And the Winners Are.....

There were 23 valid entries for Giveaway #1.

The winning entry picked is.......

Janet

JanetNovember 23, 2018 at 8:01 PM

I'm thankful for my sister, my only sibling..She and I are fixin to go out on the 3rd annual Miller Girls Mexican vacation. She is smart as a whip and generous to a fault. I LOVE her

Congratulations Janet!!

Please email me with your full name and mailing address and I'll get your box of goodies out to you asap.

There were 24 valid entries for Giveaway #2.

The winning entry picked is.......

Angie

AngieNovember 14, 2018 at 4:47 PM

So very thankful for family. This year we added a grandson to that mix!

Congratulations Angie!!

Please email me with your full name and mailing address and I'll get your box of goodies out to you asap.

Both winners have 48 hours from when this post goes live to contact me or I'll have to draw another winner.

Thanks to all you dear readers who played this month.  I love spreading the Rite-Aid joy around to y'all. lolz

I'll be opening up the December Giveaway the first week of that month so look for it to pop up in the next 10 days or so. 8-)))

Have a good weekend everybody!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the November 23rd Edition

**Today is the last day to enter the 2 Giveaways!  Don't forget to enter. **


Here's this week's look around Chez Sluggy to see what frugal wins we had this week.........


* I turned a fail into a win...

Dollar General had certain gift cards last week on special, including Taco Bell.
$5 off when you bought $25 worth and $10 off when you bought $50 worth.
I bought $100 worth but they didn't ring up $20 off.
With a little patience waiting for the manager to make this right(which he did by  handing me $20 cash)I got my deal.

I promptly took this $20 to the bank to put into our checking account, so I can apply it toward the credit card bill when it comes in next month.  Keeping it and spending it on something else would negate the "deal" I got.
I hope the 20% off select gift cards for BF at Dollar General actually work now.

* I found money!

I found a penny(no photo)this week but for the live of me I can't recall where I found it. ;-)
I also found a dime while waiting at the Burger King drive-thru.  I spied a dime next to the building so while we waited I unbuckled, got out of the car and picked it up. I may have done a small happy dance and waved that dime to the cars behind me before getting back into my car......8-))

Then on Thursday when I ran up to Rite-Aid after getting the turkey into the oven and the rolls were rising I went in to get some freebies and such.  I saw this change sitting in the parking lot behind my car.......

.21¢ came home with me too.  Even though this change was encrusted in rock sale it will still spend just as good as clean change. 8-))

.32¢ in one week.  8-)))

*  I turned another fail into a win........
Keebler crackers were $1.87 a box this past week at Weis.  I cashed in Kellogg's points to get 3 x $1/1 Keebler cracker Qs.(I paid .87¢ a box and then got 3 x .75¢ cash rebates on them at Ibotta so they were .12¢ a box in the end.)  The last link they sent me for the Qs didn't print so I contacted their chat CS.
They refunded 1 Qs worth of points so I could rebuy that Q and also sent me an email with recipes, tips and a link to a $1.25/1 Keebler/Kellogg's/Etc. item that I could print twice.

* I got lots of good food deals this past week..........

 Free items like butter, eggs, potatoes, pumkin and stuffing at Giant

Cheap foods, plus 2 lasagnas(1 free, 1 for .99¢), a cheap Butterball turkey, turkey breast and smoked ham shank.

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

A photo of nothing because we ate it before I got around to taking a picture. lolz
It was a loaf of frozen garlic bread.

* I received a rebate in the mail this past week..............

The Alka Seltzer full price rebate on the new Power Max capsules or something like that.
This was even better because the rebate was on the price you paid(after using a coupon)but my cashier had forgotten to put my Q through before she hit the total button on my transaction, so I paid $7.99(instead of $4.99 with the Q)and then she did a "post coupon" and gave me $3 in cash for the Q she forgot.  This meant my receipt showed I paid $7.99 instead of $4.99 so my actual rebate received was better than FREE! woohoo

* My eldest son and his GF came here for a visit for a couple of days last weekend........

We took them to a craft brewery in town nearby but we didn't eat there(other than a few pretzels).  I cooked a nice meal afterwards at home.  We hit up Giant in that town since we were there and found 2 of the freebies too.

So what frugal wins did you have this week?

Sluggy

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

***Today is the last day to enter both November Giveaways.  Use the links on the sidebar, thanks!***

I went back through my photo files this morning to find some turkey shots.............

This was from a visit to Fry Brothers Turkey Ranch where we stopped for lunch after picking up Ex-College Boy from school a couple of years back.

And I found this shot...........

From Thanksgiving 2014....we got 8 inches for Turkey Day that year.  Even so the almost foot we got a week BEFORE Thanksgiving last week is still lingering this morning.

I've got the turkey in the oven, the roll dough is rising and I am about to head out the door to(where else?)Rite-Aid to get my freebies.....well maybe not the ear buds because I still have a few pairs of those from previous years.

I hope everyone has a peaceful day.  If you have to be around aggravating just have a drink like me and chill.  ;-)

I'll close with this bit I posted back in 2016........

"Before you dig into your "unzip the pants meal" today, take a moment to acknowledge everything in your world that you have been blessed with, whatever that may be.

Myself I'll be thankful for---
* my level of health given my medical issues and for the resources and medical folks who keep me going.
* my awesome kids though one is far from home today.
* my spouse who puts up with me and loves me.
* that we live below our means which means we can be a financial blessing to ourselves, our family, our friends and our country.
* this blogging platform and all you dear readers out there that has enriched my life.

Now make sure you hug everybody you see today(that's where that drink comes in handy lolz(......
Ok, maybe not that creepy guy in line at the grocery store if you have to run out for emergency supplies this morning. ;-)"

Sluggy

Thanksgiving of Days Gone By

I was reminiscing recently about the Thanksgivings of my childhood.
Since my father only ate a small range of foods, the bounty on our Thanksgiving table was very predictable.

There was always a whole turkey. 'Nuf said.

There was stuffing, not dressing or filling.  The stuffing was always shoved into the bird and a small auxillary pan contained whatever didn't fit into the bird.
A few times my mother put oysters into her stuffing as she dearly loved oysters.  I don't believe she told my father when she put those into the stuffing. ;-)
She didn't do a cornbread stuffing(even though she was a Southern gal through and through)because again, that is something my father wouldn't eat.

There were always mashed potatoes and gravy.  REAL mashed potatoes with lumps. 8-)

And potato rolls made using Great Aunt Ollie's recipe.(My mother actually got her to write down the recipe before she passed as Ollie didn't have any recipes, except in her head.)

Side dishes-There was always rutabaga(known up North here as "orange turnips" by many). My father turned his nose up at rutabaga but with plenty of other foods to partake of, mom got to indulge one of the foods of her youth anyway.
Sometimes there were green beans(I don't recall a green bean casserole affair however), sometimes corn and sometimes sweet potato casserole(no marshmallows!).

There was always jellied cranberry out of a can.  We didn't go in for fancy pants whole berry relish or anything like that.

The preferred drink was unsweetened iced tea, usually still warm from being made, with ice cubes in your glass.  I miss that mix of warm and cold swallows of tea from the glass.  The thought of it takes me back to Thanskgiving.

The dessert was pumpkin pie with a dollop of real whipped cream or Reddi-Whip on top.  Sometimes there was also pecan pie(but generally that only appeared at Christmas).

Everything was made from scratch by my mother(except the jellied cranberry "glop").  The only concessions to convenience foods was the "glop"and sometimes the aerosol whipped cream and the veg may have been out of a can(back before frozen veggies were good).  No canned sweet potatoes, no gravy in a jar and no pre-cubed bread(I still remember having the job of toasting all that bread and tearing it up for the stuffing. lolz)

I guess you could say we always had what's known as a very traditional American Thanksgiving meal with very little variation.

Given Hubs will eat almost anything and we both have a wider palate than my father(most anybody but a 5 year old child has a wider palate), my Thanksgiving menus, though fairly Traditional at it's core, has expended a bit to include different side dishes, more pie types and even smoking the turkey one year(nobody cared for that treatment much here so it didn't ever happen again).  We also trade-off each year between Great Aunt Ollie's potato rolls and Great Aunt Lula's dinner rolls(a recipe mom got from her Aunt Lula after I was grown and passed down to me).

So it's over to you dear readers.......what are your food memories of Thanksgiving?
Let's share our recollections.

On that note, I hope everyone is with the folks they cherish tomorrow(or at least in your thoughts and prayers if circumstances keep you apart)and y'all can celebrate Thanksgiving in the way that gives your life meaning.  8-)))

Sluggy

A Shopping Extravaganza Lately!

I bought 2 boxes of Cheerios on Saturday at Rite-Aid........

They were $1.97 per box and I used a $1/2 GM cereals Q so $2.94 paid in Bonus Cash on son's card(I had some BC expiring on that card soon).
I got $1 cash back on SavingStar for this purchase so these "cost" me .97¢ a box.

Friday was Fantastic Sale Day at Weis(PMITA)Markets.
Here is what I bought..............

3 x Utz Chips were B1G2Free=$4.29
3 x Club crackers minis on sale=$5.58
1 x Tabasco=$3.39
2 x Planters nut crunchers on sale=$5.98
2 x Green Giant veggies on sale=$3.00
2 x Birdseye veggies on sale=$3.98
2 x 1 lb. mushrooms on sale=$3.98 *not pictured*
1 x Johnsonville breakfast sausage on sale=$2.67 *not pictured*
1 x Kaukauna cheese ball on sale=$5.00 *not pictured*
2 x Lay's chips BOGOF=$4.28 *not pictured*
1 x Weis Garlic Bread=Freebie *not pictured*
1 x Stouffer's party lasagna=.99¢ *not pictured*
1 x 18+ lb. Butterball turkey=$9.04 *not pictured*
1 x Pecan Ring Danish 50% Bakery=$3.00 *not pictured*
SubTotal......$55.18

I got $3 off on the 6 Mix 'n Match items(veggies, nuts), $1Q on the Lasagna, $1Q on the Tabasco and 3 x $1.00 Qs for the Club crackers so $8.00 off so I paid $47.18 OOP.

I redeemed 100 points to get the Butterball turkey for .49¢ lb. and 100 points to get a party Stauffer's lasagna for -.01¢.  It was .99¢ after points and the cashier let me use a $1/1 Stouffer's party lasagna Q on it so I got paid 1¢ to take it home. 8-)))

I earned back $9.85 on Ibotta(.50¢ Tabasco, .75¢ Kaukauna cheese, 3 x .75¢ Club crackers, 2 x $1 Planters crunchers, $3 wyb Butterball turkey and 1 Lay's chips, $1.25 Johnsonville bfast sausage, .10¢ any item)and $9 in Bonuses(Turkey Trot, Gravy Train, Nov. Level 2)so totaling $18.85 in cash rebates and another $1 on Checkout51 for buy 2 Club crackers.

Hubs and I also went to Giant today to get the freebies there........

1 x Giant Butter=Free
1 x Doz. Giant Eggs=Free
1 x Box of Giant Stuffing Mix=Free
1 x Can of Giant Pumpkin=Free
1 x 35 ct. Bottled Water=Free *not pictured*
1 x 5 lb. bag of Russet Potatoes=Free
4 x Arizona Tea on sale=$10.00 *not pictured*
2 x Reddi Wip on sale=$4.00 *not pictured*
1 x Goya Jasmine rice=$3.19
3 x bags of Chiles=$5.37
SubTotal.......$22.56

I picked up the tea which was on sale, the Reddi Wip that we need for pumpkin pies and this Giant carries dried chiles and I was totally out so I bought 3 bags to restock my pantry.  I will get back .75¢ on Saving Star for the Goya rice and it tracks toward a $5 Goya cash rebate as well when you spend $25 on Goya.

We also hit Weis in the town Giant is in, since it was nearby and I still had Weis points to spend............

I had enough Weis points to get 3 more Holiday items-another large Lasagna for .99¢, a frozen turkey breast for .49¢ lb. and a smoked ham for .25¢ lb.
I also got a Well Yes! sipping soup which after my doubled coupon cost .17¢, a 4 pack of Bakery muffins which after my $1 coupon and 50% off cost $1.12, 3 x single OJs were $1.49 after my $1/3 Q, 9 x Pure Tea singles were $7.47, 2 x Goya dried pintos were $2.58, 2 x Goya tomato paste were $1.58.
I also did the Mix 'n Match Buy 6/Get $3 off...I got 1 x Dunkin Donuts Creamer, 2 x International Delight Creamers, 3 x Green Giant Veggies.  Those 6 cost me $9.47 after $3 Instant Off and the $1/2 International Delights ManuQ I used.
I also picked up 4 12-packs of Coke at 4 for $12.00.

I'll earn back another $1 on Ibotta and $3 on SavingStar for having now bought $12 worth of Pure Leaf tea singles bottles.
I am about $1.50 away from getting the $5 Goya rebate so I'll pick up another bag of dried beans or some Adobo.

I am now over $400 by about $35 for the month(sigh)but........

* I will have to buy very little food in December(milk, fresh produce).
* I have grown my cash rebates on Ibotta and SavingStar to $329.81 to cash out in Dec. to apply to groceries bought this year.(I am not even counting the Checkout51 since I am nowhere near the $20 cash out threshold.)
* These cash rebates doesn't even count all the refunds and "post coupon" cash I have accumulated in 2018 to also put toward the food bills. ;-)

Sluggy