I Just Said No to Drugs!

I got a nasty little surprise today.

While I was in Rite-Aid spending my +Up Rewards(I am officially out of them now), I went back to the Pharmacy counter to get a prescription refilled and give them my new insurance information.
We were forced to change coverage in 2014....not because of ObummerCare or anything, because our previous coverage company was an HMO deal and doctors and services are ONLY available in the northeastern PA area.  Seeing as the Daughter has been in Louisiana since last May and #2 Son is leaving for college(only one  of the schools he is considering is in this area), half the family can't use the medical coverage and we'd had to pay out of pocket since May for Daughter's expenses(ouch)and if #2 Son goes elsewhere for college, we'd be paying OOP for his medical care too.

So Hubs changed the coverage for 2014 to one with participating doctors and coverage nationwide.

The plans we have ALWAYS had up until this new one have had prescription benefits that are NOT dependent on deductibles being satisfied first.  IE-You go to get a med refill in January and you haven't satisfied your coverage deductible, you still only pay the prescription plan price and your meds are not used to satisfy your deductible.

Until now.

So the pharmacy clerk tells me our $3K deductible hasn't been satisfied(well duh!...nobody has seen a doc or had a test or blood work done in the last 7 days)and the prescription that should cost me $20 OOP is going to be $290.

*Thunk*  That's the sound of my jaw as it hit the floor.

Obviously I did NOT get the meds refilled.
Hey!  Who needs medications anyway?

It's not one I need to take or I'll keel over dead.....at least not for awhile.
I've got a similar drug I was taking they changed to this one, so I'll just get the ok to go back on that one for now as I have something like a 2 months supply of it.

Hubs is having a procedure the end of the week which we WILL have to pay OOP for and since that will probably satisfy that $3K deductible I'll wait until after that payment gets into the system to go and attempt any more drug refills.  I'm good with everything else for a couple of weeks so I'm hoping we can get this out of the way and back to paying sensible prices for meds.

If not, I'll go see if Walmart has any of my meds on their $4 list and transfer those over there which will help our bottom line.

I also have to find out if my various doctors(I have 5)take this new coverage, if the blood work lab will take this coverage, if the durable medical goods company will take this coverage and if the gastric surgery & nutrition classes will still be covered and if so, what percentages of each we will have to pay OOP.
This is going to be like a fulltime job for awhile, getting all the answers and everything sorted out!

Boy, am I going to give Hubs an earful when he gets home tonight! ;-)

Sluggy

This is All I Have to Say

I have 3 heat sources going at the moment in this room......the regular electric heat, the split unit system(which is waving a white flag of surrender at these temps)and a space heater.

And I am wearing a pair of sweatpants under my nightgown(which I never bothered to change out of today)and a wooly hat in the house.

After I hit "send", I am putting on a pair of gloves.

But the weather now is looking downright balmy......

Let me just make one comment before I go......

Global Warming my Ass!!!

Sssssssssssssluggy

January's 31 Day Challenge & Is It Cold Enough?!

If anyone wants some motivation to declutter in January, go check out Peter Walsh on Facebook HERE.  Just scroll down until you find the video for each particular day(One through Six are on there and he adds a new video/goal each day.).
He is conducting a small clutter busting goal for every day in January.

It's small doable cleaning/decluttering jobs for those that have a problem tackling large purging goals.
Sort of eating the job one bite at a time, instead of seeing the big goal of a totally clutter-free home at once and panicking. lolz

While we have missed 6 days of the month and their specific jobs, it's not too late to jump into the decluttering band wagon(plus catch up on those 6 days worth of chores during the rest of the month when you get a chance)and play along.

While I spent November and December getting rid of tons of items, mostly in storage or in the garage, I could stand to sweep through the house this month to tidy up and purge some more things.
So who's with me and Peter?  8-)

They closed the schools here last night in anticipation of the extreme cold.
I've got the cabinets under all the sinks open to keep the pipes unfrozen and the room controls jacked up to 65F degrees and it still feels like 30F in here.
Brrrr!
I have finished all my important crucial chores for the day so I am going back and hiding under my blankets!
This crap is for the birds......
I'll see y'all when I thaw out. lolz

Sluggy
 

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Did you eat your Black Eyed Peas for New Year's so you can have luck this year?" Edition .....

