Frugal Friday....the October 18th Edition

  There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.....

*   I bought some stuff at Kroger this past Tuesday.

I got some great deals.  The can of almonds were $1.13 on clearance(also part of the Buy 5 Deal), the Justin's dark chocolate cashew butter cups were .98¢ on clearance and I had an Ibotta rebate for .75¢ back, making them .23¢ ea.(I got 5 but ate one so there are only 4 in the photo), the Reese's packs were .52¢ each(again, I ate one before I took the photo), the Dolly Parton Betty Crocker Chocolate cake mixes were $1.08 each.  The Protein bars(Cliff Builder Bars)were .75¢ each after sale and rebate.  The BC frostings were .99¢ each after rebate and sale.  The Melatonin bottles were BOGO and I had a $6/2 coupon so they cost $2.99 for both.  The bag of Sambucus Elderberry Lozenges was $1.02 after sale/coupon/rebate.  The oatmeal was just on sale for $1.49.  The Beggin' Strips were negative $1.17 for both after sale, coupon and rebate.  The Pedigree treats were $1.99 for both after sale and rebate.  Not pictured is the Dove whole body deodorant which cost minus .01¢ after sale/coupon/rebate.
The GM cereals were $4.47 for all 3 after rebate.(food bank items).  The chocolate chips were $2.74 each after coupons and rebate(food bank items).  I also bought 2 lb. of strawberries(better price this week but I was out), some reduced price salad kits and 2 lb. of yellow squash for $1.19 lb.

*  I picked these up after I saw a Youtuber's deal..........

4 travel size Jergens lotions.  Too bad Walmart doesn't carry the Cherry Almond scent as that is my favorite. 8-)   I also took a screenshot of the offer as this deal was a Shop Kick one and they are notorious for pulling offers between when you get rung up at the register and when you get home to send for it.

Well I only got the kicks for 1 item last night so I contacted them(as it was still 4 items qualified last night on their app)so I wrote them last night.

Wake up to an email from "Brett" this morning informing me I could only get kicks for 1 item(and looked and the offer is only for 1 item this morning).

So since this is not my first rodeo with Shop Kick, I sent him the screenshot I took in the store of the offer which said 4 items and reminded him of my date/time stamp on the receipt I submitted, which he has, and stated my case.

If they don't make this right, I'll just return the other three and rebuy them 1 at a time until they pull the offer. 

Anyway, these should be .47¢ each with the offer and great for keeping in your car or purse.

*  Not much else going on here.  Hubs too a big load to the Food Bank this week.  I've been trying to walk more with just the cane and had some 

Rxs filled at Walmart. Had an appointment with the Neurosurgeon's office and I don't know why since the Pain Management doc did a nerve black on me which worked.  I just think they want me to have back surgery which I refuse to do. The weather has finally cooled down on hell's front porch and we opened windows for a couple of days.  We didn't eat out all week either. 

*  I found money!

I found two pennies at Walmart on Saturday the 12th, while leaving the store.

I found a dime in the back of the car on the 14th.  Don't know who's it is or where it came from so I am counting it. lol

Total Found last week..... .12¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$8.68 & 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   

Frugal Friday on Saturday.....the December 29th Edition

My week is a bit bolloxed up this week what with Christmas and company and not posting for a bit while they were here so forgive my Late Edition of Frugal Friday please.

Frugal wins this week?  You tell me if I had any. lolz

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

A jar of gravy.
Whoo.
Pee.

*  Last Friday I also got all this at Weis on their Fantastic Friday sales.......

A bag of shredded cheese which was on sale last ad for $2.  I had a .75¢/1 Q Weis mailed me plus a digital Weis Q for $1/1 came off as well so I paid .25¢ for an 8 oz. bag of cheese.
Go me!

These unusual cereals were $1.49.  Multiple digital Qs came off(no clue how or why!)so I ended up paying .49¢ box.  I was very curious to try the banana pudding one.  Could be horrid, could be yummy.

I also had printed off 6 Ragu Qs at Coupons dotcom for $1/2 jars of Ragu.  The Ragu, including the Ragu Simply(no added sugar), was $1 a jar on sale so these cost me $6 total or .50¢ per jar after sale/Q.
I gave BIL 4 jars of it in his Xmas box and we'll use the other 8 jars at Chez Sluggy.

*  Eldest brought his GF here for Christmas.  Because I have a stockpile of goodies I didn't have to go out and spend additional cash on putting together some gifts for her.  I don't know her tastes and other than the 1 suggestion Eldest could come up with for a gift(a book in a series someone wrote about the different Disney movies and what would have happened if the dark side had taken over......it's Disney related so I just couldn't bring myself to purchase this, being the anti-Disney person I am lolz)I didn't have the time or inclination to go out last minute to fend off the hoards in the stores to shop.  So I culled a box of chocolates, a restaurant gift card and some stocking stuffers from my stash and I let her raid my Rite-Aid freebies box of make-up too. 8-)

*  I got paid to take a tube of toothpaste outta Weis on another trip.........

I don't usually go down the toiletries aisles at Weis since well, Rite-Aid gives me all that sort of thing for free 8-).
I just happened to spot this brand/type of toothpaste that was on clearance for half price, $1.47.  I knew I had a $2/1 Crest digital Q attached to my Weis card so I stuck it into my order.  The overage between the price paid and the value of the Q(.53¢)went toward all the other items in my cart that I actually had to pay money for. lolz  It was an unexpected bonus of savings and a freebie.

*  We didn't go to the brew pub after Friendly's on Wednesday  night due to the pub being full up.  Came home, drank beer at home and played games on the tv, thereby saving about $100 we would have spent on that outing.

As always, stay frugal my friends!

What frugal wins did y'all have last week?




Sluggy

Frugality These Days at Chez Sluggy

I haven't talked about frugality lately, that is, if you don't count my meal planning/menu posts on Monday.

So what kinds of frugal things has Sluggy been up to?

Not much really.
Other than working the grocery stores to spend as little as possible, meal planning and incorporating leftovers into the menu, I've not done much.

I haven't been actively trying to make more money but then again, I haven't been out spending unnecessarily either.

No Rite-Aid trips except for medications.
Oh, there was an issue earlier in the week when College Boy picked up his meds.....they overcharged him because they didn't put the Rx through on our prescription plan.
So I called and asked WTF?!? and got the difference refunded.
Yay me.

Daughter used a discounted gift card I already had to get a pair of pants for work at no cost to her.
Ok so this didn't actually save me anything but it did her.

We haven't eaten any meals out since last Saturday so no Eating Out spending for a solid week.
Daughter and BF went out to eat Saturday night rather than eat leftovers but Hubs and I stayed home and ate what was here.
Rah.

Speaking of eating out.......College Boy's friend cleans the local BK at night so he gets freebies there sometimes.  He gave CB some of those new Mac & Cheetos things the other night......

If you haven't heard about this new "food"(using that term loosely)it's mac and cheese nuggets shaped into Cheetos shapes and then covered in Cheetos dust/crumbs/whatever.

They look like turds warmed over and the nibble I took told me they are not something I'd spend my good money on.

Ok, maybe if you are drunk or stoned out of your mind you'd enjoy these but keep your eyes closed while eating them. lolz
I fed the 3/4 of the one I tried to Daughter's dog and she gobbled it up and hasn't died yet.
I just wonder how many named chemicals are in those things? bleh.

I've stayed home all week except to hit the grocery store.
I've spent time moving crap around, putting other crap into boxes to take to donate, vacuuming, paying bills and figuring out how to arrange and then moving furniture in the house.
And getting Daughter to move her and BF's stuff so it's not strewn all over the house.

