What Got Done in 2021 in Sluggy's World

Other than the usual paying bills, staying within budget type of stuff, here are the Bigger What Got Done in 2021--

*  Decluttering 

I began the long process of decluttering before we sell the house and move.

Not a lot of progress yet as I didn't begin until the 4th quarter of the year really. 

All this, 26 items, went to Sallie Ann's....

 

I also went through all my clothes as Summer arrived and donated everything that no longer fit.....

This batch was about 35 items if I recall correctly.

I didn't get any photos before they left but there were another 30 items in December to the Salvation Army.

91 items off to new homes hopefully to lead more meaningful lives.

*  FOOD BANK 

In September, after trips and a stockpile sale that Summer, 75 items went to the food bank.....

50 assorted items from food to toiletries in early November......

And 64 more assorted items from food to toiletries in late November...

New Year's Eve, Friday, this all went to the food bank....

I didn't get an exact count before Hubs carted this all off, but it had to be another 40 items.

229-ish food/toiletries off to the food bank in 2021.

And I have another food bank donation started already to jump start 2022. 8-)

* GIVEAWAYS

We did 11 Giveaways in 2021.

January

February

March

April

June

July

August

September or Alaska Prizes

October

November

December

Every month but May as I was off having fun with Kim and Sissie then. 8-)))

* HOME PROJECTS

We got 4 items(two of them big'uns)ticked off the home repair/improvement list in 2021.......

2 Major Bathroom Remodels

Main Bathroom....

The Downstairs Powder Room.....

1 Kitchen Tiling Project

New Kitchen Backsplash

New Hallway/Foyer Closet Doors *I have to laugh about this one. Ex-CB fell into and broke one of the old bi-fold doors when he was still in college(he's been out since 2017(you do the math!) and I finally nagged got Hubs to buy new doors and install them.  So here are the doors after he installed them.....

Mr. "Not So Handy" was all proud of himself for doing this until I pointed out that he installed them upside down(notice how high up the knobs are...I've have to be the Jolly Green Giant to reach them!
So he grumbled a bit and a few choice words may have flown out of his mouth but he reversed the doors eventually.  And yes, he got them hung even too. I guess I'll have to paint the trim to match around the doors now. or wait another 5 years to get him to do that.

Now the big project we are down to is 6 new windows in the front of the house and various interior painting/spackling/repair jobs. sigh

* I was able to lose another 20 lbs. in 2021 and keep it off.

Me in June of this past year before going to my cousin's  funeral.  I last wore this dress to my daughter's wedding in Jan. 2019.  I didn't notice in June but with losing more weight around my middle and butt this dress was now 2 inches too long. lol

Me on the right in this photo from Summer of 2013.  Not my highest weight but close to it.  I am now down 120 lbs. from there.......

* And let's not forget all the fun we managed to have even during this difficult year....

Hijinx with the 3 Musketeers in May.......

Saw my 2 remaining cousins and my only Aunt in June after many years(even if the circumstances were dreadful)....

August on an Alaskan cruise with Krazy Kim and her Hubby....

September/October I was off to see my brother and then to see Sissie on the way home.....

Costco with my brother......

Sissie wearing white after Labor Day(shriek!)

Then we were off to NJ in November for a Bridal Shower for Oldest and Fianceé....

And then another cruise with my Brother and Sister in-law to the Caribbean....

And rounding out 20021 was a quiet Christmas at home with family...

So that was the highlight reel here at Chez Sluggy.  We got a few things ticked off our list in 2021 despite the difficulties. 
Here's hoping 2022 brings us all our hearts' desires! 

Sluggy

My Rite-Aid Haul This Week

 Here's what followed me home this past week from Rite-Aid......

I did 3 transaction on 3 different cards.  I used 3 purchase based coupons as well( 2 x $10 off $50 and a $9 off $45 one).

*Ignore the Colgate mouthwash as I didn't count it in my total spend as it's going back to the store(since the Ibotta rebate disappeared before I could claim it). ;-)

I spent $108.40 in coupons, Bonus Cash and a R-A gift card on all this including sales tax.

Here is what I got/am getting back--

$27 new BC

$20 in J&J gift cards(for the Neutrogena)

$53.30 in Ibotta rebates

$6 in Coupons dotcom rebates

$1 post Coupon

Total earned of $107.30, making all this cost me $1.10.

Basically I cashed out a lot of BC/R-A gift card into cash rebates and rolled $27 in BC forward for another 30 days.

And I have 2 more purchase based Qs that printed on 2 of my receipts for next week.

And a little homage in song to a preeminent actor we lost this week.........

Have a Good Weekend Doing You,

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the January 7th Edition

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

*   No food waste so far. ;-)  The VA ham got cut off the bone and the bone will be utilized in a ham and bean soup soon.  Lots of the ham went into the freezer as well.  We have a few bits and bobs from the Holiday to polish off for lunches and snacking still.

*  I did a few Rite-Aid transactions this week.......

I still have to figure the finally number on this(maybe tomorrow?).  Basically I cashed out mostly or fully on 3 cards, utilizing Bonus Cash and a free R-A gift card.  I got a little BC back on 2 of the cards plus I got Ibotta rebates, a Swag Bucks rebate and Coupons dotcom monies.

*  I forgot to mention I sold something the previous week on eBay, the day after Christmas.  I had a different person offer me 25% LESS for this item the week before Christmas with the caveat that I could guarantee it's arrival by Christmas.  As I am not in charge of the USPS that was a hard no.  Plus this person had NO feedback and had just signed up the day they tried to buy the item. lol  Just goes to show you, don't jump at the first offer since I got full asking price from the other buyer. ;-)

*  I got a bag of almost free dog food at Walmart from Shop Kick.....

I paid $5.98 + tax, got $4.08 back on SK and $2 back on Coupon dotcom, so it cost me .28¢ in sale tax.

*  I bought 10 bags of this on NYE at Walmart when everything Xmas went to 75% off.......

10 bags of pecans in the shell for .50¢ each so $5 total.  These normally got there for $3.98 a bag so these were a great deal because we all know how expensive pecans are, right?! ;-)

*  I also bought this stuff at Walmart yesterday to finish off my Weekend $5 Ibotta Bonus....

The only thing missing is the box of Entenmann's mini cakes(which Hubs took).  The Palmer's shampoo and the 2 Revlon items weren't Ibotta offers but were on clearance and gave me $1.55 in overage after coupons.  The Palmer's shampoo WAS an Ibotta offer but also on clearance of $1.09 so that gave me $1.82 in overage as well.  I think the $1 Bumble Bee tuna pouch attached to the any soup offer as well as the .25¢ BB tuna offer.  I spent $4.39(.30¢ of that was sales tax)in cash after $20 in free SK and Ibotta gift cards.  I earned $16.38(including the weekend bonus and the .03¢ back for using $5 in Ibotta funds to buy a gift card-which also gave me an item toward my bonus)for this transaction.

*  I stayed home 4 of the last 7 days so I didn't spend anything then.

*  While I was out that way I hit the Produce Market instead of going to Weis(PMITA)in my town as foodstuffs there are much cheaper except for Weis loss leaders. I probably saved double what I spent there on fresh veggies and lunchmeat.

On a very sad note, I went to the shop next door to the Produce Market, my Bread Outlet only to find that is was GONE!! argh  Let's all bow our heads in mourning for that.  Having to pay full retail for bread products might just kill me.......*sniff*

*   I found money!

Both of these pennies at my Rite-Aid, one in the store....

The other in the parking lot.  Guess which one is which. lol

After hitting a R-A in a nearby town I hit Burger King there for a $2 Whopper deal on my app(using my free gift card to pay so there's a win within a win).

Under the drive-thru counter proved to be a honey hole of change!  I was able to scoop up most of it while the cashier tried to run my BK gift card(BK gift cards always take awhile to work).  Mostly pennies but throw in a dime and a nickel and I was up .24¢ there.

Then on Thursday I hit another R-A trying to use up my Bonus Cash before it expired/the snow came and found this dime by the front counter.  Yes!

Total Found in last Week...... .36¢
Total Found This Year...... .36¢

Not a bad start for 2022!

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!

Sluggy

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