Frugal Friday......November 17th Edition

Let's see what actions of note we preformed to stay frugal this past week other than the usual..........

*  We finally decided on "the" buffet for the dining room.  I like this one as it's "me" style wise(yes, I am such a style icon lolz), it doesn't overwhelm the room and if in our retirement house we don't have a dining room per se the we can use it in a living room or other spot in the home.  It's a great storage piece.
I bought it online so it was cheaper and within the budget I set.  I also found a coupon code and went through a cash back site so got a few dollars in kickback money.

* The payment for selling those free to me TRU gift cards arrived and I cashed it in and added this to my money stash.

* I received some Weis(PMITA)Markets coupons in the mail.  Inside the cover was an offer for 10% off when you buy a $50 or $100 Visa/Mastercard Debit Gift Card.
So, depending on the purchase fee on these(and there is ALWAYS a purchase fee on these unlike a store branded gift card), if I buy a $100 Gift Card it ends up being a 7% or 5% offer.
If fee is $4.95 I pay $94.95 for a $100 card and if the fee is $2.95 I pay $92.95 for a $100 card.
So $5 or $7 free if I spend it all before they access a monthly $3 fee after 30 days.  No problem spending $100 in 1 month between groceries and prescriptions.

* I sold 6 of 8 items I listed on eBay last week.  That's $150 in my pocket before all those Paypal/eBay/shipping fees. 8-(

*  I bought a pint of "high protein/less sugar" ice cream called Enlightened this week.  It was $4.99 but after receiving a $4 Ibotta rebate and using a $1/1 Q from the Fall/Winter Weis Coupon book I got paid .01¢ to bring it home.  I'll let you know if it's as tasty as regular ice cream. 8-)))

*  I finally was able to exchange some of the size 5 diapers I got in Oct. as part of that Huggies/TRU gift card deal so I can sell them.  (Size 5s don't sell easily like the smaller sizes do.)  With that TRU deal in October all the Rite-Aids ran out of every size but 5's and have been slow to restock so it's taking time to get the right sizes.  I just keep receipts and a bag of diapers in my car and anytime I have to go in I just check if they have gotten any diapers in. lolz
I will probably just put the exchanged diapers out in the garage until the Holidays are over and get around to selling them on the local tag sale site in the Spring.  I don't "need" the cash now but a garage full of diapers is as good as money in the bank. lolz

Here's hoping y'all had some frugal wins this past week!
Tell us about any really good ones.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....November 10th Edition

In terms of making $$ it was a good frugal week here at Chez Sluggy.

* I received two liquor rebate checks in the mail this week.  Actually receiving liquor rebates you send away for in PA is hit or miss on whether you actually get them.  I bought some booze in Wisconsin while visiting cousin Sonya Ann this Summer that had rebate hang tags so I sent away for the rebates and I actually finally received two of the three sent away for.  (The other one was received in September.)

* I listed some Box Tops for Education points on eBay and they sold within 3 days!  I listed them as a Buy It Now item but I also received Best Offers.  I got a Best Offer the first day of HALF the price I listed the items for, which I declined.  Then I got a 60% of my price Best Offer and considered it.  Then I looked and found that the person offering me this deal was also selling BTFE points on eBay for the same price I was selling my lot for!  My first thought was that they wanted my listing gone(and they'd turn around and resell my lot for a teeny tiny profit).
So I declined that offer as well.  A few hours later someone bought the lot for full price. Yay!
Thanks to fellow blogger Belinda for her advice and help with this as I've never sold this sort of thing on eBay.   8-)

*  Remember those TRU gift cards I got for free?  Well instead of trading 2 of them for Amazon gift cards I went ahead on a different gift card exchange site and sold them for cash.  The price to sell them immediately to the site was $18.75 but I could list them on the site at the price I set(I chose $21 each)and wait for a buyer.  Since there were no TRU gift cards listed at that time on the site I had no competition and within 1 hour of listing them I had sold both.  I'll get a check for $42 in about a week as the website has mailed the check this week.  So now I can maybe purchase the coffee grinder elsewhere if I find a lower price or I'll have more cash than I thought and can purchase it on Amazon as planned.  Gotta keep those options open, right?

*  I got a set of coupons for Kohl's in the mail.....an $8 off any priced purchase(so $8 free)and a $10 off a $25 purchase good on Nov. 10th only.  I'll probably take my daughter Friday evening to Kohl's to see if we can find her something to wear for right around $25.  I also have a 20% Q when I use my Kohl's card to pay so we'll be able to reduce the price of whatever she finds a better deal.
Of course this frugal thing means spending $ but by using all the possible tricks to not spend as much it helps me feel better about having to spend.

*  Hubs and I went out for lunch to our usual spot, Bob Evans, on Thursday since we were out running errands.  The waitress was a bit unorganized and forgot to get our drinks so after bringing this to the attention of management we got our drinks for free and I didn't have to pay for the upgrade to substitute a salad for a side dish.  I also used a 20% Q for the meal.

What frugal things did you attempt this past week?

Sluggy

Are You Sure This Isn't the UPS Store?.....

I am struggling to find anything worthwhile to say this week.
My life is revolving around eBay lately so that's what you're going to hear about ad nauseum.....

Between that and my dining room looking like the shipping dept. of a huge corporation I've pretty much not left the house or done anything except list/pack/ship stuff on "you know e-where" for days.

 The downstairs of my house looks like a UPS Store most days.....boxes, cardboard, Goo Gone, scissors, yardsticks, pens, bubble wrap, newspapers, packing tape rolls, paper garbage laying EVERYWHERE.

Then Sunday and Monday I sold NOTHING for 48 hours.
During the weeks before Christmas?  THAT'S weird....and it had me on edge people....seriously on edge!

Sunday I get....people take time off from consumerism some days and anybody who shops on the weekend is most likely doing so at the mall or some brick & mortar store.
But Monday.....specifically the 3rd Monday before Christmas!.....most everyone is back at work so it's prime time to shop online while the boss has his/her back turned, right?

Nothing.
Crickets chirped.
The clock in the kitchen ticked off the seconds annoyingly loudly.

I went to a dr. appointment and rushed home to find....nothing sold.

I wrote my weekly meal plan/food spending post.  Surely after that much time there will be an email that something sold?.....didn't happen.

The mail lady came to the door and asked me why I had NO PACKAGES to pick up....was I sick?...in the hospital?.....abducted by aliens?  Sorry.....just not selling anything.

I read blogs for HOURS.....still nothing.

I moved crap around the living room and put things in the garage that weren't worth listing "you know where" to sell and got them ready for the ride to the Salvation Army.  I paused at my computer screen each trip through the den to see if I had a "Your eBay item sold!" email......nope!

I bought a social coupon deal on EverSave for $70 worth of wine for $35 HERE.  I had $10 in Save $s so it cost me only $25.  I then proceeded to spend it and bought gifts for 2 people on my list.  With the shipping and the couple of dollars I spent over $70 I paid another $22, so $70 of wine for $47.  I'd call this a very good deal!
While I was doing this online, I waited to hear that magical tune/note that mail had landed in my inbox....a potential sale?....nope, just spam and deal blogger ads...blah!

Then after Hubs came home and I bitched to him about how I think the Holiday selling rush was over so, so prematurely, the emails started popping up that I had made a sale or two.....and Hubs rolled his eyes at me for being a Drama Queen who needs a life.

Thank you eBay buyers for driving me stark raving mad AND making a liar out of me. ;-)

I was forced a little over a week ago to go buy packing tape.
You can't sell on eBay without large amounts of packing tape.....true dat!

And no, I don't hop up to the store and buy a couple of rolls, I buy industrial size amounts.....

36 Rolls.
And I am hoping it lasts me until I am done for good with eBay selling....but I know it won't. lol

And of course about a week after I ran out of tape, I was down to my last roll of bubble wrap.  2 days after Cyber Monday and I'm looking at the last roll of bubble wrap....hell no!!!

It figures.....you NEVER run out of both at the same time.....that's one of the Murphy Laws, isn't it?

Now my "roll of bubble wrap" is not what the average person pictures as a roll of bubble wrap.
This is a normal person's idea of a BIG roll of BW....

This is what I mean by a roll.....

And one of those isn't enough!

So here is what is taking up residence in my kitchen at the moment.....

Yes, 4 mega rolls of bubble wrap that are almost as tall as I am.
And yes, I had a hard time parting with the amount of money it cost, but it cost a LOT less buying it in bulk than running to the store for an anemic little roll OR 20! every couple of days.lol

And for all you bubble wrap popping addicts out there.....and I KNOW you are drooling over my Stash......keep your freaking hands OFF it!!!

This is NOT for fun and games....I have serious work to do I tell ya.....serious!

I know y'all BW addicts will enjoy this video.  Just be sure and turn DOWN your speakers if you are at work or you have a heart condition. ;-)

Sluggy