Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Giveaway Winner

I had 83 valid entries this time around(only had to disqualify 2-one for no email contact and another because she's in Canada and I can't afford to ship this outside of the US)so I numbered the entries and jumped on Random(dot)org and let them pick our winner.

And the winner is.........

Mgaltier!


Good morning! It's a great day for chocolate!
Mgaltier(at)yahoo(dotcom)

Let me just add that every day is a great day for chocolate. ;-)

Congratulations Mgaltier!
You now have 48 hours from the time stamp when this post goes live to email me your full mailing address and name so I can get this in the mail to you.
Thanks again to all you readers who play along with this silly little game and another giveaway will be coming up in April so stay tuned.......

Sluggy

Monday, March 26, 2018

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Don't Forget to Enter!" Edition--


Today is the last day to enter my current giveaway.  You have until 11:59 pm ET to go HERE and leave a comment to be entered.  Make sure I have your email addy(either leave it in your comment or email it to me privately at arcure(at)ptdprolog(dot)net.)for your entry to be valid.
Good luck everyone!

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Corned Beef, Carrots, Cabbage, Potatoes
2. Monday--FFY
3. Tuesday--maybe Lunch Out so Dinner will be whatever(if hungry)
4. Wednesday--BBQ Pork Sandwiches
5. Thursday--Nachos
6. Friday--Salmon, Veggie(who knows, Hubs is cooking this!)
7. Saturday--Leftovers or ?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Corned Beef, Carrots, Cabbage, Potatoes
2. Monday--FFY
3. Tuesday--Leftover or FFY
4. Wednesday--BBQ Pork Sandwiches
5. Thursday--Nachos
6. Friday--Steak Sandwiches, Salad
7. Saturday--Domino's pizza(had gift card)

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night of take-out and 0 nights of Eating out.  My shoulder was still hurting so I did minimal cooking or cooking that didn't take much effort(as you can see above lol).  Saturday daughter and I took Hubs out to a brewery and since it was on the way home we picked up pizza for dinner with an old gift card I had for Domino's.
Hubs and I didn't have a lunch out on Tuesday after all either.  Maybe this week?

1 trip to Weis and two items from Shursave Markets brought the shopping last week to $110.49.  A little shop and a big old whopper of a shop last week.  That brings March's food spending total to $355.12.  There are 5 days left in my shopping month and I'm not done yet.  Sunday I picked up my free ham at Weis and I did buy a few things.  I am also out of onions so I'll probably go to the restaurant supply store and lay a supply in this week(might put that bill onto April's budget however).  Stay tuned...... ;-)

My savings percentages last week was 52.18% and the monthly savings so far ends up at 51.45%(without Rite-Aid trips added in).

Leftovers going into this week.......Corned Beef, BBQ pork, taco/nacho filling, a little pizza.

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

1. Sunday--Reuben Sandwiches(using leftover corned beef)and any leftover carrots/cabbage mix
2. Monday--Salmon and whatever else Hubs decides to cook(He won't tell me.)
3. Tuesday--Maybe more Nachos to use up the taco meat.
4. Wednesday--Ravioli in Parmesan Cream Sauce, some kind of Salad
5. Thursday--No clue yet
6. Friday--No clue yet
7. Saturday--No clue yet

This week will see ? new meals cooked, ? nights of leftovers/FFY and ? night of Take-out/Eat-Out.
I just haven't figured this week's meals out yet.  I have Tons of options as the larders are full but my brain just "can't even" yet when it comes to a meal plan.
Next Sunday is ham for Easter so Saturday's meal will be simple I think or leftovers.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?
Please tell me and give me some ideas for mine! lolz
And let me know what you are cooking/serving for Easter dinner too.  Besides a ham I don't have anything set in stone yet.

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

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Finally!.....Shopping This Week

I finally got up to Rite-Aid and bought this stuff for College Boy......


1 x Similasan Eye Relief on clearance 75% off=$2.94
2 x Visine allergy formula 20% Wellness discount=$9.26
SubTotal........$12.20

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 Visine In-AdQ=$4.00
2 x $1.50/1 Visine IPQ=$3.00
Coupon Total......$7.00

$12.20-$7.00=$5.20
But a $1.50 L2CQ came off(no clue I had that!)so it was $3.70 and $3 in Bonus Cash came off so I put the .70¢ left on my R-A gift card.
I also got a $3 Ibotta rebate on the Similisan and .25¢ rebate for buying anything at R-A so after $3.25 cash back I "spent down" .45¢ for all 3 items.

College Boy suffers greatly from allergies year round and his worst symptom are eye redness, itching and watering so these will come in handy and at a great price.

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

Then I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets and did a big shop(again!).

Here are the best deals I found........


5 more packs of discount sticker bacon, same brand, reg. variety.  $30-$15 stickers=$15 for all 5

2 packs of Johnsonville Beef Brats for $4 each.  After $2 discount sticker combined with a $1/2 ManuQ I had made each package $1.50.  Good price on all beef brats.

The 2 packs of meatballs were a 3 Day Sale item....reg. $5, on sale for $4 and had $1 stickers on them so $3 per 1 lb. package.  I can't make good meatballs myself for that price.

Also picked up but not pictured were 3 packages of thinly slice sirloin, a package of chicken breasts and a package of chicken thighs, all with $off discount stickers.  I used two packages last night of the steak to make steak sandwiches and all the rest are tucked away in the freezer.



Mayo and pineapple were on sale($2.87 and .99¢ respectively).  I used .50¢/1 Qs which doubled to $1 on the mayo and $1/2 Qs on the fruit giving me a final cost of $1.87 for each mayo and .49¢ per can of pineapple.
I forgot to photograph the 4 lb. bags of Domino sugar that were on sale for $1.88.  Two bags for $3.76 and I had a .75¢/2 IPQ that doubled to $1.50 so $1.13 per bag out the door.

Jolly Time popcorn was a 3 Day Sale item--Buy one/Get two free.  Reg. price of $2.87 making 6 boxes $5.74.  I used 3 x $1/2 Jollytime IPQs so $3 off, meant I paid $2.74 for 6 boxes or .46¢ per box.


The large container of Weis brand cottage cheese cost .19¢.  Reg. price of $3.19 and I had a digital Q for $3 off.

All the other items were Mix and Match Buy 6/Get $3 off items.......

2 x Breyer's ice cream $2.99 ea.
2 x Green Giant Veggie tots $3.49 ea.
1 x Daisy cottage cheese $2.49
3 x Minute Maid orange juice $2.99 ea.

1 x Kleenex 3 pack $3.99
3 x Cottonelle Wipes $1.99 ea.

$34.38 subTotal

$6 off 2 x MandM Discount and
$11 off in Manu/IPQs which doubled(some) so $17 off

$17.38 for all 12 items OOP.



And lastly I picked up 5 Flip yogurts at $1 each when you bought 5.
I had 4 x .50¢/1 Qs that doubled to $1 each so I paid $1 for all 5 of these so .20¢ OOP for each.

I don't consider this yogurt "food" as much as it's a snack/dessert.  If I am feeling the need for something chocolatey/desserty I can grab one of these to eat instead of eating my way through a pie/cake/bag of cookies, so good to have on hand.  ;-)


I didn't mean to do a big shop but then I found all those meat deals and oh well......

I am now over $300 spent in March on foodstuffs.  I shouldn't feel so bad/stressed at that amount since we are 4 adults at home now full time as CB isn't off at school anymore.
I think resetting my frame of mind here is in order and trying to stay under $300 a month is kind of unrealistic at least until the two kids move out.  I should be shooting for $400 per month with this many bodies to fee.

There may be a bit more picked up this week as well since I'll be making a trip to Ollie's to use that 10% off coupon I have and I never now what I'll find there that we can use.



Sluggy


Friday, March 23, 2018

Frugal Friday......the March 23rd Edition

Not much to report in the realm of frugal wins this past week.  Staying home with a bum shoulder/arm meant not much $ spent.

*  I sent Hubs to Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday to pick up a head of cabbage and the Friday Freebie........

These coupons never work so Hubs just takes the item to the Customer Service desk and tells them it's suppose to be free, they write on it "Free", the cashier at the register rings it up and then takes it off. lolz
I'll have to keep sending him on Friday as he has a system down.  8-))

*  There was a trip to the Bread Outlet...........

$4 for 3 loaves of Arnold's bread.
I made a corned beef dinner last Saturday so we need the rye bread for Ruebens tonight to use up the leftover corned beef.

*  I am heading out to do a big grocery shop as soon as I get this posted.  I'm gotten lazy so I am making a list to keep myself in check at the store............


I have been forgetting items I want to get so a list will keep me from slapping myself on the forehead afterwards or running back to the store.  I am also noting on the list if I have a coupon so I don't forget to hand those over too, which I have been known to forget. duh.

And that's it for this week.

We are just a little over a week away from Easter and I really am not feeling up to hosting a big "to do".  I will have enough Weis Pts. for a free spiral ham so I'll pick that up this coming week.  I might do a lasagna too for Easter and that way I don't have to cook for a few more days.   Maybe I can get through a week without having to cook?  That would be nice! ;-)

What are your Easter dinner plans?



Sluggy

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Not Much To Say

Imagine that?!
Me with nothing much to say. lolz

I haven't been shopping this week yet.
I usually go out on Wednesday but this happened on Wednesday.......

Woke up to a coating and then about 10 am the skies opened up again.

Not much going on here except........

* We got the taxes done. Go us!  We owe PA and LA states(as usual)so we wait to file those until April but it's all ready to go.  Federal is done and the refund popped into our account today....Rah!
I've got to do the math and deduct what we owe states from what the feds gave us back to see how much we have left of "our" money. I thought we'd owe the feds in 2017 but I guess because our income dropped so much when Hubs retired that they actually took more out while he was working  to offset the little that gets taken out of the annuity payment.  Anyway, we are happy to get so much back. 8-)
Now to figure out where to direct the refund.

*  We have sold the house in LA.....tentatively.  We countered an offer on Monday and they accepted the counter offer.  If all goes as planned we'll no longer own the house before April is over.  Please cross your collective fingers that the financing for these buyers doesn't fall through....please, please, please!!!

*  More snow here.  We are so over it this Winter.  The first full day of Spring and we have gotten 4+ inches so far(forecaster says we may get a little more overnight....sigh).
At least the puppies are enjoying it..........


* Daughter is due to return from a conference in New Orleans tomorrow.  I facebook-ed her that she might want to rethink returning right now but her doggy is enjoying herself.....


This dog LOVES snow....well she's half Husky so there is that! lolz
I put her out tonight and she wasn't back at the door pawing to get back in about a half hour later so I went outside to check on her.  She was at the end of her tie-out lead just laying in the snow staring off into space. lolz  She'd probably still be out there if I didn't call her in.  8-)))

*  I've paid all the bills, except for the electric bill on the LA house which hasn't shown up yet.  I also paid 3 medical bills using the HSA so that didn't come out of the regular income this month.  We also received two quarterly stock dividends and need to deposit those into the bank but are still waiting on the RMSA reimbursement for the healthcare premium.  The finances are looking good so far this month.

*  I still don't feel 100% but I am getting better.  I noticed I developed a bruise on my chest last night when I went to get dressed for bed.  It doesn't hurt but it's darn ugly. lolz

I may try to go out tomorrow.  Hubs is low on milk for his coffee and almost out of coffee filters which is a crisis around here(but not for me except it means I'll have to listen to him whine).


Sluggy