This Week on the Dining Table

The "WTF!?!?" Edition--

Our lunch out at the Chinese Buffet earlier this month yielded this fortune in my cookie.
Could someone please explain this one to me? lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Caesar Salad w/Chicken Strips

2. Monday--Tacos

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Harvard Beets, Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Lasagna, Salad
6. Friday--? maybe Subs
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Caesar Salad w/Chicken Strips

2. Monday--Tacos

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Harvard Beets, Roasted Potatoes

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Lasagna, leftover Garlic Bread(Hubs made this.)
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

We had lots of leftovers left over and I was feeling crappy due to sinus issues so we just had leftovers or FFY many nights. We didn't get the Subs and opted for leftovers or FFY that night and we had roasted taters instead of garlic mash taters w/the pork chops.

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers and  0 nights of take-out.  

Last week's grocery spending at Weis, the Bread Outlet and Shursave Markets came to $71.23.  That brings October's food spending to $443.68.  There are 0 more days in my shopping month and I've closed out the books on October shopping up and posted my grocery break down yesterday.

My savings percentages last week was 48.36% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 46.54%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week.......Goulash, Harvard Beets, Lasagna, Taco filling

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Ham slices, sauteed Cabbage, Cornbread

2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Brussels Sprouts

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Roast Chicken w/Veggies

5. Thursday--Asian Chicken Salad
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers and 1 night of "I haven't got a clue". lolz
Leftovers carried forward into this week will be lunches for Hubs(and maybe me if I eat lunch).

What I need to buy for this menu? I need fish sauce and something else I don't have for the Asian Chicken Salad(which means if I can't get them/locate those items in time that dish will change).  I am also out of onions so some produce will happen this week.  There are some loss leaders this week too which I'll pick up.

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

Food & Toiletries Spending 2017.....October Edition

* I am done food shopping for October so am posting this a couple days early.*

Onward to October's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2017.

I have posted October's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3-4(3 at home this month). No kids under 21.

*****************
ALDI
OOP  $28.95
Value  $51.93
Savings  44.25%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $55.58
Value  $89.41
Savings  37.84%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $7.75
Value  $28.83
Savings  73.12%

MAINES
OOP  $14.70
Value  $40.18
Savings  63.41%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $22.68
Value  $32.66
Savings  30.56%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PPs  $380.63
Value  $380.63
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $101.06
Qs/Ads  $50.16
Value  $151.22
Savings  33.17%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $212.96

Qs/Ads  $222.73

Value  $435.69

Savings  50.12%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 73.12% and Maines at 63.41%.  My WORST savings rate was at Ollie's at 30.56%.

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$443.68

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$386.24

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$829.92

TOTAL Savings of ..................................46.64%
Total Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1210.55
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items..........63.35%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into October wanting to spend $400 on food/toiletries but went over by $43.68.  Over by less than $50 so not bad. Lots of meat deals and the Holiday food deals heated up last month and I took full advantage of them. ;-)

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 9.79% in October to 63.35% compared to September's 53.56% savings average.  Anything over a 40% savings rate works for me. ;-)

With 10 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $3572.01 on food/toiletries in 2017 which is a 67.57% savings rate for the year to-date and averages out to $357.20 spent per month so far in 2017.

LOOKING AHEAD To November........
Not much needs buying in terms of Thanksgiving items.  The turkey will be free with grocery store points, I've got some of the veggies already and cranberry and 1 container of pie mix in the freezer.  I make the rolls and gravy from scratch and have purchased what I need to make those already.  I don't know what loss leaders will crop up but I'll be ready to acquire those cheaply.
Unless things go awry I should be able to stay under $300 on food spending in November.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in October?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Puppy Love

We picked up our new puppy on October 16th.
His name is Chester and he is a long haired Chihuahua.
He was 27 weeks old on Monday so just over 6 months old.
I sat in the back of the car with him next to me in his new pet bed for the ride home as we hadn't gotten a car carrier yet.

He was quite subdued and I'd guess confused about what was going on.

Ok buddy, it's time to get out of the car.  He was hesitant.

We had bought a pet gate to restrict Chester's activity to the den, a leash for taking him out to potty and a crate to keep him confined in the den when we couldn't be watching him.

Here is Daughter's dog watching intently from the kitchen while Chester got to acquaint himself in his new digs.

Daughter's dog, Cinnamon, was raised with cats and I think she saw Chester as just another cat.  The cats never wanted to "play" with her and when she tried to play with them she'd either get ignored or hissed and clawed at.
This was going to be a big change for Cinnamon. ;-)

When we let Cinnamon in, Chester went right over to her on his hind legs and got into her face.  She sniffed him a bit and then the play posing began on both parts.

Cinnamon is a very gentle and timid dog so we weren't worried about her "attacking" Chester.  She mouthed him a lot but was quite good with Chester, as we hoped she would be. Chester is smart enough to play submissive with Cinnamon when it's called for.
Cinnamon has been extra clingy on me since Chester arrived as expected.  We are sure to give her lots of attention too and treats and praise her.

It didn't take Chester long to find Cinnamon's toy box either.  He got about a third of her toys pulled out of there in short order.

When he is awake he is generally a whirling dervish.  Well he is a puppy after all. lol
So it's hard to get a photo of him that isn't blurry.  Here is a rare one when I caught a break in the play action.  You can't see his sweet face but it gives you an idea of the size disparity between Chester and Cinnamon.

Three days after bringing Chester home it was time for his first doggie doctor visit.

He was very good and calm with the clinic staff and doctor.  He got his rabies shot and we go back next Thursday for his distemper vaccination.
Chester weighs in at a whopping 4.5 lbs.  You can't give but one shot at a visit to a dog this small.

He still has two baby teeth that haven't come out yet so the teething is furious still.  Hopefully he can get them to come out with all his chewing and we don't have to pay to have the vet remove them.

He's even calm when you inspect and handle his mouth which isn't something most chihuahuas like.  I'm going to try to get him use to having his teeth brushed so we can avoid a common chihuahua problem-loosing teeth.  Most elderly chihuahuas have no teeth.

We started in with outdoor potty training right away so he is watched constantly for signs of having to go.  When he can't be watched or held he spends time in his crate.  He likes to chill out some or chew his rawhide  in there.
Not quite 2 weeks in and we have very few accidents in the house already.  They say chihuahuas are stubborn and hard to house train so best to start training asap.  We'll see how anxious he is to leave the house to do his business once the snow starts. ;-)

Chester has a slight under bite.  You can see it a bit in this photo.  It just adds to his charm.

I know someone who use to breed chihuahuas, smooth coat or short hair ones(the most prevalent type of hua).  She said she prefers long haired ones in general as they seem to be less nippy and yippy than the smooth coats.  Whatever it was they bred into the breed to make the long hairs it made them less "nervous" and high strung and less clannish.  They will still protect their owners and alert you to danger(as they perceive it).

I can't wait for College Boy to come home for Thanksgiving and bond with this little guy too.  I sent him a picture of Chester and he can't wait to get his hands on our new family member.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....October 27th Edition

Not much to report this week that was frugal, other than the usual stuff we do/don't do around here.

* I got this at Rite-Aid.......

6 x Yoohoo drink box 3 packs on sale but Wellness discount was more(.80¢)=$4.80 + .30¢ tax=$5.10

I paid with Plenti Points and earned $4 in new PPs back.($2 wyb 3 packs x 2)  Evidently these are part of a Drink and Cookies PP Deal.
I'll let Daughter and College Boy fight over 'em. lolz

After Plenti Points used these came out to .06¢ a box.  They would be frugal for your kid's lunch box if you let them drink this sort of thing.

I also picked up these as I heard they double dipped on a weekly and a monthly Deal, but sadly they didn't........

2 x Brookside dark chocolate covered fruit flavor candies on sale=2/$7.00

I paid with Plenti Points and earned back $2 in new PPs.  If the double dip had worked I'd also have earned a different $2 PP offer so these would have cost me $3 total in PPs but instead they cost me $5 for both.
I am conflicted about whether to return these of keep them.  I would rather like to try the merlot grape/black currant flavor ones.  I've had the pomegranate ones before and they are good.

Would anyone like to see one of these chocolate bags in a Giveaway?  LMK.

*  I took a trip to the Bread Outlet this week and picked up 3 loaves of bread and 1 pack of English muffins.  Total OOP of $4.75.  Cost at the grocery store would have been around $16.

*  One trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets as well this week where I found some discounted sticker meats....

2 x Nitrite-free hot dogs reg. $4 a pack, on sale for $3.50, and after $2 off sticker were $1.50 per pack.
1 x pack of stew beef(1.35 lb.)after discount sticker was $2.44
1 x top round steak(1.15 lb.)after discount sticker was $3.59
I also picked up 2 marinated pork loins(1.38 lb. each)on BOGOFree sale was $8.20 for both.  I had a $2 any fresh pork Q so $6.20 OOP for both pork loins.

I also picked up some cleaners as they were part of the Buy 6/Get $3 Off Deal and they were on sale AND I had coupons that doubled.

3 x toilet cleaner $1.49-.50¢Q=.99¢ each
2 x kitchen cleaner $2.99-$1Q=$1.99 each
1 x bathroom cleaner $2.99=$1Q=$1.99
Total $8.94-$3 for buying 6=$6.94+.41¢tax=$7.35 or $1.22 per item.

*  I went to the Shursave market and picked up a free head of lettuce after loading a digital coupon to my loyalty card.  While there I also bought $3 worth of cornbread mix and finished qualifying for a $10 off Reward for spending $30 on Baking Needs like sugar, flour, oil, baking mixes.....

This is good for anything in the store(except I think milk and lottery tickets).  I'll probably save it for anything I need to pick up at the last minute for Thanksgiving.

* And Hubs had a frugal fail this week.  We were out on Tuesday and he wanted to pick up some chewy rawhide sticks for Chester as he is a teething puppy.
So he comes out of the pet store with these.......

A 40 pack of sticks. 
Note the price.......

$11.65
Ack!

That's .29¢ a stick
So when I went to Weis the following day I saw this marked 50% off.....

Granted these aren't solid rawhide but the pressed bits ones so they won't last as long but at $1.34 they are only .06¢ per piece.
And if I can get to a larger Rite-Aid, they carry a pack of the solid rawhide sticks for $1 and with my Wellness discount they are .80¢ per pack for me.

Anybody have any frugal wins this week?

Sluggy

Giveaway Winner

There were 119 valid entries for the Giveaway.  I numbered them all and went to Random dotorg to pick the winner.
I had assistance from Chester the Chihuahua, he clicked the mouse to generate the number of the winning comment.

And the winner is #71............

Michelle H!!!

AnonymousOctober 17, 2017 at 9:41 PM

Woo hoo! In just under the wire. :)

Michelle H

Congratulations Michelle H!

Please email me(contact email is on the right side bar)your full mailing address from the email you used to enter the giveaway.

You have 48 hours to contact me from the time stamp when this post goes live.  If Michelle H fails to contact me in time I'll pick another winner.

Thank you to everyone who played along this time and thanks to all of  ya'll who read this blog and keep it going.

Check back in a week or so for more Giveaway Fun!

Sluggy