Happy Halloween!

 Dixie Belle............

And Chester(giving the melted Wicked Witch a ride home)...........

Just want to wish everyone a creepy, spooky Halloween!

Sluggy

And the Giveaway Winner is......

There were 52 Valid comments for the October Giveaway.
I had Random dotorg pick the winner comment.

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

Sue L.!

Sue L.October 20, 2021 at 2:45 PM

For autumn we usually go up to Apple Hill - we used to get our Christmas tree there when the kids were little and we got a real tree, now we just go for fudge & caramel apples, lol.

Congratulation Sue!  Please email me your full mailing address within 48 hours after this post going live to claim your prize and I'll get this out to you Monday or so.

Thanks to everyone who played along.  The next box will be girly stuff(make-up, etc.)and chocolate!

Sluggy

What's Been Going on Here

 So, we've had a busy week.  Not good busy but not so good busy.

First Chester our doggie got sick.  As in he won't eat and just lays around sick.  He was spitting up bile(since there was no food in the tank)and he was making strange little runny poops.  Something wasn't right with his gastrointestinal tract obviously.  He wasn't showing any signs of pain like whining or whimpering, just lethargy.

After 3 days of  this Hubs took him to the emergency vet an hour away(since it was a weekend and our vet wasn't open).  After tests, bloodwork and a full exam they couldn't find a certain cause.  So we put him on a specific diet and the bet armed us with an appetite stimulant and a course of doggy antibiotics.  Chester only needed one dose of the appetite stimulant to get back into eating his very small meals and within 4 days he was barking his head off for more food! lol  I think he's made a full recovery.  Of course our wallet is $800+ poorer for it all. 8-((

Then I went to refill one of the Rxs which usually costs me $25 per month and the pharmacy said that would be $375 please.   WTF?!?
Then I remembered that this drug needed preauthorization each year and October is when this occurs.  So I got in touch with the doctor's office to arrange for them to reach out to the insurance company/prescription provider.

I went back to the pharmacy a week later and they tried to pry $595 out of my hands for it.  Another WTF?!? and back to various entities.
In the end my insurance company/plan provider decided to up this drug from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 and thus they now don't cover it(which was why I then owed $595 for it instead of $375).

Insurance provider cancelled the preauthorization but didn't tell anybody why or what to do next.  Hubs got on the phone madder than hell to find out what was going on(the Tier change, etc.).  Insurance rep said they will cover two different drugs now at a Tier 2 cost and neither needs a yearly preauthorization(at least that's good news).....well, until they change their minds again. lol
So the in house pharmacy arm on the insurance provider filled the Rx automatically when the doctor put the Rx order in.  I only have my one specialty drug filled by them(as they have proven to be incompetent ninnies in the past)because I am forced to use them for that drug.  We'll see what happens when this new Rx comes and how difficult they make it to have it filled locally instead if I choose to change the delivery method.

Then last night I was in Rite-Aid trying to buy a gift card.  I had put my credit card into the machine and then the power went off in the store.  ugh.  Checked my c/c this morning to make sure I wasn't double charged for the gift card.  Thankfully that didn't happen.  But we all had to wait, once the power came back on, for another 15 minutes for the registers to boot up.  Ain't technology grand?? 

And I got my flu shot but haven't had any complications from that. yay.

It's always something, isn't it?

This coming week is the election that we work.  The fun just never ends around here.......

Hope your Ghosts and Goblins are good ones this year,

Sluggy

Frugal Friday........the October 29th Edition

Let's see what frugalness I got into this past week.......

*  Not so frugal now but it will be in the future.  Ocean State Job Lot had an event this week-Spend at least $30 and earn 40% of what you spend on a Crazy Deal Card.  I went 2 times this past week.  I picked up some Christmas goodies as well as houseware needs(new door mats)and some food items.  Between a trip to the Produce Market and the food items I stocked up on at OSJL my food spending was $174.87 which put me at $296.49 for October.  So I won't have the ultra-low grocery spending I was shooting for in October but I am still well under my $400 target AND I have 40% savings on everything I bought so when I go back to OSJL I have lots of free money to use! woohoo

*  I decluttered some more items and Hubs hauled them off to Sallie's.  I didn't get any photos before they left but it was another 32 items so we decluttered a total of 50 items in October to the Salvation Army.

*  Last Friday this all went to the food bank. .......... 

64 more assorted items from food to toiletries.

*  I received that $10 Visa card for buying Pepcid a couple of weeks ago.........

*  I got my flu shot at R-A.........

It was free and I received a $5 off a $25 order coupon to use in the store.  I also got a free bottle of hand sanitizer from the pharmacist.

*  I found money!

This dime at Rite-Aid last Friday.

Then this dime at the Salvation Army store on Monday.

Found Money This Week..... .20¢

Found Money This Year....$18.88

That's about it this week.  

What frugal wins did you experience lately?  Tell us all about it!!

Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

Sluggy

The Wayles/Eppes/Jefferson/Hemings Relations...Black & White Cousins

I want to talk about my connection to this group of my cousins.

I remember as a teen in the 1970's when a bombshell book came out written by the historian Fawn M. Brodie  It was called "Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History".  My mother bought this book and it sat in our den on the bookshelf.  At the time I remember it caused a stir(especially since I lived in Virginia)as it included the accusation that Jefferson had children with his slave Sally Hemmings outside of his marriage to his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson.

Just about everyone at that time who knew anything about Thomas Jefferson knew these rumors were true but people didn't go around talking about it nor had anyone written a book containing this information for public consumption.  I took the book and read it when I went away to college in 1977.  This was right after Alex Haley published "Roots" in 1976 and they came out with the much touted mini-series based on his book.

As for the cousining, let's start with Henry Isham I(1627-1675).  He had two daughters, Anne Fitzhugh Isham and Mary Isham.  Anne married Col. Francis Eppes III(1659-1718).  Anne is my 2nd cousin 12 x removed.  Their son, Francis Eppes IV(1686-1734)married Sarah Kennon(1684-1748).  Their daughter, Martha Eppes(1712-1748), my 4th cousin 10 x removed)married John Wayles(1715-1773)a Welshman who immigrated to America.

Martha Eppes and John Wayles had a daughter, Martha Wayles(1748-1782).  Martha Eppes Wayles died a few days after giving birth to that daughter Martha.

John Wayles also had an older brother, Richard Wayles(1714-1765)who married Martha Cocke Bolling(1726-1758)and they had a son, Francis Eppes(1747-1808).  This Francis Eppes married Elizabeth Wayles(1752-1810).  Elizabeth Wayles was the daughter of John Wayles and his second wife, Mary Tabitha Cocke(1724-bet.1758-1760), making Francis Eppes and Elizabeth Wayles not only husband and wife but also double cousins and making Martha Wayles and Elizabeth Wayles half siblings.  Is everyone following this so far? ;-)

Not only did John Wayles have two wives, he also "took liberties" with one of his slaves, Elizabeth "Betty" Hemmings.  

Betty was the daughter of a sea captain, John Hemmings and an African slave, thus Betty was biracial or as they used the term back in the day "mulatto".  The story goes that John Hemmings plied his trade between England and the port town of Williamsburg and that is where he met and had his way with the African slave who's name is lost to history.  This slave was the property of John Wayles.  Captain Hemmings claimed paternity of the child Betty and tried to buy her from John Wayles but Wayles would not hear of it and took the slave and child into the "great house" to live to keep the child away from Hemmings if he considered kidnapping the child.  Wayles also thought her a novelty, being mulatto, and saw this as "a grand experiment" and wished to see how she would "turn out".  So John Wayles raised Betty and then once his second wife died he turned around and slept with Betty, producing six children with her.  Betty had already had 4 other children with unknown fathers-well one was a carpenter of Irish extraction who worked on building Monticello named Joseph Neilson.  Among these offspring Betty had with John Wayles(the number are still undecided)were Thenia, Cristena "Critta", Robert "Bob", James and Sally Hemings(1773-1835).

This would make Sally Hemings 3/4 European White and 1/4 African American and John Wayles' "white" daughter, Martha Wayles, with his wife Martha Eppes Wayles, Sally's half sister.  This ad mixture back in that day made Sally an "octoroon" or "almost white" in appearance.  There are no images of Sally Hemings from that era but here is one often used to "portray" her....

Compare that to a known portrait of Martha Wayles, Sally's half sister......

And a portraiture of Sally and Thomas Jefferson's only daughter Harriet, who lived to adulthood, until 1863 or 1864 *no  one is sure*.....

So why my interest in these genealogical lines?  I am a 5th cousin 9x removed to Thomas Jefferson through my maternal Great Grandmother and his mother who was a Randolph.  I am also a 5th cousin 9x removed to Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson through the same Great Grandmother and her mother who was an Eppes.  Isham, Eppes, Wayles, Jefferson are all my cousins by blood. (Also my 7th Great Grandmother married as her 4th Husband, Thomas Jefferson's uncle, Fielding Jefferson, though they had no children together.  So my direct ancestor was also for a time the Aunt of Thomas Jefferson and was the part of the first couple in English America to have a legal pre-nuptial agreement.)

So this whole argument that has raged for centuries about Thomas Jefferson having a "shadow family" as it was often referred to in the South with Sally Hemings, his slave and half-sister of his wife, is near to my heart.

Once the Brodie book came out the debate among the direct Jefferson ancestors as to whether to accept the Hemings ancestors "into the family" has taken center stage.  First the Jefferson Society hierarchy refused to provide DNA to confirm or deny the Hemings link and court cases ensued.  Then the sticking point became only the "white" direct ancestors of Jefferson were allowed to be buried at Monticello as is the family members' right.  Even after DNA testing has confirmed centuries of oral history there is still a segment of the "white" Jefferson's who started the ultra-conservative Thomas Jefferson  Heritage Society who still refuse to come around and deny any Jefferson-Hemings ties.  These folks keep pushing against the tide.

My thoughts?  I am all for embracing the Sally Hemings offspring descendants as Jefferson descendants.  

I grew up in the South during the Civil Rights Era.  I saw that struggle first hand from the sidelines as a child.  I have progressive relatives and I have relatives who'd prefer we all go back to the "good old days".  I've seen my share of racism.  (Let me add that having lived up North since 1984 I've seen about as much racism up here as down South where I grew up.) 

All the Hemings descendants are welcomed as my cousins and I have added them(as much information as I can find)to my personal family tree. We are ALL cousins when it comes down to it and any of them are welcomed at my table.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "End of the Garden" Edition...

I went out this weekend to pull up what was left of the garden plants.  These few green beans were found and are the last of the garden produce.  This will get put into the doggies dinners for a few nights as they love green beans.

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--Homemade Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Green Beans
5. Thursday--Pasta w/Meat Sauce, Salad

6.  Friday--Korean Beef/Veggie Stir-Fry w/Noodles

7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

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

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--Pasta w/Meat Sauce, Salad

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--I had a PBJ sandwich, Hubs ?
5. Thursday--Homemade Pizza, Salad

6.  Friday--Club Sandwiches

7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

Pork Chops and Korean Beef stir-fry didn't happen as I didn't feel like cooking, had tomatoes to use up, Sissie's meatloaf leftovers made a lot of meat sauce.  You pick a reason. lolz

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

* Nothing

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

* Mozzarella Cheese

*  Pepperoni slices

I spent $0.00 on food/toiletries/HBA last week. This keeps our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total so far to $121.62 for October.

There are 6 shopping days left in October.

I've earned $69.86 on Ibotta in October.

I've earned $3.64 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $5.25 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in October.

I've earned $4.00 from Aisle.

I've earned $3.27 from an ice cream offer.

I've earned 1023 points from shopping on Fetch in October which equals $1.02.

I earned 1875 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in October which equals $7.50.

I've earned  9008 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in October which equals $9.00.

That's $85.94 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $121.62 in grocery spending so in reality it's $35.68 spent after the 4 rebate apps(+the ice cream offer)I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for the last week was 0.00%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 50.29% so far.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....Rigatoni, Meat Sauce.  That's it.

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

1. Sunday--Rotisserie Chicken, au Gratin Taters, Corn

2. Monday--Leftover Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad

3. Tuesday--Steak, Baked Potatoes, more Salad or ?

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Green Beans, leftover au Gratin Taters
5. Thursday--TV dinners

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Not sure on end of the week.  Will play it by ear.  I've got everything through Thursday.

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

  

Frugal Friday........the October 22nd Edition

 Haven't hit a grocery store all week.  Go me.  Let's see what other frugalness I got into this past week.......

*  Sat my butt home all weekend except for a quick jaunt to Rite-Aid.  Did some cleaning and sorting, especially in the Guest/Stockpile Room.  No $$ spent.

*  Monday Hubs and I went to get some screening tests done.  These were free through our insurance company.  Then I went to a different R-A and got this.......

As posted before I spent a whole .20¢ on all this.

*  I got another Giveaway up.......

Don't forget to enter this one once a day.  Check the link in the side bar.

A sneak peek..//November's giveaway will be all Girly make-up type stuff and CHOCOLATE!

*  I decluttered the kitchen cabinets........

Ex-College Boy took a few things when he was over for dinner last Friday night and I'm waiting on oldest to get back to me this weekend so the rest can go to Sallie's.  That makes another 28 items leaving this week.

*  Last Friday this all went to the food bank.  

50 assorted items from food to toiletries.

*  I found money!

Two pennies at 2 different places in my Rite-Aid and a penny at the drive-thru at Taco Bell.  There were 3 pennies at TB but I could only reach one....danged short arms! lol

And then another penny at R-A on Saturday.

Found Money This Week..... .04¢

Found Money This Year....$18.68

That's about it this week.  I've been more boring than usual.

What frugal wins did you experience lately?  Tell us all about it!!

Have a great weekend.  I'll be here decluttering and cleaning....anybody want to come help me? hahaha

Sluggy

Autumn is in the Air, Let's Have Another Giveaway!

 Who's ready for the Ninth Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2021?!?

It's October already and the cooler weather is back finally(unless you live near the equator or in the Southern Hemisphere.

Let's take a look at what is in the Giveaway Box this month........

1 x Rolaids

1 x Rimmel face make-up

1 x Nivea body lotion

1 x Suave body wash

1 x Aspercreme topical pain cream

1 x Biore face wash

1 x Arm and Hammer toothpaste

1 x Skintimate disposable razors

1 x Sally Hansen nail top coat

1 x Bayer low dose aspirin

1 x Ducolax

1 x Oral-B toothbrush

1 x Cover Girl eye palette

1 x Maybelline Define a Line eye pencil

1 x e.l.f. eye shadow brush

1 x Cover Girl mascara

1 x Afrin nose spray

3 x Health Warrior pumpkin seed bars(1 Honey Sea Salt/2 Dark Chocolate Peanut)

1 x Extra watermelon gum

1 x Orbit strawberry gum

1 x Carmex lip balm

Close up shots of these goodies.....

Depending on where you shop, the winnings have a reg. retail value of approximately $70-$80+.

Here's how this is going to work.....

* The giveaway is open to ALL readers, previous winners or not.

* There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY.  Come back each day to enter again.

* Only VALID entries will be posted.  A Valid entry is a limit of one per day and I MUST HAVE VALID CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOU(either you are on the Giveaway Contact List which I maintain, your comment is connected to a Google/Blogger profile which links to your email address or you email me directly(my email is in the side bar on the Blog)your email address.

IF YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY AND DON'T SEE YOUR COMMENT It's because I haven't gone online that day/evening or I don't have a way to contact you if you win.

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random and the winner has 48 hours from when the post goes live to contact me with their full mailing address.

In your entries I'd like to hear what you like to do in the Autumn.....travel either some place warmer or to "leaf peep", sit home by a fire, sip warm drinks, go apple or pumpkin picking, decorate for Fall, rake leaves(lol), go for hikes or bike rides, etc.  Or any funny stories surrounding one of these activities.

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name(with last name initial please)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(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").
I'll leave this giveaway open until October 29th, Friday at 11:59 pm Eastern  Daylight Savings Time. On October 30th, Saturday, I'll draw the winning entry and post the Winner.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winners on this blog on  and those persons have 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).

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.

So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Alaska Bound Sluggy

A Little Rite-Aid Buy

On Monday Hubs and I had signed up with our insurance company to have some health screenings done in a town nearby.  I was glad to hear we are not ready to keel over from Afib, PAD, Atherosclerosis or abdominal aortic aneurysm any time soon, rah.

Afterwards we headed somewhere for lunch and ended up near where my Discount Grocery use to be before they closed up this Summer. 8-(  Also in that area was one of the R-A's I frequent so I popped in, even though I didn't bring my coupon envie or have any plans.
Here is what I got......

The Colgate toothpaste(certain types/sizes)are $3.50 this week.  With the In-Ad coupon it's $3 off so .50¢ OOP.

I had a $2/1 Colgate Load2CardQ for this type of toothpaste so with both Qs applied I had $1.50 of overage to use up on something else.  This store carries these dog treats($1 a bag and .80¢ with Gold discount)so I added two bags.

$1.60+$3.50=$5.10-$5 in Qs=.10¢ + .10¢ sales tax=.20¢ OOP.

Free toothpaste and a bag of doggie treats for the puppies for .10¢ each.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

  The "Ugly Car" Edition...

Saw this ugly car in a Target parking lot in the last month or so and had to take the photo.  Not only is the color weird but it's a Mercedes Benz Jeep looking thing of some sort(a G Class SUV I found out later).  This thing costs $131,000+!  That's more than we paid for our first house and almost as much as we paid for our current house. lol

I know everyone has their own style/taste(I actually like the color)but seriously?  Who needs a $100K+ vehicle?  And who are you trying to impress with it??

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Homemade Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Acorn Squash
5. Thursday--Meatloaf, Mashed Taters, Veggie TBD

6.  Friday--Korean Beef/Veggie Stir-Fry w/Noodles

7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

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

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Applebee's salads

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself
5. Thursday--Meatloaf, Acorn Squash

6.  Friday--Fend for Yourself

7. Saturday--Leftover Beef Pie

Almost half of what I planned didn't happen last week.   We had so many leftovers to use up so why make new?

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

* 2 containers of ice cream

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  1 roll breakfast sausage

*  1 package of Pepper Bacon

*  1 Meatloaf(thanks Sissie!)

I spent $69.18 on food/toiletries/HBA last week at Walmart, Weis, the Bread Outlet and Ollie's. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total so far to $121.62 for October.

There are 13 shopping days left in October.

I've earned $69.86 on Ibotta in October.

I've earned $3.64 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $5.25 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in October.

I've earned $4.00 from Aisle.

I've earned $3.27 from an ice cream offer.

I've earned 1023 points from shopping on Fetch in October which equals $1.02.

I earned 1875 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in October which equals $7.50.

I've earned  9008 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in October which equals $9.00.

That's $85.94 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $121.62 in grocery spending so in reality it's $35.68 spent after the 4 rebate apps(+the ice cream offer)I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for the last week was 60.35%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 50.29% so far.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....nothing but some meatloaf and 1 helping of squash.

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

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--Homemade Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Green Beans
5. Thursday--Pasta w/Meat Sauce, Salad

6.  Friday--Korean Beef/Veggie Stir-Fry w/Noodles

7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing.  I just have to dig stuff out of the freezer really.  Still no Ibotta Bonuses as of Monday morning so no reason to hit Walmart unless I see a freebie there.  Weis prices are getting outrageous so I won't be going there either.

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

  

Walmart on Friday & Weekend Decluttering

 So I am still not getting ANY Ibotta Bonuses and it's almost 3 weeks now!  Anybody else having this problem?  One of the Youtube couponers I watch is also having this problem.  
I wrote to Ibotta and asked about this problem and got this canned response....

"Hello Denise,

Thanks for your interest in the MidWeek bonuses. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that specific offers or bonuses will be available to every Saver. We try to mix up our offers and bonuses so we have some that are achievable for everyone, so stay tuned!

Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with at this time.
Thank you for using Ibotta. Have a great day!

Sincerely,
Erin

Denise Bowman-Arcure Oct 11, 2021, 19:16 MDT Just a question. The last Bonus I received on my account was the September Leaves. No midweek or weekend nor any special monthly/seasonal bonuses since I completed that one. I know everyone's account and what offers/bonuses they receive are different but why nothing for so long for mine? thanks, Denise Bowman-Arcure Yah, didn't answer my question. At any rate this complication has significantly "slowed my Ibotta roll" as it were.  Without Bonuses of any size or kind it's very hard to have a moneymaker haul. But I did go to Walmart on Friday since I had a $25 SwagBucks/Walmart gift card to spend....... The only items I bought that aren't in the photo are a carton of Breyer's Reese's Ice Cream and a package of Klondike Reese's Ice Cream Bars.  When the chest freezer died while I was at Sissie's we lost all our popsicles and ice cream so I had to restock on some ice cream. 8-) Everything came to $33.17 after coupons used and the gift card. Between reg. Ibotta rebates, Aisle, a special Reese's ice cream rebate, Checkout 51, Shop Kick, Fetch and Swag Bucks I earned back $38.77 so a $5.60 moneymaker trip! The Dole lemonade, Cheetos mac and cheeses, Mt. Dew energy drink and coffee drinks are for Ex-College Boy.  The Splash drinks and the Gatorade w/Protein bottle are for me.  I'll send one of the Mrs. Butterworth's to the food bank as well as some of the Airwick plug-ins and the small sized Tresemmé items. Saturday we went through some kitchen cabinets and found 22 items to rehome....... Ex-CB is coming over for dinner tonight so I'll see if he wants any of this stuff(probably not), then I'll check with the other 2 kids before taking it all to Sallie's.  I'll give Ex-CB his Walmart stuff tonight too. That's about all from me lately.  A pretty boring weekend here.  Anything interesting going on with y'all? Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the October 15th Edition

 Taking a look around, here are the frugal wins for this past week....

*  I had gotten an Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)15% off digital coupon as soon as I got home from my September trip.  It expired on Monday so Hubs and I went up to have a poke around and bought this....

We also got 12 trays of wet dog food(not pictured)for a grand total of $12.56 after discount.

*  After Ollie's we had lunch out at Applebee's, using a gift card.  Paid $15+ OOP on tip and about $7 the gift card didn't cover.  I only ate half my Oriental salad so dinner was leftovers(I finished my salad.)

*  Hubs got a flu shot at Rite-Aid on Tuesday.  With that he received a $5 off when you spend $25 shopping pass.

*  Speaking of that shopping pass I spent it on this stuff.....

2 x Pepcid 20% gold discount=$21.58

1 x Tom's of Maine toothpaste 25% sale=$5.99

SubTotal.....$27.57

Coupons Used

1 x $5 off $25 purchase flu shotQ=$5.00

2 x $2.50/1 Pepcid Q=$5.00

Coupon Total....$10.00

$27.57-$10.00=$17.57 paid with Bonus Cash

I earned back $8 in new BC for buying $20+ of Pepcid, I submitted my receipt to JandJ Caregiver Offer and have a $10 gift card on the way(snail mail)also for buying $20+ of Pepcid and I submitted for a $2/1 Coupons dotcom rebate for the toothpaste.  I submitted for 2x $1.50 Ibotta rebates on the Pepcid as well.

Not too shabby....

*  I hit up Weis on Tuesday for some provisions.  I had some coupons expiring and a few that paired with digital Weis Qs too  that also doubled........

The band-aids were a penny moneymaker after sale price doubled Qs.

The pepcid was $2.50 OOP after sale price, Qs and Ibotta rebate.

The Hall's cough drops were 50% on clearance so $1.14 a bag.  After the $1.50/1 Qs 3 bags were a $1.08 moneymaker.

The Prego was on sale $2 a jar(if you bought 3 or more).  After doubled Qs they were $2 total or .50¢ a jar.

The dog food was .79¢ per container and I had $4 total in Qs making them .29¢ each.

*  A Target coupons arrived in the mail this week.  Our store just had a remodeling so they are eager to lure you back in to spend money.

It's good until sometime in November so I'll pair this with circle offers/coupons and app deals to spend very little out of pocket.

*  I found money!

A dime and a nickel at Weis on Tuesday.  Someone left their change at the self check-out. My Rite-Aid has been dry lately.

Found Money This Week... .15¢

Found Money This Year....$18.64

*  Sissie sent me home with 2 bags of homemade cookies and a meatloaf this past trip in September.  We had the meatloaf on Thursday, my shot day when I don't feel up to doing much.  It was a godsend having that already cooked and thawed to heat up.  Wish I had gotten sisters sooner in my life! lol

That's about it from here.

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

Sluggy

A Short Trip to See Sissie

 So back in July, after I had a collagen shot in my knee after Kim and Sissie tried to break me on the "Shopping Death March" back in May/June, I went for a quick visit to Sissie's house outside DC.

Sissie promised not to break me this time so it was a low key visit.  We did NO outlet shopping!  Amazing, right? lol

I called from my car in her parking space and Sissie came flying out of the house looking a might confused.  She thought I was coming on Wednesday when I had said Tuesday(or something like that).  Oh well.  I was here so it was time for hugs and laughs.

We did think of ways to torment Kim the whole visit, that was part of our fun.  We'd send her photos by text to make her jealous and you wouldn't believe what she said in reply...oy!  What a potty mouth!!

So here's the first one, taken the afternoon shortly after I arrived.

Sticking our tongues out at Kim.  Neener, neener!

My buddy, Bud the cat, guided me upstairs to my room and showed me candy and lots of change on my bed.  Good old Bud!

I screwed up Sissies dinner plan since I don't eat egg salad. 8-(  But she went into action and make wienerschnitzel, spaetzle, gravy and veggies instead.

The next day we headed out for our BIG adventure-a trip to Ikea.

I had never been to an Ikea before though there is one 2 hours away outside of Philly.  If I had thought of it, I would have brought my Viking helmet with horns and worn it in the store. lol

That place was a labyrinth!  Just a maze of areas funneling you along until you were asking how the heck do I escape from this Swedish hell?!

I bet it didn't help that I was probably embarrassing Sissie by trying to pronounce all the signage which was both in English and Swedish.  Luckily it wasn't very crowded in there during the weekday.

This says Welcome in Swedish.  Anne, you need one of these! lol

A cute owl night light.

They had two areas where they had set up a full  on tiny house using all Ikea goods.  We both said we couldn't probably live in these if we didn't have spouses(and Sissie would need a spare one for a closet lol).

This one even had a pair of slippers by the door(they were attached to the floor so you couldn't take them...ask how I know that). lol

A room of Turkish goods.....lamps and rugs mostly but some lovely things.

I refer to this display as the "dead cat room". A blue rug hanging on the wall and on the floor, a blue chair and footstool with small white pelts draped over everything, like a bunch of dead skinned cats(or bunnies if you prefer).

Sissie contemplating the Mona Lisa.

Oh no!  Sissie's glass is empty.  I guess it's time to head into the Ikea cafeteria.......

So we got lunch.  I had a Greek Salad and we split a bottle of water.

But Sissie opted for the traditional Swedish meatball plate only she got the children's sized portion with four meatballs and didn't even finish all of them.

I took a photo of these buns and texted it to Kim and told her it was too bad she wasn't here to taste some with us. *snort*

As we wound our way through the rest of the Ikea maze after lunch we came upon a room were they used 12 inch wooden articulated artist models to accentuate the decor of some displays.

One display had about 10 of them posed identically along a fireplace mantel.  I told Sissie nobody with kids would be able to have that in their home because the kids(at least MY kids!)would think it jolly good fun to pose those mannequins in lewd positions when I wasn't looking. ;-)

Then Sissie spied "the hand".........

Ikea also had an articulated life sized hand and Sissie couldn't resist posing it thusly.  We both had a few laughs over that hand and suspected the security guards had a camera trained on that part of the room and also had some laughs every day when someone would see that hand and pose it with the middle finger extended up.

Sissie wanted to buy one but we couldn't find another(this was the store sample/model)in that room.  I told her to take it to the register and see if she could buy it but she decided not to.

When we got home from that excursion Sissie kept saying she wished she had asked to buy that sample hand.  So I looked on Amazon and found multiple sellers on there selling the same articulated hand!

A couple of days later these happened..........

Sissie ordered 4 hands, one for herself, each of her sisters and me(her sister from another mother).

Mine holds a place of honor on the half wall by my desk in the den.

I call it my mood barometer.........it you see it at full mast it's better to leave me alone. lolz

We made a couple of trips during this stay to Sissie's hangout spot.

Contrary to popular belief, the geraniums out front were still not an ashtray! ;-)

We tormented Kim a few times on this trip, besides showing her the Ikea cinnamon buns she didn't get to have as mentioned above......

I texted her that I got her something from Ikea and then sent this photo........

The free little pencils to write down stuff while in Ikea.

I also sent her photos of any change we found at Mickey D's and other places.

And the big one was this photo..........

This photo of me smiling and holding a DD's bag and a chocolate covered donut and a large Diet Coke(Kim's 2 kryptonites).

You should have seen the awful language she texted me every time we texted her a torture photo!  Maybe I should send those messages to her Bishop if I ever get that mad at her. hehehe

On the Saturday during my visit we headed up to a town in the area that had an Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)and introduced Sissie's hubby to the wonders of Ollie's.  Afterwards we headed across the road to a nice restaurant for Sissie and her Hubby's anniversary dinner.

Some yummy food followed.

Sissie's Hub's steak dinner.........

Sissie's fish dinner.....

my crab cake dinner..........

Afterwards we saw Kim outside the restaurant........

Sissie's Hubs got a better photo of all three of us with Kim's best side..........*snort*

Another day I was putting stuff in my car and found something(not money)on the ground and sent Kim a text that I was thinking of her...........

More horrible language was texted back to me! 8-)

A rare photo of Elliot(above) and Lucy(below)eating dinner.  Lucy hid the entire time I was there except at dinner.  These two aren't as social as Bud.

I hung out at Sissie's home during the week.  I slept late, went to a store or two nearby, then blogged until they got home from work.  Sissie fed me well(too well some days!).

Sissie needed a new mouse pad and brought this home one day......

It fits her to a tee...hehehe

A partial view out the back of Sissie's yard..........

And someday maybe y'all will hear the story behind this mangy bear rug in the den.  Though Sissie's best efforts she has yet to manage to destroy it.  She needs a jar of NAIR......

One day I ventured out by myself during the day to Home Goods and found this Kim wall art too........

Sissie's Hubs found out I do genealogy and before I left to go home I was able to answer a couple of family mysteries for him about his paternal grandfather's side.  I love helping folks that way if I can.

The day before I left Sissie got busy baking in the kitchen.....

Awhile later she had made all this........

She sent me home with a loaf of sweet bread for my Hubs(and he didn't even share with me!)and a bag of peanut butter Rice Krispy treats. 8-)))

It was a very nice visit with Sissie but before I knew it, it was time to head home.  I loved it and I miss Sissie, her Hubs and of course Bud.

And torturing Kim was just an added bonus! lol

Sluggy