Frugal Friday....the May 3rd Edition 2024

There are very few Frugal wins over the past week.

*  I guess loosing electricity for 2+ days counts as frugal.  We didn't have an electric bill for that amount of time. 8-)

*  We did some housework and laid low last week.  Did a little grocery shopping last weekend before the power went out.

I looked at my CVS app and I had a free $2 to spend. woohoo!

So I went there and bought this......

Mini club soda 4 packs on clearance.  I paid .15¢OOP.

*  Had to eat out for 2 nights--Monday dinner was Catfish and sides & Tuesday was at Subway.  The Catfish joint is pretty cheap and I had a $4 in Rewards I used at Subway.

*  Of course all the stores had power(and a/c)so we went to Walmart to get my $4 in coupons from them.......

These tomato products had Peelie Qs on them when I purchased, but the person working the self-checkouts wouldn't/couldn't override the register when it wouldn't accept them.  Of course this happened right before we left on the cruise so I had to wait until we got back to deal with the situation.  I did contact Corporate via email about this pre-cruise and was told to go back and they'd honor those coupons.  

Of course the woman at the CS desk on Tuesday had no CLUE about any of this(even though the manager of the store had called me)but I got my $4 owned me.  Had they not honored the Qs those items would have been returned.  Homie don't play!

*  I did my April food spending rundown and we did pretty good on the saving $$ last month.  After all the rebates were accounted for, we were at less than $208 spent. 8-)

*  I found money!  

Went to Dollar General for greeting cards on Saturday and found three pennies....

At Walmart on Tuesday and found another penny.........

Then I did laundry after we got power back on Wednesday evening and found this in the dryer.....

House rules-Any money found in the laundry is mine! ;-)

Total Found last week.... .05¢ 

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.12 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy     

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Back to Reality" Edition.....

Here's Hubs standing next to the paella pan at the restaurant we ate at in Ibizia, Spain.  I doubt even he could have eaten that whole thing. lolz

Well I put on 13 lbs. during the cruise, but am already taking it all back off(9 lbs. off as of today)by doing intermittent fasting since Friday.  Another week or so and I'll be right as rain again. 8-)

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Twisted Root Burger

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--No Clue

4. Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--No Clue

6. Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

And here's what actually happened(we were on the ship until Tuesday)......

1. Sunday--Crusty Bread w/EVOO and Balsamic, Salad, Calamari, Paella, dessert I can't remember and oh, so much wine!

2. Monday--Endive Salad, Filet Mignon, Cheese Plate for dessert

3. Tuesday--Bruschetta, Ribs and Shrimp, Apple Brown Betty

4. Wednesday--Some Chicken dish w/Rice on the plane, a roll, a crumbly cake, a fancy UK Hot Pocket and many Dr. Pepper Zero Sugars

5. Thursday--Muffaletta Pizza

6. Friday--Leftover Muffaletta Pizza

7. Saturday--Beef Fajitas  

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

*  Nothing  

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

*  1 pack of Catfish

*  1 pack of Salmon

*  3+lbs. of Pork Tenderloin  

Last week we spent $167.89 on grocery shopping for April.  I had an Ibotta Bonus to hit and dby gosh I was going to get there. ;-)  

Total shopping come to $538.55 for April.   There are 0 shopping days left in April so I am done for the month, obviously.

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

I've earned $243.50 on Ibotta in April.

I've earned $24.50 on Shopmium in April.

I've earned $32.50 on Alexa app in April.

I've earned $11.24 on Kroger Cash Back in April.

I've earned $29.39 on TaDa in April.

I've earned $1.50 on Checkout51 in April.

I've earned $32.41 on Aisle, etc.

I've earned 35,644.00 points on Fetch from food shopping in April.

I've earned 8,250 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in April.($33.00)

I've earned 3,497 Points on My Points in April.($16.63)

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in April.

That is $331.30 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch/MyPoints/KCB/Alexa)on $538.55 of grocery spending so in reality it's $207.25 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 56.35% and the monthly savings total for April comes in at 45.22% spent so far. 

Leftovers going into this week...Fajita filling.

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

1. Sunday--Cheeseburger(bun optional), Teriyaki Green Beans, Stuffed Mushroom Caps

2. Monday--Catfish, Shrimp, Green Beans

3. Tuesday--1/2 Subway Tuna Sub

4. Wednesday--1/2 Subway Tuna Sub

5. Thursday--Brisket, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

6. Friday--Leftovers

7. Saturday--Leftovers

My meal plan blew up when we lost power for 2+ days.  This is my revised plan since I got back online this morning. 8-))

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      

Thank You McDonald's

 Sitting in a McDonald's charging our phones.  Electric company says they expect power to be back on by Wednesday night at 10pm.  That's more than 3 days since it went out.  It could be worse...our trash guy had a tree limb come through his roof Sunday night.

Anybody want to buy a house here?  I'll gladly sell you mine!

Don't know what's going on in the big wide world out there and won't until we get power back.  FML at the moment

Sluggy

Welcome Home

 We had a hellacious storm just after I finished my call with youngest kid.  Power went out and remains out as of now.  Don't know when I'll be back online.  At least we didn't have a tornado come through here.

Welcome back to Lousyiana....

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....on Saturday, the April 27th Edition(3 Weeks Worth)

There are a few Frugal wins over the past 3 weeks. I missed posting this on Friday due to technical difficulties(jet lag, etc.)....

*  Forgot to mention at the beginning of the month I found a spiral cut ham at Kroger on clearance.....

*  Made some friends on the ship(and a new person to play trivia with online).

Trivia buddies on the ship, not the one who invited me to an online trivia group.

*  We made good use of our drinks package.  I gave Kim a run for her money drinking diet Coke(actually Coke Zero as it's better), tried lots of mixed drinks, bourbon, as well as have a pint (or 5) of Guinness. lolz  

*  I picked up some on sale(on offer)chocolate in Barcelona, Spain at a chocolatier and it made it home in my suitcase unscathed.  Mnnn, chocolate.

*  Here are all my shipboard prizes I won.........

1 t-shirt for dancing(LOL) at the sail away party

1 water bottle for winning a main stage game

2 decks of playing cards for various wins at trivia

3 tote bags 3 phone stands, 1 insulated wine glass, another deck of cards and another t-shirt chosen for turning all my signed activity cards (104 signatures)

I also got this kid's robot toy as part of the winning team at another main stage game.  I didn't want to carry this home(took up space in the luggage)so I went down to the "Splash Academy" and gave it to the Youth Staff to use as a prize for a game down there for the kids.

*  I also got these things for free.......

The earbuds and the Biscoff cookies were from two different flights.  The cruise memories keychain was something someone on the ship was giving out to folks and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get one.  The Australia bracelet was found tucked into a deck sign near "The District" which was the beer pub on the ship.  We had A LOT of Aussies on this cruise and I made a few friends(a group who played Progressive Trivia like us, a lady named Grace, and a couple we sat next to at the Seafood restaurant among others).  

*  We received a bottle of champagne because we were Gold Tier.  That got used on the last full day of the cruise.  We brought the bottle, 2 champagne flutes from our room and glass of OJ from one of the restaurants and made Mimosas for Breakfast while playing morning trivia. ;-))  

 

*  We also got a free bag of laundry done by the ship housekeeping staff due to our tier level......

It came back washed, dried, ironing and presented in tissue paper placed in a wicker basket.

I thought of Sissie when I saw it. lol

*  We also received chocolates one day when we came back to the room......

And then a plate of cookies another day........

And then, after the Shore Excursion people f'ed up big time and screwed 5 busloads of cruisers out of their excursion, we found this in our room the next day......

They tasted pretty bad and left a bad taste in our mouths, but not as bad as the taste from them ruining our excursion and wasting our whole day. 8-(

*  We got a lot of food on the flight back from Rome....

I FINALLY got a Dr. Pepper(well I actually had THREE on the flight from Rome to Charlotte-it was looooong!)after going through withdrawal since the ship only had Coke Zero and no place we saw in Europe had a Dr. Pepper.  Those people are savages I tell ya, savages! ;-)

We got a proper meal(lunch or dinner, who's to say as we were traveling back in time heading home......

A tiny little snack of ice cream from the UK.  It needed more vanilla in it.

And a Monty's Bakehouse Pastry.  Think fancy Hot Pocket. lol

*  I found money!  Yes in Europe I find money. 8-)

In Dallas I found a penny at the airport, before heading to the hotel for the night.....

Then at various times on the cruise ship I went through the casino and found a .30¢ voucher and an .80¢ voucher abandoned in two different slot machines.(Didn't get a photo of the .80¢ one before cashing it out.)

That ticket turned into this at the cashier's booth and the ,80¢ voucher turned into more coins....

Then I found a .20 Euro coin in Portugal while buying a cork bag from a vendor.....

And another 2 x .10 Euro coins on the ship that someone dropped and left in the Atrium.....

Then in the airport in Rome we both found 5 Euro.  I saw it first but was riding in a wheelchair and the pusher didn't speak English so I couldn't get him to stop so I pointed it out with my cane the Hubs and he scooped it up.....

Then we found a quarter going through TSA in Charlotte.....

And we went out for pizza Thursday night as we got in after 4pm from Dallas and I found 2 pennies in the pizza place...

Total Found in the last 3 Weeks.... $1.38 & 5 Euro and .30 Euro

Grand Total Found this Year.......$4.07 & 5.30 Euros

That's all I got.  

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

Sluggy