Alka-Seltzer Can Kiss My Big White A&&!

So let's go back to February for the full story here.

Alka-Seltzer introduced a new cold/flu item, this one.............

Cough & Mucus DM variety.  Item had to be purchased between Feb. 3rd-24th and information submitted by March 10th.
So I bought it on 17 February and sent photos of the receipt and UPC on the package as required on 18 Feb. and then I waited for my rebate check.
And waited.

On March 20th I received an email from Alka-Seltzer that said.........

Thank you for participating in the Alka-Seltzer Plus 12 Hr. Cough/Mucus Tmf Program. Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request for the following reason(s):

• We are unable to view the image that you uploaded. Please review your image for clarity and resubmit.

Thank you for your interest in this offer.

As long as the offer is available, you may resubmit online.

What a crock of shit!!

Wait until TEN DAYS AFTER the submission deadline to let me know you couldn't read my image?!?

And then have the gaul to say I can resubmit it when you know darn well the deadline had passed TEN DAYS BEFORE YOU EMAILED ME about my submission!?  You had my submission since Feb. 18th and didn't say anything until it's too late to resubmit my image?

Assholes......

Of course, I still have that receipt and guess where my unopened  package of Alka-Seltzer Cough & Mucus DM is now?

Back in the Rite-Aid store and I've got the Bonus Cash I spend on it back in my account.

Alka-Seltzer/Bayer is now on Sluggy's shit list and will be getting a snail mail letter.

Did you submit for this offer and have a problem getting your refund?

Mad as Hell and Not Taking It Anymore Sluggy  8-(((

2019 Food & Toiletry Spending.......the March Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2019.

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 4-5(2-4 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $4.00
Value  $13.37
Savings  70.08%

FOOD LION
OOP  $32.00
Value  $46.02
Savings  30.47%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $12.33
Value  $27.51
Savings  55.18%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $9.77
Value  $26.93
Savings  63.72%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Visa Prepaid Rewards  $604.17
Value  $604.17
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS
OOP  $34.17
Qs/Ads  $19.38
Value  $53.55
Savings  68.25%

WALMART

OOP  $26.85

Qs/Ads  $4.40

Value  $31.25

Savings  14.08%

WEIS
OOP  $237.71
QsAds  $288.88
Value  $526.59
Savings  54.86%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 70.08% and Shursave at 68.25%.  My worst savings rate was at Walmart at 14.08%.

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March.........$356.83

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$360.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$725.22

TOTAL Savings of ................................50.80%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March w/R-A.............$356.83
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$972.52
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1329.35
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................73.16%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
The kids didn't spend much on groceries while we were gone for 2 weeks(they did buy a lot of take-out instead)but I more than made up for it when I got home. lolz  I was still able to stay under $400 for the month with $43.17 to spare and that includes all the groceries I bought on vacation-both to eat then and the good deals I brought home.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 17.40% in March 2019 to 73.16% compared to the February  90.56% savings average.  February's percentage was a bit of an anomaly plus I had to buy groceries at Walmart in March on vacation and they are far from the best deal overall.
Plus the Rite-Aid haul in March wasn't as big so that kept my savings percentage down too.


With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1146.31 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$1146.31

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$7048.92

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$5902.61

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............86.20%

The average per month amount spent so far is $382.10 in 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD To April 2019.......

Well our Easter dinner plans are up in the air so far.  We may be going to Jersey to eldest son's GF's parents gathering for Easter.  In that case I'll need to bring a dish or two and won't be cooking Easter dinner or having Hub's relatives over.  Not hosting will bring my April spending down a bit. 
Also bringing my April spending down will be the annual Target gift card deal that happens before Easter(Spend $50/Get $10 Target Gift Card)and I can use my free Target gift cards and/or my 10% off discounted gift cards I bought before Xmas to do this deal.  At any rate I'll pair Qs and sales to get some cheapy foodstuffs in the coming weeks when that Deal rolls around.  This will help bring my monthly spending lower(I hope).
At any rate, I hope to stay under that magic $400 threshold in April for food and toiletries.

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 29th Edition

Still trying to get a handle on life after vacation here but we had a few frugal wins this past week.........


*  Last Friday we left Chesapeake to see my son in Fredericksburg, VA.  I hit a Rite-Aid along the way for some of that mascara and toothpaste I posted about the other day so you don't need a recap of all that. lolz

*  Once we got to F'burg I took my son out to Weis(PMITA)Markets so we could pick up dinner.  Weis advertised as part of their Fantastic Friday sale Freschetta pizzas for $1.77 each.  When we got to the store they had posted on the door where the pizza was that the $1.77 price was an error and they should be $3.99 each so not to excellent deal it was suppose to be.  We still bought 2 pizzas, while I grumbled the entire time. lolz  The first pizza DID ring up for $1.77(since they advertised it at this price, per Weis policy they had to sell you one for $1.77)but the second pizza rang up $3.99. Boo.
Still paying for 2 take-out pizzas or going out for 2 pizzas would have been much more than the $5.76 I spent.

*  While in Weis I also picked up the Friday Freebie and left at son's apartment for them to eat.
Didn't take a photo of it before we left so here's a graphic of the item. ;-)

*  On Saturday after visiting a winery we took son and GF out to eat for lunch.

 I had $50 in Dickey's Barbecue gift cards and our Dickey's closed up at home the month after I bought them(my luck, right?lol)so we used the gift cards to treat the kids.  My son paid whatever was left on the bill after that $50.

*  On the way home on Sunday we stopped at a Food Lion along the way and I picked up some reduced meats.  I found a penny leaving the store.   When I checked my receipt in the car I saw one of the items scanned the reg. price bar code and not the reduced price code so back into the store I went and got $1.23 back to tuck into my grocery refund monies envie at home.
I also found a dime on my second trip out of that store. 8-)

*  We also stopped at a Weis(PMITA)Markets in West Virginia.  I picked up 2 packs of Perdue refrigerated chicken nuggets on sale 40% off plus they each had a $1 instant discount sticker on them, making them $1.40 each.  Also picked up were some discontinued Seltzers for .50¢ too. 
WV grocery stores carry wine/beer and this store had a WV local wine on clearance for $4.99 a bottle.  It would have been something my brother would like so I was going to pick it up for him for Xmas but stoopid WV has Sunday laws that they can't sell wine/beer until 1 pm in the afternoon and it was 12:45am when we were there.  I wasn't about to stand around and wait 15 minutes to give WV my money(the tax $ part of the sale)so we left the wine there.
Stoopid laws.......
I also found a penny in that Weis.

*  We stopped at an Ollie's outside Harrisburg to check their clearance too.  I found a bag of candy 50% off...slim pickings in that store on clearance.  But I did find 2 more pennies and left 1 penny which was under the counter(it was stuck and I couldn't "unstick" it lolz).

Total cash found and brought home on Sunday.....14¢

*  Hubs and I went out to lunch one day this past week and used an Applebee's gift card bought last year so no OOP in 2019 for that meal.  Believe me, we spent enough the last 2 weeks on meals. 8-(

*  While on our day out we hit the Bread Outlet since I haven't been in about a month..........

$4 OOP for these 3 bread products. 
You can see one of the loaves has already been hit hard. lol

*  I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets at home and did the Mix and Match, Buy 6/Get $3 Back Deal....

2 x MC tv dinners
1 x Celentano ravioli
2 x Birds Eye chicken meal bags
1 x Kleenex 3 pack tissues
Reg. price......$24.14
Subtotal w/sale prices....$20.45
Qs used.......$4.50
Mix and Match Deal.....$3

$20.45-7.50=$12.95 for those 6 items.
I also earned $2 back on Ibotta for the Kleenex(.75¢), the Ravioli($1)and .25¢ for buying any item at Weis so $10.95 OOP in the end so $1.83 per item.  Not a great deal but pretty good.

I also picked up 8 more Ragu pasta sauces for .39¢ after doubled Qs, 12 more cans of Hormel chili for $1.45 per can after doubled Qs and a couple more free Oh! yogurts after doubled Qs.
The chili also earned me this...........

A $5 OYNO Catalina good on anything at Weis.  I have 2 weeks to use it.

*  I also found 2 pennies on that trip to Weis........

* While we were away this arrived in the mail...........

A 10% off coupon.  I guess I spent a bit of $$ at Ollie's on our vacation, enough to earn this. lolz
It's good until the middle of June plus I am awaiting a 15% off coupon Ollie's sends out to Ollie Army members every Spring/Easter.

That's it for me this past week.
What frugal wins did y'all have??


Sluggy

February 2019 Goals Outcome....At Last!

I know it's waaaay late but life and then a vacation got in the way of getting this done. lolz
Here's how I did on the February Goals.......if anyone cares.........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid and early or on time.
Go me. 8-)

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE  I read this book........

"Depression Era Wisdom-Simple Ways to Stretch Your Dollars" by Mary Wynn Ryan

This book was pretty much a waste of my time since most of what's in here I practice or know about already.  It's a good thing it was a thin volume! lolz
Anyway, there are some good tips in here and if someone doesn't already practice frugality or is young this would be worth reading(but I wouldn't buy it, find one in your library).

And this one............

"Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole" by Sheldon Bart.

Given that Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd is my cousin(12th cousin 2 x removed to be exact), and that Hubs gifted me this book for Christmas, I needed to read it.
This was a very interesting read, covering only a portion(but a large portion)of Byrd's adventures/explorations.  Luck was truly with him as he avoided some lethal voyages and choices during this exciting time of world exploration.  I had no idea that the 1910's through 1930's was such a hotbed of global adventure and many nations racing around to be the first to get to/claim somewhere or other!
This book only touches  briefly on the whole controversy about who was first and if Byrd and Bennett actually arrived at the true North Pole....that would need another book to expand upon that whole issue. lolz

Richard Byrd led quite the exciting life and in hindsight turned out to be of sterner character than others of his era/ilk(Yeah, I'm looking at you Charles Lindbergh!).
It took this reader a lot of time to slog through this large volume but it was worth my time.
If you enjoy biography, history and Polar exploration, read this one.
Two thumbs up!


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

*  Mail Giveaway  DONE  Mailed and received promptly.

*  Plan Winter Holiday  DONE  Finally got the last of it planned and we are back already. lolz

* Do Taxes and File Them  DONE  Hubs has taken over doing the taxes since retiring.  This year our taxes were not complicated(except for the house sale in LA)so we didn't have to pay for TurboTax or any other software purchase to complete and send them in.  He was able to file electronically for free the federal taxes and we expect a refund.  We had to file state taxes in PA and LA(crooks!)and I had to write two checks to cover what we owe to those states.
I got Hubs the info. I needed to and he sat on it all for what seemed like ages before starting them.  With me, I gather the info and "get 'er done"!  With him, it's a "process" and takes him weeks.  sigh  But it's done now.

*  Pack for Trip  DONE  Packing was tricky in terms of weather and what was forecast so I really over packed so I didn't run out of appropriate clothing or have to do laundry or wash things out in the sink.  I packed up some goodies to take to certain folks early and had that finished well before Feb. was over.

*  Open Ally Account  DONE  I finally got around to opening up an account with Ally Bank.  I moved some cash there and plan to set up a CD in March as they have the highest rates at the current time.

*  Cash in CD  DONE  Our CD at Capital One matured toward the end of February and instead of rolling it over we cashed it out so as to move it to Ally once the cash hit our B&M bank.  I also finally but Hubs on the accounts there.  When they were set up years ago I put them in just my name and man!, was it a big old PITA to get him on those accounts now.  He had to set up a checking/debit account in his name since he didn't have a CapOne account of any kind.  Then it was a couple of phone calls to them to get him put on those accounts. Geesh!

*  Open new CD  FAIL  Didn't happen in February due to the $$ moving into our B&M bank.  The timing didn't work out to get this done before the end of the month but it happened early March.

Not a lot of my list for February but most of it got done.


Sluggy

Rite-Aid Pillaging on Vacation

Well seeing as we spent a good amount of time in "The Land of No Rite-Aids"while traveling on vacation I had to seize the opportunities for pillaging when I could.
The first week in NC on the way to Myrtle Beach all I saw was closed up Rite-Aids as Wags had brought these ones out. So sad........

In Myrtle Beach and Charleston there were a couple of R-As but we were too busy doing other things so I didn't hit them(and that week wasn't very good in terms of R-A sales anyway).
So the 3 days in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia when we were at my brother's house I hit some stores.
I also hit a store in West Point VA, on the way to my son's place.
Once in Fredericksburg, again, I saw this terrible sight...............

A closed up Rite-Aid.  *sniff*

Even with this sad state of affairs I was able to hit 6 Rite-Aids between March 20th and 22nd.

Here is what I was able to pick up altogether.........

*4 Cover Girls mascaras are missing from this photo however, as I gave them to my sister in-law and son's GF before getting all this home.

11 x CG mascaras
8 x R/S chocolate eggs
10 x Fig Newtons
3 x Oreo candy bars
2 x Revlon beauty tools
2 x Colgate toothpaste
1 x 3 pack Kleenex tissues

I spent $10.33 after sales, coupons and a $2.50 Catalina from buying L'Oreal shampoos 2 weeks ago. I used $10.33 in Bonus Cash on all this to pay.
I earned $4 in new Bonus Cash back(4 x $1 R/S), $7.50 in Checkout51 cash rebates(10 x .75¢ Fig Newtons)and $1 in Ibotta(.75¢ Kleenex and .25¢ any item)cash rebates.
$10.33 spent-$12.50 back=$2.17 moneymaker.

It would have been a bigger MM if I didn't have to pay stoopid sales tax on the food items and the toothpaste, but that's Virginia law.
Bleh.

And 1 cashier adjusted down the R-A in-ad $2 Cover GirlQ since the clearance mascaras were less than $2.  meh.  No overage on that transaction so I returned the 3rd and 4th toothpaste since I would have had to pay for it then and really!, who pays for toothpaste when shopping at Rite-Aid?!? lolz

I still got some goodies while I was away so I am happy with that.

Now I am all about reconnoitering prices/store stock for next Wednesday since it's already Wellness Wednesday again.
Yippee!!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "I Could Get Use to This" Edition....

By far the best meal I had last week.....a hunk of medium rare Prime Rib with grilled Asparagus and a Baked Potato.  I took half that PR home and had it for breakfast the next morning.

And it was half price too! lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Eating Out

2. Monday--Eating Out

3. Tuesday--Eating Out

4. Wednesday--Maybe cooking

5. Thursday--Maybe cooking

6. Friday--Maybe cooking
7. Saturday--Maybe cooking

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--B-motel/L-Captain D's/D-Jakes Diner

2. Monday--B-motel/L-Logan's Roadhouse/D-Grandson's Buffet

3. Tuesday--B-motel/L-Cook-Out/D-Leftovers at Brother's house

4. Wednesday--B-eggs, bangers and toast/D-The Butcher's Son

5. Thursday--B-Prime Rib/L-Chili's/D-Angie's Diner

6. Friday--B-Krispy Kreme/L-Pierce's BBQ/D-frozen pizza(which I "cooked" at my son's place lol)
7. Saturday--B-bagel/L-Dickey's BBQ/D-Take-out Chinese

Last week saw 0 nights of home cooked dinners(if you don't count heating a pizza), 1 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 6 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.
I didn't think we'd be cooking while still traveling last week and my sister in-law was too busy to cook for us and my son didn't feel like making meals so we adapted.

What got put into the freezer last week.....
Nada since I wasn't here.

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
Nada again.

Between the little bit the kids bought at the grocery store and the stuff Hubs and I picked up to either eat on the trip or food good deals to bring home, the food spending over the last TWO weeks came to $100.65 and brought the March monthly grand total to $262.87 so far.

My savings percentage the last two weeks was 41,55%(without Rite-Aid trips)and March's monthly savings total comes to 48.98%(w/out R-A). 

I have 6 more spending days in the month.

Leftovers going into this week....no clue since I haven't been brave enough to go through the fridge yet. lolz

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

1. Sunday--We'll fend for ourselves when we get home after stopping at Bob Evans for lunch.

2. Monday--Leftovers/FFY

3. Tuesday--Stir-Fry Chicken w/Noodles

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--No Clue yet

6. Friday--No Clue yet
7. Saturday--No Clue yet

This week will see 1-? new meals cooked, 3-? nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out(I am burnt out on meals out and take-out right now.).

What needs buying for this menu?  We are out of milk no clue what else I'll pick up but we have stuff here for meals already.  Somebody just has to get the energy to actually pull meals together. ;-)

I will be buying a few things that are stockpile-able like cans of chili and jars of pasta sauce since they will be almost free w/sale and Qs.  I'm going to try to stay under $75 for the rest of the month all in.  That will still keep me well under $400 food spending for the month.

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  

Who Won Sluggy's Boring Blog Box O' Goodies for March?!?

So while driving home Sunday, I decided, "Why not give away TWO boxes this month?" 
After all, I have lots of goodies to share.
So that's what I am doing! 8-)

There were 70 valid entries out of 77 entries(2 entries were anonymous with no name at all and 5 of those who entered with a name have no contact info(name/email)linked to their google/blogger account so I can't verify whom they are nor have they sent me via email their contact info(name/email)so they lost out this go round.

 *I am happy to add anyone to my database list of name/email info if you aren't comfortable leaving your email in your comment, just contact me->right side bar has my email addy where I can be found.

Anywhoooo.........I put all the valid entries into Random dotorg and they picked our first winner.

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

Crystal Hankey!

Crystal HankeyMarch 20, 2019 at 6:21 PM

I see there is another Crystal on here. Funny how I don't usually see other people named Crystal that often. lol. Finally finished a pan of cinnamon rolls and one pan for the freezer. They are so yummy! Take care.

Second name that Random dotorg selected was...............

Mary L.

AnonymousMarch 21, 2019 at 7:08 AM

I'd love to win candies for Easter baskets. Mary L. maryjanedobson@yahoo.com

Congratulations to both Crystal H. and Mary L.!

I will sent you both out an email with a survey of products you want packed into your giveaway box.

Look for it later this evening in your inbox.  I am still digging out and unpacking today(and paying bills *ugh*)so give me a few hours to get to this.

Thanks to everyone who played, especially the "battle of the Crystals"LOLZ, and Jen G. who left many interesting comments and random facts in her entries, which always made me smile.  ;-)

We'll have another Giveaway up in April so stay tuned to this Bat Channel............and remember to keep it frugal!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the March 22nd Edition

Another Vacation Themed Frugal Friday post today....rah!

Here's what's been going on on the frugality front this past week............


*  While visiting Fort Sumter was NOT very frugal($23 each for the boat ride over but the tour of the Fort was free)I resisted buying souvenir crap for the most part.

I had Hubs take this photo of me with the tiny Confederate flag they were selling(only 1 of 2 CSA things they were hawking there)but didn't buy one.  I did cave and buy a Xmas ornie however........

*  The local place we wanted to go for lunch was just a clusterf**k of people so we got back on the road and saw a billboard and went to a cafeteria style restaurant instead.

Really good "real" food, really good prices and attentive waitstaff.  Even better we got an Early Bird Senior discount on the meal.  Score!

*  We visited a distillery($6 tastings are pretty frugal)and then a really big tree on Saturday..........

The iconic tree and park were free and we only bought a Xmas ornie in the gift shop there.

* Again, the place we selected for a late lunch on that day had a line(it was a Saturday)so we found another place nearby on the phone and it turned out to be excellent!(Well except for the loudmouth hipsters at the table next to us but that's a story for another time.)

I noticed on their chalkboard by the register that if you liked them on Facebook you got a 10% discount on your bill.

Hey!, a $3.48 discount is a win in my book! lolz

*  Speaking of Hubs.....when we got to Charleston SC it was much warmer than they had forecast but Hubs had only brought 1 short sleeved shirt with him(and had already worn it).
On Friday after we got into Charleston hubs and I went up to a local Goodwill store and he bought 3 short sleeved shirts for $14+ tax.

Here's one of the shirts that got a workout in Charleston.  Much cheaper than going to Walmart even and buying them new.

*  Stopped on the way outta SC to see Hubs siblings and did NOT pay for their drinks!

*  Stopped in Rockingham NC later for "linner".  Again the place we chose didn't work out so we went next door to Captain D's.  They had a Sunday special of TWO Family Style Dinners for $7.99 total, so that's what we got.
I found another penny in their parking lot(no photo).

*  Got to the motel in NC to discover they had an indoor pool so we went swimming.
Found this in the pool.........

.85¢ IN the pool. lolz
So I'm up .86¢ in found money for this week.

*  The next day we went to do a free thing...........

*  While walking around to look at monuments that day I found a dime!

*  On Tuesday we hit another free historical site............

*  We were finished staying in motels as of Wednesday.  Besides the discounts I got through Hotels dotcom app, using a discounted Hotels docom gift card to pay for the Myrtle Beach stay, and $4.05 earned back on Ibotta for that stay as well, I am awaiting a cash rebate on the one stay I made through Booking dotcom to credit to my c/c and am awaiting $39.94 more cash back on Ibotta.

* On Wednesday evening my brother and his wife took us out to a fancy pants dinner..........

Wednesday at this place the Prime Rib dinner is half off so we all got that, of course!  They had one cut of steak priced at $55 on the menu.  Well, you KNOW I didn't get that. lolz  Have you ever spent that kind of money on a piece of meat?  I bet it was tender and almost melted in your mouth but still, that $55(plus tip)could buy a whole mess of groceries..........

