Frugal Friday.....the December 1st Edition

There are very few Frugal wins this past week so here goes....

*  I went to PT 3x this past week.   Good thing I've hit all my deductibles and co-pays so I'm not shelling out cash for this service.

*  We got Covid Booster shots on Wednesday.  No cost.

*  Grocery shopping this past week--

We went to a different Walmart on Wednesday and I got all this, mostly dog stuff and cleaning products plus 2 stocking stuffers.  The only "food" was 2 bags of salad toppers.....

Cost OOP was $107.36   I used $35 in gift cards earned with points which brought it all to $69.88.  Then I earned $50.15 on Ibotta, $1.76 on Checkout 51, $1.50 on Shopmium, $6.50 on TaDa, lowering the total to $9.97.  Then I got full refunds for the Would body wash($8.98) and the CleanCult cleaner($4.98), which made this all a $3.99 moneymaker. 8-)

Plus I got 800 Shop Kicks so $3+ closer to earning another free gift card there.

*  I found 2 receipts lying on the ground outside of Walmart.  Submitted both to Fetch and 1 to Ibotta and earned $2.75.  Don't leave money lying on the ground folks!

*  Took advantage of the cruise line's Black Friday sale and booked a trip for next year. Woohoo!

*  I found money!

Nope, skunked again.

Total Found in last Week.... .00¢
Total Found this Year.......$3.47

That's all I got.

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

Blogging will be taking a backseat to getting me healed so there might not be many posts here for the foreseeable future.8-)

Sluggy   

The Great Road Trip 2017.....Part Twenty One/Day Seventeen

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE  

Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 

Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Nineteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE 

Part Twenty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

So we left off with the Buffalo Bill Cody exhibit last time.

Back out into the common area was a Kentucky Flintlock .45 Rifle.

My 7 x Great Grandfather, Robert Baker, and his brothers were the developers of the predecessors of this muzzle loading long rifle that was the stock and trade in the frontier of America from the time of the American Revolution onward.

They were awarded a patent from King William to produce these firearms outside of Philadelphia and once the Revolution happened they turned to producing weapons for the rebelling colonists. I am related to these folks through my maternal Great Grandmother, Lucy Baker.

Then Hubs and I both went into the extensive Native American exhibit.

Lots of examples of pottery and items of daily life of the Plains Indians.

A teepee set up like the one we stayed in on the trip West.....

A tanned hide with pictoral detailing, probably a ceremonial cape.

Plains Indians were a nomadic peoples, following the food supply to hunt.

A beautiful example of a ceremonial chief's headdress

More tools made from metals available.....

A buffalo headdress fir ceremonial and spiritual occasions.  Only elite males of the tribe wore these.

Various weapons used by Plains Indians.  Once they had contact with and traded with the English the "shooting sticks" became a popular item.

A War Lodge.  When traveling through enemy territory these were temporary shelters for Plains Indians.  Being sticks they didn't draw attention to whom might be inside.

Some examples of weaving and an early photo of a native family wearing hand woven garments.

A bone breastplate or chest armor was a popular ornamentation worn by warriors.  They were made of hair pipe bones(from buffalo or birds), attached around the neck with leather thongs and were often decorated with beading.  I bet this was a powerful visual being worn by a warrior(and offered some protection to the chest area).

A bead embellished handmade horse saddle blanket.

A Plains Indian on a horse pulling a litter of goods and an infant strapped to the back in  cradle.

A decorative spear.

An example of pictography, an animal(buffalo?)carved into a rock.

If you ever read "The Revenant", you know this is a type of boat described in the book.  It's a frame in a round basket shape.  I've seen it referred to as a piroque, which is a type of Cajun boat still used in Louisiana today.  It's similar to the bamboo constructed round boats still made and used in Vietnam.

An elaborate fur, bone or claw? and beaded neck piece.  That thing must weigh a ton!

More decorated lances.

Another decorate hide.

A long woven tapestry decorate with feathers, dye and eagle motifs.

More examples of decorative, wearable arts.....

More Native decorative arts.....

A colored depiction of a buffalo hunt made on a tanned hide....

Then the exhibit got into the sad stuff......

Native children removed from their homes and sent away to schools to become "civilized"......

We all know these many years later how this story ends.....so depressing.

Sure gives creedence to the old saying, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." 8-(

We ducked into their gift shop on the way out.

Other than buying a couple of pencils we didn't bring anything else home as it was like the Archway place in Nebraska and way overpriced.

After spending most of the day at this museum we hit the road heading East again.

The next installment when I get around to it. ;-)

Sluggy

The World Has Gone Crazy!

Here's the latest example I found that the world is out of it's mind.

When I went to order the cushion for my ailing coccyx I got to the last screen and saw this........

Under the blacked out name and address and the shipping line do you see where it says "Add tip"?  Then suggested amounts or a place to put in a custom amount?

Buying something online and they now expect you to TIP them?!?

I have no words.....

I used to work as a waitress for quite a few years.  It's customary in the restaurant business to tip your server as restaurants don't pay a decent wage to servers and their tips are most of their income.  My base wage barely covered the state and federal taxes I had to pay out of my check.  It's a screwed up system(like healthcare and other entities in this country)but it was what it was.   Heck, I even tip when I get a to-go order at a real restaurant(not fast food).  

But now a business with people working in a warehouse pulling and packing orders expect a tip?  But then again, they don't say whom this tip goes to so how am I to know that this amount isn't getting syphoned off by the business owner or the person taking the order or whomever?

I have already shown my "support" for "the team at Cushion Lab" for buying their product.

This is just getting ridiculous!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Faux Thanksgiving" Edition.....  

Here's the grand dog peeking over the table to see what scraps she can get after we went over Daughter and Son In-Law's house for Thanksgiving on Sunday.

This is day 169 of the new "diet".  Down 52 lbs. since the cruise(not counting the 8 I gained on the cruise and then lost again, which would make it 60 lbs.).  

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--Cheeseburger after going to the ER

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Yellow Squash and Onions

3. Tuesday--No  Clue

4  Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--TV dinner?

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

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

1. Sunday--Bowl of Rice Chex, Cheeseburger after going to the ER

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Yellow Squash and Onions

3. Tuesday--Bowl of Rice Chex, leftover Yellow Squash w/Onions

4  Wednesday--Yogurt cup w/Granola, Chinese Takeout

5. Thursday--Steak, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

6.  Friday--Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich, leftover Chicken Parm and Squash w/Onions

7. Saturday--1 piece of Fruitcake, Bowl of Soup

No going back to old habits and eating patterns for me!

What got taken out of the freezer last week...

*  2 Steaks

*  1 Turkey(for Daughter to cook)

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

*  1 free Turkey

*  3 lbs. Ground Beef

*  1.25 lb. Salmon

Last week we spent $42.85 on grocery shopping for November.  

Grand Total shopping comes to $236.20 for November.   

There is 3 shopping day left in November.

I've earned $147.02 on Ibotta in November.

I've earned $16.99 on Shopmium in November.

I've earned $0 on Alexa app in November.

I've earned $15.05 on Kroger Cash Back in November.

I've earned $37.19 on TaDa in November.

I've earned $9.00 on Checkout51 in November.

I've earned 4,997 points from food shopping on Fetch in November.

I've earned 1,834 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in November.

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in November.

That is $225.25 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $236.20 of grocery spending so in reality it's $10.95 in food spending after the 6 rebate apps I count. 

My savings percentage for the last week was 62.62% and the monthly savings total for November comes in at 67.94% spent.  Nice percentages since we used what was left on that travel stipend card last week.

Leftovers going into this week....most of a pumpkin pie, 2 pans of homemade rolls but no other turkey day leftovers as we didn't bring anything home with us,

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

1. Sunday--Faux Thanksgiving at Daughter's House

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--No  Clue

4  Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--No Clue

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

No menu planning for me now, mostly things Hubs can do.  I have earned the right not to, in my mind at this point.  I am giving up control of meals to Hubs.  I will put in requests now and then.

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?  

I may post sporadically after this one or I might not, depending on drugs and stuff. 

Sluggy  

Frugal Friday.....the November 24th Edition

There are very few(if any)Frugal wins this past week so here goes....

*  I went to PT 2x this past week because of the holiday they were closed 2 days.  Good thing I've hit all my deductibles and co-pays so I'm not shelling out cash for this service.

*  Grocery shopping this past week--there was quite a lot with the Thanksgiving deals.

I earned $80.87 back just on Ibotta between 3 trips and Bonuses and spent Zero OOP as I put those shopping trips on that surgery travel stipend card as we had quite a bit left on it. The only cash spent was at Ollie's(where we had a 15% discount offer)$9.76.  That was mostly for snacking nuts and dog treats.

Best Deals at Kroger/Walmart--A Raid Bug Light Trap(better than free after rebate/digital Q), 5 bags of Keebler cookies for Hubs(.49 ea. after rebate), 2 Hagen-Daas Yogurts(.67¢ ea. after rebate), 4 boxes of Rice(.48¢ ea. after rebate and an any rice rebate), Nature's Own dinner rolls(.50¢ after rebate and Kroger Cash Back offer).  I also maxed out the Sweet Potato Deal(.29¢ per lb. up to 5 lbs.)as we love Sweet Potatoes and the dogs do too. 8-)

Unlocked my Free Turkey Offer on Ibotta too last week so picked that up at Walmart.  No matter the price you got $14.35 back.  My turkey was a .30¢ moneymaker. lol

*  Had to go to the ER on Sunday afternoon as my coccyx had become unbearable to sit down upon.  This problem has been brewing for 3 months now as I've lost weight(got no padding on my butt now. lol)but it had become unbearable this past week.  X-rays showed my tailbone wasn't broken, just bruised and the attending MD thought activity on the exercycle at PT had exacerbated the condition so I am to lay off the bike at PT for now.  Frugal point is I had no co-pays for the ER visit.

*  I found money!

A penny in the driveway at the ER on Sunday night as I was leaving, after walking past a police woman guard and her shackled orange jumpsuit clad prisoner as they were going into the ER.  That was after watching 20 staff and police subdue a crazy man who was being committed attempted to leave and another guy who was pissed off because he had waited "30 minutes" to be seen(we were there for hours!)so he started cursing at the security guys(big F word cursing)such that one of them pulled out his weapon and they walked him out of the ER waiting room and stood guard for 1/2 an hour outside the entrance to make sure he didn't come back in with a weapon and shoot up the place.  Geez!

And another penny near the door at Walmart when I went to get my better than free Turkey on Tuesday.

Total Found in last Week.... .02¢
Total Found this Year.......$3.47

That's all I got.

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

Blogging will be taking a backseat to getting me healed so there might not be many posts here for the foreseeable future.8-)

Sluggy