2018 Food & Toiletry Spending.....March Edition

Onward to March's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2018.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3-5(4 at home this month). No "kids" under 22.

*****************
BIG LOTS
OOP  $14.25
Value  $20.49
Savings  30.45%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $13.00
Value  $45.29
Savings  71.30%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $37.86
Value  $61.69
Savings  38.63%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PP/BC  $546.86
Value  $546.86
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE
OOP  $33.89
Qs/Ads  $9.77
Value  $43.66
Savings  22.38%

TARGET
OOP  $0.00
Value  $72.79
Savings  100%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $302.62

Qs/Ads  $358.27

Value  $660.89

Savings  54.21%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Target at 100% and the Bread Outlet  at 71.30%.  My worst savings rate was from Shursave at 22.38%.

I shopped at 7 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$401.62

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales...$503.19

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$904.81

TOTAL Savings of ................................55.61%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for Feb.....$401.62
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1451.67
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.........$1050.05
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items........72.33%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I had wanted to stay at or under $300 food spending for March.  Then I realized that feeding four adults "well" was sort of not very doable where I live in March for $300.  I can't grow my own veggies right now and even shopping strategically using sales, Qs, rebate apps, etc.   With the currents price of foods and the lack of deals(no cheap eggs at Easter is a travesty!)and the lack of good Qs, plus $300 doesn't allow me to stockpile or take advantage of "deals" much.  Sure we could eat like kings in March using my $300 budget and emptying my stockpile, but come June the larders would be empty.
So I have resigned myself to upping my food budget to $400 at least until the two kids move out permanently.
And I am good with that.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 2.22% in March 2018 to 72.33% compared to February's 74.55% savings average.

With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $1261.72 on food/toiletries in 2018 which is a 76.05% savings rate for the year so far and averages out to $420.57 spent per month in 2018.

* I have realized that of the two stores in town, I do better savings wise at Weis over Shursave.  But Shursave is more convenient(closer to the house and not as big/crowded).  So I'll try to focus on Weis but use Shursave if we need something specific or last minute or if they have a great deals on particular items.

* The Bread Outlet has become a hit or miss thing as they are frequently out of what I need there but I will continue to try them for bread products we use/need.

* The Big Lots shop was not so great.  I was going there anyway for something and Hubs needed instant coffee and Sensodyne toothpaste and I didn't want to have to make a stop anyplace else.  Luckily they had a house brand sensitive teeth toothpaste(same ingredients as Sensodyne)and it was only $1.50.  It still KILLED me to pay for toothpaste even at $1.50. lolz  Since I was there I picked up a bag of dog chewies for Chester.  I am kicking myself since it wasn't one of their 20% off everything in the store days and we weren't out of chewies....I should have waited on those. sigh.

LOOKING AHEAD To April.......
Staring down the barrel of a $400 food/toiletries budget for April.  I'll try to do better than that but no promises.  ;-)

I know there is a restaurant supply trip in my future this coming month as I am almost out of onions and it's coming on fresh produce months.  Plus I need a 5 lb. block of Cooper sharp cheese for College Boy.  This is the cheese of choice around here and CB eats his weight in grilled cheese sandwiches and if I buy a whole log it's a lot cheaper and more convenient than having to find a sale at a deli counter every week or so.  We have an industrial strength cheese cutter/slicer so we are good to go. lolz

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the March 30th Edition

Let's see what frugal wins we had last week..........

*  Hubs has a sensitivity issue with one of his teeth and the dentist gave him 2 sample size tubes of Sensodyne toothpaste when he had his appointment a few weeks ago.
Hubs wanted me to buy him more but at $4+ a tube it irks me to spend that sort of money.....I am use to getting toothpaste for FREE after all! lolz

So I was at the dentist on Tuesday and she has a basket in the waiting room with freebies like samples and coupons.  I spied many tubes of Sensodyne in the basket so I brought more home for him to use.....

And yes, I asked the receptionist if I could have this many before snagging them.  These didn't even make a DENT in the amount in the basket.
And if I remember, when Hubs runs out I will go back up when the dentist is open and ask for more free tubes.  ;-)

*  I'll be heading up to Weis shortly as all the Easter candy is 50% off!  I have been squirreling assorted Qs away to use for this too. ;-)

* As no store has put eggs on a good sale for Easter(what is up with that?!?)I made my semi-annual pilgrimage to Target for eggs(they were .99¢ per 18 ct. here!).  I don't like Target much but I can get free gift cards w/our c/c points there(the only dept. type store I can get them for w/points)so I go when I either need some or things are cheaper there than anywhere else and/or I buy things that are on special deals that give back free Target gift cards(usually $5 or $10 increments).
So armed with 77.68 in accumulated free Target gift cards, a couple of coupons(including a $10 gift card wyb $50 food/beverage TargetQ) and having loaded Ibotta cash rebate offers onto Hubs phone we went up....

2 x Quaker Steel Cut Oat packets on clearance(.62¢ each)=$1.24
2 x Hawaiian rolls on sale=$6.00
4 x 18 ct. eggs on sale=$3.96
1 x JD Sausage breakfast sandwiches=$4.49
1 x Edward's pie on sale=$5.49
1 x Silk coconut/almond milk=$3.49
3 x MP butter($2.39)=$7.17
3 x Tabasco=$4.17
4 x 12 pack Coke products on sale=$10.54(w/tax)*not pictured
3 x Jordan Almonds=$5.97 * not pictured
1 x head of lettuce=.89¢ *not pictured
SubTotal........$53.41

I used 2 Qs-a .65¢/1 Silk IPQ and a $1/1 JDean item ManuQ.
$53.41-$1.65=$51.76.

I used $51.76 in free Target gift cards to pay and earned back a $10 Target gift card for spending over $50 on food/beverages.
I also earned $8.70 back in Ibotta rebates($1.20 JD, .75¢ Edwards, 3 x $1 Tabasco, .25¢ for buying anything, .50¢ March Level 1, $3 March Mania #3)so all the above was a $8.70 moneymaker!  8-)))


Tell us about your frugal wins this past week!

Have a great weekend and remember.........

Sluggy

A Few Blog Things

* I'll be adding some blogs and deleting some from the side bar.  If you have blogs you'd like to see on the side bar that I don't have already, please let me know which one(s).

* I moderate ALL comments so don't try to leave a nasty comment on this blog.  Just a fair warning for all you nasty comment leavers out there that you won't get anywhere here.

* First off I will no longer post comments from "Anonymous" users where the person doesn't include their name on the comment. I know there are real readers out there who for some reason can't post a comment except under the anonymous setting.  This is not directed at y'all.
 I have either a serial spam comment leaver or a couple of them.  If you are a spammer and you leave a comment full of bad grammar/structure(I am talking horrendously bad!)leading me to believe you aren't a native English speaker and/or a bot or you leave comments on old posts and/or comments that have nothing to do with the post you are leaving it on, just go away please.  I am tired of deleting spamming comments.  Even if  you add a fake name to these types of spam comments they will still be deleted and not put through.

I've had a real bad day here and I am about ready to just delete this blog.  Some times life is a lot harder and putting up with this sort of stuff(meaning the second two bullet point items)is just not worth it......

Sluggy tired of the crap

Rite-Aid This Week...Make-Up for Days

Armed with 8 $6/2 Cover Girl IPQs(they reset after last week on Coupons dotcom)and a $10/1 Flonase ManuQ that expired that day and after loading a $1/2 Russell Stover easter egg candies Load2CardQ on each of my accounts/cards, I went up to Rite-Aid on Sunday.

I bought all this on my card.........

2 x R/S Easter eggs on sale=$1.00
4 x Cover Girl eye palettes BOGO50%Off=$18.86
4 x Cover Girl brow pencils BOGO50%Off=$14.36
SubTotal......$34.22

Coupons Used
4 x $6/2 Cover Girl items IPQ=$24.00
1 x $1/2 R/S eggs L2CQ=$1.00

$34.22-$25.00=$9.22

Except 2 x $2/1 L2CQs came off once the cashier scanned my card too.  I am assuming they were for Cover Girl items those L2CQs.  I basically load every Q offered onto my cards so I don't remember what I have unless I look before heading to the store. lol

Two of the CG IPQs beeped and had to be put in manually.

So $34.22-29.00 inQs=$5.22

A $5 Bonus Cash came off and I put the .22¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I earned a $10 BC back for spending $30+ on Cover Girl items so I am "up" $4.78 on this purchase.
The R/S candy eggs are a no brainer if you have that $2/1 L2CQ on your card......two free Easter candies after Q!

I then bought this..........

1 x 120 spray Flonase w/20% Wellness discount=$22.39
I used a $10/1 Flonase 120 spray ManuQ so $12.39.
$12 in Bonus Cash came off so I owed .39¢ off my Rte-Aid gift card.
Between the 20% discount, the $10 Q and adding $22.39 to my Allergy Rewards spending total it was a good deal.  The R-A Flonase is cheaper but with the FlonaseQ the name brand was a better deal!
I also topped $75 in Allergy spending on this card with this transaction, so earned a $20 BC with this purchase.......

Then I bought this on Daughter's card.........

But when the first Cover Girl Q beeped the manager and new cashier read the fine print on the Q and decided that "one coupon per purchase" meant that I could only use one coupon per transaction....sigh....which meant the transaction got canceled and I had to "purchase" every 2 items separately so FOUR transactions.
double sigh.
I wish folks knew the difference between a "purchase" and a "transaction".  ;-)

I really didn't mind the extra couple of minutes this meant but I did mind that inside of being able to use some of my Bonus Cash and/or Plenti Points for one big transaction the total for each of the four transactions was $1+ OOP and I had to use my Rite-Aid gift card instead. UGH!

So she rang up the R/S candy eggs and 2 of the CG items in a transaction, then 2 CG items in a separate transaction, etc until I had "purchased" all 8 CG items.

My "totals" were $1.52, $1.43, $1.26 and $1.26 or $5.47 OOP(.25¢ of which was tax).  Instead of getting to use a $5 or 2 of my $2 BC on this card to pay I had to put all $5.47 on my Rite-Aid gift card.
And again, two different CG L2CQs came off, one on each of two different transactions(when I bought the 2 mascaras and when I bought the 2 eye palettes )and NONE of the CG $6/2 IPQs scanned and had to be put in manually.....they could have done that if everything had been rung up in one transaction.
Ugh again.

I did earn a $10 BC on these 4 transactions for spending $30+ on Cover Girl so I am "up" $4.53 for this purchase.

I have heard rumors that Rite-Aid now that Albertson's is buying them is ditching the Plenti Points sometime this Summer.
I don't want to start a panic over this(until it's confirmed at least)but I've still got about $200 in PPs total between these cards....eek!....which will need to be used up before they disappear.  Nothing is confirmed or an end date for taking PPs it's just something I've seen on a message board so keep your eyes/ears open.


Sluggy

Hamming it Up at Weis(PMITA)Markets

So I figured I'd go pick out my free ham from Weis around Thursday or so.
But when I was in the store last Thursday I noticed the stock of which seemed to be running low so after hitting Rite-Aid on Sunday I decided to brave the weekend crowds and go get that ham early(well, early for me).

And what ensued was shear hilarity. ;-)

After picking up a few other things to buy, I proceeded to the meat department to the resplendent display of hunks of pork wrapped in netting and shiny metallic paper.

It took awhile to find which hams qualified as free with 400 Weis Points but I done figured it out and settled on getting a spiral sliced ham in the red wrapping.
My 400 Points earned me a 10 lb. or less of this type of ham. 

So I started pawing through the hams checking out the weights on the tags.  I quickly saw that many hams had no price/weight tag attached....wtf?!?
I found at the bottom of the display case a pile of tags that use to be attached to these hams.  All tags were for hams 10 lbs. or less.
So figuring I had nothing to lose and really at this point didn't care, I just picked up a tag and an untagged ham that seemed to weight the most by feel and took them up to check out.

And that's where it got odd........

I placed my items on the checkout belt, including the ham with the detached tag on top of it.

Watching the cashier check out the customer ahead of me I deduced that said cashier wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer as they say.

It was finally my turn so the cashier rang up my other items and then I told him I wanted to use my Weis Points to get the ham for free.  He took the tag off the top of the ham and started punching lots of buttons on his screen before deciding he didn't know how to do this and called for the front end manager.
The manager quickly keyed in the discount for the ham, a $17.59 credit.
The cashier hit the total button and I handed him my 5 coupons I wanted to use.  My total, before scanning the coupons on the register was -$4.15.
Yes, negative $4.15.
Huh?!?!

I quickly realized the problem.....the cashier never scanned the ham tag to CHARGE me for the ham but only took the ham off.
At this point, after scanning in my $7.50 worth of Qs, Weis would have owed me $11.65. lolz

So after calling over the front end manager again and me standing there telling the cashier over and over again that you didn't actually charge me for the ham yet and holding the tag out for him to take and scan it, he finally either listened to what I was saying or he got his few working brain cells to chug along and make the connection that "maybe I need to ring the ham up too" as well as deduct it. sigh

So he scanned the ham tag and it rang up $15.51.

The deduction had taken off $17.59 which was more than the cost of the ham, but at this point I was NOT going to bring up the fact that I got an additional $2.08 MORE off the ham than what it was selling for.
If I had, we would have been there another hour or two and I was so over this shopping trip.

So this photo is everything I brought home from Weis on Sunday.
2 bundle packs of Klennex, 3 containers of Cottonelle wipes, a jug of OJ and a ham.

OOP total was $4.16.
So the 6 items besides the ham cost me $4.16.  Well actually it cost me $4.06 since as I was pawing through my change purse the cashier held up a dime and said it was spare change and let me use it. lolz

I saved 89%.  Too bad I can't have that sort of savings rate every day! lolz

Oh Weis Markets.....I never know what to expect when I go see you.  ;-)

Sluggy

Giveaway Winner

I had 83 valid entries this time around(only had to disqualify 2-one for no email contact and another because she's in Canada and I can't afford to ship this outside of the US)so I numbered the entries and jumped on Random(dot)org and let them pick our winner.

And the winner is.........

Mgaltier!

AnonymousMarch 26, 2018 at 8:15 AM

Good morning! It's a great day for chocolate!
Mgaltier(at)yahoo(dotcom)

Let me just add that every day is a great day for chocolate. ;-)

Congratulations Mgaltier!

You now have 48 hours from the time stamp when this post goes live to email me your full mailing address and name so I can get this in the mail to you.

Thanks again to all you readers who play along with this silly little game and another giveaway will be coming up in April so stay tuned.......

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Don't Forget to Enter!" Edition--

Today is the last day to enter my current giveaway.  You have until 11:59 pm ET to go HERE and leave a comment to be entered.  Make sure I have your email addy(either leave it in your comment or email it to me privately at arcure(at)ptdprolog(dot)net.)for your entry to be valid.
Good luck everyone!

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Corned Beef, Carrots, Cabbage, Potatoes

2. Monday--FFY

3. Tuesday--maybe Lunch Out so Dinner will be whatever(if hungry)

4. Wednesday--BBQ Pork Sandwiches

5. Thursday--Nachos

6. Friday--Salmon, Veggie(who knows, Hubs is cooking this!)

7. Saturday--Leftovers or ?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Corned Beef, Carrots, Cabbage, Potatoes

2. Monday--FFY

3. Tuesday--Leftover or FFY

4. Wednesday--BBQ Pork Sandwiches

5. Thursday--Nachos

6. Friday--Steak Sandwiches, Salad

7. Saturday--Domino's pizza(had gift card)

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of take-out and 0 nights of Eating out.  My shoulder was still hurting so I did minimal cooking or cooking that didn't take much effort(as you can see above lol).  Saturday daughter and I took Hubs out to a brewery and since it was on the way home we picked up pizza for dinner with an old gift card I had for Domino's.
Hubs and I didn't have a lunch out on Tuesday after all either.  Maybe this week?

1 trip to Weis and two items from Shursave Markets brought the shopping last week to $110.49.  A little shop and a big old whopper of a shop last week.  That brings March's food spending total to $355.12.  There are 5 days left in my shopping month and I'm not done yet.  Sunday I picked up my free ham at Weis and I did buy a few things.  I am also out of onions so I'll probably go to the restaurant supply store and lay a supply in this week(might put that bill onto April's budget however).  Stay tuned...... ;-)

My savings percentages last week was 52.18% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 51.45%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week.......Corned Beef, BBQ pork, taco/nacho filling, a little pizza.

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

1. Sunday--Reuben Sandwiches(using leftover corned beef)and any leftover carrots/cabbage mix

2. Monday--Salmon and whatever else Hubs decides to cook(He won't tell me.)

3. Tuesday--Maybe more Nachos to use up the taco meat.

4. Wednesday--Ravioli in Parmesan Cream Sauce, some kind of Salad

5. Thursday--No clue yet

6. Friday--No clue yet

7. Saturday--No clue yet

This week will see ? new meals cooked, ? nights of leftovers/FFY and ? night of Take-out/Eat-Out.
I just haven't figured this week's meals out yet.  I have Tons of options as the larders are full but my brain just "can't even" yet when it comes to a meal plan.
Next Sunday is ham for Easter so Saturday's meal will be simple I think or leftovers.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?
Please tell me and give me some ideas for mine! lolz
And let me know what you are cooking/serving for Easter dinner too.  Besides a ham I don't have anything set in stone yet.

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

Finally!.....Shopping This Week

I finally got up to Rite-Aid and bought this stuff for College Boy......

1 x Similasan Eye Relief on clearance 75% off=$2.94
2 x Visine allergy formula 20% Wellness discount=$9.26
SubTotal........$12.20

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 Visine In-AdQ=$4.00
2 x $1.50/1 Visine IPQ=$3.00
Coupon Total......$7.00

$12.20-$7.00=$5.20
But a $1.50 L2CQ came off(no clue I had that!)so it was $3.70 and $3 in Bonus Cash came off so I put the .70¢ left on my R-A gift card.
I also got a $3 Ibotta rebate on the Similisan and .25¢ rebate for buying anything at R-A so after $3.25 cash back I "spent down" .45¢ for all 3 items.

College Boy suffers greatly from allergies year round and his worst symptom are eye redness, itching and watering so these will come in handy and at a great price.

**************************

Then I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets and did a big shop(again!).

Here are the best deals I found........

5 more packs of discount sticker bacon, same brand, reg. variety.  $30-$15 stickers=$15 for all 5

2 packs of Johnsonville Beef Brats for $4 each.  After $2 discount sticker combined with a $1/2 ManuQ I had made each package $1.50.  Good price on all beef brats.

The 2 packs of meatballs were a 3 Day Sale item....reg. $5, on sale for $4 and had $1 stickers on them so $3 per 1 lb. package.  I can't make good meatballs myself for that price.

Also picked up but not pictured were 3 packages of thinly slice sirloin, a package of chicken breasts and a package of chicken thighs, all with $off discount stickers.  I used two packages last night of the steak to make steak sandwiches and all the rest are tucked away in the freezer.

Mayo and pineapple were on sale($2.87 and .99¢ respectively).  I used .50¢/1 Qs which doubled to $1 on the mayo and $1/2 Qs on the fruit giving me a final cost of $1.87 for each mayo and .49¢ per can of pineapple.
I forgot to photograph the 4 lb. bags of Domino sugar that were on sale for $1.88.  Two bags for $3.76 and I had a .75¢/2 IPQ that doubled to $1.50 so $1.13 per bag out the door.

Jolly Time popcorn was a 3 Day Sale item--Buy one/Get two free.  Reg. price of $2.87 making 6 boxes $5.74.  I used 3 x $1/2 Jollytime IPQs so $3 off, meant I paid $2.74 for 6 boxes or .46¢ per box.

The large container of Weis brand cottage cheese cost .19¢.  Reg. price of $3.19 and I had a digital Q for $3 off.

All the other items were Mix and Match Buy 6/Get $3 off items.......

2 x Breyer's ice cream $2.99 ea.
2 x Green Giant Veggie tots $3.49 ea.
1 x Daisy cottage cheese $2.49
3 x Minute Maid orange juice $2.99 ea.

1 x Kleenex 3 pack $3.99
3 x Cottonelle Wipes $1.99 ea.

$34.38 subTotal

$6 off 2 x MandM Discount and
$11 off in Manu/IPQs which doubled(some) so $17 off

$17.38 for all 12 items OOP.

And lastly I picked up 5 Flip yogurts at $1 each when you bought 5.
I had 4 x .50¢/1 Qs that doubled to $1 each so I paid $1 for all 5 of these so .20¢ OOP for each.

I don't consider this yogurt "food" as much as it's a snack/dessert.  If I am feeling the need for something chocolatey/desserty I can grab one of these to eat instead of eating my way through a pie/cake/bag of cookies, so good to have on hand.  ;-)


I didn't mean to do a big shop but then I found all those meat deals and oh well......

I am now over $300 spent in March on foodstuffs.  I shouldn't feel so bad/stressed at that amount since we are 4 adults at home now full time as CB isn't off at school anymore.
I think resetting my frame of mind here is in order and trying to stay under $300 a month is kind of unrealistic at least until the two kids move out.  I should be shooting for $400 per month with this many bodies to fee.

There may be a bit more picked up this week as well since I'll be making a trip to Ollie's to use that 10% off coupon I have and I never now what I'll find there that we can use.



Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the March 23rd Edition

Not much to report in the realm of frugal wins this past week.  Staying home with a bum shoulder/arm meant not much $ spent.

*  I sent Hubs to Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday to pick up a head of cabbage and the Friday Freebie........

These coupons never work so Hubs just takes the item to the Customer Service desk and tells them it's suppose to be free, they write on it "Free", the cashier at the register rings it up and then takes it off. lolz
I'll have to keep sending him on Friday as he has a system down.  8-))

*  There was a trip to the Bread Outlet...........

$4 for 3 loaves of Arnold's bread.
I made a corned beef dinner last Saturday so we need the rye bread for Ruebens tonight to use up the leftover corned beef.

*  I am heading out to do a big grocery shop as soon as I get this posted.  I'm gotten lazy so I am making a list to keep myself in check at the store............

I have been forgetting items I want to get so a list will keep me from slapping myself on the forehead afterwards or running back to the store.  I am also noting on the list if I have a coupon so I don't forget to hand those over too, which I have been known to forget. duh.

And that's it for this week.

We are just a little over a week away from Easter and I really am not feeling up to hosting a big "to do".  I will have enough Weis Pts. for a free spiral ham so I'll pick that up this coming week.  I might do a lasagna too for Easter and that way I don't have to cook for a few more days.   Maybe I can get through a week without having to cook?  That would be nice! ;-)

What are your Easter dinner plans?

Sluggy

Not Much To Say

Imagine that?!
Me with nothing much to say. lolz

I haven't been shopping this week yet.
I usually go out on Wednesday but this happened on Wednesday.......

Woke up to a coating and then about 10 am the skies opened up again.

Not much going on here except........

* We got the taxes done. Go us!  We owe PA and LA states(as usual)so we wait to file those until April but it's all ready to go.  Federal is done and the refund popped into our account today....Rah!
I've got to do the math and deduct what we owe states from what the feds gave us back to see how much we have left of "our" money. I thought we'd owe the feds in 2017 but I guess because our income dropped so much when Hubs retired that they actually took more out while he was working  to offset the little that gets taken out of the annuity payment.  Anyway, we are happy to get so much back. 8-)
Now to figure out where to direct the refund.

*  We have sold the house in LA.....tentatively.  We countered an offer on Monday and they accepted the counter offer.  If all goes as planned we'll no longer own the house before April is over.  Please cross your collective fingers that the financing for these buyers doesn't fall through....please, please, please!!!

*  More snow here.  We are so over it this Winter.  The first full day of Spring and we have gotten 4+ inches so far(forecaster says we may get a little more overnight....sigh).
At least the puppies are enjoying it..........

* Daughter is due to return from a conference in New Orleans tomorrow.  I facebook-ed her that she might want to rethink returning right now but her doggy is enjoying herself.....

This dog LOVES snow....well she's half Husky so there is that! lolz
I put her out tonight and she wasn't back at the door pawing to get back in about a half hour later so I went outside to check on her.  She was at the end of her tie-out lead just laying in the snow staring off into space. lolz  She'd probably still be out there if I didn't call her in.  8-)))

*  I've paid all the bills, except for the electric bill on the LA house which hasn't shown up yet.  I also paid 3 medical bills using the HSA so that didn't come out of the regular income this month.  We also received two quarterly stock dividends and need to deposit those into the bank but are still waiting on the RMSA reimbursement for the healthcare premium.  The finances are looking good so far this month.

*  I still don't feel 100% but I am getting better.  I noticed I developed a bruise on my chest last night when I went to get dressed for bed.  It doesn't hurt but it's darn ugly. lolz

I may try to go out tomorrow.  Hubs is low on milk for his coffee and almost out of coffee filters which is a crisis around here(but not for me except it means I'll have to listen to him whine).


Sluggy

Our Trip to Maine 2016......Part 6

Part 1 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 2 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 3 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 4 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 5 of our Maine trip is HERE.


So Day 6 of our trip to Maine was all about a little shopping and a little eating and alot of great scenery.  What could be better, right?

We took off East from Augusta for the coast.   We passed an OSJL outside of Belfast so we had to stop......

I love poking around in these type of stores.  Sometimes you see the most interesting items.  Like this one.........on second thought I should have picked this up for a few drinking folks I know *cough*......

These napkins were apropos for the area.....everyone up here say's "Wicked Good", even a brand of potato chips have this on the bag..............

Though not in this area of the state, moosie napkins are also apropos....

Here are the goodies from OSJL that did come home with me................                                                

Chinese straw mushrooms, dried mushrooms at $1 a box, Ty-phoo tea, coconut oil, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, fig flavored vinegar, honey, grape seed oil, hibiscus tea bags, peach tea bags, maple syrup, balsamic ketchup, honey peanut butter, Sesame bar candy, dried hibiscus, dried cantaloupe and olive tapenade.  Great prices on all this stuff!

Driving along Route 1 up the coast through Searsport and Stockton Springs and over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.....

 We drove over this bridge on our trip back in 2010 and went up into the observation tower on the other end of the bridge.
If you read this post you might remember this photo from the tower looking down on the old bridge they hadn't torn down yet...........

Halfway over the new bridge following a dump truck....

 Once we get over to this area we take Rte. 15 at Five Mile Corners and then onto Rte. 199 so we can drive around the Bagaduce River which is a branch off from the Penobscot River which empties into the Penobscot Bay.

It's a nice scenic drive along country roads and there are two seafood shacks located around the Bagaduce.

First there's the Bayview Take-Out.

Good prices.....$17.50 for a full lobster dinner is well under what you'd pay at a sit-down restaurant, even up heyah.....

Behind their shack are a few picnic tables and this gorgeous view while you eat your yummies.......

A fairly sunny day with a nice cool breeze so why not dine al fresco?

A whole flock of seagulls sunning themselves on a rock out in the water.......

I did finally have my lobster for the trip here.  Much cheaper at a take-out shack and a rustic experience.
I think blogger Linda had posted about licking a knife and cutting her tongue the day before on her blog so I pretended to lick my knife. lolz

Then we drove onto Rte. 175 to another location along the water to here.......

The James Beard Foundation named this place an American Classic in 2008.  It's been here and in this family since opening in 1946 and it's a favorite among locals of the Blue Hill Peninsula.
We were still full from Bayview Take-Out so I just had a salad.
The prices seemed substanially higher than Bayview anyway.

 But they had nice view too as the shack backs onto a spit of land jutting out  into the river.

 Supposedly there is a reversing falls along the river here but I think it was on the other side of the building.

I did see a loon offshore swimming along..

 Another nice place to sit and eat by the water here.......

 It was time to start heading back so we headed north to Bucksport and then up to outside of Bangor to get on I-95 as that was the fastest way back to Augusta.
Before we got on the interstate we stopped in Brewer at this place...........

Another of the stores I like to check out while in Maine.  We've been to this one back in 2010 when we stayed outside of Bangor at a campground.
Marden's(or as they pronounce it up here "Mahden's")is another closeout/salvage store but only located within Maine.

Kim and McVal would go crazy in this place.  I don't know about the other Marden's locations but this one has a MASSIVE fabric department!

Photo from the website because I got so excited just browsing it all I forgot to snap a photo. lol
And the prices though higher from my last visit in 2010(most stuff was $2.99 yd. back then)there were still deals there.

Actually I only bought a few pieces of cloth this time as I really don't need MORE fabric(Ha! What fabricaholic needs more fabric?!?)
And Hubs was tired and cranky and didn't want to stand around waiting on me so I didn't get to properly browse....sigh.

We passed this lumber yard after Marden's but before the interstate entrance.  I didn't think there were many Viking descendants in Maine.....you find Viking Everything in the Upper Midwest/Plains...ask me how I know! lolz

I think we hit Taco Bell near the hotel as we got back late and just needed something in our bellies before bed.  Nothing expensive or memorable or worth talking about, though I have just done a bit of talking about it anyway. lolz

Sluggy