This Week on the Dining Table.....the June 17th Edition

The "They Just Won't Go Away" Edition.....

      

I snapped this photo as I neared our street late last month.  This is the "committee" of buzzards who roost nearby where we live, waiting for me to die so they can pick my bones clean. lol  I don't plan on kicking off anytime soon.  Look for a free meal elsewhere vultures!

Onward to the meal planning!

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

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--?

And here's what actually happened....

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

2. Monday--Chinese Buffet at Hubs request

3. Tuesday--I had a Cheeseburger at Trivia

4. Wednesday--Crab Cakes, Leftover Roasted Broccoli

5. Thursday--Chicken Fajitas

6. Friday--Home Chef meal(Beef in Burgundy Sauce, Carrots and Whipped Potatoes)on clearance at Kroger

7. Saturday--Chicken Teriyaki w/Stir-Fry Veggies

I was good at the buffet on Monday-had sushi, half a plate of green beans, some General Tso, some Baked Chicken and my downfall of Crab Rangoon. ;-/

I had half a Rotisseries Chicken leftover so sliced the meat off the bone and put it into the Fajita filling on Thursday.  We found a couple Home Chef ready to eat meals on clearance at Kroger on Friday.  The rest of my marked down Rotisserie Chicken went into the Teriyaki Stir-Fry.  We had enough leftover rice for Hubs to have with the Stir-Fry.

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

* 1 TV Dinner(me)

*  1 pack of Crab Cakes

*  Some Red and Yellow Peppers

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

*  1.25 lb. Catfish Filets

Last week we spent $97.30 on grocery shopping.

Total shopping comes to $336.47 for June.   There are 13 shopping days left in June.  

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

I've earned $106.03 on Ibotta in June.

I've earned $13.25 on Shopmium in June.

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

I've earned $37.25 on Kroger Cash Back in June.

I've earned $13.04 on TaDa in June.

I've earned $7.26 on Checkout51 in June.

I've earned $62.74 on Aisle, etc. in June. (Haven't gotten my Nature Valley/Mott's Snacks rebates yet.)

I've earned 13,808 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 4,357 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in June.

That is $195.28 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch/MyPoints/KCB/Alexa)on $336.47 of grocery spending so in reality it's $141.19 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 47.13% and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 48.69% spent.

Leftovers going into this week.. Lasagna, a little bit of Asparagus.

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

1. Sunday--Ribeye Steak, Bake Potato, Roasted Corn on cob(Father's Day)

2. Monday--Leftover Fajita stuff of Stir-Fry

3. Tuesday--Dinner out at Trivia?

4. Wednesday--Catfish, Broccoli Slaw, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

5. Thursday--Whatever we didn't have leftover on Monday lolz

6. Friday--Cheddar Broccoli Potato Bake

7. Saturday--Don't know?

I've got everything planned above and leftovers.  The only unknown is Saturday's dinner.  Might be something I find cheap at Kroger on Friday. ;-)

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    

The Great Western Road Trip 2017....Part Thirty Three/Day Twenty Five & Twenty Six--The END

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
Part Twenty Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

The morning after visiting the Serpent Mount we had breakfast at the motel.  They had a pretty nice brekkie set up.........

I wanted to have a bowl of oatmeal but when I went to put hot water in the bowl I pressed the wrong button and started putting COFFEE in instead.  ick  I realized my mistake and finished putting hot water in but the whole think tasted of coffee(side note-I don't drink/like coffee).

Then I saw this breakfast roll/bun.  Of course I had to take a "Raisin Snail". lolz

We left the motel for our next stop but I noticed a Rite-Aid across the street from where we stopped to gas up the car.  I guess I have Rite-Aid Radar or something. ;-)

Hubs cleaning the windshield while I sat and pointed out spots he missed. lol  I am ever so helpful.....

Hubs wanted more coffee and they had a Tim Hortons nearby so we swung through the drive-thru.

I think this was a prison we passed down in Southern Ohio.  It's been almost 7 years so  I may be mistaken.

Approaching the big city from sleepy Southern Ohio.......

                  

We made it to Columbus pretty quickly. 

                   

 I saw that there was a World Market in Columbus and it was on our route so we stopped for a brief look/see.........

"Kittea Infuser"  A cute gift for the tea drinking cat lover in your life.

And for the dog lovers, "Pug in a Mug".

And what is this I spy?  Why it's a tiny ceramic giraffe.........

In a Giraffe patterned mug.

I bet many a coffee lover has felt the anguish of "Perkatory". lol

                                       

And I found my mug, well it should say "Mrs. Almost Always Right". lolz

I guess they clearance-d out all the Fourth of July items, like these "Party like it's 1776" decorative napkins since it was August now.

                                                

Ok, don't get triggered by the price of gas sign in Summer 2017 we passed.  Most people around the country would like even $3.11 per gallon of gas now.

We stopped to visit with another online friend, Chris and her hubby, yet another Dan in our universe. lolz

Dan made us dinner while Chris, my Dan and I chatted.  Then we had ice cream and went to bed.  It is so nice to meet people in person after getting to know them online!

Dan also made us all breakfast the next morning.

 Hubs snapped this photo of me and Chris in front of her ginormous fireplace painting that she got for a good deal and she loves.

                                                

 We said our goodbyes and thanks and hit the road.  We had one more stop to make that day North of them.

More Tim Horton's???  Is Canada taking over Ohio or something? lolz

                                           

I spied this water tower painted to resemble a pumpkin(or some similar squash)on the drive to our next stop.

