This Week on the Dining Table

The "Still Feeling Unwell" Edition... 

I can't think what I've been doing this past week besides going to the doc, getting an Rx, taking it and sleeping so I get over this sinus infection.  I haven't had one this bad in about a decade. ugh.  

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned.....

Nothing

And here's what actually happened........

Well we ate a bit.  I don't recall when/where/what mostly.  It was a mish-mash of whatever was here and Hubs or I could heat up.  I had a fair amount of soup and there was some take-out soup and a Hoagie dinner for Hubs' birthday(he had a BOGO offer from Primo Hoagies).  I made a Hamburger and Noodles meal with grilled Asparagus on the side before I really felt badly. But other than that there was nothing remarkable or noteworthy about meals(such as they were).

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

*  a pack of burritos

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

*  No Clue

I spent $73.35 on food/toiletries/HBA this last week.  I managed a trip to Walmart and a trip to Weis and threw stuff in the cart with no rhyme or reason plus a birthday cake for Hubs. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $149.20 for April.  I did manage to do some Ibotta/Shop Kick/Swag Bucks deals in the process.

There are 19 shopping days left in April.  

I've earned $58.73 on Ibotta in April.

I've earned $1.52 on Checkout51 in April.

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

I've earned 6,385 points($6.38) from shopping on Fetch in April.

I earned 1830 Kicks($7.32)from food shopping on Shop Kick in April. 

I've earned 762 Swag Bucks($7.62) from food shopping on Swag Bucks in April.

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

That's $60.25 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $149.20 in grocery spending so in reality it's $88.95 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.

Go me! 8-/

My savings percentage for the last week was 33.52%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for April comes in at 28.48% so far(w/out R-A).  I am really off my game right now.

Leftovers going into this week.....the burger/noodle dish but Hubs will polish that off for lunches.  The leftover Lasagna from before we went on the trip is in the freezer and I'll probably pull that out this week.

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

1. Sunday--Tacos

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Brussels Sprouts

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Baked Sweet Potato Fries
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out unless Hubs cooks

6.  Friday--Fish Fry, Coleslaw(if I can manage to buy some cabbage)

7. Saturday--Lasagna, Salad

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu? Cabbage.  I've got everything else.  That is if I can manage to get it together enough to cook.  Otherwise, all bets are off....

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?  Great deals(even good deals)....what's that lately? hahahaha

Sluggy

  

Income & Spending Report....March 2022

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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 March report---

I had 2 goals for March.......
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 March in the black.
The amount we ended the month of March with?....$1,251.07

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in March---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,229.07(after tax withholding)
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $174.56

* 1/3 of Quarterly 401K withdrawal=$2,051.69

* RMSA account to pay for health premiums totaling $2,226.13

*  Stock Dividend of $18.48

*  Cash in Pts. on M/C of $189.73

*  Cash in Pts. on Visa of $268.01

*  Cash in Pts. on NCL Visa of $287.87

*  Fed. Tax Refund of $1,842.00

Total "Income" for March.....$10,287.54

Expenses in March---

* Irregular bills in March were $1,384.55

* Variable Expenses in March came to $5,425.79

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,226.13

Total Expenses....$9,036.47

$10,287.54-$9,036.47=$1,251.07

Slush into March of $40,810.91 in that Fund, add $1,251.07 and we get $42,061.98 going into April's 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,251.07

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The Internet, water, cell phone and WAM was the same as last month.

*  The electric bill was $77.23 less than February's bill.

*  The gas c/c was $64.64 less than in February(because we didn't use Sunoco gas much).

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The Mastercard was up by $2,550.03 from February.

*  The Amazon card was higher by $186.28 this month.

Irregular bills were paid too.

*  Long Term Care premiums were due

*  We had to kennel the dogs for half a month in March for $600.

The Food Budget costs for March 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 March 2022---We got out with our asses intact and did much better than I predicted.  The Federal tax refund and using c/c points to throw back onto the c/c payments helped a good bit along with not having to pay the real estate taxes until April(usually they are due annually in  March but COVID gave us an extra almost month long extension)so I'll pay the taxes this month as soon as the April 401K withdrawal hits the account.  Otherwise, March would have been a financial fail.

THOUGHTS going forward into April 2022--Besides the real estate taxes being due, we will have a good bit of c/c bills coming due in April from this trip as well, so April might see us in the red for next month.

So how was your March financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in March?
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 2022....the March Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2022.

I have posted March'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 March.  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, Pet Food & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 26. 
*****************

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $25.77

Value  $71.76

Savings  64.09%

LIQUIDATOR

OOP  $37.47

Value  $73.47

Savings  49.00%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $465.88

Value  $465.88
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $157.36

Qs/free Gift Cards  $209.35
Value  $366.74
Savings 57.08%

WEIS

OOP  $21.70

Qs/Sales  $15.48
Value  $37.18
Savings  41.64%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Dollar General  at 64.09%, and Walmart at 57.08%.

The worst rate was at Weis(PMITA)Markets at  41.64%.  
I shopped at 5 different stores in March.  

TOTAL Spent in February................$242.30

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$306.85

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$549.15

TOTAL Savings of .............................55.88%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for February w/R-A..............$242.30

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$772.73
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,015.03
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................76.13%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....As predicted grocery pending was lower(since we were only home half of the month). Duh.  Don't ask about our food spending on the trip. Ouch!  Big cities out West=high spending for restaurant food.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 7.88% in March 2021 to 76.13% compared to the February's 84.01% savings average.  I'm ok with that.

With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $883.30 on food/toiletries in 2022.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$883.30

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$4,916.41

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$4,033.11

2021 Yearly Savings Total.............................82.03%

The average per month amount spent is $294.43 in 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD To April 2022.......Now that we are home I hope to be eating down what we have at home.  I am sure groceries will be bought but who knows how much. ;-)  With the inflationary costs now I'll still try to keep the spending at or under $400.00.

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 March?

*  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

I'm Back....Sort of

Clearly not a photo of me since I can't get up if I were to sit on the floor. lol

Physically we got home the evening of March 31st and picked up the dogs on April 1st.  I came home with a raging head cold/sinus issue and tired as could be.  Maybe it's all the airplane rides(5 of them!), going from 98F to 29F and sampling regions in various stages of pollen bloom.  Or maybe it's all of the above. 8-(  Yesterday we experienced 2 seasons here-Spring then Winter again complete with snow and sleet spitting from the skies.  FML

Still trying to dig out here(figuratively AND literally)and only doing what can't be put off(paying bills that arriving in our absence), unpacking, laundry, bookkeeping stuff, picking up Rx refills and so on.  Otherwise I am in bed resting and sipping hot tea with honey and lemon(or cough drops in a pinch).

Blogging might happen Monday but don't hold me to it.  I've been dreading coming home as I have so much to do and not put off anymore.  The year is a quarter over and I am even behind-er than when I left.

I hope everyone is doing aok and/or better than I am at the moment and enjoying their weekend. 8-)

Traveling Sluggy

Bye For Now

I'll be away from the computer for a little while.  Talk amongst your selves and don't break the internet while I am away. 8-)

I would say to behave but I KNOW someone of you and well, that might not be possible. *snort*

Back soon,

Sluggy