1st Quarter Review.....Small Finances

The first quarter of 2019 is in the books now.
Let's see where some of my small pots of savings look like 3 months into this year.


*  Rolled coins--$5 in dimes.  That's it.  Rolled coins have taken a big hit since Hubs stopped working for a living. lolz

*  Found Change--$22.78   So $20 of that was a Twenty dollar bill I found on the floor at Rite-Aid and haven't done anything with it yet.  ;-)

*  Refunds & Post Coupons--$75.58  Mostly Weis(PMITA)Markets and Rite-Aid.

*  Cash Rebates--
   * Ibotta--$94.03
   * SavingStar--$23.50
   * Checkout51--$31.25

Total.........$252.14 to put toward the grocery spending come December.
Not a lot, but better than a poke in the eye, right?  ;-)

Next update on the Small Financescoming at the beginning of July.


Sluggy

Being Generous While Staying Frugal

Kim and I had a conversation this past weekend.  She accused me of being generous even though I see myself as frugal and sometimes downright cheap.
Well, I do love to give gifts but I don't do "over the top" gifting.  I am frugal in that realm as in most other aspects of my life.

So when Kim and her Sissie surprised me for my 60th Birthday in January by coming here I knew I had to send them each a box of goodies when their Birthday rolled around at the end of March.  It wouldn't be as thrilling as a surprise visit but I thought I could brighten their birthdays a bit.

So I set about compiling them each a box of goodies tailored to each of their personalities while keeping an eye on the money because, well, that's how I roll.........

Since I knew I had to mail these goodies I took that cost into consideration.  Mailing stuff has gotten quite expensive if you haven't mailed anything in awhile!  My go-to box is the Priority Regional Rate A Box--you can cram quite a bit into it but the most I've had to pay to mail one of these is approx. $14(and that is clear across to the West Coast).  Regional Rate boxes may save you money if you ship Priority Mail a lot, so check them out.

First Sissie's box...........

I included a few personal grooming/toiletries in her box.....toothpaste, a nice shampoo and Neutrogena facial soap.  These things came from my Rite-Aid stash so nothing OOP.
Then two cat themed items-a tote/grocery bag and a birthday card. 
I picked up a grocery bag for each of them at JoAnn's in February as I had a coupon so they cost me less.
Sissie's bag says, "One Cat Short of Crazy". hehehe  The birthday card was also cat themed and from Dollar Tree.
The strawberry Lindt Truffles came from Rite-Aid so free.
Sissie is a coffee drinker(big time)so I pulled this nice Pfaltzgraff mug out of my stash for her......

I had gotten this mug plus another one I have since gifted to my eldest son(which is beer related)at Macy's during their Christmas sales 2 years ago.  After my $10 off any thing in the store Coupon both mugs cost me something like $1(mostly sales tax).  It was just waiting for the right person to give it to and Sissie became my victim du jour.  8-)

I also enclosed a pair of socks I found online that were perfect for Sissie!
The bottom of one sock says.......
"If You Can Read This"
and the other.....
"Bring Me A Glass of Wine"
lolz
These were the priciest item I sent but well, she is worth it....

Onward to Kim's Box..........

She's got the bigger sweet tooth of the two so she got a bag of Strawberry Lindt Truffles(that were free after sale/Q)but in addition, I put a small heart-shaped box of Russell Stover chocolates in(bought at 75% off after Valentine's Day).
Her bag from JoAnn's had a sewing theme.

Sew perfect for her.....lolz

Kim's toiletries were 2 boxes of root touch-up hair color(gotten free after sales/Bonus Cash/Qs at Rite-Aid)and a blush/shader palette(also free from Rite-Aid).  This one is a Cover Girl variety so she could try a different brand than I gave her before.
She showed the card I sent on her blog already so you know it's appropriately snarky. Her card came from Dollar Tree as well.
The snarky note cards were found at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)in early March.
I also enclosed a bag of Nestle's baking chocolate(75% off at Ollie's in February)since she is always destroying her kitchen by baking.  ;-)

The best thing is I put a loose penny in Kim's box(see it in the photo above?).  Well I don't think she noticed/found it since she hasn't said anything about it yet.  I thought that would be the first thing she'd mention when we talked on the phone......she found a penny!! lolz

Altogether I spent under $34 OOP on theses birthday boxes.
And the shipping was over 50% of that cost!

