Frugal Friday......the March 1st Edition

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

*  I DID end up spending $27.85 last week at the end of the week.  

At Walmart I bought--

3 x Pasta sauce on clearance for $1.50 each.

1 x Marinade on clearance for $2.00

1 x Lysol Sanitizer for $6.97

1 x Suavitel Shed Shield for $4.47

I spent $19.94.

I received $10.97 in rebates so $9 total OOP.

At Kroger I bought--

2 x 1 lb. strawberries

1.03 lb. asparagus

1.12 sweet potato

.50 lb. trout fillets

I paid $9.91 total OOP.

All the produce is gone now and it isn't worth taking the trout out of the freezer for a photo. lol

So far THIS week I haven't stepped foot into a store.  But I'll be going shopping later today to start March's grocery spending.

My wallet likes staying out of stores. 8-)

*  I took advantage of a President's Day sale last weekend to fill out my wardrobe, which was decimated due to my weight loss and having to get rid of most of my clothing.  I bought some items at the online fat lady store(had to get much smaller sizes though), bought some funny t-shirts from an online store(using Paypal monies)and bought some items at Kohl's(using gift cards I had sitting here so no OOP for those).  I think I'm well covered now and looking forward to wearing all this on the cruise and beyond.

*  No eating out except for a Muffaletta pizza for lunch one day this week as a reward for undergoing my RFA.  Shopping from my pantry and freezer this week.  Eating lots of leftovers.

*  I found money!

Nope, nada.  Nothing found and I didn't go anywhere except the doctor's office.

Total Found in last Week.... .00¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$1.55

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy    

Going in for an RFA Today

By the time you read this I will have most likely undergone this procedure already.  I hope this one isn't as bad as those test injections were. 

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that this thing helps.

The procedure I am having done is called a Radiofrequency Ablation or Radiofrequency Neurotomy and you can go HERE for an explanation and/or too see a brief informative video.

I hope everyone has a good day!

Sluggy

The Great Road Trip of 2017.....Part Twenty Seven/Day Nineteen

 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
Part Twenty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

So we hit the road again, heading East out of Rapid City SD.  After awhile we saw our first sign.......

In true Burma Shave style, we started passing the signs at regular intervals.....

Oh look!  Only 42 miles to the town of Wall SD......

And a bit later we hit the sign for "Entering Wall Drug Country".

Only 11 more miles to go.....

Exit 109 for Wall Drugs just ahead.

More Wall Drug signs at the exit, one behind the other.....

And then we arrived at the famed Wall Drug Store, in business since 1931.

Lots of kitschy stuff, like carved statues of totem poles, native Americans........

I made a new "friend" though she wasn't very friendly but maybe me making bunny ears behind her had something to do with her disposition. lol

Hubs standing next to a strange cowboy.........also not friendly.

This place which started out as a regular old drug store became over time a tourist destination.  There were so many little shops and cubby holes in the building, each hawking a different category of wares.  A Jewelry Emporium?  Hmmm....not some place I'd go to buy jewelry.

Hubs in the bookstore shop....of course! lol

Me making more "friends".  This one was armed so stay back fellas!

Hubs getting a little too friendly with a scantily clad hoochie mama, saloon gal......

We dropped a few dollars here for souvenirs and headed back outside to see this........

Those bikers we left behind at Deadwood, Rushmore and Rapid City had caught up with us!!

A bison keeping watch over an awning at Wall Drug.  We didn't see the giant Jackalope here because the place was getting very crowded and Hubs didn't feel like driving around the parking lots looking for it so no photo op with it. sigh.

And here's a dinosaur statue along the highway leaving Wall Drug......

You probably can't make this photo out but it's a field of sunflowers.

More silos along the road heading East.....

We stayed on Route 14 toward Pierre, SD

While in Pierre I learned how the locals pronounce it.  It's not PEE-AIR like you would think, but pronounced PEER.  My take on this is that it's so darn cold here most of the year that the residents call it PEER because it doesn't require you to open your mouth as much as saying PEE-AIR. lolz

Somewhere along desolate stretches of route 14 we encountered a wild turkey after it had crossed the highway.  Had we been packing a firearm we would have had a nice turkey dinner but alas, hotels don't have facilities to dress and cook a turkey brought in by someone staying the night. ;-)

More straight stretches of highway with nothing to see.........

Passing a spot on the map named "Hayes" named for early white settles John and William Hayes.

Being an agricultural region there were crops everywhere.  But I was surprised to see so many fields of sunflowers.

We saw this statue with an American flag somewhere between Hayes and Pierre SD.  Couldn't make out what it was or about online.  Anyone out there know?

We drove into Fort Pierre.....

...Before making it to Pierre SD proper.  Population 14,032 in 2017.  Capital of South Dakota and county seat of Hughes County.

As we drove to our motel for the evening we passed this business sign.......

They must get a lot of Hail out this way or the universe was tuned into our trip, what with our death defying 4 wheeler adventure back in Ashton Idaho with Kim, Joel and his sister and brother in-law..  I sent Kim this photo as it made me chuckle. lolz

Hubs probably went out and got us some dinner which we ate at the motel and it was off to bed after another long day.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table..the Feb. 26th Edition

The "This is Not Good" Edition.......

A few months ago, I bought this can of clam chowder soup at Kroger.  I love me some clam chowder but old bay seasoning is usually not a part of a traditional clam chowder recipe.  Old Bay is what you put on steamed blue crabs up in VA/MD, where I grew up.

Even the color was not right but I tried it.  The Old Bay seasoning was quite pronounced and gave it a spiciness that clam chowder shouldn't have.  Had to throw most of it out as it was just not good.  Campbell's should stick to a traditional chowder recipe and reserve the Old Bay Seasoning for crabs.

Would you eat this?

This is day 260 of the new "way of eating".  Down 59 lbs. since the cruise(not counting the 8 I gained on the cruise and then lost again, which would make it 67 lbs.).  

Not actively trying to lose right now, just maintaining.  I plan on kicking the weight loss up again in March. ;-)

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Ravioli, Green Beans, Garlic Bread

2. Monday--leftover Rigatoni(me), Chicken Enchiladas(Hubs)

3. Tuesday--Chicken Strips, Teriyaki Green Beans

4  Wednesday--Beef Pie

5. Thursday--Chicken Casserole or Fish and Cole Slaw

6.  Friday--Chicken Casserole or Fish and Cole Slaw

7. Saturday--Cheese Burgers(bun optional), Carrots?

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

1. Sunday--Ravioli, Green Beans, Garlic Bread

2. Monday--Asian Zalad(me), Chicken Enchiladas(Hubs)

3. Tuesday--leftover Ravioli, Salad

4  Wednesday--Beef Pie

5. Thursday--Chicken Strips, Teriyaki Green Beans

6.  Friday--Fish, Cabbage, Salad

7. Saturday--Chicken Casserole, leftover Cabbage

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

*  Ravioli

*  Green Beans

*  Chicken Strips

*  Fish

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

* 1 pack of Trout Fillets

Last week we spent $27.85 on grocery shopping for February.  I bought 1 sweet potato, 1 bunch of asparagus,  2 lbs. of strawberries, .50 lb. of rainbow trout fillets on clearance, 3 jars of pasta sauce and 1 orange ginger marinade all 1/2 price on clearance, a bottle of Lysol Sanitizer and 1 bottle of Suavitel Shed Shield.  The rebates earned back on the last 2 items gave me $1.43 in overage to put toward the produce, fish and sauces.

Total shopping comes to $668.62 for February.   

There are 3 shopping days left in February.  I doubt if I'll be heading to the grocery store again this month.

Rebate monies earned this month so far.....

I've earned $131.84 on Ibotta in February.

I've earned $50.00 on Shopmium in February.

I've earned $49.00 on Alexa app in February.

I've earned $4.00 on Kroger Cash Back in February.

I've earned $18.29 on TaDa in February.

I've earned $1.37 on Checkout51 in February.

I've earned $3.88 on Aisle.

I've earned 11,535 points on Fetch from food shopping in February.

I've earned 5,367 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in February

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

That is $205.38 in rebates(not counting the Kroger Cash Back/Shop Kick/Fetch/Alexa)on $668.62 of grocery spending so in reality it's $463.24 in food spending after the 4 rebate apps I count(the ones that give me cash back, not the ones that I turn the points into gift cards, or Alexa that gives me Amazon credit, and I count when those points are cashed in).

My savings percentage for the last week was 38.67% and the monthly savings total for February comes in at 48.83% spent so far.  Great savings percentage this month over reg. retail.

Leftovers going into this week....1/2 of a Beef Pie, 1 Chicken Enchilada, 1/2 of the Chicken Casserole, 1 helping of Cabbage.  That roasted whole chicken has shown up in many forms this past week.

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

1. Sunday--Cheeseburger(bun optional), Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2. Monday--leftover Beef Pie

3. Tuesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad

4  Wednesday--TV dinners(ablation procedure)

5. Thursday--Fish, Asparagus, Baked Potato

6.  Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sammich, Salad

7. Saturday--Liver and Onions, Spinach Soufflè, Mashed Potatoes

Other than the leftovers and the TV dinners on Wednesday, the rest may be complete fiction. lol  Only time will tell.

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    

1975 Music Pop Hits.....Can I Be THAT Old?

For all my friends of "a certain age" remember when these were top 10 hits.........these are released 49 years ago.
Now doesn't that make you feel old? lol

Sluggy