This Week on the Dining Table

The "It's a Week Late" Edition....

Above is my plate from our Easter dinner(sans deviled eggs). I forgot to share this last Monday.....
We still have heaps of food from that meal leftover so it will figure largely into this week's menu.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday---Ham, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, Deviled Eggs, Rolls, Apple Pie(Easter)

2. Monday-Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--French Onion Soup or Leftovers

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday---Ham, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, Deviled Eggs, Rolls, Apple Pie(Easter)

2. Monday-Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Shrimp Stir-fry w/Noodles

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Steak, Tossed Salad, Baked Potatoes

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 4 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.  
We were able to dig through the bulk of the leftovers from last week(and some from the week before) this past week.  After 3 nights in a row of leftovers though, "leftover fatigue" hit us(and most of the leftovers were gone except for the Easter dinner items)so I cooked 2 nights and we got another leftover night in between those 2 cooked meals.
I am calling this week a success in the using stuff up column. ;-)

What got put into the freezer last week.....
* 2 packs of corn dogs
* 2 small top round steaks
* 2 bags of shrimp stir-fry

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* 1 bag of shrimp stir-fry

Two small trips to Weis and a trip to the Shurfine market and a small trip to Maines brought the food spending last week to $62.28 and my April total to $387.72.

My savings percentage last week was 45.25%(without Rite-Aid trips)and April's monthly savings total came to 54.06%(w/out R-A). 

I have 2 more food shopping/spending days in April but I am done grocery shopping for the month.

Leftovers going into this week.... potato salad, some barbecue, Cole slaw, ham, green beans, rolls, mac and cheese.

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

1. Sunday--Homemade Pizza, Salad for those that wants it

2. Monday--Mac and Cheese w/Ham and BBQ), leftover Green Beans, leftover rolls

3. Tuesday--More Pizza, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Fajitas, Rice, Beans

5. Thursday--Ham and Beans, leftover rolls

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner(maybe)

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 1 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
We are going to be using up the Easter foods(ham, mac/cheese, green beans)and putting leftover bbq in the freezer. 
Monday....I'll dress up the leftover mac and cheese with more cheese sauce and add bbq and ham bits to it and serve leftover green beans and rolls.
Tuesday....I made a big ball of pizza dough(made 2 large pizzas which are gone already) but I had enough dough left for another large pizza which I'll put together on Tuesday.
Wednesday....I have some red bell peppers that need using thus the early Cinco de Mayo type chicken fajita meal plus chicken will be a welcomed change at that point in the week. lol
Thursday....I'll take the ham bone and some ham and soaked beans and make a pot of ham and beans.  Depending on what we are hungry for it will either be a thick pot of beans and ham(slightly sweetened)or a pot of non-sweet soup/stew...stay tuned.
Friday....can't tell this far out what leftovers will be left or if we'll just do a Fend For Yourself night.  There most probably will be Fajita fixings and ham left(ham sandwiches anyone?).
Saturday....Calls for a change-Breakfast for Dinner or ?

What needs buying for this menu? Nothing except mushrooms(as I put those in Fajitas, yes I am strange that way!lolz).

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  

Frugal Friday.....the April 26th Edition

Let's take a took at the frugal wins we had here at Chez Sluggy this past week.......


*  I got the Weis freebie last Friday.........

a bucket of fake whipped cream.  I'll put this in the freezer so I can use it to make a chocolate peanut butter cream pie this Summer to go with a cook-out.

*  I bought some ramen noodle cups at Weis........

Each one costs .93¢ OOP.  I bought 5 but Ex-College Boy got into them before I got a photo. lolz
I claimed 5 x $1 cash rebates on Ibotta so I got paid .35¢ to bring these home.

This same Ibotta rebate was back in my gallery on Wednesday when I went back to Weis so I did it again.  Another 5 cups and .35¢ back in my pocket.  ;-)

*  I got a $10 certificate to use with my fat lady clothes company.....

It doesn't expire until sometime in July so I'll tuck it back to pick up some clearance clothing then.
It will be enough to cover the shipping on what I buy.

*  I kept from cooking until Thursday and we plowed through TONS of leftovers between Monday through Wednesday.  We are now down to a bit of spaghetti and meatballs(which Hubs will make quick work of!lol)and the Sunday's Easter dinner leftovers.  Thursday made NO leftovers so I'll probably make 2 pizzas tonight, we'll cook steaks out at some point this weekend and then it's back to leftovers again for a couple of days.  Stay tuned.

*  I found some money!

A penny in the parking lot before I went into Rite-Aid early in the week.

*  I found more money inside of Rite-Aid........

A quarter and then another penny near the register counter.  That makes .27¢ this week for the change envelope.  I need a new envelope as this year's is getting too heavy at this point with coins! lolz

*

I already reported on the better than free cosmetic brushes I got at Rite-Aid.  Paid $5.09 in Bonus Cash and earned back $6 in new BC for each 6 I bought.

*  I bit the bullet and bought myself some "real" luggage this past week.  Kohl's had a good deal on this American Tourister stuff so I put it in my online cart and left it there.  I had a $5 reward to use, plus a $10 off $50 Q but I couldn't pull the trigger.

The last night of the sale Kohl's sent me an email for an additional 30% off so I bit.

I got a 20" carry on bag in purple and a 24" bag in lime green(the green bag hasn't gotten here yet so I pulled this image from online to show).
Green and purple, my fav colors!

Both bags came to $359.98 reg. price(but who pays full retail for luggage, right?).
$186.92(w/sales tax)but for $122.41 w/sale prices, discounts, free shipping and reward used.
I also earned $20 in Kohl's Cash which I will be spending as soon as I get this done. ;-)
Oh and I used a rebate portal company to purchase so I'll get a couple of cents on the dollar back in a cash rebate too.  8-))

So that's it from here this past week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?


Sluggy

Should I or Shouldn't I?

I got these two credit card offers in the mail recently, on the same day.

An offer for a Capital One Visa and an offer for a Bank of America Mastercard.
Each came with the incentive of a $150 Cash Bonus if I put $500 worth of charges on the card within the first 3 months of having it.

1 has a permanent 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase and the other has a varying schedule of cash back(between 1 and 3%)depending on where you spend your money.

As for interest rates.....those don't matter to me as we NEVER carry a balance and we don't take cash advances either.
And I am not one of those people who can't resist using a credit card when they can't pay off the balance each cycle.

I don't NEED another credit card(I have two already)so I'd just get these for that $300 cash bonus. 
I know $300 is not much in the scheme of things but still it's free money and that calls my name. lolz

I would cancel the credit cards at some point(whenever it was safe to do so)or maybe keep one of these and cancel one of my other 2 cards, depending on which one was better for my needs.
I don't worry about dinging my credit score at this point in my life as I don't buy anything on credit so don't need to have a high rating really.

So should I get these cards just for the cash or not?

Have you ever gotten a credit card for some incentive?  What did you do if anything?

Sluggy

And the Winners Are.........

So I nabbed Ex-College Boy a little bit ago before he flew out the door to a job interview.
Be thankful he had one today or this post might not have gone live until after 5pm. lololz

He picked the winners by drawing names out of a hat.

For Giveaway #1 for new readers and all non-winners.
The Winner is.........

Crystal K!!!

And for Giveaway #2 for folks who have already won before and folks who sent new readers to enter Giveaway #1.
The Winner is.......

Belinda who blogs at Frugal Workshop!!!

Congratulations to both Crystal K and Belinda! 

Now I need both of you to email me with your full names and mailing addresses.
Belinda I also need to you to give me a list of what you want in your box too. ;-)

And as always thank you to everyone who plays along and everyone who reads this tiny blog(some days I don't know why you do but I am humbled and thankful that y'all do).

And thanks for all the good suggestions y'all sent in with your entries and/or emailed to me.  I'll be going through all those comments/ideas and writing up some stuff in the coming weeks.

Now I am off to the grocery store as it's Wednesday and that's what I do on Wednesday dontchaknow. ;-)

Have a great day everyone!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Post for the Week & The Giveaway Reminder

As requested I am trying to get to Rite-Aid earlier in the week and post about my trip to possibly help those who also "do" Rite-Aid to sniff out what's worth buying there before it's too late to take part in the sales.


The elf brand is "Buy 3 items/Get $3 Bonus Cash"(limit 2 Deals) this week.  This seems to include the make-up brushes and there are some that are regularly $1 each.  If you have the Gold 20% Wellness discount associated with your card, these brushes will be .80¢ each

So here is what I bought on my son's card...........

6 x elf cosmetic brushes assorted $1 ones-20% discount=$4.80+.29¢ tax=$5.09 paid for with Bonus Cash.
$6 in new Bonus Cash(2 x $3 BC elf)was earned back.
This purchase grew my BC by .91¢ and rolled $5.09 worth of existing BC.
If your state doesn't have sales tax your deal will be a bit better than mine(like .29¢ better lolz).

I bought 6 more elf brushes on my daughter's card...........

Rinse and repeat......$5.09 paid for with Bonus Cash and $6 in new Bonus Cash earned.

This deal doesn't require any coupons.  It's pretty straight forward and all the $1 cosmetic brushes my store had worked on this deal.

If you don't use make-up and don't need make-up brushes(or don't have giveaway boxes to stock lol)you could always tuck these back for gifting or find a women's shelter or a non-profit that helps women seek employment(and stocks clothing/toiletries to give to women)and take them there.

Also I noticed my store had quite a few clearance tags....items at 50% or 75% off.  I found most of them in the food section and the stationery/school supplies section(along with all the Easter products being 50% off too).  Be sure and check your store aisles for some cheap items.

So there you go......an early in the week post for a simple Deal anybody near a Rite-Aid can partake in.   ;-)

And speaking of Giveaways.............today is the last day to enter my April Giveaways.
Go HERE and please make sure you include or you email me your contact information(at least the email addy associated with your name)in your entry if you aren't on my Giveaway Master List.
At least one person has entered under "anonymous" with no name or anything identifying in the comment.  If I don't have your info. you can NOT win!!!
Please, please, PLEASE put your email information in your comment or email me privately(arcure-at-ptdprolog-dot-net)your info.
Drawing of the 2 winners sometime tomorrow when I can rouse Ex-College Boy out of bed to pick the names.  8-)

Sluggy