This Week on the Dining Table

The "Feeling Grateful" Edition................

It was a low-key Thanksgiving and doing lots of cooking ahead let me relax a bit more on Turkey Day(and sneak out to Rite-Aid while the turkey roasted...hehehe).
Though two of my kids didn't make it home for the holiday I am grateful that they are both well and gainfully employed, we have good relationships with both of them and they don't need their parents to financially hold them up any longer.
We're still working on #3 kid in that regard. ;-)

Word came from SC that the sister in-law has gone down in flames again.
Count your blessings folks!  And make good decisions about your money and your life.....'nuff said.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Lasagna, Roasted Cauliflower
2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--Flounder, Veggie TBD, Sweet Potato Fries

4. Wednesday--Leftover Smörgåsbord 

5. Thursday--Turkey Day Dinner

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

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Lasagna, Roasted Cauliflower
2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Leftover Smörgåsbord 

5. Thursday--Turkey Day Dinner

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

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 4 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.  We didn't need to make the fish dinner because we had sooooo many leftovers! lolz

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

* 1 smoked ham
* 2 packs of shrimp skewers
* 2 lbs. of butter

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
*  1 ginormous Stouffer's lasagna

Two small trips to Weis and a shop at Target w/a discounted gift card brought the current weekly spending to $74.23 and my November spending on food to $387.07 for this month.
I did a couple of shops not shown on the November total(Aldi's, Malacari's)as I had closed out the books already so those will go onto December's tally.

My savings percentage last week was 50.12%(without Rite-Aid trips)and November's monthly savings total comes in at 51.00%(w/out R-A).

It's a new month and I have 29 more food shopping/spending days in December.

Leftovers going into this week.....turkey, stuffing, roasted carrots, rolls, rutabaga, green beans, cranberry glop, wild rice chicken soup, halushki, cornbread.

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

1. Sunday--Turkey Day Leftovers
2. Monday--Flounder, Veggie TBD, Sweet Potato Fries

3. Tuesday--Turkey Casserole(using some leftovers)

4. Wednesday--Beef Bourguignon

5. Thursday--French Onion Soup

6. Friday--Cheeseburgers, Salad
7. Saturday--More Leftovers?

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?  Salad Greens
Other than those Nov. shops getting put onto Dec. there shouldn't be much shopping this week.

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  

Black Friday Sale at Rite-Aid....How Did I Do?

So I finally had time to go through all my Rite-Aid loot this morning.
I took photos of it all, one photo per day's shopping.

This is Thursday's haul.........

Thursday I restricted my buying to my local store.

Friday's haul............

Friday I hit my local store and a store on the other side of the river in another town with Hubs.

And Saturday's haul.............

Saturday saw me hit 3 stores down the valley and then a final couple of transactions at my local store.

Total Tally of Goodies........with cost per item which was paid for in BC or gift card(* denotes freebies)

26 boxes of Kleenex(*)
4 Conair hair brushes(*)
4 Scunci hair elastics(*)
4 Gift Tape rolls(*)
2 Magnavox ear buds(*)
1 Crest toothpaste(*)
8 Russell Stover Xmas chocolates(*)
7 Colgate toothpaste(5 -.50¢/2 *)
10 Nestle candy bars(8 */2 .50¢ ea)
14 Betadine cream(-$3.50 ea MM)
12 pack of Listerine Ready Tabs(.42¢ pack)
19 bars of Yardley soap(.42¢ ea)
12 Kokie nail polish(.49¢ ea.)
2 tins of Butter Cookies(.50¢ ea)
3 Carmex lip balm(.60¢ tube)
2 Dentek floss picks(.60¢ pack)
6 cans of Almonds(.75¢ can)
4 packs of Cosmetic pads(.89¢ ea)
2 Efferdent denture tablets($1.00 ea)
2 Duracell battery packs($1.00 ea)
30 Freeman beauty masks($1.02 ea)
10 bottles of Nivea lotion($1.49 bottle)
2 packs of toilet paper($1.50 pack)
3 boxes of Cereal($1.71 ea)
6 Salonpas pain patches($2.00 ea)
2 Oral-B tongue scrapers($2.00 ea)
1 FDS feminine spray($2.00)
3 Yes To wipe packs($2.10 ea)
10 Assorted Shampoo($2.04 ea)-not counting PandG Rebate
2 3-packs of Planters nuts($2.49)
5 bags of Coffee($2.49 bag)
2 bags of Russell Stover chocolates($2.99)
4 bags of Dog Food($2.99 ea)
2 Beard Trimmers($4.99 ea)
1 Hair Dryer($4.99)
1 Curling Iron($4.99)
3 Cologne gift sets($10.32 ea)

I also got another $20 total off with "Spend $XX/Get $X Off Catalinas" used on 5 transactions.

I earned $80 in $10 Rite-Aid gift cards for buying "Beauty Reward" qualifying items(2 gift cards per account/card).  I still need to cash in 2 of the Reward Qs since my store ran out of Rite-Aid gift cards on Saturday. lolz

I've earned $11.45 so far on Ibotta and if some of the items return to my list in time I can send for more rebates($11.00 more but I figure they won't all reset in time).
I've earned $8 on SavingStar too and $2 on Checkout51.

I also had to do a "post coupon" twice totaling $3.25(I forgot a Q in one transaction and the other case at a store with an idiot cashier who wouldn't take a second of the same Q(buying 2 items)because she confused the wording "one coupon per purchase/item" with "one coupon per transaction" and wouldn't even scan it. ugh.

Gift Card Spent..................$39.11
Bonus Cash Spent............$424.78
Total Spent BC/GC..........$463.89
Reg. Retail of Items.......$1050.59

Bonus Cash Left.........................$118.52
Rite-Aid Gift Cards Earned.........$80.00
Cash Rebates Earned(so far)........$25.05($6.50 left to submit for)
Post Coupon Cash back.................$3.25

So I didn't start the week with $424.78 in Bonus Cash but by buying items that gave back BC I rolled lots of BC those 3 days..  I also had earned some BC from buying Gift Cards(which gave BC)but they were Gift Cards I would have bought anyway. ;-)

The best thing were the Conair appliances...$14.99 in the BF ad and was suppose to give back $5 BC but in reality they gave back $10(2 x $5)so only "cost" $4.99 after BC.
Those Betadine creams were a Nov. monthly deal that gave back $3.50 BC for each one(limit 4).  There was a PDF Q for it $2/1 online.  If your store had 5 of them(and you printed off 5 Qs)they were a moneymaker for BF ads....buy 5 for $10($2 each), use 5 x $2/1Q, paid ZERO and get back $14 in BC.
Crazy!!!  But of course I went to 5 different stores and 4 of the stores only had 3 boxes and 1 store didn't carry that item.  I paired them best I could with either FDS spray, Efferdent tablets, or tongue scrapers and each grouping was a moneymaker no matter what.

I also hit $75 for the year spent on Allergy items with a Kleenex purchase so I got an extra $20 BC reward on that transaction.

It wasn't a perfect plan execution however and mistakes were made.
I was trying to limit my purchases per day to how ever much BC was on that card but with items that gave back the most BC so I could roll BC into the next day's shopping.  A few times I had to use some of my free R-A gift card to pay when BC wouldn't cover the transaction.

I didn't max out a few BC deals I wanted to and when stores ran low or out of certain items I had to improvise.
I was limited by the coupons I had in hand plus some L2CQs refused to come off when I tried to use them.
Plus I used a lesser value Q on some things by mistake so I lost a bit of ground there.

And the dog food....I thought they qualified for an Ibotta rebate but the bags were 8 oz. too light.(Rebate was for 4-14 lb. bags and my bags were 3.5 lbs.  If I had scanned them in the store first I would have known that.  They were still a good deal just not a great deal because of that.) meh.

All in all I am happy with the result.  Even though over the years Rite-Aid has gotten stingier and stingier with the Black Friday deals I feel I did well in taking advantage of the offers I wanted.
I brought home some gifts to give, some household items we can always use(looking at you TP and facial Tissues!)some food items we use(nuts, coffee and doggie kibble), some donation items, as well as a load of goodies for Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Boxes in 2020.

Now I just have to figure out how to spend down/roll/convert that $118.52 in Bonus Cash before the end of December when it all expires.

Sluggy

Après Rite-Aid

I ran out to Rite-Aid Thursday morning after getting the turkey on to roast.
After dinner and pie and the company left and the food/dishes cleaned up,  I started setting up my R-A haul on the dining room table.......

And that's as far as I got until I got home from Day 3 of Rite-Aid shopping and just dropped it all in bags on the floor in there..........

Tomorrow I'll start digging out and organizing all this loot.
I did get all 4 cards to 2 $10 Beauty Gift Cards so $80 in R-A gift cards along with all of this.

Hubs and I made the mistake of attempting to go to Kohl's on Friday around 10 am.  They had sent me a $10 gift of Kohl's scrip but you had to use it that day in store and we do need to replace one of our crock pots so whattheheck!
We walked in and saw the register line went almost all the way around the main aisle of the store back on itself so we just kept on walking, right outta there! lolz
I don't need that free $10 store scrip that bad. ;-)

So we stuck to Rite-Aid shopping this weekend.....between my BC, my Wellness discount and Qs we did well and no horrendous lines.

Ex-College Boy has survived his first Holiday Season working retail management too(well, once he gets home tonight).

A big storm is due in Sunday morning and is suppose to stretch well into Monday and beyond so we will be staying home until Tuesday at least.  We've got plenty of Thanksgiving food left so it's all good.
Frankly I'll be glad to be snowed in for a day or two.  8-)

So what has everyone else been up to this weekend?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the November 29th Edition

Let's have a look around at the past week and see what frugal wins happened.......

*  I got the Weis Freebie..........

A package of 2 pie crusts.
A very useful thing this time of year.

*  I found money!
Last Friday I spied a silver coin in one of the check-outs at Weis(PMITA)Maarkets on the way in.  It happened to be the worst cashier's line but as I stood in line I spied this coin on the floor next to the aisle where the canned fruit was..........

Then I picked up the silver coin........

It turned out to be a nickel.  There was also a coupon on the floor there too which I picked up. ;-)

Then I saw this beyond the checkouts...........

And then I saw this too before I got to the door to leave..........

Ok, not money but a sweet little binder clip.  Hubs loves clips of any kind so I Purel-ed it and gave it to him. lolz

On Saturday Hubs and I went out to run errands........

I spied this shiny penny on the floor in Target.  I directed Hubs to pick it up since he was closer.  Hubs then tried to pocket this find himself.  I explained that I only asked him to pick it up so I didn't mow him over to get to it because he was between me and the penny. *snort*

A quick stop at Aldi while Hubs stayed in the car for butter(limit 6 at $1.99 lb.).  A lady handed me her cart and wouldn't take my quarter so I gained a quarter there.

Another penny on another trip into Weis to get my free Turkey on Sunday.

On Monday I found these 2 pennies in Weis at two different places in the store.

Another penny while at Malacari's produce market by the register.

And then on the sidewalk outside Rite-Aid when I went to have an Rx refilled.

This penny under the candy shelf by the register at Rite-Aid on Wednesday when I picked up a prescription.

And this dime Thanksgiving morning by the register at Rite-Aid waiting to check-out.

Grand total of found change last week........74¢.
Nice.

* I found shrimp on clearance for 50% off at Weis............

These packages of 5 skewers of shrimp were marked down to $2.50 from $5.00.  Each skewer has 6 shrimp and according to the weight the marked down price comes out to $4.00 lb.
Not the biggest shrimp but will be good grilled or taken off the skewers and put into Scamp or something.

*  Dixie has grown out of her little dog collar plus the ring is so small it's difficult to get here hooked onto the dog leash to take her out.
I cleaned out my desk drawer this past week and found something I hadn't remembered keeping..........

The dog collar for my chihuahua who died years ago.  It's wider and has a larger ring on it.  I just had to put her tags on it and adjust the length to fit her.  The collar is still in great shape.
I saved the cost of having to buy a new dog collar.  Have you seen what those can cost in a pet shop?

*  I used all my Weis Points before they expired on Thursday.......
I had 700 points so I got a free turkey(400 pts.), a $12+ smoked ham for $5.07(100 points)and .20¢ off my gas fill-up for the remaining 200 points.

I only earned just over 200 in Weis points from buying groceries during this time period so the other 500 points was earned from doing a survey each week(100 points per survey).
Nice.

* I got my poll pay this week............

Wow.  Such a lucrative job!
2 hours of training and a 14+ work day comes out to $7.81 per hour. ;-)
But it IS tax-free so that's something.
Now what to spend it on, hmmmm.............


*  I made all the Thanksgiving food(except for the cranberry "glop")from scratch.......
I was especially glad I had almost everything to make the pies already in my food stockpile(just needed pie crust and got that as a freebie from Weis last Friday-see item above).

 Kim's Sissie might recognize this pie pan one of the Pumpkin pies was in.  ;-)

These no-bake Cherry Cheesecake Pies might not look like much since I waited until serving to put the Cherry pie filling on them but they were well received by the Turkey Day diners here.  8-)

That's about it that I can remember from this past week.
I am off shortly to hit Rite-Aid again. 8-)
If you go out into the insanity of retailing today please be careful!

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?
Let us know!

Sluggy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Update on Hubs chore list--
* Ceiling patched but not sanded or painted
* Curtains hung
* Floors not cleaned yet

Whatever.  I am so over getting worked up over it. What gets done, gets done.
I am aiming for a low stress day once I get the bird on, and start drinking after I get home from my Rite-Aid trip. lolz

Saw this on Facebook and it spoke to me. *snort*

I've been up since 3 am.  It's a combination of not being able to sleep and worrying over getting everything cooked in time and Dixie swallowed one of my pills last night(shouldn't be a big problem).  So I've been keeping an eye on her as she snores away in her bed.

Yet more proof that the 1st Thanksgiving belongs to VA not those witch hatin' folks in MA who wore funny hats. lolz

The rolls are rolled and rising in the pans.
The carrots are roasted(will reheat with a honey glaze later).
And I'm about to assemble the stuffing, stuff the bird and get both into their respective crock pot/oven.

So give thanks for what you got good in your life, unzip your pants and eat another plate of food, and lapse into a coma in front of the television watching parades/dog shows/football/movies.

Thanks for reading my boring blog and sticking around to see what messes Sluggy gets herself into next. 8-)))

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Sluggy