This Week on the Dining Table

The "Foreshadowing" Edition--

You know how Facebook dredges up past posts you've made there and asks if you want to share them again?

Mid December my Facebook page brought up a photo I posted there 3 years ago around Xmas time, which I have posted above.  It was from Xmas 1962 and I am modeling a nurses outfit I had gotten from Santa that year.  I was almost 4 years old.

Funny how 53 years later I'd actually be playing "nurse" again at Xmas time. 8-)

I also should mention that having this ornament on the Xmas tree this year was very apropos given Hubs' accident......

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Xmas Dinner 2.0 + Corn Casserole

2. Monday--Roast Beef Hash from scratch, Scrambled Eggs *

3. Tuesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Potato Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Chili w/Sweet Potatoes

5. Thursday--Quesadillas or Taco Salad(leftover Taco Beef)

6. Friday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits

7. Saturday--Spaghetti and Sausage, Salad, Garlic Bread

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Xmas Dinner 2.0 + Corn Casserole

2. Monday--Roast Beef Hash from scratch, Scrambled Eggs *

3. Tuesday--Chicken Chili

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself

5. Thursday--Spinach Salad, Broccoli Cheddar Soup

6. Friday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Baked Beans(I just had beans.)

7. Saturday--Leftovers(I had kielbasa which I didn't eat on Friday.)

7 meals cooked at home, 2 of them nights of leftovers or Fend For Yourself, and 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out.
I used leftover Xmas roast beef and turned it into hash.  That was it for the leftovers from the previous week.

As for the grocery spending.....1 trip to Weis, 1 trip to the Bread Outlet, 1 trip to Target and 1 trip to the Shursave market bought the food spending last week to $97.64 and brought my January food spending Total to $97.64 for the month.(4 trips to Rite-Aid as well but nothing spent out of pocket there.)

My savings percentages last week was 65.02%.  The Bread Outlet savings rate and no OOP at Target(as I used gift cards that were free with credit card points)went along way to giving me such a high rate of savings. ;-)

Leftovers going into this week.......roast beef hash, chicken chili and taco filling.

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Marinated Flank Steak, Green Beans, Au Gratin Taters
2. Monday--BBQ boneless Pork Ribs, Red Beans & Rice
3. Tuesday--Chicken Marsala, Sugar Snap Peas, Mashed Potatoes *
4. Wednesday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
5. Thursday--Beef Stew
6. Friday--Clam Chowder, Spinach Salad
7. Saturday--Enchiladas, Refried Beans

If we have leftovers and/or I am not feeling up to cooking we may substitute one of the meals above with leftovers.

This week will see 7 new meals cooked, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 0 night of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu? Salad Greens
I think that's it.  I will do a stock-up on cheese 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

2 More Rite-Aid Hauls from Saturday

I decided to do some transactions on my Wellness/Plenti card too on Saturday. (I used my son's card/account earlier in the week.)

I had activated a random offer on my Plenti card through Plenti dotcom.  This was for $8 back in points when you spent $40 in one transaction.  This offer was good for two transactions.

This $8 offer can be combined with the Spend $50/Get $20 in PPs which just made buying some things I was wavering on since they weren't free after points a moneymaking proposition.

First trancastion was this one....

4 x Pantene Shampoo on sale=$15.96*

1 x Pantene Conditioner on sale=$3.99

1 x Pantene 3 minute miracle Conditioner on sale=$3.99

2 x Centrum gummies on sale bogo50%=$13.93

2 x Finish dish tabs on sale bogofree=$8.29

2 x Snickers candy bar on sale=$1.38

SubTotal......$47.54

*My 20% off Wellness discount was 1 cent lower than the sale price of $4.*

Coupons Used

2 x $5/3 Pantene ManuQ=$10.00

2 x $4/1 Centrum gummies ManuQ=$8.00

1 x $2/1 Finish tabs ManuQ=$2.00

2 x .50¢/1 Snickers IPQ=$1.00

Coupon Total......$21.00

$47.54-$21.00=$26.54 + $1.23 tax=$27.77

I used $27.77 in Plenti points to pay and earned back $8.00 in new Plenti points.

I needed a few more dollars of spending($2.46)to get to $50 in Starting Points items to get my $20 in Plenti points back, so I bought this.......

4 x Snickers candy bars on sale=$2.76

I used 4 x .50¢/1 Snickers IPQ for $2 off so paid .76¢ on my free R-A gift card(since I couldn't use Plenti points on a total under $2).

And my $20 in Plenti points generated since my total spent was now $50.30 for both transactions.

$28.53 "spent" in total and $28 in new Plenti points earned.

I now had .30¢ to carry over to get to $50 in spending again to earn another $20 in Plenti points.

So I did this transaction..........

2 x L'Oreal hair color 20% Wellness discount=$15.18

2 x Jergens we moisture lotion on sale bogo50%=$11.23

1 x Vaseline lotion 20% Wellness discount=$3.75

2 x Suave gold shampoo on sale=$5.98

2 x Centrum vitamints on sale=$13.93

SubTotal........$50.07

Coupons Used

1 x $5/2 L'Oreal hair color RA in-adQ=$5.00

2 x $2/1 L'Oreal hair color IPQ=$4.00

2 x $3/1 Jergens wet moisture ManuQ=$6.00

1 x $2/1 Vaseline lotion ManuQ=$2.00

2 x $1/1 Suave gold item ManuQ=$2.00

2 x $4/1 Centrum Vitamints ManuQ=$8.00

Coupon Total.........$27.00

$50.07-$27.00=$23.07 + $1.14 tax=$24.21

I used $24.21 in Plenti points to pay and earned back $28.00 in new Plenti points($20 for spending $50 on Starting Points items and $8 for spending $40 in a single transaction for the Plenti Offer on my account).

I was also going to submit for $4 in Checkout51 cash rebates($1 each for 1 Pantene shampoo, 1 Pantene conditioner and 1 Pantene 3 minute miracle conditioner plus a bonus $1 rebate for submitting 3 "Game Day" rebates)but by Saturday evening all those rebates available had been claimed.

crap.

Instead of a $7.79 moneymaker transaction(after points and cash rebates)this transaction was only a $3.79 moneymaker.  

I also have 4 boxes of hair coloring to sell on the local FB site so anything gotten from that is just more gravy.  ;-)

Now I am off to work on writing up what I bought at Rite-Aid this morning.  More great deals(and free stuff)from this week's ad!

Sluggy

December 2016 To-Do List....Hahaha!

Let's see how we did with our December To-Do List, shall we?
My month didn't go as planned because of Hubs' accident early into December but we salvaged what we could from the list.

* Pay Bills  DONE  If nothing else I always pay our bills in full each month.

* Bike Something  PASS  Well after Hubs' accident I didn't have much time or energy to bike in December.  I got a few miles in but nowhere near how many I wanted to do when the month began.  Even if I didn't get biking done I was moving a lot more in December so should be in a little better shape by month's end.

* Read 1 Book  DONE  Actually I haven't quite finished it as I only get a few pages in each night.  I highly recommend "As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto" by Joan Reardon.  It's a collection of personal correspondence between the two women from 1952 until soon after Julia's book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was published.  Besides chronicling the path to publication, there are recipes discussed and cooking talk, national politics of that time, as well as personal stuff.

Avis DeVoto was the wife of historian and writer Bernard DeVoto, who was quite popular in the earlier part of the 20th Century in the US.  He had done a magazine article about how French knives were superior to US cutlery back in 1952.  Julia, living at that time in Paris, had sent Mr. DeVoto a fan letter about his article along with a couple of French knives.  Avis, DeVoto's wife was also his secretary and answered much of his mail. Avis ended up writing Julia a reply and a thank you and thus began their pen pal correspondence and later a personal friendship that lasted until Avis' death in 1989.  If anyone can be credited, it is through the efforts of Avis DeVoto and her connections in the publishing world that got Julia's epic book into print and into the hands and hearts of American cooks.
5 thumbs up!

* Shred Papers  FAIL  Nope, just not enough hours in my day in December to get to this.  The project moved to January's list.

* Hold Giveaway PASS  The December giveaway took place.

* Mail Giveaway  PASS  The package was sent off well before Christmas and received heartily.

* Finish SA Donation #1, #2 CANCELLED  After Hubs' accident there was no way I had time or the ability to get this chore done. 

* Take Donations in #1, #2  CANCELLED  Decluttering and Donations can wait and be done in 2017 once the invalid is off my hands.  8-)

* Go to 2 Dr. Appointments PASS  Appointments done and Yours Truly is doing so much better healthwise.

* Put Xmas Tree Up PASS
No tree.....

Tadah!  A tree.

* Decorate for Xmas PASS considering what I had to work with.  Hardly anything got put out other than stockings, a purple garland on the stair railing and the Christmas tree. Hubs had put the door wreath up and the porch lights outside before the accident so we had the bare minimum.
I never got around to hanging the Xmas cards we received onto a silver garland and putting that around the kitchen window frame.
I did however set them all out on the kitchen table for a few hours and snapped this photo.....

While I didn't get much Christmas decorating done I did cook a lot of goodies and food for the Holiday.

* Finish Xmas Shopping DONE  The bulk of it was finished before December began(thankfully)otherwise there would have been little under the tree this year.  I did run out the Friday morning before Christmas for some last minute gifties(and partly just to get out of the house and away from the invalid). ;-)

* Wrap Presents DONE  I do believe I was up Christmas even wrapping some items and having to fill stockings.  Just not enough hours in the day with Hubs' incapacitated to get everything done sooner this year.

