NO SPEND MONTH

Some of my blogger friends will do a no-spend month, trying to save some money. And several do a pantry/freezer challenge to use up some food that has been 'hanging around' a little too long, and again trying to save money.

I have had some large bills to pay in December and January and am now trying to catch up. My no-spend month has turned into two months and might last even longer. I am by no means lacking anything so it hasn't been so hard to do, but when I see some good sales I am tempted to shop for bargains. And those 'bargains' are for things I really don't need so they really aren't bargains after all. When I get emails telling me of big sales I just delete without reading them. Yes, I would like some new bedding as my comforter is looking pretty sad, plus could use some new pillows. But right now neither one is necessary, and there will always be other sales in the future.

In December I had to pay my annual premium for Medicare supplement insurance, which is huge. Add to that my 6 month car insurance bill, and annual home renter's insurance, car license and I forget what else. The only way I know I will have enough money for these bills is to use the cash envelope system. I also keep track of my income and spending with a computer software program, but I need that visual of cash in an envelope, even if it is play money.



In my January Walmart bill I had charges from Nov 25 and Dec. 18 for store purchases and Dec. 11 for an online purchase. Most of that was for stocking up on groceries and paper products that were needed so that I had enough on hand that I would not have to make a trip to the store when weather and roads were bad. That bill was almost $600. I have never had charges that high for one month! Thank goodness there were no charges on any other accounts for the month.

Starting the new year I have an annual deductible of $405 for my med prescriptions, and not all of my meds qualify for the deductible! Unfortunately, I needed all my meds refilled right after January 1. So that bill that had to be paid in February, which was again, almost $600 and that was for only prescriptions, nothing else. So you can see why I am in a no-spending period. And my Walmart bill was $0 so that helped a lot.

I did really well with no spending, but then I had to order a new rolling stool because the one I had has a crack in the place where the caster goes and it isn't safe for me to sit on. So my first expense on the February bill was a new stool ordered online on Jan 24, for $113, free shipping and no tax! I ordered through Walmart so I got 3% reward dollars, and I went through Ebates so got another 1% back. And I had about $53 built up from Walmart Savings Catcher, making the charge only $60, so I think I did fairly well on that deal. I tried to do my work without a stool but it just was not working at all. So the stool is a necessity.

I finally had to give in and buy groceries Jan 31. I stocked up again plus bought some winter boots for $25 and some walking shoes for $5. I really need some boots and I liked these, but when I tried to get my foot in them, it would not go in, even with the zipper on the side, so I need to return them. I forgot to take them along on my most recent trip. :( I have a high instep so I guess I will not be able to have boots for now. The charge for that trip was $215. So I went from Dec. 18 until January 31 without buying any food. And I still had plenty to eat, just needed ordinary things like milk, bread, cheese, yogurt and fresh produce. I did get a few things I think I can't do without, like my flavored coffee mixes.

On Feb 5 I ordered necessary paper products and personal needs online and my total bill for the month is $360. I made another grocery trip Feb 27 and only bought the minimum things I really needed and was able to limit my amount to $85. Now it is March 5 and I don't need anything else so far.

March is a medical month. I go in for a protime test this week, but Medicare will take care of the whole bill. Next week I see my family doctor for a med check and I might have to pay a deductible for Medicare on that bill. The next day is my 6 month checkup at the dentist and I will have to pay all of that bill. I think I had x-rays taken last time so should not have to have them done this time. I just hope the dentist doesn't find anything that needs to be fixed.

My electric bill has to be paid yet and that is $142. I think it is quite reasonable since everything is electric here. I was talking about the bills with my niece and she said their bill was over $500 for the month! But they have a large 3-bedroom house with full basement and she has a small beauty shop in her house that takes a little more power.

I hope to get through March without unnecessary spending again and see if I can get the 'cash' built up in my Rx envelope to cover my next refills. Since I have already paid toward the deductible for the year, the bill should be much less. It is really hard to increase the amounts in my cash envelopes when I do not get a bigger Social Security check. We got a 3% increase but then Medicare took out more so I am still getting the same size check that I have had for several years, but I am hanging in there.

Rain and more rain

Yes, we have been getting lots of rain in the last week, after having a very dry year last year. We have gotten a little more than 6" locally in the last couple of days, according to a nearby farmer's rain gauge. The official amount was listed at 3 1/2+". That is a big difference! Lots of people pumping water out of their basements and it is sad for those who have finished basements as so many do today. We have a 70% chance of a large amount of rain again tonight and tomorrow, and still a chance for the next day or two. We have also had dense fog the past two nights so things are a bit sticky today.

I am not spending much time on the computer right now so my posts are going to be few and far between at times. I am devoting most of my time working on the last two Bible study lessons of the Covenant study we are doing. We are taking a break for the summer but I do want to get these last two finished so I can put it all away for the summer. I just have the last lesson left now as I finished typing up the first of the two. I get truly blessed all over again when I type them up. I took this study twice before as a student, and now am teaching it, and being reminded of all the things I have forgotten over the years since last taking it. If anyone reading this would like to take it, I will be more than happy to tell you where to get the study book, plus send you copies of the information I have to go with it.

I was looking at my bare pots on the patio and reminded of the seeds I started in late winter and the little pot garden I had. I did none of that this year. I just could not get excited about it , especially with the late, cold, snow and icy spring we had for one thing. And I just don't have the energy to work at it. I haven't even bought any bedding plants for flowers yet. I might just end up moving the bare dirt filled pots to the garage and out of sight for this year, unless someone wants to volunteer filling them for me. ☺

I plan to spend a lot of time decluttering this summer as well. I need to work on paper clutter for the most part, but I know there are some clothes in the closet that I haven't work for a long time and should move out to another home.

I have kept busy knitting caps for Goodwill again, while watching my favorite TV shows. I am getting down to the bottom of the can of yarn, so once that is gone I will move onto something else. I do have a couple of sewing projects that I had planned several months ago so might be so moved to start on them.

I am sorry I have no pictures to add here. I just have not been taking any. I should have taken one of the cans of Pillsbury Grands biscuits, caramel rolls and Cinnabon rolls that I bought last week. I went to the local store, which I don't go to very often as their regular prices are quite high. Loss leaders are often quite good, and I sometimes go there when I only need milk and bread and it doesn't pay to drive to the cheaper stores. This time I found a basket sitting in the open dairy case and it was full of the cans of biscuits and rolls for $1.50 each. I took most of them! I had recently read on a blog that they can be frozen right in the can so how lucky to find them on clearance! They were going to expire in a couple of days, so I baked one can of biscuits and one of caramel rolls, then froze the rest. This store's regular price for them is close to $4 each. I think WM has them for around $3.69 the last I looked. So I think I got a pretty good deal - providing they really do freeze well.

Speaking of bargains and money, I am still waffling between buying things I really want, or continue living without so that I can stay as close to my budget and income as possible. Notice I said 'want'. I can live without these things, but at age 70, how many years do I have left? So why not enjoy what I can? But if I do that, what if I live longer than expected and I run out of money? Did I ever mention that I hate making decisions??

So, should I end on this note, or should I find something else to write about? ☺ I have made my decision and am going to go play Mahjongg Dark Dimensions so I don't have to think so hard. I am tired of thinking. That takes energy and I don't have any left.

Frustrations and Money Woes

Yesterday was a big shopping day. I had to get my prescriptions refilled, fill the gas tank, and get groceries and some other necessities. Came home broke and worn out. I kept to my list for the most part, only picking up a couple extra cans for a pizza-wich recipe I like and can be frozen, making many meals for me. But then, I forgot to buy eggs. I was almost done shopping and happened to think of them, but instead of heading to the far end of the aisles to pick up a dozen, I headed straight for the checkout and totally forgot them again. I behaved myself as far as leaving the sweet snacks alone, except for finding two small angel food loaves on the day-old rack for 60 cents each. Since I had some fresh strawberries I thought this would be a nice addition for making strawberry shortcake. And that means whipped cream! I prefer the Cool Whip brand as I think it tastes better, and holds up better than the cheaper store brands. But I had not tried the Great Value brand at Walmart, and it was about 60 cents cheaper than Cool Whip, so bought the GV brand and give it a try. I am happy with most GV products that I have tried. (And no, WM is not paying me to say this.) One of the loaves will go in the freezer.

After also getting vitamin supplements that I was running out of, and cat food plus a couple other needed items, I ended up spending $153.35. And I had already spent $16.68 at Fareway for fresh produce, and $40 for gas, and $38 for prescriptions, bringing me about $10 over my budget for the month! And I still have to buy eggs and will need to get some milk in the next 30 days as I only bought 1/2 gallon yesterday. So which budget item will I 'steal' from? If this keeps up, I will keep digging the hole deeper and deeper. So I guess I will have to give in and take more money out of my investments.

To add to my frustration, I discovered I had been overcharged by $3 at the drugstore, and all I bought were my prescriptions. I am sure it was an honest mistake and the clerk happened to hit the 7 key instead of the 4 key, and didn't notice it. So back to the store I go today. Thank goodness it is in town here and I don't have to drive to the next town where I shopped for the other things. What is really aggravating about this is that this is the third time in as many shopping trips where I have been overcharged! The first time it was by $4.10 and I got that back on the next shopping trip. The second time it was around $1 so I didn't bother with that one, and now this one for $3. All this is even more frustrating since I am trying to keep my expenses down and within my income. The one good thing is that gas had come down 20 cents since I last filled up, which I had not expected since the news media kept telling us it would be $5 by summer. Yesterday I paid $3.599 for super unleaded (10% ethanol).

Budgeting

Budgeting - the bane of widowhood, or just plain living alone. Bah humbug. I don't like it. Does anyone? I am struggling with it and need to make some changes. And mostly the changes I need to make is to stop spending. Period. The economy as it is today and possibly getting worse, is not friendly to those of us on very limited income. "If only" - my husband had foreseen what I knew would happen he might have done things differently. Maybe, but no one knows for sure. He had it firmly planted in his mind that his only child - a daughter - would retire and move back into her childhood home - the house where he and I lived after our marriage. It was in his will that she inherit the house after he died, and I knew that from the very beginning so was fine with that. After all , it was his house for over 50 years and his right to do as he wanted with it. After he died his brothers and sisters all thought he should have given me life estate in the house, but he either never gave that a thought, or he was also certain I would remarry right after he was gone, (wrong!) I am also sure he never thought his daughter would sell that house, which she ended up doing as she knew she didn't want to move back here.

IF (big 'if') I had been allowed to stay living there and not have to pay rent, my finances would be in a little bit better shape. But that was not to be, so here I am, trying to figure out how to stretch my dollars with the ever increasing prices on everything from groceries to gasoline.

In my internet group of frugal friends there are some that use the envelope method of spending, and I have seen websites on that subject as well, so thought I should give it a try. I do keep track of my spending in the Quicken program I have installed on the computer and that has been a life-saver. It even has a place to make a budget and keeps track of your spending according to your budget. But that just was not working very well for me. Sure, it told me whether I overspent on budget items, but I need a visual to show me what I have left to spend on groceries and other household items as well as clothing, personal care, pet care, etc. So I get back to the envelope method. I don't carry much cash with me and use a credit card to purchase what I need so that I don't have to write out a bunch of checks - just one at the end of the month. That way I have a complete record, along with the register receipt of where my money went. I so easily lose track of where cash goes. Because of that I really didn't want to resort to carrying the cash via envelope method. Then I got the 'bright' idea of printing fake money to put in the envelopes so I could physically see how much I had to spend in each catagory.

I have one envelope that acts as the bank for exchanging larger bills for smaller ones in order to get the right amounts in the envelopes and for spending. I have another envelope just for the checking account and all income amounts go into that as they come in. From there, once a month, I divide what is in the checking account to put in the other spending catagory envelopes.

I am just getting started with this so I don't have the method down pat yet. Sometimes it is a hassle to transfer 'cash' from envelope to envelope after shopping or paying bills, and sometimes I forget to check what is left in the envelope to see how much I can spend on the shopping trip. I hope, as time goes on, that I get the hang of it and make it work. Right now I have an IOU in the "Credit card payments" envelope because I had forgotten to put the 'cash' in there from a prior shopping trip. After I had added up what was spent in the various catagories and 'paid' for those items by putting the 'cash' in the "Credit payment" envelope, I was short about $60 for the groceries I bought. Oops. So I will have to take what general spending 'cash' I have with the next income check and put it in the 'credit' envelope. Looks like I won't be buying any groceries or anything else for quite awhile.

Another option I have thought about since doing all of the above, is when I deposit my income checks at the bank, I take cash out in the amount I have left after reserving all that is needed for necessary bills like rent and utilities. If I spend it all on groceries, then I can't buy anything else. I won't have a set budget for groceries, clothing, personal care, pet care, gasoline, etc.but will still record them in those catagories in Quicken. That will show me where I need to cut back on spending. The biggest problem is that I am already very conservative on spending. I think I need rubber money that s..t...r...e........t......c.....h..s. It can be depressing but I can't let it get to me. Life goes on and it must be enjoyed as much as possible. So I do what I can, pray that there will be enough, and keep smiling.

What method works for you?