November & Snow, Time for Another Giveaway!

Who's ready for the Tenth  Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2021?!?

It's November and we are close to Thanksgiving and then Christmas....when did this happen? lol
We even got a dusting of snow already.

As I mentioned before November's box is all about girlie stuff.......make-up and other girly toiletries and chocolate!
Let's take a look at what is in the Giveaway Box this month........

1 x Yardley lavender soap

1 x Neutrogena oil-free make-up remover liquid

1 x Whole Blends shampoo

1 x Nivea body lotion

1 x Jergen's bronzer lotion

1 x Sally Hansen nail polish

1 x Wet n' Wild red nail polish

1 x Wet n' Wild glow in the dark nail polish

3 x Freeman face masks

1 x Neutrogena bar soap

1 x Biore witch hazel pore strips

2 x Almay eye shadow

1 x e.l.f. eye shadow brush

1 x Neutrogena HydroBoost face mask

1 x Cover Girl eyebrow pencils(black)

1 x Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Blush

1 x Rimmel eyebrow pencil w/brush(brown)

1 x Rimmel Stay Glossy lip gloss

1 x Almay Goddess Gloss(Ethereal-blue)

1 x Conair Hairbrush

1 x Sally Hansen top coat nail polish

1 x Cover Girl mascara

1 x Revlon Youth FX Concealer

1 x Cover Girl Cheek Blush

1 x 5 Gum Pack(Avengers)

12 x Andes chocolates

11 x Lindt truffles

Close up shots of these goodies.....

Depending on where you shop, the winnings have a reg. retail value of approximately $70-$80+.

Here's how this is going to work.....

* The giveaway is open to ALL readers, previous winners or not.

* There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY.  Come back each day to enter again.

* Only VALID entries will be posted.  A Valid entry is a limit of one per day and I MUST HAVE VALID CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOU(either you are on the Giveaway Contact List which I maintain, your comment is connected to a Google/Blogger profile which links to your email address or you email me directly(my email is in the side bar on the Blog)your email address.

IF YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY AND DON'T SEE YOUR COMMENT It's because I haven't gone online that day/evening or I don't have a way to contact you if you win.

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random and the winner has 48 hours from when the post goes live to contact me with their full mailing address.

In your entries I'd like to hear about how you celebrate Thanksgiving, if you do.  Will you travel for it or not?  What's your favorite dish and what traditional foods did your parents serve for Turkey day when you were young?  Any favorite activities other than eating and napping on Thanksgiving?

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name(with last name initial please)to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").
I'll leave this giveaway open until November 23rd, Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern  Daylight Savings Time. On November 25th, Friday, I'll draw the winning entry and post the Winner.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winners on this blog on  and those persons have 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

   The "Cooking Will Be Interrupted This Week" Edition...

Here is the original kitchen tile backsplash in my house.  It was lovely back in the 1980's when the house was built and matched the ivory and dusty blue fleur-de-lis wallpaper in the kitchen with the dusty blue duck wall border along the ceiling. ;-)

Now?  It needs to go...like the wallpaper and border went when we moved in. lol

Our "guy" is here today and the next two days to rip it out and replace with this which matches the newer counter tops and the black appliances......

With the stove in the middle of the room, unplugged and with a tile saw on it I won't be able to cook for a few days.  We do have two leftovers we can reheat in the microwave but otherwise there will be take-out.  Yes, I will go so far as to remodel a kitchen to get out of cooking. *snort*

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--leftover Pork Stir-Fry w/noodles

2. Monday--leftover Beef Stroganoff over Rice, Salad

3. Tuesday--Halushki using leftover egg noodles

4. Wednesday--Pecan crusted Salmon, au gratin Taters, leftover root veggies w/added sweet potato
5. Thursday--? Hub is cooking

6.  Friday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Brussels Sprouts, leftover Taters

7. Saturday--Sloppy Joes, Sweet Potato wedges

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

1. Sunday--leftover Pork Stir-Fry w/noodles

2. Monday--leftover Beef Stroganoff over Rice, Salad

3. Tuesday--Fend For Yourself(Hubs at tv dinner, I didn't eat-still full from Sub lunch)

4. Wednesday--Pecan crusted Salmon, Green Beans

5. Thursday--Halushki

6.  Friday--Hot Dogs on rolls, Baked Beans

7. Saturday--a McDouble on the ride home from the Bridal Shower

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

* 6 lbs. of Butter

*  2 packs of Chicken cutlets

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

*  1 large piece of Salmon

*  1 pack of Bacon

*  1 pack of Hot Dogs

I spent $35.88 on food/toiletries/HBA last week. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $102.87 for November.

There are 15 shopping days left in November.

I've earned $81.49 on Ibotta in November.

I've earned $18.75 on Checkout51 in November.

I've earned $7.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in November.

I've earned $0 from Aisle.

I've earned 7,772 points from shopping on Fetch in November which equals $7.77.

I earned 4,735 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in November which equals $18.94.

I've earned 1,118 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in November which equals $11.18.

That's $107.24 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $102.87 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$4.37 spent after the 4 rebate apps I count.  Awesome sauce!

My savings percentage for the last week was 74.56%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for November comes in at 57.59%(w/out R-A).  Pretty awesome savings rate last week!

Leftovers going into this week....3-4 servings of Halushki, 5 Hot Dogs(because I cooked a full pack).

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

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings

2. Monday--leftovers

3. Tuesday--Chinese Take-Out?

4. Wednesday--Hungarian Goulash
5. Thursday--? Hub is cooking so prolly leftovers

6.  Friday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Sauted Cabbage, Taters of some ilk

7. Saturday--Sloppy Joes, Sweet Potato wedges

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu? Not a thing.  that's not to say I won't buy anything this week as I am 18 items from the Ibotta Give thanks $10 Bonus and I got a $5 Midweek Bonus for 18 items so I'll be finishing up both of those Bonuses w/18 rebates and then I am done Ibotta for November unless they release some rebates of items I can pick up for the Food Bank.

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

  

Frugal Friday.....the November 12th Edition on Sunday the 14th

 I apologize for being two days late with the FF post but you know....."life".  Been super busy hitting up Walmart and Rite-Aid late this week and attending the Bridal Shower for my daughter in-law to be.

Here are the frugal wins at Chez Sluggy for this past week.........

*  Free Covid Booster and sanitizer at RA on Monday.  My arm was sore a few days but not so bad.

*  Got $2 post coupon refund at RA.

*  Sissie paid for our dinner out on Friday.  Burrito del Mar is yummy and I swear that wooden primitively carved cowboy statue in the foyer, his belt buckle looked like a cod piece it was so HUGE!  Well, keep in mind I had a mixed beverage at dinner. lol

*  I used most of a free gift card at Ocean State for some items for Sissie, me and for a Xmas giftie.

*  I took Sissie out wherever she wanted to shop a week ago Saturday.  Along the way I made a stop at two CVS and Sissie and I snagged a bunch of .14¢ a roll Kleenex tp at CVS at one of them to donate to the food bank.

*  I found money!

Two cents at Rite-Aid on  Friday.

While taking Sissie shopping we snagged this very out of focus quarter from an abandoned inside the store cart at Aldi's. (BTW-Sissie, I dropped the other quarter into your purse in the hallway when you weren't looking so make sure it makes it back into "cat butt". ;-)

Then I spied a penny in one of the R-As we went into.

And then another penny in the second Ollie's we hit.

Total Found This Week...... .29¢
Total Found This Year.......$19.56

Other than having a fun day and a half with Sissie that's it from here for the week.(I'll reveal my Rite-Aid haul in another post since it spanned from Monday to Saturday.)

From the most interesting man in the world and me, what frugal wins did you have this past week or so?
Let us know!!

Sluggy

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

I had 2 goals for October.......
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 October in the black.
The amount we ended the month of October with?....$349.68

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

* 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 $173.90

* Money moved to pay for Cruise of $4281.98

* Blogging Revenue of $109.06

Total "Income" for October.....$7,787.18

Expenses in October---

* Healthcare Premium for October was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in October were $2,950

* Variable Expenses in October came to $4,487.50
Total Expenses....$9,409.49

$9,759.17-$9,409.49=$349.68

Slush into September of $37,977.07 in that Fund, add in $349.68 and we get $38,326.75 going into October's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $349.68.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in September.

*  The WAM was $52 less than was taken last month.

*  The Water bill was $6.44 lower than in September.

*  The cell phone bill was $11.75 lower than last month.

*  The Amazon c/c was $489.76 lower than in September.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $4.36 higher than in September.

*  The gas bill went up by $69.64 from last month.

*  The MC c/c was $1,484.29 higher than September.

*  We paid for the powder room renovation so $2,950.00 in irregular bills.

The Food Budget costs for October 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 October---It was a good month as we were able to cover the bathroom reno without dipping into savings.  I did have to take money out of one of the non-retirement accounts to pay for the December cruise but that's what the account is for...to use for fun things. ;-)
 

THOUGHTS going forward into November 2021---One irregular bill in November, the semi-annual car insurance.  Not a very large bill and it's doable.  We are not hosting Turkey day so that will bring some food costs down but the gas bill will be higher due to two trips to New Jersey(bridal shower and Thanksgiving invite).  Plus a shower gift will come out of November's income but won't break the bank.

So how was your October financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
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 October Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2021.

I have posted October'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 October.  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. 
*****************

BREAD OUTLET

OOP  $4.00

Value  $12.07

Savings  66.86%

CVS

OOP  $0.64

Value  $14.57

Savings 95.60%

LIDL

OOP  $1.58

Value  $4.98

Savings  68.27%

MALACARI'S Produce

OOP  $29.86

Value  $44..37

Savings  32.70%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $469.74

Value  $469.74
Savings  100%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $139.52

Value  $215.63

Savings  35.30%(Plus $55.80 in free gift cards to use later)

OLLIE'S

OOP  $12.56

Value  $20.12

Savings  37.57%

WALMART
OOP  $33.17

Qs/free Gift Cards  $54.59
Value  $87.76
Savings  62.20%

WEIS

OOP  $100.93

Qs/Sales  $83.38
Value  $184.31
Savings  45.24%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 95.60% and Lidl at 68.27%.

The worst rate was at Malacari's at 32.70%. 
I shopped at 9 different stores in October.  

TOTAL Spent in October.................$322.26

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$261.55

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$583.81

TOTAL Savings of .............................44.80%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for October w/R-A..............$322.26

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$733.29
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,053.55
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................69.41%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I was having a very low spending month due to Ibotta not giving me any Bonuses(see how little I spent at Walmart? lol)but then Ocean State ran a Spend at least $30 and get 40% back on what you spent in free gift cards Deal. Sigh but not really sighing because this will lower my canned goods purchases for the future. ;-)

I also "spent" about half of what I usually do at Rite-Aid in October.  Not much Bonus Cash left and the deals were pretty slim there.  I still didn't have an under $300 food month in October but it was close. 8-)

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 6.42% in October 2021 to 69.41% compared to the September's 75.83% savings average.  Still a great savings rate!

With 10 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3,272.53 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3,272.53

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$16,439.36

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$13,166.83

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................80.09%

The average per month amount spent is $327.25 in 2021 so far.

My Ibotta rebate, Coupons dotcom, Checkout51 and Aisle totals for the year so far through September comes to $2,375.24 once I cash out.  Put that next to a full spending of $3,272.53 for the year so far and I've "actually" spent only $897.29 on food/toiletries for the year or an average of $89.73 per month.  Plus I've been able to donate to the food bank and share my haul bounty with others.

I love that I can do that!

LOOKING AHEAD To November 2021.......We won't be hosting Turkey Day Dinner but I have most things to still make some Thanksgiving dishes for us to enjoy afterwards.  I found 3 turkey breasts in the chest freezer when I organized it so one of those will get used.  We are already 1/3 of the way through the month and soups/stews/casseroles will be making appearances on the dinner table again and those are food stretcher meals and leave a bevy of leftovers.  I have my doubts but if butter and not as much if sugar go on Holiday sale I'll load up on those in November, hopefully a year's worth if the prices are great(but we aren't that optimistic).  I don't do much baking for the Holidays but butter is usually at rock bottom this time of year and we are coffee/tea drinkers so some rock bottom sugar would be a bonus.  I should definitely be able to keep the food tally under $300 for November, even with stocking up on butter and other staples on special.

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 October?

*  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