This Week on the Dining Table

The "A Milestone for Ex-College Boy" Edition--

Ex-College Boy bought his first car last week.  He's been squirreling away most of his paychecks for the last 3+ months and finally had enough to buy a car.
Hubs ECB and I have been sharing my car the last 3 weeks, since Hubs car went into the shop for extensive work.  It's nice to be able to use my car again when I want. lol
ECB is very proud of his new-to-him "baby".


Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This  is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Fish, Coleslaw, French Fries

2. Monday--Steak, Corn, Deviled Eggs

3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas

4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(freezer), Salad, Garlic Bread

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--BLTs
7. Saturday--Eggplant in Hoisin Sauce, Rice

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Fish, Coleslaw, French Fries

2. Monday--Steak, Corn

3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas

4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(freezer), Salad, Garlic Bread

5. Thursday--Roast Chicken, Squash Casserole

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--BLT sandwiches

Last week saw 4-5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1-2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself/tv dinners, 1 night of Take-Out or Eating Out.  

Three trips to Weis and 1 trip to the Restaurant Supply brought the weekly food spending to $189.47 and the monthly total to $189.47.
I have 20 days left in my shopping month for September and have $210.53 left in the food budget.

My savings percentage last week was 49.37%(without Rite-Aid trips)and September's monthly savings grand total came to 49.37%.

Leftovers going into this week......chili, small piece of London Broil, squash casserole, small bit of Fajita filling, 2 ears of corn, a little bit of spaghetti and 1 meatball, roast chicken.

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

1. Sunday--Chinese Eggplant dish, rice

2. Monday--Lasagna, Caesar Salad

3. Tuesday--Chicken and Dumplings

4. Wednesday--Leftovers or Corn Chowder and Bread

5. Thursday--Fettuccine Alfredo, Steak Tips, Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers or FFY
7. Saturday--Beer Can Chicken, Veggie TBD, Potato Salad

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
If Hubs doesn't eat the London Broil I'll put it into the freezer or into the Fettuccine dish.

What needs buying for this menu?  Romaine, Milk, Lasagna Noodles(though I had some but don't).

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

End of the Rite-Aid Porn for Last Week & Grand Totals

Last week was a Fabulous! week for Rite-Aid Deals!!!

I basically rolled all my Bonus Cash forward on 3 cards/accounts so now I don't have to worry about loosing any for another 60 Days.  That's always a good thing.  But better yet, I did this, plus brought home a metric ton of goodies AND I got paid to do it.

Nothing better......

So I had to go off the mountain on Friday.  Before leaving I hit my Rite-Aid, procured a few Spend $X/Get $X Off Catalinas and bought this on my son's card..........

4 x Suave shampoo on sale=$12.00

2 x Cremo men's body wash on sale BOGO50%=$11.98

2 x R/S pumpkin candy on sale=$1.00

SubTotal.......$24.98

Coupons Used

1 x R-A Spend $20/Get $4 OYO CatalinaQ=$4.00

2 x $2/2 Suave shampoo In-AdQ=$4.00

2 x $1/1 Cremo any item IPQ=$2.00

Coupon Total......$10.00

$24.98-$10.00=$14.98+.80¢ tax=$15.78 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $10.00 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $2 Suave wyb2, $5 Cremo wyb2, $1 Russell Stover).

I also earned $7 in Ibotta and SavingStar cash rebates($4 Suave/Ibotta, $3 Cremo/SavingStar).

$15.78 spent, $17 earned so a $1.22 moneymaker. 8-)

I saw online that the smaller packages of Always incontinence pads and liners are part of the Buy 2/Get $7 back in BC Deal(even though the ad only advertises that the larger/expensive packs of these products give the $7 BC-this is a MONTHLY Deal, Limit 4 per card)and buying those it a moneymaker after BC so I clipped those Qs onto the Load2Card account on daughter's card.  Daughter was also nagging me to buy her some cereal since I stopped buying types I didn't eat(she wanted Special K specifically and Honey Bunches of Oats)so I bought all this.......

