Doggy Love

I an quickly turning into a crazy chihuahua mama here.

I have been trawling around to find a cute long haired female chihuahua for a couple of months now.
I wanted to stud him out a few times, which would earn him a few bucks and maybe get me a pick of the litter.  I'd keep one puppy(female)and then have Chester fixed so he wouldn't breed with his daughter.
But I am having a very hard time finding anyone in this area who wants a Chihuahua stud for their bitch.

So then I thought I'd like to get another Chihuahua, breed Chester with a cute bitch with some sort of registration(akc, aca, ckc, etc.)....maybe a few times, keeping some pups, selling some pups and then having the dogs/pups I keep all fixed.
Sort of making my own little herd of  Chihuahuas.
I know there are costs associated with having(a herd)of dogs and they would certainly keep us from traveling, but the love you get back would be worth the costs.

Am I crazy?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......June 8th Edition

Here are the wins we had this past week.........

* I seemed to find lots of cash on the ground this week.....

On Tuesday, .01¢ in the Boyer's parking lot and someone left their .25¢ in the shopping cart slot at Aldi's.

On Wednesday another .01¢ in the Rite-aid parking lot.

*  No Friday Freebie last week at Weis as it was pancake syrup which was just a lot of HFCS so we passed on it.  I'll take Log Cabin on sale w/Qs or real maple syrup for my pancakes.
See I don't always take a freebie! lolz

But speaking of Weis I forgot a couple of weeks back to mention using my Weis points on a gas discount before they expired on May 28th.......

It's difficult sometimes to coordinate when your gas tanks are low with using the gas points to their fullest advantage.
We were able to squeeze just over 15 gallons in between two vehicles and saved $9.12 on that gas purchase.

*  I made $2.50 on Ibotta on various items at Weis I bought and .10¢ on SavingStar for the cookies I got on WW at R-A.

*  Lots of deals at the grocery stores this week.......

 Aldi's

 Boyer's

Weis(PMITA)Markets

Bread Outlet

And of course, Rite-Aid

And Rite-Aid Freebies too!

*  There was no eating out this past week and the only Take-Out was Taco Bell for lunch on Monday after Hubs post-op check up using a combination of the last of an old gift card and a few dollars of my WAM so no cash spent otherwise.

*  I've been keeping an eye on our c/c bill.  We put most of our spending on it that isn't utilities, private label c/c shopping(like Kohl's, Woman Within, Amazon)and some gasoline purchases.  Most all the food shopping is put on the c/c.  It's sitting under $1K for now(billing runs mid month to mid month)and the bill cuts on Monday so I am going to try to NOT spend/put any more charges on it until Tuesday.  That means no take-out this weekend or grocery shopping.  Let's see if I can do this......

That's about it for me on the frugal front.
Did y'all have any frugal wins this week?

Sluggy

Saturday to Wednesday-A Festival of Shopping

Seems like I ran around to lots of stores between Saturday and Wednesday.

Saturday I went up to Rite-Aid.  I had gotten a Spend $40/Get $8 off Q in the mail so I bought 4 Listerine and these 4 Kimberly-Clark paper products to get over $40 "spending"........

The Listerine bottles were $4.23 each after 20% Wellness disc., used 4 x $1/1 Listerine Qs(from the dentist).
The paper products were on sale for $6.99 each, I had 4 x $1/1 Qs and every 2 products gave back $2 BC(so $4 BC earned).
The Listerine earned me a $5 BC as well.  I ended up using all of the BC left on this card plus $4.27 on one of my R-A gift cards.
BC earned back totaled $9 and the Catalina machine spit this out........

$5 good on your next purchase at R-A.

But I goofed big time.  I meant to buy the Listerine items that double dipped with this weekly Spend $10/Get $5 Deal AND a $4 BC when you buy select items which was a monthly deal.
Oops!
So I took back the Listerine and got $17.96 in BC put back on that card.  I did get to keep the $5 BC the Listerine purchase earned and the $8 off the $40 order Q, so in the end the 4 K/C paper products cost me $12.12(w/.16¢ tax)in BC or $3.03 per items which is pretty good but not great.
And I have a $5 Cat to spend in the next 2 weeks.

Monday was Hubs post-op check-up.  He's doing well, thanks for asking.  He now has the all clear to resume driving and other normal activities.
Yay!

Since we were right down the street from the new bank building that was having a Grand Opening, we swung by to claim two free $5 Dunkin Donuts gift cards but the building was empty.

There had been a big ad in the Sunday paper the day before about it all(free gift cards for stopping by, items to register to win, etc.)but the glass building was dark with nothing inside and locked up.
There was one of those fabric "flags" outside that said "Now Open".
Umm, no. lolz

After that disappointment, we ran a couple of bags to Salvation Army to donate.......mostly clothing I got rid of when I went through my closet to change out to Summer clothing.

While cutting through a shopping plaza  on the way to the Bread Outlet, I ran into Gabe's to see if they had any bras that fit me.
I came up empty there but did see some cute dresses and tops but I don't need more clothes so I left empty handed.

I also saw these cute snails for the garden at Gabe's......

Using broken tiles embedded into the concrete........

They wanted way too much for them so I left them there.

Then it was on to the Bread Outlet, spending a whole $5.50 on 1 loaf of bread, 1 package of rolls/buns, 1 package of English muffins(which look like they've been hit hard already)and 1 box of chocolate donuts......

On Tuesday we went to the town South of us to visit Boyer's, a grocery store I don't go to often........

They have a "Buy 5/Pay $19.99" selection of various meats there.  I got over 9 lbs. of BSCB(some sliced thin, some whole breasts, some tenders)for $19.99.  Not a great price but an ok price and sometimes not having to "process" the chicken is worth a few extra nickels.
I got 4 packages of breakfast sausage(2 x Hatfield, 2 x Bob Evans)for $2 each after sale and $1 off instant stickers, a package of Scrapple for $1.50(w/sticker), a pack of sirloin beef cubes for $3.24($2 sticker), a 4 pack of Butterball lunchmeat for $2($1 sticker), 2 packs of oleo for $1 each, baby carrots or .97¢ and the cottage cheese was free(w/Q).  Thus store was having a Buy1Get2Free sale on items, including the hummus(which mad them .97¢ ea.).  Also bought was 3 bags of tortilla chips and 3 bags of tater chips(not pictured).  Then the cashier gave us the 5% Senior Discount even though we told her we don't qualify(it's 62 at this store).lolz  All totaled I spent $43.97 w/tax and "saved" $51.80 or 54.08%.

Then we stopped by Aldi's and bought this............

1 x Almond milk for Hubs
2 x graham pie crusts
1 x rye bread loaf
1 x cuke
1 x strawberries
1 x sour cream
1 x apple pie
1 x hot dog rolls w/$1 sticker
1 x cherry turnovers w/$1 sticker
1 x brownies w/$2 sticker
1 x dozen eggs Not pictured
4 x refried beans Not pictured
2 x Pretzel crackers Not pictured
1 x Velveeta log Not pictured

The buns went into the freezer for July 4th cookout. The pie crusts and the sour cream were also for making desserts for July 4th.  The rye bread is for a dinner for next week.
Aldi's was another $29.85 OOP.

On Wednesday I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets in the town West of us for coffee before the B1G1Free sale ended.  This particular store seems to be the only one that stocks this variety/flavor of coffee Ex-College Boy likes.  I also found some meat deals there.

4 x 8 O'Clock Coffee $1.62 after sale and $1/1 Qs
2 x 8 O'Clock Coffee $1.12 after sale and $1.50/1 Qs
2 x Hormel pepperoni $2.50 after sale and .50¢/1 Qs that doubled to $1
2 x Coleman uncured bacon $2.25 after sale and $1.50/1 Qs
1 x Coleman uncured hot dogs $1.62 after sale and $1.50/1 Q
2 x hot Italian Sausage packs  $1.75 after BOGO sale and $2 instant stickers
Those were the best deals on this trip.
I spent $36.33 with everything else I bought there.

Then on Wednesday also, I almost forgot it was the first Wed. of the month, Wellness Wednesday so I quickly printed off some Qs and hiked up to R-A.
First off I returned the 4 Listerine bottles and got $17.96 of BC returned to that card.

Then I bought all this............

4 x Keebler cookies 20% Wellness disc.($2.39 each)=$9.56
2 x R/S sugar-free mints on sale=$3.00
1 x Hydralyte on clearance=$1.82
1 x Mitchum deodorant 20% Wellness disc.=$3.59
3 x Cadbury candy bars 20% Wellness disc.($1.91 each)=$5.73
SubTotal.........$23.70

Coupons Used
4 x $1/1 Keebler WWQ=$4.00
4 x $1/1 Keebler item(loyalty pt.)Qs=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Hydralyte IPQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Mitchum WWQ=$3.00
3 x $1.50/1 Cadbury bars WWQ=$4.50
Coupon Total.....$17.50

$23.70-$17.50=$6.20 + .04¢ tax=$6.24 paid for with BC
I earned back $5 in new BC($3 wys $8 on select foods-Keebler, $2 wyb2 R/S items)so all the above cost me $1.24.
And I forgot to use the $5 Catalina. Oops.....

Basically the cookies were .39¢ a package after stacked Qs and earned back $3 BC so a $1.44 moneymaker after BC, the Hydralyte was a .18¢ moneymaker and clearance and Q, the Mitchum cost .59¢ after Q, the R/S were .50¢ per bag after sale price and BC back and the Cadbury bars were .41¢ each after Q.

They also have a bevy of sample/freebies on the WW table......

Bladder control pills and Qs, Gold Bond cream, Olay cream w/Q, bandages w/Q, green pill cases and frisbees.

I think I am shopped out which is a good thing for my wallet and I won't have a car tomorrow anyway since Hubs is off to the eye doc.  I'll be a homebody for a few days at least and there is plenty to do around here(and housework to avoid with genealogy research). ;-)

Sluggy

To-Do List 2018.....May Results

Let's take a look at how we did on the May To-Do List.........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid and on time.  All bills put on the credit card are paid off each month and we don't pay interest on that.

