Frugal Friday.....the Dec. 13th Edition

Here are our frugal wins for this past week......

*  I love going to Kroger here as they usually have marked down salad kits.  These were between $1 something and just north of $2 each.  Remember that chopped salads are mostly cabbage not lettuce so they last a lot longer than lettuce ones.  I don't think I've ever bought a reduced price salad kit that went bad before we ate it.

I love the Dole Hummus Crunch ones especially.

*  We went out to lunch on Thursday to Texas.

They have the best sliced Brisket and the prices aren't bad either.

*  While in Texas we hit Kroger and I scored some marked down yogurt.........

I got 10 marked down yogurts please had a digital coupon for $2 off 10 cups.  Nice.

*  I hit my $5 Weekend Warrior and $5 Midweek Bonuses on Ibotta and I used a free $20 gift card at Walmart to purchase items we needed to get to my Bonus target there.

*   I put my Pfaltzgraf Christmas Dishes up on Facebook to sell locally.

I really don't need a service for 8 plus accessory pieces anymore.  Even though nobody wants fine china anymore, Holiday themed sets are still valuable.  If I don't sell it here, because this area is so poor, we'll take it with us to an area with people of more means.

My son is going to take the fine china that my grandmother bought me after I was born. 8-)

*   I found a great deal at Aldi last Friday.

They had 1lb. bags of fresh green beans for .49¢  per bag!

So I bought 3 bags and we've been eating a LOT of green beans this past week. lol

* I went to Kroger on Saturday for their $6 Candle Sale.

I love a good candle so I bought all of these for me!  The Gingerbread Cookie ones smell especially nice. ;-)

*  We also had no food waste last week.  We ate everything or put it into the freezer.

*  It was time again to buy 2 Rock Star energy drinks.

I got them at Kroger on sale for $2 each and received $5.50 back($5 from Rock Star and another .50¢ from Ibotta), making these a $1.50 moneymaker.

*  Entertainment last week was free tv or playing with the dogs.

*  Just a tale of caution, especially at this time of year.  If you use credit cards be sure to check your charges if not daily, at least weekly.  I do this and I am glad I do because I found a charge on one card for a Bulking Solution supposedly bought online that I did not purchase and on another card there was a charge for puppy socializing classes x 3 and another charge by the same person for a Feline Cafe Lounge experience, both were in Maryland.  A call to the credit card company and those charges were reported as fraudulent and the account was shut down and a new card is in route.  Scammers try to use your card at the Holidays, thinking since you are buying lots of stuff/gifts, hoping you won't notice and they will get away with their fraud.

*  I found money!  

I found a single penny last Friday at Aldi.

Total Found last week..... .01¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$9.55 & 5.30 Euros  I may hit $10 found before the year is out at this point if I can find .45¢ before the month is out.

That's all I got.

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

Sluggy   

Frugal Friday....the Dec. 6th Edition

Here are our frugal wins for this past week......

*  I used some Paypal monies to pay for a Kohl's pick-up order.  The Paypal monies used were earned doing a grocery survey.

*  Kohl's sent me a $5 coupon to get me into the store to spend money.  The Kohl's store here is small and never has anything I want/need.

So when we went in there to pick-up an online order I saw this dark chocolate bar for $4.99 so got it for free with that $5 in scrip. 8-)

*  I hit my $5 Weekend Warrior Bonuses on Ibotta and I used a free $20 gift card at Walmart to purchase items we needed to get to my Bonus target.

*  We also had no food waste last week.  We ate everything or put it into the freezer.

*  I joined FlavorWiki this week.  It's sort of like The Insiders where you buy and test products then give your feedback.  Then they reimburse your purchase plus some extra cash for your time and effort.   It's sort of a pain though so I might not be doing it for long.

*  Entertainment last week was free tv or playing with the dogs.

*  I found money!  

We were in a Walmart in the next town over and I kept finding pennies throughout the store.

In our local Walmart the next day, I found two pennies near the change machine and then another penny outside in the parking lot.

The next day when we went to Kohl's to pick up my order and spend that $5 scrip they sent me I found a dime on the sidewalk as we left the store.

Total Found last week..... .18¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$9.54 & 5.30 Euros  I may hit $10 found before the year is out at this point.

That's all I got.

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

Sluggy   

Frugal Friday....the Nov. 22nd Edition

There are some Frugal wins over the past week.....

*  I had one dr. appointment with my Orthopedist.  Just a check in and I don't go back for 4 months. 8-)))

*  I did some more shopping for the food bank..........

There was a Quaker Products deal "Buy 2, Get 3 Free".  Last week I got Oatmeal packet boxes, this week I got 2 containers of oats and 3 boxes of pancake mix.

Then I got 2 shampoos, 1 Body Wash and 2 Deodorants.  I spent $7.97 out of pocket and then got $4 back from Swag Bucks for the deodorants and $2 in Points from Shop Kick for the same deodorants.

*  I hit my $5 Midweek Moneymaker Bonus which bulked up my rebating monies.  Last weekend's Bonus was only $1 so no, that didn't happen.

*  We also had no food waste last week.  We have lots of leftovers/planned overs so we'll be eating on this until next Thursday probably.

*  This week was time to get my Rock Star drinks.  Kroger had them for $2 so this was a $1 Moneymaker

*  We finally turned the heat on yesterday night.  Temps got into the 30'sF last night.

*  I found money!  

I found a dime in Walmart on the 18th, near the coin sorter machine.

I went back to Walmart the next day to check on an Rx and found 2 pennies, one at the pharmacy and one near the Customer Service area.

Outside I found a nickel in the parking lot.  Nickels are rare as hen's teeth to find in the wild in my experience.

I found these two pennies in Ollie's on Thursday.  One in the store and one in the parking lot.  Can you guess which was found where? ;-)

I found another penny at Wendy's on Thursday.

Total Found last week..... .15¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$9.34 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.

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

Sluggy   

Frugal Friday....the July 19th Edition on Tuesday

There are very few Frugal wins over the past week.

*  I flew up to VA by myself a week ago last Sunday.  The ticket was pretty cheap after using airline miles. Hubs is driving up to get me when I am done.

*  I am staying with my brother and sister in-law while here and he is driving me to places I need to go instead of staying at a hotel and renting a car.

*  I grabbed a few things at Kroger this week down in Virginia and at Walmart.  Got some deals and finished the Weekend Warrior Bonus on Ibotta.

*  I found money!  It was a great week for found coins.

My sister in-law asked me to do a load of laundry.  I found a quarter in the dryer.  Score!

I found a penny at the ER on Tuesday.  go me.

My brother took me to Aldi and we found 2 carts in the middle of the cart corral with quarters still in them.  If you wanted to use those "free" carts you would have had been able to get to them they were so far in the "herd".  Weird.

Total Found last week.... .76¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$5.91 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.   

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

Sluggy     

 

 

Frugal Friday....the July 12th Edition

There are very few Frugal wins over the past week.

*   I grabbed a few things at Walmart and CVS this week.  I blogged about the Walmart stuff so here is the CVS haul....

2 x Tom's of Maine toothpaste
1 x Chiggerex biting bug cream
1 x Crest toothpaste
1 x Oral B toothbrush
2 x CoverGirl eye shadow palettes

This all, after coupons and my whole $2.01 in ECBs came to $15.92

I got back $28 in ECBs and ,45¢ in percentage back ECBs for all this.  I should get another $4 in Ibotta rewards for the Tom's of Maine toothpaste but I may have goofed that up as I can't get my CVS account linked to Ibotta like it has to be to credit you an online order. sigh
I am not thrilled I am back on the CVS merry-go-round but if they expire before I come home I can buy some toothpaste or something for my brother and his wife up in VA. ;-)  

Most of the above will be headed for the food bank or sold too.(Might be a good idea to keep the Chiggerex though. lol)           

*  No trivia this week.  Instead we spent 5 hours in the ER because of my leg/hip.  So no win on Wednesday and I can't wait to see what they charge me. *insert eye roll*  Luckily they found no DVT or broken bones, but unluckily they found no explanation for my pain.  So I am resting the leg as much as possible and if it doesn't improve I'll bring it up to my Orthopedist when I get back to town.

MY PCP's office called about coming in to see the NP but it can't happen yesterday or today so(last two days I am in town)so that will have to wait as well.

Add in that Hubs and I hadn't eaten since breakfast and he wanted to stop somewhere for fast food. So that was OOP too. 8-(

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

I went to a small neighborhood Walmart *the ones that don't carry hard goods*on Tuesday because it is the only one around that carried "Stur" drink flavorings here and there was a full price rebate on it.

Leaving the store I found a dime next to a checkout and a penny heading out the door.

Total Found last week.... .11¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$5.26 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.   

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

Sluggy     

 

Finished My Bonus

 I went back to Walmart on Wednesday and bought a few things to hit my $5 Midweek Bonus.

Besides I also had to pick up a pair of clogs for Hubs as his have worn out.

2 x Bush's Zero Sugar Beans $4.34
2 x Febreeze Gain Fabric sprays  $3.94
1 x Barilla Pesto sauce  $2.64

Total.......$10.92

I earned back....
* $11.94  Ibotta
* $3.00  SwagBucks
* $1.50 Checkout 51
$16.44 earned back so a $5.52 moneymaker.  Add this lot to Monday's lot($1.54 OOP)and we get a $3.98 moneymaker for the week.

That's all I got for today.  I am 19 items away from the big $10 Fireworks Bonus so probably won't finish that one before the weekend is over.

I somehow jacked up my leg the last few days and we sat in the ER for hours last night but they found nothing(no blood clots or broken bones)so I am going to do a lot of laying in bed(if I can straighten my leg out)and taking Naproxen like the ER doc said to do.  I hope to gosh this resolves or gets better before I fly out and then have to lay flat on a Cat Scan bed, etc. next week.  ouch

Sluggy

Some Ibotta Rebating This Week

I did some Ibotta shopping the beginning of this week.  First I hit the Walmart nearest to us on Monday....

All this cost $65.80 OOP.  I got back $30.50(Ibotta), $9(Shopmium), $11.55(TaDa)and $4.50(Alexa) and $7.04 from Fetch making it $55.55 back so making this all cost $3.21.  The body wash and Japanese bbq sauce were the things that made this cost so much. 8-(

On Tuesday I was over in the city across the river and hit a bigger Walmart there....

Total OOP was $76.70.  The best find was that small space Febreeze item for .75¢ that had a $2.30 Ibotta rebate.  Plus the Ibotta Glitches(where 2 rebates attached)on the Old Spice and the Olay body washes was pretty nice. ;-)

I got back $43.60(Ibotta with weekly Bonus hit), $5.00(Shopmium), $4.05(TaDa), $3.00(Alexa-but it's screwed up and I have to contact them as it should be $13.00), $14.64 worth of points(Shop Kick) and $3.04 worth of Fetch pts., making this $3.37(will be $6.63 moneymaker once it gets straightened out).

Then I hit the Kroger next door and the Dollar Tree nearby.......

Not pictured is a Free 2 liter of Coke Zero I got with a Best Customer Digital Coupon from Kroger(eat your heart out Kim hehehe).  I basically went in to use some Best Customer Coupons.  I also got the shell pasta for .60¢ with a BCQ, the Airwick was BOGO w/BCQ($3.25 ea.), the Crackers were $2.24 ea., the Dental Picks were $1.65 ea., the Powerade was on sale(last day of sale)for .88¢ ea., the freezer bags on sale for $1.99 and the Cesar dog food pack was $13.59 on sale.  I also picked up a clearance spiral honey ham for .97¢ per lb.)(but that and the dental picks, freezer bags and pasta weren't Ibotta or other rebate app deals).  Total for the Ibotta rebating items was $22.47(most of the cost was the dog food

I got back $3, $1 ea. from Ibotta, Shopmium and TaDa so $19.47 after rebates applied.

Tucked on the back left side are two Rock Star Drinks I picked up at Dollar and a Quarter Tree for $2.50.  I got back $5 for those from Aisle so that helped bring the cost of the Kroger lot down to $16.97. 8-)

And it's all stuff we can use/need or I can donate to the food bank we found here that is so very grateful for anything I give them.

That's it from Chez Sluggy this week.  What's everyone else up to?

Sluggy

Some Ibotta Hauls & Winning At The Grocery Store Games

Going to the Grocery Store is not for the faint of heart anymore.  You have to keep a keen eye out so you don't get overcharged.

I may be a mild-mannered Senior Citizen but in my mind's eye I am something like the photo above. lol

These Ibotta rebate trips were done recently, in the past week.  Last Friday I got these items.....

$31.69 OOP.

I earned $22.25 from Ibotta(including the Weekend Bonus and .50¢ Bonus for Silk)and earned $2.75 in Kroger Cash Back so $6.69 spent.
The Gatorade tablets were on clearance for $3.06 each and had $2 rebates on Ibotta. $1.06 is a great price so this item and much cheaper than buying the bottles of Gatorade. The Almond milk was .59¢ after Ibotta, the Silk Bonus and KCB.  The 2 Good Yogurt Drinks were .89¢ each after Ibotta and KCB.  The Claritin was another clearance find-a $30.99 reg. priced box for $13.02.  I had a $4/1 Claritin digital coupon and got another $4 Ibotta rebate so that cost me $5.02. 8-)))

I also picked up these........

2 x Blue Buffalo Nudges dog treats at $12.99.  They were BOGO and there is a free up to $15 rebate offer from the manufacturer so FREE dog treats for the puppies when the rebate comes in.
Here's the rebate link....https://www.bluebags4wags.com/

Then on Sunday I picked up this stuff to finish my Weekend Bonus.....

This all cost me $43.56(plus 2 x Reese's Ice Cream Cone packs not pictured).  I got back $21.50 from Ibotta(16.50+ $5 Weekend Bonus), full manufacture's price of $3.28 for the drink mix from Social Nature, $2.80 worth of points on Fetch for the Fast Twitch Drink and the ice cream(unfortunately the Points for the Arm and Hammer laundry detergent disappeared from my account before I bought that but I still got $5 on Ibotta for it)and 1,265 Shop Kicks(for the Kotex and Kinder chocolate bar)worth $5.06 and $6 from Alexa(L'Oreal, Kotex and Fast Twitch).  The L'Oreal face moisturizer was a $1.58 moneymaker after Ibotta and Shopmium.  All totaled I spent $43.56 OOP and got back $38.64.  Most of that $4.92 spent in the end was on the laundry detergent($1 on the Made Good/$3.92 on the A&H product).  Not a bad outcome.
The pads and the Made Good granola snacks will be part of my next food bank donation.

Working on the MidWeek Bonus and got this at Kroger on Tuesday.........

$42.92 OOP  $19.50 earned from Ibotta, $2.55 earned on Fetch, $2 from Tada=$24.05 back making all this $18.87. *(My $2 off 1 Extra cereal digital coupon didn't attach so I chatted this morning with CS at Kroger and they credited my account $2 for that.)  

The best 'deal' here is the Alba brand sunscreen I found in the clearance aisle-marked down to $2.87 a tube and I had a $5 off 2 rebate, making them .74¢ combined.  Sweet!  Down here the sun is not your friend in the Summer or "Hell's Front Porch" as I refer to that season here.

I was 1 item away from earning a $5 Ibotta Bonus so since Hubs had to go to Walmart this morning and my L'Oreal face moisturizer rebate reset I had him pick this up........

$6.42 with a $5 Ibotta rebate and a $5 Midweek Bonus.  I thought I had another $3 digital coupon offer as well on one of my rebate apps but even without it, it's a deal.

There was also a glitch deal on the Kroger toilet paper this past week.  It was marked BOGO on the shelf and I had a digital store coupon making them $3.99 each after taking off $3.50 on up to 5 items.
Of course they just rang up $3.99 so I took a picture of the shelf tag and went to customer service for a price adjustment as two of my four packs should have been free.  The nonplussed woman tried to tell me the shelf tag was out of date but I enlarged the photo and showed her it was current, expiring that day.

Customer Service lady refunded $7.98 to my credit card making 4 packs of tp $7.98 total or $1.99+ each.  Nice.
Sometimes it takes work and alertness to win at the grocery store wars.  And trust me, you have to go in there in warrior mode. ;-)

Sluggy

 

Frugal Friday....the March 22nd Edition

There are very few Frugal wins this past week but here goes....

*  I successfully used up odds and ends and incorporated them into new meals and no food got thrown out. 8-)  I cooked up the rest of an open pack of bacon-half went into the Liver meal(come on Anne!  You know you'd love my liver dinner)and the other half went into BLTs for Thursday night's dinner.

*  I got 2 MRIs done on Tuesday of my neck and base of my skull for the Neurologist(paid nothing).  I have 2 more MRIs scheduled later today for my shoulders for the Orthopedist(again, nothing will be owed for those).

*  There was no spending on eating out this week.

*  I had a dental cleaning on Wednesday.  Since I have no dental insurance at this point it cost me $$$ OOP.  But better to spend that now than not go to the dentist until I have a problem, so this is frugal, right?  They found nothing of concern so I am good to go until the end of October.  Maybe I should show up for that Halloween appointment wearing fake vampire teeth? lolz

*  I did a little Ibotta rebating on Thursday......

