This Week on the Dining Table

The "Happy Birthday to My Oldest Child!" Edition...

I can't believe this was him 30 years ago today!

And here he is last birthday when he turned 29.  

He won't be here today as he is teaching Summer School in NJ but maybe early in August when that is finished he can come visit.  I told him no card or gift unless he comes for it as he is less than 2 hours away from here. That's how this momma rolls.....lolz

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On-

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Cheeseburgers, Salad

2. Monday--leftover Chicken Thighs, Zuke in Tomato Sauce, Rice 

3. Tuesday--Chicken Marsala over Taters, Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potato, leftover green beans
5. Thursday--Stir-fry Veggies, Chicken and Noodles

6.  Friday--leftovers?

7. Saturday--Flatbread Pizza, Tossed Salad

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

1. Sunday--Cheeseburgers, Salad

2. Monday--leftover Chicken Thighs, Zuke in Tomato Sauce, Rice 

3. Tuesday--Chicken Marsala over Garlic Taters, Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potato, leftover Collards
5. Thursday--Stir-fry Veggies, Chicken and Noodles

6.  Friday--Hubs had TV dinner(I had a late lunch so no dinner)

7. Saturday--Grilled Steak, Brussels Sprouts, Baked Potato

Pretty much everything planned got eaten except I thawed 2 steaks instead of making flatbread pizzas on Saturday.  Another week of high temps outside meant a lot of outdoor or stove top or crockpot cooking last week.

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

* 3 Chicken breasts(sliced into thin slices)

* 1 TV dinner

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

* 2 small Steaks

* 1/2 bag of Brussels Sprouts

* bag of Stir-fry veg w/Chicken, Noodles

* 1 Chicken breast

* 1 TV Dinner

* 1 hunk of Salmon

We actually made a dent in the freezers. yay.

We spent a whopping $122.50 on food/toiletries/HBA last week at just Walmart. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $223.38 for July.   

There are 19 shopping days left in July.

I've earned $136.09 on Ibotta in July.

I've earned $10.00 on Checkout51 in July.

I've earned $22.58 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in July.

I've earned 5,044 points from shopping on Fetch in July which equals $5.04.

I've earned 2930 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in July which equals $11.72.

I've earned 2,258 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in July which equals $22.58. 

That's $168.67 in rebates(not counting the ShopKick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $223.38 in grocery spending so in reality it's $54.71 spent after the rebate apps.

My savings percentage for last week was 46.13%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for June and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 51.00%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week....1 helping of Chicken Marsala w/Taters, 1 helping of Collards, 1 helping of Brussels Sprouts.

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

1. Sunday--Reuben Sandwiches

2. Monday--BLTs or Big Salad

3. Tuesday--Chili

4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--?

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Not going to be here most of the week.  I am leaving Hubs plenty of food he can easily prepare/assemble. Maybe he'll use up some more freezer items....here's hoping! ;-)

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

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