Shopping Last Week, Meal Plan This Week & My Weis Deal

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Baked Catfish, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw
MONDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls
TUESDAY--Hot Dogs, nothing else*
WEDNESDAY--Subway subs*
THURSDAY--Frozen Pizza and Fritos*
FRIDAY--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Brussel Sprouts
SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Broccoli

B-IL though I showed him all the good stuff I had stocked up for him to cook, he didn't make much of an effort feeding them all while we were gone. (The * meals were while we were gone.) No veggies at all were consumed, just processed food. Pizza and Fritos?.....really??lol
I left $30 cash too, that he used for the subs and 1 gallon of milk he bought.  There was no money left so either he pocketed the rest or they also had Chinese or burgers somewhere as well.
Whatever.

I spent....sit down for this...... $144.69 at the grocery stores last week.
Ack!
$61 of that was grocery shopping on vacation.  The rest was 1 trip to the local ShurSave affiliate and 4 trips to Weis to do the Catalina deals. There was a Kimberly-Clark Buy $21/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal and a Heinz Buy $20/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal.
Among the K-C products that qualified were Huggies baby wipes.  I know this falls under TMI(=too much information)but I "heart" baby wipes for those times when you do #2 and you want something wet and soothing against your bum.  Ya know what I mean?lol  I started using baby wipes 20 years ago when I had my first baby and I haven't stopped. ;-)
Because of couponing deals, I haven't had to pay for baby wipes in 2+ years.  And my stockpile was down to 3 boxes of wipes so I was soooo glad(nay, RELIEVED!lol)to see this Cat Deal included Huggies wipes.
I bought 9 packages last Monday, paid $16.91(used 1 $1 Q)and got the $7 Cat and we were off to the races!
Of course, we left town for 3 days and then the Blizzard on Saturday so I was only able to roll this deal 2 more times.  I did 1 pack of TP and 5 boxes of wipes on each roll using Qs for the TP so I was OOP about $8.44 for each roll and ended up with 19 boxes of wipes and 2 mega packs of TP.
The last $7 Cat I used to do the Heinz deal once since the only items that qualified that I needed was pasta sauce and ketchup.  4 bottle of each came to $10.16 + another $7 Cat to use this week or next.  $1.27 for each pasta sauce and 40oz. bottles of ketchup was pretty good.


And yes I did go back to Weis and complain about being overcharged 1 penny on those packs of burritos!  The CS person looked at me just like Hubs did....that "you have GOT to be kidding me!" look.
I told her, "Weis advertised these 3 for $10.  I was charged $10.01.  The price guarantee policy says I get 1 item for free and my penny back for being overcharged, so yes, for $3.34 and a free item I AM going to complain!"lol
Hubs says I am exploiting the store and if everyone took advantage of this policy they would go out of business.
I say if they have a policy, and they are in the wrong and have to correct the error, then who am I NOT to hold them to their own policy!  Now you would think they store would have the computer error corrected after having to pay out, right?
Nope.  I went back to the store on Friday and the signs are still up and I am guessing that the price is still ringing up wrong.  If they pay out because of this policy and then don't even go to the trouble of fixing the system error, it either means the corporate management is incompetent or is making so much profit that it doesn't matter that they are giving out free product.
A smart person, with a lot of time on their hands, should have gone to Weis every day and bought 3 packages of burritos and then demanded $3.34 in cash back.  Maybe next time I find an error in pricing I get a bus load of friends to go to the store and have each of them buy an offending item and then hold the store to the price guarantee.  Maybe about 30 people in a row demanding refunds would make them actually FIX the ERROR next time.....or maybe not.lol

My savings percentage was only 37.86% last week, as the reg. retail was $232.86 on the groceries I brought home.  The items I bought at the ShurSave affiliate weren't all on sale but I am still trying to up my total there for the Turkey Day gift certificate.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
FRIDAY--leftovers
SATURDAY--leftovers again


At present, my October food spending stands at $604.51 with 1 day left in the month.
This will increase a teeny tiny bit as I am rolling a next Cat Deal at Weis today.

Taking my $7 Cat from last week and I did this first thing this morning.....

6 x Puffs facial tissue on sale $1=$6.00
1 x 12 pack of rolls=$2.19
SubTotal was $8.55 w/tax.

I used ...
1 x $1/6 Puffs ManuQ
1 x $7 OYNO CatQ
Coupon total.....$8.00
$8.55-$8.00=$.55 OOP
And I got a $5 OYNO Catalina Q.


The Puffs are part of a P&G Catalina Deal this week.  Buy any 5 qualifying P&G items and get a $5 CatQ.  I got 6 to use the coupon.  The Q made that extra Puffs free so why not buy 6 for free rather than 5 for free, right?lol





Now I can take that $5 Cat and roll it for 5 more free Puffs, over and over again until there are no more Puffs in the store or I have no more room for them, whichever comes first.lol


I also had 70 points for Gas at Weis so I got $25 of FREE gas for the Savings Mobile on Friday before the storm hit.
Sweet!

Other than this Puffs Deal at Weis and spending at the ShurSave affiliate to get to my Turkey Day gift certificate(there are 2 weeks left to qualify), I don't see much food shopping in my future this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?



Sluggy

Can I Go Back to the Beach Now?!?!

The view out my back door on October 29th......

WTF?!?

6 inches and counting.......

Sluggy

Getting Rid of Stuff.......One Way or Another....It's Still DeCluttering P*rn!

Since the Great Toy Sale of 2011 didn't happen, I have had to come up with other ways to try to A-get rid of things while B-getting back of few of our hard earned dollars as well.

So I listed about 40 items on the local Yahoo Tag Sale site and threw photos of it all in the online photo album for the site last Friday.  I sold 11 dolls of the 12 I had listed before Saturday was over!  Of course, 1 person crapped out and didn't take 2 of the dolls she asked for and then I held for her for 3 days. Grrrrr
None of the toys or collectibles I listed sold, just the dolls. Weird....
I made $89 on the ones I sold and I'll relist the 2 that person didn't take.  I'll list some more items this weekend and see what else I can sell....or maybe I'll wait until Halloween is over and people might be more in the mood for spending on Christmas presents.

A lot of this stuff  from the Toy Sale will end up going to Salvation Army as well as the local Yahoo Group Christmas List for helping the needy.

Another group I give to is a local volunteer fire department.  They hold a fundraiser each fall, usually Oct. or Nov.  It's what they call a Chinese Auction around here.  You may know it as a Penny Auction, or a Tricky Tray or a Silent Auction or some other name.
Basically, you buy sheets of tickets at the door, as many or as few as you want.  There is a master stub and about 25 other smaller tickets on each sheet.  All tickets have the same number.  You keep the master stub and you deposit your smaller tickets into buckets that sit next to prizes in the hall....one bucket per prize.  You can put 1 or you can put 1000 tickets in the bucket of something you want to win...or you can skip buckets and put nothing in, it's all up to you.
After a couple of hours of ticket dropping, they call time and you sit down.  The folks running the auction then pull a ticket from each bucket and if it has your number on it, you win the prize.

I must say these are very enjoyable events and I go to them whenever I get the chance.  It doesn't have to cost you much money and besides the social aspect of the event there is the thrill of maybe winning stuff so it satisfies the gambling addiction in me....such that it is.lol

Mostly the folks running one of these will solicit local businesses for prizes.  The organizations members also will donate items to make it more successful.
And then there are crazy people, like me, who donate brand new stuff from my hoard of crap.lol

About a week ago a local volunteer fire dept. that I have donated TONS of items to for their auction contacted me.  I have been a very generous donator of crap there for the last 6 or so years so they plan on me giving them stuff at this point.
Since we were out of town for a few days I didn't have a chance to call her back yet.
Well she called again while I was out at the grocery store yesterday.  The event is a week from tomorrow so the fire dept. ladies are getting antsy.  Hubs, who took the call, said that the fire dept. lady(who is in charge)is tired of hearing the other ladies nag at her about getting stuff from me.  She feels like she's stalking me.lol

So I went out in the garage this morning and here is what I've got together to donate to their Fundraiser....

3 ceramic Cookie Jars (Ronald McDonald, Boyds Bears Xmas, Nightmare Before Xmas)
2 sets of ceramic Salt & Pepper Shakers (Wedding Set, Xmas set that matches cookie jar)

Dept. 56 Old Globe Theater ceramic set
Maxine Snow Globe

1 Original Furby
1 Curious George Bank/Gumball Machine
1 Spider-man Clock

 3 Boyd's Bears Critters

1 Cat in the Hat Clock
3 assorted Boyds Bears Resin Figures (Ike & Libby, Edward the Elf, Jeremy as Noah)

That's $365.00 worth of good, new in the box, decluttering crap leaving the house on Monday, making 2 nice big fat donations to charity for October.

Yay me!! ;-)

Sluggy

The Totino's Giveaway Results.....

There were 32 valid entries(sorry Keshling!)so I used Random.Org to pick the winner...um....at random.....duh!lol.

And the winner is entry 29......
PRACTICAL PARSIMONY!

Practical Parsimony said...

Shaun of the Dead

October 28, 2011 4:09 PM

Congratulations Practical P!

Please email me with your mailing address(including phone number, hey, it's a MyBlogSpark thing, don't ask. lol).  You have 48 hours from the time stamp on this blog post to contact me before I am forced to pick a new winner.


Thank you to everyone who entered and I hope you stick around awhile!

You will especially like to be around next week as I tally up my food spending for October.  If you think, gorey and scary things are out on Halloween, just wait until you see how much $$ I spent on food this past month!lolol


Oh and the movie #2 son and friend rented from Redbox was.........

BLOOD NIGHT: THE LEGEND OF MARY HATCHET
As a 15 yr old boy, how could you go wrong with bloody violence & hatchets?  The nudity and teen partying were just a bonus for them.lol
Awful movie.....just awful......and a far cry from what I wanted to rent--The King's Speech. LOL


Sluggy

LAST CHANCE to Enter My Giveaway!!!.....Ends Tonight!

Last few hours left to enter my current Giveaway.  Find the link on the top of the right sidebar or find it HERE.

Only 22 valid entries so far so get going now! 8-))

Sluggy

Did Anyone Miss Me?

Hubs & I took off for a couple of days to go down to Ocean City MD.
It's a regular thing now that we try to do every year in October....just the two of us.

And no electronics come along, except the cell phone.
So that's why you haven't heard from me online.

It was short this time(2 nights)but sweet, as the high temperatures hovered around 75 each day! 8-))
The bad was that we found out the hotel turned off the A/C for THE YEAR before we got there.
Meaning, the room was hot as heck, even at night and I had a hard time sleeping for 2 nights.
bleh.

Now I would NEVER go to Ocean City in season.  The place is tacky, wall-to-wall tacky shops(beyond the actual ocean and beach part)and WALL-TO-WALL PEOPLE!
Loud people, out of control teens, screaming tots, drunk people, obnoxious people, cruising up and down the strip blaring music(mostly bad)so loud that the car vibrates people.
All of which I had to endure growing up in a beach town during "the season".....all of which are not on my list of fun things to be around.
So we go in the late Fall to avoid all these annoyances. The beach and ocean is still there and even though there ARE people there,  relative quiet is also there.  It was so warm this time you could have gone into the water though we opted not to.

Here is the lone photo I took....

Either I forgot to take the camera when we went somewhere or on a walk on the beach or we just didn't do anything photoworthy.
Mostly we sat around on the balcony or went out to eat something.  Neither of those things make great pictures.

We made a detour on the way down via Reading so I could get some Easy Spirit shoes.  These shoes are expen$ive but there is an outlet in Reading.  Ok, so there is an outlet in Rehoboth too but that one is so small I haven't been able to find any shoes that fit me there for the last 2 years.  The store in Reading is twice the size.  I found 4 pair of shoes that fit and they were on BOGO50% sale so it was worth the detour.

We stopped in Rehoboth on the way home at the Vans Outlet and I picked up most of #2 son's Christmas loot there.  If the child could have Vans tattooed on his butt, he would. ;-)
They also had the Jumiez Store a couple of doors down from the Vans Store opened now(at Easter when we passed through, it was not opened yet).  #2 son will be sad to hear that he missed it but that place was crazy expensive and not outlet prices so not on my places to go back to again.  I did find some jeans for #2 son clearanced to $9.97 plus BOGO50% off which was sweet. 

Since the weather was even warmer than forecast(Hubs didn't bring but 1 short sleeved shirt)he picked up a couple of summer polo type shirts at an outlet store in West Ocean City.   They were on clearance so I didn't have a fit. lol

Then we get to the 'unconventional shopping' that I do....grocery shopping!lol

On Wednesday we hit the Sav-A-Lot store down there.  We don't have one here so I like to go in and see what I can score for cheap.  Last year I got a ton of 100% juices but the pickings were thin this year.  They had Gwaltney rolled sausage for $1!....but it was sold out. 8-(
So here is what I picked up.....

Good strong instant coffee for Hubs at $3.99 a jar.
Sloppy Joe Sauce for .85¢ each.
Peach cough drops for .99¢....while not a deal price, the flavor is unusual for here and Daughter is addicted to peach anything AND she loves cough drops, so these go in her Christmas stocking.lol
I also picked up a couple of Jiffy brand corn bread mixes for .45¢.  They are selling for .70¢ & up around here.  No real stock-up worthy items there this trip.

Then we went looking for Smithfield ham(meaning salt cured ham).  While I no longer cook a whole Salt-Cured ham for the Holidays, we do like ham and biscuits on occasion so we always pick up ham slices when we get below the Mason-Dixon Line.

6 packaged of salt-cured ham for $4.39 each.
4 packages of Jiffy banana muffin mix(for #2 son)on clearance for $.39¢ each.
1 bag of masa or corn flour for $4.49
3 lbs. of dried chillies(various types, nothing really really hot though) for $2.99 lb.


Except for the muffin mix, this is all stuff I can't get here in my Ethnic Polish town.  I might be able to get the Mexican/Southwestern items up at Wegman's but I'd pay a much heftier price.

Then on the way out of town yesterday we picked up these items.....

FUDGE!  Select varieties were BOGO Free.  Fudge was $11.75 a POUND this past season!!
I would eat fudge until I weighed 800 pounds but NOT at that price.
So we picked up 4lbs. at a price equal to 2lbs.
1 lb. each for #2 son and the Nephew and 2 lbs. for Hubs and I.
I will try not to eat all of mine before the weekend is over........

Then we stopped at Rose's.  It's still there hanging on in OC, but barely.  Rose's is a department/discount store that has been around in this area of the South since before Kmart/Walmart, etc.    It is the place to go for this......

Claxton Fruit Cake!
Best.
Fruitcake.
Ever!!!

I know you are all making nasty faces at this because fruitcake is gross.
ALL fruitcake EXCEPT this or your granny's homemade are gross!

This fruitcake is all fruit and nut meats, barely any cake.
It is the CADILLAC of Fruitcakes!
But if you order this from the company in Georgia that makes it, it's Very Pricey!
I go to Rose's and get it for $3.75 each.
Last year it was $3.50.  I was shocked that it hadn't gone up more!
1 fruitcake will go into #1 son's stocking(He loves this stuff!)and the other 4?
They will be eaten, trust me!lolol

I also picked up this at Rose's......

Some slippers for $5 that I might actually get my foot into.
If not, I'll give them to Daughter for Christmas as her foot is as big but not as wide.

We left Ocean City MD and it was around 11am and 65 degrees....re-cue my first photo but with a little more overcast clouds....

We hit rain as we left Rehoboth DE.  The drizzle picked up and the temperature dropped slowly as we drove northward.

By the time we got 20 miles from home, we had this on the Turnpike....

FREAKING SNOW!
Ok, I didn't take that picture and it wasn't QUITE that bad, but it was SNOW!
I was in a summer dress and sandals.
A 4 hour drive shouldn't take you from summer to winter weather, right?
Ugh.

At least it didn't stick and it's gone today.....though they are calling for more snow on Saturday!!
Did I say UGH yet?lol

I'm off to catch up on blogs and real life now.

Sluggy

Food Spending for Week 3 & Meal Planning Week 4

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....


SUNDAY--Country Fried Steak, Roasted Potatoes, Green Bean Almondine
MONDAY--Leftovers
TUESDAY--Soup
WEDNESDAY--Barbeque Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Rolls
THURSDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Sauteed Cabbage
FRIDAY--Scrounge whatever you can find
SATURDAY--Chinese Take-out

I only cooked half of what I had planned.  #2 son didn't want to eat the nights Hubs wasn't home so I just had soup or leftovers.

I spent....sit down for this...... $148.60 at the grocery stores last week.
Ack!
I did the Kraft Deal at the local store 3 times.  How could I not when it gave me bags of shredded cheese for $1.87?lol  I also bought canned veggies for half price, cranberry sauce on sale, bags of sugar to get to $30 to earn a $10 Catalina(not quite there yet)and some on sale frozen fruit bars, chips and some soda to hide from  #2 son.  I am also working on my Thanksgiving Voucher at this store so all things being equal, I'll be going there until Thanksgiving to spend the grocery money.

I also used my $10 in Redner's Cats to get 3 bags of sweet potato fries and 3 jars of pasta sauce for .14¢ OOP.  The $5 Weis Cat was used on 3 bags of burritos, leaving me an OOP of $5.01.  I am going back up to Weis today since the burritos were advertised as 3/$10, but my receipt has the amount it took off keyed in wrong in their system, so they came out to 3/$10.01.  I am going to have them make good on their "if it rings up wrong on sale, you get your money back and the product free" guarantee.

Hubs just shook his head at me and said, "You are REALLY going up there because you were overcharged a penny?", when I told him my plan.
Damn right I am! lol

My savings percentage was 45.83% last week, as the reg. retail was $274.32 on the groceries I brought home.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Baked Catfish, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw
MONDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls
TUESDAY--Chicken & ? or ?
WEDNESDAY--Lasagna in the Freezer or ?
THURSDAY--Hot Dogs or ?
FRIDAY--?
SATURDAY--?

The Brother-IL is staying here for 3 days and we are bugging out for a mini-vacation so I have little control over the menu after Monday as he will cook what he wants.
When we get back I'll whip up some meals or have what we didn't last week(like the Chicken & Dumplings and/or Quesadillas).

At present, my October food spending stands at $459.82 with 7 days left in the month.  I've left $400 in the dust and am creeping up on $500 for the month...which is double what I usually spend.  Between laying in a few things today for BIL, nephew and #2 son and leaving them some cash for necessities I forget, $500 is gonna happen at least.

I'm hanging onto a 55.22% savings rate over regular retail for October.  Hoping to stay over 50% for the month when all is said and done.

How much have you spent this month on food/toiletries?
Has it been an expensive month or a cheap month for you?

Sluggy