Frugal Friday......the March 20th Edition

Well staying home more means less frugality of the "out and about" variety but staying home lends itself to another type of frugality.  It's hard to spend money(except online)if you stay home, right?

This virus is forcing a level of frugalness on us all which can't be a bad thing. ;-)

* I got the Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday............

A bag of frozen French fries.  I nabbed this photo from online since I don't feel like digging my bag out of the chest freezer. lolz
I just got word that Friday Freebies are suspended until further notice.....Weis has instituted "Marshall Law" of sorts as they try to keep the store shelves stocked.  No doubling coupons, no returns and strict limits on items.
Madness I say, Madness!! ;-)

* I found money!

A dime and a penny both found at Weis on Friday.  The dime was over by an end cap near the laundry detergent aisle and the penny by my favorite self-checkout.

These 2 dimes and 1 penny were found at Rite-Aid on Sunday......one dime by the register up front, a penny down an aisle and then another dime under the candy rack up front by the register when I was leaving the store.

After Rite-Aid I went to Weis(PMITA)Markets and it was more crowded than I have ever seen it.
Panic buying must mean more folks not paying attention to their change because I found 4 pennies at various places in the store--1 by the CS desk, 2 by the self-checkouts and 1 penny at the end of the regular checkouts on the way out of the store.

Then on Wednesday I found this dime at Rite-Aid when I went to pick up an Rx.  It was standing on it's end under the shelf where the weekly ads are kept, beckoning to me.

Please note-since last week I've kept an antibacterial wipe in my pocket and I use that to pick up any found change.  All change gets a thorough washing/scrubbing with soap and water once I get it home.  No point in not taking precautions.  ;-)

Found Money This Week...... .46¢
Found Money This Year so far....$44.27

*  I earned $1.00 on SavingStar and $11.10 on Ibotta in the last week.

*  This finally arrived last week too............

My P and G $15 debit card from the December Rebate Period.
yay me.
I am still waiting on my February Rite-Aid $20 Debit Card.

*  Gas has dropped here dramatically.  The best deal since I have a Sunoco card was there.  It's $2.25 but I get a .05¢ discount so $2.20 per gallon.  That's better than the Turkey Hill($2.23)and Weis($2.21 if I didn't use my Weis points there).  Gas was $2.69 at Sunoco just 2 weeks ago so I am loving this .49¢ per gallon discount.

*  I got some deals since last Friday which I blogged about already............
At Weis--

Various transactions at Rite-Aid--

*  There was no lunch out this week and everyone should know why. All restaurants are closed here except for a few that are doing take-out.  One of our two Chinese take-out places has also closed.  If you can afford to buy a gift certificate or get take-out from your local restaurants please support them.  They are hurting for business right now.  ;-)

*  I had to go to Weis on Wednesday but I spent as little time there as possible(along with my Lysol wipes.....the cart wipes thingy at the entrance was empty so I am glad I had wipes on me!).

This was the beer/wine cafe area by the ready to eat foods and salad bar......all the tables and chairs were gone so no one could eat there.

My asparagus rang up $3.99 lb. instead of the ad/posted price of .99¢ lb.  So I did have to walk back through the store and take a photo of the sign to get my money back.  I did hesitate because of this health stuff but the frugal force was stronger(and I didn't encounter any people on this walk through the produce section).  If it had only been a few cents I might have let it go but it was $3.13!

*  I got a temp. Census Bureau job but they have suspended operations until April 1st so we'll see then how this plays out. It pays $17 hr. + .57¢ mileage here so not bad. The door-to-door enumerator jobs may go away totally or just get pushed back into this Summer thought or whenever the pandemic ends.  If they want someone to schlep around in the Summer heat, I am not that gal. lolz

*  And finally I am sooo glad I don't live in a tiny house at this point in time.  If so, I would be in prison for murdering either Hubs and/or Ex-College Box.
I thought I had misplaced my last nerve but Wait!.....they found it!!! 8-P

That's it for this week.

And a reminder.............

Any frugal wins in your life this past week?


Sluggy

Rite-Aid Sunday & Monday Trips + My New Temp Job....Maybe

I made a trip to Rite-Aid on Sunday to get some cereal and other things.

Select varieties of cereal were $1.88 a box on a 3-Day Sale(Sun. to Tues.)this week at R-A.
I also had 3 x $1/1 Kellogg's Qs(paid for with points in my Kellogg's Family Rewards account)and  a $1/2 Kellogg's cereal IPQ so I bought this...........

3 x Rice Krispies strawberry flavor $1.88 each=$5.64
2 x Frosted Mini-Wheats(1 original/1 strawberry)$1.88 each=$3.76
SubTotal........$9.40

Now I used those $4 in Qs I mentioned above plus see those yellow $1 R-A instant coupons on the 3 boxes of strawberry Rice Krispies?
Yep I got $7 total off so 5 boxes of cereal cost me $2.40.

And then my card had this Bonus Cash Challenge.........

So I will earn $2.50 in new BC in April for spending $9 on Kellogg's cereals so now I've been paid .10¢ to take these boxes home.

AND.......I will received $2.65 in cash rebates on Ibotta as well(2 x .35¢ Mini-Wheats/3 x .65¢ Rice Krispies)so now I've made $2.75 between BC and cash for buying these 5 cereals.

Some will go to the food bank in the next couple of weeks(depending on which ones Ex-CB wants to keep for his consumption). 8-)))

Then I bought this lot on son's card.

Note-I am trying to finish 2 Bonus Cash Challenges on his card-the 6 $15 visits to earn $7 BC and the Cover Girl one(Spend $16/Get $4 BC where I am at $11.83 spent).

1 x CoverGirl concealer 20% wellness discount=$5.99
4 x R/S chocolate Easter eggs on sale 2/$1=$2.00
1 x Reese's pb cups on sale=.58¢
2 x Rimmel mascara 2 packs on sale BOGO50%=$7.03
SubTotal.......$15.60

Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 CoverGirl any face item IPQ=$3.00
1 x B4G1Free R/S Easter eggs ManuQ=.50¢
2 x $2/1 Rimmel eye product IPQ=$4.00
Coupon Total.....$7.50

$15.60-$7.50=$8.10+.36¢ tax=$8.46 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $3 in new BC now($1 R/S eggs wyb2, $2 Rimmel wyb2 items)so I spent down $5.46 in BC.
I will get $9.75 in more BC in April($7 for 6 $15+ visits, $2.75 more in CoverGirl spending)for this transaction so that takes my transaction to a $4.29 moneymaker.
AND add in that I will get a .25¢ cash rebate on Ibotta for buying the Reese's pb cup pack.

Then I had to pick up an Rx on Monday so I finished off some more deals while I was there..........

1 x Tide detergent on sale=$4.94
1 x Edge shave cream 2.75 oz can 20% wellness discount=$1.99
I used a $2/1 Tide L2CQ and paid $4.93+30¢ tax=$5.23 OOP with Bonus Cash for both items.
I'll get back, next month, another $1.75 in BC for buying the shave cream and finishing the Gillette/Venus Deal and $1.50 more BC for buying the Tide and finishing off that Deal, so $5.23 spent in BC and $3.25 earned back.

Then I did this straightforward deal, stacking In-ad Qs with ManuQs........

2 x Lady Speed Stick deodorant on sale=$4.00
1 x Irish Spring body wash on sale=$3.99
2 x Speed Stick deodorant on sale=$4.00
1 x Colgate toothpaste 20% wellness better than sale price=$4.39
1 x 2 pack Colgate toothbrushes on sale=$4.99
2 x R/S Easter eggs on sale=$1.00
SubTotal......$22.37

Coupons Used
1 x $1/2 Lady Speed Stick ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Irish Spring body wash ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Irish Spring body wash In-adQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Speed Stick dodorant ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothpaste ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothpaste In-adQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate 2 pack toothbrushes ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothbrush(es) In-adQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.......$13.00

$22.37-$13.00=$9.37+.32¢ tax=$9.69 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned $7 back in new BC(2 x $3 wys $10 Colgate/Speed Stick/Irish Spring, $1 Russell Stover)so I spent down the BC by $2.69 on this transaction.


Recap of the last two days of R-A Deals--
Total Spent in BC.....$55.28(with tax)
Total Coupons Used....$29.50
Total Spent in BC after Qs...$25.78(with tax)
Total Earned in new BC....$25.50
Total Ibotta Cash Earned...$2.90
Total Overage w/BC and Ibotta...$2.62

Nice.

Things have gotten "real" here since Monday with non-essential businesses shutting down(including Ex-CB's store)and the report of the first case of the virus in our county.  For now I'll be self-quarantining and if we need anything Hubs will be going out since he is at a lower risk of catching this thing.  I am immune-suppressed and on a Biologic but he's just old. ;-)
They also closed our state run liquor stores here as of tonight....the ONE state agency we really NEED right now! LOL

And last night I got a phone call from the Census folks.  I had applied for a job with the Census this year and I've been accepted.  Now I'm not so sure I want/can do this job since it involves going door to door and interacting with people. 
I will go forward with the process though and hope they push back when they send workers out to count.  The Census door-to-door counting was suppose to begin Mid-May and finish by July for those who didn't complete their form online.  You would think that they'd delay this phase of the process what with a pandemic going on, right?  We shall see.......

Sluggy