April Giveaway Winner Revealed!

 29 valid entries in the April Giveaway.

Random dotorg picked the winning entry which was number 7.

So the winner is............

MARTHA!

MarthaApril 15, 2022 at 10:08 AM

we are cooking more meatless meals and finding it very fun to experiment with new flavors!, my daughters are not picky and are at an age where they want to find new recipes and cook them, so win win!
i love this question since i am always trying to find ways to be conscious of our resources
thanks
Martha F

Congratulations Martha F!  Please email me your full name and mailing address so I can get this box out to you.  You have 48 hours after this post goes live to contact me.

Thanks to everyone who played and I'll have a new Giveaway up in May.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the April 22nd Edition

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

*   No food waste last week. Eating lots of leftovers and bits and pieces we already have.

* I cobbled together our Easter dinner totally from what we already had here.  A turkey breast from the freezer, stuffing and mashed potatoes from boxes and corn from a can.  Nothing spent OOP and it was plenty for us(plus leftovers).

* I haven't bought any food so far this week.  That may change if I go to Walmart later today. 8-)

*  I cashed in some Swag Bucks for a $25 free gift card(which is why I may be going to Walmart later).

*  Another purse sized bottle of hand sanitizer for free from Rite-Aid on Wednesday again.  I went there to hand off some liquor to a friend.

*   I found money!

When I went in to hand off some liquor at Rite-Aid I spied this penny sitting in the middle of the aisle floor back toward the pharmacy area.  At least I didn't get skunked last week even though I barely went anywhere. ;-)

Total Found in last Week...... .01¢
Total Found This Year......$10.35

*  I found that Rite-Aid changed the brand of a medication I use and it just isn't working for me.  Talked to the pharmacist and she said that brand is no longer available.  She neglected to tell me it just isn't available at Rite-Aid.  Grrr  So I found it elsewhere and transferred that Rx which they will mail to me(saving me having to travel to pick it up) plus I will save $25 on it to boot. Win/Win for me, Lose/Lose for Rite-Aid for telling a half truth. 8-((

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!

Sluggy  

Plugging Away

The snow melted over the last two days here.  rah.  And it's suppose to go to maybe 60F today.

I think my sinus infection is gone.  No more pain in the ears but I am still draining but given the pollen count that's nothing unusual.

I am plugging away at purging.  I've got throw away piles, give away piles and sell piles.  Of course it's all strewn all over the house. ugh.  Don't they say that things always loo worse before you finish a job?  This job won't be finished for months though so I have to deal with it.

I successfully gave the above away yesterday.  I also rehomed about 30 protein bars too.

And by tomorrow I'll have given most of the other two photos worth away.  I rehomed a bunch of food too to my nephew and his dad the other day.

Did you know people buy empty liquor bottles on eBay?  That Davy Crockett bottle might be worth something in a few years as the company no longer exists(they got bought out a few years back).  Perhaps I should keep that one and empty it myself. ;-)

Yesterday I purged the food stockpile in the garage.  It's a big job so I do a little bit at a time when the weather is nice so I can open the garage door for more light on the job.

This morning I started tackling the toiletries stockpile room.  Went through 6 drawers in one dresser and pulled out stuff to give away and stuff to sell in June.

I also got up to July 26th 2017 finished in my photo editing and will continue with that later this afternoon.  I am up to our arrival in Idaho(though we go to Montana briefly before going back to Kim's house in Idaho).  In a way I am glad I didn't post and edit photos almost 5 years ago when we took this trip because I am getting to relive it now. lolz

Still haven't bought anything this week...no grocery or drug store.  I guess I'll be able to pull of a low spend for the week if this keeps up.  Paying bills(and looking at what is owed!)is helping to keep me out of the stores. hehehe  

My seeds have sprouted and I have been keeping up with "spritzing" them in their little mini plastic  greenhouse at the living room window.  There is one seed type that hasn't sprouted yet.  I fear it's the tomato seeds as that is the one I wanted to do well this season.  sigh.  I guess I'll be buying tomato plants once it's warm enough here to set them out.

That's it for the Sluggy Report.  So exciting I know......*snort*

Sluggy

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