Pantry Eat Up and More

Hello friends! Yes, I actually have a post that is not a Pot of Possibilities update!

Our oldest daughter came for a week long visit last week. That causes extra spending. Groceries and some expenses to enjoy the town. As a result of that and just a few days left before my husband's paycheck, I decided to keep the grocery shopping on Sunday lean and use up what we already had on hand!

This week we have used up:

2 buns

frozen corn and edamame

fresh blueberries

cilantro 

hummus

green onions

2 apples

shredded carrots

tomato

can of black beans

steak fries

tomato sauce 

half a can of refried beans

three frozen everything bagels

3/4 lb ground beef

skirt steak

I meal planned around these items and made several of them into my lunches this week. I did have to supplement at the grocery store for a few things and to stock up on some normal needs. I spent less than $50 on Sunday and will go back for a full grocery run again on Thursday! It does feel good to use up things already purchased as well as to shop from the pantry. 

In other news, we received a check from USAA for $538.48. This is apparently a refund for a extended vehicle protection plan we purchased on our used truck. We made the purchase of that in 2011. USAA did a quality review and found their EVP products did not meet member expectations. I don't believe we ever made a claim with them and the vehicle was paid off a long time ago. Interesting business decision on their part. We are grateful for any money we weren't expecting. 

We should probably put this money into the Pot of Possibilities, but we are traveling by car next month and don't have a lot set aside for gas, food and hotels specifically, so just might use this money! Once the trip is over any extra we didn't use could go into the Pot! 

Have you received any unexpected cash recently or eaten down your pantry stores? 

Pot of Possibilities - June 2021

First half of the year of savings complete! We are looking to roughly save $30,000 towards our Pot of Possibilities this year. We are on target and slightly ahead at this point. 

6/1 Paycheck $858.82

6/15 Paycheck $1029.84

NFCU Interest $55.08

FNBO Interest $12.45    

USAA Rewards $6.13

Chase Freedom $4.28

Amex Rewards $76.80

June Total $2043.40    

YTD Total $15,621.31

POP Total $107,681.69

I usually have a US Bank reward of $3.50. The bank now requires a minimum of $25 in rewards before redemption. I'm currently only using for our AT&T internet bill for 5% off. The small amounts add up, but I'm getting less interested in keeping this card. 

Interest is declining as two of our CDs matured this month and we cannot get anything close to what we had for interest now. It really isn't the best time to be holding cash. I plan to open a money market at Navy Federal rather than having the proceeds from the CDs in regular savings account. That will help a little. 

How did you do with your savings this month?