Frugal Friday....the November 11th Edition

Here are a few frugal wins lately.  Not having much luck in the frugal department here yet......

*  Went to Texas to check out a few store.  Texas doesn't charge sales tax on food(unlike Louisiana). Over the course of a year this could add up if we can hold off on food purchases and make big shops in Texas(gas is a LOT cheaper here than in PA).  One store there had butter for $3.25-the cheapest in these parts by far so I bought 10 lbs. for the  freezer.

*  While in Texas we stopped at Walmart and found a clearance deal on clothes hangers(which we had dire need of)-a box of 50 for $5!  Now we are flush with hangers. lol

*  Hubs needed a nightstand so we went to a local furniture store to browse.  This store was so weird-a mix of new(factory seconds) furniture, used furniture as well as flea market used housewares, shoes, clothing, etc.  They also had antiques(in bad shape though)and new gift type items.

So true....hehehe

I found a fainting couch with my name written all over it........

Isn't it lovely? 8-)  It comes with a sofa and loveseat too.

Hubs got a used nightstand that matches well enough.  At this stage in my life I am far from house proud that my house has to be matchy-matchy.  Close/a decent price is good enough.

*  I went to Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)and bought some items we needed(kitchen stuff, curtains, doormat, etc.).  I had a 15% coupon so that was wonderful!

*  Slowly building our pantry/freezer when I find a great deal on something.  Other than yesterday we haven't eaten out in a couple weeks.  Yesterday I used my next to last Applebee's gift card.

*  I found money this past week!                  

Hubs emptied out his suitcase on the bed and took his accumulated change out.  When I went to get into bed later I found .26¢ lying on my side of the bed.

While moving boxes around in what will become my sewing room I found .02¢. 2 paint stained pennies.

At the Kroger in Texas I found 2 pennies left in the coin return of the self check-out machine I used.

At the Cash Saver store where I got the cheap butter I found another 2 cents-one penny at the register and the other near the exit.

This penny was found at the cheap hanger Walmart by the lottery machine on my way out of the store.

On Wednesday I was out past lunch time so swung through Whataburger for a burger.  These 2 pennies were picked up in the drive-thru. There was more change(all pennies sadly)but these were the only ones I could reach.

This penny was found at a Walmart I checked out near the Ollie's.

We had to send papers to PA via the UPS store so we checked out the "Dirt Cheap" store since it was right there(even though Anne warned me not too!).  Betty Davis' character in "All About Eve" kept playing "What a dump!" in my head but it didn't distract me from finding these two pennies on the floor of an unused register aisle.

And this penny was found last weekend at Dollar General on the walkway outside.

Total Found Since We left PA 2 months ago until last week...$7.47

Total Found in last Week.... .39¢
Total Found This Year.....$23.05                       

*  I've been picking up needed food/household items and I hit the Free Turkey from Ibotta at the Walmart near the Ollie's.  I'll be going today to get that bird.  I also found a receipt in the parking lot at Walmart and got another $3.25 in rebates-$2.25 from drinks someone bought on that receipt and then another $1 for hitting my Weekly Bonus number of rebates.  Those 2 items put me at 2 bought toward the 4 items needed to unlock the sides offer.  I'll by the turkey and 1 more items when I go to Walmart, submit the receipt and put those items in my car.  Then I can go back inside and get my 3 free side items. 8-)))

*  I purchased a Walmart gift card with Shop Kick points and used it at Walmart to cut down on my OOP spending there on Wednesday.

That's about all I've got for this past week.  

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy  

Budget Torpedoed by TP

So I have been looking to score a deal on toilet paper lately.  It's been in the back of my mind that our stockpile of tp was getting to a point where I needed to be keeping an eye out for a great deal.
I have a love/hate relationship with TP.....hate to waste good money on something I am throwing away so I get it as cheaply as I can and when I find a deal I definitely buy A LOT! ;-)

So last week at Walmart I happened upon some clearance paper towels--
1 x Scott towels(6 double rolls)for $2.50
2 x Viva towels(6 double rolls)for $3.00
$9.01 with tax OOP.
I'm not a fan of paper towels but Hubs won't stop using them so I buy. 8-(
But I was glad to find them as Dixie Belle isn't quite fully house trained yet and with 2 dogs now, there are times we NEED paper towels! ;-)
A nice score but it's not TP....

I hit Ocean State Job Lot on Monday during their Annual 20% off Sale and picked up a few food items.........

2 x pasta
4 x spices
2 x baby clams
2 x specialty coffee for Ex-CB
All this came to $12.78 after 20% off.
It's all good since I was still fitting into my $400 food budget for September.

But then I went over to the paper goods aisle.....as Scooby-Doo would say, "Rut Roh!".......

These mega-packs of Marcal tp were $7.19 after 20% discount.
Marcal is a brand I don't see around much any more, not since they released their eco-friendly/recycled "Small Steps" paper goods back in 2009. I think the last time I saw/bought a Marcal item was in 2014?
I got a ton of Marcal back in 2009 using deals and Qs(heck I even ran a guessing game/contest to see how many rolls of it I had).  Longtime readers will remember this photo of my storage unit filled with paper products from back in the day.....

I had bought 474 rolls of Small Steps tp back then and we just used up our last pack of it late last year. 8-)))

Even though the package at OSJL didn't have a sq. footage break down on it, I know the brand and that it's economical as far as tp goes so I picked up two of those 16 roll packs.

Then Weis(PMITA)Markets had the huge packs of Scott tp on a Fantastic Friday deal for $7.  I went into the store for the Friday Freebie(they were out already!)and 1 jar of Ragu and left with the Ragu and 2 packs of Scott tp.  I had 2 Qs that doubled to $1 each so my huge packs cost me $6 +.36¢ tax each OOP.

I went into this week with no grocery budget left for September but happened to hear about tp clearances at Weis were going on.

So would you NOT check out the tp deals since you are at your budget limit or would you say "the heck with the budget!" and go have a look-see?

What do you think Ol' Sluggy did? ;-)

Yep, you guessed it..........

Seeing as I had the money to stock up on tp even outside of my grocery budget and the space in the garage, I went for it.
My September spending suffered a hit for it, but we are now awash in tp.

The Scott tp packs on the bottom left of the photo were from Friday.

On Monday I got 3 packs of Cottonelle TP, 2 packs of Viva towels and 10 packs(Hubs had already taken 1 of these to use so there's only 9 in the photo!lol) of Charmin Essentials(the "cheap" Charmin-except at half off it WAS actually cheap! lol).  They also had Northern brand for 50% off but the others were a better deal with the square footage comparison so I didn't get any of that brand.
I also had both IPQ and digital Qs to use for this or that.
All totaled I spent $33.80 with sales tax at Weis for 180 double rolls of tp and 12 double rolls of paper towels.

Add that to the 168 rolls I had left in my stockpile and we will be good for quite awhile.  Not as epic as my Marcal stash from 2009 but it will get us through a year or maybe two....or maybe not(have you seen how much tp Ex-CB goes through??!). ;-)

My stockpile(other than toiletries/HBA)is looking fine when it comes to dish soap, laundry detergent, cleaning products, paper towels, soup, condiments, pasta, rice, spices, tomato products, canned chicken, chiles, mushrooms, tuna, peanut butter, oatmeal, cold cereals, some canned veggies and of course, tp. 8-)))

What good prices have you taken advantage of lately to build your stockpile?

Queen of the TP Sluggy

2018 Food & Toiletries Spending.....the November Edition

Onward to November's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for NOVEMBER 2018.

I have posted November's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in November.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4-5(4 at home this month). No "kids" under 22.

*****************

ALDI
OOP  $50.54
Value  $89.70
Savings  43.66%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $9.00
Value  $36.42
Savings  75.29%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $4.00
Value  $6.00
Savings   66.66%

GIANT
OOP  $22.56
Value  $39.86
Savings  43.40%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $17.66
Value  $45.65
Savings  61.31%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $47.54
Qs/Sales  $55.45
Value  $102.99
Savings  53.84%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $1259.36
Value  $1259.36
Savings  100%

TARGET
OOP  $0.00
Value  $77.81
Savings   100%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $331.64

Qs/Ads  $450.71

Value  $782.35

Savings  57.61%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid and Target each at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 75.29% and Ollie's at 61.31%.  My worst savings rate was Giant at 43.40%.
Over 40% being the worst is aok with me! ;-)

I shopped at 9 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for November..........$482.94

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales............$697.84

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$1180.78

TOTAL Savings of ................................59.10%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for November.....$482.94
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales....$1957.20
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid.....$2440.14
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items........80.20%

This closes out the November food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Well, I did go over my $400 goal for November.  But if I take the almost $100 I didn't spend in my October food budget that more than makes up for the overspending in November.  Averaging the 2 months out I am still on target for the year. 8-)))

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP an amazing 6.04% in November 2018 to 80.20% compared to October's 74.16% savings average.  Most of that was thanks to freebies at Rite-Aid.
The free stuff from Rite-Aid skewers my averages but without R-A I am at a 59.10% savings.  So even without R-A we are doing well on the "savings" front.

With 11 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $4747.03 on food/toiletries in 2018 which is a 74.55% savings rate for the year so far and averages out to $431.55 spent per month in 2018.   Still over my $400 per month average goal but this monthly average will go down in December as I cash out all my rebates/cash envies to apply toward the December spending.

LOOKING AHEAD To December.......
Let the Holiday games continue! Lots of cheap and free stuff was had in November.  If the deals present themselves I will continue to pick items up if it's something we can/will use or I can donate to the food bank and doesn't put me over budget.
I've got well over $550 so far in various envies/rebate apps/etc. to dump back into the food spending and I've got another few weeks to earn more so I've soooo got this!!! ;-)

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in November?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Rite-Aid on Friday....Had to Use It or Lose It!

So, I was FORCED to go to Rite-Aid on Friday.
Why you ask?
Because my GIFT OF SAVINGS Christmas Gift Certificate expires April 30...Friday.
No way I was going to let $20 expire even if going out Friday
was the last thing I wanted to do!

So I gathered up some couponage I might use and headed up with #2 son & his friend in tow.
Oh great....just what I need....baggage.lol


I had wanted to get a market umbrella for the deck patio set since ours bit the dust a couple of years ago.  It would be nice to be able to sit out and eat there without the sun blasting down on you in the heat of summer.  So with the $20 Cert., my 20% discount and a $5 off a $20 purchased, I'd only have to pay zero or even be negative money and have to add something to the order.
Free umbrella.....NICE!

But alas, there was not a market umbrella in the joint, just some beach umbrellas that were NOT going to cut it.

So the plan got thrown overboard and we went hunting the aisles for things to buy.......

I had a scenarios just about worked out when #2 son comes over pleading with me to advance him allowance $ so he could buy a watch.
So we went and inspected his potential purchase and I deemed it worthy of purchase for $19.99.
My wheels in my brain set to working and suddenly there were TWO scenarios to complete.

I took 2 things from my initial scenarios and added them to the watch purchase so we could use another $5 off $20 Purchase Q.

2 x Dove Shampoo on sale $3=$6.00  Used 2 x $2/1 Dove 'Poo IPQ -$4.00
1 x Watch=$19.99  My wellness discount applied -$4.00 **Not Pictured**
$25.99-$8 Qs=$17.99
Minus $5 off $20 purchase RAQ=$12.99+.78¢ tax=$13.77 OOP

Once #2 son pays me back for the watch, my total here is .50¢ overage.
($16.77-1/2 of the $5 off Q=$14.27 he owes for the watch).  

I also qualified for $3.00 in SCR on the Dove 'Poo purchase, giving me $3.50 in overage so far after the SCR.

Then I did transaction #2 to use my $20 Gift Cert.....

4 x Ban Deodorant on sale BOGO50%($5.68 per 2 deos)=$11.36
2 x Benadryl on sale $4.39=$8.78 with wellness disc.
1 Schick Hydro Razor=$7.99 with wellness disc.
1 x Paper Lanterns with wellness disc.=$7.99
2 x Snickers on sale=$1.00
1 x Trident gum=$1.03 with wellness disc.
SubTotal...$38.15

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks Q=$5.00
4 x $1/1 Ban ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
2 x $2/1 any cough, cold, allergy OTC item Wellness Q=$4.00
1 x $20 Gift Cert=$20.00
Coupon Total....$38.00


$38.15-$38.00=$.15 OOP


I totally didn't figure in the 20% wellness discount on a couple of things so I was $2 short of using my last $2/1 Q and had to add the candy and gum....and the gum got another wellness disc. to boot!
All in all, this one came out very nicely.


SCR qualified for in Transaction #2....
Schick Hydro Razor=$6.00
Ban Deodorants=$10.00
Total...$16.00 in SCRs and another $8.78 toward qualifying for the $25 Allergy SCR(WYB $50 of Allergy products).

**When I got home I discovered 2 of the Ban Deos I purchased were the wrong type.  I hiked back Saturday morning and exhanged those 2 for the correct ones so I will get my $10 SCR for buying 4 Ban Deos...'-)


Grand total for the day.....
I am OOP  negative .35¢ today buying all this(when #2 son pays me back) and I am getting back $19.00 in SCRs.


