Saturday, June 30, 2018

Rite-Aid to Roll the Bonus Cash & Heads Up! for Sunday

I was able to roll/spend down some of the Bonus Cash on two of our Wellness cards this week.

I had gone to my R-A earlier this week and couldn't find the item I wanted to buy/roll BC with.  I didn't think to ask anyone who worked there if they knew where it was located(because I pretty much know the layout of that store).  I went back on Friday while Hubs and I were out and did ask.

Silly me, thinking the sleep aid product would be with all the other sleep aid products on the pain reliever aisle.
No, this item was over with the vitamins?
Okaaaaaay....at least I finally found it, right? ;-)


2 x Nite Thru sleep aid on sale=$12.00
2 x Neutrogena acne bar on sale BOGO50%=$4.93
SubTotal.......$16.93

Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 Neutrogena products(coupons dotcom)IPQ=$6.00

$16.93-$6.00=$10.93
I paid with BC and earned back $10 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $5 Nite Thru)so "'spent down" the Bc by .93¢.
There was $1.07 in overage using the Neutrogena Qs on those bars.

While in town we stopped at a different Rite-Aid, a smaller store which didn't carry the Nite-Thru but did have the Neutrogena soap so I bought this on a different card.......


4 x Pringles on sale=$6.00
2 x Neutrogena acne bars on sale BOGO50%=$5.38(these were priced higher at this store)
SubTotal......$11.38

Used 2 more $3/1 Neutrogena Qs and a $1/4 Pringles ManuQ so $11.38-$7.00=$4.38 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned $2 in new BC($2 wyb4 Pringles)so I "spent down" $2.38 in BC on this card.

This Sunday's ad is a great opportunity to roll your Bonus Cash!

There is a Proctor and Gamble "Spend $30/Get $15 BC" Deal(limit 2 Deals per card/account).
Pair it with the P&G coupon insert due in Sunday's paper for some cheap/free stuff like shampoo, laundry detergent, tampons, etc.



Also, if you are a Gold level Wellness members there is a special Deal from Sunday to the 4th of July....for every $25 you spend you get $5 in BC with no limit to how many times you can earn this.
Rumor is that it may show on your account/receipt right away like it did make in April(I think it was that month)OR it may show up at a later day like the last time they ran this promo.  Sunday we'll all know more.
So if you plan on doing the P&G Deal,if you do it before Thursday and you are a Gold level you'll get an extra $5 for every $25 you spend on that deal.

This is not just a weekly P&G Deal, it runs all month but the sale prices are only good this week.
There looks like there are some Crest double dips running in the July 8th ad........


These Crest items are included in the "Spend $30/Get $15 BC" Deal but next week they also give BC independent of that Deal so double dips.
No way to know for sure if these particular Crest items are part of the monthly Deal until Sunday when they will be marked as part of the deal or not...but if you don't finish off your Deals this coming week you can always add the Crest the following week to max out your Deal.
The only problem with the Crest is that the cost after Qs show the Load2Card Q and not the insert Q values which may be lower.  If you can't/don't have L2CQs attached to your Wellness card then this won't help you(I can't access L2C on two of my cards so won't help me there.) sigh

Just a little heads up for those out there who need to roll Bonus Cash like I do.  8-)))

Sluggy







Friday, June 29, 2018

Frugal Friday.....The June 29th Edition

Not a lot to report on that was frugal this week but here goes.......

*  No Weis Friday Freebie last week.  I wasn't feeling well and nobody would go get it for me so I missed out on free cottage cheese. Bummer!  But we did get some freebies and almost freebies this week at Weis........


Better than free Chobani flips after doubled Q and a Yoplait mix-ins for .20¢ after doubled Q.
I just got .40¢ back on SavingStar for the Yoplait one so now all 5 of my yogurts were better than free.
Woohoo!


A Weis loss leaders made even cheaper with a doubled Q.  I paid .72¢ each for these bags of sugar.

*  I found money again!


A penny in the parking lot at Rite-Aid and .06¢ on the top of the garbage receptacle in the Weis lobby.  I can't fathom the mind of people who throw away change!  I guess I am an old fart.

*  I sold 6 more packs of diapers.....


 $33 more dollars to tuck away makes $98.50 total made for selling this lot so far.

*  Remember that mayo I bought at Weis this week?


