This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Drowning in Collards" Edition.....

4 little collard plants sure do produce a LOT of collards!  Hubs and I will be finishing off the collard greens leftovers tonight but I'll be cooking 2 large Ziploc bags more of collards today so we'll have more collards to eat this week.  Between salad greens and collard greens we are set for fresh veggies this week.  I don't think I will want to see collards again in quite awhile though. lol

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Steak, Spinach Salad, Sweet Potato
3. Tuesday--Quesadilla(using Fajita filling)

4. Wednesday--Pigs in a Blanket, Veggie TBD from Freezer
5. Thursday--Chinese Take-Out

6. Friday--hot Tuna Subs w/Spinach and Tomatoes
7. Saturday--Leftovers or BLTs

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Steak, Spinach Salad
3. Tuesday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits

4. Wednesday--Tuna Subs w/Spinach and Tomatoes
5. Thursday--Quesadilla(using Fajita filling w/cheese)

6. Friday--Pigs in a Blanket, Broccoli
7. Saturday--Leftovers(I had Clam Chowder)

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY/TV Dinners, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.  

We didn't get Chinese take-out since I had a big can of clams to use so I made clam chowder last week.  We have enough leftover of that for about 3 more servings for lunches.

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 2 packages of pork chops

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

* 3 petite steaks

* 1 pack of hot dogs

* bag of broccoli

We spent $58.92 last week(all at Weis(PMITA)Markets), bringing our food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods to $58.92 for October so far.
There are 26 shopping days left in the month.  

I've earned $11.65 on Ibotta in October. 

I've earned $0 on SavingStar in October.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal(for a digital Q).

I've earned 100 points from food shopping on Fetch in October.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on ShopKick in October.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in October.

My savings percentage for last week was 49.80%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips but with CVS)for October and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 49.80% so far.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week.....Collards and Cornbread, Clam Chowder, 4 Biscuits and 3 Pigs in a Blanket.

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

1. Sunday--Pork Chops, Green Beans
2. Monday--Spareribs, Collards
3. Tuesday--Beef Pie

4. Wednesday--Beef Liver, Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Collards
5. Thursday--Chinese Take-Out

6. Friday--Leftovers or ?
7. Saturday--?

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing.  Perhaps I'll be able to stay out of the grocery store this week.

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's at home.
* Tuna Casserole
* Roasted Chicken
* Shrimp/Crab Ravioli
* Cheese Ravioli

* Haddock Fish Dinner  

* Salmon

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

Rite-Aid Hauls From Friday & Saturday

I've got BC points to use/roll/convert to cash on various accounts at Rite-Aid from the Bonus Cash Challenges I did in August/September so I bought some things over the weekend to use the BC before it expires.

I picked up two body wash, this Jason brand that is quite pricey.  These scents were 75% off($4.17)on clearance so $8.34 spent in BC.
I submitted the receipt to Ibotta and got $5.00 in rebates(2 x $2.50)so after rebates I "converted" $5 of what I spent to cash and "spent down" $3.34 of my BC.

On Saturday I did the Nivea Men's items Deal(Spend $15/Get $4 BC).

2 x Nivea shave gel $3.99 w/20% discount=$7.98

2 x Nivea body wash $4.63 w/20% discount=$9.26

SubTotal...$17.24

I used 

1 x $2/2 Nivea shave gel ManuQ=$2.00

1 x $3/2 Nivea body wash ManuQ=$3.00

Coupon Total...$5.00

$17.24-$5.00=$12.24 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $4 in new BC.

I also submitted the shave gel to Ibotta and earned $4.00(2 x $2)so "converted $4.00 of BC to cash and "spent down" $4.24 of BC.

This week will be rolling BC with Oral Care items(Crest/Oral-B).  After sale prices/Qs/BC earned they will be free(or a little more than free if I can A-find the cheaper toothbrushes and B-submit those to Ibotta for a $1 rebate).

This week's R-A add is pitiful....4 whole pages of a flyer! lolz

Did you do any drugstore shopping this weekend?

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2020....the September Report

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), 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 September report---

I had 2 goals for September.......
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 2020.

I can report that we finished up September in the black.
The amount we ended the month of September with?.....$1,408.76

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $459.94

* Stock Divident of $18.27

*401K Withdrawal of $2556.20(net)

* Blogging revenue check of $128.07

Total "Income" for September.....$8270.48

Expenses in September---

* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in September were $2981.44
* Variable Expenses in September came to $1996.52
Total Expenses....$6861.72

$8270.48-$6861.72=$1408.76
Slush into September of $28,633.63 in that Fund, add the $1408.76 September overage brings the Slush to $30,042.39 going into October.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,408.76 for September.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet were the same as last month.

*  The water bill was $21.41 lower than in August.

*  The electric bill was $30.51 less than last month.
*  The cell phone bill was $4.99 lower than in August.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The Amazon c/c bill was $113.85 higher than last month.(It was $0 in August.)

*  The gas c/c bill(Sunoco) was $14.10 higher than in August.  Sunoco is generally higher than other gas stations' prices(even after a .05¢ gal. discount)so we use it sporadically.

*  I had to pay the lawyer in Virginia $250 last month.

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on September---
It was a good month overall financially. Regular variable bills were quite low. Two irregular bills were due(one small, one large)in September and we withdrew $3K from the 401K monies to cover the larger of the two bills.  Turns out we only needed about half of what we withdrew to cover the school taxes but it's all good.  The "leftover monies" just go into the checking account and will absorb any excess bills in the coming months.  If we don't need to draw from those leftover funds Oct. through Dec. then it will go into paying toward our high deductible plan health insurance costs which resets on Jan. 1.

THOUGHTS going forward into October 2020----

No irregular bills are due in October. rah.  

