This Week on the Dining Table

 The  "Just So Over Everything" Edition.......
Another Blursday, heck another Blursweek here! 
Nothing going on worth noting. The garden is pretty much done/shot. The highlight of my week was a $20 Ibotta Bonus showing up in my list so I've done shopping to reach that before Sept.30th when it expires.
I also got a Shingles shot and my flu shop yesterday at Rite-Aid.  
Whoopee
I am not "feeling" cooking this week.

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.........

1. Sunday--Steak, Spinach Salad
2. Monday--Crab Ravioli w/Cream Sauce, Tossed Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(prolly Sloppy Joes), Sweet Potato Fries

4. Wednesday--TV dinners
5. Thursday--Brats on Buns, Carrots

6. Friday--TV dinners
7. Saturday--maybe Chinese take-out or Lobsters

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Steak, Spinach Salad
2. Monday--Crab Ravioli w/Cream Sauce, Tossed Salad
3. Tuesday--TV dinner(I had Veggie Lasagna)

4. Wednesday--Leftovers for Hubs, Creamed Spinach for me
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out

6. Friday--TV dinners(more Veggie Lasagna)
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 2 nights of home cooked dinners, 4 nights of leftovers/FFY/TV Dinners, and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out.  

What got put into the freezer last week....
* Lots of Eye Round Steaks

* 2 bags of shredded cheese

* 2 lbs. of bacon

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 3 TV dinners

* 1 Hot Pockets(Hubs)

*  Crab Ravioli

* 1 Creamed Spinach(me)

We spent $110.14 last week bringing our food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods to $110.14 for September so far.

I've earned $71.52 on Ibotta in Setember so far. ($59.04 w/out R-A rebates)

I've earned $1.50 on SavingStar in September.

I've earned $2.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal(for a digital Q).

I've earned 3648 points from food shopping on Fetch in September.

I've earned 2500 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in September.

My savings percentage for last week was 45.50%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips)for September and the monthly savings total for September comes in at 45.50% so far.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week......Crab Ravioli.

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

1. Sunday--Crab Ravioli, Roasted Squash
2. Monday--Hot Dogs on buns, Beans, Carrots
3. Tuesday--Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine, Sugar Snap Peas

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Caesar Salad
5. Thursday--? and sauteed Cabbage

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing probably.  I have no inspiration for the last 3 days of the week so it will be either leftovers of whatever I pull out of the freezer.  I might make a  cheese lasagna later this week and send half to Ex-CB since it's too much for Hubs and I(and we'll get tired of it).  I think we need milk this week.

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's at home.
* Tuna Casserole
* Roasted Chicken
* Shrimp/Crab Ravioli
* Cheese Ravioli

* Breakfast for Dinner

* Haddock Fish Dinner  
* Chicken Tenders  

* Beef Liver  

Plus lots of thinly sliced Chicken Breast, grass fed Ground Beef and Ground Turkey in the freezer.

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

Frugal Friday.....the September 4th Edition on Saturday

Here's what frugal wins I had this past week.........

*  I got a whole eye round of beef roast last Friday at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  It was $2.99 lb. all weekend.  Great price.  I sliced it up into steaks and put them into the freezer.

*  When I checked out at the self-register at Weis last Friday a bunch of Catalinas were hanging out of the machine from previous shoppers who left them there before I got that.  So I took the string of Catalinas.  Most of them were for items I wouldn't buy but amongst them was this one.....

.75¢ off anything in the store on your next trip as a thank you for buying Gerber products. 8-)
Now I just have to remember to use it before it expires.

 *  I found money this past week!

On Sunday at Rite-Aid I found the quarter in front of the first register counter and then the penny in front of the second register counter.

Then I was back at Rite-Aid on Monday and found this penny down an aisle near the pharmacy.

Total Change found this week. .27¢
Total Change found this year....$47.99

*  I have been getting the $3 on sale Crest toothpaste at Rite-Aid this week.  You should get two tubes and clip the $3/2 Crest Load2CardQ so your subtotal is $6-$3 Q=$3 OOP or use your Bonus Cash.

