Frugal Friday....the June 11th Edition

Staying home most of the week leads to a not so exciting frugal week but we did have a few wins........

*I did go to Rite-Aid and got some free Daylogic razors among other things  when I went to pick up my Rxs.

* While at my unscheduled Walmart stop on Tuesday I tried the Freeosk and it was actually working!

I got this baby degree deodorant for free!

* Got a dr. appointment yesterday and this happened.......

Got a steroid shot in my knee joint. ouchie!  Not really, it wasn't bad and much less than hobbling around on what is was like. lol  Hopefully this helps stave off a knee replacement for awhile. ;-)

It's frugal as we have good medical insurance so this won't cost as much as a knee surgery if it helps.

* Been setting up for the Garage Stockpile Sale on Saturday and have posted the ads online for it this morning.  I have a bit more to set up and price plus I had a backlog of bags of crap to put out once I sell some of it. lolz Wish me luck and wads of cash!8-))

* I found money!

 While cleaning stuff out of the garage we came across an ugly handmade mug our daughter made in high school art class and left here.  I found a penny inside of it!

Monday I found 4 pennies at my Rite-Aid.  1 was on the floor and the 3 others someone left on the register counter and didn't want.

Total Found This Week... .05¢
Total Found This Year...$4.15

What good frugal finds did y'all have this past week?
Have a great Friday and Weekend!

Sluggy

Surprise! A Post!! Sort of.....

 Got almost everything staged in the garage and now it's time to price sticker it all. ugh.  Not quite as hot as the last few days....low 80's I can handle with breaks in the a/c now and again. 

I'll share photos at some point.

I also have a last minute dr. appointment for my knee in a couple of hours.....probably will result in a cortisone steroid shot.  fun times.  Then I get to come home and shot myself too in the leg for HS.
good times, good times.  Hopefully by Sat. morning I'll be able to function and run this sale.

No shopping at all for me except that Walmart run earlier in the week.  Ibotta hasn't sucked me in again....yet. lol

Sluggy

To Paraphrase Blobby & Urspo-I got nothing!

Well actually I do have stuff....soooo much stuff!  I just don't have time right now for much blogging.  I am preparing for a big stockpile sale on Saturday and it's so blazing hot out I can only stand being in the garage for limited amounts of time.  I finally got Hubs to help me arrange the furniture/shelving so now I  can lug shit out there and set it up, then take photos and post on various local websites.

And price stickers!  I went to Buck a Branch(aka Dollar Tree)yesterday to get little sticky dot price tags and they had NONE!  Which meant I had to then go to the Evil Empire(aka Walmart).  While there, after finding the sticky dots, I did a small haul to finish my Grand Slam and my Midweek Bonuses and paid a whole $6.28 OOP on all the Ibotta goodies after using a free Fetch $25 Gift card.  After rebates earned and a .50¢ coupons dotcom rebate on the ice cream too) rebates came to $36.43 making this trip was a $30.15 moneymaker(just counting the Ibotta items bought).

 I lucked out and found 2 vitamin clearance items that were $2.50 moneymakers plus another one that was free after rebate. I also found 3 items that were $5 total on clearance that didn't have Ibotta rebates but they were so cheap and stuff I could use(Move-Free, which might help my knee and some vitamins)so I brought those home too.

And I still haven't gotten a response from my Dr. about my knee issues.  I looked online and my message from 6/3 still hasn't been read by staff as of today, 6/9. Grrrr.  I suppose the doc is on vacation so nobody is in a hurry to check his messages.  Just another irritation on a hot humid sweltering day, right?

And the bathroom reno continues.  We had a delay as the shower walls still hadn't come in(and they still aren't in!)but everything else is done except sanding the spackled walls so we can paint....oh yeah, and buying paint. ;-)

Here's sneak peak at the floor........

It's a greyed laminate waterproof plank wood flooring.  All the stuff in there will be white with chrome or nickel accents(faucets, towel bar, etc.).  Nice and bright and clean looking as opposed to the big blob of  ugly tan it all was before.

I am off to gather more crap to sell and I may not be heard from again until Friday's frugal post.

Stay out of the heat y'all and have a good midweek!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

  The "LOL" Edition.......

I got a big kick out of this meme.

Onward to the meal planning!
Moving On-

This is what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Mushroom Quiche

2. Monday--Dogs and Burgers, Pasta Salad

3. Tuesday--Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry w/Veggies

4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--More Leftovers or FFY

6.  Friday--Pizza?, Salad

7. Saturday--Leftovers

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

1. Sunday--Mushroom Quiche

2. Monday--Dogs and Burgers, Pasta Salad

3. Tuesday--Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry w/Veggies

4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

6.  Friday--Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Mixed Veggies

7. Saturday--Leftover Stir-Fry

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/planned overs or FFY and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out.  Most of what was planned happened but not necessarily on the correct night.

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

* 8 pints of ice cream 8-) It's summer!

* 2 lbs. bratwurst

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

* 2 pie shells

* 6 burgers

* 8 hot dogs

* 1/2 bag of mixed veggies

* 1 teriyaki pork loin

* 1 hunk of salmon

* 1 bag of stir-fry veggies

We spent a whopping $67.13 on food/toiletries/HBA last week at 2 different stores(Walmart on Friday and Weeis(PMITA)Markets on Sunday).This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $67.13 for June.   

There are 23 shopping days left in June.

I've earned $66.88 on Ibotta in June.

I've earned $0.00 on Checkout51 in June.

I've earned $3.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in June.

I've earned 6,860 points from shopping on Fetch in June which equals $6.86.

I've earned 360 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in June which equals $1.44.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in June which equals $0.

That's $69.88 in rebates(not counting the ShopKick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $67.13 in grocery spending.

My savings percentage for last week was 56.67%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for June and the monthly savings total for June comes in at  56.67%.(w/out R-A).  

Leftovers going into this week...pasta salad, potato salad, a helping of teriyaki pork stir-fry, lots of brown rice and 1 whole quiche.

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

1. Sunday--Pizza, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Soft tortilla Carnitas

3. Tuesday--Bratwursts on Rolls, leftover sides

4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas
5. Thursday--some sort of Seafood, Sweet Tater Wedges

6.  Friday--? or Fend for Yourself

7. Saturday--Leftovers

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu? Domino's will make Sunday's meal for me lol but otherwise I've got everything here.  Don't "need" anything immediately but I am 13 rebates away on Ibotta from that $10 Bonus so that will happen sometime this week or weekend. 8-)

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 2021.....the May 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 May report---

I had 2 goals for May.......
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 2021.

I can report that we finished up May in the black.
The amount we ended the month of May with?.....$282.14

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in May---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $205.69

Total "Income" for May.....$5,399.92

Expenses in May---

* Healthcare Premium for May was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in May were $607.68(car insurance 6 mos.)
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2,538.11
Total Expenses....$5,117.78

$5,399.92-$5,117.78=$282.14

Slush into May of $46,882.97in that Fund, add the $282.14 in overage and we get $47,165.11 going into Mune.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $282.14 for May..

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

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

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

*  The electric bill was $24.13 lower than in April.

*  The water bill went down by $5.02 from last month.

*  The credit card bill was $407.86 lower than in April.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The gas bill was $5.42 higher than in April.
*  The Amazon bill was $147.06 higher than last month.
*  We had an irregular bill, the semi-annual car insurance payment of $607.68

The Food Budget costs for May 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 May---Stayed under the food budget and most other bills wer trending down(except gas and Amazon)and we had money leftover so I'll call May a win. 8-)))
 

THOUGHTS going forward into June 2021----Well we are having the main bathroom renovated and we bought a new deck swing as the old one was rusted out.  The only irregular bill in June are the long term care premiums and we got a notice these are going up by about $100 each per quarter. bleh.

So the reno will cost us a chunk of our Slush fund which is looking quite healthy for now so I am not too worried about having a month where the bills are more than the income in June,

So how was your May financially? 

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