I Just Can't Fathom What Some People are Thinking!

I have been on a few local yahoo lists for years now.  One is a local Tag Sale or Yard Sale site where you can sell things.  Another is a local Christmas/Holiday list.  This one started out as a mix of folks who needed help providing Christmas for their kids, for whatever reason, and folks who have a want and the resources to help provide for these families.  It's like a cyber Salvation Army giving tree.  People who need help are spread throughout my state on this list and you can choose to play Santa for those who can't afford to at the Holidays, either folks who are local to you or you can choose to ship to anyone on the list anywhere in the state.

This second group was so successful that the owner/originator decided to start another group list with a similar purpose, but not limit the help to Holiday giving and not to limit it to presents for your kids/loved ones.  Any time of year and any type of help is acceptable to ask for on this list, for the most part.  You can't ask for a car or large sums of money, et cetera.  Physical items of lesser value(money toward paying a bill, used furniture for your apartment) and/or guidance(like legal advise or help contacting appropriate agencies for your needs)and/or personal help(such as rides to doctors, help repairing a roof, babysitting, cooking for someone ill)....that sort of thing.

About 4 years back, the requests on these lists started getting out of hand(parents asking for new gaming systems, computers, new smartphones, asking for gifts for grown children who could get a job and buy their own stuff, etc.)and too many cases of fraud(folks asking for help when they clearly didn't need it, and folks receiving help from multiple people without disclosing this)started happening.  The system in place started to be abused by a certain element of the membership which made those who were giving help decide to either drop out or severely limit what they gave/who they helped.

In January of this year, this email came across the "Year Long Help" List.  It's from a mother of a grown child asking for help for her daughter.
I was floored by what it said.

All the identifying information and names have been removed.
Here it is......


"This is on behalf of my daughter in XXX County who does not have internet access. I've over-extended myself horribly helping her for the past few years and literally can't help her anymore. She is broke and her water is being shut off. The local community action agency (which the XXX agency referred her case to) says they can't help her unless she has a source of income (which she doesn't have).  Welfare was cut off. She is in a rental property but is facing eviction for nonpayment of rent. She says she won't go to a shelter because of her pets (four dogs & 2 cats). Her spouse (also low-income) moved back with his family and took their newborn with him. I have her older child with me. Due to rules in place by county children & youth services, she is not permitted to be with either of her children, so she can't move in with her husband nor can she move in with me. Need advice, suggestions or other options to have her consider.  She has no income and no government benefits now."

Here is the only response this email received.....

"tell her to go live on the streets if she don't want to go to a shelter"

And here is the response from the original note's writer.....

"Hi all, Thanks for the advice. I personally think she needs to look at getting a job or some sort of income. She disagrees and says she's too anxious to ever work. She says that if she has a big family, then the various pieces of the government will help her, by moving her up on section 8 lists, free medical care, food stamps, etc. She plans to go to the various agencies next week, because she just found out she's a few weeks pregnant again and she says that will get her qualified fast for all this aid. I hope she knows what she's doing, because frankly, I don't understand it. I just always worked for whatever I could. Thanks; I guess time will tell whether she is right or wrong."

Now I have no clue what the background, what all went on in these people's lives the years leading up to this plea for help.
Obviously this daughter has some very disturbing ideas about being a grown-up and how one should conduct one's life.  And frankly, I blame her parent(s)for some of this, as it sounds like this mother was a major enabler and helped this daughter to end up at this point, thinking others owed her a life/a living.  Allowing your grown kid to continue to mooch off of you, her parent(s), just reinforced these notions that other people "owed" her something.

I try not to be judgmental, but seriously??
Since when is having another baby going to help your situation if you can not support yourself now?

And something bad which is not spoken of here must have preceded the state banning her from being around/living with her other children.  What makes her think the state won't step in and take a newborn from her too?

And how many other people out there in the society also have this thought process and seriously believe that society OWES them money/housing/transportation when they do nothing to help themselves?  This Entitlement Attitude seems to be growing in a certain segment of our society.

People like this are what gives social agencies(government backed AND privately funded ones too)a bad name and make taxpayers balk at their hard earned dollars being spent in an unwise fashion on social programs.

What are your reactions and thoughts to this email plea on behalf of this woman's daughter?
I am very curious to know.

Sluggy

$24K Savings Challenge....February Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.
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 amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums 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, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2014 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $24,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the February report.....

I have posted my February End of Month $24K $AVING$ 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 $2,000.

I have to report that we finished up February with a nice hunk of cash but not the target amount.
The extra cash amount we ended the month of February with?.......$1,359.15.

Income
We had $856.52 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in February totaled $502.63.  This included interest made on accounts, blog revenue and our son began paying his own portion on the car insurance. 8-))

This brought us to our gain of $1,359.15 for February.
Since we have no debt anymore, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  Water and Phone were the same as January's totals.

*  I spent under $400 for food/toiletries in February.
*  The credit card bill was $1100 less than January's bill.
*  The Cash withdrawals were $98.50 less than in January.
*  The music lessons were $40 less(1 less lesson this month.)
*  No expensive car repairs in February.(Just a small one.)
*  Eldest son started paying his portion of the car insurance bill.

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The electric bill was $62.09 MORE than January's bill.  March's bill should be less.

*  The semi-annual car insurance was due and paid in February.
*  There are 5 Mondays in March so we need to pay for an extra music lesson this month.
 

 

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

The 2014 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 2 months accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2014 is $1,564.47. 
Far short at this point of the $2,000 I need to put back each month.
February is historically a lean month for savings in our house because of car insurance being due this month.

In other financial news--Hubs received a nice sized bonus this month for his work last year.  I used part of it to finish funding #2 Son's college fund but have not "officially" accounted for the rest of the money yet.....meaning it's part of our Net Worth statement but no decision has been made about whether any of it will be put into this Savings Challenge.  We still have to decide where to put the rest of the funds.  I know some of it will go toward purchasing a car to replace the one Hubs now drives.  Perhaps I'll be able to put what's left toward the Savings Challenge but it's too soon to know.
 

 

Looking ahead for March......

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

*  We have yearly municipal taxes due this month. (They aren't actually DUE until 30 June but if I pay them before 30 April we get a discount on the rate.)  I usually pay it in April but I may pay it in March instead, just to get it outta the way.  ;-)

*  I am going on a quick trip to Delaware this month so lodging, gas & food expenses will happen.

*  No extra/3rd paychecks this month so no extra income in March.

*  And the annual Sewage payment is due. It is billed quarterly but if I pay it in full before 31 March I get a 3% discount and this is what I generally do so there's another irregular expense for March.

*  With 2 annual bills being paid in March and no extra paycheck in the month(that won't happen until May and again in October) we won't see much extra savings going toward this Challenge.  Perhaps our savings rate will pick up in April....
 

 

So how was your February financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in February?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

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

Net Worth March 1st

Thanks in large part to Hub's bonus, our net worth increased $31,479.11 from February 1st. 
Of course this accounts for a decrease of $1,735.18 from January 1st to February 1st(temporary setback), so really it's an $29,743.93 increase since January 1st.

We don't include the college funds or the value of our home in our net worth calculations, mainly because the college monies aren't going to be spent on our retirement and the home is not a liquid asset since we have to have somewhere to live.

Retirement funds are up $8759.72 since January 1st as well.  Not increasing very much since we moved them out of  riskier/volatile funds, as we are too close to retirement to chance losing money.
Otherwise we'd be seeing better gains here.

With only a few years until retirement we are closing in on the 1 million $ mark proving once again, it pays to not spend all your money on the here and now.
Plus it pays to have a really healthy income as well and a wife who sees value in saving money whenever/wherever possible, even when spending on "life". ;-)

So don't forget to FEED YOUR PIG each and every month.
Don't let her/him waste away from financial malnutrition.

For help and guidance on how to save, check this site out HERE.

 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "When Is Asparagus Too Much Asparagus?!" Edition.......

 

We went to the restaurant supply store on Saturday.  They had asparagus for $1.49 lb. so I loaded up with 4 lbs.  Don't worry NONE of this will go to waste in my house as I am an asparagus addict!

 

The Sunday paper had an ad that the asparagus there was now .99¢ lb.

Figures, right? lolz

 

 

And here is what was planned last week---

 

Sunday--Leftovers(I had a big plate of Asparagus.)
Monday--Chicken Risotto, Asparagus
Tuesday--Birthday Dinner Out
Wednesday--Roast Turkey, Carrots, Potatoes of some sort
Thursday--Dinner Out(last of gift card & coupon)
Friday--Beef Roast and some sort of fresh veggie I buy this week
Saturday--Leftovers

 

And here is what actually happened---

 

Sunday--Leftovers(I had a big plate of Asparagus.)
Monday--Chicken Risotto, Asparagus
Tuesday--Leftovers(I had Rigatoni and Asparagus.)
Wednesday--Roast Turkey, Asparagus, Au Gratin Taters
Thursday--Leftovers of Fend for Yourself(I had a homemade burger and a large salad.)
Friday--#2 Son for free b-day burger Out(I had a chicken sammie.)
Saturday--Official B-day dinner Out(Thai food, mine had chicken in it.)

