This Week on the Dining Table

 The "The Great Pumpkin is Coming" Edition.....  

Saw this massive free standing display of seasonal breakfast cereal at Walmart last week.  Looks like a sugary variation on Lucky Charms or something.

This is day 120 of the "diet".  Yay!

My PCP is on board with this way of eating to reach a short term goal so no unsolicited advice on this eating plan please.  While I appreciate the concerns I am fine and I am losing weight.  I haven't had any sugar nor any white food(mostly).....bread, potatoes, rice, pasta since returning from the cruise on June 4th.  But I am holding fast to my plan anyway.....so far.  I am down an additional 40 lbs. since starting this eating plan(not counting the 8 lbs. I gained on the cruise and then dropped after coming home).  Haven't weighed the last few days so I might be a little lighter than 40 lbs.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

2. Monday--Grilled Salmon, Sautèed Cabbage

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

4  Wednesday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself

5. Thursday--Leftovers(Lasagna, etc.)

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

And here's what actually happened........

1. Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

2. Monday--Grilled Salmon, Sautèed Cabbage

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

4  Wednesday--a can of Soup, Leftover Cabbage, Hummus and Celery

5. Thursday--Yogurt w/Flaxseed, Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs

6.  Friday--Big Salad w/Chicken, Hummus and Crackers

7. Saturday--No Clue other than Yogurt in the am-Flying day

No going back to old habits and eating patterns for me!

What got taken out of the freezer last week...

*  a hunk of Salmon

*  2 dozen Meatballs

*  2 Hamburgers

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

*  Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs

*  Leftover Lasagna

Last week we spent $208.44 on grocery shopping for October.  

Grand Total shopping comes to $208.44 for October.   

There are 22 shopping days left in October.

The total is high at this point in the month because I won't be in any shape to shop once we get back from surgery so I packed in all the shopping the first week of the month.

I've earned $96.97 on Ibotta in October.

I've earned $30.00 on Shopmium in October.

I've earned $5.75 on Alexa app in October.

I've earned $2.10 on Kroger Cash Back in October.

I've earned 10,071 points from food shopping on Fetch in October.

I've earned 3,133 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in October.

I've earned 1,084 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in October.

That is $134.82 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $208.44 of grocery spending so in reality it's $73.62 in food spending after the 4 rebate apps I count. 

My savings percentage for the last week was 22.72% and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 22.72% spent.  

Leftovers going into this week...nothing.

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

1. Sunday--No Clue

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--No Clue

4  Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--No Clue

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

This is surgery week in Ohio.  I am clueless about what we'll eat, but we will eat, no doubt.

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 deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy   

The Great Road Trip of 2017....Part Nineteen/Day Sixteen

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

So we all hugged and cried and hit the road East the next day.

Well we headed North toward Coeur d'Alene so we could pick up the interstate there.

But we drove about an hour and a half North before making a stop outside of Plummer, Idaho........

Just had to go in and poke around this shop on the Nez Perce Reservation if for no other reason but because of the awesome bison statues outside. lol

Not only was this a Smoke Shop but there was a huge section of beading supplies, leather pieces, fabric, sewing supplies and feathers, etc. for making native costumes.

There was also a large area of hand dipped candles for sale......

It was very overwhelming the amount of fabric and such they had and a shame I couldn't bring any of the sewing stuff home with me.

There was also hand carvings and other indigenous made goods.  Hubs bought a book and a package of white sage.

I spent a little time in the front, the actual smoke shop.  Buying cigarettes on the reservation don't carry the federal taxes they do when bought on the outside and they can sell things that aren't legal(at that point in time)off the reservation lands.

They had many vapes(vapes were relatively new and a hot commodity back then), a wall of cigars as well as CBD and lovely handmade glass bongs as you can see in this shot.  

I bought my kids some vape juice and my brother some cigars.

Here I am looking all cute(lol)posting with one of the bison statues before we hit the road again.

The Nez Perce Reservation/Tribal Lands aren't one continuous piece of ground.  There are many pieces of land spread out over the state of Idaho that belong to this tribe.

We continued north into Coeur D'Alene, passing by the Casino entrance.

And then continuing into the town of Coeur D'Alene, all the while traveling along the shores of Lake Coeur D'Alene.

This lake is massive.  We were weaving in and out of tribal lands and then crossing over a part of a finger of the lake on this journey.

It was a relatively clear day(if you don't count all the smokiness due to wildfires that Summer)and the scenery was spectacular.

Once we got onto the Interstate(90)Hubs needed to stop for gas so I wandered into the convenience store to stretch my legs.

Saw these Snickers bars and though of Kim..........lol!

And they were selling this t-shirt in there.  At this point in our month long adventure I would have appreciated a nap or two.....

Back on I-90 and even though it was the interstate the scenery was still wild, rugged and lovely.

We passed an exit for Lookout Pass.  I believe it's the only interstate exit with the number of 0.

Lookout Pass is a ski and recreation area that straddles Idaho and Montana.  It is the highest point in the rocky Mountains between Seattle WA and Missoula MT.

Beyond every turn was another great view!

And then we were back in Montana.

I'd hate to be towing a camper on these hilly roads.

And passing one of the many log filled trucks. I hope this truck had good brakes on the descent. lol 

Loved the little picture signs along here with mountains toppling over and rocks falling onto a car. lolz

Then we drove a bit further and we were very close to an uncontrolled wildfire.

You can see the smoke flumes coming up into the sky.

We kept driving and the road took us further away.....

And then we were at a place on the highway closer to the fire.

At one point there were some railroad tracks that went under the Interstate and I saw a train car with forest fire fighters hanging onto the sides, being moved from one area of the outbreak to another.  I wasn't fast enough with my camera plus Hubs was hauling a$$ out of there!

I prayed for them all to be safe while sitting in our car, being driven away from this danger.

Awhile later we were clear of the fire area and saw this sandy bank along a river.  I believe this was part of Clark Fork.

Then we were getting close to civilization--Frenchtown and further up the road was Missoula.  We ended up stopping in Butte for lunch.

But first, we had another couple of hours of driving to reach Butte(or as Joel use to call it "Butt"). ;-)

Some craggy rock cliffs......

And then I saw a giant "D" on the side of a mountain.   It seems this is a "thing" in Montana.  Towns and schools put giant letters on mountain sides.  It's a form of geoglyph and as I found out quite common in these mountainous states.

Info HERE.

Not sure what this "D" signifies.  Might have been in Drummond MT which is near the Clark Fork near Butte.

Almost to Butte.....

We stopped in a Perkins off the Interstate as we wanted something quick and easy so we could hop back onto the road since we lots of miles to cover still before stopping for the night.  The lunch rush was well over and the place was pretty deserted but the service was still glacial.  I got a salad with honey mustard dressing, not being very hungry since I was riding in a car all day.  I had to remove a bunch of croutons from said salad as it was just lousy with them!  Crouton overload isn't a bad thing unless they are not crunchy.

We only had about another hour from Butte to reach the Quality Inn in Belgrade/Bozeman, MT.  Could have hit the Lewis and Clark Caverns(I know Kim would have LOVED to go there...not!)but I have a

phobia about caverns stemming back to my childhood and being traumatized by being forced to go into the Luray Caverns by my parents.  Can't do those ever since(and my mild claustrophobia sure doesn't help on that score either).

Approaching Belgrade Montana, a blip on the map(at least back in 2017)along the Interstate.  This is one of the only motels in the area and/or only one of them that weren't crazy expensive.

I don't believe we ate dinner that night.  Hubs was too tired from driving so we settled into our room and got a good night's sleep.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the October 7th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

There are a few Frugal wins this past week so here goes....

*  Grocery shopping this past week........

This is what got bought at Walmart last Friday with Ibotta rebates, the Kraft boxed mac/cheese went to the son in-law and the coffee drink to my daughter.  I spent $70.40 OOP on what is pictured and got back $35.12 on Ibotta plus another $5 for hitting the Weekend Bonus and another $1.25 in various bonuses.

And I received $11.00 on Shopmium and $5.75 on Alexa so $19.15 OOP in the end on all this. (I also earned $5.20 worth of Shop Kicks too but those get counted once I cash out on that platform.)

Then I went to Kroger and a different Walmart on Tuesday and got this Ibotta valid stuff(plus 2 Two Good Yogurt Shakes not in the photo).....

This(plus the yogurt)all cost me $52.15 OOP.  I got back $16.50 on Ibotta, $11.50 on Shopmium, 775 Fetch Points, 801 Swag Bucks and 1,065 Shop Kicks(or $4.26).  So $24.15 after rebates but before cashing in on Fetch, Swag and Shop Kick eventually.

