Famous Distant Sort Of Relative

 I come from a long line of Holt family on my maternal side.

My 8x Great Grandfather was Richard Holt(1641-1693).  Through him my Seventh Cousin 2 x Removed is a William Tatum "Buster" Holt, Sr.(1987-1963).

At some point before he died "Buster" Holt went and married Jackie Jean "Georgia" Crouch.  "Georgia" Crouch was known as "Georgia" Holt.  Georgia Holt was the mother of Cher.

This makes Cher the stepdaughter of my 7th Cousin 2 x Removed. So I got you babe. lol

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table.....the May 13th Edition

The "Went to Aldi" Edition.....

I picked up these Peanut Butter Puffs for a treat at Aldi.  I found them tasteless and nasty, not peanut buttery or sweet at all.    These have been relegated to dog treats now.  Anybody else ever try these?

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Leftovers(I had Stir-Fry)

2. Monday--Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Lobster cakes, Cole Slaw, Something else?

4. Wednesday--Salad, Soup?  Kind of warm here now for soup tho....

5. Thursday--Fish, leftover Cole Slaw, Sweet Potato Fries

6. Friday--Late Lunch Out, no Dinner

7. Saturday--???Whatever I pull out of the freezer

And here's what actually happened....

1. Sunday--Leftovers(I had Stir-Fry)

2. Monday--Leftovers(I had an ear of corn)

3. Tuesday--Catfish, Cole Slaw, Corn

4. Wednesday--Chicken Salad w/Crackers

5. Thursday--Lobster/Seafood Cakes, leftover Cole Slaw, Caesar Salad

6. Friday--Late Lunch Out, no Dinner

7. Saturday--Shrimp, Veggie & Garlic Pasta meal, Garlic Bread

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

*  a pack of Catfish Fillets

*  some Roast Chicken Pieces

*  Lobster/Seafood Cakes

*  Bag of Shrimp/Veggie/Pasta Meal

*  2 Slices of Garlic Bread

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

*  3+lbs. Chicken Breast

*  bag of Stir-Fry Veggies

*  bag of Green Beans

*  bag of Spaetzle 

*  box of Stuedel

*  bag of General Tso Chicken

Last week we spent $84.34 on grocery shopping for May. 

Total shopping comes to $150.72 for May.   There are 11 shopping days left in May.

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

I've earned $61.10 on Ibotta in May.

I've earned $6.50 on Shopmium in May.

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

I've earned $15.00 on Kroger Cash Back in May.

I've earned $6.56 on TaDa in May.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in May.

I've earned $5.49 on Aisle, etc. in May.

I've earned 1,825 points on Fetch from food shopping in May.

I've earned 39 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in May.($)

I've earned 0 Points on My Points in May.($)

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

That is $67.60 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch/TaDa/MyPoints/KCB/Alexa)on $150.72 of grocery spending so in reality it's $83.12 in food spending after the rebate apps I count. I now separate out the Food Bank donations and don't count those in the grocery spending.

My savings percentage for the last week was 65.68% and the monthly savings total for May comes in at 60.88% spent so far. 

Leftovers going into this week...Stir-Fry Beef & Veggies w/Noodles, Pasta/Shrimp/Veggies meal, Cole Slaw and Pasta w/Spaghetti.

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

1. Sunday--Steak, Salad, Sweet Potato Fries

2. Monday--Leftovers or food out as we are going to Jackson

3. Tuesday--Scallops, leftover Cole Slaw, Au Grating Potatoes

4. Wednesday--Caesar Salad, Chicken Parm, Sauteed Cabbage

5. Thursday--Kielbasi, Squash, leftover Potatoes

6. Friday--Salmon, Veggies TBD, whatever leftovers

7. Saturday--???Whatever I pull out of the freezer

Just mentally thinking of what is in the freezer and what pantry and produce I have on hand.  These might be unusual meals to some folks but it is, what it is.

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      

Northern Lights

 Here is a photo of the  Northern Lights from last night down in Louisiana........

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the May 10th Edition

There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.

*  I did a shop at Kroger and bought this last Friday.....

