Frugal Friday.....December 1st Edition

Let's see what frugal wins we had this past week.

* I received a $5 rebate check for buying some vitamins in October.

This was part of those Huggies diapers/TRU gift card Deals.  This $5 cash back puts me at $2.49 in PPs spent down total for a ton of suff I got and once I sell all those packs of diapers I'll be at least $77.51 CASH in the black plus have all that stuff I bought as part of that Diaper Deal back in October.

* Remember the coffee grinder I wanted to buy on Amazon for Hubs for Xmas?  Well I got this........

An Amazon Prime Visa card.  It came with a $70 Amazon credit and there is no annual fee to have the card.  I applied said credit toward the purchase of the coffee grinder (since I was going to buy it on Amazon anyway)so with tax(free shipping)the grinder will only cost me $14.76 OOP.

Before anyone says it's a bad idea to get a credit card just for a free credit on it(which ordinarily I'd agree with you on that but).....1-I have been considering getting a second credit card for awhile now since we only have one card now and we've had an issue in the past with that card company freezing our card when we were on vacation(not fun).  A back-up card, since we will be traveling some in retirement, is a wise move. And 2-I am someone who can tuck a credit card away and NOT USE IT.  Getting into credit card debt is not something that will happen to me after 30+ years of handling credit responsibly.  ;-)

* I got a baker's dozen of Panera bagels this week and it didn't cost me anything.  I used a free with credit card points gift card to pay and I still have $36.02 left on that gift card.

* Remember this coupon Weis sent me?...........

I used that 10% off when you buy a Mastercard or Visa debit gift card Weis(PMITA)Markets this week before it expired and purchased a $100 Mastercard debit gift card.

I paid $95.95 for that $100 M/C with the $5.95 "fee" Visa/Mastercard charges for them so once I use the $100 on that card I'll have saved $4.05(Value of card-Cost of card+Activation Fee)total.   Not a big "win" but $4.05 free is $4.05 free.

I also earned 20 Weis Points for "spending" $100 at Weis.

Weis has a similar Xmas Deal, a free ham/turkey/large lasagna/etc. for 50 Points, like they had at Thanksgiving.
So I just need 30 more points to earn a meat or lasagna freebie for Xmas.
I may transfer 3 rxs to the Weis pharmacy that need refilling this month before the Free Meat promo ends.  Each rx will earn me another 10 Points so I don't technically have to spend any money at Weis to get the free ham.
Or if I use the whole $100 on that card at Weis I can potentially earn another 20 in Points toward the free meat deal.
Any way this works out for me it will be Sweet!

*  I got all this at Rite-Aid during the 4 Day sale........

$65.67 in Plenti Points were spent and $61.00 in new Plenti Points were earned so I "spent down" my PPS by $4.67 and in return brought all this home--
* 4 shave creams
* 1 lotion
* 5 baby wipes packs
* 10 lip balms
* 2 Tummy Zen
* 4 Hydralyte tablet packs
* 18 candy bars

Not bad for $4.67 in Plenti Points.
Lots of stocking and giveaway box stuffers! 8-)))

* While I don't "do" Black Friday(other than Rite-Aid)I did go online Saturday night and purchase a few things from Kohl's(3 shirts and a sweater)and that all qualified for free shipping.  Besides the sale prices on the items, I used 2 different discounts totaling $23.40 off, my $8 anniversary credit and earned $15 back in Kohl's cash.  I also earned $2.70 from the cash back site I went to the site through.
I am not one to advocate shopping until you drop, but sometimes you have to buy things.  So why not squeeze every discount out when you open your wallet?  ;-)

*  And just so you don't think my life is a perpetual frugal love fest here, check this out..........

These are teeny tiny Yankee Candle brand candles.  They were a "door buster" item I got at Boscov's(a local/regional department store)the weekend before Thanksgiving when Hubs and I went there to get some flannel sheets that were a good buy.  With any purchase you were "allowed" to buy up to 2 of these candles for $1.99 each.  The photo in the ad was quite deceptive and made these look like larger Yankee Candles.  Plus they had them hidden behind the register counter so you couldn't smell/inspect them beforehand.
Nope, they are tiny. lolz
I thought I was getting a "deal".
Ummm, no!  But they do smell nice.....


So what frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Tell us all about them.

And remember.............

Sluggy

Grocery Deals This Week at Weis

Here are some of the best grocery deals I got at Weis(PMITA)Markets this past week/sales ad.

These 6 items were part of the Mix N' Match/Buy 6 Items Get $3 Off Instantly Deal.

4 x Dole dippers(fruit covered in chocolate)
2 x lobster ravioli in sauce(ready made dinner)
Regular retail on all this is $31.94

Sale prices this week for all was $24.94
Deduct $3 for buying 6=$21.94
Deduct $4 in coupons I had for the Dole products=$17.94
Deduct $6 for the 2 x $3 Instant Discount stickers on the ravioli=$11.94 for all 6 items.

After sale/deal instant/instant discount stickers the lobster ravioli were $2.99 per package, much better than the $7.99 they usually go for.
Now I know these aren't usual items in my menu-the ravioli was a bit of a splurge meal and I have been wanting to try those chocolate covered fruit things. 8-)

I picked up 3 1 lb. packs of mushrooms marked down 50% off($1.99)and 1 bag of shredded carrots also marked down 50% off($1.24).
We love mushrooms here but rarely find them 1/2 off.

A trip to the Day Old Bakery rack yielded Garlic Bread($1.50), Bagels($1.24), Oatmeal Cookies($2.50)and Muffins($2).  All 1/2 off.

Daughter requested Pop-Tarts. Since they were on special for $1.67 this week(Must buy 3 to get that price)and I had 2 x $1/2 IPQs for them, I got her 4 boxes for $1.17 each.  This should keep her sweet tooth in check for quite some time.

A wander down the condiment aisle and I saw these were on clearance for 50% off...Masterpiece BBQ sauce($1), Sweet Baby Ray's Special Sauce and BBQ Mustard Sauce-SC style bbq($1.09).
With grilling season coming I scooped these up.

Gorton's seafood was 50% off this week and when you bought 3 items you also got an instant $2 discount your order.
3 x $6.99=$20.97-$10.50 off=$10.47-$2 instant discount=$8.47-$2 in ManuQs I had=$6.47 for 3 bags of fish/shrimp or $2.16 per package.

New England Coffee was BOGO this week and Hubs and the Daughter wanted some plus I had a $1.50/2 ManuQ so two bags cost me $6.99 or $3.50 per bag.  A bit more than I like to spend on something I don't drink. lolz

These individual Minute Rice fried rice cups are regularly $2 each but on sale for 3 for $5 or $1.67 each this week and I had a $1/2 ManuQ so $1.17 each after sale and Q.
Hubs or Daughter can use these for quick lunches or I can send them to College Boy as this is something he can heat up in his room for a quick bite to eat.

Discount Sticker meats were plentiful when I went to Weis this week.
I got these end loin pork chops, regular price was $15.08-$6.55 for sale price=$8.53 and there were 2 x $2 instant discount stickers=$4.53 for both packages.  These totaled 2.85 lbs. so $1.59 per lb.

And my best deal were these 3 packages of 90% lean ground beef.  They had a sell by date of that day but that's just because it was the last day of the sales ad and I suppose the staff doesn't want to have to repackage and relabel all that meat.  This stuff goes for over $5 per lb. usually.
$38.35 reg. price these packages-$20.16(the sale price)-$9 in Instant Discount Stickers=$11.16 for 6.74 lbs. of ground beef or $1.66 per lb......for 90% lean!!!
I would have bought ALL the packages at that price except I have no room in the freezer for it.

Anyway, this trip was $70.55 and $164.88 reg. retail price so I saved $94.33 with sales/coupons/instant discounts. or a 57.21% savings rate.

Except I used one of those discounted Weis gift cards I bought on Raise dotcom last December for 10% off face value.
So IF I had paid for the gift card this year I'd have saved another 10% on this transaction(paid $63.50 for all)but since I paid for the gift card with last year's money I essentially spend $0 out of pocket  on the whole transaction.
Sweet.

Working the angles and working the deals to save us money here at Chez Sluggy.

What good deals have you found on groceries this week and where?

Sluggy

This is How I Roll......the Catalinas That is!

I began last week with $12 in Catalinas(1 x $5 and 1 x $7) to roll at Weis Markets.
I did 4 transactions last week, rolling these 2 Cats and rolling the subsequent 2 $7 Catalinas I received in the first 2 transactions I completed.

Select dairy items where "Buy $20, Get a $7 OYNO(aka on your next order)Catalina coupon.
The buy amount was based on the regular shelf price, but most of the items that qualified were on sale last week.  Plus I had coupons for some of the items, which brought my OOP cost even lower.

For example--Friendly's ice cream was one of the qualifying items.  Reg. price is $5.99 at Weis.  It was on sale for $2.50.  I also had tearpad coupons I had obtained at Weis a month ago for $1/2 Friendly's ice cream or sherbet.

So I bought 4 ice creams.
Reg. shelf price of $23.96.
Sale price of $10.00
I used 2 x $1/2 coupons...$10-$2=$8.00
I also had a $7 Catalina coupon from that store for items I bought 2 weeks ago I used.
$8-$7=$1 OOP
I paid $1 for 4 ice creams and got another $7 Catalina coupon back.

Another transaction I bought....
2 Friendly's ice cream-reg. price of $11.98/sale price of $5.00
2 Bailey's creamers-reg. price of $4.78/sale price of $3.33
2 Heluva Good dips-reg. price of $4.38/sale price of $3.33
Total reg. prices of $21.14.
Total sale prices of $11.66.
I used a $1/2 ice cream Q, 2 x $1/1 bailey's IPQs, 2 x .50¢ Helavu Good item IPQs which doubled to $1 each, for a grand total of $5.00 in Qs.
Add in the $5 Catalina Q that I rolled from the previous week and my Q total is $10.
I paid $11.66 and got $10 off in Qs.
$11.66-$10 in Qs=$1.66 OOP for all 7 items.
And I received another $7 OYNO Catalina Q.

I also found and purchased some other good deals at Weis last week.
Like 8.5 lbs. of ground beef with 3 Instant $3 off meat coupons on them, making the per lb. price $1.86.
Store clearance on store brand Kielbasa for $1.99.....this use to be my rock bottom buy price but I haven't seen it this low in about a year here.  The new RBP is $2.50 so I snatched these up fast! 

Here is what I got at Weis in 4 transactions last week.  First the Catalina deal items.....
12 ice creams
2 creamers
3 dips
8 greek yogurt
And everything else....
1 package of yeast
2/3 lb. peaches
4 bags of salad
4 lb. strawberries
1 gallon milk
2 bags of glazed chicken strips
1 lb. shrimp
8.5 lb ground beef
5 lb. kielbasa
1 package of tortillas
7 bottles of 100% juice

Reg. price would have been $231.16.
I paid $88.47 for a savings of 61.73%
And I have $14 in Catalinas to roll(I had a $7 & a $5 from 2 weeks ago that I rolled this week.)

While no where near an EXTREME COUPONING savings trip, I thought it rather good given that I bought alot of meat proteins and nothing "processed" except  for the ice cream, dips and creamer...which were the items that qualified me for the catalina Qs.  They did have other "unprocessed" foods that qualified like cheese, butter and almond milk(this isn't really dairy now, is it?lol) but I didn't need those plus there were no additional coupons for them.

Anyway, that $88.47 added to the health food store purchase brings my food spending in June to $111.95.  I have $138.05 left for this month with 22 days to go.

Do you think I can stay under budget this month?

Sluggy