This Week on the Dining Table

The "Best Present" Edition--

Under penalty of death(by their father)my kids went on Xmas Eve(while eldest was home)and had a group portrait done to gift to me for Xmas.  I had requested this from them since the last time they did this for me was Xmas of 2012.
I had posted this photo of Facebook earlier in the month with the comment that "this was my best work". ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Country Fried Steak, Mashed Taters, Gravy, CA medley Veggies

2. Monday--Chinese(maybe)

3. Tuesday--FFY or Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs on Rolls, Beans, Potato Salad

5. Thursday--Veal Parm, Brussels Sprouts
6. Friday--Manicotti in Sauce, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Country Fried Steak, Mashed Taters, Gravy, CA medley Veggies

2. Monday--Chinese

3. Tuesday--FFY or Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs on Rolls, Beans, Potato Salad

5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Chicken Parmesan, Brussels Sprouts

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of take-out and 0 night of Eating out.  Mostly everything happened but not when planned always.  We ate lots of leftovers so the Manicotti stayed in the freezer.

2 Trips to Weis and 1 trip to Dollar Tree was the extent of the shopping last week and the bills came to $121.56 for all.  That brought January's food spending total to $182.16.
There are 16 days left in my shopping month.  

My savings percentages last week was 54.28% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 52.59%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week....... rolls.  We used up everything else. 8-)))  I guess I need to do some cooking this week, huh? lolz

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

1. Sunday--Turkey Breast, leftover Stuffing, Gravy, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes

2. Monday--Lasagna

3. Tuesday--Turkey Casserole or Pot Pie(using leftover Sunday turkey)

4. Wednesday--Tuna Noodle Casserole

5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Baked Ham, Rolls, Corn Casserole, Cabbage
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers, 0 night of Take-out/Eat-Out.
I used up one of the THREE turkey breasts in my freezer and I'll use that ham that was free from Weis sitting in my fridge later in the week.  Next week will be using leftover ham plus eating down some other meats in the freezer(I am thinking goulash and some other beef dishes as I have quite a few packs of steak/roast/London broil).  I also want to get back to making a soup on Sunday too and making fish as we've gotten out of the habit again.

The only thing I need to buy to make these meals is cabbage.  I built the menu from what I picked up last week or had the ingredients already in the stockpile.  I don't plan to do a big shop this week but with me, you never know, do you? lolz

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

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway.....January 2018

And it's time for the First Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2018.
January is turning out to be a big old ball of frozen for most of the country so let's thaw out a bit and have a giveaway.  This box includes some toiletries as well as the always popular-chocolate!
Come on and enter.
Somebody has to win and it might just be YOU!

Here is what you can win if your entry is picked.

1 x Eucerin lotion(sample size)
1 x Advil Junior(chewable for kids)
1 x GE LED lightstick bulbs(2 pack of 75W)
1 x Suave Infusion shampoo(coconut)
1 x Nivea In-Shower lotion(cocoa butter)
1 x Zim's Max-Freeze topical ointment
1 x Speed Stick men's antiperspirant/deodorant
1 x Crest Pro-Health toothpaste
1 x Sally Hansen nail color(breezy blue)
1 x Almay eye shadow palette(colors for hazel eyes)
1 x Revlon emery boards(two pack)
1 x Saline Soothers sample(coupon on back)
1 x Oral-B toothbrush
1 x Glide dental picks
9 x Lindt chocolate Truffles
2 x Butterfinger cups candy bars

Over $70 in regular retail of goodies.

Closeup shots of the goodies up for grabs......

I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday, January 21st, at 11:59pm Eastern Time(that's my birthday!), so that gives everyone 7 days to enter this one.  On January 22ndth  I'll mark all the valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

*Please note the rules*
I'll post the name/Id of the winner on this blog and that person has 48 hours from then to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page).
If I am not contacted via email I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supply with their entry and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

There are three ways to enter--1 Daily and 2 One-Time Only........

