This Week on the Dining Table

The "First REAL Storm of the Winter" Edition--

8+ inches of cold stuff!  The first big storm came late this year.

Snow reflected in the storm door as Daughter's dog licks her lips in preparation for going out there in it. lolz

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Frozen Pizza, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Chinese Chicken, Fried Rice w/Veggies *

3. Tuesday--Haluski

4. Wednesday--Leftover Tacos

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--Daughter has injection so something leftover or Fend for Yourself

7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Frozen Pizza, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Chinese Chicken, Fried Rice w/Veggies *

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Halushki

5. Thursday--Daughter and me-pizza, Hubs leftovers

6. Friday--Chinese Take-Out(after medical procedure for Daughter)

7. Saturday--Chicken and Dumplings

Basically everything planned got served, though not always on the day it was suppose to be.

6 meals cooked at home, 2 of them nights of leftovers or Fend For Yourself, and 1 night of take-out.

I picked up a half price whole chicken on Wednesday and that got turned into Chicken & Dumplings.  No time to cook dinner on Friday as I was tied up with taking Daughter to her injections so I ran out for Chinese after getting her home.  That added another $25.65 to my Eating-Out/Take-out total for the year.

As for the grocery spending.....2 trips to Weis and 1 trip to the Shursave market brought the food spending last week to $71.74 and brought my February food spending total to $192.63 for the month.  There are 15 days left in the month.

My savings percentages last week was 49.32%.  Not quite 50% but still a great rate.

Leftovers going into this week.......Taco filling, Mushroom soup, Halushki, Chicken and Dumplings. The taco meat will be eaten for lunches.  With Hubs working from home he is taking care of a major part of leftovers lately as he prefers that to a sandwich lunch.

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

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Kielbasa on Rolls, leftover Halushki

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Asparagus, Rice of some kind

4. Wednesday--Leftover Mushroom/Rice Soup or Chicken & Dumplings

5. Thursday--Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine, Caesar Salad *

6. Friday--Spinach Salad, Pork Tenderloin

7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 2 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu?  Spinach and Salad Greens are about the only things I need to prepare this week's menu plan.  I may pick up some freebie soups(after coupons and SavingStar rebate)for the food bank, some granola bars for Daughter's lunches and some cheap-ish coffee.

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 for Giveaway!

The retirement book Giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 pm ET.
Get in your last chance entry before it's over.

Link to leave a comment for the Giveaway is HERE.

Good luck and the winner gets announced on Monday.

Now I'm going back into the garage to do some sorting and then up to the laundry room to run some clothes through the machines.
And to ponder a meal plan for this coming week, as well as plan out what to "buy" at Rite-Aid this week(if anything).  Oh joy..... ;-)

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Haul PORN

Now if that title didn't get you to look, nothing will! lol

Did this lot on my card........

2 x GE light bulbs on sale=$15.98
1 x Huggies diapers on sale=$8.99
2 x Speed Stick deodorant on sale=$3.98
7 x Wet n' Wild make-up BOGO50%(3 x .99¢ + 3 x .49¢ + last one was 20% off=.79¢)=$5.23
SubTotal.....$34.18

* Everything but the Speed Stick qualified for Blizzard Points, so $30.20 in BPoints spending.*

Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 Huggies diapers IPQ=$3.00
1 x BOGOF Speed Stick ManuQ=$1.99
2 x $1/1 Wet n' Wild eye product IPQ=$2.00
3 x .50¢/1 Wet n' Wild any product IPQ=$1.50
Coupon Total.....$8.49

$34.18-$8.49=$25.69 + $1.14 tax=$26.83 OOP and I used Plenti points to pay.
I earned back $22.00 in new Plenti points($10 for buying 2 GE light bulbs, $10 for spending $30 on Blizzard points items, $2.00 for buying 2 Speed Stick deos).
At this point I am "out" $4.83 points.
But I will sell the Huggies come Springs on the local FB page for either $5 or $6 which will cover any points spent down plus a bit, so this transaction becomes a moneymaker.  8-)

Then I bought this on my son's card......

2 x GE light bulbs on sale=$15.98
1 x Huggies diapers on sale=$8.99
8 x Wet n' Wild make up BOGO50%=$5.92
SubTotal.....$30.89

I had a new manager and she processed the transaction prematurely before I handed her my stack of  coupons.
sigh.

This means I spend down $9.21 in points(which is bad)but the silver lining was that a $3 Load2Card for the diapers came off(since she didn't scan my $3/1 Huggies IPQ)so I got an extra $3 off this transaction in the end. ;-)  I didn't notice this until I got home and examined my receipt.

We had to do a "post coupon" and I received back cash for all my coupons I used.

SubTotal....$30.89-Load2CardQ $3=$27.89 + $1.32 tax=$29.21 which I paid with Plenti points.

Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 Huggies IPQ=$3.00
3 x $1/1 Wet n' Wild IPQ=$3.00
5 x .50¢/1 Wet n' Wild IPQ=$2.50
Coupon Total......$8.50

$29.21 paid in points-$8.50 cash refund for coupons=$20.71  "spent".
I earned back $20 in new Plenti points(everything bought qualified for Blizzard Points and the transaction was over $30)so this transaction "cost" me .71¢.
But again, I have another pack of diapers to sell turning this into a moneymaker too.


Plenti points spent......... -$56.04
Plenti points earned....... + $42.00
Cash back for coupons..+ $8.50
Sales of diapers....+ $10-$12

I love getting paid to "buy" stuff at the drugstore.  8-)

Sluggy

January To-Do List Update

Here's the results of my January To-Do List.......

* Pay Bills-DONE  I rock this goal. lolz

* Bike Something-FAIL  Hubs is monopolizing the bike right now.  Yeah, that's the reason. ;-)

* Read 1 Book-DONE

I found another Fannie Flagg novel at Ollie's for $2.99(+ a 10% discount)in January so I picked it up. Ms. Flagg writes some great characters.

* Shred Papers-FAIL  Didn't happen in January and goes onto February's list now.

* Hold Giveaway-FAIL  Didn't get to it in time for January.

* Mail Giveaway-FAIL  Didn't do the giveaway thus didn't mail anything. lolz

* Put Tree and Decorations Away-DONE  Surprisingly we got this all done before January was half over with.

* Pay College Bill-DONE  Paid a little early but I didn't want to wait until the last minute.  College Boy is paid up until next Fall now.  Only 2 more semesters to go....woohoo!

* Buy College Books-DONE  I shopped the books around this year and saved a few hundred $$$s.  I have to check with CB as there was 1 book the course professor hadn't chosen yet in January and CB said he needed a book of musical scores that needs to be ordered too. sigh.  It. Never. Ends.

* Do FAFSA-DONE  Now that you can use last year's tax forms/records we got this done in record time.  Usually we are into March before this happens.
And ever better.....THIS IS THE LAST FAFSA I EVER HAVE TO DO!!!!!!
Do I sound happy here? 8-)))))))

* Take College Boy back to school-DONE  We went on Saturday rather than Sunday this time due to weather forecasts.  It worked out better too.  And this gave College Boy extra time to get himself back into school mode too.

* Clean up Garage-FAIL  With the weather so cold when I had time to get to this it just didn't get done.  This goes onto February's To-Do List.

* Finish  2017 Budget-SORT OF  I had things pretty much settled and then BoyFriend decided to go back to Louisiana.  We are good in that this gives us more breathing room with bills for the year and we have sufficient income to meet our needs/wants for 2017.  I'm still going to play around with the budget some and see what/how many trips/traveling we can fit in.

* Take Care of Invalid Patient(and don't kill him)-PASS  Hubs is still alive and breathing despite my best efforts.  ;-)
He has progressed from the cam boot and walker to a cane.  Now he's weaning off the cane and today is his last physical therapy session.  He can now drive a bit.  He tires quickly and has trouble walking on uneven surfaces/terrain but that will come.
It's just a matter of healing now and that just takes time.
He is mobile and self-sufficient and other than driving me crazy by being underfoot all day at home he is doing ok.

I'm overall pleased with how we ended January.
It beats how we came into 2017, that's for sure!

Are you happy with what you got accomplished last month?

Sluggy

Stuff Lately

We've had good things and bad things going on here lately......

* Crazy weather!  Snow then temps up to 50F and now snow is on the way later night again.  AND it's suppose to hit 50F again this weekend....crazy and it's a wonder we aren't all sick!

* Last week the Brother in-law and Nephew's apartment had issues.  First their hot water heater sprung a leak and then their heat went out(both are gas appliances).  Nobody else had their heat out in the building but their unit.
So between nephew working and them running to the apartment to wait for workmen to show up they were living here for 2 days.  It's a good thing we had 2 spare beds right now, huh?
And that stack of pizzas I got for real cheap last week sure came in handy to feed extra mouths too.

* Hubs is finally back at work, working from home as he isn't cleared yet to return to the office by his doc.  He has his last physical therapy session the end of this week.  I suspect at his next appointment with the "saw bones" in a month he'll be cleared to return to the office.

If you hear a sonic boom at your house from the cartwheels I'll be turning, don't be alarmed. ;-)
This little episode has confirmed for me that once Hubs does retire he needs to find something to do away from the house!  Kim I just don't know how you stand it....*snort*

And moving to a one level house with a detached garage with an apartment space above it(meaning plumbing and electricity and heat)would be really, really peachy keen!!!
If I can't get him to be away from home with an activity at least with those accommodations I can persuade him to use that apartment space as his office/man cave/whatever and leave the house for hours at a time. 8-)

Even the Daughter has made comments that he is driving HER crazy and she isn't here for long stretches between part time work and school.  I am getting sympathy from her too about putting up with Hubs so I know it's "not me" here. lolz

* Besides just holding things together I've had a mission to reorganize our household files.
I've made great progress going through the files.
Here is pile of stuff I weeded out to pitch.

It filled two grocery bags.

Here is a stack of now empty folders/hanging files.

And here are the papers I still need to file.

This has taken me weeks!  The filing is Hubs' job and I don't think he's filed anything in over a year!!!
Ugh.

* I also have been sorting things in the garage.  Since Hubs' accident in early December I haven't been vigilant about putting groceries away much, meaning there were grocery bags strewn about the garage.  It got to a point where it was a big chore just to find anything out there when it came time to cook, so since the weather has been warmer lately I've gone out there to organize and actually empty grocery bags and put things away on the shelving.

* I also took out shipping boxes that have been piling up since the Holidays and burned them in our fire ring on Monday.  That's been wonderful to get those things out of here too.

* We are suppose to get snow late tonight into Thursday morning.  Hubs can't shovel snow now so it falls to me and Daughter to deal with and we both have back issues so we have to take it slow and careful.  It shouldn't be too bad when she has to leave for school in the morning but then it falls to me to clear the driveway before she gets home around 5pm.  I see a fair amount of Tylenol and shoveling in my future for tomorrow.  8-(

We just have to keep our heads down and push through to Spring and keep on keeping on.

And now you are caught up on the doings at Chez Sluggy.

Sluggy