You Goat Me Good! A Mini-Rant

Some things just get my goat and it's time to get them off my chest.

Offers for credit cards like this one.........

The "Luxury Card".
Here at Chez Sluggy we do put all our bills whenever possible on one of our credit cards(for the points and then we pay it off every month).
This offer is a Black Mastercard for folks with excellent credit scores and high incomes who also travel by air a lot(something I don't do).

While we do have excellent credit, we no longer have what I'd call a high income being retired and living on an annuity and 401K monies.

These credit card folks don't know me very well, offering me the "honor" of having their credit card. And  I would get to pay for that "honor" to the tune of $495 a year....just to have this card??!!
Quelle Ridicule!!

*  We have two newspapers in this area.  I just discovered that they don't each carry the same coupons in the Sunday inserts....WAAAH!!!???

I bought my usual newspaper when the P&G inserts came out in the November 25th edition and the competitions newspaper.
Here are the identical inserts from each paper..........

But look inside.......

One insert has 2 Tide coupons and the other has just the artwork, no Tide coupons and the link to the website where you can print 1 coupon(which is valid for only 1 day after printing it).
WTF?!?!

Why does one newspaper insert carry the Tide Qs and the other one not? I wonder what other coupons are missing in the inserts of the newspaper I usually buy?!?

*  Why do grocery stores carry stupid crap at Christmas?  I guess it's the never ending need to find ways to take money out of your wallet, right?
Look at this winner I found for sale at Weis(PMITA)Markets...........

A pukey green colored(more teal than it looks)with sequined palm trees and a flamigo wearing a santa hat on it.
And even better, the string of Xmas lights on the flamingo actually LIGHT UP! lololz
So tacky......
I guess if you wanted to win the prize at an Ugly Sweater Party you could shell out $20 and wear this.

Ok, that's sufficient garbage to chew on...........

I am off to wrap some gifts and write some Christmas cards.

What's on your agenda today?

Sluggy

Wellness Wednesday at Rite-Aid

Last Wednesday was the first Wednesday of December thus it was Wellness Wednesday and the One-Day Coupons were used to plan my shops that day.
The L2CQ one-day Qs were stacking with a copy of the same paper Qs in the store.
I used those Qs to pick up some things we need/can use as well as utilized the hack that let's you buy gift cards up to the amount of your coupons used per transaction.

Here is what I got on Daughter's card........

1 x Finish dishwasher tabs on sale=$4.99
1 x Vaseline lotion on sale=$6.63
2 x Lipton decaf tea bags 20% Wellness disc.=$6.98
2 x Foster Grant sunglasses BOGOFree=$15.99
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 80ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$3.99
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 120ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$5.59
1 x Emergen-C packets 20% Wellness disc.=$11.19
2 x Werther's sugar-free candies on sale=$4.00
2 x Reese's pb cups on sale=$1.00
SubTotal......$60.36

1 x TGI Friday's GC=$25.00
1 x Red Robin GC=$25.00

Coupons Used
1 x Finish WWQ=$1.00
1 x Finish L2CQ=$1.00
1 x Vaseline WWQ=$1.00
1 x Vaseline L2CQ=$1.00
1 x Vaseline L2CQ=.50¢
2 x Lipton WWQ=$4.00
1 x Lipton L2CQ=$2.00
1 x Foster Grant WWQ=$10.00
1 x Foster Grant L2CQ=$10.00
1 x Daylogic 80ct. pads WWQ=$2.00
1 x Daylogic 80ct. pads L2CQ=$2.00
1 x Daylogic 120ct. pads WWQ=$3.00
1 x Daylogic 120ct. pads L2CQ=$3.00
1 x Emergen-C WWQ=$4.00
1 x Emergen-C L2CQ=$4.00
2 x Werther's sugar-free WWQ=$3.00
1 x Emergen-C peelieQ=$2.00
Coupon Total......$54.00

$60.36-$54.00=$6.36+$1.19tax=$7.55 paid with Bonus Cash(+ the GCards cost $50 in BC too).
I earned back $13.00 in new BC($1 Reese's, $3 Vaseline, $1 wyb2 Lipton and $8 wyb$50 select GCs).

The $1.50/1 L2CQ for the candy didn't come off the card and the .50¢/1 Vaseline L2CQ was unexpected(as was the $2 Peelie Q on the Emergen-C item)
4 of the WWQs wouldn't scan so the asst. manager had to put them in manually.

