2019 Food & Toiletries Spending...........the June Edition

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2019.

I have posted June'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 June.  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 5(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

ALDI
OOP  $7.26
Value  $18.64
Savings  61.05%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $15.17
Disc.  $42.12
Value  $57.29
Savings  73.52%

CVS
OOP  $0.00
Ads/Qs/ECBs  $28.88
Value  $28.88
Savings  100%

MAINES
OOP  $64.13
Value  $128.83
Savings  50.22%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $52.15
Value  $87.94
Savings  40.70%

MARDEN'S
OOP  $3.74
Value  $10.98
Savings  65.94%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $51.84
Ads/Qs  $62.02
Value  $113.86
Savings  54.47%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $28.65
Value  $79.50
Savings  63.96%

RENY'S
OOP  $21.22
Value  $32.47
Savings   34.65%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Visa Prepaid Rewards  $161.65
Value  $161.65
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $53.89
Qs/Ads $29.98

Value  $83.87

Savings  35.75%

WEIS
OOP  $37.49
Qs/Ads  $35.60
Value  $73.09
Savings  48.71%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 100% and the Bread Outlet at 73.52%.  My worst savings rate was at Reny's with 34.65%.

I shopped at 12 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for June.........$335.54

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$379.81

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$715.35

TOTAL Savings of ................................53.09%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for June w/R-A.............$335.54
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$541.46
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$877.00
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................61.74%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent well under the $400 mark but not as low as I had figured it would be.  All that grocery shopping on the vacation and Weis trash bag clearance kept my spending higher than planned but still well under my $400 mark.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 11.73% in June 2019 to 61.74% compared to the May 50.01% savings average.
I found quite a few clearance deals at various stores on stuff we can use.


With 6 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2277.29 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$2277.29

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$8970.12

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$7028.37

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............78.35%

The average per month amount spent so far is $379.55 in 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD To July 2019.......

Let's see....Nothing planned for July other than staying home and working on home projects. Eldest son and GF may be coming to visit mid month so I am sure we'll either go out or splash out on food at home.  As for grocery shopping, I don't plan on doing a lot of that.  We'll continue to eat down the freezers.  I foresee some produce buying....a big sack of onions plus when green beans come into season and are inexpensive and fresh I'll be buying a few pounds of those to freeze.
$400 is the grocery budget for July.

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 June?

*  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 June 28th Edition

Not a lot of frugalness happened at Chez Sluggy this past week.
No Weis freebie because we weren't anywhere near a Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday.
Here are the few wins we had............

*  I booked our motel in NH through Booking dotcom and got a "genuis" secret discount price.  The motel is old and surely has seen better days but we were there just to sleep so it worked out fine.  I've booked other lodgings through them, including a great one on the Outer Banks of NC so they do have a wide range of lodgings choices if you are more "high maintenance" than we are.  ;-)

For the place in NH I paid $407.12 w/taxes for 5 nights, which came out to $81.42 per night.
We did have to also pay a $5 per person day pass for PorcFest since we didn't stay at the campground so another $40 makes it $447.12 for lodgings on this trip.
The motel rooms at the campground were $120 per night(plus taxes)and from what folks said on par with the motel we stayed at, so even with the cost of the day pass we saved $206.88 staying in town.

If anyone wants to try making reservations through Booking dotcom if you book and stay, using this link, we'll both earn a $25 reward(as a credit on the cc you use to book the stay).

https://www.booking.com/s/52_6/arcure57


*  I found money!

A penny on a picnic table under one of the tents at Porcfest.

And then on Sunday coming home.............

A dime on the floor of the diner we stopped to have lunch/dinner at.


*  We were in that particular diner to meet a fellow blogger I've never met in real life, Carol.

Being a frugalista herself she brought along a coupon to use.  Well played Carol, well played.....

*  A trip to the Bread Outlet happened on Monday. $10.28 OOP for 5 packages of bread items and 6 boxes of cookies and doughnuts regular retail of  $40.81.

*  I did a little grocery buying on vacation............

Just a few stockpile items bought at Reny's and Marden's while in Maine at prices that were lower than I pay for this sort of thing here in PA.

*  We took food and snacks with us to New Hampshire.  We only ate out for dinner in Maine on Monday(my cousin paid for that), a lunch on the way to New Hampshire on Tuesday, a lunch out in Littleton, NH on Thursday, some pastries on Saturday we took to the campground, breakfast in Whitefield NH on Sunday morning and stopping at the diner to see Carol later that day.  The motel furnished a VERY sparse breakfast each morning.
I bought various food gift cards but we didn't get to use any of those.

All other food we bought at the grocery store or food we brought from home,including some Hormel Compleats we still had in the stockpile thanks to Ex-College Boy.

These breakfast scrambles were nasty....no doubt about that!!!

But we've had some that were ok.......

Hubs ate a Chicken Alfredo w/Pasta one that he liked and we've had a Manicotti in Sauce type that's not bad at all.  We also took these Pulled Chicken in BBQ Sauce(bought some rolls to make sandwiches)and Chicken Breast w/Stuffing and ate them without a problem.  The only thing weird about the stuffing was it has diced up water chestnuts in it(I guess that's cheaper than putting celery into it and gives it some crunch).
If it was just me, I would have bought a loaf of bread and some cold cuts and just eaten a sandwich every meal but Hubs, if you've read my recent post about Living with a Retired Spouse 24/7, won't eat sandwiches but on rare occasions.  I didn't want him blowing even more cash on meals than we did so taking these along kept him happy and kept our budget in check.  We had them and they needed to be used up so why not?

*  We came home to lots of leftovers that Ex-College Boy didn't eat while we were away.  I was able to salvage a hunk of corned beef by cutting it up into bits and adding diced onion and potatoes and making corned beef hash.  A couple of eggs over easy and that was dinner on Monday night.
We had a whole large pan of stuffed shells in neat sauce leftover too.  We ate on that, along with a Caesar salad from romaine lettuce that was still ok on Tuesday and then I bagged the rest of the stuffed shells and put them into the chest freezer to use next month. 

That's about it from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?
Let us here all about it!

Sluggy

Shopping Lately on Vacation & At Home

**Still waiting on Little Penpen to contact me about her giveaway box and time is running out!**

So I hit some stores on our vacation as is my want to do.
Rite-Aid in Wells Maine for some better than free make-up brushes.

We also hit Reny's in Wells and I picked this up..........

2 large jars of roasted red peppers for $3.29 each and 2 bottles of sesame oil for $3.79 each.  I noticed that the sesame oil went up .80¢ there since buying it a couple of years ago, but it's still cheaper than buying it locally here in PA.

Then on the way out of Maine we hit a Marden's in Sanford.  The only foodstuffs I bought there were 2 bottles of chili sauce for $1 each and 6 cans of Tasty Kitchen(from Quebec) brand tomato soup for .29¢ a can.  Never had or heard of that brand of soup but for .29¢ a can why not!  And if it's not so "tasty" I can always use it in my Beef Pie recipe. lolz

After we got home I went to our local Ocean State Job Lot on Monday since they put a $5 wyb $25 Q on my Insider Card.  It expired that day so I had to go have a look  if there was anything worth getting with it.
And there was!

These quart jugs of pure maple syrup, regularly $14.99(still a good price)were marked $8.99 for Insiders Only so I got two.

Jars of spices regularly $1 were priced at .79¢ each.  The olives were $1, on special as well.

For the Grand Opening of the store here they had pallet upon pallet of Polar soda and seltzer 6 packs on special.  I guess they didn't sell as much as they had thought they would so an Insider Special last week with no limit evidently was Polar 6 packs for $1 each.  I got 11 x 6-packs(even though it put me well over the $25 I needed to spend that $5 off Q because duh! It was an awesome price!!! lolz
I got 5 packs of seltzer and 6 packs of soda.  We are having family over the middle of next month so this will come in very handy then.

Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)is have their Bonanza Days this week so everything in the store is 15% off for Ollie's Army card holders, no Q needed.  Hubs and I will be heading over there later today to see if anything is priced low enough for us to pick up.
I have yet to darken the store at Weis(PMITA)Markets before leaving for NH(6/14 to be exact)so I know a trip there tomorrow for the freebie item is in my future.

But I am happy to report the freezer is looking less full these days and we have been able to eat it  down a bit even with a week away thrown in.

Have y'all gotten any good grocery deals lately?
Tell us all about it.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "I Can't Even!" Edition.............

When Ex-College Boy had to take everything out from under his bed when the Daughter took that bed frame to Louisiana with her he found a box of food I had sent off to his college apartment with him his first semester of his Senior year.  Among the foodstuffs were two Hormel Compleats breakfast meals.
Hubs and I took the 2 breakfast ones with us to New Hampshire last week for options if the motel breakfast was sad and/or as a change for the motel continental breakfast since we were going to be staying there 5 nights.
Well we broke out these Compleats on Wednesday.  You can see in the photo above the package "art" compared to what the bacon breakfast scramble actually looked like.  And let me tell you for the record that it tasted WORSE than it looked! lolz
I knew it would be over salted.  I tried to eat it with my eyes closed so the nasty look wouldn't prejudice my taste buds but GAWD!......the texture was just something I couldn't get past!
So breakfast was just the toast you can see in the right bottom corner as this nasty Compleats went directly into the trash can.
Amazingly Hubs ate his all up......*shudder*.  I've always said Hubs will eat anything, anywhere and at any time and this just proved I was correct. 8-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Grilled Steaks, Corn on cob, Mac and Cheese

2. Monday--Eating out w/my cousin

3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?

5. Thursday-?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--(everyone else here not me after Tuesday)

1. Sunday--Grilled Steaks, Corn on cob, Mac and Cheese

2. Monday--Eating out-Chowder, Haddock, Cole Slaw, Fries

3. Tuesday--I had an applesauce cup and pretzels(Had a big lunch)

4. Wednesday--Turkey w/Stuffing Compleats, applesauce cup

5. Thursday--Chowder, Burger for lunch, no dinner for me(Hubs had a turkey sandwich)

6. Friday--Pulled Chicken Compleat on Buns, applesauce cup
7. Saturday--Manicotti Compleats, pretzels w/peanut butter

Last week saw 1 nights of home cooked dinners, 5 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of Eating Out/Take-Out. 

Eating was sort of strange(as in not normal/regular)last week at PorcFest.  We either ate turkey sandwiches for lunch(we took bread from the free breakfast at the motel and bought sliced deli turkey from Shaw's), ate from food vendors at the campground, or we went out for lunch(Thursday).
Dinners were either leftover turkey sandwiches at the campground, pastries we bought in Lancaster during the day or Hormel "Compleats" and fruit cups we brought with us from home.  Dinner when we ate it was around 10 or 11 pm as that's when we got back to the motel(except Thursday when we got in before 8 pm as it rained ALL day and I wasn't feeling very well).

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

* nothing what so ever as I wasn't home

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* nothing what so ever as I wasn't home

A small trip to Ocean State Job Lot as they opened the weekend before we left and 2 small shops at Reny's and Marden's in Maine on the way to NH brought the food/toiletries spending last week to $49.45 and my June total to $207.81.  

My savings percentage last week was 47.08%(without Rite-Aid trips)and June's monthly savings total so far comes to 54.25%(w/out R-A). 

I have 6 more food shopping/spending days in June(counting from this past Monday).

Leftovers going into this week.....a little corned beef, a whole pan of stuffed shells(Ex-CB didn't eat), a container of taco meat(Ex-CB didn't eat)and a container of leftover sliced turkey(which I put into the freezer on Monday).

We had lots of food waste while we were gone.  Ex-College Boy didn't seem to eat anything(I left him Domino's gift cards and he just seemed to get pizza and didn't touch any food here).  I threw out corn on cob, Cole slaw, cabbage, zucchini and rice but was able to salvage a couple of things for the freezer.
So unhappy about it.  If I'd known he'd just eat out or eat pizza I'd have frozen or had Hubs eat stuff before we left.
Oh well.....sometimes you loose the game. 8-(

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

1. Sunday--leftover turkey sandwiches

2. Monday--leftover Corned Beef turned into hash, eggs

3. Tuesday--leftover Stuffed Shells, Caesar salad

4. Wednesday--Chili(I'll have something else)

5. Thursday--BLT sandwiches

6. Friday--Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Tossed Salad
7. Saturday--Hot Dogs on buns, Beans, Something Green Veg from the freezer

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 3 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? We are out of milk and tomatoes and that is all.  I'll need to get fresh produce, lettuce, onions, etc. later this week or early next week. I am hoping to keep the food spending to $50 this week.

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  

And the Winner Is..........But First, Some Business

*So I went to record all the entries to figure out who won the Giveaway.
This month I had to disqualify SIX entries, 5 of them because there is no contact info either in the entry or from their Google profile and/or they aren't on my "Giveaway Email Master List" of names/emails.
So in the future if "ladybug", Mimi, Amy(just Amy not Amy in OH) or Linda Cunha want their entries to be valid, PLEASE contact me and give me your email addy.
And Janie Junebug, you posted an entry on the wrong post for it to count, sorry.

Now let's get to who won, shall we?

51 Valid entries this time and the Winner is............

Little Penpen!

Little PenpenJune 19, 2019 at 7:48 AM

I rarely buy makeup so it would be fun to get some new play things for myself. The whole package is sweet. Vacation? I wish! We are nursing two geriatric dogs and I refuse to leave them with anyone. Only day trips are in my immediate future. We live pretty close to the ocean, so I’ll hopefully, get there a few times.

Congratulations Little Penpen!  Please email me your full mailing address within 48 hours of this post going live so I can get this box of goodies out to you asap.

Thanks to everyone for playing this month.

Sluggy

Hurry! Last Day to Enter the Giveaway

I usually do a "This Week on the Dining Table" post on Monday but I am still scrambling to get organized here after getting home last evening.

So instead, here's a reminder that the current June Giveaway ends TONIGHT at 11:59 pm EDST so today is the last day to enter.  Either go HERE or check out the link on my side bar for the Giveaway.

AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you entered already make sure you included your email addy in your comment if I don't already have your information(either you emailed it to me privately or your Google blogger profile has your email in it).
If I have no email for you, you can't win and your entry(ies) will be invalid. 8-(((

Ok, I am off to get Chester, check on the food situation here and run some errands.

Have a great day everyone!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the June 21st Edition

Here's the awesomeness we call "frugal" that happened at Chez Sluggy and on the road this past week...............

*  I got the Weis(PMITA)Markets Friday Freebie last week........

A full sized (52 oz.)bottle of Weis brand OJ.
That was a really nice one for a change!

*  I got a LOT of free(except for tax)Kokie nail polish last week..  I think the final count was 18 bottles?

The Spend $12/Get $6 BC Deal stopped working on Thursday at my store but I called them on Friday and got the $6 BC on Daughter's card to work.  I bought 6 more between the 2 other cards after that on Saturday and the Deal didn't work on either of those cards then but I didn't call about those bottles.  Might when I get back or I might just return them.

*  We found cheap for MA gas on Monday driving up to see my cousin.
The Sunoco was $2.71 a gallon and with our gas card Hubs got another .05¢ off a gallon.
Last gas I got at home was $2.84 and we saw $2.79 when we left town there.
We'll take it!

* I found money!

On Tuesday I found a penny at Mardens in Sanford ME and another penny at Rite-Aid in Ogunquit ME.  The Marden's penny was an easy pick-up by the register as we were leaving the store.  The Rite-Aid penny was wedged between the trash can and the smoking butt station outside the door in front.  I couldn't get my arm in between or move the containers(both very big and heavy)so I used one of the make-up brushes on the way out to stick in there(in the package!)to move it to where I could reach it.  Of course some strange old man was just loitering by the trash can when I came out(not throwing anything away)so I had an audience while I bent down to do this.  He seemed fascinated so at least I could entertain the old coot! lolz

*  We stayed with my cousin on the first night of this trip.  She lives in a resort town where accommodations are NOT inexpensive in the season so we didn't have to shell out lots of money for a motel/hotel.  We went out to dinner and they picked up the bill(as we had picked it up last Fall when we took them out to dinner).  The best part was spending time with this cousin. ;-)

*  I got almost free(wish I had that Q!)deodorant and then better than free make-up brushes at Rite-Aid this week...........well the deo was free too because I "spent" Bonus Cash for it.

*  Father's Day was spent at home grilling steaks and making sides for my Hubs.
You won't see us going out to dinner on holidays like this.  Yes, we spend money eating out on Birthdays usually but I don't eat out on those holidays were there is a "special" limited menu or a set dinner so that everyone's meal is the same price.  The meal you get may be worth what you are expected to pay but the service is shitty as the waitstaff is overworked and overwhelmed on this shifts plus the kitchen staff is just trying to keep up cranking out what may not be their best work plus the crowds(need I say more?)so yah, that's why we stay home.

*  We fit some frugal shopping into this vacation(of course she did you are all thinking in your heads).

I left these slug/snail decorative watering cans on the shelf  however.  I'll report in next week on what we picked up on this trip. ;-)

*  Going to Porcfest, while not a cheap action(spending money to take a trip)we tried to do it in a frugal manner.
I booked our motel stay through Booking(dot)com.  They sent me a special offer(book a stay and get a rebate), plus I went through a rebate site to reserve the room.  I have an account w/them and they send me another % off in addition on the room. Granted, go through Booking I was limited to motels they deal with but even so among the 3 motels/hotels nearby I could choose from I booked the cheapest one(and it was cheaper through Booking).  It was the most basic motel of motel but we were only sleeping there and not spending time at the motel.  Too much other stuff to do!!

We also bought our Porcfest tickets early and got a $30 discount that way too. Spend $50 during the Early Bird period and don't pay $80. '-)

*  I got some free swag at Porcfest!
Haven't even gone through the few things in the bag but I picked up a free keychain from some game developers, a stack of books for giveaways, a cookie and drink and a slice of birthday cake.


*  Hubs and I found money!
Well he got to it faster but I snatched it from him "like a Kim". lolz

It was tucked under my bed at the motel. 8-)))))))))))))
We asked if anyone had reported missing money and no.  This is an awesome addition to my "found change" envelope.
Sweet.

That's about it around the "Sluggy Traveling Show" this week.

Any good deals or frugal wins in your life this past week?



Sluggy

Welcome to Porcfest!

Well we made it here to lovely New Hampshire

I know at least one friend on Facebook is jealous. Lol

It was an interesting first day yesterday at Porcfest and in more than one way..............

I've got to get going so I don't miss the Tiny House Open House, the Retire to the Free State event and Pub Trivia in the VIP tent later today.
Oh and fit in shoving a sandwich in my face for dinner somewhere in there too.
Oh and of course the skies opened up as it's raining like crazy since about 11 am.
Livin' the dreams folks, livin' the soggy, soggy dream.

What's on everyone else's agenda today?


Sluggy

Rite-Aid This Week....Some Freebies & Almost Freebies

This week at Rite-Aid if you have the 20% Wellness Gold discount(or even the Silver 10% discount depending on the sales tax in your state)go get you some E.L.F. makeup brushes.

E.L.F products are Get $3 in BC when you buy 3 items.  Some of the brushes are regular $1.00 each and ARE included.
20% off makes them .80¢ each, 10% off makes them .90¢ each.

Buy 3 and pay $3 or less and get $3 back in new Bonus Cash for a quick small moneymaker.
You can do this Deal 2 times so 6 free brushes.

