Frugal Friday.....December 8th Edition

As the Holidays roll around, being frugal is all about maximizing your savings when you need/want to spend money.
Of course we are also doing all those non-Holiday type things to stay frugal(using electricity off-peak hours, turning off lights when not in a room, not showering every day if we aren't dirty/going out of the house, staying home, running errands together, etc.)but this time of year, it seems to be all about the shopping, doesn't it?
So here are my "wins" this past week............

*  I found a penny in the Rite-Aid parking lot!
No matter how little, found money is free money.  ;-)

*  Among the deals I did this past week at Weis(PMITA)Markets was this one........

These were all part of the Mix and Match/Buy 6/Get $6 instantly Off Deal.
I was able to used Qs on 4 of them and stack Qs on 2 of those so $21.94 sale price-$6 discount-$8 Qs=$7.94 OOP for all 6 items.  The black cherry/chocolate flavor of Enlightened ice cream is really good....at least to me it is. 8-)))

I also picked up 5 Minute Maid OJ cartons(our December OJ purchase)and got another one of these......

$2 off your next purchase(good through 1/5/18).  I now have 4 of these($8 off total)to use for any Weis shopping I do the rest of December.

*  Doing my grocery shopping at Weis I paid with what was left on that Prepaid Visa card I bought at Weis(and earned 20 Points for buying it).  I spent over $50 so now I have 40 Points toward a free meat item/lasagna.  Only 10 more points(spend $50 or refill an rx at Weis will get me to 50 Points).

*  I used Coke codes on caps to get this...........

A $5 Target e-card.
I tried to get a Amazon $5 e-card but am having problems receiving the email with the secret code to claim that prize. ugh.  It's always something, ain't it?

* I don't wait until Christmas to shop for gifts.  Though I don't do as much buying throughout the year I did pick up the bulk of my presents before November hit.  After pulling the "gift box" out of hiding and going through it there were still a few holes to fill so I went online the weekend of Black Friday/Monday to see what I could do about filling those holes.
My order from Kohl's arrived this past week from CyberMonday shopping(the online order I did).......well half of the order did.

Between sale price, discounts and 50% of $8 promotional Yes2Rewards gift I spent $9.62 for both of these flannel shirts.  I LOVE the suggested retail pricing of $35 on these shirts.  Who in the world pays that for a flannel shirt??? lolz

I also got my Daughter a birthday gift(can't mention or show what because she reads this sometimes)and did a store pick-up on that one and we went on Monday to pick that up.  I paid $18.46 on that reg. $29.99 item.  My whole 4 item order(also got myself a shirt)was $53.56 so shipped free and I received $15 in Kohl's cash and a $5 Yes2Rewards for this order so I now had $20 in free script to spend.
So when we were picking up the gift for Daughter that shipped to the store I browsed around and found some more stuff for College Boy........

College Boy said he's put on a little weight so his pants were tight in the waist so I found a pair of nice cargo shorts an inch larger and this nice plaid l/s shirt(in colors he likes/wears)which will come in handy next month when he starts his internship.  Both items were on clearance and after my $20 in script and my 25% off discount code I spent $4.35 OOP.

*  And the total in Plenti Points spent down at Rite-Aid on Wednesday for all these goodies?

$10.93 in Plenti Points.

I spent $55.93 in PPs and earned $45 in new PPs, so $10.93 of my Plenti Points "spent down".  If only they had 6 more Remfresh on the shelves I could have made ALL this as $1.13 moneymaker!
I may return the sinus kit($8.23)and 1 of the toothpastes($3.91).  In that case that's $12.14 off my total PPs spent(neither item gave me new Plenti Points)so we'll have a $1.21 Moneymaker. 8-))

So what did you have in the Frugal Win column this week?

And as always...........

Sluggy

The Perfect Rite-Aid Storm

What happens when Wellness Wednesday Sale with one day coupons(that can stack with reg. manu coupons)meets a 4 Day Sale at Rite-Aid?

You get some awesome deals for pennies(worth of points if you roll Plenti Points)on the dollar!

By combining the Wellness Wednesday coupon and regular manufacturer's coupons plus earning new Plenti Points, I got all this in the photos below(combining transactions from all 3 of our Wellness/Plenti accounts/cards............

I'll say I screwed up big time on the Crest.  The 4 Day Sale $2.99 varieties that gave back $1 in PPs(and had $2 Load2CardQs)was NOT tagged so I bought the wrong ones-the 2/$8 that gave $3 in PPs-and wasted my Qs on those. ugh.

On the Sinus Kit though I had two stackable Qs the register wouldn't take them both so my $8.32-$10 in Qs making it a $1.68 moneymaker didn't happen and I paid $3.23 + tax.  The toothpaste and sinus kit may be returned at a later date but we'll keep those in my total haul for now.

And here is the last little bit when I went to pick up my Rx.
If only there had been more than 2 Remfresh on the shelves I could have made ALL this a moneymaker!

Oh, and I also scarfed up all these freebie samples and most had coupons attached to them.

Burt's Bees, Zim's, Olay, Nexcare, R-A brand nasal strips and some brand of foot lotion I can't remember. lol

So let's see who can come closest to guessing how many Plenti Points I spent down for all this.(Of course, this is Rite-Aid and I didn't pay CASH for any of it!)

I'll reveal how many Plenti Points were spent in Friday's Frugal Friday post tomorrow.

I'll even give y'all a hint and put the "price" I paid for each item after sale/coupon(s) but not the points earned.

I'll also put the tax paid(in points of course)and total the list for ya! ;-)

6 x 4 pack Red Bull $35.94

2 x Arizona Tea  .99¢

1 x Jergen's wet skin Lotion .99¢

1 x Purex laundry detergent  .99¢

6 x Aquaphor lotion -$2.46
7 x Russel Stover sugar-free candy bags  $1.61

3 x Crest toothpaste  $2.82

2 x 3 Musketeers candy bars .77¢

4 x Listerine mouth wash  $11.42

4 x Blue Diamond almonds  $9.50

4 x Sparkling Ice drinks  $0.00

2 x Remfresh sleeping aid  -$4.02

1 x Rite-Aid ibuprofen 80 ct.  $2.95

1 x Xclear sinus rinse kit  $3.23

I also used a total of $12 in $X off $X Catalina Qs(2 x $2/$20, $3/$20, $5/$50)on 4 of my transactions.

$52.73 + $3.20 tax=$55.93 spent in PPs

$258.88 in regular retail prices.

What did it cost me in Plenti Points used?

Sluggy

December Giveaway #1.....Come Enter!

This is the ninth Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for the year.
December is here and the Holidays are here!  This box includes some Winter/Christmas themed items as well as the always popular-chocolate!
Come on and enter.
Somebody has to win and it might just be YOU!

Here is what you can win if your entry is picked.

1 x Colgate mouthwash
1 x L'Oreal total repair shampoo
1 x Simple face scrub
1 x Secret women's deodorant(cherry scent)
1 x Noxzema razors
1 x Snow Babies trinket box
1 x Lindt white peppermint chocolate bar
1 x Oral-B toothbrush
1 x Boyds Bears Christmas bear in stocking
1 x Haribo cola gummies
1 x Scotch pop-up tape holder
1 x Rite-Aid gift tape
1 x Scunci hair ties
2 x Maybelline Eye Studio eye shadow duos(Carbon/Frost & Tantalizing Teal)
13 x Lindt chocolate Truffles


Over $80 in regular retail of goodies.

Closeup shots of the goodies up for grabs......

I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday, December 17th, at 11:59pm Eastern Time, so that gives everyone 12 days to enter this one.  On December 18th  I'll mark all the valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

*Please note the rules*
I'll post the name/Id of the winner on this blog and that person has 48 hours from then to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page).
If I am not contacted via email I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supply with their entry and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

There are three ways to enter--1 Daily and 2 One-Time Only........

1. Leave a comment every day.

2. Be a follower of this Blog(Hit the "Follow" button on the right hand side bar.) Let me know if your comment for this entry the name you follow under to verify.  You can do this entry once.

3. Post on your own blog(or on your Facebook page)about the Giveaway and leave a link in your comment/entry to where I can find it.  You can do this entry once.
In your Daily Entry tell me in your comment......something like what here is the thing in the box you most would like to win, what food is a MUST to have on Christmas or Hanukkah, what's the one thing you want for Christmas or Hanukkah and/or how big is your Christmas or Hanukkah gathering, if you have one.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.
As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten to high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies, I pay for it all(cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

To-Do List Outcome.....November Update

Here's my November To-Do List and what got done and what didn't.......

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always first on my list of things to get done. All paid early or on time.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE  I read two of the books in the "The #1 Ladies Detective Agency" Series.  

They are a quick read but fun so I may hunt for some more in the Series at the Library next year.
And I also got halfway through this one before November ended.

As I am a history nut, this one is riveting!

*  Puppy to Vet for Shots   DONE

And he was NOT too happy about that!  Poor little guy yelped something awful. This mommy thinks it's because they wouldn't let me go back and hold him for the shot. 8-(

*  Get Giveaway Boxes Ready  DONE  

I gathered a bunch of my mostly Rite-Aid freebies and 6 mailing boxes and made up Giveaway Boxes for the next 6 months.  They are ready to go one per month at least until May 2018 as long as the little bit of blog revenue continues to roll in so I can afford to mail them all.  ;-)

*  Sell Stuff  DONE  While I wasn't able to sell anything on the local tag sale site I did get 8 things listed on eBay in November and sold $207.99 worth of goods.  

*  Make Motel Reservations  DONE  I made advance motel reservations for Hubs "rescue" mission using certain loyalty cards we have for two different chains to save a few dollars and earn some points toward future rewards.

*  Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  And I have it on good authority that the chocolates were the first things to be removed and "disposed" of. lolz

*  Declutter  DONE  Unpacking my dishware from the garage led to more decluttering of said dishware, which led to other things leaving the house as well.

*  Load to Sallie's  DONE  

Just some of what got carted off.  

A total of 24 more items left Chez Sluggy.

*  Clean Bathrooms  DONE  And just in the nick of time before Thanksgiving company arrived.

*  Change out Wardrobe  DONE...sort of  I got the Winter stuff out but there are some not-Winter stuff I didn't put away yet.  I'm calling this mostly done.

*  Unpack Dishes in Garage  DONE

Dishes are now residing in the Dining Room in the buffet.

*  Move Dishes in Kitchen  DONE  As part of the organizing dishes the ones hiding in the cabinets over the stove were moved to the new Buffet.  I put some items for the kids and things I can't display but want to keep in those inaccessible cabinets over the stove.

*  Get Blood Work Done  DONE  I got stuck and all the tests came back with good results. Yay me!

*  Pick-up College Boy  DONE

*  Turkey Day!  DONE  And it was yummy.

*  Take College Boy back  DONE 

And we got to see him again this past weekend.


*  Put Furniture together  DONE

With much gnashing of teeth and choice words it got done.  I am under pain of death orders NEVER to order furniture that has to be put together again. lolz

So we  basically got everything done that was on my list-a rare occurrence indeed!
Onward and upward to December's To-Do List.

What did you get done in November?


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "The Relief That It's Over" Edition--

After Hubs got home late Friday night, he returned the cargo van Saturday morning, and then we drove up to school to see College Boy's Senior Recital.
I'll share photos of that in the coming weeks.  Here's a shot of College Boy afterwards, when we took him out to dinner.  He was just so glad that recital pressure was off and 1 more week of classes and just 2 finals and his semester(and basically his college career)is over.  This semester has kicked his ass he says.  There was some partying done on Saturday night after we left I hear tell.  But by Sunday afternoon he was feeling nostalgic for being in school and said he'd miss most of it. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Beef/Broccoli/Mushroom Stir-Fry, Jasmine Rice

2. Monday--Leftover Chicken Thighs, leftover Thanksgiving sides, Stuffed Mushrooms

3. Tuesday--French Bread Pizza, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chinese Take-out

5. Thursday--?
6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Beef/Broccoli/Mushroom Stir-Fry, Jasmine Rice

2. Monday--Leftover Chicken Thighs, leftover Thanksgiving sides

3. Tuesday--Primo Hoagies for 2(Daughter paid)

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself

5. Thursday--Leftover Stir-Fry, Rice
6. Friday--Chinese Take-Out for 2(I paid)
7. Saturday--Eating Out after recital(3 at Perkins)

Daughter wasn't feeling French Bread pizza so we shoved that loaf into the freezer to use another week.  She was feeling Chinese(isn't she always?)and take-out Subs so I little variation from the plan.

Last week saw 1 night of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 2 nights of take-out and 1 night of Eating out.
Weis was the only store I shopped at last week and the bill came to $49.85.  That brings December's food spending to $49.85.  There are 27 more days in my shopping month.

My savings percentages last week was 51.79% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 51.79%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week.......Thanksgiving side dishes(Mashed Taters, Stuffing, Carrots)and 4 rolls.  The rest of the stuffing is going into the freezer for later and we'll incorporate the other side dishes into this week's menu.

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

1. Sunday--Fresh Mushroom Soup, French Bread

2. Monday--Mushroom Stroganof, over Leftover Mashed Taters, Asparagus

3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joe, Rolls, Carrots

4. Wednesday--Tacos

5. Thursday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Caesar Salad
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers, 0 nights of Take-out.  I went to Maines Restaurant Supply on Sunday(bill goes on next Monday's grocery spending)and they had a shopping cart of 12 oz. packages of whole mushrooms for .50¢ each.  I guess they overestimated the demand for Thanksgiving. lolz   So I bought 5 more boxes to go with the 1 I had leftover still from Turkey Day so the front end of this week will be heavy with mushroom dishes w/out meat.  ;-)

The only thing I need to buy to make these meals is some iceberg lettuce and milk.  We are also out of cream cheese and I plan on picking up a few loss leaders this week(besides the Maines trip).

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