This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "I Brought a Head Cold Back to PA" Edition.............

I feel too bad to crop/edit photos right now so no pictures now.  Feel lucky I am even writing what I did. lolz

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Pizza(home made with Boboli crusts)
2. Monday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Onions, Veg.
3. Tuesday--Tuna Noodle Casserole
4. Wednesday--Salsa Verde Carne Burritos
5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Beef Pie
7. Saturday--Take-Out of some kind

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizzas
2. Monday--Italian Chicken and Pastaroni
3. Tuesday--Chicken Burritos
4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--Burgers on Rolls, Fries
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Take-Out Pizza

6 meals cooked at home, 2 of them nights of leftovers and 1 night of Take-Out.

As for the grocery spending..... I left Daughter $75 in cash for groceries and she spent $68.70($45.29 on groceries and $29.71 on Take-Out).


Leftovers going into this week........

Here is this week's "food plan".

1. Sunday--Leftover Pizza(We weren't home yet.)
2. Monday--Glazed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad(Daughter cooked.)
3. Tuesday--TV Dinners(I'm sick, I need easy.)
4. Wednesday--Beef Pie
5. Thursday--BBQ Ribs, Sliced Tomatoes, Baked Beans
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Tempura Shrimp and Zucchini

This week will see 5 new meals cooked(well 4 really since the pot pies are premade) and 0 nights of  Take-Out and 2 nights of Leftovers.

What we need to buy for this menu.....ribs and tomatoes(REAL tomatoes).

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 great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

My Postcard From Maine

Having a good time here in Maine, wish y'all were here.............

Saw some sights but stayed out of the high touristy areas.......

Ate some(aka lots of!)seafood.......

But not this one...............

 Did some shopping............

Then some shit happened..........

And now I feel like this liquor...................

Even with scenery like this, I am ready to go home now.

Sluggy

July To-Do List.....Update

Here's the update on my June To-Do List.  I post a To-Do list on the side bar of my blog's homepage every month.
Let's see how ol' Sluggy did this month on her list, shall we? ;-)

* Pay Bills  DONE  
Everything got paid and on time, as per usual.

* Bike Something DONE
Well it was something.  The bike finally got set-up and I biked 5.2 miles for July.  I wasn't home for a 10 days so 5.2 miles in 21 days isn't so good.  I've got to get back into it in August.

* Declutter DONE
I kept at it in July.

* 1 Load to Salvation Army DONE

* Read 1 Book DONE
Finally got June's book finished.  And I am halfway through another book.

* Weed Garden and Flower Beds  DONE  And we picked our first veggie in July........

And here are our "largest" tomtoes so far.................

* 1 Doc Appointment DONE

* Replace Ceiling Fan/Light in Kitchen DONE

 Ta Dah!

* Clean Out Shed FAIL
Waiting on Hubs to do this.

* Short Trip to Virginia  DONE
We went for 7 days.  I'll do a full report on this when I get home from Maine.

* Plan Trip to Maine  DONE
Planned(sort of half-assed tho)and we are there now.

* Sew Something  FAIL
Nope didn't have the urge to sew in July.

Only 1 item I didn't get to at all and 1 item Hubs didn't do.

On ward and upward to August!

How did you do with your To-Do list for July?

Sluggy

State of the Freezer & Pantry...End of July Update

Taking a page out of "Anne in the Kitchen"'s book, I decided to track what we used up from the freezer and pantry in July on dinners.

I also tried to track what we added to both in July.

What was Used.....

FREEZER

* 4 packages of Chicken Thighs
* 2 packages Salmon
* 2 bags of Brussels Sprouts
* 1/2 bag Breaded Fish
* 3 packages Hamburger Patties
* 2 packages Hot Dogs
* 4 lb. Chicken Breasts
* 3 Pork Roasts
* 1 lb. Ground Beef
* 1 lb. Ground Turkey
* 3 lb. Bacon
* 1 lb. rolled Sausage
* 1 bag Sugar Snap Peas
* 2 Corned Beefs
* 1 bag Shrimp
* 4 lb. Ground Beef


PANTRY STAPLES

* 2/3 Corn Tortillas
* 3 cases of Water
* 1 package Spanish Rice mix
* 1 boxes Spaghetti
* 1 boxe Elbow Macaroni
* 1 lb. Yellow-Eyed Beans
* 1 jar Spaghetti Sauce
* 1 jar Mayo
* 1 bottle Ketchup
* 1 box spicy Mac and Cheese
* 1 small can Tomato Paste
* 1 can Bread Crumbs
* 2 boxes Penne Pasta
* 1 can diced Tomatoes
* 1 can Green Chiles
* 1 jar Sauerkraut
* 1/2 box Rice
* 1 can Chunky Tomatoes
* 2 bottles Salad Dressing
* 1 box Linguine
* 1 box Taco Shells



And here is what went into the Freezer and Pantry in July.....

ADDED to FREEZER in JULY

* 2 packages of Hot Dogs
* 3 packages Hamburger Patties
* 2 packages Chicken Cutlets
* 1 packages Ice Cream
* 30 Breakfast Sandwiches
* 2 lbs. Ground Beef
* 2 bags of Shrimp
* 10 lbs. Chicken Breasts
* 4 packages of Bacon
* 4 rolls of Sausage
* 5 Pot Pies
* 6 boxes Breakfast Hot Pockets
* 2 lbs. Catfish
* 3 lbs. Bacon
* 3 lbs. Ground Beef
* 1 lb. Ground Turkey
* 2 lbs. Ground Beef

ADDED to PANTRY in JULY

* Corn Tortillas
* 2 bags of Coffee
* 4 cases of Water
* 2 cans Tomato Soup
* 6 boxes of Crackers
* 3 boxes Popcorn
* 2 bottles BBQ Sauce
* 1 bottle Ketchup
* 1 bottle of Mustard
* 2 bottles Marinade
* 3 bags of Nuts
* 2 boxes Manicotti Shells
* 3 boxes Pasta
* 3 boxes Cereal
* 1 jar of Mayo
* 2 cans Chili
* 2 packages flour Tortillas
* 1 jar Sauerkraut
* 2 Worcestershire Sauce
* 1 jar Mushrooms
* 1 box Instant Potatoes
* 2 bottles grape Jelly
* 1 box Hibiscus Tea
* 2 boxes Tea Bags
* 4 cans Corn
* 2 cans Tuna


A bit more was added to both than was used up in July.
I suspect that when we get home from Maine both pantry and freezer will be eaten down a bit as I suspect Daughter won't have bought anything unless it was needed.



Sluggy

2016 $38K Savings Challenge.....July Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings or these other categories.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account.

For 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $40,000 this year, $10K more than my goal for last year.

I have reconsidered and changed my Goal from $40K to $38K for 2016.  With some things coming down the pike this year I thought it prudent to back up my Goal a couple of thousand.  8-)

On to the July report.....

I have posted my July End of Month $38K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

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 $3,166.66.

I have to report that we finished up July with a less than stellar amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of July with?.......$2889.54

Income

We had $2620.34 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in July totaled $269.20.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts and a blogging check..

This brought us to our gain of $2889.54
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this July, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges, electric bill and internet were approximately the same as last month(With $1 or so).
*  The gas card spending was down $53.63 as there was no traveling in the previous month, June(which this invoice covered).
*  The credit card bill was down $1300+ from the previous month's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The cash withdrawals were up $200.  This mainly due to spending more on groceries in July.
*  Water use was up $23.05 from last month.
*  The Electric bill was up $24.08.  Not bad considering more a/c was used in July than June.
*  The direct medical spending was up $233.84 mostly due to paying from of Daughter's copays from visists she had to docs in Louisiana.
*  We had a garbage bill I pay quarterly due in July so another $84 out the window.

The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE..

With 7 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $22,289.04

Final thoughts on July---



Compared to July 2015 we put $1200.02 LESS into savings this July.  This looks really bad on the surface until you realize that July 2015 was a third paycheck month.  Then it's not so hopeless.... ;-)
.
We have $22,289.04 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $15,710.96 left to save over the next 5 months at this point to reach our goal of $38K saved.  That averages out to $3142.19 a month for the rest of the year.  $42 per month less on target than June's average but still essentially on target.

Only 5 months left in the year.


THOUGHTS going forward into August----
August and September are my Bill Armageddon months.(House and car insurance AND property taxes.)
Add in credit card charges from our early August trip to Maine(the c/c bill cuts after we get home...ugh!)which will be paid off by the end of August.
Plus our three paycheck month won't happen until late September this year.
August will not be pretty financially.  8-(

So how was your July financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in July?
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!

As we go forward into the last half of 2016 why not make this year the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you don't already now or increase what you bank now for your future self.
Or pay extra on the principle of your mortgage is your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy