Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Want to up your frugal game? Join one of our challenges.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Glad you got the heater before the cold weather got so severe. Absolutely no reason to risk a fall to see the meter reading. I know I am a bit more scared of falls now that I have thinner bones.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

It has been a few days since my last posting. My niece is visiting from Arizona so have been somewhat preoccupied. I picked her up from the airport while we were having a wintry mix so it was somewhat of an adventure to get to the airport and back home again. The roads were not slick due to the weather having been recently warm but sometimes on the way over I could not see more than 20 ft ahead in St. Louis traffic. On the drive home it was hair raising at times since it was rush hour traffic and dark. There was less snow but people are not nice enough to let you in. I would put my blinker on to move over and the car that was far enough back for me to move over would pull up beside me or be half way enough to block my changing lanes...gggr.. The good thing about picking her up was I was able to stop at a gas station in MO to fill my tank. Gas in MO was $2.37 a gal and on the IL side anywhere from $2.64 to $ 2.68. I had allowed my tank to get low so that I could take advantage of the gas being cheaper in MO. We stopped to eat at a Chinese Buffet since she had not eaten since breakfast.We talked for a long time and when the waitress brought our bill there were only two fortune cookies on the tray. I started to call her back but my niece said she had paid for our meal earlier. I started to leave the money for a tip and she said she had already paid her....ggggrrrrr. I know she means well but I had told her before she was to be my guest.. I thanked her and told her not to let it happen again....lol. We had some nice time talking that evening until 2:00 AM. On Wed we went out to grocery shop since we had a snow storm moving in. I took advantage of some of the pre holiday sales but also spent extra on things that I know she enjoys. She left Wednesday afternoon to spend time with my brother and SIL. She will be back on Friday and will leave on Monday to return to AZ. Time is going so fast.

I have still found a few minutes here and there to work on My Points and BING and squeezed in a survey from Pine Cone research. I earned a 5.00 gift card for Amazon from BING and $3.00 in survey cash from PineCone. I am going to try to save my gift cards and cash towards next years groceries. I will have a lot of food left after she leaves so I will try to use that for the rest of this month and then will see what I can buy next month. This time of year I hit the holiday sales planning on using them later on.

Looking forward to 2019 but it will be a really austere year. Even with the COLA my income will be reduced by about $85.00 per month compared to this year. When my husband died I was given a slight increase between my SS and his SS. It has come to the attention of the medicaid department and they will no longer give me assistance in paying for my medicare B premium. I have had the raise since 2015 and they review my records and income every year but this year they decided that the extra $38.00 per month I received in 2018 was in excess of what allows me to have extra assistance. So now due to the $38.00 I will have to pay $135.00 per month out of pocket. I cannot complain since I still receive medicaid as a co-payment after medicare and I feel blessed to have that since I do not qualify for a medicare supplement due to my pre-existing condition of ALS. My ALS is inherited and mild but as soon as an insurance company hears ALS they are so sorry and they hang up as soon as possible. So looking forward to 2019 to see how far I can stretch a buck.. I am looking forward to the challenge. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Gosh, it is that time already to start planning for 2019? Wow.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Dgflorida wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:53 am Gosh, it is that time already to start planning for 2019? Wow.
Yes it is time! I am always planning and revising my budget according to my needs and the increase costs of some things that are necessary or hoping to decrease spending on things that are not. More and more I look at things as are they a need or a want. I would say about 99% of the time they are a want. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

My niece left Monday to return to her home in AZ. My brother was able to take her to the airport since I had an appointment with my visiting nurse. They do an annual review. I will continue with in home care for another year. My in home care is covered by the Department on Aging. The money they spend on my care is applied towards my medicaid spend down. Otherwise I would not receive medicaid and since I have ALS cannot buy a medicare supplement since it is a pre-existing condition. My ALS is inherited and not as drastic as the sporadic ALS but insurance companies do not want to listen..so I am grateful that I do receive in home care and medicaid. My nurse said that the Dept on Aging prefers people to stay in their homes since it is less costly and the quality of life is better than being in a nursing home. I agree. I worked as a traveling physical therapist assistant the last three years I worked and it was all over the state of Illinois. Some nursing homes were good some were horrific.

I am back in to frugal mode.My brother took us out to eat one night and there were enough leftovers for another meal.My niece had leftovers from her meal and even after eating some the next day she left some for me to freeze for later. Also the restaurant served such large potions I froze my broccoli and will eat it with my Thanksgiving dinner. I did do a minor stock up yesterday doing some cherry picking at the local grocery stores and Big Lots. I will not buy anything else except for milk and some fresh produce until after Dec 3rd when I get my SS. Also will do some cherry picking of things on sale in Dec since they do put a lot of what I consider luxury foods on sale around the holidays. I am then hoping to coast until Easter except for fresh produce and dairy. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

We only have 38 days before we start the new year. Yikes! I will have a big cut in my SS despite getting the COLA due to having to pay for my medicare B premium. I am hoping to keep expenses down by watching my food budget. I was able to cut my water bill by a few dollars as well as my telephone bill this past month. The few extra dollars saved will go in to my slush fund for food. Also saving all gift cards and survey cash money for food.. Taking advantage of holiday sales and stockpiling what I can. My brother paid for half of my property taxes which does give me a little extra cash to spend on food plus will stash what I had saved to go towards next years property taxes. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Post Reply