Remember the Salvation Army truck that didn't pick up my stuff?
Well, I took photos of all the stuff and posted it all for FREE on my town's tag sale FB page on Friday afternoon and as of 5 pm Saturday it's all gone!!

I must have had 50 people wanting various things.
Even after I posted it was all taken I had people posting wanting things.

I guess giving stuff away is really anti-frugal but this frees up space in the house so well worth getting rid of it all.
Once we get the daybed, other exercise bike and the dreadmill moved I will feel a whole lot less anxious about things in the house.


I did go out early in the week....or was it last week, I can't remember.....and bought myself these.......

Purple pint canning jars!
I have lusted after these since they came out but couldn't see myself spending a premium because the jars were purple.
So I waited and bided(bode?) my time.
Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)had them cheap plus I had a 15% my order coupon so I picked up 2 packages(12 jars)for just over .50¢ after tax.
Much better than the $18.49 for 6 they are going for currently on Amazon.
Humph.

That's about all from Chez Sluggy.
What's going on at your house?

Sluggy

My Week of Not Spending & Very Boring Stuff

I didn't set out to do a Week of No Spending but that is how it's turning out.
Perhaps I should not speak of it at this point, so as to not jinx myself.
Oops, too late. 8-)

Our last trip to the grocery store was 12/30, so Day 5 in the new year and no grocery spending in January yet.
Go me!
Our last trip to Rite-Aid was on January 2nd and no cash was spent.
We used a gift card and had Subway sammies Friday evening for dinner.  The gift card was bought last month(and I got free grocery credit toward groceries for buying it), so that spending is on the books for 2012, not 2013.

The only other place I've been so far this year is the Bank to deposit dividend checks from 2012 and to cash a Christmas check for #2 Son.

It's been so bone chilling cold here the less I leave the house the better.

I've been moving stuff around in the house.  Especially all the excess toiletries, HBA and gift items I've hauled home in December for free from Rite-Aid.  It's gotten a little out of control with piles of stuff everywhere up in my bedroom that didn't get put into stockings or wrapped for under the Christmas tree.  The excess that wasn't given out has now been moved into the storage bins and containers with like items so it all can get found when needed as we use things up.  No point in having all this shampoo, deodorant and razors here if nobody can find the fresh supply when they run out of their current one.

Other items have been carted in from the garage into the house to restock from the excess that is stored out there.
I had hoped to spend part of this week freshening up the organization of the shelves in the garage and making sure everything was rotated.  Plus I wanted to do a fresh count on how much of which on the items out there......but it's just too blasted cold out there to stand it for more than 10 minutes at a time. Brrrrr!
Even so, I have discovered that I do NOT need to hit CVS this January to load up on almost free dishwasher detergent for the whole year, as I do every January.  CVS is known for having a killer sale after Qs and ECBS in January on Finish brand detergent.  I generally "buy" 20 boxes each January at the CVS sale to last me all year and it costs me pennies on the dollar.

With the assistance of #2 Son this week, I discovered that I have currently 43(FORTY THREE!)boxes of unopened dishwasher detergent in the garage stockpile.  And that is not counting the 10 automatic dispenser thingies of detergent I picked up at Rite-Aid over the last 2 years. 8-P

I figure I go through 20 boxes a year, which means I am still working on using up dishwasher detergent I bought back in 2010!  LOLOL
Yes, I'll just stay out of CVS this year to avoid anyone from nominating me for that Crazy Coupon Show....

I've also been closing out the balance sheets on 2012 financials.
And slowly putting away the wrapping paper and other Christmas accoutrements, though I haven't tackled denuding the tree and taking that down yet.
One of the more welcomed chores has been the removing of all the Holiday foods, one bite at a time.  lol

I may break my accidental Fiscal Fast Saturday as there are some items I want from the grocery store and the sale week ends that day.  Besides the Subway dining Friday evening, we've been creating meals and eating from what is on hand(see Holiday food status comment above).

In conclusion, it's been a very boring week around the Sluggy place.
Unless you've been inside my brain.  In there, it's been quite lively this week.  Working the money numbers get me all giddy and keep me up late into the night.  And then there are my thoughts about 2013......what to do, what to do!

What do I want to blog about?
What challenges do I want to follow in 2013?
What goals, if any, to concentrate on?
What does life have in store for me this coming year?

The possibilities are endless.
As one Gwendolen Fairfax once said, "The suspense is killing me.  I hope it will last!"



Sluggy

We got a call on Saturday from Daughter who is finishing up her training week at summer camp.  She was suppose to come home with DH on Sunday, when he went to drop off #2 son for his 2 weeks of camp.  Then she was suppose to go back to camp when we went to pick up #2 son and start her weeks of work there.
I guess she impressed the 'high mucky mucks' running the joint and/or some teens didn't show up for their designated weeks to work, as she was asked to work 2 extra week long sessions--the first week in the kitchen and the second with the 'special needs' campers.  So Daughter got 2 extra weeks of employment and is quite happy at the moment not to have to come home to the 'Boring House'.  Yes, not only is my blog boring but it seems everything I touch is boring....

As Daughter didn't pack but enough 'stuff' for 1 week of training I had to spend Saturday packing all the things she says she "desperately needs!" for the next 7 weeks of her life.  I about got writer's cramp taking notes over the phone, making the gargantuan list of items to take to her!  Then I got to spend a few hours hunting down and gathering all of those things in her rat's nest of a room!
Ugh.
So much for my Saturday....
Here are a couple of photos from the website from last week.

#1 son is standing on the far left.  And again, a fine looking group of teens & 20-somethings....

Yes, these are some of the future leaders of our nation...

 

And though my Daughter is very good at avoiding peoples with cameras I did find this lone shot w/her in it...on the left in turquoise with a sign on her chest.  Looks like some king of team building/role playing activity.  Oh, I KNOW she was enjoying that *voiced with a heavy dose of sarcasm*.....LOLOL

DH delivered #2 son & his 'stuff', along with daughters 'stuff' to the camp on Sunday and I got to sit home and babysit the dogs...ah!, the story of my life.....

That massive thundering noise you heard this afternoon was me turning cartwheels at the though of being CHILD-FREE for 2. Whole. Weeks!  8-))
Now if I could just afford to send the dogs to camp too....

I spent most of the day Sunday inside as it was beastly hot here.
Did I fall into a coma and it's really August now and not June because baby, it sure FEELS like August!?
I went online and checked out the weekly grocery/drug store sales flyers and took notes on what looked like a good deal this week.

I saw that Price Chopper(NE) has a teeny tiny Unilever product Catalina Deal this week.  There are ten, count 'em ten items that qualify and you have to buy $25(that's reg. shelf price, not sale price)to get a $7 OYNO Catalina.
The problem is that all the Qs that are out for the products(most had valid Qs available)expire on SUNDAY-June 20th-so you had to do the Catalina deal that day!!lol

I had 3 Unilever product inserts from May so I sat down and figured out I could do 3 transactions, spend $30.46 Out of Pocket and end up with $74.89 of groceries + a $7 OYNO Catalina to roll in the next couple of weeks.
It would have given me....
9 Ragu Sauce
6 Wishbone Dressing
11 Knorr Rice/Pasta pouches
4 Lipton Teabag boxes
3 Ice Cream containers

But in the end, I didn't even go to the store and do the deal.  I am lousy with sauce, dressing, rice/pasta and even teabags at this point and I really don't need anymore.
Yes, I really just said I don't need anymore.
The savings even with rolling the deal didn't give me enough savings to make it worth my while.
Am I loosing my killer coupon edge?

Maybe....
But I did hike up to Rite-Aid(where else would I go?!lol)and got some fun stuff.
More on that tomorrow....

Sluggy