Then I did this on my card.......

1 x Finish dishwasher tabs on sale=$4.99
1 x Vaseline lotion on sale=$6.63
2 x Lipton tea bags 20% Wellness disc.=$6.58
2 x Foster Grant sunglasses BOGOFree=$19.99
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 80ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$3.99
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 120ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$5.59
1 x Emergen-C packets 20% Wellness disc.=$11.19
2 x RS sugar-free candy 20% Wellness disc.=$4.46
2 x Hershey's bars on sale=$1.00
SubTotal......$64.42

1 x Domino's GC=$25.00

Coupons-same as before except this time the $4 Emergen-C L2CQ and the $1.50 RS sugar-free L2CQ didn't come off(and no 50¢ Vaseline unexpected L2CQ this time so $47 in Qs made it $17.42...tack on $1.04 tax total was $18.46+ $25 GC=$43.46 paid for with Bonus Cash
I earned back $10 in new BC($1 Hershey's, $2 wyb2 Lipton, $3 Vaseline and $5 wyb $25 Domino's GC).

Lastly I did this on my son's card..........

1 x Finish dishwasher tabs on sale=$4.99
2 x Lipton tea bags 20% Wellness disc.=$6.58
2 x Foster Grant sunglasses BOGOFree=$15.99*not pictured*
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 80ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$3.99
1 x Daylogic make-up remover pads 120ct. 20% Wellness disc.=$5.59
2 x RS sugar-free candy 20% Wellness disc.=$4.46
2 x Reese's pb cups on sale=$1.00
SubTotal......$42.60

Same old, same old Qs were used so $5.20+$.44¢tax=$5.64 after Qs paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned $2 in new BC($2 wyb2 Lipton).

I might take back an Emergen-C and some sugar-free candy since the L2CQs didn't come off and I "paid" more than I wanted to for those items.  Whatever.  It was a pretty good trip either way.  ;-)

Sluggy


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the December 7th Edition

Let's see what frugal goodness happened around Chez Sluggy this past week.........

*  I forgot to mention this last month--I printed out my $5 eVisa card.

This was earned from buying 4 SC Johnson items(Glade/Ziploc/etc)in one transaction earlier in November.

*  Speaking of rebates I earned $46.20 in variousIbotta cash rebates this past week.  $24 of that was for those Neutrogena lip balms(6 x $4)and a bit was on Olay(2 x $3)and waiting for that particular rebate to appear back on my list of eligible ones.  A small piece was for items bought at Weis(Life cereal and Ajax dish soap).  I earned $1 on SavingStar also. 
A good week for rebating here! ;-)

*  I found some money!

Waiting in the drive-thru line at Mickey D's on Sunday I spied 2 pennies next to the building.  The line was very sloooooow so I jumped out of the car and picked them up to give them a good, loving home. lolz
Not much change found it's way to me this week.....oh, well.  Some weeks are like that.

*  I got the Weis Friday Freebie item last Friday............

A block of cream cheese which is much appreciated in this house.  ;-)
Remember to check your grocery account at whichever store you frequent to see if there is a freebie you can use this week!

*  The clearance pumpkin flavored cereals at Weis(PMITA)Markets that were marked down to $1.88 per box are now $1 per box at my store, which means after stacked WeisQ/ManuQs they are FREE!
No photo but I picked up 6 boxes for free this past week.  Woohoo!

*  I got these items for .29¢ each at Weis recently as well..........

Unilever is revamping their Suave brands website and they sent me a link to a page of Suave Qs to print.  One Q was for .75¢ off their body wash and Weis had it on sale for $1.79 per bottle.  My Qs doubled to $1.50 so I got each of these for .29¢ each.  Not free but almost.  ;-)

*  Here's just some of the stuff I pillaged from Rite-Aid this week.........

I'll post about all the goodies I've gotten so far this week in a later post. 
Today and Saturday R-A is doing another 30% off Friends and Family Sale around here.  Not sure if this one is nationwide or not but I got a coupon for it on my first trip there this week.

*  Hubs and I finally got up to the Christmas Tree Shops in the city North of us this week.
I saw this on the shelf...........

$9.99 for a 5 oz. bottle of real Vanilla extract.  I didn't buy it.
Tell me....is this a good price nowadays for vanilla?  I have no clue.

