Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway

 Today is the last day to enter.  Entry closes at 11:59pm EDST.

Go HERE to enter.

I'll pick a winner on Sunday and post as soon as I am able.
And this will be the last Giveaway until after we move.  Not sure if I'll be able to continue to do that or not once we are in Louisiana so hop on this one.

Have a good weekend.  We are off to power wash the house.  Fun! lol

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the August 5th Edition

**First off thanks for the good wishes for our move.  We are going to Louisiana to be near our daughter and her hubby for those that inquired why Louisiana.  Can't move to NJ near eldest(too expensive and crowded and we've lived there already and don't care for it)and Ex-College Boy isn't settled anywhere yet so can't decide on that.  So LA it is, swamps, mud bugs, gators and all.

Someone "Unknown" said they would come visit me in Louisiana but no name signed so I don't know who that is(friend?, stalker?)so that is a little creepy.  Please don't be creepy as I will shut down the blog for now.**

Lots of cleaning and clearing out this past week at Chez Sluggy.  We are in full on clean/clear mode as the move date approaches.

*  I put my antique sewing machine on the local free FB thing and it's leaving on Sunday to go to a new home.

*  I've filled another large bag for the Food Bank and it and the other 2 bags all went out this morning.

*  The power washer is reserved for this weekend so the outside of the house will be sparkly by Monday.

*  I've been using frozen foods for meals and trying my best to eat down the freezer. 

*  We've been eating lots of leftovers and odd meals as we clear out the foodstuff.  Last night was a big lasagna I made for Hubs to clear out lasagna noodles, some  of the homemade canned sauce and cottage cheese.  I had a very small bowl of Kalamata olives and some chicken strips.

*  Finished interviewing realtors this week so will decide on which company to go with to sell this house next week.

*  I found a farm market set up near our house last Sunday.  The only thing they had that I wanted was cukes so I got 6 for $1.  Much better than the .59¢ a cuke Weis wants for cukes.

I made bread and butter pickles on Tuesday.  They should be ready to eat tomorrow. 8-))  I had to buy a jug of vinegar as we were low.  That's all the spending I did on food last week basically-cukes and vinegar.

*  I went to Rite-Aid late last week.  There was a $10 BC when you spend $50 coupon last week(4 different Qs really)so I rolled my BC on 3 cards.  I also had a $XX off $XX spent Q to pair with it on one card. The best thing I got was Mega dose Flonase sprays for free after Qs/sale price/BC earned back.  I had $10/1 Qs(IPQs and L2CQs)for Flonase so I think I got 6 bottles.

 That should keep me in allergy sprays for a good long time.

*  I forgot 2 coupons on my Saturday Rite-Aid trip so took them in on Sunday and got $3 cash for my Refunds/Post Q envelope......

*  I found money this past week!  

         

I am not above trash picking in the trash can outside of Rite-Aid.  If there is a receipt on the top of the pile that's not goopy with a coupon on the bottom of the receipt I will pluck it out.

On Sunday I peered into the trash on the way out and spied someone had thrown these 2 pennies in the trash can!  How disrespectful of money!!  At least give them to the cashier to hold for someone who needs a penny or two to pay for their transaction(or leave it on the floor for me to pick up lol).

Total Found in last Week.... .02¢
Total Found This Year.....$13.96

*  Still making a daily to-do list to keep me on track and to make sure I get sh*t done.  Some days it goes well, other days not so much.  But it's helping.

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

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

And have a good weekend!  And stay cool.

Sluggy  

Big News Announcement!

We have confirmed we are moving to Louisiana and we have a time line.

We have a moving company, arranging for a dumpster too and about to pick the realtor and company to list the house with once we are outta here.

We'll be gone by mid September.  
So many details and things to take care of in the next month.  I am anxious about getting it all done in time.

We've never had a move this big(this far away)well, not counting when we were newly married.  So much stuff and so many ends to tie up.

Wish us luck!!!

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report 2022......the July Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 July report---

I had 2 goals for July.......
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 2022.

I can report that we finished up July in the Black.

The amount we ended the month of July with?...$4,562.34

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $168.52

* 1/3 of Quarterly 401K withdrawal=$1,733.38

*  SS of $3,570.00

*  Moved $3,665.96 from non-retirement acct. for cruise(not really 'income' but it paid one bill-the cruise bill)

*  $180.00 cashing in c/c points

Total "Income" for July...$12,553.67

Expenses in July---

* Irregular bills in July were $3,807.49

* Variable Expenses in July came to $1,957.71

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,226.13

Total Expenses....$7,991.33

$12,553.67-$7,991.33=$4,562.34

Slush into July of $40,570.77 in that Fund, add $4,562.34 and we get $45,133.11 going into August's 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $4,562.34

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The Internet, cell phone and WAM, as well as the Health Insurance premium were all the same as last month.

*  The Amazon c/c bill was $73.42 lower than in June.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill went up by $3.12 compared to last month.

*  The electric bill was $19.52 more than in June as a/c is needed more.

*  The gas bill was $5.35 last month.

*  The Mastercard bill was $211.45 higher in June.

*  We had 4 irregular bills due in June--

  *  a bill for $1.09 at Kohl's

  *  Hubs' Amazon c/c was $140.44

  *  Paid the Cruise in December off

  *  A month of storage for $95.40

The Food Budget costs for July 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 July 2022---It was a pretty low spend month aside from paying off the cruise.  Most every regular bill was up but only slightly.

The interest income on  the non-retirement funds was a little higher in July which was better. 

With now my SS check coming in monthly and 1/3 of the 104K quarterly withdrawal added to the income each month, unless we have out of the ordinary expenses we should be well under our means in spending.

THOUGHTS going forward into August 2022--Having said all that, well, we are moving very soon.  Moving expenses will have to covered in Aug. and Sept.  With that coming down the pike I'm not even going to guess on what the bills will end up being the next couple of months.  We've got a decent sized Slush Fund to cover almost anything.  We also have liquid savings we can dip into as needed.

Pray for us. ;-)

So how was your July financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
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 July Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2022.

I have posted July'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 July.  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. 
****************

ALDI

OOP  $24.02

Value  $43.33

Savings  44.56%

MALACARI

OOP  $21.16

Value  $30.51

Savings  30.65%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $769.49

Value  $769.49
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE
OOP  $4.99

Value  $5.99

Savings 16.69%

WALMART
OOP  $56.75

Qs/free Gift Cards  $76.69
Value  $133.44
Savings 57.47%

WEIS

OOP  $92.68

Qs/Sales  $69.85
Value  $162.53
Savings  42.98%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%,  Walmart at 57.47%, and Weis at 42.98%.

The worst rate was at Shursave at 16.69%.  
I shopped at 6 different stores in June.

TOTAL Spent in July................$199.60

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$176.20

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$375.80

TOTAL Savings of .............................46.89%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July w/R-A..............$199.60

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$945.69

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,145.29
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................82.57%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....kept it just barely under $200, which was what I was shooting for. Ate a lot out of the chest freezer.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 3.27% in July 2022 to 82.57% compared to the June's 85.84% savings average.  

With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $1,581.22 on food/toiletries in 2022.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,780.82

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$9,436.63

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$7,655.81

2021 Yearly Savings Total..............................81.13%

The average per month amount spent is $254.40 in 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD To August 2022.......Just trying to get by.  Eating more from the freezer and filling in fesh goods as needed.  No set spending limit but $200 again sounds good. lolz

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 July?

*  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