Après Rite-Aid

I ran out to Rite-Aid Thursday morning after getting the turkey on to roast.
After dinner and pie and the company left and the food/dishes cleaned up,  I started setting up my R-A haul on the dining room table.......

And that's as far as I got until I got home from Day 3 of Rite-Aid shopping and just dropped it all in bags on the floor in there..........

Tomorrow I'll start digging out and organizing all this loot.
I did get all 4 cards to 2 $10 Beauty Gift Cards so $80 in R-A gift cards along with all of this.

Hubs and I made the mistake of attempting to go to Kohl's on Friday around 10 am.  They had sent me a $10 gift of Kohl's scrip but you had to use it that day in store and we do need to replace one of our crock pots so whattheheck!
We walked in and saw the register line went almost all the way around the main aisle of the store back on itself so we just kept on walking, right outta there! lolz
I don't need that free $10 store scrip that bad. ;-)

So we stuck to Rite-Aid shopping this weekend.....between my BC, my Wellness discount and Qs we did well and no horrendous lines.

Ex-College Boy has survived his first Holiday Season working retail management too(well, once he gets home tonight).

A big storm is due in Sunday morning and is suppose to stretch well into Monday and beyond so we will be staying home until Tuesday at least.  We've got plenty of Thanksgiving food left so it's all good.
Frankly I'll be glad to be snowed in for a day or two.  8-)

So what has everyone else been up to this weekend?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the November 29th Edition

Let's have a look around at the past week and see what frugal wins happened.......

*  I got the Weis Freebie..........

A package of 2 pie crusts.
A very useful thing this time of year.

*  I found money!
Last Friday I spied a silver coin in one of the check-outs at Weis(PMITA)Maarkets on the way in.  It happened to be the worst cashier's line but as I stood in line I spied this coin on the floor next to the aisle where the canned fruit was..........

Then I picked up the silver coin........

It turned out to be a nickel.  There was also a coupon on the floor there too which I picked up. ;-)

Then I saw this beyond the checkouts...........

And then I saw this too before I got to the door to leave..........

Ok, not money but a sweet little binder clip.  Hubs loves clips of any kind so I Purel-ed it and gave it to him. lolz

On Saturday Hubs and I went out to run errands........

I spied this shiny penny on the floor in Target.  I directed Hubs to pick it up since he was closer.  Hubs then tried to pocket this find himself.  I explained that I only asked him to pick it up so I didn't mow him over to get to it because he was between me and the penny. *snort*

A quick stop at Aldi while Hubs stayed in the car for butter(limit 6 at $1.99 lb.).  A lady handed me her cart and wouldn't take my quarter so I gained a quarter there.

Another penny on another trip into Weis to get my free Turkey on Sunday.

On Monday I found these 2 pennies in Weis at two different places in the store.

Another penny while at Malacari's produce market by the register.

And then on the sidewalk outside Rite-Aid when I went to have an Rx refilled.

This penny under the candy shelf by the register at Rite-Aid on Wednesday when I picked up a prescription.

And this dime Thanksgiving morning by the register at Rite-Aid waiting to check-out.

Grand total of found change last week........74¢.
Nice.

* I found shrimp on clearance for 50% off at Weis............

These packages of 5 skewers of shrimp were marked down to $2.50 from $5.00.  Each skewer has 6 shrimp and according to the weight the marked down price comes out to $4.00 lb.
Not the biggest shrimp but will be good grilled or taken off the skewers and put into Scamp or something.

*  Dixie has grown out of her little dog collar plus the ring is so small it's difficult to get here hooked onto the dog leash to take her out.
I cleaned out my desk drawer this past week and found something I hadn't remembered keeping..........

The dog collar for my chihuahua who died years ago.  It's wider and has a larger ring on it.  I just had to put her tags on it and adjust the length to fit her.  The collar is still in great shape.
I saved the cost of having to buy a new dog collar.  Have you seen what those can cost in a pet shop?

*  I used all my Weis Points before they expired on Thursday.......
I had 700 points so I got a free turkey(400 pts.), a $12+ smoked ham for $5.07(100 points)and .20¢ off my gas fill-up for the remaining 200 points.

I only earned just over 200 in Weis points from buying groceries during this time period so the other 500 points was earned from doing a survey each week(100 points per survey).
Nice.

* I got my poll pay this week............

Wow.  Such a lucrative job!
2 hours of training and a 14+ work day comes out to $7.81 per hour. ;-)
But it IS tax-free so that's something.
Now what to spend it on, hmmmm.............


*  I made all the Thanksgiving food(except for the cranberry "glop")from scratch.......
I was especially glad I had almost everything to make the pies already in my food stockpile(just needed pie crust and got that as a freebie from Weis last Friday-see item above).

 Kim's Sissie might recognize this pie pan one of the Pumpkin pies was in.  ;-)

These no-bake Cherry Cheesecake Pies might not look like much since I waited until serving to put the Cherry pie filling on them but they were well received by the Turkey Day diners here.  8-)

That's about it that I can remember from this past week.
I am off shortly to hit Rite-Aid again. 8-)
If you go out into the insanity of retailing today please be careful!

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Let us know!

Sluggy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Update on Hubs chore list--
* Ceiling patched but not sanded or painted
* Curtains hung
* Floors not cleaned yet

Whatever.  I am so over getting worked up over it. What gets done, gets done.
I am aiming for a low stress day once I get the bird on, and start drinking after I get home from my Rite-Aid trip. lolz

Saw this on Facebook and it spoke to me. *snort*

I've been up since 3 am.  It's a combination of not being able to sleep and worrying over getting everything cooked in time and Dixie swallowed one of my pills last night(shouldn't be a big problem).  So I've been keeping an eye on her as she snores away in her bed.

Yet more proof that the 1st Thanksgiving belongs to VA not those witch hatin' folks in MA who wore funny hats. lolz

The rolls are rolled and rising in the pans.
The carrots are roasted(will reheat with a honey glaze later).
And I'm about to assemble the stuffing, stuff the bird and get both into their respective crock pot/oven.

So give thanks for what you got good in your life, unzip your pants and eat another plate of food, and lapse into a coma in front of the television watching parades/dog shows/football/movies.

Thanks for reading my boring blog and sticking around to see what messes Sluggy gets herself into next. 8-)))

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Sluggy

Turkey Day Approacheth

Ok so I gave Hubs 3 things I need him to do before company comes for Thanksgiving--
*1*  Fix the 2 spots on the ceiling in the Dining Room
*2*  Hang the thermal curtains in the Living Room
*3*  Clean the DR and LR floors

He's known this since like November 10th.
So guess who waits until this week to do them?
Yep.
Hubs.

So currently there is a ladder, spackle, paint, patching mesh, tools and sandpaper in my dining room.  And item 2 and 3 haven't been addressed yet either.
sigh

With my HS and various other ailments(plus being old now)I have to pace myself when it comes to the Holidays.  All the cooking prep can be mind boggling and wear me out in quick order so I need to spread it out over multiple days.

I guess lots of other bloggers are off seeing to Turkey Day details as well(or traveling early as storms are due for most of the country later this week)since not many are posting much this week.

Here's my Turkey Day menu--

* a pickle, cheese, cracker and crudité plate(appetizer)
* turkey
* cornbread and sausage stuffing
* mashed potatoes
* roasted carrots
* green beans
* yeast rolls
* cranberry "glop"
* gravy and au jus(those who don't want gravy)
* pumpkin pie(whipped cream optional)
* cherry cheesecake pie
* coffee and tea

Here's my schedule to get all this on the table on Thursday--

Sunday
Begin thawing turkey
Take out frozen green beans and sausage rolls

Monday
Gather pantry goods(canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, stuffing mix, "glop", graham cracker pie crusts for cheesecake pie, turkey stock, etc.)

