*In order for you and anyone you refer to qualify for the increased referral bonus, they must enter your referral code and complete a valid receipt now through 11:59 PM local time on Tuesday, September 11th. After 11:59 PM on Tuesday, September 11th, the referral bonus will return to 2,000 bonus points per referral.
Your custom referral code can be found in app under Me.

Truck Maintenance

Truck Maintenance is no joke.  We have spent almost $700 on tires, $225 on brakes and now an additional $50 for oil ( he insists on synthetic oil) and filter.  

The savings account is officially dried up.  Poof!   The correct tires have been ordered and should be here tomorrow evening.  I will be glad when this truck stuff is done.  Note to self, I need to figure out how to get sinking funds started for next year. 

When the tires are installed this week, I will slide the remaining funds from savings to the CC.  We are looking at a zero interest card to put the remainder of the CC balance on to.  One with zero transfer fees.  

Making it on one check may be too much to hope for.  I have been looking for part-time employment for the last month, but I may have to up my game and really start hustling for a full-time gig. 

I am actively applying for a state/county job as I am already vested in the state retirement plan and any additional time worked will increase my retirement payout.  I have the minimum time in now, and I worked in the school system as an aide so very little payout at age 62.  Only about $92 bucks a year.  But with more time in at a better paying position,  the monthly payouts will improve. 

Yesterday was a wash.  It rained ALL day and we were stuck indoors.  I had plans to go to Disney with an animal shelter friend, but the weather botched those plans.   Today, back to normal.  Get out and walk for an hour, and come back and continue to clean and organize.   I am pretty sure I can find more stuff to take to the Thrift Store if I look hard enough. 

The hubs is off the rest of the week.  He has projects both here ( more baseboards to finish up) and at church.  He is the unofficial maintenance guy at church and takes care of the AC's, electrical and whatever else they need.  The church is old and needs lots of attention.

I have been going through my mom's old photo albums.  She had tons of them.  I just love the old pictures, but keeping all of them is not something I need to do.  So, I have been posting some of them that have pics of my cousins, Aunts,

My mom holding my cousin Denise

and Uncles ( I have probably 60 first cousins on moms side) on my family FaceBook page to see if any family members want some of them. That has been fun, posting the pics and reading the memories that other cousins post.

 I have cousins that are as old as my mom would have been, I am next to the youngest first cousin.  Anyway, the older cousins have great memories they share and I do find it fascinating to read their posts about the pictures.   This picture is of my mom standing in front of my Uncle's police car, holding my cousin Denise, at their family farm in Wisconsin.   

Do you have vintage family photos?  Do you display them or keep them in albums? 

March 2018 Goals Update

Here is a recap of how I did with my March Goals.  For me, having a list to refer back to was very helpful and motivating.

Tracking eating out and grocery shopping is a bit time consuming, but I want to get a grip on the spending. By keeping track, I am more likely to spend less, which is always a good thing.

Overall, it is a good process for accountability.



Specific goals for March: 

1.  Schedule appointment with the accountant to prepare taxes. Done!
2.  Restore joint savings account to $1000.Almost, $775 but it is going for new tires for the truck.
3.  Track grocery spending Yes!  This was successful, Recap is here. 
4.  Track eating out spending Yes, this was successful too. 
5.  Get in 10,000 steps daily Eh, nope not every day. 
6.  Review anatomy and pathology for interview daily.  This is off the table.
7.  Entertain friends one evening, pizza, and cards maybe.... (kinda out of my comfort zone) Nope.
8.  Read "Jesus Calling" and Bible verses associated with daily reading. Most every day, but room for improvement.


I am working on April's goals and will post that soon.   

Final Numbers for March 2018

 This is my first month of tracking our eating out and grocery shopping expenses in a LONG time.

It is a learning experience that continues to need tweaking so I don't become overwhelmed with the numbers and keeping up with receipts, etc.  In the past, my receipts would have stayed in the bag and gone out with the recyclables.

Now, I collect them in a clip on the fridge.  Before they get hung up on the fridge, I scan them into Fetch Rewards.  You scan your receipts, earn points and receive rewards that you can convert into gift cards.

 I just started using the app a couple of weeks ago and have earned 11,000 points.  So far, I redeemed $3 on an Amazon gift card, they also offer Wal-Mart giftcards, Kohls, CVS and Target.   Of course, I would like to earn more!   If you use my referral code, we both will receive 2000  points. 

In the future, I may start redeeming them for Target gift cards.  I seem to spend more time there lately. 

What is one more app on your phone, right??



According to my reciepts and Personal Capital tracking, we have spent $511 in groceries for the month of March.  Uh...that includes groceries, alcohol,( $60ish) vitamins and supplements( $60) and HBA ( $20is)   When you subtract the booze, vitamins, dog and cat food,  and HBA,  actual groceries come to about $371.

Our eating out is $200 for March.  Last month (February) it was $317  Ouch.  In January, we spent $354.  Double Ouch.


I am still figuring out the Ibotta app, and use it to save more $$ at the stores.  I have not used coupons  or money saving apps in a while, kinda been shopping at will, don't cha know!  Still taking it one step at a time and avoid becoming overwhelmed with it.

We found these Cuban rolls at BJ's last week and they are my husband's new favorite bread/roll.  A bag has 12 sandwich size rolls and a bag will last him all week.  Went back this Friday and picked up another bag.  Nature's Own bread I bought at BJ's is still in the freezer from the original trip. 


April is a new month, and here is to continuing to improve on saving money!


Do you use apps to increase your grocery savings?  Which is your favorite?

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.