4 x Special K/Cascadian Farms cereals BOGOF=$10.28

1 x Always Discreet liners 20% Wellness disc.=$5.43

1 x Always Discreet pads 20% Wellness disc.=$5.43

1 x Garden of Eatin' blue corn chips on sale=$2.50

1 x Skinny Pop popcorn on sale=$2.50

SubTotal.......$26.14

Coupons Used

1 x Spend $20/Get $4 OYO CatalinaQ=$4.00

1 x .50¢/1 Special K IPQ=.50¢

1 x $1/1 Cascadian Farms IPQ=$1.00

1 x $2/1 Always Discreet liners L2CQ=$2.00

1 x $3/1 Always Discreet pads L2CQ=$3.00

1 x $1/1 Skinny Pop ManuQ=$1.00

Coupon Total.......$11.50

$26.14-$11.50=$14.64(no tax)paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $11.00 in new Bonus Cash($3 WYS $10 Cereal, $7 wyb2 Always Discreet, $1 wyb2 Healthy Snacks).

I also earned .75¢ for the Skinny Pop in Ibotta rebates and $1 for the Cascadian Farms cereal on SavingStar so this transaction "cost" me $1.89.

I then went off the mountain to run some errands and hit the R-A downtown and bought this on my son's card......

4 x Special K/Cascadian Farms cereal/bars BOGOF=$10.28

2 x Suave men's body wash BOGOF=$2.49

1 x Always Discreet liners 20% Wellness disc.=$5.19

1 x Always Discreet pads 20% Wellness disc.=$5.19

SubTotal........$23.15

Coupons Used

1 x Spend $20/Get $4 OYO CatalinaQ=$4.00

1 x .50¢/1 Special K IPQ=.50¢

1 x $1/1 Cascadian Farms IPQ=$1.00

1 x $1/1 R-A Peelie on Cascadian Farms box=$1.00

1 x $2/1 Always Discreet liners L2CQ=$2.00

1 x $3/1 Always Discreet pads L2CQ=$3.00

Coupon Total......$11.50

$23.15-$11.50=$11.65+.12¢ tax=$11.77 paid for with Bonus Cash

I earned back $12 in new Bonus Cash($3 WYS $10 Cereal, $7 wyb2 Always Discreet, $2 wyb2 Suave).

I also earned a .50¢ cash rebate on the body wash at Ibotta.

Then on Saturday since the Playtex rebate reloaded on my account on Ibotta,  I did one last transaction at my Rite-Aid.....

3 x Playtex tampons on sale=$20.97

2 x Suave doedorant BOGOF=$2.29

SubTotal........$23.26

Coupons Used

1 x Spend $20/Get $4 OYO CatalinaQ=$4.00

3 x $2/1 Playtex tampons In-AdQ=$6.00

3 x $2/1 Playtex tampons IPQ=$6.00

Coupon Total.....$16.00

$23.26-$16.00=$7.26+.12¢ tax=$7.38 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $2 in new Bonus Cash($2 wyb2 Suave).

I also earned $8.50 in Ibotta rebates(3 x $2.50 Playtex, 2 x .50¢ Suave deodorant)making this transaction a $3.24 moneymaker.  8-)))

I took a photo this morning of everything I bought home from Rite-Aid last week..........

And I didn't even max out a couple of deals. lolz  And I made a couple of mistakes/miscalculations(bought an extra set of pumpkin candies that I didn't get BC for to be specific)but I still came out waaaaaay head.

Grand Total of Bonus Cash Used.......$130.73

Total of Bonus Cash Earned...$106.00

Total of Ibotta Cash Earned......$39.75

Total of "Post Coupon" Cash.....$2.00

Total of Saving* Cash Earned...$6.00

Grand Total of Cash Earned..............$152.75

Cost of Everything I bought this week at R-A....-$23.02  

I love getting paid to shop! 8-)))

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the September 7th Edition

Here's the frugal stuff that went on here at Chez Sluggy this past week.......

*  I got the Weis Freebie last Friday........

A box of pierogies.

*  Harvested more veggies from the garden.......

We are up to 95+ lbs. of veggies for the Summer.  Things are quickly tapering off in the garden now and I doubt we'll get to 100 lbs. before it's done for the year.

* I managed to wait until 5 pm to do laundry this week.  We have peak/off-peak rates here so that helps on saving where electricity is concerned.

*  Lots of free stuff from Rite-Aid..........just some of what I got--

$317.11 worth of reg. retail in goods and I got paid $16.49 in cash to bring everything home with me.
This came about with some effort and planning and by combining sales, Bonus Cash, coupons and cash rebates.

*  Canned more tomatoes............

5 more jars for the stockpile.

* I received $41.00 in cash rebates this past week between Ibotta and SavingStar.

That's about it for us this week.

Any frugal wins at your house?

Sluggy

Weis & Other Grocery Shopping This Week

I made three smallish trips to Weis this week.  Here are the highlights.......

I did the Mix and Match/Buy 6, Get $3 Off instantly Deal......
3 x ginormous Dawn dish soap=$15.00
2 x Tide laundry detergent=$11.98
1 x Tide pods detergent=$5.99
Came to $32.97
I used $10.50 in Qs plus the Instant $3 off=$13.50 off so $19.47+ tax for the above.

I have never seen such large bottles of Dawn before(I don't do Costco or Sam's Club, etc. but they might have them there.)!

I got this stuff last Friday, the Friday Freebie and I went ahead and bought the Gain dish soap then because if I waited until this week it would have all been gone(even though it was Aug. 31 I am counting it on September's budget.......

The pierogies were free.
The dish soap was on sale $2 and I had coupons which doubled to $1 so $1 each bottle out the door.

Then this week here are some good deals I got at Weis before the sales week ended.....

* The Planters Peanuts were on sale $1.99 per jar when you bought 2.  I have $2/2 ManuQs so .99¢ a jar OOP.
* The Snapples "Straight Up" teas were $1 when you bought 5.  I had 2 $1/5 Snapple hangtagQs so $8 for 10 bottles.  Then I submitted for 2 x .75/2 Snapple Ibotta rebates($1.50 total)making it $6.50 for 10.
* The Hellman's was on sale $2.88 a jar.  I had a $1/1 Weis Q so $4.76.  Then I got back $3 on Ibotta(2 x $1.50 Hellman's mayo)making these .88¢ a jar OOP.
* The Heinz mayo was on sale $3.99 and the Heinz ketchup was $2.49(after a Buy 6/Get $3 Off Deal)so $6.48 for both.  I got back $4.50 for buying both of these in a single transaction at Ibotta making them .99¢ each OOP.
* The Puffs tissue was $1 on sale and I had .25¢ ManuQs that doubled to .50¢ plus a third Weis Puffs digitalQ that doubled so $1.50 off my $2 worth of Puffs making them .25¢ per box.
* 8 boxes of Keebler crackers on sale for $1.88 each=$15.04.  I had 4 x $1/2 ManuQs(3 for Townhouse/1 for Club)so $11.04 for 8 boxes of crackers.  These Ritz type crackers are Ex.College Boy's favorite and he has been known to go through a box at a sitting(with cheese).  At $1.38 a box after sale/Q I will buy them to stockpile for the Holidays coming up and HOPE some last that long. lolz
* Palmolive dish soap was $2 on sale at Weis.  I paired $1/2 ManuQs and bought 4 bottles for $6 or $1.50 for each large bottle.  Between the massive sized Dawn, the Big Gain and these bad boys we should be good on dish soap for some time to come.  ;-)

I also picked up 3 cartons of MM OJ for $1.87 each, some Instant Discount Sticker-ed meats at Weis.....2 packs of BSCthighs, some Spiced Apple sausages and some Italian Sausages, a Purdue roaster with a $3 off sticker, 8 pork chops that came out to $1.07 lb. after discount sticker,  as well as $4.99 steaks on sale.

I spent $134.82 at Weis this week. Yikes!  But we won't be needing quite a few things for the rest of the year(here's hoping).

There was also a Spend $75/Get $15 Off Q for the restaurant supply store this past Labor Day weekend.  We went over there on Monday morning and got........

* 10 lb. bag of onions
* 5 lb. block of Cooper cheese
* 2 x 1K pack of napkins
* 7 ears of local corn
* 3 large cukes
* 1.06 lb. mushrooms
* 4.55 lbs. local peaches
* a case of paper plates
* a dough scraper
* a heavy duty box grater(mine broke)
Total was $64.19.  Take out the scraper and grater costs(not part of the food budget)and we spent $54.65 of the Sept. food budget and brought home over $100 worth of food/paper products.

