Frugal Friday....the November 5th Edition

 November is here and Fall is fading away into Winter here.  My flowers died last night as we had our first frost off the season.  If I had grown collards this year it would be the day to start harvesting them.

Here are my frugal wins for this past week.....

*  Had to return to the dentist for an old filling repair.  That wasn't so frugal but I came away with these....

Free Samples.
And these......

A stack of dental coupons.

*  Last Friday I hit up a CVS for .14¢ toilet paper and found 10........

I am not counting those in my food spending because I paid for them with some WAM and they were bought specifically to give away to the food bank.
The 2 tubes of toothpaste were free after digital coupon and the lip balm was .64¢ OOP after $5Q and a few cents of rewards on my account.

* I also hit up Weis(PMITA)Markets the same day and the best deal were these.....

4 bags of Hall's cough drops.  They were 50% off/discontinued so $1.14 each.  I had 4 x $1.50/1 printable Qs from coupons dotcom AND I submitted to Checkout51 for 4 x $1 rebate so I got paid $5.44 to bring those home. 8-)))

*  Here's my loot from Rite-Aid for the week........1 transaction I used a $6/$30 coupon......

10 x battery packs

2 x Nivea men's body wash

2 x Vitamin Water drinks

1 x small candy bar(not pictured)

2 x Talenti gelato(not pictured)

6 x Colgate toothbrushes

$105.06+ tax paid for with Bonus Cash

$109 earned in new BC.  All free even though the Talenti wasn't free after BC.

The RA batteries, Colgate optic white toothbrushes and Talenti/Magnum ice cream BC deals were glitching and giving back double making most of them free.

Gelato for me and more toothbrushes for the food bank!

*  Speaking of R-A.......

Two of these $6 when you spend $30 coupons arrived in the mail this week which are good through 11/30/21.  The same purchase based Qs have been printing at the end of receipts this week too. 8-)

*  I found money!

I ran into R-A after the polls closed on Tuesday for the Talenti and found 3 pennies too....1 by each register and the third by the pharmacy.

This big boy was found at R-A too on Wednesday under the candy rack by the register.

Thursday I found this gem of course, at Rite-Aid too near the front of the store.

And a quick run into Weis also on Thursday had me finding this penny in the foyer where they keep the shopping cart.

Total Found This Week...... .39¢

Total Found This Year.......$19.27

We're heading toward 20 Bucks found!

*  And everyone will be happy to know that as soon as October ended, I started getting Ibotta Bonuses again(as did the YouTuber who also had this happen to them).  So weird but I am glad to have them back.  Ibotta is doing the "free Thanksgiving" promo again this year.  If you buy select items you get a full refund on them! Items for making classic Turkey Day dishes like mashed potatoes, french fried onions, mushroom soup, gravy mix, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc.  Except in order to get the free turkey deal you either have to sign up as a new member OR if you are already a member you have to have someone sign up under your referral code(and then both of you get the turkey deal).

If anyone is inclined my referral code is MKAAXA.  I would appreciate it. 8-)

That's about it from me.

What frugal goodness happened to y'all this past week?

Let's hear all about it!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Day After Halloween" Edition...

This made me giggle.

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Rotisserie Chicken, au Gratin Taters, Corn

2. Monday--Leftover Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad

3. Tuesday--Steak, Baked Potatoes, more Salad or ?

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Green Beans, leftover au Gratin Taters
5. Thursday--TV dinners

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Rotisserie Chicken, au Gratin Taters, Corn

2. Monday--Leftover Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad

3. Tuesday--Chicken Parm, Green Beans, leftover au Gratin Taters

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself
5. Thursday--Chinese take-out(I had hot and sour soup)

6.  Friday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Root Veggies

7. Saturday--Pork Teriyaki Stir-fry

I was doing well with a low spend October until Ocean State decided to hold that 40% back in gift cards on what you spent last week.  But that will be a future win when I cash in the gift cards.  And I still managed to stay well under $400 for the month anyway.

go me. ;-)

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

* 4 TV dinners

*  a vegan Pot Pie

*  5 lbs. boneless Chicken Breast

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*   2 Pork Tenderloins

*  bag of Root Veggie strips(no potato)

*  Chicken Patties

*  Green Beans

*  Marinated Pork Loin

*  Bag of stir-fry veggies

I spent $200.64 on food/toiletries/HBA last week. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Grand Total to $322.26 for October.

There are 0 shopping days left in October.

I've earned $80.85 on Ibotta in October.

I've earned $3.64 on Checkout51 in October.

I've earned $5.25 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in October.

I've earned $4.00 from Aisle.

I've earned $3.27 from an ice cream offer.

I've earned 1544 points from shopping on Fetch in October which equals $1.54.

I earned 1875 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in October which equals $7.50.

I've earned  9008 SB from food shopping on Swagbucks in October which equals $9.00.

That's $97.01 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $322.26 in grocery spending so in reality it's $225.25 spent after the 4 rebate apps(+the ice cream offer)I count until I cash out on the other three apps and cash in the $161.25 in Crazy Deal gift cards from OSJL. 8-)))

My savings percentage for the last week was 40.31%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for October comes in at 44.80%(w/out R-A).

Leftovers going into this week....1 Pork Tender loin, some root veggie strips.

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

1. Sunday--free take-out Pizza

2. Monday--Steak, Baked Potato, Salad

3. Tuesday--?  working the election

4. Wednesday--Leftover Pork Stir-fry w/noodles
5. Thursday--Pecan crusted Salmon, leftover root veggies, au gratin Taters

6.  Friday--Apricot glazed Pork Chops, Brussels Sprouts, leftover Taters

7. Saturday--Sloppy Joes, Sweet Potato wedges

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  I've got everything except for Tuesday.  I don't plan on going to the grocery store this week.

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 great deals on food at your stores this week?  

Sluggy

  

Happy Halloween!

 Dixie Belle............

And Chester(giving the melted Wicked Witch a ride home)...........

Just want to wish everyone a creepy, spooky Halloween!

Sluggy

And the Giveaway Winner is......

There were 52 Valid comments for the October Giveaway.
I had Random dotorg pick the winner comment.

And the winner is.........

Sue L.!

Sue L.October 20, 2021 at 2:45 PM

For autumn we usually go up to Apple Hill - we used to get our Christmas tree there when the kids were little and we got a real tree, now we just go for fudge & caramel apples, lol.

Congratulation Sue!  Please email me your full mailing address within 48 hours after this post going live to claim your prize and I'll get this out to you Monday or so.

Thanks to everyone who played along.  The next box will be girly stuff(make-up, etc.)and chocolate!

Sluggy

What's Been Going on Here

 So, we've had a busy week.  Not good busy but not so good busy.

First Chester our doggie got sick.  As in he won't eat and just lays around sick.  He was spitting up bile(since there was no food in the tank)and he was making strange little runny poops.  Something wasn't right with his gastrointestinal tract obviously.  He wasn't showing any signs of pain like whining or whimpering, just lethargy.

After 3 days of  this Hubs took him to the emergency vet an hour away(since it was a weekend and our vet wasn't open).  After tests, bloodwork and a full exam they couldn't find a certain cause.  So we put him on a specific diet and the bet armed us with an appetite stimulant and a course of doggy antibiotics.  Chester only needed one dose of the appetite stimulant to get back into eating his very small meals and within 4 days he was barking his head off for more food! lol  I think he's made a full recovery.  Of course our wallet is $800+ poorer for it all. 8-((

Then I went to refill one of the Rxs which usually costs me $25 per month and the pharmacy said that would be $375 please.   WTF?!?
Then I remembered that this drug needed preauthorization each year and October is when this occurs.  So I got in touch with the doctor's office to arrange for them to reach out to the insurance company/prescription provider.

I went back to the pharmacy a week later and they tried to pry $595 out of my hands for it.  Another WTF?!? and back to various entities.
In the end my insurance company/plan provider decided to up this drug from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 and thus they now don't cover it(which was why I then owed $595 for it instead of $375).

Insurance provider cancelled the preauthorization but didn't tell anybody why or what to do next.  Hubs got on the phone madder than hell to find out what was going on(the Tier change, etc.).  Insurance rep said they will cover two different drugs now at a Tier 2 cost and neither needs a yearly preauthorization(at least that's good news).....well, until they change their minds again. lol
So the in house pharmacy arm on the insurance provider filled the Rx automatically when the doctor put the Rx order in.  I only have my one specialty drug filled by them(as they have proven to be incompetent ninnies in the past)because I am forced to use them for that drug.  We'll see what happens when this new Rx comes and how difficult they make it to have it filled locally instead if I choose to change the delivery method.

Then last night I was in Rite-Aid trying to buy a gift card.  I had put my credit card into the machine and then the power went off in the store.  ugh.  Checked my c/c this morning to make sure I wasn't double charged for the gift card.  Thankfully that didn't happen.  But we all had to wait, once the power came back on, for another 15 minutes for the registers to boot up.  Ain't technology grand?? 

And I got my flu shot but haven't had any complications from that. yay.

It's always something, isn't it?

This coming week is the election that we work.  The fun just never ends around here.......

Hope your Ghosts and Goblins are good ones this year,

Sluggy