Frugal Friday...the August 23rd Edition on Saturday

There are very few Frugal wins over the past few weeks.

*  Getting my surgery was a big win!  I just hope all these side effects subside and don't hang around.

*  I brought gift cards to VA with me so I could treat my brother and sister in-law to some stuff.  We got Domino's pizza(my brother's fav)and Panera bagels another day.  That's all they were interested in.

*  I did some rebate shopping after getting home....

The Skinny Dipped PB cups were on clearance and I had Ibotta rebates making them .75¢ each  The Truvia and Arm & Hammer detergent where all BOGO.  The Cheese Factory Rolls were on clearance plus I had a $1 off digital coupon.  The 4 yogurts in the back where on clearance for .59¢ each and the 8 in front were on sale and I had Ibotta rebates.

This is what I got at CVS.  We kept the Mini-Wheat(Hubs like)and the Chex Mix bars(I like).  I used my ECBucks and earned more ECBs back.

This bunch we kept the mouthwash, the tuna packets, the 2 liter soda, the 2 Lay's Stax, the pack of razors, the garbage bags(on clearance), the Truvia liquids, the Knorr cups and the Scott paper towels.  The Arm & Hammer laundry packs and the Goodles went back to the store.

The 3 packs of feminine care items, the 2 cereals, the 5 boxes of mac & cheese, the bag of tortilla chips all go to the food bank.  The Axe body spray and the Neutrogena cleanser will be sold(to help pay for the food bank items).

*  I found money!  It was a great few weeks for found coins.  Here is all the change I found in Virginia....

Then last week I found 3 pennies. 

One in the parking lot near the Chinese Restaurant.....

Then another in the parking lot of the new Dollar Tree nearby that we went to check out(I didn't buy anything  but I found a penny there and forgot to take a picture of it).

                                       

Then this penny I found in the parking lot of either the Walmart on Wednesday or the Kroger on Thursday.  I don't remember which it was at.

Total Found 7-14-8/8....$1.78(but I already counted .76¢ of that in my July 19th Post)

Total Found last week.....03¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$6.96 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got and all I can do right now.

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

Sluggy     

 

Lots of Food Shopping This Week!

I ended up doing quite a bit of grocery shopping this week besides that Target trip.
There were loss leaders and deals I could use so I took the opportunity to stock up on certain items we use a lot of.

First at Weis.....

This trip didn't go as planned(in a bad way).  Certain Yoplait brand yogurts were .88¢ wyb 8 in a single transaction.  I had Qs for 2 of those types of Yobplait so I could use 4 of each Q-they were each for .40¢ off which would double to .80¢ off, making each yogurt .08¢.(Weis will double up to 4 of the same Q).
But.....
The store decided to thwart my efforts by dropping the "Fruitside" type of yogurt, so I could only use 4 Qs per 8 cups so 8 cups cost $3.84. bleh.  I should have just bought 4 cups, at reg. price of $1 per cup, used the Qs and paid .20¢ OOP for each cup.  But I didn't think this through well and bought 8 cups.(1 was eaten before the photo got taken.). I did also get .40¢ back on Savingstar for 1 yogurt so I feel a little better about this. ;-)
I bought Kozy Shack pudding on sale $2.50, used 2 x $1/1 Qs and paid $1.50 per container.
The taco shells(we were out)were $1.25 each and I got $1 back on Savingstar so $1.50 for both.

I went back to Weis later in the week to get some meat and use my last 3 Yogurt Qs.....

After Qs the yogurts cost .90¢ for all 3.
The breakfast sausage was on sale for $2.50 and had $1 instant discount stickers on them so $1.50 per package.
The package of thin sliced bottom round steak was $2.30 and had a $1 instant discount sticker on it so $1.30 for .66 lb. or $1.96 a lb.
The package of chuck tender steak was $6.59 and had a $3 instant discount sticker on it so $3.59 for 1.10 lb. or $3.26 a lb.
The best deal was a Buy1Get2Free deal on London Broil cuts.  3 hunks of meat, 4.66 lbs., at a cost of $2.19 per lb.

Then I hit the Shursave market for 3 different "Spend X/Buy X Items, Get $X Off your Order" Deals.....

Hormel had a "Buy 10 items/Get $5 Off" Deal.  We were down to one can of chili for Hubs/Ex-College Boy so I bought 10 cans at $17.90 and got $5 off so $1.29 a can.

There was a Kellogg's "Buy 5 items/Get $5 Off" Deal.  I bought 4 boxes of Raisin Bran and 1 Pop-Tarts, spending $12.  I used a $2/4 Kellogg's cereals ManuQ making it $8, then got $5 off so $3 OOP for those 5 items.

There was also a Quaker Oats "Spend $15/Get $4 Off" Deal.  I bought 2 boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal, 2 boxes of instant oatmeal and a caninster of old fashioned oats, totaling $15.15.
I used a $1/2 Cap'n Crunch cereal ManuQ making it $14.15, then got $4 off so $10..15 OOP for all 6 items.

Then on Wednesday I hit another Shursave Market that had a certain brand of pasta and did the Kellogg's deal again...........

3 Raisin Brand/1 Mini-Wheats and 1 Pop-Tart came to $12 and I got $5 off so $7 OOP for all 5 items.
The DaVinci pastas were .88¢ per package and I had $1/2 ManuQs so $2.28 total or .38¢ each after sale/Q.

There were a few other things as well, a watermelon, a bag of frozen french fries, broccoli, a cuke, corn, a carton of OJ, half a lemon meringue pie 50% off, as well as some half price chicken breasts($2 off instant stickers at Shursave on the packages)and 1.86 lb. of boneless pork chops at Weis marked $6.28 off with sale and $1 instant discount stickers on the 2 packages.  I did not pay full price on any items this week except the milk(milk is highly regulated in PA and NEVER goes on sale).

I am off to peruse the coming week's ads and see if there are any "deals" I need.


Sluggy

More Rite-Aid, Ollie's & Weis

A return to Rite-Aid on Wednesday to get a prescription and do some deals.......

2 x Edge shave gel 20% wellness disc. price=$5.58
2 x Wet n'Wild nail color 40% off sale(.99¢reg.)=$1.18
4 x Wet n' Wild lip color 40% off sale(.99¢reg.)=$2.36
1 x Sure deodorant on sale=$2.00
1 x Brut deodorant on sale=$2.00
SubTotal......$13.12

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 In-ad RAQ=$4.00
1 x .50¢/1 Edge IPQ=.50¢
1 x .50¢/1 Edge RA Load2CardQ=.50¢
2 x .50¢/1 Wet n'Wild any item IPQ=$1.00
4 x .75¢/1 Wet n'Wild lip color IPQ=$3.00
1 x .75¢/1 Sure deodorant IPQ=.75¢
1 x .75¢/1 Brut deodorant IPQ=.75¢
Coupon Total.......$10.50

$13.12-$10.50=$2.62 + .16¢tax=$2.78 OOP
This OOP was put on a R-A gift card.
I earned $2 in Plenti Pts. back on this transaction too so this lot "cost" .78¢.
$19.90 worth of regular retail goods obtained.

Then I hit Ollie's to use my 15% off Q they mailed me this Fall before it expired on Sunday......

Some Tuna Helper(to have on hand for emergency meals), sea salt, minced garlic and paprika.
$6.99 OOP spent on $16.95 worth of regular retail goods.

Then it was off to Weis(PMITA)Markets before the sale week ended to get a few items........

Go HERE to see the video I made of this trip.

$17.85 OOP on $35.15 worth of food for a 49% savings rate.

These 3 transactions bring my grocery spending thus far this week to $36.59 and $216.96 spent for November. $83.04 left in the food budget this month.

Sluggy

Say Cheese!

I went back to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Wednesday, one trip before my doctor's appointment and one afterwards.

A did a short video on the first trip HERE.
$23.12 OOP and I qualified for that $5 Bush's Beans Rebate.


Then here is what I bought on the 2nd trip...........

Another Arm & Hammer detergent for .87¢ after coupon, 3 blocks of Cracker Barrel cheese and 1 bag of shredded cheese(the shredded is also included in the $5 Instant Savings Deal). The shredded cheese is .49¢ more than the CB blocks so I'll probably stick to the blocks for the rest of my cheese buying frenzy.

$4.40 OOP and a 78% savings rate over regular retail.

The drawer in the fridge is slowly filling up with cheese. 
Before you think that Sluggy has gone off the deep end buying so much cheese that her family can't possibly finish it all before the sell by date, here is my thinking.

These blocks are good for 6 months or so refrigerated.  If they don't get used by then, I'll shred whatever is left at that point and throw it into the freezer to buy us another 9 months to a year to get it used up(but I doubt any will last past the 6 months).  8-)

So tell me, if you have a chance to stock up on a staple your family used a lot of each month/year, would you spend the extra now to save money on that item for the coming year?

Personally I would to a degree.  The cheapest I can usually get a block of cheddar cheese(8 oz.)is $2.50(store brand).  Getting it now for .74¢ a block is quite the savings.  And this is not like ice cream or pickles or a junk food that we don't really "need"(ok, so nobody "needs" cheese necessarily either but it's part of our regular diet and a "real" food.).

Now if I was on a stricter budget(read smaller budget)and/or had to put these cheese purchases on a credit card or something I would NOT be buying a buttload of blocks.  Nor would I buy so much if I didn't have room to store it because that would just be silly on the level of Lucy Ricardo trying to smuggle a whole wheel of cheese back from Europe on the plane home.

It makes sense to buy this item ahead, NOW, while it's a great buy as opposed to spending at least $2.50 per block later this year on this item.
At least it makes sense for me.  8-)

Sluggy
 

Food & Toiletries Spending.....April Update

 Onward to April's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2014.

I have posted April's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in April.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 18.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $13.98
Value  $44.56
Savings   68.63%

BROOKSHIRE'S
OOP  $23.94
Qs/Ads  $11.35
Value  $35.29
Savings  32.16%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $62.34
Qs/Ads  $44.02
Value  $106.36
Savings  41.58%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $91.77
QsAds  $60.89
Value  $152.66
Savings    39.88%
 

RITE-AID
OOP  $3.46
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $98.73
Value  $102.42
Savings  96.40%

SAM'S CLUB
OOP  $42.77
Value  $68.37
Savings  37.44%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $75.47

Qs/Ads  $65.41

Value  $140.88

Savings  29.44%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $156.84

Qs/Ads  $56.80

Value  $213.64

Savings  26.59%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 96.40%,  the Bread Outlet at 68.63% and the local Grocer at 46.43%.  My WORST savings rate was Weis(PMITA)Markets at 26.59%.
I shopped at 8 different stores this past month. (2 of them new ones while on vacation.)

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$470.57

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$393.61

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$864.18

TOTAL Savings of...................................45.52%

Without counting the Rite-Aid shopping, my savings rate was 38.39%.

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into April with no expectations, which was a good thing since we spent well over $400 this month.  We did a bit of stocking up on loss leaders and took some food/toiletries to my daughter in Louisiana. I shoot for a monthly savings rate over regular retail of 40% and we surpassed that with the Rite-Aid spending included.
While I get good value for what I spend(my OOP vs. the regular retail price)I am finding it difficult to keep the actual spending low.
I sucked at being frugal on food/toiletries in April.
bleh.



LOOKING AHEAD TO MAY......

After a runaway food spending month in April plus the road trip expenses I'll be trying to reign in the outgoing cash in May.  I want to try to keep food spending to $300 or so.
We don't have any celebrations with food related costs for May so let's see if I can keep the spending down.

Of course after saying all this, I went out and spent $89.54 at the grocer store this week.
I suck.

 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$1,511.46

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $377.87.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in April?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy