This Week on the Dining Table

The "One Thing Leads to Another" Edition................

I was watching Lidia Bastianich's PBS cooking show the other night and she made a cherry bread pudding.  It looked really good(that's a photo of hers not mine)and I had fresh cherries in the fridge that nobody was eating but me and this was a way to use some cherries up(because bread pudding is Hubs' favorite dessert type food).
So when I hit the Restaurant supply store a week ago Sunday with my $5 off wyb $45 Q I bought cream(it was cheaper than half and half at Weis AND it helped me get to $45 spent so I could use that Q).
The bread pudding was a hit but now I had half a quart of cream to use up before it went sour in the next 3 days.
So I grabbed an old pie crust mix box from the stockpile that needed using and found an almost whole block of Swiss cheese buried in a drawer in the fridge and 4 strips of "needs to be cooked off" bacon also in the fridge so did the only logical thing and made a quiche yesterday.  Now I've got dinner covered without further cooking one night this week...sweet!

Often times this is how my meal planning goes.....a plan but it veers off course due to having to use stuff up and avoid waste is how it goes in reality in my kitchen.  ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Veggie Lasagna

2. Monday--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Squash Casserole

3. Tuesday--Chicken Con Queso Casserole, Tossed Salad

4. Wednesday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Fried Zucchini 

5. Thursday--BBQ on rolls, Cole Slaw

6. Friday--Korean Bulgogi Beef, Stir-Fry Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Veggie Lasagna

2. Monday--Italian Sausage Sandwiches

3. Tuesday--Chicken Con Queso Casserole, Squash Casserole

4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas(I just had refried beans)

5. Thursday--FFY/Leftovers (I had a big salad)

6. Friday--Leftovers(We had Chinese for lunch so I didn't eat dinner)
7. Saturday--Cheese Burgers

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.  
Lots of leftovers so the Korean Beef stir-fry, the BBQ and the fish didn't happen.  Those meals move to this coming week.

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

* 1.5 lb. salmon

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* Veggie Lasagna
* 1 lb. BSCB already cooked

2 trips to Weis($32.10)and a trip to Walmart($19.57)brought the weekly spending to $51.67 and my August total to $51.67.  It would have been a low spending week but we aren't counting the part of last week that was in July and on July's grocery budget. sigh.

My savings percentage last week(August only)was 47.14%(without Rite-Aid trips)and August's monthly savings total comes in at 47.14%(w/out R-A). 

I have 26 more food shopping/spending days in August and $348.33 left in my $400 food budget for this month.

Leftovers going into this week......2 chicken enchiladas and 3 hamburgers(I cooked 4 burgers on Saturday but I was the only one who ate one.).  That's it.

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

1. Sunday--FFY

2. Monday--Fried Fish and Zucchini

3. Tuesday--Quiche, Salad

4. Wednesday--Korean Beef, Stir-Fry Veggies

5. Thursday--BBQ sandwiches, Cole Slaw

6. Friday--Lasagna Hamburger Helper, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 night of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
3 meals moved to this week and we're still holding out getting Take-Out 2 weeks and counting.  Go us! lolz

What needs buying for this menu? Not a thing.  The quiche is already made so just needs heating up and the veg is in the fridge(or in the garden)and the meats are in the freezer.
We will need milk this week though.  Other than that and drinks I am hoping to stay out of the grocery store this week.

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  

Income & Spending Report.....the July 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 plus a few projects around the house.

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 July report---

I had 2 goals for July......
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 July in the RED!
The amount we ended the month of July with?.....-$483.46

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $599.43
* Blog Revenue of $103.08
Total "Income" for July.....$5773.42

Expenses in July---

* Healthcare Premium for July was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in July came to $4408.21
Total Expenses....$6256.88

We also had an expense we planned to be paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in July--the carpet and installation in the bedroom(aka the sewing room). That was one of the big expenses/improvements we are paying for in 2019.  This cost $555.09 out of the Slush Fund.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this July, 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 water bill was $16.92 lower than June.
*  The electric bill was $48.15 lower than last month(still no a/c used).
*  The WAM was the same as in June.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as last month.
*  The Chase c/c was $40.59 lower than June's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $37.26 higher than last month(a/c turned on now).
*  The gas card bill was $54.52 more than in June.
*  The c/c bill was $2,573.49 higher than last month.
*  We had $43.79 in medical charges I paid out of income instead of HSA funds.
*  There were $79.39 in vet charges in July.

The Food Budget costs for July 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 July "income" in the red taking $483.46 out of the Slush Fund.
After subtracting the $555.09 for the carpeting as well, we had $1038.55 in charges beyond our income for July, which leave the July Slush Fund ending at $19,971.81 going into August.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on July----

Lots of "out of the ordinary" expenses put on the credit card(over $2500 worth) and the carpet installation had us OOP over $3K extra and put us over budget in July.
Luckily we could tap the Slush Fund for that overage. ;-)


THOUGHTS going forward into August 2019----
We have one irregular bill due in August, the house insurance.  This bill actually went DOWN $71 from 2018's homeowner's insurance bill. *gasp* A yearly bill that goes down??  Where is Alan Funt and his Candid Camera? lolz

Electric will be higher due to more a/c usage.

The credit card bill will be another whopper.....$700 in car maintenance/repair(Hubs car), $134 in take-out and amusement park charges while eldest son and GF were here, and my $200 yearly Ancestry subscription renewed, along with all those grocery store purchases in July that will hit in August when the c/c is due. Oh and Hubs bought an expensive gun plus accessories that go along with that purchase and this will all be on the August c/c bill.
It won't be pretty. 8-(

But no worries here on going over the "income".  We have all that overage from last year when we were withdrawing from the 401K so we just use that overage to absorb extra costs until that is gone and then we'll sit down and re-evaluate the spending.

So how was your July financially?
  

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

2019 Food & Toiletries Spending......the July Edition

Onward to July's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2019.

I have posted July's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $60.16
Value  $96.24
Savings  37.49%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $18.28
Disc.  $45.88
Value  $64.16
Savings  71.51%

MAINES
OOP  $79.55
Value  $146.57
Savings 45.72 %

MALACARI'S
OOP  $53.97
Value  $93.63
Savings  42.36%

P&R DISCOUNTERS
OOP  $33.98
Value  $103.10
Savings  67.04%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $41.01
Qs/Sales  $19.88
Value  $60.89
Savings  32.65%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $346.91
Value  $346.91
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $17.58
Qs/Ads $20.99

Value  $38.57

Savings  54.42%

TARGET
OOP  $4.41
Qs/Ads/Gift Card  $56.65
Value  $61.06
Savings  92.78%

WEIS
OOP  $140.70
Qs/Ads  $133.82
Value  $274.52
Savings  48.75%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%,  Target at  92.78% and the Bread Outlet at 71.51%.  My worst savings rate was at Price Chopper with 32.65%.

I shopped at 10 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July.........$469.99

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$504.98

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$974.97

TOTAL Savings of ................................51.79%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July w/R-A.............$469.99
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$851.89
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1321.88
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................64.45%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent well OVER my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in July.  Lots of extra trips to food sources I mostly only visit in the warm weather months and lots of good deals.  Hopefully this leads to less food spending in the cooler months.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 2.71% in July 2019 to 64.45% compared to the June 61.74% savings average.
While I spent more overall on food in July the percentage rate also went up because of all the awesome deals I got.


With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2747.28 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$2747.28

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$11,169.00

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$8421.72

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............75.40%

The average per month amount spent so far is $392.47 in 2019 which went up $12+ per month due to July's high spending amount.

LOOKING AHEAD To August 2019.......

Let's see....no trips, no company, just puttering around the house and trying to eat down some stocks.  I want to reign in the food spending a bit.
$400 is the grocery budget for August in case I find good fresh produce deals I can can/freeze.  Otherwise I want to stay closer to $300 this month. 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in July?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the August 2nd Edition

Another Friday, another look around to see what frugal wins we had at Chez Sluggy.

* Lots of goodies hauled home from Rite-Aid this week and no out of pocket spending.........

Plus I see those men's razors qualify for a $1 Ibotta rebate($3 total).

*  I received a $10 rebate for buying Allegra via Paypal.

*  I was going over our c/c statement and saw I had a $25 credit from Paypal.  Couldn't think for the life of me why ot was there so I called them(not that I was going to turn down $25 or anything! lol).
Turns out the charitable donation we made at Porcfest was to a Paypal account and was $75 or more so there was a deal involving this Mastercard we hold and Paypal and voila!.....we got back $25.

*  I found money!
* A penny at Rite-Aid next to one of the Clearance tables......

And a dime.............

This was at Weis(PMITA)Markets over by one of the self-checkout registers. There were empty coin wrappers in the small trashcan by the register and it looked like someone was restocking the coins in the machine or using wrapped coins to pay.  Either way someone let .10¢ go astray on the floor and didn't pick it up so I did! ;-)

And let's not forget about walking out of Rite-Aid on Wednesday with $4.85 more in cash than I went in with due to not well trained cashiers...............

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

A bottle of marinade.  They had a few varieties so I got the lemon garlic one that is good on fish.  We like that one and haven't had it in quite awhile and I just dug some catfish fillets out of the chest freezer so it will be used soon.

*  Fresh Green Beans finally went to a low price so I stocked up on 8 lbs. worth............

By day's end on Sunday I had 7 x 1 lb. bags in the freezer........

