Still Crazy After All These Years

Today marks me and Hubs 36th Wedding Anniversary.

We've been "together" for 41+ years, married for 36.

I can't believe I am this old sometimes!



I found these photos recently we took on one of our first vacations to Maine in 1989......

Proof that Hubs use to have Hair! lolz

Sluggy at the falls in Machias, Maine with a very unfortunate hair style.  ;-)

Here are what some things cost 36 years ago....

Dozen Eggs  .84¢
A Loaf of Bread  .50¢
Gallon of Milk  $2.24
Tomatoes  .39¢ lb.
US Postage Stamp .20¢
New Car  $7,983
New House  $82,200
Monthly Rent Avg. $320
Commodore VIC 20(home computer) $29.95
19" Color TV  $499

US President....Ronald Reagan
The Average Income in 1982.....$21,050
Unemployment Rate.....7.6%
Fed Interest Rates......11.50%
Inflation Rate USA....6.26%

News events from 1982........
* In Chicago 7 people killed by ingesting potassium cyanide laced Tylenol capsules
* EPCOT opened
* Dutch Elm disease destroyed millions of trees
* Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands
* The wreck of the "Mary Rose" flagship of King Henry VIII was raised to the surface after lying at the bottom of the Solent for 437 years.
*  AT&T was ordered to break-up their communications monopoly by the Justice Dept. due to na anti-trust lawsuit brought in 1974.
* Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album is released.

And speaking of music here are some songs from 1982.

1982 was all about disco, funk, rock and a resurgence of Girl Bands.

I was heavily into this group in 1982......



And this one..........



And this girl group........



1982 saw this classic tune.......



And another iconic song debuted that year.......



Another band that was big during this time.........



And the beginning of the Music Video Age saw some interesting tunes....



And here's a true classic..........



Here's a slightly disturbing music video...........



And a One Hit Wonder.........


And this tune that just keeps going and going and going......




This guy was John Cougar back then........



And this strange video and song became an ear worm to many........



And the top Billboard song of 1982........



And let's end with one of my all-time favs.......




Have a great day and have a drink for me today!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Not Much to Share From Last Week" Edition--

I shared this on Facebook last week(I think).  Made me laugh(and cry).

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This  is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--leftover Chinese take-out or ?

3. Tuesday--Roast Turkey Breast, Corn on cob, Stuffing, Gravy

4. Wednesday--No clue yet

5. Thursday--Ham and Zuke Quiche, Tossed Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--No clue yet

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--leftover Chinese take-out or other Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Roast Turkey Breast, Corn on cob, Stuffing, Gravy

4. Wednesday--Lasagna Hamburger Helper, Cuke and Tomato Salad

5. Thursday--London Broil, Eggplant in Hoisin Sauce

6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches w/Veggies
7. Saturday--Chicken Parm, Spinach Souffle

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  
Lots of cooking since we didn't have many leftovers from the previous week(other than squash).
Too hot to run the oven for quiche so it's off the menu until the weather turns.

Two small trips to both Weis and the Shursave Markets and the Target trip(along with the Bread Outlet trip I forgot last week)brought the weekly food spending to $101.18 and the monthly total to $287.57.
I have 4 days left in my shopping month for August and have $112.43 left in the food budget to spend this month.  Hopefully I can stay under budget with 4 days left. ;-)

My savings percentage last week was 65.86%(without Rite-Aid trips)and August's monthly savings total comes to 58.06% so far.

Leftovers going into this week......turkey breast, gravy, eggplant in Hoisin sauce, chicken Parm, London broil and 1 pork tenderloin.

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

1. Sunday--Leftover turkey breast w/gravy, roasted broccoli

2. Monday--various meat leftovers and squash and onions

3. Tuesday--Anniversary Dinner Out(36th)

4. Wednesday--Something out of the freezer

5. Thursday--Lobster, Cole Slaw, Mac and Cheese

6. Friday--Leftovers or BLTs
7. Saturday--Pizza(homemade), Salad

This week will see 2-3 new meals cooked, 3-4 nights of leftovers/FFY, 1 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Lobster, Cabbage.  Lobsters are on sale this week at Price Chopper.  I do need to get cheese at Walmart(lowest reg. price and lower than sale prices at other grocers)this week too.

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

More Rite-Aid Porn....Saturday & Sunday

I've got a couple of cashiers at my Rite-Aid who treat me right.
Sometimes people who shop there are in a rush and when a catalina Q prints out they don't take it.....when this happens and it's a Spend $X/Get $X Off Catalina Q the cashiers tuck them under the money drawer in the register.

They give them to folks they know and like who are regular shoppers in the store.....like me!
In return I have been known to help customers find things in the store and print coupons at home for one of the cashiers who doesn't have a printer.

