Friday, March 3, 2023

February 2023 numbers

Hi everyone

It's been a busy day. We were expecting a winter storm mid afternoon, but schools weren't closed. I made a big pot of taco meat and refried beans before DS left for school. Then made burritos for dinner & the freezer. I also froze the leftover taco meat to be used for nachos or quesadillas. I just wanted to get things done in case DS came home early (which didn't happen). Thankfully, the snow started just before he got home. I was worried about the kids & bus drivers on the road, if the weather turned bad early. 

Groceries/HBA/Cleaning

CVS : $6.24

Wags : $149.56

RA : $12.05

Aldi : $40.77

Kroger : $40.13

Meijer : $65.85

Sams : $170.00

Walmart : $47.87

Produce market : $55.72

Total OOP : $588.19


Earnings 

$12.45 Ibotta 

$7.00 KC

Total earned : $19.45

My earned drugstore rewards are not included in this amount.I count them when I spend it. 

What was it I said about having a $250 grocery budget for the month? I feel like crying. Everything has gone up in price. Even Aldi has become pricey. I mainly buy bread & blueberries there. Look at how much that cost me. Crazy. 

Well, Wags totally broke the budget. I spent almost as much at Wags as I did at Sams. Sams is my 'go to' store, so this speaks volumes. I can't be mad at Wags. They had a lot of double & triple dip boosters (some were MMs). However, you have to spend OOP on those deals. That is what broke the bank for me. I now have almost $250 in rewards to use. My plan is to spend down those points and not worry about boosters too much this month. I can't keep bleeding money like this. Something's got to give. 


MONEY EARNED (SIDE HUSTLE)

GCs Earned $0

Personal items (things we've had listed for the past 2 years) : $108.49

Drugstore items sold : $62.56

Total earnings : $171.05

Those drugstore sales helped offset my high Wags OOP for the month. Let's hope the drugstore sales continue to be good/decent.

YTD Earnings 

GCs (point earning sites) : $10

Ibotta : $53.49

Personal items : $226.49

Drugstore items : $62.56

Total Earnings (excl Ibotta) : $299.05


YTD EXPENSES (Clothing/shoes/accessories, Christmas gifts)

OOP : $58.36

Christmas gifts : $0

Gift cards : $100.00 

Total OOP $158.36

The OOP is for the huge Kohls sale. I used the $100 gcs (purchased last month) and paid the $58 OOP. Those items have been listed for sale. I'm not adding DS's items since he now gets SS. 

I bought the Macy's gc at RA and earned $16 BC. Free money? Yes, please.


YTD OOP (clothing/shoes/accessories, Christmas gifts) : $412.24

YTD side hustle income (personal, drugstore) $276.36

YTD Balance ($135.88)

You will notice that I'm still in the hole. That's because the listed items first need to sell. I also still have some discounted gcs that I need to use to purchase more items for resale. 


Small bills savings

$1 Bills - 120.00+ 43 (Feb) = $163.00

$5 Bills - $240 + $30 (Feb) = $270.00

$10 Bills - $100 +20 (Feb) = $120.00

Total YTD savings : $553.00 

I'm getting close to my $1000 budget, because I still have the $200 Target gcs. That's at least some good news. 

I also received my $77 Rakuten check that I used to purchase another gc. More on that in another post. 

I really don't know what to budget for this month. I've already spent $180 at Sams for March. $51 was for DS yogurt (it cost $34-51 per month). Yes, it's pricey, but food is the one thing that I absolutely will not skimp on. I can cut corners on all other categories, but I refuse to do that with food. I'm picky about what goes into our bodies. My goal is to just come in under $500. Heck, I'd be happy to come in under $400, but let's be realistic here. At this point, $400 is a stretch. No expensive Wags trips. This is a tough one, but I can do it.

I really need to make a list of all my rewards and gcs, so I can use those to keep my March budget low. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps! Stay healthy, safe & warm

5 comments:

  1. You are doing very well on the side hustle.

    I hope you don't get too bad a storm happening.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jackie. Our storm was, thankfully, very mild. We just got some snow overnight.

      Delete
  2. You're doing well for how expensive everything is right now. We also spend more on food than we could but quality food is very important to us. Last month we spent a little over 600.00 but that does include food, h&b and household items. I hope you're staying warm and have a wonderful Sunday!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lori! You & I are exactly alike when it comes to quality food & ingredients. I will gladly pay more for better quality food.

      Delete
  3. It's the end of the month now. I just found I have to eat low-carb so most of the food I've been stocking up on is off the list for me. I had to restock the fridge with food I can eat. Lots of cheese and vegetables and fish. Thank goodness we have meat in the freezers. But if it will keep me healthy, it will all be worth it. All this said, to say I understand your concern with the prices. (Sam's is our go-to also.)

    ReplyDelete

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