December Grocery Budget Update & Grocery Deals This Week

After receiving another $7.50 in my SavingStar account, $1 in my Checkout51 account and $2 more in my Ibotta account, here is the updated December Grocery Budget.....

Gift Cards.....$64.36
Cash Rebates--
 Savingstar...$142.03
 Checkout51..$42.25
 Ibotta..........$33.50
Rolled Coins...$87.50
Other Cash(post coupons)...$42.00

Total.....$411.64

After spending $149.14 the last 2 weeks on groceries I have $262.50 left to spend on food in December, coming into this week.

Here are some of the good Deals I got this past week......

Snapple and Ortega were part of the Mix & Match 6/Get $3 off Deal.
4 x Ortega shells=$5.96($1.49 ea.)
2 x Snapple 64 oz.=$3.98
$9.94
I used 2 x $1/2 Ortega items IPQ($2 off)and 1 x $1/2 Snapple 64 oz. Weis QBookQ($1 off)...$9.94-$3=$6.94-$3 for buying 6 qualifying items for the Deal=$4.94 for all 6 items.

I also bought Marcal napkins.....

2 x $2 on sale=$4.00- 2 x .50¢/1 IPQs that doubled to $1 each($2 off)=$2.00.
I also earned .50¢ in my SavingStar account for buying 1 pack of napkins so $1.50 OOP for both packs.

Weis also had Fiora towels and toilet paper half price last Friday ($3.49 each).
I printed off 4 more .50¢/1 FB Qs that doubled to $1 off each to use.
$13.96-$4.00=$9.96
I also earned $2 in Ibotta cash rebates($1 for buying 1 paper towel pack and $1 for buying 1 toilet paper pack) so $7.96 OOP for all 4 packs or $1.99 per pack.
A great price for paper goods.

All the above was bought in the same shopping trip on Friday and I earned a 61% savings rate over regular retail before the $2.50 in cash rebates also earned from buying these products.
The savings rate goes up to 67.30% once you figure in the rebates too.  8-)))

The only notable Deal this week so far has been this one.......

4 x Finlandia butter at Weis(PMITA)Markets bought over the course of 2 weeks(3 packs this week, 1 pack last week).

These are regularly $3 per 7 oz. package but are on sale for $2.50.
There are $1/1 Finlandia products Qs on coupons dotcom making each package $1.50.
4 x $2.50=$10.00-$4 Qs=$6.00 OOP

By buying 4, I spent $10 before Qs, thus fulfilling a Spend $10/Get $3 Cash Rebate in my SavingStar account.

$6-$3 rebate=$3 OOP

There is a $1 cash rebate on Checkout51 too for the butter.  I bought one of these the week before(on sale and using a $1 off coupon)so I could apply for the rebate last week and also again this week.  
$3-$2 rebates=$1.00 OOP

In the end, I "spent" $1 on 4 packs of butter totaling 28 ounces.
Not bad, huh?

I never would have spent $3 or even $2.50 and probably not even $1.50 on a 7 oz. pack of butter.
But throw in the $5 in rebates and I am all over this deal. lolz

I'll be back tomorrow with what I got at Rite-Aid this week.

Sluggy

And the Winner is........

*Sorry for the delay getting this up.  I thought I had published it yesterday afternoon.  Oops!*


61 Valid entries this time.  They were all numbered and Random dotorg picked entry #9 so the winner is.........

SAMDecember 1, 2016 at 6:41 PM

Chocolate! Hand cream! Very nice.

Congratulations Sam!
Please send me your full mailing address and I'll get this box 'o goodies out to you asap between fluffing pillows and fetching pain meds for Gimpy.  ;-)

Thank you for everyone who entered the giveaway.
Stay tuned in 2017 as the Sluggy Boring Blog Box Giveaways will continue! 8-)))

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "We Interrupt Your Life For This Important Message" Edition--

Well, it's been a hell of a week here.  All my plans/priorities for now are on hold as the leg above has taken over my life.

Yep, I am a regular Florence Eff'ing Nightingale now. ;-)
Go me.

Later this week I also get to be medical transport too when Gimpy has a dr. check.
This should be fun. hahaha

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Ceasar Salad

2. Monday--Roast Chicken, Sweet Potatoes,(Baked Potato for BF), maybe Stuffing if there is some left

3. Tuesday--Grilled leftover Meatloaf, Broccoli,(Box Mac and Cheese for BF)

4. Wednesday--Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Veggie Brussels Sprouts, Macaroni Salad

5. Thursday--Chicken Soup using Leftover Roast Chicken, Grilled Cheese Sammies

6. Friday--Ravioli w/Pasta Sauce, Garlic Bread, Salad

7. Saturday--Leftovers of Fend For Yourself

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Ceasar Salad

2. Monday--Roast Chicken, Sweet Potatoes,(Baked Potato for BF)

3. Tuesday--Grilled leftover Meatloaf, Broccoli,(Box Mac and Cheese for BF) Not many of us ate actually. 8-(

4. Wednesday--Januzzi's Subs take-out

5. Thursday--Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sammies, Macaroni Salad

6. Friday--Primo Subs take-out

7. Saturday--London Broil, Brussels Sprouts, Au Gratin Taters

5 meals cooked at home, 1 of them nights of leftovers, and 2 nights of Take-Out. 
Menu be damned last week and we got take-out a few nights since being an "angel of mercy" wore me out!

As for the grocery spending.....2 trips to Weis brought the week's spending to $94.39 and brings my December food spending Total to $149.14 so far this month. 19 Days left to spend in December.

My savings percentages this week was 54%.

Leftovers going into this week.......stroganoff, rice, meatloaf, chicken meat from the roasted chicken I cooked(I made chicken soup with it on Sunday), 1 piece of chicken parm.

Here is this week's "food plan".

1. Sunday--Pork Loin Roast, leftover Macaroni Salad or au gratin taters, Sugar Snap Peas
2. Monday--Ravioli in Marinara, Salad, maybe Garlic Bread
3. Tuesday--Eating Out/Daughter's Birthday Meal
4. Wednesday--Flounder, Cole Slaw, French Fries
5. Thursday--Chinese Take-out or homemade Pizza
6. Friday--? Not sure, Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner
7. Saturday--Leftovers of Fend For Yourself

This week will see 3 new meals cooked, 2 nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 1-2 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu? Can't think of anything at the moment as my brain is fried.

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

Last Chance to Win!

Here's a frugal Xmas tree idea for all you DIYers.  It's an egg carton tree! lol


Today is the last day to enter the December giveaway.

Go HERE and leave a comment on that post before midnight tonight, Dec. 11th.

Now I am off to the grocery store before the snow gets bad.....well, as soon as the home health person leaves since he's parked behind me.

Sluggy

Frugal Finds Despite The Week's Events

On Wednesday, while we waited on Hubs to go to surgery, I did a little shop at Rite-Aid..........

1 x Centrum gummies vitamins on sale...$6.99
2 x Progresso soups on sale....$2.50
2 x Russel Stover sugar-free candies on sale....$4.00
SubTotal.....$13.49

Coupons Used
1 x $4/1 Centrum gummies ManuQ(from Parade magazine)=$4.00
1 x $1/2 Progresso soup IPQ=$1.00
2 x $1.50/1 RS sugar-free candy R-AQ from Wellness Wednesday flyer=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00

$13.49-$8.00=$5.49 OOP
I used $5.99 in Plenti Points to pay.
I earned $4.00 in SavingStar cash rebates($3 Centrum, $1 Progresso)so I am "down" $1.49 in Plenti Points.
In the end, the soup "cost me"(on points) .25¢ per can, the candy .50¢ per bag and the gummy vitamins were a .01¢ moneymaker.  8-)


On Thursday, after visiting Hubs, I hit Macy's.

I had bought this online before Black Friday.....

2 pack of Burt's Bees lip balm....$5.80 + .35¢tax=$6.15 with Free Shipping.
I used Plenti Points to pay so nothing OOP.

This purchase earned me $10 in Macy's Money which was valid this week.
I was in need of a new 2 cup measuring cup as the markings on mine had worn off from use over the years.

I found one for $5 and change on sale so I bought 2 coffee cups to give for presents to finish using the free $10 chit........

The coffee mugs are large 2 cuppers and made by Pfaltzgraff so they are good quality.
All this with the lip balms too cost me $3.49 including tax OOP in real cash.

A need met and bonus gifties too for $3.49.

I also hit Kohl's on Thursday to use $20 in Kohl's Cash to get my eldest son a present.  After KCash the present cost me $7.50 OOP.

The shopping here is now complete.  I am just waiting on something to arrive in the mail so I can send Eldest son and the Finacee their Christmas gifts.
Since we are home bound for the Holidays now I am having to mail gifts.  Since some of them are heavy(and would cost more in postage than I spent on them!)I'll just keep those for next year or hand carry them to them the next time we get down to VA and we'll have Christmas in March or June. lolz

Now I get to go add up all the receipts and see how bad the presents damage is to our finances.  I am figuring it's not too bad but I don't know exactly how much I'v'e spent at the moment.

Now I am off to clean up my invalid and feed him lunch so he AND ME can take a nap this afternoon.

What good deals have you found this week?

Sluggy