Frugal Friday.....the September 6th Edition

Frugal Friday AGAIN!?!?
Yes please!
Let's do this........

*  Tomorrow I hope to turn all this into $$$..............

That's 7 Rubbermaid tubs + tote bags of toiletries I will attempt to sell at my Stockpile Sale on Saturday.  It's all now in the garage and I'll spend today setting everything up/out on the tables and then posting about it on the local sales sites.
Cross your fingers the weather forecast holds up and people show up and buy! 8-))

*  I found money just about everywhere I went last week(but I didn't go many places so there is that lol).

I found this quarter at Rite-Aid on Friday. It was shoved up under the candy rack/half under the floor mat in front of the second register counter.

After we left the farm where we picked peppers we hit Aldi.  Someone abandoned their shopping cart near the cart corral but more importantly they abandoned their quarter IN the cart slot. lolz

Then on Wellness Wednesday at Rite-Aid I found a penny under a candy rack by the door and then another penny back by the pharmacy counter.
.52¢ richer am I.

*  Hubs and I had lunch out on Tuesday at Denny's.  Had I known they no longer had the chicken salad sammy on their menu(it's been over a year since we've been to a Dennys') I would have insisted we go elsewhere to eat(as I didn't want breakfast food).
I had a burger and we used a $5 wys $20 Q.

*  When I went to the Pain Clinic on the 31st since I take opioids on occasion for my HS flare pain they asked me to be part of a research survey.
I earned this for 5 minutes worth of answering questions..........

*  Last Friday I got the Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets.....

*  I also got a few deals at Weis.......

Buy $15 worth of certain cleaner type things and get an instant $5 off.
These Finish tabs were $5 a bag and I had $2/1 ManuQs so it ws $15-$5 instant-$6Qs=$4.00 + .24¢ tax for all 3 bags.

When I went on Wednesday they had a bunch of new clearance in the canned meat aisle too.
We were getting low on tuna so I restocked the pantry. 8-)
The 4-pack of tuna was $2.99(50% off), the single cans of tuna were .83¢ each(50% off)and the large cans of chicken breast(10 oz. cans)were .75¢ a can! They were $2.50 and the register deducted .50¢ off each can and then $1.25 came off each can at the end. $2.50-.50¢-$1.25=.75¢ each!!!
I see lots of chicken salad in my future....... lolz


*  We needed a new mattress and frame/bed.  When Daughter changed her address with the local PO back in May they sent a packet here(she was long gone lolz)including this Wayfair 10% off coupon code.

There was also an Overstock % Q(our current king sized mattress and frame/bed came from there)but I didn't get the stuff ordered before that one expired. sigh
But I did get on the ball and get the items ordered(plus a new mattress for the daybed in Hubs' room)using this discount.  Two of the items were also on clearance plus this code saved me an additional $116+ so go me! ;-)

* Lots of Rite-Aid bounty this past week...........

All paid for with Bonus Cash plus a little bit on an old gift card.

*  Picked more of these.............

And turned them into this...........

I didn't pick any tomatoes this year at the farm like I did last year.  Between these jars, 6 jars from last year's harvest I still have, the fresh tomatoes I still need to turn into sauce here(stuff that's ripened since Wednesday)plus the canned tomatoes in the stockpile, along with the jars of ready-make sauce when I got a really good deal at the store, we are set.

*  I also got a deal at Kohl's on Labor Day.  There were 3 coupon codes that stacked plus I did store pick-up so no shipping charges.  I am still waiting for 4 items to show up at the store before I go pick it all up together and then I can show y'all what I got.
Nothing exciting really but I paid a fraction of the cost and it's stuff we can use. ;-)

*  But the best "deal" was this.......

19.61 lbs. of bell type peppers @ 65.¢ per lb.
Also got 2 large yellow squash and 6 ears of fresh corn for a total of $18.50.

That's about it from Chez Sluggy.

What frugal goodness happened in your world this past week?
Let us know all about it! 8-)


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

A Flurry of Food Shopping

I did not mean to spend the whole rest of my August food money this week but.............yep, it happened.

I needed cheese so off to Walmart we went(as they have the best price every day and no real cheese deals were to be had here this week)........

2 x Sparkle pt, 1 x Scott tp, 1 box of Sweet and Spicy tea and 3 x 2 lb. blocks of cheeses came to $25.68 after using coupons too.
I also earned $1.75 in Ibotta rebates on some of this.

Then it was off to Target(twice in two weeks!)since they had cases of water on special........

I got 6 cases of water for $1.69 each, 2 boxes of crackers on sale for $1.87 each, a jar of mayo on sale for $3.00 and 1 packet of chicken w/a 40% Cartwheel was .98¢.
I earned back $2.25 at Target on Ibotta($1.50 mayo, .50¢ chicken, .25¢ for buying any item).

I also bought 2 lbs. of 93/7 ground beef.......

$3 off discount stickers made these $2.69 each.  Not bad for 93%/7% beef.  Even better was I had free gift cards enough left that this was all FREE, zero OOP.
8-)))

I also hit Weis(PMITA)Markets on Tuesday(Senior Discount Day)for a few things and happened upon some clearance deals too.......

2 x Quacker Overnight Oats cup on sale=$3.00(and I had $1 in Qs)
2 x Del Monte peaches cups on sale=$3.54
1 x Tabasco big bottle=$3.39(and I had $1/1 Q)
6 x Snickers bars on sale B2G1Free=$4.00(and I had $3 in Qs)
2 x Tutturosso diced tomatoes on sale=$2.00

And then I found some clearance/discontinued items.....
7 x Tutturosso San Marzano whole tomatoes 50% off $1.14 can
6 x Furmano ground/peeled tomatoes 50% off .83¢
2 x Classico parmesan cheese 50% off  $3.24(cheaper than Kraft even if I had a Q for Kraft)
2 x sugar-free ZZZquil 50% off $2.74 each(and I had $1/1 Qs)

I also found some meat discounts....
1 x cut-up whole fryer chicken 2.97 lb for .71¢ lb after discount sticker
1 x Perdue B/S thighs 1.83 lb for $1.65 lb after discount sticker
1 x package sausages 1.40 lb for $1.56 lb after discount sticker

Grand Total after discounts/clearance and Qs was $55.35.

I also earned back $6.50 in Ibotta rebates($1 Tabasco, .75¢ Del Monte, $1 Quacker, .75¢ Tutturosso, $3 Weekend Warrior-buying 7 items over a certain period of time)so $48.85 after rebates too.

We also went and played field hands on Monday.....one of the hottest/muggiest days of the year.  Not the best planning on our part. lolz
We weren't out in the sun long but it seemed like forever once I had filled that mesh bag and had to haul it across the fields and up a hill back to the farm stand. UGH
We did bring home lots of fresh produce........

Fresh corn-6 ears for $3-which is already gone.

6 Japanese eggplant-3 for $1.

A huge cabbage for $2
23 lbs. of tomatoes at .40¢ a lb.(We picked these.)
19 lbs. of peppers(no green) at .60¢ a lb. (We picked these too.)
$29.60 spent OOP for all this.  Had I bought it all at the grocery store it would have run $73.99 or thereabouts.

I am about shopped and pick your owned out for this week. lolz

The August food budget has $1.80 left in it.  I got some screaming deals and didn't go over budget for the month so I am happy as a pig in sh&t! ;-)

Any good deals in your neck of the woods lately?

Sluggy

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like A Lot of Relish.....

Last Friday I decided that it was time for Pepper Relish Making Weekend.

So on Friday I drove out to the Farm Stand at Berger's Farm to see if the Red Bell Peppers were harvested yet.
The prices this year were way higher than usual at the farm, probably due to the lack of rain we've experienced here in the second half of Summer.  The late Summer crops have been lackluster at best.

They weren't selling the 'colored' peppers in bulk like in previous years but at .75¢ per pepper.  Ouch.
Only the green peppers were being sold at cheaper bulk prices.  While some of the green peppers in that bin were partially turning red there weren't enough of those to entice me to buy those peppers in bulk.

They did have a basket of "seconds" however.  These were molted red/green peppers who were "long in the tooth" and/or misshapen.  Still flavorful but just wrinkled and if served in a dish wouldn't be aesthetically pleasing but if I was going to chop them up anyway for relish it really didn't matter.

That large basket of seconds was only $4 so I bought that along with 5 "pretty" peppers for $3.75 for all 5.  Add in a peck of onions for $8 and I spent $16.25 on produce at Berger's farm.(I also bought 2 jalapenos for .25¢ each but not for using in the relish.)

Driving home, about 2 miles down from the Farm Stand I saw a white water barrel with a pepper and an arrow pointing up a house's driveway along the road, so I turned in.  Back behind this old house was a field of crops and a "Pick Your Own" business.
They had many varieties of peppers(from bell to jalapeno to cubanelle to banana to some Italian type I can't remember what it's called), as well as eggplant.
So on the hottest day in some time in these parts, and wearing a dress and not-so appropriate footwear for this sort of thing, I ended up lugging a large produce sack out into the fields to pick my own peppers at .50¢ a lb!

I lasted about half an hour at this and ended up with 14 lbs. of peppers in lovely colors of deep red, to orange to pale yellow.

The 14 lbs. for $7 total is in the red bag, the onions are in the middle, the $4 in seconds to the onions right in the photo and the pretty red/orange peppers are on the right.  2 jalapenos in the front.

Total spent on peppers and onions for relish making was $22.75.

I had enough peppers and tomatoes in the garden once I picked those for a double batch of relish.
Go me.
Cost of green tomatoes?
Free.

I spent some time Friday evening after dinner prepping peppers(coring, deseeding and slicing).

On Saturday morning bright and early the earnest work began after I set up the food processor.

Back in the old days, before I had a processor I use to hand chop all the veggies for this relish.
It took forever to do a batch that way, most of an entire day just to chop it all for a regular batch.
A double batch would have taken at least 1.5 days alone.

Now I get the chopping done in a fraction of the time, but I also do hand chop a portion of the veggies still since it makes the relish look so much nicer in the jar.

Here is the big bucket the veggies all go into with salt to soak for an hour before draining.

The rest of the supplies-vinegar, sugar, celery and mustard seeds ready to boil down into the 'sauce'.....

I had to utilize both of my large 8 quart stockpots, I had so much relish cooking!

Then the canning pot had to set to boil as I washed out canning jars, lids and rings.

Got the jars all ready(thanks to Hubs), filled and ready to go into the canning pot.  I had to process in 4 batches I had so many jars because the canner only holds 7 jars at a time.

By the end of the evening I was wiped out, my hand was sore from all that knife work, and the kitchen was a wreck but I had 16 pints and 5 quarts of relish done(plus about another pint it the fridge of "the pot dregs" to use first).  I usually make small jars of relish(for gift giving)but I couldn't find many small jars.  I suppose I've been giving the last batch I made 2 years ago away as gifts so I don't get the jars back, thus no small jars left in my supply. 8-)

And I spent most of the next day, Sunday, with my feet up, doing nothing.  I am just too old and worn out anymore to do a marathon of relish making and canning alone.

Plus I have about 8 lbs. of peppers left that I didn't use in the fridge, waiting on me to slice up to put into the freezer to use in meals this Winter.

I find I don't enjoy this sort of work much anymore in my dotage.  Maybe if I had help I wouldn't mind it so much.
This may be the last batch I make so it will have to last a good long while.

Sluggy