And Then She Went Back to the Store......

Well I didn't get nearly enough done yesterday as I had planned....especially the number of eBay listings.
But I did make it back to the stores for food shopping.

First it was to the restaurant supply store....afterwards to be referred to as RSS.  Since I had to be over at the Orthodontic office to get #2 son's new retainer(grrrr), I went looking for the other location of my RSS.  Yes, I was pleased to see that there is a second location on the opposite end of town from the one that was flooded out in September. 8-)
So we found the store and I picked up "My Precious....My Precious".....cue Gollum music......

I know the fat & the chemically things in it will probably kill me but this brand is the BEST BLUE CHUCKINGFEESE DRESSING that I have ever eaten!
If I wasn't such a tightwad, I'd buy enough gallons of this to fill my bathtub and I'd roll around nekkid in it.
Seriously.
That.
Good.

I would steal pennies out of small children's piggy banks for the money to buy this dressing.
I would divorce my man if he made me choose between him and My Precious......
If I ever end up on Death Row, THIS will be part of my Last Meal before hitting the big Electric Chair, and I hope they wet the sponge that goes on my head under the headgear with this instead of water.

Luckily, all I had to do was fork over $18.55 to get some this time. ;-)

I just wish they sold it in something a bit smaller than industrial sized drum!  A gallon of Dressing lasts a very long time and takes up serious real estate in the fridge.  It is a bargain with the Devil I am glad to make.

On the other hand, large sized containers DO save you serious money in the long run.

Speaking of which, it's Fall so I had to pick up this as well.......

It's a jar of Pumpkin Pie Spice and yes, it was $4.99.  The local store buys and prepares their own huge containers of spices at a discounted price.
Why mess around with having to buy ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove when I can just buy them already mixed together for dumping into pies?

$4.99 seem high to you?
Well when you show this jar next to the jars you usually buy/see in the spice aisle at your local food mart, you see why I will spend $4.99 on this.....

Yes, that 1 ounce sized jar costs around $3.  I spent $2 more but I got 6 times the amount!
So which would you choose.....1 jar for $4.99 or 6 jars for $18?

And yes, it will ALL get used before it gets old.  Not only will I become a squash piemaking factory between now and New Year's but this blend is good in many other things like savory squash sides, in chili(believe it our not!), in tea, coffee, hot cocoa, oatmeal and more.

And I was able to drag myself out after dinner last night to Weis "let's turn your upside down and steal the change that comes pouring out of your pockets" Markets.  I spent my $5 Catalina Q on a 14.25lb. turkey.  At .58¢ a lb. and after my $5 Cat, this bird cost me $3.26.
Then it was off to the gravy display........

I lugged home 18 more gravy cans.
Between these and the 5 cans of soup not pictured, I spent $1.50 OOP.  I am keeping the soup. 
The gravy only transaction was .50¢ OOP.
The gravy/soup transaction was $1.00 OOP, so those 12 cans came to .08¢ a piece, making the gravy part of it .58¢ OOP.

I am keeping the 8 cans I bought last Friday and on Monday, so I have 40 cans so far to donate, at a total cost to me of $2.08.

I'll be trotting back to Weis later today for more, well.....you know....lol

Sluggy

Wednesday Chit-Chat

Well I've showered, done a load of laundry, poured my morning iced tea(don't judge me!), printed a fistful of Qs off, cooked and had my steel cut oats, taken dinner out to thaw(salmon), read my bloggy friends musings, lined up 9 eBay listings to write and mailed a package(well it's on the porch and the mail lady is coming to ME!lol).
And it's only 10 am.
Usually I am just rolling out of bed at this hour......sometimes later. ;-)

We are on Thanksgiving Countdown here!
T-Minus 8 days and counting.
Actually, I need to get the house in order by Sunday, as one of the BILs will be arriving from SC on that day.  He is not staying through to Thanksgiving but still, the house needs to be presentable even if the kitchen will be a disaster since I'll be scrubbing out the fridge and cleaning/organizing/going through the pantry foodstuffs.  He'll sit in Hubs recliner all day anyway except when he's getting himself more coffee or trying to get me to fix him food/wait on him......good luck with that last thing!lolol

And did I mention Hubs took off all of next week from work?  At least he can keep his brother amused and stay the hell outta my way unless I need something broken mangled fixed moved around the house.

Then Daughter arrives home on Tuesday and I am sure her Beau will be arriving shortly afterwards. He may be staying here since he still doesn't have a place to live due to the flooding in September of his mom's house.  I think he is still staying with his Grandmother off and on.  Daughter is suppose to assist with the Turkey Day meal but otherwise I don't think I'll be seeing much of her....unless she needs money, then I'll be seeing her out stretched hand.....

I also have to empty the dining room so we all have a place to eat together next Thursday.
This is where I'll need assistance since the dining room is eBay Central.  I store the crap I am selling in tubs in the living room but I photograph and pack everything in the dining room.  Meaning that room is full of bubblewrap rolls, newspapers and shipping boxes.  That has to all go into the garage until next Friday.

Speaking of eBay......
I've sold 14 items in the last 10 days.  I'm not upset about the slow start since my worry/concern until Black Friday is to get my Store loaded with items.  I am striving for 10 listings a day but I've only done 8 per day the last couple of days, so I'm falling behind my goal.  I've got 65 live listings at the moment and I hope to have 75 more done by next Friday for a total of 140(unless I sell some things between now and then).  140 would be a fine goal and make me smile! 8-))

I'll be heading to Weis Markets aka The Evil Empire in a bit for......wait for it.......more gravy!!lol
I've also got a $5 Cat Q to spend and a few other good deals to pick up.

I hate having to go out after school hours, as I find my energy ebbing around the 3pm hour, but today it can't be avoided.  #2 son threw away his brand new retainer.  We've been trying to track it down(he threw it away at someone else's house)for the last week or so and were crossing our fingers it would turn up but no such luck.  Now we have to go replace it.  We had to replace Daughter's when she sat on it(lol)so we are giving #2 son a FREEBIE this time and he won't have to pay for it.  I am not happy but if it happens again, HIS WALLET WON'T BE HAPPY!lol  Having to go to the other side of Wilkes-Barre to the Orthdontist's nice, fancy, new office to have the retainer fitted after 3pm is NOT making me happy either.  Rainy weather, pre-rush hour traffic and having to race home to feed ravenous canines and to slave over a hot stove for dinner. 
I'll be using up my Cranky Cards later today.....

I have posted a Vital & Timely Poll that needs your attention, up on the top of the right sidebar.
Please exercise your inalienable right as a Citizen of Bloggyland and vote!

Sluggy

Some Frugal Weekend Fun with Hubs.....

And no, it is NOT that kind of fun!
SonyaAnn, Mark.....get your minds out of the gutter you two!lol

As we drive around doing our shopping errands Hubs and I notice stuff on the back of the cars.  We often watch for funny bumper stickers on cars as we tool around town.  It is our frugal fun thing to do and something to do while sitting in the car.  Other than the money for gas(which we'd have to spend anyway), it's cheap entertainment.