When you bought the Kraft you got the Weis brand free?
Well I still had an .80¢ Ibotta rebate on my account there so I got .80¢ cash back for this purchase which brought my OOP for both down to $1.70 or .85¢ per jar.
Nice. 8-))

*  I received a coupon I sent away for in the mail a couple of weeks ago..........


A free 20oz. bottle of Lipton Iced Tea.
Now I just have to find this item in a store around here before this Q expires.


*  We finally received the balance of our electric company deposit from Louisiana this week. It's actually an electric cooperative based in Texas but it covers this small piece of LA too.  They took our last bill due in April/May out of the deposit and then we had to wait another month for the balance of this deposit back.  Still waiting on the water company down there to settle up and refund us part of our deposit for H2O service as well. sigh



That's about it for us this week since I haven't gone anywhere really and bought nothing at Rite-Aid(that's going to change big time on Sunday though as I need to roll a LOT of BC).

What frugal wins did you have lately?

Sluggy

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Random Stuff Lately at Chez Sluggy

* I haven't been feeling well lately.  I had my semi-annual primary doc visit last week and all my bloodwork/tests are great!   I am in good health for a woman of my age in my condition......besides my symptoms of aging(shaking of my right hand, arthritis and pain in my neck/shoulders/hands)and on top of my chronic HS symptoms which ebb and flow in no predictable manner.

But lately, I've been battling anxiety as well.  So after a long talk with my M.D. he put me on an anti-anxiety med and it's knocked me for a loop.  Fatigue, dizziness and muscle pain and soreness have kept me from getting much done for the last week.  I went to the grocery store a few days ago and it wore me out and I had to take to my bed for the rest of the day. ugh.
Hopefully these side effects will go away with time....if not, I'll talk to the doc and try a different medication.
A different doc put me on Prozac years ago when I was having a really rough patch and it about made me crazier than I felt so maybe these mood changing meds aren't for me and my body chemistry?
I am not ready to dismiss this new drug out of hand though because it seems to be helping some of the arthritis/shooting pains I get.
Like I've been told, "Getting old isn't for sissies!".  Truer words were never spoken! ;-)
So if I miss a day or two posting it's just that I'm feeling poorly here and there.


* I think I won't be buying anymore diapers to resell locally.  Not having a problem selling them but MAN!....the assholes you have to suffer along the way to the actual buyers!  People flaking out and not communicating well with you and then not showing up(those get reported to the moderators).

And then there are the down right creepy ones.  I had a guy message me about diapers a couple times and then he said he was at a party(this was a Sat. night)and he wanted to meet me at midnight after he left this party to do the deal. WTF?!?  We worked it out and met in the afternoon at the Weis parking lot(lots of people around)but I did take Hubs with me in the car just in case.  It was a youngish guy(well of course if he has a baby in diapers)but he still gave off a creepy vibe. lolz
And then there are the messages I get that go like, "I want diapers, are they available?"  Ok....what size/type do you want? Give me a CLUE so I can tell you if I still have that size!  And when you respond they either don't answer or they ask you 300 questions about the diapers like they have never bought diapers before.
Maybe this is feeding into my anxiety, dealing with these nimrods. 8-)
What I have left I think I'll put away until Summer is over and then sell them in the Fall.

* I was all out of Dill Weed so I told the Daughter to write a note on the erasable calendar on the fridge that I needed to buy some.
Here's the note she wrote.......

Yeah, she's a smart ass.....

*  Speaking of weed....hehehe.....I had a strange looking plant pop up amongst the tomato plants in the garden.
Anybody know what this is?

It's a vining plant  and the leaves are sticky.

*  Back in May, after Daughter put the window a/c unit in her room she noticed banging behind the screen that accordion's across the window, attached to the sides of the a/c.
Seems a birdie built a nest on the windowsill next to the unit.  You can see part of it in this shot I took....

 The eggs hatched and daughter got this shot of the almost grown babies in the nest before they flew away.


I encountered one of those baby birds the day they left the nest.  I was out in the garage doing something and had the door open when I heard a chirp chirp in the garage.  One of the babies was standing on a might unsteady pair of  legs at the front of the garage.  I shooed him out and he hopped under the evergreen tree out front before trying his wings again and he flit up onto the branch of a maple tree and disappeared.

*  The night we had steaks I gave Chester a bone to see what he'd do with it.


Well let me tell you, after sniffing it a bit and poking it, he thought that was the best thing since sliced bread! lolz


I watched him of course to make sure he didn't chew off a fragment and swallow it(he's got tiny teeth so little chance like the Shepherd/Husky who would have chewed it up lickety-split).

After he had pretty much stripped it the Daughter tried to take it from him and he actually GROWLED at her!  It's the first time Chester has threatened anyone like that.
So we let him take it outside, where he promptly found a hiding spot for it under a pile of leaves next to the side of the house and left it there for later.  After he went inside I retrieved it.  Yeah, I spoil all his fun......

I'll be over here working on closing out June's financials, working on my To-Do List some more and getting the July giveaway ready to launch.

Sluggy

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Shopping Lately

I'm a bit behind on my shopping posts.  C'est la vie, right?

Here is stuff I bought at Rite-Aid last Friday....or was it Saturday?


3 x 12 packs Diet Pepsi on sale=$9.99 *not pictured*
2 x Mitchum deodorant on sale BOGO50%=$6.73
1 x Russell Stover chocolates on sale=$5.99
SubTotal........$22.71

Coupons Used
1 x $1/3 Pepsi 12 packs R-A in-adQ=$1.00
1 x $2/3 Diet Pepsi Catalina Q=$2.00
1 x $5/2 Mitchum R-A receiptQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Mitchum ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 R/S chocolate box ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$11.00

$22.71-$11.00=$11.71+.27¢tax=$11.98 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned $2 in new BC(on the R/S chocolate box) so "spent down" $9.98 on my Bonus Cash.

The Diet Pepsi Catalina spit out after the cashier scanned all 3 12-packs and got used right away to make my sodas $2.33 each 12 pack, which is a good price.
The chocolate was $1.99 after sale/Q/BC earned and the deodorants were .73¢ for both.

I needed to spend down some BC on this card and this transaction got the job done.  Keeping track of BC and having to roll it is just too time consuming with this 60 until expiration limit now.

I also made one trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets this week.
Here are the highlights.....


Pretend you see 4 Flip yogurts and 1 Yoplait mix-in yogurts in the photo. (A Flip got eaten before I got around to taking this shot.)
Flips were on sale for .87¢ each and I had 4 x .50/1 Qs that doubled to $1 so I was paid .52¢ to take those yogurts home.  The Yoplait was $1 and I had a .40¢/1 Q which doubled to .80¢ so that one cost me .20¢ OOP.
I'll pick these up when they are cheap enough to have as a treat(the yogurt makes them healthy, right?lol)

 I bought these 6 items as part of the Mix and Match/Buy6, Get $3 Off instantly Deal.
2 x Daisy cottage cheese on sale=$3.98
2 x Silk milk on sale=$5.98
2 x Cool Whip on sale=$2.98
SubTotal.......$12.94
I had 2 x .55¢/1 DaisyQs($1.10)and 2 x $1/1 SilkQs($2)so $3.10 off plus the $3 instant discount and all 6 were $6.84 OOP.
Hubs is using nut juice in is cereal and coffee now so I pick these up when I find a deal.  The Cool Whip is needed for the 4th of July cook-out pie recipe and we can always use cottage cheese for something here.


3 items this week Weis had a deal, buy a brand name and get the equivalent Weis brand for free.
I only did the mayo deal(I don't buy frozen waffles and we have enough bbq sauce)so both jars cost me $2.50(Kraft on sale for $2.50 and the Weis brand was free)making each jar $1.25.  That's a good price for mayo.


And Domino sugar was a loss leader at $1.47 a bag.  I had a .75/2 Q which doubled fully to $1.50 off so my two bags of sugar cost me .72¢ each after Q.

And that's it for me lately.
What have you gotten a good deal on where you live?

Sluggy

Monday, June 25, 2018

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Daughter Cooked!" Edition--



The daughter decided she wanted to make paella this weekend.  Barring having a paella pan she opted to use my Dutch oven.
It came out quite good.  She used chicken, shrimp, chorizo and mussels for proteins.  And I ate it even though it was choke full of peas.  I was just grateful somebody here besides me had to make diner. ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Fend For Yourself
2. Monday--BLTs
3. Tuesday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Veg TBD
4. Wednesday--Breakfast for Dinner
5. Thursday--Chicken Parm, Salad
6. Friday--Brats on Rolls w/Onions, Baked Beans, Veg TBD
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Fend For Yourself
2. Monday--BLTs
3. Tuesday--Fish, Cole Slaw, can't remember the Veggie
4. Wednesday--Breakfast for Dinner
5. Thursday--Chicken Parm, Sugar Snap Peas
6. Friday--Brats on Rolls w/Onions, Baked Beans
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Everything planned was served.
Last week saw lots of cooking.
I also picked up two rotisserie chickens on special at the Shursave market so those will be sliced/diced up and become Chicken Salad and Chicken pieces on Salads this coming week.

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  

A trip to Weis, and 2 trips to Shursave market brought the weekly food spending to $85.21 and the monthly total to $400.84.  I am now officially over my $400 budget for food.

I've got $0 left in the food budget for June and 5 days left in my shopping month.  

My savings percentages last week was 48.20%(without Rite-Aid trips)and June's monthly savings total so far is at 53.46%.

Leftovers going into this week......Cabbage, 2 slices of Corned Beef, 2 helpings of baked Flounder for Daughter, and 7 pieces of Chicken Parm(I made enough for planned-overs),

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Paella
2. Monday--Chicken Parm(leftover), Pear Gorgonzola Salad
3. Tuesday--Caesar Salad w/Grilled Chicken
4. Wednesday--Seafood Enchiladas, Rice, Beans
5. Thursday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Cuke Salad
6. Friday--Assorted Things(Stuffed Peppers, Salad, Etc.)
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 1 night of leftovers/FFY and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
Daughter used what I had in the pantry/freezer or paid for ingredients herself for the paella so that didn't add to my food spending in June.
I've got some items to make but don't have enough for everyone....leftover ground beef and 2 peppers for stuffed peppers(I don't care for green pepper so I'll have the last bag of Pear Gorgonzola Salad, plus a couple other things here that need to be used).

I've been Jonesing for seafood Enchiladas so I'm going to make some this week.  I've already got the shrimp, fake crab, cheese, spices and tortillas so why not?

What needs buying for this menu? Romaine lettuce and a cuke.  We also need milk, OJ, sour cream, almond milk, Cool Whip(for pies for July 4th cook-out and it's on sale now so I'll buy it ahead).  I'm hoping to get through the rest of June on $20 or less.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?


Sluggy

Saturday, June 23, 2018

April Trip to Fredericksburg VA....Part Two

The next stop on our museum tour was The Rising Sun Tavern.



This museum is touted as having been owned by George Washington's younger brother, Charles Washington(also my 11th cousin 8 x removed).

Charles had this house built in 1760 but sold it and had moved away long before it became a tavern/lodging house in 1792.
Intersting tidbit--Charles Town, West Virginia was named by and for Geo. little brother Charles Washington.  That was in 1787 so it was Charles Town, Virginia, not West Virginia.

Interesting information given by the docents here about traveling in the Colonial era but no photos were allowed to be taken inside.  Let's just say that travel, even short distances, was arduous and uncomfortable and you had to be careful which lodging house you frequented.

When we left the building I spied this A. Smith Bowman whiskey barrel.......


We toured the nearby A. Smith Bowman distillery a couple of times(once with Hubs in August 2015 and once with the two oldest kids in July 2016).


A Bowman visiting a Bowman's distillery.
My direct line of Bowman's are in America by way of Ireland(and before that, England).
The distillery Bowmans line was orginally from Germany.


But it turns out as I dig deeper into my genealogy I am related to Abraham Smith Bowman Jr.(pictured above with his father, A Smith Bowman Sr.).

Abraham Smith Bowman Jr. married Mary Walker Lee, who it turns out is my 10th cousin 4 x removed, through my mother's FOSTER line(I also have a paternal Foster line but that one is Irish/English.)


And yes, this LEE family is That  FFV or "First Families of Virginia" Lee family.

It's funny that my brother remembers that our father had fantasized out loud about being of German descent when we were younger and he was still alive.  This was long before any of us were into genealogy or DNA testing and had done any research.
But I digress.......


So it was off to our third stop of the day........

George's mom's house.
Mary Ball Washington(the wife of my 10th cousin 9 x removed)lived at "Ferry Farm"(called this after the fact)across the Rappahannock River from F'burg, which was only accessible to town at that time by a ferry.
After her husband Augustine Washington died in 1743, George tried to get Mary to move into town but she refused until the winter of 1771 when she became seriously ill and her daughter, Betty Washington Lewis, who lived in town had just given birth and couldn't travel to the farm to nurse her mother.  Mary moved into the town home George bought her the Spring of 1772.


"Bettie" Washington,Mary Ball Washington's daughter, married Fielding Lewis(of the Warner Hall Plantation Lewis')and he is also my 11th cousin 8 x removed


Mary Ball Washington was, as Little Edie Beale would say a "staunch character".............