And this stuff that was a good price but didn't have Ibotta rebates on it.....

The soup and cake mix were part of the .99¢ sale at Kroger.  I picked up the wet dog food at Walmart as it's marked down from $1.99 each to $1.28 each.  I also got 340 Shop Kicks on the dog food so $1.36 back once I redeem those SK points for a gift card.

I also got 4 Ibotta rebates on Wednesday for these 3 items(the Spray n' Wash qualified for 2 different rebates).  This above cost me $14.99 OOP. I got $6.60 for these on Ibotta plus another $5 for hitting the Midweek bonus, so $11.60 in rebates.  Then $5 from Shopmium so $16.60 back on $14.99 spent.  Nice.

I also got 10 Shop Kicks on this trip and earned $5.01 on Swag bucks for the TruSkin product and $8 worth of points on Fetch for same TruSkin item.  8-))

So in total I spent $154.35 so far this week OOP on everything and got back $61.22 on Ibotta, $27.50 on Shopmium, $5.75 on Alexa so $101.47 back on $154.35 spent.

Add in the Fetch Points of 9,071(which puts me just shy of a $10 Kroger gift card), Shop Kicks worth $10.86, $10.83 worth of Swag Bucks and my Kroger Cash Back which came to $1.40 this past week and once I cash all that out(it's $33.09), my OOP on everything bought this week so are will cost me $19.79 in the end.

I am 9 items away from earning a big $10 Bonus on Ibotta so I'll be picking up 9 more items later today before we leave town.  I probably won't have time to add those into my totals but it will be items we can use(or I can give to my daughter for her use).

*  I also found a discarded receipt outside of Walmart on Wednesday.  I scanned it into Ibotta and got .60¢ for free!  I think of this as finding money on the ground because it IS money and I only had to pick up a receipt laying on the ground. lolz

*  My new bras arrived this week.  I will not be showing those off(because really, who wants to see an old, short, fat lady in her unmentionables).lol  I will say that I had to order ones that are 10 band sizes smaller than what I had been wearing and that they were on sale and when you bought at least 2 you received free shipping.  8-))

* My stipend arrived to pay for rides, food, incidentals on our trip to Ohio for surgery.  I am so thankful for this program we were able to participate in through Hubs old work insurance.  Once I have to have my other knee done I have a problem getting it done here which I'll talk about later.  

*  Since we now have a significant amount sitting in the checking account which earns close to zippo I finally went and bought a CD and moved about half of what was in checking into that.  The CD is with the same bank but it earns 5% for a 12 month instrument.  Putting that money to work to earn some passive income is definitely a win! ;-)

*  We didn't eat out a single meal this week.  I figured we were going to be doing nothing but eating out(or ordering in)once we got to Columbus.  Anybody in the Columbus area want to meet up?  I'll have a little bit of free time Sunday, Monday afternoon and a bit on Tuesday.  Of course we won't have a car so you may have to come to us or meet us somewhere our hotel. Just shoot me an email if interested. 8-)

*  I found money! 

I went with Hubs to his eye exam at a Walmart that is not our usual location and found this shiny penny by a register.

Total Found in last Week.... .01¢
Total Found this Year.......$3.11

*  As I was getting clothes ready to pack into my suitcase I checked the pockets of the jacket I took on the cruise in May.  I found all this.....

A fiver in one pocket.......

And 3 singles and the free unused headphones Air Canada gave out on our flight from London to Montreal.  I probably jammed these bills into my jacket pockets in case I needed to tip someone at one of the airports we flew out of/into.

I LOVE finding money, don't you?  But I am not going to count this toward my Found Money Goal for 2023....though the Challenge sure could use this boost as finding money around here has been fairly rare as finding hen's teeth as the expression goes. ;-)

That's all I got. 

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Hopefully all goes well and according to plan and I'll be back blogging next weekend unless I can figure out how to post from my phone while in Ohio.  If you don't mind, I'd appreciate if you can keep good thoughts for me, especially this coming Wednesday. ;-)

Sluggy   

To-Do List....September 2023

 Here's what was on the list to get done in September.......

*  Pay Bills  DONE  Always the #1 thing I do every month no matter what.

