This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Doesn't That Look Good?" Edition--

I saw WeisMarkets had a BOGO sale on a selection of new Asian dinners at my store.
There was also a $2/1 Q online so I tried something new last week.
I bought the Garlic Chicken dinner.  To go with it I finished up a restaurant supply sized bag of stir-fry veggies(plus I added fresh cashews)in some sesame oil and opened a bag of purple jasmine rice I got at World Market last year.
This combination sure made for a colorful dinner and Hubs pronounced it a success.
Not bad for a dinner costing about $5 total either.

The Garlic Chicken was pretty good, not as garlicky as I would have liked but tasty still.  At $2 a box(after sale and Q)I'd buy it again but I wouldn't pay the full retail price of $5.99.

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings(chicken from freezer)(I'll put the leftover Collards into this too)
2. Monday--Beef & Green Chile Enchiladas(using leftover taco meat & enchilada sauce)
3. Tuesday--Bacon/Mushroom Quiche, Brussels Sprouts(freezer)
4. Wednesday--Fried Shrimp and Scallops(freezer), Cole Slaw, Corn on cob(freezer)
5. Thursday--Kielbasa(freezer)on Rolls, leftover Cole Slaw, Calif. mix veggie(freezer)
6. Friday--Broccoli Soup, Biscuits
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings(chicken from freezer)(I'll put the leftover Collards into this too)
2. Monday--Beef & Green Chile Enchiladas(using leftover taco meat & enchilada sauce)
3. Tuesday--Ravioli w/Meat Sauce, Tossed Salad
4. Wednesday--Leftovers(I had chicken n dumplings/Hubs had lasagna as I hadn't put the leftovers into the freezer yet))
5. Thursday--Barbecue Pork on Rolls, Cole Slaw
6. Friday--Garlic Chicken, Stir-Fry Veggies, Jasmine Rice
7. Saturday--Leftovers(I had chicken and dumplings)

After Sunday and Monday's dinners the weekly meal plan was abandoned.  I bought a pork shoulder last week and made barbecue.  We also had meat spaghetti sauce leftover so that called for ravioli. I got 2 frozen Asian chicken meals with BOGO sale and $2/1 IPQ for $3.99 for both and I cooked 1 of them last week.  So much for most of my meal plan last week. lolz
7 meals cooked at home(4 new meals and 3 using up leftovers).

As for my grocery spending so far for February....oy vat!
Even taking out what I paid for items going into the Food Bank donation it still came in at $242.28
Geez!
But if you look at it as getting $531.09 worth of reg. retail items for $242.28 making for a 54.38% savings rate it's not so bleak.  I just need to stop going to the grocery store for the rest of Februrary. lolz

Leftovers going into this week......taco fixings, beef enchiladas, ravioli in sauce, garlic chicken w/veggies and rice(1 helping), pork bbq, Cole Slaw.

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

1. Sunday--Pizza, Salad
2. Monday--Barbecue Pork(leftover)on Rolls w/Cole Slaw
3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joes(using taco meat leftover)on Onion Rolls, Sugar Snap Peas
4. Wednesday--Bourbon Salmon fillets, Cole Slaw, Veggie TBD
5. Thursday--Beef Enchiladas(leftover)
6. Friday--Broccoli/Cauliflower Cheddar Soup, French Bread
7. Saturday--Leftover of some kind

Hubs wanted pizza for the Super Bowl, we have plenty of bbq left, I'll doctor up the taco meat into Sloppy Joes, I bought a piece of Salmon w/Instant meat discount sticker last week, there are leftover enchiladas and I used 2 bags of frozen veggies for the soup.

This week will see 3 new meals cooked and 4 meals of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not).
I went ahead and made the soup on Sunday as electric rates are lower then, so that will just need heating up in the microwave.
I've got so much food here that the quiche and shrimp I was going to make just gets moved to next week.

What I need to buy for this menu? Luckily I need nothing.  I have a ton of food here already so I am going to try not to spend on nonessentials 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

Stuff Here Lately at Chez Sluggy

**  Today is the last day to enter my current Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway!
Go HERE before 11:59 pm EST to enter.

**  I went back to Rite-Aid this week to do this Deal on son's card............

4 x Ziploc(I was running low on bags)freezer bags BOGO sale=$8.98
2 x Blue Diamond almonds BOGO=$6.29
SubTotal.......$15.27

Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Ziploc IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/2 Blue Diamond items IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$4.00

$15.27-$4=$11.27+.42¢tax=$11.69 using Plenti points.
I earned back $5 in new Plenti points(Spend $15/Get $5 select items)so this all cost me $6.69 in Plenti points.
I also bought some gift cards(restaurant and movie theater ones)that were giving back Plenti points and earned $20 in new Plenti points on this card.
My BPE points on this card are now at $66.87(the Ziploc spending counted toward the BPE)and $66.17 on my card.

**   I was at the grocery store this week and the woman checking out in front of me had lots of snacky-type items on the belt, so the cashier asked her, "Getting ready for a Super Bowl party?".  To which the customer replied, "Nah, I really don't care this year."  The cashier then said, "I hear ya!  'Our' Steelers aren't in it so who cares??  The customer nodded and retorted, "Exactly!!".
So the consensus around these parts seems to be, "Who Cares about Super Bowl w/out the Steelers?!?"

I say NO MATTER WHO PLAYS, WHO FREAKING CARES, PERIOD!?!
It's a game people....a game played by guys who end up with CTE and brain damage for the entertainment of their fans.
It's not on my personal enjoyment radar and I am tired of hearing about it.
8-)))

Having said that I'll be going out for sour cream to make Hubs dip later today so he can nibble chips while watching it.
If the game is NOT a rout(as Hubs informs me that many times these SB games are)then it will mean I WILL MISS TONIGHT'S DOWNTON ABBEY EPISODE!
Grrrr.
Now THAT does NOT make me happy at all......
But I will give it up and watch it later online so Hubs can worship at the Altar of Sports Lunacy.

**  And speaking of going out later to the grocery store.......
This week has been a killer of spending!  Here are all my receipts from trips to various stores this week--

I've just been piling them up on a corner of my desk all week.
Ugh.
Of course the Rite-Aid receipts I actually spend no grocery monies there, the Bakery Outlet receipt wasn't much and there was little spent at CVS out of pocket BUT the Weis(PMITA)Markets receipts....oy vay!!!  Not a lot of spending on each one but there are so many of them!!! lolz

I know it's not a lot of spending for the month, but it's all been concentrated into one week.  I am sure that once I add it all up on Monday that the bulk of my grocery money for Februrary will have been spent. sigh
I'll get over it with time. lolz

                    the checks I want but not for $70+

**  I got to the place in my checkbook recently where it says that you should think about reordering your checks last week.
Since we can no longer order checks through our credit union, I went onto my current check's check printing website and saw that a 4 box reorder(the cheapest way to go)would be over $70 + shipping!
EEK!!!
So do you think I reordered my checks there?
Of course I didn't!

I went right to a different check printing company's website and bought my 4 boxes of checks as a new customer(which gave me a new customer discount)for around $40 w/shipping.

I guess my old check printing company thought I'd just reorder what I had from them because I A-liked that check design so much I couldn't even THINK about not having it again, or B-they thought I was just lazy and would keep reordering from them because it was the easiest thing to do.
Neither of those scenarios apply to me unfortunately for them!
You want my business?
Then give me a quality product for a good price and don't try to rip me off.

**  Yesterday we went to Lowe's and signed the remodel/renovation contract and shelled out a big hunk of money we had put aside from Hubs Bonus check last year.  The job actually came in under budget(shock!)but that didn't make it any easier to give over all that cash.  We got a Lowe's credit card and put it onto that for a 5% discount on the costs.  I'll pay it off in full when the bill arrives.
Even with that discount I still thought, "Ugh.".
I will be less upset once the bathroom is done and I can use it again.

As the 2015 Bonus money stands, we still have over $4K left of it.  We'll see what happens once the contractor opens up the walls in the bathroom and if any hidden surprise costs materialize but it's possible we could still have most if not all of that $4K leftover once the job is done.
So now we have to decide what to possibly do with all that leftover cash.
Stash it away with all the cash I save each year to augment the Retirement Funds?
Keep it in reserve for College Boy's school costs?
Splurge on something for us for a change?.....like a special trip?.....some new furniture?.....or ?
Give our grown kids some money?
Just hang onto it for now and see what 2016 throws at us?

What do y'all think?

Ok, I have to go run to Rite-Aid to do a deal or two and then to Weis to brave the Party Gathering Hoards there for Hubs' sour cream.

Sluggy

For Sonya Ann....CVS Trip!

So last month I went to CVS and got this........

I went back yesterday as it was expiring today to spend it and here is what I got..........

Finding decaffeinated tea bags at a good price is rough here so I jumped on this Spend $9 on Lipton or Hellman's and get $3 in ECB Deal.
After sale price of $3 a box and coupons worth $2.50 total and using my $5 ECB I spent $1.50 OOP and earned a $3 ECB.
**Just updated this to say that I'll get .40¢ of my OOP back as I have a Lipton offer in my SavingStar account, so $1.10 OOP after that rebate.**

Great!
Now I had to find a way to use this one!! lolz

The CVS kiosk spit out a $2.50 off Colgate toothpaste coupon and a $1.50 off $5 if you buy nuts coupon.
Now how to use some of this and get something I need/want, use this $3 ECB and keep my OOP lowish.

Before leaving home to go to CVS, I went to the CVS website and printed a few Qs I "might" need and then checked out a CVS Deal website to see what the Kiosk was printing out this week.

I put together a game plan while in the store and bought this stuff.........

1 x GE Abound unsalted cashews=$6.99
1 x GE Abound nut bar=$1.49
1 x Colgate toothpaste on sale=$3.00
3 x AG cards .99¢ea.=$2.97
SubTotal.......$14.45

Coupons Used
1 x $1.50 wyb $5 in GE nuts CVSKioskQ=$1.50
1 x $2/2 GE Abound CVSQ from website=$2.00
1 x $2.50/1 Colgate toothpaste CVSKioskQ=$2.50
1 x .50¢/1 Colgate toothpaste IPQ=.50¢
1 x $2/3 AG Greeting Cards CVSQ=$2.00
1 x $3 ECB from the Lipton tea I just bought=$3.00
Coupon Total........$11.50

$14.45-$11.50=$2.95+.10¢tax=$3.05 OOP

And then, just when I thought I was free of CVS, this spit out on my receipt........

Another $2 ECB!!! ack

Well, at this point I was done with CVS for the day so I put this in my coupon pouch and went home.
I have a month to come back and spend this before it expires.
I just didn't have anything left in my drugstore arsenal.  Now if PA was a place that the CVS stores have liquor you could buy like Sonya Ann's does......

I could have found something to buy EASY! lolz

So I am out $4.55 cash for all these purchases and have a $2 ECB to use.

Oh well......I guess I'll be CVSing another day..........

Sluggy

January To-Do List Outcome

Let's take a look at how I did with my January To-Do List.

JANUARY

* Inventory Stockpile FAIL  It has been too cold to spend long stretches of time out in the garage so this item goes onto Feb.'s list.

* Un-Decorate DONE

* Put Away Xmas Stuff DONE

* Take CB back to School  DONE

* Finish analyzing bills paid in 2015 and chart DONE  Most line items of spending were down in 2015 compared to 2014.  Nothing worrisome of note but all insurance and tax categories were all more in 2015 than in 2014, which is not surprising.  Another post on this point at a later date will surely appear on the blog.

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything paid and on time.  'Nuff said.....

* Bike 50 Miles DONE

Smashed that goal and biked 71.25 miles

* Sew hems on 2 Nightgowns  DONE  Now I have 2 new long sleeved nightgowns for the Winter and just in time for the cold.

* Start Taxes x 4(Fed, State x 2)  DONE partly Federal is done, CB's Federal mostly done(waiting on him to get me a figure on something).  Hadn't been able to do state taxes yet as forms were not available earlier in Jan.  This part continues onto Feb.'s list.

* Start Food Bank Donation(toiletries) DONE  I finished both the toiletries gathering and the food gathering.  Now I just have to inventory what I have to take up and lug it into the car so I can take it in.

* Reorganize Fabric Stash DONE I pulled out lots of pieces of fabric to donate to SA in December.  As a result the stash was quite higgledy-piggledy.  I went in and neatened and reorganized what is left on the shelves.

* Hold Giveaway DONE Giveaway is currently running and why haven't you entered yet?!?
Go HERE and remedy that right now!  8-)

* Read 2 Books DONE I finished 2 books- one I got at the thrift stores while visiting Sonya Ann in IL and the other was bought at Ollie's discount store for cheap.  One was a Biography of Cole Porter, the other was a novel called "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry".  The Cole Porter one was slow going through some of it but if you want to know everything there is to know about Mr. Porter's life go read it.

* Plan 2016 Goals DONE  And posted HERE.

* Plan Travel for 2016  ON HOLD  There are some things up in the air around here and with my family so I am having to put the Travel Plans on hold for now.  I have tentative ideas but I can't book anything or have Hubs mark his work calendar for time off until  some things get settled.  We have at least 2 trips in the works for 2016 but that is as much as I can say at this point, one of which may include some family business and not just all pleasure.
Will revisit this To-Do Item at the end of Feb.

* Celebrate my Birthday DONE  
Me blowing out candles.  Hubs bought a teeny tiny cake the weekend after my birthday.

Puffed out cheeks for blowing is NOT a good look on me. lolz

So we did a decent job on knocking off the items on the January To-Do List.
One point gets put on hold and another gets continued into February.

Now it's onward into the wilds of February!

What would you like to accomplish this month?

Sluggy

February 1st 2016 Net Worth Snapshot

We are $6,524.55 up from last month's net worth(only liquid cash/investments, as I don't count housing or car values).  Over $2300K of that if due to savings put away in January from our household accounts.  The other almost $4200K is from our retirement/investment account gains.

We are also $102K up from one year ago, the January 1st of 2015 net worth snapshot.

Once Hubs retires I will miss these little monthly look backs, when we move from acquisition mode with money to spend-down mode. ;-)

Sluggy