Frugal Friday......the October 19th Edition on Sunday

Let's see what frugalness happened around here this past week......

* I hit the bread outlet.

$10.95 for 4 loves of bread, 2 bags of rolls, 2 boxes of donuts and 3 bags of English muffins(cranberry!).  I spent $10 or more so I got a free bag of whole grain English muffins too.
Bought at reg. retail in the grocery store this all would have cost $47.49.  Even on sale at the grocery store it would have been around $29+/-.

*  I sent Hubs up for the Friday Freebie on the 12th........

A 2 lb. sack of flour.  Something I can always use so free was good!

*  I did a big shop at Weis(PMITA)Markets last weekend before we left on our trip.  Here are the highlights.......

The Kraft expertly paired cheese bags were on sale for $2(must buy at least 3-I bought 5).  I had a $1.25 cash rebate on Ibotta for these, up to 5 bags so they were .75¢ each in the end.
The tv dinners were on sale $1.99 each and I had a .75¢ cash rebate on Ibotta for these so $1.24 each in the end.
The Breakstone sour cream were $1.50 on sale and I had a .50¢ cash rebate on Ibotta for these so $1.00 each in the end.
I also had a coupon in a recipe book available at Weis for $1/1 Larabar.  The Larabars were $1 last week so this was free after coupon.

*  I found money on Tuesday.........

Hubs and I were in line at an Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)in Delaware when I spied this dime on the floor in our cashier line.  I reluctantly must say that I almost shoved the shopping cart violently into Hubs to get him to "move outta the way!" so I could pick this up before anyone else spied it.  Then I remembered that Kim wasn't with us and I took my time getting to it then. lololz

*  And speaking of good buys at Weis, I picked up these two pork butts before we left town too(part of that big shop I did at Weis mentioned above)......

These were .97¢ per lb.!  Haven't seen that price in something like 15 years around here so I grabbed two(making sure the sell by/use by date was long enough)and will be smoking these this week when we get a warmish day.
Then they will be finished off in the crock pot, shredded and the meat portioned out into freezer bags for the chest freezer for eating in 2019.

*  I don't remember if I mentioned this or not before........

My free EOS/Special K lip balm arrived.

*  We stopped at Walmart on the way to our vacation spot and picked up breakfast food, drinks and munchies.  We ate breakfast in the room each day and only ate 1 big meal out(dinner the first night/late lunch the second night)to save money.  Much more cost effective to not be eating out for every meal. 8-)

*  The last of the basil got pulled up the day before we left town.

I dried it in the oven and ended up with 2 small mason jars of dried basil.

In the background in that shot is also the last of the tomatoes we picked before we left and the weather turned much colder.  Now I have to tally up the grand total of what we harvested from the garden this past season.

*  And finally look at what arrived in the mail..........

My seasonal 15% off purchase coupon for being part of the "Ollie's Army".  We'll figure out how we plan to use this in early November to get the best value from it.

That's about it here.  Sorry I am so late with this but I didn't even open the computer a couple of days and the internet was not optimal anyway and who wants to be online when this is the sight out your front door................

What frugal stuff did you do this past week?  Tell us all about it.


As always, remember the words of the "Frugalest Man in the World"......

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....October 27th Edition

Not much to report this week that was frugal, other than the usual stuff we do/don't do around here.

* I got this at Rite-Aid.......

6 x Yoohoo drink box 3 packs on sale but Wellness discount was more(.80¢)=$4.80 + .30¢ tax=$5.10

I paid with Plenti Points and earned $4 in new PPs back.($2 wyb 3 packs x 2)  Evidently these are part of a Drink and Cookies PP Deal.
I'll let Daughter and College Boy fight over 'em. lolz

After Plenti Points used these came out to .06¢ a box.  They would be frugal for your kid's lunch box if you let them drink this sort of thing.

I also picked up these as I heard they double dipped on a weekly and a monthly Deal, but sadly they didn't........

2 x Brookside dark chocolate covered fruit flavor candies on sale=2/$7.00

I paid with Plenti Points and earned back $2 in new PPs.  If the double dip had worked I'd also have earned a different $2 PP offer so these would have cost me $3 total in PPs but instead they cost me $5 for both.
I am conflicted about whether to return these of keep them.  I would rather like to try the merlot grape/black currant flavor ones.  I've had the pomegranate ones before and they are good.

Would anyone like to see one of these chocolate bags in a Giveaway?  LMK.

*  I took a trip to the Bread Outlet this week and picked up 3 loaves of bread and 1 pack of English muffins.  Total OOP of $4.75.  Cost at the grocery store would have been around $16.

*  One trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets as well this week where I found some discounted sticker meats....

2 x Nitrite-free hot dogs reg. $4 a pack, on sale for $3.50, and after $2 off sticker were $1.50 per pack.
1 x pack of stew beef(1.35 lb.)after discount sticker was $2.44
1 x top round steak(1.15 lb.)after discount sticker was $3.59
I also picked up 2 marinated pork loins(1.38 lb. each)on BOGOFree sale was $8.20 for both.  I had a $2 any fresh pork Q so $6.20 OOP for both pork loins.

I also picked up some cleaners as they were part of the Buy 6/Get $3 Off Deal and they were on sale AND I had coupons that doubled.

3 x toilet cleaner $1.49-.50¢Q=.99¢ each
2 x kitchen cleaner $2.99-$1Q=$1.99 each
1 x bathroom cleaner $2.99=$1Q=$1.99
Total $8.94-$3 for buying 6=$6.94+.41¢tax=$7.35 or $1.22 per item.

*  I went to the Shursave market and picked up a free head of lettuce after loading a digital coupon to my loyalty card.  While there I also bought $3 worth of cornbread mix and finished qualifying for a $10 off Reward for spending $30 on Baking Needs like sugar, flour, oil, baking mixes.....

This is good for anything in the store(except I think milk and lottery tickets).  I'll probably save it for anything I need to pick up at the last minute for Thanksgiving.

* And Hubs had a frugal fail this week.  We were out on Tuesday and he wanted to pick up some chewy rawhide sticks for Chester as he is a teething puppy.
So he comes out of the pet store with these.......

A 40 pack of sticks. 
Note the price.......

$11.65
Ack!

That's .29¢ a stick
So when I went to Weis the following day I saw this marked 50% off.....

Granted these aren't solid rawhide but the pressed bits ones so they won't last as long but at $1.34 they are only .06¢ per piece.
And if I can get to a larger Rite-Aid, they carry a pack of the solid rawhide sticks for $1 and with my Wellness discount they are .80¢ per pack for me.

Anybody have any frugal wins this week?

Sluggy

Food Spending Limit Until Thanksgiving...Can I Do It?

If you come here often, you know I operate on a Food Budget of $400 per month.  That amount includes pet foods and all toiletries and paper products too.
Well, most months that is what I strive for but we seem to have spent more than $400 on food in 4 out of the last 10 months. 8-(

For our family(size,habits, etc.)and income I think $400 is a good amount.  It's not so low that the only foods we can afford are highly processed and/or nutritionally questionable....though we do buy some processed and questionable foods on occasion.  I know others spend less on food but given the prices in my area and the dearth of competition between stores which keeps prices lower, this is about as far down in the budget I care to go on this expense.
Of course, should something in our lives change(job loss/income disruption/kids moving out//DEFLATION of prices...hahaha, had to throw that one in for a laugh since prices NEVER go down!), I would be re-evaluating the budget in a heartbeat.

As for November's Food Budget.....
I have just completed buying groceries at the local Shursave grocery to earn a food certificate for free food at their store in the next 12 days before Thanksgiving.
DID I JUST SAY THERE ARE ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT BEFORE THANKSGIVING???
Anyway, I have spent so far in November on groceries a total of $202.54 of my $400.  Along with the weekly items I needed to make the meals served, I have picked up loss leaders and meat & frozen veggie deals along the way this month to use on down the road.  And I earned $20 in free food certs for buying things now(or last week)that I would have bought anyway at the end of the month.  I have also been picking up Thanksgiving meal items as they have gone on sale.  I got a turkey earlier this week so I am set for most of what I need to throw the Thanksgiving meal together.
The only items left to buy are Celery, a small bag of Potatoes, a couple of Rutabagas and Parsnips.


I have between $35 and $40 in free food catalinas, certificates and gift cards to use.
I have $20 to spend at the Shursave Grocer and between $15 and $20 at Weis(PMITA)Markets.
(I have a $5 Weis Cat to use by 11/15, and 2 gift cards--1 is for $5 but I can't remember if the other one is also for $5 or $10.)
8-)

I am going to try to use these chits to cover our food expenses up to and including those 4 Thanksgiving meal items.  $35-$40 should cover anything I need to buy until the 22nd.
All meals the next 11 days will be from foods I already have here or we can use one of the pizza coupons I won at the Church Auction last month if we feel like eating take-out during that time frame.

I'm all excited now to see what kind of meals I come up with so I only use that $35 in chits and don't have to buy any food until after Thanksgiving.

Do you think I can do it?
Do you have enough food laid back that you could do this?

Sluggy