I may have been laying low on Rite-Aid shopping in April but I am BACK with a vengeance!lol


Sluggy

To Use or Not to Use?

Annie Jones over at REAL LIFE LIVING posted her thoughts a few weeks ago on 'Coupons'.  You can read the post Here.
Basically she feels that Coupons don't work for her.
I thought she had some very good ideas on the subject and she makes some valid points.

I agree that coupons can take control over you.  Who hasn't bought something just because it was free with a coupon even though they don't use that product and had no plan for it to be used once it was procured?
If you can answer that question with a no, then you are a far better man than I, Gunga Din!lol

If you have any kind of obsessive aspect to your personality, you may find yourself being overtaken by a need to use a coupon(or many coupons) just because you will get a deal.
It takes a lot of self-control to keep the coupons as a TOOL aiding your life, rather than as the CONTROL over your life.
Let me say that again.....Coupons should be a TOOL to help you save money and put that saved money to a different use in your life.  If coupons become your life then perhaps you need to step away from the Sunday Inserts! ;-)

I have learned over the past year or so that I need to change the way in which I use coupons so that they work for me and I am not a slave to them.  I have done some good things using coupons and then there are some things I have failed at due to coupons.  Perhaps I'll delve deeper into this subject in a later post.

So when do you know when Coupons have taken over control?

1. When you spend more hours in a day finding/clipping coupons, studying store ads, reading coupon blogs, planning grocery lists, shopping, putting away the haul than you spend interacting with your family, spouse or friends.
**Ok, so I have sullen surly teens so maybe I don't really WANT to interact with them some days.
 
2. You can't bring yourself to buy something just because you don't have a coupon for it even if it's something you really really Need!

3. If someone were to ask you if your house was on fire and what would you grab before you left and you answer your Coupon Binder.

4. You have many, many boxes of  'insert name of product here' in your stockpile though no one in your house eats/uses said product.

5.  You have enough boxes/containers of one product to build a replica of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

6. You open your garage door and suddenly cars full of people start pulling up to your house and ask if you have any grocery carts so they can do their weekly shopping.

So tell me.....do you use coupons or are coupons using you?

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Shopping for 1/31/10-2/6/10.....Making Money the Easy Way!

Last week.....oh, where to begin!

It was a shopping killer!
Seriously.
I.
Am.
Worn.
Out.

First there was Rite-Aid....of course!lol
Lots of deals....Single Check Rebate Cash Deals and Gift Card or Prepaid Visa Card Deals to chase.

Then along came Price Chopper in the grocery department with 2 excellent Catalina Deals last week.

I could have done more shopping but I am only one woman! ;-)

I was going to do a play by play on the Rite-Aid transactions but it's just so overwhelming at this point and letting you know that scenarios won't help since that week's deals are over.
So I am just going to show you one big picture of everything I got at Rite-Aid last week.
Ready?

The only thing missing are 2 bags of Chex Mix. 
What can I say....some people here got hungry.lol

So for the important numbers.....
Value of Items...$322.70
Initial Out of Pocket Spent...$22.47 Cash
But Wait!
Single Check Rebates in Cash qualified for....$29.98
$22.47-$29.98SCR=$7.51 Moneymaker

Rite-Aid once again is paying me $7.51 cash to take all this stuff home.
Oh, did I forget to mention that I finished qualified for 2 Healthy Heart SCR #550(1 for me, 1 for BIL) buying all this so that's 2 $25 Gift Cards too?

Sluggy

Beginning Walgreen's Scenario...Under $5 OOP, Get $5RRs + 4 Products

If you are starting from $0 in RRs this week at Walgreens, use this Scenario to get started.
In the end of it, you will be OOP $4.53(+any applicable tax)& have $5(a $2RR & a $3RR) in RegisterRewards to spend.

*Step One
Buy 1 Hall's Throat Drops on sale $1.00
Use the .75/1 Q from sunday's paper.
Pay $.25.
Receive a $1RR(Hall's is a Cadbury/Ames company.)

*Step Two
Buy 1 Herbal Essences Shampoo on sale $2.99.
Use the $1/1 Q from sunday's paper(a few weeks ago).
Buy a small filler item.(I use Ramen Noodles for .29¢ unless something else is cheaper.)
Pay with your $1RR(Cadbury/Ames)& $1.28 cash Out Of Pocket.
Receive a $2RR(Herbal Essence is a P&G company.).

*Step Three
Buy an Oral B Toothbrush on sale $3.00. (If you have a coupon for this item, less OOP for you!)
Pay $3 cash Out of Pocket.(If you use your $2RR from the Herbal Essence, the Catalina won't generate a new RR for your Toothbrush because Oral B is also a P&G company. BE CAREFUL!)
Receive a $3RR(Oral B is a P&G company.).

You are now Out of Pocket $4.53+any applicable tax.
You have $5 in RRs($2&$3).
You have 3 products & 1 Ramen Noodles(or other filler item).

**Now you can take that $5 in RRs and do the Scenario I have listed HERE. The only addition you will have to make to that Scenario is in Step One, add a 2nd pack of Ramen Noodles or small filler item.
(You must have 1 item for each coupon you use. You can't use more coupons than the number of items in your order.  RRs count as a coupon. Since you will be using 2 RRs to pay instead of 1 RR, you need an extra item in your order.)  This will raise your total Out of Pocket for that Scenario from $1.30 to $1.59+ any applicable tax.

Sluggy

Walgreen's Convoluted Scenario, Spend $6.19 Get $8.50RRs & Lots of STUFF

So I am up Waaaaaaay too late this evening, er....morning. Can't shut the mind off for some reason, so why not give it a work out, right?

I was just perusing the upcoming WAGS RR deals for Sunday....

• Gum Toothbrush (2 pack) $3.49, use $1 coupon (6/21 RP) and get back $3.49 RR = $1 profit
• Suave Deodorant (2.6 or 6 oz) 25% off sale so $1.41 each ($1.89 regular price), buy 4 and get back $2 RR, buy 6 and get back $6 RR or buy 8 and get back $10 RR. Buy six and use six $0.50 coupons (5/17 RP) = $5.46 and get back $6 RR = $0.54 profit. Buy eight and use eight $0.50 coupons (5/17 RP) = $7.28 and get back $10 RR = $2.72 profit
• Vitamin Sham/Cond (13 oz) $3.99, get back $3.99 RR = FREE *Look for bottles with a Try Me Free rebate on them = $3.99 profit
• Spend $10, get back $5 RR. Includes Cheez Its (7.5 or 9oz) $2, Keebler Cookies (11.5 or 15 oz) $2, Cheez Its (4.5 oz) or Keebler Cookies (5.25 - 6 oz) $1, Rice Krispies Treats $2, Pop Tarts $2, Club Crackers/Sandies Pecan Shortbread $2.50, Fiber Plus Bars $2.50, Nutri-Grain Bars $2.50 and Special K Protein Bars or Shakes $5

Here is what I came up with for a scenario....try to stay with me, it's long.lol Follow the steps, don't skip any!

You will need 3 $1/1Gum Qs, 6 $1/2 Suave Deo Qs, 2 $1/2 PopTart Qs. (You can use 12 $.50/1 Suave Deo Qs but you'll need to buy a cheap filler 2 times in this scenario.)

*Buy the Gum Toothbrush for $3.49, use a $1/1 Q & Pay $2.49OOP, Get a $3.49RR(this will probably print as a $3.50RR)

*Buy a Vitamin Poo for $3.99, use the $3.50RR & Pay $.49OOP, Get a $3.99RR(this will probably print as a $4RR).

*Buy 6 Suave Deos for $8.46-3x$1/2Qs=$5.46, use $4RR & Pay $1.46OOP, Get a $6RR.

*Buy 1 Gum Tbrush & 1 Vitamin Poo for $7.48, use $1/1Gum Q=$6.48, use $6RR & Pay $.48OOP, Get a $4RR & a $3.50RR.

*Buy 8 Suave Deos for $11.28, use 3 $1/2Qs(11.28-3=$8.28), use both $4RR & $3.50RR & Pay $.78OOP, Get a $10RR.

*Buy 1 Gum Tbrush, 5 Pop Tarts($3.49+$10=13.49), use 2x $1/2 PTarts Q & $1/1 Gum Q(13.49-3=$10.49), use $10RR & Pay $.49OOP, Get $8.50RRs(3.50 & 5)

You now have....
14 Suave Deos
3 Gum Toothbrushes
2 Vitamin Poo
5 boxes Pop Tarts
That's $48.19 worth of products.
$8.50 in RRs($3.50/$5)
And you've spent $6.19 not including state sales tax & used 11 Qs.

Not exactly free(unless you count the RRs you now have)but pretty good.

What will you do with 14 Deodorants?
Hey, that's YOUR problem!lol

So can you come up with a better scenario? Let me know!

Sluggy