Frugal Friday.........the January 31st Edition

Here's a recap of what frugal goodness we experienced this past week here around Chez Sluggy........

*  I got the Weis(PMITA)Freebie..........

A 2 liter of soda.  As you can see by the time I got around to taking a photo of the bottle Ex-College Boy had polished it off. lolz

*  When Hubs and I went to the Big Lots 20% everything in the store sale 2 weekends ago the receipt spit out a coupon for $10 a $50 purchase(basically 20% off your $50 purchase)which was good until 1/30/2020(not the one pictured).
So I hit Big Lots when I went out on Thursday and found $50 worth of housewares/dog stuff(nothing that would count toward my food/toiletries spending tho)that came to $50.39.(You KNOW I used a calculator to get it that close to $50, right? lolz)
After $2.43 in sales tax and the $10 off I paid $42.82 for needed items.

*  The rebates just seemed to roll in this past week...........

This $10 debit card was from buying Clairol items at R-A in early December.

This $20 debit card was from the "Spend $50/Get $20 Visa card" Deal at R-A from earlier in January.

And the $1.99 check was from Andes mints from December from that manufacturer.  I forgot to take a photo of the check before I cashed this and tucked the monies into my "refund/rebate/post Q" envelope for 2020.

I am still waiting on one more mail-in rebate, a $15 debit card from PandG.

* I earned $9.05 in Ibotta rebates this past week, all at Rite-Aid.  It's funny how if you don't buy stuff at the grocery store the Ibotta rebates don't happen other than a 10¢ for buying "anything" one now and again. ;-)


*  I brought all this home from Rite-Aid on Tuesday and grew my Bonus Cash by .75¢ in the process.............

I went back on Thursday and brought all this home too.........

Same "Spend $30/Get $10 BC" Deal. Subtotaled $32.66($29.95 of it counted toward the Deal and I had credit toward the $30 leftover from the previous purchase).
I used $18.50 in various Qs so $14.16 + .23 tax=$14.39 OOP paid in BC.  Since I only have $13.75 in BC on the card I put the last .64¢ on one of my free R-A gift cards.  I earned back $10 BC and $2 more in Ibotta rebates for the toothbrushes.
The Biscoff cookies gave overage(20% disc. made them $2.71 and the Q was $3/1)so that helped me lower by .29¢ what I owed on the Deal items.

I've got $14 in BC over 3 cards left and I don't have to worry about rolling any of it until at least 2/19/20. rah.

Total "spent" at R-A this week on 2 shops.......$23.64
Total BC earned......$20.00
Total Ibotta rebates earned....$3.00
Not a bad week.

* We have hit our $4K deductible for 2020 on our insurance before the end of January.  A $3,378 charge for a Humira order(plus the cost of an eye injection for Hubs in Jan.)will do that for ya!
Go. me.
Having to pay $4K OOP(our high deductible went from $3K to $4K this year)on medical stuff isn't frugal but for the rest of 2020, our various medical costs will look sane again.  So sad though that TWO charges can amount to that kind of money!

*  I found money!!!

A penny in the parking lot next to my car tire when I got out of my car last Friday at Rite-Aid.

Later at Weis this quarter was lying under the self-check out machine I used to get my freebie bottle of soda.

I was visiting with my friend at Rite-Aid in their break room on Sunday while she had her lunch and this change was scattered all over the floor in there.  It's probably all the young'uns that work there that don't value coins we agreed.  They drop money and just leave it.  If they can't be bothered with it, all the better for me!
I'll have to hang out in the R-A break room more often! lolz

On Tuesday I had to go to Dollar Tree to get my brother a birthday card and I spied this penny sitting next to the register/counter that was closed as I walked into the store.

Later on, while I was in the back of the store by the refrigerated cases I heard a horrible racket up front and I spied the employees dragging the bubble gum machines across the floor to a new location closer to the front door.
After I checked out I casually walked over to where the machines had been and saw this penny sitting on the floor there.

As I picked up that penny I glanced a foot away to where some boxes of merch were yet to be unpacked and saw something shiny between the stack of boxes and the wall.  Reached my hand in there and out came this George Washington!

On Thursday I went to Gabe's to have a look around..........

I haven't been in there since Kim and Sissie came here for my birthday and I took them there.......

Well I am telling you it PAYS to go down the clearance aisles!  Over near where this photo above was taken in 2019 I looked down and found this on the floor..........

.16¢ in coins
I didn't purchase anything in that store so yay me!

Total found money for the week.......  .82¢
Total found money for the year so far.... $2.30

As always stay frugal my friends and tell us about your money wins this past week!


Sluggy

January Giveaway Winners

There were 94 valid entries and I used Random dot org to help me select the winning entries.

A recap of the two prize boxes available this time-
This special one.....

 plus this coffee.....

Or this regular box of goodies..........

The first winner is......

Angie!

AngieJanuary 29, 2020 at 8:31 PM

I struggle some with SAD during these cold, gray, winter days. Here's hoping the sun comes out for both of us tomorrow! Thanks for a happy give away during these bleak days. --Angie

Congratulations Angie!!!

Please email me your full mailing address and which Box you want and I'll get that out to you asap.

And the second name drawn is.........

Wendy Payne!

AnonymousJanuary 23, 2020 at 11:56 AM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,!!!

I loved the post. For some reason I imagined the announcer from the Price is Right describing the showcases. Maybe one day the giveaway RULES could be like the showcase LOL.

WendyPayne.
pioneergirl1970

Congratulations Wendy!!!

Please email me your full mailing address and after Angie decides which box she wants I'll get your box out to you asap.

Each winner has 48 hours from the time stamp when this post goes live to contact me.  If I don't hear from one or either of them then I'll draw another winner(s) on Sunday.

Thanks for playing along to everyone else and only the Random Generator knows if maybe your name will be drawn next time. ;-)

Sluggy

Last Day to Enter the Giveaway & Rite-Aid Shop

The week is getting away from me, sorry.  I am behind, overwhelmed and have to put off doing some things.  We've been in phone tag for a few days over insurance, deductibles and charges.  Let me just say that if I end up in hell it will be me dealing with insurance providers and their sub-entities for eternity. 
I've also been having a touch of depression, no motivation, pain in my hands(oh goody! a new physical problem to deal with!!)so I just don't want to do ANYTHING but sit in front of the TV or sleep.
So bear with me for a bit if I disappear online and don't post for awhile.  I will post the Giveaway winner tomorrow and speaking of which........

I did want to say that today is the last day to enter the January Giveaway.  You have until 11:59 pm Eastern Time to enter on the link on the Side Bar under Giveaways.  If you leave a comment on this post it will not count.  Thanks.

I had to get out of the house yesterday(going stir-crazy)and hit up Rite-Aid of course.  Here is what I bought, all part of the "Spend $30/Get $10 BC" Deal...........

2 x Herbal Essence shampoo on sale but Wellness disc. better=$11.18
1 x Tide on sale=$5.99
1 x Oral-B two pack toothbrushes on sale but Wellness disc better=$6.79
2 x Cover Girl eye palettes BOGO50%=$9.73
SubTotal........$33.69

Coupons Used
1 x $5 Cat(good on anything/earned from Kleenex/TP shop 2 weeks ago)=$5.00
1 x $5/2 HE items ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Tide L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Oral-B L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Oral-B RAQ mailed to me=$3.00
2 x $3/1 Cover Girl eye product IPQ=$6.00
1 x $2/1 Cover Girl item RAQ mailed to me=$2.00
Coupon Total......$25.00

$33.69-$25.00=$8.69+56¢ tax=$9.25 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $10 in new BC(Spend $30/Get $10 Deal)so a .75¢ moneymaker.
Plus I earned $1 on Ibotta for buying the toothbrushes so a $1.75 moneymaker in the end.

And that's all I got today.
Now I am off to the financial meeting with Hubs to see how 2019 came out and to look ahead to 2020 and how the money stuff will shape up.
rah.
After that I may need to start drinking heavily for the rest of the day. ;-)


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Would You Eat These?" Edition................

We were somewhere in Louisiana on the way to the wedding town when I spied these in a convenience store at a gas stop.  They looked like "homemade" pork rinds(they also have bbq flavor)from a very small local concern.  The rinds were massive compared to the little things you find up North here from the commercial/industrial food companies that carry them.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-two weeks worth!

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--Tacos or Taco Salad(I'll have my second pork tenderloin from last Friday)
2. Monday--Butternut Squash Ravioli, Roasted Carrots
3. Tuesday--Birthday!!! I don't cook!

4. Wednesday--Fish(type TBD), Veggie(TBD)

5. Thursday--Chicken and Dumplings

6. Friday--Chicken Broccoli Casserole
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Tacos or Taco Salad(I had my second pork tenderloin from last Friday)
2. Monday--Fend for Yourself
3. Tuesday--Birthday-Steak, Salad, Baked Tater

4. Wednesday--Breakfast for Dinner(French Toast, Bacon)

5. Thursday--Chicken Marsala, Roasted Rainbow Carrots

6. Friday--Beer Brats on Rolls, Baked Beans
7. Saturday--Chicken and Dumplings

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 1 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
3 of my meals didn't happen(ravioli, casserole and fish)but other meals did(brats, Marsala, breakfast). Those 3 meals move to this week and we'll see what actually happens next time. lolz

What got put into the freezer last week....
* Nothing

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
*  2 packages of chicken breast
* 1 package of beer brats

1 small trip to Weis($10.06), a Big Lots trip($25.66)and a trip to Aldi($22.96) brought the weekly spending to $58.68 and my January spending on food to $142.86.

My savings percentage last week was 62.81%(without Rite-Aid trips)and January's monthly savings total comes in at 58.25%(w/out R-A).  

I have 4 more food shopping/spending days in January but I probably won't spend anymore else on this month.

Leftovers going into this week.....Taco Meat, Chicken and Dumplings, Chicken Marsala, Baked Beans.

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

1. Sunday--Pizza
2. Monday--Haddock, Fries, Coleslaw
3. Tuesday--Chicken Caesar Salad

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Butternut Squash Ravioli, Salad

6. Friday--Chicken Broccoli Casserole
7. Saturday--Pork Chops, Green Beans(Hubs is cooking)

What needs buying for this menu? If my romaine lettuce is still ok then nothing.  If it's gone South then romaine.
Other than the Chicken and Dumplings none of the leftovers from this week is enough for a full meal so all that will be lunch "fodder". ;-)

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?  Weis(PMITA)Markets has been pretty "eh" the last few weeks other than finding instant discount stickers on meat items(and I've only bought a few of those).

Sluggy

Rite-Aid on Friday & What's on Tap for the Weekend

I still had Bonus Cash to use/roll on two cards so I bought this on my son's card............

2 x Nivea Creme(men's)
1 x Nivea Shave Gel
After sale, discount and In-Ad Qs plus sales tax, I paid $7.71 in a combination of BC and free gift card credit.

I earned back $3 in new BC and $6.05 in Ibotta rebates so $9.05 back.

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

After sales, discount, Qs and sales tax it came to $26.19
I used the $20 in BC on my card and $6.19 put on my gift card so nothing OOP.
I earned back $13 in new BC($3 wyspend $12 on food, $10 wyspend $30 on select items).

I got most of the drink/food items(except the Biscoff and the York mint patties)for Ex-College Boy.

Now I am down to $13 on my card, $3 on son's card and $1 on Hubs' card and nothing has to spend/rolled until at least 2/19/20 so there is time to pick and choose how to best deploy that BC over the next 3 weeks or so.

It's raw, rainy and windy here today so I'll stay home, work on some projects and edit photos from the wedding trip.  Maybe I'll get that blog post up tomorrow or Tuesday if I make some progress on it.  There is a big pot of chicken and dumplings waiting to be made and Chester needs a haircut so that's on today's agenda too. ;-)

What is everyone else up to today?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the January 24th Edition

Here's the round-up of all the frugal things in my world this past week......

*  I got the Weis Friday Freebie....

A jar of organic Dijon Mustard.  Will come in handy when I make Pecan Mustard Chicken or Spinach Salad Dressing.
I did other shopping this past week but read yesterday's post to catch-up on all that.

*  I earned another whopping .10¢ on Ibotta this past week.  I'm just burning rebating up this month! lolz  I also sat down and listed all the rebates I am waiting on in the mail......$10 from buying Clairol in Dec. at R-A, $15 from P and G from the Fall(didn't send that in until early Jan. tho)and a $20 Visa debit card from R-A from a deal there this month.  $45 in rebates that I hope will arrive before the end of February.

*  Hubs took me out on my birthday to the movies.  We headed to the $5.25 Tuesday Matinee at Cinemark. 

This dovetailed in quite nicely with the book I read last month, "The Gushing Fountain".  Now I need to get a hold of the novel this movie was based on.
And better yet, Hubs actually paid for the movie tickets out of his WAM.....I guess he does love me. ;-)

*  While in that area I hit up Panera for their Tuesday $6.99 Baker's Dozen Bagel Deal(used a free gift card to pay of course)and I also got a free Birthday pastry...........

*  Hubs and I went out for a Birthday steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse that night and I used a gift card for that as well.

*  I found money!

Another penny found outside of Rite-Aid by the garbage can there last Friday.

Then 2 more pennies inside in front of the pharmacy counter that same day, one in front of each of the two registers there.  I was in line behind some guy waiting on the pharmacist to fill his Rx so I had to wait FOREVER to get to them and feared he would look down and notice them while he was holding up the line.
But I prevailed....go. me.

Then chatting with my Rite-Aid hommies at the front register something shiny caught my eye under the magazine rack hooked to the front of the candy rack.  It turned out to be another lovely, lovely quarter!

Then I went to Weis Friday as well and as I approached the self-checkout machines I saw this Box Top and a penny laying in the middle of the area and scooped them up.

The self-checkout I chose to use had an empty partial dime coin wrapper next to the small trash can they keep at Weis by each machine.  I know from experience that whomever fills the change compartments in these machines isn't very careful about getting the coins INTO the machine always and the partial dime wrapper meant this machine was filled recently.
So walked up to the checkout machine, bent over and picked up the little trash can and was rewarded with a penny and a dime hiding there. Woot! ;-)

Then on Saturday I was back at R-A(early, before the pharmacy opened to finish my Spend $50/Get $20 Visa card Deal as snow was heading in later that morning)and saw this quarter laying on the floor in front of the pharmacy counter.
I have learned to always check the pharmacy area, as well as the front register area AND near the office too(as register drawers go in there to be counted and things could possibly spill and not get picked up).
Total change this week........65¢
Total change for the year....$1.48

That's about it for this past week.

What frugal-ness happened in your world?
Tell us all about it!

Sluggy

Shopping This Week

I hit a few stores this past week, besides Rite-Aid that is. '-)

I did the Finish Deal again last Sunday.........

3 x Finish dishwasher tabs on sale $5 ea.=$15.00
I used $4 in Qs(1 x $2/1 Manu/2 x $1/1 IPQ)and got $5 off Instantly so $15.00-$9.00=$6.00 + .72¢ tax=$6.72 OOP
That's $2.24 per bag.
I also got 2 cans of OJ concentrate so that total for all was $10.06.

On Monday Hubs and I hit Big Lots in the town South of us.  We were down there so he could go to Lowe's and the Sporting Goods store that carries gun stuff and I talked him into poking around in BL too since I had the 20% anything in the store Q with me.

We didn't get a lot, just a few items we needed(plus 6 bottles of peroxide which didn't make it into the photo).  As we left I noticed a shopping cart with clearance dog food items too and these, besides being clearance priced were also another 20% off.
A 6 pack of Iams wet dog food for .62¢ total, 3 bags of Purina Beyond for $2.40 per bag?
Oh heck yeah!
OOP was $25.66 for everything+peroxide(and sales tax).

And since we were there I ran into Aldi for a few things...........

4 x whole mushrooms, a gallon of vegetable oil, a bag of tortilla chips, a box of corn starch, 3 packets of dry ranch dressing mix, a pack of chicken breakfast sausages, a bag of salad mix(not pictured), the last Pillsbury 2-pack pie crusts on clearance at $1.09 and 2.40 lbs. of ground beef at 50% off came to $22.96 out the door.

I'm at $58.68 for the week and I don't plan on doing any more grocery shopping this week.
I'm not going to be under $100 for the month but I am well under $200 for January at this point with only 8 days left in the month.

Any good deals where you live? 


Sluggy

Let's Have TWO January Giveaways!!!

2020 is here, a new year, as well as my birthday so let's have a January Giveaway....or how about TWO Giveaways!

Here is the first of the Two Giveaways you could win if selected here on Sluggy's Boring Blog..............

1 x Swiss Miss Mint Chocolate Cocoa in a Canister
1 x Lindt Xmas Ball Ornament filled with Truffles
1 x Lindt Peppermint White Chocolate Candy Bar
1 x $25 Applebee's Gift Card
1 x Paparrazi Necklace and Earrings Set
1 x Bomboneria Wedding Favor for my Daughter's reception
1 x 2019 Starbucks Holiday Blend Bag of Ground Coffee

And here are close-up photos of the goodies in this box.......

The little "stones" on this necklace are the palest opaque lavender in color.



Or you could win one of my regular Giveaway Boxes filled with this stuff...........

1 x Betadine cream
1 x Pantene Clean Shampoo
1 x Crest toothpaste
1 x Arm and Hammer laundry tabs
1 x Centrum Silver Vitamins
1 x Jergen's Shea Butter Hand Cream
1 x Visine Eye Drops
2 x Freeman Clay Facial Masks
1 x Bic Comfort3 Razors(4 pack)
2 x Trident Gum(Strawberry/Lime, Pineapple)
1 x Carmex Lip Balm(Cherry)
1 x Scunci Hair Bands(Neutral Colors)


Close up shots of these goodies..........

Here's how it will work....
From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random.  That first winner gets to pick which Giveaway Box they want to receive.
I will also pick a second name to win at random.  Whichever box #1 winner doesn't take that's the box #2 winner will receive.


* These 2 Giveaway Boxes 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!

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Wednesday, January 29th at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. On January 30th, Thursday, I'll draw the winning entry.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on  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 this Sluggy's Birthday Month Giveaway started.  Good Luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy