June Giveaway Time is Here!

Time for the Eighth Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway for 2020!

Let's take a look at what is in the ol' box o' goodies..............

1 x Visine allergy eye drops
1 x Betadine wound gel
1 x Nivea body lotion
1 x Clorox anti-baterial wipes
1 x Lady Speed Stick deodorant
1 x Almay mascara
1 x Carmex lip balm(cherry)
1 x Ace cold pack
1 x Arm and Hammer toothpaste
1 x Hydralyte hydration tablets(grape)
1 x pack of night light bulbs
1 x Cover Girl eyebrow pencils
1 x Revlon lipstick
1 x Cover Girl mascara
3 x E.L.F. cosmetic brushes(3 different types)
1 x Wether's sugar-free caramel candies
2 x Freeman face masks(cucumber, avocado)


Stuff to make you acceptable looking when you get to go out in public again, stuff to deal with seasonal allergy symptoms, "ouchies" and exertion in the heat, and sugar-free candies that won't melt in the heat.
And by popular demand pandemic wipes and lotion for all that extra hand washing being done now. ;-)

Close up shots of these goodies..........

Depending on where you shop the winnings have a reg. retail value of approximately $50.00.

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random.

* This Giveaway Box of goodies is open to all readers!

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY for this Giveaway.
Come back every day and enter though!

In your entries I'd like to hear about your plans for June.
Can you go out in your state yet?, Are you planning Fall travel this year and where?, Are you tired of your family yet?, Have you contemplated murder?, Anything you still can't find in stores(here it's yeast!), etc.  Stuff like that.

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").
I'll leave this giveaway open until Sunday June 21st at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. On June 22nd, Monday, I'll draw the winning entry and post who won.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on  and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!


So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

Song for a Wednesday

I was listening to some of my old LPs yesterday and came across this song by Jackson Browne I hadn't heard/thought about in a long time.  It wasn't one of his monster hits during his heyday but it's worth a listen anyway.
I'm rather too busy to blog anything else today so I am putting an old video of JB playing this song here.
Maybe it reminds you of your youth(I was in college at the time this came out)as it does mine or maybe it's a new gem to you.
Enjoy



Sluggy

Rite-Aid Shopping This Last Week

I already posted about getting this stuff last week........

I did the Mix n' Match cosmetic deal on son's card and got three bags of 75% off coffee, spending $9.04 in Bonus Cash and earning $10 in new BC for buying the cosmetic items.  Better than free cosmetics and coffee.....Great deal!

I had a free day on Friday(and I had to go out to P and R anyway which puts me near 3 more Rite-Aids)so I hit more Rite-Aids to see what 75% food clearance I could find.  Most of it was still marked 50% off so I found quite a bit. Here is everything I found from all the stores....

11 x bags of coffee $1.69 each=$18.59
3 x bottles of Worcestershire sauce .69¢ each=$2.07
2 x cans of tomato paste .39¢ each=.78¢
2 x canisters of golden raisins $1.62 each=$3.24
3 x 2 lb. bags of brown rice $1.24 each=$3.72
Total of $28.40 OOP

The regular retail on all this would have been $114.19(not that I would have EVER paid those prices! lol).

(I actually bought 12 bags of coffee but I gave one to the brother in-law so I didn't count that one in my food spending.)
If you have a Rite-Aid it's worth checking out their "Wild Harvest" organic private label brands as they seem to be reducing which items they will continue to stock.

While in one store I also did the Mix n' Match cosmetics deal again on my card(it's a limit of 1 deal per card/account).........

These 3 Cover Girl items came to $16.82 after 20% off Wellness Disc. and sales tax.
I used 3 x $3/1 Cover Girl IPQs(2 x face, 1 x eye and of course they all beeped because CG Qs always beep)so $9 off make this all $7.82 paid for with Bonus Cash.
But my $10 in BC for the deal didn't appear on my receipt. Argh!  So I had to call Corporate the next morning and get that fixed.
Which meant the deal I wanted to do on Saturday on this card I didn't have those $10 in BC back until Sunday, the day after the sale.  Argh again!

But I did another deal on Saturday anyway as I still have some BC on that card and I supplemented with a free R-A gift card(earned in Dec. of 2018 during the Beauty Deals month).........

3 x Tide $5.94 ea on sale=$17.82
3 x Pantene $3.83 Wellness disc. better than sale price=$11.49
1 x Febreeze cleaner on sale=$2.99
SubTotal.........$32.30

Coupons Used
1 x $4/wys $20 snail mailed R-AQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Tide L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Tide IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Tide pods IPQ=$2.00
1 x $3/3 Pantene insert Q=$3.00
Coupon Total.......$13.00

Except, there was a $1/1 Tide pods L2CQ that also came off and didn't "unattach" when I used my printed $2/1 Tide Pod Q.  Both Qs printed off the PandGSaver site beeped(well now we know why the Tide Pod one did! lol)so the cashier had to manually push them through.
This all means I got $14 in Q off my total instead of $13.

$32.30-$14.00=$18.30+.98¢ tax=$19.28 Total.
I used a combination of gift card and BC to pay and received $10 in new BC back.  Then on Sunday morning the $10 from the cosmetics fiasco showed up so I have $20 in BC on this card.

I went back to R-A on Sunday for the new ad and to do the Suave Deal and the Oral-B Deal........

1 x Suave men's body wash BOGO50%=$2.59
1 x Suave men's deodorant BOGO50%=$1.29
2 x Oral-B toothbrush twin pack=$6.00*
SubTotal....$9.88

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Oral-B battery or twin pack L2CQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Oral-B twin pack in-adQ=$4.00
Coupon Total......$6.00

$9.88-$6.00=$3.88+ .11¢ sales tax=$3.99 paid for with Bonus Cash
I earned back $2 in new BC for buying 2 Suave items.
I also earned $1.60 in cash rebates on Ibotta(2 x .50¢-for each Suave item bought, .50¢ Suave Bonus for buying 2 different items, .10¢ for buying anything at R-A).
So spent $3.99, got back $3.60 in BC/cash meaning I spent .39¢ in BC for everything above.
Nice.

* This type of twin pack toothbrushes(Indicator type)were also tagged on sale for $6 if you bought 2.  None of the other twin packs were on sale(except for your Wellness Discount)so after Qs these were free at that price point.

I am hoping that before Saturday the Suave rebates will be back in my gallery and I can do this deal again if I can find the products still on the shelves down in the R-As near my brother's house.

Have you done any Rite-Aid shopping lately?



Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Missing My Friends" Edition..........

When Hubs and I went to Ollie's last Monday I saw this journal there.  I had to chuckle and take a photo of it because it reminded me of a fellow blogger I haven't seen since October and how much I miss her. 8-(

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-

This is what was planned.........

1. Sunday--Leftovers(I had a deli chicken sandwich)
2. Monday--Kielbasi on rolls, Sweet Potato fries, leftover sides
3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans

4. Wednesday--Fend For Yourself
5. Thursday--Chinese Take-out(or maybe FFY as it's Hershey medical appt. day)

6. Friday--Hungarian Goulash, Noodles
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Leftovers(I had a deli chicken sandwich)
2. Monday--Kielbasi on rolls, Sweet Potato wedges, leftover sides(I had sweet potato wedges and some leftover baked beans.)
3. Tuesday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

4. Wednesday--Fend For Yourself
5. Thursday--Chinese Take-out meal(I just got soup.)

6. Friday--Beef Stroganoff, Salad(I just had salad.)
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 1 night of Take-Out.

The Chicken n' Dumplings and the Stroganoff finally got made on the cooler days this past week.  For the foreseeable future no heavy/oven type meals until September.
Meals are changing around here due to what I am trying not to eat due to medical issues.  I still fix regular meals for the menfolk but I am eating differently from them.

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 4 tv dinners
* 1 casserole meal
* 4 pack of breakfast sandwiches
* 2 pack pork loin

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 1 Kielbasi sausage
* Chicken broth
* Chicken meat leftover from roasted chicken
* 2 packs of Stew Beef

1 trip each to Ollie's($5.58), Sharp Shopper($100.06), P and R for milks, deli meats/cheese, Greek yogurt, slaw mix and yellow squash($15.57) and 75% clearance shopping at Rite-Aid on last Friday where I actually spent money!($28.40)(a post on that coming soon)had me spending $149.61 total this past week and brings my June Total spending on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods so far to $149.61.
I doubt Hubs will do any grocery shopping while I am gone(but he will get Domino's is a safe bet. lol)so I am not too worried about being so high on food so early into the month.

I am at $1.80 total earned in Ibotta rebates in June.

My savings percentage last week was 63.65%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips)for June and the monthly savings total comes in at 63.65%(w/out R-A).  

I have 23 more food shopping/spending days in June.

Leftovers going into this week........2 or so helpings of beans, chicken and dumplings, beef stroganoff and rice.

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers(Hubs-Goulash over Rice, Me-Soup, Strawberries)
2. Monday--Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans
3. Tuesday--Hot Dogs and Burgers, Salad

4. Wednesday--Fend For Yourself/Leftovers
5. Thursday--? Hubs in charge

6. Friday--? Hubs in charge
7. Saturday--? Hubs in charge

What needs buying for this menu? Nothing.  I don't plan on grocery shopping this week(except maybe while I am on the way to Virginia to see son and brother). Not much of a menu either(at least nothing inventive or exciting)as I am leaving town so am leaving some leftovers for the men folk to eat up.  Aren't I helpful? lol

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's here...........
* Shrimp Tempura
* Tuna Casserole
* Roasted Chicken
* Shrimp/Crab Ravioli
* Cheese Ravioli

* Spaghetti and Meatballs

* Breakfast for Dinner

* Grilled Chicken  new

* Grilled Steak  new

* Haddock Fish Dinner  new
* Chicken Tenders  new

* Beef Liver  new

Plus lots of thinly sliced Chicken Breast, grass fed Ground Beef and Ground Turkey in the freezer.

I've told Hubs to make lots of pasta and tomato based sauce while I am gone to VA since he could live off of that and I really can't eat tomato based foods much anymore.

I really need to redo this list once I go through the freezer again the end of June and inventory.

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

If It's Thursday It Must be Hershey-Part 2

So after escaping from the medical complex Hubs needed to get gas for the car ride home and use the bathroom so we hit a Sheetz so he could do both.

Next door was Mickey D's so we drove through for a coffee(him)and an iced tea(me).
And we proceeded to Sharp Shopper.

I didn't take any photos again but here is one from the internet of the front of the building........

And now is when you cue the heavenly angelic music, as I enter the store.........

The store was HUGE, very well organized and CLEAN!  The aisles were wide too and not too many people in the store(we hit there at a good time evidently).

They had just about anything you might want in food, not as much in paper goods and HBA/OTC meds but still there was a nice variety.

There was a bulk goods aisle, fresh produce, dairy and meats and a frozen food section too.

With a surplus or discount grocery outlet though you need to know your prices because everything is NOT a great deal. Some great deals, some good deals and some "eh" deals depending on what you are use to paying at your big grocery store/big box store.
As I don't have much freezer space at the moment I concentrated on pantry items mostly.

Here's most of my haul.......first the little bit of frozen stuff.

The Fish Pie(?)and Squash Ravioli tv dinners are for Hubs and I, respectively for when I don't want to cook(those were each $1.99). There are 2 Country Fried Steak dinners for Hubs and Ex-CB for 99¢ ea.(I don't eat that stuff).  The freezer meal Alfredo/Chicken/Pasta/Veggie casserole thing should feed all 3 of us($2.99)and the pasta in that is made with veggies too.  The apple/cheese snacking packs were 2/$1 and are for me.  The two hunks of Teriyaki Pork loin were $6.85 total, it was a two pack.   That was $2.99 lb. and 2.25 lbs. enough for at least 3 stir-fry meals with lots of leftovers.
I stuck Hubs/Ex-CB's hot sauce(3 for $1)in this photo because I forgot to put it in the next photo. lol

The 4 blue boxes on the left are facial tissue at .59¢ a piece(100 sheets each)
The bag on top of those is a bulk buy-cherry almond granola for $1.29 lb.
The 3 bottles are iced coffee(mocha)drinks for Ex-CB(3/$1).
There are 2 bottles of creamy Greek salad dressing for Hubs next to that(2/$1).
In the middle back(and in front of that too)are 7 bags of coffee-5 Starbucks Caramel for $2.99 ea.(any brand caramel is Ex-CB's fav)and 2 bags(1 Ugandan, 1 Nicaraguan)packed by a local importer and those are full 1 lb. bags for $2.99 ea.!
(I don't drink it and hate paying for it so if I can get decent coffee cheap, I am there. lol)
There are 5 cans of tomato soup(the Rite-Aid organic brand line)that cost $1 for all 5.
Next to that is a bottle of Olive Oil for $4.99(sounds high but a good buy for the brand/type/size bottle). 
In front of that is a .89¢ jar of celery seed(it's making pickles season!) ;-)
On the left front, those are 2 bags of Bob's Red Mill Semolina flour which were 4/$1.  I am going to actually pull out that pasta machine I got years ago and try my hand at handmade pasta finally!
The light blue box is BC key lime mousse packets for .99¢(a Summer treat for me).
To it's right is a 3 pack of baby aspirin for $2.99(I can get this for a similar price at Dollar Tree but I am wary of those China imported meds there.).
Right behind the baby aspirin is a grinder of Violet or Grape flavored sea salt from France at .99¢.  The salt was just something different to try. ;-)

I got these flats of coffee energy drinks and juice bottles for Ex-CB in hopes of his work reopening soon.  $2.99 and $3.75 from left to right and this will keep him from going to Starbucks or the gas station near work and spending $$ on drinks.  Please say a pray his store can open up sooner rather than later. 8-)

I also bought 4 loaves of bread(still not as cheap as my Bread Outlet at home but they are still closed down), some Kool-Aid(for Ex-CB since they didn't have any Gatorade or Power-ade at a cheap price), and a flavor of Utz potato chip we enjoy now and again but they only make that flavor sporadically(those were BOGO), but the best deal was this........

1 lb. clam shells of fresh local strawberries for .99¢ each.  I don't make jam, by frozen bags of them out of season and only eat them fresh so I limited myself to 3 lbs.-what we could eat this week before they went bad.
I love me some fresh strawberries and if I lived close to this store I'd just go buy a lb. every day until they were gone. lol

I spent just over $100 total(and that was with the cashier charging me an extra $1.99 for a frozen item I didn't buy(didn't check my receipt before leaving the store as Hubs was starving so that's on me).

So we packed the cooler and loaded the rest into the backseat and went looking for somewhere to eat.  This part of this country had a couple restaurants open with outdoor service(Hubs refuses to eat while driving)so we stopped here..........

The Udder Choice  Mostly they are known for ice cream(duh!)and their breakfast menu but they do serve sandwiches and such for lunch.  Nothing fancy....no fancy pesto, aioli, guacamole dressed type foods, just soup, sandwiches and the like.

The restaurant had erected a huge tent on the lawn beside the building and put out picnic tables very well socially distanced.
You had to use their app or call to order but cell phone reception was spotty and when I finally got through the line was always busy(1 line, they aren't set up for those amount of calling in orders).  So we just flagged down the waitress as she flew by and gave her our order(they had a menu posted by the front door)and waited for our food.  The weather was beautiful-hot but a nice breeze too.

Ephrata PA is in the middle of Amish and Mennonite enclaves(it's between Lebanon to the North and touristy Lancaster to the South).  We passed two Mennonite churches along the way to Sharp Shopper, as well as a few Amish homes displaying/selling quilts from their front porches, a Mennonite family was sitting at the table nearest to us and as we talked and ate lunch at least 3 of these passed in traffic on the road outside the restaurant(though I didn't stop eating to take any photos-this is off the internet).........

Tummies full we pointed the car Northward and headed home where I took pictures of the Sharp Shopper haul and put everything away, did my Humira injection, took a short lay down afterwards and Hubs got Chinese take-out dinners for him and Ex-CB and Hot and Sour soup for me.

Hitting a new-to-me grocery outlet, having a good doctor's visit(outside of the Foil Hat Lady encounter), and a nice lunch outside with Hubs turned this into a good Thursday.

How was your week?  Did anything good happen for you?
Have a great Sunday!

Sluggy