Frugal Friday.....the May 7th Edition on May 10th

 I am still trying to get up to speed and back to blogging after my fun week away so here is the FF post for last Friday, enjoy!

While Vacations aren't necessarily frugal we had a couple of wins the past week......

* We stopped at Aldi on the way to the beach house and Kim's Sissie used $50 in Aldi gift cards(some unknown person had gifted her lol)to stock up on some food provisions for the stay at said beach house.  I think I made up the difference since we went WILD and the bill was a tad more than the gift cards.

*  During out round robin of shopping we made it to the Vera Bradley outlet on Sunday and neither Kim or Sissie would let me pay for my purchases there, gifting me with belated Xmas presents.  Then Sissie paid for a top I wanted to buy at Talbot's.  They were both very good to me and I sure did appreciate it!
And yes, your girl is no longer a Talbot's virgin.  I even have my very own Talbot's reward card now....lolz......

*  We had free use of an awesome beach house because Sissie "knows a guy".  Of course, I had a mishap with a plunger and ended up having to replace it but it's a story we will treasure. lol  Free beach house vacation versus the cost of a plunger?  I'll take that deal any day!

* Once we got back to Sissie's house we hit Mickey D's twice a day for Diet Cokes for "you know who".  On Tuesday it was free McFlurry Day if you have their app so I paid for "you know who's" Diet Coke on my mobile app but I got a free McFlurry for my efforts......

I sure needed it after being drug through a third outlet mall as well as all the little gift shops down the shore with only 1 day off from shopping. lolz

* On the way down for the vacation I stopped in lower PA and filled my car with cheaper gas.  Cheaper gas, especially lately is better than a poke in the eye with a stick, right? ;-)

* I found money!

Upon arriving at Sissie's house there was a small container of chocolate on my bed with this on top of it....

Technically it was Thursday night but too late to go onto last week's Frugal Friday.  When Kim found out what Sissie had done(giving me a head start on the Great Change Hunt)she threw down the gauntlet and the game was on!

But then when we stopped at Aldi before getting to the beach house I noticed that one of the carts chains(right in the middle of the line of carts)was hanging down and not inserted into the cart in front of it.  This meant there was a quarter to be had so while Kim marched ahead of the three of us looking for change on the floor I went over to the line of carts, plugged the thingamibob to eject the abandoned quarter and took it.

When Sissie told Kim I was now up by .50¢ she got madder than a wet hen! ;-)

On Tuesday when leaving that particular outlet mall I went into the Bath and Body Works store while Sissie had a rest on the veranda and Kim when into the Ann Taylor store.

Found a dime in there by the register area.

Then while getting out of Sissie's car when Kim drove us to Home Goods I spied this on the floor......

A nice forlorn shiny penny.  He came home with me too. 8-)))

Total Money Found This Week..... .61¢

Total Money Found This Year.....$3.39

That's all I gots for the week.

I hope everyone had a frugal week last week.

Sluggy

Note to Self: Twins Are Tiring...But Fun!

 

 I may be back tomorrow or Sunday......or Monday.

I had jolly good fun down with Kim and her Sissie.....and Sissie's Hubs..and the fur babies.  But I am plum worn out!  Who knew eating and shopping, and more eating and shopping and running to Mickey D's every 4 hours could be so HARD on a body? 8-))  Plus I screwed up my knee so I am NOT leaving the second floor of the house today.even though it is killing me not to be able to go chase the Ibotta freebies this weekend. argh!  Damn you knee....

I also have unpacking and getting back to RL to do so y'all may not hear from me for a little while.
Be well, be kind and have a good weekend.  And tell me what you're doing while I hobble around and do laundry and lay in my bed.

Sluggy

And The Winner Is........Who Won the Giveaway???

 Sorry I'm so late getting this posted but well......I'm on vacation so pppfftt! lolz

Anyway I finally got my computer out so I could pick the winning entry.
Actually Kim hit the button to pick the winner(and thankfully she didn't pick herself to win or I'd have some 'splain' to do!).

Again here's what was up for grabs.......

And the winner is........

Crystal Hankey!

Crystal HankeyApril 21, 2021 at 3:46 PM

Spring is bitter sweet for me this year. My son (age 40) passed away in his sleep a little over 3 weeks ago. I am finally getting a trip up to Oregon to see my mom and granddaughter but also need to pick up his ashes and the stuff he took up when he went for a visit. Looking forward to getting out in the yard when I get home. Working on a small garden bed right now. Take care.

Congratulations Crystal!

I've got your mailing address and as soon as I get home I'll get your box out to you. (If you have moved though email me the new address.)

And let me add to what others have said that I'm so sorry for your loss as well. 8-(

Thanks for everyone for playing along and another box will be up for grabs real soon.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the April 30th Edition

 This week's Frugal post will be short as I am rushed for time.

* I did a crazy number of Rite-Aid transactions the end of last week..........

These photos don't include the two online orders I placed.  Total OOP was $2.52 just because the online orders wouldn't let me use part of a R-A gift card. 8-(  

*  I made a trip to the P and R discount outlet for some produce last week.  They had freebies with a purchase up by the front door and I picked up these bags of cooked cannellini beans.......

I may end up freezing them and waiting until Fall to make a ham and bean soup for Hubs.

*  I knew I was leaving town soon so when I was over by the cheapest gas station this week I filled up.  With the discount I paid $2.84 per gallon rather than $3.02 at the most expensive station closer to home.

*  I found money!

First was 3 pennies at my Rite-Aid last Saturday.

I found a penny by the Customer Service desk at Weis(PMITA)Markets while I was talking with the CSM there.  I showed it to her and said that's cool but next I wanted to find something better, like a quarter!

So I go over to check-out and found a quarter at the self-checkout!.  Of course after I finished checking out I HAD to go  back and show the CSM the quarter.  She laughed and said I needed to buy a lottery ticket. lol

Then I found a penny at Walmart on after I checked out and was leaving the store.

Total Found Money This Week.... .29¢
Total Found Money This Year....$2.78

I did find a quarter when I was cleaning out my car on Wednesday in preparation for my short trip but that was already my quarter so I am not counting it here. 8-)

That's about all I can think of right now.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?

Sluggy

2021 Food Spending....the April Report

 One more day until the month ends after today but I am finished food spending for April at this point so I am posting this a bit early.  Anything spent in these last two days on groceries will go onto May's tracking.

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2021.

I have posted April'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 April.  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 25. (I don't count all the "freebies" I get at the Discount Outlet in my totals either.)
*****************

BREAD OUTLET

OOP  $14.00

Value  $52.10

Savings 73.63%

DOLLAR TREE

OOP  $2.00

Value  $3.49

Savings  42.69%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $10.65

Value  $19.22

Savings  44.59%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $0.00(used free gift card)
Value  $11.00
Savings  100%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $34.36
Value  $78.33
Savings  56.13%

RITE-AID
OOP  $2.52
Qs/Ads/BC  $1,999.95
Value  $2,002.47
Savings  99.87%

TARGET

OOP  $0.00(used free gift card)

Value  $76.61

Savings 100%

WALMART
OOP  $223.10
Value  $547.02
Savings  59.22%

WEIS

OOP  $139.80

Qs/Sales  $157.11
Value  $296.91
Savings  53.15%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Target at 100%, Ocean State Job Lot at 100% and Rite-Aid at 99.87%.

The worst rate was at Dollar Tree at 42.69%  I'll take that all day long! ;-)
I shopped at 9 different stores in April.

TOTAL Spent in April.........................$423.91

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards......$731.26

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$1,155.17

TOTAL Savings of ...............................63.30%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for April w/R-A...............$426.43
TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$2,731.21
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$3,157.64
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................86.50%

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into April without a plan other than eating down some of the frozen assets and staying under $400 for the month.  Didn't quite stay under budget but we did eat down freezer/stockpile.  Spending was a bit high but my $360.55 in just the Ibotta cash rebates makes my "actual" spending almost nil for the month so there is that. 8-)))

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 7.58% in April 2021 to 86.50% compared to the March's 78.92% savings average.  Any month I get a lot of items at Rite-Aid my savings percentage goes waaay up! ;-)

With 4 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1,250.94 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,250.94

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$7,922.58

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$6,671.64

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................84.21%

The average per month amount spent is $312.74 n 2021 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD To May 2021...........

I really haven't thought about May much yet.  I plan to take a break from Ibotta next month so there will be less shopping.  I will get the deals I find however as always.  I hope to be at around $300 spet for the month.

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 April?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  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