Someone Who Understands Our Budget/Spending Issues

Sluggy

Some Music for a Wednesday

 Just a few songs I was listening to today.

Some Classic Beatles........

Some not-so Classic The Eagles....

Audra McDonald really shows these other two "non-singers" up.  Trivia time-I was a costumer dresser for Ms. Baranski long before she was "Cybil"s best friend in that sit-com or Leonard's mother in "The Big Bang Theory".  This was back when she did Summer Stock and legitimate theater work and hadn't broken into the "big time" yet.

And I still think the Elaine Stritch "Company" version is the best. ;-)

And here's Elaine's version from the original cast of "Company"..........

It will be 10 years next month since Ms. Stritch left us.  Gosh, time flies......

What music have you listened to lately?

Sluggy

Shopping Last Friday

I picked up some grocery deals late last week at Kroger and Walmart....from l to r

3 x Yoplait protein yogurts on clearance .59¢ ea.

1 x Brekki overnight oats $2.89, free after rebate

2 x Nature Made Vitamins BOGO $19.99, $1.99 for both after Ibotta, coupons and KCB

2 x Nature Made Zero Sugar gummies BOGO $18.99, $4.21 moneymaker for both after Ibotta, coupons, Shop Kick and KCB

2 x I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray .29¢ ea. after sale

1 x Dawn Power wash dish soap $2.29

1 x Gillette mach 3 razor .99¢,after coupons and sale

1 x Coke Zero 2 liter FREE after BC coupon

1 x Cretors popcorn snack $4.99 , .20¢ after rebate

1 x Wild Turkey Rye whisky $9.00 after Ibotta and Shop Kicks(comes out of Hubs WAM)

1 x Nature Valley Wafer snacks $4.32, Free after rebate

2 x Barilla Protein pasta $5.04, .04¢ after coupons and Swag Bucks

1 x Gatorade Water(really?)$1.98,  .98¢ after Ibotta

2 x Clorox toilet bowl cleaners $5.36, $2.36 for both after Swag Bucks

1 x 12 ct. box Beneful wet dog food clearance $7.00. $4.20 after Shop Kick

3x Purina One wet dog food cans $5.94, $2.94 after coupon, Swag Bucks, Ibotta

1 x Persil laundry pods $5.44, $1.44 after Shop Kick and Ibotta

4 x Sweet Tart Ropes $5.92, $2.08 moneymaker after Swag Bucks and Checkout 51s

The razor, the laundry pods and the candy are earmarked for the food bank.

I spent $62.53 on all the above.  Rebates earned were $69.91($27.75 Ibotta, $3.00 Checkout 51, $3.00 Shopmium, $6.02 Swag Bucks, $18.18 Shop Kicks, $13.97 Fetch, $4.32 Nature Valley Manu. Rebate, $2.89 Brekki Manu. Rebate and $4.75 Cretors Manu. Rebate)so a $7.38 Moneymaker for all.

Have you found any good deals on items you can use or donate?

Tell us about it.

Sluggy

What's on The Dining Table....the June 10th Edition

The "Eating Returns to Normal on Monday" Edition.....

      

I found this photo in my folder.  It's a supposedly a piece of "Texas Toast", probably from Zaxby's as they give you this as part of a Zalad meal.  I don't know about you but "Texas Toast" when/where I grew up was a THICK slice of bread, toasted and flavored.  This is just a piece of everyday, run of the mill toast.  What happened to Texas Toast?  And now I live 7 miles away from Texas and they call this Texas Toast??  I am amazed....lol

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Roasted Asparagus, Chicken Tenders

2. Monday--Asparagus Risotto,(plus Caesar Salad for me)

3. Tuesday--Lasagna with Italian Sausage/Ground Beef sauce,(plus Salad for me)

4. Wednesday--Leftovers for me, Mashed Potatoes & Hamburger for Hubs

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

And here's what actually happened....

1. Sunday--Roasted Asparagus, Chicken Tenders

2. Monday--Asparagus Risotto,(plus Caesar Salad for me)

3. Tuesday--Lasagna with Italian Sausage/Ground Beef sauce,(plus Salad for me)

4. Wednesday--leftover Cheeseburger on bun and Roasted Potatoes for Hubs, big Salad & Roasted Potatoes for me

5. Thursday--Rotisserie Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes for Hubs, The Chicken and leftover Green Beans for me

6. Friday--Broiled Salmon for both, leftover Garlic Mash for Hubs, leftover Asparagus & baked Sweet Potato Fries for me

7. Saturday--Leftover Lasagna(plus Salad for me)

I didn't realize what a PITA this low fiber diet for Hubs would be.  Luckily he was ok with 6 days of cornflakes and banana for breakfast, turkey sandwich on white bread with mayo and cheese for lunch so I only had to deal with dinners.  Some things we both ate and other things we went our separate ways.

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

*  Chicken Strips

*  Italian Sausage Meat

*  Ground Beef

*  Hunk of Salmon

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

*  2 pints of Ice Cream

*  1 bag of Chicken Strips

Last week we spent $142.74 on grocery shopping for June.  How the heck did we spend that much and what did we buy?lol

Total shopping comes to $239.17 for June.   There are 20 shopping days left in June.  Gosh darn it, I am NOT spending any more $$ on food this month if I can help it!

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

I've earned $65.50 on Ibotta in June.

I've earned $11.00 on Shopmium in June.

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

I've earned $34.25 on Kroger Cash Back in June.

I've earned $13.04 on TaDa in June.

I've earned $6.00 on Checkout51 in June.

I've earned $19.36 on Aisle, etc. in June. (Haven't gotten my Nature Valley/Mott's Snacks rebates there yet.-$7.74)

I've earned 5,943 points on Fetch from food shopping in June.

I've earned 10,362 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in June.($41.44)

I've earned 10 Points on My Points in June.($)

I've earned 2,255 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in June.

That is $146.74 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch/MyPoints/KCB/Alexa)on $239.17 of grocery spending so in reality it's $92.43 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 41.50% and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 49.30% spent.

Leftovers going into this week...Rotisserie Chicken meat,  Asparagus Risotto, Lasagna(lots), Roasted Broccoli(1+ helpings).

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

1. Sunday--TV Dinner(me), Jello for Hubs Nom Nom

2. Monday--Hubs wants Chinese buffet after procedure so we'll have that

3. Tuesday--Dinner out at Trivia?

4. Wednesday--Leftover Lasagna, Salad

5. Thursday--Something with Chicken-Fajitas?

6. Friday--Asparagus Risotto, ?

7. Saturday--?

I'll come back and fill in the menu later on Monday.  I'm a bit busy this morning playing chauffeur. ;-)

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    

Frugal Friday 2024......the June 7th Edition

There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.

*  Had my last two PT sessions this week for my shoulders.  Again, no co-pays.  Man, this gal works me hard too but I think I am getting stronger in my shoulders. 8-)  My shoulders are better and the therapist says they are "normal". I start another round of PT for a muscle in my back on the right side over my kidney this coming week.  If it ain't one thing it's another, right?  She feels the only PT she can offer is exercise for that rogue muscle.  We'll see how this goes.  The PT last Summer for my back didn't really help that muscle.  The only thing I've found that helps it is Valium ever since it started acting up in 2018 and we wound up in the ER in the middle of the night. 8-(  But I will be hopeful.

*  Every PT session I grab a bottle of water from the fridge there.  So free 8 bottles of water so far and counting. 8-)

*  I hit up Walmart on Wednesday........

I already talked about all this on Thursday.

*  I picked up this lot on Thursday.....

The Life and Cap n' Crunch cereals are on $1.49 special with weekly coupon.  I had bought 2 Life and 1 Cap n' Crunch cereals a couple of weeks ago on clearance for more than those prices so I took those back and rebought all 3 plus one more. lolz  The Goya Mexican pudding was on clearance for $1.79 and I had a $1 Ibotta rebate on that.

The 2 Chobani Creations yogurts were on clearance for .59¢ each and I had a .75¢ rebate for those, making them .43¢ for both.

The Skinny Dipped Almonds were $4.99 with a $1 digital Q and I had a $1.25 Ibotta rebate, a $1.25 KCB plus a manufacturer's rebate for $2.50 so -$1.01 if the KCB comes through(and it did!)

The Good Wipes were $3.69 each but I had two different BOGO rebates, one through Aisle and another through VTAGZ so free for both in the end.

The Kroger brand Hummus snack cups were $2.25 on clearance(cheaper than Aldi's regular price).

I got a Rotisserie Chicken(not pictured) on clearance for $4.05 and I had a .50¢ Ibotta rebate for that making it $3.55.

The Tyson Chicken Strips were on sale for $4.49 after digital Q and Kroger savings.

The Blue Bunny(only 1 pictured)ice cream were BOGO for $4.99.  After Shop Kicks, Scan Kicks and Walk-In Kicks both came to $3.47.

I also picked up a flatbread pizza for Hubs on clearance($3.06)so he can eat something other than a turkey sandwich for lunches this week. lol

All came to $42.64 before rebates/shop kicks of $15.94.  

*  As for Kroger and my KCB account...I'll be calling again later today since cash back still hasn't shown up. ugh  I told them last week I'd be nagging them until I get the KCB I am due.   Otherwise I'll be returning the items in question.

*  We have been using food here and eating all the leftovers.  No eating out so far this week and I've kept Hubs on his low fiber diet while I've had lots of salads and veggies.

*  I found money!

I found these two pennies in Walmart last Friday when I went to pick up a prescription(which was free btw).

I found this very out of focus penny in the parking lot of that same Walmart.

I found this penny sitting on a chair in the PT waiting room on Tuesday.  Strange to find it on a chair seat.

Then I found this dime next to a self-checkout machine in Kroger on Tuesday.  Good find!

This penny was found in the Walmart parking lot on Wednesday.

And this penny was found next to the curb at Kroger when I was walking to the store from the car.

Total Found last week.... .16¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.71 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy