Frugal Friday.......the April 19th Edition

This week started off as pretty shitty for me but using some frugal mojo I turned it around as we went through the week.

Here's a look at what passed for frugal around here lately............

*  I got all this at CVS........

All but the cosmetics were Zero OOP.

I spent $2.42 of my WAM on the make-up.  Yes, I actually spent some WAM for a change. lolz

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

A bottle of lighter fluid.  This will come in handy in a month or so as we have lots of brush to burn from the yard and I have finally nagged Hubs enough that the big old pile of brush will get lit up soon!

*  I got a few Weis deals this past week......

Ritz crackers were $1.97 per box when you bought at least 2.
Checkout51 had a .75¢ per box cash rebate until this past Wednesday so I got 5 boxes(the limit of the rebate).  My $9.85 purchase cost me $6.10 after my $3.75 rebate. 8-)
We should be stocked up on crackers for a few months now, even with Ex-College Boy being on a cheese and crackers binge lately. ;-)

Weis(PMITA)Markets had their "Buy 6 Items/Get $3 off Instantly" Deal.  I bought 5 Lysol cleaners and a bag of frozen veggies the first time.
$12.49 w/sale prices and $3 off=$9.49.
I also had 5 x .50¢/1 Lysol Qs that doubled to $1 off so $9.49-$5=$4.49 for all 6 of these items.
(Even better there was a coupon to use later on the veggies.) ;-)

I went back to Weis and did 3 x Lysol and 3 x frozen veggies.
$11.97-$3 instantly off=$8.97-$3 in Lysol Qs=$5.97 for all 6 of these items.

*  I used a Weis rain check for Scott tp.  2 weeks back they had 12 pack rolls of this tp for $3.99 on Friday, limit 4, but were out so I got a rain check for it.

Cashed in the rain check this past Friday, 4 packs for $15.96.
Except you should know I'd have Qs for this.....of course!!.....4 x .50¢/1 IPQs that doubled to $1 off each.
A $2/2 Scott items digital Q also came off my loyalty card so I got $6 off and paid $9.96 or $2.49 per pack.  This stuff costs $6.39 regular shelf price at Weis so I am thrilled with this buy especially as it's something we throw away! lolz

*  I also picked up dessert for Easter dinner at Weis from the 50% off Bakery shelves.....

We like these Lyman Orchards Caramel Apple Walnut pies but I don't spend $8 on them, no no no!
I wait until they get a 50% off sticker so they are $4.
And I also used a $1/1 Weis bakery pie Q they snail mailed me so my pie was $3 OOP.
Apple pies are a PITA to make from scratch with my stiff hands and I've got enough cooking to do for Easter already so this is the compromise I make. ;-)


*  After two + weeks of being on a dry spell I found some money!

First a rare find, a $1 coin shoved under the counter at the register at my Rite-Aid sort of wedged into the corner of the candy racks.
And it was sticky and gross but nothing some soap and water once I got home couldn't handle.  I used a cart wipe from R-A to tote it home until I could de-germ the thing. lolz

Then a quarter in WEis(PMITA)Markets over by where they moved the greeting cards to in the store, right out in the open.  Who can't be bothered to pick up a quarter if they drop it?  It's a crazy world I tell ya!!

*  My 2 Rite-Aid Discover Gas Reward Cards finally arrived!

Of course they arrived on two different days rather than both at the same time.  I am just happy they got here and I didn't have to call Corporate. sigh

*  Speaking of Rite-Aid, they emailed me a 30% off coupon good through 4/18 so I bought this earlier this week..........

1 x Colgate mouth wash(30% off coupon)=$3.91
1 x Colgate double toothbrush pack(30% off coupon)=$4.99
1 x Cover Girl clearance mascara=$1.57
SubTotal.......$10.47

I used-
1 x $2/1 Colgate mouth wash ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothbrush double pack ManQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Cover Girl eye product ManuQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 In-Ad RA Colgate Q(on select items)=$4.00
Coupon Total........$10.00

$10.47-$10=.47¢ paid for with Bonus Cash

I also needed to use some BC on Daughter's card so I bought this..........

2 x Olay body wash(30% off coupon)=$11.88
I used 2 x $1/1 Olay body wash ManQ=$2.00
$11.88-$2=$9.88 + .59¢ tax=$10.47 paid for with Bonus Cash.
These items qualify for the P&G "Spend $50/Get $15" Rebate running through May.
Plus I LOVE this body wash brand!
I am up to $17.68 toward that $50 spent rebate.


*  Last week I went to Kmart and bought some clothing and earned $10 in Points to spend this week on almost anything in the store.
I decided to get this...........

3 x 12-packs of Mountain Dew for Ex-College Boy.  The Baja Blast flavor is only available in the Spring/Summer around here and hard to find.  Kmart has Mtn. Dew 3 for $10 this week on sale so these were free(no sales tax on food items in PA)w/my $10 Points Voucher.  ECB can use a little cheering up as he job hunts. ;-)

*  I had enough Weis points to get a freebie so I picked it up this week.....

An 8+ lb. turkey breast.  I am not a big ham person(unless it's a salt cured country ham and I can only eat that very rarely)so a turkey breast it was.  Saved $12+ getting this free.

*  I earned a whole .10¢ on Ibotta this week(for buying any item in the store).
Go me.

*  I also received a $45 credit card credit back this past week from one of our motel stays in March.  It was a special they sent me-if you used Booking dotcom to make a motel reservation you'd get $45 back on the credit card you used to pay.  This amount covered 2/3 of one of our motel nights.

They also sent me an $80 back rebate last year which I used to make the Cape Hatteras reservation for the short 2 day trip we took with my brother there last October.  Of course I split that rebate with my brother as he paid half of that motel reservation.
I am still waiting on $39.94 in motel rebates on Ibotta from the March trip.  Those can take up to 3 months to clear. Ugh.  Hopefully I'll get those rebates cleared before my mid-year Small Finances report the end of June.

That's about it from Chez Sluggy this week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Anybody get any Easter meats/entree items for free or at a great reduction from your grocery store this week?


Sluggy

Got My Turkey + More Deals from Weis

So I cashed in my Reward Points at Weis(PMITA)Markets for my free turkey last week.
Only my turkey wasn't exactly free.
It cost me .58¢.

The free turkey deal was for a frozen Weis brand 20 lb. or less turkey for 50 Reward Points.
The only turkeys that met this criteria in my store were 15+/- lbs.
There was 1 turkey that was 20.50 lbs, thus over the weight limit for free.
So instead of getting the free 15 lb. one(and losing almost 5 lbs. of free turkey)I took the 20.50 lbs one and paid .58¢ for the price of the 1/2 a pound over 20 lbs.
Works for me. lolz

I also got.....

* Two Mrs. Smith's pies(apple and cherry)for $4.49 total.
They are on sale at Weis BOGO and I used two .50¢/1 coupons which doubled to $1 off each.
$6.49 x 2=$12.98-bogo=$6.49-$2Qs=$4.49, or $2.25 per pie.

* Four boxes of Chex cereal for $3.52 total.
They are on sale at Weis for $1.88 per box when you buy 4 and I used four .50¢/1 coupons which doubled to $1 off each.
$1.88 x 2=$7.52-$4Qs=$3.52 or .88¢ per box.

* Six cans of Furmano's tomatoes for $3.22 total.
They are on sale at Weis for .87¢ per can and I used two $1/3 coupons.
$.87 x 6=$5.22-$2Qs=$3.22 or .54¢ per can. (If you have this coupon wait until the 11/24 ad as Furmano's will be .67¢ a can.)

* Three bags of Birdseye frozen veggies for $1.61 total.
They are on sale at Weis for .87¢ a bag and I used a $1/3 coupon.
$.87 x 3=$2.61-$1Q=$1.61 or .54¢ per bag.

* Two rolls of Gwaltney sausage(for my stuffing)for $1.00 total.
I found 2 rolls clearanced to .50¢(discontinued item). 8-)

* Two 12 packs of Lipton Iced Tea for $3.99 total.
They were on sale(Friday only)half price($5.99 reg. price).
I also had a $2/2 Weis coupon book Q so $3.99 or $2 each.

Total was $19.67, value of $85.17 and savings of 76.90%.

The turkey, one of the pies and the sausage are for Thanksgiving.  The rest were good deals of foods/drinks we consume around here.

Sluggy

November Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan Week 2

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Chinese Take-Out
FRIDAY--leftovers & Crab Soup
SATURDAY--leftovers again

*The Crab Soup was a surprise treat Hubs brought home for me from a local Seafood Restaurant.  It is to die for!

Basically the meal plan was adhered to, except for the Pork Chops I had planned, which were put on this week's menu.

I spent...$56.79 at the grocery stores last week.

Since Weis wimped out of the $5 Cat Promotion that would give you FREE PUFFS(Hey Weis! YOU SUCK!!lol) after your initial $5 purchase I talked about HERE, I ended up rolling my $5 Cat Q with this on Saturday before the sales week ended....

4 x Bounty napkins on sale $2.50=$10.00 * we were out of napkins.
1 x Herbal Essence Conditioner on sale=$2.99 *for my man child son with the flowing locks of hair
SubTotal....$12.99


Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Bounty ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Herbal Essence item ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $5 OYNO Cat Q=$5.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00


$12.99-$8.00=$4.99+$.78tax=$5.77 OOP
And I received another $5 Cat Q for purchasing 5 qualifying P&G items


This week Weis Markets has a Campbell's/Swanson/Pepperidge Farms $5 OYNO Cat Deal when you purchase $15 of qualifying products.  Remember that the $15 is based on regular shelf price, not sales prices so between Qs and sale prices you don't actually have to purchase $15.
I'll probably buy some PF cornbread stuffing & chicken broth to use in my Turkey Day meal later this month and roll my Cat.

I also spent $10.27 on almost 3lbs. 93% ground beef that was marked down to $2.99lb. at Weis last week and some chicken meatballs that were on clearance.  The lean ground beef is up to $4.99lb. around here!
Ack!


My other food spending last week was at the local ShurSave affiliate grocer to up my total for that gift certificate deal.  Mostly it was some non-perishable goods, dairy, fresh produce, bottled water(a necessity around here in the winter)and a bit of frozen veggies.  This week is the last week of the program and I need to spend another $100 to qualify.  This store also have a special this week for .49¢ lb. turkeys when you spend $35.  So my $35 and the price of a 24lb or so turkey will get me almost $50 toward that $100 mark to also get my gift certificate.  Walnuts are on sale this week so I'll probably stock up on those as part of my other $50 that I need to spend.

I need to spend .18¢ more on selected baking items and I'll get a $10 gift certificate to spend at this store as well.  I just need to make room in the freezer first for the turkey before I go shopping there.

My savings percentage was only 42% last week, as the reg. retail was $97.88 on the groceries I brought home. 

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
MONDAY--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
TUESDAY--Teriyaki Salmon w/ Veggie Fried Rice
WEDNESDAY--Noodle Casserole, some kind of veggie dish TBD
THURSDAY--Lasagna, Salad *Lasagna is in the freezer leftover from previous meal
FRIDAY--Chicken Quesadillas, Corn
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Items needed for this menu.....Salad Greens and the weekly ubiquitous milk purchase.  I'll probably go to the Bakery Outlet this week too as we are low on bread  products, as my last trip was 10/14.

At present, my November food spending stands at $56.79.  I plan on spending between $100-$150 this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?

And do you see any good Turkey Deals?  There are no Free Turkey Deals to be had in this part of PA and we haven't had one in more than 3 years.....sigh

Sluggy

The Good, The Bad & The Not-So-Pretty

First the good.....
If you haven't seen this on my Facebook already, #2 son's Marching Band had a big regional tournament Sunday in Hershey PA.  The band performed very well and they won their Division!  In addition they were awared top honors in 4 individual areas.

I am so glad to see them do well finally.  Our Band Parent's Association hosts one of the big local Tourneys at the high school.  Our band finished last in the 'open' division at that.  Our band is very small.  Our band gets next to zero $s from the school district, so the parents are saddled with most of the costs to cloth, host competitions, travel to competitions, etc.  This lack of resources puts our band at a large disadvantage next to other schools who have much larger parent associations as well as more funding.  We usually compete in the open division but with the big glitzy bands the kids have to compete with, they never finish very high up the food chain.

There is one local band that we have a David and Goliath type competition with.....to put it into GLEE SPEAK(for those of you who are "gleeks", we are New Directions and we compete with Vocal Adrenalin.
And after working the tourney our band hosts and seeing the directors and parents and the kids in this Goliath band up close and personal, I can honestly say that most of them that I have had to deal with are NOT very nice people.  They are rude, the universe revolves around them and their needs, and they have no class.
So seeing as we really can't compete on an equal footing with the Mega-Bands, we now compete in a different division.  And it seems to be paying off.

Speaking of people who think the universe revolves around them.....
We are having large problems with our Daughter.  She has always been too smart for her own good.  Getting good grades, etc. has been a nice result.  But she has "too big for her britches" syndrome and has had it for the last 5 years or so.  She feels she is the center of the universe and she treats other people(her family)like dog poo....unless of course, she wants something from you, and then she treats you nice until she gets her way.  She no longer wishes to be associated with our family except for us to do for her and give her her own way in things.  She doesn't feel the need to respect her parents or her siblings, or to lift a finger to help the family.  It's all a big she takes and we give.

If fact, she is making life so stressful for her parents and her younger brother when she is home that we are at the point that once she turns 18 next month, she may be asked to find someplace else to live.
I love my Daughter and I thought we could make the current living situation work well enough to get her graduated and off to college(which would have her NOT living here then), but I'm not so sure we can make it until June.  My health is suffering and she is becoming verbally abusive toward me.
Unfortunately we don't have any family locally who we can pack her off to for awhile until things cool off or she grows up a tad so I don't know what you are going to do.

In other news.....Daughter got her acceptance to Ohio State today.  I have no clue WHY she applied there.  We aren't big OH football fans and we don't live in Ohio.lol
But she did and she got in.
We are still waiting for the "yeah" or "ney" from the one school we haven't heard back from....Penn State.
Hopefully soon.

I have reopened my eBay store for the Holidays. SSP(aka Shameless Self Promotion) link is HERE.

I'm hoping even with the economy and the sluggishness of eBay, I can unload some goodies to the Holiday buyers.  I am concentrating on listing toys and collectibles since it's the gift buying time of year.  Even with this heavy stuff at Christmas someone might overlook the shipping expense more and I can get some of these large weighty items outta here!lol
At any rate, my living room and dining room now looks like a postal warehouse has exploded in there with all the bubble wrap, boxes and merchandise everywhere.  Throw in a few boxes loaded with fabric since I store those in there and it's such a lovely sight.lol

The one thing that all my years doing eBay has done for me?  It has made me an expert at re-cutting and gerryrigging boxes for shipping.  Now, if there was some industry where I could put this skill to work for me as a career....besides eBay that is.lol


I cleaned the interior of my minivan on Sunday.  It was LOOOOOONG overdue!  For the past 2 years I have told the kids that if they wanted to make some extra money that cleaning my car was tops on that list and the money was available at any time should they undertake that chore.
2 years and it was still undone.
So I hauled out the vacuum cleaner, clorox wipes, windex and newspaper and just got it done before winter weather sets in.

Saturday was the last day to qualify for the Thanksgiving Deal at the local independent grocery store.  If you spent a minimum of $300 in 5 weeks' time you got a $15 gift certificate.  It wasn't even a free bird deal but the best thing going in these parts.
I made a run to the grocery store Saturday evening and we ended the qualifying period with $115 in purchases....so not EVEN halfway to the amount we needed to spend to get that $15 certificate.
Oh well.
Last year I ended up doing the Price Chopper Turkey Deal....spend $25 in one transaction and get a free bird.
This year Price Chopper has upped the ante tho....spend $50 in one transaction and get a free bird.
Egads!
Doubled the qualifying price!!
And I don't even like turkey so I am so not liking this deal and tempted to eat chicken this year instead.lol

That's about it for now from  my corner of the world.
What's new in yours?

Sluggy

How Many Canned Veggies fit into a Minivan? Part 1

That's the riddle hubby said I was trying to solve today.
On Saturday, I took off for the afternoon(which stretched into the evening too)and made a pilgrimage to Acme. 
There is a Buy $30(shelf price), Get $15 Back Catalina Deal this sales week there.  Not as good as the last B30/G15 Deal in August, but with the crappy Deals at Weis around here....I'll take it!!

I had ordered coupons but they didn't come in Sat. morning's mail so I took what I had(some insert Qs and some IP Qs-not much really)and I flew like the wind to the store.  The area I went to had 3 Acmes within close proximity and I planned to hit A, then B, then C and backtrack, hitting B again and A again, before heading home.
I was ready this time.  I had the Qs organized in the envie, I had the shelf/sale prices written out in a chart, I had my calculator and I had done up some scenarios on Friday so I could quickly get a very low OOP after sale prices and Qs.

The B30/G15 deal reportedly was doubling and tripling but I kept to single transactions to keep under the radar.  After the "being held captive episode" in Aug. at the evil Acme, I wasn't about to try stacking multiple $30 transactions.

So what happened?

First off, some of the items were on "knockdown".  While this is good for regular shoppers(because the price is lower), this is BAD for working a Cat Deal.  If an item is on knockdown, it means the shelf price does NOT apply.  IE-BC Cake Mix, the reg. shelf price is $1.59 so buying 19 boxes will put you over the $30 mark($30.21 to be exact).  However, the cake mix is on sale for $.99 box, meaning you will pay $18.81 for 19 boxes instead of the shelf price of $30.21.  Use the $15 in Cat Qs from your previous transaction and you pay $3.81 for 19 boxes of cake mix(or less if you have Qs for the cake mix) AND you get another $15 in Cat Qs to roll into another transaction.
Being on "knockdown" means you now have to buy 31 boxes of cake mix to get to the $30 threshold.
Using your $15 in Cats from a previous transaction means you have to pay $15.69 for those 31 boxes....$.49 a box for cake mix is ok but not such a great deal compared to $3.81, right?
So the items that had "knockdown" prices blew some of my scenarios right out of the water.
Ugh!

That was about the only problem....that and they were cleaned out of the Chicken Broth.  Having to do scenarios on the fly took me longer, making for a very long day.  But being out of the house and away from dogs, kids and yes, even hubby was a nice change.  That and there were hardly ANY people in this Acme!  I was there for many, MANY Hours and there was barely a line at anytime throughout the day/evening.

I never even got to the other 2 stores.  The store was deserted, was stocked and no managers bitching at me for doing small transactions. 
 Every B30/G15 Transaction worked perfectly and I got all my Cats each time.  Oh, it was a thing of beauty I tells ya! 
Some of my OOPs were a bit high(because of having to rework most scenarios to use what few coupons I had and to allow for the "knockdown" prices),but I managed to keep most of them under $1 for each transaction.

It was Acme Heaven!lol

 
The cashiers were young, males....my FAVORITE kind of Cashier.  No hassles from them or management.  By about the 10th trip through the register, it got to be a joke with the cashiers.....one of them asked if I had my sleeping bag so I could take a nap(it's a 24 hr. store) and another was going to get me a job there as a goodwill ambassador, for my work helping other shoppers find items in the store.
Why is it people always think I work in whatever store I am in, and start asking me questions, like I'm an employee??  This happens to me alot!lolol

Anyway, I took it slow and just kept doing transactions...
One.
After.
Another.
I took a break after 5 or 6 and went down the street for a late lunch/early dinner at a Chinese place.
Then back in for another 5 or so.
Then back to the car to call home and have some water and a banana I bought.(Had some overage to kill so I bought 1 banana...lol)
Then back in and more shopping.

I noticed a sign in the front window about a FREE TURKEY Deal....spend $300 and you get a free bird.  None of the stores around me locally do the Free Turkey for Thanksgiving anymore.  Only Shop-Rite and I haven't been in there in awhile so I'd probably never spend that much in time to get the bird.  All the grocery stores use to do the Free Turkey, then they stopped a few years ago.  Now it's either a piddly little Gift Certificate($5 or $10 depending on how much you spend)at the local grocery or a percentage off your next shopping trip at Weis(10% after you spend $300).  I hate those percentage deals because they make you spend $300 and up to get them.  Now once most people have spent $300 or more, they really don't need to spend a big amount the next shopping trip, so they spend like $50 and get $5 off.  Big Whoop, I say.....  To make a percentage deal good, you need to spend ALOT.
I don't know, I just always thought those were lame offers.  I'd much rather spend $300 and get a turkey. ;-)

So back to the Sign at Acme....they are running a spend $300, get a free bird. 
So after the first 6 transactions, I look at my receipt to see how they are calculating for the free bird-what I was actually spending or what the total was before discounts.

I had spent about $6 OOP at that point.
The receipt said I had $92+ toward the bird.
So that became my GOAL for the day.
To do enough transactions that my "spending" was over $300 and I could get a Free Turkey.
I told the cashier I couldn't go home until I spent enough for the turkey and it became a running concern each time I hit the register.....
Will she spend enough this time???!!!  
How many more trips will she have to do???!!!
Can her legs hold out to $300??!!


I finally shot past the magic number of 300 at around 7pm.
She shoots, she scores!


And there was much rejoicing in Acmeland.....

Then 1 final shop to get the bird and roll that $15 in Cats one more time....

So, after we get a shovel and "dig out the backseat area of the car" tomorrow in the daylight, I can take some pictures/make a list/get my receipts and do a final tally of my numbers.


For now, I am going to bed....my feet are killing me!
Part Two to follow--

Sluggy

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