Frugal Friday 2021......the February 5th Edition

 Here's our frugal wins this past week.......

*  I already posted my Rite-Aid trip......

I spent down my Bonus Cash by $7.51 on this transaction and paid nothing OOP.

*  I spent ALL my Extra Care Bucks at CVS on Thursday and purposely didn't earn any more ECBs!  With Winter heavy upon us I just can't have ECBs hanging over my head(as the CVSs are not in my town and too far to travel in bad weather)so I am now out of the CVS game. (Plus CRTs have been nonexistent on my account too.)

I got a big pack of paper towels for Hubs, a pack of CVS wipes for me, Cheez-It's for Hubs and Ex-College Boy and a Maybelline Baby Lips to put in a giveaway(or keep for myself).  I used all my ECBs plus a $10 CVS gift card I earned some time last year and paid $2.30 OOP(used some of my WAM).  Of course there was a hitch, there was a sign on the shelf that the Cheez-Its were on sale 2/$4 but they rang up $3.19 each, reg. price.  Annoying if this was old signage that wasn't taken down from a previous week and I didn't notice it on my receipt until I got home so I filled out their survey to complain about being "overcharged for the item".  My total should have been Zero OOP after Qs and ECBs so we'll see if I get a reply from them about this issue. 

At any rate, I am now done with CVS for the foreseeable future. 8-)))

*  I hit the discount grocery outlet yesterday since the weather was nice and I was over near there to hit CVS and get my glasses.  No picture of the groceries since they are already put away but here is my receipt..

2.01 lbs. of chicken thighs at .79¢ lb.

3 x Nathan's hot dogs for .39¢ each (1 for Ex-CB)

1 x Shredded Carrots for .79¢

1.84 lbs. cabbage head for .49 lb.

1 bundle of fresh asparagus for $1.29

3 lb. bag of onions for .79¢

1 quart of chocolate milk for $1.89

Total of $8.42

I also got 3 cans of cold brew cappuccino coffee drinks as a freebie there(also for Ex-CB).

*  Speaking of new glasses..........

I picked them up as they are near the CVS I went to.  Pardon my slovenly morning hair.  The exam, frames and lenses cost me $98 total and that is without vision insurance so I am happy with the price.  And the frames are purple of course! lol

*  Two plus days of a Nor'Easter early in the week meant we stayed home half the week.......

The "big storm" dropped just over 18 inches on us and we woke up to an additional 2 inches Friday morning so we are over 20 inches now.  ugh  Talk about adding insult to injury! ;-)  

The forecast keeps changing for the next few days(snow, no snow, lotsa snow)so who knows how much more we'll get here?  But it's suppose to rise above freezing today so we may get some melt-off.  That would be nice.

Being homebound meant less spending or using gas this week so I'll take that as a win. 8-))

*  I found money!

It was a thin week for finds(well duh! I didn't go out much).......

This penny was found at Rite-Aid last Saturday.

And this sad penny was found at P and R Outlet on Thursday while waiting in line at the checkout.  I saw the guy in front of me step on this penny so when we moved up I scooped it up. lol

Found Money This Week... .02¢

Found Money This Year So Far... .40¢

* I almost forgot these two--I had a free birthday burger from Red Robin which expired on Jan. 31st so we went there on Saturday to redeem that.

While we were nearby we also went to Kohl's as I had a $5 Birthday chit to use before the end of January.  I can't show you what I used it on because it's a Christmas gift for a family member but that $5 chit brought the cost down to $1.33 OOP.  It was a $12.50 item that was on clearance(of course). ;-)

That's about it from me this week.

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

Let us know!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Transaction on Wednesday

Wednesday was the first time I could get out this week and I had to pick up an Rx so I walked around the store and put together a deal.  Not the best deal but it was ok........

2 x Pirate Booty popcorn on sale=$5.00

2 x Doritos BOGOFree=$4.29

4 x Chez-Its BOGOFree=$5.98

2 x large candy bars on sale=$3.00

2 x Neutrogena eye make-up remover 20% Wellness disc.=$11.66

2 x Neutrogena concealer 20% Wellness disc.=$17.58

1 x Dove men's deodorant clearance=$2.07

1 x K-Y jelly 20% Wellness disc.=$5.99

Subtotal......$55.57

Coupons Used

1 x $10 wyspend $50=$10.00

2 x $1/1 Pirate's Booty ManuQ=$2.00

2 x $1/2 Cheez-Its IPQ=$2.00

2 x .50¢/1 candy bar Instant savings stickers=$1.00

2 x $2.50/1 Neutrogena eye IPQ=$5.00

1 x $4/1 Neutrogena face L2CQ=$4.00

1 x $4/1 Neutrogena face IPQ=$4.00

1 x .75¢/1 Dove men's L2CQ=.75¢

Coupon Total....$28.75

$55.57-$28.75=$26.82+.69¢ tax=$27.51 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $20 in new BC($3 wyspend $15 foods, 2 x $6 Neutrogena, $5 K-Y).

L2CQs and Instant savings sticker don't count toward the $50 you need to use the $10 off $50 Q...those amounts are deducted so I had to get to $55 since I had a total of $5 in those coupons.  I didn't need those candy bars to hit the $15 spent to earn the $3 on food/snacks like I thought I did.  I would have been better off not buying those and getting 2 inexpensive stationery items(tape)and earning an additional $4 in BC for that.  That would have put me over $54 subtotal and after the $4 Neutrogena L2CQ came off I'd still hit that $50 mark.

That transaction would have been $54.79-$27.75=$27.04+tax and earned me back $24 in new BC so closer to an almost freebie transaction.  

It would have been a moneymaker if I had been able to go R-A on Sunday since I could have submitted the over $25 in Neutrogena for a $10 Visa card offer.  But Mother Nature had other ideas the past few days. sigh.

Sluggy

2021 Food Spending Report.....the January Edition

 Onward to January's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2021.

I have posted January'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 January.  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(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 24.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $6.49
Value  $26.94
Savings  75.91%

CVS

OOP  $4.86
Qs/Ads/ECBs  $83.81

Value  $88.67

Savings 94.52%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $4.56

Qs/Ads  $30.20

Value  $34.76

Savings  86.88%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $5.95
Value  $948
Savings  37.24%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $5.06
Value  $9.84
Savings  48.57 %

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $0.00(used free gift card

Value  $13.99

Savings  100%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $47.44
Value  $116.06
Savings   59.12%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $1074.81
Value  $1074.81
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $120.26
Value  $294.31
Savings  59.14%

WEIS

OOP  $87.14

Qs/Sales  $96.37
Value  $183.51
Savings  52.51%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Ocean State at 100% and CVS at 94.52%.   My worst savings rate was at Malacari's with 37.24%.
I shopped at 10 different stores in January.  

TOTAL Spent.........................................$295.22

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$482.34

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$777.56

TOTAL Savings of ................................62.03%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for January w/R-A........$295.22
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$1557.15
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1852.37
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................84.06%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January wanting to eat down the pantry/freezers a bit and not spend a bunch of $$ on food shopping.  I did still stock up on good deals that I found them.  We ended the month of January at  $104.78 UNDER my usual Food/Toiletries/HBA/Paper Goods monthly budget. 

I also had a very big month of cash rebates, which was just $49.69 Less than what I actually spent on groceries. (This doesn't count any ShopKicks, Fetch, Checkout51 or Swagbucks rebates I did.) I am happy with that.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 8.68% in January 2021 to 84.06% compared to the December's 75.38% savings average mostly due to a LOT of Rite-Aid shopping.  Usually I don't do so much R-A buying in January.


With 1 month accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $295.22 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$295.22

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items....$1852.37

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$1557.15

2020 Yearly Savings Total............84.06%

The average per month amount spent is $295.22 in 2021 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD To February 2021...........

We have had some very bad Winter weather already and more is on the horizon for this weekend into next week.  February is generally our worst Winter weather month so other than spending/rolling my Bonus Cash at R-A I don't plan on hitting Walmart which is my main Ibotta store much in February.

Weis(PMITA)Markets hasn't been good for Ibotta lately so yeah.
We'll probably double down on eating from what we have at home in February and try to keep the spending to a minimum except for needs.

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 January?

*  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

Happy Groundhog Day Granny!

Happy Groundhog Day Everyone!

If my paternal Grandmother was still alive she'd be 112 years old today.

Here she is with my oldest brother when he was a couple weeks old in December of 1951.  This is one of the oldest photos of  have a her and she is 42 year old in it.  

I sure wish I had some photos of her when she was younger.  She must have been a "looker" then to have attracted her first husband, my paternal Grandfather.

My Paternal Grandfather from sometime during the 1930's in his NY National Guard uniform.

And my grandfather in 1926 after he ran away from home from New Windsor, NY, lied about his age(he was 16 years old)and joined the Marines.  He was stationed at the St. Helena training station in the Berkley Section of Norfolk, Virginia.  After his two year hitch(when he was thrown out when they discovered he lied about his real age)my Grandfather traveled to the Boston area where he met Granny in 1928.

Granny on the back left in this photo in 1961at one of my brother's 1st Communion.

Born in Cambridge Massachusetts to Irish immigrants, she survived the Spanish flu Pandemic as a child, World War I, was a flapper in the 1920's outside of Boston and then in Manhattan, married for the first time in 1928(and she didn't invite her own father to the wedding), had my father in 1931, then my only aunt in 1934.  

Her husband went out for a pack of cigarettes in 1941 and never returned leaving her destitute with a 10 year old and a 6 year old to support and raise in Brooklyn, NY.

She moved to Norfolk Virginia in the late 1940s after World War II, found a new husband and married him in North Carolina in 1949 at 40 years old.  He was 7 years older than her and worked for a tug boat company in Norfolk. My Step Grandfather Dave, died of a heart attack on board a ship waiting to pass through the Suez Canal in 1966 after 17 years of marriage, leaving Granny a widow at the age of 57.

Christmas in 1962 with Granny at our house in Norfolk,

Granny soldiered on, selling their brick home in Virginia Beach and moving across the street from my family and then into a duplex down the street from us at the end of the street in the Portlock section of South Norfolk(now Chesapeake), VA.   

Granny and my Step Grandfather with us kids in 1960 in front of their home across the street from us in another section of Portlock, South Norfolk.

Granny eventually moved back to Massachusetts to be near her daughter(my Aunt)and my Aunt's children, 2 of whom were younger than me and my older brothers.  She got a job working for Wang Laboratories one of the early computer labs, making word processor parts in Tewksbury MA.  We didn't see her often after she moved, only for special occasions like when my brother's graduated from High School.  The last time I saw Granny was in 1979 when I worked in Summer Stock in Maine, my Aunt picked me up at a bus station in Boston and took me to her apartment for a visit before she drove me onward to my destination in Maine.

Granny retired in the 1970's and died the Fall after I graduated from college in 1981 at the age of 72.  I so grateful I was home from college and was living in Virginia Beach with my mom so I got to attend the funeral.  Granny is buried in Virginia Beach, VA next to her husband Dave Paul and most every trip back to the area I pay a visit to them both at the cemetery.

She taught me what it was to be a strong woman, who didn't take crap from anyone.  No nonsense and she spoke her mind without much of a filter(so that's where I get THAT from!). lol  One of her favorite sayings(one of the few that I can repeat here since she swore like a sailor at times)was she would ask you, "Have you got a hat?  Her reply was always, Then go shit in it!"

She loved her kids and grandkids(and you knew it)but she wasn't much for coddling any of us because she knew life was hard and you had to be tough to survive.

She loved her Pall Mall cigarettes, her Pepsi Cola(never Coke!), Mrs. Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles with her sandwich at lunch, Coffee, JFK(she had a Kennedy ashtray and a JFK commemorative trash can), and playing Bingo almost every night of the week when I was very small at various venues-- Catholic, Jewish, Protestant or Non-Denominational, it didn't matter your religious affiliation when it came to Bingo.  She babysat me often so I learned my numbers and alphabet in part from those evenings in the bingo hall with her.  

Thanks Granny for having a positive influence on my life!
Happy Birthday!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "There Will Be NO Shopping Until Further Notice" Edition....

This is just the first "dusting" of snow we have gottten here at Chez Sluggy.
It's snowed off and on since Sunday and this is suppose to continue until late Tuesday.  We are in the small area that is predicted to receive 18+ inches so yay for that. lol  Obviously there will be no grocery or drugstore shopping until we dig out in mid February.  Kidding, we should be able to drive by Thursday.
Are you suppose to get a good amount of snow where you are?

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself

2. Monday--Chicken Fajitas

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts

4. Wednesday--BBQ pork sammiches, Veggie TBD
5. Thursday--Hubs cooks or Leftovers

6.  Friday--Homemade Manicotti(if I feel ambitious), Salad

7. Saturday--Leftovers

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

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself(Don't remember what I had)

2. Monday--Chicken Fajitas

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts

4. Wednesday--BBQ pork sammiches, Cole Slaw
5. Thursday-Leftovers

6.  Friday--Homemade Manicotti, Leftover Brussels Sprouts, Garlic Bread

7. Saturday--Lunch out, No Dinner

Last week saw 4 night of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/planned overs or no dinner, FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out(but 1 lunch out).

We pretty much followed the plan. Go. Us.

I forgot I had a free birthday burger from Red Robin so we had to go out for lunch on Saturday(ahead of the big storm)to use that chit before it expired.  They served us each two side salads with the meal(don't know why)so we were too full for dinner on Saturday.  I think Hubs ate something small that night and I just had a cup of hot tea.

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

* 6 lbs. of frozen veggies

* 3 lbs. of BSC Breasts

* 1 bag of French fries

* 1 bag of mixed root veggie fries

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  Salmon fillets

* 1/3 bag of Brussels Sprouts

*  a bag of barbecued/smoked pork

*  3/4 lb. Chicken Tenders(used most for the Fajitas but a little to make Chicken Salad for 2 lunch sandwiches)

We spent $90.97 on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods last week.  $61.76 at Walmart, $1.69 at Weis, and $27.52 at the Discount Grocery Outlet. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $295.22 for January.

There are 0 shopping days left in January.  Onward to the 28 shopping days in February(which because of the storm will be more like 24 shopping days. 8-)

I've earned $245.53 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $11.00 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $2.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 663 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I've earned 2676 point from food shopping on Shop Kick in January.

I've earned 1200 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in January.

My savings percentage for last week was 55.54%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for January and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 62.03%.(w/out R-A). That's a really high savings rate even for me. 8-)

Leftovers going into this week--taco filling, cole slaw, 3 manicotti, garlic bread, bbq enough for 2 sandwiches, fajita filling for 1.  No food waste again last week.  But few leftovers means lots of cooking this week.

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

1. Sunday--Chicken w/BBQ sauce, leftover Brussels Sprouts or Broccoli in cheese sauce

2. Monday--Leftovers-various

3. Tuesday--Corn Chowder, Cornbread

4. Wednesday--Ham slices and Veggies TBD
5. Thursday--Hubs cooks or Leftovers

6.  Friday--More Leftovers

7. Saturday--No Clue yet

What needs buying for this menu?  Well can't get to the store so I hope everything needed is here. lol If not, the plan will need to adjust/change.  A big snowstorm is one way to keep me from buying more groceries, right? ;-)

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?  Not such great deals here unless I go to the discount food outlet.

Sluggy