April To-Do List.....Update

We had a pretty long To-Do List for April so let's see how things turned(or didn't turn)out..........


*  Pay Bills--DONE  Everything got paid early or on time.

*  Read 1,2,3 Books--DONE  I had time leftover after reading my 2 books so I read a 3rd small book.

"George Washington and Benedict Arnold-A Tale of Two Patriots" by Dave R. Palmer
It's a more thorough history of the life of Benedict Arnold than any I have read before(not that there are many BA books to begin with).  It delves into his part in our American history and his intersecting history with another American Patriot that is revered today, George Washington.  You will learn many things in this book that I am sure, unless you are a American Revolutionary scholar, you didn't know and they don't teach in school about Benedict Arnold.
Did you know that George Washington thought Benedict Arnold was the best battle tested and valuable General in the Continental Army?  That had the Northern campaign of 1775 to take Quebec from the English of which Arnold helped spearhead had been successful, what was Canada at that time may have become America's 14th state?  Just a couple of nuggets of information contained in this book.
Written by a former Lt. General of the US Army and a past commander of West Point, the author Dave Palmer is well versed in and knows his territory here.

My take away from this-had Arnold's character been less flawed(who of us is perfect?)and there had been less backbiting and in fighting between and among the American military staff and the Continental Congress(even then the politicians added little to our progress!)would Arnold have become a turn coat?
It raised a lot of questions about how our history could have been different if certain dominoes hadn't fallen in the way they did.
Four thumbs up(if you like history).

"Presto!-How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales"  by Penn Jillette.
I love books by people who think outside the box and have a non-conformist outlook on life.  Jillette is funny as heck, profane and a Libertarian to boot so how could I NOT read this when I saw it at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)?!?
Besides anecdotal stories and ramblings about his life/outlook it's all about how, when faced with a life/health crisis he took his life into his own hands and make big health changes(and thus lost over 100 lbs.).  It pretty much spurned me on to take charge of my health and medical issues and attempt to make my own changes.
Even if you aren't contemplating health issues and changes it's a very interesting read.
Four thumbs up.

"You Can Stay Home With Your Kids!-100 Tips, Tricks and Ways To Make It Work On A Budget" by Erin Odom

This book took me a couple of hours to finish as there wasn't much new information here.  the author runs a blog which is highly subsidized and commercialized(her husband quit his job to help run the blog so it has to furnish a living for their family).  I don't fault her for her blog, she is doing what she has to do to make it profitable.  I just don't think her blog has much in the way to help someone else stay home with their kids.
The title-about making it work on a budget-is silly. Of course you need a budget to make this career choice work, unless your name is Gates, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, etc. and money is no object. lolz

She has filled her small book with what would be a starter's guide to being able to afford to be a full time homemaker/mother.  If you are young and wanting to be a stay-at-home-mom, this book may give you some food for thought on the subject but there is nothing really new here.
It was not applicable to me in my season of life.
I give it a one thumbs up.

*  Make Food Bank Donation--DONE

I got off my a$$ and got this done in April finally with Hubs' help.

This food bank takes toiletries, laundry detergent, paper goods, etc. too so 
I loaded them up.

Laundry and cleaning supplies

Non-perishable foods and even cookies! lolz

Some soups and even canned dog food

A few more items I pulled from the stockpile.

*  Take Food Bank Donation--DONE
We were able to take it in surreptitiously this time.  The doors were unlocked as there was some sort of Lenten weekday service starting when we went so no having to get buzzed in.  We got to be Anonymous this time.  ;-)

*  Hold Giveaways--DONE

One giveaway for non-winners

And one for previous winners and/or folks who brought in new readers.

*  Mail Giveaways--DONE  All mailed and received.

*  Work on Health Goals--DONE  I've been fine tuning what I eat and am preparing to go on an Elimination Diet of sorts later this month.  I need to "restart" my metabolism both to reduce my weight and to deal with diet issues with my HS condition.  We are ready to start this adventure once Daughter leaves on the 19th.

*  Fill 6 Months of Giveaways Boxes--DONE

 6 boxes ready to fill.....

And 6 months of giveaways ready to go!  I have since filled another 3 boxes too. ;-)

*  Plan Home Projects Timeline--SORT OF DONE
It's impossible to plan EVERYTHING that needs doing at this time so we have planned out(and time lined)the first 4 or 5 projects with the steps necessary to completion arranged in order.
These Home Improvements/Repairs will be ongoing for a while.
The first items to complete are.....1-Daughter's ex-bedroom, 2-Ex-College Boy's ex-bedroom, 3-Hubs man cave room.  Also involved will be moving items out of the master bedroom and walk-in closet and once those are moved the master bedroom and closet to can addressed.  Sluggy's big ol' game of Dominoes begins!

*  Email a Company--DONE
On the way back home from SC in late March we stopped in Chambersburg, PA for a late lunch at a Bob Evan's(love me some Bobs).  Our waiter was really GREAT(the right mix of personable/friendly/above competent)! I got his name and made a point of emailing the company about him and what an outstanding job he does.  I did get an email back from Customer Services.  Here's the bulk of what they replied.

"How nice of you to share such kind remarks about Terrance!  It is always an encouragement to our employees when they receive positive comments from our guests.  Your compliments have been shared with the restaurant and the director of operations so proper recognition can be given."

I hope that "proper recognition" included some financial recognition(not just a pat on the back).   They would REALLY NOT want to loose him to another employer.  I hope they thanked Terrance well.

Also contacted was Rite-Aid Corporate about a candy bar I bought down in VA that looked like this when I opened it...........

That white thing on the left in the bar is a MAGGOT!  The holes were were it had eaten out the almonds in the candy bar while sealed in the package.  
ick

I did a chat w/a CS person online and they said a "team leader" would contact me.  The next day an asst. manager of the store where I bought this called to apologize and said I could get my money back if I came into the store.  Well, I live 375 miles from that store so I said no, I can't come in.  SUPPOSEDLY they were going to contact me again and mail me a check.  That was about a month ago and I have heard nothing.


*  Purge Garage--SORT OF DONE
We went through everything out there and pulled out all of Daughter's crap(except for the dreadmill)oveer the course of April.  It's sitting in my living room waiting to leave now. yay!
We still need to finish purging the rest of the stuff out there over the course of the Summer.

*  Clean Garage--DONE
Well it WAS clean but then Ex-College Boy started cleaning out his room and he's strewn stuff out there.  Once we get around to purging the rest of the garage the cleaning will happen in earnest.

*  Dental Appt.--DONE
Teeth are cleaned and checked and no cavities.  Go me.

*  Prepare Garden Bed--DONE

We picked up more top soil in April.  We raked a bunch of leaves into the fire pit and once the ashes were cooled we put them in the garden bed. The bags of fertilizer I got last Fall at Walmart for $1 each were mixed in with the ash, top soil and all was tilled.  A photo of the result with Cinnamon the dog supervising pictured above. 
The planting will happen in the coming weeks.

*  Cash in Savings Bond--DONE
Bond was presented for redemption the first trip to the bank we made last month.  No point in keeping the thing once it matured, right?  Get it somewhere else it can earn interest again.

*  Purge Q Envelope--DONE
I always purge the coupon envelope(the one that accompanies to the store)either at the beginning or the end of the month.  The Q inserts on the shelf didn't need purging in April but will get purged in May.

In the end it was a pretty successful April and we ticked off lots of items on our list.
Did you get a lot done on your To-Do List in April?  Tell us about your successes!


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Green Bean Boy" Edition....

I made a big batch of fresh green beans for Easter dinner.  As we had a ton of them leftover after dinner and Chester is always trying to get me to give him something I am eating I gave the boy a bean.  I figured he'd lick it like the Daughter's dog would and spit it out but he ate it and LOVED it!  Now you ask him if he wants green beans and he turns circles and begs for them.
Such a funny dog.....lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizza, Salad for those that wants it

2. Monday--Mac and Cheese w/Ham and BBQ), leftover Green Beans, leftover rolls

3. Tuesday--More Pizza, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Fajitas, Rice, Beans

5. Thursday--Ham and Beans, leftover rolls

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner(maybe)

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizza, Salad for those that wants it

2. Monday--Mac and Cheese w/Ham and BBQ), leftover Green Beans, leftover rolls

3. Tuesday--leftovers or Fend for Yourself

4. Wednesday--leftovers or FFY

5. Thursday--Chicken Fajitas

6. Friday--frozen Pizzas
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 2 nights of home cooked dinners,  1 night of  frozen food heated, 4 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.  

I wasn't feeling well some nights so the family was on their own or I bought ready made frozen pizza.  (I think this bunch could eat pizza every night for dinner for a month and not complain!lol)  I did manage 2 home cooked "real" meals plus remaking some leftovers on Monday but otherwise it was "find your own dinner".  Daughter went out a lot last week(her classes are over and she only has 2 finals to do this week so it was party time)and Ex-College Boy was on a schedule of his own so didn't eat here much.

What got put into the freezer last week.....

* 6 bags of Chinese ready-to-eat entrees

* 3 frozen pizzas

* 6 bags of veggies

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....

* 3 frozen pizzas

* 1 pack of chicken breast

Two trips to Weis plus I hit the Dollar General 50% off clearance sale on Saturday, which brought the food spending last week to $140.28 and my May total to $140.28. Some weeks I go high with the spending, it is what it is.  I did earn $20.45 in Ibotta cash back on some of the Weis items so that's something.  ;-)

My savings percentage last week was 51.05%(without Rite-Aid trips)and May's monthly savings total came to 51.05%(w/out R-A). 

I have 25 more food shopping/spending days in May.  I won't be shopping as much the last half of the month so my food expenses are going to be heavy the first half of the month.
With this food plan I am following the end of May I am laying in goods now that Hubs can cook/reheat for himself as I won't be cooking for him(and EXCB will be on his own for meals and is capable of feeding himself.)

Leftovers going into this week....ham, rolls, mac and cheese, frozen pizza, fajita filling.

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

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself

2. Monday--Ham and Beans, leftover rolls

3. Tuesday--Teriyaki Beef w/Veggies, Rice

4. Wednesday--Veggie Lasagna, Salad

5. Thursday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries

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

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 3 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
We are going to be using up the Easter foods(ham, mac/cheese, green beans)and putting leftover bbq in the freezer.
Tonight the ham bone/leftover meat gets remade into a pot of ham/beans and that finishes up the Easter leftovers.

What needs buying for this menu?
I've got everything here already for the meals I have planned.  I may go back for about $20 worth of foods this week.  I am hoping(unless we go to the Amish grocery outlet this week)to keep the spending low this week.(Famous last words, right?)

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  

2019 Income & Spending Report.......the April 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 April report---

I had 2 goals for April......
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 April in the BLACK!
The amount we ended the month of April with?.....$414.19

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $573.85
* Blogging Revenue of $100.51
* Deposit into checking for M/C charges reimbursed of $100.82
Total "Income" for April....$5846.07


Expenses in April---

* Healthcare Premium for April was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2611.31
* Irregular Expenses in April came to $971.90
Total Expenses....$5431.88

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this April, 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 March.(Within $2 or so).
*  The water bill was $7.83 lower than last month.
* The c/c bill was $286.76 less than in March.
*  The electric bill was $87.60 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in March.
*  The WAM/cash withdrawals were $185 lower than the previous month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* There was a $14.21 higher charge on the gasoline credit card.
*  Hubs had $641.16 doctor bill(we have now met the deductible for 2019).
*  I had $223.07 in charges on my Amazon card.
*  I had a $31.67 fat lady clothing company bill.
*  I had a $76.00 dental bill for a filling repair.

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

So we end April in the black with a $414.19.  Added to the Slush Fund going into April at $20,673.38 makes it go into May at $21,087.57.

The Sinking Fund goes into May 2019 standing at $468.37 since nothing was paid out of it in April.

FINAL THOUGHTS on April---
It was a good, lower spending month.  We mostly sat home and didn't spend out of the ordinary this month.  No irregular bills were due.  We finally hit our healthcare deductible OOP so lower medical charges going forward.

THOUGHTS going forward into May 2019----
May should be pretty low in the spending department too.
Electric will be lower as the heat is off.
No more big eye doc bills for the rest of 2019.
The c/c bill should be much lower than in April.
The only "ugly" bill is the semi-annual car insurance bill is due in May and Ex-College Boy pays his cut which is about 1/3 of that bill.
The daughter graduates and moves out so electric/water/food consumption will go down going forward.
We still have not needed to make a 401K withdrawal in 2019 to this point.  We still have a nice cushion of Slush Funding so 401K can sit and make us interest. 8-)))

So how was your April financially?
  

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

Be Careful What You Wish For....

I know someone who decided to do a DNA test.  I had already done her family tree(the paper trail)for her and a distant ancestor on the tree is supposedly Native American.

The reason she wanted to do the DNA testing was to "find" her Native American ancestry.  She wanted to find that ancestry so she could apply to a tribe and be among the folks who could reap some sort of benefit(casino monies, health benefits, etc.).

First off, there is no record of this NA ancestor recorded in any tribal roles that anyone can find.  The fact that she "is" NA is only through family stories-both in this person's family and I have found it attached to other family trees that this ancestor is in. 

This direct ancestor is a 3 x great grandparent of the person who wants to know and she was born circa. 1810.  Having a lone NA ancestor stretching back 200 or so years ago means that chances of having any of their actual DNA recombining into what got handed down over 4 generations to her is a slim chance at best.

The only sure fire(easy)way to know you have NA ancestry is if it's your Y DNA line(your father's father's father's on back line)or your mitochondrial DNA line(your mother's mother's mother's on back line)puts you into a NA haplogroup.  If you are lucky enough, being male and your Y haplogroup is Q or C with certain mutations or being a female and your mtDNA haplogroup is X2 then you have proof easily of NA ancestry even if your ethnicity breakdown doesn't show any % of NA ancestry.
Ok this is getting too complicated but you get my drift(I hope).

We can narrow down(if this ancestor was indeed Native)potential tribes she could have belonged to according to where this family in question was from.  Ancestor in question was born in North Carolina so she could have been  Chowanoke, Croatoan, Hatteras, Moratoc, Secotan, Weapemeoc, Machapungo, Pamlico, Coree, Neuse river, Tuscarora, Meherrin, Cherokee, Cape Fear, Lumbee, Catawba, Shakori, Sissipahaw, Sugeree, Waccamaw, Waxhaw, Woccon, Cheraw, Eno, Keyauwee, Occaneechi, Saponi, or Tutelo Indians.  Some of these tribes are extinct and only 8 are recognized by the state of NC(and only Eastern Band of Cherokee in NC are recognized federally).

Not being found in a tribal role means there is no way to know which tribe she belonged to either so even if her DNA test came back and found any NA ancestry there is no way to know which NA tribe she should apply to.

The only way at that point to pinpoint the ancestors tribe would be if another person was a DNA match to my friend AND they had NA ancestry too(and the match was on that line of her family)AND documentation for that other person's NA ancestor was available.  Add in the fact that very few people with Eastern NA ancestry have DNA tested and it becomes a real big crap shoot to find any information that would help my friend in her NA search.

"Belonging" to a NA tribe nowadays is more cultural and not just genetic, according to your DNA markers.  This friend did NOT grow up in any NA culture or on a reservation(much like Elizabeth Warren did not)so really her applying to a tribe, if she could find which tribe, to reap some sort of monetary(or other)benefit is IMHO inappropriate.

Anyway this person took a DNA test for this reason without me knowing about it until after the fact.

So I am on the phone with this person, she is, for lack of a better term, "very white" and she opens her DNA result while on the phone with me, and there is no NA DNA(but then again, it's the Ancestry company test which isn't thought to be very accurate by professional genetic genealogists).

Crestfallen, she reads off her % of each ethnicity and at the bottom she comes to an ethnicity that is 2% Benin/Togo.

Um, WHAT?!?!  She didn't even know what that meant so I had to break it to her that Benin and Togo peoples are from Africa.

Yep, I don't think she believes it even now, months later.  She went looking for her inner "Indian Princess" and found out she's a "Soul Sistah".  ;-)

Just a warning that if you go digging into your DNA and/or Ancestry be careful what you wish for and be prepared for anything!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the May 3rd Edition

Taking a look around Chez Sluggy and here's what "frugaliciousness" I see.............

*  Y'all already saw the Rite-Aid haul for this week......

Nothing OOP, just burning some Bonus Cash.

*  Plus a couple of freebies from Rite-Aid............

*  I also walked out from Rite-Aid with this...........

$5 in cash for $5 in Coupons from the 'mangled by the cashier' transaction.  8-))
And speaking of money.........

*  I found money too!

A penny leaving the Rite-Aid parking lot last Friday.

A nickel in the washing machine.  I claim all laundry money...lol

Another penny at Rite-Aid in front of the register counter another day.

And a penny in the nasty parking lot of the Weis in the city North of here.

*  I got some deals at Weis.  Here are the ones worth noting.........

At a Weis in a city nearby I found these on sale for 3/$2.  Cost OOP was $3.34 for all 5 and I got back $5 in Ibotta rebates so a $1.66 moneymaker.  Even if Ex-College Boy doesn't want all these I can haul what's left to the Food Bank. ;-)

I did the .88¢ items when you buy in groups of 8 Deal one time.  4 x Lipton rice sides, 2 small cans of pineapple and 2 Powerades came to $7.04 except I had a .65¢/2 Dole pineapple Q(good on this small size can)which doubled to $1.30 off so I paid $5.74 or .71¢+ for each item.

Weis brand cheese was $1.97 each when you buy 2.  I bought two, $3.94.  I had a .75¢/1 Weis cheese Q that they snail mailed me so all totaled the cheese cost me $1.22 a bag.

The Lebanon bologna was $6 and had a $3 off discount meat sticker on it so half price at $3. 
The OM lunch meat meat was on sale at $3.50 and had a $2 discount sticker so $1.50 out the door.  The Smithfield "Prime" brand of ham lunch meat was on sale BOGOFree(reg. price of $6 each)and each had a $3 meat discount sticker on them so FREE!!!  (The Prime ham is in the freezer now slated to go into a Chicken Cordon Bleu dish in the future.)

*  I think it was on Saturday I got a notice about texting a word to Lowe's for a $Mystery amount Coupon.  The amount ranged from $5 to $500.  I got a $10 one good on anything in the store but had to be used that day.  Hubs went up to Lowe's and got new metal tents that go over the gas jets in the gas grill which were sorely in need of replacing.  They were $10 each and we needed 3 so it was still worth going to use it as it saved us 1/3 of the cost of the items.  8-)

*  I received $11.20 in digital cash rebates between Saving Star and Ibotta this week. 8-)

That's about it for here this week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?



Sluggy