Fugal Friday.....the January 22nd Edition

 Not much this week that was frugal but one really big win!  Let's take a look........

*  I only did the gift card glitch deal at Rite-Aid so far this week....

Plus there are two different Spend $50 Get $15 BC coupons(they have different barcodes)so you can do the deals twice on each card and get the $15 BC if you have a mind to(I haven't.).  I used gift money to buy the Rite-Aid gift card so that's a bonus win too. ;-)

*  I did the Ibotta Midweek Bonus at Walmart.......

After ALL rebates the above cost me MINUS $6.13. 8-)))

*  Hubs took me out for lunch yesterday on my Birthday. Of course I found and printed a coupon(10% off)to reduce the cost. lol

*  I found money!

Not much to report in for this week.....

This penny found in front of the beer cafe/bakery register at Weis(PMITA)Markets on Tuesday.

And this penny found at the register in Rite-Aid when I went in on Thursday.

Found Money This Week..... .02¢
Found Money This Year.....  .19¢

*  I actually sold something on eBay this past week!

This Osbourne Family(from their old MTV reality show)Throw blanket still new in the package.
Back right before Christmas I had an eBay user who sent me the same Offer on it three times(that's the limit on offers you can send a Seller).  They kept sending the same $ amount offer and it was a lowball one so I just ignored them.  Ignored for the low amount and because it was so close to Christmas and with the USPS so backed up I know I'd have problems with it getting to them in time.  So this past week another buyer paid full asking price for it and it's on the way to them.  Sometimes it pays to hold out for full price.  And they still got a good deal first because this item is long ago discontinued and it still has the retail price of $59.99 on the package. 8-)

*  And my big frugal win for the week considering I HAD TO spend money on it.......

My computer is coming up on 8 years old and on it's last legs so I needed a new machine.  I got input from my tech support guy(Ex-College Boy)and we decided on this one as it had most of what I needed(the only flaw is the screen isn't as big as the one on my old laptop but I can live with that).  So I bit the bullet and ordered it.  This bad boy retails for over $1,100.

But the cost wasn't as painful as you'd have thought.  I have been saving our credit card points for a few years now(use to get gift cards with points for Xmas presents to give out to the kids)and I had $641 worth of points to put toward the laptop so it only cost me $400 and some OOP.

And guess where that $400 and some came from?  Yep, my stimulus check, so in the end this cost me NADA OOP.

yay. me.

That's about all I've got this week.........

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Tell us all about them!

Sluggy

It's Mah Birfday!

 What I hope they'll say on my Birthday......

What's actually happening on my Birthday this year..

And how I am feeling turning over a new year of life........

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway HERE.  It ends Saturday evening at 11:59pm.  Also if "Linda", "GrammaGrits" and "T" who entered already are reading this, they need to contact me with their contact info(email addys)as their Google/Blogger profiles are empty of any identifying information so their entries are not valid until I get some kind of contact info for them.

One of my Birthday Buddies is Chris Britton.  If you are old as dirt like me you know him from this band/pop hit from the 1960's......

But I am channeling this other Troggs hit today....

Here's another Birthday Buddy of mine.  You may know her as "Baby Spice"...

Go out and have a Great Day!

Sluggy

MidWeek Ibotta Bonus Was A Big Moneymaker!

I received a $3 Ibotta Bonus offer for doing 6 rebates.  This was a piece o' cake so I went ahead and did it at Walmart earlier today..........

2 x Celestial Seasonings black tea $2.38 ea.=$4.76
2 x Good Thins crackers $2.18 ea.=$4.36
2 x Bic Prevguard pens clearance $4.00 ea.=$8.00
2 x Mead folders clearance .25¢ ea.=.50¢
3 x Listerine Flossers $1.97 ea.=$5.91
SubTotal....$23.53

Coupons Used
1 x $1/2 Celestial Seasonings tea ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Good Thins crackers ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/2 Bic items ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$4.00

$23.53-$4.00=$19.53+.33¢ sales tax=$19.86

Rebates earned back totaled $24.75.
$21.25 regular rebates($2.49 Celestial Seasonings, .10¢ any brand tea bags, .10¢ any Probiotic beverage, $1.50 Good Thins, $2.56 Good Thins, $6 Bic Prevaguard, $2 Bic Stationery, .50¢ Mead, $6 Listerine).  I also got a .10¢ any brand fruit snacks but am not counting that since they will probably find their error and remove it.

I also earned a Listerine Bonus of .50¢ and since I went over 6 rebates I earned the $3 MidWeek Bonus as well.

This was a whopping $4.89 moneymaker after cash rebates earned on Ibotta!  

But I also scanned two varieties of Celestial Seasonings teas to ShopKick for 50 Kicks, got a 10 Kicks for walking into Walmart and submitted my receipt for the CS tea I bought for another 250 Kicks so I'll get $1.24 for all those Kicks from ShopKicks too, giving me a $6.13 moneymaker in the end.  Nice.

I like these small number of items to get a Bonus and rarely get them...usually I have to do 12 or 15 offers and the payoff is only a buck.  This was a nice change.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Glitch

I saw reports online that the $15 BC when you spend $50 coupon at Rite-Aid(in some flyers but also available to print from the online flyer and emailed to shoppers if R-A has your email addy)was again working on certain gift cards this week.

So I went and tried it out.............

The $50 Home Depot fixed amount and the variable amount newer design Rite-Aid gift cards(when you put $50 on that one)both generated $15 in Bonus Cash to each of these accounts/cards.  I also got another $2 BC w/the R-A card because I bought a coffee creamer for Hubs and we hit the $10 mark on that specific BC deal too. :-)

The Home Despot cards are always handy to have for home repairs and that cost I took out of the home repair/maintenance budget.  My brother sent me a check for Xmas so I used that $ to buy the R-A gift card.

Last time I believe a Google gift card also glitched and generated Bonus Cash when you put $50 on that one too but I didn't try that one this time.  The biggest hurdle may be to get your cashier to scan the coupon as these coupons don't work with gift cards(or at least they are told that).

Remember this is a glitch so I could go away at any time so try at your own risk and your mileage may vary and all that.  I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone would like to know.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

  The "Use It Up" Edition....

My massive container of elbow noodles is now gone.  Hubs cooked the rest up Saturday night to go with his leftover Stroganoff meal.  I told him that was too much noodle for the amount of Stroganoff left but he cooked it all anyway.  I guess he's planning on using what is leftover from his meal with spaghetti sauce for lunches this week.  And if that wasn't HIS plan, it certainly is MINE! lol

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff over leftover Mashed Taters, Sauted Green Beans

2. Monday--Salmon, Brussels Sprouts, leftover Mac and Cheese

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup
5. Thursday--Beef Pie(Hubs cooking)

6.  Friday--More Leftovers

7. Saturday--Subway or Leftovers(depending on how much of the Leftovers Hubs eats for lunches)

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff over leftover Mashed Taters, Sauted Green Beans

2. Monday--Salmon, Brussels Sprouts, leftover Mac and Cheese

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup
5. Thursday--Beef Pie(Hubs cooking)

6.  Friday--Hot Dogs, Macaroni Salad

7. Saturday--Chinese take-out for lunch, FFY for dinner

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 nights of leftovers/planned overs, FFY, and 1 night of Take-Out.   

The plan was followed mostly last week, except Hubs ate more leftovers than I thought so I had to come up with a new meal on Friday.  I was having a craving for Macaroni Salad so I made some and paired it with those boutique hot dogs I got 2 weeks ago at P and R. Ex-College Boy was coming over Friday night to get our old microwave anyway plus he LOVES my macaroni salad and there were extra hot dogs so he ate with us too.  I gave him some mac salad to take home along with a container of the Broccoli soup too as he likes that as well.

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  Not a single thing

Everything I bought was to use last week or refrigerated things like cottage cheese and/or produce.

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  1 small London Broil
*  1 hunk of Salmon

*  1/2 bag Brussels Sprouts

*  1/2 bag of Broccoli

*  1 lb. Ground Beef

This month is going to be all about taking more OUT of the freezer than putting IN the freezer.  I'll also be going through canned/boxed goods to see what we should be using now versus later.

We spent $49.45 on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods last week.  $38.33 at Walmart, .12¢ at CVS, $5.05 at P and R discounters and $5.95 at Malacari's Produce. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $135.44 for January.

There are 13 shopping days left in January.

I've earned $120.93 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $8.00 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $2.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 294 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I've earned 2240 point from food shopping on Shop Kick in January.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in January.

My savings percentage for last week was 58.39%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for January and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 66.37%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week--Beef Stroganof w/Mashed Taters, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Beef Pie, Macaroni Salad.

I am not feeling inspired toward a meal plan this week.  It's my Birthday this week so I know we'll be getting take-out on Thursday(luckily it's my shot day so I don't cook then anyway)but otherwise I'm not feeling it this week.

I need to just got take some things out of the freezer and put something together. 

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

1. Sunday--Leftover Beef Pie

2. Monday--Fend for Yourself

3. Tuesday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Veg from the Freezer

4. Wednesday--Sloppy Joes, Veg from Freezer
5. Thursday--Take-Out for Birthday

6.  Friday--Tacos or Taco Salad

7. Saturday--Pizza, Salad

I've got cooked up ground beef to use thus sloppy joes and taco/taco salads this week.  I also have a boxed mix for tuna noodle casserole that's been in the pantry for awhile. (Next week seafood and chicken will return and maybe pork chops...it just depends what I pull out of the freezer.) Add in various leftovers and the week o' meals is filled out.  Nothing inspiring or interesting really but it gets the job done. ;-)

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing I can think of at this point.

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