I sure wish I had had my camera with me to snap some photos on Saturday because we found 2 real gems!

We love to find cars with things on them that kind of don't go together.....non sequiturs......contrary ideas or concepts.   Kind of like that WIFE SWAP TV Show that would pair up two families with widely contrasting personalities and then switch moms and watch all hell break loose for our viewing pleasure.  So it's kind of like Wife Swap for cars.   Follow me here.....

The first car had 2 bumper stickers.  The 1st one on the back door of the SUV read....
"Remember to Keep Christ in Christmas".....A nice very religious sentiment, right?

The other sticker, located on the bumper read....
"If I wanted to listen to an asshole, I'd fart"......not such a loving neighborly thought, is it?



Then we got a special twofer day!  As we were pulling out of the parking lot at Weis Markets and we saw another set of non sequiturs on a car.

This car had one of those metal "Fish" symbols that denote the person is a Christian or a Catholic.
Across from the fishy was a bumper sticker that read....
"Badass Ta-Tas"

Yep, a pious soul with a smokin' bode!!

No folks, I can not make this stuff up!

Sluggy

Just for Judy......Can You Spell Gravy?

So after dropping 3 packages at the PO that have to go overseas(eBay sale...yay!), I trotted over to Weis to hunt down the moving Gravy Display.
Found it!.....the Evil Managers at Weis may be good, but I am BETTER!
Muuuwaaaaaah!

1 x PF Cornbread Stuffing on sale=$2.50
4 x Campbells Gravy on sale=$2.00
6 x Campbells cooking Soups on sale=$4.80
SubTotal....$9.30

Coupons Used
1 x $1/5 Campbells Soup IPQ=$1.00
Instant Discount WYB $15 of PF/C/S Deal=$5.00
Coupon Total...$6.00

OOP....$3.30

They tried to pull a fast one on me too!
I forgot that the reg. retail shelf tag on this soup was $1.25.
There was no shelf tag on the endcap where they moved/hid the Display and the Display sign said the reg. retail on the soup was $1.49.....which meant I only needed 5 soups to get to the $15.
Well the little sonofabitchcans rang up $1.25-.45¢=.80¢, not $1.49-.69¢=.80¢.
So I was one can short of getting my $5 off the order.

I made one of the cashier/front end gals, who was bored to tears just standing around because nobody was in the store but me, go get me another can of soup because I was sure as heck not walking the length of that store one. more. time. for. one. can.

26 cans and counting.   lol

I've got until Friday morning when I head over to the food bank to run this Deal some more.
Maybe I'll go against my good sense and sneak into Weis on Tuesday and run the old people gauntlet on Senior Day for more gravy.
I wonder if Judy would let me borrow her mom too?lol

Or maybe not since it will take me hours to park, do the shop and get out of the parking lot.
That still leaves Wednesday and Thursday.
What do y'all think? ;-)

 Sluggy

November Food Spending Week 2, Meal Plan Week 3

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
MONDAY--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
TUESDAY--Chicken Quesadillas, Corn
WEDNESDAY--Chinese Take-Out

THURSDAY--Lasagna, Salad *Lasagna is in the freezer leftover from previous meal
FRIDAY--Leftovers(I finished up my Crab Soup, Hubs had his Chinese.)
SATURDAY--Light Lunch out w/Hubs(salad) and Scrounging for Dinner(I had a can of Beefaroni)


Basically the meal plan was adhered to except for the Salmon, which was moved to this week's menu.

I come into this week with leftover grilled chicken from Tuesday's dinner.  I used it in this Sunday's dinner.

See my previous posts with my food shopping for last week.  Besides what I posted about I also hit another ShurSave store(one that takes IPQs)and finished off the spending needed to get my gift certificate reward.  I bought pie crusts, cranberry sauce(used IPQs), 7-Up, chips, baking cups, cookies(used ManuQ) and 2 big bags of dog chow(used IPQs)and spent $36.01.  6 of these items also counted toward the store making a $5 donation to the Wounded Warriors Project in my name.  That's a win/win as far as I'm concerned. 8-)
Total for all the food shopping last week came to $65.66.

My savings percentage was 75.10% last week, as the reg. retail was $263.69 on the groceries I brought home.  That $42 on the gift card went a long way toward lowering my OOP for the week.

My running total spent for the month is now at $122.45, which puts me right on target to stay within my $250 monthly food budget. 

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
MONDAY--Spaghetti & Meatballs
TUESDAY--Teriyaki Salmon w/ Veggie Fried Rice
WEDNESDAY--Kielbasa, Potato Salad, Cabbage
THURSDAY--Squash Casserole & Leftovers
FRIDAY--Breakfast for Dinner
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Items needed for this menu.....Cabbage, Squash, Eggs and the weekly ubiquitous milk purchase. 

If I find anything to stock up on for cheap this week I have about $60 to play with this week plus $25 in free money from a Catalina Q and 2 Store Rewards.

How about you? 
Do you have your Turkey Day menu set yet?

I am having trouble finalizing mine.  I am having 7 over for the meal but Daughter's BF is a picky eater I am told, #2 son is sort of picky, the Nephew is very picky and Daughter is probably on a diet after eating at the college dining hall for the last 2+ months.  She tells me they put laxatives in all the food because there is no fiber or vegetable matter and it's all highly processed junk so they have to, to keep everyone from being constipated and wreaking havoc on the schools plumbing.
Okay......lol

I have a turkey and I'll do stuffing.  I might fore go mashed potatoes and do baked sweet potatoes instead.  Rutabagas are a definite seasonal thing I fix at the Holidays and I'll make corn for the picky BF(because it's the only veg he'll eat).  I'll probably make a green veggie too, cranberry sauce, rolls and pie.  I will just do a crudité plate(raw veggies and dip)beforehand.

So what's on your menu for next Thursday?


Sluggy

Grocery Store Games.......Who's Got the Card? & Gravy Hide & Seek

Well my nefarious shopping plan was foiled yesterday.
This Sharsave grocer where I got the .49¢ lb. turkey with a $35 purchase last week?
It was a limit of 1 per loyalty card.
Now, for some reason I can't recall, Hubs has a separate loyalty card from mine....different numbers on the cards so I was forever yelling at him during previous years "points toward a gift certificate" deals because he'd use HIS card and not mine, so our points got split up between the two cards and I couldn't get to the amount of spending needed to get the free certificate.

So since I got to my point total for the cert. on MY card this year(plus got a $10 Baking reward to spend), I was going to use his card on Saturday(while the Baking reward deal was still going on)to get another Turkey for .49¢ lb. by spending $30 on qualifying baking items & $5 more on other sale deals.
So with the turkey being about $6-$7 after the discount, I'd spend $41-$42 and get a turkey, $35 of other items AND another $10 Baking reward to spend next week.

