Finishing the Ibotta $10 Bonus

 I only needed 8 offers to get that Fireworks Bonus and 15 offers to get a $1 Weekend Warrior.  womp womp.

I went ahead and did 15 offers anyway this past week plus a few other items with other offers.

1 x Larabar box on clearance
1 x Twinings Cold Infused tea
5 x Buddig lunch meat packs
1 x Ball Park Everything buns*both Ibotta and Coupons apps
1 x GM Instant Oatmeal
1 x any Cereal item
1 x Quaker Instant Oatmeal
2 x Chips Ahoy! golden chip cookie
1 x Kellogg's Jumbo Snax*both Ibotta and Shop Kicks
1 x Kandoo Wipes
2 x Oreo Dynasty cookies
1 x Oreo family size cookies
1 x Mott's Mighty applesauce cups
1 x any brand coffee
2 x Hanover twisted pretzels
1 x Frigo cheese
1 x Popcorn Indiana
2 x Cinnadust Cinnamon/Sugar mix*Swag Bucks app
1 x Heinz mustard* both Coupons and Shop Kicks
1 x Kraft mac and cheese box *Coupons app
1 x OM Weiners pack *Coupons app
1 x Heinz relish *Shop Kick app
1 x Harry's Shave cream *Shop Kick app
I did 17 rather than 15 Ibotta offers.

I spent $79.30 subtotal on the Ibotta and non Ibotta items(but after paper coupons).  I used a $25 free SwagBucks gift card spending a grand total OOP of $54.30.
I earned back $36.52 on Ibotta(including the $10 Fireworks, a $1 Weekend Warrior and the .50¢ July Level One Bonuses)making my spending $17.78.  Then I submitted to Checkout 51 for another $2 back on the Cinnadust)taking the total down to $15.78.  I submitted for $12.68 back on Coupons app making my OOP $3.10.

I also submitted to Swagbucks for the Cinnadust, any bread, 2 any receipts for $8.22 in points, $11.00 worth of Shop Kicks points(Heinz Mustard and relish, Harry's shave cream, Twinings cold infused tea, Quaker oatmeal and Kellogg's jumbo snax) and I earned 75 points on Fetch.  I don't count these amounts until I cash out though.

I also brought home 4 Cremo deodorants from Rite-Aid last week spending Bonus Cash(earning $10 in BC back)and submitted to Checkout 51 for $8 back on that purchase.

I feel look about this week's app shopping. 
The "junk food" aka cookies, cereal, pretzels and applesauce will go to the cashier at Rite-Aid with 2 pre-teen boys and some to the food bank.  The cashier going through some tough times as a single parent and she won't let me gift her any cash but she will accept foodstuffs so she doesn't have to spend her paycheck on this sort of stuff for her kids. ;-)

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2021......The June 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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June.......
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 June in the red.
The amount we ended the month of June with?.....-$5,153.51

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

* 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 $178.85

* Stock Dividend of $18.27

Total "Income" for June.....$5,391.35

Expenses in June---

* Healthcare Premium for June was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in June were $1,253.69(Wayfair swing, Long term care Premiums, Vet appt., Dentist)

* Bathroom Renovation $5,292.00
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2,027.18
Total Expenses....$10,544.86

$5,391.35-$10,544.86=-$5,153.51

Slush into June of $47,165.11 in that Fund, subtract the $5,153.51 in shortage and we get $42,011.60 going into July's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $5,153.51 for June.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet and cell phone were the same as in May

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

*  The electric bill was $15.18 lower than in May

*  The Amazon c/c bill went down by $6.18  from last month.(It was actually lower by more but I overpaid it a bit in June.)

*  The credit card bill was $474.85 lower than in May.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $1.42 higher than in May.
*  We had a bunch of smallish an irregular bills this month; Wayfair, Long Term Care premiums, Kohl's, Vet Bill, Dentist.  

*  Then we had to pay the contractor for the bathroom renovation. ouch

The Food Budget costs for June 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 June---Stayed under the food budget and all variable bills except the water bill were lower than in May but we had a significant amount of irregular bills and then we knew the bathroom reno would put us in the hole for the month but that's what the Slush Fund is for(funding extras like this).  I am ok with it all as the bathroom turned out better than expected(the bar for handymen around here is set pretty low). ;-)
 

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2021---

There are no irregular bills coming this month though Hubs got a new phone so the cell bill will be higher.  The cruise and airline tickets will be hitting the credit card this month so I need to figure what pot of monies I'll dip into to pay those portions of the trip costs. 8-( or 8-)))

Other than that it's smooth sailing for July(see what I did there? lol).

So how was your June financially? 

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

Frugal Friday.....the July 9th Edition

 What frugal stuff happened here this past week.......

*  Saturday found us in New Jersey meeting the future in-laws and assorted other family.  The future daughter in-law cooked the feast and some folks brought dishes as well.  I made my "famous" Boston Baked Beans which is a relatively low cost dish as I had all the ingredients.

*  I didn't get the $5 Catalina(or instant $5 off, I don't even know the details of the deal nor did the store staff)for Spending $15 on specific items so I went back to Weis the next day, took a photo of the sign and had my receipt and explained that I got neither a discount on the bill or a Catalina.

So after going back to make sure that Spend $15/Get $5 Back sign was on the items I bought(don't believe the photo I just took much?)they handed me a $5 bill.

*  I plundered Rite-Aid a bit but not much, bringing home stuff and converting and/or spending down Bonus Cash only.  No actual money left my wallet.

*  I found money!

While I stood waiting at Customer Service for someone to decide how to handle the Catalina situation I spied this.......

A Canadian quarter.  Now I have to wait for Canada to let me in so I can spend it. lol

On that first trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets where I was "cheated" out of my $5 Catalina thing I spied this laying in the parking lot walking back to my car.........

An abandoned $5 bill with no one around to see who lost it.  I called the store and told them I found it and left my cell phone # if anyone asked about losing money in their parking lot.  It's been a week now and no one has called to claim it.

I also found this at the self-checkout peeping out of the little trash can they keep next to it on my first foray into Weis Markets....

A Catalina for $1.25 off your next ordeer.  I also found a Cat for Hot Pockets. Somebody who used the checkout before me just threw $1.25 in the trash. tsk tsk tsk

I also found this at Rite-Aid.......

A penny.  I don't recall where in the store I found this now.

Total Found This Week...$5.26
Total Found This Year....$10.94

*   There was no Take-out or Eating Out(other than the potluck in Jersey)this past week.

*  Not much to report as I stayed home mostly until today(except for the foray into Walmart on Tuesday and Rite-Aid one day).  I spent the week tending the garden, gabbing on the phone, cooking, cleaning, tending to the doggies, moving crap around the house, doing laundry during the off-peak hours, gathering a large donation to the food bank, etc.

That's about all from here.
How frugal was your week?  I hope you had some good wins!

Sluggy

Ibotta/SwagBucks/Coupon dotcom Haul at Walmart on Tuesday

 So I had a $3 MidWeek Bonus for 6 offers and I was a long way from earning the $10 Fireworks Bonus that ends on the 12th.  I went with Hubs to Walmart and got all this.............

1 x Popcorn Indiana
2 x Oreo Dynasty cookies
1 x Oreo lemon Family size cookies
1 x Neutrogena Body Scrub
1 x Great Value sparkling water
2 x Mrs. Butterworth's syrup
1 x Alive! vitamins
1 x Thomas's English muffins
5 x Budding lunchmeat packs
2 x Spin Brush toothbrushes
1 x Kandoo wipes
1 x Earth and Sun wipes
1 x Nerds gummy clusters
1 x Mentos mints
1 x Neutrogena bar soap
1 x Colgate Renew toothpaste*not pictured*
1 x Jergens cherry almond lotion*not pictured*

Total after paper coupons used($8)was $50.79.  It would have been $66.55 but I bought the toothbrushes in a separate transaction and paid with that Hospital refund debit card so those were free. ;-)

I earned $36.89 back on Ibotta + the $3 Mid Week Bonus=$39.89.
I also used to Coupons dotcom digital Qs so got another $4.50 for the Jergens and the Colgate Renew so a return of 44.39 on $50.79 spent OOP.  So a $6.40 haul before all the other apps I used.

Then I earned $23.06 back on SwagBucks($20 on Spin Brushes, $2 on Mrs. Butterworth's(double dipped with Ibotta $3 rebate for 2), $1 on Oreo's, and 3 x .02¢ or.06¢ for submitting 3 receipts), 919 points on Fetch and .70¢ on Shop Kick.

I also got a free Redbox rental coupon for buying the Popcorn Indiana. 8-)

And I only need 7 more rebates to get that $10 Fireworks Bonus. yay.

Not a bad days shopping......

Sluggy

The Food Spending 2021........June Edition

 Onward to June' s Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2021.

I have posted June'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 June.  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(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 25. (I don't count all the "freebies" I get at the Discount Outlet in my totals either.)
*****************

ALDI

OOP  $20.04

Value  $35.36

Savings 43.33%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $23.72
Value  $59.07
Savings  59.84%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $1384.74
Value  $1384.74
Savings  100%

TARGET

OOP  $100.31

Value  $129.99

Savings  22.83%

WALMART
OOP  $148.37
Value  $419.89
Savings  64.66%

WEIS

OOP  $50.53

Qs/Sales  $42.12
Value  $92.65
Savings  45.46%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Walmart at 64.66% and P and R Outlet at 59.86%.

The worst rate was at Target at 22.83%(not counting the $25 in gift cards earned).
I shopped at 5 different stores in June.

TOTAL Spent in June.........................$342.99

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards......$393.97

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$736.96

TOTAL Savings of ...............................53.46%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for June w/R-A...............$342.99

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$1,778.71
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$2,121.70
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................83.83%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into June without a firm $$ limit on grocery shopping and still stayed under $400.  yeah me.

I also wanted to cut back on the rebating but failed to do so.  I earned $310.34 back on Ibotta alone(not counting rebates earned on other apps and Target gift cards).

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 2.0% in June 2021 to 83.83% compared to the May's 85.83% savings average.  So a small increase but not too bad.

With 6 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1,951.26 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,951.26

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$10,788.06

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$8,836.80

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................83.91%

The average per month amount spent is $325.21 in 2021 so far.

My Ibotta rebate total for the year so far is $1,482.49.  Put that next to a full spending of $1,951.26 for the year so far and I've "actually" spent only $468.77 on food/toiletries for the year or an average of $78.13 per month.  Plus I've been able to donate to the food bank and share my haul bounty with others.

I'd call that a win.

LOOKING AHEAD To July 2021...........

Again, I am going to attempt to cut back on the rebating. (Sluggy plans, God laughs!)  I'll give it my best effort this month. I'll cross the $100 mark in earnings by this weekend but I am really going to slack off on rebating so we can eat down the supplies some more.

I am not giving myself a price limit for July but there is always that $400 mark in the back of my mind yelling at me. 8-)

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 June?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  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