Tuesday
Make cornbread for stuffing
Cook sausage, onions, celery for stuffing

Wednesday
Assemble stuffing
Bake pumpkin pies
Assemble cheesecake pies and chill them
Put "glop" in fridge to chill
Make roll dough
Set table and get crock pots/serving bowls/utensils out

Thursday
Cut out rolls and proof 6 am
Get turkey stuffed and in the oven by 8 am
Get rest of stuffing in crock pot and start heating it
While turkey cooks--
Assemble crudité plate
Cook potatoes and mash them(put in crock pot to keep warm)
Assemble green bean dish put in oven 20 min. before turkey comes out
Prepare carrots put in oven 20 min. before turkey comes out
Turkey out of oven to rest, rolls go in oven
Carve turkey and ring the dinner bell to "come and get it!"

Hopefully I get it all cooked and serveable at the same time.

And squeeze in a trip to Rite-Aid at 8 am on Thursday too.   For that I am all ready to go with my written transactions and coupons.  8)))

What are you up to today?

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Why Did I Even Suggest It?" Edition................

Last Thursday was my appointment down in Hershey at the HS clinic.  I suggested to Hubs that we stop at Tröegs Brewery so he could get a beer/fill his growler and then stop somewhere else for lunch before heading home.  I had perused the food menu beforehand and wasn't thrilled with the food choices/prices(very hipster foods and so, so pricey! because these craft breweries cater to Millennials and well......).

Once we got there Hubs' decided he didn't want to stop somewhere else for food(and he was driving)so I was stuck. I ended up with a brisket sandwich with a spicy ass mustard sauce slaw served with a side of spicier ass beans.

And the beer I ordered?  I didn't think to look at the price and I should know better because 1 beer cost almost as much as that "meh" sandwich!
I should have had a beer and a pretzel(to soak up the alcohol)and called it lunch. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Leftover Beef Pie
2. Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

3. Tuesday--Hot Dog on Roll w/Chili, Beans, Squash and Onions

4. Wednesday--Something Chicken, Veggie TBD

5. Thursday--Assorted Leftovers

6. Friday--Beef Stew
7. Saturday--Chinese Take-Out

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftover Beef Pie
2. Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

3. Tuesday--Hot Dog on Roll w/Chili, Beans, Squash and Onions

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Chinese Take-Out

6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, leftover Squash and Onions
7. Saturday--Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 1  nights of leftovers/ffy, and 1 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out(got home too late to cook Thursday and frankly I felt like crap too).

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

*  1 ginormous Stouffer's lasagna

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
*  1 bag of meatballs
*  8 hot dogs
* 1 bag homemade hot dog chili
* 1 package chicken thighs

Two small trips to Weis, and teabags from Ollie's brought the current weekly spending to $10.78 and my November spending on food to $312.84 for this month.

My savings percentage last week was 90.09%(without Rite-Aid trips)and November's monthly savings total comes in at 51.20%(w/out R-A).

I have 5 more food shopping/spending days in November.

Leftovers going into this week......Beef Pie, Beef stir-fry, Rice.

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

1. Sunday--Lasagna, Roasted Cauliflower
2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--Flounder, Veggie TBD, Sweet Potato Fries

4. Wednesday--Leftover Smörgåsbord 

5. Thursday--Turkey Day Dinner

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

As always this menu is subject to change or rearranging depending on what leftovers get eaten or not and what I am feeling like cooking(or not). lolz

What needs buying for this menu? Nothing that I can think of.  We will probably need milk again.

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 Giveaway Winner Is.......

There were 115 valid entries this go 'round(y'all must like make-up and chocolate, right? lolz).
I numbered the entries and used Random dotorg to help me select a random winner.
And the Winner is.........

Hidden Haven Homestead!

Hidden Haven HomesteadNovember 20, 2019 at 3:12 PM

Years ago I was living in Flordia so the girls and their families came down for Thanksgiving. It was so warm we had Thanksgiving dinner on the patio. The girls complained about it not feeling like Thanksgiving. We never celebrated a winter holiday in FL after that.

Congratulations HHH!!  You can 48 hours from the time stamp when this post goes live to email me privately your full name and mailing address so I can get this box of goodies out to you asap.

Stay tuned in December for more giveaway fun!

Sluggy

Last Chance for the Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter the November Giveaway.

 Cosmetics, a few personal care items and chocolate(candy)for days...........

Go HERE to put your entry for today in.
And if you left an entry without a name/contact info already PLEASE reply to that comment with your info. or email me privately with your info. so it's valid.

There have been lots of good answers on this Giveaway and it's been fun to read them as I approve them. 8-)

The Giveaway ends at 11:59 ET tonight.
I'll pull a winner on Sunday, the 24th, and post it later that day.

Good Luck!

I've got changing out the curtains in the living room to heavy/Winter curtains on those windows, a bit of cleaning in there, going through some of the Xmas gift stash and a run to Target and the Restaurant Supply store for a few food items today as well as dropping a load off at Salvation Army.

What's on your agenda?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the November 22nd Edition

Here's some of the frugal things that happened here this past week............

*  I got the Friday Freebie at Weis last week.....

A pack of paper plates can always be used around here.

*  I paid our 6 mos. car insurance.  Instead of mailing it and using a stamp I just stopped at the agent's office.

I also picked up free calendars for 2020 while I was there.

*  I found money!

A dime near the Customer Service desk at Weis last Friday.

And then a penny under the stack of shopping baskets near the register at Rite-Aid when I went to return something.

Another penny on Monday at Rite-Aid sticking out from under a shelf.

On Tuesday I found this old penny in the newspaper box return chute outside of Bob Evans.

And a trip for an Rx refill netted me another .27¢ from various places on the floor there.
This week's Grand Total for Found Change was .40¢.

* Speaking of Tuesday Hubs and I took a drive to another town to check out their Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)store.  I still had a 15% anything in the store flyer to use too.
Here's the only food thing I bought.......

A box of English tea bags that were on clearance for 50% off so I spent $1.99 OOP on food there. ;-)
A bunch of books did also come home with me at Ollie's discount price PLUS 15% off that too.

*  I was a little low on gas last week so I took a partially used gift card for a gas station here and used it.  It had been sitting forgotten in my glove box for almost a year.
$5.55 of gas was almost 2 gallons and that much goes pretty far in my little Sonic.  ;-)

*  Hubs and I went to Bob Evans for lunch one day this week.  We used a coupon.  I didn't find any money there but I brought home these margarine spreads we didn't use........

*  I went to Weis(PMITA)Markets again this week and bought this.........

3 x Finish dishwashing tabs
2 x Lysol toilet cleaner double packs(1 pack didn't make it to the photo shoot)
1 x gallon of Milk(also missing from the photo)
2 x packs of breaded pork cutlets(had $2 off meat stickers on them so almost 50% off)
1 x massive Stouffer's lasagna(on sale $12.99 but I had a $12 off DigitalQ)
Total after sale prices and Qs used came to $16.76.

I used my last P&G prepaid $15 gift card..........

And then I paid $1.76 OOP for this lot of groceries.
I still have a $25 gift card for the local Shursave store, free or discounted Target gift cards and $80+ in free gift cards for OSJL, along with all that refund/post q/found change CASH to deploy next month.

* Speaking of groceries and Weis I also did another feedback survey this week and now have 622 points to spend even though I've only actually "spent" $179.24 at Weis this month.
400 of those points will get me a free turkey for the chest freezer and I can use another 100 pts. for a reduced price meat/vegan-meat options and the leftover 100 points will be used for discounted gas for the Sonic.
Working the system the best I can.  ;-)

*  I earned .30¢ on Ibotta this week. 
Go me. lolz
Some weeks are like that but it's still .30¢ more in my pocket for something I was going to buy anyway, right?

That's about it from here for the week.

Let us know what frugal wins happened in your world this past week!


Sluggy

Random Stuff That Makes You Go "Huh?"

Just some random stuff in Sluggy's World not worth a whole post but still a tidbit(or should that be a "Timbit"?)worth mentioning.
It's stuff that riles me up or catches my eye or gets my brain humming.
I cleaned off my desk(Don't faint now!?!)and cleaned out the photos in my camera/phone and unearthed some gems so let's get to it!

*  The number of solicitations in the mail is still going strong for folks who want to get their hands on "managing" our retirement monies.

This one which came in a couple of months ago was addressed to me personally(although Hubs' name only is on all the work accounts that were set up).  This clown must have bought a list with our personal bank account info on it.
I now refer to these unsolicited offers as "The Sharks"(or you could refer to them as Vultures)......there is blood(money)in the water and they are circling for the kill(take your money in fees).  Just keep saying, "They only want what is best for me......". *snort*

* Back in September my Daughter and her Finacé sent out wedding invitations.

The one for Ex-College Boy arrived on September 14th I believe so 2 days after being mailed.
Here is when they were mailed, including the invite for Hubs and I...........



So guess how long it took our invite from being mailed/postmarked to when it arrived from Louisiana?

2 WEEKS!!  We got our invitation in the mail just barely before September ended.
There is a reason I refer to that state as "Lousyana". lolz
The good times are always rolling there and it gets in the way of conducting business in a normal time frame for most of the rest of the country. *snort*
But "Drive-Thru Frozen Dauqiris"?  They are the best at that! lolz


*  When I was going to go on Humira for my HS the company has an "Ambassador"(a nurse who works for the company)come to your house to talk to you about the drugs and to instruct you on how to inject yourself.  Having had a DVT back in 2013 and being on Coumadin then I knew already how to inject a drug into myself.  I got semi monthly allergy shots as a child so I am not squeamish about needles, so I was an easy patient for my "Ambassador".
Part of the Humira program(besides the card that takes my co-pay from $50 to $5(yah!)they provide you with a sharps container to properly dispose of the needles too.

On the lid of that container was this according of paper...........

You gotta love them for trying!lolz
Wouldn't feeling better physically be enough of a reward for giving yourself a shot of their drug?
No, you can only feel good about using this medication if you go spend money on yourself?
I just don't get it......


* And here's another fine tchotchke from the fine folks at the Bradford Exchange........

I don't care what you think of this POTUS and FLOTUS do you really need to shell out $129.99 + shipping and sales tax to have this 11 inch figurine sitting on a shelf gathering dust?
But it's a limited edition of 4 bazillion!!  Get one before they run out! 8-P
That $129.99 + shipping and sales tax IMHO could be better spent on so many other things............


* When Hubs and I went to the movies last, I found this on the changing table in my bathroom stall when I had to go potty myself(if potty works for the dogs as a term, it works for me)...........

Was this planted there just for me by some heavenly force?

Inside was a checklist of 17 items which could be the best basis for reaching Heaven.
Four I don't do now, but most I did as a child(and no longer do out of a religious obligation...some I do because I want to be a good, moral person).

I suppose the jury is still out on whether I'll go to Heaven(if there is a heaven.....there I go, questioning authority again!)

*  I was browsing around Kohl's last month trying to figure out how to spend that $5 in free money there and took a couple of pictures of useless crap...........

Doesn't everyone need a desk sign like this?
Usually folks who have one it means yes, it IS your problem, right? lolz

And they had this ginormous stuffed Sloth sitting in a ginormous gift box thing.  This was the best shot I could get taking a selfie with it.
I guess 2018 was the Year of the Llama but 2019 is the Year of the Sloth?
I wonder what unfashionable animal will be the Sales Mascot for 2020.........

*  And while cleaning out closets when we changed out/redid rooms this past Summer I found these........

The copy of the hospital charges when I had my Eldest son in 1991.
He cost $814.95.

My charges were $2,125.05.
This isn't what we paid, just the charges before insurance kicked in.

By comparison, 5 years later, my last child(Ex-CB)cost over $1,200 and my hospital charges for his birth were in excess of $8,400!
But then again, I had a C-section with him and we both had a 5 night vacation(hahaha)at the hospital too.

I guess that's all I have to say for now.
I probably won't post on Thursday as we have to go to Hershey(the town and Medical Center, not the amusement park)tomorrow for my HS clinic appointment.  Fun, fun.
So I'll be back on Friday.

Have a good Thursday......save some money, do something frugal and have some fun!



Sluggy