Frugal Friday......the November 1st Edition

Sorry to be a day late on the Frugal Friday posting.
I do have a good excuse--Halloween night a tree fell on a power line down the road from us so we were without electricity for 18+ hours until almost 6 pm last evening. ugh.

A quick look around here to see what frugal stuff went on at Chez Sluggy this past week........

*  I ran Ibotta deals........

Finished off some Bonuses and regular Ibotta rebates this past week.
$32.14 in Ibotta rebates and $1 in SavingStar rebates so a total of $33.14 in cash rebates earned this past week.

* Remember that refund the Hospital sent me awhile back in July?

A medical co-pay overpayment I made.  the refund was in the form of a prepaid Visa card.
If you wanted the actual CASH back you had to request a check and then it would be another 4-6 weeks before seeing that.
So I dug the card out finally and took the card to my bank and did a cash advance and emptied that prepaid card.

* I had a $5 chit for Kohl's about to expire on Oct. 31st.  I went into my local Kohl''s last week but didn't seen anything worth buying that wouldn't have made me spend much actual monies out of pocket.  I went back this week and an item I eyed on the last trip in that was on the clearance table was marked down about.........

This tabletop fountain was marked down to $20 last week........

Now it was marked down again to $13.39.  I don't usually buy things for myself there but I had a 20% off Q+$5 chit so I got this.

It cost me $7.41 w/tax out of my WAM.
A $66.99 fountain? No thanks.
A $7.41 fountain?  Yes please! 8-)))

* I found money!

I found this slightly groddy quarter at the Weis in the town West of here last Friday.

I also found a change purse in that Weis.  Turned it into the Customer Service and the owner was standing there conducting some business and hadn't even noticed she dropped it.  The purse had her rent money in it and she couldn't thank me enough times to have it back. ;-)

And I found this quarter at Rite-Aid on Thursday right near the register.  Who drops a quarter and doesn't pick it up?!?! lolz

*  Some freebies at Rite-Aid..........

Pantene Shampoos and Conditioners, Olay body wash, Toothpaste and Dental Floss.
I'll pick up some more of this sort of thing today before the sale ends and finish out some of the various deals that stacked this week on P&G stuff.

* A new bank opened up in my town and they had an Open House last weekend.  I went in to look around, get some free food and maybe win a BMW they were giving away..............

Didn't win the car but I won this nifty coffee mug! lolz  I brought this chocolate covered rice krispies treat home along with a bottled water, a slice of nasty pizza(which Hubs ate, of course!lol)and a small container of bbq from a local bbq joint that opened up here.
The cue was good which is nice because we won a gift certificate for there at the church auction last month. ;-)

*  I sold something on eBay!

This throw blanket went for $32.  Better to sell it than have it sitting around my house for another ten years, right?  I made $22 gross on this sale(haven't figured out the net yet after fees, stupid fees).

That's about it for this week in my world.

What frugal wins did y'all come up with this week?
Tell us all about it!

Sluggy

Halloween Is Here!!!

How did I keep Halloween Trick or Treating frugal this year?

I bought bags of candy last Halloween and Christmas on clearance and threw it into the bottom of my chest freezer, digging it out a couple of days ago to thaw and be ready for tonight.
If you have spare real estate in a freezer for this sort of scheme(and the self-control NOT to raid the stash for your own eating)I'd suggest you hit the candy clearances after the Holiday and do likewise.

I'm off to set up the front porch to receive beggars this evening.


Here's a little mood music for the day.
Enjoy!




luggy

Stacking the Deals & Rebates.....Rite-Aid & Other Places

First off, I've been working on some Ibotta rebates and October Bonus rebates...........

At Walmart last week I spent $22.18 on this stuff and earned back $10.63 in rebates.

These three boxes of cereal bought that week from Rite-Aid earned me $2.10 as well, for zero OOP.
I got a .50¢ October Level 1 bonus also, then I bought this at Weis.........

10 different items(some multiples), all with Ibotta rebates.  This lot cost me $34.70 and earned me $9.15 in rebates and a $5 Bonus for reaching another activation level so $14.15 total back.

Then I bought a few items at Walmart on Monday.........

This lot earned me back $4.89 in more Ibotta rebates, the cost OOP was $13.64.
I also earned October Level 2 bonus($1.00), the Stonyfield earned me an additional $1.00 Bonus and I lastly earned the $10.00 Monster Money Bonus rebate.

$70.52 spent on all above and $45.27 earned back in cash rebates($44.27 on Ibotta and $1 on SavingStar for the Chobanis)and lots of items we can use here(and I totally wanted to try those Dr. Pepper flavored baked beans.lol).

Now at Rite-Aid...............there are interesting overlapping deals going on, both Rite-Aid and from other sources-

#1 There is a P&G, Spend $30/Get $10 BC deal this week at R-A(limit of 2 deals per card on this one).

#2 Parts of the R-A deal above overlap with a SavingStar offer, Spend $50 on certain P&G items/Get $15 Back at SavingStar.

#3 There is a P&G Holiday Rebate(advertised in the P&G Insert last Sunday), Spend $50 AFTER COUPONS on certain P&G items/Get $15 prepaid Visa card back.

This rebate form is available online HERE or in last Sunday's P&G coupon insert.

#4 Rite-Aid has a promo going on now until later in November, Spend $50 on certain "Beauty" Items get a $10 R-A gift card(limit of 2 deals on this one). Purchase from 10/27/19 to 11/30/19 and redeem by 12/14/19.

Details on this offer are HERE.

The trick is how best to make this work to take advantage of all 4 offers for the lowest OOP.  Be sure to be aware of all the different Deal dates for your purchases to be valid for each offer.

And a tip.....wait until Thursday, Friday or Saturday this week and any BC earned  then will be valid long enough to use for Thanksgiving Thursday and/or Black Friday sale at R-A.

As for me, I bought this on Sunday.........

1 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$3.00
1 x Glide/Oral-B dental floss on sale=$3.00
SubTotal.......$6.00

Only one of these items qualified for the #2 SavingStar Rebate but I don't know which.

I used a $2/1 Crest L2CQ and a $2/1 Glide/Oral-B L2CQ making this $2 paid with Bonus Cash and I earned back $1 for each item back in BC so totally free.

Then I bought this on Monday........

6 x Pantene shampoo
2 x Olay body wash
$12 in ManQs deducted and used all my BC plus $10.48 of my free R-A gift card and I earned $10  in new BC.

At this point I have earned $10 BC on Offer #1, $39.50 toward the $50 on $15 Offer #2, $26.67 toward the $50 on $15 Offer #3, and $36.67 toward the $50 on $10 BC Offer #4.

Now to figure out how best to proceed to finish off all 4 of these deals.  ;-)




Sluggy

2019 Food Spending Report....The October Edition

* I am posting this a few days early as I am done food spending for October.  Anything bought between now and Nov. 1st will go on November's food budget. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2019.

I have posted October'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 October.  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 5(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

ALDI'S
OOP  $44.08
Value  $78.06
Savings  43.53%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $11.89
Value  $49.30
Savings  75.88%

COSTCO
OOP  $46.90
Value  $79.78
Savings  41.21%

FOOD LION
OOP  $9.73
Value  $17.67
Savings  44.94%

MAINES
OOP  $6.85
Value  $13.81
Savings   50.40%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $44.86
Value  $75.93
Savings  40.92%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $27.15
Value  $51.97
Savings  47.76%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $300.24
Value  $300.24
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $17.24
Qs/Ads $

Value  $28.09

Savings 38.63%

WALMART
OOP  $41.06
Value  $62.56
Savings  34.37%

WEIS
OOP  $111.10
Qs/Ads  $
Value  $200.55
Savings  44.60%

WORLD MARKET
OOP  $7.16
Value  $19.02
Savings  62.35%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet 75.88% and World Market at 62.35%.   My worst savings rate was at Walmart with 34.37%.
I shopped at 12 different stores in October.....so many stores! lolz

TOTAL Spent.........................................$394.80

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$333.00

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$727.80

TOTAL Savings of ................................45.75%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for October w/R-A........$394.80
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$633.24
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1028.04
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................61.60%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent just under my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in October.
Go me. lolz

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 1.88% in October 2019 to 61.60% compared to the September's 63.48% savings average.


With 10 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3,908.56 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$3,908.56

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$ 13,614.83

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$ 9,706.27

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............71.29%

The average per month amount spent so far is $390.85 in 2019 which went up .43¢ per month in October.  That's a very slight increase.

LOOKING AHEAD To November 2019.......
I plan on calling in a lot of my chits in November.  I have a $15 P&G prepaid card, a $25 Shursave gift card, and various Target gift cards.  November means Turkey Day so there will be spending for that but most traditional Thanksgiving foods go on sale right before the holiday.  I make my own pies and rolls so those will not be costly.  And I am sure I have foods in the stockpile here I can use so other than buying a turkey the outlays won't be too pricey.
If I work it right we can eat down the freezer in November for the other 29 days of the month and not go overboard with food shopping.  I'll set the usual $400 budget but I'll see if we can do much better/lower.

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 October?

*  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

This Week on the Dining Table

The "What's Out There for Xmas Gifting" Edition................

I was in Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)browsing last week to see what they've gotten in for the Holiday Season so far.  Thought this Monopoly a la John Deere Tractor Company was interesting. ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Roast Chicken, Onion, Carrots, Potatoes
2. Monday--Leftover Meatloaf, Squash Casserole

3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joes, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken and Dumplings

5. Thursday--Tacos

6. Friday--Chicken Enchiladas, Rice
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened at home per Hubs info & after I got home--

1. Sunday--Roast Chicken, Onion, Carrots, Potatoes
2. Monday--Fend For Yourself

3. Tuesday--Leftover Meatloaf, Squash Casserole

4. Wednesday--Chinese Fake-Out Chicken, Rice, Sugar Snap Peas

5. Thursday--Sloppy Joes, Tossed Salad

6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Corn on Cob
7. Saturday--Mushroom Ravioli Alfredo, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread

The leftover Meatloaf, etc. got moved to Tuesday, Sloppy Joes, etc. got moved to Thursday, the Ravioli from last week got moved to Saturday, the other 3 new meals not made will go to this week(or not-I might do a chicken casserole with the leftover chicken bits instead of enchiladas).  I took a pork loin out of the freezer and was spontaneous about making tenderloin sandwiches and I hit a sale at Aldi's on Chicken so half the pack went into Chinese Fake-Out. 
It was a mix of some meals planned were made and some spontaneous meals.

Last week saw 5.5 nights of home cooked dinners, 1.5 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out for me.
5.5 nights because 1 night I cooked a side dish but heated up leftover meatloaf. lolz

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

*

What got taken out of the freezer and used(or cooked up but not used yet)last week at home.....
* 2 whole chickens
* a bag of Sugar Snap Peas
* a Pork Loin
* a bag of Ravioli

A trip to Walmart, Bread Outlet, Malacari's, Maines and Aldi's brought the current weekly spending to $157.51 and my October spending on food to $394.80 for this month. 

My savings percentage last week was 46.70%(without Rite-Aid trips)and October's monthly savings total comes in at 45.75%(w/out R-A).

I have 3 more food shopping/spending days in October but I closed out the books on October this past weekend so anything bought until Nov. 1st. will go on next month's tally.

Leftovers going into this week......Chicken Fake-Out Chinese, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots and Potatoes, All that Roasted Chicken, Sloppy Joe, 1 helping of Squash Casserole, Pork Tenderloins, Rice, browned Ground Beef, and 1 helping of Ravioli.

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

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings
2. Monday--Chicken Broccoli Cheese Casserole

3. Tuesday--Tacos

4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, leftover Garlic Bread, Salad

5. Thursday--Something TBD + Brussels Sprouts

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself

As always this menu is subject to change or rearranging depending on what leftovers get eaten or not and what I am feeling like cooking(or not). lolz

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing whatsoever except maybe some milk.

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