*  I hit Dollar General last Saturday to get some discounted gift cards.

The deal was 15% off if you bought Cracker Barrel/DQ/Burger King/Red Lobster and maybe Ruby Tuesdays?
I bought $100 worth total so paid $85 for all.  Daughter's birthday is coming up this month and she wants to go to Red Lobster so that was a no-brainer. 

*  Speaking of discounted gift cards, I also sent for $300 worth of Target gift cards and paid $270 for those.  I don't shop Target much and I usually use free gift cards there acquired using credit card points but I couldn't pass up this deal.

* Not sure if you can still do this......if you have a Kmart near you(that is not closing)and you are a Shop Your Way Rewards customer, there is/was a $5 off $5 purchase coupon available via text message(the Q expires today-12/7/2018).  Go read about it HERE.
I loaded it to my phone and will go down to Kmart today if possible.

That's about it for me this week.
Remember to heed the advice of the "World's Most Frugal Man".............

Tell us what frugal wins y'all had this week!  8-)



Sluggy

To-Do List.....November Edition

Let's check out how our November To-Do List turned out......


NOVEMBER

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything paid off this month that was due.  Top of the list, Always!

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE

First off I read this one..........

Magruder's Cruiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood

This story revolves around an abandoned English girl involved with a disgruntled menage of circus freaks during a plague outbreak in turn-of-the-20th century Coney Island.
How could this not be enjoyable, right?? lolz

It held my attention from the first page to the end. A GREAT light escapist read!  It had everything--action, very interesting characters, suspense, fantasy, drama, pathos, comedy.

I also read.............

"9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America...and four who tried to save her"  by Brion McClanahan

Keep in mind that this author is a conservative as far as "politics" go.  I think every American should pick this book up and give it a read with an open mind.  He's not just some political hack talking through his hat here.  
He challenges the current though of most Americans on what makes a President "Great".  Using the Constitution as a yardstick many(if not all)of the POTUS that folks look up to as the Great Ones are not. 
 They are men who have expanded the role of the POTUS to something it was NOT meant to be and have grown government to the epic proportions it has amassed today.  It all began to go wrong back during George Washington's second term according to Mr. McClanahan--from the rise of political parties to populism to imperialistic Presidents.
The author has a small section on 4 of the Presidents who tried to get our system back on track, though none of these 4 are more current than the 30th POTUS.

This book will challenge most peoples thoughts on the true role of POTUS and how the 9 talked about have taken us from the Founding Fathers and our Republic to the sad state of affairs this country is currently experiencing.

* List items on eBay  FAIL  I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on eBay this month.  Too much going on I guess.  I will try to sell a few things on our local FB site in December.

* Get out/Wash Holiday Dishes  DONE  Washed and used and have been put away again.

* Make Turkey Day menu  DONE  The menu turned out to be turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, Lula rolls, cranberry "glop", as well as whole berry sauce, green bean casserole, honey glazed carrots, pumpkin pie w/whipped cream.  Nom Nom Nom

* finish Turkey Day shopping  DONE  Got all the food bought plus some extra cheap items with my Weis Points....a turkey breast, a ham and a huge Stouffer's lasagna(now all residing in the freezer).

* Cook Thanksgiving Meal  DONE  And everyone ate well.

The nephew even brought flowers and wine for dinner! 

* Hold Giveaways  DONE

Giveaway #1

Giveaway #2

* Mail Giveaways  DONE  Both were mailed and received and I thank both Janet and Angie for letting me know their boxes of goodies arrived safely.  8-)))

* Clean the House for Company  DONE  Most of what needed doing got done.  Hubs even scrubbed the kitchen floor for me, on his hands and knees(which is something I can no longer do).

* Put together Food Bank Donation  DONE

* Take Food Bank Donation to FB  DONE   Mid month Hubs helped me take a car load of toiletries, laundry detergent and dog/cat food up to the local food bank at a church in town.

* Buy and Hang Bathroom Blinds  DONE  This is something Hubs got a bee in his bonnet about in November, though we've needed new blinds on the master bath window since we had the room redone 2 years ago.  ;-)  He finally went up to Lowe's and bought blinds and put them up.

* Buy and Hang Kitchen Blinds  DONE  While Hubs was buying blinds I suggested we replace the old blind in the kitchen window too.  We've had the same ratty old bamboo shade on the window since moving here over 18 years ago.  It was beginning to show it's age and get moldy(bleck!)so it had to go!

We got white faux woods blinds and they are much better than what they replaced!

* Arrange Secret Santa Exchange  DONE  While Elder son was home for 2 days we did the drawing of names.  I nagged the 4 of them to get their wish lists to me and send a master list to everyone by email this past Sunday.  Now it's outta my hands!lolz

* Fix Doorbells  DONE  Another long deferred home repair.  Our doorbells haven't worked for 10 years or so.  While Hubs was up at Lowe's he picked up parts to replace both doorbells.
It was a small and quick fix and had I know it was so easy I would have handled that long before now!

* Finish Saving Seeds  DONE sort of......

I got the bulk of the Morning Glory seed pods picked, dried, crumbled so I can blow off the hulls and clean seeds saved.
But with all the rain and then a foot of snow early in mid-November a still have a big clump of vines/pods on the deck table to pick through but with the weather that isn't going to happen until early Spring.
I still got quite a bit of seed saved anyway.

* Purge Inserts  DONE  

You can see I only have about 10 inserts now.  I'll go through them again in December to get ready for the January inserts which are usually copious and thick at the beginning of the new year.

* Clean my Desk (EEK!)  FAIL

What.
A. 
Mess.
It's been a min-mess for months.  So many things going on where I need paperwork handy.  I'll get a few paper issues dealt with and filed away in December so the condition can be upgraded to "Fair" on this patient. lolz

* Host Eldest and GF for 2 Days  DONE

Son's GF had to work on Thanksgiving Day(Thank you Mount Vernon!)so son took off a coule days of work and they came to visit us the weekend before Thanksgiving and then to GF's parent's house in NJ for 2 days and then back to VA.  A quick visit but it was enjoyable.
I have to say that this GF is a much better fit for our son.  ;-)

* Go Through Xmas Gift Box  FAIL
With everything going on here and company before Thanksgiving I really didn't have the room or brain cells to pull out the Xmas gift box yet and contemplate all that entails. I pretty much know what has been bought this year and hiding in that box so this didn't put me behind of Xmas shopping to let that box stay put for a couple extra weeks.
The box is, as of this writing, in the dining room awaiting sorting and wrapping of it's contents.  


The only think I wish I gotten to that I didn't was to launch a few eBay listings. A little extra cash coming from selling items would have been nice but not at the expense of trying to do too much and stress myself out so I have made peace with my list and what got done/didn't get done.

Did you have a To-Do List in November?
Tell us how you did knocking off the items on your list! 8-)
Sluggy

2018 Income & Spending Report......the November Edition

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 November 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for November......
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 November in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of November with?.......$260.35

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in November---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $381.61

Total "Income" for November......$5413.25


Expenses in November---

* Healthcare Premium for November was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in November came to $3339.42
Total Expenses....$5152.90

Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into November was $468.37. No irregular bills were paid out of the Sinking Fund goes into December at $468.37.  We instead paid for the semi-annual car insurance bill due in November from the monthly income and did not take a  quarterly 401K withdrawal to cover it.


We went into October with $24,402.59 in the Slush Fund.
Add in November's overage of $260.35 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $24,662.94 going into December.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this November, 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 September.(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $4.49 lower than last month.
*  The c/c bill was up $445.56 than in October.
*  The electric bill was $70.99 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in October.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals was the same amount as last month.
.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The gas card bill was $38.10 higher than last month
*  There was a $89.88 charge card bill on my Visa card this month.

The Food Budget costs for November 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 November in the black with $260.35 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into December standing at $468.37.

FINAL THOUGHTS on November---
No quarterly 401K withdrawal meant November was going to be tight since we were going to pay the car insurance out of reg. income instead of the Sinking Fund. No other big bills except the credit card bill.  Seeing as the food spending is put on the c/c, as well as the cell phone bill, that accounts for  almost $600 of the c/c bill for November.  Thinking of it that way makes it feel like less of a large bill.


THOUGHTS going forward into December 2018----
December.......let's see what's coming up.
Normal WAM withdrawal this month.
Normal or lower than normal food spending planned.
The credit card will be high next month....read "Christmas" costs and I went a little nuts buying discounted gift cards to use in 2019. ;-)

So how was your November financially?
  

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