Frugal Friday 2021....the January 15th Edition

 Here's what passed for frugal last week around Chez Sluggy.........

* I finally! returned some clothes I got on clearance last January for Ex-College Boy to give him for Christmas in 2020.  Seems when he moved out in July he found a bunch of never worn clothes similar to these in the disaster that was his bedroom so he no longer needed these items.  I wanted to make sure he didn't need the clothes so I waited until Christmas was over and I ALWAYS keep receipts. lol

Just short of $49 in shopping credit back to spend on ME! ;-)

*  My CBD oil order finally arrived safely.  I ordered this back in early December.  According to the UPS tracking it made it to the NEPA distribution center here and then UPS sent it back to the company!  I got an email that it was delivered right after Xmas so went outside to find it....nope nothing there.  So I expanded the details and Shannon from the loading dock  received the package.  Hmm, no Shannon's here and we don't have a loading dock so it seems UPS sent the package back to the company in IL. lolz

Long story longer, said company reshipped it and UPS decided to actually deliver it to me this go 'round.  The company is still waiting on an explanation why they did that other thing last time.

I'm just happy it arrived NOT broken(glass bottles were not packed well).  I got a great deal on this lot-buy 1 bottle and get 5 free plus free shipping.  go. me.

* I found money!

I found 3 pennies at Dollar General last Saturday.  Two near the register and another on the sidewalk outside the building as I was walking in.

Then I found this dime at Rite-Aid.  It was in the sliding door entrance track just waiting for me to cross the threshold and pick him up!

Found Money This Week.... .13¢

Found Money This Year...... .17¢

* I found an on sale Larabar at R-A on Tuesday with a peelie coupon........

Paid .49¢ in Bonus Cash and the Coupons dotcom app sent me $2.29 to my Paypal account for buying it. ;-)

*  I finished the Ibotta $10 Bonus this week between offers at CVS, Rite-Aid and Walmart(plus shops last week at Weis and Rite-Aid)......

I also earned $ on ShopKick, Checkout51 and Fetch Rewards for some of this, stacking various rebate offers.  I used $30 in free gift cards at Walmart to bring the total OOP at all stores down to $45.79 and earned $108.39 back in cash rebates.

*  I also got a refund one one R-A transaction because my 20% Wellness Discount didn't come off of the regular priced items..........

This money went into my Refund/Post Coupon envelope and basically converted $7.73 of Bonus Cash into real cash.

*  We got Stromboli from a local pizza joint last Friday as Ex-CB came over. I made a Caesar Salad to go with it. Finished using a gift card for that joint so only had to pay OOP for a little more than half of the cost of the Strombolis.  It was a lot of food and we've had the leftovers twice for lunches this week(plus sent some home with Ex-CB).  

We also got lunch out at Applebee's on Tuesday and used a $25 gift card so only $12.63 OOP including the tip.  Gotta keep on top of these gift cards!

* On the "Use Down the Pantry/Freezer" Front.......

This is an old popcorn barrel I washed to reuse to store dry goods.  I filled it 3/4 full last year with a bulk elbow pasta buy at one of the Amish grocery outlets around here for very little money.  We've been working our way through this dried pasta supply all of 2020.  I made macaroni salad yesterday in prep for tonight's dinner.  I think one more dish of mac and cheese, American Chop Suey or a soup with noodles with finish this off.  rah.

That's about it from my part of the world.

What's going on frugal-wise in your corner of the world?

Sluggy

CVS Trip on Monday, Multiple Rite-Aid Trips & a Walmart Trip To Finish Ibotta Bonus

I have a Buy 36 items/Get $10 Bonus on Ibotta which runs from 1/7-1/18/21.  I had 9 offers completed going into this week so 27 more to go to get that Bonus.  Spending OOP at this point was the $3.59 OOP at Weis on Friday(plus $7.34 in reg. Ibotta rebates there as well as $23 in rebates from Rite-Aid--Nivea and Nature Made products for which I spent Bonus Cash).
I am at $33.34 earned on Ibotta($30.34 reg. rebates and $3 Weekend Warrior Bonus)since 1/7/21.

Had to spend/roll the ECBs this week.  Here's what I bought........

