The Return of Rite-Aid

Guess who went back to Rite-Aid yesterday?
Yep, THIS slug!

Here is all that was a good deal or free I could find in my store......

2 x Dove men's body wash on sale=$8.00
2 x Reach toothbrushes on sale 50% off=$4.48
SubTotal....$12.48

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Dove body wash Load2CardQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Dove body was ManuQ(last Sunday's RP insert)=$2.00
2 x .75¢/1 Reach toothbrush IPQ(coupons dotcom)=$1.50
Coupon Total.....$5.50

$12.48-$5.50=$6.98 + .27¢ tax=$7.25

I used 400 Plenti Pts($4)and paid $3.25 OOP.....well not really OOP since I used a Rite-Aid gift card I bought 15% off months earlier so that spending is already accounted for in my budget.

I earned 400 new Plenti Pts on this transaction(200 wyb2 Dove body wash, 200 wyb2 Reach toothbrushes)so my Pts. total stays the same at 600 Pts.
In addition I have a Savingstar account and had clipped a $2 off 1 Dove body wash from there so I'll get $2 cash back in that account at a later date which takes my "OOP spending" down to $1.25 for these 4 items.

My store is the higher priced one around here so I spent .48¢ more on toothbrushes than most people who do that deal this week.

As for this new program--I am still not loving it!  You won't be seeing as many posts on Rite-Aid shopping here until this Plenti thing goes away(and with Rite-Aid's track record it will be going away, hopefully sooner than later). ;-)
I frankly don't "need" any toiletries due to my large stockpile but if something is free or close to it and we can use it, I will go in to get it.

I still have some CVS gift cards from years ago which I hope are still good.  I may have to break down and take a trip into the valley cities and try to wrack up some good deals there again.

Have you been to Rite-Aid lately?
What good deals did you find?

Sluggy

 

Happenings at Chez Sluggy Lately

                        Sign seen on my travels last month.

* I had my final post op check-up for my cataract surgery.  It's basically all healed up and my vision is enough for me not to need glasses to drive anymore....at least in that eye.
After wearing glasses for the last 46 years this is quite a change in my life!  And I still find myself reaching for my glasses every morning when I get out of bed. ;-)

Now it's on to the other eye's surgery appointment early July.  I just hope I don't go beserk and kill someone before July comes because I can't see well and I am cranky.

* While mulling over how much to budget in June for food spending, I realized I could possible go the whole month and not spend anything on food.
I don't mean not buying food and eating just what is already here.....I mean I can use gift cards and store scrip I have to pay for groceries.

Here's what I have on hand to pay for groceries in lieu of withdrawing cash from the bank--
$25 gift card to Price Chopper(gotten last Fall at Church auction, I forgot I had this!)
$100 gift cards(2x$50) for Walmart(gotten free with c/c pts.)
$100 gift card for Target(ditto)
$20 in store scrip at local Shursave affiliate grocer(gotten with a promotion there last month)

That comes to $245.
Not quite enough to cover a $400 food budget for June but if paired with what is already here at the house it's highly do-able.

Well any notion of doing this went out the window last Wednesday when I hit 3 stores about spent $185+ total. lolz

I will use the Shursave scrip this month at least and as for the other gift cards, I'll play it by ear.

* I was contacted while on the way home from Louisiana last week by the Social Media Team at Chobani about participating in a campaign for the possibility of receiving some free yogurt.
The email started....."Hi Linda!"(Yes, with an exclamation mark.)

WTG Chobani Social Media Team.  You want me to sell my soul to the Probiotic Devil for some over sugared yogurt(might, might not get this)and you can't even get my name correct.
Let's just put that big old "L" on the forehead now, shall we?

* I spent a couple of days out in the front yard trying to chop down the jungle of weeds that have sprouted up along our flower bed.  Yes, whatever neighbors where peeking at me through their closed drapes got a full view of my BPWA(big pasty white ass)as I bent over and pulled and/or used scissors to hack off weeds(the ones I couldn't pull up by the roots due to my reduced hand strength).

Front flower bed before............

And the after on Sunday after we planted some flowers.......

Still need to mulch the bed and rake some dead leaves and such.
I haven't heard of any increased incidents of eye injuries from gazing upon the BPW in the area so we all survived this adventure believe it or not.  ;-)

* Do you know  how long it takes a college student to unpack after moving back home for the Summer?  Around here that would be 30 days.
And that "short" timeline is only because a not-so-nice, crazed mom I know(ahem, hem) started yelling after Day 30 of not being able to walk into his room.  He had began annexing the upstairs hallway as well like some kind of mini-Hitler taking over Poland too, so I had to step in and put a stop to this.
Nein, nein, nein!
Ist verboten!!

CB can't seem to fit all his clothing into his dresser/closet/downstairs hall closet.  Now that's a sure sign that he has enough clothing.

* Despite going on a 2 week vacation, eating pretty much what I wanted to and not riding my exercycle I did NOT gain any weight.  I am sure swimming 9 of the days we were gone helped.

Yay!  I am back in the saddle now and back up to 2 miles a day on the bike. 
Speaking of which I need to go log some miles now.  8-)

So what has been going on in your life lately?

Sluggy
 

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Trying To Get Back Into the Cooking Groove" Edition--

 

Gratuitous photo of my peony blooming.

 

Ya know......after not cooking/being away on vacation for 2 weeks, I think it would be very easy for me to never cook away in retirement(unless of course I got inspired to make something special).
The one drawback is this though.....I like to eat!
I mean I really like to eat!!! lolz

So this plan would mean either we ate out every meal(which due to financial issues AND the fact that I'd get really tired of all that eating out-especially finding things I CAN eat)and/or that Hubs took over all the cooking duties.

Let me preface this next bit with this-- I dearly love Hubs.
But..............*you know where this is going, don't you?*.......he is NOT a cook.
Sure, he has learned how to fend for himself but I couldn't survive long term on what he can make/will attempt to make.
Plus the stress level while he is in the kitchen would be quite high for everyone within earshot.  ;-)
He can pitch in given the situation and come up with something for a meal but between the monotony of the meals, the stress levels in the house, and/or the healthy quotient I'd be a dead woman within a year......or I'd kill him. lolz

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week, planned about mid week I might add.......

 

1. Sunday--Pizza take-out
2. Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(had balls in the freezer)
3. Tuesday--Smoke Sausage with Grilled Onions on rolls, mixed veggies(had sausage in the freezer)
4. Wednesday--Broiled Salmon, Pan Haggerty...thanks to Gill at That British Woman for the idea!(Had salmon in freezer and taters to use up in the pantry)
5. Thursday--take-out Chinese(no ideas, no energy to cook after a day of weeding)
6. Friday--Chicken something(TBD), Cauliflower Soup(got a head of cauliflower to use up, cook some of that chicken I bought on Wed.)
I've got 10lbs. of raw chicken breast I need to do something with.....any ideas?
7. Saturday--BLT sammiches,unless Hubs has a better idea(I bought tomatoes on Wed. too and have bacon in the fridge.)

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Pizza take-out
2. Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs
3. Tuesday--Smoke Sausage with Grilled Onions on rolls, mixed veggies
4. Wednesday--Broiled Salmon, Pan Haggerty
5. Thursday--take-out Chinese
6. Friday--Chicken Quesadillas
7. Saturday--BLT sammiches

 

  

I jumped back feet first into grocery shopping for June this past week.  Wednesday after my eye appointment I hit Maine Source(it was 3 blocks away!), Walmart(went to get College Boy some work shoes and ended up spending $28.69 on mostly frozen foodstuffs)and the Bakery Outlet for bread products.  Then on Friday I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets to the tune of $53.53.
Grand total spent this week on food--$185.87, with a total savings rate of 43.88%

I didn't expect to spend that much this week but we stocked up on a few things, mainly bread products at the Bakery Outlet(should last most of the month), large containers of frozen breakfast sammiches at Walmart(plus burritos as CB ate all I had here when we were gone), a 5lb block of Cooper Sharp Cheese(should last CB a few weeks lol), a 2lb. bag of raw shrimp, and an almost 10lb bag of chicken breasts(which I ended up grilling 1.5 whole breasts for quesadillas and chicken salad, and slicing and freezing the rest of them).
Add in the 2 trays of pork chops obtained at Weis and we won't need to buy any meat for awhile.

 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Garlic Ginger Shrimp Stir-fry, Rice
2. Monday--Lasagna w/Meat Sauce, Tossed Salad
3. Tuesday--Sausage Sandwiches, Brussels Sprouts
4. Wednesday--Tacos or Taco Salad
5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Smoked Brisket Sandwiches(cooked brisket in freezer), Cole Slaw, Green Beans
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Lunches this week....Chicken Salad sandwiches, BLTs, Cauliflower Soup, Salad w/grilled Chicken

What I need to buy for this menu?.....grapes and pecans(for chicken salad), shredded cabbage(for Cole slaw).

This coming week should be a light shopping one.

There is a coffee Deal at Weis on 8 O'clock brand.....BOGO and there is a $2/2 bags IP coupon available making it cheap.  Plus butter is $1.97 lb. there this week too.

At the local Shursave affiliate grocer grapes and blueberries are a good deal and there is a water by the case sale which I need to get in on, as CB goes through some water.

I am figuring $60 unless I end up spending that $20 in Shursave scrip I have, which would bring my costs this week down. The expensive items this week are containers of nuts(cashews and pecans)from Sam's club.....big containers are cheaper but they should last us awhile).
 

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

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy

June 1st Net Worth

Net Worth calculations have been done for June 1st.
I don't share the actual amount here but I do track it's movement up or down.

The non-retirement monies are up $3,158.98 and the retirement monies are up $6,181.04 from May1st for a grand total gain of $9,109.54 in savings.

We are up a total of  $114,661.50 from a year ago, June 1st 2014.
And that gain is with a very conservative "almost ready to retire and start spending the money" investment mix.

Yay....go us!

I love how, even though we aren't "in the market" any longer, since we have such a nice amount of $ saved, that even just compounding interest gives the accounts a nice boost.  8-))

How is your Net Worth doing?
Did your savings go up last month?



Sluggy

Grocery Shopping-Vlog Edition

I went grocery shopping Friday.
Look at what I got/what I paid HERE.

I saved 50+% and only used 1 coupons.  8-)

Sluggy