This Week on the Dining Table

The "Things Turned Around Quickly Here" Edition.......

That's me after getting my first Covid shot last week. 
Last Monday turned out to be a good day....first the dentist had a cancellation so I got my broken tooth taken care of that day and then that night I found a shot appointment for the following evening.  The only negative was that the appointment was a 1.75 hour ride away and we get to do that again in about 21 days. But I am NOT complaining! ;-)

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On-

This is what was planned....

1. Sunday--Fend For Yourself

2. Monday--Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans

3. Tuesday--Squash Casserole, Tossed Salad

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs, Sweet Potato Fries
5. Thursday--Leftovers and Cabbage

6.  Friday--Pizza, Salad

7. Saturday--Assorted Leftovers

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Fend For Yourself

2. Monday--Fend For Yourself(I had garlic mashed taters-broken tooth)

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers at BK(we were driving home)

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans
5. Thursday--Hot Dogs, leftover Macaroni Salad

6.  Friday--Broiled Salmon, leftover Sweet Potato Fries, leftover Collards

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself(I had a big salad/Hubs had chili)

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/planned overs or FFY, and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out. 

Not being able to eat "real food" because of my tooth threw the menu off and made for more FFY nights.  I had another salad and veggies for lunches since dinners were light on veggies this week.

We seem to be in a meal rut lately.  I just don't feel inspired to cook.  I've been making stuff Hubs likes that I don't necessarily eat or like(chili, meatballs/spaghetti, taco meat).  I can't just make a little of those things(sort of like making soup)so he eats them over the course of the week(and/or for lunches)and I just find a little something for myself or just eat part of the meal.

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  1 pack of Beef strips(2 meals worth)

*  1 pack of thin sliced Pork chops(2 meals worth)

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  Breaded Chicken cutlets

* 1 bag of Mozzarella Cheese

*  a pack of Hot Dogs

We spent $81.63 on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods last week-1 tiny trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets for salmon and tea, 1 trip to Walmart, 1 trip to Dollar General and 1 trip to Discount Outlet. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $216.52 for March so far.

There are 9 shopping days left in March.

I've earned $151.23 on Ibotta in March.

I've earned $.05 on Checkout51 in March.

I've earned $9.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in March.

I've earned 1,130 points from shopping on Fetch in March($1.13)

I've earned 10,200 point from food shopping on Shop Kick in March($40.80)

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in March.

My savings percentage for last week was 60.19%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for March and the monthly savings total for March comes in at 57.50%.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week--Chili, Hot Dogs and 2 Chicken Parm.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Pizza, Salad

2. Monday--leftover Chicken Parm sandwiches, Asparagus

3. Tuesday--"Sort of" Rueben Sandwiches, sauté Cabbage

4. Wednesday--Beef Stir-Fry w/Noodles
5. Thursday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Squash Casserole

6.  Friday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

7. Saturday--Assorted Leftovers

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing though we'll need milk later this week.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?  Weis deals won't change until April sometime but I'll be doing the rest of the items for the $10 Ibotta March Bonus so there will be spending this week...hopefully not much however.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid This Week and Another Bonus on Ibotta?

 I had 2 items to buy for a Level 3 September Bonus from Ibotta so I went to R-A on Sunday and bought this.....

Reg. sized boxes of select Kellogg's cereals are 2/$5 and give back a $1 BC this week.

These 2 were part of that deal

I used 2 x $1/1 any Kellogg's cereal IPQ purchased using points from my Kellogg's account so paid $3 in BC and earned $1 BC back.

I submitted for 2 Kellogg's rebates on Ibotta totaling .95¢.  I also reached the Sept Level 3 Bonus on Ibotta so I got another $2.00 in cash rebates.  All together this made the cereal a moneymaker.

Then on Monday a $5 Midweek Bonus showed up on my Ibotta account when I buy 12 items before Friday.
A $1 Bonus I could pass up but $5?  I am going for it! lol

I did this transaction on Monday at Rite-Aid....

