Frugal Friday....The July 14th Edition on Saturday

Here are things I did to be frugal this past week.........

*  My car needed an oil change so Hubs took it up to a local auto center that provides this service.
I remembered I had $50 in gift cards(won at the church auction last Fall)for this auto place so the oil change/etc. only cost $11 OOP.  My car takes expen$ive oil so it's never cheap anyway.

*  We stayed close to home and no mindless shopping.  We did get take-out for lunch one day(Whoppers!)but I used coupons and a gift card to pay.

*  Like the proper Viking descendant I am, I pillaged Rite-Aid this week......

Just some of my loot.  There were two more transactions but I've already blogged about all this.
Same with my Weis(PMITA)Deals.......

*  I submitted for a .50¢ cash rebate this past week from Checkout51 too.  Go me. lolz

*  We broke down and bought an EZ-Pass transponder this week too.  I detest the corruption that is PA politics and getting caught in their bureaucratic net even deeper than I already am, but having EZ-Pass will save us both on this road trip(a bit) and on down the line(a lot) on toll fees.  Many states in the country from IL and east of there accept it and your tolls are substantially less(to half price)what you are required to pay the old fashioned way with a paper ticket and cash.  While it won't help us once we get out West on this trip, it will save us loads of money in the future going to see my brother in VA, going down to Ocean City MD, going to ME and going to see cousin Sonya Ann in IL.
At least we'll have no more of Illinois Toll Hell. Ever. Again!

*  I got an email from Checkout51 this week.  Seems I won a prize in some sweepstakes they were holding......

I won $50!!!   I got entered just by submitting a receipt during a certain time frame and got randomly picked to win a prize.  This was so random and out of the blue but hey!, I'll take it!!! lolz

This goes to show those little money wins/rebates I submit for(.50¢ here/$1 there)actually pay off.....sometimes in ways you don't expect.  ;-)

I hope you had some frugal wins this week too.

Sluggy

A Few Deals I Did Other Than Rite-Aid This Week

Not a lot of big grocery shopping trips this week.
Here are two items/deals I did well on.........

Lindy's Italian Ice(aka Water Ice) were BOGO at Weis(PMITA)Markets this past ad week.
While I had no coupons to use I did send for a .50¢ Checkout51 cash rebate which made both of these $2.99 total.
(They're empty because I take the cups out of the box before stowing in the freezer.)

I did this Mix & Match 6 Items Deal at Weis as well.....

4 x Chi-Chis Salsa on sale $1.99=$7.96
1 x Borden cheese slices on sale=$2.49
1 x TopCare bandaids on sale=$2.29
SubTotal......$12.74

Coupons Used
4 x .55¢/1 Chi-Chi's items IPQ(doubled to $1)=$4.00
1 x .50¢/1 Borden item ManuQ(doubled to $1)=$1.00
1 x $3 off wyb 6 select items=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00

$12.74-$8.00=$4.74 OOP for all 6 items.

I also bought a 4 pack of store made burgers(Swiss and Mushroom)marked down and it had a $3 off Instant Sticker on it AND I had a Weis mailed .50¢ off Ground Beef of at least 1 lb. in weight.  My 1.64 lb. burgers cost me after all discounts $2.74 lb.
I also snagged a 1.31 lb. packaged of ground veal, marked down and with a $3 off Instant Sticker so it cost me $2.39 lb.
I picked up 2 small London Broil to marinated, grill and slice.  These were BOGO.
A gallon of milk, an 8 pack of hot dog buns and a bag of 50% Romaine hearts salad rounded out this shop.

$30.48 OOP with a savings over reg. retail of 52%.

Deals lately on items we use have been "meh" but I keep plodding along and do the best I can.
Any great deals at your stores lately?


Sluggy

College Boy's Last Semester & Eating

This Fall will be College Boy's last semester basically.  In the Spring semester he will be working an internship away from campus so won't be attending classes or living at school.

The spending situation changes this coming school year too.  He is no longer living on campus but renting a room in an apartment two friends of his share....so basically subletting from them(with permission from the landlord).

So no $4,900 per semester housing cost(which is the approximately cost of a dorm room configuration he use to get per semester).
How these schools can get off charging that sort of money for a dorm room is beyond me!
But I digress.....

So we are going from rent of $1,225 per month for a dorm room to $300 per month at this apartment.  I know that $300 includes wifi/internet but even if we have to pay extra for electric and water(we don't have the deals on that yet), it's still a great deal by comparison!

As for his board(food)he no longer is required to have a meal plan.
We wasted so much money on meal plans over the last 3 years!

This child eats like a large snake.  He'll eat a massive amount and then not eat again for 2 days(sunning himself on a large rock in the interim is optional). ;-)  He also mostly eats at night and lives on coffee during the day.

He doesn't eat on a regular schedule and meal plans require you to do just that.
A 19 meals a week or 14 meals a week plan require you to eat many meals per week and if your student, say, only eats 12 meals in a particular week then you loose 7 or 2 meals(you are charged for them whether your student eats them or not). Meals on each of the 3 plans at CB's school(19 meals per week, 14 meals per week, 10 meals per week)equal out per meal to $6.12, $8.23 and $10.84(!!!)respectively.

We tried the 175 meal Block plan too which doesn't require to eat any particular number of meals per week.  You get 175 meals for the semester and you eat them when you want to.  The only problem with this plan is that he ran out of meals before the semester was over.  I'll add that the per meal price on this plan equals out to $9.10 per meal....expensive but at least you know the student will eat all of these overpriced meals.

The pricing on these meal plans is such that they basically force you to select the most expensive plan since the only difference between the high end and the low plan is about $300 total.
Here's an article on the ridiculous cost of college meal plans HERE.

So I sat down with College Boy to talk about food for the upcoming semester.
He wants to try to do the bulk of his eating/cooking at his apartment(bringing a sandwich from his apartment during class days)but I know he'll probably forget or be too rushed some mornings so I've got to allow for buying pre-made options on campus.

There are various options at his school for dining on campus--
* The regular all-you-care-to-eat hall
* The food court hall(downstairs for the "AYCTE" dining hall) which is basically burgers, pizza, deli sandwiches and salad
* A coffee shop in the Alumni Hall
* An Einstein bagels franchise on campus in a dorm building
* A prepackaged food cart in a building near the gym

At first I thought, since he bought the bulk of his dining plan meals at the Einstein bagels locale(they accept dining scrip)instead of giving him cash or signing him up for a Senior dining plan($500 of flex cash)I'd just buy him a discounted Einstein Bagels gift card, which would save me the most $$.

But then I sat down with him and found out why he ate most of his meals at Einstein's.  First off it was open until midnight whereas no other option(neither on campus or businesses off-campus)where open that late other than the bars.  He is a nighttime grazer this one and with his schedule he would rarely get time to eat until after 11pm.

Secondly, Einstein's was the closest on campus option to his dorm room so it was also a convenience issue.  Now that he won't be living in the dorms and nearby to the Einstein's I have to figure how likely is he this semester to eat there.

So we still have no ideal plan yet for the "buy your meal" part of this dining equation.
Sigh.
I thought perhaps buying his discounted gift cards to McDonald's and Pizza Hut as those are the two food places closest to his apartment for this Fall, but neither is open past 11 pm, even on weekends in this town.

The only grocery store option in town is Walmart(the town has NO grocery stores!)so that simplifies grocery needs.  I can buy him a discounted gift card for groceries.  The school runs a bus to Walmart and back so he can easily get there and buy what he needs.

I am thinking he "might" use the coffee shop options on campus and/or the satellite prepackaged "Simply To Go" locale for quick eats during the day as those two are near the building where he spends the bulk of his time(music building)so it would be worthwhile to buy him some school branded script instead of the "flex dollars".   Flex is only good for food purchases and expires at the end of the term, where as the Script is good campus wide(at the bookstore, for fees, etc.)and never expires AND you can get a refund back of any unspent funds when you leave school/graduate.

I just don't want to hand College Boy a wad of cash this semester, intending it to be spent on food, and he ends up buying vape juice and using it to drink in the bars instead.

So after our "sit-down" we have decided to do this-when we take him back, take him to Walmart for an initial grocery buy(to supplement what I am hauling to school for him from my pantry stockpile) then give him a Walmart gift card($100, bought at a discount online of course!), load him a small amount of School-Branded "money" to use on campus($50) and give him a discounted gift card to either McDonald's or Pizza Hut($25).
After a month is over we'll evaluate the plan, see what he spent/didn't spend and adjust from there and see what the best plan is going forward.

So I have the beginnings of a plan for the Fall.  We are "investing" $175 on his food needs to begin and will go from there.  And I can bring down the costs more by stocking him with goods from home that I got cheaply and buying discounted gift cards online he can spend at his discretion.

I feel better, and so does my wallet, knowing I won't be spending between $1593 and $1928 per semester so the boy can eat!
Hell, at the cost of the 19 meal-a-week dining plan a full year of school comes out to $3856 for food for 1 student!
That's close to what I spent a couple of years ago on groceries for my entire family for the year!!

Just curious to know, if you have a kid in college, what does their school charge for meal plans?

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Pillaging...Open Wide & Say "Ah"!

RUN, DON'T WALK to Rite-Aid this week for some Moneymaking Deals on Oral Care items(as well as some other things for cheap or free)!  There are freebie items this week and coupon and Plenti Points earned(Crest/Oral-B)that also double dip for the Spend $30/Get $15 Back P&G monthly Deal.
Also pair a $3/1 Oxi-Clean detergent Q(in last Sunday's inserts AND 1 on Coupons dotcom)for .99¢ detergent, a $2.50 Tummy Zen Q(in last Sunday's inserts)to get free antacid(after sale/Q/PPs earned)as well as free Colgate(after sale and stacking and In-AdQ with an insert Q).

I did all this on my card........

1 x Oxi-Clean detergent on sale=$3.99
2 x Tummy Zen antacid on sale($5)=$10.00
2 x Colgate toothpaste on sale($3.50)=$7.00
Now for the Crest items that double dip--
1 x Glide floss picks on sale=$3.83
1 x Crest mouthwash on sale=$4.00
2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$8.00
2 x Oral-B toothbrushes on sale=$8.00
3 x Pantene 'poo(wellness disc. price $3.99)=$11.97
SubTotal.......$56.79



Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 Oxi-Clean ManuQ=$3.00
2 x $2.50/1 Tummy Zen(1 ManuQ/1 IPQ)=$5.00
2 x $3/1 RA Colgate In-AdQ=$6.00
2 x .50¢/1 Colgate IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Glide Load2CardQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Mouthwash Load2CardQ=$1.00
2 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B toothbrush Load2CardQ=$1.00
1 x $5/3 Pantene 'poo ManuQ=$5.00
Coupon Total....$28.00

$56.79-$28.00=$28.79+.56¢tax=$29.35

Only a $1 Load2Card also came off(I think it was a Pantene Q)so......
$56.79-$29.00=$27.79+.56¢tax=$28.35

I paid $28.35 with Plenti points and earned back $38 in new PPs(2 x $2.50 Tummy Zen, 2 x $3 Crest wash/picks, 2 x $3 Crest toothpaste, 2 x $3 toothbrushes, $15 wys $30 on select P&G items).

Spent $28.35 in PPs and got back $38 so a $9.65 moneymaker.  8-))

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

1 x Oxi-Clean detergent on sale=$3.99
1 x Tummy Zen antacid on sale=$5.00
Now for the Crest items that double dip--
1 x Glide floss picks on sale=$3.99
1 x Crest mouthwash on sale=$4.00
2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$8.00
2 x Oral-B toothbrushes on sale=$8.00
3 x Pantene 'poo(wellness disc. price $3.99)=$11.97
SubTotal.......$44.95



Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 Oxi-Clean ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $2.50/1 Tummy Zen IPQ=$2.50
1 x $1/1 Glide Load2CardQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Mouthwash Load2CardQ=$1.00
2 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B toothbrush Load2CardQ=$1.00
1 x $5/3 Pantene 'poo ManuQ=$5.00
Coupon Total....$18.50

$44.95-$18.50=$26.45+.24¢tax=$26.69

Except again, a $1 Load2Card also came off so.....

$44.95-$19.50=$25.45+.24¢tax=$25.69

I paid $25.69 with Plenti points and earned back $35.50 in new PPs(1 x $2.50 Tummy Zen, 2 x $3 Crest wash/picks, 2 x $3 Crest toothpaste, 2 x $3 toothbrushes, $15 wys $30 on select P&G items).

Spent $25.69 in PPs and got back $35.50 so a $9.81 moneymaker.  8-))

On Monday I went back with Daughter's card and did this transaction.........

2 x Colgate toothpaste on sale($3.50)=$7.00
Now for the Crest items that double dip--
2 x Crest mouthwash on sale=$8.00
2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$8.00
2 x Oral-B toothbrushes on sale=$8.00
3 x Pantene 'poo(wellness disc. price $3.99)=$11.97
SubTotal.......$42.97


Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 RA Colgate In-AdQ=$6.00
2 x .50¢/1 Colgate IPQ=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Crest Mouthwash ManuQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00(only had 1Q left)
1 x $5/3 Pantene 'poo ManuQ=$5.00
Coupon Total....$19.00

$42.97-$19.00=$23.97+.72¢tax=$24.69

I paid $24.69 with Plenti Points and earned back $33 in new PPs( 2 x $3 Crest wash, 2 x $3 Crest toothpaste, 2 x $3 toothbrushes, $15 wys $30 on select P&G items).

Spent $24.69 in PPs and got back $33 in new PPs so an $8.31 moneymaker.

Be careful if you have 20% off level Wellness Discount off of regular prices as some of the floss picks/toothpaste will make your total lower than sale price which, if you are trying to hit the $30 spending level on the P&G items will mean buying more than you thought to hit it.

Total items brought home for FREE--

9 x Pantene
6 x Oral-B toothbrushes
6 x Crest toothpaste
2 x Glide floss picks
4 x Crest mouthwash
4 x Colgate toothpaste
3 x Tummy Zen antacid
2 x Oxi-Clean detergent

Plus I "grew" my Plenti Points on three different cards by a total of $27.77.($8.31, $9.65, $9.81)

BOOM!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "It's Almost Time!!!" Edition--
1 more week and we are heading West.  Gosh, I have so much to do.....so much to pillage at Rite-Aid before we go, etc. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sammiches

3. Tuesday--Hot Dogs, Burgers, Ribs, Mac Salad, Pie

4. Wednesday--Barbecue Pork, Rolls, Coleslaw

5. Thursday--Tacos or Taco Salad
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday-? Daughter cooking

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sammiches

3. Tuesday--Hot Dogs, Burgers, Ribs, Mac Salad, Pie

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Barbecue Pork, Rolls, Coleslaw
6. Friday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 4 nights of leftovers and 0 nights of Take-Out.
We had so many leftovers from the picnic on the 4th(and the pork I smoked for bbq)that we've just been eating leftovers most nights.

I made 3 small trips to the Weis Markets(largest trip was $13.70) and 1 trip to the ShurSave Market, added to the $52.95 I forgot to add in to last month, all totaled came to $116.12 OOP.  This brings my July food spending total to $116.12.  There are 21 days left in the month. 

My savings percentages last week was 45.42% which brings the month's percentage to 45.42%. 

Leftovers going into this week........hot dog chili, beef brats, barbecue, coleslaw and meat spaghetti sauce.  Not much left so there will be a lot of cooking this week.

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers(leftover Barbecue in Calzones)

2. Monday--Eggplant Parmesan

3. Tuesday--Hubs is cooking hahahaha

4. Wednesday--Ravioli or Pasta(using leftover sauce)

5. Thursday--Breakfast for Dinner
6. Friday--Daughter is cooking
7. Saturday--Marinated Beef Kabobs

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 1 nights of leftovers and 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out.  Daughter and Hubs are each cooking once this week so we'll see what dinners those nights turn out to be.

What I need to buy for this menu?  Some veggies for kabobs.  Can't think of anything else right now.

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