* Make Charity Donation DONE  This year I wrote a check to the local Food Bank.

* Pick-Up College Boy DONE  He got picked up by my Daughter since she was done with finals earlier that day.  This was a big help to me not having to drive to his school and back with everything going on here.  Of course, after I saw what they spent on fast food on the way home on my credit card I started second guessing sending her! lolz

* Finish 2017 Budget FAIL What with a decrease in pay after 1 month on disability and not knowing still when Hubs can return to work and his usual paycheck it's hard to get this finished.  But we are close and I hope to have the budget in place before January is out.

* Take Care of Invalid Patient(and don't kill him) DONE  Well as of this morning I haven't killed him yet.....not that I haven't been tempted some days. 8-)))

I should be able to get a tad more done in January as Hubs gets to where he can do more for himself.

How did you do getting chores on your December To-Do List marked off?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday or How I Saved My Family $600+

Here are a few ways I've saved our family some money this past week.
The last one is a biggie too.  ;-)

* No take-out or eating-out this week.

* Doing laundry during off-peak hours only.

* 1 trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets this week where I picked up 6 discount sticker meat packages, 4 packs of tortillas for $1 each after sale and coupon, $50.93 reg. retail worth of frozen pizzas for $26.88 OOP after sales/points/stacked Qs and 4 containers of Weis brand OJ and Grapefruit juice for 39% off during a sale. (Having all that pizza on hand will help me not get take-out on nights I just can't cook due to exhaustion.)

* I took a small chunk of leftover Xmas roast and with the addition of potatoes, onions, red bell pepper(from the freezer)and spices I turned it into Roast Beef Hash. This along with a large quantity of cheesy scrambled eggs was dinner on Monday night.

* Regular readers will know that our oven/range crapped out on Christmas day which led to the hilarity of having to transport large amounts of food back and forth to my brother in-law's place so as to cook it.

By Xmas evening Hubs was browsing new ranges on his phone and had picked one out that the local big box hardware store could have delivered by New Years for $550 + tax and $75 delivery fee.

Instead I figured out that the lower heating element needed replacing, found the part # and jumped on the internet and ordered it.(You wouldn't believe the price range between websites for said part!) I did splurge an extra $1.60 and have it mailed Priority rate instead of parcel post rate.
The part arrived in 3 days and on New Year's eve between my 2 kids and I(and a You Tube video)we got the new element installed.

And while we had the range pulled out from the wall I got behind there and cleaned.
Now this baby works good as new, both inside and outside!

Cost of part w/shipping.....$16.70
Labor........FREE
Savings from not buying a new range(+ tax and shipping).....approx. $641.00

This past week was an epic frugal win week at Chez Sluggy.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Haul Porn

Here's what I bought at Rite-Aid this week in multiple transactions at two different locations.......

2 x L'Oreal Excellence hair color(20% discount)=$15.18
2 x L'Oreal Preference hair color(50% on clearance)=$10.28
4 x Finish dishwashing tabs BOGO sale=$12.98
2 x Kellogg's corn flakes cereal($1.88 on sale)=$3.76
2 x Centrum vitamins(w/bonus 30 ct. bottle)BOGO50%=$14.98
2 x I-Caps eye vitamins on sale=$35.98
2 x Dove Men's body wash on sale=$7.98
SubTotal....$101.14

Coupons Used
4 x $3/1 IPQ L'Oreal Excellence or Preference hair product=$12.00
2 x $5/2 In-Ad R-AQ L'Oreal Excellence or Preference hair coloring=$10.00
2 x $2/1 IPQ Finish dishwashing tabs=$4.00
2 x .75¢/1 Kellogg's corn flakes IPQ=$1.50
2 x $4/1 Centrum ManuQ=$8.00
2 x $10/1 I-Caps ManuQ=$20.00
2 x $2/1 ManuQ Dove Men's body wash ManuQ=$4.00
1 x .55¢ OYNO CatalinaQ(can't remember what this printed out for last week)=.55¢
Coupon Total.....$60.05

$101.14-$60.05=$41.09=$1.01 tax=$42.10
I used $42.10 in Plenti points to pay the OOP.
I earned back $40 in new Plenti points(for buying 2 x $50 in Starting Points items), making my OOP $2.10.
Then I earned a $3 cash rebate in SavingStar for buying 1 of the Centrum vitamins so in the end I got all the above items and got paid .90¢ to bring it home.
8-)))

$162.14 worth of regular retail price items for better than free.

All the items will be used by us except for 2 of the hair colorings which will be sold on the local Facebook site(and if they don't sell, will be donated to the local food bank here).

I've already got a plan together for next week too.

Sluggy