Frugal Friday....the March 10th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

There are a few Frugal wins this past week......

*  I had a burst of energy on Sunday and was trying to put more stuff away in the Master Bathroom.  There are 4 drawers in the middle of the double sink cabinet there.  I noticed that the bottom drawer barely wouldn't fully close and I was wanting to put things away in it.  I had a hunch so I pulled the drawer out and used my trusty broom to clean the slot that held it and here is what I found.....

All this--a pack of wax melts, a pair of cheap sunglasses, a comb attachment to some grooming tool, 2 plastic covers to an unknown appliance and a package of Benadryl--were behind that drawer keeping from closing completely.

The Benadryl was crushed but unused so that went into our medicine stockpile so yay for free OTCs!

 And with the Pollen in full dump mode here I am sure it will get used shortly. 8-)

We haven't had this severe a dump but I noticed Hubs car was yellow/green instead of the Champagne color it usually is on Wednesday.

*  I don't "do" Ibotta all the time now(I just don't go to the store enough to do all the weekly, weekend and big bonuses).  But I do a few now and again.  On Wednesday my big wins were these.....

A pack of mandarin oranges for .88¢ after using a $2/1 Q.

A bottle of Claritin for $2.86 after Ibotta/Coupon dotcom/Fetch.

A bottle of some new Allergy med for a $2.17 moneymaker after Ibotta/Coupons dotcom/Fetch.  These are children's meds but adults can use them too, might have to increase the dosage but still, almost free!

Another Air Wick essential oils air freshener for a $2.02 moneymaker after Ibotta and Coupons dotcom.

If I just count the items I bought that had rebates/coupons and count the $20 gift card I had from past Ibotta purchases I only spent $10.16 OOP on those 28 items after $41.44 in rebates, $23.50 in digital coupons and $8.40 in Fetch points.

*  I found money!

After our doctor's exam on Friday we hit the local Chinese restaurant for lunch.  I spied .06¢ under the counter when Hubs went to pay.

On Wednesday after our trip to the Wound  Care Clinic I snagged an electric cart at Walmart and we picked up groceries and a couple of Rxs. I snagged the nickel just lying in an aisle and the dime under the self-checkout machine we used to pay.

I did a load of laundry on Thursday and as I was putting the broom back(need to use it to reach clothes in the washer because I am too short to reach stuff in the very bottom)I spied a white round disc jutting out of the floor/wall trim.  Went and washed it and found a penny under all that dirt/washing powder/oxidation.

Total Found in last Week.... .22¢
Total Found this Year....... .60¢ 

That's all for this past week.  

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

Sluggy   

To-Do List......February Outcome

February has come and gone.  At least we didn't float away is all I can say.

Here's how we did with the February Goals.....

* Pay Bills--DONE  Everything got paid on time or early and in full.

* Go to many DR appointments--DONE  6 trips to the Wound Care NP and 5 Home Health Nurse visits.  Another couple  of weeks is what the NP is saying now.

* Clean and Organize stuff in House--IN PROGRESS  Needless to say I haven't gotten very far on organizing due to not being able to walk around much.  Plus now I need a knee shot so that's an issue.   If I get one now I am not due until the beginning of June while we are on the cruise which means I won't be able to do a lot of walking then since I won't be able to get a shot until after we get home. ugh.

* Buy Stuff for House--IN PROGRESS  Hubs bought bookshelves and a file cabinet for his man room.  I got a cabinet to set my printer on and store supplies inside.  I got a new set of pots and pans just for the lids(which we still can't find the ones that supposedly came with us in the move!!).  Most of the buying stuff for the house has been Hubs' area as we've been procuring bits and bobs to repair and replace pieces for appliances, etc.  If I could go back in time I'd have had us put all the repair/replacce purchases on one dedicated credit card.  Oh well.

* Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie--DONE  Not much in there anymore to clean out. lolz

* Edit More Photos--IN PROGRESS  I don't seem to be making much headway in photo editing.  I edit 10 but take 16 more snapshots that then need editing. lol

* Post about Old Trips--FAIL  Nope, haven't had the time or inclination to post trips.

* Work on Genealogy--DONE  I've done a little bit of my personal genealogy stuff and I've been working on a friend's Hubs' family history mostly.

*Go to Dentist x 2--DONE  We lose dental insurance at the end of April so I'm trying to get all the work I need done.  I had a problem tooth pulled at the beginning of Feb. and I just had a small filling and got fitted for a crown on another tooth.  It was an old filling in there that was failing now so I've got a temp crown right now.  They put so much Novocain in the right side of my mouth I was numb for 2 days, including my NOSE!  I've never had my nose get numb with Novocain before.  I tried to smile and I looked like I had a stroke because one side of my mouth wouldn't go up. lol  Even with a straw I sounded like Hannibal Lecter sucking water back into my mouth so it didn't waterfall out.........

* Organize Clothes--FAIL  Nope, I need to finish the sewing room organizing first to finish up organizing my clothing.

* Find a New Bank--FAIL  Haven't been able to go anywhere except on Wednesdays.  The new bank search has to wait.

  

* Cash Savings Bond--FAIL  We were going to use Capital One as our main bank now since they have actual physical locations down here but a savings bond matured and they refuse to cash it(as in deposit it into our account with them)!  So now we have to find another bank but it's not a top priority yet.

That's all I've got for February.  Not a great month for getting anything done unless it was urgently needed done.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Interesting Potato Chip  Flavor" Edition.....

At the Bread Outlet last week they had a whole row of chips.

Have you ever heard of/had Spicy Cajun Crawtators before?

It's a Zapp's product with all the flavors of a crawfish boil.  Not being a fan of crawfish I'll pass.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned.......

1. Sunday--Stuffed Red Peppers, leftover Collards

2. Monday--Big Salad w/Chicken on top

3. Tuesday--Pork Tenderloin on Bun, Corn

4. Wednesday--Lunch out or Take-out

5. Thursday--FFY

6.  Friday--Catfish, Sauté Cabbage or Cole Slaw

7. Saturday--Liver and Onions, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, either Green Beans or Beets

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

1. Sunday--Stuffed Red Peppers, leftover Collards

2. Monday--Big Salad w/Chicken on top

3. Tuesday--Mac and Cheese for me after dental work

4. Wednesday--Gyro for lunch, leftover peppers and spinach souflé for dinner

5. Thursday--Salmon, Sweet Potato wedges

6.  Friday--late Lunch out Chinese

7. Saturday--Leftover Meatloaf, Sautéed Cabbage

Catfish, Liver and Onions and Pork Tenderloin didn't happen again butt Salmon did happen.  Those 3 meals move to this week and some day I will fix them. lol

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

* 2 packs Nathan's Franks

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

*  Ground Beef

*  Chicken Tenders

*  Salmon

*  Spinach Soufflé

Last week Hubs picked up items at the Bread Outlet(I went there too)and Kroger and spent a total of $79.96.  

This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $79.96 for March so far.

There are 25 shopping days left in March.

I've earned $6.25 on Ibotta in March.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in March.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom in March.

I've earned 10,090 points from shopping on Fetch in March.

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

I've earned 502 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in March.

That's $6.25 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $79.96 in grocery spending so in reality it's $73.71 in food spending after the 3 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 35.18% and the monthly savings total for March comes in at 35.18% so far.  

Leftovers going into this week.....a leftover red bell pepper.

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

1. Sunday--Liver and Onions, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli and Strawberry Shortcake

2. Monday--Pecan Chicken, Green Beans

3. Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice

4. Wednesday--Lunch out or Take-out

5. Thursday--?

6.  Friday--Catfish, Cole Slaw

7. Saturday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Sweet Potato Wedges

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Cabbage or Cole Slaw mix, might need Jack cheese too.  Another week on me not shopping. Oh goody.

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 deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy 

Income & Spending....February 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 February report---

I had 2 goals for February......
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.

This month I also had a goal to survive the move and have a little fun.  So far, so good.;-)

I can report that we finished up February in the Red.

The amount we ended the month of February with?...-$4,626.81

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in February---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $174.04

*  Check payment from Checkout51 of $50.94

*  Medical refund of $40.00

Total "Income" for February....$7,379.79

Expenses in February---
* Irregular bills in February were $7,277.72

* Variable Expenses in February came to $2,457.89

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,270.99

Total Expenses....$12,006.60

$7,379.79-$12,006.60= -$4,626.81

Slush into February of $65,810.06 in that Fund, subtract shortfall of $4,626.81 in February and we get $61,183.25 into March 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $4,626.81.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, WAM, Health Premium and internet were the same as last month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $1,255.74 lower than in January.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $2.37 higher than last month.

*  The electric bill was $59.42 higher than in January.

*  My Amazon c/c was $131.47 higher than last month.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $69.21 higher than in January.

*  We had irregular bills due in February too--

  *   I paid off the rest of the May/June cruise bill to NCL.

  *  Paid off the American airlines c/c for our checked bag fees for last year's cruise.

The Food Budget costs for February are in another post HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on February 2023---Other than the cruise payment it was an ok month financially.  All that 401K withdrawal in January(and that overage last month)went toward that cruise bill and was planned for.  Our regular bills($2,457.89)were slightly less than they were in January so that's a win.

THOUGHTS going forward into March 2023--

Still having limited mobility so we still need to unpack stuff. ugh.  This has got to be the slowest unpacking and setting up a household I've ever been a part of! lolz  I think the house insurance payments are all done for the year so that's one good thing.  But we are still nickel and dime spending on miscellaneous repairs on the house and haven't even addressed the big ticket items that need to be purchased./fixed.

So how was your February financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in February?
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   

Frugal Friday....the March 3rd Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

There are a few Frugal win this past week......

*  On Monday I had to get out of the house.  So we hit a craft burger place/bar that does Trivia on Monday evening.  We ate at home and just got a beer and water.  Had We eaten here too it would have cost $50+.

*  On Wednesday we found a bread outlet and went to check it out.

$1.30 for a loaf sure beats $4.49 at the grocery store.  They even had some Dave's killer bread/bagels for $3.00 each.  Most of what we bought got put into the freezer.  Daughter loves strawberry shortcake and I got strawberries so if she makes it over for liver and onions on Saturday I've got dessert for her. 8-)

*  Hubs bought another interior door handle for the Master bedrooms to replace the exterior door handle that was on that door.   He also replaced the innards of the 2 sinks' faucets in that bathroom. Inexpensive to replace ourselves vs. paying a handyman and plumber to do this.

*  I found money!
Nope.  Skunked again.

Total Found in last Week.... .00¢
Total Found this Year....... .38¢ 

That's all for this past week.  

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

Sluggy