*  Go to in-person DR appointments  DONE  Had an appointment with the PCP's nurse to have an EKG and blood work done, another blood work appointment for the Neurologist and a consult and 4 cardiac tests with a cardiologist in September.

*  Submit all Pre-Op test results to Surgeon  DONE  We had a last minute situation come up due to my now ex-PCP.  Instead of conducting a cardiac clearance which was needed for the surgery she had her nurse do an unacceptable EKG.  I'm not blaming anyone, but it didn't give a acceptable read out/tracing so we had to scramble to find a cardiologist who could squeeze me in for a consult and then a stress test and echo.  He also did a pet scan of my heart.  I passed with flying colors. 8-)

*  Clean and Organize Stuff in House  IN PROGRESS  We are still arranging stuff, moving stuff around here trying to make this house work for us.  

*  Buy Stuff for House  DONE  Mostly this has involved buying kitchen counter tops, end splashes and some other back splash things(you can tell I am well verse in the contractor language here).  Hubs has been picking up drips and drabs and we are still waiting to hear back when the handyman is going to start work on this all.  In the meantime, our dishwasher died and rather than using the home warranty that is going to run out the end of October(and pay a $100 deductible charge)we'll just get a new appliance once the counter top work is completed, whenever that turns out to be.  In the meantime, we'll be hand washing the dishes.

*  Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie  DONE  Not really much to do here each month anymore as I no longer print coupons and rarely get any coupon inserts.  The "game" has changed and I'll be removing this item from my To-Do List going forward.

*  Edit More Photos  DONE  I slowed down the rate of photo editing in September.  I still have photos from older trips that need editing but I've just been reoccupied with other things.  After the knee surgery I suppose I'll do more of this since I won't be as mobile for awhile.

*  Post About Old Trips  DONE  I posted 4 installments from our Western Trip in 2017 in September.  I've still got a little less than half of that trip to blog about.  And then all the other trips since then.  Yep, that will keep me busy for awhile. lol

*  Work on Genealogy  DONE  Did a few things, nothing big and then worked on a post or two but didn't finish anything.

*  Move Video Files onto New Computer  FAIL  This was not a priority in September and just fell to the bottom of the pile.  I'll get it done....some day. ;-)

Did you have a To-Do List in September?
Did you get stuff done on your list?

Sluggy

Income & Spending for September 2023

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 fund may be applied 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 2023.  

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up September in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of September with?....$2,154.62

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3878.950

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $804.63

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

*  Blog Revenue of $101.65

Total "Income" for August....$7,248.05

Expenses in September---

*  Irregular bills in September were $3,184.55

*  Variable Expenses in September came to $737.69

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,171.19*

Total Expenses....$5,093.43

$7,248.05-$5,093.43=$2,154.62

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare, I include his Vision Care, and his Medicare supplement in this number with my Healthcare Premium.  His Part B comes directly out of his SS check before we get it.

Slush into September of $70,796.85 and the addition of $2,154.62, October's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $72,951.47

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,154.62.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance premium, vision care, Hubs supplement plan and internet were the same as last month.

*  There were no charges on my Amazon and Bank of America c/c's in September

*  The Mastercard c/c was $1,012.16 less than last month.

*  The Aviator c/c was $1,255.25 lower in September(We paid it ahead in August so no payment in Sept).

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $23.44 higher than in August.

*  The cellphone bill was $8.46 higher than last month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $39.15 higher than in August.

*  We had an irregular bill for the lawyer consult and legal forms of $2,400.00

*  We had irregular bills for long term care premiums of $784.55

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for September 2023---While we paid some credit card charges in August that would have been due in September I forgot about the Long Term Care Premiums would be due in September. duh.  And then we finally got all that legal paperwork taken care of so that was a massive irregular bill that hopefully we will NEVER have again. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into OCTOBER 2023---Well we still haven't heard back on when our kitchen sink and countertops are getting replaced. sigh.  It should have been done well before now but you know handymen in a state where the motto is "Let the good times roll!" 24/7 all. year. long.  Seriously, never move here and try to get anything business wise done in a timely manner.

We have home insurance due in October. ouch  Then just the usual suspects--electric, water, cell, WAM cash, credit card charges.  We do have our 4th quarterly 401K withdrawal coming in October so if we do make any plans to travel to see our son and his fiancé during the holidays we've got some extra for that trip.

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 down/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 all your excess monies after bills were paid 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