This Week on the Dining Table

The "Garden is Winding Down" Edition--

I took this photo of Hubs holding the last zucchini of the season when we picked it on Sept 7th.
And then the garden made a liar out of me this past weekend when Hubs found another one.......

LOLZ
Zucchini......what can I say, they are sneaky!!!  ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This  is what was planned--

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

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chinese Eggplant dish, rice

2. Monday--Lasagna, Caesar Salad

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs on Rolls, Cuke and Tomato Salad, Baked Beans

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

6. Friday--Leftovers or FFY
7. Saturday--Beer Can Chicken, Grilled Corn on Cob, Potato Salad

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself/tv dinners, 0 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  
Tuesday and Wednesday it heated up here again and was too hot for Chowder or Chicken and Dumplings so I punted and we had hot dogs, beans, salad one night and more leftovers the other night.
Hubs made the lasagna on Monday and daughter did the beer can chicken on the grill on Saturday which gave me a break from cooking.

Two trips to Weis(1 larger, 1 smallish), 1 trip to the Bread Outlet and 1 trip to Dollar General brought the weekly food spending to $97.74 and brought the monthly total to $287.21.
I have 13 days left in my shopping month for September and have $112.79 left in the food budget.

My savings percentage last week was 59.77%(without Rite-Aid trips)and September's monthly savings grand total came to 53.46%.

Leftovers going into this week......small bit of Fajita filling, 3 ears of corn, a helping of eggplant, extra rice, roast chicken, baked beans, fettuccine Alfredo, a bit of steak tips, lasagna, potato salad.  A little bit of lots of things.

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

1. Sunday--Breakfast for Dinner

2. Monday--Leftovers or BLTs

3. Tuesday--Ravioli in Sauce w/Sausage, Salad

4. Wednesday--Tacos or Taco Salads

5. Thursday--Chowder, Bread

6. Friday--Pizza, Caesar Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Can't think of a thing I need to make all this.  My grocery spending could use a break too. lolz

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

Great Little Shop at Weis(PMITA)Markets

**THE GIVEAWAY**  Please make sure I have your email address so your Giveaway entry is valid.


I did a little shop last Wednesday at Weis on the last day of the sales ad.

5 x Pillsbury whack biscuits on sale=$10.00
2 x Celetano ravioli BOGOFree sale=$2.18
2 x Hanover frozen veggies on sale=$3.74
SubTotal.......$15.92

Coupons Used
1 x $1/3 Pillsbury items IPQ=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Celetano item IPQ=$2.00
I also had 2 different Pillsbury $1 Digital Qs attached to my loyalty card which also came off so
$5 off at this point.
Then I got $3 off instantly for buying 5 select Pillsbury items in a transaction so $8 off.
$15.92-$8 off=$7.92.

Then I received $2 back in cash rebates from SavingStar($1 Pillsbury, $1 Celentano)so my little shop cost $5.92 when all was said and done.

I've only got two items I want this sales ad at Weis so the shopping will be light this week.

Sluggy

September Giveaway Time!!!

September and Fall is almost in the air so it's time for the Tenth Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2018. 8-)

This one is gonna be a bit different again.  I'm letting the winner pick out what they want to receive.

A nice box of goodies will head to whomever's name is picked from the entries.
Somebody has to win and it might just be YOU!

Here are all the goodies you can pick from to fill your box if your entry is picked.

Personal care items...deodorant to body wash to shampoo to razors to dental care items to lip balm.

Laundry detergent pods, to sinus rinse to hydration to light bulbs to mouthwash to vitamins to lotions to tampons to supplements to night light bulbs to tape to shower cap to hair goods to hand soap to topical pain relievers to eye drops to baby wash.

More lotion to nail care to all sorts of make-up products(mascara, blush, eye pencils, eye shadow, face powder, lip products).

It's all about the chocolate and candy in this photo......Lindt truffles to sugar-free Russell Stover to gums to chocolate bars(from whole bags and to bars to singles).

Here's the full list of items........

Aussie spray conditioner
Aussie mousse
Softsoap body wash x 2
Irish Spring body wash
Garnier shampoo
Pantene shampoo
Suave Professionals shampoo
Tresemmé shampoo
Suave Professionals shampoo
Gillette shave cream
Skintimate shave cream
Barlow's dry shampoo x 2
Arm and Hammer toothpaste x 2
Colgate toothpaste x 3
Oral-B dental picks
Oral-B dental floss
Listerine dental floss x 2
Oral-B toothbrush x 3
Arm and Hammer battery toothbrush
Oral-B battery toothbrush
Venus disposable razors
Bic men's disposable razors
DayLogic men's refillable razor x 2
Bic Silky Touch disposable razors
Degree fragrance spray
Suave ladies' deodorant x 4
Speed Stick men's deodorant
Lady Speed Stick deodorant
Arm and Hammer deodorant
Degree men's dry spray deodorant
Lever 2000 bar soap 2 pack
Yardley honey and almond bar soap
Carmex lip balm
Carmex cherry lip balm

Cetaphil baby body wash x 2

XLEAR sinus rinse and bottle

Playtex sport compact tampons(reg.)

Arm and Hammer laundry tablets

Noxzema cream

Scuncii hair bands x 2

Conair hair brush

Emergen-C super orange supplements

St. Ives face scrub

Aveeno positively radiant cleanser

Liquid RX hydration packets x 2

Magnavox ear buds x 2

Watkins lavender hand cream

Dial hand soap pump

Conair shower cap

Thermacare back patches

GE LED light bulb

R-A night light bulbs x 2

R-A mouth rinse

Max Freeze topical pain cream

Aquaphor cream

Centrum fruit vitamins

Centrum Silver vitamins

Rolaids 3 pack

Visine eye drops x 2

Neutrogena oil-free acne wash

R-A cellophane tape x 2

Eucerin cream tubes x 2

Rimmel face cream

Cover Girl liquid foundation

Cover Girl face powder

Cover Girl lip stick

Physician's Formula bronzer powder

Sally Hansen nail strengthener gloss x 2

Wet n' Wild nail polish x 3

Sally Hansen nail polish

Revlon emery boards x 2

Neutrogena concealer x 2

Cover Girl face compact

Cover Girl eyebrow pencils x 4

Rimmel eyebrow pencil

Jesse's Girl lip pencils x 3

Wet n' Wild eye pallette

Wet n' Wild single eye shades x 5

Cover Girl lip pencil

Rimmel bronzer/shader pallette

Revlon nail clippers

Revlon tweezers

Burt's Bees lip color x 2

Cover Girl eye shadow pallette

Maybelline eye shadow pallette x 2

Almay single eye shadows x 6

Cover Girl mascara x 4

Rimmel mascara

Russell Stover sugar-free chocolates x 3

Hershey's cookie layer crunch w/mint

M & Ms caramel bag

Biscoff cookies

Perugina dark chocolate bar

Lindt Peppermint white chocolate bar

M & Ms peanut butter x 2

M & Ms regular x 2

Mentos fruit rolls x 2

Reese's fast break

Hershey's Gold bar x 2

Dentyne's Ice gum 2 x

Orbit gum x 2

Trident gum x 2

Cadbury singles caramel x 16

Cadbury singles mint x 11

Cadbury singles fruit and nut x 6

Kit Kat bar singles x 16

Lindt truffles(assorted)x 36

Lots of things you can win and the retail cost depends on what you pick.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Monday, September 24th at 11:59pm Eastern Time, so that gives everyone a full week to enter this one.  On September 25th I'll mark all the valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

*Please note the rules*
I'll post the name/Id of the winner on this blog and that person has 48 hours from then to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page).
If I am not contacted via email I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supply with their entry and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

There will only be ONE way to enter this time by leaving a comment on this post.  Tell me what your favorite activity is during Autumn, your favorite Fall recipes, the best grocery deal you got recently, or the thing you most want to win.....those sort of comments.
You may enter once each day by leaving a daily comment on this post before September 24th at 11:59pm Eastern time.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.
As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten to high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies, I pay for it all(cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the September 14th Edition

Let's take a look at what frugal stuff went on here at Chez Sluggy this past week........

*  I went to Weis(PMITA)Markets and got the Friday Freebie last Friday.

A bag of cheese sticks.

*  The local Shursave markets also had a freebie last week if you downloaded a digital coupon to your card..........

A 2 lb. bag of onions.

*  I spent enough at Dollar General on P&G items that I got this........

$5 Off On Your Next Order Coupon.  I've got a couple weeks to figure out how best to use it.  I'll let y'all know what I get. ;-)

*  Hubs and I went out to lunch this week.  Red Lobster has "Endless Shrimp" and I like to go once a year and get lots of shrimp.  "Endless Shrimp" for me nowadays means 4 helpings of shrimp(I eat the salad but not the other side and only have 1 biscuit)so not so "endless". lolz
I had $ left on a gift card(plus a whole 'nother gift card)I had gotten last Fall and we had used in the Spring to take Hubs out for his birthday so the meal just cost us the $7.75 tip which we paid out of our WAM.

Oh, I also used a coupon to get $4 off our dinners too. (Photo is of the lunch Q I have left that we didn't use.)
Is it just me or have the shrimp they use for Endless Shrimp gotten tiny?

*  Here's the stuff I got at Rite-Aid this week.

After sales, coupons, bonus cash and extra bonus cash for that shit show return and rebuy, all this was better than free.  8-)))

*  I've been booking motel stays for our upcoming trip.

Last month R-A had a Hotels.com gift card deal where I got $16 in BC for buying a $100 gift card.
I bought 3, 1 on each card/account and earned $16 in BC on each Wellness account.  When I booked rooms going through Hotels.com I also used my Ibotta app so after we've completed our stays at those motels I'll also get a bit of cash back.
She shoots, she scores! lolz

*  Still harvesting tomatoes out in the little garden here.........

Another 35.8 ounces of goodness.

That's about it for us this week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?



Sluggy

Shit Show at the Rite-Aid Downtown

Monday was a heck of a day at Rite-Aid......and I mean that in a BAD way.

But not at MY Rite-Aid.  My Rite-Aid was out of products I wanted to get so I ventured to the downtown store.
It was reported that there were a bunch of clearance items in the pet care section at R-A so I printed off some Qs and went downtown.  I figured people who live downtown were less apt to have pets so there may still be pet clearance items left there.

I don't usually go there but when I did in the past it hasn't been too bad.  The people who work there are well known to have shitty attitudes and be unfriendly toward customers.

Now that's all in the past however because this trip was a major shit show.  It reminded me of the trip to Acme back in 2009 where the manager took the $45 in OYNO Catalinas that rightly printed out for my transaction from my cashier and refused to give them to me.  Story HERE if you don't remember that one.

So I went to the downtown R-A and attempted to buy this stuff..........

4 bags of cat/dog food.
1 Garnier shampoo
2 small household items on 75% clearance.
Also attempted were 2 Rimmel make-up products*not pictured*.

If you shop at R-A you know the drill at the register.  Present your Wellness card and then you choose yes or no to use any BC on your card to pay.  Cashier rings up items, you hand over any coupons, cashier rings those in and then cashier totals you out and you pay w/BC(or not).
Right?
Wrong!!

Cashier asks for Wellness card, I choose use my BC on the screen, cashier rings up items and she totals the transaction out.
WTF?!?
I am standing there holding out my coupons to use and she totals the transaction out!

Then I say, "You didn't take my coupons", continuing to hold them out to her.
Cashier says, "You didn't spend any 'money', your BC paid for it all so what's the problem?" and she tries to hand me the receipt.
I say, "NO, I want to use my coupons BEFORE the BC."
Cashier gets an attitude, "Well you pressed use your BC on the screen....why did you do that?"
Me, "Because I WANT to use my BC AFTER my coupons are taken off.  And you made me scan my Wellness card before you'd ring anything up. So now I want to return everything please and we can redo this transaction the right way."

*Cashier eye rolls big time and sighs.*

Then the Cashier attempted to do a return and had no clue what she was doing.  The manager(or I like to think she was an acting manager because she was almost as CLUELESS as the cashier about doing a return/refund)comes over and tries to help the cashier.

Every other time I do a refund/return, the cashier gives me the refund receipt and I can see that my BC is credited back to my card.

Well this cashier and manager wouldn't give me the return receipt or even let me see it, probably because it was such a clusterf**k so I had no proof that my BC was returned to the card and basically seeing these two nimrods,  I had no confidence that it was.

All I can figure is that instead of returning everything(I've seen my store's cashier do this a bazillion times.....they scan the items UPC, hit a key on the register, then scan the bar code on the receipt, then imput the refund price), she scanned each item then hit 2 keys on the register and scanned the item again-never scanning the receipt barcode.  It appeared like she was ringing each item up again then scanning it again to "return" it which basically took it off this "new" transaction and didn't have anything to do with the old transaction, so she ended up with a receipt 4 feet long that made no sense.

Anyway, cashier finished that nonsense and then started a new transaction to rering my items and with the manager standing over her she took "some" of my coupons this time-$8 worth.  She didn't ring up the $4/$20 transaction R-A Q I had first so my total was below $20 at that point(a second cashier standing nearby and listening in, at this point, chimed in that you can't use a $X off $XX transaction CatalinaQ with other coupons and then she said, "You aren't suppose to use coupons in a transaction where you use BC to pay.".

WTF?!?!
What planet are these people from!???!

And the Rimmel Qs always beep and have to be pushed through as they aren't coded correctly(a long time known problem among couponers)so cashier and manager wouldn't take them and the cashier "flung" them back at me.
At this point I just wanted to get the Freak out of there(because in my head the little voice was screaming "Bitch PLEASE!" and a few choice other things)so I didn't say a word and let them finish this transaction.
Total was $12.87(should have been $2.87 total if they had taken ALL my valid coupons)but now I couldn't use the card I had originally used because it only had $2.79 in BC left on it so I had to use son's card.  That's ok because it meant I got $8 in new BC on daughter's card for buying the Rimmel and 2 bags of dog food(the first card I had used)and another $8 of BC on son's card for rebuying everything.  $8 in BC I really didn't earn was the LEAST they could give me for enduring these morons.

So as the cashier bagged my items up, again!, I turned to the manager and said I need a copy of that return receipt in case my BC isn't back on my card tomorrow am.(BC refunds don't appear on your account until the following morning.)and I have to contact Corporate.  Manager again refused to give me a copy of the receipt saying, "I can't give you this, it goes in the daily paperwork."  I tell her I have NEVER NOT been given a copy of my refund receipt before and this is highly irregular!
Again she refuses so I take their names and tell them if I don't get my BC back and since I have no proof when I call Corporate I'll be coming back here to get a copy of that receipt and escalating this matter to your district manager.
The looks on their faces told me that didn't give two shitlets about any of this.

But the manager, believing herself to be ever helpful, took a green marker and hilighted what I was suppose to get back off my Bonus Cash.......

Wasn't that just nice of her?
No shit Sherlock.....I am not a moron like the rest of you.......

So I just KNEW my BC wouldn't be back on my account the next am. and guess what?....it wasn't.
Grrr.

So I called Corporate at 8 am, ready for a fight.  Explained to the CS person on the phone the problem and gave her the Store #/Date/Transaction numbers for both receipts and said they refused to give me the Refund Receipt as well.
CS person seemed very blasé about the whole thing, didn't ask any questions or anything and just asked for the Wellness card number then said your $21.00 would be back on the card tomorrow.  To which I said, "It was $21.35 specifically."  CS person said they can only credit in whole dollars so it would be $22 put back on my card.  I said fine and thanked her and hung up.
And yesterday morning my $22 did appear back on my card.
Hooray!

But when I got into the car and looked at my receipt I saw that the "Bitch Please! Cashier" didn't scan the $1 off peelie R-A coupon on that bag of Dog Chow(see it in the photo on the bag?).  So I went back into the store(UGH!!!)with the new receipt and that bag of dog food and told her she forgot to take off that $1.  BPCashier immediately calls for the manager to handle this $1 problem.  Manager plays around on the register for about 3 minutes(I am assuming she is trying to figure out what to do)and then just opens the register and hands me $1.
I take it and leave, shaking my head.

And yesterday I went and returned the 2 Rimmel items which the "Bitch Please! Cashier wouldn't take the coupons for as well(returned at MY store, no way I was going back downtown!), so what is pictured above it what I got and kept making my total BC spent $6.45 instead of $12.87 plus I earned $8 back in new BC AND $8 on a second card.
Was it worth it?  Yes and no.  I have to look at the upside.....I got 4 bags of dog food for nothing to take to the animal shelter.

Luckily there are 8 other Rite-Aids in my area(within a 30 min. drive)so I never have to deal with these imbeciles in that store again(unless I am feeling masochistic).



Sluggy