Also cheap this week, the Right Guard deodorant are 2/$7 and give back a $3 BC wyb2.  There was a $4 off Q in the RetailMeNot inserts but it expired on Sunday(and we don't get those brand of inserts anymore here so boo-hoo for me. ;-)
But if you have the $3 SavingStar Right Guard Rebate in your account you'll pay  $7, Get $3 BC and Get $3 cash rebate at SS, making 2 deos $1 or .50¢ each.  A great price to tuck back for a stocking stuffer for that special guy in your life.

*Update*
I found a Rite-Aid in Maine with brushes too and bought these.........

With tax I paid $5.07 in BC and earned back $6 in new BC.

And that's the report on Rite-Aid this week.
Do you see any deals at R-A worth doing?
Let us know!

Sluggy

June Giveaway Time is HERE!

Ok, this month I am putting this up and it will run while I am away in the North Woods of NH conferring with fellow porcupines.
I may not have service up there among the trees and critters so if I don't put your entry(or entries)through in a timely manner don't worry.  All the comments will be put through before I do the drawing when we get back.  ;-)


Here's what you can win if you are selected this month.........

1 x Ocuvite gummy vitamins
1 x Skintimate shave gel
1 x Crest mouth wash
1 x Pantene shampoo
1 x Degree women's deodorant/antiperspirant
1 x Aquaphor skin cream
1 x Wet n' Wild concealer stick
1 x Colgate toothpaste
1 x Wen n' Wild nail polish
1 x Yes2Cucumbers mud mask
1 x Trident wintergreen chewing gum
1 x Bic soleil disposable razors
1 x Cover Girl mascara
1 x Wet n' Wild lip liner pencil
1 x Almay mint green eye shadow
1 x Almay lilac lavender eye shadow
1 x Fig Newtons 2 pack
1 x Belvita blueberry breakfast cookie pack




Close up shots of the goodies..........

Around $60+ worth of regular retail goodies(depending on where you shop for this sort of thing).
Lots of June necessities here--things to get you ready for Summer(razors, hair, deodorant, make-up, dental needs), vitamins for all that outdoor activity coming up and gum and cookies to feed your soul.

* This June Giveaway Box of goodies is open to any and all readers, non-winners yet and previous winners.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!

I want to hear all about your Summer plans if you have them....travel, staycations, Summer indoor and/or outdoor projects, family Reunions or get-togethers, gardening.  If you have travel tips(your fav places to eat/see/stay), places you want to go but haven't gotten to yet, etc.  What is the thing in this goody box you most want to have and why?  Give me ideas for what to put into July's box of goodies.


I'll leave these giveaways open until Monday, June 24th at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. On June 25th, Tuesday,  I'll mark all valid entries on slips of paper and have Ex-College Boy draw the winner.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on June 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 make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

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!

So let's get the JUNE Giveaway started.  Good Luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Things Are Moving Along If Not Slowly" Edition........

Well the folks came out and measured the room and the carpeting is ordered and paid for now(I put it on my Lowe's card and got a 5% discount). We are waiting on it to arrive and for the install to be scheduled when we get home from vacation.
They measured Hubs' room while they were here so when we pull the trigger on carpet for that room we have the sq. footage on record.  But that will have to wait until my new room is finished first.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--FFY/Leftovers

2. Monday--Chinese Take-Out(lunch entrees)

3. Tuesday--Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Broccoli, Rolls(for them that wants 'em)

4. Wednesday--Pork Chops, leftover Zuke in Sauce and Rice OR Grilled Sammies

5. Thursday--Stuffed Shells, Caesar Salad

6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Brussels Sprouts
7. Saturday--Leftovers OR Grilled Sammies w/a side TBD

And this is what actually happened--(everyone else here not me after Tuesday)

1. Sunday--FFY/Leftovers

2. Monday--Chinese Take-Out(lunch entrees)

3. Tuesday--Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy

4. Wednesday--FFY

5. Thursday--Stuffed Shells

6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Brussels Sprouts
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
Lots of leftovers so no need to cook a fourth night last week.

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

* a bag of cheese(I had a partially used block that was going moldy so I cut off the bad spots and shredded what was left and put it into the freezer for later.)

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* that bag of cheese from last week

* a turkey breast
* breaded pork tenderloin 

A small trip to Aldi's, Ollie's, Shursave, CVS and 3 items from Weis(one was free)brought the food/toiletries spending last week to $45.45 and my June total to $158.36.  

My savings percentage last week was 69.54%(without Rite-Aid trips)and June's monthly savings total so far comes to 56.11%(w/out R-A). 

I have 13 more food shopping/spending days in June.

Leftovers going into this week.....corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, turkey breast, stuffing, gravy and stuffed shells.

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

1. Sunday--Grilled Steaks, Corn on cob, Mac and Cheese

2. Monday--Eating out w/my cousin

3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?

5. Thursday-?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 1 new meals cooked, ? nights of leftovers/FFY, and ? nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing whatsoever.  Ex-College Boy will be eating leftovers and/or fending for himself.
There will only be a little bit of food shopping this week, just bits and bobs we buy in NH.

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  

Our Vacation in New Hampshire

We leave soon for our vacation.
We are staying with and visiting one of my three cousins in Maine.
Then we head up to the North Woods of New Hampshire.

Lancaster NH is right over the Connecticut River from Vermont and under 50 miles South of the Canadian border at Quebec Province.

We are going to PorcFest.
The porcupine is the mascot of the Libertarian party thus the reference and the name PorcFest.




Hubs has wanted to go for a few years now but it never worked out with our schedules.  Now that he's retired I told him now or never so we pulled a plan together.

It's a 6 day Festival for people who love liberty and advocate for personal freedom.
Most of the attendees have Libertarian leanings so this is my tribe(other than my frugal online tribe).

There are round table discussions and lectures on everything from economics, political activism, legal issues, bitcoin, technology, political satire, home schooling to branding and marketing.
But it's not all serious stuff.
It's also a big party with lots of fun social activities like RPG and LARP, something called beergasm, demonstrations about beekeeping, a shooting field trip to a range, tiny homes, green practices.
There is a bonfire at the end where we have Burning Porcupine(similar to what they do at Burning Man).

But the one thing I am most looking forward to seeing is Vermin Supreme's show.

If you don't know whom I am referring to, watch this...........




I confess that I am nervous going to this thing.  I won't know anyone there but Hubs.  I am not into politics really so I am going for the social aspects mostly.
Hubs in the political animal in this family so he'll be in his element.
 All the folks on the closed chat group seems very young so in terms of making friends I may be way out of place at this thing.

I'll report back next week on how it was and the wifi may be iffy up there so I may not post much in the coming week.

Wish me luck!


  Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the June 14th Edition

Some good frugal things happened around here this past week.............

*  Since the weather has been so cool and rainy I went ahead and planted some lettuce.  It's a bit late for that around here but I had some old seeds sitting in a bag so no money spent!

And they've already sprouted.  We may get something big enough to pick by the time we get back from New Hampshire.  I love getting almost free veggies!

*  I ordered my bi-pap supplies this past week.  There is a tubing length I need that runs from the oxygen concentrater to the bi-pap that they aren't allowed to order for me.....it has to be ordered from the "oxygen" department of their company so she transferred me to that department.

Twenty minutes later that CS person still couldn't find the item I needed and then they dropped the call.  Not wanting to get caught up in that frustrating crap again, I just went on eBay and looked for the item(you don't need a Rx for it and it's something you can sell there).

I found a listing for TWO of what I wanted for $5.95 w/free shipping.  I also had a $5 off Q from eBay so 2 lengths of tubing cost me $1.95 OOP.
The DME company was selling me 40 ft. of tubing(I only need 10 ft.)and after insurance was charging me $10+ per length of tubing for a copay.  Can you say rip-off???

And even better my eBay(from an Alabama DME no less)tubing showed up a day earlier than the order I places with my insurance's DME company. lolz

*  I found money!

A quarter under a display I saw while checking out at Walmart.

And a penny while walking out of Walmart.

*  And speaking of Walmart, I found these for cheap there...........

