This Week on the Dining Table

  The "Tomatoes-Finally!" Edition...

We finally got the first ripe tomatoes out of the garden.  rah.  Now since we won't be here soon they will all ripen while we are away.  And Ex-College Boy doesn't like tomatoes so he won't come and pick them. lol

Oh, and we are still being inundated by zukes too.....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Leftover fish and one of the zuke sides

2. Monday--BLTs

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs or Brats, Potato Salad, Cuke Salad
5. Thursday--Lasagna, Salad

6.  Friday--not sure yet

7. Saturday--Chinese take-out

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

1. Sunday--Leftover fish and one of the zuke sides

2. Monday--BLTs

3. Tuesday--Leftover fish, and whatever else you could find lol

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs, Potato Salad, Cuke Salad
5. Thursday--Chinese Takeout

6.  Friday--Lasagna, Salad, Bread

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself

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

* 4 lbs. of Ground Beef

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

* Hot Dogs

* Bacon

* Cheese

I spent $63.52 on food/toiletries/HBA last week.   This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $131.19 for August so far. 

There are 15 shopping days left in August.

I've earned $155.71 on Ibotta in August.

I've earned $2.25 on Checkout51 in August.

I've earned .75¢ on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in August.

I've earned $24.51 from Aisle.

I've earned 6,699 points from shopping on Fetch in August which equals $6.69.

I've earned 3,465 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in August which equals $13.86.

I've earned 2,367 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in August which equals $2.36.

That's $158.71 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $131.19 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$27.52 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for last week was 65.93%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for August and the monthly savings total for August comes in at 67.80%.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....a little corn casserole, lasagna.

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

1. Sunday--BLTs, baked sweet potato fries

2. Monday--Grilled Steak, Corn Fritters(using corn casserole leftover, Baked Potato

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers, Leftover Potato Salad

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself + Zuke
5. Thursday--Fend for Yourself + Zuke

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  We don't need no stinkin' badges groceries. ;-)  There won't be any grocery shopping until September at this point.

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

 

Friday Shopping-Walmart, Target & Rite-Aid

 I had a dr. appointment mid morning on Friday and was attempting to get a blood test done in the same building with a lab.  I got up too early so left then and went to hit Walmart briefly for some Ibotta deals beforehand armed with a $25 free gift card earned from my Fetch account.

1 x RXBar box clearance=$2.00

1 x Glad Flex n/Seal bags=$4.48

1 x Depends Silhouette=$11.97

1 x Success brown rice=$1.96

1 x Goldfish crackers=$1.78

1 x Sensodyne toothpaste (travel size)=$1.47

1 x Pure Protein bar=$2.27

1 x Kraft mac and cheese=.98¢

2 x Super Coffee drinks=$5.74

1 x Cranberry snack boxes=$2.12

1 x Colgate renewal toothpaste=$6.96

2 x Clio yogurt bars=$2.00

2 x Bic highlighters=$3.94

SubTotal.......$47.67

Coupons Used

$3/1 IPQ Silhouette website=$3.00

$2/2 Bic Manu=$2.00

Coupons...$5.00

$47.67-$5=$42.67+.39¢ tax=$43.06-$25 gift card=$18.06

I received back $30.24 in Ibotta rebates and $1.25 in small Bonuses=$31.49 and got 12 of the 15 rebates I needed toward my Weekend Whiteboard $3 Bonus.

I texted this Walmart receipt to Aisle and got $5.50 back in my Venmo account(.50¢ RxBars, $1 Clio, $4 Super Coffee).

I also redeemed for $3 on Coupons dotcom for the Colgate toothpaste and submitted for 600 Kicks from Shop Kick(which is $2.40)for the Sensodyne and the Glad bags.

After the doctor/lab work stuff I hit Target for 2 Aisle items.  My store doesn't carry the Good Culture cottage cheese but they had the Milk protein bars so I got the limit of 5.  I also found ground beef with $5 instant savings stickers on them so got 4 lbs. total of meat for $10.06 or $2.52 per lb. for 85/15% GB.

I paid for all with free Target gift cards and received back $15 for the Milk bars through Aisle(the Milk bars cost $11.50 so $3.50 of that moneymaker helped pay for the beef.). 8)

A quick trip to a different Rite-Aid to finish my weekend rebate turned out strangely.  This is the R-A where I have had register/employee problems before.

The smallish haul......

2 x Pure Zzzs clearance $2.25=$4.50

2 x Unisom simple sleep gummies 20% gold discount=$20.46

1 x Nivea moisturizing face balm 20% gold discount=$6.39

1 x Acidil 20% gold discount=$7.99

2 x Neutrogena Hydro gel face masks 20% gold discount=$5.26

1 x Q-tips clearance=.87¢

SubTotal........$45.47

Coupons Used

1 x $10 of $40 spend Anniversary Q on this card=$10.00

2 x $1/1 Pure Zzzs(1 L2CQ, 1 ManuQ)=$2.00

2 x $8/1 Unisom simple sleep gummies IPQ=$16.00

1 x $1/1 Nivea men's item IPQ=$1.00

1 x $3/1 Acidil IPQ from website=$3.00

1 x $3/1 Neutrogena Hydro item IPQ=$3.00

Coupon Total........$35.00

$45.47-$35.00=$10.47+.30¢ tax=$10.77 paid with Bonus Cash.