I finally made the Risotto....boy my arm is sore from all that stirring.lol

Only made 2 meals last week.  We never got to Bob Evans to use that last dinner Q but we still managed to eat out 2 nights.

 

I spent a total of $42.59 on groceries last week, including the .01¢ I spent at Rite-Aid.  

 

I spent $4.09 on head of lettuce($1.49) and a bottle of dressing($2.59) at the local independent grocer-I found a bottle of that same dressing in the stockpile later. ugh

 

I spent $38.49 at Weis(PMITA)Markets on.....a 4+lb. turkey breast, 2 lbs. asparagus, 1/2 gal. milk, 2 jars of Duke mayo(rock bottom price $2.50), cauliflower($2.50), 2 pints grape tomatoes, 2 bags of salad(50% off), 1 pkg. ham lunchmeat(.89¢ after $3 instant discount sticker), 3 lb. ground beef(marked down to $2.99lb.), 1lb. organic stew beef($2.35 after $3 instant discount sticker).

 

Food spending for February totaled $398.42 when all was tallied up last month.
  

We had food waste last week....a handful of grape tomatoes I didn't eat in time.

 

Going into the new week here are the leftovers we have.....everything is gone except for some slices off that turkey breast, which will keep in lunch sandwiches for a few days, and a pint of grape tomatoes, the organic stew beef(in the freezer)and the cauliflower(and the mayo is in the stockpile).

 

 

Here is this week's meal plan----

Sunday--Beef Roast, Yellow Squash Casserole
Monday--Broiled Teriyaki Salmon(freezer), Asparagus, Roasted Potatoes with Onions
Tuesday--Slices off Leftover Roast, Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots
Wednesday--Lasagna(from freezer), Brussel Sprouts
Thursday--Either Roast Beef Hash or French Dip Sammies from leftover Roast, and leftover Veg
Friday--Breakfast for dinner
Saturday--Chicken & Pot Pie Noodles

That makes 4 new meals and 3 leftover, from the freezer or planned over meals.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......squash, asparagus, beef roast, eggs, rolls, carrots, onions(I am out of the 50lb. bag I got in September at the farm stand).   Most of this I picked up on Saturday(first day of new grocery spending month), so only thing left to buy is rolls.  I might attempt baking my own rolls and not go to the grocery store this week. at. all.

Nothing much in the sales ads I want or need but I do like going on Wednesday to check out the marked downs in produce and meats so I am torn.  What would you do?

 

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

 

Sluggy

So Excited!

I got up this morning and was perusing the local Sunday paper when my eye spotted something on the Classifieds/Real Estate section.

You see, I have always had this dream of taking an old building and turning it into a home.
At first, this dream revolved around taking an old barn and restoring it/converting it into a house.

And then, since we live in an area without many old barns, the dream changed into taking an industrial space(old factory, school building, etc.)and turning that into a home.

But old industrial spaces are mostly much too large to do this with and necessitate turning into multiple units of housing, like condos or apartments.  Since I don't have the resources(either financial or construction skills)that idea quickly faded from becoming a reality.
Since the last 10 years or so around here, as the population  has decreased, the Catholic church in this area has been closing and consolidating parishes and church buildings and then putting said real estate up on the market for sale.
So the dream changed to buying an old church property and making it into a home.

This morning the stars may have aligned on this dream.

Hubs and I are within 4 years of his retiring and 4 months within having to remain living in this school district anymore.
We preferably wish to retire to someplace warmer but the place I found may work anyway.

I found a property for sale.
This one.....

It isn't brick but it's smaller and in fairly good shape.
It's in a small community, on the main road and not one of the large cities around here.
But it's accessible to the larger cities.
And even better, this also comes with the church......

It's the old rectory, a 2 story home with a garage behind.  You can see the side of the church building to the right in the photo.  There are mature trees and bushes and a small garden area between the rectory and the church.
The size of the land these buildings sit on  looks to be multiple city lots...3 or 4 lots.

It's the price of this property that had my juices flowing.
It's being offered for $49,000 for all.

The real estate tax information is not available, since this is a religious property and wasn't taxed by the state/municipality but similar homes for sale in this area have estimates of $1,200 a year.  I am figuring double that since this listing contains 2 buildings.

The church obviously will need remodeling/renovating to turn it into a home space.
The rectory house will need extensive renovation as it has been basically gutted from what I read.
While it's not going to be cheap(hell ya I can do this on the frugal side though!lol), it's sort of like getting a "new" house, except that the outside structure is already in place and old.  I can get the kitchen the way I want it and lay out the interior space/rooms as I want in the church.

The initial plan is to remain living here(it's only 11.5 miles away), renovate the church building, then move in and then have the last of the work done here and sell our current home.
Once we move to the church, Hubs can still commute to work from there.  It would add an additional 10-15 minutes on his commute but doable for the 4 years he has left to work.