My only regret is that I couldn't mail these boxes to show up the day before their birthday and I had to give them each a heads up that they were coming so it wasn't a surprise.
But I did write on the envelope of each card that they were NOT to open anything until their actual birthday, under penalty of death!  One of them needed threatening......can you guess who??  *snort*


So call me cheap if you want for spending so little and then blogging about it.
Not everyone "gets" being frugal.

I just wouldn't be "Sluggy" if I didn't stick to a budget(or at least try to). ;-)



Sluggy

2019 Income & Spending Report......the March Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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.

Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--

* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019.  I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
                                                                                                                                                         
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired.  Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds?  Use those instead for now!

Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" 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 March report---This won't be pretty, like me. lolz

I had 2 goals for March.....
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 2019.

I can report that we finished up March in the RED. *whomp whomp*
The amount we ended the month of March with?.....-$2,845.44

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in March---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67 *
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $517.13
* Dividend income of $108.22
* Deposit into checking for M/C of $127.00
* Federal tax return of $1465.00
Total "Income" for March....$7,284.18


Expenses in March---this where it gets ugly. 8-(

* Healthcare Premium for March was $1,819.54(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in March came to $3,164.37
* Irregular Expenses in March came to $5,145.71
Total Expenses....$10,129.62

** The folks holding our retirement medical reimbursement account screwed up reimbursement and shorted us a bit a couple of months ago and are still figuring this out.

Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into March at $468.37. Nothing was paid from this fund so it goes into April at $468.37.


We went into March with $23,518.82 in the Slush Fund.
Deduct March's shortfall of $2,845.44 and the Slush Fund goes into April at $20,673.38.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this March, 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 February.(Within $2 or so).
*  The water bill was $10.25 lower than last month.
*  The electric bill was $109.10 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was $29.13 less than in February.
*  The c/c bill was $529.27 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* There was $22.80 in charges on the gas card(last month nothing was put on it.)
*  Cash withdrawals were more-WAM was the same amount but I gave the kids cash for watching Chester while we were gone and some food money they spent on take-out, so $135 more used in March.
*  Hubs had $2152.50 doctor bill(haven't met the deductible yet).
*  I had $66.05 in charges on my Amazon card.
*  I had a $206.43 Kohl's bill-bought under garments, a comforter, etc.
*  I had a $35.27 fat lady clothing company bill.
*  We paid a combined $312.00 to PA and LA-2018 state taxes.
*  County/municipal taxes for 2019 of $1,371.85 were due.
*  Annual sewage bill of $446.20 was due.
*  Long Term Care quarterly premiums of $555.41 were due.

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

It was the perfect storm of bills in March.......3 irregular bills plus a large medical bill as we hadn't met the healthcare deductible yet came to almost $5K alone.  And then there was the MASSIVE credit card statement...over $500 for vacation related charges(more coming on April's statement!eek), an EZ Pass reload of $35, $100 for June event tickets bought, Hubs spent $87 on chess equipment, $104 Birthday meal for ex-college boy, $76 spent online at JCPenney's clearance sale(I got almost ALL my 2019 Xmas shopping done there!), $137 in CBD oil for my pain management, plus the usual food spending and cellphone bill.
*sigh*

So we end March in the red with a shortfall of $2845.44, which was pulled from the Slush Fund overage, leaving the Slush Fund at $20,673.38 heading into April.
The Sinking Fund goes into April 2019 standing at $468.37 with no deposits made into it in March.

FINAL THOUGHTS on March---
I wasn't mentally prepared for it to be so much money leaking out in one month.
bleh.  I knew it would be ugly but still.........
Thankfully we had that large pile of extra cash saved up from last year so no worries.
April is time to pick myself up and soldier on financially.

THOUGHTS going forward into April 2019----
No irregular bills in April thank goodness.  Only another LTC premium and semi-annual car insurance the 2nd quarterly of the year so we should be able to sock away a bit of cash in the next 3 months plus not have to pull cash from last year's Slush Fund either.  That would be nice. 8-)
I will remain vigilant about meaningless spending in April. ;-)

So how was your March financially?
  

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


Sluggy

I'm Done!

That's it.
I am shutting this blog down.

Goodbye everyone.

I just can't do it anymore............










































APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!! hehehe

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "I'm Just Something Alright" Edition....

Saw this t-shirt in Myrtle Beach.....some days this is me(snark included).  Today be one of those days.....

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--We'll fend for ourselves when we get home after stopping at Bob Evans for lunch.

2. Monday--Leftovers/FFY

3. Tuesday--Stir-Fry Chicken w/Noodles

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--No Clue yet

6. Friday--No Clue yet
7. Saturday--No Clue yet

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself night

2. Monday--Leftovers/FFY

3. Tuesday--Stir-Fry Chicken w/Noodles

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Hungarian Goulash, Bow Tie Pasta

6. Friday--Tom and Cuke Salad + whatever everyone wanted to make themselves
7. Saturday--Grilled Steak, leftover tom and cuke salad, Baked Potato

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.
It was an odd week food wise and coming off of vacation I really didn't want to cook at all so we slapped it together. lolz

What got put into the freezer last week.....
* 1 piece of a turkey breast(Weis markdown)
* 1 pack of ground beef(Weis markdown)
* Hunk of Roast(Food Lion markdown)
* Ground Pork(Food Lion markdown)

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* Red pepper strips
* 2 bags of Chicken Pasta meal

Between 2 smallish trips to Weis, a small trip to the Shursave Market, buying 3 loaves of bread at the Bread Outlet and getting some produce at Malacari's produce market the food spending last week came to $93.96 and my March grand total came in at $356.83.
Onward and upward to April's grocery spending.  8-)

My savings percentage last week was 55.25%(without Rite-Aid trips)and March's monthly savings total came to 50.80%(w/out R-A). 

Being as it's the first of April, I have 30 more food shopping/spending days in this month.

Let's talk food waste now.  Ugh!  My daughter did a whole lot of cooking the first few days we were gone.....turkey meatloaf, turkey meatballs, a turkey casserole.  They only ate this stuff for a few days so we came home to a massive turkey casserole still in the fridge.  Add in the bits and pieces of stuff that was in the fridge when we left(a pork chop w/green bean risotto, corned beef, cabbage and carrots, sweet potato casserole, dirty rice w/chorizo, mac and cheese, etc.)that they didn't think to eat in the last 2 weeks and instead used the grocery $$ to buy take-out.  It just made me sick how much got thrown out.  We were able to salvage a bit of it thankfully.

Due to this and my daughter's revised eating plan I am rethinking what I cook and how much I make yet again.  More on that at a later time.

Leftovers going into this week....1 helping of chicken stir-fry w/noodles, 2 helpings of Goulash.

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

1. Sunday---Meatloaf, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

2. Monday-Chicken Queso skillet Casserole, Corn

3. Tuesday--Chicken Sausages, Harvard Beets, Pierogi

4. Wednesday--Birthday Meal Out

5. Thursday--Ravioli, Chicken Parm

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

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 1 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.  I'm trying to use up some pantry/freezer foodstuffs this week, including the Pierogies, Beets, Corn, Ravioli and that darn boxed chicken Queso Casserole thing. lolz

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing.  I have everything I need here.  Lots of veg and meats in the freezer.  I'll be buying milk and a few staples we are out of this week(and maybe a couple of freebies/almost freebies).

I made a Weis run Saturday which goes under my April spending which I'll start reporting on next Monday.  We ended March w/$356.83 in food spending. 

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