Fairly quickly we were out in a rural area of Ohio.

And just like that!....another Rite-Aid appeared.  Seems parts of Ohio are lousy with them just like Pennsylvania.

We made it to another town in Ohio and to see Rachel, another online friend and her family.

Here we are posing with her kids.  Boy, have they grown up since then!

And one more photo of us two.

Rachel made us a yummy meal(pasta if I remember correctly), we visited for awhile and then she sent us on our way.....

                                       

But not before gifting us some yummy zucchini Bread.

                                       

Back on the interstate and Eastward Ho....

        

Passing an old long closed Goodyear Factory.  They don't call this part of the country the "Rust Belt" for nothing.

Getting onto I-80 and heading toward PA.

Lots of folks seem to move in the Summer.

And just like that we hit the state line.

But we had a 5+ hour drive once we got to PA since we lived on the other side of that often traveled and too long state.

So we booked a hotel room near Grove City.

And you know what Grove City is known for?

Outlet shopping!

Not that we really needed anything but we walked around for a couple of hours, I went into the Vera Bradley Store and found some new purses.......

Then we went into a bookstore for Hubs and browsed the selection.  I think Hubs found something to buy too.

After dropping our luggage at the hotel we went down the street for a light late dinner.

I couldn't help but laugh at the ginormous sweet roll on their glossy menu.  All I could picture was Jerlyn's breakfast back in Nebraska, earlier in the trip.....

I think I had an unsweet iced tea and a salad and don't recall what Hubs had but it wasn't very big.  And NO Sweet Buns for us!!!lolz

We slept, rolled out of bed, dressed and it was back on the Interstate to home.

We hit heavy foggy in Central PA.

Stopped for gas in Clarion where our Daughter attended college for one year.

Got home and snapped a photo of the mileage on the car before we turned it in.  7.416 miles on this "before we left" brand new rental car.  Oh my!

It was a great trip!  Full of sights and fun times with many great people that I won't soon forget.  But it was good to be home and sleep in my own bed again. '-)

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.......the June 14th 2024 Edition

There are a few Frugal wins over the past week.

* Had an assessment for PT on my right side/back muscle and 1 session of PT this past week.  Again, no co-pays.  Man, this gal works me hard and the back exercises are even harder than the shoulder ones.  Plus my left shoulder still hurts so doing some of the back stuff hurts that arm as I have to brace myself with that arm.  

*  Every PT session I grab a bottle of water from the fridge there.  So free 12 bottles of water so far and counting. 8-)

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

The spices were all on clearance(one is a gift so we don't count that one in the grocery budget).  The pads are for the food bank(also not counted in groceries)and a moneymaker after coupon and rebate.

*  I picked up this at Dollar General too ........

These were part of their 50% clearance event.  $4.47 for each pack of 64 plates.  These heavy duty name brand ones on this sale were cheaper than store brand ones and it was something we needed.

*  These were picked up this past week.......

These had a free manufacturer's rebate and an Ibotta rebate.

*  I tired to put a CVS deal together..........

We picked up $20 ECB due to buying some gift cards there.  So I had $20 ECB going in.

Well this didn't go as planned really.

I bought the cereal(on clearance for Hubs)and the Peroxides for laundry.  The rest(plus two tubes of Colgate and a canister of Scent Beads not pictured)is for the food bank or a gift.  This was two transactions and totaled $18.53 OOP.  But I earned $22.00 in rebates so it turned into a $3.47 moneymaker and I have $5 in ECB left. So not as bad as I thought. ;-)

*  We got second place in Trivia on Tuesday night and got this.......

a $20 gift card.  Though we did eat there and spent money(doesn't come out of grocery budget)but next time we go we'll use that gift card to help pay for dinner.

*  I also found this on the floor there, when I went to the bathroom.......

A novelty guitar pick.  Interesting.

*  As for Kroger and my KCB account...what a f**king cluster!  Coupons started being grayed out on my app after I used them but I never get the $$ in my account.  I started taking screenshots of those coupons that clearly state they were used but they start falling off my account and still no $$ shows up.  Another two rounds of phone calls to Krappy Kroger Korporate and they give me a case number but nothing ever changes.  Seriously, they need to FIX THIS SHIT or get rid of it!  Some times I get the $$ and some times I don't.  Going forward I won't be eager to do any deal involving KCB AND it I do and I don't get the $$, that/those items are going back to the store for a refund.  I am tired of their games.

The next to last employee I talked to treated me like an imbecile, talking down to me and when I calmly tried to explain that yes, I KNOW how to send my KCB to my shopper's card, and no, that isn't the problem here, he hung up on me. What a jerk! **rant over**

*  I needed new nightgowns as mine are old and getting ratty.  I went online and perused at the fat lady store.  There were having a sale on what I needed but there would also be shipping.

While up at Walmart I found these.....

3 Summer weight night gowns all on clearance.  Regular price of $14.98(these were the sale price at the online store!), marked down to $9 each.  So much cheaper now that I can shop at regular stores and don't have to buy clothes at online fat lady stores. 8-)

*  I found money!

I found this dime at Walmart last Friday by the self-checkout machine.

On Sunday, I hit up the 'ol Walmart again, first to return something.....

Found a dime and a penny at the CS desk on the floor.

Then I found a penny randomly somewhere in the store.

And as I was leaving the self-checkout area I spied another penny by the candy racks.

We went to Trivia on Tuesday evening and I found this in the parking lot........

And then stopped at CVS on the way home and I spied this in the entrance........

Total Found last week.... .25¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.96 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy