Ramblings About My Grocery Purchases This Week

I hit 2 grocery stores on Wednesday of this past week.
I spent a total of $99.69.
I am still under $300 for January, but just barely.

At the local independent market I did well, spending $31.38.
$19.42 of that was "planned" purchases for tomato paste stockup, clams, lettuce and OJ.
The other $11.96 I spent was "unplanned" good deals like 6 of my brand of yogurt for .48¢ cup, a cantaloupe for $1.99, 2 bottles of a brand of diet cola I can drink for .99¢ each and a 6" tall bottle of All Spice for $4.99(which I was out of).

And then I stepped into the snake pit called Weis(PMITA)Markets.
I spent $68.31 in there without batting an eye.
Ugh.

I spent for my "planned" purchases of 4 x spaghetti sauce and 2 x Kielbasa which cost me $10.37.

Then I spent another $33.15 on "unplanned" but good buys.....$14.35 of this was fresh produce and $18.07 of it was other buys like fresh seafood, a pack of lunchmeat for $1.19(after instant $2 Off Q), 2 x Bakery Dept. 50% off buys and 3 4-packs of sugar-free pudding for .88¢ each(so I don't go binge on sugared up snacks).

What did me in there was an "88¢ Sale" on certain products when you buy in multiples of 8.
Because of this and #2 Son's wants, I let another $25.52 fly outta my pocket.
Many MANY cans of chili and Mtn. Dew, plus boxes of ramen noodles and peanut butter Pop-Tarts later for stuff he will eat/drink,  I am $25.52 poorer.  If I hadn't gotten this stuff on sale I would have shelled out $40.02 instead so the damage to the budget wasn't as bad as it could have been.
But then again, if some of this hadn't been on sale, I might have NOT bought it......but then again again, I might have bought other items he wanted, which in the end might have cost even more. 8-))

I have $2.63 left of my $300 food budget for January at this moment.
And I have 7 more days to get through before the month is over.

So the plan, once the menu for this week is finished today is to shop in the freezer, fridge and stockpile/pantry for the rest of the month's meals.  I still have a free birthday meal from Red Robin I haven't used so that leaves us 5 days of eating dinners(Saturday's is planned and here, then take 1 day from the next 6 for the eating out).  We have plenty of food so this shouldn't be a problem, besides making the family stay out of the grocery stores! lol

And if there are any irresistible deals this coming sales week, I can go on next Saturday before the ads end as it is February 1st and I'll have a new food budget available.  Yay! ;-)

I need to rethink going to Weis as much as I do each month.
I just can't seem to get out of there without spending on some unplanned stuff!
Albeit, it's usually unplanned GOOD STUFF but still.....

Maybe I'll limit my trips there to once every other week instead of weekly, which is my usual routine.
That chain is very good at drawing you in, ya know?

Can you resist the deals and the crap grocery stores tempt you with?

Sluggy


 

The Circle of Life Sluggy-Style

Here's a little nugget of genealogy I turned up this week.

While digging through old land transaction records in Campbell County, Virginia, I found this one concerning my 5th Great Grandfather, John Mason III(that's the designation we use to keep all the John Mason's straight in this line of mine, he's not necessarily the III but so far he is)and his 3rd wife(or 4th-the jury is still out on which number of wife she is) Frances McDearman Mason.  Frances(3rd or 4th wife)by the way is NOT my ancestor,  details are sketchy but it's probably(2nd or 3rd wife)Jane Parham Mason but definitely not the always given 1st(or 2nd)wife Elizabeth Gee Mason. ;-)

Just so you know Charlotte and Campbell Counties in Virginia are right next to one another and the parties and land concerned are located close to said counties' lines.
Anyway, here's the meat of it....

John Mason and wife Frances sold to Dorothea Henry executrix of Patrick

Henry, late of Charlotte County, 400 acres adjoining John Marshall, Henry

Ray, Mary Ward, Matthews, William Mason (the land conveyed by deed

from Wm Singleton); dated 1 Jul 1799 and recorded 8 Jul 1799 (John

Mason agreed in writing 11 May 1798 to sell to Patrick Henry a tract of land

on Falling River in Campbell County for 80 pounds, paid by Patrick Henry in

his lifetime) [Campbell County, Virginia, Deed Book 4, 1796-1799, page 599;
Microfilm Reel 2, Library of Virginia]



Yes, My 5th GG and wife sold Patrick Henry's widow......

Yes, THAT Patrick Henry.......

.....his widow Dorothea 400 acres of land.  The land sale was arranged in 1798 between John and Patrick but not legally completed until about a month after Patrick Henry died in June of 1799.

And Dorothea Dandridge Henry you might remember from THIS POST HERE (Day 6 of the Summer Road Trip)is my friend's DH's 4th Great Grand Aunt.

Trippy is it not?

Though neither the friend's DH or I have ever lived anywhere near Campbell Co., Virginia, and never traveled in the same social or familial circles, our respective families' DNA still reaches out and seems to attract each to the other.

Sluggy
 

Visiting DA BURGH.....PART 3

Well, Monday morning didn't start out very well.
As some of you may have seen on the post I put up, at the time, Hubs had the minivan up to the Firestone at the crack of dawn, before I was up.
I looked out the window and it was snowing at a fairly good clip.....

Love the hole in the window screen....good thing it wasn't Summer. 

Hubs had said that he was going to stay at Firestone until they got it fixed or call me if they couldn't do the work it needed done that day.
So I was possibly in for sitting in the motel all day long as I had no transportation now.
Luckily the motel had a sort of restaurant so I could eat if I was indeed stranded for the day.

But about 10pm, Hubs showed up at the room with #1 Son in tow.
The guys at Firestone said they could do the work that day, so Hubs called our son and had him pick Hubs up and bring him back to the motel.
So #1 Son was going to be our driver for the day in his own car.
Since the weather was so shitty we couldn't do the Duquesne Incline like I had wanted to so we were at a loss for cheap sightseeing activities(as some of the indoor ones were closed because it was Monday).  But we made do.
#1 Son took us firstly, to his favorite Giant Eagle grocery that sold beer.  It was quite the long ride from his apartment.  I bought a bottle of Sam Adams Gingerbread and Southern Tier Choklat Stouts, as well as a large bottle of Cherry Lambic.....

 

After that we went to have lunch here......

 

Unfortunately, everyone on this side of Pittsburgh ALSO decided to have lunch here that day, so not wanting to wait an hour for a table, we ended up eating next door at Sam's Sandwich Shoppe......

Then we went shopping since we were in a shopping center.  I hit 5 Below and Bath and Body Works but bought nothing. 
Eh, nothing I wanted/needed.
Hubs and son hit the liquor store.  I don't recall if they actually bought anything there or not.

Afterwards we tried Burgatory again, since #1 Son really wanted me to try one of their milkshakes.
What the heck, why not?

Here's Hubs trying #1 Son's shake.  It has bourbon in it.
Mine is in the foreground.  It's a Choco Taco Shake(crushed waffle cone, peanuts and chocolate)and has vodka in it.

Ok, so I drink folks, if you didn't know that already.
But I am NOT a vodka drinker.

I swear, every time I took a sip, another one magically appeared in my glass!

About 5 minutes into drinking this thing, the vodka slammed into my brain.  I think the photo above illustrates that event.....

Then I just got real silly and everything anyone said was hysterical to me.....

I didn't even finish that shake.
And they had to pour me back into the car to go back to #1 Son's apartment.

I was able to snap this shot before I staggered back to the car......

 

And here are some bad photos I snapped from the back of the car as I sloshed from side to side, while #1 Son drove through downtown.....

Yes, anonymous buildings. 
I tried to get a shot of the giant Heinz ketchup bottle all lit up, but I was too lit up evidently.....

Hubs called Firestone and they had completed the work on the car, so Son dropped us off to pick up and pay for the car.
Ouch.
$900 later we drove the minivan back to the motel.

That evening, we went back to the #1 Son's apartment and he made dinner for us and I got acquainted with Lilly, my newest grandbaby while Hubs and Son drank and talked beer.

Gratuitous cute cat photos......

About midnight we headed back out to the motel.
Here is an unexpected Christmas decoration in this part of the world......

The next day, we hit up the Breakfast buffet for the last time and headed over to #1 Son's place.
We sat around and talked until Lunch time.
Hubs & #1 Son went out to Yinz BBQ to pick up lunch.
It was pretty good.....for a Yankee joint.  8-))

Then after saying our goodbyes and a photo of Hubs & #1 son, we left 'Da Burgh.

The ride home was quite the adventure, but not the kind anyone enjoys.
You see, the skies opened up on Tuesday and snowed like a MoFo along the stretch of road west of Pittsburgh we had to take to get home.  Between Monroeville and Altoona it was some awful white knuckled driving!....at least for me.
And I wasn't even driving. lol
We saw a guy somewhere in that stretch pass us, then try to make a right turn onto a road and end up sliding into a culvert.

Good times......and unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the ride home.
I think Hubs would have pushed me from the car if I had....

When we hit Altoona we got off the interstate to get gas and then go into a Kmart store to use the bathroom.
As we were leaving the Kmart a woman standing next to me, a total stranger, at the store asked us for a ride somewhere.....we had no clue where it was.

Do perfect strangers come up to you and start conversations or ask you for favors like they seem to do to me?
What about me attracts weirdoes?
I just can't figure this one out!  8-)

So after bidding my new best friend goodbye and good luck, and no, we didn't give her a ride, we got back onto the interstate.
The skies were threatening the rest of the way but the snow held off until we got home.

We DID get to drive through a prison on the way home(we had also driven through it in the opposite direction to get to Pittsburgh).  This is near State College PA. 
You aren't allowed to stop along this part of the interstate unless you have an emergency....you know, so you don't pick up escaped prisoners or drop off firearms for them.

That's about it for excitement on our trip home.
Heck, I needed a stiff drink or four by the time we arrived due to all the tensing up I did on the drive home.

And thus ends another Sluggy adventure.  8-))

Sluggy

 

Hijinx on A Holiday Weekend....How Boring Can I Be?!

Oh such a thrilling holiday weekend we had here!

First off,
Happy "Not Really Your Birthday Yesterday" ML King!
Why can't we celebrate them on the actual dates?
Oh right.....people want it as an excuse for a 3 day weekend.
Happy Birthday anyway Dr. King.  You helped move mountains.....

Since snow is in the forecast for this week here, Hubs and I went out to Walmart on Sunday.
Now I haven't been in a Walmart in a couple of years if I recall correctly.
Though it's a fine place to people watch, it's also very crowded at ours no matter the day and time and not such a great place for bargains anymore(at least in regards to what I buy, which besides food isn't much of anything anymore).  Plus it's all the way down the mountain in the big city, so I just don't find myself going there anymore.

But.....
I had bought a $100 Walmart gift certificate the December before last(you got a free $10 bonus gift certificate for buying it at that time)and I still hadn't used the larger of the 2 gift certificates, so I thought it was about time I go spend it.  I figured that Hubs would have used it by now(it's been over a year at this point)but he didn't, so we ventured in.

I picked up a t-shirt I had been wanting and 3 packages of underwear for myself.  That took care of $39 of the $100.
We picked up 3 multi-packs of light bulbs in a wattage we were out of.

The rest of the certificate, about $52 was spent on foodstuffs--quick meal and snack items #2 Son wanted(which used a big chunk of it), coffee filters and liverwurst for Hubs, fresh fruit and veggies, frozen salmon fillets, and 2 packages of cheese filled wonton appetizers I wanted to try(which I had a coupon to use).
Man, that $50+ went fast! 8-(

I stocked up on 4 containers of their brand of olive hummus which is cheaper than the name brands at my 2 grocers, and I can extend by mixing in the garbanzo beans and tahini I have at the house.

We ended up having to pay $3.35 OOP, including the $.51 tax on the light bulbs(no tax on clothing or food here) so I am pulling that $3.35 out of the misc. spending budget.

While I was in Walmart, every corner I turned, I was reminded of JUDY .........

     Stacks of Judys!

A couple of "blocks" later.....

Judy roaster hybrids....on clearance even!  These might be a good idea for using in the summer months out in your garage or on a patio to cook a bird or roast.  You wouldn't heat up your house(make your A/C work harder than it has to=use more electricity)and it would be more energy efficient than running your big old oven.  I'd try to find one used at Sallie's or GW first though for cheaper....

And then on the main aisle toward the women's clothing......Fancy "Judys".....

These "hook up" things are such a waste of money!  $49 for one little crockpot(or a unit with 2 even smaller in one unit ones).  I guess if you were more interested in how these look out on a buffet or table for a party than in how much crock you got for the money, these would fill that need.
I certainly wouldn't buy these E.V.E.R. though.

Then I stopped over by the Valentine's crap aisles for this shot......

You know, NOTHING says LOVE like Skulls and Guitars......or half nekkid men trying to inflict pain on other half nekkid men by wrestling them into submission.
Ok.....depending on who you are and your fantasies, perhaps the last half of that statement does have some merit..... 8-)))

And as we packed up the car and left I snapped this photo of one of our local asshats.....

First off, this idiot has parked his car in the stripe marked part of the lot next to the handicapped space so someone with a handicap ramp in their van can get their wheelchair out.  This is NOT a parking space folks!  Not only that, but there was no handicapped parking sticker or tag on the vehicle.  They also left the car running and you can see there is a child in the backseat, left alone in the car.  She looked to be about 4 or 5 years old and was making the window go up and down, over and over again.  We sat there for about 1 minute watching, and didn't see any adults go over to the car.
And if someone were to get into that running car(accessed through the opened window that the kid was playing with)and drive off with that child, I would totally hold that kid's parent or whoever was suppose to be supervising her at that time responsible.
What a maroon!

I cooked a gotten on sale for .99¢ lb. Turkey Breast dinner on Monday, complete with stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, au jus gravy and cranberry "glop" Monday afternoon.  Now we have leftovers for my lunch sandwiches and another "planned over" casserole meal this week.

Earlier on Monday, I helped Hubs start a batch of beer......

This took way longer than I anticipated, since it was his first try, so the process was sloooooow.
The next one(IF there is a next one)will be much quicker I hope, and maybe he won't need me there to hold his hand and talk him down off the ledge a few times. lolz

I now have a big tub of wort percolating Co2 away in the corner of my powder room and every time I go in there it's like walking into a brewery.
Fun!  8-)

Here's what's up for the rest of the week.......

* Going in to the lab for blood work.  After last week's extensive phone call with the insurance people, the lab people and the hospital billing people, I am curious to see what this is going to cost....ok, not exactly curious, possibly more like seething with anger over it. lol

* Filling my minivan's gas tank at Weis PITA Markets gas station.  I have run my tank down to just below 1/4 and have 90 gas points to use by January 25th(Saturday).  I'll probably go tomorrow since it's right across the parking lot from the lab I need to go to IF the snow isn't too bad.

* I'll be going up to the PO this week to stock up on 1st class stamps as the rate goes up .3¢ on Jan. 26th.  This is suppose to be a "temporary" increase for 2 years only, but we all know how sometimes things like this goes.  The government and big business have very short memories when it comes to promises. lolz
I still do use snail mail so I am taking some spare cash and "investing" it into some Forever stamps, at least enough to get me through 2 years.

* I'll be working on some Etsy listing drafts and photos and getting them ready to launch next Monday, after the rates go up.

* Going through old papers, shredding unneeded sensitive ones and getting my table ready to spread out the dreaded TAX PAPERS so I can start the 1040 and FAFSA.
Ugh.

* Later in the week I'll be going to Walmart(again!)to start the transferring of all the scripts I can.  Hubs can pick them up for me on his way home as it's right on his way, so I don't need to sit around and wait for hours.  After that, I'll just refill them via their website.

So what exciting things have you got planned for this week?

And be sure and leave me some birthday love on this post if you don't mind.
My family has decided to ignore me this year(not even expecting a cake from Hubs and he's working late most, if not all this week)and I ain't too proud to beg.  ;-)

I turn the dreaded Double Nickels today.
Upside is I can order off the Bob Evans Senior Menu now......yay me! lolz

If you could pick the perfect birthday meal and cake, what would it be??

Sluggy


 

This Week on the Dining Table

The "It's Sluggy's Birthday" Edition.....

 

 

Tomorrow actually.
But I give Hubs all week to celebrate me.  ;-)

 

 

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut(have, Stuffing(have)
Monday--Meatloaf(have), Garlic Mashed Taters(have), Collard Greens(have)
Tuesday--Leftover Pork, Enchiladas, Beef Stew(diner's choice)
Wednesday--local Italian food meal out *
Thursday--Clam/Corn Chowder(have), Cod(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have)
Friday--Leftovers Night
Saturday--?  More Leftovers if we have them

 And here is what actually happened--

 

Sunday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut(have, Stuffing(have)
Monday--Meatloaf(have), Garlic Mashed Taters(have), Collard Greens(have)
Tuesday--Leftover Pork, Enchiladas, Beef Stew(diner's choice)
Wednesday--Leftovers again
Thursday--local Italian food meal out-Free Birthday meal
Friday--Leftovers Night
Saturday--Cod(have), Roasted Potatoes & Onions(have), Apple Kraut(have)

Some meals moved around and the chowder got bumped to next week, when I went out into the stockpile and found I had NO cans of clams left....I thought I had 4 left. sigh.  But luckily, they are on sale here this week. 8-)
We spent a lot of nights eating up the leftovers.
  

As for the food spending last week....
There was 1 trip to the grocery store and I spent a grand total of $25.57 on $53.70 worth of groceries at 1 store.  I'll take a 50% savings rate anyday! lol 
I am trying to achieve another $300 or less grocery month for January and I have $102.32 left in the food budget for this month.  Things look promising.....

Leftovers going into this week--Collards(2 helpings), Kraut(4 helpings), Meatloaf(3 helpings).  I have a head of cauliflower and 2 sweet potatoes that need using.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Cauliflower(have), Potato crusted Fish(have)
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday meal for me, Hubs meal comes out of Entertaining Budget
Thursday--Leftover turkey slices, assorted Leftover veggies(or frozen veggies if not enough)
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus
Saturday--Turkey Casserole(leftover turkey), Green Beans(have in freezer)

That makes 2 new meals, 4 leftover or planned over meals and 1 meal out.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......Asparagus, Clams.  I have the cornbread stuffing cubes and soups to make the Turkey Casserole dish and quiche in the freezer, as well as many bags of frozen veggies.

Other items on sale that I want to pick up this week?......tomato paste(almost out), cantaloupe, yogurt, white grape juice(for #2 Son), canned chili, milk, green leaf lettuce(for my sandwiches) and BOGO Kielbasa.
Since I have no room in the 2 tiny "over the fridge" freezers for extra buys this week, I think I can come in at around $40 on my food spending.  If I can keep it this low, I might be able to squeak out a $250 spending on food for the month of January!
Now THAT would be amazing to me..... 8-))

 What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy