It Ain't Easy Out Here for A Pimp, er...Couponer

Last Wednesday was not my day in the least.

I hit Walmart to do the deals.  Took over an hour to find what I wanted to buy take home, then to the self checkouts. I did 2 transactions(non-Ibotta stuff on one, Ibotta stuff on the other).  After transaction #1 I went digging in my purse for my wallet.  NO wallet! WTF?!?!

So I told the self-checkout manager I had to go check my car for my wallet and I'd be back so she suspended my transaction so once I had my wallet I could go to the CS and check out there.  I have been known to remove my wallet(especially if I stop and get gas)and just lay it on the passenger seat,  I hobbled off to my car using my cane and again, NO wallet!

I go back in and tell the manager it's not in the car and it may have been stolen out of my purse in the store.  I also say I have a gift card on my phone but it's not enough to pay for everything and she said to go to Customer Service first to report the theft, then come back and I could then remove some items until I had enough on the gift card to cover what was left.

So I hobble over to CS and of course there was a loooong line.  While in line I tried calling Hubs to see if he was home and to let him know what was going on.  Got his voicemail but he called me back and after explaining my difficulty he said wait, let me see if you left your wallet on your desk.  Thankfully my wallet WAS THERE!(Just thinking about cancelling credit cards, getting new driver's license and losing all the cash in my wallet was making me a little sick!)So Hubs agreed to come bring me my wallet so I could buy everything in my cart.

So I sat in the Subway right by the door and waited what seemed like forever for him to arrive and that way I wouldn't miss him coming in.  A big thanks and off he went back home.

I went back to my cart and there was a new self-checkout manager now. ugh.  I pointed to my cart and explained I was here to finish checking out.  They had voided my transation totally and un-bagged almost a full cart full of stuff! double ugh.  So I wheel the cart up to a vacant register(after picking out stuff people in line waiting to check-out had dumped in my cart while I was gone and had to rescan everything in my first transaction.  Got that done and did the smaller Ibotta load transaction.  Of course I was so rattled now I forgot to use my 2 whole coupons so off to CS desk I went again to wait in another loooong line.  Finally got to the front and got my "post coupons"(this is the CSM who gave me $6 instead of $2.05 I was expecting....after all this I wasn't going to argue and go back in the store after I pulled the cash from my coat out at the car). 

As I left the CS desk to exit the store I realized I didn't have my cane in my cart!  So over to the self-checkout area to ask if anyone had turned in my cane from the register I had used a bit ago.  Luckily someone had and I was reunited with the cane and FINALLY got out of Walmart.

After all that I decided to just go home instead of running more errands.  I figured the way my day was going pushing it would just result in more clusterf**ks.  Stick a fork in me, I'm done! lolz

Just wanted to post this so y'all know even "I" have terrible days out there in Couponing Land sometimes.  It's not all rainbows and unicorns for any of us......

Sluggy

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

I had 2 goals for December.......
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 December in the black.
The amount we ended the month of December with?....$1,761.30

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in December---

* 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 $180.13

* Cash put into bank to cover some groceries of $42.30

* eBay sales of $37.04

* Rebates/Post Coupon/Refunds of $3,445.02

Total "Income" for December.....$8,917.20

Expenses in December---

* Healthcare Premium for December was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in December were $1,853.13

* Variable Expenses in December came to $2,976.79
Total Expenses....$6,801.91

$8,917.20-$6,801.91=$1,761.18

Slush into December of $35,694.88 in that Fund, add $1,761.18 and we get $37,456.18 going into January 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,761.18

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in November.

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

*  The Water bill was $3.97 lower than in November.

*  The cell phone bill was the same as last month.

*  The gas bill was $50.48 lower than in November.

*  The Amazon c/c was $281.32 than last month.

*  The MC c/c was $152.72 lower than November.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $103.24 higher than in November

*  We had Four Irregular bills in November-

*  I had a $128.58 Kohl's charge bill.

*  We paid the quarterly Long Term Care premiums.

*  We paid $440 to kennel the dogs while we were on vacation.

*  We put a $500 deposit down on the wedding rehearsal dinner.

The Food Budget costs for December 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 December---I can't complain about the December bills as all the variable ones came in the same or lower than the previous month(except for electric).  I didn't account for having to put a deposit down for the rehearsal dinner(yet)so that changed things up a bit and if you know the situation you know I am not a happy camper about how that is playing out beyond our control.

I am glad that my rebating/couponing savings got added into our totals in December or we would have had a deficit of just over $1K for the month after bills paid, meaning having to take money out of the Slush fund(instead of adding to it).

We started the year with the Slush at $34,645.48 and ended the year with it standing at $37,456.18. Over $2,800 more in there.
 

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2022---No holidays(except my Birthday this month), some Bonus Cash to spend down and no big grocery haul plans.  The only irregular bill due this month is the garbage bill which we pay annually for a small discount.  We'll have an even higher electric bill(it's Winter, duh!)and the c/c bills will total around $2,500 from December.  Our high deductible insurance premiums went up(of course!)for 2022.  But otherwise it should be a quiet money month.

We'll have a financial meeting later this month to talk over the money stuff going forward into the year.

So how was your December financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in December?
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 Dining Table

The "Hey! Where did my Stollen go?" Edition...

 A couple of weeks ago when Hubs and I were in Aldi I asked him if he had bought me a Stollen for a Christmas present(as I had asked him to).  He said no, so I picked one up.

Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this gift from him Christmas morning!  No, he had not lied to me about not having bought one.  He had snuck into the garage and found the one I bought, wrapped and put it under the tree as being from him.   What a rat!

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--FFY

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, leftover Roasted Veggies

3. Tuesday--leftover Lasagna, leftover Roasted Veggies

4. Wednesday--Assorted Leftovers
5. Thursday--Assorted Leftovers

6.  Friday--Late Lunch out at KFC

7. Saturday--More Leftovers or FFY

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

*  2 packs of chicken cutlets

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

*  3 Pork Tenderloins

I spent $0 on food/toiletries/HBA the last 3 days(January). This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $0 for January.

There are 28 shopping days left in January.  

I've earned $0 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in January.

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

I've earned 0 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I earned 0 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in January. 

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

I've earned $0 from food shopping on Tada in January.

That's $0 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $0 in grocery spending so in reality it's $0 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.  Yay me.....

My savings percentage for the last week was %(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 0% so far(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week....from the Christmas dinner fare we still have salt cured VA ham, 1 pack of Hawaiian rolls, mac and cheese plus appetizers like cheese ball, salsa, Mexican white sauce, tortilla chips, crackers and olives.

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

1. Sunday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Hawaiian rolls

2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner

3. Tuesday--Chicken Parm, Baked Sweet Potato, (Pasta for Hubs only)

4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--? Hubs' night to cook

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

We'll be eating leftovers from Christmas still but otherwise I think I'll just pull whatever I can reach out of the freezers this week instead of having a plan.  Ok, so just blindly pulling from the freezer IS a plan, right? ;-)

Can you tell I am still in vacation mode when it comes to meal planning/cooking? lol

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  The only items we don't have are salad greens and milk.  As the week goes on I'll see if we will need these for a meal and then buy them.

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

 

Food Spending 2021.....the December & Year-End Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2021.

I have posted December'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 December.  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. 
*****************

CVS

OOP  $2.41

Value  $17.86

Savings 86.51%

FOOD LION

OOP  $42.61

Value  $52.71

Savings  19.16%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $6.84

Value  $10.00

Savings  31.60%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $521.58

Value  $521.58
Savings  100%

SCHIFF'S

OOP  $17.74

Value  $25.68

Savings  30.92%

WALMART
OOP  $77.80

Qs/free Gift Cards  $306.10
Value  $383.90
Savings  79.73%

WEIS

OOP  $63.72

Qs/Sales  $35.46
Value  $99.18
Savings  35.75%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 86.51% and Walmart at 79.73%.

The worst rate was at Food Lion at 19.16%.  I just bought a salt-cured ham at FL and those never go on sale(got a bit off with my loyalty card tho). 8-)
I shopped at 7 different stores in December.  

TOTAL Spent in December.................$211.12

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$378.21

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$589.33

TOTAL Savings of .............................64.18%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for December w/R-A..............$211.12

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$899.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,110.91
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................81.00%

This closes out the December food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....It was a GREAT lower spending month!  Spent almost half of what I usually shoot for and just a tad more than in November(which was also a very low spend month)so I am pleased.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 11.11% in December 2021 to 81.00% compared to the November's 92.11% savings average.  Compared to November there was a lot less free stuff from Rite-Aid in December(no Black Friday Sales deals). ;-)

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $3,683.86 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3,683..86

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$21,866.88

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$18,183.02

2021 Yearly Savings Total.............................83.15%

The average per month amount spent is $306.99 in 2021.

But wait!  There's more.....

December is when I cash out/add in all my rebating monies for the year.  Here are those amounts that posted to my bank account.......

*  Ibotta....$2,823.29

*  Post Coupon/Refunds...$341.17

*  Coupons dotcom.....$134.16

*  Checkout 51....$110.12

*  Aisle.....$36.28

Total to add to December's Income to counteract the Food Spending....$3,445.02

$3,683.86-$3,445.02=$238.84 total spent on Food shopping in 2021!  We ate well, donated boxes of foodstuffs/toiletries to our local food bank and shared with various relatives and it cost us a grand total of $238.84.  I went after the rebating harder than ever this year!  In 2020 I was able to cut our OOP on food/etc. in half.  In 2021 I blew the doors off our food spending!!

I also have in the other apps, going forward into 2022, that I can only cash out for gift cards(which I used during the year at food stores to bring my OOP down)....

*  Shop Kick....$33.64

*  Swag Bucks...$79.51

*  Fetch....$26.15

*  Tada....$13.20

That's another $152.50 in potential food savings I have in reserve going into 2022!

LOOKING AHEAD To January 2022.......

With January comes the bad weather so most of my shopping will be done in town, if at all.  We are packed to the gills with food/toiletries/HBA/paper products so I am going to try to stay out of the stores except for freebies after rebates, to roll/spend Bonus Cash at R-A and if we need perishables(which we will).  I am not going to put a $ amount on what I may spend but I am hoping for a low number.

I have folks who tell me all the time that only spending a few hundred a year on food/etc. is preposterous and not do-able.  I'm here to tell you it IS do-able!  Yes, it takes work and effort but once you get into the right frame of mind and you "get" the knack of this process these kinds of savings are manageable.  Even if you work....you may not get the same results, as I have more time to devout to this way of shopping but you can work miracles still with your food spending combining coupons and rebate offers and a little planning.  Rebates are just not on processed foods anymore(though they still make up a large part of the offers most months).  

Shoot for a modest goal of $20 in rebates the first month and see how you do, then increase your goal the next month.  Even if you only do $20 in rebates each month for a year, that's $240 LESS you'll spend on food and $240 MORE you can put toward something else like an electric bill, a car note, your rent/mortgage or save toward retirement.  

Plus you'll be able to bless others in so many ways.......if not to a food bank or less fortunate relative, selling your stockpile for cash(and at a reduced price to the buyer-saving them money too)or in my case, using my excess to hold Giveaways on the blog to bless my readers.

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 December?

*  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

Frugal Friday....the December 31st Edition

 So here are a few of the frugal-ish things that happened here this past week.......

*  Been eating all the Christmas leftovers this week when not using gift cards for take-out.  No food waste so far. ;-)

*  Santa was very good to me last week........

3 gift cards, a 6 pack of craft beer, a bottle of Prosecco(+ a can of peaches to make Peach Bellinis), a new calculator, a set of ginormous wind chimes(not pictured), a set of cat butt fridge magnets, some tea packets, some mints, fridge clips, mailing tape, a magnifying glass(thanks Hubs!lol), 2 tins of homemade candy(mmm), a cat butt coin purse, a tin with emergency underwear(make me feel even older than I do Sissie!), reusable bubbles to pop, and some hazelnut choccies.

Now everyone needs to gear up because my birthday is 3 weeks away and I expect even MORE presents! LOLZ

*  Christmas was a lowkey affair here.  Most of the family(missing my daughter and her hubby in Louisiana)were here.  We had appetizers and a modest meal mostly from foods I had here.  The salt cured ham and fresh produce were the only new purchases.  Everyone left full and happy.

*  Took up another donation to the food bank.  Another 40 items out of the house and with rebating/coupons this stuff cost me pennies if that.

There was also a trip to Salvation Army to drop off another 20 items to donate as well so the decluttering continues......

*  Except I hit the after Christmas clearance sales and added to what is in the house.  I tried to contain myself and only buy things for gifts for next year.  I showed some restraint. *snort*

*  I remember a couple of years ago when the Downton Abbey movie came out.  I so wanted to see it but Hubs wouldn't go with me and I really didn't want to spend that kind of money on a movie ticket. Christmas night after everyone left and Hubs went upstairs to take a nap I put on the local PBS and guess what they were showing?  The Downton Abbey movie. 8-))

*   I found money!

Sissie put .41¢ in the cat butt coin purse she gifted me on Christmas.

I made the rounds for clearance finds on Dec. 26th and found this dime at my Rite-Aid....

Then this penny at a different R-A.........

And this nickel at Walmart.

A dime and a penny as I hung around waiting for Hubs to bring me my wallet to Walmart(a clusterf**k of a day I tell ya!)

While sort of "not" found money I got this at the Walmart CS desk from an employee with less than stellar math skills as it's $3.95 more than I was expecting.......(but I won't count this as found money).

And this dime on the 29th somewhere...Weis?, Rite-Aid?, Walmart?  My mind just can't seem to remember where this was found.  I didn't leave the house on Wednesday or Thursday so that cut down on the change finding a bit.

Total Found in last Week...... .78¢
Total Found This Year......$24.38

That's about all I've got for this week.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

And here is today's Holiday song...........

Sluggy