Mary Ball Washington died 25 Aug 1789 in her bed in Fredericksburg Virginia after a long battle with breast cancer.


Hubs and I pose in Mary's garden which she dearly loved, by her sundial.  Mary brought the sundial over from Ferry Farm when she moved into town.


There is one surviving outbuilding at Mary Washington's house, that of the kitchen.



In most Southern homes the kitchen was a separate building next to the main house.  Cooking back then was dirty and hot work and the last place you'd want to have a kitchen was in your main living area, especially in the Summer.


Even in areas of the country where it wasn't so hot for a good piece of the year, homes would often have a "Summer" kitchen.  These were either in a basement of a home or a separate building on the property.  My in-laws had a "Summer" kitchen of sorts in the lower level of their split level home in NJ.

We checked out the gift shop in the back of Mary Ball Washington's home and I did buy a couple of postcards.....

Eldest was getting hungry and tired of waiting on us out in the car(he had already toured these little museums)so we didn't get to "Kenmore"(Bettie Washington and Fldieing Lewis' home 2 blocks away)this trip.  Perhaps another time.


We passed this monument over on the next street across from "Kenmore" and darned if it's not Hugh Mercer again!  I had to get a photo.


This was a nice looking house near the monument with a mansard roof feature.  Notice the horse tie off and the stone block for stepping down from your mount or from a carriage on the street.


We grabbed a cheap and quick lunch at Hardee's then it was a stop at the nearby Ollie's and a grocery store to pick up a birthday cake since it was Hubs' birthday and then back to the apartment to hang out for awhile.

As soon as Eldest's GF arrived from work and changed we were off for a late dinner.......

Of course, to a brew pub, Spencer Devon Brewing.

A round of drinks and then the trivia started..
We had to decide on a team name and went with "The Carpetbaggers".
It should have been "1 Scalawag and 3 Carpetbaggers" since the 3 of my dining/drinking companion are all Yankees. ;-)

So we ate a bit(the Red Goat burger was great!)and drank a big(well Eldest and Hubs did most of the drinking)and we played some bar trivia.  Between our varied interests, sexes and ages we pretty much covered every category of trivia and we ended up coming in second place for the night!


Then it was back to the apartment and time for cake..........
But Eldest didn't have any candles to blow out so we improvized using the Candle app on the GF's phone........lol........



Hubs and I left the next morning to come home.  It was a quick but fun little trip to see our son and soak in some local history.


Sluggy

Friday, June 22, 2018

Frugal Friday.....June 22nd Edition

Let's take a look around and see what frugal wins we had this past week.........

*   Basically free after BC mouth wash at R-A this week....


*  I sold some diapers locally this week.....




$65.50 back in my pocket.

*  Hubs picked up the Weis Friday Freebie last Friday.......


Free Weis "Pop-Tarts".  Somebody around here will eat these(not me). 8-P

                                     
*  More free items at Rite-Aid last Friday.  The toothpaste was totally free and didn't use any of my Bonus Cash even!

*  Remember that Aleve I also bought at Rite-Aid last week?
There is an offer for a free movie ticket this Summer when you buy qualifying Aleve products.  $5 off a ticket for 1 bottle, $13 off two tickets for 2 bottles(when purchased on the same receipt).
Details on the offer HERE.
I received my movie ticket code on Wednesday.
I'll use this the day Hubs decides to do his beer brewing since the smell is overpowering to me and I'll want to be somewhere other than the house.  I'll do a little grocery shopping after the movie since I'll be near a few food stores down there.

* I earned .25¢ back on Ibotta. whoopee! lolz

*  Hubs and I had a yearning for some Chinese food so we had a lunch date out at our local Asian restaurant. Lunch prices and lunch sized portions are good for our wallet and our waistlines.  8-)

*  I picked the first greens from our garden this week......


4 ounces of leaf lettuce.  Ok let's call it a quarter pound because that sounds like more. lol

*  I bought 2 pair of shoes on Thursday online.  Easy Spirit was having a one day sale on the Summer Solstice. (I know how Belinda loves these things at the grocery store!) 
I found something I could use that was on sale plus purchasing them on the Solstice gave me a code for an additional 30% off.....AND free shipping too! 8-)

*  In conjunction with buying the shoes I went through a cash back site to make the purchase and earned back $1.10 cash, so an additional discount on the footwear.

So what frugal-ness did you experience this past week?
Tell us all about your wins.....




Sluggy