Rite-Aid Haul Before The Storm

So there were a few deals I could use at Rite-Aid this week.  Plus purchase based Catalinas kept spitting out which made the deals even sweeter and I got a $11/$55 spent Q in the snail mail this past weekend as well.
Sweet!

I figured I'd better hit R-A  before the weather came so here is everything.........

8  x Pure Zero shampoo and conditioners
4 x Nivea(various iterations)
8 x Schiff's Glucosamine
4 x Nature's Truth Vitamin D3
3 x Pringles
1 x Generic Magic Erasers on the Dollar Aisle
1 x St. Joseph low dose aspirin
1 x CORE bar
1 x Bubbly 8 pack

Total spend was $165.27 in Bonus Cash/Coupons/Gift Cards.
I earned back $132.00 in new BC and another $20.39 in Coupons dotcom, Post coupons and Ibotta making this a cost of $10.88 so far.  5 of the items(1 Nature's Truth, St. Joseph, 2 Pringles, the Bubbly sparking water 8-pack*not pictured* and the CORE bar)were also Ibotta rebates which got me to the midweek $3 Bonus so another $12.39 cash back on Ibotta. ;-)

I am working on a $20 BC back on Nature's Truth Deal still so my cost should be $5.86, depending on how close I can get to a $14.98 spend on the vitamins.

The only items I don't "need" are the Pringles so I'll give those away via Ex-CB or the food bank.  I can sell the shampoos and lotions and recoup or make a bit of cash back for those.  The glucosamine were .37 per bottle.  Marvelous price for something I need!

Not a bad week at Rite-Aid.

Sluggy

Food Spending 2022....The January Report

   Onward to January's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2022.

I have posted January's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 25. 
*****************

ALDI

OOP  $5.80

Value  $10.50

Savings  44.76%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $26.95

Value  $61.93

Savings  56.48%

DOLLAR TREE

OOP  $3.12

Value  $7.48

Savings 58.29%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $25.11

Value  $40.15

Savings  37.46%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $12.99

Value  $16.97

Savings  23.45%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $915.97

Value  $915.97
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $230.26

Qs/free Gift Cards  $597.41
Value  $827.67
Savings  72.18%

WEIS

OOP  $12.56

Qs/Sales  $
Value  $20.28
Savings  38.07%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Walmart at 72.18%, and Dollar Tree at 58.29%.

The worst rate was at Ocean State at 23.45%.  
I shopped at 8 different stores in January.  

TOTAL Spent in January................$321.18

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$663.80

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$984.98

TOTAL Savings of .............................67.31%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for January w/R-A..............$321.18

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$1,579.77
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,900.95
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................83.10%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....It was a GREAT lower spending month!  Spent a bit more than expected but still well under budget.  Plus I'll get all that rebate money plus more in December.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 2.10% in January 2021 to 83.10% compared to the December's 81.00% savings average.  

With 1 month accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $321.18 on food/toiletries in 2022.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$321.18

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$1900.95

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$1,579.77

2021 Yearly Savings Total.............................83.10%

The average per month amount spent is $321.18 in 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD To February 2022.......

February is a total unknown.  Yes, I am trying to eat from the stockpile and freezers.  If this wedding and eating out doesn't derail the month I'll be happy with whatever we spend(or don't).  I've still got Bonus Cash and R-A gift cards and have been doing more shopping at Walmart as opposed to Weis(PMITA)Markets.  With unpredictable bad weather I may need to stay in town so Weis will get the bigger bite on my food spending.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in January?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

 The "I Know How to Party" Edition...

Sorry this post is so late in the day but I've been sleeping as I started off the week Sunday evening by having a Sleep Study at the hospital. Nobody can sleep any length of time doing one of these for I've been catching up.

Go me!

My oxygen concentrator, which I owned outright, puffed out it's last O2 and went to the great concentrator graveyard in the sky back in October.  Since it had been over 8 years since my full blown study, insurance wouldn't let me do a home sleep study to see if I still need a concentratr.  As I haven't used oxygen with my BiPAP machine for almost 4 full months with no ill effect, I suspect I really don't need the oxygen support any longer(having lost 120 lbs. since 2013 probably has a lot to do with it).

But I bet insurance decides I still need a concentrator and wants to rent me one at an exorbitant rate per month anyway.  It's a good thing we've met our deductibles or this would have been a very expensive exercise in futility of not sleeping.

Glad it's over and bet your bottom dollar that I refuse to pay to rent a new concentrator!

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned......

1. Sunday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Roast Carrots, Potatoes

2. Monday--Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--Butternut Squash Ravioli w/Béchamel, Salad

4. Wednesday--Chicken Salad
5. Thursday--Leftovers? or No Clue

6.  Friday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

7. Saturday--Leftovers?

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

1. Sunday--Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Roast Carrots, Potatoes

2. Monday--Pizza, Salad

3. Tuesday--Turkey, Mashed Taters, Mixed Veggies, Brussels Sprouts

4. Wednesday--Leftover Beef Stir-Fry w/Noodles
5. Thursday--Leftovers

6.  Friday--Leftover Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Roast Veggies

7. Saturday--Mac and Cheese w/Broccoli

Nothing very exciting here.  Used up a few of those hella inexpensive frozen meals I found at Walmart last week so moving meals not fixed because of that to this week.

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

*  8 tv dinners

*  1 bag of fake sausage patties

*  2 boxes of fish filets 

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

*  2 turkey tv dinners

*  a pizza

* 1 mac and cheese/broccoli tv dinner.ll

I spent $55.89 on food/toiletries/HBA the last week. This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $321.18 for January.  

There are 0 shopping days left in January.  

I've earned $316.48 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $5.39 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $28.50 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 15,974 points($15.97) from shopping on Fetch in January.

I earned 2,255 Kicks($9.02)from food shopping on Shop Kick in January. 

I've earned 2,019 SB($20.19) from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

I've earned $0 from food shopping on Tada in January.

That's $350.37 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $321.18 in grocery spending so in reality it's -$29.19 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.  

rah...

My savings percentage for the last week was 80.55%(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 67.39% so far(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week.....Beef Noodle Stir-Fry, Roast Chicken, Brussel Sprouts

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

1. Sunday--I didn't eat(see above), don't know what Hubs had

2. Monday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

3. Tuesday--Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff, leftover, Brussels Sprouts, Rice

4. Wednesday--Fish, Cole Slaw
5. Thursday--Butternut Squash Ravioli w/Béchamel, Salad

6.  Friday--Homemade flatbread Pizza, Veggie TBD

7. Saturday--Leftovers

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Nothing really except dog food for the puppies.  The freezers and fridge are packed to the gills now.  February will be a pantry challenge....at least will start off as one. ;-)

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?  Other than that Walmart frozen meals surprise I've gotten no good meat/seafood deals since last Fall.

Sluggy

  

Ibotta Haul on Thursday & More Rebate on Saturday

 I had two bonuses to knock out so I used a Walmart gift card and did most of the rebates to get me there......

While I could have finished the Bonus with less OOP I decided since I had a free gift card to use, I'd get stuff we needed/could use-shaving cream(I had given my whole stockpile of this away somehow leaving Hubs with none), an almond milk for Hubs, 2 cottage cheese to make a lasagna, some healthier pasta made with cauliflower, my raisin bread I usually have for breakfast so I can take my a.m. meds with something in my stomach, a yogurt, Knorr rice sides(for Mexican dinners), 2 protein bars for when I'm out running errands so I am not tempted to stop and get fast food.  The Pita chips and onion soup mox were splurges and weren't anywhere near free after rebates.  The vitamins are useful.  The body wash was bought at Rite-Aid(which didn't cost me anything OOP and I had a Q for it too).

The best thing was finding 3 different Revlon make-up items on clearance which were free or moneymakers after rebates.  With rebates after my gift card everything cost me $15.20 w/sales tax.  Then I submitted the Revlon and the One A Day vitamin items to Coupons dotcom and earned back $13.00 in rebates making my OOP for everything $2.20.  I also got $2.92 worth of Fetch Pts. so counting that everything was free(but I don't count Fetch until I cash out for a gift card). 8-))

I got two Sally Hansen nail gloss at R-A on a free gift card so earned the last $5 Bonus + 2 x $1 for the SH so I am $7 more in rebates making all the above and the Sally Hansen cost -$4.80!!

Oh and I saw someone used my Ibotta referral code as I now have 4 more of the Freebies on my account.  So THANK YOU to RACHEL at One Day At A Time for using the code.  I hope you get all 5 of the freebies too!!

Sluggy 

Frugal Friday...the January 28th Edition

 So here are a few of the frugal-ish things that happened here this past week.......

*   No food waste so far. ;-)  

*  I had a $5 free scrip for Kohl's for my birthday and used it on Wednesday.  I also spent another $3+ from a merchandise credit I had and bought 3 items and didn't spend any cash monies.  Sorry but I can't show a photo of the items as the recipients may well read this. ;-)

*  I did a small amount of Walmart this week too.

$6.50 for all these frozen food items! Insane........ plus a little bit of Ibotta I did at Walmart to hit a bonus.(6 items I think.)
This week Ibotta has 5-6 free items if you sign up or have someone sign up under your referral code.  Mine is MKAAXA.  I haven't gotten any referrals so I only got the free pizza offer so far. 8-(

*  I did a couple of Rite-Aid transactions this week.......

In between theses two trips Rite-Aid pissed me off something fierce! ;-)

*  While I was at that second R-A on Wednesday I got gas at a place that 88% ethanol gas for $3.24.  $3..24 is unheard of around here!  $3.44 with that 5 cent discount we get at Sunoco is the lowest in our town.

*   I found money!

Found this penny under the Catalina machine at my R-A on Tuesday when I supposedly got all my gift cards "fixed". hahaha

I found this 2 cents at the drive-thru on Wednesday when I was out long time and needed an iced tea.  There was a third penny by I couldn't reach it without falling out of the car. lolz

This penny was found under a rack on a rare stop at Target looking for clearance for Xmas presents on Wednesday as well(I don't think I've ever been in this Target come to think about it!).  I had to dislodge this penny as it was stuck to the floor, then scooped it up for my money finds.

Total Found in last Week...... .04¢
Total Found This Year......$1.87

Cracking the $2 mark isn't looking doable for January unless I hit Aldi in the next few days and score a quarter. 8-(

That's about all I've got for this week.

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

And have a good weekend and stay warm!  It's been snowing all day here.... 8-(

Sluggy