Frugal Friday.....the May 3rd Edition

Taking a look around Chez Sluggy and here's what "frugaliciousness" I see.............

*  Y'all already saw the Rite-Aid haul for this week......

Nothing OOP, just burning some Bonus Cash.

*  Plus a couple of freebies from Rite-Aid............

*  I also walked out from Rite-Aid with this...........

$5 in cash for $5 in Coupons from the 'mangled by the cashier' transaction.  8-))
And speaking of money.........

*  I found money too!

A penny leaving the Rite-Aid parking lot last Friday.

A nickel in the washing machine.  I claim all laundry money...lol

Another penny at Rite-Aid in front of the register counter another day.

And a penny in the nasty parking lot of the Weis in the city North of here.

*  I got some deals at Weis.  Here are the ones worth noting.........

At a Weis in a city nearby I found these on sale for 3/$2.  Cost OOP was $3.34 for all 5 and I got back $5 in Ibotta rebates so a $1.66 moneymaker.  Even if Ex-College Boy doesn't want all these I can haul what's left to the Food Bank. ;-)

I did the .88¢ items when you buy in groups of 8 Deal one time.  4 x Lipton rice sides, 2 small cans of pineapple and 2 Powerades came to $7.04 except I had a .65¢/2 Dole pineapple Q(good on this small size can)which doubled to $1.30 off so I paid $5.74 or .71¢+ for each item.

Weis brand cheese was $1.97 each when you buy 2.  I bought two, $3.94.  I had a .75¢/1 Weis cheese Q that they snail mailed me so all totaled the cheese cost me $1.22 a bag.

The Lebanon bologna was $6 and had a $3 off discount meat sticker on it so half price at $3. 
The OM lunch meat meat was on sale at $3.50 and had a $2 discount sticker so $1.50 out the door.  The Smithfield "Prime" brand of ham lunch meat was on sale BOGOFree(reg. price of $6 each)and each had a $3 meat discount sticker on them so FREE!!!  (The Prime ham is in the freezer now slated to go into a Chicken Cordon Bleu dish in the future.)

*  I think it was on Saturday I got a notice about texting a word to Lowe's for a $Mystery amount Coupon.  The amount ranged from $5 to $500.  I got a $10 one good on anything in the store but had to be used that day.  Hubs went up to Lowe's and got new metal tents that go over the gas jets in the gas grill which were sorely in need of replacing.  They were $10 each and we needed 3 so it was still worth going to use it as it saved us 1/3 of the cost of the items.  8-)

*  I received $11.20 in digital cash rebates between Saving Star and Ibotta this week. 8-)

That's about it for here this week.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?



Sluggy

2019 Food & Toiletries Spending......the April Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2019.

I have posted April'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 April.  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(4 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $7.79
Value  $41.92
Savings  81.42%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $35.48
Value  $72.52
Savings  51.08%

CVS
OOP  $2.42
Ads/Qs  $31.62
Value  $34.04
Savings  92.89%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $5.00
Value  $13.25
Savings 62.26%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $10.36
Value  $19.80
Savings  47.68%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Visa Prepaid Rewards  $261.60
Value  $261.60
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS
OOP  $29.42
Qs/Ads  $22.71
Value  $52.13
Savings  43.56%

WALMART

OOP  $22.48

Value  $39.63

Savings  43.28%

WEIS
OOP  $274.77
QsAds  $362.57
Value  $637.34
Savings  56.89%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the CVS at 92.89% and the Bread Outlet at 81.42%.  My worst savings rate was at Walmart with 43.28%.  Worst rate over 40%?  That's a ok with me! ;-)

I shopped at 9 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March.........$387.72

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$456.21

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$843.93

TOTAL Savings of ................................54.06%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March w/R-A.............$387.72
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$717.81
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1,105.53
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................64.93%

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Well we stayed under the $400 budget with $12.28 to spare.   I thought we'd do a bit better but then the Target Deal they ALWAYS have before Thanksgiving and Easter on food(Spend $50/Get $10 Gift Card)didn't happen this year so I didn't "deploy" my free Target gift cards(or the discounted ones either)so I didn't shop there for food(or anything else for that matter).  Not complaining(ok, maybe just a little bit)and it's all good since we stayed under budget.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 8.23 % in April 2019 to 64.93% compared to the March 73.16% savings average.
Plus the Rite-Aid haul in April was quite small so that kept my savings percentage down too.


With 4 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1534.03 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$1534.03

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$8154.45

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$6620.42

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............81.19%

The average per month amount spent so far is $383.51 in 2019.

LOOKING AHEAD To May 2019.......
May is going to be a strange month.  First off there is Mother's Day.  We don't go out then but I ain't cooking either so who knows what will happen! lolz  Will they buy groceries that I have to account for? or get take-out which doesn't come out of the grocery budget?....stay tuned.

Daughter is also leaving in May and there is a graduation.  She doesn't want us to take her out for a graduation dinner(she and her BF are going out instead).  The BF will be here from late Friday night until they drive off on Sunday so I am not planning on extra groceries to feed him.....we'll just make do with what is here.

After they leave I am going on a diet of sorts.  The reason why is to reset my metabolism, jump start my new eating plan and do some allergy testing for my HS.  I will be on a very restrictive food eating plan for at least 2 weeks to flush my system and then who knows how long this will take(the allergy testing, etc.)  This could go terribly wrong or be great but either way I won't be cooking for the folks here and they both will be on their own to make food.  I am hoping they eat up what is here so I don't know what I'll be buying this month after the 18th, or what the cost will end up being but I hope to stay under that magic $400 threshold in May 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 April?

*  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

Wellness Wednesday Rite-Aid Stuff

May is the second month now when there were no Load2Card Wellness Wednesday Only coupons again.
sigh.

No more wonderful opportunities to stack both L2C WWQs with the paper WWQs in the store(+ ManuQs for items if available)for overage and lots of freebies anymore.

I never understood why R-A made the WWQs digital anyway.  I know there are many Senior Citizens who are computer savvy but I think the last age group a company would go after with techy Qs would be this age category? ;-)

I got a couple freebies on the WW table when I went into the store...........

a sample of a new Band-Aid product and 2 samples of a L'Oreal cream w/Qs.
In other news our Wellness Ambassador is moving to Texas!  I doubt she will be replaced with a new Wellness Ambassador so the paper WWQs may be a thing of the past once she leaves.
She's a great person but she's leaving the state for new opportunities.  I am sad to see her go but I wish her all the best.  8-)))

Anyway I figured out a couple of things that would be a moneymaker on Wellness Wednesday so I bought this...........

2 x Thermacare on sale BOGO50%=$11.38
2 x Centrum on sale BOGO50%=$19.03
SubTotal.............$30.41

Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 Thermacare IPQ=$6.00
2 x $3/1 Thermacare WWQ=$6.00
2 x $2/1 Centrum IPQ=$4.00
2 x $4/1 Centrum WWQ=$8.00
Coupon Total.....$24.00

$30.41-$24.00=$6.41 OOP paid with Bonus Cash and earned $10 in new BC(these items were part of a Deal this week "Spend $30/Get $10 in BC".

Except, something went very wrong.
I had $11.71 in BC on this card and I think the cashier hit the "use my points" button on the register before she finished scanning all my Qs.  At some point I was left still holding 3 of my Qs and the cashier was telling me I owed $1.70 cash as she had applied ALL my BC already.
WTF?!?

So I added a candy bar(.59¢)and my total was $2.29 and she took another $2/1 Q to use.  My total was now .29¢OOP and I still had $5 in Qs yet to use.
I paid the .29¢ w/one of my many R-A gift cards and went to find the manager.

We put our heads together and yep, the cashier had "prematurely ejaculated my Bonus Cash" onto this transaction and had used all the BC before using all my Qs. lolz

Instead of returning everything and re-ringing the transaction I had planned to do, she just went ahead and did a "post coupon" sale for my $5 in Qs and handed me the cash.

So my transaction looked like this in the end..........

I paid $11.71 in BC, .29¢ on a gift card and got back $10 in new Bonus Cash and $5 in cash for the Qs not used.
I will also get $5 in cash rebates on Saving Star($3 Thermacare, $2 Centrum)for buying 1 of each of these items which makes me $8 ahead in the end on this.

($12 total in BC/gift card spent, $10 in new BC earned, $5 for Qs, $5 in cash rebates=$8 overage)

Oh how I will miss those Wellness Wednesday of the good ol' days......*sniff, sniff*


Sluggy

P&G Rebate Done!

I was wrong about the "Get $15 When You Spend $50 on Select P&G Products" Rebate.  It ends April 30th not sometime in May.  You have until sometime in May to mail it in so I was under the gun to get my qualifying products purchased.

Luckily Rite-Aid has a "Spend $40/Get $20 Bonus Cash on select P&G items" Deal this week and some of those same  items also overlapped with the P&G mail-in rebate.

I went into Tuesday with $17.68 in qualifying purchases(after Qs were deducted).

So I bought this............

2 x Olay Body Wash BOGO50%=$12.73

6 x Pantene Products on sale $3.99=$23.94

1 x Tide detergent on sale=$5.94 *not qualifying for the rebate*

SubTotal........$42.61

Coupons Used.....

2 x $1/1 Olay Body Wash ManQ=$2.00

2 x $5/3 Pantene ManQ=$10.00

1 x $2/1 Tide Manuq=$2.00

Coupon Total.........$14.00

$42.61-$14.00=$28.61+ $1.72 tax=$30.33 paid for with Bonus Cash and Rite-Aid gift card.

I earned back $20 in new Bonus Cash.

I also earned $24.67 more toward the main-in rebate so $42.35 of the $50 in qualifying items after Qs.

So I bought these on a different card(as it doesn't qualify for the R-A P&G "Spend $40/Get $20 BC" Deal but does qualify for the mail-in P&G rebate...........

2 x Head and Shoulders on sale=$11.98

I used 1 x $3/2 H&S ManQ so paid $8.98 in Bonus Cash.

That put me at $51.33 in spending for the mail-in rebate so I spent $39.31 in BC and gift card this go round.

I earned $20 in new BC and $15 in prepaid debit card(mail-in rebate).

This means I spent down script by $4.31 overall and have 11 products I brought home for that $4.31 spend down.

Now I just have to fill out the form, circle receipts and not forget to mail this all in before the deadline......easier said than done with me! lolz

Sluggy

So Much To Do! Here's My Elephant.

With Daughter moving out on May 19th(less than 3 weeks from now), we are in a holding pattern on home repairs/renovations until then.
This doesn't mean I can't take this couple of weeks to plan how to attack this elephant and what we will do and in what order these things will get done.

Over the past month I've been searching the house(other than her room)for Daughter's stuff that she is taking with her to Louisiana.  Here are the things I've found and gathered in the living room so far(not the turquoise book and the purple items under it).  This is hardly everything-the hanging torture rack takes up the whole side of the living room behind me from where I was standing taking this photo, the huge dog crate which her dog never uses is taking up 1/8 of the den floor space, there's a "dreadmill" folded up but still taking up lots of space in the garage(and blocking access to some of Hubs garage cabinets), a metal trash can full of her dog's food also in the garage, the automotive tools and such her Fiance left in the shed, plus everything in her bedroom. 

The only thing I think I'll miss is her portable deep fryer(makes some tasty pork tenderloins and shrimp tempura).lolz

So here are the things that will get done once Daughter leaves.  It's a big old game of Dominoes really. ;-)


*  Her old room gets cleaned(clear out furniture/vacuum/shampoo the carpeting/clean walls/trim/ceiling/ceiling fan/dressers she isn't taking.)  Then EX-CB moves in his crap and takes that room.  He was planning on moving out within the next few months but then the new job search happened so that's delayed.

* After EXCB vacates his room, rinse and repeat cleaning that bedroom(clear out furniture/vacuum/shampoo carpeting/clean walls, trim, ceiling, ceiling fan/dresser.  Then I am painting that room(hasn't been painted since 2005).  Once we get the room cleared out we can evaluate whether carpeting needs replacing.

*  Once that bedroom is cleaned out and up I can move all my crap into there-a combination of sewing crap and toiletries stockpile(what doesn't fit into upstairs hallway closet).

                 Hubs "man cave" aka the room of toiletries/books/fabric/brewing equipment.

*  Once my crap is out of Hubs' room then we clear that bedroom out and rinse and repeat all the cleaning/fixing.  This bedroom will definitely be getting new paint and carpet(original carpet from before the previous owner we bought from in 2000 so very old and nasty rug).
Hubs puts his room back together.

      One side of the master bedroom where a coffee table(Hubs refuses to get rid of)and a plastic etagere are stacked with my fabric stash(well, some of it).  Also I've got piles of clothing sitting there as well.

* Once all these bedrooms are done we can attack the master bedroom, the whole cleaning deal including the furniture.  We will be getting a new mattress and bed frame(adjustable one). 

* Also on my plate is the master bedroom walk-in closet.  I've used that closet to hold, besides clothing, some out of season clothing, my Xmas gift boxes(shopping all year round does have it's downsides in that you need places to keep all the things you are gifting until Dec. lol), as well as the bulk of the family photo albums.  I have NOT done the seasonal clothing change out from there yet because of the upcoming Domino game of cleaning/sorting.....I want to get it all done at once.

*  Then we can move on to the upstairs hallway.  Cleaning and clearing it.  We need to have someone come in and fix the drywall and finish painting the hallway(where I couldn't reach-especially the stair well).

* This leaves the laundry room and the main upstairs bathroom to fix/redo, both of which will wait until EX-CB moves out or we set a date to move from this house.(Update-EX-CB may be moving out before the year is out.  He wants to move but this leaving his job/finding a new job has delayed his move-out time table.)

These few projects, along with a few others, will keep us busy for most of the rest of the year.

The expenses on all this?
Paint supplies, carpeting and installation, paying for someone to fix and paint the upstairs hallway.  I'v got tons of cleaning supplies already so the rest is just physical labor which Hubs and I can handle.  Carpet(if only 1 small bedroom needs it)and paint will come in around $600 and no clue on having someone drywall/paint hallway.  The mattress/bed frame will cost about $1500.  I'm "optimistically" thinking of keeping all this under $3K total.
The big expense will be the main bathroom redo and isn't happening this year.  Perhaps next year so it's not THAT far down the road and once we get all this finished we need to start planning for that project(planning for the outlay and who we'll contract with to do the job like we did the master bathroom a few years ago).

So besides our trip to New Hampshire in June, this and the garden and Chester and other home projects will keep us busy and at home most of the Summer. 

It is feeling overwhelming right now but we'll take it one step at a time until it's all done...plus with Hubs retired most of it won't be left to me to do. 
Like the old saying, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time." 8-)

I'll share photos, progress reports and more laments as work begins in May.

Have you got home projects planned for this Summer?  Tell us about it.

Sluggy