Shame on me for buying ready to prepare peas and not soaking mine from dry peas!
My Southern ancestors are spinning in their graves I am sure. ;-)
I did a simple sauté of onions and bacon with bacon grease, add the peas to heat til hot, and serve preparation.

Around here they do pork something with kraut since it's heavily Polish-descent population.
But we hold to our Southern roots in this house.....

What is your family New Year's food tradition?

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Eating Out on Vacation
Monday--Eating Out as Son's apartment
Tuesday--Whatever we found in the fridge when we got home

Wednesday--Chicken Parmesan, BEPs
Thursday--Cod
Friday--Lamb Chops
Saturday--Pork Chops

Everything as planned(or not so planned)until Thursday, when we had pulled pork sammies with coleslaw from the pork #2 Son didn't eat while we were away.  Then Friday was Beef Stew using leftover rib roast from Christmas and Saturday was Kielbasa Sandwiches with California Medley Veggies(kielbasa, rolls and veg was already here).
 

As for the food spending last week....
There was 2 trips to the grocery store & 1 trip to Rite-Aid and I spent a grand total of $73.53(including my Rite-Aid trip at $.69)on $157.70 worth of groceries/toiletries at 3 different stores.  I am going to strive for another $300 or less grocery month for January.  At this much spent, I am on track to accomplish this, crossing fingers. ;-)

Leftovers going into this week--Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Beef Stew, Lula Rolls, Roasted Cauliflower, Corn Casserole.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Lamb Chops(have), leftover Roasted Cauliflower, leftover Corn Casserole
Monday--Leftover Pulled Pork Sammies, Coleslaw
Tuesday--Leftover Beef Stew, Biscuits
Wednesday--Mushroom(have) Parmesan, Green Salad, Pasta(have)
Thursday--Clam(have) Chowder, Cod(have), Sugar Snap Peas(have)
Friday--Pork Enchiladas(using leftover pulled pork), Green Beans(have)
Saturday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut, Stuffing(have)


What I need to purchase for this menu?....... Potatoes, Mozzarella Cheese, Tortillas, Red Cabbage, Grape Tomatoes and Salad Greens.  Other items needed(not for dinners)are lunchmeat and bread and maybe milk. 


What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy


 

Two More Xmas Mentions....

Okay, so I lied when I said I was over posting any more Christmas related stuff. 

I forgot to post about the card Hubs gave me Xmas morning.......

Words to live by, right? 8-)))



And we have a Christmas Mystery this year.

I used this gift bag to put one of Hubs presents in.....

It was a bag we got last year with a gift.  I "believe" this bag held a gift for #2 Son and came from my brother and his wife.
It's a nice bag so I reused it this year.

When Hubs pulled out his gift and the tissue paper, this flew out too......

An unmarked envelope that evidently was sitting on the bottom of the bag.....with this card inside....

And the inside of the card......

Now neither my brother or his wife are named Sharen or Bev.

So either one of them got a gift from someone named Kim, who previously got a present from Sharen and Bev and never saw/opened the card in this gift bag and she reused it to gift my brother or sister in-law and they never found the card either, so the card/envelope went undetected through 2 cycles of gift giving(or more!), until we found it.
Or.....I haven't a CLUE who/how/why this card was in this bag!

It's a bona fide mystery.
But we hung the card up with the others anyway.  It would be a shame not to enjoy it even if no one here is named Kim.

Sluggy

 

What Santa Brought Me.....2013 Edition

**I promise, this is my last post about Christmas.  I know most people are anxious to "move on" from the Holidays and get it behind them, but not me.  I would keep my tree and lights on the house up for Months if I could. lol **

I know everybody is anxious to know exactly what presents Sluggy received for Christmas in 2013.

Oh come on.....you KNOW you want to know.  ;-)

Yes, we are lavish gift givers around here.

It's all about the bling.......the luxury........the decadence........
 

No, around here, we don't expect anyone to spend a big wad of cash on a pile of gifts for us.  We gift sensibly.  We give what someone wants/needs(within reason) and we try to get a deal if possible.

Here are a couple of gifts I got from family & friends......

 

First from my brother and his wife....a blender sports bottle......

 

 

 

And Tanner sent this awesome set of HUGE coffee mugs if you missed that post.......

 

 

 

 

We do an immediate family Secret Santa gift exchange and #2 Son got my name again this year!.....

Ollie's....One of my favorite places to shop thus one of my favorite gifts this year!

 

 

 

#1 Son bought me....

 

2 lbs. of sugar-free gourmet Chocolate.  From caramel thingys, to dark chocolate nut clusters to ginormous peanut butter cups......mmmmmmm

 

 

Plus he got me a 4 pack of Sprecher's Hard Root Beer.  I discovered this stuff on our Summer Road Trip in the liquor store in Sonya Ann's town and have been looking for it/craving it ever since.  Of course, you can't get this anywhere around where I live!  Figures, right? lolz

 

Here are the goodies Hubs/Santa gave me--

 

"Santa" filled my stocking with this strange mix of goodies....

 

 

A metal Spatula with a silicone edge(so you can use it on non-stick cookware)

A Chocolate Bar

A pack of Batteries? (It's best not to try to think too hard why he puts some things in the stocking.)

A canister of Lens Wipes
A GOOD manual can opener(It got put to use immediately as ours was on it's last legs so it's not in the picture.)

A small Rake with a purple handle

 

I asked for the small Rake with a purple handle actually.

 

It's a telescoping back scratcher......

 

Wish I had one of these when the kids were little and acted up in the car.  I could have smacked them while driving.

 

And the "big" gifts.......

 

 

2 Bottles of hard cider I have never had before....one is an imported Irish brand.

A box of dark chocolate. Mmmmm!

A $25 prepaid Visa card

A rayon batik tunic.....

 

I showed him a couple of tops I wanted(this one and another design)and he said he wasn't "doing eBay" to get gifts.

Sigh.

So I went ahead and bought a couple of tops from this seller in early December because I needed some new shirts AND since this sort of clothing is "out of season" now, the deals were really swell.

One of the tops I got was this particular one.

 

A classic case of "Don't buy yourself anything around the Holidays" happened.

Doh.

Now I have 2 of this one, so when I wear one out, I'll have a spare.

Good thing I REALLY like this tunic! lolz

 

And that is all my gifties for this year.

 

I am almost shocked that I did not get a book this year, as Hubs usually gives me a book(in his mind, it's the PERFECT gift).

I guess since I still haven't finished the book he gave me last Christmas he figured out maybe buying me reading material I didn't ask for isn't the best use of his gifting cash. 8-))

As you can see, we just live on the edge, walk on the wild side, spend money like it's going out of style!!

Not.....

 

So what did Santa bring you this year?
I want to see it all!!!

 

Sluggy

 

It's Almost Time for the Abbey

About an hour and a half to go before the premier of Season 4 of Downton Abey on my local station.
Can't.
Hardly.
Wait.

Until then, check this parody out......lolz......

 

Sluggy

Update On My Family Drug Dealer....Er, Doctor

And while I am digging through local newspaper articles, here is an update on my family doctor....you know, the one who almost killed me last year.......HERE.
He has been in jail since May 2013 and there are a few more details in this report.

What a train wreck!
And he hid it so well from so many patients, including me......up until February when he was obviously drunk during my appointment.

The man has big problems.  If he hadn't almost caused my demise I might feel more compassion toward him.....

Sluggy

 

Dodged a Fraud Bullet Last Month

First there was the Target card theft ring on Black Friday and now this......
I just saw on the news a few days ago that Hubs and I dodged a credit card scam bullet a couple of weeks ago.
We had gone to the Ollie's in a town south of here(remember my James Brown Christmas CD?)shopping a bit before Christmas.  We ate out afterwards and had I not had an Applebee's gift card with me that day to use, we would have gone to the Chinese Buffet Restaurant in that shopping center.

Thursday there was THIS REPORT on the local news.
Geesh!
We probably would have paid with a credit card had we eaten there that day.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, with having credit card info. stolen.

It just never ends, does it?   8-)

Sluggy

Christmas 2013 at Chez Sluggy

Christmas morning before we had to chisel #2 Son out of bed at the crack of 10.....

#2 Son missed  breakfast of scrambled eggs, Smithfield salt-cured ham(sliced ever so thin)and Great Aunt Lula's Rolls.....

Presents waiting to be opened.....

 

 

Max the dog says, "Get that boy out of bed already, willya?!?!".
 

Seems like all our ornaments anymore are "kiddie" themed.....sock money, peace bear, Lamb Chop, Dudley the Dragon, Power Rangers, Pokémon, Big Bird......

Doing my Carol Merrill impersonation.....if you are under 40, Google the name.....

Me--

Carol--

Finally!
He lives........well, after his morning coffee.....

Opening gifties of smelly stuff......

From my brother and his wife.....

Look!
Santa left us an old beagle under our tree.....just what we wanted......

Hubs Secret Santa gifties.......I think these books are going to lead to more expenses, but hopefully, with yummy results!

Hey! It isn't Christmas without sox and undies.....

#2 Son opens his "big" gift(a new $$$ amp), plugs in his bass and cranks up the volume.....thankfully the windows didn't crack!......

Note to self--next time you give a gift like this, be sure to wear earplugs when you come downstairs....

There are never any pictures of me opening up presents.......must be because I am the only one who takes photos.

Can you believe the beagle slept through that?!?  Now I KNOW she is deaf....

The second batch of rolls waiting to go into the oven.....

.....so they can turn out like this.....Hey! Who stole 3 rolls?!

 

After presents and while food was cooking I set about setting the table.  We are still using that folding camping table for the dining room table, but no excuse not to put out the Christmas dishes and good table linens, right?
So I found a gold tapestry table cloth that was the proper length to cover it and pulled out some coordinating cloth napkins.
But for gosh sakes, look at the size of the TAGS on them!

Couldn't hide them when I tried to fold the napkins either......they kept flapping out.....

Snip, snip, say, "Goodbye Martha!".  If you want to come to dinner here, you have to be an unobtrusive guest.....

What an egomaniacal witch she is to have to have a tag that large on a napkin!
I can see a tablecloth(the tag on the table covering was the same size),but a skimpy 12" x 12" piece of fabric too?
Heck, I could probably seam these together and make another napkin! lolz


Forgot to photograph the dinner(too busy eating it), but here is one of the desserts, a Trifle.
Except I don't own a trifle bowl.....oh well, it still tasted fine.

It was a cheap dessert since it used up some items I got cheaply that needed using.....a chocolate Entenmann's cake from the bakery outlet($1), 2 packs of instant vanilla pudding($2), half a container of leftover Cool Whip from Thanksgiving(.44¢), a few squirts of aerosol whipped cream(.50¢)and a bag of frozen strawberries($1-Dollar Tree).
It was by far the biggest hit with the young'uns....

No pictures of the dinner guests, just the desserts.....Hey!, you saw them on my Christmas Eve post and they hadn't changed much in the 18 hours since then.....lol

So how was your Christmas Day?

Tomorrow we take down the tree and decorations and pack 'em away for another year.....

Sluggy

 

 

 

 

Using Those Leftovers

We got 7 inches of white stuff today/last night.
Plus it was bitterly cold & windy despite the sunny day earlier.

Ok, who do I contact to get this snow stuff discontinued?
I don't remember subscribing to this weather!  Take my name off that list please.....


As per my post earlier in the week, here was the Meal Plan for the rest of the week(after we got back home NYE).....
Wednesday--Chicken Parmesan
Thursday--Cod
Friday--Lamb Chops
Saturday--Pork Chops

We had the Parm Wednesday and Pulled Pork(leftover pork roast and coleslaw I made) Thursday.
(I put all the Cod I got on special in the freezer because we had to use the pork.)

Today I went digging in the fridge and found 1 slab of rib roast plus the ribs Hubs had sliced off that had tons of meat around them.
I totally forgot about that leftover from Christmas dinner!

So instead of chops tonight, I boiled the bones down, did a sauté of onions and celery, added potatoes, green beans from the freezer and had Hubs pick up a bag of frozen carrots(sliced).  A little flour to thicken and some browning and fresh ground pepper gave us Beef Stew for dinner.....

We had leftover homemade rolls from Christmas dinner to sop up the juice.

No additional food cost except for $1 for the bag of frozen carrots.....everything was sourced from provisions already here.
And there is enough for 4 more servings, so at least 1 more meal's worth.
A great filling, rib sticking and warm meal for a beastly frigid night!

Tomorrow either lamb or pork chops are on deck with stuffing, apple sauce and Brussels sprouts.

Then I get to make a menu for next week.....oh, the thrills of my life just never end. lolz

We've got Stew and Pulled Pork leftovers, Cod and either Pork or Lamb(depending on what we eat tomorrow night)already here for next week.  Only 3 more meals to go for next week's plan to be completed.  If the cold & snow continues and I don't want to go out in it, I have 2 hunks of lasagna and quiche in the freezer I can thaw out for meals.  That just leaves 1 more meal to thunk up and buy supplies to prepare.