1. Leave a comment every day.

2. Be a follower of this Blog(Hit the "Follow" button on the right hand side bar.) Let me know if your comment for this entry the name you follow under to verify.  You can do this entry once.

3. Post on your own blog(or on your Facebook page)about the Giveaway and leave a link in your comment/entry to where I can find it.  You can do this entry once.
In your Daily Entry tell me in your comment......something like what here is the thing you most want to win, if you like the cold, if you like to do Winter sports, how cold is it usually where you live....stuff like that.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.
As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten to high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies, I pay for it all(cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

A New Year Doesn't Mean Spending More Money

Every year when January rolls around the corporations pull out their "New Year" tricks.
You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

The "You Need to Buy Containers/Etc. to Get Your Life Organized" mantra and they try to sell you shiny new containers, filings systems, storage boxes, etc.

But most people don't have an organizing problem, they have a "too much stuff" problem.  Ok, some folks have both a stuff problem AND and organizing problem. ;-)



Just organizing your stuff when you have too much of it will only solve your organization problem for a short time.
So let's not fall for the "if we buy more/new containers for our stuff it will solve our problem" trap.
Stop buying stuff AND containers!
Keep your money in your pocket.
And get rid of some of what you already have.
My original post about all this from Jan. 2013 is HERE if you'd like to read it.

The other New Year trick is the "You Need to Buy our Diet Product/Plan/Fitness Tracking/Equipment to Lose Weight" mantra.
All sorts of diet foods, vitamins, supplements, diet programs, gym memberships go on sale in January of each year without fail, luring folks into a better life with promises of being thinner and fitter.

Again, you don't need to buy special foods, equipment, join a club/gym/diet program to lose weight.
Find free ways to exercise(take a walk), hold yourself accountable(tell someone about your plans/goals or do your health plan with a friend or family member),eat differently of the foods you can and do already buy(or buy better foods to get you to your goals).
You shouldn't have to spend extra money to reduce your bulk/get healthier/get fitter.
And after all, these merchants are just selling you a set of "tools", tools you may not necessarily need to achieve a better health goal.  You probably already have what you need to achieve a lower weight/better health.  You just have to believe in your own power to reach those goals.

What things do retailers lure you into the stores in a new year that you fall victim to?


Sluggy

2017 Christmas Budget/Spending Autopsy

Ok, so calling this an Autopsy is not very festive or cheerful.
So call it "The Post Where I Talk About What I Was Going to Spend for Christmas and What I Actually Spent for Christmas".
Whatever works for you.....

I budgeted $850 for Christmas spending in 2017.  Except for what Hubs spends on gifts for me, this is our entire spending budget for Christmas.
Last year I budgeted $1600.00 and we spent $793.72.
So I based this year's Xmas budget on what was spent last year plus a little more.  Since we weren't traveling for Christmas again in 2017(couldn't travel Xmas 2016 as Hubs had a broken leg)I figured the amount spent should be well under $1K.

I have been tracking our Christmas spending since 2010--
2010.........$1000 planned/$881.64 spent
2011.........$1300 planned/$851.32 spent
2012.........$1000 planned/$1020.48 spent
2013.........$1650 planned/$2164.77 spent

2014.........$1900 planned/$1742.87 spent
2015.........$1800 planned/$1583.94 spent

2016.........$1600 planned/$793.72 spent


How do I arrive at a budget for Christmas?  Nowadays I look at what we spent the previous years(because I have a full accounting for the last 6 years or so on the blog)and see where we did well and where we did "not-so-well" with budgeting and add in any unusual things we plan to do and after some papers are balled up and thrown away and there is one sheet left with lots of writing on it(as well as writing scratched out on it), we have a plan and a budget. lolz

No, really.....I look at possible spending categories and what I think we will use in each one.

I generally use c/c points to get gift cards for free(to either give as presents or use to buy the presents to give)plus I buy a bit here and there during the year when a deal presents itself and those items are cash flowed from our regular monthly income.  I have been known to reserve blogging revenue, rolled coins and/or cash rebates from grocery purchases during the year to pay for Christmas expenses.
I generally don't set money aside each month throughout the year(like a Christmas club account or actual money in an envelope earmarked for Christmas spending)since we had a large cushion of cash in our checking and savings accounts and I can just pull from those sources when I need money to spend on Christmas stuff.  Since Hubs retired mid-2017 I will have to budget for Xmas better in the future.

But if you don't have extra cash lying around it is a good idea to take funds during the year and earmark them for the Holidays.
There are many ways to save ahead for Christmas.....make regular deposits to a dedicated account or a Christmas club at a bank, use a one-time windfall like a bonus or a tax refund, etc........so use whatever works for your situation.

The only unacceptable plan is to GO INTO DEBT for Christmas!
Better to not spend on Christmas than to endure the grief/angst/anguish/stress by going into debt buying crap at Christmas you can't afford and having to pay off the bills incurred sometime in 2018, or 2019 or beyond.

So we went into the Holidays with $850.00 budgeted to spend.

Here is where the funds were allocated.......

Shipping gifts/mailing Holiday Cards  $40.00
Gifts for immediate family(includes any cash gifts)  $600.00

Gifts for extended family & friends  $50.00

Electricity for lights   $10.00

A Christmas eve meal and show or movie   $150.00
Christmas travel expenses(lodging, food, gas, booze)   $0.00
Charity  $0.00

And here is where the money actually went.....

Shipping gifts/mailing Holiday Cards  $30.47

Gifts for immediate family  $567.99

Gifts for extended family & friends  $53.07

Electricity for lights  $10.00

A Christmas eve meal and show or movie  $184.09
Christmas travel expenses(lodging, food, gas, booze)  $0.00
Charity  $0.00
TOTAL SPENT...$845.62

Here are the Spending Details....

$30.47 *Shipping/Mailing Holiday Cards & Gifts----$9.53 UNDER budget
We sent out 23 cards(2 were put into packages and not mailed separately in envelopes) and mailed 1 package to my brother and his wife and 1 package to a friend.  Stamps cost $10.29 and the cards I had already from previous Christmases.   The postage for two packages was $20.18.

$567.99  *Gifts for family---- $32.01 UNDER budget
Last year I spent $542.45 on gifts for family so I spent $25.54 more this year on the family's gifts.  Family included 4 people--Hubs, 3 kids.  $350 of that $567.99 was cash gifts.  We had 2 less people to buy gifts for this holiday(Eldest no longer has a SO and Daughter's BF was not here for Xmas).

Here is how I kept the cost of gifts a bit lower than it could have been this year--
*  I cashed in points on my credit card and/or hotel program card for free gift cards to give or use to buy items to give. (I wasn't very successful at this strategy as in year's past but I still saved some by using it.)
*  I acquired a new back-up credit card and earned $70 in Amazon credit for that and used the credit for all but $14.67 on a coffee grinder for Hubs big gift.
*  Some clothing bought at Kohl's using Kohl's Cash/sales/discount codes.  I found some sneakers Daughter wanted in March and used discounts and Kohl's Cash to get them for under $10 OOP and hid them from her for 9 months. lolz
*  The last 20% off weekend at Big Lots in 2017(in October-they never run these near the Holidays) saw me get some items for cheap.....already low prices plus 20% more off when bought that weekend.
*  I picked up items/souvenirs on our road trip when I spied a "deal" and tucked those away for Xmas.
* Lots of stocking stuffers were items gotten at Rite-Aid over the course of the year for no money OOP.
Other stocking stuffers were gotten at the grocery store for free after coupons and others gotten as giveaways/freebies from companies.

$53.07  *Gifts for extended family---Over $50 Budgeted Amount by $3.07

We spent a bit more on the nephew's gift this year since I gave him a Rite-Aid procured gift card(so I got Plenti points but paid full price for the card)instead of using some credit card points to get a gift card for free.  His dad's food basket was foodstuffs I used sales/coupons to get.

