Frugal Friday....the Jan. 17th Edition

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

*  I love finding marked down foods at Kroger(this really doesn't happen at Walmart). I found some salads this past week as well as a 2lb. bag of fresh green beans. And I did a little Ibotta shopping for the food bank too. 8-)

*  We also had no food waste last week.   We ate lots of leftovers this past week.

*  There was no eating out this past week.

*  I cashed out a total of $100.00 from Ibotta.

*  I received a $15 prepaid Visa card this week from P&G.

*  We bought groceries at Kroger on Friday after they reinstituted the 4 x points for Friday purchases here(it had gone down to 2 x points during the Summer).

These packages of salmon were marked down plus were part of the Mega Sale so an additional $1 came off each package.

*  Kroger also had select canned veggies for .44¢ per can.  We picked up 16 cans of veggies I use in various dishes.  I only use canned veggies in some recipes as we prefer fresh veggies.

*  I picked up 3 prescriptions at Walmart.  No charge as I hit the Catastophic Phase after filling my first Rx.

*  We turned down the thermostat 2 degrees as night.  Being under blankets we don't need it as warm when we are in bed. ;-)

*  Entertainment last week was free tv, doing genealogy or reading.

*  I picked up two freebies at Walmart on Thursday.......

Truvani had bags of protein and Bellway had super fiber full price rebates I sent for and receive.

*  I found money! 

I thought I was going to get skunked this week but I found a penny on Thursday in Walmart.

Found Money This Week.... .01¢

Grand Total Found this Year....... .21¢

That's all I got.

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

Sluggy  

Frugal Friday....the May 17th Edition

There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.

*  Had my first "real" PT session(which costs me no copay).  She worked me over good. lol  I hope this helps my shoulders but after last night's sleep, I am not optimistic. 8-(

*  Went to Aldi last Friday and bought some sauces, hummus, frozen veggies, carrots, spaetzle for Hubs(way over priced I might add), a bag of General Tso Chicken, pickles for me and found a large pack of BSCB for 50% off.

Then we hit the tiny Kroger near there and bought this.......

The cereals are bound for the food bank(and not counted in my food budget).  The sauces and mustard are part of the Mega Sale(buy 5 to get the discounted price)and the Veggie Craft Pasta were a deal(on sale $3.29 with $1.50 each in KCB and $1.50 back from Ibotta so .29¢ each in the end).  I had a FREE Kroger buns coupon and tried to use that but got charged $1.99 for them.

So after PT on Tuesday we were near the old and dirty Kroger so I took them back and got $1.99+tax back for them.

Then I bought 3 discounted individual salads, a carton of milk(that had an Ibotta rebate),  some marked down thin steak for steak sandwiches and these sauces(4 from the clearance bins).......

Here are the backs of them...........

The Kinder Teriyaki were on Mega Sale for $1.99 each, the other Kinder Sauce(the burger sauce)was marked down to $1.49 and also part of the Mega Sale so another $1 came off making it .49¢ and the 3 Bachan Japanese BBQ sauces were marked down to $3.82 and another $1 came off each, making them $2.82 each.  These 3 sauces also had Ibotta rebates of $1.50 each so in the end those cost $1.32 each.  Not bad when you know those cost $8.99 reg. retail at Kroger(and $7.99 at Walmart)!

I also picked up another round of RockStar drinks.......

I had a Kroger digital Q for Buy a Rock Star and get a Rock Star Focus free plus these were on sale for $2 each, so both cost me $2.00 OOP.  I submitted to Aisle for a $5 rebate making this a $3 moneymaker.  Plus these are going to the food bank as I don't drink energy drinks.

If you want to get in on this Aisle Rock Star deal which runs all year(you can do it every other week)please use my link......

discover.gotoaisle.com/referral/kq98hepHXk

That way I get to do this deal twice every other week and then you can refer someone else to do the deal after you do it.  If you shop at Walmart Rock Stars cost $1.88 each and at Dollar Tree they are $1.25(they are smaller cans though)each so either way they are moneymakers and if Kroger is running a special they are moneymakers there too.  Please and thank you. 8-)

So while in Kroger I tried unclipping that FREE BUNS offer and then reclipping it to see if that would kick it in the butt and make it work but nope.  That coupon is a dude it seems.(I have the same issue with Kroger's Cesar dog food Qs-they never come off.)

*  I hit up Walmart for this on Wednesday after my car got fixed, as I was already near there.....

I had a $10 Ibotta rebate and a $10 Shopmium digital coupon so it was a $2.02 moneymaker.  I also found some marked down bags of produce, a pack of bacon and a pack of sausages as well as a marked down individual salad.

*  I noticed that none of my KCB offers I did have been applied to my account(since the beginning of April!)so I called to get clarification on a few things.

It's difficult to keep track of KCB since as soon as you use/apply an offer and purchase the item, the offer disappears from your available account and it doesn't show anywhere as pending.  Going forward I'll track what offers I use and when so I can contact CS if they don't show up after 1 week.

The person I spoke to put a courtesy $10 on my Kroger card the first time I called about this issue  but I'll be darned if I won't be calling back on Friday(which will be a week since purchase)to get the $6 in KCB for those crackers bought last Friday. ;-)  I now have a spreadsheet for KCB offers, when I purchase those items and what date and how much I am owed back.

Beginning of the week I called about the $6 in crackers and they put $15 store credit on my account, then I called again on Thursday after $5 for an item purchased 9 days previous I was owed.  I asked that they please fix this or I'd be called every time an offer didn't work and I really didn't want to be having to do this so this CS person took more info and is escalating the issue upstairs(and didn't offer me store credit, which is fine, I just want this KCB to work properly and to get what I am owed!)  I hope I get a callback since tomorrow I will have to call yet again inquiring about $4 in KCB that was never applied to my account. lol

*  We have been using food here and eating all the leftovers.  No eating out so far this week.

*  Had my "medical safari" to the Dermatologist in MS on Monday.   I already showed the tiny bag of lotions she gave me for free.......

*  I found money!

I found a penny when we stopped at a Love's for gas and I went in to get a soda.  Found that penny on the floor at the register.

I found this penny at the Kroger the next day walking by a register and it was laying on the floor.

                                       

I went to Walmart on Wednesday for a freebie and to finish my Midweek Bonus(a whole dollar)and saw something peeking out from under a drink cooler next to my self-checkout.  So I used a paperclip to edge it out and voila! I got a nickel!

Total Found last week.... .07¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.48 & 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 February 23rd Edition

There are a few Frugal wins this past week so here goes....

*  Evelyn/Evelyn the Egret has moved on and we didn't see him/her this past week.  I blame the lack of rain filling up the fishing holes in the yard.  Goodbye for now my bird friend.

* As for saving money last week at the grocery stores, I already posted the details on my Walmart trips from last weekend........

*  Hubs and I had a Valentine's Lunch at a local Chinese restaurant last Friday.  Doing Lunch is more frugal than doing Dinner out.

*  I received a quarterly Rakuten rebate check this past week..........

A whole $22 and change.  Most of that was earned from hotel stays on our 3K+ mile trip in December. Better than nothing I suppose.....

*  No grocery shopping this week(so far).  My wallet likes that. 8-)

*  No eating out except for Valentine's day at lunch this week.  Shopping from my pantry and freezer this week.

*  We took all this to a local food bank on Thursday.....

Not necessarily frugal but it made me feel good after a day of dealing with my shitty kids. 8-)  Bonus-my gift buying list for Holidays shrunk by two(plus 2 spouses and a grandchild)this week!  

*  I bought a few clothing items and a purse online.  My wardrobe is still pretty bare so I used some gift cards for Kohl's I still had and bought a vest, a thinner jacket, 3 shirts and a pair of pants at their 70% clearance sale and ended up spending under $9 OOP.  Though the pants are a petite I still need to hem them up 5 inches! lol  The jacket may be going back as the color is not what my monitor showed and it's a tad long and shortening it involves a zipper so...no!

At any rate, I earned $20 in Kohl's cash which I now need to spend. 8-)   Vera Bradley had an outlet sale online too so I splurged on myself and bought a dog themed purse and wallet because I am all about the dogs. lol  I ordered smaller sized dresses, the sort I like to wear in the Summer, and 2 pair of pants in a smaller size as the company that sells them had a President's Day sale as well.  My last stop was on online t-shirt vendor for some of their offerings with free shipping. I went through Rakuten to earn rebates when possible at all these online venues.

*  I spent a good deal of time finishing trying on every clothing item I own.  I sent 6 dresses, some pants(don't recall how many pair)and 5 shirts to Goodwill(also had to pitch a bathing suit and bras), and I have many items I like which I'd like to save by altering them but only about 4 or 5 only require hemming to make them wearable(2 are dresses I bought last Summer that just need hemming).  Most items require more extensive alterations-raising shoulder seams and/or taking in seams(side and other)and with my ET I may never be able to save those.  It's a shame really. 8-( This was a big time consuming project but it didn't require spending any money so that's why I have included it as a frugal activity.

*  I found Money!

The Chinese restaurant referenced above is inside of a run down extended stay motel.  As we pass through the lobby I always check the coin return slots in the two vending machines there and one had a quarter in it!

Then I found a dime in Walmart when I returned a shirt at the Customer Service Desk.  There is a "change your coins into bills" machine there and I spied a dime that got lost by someone on the floor next to the machine.

Then on Sunday I hit up a different Walmart for 2 items and I just found pennies all over the store--next to the freezer section, in a self check-out machine coin return, on the floor in toiletries and in the foyer while leaving the store.

Total Found in last Week.... .39¢
Grand Total Found this Year.......$1.55

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy    

Finishing Two Ibotta Bonuses on Friday

I had Two Ibotta Bonuses-the end of the Super Bowl Bonus for $10(needed 8 more rebates)and a $5 Weekend Warrior Bonus where I needed to do 10 Rebates.

I finished both off at Walmart on Friday.........

1 x Back to the Roots potting soil....$5.98

1 x Lysol toilet bowl cleaner...$1.47

1 x GMills oatmeal packets......$2.98

1 x Mtn. Dew Spark.......$1.98

2 x Cheribundi cherry juice.....$11.16

1 x Coke mocha coffee drink......$1.88

1 x VeggieCraft cauliflower pasta......$2.98

1 x Schick Bamboo razor pack......$5.97

1 x Lipton iced tea bags pack.......$1.96

SubTotal.........$36.36

I used a $1/1 Lipton IPQ so $35.36+.46¢ tax=$35.82

I used $30 in free gift cards($25 Swag Bucks/$5 Shop Kick)so I spent $6.82 OOP on all this.

Then I earned $23.61 back in regular Ibotta rebates.  The bamboo razors and the Lysol double dipped for 2 different rebates giving me 11 rebates instead of 9.

Plus I reached both Bonuses totaling $15 more giving me a return on my $6.82 spent of $38.61 in cash rebates.  A $31.79 moneymaker.

Additionally I earned $5.05 back on Fetch($2 on the potting soil, $1.50 on the Mtn. Dew, $1.50 on the pasta, .57¢ more on the Mtn, Dew/Lysol/Lipton)and I have tracking toward another $2 on Mtn. Dew and $5 tracking on $50 Back to the Roots purchases(which I probably won't get done).

I don't foresee anymore Ibotta rebates/grocery shopping being done this month.  This is the week before the wedding and the following week I'll be bedridden by all accounts if this mother/son wedding dance happens. lolz

I did go into Weis(PMITA)Markets this past week and noticed they are no longer putting clearance stickers on short sell by date meats.  Either everything is being snatched up the day it's put out or they are just not having any "long in the tooth" meats due to shortages and demand. Hmmmm.

Sluggy