I put together another transaction on Saturday and bought all this..........

1 x Gillette men's razor 20% Wellness disc.=$6.79
1 x Venus women's razor 20% Wellness disc.=$7.99
2 x Caltrate bone health BOGO50%=$14.98
1 x Advil sinus/Allergy BOGO50%=$8.29
1 x Emergen-C item BOGO50%=$3.14
SubTotal......$41.19

Coupons Used
1 x $8 wyspend $40 CatQ=$8.00
1 x $2/1 Gillette men's razor ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Venus razor ManuQ=$3.00
2 x $2/1 Caltrate item ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Advil allergy ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Emergen-C ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total......$21.00

$41.19-$21.00=$20.19+.61¢ tax=$20.80 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned $13 in new Bonus Cash($8 wyb2 Gillette razors, $5 wyspend $25 on pain relievers)so spent down BC by $7.80.

I also earned another $5 Paypal reward(Pfizer Spend $25/Get $5 Deal)and I received $4.00 back in SavingStar cash rebates($2 Caltrate,$2 Advil Sinus/Allergy)so in the end this transaction was a $1.20 moneymaker.  8-))

On Sunday I went up to R-A and wanted to use a Spend $30/Get $6 Off CatalinaQ, so I did this transaction..........

2 x Tums sugar-free on sale $3.99=$7.98
2 x Suave shampoo BOGO50%=$4.18
4 x Degree deodorant BOGO50%=$11.68
4 x Bic items on sale 2/$3=$6.00
2 x XL candy bars 20% Wellness disc.=$3.82
SubTotal......$33.94

Coupons Used
1 x $6 off wyspend $30 CatQ=$6.00
2 x $2/1 Tums sugar-free receiptQ=$4.00
2 x $1.50/1 Tums sugar-free ManuQ=$3.00
4 x $1/1 Degree deo IPQ=$4.00
1 x $2/wyspend$4 Bic IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Bic ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1.50/2 XL Hershey bars R-AQ=$1.50
Coupon Total........$22.50

$33.94-$22.50=$11.44+.26¢ tax=$11.70 paid with Bonus Cash.
I was suppose to get back $6 in new Bonus Cash(3 x $2 wybw Suave/Degree/etc.)which would have made this a $5.70 spend down in BC EXCEPT.......

The cashier screwed up the transaction to my benefit.
She forgot to put my coupons through before finishing the transaction.....so she had to return everything and re-ring it all.  With so much in coupons, $22.50, she couldn't just do a "post coupon" and hand me that in cash, so we re-rang it all.
This meants that I got 4 x the Suave $2 BC(the 3 x ringing it all up the first time, plus one more on the rering as that deal had a limit of 4 per card/account.....had the limit been 6 I would have gotten $12 in BC total).
So instead of "costing" me $5.70 in BC this all only "cost" me $3.70 in BC.

Also, because of the snafu at the register, I have credit for buying 4 Tums when I only purchased 2, so I only need to buy 4 more to get to $30+ spent and earn a $10 reward.

Those Tums sugar-free Qs that have been printing on every receipt I get can stack with Tums ManuQs or IPQs.  The Tums are $3.99 this week and are part of a Spend $30/Get $10 BC digestive deal.  If you have enough receipt Qs and reg. ManuQ/IPQs so you can stack the discounts, getting to $30 spent would be easy without actually spending much at all.....and then you'd get $10 in Bonus Cash back.


Sluggy

Lots of Food Shopping This Week!

I ended up doing quite a bit of grocery shopping this week besides that Target trip.
There were loss leaders and deals I could use so I took the opportunity to stock up on certain items we use a lot of.

First at Weis.....

This trip didn't go as planned(in a bad way).  Certain Yoplait brand yogurts were .88¢ wyb 8 in a single transaction.  I had Qs for 2 of those types of Yobplait so I could use 4 of each Q-they were each for .40¢ off which would double to .80¢ off, making each yogurt .08¢.(Weis will double up to 4 of the same Q).
But.....
The store decided to thwart my efforts by dropping the "Fruitside" type of yogurt, so I could only use 4 Qs per 8 cups so 8 cups cost $3.84. bleh.  I should have just bought 4 cups, at reg. price of $1 per cup, used the Qs and paid .20¢ OOP for each cup.  But I didn't think this through well and bought 8 cups.(1 was eaten before the photo got taken.). I did also get .40¢ back on Savingstar for 1 yogurt so I feel a little better about this. ;-)
I bought Kozy Shack pudding on sale $2.50, used 2 x $1/1 Qs and paid $1.50 per container.
The taco shells(we were out)were $1.25 each and I got $1 back on Savingstar so $1.50 for both.

I went back to Weis later in the week to get some meat and use my last 3 Yogurt Qs.....

After Qs the yogurts cost .90¢ for all 3.
The breakfast sausage was on sale for $2.50 and had $1 instant discount stickers on them so $1.50 per package.
The package of thin sliced bottom round steak was $2.30 and had a $1 instant discount sticker on it so $1.30 for .66 lb. or $1.96 a lb.
The package of chuck tender steak was $6.59 and had a $3 instant discount sticker on it so $3.59 for 1.10 lb. or $3.26 a lb.
The best deal was a Buy1Get2Free deal on London Broil cuts.  3 hunks of meat, 4.66 lbs., at a cost of $2.19 per lb.

Then I hit the Shursave market for 3 different "Spend X/Buy X Items, Get $X Off your Order" Deals.....

Hormel had a "Buy 10 items/Get $5 Off" Deal.  We were down to one can of chili for Hubs/Ex-College Boy so I bought 10 cans at $17.90 and got $5 off so $1.29 a can.

There was a Kellogg's "Buy 5 items/Get $5 Off" Deal.  I bought 4 boxes of Raisin Bran and 1 Pop-Tarts, spending $12.  I used a $2/4 Kellogg's cereals ManuQ making it $8, then got $5 off so $3 OOP for those 5 items.

There was also a Quaker Oats "Spend $15/Get $4 Off" Deal.  I bought 2 boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal, 2 boxes of instant oatmeal and a caninster of old fashioned oats, totaling $15.15.
I used a $1/2 Cap'n Crunch cereal ManuQ making it $14.15, then got $4 off so $10..15 OOP for all 6 items.

Then on Wednesday I hit another Shursave Market that had a certain brand of pasta and did the Kellogg's deal again...........

3 Raisin Brand/1 Mini-Wheats and 1 Pop-Tart came to $12 and I got $5 off so $7 OOP for all 5 items.
The DaVinci pastas were .88¢ per package and I had $1/2 ManuQs so $2.28 total or .38¢ each after sale/Q.

There were a few other things as well, a watermelon, a bag of frozen french fries, broccoli, a cuke, corn, a carton of OJ, half a lemon meringue pie 50% off, as well as some half price chicken breasts($2 off instant stickers at Shursave on the packages)and 1.86 lb. of boneless pork chops at Weis marked $6.28 off with sale and $1 instant discount stickers on the 2 packages.  I did not pay full price on any items this week except the milk(milk is highly regulated in PA and NEVER goes on sale).

I am off to peruse the coming week's ads and see if there are any "deals" I need.


Sluggy

Free Stuff From Target!

So remember that $10 off when you spend $50 Target Q I had mailed to me?

A couple of weeks ago I sent for and received a $50 Target gift card using credit card points too.......

I decided that this was the week to go use that Q and gift card so Hubs and I made a trip up to Target on Wednesday and I bought all this............

First I did the paper products deal(Buy 2 select items, Get a $5 Target Gift Card).
Cottonelle TP   $9.89 and I used a $1/1 ManuQ
Viva paper towels  $9.79 and I used a $1/1 ManuQ

The rest of what I bought was all food--

4 x Target brand Butter $1.99 w/5% Cartwheel off $1.89 each
9 x Chobani flip yogurts Buy 8/Get 1 Free Deal $1.00 each and I used a $1/3 ManuQ
2 x Planters Crunchers Nuts $6 and I used a $2/2 ManuQ
1 x Target brand sour cream  .99¢
1 x Milk  $3.55 reg. price(We needed it.)
1 x Cucumber  .69¢
1 x Lettuce  $1.29
2 x Tortilla chips on sale 2/$5 and 5% off Cartwheel made them $2.37 each
2 x Tic-Tac mints 40% off Cartwheel made them .70¢ each and I used 2 x .50¢/1 IPQ

Total after Cartwheel % off.......$54.08
Coupons Used.........$16.00($10, $2, 3 x $1, 2 x .50¢)=$38.08 +.27¢ tax=$38.35 Total.

I used a $5 Target gift certificate first, that I earned last Christmas on a Coke Reward Offer so now the total was $33.35.
Then I used the free Target gift card for the balance of $33.35.
Zero OOP.

I earned a $5 Target gift card for buying the paper products.
I earned $2.50 back in Ibotta cash rebates($2 Planters, .50¢ Cottonelle)as well.

I spent $38.35 in free gift cards and earned another $5 gift card and $2.50 in cash.
This is my kind of shopping trip! 8-)))

And I've found the best place to get the lowest priced butter around here(everyday price)is either Target or Walmart--both sell it for $1.99 a pound(though at Walmart you have to buy it in 2 pound packages).


Sluggy