This Week on the Dining Table

The "I'm Just Something Alright" Edition....

Saw this t-shirt in Myrtle Beach.....some days this is me(snark included).  Today be one of those days.....

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--We'll fend for ourselves when we get home after stopping at Bob Evans for lunch.

2. Monday--Leftovers/FFY

3. Tuesday--Stir-Fry Chicken w/Noodles

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--No Clue yet

6. Friday--No Clue yet
7. Saturday--No Clue yet

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself night

2. Monday--Leftovers/FFY

3. Tuesday--Stir-Fry Chicken w/Noodles

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Hungarian Goulash, Bow Tie Pasta

6. Friday--Tom and Cuke Salad + whatever everyone wanted to make themselves
7. Saturday--Grilled Steak, leftover tom and cuke salad, Baked Potato

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.
It was an odd week food wise and coming off of vacation I really didn't want to cook at all so we slapped it together. lolz

What got put into the freezer last week.....
* 1 piece of a turkey breast(Weis markdown)
* 1 pack of ground beef(Weis markdown)
* Hunk of Roast(Food Lion markdown)
* Ground Pork(Food Lion markdown)

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* Red pepper strips
* 2 bags of Chicken Pasta meal

Between 2 smallish trips to Weis, a small trip to the Shursave Market, buying 3 loaves of bread at the Bread Outlet and getting some produce at Malacari's produce market the food spending last week came to $93.96 and my March grand total came in at $356.83.
Onward and upward to April's grocery spending.  8-)

My savings percentage last week was 55.25%(without Rite-Aid trips)and March's monthly savings total came to 50.80%(w/out R-A). 

Being as it's the first of April, I have 30 more food shopping/spending days in this month.

Let's talk food waste now.  Ugh!  My daughter did a whole lot of cooking the first few days we were gone.....turkey meatloaf, turkey meatballs, a turkey casserole.  They only ate this stuff for a few days so we came home to a massive turkey casserole still in the fridge.  Add in the bits and pieces of stuff that was in the fridge when we left(a pork chop w/green bean risotto, corned beef, cabbage and carrots, sweet potato casserole, dirty rice w/chorizo, mac and cheese, etc.)that they didn't think to eat in the last 2 weeks and instead used the grocery $$ to buy take-out.  It just made me sick how much got thrown out.  We were able to salvage a bit of it thankfully.

Due to this and my daughter's revised eating plan I am rethinking what I cook and how much I make yet again.  More on that at a later time.

Leftovers going into this week....1 helping of chicken stir-fry w/noodles, 2 helpings of Goulash.

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

1. Sunday---Meatloaf, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

2. Monday-Chicken Queso skillet Casserole, Corn

3. Tuesday--Chicken Sausages, Harvard Beets, Pierogi

4. Wednesday--Birthday Meal Out

5. Thursday--Ravioli, Chicken Parm

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 1 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.  I'm trying to use up some pantry/freezer foodstuffs this week, including the Pierogies, Beets, Corn, Ravioli and that darn boxed chicken Queso Casserole thing. lolz

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing.  I have everything I need here.  Lots of veg and meats in the freezer.  I'll be buying milk and a few staples we are out of this week(and maybe a couple of freebies/almost freebies).

I made a Weis run Saturday which goes under my April spending which I'll start reporting on next Monday.  We ended March w/$356.83 in food spending. 

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  

Alka-Seltzer Can Kiss My Big White A&&!

So let's go back to February for the full story here.

Alka-Seltzer introduced a new cold/flu item, this one.............

Cough & Mucus DM variety.  Item had to be purchased between Feb. 3rd-24th and information submitted by March 10th.
So I bought it on 17 February and sent photos of the receipt and UPC on the package as required on 18 Feb. and then I waited for my rebate check.
And waited.

On March 20th I received an email from Alka-Seltzer that said.........

Thank you for participating in the Alka-Seltzer Plus 12 Hr. Cough/Mucus Tmf Program. Unfortunately, we are unable to process your request for the following reason(s):

• We are unable to view the image that you uploaded. Please review your image for clarity and resubmit.

Thank you for your interest in this offer.

As long as the offer is available, you may resubmit online.

What a crock of shit!!

Wait until TEN DAYS AFTER the submission deadline to let me know you couldn't read my image?!?

And then have the gaul to say I can resubmit it when you know darn well the deadline had passed TEN DAYS BEFORE YOU EMAILED ME about my submission!?  You had my submission since Feb. 18th and didn't say anything until it's too late to resubmit my image?

Assholes......

Of course, I still have that receipt and guess where my unopened  package of Alka-Seltzer Cough & Mucus DM is now?

Back in the Rite-Aid store and I've got the Bonus Cash I spend on it back in my account.

Alka-Seltzer/Bayer is now on Sluggy's shit list and will be getting a snail mail letter.

Did you submit for this offer and have a problem getting your refund?

Mad as Hell and Not Taking It Anymore Sluggy  8-(((

2019 Food & Toiletry Spending.......the March Report

Onward to March's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2019.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4-5(2-4 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $4.00
Value  $13.37
Savings  70.08%

FOOD LION
OOP  $32.00
Value  $46.02
Savings  30.47%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $12.33
Value  $27.51
Savings  55.18%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $9.77
Value  $26.93
Savings  63.72%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Visa Prepaid Rewards  $604.17
Value  $604.17
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS
OOP  $34.17
Qs/Ads  $19.38
Value  $53.55
Savings  68.25%

WALMART

OOP  $26.85

Qs/Ads  $4.40

Value  $31.25

Savings  14.08%

WEIS
OOP  $237.71
QsAds  $288.88
Value  $526.59
Savings  54.86%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 70.08% and Shursave at 68.25%.  My worst savings rate was at Walmart at 14.08%.

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March.........$356.83

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$360.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$725.22

TOTAL Savings of ................................50.80%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March w/R-A.............$356.83
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$972.52
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1329.35
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................73.16%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
The kids didn't spend much on groceries while we were gone for 2 weeks(they did buy a lot of take-out instead)but I more than made up for it when I got home. lolz  I was still able to stay under $400 for the month with $43.17 to spare and that includes all the groceries I bought on vacation-both to eat then and the good deals I brought home.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 17.40% in March 2019 to 73.16% compared to the February  90.56% savings average.  February's percentage was a bit of an anomaly plus I had to buy groceries at Walmart in March on vacation and they are far from the best deal overall.
Plus the Rite-Aid haul in March wasn't as big so that kept my savings percentage down too.


With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1146.31 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$1146.31

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$7048.92

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$5902.61

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............86.20%

The average per month amount spent so far is $382.10 in 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD To April 2019.......

Well our Easter dinner plans are up in the air so far.  We may be going to Jersey to eldest son's GF's parents gathering for Easter.  In that case I'll need to bring a dish or two and won't be cooking Easter dinner or having Hub's relatives over.  Not hosting will bring my April spending down a bit. 
Also bringing my April spending down will be the annual Target gift card deal that happens before Easter(Spend $50/Get $10 Target Gift Card)and I can use my free Target gift cards and/or my 10% off discounted gift cards I bought before Xmas to do this deal.  At any rate I'll pair Qs and sales to get some cheapy foodstuffs in the coming weeks when that Deal rolls around.  This will help bring my monthly spending lower(I hope).
At any rate, I hope to stay under that magic $400 threshold in April for food and toiletries.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the March 29th Edition

Still trying to get a handle on life after vacation here but we had a few frugal wins this past week.........


*  Last Friday we left Chesapeake to see my son in Fredericksburg, VA.  I hit a Rite-Aid along the way for some of that mascara and toothpaste I posted about the other day so you don't need a recap of all that. lolz

*  Once we got to F'burg I took my son out to Weis(PMITA)Markets so we could pick up dinner.  Weis advertised as part of their Fantastic Friday sale Freschetta pizzas for $1.77 each.  When we got to the store they had posted on the door where the pizza was that the $1.77 price was an error and they should be $3.99 each so not to excellent deal it was suppose to be.  We still bought 2 pizzas, while I grumbled the entire time. lolz  The first pizza DID ring up for $1.77(since they advertised it at this price, per Weis policy they had to sell you one for $1.77)but the second pizza rang up $3.99. Boo.
Still paying for 2 take-out pizzas or going out for 2 pizzas would have been much more than the $5.76 I spent.

*  While in Weis I also picked up the Friday Freebie and left at son's apartment for them to eat.
Didn't take a photo of it before we left so here's a graphic of the item. ;-)

*  On Saturday after visiting a winery we took son and GF out to eat for lunch.

 I had $50 in Dickey's Barbecue gift cards and our Dickey's closed up at home the month after I bought them(my luck, right?lol)so we used the gift cards to treat the kids.  My son paid whatever was left on the bill after that $50.

*  On the way home on Sunday we stopped at a Food Lion along the way and I picked up some reduced meats.  I found a penny leaving the store.   When I checked my receipt in the car I saw one of the items scanned the reg. price bar code and not the reduced price code so back into the store I went and got $1.23 back to tuck into my grocery refund monies envie at home.
I also found a dime on my second trip out of that store. 8-)

*  We also stopped at a Weis(PMITA)Markets in West Virginia.  I picked up 2 packs of Perdue refrigerated chicken nuggets on sale 40% off plus they each had a $1 instant discount sticker on them, making them $1.40 each.  Also picked up were some discontinued Seltzers for .50¢ too. 
WV grocery stores carry wine/beer and this store had a WV local wine on clearance for $4.99 a bottle.  It would have been something my brother would like so I was going to pick it up for him for Xmas but stoopid WV has Sunday laws that they can't sell wine/beer until 1 pm in the afternoon and it was 12:45am when we were there.  I wasn't about to stand around and wait 15 minutes to give WV my money(the tax $ part of the sale)so we left the wine there.
Stoopid laws.......
I also found a penny in that Weis.

*  We stopped at an Ollie's outside Harrisburg to check their clearance too.  I found a bag of candy 50% off...slim pickings in that store on clearance.  But I did find 2 more pennies and left 1 penny which was under the counter(it was stuck and I couldn't "unstick" it lolz).

Total cash found and brought home on Sunday.....14¢

*  Hubs and I went out to lunch one day this past week and used an Applebee's gift card bought last year so no OOP in 2019 for that meal.  Believe me, we spent enough the last 2 weeks on meals. 8-(

*  While on our day out we hit the Bread Outlet since I haven't been in about a month..........

$4 OOP for these 3 bread products. 
You can see one of the loaves has already been hit hard. lol

*  I hit Weis(PMITA)Markets at home and did the Mix and Match, Buy 6/Get $3 Back Deal....

2 x MC tv dinners
1 x Celentano ravioli
2 x Birds Eye chicken meal bags
1 x Kleenex 3 pack tissues
Reg. price......$24.14
Subtotal w/sale prices....$20.45
Qs used.......$4.50
Mix and Match Deal.....$3

$20.45-7.50=$12.95 for those 6 items.
I also earned $2 back on Ibotta for the Kleenex(.75¢), the Ravioli($1)and .25¢ for buying any item at Weis so $10.95 OOP in the end so $1.83 per item.  Not a great deal but pretty good.

I also picked up 8 more Ragu pasta sauces for .39¢ after doubled Qs, 12 more cans of Hormel chili for $1.45 per can after doubled Qs and a couple more free Oh! yogurts after doubled Qs.
The chili also earned me this...........

A $5 OYNO Catalina good on anything at Weis.  I have 2 weeks to use it.

*  I also found 2 pennies on that trip to Weis........

* While we were away this arrived in the mail...........

A 10% off coupon.  I guess I spent a bit of $$ at Ollie's on our vacation, enough to earn this. lolz
It's good until the middle of June plus I am awaiting a 15% off coupon Ollie's sends out to Ollie Army members every Spring/Easter.

That's it for me this past week.
What frugal wins did y'all have??


Sluggy

February 2019 Goals Outcome....At Last!

I know it's waaaay late but life and then a vacation got in the way of getting this done. lolz
Here's how I did on the February Goals.......if anyone cares.........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid and early or on time.
Go me. 8-)

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

"Depression Era Wisdom-Simple Ways to Stretch Your Dollars" by Mary Wynn Ryan

This book was pretty much a waste of my time since most of what's in here I practice or know about already.  It's a good thing it was a thin volume! lolz
Anyway, there are some good tips in here and if someone doesn't already practice frugality or is young this would be worth reading(but I wouldn't buy it, find one in your library).

And this one............

"Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole" by Sheldon Bart.

Given that Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd is my cousin(12th cousin 2 x removed to be exact), and that Hubs gifted me this book for Christmas, I needed to read it.
This was a very interesting read, covering only a portion(but a large portion)of Byrd's adventures/explorations.  Luck was truly with him as he avoided some lethal voyages and choices during this exciting time of world exploration.  I had no idea that the 1910's through 1930's was such a hotbed of global adventure and many nations racing around to be the first to get to/claim somewhere or other!
This book only touches  briefly on the whole controversy about who was first and if Byrd and Bennett actually arrived at the true North Pole....that would need another book to expand upon that whole issue. lolz

Richard Byrd led quite the exciting life and in hindsight turned out to be of sterner character than others of his era/ilk(Yeah, I'm looking at you Charles Lindbergh!).
It took this reader a lot of time to slog through this large volume but it was worth my time.
If you enjoy biography, history and Polar exploration, read this one.
Two thumbs up!


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

*  Mail Giveaway  DONE  Mailed and received promptly.

*  Plan Winter Holiday  DONE  Finally got the last of it planned and we are back already. lolz

* Do Taxes and File Them  DONE  Hubs has taken over doing the taxes since retiring.  This year our taxes were not complicated(except for the house sale in LA)so we didn't have to pay for TurboTax or any other software purchase to complete and send them in.  He was able to file electronically for free the federal taxes and we expect a refund.  We had to file state taxes in PA and LA(crooks!)and I had to write two checks to cover what we owe to those states.
I got Hubs the info. I needed to and he sat on it all for what seemed like ages before starting them.  With me, I gather the info and "get 'er done"!  With him, it's a "process" and takes him weeks.  sigh  But it's done now.

*  Pack for Trip  DONE  Packing was tricky in terms of weather and what was forecast so I really over packed so I didn't run out of appropriate clothing or have to do laundry or wash things out in the sink.  I packed up some goodies to take to certain folks early and had that finished well before Feb. was over.

*  Open Ally Account  DONE  I finally got around to opening up an account with Ally Bank.  I moved some cash there and plan to set up a CD in March as they have the highest rates at the current time.

*  Cash in CD  DONE  Our CD at Capital One matured toward the end of February and instead of rolling it over we cashed it out so as to move it to Ally once the cash hit our B&M bank.  I also finally but Hubs on the accounts there.  When they were set up years ago I put them in just my name and man!, was it a big old PITA to get him on those accounts now.  He had to set up a checking/debit account in his name since he didn't have a CapOne account of any kind.  Then it was a couple of phone calls to them to get him put on those accounts. Geesh!

*  Open new CD  FAIL  Didn't happen in February due to the $$ moving into our B&M bank.  The timing didn't work out to get this done before the end of the month but it happened early March.

Not a lot of my list for February but most of it got done.


Sluggy