CVS Again....Didn't Hate This Trip

 So after earning a $3 Beauty Buck ECB I had a grand total of $27 in ECBS as well as a metric shit ton of CRTs expiring 11/11/20 so I was compelled to go to CVS and bring stuff home with me for as close to free as possible.  This is always a crapshoot for me, the getting it as close to having to pay Zero OOP at CVS.

But I got to say that I did surprisingly well on this trip with a low OOP after sale prices/coupons/ECBs used.
I was trying to get to $60 overall before any discounts as I got a $8 off wys $60 CRT along with all my other CRTS/Qs.  Of course I "wanted" to do the Babo toilet paper deal as well, but do you think CVS would give me a CRT/Q for that? Of course not!

I made a sort of plan but then I had to punt once I got into the store as they were out of some items in the plan.

Here is what I ended up with......

3 x Pantene on sale=$12.00
1 x Tide pods on sale=$4.94
2 x Oral-B toothbrush on sale=$5.98
2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$9.98
1 x Cheerios yellow box on sale=$2.99
*The above qualifed for the $10ECB  wys $30 Deal*
2 x Head and Shoulders on sale=$12.00
1 x Maybelline Baby Lips=$4.79 *part of Maybelline Deal*
1 x Maybelline Eyeliner=$7.29 *Ditto*
2 x Cover Girl brow pencils=$12.98 *part of Cover Girl Deal*
SubTotal.........$72.95

I had $51.36 in CRTs, 2 x $2/1 Cover Girl ManuQs so $55.36 in discounts(a $1/1 Q reduced to .86¢)and the register used $18 of my $27 in ECBS(a $5 ECB was reduced to $4.59 because I had no more total to use it against). $49.06 of what I "spent" counted toward more Beauty Bucks so I already got a $3 in Beauty Bucks in my account but it expires 11/17, in FIVE days!? wtf.  I only need $5+ to earn an additional Beauty Buck too.

Total paid OOP was .03¢ in sales tax.

I earned back $21 in new ECBs($10 wys $30, $6 wyb2 Cover Girl, $5 wys $12 on Maybelline)and I still have $9 in old ECBs plus the $3 Beauty Buck so I'm at $33 in ECBS after all this.

I'll need to go back next week to use a $3 ECB and a $3 Beauty Buck.

Do you get the CRTs you want at CVS?

Sluggy

Rite-Aid This Week

 So if you got(and everyone with an account did)the $10 off when you spend $30 Load2CardQ it's a good week to get some things you need for cheap or free after Bonus Cash received.

Here is what I did on my card using all digital Qs.......

2 x Maty's cough syrup 2 packs BOGO50% sale=$29.98
1 x Glide floss on sale=$4.00
1x Oral-B toothbrush 20% Disc. better than sale=$3.75
SubTotal.....$37.73

Coupons Used

1 x $10 off $30 L2CQ=$10.00
1 x $3/2 Crest/Oral-B/Glide items L2CQ=$3.00
Coupon Total..$13.00

$37.73-$13.00=$24.73 paid with Bonus Cash

I earned back $26.00 in new BC(2 x $10 Maty's, 2 x $3 Oral-B/Glide/Crest)so a $1.27 moneymaker.
If we received Unilever/Dove inserts here I would have had a $3/2 Dove ManuQ instead of the $2/2 digitalQ so that would have been a buck better for me(making this a $2.27 moneymaker instead), but alas!, we don't get Unilever or RetailMeNot inserts here anymore.

I also did this on Hubs' card the day before, again using all digital Qs.......

2 x Dove shampoo/conditioner disc. better than sale price=$7.98
1 x Dr. Scholl's insoles 75% off=$4.49
1 x Oral-B toothbrush disc. better than sale price=$3.43
1 x Glide floss on sale=$4.00
8 x Carmex lip balm BOGO50% sale($2.68 per pair)=$10.72
1 x Wahl moustache comb 20% disc.=$6.39
SubTotal...$37.01

Coupons Used
1 x $10 of $30 L2CQ=$10.00
1 x $2/2 Dove women's L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Oral-B/Glide/Crest items L2CQ=$3.00
Coupon Total......$15.00

$37.01-$15.00=$22.01+.51¢ tax=$22.52 paid with Bonus Cash

I earned back $23 in new BC($2 Dove, 2 x $3Oral-B/Glide/Crest, 4 x $2 Carmex, $7 Wahl).
When I got home I found a $3/1 IPQ for the Dr. Scholl's so I'll go do a "post coupon" for that item too, which will bring this to a $3.48 moneymaker.  

I only needed 4 Carmex to get over the $30 threshold but I went ahead and maxed out that deal anyway.

The insoles and the mustache comb are a stocking stuffer for Ex-CB, the lip balm for both my boys as they are Chapstick addicts. lol  The oral care and shampoo will probably go to the food bank locally(or may show up in a Giveaway Box)and the cough syrup goes into the stockpile for us and family.

I have a $5 when you spend $25 Q to use before 11/26/20 but other than that I am done with Rite-Aid until the Black Friday Deals so you probably won't see any more hauls until then for R-A.
I'm reserving all my built-up Bonus Cash for BF.

Today I go to CVS to use/roll ECBs before they expire....can you tell I am thrilled? ;-)

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

    The "Trick or Treat *hic*" Edition.....

While at the big liquor store down in Delaware last month I snapped a picture of these bags of nip bottles of Fireball, marketed for "Adult Trick or Treating". 

Can you imagine if someone bought this and mistakenly handed it out to kids?

Yikes!

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Cheeseburger on Bun w/Lett./Tom
2. Monday--Chicken and Dumplings using leftover chicken
3. Tuesday--? no clue, working the polls

4. Wednesday--Taco salad or Tacos
5. Thursday--something easy or whatever Hubs makes

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Chili w/leftover taco filling? for Hubs(I'll FFY)

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

1. Sunday--Cheeseburger on Bun w/Lett./Tom
2. Monday--Chicken and Dumplings using leftover chicken
3. Tuesday--veggies, hummus, dip, cheese, crackers

4. Wednesday--Rigatoni w/Meat/Mushroom Sauce, Salad
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out

6. Friday--Tacos for Hubs/Strawberries for me
7. Saturday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Strawberries

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners(if you consider appetizers on Tues. home cooking lol), 1 nights of leftovers/FFY/TV Dinners, and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out.  I picked up a Whopper on Friday for lunch so just had more strawberries for dinner as I wasn't too hungry and I didn't need more meat that day.

We had gone through the small freezer on top of the fridge last week and found a bag of meat sauce(heavy on the meat)so to use that up we sauted mushrooms to put in the sauce and added more marinara to balance the sauce out and Hubs made pasta for it on Wednesday.  There was a TON left but this gave him a leftover to eat on for lunches all the rest of the week(and something he loves).

On Friday at Weis(PMITA)Markets I found a 2 pack of marked down pork tenderloins already panko-ed up so we had that for dinner on Saturday.

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

* a smoked Pork Roast(1/2 off at Weis)

* a smoked Turkey Breast(the Walmart/Ibotta deal)

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

* a large pack of Ground Beef

* a bag of Meat Sauce

We spent $121.14 last week(3 quick Weis trips, Aldi, Walmart and CVS-the free make-up), bringing our food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods Grand Total to $121.14 for November so far.

There are 21 shopping days left in November.  

I've earned $38.60 on Ibotta in November. 

I've earned $0.00 on SavingStar in November.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $1.50 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Fetch in November.(It's a bit more as I am behind on submitting some R-A receipts.)

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

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

My savings percentage for last week was 43.09%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for November and the monthly savings total for November comes in at 43.09%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week.....Chicken and Dumplings, some roasted veggies still and lots of taco meat.

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

1. Sunday--leftover Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots
2. Monday--Reuben Sandwiches
3. Tuesday--Lasagna Casserole, Salad

4. Wednesday--Taco Salad
5. Thursday--Whatever Hubs cooks

6. Friday--Chicken and Peppers Enchiladas, Rice, Beans(Ex-CB coming for dinner maybe)
7. Saturday--Leftovers

What needs buying for this menu? 

I have everything here to make this menu(except for whatever Hubs cooks on Thursday?).  I really don't see myself going grocery shopping this week.  I can use the break. '-)

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

Free Thanksgiving Offer on Ibotta

 If you've been on your Ibotta account lately you've seen the Thanksgiving Freebies offered at Walmart.

I believe there are 9 items that if purchased at Walmart that Ibotta will give you enough in rebates on those items to make them free(or a slight moneymaker depending on the pricing at your particular store).

I went on Friday after I received a $5 Wishbone Bonus as well in my account for the weekend, and bought these 12 items(12 items to qualify for that Bonus)....

1 x Campbell's Mushroom soup

1 x GV cranberry sauce

1 x GV turkey stuffing mix

1 x 2 Ltr Coke product

1 x Butterball turkey breast product

1 x Idahoan lrg mashed potato bag

1 x McCormick gravy packet

These were all the freebies my store had, they were out of the green beans and the smaller container of French's onions.  My store also only had smoked Butterball breasts not regular ones but we can slice it up for sandwiches.  I bought the smallest one but it was still $2.13 more than the rebate amount of $9.98.

I also bought...

2 x Powerade sugar-free

1 x Oikos drink

1 x Fage sour cream

2 x Swanson canned chicken broth

1 x Eco Mongo vanilla honey lip balm(a freebie after rebate but my store's price was .50¢ higher)

Total spent OOP was $28.44.

Ibotta rebates earned came to $28.40($23.40 reg. rebates+ $5 Bonus)so all the above "cost" me .04¢.

Nice.  A moneymaker would have been nicer if they weren't out of 3 other items I would have chosen instead of 3 of these but I'll take a .04¢ shopping trip. 8-)

It will all get used between Hubs and I, Ex-College Boy and his roommate and the Food Bank.

If I am in the vicinity of Walmart again before these rebates disappear I'll look for the frozen green beans and the French's onions again.

If you aren't using Ibotta, now would be a good time to sign up.  My referral code is mkaaxa if you care to use that.

You will also need a Paypal or Venmo account as well to cash out your Ibotta rebate monies.

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2020.....the October 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 October report---

I had 2 goals for October.......
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 October in the black.
The amount we ended the month of October with?.....$2,135.69

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

* 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 $468.24

Total "Income" for October.....$5574.24

Expenses in October---

* Healthcare Premium for October was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in October were $0.00
* Variable Expenses in October came to $1554.79
Total Expenses....$3438.55

$5574.24-$3438.55=$2135.69
Slush into October of $30,042.39 in that Fund, add the $2135.69 October overage and this brings the Slush to $32,178.08 going into November.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,135.69 for October.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet were the same as last month.

*  The c/c was $248.42 lower than in September.

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

*  The water bill was within $1 of September's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $11.38 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter sets in.

*  The gas c/c bill(Sunoco) was $8.43 higher than in September.  Sunoco is generally higher than other gas stations' prices(even after a .05¢ gal. discount)so we use it sporadically.

*  We had to pay to board the dogs on our trip so $150 extra paid out in October.

The Food Budget costs for October 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 October---
It was a really good month overall financially. 

No irregular bills were due in October. rah.  

THOUGHTS going forward into November 2020----

Unfortunately the electric bill will continue to rise and the credit card will be high in November as all our short trip spending from October will show up this month.  We aren't going anywhere in November and no extra spending will happen either.  We do have one irregular bill due this month, the semi-annual car insurance bill.

So how was your October financially?
  

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