The $9.99 Kellogg's cereals in back were on clearance for $2.49.  I had $2 Ibotta rebates so they cost .49¢ each.  The Keebler mini crackers were $2.49 or $2.29 after coupons and I am suppose to get back $6 total($2 per box)from KCB, making them .29¢ or .49¢(depending on variety).

I had a Best Customer Q making the Peanut Butter free and I had a Manufacturer Rebate making the Pop Chips free as well.

The Aleve was a clearance find for $6.37, which had a $3 Kroger digital Q and a $3 Ibotta rebate so .37¢ in the end.  The Bob Evans Veggies were $4.99 on sale with Q and I had $2 Ibotta rebates for each, so $2.99 OOP.

The yogurt remix things(Dannon)were$1.50 each and I had a .50¢ off one and a $2 off 4 digital Q so $3.50 for all. I had a Shopmium .50¢ Q for one and a TaDa .50¢ for another one too so $2.50 for all. I believe I had a KCB offer as well but it hasn't been applied to my account. 8-(  KCB has been a hassle for me.

Then I stopped in a different Kroger on Tuesday before the sale ended and bought this........

The 3 boxes of toothpaste were a total of .97¢ after digital Q($5/3)and 3 x $2 Ibotta rebates(headed for the food bank).  The Aleve was more clearance, $3.37 after digital Q and I had a $3 Ibotta rebate so .37¢ after all that.

The Move Free was also a clearance find at $9.80, had a $5 Ibotta rebate and a $5 KCB so it will end up being a .20¢ moneymaker....if the KCB ever works.

*  I hit up Walmart for this.....

3 x Tylenol Extra Strength travel size tubes for $1.88 each.  I got $2 back on Ibotta for each so a .36¢ moneymaker.

*  CVS rewarded me for going in last week by giving me $3 in ECBs expiring Sunday.

So I went there and bought this......

Two boxes of GM cereal on sale for $1.99 each.  I paid $.98 OOP and submitted to Ibotta and got $1.00, making this free cereal.  The Cocoa Puffs will go to the food bank and the Cheerios are staying here.

*  I noticed that none of my KCB offers I did have been applied to my account(since the beginning of April!)so I called to get clarification on a few things.

It's difficult to keep track of KCB since as soon as you use/apply an offer and purchase the item, the offer disappears from your available account and it doesn't show anywhere as pending.  Going forward I'll track what offers I use and when so I can contact CS if they don't show up after 1 week.

The person I spoke to put a courtesy $10 on my Kroger card  but I'll be darned if I won't be calling back on Friday(which will be a week since purchase)to get the $6 in KCB for those crackers bought last Friday. ;-)  

*  We have been using food here and eating leftovers.  No eating out so far this week.

*  I went to PT on Wednesday for my shoulders.  Because of my Medigap Supplement, PT there won't cost me any copays.  Therapist gave me some exercises to do at home and I am doing them. 8-)

*  I found money!  

Last Friday I went to Kroger and used a self-checkout register.

This was in the coin return.....

a Quarter!

Then on Sunday I went to Walmart to pick up Rxs and found this......

A penny while walking on the entrance aisle past the registers in the store.

Then also on Sunday while in CVS to use my free $3 in ECBs they gave me I found these.........

They have one self-checkout register right by the door and next to where they keep the shopping carts.  As I took a shopping cart, I looked down and saw three pennies on the carpeting next to the register.  People really don't like pennies around here I guess.  I was glad to bring them home. ;-)

Total Found last week.... .29¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.41 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy     

There is Always Excitement Around Here!

 Well I saw no naked men since Monday but that doesn't mean we had no excitement here. 8-)

I went out Tuesday to Kroger and I passed this location which we often pass(this was a photo from a previous day when Hubs was driving not from Tuesday).......

There was a man with a cargo van parked at this abandoned location setting up wooden plank shelves.  When I came back through he had one of those wing signs on a pole and his whole display in place.  He was selling BONSAI.  Now this being Louisiana I thought that was the most random thing! lolz  We often see people set up with a tent and table in various abandoned commercial locations right before holidays(Xmas, Easter, etc.)selling gift baskets, but I guess he thinks there is a booming market for bonsai trees for Mother's Day?? ;-)

I also go through an area known as MLK town on the way to Kroger.  At this light on the far right side of the intersection as pictured.......

There usually stands a guy we have dubbed "Hatman".  Hatman creates as you'd assume "creative hats", made out of found items, with messages, usually religious but some political.  He is just trying to inform the masses about the state of the world and heaven.  He might be crazy or not.  I have never stopped to "chat" with him but I do wave as I go by.

On Tuesday Hatman has on a new chapeau.  I don't know what the actual hat was made out of but he had attached a long strip of cardboard to the front(might have been backed with balsa or some other lightweight wood)and on it was written "300 Trillion......".  I couldn't read the whole thing as I passed but 300 Trillion is/was the amount of the US Debt.  Hmmm.

Then when I came back through this intersection to get home, Hatman wasn't at his post(lunch break in the convenience store nearby maybe?)but he had left this in his stead..........

I was stopped at the light so could snap a photo of it, though I couldn't read the wording fully until I started driving when the light turned green.  He took an empty blue city trash can, turned it upside down and had fashioned white Styrofoam letters that spelled out "CHINA".  Me thinks Hatman is a very deep thinker and if I didn't sense he was a little "touched" in the head, I'd enjoy talking with him. ;-)

Tuesday evening our power went out again!  I was composing a letter on my computer keyboard Tuesday night and BAM!  The power went out.  There were no storms raging anywhere around here, not even windy.  I swear we are at the far outer edge of this power company's grid(operating somewhere in Texas).  But come to find out their service territory is Northwest and Central Louisiana, East Texas and the Texas Panhandle and Western Arkansas.  Their customers are divided thusly--552,665, including 235,287 in Louisiana, 191,296 in Texas and 126,082 in Arkansas.

This outage makes FOUR service disruptions in FIVE weeks!  The power went out in early April before we left for the cruise, Hubs got alerts on his phone that the power was out for hours while we were in Europe, the 2+ day outage at the end of April and now a shorter 4 hour outage this past Tuesday.  Had I known the electrical infrastructure was so vulnerable in this town I never would have moved here.  And it's not something we could have ascertained before moving into this house.  Our daughter is on another company even though she is only 7 miles away so we couldn't know from her experience.

My big worry in this house is keeping the fridge/freezer going in a power failure(as is most people's worry, outside of a/c in the Summer).  I have expensive drugs that have to be kept cold/cool in that fridge.  You see, we can't use a generator during a power failure to keep the fridge cold.  Our fridge/freezer is hard wired into the electrical panel.  The appliance doesn't have a plug we can connect to a generator. sigh  

So Wednesday I had PT for my shoulders.  Nice therapist.  Gave me some exercises to do at home and I go back next week and begin twice a week sessions with her for 4 weeks.  Most concerning to her is the partial tear in a muscle in my right shoulder.  Most concerning to me is not being able to sleep in my favorite/use-to be comfortable position with my left arm under my pillow/over my head.  It seems to be a balance of exercising these muscles and tendons but not too much.  So we'll see if this helps. ;-)

We passed the ramshackle house of "Rockman" on the way to therapy.(The house pictured is next door as the shot was taken from an angle.)  There is a guy who stacks rocks in front of a shabby dwelling(trim is painted purple and there is a tarp covering part of the roof).  If I am not driving I try to get a photo of his latest creations........

This was snapped in early April and you can see what I mean.  Yesterday it looked like this.........

The problem is this isn't a good part of town and people up to no good come through at night and knock his creations down.  But he will rebuild as he always does.

I have yet to get a good photo of some of his "nice" creations.......

I listed one of the two abandoned boats w/trailers that are on the property on FB Marketplace on Tuesday for FREE.  Getting lots of "is this still available?" messages but we'll see if anyone actually comes to takes it.  Hubs is handling the rest of this project(answering the messages and dealing with people part).  I only got involved in this because I have a FB account and know how to put stuff on various local FB free/for sale message boards.  I've got 14 asks so far on the boat for Hubs to deal with.

I'll be going to Kroger on Friday to get 4 x Fuel Pts. on any purchase I make.  Not sure what I'll be buying but I am sure I'll see some interesting stuff along the way. 8-))

Sluggy