This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Back Home and Meal Planning Again" Edition...

My sister in-law is very much into home decoration. She drug me to a Home Goods one day I was visiting, looking for stuff to put on her fireplace mantel to decorate for Fall.  I showed her these skulls with oversized light bulbs in them but she didn't appreciate my input it seems. lolz

I feel like one of these skulls lately when it comes to meal planning....nothing in my head and I need inspiration like a giant lightbulb above me. 8-)

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

There was no plan as I was at Sissie's house most of the week and she was in charge of the cooking/meals.  It's nice to have a vacation from life once in awhile. ;-)

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

1. Sunday--I don't remember, sorry Sissie

2. Monday--Pork Filets, Mushroom Gravy, Acorn Squash

3. Tuesday--"Must Go" Dinner(assorted items)

4. Wednesday--Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Acorn Squash leftovers
5. Thursday--FFY(home now)

6.  Friday--BLTs

7. Saturday--Chinese Take-out(I had soup and dumplings)

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

* Nothing

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

* Bacon

I spent $163.48 on food/toiletries/HBA the last 2 weeks at too many stores to name. lol  This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $345.94 for September. I stayed under $400...go me!

We are on to a new month and there are 27 shopping days left in October.

I've earned $228.48 on Ibotta in September.

I've earned $22.51 on Checkout51 in September.

I've earned $11.50 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in September.

I've earned $4.50 from Aisle.

I've earned 8843 points from shopping on Fetch in September which equals $8.84.

I've earned 11,895 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in September which equals $47.58.

I've earned 35,430 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in September which equals $35.43.

That's $266.99 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $345.94 in grocery spending so in reality it's $78.95 spent after the 4 rebate apps I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for the last two weeks was 48.36%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for September and the monthly savings total for September comes in at 48.38%.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....not much I can find.  Hubs did a good job of eating up everything he made.  We are in the process of processing tomatoes from the garden however.  Not sure if I'll "can" them or just put the jars in the fridge.  Depends on how many we get.

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

1. Sunday--Manicotti from the freezer, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread

2. Monday--Tempura Scallops, Fish, Brussels Sprouts, maybe Potato Wedges

3. Tuesday--Broccoli and Cheese Soup, Cornbread

4. Wednesday--BLTs
5. Thursday--Leftovers + Cuke and Tomato Salad

6.  Friday--Beef Pie

7. Saturday--FFY

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Not a thing.  I'll be trying to stay out of the grocery store this week and eat down the freezer.  The store ads are crap this month.  Weis(PMITA)has gone from a weekly ad to a monthly one(the "weekly ad" is just highlighted specific items from the monthly ad).  I am attempting to take a break from Ibotta in October and I am down to $20 or less in BC on 2 of my Rite-Aid cards(no BC on the other 2 cards).

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

 

3 Frugal Fridays Reports on Sunday.......the October 3rd Edition

I've been away since Frugal Friday September 10th this is a multiple week edition so here we go!.....

*  Drove my car on the trip down to VA and MD.  It gets great gas mileage(maybe not so much on the trip home as my car was PACKED with stuff!).  I also waited to get to VA to refuel on the way down as gas prices are lower there and I made sure my gas tank was full before I left VA and again, I topped off in MD right before crossing into PA-the land of high gas taxes-which saved a few dimes or so.

*  I finished off numerous Ibotta Bonuses over the course of the 2+ weeks I was gone.  I stopped in Delaware on the way down at a Walmart(no sales tax in DE), found a freebie or 2 in VA stores, and a few finds in MD stores too.

* The aforementioned food bank donation in Hubs car from the Sept. 10th FF post got taken up to the Church by Hubs while I was in VA for the win! 8-)  And I've already started another donation box.

*  I traveled to VA via the Eastern Shore as it's the most direct route.  Leaving on a Thursday rather than Friday meant saving monies at the Tolls in Delaware because they jack them up to $3 each on weekends(Fri.-Sun.). There was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tolls that route though but at least that hadn't gone up on price since my last trip.

*  I had some quality time with my brother, sister in-law and Sissie and her hubs on this trip for another win!!

*  I used an Applebee's gift card to pay for a lunch out with my Sister in-law.

*  I saw a childhood friend(who had come to my mom's funeral in 2000 but I otherwise hadn't seen since we moved away from my childhood home in 1974).  She took me out for lunch and it was nice to reconnect with her.

*  I bought red and white wines at Aldi in VA.  The Aldis in PA aren't allowed to sell wine/beer.  I'd rather pay $2.95 + tax for a bottle rather than the $10 the cheapest wine I would cook with for sale in PA.  Between how much I already had and the 4 bottles I bought I am good on wine for stews, soups, sauces until next year.

*  The a/c at home was not used while I was gone(though we needed it further South in both VA and MD(but those weren't my electric bills). lol

*  I picked up some Xmas presents(more like stocking stuffers)for cheap or free(Rite-Aid).  I also used a Q and Sissie took me to CVS to use it, netting me a free lip balm.  I guess that "purchase" put me over a Beauty Buck reward amount because now I have a $3 ECB to use. argh!  Here we go on the CVS merry-go-round again. lolol

*  I found money!

A penny at a Rite-Aid in Delaware.

A quarter at a Mickey D's drive-thru I stopped at to get an Iced Tea somewhere on the Eastern Shore.

2 quarters at Aldi in Va.  One in a loose cart and the other on the ground.

Another quarter lying on the floor in Kroger in VA.

.15¢ in the check-out line at Chick fil-A.  Sis in-law wanted to get drinks there so I gave her cash for that and then got out of the car and stood in front of it and scooped this up before motioning her ahead.  Kim and I are going to die by being run over in a drive-thru line I fear. ;-)

2 pennies in one of the many Rite-Aids I went in while in VA.

.27¢ at the Mickey D's by Sissie's house in MD.  I pulled the "jump out of the car" maneuver again. lol

Another quarter at Aldi in MD.

A bunch of change Sissie gave me(since she didn't put any on my bed before I arrived)at the bar.  She doesn't like change in her wallet and was cleaning it out.  I was in the right place at the right time. lol

A quarter in the soda machine outside of Walmart while I was waiting for Sissie to pick me up after she went to Kohl's and Aldi.

A dime I scooped up from the Mickey D's drive-thru when I stopped for an iced tea after leaving Sissie's house for the ride home.  There was also another dime and a nickel but I couldn't reach them while hanging out of the driver's seat of the car. Stupid short arms! 8-(

Money Found These Weeks....$2.78
Money Found This Year.....$17.91

What frugal wins did you have the last couple of weeks?
Let us know all about them!

Sluggy

Still Looking for the Giveaway Winner!

The latest giveaway winner, D Fuller, has Not gotten in touch with me yet.  I will give them until tomorrow, Saturday, at noon EDST, before choosing another winner for the Alaskan prizes.

So DFuller needs to contact me by noon on October 2nd to claim their prizes or forfeit them.

Sluggy

A Major Financial Decision

Hubs has been retired since 30 June 2017, so that's 4+ years now.  When he retired his employer set up a RMSA for him(retiree medical savings account)and I.  Since his company phased out paying directly for retiree medical expenses(like they phased out pensions)they give each retiree a lump sum in a RMSA to pay for health insurance and Medicare supplement plans once they are 65 years old.

Since Hubs retired early we've been using this account to cover healthcare premiums as was the plan.  I realized after the first year(and the outrageous rise in premium costs that first re-up year)that the amount in this RMSA was not going to bridge us to Social Security.

I ran the numbers early in 2021 and figured(depending on how much the premiums rise for 2022)the RMSA would be emptied in April or May of 2022 at the latest.  So Hubs and I had a long discussion about how to handle this problem.  April 2022 would be a year until Hubs hit Medicare age in 2023 and I follow him 9 months later and hit 65.

The solution we came up with was for Hubs to take early SS.  He started drawing in August of this year at 63 and 4 months.  We will be putting his SS check in a separate interest earning(not much but it's something!lol)account and once the RMSA runs out we'll use $$ from that SS account to pay for healthcare premiums.  I don't know at this point about getting subsidies for premiums once the RMSA runs out(as long as we had that we didn't qualify for any subsidies)but I suspect our yearly income even in retirement is a smidgeon too high to qualify.

Once we both hit Medicare age we can earmark the SS earnings for other things or just use it for regular expenses as we also have an annuity to pay for living expenses as well as other savings.  The annuity is "front loaded" and will go down a bit once Hubs hits regular retirement age(66 and 10 months for him)but during the time we need the SS check to pay for commercial healthcare premiums the annuity will still be as high as it is now.

This will work out advantageously for us because we aren't relying on a SS check alone for living expenses.  We have a fairly hefty amount of personal savings, a 401K and that annuity mentioned before giving us a financial "4 legged stool".

Hubs early SS check is about $500 more a month than we are paying now for our healthcare premiums so we ran the numbers and we should both hit Medicare with a fair amount left in that SS check account to spare.

I know everyone's financial picture is different but taking SS early worked in our situation.

Sluggy

And The Alaskan Giveaway Winner Is....

The September Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway is now in the books.  I had Sissie pick the winning entry using Random dotorg.

So who won?

And the Winner is DFuller!

D FullerSeptember 15, 2021 at 7:51 AM

I went to Alaska several years ago so my could see snow. There was a heat wave that year and the Iditarod couldn't start for lack of snow.

Congratulations D!  You have 48 hours from the time this post goes live on my blog to email me your complete name and mailing information to claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who played along this month.  And I'll see y'all in the funny papers(yes, I am that old to know/use that expression. lol).

Sluggy