Ya still following this crazy train of a thought process?
I even had a list of everything I was going to buy and had it all figured out.
So Hubs pulls into the parking lot at the grocery store and I ask him for his card.....that's when the plan shit the bed.
Hubs had sometime in the last year THROWN AWAY His Card!
Not just put it away in his sock drawer or something, but thrown it in the trash.
Ugh.

"Curses, foiled again!", as Snidely Whiplash would say.

So I put my butt back in the car and tried not to grumble and we headed over to Weis "let's remodel the store during a Recession and jack up all the prices to pay for it even more than the economy is forcing us to" Markets.
At least I still had the PF/Campbell's/Swanson Deal to do.  I talked about it HERE if you need to get up to speed on this deal.

So I grab a cart and hobble over to the big ass PF/C/S display......
at least where it WAS the day before.
And they have taken it down or hidden it somewhere else in the store but I don't have the energy or the desire to go hunting for it, those blasted charlatans......grrrr....
So I go over to the gravy aisle.....after looking for where they have moved the gravy to......and of course it is NO WHERE NEAR the broth/stock/soups but near the ketchup and one aisle over from baby stuff?....if you were wondering.

Now I KNOW they have at least 20 pallets of this gravy.
I saw it late on Friday night over in the big ass PF/C/S display.
But they have not restocked the gravy on the shelves.  There are about 50 cans and of course it's on the TOP SHELF and just trying to use a ladle, for sale in a package, hanging on the front of the shelf, to try to get enough cans because they are ALL against the back of the shelf and have to be coaxed forward to reach!

So Hubs who is NOT much taller than myself proves to be deft with that ladle and we got 22 cans.

Since I don't have any Qs, I head to the self-checkout and start scanning gravy cans.  After 11 cans, I get over the $15 reg. retail and the $5 instant discount comes off....rah!

So I make the strategic error of going for 1 transaction with all 22 cans, hoping I can do the $5 off again in a single transaction.
Bad move.....no $5 discount for the 2nd set of cans.

So I put the HELP LIGHT OF SHAME on and call for a Front End employee to remove 11 cans of gravy from my order.  And to make it even worse, the FE guy had to remove each. single. can. one. at. a. time.
Frankly I could care less about doing this, "making a scene", but Hubs, who doesn't want to be part of my shenanigans, gave me the stink eye when he had to unbag and rebag those 11 cans.

So I did the 22 cans of gravy in 2 transactions.

Each transaction cost me a whole .50¢ after discount.
I spent $1.00 OOP on all this gravy.

I sure wished I could have gotten more to take to the local food bank this coming Friday but Hubs was in NO MOOD after this.

So I pick up the Weis ad this morning for this coming week and what do I see??
Yep, the PF/C/S Instant Discount Deal is still on!
Now I HAVE TO go back and find where they have moved that display to!

Hubs believes they have cameras in the parking lot and when my car pulls in, some early warning system goes off inside the store and they hide whatever it is that's a great deal that week just to piss me off.
I tend to believe he is correct some days.....

Sluggy

Got My Stuffing!....More Boring Food Shopping

I hit Weis for the Pepperridge Farm/Campbell's/Swanson Deal on Friday....

2 x PF Cornbread Stuffing on sale=$5.00
4 x Campbell's Soup on sale .80¢=$3.20
4 x Campbell's Gravy on sale .50¢=$2.00
1 x Dr Pepper Ten on sale=$1.67
Subtotal....$11.87

Coupons Used
1 x .25/4 Campbell's Gravy ManuQ(doubled)=$.50
1 x .30/4 Campbell's Cooking Soups ManuQ(doubled)=$.60
1 x FREE ITEM Dr. Pepper ManuQ=$1.89 *
1 x Instant $5.00 off Discount WYB $15 of deal items=$5.00
Discounts Total.....$7.99

$11.87-$7.99=$3.88+.10¢tax(on soda)=$3.98 OP
Regular retail would have been $18.43 on all this stuff, for a savings of 78%.
EGADS! 
$18.43 for this little pittance?  It's a wonder how people who don't shop the sales, loss leaders and/or use coupons or deals can afford to feed themselves anymore!

*The cashier took off the regular price of the Dr. Pepper instead of the sale price, so I got an extra .22¢ discount.   Kind of makes up for having to pay tax on that soda, huh?  ;-)

I was all set to hand over my $5 Catalina Q to roll it after I gave her my coupons but then I realized that the PF/Campbell's/Swanson Deal was an INSTANT DISCOUNT, NOT a Catalina Deal.

No harm, no foul....I just have to hope for a Cat Deal next week to roll it or I'll have to spend the $5 Cat.

So I realized while laying in bed last night that you could do that PF/C/S Deal and get 12 cans of Gravy for $1.00  12 cans is over $15 reg. retail.  It comes to $6.00 on sale this week and after the instant $5 discount, Voila!....$1 OP without any Qs.

Maybe I need to drop by Weis today again and get a load of gravy for the Food Bank?  Since not everyone makes it from scratch, it could be a worthwhile donation.

If you just want the Soup it will run you $4.60 for 12 cans w/out Qs and after the instant discount.

Other than Weis and the local Shursave grocer, I am off to do some shopping today with Hubs.  Heading to KMart, Fashion Bug(to use a gift card I've had since last Xmas!lol) and who knows where else at this point.lol

Sluggy

Got Decluttering P*rn?.......Some People Need a CLUE!

Another Load for Salvation Army already, leaving today or tomorrow, depending on if Hubs feels like dropping it off today or not.

I'm turning into a crazy purging woman I tell ya!  Ok....so you knew the crazy part already.....

2 more Yoda Star Wars Complete Galaxy Figure Set
1 Darth Vader Star Wars Complete Galaxy Figure Set
1 more Star Wars 12" Action Figure
1 Power Rangers Falcon Summoner toy

3 Star Trek 12" Action Figures

1 Set of plastic shelving

1 Book
2 plastic plates
1 plastic popcorn bucket
a ceramic commemorative miniature plate(try saying that fast 10 times!lol)
3 sets of notecards/stationery
1 set of vintage diaper pins
1 power rangers music tape

1set of Pokemon curtains
1 Star Wars top sheet
1 Power Rangers sleeping bag

4 Star Trek Miniature Playsets
2 Sheets of Cat in the Hat Window Clings

2 Silver plated Serving Dishes *I forgot to take a photo before I bubble wrapped these suckers so I borrowed this photo off of someone's eBay listing ;-)  So just imagine 2 of these things here.
 
I have to tell y'all a FUNNY thing that happened.
A few months back, I tried to link one of my Decluttering posts to a Blog That I Care NOT to Name Here, who's focus is on Cleaning and Making Your Home Happy and Functional.  She has a link up thing every once and awhile.
Even though she is not one of those militant Christian Mommy Blogs(you KNOW the ones...), I mistakenly believed she had a sense of humor!  And that she would totally "GET" my tongue in cheek Decluttering post titles where I refer to the crap you declutter as P*rn.  It's not like I actually typed out P-O-R-N, right?

Evidently she was born without lower frontal lobes in her brain that control our sense of funny.

Because a few hours after linking to her Linky Thing, she removed me!
Just like that!.....no email to me asking me what WAS I thinking or letting me know why she pulled my bloggy plug. 


Ok Miss Thing Who has decidedly NO sense of humor or fun.
I can now say I have seen it all!
I've met someone with a smaller sense of humor than Sheldon.


Sluggy

Using My Head Instead of My Cash on Groceries!

Longtime readers may recall...ok, maybe not, that I won a local couponing contest sponsored by a local newspaper. This was 2 years or so ago. My prize was a $50 gift card to a local grocery store downtown in the Big City nearby.
Frankly, I despise that store! It's old, not quite clean, with narrow aisles. I get claustrophobic in there and then you add all the old people clogging up the aisles, keeping me from quickly shopping and getting OUT and I get the shakes just thinking about going there. It's also not in the best area of town to be out and about alone....not that anyone has messed with me yet. They also have a HORRIBLE coupon policy(no internet coupons at all!).
As a result, in 2 years I have only used $8 of this gift card.lol

But earlier this week, I realized that this grocery store is part of the affiliated stores in the ShurSave brand. And as such, this current Spend $XX, Get a Gift Certificate Promotion is being offered at ALL ShurSave grocers in the area. So I can go buy stuff there and have it count toward my Total I have running at the ShurSave store in my teeny tiny town.
Hmmmmmm.....

So I picked the coldest and wettest day of the Fall to go into town to use up my gift card and rack up some more cred toward my gift certificate.

The ShurSave stores are also running a deal this week that goes like this.....Spend $35 in one transaction and get a Turkey for .49¢ a lb. instead of the regular $1.19 a lb. they are charging this November.  And both the $35 and the Turkey purchase also count toward earning the gift certificate.

So I got.....

2 x 1lb. of butter on special $1.99=$3.98
1 x Mayo on sale=$3.50
2 x Diamond walnuts 1lb. on sale $7.49=$14.98
2 x Keelber cookies bogo=$3.68
2 x Pop Secret popcorn bogo=$3.08
2 x Green Giant veggies bogo=$1.98
2 x Sargento cheese bogo=$3.74
2 x red potatoes bogo=$4.98
2 x 2lb. onions bogo=$1.98
1 x 2lb. carrots on sale=$1.99
1 x 16.11 lb. turkey=19.17
SubTotal....$63.06 *This amount gets credited toward my total for the gift certificate promotion*

Coupons
1 x $1/2 Diamond walnuts ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Keebler cookies ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Sargento cheese ManuQ=$1.00
1 x turkey discount=$11.28
Coupon/Discount Total...$14.28

$63.06-$14.28=$48.78
I used my $42 left on the gift card for a grand total OOP of....$6.78 cash.

The BOGOs and other sales prices that weren't coupon or turkey discounts saved me $25.45, making the regular retail value of this order $88.51.  Using my gift card gave me a savings of 92.34%.
Not too shabby! 8-))

Though it is sad to see that this amount of food that barely covers my small kitchen table would cost $88.51 without any sales or coupons.

The BIG production was once I got home.....making room in the freezer for the turkey!lol


While I was out, I hit up the Bread Outlet too since I haven't been in almost a month and we were running low on bread products......

 Not to go into a long detailed analysis here, so let's just say it's 9 pastries/cookies, 2 bags of rolls, 3 bags of breakfast items and 2 loaves of bread, and it cost me $17.89 and if bought full retail at the grocery store would have run me $72.44.  That's a savings rate of 75.30%.

Generally, since this is 'day old' stuff I don't like to buy so much at one time.  But since my entire garage now qualifies as a freezer with the return of the cold weather, I have no hesitation that anything will spoil before it can be consumed.  I didn't want to have to hike back over to the Bread Outlet before Thanksgiving so I laid in enough of the breakfast items, the Entemmann's pastries and nom noms(that is a technical term, yes?)to get us through the November company. 

So today's food shopping cost me $24.67.
Regular retail was $160.95.

I need to spend about $35 more to get my gift certificate.
I also have to get to Weis in the next two days to roll my Catalina Q and pick up some PF cornbread stuffing for Turkey Day.

Sluggy

Another Horrible Real Estate Outcome

Perusing Real Estate Listings led from one thing to another online until I happened upon this clip.

It seems very few have been able to avoid the downturn in the housing market.
Some stories are sad.
And then there are other stories like this one......

Sluggy  :-)

What's Going On at Chez Sluggy?

Just a post of Random Tidbits from my life lately.

* We had a good productive couple of days last weekend.  I got 2 pair of pants hemmed.  Hubs and #2 son raked the leaves up and the town carted away 31, yes 31! large bags of leaves yesterday.  I also worked on getting another load of clutter together for charity.  And I FINALLY changed out all my summer clothes to the winter stuff....just in time for a week of temperatures in the high 60's here.
Ugh.

* I sold 3 more dolls on the tag sale site.  Hubs is delivering them today after work.  11 more to go....sigh.....

* #2 son started up flute lessons again.  He is super psyched with this teacher and finally is putting some effort into learning his piece for the Districts audition.  He is playing in the pit orchestra for the school musical next month, finishing up Marching Band season this month, playing the electric bass in the jazz band, playing flute in the concert band and he was just recruited by the music director to play the contrabass in the String Ensemble because the only bassist graduated.  He's never played the contrabass but he plays the electric bass and there is no one else in the band who plays well enough so he got elected.
I feel he is tired and too busy but he is enjoying it.  His grades are doing well so far so I am not impinging on his pursuits.

* #2 son's best neighborhood friend moved away this week.  The stepdad took a job in Alabama & they just sold their house.  They had the closing on their house on Monday and left the state.  # 2 son is in the dumps over losing his friend.

                    ***this is NOT my old house***

* Just by chance I discovered that the home we owned before moving into our current home is for sale!
I found the listing and it was a sad sight to see what they have done to it.  It's bordering on the verge of "fixer-upper" now.  I told Hubs we should buy it back since they are asking only $7K more than we sold it to them for.  It's a steal, really!   I loved that little house in the woods.....

* I reopened my eBay Store for the Holidays on Sunday.  The next couple of months are the busiest time of the year for sales on eBay so I jumped back into the water.  I'll be spending the next few weeks getting my Store stocked with goodies in time for Black Friday when things dramatically pick up....or at least I HOPE THEY PICK UP!lol  I have ALL my remaining boxes of eBay inventory in my living room.  Have I ever mentioned I have NO FURNITURE in my living room?lol
I'll weed through, as I go through the boxes to list stuff, and send some more of it to Salvation Army I am sure.  I have already sold 7 items....go me!  I've put a link to my eBay Store on the right sidebar.  Feel free to browse around it if you feel the need to buy overpriced old toys and crap. ;-)

* I am cleaning out the freezer this week.  I need to find room for the turkey I have to buy in the next couple of days so we are eating down the contents as well as pulling out old stuff to mix into the dogs' dinner bowls.  I have no doubts my dogs will "heart" me this week.....

So what's new in your neck of the woods this week?

Sluggy

Be Careful What You Wish, er....Vote For!

Before I go off today to participate in the local political process I want to tell you this.....
I have a dilemma of sorts.

Our little township(which is 1/5th of the legal entities that comprise my "town")is run by an elected Board of 3 Supervisors. Other elected officials are 1 Zoning Officer, a Tax Collector and 2 Tax Auditors. Other employees of the township are the Township Secretary and a Police Force of 2.
Nice and small limited government.
Just the way I like it except for when it doesn't work right.

Ya see, our Board of Supervisors use to be the "old boys club".  The same group of people ran and were voted in year after year.  And they hired their friends and nothing much got done or changed for the better around here.
Except we had an awesome Secretary.  She did a lot, picking up the slack for the BofS members who did nothing of note to better our community.  She also was an experienced Grant Writer who was able to snag Federal funds for our township.

Well 2 years ago, things changed around here.
New people ran against 2 of the 3 supervisors who were up for reelection.  People who actually called out the old BofS members and detailed what was being done wrong and/or inefficiently with the finances.  They actually cared about spending taxpayer money when it went to no good purpose or was wasted due to oversight or redundancies.
Somebody who said they cared about how our money was spent.....gee, that spoke to me!

So Sluggy voted for these 2 new people who weren't part of the OBC(old boys club)that ran things.
And they won.
And the way money was handled by our township government around here got better.
As a result, taxes didn't go up and services didn't go down.  What is not to love about that?lol


Then these new Supervisors decided to fire the 20 year veteran Secretary who basically ran things here for 20 years when the "old boys" weren't minding the store but still collecting their paychecks and hanging out at their hunting cabins or down at the bar.
They trumped up charges to get rid of her.  Maybe because they considered her part of the old regime, or because she stepped on their toes when they tried to make her do things their way.

It soon became clear they fired her without just cause because they wanted their crony to have the job.
And then they appointed another crony to take over the Zoning Officer job when the old officer quit during his elected term.
Soon after 2 more cronies were put into Tax Auditor positions mid-term when the old ones resigned.

A change in leadership is good.
Except when the 2 new Supervisors install their friends and then proceed to abuse their power.
Monthly Board Meetings have become reminiscent of Nazi Germany around here.

If you have a gripe with how things are run around here, you go to the meeting and air your grievance or ask qustions.
Good for the political process, right?

Not anymore.
Seems people who go and complain or question this Board end up having problems.

They become targets.
They get surprise visits from the Zoning Officer who proceed to fine said property owners for any violations the can trump up.  Even when nobody has called the Township to complain about anything this owner did or is doing.
These people also get visits from the Police Force and get pulled over while driving township roads, just to be harassed and intimidated.
Their bags of leaves get conveniently forgotten when the municipal truck goes around to collect them in the Fall.
The roads near their homes get plowed last in the winter and not kept up and repaired in a timely manner.

So I got what I asked for(the finances to be right), but I also got mini Muammar Gaddafis in the process.

Luckily some people who see what is going on and care to be part of the Board have stepped up despite the wrath of the current BofS and are running for one of the 3 seats, the Zoning Officer position and for the Tax Auditor positions.

And what is driving these 2 Board Nazis crazy is that the former Secretary is running for a seat on the Board.  No, she is not taking this lying down!

There is also an initiative on the Ballot to enlarge the Board from 3 to 5 members.
While this will cost us more(more members=more tax $ for salaries) and goes against my Limited Government ilk, in the long run, it may keep anybody else who wants to be a Board Dictator from being one, or at least slow them down in their campaign for Ultimate power.
Because it is harder to get 2 other Board members in your pocket than just 1.

So I have to make some hard choices.......voting against what the current Board wants is the easy thing!
The hard part comes with the Ballot Initiative.
Larger government=less likely to have a mini Nazi-ish leadership.
Smaller government=less taxpayer money spent.

Wish me luck that I don't get more than what I want!

In other news, we get to vote for new County Judges too.
Oh, how I could go on and on on this subject!
We are, after all, the  Seat of Corruption in this country(outside of D.C. that is!), here in Northeastern PA.
Home of the recent KIDS FOR CASH Government Scandal.
Move over Washington....here comes Luzerne County PA!

Make your voice heard.....go vote today!

Sluggy

November Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan Week 2

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Chinese Take-Out
FRIDAY--leftovers & Crab Soup
SATURDAY--leftovers again

*The Crab Soup was a surprise treat Hubs brought home for me from a local Seafood Restaurant.  It is to die for!

Basically the meal plan was adhered to, except for the Pork Chops I had planned, which were put on this week's menu.

I spent...$56.79 at the grocery stores last week.

Since Weis wimped out of the $5 Cat Promotion that would give you FREE PUFFS(Hey Weis! YOU SUCK!!lol) after your initial $5 purchase I talked about HERE, I ended up rolling my $5 Cat Q with this on Saturday before the sales week ended....

4 x Bounty napkins on sale $2.50=$10.00 * we were out of napkins.
1 x Herbal Essence Conditioner on sale=$2.99 *for my man child son with the flowing locks of hair
SubTotal....$12.99


Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Bounty ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Herbal Essence item ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $5 OYNO Cat Q=$5.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00


$12.99-$8.00=$4.99+$.78tax=$5.77 OOP
And I received another $5 Cat Q for purchasing 5 qualifying P&G items


This week Weis Markets has a Campbell's/Swanson/Pepperidge Farms $5 OYNO Cat Deal when you purchase $15 of qualifying products.  Remember that the $15 is based on regular shelf price, not sales prices so between Qs and sale prices you don't actually have to purchase $15.
I'll probably buy some PF cornbread stuffing & chicken broth to use in my Turkey Day meal later this month and roll my Cat.

I also spent $10.27 on almost 3lbs. 93% ground beef that was marked down to $2.99lb. at Weis last week and some chicken meatballs that were on clearance.  The lean ground beef is up to $4.99lb. around here!
Ack!


My other food spending last week was at the local ShurSave affiliate grocer to up my total for that gift certificate deal.  Mostly it was some non-perishable goods, dairy, fresh produce, bottled water(a necessity around here in the winter)and a bit of frozen veggies.  This week is the last week of the program and I need to spend another $100 to qualify.  This store also have a special this week for .49¢ lb. turkeys when you spend $35.  So my $35 and the price of a 24lb or so turkey will get me almost $50 toward that $100 mark to also get my gift certificate.  Walnuts are on sale this week so I'll probably stock up on those as part of my other $50 that I need to spend.

I need to spend .18¢ more on selected baking items and I'll get a $10 gift certificate to spend at this store as well.  I just need to make room in the freezer first for the turkey before I go shopping there.

My savings percentage was only 42% last week, as the reg. retail was $97.88 on the groceries I brought home. 

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
MONDAY--Cheeseburgers, Green Beans
TUESDAY--Teriyaki Salmon w/ Veggie Fried Rice
WEDNESDAY--Noodle Casserole, some kind of veggie dish TBD
THURSDAY--Lasagna, Salad *Lasagna is in the freezer leftover from previous meal
FRIDAY--Chicken Quesadillas, Corn
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Items needed for this menu.....Salad Greens and the weekly ubiquitous milk purchase.  I'll probably go to the Bakery Outlet this week too as we are low on bread  products, as my last trip was 10/14.

At present, my November food spending stands at $56.79.  I plan on spending between $100-$150 this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?

And do you see any good Turkey Deals?  There are no Free Turkey Deals to be had in this part of PA and we haven't had one in more than 3 years.....sigh

Sluggy

Dolls Equal Sadness...or the Story of Wasted Opportunity

This is Sluggy's Cautionary Tale.

 

I got the remaining load of dolls uncrated, cleaned up their boxes(if needed), photographed and put up on the local Yahoo Tag Sale site the other day.
14 assorted dolls and 6 boxed outfits for 1 of the dolls.
This is the last of the dolls that had belonged to my mother.
And I am feeling sad.

Sad, not because they remind me of my mother and she has been gone now 11 years.
Sad because of what they represent......all that wasted money and the opportunity to use that cash for a better purpose.

You see, my mother never actually enjoyed these dolls.
At some point after her divorce from my rat bastard father(don't judge me), after she had been getting her alimony for awhile and felt financially secure(though she really wasn't), she began to buy these dolls.

Basically I can see now why she was spending all this money on something she stuck in the dark recesses of her closet as soon as she bought it.
She was buying her childhood....or rather, the childhood she wish she had had.

My mother was an only child, born in the midst of the Great Depression.  Her early years were spent growing up in the hills of Virginia(think "The Waltons").  Her parents were young and seeing as her father didn't work much due to the double whammy of no jobs and he drank, they had nothing.  Though they lived in the midst of a very large family in the immediate area with some wealth and influence, this little family unit was dirt poor.  They lived without electricity, running water, flush toilets in a log cabin that I suspect my Grandfather had built.
Not a Log Home, a one roomed log cabin on a little patch of land my Grandmother's parents had given her.

Eventually they moved away from the hills down to the coast and the big city, where there were economic opportunities.  This little family went on to prosper but my mother's early childhood, while filled with a large loving extended family, was void of "things".

So when she felt she had money to "play around with", she started buying the things of her childhood days that she was deprived of in her youth.  A few times, when she would show me or talk about something she bought, she'd tell me it was an "investment", because these were collectibles, limited edition or special items.   I am sure I was rolling my eyes at her in response.lol

No one knew the extent of this "rebuying your childhood" spending until after she passed away.
That's when my brother went into her closet and found the hoard of dolls.
Barbie Holiday dolls, replica dolls, Danbury Mint dolls, porcelain dolls.
Her three most favorites to buy were Shirley Temple dolls, Gibson Girl dolls and Christmas Barbie dolls.
I can see why she collected these three types.....
*Shirley was a BIG star as a kid and the same age as my mom.
*Gibson girls were from a more romantic era(mom was a romantic at heart) and represented her mother's generation
*My mother was a HUGE FAN of Christmas.

And she left every blessed single doll to my Daughter, her only Granddaughter.
My tomboy daughter, who stripped nekkid her 1st Barbie doll and left in a corner so she could put the outfit on her miniature stuffed animal.lol  Daughter was never a fan of dolls.  She didn't want them, I didn't buy them.

So my mother never actually gave Daughter any of these dolls, when mom was alive and my daughter was young and could enjoy them.
Mother also never displayed or enjoyed her dolls in her own home.

About 10 years ago, after my mother passed and her estate was cleared, I was given possession of all these dolls.  This was not even a year after we moved to this house.  Between the day-to-day of raising 3 kids, settling into this home and dealing with my own depression and shopaholic tendencies, I was overwhelmed.

As there were so many taking over the house and our lives, I decided to sell them a few years after bringing them to PA....or at least the ones I could find at that point.


I was able to sell off via eBay about half of the number we had.  That was 6 or so years ago when going prices were higher on the auction market.  I tucked that money away for Daughter's college fund.
Let's just say, even in a better economic climate, I recouped pennies to the dollar of what my mother spent to purchase these dolls at retail.


About half of these dolls got packed away and mixed in with my own hoard of stuff and I didn't see them again until recently, a decade later
Now that I've uncovered the rest of the dolls, I am hesitant to put them on eBay.  After the fees and the hassle of packing and shipping these things, it is not worth my time for the tiny bit of money they would bring.
Daughter still has no use for them as a 19 year old.  We are planning on moving in 7 years and we don't have room to cart them around until she is on her own and out of the house for good, when she could do with them what she wants.  I suspect at that time, she'd either put a sign that read "FREE" and put them on the curb or use them to build an awesome bonfire. ;-)

So I have made the executive decision and put them on the local selling site and am hoping I can sell at least half of these.  The ones I can't unload I'll have to cart off to Salvation Army and at least get a little tax write-off.

I pulled out the paperwork I have that's associated with these dolls.  Yes, my mother took photos and kept everything for insurance purposes.lol
I got exceedingly sad seeing in black and white on those invoices, all the money she spent on this crap.

All that money that, if she had just stuck into a savings bond or a bank account, could have paid for 4 years of tuition at a good school for her darling Granddaughter.
Wasted on a U-haul truck load of worthless dolls that nobody got to enjoy.

So I am doing the best I can with this situation and trying to turn it into a blessing.....when I'm not looking upward and asking my mom, "What the HELL were you thinking!?!?". ;-)
Maybe I'll feel better when the dolls are out of my life, since they represent waste and sadness to me.

Just take my advice.....If a doll is refered to as a "collector's edition" or a collectible investment, please do yourself a favor and RUN, don't walk! away from it as fast as you can! 8-(


Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......OCTOBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.
And I am still loving this photo from previous month's Savings Challenge posts.
Like everyone, I LOVE a special on crap.....but how do you ascertain if crap is fresh?
Does fresh crap smell.....fresh?

The theme this month is when it finally looks like you can save a boatload of money,  Lightning strikes....literally!, and costs you some of your traction.

On to the October report.....

I have posted my OCTOBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$2,882.92!

Income
We had $2788.98 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.94 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & the $89 I made selling some dolls, you get a total of $2882.92.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
We finally had a month where we matched or surpassed that goal!

Outgo
As for the expenses in October......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went down $40.

* The water bill went down $20.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...finally!!
* I sold some dolls laying around the house....booyah!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was over $1500 again!
* The food spending was over $600.  It's usually around $250 a month.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were very high. Hubs did agree to save his receipts so once I get those I can analyze where some of his money went.  Stay tuned.....

* The lightning strike the end of Sept. took out the following: my computer, my printer, #2 son's tv, the garage door opener, the router, the modem and at least 1 electrical outlet upstairs.  So far we've spent $1433.66 on replacing/repairing items.  After our policy deductible of $500, the insurance company refuses to pay an additional $328.44 on the $1433.66 we've had to spend, so we are out of pocket $828.44 for this event.  Some of this spending went on the credit card and will show up on next month's bill.

The insurance goons have been real buttholes.

This is the first claim we have EVER made on our homeowner's policy which we have had with this same company since 1986.  

1 claim in 25 years.

Wanna bet our rates go up next year?

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $3.00, I was still over $600 in food spending for the month.  I sucked at being frugal on food this month.  But I still have over a 79% savings rate on food for the year so I only suck a little.lol

What's ahead for November.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

*Though the big Thanksgiving meal is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for November.
* The credit card is hovering at just under $1K yet again, with 9 more days until the billing cycle closes.  We just can't seem to get it down under $500 per month, can we?
* Hubs commuting car needs a tune-up and oil change.  Every time we take it in, this always costs more than just those things so I am steeling for a car repair bill.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $26,419.29.
We are $247.31 off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $26,666.66 heading into November so we are just a little behind and the goal is still within reach!

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month or be throwing savings at your debt if you have some.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your October financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

Ushering November In with Decluttering P*rn!

Now that everyone is full of candy, bring on the decluttering p*rn!
This all left the building yesterday.......

 6 sets of Star Trek micro machines vehicles.....try not to weep SonyaAnn!

1 spare Keyboard
1 Precious Moments Jennifer figurine
1 Grateful Dead magnetic clock

1 Halloween wig
8 assorted ceramic Halloween figurines (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
1 glass Punch Bowl with ladle and Cups (courtesy of the auction I went to in Oct.)
Sometimes at that auction, if no one bids(like on the stuff above), they add it to something else that folks DO want to bid on.  I "won" this stuff when I won something else I really DID want, so off to Salvation Army it goes! ;-)

1 Star Trek Barbie and Ken Doll Set
1 Power Rangers Fanny pack
1 complete Inspector Gadget toy
1 Rolling Stones magnetic Clock
2 Power Rangers movie figures
3 rolls of Manatee Wallpaper Board
1 Energizer Bunny doll
1 miniature Racing car replica
1 cassette tape of Toy Story music
1 set Power Rangers fake fingernails LOL
1 F-P  truck
1 silk scarf from Aruba

2 Star Trek Bird of Prey Vehicles
2 THE TICK Action Figures
1 set of Pokemon color your own Tattoos

Dr. Bobblehead from The Nightmare B4 Xmas
2 Star Wars 12" Action Figures
1 Yoda Star Wars Complete Galaxy Figure Set


Sluggy

October Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2011.

I have posted October's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $12.78
Value  $43.40
Savings  70.55%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $50.33
Qs/Ads  $40.00
Value  $90.33
Savings 44.29%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $257.26

Qs/Ads  $159.96
Value  $417.22
Savings  38.34%

FOOD LION
OOP  $36.87
Qs/Ads  $11.57
Value  $48.44
Savings  23.89%

GIANT PA  

OOP  $17.78

Qs/Ads  $24.74

Value  $42.52

Savings  58.19%

REDNER'S
OOP  $63.79
Qs/Ads  $74.56
Value  $138.35
Savings 53.90%

SAVE-A-LOT
OOP  $14.21
Qs/Ads  $6.40
Value  $20.61
Savings  31.06%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $152.04
Qs/Ads  $317.94
Value  $469.98
Savings  67.65% 

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN SEPTEMBER
Pinecone...$3.00
Subtotal........$3.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
$0.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$3.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

2 MyBlogSpark Giveaways

1 Shampoo & Conditioner to Test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bakery Outlet at 70.55%, Weis at 67.65 and GiantPa at 58.19%.
I shopped at 8 different stores in October.


TOTAL Out of Pocket....sit down for this one!.....$605.06
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$665.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1270.85
TOTAL Savings of...................................52.40%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$3.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$602.06
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$668.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1270.85
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................52.62%

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-I did indeed go WAAAAAY over my $250 food budget, as planned.  But there was a method to my madness here.  The local independent grocer has a 5 week program where if you hit a certain amount of purchases during that time, you get a gift certificate at the end of November.(They also threw in another Buy $30 of baking items, Get a $10 Catalina Q deal so these items qualify you for both certs.) So I've been buying items there to get me to the total I need for those 2 certs.  It's stuff I'd be buying anyway maybe in the next couple of months, so I'm just buying them a bit earlier to get the bonus cert.  I have been waiting until items go on sale, so at least I am not paying full retail for them, but I am not, for the most part, able to use coupons on the items there.

It's weird after 9 months(and the year before this one as well)to have spent so much money on groceries in 30 days time.  I look back about 4 years ago, to when I use to go the the grocery store with a "sort of list" and no meal plan whatsoever.  I would regularly spend $150-$200 a week and barely have anything left at the end of the week.  If I had to replenish staples(eggs, flour, butter, etc.), I'd spend even more.

What's ahead for November.....
I've still got some more spending to do to get to my gift cert. at the local independent grocer.  As for Turkey Day provisions, I'll need a bird and a few other things but not much to make that meal.
I'm going to try to use down the frozen foods I have here in November.  The freezer can use a clean out and a defrosting before winter sets in.  I'm going to shoot for $300 in food spending in November.

With 2 months left in the year, we have spent a total of $2,509.75 of our income on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $251.27 per month.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $12,469.57.
That's a savings of $9,959.82 or 79.85%.

How did you do in October with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for November?  Any family coming to stay....Holiday Celebrations?.....or is your school/work schedule too busy to shop/cook/eat as a family?

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid October SCR Period Totals

The October Single Check Rebate Period ran from Sept. 28-Oct. 25.
I did exactly 1 Rite-Aid shopping trip during this time.
Obviously, this update will be short. lol



Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--OCTOBER Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......1
Total Spent....$.26 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Number of Items purchased.....1
Value of Items purchased....$21.49
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for September SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 9/6.....$0.00
+Up Rewards spent....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards left....$0.00  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Still not feeling like going back to Rite-Aid anytime soon.
Unless I find some more FREE ITEM Qs I need to use there.lol
I still have tons of HBA items left and haven't needed anything from Rite-Aid.
It's going to take something really great to get me back in there or running out of something.

On a bright note, I AM enjoying the break from Rite-Aid-ing!  It's nice to not have the stress of expiring +Ups to worry about. ;-)

Sluggy

Every Day I'm Shufflin'........Shufflin' Crap Around the House!

When you watch this think of me.....shufflin' crap around my house, cleaning and clearing it out and off to charity!

Cranking up the volume and shufflin' off to the living room to sort through more crap now....

Sluggy

BOO!.....Did I Scare Ya?.......Happy Halloween!

Looking back at Halloween when I was a kid.....I can only remember 1 costume I wore.
It was a black dress shmatah...it was homemade. The best part of it was the awesome Witch's hat my mom made for me. It had a paper bag base covered with black crepe paper with a brim....the classic Wicked Witch of the West model....

What made it even better was she took strips of black crepe paper and curled it and attached them to the underside of the brim, making black flowing "hair".  She also made a tassel of strips of the twisted paper and had it coming out of the point of the hat.
As I ran from house to house, my costume flapped in the breeze.
Best.
Witch Hat.
Ever.

And it cost almost nothing since the paper bags were free from the grocery store and the pack of crepe paper was cheap, and the dress thing was a dyed sheet she cut up.
We weren't wealthy people so no cheap plastic costumes from Woolworth's or Rose's for us.

Yah, I thought I was Miss Thing that night! ;-)
Until near the end of the evening, some older kid grabbed my hat as I ran past him, snatched it off my head and broke it.
If I had known that kicking a boy in the nuts would make him suffer back then, I so would have done that to this kid.....

Another  good memory of Halloween I have is also of my mom.  When I was about 5, she taught me a song that she was taught to sing at Halloween back in the 1930's.
I just did a little research on this song and it was a poem first, attributed to Abbie Farwell Brown, a prolific writer from Boston, 1859-1927.
I can't seem to find the tune so I don't know if the one my mom taught me is the official one created for the poem by W. Otto Miessner.

I can't remember my kids' names sometimes, but I still remember that song.lol

I'll leave you with a song from one of the Best Movies.
Ever.

What are your best memories of Halloween from when you were a kid?

Sluggy

Shopping Last Week, Meal Plan This Week & My Weis Deal

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Baked Catfish, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw
MONDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls
TUESDAY--Hot Dogs, nothing else*
WEDNESDAY--Subway subs*
THURSDAY--Frozen Pizza and Fritos*
FRIDAY--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Brussel Sprouts
SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Broccoli

B-IL though I showed him all the good stuff I had stocked up for him to cook, he didn't make much of an effort feeding them all while we were gone. (The * meals were while we were gone.) No veggies at all were consumed, just processed food. Pizza and Fritos?.....really??lol
I left $30 cash too, that he used for the subs and 1 gallon of milk he bought.  There was no money left so either he pocketed the rest or they also had Chinese or burgers somewhere as well.
Whatever.

I spent....sit down for this...... $144.69 at the grocery stores last week.
Ack!
$61 of that was grocery shopping on vacation.  The rest was 1 trip to the local ShurSave affiliate and 4 trips to Weis to do the Catalina deals. There was a Kimberly-Clark Buy $21/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal and a Heinz Buy $20/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal.
Among the K-C products that qualified were Huggies baby wipes.  I know this falls under TMI(=too much information)but I "heart" baby wipes for those times when you do #2 and you want something wet and soothing against your bum.  Ya know what I mean?lol  I started using baby wipes 20 years ago when I had my first baby and I haven't stopped. ;-)
Because of couponing deals, I haven't had to pay for baby wipes in 2+ years.  And my stockpile was down to 3 boxes of wipes so I was soooo glad(nay, RELIEVED!lol)to see this Cat Deal included Huggies wipes.
I bought 9 packages last Monday, paid $16.91(used 1 $1 Q)and got the $7 Cat and we were off to the races!
Of course, we left town for 3 days and then the Blizzard on Saturday so I was only able to roll this deal 2 more times.  I did 1 pack of TP and 5 boxes of wipes on each roll using Qs for the TP so I was OOP about $8.44 for each roll and ended up with 19 boxes of wipes and 2 mega packs of TP.
The last $7 Cat I used to do the Heinz deal once since the only items that qualified that I needed was pasta sauce and ketchup.  4 bottle of each came to $10.16 + another $7 Cat to use this week or next.  $1.27 for each pasta sauce and 40oz. bottles of ketchup was pretty good.


And yes I did go back to Weis and complain about being overcharged 1 penny on those packs of burritos!  The CS person looked at me just like Hubs did....that "you have GOT to be kidding me!" look.
I told her, "Weis advertised these 3 for $10.  I was charged $10.01.  The price guarantee policy says I get 1 item for free and my penny back for being overcharged, so yes, for $3.34 and a free item I AM going to complain!"lol
Hubs says I am exploiting the store and if everyone took advantage of this policy they would go out of business.
I say if they have a policy, and they are in the wrong and have to correct the error, then who am I NOT to hold them to their own policy!  Now you would think they store would have the computer error corrected after having to pay out, right?
Nope.  I went back to the store on Friday and the signs are still up and I am guessing that the price is still ringing up wrong.  If they pay out because of this policy and then don't even go to the trouble of fixing the system error, it either means the corporate management is incompetent or is making so much profit that it doesn't matter that they are giving out free product.
A smart person, with a lot of time on their hands, should have gone to Weis every day and bought 3 packages of burritos and then demanded $3.34 in cash back.  Maybe next time I find an error in pricing I get a bus load of friends to go to the store and have each of them buy an offending item and then hold the store to the price guarantee.  Maybe about 30 people in a row demanding refunds would make them actually FIX the ERROR next time.....or maybe not.lol

My savings percentage was only 37.86% last week, as the reg. retail was $232.86 on the groceries I brought home.  The items I bought at the ShurSave affiliate weren't all on sale but I am still trying to up my total there for the Turkey Day gift certificate.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
FRIDAY--leftovers
SATURDAY--leftovers again


At present, my October food spending stands at $604.51 with 1 day left in the month.
This will increase a teeny tiny bit as I am rolling a next Cat Deal at Weis today.

Taking my $7 Cat from last week and I did this first thing this morning.....

6 x Puffs facial tissue on sale $1=$6.00
1 x 12 pack of rolls=$2.19
SubTotal was $8.55 w/tax.

I used ...
1 x $1/6 Puffs ManuQ
1 x $7 OYNO CatQ
Coupon total.....$8.00
$8.55-$8.00=$.55 OOP
And I got a $5 OYNO Catalina Q.


The Puffs are part of a P&G Catalina Deal this week.  Buy any 5 qualifying P&G items and get a $5 CatQ.  I got 6 to use the coupon.  The Q made that extra Puffs free so why not buy 6 for free rather than 5 for free, right?lol





Now I can take that $5 Cat and roll it for 5 more free Puffs, over and over again until there are no more Puffs in the store or I have no more room for them, whichever comes first.lol


I also had 70 points for Gas at Weis so I got $25 of FREE gas for the Savings Mobile on Friday before the storm hit.
Sweet!

Other than this Puffs Deal at Weis and spending at the ShurSave affiliate to get to my Turkey Day gift certificate(there are 2 weeks left to qualify), I don't see much food shopping in my future this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?



Sluggy

Can I Go Back to the Beach Now?!?!

The view out my back door on October 29th......

WTF?!?

6 inches and counting.......

Sluggy