Frugal Friday....the June 28th Edition

There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.

*   I grabbed a few freebies at Walmart this week......

The pads and toothpaste are headed to the food bank.  The Winged Wellness gummies, the Mushroom gummies and "Wonder Gut" I am keeping and all had full price rebates on them(well not the Wonder Gut).  The Shepherd's Pie was an "The Insiders" offer I qualified for...cost $5.98 and I am suppose to get a $15 electronic debit card.

*  About those electronic debit cards--seems you can't combine them with another form of payment if the amount on the EDC doesn't cover what you are trying to purchase(at least not on Amazon or Walmart, etc. as I have tried).  So you need to track what you spend and find something that, after tax included hits or comes close to but not over the amount on the card.  The last time I had one of these EDCs it had $30 loaded on it and after buying 2 items I had $2.14 left on it.  I figured I wasn't going to have that card expire with $2.14 still on it(these debit cards have about 6 months of life).  I actually found something for $2.14 including sales tax to LA the other day so ordered it.  It's something I'll either give as a gift or put in a giveaway box in the Fall(too hot here to mail anything that might melt in this heat and humidity now).

*  Every PT session I grab a bottle of water from the fridge there.  So free 16 bottles of water total. 8-)

*  I went back to the Orthopedist for my shoulders.  Still having pain in the left one(PT and continuing to do exercises at home seems to have helped the right one)so I got a steroid injection in my left AC joint.  I am bruised and still sore where it was administered but hopefully this will give me some relieve(this and avoided doing certain actions with my left arm).  The AC joint is full up with arthritis inflammation, and it's right where my bra strap sits so going braless seems to help as well.  Good thing I don't go much of anywhere and can stay home and not wear one of those torturous devices. lol

*  I also did a little Kroger shopping on Tuesday.....

In preparation for being at my brother's house in VA, where I won't have a car and they eat a strange diet(due to medical issues), so I don't know what they will have I can consume, I bought 5 boxes of protein bars plus 3 single bars.  The Dave's Killer Bread bars were on sale(and had a coupon and a rebate, which made them free), the singles were part of the Mega Sale and the 2 Annie's boxes and 2 Fiber One boxes were on clearance(and both had rebates making them ultra cheap-$1.04 each for the Annie's and $1.77 each for the Fiber One).  The breakfast cereal and 3 toothpastes were for the food bank and the box of cookies were for Hubs(plus had a coupon and rebate making it $1.79).  The Knorr noodle cups were on sale and had Shop Kick offers making them .89¢ each, the Excedrin Head Care(no NSAID in it, just melatonin and other "herbs")was .49¢ after clearance sale + $3 digital Q and $3 Swag Bucks offer.  The double pack of Voltaren was 50% off on clearance and it's something we can use with my shoulder issues so I gladly spent $17.49 on that.  The Duke's soap & body wash was on clearance for $3.52 each and had $1.75 on each in Ibotta rebates and a matching $1.75 off each KCB(who knows if that will ever show up!)so were .02¢ if the KCB does magically appear. lol  I'll either sell or donate those toiletry items so they are not counted in my grocery tab.

We did spend on 2 packs of Klondike ice cream sandwiches on sale and with Ibotta rebates, a pack of clearance priced trout fillets for Hubs to make when I am gone(I don't care for trout)and an almost half priced with store coupon hunk of salmon.

Also picked up a 2 lb. of strawberries for $2.88(changed my location in the app to get the best coupon deal)and a 4 pack of Dannon yogurt cups on clearance which cost $1.39 after digital coupon.  These regularly go for almost $5 at Kroger!

Also bought were some bagged salads(3 on clearance and 1 on sale)and a cantaloupe, also on sale.  I also picked up a 12 pack of Cesar wet dog food for the little beasties, after coupon was $13.49(plus I got a $1 from Ibotta and I had tracking on Fetch so received another $6 for hitting a threshold there).

*  Remember that $10 gift card for 3rd place we won at Trivia last week?.....

Well we went back for trivia at the new location to us on Wednesday to spend this and not have to go back again.  We didn't try very hard at trivia and there were so many pop culture, video game and Netflix series questions(we don't pay for Netflix)we though for sure we'd not win, place or show(as we don't watch movies, don't have Netflix or other streaming services and don't "do" video games).  There were only 5 teams playing(all of which were much larger than the 2 of us).  One team left after the second round so it was 4 teams competing for 3 gift card prizes.  Even with our dismal showing we got 2nd place!  We played the 15 point bonus round(where you can lose your points if you are wrong)and we got it right, which means 2 other teams either didn't even do the Bonus round or got it wrong.  Even when we try to lose we win if there are so few teams competing.  We were laughing our heads off at the 2nd place win. lolz

*  After PT on Thursday I hit up Walmart for some freebies.........

I am keeping the dog foods only.  The 2 tubes of toothpaste and the swim diapers are going to the food bank.

All this cost me $45.67, well I DID use a free gift card so it actually "cost" me $20.67 OOP.

I received back $45.62 in rebates so it all "cost" me a nickel.  I had a $2/1 paper coupon for the swim diapers which I forgot so it could have been a $1.95 moneymaker.  oh well.

*  Way back on February 14th I texted AARP.  I was already incensed that I was required to join AARP in November of 2023 and hand over $12 to them in order to get a certain Medical Supplement Plan back in January when I became eligible for Medicare, but I realized in February that when you join you are suppose to get a free gift and I wanted that free gift!  So supposedly the agent in text had ordered my free gift of a tote bag on that date and it was shipping out in 3-4 weeks.  Fast forward to June 17th and nothing had arrived nor had I heard word one from AARP on this matter.  So I texted them again and used their quoted words from before on my gift shipping out in 3-4 weeks. This agent looked into the matter and that previous employee had never actually ORDERED the bag!!!  My, that's crackjack customer service for you, isn't it?!  So this new agent assured me the tote bag was ordered and would be on it's way.

Here is what I received this week........

A very small package.

Here's the "Tote Bag" along with 3 copies of a glossy generic thank you card.  Quality control much??

This "tote bag" is about the size of a lunch bag, not the size of what anyone would refer to as a tote bag.  I have tote bags of various kinds and this ain't one.  Maybe I can use it in the Summer when I buy frozen or refrigerated food at the grocery store to "tote" it home.  I think 1 pack of ground beef or a steak will fit into this.

*  I found money!  It wasn't a great week for found coins but at least I didn't get skunked.

On Monday I headed into Walmart to pick up a new Rx from the "real" Neurologist and got a few freebies too.  I found one penny tucked under the pharmacy counter and the other near a self-checkout register before leaving the store.  Go. me.

I also found another penny at a different Walmart in their parking lot on Thursday. rah.

Total Found last week.... .03¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$5.14 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.   Next "FF" up will be in July.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy