Rite-Aid This Week So Far

So I hit up Rite-Aid on Monday as I had an Rx to pick-up and I attempted to do the Crest Deal on 2 cards.

First on my son's card..........sorry about the fuzzy photo, I had to use my phone......

1 x Crest toothbrush on sale=$3.00
1 x Oral-B toothbrush on sale=$3.00
SubTotal......$6.00

I had a $1/1 Crest L2CQ for each item come off so $4.00 Total OOP paid for with Bonus Cash.
Except......uh oh, here we go again!......

Even though the signs for the $3 sale Crest toothpaste were up the toothpaste didn't ring up on sale.
And the toothbrushes--there were NO signs up indicating which ones were on sale for $3.  I had to take one of each variety up and price check them to find the $3 brushes. ugh.

So toothpaste doesn't ring correctly, the manager on duty goes back to look(signs up on the variety I got)and price modifies it to $3.

As I said before I paid $4 and should have gotten $4 back in BC($2 paste, $2 brush)but I only got $2 BC back so I am betting the toothpastes marked but ringing up the incorrect price are the issue.

I tried again on daughter's card(the second lot in the first photo).
A different tagged toothpaste and again, doesn't ring up $3 so the cashier price modifies it to $3.
$4 OOP paid after(2 x $1/1 L2CQs)with BC and only $2 in BC prints. ugh, ugh.

So I go back on Tuesday and buy the same stuff on my card..........

1 x Crest toothpaste(sensitive enamel shield)tagged on sale=$3.00
1 x Oral-B toothbrush on sale=$3.00

BTW-Still no toothbrushes are tagged!(Try the cheaper varieties, the $4.79 or $5.49 ones if yours aren''t marked either.)

This time the $2/1 Crest toothpaste L2CQ kicks in instead of the $1/1 Crest toothpaste L2CQ so I am charged $6-$3 in Qs(1 x $2/1 Crest, 1 x $1/1 Oral-B)=$3 paid for with BC.
This time both the toothpaste and toothbrush generate the correct $2 in BC, so I get $4 BC back, which makes this transaction a $1 moneymaker.
Hurrah!!!

I am so tired of having to wait a full day from the time I buy something at RA and then call corporate when shit doesn't go right to get my BC credited.  The store won't do anything about mistakes so I am forced to keep calling and it's getting annoying as shit!

So instead this time, I will just return the two toothpastes from Monday and rebuy this Pro-Health variety instead so my BC will generate.

I also bought 2 toothbrushes on Hubs' card on Tuesday........

2 x $3=$6.00
I don't have a L2CQ account associated with this card so I used 2 x $1/1 Oral-B ManuQs from the P&G inserts instead.

$6-$2=$4 paid for in BC and earned back $4 in new BC.
That transaction worked fine and gave me free toothbrushes.

I also bought this on my son's card.......

1 x Arnicare roll-on 2 pack 20% Wellness disc.=$10.39
1 x Arnicare leg cramps 20% Wellness disc.=$9.59
SubTotal.......$19.98

There were $3/1 Peelies on the boxes so $19.98-$6=$13.98 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $10 in new BC(2 x $5 Arnicare)so I am "down" $3.98 in BC.
BUT.....there are $3 Ibotta Rebates on these 2 items and I submitted and already received $6 back in my Ibotta account(as well as another .10¢ for buying any item)so in the end this transaction was a $2.12 moneymaker(just converted some BC to cash in Ibotta).

With the BC expiring now in 30 days I need to convert some BC to cash/other script and keep the BC low or clear it out on some cards.

Back to R-A today to return and rebuy toothpaste.

Livin' the dream folks, livin' the dream.  *snort*


Sluggy

And the Winner Is......

73 valid entries were received for the July Giveaway.

And the winner is........

Linda!

Practical ParsimonyAugust 5, 2019 at 4:48 PM

I could some of this to offset my $180 LOSS DETAILED ON my blog.

Congratulations Linda!!!

Please email me your full mailing address within 48 hours of this post going live.

Thank you to everyone for playing along in July.
I'll have the August box ready to put up within the week unless something unforeseen happens......


Sluggy

Last Chance for the Giveaway.....Ends Tonight!

Today is the last day to enter the Giveaway.

Go HERE before 11:59pm ESDT tonight, August 5th to enter.
And make sure you have contact information(email addy)either in your comment or attached to your Google account.
No contact info, your entry is NOT valid and you can not win.

Good Luck!

Sluggy

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