Frugal Friday.......the March 9th Edition

Let's see what we did frugal last week..........

*  Other than a birthday dinner out we'll eaten at home this week. 

*  Here's the WAM I ended February with.

$140 leftover to add to March's $100 WAM.  I've spent $9 this month of my WAM......hard to spend it if you don't go anywhere, right? lolz

*  While we are out on Tuesday Hubs and I went to the Bread Outlet and got this........

3 x 12 packs of rolls(burger and dog), 3 x loaves of Arnold's bread and 2 x packs of Entemann's doughnuts(1 is already opened and in the kitchen).  All this set me back $9.  I pay cash at the Bread Outlet so it comes out of my WAM instead of being put on the credit card. 
With all those rolls I'll be taking some of that bbq'ed pork I smoked in the Fall out of the freezer, whip up a batch of cole slaw and we'll have bbq on next week's menu.  Making your own bbq beats paying $10+ a plate for it at a restaurant.

*  I got free canned tomatoes at Weis(PMITA)Markets last week.

These were on sale for $1 a can last week and I used .50¢/1 Qs that doubled to $1 so free tomatoes....yay me!

*  I almost sold something on eBay.  A buyer offered me 1/3 less than I wanted, which I didn't take, then he offered me $20 less on an item I was selling for $150.  I took that offer.  10 minutes later he cancelled the order.  Thanks a lot moron!  So I had to relist the item and then go block his User ID from buying/bidding on any of my items ever again.  My blocked bidder list after all these years is quite long now. lol
Loser. 
I have a love/hate relationship with eBay if you can't tell. lolz

*  I got nothing else.  Other than grocery shopping, Rite-Aid and taking College Boy out for his Birthday dinner last night I've been home bound, not doing much except paying bills and loving on Chester and the family.

Maybe I'll go clean something today and go find a sewing project to work on.......or maybe I won't. ;-)

What frugal wins have you had this past week?

Sluggy

Some Rite-Aid Stuff

So I went to Rite-Aid earlier this week and bought all this in three different transactions...........

3 x Colgate toothpaste on sale($3.99)=$11.97
2 x Colgate mouth rinse on sale($3.99)=$7.98
4 x Russel Stover chocolate eggs on sale(.50¢)=$2.00
SubTotal........$21.95

Coupons used........
5 x $2/1 In-Ad Colgate item Q=$10.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate toothpaste manuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Colgate mouth rinse manuQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Colgate toothpaste IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate mouth rinse IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$17.00

But an unexpected L2CQ also came off so $18 in Qs

$21.95-$18.00=$3.95+.08¢ tax=$4.03
I used $2.05 in Plenti Points and $1.98 off my R-A gift card because of breaking this into 3 transactions(otherwise I could have just used $4.03 in PPs).

In the third transaction 2 of my RA in-ad $2/1 Qs and a $1/1 IPQ for the toothpaste wouldn't come off  so the cashier did a "post coupon" and gave me back $5 cash.  This $5 made up for the $5 in Bonus Cash that came off in that transaction that wouldn't have if the Qs had gone through.

I earned back $2 in BC for the R/S eggs and I also earned $19.95 toward a "Spend $20/Get $5 BC Morning Routine Deal"for the Colgate items. Rite-Aid purposely made the prices of items for this deal $3.99 instead of $4.00 so you'd have to buy one extra item to break the $20 threshold.....a truly sucky thing to do! 
Also part of this Deal are Softscrub and Irish Spring B/W and soaps but those are cheaper starting Sunday with sale prices of $3.99(of course!),Qs coming out in Sunday's inserts stacked with In-AdQs in the sales flyer for those items. 
This Deal runs 2 weeks evidently. 
So I'll wait and buy a body wash next week to finish off this deal and get my $5BC.

In the end I'll have "spent" $5.02 on all the Colgate/SoftScrub items and will get back $5 in BC so it's a wash or if you want to be picky all 6 items I will have bought will have "cost" me .02¢.....but I can live with that.  8-)

Then on Wednesday, because I am crazy that way, I went to Rite-Aid while the snow took a break from falling for about 1.5 hours here, to see what Wellness Wednesday items I could scoop up.  ;-)

This was all on Daughter's card and I had a 25% emailed discount to use(if an item was cheaper that way rather than the sale price).

2 x Garnier Whole Blends shampoo on sale=$7.00
2 x Dr. Scholl's insoles clearanced($3.74)=$7.48
4 x Russel Stover chocolate eggs on sale=$2.00
3 x Clear Eyes w/25% disc.($10.34)=$31.02
1 x Centrum vitamins on sale=$9.99
2 x Dove chocolate covered cherries on sale=$7.00
2 x Biscoff biscotti cookies w/25% disc.($2.46)=$4.92
3 x B4Y dried fruit w/25% disc.($2.99)=$8.97
SubTotal.........$78.38 + .18¢ tax=$78.56

Coupons Used
1 x $4/1 Garnier shampoo ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $3/1 Dr. Scholl's ManuQ=$6.00
2 x $5/1 Clear Eyes ManuQ=$10.00
1 x $3/1 Clear Eyes IPQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Centrum IPQ=$3.00
1 x $4/1 Centrum WWQ=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Dove chocolate/fruit WWQ=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Biscoff WWQ=$4.00
3 x $1/1 B4Y dried fruit WWQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$41.00

$78.56-$41.00=$37.56
$37 in Bonus Cash should have come off (I had $43 in BC on this card)and I should have been left with .56¢ to put on my RA gift card.

But.........there always seems to be a but now, doesn't there? ;-)

But I was also buying 2 bottles of Ocuvite vitamins as I had ManuQs and WWQs to stack with those(they would have cost me $3.87 after 25% disc. and stacked Qs)but the WWQs beeped and I discovered that those were for a larger size bottle than I took.  The store was out of that larger size bottle so after ringing those vitamins in the cashier took them off the transaction but..........we discovered after the transaction was completed that only one bottle came off, so I "bought" a bottle in my transaction so the numbers were this instead........
$92.43-$41Q=$51.43
All $43 in BC on that card came off, leaving me with $8.43 which came off my Plenti Points.

After I got in the car and went over the receipt and went back in and had the cashier eyeball the receipt, the bottle that didn't come off was discovered, so then I got $8.43 back on my Plenti Points and I was handed $5.44 in cash.  Basically I got $5 in cash in lieu of $5 of my BC that had come off(and .44¢ to boot in cash as BC is only in increments of whole dollars).

I also earned $19 in new BC on this transaction($3 wyb $8 dried fruit, 2 x $7 wyb $15 eye items-Clear Eyes, 2 x $1 wyb2 R/S eggs).
In addition I will earn back $7 in cash rebates on SavingStar($4 for the Garnier shampoos, $3 for the Centrum).

The price breakdown per item--

The Garnier 'poos were a $1 moneymaker after sale/Qs/cash rebate.
The Dr. Scholl's were .74¢ each after clearance price/Qs.
The Russell Stover eggs were free after sale/BC earned.
College Boy needed a stockpile of eye drops so that is why the Clear Eyes items were bought. After disc./Qs/BC earned, the eye drops cost $1.34 each.
The Centrum vitamins were a .01¢ moneymaker after sale/stacked Qs/cash rebate.
The Dove chocolate covered fruit was $1.50 a bag after WWQs.
The Biscoff cookies were .46¢ a package after WWQs.
The B4Y dried fruit was .99¢ a bag after disc./WWQs/BC earned.

I may go back for free R/S eggs on my son's card this week(Easter baskets need filling), but otherwise I am finished at Rite-Aid for this sales ad.  If I had more Garnier Qs I could finish that "Spend $30/Get $10 in BC" Deal and with the sale price/Qs/BC earned/SavingStar cash rebate it would cost me $1.50 OOP for 9 bottles(.17¢ per bottle).
But really I don't need 7 more bottles of shampoo(beyond the two I bought this week).

Sluggy

Our Trip to Maine......Part 5

*More of our trip to Maine since the weather looks like this today.......

Enjoy!

****************

Part 1 of our Maine trip is HERE.
Part 2 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 3 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Part 4 of our Maine trip is HERE.

Here's outside our little motel room the morning we bid farewell to Bailey's Island.

 We stopped to take some pictures at the Orr's Island Meeting House and Yard.

The Church has been here since 1838.  It was locked when we stopped so we didn't get to go inside.

And a picturesque old cemetery.  You know me, I am all about old buildings and cemeteries.

 When we got to Brunswick we made a stop at an Urgent Care as Hubs was feeling unwell and though he had infection(ENT type of infection)so I cooled my heels all morning in the waiting room.

Then it was off to a Rite-Aid pharmacy in town to wait again for them to fill the prescription.

We left Brunswick and made a stop in Topsham......at a liquor store or course so Hubs could see what region type brews he could pick up that they don't have at home.

I sort of liked The Shed Brewery's "Profanity Ale".  I beer so good you need to curse! lol

I should have picked up this hard cider from Somerset England called Sheppy's.
One of my many 9 x GGrandmothers was a Mary Sheppy or Shippey(1658-1688).  Born and lived in VA.  Her father, Thomas Shippey/Sheppy was also born in VA in 1633.  Haven't I told y'all some of my ancestors have been in America for a very long time?
Mary married first John Clyborne or Claiborne or Cliborne or Clayborne.  He fell out of his boat and drowned in a swamp when he was 30.  Luckily they had a son who lived long enough to also procreate before dear old John drowned.

Death's Door "white whiskey".  Hmmmm....if that name doesn't scare you the fact that they call it "white whiskey" should.  White Whiskey aka White Lightning down in the South is just a Yankee putting on airs.

This blueberry moonshine was intriguing(from Maine Craft Distilling)but we've had some bad experiences with blueberry flavored liquors/beers and didn't want to risk the price of a bottle without a taste to see if it was a good blueberry or a bad blueberry concoction.
We did pick up a fair number of bottles of Allen's coffee liquor for the kids however(which I'll say disappeared quickly once we got home).

We opted for lunch at Ninety Nine in Topsham.  New England is lousy with this restaurant chain and I will say it was darn good and priced right!  I had a honey mustard chicken salad(salad with chicken in top)that was delightful.

Across the street from the restaurant was a Reny's so we walked off some lunch in there.
There are three places I must hit while in New England--Ocean State Job Lot, Marden's and Reny's.  They are the "Ollie's of New England".

A cute Keep Calm mug.  I found a few things in Reny's to bring home....mostly food items.

Sesame Oil, unusual jams, Sea Dog(brewery)mustard, lemon curd, barbecue sauces and maple syrup.
Reny's is a great place to find inexpensive maple syrup if you are ever in one!  You can also find touristy souvenirs(shirts, mugs, Xmas O's, etc.)cheaply and often it's the same stuff the fancy tourist shops carry only it's not marked WAAAY up!

Then we checked into our next hotel, a Comfort Inn in Augusta.  Augusta is a cheaper alternative for lodging versus staying at a motel/hotel on the coast where the tourists stay.  Augusta is a short drive to most coastal towns in that area(Boothbay to Camden to Searsport)and only 2.5 hours to Bar Harbor.  There are so many interesting little towns and hamlets to explore in Maine without ever setting foot in the places most tourists go--Kittery, Portland, Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach and Bar Harbor.

We decided to go up to Waterville to a brewpub called Mainely Brews for dinner.  We got within a couple of miles of the place and found streets were blocked off and we had to turn around.
Seems the evening we tried to go what the very same evening of an annual event there called "A Taste of Waterville".  It's a one night massive party with hoards of people.

Not feeling up to a mosh pit we found a Pizza Hut by the interstate and ate there.  We opted for a balsamic drizzle(at no additional cost)on our pizza which kicked the pizza up a notch and why doesn't every Pizza Hut have this?  Hubs also could get a beer at this PH...not a craft beer but at least he got a beer and I didn't have to listen to him bitch the rest of the night. lolz

We tried to go to a Marden's next door to the PH but it was late and they were closing soon and I didn't want to be rushed through the store in 12 minutes so we decided to head back to the hotel.
We got gas before we got back on the interstate and I saw this cute little trailer camper at the gas station.  Supposedly it holds a Queen size mattress inside.  I don't know......I think I'd be a bit claustrophic sleeping in that.

The next day we took a trip East to Windsor Maine.

This is an offbeat "weird things to see, places to go" when in Maine attraction.
Three floors of general convenience foods/drinks, hardware, household goods,a crafts for sale room, tourist stuff, groceries, used books, antiques, guns and wedding gowns.

Third floor was tourist t-shirts, clothing and the Bridal Boutique.

In the basement was so vintage furniture on consignment.

Anybody need a miniature windmill?

Interestingly named craft sodas.

A novelty over-sized camp chair....over-sized as in 6 foot tall.  I would need a step ladder to get into this thing! lolz

For lunch we met my old friends from my Summer theater days(the one with the car from Augusta back in the day)back near the hotel.

She's a teacher(and now a guidance counselor)in the Maine public school system.  I haven't seen her in a few years(the last time we went to Maine).  She and her SO got married Jan. of 2016.  We had a few laughs and lunch.

Hubs and I headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and some down time.

Since we didn't get to the brewpub in Waterville he wanted to go to one that evening in Hallowell south of Augusta called The Liberal Cup.
Hallowell use to be a collection of junk and antique stores and not much else.  Since my theater days Hallowell has become a happening hipster hang-out with a booming nightlife scene.

We had to park about a mile away and walk to the joint and it was PACKED inside.  You couldn't hear yourself think, let alone whomever you were dining with.  Between the live music in the other room and the numbers of bodies crammed into this tiny space I was getting a pounding headache which made me a tad surly and claustrophobic.

The best part of my meal was this crab soup.

Hubs looking pleased with himself with his soup and beer.

I wasn't drinking that night....I was too irritated and just wanted to get the hell out of there.
That and my dinner sucked.  I got it in a "to-go" box and sat there waiting for Hubs to finish so we could leave.  The prices were also outrageous for what it was and that served to irritate me further.
I should have told him we should leave when I saw how it was inside when we got in the door there but I didn't as I didn't have a back-up plan. sigh.  So I was the bad guy because I wasn't having fun and "I" ruined Hubs' night.

Oh well.  Every day can't be a winner, right?
Back at the hotel we lounged around and I read my book.........

A most apropos book to read while in Maine........

Sluggy

To-Do List....February Update

Not a lot on my plate in February.  It's a short month and the dark and cold don't motivate me to do much other than stay warm.  Add in a rough month for my health this year and it's a good thing I have a short list.  8-)

Here's the list and what did or didn't get accomplished.

* Pay Bills  DONE  If nothing else gets done, this does.

* Read 1 Book  DONE  I read this one........

Brothers by George Howe Colt

It was better than I expected it to be.  I didn't know this writer beforehand or his family but got to know them intimately in this book.  His younger brother, Ned, was a reporter for NBC news for a decade or so and was held hostage near Fallujah during the Iraqi war with his team for 3 days in 2004(this event was detailed near the end of the book).  Ned died in Feb. of 2015 of a stroke.

Having had some talks with Hubs about his family/siblings and their dynamic recently due to his sister's issues and treatment of us, we have talked about how children raised in the same environment and by the same parents(and those parents treating each child evenhandedly), how each child can come away from their childhood experience with such different perspectives and values.  This book and Colt's discussion about his siblings and himself brought that lesson home for me.
Colt also talked at length about famous brothers through history-the Thoreau brothers, the Wright brothers, the Booth brothers, the Marx brothers and the van Gogh brothers to name a few-and how their fraternal bond shaped them all.  Very interesting book if you are a fan of psychology or any of these famous brothers.

I also got another book read this month...........

American Rose-the Life and Time of Gypsy Rose Lee by Karen Abbott.
Since I was a kid I was enamored of the Broadway Musical "Gypsy" which was the singing and dancing fairy tale version of Rose Louise Hovick's life.  Gypsy was a nationally known strip tease artist.  The author actually met with people who knew Gypsy and Gypsy's mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, including Gypsy's sister, June(who died in 2010)to garner information for the book.
Again, this book was very interesting and a "the true story behind the show and film" look at a dysfunctional family.  The mother, Rose, turned these two daughters into psychologically damaged goods and all three were survivors-both of the times they lived through and their family dynamic.  There is also a fair amount of information here about the history of vaudeville and burlesque and some of the large players such as the Minsky Brothers.
This book got me interesting in reading June Havoc's(she altered her last name from Hovick)memoirs(she wrote 2).  I doubt if I'll read Gypsy's memoir as she spent her life hiding her true self from the public.
I've got a sort of connection to June Havoc.....she starred in the original production of "Pal Joey" on Broadway and I played Melba Snyder the reporter in my college's production of that show and sang/performed the number "Zip" which was a satire on striptease and Gypsy Rose Lee and one of my audition pieces while I was in the theater world was "That Terrible Rainbow" which was one of June's numbers from "Pal Joey".  8-))

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE
Crystal finally braved the snowstorm and her sickness misery and retrieved the box from the post office.  Use it all in good health!

* 2 Clothing Alterations  DONE

Daughter went to Sallie's a found some dress pants she needed for presentations in her Business class and to wear on her Science conference in March to New Orleans.
The only problem was they were too short so I needed to let the hem out as much as possible.

Whomever owned these pants before had been short and had hacked off the fabric in the hemmed portion with a knife or something(there was a line of stitching at the base of where the fabric was turned for the hem and all the fabric was jaggedly cut off there)before turning the pants legs up and hand stitching very badly a new hem.  I had to take out the old hem and then encase the jagged rough ends with seam binding just above where the line of stitching was before hand stitching a new lower hem.

What a PITA!
Daughter also bought a blue Women's dress shirt which was missing a button.  The shirt looked brand new and it appeared someone got rid of it due to the button missing only.  There was a spare button sewn into the bottom of the shirt so it was just a matter of removed the spare and sewing onto where the button was missing. lolz
I also had to resew another button as it came off in my hand when I was handling the shirt.  Factory machine sewn buttons are held on with a tiny bit of stitching which is prone to unraveling so always check your buttons when you buy a shirt and hand sew them for security.  It only takes a minute or two(and really, shouldn't everyone be taught to hand sew a button)and may help you avoid the embarrassment of one popping off at an inopportune moment. ;-)

* Load to Sallie's  DONE  Hubs finally hauled up a load of cast-offs and got them out of the living room.

* Redo Passwords Book  FAIL  I've been looking at the book I bought to redo my passwords/User IDs in but I just haven't gotten the umph to actually do this yet.  For sure this will happen in March.  It shouldn't take me more than an hour or two to wrap this up so I can't believe I am procrastinating so badly with this.

* Do Taxes  IN PROGRESS  I handed off taxes to Hubs(after gathering the initial paperwork)as he wants to handle it now that he's retired.  He is driving me crazy though as he works on it in drips and drabs and doesn't just DO IT!  And he insists on using software(that we have to pay for!)while I did it for years and years myself the old fashioned way.   Our taxes aren't so complicated we need to pay to do them but he's afraid of being audited and things doing them and mailing them in is now a red flag as most folks electronically file.  Whatever.  Just freaking get them filed already!!!

* Load to Food Bank  DONE  I finally got a good day when they were open to accepting donations and hauled up 6 jugs of laundry detergent, 4 bottles of shampoo and 4 bags of assorted canned/boxed/pouched food.

* Plan possible 2018 Travel  IN PROGRESS  A few ideas have crossed my mind but nothing has gotten to the make reservations stage yet.  I am just feeling uninspired about traveling right now.

* Work on 2018 Goals  Again, IN PROGRESS  We've got one big goal we've been working toward-selling the house in LA.  Keeping it another year and having Daughter and BF rent it from us after she gets her degree doesn't make sense to our bottom line so it's going back on the market with a better realtor.  I want it sold this year, period!  Dealing with people in Louisiana in a business relationship has been one headache after another and I want to leave it behind.

So that's what's happened here in February.
How was your month?  Did you conquer any goals last month?

Onward and upward to March's To-Do List!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Is it Spring yet?" Edition--

Another Nor'easter is heading this way mid week so we'll get substantial snow again.  I hope this is the end of the Snow Season for us this year.  I could use some sunshine about now.  It sure would perk my spirits up.  8-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings

2. Monday--Fish, Taters of some sort, Broccoli

3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas

4. Wednesday--Leftovers or Soup

5. Thursday--Leftovers or Soup

6. Friday--maybe Pizza and Salad if everyone is better

7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings

2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw

3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas

4. Wednesday--Leftovers or FFY

5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--Fend For Yourself

7. Saturday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Asparagus

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 night of take-out and 0 nights of Eating out.  Most nights it was just Daughter and myself for dinner as Hubs was out of town. Sunday as all 3 of us here were sick I dug my last whole chicken out of the chest freezer and made Chicken and Dumplings.  That was just the ticket!
I had the energy most days to just cook dinners but that was about it.  More antibiotics now and I am hoping that takes care of my sicknesses. bleh.  

1 trip to Shursave for tomatoes and lettuce by Daughter brought the shopping last week to $4.  That brings March's food spending total to $4.  There are 27 days left in my shopping month.  

My savings percentages last week was 20% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 20%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week.......fajita filling and Chicken and Dumplings.

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

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself/Leftovers

2. Monday--Leftover Fajitas, Spanish Rice

3. Tuesday--Beef Teriyaki, Broccoli, Rice

4. Wednesday--Halushki, Kielbasi on Rolls

5. Thursday--Stroganoff, Rice

6. Friday--Leftovers

7. Saturday--Birthday meal out for CB

This week will see4  new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers and 1 night of Take-out/Eat-Out.
I need to buy mushrooms, cabbage, milk and OJ this week.

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