All but the Jason body wash are part of the "Spend $30/Get $10 BC Deal" this week.  To finish it off I need to find a store with the Crest Whitening Therapy toothpaste(my store no longer carries it).  I have $25.14 spent toward that Deal right now.  Using $10 in L2CQs I've spent $15.14 on those 4 products plus both toothpastes got me 2 x $3 Ibotta rebates so $9.14 spent actually(but in BC not real money). ;-)

The Jason was marked down to $4.17 on the clearance shelf and there is a $2.50 Ibotta rebate for that so $1.67 in BC spent on that in the end and I have 3 Ibotta rebates completed toward that Midweek Bonus.  If I can find the other Crest specialty toothpaste it will finish off my R-A Deal and give me another $3 Ibotta rebate and  bring my total to 4 rebates so only 8 more to go to capture that $5 Bonus.

I'll be hitting up Walmart and maybe Weis(PMITA)Markets to finish that Bonus as cheaply as possible.  I've got $35 in Walmart gift cards to use as well so I am hoping for no more cash spent OOP to get there.

Wish me luck! 8-)

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the October 4th Edition

Here's a look around at what frugal wins we had this past week.........

* We picked what is probably the last of the garden veggies.....

Hubs picked the last of the tomatoes, including some green ones.  Except for the Cherokee Purple which we'll reserve for slicing and eating fresh, the rest of the ripe ones went into my last pot of sauce  made from our tomatoes.  Hopefully the green ones ripen soon.

And I went out yesterday in the rain and snipped the last of the broccoli.  I made a chicken, rice, cheese and broccoli casserole Thursday evening for dinner and this was just enough broccoli for it.

Growing your own food saves a ton at the grocery store and if you grow tomatoes you actually get to taste a "real" tomato and not that genetic monster they raise to sell in the grocery store that looks great, travels well but has no actual flavor.


* I found money!

This corroded penny was found in my car when I cleaned it out on Saturday.

These 2 pennies came from Rite-Aid....the nice shiny one inside the store on the floor and the grody one in the parking lot.  It looks like it was run over a few hundred times!lolz

Another penny in Rite-Aid when I went to buy a Sunday paper on Sunday.

And these three in Rite-Aid(where else?!?!)on Monday when I bought all that cereal.

And this lonely penny at Weis by my favorite self-checkout.
Free money tally for the week is .08¢.

*  A free gift card arrived last Friday......

I had enough points with my Hotel Program that I sent off for this $50 gift card.  Now to use this to it's best advantage.

*  I hit Big Lots on Sunday during their 20% off Friends and Family Sale.  I like to stock up on tp at one of these but I didn't need to(see Weis stock ups the week before)so I just got a few things.

Some good deals at Weis..........

And some good deals at Rite-Aid....

And some samples at Rite-Aid as well........

* Between SavingStar and Ibotta I got back $21.10 in cash rebates this past week.
Sweet!

* I also had a number of post coupon/refund situations this past week resulting in $8 cash back---

$4 back at Rite-Aid on Sunday when the cashier hit the total button before taking my Qs.....

$2 back when my 2 digital Qs didn't come off at the Shursave Market.  It was actually $1.99 back($1 and .99¢)but she gave me $2 even.

And $2 back for being overcharged on some clearance turnip greens at Weis.......

* I got the Weis Friday Freebie last week.....

That's about it from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Tell us all about them! 8-)))





Sluggy

Budget Torpedoed by TP

So I have been looking to score a deal on toilet paper lately.  It's been in the back of my mind that our stockpile of tp was getting to a point where I needed to be keeping an eye out for a great deal.
I have a love/hate relationship with TP.....hate to waste good money on something I am throwing away so I get it as cheaply as I can and when I find a deal I definitely buy A LOT! ;-)

So last week at Walmart I happened upon some clearance paper towels--
1 x Scott towels(6 double rolls)for $2.50
2 x Viva towels(6 double rolls)for $3.00
$9.01 with tax OOP.
I'm not a fan of paper towels but Hubs won't stop using them so I buy. 8-(
But I was glad to find them as Dixie Belle isn't quite fully house trained yet and with 2 dogs now, there are times we NEED paper towels! ;-)
A nice score but it's not TP....

I hit Ocean State Job Lot on Monday during their Annual 20% off Sale and picked up a few food items.........

2 x pasta
4 x spices
2 x baby clams
2 x specialty coffee for Ex-CB
All this came to $12.78 after 20% off.
It's all good since I was still fitting into my $400 food budget for September.

But then I went over to the paper goods aisle.....as Scooby-Doo would say, "Rut Roh!".......

These mega-packs of Marcal tp were $7.19 after 20% discount.
Marcal is a brand I don't see around much any more, not since they released their eco-friendly/recycled "Small Steps" paper goods back in 2009. I think the last time I saw/bought a Marcal item was in 2014?
I got a ton of Marcal back in 2009 using deals and Qs(heck I even ran a guessing game/contest to see how many rolls of it I had).  Longtime readers will remember this photo of my storage unit filled with paper products from back in the day.....

I had bought 474 rolls of Small Steps tp back then and we just used up our last pack of it late last year. 8-)))

Even though the package at OSJL didn't have a sq. footage break down on it, I know the brand and that it's economical as far as tp goes so I picked up two of those 16 roll packs.

Then Weis(PMITA)Markets had the huge packs of Scott tp on a Fantastic Friday deal for $7.  I went into the store for the Friday Freebie(they were out already!)and 1 jar of Ragu and left with the Ragu and 2 packs of Scott tp.  I had 2 Qs that doubled to $1 each so my huge packs cost me $6 +.36¢ tax each OOP.

I went into this week with no grocery budget left for September but happened to hear about tp clearances at Weis were going on.

So would you NOT check out the tp deals since you are at your budget limit or would you say "the heck with the budget!" and go have a look-see?

What do you think Ol' Sluggy did? ;-)

Yep, you guessed it..........

Seeing as I had the money to stock up on tp even outside of my grocery budget and the space in the garage, I went for it.
My September spending suffered a hit for it, but we are now awash in tp.

The Scott tp packs on the bottom left of the photo were from Friday.

On Monday I got 3 packs of Cottonelle TP, 2 packs of Viva towels and 10 packs(Hubs had already taken 1 of these to use so there's only 9 in the photo!lol) of Charmin Essentials(the "cheap" Charmin-except at half off it WAS actually cheap! lol).  They also had Northern brand for 50% off but the others were a better deal with the square footage comparison so I didn't get any of that brand.
I also had both IPQ and digital Qs to use for this or that.
All totaled I spent $33.80 with sales tax at Weis for 180 double rolls of tp and 12 double rolls of paper towels.

Add that to the 168 rolls I had left in my stockpile and we will be good for quite awhile.  Not as epic as my Marcal stash from 2009 but it will get us through a year or maybe two....or maybe not(have you seen how much tp Ex-CB goes through??!). ;-)

My stockpile(other than toiletries/HBA)is looking fine when it comes to dish soap, laundry detergent, cleaning products, paper towels, soup, condiments, pasta, rice, spices, tomato products, canned chicken, chiles, mushrooms, tuna, peanut butter, oatmeal, cold cereals, some canned veggies and of course, tp. 8-)))

What good prices have you taken advantage of lately to build your stockpile?

Queen of the TP Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the March 15th Vacation Edition

Just popping up with a quick post for Frugal Friday................

*  Last week before I left town I bought some groceries.  Among what I bought was another 5 bags of Malt O Meal cereal on clearance and got another $5 Ibotta rebate, making the cereal .74¢ per bag.
I also got the Friday Freebie last Friday--a bag of frozen veggies.  No freebie this week as there are no Weis' around here.  8-(

*  Also bought last week a bottle of Gold Peak unsweetened lemon tea(58 oz. size).  It was on clearance for $1 per bottle.

Well it rang up $1.42 instead so the next trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets I took a photo of the shelf tag and brought my receipt and per Weis price policy I got my $1.42 back, making the tea free.

*  Before leaving town Hubs and I convoyed our cars up to the Weis gas pumps and used my Weis gas points(as they would expire while we were gone).

We saved $4.15 on gas and filled mine and Hubs car's tanks up.

*  We stopped in Delaware to pick up hooch for the trip as it is cheaper than in PA and there is no sales tax on it.

I found a penny near the register but it hardly offset the $80+ Hubs spent on booze there. *whomp whomp*

*  We stopped at the Ollie's in DE as well and picked up some snacks to have at the motels we would be staying at on the trip so "Good Snacks Cheap!". lolz  Some of what I got was on their 75% off clearance shelf too so even better!

I found this pack of peanut bars marked down 75% off so .75¢ instead of $2.99.  It had 1 bar missing so only 5 bars instead of 6 in the pack, making each one .15¢.
I also got some peanut butter/cheese crackers, cookies, instant popcorn and flavored seltzer water.
This stop was a lot cheaper than picking up snacks/drinks at convenience stores along the way.

*  I made the Myrtle Beach motel reservation using a Hotels.com gift card I bought last year.  I also made the reservation on the Hotels.com app on my phone and got a special price and a rebate of $4.05 on my Ibotta app too.

*  I had $25 in Kohl's script expiring the day after we got to Myrtle Beach so we went to Kohl's and picked up some clothes on clearance.  A sweater and a fleece zip shirt cost me .66¢ OOP.

*  While we were nearby after the  Kohl's stop we went Walmart to pick up some drinks, breakfast items and 2 tv dinners.  Our motel room had a kitchen efficiency unit so we ate breakfast 2 mornings in the room and had Chinese take-out for 1 dinner(which we bought at lunch time-cheaper price-and reheated for dinner) and cooked tv dinners for another dinner.
I also found 2 pennies at Walmart.

We spied some clearance coffee filters at Walmart as well so we bought 7 packs...........

We go through a lot of coffee filters at our house with Hubs and both kids drinking that evil brown beverage so saving .24¢ x 7 on something small and easy to cart home works for me! lolz

*  The first morning in Myrtle Beach, since we hadn't bought any breakfast food yet, we went to an IHop a block away from our motel for breakfast.

It just happened to be Free Pancake Day there so we both got free pancakes w/our meals.  We paid with an IHop gift card so our meal cost $4.71 + tip and our cash donation to the IHop charity that benefited from the free Pancake Day promotion.

*  Hubs forgot to bring his flip flops.  Uh oh!  So we hit one of the gazillion souvenir stores in MB to pick up a pair.  Not so frugal but it was the only time we set foot in a touristy shop and I did NOT buy anything else there.  Such self-control on my part!hehehe

*  The only things we did that cost money in Myrtle Beach was eat because ya gotta eat, right?  The beach and the motel's pool and hot tub were free with the room so that's what we did........walk the beach, lounge in the hot tub, swim in the pool and sit and read and drink on our oceanfront balcony.

*  I also found another penny in MB........

But I can't remember where. lolz

*  We left MB for Charleston but stopped at Bojangles first.............

Yesterday was "PI" day and Bojangles had a special....3 sweet potato pies for $3.14.
A tasty addition to our healthy breakfast. lolz

*  We stopped for gas outside of Charleston at a Sunoco as Hubs gets a .05¢ discount per gallon off the price and we found one that matched the lowest price along our route.  I went inside to use the restroom.

I found 2 more pennies walking through the convenience store inside.

*  We stopped for lunch before checking in as we were a bit early.  We decided to try Cook-Out as they don't have those were we live.
I found all this on the floor in there while Hubs ordered...........

3 pennies and a nickel shoved under the counter.......08¢ total.

*  When we got to the motel in Charleston I opened the car door and saw this.........

Another shiny penny right next to the car! lolz  I am up .15¢ since we left PA.

The Penny Fairy is alive and well in SC.

What frugal wins did you have this past week?
Tell us all about it!


Sluggy

A Shopping Extravaganza Lately!

I bought 2 boxes of Cheerios on Saturday at Rite-Aid........

They were $1.97 per box and I used a $1/2 GM cereals Q so $2.94 paid in Bonus Cash on son's card(I had some BC expiring on that card soon).
I got $1 cash back on SavingStar for this purchase so these "cost" me .97¢ a box.

Friday was Fantastic Sale Day at Weis(PMITA)Markets.
Here is what I bought..............

3 x Utz Chips were B1G2Free=$4.29
3 x Club crackers minis on sale=$5.58
1 x Tabasco=$3.39
2 x Planters nut crunchers on sale=$5.98
2 x Green Giant veggies on sale=$3.00
2 x Birdseye veggies on sale=$3.98
2 x 1 lb. mushrooms on sale=$3.98 *not pictured*
1 x Johnsonville breakfast sausage on sale=$2.67 *not pictured*
1 x Kaukauna cheese ball on sale=$5.00 *not pictured*
2 x Lay's chips BOGOF=$4.28 *not pictured*
1 x Weis Garlic Bread=Freebie *not pictured*
1 x Stouffer's party lasagna=.99¢ *not pictured*
1 x 18+ lb. Butterball turkey=$9.04 *not pictured*
1 x Pecan Ring Danish 50% Bakery=$3.00 *not pictured*
SubTotal......$55.18

I got $3 off on the 6 Mix 'n Match items(veggies, nuts), $1Q on the Lasagna, $1Q on the Tabasco and 3 x $1.00 Qs for the Club crackers so $8.00 off so I paid $47.18 OOP.

I redeemed 100 points to get the Butterball turkey for .49¢ lb. and 100 points to get a party Stauffer's lasagna for -.01¢.  It was .99¢ after points and the cashier let me use a $1/1 Stouffer's party lasagna Q on it so I got paid 1¢ to take it home. 8-)))

I earned back $9.85 on Ibotta(.50¢ Tabasco, .75¢ Kaukauna cheese, 3 x .75¢ Club crackers, 2 x $1 Planters crunchers, $3 wyb Butterball turkey and 1 Lay's chips, $1.25 Johnsonville bfast sausage, .10¢ any item)and $9 in Bonuses(Turkey Trot, Gravy Train, Nov. Level 2)so totaling $18.85 in cash rebates and another $1 on Checkout51 for buy 2 Club crackers.

Hubs and I also went to Giant today to get the freebies there........

1 x Giant Butter=Free
1 x Doz. Giant Eggs=Free
1 x Box of Giant Stuffing Mix=Free
1 x Can of Giant Pumpkin=Free
1 x 35 ct. Bottled Water=Free *not pictured*
1 x 5 lb. bag of Russet Potatoes=Free
4 x Arizona Tea on sale=$10.00 *not pictured*
2 x Reddi Wip on sale=$4.00 *not pictured*
1 x Goya Jasmine rice=$3.19
3 x bags of Chiles=$5.37
SubTotal.......$22.56

I picked up the tea which was on sale, the Reddi Wip that we need for pumpkin pies and this Giant carries dried chiles and I was totally out so I bought 3 bags to restock my pantry.  I will get back .75¢ on Saving Star for the Goya rice and it tracks toward a $5 Goya cash rebate as well when you spend $25 on Goya.

We also hit Weis in the town Giant is in, since it was nearby and I still had Weis points to spend............

