Sometimes You're the Windshield & Sometimes You're the Bug

So remember when I bought those Shell gas cards to use on our Summer road trip back in May?

I earned $30 in Plenti Points buying these.

Fast forward to Day 2 of our trip, July 19th.  While passing through lower IL before we hit the Missouri border we stopped in New Baden IL to get gas at a Shell station.

Hubs swiped one of the $50 gift cards and started pumping gas into the rental car.  When Hubs hit $2.98 worth of gas the pump shut off.  He tried to swipe the card again and it now indicated that the gift card had no money left on it.
WTF?!?

A station employee was outside emptying the garbage receptacles at the pumps so we asked him what was wrong.  He took the card inside to check the balance and indeed it was now empty, no money on it.
So I asked him to check a couple of other gas cards I had(all of which had had $50 of value put onto them)and they all had no money left on them.
We ended up using our Mastercard to finish filling the car and continued on with our travels.

Since I didn't have the receipts with me from when the gas cards were activated at Rite-Aid back in May and we didn't have a secure online connection while staying at motels there really wasn't much I could do about this situation until we returned home.
So I carted these gift cards across the country and back home to PA.

Once we got home I went up to Rite-Aid and they said to contact Shell first.
I just saw this turning out badly, with Rite-Aid blaming Shell and Shell blaming Rite-Aid me being out $300. 8-(

Well I found where to contact the company that issues these Shell cards online(it's not Shell!)and called their customer service line.
I spoke with "Linda"(in India)and after about 20 minutes of going over it all and giving her my card numbers, because she had to check each gas gift card, a definite pattern of fraud emerged.

Card #1 was emptied on July 7th in Highland California.
Card #2 was emptied on July 8th in Highland Caliifornia.
Card #3 was emptied on July 9th in Fontana California.
Card #4 was emptied on July 11th in Fontana California.
Card #5 was used/emptied on July 15th in Fontana, Carlton and Riverside California.
Card # 6 was used on July 18th in San Bernardino California.  They left $2.98 on this gas card and that was the one we attempted to use on July 19th.

All these towns are located in San Bernardino County in CA.
Let me add that I have never even been in San Bernardino County. 8-(

I then had to scan all the cards and the receipts from when I bought/activated the cards and send a very long email to dispute the charges on all 6 of the gift cards.
After not hearing back for over a week they finally responded to my inquiry and said they would send me a secure gas card with the $298.02 of value that was stolen from me, which I received.
And yes, this card works and so far, so good, and nobody has siphoned off any funds.

It was disappointing the hoops I had to jump through, plus we don't really have any Shell stations around here so I can only use this card when we travel.  But then again, it came in handy when we went to see our eldest son late last week for a few days.

But at least the company made good on the gift cards but the worry in the back of my mind the whole trip did take away from my enjoyment(ok, a little but not a lot lol).

Hopefully when we travel in the future we'll be able to find Shell stations to use this gift card at.
But I will think twice in the future about purchasing gift cards.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the September 22nd Edition

*  Eldest son experienced a change in life status recently so we went down to Va to assist him in finding bedroom furniture for his apartment.  Eldest is a not very well paid new teacher and he just bought a car(after being car-less for an entire year)so money is real tight for him right now.  There would be no perusing expensive furniture stores for a matching bedroom suite.

While he worked on Friday we visited many, many thrift stores scouting out the furniture prospects.
At the Goodwill no furniture we could use but I did find College Boy a Xmas present.........hehehe

We found 3 candidates for a bedroom night stand in our travels.  We took some photos and after viewing them later, Eldest picked this one to go and purchase on Saturday.......

It has some style, was "real wood" and sturdy and the best part it was only $8.
Sold!

After about 6 thrift stores and no luck we saw this dresser sitting out in front of a junk store across the street from a thrift store we checked out........

Again, real wood and fairly sturdy and large enough to hold his stuff.  Knowing it was a deal at $55 I went ahead and paid for it and we went back on Saturday to arrange for delivery.

After checking out some mattress stores Eldest decided on a temper-pedic type foam mattress and a platform type bed frame/headboard.
The "discount" mattress store wanted upwards of $3500 for a queen sized 14" foam mattress and frame/platform.
hahahaha
No wonder people have to make payments and buy a bed on time at those prices!

So it was either buy a cheapy regular mattress and box spring at a store, or get a good mattress for cheap online.
He opted for the good mattress online where his dad and I got ours along with a platform bed frame/headboard.
He's all good in the bedroom department(mattress/frame/headboard/dresser/night stand)for a grand total of $770.

*  Remember all these that I have been collecting(mostly at Rite-Aid for free)all year........

This past week I turned it into this..........

$80 in cold hard cash.

*  While in Va we got Domino's for dinner on Friday using an old gift card so no new money OOP.

A Stormtrooper was riding shotgun for that delivery driver.
"Keep calm and join the dark side" as the back window suggested.

*  Almost free razors at Rite-Aid, free barbecue sauce at the Shursave market, and a few items bought while on the road to VA and back as shared already are my grocery finds.

*  In Goodwill I also scored a stocking stuffer for one of the kids and it was that week's 50% colored tag so half price off a thrift store price.  Rah!
In Walmart in WV I scored some clearance clothing too.......

Sleep tank tops for Daughter for $1 each.
I also found Daughter something I had already bought at the local Walmart for $4 cheaper so I bought it and will return the one that was more $. ;-)

A Summer nightie for me for $7.

And a Wonder Woman sleep shirt for me for $3.
Because I am "Fierce" when it comes to saving $. lolz

What have you done lately that is frugal?

Sluggy

Shopping This Week

Here's the little bit of shopping I did since last Thursday.

While in Virginia over the weekend I picked up a few things to bring home...........

Some Walmart brand mayo when we did grocery shopping with Eldest son.
Hubs and I hit Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!)while Eldest was working on Friday and I picked up some applesauce and mandarin orange cups and 2 bags of rice.
Then on the ride home we hit a Food Lion along the way to look for discounted meat deals and I picked up 4 containers of bouillon cubes for cheaper than I can find them for at home.

I also got a pork butt for $1.29 lb...............

I would have bought more(3 more I think)if we had brought the large cooler with us, but alas, we only have the small handheld one.
I want to smoke some butts, cut them to size and then put them into the chest freezer.  That way, we can have barbecue pork anytime we want this Fall/Winter.  You just can't smoke outside here once teh cold hits.  My smoker isn't electric, it's charcoal so the wind and cold keep you from regulating the smoking temperature.

Moving on.........

On Tuesday I had to go to Rite-Aid for drugs so I also picked these up.......

2 x Daylogic 3 blade razors on sale$5=$10.00
Add tax of .60¢ and this came to $10.60 which I paid for with PPs.
I earned back $10 in Plenti Points so .60¢ spent down in points for two razors.

The local Shursave market had a One Day sale(today)so I stopped in and picked up a few things..........

Their private label Greek yogurt was .50¢ a cup today only so I picked up 10.  I get the plain ones and use them to mix with sour cream in recipes(and dips)to bring calorie count and fat content down.  I also use these for breakfast, with the additional of a little honey or fruit and granola and flax seed.  I find the already fruited ones just too sweet.
The turkey breast are half price all week, .99¢ lb. with a limit of 2.  This makes for a cheap protein for dinners.

Cauliflower heads were .99¢ today only and the broccoli crowns were .99¢ all week.  The barbecue sauce was free with the e-coupon attached to my store card.

I am hoping to find a good deal on pork butts/shoulders this weekend or early next week as I'll be smoking said butts/shoulders then.
It looks like no tomato canning or relish making will happen this year.  We missed the peak of tomato picking at the farm we go to since we were gone the end of last week and the weekend.  I could still pick peppers for relish but I am just not "into" it right now.

I haven't been sleeping well so I am going to go attempt a nap, if the construction workers building a massive garage down the road stay on break long enough for me to conk out.

Did y'all find any good loss leaders at the stores this week?

Sluggy

Frugal Cooking

While down in Virginia to see our Eldest son late last week I did a bit of cooking for him.  We didn't want to spend on Eating-out much and didn't want Eldest to pay for that either(Eldest is quite generous and will splash out for meals without being asked to pick up a tab.)  Plus cooking is one of the few things I can do for him at his age.  ;-)

He needed to go grocery shopping so I picked up a few items as well at Walmart when we went with him.  Eldest always grocery shops at Walmart as he isn't into hunting the best price and can't be bothered to go from store to store so he shops at "the Mart" as it's convenient and he uses their Savings Catcher feature.

Eldest loves leftovers and his usual MO when cooking is the prepare a large container or two of some food and eat off of it for dinner all week.  He cooks well but he really doesn't want to spend his precious free time during workdays making meals so this works for him....cooking on weekends and eating the leftovers during the week.

I purchased a small beef roast, a package of 4 boneless pork loins(prepped like a cube steak and discounted), a pack of hamburger rolls, a head of lettuce, 2 lbs. of whole mushrooms, a canister of panko bread crumbs, a bottle of ketchup and 1 onion.  I had also picked up a container of sour cream at Aldi's when Hubs and had gone there the day before while Eldest was working.
I spent $30.09 on all this.
I also had at my disposal, back at his apartment, cooking oil, flour, spices, rice and mayo.

Before we went out on Saturday I prepped the beef roast by halving it.  I cut one half into bite-sized pieces and used them in a large pot of Beef Stroganoff along with the whole 2 lbs. of mushrooms(which got added later).  The ratio was 2/3 'shrooms to 1/3 meat basically.  It cooked away in a crock pot most of the day and was served over rice that evening.  This fed the three of us handily(Eldest had seconds)and also left him at least 3 additional meals worth for later.

On Sunday I prepped the pork pieces, first by flattening them more, then salting and peppering them.  Each was coated in seasoned panko and sauteed in a skillet, then drained on paper towels.  Add lettuce(slice of raw onions and tomato optional)and mayo on a warm bun and you've got a filling pork tenderloin sandwich, something I developed a taste for in the Midwest a few Summers ago.

I had planned to serve these for lunch on Sunday but Hubs and I decided to bug out on Sunday rather than Monday so I prepared these for breakfast on Sunday instead.
By flattening the pork slices I was able to get 7 portions(3 were large enough to cut them in half after pounding them)that would fit on a hamburger bun.  After we ate our fill, Eldest was left with two portions to eat at another time.

The other half of the beef roast was frozen for later use.  I told Eldest he could season it and put it in his crock pot to cook while he was in school and just throw a potato and some other veg in the microwave when he got home and have dinner ready in short order.
I also recommended the leftovers of his roast could be cut up and with the addition of carrots, onions, garlic, and any other veg he preferred(potato, green beans, etc.)in his crockpot he could have a nice stew later on.  I figure using that hunk of roast this way would get him at least 3 more servings from it.  Adding it to a stew with vegetables would extend how many meals it would make.

All totaled I spent $30.09 on 14 helpings of meals(both the ones we ate then and the ones that will be eaten later).
Plus Eldest got to keep half the container of sour cream, most of a bottle of ketchup, most of a head of lettuce, 3 hamburger buns and half a canister of panko crumbs to incorporate into future meals.

If Eldest had all 14 helpings for himself this would have fed him for lunches and dinners for a whole week.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....September 15th on the 19th

Finally getting a chance to do a frugal update.
Here's what we did Frugal last week.

* We didn't do any Eating-out or Take-out.

*  I used up leftovers and foods we already had at home to meal plan.

*  Did laundry during off-peak rates.

*  Mostly we stayed home and did chores/projects around the house.  Sanded and repainted front porch posts, had the driveway seal coated.  Proactive maintenance costs less in the long run.

We didn't have anything out of the ordinary or noteworthy the previous week that was frugal beyond the same-old, same-old.  No Rite-Aid freebies at all and just a couple grocery store deals.

Just a boring old week in frugal land........

Sluggy