2 x Nivea Breathable lotion=$16.98
1 x Poise active pads on sale=$5.99
2 x Pop-arazzi nail polish=$5.00
SubTotal.......$27.97

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 purchase CVSQ=$5.00
2 x $3/1 Nivea lotion IPQ=$6.00
1 x $1 off $5 Nivea CRTQ=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Poise DigitalQ=$3.00
Coupon Total......$15.00

$27.97-$15=$12.97+.15¢ tax=$13.12
Paid with $13 in ECBs and .12¢ cash OOP.

I earned back $11 in new ECBs($5 wyb2 Nivea, $2 Poise, $4 Pop-arazzi)so spent the ECBs down by $2.

The Nivea lotion had a $2 Ibotta rebate so 2 bottles earned me $4.00 back there and upped my completed offers to 10 so 26 more to reach the $10 Fresh Start Bonus.  Total OOP now at $7.46 and $37.34 earned on Ibotta.

I went to Rite-Aid near that CVS and bought this using a $10 off $40 Q.......

2 x Working Hands lotion(at Hubs' request)$7.29=$14.38
2 x Big Win Coffee Creamer(at Hubs' request)$3.49=$6.98
2 x Nivea men's body wash on sale=$10.00
3 x Nivea sensitive shave gel 75% off=$3.72
2 x Nivea stubble balm 75% off=$3.98
4 x Carol's Daughter leave-in Conditioner $3.59=$14.36
2 x Baby Ruth on sale=$1.00
SubTotal.....$54.42*

I used a $10 off $40 R-A Q and a $3/2 Nivea body wash ManQ so it was $41.42+ $2.12 sales tax=$43.54 paid for with Bonus Cash.

Except my total shouldn't have been so high.  My 20% Wellness discount didn't come off the regular priced items!*the creamer, lotion and conditioner*

Very strange.....those 3 items should have come to $28.57 instead of $35.72 so a difference of $7.15 +.58¢=$7.73.

I noticed the issue and brought it to the attention of the cashier and manager and  I got a cash refund of $7.73 which went into my refunds/post coupon envelope when I got home.......

I earned back $20 in new BC($3 wyb2 Working Hands, 2 x $3 Nivea men's, 2 x $5 Carol's Daughter items, $1wyb2 candy bars).

The Nivea face items earned me back $9.80 on Ibotta and upped my item count by 2 so 24 items left to buy and $47.14 earned on Ibotta since 1/7/21.

Next day I hit Walmart as I knew I could knocked out a lot of Ibotta rebates(and stack a few with ShopKick too).

That trip didn't go as planned exactly(and I goofed up a bit)but here is what I bought and what rebates it all qualified for......

1 x Breakstone cottage cheese*not pictured*=.75¢
2 x Good Thins=$2.56

2 x Good Thins second rebate=$1.50

1 x big All detergent(my goof)=$2.00

1 x Scorchin hot Pringles=.75¢
1 x big jug of Purex=$1.50
2 x big bags of Hall's cough drops=$3.00
2 x Oreo thins(big packs)=$2.00
1 x Truvia=$1.50
2 x Renuzit cones=.97¢
2 x Swanson broth=$1.00
1x Yes! soup=$1.98
1 x Vaseline Smooth Almond lotion=$1.00
1 x Listerine Flosser=$2.00
1 x Listerine mouth rinse(small bottle)=$1.00
1 x Noxema cream=$1.00
1 x Rolaids antacid=$1.00
1 x Zebra gel pens pack=$1.00
1 x Bic ladies razor*No Ibotta rebate*
1 x Vaseline jelly w/cocoa butter=$1.00
1 x Ducolax=$1.00
1 x St. Ives face scrub=$1.00
1 x any brand acne product(I guess the St. Ives qualified for that)=.10¢

All these regular Ibotta rebates came to $29.61cash back.  There were 22 separate rebates bringing my total up to 34 rebates.  

I also earned a .50¢ Listerine Bonus(2 different Listerine items bought)and a .50¢ Level 1 Bonus so another $1 in Bonuses earned.

The big jug of All was a goof.  The Clean Care white All qualified for 2 rebates totaling $4.50 plus had a $2 All Bonus it would have put you over for by buying this 1 All product so after rebates it was almost free(or free if you also had a coupon for it).  My jug wasn't Clean Care so I only got a $2.00 rebate on it.  It is what it is.

I also had a $3/2 Noxemz/St. Ives/Pond's/Simple digitalQ clipped on Coupon dotcom but it disappeared from my account before I got home with those items to scan the receipt in. meh. 

I could have bought the small packs of Oreo thins but they didn't have the mint variety in that size so I had to spend more on those.  Between these issues and the All goof my total is $9+ higher than I had figured.

I bought the Bic razor because after the ManuQ it was a .78¢ moneymaker that I could put toward what I spent on everything else.

The only freebie above was the Yes! soup(an actual .20¢ moneymaker since it was $1.78 and not the $1.98 Ibotta gave back for buying it).  This store didn't carry or was out of some other freebies so I had to punt.

After coupons used and $30 in free Walmart gift cards I spent $38.33 OOP on all this at Walmart.

Total spending OOP toward the Ibotta Bonus is now $45.79 since 1/7/21 and $77.75 earned back in rebates.

I finished off the Fresh Start Bonus at Rite-Aid yesterday buying this stuff.......

2 x Mybite vitamins(2 different types w/separate rebates)BOGOFree=$10.99

2 x Eucerin Ezcema lotion BOGO50%=$19.48

2 x Colgate advanced toothpaste on sale=$7.98

1 x Big Win tea bags 20% off=$2.63

2 x Simple micellar water clearance=$1.74

2 x Baby Ruth on sale=$1.00

SubTotal.......$43.82

Coupons Used

1 x $10 wys $40 R-AQ=$10.00

2 x $1/1 Mybites peelieQ=$2.00

2 x $3.50/1 Eucerin item IPQ=$7.00

2 x $2/1 In-Ad Colgate RAQ=$4.00

1 x $3/2 Colgate L2CQ=$3.00

Coupon Total.......$26.00

$43.82-$26=$17.82+.49¢ tax=$18.31 paid for with Bonus Cash. 

I also earned back $9 in new BC(2 x $3 Eucerin, 2 x $1 Colgate, $1 Candy Bars). 

The Mybites gave me the last 2 items toward my 36 offers on Ibotta so I earned the $10  Bonus plus th $2 in regular rebates. 8-)

Total spent OOP(not counting any Bonus Cash "spent down")is now $45.79 and Ibotta cash back for regular offers and various bonuses earned on is $89.75.

I also earned 2150 in Kicks on ShopKick for the 4 Vaseline, St. Ives and Noxema items which comes out to $8.60 toward more Walmart gift cards.

I earned $8 in rebates on Checkout51 as well.

I also earned 293 points by scanning my receipts into Fetch Rewards so that's over .20¢ back there too.

Plus I picked up a Larabar at Rite-Aid as there is a Coupons dotcom freebie offer until Saturday.  Submit your receipt and get $2.29 back in a rebate, even if you spend less than that on your bar.

If your R-A carries these they are on sale this week for 99¢ each.

I found one at R-A with a .50¢ freshness sticker so it cost me .49¢(in Bonus Cash, not cash OOP).  I've already gotten my $2.29 refund on it.

Recapping--

* Total OOP since 1/7........$45.79

* Total Ibotta earrnings......$89.75

* Total ShopKick earnings...$8.60

* Total Checkout51 earnings..$8.00

* Total Fetch earings..... .29¢ give or take a penny

* Total Coupons dotcom.......$2.29

Spent $45.79 to earn $108.93.

Got some wants, some needs and some to give away.

I'll take this all day long! ;-)

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2020....the December 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 December report---

I had 2 goals for December.......
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 December in the black.
The amount we ended the month of December with?.....$1,942.36

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in December---

* 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 $430.32

* Dividend income of $18.27

* Grocery Rebates for the year of $1,473.27

* Deposit from my WAM to cover a gift to someone

Total "Income" for December.....$7127.86

Expenses in December---

* Healthcare Premium for December was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in December were $555.41
* Variable Expenses in December came to $2,746.33
Total Expenses....$5185.50

$7127.86-$5185.50=$1942.36
Slush into December of $32,365.78 in that Fund, add the $1,942.36 December overage and this brings the Slush to $34,308.14 going into January 2021.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,942.36 for December.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet and cell phone were the same as in November.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The Mastercard bill was $946.00 lower than in November

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The water bill was $1.22 higher than November's bill.

* The electric bill was $89.17 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter deepens.

* The gas bill was $14.19 higher than in November.

*  My Amazon card was $330.23 higher than last month.  Our Mastercard was compromised so I had to put food shopping on the Amazon c/c.

* There was an irregular bill due in December, the long term care quarterly premiums which came to $555.41.

* We had $250 in spending on cash gifts for Christmas and Birthday for my Daughter.  It doesn't make sense to mail her "things" as the postage is so high to LA from PA so I just mail her a check for both and she's happy to get what she wants herself.

* We also had a kennel bill for $60 to board our dogs for 2 days so we could visit our son in NJ.  He and his GF have 2 cats so we can't take the dogs with us obviously as it would lead to mayhem. lol

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on December---
It was a good month overall financially.  Adding all those small economies pots of money back into the checking account to cover a large chunk of food spending gave us a much bigger overage last month to add to the Slush Fund, otherwise it would have been around a $500 addition to that Fund which still in my book would have been fine and dandy.

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2021----Hubs and I have yet to sit down and talk finances and the game plan for 2021.  Obviously extensive travel is off the table until the world stabilizes from this pandemic.  Vaccines are coming which will raise herd immunity but who knows when that will be achieved.  Maybe another short trip to NJ in the next 3 months but otherwise, I'm not seeing any travel.

We'll pay the garbage fees in a lump sum for the year in January to reap the discount there.  Our health insurance deductible has reset for 2021 so there will be $4K in spending on medical necessities(OVs, meds, etc.)up front, then normal co-pays by March(or earlier unfortunately).  March sees three different irregular bills due-long term care quarterly premiums, the real estate taxes and the annual sewage bill so we can't get complacent with frivolous spending early in 2021.  More later after we set the budgets at Chez Sluggy for the year.

The Slush Fund grew by $15,869.51 in 2020.  That Fund started the year at $18,438.63 and ended 2020 at $34,306.14.  Now we just have to decided which home improvement/repair project to spend that on-the main bath redo or new windows on the front of the house.  Both need doing.

So how was your December financially?
  

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

All My Stuff......Where Does It Go?

 A commenter(I think it was T'Pol over on "Frugal @ Istanbul")asked recently about all the deals I get and what happens to all the "stuff" that Hubs and I(plus sometimes Ex-College Boy)don't/can't use.

Here's where it all went in 2020.......

* First I give food/toiletries to extended family, which includes a Brother in-law, the Nephew and my Brother and his wife when I travel down to Virginia to see them(I always take a bag or two of goodies with me to VA).  When we travel and stop to see friends we take toiletries to hand out but the only trip in 2020 that included seeing friends was to Daughter's wedding in early January.  I believe I asked but the two friends we stopped to see didn't want anything so we only brought some items to Daughter on that trip.

* Next are the Giveaway Boxes.  I gave away 15 boxes of goodies in 2020.

January saw 2 Giveaways!

First this one....

Then this one.........

February was this one....

March was this one...

April--2 more Giveaways.

First a Pandemic Themed(Stay at Home Amusements")one........

                                      

Then a regular box of goodies..........

May saw this box given away.......

June saw this box of goodies leave my house.....

July's box was for the menfolk......

August........This was a different giveaway.  A free book written by my cousin/friend Sonya Ann to promote her latest novel, "Their Hellfire" which is still available for purchase through Amazon.  Though I gave her book away, I didn't do a box of goodies that month.

September saw this bunch of goodies given away.....

October was this array of items.......

November saw THREE Giveaways.....

Then this one..........

And then this "Girlie" box of goodies.....

December's giveaway rounded out the boxes given away in 2020 at 15 total......

Plus I had to cover the postage for all 15 of those(ranging for $8-$13 each)which came to quite a bit of change OOP! ;-)

*  I also made two donations of goods to the local food bank in 2020.....

All this baby food was gotten in February but I had to hold onto it until April since the food bank closed to donated goods for awhile during the early part of the pandemic.

I was finally able to take in the above donations in April.  Not going out much and the worry about being able to buy food due to supply chain issues early in 2020 meant less of a donation from Chez Sluggy.

Between everything in this photo above(which I was unable to bring in in November, and everything in the snapshots from my car below(didn't have time to set up a photo shoot of it all before I had to take it in).........

It all went to the food bank in December. I didn't write down what I brought so I can't tell you everything in those bags but it was mostly cereals, detergent and a few boxed pantry items. The table shot is pretty self explanatory. ;-)

* The local American Legion also put out a call in November for donations to send to US military troops serving overseas for care packages for the Holidays.

I filled two large shipping boxes with snacks and toiletries and had Hubs drop them off at the local Legion Hall.

Oodles(2-3 dozen tubes)of Toothpaste in the bag on the chair on the left........

Oodles(again 2-3 dozen packages)of razors in the bag on the right on the other chair......

Closeups of what is on the table......blister stuff, feminine needs, contact lens solution, shaving gel, protein and granola bars, lip balm....

Shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, dental floss, toothbrushes, cough drops......

 

bar soap, body wash, body lotion and topical pain relief(ben-gay type stuff).

* I also sent some friends online some boxes of goodies, sort of a random act of kindness thing for folks who I knew were struggling during the pandemic because of a job loss or other reasons. I even hesitate to mention this as I like to keep some things in my life private. 8-)

*  In other years/times I've been known to have Stockpile/Garage Sales or go set up at the Flea Market and sell stuff(buyers get a deal and I get a few $$s back in my pocket to get more deals)or sell on a local FB site.  But none of that happened this year.   Three guesses why?....Yep, Covid.  Plus I just didn't have to "oomph" to organize myself enough to do this.

We keep some and we give a lot of it away to spread the love. 8-)))

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Still Shaking My Head" Edition....

Sometime in November I saw these industrial sized rolls of toilet paper being sold in Weis(PMITA)Markets.  They look to be the size you find in public restroom stalls in those oversized roll holder machines.  They labeled their signage, "Never Ending Bathroom Tissue". lolz  I actually had Hubs go back the next day and buy two(incidentally, by the end of the week they were all gone), one to tuck away for us and one to put in a gift bag to give Ex-College Boy as a joke for a Xmas gift.  When he was younger he could certainly "go" through a tp roll per trip to the bathroom and also "blow" through an entire box of facial tissue for his nose. 

We ALL thought it was a funny gift, except Ex-CB..... ;-)

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Chinese Take-out

2. Monday--Petite Steaks, Baked Potato, Sugar Snap Peas

3. Tuesday--Fend for Yourself

4. Wednesday--Chicken Marsala, Mashed Taters, Brussels Sprouts
5. Thursday--Beef Teriyaki Stir-Fry w/Ramen

6.  Friday--Take-out Pizza, Caesar Salad

7. Saturday--Sloppy Joes, Carrots(or Tacos/Taco Salad)

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

1. Sunday--Chinese Take-out

2. Monday--Petite Steaks, Baked Potato, Sugar Snap Peas

3. Tuesday--Fend for Yourself

4. Wednesday--Chicken Marsala, Mashed Taters, CA Mix veggies
5. Thursday--Beef Teriyaki Stir-Fry w/Ramen

6.  Friday--Take-out Stromboli, Caesar Salad

7. Saturday--Cheeseburger on roll, any leftover veggies

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 night of leftovers/planned overs, FFY, and 2 nighs of Take-Out.   

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

*  2 packs of hot dogs(Ex C-B took 2 more home)

*  3 lbs. of cooked Ground Beef

*  2 Lean Cuisine meals(I ate the 3rd one already for a lunch)

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  bag of stir-fry veggies

*  a pack of thin sliced chicken breast

*  2 small steaks

*  bag of sugar snap peas

*  box of CA Medley veggies

This month is going to be all about taking more OUT of the freezer than putting IN the freezer.  I'll also be going through canned/boxed goods to see what we should be using now versus later.

We spent $72.00 on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods last week.  $39.11 and $13.46 on 2 different trips to Weis, $14.87 at P and R discounters and $4.56 at Dollar General. This bring our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $85.99 for January.

There are 20 shopping days left in January.

I've earned $64.52. on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $00 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 75 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I've earned 0 point from food shopping on Shop Kick in January.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in January.

My savings percentage for last week was 58.39%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for January and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 66.37%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week--2 portions of Chicken Marsala, a container of Mashed Taters, 2 heaping portions of Beef Noodle Stir-Fry, 1/8 of the pan of mac and cheese.

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

1. Sunday--Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff over leftover Mashed Taters, Sauted Green Beans

2. Monday--Salmon, Brussels Sprouts, leftover Mac and Cheese

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup
5. Thursday--Beef Pie(Hubs cooking)

6.  Friday--More Leftovers

7. Saturday--Subway or Leftovers(depending on how much of the Leftovers Hubs eats for lunches)

What needs buying for this menu? Nothing at all.  That doesn't mean I won't be going to the grocery store but I hope not to. ;-)

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