This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Talk Like A Pirate" Edition...

Leaving Rite-Aid last week, waiting at the light to turn I was behind a car with this license plate.  

A modern day pirate?  Argh No.  Notice the frame around the plate...merely a Steelers football fan.  Should have been a Pirates baseball fan, right?

Still it was funny.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

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

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

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

2. Monday--Tempura Scallops, Fish, Brussels Sprouts, French Fries

3. Tuesday--Broccoli and Cheese Soup, Biscuits

4. Wednesday--BLTs
5. Thursday--Leftovers 

6.  Friday--Smoke Sausage on roll, Cuke and Tomato Salad

7. Saturday--Beef Pie

I pretty much stuck to the planned menu(shocking, no?).  A few deviations(sausage sandwiches)but basically the plan stuck.

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

* Just 2 bags of tomato puree from the garden

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

*  1 bag Brussels Sprouts

*  4 Fish filets

*  1 lb. Scallops

*  1/2 bag French Fries

*  1 bag Broccoli

*  2 Smoked Sausage Links

*  1 lb. Ground Beef

I spent $52.46 on food/toiletries/HBA last week.  $50.88 on the 1st at Weis(PMITA)Markets and $1.58 I forgot to include in September when I bought 2 cans of chili at Lidl to bring home for Hubs  This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total so far to $52.46 for October.

There are 20 shopping days left in October.

I've earned $53.75 on Ibotta in October.

I've earned $1.00 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in October.

I've earned $0 from Aisle.

I've earned 845 points from shopping on Fetch in October which equals $.84.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in October which equals $0.

I've earned  50 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in October which equals $.50.

That's $54.75 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $52.46 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$2.29 spent after the 4 rebate apps I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for the last week was 28.29%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for October and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 28.29% so far.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....Broccoli 

Cheese Soup, a couple of Manicotti, 2 Biscuits, 2 Smoked Sausage pieces, half a Beef Pie.  Most of this will be lunch fodder for Hubs.

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

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Homemade Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Acorn Squash
5. Thursday--Meatloaf, Mashed Taters, Veggie TBD

6.  Friday--Korean Beef/Veggie Stir-Fry w/Noodles

7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

I've got some flat breads to use up(pizza)and we'll use the last of the garden tomatoes in Salad and BLTs this week.(I never thought I'd ever get tired of BLTs but we've had sooo many tomatoes this year I'm about at that point. lol)

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Maybe a loaf of bread, we are low on that.

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

  

Downsizing Time But First Organizing

In our journey to move into a smaller house it's time to get serious about downsizing.  

I got rid of 75 items in September.  Of course they were all food bank donations but I am counting them. 8-)  Today I am searching through all my Rite-Aid/Walmart/etc. buys/freebies that are candy and I have all this to give out for Halloween......

My bread mixing bowl filled plus 2 more bags of fun size bars/treats.  I also have about 50 full size candy bars and bags of gummies I can give out too if the bowl runs empty. 8-)))

A win for all the kiddies plus getting rid of ?? items in the house come Oct. 31st.

I have another food bank donation started.

That's another 50 items leaving the house this month.  I suspect I'll add to this before it gets hauled to the church on Friday.

Add that to the 75 item food bank donation Hubs took up in September.

Tomorrow I'll start gathering all the things in the house I will be listing on eBay and Facebook soon.

But first, I need to tame this mess.........

The right side of the room

The left side of the room.

Yep, that's all the leftovers from the stockpile sale plus everything I've gotten since then.  Some of this is Xmas presents too so not all stockpile items.  I just need to sort and put things away and add some of this to my food bank donation.

So besides washing and grooming the dogs, that's what I am up to lately.
What have you been up to in your corner of the world?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the October 8th Edition

Well I didn't go much of anywhere this past week, just Rite-Aid, the dentist and the bank.  I lead such an exciting life, don't I? ;-)

Here are the few frugal wins at Chez Sluggy......

* I had BC expiring plus I had gotten a few(4 exactly)$X off $XX coupons for Rite-Aid so I paired them with deals and coupons to pick all this up on the 2 cards I have with BC still attached to them.....

I believe there were a few more candy bars(4)left out of this photo but otherwise it's all correct.

The Cetaphil were 75% off and I had Qs that made it $1 or less each, Neutrogena Qs that made those items moneymakeres and I had tracking toward a second Nivea deal from last week so I finished that(plus the Nivea men's stuff have Ibotta rebates).  I returned 2 Tresemmes since the in-ad Q didn't scan for those 2 and a Colgate mouthwash since my L2CQ didn't come off so those 3 items are in the photo and not counted.

Total came to(including sales tax)$113.00.  BC and Qs used was $99.50(not all at once since I did multiple transactions and rolled it)so R-A gift card cred spent was $13.50.

I earned back $42 in new BC and $15.85 in Ibotta rebates so a $44.35 moneymaker. 8-)

*  I had a dentist appointment Thursday for a cleaning.  Need to go back in November for 2 small chips that need filling.  While I didn't ask for any samples this time(I'll do that in November if I remember to), I did raid the office's coupon stash......

Lots of Listerine brand Qs came home with me.  These don't expire until June or July of 2022.  R-A generally has some Listerine freebies and deals after BC during their Black Friday sales so maybe I can pair them up with some of those.

*  I found money!

Last Saturday was a stellar change finding day at my Rite-Aid.  A quarter, a dime and a penny at various places in the store(quarter under candy racks, dime under freestanding rack of more candy and penny wedged under the baseboard of the pharmacy counter.

A shiny penny sitting on the side of the "healthy candy" rack(protein bars)and a grody penny outside behind the trash can.  Sorry for the blurry photo....

On Wednesday I spied another dime back in the pharmacy area and it came home with me.

Money Found This Week.... .48¢
Money Found This Year.....$18.39

*  No grocery shopping happened this week.  I know it's shocking but it's true! lol  I haven't gotten an Ibotta Bonus since September Leaves one ended last Sunday.  No Midweek or Weekend ones either.  What the heck is going on?  Did Ibotta and the Universal hear me when I said I was going to try to stay out of the grocery stores in October??lol

That's about it for me for the week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Let's hear all about it!

Sluggy

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

I had 2 goals for September.......
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 September in the red.
The amount we ended the month of September with?....-$1,092.83

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

* 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 $486.87

* Dividend check of $18.27

Total "Income" for September.....$5,699.37

Expenses in September---

* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in September were $3,303.04(school taxes, long term care premiums)

* Variable Expenses in September came to $3,489.16
Total Expenses....$6,792.20

$5,699.37-$6,792.20= -$1,092.83

Slush into August of $39,033.52 in that Fund, subtract $1,092.83 and we get $37,977.07 going into September's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $1,092.83

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in August.

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

*  The electric bill was $4.52 lower than in August.

*  The gas bill was $92.58 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $3.87 higher than in August.

*  The cell phone went up by $31.83 from last month.

*  The MC c/c was $876.17 higher than August.

*  My Amazon Visa was $127.96 higher than last month.

*  2 irregular bills were due in September--School tax bill(paid early for a small discount, quarterly Long term Care Premiums

The Food Budget costs for August 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 September---I knew it would be a "negative" month going in because I paid for some of the December cruise stuff early but I didn't take money out of the non-retirement accounts to cover that until October 1st because I wasn't home until Oct.  Once we get to October's numbers it will all even out. ;-)
 

THOUGHTS going forward into October 2021---No irregular bills coming due in October. yay!  Trying for a low spend on everything(food, misc., etc.)in October too.  I've already bought candy for the Trick or Treaters too.  No trips planned. Just blah, blah, blah.....stay home and putter when not trying to eBay stuff and cart stuff off to the food bank.  October should be stellar once the cruise $$ hits the account and we sit our butts home. ;-)

So how was your September financially? 

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

Food Spending 2021......The September Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2021.

I have posted September'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 September.  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. 
*****************

ALDI 

OOP  $21.80

Value  $39.56

Savings  44.89%

CVS

OOP  $0.00

Value  $4.99

Savings 100%

HARRIS TEETER

OOP  $3.00

Value  $3.99

Savings  24.81%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $761.21

Value  $761.21
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE

OOP  $3.80

Value  $3.80

Savings  00%

TARGET

OOP  $11.81

Value  $26.57

Savings  55.55%

WALMART
OOP  $266.24

Qs/free Gift Cards  $242.94
Value  $509.18
Savings  47.71%

WEIS

OOP  $39.29

Qs/Sales  $42.79
Value  $82.08
Savings  52.13%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 100% and Target at 55.55%.

The worst rate was at Shursave at 00%. (Guess which store Hubs shopped at? lol)
I shopped at 8 different stores in September.  

TOTAL Spent in September.................$345.94

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$324.63

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$670.57

TOTAL Savings of .............................48.38%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for September w/R-A..............$345.94

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$1,085.44
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,431.38
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................75.83%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

While I was away and not cooking for half+ of the month, I was shopping when I came across good deals so the food spending didn't cease when I went on my trip.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 6.77% in September 2021 to 75.83% compared to the August's 82.60% savings average.  Still a great savings rate!

With 9 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2,950.27 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$2,950.27

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$15,385.81

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$12,435.54

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................80.82%

The average per month amount spent is $327.81 in 2021 so far.

My Ibotta rebate, Coupons dotcom and Checkout51 totals for the year so far through September comes to $2,319.03 once I cash out.  Put that next to a full spending of $2,950.27 for the year so far and I've "actually" spent only $631.24 on food/toiletries for the year or an average of $70.14 per month.  Plus I've been able to donate to the food bank and share my haul bounty with others.

I think that is awesome. 8-)))

LOOKING AHEAD To October 2021.........Nothing special going on this month in terms of food and spending.  While I was gone our chest freezer died.  Hubs sprang into action and saved all but the ice cream 8-(((, bought a new freezer, got it home and got the food back into it's new cold home.  I'm looking to eat down the frozen stuff and the old dogs in the pantry so October will be a lower spend month.  Not putting a firm number on the spending but I'll be happy with anything under $300.

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 September?

*  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