We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident

 Here we are again...........

Or as my 5th cousin wrote,,,,,,,,,,,

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Weight Loss is Still the Focus/Would You Eat This?" Edition.                                            

On my one trip out to Walmart I saw there on the clearance aisle....Hot Tamale Cinnamon candy flavored Peeps.  With all the spicy food lovers down here I am sure they got snatched up in a hot minute! lol

I'm still making progress and the knee is holding up somewhat.  My doctor is on board with this way of eating to reach a short term goal so no unsolicited advice on this eating plan please.  While I appreciate the concerns I am fine.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--2 Chicken Strips, leftover Veggie Mix

2. Monday--Spinach Soufflé

3. Tuesday--Yogurt, Protein Shake

4  Wednesday--2 Chicken Strips or some other Protein in the freezer

5. Thursday--half a bag of Green Beans

6.  Friday--Salmon, Yogurt

7. Saturday--other half of Green Beans

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

1. Sunday--2 Chicken strips, leftovers mixed veggies

2. Monday--Yogurt, 3 homemade Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

3. Tuesday--Yogurt, a small amount of something else I can't remember

4  Wednesday--a Vanilla Protein Drink, 6 strawberries

5. Thursday--6 Strawberries, Yellow Squash w/Onions

6.  Friday--Salmon, Sweet Potato Wedges

7. Saturday--a Chocolate Protein Drink,6 strawberries

I also drink, water, iced tea(unsweetened), hot tea with lemon and honey and the odd zero sugar soda or Zero sugar Powerade/Gatorade and keep my stomach full and it also keeps me hydrated.   I mostly stick with the water or unsweet iced teas with lemon added.

This one mini-meal per day where I change between vegetable matter and a lean protein and a yogurt cup when these other meals won't suffice.  There also is a regime of supplements I am currently on, either to maintain my body's condition or were already taking them for various conditions.

I guess you'd call this an extreme intermittent fasting deal with many supplements to keep all my innards working and healthy.  I consulted a new PCP and my food plan was given the green light and my blood work came back aok. 8-)

What got taken out of the freezer last week...

*  2 Chicken Strips

*  3 Meatballs

*  10 Sweet Potato Wedges

*  a Hunk of Salmon

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

*  3 more bag of Veggies

Last week we spent $52.35 on grocery shopping.

Total come to $128.68 for June. 

 Total comes to $0 for July(so far).

There are 28 shopping days left in July.

I've earned $49.45 on Ibotta in June.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in June.

I've earned $7.09 on Coupons dotcom in June.

I've earned $11.00 on Shopmium in June.

I've earned $0 on Kroger Cash Back in June.

I've earned 3,009 points from food shopping on Fetch in June.

I've earned 1,015 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in July.

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

That is $18.09 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $128.69 of grocery spending so in reality it's $110.60 in food spending after the 5 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 58.05% and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 41.57% so far spent.

Leftovers going into this week...Nothing

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

1. Sunday--half a bag of green beans

2. Monday--strawberries, Don't know as daughter is taking her dad out for a belated Father's Day meal.

3. Tuesday--a slice of smoked Brisket, yogurt

4  Wednesday--other half of meal out

5. Thursday--other half a bag of green beans

6.  Friday--a banana, Salad

7. Saturday-yogurt, Protein drink

I also drink, water, iced tea(unsweetened), hot tea with lemon and honey and the odd zero sugar soda or Zero sugar Powerade/Gatorade and keep my stomach full and it also keeps me hydrated.   I mostly stick with the water or unsweet iced teas with lemon added.

This one mini-meal per day where I change between vegetable matter and a lean protein and a yogurt cup when these other meals won't suffice.  There also is a regime of supplements I am currently on, either to maintain my body's condition or were already taking them for various conditions.

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing except maybe a banana. lol

The only cooking I'm doing is a small beef brisket and heating up frozen veggies.

Right now there is still plenty in the freezer Hubs can partake of but are off limits to me right now.  Or he may go buy more tv dinners as he doesn't like to cook. lol

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?  I confess that I don't need to buy anything right now nor have I had any desire to read the ads.

Sluggy  

Income & Spending for June 2023

**Thanks to whomever pointed out my income numbers were incorrect.  The annuity should be higher before I deduct for the Health Insurance Premium and Hubs Dental coverage(which both come out of the annuity payment).  Math is hard when you have a neurological issue and can hardly write/type, which at the moment I am struggling with.

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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June....
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 2023.

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 June in the red.

The amount extra we ended the month of June with?...-$5,379.98

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

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

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $610.21

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

*  Exchange of Currency $67.10

Total "Income" for June....$7,811.23

Expenses in June---
* Irregular bills in June were $10,032.68

* Variable Expenses in June came to $2,081.45

* Health insurance premiums totaling $1,077.08*

Total Expenses....$13,191.21

$7,811.23-$13,191.21=-$5,379.98

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare I include his dental coverage  in the HI Premium for me and his Medicare supplement comes out of our checking account.

Slush into May of $66,927.64 in that Fund, add the deficit  of $5,370.98 in June and we get $61,547.79 going into June's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $7,249.21.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

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

* My Amazon c/c bill went down $441.13 in May.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $595.50 lower than last month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill went down $350.56 in June,

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Electric bill went up $35.91 from last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was$342.99 higher in June.

*  We had a Lowe's c/c bill of $101.28

*  We had irregular bills due in June too--

  *   2 Long Term Care Premiums totaling $784.55

  *  We paid cash for a car port and installation at $1,975.99   

  *  A small bill of $89.20 for needed clothing.

  *  Both dogs had shots for $130.00

  *  We paid $7,853.68 to Ex-College Man so the balance of a gift given to each of our children.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on JUNE 2023--JUNE WA S WHOPPER of a spendy month.  Had we not paid that last child's gift it wouldn't have been so bad.  We budgeted and knew that quarterly LT Care payments would be due and the car port needed to be purchased asap.  When the sun is so near to the earth down here and you have no ''real" garage to park your cars in and a lot without many trees, well OLD SOL can wreak havoc on your car. 8-))  The vet visit was a requirement and I had a little bit to pay on that clothing bill that didn't hit that store c/c last billing cycle.

Going into JUNE I knew we'd be in the red this month.

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2023--Without that child gift the only big bill will be Hubs Amazon bill which has many charges from London on it(tickets to sites, some souvenirs, a bit of food)  The Mastercard is mostly normal stuff on it except that hotel bill for the power outage which will account for 1/3 of the total.  My Amazon c/c will be teeny tiny for a change. lol  But predict a higher energy bill as "hell's front porch" weather has hit here big time!  Not too worried about spending for July unless another emergency trip to PA becomes necessary.

So how was your JUNE 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.....the June 2023 Edition

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for June 2023.

I have posted June'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 June.  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. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

OLLE'S

OOP  $20.33

Value  $47.19

Savings  58.67%

WALMART

OOP  $108.36

Qs/free Gift Cards $144.58
Value  $252.94
Savings 57.16%

********************
My best 2 Store Savings Totals were at Ollie's at 58.67% and Walmart at 57.16% .  My worse rate was  Walmart at 57.16%. 

I shopped at 2 different stores in JUNE.   8-)

TOTAL Spent in June................$128.69

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$178.07

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$306.76

TOTAL Savings of ............................58.05%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 8.51% in June 2023 to 58.05% compared to the May's 49.54% savings average.  

With 6 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $2,246.26 on groceries/HBA /paper goods in 2023.

2023 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$2,246.26

2023 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$3,844.36

2023 Grand Total Saved...............................$1,598.1

2023 Yearly Savings Total..............................41.57%

The average per month amount spent is $374.38 in 2023 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD to July 2023...I'm still on a strict low-caloric diet for July.  Grocery shopping again this month will look a bit different like in June.  Of course we weren't home for the first 4 days of June either. lol

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 June?

*  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 June 30th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

There are very few Frugal wins this past week and not everything here would be considered frugal but here goes......

*  Being on this restrictive short term eating plan meant we spent very little at the grocery store this past week.  The freezer is packed with food for Hubs to eat as long as he remembers to thaw something. lol

*  Got my bloodwork done.(See previous post)  Now to get approved to this special joint surgeon program through our insurance and have the appointment with my PCP in 11 days for the physical and to get med refills from this new dr.

*  We got a car port!  

Last Friday the guys who put it together arrived and they had it up lickety split!  It sort of matches the siding on the house.  

The funny thing when we went in to order it they had a whole collection of colors you could choose from, most of which were darker shades.  If I remember my basic science, dark color absorb heat and lighter colors reflect it.  Why in heavens name would you put up a dark shade colored car port if the point is to keep the sun off and the heat out of your car??  While it would be more aesthetically pleasing to have the side pieces match your siding on the house and make the top of the car part burgundy to match you fake window shutter details, it just kind of is counterproductive to it's purpose.  Now if we had a "real" garage instead of this "bubba" garage we could just keep the cars in there. ;-)

*  My  smoker finally arrived.  I had ordered it through Amazon on May 12th then  I found out they lost track of it back on May 15th and had no clue were it was, so I cancelled the sale and got my money back.

I found the same smoker(well they had redesigned it a bit so it was improved from the older version I left in PA)at Home Despot in stock and on sale so Hubs went to pick it up this past week.  Now I'm all set to do the smaller of the two slabs of beef brisket I cut into two pieces I bought awhile back for July 4th.  Yippee!  And my daughter found a sugar-free rub to use also.

*  On our trip to Walmart I found a box of Tetley decaffeinated tea bags on clearance for .85¢.  I also did lots of rebates and digital coupons this trip bringing my total OOP way down.  More on that on Monday during my Dining Table post.

*  I found money!  

One quarter on our only trip to Walmart this past week.

And notice it's a Louisiana state quarter with what looks like a whooping crane on it's back(which they have plenty of around here).  It should be a pelican as that's the State Bird but whatever.

Total Found in last Week.... .25¢
Total Found this Year.......$2.47

That's all for this past week.

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

Sluggy