This all cost me $67.03 OOP.  Rebates I earned from Ibotta($24.50), Social Nature($14.47), Shopmium($13.00),  Zoup! manufacturer's rebate($4.98) brought it down to $10.08.  Add in $1.75 from Fetch and $1.82 from Shop Kick, $9 back on Alexa/Amazon plus using a $4.97 on a Walmart gift card and this all ends up as a $7.46 moneymaker.

If I buy one more item with an Ibotta rebate before Sunday night, I'll earn an additional $5 for hitting the Weekend Bonus(plus whatever the rebate for that one item is). 8-)

Some of this will go into the Donation Box, some to family and some we will keep.  Nothing will be wasted.

The only other food purchases was a pack of Romaine lettuce and 2 cans of Water Chestnuts which came to $5.60.

*  I found money!

I hit the jackpot of self-checkout machines at Walmart on Thursday(the only day I went out to a store).  Someone had left ALL their change in the coin return.  I guess they had gotten back their tax return refund and felt flush enough with dolla bills y'all so they didn't want no stinkin' change back.  Sweet!  I'll gladly take it!!  Bonus, I didn't have to pick this all up off the floor...

Total Found in last Week.... .53¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$2.56

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy    

Bringing in March with Deals

 True to my word I hit Kroger and Walmart yesterday on Friday for the deals.

Here is Dixie Belle posing with the 4 12-packs of soda I picked up.  There is/was a $3/1 Ibotta rebate on the Fruit Splash ginger ale(limit 2 offers)and these sodas were B2G2Free so $19.98 with $6 off making all 4 packs $13.98.

Here is the bulk of the non produce/meat deals I picked up.  The sugar-free Monster Drinks were B2G1Free plus I had a BOGO Q in my account so all 3 drinks cost $2.99 OOP.  The Back to Nature crackers and cookies were part of the Mega sale plus I had Ibotta rebates for each.  The BB Tuna packets were on sale $1 each, I had a digital Q for $1/4 and I got .50¢ back on Ibotta.  The Allegra was on clearance for $10.81(a 24 ct.)and the digital $5/1 Allegra Q came off making that $5.81 for almost a month of allergy meds.  The Palmolive dish soap was on weekly digital sale for $1.49 plus I had a digital Manf. Q for .75¢ off so that came to 74¢.  The Golden Grahams baked oat bars(these will be flying with us to and from the cruise in case we need food on some leg of the journey)were still on Mega for $1.99 a box plus I got $1 off each on Ibotta.  The Energizer flashlight/keychain items were $6.99 each.  I got $3 off each on Ibotta and $3 back for each one with Kroger Cash Back, making them cost .99¢ each in the end.
I would have also picked up the Bounty Glitch deal but my store was out of that item.

I found 5 meat deals....2 nice sized Nolan Ryan steaks for $9.97 on clearance, 2 lb. packs of 91% lean Ground Beef for $5.01 but were part of the Mega sale so paid $4.01 each. a hunk of Salmon marked down to $5.54 and a prepackaged hunk of Salmon with Brown Sugar Bourbon glaze marked down to $5.20 but again, part of the Mega sale so I paid $4.20 for that.
II also picked up a Caesar salad kit on clearance($1.65), a half gallon of lactose-free Good Culture milk which I had a $2.75 Ibotta rebate for, 5 x 2 ltr. Zero Sugar Dr. Peppers for $1 each on sale, a 4 pack of Kleenex which has part of the Mega sale($6.49)which I got $1 back on Ibotta for purchasing, and 2 Butterball turkey dinner smoked sausages for $4.19 total(I had a BOGO Q in my account).

Then I hit Walmart last evening.......

I got 2 x Palmolive dish soaps, 2 x Poise pads, a 2 pack of Bounty PTs, 3 travel size OS deodorants and 2 Febreeze car 2 packs.

I spent $29.22 and got back $38.05 from Ibotta, Shopmium and Tada, making that trip an $8.83 moneymaker.

In non-rebating news I bought these CPK salad dressings that were on clearance for $1.50 each.  These also had $1/1 peelie Qs on them so they cost $1 for both.

Then I hit Dollar General this morning as I needed to pick up a new baby card(my brother became a step-Great Grandfather last week, I guess that makes me a step -Great Grand Aunt too lolz).

I found a ton of these Tyson pork loins marked down 50% off so I picked up a few.  I repacked them in marinade when I got home(bbq or teriyaki)and put them in the freezer for future meals.

I hit my Weekend Warrior Bonus of $5 back on Ibotta but I'm not even half way to my Big Bonus which expires Sunday night.

Not a bad start to the grocery shopping month.

Sluggy