I Knew I Should Have Built That Ark!

First we got 8 inches from Irene.
Now Lee has dumped days worth of rain on us.
It has not stopped raining here since Sunday.
The forecast is for at least another 5 days of rain.

5 major rivers in PA are at or near flood stage.
1 of them runs through Wilkes-Barre, which is right down the mountain from us.
They say this 'rain event' will cause historic flooding, not seen here since Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
Incidentally, the first time I ever heard of Wilkes-Barre PA growing up in Virginia Beach, VA was in 1972, when I read the local newspaper about the devastating flood caused by that hurricane.
I find it very strange that I ended up in this area in my adult life.
If you would have asked the younger me if I would be living in northeastern PA as a married mother of 3, I would have laughed and called you nuts. ;-)

This place and who I am now was NOT what I had planned for my life.

Yesterday the school buses here had to reroute.  A local stream and lake was over it's banks and on the highway.  The development next door's entrance road was under 3 feet of water from the creek next to it.
Yes you idiot developers, there was a REASON that area had been a wetlands for eons!  Thanks so much for putting a road there and building all those lovely houses in dangers way.....



The Susquehanna is rising fast and there are 5 more days of rain forecast.



They have already put the flood gates up last night, cutting off travel to the grocery store I was planning to go to tomorrow.


The valley below us will be in deep doo doo soon.  There was a big creek flood back in July in a town next to Wilkes-Barre....




Yesterday the regions amusement park got hit too with flooding like they saw in 2006....


Of course that place gets flooded out every few years.  It also saw flooding in March of 2011.
I am assuming another of the local flooding suspects, The Bloomsburg Fair Grounds will be inundated with water from Fishing Creek if it isn't already. (You know it's gonna, right Judy?lol)
I hope they can get it cleaned up by the last week in September for the Bloomsburg Fair.
Bloom Fair is seriously bigtime around here.  Heck, the local kids get excused from school to go to the fair because half the families who are in power around here have food concessions at the fair.
Yes, another symptom of corruption here in the Capital of KIDS FOR CASH LAND......

If y'all don't hear from me for a few days I am just trying to keep my head above water.....LITERALLY!lol

Sluggy in the land of the wet


**UPDATE**
Wilkes-Barre has mandated evacuation by 4pm today for all the areas that flooded in 1972 by Agnes.  That's about 70,000 people living in that area.  There is 1 bridge over the river that is still left open and that has been jammed all day with people trying to get to one side of the river or the other.  Many shelters are opened and the Salvation Army store has been turned into a shelter.  

The river here is at 38.5 feet over flood stage.  It is projected to crest at 42 ft. by tomorrow night.

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....AUGUST RESULTS

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
Yes, the one where I piss everyone off.
Seems like folks don't want to hear about what I save, besides a few blogging friends who I cherish their cheerleading and constant support....you know who you are! ;-)
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.

It's about the results of what you can do financially if you tighten your belt, stop buying CRAP and be persistent with keeping track of where every dollar goes(well, most dollars if you have a less than motivated spouse).

On to the August report.....

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up August in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of August with.......$1,779.83.

Income
We had $1749.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $28.38 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and $1.98 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge for a total of $1,779.83

I didn't count my $20 Toluna payout since I am keeping it to spend on myself. ;-)

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
Obviously we didn't meet that target.
But we got a lot closer than I thought we would.
August was a big "money flowing out" month here.

Outgo
As for the expenses in August....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The water bill held steady.
* I just barely went over the food budget.
* We made $335.50 at the Stockpile/Garage Sale.  This money was used for college necessities & gas to take kids to college so I didn't have to dip into the regular income for that.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The credit card bill was almost $1000....and it didn't include the cost of Daughter's new laptop.
* The semi-annual car insurance bill was due.  We've got 2 teen(next year will be 3 teens)drivers on that. We already pay almost $2500 a year for car insurance so I don't want to think about having another teen driver on our plan.  Oy!
* The electric bill was up $18 from July.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were MUCH higher than usual.  As usual Hubs won't track his spending and get receipts so I have no clue where some of that money goes....sigh.
* I had to pay $316.47 to a local college for classes Daughter took while in high school last school year.  The program that covers the tuition expense only covered half of the cost so we are on the hook for this much.  I'm not complaining about this as it was a great rate and the credits transferred to her current college so that's a few credits less she has to take at the full rate there for a degree.  As I also just got done paying out over $16,000 in August for oldest 2 kids fall semester tuition, room and board and books, the timing of receiving this bill couldn't have been worse in my mind!  We now have 2 in college so the financial trauma to my constitution is doubled each semester.
While the college charges didn't come out of our monthly income, seeing all that money fly away sure takes my breath away.
Yowza!


The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in August was almost on budget when rebate checks were applied toward the food bill.  "Missed it by $2.02!" ,  she said in her best Don Adams voice.
But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. ;-)

What's ahead for September.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

We will have more Marching Band associated expenses in September since it is Marching Band Season.
We will have the $2000 school taxes bill to pay.
The credit card will be killer this month.  It's already up to $1600(half of that is for Daughter's computer)and the billing period doesn't close until Friday.  meh.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 8 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $22,560.85.
We are just over $1,200 ahead of reaching our final goal at this point in the year.  If we end up having a really bad expensive month at some point in the next 4 months, this will help us to overcome it and still finish the year reaching our goal.  It's like a little "get out of jail free" card for our Challenge.  Having that little extra takes some of the pressure off me. ;-)
Plus we are due another extra paycheck in December....sweet!

So we have less than $10K to reach our goal for the year.  That means just under $2500 per month.

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your August financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

What Food I Bought in August...A Big Boring List Only for Other Nerd's Eyes

My good blogging buddy, Annie Jones, over at Real Life Living posts what she buys every month. The way she tells it, it shows people that she really does get a lot of food for the little amount she spends each month. You can eat well and still be frugal.

I think it's helpful to see it all written down in one place so you can gauge how you are doing with the food money each month.

So I thought this was a real good idea and decided to steal borrow her idea and post all the food I buy in a month to feed my family of 4-5.
Besides, I am a big fat NERD who likes doing this!

For August, we had 3-6 people at home--2-5 adults and a 15 yr. old teen boy. 

 I stockpile items when they are rock bottom price, so besides the obvious fresh produce & dairy, this list is not necessarily ALL we ate in August.  We may have items on the list we didn't buy to consume this month and we may have eaten many items already canned or in the freezer from past stocking-up.  But it shows you how far you can make your money go by buying on discount, bulk, sale and paring coupons and/or rebates with the deals.

Here's the food items, including pet foods, I bought in August for an out of pocket of $252.02 after rebates.

This list doesn't include the toiletries I bought at Rite-Aid since I didn't pay 'real money' for them. ;-)

MEAT, POULTRY AND PORK

Ground Beef   10 lb.

Pork Butt   6 lb.
Spare Ribs   7.63 lb.
Ground Pork   6 lb.
Pork Chops  1 lb.
Cube Steak  1.5 lb.
Breakfast Link Sausage  1 lb.

SEAFOOD
Tilapia  2 lb.

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

Salad   2 bags

Watermelon 2
Celery   1
Green Beans   1.5 lb.

Peaches  7
Yellow Squash  4 lb.
Lettuce   1
Onions  3 lb.
Bananas   2 lb.
Carrots   2 lb.
Potatoes   5 lb.
Strawberries   2 cartons
Mushrooms   1 lb. can

DAIRY
Milk gallon   5
Plain Yogurt  1 lg. container
Feta Cheese  1 sm. container
Swiss Cheese   2 lg. blocks
Eggs   3 dz.

PASTA, GRAINS, BEANS

0

BREADS
Pita  1

Steak Rolls  2
Bread   1
Kaiser Rolls   2
Hot Dog Rolls  1

BAKING/COOKING STAPLES

Nutella  2
Pancake Mix  1

CONDIMENTS/SPICES/HERBS

Mayonnaise  2

SNACKS
Tortillas Chips  4

Potato Chips  3

Pita Chips   2

Oreo Cookies   1

Fish Crackers   2

CANDY
0

BEVERAGES
Powerade  15
Gatorade   32
100% Juice  4
Orange Juice  3

PREPARED
frozen corn   1
frozen broccoli  2
frozen mixed veg.  2
frozen pizza  8
frozen pot stickers   1
whack biscuits   3
pie crust   2
red pepper hummus  1
frozen fish  2 bags
bakery dept. crustinis  1 container

DOG FOOD
0

I bought a lot of meat again, like last month.  I still have half the ground pork(made into sausage), half the pork butt(made a pork ragu and half was leftover and put into the freezer), the cube steak, the breakfast links, the pork chops, half the ground beef(big bag of meatballs in freezer and crumbles in fridge for tacos tomorrow)as well as 1lb. of the fish left.

I have celery, carrots, onions and potatoes left of the produce, a block of swiss, half the yogurt & 6 eggs left of the dairy and 2 bags of steak rolls left of the bread products.

Since #2 son got home in early July I have not bought any more soda.  But he has almost consumed ALL the soda I had stockpiled!
At one point, there were 14 12-packs in the garage.  It's down to 1 pack and a couple of cans.
Hubs does not drink it.
I drink maybe 3 cans a month.
That means he drank roughly 75 cans per month....that's over 18 cans a week.
Egads!

He's going to be miserable fairly soon since I told him I am cutting back on buying soda.  He has no self control around it.  I try to ration him but he sneaks it.
As a result, I can't stockpile it anymore.

So what foods did you buy in August?

Sluggy

September Decluttering P*rn....Bring it!

September is here.
That means Fall is in the air.
And what's that other thing in the air?
Can't you smell it?!
It's the smell of Decluttering....ok, if decluttering had a smell, it would be the cool breezes of Fall.
Work with me here people!

Here's what I culled last week and am sending off to charity this coming week.

2 Cherished Teddies figurines
1 Coleman ceramic trinket box
1 Garfield the cat necklace
2 Johnny Lightning die-cast cars
1 Hot Wheels car
1 Yahoo baseball cap
1 Curious George keychain
1 Kinder Egg toy
1 Monster stamp pin

12 Matchbox cars
1 camera w/camera case
2 Hallmark ornaments
3 Cherished Teddies ornaments
1 T-shirt
1 Emeril Cookbook
1 Lost in Space book
1 Boyds Bears pin
1 set of Cat Stationary
1 snail Flower Pot spike
1 vintage silver Serving Dish(it's collapsible, too cool, but I don't want to polish it)

5 Cherished Teddies
3 packs of Gift Wrap
2 R2-D2 Pez dispenser Toys
1 Got Beer? baseball cap
1 Dr. Seuss watch
1 set Wilton Halloween Cookie cutters
66  vintage Micheal Jackson pins(in the white bag)

Yes, I possess a big bag of vintage MJ pins from the "Thriller" album era.....back from when he had a nose. Check out the 4th pin for the nose.  Ok, so it isn't his 'original' nose but it's a pretty fine looking nose.

I bought them for a low price and have sold them on eBay now and again over the years.
I am tired of trying to unload these 4 at a time so I am letting them go to Salvation Army.

116 Items leaving the building...woot!
And I already have another load started.....more clutter busting coming up later this week.
Stay tuned.....

Sluggy

August Budget Results.....Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2011.

I have posted August's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in August.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(3-6 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $4,78
Value  $22.74
Savings  79.98%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $27.72

Value  $43.97
Savings  37%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $71.63

Qs/Ads  $29.53
Value  $101.16
Savings  29.20%

DOLLAR STORE
OOP  $4.00
Value  $6.96
Savings  42.53%

KMART
OOP  $3.00
Qs/Ads $2.07
Value  $5.07
Savings  40.83%

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant/party supply store)
OOP  $59.30
Value  $128.03
Savings  53.68%

RITE AID
OOP  $3.13 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $125.61
Value  $128.74
Savings  97.57% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

ROEHNER'S PRODUCE MARKET
OOP  $4.75
Value  $9.98
Savings  52.40%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $105.22
Qs/Ads  $70.00
Value  $175.42
Savings  40.02% 

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN AUGUST
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR...$22.38

Subtotal........$28.38

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
$0.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$28.38


COUPONS and FREEBIES

Coke.....Free ITEM Q
Drumstick Ice Cream....Free ITEM Q
Pantene.....Free ITEM Q x 3

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%,  the Bakery Outlet at 97.98% and the Maine Source at 53.68%.  I shopped at 8 different stores in August.


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$280.40
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$341.67
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$622.07
TOTAL Savings of...................................54.93%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$28.38
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$252.02
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$370.05
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$622.07
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................59.49%

Since my Rite-Aid shopping(which contains No OOP)always skews my savings percentages, I like to figure my Totals without the Rite-Aid numbers also.
TOTAL OOP after Rebates.....$252.02
TOTAL Value of Items Purchases(w/out Rite-Aid items)....$493.33
TOTAL Savings After Rebates(w/out Rite-Aid items).....49%
My food savings percentage seems to run about 50%-60% for the strictly food items only.
Those Rite-Aid purchases always boost up my savings total about 20% points.  This month Rite-Aid purchases only boosted my Savings Percentage just over 10%.



This closes out the August spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the crazy busy August here, I am thankful I only went over my food budget by $2.02. I would have stayed under budget if I hadn't supplied a day of Gatorade to the kids during Marching Band Camp, but I'm glad I did that even at the expense of my food budget.

Lots of fresh product and meat were purchased in August.  But not much stocking up on good deals since there were very few deals this month.  I also didn't shop much at Rite-Aid so I don't have lots of free to me items to boost my savings total for August.


What's ahead for September.....
The freezer is exhibiting signs of passing on to the "Big Freezer Place in the Sky".   I am trying to empty it out before the day comes when it won't get cold anymore so I won't be stocking up on any frozen food or meat deals until we replace it.
I'm hoping to keep September's food spending to $250 but if I go as high as $300 I won't complain.
With the higher food prices here I may be looking at $300 as my baseline going forward.  It doesn't make me happy one bit, but it is what it is.  Having just 3 of us at home this month might let me squeeze by on $250 one more month so cross your fingers on that! ;-)

How did you do in August with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for September?  Any family coming to stay....or are you trying to figure out a food budget for the new school year because your kids are in lots of activities and you need to eat "on the go" more? 
Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.


Sluggy