Let's Go Brandon!

Saw this tv segment from a news station in Alabama somewhere, on YouTube........

I doubt the gas stations get fined for having people put these little stickers on their gas pumps.  I call bullsh&*.  Unless the government's PC police are out handing out citations for this sort of thing.  At best it's vandalism of the business by whomever places a sticker on a gas pump.

I call it art.  Yeah....that's what it is!

Here's the one I found on my local gas pump months ago...

Here's something else I saw in PA months ago....not once but at 3 different locations along the Interstate on a single trip......

Yah, he deserves that poke in the eye after his disastrous pull out from Afghanistan.  We are an embarrassment to the world with this man as POTUS.  
The only thing worse is how Putin and his Oligarchs have embarrassed the Russian people.  Heck, everyday Russians are fleeing into Finland now.  

UPDATE

First off, this isn't about Trump so stop bringing up Trump.  Trump was his own kind of disaster and NO I am not a Trumpster and did not vote for him either time(and if you have read my blog for any amount of time you would know that).   Those of you who don't know me(Richard, Cheryl, Julie-all have empty blogger profiles so probably trolls)stop assuming my political bent because I think Biden is not fit for the office he holds.  

Y'all are welcome to your own differing opinions so go start a blog of your own instead of hating on others and their opinions.

Hope you have a nice day.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the March 4th Edition

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

*   No food waste last week. Not much cooking either but hey.....

*  I paid the sewage bill in full for 2022 to get a 3% discount at the bank they take payments for this at.  It's better than nothing, right?

*  I bought all this at my R-A on Saturday in one transaction using a $10 of wys $50 coupon.....

Nothing paid OOP and I earned $4 back on Ibotta for the cough lozenges.

I actually bought more than this but returned 4 items so I am not counting them in my total.

I then bought all this at a different R-A on Wednesday(new ad week).........

Suave and 2 other brands are giving $4 in BC when you
buy 2(limit of 2 per card)so I did the deal on 2 different cards.  The shampoo was $2.99 and get one 50% off, the body wash was $2.49 and get one 50% off.  Total spent in BC was $14.44(after using 2 x $1/2 Suave Qs)and I earned $8 in BC on each card so $16 BC total.

This is the first rose scented Suave body wash I've seen and I am a sucker for anything rose scented. 8-)

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

Spent $1.98 OOP after coupons and free $25 gift card uced, and earned back $12.75 back in reg. rebates and bonuses.  The Almay face make-up, the clearance Colgate toothpaste and 6 Bic razors were moneymakers after Qs(no rebates though)so that is why I included them.  Moneymaker items help lower the cost of the Ibotta rebate items.

* I hit a different Walmart on Thursday and bought all this for Ibotta rebates....

$37.67 paid OOP and $48.02 earned in regular rebates($27.52) and 2 Bonuses($20-the big $15 one and a $5 Weekend Warrior one) and a .50¢ Renuzit Bonus.

*  I also bought 2 packages of Land O Lakes American cheese at the deli counter.  Swag Bucks has a deal to get $7.00 back in points when you buy a package of each color cheese-no size restriction.  I only spent $3.59 total of both packages of cheese so that's a $6.41 moneymaker on Swag Bucks.  Of course only the white cheese label says Land o Lakes on it so I had to put a ticket into customer service to get the full 700 Points back.  You would think they'd know by now Walmart does this with the yellow cheese label? lolz

*  I got $2 in post Qs at Rite-Aid on March 1st.......

I forgot 3 Qs at home last week. oopsie!

*  I went on Wednesday and got a massage at a "spa" in a nearby town.  Hubs gave me a gift card to this place for Christmas.....

The masseuse was nice, the massage felt good but....

The building was an old large house on the main road through town and was not a nice well kept old house but more like a they put "lipstick on a pig" old house.  I know the photo looks nice but there was stuff not in the photo like missing baseboard, cracks in the walls, the stairs up to the second floor where this massage room was located were definitely crooked and needed attention.

This place also made you book a massage online and put a 50% deposit down on a credit card which Hubs wasn't informed of(I bet he didn't ask either).  So the gift card which would have covered all but $5 of that massage(not counting the tip to the masseuse)was only half used.  So now if I want to go back I have to spend another $52.50 OOP on the c/c to use all the gift card. sigh.

I told Hubs I really appreciated the thought but don't gift card a spa again. lolz

*  After my massage I hit what use to be my beloved discount grocers that closed up end of last year.  It is now a liquidators and I wanted to check it out since I was in the area.  It looked like they get a lot of open boxes and/or returns from Costco(lots of Kirkland branded things)and such.  The closest Costco is 2+ hours away from here.

They did have some food items so I picked up these....

A large tub of pecans.

A case of wet dog food which came out to less than .50¢ a can.

A large box of Greenie type dog treats(72 count) and a 12 pack of canned corn.    It all came out to $36.  I bet nobody ever got out of Costco spending that little! hehehe  They mark everything here 50% of what Costco charges and if it's still here after a month they knock another 10% off, and on and on.  

*  Frugal fail--When we went out to Walmart on Thursday I brought along an Applebee's gift card to use to get lunch but we both decided we'd rather hit the Chinese Buffet at the mall so instead of a free after gift card lunch we had to pay OOP.  We did save in that neither of us needed/wanted dinner that night. 8-)

*  Easy Spirit had a flash sale last week on clearance priced Winter/Fall shoes.  I got 4 pair of shoes for next Fall/Winter for only $17.25 a pair(reg. $69-$75 per pair!)and free shipping AND used a $15 discount I have for buying shoes previously from them which meant $54.00 out the door for 4 pair of clogs that fit my big ass foot.  Now I need to go cull the worn out Winter shoes in my closet....

*   I found money!

Two different pennies in the same Rite-Aid in town on Monday.

Found in different locations within the store.

A dime near the front of my R-A when I walked in on Tuesday.

Three pennies at the bank where I went to pay the sewage bill.  They were in the lane next to my lane  

at the drive-thru so after the gal shot my receipt through the pneumatic tube thingy I pulled up, got out of the car and walked back into the other lane and picked them up.  The one at the top of the photo obviously had been lying there for awhile longer than the other two since it was coated in rock salt debris.  And Sissie there was NO traffic there to potentially run me down! lol

Total Found in last Week...... .15¢
Total Found This Year......$3.42

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  

Food Spending 2022....the February Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2022.

I have posted February'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 February.  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, Pet Food & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 26. 
*****************

ALDI

OOP  $35.06

Value  $47.01

Savings  25.55%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $0.00

Value  $4.00

Savings  100%

OLLIE'S

OOP  $3.20

Value  $7.00

Savings  54.29%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $1,130.24

Value  $1,130.24
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $236.01

Qs/free Gift Cards  $516.46
Value  $752.47
Savings 68.66 %

WEIS

OOP  $45.55

Qs/Sales  $14.16
Value  $59.71
Savings  35.71%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%,  Ocean State at 100%, and Walmart at 68.66%.

The worst rate was at Aldi at  25.55%.  
I shopped at 6 different stores in February.  

TOTAL Spent in February................$319.82

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$550.37

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$870.19

TOTAL Savings of .............................63.25%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for February w/R-A..............$319.82

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$1,680.61
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$2,000.43
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................84.01%

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....Unlike I predicted Weis(PMITA)Markets didn't get many of my grocery dollars in Feb.  Most of what I bought was from Walmart where I recouped most(if not all)of what I spent on Ibotta rebates.  Same goes for Rite-Aid.I got stuff and didn't spend anything out of pocket there either.

I DID spend more than I planned on in February but I have $613.93 in rebate monies total so far for 2022 and I've spent $641.00 OOP so far in 2022 so my actual food/toiletries/HBA/etc. spending is $27.07 for the year.  I'll take that all day long. 8-)))

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by .91% in February 2021 to 84.01% compared to the January's 83.10% savings average.  

With 2 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $641.00 on food/toiletries in 2022.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$641.00

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$3,901.38

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$3,260.38

2021 Yearly Savings Total.............................83.57%

The average per month amount spent is $320.50 in 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD To March 2022.......

Well we are traveling a lot in March so the month is an unknown but probably there won't be a lot of  grocery shopping.  Will attempt to eat from stockpile and freezer while we are home.

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 February?

*  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

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