I am about shopped out(except for Rite-Aid.....I am always up for going there and bringing home almost free stuff.)  8-)))

I really need to stock take and reorganize some things out in the stockpile now.  That's going on my To-Do List as soon as the temperatures cool off and I can stand to be out there for awhile.


Sluggy

More Rite-Aid Pillaging This Week-For Sonya Ann 8-)

Lots of good deals(see free or almost free stuff)at Rite-Aid this Week.

Let's recap where we are at first.....

From Sunday--
On my card.......

 After cash rebates and spending Bonus Cash this transaction is "up" $4.40.

On Daughter's card........

After cash rebates and spending Bonus Cash this transaction is "up" $5.42.

On Monday I bought this on my card.......

7 x Breyer's ice cream on sale 2/$7=$24.50 *one has been eaten already so that's why 6 are in the photo.
2 x Suave body wash BOGOFree=$2.59
4 x Suave deodorant BOGOFree=$4.58
2 x Russell Stover pumpkins on sale=$1.00
SubTotal.....$32.67

Coupons Used
1 x $8 off wyspend $30 CatalinaQ=$8.00
7 x $1.50/1 Breyer's ice cream IPQ=$10.50
Coupon total......$18.50

$32.67-$18.50=$14.17 +.43¢ tax=$14.60 paid for with Bonus Cash
I earned back $15.00 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $4 wyspend $12 on select food/drink, 3 x $2 Suave, $1 R/S pumpkins)making this a .40¢ moneymaker.
I also submitted for $3 in Ibotta cash rebates(2 x Suave body wash .25¢, 4 x Suave deodorant .50¢)so now it's a $3.40 moneymaker.

I noticed on the receipts that all the Oral-B/Crest items I had bought so far not only earned a $3 Rebate for that item BUT there was a Spend $20/Earn $5 that they also qualified for as I had tracking toward that BC Deal now on both cards.  Turns out this $5/on $20 Deal is a monthly one that most P&G items qualify for.

So I headed back on Monday and bought this on my card which had $8 tracking.........

2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$4.00
1 x Old Spice deodorant 20% Wellness disc.=$4.63
SubTotal......$8.63

I only had a $1/1 Old Spice deo. ManuQ to use so $8.63-$1.00=$7.63+.22¢ tax=$7.85 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $8 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $3 Crest, $5 wyspend $20)so this was a .15¢ moneymaker.

Then I bought this on daughter's card.........

2 x Playtex tampons on sale=$13.98
1 x Oral-B 2 pack toothbrushes 20% Wellness disc.=$6.79
SubTotal......$20.77

Coupons Used
1 x $4 wyspend $20 CatlinaQ=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Playtex tampons In-AdQ=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Playtex tampon IPQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Oral-B mutli-pack In-AdQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$14.00

$20.77-$14.00=$6.77 paid for with Bonus Cash
I earned back $5($5 wyspend $20)so "spent down" $1.77 in BC.
But then I submitted my receipt to Ibotta and earned $8.00 in cash rebates(2 x $2.50 Playtex, $3 Oral-B multi-pack "Vivid" type toothbrushes)and received a $2 Playtex rebate on SavingStar so this becomes a $8.23 moneymaker.  8-)

Then I hit Rite-Aid on Wednesday as it was Wellness Wednesday(1st Wed. of the month).  The free samples were mighty thin at my store.......a pack of Emergen-C tablets and a trial size of Sensodyne toothpaste(the one Hubs uses)which I didn't take a photo of, sorry.

The Wellness Wednesday one day coupons weren't too great for my needs BUT........
The same WW coupons in the one day pamphlet can be loaded to your Wellness card as L2CQs now.

I tested a theory and bought this on daughter's card(the only card where I can access the Load2Card Qs).......

2 x Colgate toothpaste on sale($3.99)=$7.98
1 x Gold Bond anti-itch cream 20% Wellness disc.=$7.59
SubTotal......$15.57

2 x $2/1 Colgate In-AdQ=$4.00
1 x $4/2 Colgate L2CQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 Gold Bond anti-itch cream L2CQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Gold Bond anit-itch cream WWQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.......$14.00

$15.57-$14.00-$1.57 paid for with Bonus Cash.
Didn't earn any new BC back but my theory worked.....both the paper pamphlet WWQ came off AND the L2CQ for the same item so it was double coupon savings on the Gold Bond.
Yes! 8-)

I went home and found a $1/1 Gold Bond IPQ(figures I find it AFTER I bought the Gold Bond)so I'll take the Q up today and get $1 cash which makes this transaction cost me .57¢. ;-)

So I then bought this on daughter's card.  I had a $4 off $20 CatalinaQ to use but I had to account for all the L2CQs coming off before I used it on the transaction so my "total" had to be at least $20 BEFORE L2CQs.........

1 x Gold Bond cracked skin item 20% Wellness disc.=$6.79
2 x R-A cold and flu pills on sale=$8.00
1 x Nasacort allergy spray 20% Wellness disc.=$12.79
1 x Biscoff cookies 20% Wellness disc.=$2.71
1 x R/S sugar-free mint patties 20% Wellness disc.=$2.23
2 x Hershey bars(caramel cookie)20% Wellness disc.=$1.84
1 x random chocolate truffle 20% Wellness disc.=.31¢
SubTotal.........$34.67

Coupons Used
1 x $4 off $20 order CatalinaQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 Gold Bond cracked skin WWQ=$3.00
2 x $2/1 R-A cold and flu WWQ=$4.00
1 x $5/1 Nasacort WWQ=$5.00
1 x $5/1 Nasacort L2CQ=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Biscoff WWQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Biscoff L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $1.50/1 R/S candy WWQ=$1.50
1 x $1.50/1 R/S candy L2CQ=$1.50
2 x .50/1 Hershey instant PeelieQ=$1.00
Coupon Total..$29.00

$34.67-$29.00=$5.67 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $2 in new BC($2 Nasacort)so "spent down" BC by $3.67.

So both the Nasacort Qs, Biscoff Qs, Russell Stover Qs came off but the Gold Bonds and the R-A cold and flu ones didn't.   If they had coupons would have totaled $34 and I would have spent .67 in BC and earned $2 back.
I could return those 3 items and get back $ in Bonus Cash on my card.  I'll probably just take another $1/1 Gold BondQ up and get $1 post coupon and keep it all which will make this a $2.67 spend down situation. ;-)

As things stand here's what each item cost me in this transaction......

Gold Bond cracked skin item=$2.79(after taking $1 off the $4 off $20 Q)
R-A cold and flu pills on sale=$1.00 each(after taking $1 off each for the $4 off $20Q)
Nasacort allergy spray=$1.79(after taking $1 off the $4 off $20Q)
Biscoff cookies= negative $1.29
R/S sugar-free mint patties=negative .77¢
Hershey bars(caramel cookie)20% Wellness disc.=.42¢ each
Random chocolate truffle=.31¢

Then I did the Crest/Oral-B weekly Deal items w/BC and items that double dip qualifying for the $5 wys $20 on P&G items on son's card using another $4 off $20 transaction CatalinaQ...........

2 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$8.00
2 x Oral-B toothbrushes on sale=$8.00
1 x Old Spice deodorant 20% Wellness disc.=$4.79
SubTotal........$20.79

Coupons Used
1 x $4/$20 CatalinaQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Old Spice deo ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$5.00

$20.67-$5.00=$15.79 +.18¢ tax=$15.97 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $17.00 in new BC(2 x $3 Crest, 2 x $3 Oral-B,$5 wys $20 P&G items)so this was a $1.03 moneymaker.

Everything pictured in this post "cost" me $12.01 in Bonus Cash.
After $26.50 in cash Ibotta rebates/$2 SavingStar rebates I am "down" $12.01 in BC but "up" $28.60 in cash so up $16.49 overall.  8-)))


The only freebie deals left to finish this week are 2 more Suave items on my card and 8 Suave items on son's card(the Suave stuff is a freebie after Ibotta rebates).

Sluggy