Once we move and sell, we can work on getting the rectory house livable/renovated.  After that, we can either sell or rent it out.  Since the property is zoned R2, we also have the choice of turning the rectory house into a duplex and renting or selling it as that type of housing situation.
After we sell or rent the rectory house it will help us recoup any money we invested into the reno and help pay the taxes.  Eventually when we recoup the money invested we can have an income stream in retirement from it.  8-)

As for Winters living in this church, once Hubs retires, we will buy a used RV and spend the ugly months of ice, snow and cold in parts South of here, either visiting our children or bopping around to wherever we feel like going.

I am trying not to get all excited but it's hard not to!
I've already contacted the agent and am working on going to have an "in person" look around and ask a billion questions about this property and snap my own photos.
After that and having a discussion with Hubs on this I'll call a construction type person for a consult and some advise on whether this is a plan I can green light or not and proceed to talk money with the realtor.
We would be paying cash for this of course..... ;-)

One step at a time, trying not to get my hopes too high at this point, but thinking this might be the way we need to head on down the road to retirement.


So what do y'all think of this?

Sluggy



 

Food & Toiletries Spending......February Update

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2014.

I have posted February's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in February.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 17.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $10.78
Value  $25.74
Savings   58.12%

DOLLAR STORE
OOP  $17.00
Value  $40.16
Savings    57.67%
 

RITE-AID
OOP  $51.23
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $243.44
Value  $294.67
Savings  82.61%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $125.98

Qs/Ads  $118.54

Value  $244.52

Savings  48.48%

WALMART
OOP  $23.46
Qs/Ads  $20.32
Value  $43.78
Savings  46.41%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $168.08

Qs/Ads  $115.39

Value  $283.47

Savings  40.70%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 82.61%, the Bakery Outlet at 58.12%, and the Dollar Store at 57.67%.  My WORST savings rate was 40.70% at Weis so I think I did exceptionally well in February on the value of what I got!  Obviously I'm not counting the Turkey Hill Convenience store where Hubs picked up a 1/2 gallon of milk and my savings rate was 0%. ;-)
I shopped at 6 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$398.43

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$535.81

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$934.23

TOTAL Savings of...................................57.35%

Even without counting the Rite-Aid shopping, my savings rate would be 45.71%.

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into February wanting to cut my food/toiletries budget by $100, to $300 budgeted for ALL purchases.  I failed BUT I did stay under my usual $400 Food Budget.
Yay me.  ;-)


LOOKING AHEAD TO MARCH......

I'm going to try to do this $300 food spending budget one more time in March.
If I can't then I'll stop trying.

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for February and it came in at $94.44.
We had Chinese take-out once, Burger King once, I took #2 Son out for his free birthday burger and spent $24.82 on 2 drinks, my chicken burger and the tip, and $35.85 was spent on dinner for Hubs & #2 Son at Perkins on the audition trip to Mansfield. 
Of course we ate at Bob Evans twice too but we used gift cards to cover those meals.


Without the Rite-Aid totals added in, my February Savings Rate is 43%.  Achieving a savings rate in the 40's is what I shoot for, with or without shopping at Rite-Aid.
 

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

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$695.80

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $347.90.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in February?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

No Joy in Mudville Today.....

Well #1 Son continues to have difficulties at his place of employment.  He is trying to find a new position elsewhere, that pays enough for him to justify leaving his current job, and is having no luck.
I can't go into this sad tale but he is fearing for his safety and health(he works with "special populations") and his stress level(as well as our own)is quite high, having to remain in his current job.
So when exactly do you get to stop worrying about your kids....what age?
Obviously it's not when they are 22+ years old.  8-(

Add to that the letter #2 Son received yesterday from Temple, thanking him for his "interest" but regretting to inform him that they will not be availing themselves of his musical talents or his parent's Twenty Eight Thousand Dollars per year.

Yep, he didn't get into their music program. 8((
This upset him deeply, as it was his first choice school, almost to the point of tears and definitely to the point of throwing and hitting inanimate objects, like any self respecting 18 year old boy is want to do.

Then his dejection turned to "I suck and I hate music and maybe I just won't go to college."
This was followed a couple of hours later after a nap by, "Temple can go F**k itself!".

Ah, a chip off the ol' Slugmama block!
I think #2 Son will survive.

Nothing signaling the end of the world here, just having a rough patch as some folks say.
And this wretched cold is NOT making things any cheerier!

I am so ready for Spring, aren't you?

Off to console #2 Son's sorrows with a free Birthday Burger at Red Robin......

Sluggy