WTF!?

 So this is what I woke up to this morning.........

I guess April's Fool Day came late this year.....
Though the dogs are enjoying romping in the snow for now.

Lots on the agenda for today--

I got a Jury Duty notice and called yesterday for reporting today but I got excused. go me.

I need to contact the election bureau about working the primary next month.  I got a letter where they assumed I was working(nobody even ASKED)and telling me to report to a training session.  In the few years I've been working election days the machines/training hasn't changed so why must I go again? argh.  Just a waste of gas and my time since nothing has changed.  Hubs has retired from working elections as he is fed up with the piss poor way the bureau is run and the subsequent crap he's had to endure as Judge of Elections.  I am just a peon so other than unneeded training I just go, deal with it and collect my tax-free pay.

Hubs and I got some decluttered/organizing done on Monday in the garage.  Nephew is picking up some food we aren't going to eat from the stockpile and I am getting rid of some liquor I no longer want to my friends from Rite-Aid.  Today I am going to work in the Guest room to clean out stuff in there.  That's after putting away everything I drug off the buffet in the dining room.  I still had the Xmas Runner on top of the buffet since crap was piled up on it since Christmas.  That all needs pitching out or a new home somewhere and not be in the dining room.

I am working on editing more photos on my old computer from the 2017 trip.  I hope to be done with those in about a week or so and will then start posting more installments of that trip.  It's fun seeing all the photos I took but a bear having to edit and label them all.

No cooking this week until Hubs eats everything already cooked.  I suspect I won't be cooking until Saturday as there are so many leftovers.

That's about it for today.  Have great day digging out of whatever you have at your place.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Long Overdue Photo Editing" Edition... 

This is just one of the photos I've edited this past weekend.  Wanna guess where this was taken?
I've been trying to spend an hour or two every day working on photos from old trips we've taken.  This is part of my digital decluttering project.  Once I get all these unedited photos fixed I can transfer everything to my "new" computer and start using it in earnest.

This photo is one of thousands from our month long trip out West n 2017.  Yep, FIVE years ago!  I am just a tad behind on stuff....lolz

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned.....

1. Sunday--Tacos

2. Monday--No Plan

3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Brussels Sprouts

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Baked Sweet Potato Fries
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out unless Hubs cooks

6.  Friday--Fish Fry, Coleslaw(if I can manage to buy some cabbage)

7. Saturday--Lasagna, Salad

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

1. Sunday--Tacos

2. Monday--Fend for Yourself aka I don't remember lolz

3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Baked Sweet Potato

4. Wednesday--Chicken Yakisoba w/Veggies
5. Thursday--Ravioli in Sauce, Salad

6.  Friday--Homemade Chili and Cornbread(for Hubs), I have a sub sandwich

7. Saturday--Taco Salad me, Lasagna Hubs

Only three of the planned meals happened last week.  After I found those 75% frozen dinners I went through the top few layers of the chest freezer and started pulling stuff out.  I pulled out ground beef and mini steaks so Stroganoff, Tacos and Chili happened.  I pulled out a piece of a homemade lasagna too.  The Chicken Parm, the Fish fry and the Take-out didn't happen and "may" move to this week. ;-)

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

*  21 frozen meals(75% clearance sale items)

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

*  frozen bags of Tomato Sauce from Garden

*  Ground Beef

*  2 packs of Steaks

*  2 frozen dinners(Yakisoba)

*  1 bag of Ravioli

I spent $34.07 on food/toiletries/HBA this last week.  I managed 2 trips to Walmart and a trip to the Shursave Market.  I had $7.81 left on a gift card for Shursave so spent $2.18 OOP there, $9.62 and $22.27 on the 2 trips to Walmart. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $183.27 for April.  

There are 12 shopping days left in April.  

I've earned $73.63 on Ibotta in April.

I've earned $3.04 on Checkout51 in April.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in April.

I've earned 6,686 points($6.68)from shopping on Fetch in April.

I earned 1830 Kicks($7.32)from food shopping on Shop Kick in April. 

I've earned 1962 Swag Bucks($19.62) from food shopping on Swag Bucks in April.

That's $76.67 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $183.27 in grocery spending so in reality it's $106.60 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 79.03%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for April comes in at 50.61% so far(w/out R-A).  

Leftovers going into this week.....1 helping of Stroganoff, 2 helpings of rice, Ravioli and Sauce, Chili, Cornbread, Lasagna.  Lots of leftovers will happen this week.

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

1. Sunday--Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy, Corn

2. Monday--Ham Steak, Veggies TBD, mac and cheese

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Brussels Sprouts
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out

6.  Friday--FFY or Leftovers

7. Saturday--FFY or Leftovers

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu? I've got everything so we will be eating from the freezer/stockpile except for the Chinese take-out.  I may need milk this week but that's all.  I'll be trying to stay out of the grocery store until May.  No promises but I'll try.

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

  

Frugal Friday....the April 15th 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. Sort of works that way, right? lol

* I finished using those free Secret and Old Spice coupons at Rite-Aid.  I had sent away for these in February from P&G due to some lawsuit where they were giving coupons for freebies if you have recalled products.  Of course I hadn't "paid" OOP monies on the defective items either.   5 free deodorants for the win!

*  I went through the chest freezer and pulled out lots of items to use up if I had other fridge or shelf items to make a meal--tomato sauce from last year's garden, ground beef, steaks, ravioli.  I got 4 meals with leftovers made with items I already had.

* I hit Walmart on Wednesday and bought all this for Ibotta rebates....

Not pictured is a Breakstone cottage doubles(it was eaten already)too.

I also bought a clearance toothpaste, 2 Jello boxes and had a .25¢ any receipt off from a Rite-Aid shop on Monday.  Nothing OOP at Rite-Aid and $4.56 OOP at Walmart after a $1/1 Sargento Q and redeeming a $10 free gift card.  I earned back $9 in regular Ibotta rebates along with a .50¢ Bonus rebate on the Jello and $5 MidWeek Moneymaker Bonus for doing 10 rebates so $10.50 back on a $4.56 expenditure.  Not bad.

*  I used another $10 in free gift cards to cover most of the other items in my order, including a few treats(fudge drizzled popcorn!!)and 4 of these frozen meals.......

Salmon dinners I found in a clearance bin at Walmart, marked down to $2 each.  Some quick and healthy and CHEAP meals tucked into my freezer.  Yes please!

*  At another store I found a slew of frozen meals marked 75% off!  I picked up 4 breakfast sandwich 2 packs, 5 Devour meals,  4 Benihana meals, 2 trays of multi-serve meatloaves and 2 bags of fake chicken w/Asian Orange Sauce.   $89.08 worth of frozen meals for $22.27 OOP.  That is at least 8 breakfasts, 17 lunch or dinners covered for under $23.  Well  I do have to add rice or noodles and veg to the fake chicken and sides to the Meatloaf but even so, great deals!

*  I got $1.50 in post Qs at Rite-Aid on April 11th.....

Forgot to bring a coupon a couple of days before when I purchased something last week.

*  A purse sized bottle of hand sanitizer for free from Rite-Aid on Wednesday...

*  I finally received my replacement R-A gift cards in the mail for the multiple defective ones that wouldn't scan.

This has been a long drawn out nightmare and I am glad it's over with.  Hopefully these will work and I will NEVER buy another Rite-Aid gift card again.  'Nuf said.

*   I found money!

A penny last Friday at the Weis self-checkout.

Found these 2 dimes at my Rite-Aid in different locations in the store on Monday.

2 pennies, one each under a different self-checkout at Weis on April 12th.

A dime in front of my self-checkout on Wednesday at Walmart.

And then a dime in the drive-thru line at Burger King on Wednesday too.  I got a Whopper with a coupon and used a free gift card too.  Free food and finding money too, can't beat that with a stick! lolz

Total Found in last Week...... .43¢
Total Found This Year......$10.34

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 Happy Easter if you celebrate it!  

Sluggy  

April Giveaway....Come & Enter

Who's ready for the Another Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2022?!?
I missed a March giveaway as I wasn't home but half the month.  Let's get back to it in April as these giveaways seem to be popular with some of my readers and keep me hanging in the BlogUniverse even when I am not inclined to. ;-)

It's a hodge-podge of randomness this month to win.  Hair conditioner, vitamins, deodorant, travel bottles of toiletries(from my son's wedding), oral care stuff, makeup, eye drops(because allergy season is here), facial care masks, lip balm, candy, granola snacks, pretzels(from the flight into Houston), disinfecting wipes and a few coffee pods(another wedding freebie).

Let's take a look at what is in the Giveaway Box this month........

1 x Alive! women's vitamins

1 x Suave Sleek and Shine conditioner

1 x Speed Stick deodorant

1 x Pure ZZZ shower mist

1 x Colgate Toothpaste

4 x Beekman 1802 travel bottle(shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion)

3 x Coffee pods(Lake & Lodge, Butter Toffee, Law's Blend)

1 x Vaseline lip cream

1 x Almay eye palette(smoldering eyes)

1 x Colgate toothbrush

2 x Nature Valley granola bars

1 x Visine eye drops

1 x bag of airline pretzels(tiny)

4 x Healthy Warrior pumpkin seed dark chocolate/peanut bars

2 x Clorox travel disinfecting wipe packs

2 x Freeman face masks
4 x Starlight mint candies

1 x Extra peppermint gum pack

2 x Butterfinger candy bars

1 x Tide-To-Go wipes pack(not pictured)

Close up shots of the goodies.........

Depending on where you shop, the winnings have a reg. retail value of approximately $50-$60.

Here's how this is going to work.....

* The giveaway is open to ALL readers, previous winners or not.

* There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY.  Come back each day to enter again.

* Only VALID entries will be posted.  A Valid entry is a limit of one per day and I MUST HAVE VALID CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOU(either you are on the Giveaway Contact List which I maintain, your comment is connected to a Google/Blogger profile which links to your email address or you email me directly(my email is in the side bar on the Blog)your email address.

IF YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY AND DON'T SEE YOUR COMMENT within a few days it's because I don't have your contact/email info.

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random and the winner has 48 hours from when the post goes live to contact me with their full mailing address.

In your entries I'd like to hear about your tips during inflationary times on how to make your income stretch.  Any area is game....food, healthcare, cars, hobbies, standard bills, etc.  We can all use a new way to cope with tips for our incomes that don't go quite so far lately.

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name(with last name initial please)to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").
I'll leave this giveaway open until April 22nd Friday at 11:59 pm Eastern  Daylight Savings Time(EDST).  I'll  pick and post the winner on April 23rd, Saturday.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winners on this blog on  and those persons have 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

Sort of a Frugal Friday Post on Tuesday

 Slowly on the mend here.  Still trying to catch up on "stuff".  So behind I can never die. lolz

I guess eating happenstance/whatever you can find to cook here is frugal.  Though I did spend a bit of $$ on food last week though I can't remember what unless I consult a grocery receipt or three. 8-)

I found a penny last week......

Don't ask me where or when but I took this photo as proof.  I think it was at Weis(PMITA)Markets on April 8th.  I was in Weis on that date and I know I didn't find that at Rite-Aid so....

Add in the $6.24 in found change from the trip out West in March and we are at.......

Total Found in last Week...... .01¢
Total Found This Year......$9.91

No cheap $1.99 lb. Butter here in PA at Aldi stores either.  Some states got the short end of the butter stick this Spring. *snort*

Between resting, coughing, blowing my nose and sleeping I did a bit of decluttering last week.

First I cleaned out my bedside stand drawer.  I was scrounging in it for cough drops and found a pile of old ones had clumped together and had melted/leaked onto the drawer making a sticky mess.  I went ahead and dumped everything out and sorted/threw out some stuff and reorganized neatly what got put back in.  Some unopened items got put back into the toiletries stockpile.  No photo of this industry but I did finally get the kitchen pantry tackled with the help of Hubs last weekend.

The BEFORE, a packed pantry.

And the AFTER.........

Some old/opened "we are never going to use" items got thrown away, some unopened items got put back into the garage and yet other items got consolidated if 2 of the same were opened.

Next on the list is to go through the garage stockpile but that will be a multiday project and have to wait for warmer weather.

Oh, it snowed like a demon here on Sunday....and it also sleeted......and rained.  Mother Nature just couldn't make up her mind.  3 seasons in the course of 24 hours.

I've got the crockpot going so Beef Stroganoff will be on tonight's menu.  I have a trip to R-A planned as well as Hubs wants to bathe the dogs today as it's warmed up a little.  The dogs really need grooming first though so I'll be chopping fur off them before said baths.

We don't have any plans for Easter weekend.  We were invited to the DIL parents big shindig in Jersey but we have the dogs and they can't be left alone for an entire day.  Ex CB is having dinner with his new flame's parents so we are on our own this year and I really don't want to cook a grand meal.  It might be tv dinners or take-out for Easter here at Chez Sluggy.

I really need to find the seeds I bought and start plants this week in the little greenhouse kit I bought.  We can't plant outside until Mother's Day or later here and expect anything to live. lolz  Ah, the joys of living on a mountain in PA.

That's about it for here.  What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Sluggy