Taika Waititi Reads a Hilarious Letter About a Speeding Ticket

 Here's a funny for your Thursday........

Sluggy

Some People Make Me Shake My Head in Amazement!

I was going through old photos to edit some and saw this one.  Even here, at the Grand Canyon............

Zoom in and you'll see a used dental floss pick next to that rusty fence pole, there the asphalt meets the concrete.

Some people are just gross and just throw their garbage anywhere.  Even at one of the sites that's a Wonder of the World.  I bet there are these discarded pieces of filth on the plaza of The Louvre, on the beach at Porto in Portugal, on a crosswalk in London, etc.

I love all the talk about climate change and savings the Earth but people still discard their used dental floss picks in any inappropriate place?

Sluggy

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