Frugal Friday.....the September 21st Edition

Let's see what frugalness went on here at Chez Sluggy this past week.......

*  I visited a couple different Rite-Aid stores this week(along with my own)to use up my Always Discreet Qs before they expired.........

 This transaction "cost" $12.60 in Bonus Cash and earned back $21.00 in new BC.

This transaction "cost" $20.16 in Bonus Cash and earned back $24 in new BC.

This transaction "cost" $17.50 in Bonus Cash and earned back $21 in new BC.
I have now maxed out the Always Discreet monthly deal on all 3 cards and have grown my BC a little bit in preparation for the Holiday Deals at R-A.
The Always pads and liners will be distributed thusly....given to the food bank(they take toiletry items and household goods), my sister in-law(who uses these)and some will stay here(because I am getting "that" old). lolz

*  I earned $11.70 in grocery cash rebates this past week, $10.45 on Ibotta and $1.25 on SavingStar.

*  Did the Mix and Match "Buy 6/Get $3 Off Instantly Deal" at Weis on Wednesday by buying this.........

4 x Perdue breaded chicken
5 x LOL butter tubs
2 x Breyer's ice cream
1 x Talenti dairy free ice cream
Cost before sale prices.....$44.52
Cost after sale prices......$31.92
Cost after coupons......$24.52
Cost after Qs/Instant $6 Off...$18.52(no tax)

I also did a Hormel Deal(did the chili in 3 transactions so all my Qs would double).....

10 x Hormel chili on sale $2 each=$20.00
Used 5 x .55¢/2 chili Qs which doubled to $1.10=$5.50
Paid $14.50
Got a $5 OYNO Catalina Q for spending $20 on select Hormel/Coke items.

I also found a bunch of clearance items on that trip(which were all at least 50% off).......

Lime Jello-large boxes
Orange Jello
Vanilla Pudding
Mounds dark chocolate Pudding
Furman's tomatoes with ancho chiles and cumin(will be great in taco meat filling!)
Reese's pieces for baking(small size bits)

*  Still picking tomatoes from the garden(as well as the lurking zucchini)......

We are up to over 102 lbs. for the Season with a few more tomatoes out there still to come.

*  Speaking of tomatoes, I used the previous week's batch to make pasta sauce with sausage which we had on Monday night with cheese ravioli. Nom Nom Nom


*  Last Friday the Freebie at Weis was an 8 oz. block of  cheese, which I of course went to get......

Free cheese?  Yes, please!!  8-)))
Don't forget to check your grocery store freebie this week!  Even if it's something you won't/don't use, you can always give it to the food bank or when some organization comes around to collect for the hungry/needy. ;-)

*  We went to the Grocery Outlet yesterday in the town West of us while we were out and about.........

Best deals were...
--Martin's tortilla chips, 3 bags for $5 or $1.67 per bag
--Stacey's bagel chips, .50¢ per bag
--Heinz Ginormous can of NE clam chowder(6-8 servings)for $1.99  I can't make clam chowder from scratch for that price!


*  While we were in that town, I finally used a $25 Giant gift card I've had for a few years(won it at an auction).........

They had a Spend $20 get $5 off Instantly Deal too on Hormel and Chi-Chi's products.  12 items came to $20 I used $5.20 in Qs(only the first of a specific Q doubles at Giant so 2 of my Hormel Qs didn't double)and the Instant $5 off gave me $10.20 in discounts making it $9.80 OOP for all 12 items.
They also had a "buy 5 select GM cereals/Get $5 off Instantly Deal".  Each box was $3 so 5 boxes came to $15.  I had 5 x .50¢/1 GM cereal Qs(1 was a duplicate so only 4 doubled to $1), so $4.50 in Qs and $5 off instantly gave me $9.50 in discounts making it $5.50 OOP for all 5 boxes.

The Starbucks coffee was on sale for $5.99 when you bought 3.  I had no Qs but I got back $1.65 per bag on Ibotta so the coffee after rebates was $13.02 or $4.34 per bag.

I also bought a Hellman's ketchup on sale for $2.99.  I got $1.50 on an Ibotta rebate and since I now bought 1 Hellman's mayo and a Hellman's ketchup I received a bonus $1.50 on Ibotta as well, making this ketchup -.01¢  ;-)

I also found a meat markdown of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $5.07(4.29 lbs. so $1.18 per lb.)and 2 packs of Johnsonville breakfast sausage patties marked down from $3.99 to $1.59.

After sale prices, coupons, instant discounts and my $25 gift card I spent $19.11 OOP and earned back $9.20 in Ibotta/SavingStar rebates on this shop so $9.91 spent in the end.

*  I did NOT buy anything at the big online fat lady website 50% off everything sale this week.  Yes, I put lots of stuff in my virtual shopping cart but I left everything in there and let the sale expire.  Sure, I would have liked a few new clothing items but I have not lost enough weight yet to justify so many new clothes and I still have a few things I bought during the last sale in the Spring that I haven't even worn(well, I really haven't gone anywhere since buying them either lolz)! 
Sure, we have the $$$ but it's not a need at this point, just a want so I didn't spend anything on that.

That's all I can think of this week.

What frugal wins did you have this past week?


Sluggy

Interesting Article on Genealogy/DNA

I saw this article and found it interesting enough to share here.

ARTICLE HERE

Seems mathematically that everyone alive is related to every one else at some level.
See?  Me being related to friends/practically all the people I know is NOT so bizarre and out of the question. lolz

As the guy says in the article,"Charlemagne for Everyone!"

Supposedly from the research I have done the closest I have come to being descended from Charlemagne is that he is the 34th x Great Grandfather of the Husband of my 1st Cousin 8 x removed(Susannah Stith-c.1752 to 1802).

I have found my link to William the Conqueror(28th Great Grandfather-c.1028 to 1087)and a famous Viking named
Rollo or Rollon or Ganger-HrÓlf(33rd Great Grandfather-c.860 to c.930 ad)Spelling depends on which language you take his name from.

I guess it makes senses now that I take such a thrill from pillaging Rite-Aid....it's in my genes!  8-)))


Sluggy

When Family Lines Intersect

Sometimes I think about that silly children's song, "I Am My Own Grandpa" when I consider my maternal ancestry.

Seems like I am always running into branches that double back on themselves.

For instance I just found that I am related to a specific family surname of OVERBY or OVERBEE by marriage through both my maternal Grandmother AND my maternal Grandfather's lines.

This Overby line goes back to John Overby.  Before 1860 his middle name was given as Wesley, perhaps named after John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism.
Currently no one has the definitive answer to where John was born....some say England, some say North Carolina.  All the records that can be found have him living in Wake County, North Carolina his entire life.....except for during the Civil War.
Family oral tradition is that John had a small plantation in North Carolina before heading off to fight the Yankees.  He was a POW for 4 years and had a hand crippled by a musket ball.

John Overby came home after the war to find his property had been confiscated and his 1st wife was dead.  Indications are that the wife, Catharine Cunningham Overby had died around 1855.  The 1860 census seems to support that Catharine died prior to 1860 as John and 4 children are listed in the same household in 1860, but no Catharine.  This means that John lost his wife about 10 years before the war.

After the war John Overby married again, to Elizabeth Frances "Betty" Cannada or Canady.  John also gains a new middle initial, "D." and many speculate that the "D" stands for David or Davidson.
John and Betty went on to have five children-twin sons Charles David and John David, Rosanna, Robert Clingman and William Burton.

My cousin Ruby....in the center of this photo(in jean jacket)......

had a brother Warren Rayford Sublett who died in 2017.  Ruby and Rayford are/were my mother's 1st cousins so my 1st cousins 1 x removed.  This connection is through my mother's father, Wirt Harper and his sister, Ollie Harper.  Ruby is Ollie's daughter and my mom was Wirt's daughter so my connection is through my maternal grandfather.

                               Warren Rayford Sublett

Rayford married a woman named Barbara Wills Overby.  Barbara's father was Clifton Lee Overby and Clifton's father was William Burton Overby, John D Overby's youngest child, making Barbara the great granddaughter of John Overby.  This link makes me related to the Overbys through marriage to my 1st cousin 1 x removed, Rayford Sublett.

While noodling around on my maternal grandmother's side of the family, I was filling in another of my mom's cousins' branches.  Mom's mom, my grandmother Lillian Vassar Harper had a sister Rosabel Vassar(my Great Aunt)who married Raymond Foster(Raymond is also related to me not only trhough marriage but directly through my 3 x Great Grandfather Wesley Baxter Foster, so my 2nd cousin 2 x removed).  Their second child was Hilda Janet Foster. 

Hilda dancing with her cousin's husband back in 2014 at the Family Reunion.
Hilda passed away in early 2016.
Hilda and my mom were quite close as children and remained close throughout their lives.

Cousin Hilda Foster's third husband(she had four)was Kenneth Sledd.  Kenneth's first wife was Barbara Ann Fuller.  This Barbara's parents were William Henry Fuller and Hattie Sue Overby.
There's that Overby surname again!

Hattie's parents were Martha Chitty and Charles David Overby.  Charles David was one of the twin son's of none other than John Overby and Betty Cannada/Canady.
This makes me relate by marriage to the same Overby family through Hilda Foster, my 1st cousin 1 x removed.
So through my maternal grandfather AND my maternal grandmother lines I am related by marriage to the same Overby family line.

And to just make things more confusing....how can it possibly get worse!?...lolz....I see that Barbara Ann Fuller second husband was John Robert Couch Jr..

John's father was Cleveland Mason Harper.  Hmmmm, I already had Cleveland Harper's father, Richard Washington Harper on my tree but it's not "my" direct Harper line.

Every time I find an answer it leads to new questions.  ;-)

Any interesting discoveries in your family tree lately?


Sluggy

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