Friday, February 22, 2019

Frugal Friday.....the February 22nd Edition

Let's take a look around and see what frugalness we came up with this past week............

Ex-College Boy's Birthday was yesterday.  Because of the weather this week(see "unpredictable")we had his Birthday Meal out on Tuesday(as he was off then).


He requested to go to the Hibachi place(like the Benihana chain but local and just as expensive!).
I discouraged alcoholic drinks(hate paying for overpriced booze out)but I was the only one who got iced tea. 8-(
#frugal fail

We did go on Free Appetizer Night so we got a free appetizer.  Yay!

And I finally remembered to use a $10 gift coupon(gotten from a birthday meal 3 years ago! but still valid)for one of these bday trips here.


Of course, because it's me, the waitress forgot to take the $10 off when she brought the c/c receipt to sign. sigh.
Hubs was perfectly happy just to sign the incorrect receipt and not say anything and not get our $10 off.
But y'all know me...........lolz
So "I" got it adjusted. ;-)  I
t helped take the sting out of the ridiculously expensive prices there.

How I yearn for the days when my kids were happy with a chicken tenders meal or a burger for their birthday dinner. lolz

*  I scored at Rite-Aid this past Sunday with clearance cosmetics paired with Qs meaning I only "spent" $13.30 in Bonus Cash and/or Prepaid Visa script(gotten free as well)to earn another $20 in Bonus Cash on 1 of my cards.


This spending earned me $20 in Ibotta cash rebates as well so overall a $6.70 moneymaker. 8-))

I also bought this last Sunday


The Rite-Aid I was in had this new Alka-Seltzer Mucus product which has a full price(after Q used)rebate if bought before Sunday-rebate info HERE.
Anyway I bought this on Daughter's card and used a $3/1 ManQ and promptly applied for the rebate essentially making this free once the $8.99 rebate is received.

I noticed that this item is part of the "Spend $50/Get $20 Bonus Cash" scheme too so you know what that meant?
Sluggy got her Revlon Qs and went out in search of more clearance cosmetics.  ;-)


5 x Revlon face stuff $3.74=$18.70
4 x Cover Girl 210 mascara(straight brush)$1.49=$5.96
2 x Revlon brow crayon $2.49=$4.98
1 x Cover Girl face powder=$2.57
2 x Revlon lip crayon=$4.98
5 x Nivea cherry lip balm(clearance .82¢)=$4.10
SubTotal......$44.29

Coupons Used
5 x Revlon $3/1 face make-up IPQ=$10.00
4 x Cover Girl $2/1 item IPQ=$8.00
2 x Revlon $2/1 brow item IPQ=$4.00
1 x Cover Girl $2/1 face item IPQ=$2.00
2 x Revlon $2/1 lip item IPQ=$4.00
Coupon Total.........$28.00

$44.29-$28.00=$16.29+63¢ tax=$16.92
Add that $44.29 spent to the $11.99 for the Alka Seltzer and I "spent" $56.28, paid $25.91 in BC/Prepaid Visa script, got $20 BC back and $8.99 in a cash rebate so a $3.08 moneymaker.
I'll probably  return a couple of items just because I was $6.28 over what I needed to spend and I don't strictly "need" everything for giveaways above(and that makes it an even better deal in the end).

Even better if the assorted Revlon Ibotta rebates come back on my list before these receipts expire I can get up to another $18 in cash rebates on all this(but not holding my breath).  8-)))

Moving on.........

*  While out on Tuesday picking up cosmetics I found this too...........

A quarter partially hidden under one of those floor mats by the register at the first Rite-Aid I went to.

And then this.........


A dime at the second Rite-Aid I went to under the candy racks by the register.
I am up .35¢ this week in free money!

And speaking of Rite-Aid, this printed at one of the stores this week for me..........


30% off Sale coming the first weekend in March.  Watch for it!

*  And then there was 75% off Valentine's Candy at Rite-Aid too..........

Cheap chocolates for giveaways....woohoo!

*  While I didn't get to use all my IPQs for free yogurt and soup before the sale ended at Weis(PMITA)Markets thanks to a snowstorm on Wednesday, I did get this on Tuesday evening.............


4 x Oh! yogurt
2 x Oikos triple yogurt
1 x Too Good yogurt
All were $1 on sale and I used Qs which doubled that made them all free.
I would have gotten more of the Too Good brand but that only had 1 cup left on the shelf.  If they had had 2 cups I could have gotten a $1 Ibotta cash rebate as well. sigh.
I also picked up 1 more pint of ice cream, the Weis brand gelato on 50% clearance for $1.73.
Being as it was Senior Citizen day Tuesday I also got .17¢ off the glelato too so I paid $1.56 OOP for everything I bought in that trip.


That was a nice surprise, getting that Senior Discount too.
Hey!....17¢ is .17¢, right?!?

*  I had a $5 Kohl's birthday reward to use soon.
A couple of weeks ago Hubs and I went to Kohl's just to check clearance things out.
Ex-College Boy is NOT a shopper and the kid is in serious need of new clothing(he wears things until they are rags)so I will go clothes hunting for him and now that he's gainfully employed, he reimburses me what I spend on him.
I didn't use my $5 reward but I did pick up $50+ worth of clothes for Ex-College Boy and they were giving out $10 Kohl's cash that week so I now have $15 in script to spend.

Hubs' birthday is coming up in early April so I went out to Kohl's last week(during the time frame I have to use that $10 Kohl's cash)to see if I could find something for his bday.
I found just the thing(but will show it after he gets it).  It cost me $16 so after my $5 bday reward and the $10 Kohl's Cash his Birthday gift cost me $1 OOP.  8-)))
I'll add this gift to the things I picked up at Sallie's when Kim and her Sissie were here and I am done with Hubs gifties. 8-)))

* While out on Tuesday I dropped by the Discount Grocery near the second Rite-Aid I hit just to browse.
I found a few things to bring home cheap.......


A jar of Korean Bulgogi sauce for .99¢, a box of garlic mashed taters for .79¢(2 pouches), a lb. thick cut Hatfield bacon package for $1.99(not pictured)  and a pack of OM hot dogs for .59¢(not pictured).  I would have gotten more of the hot dogs at that price for the freezer as Summer grilling season is approaching but I am still in empty mode in regards to the freezer.

*  And the best deal I got this past week.............

Back in late December I had an eye exam.  It had been 1.5 years since my last exam and my eyes had gotten a bit worse.  So I went to Vision Works as they were charging the least amount around here for a vision exam(I no longer had vision benefits on our insurance so hunting a deal on anything to do with my vision is even more important to the financial bottom line).
After the exam and armed with a new Rx, I perused their selection of glasses and came up with two possibilities and sat down with the salesperson to see what the cost would be.


Of course the pair I liked best was the more expensive $242.97 all in.
They offered me a BOGOFree Deal, 2 pair for $404.95 all in.
Not liking this amount I went home with nothing and proceeded to look online.

I found almost the exact same pair of frames online for a LOT less....the only difference was there was a little less "bling" on the arms(which I could certainly live with).  So I used my prescription and ordered those instead.

And they finally showed up this week!  It seemed to take forever but was really took just over 3 weeks to get here.


In fact GlassesUSA had a deal if I bought TWO Pair also, but their price for 2 pair was much LESS than what Vision Works wanted to charge me for ONE pair!
So I got 2 pair of these glasses(one to keep downstairs and one to keep upstairs)for $137 total and free shipping.


I spent $94.03 LESS than Vision Works for the same thing and basically GOT A FREE PAIR.



Here's Sluggy rockin' the purple specs. ;-)


Keepin' it Frugal and Livin' the Dream folks....

Tell us about all your Frugal Victories lately too!



Sluggy



Thursday, February 21, 2019

Random Stuff from Sluggy


*  A personal loan offer......again!



I am forever receiving stuff like this.  Personal loan offers to pay off my credit card debt.
Umm, don't these folks ever look at my credit report first?  If they did they'd know that I don't have credit card debt and haven't had any since the early 1990s. lolz
I use credit cards but responsibly.....and pay off the balance before the end of each billing cycle.
The interest rate on these loans range from 5.99% to 28.99%.  I could see if you have a c/c balance with a higher interest rate transferring your debt to this but that person ain't me! 8-))

*  Some more crap you can buy if you have more money than you can spend.............



A gold plated musical porcelain box that says, "My Granddaughter I Love You With All my Heart".
Actual size is 4"L x 3.5"W x 1.75"H.  Also adorned with 5 sparkling "jewels".
For the bargain price of $59.95 + $9.99 shipping plus sales tax for your state this can be yours.
Yeah.  This fine offering is from the ubiquitous Bradford Exchange.
I'd say a much better way to say I love you to your grand kids is to take that $59.99 + $9.99 and sales tax and buy them a Savings Bond or invest it into a 529 Plan so they can someday go to college.  There are much better ways to honor your progeny than wasting $$ on crappy trinkets.

*  I got a few goodies this week at Rite-Aid.  The Valentine's candy was 75% off.....

Lots of goodies to stick into giveaway boxes....woohoo!

*  Speaking of Valentine's Day, here are the flowers Daughter got from her FiancĂ©......

Sort of droppy at this point(Vday was almost a week ago)but pretty white and pink tulips.


*  I also found this 75% off at Ollie's"Good Stuff Cheap!" last week..........


An entire box of King Size Oreo bars for under $2.00.

*  Here's a photo I took of the Full Snow Moon the night we took Ex-College Boy out for his Birthday Dinner.......


Sort of foggy out that night and the photo didn't do it justice on my phone.

*  Here's what we got the next morning..........


More snow and sleet and then freezing rain. STill digging out today.  bleh.  It's suppose to get close to 50F later today and then mid 55'sF on Sunday.
Crazy Winter.


*  Also from our friends at the Bradford Exchange, a Playful Pup necklace........


A sterling silver-plated pendant, from your choice of 30 dog breeds, hand painted enamel puppy with movable legs and tail(actual size of dog is about 1/2 inch).  Also on the included 18" silver-plated chain is a silver plated heart charm engraved with "I Love My(name of breed)" along with a "genuine diamond".
For the low price of $79(payable in 4 installments of $19.75)plus $9.98 shipping and sales tax this can be yours! ;-)

Have I mentioned yet how much I DESPITE getting these leaflets urging me to buy crap like this anytime I buy ANYTHING online?!?!?

*  And lastly I found this photo of someone we all know and love...........



The person in question is pictured on the left in this very very very old photograph. *snort*


Oh, she is going to hate me for this......

Any guesses? ;-)



Sluggy

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Putting On My Traveling Shoes in March




March may be full of "Madness"(aka Basketball stuff)but for me it means traveling a bit.  I am leaving the screwy Pennsyltucky Winter Weather and heading South for a couple of weeks.

We will be stopping, in VA to see my brother, then on to Myrtle Beach SC for a few days, then we have 3 more days yet to book.  It is looking like Charleston SC or Savannah GA, not sure which yet.
Then 1 night up near Greensboro NC(after a lunch stop in Florence SC)before heading back to Chesapeake VA for a few more days.  Then it's home by way of Fredericksburg VA to see my son.
Myrtle Beach from 3/11 to 3/14, Charleston or Savannah from 3/14 to 3/17, Greensboro NC 3/17 to 3/18, Chesapeake VA from 3/18 to 3/21, and F'burg VA 3/21 to 3/23.

So any readers located along our route want to get together?  Shoot me an email(it's on the right side bar)and we'll see what we can do.  Mimi, that means you! ;-)

Anybody know any great(aka cheap)places to stay in either the Charleston SC or the Savannah GA areas?  Also any site seeing and good eats suggestions.

I'd also like to know if anyone knows of any discount stores in NC and SC we can hit.  Or any weird roadside attractions(besides South of the Border)y'all can recommend.




I am itching to hit the road and find some warmth!

Sluggy

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Working The Pillaging at Rite-Aid!


So this week the scheme at Rite-Aid is "Spend $50 on select items/Get $20 Bonus Cash Back Deal".

I jumped on Coupons dotcom and printed off a bunch of $2/1 Almay and 4 different $2-$3/1 Revlon Qs and then went up to R-A to see how little I could "spend" to get to $50.

Did I mention that Rite-Aid has a bunch of Almay and Revlon at 75% off clearance?!
Dd I also mention that Almay and Revlon cosmetics are part of the "Spend $50/Get $20 BC Deal"??

First off I bought a clearance Revlon and a clearance Almay item to see if the clearance qualified for the "Spend $50/Get $20 BC" Deal.
And by gosh those items did qualify!

So here is all I bought at two different R-A stores.......


First off I had 2 x $1.25/1 Nivea lip balm IPQs.  I only got 2 printed off before it disappeared from Coupons dotcom(and I don't get Nivea Qs anymore in the Sunday paper b/c my paper no longer carries the RetailMeNot inserts *sad face*).  I would have printed off more it I had the chance because it was cheap after sale/Q and I love the Nivea lip stuff.

2 x Nivea lip balm on sale=$4.00
3 x Revlon face make-up on clearance for $3.49 ea.=$10.47
2 x Revlon nail color on clearance for $2.24 ea.=$4.48
4 x Revlon lip crayon on clearance for $2.49 ea.=$9.96
3 x Revlon brow crayon on clearance for $2.49 ea.=$7.47
7 x Almay mascara on clearance for $2.24 ea.=$15.68
SubTotal.........$52.06

Coupons Used
2 x $1.25/1 Nivea lip balm IPQ=$2.50
3 x $3/1 Revlon face item IPQ=$9.00
4 x $2/1 Revlon lip item IPQ=$8.00
3 x $2/1 Revlon brow item IPQ=$6.00
7 x $2/1 Almay any item IPQ=$14.00
Coupon Total.......$39.50 and ALL the IPQs scanned(shocking!).

$52.06-$39.50=$12.56+.74¢ tax=$13.30 OOP paid for with a combination of Bonus Cash & part of 1 of the 2 $20 Prepaid R-A Visa cards I earned back in January so ZERO OOP in real money.
Too bad I didn't have any Revlon nail color Qs as well....I would have "spent" $4 less than I did. ;-)

I earned $20 in Bonus Cash for buying all the stuff in the picture(plus the one mascara that didn't make it into that photo)because it all came to $50+ before coupons used.

Even better.......I also earned $20 in Ibotta cash rebates as the lip/face/brow items, all 10, qualified for a $2 cash back each-10 x $2=$20 back.

This was an awesome score and will all go into the Giveaway Box Pile of Goodies.  8-)


Oh and Valentine's Candy went to 75% off on Sunday too in case anyone was wondering........


Sluggy






Monday, February 18, 2019

This Week on the Dining Table


The "It's Not Suppose to Be this Warm Here in February!" Edition.........


In the car on the way to a different Weis(PMITA)Markets on Friday I snapped this blurry shot of the temp. on my car's dashboard.  If you can't make it out it says 59F.  A minute later it rolled over to 60F.
WTF?!?
Normal around here in February ranges from a high of 40 something to a low of -10 or so.
And I just read it's suppose to hit the mid 50sF again this week.

Crazy weather.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

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

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Pad Thai fake-out
2. Monday--Beef Lasagna, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread
3. Tuesday--leftover Ham, Mac and Cheese, Assorted leftover veg-corn and peas
4. Wednesday--Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Baked Beans
5. Thursday--Fend For Yourself(Don't remember what exactly)
6. Friday--Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry, Fried Rice
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
I used leftover roast chicken for the Pad Thai and the Teriyaki Stir-free.  The cuke got used somewhere else so we had beans and tater salad w/the burgers instead.
Breakfast for Dinner and Chicken Thighs meal didn't happen(I was sick one night and I wanted to use up the rest of the leftover roasted chicken in a stir-fry so we did that chicken meal instead of thighs.)and move to this week.

What got put into the freezer last week.....
*  15 pints of ice cream/frozen yogurt
*  2 large bags if cheese ravioli
*  1 box of breaded fish fillets

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.......
*  Nothing-It was all meats I already had in the fridge

 A couple of grocery trips.....3 smallish trips to Weis($16.16/$36.40/$31.45)and a trip to Malacari's Produce Market($23.40)brought the weekly food spending to $107.41 and brought the February monthly total to $180.89 so far.  And I forgot to include the trip on Friday where I bought 15 pints of ice cream(not going to go back and redo the numbers, I'll just add it to this coming week's total). ugh

My savings percentage last week was 58.85%(without Rite-Aid trips)and February's monthly savings total comes to 63.85%(w/out R-A).  

I have 10 more spending days in the month(plus that 1 trip to Weis to account for from last week).

Leftovers going into this week....ham, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, lasagna, potato salad, baked beans, 1 helping of chicken teriyaki stir-fry, fried rice(more than 1 helping).

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

1. Sunday--Leftover Ham and Mac and Cheese(just Hubs and I)
2. Monday--BBQ Chicken Thighs, Asparagus, Leftover Fried Rice
3. Tuesday--Birthday Meal Out(Ex-College Boy)
4. Wednesday--Breakfast-Scrambled Eggs w/Ham and Cheese, French Toast
5. Thursday--Brats on Rolls, Grilled Onions, Broccoli, leftover sides smorgasboard lolz
6. Friday--Leftover Lasagna, Tomato/Cuke Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 3 new meals cooked, 3 nights of leftovers/FFY, 1 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Asparagus, a Cuke, milk(as usual). I'll be making a trip to Weis for more free yogurt and free soup this week.  Not much else on my radar yet.  ;-)

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