to apply toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2018.

I have to report that we finished up July in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of July with?.......$2795.65

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance(after funding Sinking Fund)for July of $615.69 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $372.92
* Blogging revenue check of $116.10
* LA house water deposit refund $34.90

Total "Income" for July......$6171.25

# We made a 3rd quarter 401K withdrawal in July of $6K.  After withholding for taxes due we got $5147.07 net.  $3300.00 of that gets put into the Sinking Fund to cover irregular bills coming due this quarter(house insurance in Aug., LTC insurance and school taxes in Sept). $1847.07 is the balance of the 3rd quarter 401K withdrawal.  This got divided by 3 and gives us $615.69 extra in July to add to the income for the month(Aug. and Sept. also got $615.69)for general expenses.


Expenses in July---

* Healthcare Premium for July was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in July came to $1562.12


Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into July was $557.48.  The addition of $3300.00 in July from the 401K withdrawal gives us a balance of $3857.48. No irregular bills were due in July so the Sinking Fund goes into August at $3857.48.


We went into July with $17,010.20 in the Slush Fund.
Add in July's overage of $2795.65 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $19,805.85 going into August..

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as in June(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $25.62 lower than last month.
*  The credit card bill was $775.73 lower than June.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in June.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The electric bill was $10.26 higher than last month.
*  The gas card charges were $46.26 higher than in June.
*  We had a dental bill of $30.60
*  We had a Discover card bill of $11.43(Hubs' extra card)
*  The Passport cost me $160.

The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are covered in the credit card payment(sometimes our WAM cash too).

So we end July in the black with $2795.65 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into August standing at $3857.48

FINAL THOUGHTS on July---
It was a very good month in terms of low spending/bills and a couple of extra revenue streams(blogging, utility deposit).

THOUGHTS going forward into August 2018----This month there is one irregular bills due(house insurance at $648).
The WAM withdrawal will be the same in August, $200.
I don't foresee any extraordinary bills other than the c/c bill is a little higher due to some irregular charges(yearly Ancestry account fee, my car was serviced, fees for birth certificate, $300 in eating out and beer purchases while Eldest son was here, adding up to the tune of $600+).

So how was your July financially?
  

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

Make this year was the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you didn't already or increase what you have banked now for your future self.
Or pay 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...Extra Qs Coming Off!n UPDATED

This week at Rite-Aid I did the Cover Girl deal-Spend $10/Get $5 in Bonus Cash-to roll some BC on my 3 cards.

First on my card.........

2 x CG mascara BOGO50%=$11.53
2 x CG eye shadow BOGO50%=$9.43
SubTotal......$20.96

Coupons Used
4 x $3/1 CG item IPQ=$12.00

$20.96-$12.00=$8.96+.42¢ tax=$9.38 paid with Bonus Cash
I earned $10 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $5 wys $10 on CG)so a .62¢ moneymaker.

Secondly on my son's card........

2 x CG eyeliner pencil BOGO50%=$10.48
2 x CG concealer BOGO50%=$10.18
SubTotal....$20.66

Coupons Used
4 x $3/1 CG item IPQ=$12.00

$20.66-$12.00=$8.66+.40¢ tax=$9.06 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned $10 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $5 wys $10 on CG)so a .94¢ moneymaker.

On Wellness Wednesday I got these free samples.......

Not much today, some Post-It note samples and a $1 off Q(I got two of these)and some samples of dry mouth lozenges.  Sometimes with some of the meds I am on I get the dreaded dry mouth.  I'll give these a try for free.

I also bought all this on Wednesday using the one day WWQs.......

1 x Lipton tea bags 20% Wellness disc=$3.59
1 x Orgain protein shakes 20% Wellness disc=$7.99
1 x AdvilPM 20% Wellness disc=$4.79
2 x Sugar-free candy bags 20% Wellness disc($2.15 ea)=$4.30
SubTotal......$20.67

Coupons Used
(Some of the WW 1 Day Qs can now be loaded to your card-L2CQs. At least for now if you load to WW 1 DayQs the register also let's you use a clipped from the pamphlet in the store Q too giving you double savings!)
1 x $2/1 Lipton WWpamphletQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Orgain shakes WWpamphletQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Orgain WWL2CQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 AdvilPM WWpamphletQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 AdvilPM WWL2CQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Advil L2CQ=$1.00
2 x $1.50/1 Sugar-Free candies WWpamphletQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.......$14.00

$20.67-$14.00=$6.67
I paid with a Rite-Aid gift card(paid for last year)and ex-College Boy will reimburse me $3.99 for the Orgain shakes as he requested them for work so I am "down" $2.68.

I had a regular Advil $1 L2CQ that came off as well as the other two $2 Qs I used so the AdvilPM was a .22¢ moneymaker after all three of those Qs. lolz

Then on Friday I maxed out the Cover Girl deal on daughter's card too......

1 x CG concealer=$6.79 BOGO50%(reg. price)
2 x CG eye palettes=$9.43 BOGO50%(1 50%, 1 reg. price)
1 x CG eyebrow pencil=$2.39 BOGO50%(50% )
1 x CG eyebrow pencil(20% disc.)=$3.83
SubTotal.......$22.44

Coupons Used
5 x $3/1 Cover Girl item IPQ=$15.00

$22.44-$15.00=$7.44 BUT.....
a $4 L2CQ also came off(I think it was $4/2 CG?)and the cashier had to push through the last of my $3 Qs(these often beep so I didn't think anything of it unlike I looked at the receipt later).

So I got an additional $4 off so $22.44-$19.00=$3.44 +.16¢ tax=$3.60 paid with BC.
I earned back $10 in new BC making this a $6.40 moneymaker.

Then since I had enough BC left on daughter's card I also bought some Clairol hair dye that is on sale through Saturday.......

2 x Clairol hair dye(1 reg./1 root touch-up)on sale but 20% Wellness disc lower-$6.79=$13.58

I used a $6/2 Clairol dye manuQ=$6.00
Then a $2/1 Clairol dye L2CQ also came off for $8.00 in Qs.
$13.58-$8.00=$5.58 +.34¢ tax=$5.92 paid for with BC

I earned back $4.00 in new BC.
I also got $4.00 in cash rebates on Ibotta.  Too bad I didn't buy this earlier in the week and earn the $1 bonus on Ibotta for buying 2 different varieties of Clairol hair dye products.
Even with "just $4 back" and the $4 earned in new Bonus Cash it was a $2.08 moneymaker.  8-)))
**UPDATE**  It turns out I DID get the Ibotta $1 Bonus on the Clairol.   Woohoo!!  That turns this into a $3.08 moneymaker.

Now I'm not saying that if you have the Clairol $2/1 L2CQ and the various Cover Girl L2CQs on your Wellness account that they WILL come off even if you use paper Qs for those items, but you never knew. ;-)  I thought I'd mention it before the sale week ends if anybody wanted to try it at Rite-Aid.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the August 3rd Edition

Let's take a look at what "frugalness" we accomplished this past week......

* I found a penny in the Rite-Aid parking lot...........

With my luck though it was a Canadian penny and I don't think they even use those anymore. lolz

*  I had Hubs get the Weis Friday Freebie last week since it was something we could use......

Free hamburger rolls?  Yes, please!

*  I went online to Coupons dotcom on August 1st to snag coupons I thought I might use this month.
Coupons are only available in a limited quantity online so best to print them at the first of the month. (Use to be totally true but nowadays some brands put their coupons online during the month too so best to check back at the coupon sites later in the month too.) In addition with some brands, when there is a good sale using those particular coupons coming up, some coupons may be pulled before the week of the sale so it's good to look at coming week's sales flyers for the stores you shop at so you can print them before they are taken down.
It's a game folks and you need to be a step ahead of the stores and the manufacturers.

*  I got paid to bring some things home from Rite-Aid..........

 I got paid $1.56 after Bonus Cash used and earned back to bring all this home.

*  I sent away for a free $50 Target gift card so I can pair it with that $10 when you spend $50 coupon Target mailed me. The gift card is paid for with c/c points.

*  I picked lots of veggies from the garden last week........

 one squash....

 2 squash and 2 zukes

 4 squash and 3 zuke(including the behemoth one)

1 squash and 1 zuke
Do you think we have enough yellow squash and zucchini now? lololz

*  And quite out of the blue since it's been a while and I forget I have things up there, I sold something on eBay!

This set of unopened 7 miniature Star Wars Lego vehicles sold.  After fees and what I paid I should net $103+.  These all cost me under $22(with tax)when I bought them years ago at Walmart.
Go me! 8-))

*  I also earned $2.00 on Ibotta for various things.  Actually this was for the previous week but I forgot to put it on there. 
I really need to start making a list and adding to it as something frugal occurs so I stop forgetting things by Friday. ugh.


And that's all for me this week.

Remember the words of The Most Frugal Man in the World.......

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?

Sluggy

2018 Food & Toiletries Spending......July Edition

Onward to July's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2018.

I have posted July's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4-5(4-5 at home this month). No "kids" under 22.

*****************
BIG LOTS
OOP  $56.80
Value  $93.59
Savings   39.31%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $20.79
Value  $77.72(retail bread is expensive!)
Savings  73.25%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $55.28
Value  $100.36
Savings  44.92%

MALACARI'S(produce)
OOP  $9.14
Value  $16.99
Savings  46.20%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PP/BC  $564.27
Value  $564.27
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE
OOP  $16.89
Qs/Ads  $20.10
Value  $36.99
Savings  54.34%

WALMART
OOP  $36.93
Value  $80.64
Savings    54.21%

WEGMAN'S
OOP  $58.15
Value  $82.21
Savings    29.27%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $179.77

Qs/Ads  $178.89

Value  $358.66

Savings  49.88%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 73.25% and Shursave Markets at 54.34%.  My worst savings rate was at Wegman's at 29.27%.

I shopped at 9 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July..........$433.75

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales...$413.41

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$847.16

TOTAL Savings of ................................48.80%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July.....$433.75
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1411.43
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.........$977.68
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items........69.27%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
July was almost on target spending wise.  I gave myself an extra $50 over my $400 budget since Eldest son was home for 5 days so we didn't have to "skimp" on dishes he likes.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went Up by 3.88% in July 2018 to 69.27% compared to June's 65.39% savings average.
The free stuff from Rite-Aid skewers my averages but without R-A I am at 48.80% savings.  So even without R-A we are doing well on the "savings" front.

With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $3071.08 on food/toiletries in 2018 which is a 72.78% savings rate for the year so far and averages out to $438.73 spent per month in 2018.  We are heading back down toward my $400 a month average target again and that's a good thing.

LOOKING AHEAD To August.......
Keeping with a $400 food budget for August.  No company is coming and no trips are planned.  The Daughter will be out of town for a few days but otherwise things will be "steady as she goes" here with the grocery spending.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in July?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy