The To-Do List....the August Edition

 Let's see how we did with our To-Do List for August..........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always done first.  Had to pull from the Slush Fund to cover it all but we had the funds.

* Read 1,2,3 Books  PASS  Well I barely read 2 Books.

"What Would Dolly Do?:How to be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World" by Lauren Marino

Marino styles herself a super fan of Dolly Parton and it shows in this tribute Ms. Parton.

Lot a lot of "meat" in this little book but it's "well done". (See what I did there? lol)

There are many facts to Dolly Parton beyond the country singer and dumb blonde image she projects.  She is an entrepreneur and has spearheaded many charitable works around the country.  She has also brought many jobs to her little holler in Tennessee, an area of crippling poverty where she grew up.

A quick read and two thumbs up.

Then I read this one........

"The Bonanza King:John MacKay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West" by Gregory Crouch

This one took forever to get through.  It was very detailed and after reading it you will know EVERYTHING having to do with the "Comstock Lode".  The author got caught up in the minutiae at time and other parts it sailed along but overall it was a very enjoyable and interesting read.
I had never heard of John William Mackay(pronounced Mackie)before reading this book but his is a true rags to riches story.  Though he became one of the "giants of industry", like Carneige, rockefeller, Morgan, Gould, Getty, Vanderbuilt, etc. he is often forgotten.  He wasn't one of the Robber Barons but a humble man even with all his wealth and he never took advantage of the working class men like his fellow "giants".  

I learned a lot about mining and such.

Four thumbs up for this book.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE  A different kind of  Giveaway this past month thanks to Sonya Ann. 

*Mail Giveaway  DONE  The Virtual gift card was easy to mail. lolz

* More Decluttering  DONE  Most of the decluttering was due to stuff found when Ex-CB moved out and the subsequent moving of stuff from other rooms.

* Stuff to Sallie's  FAIL  

We have an overflowing box of castoffs(mostly thanks to Ex-CB leaving)but it still sits in the living room.  Maybe next Sunday when Hubs goes to the rifle range I can get him to drop this off at Salvation Army because even though the store is closed on Sunday they are back to accepting donations in the back.

* Dr. Appointment  DONE  I had my visit with my new primary(I just get a doc broken in and he leaves....is it me? lol).  He's young and shiny like a new penny.  He's sending me to Orthopedics for my leg.

* Continue to Deal with Garden Harvest  DONE

We've stayed on top of the veggies the garden has produced(eaten it all-nothing to preserve)being as there hasn't been much.  It's been a strange year in many ways not just due to Covid.

* Fill more Giveaway Boxes  DONE

I've got 6 boxes ready to go.
Go me. lolz

* Continue to Deal w/VA Stuff  PASS  Still dealing with legal stuff and hoping we will be at a point soon to make some relocating decisions.

* Access Damage in Bedroom and Fix  DONE

Other than lots of cleaning the bedroom didn't get anything else done in there. 

Furniture reposition-ed, day bed added and the toiletries stockpile organized and stored away all in one location.

This was the big August project and it's complete.

Done and dusted as far as I am concerned. ;-)

* Eat Down the Pantry  FAIL
With all the doom and gloom predictions of higher Covid numbers in the fall and food shortages we didn't see the need to eat down food stocks here really once the month began.  We've pretty much been restocking as we eat down so we are status quo really on food.

* Surgery  DONE
Trust me, you don't won't to see pictures of this! lolz  I am glad it's over and the surgery site is  mostly healed up.  Soon I can go bra-less at night....yay!  Now we await the medical bill for this.....not yay.

* Work on Details of Winter Trip  PASS  I am reticent to commit to tickets and reservations still but I am working on making this happen.  Still in the "pull the details together" stage on this but making progress.

That's about it from here for August.  Nothing much exciting but we are bumping along in life during a strange Summer.

How did you do on your To-Do List for August?
Let us know all about it!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

  The  "More Garden Harvest" Edition.....

The garden is winding down. We picked 2 small tomatoes and one Jalapeno pepper this past weekend.  Hubs had picked those 4 acorn squash 2 weeks ago without my asking him to.  They weren't ripe yet but he said they had stopped growing. sigh.  I told him he should have left them alone. So no acorn squash for us......

We've got a few more tomatoes and peppers yet to ripen, and I'll wait until the first frost to harvest my collards and then we are done for the year(except for amending the soil in the back garden beds).

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

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

1. Sunday--Crab Ravioli, Roasted Squash
2. Monday--Hot Dogs on buns, Beans, Carrots
3. Tuesday--Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine, Sugar Snap Peas

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Caesar Salad
5. Thursday--? and sauteed Cabbage

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

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

1. Sunday--Crab Ravioli(leftover), Roasted Squash
2. Monday--Hot Dogs on buns, Beans, Carrots
3. Tuesday--Corn on cob, Chicken Tenders

4. Wednesday--Scampi w/Linguine, Salad
5. Thursday--Chicken Parm, Salad, Garlic Bread

6. Friday--Chinese Take-out
7. Saturday--Leftovers(I had Chinese/Hubs had Shrimp Scampi)

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY/TV Dinners, and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out. 

Still need to use that cabbage.

We had Ex-College Boy and his roommate over for dinner on Thursday.  I had gone to P and R Outlet that day and picked up some chicken breast for $1.49 lb.(3 large breasts)and a small loaf of frozen garlic bread(besides being inexpensive all their frozen foods were an additional 20% off that day).  I sliced the chicken in half and pounded it thinner and made Chicken Parmesan since it's one of Ex-CB's favorites.  The garlic bread and a large tossed salad rounded out that meal. I had cottage cheese that's needed using and the weather was cooler and I was running the oven for the Parm so I made 2 smaller pans of lasagna too(1 for us, 1 for Ex-CB and his roommate).

P and R Outlet is that place that gives away freebies with a purchase.  We picked up 2 packs of hot dogs(one beef/one chicken), 2 tubes of organic crescent rolls and 1 can of an oat milk coffee drink, all for free on Thursday.  Ex-CB took the hot dogs and coffee drink, we kept the whack rolls(but I'll probably give those to Ex-CB as well next time he's here).

Going there is like a treasure hunt...you never know what you'll find at an amazing price(or free). 8-))

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 4 pot pies

* 2 boxes pot stickers

* 4 bags of veggies

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* Hot Dogs

* Shrimp

* Chicken Tenders

We spent $80.32 last week(and I forgot to add my .16¢ spent at CVS-will add it into this week's spending) bringing our food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods to $190.46 for September so far.

I've earned $105.61 on Ibotta in September.

I've earned $2.25 on SavingStar in September.

I've earned $2.50 on Checkout51 in September.

I've earned $2.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal(for a digital Q).

I've earned 7972 points from food shopping on Fetch in September.

I've earned 3345 points from food shopping on ShopKick in September.

I've earned 3625 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in September(not counting the $6 in points missing).

My savings percentage for last week was 51.74%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips)for September and the monthly savings total for September comes in at 48.32% so far.(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week......Shrimp Scampi, 1 Chicken Parm and 1 small pan of  Lasagna.

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

1. Sunday--Lasagna, Salad
2. Monday--Chicken Pot Pie
3. Tuesday--Leftovers or FFY

4. Wednesday--Rigatoni w/Mushrooms and Sauce, Sugar Snap Peas
5. Thursday--Domino's

6. Friday--steamed Lobsters, sauted Cabbage, French Fries
7. Saturday--Leftovers

What needs buying for this menu?  Lobster. There is a $4.99 lb. at Price Chopper coupon this week for the lobsters but you have to spend $15 on other items to use it.  I am not going grocery shopping this week other than lobsters, fressh salmon and a few items we can use to get me to $15+the cost of the lobsters.

My MidWeek Ibotta bonus is only $1 again so I won't be buying anything until the weekend if the Weekend Warrior Bonus is $5 for me.  I only need 18 more offers to reach that $20 Moolah Bonus so I have time to wait for a better Midweek/Weekend Bonus to pair with it.

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

* Breakfast for Dinner

* Haddock Fish Dinner  

* Beef Liver  

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

Frugal Friday....the September 11th Edition on Saturday

 Here's what passed for frugal around here this past week........

*  Since we went to the town South of us on Tuesday we stopped at Panera and got the Baker's Dozen bagels for $6.99.

I used a free gift card(cashed in c/c points for it)to pay and then submitted the receipt to Fetch Rewards and got 105 points toward a gift card for this purchase.

*  I had Hubs get a watermelon on sale for $2.99 at the local Shuresave store. It was free using an old gift card for there that I had him use.

Unfortunately he picked out a dud.  It wasn't very flavorful.  Ya win some ya lose some.....

*  I found money!

A penny at the Rite-Aid on the 6th.

I found 2 pennies on the trip to the Walmart in the town South of us.

And back at R-A, when I opened my car door in the Rite-Aid parking lot I spied this groady penny laying there.

Total Change found this week. .04¢
Total Change found this year....$48.03

*  I had an old boombox I wanted to use in the guest room, but the power cord was long gone.  So instead of trashing the boombox and purchasing a new one, I ordered a replacement cord and it arrived last week.

It was under $10 including shipping. Much better than the cost of a new player.  Now I can use that boombox again!

*  I cashed in Swagbucks for a gift card.........

$25.00 free gift card and it only cost 2,200 SBs(since the Walmart gift cards were on "sale").

*  Lots of rebate shopping this past week as I already blogged about.  I also got the freebies/better than freebies/almost freebies at Rite-Aid......

The floss was free after sale price, L2CQ and $3 back in Bonus Cash.

This particular toothbrush was better than free after sale price, L2CQ and $3 back in Bonus Cash.

The cans of almonds were .75¢ per can after sale, L2CQ and .50¢ Ibotta rebate.(I did this deal on two different accounts, 2 cans per card.)

*  I also went to CVS this past week to use expiring ECBucks......

After Qs, CRTs and ECBs($3 on my card and $14 printed ones)this all cost me .16¢ OOP.

I also had lots of double dipping oral care CRTs but I just couldn't look another tube of toothpaste in the face so I settled on just toothbrushes. lolz

The shampoo earned me a $10 Beauty Reward gift card.  Only they didn't have any "Beauty" gift cares left so they were giving out old Easter time gift cards.  I'll have to call and make sure this doesn't expire 4/12 who knows what year. ;-)

I also earned back $6 in ECBs for buying the toothbrushes so I've got $16 left in ECBs plus this gift card and I don't need to go back to CVS until the end of October.  I also earned another $3 ECB for getting to $30 in Beauty spending so that makes $19 in ECBs on my card.

*  I got a pack of Klondike's new donut ice cream bars at Walmart.

I got back what I spent in points on Fetch Rewards, $3.27.

I can do this deal once more.

I like Klondike bars but this product is silly and pure marketing.  And you get less product because obviously there is a HOLE in the middle of the bar! lolz  We tried the Boston Cream.  It was ok but didn't knock my sox off.  But I'll take it and enjoy a treat for free. 8-)

*  I had 2 frugal fails this week on Fetch Rewards too.  evidently when I went to do the Arm and Hammer toothpaste deal again I must have gotten at least 1 of the wrong type so I didn't get the full $25 worth of points back, I only got $11.25 worth back in SBs.

And I tried to do the Green Giant Simply deal-Buy 3 bags/Get back $6 in SBs but when I submitted my receipt I didn't get the $6 and that Deal disappeared from my list.  I submitted a ticket for this one.

It's always something, isn't it? ;-)

That's it from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Sluggy

More Rebate Shopping This Week

 I only got a $1.00 MidWeek Bonus on Ibotta if you did 12 offers so I got what's listed below--(price/rebate listed)

1 x 2 pack of Great Day hard boiled eggs .98¢/.25¢
1 x Box of Band-Aids  $2.98/$1.00
1 x Alka-Seltzer gum $4.24/$2.00
2 x Mead folders $1.94/$1.00
5 x Buddig lunchmeat pouches $2.90/$1.00
1 x Kraft boxed mac and cheese .98¢/.20¢
1 x Lucky Leaf scoop cake mix $2.50/$1.00
2 x Powerade Ultra drinks $2.00/.40¢
2 x Gerber baby food naturals $1.96/$1.00
1 x Gerber fruit water pack $1.98/$1.50
1 x Cocktail Artist grenadine $3.24/$1.62

SubTotal was $25.70. I used $5 in Qs so $20.70.  I used 3 x $5 Walmart gift cards to pay(all those free from other deals)so $5.70+.35¢ tax=$6.05 OOP

Ibotta rebate total was $10.97 on these 11 items.

I also double dipped some items.....
I also got 1,042 points on Fetch for the Alka-Seltzer and the Budding meats.
I also got 100 kicks on ShopKick for buying the Powerade.
I also got $1.25 back on Checkout51 for buying the Mead folders.

Then I bought 2 cans of Blue Diamond almonds at Rite-Aid for $6, used a $2/2 L2CQ, earned $2 in BC back and .50¢ on Ibotta which made them .75¢(paid for with Bonus Cash)for each can after all that.

And the nuts made 12 items this week so I got the $1 MidWeek Bonus on Ibotta so OOP

Ibotta rebates total this trip(Walmart/R-A)...$12.47.
Checkout51 rebate this trip...$1.50.
Shop Kicks rebate this trip... .40¢
Fetch Rewards this trip....$1.42

That makes $15.79 in rebates.
Paid OOP.....$6.05

Not a bad trip, spending less than I made plus 3 donation items for the food bank and I am 44 rebates out of the 75 I need to get that $20 bonus.

Sluggy

Some Shopping Lately, Mostly Walmart

So Ibotta came out with a $20 Moo-lah Bonus for September.  You have the whole month to purchase 75 qualifying items to earn $20.  Not a great $ amount to # of items ratio but I figure if I can combine those 75 items with weekly bonuses(Midweek and Weekend Warrior ones-thus getting more mileage out of the deal)and maybe a Swagbucks/Fetch/Shopkick deal thrown in and use some free gift cards I have this will work out well. ;-)

First I did a MidWeek Bonus last week, 11 items at Walmart and 1 at Rite-Aid gave me $21.29 back at Ibotta. (I already talked about this shop.)

One of those 11 items was these tampons which also got me a $5 Walmart e-gift card(along with $2 in rebate above).

Two days later I got a $5 Weekend Warrior Bonus so back to Walmart I went and here are the items I picked up(only a few are pictured).......

* Smile Direct toothpaste $3.98-$1 Ibotta and $3.50 back on Shopkick so .52¢ moneymaker
* Gold Bond powder $3.64-$1 Q-$1.50 Ibotta makes it $1.14
* Alka Seltzer gum $4.24-$2 Q-$2.00 Ibotta makes it .24¢
* Bic razor $5.82-$3 Q-$3.00 Ibotta makes it a .18¢ moneymaker.
* Gerber Fruit Water(not pictured) $1.98-$1.50 Ibotta makes it .48¢
* 2 x Gerber baby food*not pictured)$1.96-$1 Q-$1 Ibotta makes it a .04¢ moneymaker.
* Ultra Powerade drink(not pictured)$1.00-.20¢ Ibotta plus I got 60 Shopkicks(10 scan/50 receipt)
* 2 pack hard boiled eggs(not pictured).98¢-.25¢ Ibotta makes it .73¢
* Perdue fresh chicken(not pictured)$5.37-$1 Q-$1.25 Ibotta makes it $3.12
* Poise thin pads(not pictured)$4.84-$2 Q-$3.00 Ibotta makes it a .16¢ moneymaker.
* Cottonelle tp(not pictured)$6.48-.50¢ Ibotta makes it $5.98.
* Cottonelle wet wipes(not pictured)$2.43-.50¢ Ibotta makes it $1.93. I also got a $1 Ibotta Cottonelle bonus for buying both and another .50¢ back on Fetch Rewards for buying the tp so $6.41 OOP for both paper items.

* The Arm and Hammer toothpaste was $3.12 a tube so $12.48 for all 4 tubes.  That was a Swagbucks deal and I got $25 in SB back so a $12.52 moneymaker!
* Another Swagbucks Deal was an 8 pack of AHA! seltzer(not pictured)for $3.38. I got $3.04 back in SBs so .34¢ OOP for that.

* 2 Annies crackers/cookies were $3.82 each. I used 2 x .50¢ IPQ(didn't get the $1 insert Qs)so paid $6.64 OOP.  I got $1.25 for each on Ibotta($2.50), another $1.25 for doing the Annie's Bonus and a .10¢ Ibotta for any kid's crackers.  I also submitted for a .50¢ SavingStar rebate so in the end these 2 were $2.29 for both.

* I also bought another box of tampons this trip for $6.54-$2.00 Ibotta and got another $5.00 Walmart e-gift card so another .46¢ moneymaker(if  roll that gift card into my Ibotta/Fetch/Shopkick/Swagbucks deals at Walmart).  I've maxed out that Playtex/Walmart deal now(limit of 2).

* I also bought another ice cream sandwich for $1.47.(Pictured from the previous purchase.)  This earned back $2.18 in ShopKicks.

Just all the Ibotta rebates(with bonuses-Cottonelle, Annies, Sept Level 1, Weekend Warrior)on this Walmart trip came to $28.05.  The total at the register was $64.67.  I used a $15 PandG prepaid Visa card I earned last Winter that's expiring this month, so  I spent $49.67 OOP.

I also got $28.04 back in SBs, (used $22 worth of it to get a $25 Walmart e-gift card), $1.10 on Fetch an.d $5.68 on ShopKicks and a $5 Walmart e-gift card(tampons).

Add in 2 more Ibotta rebates done at R-A(another $6 in rebates)and I am at 29 rebates in Sept. toward that 75 total.

Tomorrow my trips to R-A and Walmart since the weekend.........

Sluggy