Frugal Friday............the May 31st Edition

Not much going on around here this week except lots of storms and rain.

Oh, and two days of tornado warnings...eek!

We didn't go much of anywhere(Rite-Aid, Ollie's, Weis, Red Robin and meet-ups with buyers)and spent the week cleaning and decluttering mostly but we still had a few wins........


* Hubs picked up the Friday Freebie last week at Weis(PMITA)Markets.....

a can of wet dog food.
Whoopee....but still something Chester might enjoy. ;-)

* I found money!

.06¢ at Rite-Aid when I went in to pick up an Rx.

And .03¢ at Ollie's by the bubble gum machines on my way out.

*  I sold more diapers this past week......

6 more packages last Friday............

And 4 more packages on Tuesday.
That makes $50 this past week, $30 the week before and $35 the week before that one so $115 in sales for May for things I got for free at Rite-Aid.

I don't put these sales toward the grocery spending for the year like my other "small economies" but put it aside to use at my discretion.
Woot!

* Hubs went on Monday and used my .30¢ worth of gas points and filled up his car.

*  I used some cheap canned peaches and pantry items I had to make a Peach Cobbler for Memorial Day dinner.............

*  Hubs and I hadn't been out to eat in awhile so we went to Red Robin when running errands on Thursday.

We got that tower of onion rings something we've never gotten there but have wanted to try.  It was yummy.
Thursdays in May at Red Robin have been Throwback Prices meaning select items on their menu were 1990's pricing.  The onion rings were part of the pricing so now you know why we finally got those. lolz

The onion rings were $3 off, the RR beer Hubs ordered was $3.99 off and the Bacon Cheeseburger I ordered was $3.99 off.  Of course Hubs had to be a jerk and order a burger that was regular price because I was paying. lolz

Here's what our bill came to before the Throwback Thursday discounts.  It was over $38 for 2 burgers, a beer and onion rings.......eek!

And here's what we paid.............

$10.98(plus the tax on that amount)less due to the sale so $27.43.
And I used a gift card bought last year or the year before(I can't remember which)to pay.

That's about it from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?



Sluggy

Random Things Lately

Here's a post about my thoughts on random ideas floating around in my head and comments on photos on my camera roll.
There might be a gem or two among them all or not, you decide.  ;-)

* Janie asked about Gouverneer Morris and the use of a whalebone as a catheter--if that was a common homemade remedy at that time.
Though I am no expert on Colonial era medicine(such that it was)I suspect that among learned circles at that time, this may have been a known possible course to clear a blocked urethra in a man.  To me, the thought of inserting a hollow bone(no matter how slim)into my penis just makes me shudder and I'd say it would also affect most men in the same way too.  But in the days before surgical cures for internal distress this might have been looked upon as a last resort of treatment.  Maybe.....

But, I suspect that there was a lot of DYI surgery and medical treatments going on during Morris' era.  Firstly, just finding a "doctor" in America may have been difficult depending on your location.  Morris may have had access to one being as he was in a settled area but if you were beyond the coastal regions in what would be termed a "wilderness" area you were on your own.

And if you know anything about the history of the practice of applied medicine you know that "modern" medicine only dates back to barely a couple of centuries beyond our current time.  The practice of medicine is barely out of it's infancy in many ways in 2019.  The book I read on The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 was eye opening in this regard.  Also my visit to the Apothecary Shop of Dr. Hugh Mercer who practiced his craft in the mid 1700's in Fredericksburg Virginia pre-Revolutionary War was enlightening.
Remember that back in these American Colonial times doctors were treating people with leeches and bleeding as a way to restore the four humors in the body and a doctor was responsible for killing George Washington in this way.

* I took this photo of the box one of my pieces of luggage I recently purchased came in............

It reads, "CAUTION: DO NOT WITH SHARP INSTRUMENT".
My reply, "I CAN'T EVEN!"

*  Here's an item I noticed in Rite-Aid last month when I got paid to take all those ELF brushes home...........

Clear Mascara.
I had never even heard of clear mascara before seeing this.  Why would anyone other than someone who was an Albino use clear mascara?? lolz  Well I googled it and there are uses for it, though making your lashes appear longer, the obvious use for mascara, isn't one of them.
Just proves you can learn something new every day.

*  And speaking of drugstores............
I've been having to peruse the CVS ads seeing as I still have ECBs to use.  I hate CVS ads!  It's so difficult to figure out a scenario to do a deal using their weekly ads because nothing is organized in a way to make sense.  My brain spins like a loading internet page that refuses to complete looking at their ads.
And this makes me insane too.........

When they have a Deal where you have to buy 3 items to get the ECBs but the sale is a BOGO50% off.  I can handle this at Rite-Aid since on the third item I'd get a 20% Wellness discount but not at CVS.  I'd have to buy 4 to get 50% off 2 of the items but pay full price for the other 2 and I am buying ONE MORE THAN I NEED TO TO DO THIS DEAL which means I am spending WAAAAY too much money on this!
It just makes me gnash my teeth.

*  And speaking of CVS I started watching this Vlogger as she does a CVS deals rundown since I still have ECBs to use.  I noticed that she looks and sounds like someone I've met!

At least to me, the "Savvy Coupon Shopper" is pretty much a doppelganger for SAM the blogger. lolz

*  I thought this was cute.  It was the paper on the sample size ice cream cones DQ gave out for free back in March while we were on vacation...........

"I am a Coneacopia of Happiness."


*  The Rhododendron bush is finally in bloom.  Too bad it waited until after Daughter's graduation to blossom fully.

*  I am so OVER selling locally on the FaceBook sites here.  Ok, let me rephrase that...I am so over dealing with the people who also use that selling sites to buy.

Can someone please just tell me one thing..........What is wrong with people???

My ads are very brief  and to the point, but include all the pertinent information needed.
I have been selling diapers and pull-ups of which I have various sizes.  I state what I have, what sizes, how many I have, the price and where I will meet.  I also say I update the post as soon as something is PENDING or SOLD and remove it if sold.

Invariably someone will message me and ask, "Is this available?"  That's it.  Well, I can't tell you if "IT" is available if I don't know what "IT" you are interested in buying! lolz  Let me just state for the record that this is maddening!!!

I also had someone ask me, "Until when is the size XX pending".  I said, "Until they pay me."  Right?  This bitch flipped out on me and called me a few choice words such that I had to block her. lol

Then I had the one who messaged me in SPANISH?!  What do I do with that?  OMG, I don't speak Spanish. lolz
Someone writes an ad in English please reply to it in English.....this is NE PA not San Diego CA.  If you read it(in English)you must understand some English so respond in English even if it's broke and I can work with you.  That's just common courtesy.

But the best one is the one who was going to meet me just off the interstate exit, 5 miles from my house, as they were passing by on the interstate down to go camping south of here on Friday and gave me a window of between 4 and 4:30 pm.  So I asked her to text when it got close to the time whether she was going to be there closer to 4 or 4:30 as I didn't want to be sitting for 30+ waiting on her, which was agreeable to her.

So I load up the car with her pull-ups, turned on the car and at 3:45 I sent her a text asking if she was going to be there at 4 or later before I actually drove to the meet-up spt.

I get this reply, "Wont be that way til tomorrow".

No "I'm sorry", no details on when tomorrow or anything else, etc.
And would she have even texted me she wasn't coming today if I hadn't asked first?!?  So rude.

So I replied, "If you want them tomorrow you'll have to come to my house.  It's 5 miles off the exit. LMK".
Of course I didn't hear back from her, not that I'd have responded if she had. lolz

And to piss me off worse, her Avatar or whatever you call her photo on Facebook is a selfie with mouse ears on it.
Grow up people!


*  Hubs and I went to the Amish Grocery Outlet recently.  It's fun to poke around in there as you find interesting food items sometimes.

I had to pose with this pickle item because well, I AM a Hot Mama. teehee

And Hubs found this can of brains.....pork brains to be specific and with milk gravy.
Um, no thank you.
My mother would have been all over this item putting it into a plate of scrambled eggs.  She actually did this on one occasion without letting us know of the "secret ingredient".  meh.

*  The POD people came and took away Daughter's pod.............

When we dug out the boxes in the closet in her bedroom we found this though and it doesn't belong to us............

A box of electronics that belong to the Fiancé.  So we told them what was in there and they want some of it and want me to ship it to them.  I am uncomfortable shipping electronics not in their original boxes(I have used shipping companies for years as an eBay seller and I know the horrors. lol).  I figure we can just bring it with us when we go there in January for the wedding, right?  The financé lived without this stuff for 2.5 years(how long ago he left here)he can wait another few months for it.


*  I was out relaxing on the deck and was looking at this pine tree in the yard.........

This massive pine tree was just a twig(I was taller than it)when we moved in almost 19 years ago.  Just guesstimating now it's got to be 30 foot tall and the branches make it 20 foot wide.
I was just staring at it this past weekend and noticed that it was "giving me the finger".

All these new shoots growing on the ends of the branches look like middle finger salutes!
Am I crazy or do y'all see it too?? lolz

Anything interesting going on in your life lately?


Sluggy

A Homemade Cake Mix Recipe

I wanted to make something dessert-like for dinner last night(I don't usually make desserts but it was a Holiday Weekend).

I had 4 cans of peach slices I got very inexpensively at a Rite-Aid back in March down South.  Regular price was $1 per can, .80¢ per can with my Wellness store discount and they had .50¢ off stickers on them so .30¢ per can.
(I had to buy them at that price, right?)

So I decided to make a dump cake peach cobbler.

But I didn't have a cake mix(as I don't keep these around anymore)so I turned to a recipe to make your own dry cake mix.
It's just flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.....easy-peasy and items most everyone has on hand anyway.

Cake Mix Recipe

2 1/4 Cup flour
1 1/2 Cup sugar
3 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt

I sprayed a baking dish and set the oven to 350F.
Mix the ingredients above, add 1 stick of butter(1/2 Cup, melted),1 Cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon of vanilla and stir it all up.
Pour batter into the baking dish.
Open 2 cans of peaches(15 oz. each), reserve liquid.  Spoons peaches into batter, spreading evenly.
Add 1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/4 Teaspoon of ground nutmeg into reserved peach liquid and whisk, then pour it over the peaches.
* I also sprinkled roasted almond halves on top since I had some and it sounded yummy.
Bake for 55-60 minutes.
Cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or plain.

Not a great photo and I forgot to take one before it got dug into so not so pretty either. lolz
It tasted good though and cost under $1.50 to make including the fruit(more with the ice cream). ;-)

Costing out the ingredients to make my own boxed cake mix using normal regular shelf prices for this area came to .66¢ which is less than buying boxed cake mix, even on sale here.(Clearance prices it might be less to buy a boxed mix but really, this was quick to throw together from ingredients in my pantry so you can do this instead of waiting for a boxed cake mix to go on sale.

Now if you want to make a regular yellow cake from this dry mix recipe, just add these wet ingredients too--1 1/4 C. milk, 1/8 C. veg. oil, 1 stick of butter(melted), 1 TB vanilla and 3 eggs.  Blend the wet ingredients then add the dry cake mix ones.  Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.


Sluggy

Don't Forget to Enter the Giveaway!!

All you readers who are non-winners of a giveaway yet, be sure and enter the Giveaway!  I only have 4 valid entries so far and the Giveaway ends this Friday.  Enter today, enter every day until Friday.

The Link is HERE.

Maybe more to post later.......

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Goodbye To Food" Edition....

Tuesday we splurged on lobsters as it was the night before I went on my Elimination Diet.

This is what my plate has looked like the first three days.  I am down 9 lbs.(probably mostly water loss)but I am so over potatoes....lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--T-Bone Steaks, Corn on cob, leftover sides(beans, salad, rolls), Cukes in Vinegar

2. Monday--Shrimp Stir-Fry w/Noodles

3. Tuesday--Lobster, Corn on cob, leftover sweet potato wedges

4. Wednesday--Chicken Alfredo Fettuccine

5. Thursday--leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--leftovers or FFY
7. Saturday--what ever Hubs cooks

And this is what actually happened--(everyone else here not me after Tuesday)

1. Sunday--T-Bone Steaks, Corn on cob, leftover sides(beans, salad, rolls), Cukes in Vinegar

2. Monday--Shrimp Stir-Fry w/Noodles

3. Tuesday--Lobster, corn on cob, leftover sweet potato wedges

4. Wednesday--leftovers or FFY

5. Thursday--leftovers or FFY

6. Friday--leftovers of FFY
7. Saturday--Salmon, grilled asparagus

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out. 

Here's what my Wed.-Sat. looked like.......

4. Wednesday--potatoes

5. Thursday--potatoes

6. Friday--potatoes
7. Saturday--cucumber, tuna, potatoes

There were so many leftovers that I didn't make the Chicken Alfredo Fettuccine again so it moves to this week again.

What got put into the freezer last week.....

* 2 portions of Salmon

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* 1 portion of salmon

* 1 bag of Stir-fry meal
* 1 pack of raw shrimp
* 5 T-Bone steaks

A trip to Weis, a trip to Price Chopper and a trip to Wegman's brought the food/toiletries spending last week to $103.89 and my May total to $407.72.

Over budget.....that's what happens when you buy live lobsters(even on special)and specialty potatoes at Wegman's at full price. ugh.

I have closed out the May food spending so anything bought in the next 4 days will go onto June's tab.

My savings percentage last week was an abysmal  25.31%(without Rite-Aid trips)and May's monthly savings total came to 46.34%(w/out R-A). 

I have 0 more food shopping/spending days in May(4 days left but I am finished shopping).

Leftovers going into this week.....corn casserole, that's it!

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

1. Sunday--Brats w/Onions, Corn on Cob, Cukes in Vinegar, Potato Salad, Peach Cobbler

2. Monday--Steak, Grilled Asparagus, leftover Potato Salad

3. Tuesday--Fettuccine Alfredo w/Chicken(I'll have Chicken on Salad)

4. Wednesday--Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes

5. Thursday--Sourdough Grilled Sandwiches, leftover sides

6. Friday--Roasted Turkey Breast, Stuffing or Potatoes, Green Veggie TBD
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 6 new meals cooked(if I feel like it), 0 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out and 1 night of ?.

What needs buying for this menu? corn on cob, salad greens, cabbage, slicing cheese and sandwich meats(maybe on that one).  We are out of fresh veg so I'll go Tuesday and hit the restaurant supply store.

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