Frugal Friday.....on Saturday, the April 27th Edition(3 Weeks Worth)

There are a few Frugal wins over the past 3 weeks. I missed posting this on Friday due to technical difficulties(jet lag, etc.)....

*  Forgot to mention at the beginning of the month I found a spiral cut ham at Kroger on clearance.....

*  Made some friends on the ship(and a new person to play trivia with online).

Trivia buddies on the ship, not the one who invited me to an online trivia group.

*  We made good use of our drinks package.  I gave Kim a run for her money drinking diet Coke(actually Coke Zero as it's better), tried lots of mixed drinks, bourbon, as well as have a pint (or 5) of Guinness. lolz  

*  I picked up some on sale(on offer)chocolate in Barcelona, Spain at a chocolatier and it made it home in my suitcase unscathed.  Mnnn, chocolate.

*  Here are all my shipboard prizes I won.........

1 t-shirt for dancing(LOL) at the sail away party

1 water bottle for winning a main stage game

2 decks of playing cards for various wins at trivia

3 tote bags 3 phone stands, 1 insulated wine glass, another deck of cards and another t-shirt chosen for turning all my signed activity cards (104 signatures)

I also got this kid's robot toy as part of the winning team at another main stage game.  I didn't want to carry this home(took up space in the luggage)so I went down to the "Splash Academy" and gave it to the Youth Staff to use as a prize for a game down there for the kids.

*  I also got these things for free.......

The earbuds and the Biscoff cookies were from two different flights.  The cruise memories keychain was something someone on the ship was giving out to folks and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get one.  The Australia bracelet was found tucked into a deck sign near "The District" which was the beer pub on the ship.  We had A LOT of Aussies on this cruise and I made a few friends(a group who played Progressive Trivia like us, a lady named Grace, and a couple we sat next to at the Seafood restaurant among others).  

*  We received a bottle of champagne because we were Gold Tier.  That got used on the last full day of the cruise.  We brought the bottle, 2 champagne flutes from our room and glass of OJ from one of the restaurants and made Mimosas for Breakfast while playing morning trivia. ;-))  

 

*  We also got a free bag of laundry done by the ship housekeeping staff due to our tier level......

It came back washed, dried, ironing and presented in tissue paper placed in a wicker basket.

I thought of Sissie when I saw it. lol

*  We also received chocolates one day when we came back to the room......

And then a plate of cookies another day........

And then, after the Shore Excursion people f'ed up big time and screwed 5 busloads of cruisers out of their excursion, we found this in our room the next day......

They tasted pretty bad and left a bad taste in our mouths, but not as bad as the taste from them ruining our excursion and wasting our whole day. 8-(

*  We got a lot of food on the flight back from Rome....

I FINALLY got a Dr. Pepper(well I actually had THREE on the flight from Rome to Charlotte-it was looooong!)after going through withdrawal since the ship only had Coke Zero and no place we saw in Europe had a Dr. Pepper.  Those people are savages I tell ya, savages! ;-)

We got a proper meal(lunch or dinner, who's to say as we were traveling back in time heading home......

A tiny little snack of ice cream from the UK.  It needed more vanilla in it.

And a Monty's Bakehouse Pastry.  Think fancy Hot Pocket. lol

*  I found money!  Yes in Europe I find money. 8-)

In Dallas I found a penny at the airport, before heading to the hotel for the night.....

Then at various times on the cruise ship I went through the casino and found a .30¢ voucher and an .80¢ voucher abandoned in two different slot machines.(Didn't get a photo of the .80¢ one before cashing it out.)

That ticket turned into this at the cashier's booth and the ,80¢ voucher turned into more coins....

Then I found a .20 Euro coin in Portugal while buying a cork bag from a vendor.....

And another 2 x .10 Euro coins on the ship that someone dropped and left in the Atrium.....

Then in the airport in Rome we both found 5 Euro.  I saw it first but was riding in a wheelchair and the pusher didn't speak English so I couldn't get him to stop so I pointed it out with my cane the Hubs and he scooped it up.....

Then we found a quarter going through TSA in Charlotte.....

And we went out for pizza Thursday night as we got in after 4pm from Dallas and I found 2 pennies in the pizza place...

Total Found in the last 3 Weeks.... $1.38 & 5 Euro and .30 Euro

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.07 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy    

The Great Road Trip of 2017......Part Thirty One/Day Twenty Two

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  
Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  
Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nineteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Twenty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Twenty Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

We headed out from the hotel in Wisconsin bright and early, only stopping for gas.

I saw these bags of rock salt at the gas station.  Funny how it's out in early August?

Went into the convenience store and found a couple more of those weird Snickers bars......

Then we passed "The Cheese Hut"(in Wisconsin of all places!lol).  Went in and they had fresh cheese curds(you haven't had a good cheese curd if it doesn't squeak when you bite it)and I picked up a nice aged cheddar too.

Me with my cheesy loot.

They also sold Gas, Beer and Sandwiches......

A sign on the highway for Baraboo.  Do you know that this city was the original Winter Headquarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus?  They now have a Circus Museum there and hold Circuses(is that a word?...it looks funny).

I always chuckle when I see the name of that Casino.  It reminds me of what happened in college when you drank too much. lol

"Drive Like A Boss".  Yeah, you tell em man!

And then we hit Illinois.  Not my favorite place by any means.  But it was then where my cousin(and then, fellow blogger)Sonya Ann lived so we made a stop to see her, on purpose, even though it meant staying in Illinois. ;-)

We got to her house and found she was nursing a baby squirrel(like feeding it with an eye dropper, etc.) that either fell out of a tree and/or was abandoned by it's mother.  I don't recall now.

That night we just chilled with Sonya Ann and her then hubby(aka The Asshole).

The next morning Sonya and I drove to the local Goodwill to do some shopping/browsing.

Saw these auto dealer workers along the way, on strike. 

I could have gotten a great deal on this recording of the music from a Waltz and Polka Mass.

Oh well.....

A card game called "Senior Moments".  Hmm.

Another game called "Men are Pigs".  The cover art on the box was disturbing.

A mug with a purple "Leave Me A Loan" monster on it from a local credit union.

I should have scooped up these rainbow string lights but didn't as there was nowhere to test them.

Saw Cousin George in the Goodwill.  Hey George!

Saw this very bad parking job on the way out of the store.  I think they got two tires in the actual parking spot. lolz  I see people here in Louisiana park in the crosshatching ALL THE TIME.  Not only are they possibly physically handicapped but mentally as well. ;-)

An actual photo of one of Sonya's cats, Harry.  He was a sweetie but usually hid when we were there so this is a rare picture of him.

Sonya gave me some homemade jams.  Yum.

When "The Asshole" got home from work we all went over the border to Wisconsin for dinner at a retro-type diner.

Sonya next to "The Asshole".  I cut him out of the photo. ;-)

Lots of memorabilia on the walls.  And check out this cool 1950's/1960's boomerang tabletop on all the tables.

The plates of food were ginormous!  I think I had a garden salad, liver(sorry Anne!)with onions, mashed taters and some steamed veggies.  Hubs had a meatloaf special which was more gravy than anything else. lol

I forced Sonya to have her picture taken.  We have both lost weight since this photo. 8-)

The next day we took a field trip to Woodman's, a big ass grocery store with an almost as big liquor store.  Hubs walking toward his Valhalla. lolz

Funny name for a Rye Whiskey....Yippee Ki-Yay.  And look, what a deal!  Buy TWELVE bottles and it will only cost you $56.40 per bottle.  Yikes!

Some beer or liquor have funny names......."Drunken Sailor" an Irish Whisky.  What do you do with a drunken sailor?

Then there's a Japanese Whisky from the House of Suntory.

This makes me laugh and think of the scene from "Lost in Translation" when the Bill Murray plays a has-been actor character who is hired in Japan to shoot a commercial for Suntory.....

                                

Hellboy Hell Water??  Man that looks scary!

How about some "Punk Ass Cat" IPA beer?

Or let's get "Scurvy"?  Umm, no thanks.....

Wicked Bad Ass beer.  What's with all the bad ass alcohol??

                                     

Weekend @ Louie's beer. lol

Justin Blabaer liquor??

WTF.

"The Asshole" had to go to the ER for some reason(he tried to lance a boil in his throat or something)so Hubs and I were on our own for dinner so we went to Culver's.

I got a "concrete" and a salad.  After dinner we went back to their house and chilled until they got back from the ER.

The next evening we met Asshole's parents at Portillo's for dinner.  I don't get why they all rave about this place but it's ok.

I'm always happy to spend time with Sonya but this was an awkward visit due to personal issues.  But if I am near where she is I'm glad to see her.  I wish she lived nearer.

FYI-that baby squirrel didn't make it. 8-(

The next morning we headed out to another destination.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table.....the April 8th Edition

The "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Meal Plan" Edition.....

I've been to Iowa(and Indiana)and this is just a bit of an exaggeration when it comes to a pork tenderloin sandwich.

Dang, you could feed a family of 6 on that thing!  lolz

This is day 302 of the new "way of eating".  Down 59 lbs. since the cruise(not counting the 8 I gained on the cruise and then lost again, which would make it 67 lbs.).  

Won't be loosing any weight in the coming weeks but hope to maintain.

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Roast Turkey w/Gravy, Stuffing, Asparagus, Deviled Eggs, Grilled Pineapple

2. Monday--Salad or Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Wild Rice Soup w/Mushrooms and Asparagus, Garlic Bread

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--Whatever needs using up

7. Saturday--No Clue

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

1. Sunday--Roast Turkey w/Gravy, Stuffing, Asparagus, Deviled Eggs, Grilled Pineapple

2. Monday--Salad or Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Steak, leftover Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--More Leftovers

7. Saturday--Leftover Steak, Asparagus, Sweet Potato

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

*  1 Turkey

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

*  1 pack of Burritos(hub's)

Last week we spent $370.66 on grocery shopping for April. (Don't be hating, there were some super good deals last week!)

Total shopping comes to 370.66 for April.   

There are 22 shopping days left in April.

Rebate monies earned this month so far.....

I've earned $147.58 on Ibotta in April.

I've earned $20.50 on Shopmium in April.

I've earned $32.50 on Alexa app in April.

I've earned $8.50 on Kroger Cash Back in April.

I've earned $33.43 on TaDa in April.

I've earned $1.50 on Checkout51 in April.

I've earned $5.00 on Aisle, etc.

I've earned 23,382 points on Fetch from food shopping in April.

I've earned 7,336 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in April.($29.34)

I've earned 2,641 Points on My Points in April.($16.63)

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

That is $262.48 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch)on $370.66 of grocery spending so in reality it's $108.18 in food spending after the rebate apps I count.  Some of what I spent was for Food Bank donations(I didn't start separating those items spent on from our personal use items yet.)

My savings percentage for the last week was 38.06% and the monthly savings total for April comes in at 38.06% spent so far. 

Leftovers going into this week...not a blessed thing.

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

1. Sunday--Twisted Root Burger

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--No Clue

4. Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--No Clue

6. Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

No Clue this week except to say I'll be having many Coke Zeros, drinks with tiny umbrellas in them, bourbon and good, dark beer(hopefully).

As for meals, it's anybody's guess. ;-)

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......the March Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage, nor a car payment.

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 fund may be applied 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 2024. 

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up March in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of March with?....$3,069.80

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in March---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $983.98

*  Stock Dividend of $19.95

Total "Income" for March....$7,441.29

Expenses in March---

*  Irregular bills in March were $1,279.32

*  Variable Expenses in March came to $4,263.74

*  Medical Premiums in March were $698.02

Total Expenses....$4,371.49

$7,441.29-$4,371.49=$3069.80

Slush Fund coming into March of $52,235.59 and the addition of $3,069.80 in March, our end of March 2024 Slush fund comes to $55,305.39

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $3,069.80

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill, the cell phone bill and WAM were all the same as in February.

*  The electric bill went down in March by $149.03

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $1,092.77 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was $0.

*  The Mastercard was $210.65 lower than in February.

*  The American Airlines c/c was $238.88 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We had 3 irregular bills in March--

*  The Kohl's c/c was $127.64(a one off).

*  The quarterly Long Term Care premiums of $784.55 were due.

*  Chester had a vet visit for $188.87.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for MARCH 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with the high grocery spending.  Didn't go anywhere but doctors and grocery stores and didn't do anything that cost additional money.

THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO APRIL 2024--Well, we have to pay a couple thousand dollars of Federal Income Taxes this month. ick.  I'd rather do that than give the government an interest free loan of our money for a year though. ;-)

But on the other hand we have the quarterly 401K withdrawal this month which more than balances the taxes out.(State taxes are due in May, but even with that we are good.)  Food & toiletry spending will be much less this month.

Here's hoping 2024 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

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 down/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 all your excess monies after bills were paid 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

Cajuns in the Louisiana Swamps

 Here's another Peter Santenello Video from Louisiana, among the Cajun people.

Sluggy