These may not be as cheap as store bought frozen but they will taste pretty good come Winter. ;-)

That's about it from here.
What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?


Sluggy

More Rite-Aid on Tuesday & Wednesday

On Tuesday  used that $3/$30 Q on Daughter's card buying this.......

3 x Tide detergent on sale=$17.97
6 x Pantene 'poo/conditioner on sale=$23.94
SubTotal........$41.91

Coupons Used
1 x $3/wyspend $30 CatQ=$3.00
2 x $2/1 Tide detergent/pods ManQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Tide detergent L2CQ=$2.00
2 x $5/3 Pantene items ManQ=$10.00
Coupon Total............$19.00

$41.91-$19.00=$22.91+$1.38 tax=$24.29 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $20 in new BC($20 wyspend $40 on select P&G items)so spent down BC by $4.29.

The down side was the new cashier kept putting payment through before she took my Qs. ugh.  So we did this transaction THREE times(along with two voided transactions)to get it right. 8-)))

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

2 x Allegra 30 ct. BOGO50%=$34.48
1 x Allegra kid's liquid 20% Wellness disc.=$11.03
SubTotal........$45.51

Coupons Used
2 x $4/1 Allegra 24Hr 24ct. or larger ManQ=$8.00
1 x $4/1 Allegra kid's ManQ=$4.00
Coupon Total........$12.00

$45.51-$12.00=$33.51 paid for with all my BC + .75¢ off an old R-A gift card.
I earned back $10 in new Bonus Cash(spend $30/Get $10).

While not a great deal getting only $10 BC back on a $33.51 spend, this transaction was part of a triple dip however.
Besides the $10 in BC back, I also submitted for a $10 Rebate(which comes as a Paypal deposit)from Chattem, the manufacturer when you spend $30(after Qs/sale prices)on at least 2 Allegra items in a single transaction.

I got an email that my submission was successful later Tuesday saying my Paypal reward would be arriving in 1-2 weeks.
Wednesday morning I awoke to a Paypal email that my $10 payment was already in my account!

PLUS I got $45.51 in points toward the "Spend $75/Get $20 BC Rite-Aid Allergy Rewards" which runs all year.  This card is now up to $67.52 toward that BC Reward with only $7.48 let to spend to get that $20 BC.

Triple Dip--
*Bonus Cash
*Rebate
*Points toward more BC

Then on Wednesday I bought this on Son's card........

3 x Schick mens razors on sale $5.99=$17.97
1 x Schick ladies razors on sale=$5.99
4 x e.l.f. brushes 20% Wellness disc.=$3.20
SubTotal......$27.16
1 x $4/1 Schick L2CQ came off so $23.16+$1.39 tax=$24.55 paid for in BC.

I earned $12 in new BC(2 x $3 Schick, 2 x $3 e.l.f.).

But here is the rest of this story...............

Another new cashier who is "push the payment button" happy.  I wanted to see if my $4/1Schick  L2CQ came off and she pushed the payment button without using my other 3 $4/1 Schick paper Qs so $24.55. sigh.
Then-GET THIS!-She looked at the 3 unused Qs and said, "Oh, these don't expire soon so you can use them next time.".
Imagine the look on my face at this point.......and me screaming in my head, "Bitch, I am using these Qs NOW!!!"
(BTW-the L2CQ did come off as you can see above.)

So we returned just the razors since there were no Qs used on the e.l.f. brushes.
Then I rebought the 4 razors and used 3 Qs, but now the L2CQ didn't come off(since it was "used" in the previous transaction).

So I pulled out a 4th $4/1 Schick Q after the transaction was finished and we did a "post coupon" and I got $4 in cash for it.
Again she didn't know how to do a post Q so luckily the manager was right there and showed her how to do one.

Plus when we returned the 4 razors the register told the cashier to refund me $24.55 in BC AND .85¢ in cash.
So I had $30.89 in Bonus Cash on this card BEFORE this transaction and ended up with $30.21 in Bonus Cash AFTER plus $4.85 Cash.

It's a head scratcher for sure! lolz
But any day I can walk out of a store with more BC and cash than I had when I walked in is a GOOD day.  ;-)

Then I bought this on Hubs card...........

3 x e.l.f. brushes $1, 20% Disc.=$2.40
1 x e.l.f. brush $2, 20% Disc.=$1.60
4 x Big Win candy bags on sale 2/$3=$6.00
SubTotal......$10.00

No Qs were used so $10+.24¢ tax=$10.24 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $9 in new BC(2 x $3 elf, 1 x $1 Big Win candy wyb4 weekly, 1 x $2 Big Win candy wyb4 monthly)so spent down my BC by $1.24 on this transaction.

I may venture into Rite-Aid again before Saturday night if I get an itch to.  Will update my R-A hijinx if I do.


Sluggy