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Archive for January, 2022

January 2022 Spending/Saving

January 31st, 2022 at 03:11 pm

Income Total$1450.00

     * $1200 Recurring monthly retirement account distribution  

     * $250 Swagbucks and My Points earnings (cash out to PayPal

      

Total Spending: $1169.23

Total Savings$280.77 (difference between monthly income and monthly spending) 
 
Fixed Expenses: 
Verizon bundle (internet, cable): $160.43

Cell phone: $59.81
HVAC and water heater contract: $29.95 
Condo Fee (includes water and trash) $190.00 

Health Care: (includes health, dental, vision, prescription plans) $476.37 
 
Variables: 
Utilities: $111.72
Gasoline: $0
Groceries: $78.54 
Health: $10.43 (co-pays, scripts refillsvitamins and personal health care items) 
Take Out and Dining Out: $51.98 (my share of cost of pizza and other food for football gatherings)

Household Shopping (anything other then food): $0

Personal shopping: $0

 

* Condo is paid in full 
* Car is paid in full (2017 Camry) 
* No other debt  

 

I am happy to put some money into savings after all the December/holiday spending. 

Pantry Challenge/Food Shortages?

January 22nd, 2022 at 03:54 pm

Grocery shopping has been different for me this month. I started out participating in the January eat from the pantry/freezer challenge but slightly modified because I was out of some staples so I knew I would have some minimal spending at the start of the month. My goal was to keep it as low as possible and really refocus on using up what I had on hand after the holidays.  

 

When I went to the store at the beginning of the month I encountered (for the first time) that my usual store was completely out of some of my preferred brands, such as butter, iced tea, ice cream bars and coffee creamer. I have tried many other brands of these over time but really prefer certain brands now and like to stick to them. I went to a different store, and they were also wiped out of these brands, or they just don’t carry them. I had to have butter so that was the only item I bought a different brand. I went back to the store a few times over the past few weeks checking to see if my preferred brands were in stock and they were still out until this weekend, so it took 3 weeks to get them in. So, I stocked up not knowing if they would run out again, which threw off my attempt to keep my spending lower. 

 

I also noticed that bottled water was almost completely wiped out, the frozen cooked chicken patties and tenders (which I haven’t been buying but looked to see what they had) were also very limited. I needed an onion, and the quality was terrible. They all seemed very soft, but I did manage to find one that was ok. The apples also seemed limited and somewhat bruised. I passed on those.   

 

So far this month I have spent $78.54, and don’t intend to spend any more. Of that amount I calculated that $16.62 of that was due to stocking up on the things they had been out of.  

 

The shortages may have been due in part to some winter weather up and down the east coast, and maybe some supply chain issues. This is really the first time I have encountered noticeable shortages on products I regularly use. I realize that I didn’t HAVE to have ice cream bars, or iced tea, and changing brands of butter and coffee creamer isn’t a hardshipBut it contributed to me stocking up on these products when they did come in. Instead of buying one of each item, I bought two.  

Is anyone else noticing shortages? Do you stock up a bit when you see your usual items back in stock? I feel like I’m grocery shopping a bit differently now. 

It's snowing and other updates

January 3rd, 2022 at 04:34 pm

It’s snowing! This is the first snow of the year here and I’m glad to be able to stay at home and enjoy the beauty. It went from 65 degrees yesterday to 32 degrees today with wind and snow. Crazy! 

 

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season, I had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with my family, and a quiet New Year. I’m busy now taking down the decorations and packing them away for next year. 

 

Eat from the pantry challenge for January: I did an inventory of my freezer and have a 19 lb. (free) turkey that I am defrosting, 4, 1 lb. packs of ground meat, 1 chicken breast, and a pack of 10 chicken drumsticks. I also have about 7 packs of a variety of frozen veggies. My plan is to stretch this out over the month, so I don’t have to purchase any meat.  

 

In the pantry I have numerous cans of chicken and tuna for lunches, as well as canned soups for lunches. I also have a lot of canned veggies that I like to use to make vegetable soup. I have several cans of beans and tomato products, so I’ll be making chili using these and the ground meat. I also have a LOT of pasta and pasta sauces so while I am cutting back on carbs, I will be having some pasta throughout the month. 

 

For breakfast I will be having my usual eggs and toast, cereal or oatmeal. 

 

Almost all of this food, including most of the meat, was from the food give aways from the senior center. There will not be a distribution in January due to the recent covid outbreak in Maryland. Sadly, our infection rate is way up.  They are hoping to resume the distribution in February. 

 

I will need to buy a few things that I am out of: eggs, milk, iced tea, bread, butter, apples, fresh spinach and ice cream bars as my occasional treat. So, this will be a modified eat from the pantry/freezer challenge with the goal of spending as little as possible by using what I have on hand. 

 

Goals for 2022: I didn’t really make any new ones. I want to continue to focus on being healthy, eating well, keeping my weight down and exercising every day. Financially, I just want to continue to live within my means, look for ways to continue to save, and enjoy life on a small income. My greatest joy is the freedom of retirement, even it means living very frugally.  I did want to spend more time volunteering in different ways, but covid has interrupted this goal. Hopefully after this latest wave decreases, more opportunities to volunteer will happen that I feel safe doing. 

 

I did receive my covid booster shot recently and was happy to not have any side effects like I did after my second vaccination dose.  

 

I hope everyone has a happy week! 

December 2021 Savings/Spending

January 1st, 2022 at 08:23 pm

Income Total$1350.00

     * $1200 Recurring monthly retirement account distribution  

     * $150 Swagbucks and My Points earnings (cash out to PayPal

      

Total Spending: $1389.92

Total Savings$0 (difference between monthly income and monthly spending) 
 
Fixed Expenses: 
Verizon bundle (internet, cable): $160.43

Cell phone: $59.90
HVAC and water heater contract: $29.95 
Condo Fee (includes water and trash) $190.00 

Health Care: (includes health, dental, vision, prescription plans) $476.37 
 
Variables: 
Utilities: $103.39
Gasoline: $0
Groceries: $193.92 (includes food for Chritmas Eve dinner for 8 people)
Health: $0 (co-pays, scripts refillsvitamins and personal health care items) 
Take Out and Dining Out: $15.38 (my share of cost of pizza for football gatherings)

Household Shopping: $0

Christmas Gifts and personal shopping: $160.58

 

* Condo is paid in full 
* Car is paid in full (2017 Camry) 
* No other debt  

 

My grocery spending includes all food for a sit down dinner for family (8 people) on Christmas Eve. It also included some paper products that I didn't seperate out.

 

Shopping: I went a little over budget on Christmas shopping, and bought myself a few things. No regrets.