I Have No Words......

One of my friends shared this on FB and I just can't stop laughing............

Sluggy

Food Spending Report.....the May Edition

* Doing this Monthly Report a couple of days early since I'm finished food shopping for May. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2020.

I have posted May'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 May.  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(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 24.
*****************

CARONE'S/SHURSAVE
OOP  $9.98
Value  $15.46
Savings   35.45%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $4.00
Value  $6.98
Savings   42.69%

MAINES

OOP  $32.82

Value  $50.67

Savings  33.23%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $25.65

Value  $43.89

Savings  41.56%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $31.87
Value  $44.20
Savings  27.90%

PandR DISCOUNTS
OOP  $80.01
Value  $171.17
Savings  53.26% 

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/GCard  $188.34
Value  $188.34
Savings  100%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP   $77.41
Value  $146.08
Savings  47.01%

WALMART(+ online one)
OOP  $91.42
Value  $157.11
Savings  41.81%

WEIS
OOP  $207.74
Qs/Ads  $87.28
Value  $295.02
Savings  29.58%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, P and R Discounts at 53.26% and Surplus Outlet at 47.01%.   My worst savings rate was at Price Chopper with 27.90%.  Except for the "discount/surplus" stores and R-A of course my rates other places were a lot lower than usual.  I suspect it's because of the pandemic(both higher food rates at "regular" grocery stores and me not bothering to wait for a better price and grabbing some things when not a great deal for fear of not being able to find it later on?).  Who knows?

I shopped at 10 different stores in May.

I also earned $40.99 in cash rebates in May which helps offset the spending once I cash those in at the end of 2020.

I also took out any spending on food for the Memorial Day cook-out as that goes in the Entertaining Category(what little we do).  That was an additional $74.56 you don't see reflected in the numbers below.

TOTAL Spent........................................$560.90

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$369.68
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$930.58

TOTAL Savings of ................................39.72%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for May w/R-A........$560.90
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$188.34
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$188.34
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................49.87%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into May having no clue where we'd land on the spending since we didn't really alter our way of eating/what we ate last month.  Said spending was high, there's no debating that.  But given the circumstances lately I'll embrace still being under $600 for May. ;-)

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by .42% in May 2020 to 49.87% compared to the April 2019 rate of 50.29% savings average.  A very insignificant jump down in savings rate.  I'm all good with that!

With 5 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1770.52 on food/toiletries in 2019.

Going into 2020 before the pandemic blew the wind out of my sails I wanted to stay at or under $4K for the yearly food spending.  At this point I don't think that will happen but we'll keep plugging along anyway.


2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1770.52

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$4875.66

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$3105.14

2020 Yearly Savings Total............63.69%

The average per month amount spent is $354.10 at this point in 2020 which went up some from April's average.  As long as I'm around $400 per month it's all good.

LOOKING AHEAD To June 2020.............

Except for fresh produce(we do have some)we have good stores of food right now heading into June.

June is when I try to do less cooking(oven type)and more stove top, crock pot or grilling.  I also don't like to eat as much cooked foods preferring cold foods(salad season!).  If I can stay away from buying crappy snack foods the grocery budget should be a-ok.  Can I stay under $400 in food spending?  Maybe, maybe not.  Can I shoot for under $500 in the current conditions?  I hope so!


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 May?

*  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 May 29th Edition

Let's look at what passed for frugal this past week around Sluggy's World...............

* I broke down after 8 weeks of finding no yeast locally and ordered some(Thanks to Gerlyn for the link!).....

This the same brand I usually get at the Restaurant Supply Store here and I got it from Walmart dotcom.  Of course I paid a little more than usual but nowadays cost be damned! lol

I added sensitive band-aids for my HS flares for sensitive areas and this too to my order to get the free shipping........

8 cans of Hormel chili((Hubs and Ex-CB's favorite brand).  The chili was cheaper thaan buying it not on sale at Weis(PMITA)Markets.

* I found money!

A penny on the floor over in the pharmacy area..............

And then another penny in front of the register counter half tucked under the floor matt under the candy racks.

Total Found Money this Week.... .02¢

Total Found Money this Year........$45.20

*  I did some Rite-Aid shopping this week..............

Between two cards/accounts I spent down $4.17 in Bonus Cash.  See those Rite-Aid posts for the details.

*  I did some more grocery shopping to finish off the $10 Bloomin' Bonus Rebate on Ibotta.  I already had 1 item that qualified for both the $5 Essentials Bonus and this $10 Bonus so I needed 14 more items to hit that mark.

I was in Dollar Tree and was able to pick up 2 candy items for $2 total(for Ex-CB) and got back $1 in rebates total for those gave me 3 items toward the 15 needed.

I headed out to Walmart Thursday early when they weren't crowded yet and got all this to finish that deal.........

1 x Silk half & half $4.18(for Hubs)

1 x Capri Sun $2.22 (for Ex-CB)

1 x Lean Cuisine Bowl $2.47

1 x Pringles $1.44(for Ex-CB)

2 x FR sauce $2.48 total

1 x Challenge Butter $3.47

1 x Yogurt $1.24(for Hubs)

1 x Breakstone cottage cheese $3.14

1 x Rumma beef liver $2.82

1 x McCain's dippin wedges $2.48(for Ex-CB)

1 x Dave's English muffins $4.56

1 x Ballpark hot dogs $2.84

No coupons used so $33.34 Total OOP 

I earned back $11.34 plus 2 x .50¢ Bonus(May Level 1 and Dave's Brand)so $12.34 in rebates.

Total spent on all 15 items was $49.34($14 of that was ice cream cake)and I earned back $25.84($1 DT, $2.50 Weis, $12.34 Walmart+ $10 Bloomin' Bonus).

And the ice cream cake was bought for the cook-out so technically that didn't come out of the food budget but the take-out budget anyway. ;-)

After Ibotta rebates the total spending was $23.50.

I've earned $40.99 in rebates in May on Ibotta.  Not bad.

*  This arrived in the mail on Thursday as well.....

Two more $4 off $20 Qs-one for each of the cards I am currently using for our family(and for giveaway stuff).  Look for them if you are on Rite-Aid's mailing list.  They are good May 31st through June 27th.

That's about it for the report from here.

As much as possible during this insane time, stay frugal my friends.

Personally, I don't even want to add up my grocery spending this month....geez! ;-)

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Sluggy

More Rite-Aid This Week

Before I head off to run errands this morning here's what I picked up at Rite-Aid yesterday...........

I forgot I still had a $4 off wyspend $20 snail mailed Q from R-A so bought--

1 x Midnite sleep aid on sale=$9.00

1 x Salonpas roll-on on salee=$9.00

2 x Wild Organics coffee 50% off clearance($3.39)=$6.78

SubTotal=$24.78

I used that $4 off $20 Q and a $1/1 Midnite IPQ so $5 off making all this $19.78, paid with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $16 in new BC(2 x $8 Midnite/Salonpas-same deal).

So essentially the Midnite was free after BC and Q, the Salonpas was $1 after BC back, one of the coffees was free after $4/$20 Q and I got .61¢ off the other coffee.

I would have preferred 2 Midnites as both would have been free after Qs and BC rolled(plus I like this stuff!)but they only got one package in this week's delivery. *whomp whomp*

Be sure and look around Rite-Aid for some food clearance, mostly this newish organic line(plus some beverages too).

Ok, I am off for the day.  I'm trying out this NEW blogger format and it's weird and I'm finding it difficult at times to change this old geezer's ways.  

I know I sound like an old person but "why do they have to keep fixing shit that ain't broke"?!? lolz

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Shop on Tuesday

I went to Rite-Aid yesterday to pick up a weekly ad and in hopes of seeing my friend who works there.

Tuesday is "truck day" so I figured she'd be there.  But with the holiday truck day is on Wednesday this week.

It seems every time I go to my R-A she is either off that day or it's not during her shift. Alas, alack!

I did pick up something while I was there anyway...........

1 x Salonpas patches on sale for $9 but 20% Wellness discount better=$8.39

I paid with Bonus Cash and received $8 in BC back so these cost me .39¢ in BC.

That's all I got today.

What is your life looking like today?

Sluggy

Another Rabbit Hole-Goodnight John Boy!

So I have a friend, my first childhood friend named Marsha.  We visited her and her DH, Parker, in Tennessee where they live back in 2014.

Here is Marsha back when we were little.............

Marsha is the one shoving cake in her mouth, I am the one mugging for the camera at my 2nd birthday party.

Anyway on that trip I got to talking about genealogy(duh!)and Parker pulled out some of his paperwork to compare notes.
He told me he was related to Martha Washington through his Dandridge line(She was born a Dandridge, married a Parke and then a Washington, and is his 1st cousin 7 x removed)and Patrick Henry who married secondly Dorothea Dandridge(who his 5th Great Aunt).
He also said he was related somehow to Earl Hamner, the writer who is known as the creator of the epic tv series "The Waltons".

                                       Earl Hamner, Jr.

I fairly quickly years ago found all his Daindridge related ancestors.  Then I found that Parker and I are 9th cousins 1 x removed through our common ancestor Robert "Potato Hole" Woodson(he's my 9th Great Grandfather and Parker's 7th Great Grandfather).

Parker's Martha Dandridge shows as more distant for me-the wife of my 11th cousin 8 x removed(Geo. Washington)and Martha's cousin, Dorothea Dandridge shows as the mother in-law of my 3rd cousin 6 x removed-her son Patrick Henry Jr. married Elvira Ann Cabell, who is my 3rd cousin 6 x removed).

                     Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge, the second wife of Patrick Henry

Incidentally I found years ago that my direct ancestors, John Mason III and his wife were neighbors of Patrick Henry and wife Dorothea Dandridge Henry, and they sold 400 acres of land to Patrick Henry's widow(Henry died before the actual transaction happened)for 80 pounds in July of 1799.

Parker and I also share Payne and Cole cousins on these same allied lines.

But I digress......back to the Hamners.

A photo of Earl Hamner with Richard Thomas the actor, who portrayed the character base on Earl.

I just couldn't seem to find the exact link from Parker's Hamner line to Earl Hamner's line.  When I get stuck like this I'll usually start another tree for the person I am trying to link to, in this case Earl Hamner.
So I start going back and once I hit Earl's Great Grandparents I find Andrew J Mann(born in Campbell County, died in Charlotte County VA)and wife, Tabitha Holt(born in Prince Edward County, married in Campbell County and not sure where she died abt. 1832, probably in Charlotte as Andrew remarried in Charlotte County).

Holt, I have a lot of Holt ancestors!  So I search MY Holts.
Tabitha's father was Josiah Holt who was my 5 x GGrand John Francis Holt which makes her my 1 st cousin 6 x removed.
So this  means Earl Hamner Jr. was my 5th cousin 2 x removed through his maternal grandmother's side.



Everybody of my generation knows what a phenomenon "The Waltons" tv show was, running from 1972 to 1981.  There were specials and tv movies after that into the 1990's too.
You can go read all about the career of Hamner HERE if interested.
Earl Hamner Jr. based The TV show on his childhood living during the Great Depression in Nelson County in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Earl Hamner wrote a novel in the early 1960's that was turned into a major motion picture called "Spencer's Mountain" in 1963, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara.(It's a good old movie if you are looking for something to watch too.)  Even though they moved the setting in that film to Wyoming from Virginia, it was the genesis for the TV show, "The Waltons".
Hamner wrote another novel, "The Homecoming: a novel about Spencer's Mountain".

Spencer by the way was Earl Hamner Jr.'s paternal grandmother's maiden name, Susan Henry Spencer, the part played by Ellen Corby in the series. And Susan's mother's name was Olivia, the name given to John Boy's mother in the TV series too.

That "The Homecoming" novel was turned into a tv special called "The Homecoming"(starring Patricia Neal, Richard Thomas, Ellen Corby and a few of the same kids from the tv series)and further gelled "The Waltons" tv show concept.

Something else I found interesting while rooting around in Earl Hamner's mother's family.  His mother was born Doris Marion Giannini.  A surname like that makes your ears perk up in rural early 20th century Virginia!
Seems her Gianninis go back in America to the 1700's.
To Giovanni Antonio Giannini(or Gianniny as it was written back then)and Maria Modena Giannini from Lucca, in the Tuscany region of Italy.  They arrived in 1773 on the "Triumph" into a port on the James River along with Fillippo Mazzei, and Italian entrepreneur, who hoped to establish a wine, olive oil and silk business in the Virginia Colony.
Antonio Giannini was one of the ten Vignerons(or vineyard cultivators)who traveled with Mazzei and his family.
Mazzei's plan was to set up in Western Virginia but after sending his workers to scout out conditions in the west, Mazzei stopped over at Monticello to see Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson, so taken with European culture and that lifestyle(he was ambassador to France for years you know)and Jefferson wanting to help get wine making going as an ecomony in the Virginia Colony(and my guess is Jefferson though having a neighbor who made wine could only be a good thing too!), sold Mazzei land nearby Monticello to set up his operation.  Mazzei called his plantation "Colle".  And that is how Doris Giannini, Earl Hamner, Jr.'s mother's 3 x Great Grandparents came to the Albemarle region of Virginia.
And Earl Hamner didn't let this Italian winemaking heritage go to waste as it was the basis of his writing of the TV series "Falcon Crest" about a family of California winemakers. lol
Go HERE to learn about the Giannini Family in Virginia and their Thomas Jefferson connection.

Just the most interesting stuff you dig up when you discover your family roots!
Now I'm honing in on Parker's direct connection to the this Hamner line.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Tasty Treat" Edition..........

I felt like making my world famous carrot cake this past weekend since I had all the ingredients needed.  It's my variation of a recipe I cut off the bag of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour bag years ago.
I don't add the oil and sub apple sauce for that fully.  I also add more fruit/veg including raisins. It turned out so good and moist it doesn't need any frosting!
I know it doesn't look impressive and ignore that piece missing on the back end corner.  Somebody needs to taste test it and make sure the family doesn't get poisoned, right? ;-)

I still have a huge amount of carrots(had to buy a 5 lb. bag and don't feel like roasted carrots with the temps here now so does anyone have any carrot recipes(something for hot weather like a carrot salad)they can share?  Let me know. 8-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-

This is what was planned.........

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Beef and Broccoli, Rice
3. Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--Breakfast for Dinner
7. Saturday--Rigatoni  w/Meat Sauce, Squash and Onions

And this is what really happened........

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

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Beef and Broccoli, Rice
3. Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
5. Thursday--Lobster, Corn on Cob

6. Friday-Fend For Yourself(FFY)(I had leftover lobster)
7. Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 night of Take-Out.
The only thing that didn't happen was the Rigatoni with Meat Sauce and Salad because, well.....Lobsters for $5.77 lb.!
Rigatoni moves to this week.

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 2 lbs. ground turkey breast
*  5 lbs. of ground beef

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 1+ lb. bottom round roast
* 1 lb. shredded mozzarella
* 2 pie crusts
* 1/2 bag mixed Veggies
* 1 roll of Sausage

We used up that quart of liquid whole eggs I got for .50¢ this week.  If I can get that again at that price I will get more and put some in the freezer.
I used 1/2 of that leftover ham steak in the eggs I cooked for Breakfast for Dinner.  

2 trips to Weis(PMITA)Markets and Hubs' trip to Price Chopper had me spending $140.61 total this past week and brings my May Total spending on food to $447.04.
I spent more than that but those groceries purchased for the cook-out today will be tallied up under the Eating Out/Take-Out category.

I doubt I'll shop any more in May at this point and we are over $400.  Considering "things" lately $50 over budget is a-ok in my book.

I am at $17.75 earned in Ibotta rebates in May after Friday's trip to Weis. I really didn't think I'd even hit that this month since I didn't shop at qualifying stores until I hit Weis last week.

My savings percentage last week was 33.56%(without Rite-Aid trips)for May and the monthly savings total comes in at 39.54%(w/out R-A).  

I have 6 more food shopping/spending days in May.

Leftovers going into this week........1/2 ham steak(which will probably go to the dogs' dinners), quiche,stuffed shells(4 after I gave a bunch to the nephew/brother in-law too), beef and broccoli w/rice, 1/2 of a large chicken pot pie.
And we had no food waste.....yay!

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

1. Sunday--Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Squash and Onions
2. Monday--Cook-out:dogs, burgers, salads, beans
3. Tuesday--FFY

4. Wednesday--Leftover Cook-out Foods
5. Thursday--Pizza take-out, Salad

6. Friday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Green Beans
7. Saturday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Salad

What needs buying for this menu? Mushrooms.  The only place they aren't too much $$ is Aldi so I'll need to hit Aldi this week when I go out on Tuesday.  Will probably pick up some fruit there too to get us to the end of May so I'll be spending a tad more

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's here...........

*Shrimp Tempura
*Kielbasa sandwiches
*Tuna Casserole
*Chili Dogs, Beans
*Roasted Chicken
*Chicken and Dumplings
*Shrimp Ravioli
*Cheese Ravioli
*Hungarian Goulash
*Spaghetti and Meatballs
*Haddock Fish Dinner  new
*Chicken Tenders  new
* Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce new

We're suppose to get cold weather next Sun. and Mon. so maybe I'll squeeze Chicken and Dumpling and Goulash from my list into next week's menu.  It's getting to the time of year where I want to limit running the oven so more stove top, crock pot or cold meals need to happen.

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

I Almost Died! Not Really

Since my Bread Store Outlet is still closed(2 months and counting)I have been reduced to this........

I had to pay full retail price for a loaf of bread at Weis(PMITA)Markets!

I tell ya, it about killed me to do it but we were totally out of sliced bread.
Ok, so it was on sale(kind of)so I saved a WHOLE .30¢ but still.......

I have a feeling my Bread Outlet will be one of the casualties of this pandemic and never reopen. sigh.

I'd bake my own bread but you have to sell your soul to the Devil to get yeast around these parts too!!


What are you having to pay what you consider too much $$ for lately during this crapfest?

Sluggy

The Great Road Trip of 2017-Part 1

Back after Hubs retired the end of June of 2017 we had BIG plans, I tell ya BIG PLANS!

We were going to take the Mother of All Road Trips from Pennsylvania to out West and back.
The trip ended up taking a whole month(mid July to mid August)and we hit many of the places/sites as we could fit into a month on the road.  We planned on knocking 8 states off our "Never Been There" List.

The first day was a long one with not much to talk about.  It involved a lot of driving and a lot of boredom.

We left at dark o'thirty on July 18th to set out on the first of many interstates.  We wanted to get to Kentucky by nightfall.  First was a stop for coffee, iced tea and breakfast biscuits at Mickey D's at home.  Then we were off down I-80!

This interesting thing was being towed Southward.  Some type of military vehicle bound for who knows where?

We hit the Maryland line from I-99 in PA.  Then it was westward onto I-68 through western MD.

 Of course we hit traffic and delays this being mid July.  Ironically this photo was taken somewhere north of the town of Accident, MD. lol

 We knew we were getting close to the state border when we saw ever larger hills to climb.....

 And then it was into "Wild and Wonderful" West Virginia.
We decided to just take potty/drink breaks and not do lunch and do an early dinner.

 We found a Bob Evans in South Charleston WV off the interstate and ate there.
I got my fav Salad with Pecans, Cranberries and Chicken.

 Hubs opted for a plate of white foods.....mashed taters, country fried steak smothered in white gravy, cole slaw and biscuits.

 Less than hour later we hit the Kentucky line on I-64, outside of Catlettsburg KY.

Eastern KY is not known for it's lovely vistas, unless you consider petroleum refineries lovely.
Two more hours(through some truly lovely parts of KY)and we were in Frankfort where our motel for the evening was located.
Except our Garmin couldn't find the motel for some reason.
We did find it and once in the parking of the motel the Garmin GPS found the motel too. lol
Thanks a lot Garmin!

I took this photo through a very dirty car window of the motel.  It was suppose to be a Days Inn but it also had a Knights Inn sign in the window.  WTF?!
Truly an au courant motel......with all the talk of transgender we stayed at a motel with "brand confusion".

We got a quick dip in their not so great pool(old but serviceable and nobody else in it)then it was back to the room to settle in for a much needed sleep.

Part 2 coming up next time..........the one where I avoid getting food poisoning.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the May 22nd Edition

Looking around here and this is what we did that was thrifty this past week...........

 * Remember those two rotisserie chickens we bought last week for $3.99 each?

One was eaten that night for dinner plus we had leftover meat from it.  I also had a handful of red grapes getting long in the tooth in the produce drawer.
So we combined those with the chicken, a handful of pecans, chopped celery, salt, pepper and mayo to make Chicken Salad for lunch on Thursday.  We have enough left for 2 more lunches. go us!
No money spent and using up what we have.
The other rotisserie chicken is in the freezer to be remade into a dish another day. ;-)

* I found money!

This shiny dime greeted me on the floor in front of the register counter last Saturday at Rite-Aid.

Total $ Found This Week...... .10¢
Total $ Found So Far This Year.....$45.18

*  I already showed what I got at Rite-Aid last Saturday.........

Nothing spent OOP.

* I did a big shop at Weis this week too.  Here are the best deals I got........

These 1 lb. bags of Carolina Blend rice(Jasmine and Long Grain)were on clearance 50% off for $1.25 each.

I got there just after the meat guy put out a gazillion 1 lb. packs of grass-fed ground beef.  They all had $3 off instant stickers on them so instead of $5.99 per 1 lb. they were $2.99 per lb.  The regular Weis beef was $6.29 per lb. so I scooped up 5 of those grass-fed packs at that price!
I also found ground turkey 1 lb. packs with $2 off instant stickers on them so instead of the sale price of $3.99 they were $1.99 each!

I found two of these Oikos blue label yogurt cups on quick sale for 50% off at .50¢ each.  I only have a photo of one because Hubs ate the other one already....this is the man who NEVER eats yogurt!  lol
I also used a .65¢/1 Oikos blue label IPQ which fully doubled to $1.30 off so I got paid .30¢ to bring these yogurts home. ;-)

And all this was bought for the Ibotta weekly Buy 8 items/Get $5 Back Offer.
There are only 7 items because they didn't have anything else I wanted at that Weis that qualified.
I'll get a Carvel ice cream Cake later today at my Weis to finish off this deal.
$28.83 spent plus another $14 after $3 Q for the ice cream cake for the cookout=$42.83.
I'll get back $8.05 for these 7 items plus another $2.60($2.50 cake, .10¢ any bag of chips I plan to buy for the cookout)and $5 for buying 8 items.
$42.83 spent, $15.65 back(plus 2 Giveaway entries on Ibotta)=$27.18 OOP on all this and an outrageously priced ice cream cake. ;-)

*  The only shoes that fit my wide feet are Easy Spirits.  They use to have outlets all over the place were I could get them for cheap but alas! All around here(Rehoboth DE and Reading PA)have closed up so I am reduced to buying them online.
My every day shoes are about shot so it was time to bite the bullet and buy some shoes.  They had a Mother's Day Sale(30% off even the sale priced pairs)plus free shipping so I ordered 8 pairs.  6 arrived(the new to me sandals didn't fit right so they are going back in the mail)but they didn't ship the last two pair I ordered(they were mauve!).  I checked my c/c balance and there is now a $96.60 credit on my card for the 2 pair they never shipped.  I suppose they were out but Easy Spirit never emailed me about it, just gave me back the credit.  asshats! So I am out $227.50 for 5 pairs of new shoes(3 clogs and 2 slip-on sandals).  I got a good deal and I can throw out 4 pairs of shoes now and won't need to buy shoes again for 2 years.

*  I had Hubs go up to Price Chopper Thursday and buy 3 lobsters.  They had a flyer Q to get it for $5.77 lb.  A great buy but lobster at any price is far from a cheap dinner.  We paired it with corn on the cob for $1 for 6 ears(another flyer Q)which was inedible unfortunately.  They will be getting an email over that wasted $1. ;-) But the lobster was yummy and bonus--Ex-College Boy didn't want his so I get to eat that leftover one for dinner tonight on Fend for Yourself Night....woohoo!

That's about it for  me this week other than watching lots of shows on Roku and Amazon for free and some book reading for entertainment.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?



Sluggy

How My Days Go Lately-Down Rabbit Holes

Not that this Stay at Home order has changed my routine much, other than traveling to visit friends/family, but I find myself escaping down rabbit holes with more frequency.
Rabbit Holes=starting on one thing online and ending up somewhere unexpected or totally different from where you began.

For example--A couple of days ago I was wandering around online looking at real estate.  We still don't have a pin in a particular scenario or where we will be moving to so this searching is sort of all over the map.  Well not ALL over the map as we have about a dozen areas I've been looking at.
One of which is somewhere in lower VA near where my mother's kin are from.

So I was showing Hubs a house we should buy(being cheeky as it is way more than we want to spend and the place is huge!)in Charlotte County VA near were my mother was born.  This place is currently on the market for $450,000.   8,328 square footage(including basement), 5 bedrooms/4 bathrooms on 9.48 acres with a detached 5 car garage/carriage house. For what it is, it IS a steal(because of the area).
The listing has it in the wrong county and calls it a "Queeen Anne Victorian" style house even though it was begun in 1810 and finished before the Victorian Era, but I digress.....

Sylvan Hill Plantation was owned by Paul Carrington, Jr.
Here's a miniature portrait of him from his later years in the Yale Art Collection..........

He was born 1764 and died 1816 in Charlotte County, VA.  He was married to Mildred Howell Coles(1769-1840). I have Coles cousins in my tree.

Anyway, after Hubs laughed about me actually spending that kind of money on that house I told him who had it built and he says to me, "You know I worked with a guy early on at my company who was a Carrington.  He told me once that he was related to the Carrington family in Colonial Virginia.  His people were a second tier branch of elites in Virginia, just below the Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe sorts.  Mike said one of the buildings at the University of Virginia is named for one of his Carrington ancestors too."

Hhmm...You know, I have a couple of Carringtons hanging on my tree as well as a Carrington(Hannah)who married a Nicholas Cabell(also a family name of one of the buildings at UVA).
Maybe Mike is one of my cousins?

Well you know what I did........I pulled out my family tree macramé and did some digging on Hubs friend.
Hubs said this guy, Mike, born and raised in NJ, died sort of young, sometime after 2000 when we moved here.
That's all I needed to know to start working back to link Mike Carrington to my macramé.

After about 20 minutes I found Mike's death date/year(2007)and his real name was Malcolm Michael Carrington, born and raised in New Jersey.
Then I found his father, in a newspaper article in NJ and knew I was on the correct path.  Dad was also a Malcolm Carrington, born in Chicago in 1916 then moved to New Jersey where he died in 1999.

That's Mike's father from his college yearbook from Lehigh University in 1939.

Then it was Mike's grandfather named *wait for it!* Malcolm Carrington born in Richmond in 1874, died in 1943 in Summit, New Jersey.

Here's his headstone.....

Mike's grandfather also graduated from Lehigh U. in 1896.
Malcolm I's birth puts him in Virginia and from there it was a snap to link his line up to the Carringtons of Virginia.

Here is Mike's Great Grandfather, Isaac Howell Carrington taken sometime around 1865.........

And here is his headstone..........

Anyway I could go on boring you with all this but I found that Hubs' work buddy Mike Carrington is my 7th cousin 2 x removed.
We share of common ancestor in Samuel Burks(1680 Albemarle Co., VA-12 Feb 1756 Albemarle Co., VA).
Samuel Burks is my 8 x Great Grandfather and Mike's 6 x Great Grandfather.

And see his Great Great Grandmother's name on the headstone?
Emma Cabell Carrington.....so she's a Cabell and through basically the same pathway as Mike she's my 3rd cousin 6 x removed sharing the same common ancestor.

I can't believe with all this intramarriage with cousins I've got on the old mossy tree I don't have 8 toes on each foot, webbed fingers and an extra eyeball on my chest or something!

And after that matter was done and dusted I spent hours adding more Carringtons, Cabells, Coles and Dandridges to my family tree macramé.

Of course just finding the ancestors and dates is just the tip of the iceberg.
After that I like to go through the records and get the "rest of the story"......the whys behind what happened to the people.

And just like that, between dealing with dogs, cooking, cleaning-there goes my day!!

Hubs likes to say most of my friends are dead and related to me.  I seem to like a lot more dead people than living ones. lolz

Sluggy

New Giveaway Winner!

Since the previous May winner never contacted me in time I am forced to pick a new winner for the Giveaway.

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

Mimi

MimiMay 9, 2020 at 7:53 PM

Mu state is opening back up, but I am staying home except for work and the twice monthly grocery pickup. Looking forward to getting my yard looking presentable.

Congratulations Mimi!

Please email me your full mailing address within the next 48 hours of this post going live/the posting time stamp.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Shopping

**NOTE**
Still looking for FLORA to claim her Giveaway prizes!  Time is running out so email me asap!!


I bought this stuff on Saturday............

1 x Tide on sale=$4.94
2 x Cover girl BOGO50%=$8.23
2 x Nice and Easy Hair Dye 20% Wellness Disc.=$13.58
1 x Crest Dental Floss on sale=$3.99
1 x Crest Toothpaste on sale=$3.99
1 x Cella cherry 20% Wellness Disc.=.31¢
Subtotal......$35.04

Coupons Used
1 x $10 wyspend $30=$10.00
1 x $2/1 Tide L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $5/2 Clairol hair dye IPQ=$5.00
1 x $4/2 Clairol hair dye In-AdQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Dental Floss L2CQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Toothpaste L2CQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.......$23.00

$35.04-$23.00=$12.04+.96¢tax=$13.00 paid for this BC(and gift care because of "issues" more below).

Earned back $5 BC for buying 5 select PandG items(Tide, 2 Cover Girl, 2 Crest).

The $10 off $30 L2CQ didn't come off so my total was $23.00(and I had to use $3 off a free R-A gift card along with all $20 of BC on this account)rather than just $13.00 of my $20 BC to pay.
The manager said that had been happening all week....great!

So I had to call Corporate on Monday and she said there was a "glitch" on that Q so she added $10 of BC to my account so I have $15 in BC plus $8 more for a gift card I bought so I am at $23 in Bonus Cash on my card.

Remember if you are using Load2CardQs with any kind of $X off $XX Q whether it's a L2CQ or a paper Q or those ones R-A snail mails sometimes, Your total must be over the $X off $XX Q threshold AFTER using any L2CQs.

SubTotal before any Qs was $35.04.
SubTotal after the other L2CQs came off($4)was $31.04 so still over $30 so the $10 off $30 would still apply, bringing my total down to $21.04 before tax.

I probably will stay out of R-A this week as there aren't any good deals this week and I don't need to roll BC.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Holy Cow!" Edition..........

I ran into the local Shursave on Saturday to pick up about $10 worth of foodstuffs and cruised by the meat counter.  No limit signs but at the prices they were asking, Yikes!  $6.99 lb. for 80% ground beef and $9.29 lb. for 90% lean ground beef?  I didn't even hazard a look at the roasts and steaks.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-

This is what was planned.........

1. Sunday--Petite Steaks, Sweet Potato Fries, Asparagus
2. Monday--Ham Steaks, Broccoli or Tossed Salad, Baked Potato or reworked au gratin Taters
3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Quiche, Salad

5. Thursday--Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Squash and Onions

6. Friday--Hungarian Goulash over Mashed Taters or Noodles
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what really happened........

1. Sunday--Petite Steaks, Sweet Potato Fries, Asparagus
2. Monday--Ham Steaks, leftover Sweet Pot Fries, Stir-Fry Veggies
3. Tuesday--Leftover Beans and Cornbread(all gone now)

4. Wednesday--Mushroom Quiche, Salad

5. Thursday--Roasted Chicken, Stuffing, Brussels Sprouts

6. Friday--Chinese Take-Out
7. Saturday--Pastrami Reuben Sandwiches

Last week saw 4-5 nights of home cooked dinners(5 if you consider a pre-roasted chicken from the deli home cooking lol), 1 night of leftovers/FFY, and 1 night of Take-Out.
The goulash and pork tenderloin sammies didn't happen but roasted chicken, pastrami ruebens and take-out did instead.
I used some of that liquid whole eggs for the quiche and it worked great!

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 1 lb. ground chicken breast
*  1+lb. of bottom round roast

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* Petite Steaks
* Ham Steaks
* 1/2 bag of Stir-Fry Veggies
* 1 pie crust
* 1 bag of brussels sprouts

3 trips--Hubs picked up cheese at Walmart for me($7.21), 1 trip to P and R for $60.28 and $9.98 spent at the local Sursave Market had me spending $77.47 this past week and brings my May Total spending on food to $307.43.

I am at $2.10 earned in Ibotta rebates in May after Saturday's trip to Rite-Aid.

My savings percentage last week was 53.46%(without Rite-Aid trips)for May and the  monthly savings total comes in at 41.96%(w/out R-A).  Not too bad and just like the old days savings totals because of the Amish Outlet and P and R Discounters trips.

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

Leftovers going into this week........chicken w/Korean sauce, 1 ham steak, quiche, some roasted chicken.

I have fresh produce of lettuces, celery, carrots, onions, 1 tomato, broccoli to use this week.

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

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Beef and Broccoli, Rice
3. Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--Breakfast for Dinner
7. Saturday--Rigatoni  w/Meat Sauce, Squash and Onions

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing that I can think of.  But if I find a deal on something I will definitely pick it up!

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's here...........
*Shrimp Tempura
*Kielbasa sandwiches
*Tuna Casserole
*Chili Dogs, Beans
*Roasted Chicken
*Chicken and Dumplings
*Shrimp Ravioli
*Cheese Ravioli
*Hungarian Goulash
*Spaghetti and Meatballs
*Haddock Fish Dinner  new
*Chicken Tenders  new

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

May's Giveaway Winner

Here is what was up for grabs in this month's box o' goodies...............

Every entrant who hasn't won yet got two entries per entry.
After writing it all down and toting it all up, the winner picked at random is.............

Flora

FloraMay 10, 2020 at 11:34 PM

Our state should begin opening up this month but we want to stay safe so we are not going to be joining large groups for a few months at least! Going to be enjoying the sun and good weather and taking some long walks.

Congratulations Flora!

I need you to email me your full mailing address(my contact info is on my side bar under "About Me")within 48 hours of this post going live on the blog.

If I don't hear from you in time I'll have to draw another winner.

Thanks to everyone who plays along on the Giveaways.

June's Giveaway will be coming up in June sometime so stay tuned til then.

If anyone has any ideas on what to put into June's box, feel free to leave a comment on that.

Sluggy

It Happened in the Kitchen & Last Day for Giveaway

* Last Day to enter the Giveaway. Go HERE or see the link on my sidebar.
NOTE-And if you are "Michele C" please either email me your email info privately(my email is in the side bar under "About Me")or leave a comment on the blog with your email because you've entered multiple times but your Google account that's linked has no email information.  If you want your entries to be valid you need to get me your information. thanks

No this isn't a Clue game scenario.
It's the title of one of the YouTube videos I've been watching.
Basically they are advertising films from various companies, touting the modern all-electric kitchens from the 40's to 60's.

This particular one is from 1941 by General Electric.




These things are a hoot!

And I've also been watching a vlogger called "Prepper Princess".
Her backstory is she lived in California then she inherited a little fixer-upper house in Arizona(not paid off yet), sold her expensive CA house and moved to AZ into that house.

She got "all in your face" lately with some hard truths on this vlog..........


Watch especially before minute 4.
Do you follow her videos?
What do you think about what she talks about?

I need to get up to R-A this morning and roll some Bonus Cash then get my butt out in the yard and work on the garden.

Later gators!

Sluggy