Frugal Friday......the October 12th Edition

Here are a few frugal wins we had this week.......

*  I did very little grocery shopping this past week.  Trying to eat down the freezer and pantry instead.

*  Here's my score from finding money this past week........

.49¢ in assorted coins.  Kim has a bit more we found jointly.  Kim also beat me at the finding change game on the trip. She has no shame and will do ANYTHING to pick up a coin! lolz

* While out shopping with Kim on Sunday I took her to a local donut place.  It was almost time for the shop to throw out the morning's made donuts so we got a free dozen for buying a dozen.  WooHoo! 

Those puppies didn't last very long with Kim around.....hehehe

*  No Weis Freebie last week because we weren't in town here.  The kids didn't buy any groceries while we were gone even though I left them some money.  Win-win!

*  All this was plundered from Rite-Aids in 3 states last week.......

Grand total spent was $6.38 in Bonus Cash, no actual money was harmed in the making of these deals.  ;-)

*  Sunday instead of taking Kim and Joel out for dinner, I spent $5.15 at Weis and made dinner.  I also turned a day old bakery 50% off French bread loaf into French Toast for breakfast the next morning before they left for Philly.

*  Used the weekend and off-peak hours to do laundry.....and boy! did we have a LOT of laundry to do!! lolz

* I picked the last of the basil on Thursday before the frost that was expected that night........

It's in the oven now drying.

* Went to my semi-annual dental appointment for a cleaning.  No cavities so there will be no co-pays.
Go me!  I also loaded up on freebies while I was there........

5 x toothpastes
4 x mouth rinse
13 x $1/1 Qs for floss and rinse


That's about it for around Chez Sluggy.
What frugal wins do you have this past week?

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Shopping on Vacation

We hit Rite-Aid stores in 3 different states last week.

This was bought on Cape Cod.......

2 x Hello Toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.=$11.18 +.69¢ tax=$11.87 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $10 in new BC so spent down that card by $1.87.

In Maine and Vermont all the stuff below was bought.
We hit a R-A in Maine on Wellness Wednesday but it was a R-A that was turning into a Walgreens gosh darn it! so no Wellness Wednesday coupons for us.  *sad face*
I finished up getting to $40 in goodies at a R-A in Vermont on the way home.

Here's everything I bought at those two stores......

2 x Tums sugar-free on sale BOGO50%=$8.98
2 x Sensodyne toothpaste on sale BOGO50%=$10.93
1 x Paradontax toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.=$5.59
2 x Hershey's gold bags on sale=$7.00
1 x Spaghettio's on sale=.99¢
1 x Clairol hair dye 20% Wellness disc.=$6.79
SubTotal.......$40.28

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 Tums sugar-free R-A receiptQ=$4.00
2 x .75¢/1 Tums product IPQ=$1.50
1 x $2/1 Tums L2CQ(this came off too!)=$2.00
2 x $1.50/1 Sensodyne IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1.25 Paradontax IPQ=$1.25
1 x $2/1 Paradontax L2CQ=$2.00
2 x $1.50/1 Hershey Gold IPQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Clairol hair dye L2CQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.......$19.75

$40.28-$19.75-$20.53+ $1.98 tax=$22.51 paid with Bonus Cash
I earned back $15 in new BC and $3 cash back on Ibotta(Clairol)so this all "cost" me $4.51(and almost half that was sales tax grrrr).
If I had gone to a R-A with the WWQs on wednesday I would have gotten an additional $4 off in Qs and paid .51¢ in BC instead of $4.51.
*whomp whomp*

Oh well.....you change it up and punt when out and not in your own store/element.

Kim did well buying bunches of Clairol hair color getting her $15 BC back and then getting $10 *I think* back on Ibotta too. 8-)

Sluggy

Grocery Shopping Before We Left For Maine

Some deals I got at Weis(PMITA)Markets, the week before we left on our trip.

2 x Honest Teas on sale=$2.00
1 x Cape Cod chips on sale=$3.00
2 x Perdue chicken on sale=$9.94
3 x Kraft Expertly Paired cheese on sale=$6.00
2 x OM Deli Meats on sale=$5.34
1 x Finlandia cheese dip on sale=$2.49
1 x Drake's fruit pies on sale=$2.00
I can't find the receipt now but I had coupons as follows-2 x $1.50 off on the Perdue, $1.25 off on 1 Kraft cheese and OM lunchmeat, $1.50 off the other OM lunchmeat, $1.10 off the Drake's, and $1.50 off the Finlandia dip with Qs so $22.42 after Qs OOP.

I also got back $5.75 on Ibotta (for the cheese x 3, the tea, the chips, the taco night bonus and the $1 Sept. bonus)so $16.67 after rebates.

Also.....
4 x Kellogg's cereals on sale($1.99)=$7.96
I used 4 x $1/1 Kellogg's cereal Qs from my Kellogg's points account so each box cost me .99¢.
Then I got $2 back on SavingStar for buying 4 Kellogg's cereals in one transaction so $1.96 for all 4 boxes. 
Altogether everything in both photos came to $18.63 after sales/coupons/rebates.  8-)

I also went to Dollar General to use to $5 oyno Catalina I got from buying Gain there earlier in September.

