Saturday, October 5, 2019

To-Do List......the September Update

Here's how the September to-Do List turned out.......

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything was paid on time. No interest paid EVER! lolz

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE  
I read this one..........


"The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough"

Mr. McCullough writes very readable books so it's always a joy to pick one of his up.
Wilbur and Orville(as well as their sister, Catherine, who was a teacher and an Oberlin graduate)were very interesting people.  
This book told me a lot I didn't know about the Wrights.  I found their trips to NC for their flight experiments most interesting as that is the part of the world I grew up near.


Then I read this one.......


"The Whole Town's Talking" by Fannie Flagg

I am a big Fannie Flagg fan but this books, IMHO, wasn't up to her usual standards.  I don't know, I just found it lacking in depth and it just seemed a predictable plot.  It started off well but by the end I wasn't as enamored with it.  But I am still glad I read it.

And then I read a third book.......




"The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: A Novel" by Jonathan Evison

This book went fast and I actually finished it before September was over.  It was a delightful little read(though the subject matter was so delightful lolz)that kept me interested and in suspense.  I may have to hunt down Mr. Evison's previous novel, "West of Here" and give it a look.


* Purge Inserts & Q Envie  DONE  
My poor little coupon envie looks so thin and anemic lately as I haven't been spending much time hunting down Qs to use.
 I have hardly any Qs in my envie right now after cleaning it out and the Insert stack is quite short.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE


All the above plus a few items chosen by the winner were given away.

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  
The box went out promptly and received safely.

* Deep clean Master Bedroom  IN PROGRESS
I haven't been able to deep clean our bedroom for ages.  All the stuff stored in it was relocated to new places in the house by the beginning of September but with everything I've been working on in September(sewing room mostly)I haven't gotten the bedroom thoroughly cleaned.  It's been cleaning by drips and drabs in there so far.
When I get back from my trip, the seasonal clothing will need to be switched and I'll incorporate the closet into the deep clean too.  More to do on this in October.

* Prepare Peppers for Freezer  DONE
This chore got done in early September as that is when we went to the farm and picked a peck of peppers(or was it 3 pecks? I don't know.).

* Can Tomatoes  DONE



I canned the tomatoes in early September.  After that the tomatoes ripened in drips and drabs so I either sauced and used them right away or tucked them into the freezer as there wasn't enough to run the canning pot really.
I didn't can as many this year as last partly because I didn't buy any at the farm like last year and we ate more of the ones we grew fresh(or I made sauce to use right away).

* House Train Puppy  IN PROGRESS
Mostly Dixie is trained now and we haven't had any accidents in the house in a month but I hesitate to mark this one DONE for awhile longer.  Maybe at the end of October?

* Take Load to Salvation Army  DONE
I didn't get a photo of what we took in the last week in September.  Mostly it was Hubs' things he de-cluttered from the man cave as he was setting it up after the makeover in there.

* List Items on eBay  IN PROGRESS
I got about 7 items up in September. It is so frustrating though as eBay REQUIRES you to have the "Make An Offer" feature on non-auction listings so I am having to run the gauntlet of lowball offers from eBay bottom feeders. ugh.
Is it worth it really anymore?  Maybe I'll just start putting my eBay goodies in Giveaway boxes instead!

* Get Car Checked for Trip  DONE  The oil got changed and all belts/hoses checked and tires inflated to proper levels.  We are all set to travel...woohoo!

* Move More $$ Into a CD  DONE I finally got this completed.  The cash hasn't been in a CD for a month yet and already I've earned $30+ on the deposit(can't take it until the CD matures but I still count it every month lol).  Much better than the .06¢ it was earning a month in the reg. checking account. 8-((

* Organize my Stuff in Sewing Room  DONE



All my crap is in there now.



And it's all organized and set up.



Now I just need the motivation and inspiration to get in there and sew something. lolz




* Reorganize Garage  IN PROGRESS
With the Stockpile Sale lots of things got moved and reorganized in the garage.  I've still got some work to do out there but with the weather getting cold now(and I'll be away for a couple of weeks)I don't know how much more progress I'll make this year.  I'll call this one done for the year once October is finished.

* Put Garden to Bed  FAIL
As we are still harvesting veggies into October the garden wasn't put to bed in September.  I am hoping Hubs does it without my help while I am away.  hehehe

* Organize my Stuff in Dining Room  IN PROGRESS  The Dining Room has become "eBay Central" now........it's where I photograph, store and pack what I am attempting to sell on eBay.  It's also where I load/store Giveaway boxes too.  I've got it fairly organized in there now and don't need to clear it out until Thanksgiving, when I'll just move the stacks into the corner of the living room where the Daughter's hanging device(for her back pain)use to be.

* Go Through Stack of Recipes  FALL
Here's what I need to go through...........



A red box of my mother's recipes as well as print outs of recipes from online and a recipe tin with recipe cards, both mine and my mother's.  A lot of these print outs from online can get pitched.  I just didn't get to any of this in September.  Maybe this Winter when I'm stuck inside because of the weather I'll get around to it?  Let's remove it for now and re-attempt this chore during the Winter in 2020.

* Make Reservations for Dec./Jan.  IN PROGRESS
I've gotten MY half of the reservations completed. Hubs is in charge of the car rental and the dog boarding reservations.  I suppose I'll have to nag at him, especially the boarding rez as they will fill up for the Holidays soon. sigh

* Clean my Car  DONE
I got it cleaned and vacuumed out.  The cup holder was nasty(Ex-CB must have spilled something in it one of the few times I've let him take my car lately)but otherwise not too bad.  I wish I could reach the windshield better to clean the inside of it but it's done.

* Color my Hair  FAIL
I didn't get around to coloring my hair until this past Thursday, which was October.

*  Pack for Oct. Trip  IN PROGRESS
Packing is a process and takes days for a trip like this.  I commenced the process late September(making the checklist and gathering supplies).  The actual packing(putting stuff in the car)happens a couple of days before leaving.  After all, I can't be riding around to Rite-Aid and Weis(PMITA)Markets here with my car filled with stuff, right? ;-)

*  Hold Stockpile Sale  DONE



Held the sale the first Saturday of September and traded a lot of what is pictured above for cold hard cash below, with a trace of my sanity too.........




That's all from Chez Sluggy for September.  It was a good and full month.
Onward and upward to October!

Did you have a productive September?  Tell us all about what you got done. ;-)


Sluggy

Friday, October 4, 2019

Frugal Friday.....the October 4th Edition

Here's a look around at what frugal wins we had this past week.........

* We picked what is probably the last of the garden veggies.....


Hubs picked the last of the tomatoes, including some green ones.  Except for the Cherokee Purple which we'll reserve for slicing and eating fresh, the rest of the ripe ones went into my last pot of sauce  made from our tomatoes.  Hopefully the green ones ripen soon.


And I went out yesterday in the rain and snipped the last of the broccoli.  I made a chicken, rice, cheese and broccoli casserole Thursday evening for dinner and this was just enough broccoli for it.

Growing your own food saves a ton at the grocery store and if you grow tomatoes you actually get to taste a "real" tomato and not that genetic monster they raise to sell in the grocery store that looks great, travels well but has no actual flavor.


* I found money!


This corroded penny was found in my car when I cleaned it out on Saturday.



These 2 pennies came from Rite-Aid....the nice shiny one inside the store on the floor and the grody one in the parking lot.  It looks like it was run over a few hundred times!lolz


Another penny in Rite-Aid when I went to buy a Sunday paper on Sunday.


And these three in Rite-Aid(where else?!?!)on Monday when I bought all that cereal.


And this lonely penny at Weis by my favorite self-checkout.
Free money tally for the week is .08¢.

*  A free gift card arrived last Friday......


I had enough points with my Hotel Program that I sent off for this $50 gift card.  Now to use this to it's best advantage.

*  I hit Big Lots on Sunday during their 20% off Friends and Family Sale.  I like to stock up on tp at one of these but I didn't need to(see Weis stock ups the week before)so I just got a few things.



Some good deals at Weis..........


And some good deals at Rite-Aid....





And some samples at Rite-Aid as well........




* Between SavingStar and Ibotta I got back $21.10 in cash rebates this past week.
Sweet!

* I also had a number of post coupon/refund situations this past week resulting in $8 cash back---

$4 back at Rite-Aid on Sunday when the cashier hit the total button before taking my Qs.....


$2 back when my 2 digital Qs didn't come off at the Shursave Market.  It was actually $1.99 back($1 and .99¢)but she gave me $2 even.


And $2 back for being overcharged on some clearance turnip greens at Weis.......



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


That's about it from here.



What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Tell us all about them! 8-)))





Sluggy

Thursday, October 3, 2019

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


Wednesday, October 2, 2019

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

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

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