This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Crazy Weather Around Here" Edition--

By Friday we are suppose to be back to more seasonal weather here in this part of PA.

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Beef Pie
2. Monday--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Spinach Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(probably the soups and some Stroganoff)
4. Wednesday--Bacon and Asparagus Quiche
5. Thursday--Hot Dogs/Brats, Sides(something easy as I'll be driving most of the day)
6. Friday--Pecan Chicken, Corn Casserole, Mixed Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Subway

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Beef Pie
2. Monday--Meatloaf, Sweet Potato, I don't remember which veggie
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(I have Stroganoff, Rice, Brussels Sprouts, Hubs had Butternut Squash, Venison and Rutabaga)
4. Wednesday--Leftovers(I had Chicken Dumplings and Salad, Hubs had Stroganoff)
5. Thursday--Bacon and Asparagus Quiche, Salad
6. Friday--Leftover Meatloaf,
7. Saturday--Cheese Steaks(I also had a Tossed Salad)

No Brats or Dogs, Tuna Noodle Casserole and the Pecan Chicken moves to this coming week.  We ate most of our leftovers last week and kept from getting Subway or Take-out(except for a Wendy's lunch on the way home from picking up College Boy on Friday.  I am going to try to avoid Take-out until the last 2 weeks of December as there will be lots of eating out at that time between our traditional Xmas eve Chinese dinner out and our meals while traveling/visiting.

We had a rare incidence of food waste this past week.  1 helping of green bean casserole from Thanksgiving was found lurking in the back of the overstuffed fridge.  We haven't had any food waste in quite awhile.

As for my grocery spending last week...... 7 trips to 4 different stores for a total of $100.21 spent OOP. Month to date is $236.03 spent for December on $503.67 worth of regular retail foods/toiletries. I acheived a 53.10% savings rate on items bought this past week.  I have $113.97 leftover in the food budget for the rest of the month(plus $10.75 in catalinas to spend by Dec. 26th).

Leftovers going into this week.....quiche, cheese steak fixings.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Pecan Chicken, Corn Casserole, Broc/Cauliflower Mix
2. Monday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Salad or ?Veggie
3. Tuesday--Broccoli Soup, Grilled Cheese
4. Wednesday--Tacos or Taco Salad
5. Thursday--Chicken Parm, Spaghetti, Sugar Snap Peas
6. Friday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Beans, Veg TBD
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked and 1 meal of leftovers consumed.

What I need to buy for this menu?.........Salad Greens, Spinach.
We also need milk.
I plan on spending about $20 this week on groceries(unless the Thursday ad has something good in it and/or I find some meat markdowns this week).

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Random Happenings Lately at Chez Sluggy

*  Well it's almost Christmas time so I opened my sealed pot 2 weeks ago.......well it's not sealed just rolled up, so I just took it out of the basket and counted it.........

And then lugged it up to the bank and turned it into this........

The rolled loose change tally for 2015--$116.50.
That will go toward paying for Christmas.

*  In other Christmas hacks........
I used credit card reward points to get some gift cards for gift giving this year.
Cost to me?  Zero.

Christmas stocking stuffers this year are mostly items gotten from Rite-Aid which were paid for with Plenti points/sales/coupons.
Cost Out of Pocket?  Zero.

Bought $100 in gift cards at Weis this week and earned a $10 off Your Next Shopping Order Catalina.  That will go toward buying a hunk of beef for Christmas Dinner.

*  Speaking of Christmas I am not feeling the Season yet.  For one thing the weather here has been VERY unseasonable.  It was 60+F here today!!
My car registered 63F when I got home and the bank sign down the road read 66F when I drove by it....geez!

Not that I'm complaining really but I'm use to frigid cold and snow by now having lived up North since 1984.


*  Don't forget to enter my Giveaway before it ends on Wednesday December 16th.
I really thought I'd have more entries at this point in the process.  It's either due to folks just being too busy to be reading blogs due to the Holidays and all the extra work/effort that entails AND/OR the sort of readers I have aren't into "stuff", are more on the frugal end of the spectrum and would rather have useful stuff like toiletries and HBA items.....and chocolate of course. ;-)
What do you think??

*  I've been changing up the BlogRoll too if y'all haven't noticed.  Adding a few folks and I'll be removing some who no longer post or I don't feel are relevant to me anymore.  If you have any suggestions for new blogs(or old blogs that I don't know about)feel free to suggest them to be added to the list.

*  In other blog business--I noticed that I keep bouncing between having 285 followers and 286 followers for the past month or so.  There is someone who keeps un-following and then re-following I think. Can they not make up their mind? lolz  Not that I care but it is odd.....or maybe I am just odd for noticing? ;-)

*  2015 is quickly coming to an end and 2016 is just around the corner.  Did this year just fly by or is it just my perception?!?
I need to sit down sometime this week and start thinking about Goals for 2016.  Other than keeping up with the exercise I started in 2015 I don't have anything else for that list.  We never did the big home repair/maintenance planned for 2015 so I guess that moves to next year as the money to pay for it is sitting in our account.  I plan to take some time to reflect and re-evaluate some of my aims in life after the Holidays.  Boy, does that sound lofty and pretentious or what? lolz

Ok I am off now to gather some more goodies to send off to charity.  I am trying to get 3 more donations made before 2015 ends and most of that will happen this week...I hope. 8-)

What are you up to lately?

Sluggy

More Grocery Shopping This Week

Lots of little shops at the stores this week.
In between doing other things it seems I am constantly running to the grocery store.
Well at least I get some exercise shopping this way. lolz

On the way to pick up College Boy from school I stopped at the Surplus Outlet to see what they had I could use for cheap.......

2 x Mussleman's apple sauce cups for Hubs@ $1.19
2 x G2 Gatorade @ .89¢
2 x Lime Ricky drinks @ .79¢
2 x Heinz mustard(dijon and spicy brown)@ .59¢ & .79¢
2 x Chicken stock(wine wine and herbs)@ .79¢
2 x Hamburger Helper microwave cups@ .59¢(for CB)
1 x Ranch dressing@ .99¢
1 x Stone ground Grits@ .99¢
not pictured--
1 x 3lb frozen broccoli spears@ $3.19
1 x steamers frozen mix veg@ .99¢
1 x family size bag of Kisses(need this to make my fudge)@ $2.99
2 x Helluva dips@ 2/$1(but this rang up for .01¢)

Total OOP $19.04
Regular retail of $32.90

Then I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets for the Friday only Deals when we got back home.

Of course they were out of the main thing I went for but I did pick up this stuff............

4 x Scotties tissues .88¢each wyb4=$3.52
2 x Hormel chili=$2.50
1 x sandwich steaks 1/2 price sale=$5.64
1 x steak rolls 1/2 price sale=$1.64
1 x Celeste pizza for 1=$1.00
1 x OM smoked sausage 1/2 price sale=$2.49*not pictured*
SubTotal.....$16.79

Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Scotties tissues IPQ=$2.00
1 x .55¢/2 Hormel chili IPQ(doubled to $1)=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Hormel chili Weis coupon BookQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 OM smoked sausage CatalinaQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$5.00

$16.79-$4=$11.79 OOP

Savings rate of 60%. I don't know why the receipt only shows $4 in coupon savings.....I guess the Weis book Q doesn't show up on this? but it did take off $5 in coupons.

After sale/coupons, the chili was .50¢ a can, the facial tissue .53¢ a box and the OM smoked sausage was $1.49.
I will also get a $1 rebate for buying the pizza from SavingStar as that is their freebie offer this weekend.

College Boy requested cheese steaks for dinner on Saturday so I changed up the menu plan and bought those steaks and rolls.  CB will also eat that pizza for lunch one day while he is home.

Saturday while at Rite-Aid to pick up an rx I bought this........

2 x Scott tp 4 packs on sale $2.99=$5.98

I used 2 x $1/1 Scott tp IPQ=$2.00

$5.98-$2=$3.98 using my Plenti points.

I earned $2 in new Plenti points so all this tp "cost" me $1.98 in points.

Then it was back to Weis as my pickle Q was expiring today....sigh.....

3 x Vlasic pickles on sale $2=$6.00
12 x Scotties tissue on sale .88¢=$10.56
2 x Nestle choc. chips on sale $1.77=$3.54
2 x Ragu sauce on sale $2=$4.00
1 x Lasagna noodles=Free wyb2 Ragu sauces
1 x Perdue cutlets on sale=$2.40
1 x 1/2 lb. deli provolone=$4.23 NOT ON SALE
1 x 1 lb. ground turkey on sale=$3.50
2 x Hillshire Farm no perservatives deli meat on sale $4.49=$8.98
SubTotal.....$43.21

Coupons Used
1 x .75¢/3 Vlasic pickles CatalinaQ=.75¢
4 x $1/3 Scotties IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1.25/2 Ragu ManuQ=$1.25
1 x .75¢/1 Perdue item(doubled to $1)=$1.00
1 x $1 instant meat sticker on ground turkey=$1.00
2 x $1 instant meat sticker on deli meats=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Hillshire Peelie Q on deli meats=$2.00
Coupon Total.......$12.00

$43.21-$12.00=$31.21 + .16¢ tax=$31.27 OOP
Savings rate of 49% plus I earned a .75¢ off ur next order Catalina for buying the pickles.

Then I bought $100 in gift cards using household maintenance and eating out funds for 2016.........

This earned me a $10 off your next order Catalina and 20 gas points.
I plan on using that $10 oyno Q to help pay for the roast I am going to cook for Christmas dinner.

This brings my weekly grocery spending to $100.21 on $213.64 reg. retail worth of groceries so I am at 53.10% savings rate for this week.
Even so, I am going to have to slow down if I am going to stay at/under $350 of spending for the month.

Sluggy

A Giving Opportunity Courtesy of Rite-Aid

I am stoked because I just saw an opportunity coming the week after Christmas at Rite-Aid to get a boat load of goodies for free to give to my local food bank!
I am posting this scenario in case anyone else out there feels like doing this Deal for their community or if you know someone who can use some free shampoo and detergent.

The December 27th-January 2nd Sales Ad has a double dipping Deal on some P&G items.
You can see scans of that ad at I Heart Rite-Aid .

If you spend $30 on items tagged as "2016 Starting Points" items in a single transaction you'll receive $10 in Plenti Points.
R-A is also running a Spend $30/Get $10 in Plenti Points Deal on some P&G items that week which means buy $30 of these P&G items and you'll get $20 in Plenti Points back.

You can do each of these Deals on each Wellness card 2 times.

With the P&G coupons coming out in the Dec. 27th inserts I can buy--

12 Pantene 'Poos=$41.88
4 Tide Detergents=$21.36
SubTotal......$63.24

Use 4 x $5/3 Pantene Qs=$20
Use 4 x $2/1 Tide Qs=$8
SubTotal.......$28.00

$63.24-$28.00=$35.24 OOP

Use my Plenti Points instead of cash and earn back $40 in new Plenti Points.
It looks like a $4+ moneymaker until you factor in tax and the extra newspapers you'll have to purchase to get multiple coupon inserts.  These 2 factors will absorb most of the overage and make them "just free".
I can live with free. lolz

After doing this deal twice on each card,  that will be 24 bottles of Pantene and 8 jugs of Tide for the food bank.
I don't think the food bank will turn that donation down, do you?  8-)))

Sluggy

Christmas Has Been Out of Control for Centuries

*I saved this newspaper article I read from a local edition here on Dec. 24, 2006 and recently uncovered it again in a stack of my papers.
I thought it apropos to post here word-for-word this Holiday Season.
The book it highlights is worth seeking out for a read if you are a fan of social history.

Please note, that the figures quoted at the end of the article are for 2006 so it's a tad higher in today's 2015 figures.

Sluggy

Credit to writer Matt Crenson of the Associated Press.
***********************************************

Christmas Has Been Out of Control for Centuries

Once upon a time the holiday season was a quiet time spent with family and friends--simpler, less commercial, more spiritual, nothing like today's frenzied orgy of souless consumption.

"There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got", one observer noted recently.

Well not so recently.

Harriet Beecher Stowe worth those words in 1850.  By then, the holiday was already well on its way to becoming the retail orgy it is today.

"Every generation for the last 250 years tends to think it was only in the last generation that it got commercialized, " said Stephen Nissenbaum, an emeritus professor of history at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

In his book "The Battle for Christmas", Nissenbaum puts that myth to rest by tracing the history of the holiday from colonial New England to the turn of the 20th Century.

Nissenbaum shows that powerful social interests have always advanced their agendas through Christmas, and describes how the holiday we celebrate today had its orgins in the New York City of the 1820's.  Christmas. it seems, has always been a holiday of excess.

For most of its history Christmas was a free-for-all, more New Year's Eve or Mardi Gras than the domestic idyll described in Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas"(better known as "The Night Before Christmas").

The holiday has its origins in the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a week long Winter Solstice celebration that featured feasting, drinking gambling and sex.  Men dressed as women, women dressed like men, and masters waited on their slaves in a raucous reversal of the social hierarchy.

Such behavior was almost inevitable during the weeks surrounding the Winter Solstice in the pre-industrial societies of norther Europe, thanks to what Nissenbaum refers to as a "combustible mix" of leisure time, abundance and alcohol.

In the northern Europe of the late Middle Ages, gangs of young men would engage in "wassailing", a cross between Christmas caroling and home invasion.  The gangs would visit wealthy homes, often in disguise, and sing songs that threatened violence if they were not invited in for food and drink.

In agrarians societies, practices like wassailing served as a critical safety valve, giving people at the bottom of the social ladder a release that wold keep them in line during the rest of the year.
But with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, factory owners didn't want their employees wandering off for weeks of drunken merriment.

During the 1820's after a series of particularly raucous holiday seasons in New York, the city's elite began campaigning for a more restrained, domestic Christmas.  Central to that campaign was the tradition of purchasing gifts, especially for children.

"Christmas and American's consumer culture have fed off one another ever since", said Russell Belk, a professor of business at the University of Utah.  His research has shown that the more materialistic people are about Christmas, the less satisfaction they derive from the holiday.

There's no doubt that Americans are materialistic about Christmas.  Almost half of all Americans crammed stores on the day after Thanksgiving this year, the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season.  By the time the Christmas shopping season is over, the country will have spent in the neighborhood of $150 billion, most of it on gifts.  That's an average of $500 for every man, woman and child.