Except..........the cashier hit the "payment" button for my BC before she imput ANY of the coupons!

(This store ALWAYS does this no matter the cashier....so aggravating!)  They ALL need training there.

So she used all my BC first($17.98 worth)before taking off the $35.00 in Qs and I ended up with a negative balance of $3.70

Plus one of my Unisom $8 Qs only took off $4.87 on one of the bottles..........

And she handed me a bag of stuff plus this.........

Then I tried to redeem at Coupons dotcom $3 for that second Neutrogena Hydro boost product and it said it didn't qualify(but the paper Q worked perfectly?).  I'll just returnn the second Neutrogena mask and maybe the Unisom that the Q didn't take off the full amount.

I earned $14 in new BC($4 Acidil, $5 wyspend $20 Nivea-had tracking to that one already, $5 wyspend Unisom)So I have $14 in BC and $3.70 in cash whereas if the cashier didn't screw things up(and the $8 Q had "behaved")I 'should' have $21.21 in BC instead so I was shorted $3.51.  Instead of trying to get CS to fix this(they are hopeless)or go back to the store and explain until I turn blue trying get them to understand the transaction shorted me I'll just return a Unisom and the Neutrogena mask. sigh.

But I digress.........

The Pure Zzzs, Acidil and Nivea gave me 4 Ibotta rebates(only needed 3 to get the weekend Bonus)totaling $8 plus the $3 Bonus with no money spent OOP.

The upside of all this is I spent $21.56 in Target gift cards and $18.06 in Cash OOP at Walmart and ended up with--

$42.49 in Ibotta rebates

$20.50 in Aisle rebates

$3.00 from Coupons dotcom

$2.40 from Shopkick

239 points on Fetch

And $3.70 cash at R-A.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the August 13th Edition

Sorry I've been AWOL most of this week.  I just haven't had any "umph" to post lately.  This extended hot spell has done me in and all the little things that need attending to has just been too much(returning emails I still need to get to, editing the ever growing folder of photos from old trips I still haven't posted-2017 anyone?, never did get the August Giveaway up either...., planning this trip and excursions, figuring out what/how to pack everything into one suitcase(I suppose I'll look like an idiot at the Charlotte airport on our layover wearing a hoodie when it's 100 F in August there, since it won't fit in my suitcase. lol).  Just feeling stressed and nervous about the flight to Seattle and uncertain whether they'll cancel the cruise due to Delta variant exploding. I've been wearing a mask(though it's not mandated here)for 3 weeks, taking a "just in case" Covid test tomorrow and will have to take another on Saturday at the dock  in Seattle before they will allow us on the ship.  Worries about one of our party not testing negative and then the cruise has "screwed the pooch" as they say.  I am just apprehensive and my nerves are fraying the closer the trip gets.  I haven't flown since college and it will take quite a few drinks to get me on that plane I think. ;-)

 All I can seem to do is sit in the a/c and pay bills ahead of time and go to Rite-Aid, Walmart and Weis, get blood drawn x 2 in a week(leaving me a lovely bruise on my arm)and attend a doctor's appointment earlier today which went great.  Or I lay in my bed in the a/c with my knee up and watch YouTubes.  Oh and all that stuff about cooking, laundry and some cleaning begrudgingly is getting accomplished.

I just don't feel like I have anything important to say so I am giving everyone a break from listening to me babble on about boring crap or absolutely nothing! If you can't be informative or funny then STFU is my motto.  There!  I went and broke my rule by writing all the above. lolz

Frugal wins.....a few I guess.  Not many photos though this week so please forgive me for that.

*  Brought home stuff from Rite-Aid this week using Bonus Cash(I still haven't spent it all down as it goes against my very fiber to do that but at least I am rolling it ahead. 8-)

*  I've been proactive about paying incoming bills ahead in case we end up floating in the Pacific Quarantined and I can't get home in time to pay stuff when it's due.

*  I did a couple of post Qs this week($8)and a refund at R-A(2/3 in BC back and 1/3 in cash as I used a part of a gift card to pay for something).

*  I found money!

2 dimes in the self-checkout area at Walmart last Friday.

Then early in the week I hit the Mother Lode at R-A.  Between the floor and the register counter(where folks here just leave their change after checking out)I gleaned .44¢.

Total Found This Week.... .64¢
Total Found This Year....$13.67

Besides eating every form of zucchini known to man....Blah blah blah.
That's about all I have to add to the conversation today.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be more talkative(you'd better hope not!)......

How frugal has your week been lately?
Any good wins to tell us about?

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2021....the July 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 July report---

I had 2 goals for July.......
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 July in the red.
The amount we ended the month of July with?.....-$2,978.08

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* 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 $214.19

Total "Income" for July.....$5,408.42

Expenses in July---

* Healthcare Premium for July was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in July were $3,405.86(Clothing, Cruise, Airline Tickets)

* Variable Expenses in July came to $3,008.65
Total Expenses....$8,386.5

$5,408.42-$8,386.50= -$2978.08

Slush into July of $42,011.60 in that Fund, subtract the $2,978.08 in shortage and we get $39,033.52 going into August's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $2,978.08 for July.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in June.

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

*  The electric bill was .25¢ lower than in June. lol

*  The gas bill was $32.66 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $6.48 higher than in June.
*  The cell phone bill was higher by $91.96 in July.  This is due to Hubs getting a new phone.

*  The MC c/c was $1,532.94 higher than in June.(Not much was charged to that card in June.)

*  My Amazon Visa was $2,730.89 higher this month(Alaskan cruise  and plane fare to Seattle x 2 anyone?)

*  I also paid for some clothes to the tune of $74.97 in July.

The Food Budget costs for July 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 July---I knew July's financials wouldn't be pretty as the Slush Fund took a big hit what with taking the cruise/flight costs from that fund instead of withdrawing money earning "real" interest.  I am ok where we landed on spending in July.
 

THOUGHTS going forward into August 2021---Most of the vacation is paid for already but I suspect there will be incidental costs to cover still plus the dog boarding bill when we return.  Until the trip we are just going to concentrate on staying home, not spending money we don't have to, planning the next house project and using up some foodstuffs.

*Sluggy chants, "I will NOT do Ibotta, I will NOT do Ibotta, I will NOT do Ibotta.....". ;-)

So how was your July financially? 

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

This Week on the Zucchini Dining Table

 The "Zucchini Deluge Continues-Stop the Madness!!!" Edition...

Here are the latest loathsome veggies zucchini we picked on Sunday.  Plus there was one picked on Thursday and tempura-ed for dinner.  I am about done with zucchini for a lifetime.  It wouldn't be so bad if the green beans were more plentiful and the chipmunks hadn't eaten our broccoli seedlings. sigh  Oh we got another cuke too.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits

2. Monday--Leftover Lemon Pepper, Zuke in tomatoes, rice

3. Tuesday--Breakfast for Dinner

4. Wednesday--Stuffed Zuke w/Beef and Onion, Rice
5. Thursday--No Clue(Hubs night to cook)

6.  Friday--Tempura Zucchini and Fish

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself and Zuke Casserole

I will also be making bread pudding this week for Hubs(his fav)with some Thomas' mini croissants taking up room in the fridge that no one has eaten and some of the excess milk on hand.

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

1. Sunday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits

2. Monday--Leftover Lemon Pepper, Zuke in tomatoes, rice

3. Tuesday--Breakfast for Dinner

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself
5. Thursday--Hubs made pork chops, Spanish zuke dish, mashed taters

6.  Friday--Tempura Zucchini and Fish

7. Saturday--Stuffed Zuke w/Beef and Onion, Spanish Rice

4 meal with zuke and I am sure on Wednesday at least one of us had a zuke leftover in our dinner. lol  Zucchini overload anyone??

I used the half of loaf of French bread leftover from last week's Breakfast for Dinner meal  and we had it again this week.  I'm in use stuff up that will go bad mode right now.

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

* Nothing

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

* 2 Pork Chops

* 1 lb. of Pollock fish

* 1 lb. of Ground Beef

I spent $67.67 on food/toiletries/HBA last week.  This also included the almost free($1.58) ice cream I picked up at CVS, $2.31 spent at Ollie's and $25.36 I spend at Ocean State on the "free food" table-got a $25.36 gift card back-and forgot to put into July's total.  This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $67.67 for August so far.  Take out the July "Oops" and it's $38.42 strictly in August.

There are 23 shopping days left in August.

I've earned $70.88 on Ibotta in August.

I've earned $0.00 on Checkout51 in August.

I've earned .75¢ on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in August.

I've earned 3,158 points from shopping on Fetch in August which equals $3.15(It's actually more but I've been lazy about submitting my receipts.).

I've earned 3,175 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in August which equals $12.70.

I've earned 2,355 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in August which equals $2.35.

That's $71.63 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $67.67 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$3.98 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for last week was 69.38%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for August and the monthly savings total for August comes in at 69.38%.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....a little corn casserole, zuke tomatoes, rice. clam chowder, biscuits, Spanish zuke dish, 2/3 of a stuffed zucchini. And carrot cake.

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

1. Sunday--Leftover fish and one of the zuke sides

2. Monday--BLTs

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs or Brats, Potato Salad, Cuke Salad
5. Thursday--Lasagna, Salad

6.  Friday--not sure yet

7. Saturday--Chinese take-out

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  We are all set to make this menu(except Friday and the take-out on Saturday).

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