Frugal Friday.....the August 6th Edition

 Not much happened this week noteworthy as frugal but here are the highlights......

* No eating out or take-out at all.  This is a big win for us!

*  I did a smallish Walmart haul.

This(plus 2 items not pictured)turned out to be a $27.88 moneymaker.

* I also went to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Thursday just in time to use that .75¢ Catalina I found in the trash at Weis a couple of weeks ago.  I picked up a couple of peaches(our first of the season here), a couple of tomatoes for BLTs again and salads, a yogurt(45¢ after Q and rebate), a box of Zantac(a $2.81 moneymaker after double Qs), a big bottle of Heinz ketchup for .99¢ after store Q, a box of Kraft mac and cheese(.65¢ after rebate), a small can of dog food the puppies eat(.69¢ after rebate), 4 small cans of cat food for $1 total after double rebates(to take to my brother's kitties)and 3 boxes of cold cereal for .49¢ after double Qs(one of which I'll keep and the other two bound for the food bank).  I also bought a store brand Onion Dip because we have Fritos and well....onion dip! ;-)
Total OOP was $10.13 w/sales tax and I should receive $1.40 in rebates back on that spending.

*  I found money!!

Not much this week, at first.......

A penny at Walmart last Friday.  It was at the door as I loaded the groceries into the car and looked down under the cart  and it was staring up at me. 8-)

Then .11¢ last Saturday at my Rite-Aid.

Nothing else until Thursday at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  There were 4 pennies in the change slot of my self-checkout.  So I peeked into the slot of the other empty self-checkout on my way out of the store and spied a nickel and 4 more pennies to come home to live in my found change envelope.

Total Found This Week... .25¢

Total Found This Year....$13.03

*  I did a tiny bit of Rite-Aid shopping.........

The 6 packs and body wash Irish Spring are free this week at Rite-Aid($4 on sale and use the $2 in-ad Q + get $2 in Bonus Cash back for each one).  You will be sales tax on these though depending on your state, which made them a grand total of .24¢ here after Q and BC.

Not a lot of good deals this week unless your store has some 75% clearance items you need.  Next week there will be a $15 off WYSpend $60 in-ad Q however and I am hoping for some good Qs to pair with that but not holding my breath.

*  Continuing to use up garden goodies here.  We picked 3 more cukes and 1 zucchini this week.   I made more pickles and I've had two salads with fresh cuke.  I also put a sliced up zuke into the pickling brine.  There was zuke in the carrot cake, tempura zukee spears(which will be making another appearance soon), and a Spanish dish called Calabacin al Ajillo-grilled zucchini coins with garlic and parsley.  Still to come are a zucchini gratin casserole and a stuffed zuke(like a stuffed pepper dish)because this one is a big sucker and the seeds need to be scraped out of it first.  

After that I am raising the white flag of surrender and grating up the rest of any more zukes and throwing them into the freezer for baking season. lol

Now we wait for the tomatoes to ripen.......

July overall turned out to NOT be very frugal but for a reason(hello paying for Alaska flights and trip!)so I'll take any wins I can at this point. 8-)))

Any frugal wins at your house this past week?

Tell us all about them!

Sluggy

Walmart Ibotta Haul From Tuesday

 This will be my last Ibotta haul until September rolls around.  I went to Walmart on Tuesday to finish my Lunch Money $10 Bonus(needed 11 offers)and my $1 Midweek Bonus(needed 10 offers).  The offers overlap so getting 11 offers gave me $11 total(plus the rebates on the specific offers too).

I bought everything in the photo in addition to one more almond milk(Hubs already opened that one).
It was 12 offers done as the dog food and the Almay qualified for two separate offers each.

The cover girl lip gloss wasn't an Ibotta offer but it was on clearance for $1 and I had a $1.50/1 IPQ so I got .50¢ in overage to apply to something else for buying that.  The trial size Old Spice deo and body wash were also not Ibotta offers(though the Flipz and the Kotex pads were both SK and Ibotta offers along with some scan kicks I did in store) I got back $6.44 worth off points from Shop Kick as well.

I also cashed out for a $25 Walmart gift card on Shop Kick to use.

SubTotal.....$31.86
Coupons.......$4.45
Gift Card...$25.00
OOP.............$2.41

Earned back $19.29 regular rebates, $11 Bonus offers so $30.29 on Ibotta, making this a $27.88 moneymaker trip.

Sluggy

Food Spending 2021.....the July Edition

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2021.

I have posted July'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(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.)
*****************

GIANT

OOP  $4.30

Value  $18.20

Savings 76.37%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT

OOP  $0.00

Value  $9.98(used free gift card)

Savings  100%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $14.81
Value  $43.68
Savings  66.09%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $1,167.05
Value  $1,167.05
Savings  100%

OLLIES

OOP  $12.12

Value  $22.98

Savings  47.26%

SHOPRITE

OOP  $21.42

Value  $57.96

Savings  63.04%

SHURSAVE

OOP  $2.27

Value $2.27

Savings 00%

WALGREENS

OOP  $4.7280.94

Savings  94.17%

WALMART
OOP  $265.34
Value  $468.75
Savings  43.39%

WEIS

OOP  $148..85

Qs/Sales  $115.27
Value  $264.12
Savings  43.64%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Ocean State at 100% and Walgreens at 94.17%.

The worst rate was at Walmart at 43.39%.
I shopped at 10 different stores in July.  That's what happens when you go lots of places you don't usually go in a month. lolz

TOTAL Spent in July......................,...$473.80

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards.....$495.13

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.,,...$968.93

TOTAL Savings of ..............................52.26%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July w/R-A...............$473.80

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$1,662.18
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$2,135.98
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................77.82%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into July wanting to slack off on rebating. Didn't happen.  Dear me, I think I am now addicted to rebate apps. lolz  I've earned $312.72 back on Ibotta alone in July(not counting rebates earned on other apps)so spending close to $500 on groceries in a month isn't a concern to me.  I was able to get a bunch of donation items as well for the food bank so it's a win/win. ;-)

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 6.01% in July 2021 to 77.82% compared to the June's 83.83% savings average.  Quite a bit down but still winning!

With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2,425.06 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$2,425.06

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$12,924.04

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$10,498.98

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................81.24%

The average per month amount spent is $346.44 in 2021 so far.

My Ibotta rebate total for the year so far is $1,684.71.  Put that next to a full spending of $2,425.06 for the year so far and I've "actually" spent only $740.35 on food/toiletries for the year or an average of $105.76 per month.  Plus I've been able to donate to the food bank and share my haul bounty with others.

I think that is awesome. 8-)))

LOOKING AHEAD To August 2021...........

Vacation month so we'll be shopping less for groceries and trying to use up things that are perishable(or throw them into the freezer).  I have to finish my $10 Bonus and then we'll see what the month holds.

Perhaps I can actually just buy what is needed in August?  Time will tell.

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?  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

Stuff Lately.....#1 August Edition

*  Reader Jen G. sent photos of her kitty enjoying her giveaway box.   Not the "stuff" that came in the box but the actual box.  I hear it's a cat thing...fitting your feline self into a container whether you fit or not.

Here are Jen's kitties.  See the one on the bookshelf in the back? lolz  I just remember one's name, Zima, the black and white cat.  No photo of Darrell the dog however.

                             

Here is Zima exploring the box.......

Ok, let's figure out how to fit in this thing........

Success!  Time for a snooze.......

*  In other news we are heading out on our Alaskan adventure later this month with Kim and her hubby.

I hope we don't have to throw anyone overboard but the possibility does exist..... ;-)

Anybody out there take one of these cruise ships to Alaska?  Tell us about your experience-what you did or wish you had done(or hadn't done in hindsight).  There will be no rock climbing/rappelling or snorkeling for this slug but otherwise we are wide open for suggestions as far as excursions.  Should we partake of the cruise prompted shore excursions or just explore on our own?

Someone mentioned in Kim's blog comment they live up there, I think it was in Ketchikan, so let us know and maybe we can meet up with ya(as long as you have a Diet Coke and a Pastry for Kim-unless you enjoy Grizzly Bear behavior)!*snort*

Also anybody live in Southern Alaska want to chime in on what to pack to wear there in August?  I hear it's a might cooler than PA and rainier as in 'rain forest wet" in August.

*  Finished my $10 Ibotta Bonus today, rah.  I doubt I'll be tempted to do any more grocery shopping this month as we are in "use up what's here" mode now until the trip. 8-)

After coupons and a free $25 gift card I paid $2.41 for all and earned back $30.29 from Ibotta.(That doesn't count the Fetch points-a few-or the 1,610 in Shop Kick points($6.44)earned.)making this trip a $27.88 Moneymaker and getting my August grocery spending off to a roaring start. ;-)

*  The weather the last 5 days or so here has been just lovely for late July/early August.  If you don't count the hail storm last Tuesday or the torrential rains we had for 2 days.  The rains did manage to break the humidity so that's a plus but I am scared to look in the garden again for fear of finding more mammoth green Italian squash monsters!!!

Or better yet, did anyone see the Crankshaft" comic on Sunday?

Back tomorrow with the July Grocery Spending Totals.......

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Zucchini and Cucumbers Anyone?!?" Edition...

Current state of zukes and cukes not used yet.  Will have to see if the neighbors want more.  Needless to say this week's menu is heavy on zucchini. lol

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Subway or Leftovers

2. Monday--Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--Roasted Chicken, Veg TBD, leftover 

Taters

4. Wednesday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits
5. Thursday--No Clue(Hubs night to cook)

6.  Friday--Leftovers or Chicken Salad Sandwiches

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself

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

1. Sunday--Subway or Leftovers

2. Monday--Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zuke Tomatoes, Rice
5. Thursday--(Hubs night to cook)FFY

6.  Friday--BLTs

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself

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

* Nothing

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

* 4 Chicken Thighs

* 1 pack of Bacon

I spent $29.44 on food/toiletries/HBA last week.....just a few things we needed.  This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $473.80 for July(I made a math error earlier in the month that I just found.)  More over my $400 limit but still under $500 at least.

There are 0 shopping days left in July.  We are onto August!

I've earned $312.72 on Ibotta in July.

I've earned $12.00 on Checkout51 in July.

I've earned $27.43 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in July.

I've earned 20,361 points from shopping on Fetch in July which equals $20.36(It's actually more but I've been lazy about submitting my receipts.).

I've earned 16,834 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in July which equals $67.33.

I've earned 7,210 points from food shopping on Swagbucks in July which equals $72.10(if they ever approve the last $30 of stuff)...hate them!

That's $352.15 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $462.56 in grocery spending so in reality it's $110.41 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count until I cash out on the other three apps. 8-)))

My savings percentage for last week was 46.25%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)for July and the monthly savings total for July comes in at 52.26%.(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....a little corn casserole, au gratin taters, 2 pieces lemon pepper chicken, zuke tomatoes, rice.  And carrot cake.

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

1. Sunday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits

2. Monday--Leftover Lemon Pepper, Zuke in tomatoes, rice

3. Tuesday--Breakfast for Dinner

4. Wednesday--Stuffed Zuke w/Beef and Onion, Rice
5. Thursday--No Clue(Hubs night to cook)

6.  Friday--Tempura Zucchini and Fish

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself and Zuke Casserole

I will also be making bread pudding this week for Hubs(his fav)with some Thomas' mini croissants taking up room in the fridge that no one has eaten and some of the excess milk on hand.

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing unless I can't find any ground beef hidden in the bowels of the chest freezer(or I can sneak ground turkey into the dish without Hubs noticing lol).  I will be finishing up my Ibotta Lunch Money $10 rebate this week and then taking a break from them until we return from Alaska.

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