Stand With Ukraine

 While I was on our Caribbean cruise back in December I had a massage and also an acupuncture session in the spa onboard the ship.

The acupuncturist was named "Dr. Sam" and his name tag noted he was from Ukraine.  He came to my mind last week as events unfolded between Ukrainians and megalomaniac dictator Vladimir Putin and his Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Since cruise ship employees are signed to multi-month contracts and do go home between their contracted employment I keep thinking about Dr. Sam.  Will he go home and stay to fight?  Can he go home?  Does he have family there and if so, imagine the worry he carries about their safety.

Am I odd to worry about someone I have only met once?

Before opening night of the opera "Don Carlos" at the Met the other day the cast learned and performed the Ukrainian National Anthem.

Please keep the Ukrainian people in your thoughts and prayers.  May this insanity end quickly.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "WTF?!" Edition...

Standing by the register and talking to some employees last week there I glanced at some of the snacks for sale.  This one caught my eye as it contains "upcycled bananas".  Hmmm, what is an upcycled banana?  A quick Google of the term and it can be anything from the good parts of banana that would otherwise be thrown out, to an "ugly" banana that a store wouldn't try to sell due to it's shape/size.  Perhaps it could also mean a banana peel that is scraped to remove any useable banana pulp from it as well.

Ya learn something every day if you keep your eyes open, right?

And now I can't get this song out of my head! ;-)

You are welcome for the earworm.  And btw-Gwen is married to my 9th cousin, "Mr. Country Music" Shelton through our shared "Soblet" Huguenot ancestry.

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Wedding Dinner

2. Monday--No Plan

3. Tuesday--No Plan

4. Wednesday--No Plan
5. Thursday--Ditto

6.  Friday--Ditto

7. Saturday--Ditto

And here's what actually happened........

1. Sunday--Wedding Dinner

2. Monday--No clue...something...so tired lolz

3. Tuesday--Domino's Pizza, Salad

4. Wednesday--leftover pizza or ffy
5. Thursday--Fish and Chips

6.  Friday--Fend for Yourself

7. Saturday--Meatloaf, Collards, Mac and Cheese

I sort of made a keto meatloaf.  Instead of panko or reg. bread crumbs I crushed up chicharrones(crispy pork skins)to use in their place.  Crushing up chicharrones is not for the faint of heart I found out! lolz

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

*  Butter Chicken meal

*  Calzone

*  2 Hamburgers

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

*  a box of Monkey Bread

I spent $124.87 on food/toiletries/HBA the last 2-ish weeks. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $219.39 for February.  

There are 0 shopping days left in February.  

I've earned $303.29 on Ibotta in February.

I've earned $6.24 on Checkout51 in February.

I've earned $14.00 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in February.

I've earned 26,642 points($26.64) from shopping on Fetch in February.

I earned 7,720 Kicks($30.88

)from food shopping on Shop Kick in February. 

I've earned 2,185($21.85) from food shopping on Swag Bucks in February.

I've earned $0 from food shopping on Tada in February.

That's $323.53 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $219.39 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$104.14 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count(plus a $1.50 rebate sent to my Paypal account).

Go me!!

My savings percentage for the last week was 64.64%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for February comes in at 74.79% so far(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week.....Meatloaf, Collards, Mac and Cheese.

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

1. Sunday--Chinese Take-Out

2. Monday--leftover Take-Out

3. Tuesday--Lobster Ravioli Alfredo, Broccoli or Peas

4. Wednesday--Wild Rice/Mushroom Soup
5. Thursday--Butter Chicken w/rice or Calzone

6.  Friday--Lasagna, Salad, maybe Garlic Bread

7. Saturday--Leftovers

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Hopefully nothing.  I got the lasagna noodles at Walmart yesterday and mushrooms at Aldi last week.  The only "cooking" this week is the Lasagna(the rest is heat and eat).

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?  Great deals(even good deals)....what's that lately? hahahaha

Sluggy

  

Who Won the Giveaway??

There were 49 valid entries.  I had Hubs use Random dotorg to generate the winning entry number/comment.

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

Sam!

SAMFebruary 17, 2022 at 6:24 PM

You said caffeine-and chocolate so you knew I had to enter. I hope you though just enjoy this special time in your son's life, and with your family.

Congratulations Sam.  Please email me your mailing address and I'll get this all out to you.

Though SAM won I did like Angie's last entry.......

"I'm trying to stretch my March Budget by winning this February Give Away! :) Thank you! --Angie O" loloz  You're a genius Angie. ;-)

Thanks for playing along and I am on the fence about doing a March Giveaway as we are traveling out West in March and I really don't want to have to keep track of a giveaway then.

What so you, potential players??

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.........the February 25th Edition

 So here are a few of the frugal-ish things that happened here this past week.......

*   No food waste.  I didn't cook much last week as we were leaving for a few days for the wedding so we ate leftovers and just fended for ourselves a lot.  Free hotel breakfasts for 2 mornings, free wedding meal.  Let's not count the rehearsal dinner we shelled out for or the suitcase of White Castle burger my kids talked me into paying for on Saturday night. ;-)

*  I used an old Chili's gift card to buy Hubs, 
Ex-CB and I lunch on the way to NJ on Saturday so no OOP spent.  Ex-CB covered the tip.

*  I bought all  this at various Rite-Aids on Sunday and Thursday.......

Got  $5 in Ibotta rebates on the Max Freeze and Mitchum and spent BC on everything.

Bought this stuff at R-A South of town.  Nothing spent OOP and $6 in BC earned, $3 earned at Swag Bucks(Baby Ruths)and $11.75 earned through Ibotta($8 Max Freeze, $1.50 Honest, $2 Manuka, .25¢ Quaker).

I bought this stuff at my R-A.  For some reason a $2 ManuQ didn't come off and the register wouldn't take my BC to pay so I had to use a gift card.  I earned $13 in BC($3 dry skin, $3 Nivea, $1 Manuka, $5 Honest spent $15).
I earned $9.50 on Ibotta.  I also got a $1 post coupon on the Caress(forgot to use it).

* I bought all this stuff for Ibotta rebates on a trip to Walmart on Thursday....

Not pictured is a loaf of Nature's Own bread, 2 different bags of Back to the Roots Soils, a pack of BTTR seeds and a lb. of Challenge Butter.

The beans qualified for 2 rebates as did the Maxwell House coffee.  The Soft Soap refills were on clearance for $1 and gave me $2 each in Ibotta rebates so better than free,=.

The only items not Ibotta rebates was the kids Dove items.  That was a Shop Kick deal.

Spent $28.55 after coupons and free $25 gift card and earned back $34.38 back in reg. rebates and bonuses.

The Shop Kick items cost me $1.78 total after kicks.

*  I found some clearance deals at Walmart when I went to do my Ibotta haul as well.......

The 8 Nestle morsels and Fudge Kits were .50¢ each,  the Rempure rose body wash was $3.55(Rose scent is my Achilles tendon), the 2 immunity packs were $2 each, the Bic razors were -.04¢ after coupons and the probiotics were $1.

Not a bad haul overall.

*  I received 3 J&J gift cards in the mail totaling $25.......

Still waiting on that $50 R-A gift card corporate is supposedly mailing to me.  It's been 4 weeks almost and their HQ is a 2 hour drive from here.  By now I could have
walked there and gotten it in person!!!

*  I got lots of freebies at the hotel where the wedding was held..............

From mints to little bottles of toiletries to K-pods to tea bags and creamer packets to Kleeex to Tylenol to pens and notepads.  Even a dishwasher pod. lol

I also got some free sodas and water.......

*  I also got some extra sodas from the rehearsal dinner...

More on that later. 8-)

*   I found money!

I found a penny and a quarter at Walmart on Friday.

I found 3 pennies at the Burger King drive thru also on Friday.

I got .50¢ from my daughter before she flew home as she doesn't "use" money.

Silly Rabbit!

2  pennies and a crusty dime in the parking lot on Tuesday on the sidewalk outside of Rite-Aid.

And 2 pennies in Aldi and a quarter from an abandoned shopping cart in the parking lot on Thursday.

Big money this past week!+

Total Found in last Week...... $1.18
Total Found This Year......$3.27

That's about all I've got for this past week.

Let's not even talk about the money spent this past weekend in Jersey!!(rehearsal dinner, gas, hotel, bar drinks though I am pretty good at getting men to buy me drinks lol, late night snacks, booking trips, paying to Kennel dogs, etc.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

And have a good weekend and stay warm!  

Sluggy  

Frugal Friday....the February 18th Edition on February 23rd

 So here are a few of the frugal-ish things that happened here this past week.......

*   No food waste so far. ;-)  We've got lots of leftovers this week to use up or repurpose.

*  I found some clearance deals at Walmart when I went to do my Ibotta haul........

3 x 5 lb bags of rice .50¢ a bag!

1 x 1 box of Cascadian Farms cereal for .50¢

2 x bottles of maple syrup for .50¢ a bottle

2 x frozen boxes of broccoli/carrots/red taters to roast for .50¢ a box *not pictured*

$4 total for all that!

* I bought all this stuff on a trip to Walmart on Wednesday....

Spent $19.57 and earned back $29.78 back in reg. rebates and bonuses(bonus including the Rite-Aid below).

*  I did 3 Rite-Aid transactions this week utilizing BC, Catalinas and coupons but don't have any photos of it all yet.  It was a very small haul and some of it was today so won't appear until next week's FF post.

Here's most of Wednesday's haul, except for a free Air Wick after Q kit and 2 Bic Silky Touch razor packs that didn't make it into the photo.  Nothing spent OOP, used Bonus Cash and I earned back $6.70(of the $29.78 mentioned above)on Ibotta for it all.

*  I got $1 back for a post coupon at R-A on Wednesday.

Still waiting on that $50 R-A gift card corporate is supposedly mailing to me.  It's been 3 weeks almost and their HQ is a 2 hour drive from here so I suspect I'll have to raise hell some more over it.

*   I found money!

A penny found somewhere on Saturday the 12th?

A penny on Wednesday on the sidewalk outside of Rite-Aid.

Another penny in the coin return of the self-checkout machine I used at Walmart later on Wednesday.

3 whole cents this past week....woot! lol

Total Found in last Week...... .03¢
Total Found This Year......$2.09

That's about all I've got for this past week.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

And have a good weekend and stay warm!  

Sluggy