Frugal Friday......the January 18th Edition

Let's see what frugal wins we had this past week here at ol' Chez Sluggy......

* I got the Friday Freebie last week at Weis(PMITA)Markets........

A whole cup of yogurt.
This has got to be the cheapest freebie they've had at .50¢.
Gee Weis, could you at least have given away TWO cups and made it a whole dollar's worth?!? lolz

*  I received $7.30 back in cash rebates on Ibotta.  2 rebates on any items and $7 for buying 7 Lean Cuisine meals.  They were part of the "Buy 6/Get $3 Back Deal" last week so were $2 each after that so $1 each after rebate.  Nice on something the Daughter wanted me to buy anyway.

*  I found money!

A whole penny.  Not a good week for finding cash on the ground and I didn't go out much either so not many chances to find any.

I don't remember where it was found as it was last weekend so it was probably at one of the only two places I went-Rite-Aid or Weis.  ;-)

*  I found some good grocery deals last week...........

Small bottles of Texas Pete were $1 each at Weis.  I had .55¢/2 Qs that doubled to $1.10 so each bottle was .45¢ after sale and Q.

Finlandia spreadable butter was on clearance for $1.74 and I used a $1/1 ManQ so .74¢.
The pumkin spice LOL butter spread was also on clearance for $1.29 and I used 2 x $1/1 IPQ so .29¢ each after sale/Qs.

Annie's mac and cheese were $1 at Weis on sale and I had .50¢/2 Qs that doubled to $1 so these were .50¢ per box after sale and Q.  If I had found the Healthy Bites magazine in my store, there is a Weis Q for .50¢ Annie's in there and they could have been almost free w/stacked Qs but .50¢ a box will have to do. ;-)

*  I received a Q from Purina in the mail..........

I don't usually but this kind of dog food but for free we''ll give it a go.  8-)

*  Remember those smashed up glass candles I received from Bath and Body Works?

I finally got through to them on the phone to complain about the 3 candles that got smashed.  They sent me two replacements and credited me for the third candle as they were out of that scent until next Christmas.

The candles arrived last week and intact for a change.   Won't be ordering those through the mail again......

*  I remembered to pick up more postage stamps before the price increase.........

I picked up a big lot in November when the Holiday stamps came out and I picked up another chunk this past week so we should be good now.  I got $100 worth total so am saving $10 buying them before the .05¢ price increase next week.  It's not much but it's something and tying up $100 in stamps isn't putting a crimp in our finances so why not?
Be sure and get stamps before the 27th.

*  And to proof that I am the Queen of Frugal(like anyone had any doubts on that score by now, right? lol)here is something I picked up this past week..........

The bakery dept. at Weis had this sheet cake marked down 50% off on Tuesday so I had Hubs buy it and have them write on it(in purple).
The cake is pretty ugly IMHO and the decorating is messy but at half price it is a gorgeous thing of beauty! 8-)))
If y'all were here I'd invite you all over for a piece!


That's it from here this week............

Tell us your frugal wins and remember to stay the frugal course!



Sluggy

Random Bits and Bobs

Lots of stuff to talk about but mostly no common thread and nothing worth an entire post so let's get crackin' with it! ;-)

*   First off an unexpected package arrived last week.  It was from one of the folks I sent a Xmas card to in Anne's card swap, "Treaders" who blogs at Random Thoughts.

Anyway the package was addressed to me but the back said it was for Hubs.
I had mentioned in my card to "Treaders" that Hubs' father's family was from Sicily and we hoped to travel there during out retirement.

Imagine the surprise when Hubs unwrapped a 2019 calendar from Sicily!  I think it made his holiday........  8-)))
Hubs is a big one for calendars. So thank you "Treaders" for your kind gift.  It is now hanging in a place of honor in the kitchen and Hubs has transferred all his important dates onto it.

*  Here is all the WAM(aka Walking Around Money)I ended the year with.....

Just short of $600.  At $100 per month that almost half of my WAM for the year.

*  And speaking of spending money(or not), I did buy myself a couple of things during the after Xmas sales.........

Rite-Aid had these two different Vera Wang fragrance sets.  I got a couple for real cheap during the Black Friday sale.  I figured I'd have one to give if I needed a last mintue "Oh crap! Someone's coming over and I didn't buy them anything gift".  I opened the other one and man, do I LOVE these scents!
So I decided to keep both for myself since they were practically free after sale/rebate/BC.
My R-A had 2 more left when they went to 75% off so I scooped those up too at $5.49 each.  There's where $11 of my leftover WAM went before 2018 ended.

*   Loved this fortune cookie..........

So true that!