The electric bill will start it's seasonal rise as the heat gets turned on for Fall/Winter which is expected.  We have company coming for a few nights and a short trip later in Oct.  The trip will mean some lodging costs, take-out and kennel fees for the doggies.  So a few extra bills in October but nothing that will seriously impact our budget for the month.

So how was your September financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in September?
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

Frugal Friday....the October 2nd Edition

 Here are the very few things we did around here this past week that were frugal........

*  When I went to the town South of here to their Walmart I passed by a gas station that had been closed for awhile(remodeling, new gas tanks, etc.)and saw that it was open again and the price of the gas was $2.199 gal.
That may not sound like a GREAT deal where you live but for here, the state with the highest gas taxes in the nation, it was well below what we currently pay in PA, which varies between $2.45 to $2.36 per gallon currently in this part of PA.

Even though I was nowhere near needing gas I couldn't resist that price so I topped off my tank.  I got  just over 4 gallons so not that great a savings but.....why not I told myself?! ;-)  .60¢+ is .60¢+ saved.

* I found money!

On Monday at my R-A I saw a shiny penny peeking out from under a display rack near the pharmacy so I bent down and pulled it out and into my pocket it went.
Then on the way out I looked down on the floor near the door and that equally shiny dime was smiling up at me whispering, "Pick me up! Pick me up!".  So I did.....

Then on Wednesday morning I went through that box in the living room of cast-offs that were headed to Salvation Army later that day.

I saw this laptop bag from Hubs old work that Ex-College Boy had taken to use about a year ago but he had pitched it into the box when he left home the end of July.
As I picked it up to check all the pockets in it, I heard a tinkling sound.........

There was .75¢ in change in one of the pockets.  woohoo!

Now this is the second time I've found money in a discarded laptop bag from Hubs.  Last Fall I grabbed another old laptop bag that had been Hubs that he threw into our donation box to bring my computer to Ocean City MD on my girls trip with Kim and her Sissie and there was money in that one too!
(Which reminds me, I need to blog about that trip too, but first I have to finish the Summer 2017 Road Trip and then the October New England 2018 trip with Kim and her Hubs too.  I am just soooo far behind!!!

Found change this week..... .86¢
Found change this year so far...$49.14

*  We harvested the collard greens from the garden this past week.  

Here's my lunch of champions from yesterday.....a bowl of home grown collards. Mmm!
4 plants gave us so much that I still need to cook two large Ziploc bags worth up or maybe I'll blanch them and stick those into the freezer for later this Winter.

*  The only other frugal things were my shopping trips at Walmart and my Rite-Aid scores which I already recounted for the week.

There was Walmart......

And Rite-Aid on Sunday...

And Rite-Aid on Monday

And a different R-A on Wednesday...

That's all I have this week.  

Stay frugal my friends.
And tell us all about your frugal wins for the week.

Sluggy

Food Spending 2020.....The September Report

  Onward to September's food spending report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2020.

I have posted September's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in September.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(2 at home this month). 
*****************

CVS
OOP  $5.48

Qs/Ads/ECBucks $125.40
Value  $130.88
Savings 95.81 %

MALACARI'S

OOP  $18.55
Value  $28.87
Savings  35.75%

PandR OUTLET

OOP  $24.76

Value  $53.00

Savings  53.28%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $42.06
Value  $60.39
Savings  30.35% 

RITE-AID *
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/GCard  $355.53
Value  $355.53
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP   ($0.00) used free gift card
Value  $4.99
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $95.95
Value  $203.78
Savings 52.92%

WEIS
OOP  $166.93
Qs/Ads  $169.91
Value  $336.84
Savings  50.44%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Shursave at 100% and CVS at 95.81% .   My worst savings rate was at Price Chopper with 30.35%.  Lots of great savings rates this month!

I shopped at 8 different stores in September.

I also earned $227.30 in cash rebates in September(Ibotta/SavingStar/Checkout51)which helps offset the spending once I cash those in at the end of 2020.

TOTAL Spent(without R-A)...................$353.73

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$465.02
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$818.75

TOTAL Savings of ................................56.80%

Add in the Rite-Aid purchases and we get.........

TOTAL Spent........................................$353.73

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$820.55
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1174.28

TOTAL Savings of ................................69.88%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....I wanted to do a 50% lower with the grocery spending but worries about Fall shut downs and shortages had me buying a lot of long term storage foods and refilling the freezer. So no way did I do a $200 spend in September.  Even so I still stayed under my budgeted $400 for the month so it's all good.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 2.01% in September 2020 to 69.88% compared to the tremendous August 2020 rate of 71.89% savings average.  

With 9 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3505.76 on food/toiletries in 2020.

Going into 2020, before the pandemic blew the wind out of my sails, I wanted to stay at or under $4K for the yearly food spending.  At this point I don't think that will happen but we'll keep plugging along anyway.

Once I add in all my rebates/refunds/post coupon/found money pots into the grocery spending category I do still have a fighting change to stay under $4K spent.  The next 3 months will determine if this goal becomes a reality.


2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3,505.76

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$10,585.06

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$7,079.30

2020 Yearly Savings Total............66.88%

The average per month amount spent is $389.53 at this point in 2020 which went down some from August's average.  As long as I'm around $400 per month with 3(now 2)people in the house, it's all good.  While it's just Hubs and I now I will also be supplementing Ex-College Boy's food needs for awhile.

LOOKING AHEAD To October 2020.............

Not sure what October will bring in terms of food spending.  We're going to have a visitor in October and we are going on a short trip so those are the variables.  At home, I want to start eating from our stockpiled meats/veg in the freezer and use a few "old dogs" up in the process.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in September?  Are you happy with that amount and did you get good value for your money?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy