This Week on the Dining Table

This Week on the Dining Table

The "WTF!?!?" Edition..........

First it was zucchini in the garden that I purposely didn't plant!

I went into the kennel garden last week and found TWO of these back there among my yellow squash plants......ACORN SQUASH!

Should I mention I did NOT  purposely plant those either?!?!

Whatever squash curse Anne has put on me, please for the love of the Squash gods, take it off! ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning-

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
3. Tuesday--something Pasta for Hubs, Spinach Salad for me and him

4. Wednesday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Squash and Onions
5. Thursday--Taco or Taco Salad

6. Friday--Lobster(which will go on Aug.'s tally), leftover sides(green beans, squash)
7. Saturday--Caesar Salad w/Grilled Chicken or BLT sandwiches

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers(I had a piece of Chicken Marsala and a banana)
2. Monday--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(I had leftover Green Beans)

4. Wednesday--Chinese Take-out
5. Thursday--Taco Salad

6. Friday--FFY(I had leftover Hot and Sour Soup)

7.Saturday--TV Dinners

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

Except for the taco salads and cheeseburgers nothing else happened as planned last week.  The pork tenderloin and maybe the chicken Caesar salad will happen this week.  I am mourning not having lobster though.(The sale at PC this week isn't as good so we'll wait on that one.)

What got put into the freezer last week....
* Not a damned thing

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* Not a damned thing either lol

We spent nothing else in July. July spending came in at $492.02. 

We have spent $18.80 so far in August when I went to Dollar General on Saturday, August 1st.

I earned $0 on Ibotta in August so far.

My savings percentage for last week was 52.96%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips)for July and the monthly savings total for July came in at 56.70%(w/out R-A).
I still have a super low savings rate for July so I'm all good with the food spending even though it's more than $400.

Leftovers going into this week.......taco meat. 

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

1. Sunday--Pork Tenderloin sandwiches, TBD veg from freezer
2. Monday--Applebee's Salads Take-Out using a gift card
3. Tuesday--Hamburgers, Sweet Potato Fries

4. Wednesday--Hubs Surprise
5. Thursday--Hubs Surprise

6. Friday--Hubs Surprise
7. Saturday--Hubs Surprise

What needs buying for this menu?

Beats me!

With my leg still screwed up Hubs has been coerced into making volunteered to make all meals after tomorrow so I can stay off my leg.  I have no clue what he'll pull out of the freezer and make(and neither does he). lol

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's at home(not that I'm referring to/using it at this point with the heat).
* Shrimp Scampi
* Tuna Casserole
* Roasted Chicken
* Shrimp/Crab Ravioli
* Cheese Ravioli

* Breakfast for Dinner

* 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.

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

A Quickie Update on Kim

I got a call from Kim's Sissie today.

Kim is all moved into her new house.

I didn't say settled or unpacked though.....that will take time.

Sissie says Kim is happy with her new home.

She doesn't have internet service there yet so that's why she hasn't posted.

And the new grand baby arrived Saturday night!

But I won't steal her thunder because I am sure she will want to tell y'all all about that when she gets online again. 8-)))

Sluggy

Food Spending 2020....the July Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2020.

I have posted June'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 July.  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(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 24.
*****************

AMAZON
OOP  $15.10
Value  $26.97
Savings   44.01%

BIG LOTS

OOP  $11.16
Value  $23.16
Savings  52.73%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $4.00
Value  $13.87
Savings  71.16%

CVS
OOP  $19.02

Qs/Ads/ECBucks $100.61
Value  $119.63
Savings  84.10%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $21.22

Qs/Ads  $57.40

Value  $78.62
Savings  73.01%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $28.90
Value  $46.72
Savings  38.14%

PandR DISCOUNTS

OOP  $44.76
Value  $181.52
Savings  75.34% 

RITE-AID *
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/GCard  $463.82
Value  $463.82
Savings  100%

SCHIFF'S
OOP   $33.01
Value  $90.68
Savings  63.60%

WALMART
OOP  $118.69
Value  $239.57
Savings  50.46%

WEIS
OOP  $196.16
Qs/Ads  $149.00
Value  $345.16
Savings  43.17%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 84.10% P and R Discounts at 75.34% .   My worst savings rate was at Malacari's with 38.14%.  Lots of great savings rates this month!

I shopped at 11 different stores in July(1 of which was online.).

I also earned $149.73 in cash rebates in July(Ibotta/SavingStar/Checkout51)which helps offset the spending once I cash those in at the end of 2020.

TOTAL Spent(without R-A)...................$492.02

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$807.65
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1136.35

TOTAL Savings of ................................56.70%

Add in the Rite-Aid purchases and we get.........

TOTAL Spent........................................$492.02

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales................$1108.15
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$1600.17

TOTAL Savings of ................................69.25%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....We were on track to stay around my $400 per month food budget in July but a combination of some good deals and Eldest son staying for a week here derailed me.  We kept under $500 so that's not bad considering everything.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 2.68% in July 2020 to 69.25% compared to the June 2020 rate of 66.57% savings average.  

With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2668.09 on food/toiletries in 2019.

Going into 2020 before the pandemic blew the wind out of my sails I wanted to stay at or under $4K for the yearly food spending.  At this point I don't think that will happen but we'll keep plugging along anyway.


2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$2668.09

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$7689.03

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$5020.94

2020 Yearly Savings Total............65.30%

The average per month amount spent is $381.16 at this point in 2020 which went up some from June's average.  As long as I'm around $400 per month with 3 people in the house, it's all good.  Going forward though my food budget needs to go lower as you'll see why below.

LOOKING AHEAD To August 2020.............

Two changes in August--first Ex-College Boy no longer lives here.  I did give him a buttload of pantry items, paper products and cleaning supplies to take with him(thus depleting the stockpile here)and I am sure I'll either send him and his roommate dinner portions when I cook sometimes so I'll still be partialy feeding him and his buddy.  But I expect our food "nut" to go down a bit from now on.

Secondly, Hubs and I will be attempting to clear out freezer foodstuffs(the "old dogs in there")so we can refill the chest freezer in September with locally harvested foods.

For these two reasons I expect my food spending to go down in August substantially.  At least $100-$150?  I am hoping.

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 July?

*  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

Frugal Friday......the July 31st Edition

* It seems Blogger is messing with my photos today so I apolgize if they run over the text parts.  I am trying to fix the probem.*

I am so happy July is almost over.  In many ways it's been a crap-tastic month.  But it does get me closer to my surgery and today is the day Ex-College Boy moves out! Yah!!!

His moving out is the MOST frugal thing I can think of(but I can't count that until next week's frugal post as that things run from Friday to Thursday).  So I'll elaborate next Friday on that. ;-)

And his moving out is partly why this post is so late today. ;-)

Here's what frugal stuff went on around here this past week..........

* I did a moneymaker rebate deal from Johnson & Johnson.

BACK TO COLLEGE OFFER.

Buy 3 or more of participating(click on the "Offer Details" link to see which items qualify)items in one transaction, submit your info online and wait for the email to claim your reward.

These single bars of Neutrogena soap are a qualifying item and my Walmart had them for $1.97 each.

So I spent $6 and change and will get a $10 prepaid Visa card back.

You can do this rebate twice too. 8))

Most of the items that qualify are Clean and Clear, Motrin and Neutrogena brands.

The only thing is if you want to do this you need to hurry as you need to have your info submitted by 8/2(this Sunday).  This deal has been running since July 5th evidently but I've been a  it out of it this month, sorry.

* I haven't gone grocery shopping since last Friday.  Don't really need anything food related right now.

Best food deal last Friday was Smithfield thick cut bacon at Weis(PMITA)Markets for $2.99  Reg. $7.99 marked down $2 to $5.99 and I found 1 lb packages with $3 Instant Discount stickers on them so $2.99 OOP.

Sweet.

* I am excited to try two items I got at Walmart last week.........

These grow kits.  One is for micro-greens and the other is to grow your own oyster mushrooms.  The greens one was marked down to $10 and the mushroom one was clearance priced to $17.  Better yet I had a $10 Ibotta rebate on each last week so one was free after rebate and the other was only $7.

* I found money!

The dime was under the candy racks by the front register and the nickel was back by the sunglasses display near the pharmacy area at R-A last Friday.

This shiny penny was in front of the register counter at Rite-Aid on Saturday when I went there.

Total Change found this week. .16¢
Total Change found this year....$47.09

* We ate all our leftovers, well except a piece of slimy cuke that got crammed to the back of the produce drawer and since I haven't been in the kitchen much lately I wasn't there to find it before it started decomposing.

* I did a spat of Rite-Aid shopping this past week...........

Two transactions while I waited on an Rx to be filled. 

Even though I spent nothing OOP I still botched these transactions a bit by buying the wrong Compeed items. ;-)

* While out running from the Urgent Care to R-A to pick up an Rx I needed lunch so I opened my Burger King app on my phone and saw that it was "Whopper Wednesday" and could get a Whopper(no cheese)for $1 + .06¢ sales tax.  Better yet I used a gift card to pay.

* Not a personal win but I suggested that Eldest son look into moving his stuff to NJ using a "Pod" since his sister had successfully used them for her move to LA last year.  So he called her and yep, it turned out to be a cheaper(and easier)solution for him.  

(Not son's pod but the one they sent for Daughter's stuff last May.)

Can I use saving my kid money as MY frugal win too? lol

That's about it from here.

Any good deals, frugal wins on your end this week?

Sluggy

Drugstore Shopping This Past Week

I went to CVS last week to use the $3 Beauty ECB I earned from my earlier trip there since it was set to expire last week.  I also had $15 in other ECBs going in.

Things didn't go as expected(as usual)......

I did two transactions.

First I bought the two packs of razors and used 2 different digital Qs.

Here is that receipt...........

You can(or not lol)see the $8 in digital Qs for the razors, the $3 Beauty Buck plus another $3 ECB I used bringing my total to $1.04(w/.06 tax).

I earned the $5 ECB for doing the Schick deal bringing me to $17 in ECBs left.

Then the train came off the rails when I bought the rest........

2 x fancy Pantene 2/$14

1 x Gain flings $4.94

1 x Poise liners  $6.49

2 x Febreeze car scents bogo50% $5.98

Subtotal.........$31.41

These items were all part of the Spend $30/Get $10 ECB Deal.

Coupons that should have come off..........

$5 Pantene Digital Q

$2 Gain Digital Q

$3 Poise Manu Q

$3 CVS Poise Digital Q

$3/2 Febreeze Digital Q

Total....$16.00

$31.41-$16=$15.41 and I would have used $15 in ECBs plus .41¢ and sales tax OOP

But nooooo!

If you can see on the receipt the cashier didn't ring up a second Febreeze car scent item(so my total was $29.42 before Qs but still close enough to $30 to earn the $10 ECB(which I did).

Then my $3/1 Poise ManuQ wouldn't come off(this happened last time too).  The cashier said because I used the digital CVS Poise Q(which wasn't a ManuQ but a store Q)is the reason but that was a CVS not a ManuQ so it should have.  I just think that Poise ManQ wasn't coded correctly....that would explain it not working on two separate trips.   Had I know I'd have bought something else instead.

Thirdly since she didn't ring up the 2nd Febreeze item my $3/2 Febreeze digital Q didn't come off but a $1/1 Febreeze digital Q came off instead. ugh

And of course I didn't notice the lack of a 2nd Febreeze item on my receipt until I got home.

$29.42-$11=$18.31 and I had to use all $17 in ECBs I had and pay $1.49 w/sales tax OOP.

I did earn the $10 ECB as I mentioned before.

So I 'lost' $2 in ECB and that $3/1 Poise Manu on this transaction but I gained a $1.99 Febreeze item she didn't ring up.

Even so, I still got the short end of this stick. ;-)

I've got $10 in ECBs and once I spend that my foray into CVS will be done once again.

Maybe this time I will learn to stay away from CVS. lol

My Rite-Aid trips went much better last week........

This trip was last Friday.  I got 4 x Schick razors($23.96), 2 x Colgate($6.06)and 4 x Ricolar cool relief drops on clearance for .84¢ per bag($3.36)so $33.38 subtotal.

I used 4 x $4/1 Schick IPQs, 2 x .75¢/1 Colgate IPQ(Colgate website), 2 x $3/1 Colgate RA in-ad Qs and 4 x $1/1 Ricola cool relief Tearpad Qs(I've been holding onto all year-they expire Dec. 2020).

$33.38-$27.50 in Qs=$5.88+.37¢ sales tax=$6.25 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned $5 in new BC for all those razors(Spend $20 on Shaving Items/Get $5 BC)so I spent down the BC by $1.25 for all this.

The cough drops and toothpaste gave me $1.14 in overage to apply to the razors.

Then I bought this on Saturday................

2 more Colgate toothpaste(used a $1/2 ManQ to pair with the $3 in-ad RAQ making them free), 2 boxes of Kellogg's cereal(2/$5 sale)and 2 Compeed blister packs(BOGO sale).

I printed off 2 x $1/1 Kellogg's cereal from my Kellogg's points account so my total after Qs came to $12.99 paid for the Bonus Cash.

I earned $10 on Ibotta (2 x $1 cereal, 2 x $4 Compeed)so I converted $10 of BC to cash and spent down BC by $2.99.

Plus those 3 rebates got me to the $5 Weekly Ibotta Bonus too.

rah.

I should have spent down the BC by $2.49 instead since I had 2 more of those 75¢/1 Colgate IPQs but I couldn't find them in my coupon envie as they weren't where they were suppose to be doh!

Still a good week at R-A.

Sluggy