Saturday, February 4, 2023

Frugal Friday.....the February 3rd Edition on Saturday

 Welcome to Frugal Friday!  Sorry it's a day late but medical and dental stuff took up most of my week here. 
There is one Frugal win this past week......

*   I happened to look in my Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)app and found a 15% off your whole shopping trip coupon there for Valentine's day.  It expires 2/12.  Since we had some time to kill between the wound care appt. and my dental appt.(which was over near the Ollie's)we went in and I found a few food items we needed.......

Have you ever seen Caramel Banana flavored Cheerios?  I haven't and Hubs wanted to try them.  I needed the applesauce, panko, the pretzel crackers were 75% off and boxed stuffing is good to have in the pantry for various things(though it tastes too salty for me unless it's doctored up).  2 cartons of chicken broth didn't make it into the photo either. 
We also found a pair of drapes for the master bedroom(but forgot to get a curtain rod lol).
$10.49 later for the food items we were off to the dentist.

*  I found money!
Nope, nothing this week.  Sluggy got skunked on the four days she left the house to go the medical/dental visits.  Hubs found 6 pennies at Walmart in the self-checkout machine when he went by himself and the rat wouldn't give  me those coins.  sniff sniff

Total Found in last Week.... .00¢
Total Found this Year........15¢

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!

Sluggy   

Monday, January 30, 2023

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Don't Get Wedded to Your Meal Plan" Edition.....

Things happen in life.  And that includes things/events that make you have to change up your meal plan.  This was one of those weeks.
I did get that turkey gotten for free at thanksgiving thawed and cooked but with making all the sides too it wore my leg out for the day.  I spent after an early dinner(linner)confined to the recliner with my leg up instead of visiting with daughter and son in-law and the granddog.  Oh well.

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned.......
1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Shrimp Scampi w/Fettucine Noodles, Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans
5. Thursday--Kielbasi, Cabbage
6.  Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Turkey Dinner w/Fixings

And here's what actually happened........
1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Shrimp Scampi w/Fettucine Noodles, Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftover Beef Pie
4. Wednesday--Liver and Onions w/Gravy, Brussels Sprouts(lunch out, no dinner)
5. Thursday--Fend for Yourself(I had a pot pie)
6.  Friday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself(I had some cantaloupe)
7. Saturday--Turkey Dinner w/Fixings

Getting back on my feet to cook a bit with help from Hubs.  I only "cooked" two meals this week as we had many leftovers.

What got put into the freezer last week....
*  Nothing

What got taken out of the freezer and used...
*  1 bag of Shrimp
*  1 pot pie
*  1 whole turkey   

Hubs mostly picked up stuff to the tune of $31.38 last week.  Just little things we needed and medical supplies.
This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $414.67 for January.  

There is 1 shopping days left in January.

I've earned $87.73 on Ibotta in January.(I used $20 to buy a gift card.)
I've earned $2.82 on Checkout51 in January.
I've earned $16.75 on Coupons dotcom in January.
I've earned 2,499 points from shopping on Fetch in January.
I earned 1,590 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in January.
I've earned 640 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

That's $107.30 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $414.67
 in grocery spending so in reality it's $307.37 in food spending after the 3 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 29.96% and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 33.79% so far.  

Leftovers going into this week.....Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine,  Roast Turkey and sides.

Here is this week's "food plan".....
1. Sunday--I had a Greek Salad
2. Monday--Chicken Parm, leftover turkey sides or salad
3. Tuesday--Kielbasi, Cabbage
4. Wednesday--I'm getting a tooth pulled so applesauce or something similar, Hubs is on his own
5. Thursday--Ditto
6.  Friday--Leftovers or ?
7. Saturday--?

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing really but some fruit.

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 deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy 

Sunday, January 29, 2023

December To-Do List 2022 Outcome

*  A reminder that I don't publish comments that are unsigned.  If you comment without a Google account at least put your name on the comment.  And if you are a troll then just don't come here because YOUR comments will most definitely NOT be publish. 8-)

Here is how we did with the December To-Do List--

*  Pay Bills--DONE  All bills got paid and on time.

*  Send a few Xmas cards to family--DONE  Between moving, organizing and such there wasn't a lot of time to get Xmas cards out before leaving for the cruise.  We got out about 10 cards total so if you got a card from me, consider yourself lucky. lolz

*  Clean and Organize stuff in House--PASS/IN PROGRESS  With how much needs to be done here(and the fact that I'm about as useful as a one legged woman on a kickboxing match right now).  Our initial timeline has been extended out until the end of 2023(or maybe halfway into 2024.  It has been slow going, partly due to having to replace items and not wanting to spend all willy-nilly(trying to cash flow without having to draw from 401K or non-retirement investments).  Things are still slow going as we figure out where to put stuff we have and what to do with some spaces.

*  Buy Stuff for House--IN PROGRESS  Just going through receipts I still have we've spent $3,418.35 on house purchases since November.  That's everything from a washer and dryer, a desk, a night stand, book shelves and storage shelving, a bed frame, parts the fridge needed to piddling little stuff like tools and hardware and light bulbs.  Again we are going to need to spend much more to get this place whipped into shape but we are proceeding slowly with expenditures.

*  Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie--DONE  Something I do at least once a month and since I haven't bought one Sunday paper down here(thus not getting paper coupons)there is not much in my envie anymore. 8-(

*  Edit More Photos--IN PROGRESS  Have been working on the photos from our house hunting and a couple of local adventures and the Girls Trip to FL.  Then  we went on a cruise and now I have even MORE photos to edit.  GAH!  It never ends........

*  Post about Old Trips--FAIL  Nope didn't post anything since we weren't online/here from most of the month and when we got back I was hurt so yeah, that didn't happen.

*  Work on Genealogy--FAIL  I put more genealogy stuff on the back burner for December.

*  Drive to Texas--DONE  Hubs drove us to that god forsaken city.  Not a fan of Dallas roads(lack of signs on said roads)and crazy drivers(well, those are in every city).

*  Fly to MD--DONE  The flight to DC wasn't bad.

*  Fly to FL--DONE   We left DC 2 days later at the crack of dark 0'thirty.

*  Celebrate Christmas--DONE  Well due to circumstances not under our control Christmas was an odd duck this year.  We all made the best of it though.

*   Go on Cruise and have an amazing time--DONE  Except for one disappointment in Panama with the cruise excursion folks and the people who ran the excursion in Panama we had a mah-velous time dah-ling!


Sluggy




Friday, January 27, 2023

Frugal Friday....the January 27th Edition

 Welcome to Frugal Friday!  There are a few Frugal wins this past week......

*   We hit Walmart on Monday and I timed it just right as an employee was pricing clearance items that had been pushed to the back of the household shelves and hidden for months.  Aerosol cans of Febreeze(.99¢ for double packs), Airwick warmers with 1 refill($1.50 each), Airwick essential oil warmers with 1 refill($3.50)and Airwick double packs of refills(.75¢ each).


I used 2 different Airwick digital coupons totaling $7.25 on these 2 items plus I had an Ibotta rebate on the Essential Mist unit for $5.50, so I spent $10.22 on all the clearance air freshener items and I got back $12.75 in rebates/coupons, helping to put $2.53 toward paying for groceries. Nice.

*  I found money!


I found a penny in the backseat of Daughter's car on my birthday.


Picking up Rx at Walmart for Hubs on Sunday I found another penny.

After the Medical appointment I found a penny at the Walmart we picked up 5 things in.

Then we had lunch out at a Piccadilly Cafeteria and I found another some what grody penny in the dining area.

Total Found in last Week.... .04¢
Total Found this Year........15¢

*  Staying home and going through tubs and packing boxes here.  Still setting things up, deciding on what we need to purchase and putting things away.

We finish hauling in all the toiletries from the "Bubba" garage and going through things.  Most of what we are keeping to use is put away in the Master Bath and this is my nice neat stack of tubs to sell.  I feel so accomplished now!lol

*  We got a bill from the ER doc from Xmas eve's visit that said it was submitted to insurance and they paid nothing on it so we owed over $2,500.  Well not only did they not submit it to the correct insurance, once insurance pays it we don't owe a red cent, as I had hit my out of pocket mid 2022.  It took DAYS to figure out how they screwed this up but screw it up they did.   Imagine all the elder folks out there getting dunned for bills they actually don't owe because the medical billing department screwed something up, and these elder who either don't stay on top of financial stuff or don't have the capacity to understand all the complexities just pay it to make it go away.  I swear our medical system is so broken even died in the wool conservatives are going to start screaming for National Healthcare, it's that bad.

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!

Sluggy   

Monday, January 23, 2023

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Happy Birthday to Me!" Edition.....




This was the sign at the restaurant Daughter and Son in-law took me out to for my birthday on Saturday.  Sissie would approve! hehehe

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned.......
1. Sunday--leftover Chicken and Dumplings
2. Monday--Teriyaki Chicken w/Stir-Fry Veggies, Rice
3. Tuesday--Beef Pie
4. Wednesday--Leftovers or ?
5. Thursday--Catfish, oven Steak Fries, Slaw
6.  Friday--Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine, Salad
7. Saturday--It's my Birthday!! so ?

And here's what actually happened........
1. Sunday--leftover Chicken and Dumplings
2. Monday--Teriyaki Chicken w/Stir-Fry Veggies, Rice
3. Tuesday--Beef Pie
4. Wednesday--Leftovers or frozen dinner
5. Thursday--Pot Roast with Carrots and Taters
6.  Friday--Catfish, Oven Steak Fries, Slaw
7. Saturday--Birthday meal out

Getting back on my feet to cook a bit with help from Hubs.  The Shrimp Scampi will happen this week(hopefully).

What got put into the freezer last week....
*  1 Chicken Parm package
*  3 bags of frozen Veggies
*  6 lbs. of Chicken Breast
*  4 various containers of ice cream
*  1 Smoked Sausage

What got taken out of the freezer and used...
*  1 bag of Teriyaki Chicken
*  1 bag of Asian Veggies   
*  1 package of Ground Beef
*  1  Frozen Dinner(turkey)
*  1 bag of Catfish    

Hubs & I hit Super 1 Foods, Shoppers Value Food and Walmart for various items to the tune of $102.54 last week.  We needed fresh produce and milks, I stocked up on a few loss leaders, fresh produce, some OTC meds we needed and we got some "wants".
This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $383.29 for January.  

There are 8 shopping days left in January.

I've earned $101.93 on Ibotta in January.
I've earned $2.82 on Checkout51 in January.
I've earned $16.75 on Coupons dotcom in January.
I've earned 2,499 points from shopping on Fetch in January.
I earned 1,590 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in January.
I've earned 640 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

That's $121.50 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $383.29
 in grocery spending so in reality it's $261.79 in food spending after the 3 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 37.40% and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 34.08% so far.  

Leftovers going into this week.....Beef Pie, Pot Roast w/Carrots and Taters, Slaw.

Here is this week's "food plan".....
1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Shrimp Scampi w/Fettucine Noodles, Salad
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans
5. Thursday--Kielbasi, Cabbage
6.  Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Turkey Dinner w/Fixings

I am still not suppose to walk a lot but I can do more cooking now.

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  All I need is a small head of cabbage.

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 deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy