Ready for a Hot & Sweaty Giveaway?

Who's ready for the Sixth Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2021?!?

It's July and the year is more than halfway over....can you believe that?  I can't.  Don't wait to enter as you only have a limited number of days to enter this Giveaway but come back and enter every day or I'll make you eat mustard on your watermelon! lol    

Let's take a look at what is in the Giveaway Box this month........

1 x Betadine spray

1 x Max Freeze topical pain reliever

1 x Clean and Clear Lemon scrub face wash

1 x Suave 2 in 1 Shampoo

1 x Dove Rose scented antiperspirant/deodorant

1 x Jergens glow lotion

1 x Yardey oat and almond soap

1 x Colgate Optic White toothpaste

1 x Oral-B toothbrush

1 x Revlon photo fix concealer

1 x Carex lip balm

1 x Listerine power tabs

1 x Nutella breadsticks and chocolate hazelnut spread snack

2 x Health Warrior pumpkin seed bars honey/sea salt

1 x Ladies Schick slim twin razors pack

1 x Cover girl mascara

1 x Revlon Ulltru HD Gel Lipcolor(HD Twilight)

1 x Cover Girl Melting Pout lipstick matte metallic(Pristine Queen)

1 x Rimmel eye brow pencil with brush(002 Hazel)

1 x Zone Perfect protein chocolate peanut butter bar

Close up shots of these goodies.....

Depending on where you shop, the winnings have a reg. retail value of between approximately $50-$60.

Here's how this is going to work.....

* The giveaway is open to ALL readers, previous winners or not.

* There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY.  Come back each day to enter again.

* Only VALID entries will be posted.  A Valid entry is a limit of one per day and I MUST HAVE VALID CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOU(either you are on the Giveaway Contact List which I maintain, your comment is connected to a Google/Blogger profile which links to your email address or you email me directly(my email is in the side bar on the Blog)your email address.

IF YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY AND DON'T SEE YOUR COMMENT AFTER A DAY OR SO(Give me time to post the entries each day)THAT MEANS YOUR ENTRY ISN'T VALID DUE TO ONE OF THE ABOVE REASONS AND IT IS UP TO YOU TO FIX YOUR ENTRY!

I will no longer spend time hunting down folks.  If you want to win, read ALL the rules and do the work.

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random and the winner has 48 hours from when the post goes live to contact me with their full mailing address.

In your entries I'd like to hear about your Summer is progressing.  Any big projects going on? Any trave plans?  If you garden is it producing yet? What are you favorite summertime foods to eat? Whatever you want to share.

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name(with last name initial please)to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").
I'll leave this giveaway open until July 23rd , Friday at 11:59 pm Eastern  Daylight Savings Time. On July 24th, Saturday, I'll draw the winning entry and post the Winner. 

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winners on this blog on  and those persons have 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too 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(the 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 make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

The Great Bathroom Reno of 2021

 So I have looked and looked in my photo files and can NOT for the life of me find a single photo of our main upstairs bathroom.  After living here just shy of 21 years you'd think I'd be about to find at least ONE photo of it for a Before shot, huh?

Nope.  And I totally forgot to take any photos in that bathroom before the guy came out to renovate it.
I can describe it for y'all instead.  The room in general was tan and beige.   From the linoleum floor, to the toilet, to the tub to the sink and the wall colors it was all tan/beige.  The vanity that held the sink and the frame around the mirrored/medicine cabinet was high style oak wood of the 1980's when the house was built.  The only color(I don't consider tan/beige a color)in the room was the wall border that ran along the top of the walls(also very 1980's).  That was mostly tan/beige with a pop of moss green and was seashells.
Let's add that this room was on the North facing side of the house so it was always dark in there, even on a sunny day with that color scheme!  Plus, once the kids were old enough to clean their own bathroom I barely set foot in it again. lolz

So we had exactly TWO contractors return our calls and come out to the house and write up estimates for the job.  It was to be a total gut out-keep the walls but remove the flooring, the vanity, sink, mirrored medicine cabinet, light fixtures, overhead lights and vent, shower, tub and surround and floor moulding.  The only items we kept were the towel bar, the hand towel ring and the toilet paper holder.

We chose the contractor who could begin the job the soonest.  It helped that he was also much cheaper than the other contractor. lol  Contractor was a jack-of-all-trades one man operation while the guy who didn't get the job had a crew of helpers.

Our job "'should" have taken 5-7 business days except that we were held up by the tub surround walls as they were back ordered.  So except for that one thing the job came in on time.

I did remember to take some photos after the contractor started ripping out stuff......

A shot of the old sink and cabinet and the toilet. blah

A shot of the linoleum floor. Blah again

The underside of the tub partially removed.

Part of the shower surround wall laying on it's side in the hallway.  Blah blah blah

Where the oak framed mirror/medicine cabinet use to be.  Wall color Blah again.  I didn't get a shot of the de rigeur 1980's wall border at the top of the walls, seashells in a beige color scheme with "pops" of moss green or the bronze lighting fixture with old fashioned 1890's frosted shades.  8-P

Here are a couple of shots in progress......

The vanity and sink came in as well as the tub then we had a long Memorial Day weekend.

And he worked on everything else until the surround came in and once that was in it was fini!

So I present to you the renovated bathroom with painted walls.....

The wall color is a pale blue, the hardware is brushed nickel/chrome........

 A shower curtain I picked up to go with the room......

And the floor is a greyed wood look planked waterproof laminate with a dark grey moulding along the base of the walls which looks much better than the faux wood moulding the house came with in every room, including the bathrooms.

Other than the surround for the shower/tub the job went well and on time.  Using a local "one man band" operation(Hubs did have to lend a hand with two man jobs like removing the old toilet, etc.)not including paint supplies and labor to paint everything else was done by him and we paid $5,292 for this.(He didn't replace the towel holders or toilet roll holder so everything else in the room.)

Now I need to put police tape over the entrance or put a velvet rope across the doorway(like you see in old house museums to keep you from going in a room)so no one messes it up before we put the house on the market. 8-)

So tell me, where you live how much would a reno like this cost in your area?

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Happy Birthday to My Oldest Child!" Edition...

I can't believe this was him 30 years ago today!

And here he is last birthday when he turned 29.  

He won't be here today as he is teaching Summer School in NJ but maybe early in August when that is finished he can come visit.  I told him no card or gift unless he comes for it as he is less than 2 hours away from here. That's how this momma rolls.....lolz

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On-

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Cheeseburgers, Salad

2. Monday--leftover Chicken Thighs, Zuke in Tomato Sauce, Rice 

3. Tuesday--Chicken Marsala over Taters, Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potato, leftover green beans
5. Thursday--Stir-fry Veggies, Chicken and Noodles

6.  Friday--leftovers?

7. Saturday--Flatbread Pizza, Tossed Salad

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

1. Sunday--Cheeseburgers, Salad

2. Monday--leftover Chicken Thighs, Zuke in Tomato Sauce, Rice 

3. Tuesday--Chicken Marsala over Garlic Taters, Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potato, leftover Collards
5. Thursday--Stir-fry Veggies, Chicken and Noodles

6.  Friday--Hubs had TV dinner(I had a late lunch so no dinner)

7. Saturday--Grilled Steak, Brussels Sprouts, Baked Potato

Pretty much everything planned got eaten except I thawed 2 steaks instead of making flatbread pizzas on Saturday.  Another week of high temps outside meant a lot of outdoor or stove top or crockpot cooking last week.

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

* 3 Chicken breasts(sliced into thin slices)

* 1 TV dinner

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

* 2 small Steaks

* 1/2 bag of Brussels Sprouts

* bag of Stir-fry veg w/Chicken, Noodles

* 1 Chicken breast

* 1 TV Dinner

* 1 hunk of Salmon

We actually made a dent in the freezers. yay.

We spent a whopping $122.50 on food/toiletries/HBA last week at just Walmart. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $223.38 for July.   

There are 19 shopping days left in July.

I've earned $136.09 on Ibotta in July.

I've earned $10.00 on Checkout51 in July.

I've earned $22.58 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in July.

I've earned 5,044 points from shopping on Fetch in July which equals $5.04.

I've earned 2930 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in July which equals $11.72.

I've earned 2,258 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in July which equals $22.58. 

That's $168.67 in rebates(not counting the ShopKick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $223.38 in grocery spending so in reality it's $54.71 spent after the rebate apps.

My savings percentage for last week was 46.13%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for June and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 51.00%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week....1 helping of Chicken Marsala w/Taters, 1 helping of Collards, 1 helping of Brussels Sprouts.

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

1. Sunday--Reuben Sandwiches

2. Monday--BLTs or Big Salad

3. Tuesday--Chili

4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--?

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Not going to be here most of the week.  I am leaving Hubs plenty of food he can easily prepare/assemble. Maybe he'll use up some more freezer items....here's hoping! ;-)

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

Finishing the Ibotta $10 Bonus

 I only needed 8 offers to get that Fireworks Bonus and 15 offers to get a $1 Weekend Warrior.  womp womp.

I went ahead and did 15 offers anyway this past week plus a few other items with other offers.

1 x Larabar box on clearance
1 x Twinings Cold Infused tea
5 x Buddig lunch meat packs
1 x Ball Park Everything buns*both Ibotta and Coupons apps
1 x GM Instant Oatmeal
1 x any Cereal item
1 x Quaker Instant Oatmeal
2 x Chips Ahoy! golden chip cookie
1 x Kellogg's Jumbo Snax*both Ibotta and Shop Kicks
1 x Kandoo Wipes
2 x Oreo Dynasty cookies
1 x Oreo family size cookies
1 x Mott's Mighty applesauce cups
1 x any brand coffee
2 x Hanover twisted pretzels
1 x Frigo cheese
1 x Popcorn Indiana
2 x Cinnadust Cinnamon/Sugar mix*Swag Bucks app
1 x Heinz mustard* both Coupons and Shop Kicks
1 x Kraft mac and cheese box *Coupons app
1 x OM Weiners pack *Coupons app
1 x Heinz relish *Shop Kick app
1 x Harry's Shave cream *Shop Kick app
I did 17 rather than 15 Ibotta offers.

I spent $79.30 subtotal on the Ibotta and non Ibotta items(but after paper coupons).  I used a $25 free SwagBucks gift card spending a grand total OOP of $54.30.
I earned back $36.52 on Ibotta(including the $10 Fireworks, a $1 Weekend Warrior and the .50¢ July Level One Bonuses)making my spending $17.78.  Then I submitted to Checkout 51 for another $2 back on the Cinnadust)taking the total down to $15.78.  I submitted for $12.68 back on Coupons app making my OOP $3.10.

I also submitted to Swagbucks for the Cinnadust, any bread, 2 any receipts for $8.22 in points, $11.00 worth of Shop Kicks points(Heinz Mustard and relish, Harry's shave cream, Twinings cold infused tea, Quaker oatmeal and Kellogg's jumbo snax) and I earned 75 points on Fetch.  I don't count these amounts until I cash out though.

I also brought home 4 Cremo deodorants from Rite-Aid last week spending Bonus Cash(earning $10 in BC back)and submitted to Checkout 51 for $8 back on that purchase.

I feel look about this week's app shopping. 
The "junk food" aka cookies, cereal, pretzels and applesauce will go to the cashier at Rite-Aid with 2 pre-teen boys and some to the food bank.  The cashier going through some tough times as a single parent and she won't let me gift her any cash but she will accept foodstuffs so she doesn't have to spend her paycheck on this sort of stuff for her kids. ;-)

Sluggy

Income & Spending 2021......The June 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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June.......
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 2021.

I can report that we finished up June in the red.
The amount we ended the month of June with?.....-$5,153.51

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $178.85

* Stock Dividend of $18.27

Total "Income" for June.....$5,391.35

Expenses in June---

* Healthcare Premium for June was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in June were $1,253.69(Wayfair swing, Long term care Premiums, Vet appt., Dentist)

* Bathroom Renovation $5,292.00
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2,027.18
Total Expenses....$10,544.86

$5,391.35-$10,544.86=-$5,153.51

Slush into June of $47,165.11 in that Fund, subtract the $5,153.51 in shortage and we get $42,011.60 going into July's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $5,153.51 for June.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet and cell phone were the same as in May

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

*  The electric bill was $15.18 lower than in May

*  The Amazon c/c bill went down by $6.18  from last month.(It was actually lower by more but I overpaid it a bit in June.)

*  The credit card bill was $474.85 lower than in May.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $1.42 higher than in May.
*  We had a bunch of smallish an irregular bills this month; Wayfair, Long Term Care premiums, Kohl's, Vet Bill, Dentist.  

*  Then we had to pay the contractor for the bathroom renovation. ouch

The Food Budget costs for June 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 June---Stayed under the food budget and all variable bills except the water bill were lower than in May but we had a significant amount of irregular bills and then we knew the bathroom reno would put us in the hole for the month but that's what the Slush Fund is for(funding extras like this).  I am ok with it all as the bathroom turned out better than expected(the bar for handymen around here is set pretty low). ;-)
 

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2021---

There are no irregular bills coming this month though Hubs got a new phone so the cell bill will be higher.  The cruise and airline tickets will be hitting the credit card this month so I need to figure what pot of monies I'll dip into to pay those portions of the trip costs. 8-( or 8-)))

Other than that it's smooth sailing for July(see what I did there? lol).

So how was your June financially? 

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