*  Afterwards we went to Dairy Queen down the road for a First Day of Spring Free small cone............

* My brother found a penny in the DQ parking lot and gave it to me so it counts as mine!lol

*  Then we hit a second DQ for another free cone.........

I changed it up by getting chocolate this time. ;-)

*  Hubs and I went to lunch of Thursday at Chili's.

We used a gift card bought last year so nothing spent this year OOP for that lunch and some more gift card script got used up.

*  We hit a few Rite-Aids and I got some more free fig newton cookies(Checkout51), some free Cover Girl mascaras and free Russel Stover chocolate eggs.  After Ibotta rebate the 3 pack of Kleenex I bought was free as well.  If I can find a R-A with enough clearance CG mascaras on the way home I'll pick up those and 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste for free as well.

I also found a whole shelf of 50% off wine and am bringing this bad boy home........

5 liters of wine for $8.49 plus tax.

*  I found another penny on my brother's walkway when we got home.........

That makes .96¢ found this week.  Thank you Change Fairy!  8-)))

Ok, that's about it for us this week.   I hope everyone had a good week.

So what frugal wins did y'all have this past week?


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Who Cares?!" Edition....

Here's a sign at the establishment we ate at Sunday evening.  Why on Earth would anyone sit at a dirty table if given a choice?  🤪😜🤪

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Eating Out

2. Monday--Eating Out

3. Tuesday--Maybe cooking 

4. Wednesday--Maybe cooking

5. Thursday--Maybe cooking

6. Friday--Maybe cooking
7. Saturday--Maybe cooking

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--B-McDonald's/L-can't remember/D-Beef Soup and Cornbread

2. Monday--B-iced tea and OJ/L-Ralph's Barbecue/D-don't remember

3. Tuesday--B-IHop/L-Chick-filA/D-Pork Fried Rice take-out

4. Wednesday--B-motel oatmeal/L-Mr. Fish/D-tv dinners

5. Thursday--B-Bojangle's/L-Cook-Out/D-C&W Asian Buffet

6. Friday--B-motel/L-S&S Cafeteria/D-Domino's
7. Saturday--B-motel/L-Pimento Cheese Burger and Cuke Salad/D-leftover Pizza

Last week saw 0 nights of home cooked dinners(unless you count tv dinners and reheating leftover pizza), 0 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 7 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.


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

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.......Daughter used all this supposedly.
* 1 bag of turkey meatballs
* 1 small turkey meatloaf
* 1 or 2 Voila! chicken or shrimp frozen meal bags


 I  brought the weekly food spending to $0.00 and brought the March monthly grand total to $162.22. I'll updsate what we bought grocery list when we get back.  I can't be bothered now.

My savings percentage last week was %(without Rite-Aid trips)and March's monthly savings total comes to 52.71%(w/out R-A).  I didn't buy a single thing at Rite-Aid last week,mostly due to the fact that we didn't see one.😭😭😭

I have 13 more spending days in the month.

Leftovers going into this week....no clue what the kids ate or didn't.

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

1. Sunday--Eating Out

2. Monday--Eating Out

3. Tuesday--Eating Out

4. Wednesday--Maybe cooking

5. Thursday--Maybe cooking

6. Friday--Maybe cooking
7. Saturday--Maybe cooking

This week will see ? new meals cooked, ? nights of leftovers/FFY, and ? nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu?  Color.me clueless.

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  

The 2019 March Giveaway! Is it Spring Yet?!?

Ok, let's do something a little different for the 2019 March Giveaway.

I thought I had taken a photo of an empty Priority Mail box before I left town but I can't find it.
So just imagine that one of these boxes is the empty March Giveaway Box.  There is nothing in it.....yet!

When I get back to Pennsyltucky and if your name/entry is drawn to win then I'll send you(the winner)out an email questionnaire to fill out so I can pick what to pack into your Giveaway Prize Box.

This month's Giveaway is open to all.....previous winners, new readers, longtime readers, anyone who hasn't won a giveaway yet, etc.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!
Tell me something about yourself in the comment and what you want to win.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday, March 24th at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. On March 25th I'll mark all valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

*Please note the rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on March 25th and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!

And in the mean time, be thinking up what you want in your box if you are the winner!

Good Luck!


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the March 15th Vacation Edition

Just popping up with a quick post for Frugal Friday................

*  Last week before I left town I bought some groceries.  Among what I bought was another 5 bags of Malt O Meal cereal on clearance and got another $5 Ibotta rebate, making the cereal .74¢ per bag.
I also got the Friday Freebie last Friday--a bag of frozen veggies.  No freebie this week as there are no Weis' around here.  8-(

*  Also bought last week a bottle of Gold Peak unsweetened lemon tea(58 oz. size).  It was on clearance for $1 per bottle.

Well it rang up $1.42 instead so the next trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets I took a photo of the shelf tag and brought my receipt and per Weis price policy I got my $1.42 back, making the tea free.

*  Before leaving town Hubs and I convoyed our cars up to the Weis gas pumps and used my Weis gas points(as they would expire while we were gone).

We saved $4.15 on gas and filled mine and Hubs car's tanks up.

*  We stopped in Delaware to pick up hooch for the trip as it is cheaper than in PA and there is no sales tax on it.

I found a penny near the register but it hardly offset the $80+ Hubs spent on booze there. *whomp whomp*

*  We stopped at the Ollie's in DE as well and picked up some snacks to have at the motels we would be staying at on the trip so "Good Snacks Cheap!". lolz  Some of what I got was on their 75% off clearance shelf too so even better!

I found this pack of peanut bars marked down 75% off so .75¢ instead of $2.99.  It had 1 bar missing so only 5 bars instead of 6 in the pack, making each one .15¢.
I also got some peanut butter/cheese crackers, cookies, instant popcorn and flavored seltzer water.
This stop was a lot cheaper than picking up snacks/drinks at convenience stores along the way.

*  I made the Myrtle Beach motel reservation using a Hotels.com gift card I bought last year.  I also made the reservation on the Hotels.com app on my phone and got a special price and a rebate of $4.05 on my Ibotta app too.

*  I had $25 in Kohl's script expiring the day after we got to Myrtle Beach so we went to Kohl's and picked up some clothes on clearance.  A sweater and a fleece zip shirt cost me .66¢ OOP.

*  While we were nearby after the  Kohl's stop we went Walmart to pick up some drinks, breakfast items and 2 tv dinners.  Our motel room had a kitchen efficiency unit so we ate breakfast 2 mornings in the room and had Chinese take-out for 1 dinner(which we bought at lunch time-cheaper price-and reheated for dinner) and cooked tv dinners for another dinner.
I also found 2 pennies at Walmart.

We spied some clearance coffee filters at Walmart as well so we bought 7 packs...........

We go through a lot of coffee filters at our house with Hubs and both kids drinking that evil brown beverage so saving .24¢ x 7 on something small and easy to cart home works for me! lolz

*  The first morning in Myrtle Beach, since we hadn't bought any breakfast food yet, we went to an IHop a block away from our motel for breakfast.

It just happened to be Free Pancake Day there so we both got free pancakes w/our meals.  We paid with an IHop gift card so our meal cost $4.71 + tip and our cash donation to the IHop charity that benefited from the free Pancake Day promotion.

*  Hubs forgot to bring his flip flops.  Uh oh!  So we hit one of the gazillion souvenir stores in MB to pick up a pair.  Not so frugal but it was the only time we set foot in a touristy shop and I did NOT buy anything else there.  Such self-control on my part!hehehe

*  The only things we did that cost money in Myrtle Beach was eat because ya gotta eat, right?  The beach and the motel's pool and hot tub were free with the room so that's what we did........walk the beach, lounge in the hot tub, swim in the pool and sit and read and drink on our oceanfront balcony.

*  I also found another penny in MB........

But I can't remember where. lolz

*  We left MB for Charleston but stopped at Bojangles first.............

Yesterday was "PI" day and Bojangles had a special....3 sweet potato pies for $3.14.
A tasty addition to our healthy breakfast. lolz

*  We stopped for gas outside of Charleston at a Sunoco as Hubs gets a .05¢ discount per gallon off the price and we found one that matched the lowest price along our route.  I went inside to use the restroom.

I found 2 more pennies walking through the convenience store inside.

*  We stopped for lunch before checking in as we were a bit early.  We decided to try Cook-Out as they don't have those were we live.
I found all this on the floor in there while Hubs ordered...........

3 pennies and a nickel shoved under the counter.......08¢ total.

*  When we got to the motel in Charleston I opened the car door and saw this.........

Another shiny penny right next to the car! lolz  I am up .15¢ since we left PA.

The Penny Fairy is alive and well in SC.

What frugal wins did you have this past week?
Tell us all about it!


Sluggy