$10.00  *Electricity for Lights----ON Budget
We used the smaller tree this year(less lights than a full size tree)and Hubs was able to do the outdoors lights too which was the same stuff we usually hang outside.

$184.09  *A Christmas eve meal and show or movie----OVER budget by $34.09
Dinner for 7 this year and 4 of them got booze(never cheap).  After tip we spent $184.09.

$0.00  *Charity----NO Spending After shelling out for the "rescue misson" expenses we were tapped out in the chairty department, and will be tapped out for some time to come.

$0.00  *Christmas travel expenses(lodging, food, gas, booze, cash incidentals)----NO Spending We didn't travel this year again as the Eldest came home for the Holidays for the first time in 3 years.


All totaled, this year I budgeted $850 and we spent $845.62, so $4.38 under budget overall.


Thoughts for 2018--
I think I'll keep our budget at $850.00 for next Christmas.  We aren't hurting for money but we are on a fixed income with Hubs retired now.  Plus all of our kids are 21 or older(and 1 is established in a career now)so I don't feel the need to spend so much on them as when they were younger.
For our income and our needs, I think this is just the right amount to splash out on Christmas celebrating.

If you kept track of your spending for Christmas, how did you do?
Did you spend more. less or right about what you planned on spending?
Did you have any money epiphanies when you look back at the Holiday plan?
Do you see anything you'll change about your spending for Christmas 2018?

Leave a comment and let us know how you did and what you learned about yourself & money this year!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the January 12th Edition

A few Frugal things that happened around here last week--

*  I received a $5 rebate in the mail for buying Chester's heart worm pills last year.

 

*  I was overcharged for a head of lettuce last week at Weis(PMITA)Markets by .10¢.
The lettuce was on sale for $1.49 a head but it rang up at $1.59.  I took the receipt and sales ad from that week in and got $1.59 cash back for my troubles.

*  When I went to Weis this week I only got credit for doing the Mix and Match Deal(Buy 6 items/Get $3 off Instantly)one time, when I had bought 12 items that qualified.  Before I left the store I brought this to the attention of the CS person.  I got $3 in cash.  This, along with the $1.59 for the overcharge on the lettuce, goes into the Post Coupon/Rebates envelope for 2018 to apply to the grocery bills at the end of the year.

The lesson here--It pays to check your store receipts!

*  Hubs and I went to the movies this week during a matinee. I tried to use my very old cinema gift card but when I whipped it out I found out that this theater is no longer affiliated with that company.  Good thing it was Bargain Tuesday though and the tickets are only $5 OOP(I used some of my WAM money to pay.)
Just some light comedy with filthy language and some accomplished actors-Glenn Close, JK Simmons and Christopher Walken being among my favs.  Worth the 5 bucks IMHO.

* I also received $3 in online Saving Star rebates from last week's shopping-$2 for buying 2 Maxwell House coffees and $1 for buying 4 Progresso soups.  I also earned .25¢ for buying anything at Rite-Aid last week.  These online rebate schemes haven't been panning out with large rebates for me in the last 6 months or so.  Seems they limit a purchase to a specific store(usually Walmart, where I don't shop), you can't use a coupon on the item and get the rebate too, the number of rebates available are quickly filled, or it's just for stuff I don't usually buy.  These all limit my participation.  Oh well.

*  We finally got over to the other side of downtown W-B to return a bag of puppy food we bought from the pet store we got Chester from.  He won't eat it anymore so we got a store credit since it's been 3 months since it was bought.  I am sure we can get some flea and tick or chewy bones with it in a couple of months from now.  It was worth the trip(we also hit Dollar Tree while we were in that neighborhood)instead of just throwing the puppy chow out or letting it sit in the garage.

*  Since it's my birthday month I received a $10 freebie offer from Kohl's in my email.  I'll hopefully combine this with some Holiday clearance deals there to pick up something needed for one of the folks living here(if not me)or for a gift to use later that costs as close to $10 as possible.  More on what I got before January is out.

What frugal things happened in your house this past week?

 Sluggy