It looks like next week will be a light grocery shopping week.  Sounds good to me!  8-)

Sluggy

Net Worth Report/Changes....2013 to 2014

I started doing a monthly Net Worth statement in January 2013.
So on the heels of reporting in on my 2013 $20K Savings Challenge here is the change in our Net Worth from Jan. 2013 to Jan. 2014.......

This includes all the monies I get my hands on and don't spend(net income, dividends, interest, side income, tax refunds, etc.)during the year, plus all the retirement monies.  I don't include the house value(since we couldn't liquidate it and need to live SOMEWHERE)and the value of the stock we own(a tiny little amount), nor do I include the College Account monies(since that's technically not "our" money but the kids' money....even though it "was" our money to begin with lolz).

Anyway, our Net Worth from January 2013 to 2014 went up $62,734.61.

Most of that up tick is due to increases in the retirement monies because we spent $23,611.66 on emergencies(house improvements, repairs and supplies, car expenses) and vacation spending/travel last year from the $28,907.08 I saved in 2012, so we are only "up" $5,295.42 in the monies I control for 2013 from 2012.

I hope that last bit made some sense. ;-)

$62K is good but not great at this point in our journey to retirement.....but it's still better than a poke in the eye, right?

Sluggy
 

$20K Savings Challenge.....December Update & GRAND TOTAL for 2013

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my December End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.
But seeing as I hit the $20K goal in October, we'll just see how much more I can sock away in December.

I have to report that we finished up December with a little pile of cash to tuck away.
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with?.......$1,281.68.

Income
We had $1,157.18 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in December totaled $124.50.  This brought us to our gain of $1281.68 for December.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Cable, Phone, Water were all approx. the same amounts as in November.

*  I spent under $300 for food/toiletries in December.  (This almost makes up for overshooting that budget by $180 last month).
*  I didn't buy any living room furniture yet so no spending there. 

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  $310 more was spent in cash over November's total of cash spending.  I blame Hubs paying cash for Christmas stuff.

*  The electric bill was $100 MORE than November's bill.  I blame the cold weather/turning the heat up.

*  We had unexpected pet related spending of $104 due to the dog having ear infections.
*  The credit card bill was almost $500 MORE than November's bill. I blame Christmas again.

 

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.

The 2013 GRAND TOTAL.....
With all 12 months accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 is $24,033.60. 
 

We surpassed our goal by $4,033.60!  8-)))
 

Looking ahead for January and all of 2014......

*  I will continue to do this Savings Challenge and report in each month on how it is going.
 

*  I need to sit down with Hubs and have our Yearly Financial Meeting to go over how and what we spent on in 2013 and see where we need to cut back, change or expand the spending for 2014.  We'll break down the monthly spending and analyze how we did financially in each category.  Then we'll look ahead into 2014 and try to anticipate where we'll need to put our money toward and how much we can hope to save.

*  Figure out how much of the money saved in the year before's 2012 Savings Challenge didn't get spent in 2013, so it can now be tucked away permanently into a savings/investment instrument.  Going forward into 2014, any funds saved in 2013's Savings Challenge now become our mini-emergency fund for 2014.  Any emergencies that can't be paid for using extra income each month after the bills are all paid will be paid for out of this $24,033.60 Savings Fund.(Then when 2015 rolls around whatever was saved in 2013 and not spent on emergencies/extras in 2014 gets tucked away permanently into savings.)

*  January credit card bill will once again be large like December's(due to Christmas and travel expenses)but will be paid off this month.  No interest paid evah! ;-)

*  The quarterly garbage bill is due this month.

*  Semi-annual car insurance will be due in February so I need to keep an eye on credit card spending in January so we don't have to dip into the Savings Challenge funds to pay the insurance.  It's just a matter of watching WHEN we spent not so much NOT spending on something.

 

So how was your December financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in December?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

MY January Spending Challenge

Lots of my online friends and bloggers I read are doing what is termed a "Fiscal Fast" or having a "No or Low Spend January".

Since January comes after the biggest spending Holiday in the year(Christmas and/or Hanukkah)AND since January is also the beginning of the year and everyone talks about turning over a new leaf/changing their bad habits, it makes sense to want to tighten up on the old purse strings for a bit.

What doesn't make sense is to do one of these challenges and then go back to wonton shopping once it's over or to stock up crazy amounts of items right before the Fast/Challenge before you have to stop spending so you can make it to the end of the time frame you have chosen.

I guess doing one of these challenges gets you into a better mental state in regards to money but does it really affect your bottom line for the year?

If you spend more before a challenge in order to make it through one, aren't you just spending the money you would have spent during the time when you aren't spending?
If you go without during a challenge and then go out and buy the things you denied yourself for that time period when it's over, how is that reducing your spending over the long haul?
In my mind, it's just moving when you spend/what you spend around in time.

What you need to do more than one of these challenges is to examine your habits and change the ones that are making you spend too much $.  

Changing what you expect in life in regards to "things, consumables and experiences" and then where and how much you spend your money on them is the REAL challenge.

That or finding a way to make more money if you don't bring in enough to satisfy your needs and wants.

Perhaps changing your spending(or rather delaying your spending)for a week or month CAN lead you to develop new money habits, which is what you really want.......better habits about money.

But I find that, unless you put Christmas spending on a credit card and are wary of the impending delivery in January of a c/c bill, January may Not be the best time to avoid spending money.

You can find some good deals after the Holidays so it might be a real good time to spend some extra money to stock up on things you need now rather than later.

Who hasn't gone to Target or some other store after Christmas to buy some clearance Holiday items?  Along with all the décor and gift wrapping stuff on deep discount, there are food and paper products(either with Holiday colors or themes or specialty foods only carried for the Winter holidays)and you can get them now to put away for use later or use now.  Personally, if I can get Christmas toilet paper for 1/2 of what I pay for plain old white toilet paper in January, I'll use it in February to October or whenever it runs out. ;-)

An if you have kids, there are clothing and toy deals to be had too!
Why, I spent a few minutes on New Year's Day buying some Christmas presents for 2014.
So do you think I am crazy for doing this?

Crazy like a fox is more like it.
The store in question only has a storewide clearance sale this week plus I had a $X off $XX coupon I could use, so I'd be crazy not to buy it now for half or more off what they will charge me come next November.  I don't go nuts buying Xmas presents ahead but do buy if I know I can use it and I have the space to store it until next Winter....and most importantly, I have the money to afford it now.

So I'm spending $30 in January instead of spending $65 in November.  If I were to save that $30 in an investment instrument for 10 months instead, would it grow to $65 by November?  No way.
Financially it makes more sense for me to spend it now.

So the best of luck to all of you during your no-spending challenge!
I hope it goes well and gets you to really re-examine how you handle your money because that's the only lasting goal if you really think about it.

But me?.....I'll be scooping up the deals I can use, if and when I find them in January.  8-))

Sluggy


 

Happy Rite-Aid New Year!

Had to spend or lose $16 in +Up Rewards Jan. 1st......

1 x R-A brand Pepto-Bismol w/20% discount=$3.19
1 x Light bulb on sale=$3.99
2 x Pantene Shampoo on sale=$7.00
1 x Northern TP RAIN CHECK=$5.37
1 x Reese's holiday candy 50% off=$2.14
SubTotal.....$21.69

Coupons Used
1 x $3/2 Pantene(Sunday P&G insert)=$3.00
2 x $1/1 Peelie Qs on Pantene bottles=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$5.00

$21.69-$5.00=$16.69
I used my expiring $16 in +Up Rewards and paid .69¢ OOP.
Then I received back $5 in new +Up Rewards($3 lightbulb, $2 shampoo).

The peelie Qs were a happy surprise but left me $2 short on spending all my expiring +Ups, so I grabbed that candy.  I should have made a new plan before I hit the check-out and bought something $2 worth that was a bit more useful.....sigh.  But it isn't like the chocolate won't get eaten....lolz

We are now good on tp and shampoo again after the last month's deals, though I do have 1 more rain check for tp.  I should find something else to spend +Up Rewards on going forward.

I'll probably curtail R-A shopping for a few months once all my +Ups are spent....which should be in the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully a sale comes up on Peroxide soon so I can just load up on that.

Sluggy




 

Jumping into the Spending for 2014

I've been asked how I spend so little on groceries/toiletries in a year in relation to how many people I am feeding/providing products for.

Well, playing "the drugstore" game at Rite-Aid helps mostly with the toiletries/hba/cleaning and paper products.

I also utilize other stores like grocery outlets, restaurant supplies, bakery outlets, discount outlets, gardening and farm stands, etc.  Basically anywhere I can get items for a lower price.  And yes, I am known to buy groceries while on vacation. 8-)

I cook from scratch a goodly amount.

I keep a price book so I know when to buy food(at the lowest price in the sales cycle)and I stockpile moderately and only what we will eat.

I ALWAYS grocery shop with a list and a calculator.  Nothing goes into my cart unless I have figured out what it's costing me.

I meal plan but I am also flexible about it.

Let's talk about that last point a bit, shall we?
Hubs and I went to the grocery store this afternoon.  We've been out of town so we needed to make a menu plan for the rest of this week and pick up some edible provisions as I haven't shopped in over a week.

I had a menu(sort of)planned out.....
I had cooked a pork roast marinated in whiskey and black pepper flavors before we left which #2 Son didn't eat, so that went on the dinner list as pork sandwiches with coleslaw(buy a bag of pre-shredded and make a slaw sauce to add).
I was going to do portabella mushroom caps w/a parmesan treatment and use some spaghetti pasta leftover as a side for a meal.
I had some kielbasa in the freezer I could make a meal of.
That was about all I'd come up with before we left....3 meals.

I didn't plan on buying lots of meat today but that is what was the best deal in the store. 8-)))

Once we got to the store I saw that bagged slaw was not on sale but whole cabbages were, so I bought a small head for $1.10 vs. a bag of slaw for $3.49.(I have carrots shreds I can add at home and I have a knife.lol)
I have rolls in the fridge I got on the discount bakery rack a couple of weeks ago I can use with these sammie's after steaming them to soften them up.
1 meal, Friday's, is done!

Over in the fish dept. there was a 1.91 lbs. container of Cod marked down to 50% off($6.99 lb. reg.).
This is enough for 2 meals for our family of 3 once I take it home and cut it up and portion it out into bags-1 to cook tomorrow, 1 for the freezer.  US caught wild cod for $3.50 per meal.
I had no intention of buying and cooking cod this week but because of this deal, cod is now on the menu.

Over in the meat dept. I found boneless/skinless chicken thighs marked down to .84¢ lb.  There were cheaper non boneless/skinless thighs also for about .70¢ lb. but those packages were large quantities and I don't have room in my tiny freezers so I "settled" for the .84¢ lb. ones.
Now instead of mushroom parmesan, chicken parmesan is on the menu for tonight.

Boneless Pork Loin was on special(today is the last day)for $1.78 lb. so I picked a small one up(7 lbs.)  Saturday, I'll cook some "chops" for dinner and slice the rest up to portion out, bag up and put into the freezer for later.

They also had reduced lamb chops(50% off)so I picked up 4 chops and will serve them on Sunday, so 1 of 7 meals for next week are bought as well.

And now my menu for the rest of the week plus Sunday is finished and the food bought.
Plus I have an extra fish meal, leftovers on the chicken meal for #2 Son to munch on, probably some pork sammies and fixings leftover and boneless pork chops enough for 2-3 more meals(depending on how many Hubs and #2 Son want at a sitting).
I also bought lunchmeat for sandwich lunches, green leaf lettuce, a loaf of bakery made rye bread-they made too much so it was $1.19 a loaf, and a large container of pumpkin spice creamer(that was a marked down whim for #2 Son and it rang up wrong so I got it free!).
The bread was a happy find.  Bread was on the list but not rye...until I found it for $1.19 a loaf. ;-)

I spent $41.01 and got 7-8 dinner main courses bought, plus a few other things.

If there are no good specials on meat next week, I'll just pull out the extra cod and 1 meal of pork chops I got and froze today,  then add in a few meatless dishes and the leftover chunk of meat lasagna I froze last month and another meat in the freezer to complete next week's menu.

Sluggy


 

Money Thoughts for 2014

Take control of your LIFE.....Don't let money control you, YOU make a plan and control the money.

Pay yourself first in 2014. (Take 10% off the top of your net income and put it away for when you won't have an income, because whether you like it or not, some day you won't.  It may hurt now, but you will be so glad later that you did this.)

Live intentionally and spend intentionally.

Enjoy your money, spend it on the priorities in your life, use it for good, spend it wisely, have a little fun, but put a little aside for emergencies.

Money is a tool.  Take care of your tools.

When 2015 rolls around, make sure you can say that you lived below your means in 2014.

Sluggy