Frugal Friday.....the February 19th Edition, on Saturday

The more I do, the behinder I get some days.  I wanted to mention the R-A deals before the week was over(and the Spend $50/Get $15 Bonus Cash Q expired)so I posted that on Friday instead.

So here is the Frugal Friday post a day later than usual.......

*  My Weis(PMITA)Markets Points were expiring last Sunday so I used 100 of them to get .10¢ off each gallon of gas I bought.  I only earned 154 pts. in the last 6 week period since I didn't shop there much and you have to use them in 100 increments so .10¢ off gas was the best I could do.

I went on Saturday and saved a whole .54¢ since I had half a tank still in my car.  Hey, .54¢ is .54¢, right?

*  I already posted about my Walmart trip....

Spent $17.37 OOP and earned back $26.65 in cash rebates there.

*  I also cashed out some Shop Kick points to purchase a $25 Walmart gift card before checking out at Walmart which brought my OOP on the previous shop down by that amount. 8-)

*  And my Rite-Aid trips.........

Spent Zero OOP and earned back $21.70 in cash rebates and $66 in Bonus Cash.

*  I found money!

After getting the discounted gas on Saturday I swung by Mickey D's for an iced tea.  When I stopped at the first window to pay I saw change on the ground so I opened my door while waiting on the cashier and scooped up this dime and quarter.  Yay!

On Tuesday I was chatting with my friend in the R-A break room while she ate her lunch and found this penny tucked under the fridge in there.

When I was leaving Walmart on Wednesday I spied this abandoned penny peeking out from under a candy rack.  He came home with me of course!

Found Money This Week... .37¢

Found Money This Year.... .89¢

*  Last Friday Hubs and I hit the P and R Outlet again since we were over that way.  Mostly we bought lunchmeats, cheese plus produce and oatmilk.

Here are the freebies they were giving out that day--bags of pork rind snacks and 8 pack boxes of kids crackers.  I think these cracker are cheese flavor so they will be eaten at Chez Sluggy or I can give them to Ex-CB.

*  I returned some items to Rite-Aid last week that weren't needed/wanted.........

They give back cash instead of BC when you have paid with Bonus Cash now so I got a cash refund of $17.08 which went into my "Refunds/Post Coupon" envelope to be added back into my grocery funds at the end of 2021.

That's about it from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday...........the November 15th Edition

Here's what frugal wins we had this past week at Chez Sluggy.............

*  I got 2 more bottles of Gold Bond lotion this week using BC and gift card cred(no actual money spent), which earned me $3.10 in Ibotta cash rebate and a $10 Rite-Aid gift card as well.

See my Rite-Aid posts for more details. ;-)

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

I snagged the last bottle of it on the shelf. Now and again  Ex-College Boy will go buy Fruit Punch at the store for himself so I got the Freebie this week for him.

*  I also got a couple of Zataran's boxed bean/rice mixes at Weis that day.  They were 50% off on clearance......

But they rang up full price so it was off to the Customer Service desk for a refund.........

* On Thursday I had a semi-annual dental check-up.  No cavities meant just a cleaning so nothing paid out of pocket.
Plus I got a goody bag of samples............

*  I found half a cooked chicken breast and a leg pushed to the back of the fridge earlier this week.  It was still good so I used the leg meat & part of the breast to add to Chester's dinner a couple of nights after his surgery to get him to eat again.  The rest of the breast got made into Chicken Salad(I had an abundance of grapes bought at Aldi this past week for .99¢ lb. and an open bag of pecans so salad was a no-brainer.)for a couple of lunches here.
Keeping food waste at bay once more is a win!

*  I found money!

This shiny dime was laying under the self-checkout as I walked out of the Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday.

This penny was found in an aisle in Weis on Saturday when I went there to attend their Open House(food tastings).

This dime was found in an aisle in Rite-Aid on Saturday when I went to use the rest of my Tresemme coupons.

I found this penny at Price Chopper as we walked into the door on Sunday.

And this dime also at Price Chopper on the way out of the store by the registers.

And the 2 pennies in this photo were found in two different locations in Rite-Aid by the pharmacy and the quarter was by the register up front so .27¢ richer when I left Rite-Aid on Tuesday.

A trip to Rite-Aid to return something after my dentist appointment netted me this .35¢, a quarter AND a dime on the floor at the register.

Weekly total..........94¢
A very good week for change!

*  I went to Weis on Saturday around noon for their product Open House.  In order to convince you to buy their products for the holidays(and to order pre-made goodies like bakery stuff and deli platters)they had samples set out all over the store with food items.  Cold Shrimp, Hummus and chips, apple cider, clementine oranges, 4 kinds of "gourmet" cookies, 2 kinds of cake/pie, smoked sausage, Jarlsberg cheese, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese were the stores offerings.  I left not needing to eat lunch! lolz

*  One day for lunch I got a 2 Subs for $11.99 text code from Subway so Hubs took my phone up to get lunch there and he used a gift card to pay.  Making the gift card go just a little bit further with a coupon code is a win in my book.

* Cash earned this week(refunds and/or rebates)came to $22.32 ($16.17 at Rite-Aid, $2.60 at Weis, $3.55 at Ibotta).

*  Kohl's sent me a 30% off Q and a $10 off anything promo chit this past week.  Not needing anything I went with Hubs up to Kohl's so he could find a pair of shoes for wearing out in the "poop field" with the doggies.  He wanted something that would be easy to slip on and off.  He won't buy shoes online(he has to try them on first-his rule!)and the only thing we could find in the store that met his criteria were these..........

A pair of Crocs.  He likes Crocs and has 2 pair but they both have ventilation holes in them so not so great to wear in the Winter with snow and ice.
It was the only pair of these particular color/style and they were miraculously in his size......and on clearance!!
So they were, after % off and $10 free chit, $13.99 OOP.
And even better, they sorta match the Crocs I bought at the shoe outlet in Rehoboth, Delaware last month..........

That's about it from here......

What frugal wins did y'all have last week?
Tell us all about it!


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the January 25th Edition

Another week, a few more frugal things.
Here's the skinny on what went down last week.........

*  I found .02¢ last Friday at Weis(PMITA)Markets.

Then I got too much  change at Mickey D's on Saturday when Kim had to make a Diet Coke run. 

My change should have been .15¢ but the gal gave me .20¢ back.  I had shoved it into my coat pocket and didn't look at it under we got home so I am counting that extra nickel as found money! 8-)

I made another trip to Weis on Tuesday and found more money!

A dime under the bubble gum machines.  Luckily I had my cane with me to retrieve the coin and didn't have to resort to crawling under the machines. lolz
That makes .17¢ for the week. ;-)


*  I got the Friday Freebie at Weis.......

a container of oatmeal.  I consider this a good freebie.  And it actually rung up correctly too for a change.

*  I used my free Purina dog food coupon they sent me........


*  I spent A LOT of money on groceries at Weis this past week.  We're talking $200 worth. Ouch. But I'd rather pay $200 and get good deals we'll use than wait and pay $300 later buying this stuff at regular price.

Last Friday's trip was a mangled mess though.  4 of my Qs wouldn't scan so the cashier manually put them in.....and didn't double them.

So I had to go over to CS and get $3 back.  I wanted her to put a credit on my c/c but she gave me cash before I could say something.

Then I went over my receipt and found the organic pear halves on clearance rang up full price.  So I had to go back in with the pears and receipt, take a photo of the shelf tag and get a refund from CS.
One can was free($1.97 back)and the other can I got the .99¢ I overpaid back so $2.96 went back on my c/c this time.

*  I had a free lunch on Thursday.

I have a Red Robin loyalty club thing so I get a free burger during my birthday month.  I had water w/lemon to drink so my meal was totally FREE(except for leaving the tip-I used some of my WAM for that).  I had an old Red Robin gift card so paid for Hubs meal with that.

*  I paid the garbage bill last week.  If it's paid in full before January is over you get a free month of service.  Hey!, $28 saved is $28 saved.  8-)))

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Let us know how you stay frugal......


Sluggy

Half Year Small Finances Review

So we are halfway through 2018.
How did that happen so fast?? lolz

I went through the various small pots of monies and here is where it all stands as of June 30th.
I save up all my rebates/spare change/refunds to apply toward the food bill in December.
(I don't put monies from things I sell during the year into this kitty.)

*  The spare change was rolled and counted June 30th......

$38.50 to put toward the food budget come December.  Now that Hubs isn't working and doesn't have as much WAM we don't get as much change accumulating at Chez Sluggy.

*  Here are the current cash rebate app totals for 2018 thru the end of June.......
   Ibotta  $55.40
   Checkout 51  $6.25
   Savingstar  $26.25
A total of $87.90 in cash rebates to put toward food spending in December.

*   My Weis Refund envelope has $19.81 in it.

*   My Rite-Aid Post Q/Refund envelope has $98.47 in it.

Altogether I have $244.68 at the halfway point in the year to apply toward food spending in December.  If this pace keeps up I may be able to fully cover food shopping in December with these odds and ends I save up.  8-)))

*   Not part of the grocery monies but here is my leftover WAM from the first 6 months of the year.....

I've still got a little over half of my WAM for the year so far, $366.
Almost enough to buy a plane ticket outta here! lolz

Sluggy

End of Year Food Spending Chatter

Every year, during the last quarter of the year,  I stop and ponder what I've spent on food for my family for the year so far.

In 2016 I spent a grand total of $4696.81 on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods.  You may recall that Daughter and her BF moved in with us halfway through that year.
Up until June we were on track to do a $3809.30 food spending for 2016(Jan-Jun spending was $1904.65).  We spent $887.51 over what the food was tracking at once Daughter and BF moved here.  Had they been here the entire year we could have topped $6K in food spending!

Then the BF moved back to Louisiana at the end of Jan. 2017 and over the next 4 months our food spending tracked at under $300 per month.  Hmmm.
I guess this is accurate as I was A--Cooking more food each night when he was living here, as there were more mouths to feed, B-- more food got thrown out as Daughter and BF didn't cotton to eating leftovers and  C--I was buying foods I don't usually buy as the BF had particular eating habits(or should that be peculiar?lol).  He had a preference for convenience foods and we all know that those cost more than what I call "basic" foods.

Anyway, with the BF no longer eating here the food spending has returned to a level I am more comfortable with.  We are currently at $3852.18 with 1.5 months to go.

Let's take a look at monies(other than regular income)I have to apply to the food budget for the rest of 2017.  I generally cash everything in(the cash rebates/cash refunds from the stores/post coupons/rolled coins saved)and apply it to December's food bill.

Rebate Apps--
* SavingStar  $27.55
* Checkout51  $79.00
* Ibotta  $19.25(though I can't cash out until I hit $20, but I'm close now)
* Walmart Savings Catcher  $4.23
TOTAL.....$130.03

Rebates & "Post Coupon" Refunds/Unexpected Cash
* Liquor  $15.00
* Schwarzkopf hair products  $9.62
* Right Guard Deo  $7.29
* Can't figure out what I wrote lol  $5.35
* Rite-Aid Post Coupon  $14.00
* Weis Refund  $4.00
* Rolled Coins  $55.00
* Nielsen  $1(they tucked into a "come back" letter)
* Cash for selling free TRU gift cards $42.00
* Carry over from 2016 that didn't get spent  $9.15
TOTAL......$162.41

Food Store Gift Cards/Store Script
* Giant  $25.00
* Target  $77.68
*  Catalinas-Minute Maid  $4.00
TOTAL.....$106.68

All the above comes to $379.12 of "free" money to grocery shop.

If needed I also have the cash I have from selling stuff here like excess toiletries/diapers and unwanted items around the house......

Cash Sales
* Selling Toiletries  $89.00
* Selling Items around the house  $20.00
* eBay Sales  $81.44(net after fees/cost of goods sold)
TOTAL.....$190.44

So basically I am in good shape to not have to spend a penny of our regular income on food/toiletries in December and theoretically I could stay at or under $4K in food/toiletries/paper goods spending for 2017.  I'd love to be able to be under what was spent in 2016.

How about you?
Do you track your food spending for the year?
Do you apply any cash rebates/catalinas/rebates toward your food budget?

Sluggy