*  Read 1, 2 Books  DONE  Firstly I read this one..........

"Bill Sublette-Mountain Man" by John Sunder

Though I've wanted to read this book since seeing in the gift shop at Fort Laramie last July I resisted spending $20 on it there.  I got it finally online for under $10(free shipping on Amazon too)and consumed it during most of May.
Bill Sublette, one the original Mountain Men of the American West, along with his siblings, is my 1st cousin 6 x removed.  There were 5 Sublette brothers who each went West for adventure and fortune(they were Sophronia Sublette's brothers-Sophronia has already been discussed recently on the blog).  The Sublette boys were a one family power house in terms of American exploration.  Bill was the most successful in that arena.  The writer paints Bill as a noble, trustworthy and successful business man who went out of his way to help his extended family.
At his death he owned a good portion of what would become downtown St. Louis Missouri.
Much of out early American knowledge of the wilderness beyond the Mississippi River we owe to Bill Sublette and men like him.  There are lots of Western places and features named for him too.
I highly recommend this book if you are into early exploration of the American West.

I also just finished up(ok, I read this into June a bit)........

"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Another highly recommended book due to the writing style and subject matter(WWII). I hope the movie they are making based on this book does it justice.  The author had a winning writing style, the language was simple and the chapters were short(though the book was over 250 pages).  If novels give you pause because of the length this is one you will zoom through to get to the end to see how it all comes together.  It's no wonder this author is an award winner many times over.

*  Clean my Desk  DONE(sort of)
The desk area was cleaned early in the month though looking about me, it is almost back to it's very untidy state and could use some more work. lolz

*  Sell House in LA  DONE!!!!!!!!!

So glad this is off my financial plate.  And the check for the unused house insurance has arrived and is going into the bank today.  Woohoo!

*  Clean out Fridges  DONE  What a mess.  Glad that's done.

*  Clean out Freezer 1, 2  DONE  I went through both fridge freezers AND the chest freezer as well.  Things are a little tidier and I've pulled "lurker" items to the front/top to get them used up.

*  Clean/Organize Pantry  DONE  Another bear of a chore but it's done.

*  Organize Garage  IN PROGRESS  Rome wasn't built in a day and the Garage is getting there.
I've done most of the stockpile in May but in terms of other things out there I need Hubs assistance.  And parts of the garage won't get done until the kids move out! ugh.

*  Change out Clothes for Summer  IN PROGRESS  I've only got to go through my long pants(to throw out some rags and organize it all back in the drawers)and that is done.  I've pulled out some clothing that hasn't been worn in years to donate and some items that no longer fit(undergarments)with tags still on them that I can sell.  I'll use the proceeds of those sales to purchase new bras that DO fit!  Seems I lost most of my weight in my boobs. lolz

*  Hold Giveaway 1, 2  DONE

I held two Giveaways in May, letting each winner pick out what they wanted to receive.

*  Mail Giveway 1, 2  DONE  Got both mailed out and received.

*  Plant Garden  DONE

I need to get another updated shot of what the garden looks like now....coming soon.


*  Plan possible 2018 Travel  FAIL  A big, fat fail as a matter of fact.  We just can't seem to get this together.  Canada is now out....unless we go in the Fall so not quite off the plate.  I wanted to take two or three of the kids down to VA to my brother's house for a visit(he hasn't seen two of them in years)but Ex-College Boy got a REAL JOB! right away and doesn't have time now for a trip and Eldest son won't give me a definitive answer on his Summer plans(He teaches so has Summers off). Ugh...kids!
I want to go out West again(Arizona way)to see Cousin Sonya but she's still stuck in IL with no end in sight yet.  I'd like to go see Lorraine since she has Summer's off but Alabama in Summer is not tempting! lolz
I don't know......I'm a flat squirrel lately. 8-(

*  Work on 2018 Goals  FAIL  I haven't even looked at the few Goals I wrote down at the beginning of the year to see if/how I've done on those or add in any way to them.  It's all I can do here these last few months to keep up with my monthly "To-Do" List of goals.  Maybe I need to just focus on the monthly/immediate goals I can accomplish and not worry about Yearly Goals?
Maybe.

It's been a mixed bag of successes and failures here.  One big goal and some little ones were achieved.
Onward and upward to June!

How did your month shake out?
Any successes?
Any not-so successful ventures?


Sluggy

Sorry for No Post Today

Between stuff going on here; taking care of Hubs, running him to the doc, running errands, taking care of Chester and the Grand dog, and getting sucked down a rabbit hole of genealogy(slogging through Colonial FFV PAGE family ancestors until I am cross-eyed)my day has disappeared.
gotta go make dinner now but I'll try to get my May To-Do List report done for Wednesday morning.

I don't know but I just feel sort of overwhelmed lately.
Too much to do?  Maybe.
Just can't deal with anything?  Maybe.

I saw this on Facebook the other day and it resonated with me.........lately I've been a "flat squirrel".

How about you?

Sluggy