The 5 non-food items were part of a buy 5 select items and get $1 off each automatically.
1 x Kleenex on sale=$4.00
2 x Pine Sol on sale=$4.00
2 x Glade candles on sale=$6.00
1 x Cranberry sauce=$1.00
1 x 5lb. Flour=$2.00 *not pictured*
SubTotal.......$17.00

Coupons Used
2 x .75¢/1 Pine Sol Qs=$1.50
1 x $1/3 Digital DG Q for the Kleenex=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Glade Digitial DG Q for the candles=$1.00
Instant $5 off on 5 items=$5.00
1 x $5 Cat used=$5.00
Coupon Total.....$13.50

$17.00-$13.50=$3.50 + .14¢ tax=$3.65
Not bad for all the items pictured in the last photo plus a bag of flour.  ;-)



Sluggy

To-Do List....September Update

Let's see how we did with September's To-Do List..........

SEPTEMBER

* Pay Bills  DONE  Paid in full

* Read 1, 2 Books  HALF DONE  I was on course to finish both books but I forgot to bring book #2 on the trip so didn't quite finish that one.

The book I did finish was this one........

I read Ms. Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees" last summer and liked it so when I saw this book at Ollie's I picked it up.  It is based on the life of Sarah Moore Grimké though not a straight up biography.  Ms. Kidd added a character(also based on fact but largely fictionalized)to build her tale.  
The book begins on Sarah's 11th birthday and she is given a slave of her own age as a gift.  This triggers something in Sarah and opens her eyes to the society and culture around her in Charleston, South Carolina of that time and her own sense of justice and morality.  The book then follows the intertwined lives of Sarah and her slave, Hetty, as well as Hetty's mother, as they grow and live in the years leading up to the War Between the States and beyond.

I felt a kinship to Sarah, as I too grew up in the South, not in the 1800's but in the 1960's, where I saw much injustice and inequality myself, in the society and in my own family.  I felt out of place and time among my family and those around me.  
I had a similar experience as Sarah, on my own 10th birthday, when I was not allowed by my parents to invite a classmate of mine to my birthday party, because she was black.  This triggered in me, like Sarah's birthday experience did in her, a consciousness and dissonance of the world around me.

I give this book 3 stars and it's worth a look.

* Clean House  DONE  While Kim may not agree with this we did get a LOT of cleaning done in the house. ;-)

* Move Some $  FAIL  I am still waiting on Hubs to sign off on moving some $. sigh

* Start Organizing Items to Sell  DONE  I've got items in tubs in the den and living room, awaiting weighing and then listing.  I still need to go through the diaper packs I have left and list those in the local site.  I'll go live with listings later in October.

* Purge Q Inserts  DONE  Got the coupon inserts whittled down to what hasn't expired yet.  Go me! ;-)  I also purged my coupon pencil case while on the trip.

* Get Rid of Landline  FAIL  Hubs doesn't feel comfortable yet with ditching the landline.  I told him to at least get rid of the long distance component but he's not done anything yet. sigh.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE  Not only did I hold 1 Giveaway but I threw caution to the wind and held TWO Giveaways in September.  Just call me a wild and crazy slug......

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  Everything got mailed and received while I was away. rah.

* Put Garden to Bed  FAIL  I got most of the garden cleaned up but ran out of time before we left for New England.  I figured I'd come home to everything still out there being dead and such but it's been unusually warm here while we were away(and still now that I am back)and some plants are still hanging in there(I've even got two teeny tiny Japanese eggplants growing again!).  The garden will definitely get finished up and put to bed in October.

* Finish Trip Plans  DONE  One last minute motel changed but all the plans got finished and mostly came to fruition.

* Pack for Trip  DONE  I forgot 2 things(1 meds, 1 book)but other than that the packing was great.  Too bad we didn't have room in the car for more Diet Coke and water bottles.  8-)))

* Go on Trip  DONE  We survived 10 days with Kim(just barely). hehehe

Too bad this harpoon cannon wasn't loaded or I could have taken Kim out before she beat me at finding change on the ground during this trip.  Arrrrrgh!


How did you do on your September goals?


Sluggy

2018 Income & Spending Report......September 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 September 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for September......
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 September in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of September with?.......$1,748.61

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

* 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 September of $615.69 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $380.82
* A $34.99 refund on a Woman Within order
* Two stock dividends totaling $99.12

Total "Income" for September......$6,162.26

# 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 September---

* Healthcare Premium for September was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in September came to $2600.17

Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into September was $3209.48.  The school taxes were due and paid-$2220.84-as well as the Long Term Care policy premiums were due and paid-$520.27, so outgo of $2741.11. The Sinking Fund goes into October at $468.37.


We went into September with $22,251.76 in the Slush Fund.
Add in September's overage of $1748.61 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $24,000.37 going into October.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this September, 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 August.(Within $1 or so).
*  The electric bill was $13.72 lower than last month.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in August.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $4.55 higher than last month.
*  The c/c bill was up $937.82 higher than in August.
*  The gas card bill was $33.39 higher than last month.
*  There was a $13.12 charge card bill on Hubs' Discover.

The Food Budget costs for September 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 September in the black with $1748.61 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into October standing at $468.37.

FINAL THOUGHTS on September---
It was a fair month in terms of low spending/bills.  We spent some money on eating out and I paid some charges for our Fall trip on this CC bill cycle.

THOUGHTS going forward into October 2018----This month there are no irregular bills due.
The WAM withdrawal will be the same in October, $200.  The c/c will be pretty high due to the trip.  There are no irregular bills due this month.
We only have car insurance semi-annual payment in November and the quarterly Long Term Care premiums in December which combined comes to approx. $1600.  Instead of making a 4th quarter 401K withdrawal in October we'll probably just cash flow these two bills when they come up, taking some money out of the Slush Fund balance to cover them.

So how was your September financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in September?
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