You will receive $4 back in new BC(2 x $2 Crest)making this a $1 moneymaker.

It's a better deal this week than next week and counts toward the Crest Bonus Challenge Offer(if you have that one).  This deal ends today so go get some better than free toothpaste!

*  I also did the $5 MidWeek Bonus Ibotta rebate offer this week(wy redeem 12 offers), going to Walmart and R-A.

$3 cash rebate back on a specialty Crest toothpaste at R-A...$6.63-$3L2CQ=$3.63 in Bonus Cash.  I spent down BC a bit and converted $3 of BC to cash. Sweet.

At Walmart I bought....Sorry no photo.......

Gerber Fruit Water 4 pack after rebate=.48¢  *donation item*

Tide Pods after Q/rebate=.94¢ 

Playtex sport tampons after rebate=$4.54 *donation item*

3 pack Renuzit air fresheners after rebate=$1.74

5 x Renuzit air freshener singles after rebate=$2.85

Powerade ultra after rebate=.80¢

2 x Smartwater after rebate=$1.34 for both

Nature Valley Packed after Q/rebate=$1.34

2 x 5 star Mead folders after Ibotta/Checkout51= -.31¢

2 pack hard boiled eggs after rebate=.75¢

Cheesecake Factory dessert 2 pack after Q in lid/rebate=.96¢

$31.92+.81 tax=$32.73 OOP and .63¢ in BC on the Crest at R-A.

I earned back $16.29 +$5 Bonus=$21.29 so $11.44 spend on all this(including 2 donation items).

* Also the Playtex tampons bought at Walmart.....

Walmart has a $5 e-gift card deal HERE.  Buy a select item priced at $5.67 or higher, submit the receipt and get a gift card.  This particular item was $6.54 and it also had a $2 Ibotta rebate too so I spent $6.54 and got $7.00 back in cash/gift cards.

This deal can be done 2 times before 11/30/20 so I'll do it again as long as the Ibotta rebate is still active too.

*  I also bought this at Walmart.....

A WWE themed vanilla ice cream sandwich for $1.47.  I ate it on the way home because I missed lunch. lolz

I earned 20 kicks on ShopKicks for scanning this in the store and 525 kicks for buying this and submitting my receipt.  545 kicks is worth $2.18 and redeemable in gift cards.

*  We got Domino's pizza one night for dinner, using a gift card. While the gift card wasn't free, buying it earned me Bonus Cash at R-A earlier this year and ordering Domino's online this made 6 orders done in the last few months and I earned a free pizza for next time.  

On a side note-I've been trying to limit my consumption of tomato products(which is so hard since I LOVE tomatoes!)as it's a dietary trigger for HS flares(it's a nightshade plant).  Domino's makes a creamy garlic parmesan sauce you can get instead of a tomato sauce on your pizzas there so I can get that with whatever toppings and not cause a flare-up.  That garlicy sauce it really good if you like garlic and haven't tried it. ;-)

That's about it for this past week from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have last week?

Let us know!

Sluggy

My Biggest August Project is Done!

 I just realized I never put this project on my To-Do List for August......I guess you could file it under my "Access Damage to Bedroom and Fix" entry.

Anyway, between my surgery and my leg still not being "right", the heat sapping my energy(what little I had)and every other thing going on here I did get 98% of the Ex-College Boy's old bedroom finished.

Here is what it looked like in there when he left(and after Hubs and I cleaned out what he left, cleaned the walls and vacuumed the carpeting and shampooed it.........

We had to wait for Ex-CB to come home on his day off after this photo to move the two dressers(one was in the closet and one needed to be repositioned about 3 feet along the wall it was against.  I couldn't help Hubs lift anything after surgery.
Once that got done Hubs took apart the daybed frame and set it up in that far corner and lugged the mattress onto it again.

Then Hubs moved all the toiletry tubs in the hallway from when I emptied the big dresser in my sewing room where the toiletries were living so Ex-CB could take that dresser with him.  I bagged up the toiletries from the small dresser still in the sewing room a little at a time and lugged all that into what we call the "guest room" now.

Here are some shots of my progress reorganizing and putting the toiletry stockpile away at the midway point..........

The tubs in the foreground, behind the vacuum are mostly Xmas tubs as is the grey tub in front of the bed.  There are a few items on the bed as well as the shopping bags on the floor with toiletries.  The white lidded tub open on the floor halfway under the bed is an under-bed storage tub that I keep my stash of personal vitamins and supplements in.  There are bottles of shampoo on the dresser still to be put into the dresser.

This is where I sat as I put away various toiletries into the long dresser.  At this point I had only filled 2 drawers and was working on 2 more. Lot of stuff on top of the dresser still, an open tub next to the chair and a couple of shopping bags on the floor.  Still a mess but getting there.

This pile sits next to the dresser above.  All the tubs are Xmas paraphernalia as well as the bags on top of the tubs.  The shipping bad and purple tote on the floor hold toiletries still to deal with and there are feminine products on top of one of the Xmas tubs and a few men's face items on the dark blue tup.

This stuff in front of the room's closet is mostly Xmas too, except for the two shopping bags on the floor which are toiletries.

And once I was finished here is what the guest room looks like now.......

Well it's not done done. lolz
I still have an empty drawer in that dresser and items on the top.  There's a desk lamp and a boom box plus a few mouthwash to relocate and I am storing body wash for myself on that desk top.  It's too tall to stand up in a drawer and I don't like to lay those down as they tend to leak.

The boxes/tubs/bags next to the dresser are all Xmas items to either give away or sell if the kids don't want any of it.

This wall has shelving where I've put more body wash, bottles of hand wash, and the feminine products.

The bed is made and ready for use. There are various under-bed storage tubs and boxes underneath-two are toiletries, one tub is stationery/home office stuff and the box is Ex-CB stuff.

Next to the bed is the tall dresser.  It still has an empty drawer. There are some shampoos on top as well as a blue bin with cough drops in it.

The large closet now holds ALL the Xmas tubs and paraphernalia-ornaments, trees, garlands, statues, geegaws.  This was all relocated from the sewing room closet shelves, the laundry room shelves and  from the garage.  I am relieved it's all in one location after 20 years of having it tucked and spread all over wherever we could find room!

There is a stack of boxes in the deep corner of the closet with some non-Xmas stuff(which you can't see in this photo), like boxes of the kid's childhood stuff but those hardly take up any room.  That grey tub on the left in the photo on the floor is where my Xmas present tubs(two of them)will go after I finish going through them.  Look at all that empty floor  space left! lolz

Now my laundry room shelf can hold stockpiled laundry supplies instead of Xmas tubs.

And with the dresser that Ex-CB took with him gone and the Xmas tubs out of the sewing room closet I can stow away all my sewing supplies and UFOs(unfinished projects)out of sight. *Sorry about my thumb in this shot.....*

So even with all the crap going on here August turned out to be productive beyond my To-Do List.

go.

me.

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2020.....the August Report

 Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), 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.

  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 August report---

I had 2 goals for August.......
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 2020.

I can report that we finished up August in the red.
The amount we ended the month of August with?.....-$725.44

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $507.66

Total "Income" for August.....$5613.66

Expenses in August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in August were $594.00
* Variable Expenses in August came to $3,861.34
Total Expenses....$6,339.10

$5613.66-$6339.10= -$725.44
Slush into August of $29,359.07 in that Fund, subtract the $725.44 shortfall brings the Slush to $28,633.63 going into September.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $2241.06 for August.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were the same as last month.
*  The electric bill was $12.96 lower than in July.
* The Amazon c/c bill was $99.93 lower than last month.

* The gas c/c bill was $52.45 lower than in July.
*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $7.14 higher than last month.

*  The Mastercard c/c bill was $2,275.34 higher than in July.  Half of that was the love seat we paid for(but still haven't gotten)the car registrations, the U-Haul charge to move Ex-CB out, I bought a lot of gift cards and my ancestry account charge technically hit this month on the c/c(though I put some WAM in last month to cover most of it).

*  We had an irregular bill due in August-the house insurance annual premium.

*  We had a kennel bill for boarding the dogs for 2 nights as no one was available here to dog sit while I was in Hershey having a medical procedure and Hubs had to take me there.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---
One small irregular bill last month so that was good but I did spend what I consider a lot at the grocery stores again, AND the credit card bill was quite high as there were some unusual expenses on that in August.  To add insult to injury all the banks I have investments with lowered their interest rates mid-July so we've seen less interest income coming in.  And with the state of the world lately I'd don't see that changing/reversing for some time to come. ugh.

We had slightly more expenses than income last month so we drew from our Slush Fund to cover that overage.  That pot of cash gives me peace of mind and let's me sleep at night. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into September 2020----

We have two irregular bills this month, the smallish long term care policy quarterly premiums and the school taxes on the house(about half of the total property taxes due yearly here in PA).  There will be a small 401K withdrawal to cover the school taxes this month.  The other irregular bill we can work into our regular income stream for September.

The electric bill and water bill should both be lower in September and I am hoping I can stay out of the grocery store too. ;-)

I am hoping for a lower expense month this month compared to August.

So how was your August financially?
  

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

Food Spending 2020.....The August Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2020.

I have posted August'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 August.  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 4(2 at home this month). 
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $4.00
Value  $12.47
Savings  67.29%

CVS
OOP  $3.28

Qs/Ads/ECBucks $140.25
Value  $143.53
Savings  97.71%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $26.18

Qs/Ads  $40.30

Value  $66.48
Savings  60.62%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $16.95
Value  $34.11
Savings  50.31%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $53.78
Value  $96.00
Savings  43.98% 

RITE-AID *
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/GCard  $670.50
Value  $670.50
Savings  100%

SHARP SHOPPER

OOP  $55.52

Value  $97.71

Savings  43.18%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP   ($7.96) used free gift card
Value  $15.96
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $64.35
Value  $183.22
Savings  64.88%

WEIS
OOP  $241.89
Qs/Ads  $131.88
Value  $373.77
Savings  35.28%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Shursave at 100% and CVS at 97.71% .   My worst savings rate was at Weis with 35.28%.  Lots of great savings rates this month!

I shopped at 10 different stores in August.

I also earned $156.15 in cash rebates in August(Ibotta/SavingStar/Checkout51)which helps offset the spending once I cash those in at the end of 2020.

(Actually it was $15.10 more than that amount in August because Ibotta put $15.10 of my August earnings on September even though the rebates were earned in August? Weird.)

TOTAL Spent(without R-A)...................$483.94

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$567.31
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1051.25

TOTAL Savings of ................................53.97%

Add in the Rite-Aid purchases and we get.........

TOTAL Spent........................................$483.94

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$1237.81
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1721.75

TOTAL Savings of ................................71.89%

This closes out the August food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....I wanted to stay much lower with the grocery spending but worries about Fall shut downs and shortages had me buying a lot of long term storage foods and refilling the freezer.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 2.64% in August 2020 to 71.89% compared to the July 2020 rate of 69.25% savings average.  

With 8 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3152.03 on food/toiletries in 2020.

Going into 2020 before the pandemic blew the wind out of my sails I wanted to stay at or under $4K for the yearly food spending.  At this point I don't think that will happen but we'll keep plugging along anyway.


2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3152.03

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$9410.78

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$6258.75

2020 Yearly Savings Total............66.51%

The average per month amount spent is $394.00 at this point in 2020 which went up some from July's average.  As long as I'm around $400 per month with 3(now 2)people in the house, it's all good.  While it's just Hubs and I now I will also be supplementing Ex-College Boy's food needs for awhile.

LOOKING AHEAD To September 2020.............

I am determined to have a lower food spending month in September as we were over my $400 budget in the last TWO months!  Between going to the store too much and the rising cost of groceries I don't know if I can do a $200 spending month(which would be half of my usual budget)but I'll try to keep it down.

Sluggy plans, the gods laugh. ;-)

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 August?

*  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