Rite-Aid Wellness Wednesday

Well my WW plan got blown out of the water when I got to the store yesterday.
Rite-Aid online had Cold-Eeze on sale for $4.99 a bag.
Stack the WWQ $4/1 Cold-Eeze and IPQ Manu $2/1 Cold-Eeze and you've got $1.01 overage for every bag you bought(so buy something at least $1.01 when you buy a bag to cover the overage)for free Cold-Eeze.

But in the store the Cold-Eeze was NOT on sale. sigh.
With 20% Wellness discount they were $6.79 so .79¢ OOP after stacked Qs.


First though, here are the samples they were giving out.........

A new Cold-Eeze 2 pack with elderberry in it, Vivarin caffeinated chewing gum and a Zim's Max Freeze sample pack.

Then I bought all this on my Daughter's card........

2 x Advil on sale=$27.98
3 x Robitussin on sale=$17.97
2 x Russell Stover sugar-free candy on sale=$4.00
SubTotal........$49.95

Coupons Used
2 x $4/1 Advil IPQ=$8.00
2 x $4/1 Advil WWQ=$8.00
3 x $2/1 Robitussin IPQ=$6.00
3 x $2/1 Robitussin WWQ=$6.00
2 x $1/1 Robitussin PeelieQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Russell Stover sugar-free WWQ=$4.00
Coupon Total.......$34.00

$49.95-$34.00=$15.95 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned $10 in new Bonus Cash and $6 at SavingStar($4 Advil, $2 Robitussin)so after all that a .05¢ moneymaker. ;-)

But I just looked at my SavingStar account and I not only got the 2 rebates I mentioned above but they also gave me the $4 AdvilPM rebate.  I bought 2 Advils so I guess they counted one against the PM rebate?  Whatever, I'll take it as it means a $4.05 moneymaker in the end.  ;-)

Then I bought this on my card......

1 x Cold-Eeze 20% Wellness disc.=$6.79
1 x Zims Max-Freeze on sale=$8.49
2 x R/S candy singles on sale=$1.00
SubTotal.........$16.28

Coupons Used
1 x $4/1 Cold-Eeze WWQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Cold-Eeze IPQ=$2.00
1 x $5/1 Zim's WWQ=$5.00
Coupon Total........$11.00

$16.28-$11.00=$5.28 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $4 in new BC($3 Zim's, $1 Russell Stover)so I spent down the BC by $1.28.  I had BC expiring soon and I'll go back later this week to spend some more.

*Update*
Remember all that cereal I bought on Monday?

Ibotta rebates popped up late Tuesday on my account for all three varieties I bought(Raisin Bran, Special K, Frosted Mini-Wheats)so I submitted the receipt and got another $6.00 in cash rebates back, including a $1 Kellogg's bonus for submitting for 3 or more cereal brands.

Now that transaction is also a $5.31 moneymaker between cash rebates and BC earned.
8-)))


Sluggy

Income & Spending Report 2019....the September Report

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 September report---

I had 2 goals for Septmber.......
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 September in the black.
The amount we ended the month of September with?.....$2,246.26

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $618.74
* Two dividend checks totaling $109.27
Total "Income" for September.....$5,798.92

Expenses in September---

* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in September came to $1703.99
Total Expenses....$3,552.66

$5,798.74-$3,552.66=$2,246.26

Slush into September $17,998.65+ $2,246.26 addition=$20,244.91

This would be great news except..........

We also had more expenses we planned to be paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in September--The Annual School taxes(half of our yearly property taxes in PA), the two new mattresses and adjustable bed frame from Wayfair, and our Long Term Care quarterly premiums. These four bills came to $4,030.51 and were taken out of the Slush Fund.

$20,244.91 after overage of "income" applied-$4030.51=$16,214.40 in the Slush Fund going into October.
So the Slush Fund went down by $1,784.25 after all income overage added and then $4030.51 in extra bills were subtracted from it.

The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $1,784.25 for September.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this September,  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 electric bill was $15.02 lower than last month.
*  The c/c bill was $1,381.267 lower than in August.
*  The gas card bill was $101.61 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in August.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $4.59 higher than last month.
*  The WAM was $39.50 higher than in August(to cover cash taken for farm produce and a vet charge Hubs covered with his WAM).
*  The Chase/Amazon c/c was $25.84 higher than last month's bill.
*  I had a $23.71 Kohl's charge bill.
*  Hubs  had a $12.15 Discover card bill.
*  There was $87.50 in vet charges(a year's worth of heartworm meds, and a test).

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

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on September----

Though we had a couple thousand bucks in income overage last month, we also had four large of "out of the ordinary" expenses in September(all 4 planned)which gave a "hit" to the Slush Fund.
It's all good though as the Slush Fund is for using for these extras and irregular bills.

THOUGHTS going forward into October 2019----

We have no irregular bills due this month.

Hopefully the electric will be low due to not needing much heat yet(but I won't be home and Hubs will jack the heat up too high  I can guarantee that! lolz).

The credit card bill will be higher again in October.....there will be trip charges--motel stay, extra gas, food out, etc

But no worries here on going over the "income".  We have over $16K in overage left 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, probably at the end of 2019 if any monies are left in the Slush Fund by then.

So how was your September financially?
  

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

Shopping Friday to Monday--Weis, Big Lots & Rite-Aid

Here's a Weis(PMITA)Markets shopping trip I did last Friday but put on my October food spending.......

2 packs of steaks, 2 packs of kielbasa and 3 tubs of turkey lunch meat were all instant meat discount stickered.  The kielbasas was $2 a pack after sale/sticker, the lunch meat were $1.50 each after sale/sticker and all steaks were $5.52 total after $5 in stickers.

The spaghetti sauce was the Friday Freebie.

The Palmolive dish soap is part of a "Spend $10/Get $3 off Instantly" Deal.  It is a Colgate Brandd deal and Palmolive is owned by them.  The deal goes off regular shelf price and that is 2/$5 on these dish soaps but are on sale the 2/$3, which made it $3 for all 4 bottles.  Not bad, $1.33 for each, and these are the large dish soap bottles.

The large cans are greens and were on clearance for $1 each.  But they rang up regular price of $2.

So I had to take a pic of the tag and go get a refund at the CS desk.............

Weis has discontinued it's "if it rings up incorrectly, it's free" Policy. Boo!!!  I just got the $2 overcharged back.
I also bought a gallon of milk, 2 canned frozen OJ and a 50% bakery apple pie on this trip.

All together this trip cost me $29.13 and the savings rate was 49%.  But since CS gave me cash I am tallying it up as a $31.13 trip and putting the cash into my refund envie. ;-)

On Sunday I went to Big Lots as they were having their 4 times a year 20% off sale.
I really didn't need much as I had loaded up on tp at Weis last week but I did buy a few things........

I got a 3 lb. bottle of honey, a bottle of Bulgogi sauce, a box of RL biscuit mix(an impulse buy),2 boxes of hefty baggies(1 quart/1 gallon), 4 small cans of tomato paste, a jar of pickle relish and 2 bags of Knorr's rice mix.  The relish was on clearance for .48¢(also got another 20% off so .38¢ out the door for that)because it had chipotle pepper in it too.  Will be interesting to try.

All this plus a pack of napkins and a case of bottled water(not pictured)came to $26.78.  I saved $24.28 off of buying this stuff other places at reg. shelf price w/out the 20% off too.

Then on Monday I went to Rite-Aid. 
Kellogg's cereals were part of a "Spend $40/Get $20 BC" Deal, I had enough points to cash out of my Kellogg's account for 8  x $1/1 Qs, Savings Star had a $5 rebate on $25 worth of Kellogg's items and there were some Kellogg's Ibotta rebates too.  So I bought all this.......

All the cereals here and the Tide are part of a "Spend $40/Get $20 BC" Deal.
10 x Kellogg's cereals on sale 2/$5=$25.00
3 x Tide laundry detergent on sale $5.99=$17.97
SubTotal......$42.97

I used.....
8 x $1/1 Kellogg's IPQs(from my Kellogg's Rewards Account Pts.)=$8.00
2 x .50¢/1 Kellogg's assort. "Fall" cereals IPQ from their website=$1.00
2 x $2/1 Tide L2CQ(1 for pods/1 for liquid)=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Tide liquid ManQ=$2.00
Coupon Total......$15.00

$42.97-$15.00=$27.97 paid for with combo of all my BC and gift card.

I earned back $23 in new Bonus Cash($20 Spend $40/Get $20 Deal, $3 wys $12 on select Fall foods).

The $3 BC on fall foods was unexpected but it looks like the Special K pecan and cinnamon variety and the reg. Frosted Mini-Wheats were included in that offer.  Sweet!

I also got back $5 from SavingStar for buying $25 in Kellogg's cereals and amazingly I just looked and it'a ALREADY in my account there!

Unfortunately the only Kellogg's Ibotta rebates I had on cereal were for Frosted Flakes and those weren't part of the Rite-Aid sale. *whomp whomp*

In the end I paid $27.97+.72¢ tax on the Tide=$28.69 in BC/gift card and got back $28 in BC and SavingStar cash rebates.  Not a bad haul for .69¢ OOP.  ;-)

I am $57.91 into my October food spending.  Things should slow way down on the grocery spending for the rest of October unless Hubs goes off the deep end(he is not a price watcher)while I am away.

Now I am off to do my end of month Sept. figures and calculations.  Oh goody! lolz

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Weird Dreams" Edition................

I've been having a slew of weird dreams lately.  The last one I was giving birth but the baby was inside a gift tin. ouch! lolz  I should write them down so I remember them all.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Spaghetti with Sauce, Meatballs, Salad
2. Monday--Leftover Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze(glaze is new), Asiago Rice, Veggie TBD

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Roasted Sweet Potato and Carrots, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs w/Chili, Beans

5. Thursday--Steak Ravioli with Sauce, Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers or FFY
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

And this is what actually happened--

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

1. Sunday--Spaghetti with Sauce, Meatballs, Salad
2. Monday--Leftover Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze(glaze is new), Asiago Rice, leftover Harvard Beets and Carrots

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Roasted Sweet Potato, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Pizza and Stromboli

5. Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans

6. Friday--Steak Ravioli with Sauce
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.

I found some old gift certificates we won at the church auction last Fall and wanted to use them before the restaurant closed up(it happens quite a bit around here lolz)so we had take-out on Wednesday instead of hot dogs and beans.

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

* leftover Chili
* leftover Goulash

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* 12 Meatballs
* 1 hunk of Salmon
* 1 bag of Ravioli
* 1 pack of hot dogs

Trips to Weis for lots of TP and other items($57.52) and a trip to the Ocean State Job Lot($12.80)brought the weekly spending to $85.54 and my September Grand Total spending on food to $462.32.

My savings percentage last week was 51.90%(without Rite-Aid trips)and September's monthly savings total comes in at 54.50%(w/out R-A).

I have 0 more food shopping/spending days in September.  Because of the TP stock-up mostly, I went over budget this month by $62.32.
No problem as I have spare monies in the budget to cover that overage and most of the tp was 50% off and I won't have to worry about tp for about 6 months now. 8-)))

Leftovers going into this week......1 slice of pizza and 1 helping of ravioli.  These will be eaten for lunches/snacks so I've got to come up with all new meals. sigh.

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

1. Sunday--FFY
2. Monday--Lasagna Helper, Veggie from Freezer TBD

3. Tuesday--Beef Pie w/Green Beans/Carrots, Cornbread Topping

4. Wednesday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches w/Veggie from Freezer TBD

5. Thursday--Chicken Rice and Broccoli Casserole

6. Friday--Leftovers or FFY or Breakfast for Dinner
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

This week will see 5-6 new meals cooked, 1-2 night of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of  Eating Out.
The weather has taken a nippy turn so I've got a couple casserole type meals on tap for the week and both should yield leftovers.
Go me. ;-)

What needs buying for this menu? We have no Ground Beef so that's a need.

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 Food Spending Report.....the September Edition

* I am posting this a few days early as I am done food spending for September.  Anything bought between now and Oct. 1st will go on October's food budget. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2019.

I have posted September'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 September.  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.
*****************

ALDI'S
OOP  $32.70
Value  $54.61
Savings  40.12%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $4.89
Value  $15.96
Savings  69.96%

FARM
OOP  $18.50
Value  $70.63
Savings  73.81%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $40.28
Value  $69.76
Savings  42.26%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $100.72
Value  $221.75
Savings 54.58 %

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $249..98
Value  $249.98
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $24.15
Qs/Ads $15.89

Value  $40.04

Savings 39.69%

TARGET
OOP  $12.51
Value  $25.29
Savings  50.53%

WALMART
OOP  $47.13
Value  $70.40
Savings  33.05%

WEIS
OOP  $181.44
Qs/Ads  $266.20
Value  $447.64
Savings  59.47%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Farm at 73.81% and the Bread Outlet 69.96%. My worst savings rate was at Walmart with 33.05%.
I shopped at 10 different stores in September.

TOTAL Spent.........................................$462.32

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$553.76

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1016.08

TOTAL Savings of ................................54.50%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for September w/R-A........$462.32
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$803.74
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1266.06
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................63.48%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent well OVER my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in September.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 5.08% in September 2019 to 63.48% compared to the August 68.56% savings average.


With 9 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3,513.76 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$3,513.76

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$13,402.46

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$9,888.70

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............73.78%

The average per month amount spent so far is $390.42 in 2019 which went up $8.99 per month due to more spending in September.

LOOKING AHEAD To October 2019.......
I will be gone for a lot of October.  Food I buy while awhile won't count against my food budget except for items I buy to bring home to use.  Hubs will be "in charge" of food spending for most of this month. It should be an interesting month because of that. lolz  I have no clue if we'll stay under $400 for October or not.  Stay tuned.....

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 September?

*  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