Time for the February Giveaway!

February is all about Feeling the Love!



Let's have a Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway to give a little love to one of my readers!

Here's what you can win if you are selected.........

1 x box of Godiva chocolates
1 x Glade candle
1 x Suave shampoo
1 x Colgate toothpaste
1 x Emergen-C packets
1 x Max Freeze topical pain relief
1 x Sample of Cod-Eeze
1 x Neutrogena lip balm
1 x Reach dental floss
2 x Dentyne ICE sugar-free gum
1 x Hydralyte hydration tablets
1 x Hall's cough drops

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

Around $60 worth of regular retail goodies(depending on where you shop for this sort of thing).
Lots of February necessities here--cold and flu season items, pain relief after shoveling all that snow/ice, things to make you feel more "human" and stuff to feed your soul(and chocolate).  ;-)

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 February--do you do up Valentine's Day big or not?, are you planning what to put into your garden this Spring?, do you have any home improvement/repairs going on inside while the weather is crap?, have you done your taxes yet?, 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, February 21st at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. On February 22nd 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 February Giveaway tarted.  Good Luck to all!

Sluggy

Some Weis & Rite-Aid Shopping

So I was only $14.01 away from "spending" $50 and getting another $20 Visa gas card at Rite-Aid so I bought this......

2 x Lindt truffles on sale=$2.00 *this wasn't a qualifying item for the deal*
3 x Cover Girl Blush palettes($2 off instantly)=$14.07
SubTotal......$16.07

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Lindt IPQ=2.00
3 x $2/1 CoverGirl IPQ=$6.00
Coupon Total.......$8.00

$16.07-$8.00=$8.07+.32¢tax=$8.39 paid for with Bonus Cash. Add in the $3.07 in overage on Wellness Wednesday on all the other items I bought then and it comes out to $5.32 spent in BC.

Add in the $3.07 in overage on Wellness Wednesday on all the other items I bought then and it comes out to $5.32 spent in BC.
I earned a $20 Gas card code and $4 in SavingStar cash rebates($3 Thermacare/$1 Emergen-C).

I think I'll lay off R-A pillaging this week.  I only have a little bit of BC left on 2 cards and nothing expiring in the next week.

I wanted to recount some of the deals I've gotten this month at Weis(PMITA)Markets too.

I stumbled upon marked down instant discounts on panko crusted pork, whole chickens and Perdue Farms tenderloins.  The whole chickens w/disc. sticker came out to .62¢ lb.  The tenderloins were BOGOFree sale + $2 off stickers so were just over $1 per package.  Altogether it was $17.08 for just shy of 18 lbs. of meat.

Weis is clearancing out the "Expertly Paired" Kraft shredded cheeses here(blends of 2 types of cheese).
$1.44 per bag.  Kraft is usually $2.89 per bag.  Even without a Q or cash rebate to pair with this it was a "buy this" for me.

Certain sizes of Cascade tablets were on clearance.  These 20 packs were $2.12 in my store.  Again no Qs out for them but a decent buy.

The Yoplait yogurts were .59¢ each(should have bought them the previous week when they were on sale for .50¢)  I did have a digital Q which doubled to $1 and I got .50¢ on SavingStar for buying 5 so in the end they costs me $1.45 or .29¢ each.

The chili was on sale 2/$3 this week.  I had .55¢/2 Q that doubled to $1.10 and a third Hormel digital Q came off my card(which also doubled)so altogether I got $3.30 off my $6 chili purchase, paying $2.70 for all 4 cans.

Another clearance find-Febreeze small spaces were 50% off($1.44)and I paired 2 BOGOFree Qs so $2.88 for the 4 of those.  The spray/spray refills were also 50% off and I paired 2 BOGOFree Qs with those.  Luckily I got a couponing cashier and she took the higher priced spray bottle off on the pair with the refill so the spray came out to .99¢, the refills came out to $2.17, $2.17 and Free.

I've been trying to use the Weis Qs in the Weis Healthy Bites magazine. I got those 4 boxes of Annie's mac and cheese for .50¢ each(2 different trips), the Minute Rice w/Quinoa(we actually like this!)for .99¢ a box and the spaghetti/pasta sauces were .99¢ on a Fantastic Friday sale plus had a .50¢ per jar Ibotta rebate which made them .49¢ per jar.
The Tony Chachere dirty rice meal kits were on clearance for $1.74(I think it was-don't have that receipt here)a box and the Sylvia's hush puppy/cornbread/cobbler mixes were also on clearance for .79¢ each.

 The Mix and Match 6 Items/Get $6 Off instantly Deal.  I did this deal twice(got 12 items).
The Lysol sprays were $2.49, the Lysol toilet cleaners were $1.99, the Head and Shoulders was $5.00 and the frozen veggies were $1.99.
Total w/sale prices=$30.96-$12 instant discount=$19.96-$13 in ManuQs/TearPadQs=$5.90 for everything in the photo above.  The toilet cleaners were .06¢ moneymaker, the sprays .49¢ each, the shampoo was $3 for both and the veggies were .99¢ each.

But the best deal were these boxes of cereal.
They were on sale 2/$5 last week.  I paired that sale price with 4 x .75¢/1 IPQ that doubled to $1.50 off each, making them free.......except 2 x a $1 GM cereals digital Q came off too so I got paid $2 to bring these 4 boxes home.
And then I got a $1 SavingStar rebate for buying 2 GM cereals so I made $3 buying theses. lolz

Getting paid to bring home groceries is the best!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Who WOULDN'T Want This!?!?" Edition.............

Hubs and I were out and about on Saturday.  I found this yummy rainbow furry purse and threatened to send it to Kim for her birthday next month.  Who wouldn't want this, right? lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizza, Hot Wings

2. Monday--Cheese Steak Subs, Spinach souffle 

3. Tuesday--Leftover Beef Pie or FFY

4. Wednesday--Pork Roast, Italian side dish w/Beans and Veggies, Baked Kale Chips

5. Thursday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing(maybe), Sweet Potato Casserole, Sugar Snap Peas

6. Friday--Ham, Mac and Cheese, Brussels Sprouts
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizza, Hot Wings

2. Monday--Cheese Steak Subs, Spinach souffle 

3. Tuesday--Pork Roast, Italian side dish w/Beans and Broccoli, boxed Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Leftovers or FFY(I had leftover Beef Pie)

5. Thursday--Chinese Take-Out

6. Friday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Corn, Peas
7. Saturday--Ham, Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
Everything happened as planned but perhaps on different days then planned. Instead of leftovers the second night we got take-out.  I wasn't "feeling" leftovers and we hadn't had take-out in quite a while.

What got put into the freezer last week.....
*  1 pack of ground veal
*  3 packs of panko-ed pork tenderloins
*  2 lbs. of ground beef
*  5 packages of veggies
*  a box of ice cream snadwiches

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.......
*  2 packs of deli sliced roast beef
*  1 whole chicken
*  1 pork roast
*  2 spinach souffles 
*  1 dinner ham
*  3 bags of frozen veggies

You would THINK the freezers were emptying out, wouldn't you?  

 A couple of grocery trips.....2 smallish trips to Weis($6.98/$45.88)and a trip to Ollie's($10.71)brought the weekly(really more than a week because Jan./Feb. week last week and I only reported the Jan. of that week)food spending to $73.48 and brought the February monthly total to $73.48 so far.

My savings percentage last week was 69.30%(without Rite-Aid trips)and February's monthly savings total comes to 69.30%(w/out R-A).  I got some great deals on meat and some clearance items and used Qs on those too so a big savings % last week.

Leftovers going into this week.... a helping of pot roast w/veggies, taco filling(might still have some//I didn't check yet), roast chicken, ham, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, corn, peas, kale(daughter made it one night).
Besides the ham and mac/cheese there isn't enough of the rest of it to serve another night/as leftover.

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

1. Sunday--Pad Thai fake-out

2. Monday--Hamburgers, Tomato and Cuke Salad

3. Tuesday--Beef Lasagna, Tossed Salad

4. Wednesday--leftover Ham, Mac and Cheese, Veggies TBD(maybe leftover corn and peas)

5. Thursday--Chicken Thighs and something else lolz

6. Friday--Ham and cheese scrambled eggs, French Toast, Fruit
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? Ground beef and veal was bought on Sunday along with some reduced B/S chicken thighs(half went into the Pad Thai/half saute for later this week).  The rest of the week should be low spend(I think).  ;-)

Whatever ham is left after 1 night of leftover slices and what goes into the eggs on Friday will be chopped and put into the freezer for ham/bean soup in the future.

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  

January To-Do List Update

Here's how the January To-Do List turned out.....

* Pay Bills  DONE  Number one priority each month.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE
I read this one..........

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

A fun read and a pretty quick one as well.  I also have the other two books in this trilogy sitting on the ready for me to get to.  I don't know how I feel about viewing the motion picture Tim Burton and Hollywood made based on this tome.  Perhaps after I read the whole trilogy?

And this one.......

"Coolidge-An American Enigma" by Robert Sobel
Most people wouldn't make it their business to read about our previous POTUSes or even read about American history.  It's the past and so dry so why spend your time on it?  
I find history fascinating(why else would I be "into" geneaology?!lol)and unfortunately, enough folks today don't care or think learning from our past is important.

What did I learn from this book?
Calvin Coolidge didn't follow the formula to getting elected that most men do in politics.  "Cool Cal" was his own man who had a strong moral compass who took the office seriously and wanted to serve his fellow Americans.
He was different and again, one of the few POTUS in the last 200 years(and especially the last 100 years) that didn't piss all over the Constitution and use his office to enhance the power of that office and feed his own narcissism/megalomania.


* Hold Giveaways  DONE

* Mail Giveaways  DONE  Everything has been received. 8-)))

* Plan Winter Holiday  FAIL  Well I did some work on it but Hubs hasn't been giving me input plus I need to hear back from my brother before I can actually book anything....but I have worked on this a bit.  Will carry over this item into February and get it DONE!  Have to since we are going in March so we're running out of time. lolz

* Start Getting Tax Stuff Together  DONE  I just need to print out the 1099 from our online bank.  UPDATE-Just did that so this is checked off the list.

* Put Xmas Stuff Away  DONE  All the Holiday decorations got put away well before my Birthday without having to nag.

* Celebrate my Birthday  DONE

An amazing Birthday week!

* Organize Toiletries Stash  DONE
I spent 3 hours up in the Stash gleaning out some stuff to give to friends and family and more stuff to put into Giveaway boxes.  That still leaves me with a LOT of toiletries, et al. for us to use.  Last January the big purge/organize in there took all. day. long.

* Put 2018 Paperwork Away  DONE  Files have been purged and all the 2018 paperwork(except what is needed to file taxes)have been put away.  We are ready for the influx of 2019 paperwork now....ugh.  ;-)


Basically I didn't have much on my list in January to accomplish.
After a busy December/Holiday Season I tend to take it easy on myself in January....plus it's my Birthday month. ;-)

So what did y'all do in January? 
Did ya'll get stuff done that y'all wanted to get done?
Is there anything you avoided doing/getting to last month?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the February 8th Edition

A quick look around and I see we had a few Frugal Wins this past week and they were most excellent ones..........


*  I hit Rite-Aid on Wellness Wednesday and got lots of goodies!

Everything pictured above plus qualified for a $20 Visa gas card and it cost me $16.53 in Bonus Cash and I'll be getting $6 in cash rebates in my Saving Star/Ibotta accounts.  Woot!

*  Speaking of Rite-Aid, my 2 x $20 Visa Cards arrived.........

$40 to use before the end of March.  I think I can do that.....lolz

*  I mentioned that Kim's Sissie brought me presents last month for my birthday.

The gift bag(which was also saved)had nice glitter flecked tissue paper in it. Instead of throwing it out  I saved the paper and ironed it flat and folded it so I could use it again.  I have been known to save and iron wrapping paper too on the odd occasion.  ;-)

*  Our fridge had a problem.  The bottom shelf was cracked across the back so you couldn't set anything on the back half of the shelf.  Plus the plastic guides that hold the produce bins in place were broken off the unit.  Replacing the whole fridge because of this was just stupid and expensive.  Hubs found the replacement part/shelf online, I ordered it and it arrived last week.  For less than $50 we now have a fridge in original working order.

*  I got the Weis(PMITA)Markets freebie last week.......

a chocolate bar.  Who doesn't like free chocolate? ;-)

*  Speaking of free, a check from a cash back site arrived.........

I use "Shop At Home" when I buy most things online.  Going through their portal means I can earn cash back(usually a % or two but sometimes it's more)on items I was going to buy anyway.  I earned $21.53 this time.

*  One of January's giveaways was this book......

I usually send my giveaway prizes via Priority mail, except when I went to pack this I just couldn't send it that rate.  Books can be mailed for a LOT cheaper Media Mail rate so that is how I sent it.  Given the winner's distance from me it didn't take that much longer than Priority rate to get to her.
I just couldn't go against that frugal voice in my head(you know, the voice that sits right next to the crazy voice up there). lolz  I saved about $4 in postage sending it Media Mail.  Little things like that add up over a lifetime of saving. 8-)

*  And speaking of free money, I found some............

I swung through the BK drive-thru after picking up the nail polish at RA on Sunday.  The snow was melting and I spied a coin next to the building while in line so I hopped out of the car and picked it up.  It was a penny with some corrosion on it due to the ice melt it had sat in for who knows how long.
It will still spend just as well as a bright, shiny one thankyouverymuch. 8-)

And then in Rite-Aid on Wednesday I saw this on the floor...........

A $20 bill.  This was after the store's Wellness Ambassador found a few $1s and a $5 in front of the register and someone else found some cash in the parking lot.
We tried to find whomever had dropped it all but they were long gone.
The employees there know me(haha)so if the person who lost all this comes forward I'll return that $20 too.
If not, what should I do with this money?  I was thinking make a donation somewhere.....what do y'all think?
And no Kim, I am not sending it to you and I win the Found Money Wars this week! pppfffttt! 8-P

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?
Big or small a win is a win so tell us all about it!


Sluggy