Shopping Trip....Free Stuff!

I made a vlog about my trip to Weis Markets yesterday for your viewing pleasure. ;-)

I do use a few bad words(including what writer Jean Shepherd termed "the Mother of All Curse Words")so don't click on the video if you can't handle it.



Also included in this transaction but not pictured(because they were quickly melting in the heat)were 2 containers of ice cream, reg. $5.99 each on sale for $1.99 each(when you bought two).

Sluggy

Food Budget Spending Lately

This is the only "putting up" of produce I've done so far this Summer........

I spent a good 2 hours this past weekend prepping, blanching and freezing 5+ lbs. of green beans.

All this work yielded 5 quart sized bags of beans for the freezer.

I also bought almost 6 lbs. of Summer squash but I'll use all that up for meals this week and not put any of that up.  If I get another load of it in the next two weeks I'll blanch and freeze that batch for later.

On Sunday I made a trip to Maine Source.  I like to go on Sunday was you can double dip the Weekend only Deals with the Weekly Deals that begin that day.  I spent $96.57 on that trip but got lots of goodies.
I picked up 23 lbs. of ribs and 9+ lbs. of pork butt.  The ribs were fixed yesterday for dinner and there are a fair amount leftover.  This leftover will NOT go to waste. lolz
The pork butt is in the freezer for now and will be turned into a big batch of bbq pulled pork for sammiches in the coming weeks.
Other meats purchased at Maine Source were 3lbs. of steaks(on tonight's menu)and 2 lbs. of shrimp(was Tuesday's dinner). Eggs were .69¢ dozen so I got 3 containers of those, mushrooms were $5 for 3-12 oz. containers and those went into Sunday's Beef Stroganoff dinner.  Also bought was cabbage, a red onion, 2.31 lbs. of grapes, a beautiful large head of Romaine lettuce for .99¢, a gallon of milk. lunch meat and sliced cheese.  Comparable regular retail on all this would have been $164.56 so I don't feel so bad having spent only $96.57. Hahaha....how often do you use the qualifier "only" with that dollar amount? lolz

I also made a trip to the Bread Outlet and they were practically wiped out of good bread products.  1 loaf of bread for Hubs and 2 packages of hot dog rolls cost me $3.00.  3 boxes of chocolate chip cookies and 2 boxes of mini-donuts jumped into my cart as well. (The "kids" here love these Entenmann's little cookies and can inhale a box a piece in a sitting....same for the mini-donuts.  I don't usually buy this stuff but spent the $5 and got them as a treat. And I have been good and not had my fingers in those boxes.)  $8 OOP at the Bread Outlet.

I spent $19.27 at Weis(PMITA)Markets earlier this week.  They were out of the breakfast Hot Pockets so I got a rain check but I did do the Spray N' Wash Deal..........

Spend $20/Get $5 off Instantly.  The regular retail price costs toward the $20 total but the items are on sale, meaning I spent $18.45 only and got $5 off so this lot cost me $13.45 + tax.  These refill jugs were the same price as the much smaller spray bottles of Spray n' Wash so it just makes sense to buy the refill and use the spray bottle I already have to dispense the product, right?  Spray N' Wash is part of my laundering trinity........any brand of laundry detergent, then 15 squirts of Spray N' Wash and a few glugs of Hydrogen Peroxide per load(whites also get some chlorine bleach).
They stopped making Spray N' Wash for awhile a few years back and that made me sad until they brought it back.  I swear by this stuff and have used it ever since 1981.

All in I spent $19.27 OOP at Weis.
A quickie to the local Shursave Market for Veggie Oil and 2 loaves of "good" bread(both on BOGO Deals) and there goes another $10.37 out the wallet.

$126.21 spent this week on food so far.

Next week will be austerity food spending I think.  I'll dig out proteins from the freezer and we'll have some cheaper meats like kielbasa(I've already got the hot dog rolls for it)and chicken I think, so I don't run out of grocery money before the month ends.  Maybe a pasta and shrimp dish too as there is shrimp in the freezer.
College Boy doesn't leave for school until 4 days before the month ends so I won't save any money not feeding him in August.

I do feel happy that I've avoided take-out and eating out since we've gotten back from Maine.  I don't mind spending some more on groceries since we aren't spending on prepared meals.

What have you been buying this week at the grocery stores/farm stands/food outlets?

Sluggy

Garden Mystery Solved

Well this............

Turned out to be this, once we got into the garden on Sunday and started weeding..........

It was an acorn squash.  Over 2 lbs. of acorn squash!
We went ahead and picked it because it looked like a chipmunk had taken a small bite out of it.
This means I'll have to cook this soon rather than putting it into my root cellar for eating later on in the Fall.
But there are two more baby acorn squash on that plant so there will be more coming(if the critters don't get to them first).

We also found that monstrously large zucchini on one of the two zuke plants.  It was totally hidden by the foliage and weeds.  That makes the third zuke we've harvested this year.
I've placed a pint mason jar in the photo for scale. That is not part of our harvest. ;-)

Between the 3 zucchini and the acorn squash we've picked we have grown 8.14 lbs. of food this Summer.  I decided to weigh stuff and see how much produce we grow this season.  Even with a haphazard last minute garden this year we will be getting a fair amount of produce it seems.
Hubs netting system, though a pain to get into, is also proving to be a pain for the critters to get into, which was goal.  We haven't lost any veggies since he put it up(knock on wood!).
There are tons of tomatoes on those plants as well and I look forward to a nice crop of maters in the coming weeks.  And I'll have enough green tomatoes to make my pepper relish as well this Fall(along with a few for green tomatoes for frying).

When we weeded we also found another volunteer plant.......

A Roma tomato plant!
I planted 2 Roma varieties last Summer which were quite prolific but the deer ate every single tomato on those plants, darn it!
I didn't plant Roma this year so this is a volunteer plant from seed that fell and wintered in the garden bed.
Not sure if any of the maters will get big enough or ripe enough to use but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Now I am off to attempt to weed the front flower bed.  It's just been left all season and has overgrown with weeds terribly.  With everything going on here this Spring/Summer and being gone a good deal of the time that bed has gotten no love or attention.
I'll probably be sore for days after trying to tackle it. bleh.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Garden is in Full Bloom" Edition.............

I love Morning Glories. I haven't needed to actually plant them for years now though.  I let the vines die off and the seed pods open into the garden bed every Fall before clearing them out.  I am rewarded every Spring with new vines of lovely purple flowers.
I took this shot this morning after a friendly bumblebee had a sip or two from this flower.  You can see the than-you pollen grains he left behind if you look closely.  8-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Leftover Pizza(We weren't home yet.)
2. Monday--Glazed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad(Daughter cooked.)
3. Tuesday--TV Dinners(I'm sick, I need easy.)
4. Wednesday--Beef Pie
5. Thursday--BBQ Ribs, Sliced Tomatoes, Baked Beans
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Tempura Shrimp and Zucchini

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftover Pizza(We weren't home yet.)
2. Monday--Glazed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad(Daughter cooked.)
3. Tuesday--TV Dinners(I'm sick, I need easy.)
4. Wednesday--Beef Pie
5. Thursday--Leftovers(I had a Greek Salad.)
6. Friday--Homemade Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY(I had a Greek Salad with REAL maters! lolz)

7 meals cooked at home(well TV dinners aren't really home cooked), 2 of them nights of leftovers and 0 nights of Take-Out.

The rib and tempura shrimp dinners didn't happen and they move to this week.  I made a pizza instead and we had an extra night of Leftovers or Fend For Yourself.

As for the grocery spending..... 2 trips to Weis and 1 trip to the Farm Stand totaling $91.91. Added to what was spent earlier this month and I am at $180.41 spent of my $500 budget for August, leaving me $319.59 in the food kitty.

Leftovers going into this week........Burrito fixings, Beef Pie, Chicken Parm, Mashed Potatoes. I used the leftover Spanish rice and Chicken mix for Burritos that Daughter made for dinner the week we were gone to Maine and made up 3 Burritos to put into the freezer for quick meals if someone needs one.  The Beef Pie and Chicken Parm will be lunches meaning all I need to use up in a dinner is the leftover taters.

Here is this week's "food plan".

1. Sunday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Spinach Salad
2. Monday--Tempura Shrimp and Zucchini
3. Tuesday--BBQ Ribs, Sliced Tomato, Leftover Mashed Potatoes
4. Wednesday--Chicken Ranch Bacon Pasta Bake, Sliced Tomato and Cukes
5. Thursday--Steak, Grilled Veggies, Noodles
6. Friday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Leftover sides or Caesar Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked and 0 nights of Take-Out and 1 night of Leftovers.

What we need to buy for this menu.....ribs, powdered Ranch dressing, cukes and veggie oil.  I went to Maine Source on Sunday so we have the ribs but the rest needs to be bought today.

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?
I'll be getting some Breakfast Hot Pockets for CB and the BF this week at Weis, along with doing the Spend $20 on cleaners and get $5 off instantly.  I could use a new stockpile of Spray N' Wash and it's included in this Cleaner Deal.

Sluggy

Looking Forward to the Rest of 2016

I am sitting here on a hot and hazy Saturday morning looking at what is ahead here at Chez Sluggy for the rest of the year.

We are almost halfway through August already(can't say as I am NOT happy that the hot weather is leaving soon!lol).

College Boy will be leaving to go back to school in 2 weeks.
I have barely seen him all Summer!  It's been all I could do to corral him to A-get his school bill paid(you have to do this online through his account)and B-get me the info so I could reserve and pay for his textbooks.
He's been working full time this Summer and filling his off hours with rehearsing with various bands, playing gigs with various bands, hanging out with friends, and yes, sleeping as little as humanly possible.  Ah to be young and full of energy..... ;-)

Before you know it, September will be here.

There is the family reunion in Virginia the end of that month.  At this point I am on the fence about going this year.  One of the few relatives who talks to me at this thing(and I actually "know" somewhat)died back in January and no one bothered to tell me until I took the Daughter to visit my brother in July.  Another thing for me to have hurt feelings over besides the sadness I feel at losing this family member.
Between my frame of mind at the moment and just feeling old and not up to anymore traveling right now I might just stay home this year.

Then Hubs will get a hankering to go somewhere in October as he is want to do.
I would love to return to Ocean City Maryland this year as we were last there 2 Octobers ago.  Last year we went to visit my crazy cousin Sonya Ann in October. 8-)

 I do love it down in OC in October when the tourists have left but the weather is still nice and we can get an oceanfront room for $100 a night.  It always seems like our last hurrah before Winter sets in.....
But I don't know if I want to travel again in October this year.  Plus the expense of vacationing?  I just don't want more vacation expenses right now.

Speaking of expenses, we've had a lot of them up to this point this year.
I am still trying to slog through Daughter's medical stuff from Louisiana to match up payments to bills to EOBs.

I figured out that one doctor was overpaid by us to the tune of $126.  So back in early June I had Daughter call their billing office and find out when they were going to return our money.  Well they weren't actually going to send our over payment back until we found it and requested it! Unreal.....

So we asked for the money to be sent back and were told it would take another month's billing cycle before they could cut us a check.
So Augusts 3rd, while I was in Maine the check finally arrived......(identifying info has been blacked out)

Please not that no one there bothered to SIGN THE CHECK!
Ass hats.....
So this meant yet another call to Louisiana to figure out what to do with this.
They want it sent back so someone can sign it.....I wonder how long THAT will take after waiting almost 2 months for this one?!?

The problem reusing this check is that my Daughter only has an online bank and she has to take pictures of checks to deposit them and since the online bank rejected this particular check/number, she needs a whole new check or the bank won't accept it.
Ugh.
So now I get to try to deposit this into my account IF it ever gets returned AND signed.

It's always something isn't it?  8-P

At the rate the bills are piling up this year I am having serious doubts I can get to my savings goal for the year.
We really shouldn't do anymore vacationing in light of this.  Hubs can still take the time off but we can stay home and putter or take local trips if he wants to "do" something.
Maybe I can talk him into cleaning out the shed as a "FUN" activity on his vacation? 8-)

It's not that I don't have the money to cover the bills, for which I am thankful, but spending on non-necessities just doesn't seem prudent for the rest of this year.
Plus I need to reserve some of December's savings to help cover the high-deductible on our medical insurance when it rolls over in January.  I know our premiums will go up(meaning more deducted from the paychecks)plus our deductible may also rise(we'll get the details on that in October).

And then there is that holiday coming up in December......don't make me say it's name! lolz
I have very little put aside so far for the "Bacchanalia of spending" in December.  I have a bit tucked back and have a few things bought but nowhere near the amount I like to have set aside at this point in the year.

But I keep telling myself that as long is everyone is healthy and well it will all be fine.

So what does your remainder of 2016 look like?

Sluggy