Cotton blankets.  We've been looking for a deal on lightweight blankets for our beds.  Went around a corner and these were on clearance; the king and full/queen were $5 each and the twin was $4.50.

Regular price on the shelf for the king was $29.96 though the clearance tag on the package was $24.96.  At either price, paying $5 was a great deal!  Not the colors I would have necessarily have picked(these were all they had)but we have one of each of these sizes of beds here now.

*  Then I found more money!

I went into Dollar Tree to pick something up for Hubs and found three more pennies!

*  Since I was driving right by this store, I went into Dollar General for this deal.......

$5 off wyb 2 of these gift cards.  The lowest amount available was $15 so I got $30 total in gift cards for $25 so somewhere between 16%  and 17% off regular price.  This wasn't a great deal(sometimes the discount is more)so I only got a couple gift cards to use on our trip.


*  Remember that free specialty burger I got from Mickey D's last week?.....

Since I knew we'd be going to Mickey D's for breakfast when we left for New Hampshire next week I did the survey on the receipt and got a validation code.
Now we can get a BOGO free deal on our 2 breakfast sandwiches when we leave for our trip.

*  I picked up some FREE nail polish at Rite-Aid............

The Kokie Cosmetics website has a $4/1 Q good at Rite-Aid. Don't know if it's still there but go check it out.
R-A Q.  It's a PDF so save it to your computer to print it out.  TIP-The register WILL take multiple of that Q in one transaction ,if your cashier will let you, otherwise, you'll have to buy them 1 at a time.

Anyway, Kokie items are Spend $12/Get $6 BC this week and if you have the 20% Wellness discount level the $4.99 nail polish is $3.99.  Add in a cheap candy because there will be .01¢ of overage you need to cover.
I got 4 bottles(to get to the $12+ level so the $6 BC would print)and 3 candies. 
4 x $3.99=$15.96 + 3 candies at .57¢=$16.53-$16 in Qs=.53¢ OOP.
Cost was .53¢ after Qs which was paid with my Bonus Cash and I earned $6 in new BC back making this a $5.47 moneymaker.

If you have Silver level discount(10% off reg. prices)the nail polish will be $4.49 and you'll only need 3 bottles to hit the $12 mark and won't need a candy because you won't have overage.
3 x $4.49=$13.47-3 x $4/1 KokieQ=$1.47(plus tax if applicable)and you'll earn the $6 BC so a $4.52 moneymaker which is still pretty nice. 8-)

*  I had $5 in ECB expiring on Thursday so I hit CVS too........

I already blogged about this trip yesterday.  All of the above was free and earned me $5 in new ECBs.

*  I had a 15% off chit for Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)that was expiring this Sunday so Hubs and I went to the one that usually has a large clearance section in the town South of us and they did not disappoint!

Most of the discounted stuff but not all of what we bought.  These were the items that were clearanced, 50%, 60% or 75% off.
(Plus 2 more of the gallons of peach iced tea not in the photo.)

The Thinster's cookies were .50¢ea., the bread crumbs were .40¢ea., the pop-tarts were .50¢ea., the tea was .52¢ea., the slow cooker sauce was .25¢, the caramel cookie chips were .50¢ea., the caramel popcorn was .99¢ and the pb crackers were .89¢.
There was also another snacky thing, 6 jars of spices, 2 microwave mug items, a lb. of roasted almonds, a canister of french fried onions, a can of pie filling and 2 bags of pretzel rods.
$71.74 reg retail and w/the 15% off Q, and the 40-75% off on the clearance stuff I paid $24.13 OOP for all of it.
8-)))


*  I also found money at Rite-Aid........

A dime under one of the chairs in the waiting area by the pharmacy.
I finished the week at finding a total of .39¢ in change.
Nice.

*  There was NO Weis(PMITA)Markets freebie for me this past week.  It was pre-cooked, packaged hard boiled eggs so I took a pass.  Heck I didn't even darken Weis' door all week!

What frugal goodness happened in your world this past week?
Tell us what wins y'all had! ;-)



Sluggy