I had enough Weis points to get 3 more Holiday items-another large Lasagna for .99¢, a frozen turkey breast for .49¢ lb. and a smoked ham for .25¢ lb.
I also got a Well Yes! sipping soup which after my doubled coupon cost .17¢, a 4 pack of Bakery muffins which after my $1 coupon and 50% off cost $1.12, 3 x single OJs were $1.49 after my $1/3 Q, 9 x Pure Tea singles were $7.47, 2 x Goya dried pintos were $2.58, 2 x Goya tomato paste were $1.58.
I also did the Mix 'n Match Buy 6/Get $3 off...I got 1 x Dunkin Donuts Creamer, 2 x International Delight Creamers, 3 x Green Giant Veggies.  Those 6 cost me $9.47 after $3 Instant Off and the $1/2 International Delights ManuQ I used.
I also picked up 4 12-packs of Coke at 4 for $12.00.

I'll earn back another $1 on Ibotta and $3 on SavingStar for having now bought $12 worth of Pure Leaf tea singles bottles.
I am about $1.50 away from getting the $5 Goya rebate so I'll pick up another bag of dried beans or some Adobo.

I am now over $400 by about $35 for the month(sigh)but........

* I will have to buy very little food in December(milk, fresh produce).
* I have grown my cash rebates on Ibotta and SavingStar to $329.81 to cash out in Dec. to apply to groceries bought this year.(I am not even counting the Checkout51 since I am nowhere near the $20 cash out threshold.)
* These cash rebates doesn't even count all the refunds and "post coupon" cash I have accumulated in 2018 to also put toward the food bills. ;-)

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the August 31st Edition

Happy Labor Day Weekend to everyone!

So let's get to the frugal things that happened this past week at Chez Sluggy.........

*  I went to Weis Markets last Friday and got the freebie plus used a rain check..........

The seltzer was the freebie with a Weis digital coupon.
The ice cream was $2.99 per box with my rain check, plus I had 2 x .75¢ IPQs which each doubled to $1.50.  And I had a digital .75¢/1 Q in my Weis account which also doubled to $1.50 and came off on this order so I got both Ice creams and the seltzer for $1.48 total.

I also earned $2.25 back on SavingStar for buying the ice cream so I got paid .77¢ to bring all 3 home.  ;-)

*  I found some money in the Rite-Aid parking lot.......

A quarter!  This goes into the change pot and will get applied to the grocery budget at the end of the year.

*  Still harvesting garden veggies too......

Not many but I have another photo I haven't taken yet of what's been picked since last Friday.

*  Hubs and I went out for our Anniversary Lunch on Tuesday to Longhorn Steakhouse.  I had an old gift card with $38+ on it and I brought along a $3 off 2 lunches Q.  With tip after Q and gift card our steak lunches cost $13.11 OOP.

*  Hubs and I went to a pick your own farm on Monday and picked all this.......

23 lbs. of tomatoes and 19 lbs. of peppers.
With the corn, cabbage and eggplant we didn't pick but  bought as well it cost $29.60.  Had I bought all that at the grocery stores it would have cost $78 or so OOP.
Just going to the source of fresh produce and doing a bit of the work yourself can save you loads on your food bill.

*  Lots of grocery shopping this week.........

Some of the freebies from Target(using a free gift card to pay).

 Freebies from Rite-Aid(using sales, coupons and Bonus Cash).

Cheap shopping trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets. 

*  I earned cash rebates totaling $19.50 this week on Ibotta and SavingStar.  I love when I get paid to buy stuff!  Those rebates brought down my weekly food spending to $91.13 from $110.63(though I add the rebates back into the food budget at the end of the year, not when earned).

*  Don't know if this is very frugal but I have taken lots of produce(both from our garden and from the farm we visited)and turned them into canned veggies for use this Winter........

Here are 6 quarts of tomatoes(there is another one in the fridge)canned and processed on Wednesday.

And here are 14 pints of my secret recipe Pepper Relish I also processed that day.

Like I said, after you add in all the costs(produce, gas to get to the farm, electricity to can them, other items needed)this might not be frugal but.........
I know what goes into this stuff I can(no preservatives other than lemon juice in the maters)and with the relish, if I didn't make it, we wouldn't have it because you can't buy this stuff in a store, as nobody sells something exactly like it. ;-)

So what frugal wins did y'all have this week?

Sluggy