*  Hubs and I have been taking advantage of no snow so far in January and just going out to stores to walk around and poke around in the clearance stuff.
Walmart was a boon for fun crap to check out...........

I have threatened all my family/friends on Facebook with these fuzzy/long john pajamas.  They are tacky cats and Xmas themed pjs.  That green panel is the back flap so you can do your bathroom business w/out disrobing.
Hy-sterical!

*  My daughter loves a good ugly sweater.

I got her this one in 2017 for her December birthday......

Got that one because I couldn't find the one with the unicorn vomiting glitter..........

Anyway, Walmart has been a treasure trove of ugly Xmas sweaters this month.......

Mooory Christmas!

And who wouldn't want a Santa riding a Unicorn, ALL DONE IN SEQUINS!lolz

Or this one that lights up in case you get lost in a snowstorm.......

Or this one with tinsel and half a stuffed unicorn sewn onto the front.
Yes, I believe, I believe this sweater is butt ugly!!!

Hey, I even found a matching fuzzy hat for this sweater....

Though I did like THIS HAT much, much better.......

A different Walmart had these lovelies...........

Beer Mug Hats

And this one where I looked like a demented Christmastime Mad Hatter.........

And then there was this Star Wars hat, there was........

Why do I always screw my face up like that for photos??

*  I had some salad bits and pieces to use up, some almost expired grilled chicken strips and frozen cranberries to get out of the freezer so I tried my hand at making the Bob Evans Cranberry Pecan Salad.  Except I didn't use pecans and we had feta not blue cheese.
I found a copycat Colonial Dressing recipe(though they LIED obviously because it called for ACV and not white vinegar and celery seeds instead of poppy seeds)and made a batch.

Though not quite on point it was tasty and used up some stuff lying around the fridge/freezer.

*   I saw this unusual word on FB and am embracing the concept.

My whole life seems to be a coddiwomple.

*  Speaking of traveling I went to the Weis(PMITA)Markets in the town West of here.  They are a much larger store than mine and sometimes they have better meat sticker deals.
As I got back in the car I noticed all the trash lying around my car in the parking lot.  Usually at this time of year there is a permanent layer of snow covering the ground so it doesn't look at run down and nasty as the parking lot looked that day.

Lots of the usual sort of litter......cigarette butts, food wrappers, bits of plastic....

Is it me does anyone else see dental floss picks all over the place!?!  Everywhere I go I spy them on the ground...bleck!

And the worst thing......

Do you see what's in the center of this photo???
A condom.
A "used" condom.
I guess I should be happy someone is practicing safe sex but really?  Who has sex in a grocery store parking lot???  Such a romantic place to park and do the nasty with your honey, yes?

*  They are predicting we are going to get hit with two snowstorms this weekend.  Oh goody.  I can't wait! hahaha
At least it shouldn't be anywhere near like this one from the '90s....

Ok, that's about it from me.
Hubs and I have our 2019 financial meeting soon.  We'll wrap up 2018 and see how it went and plan out a few things going into 2019.
I'll report in on that after we have it.

What's everyone else up to lately?


Sluggy

January Giveaway #3 Something Decadent!

Moving forward.........
Let's make this month all about my readers and not me by holding THREE COUNT 'EM THREE GIVEAWAYS this Month!!!

These will be a little different(just like me lolz)and will NOT be an awesome collection of toiletries and such.

Third giveaway for January--

I think this is a decadent box of sinful stuff......ok, so maybe my sinful doesn't look like your sinful(and really, it's against the postal service to send you "SINFUL" things in the mail)but I wouldn't knock somebody down for wanting to send me almost 4 lbs. of CHOCOLATE CANDY!

Yep, that's what will be in this prize box.........

You'll receive all the chocolate pictured above.........

* 1 bag of Dove dark chocolate w/almonds
* 1 bag of Peanut M&Ms
* 3 large chocolate bars(Lindt white chocolate/peppermeint, Cadbury milk chocolate w/almonds, Lindt 90% Cocoa dark chocolate)
* 2 Russell Stover Xmas singles-1 peanut butter/1 marshmallow peppermint
* 14 single Hershey Gold bars
* 10 single Hershey Layer Crunch(5 mint/5 vanilla)
* 8 Lindor Gingerbread Truffles
* 6 Lindor milk chocolate/peppermint Truffles

And you get to choose which one of these bags of chocolate squares you want as well......

Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark w/milk Chocolate or Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark w/dark Chocolate.

And if the winner can't eat nuts/doesn't like dark or milk or peppermint/etc, we can change up what I put into the box(up to 4 lbs. worth)to something they like better. If you are dieting or predisposed to diabetes but still like a treat now and again, I also have Russell Stover sugar-free and Werther's candies in both reg. and sugar-free.  Believe me, I have LOTS of chocolate options right now. 8-)))

Now doesn't a big box of chocolate sound like a GREAT WAY to SURVIVE JANUARY/WINTER!?!?
It does to me..........


There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!
Please tell me what brand or  type of chocolate is your favorite, what was the best chocolate you ever had(where/the occasion), what chocolate maker you'd like to visit, stuff like that, in your comments/entries.

You can also earn 1 additional Entry(one per giveaway)by blogging about this Giveaway on your own blog or on Facebook.  I need a link to that mention to check it, to make that entry valid.


I'll leave this giveaway open until Thursday, January 24th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. On January 25th I'll mark all 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 on January 25th and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too 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(the 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 the Birthday Giveaways started.  Good Luck to all!

Sluggy

January Giveaway #2-Plan Your Retirement

Here's the second of my three Giveaways for January.

Moving forward.........
Let's make this month all about my readers and not me by holding THREE COUNT 'EM THREE GIVEAWAYS this Month!!!

These will be a little different(just like me lolz)and will NOT be an awesome collection of toiletries and such.

Second giveaway is for those "women of a certain age"--

The retirement guide "The 5 Years Before You Retire" by Emily Guy Birken

I was able to find another copy of this book at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)so I picked it up to offer readers who are nearing their retirement years.
Though the author thinks this book is helpful 5 years out from retirement for your planning needs I think needs to be delved into a good TEN years before collecting your golden watch and setting out into the sunset. ;-)

While some of the info may be dated(it was published in 2013)it is still worth picking up.  It sure opened my eyes on a few points I hadn't considered when I first read this one.
It's not "THE" book you need before retiring but it's certainly one worth having in your retirement planning arsenal.

While it's never too early to read up on retirement stuff someone in their 40's or 50's(not counting you FIRE folks out there-you'll need it earlier in life)will probably relate to and get the most out of this book.


There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!
Please tell me when you hope to retire(if you are going to retire), what you want to do in retirement, if you are on target financially to retire when you hope to, etc.

You can also earn 1 additional Entry(one per giveaway)by blogging about this Giveaway on your own blog or on Facebook.  I need a link to that mention to check it, to make that entry valid.


I'll leave this giveaway open until Thursday, January 24th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. On January 25th I'll mark all 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 on January 25th and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too 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(the 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 the Birthday Giveaways started.  Good Luck to all!

One more giveaways coming up later today.......

Sluggy

January Is My Birthday Month! Giveaway #1

January is when I celebrate another trip around the Sun here on planet Earth.

This year is a big dreaded Birthday.
The big 6-0.
But seriously, I can't believe I am this old?!?!?!

Tell me, does this look like the face of someone turning 60?

Ok, maybe the crazed expression makes me appear old AND nuts, but still.........

How did I ever go from this.........

To this..........

In just 60 years?

If you have an answer please let me know.  ;-)


Moving forward.........
Let's make this month all about my readers and not me by holding THREE COUNT 'EM THREE GIVEAWAYS this Month!!!

These will be a little different(just like me lolz)and will NOT be an awesome collection of toiletries and such.

First giveaway--a set of bags, a duffle/tote bag and a purse.

These were part of a clothing order I made in 2018 but the last thing I need is more luggage/tote bags so they are up for grabs.

I will also throw in one of these sets of earrings and necklaces from Paparazzi Jewelry, winners choice.........

If you are selected as the winner, I'll send you a better photo of the 4 sets so you can choose which one you want.  All are lead and nickel free for those who have jewelry metal sensitivities.



Close up shots of the goodies..........

Both bags are made of a monotone patterned leaf print in a heavy canvas-like fabric.  The pink flowers are embroidered onto the bags.

The tote has longish handles, the purse has a long strap and an outside pocket on the back.
Both bags have zippered closures at the top.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!
Please tell me what you love or hate about the month of January, how old you will turn in 2019(if you dare!), your best birthday memory, your favorite kind of birthday cake, the best gift you received for a birthday and how old were you, stuff like that in your comments.

You can also earn 1 additional Entry(one per giveaway)by blogging about this Giveaway on your own blog or on Facebook.  I need a link to that mention to check it, to make that entry valid.


I'll leave this giveaway open until Thursday, January 24th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. On January 25th I'll mark all 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 on January 25th and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

If I am not contacted via email, I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supplied with their entry(or gave me to add to the Giveaway Data Base)and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too 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(the 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 the Birthday Giveaways started.  Good Luck to all!

Two more giveaways coming up later today.......

Sluggy