Frugal Friday......the July 5th Edition

Not much frugal-ness around Chez Sluggy this past week(I didn't really go anywhere, even Rite-Aid, and didn't find any change sigh)but here's the recap of what did happen.......

*  I got the Friday Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets............

A free container of cottage cheese.  Back in the day, I always used cottage cheese instead of ricotta when I made lasagna or stuffed shells.  Back then you couldn't find ricotta in the supermarket down South or if you did it was a very pricey specialty item.
After we were married a year and we moved to NJ, ricotta was widely available and I began using that in my Italian dishes.
I have gotten back into a habit of using cottage cheese in these Italian dishes again after getting better deals/coupons for cottage cheese.  I think the cc has more flavor than ricotta so this is a great item for me to get for free! ;-)


*  I noticed that we were low on checks for our bank account so I ordered new ones.

They came in quickly and with this bank's checking account, if we get the basic checks(no designer or branded logos, just plain old safety checks)they cost us ZERO.  I'll forgo dogs or peace signs on my checks to get them for FREE!

*  I hit Weis last Friday for the free cottage cheese, fresh tomatoes and almond milk for Hubs and happened upon trash bags on clearance as well as some Pam spray oil........

$16.45 for everything pictured(including sales tax)and they were all at least 50% off. 8-))

*  I had Hubs pick up ground beef and onions since his eye doctor appointment on Tuesday was right by the Restaurant Supply Store.  We needed the ground beef for grilling burgers(on the 3rd instead of the 4th since Ex-College Boy worked on the 4th).  I also made a big meatloaf on Tuesday and will be making some meatballs out of what is left of the bag o' meat.

I like to buy my onions in a large quantity at either a farm stand or the restaurant supply store. It is more cost effective to buy these in bulk.  25 lbs. for $14.99 makes them .60¢ a lb.  Onions in the grocery store in those little 2 lbs.bags can run you $1.49 each and specialty onions(red/Vidalia/etc.)can run you up to $2.49 per lb.  Next week the Shursave Market has 2 lb. bags of yellow onions on sale, 2 bags for $3. That costs out to .75¢ per lb. which is a really good price and if I didn't have room for 25 lbs. of onions I'd be all over that deal! lolz

My other gripe with those small bags of onions is the onions can be TINY!  Tiny onions means you are getting more onions skins and less usable parts of the onion thus they cost you even more buying them that way.
Quite a few years ago I made a root cellar for myself in my garage so I can store things like onions, potatoes, root veggies longer.  It's just a small Rubbermaid type tub with paper bags inside but it does a great job of keeping the produce dark and cool and keeping most items from bolting/sprouting.  If the temps get too cold for consecutive days(like below Zero, which doesn't happen too often around here)I can bring whatever is in the root cellar into my pantry closet in the kitchen.

*  I bought celery.....I know everybody is gasping about how un-frugal buying celery is lately. lolz
I like to snack on celery in the Summer and I had found my favorite roasted red pepper cream cheese dip at a produce market in W-B and had stocked up.  So I needed to get some celery. I ended up at the Shursave Market after seeing the insane price of celery at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  Shursave had 2 options--a bunch of celery in a bag for $2.99 or celery hearts on sale 2/$5(or $2.50 each).
So I took a bag of each to the scale and weighed them both.
The bunch of celery was very thin and didn't even weigh in at 1 lb.
The celery hearts was labeled 1 lb. but weighed in at over 2 lbs!  I checked other packages of the celery hearts to see if this was an anomaly but no, they ALL weighed at least 2 lbs.!
So guess which one I bought? ;-)  I paid $2.50 a pack for celery hearts weighing 2+ lbs. which meant  I paid $1.25 per lb. instead of $2.99 for a bunch that was barely 1 lb. in weight.

Moral of this story.....even if a produce item is marked with a weight, always weigh it yourself to see what it actually weighs.  Don't let the grocery stores rip you off!!! 8-)

*  This won't happen until next weekend but I wanted to mention it today.....

It's been confirmed that that the next 20% off everything Friends and Family Sale at Big Lots is going to be July 13th and 14th(Saturday and Sunday).  I have already started my list of what I want/need to get during this sale--including toilet paper, baby wipes, hydrogen peroxide to name a few.
I don't need a lot right now but it helps me stay organized if I go in with a written list.  Otherwise I'd just start picking up things because they are cheap but we don't necessarily need them right now.

Planning ahead is how you start to live a frugal life.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?
Tell us all about it.


Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Questions Answered

Well I guess everyone was out partying late into the night or gorging on July 4th fare and not reading blogs yesterday because only Janie Junebug answered some of the Independence Day Trivia.  And she did quite well! 8-)

Here are the questions with answers for your viewing pleasure.
I'll be back later with the Frugal Friday post.

Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Quiz Answers

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

* The written resolution for independence was adopted at a vote on July 2nd, so that is the actual date of the document.  The Continental Congress spent the next 2 days amending the wording before finally deciding they were done "running their quill pens through it".
John Adams believed July 2nd would be celebrated by generations to come with much gaiety, pomp and celebrating, as he wrote to his wife Abigail in MA, in one of his well-known letters home to her.

Here are his actual words with misspellings from that letter.....
"But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

* While the obvious answer is English that is not quite right.  This area of PA was settled heavily by German immigrants and at the time of the revolution, it was more common to hear German being spoken and see business signs of local shops written in German.

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th?  

*2 of these are fairly easy....Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on the 4th in 1826, the one thinking the other one still survived.  The 3rd President was James Monroe who followed them to the grave in 1831 on the 4th. (*And I am related to two of them.)

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of 2nd Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

* The committee was made up of delegates John Adams of MA, Thomas Jefferson of VA, Benjamin Franklin of PA, Roger Sherman of CT and Robert Livingston of NY.

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

* A teenager Robert G. Heft living in Lancaster Ohio with his grandparents at that time, in 1958.  Designing a new flag when Alaska and Hawaii were poised to become the 49th and 50th states, Robert "Bob" Heft was a high school student.  As part of a school project, he designed a new flag and received a b- for his work from his teacher.  After his design was chosen from over 1500 ones sent to then President Eisenhower, his teacher upgraded Bob's grade to an A, as he had promised Bob.
Robert Heft spent his career as a teacher and died at the age of 68 in 2009.

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem/seal for our country?

*Franklin believed the North American Turkey was the best choice.  He believed the turkey to be a noble bird.
Adams wanted the eagle but Franklin objected to this, as it was a long held emblem of many European countries, which they were trying to break free from. 

Franklin wrote: 
"I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on."

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was on board a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

* Key was having dinner on board a British ship at the invite of 3 British naval officers on the night of 13 Sept, 1814.  He was there with the American Prisoner Exchange Agent to negotiate the exchange of American prisoners being held.  Key was a lawyer who's client, Dr. William Beanes of MD, was among those being held.
Key was unsuccessful at releasing his client but he got a really well known song out of the deal.
The Star Spangled Banner did not become our official anthem until 1916 under Woodrow Wilson and then by a congressional resolution in 1931 under Herbert Hoover.

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

* There have been 28 official versions of the American flag, sort of.
The flag as we know it, red and white alternating stripes with a field of blue and stars, has undergone 26 modified versions, so 27 versions of that design.  The first officially recognized flag, adopted in December 1775, had alternation red and white stripes but instead of a blue field and stars, there was a St. George's Cross/Union Jack in the upper left corner.

 

 

 

The 13 Colonies Flag of June, 1777

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

* Though Franklin would be the obvious answer, because he was, among other things, a printer by trade, the original paper copies of the Declaration were printed in Philadelphia by a printer & book seller named John Dunlap.  He was an immigrant from Ireland,  a successful printer in the city and secured a contract with the 2nd Continental Congress supplying for their printing needs.
The type of sheet he printed the Declaration on was called a "broadside" in the printing trade.  It was typically a large sheet, printed on one side.  It was similar to today's poster.
(As an aside, by July 9th someone had translated and published the Declaration into German in Philadelphia so the bulk of the citizens in that city could read it.)


10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

* There are 26 copies known to exist today.  Approx. 200 were printed up in 1776.  One was discovered in 1989 by an amateur collector at a PA flea market hidden behind a framed painting he paid $4 for.  He later sold his discovery at auction for $8.14 million.
In 2009 the latest discovered copy was found in The National Archives in Britain among some papers that had been intercepted by the British in the 18th century, during the revolution.  This brings the number of original copies in the hands of the British Archives to 3.


11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

* The original, original declaration was printed on paper and only John Hancock signed this one.
The official declaration was printed on parchment(the wording was engrossed into that material, not just lying on top of the surface, so it would be better preserved)and was not signed until August 2nd of 1776.  Eventually 56 delegates signed the document.  There is debate on when certain people had signed.  It is widely held that most of the delegates signed on Aug. 2nd, but there were some who were not present(weren't even elected to Congress until after that date)who have signed.  When it was all over with, 56 signatures were affixed to the parchment.
By the way--The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin of PA at 80 and the youngest was Edward Rutledge of SC at 26.

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

* Only 6 Declaration signers also signed the Constitution; Benjamin Franklin of PA, George Read of DE, Roger Sherman of CT, Robert Morris of PA, George Clymer of PA and James Wilson of PA.
By the way-Roger Sherman, the cobbler from CT, was the only member of Congress who signed all 4 of the documents important to the founding of the USA.  He signed the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Association and the Articles of Confederation.


I hope you've learned something from this little trivia quiz.  I know I did. ;-)

Sluggy

Happy Independence Day Trivia!

Rerunning this post from 2013 instead of just throwing up a jpeg of a 4th of July image. 

I could have alternately ranted about how we are a nation of pussies, who don't care about freedom and have no backbones upon which to take back our country from the politicians(who are suppose to be working FOR US, not against us.

If George, Tom, John, the James and such were alive today they would surely wish to "apply their collective foots to the seat of our collective learnings".
But I am just too lazy and it's too hot out for all that.

Trivia is a bit more interesting, don't you think? lolz


Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Quiz...Happy 4th of July!

In honor of our country's liberation from the tyranny of King George III of England in 1776, here is a little Trivia Quiz about our National celebration and assorted things having to do with this holiday.
See how much you actually know about these little known facts about our history.

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th?  

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem for our country?

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

 Answers will follow tomorrow, if anyone is sober enough by then to read them(and didn't shoot off their hands). ;-)

 

Sluggy

2019 2nd Quarter Review.....Small Finances

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


*  Rolled coins--$11.50.  Two rolls of dimes and three rolls of pennies.  Rolled coins have taken a big hit since Hubs stopped working for a living. lolz

*  Found Change--$35.25  Finding money is the best!  Nobody can argue with that, right? 8-))

*  Refunds & Post Coupons--$85.08  Mostly Weis(PMITA)Markets and Rite-Aid.

*  Cash Rebates--
   * Ibotta--$166.39(Still have $21.93 pending too from motel reservations.)
   * SavingStar--$32.25
   * Checkout51--$38.75
   * ShopatHome--$9.41(I think I need $20 to cash out of this.)

Total.........$378.63 to put toward the grocery spending come December.
6 months in and I have almost enough in small finances to cover December's food spending.
Now how cool is that?!?

Next update on the Small Finances coming at the end of September/beginning of October.


Sluggy

Income & Sending Report.....the June 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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June......
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 June in the BLACK!
The amount we ended the month of June with?.....$1733.94

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $579.33
* Stock Dividends of $109.27
* Medical payment refund of $443.36
Total "Income" for June....$6202.87

Expenses in June---

* Healthcare Premium for June was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in June came to $2064.85
* Irregular Expenses in June came to $555.41(long term care insurance premiums)
Total Expenses....$4447.93

We also had an expense we paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in June--We had 4 trees taken down on our property.  That was one of the big expenses/improvements we are paying for in 2019.  This cost $2,600.00 out of the Slush Fund.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.(Within $2 or so).
* The c/c bill was $44.04 less than in May.
*  The electric bill was $48.15 lower than last month(still no a/c used).
*  The gas card bill was $23.70 less than May.
*  The WAM/cash withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in May.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $2.28 higher than in May.
*  I had $169.86 in charges on my Amazon card(grad dinner).
*  There was a $21.00 charge for Chester to get a shot before boarding.
*  The "Doggie Spa" charged $189.00 for Chester's stay there.
*  We had $555.41 in LTC premiums due(irregular bill).
*  I paid $79.60 to the Dentist for Hubs fillings in June.

The Food Budget costs for June 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 June "income" in the black with $1733.94 leftover putting the Slush Fund at $23,610.36.
After subtracting the $2,600 for the tree removal the June Slush Fund stands at $21,010.36.

So you could look at June as either in the black or in the red really, depending on if you are a glass half full or glass half empty type person. lolz
We had extra leftover after paying all the bills but the tree project cost us $866.06 MORE than the leftover "income" which lowered the Slush Fund in June.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on June---
It was a good spending month  We did have some unusual and/or irregular bills in June--mainly the Long Term Care quarterly premiums, a dental bill, the cost to board Chester for 6 days, a shot for Chester and taking a little extra cash for our trip.

The kicker was the tree removal.  Had we had to take that $2,600 out of the regular "income" in June we'd have been in the red for the month. Luckily we could tap the Slush Fund for that. ;-)
Regular expenses + tree removal was $866.06 MORE than our June income.  No matter how you look at it, the Slush Fund went down by $866.06 in June but we go into July with still over $21K in that Fund.

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2019----
We have no irregular bills this month but the credit card bill is going to be B-I-G, as in buy a tv(Daughter took her tv), take a vacation, do maintenance on Hubs' car, make a charitable donation, buy groceries, eat out BIG. lolz
We may get a small blogging revenue check(after paying shipping for giveaways I keep a little of that)which will help the bottom line.
I think we'll end up being in the red when all is said and done in July.  It's just a matter of how much in the hole we'll be and how much we'll have to pull from the Slush Fund to cover all the expenses.

So how was your June financially?
  

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