Wags tripping Round 1

I apologize for not getting this post up yesterday. I was so worn out yesterday, I was ready to call it a day by 5pm. I was utterly exhausted, but I kept going and then had an early night. I'm still tired despite sleeping right through the night. As I mentioned before, Wags is HOT this week! So here's what I did.

Trans 1

3 x Crest t/p $15.00

2 x Dove b/w 14.00

5 x 8 oz Milky way candy bags 2.45

5 x Reeses Take 5  1.45

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less Dove DQ (7.00)

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 1.74

OOP $2.64

Earned $12 RR ($5 Crest, $5 PG, $2 Dove)

I was so bummed to not find any clearance beauty products (someone cleared out the store), then remembered the candy aisle. Ugh, no clearance there either until I got to the end of the aisle and spotted the Milky way for 49c. No friggin way! I grabbed whatever was on the shelf. I'm not passing up this deal 😂

Then I decided to check the chips aisle, cause it's been reported that the Wags brand was clearanced to 29c or 49c. Didn't find any chips clearance, but spotted the Reese's on an endcap for 29c! Score! I was originally just going to buy the Crest, but then I grabbed some Dove so I could use $20 in rewards. The Milky way rang up at full price $5.99, so I told the cashier it's on clearance and ran to get the shelf tag. Of course a line formed behind me while he was doing the price adjustments. I swear, you'll walk into Wags and the store is empty. Then things go south and all of a sudden there's a line of people behind you. 

Trans 2

4 x Cascade $21.96

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 1.32

OOP $3.28

Earned $5 RR

I didn't even realise that it didn't print 2 RRs until after shopping at the 2nd store. 2 Cats printed and I assumed it was the PG one too, so I didn't bother to check it (remember the long line behind me). Turned out to be a 20% off CAT (I never use those, cause I don't buy full price items)

Store 2 Trans 3

3 x Crest  $15.00

2 x Dove b/w 14.00

1 x Small Dawn 1.24

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less Dove DQ (7.00)

Tax 1.81

OOP $20.05

Earned $7 RR ($5 Crest, $2 Dove) + $12 WC ($5 PG, $7 WYS $30)

Total earned $19

I used the Dawn as a filler item to get my total to $30 so I could earn the $7 booster. Well, my luck ran out. The CAT machine started printing the PG RR and then jammed in the middle of printing. Ugh. I asked the cashier to restart the machine to see if it will work (which it did! I swear Wags should just hire me to train their staff 😂). So my $5 + $2 RR printed, but no P&G. Manager came over (long story), but he eventually added $5 WC to my account.

Trans 4

2 x Cascade $10.98

2 x Dawn 11.78

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 1.37

OOP $4.13

Earned $5 RR (WYB 4 PG items)

Ugh, looks like the extra RR doesn't work on the Cascade. I know that it was included the last time Wags had this deal. I wouldn't have purchased these items had I known it wouldn't work. Oh well, the deal is still cheaper than buying it at Sams or Costco. Is it my imagination or do the bottles keep getting smaller? I'm pretty sure the original size was 75oz before. Now it's 60 oz and costs almost twice as much. 

I don't know what I'm supposed to do with more candy. Fatten up BF & DS 😂 They can eat what they want to & still look good. I sure as heck don't need any.  I'm already having a hard time keeping my hands off the mint Lindt. That is one of the best chocolates I've ever had. I wish they would just make it a permanent flavor. Thankfully, the candy's good until August so there's still lots of time to use it. 

BREAKDOWN

Number of items purchased: 29

Total Qs used : $24.00

Total Rewards used : $60.00

Total Rewards earned : $41.00

Total OOP : $30.10 ($1.04 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $152.81

I believe there's a new P&G rebate, so I might be able to submit my receipts for an extra $20 back. I bought enough items to earn a $5 PG gc. I need to submit my receipts today.

Meijer

5 x Dannon Oikos 4pk $14.95

Paid with $15 PG visa card and earned $5.25 Ibotta ($5 Oikos, $0.25 any item)

Bought a few other grocery items at other stores.

Total OOP for the day: $46.80

It was a good shopping day. I'm not done with Wags yet. I need want to get more OS Captain for my guys and a few other things. Mama got rewards to spend roll 😂

Happy shopping peeps!

Stockpiling items of the week 01/28/24

Hi everyone!

I'm going to do 2 posts today (at least I'm hoping to). Our internet stopped working last night. That meant no tv either.  ISP said they'll send someone at 8 am to fix it. Well, the person arrived 2 hours later - after 10 am 😡  The good news is that the internet's finally working again, but somebody's been awake since 3am. Ugh, what a start to the day, but the cookies I ate earlier helped make me feel better 😂

Up first - deals of the week. All deals are available until 02/03/24, unless stated otherwise. Here's what I think are good deals this week. 

Meijer

Buy 5 save $5 instantly

4 pk Dannon Oikos yogurt $3.99 

Less instant discount (1.00)

Less Ibotta (1.00)

Less Mperks DQ (1.00)

OOP $1.49 each

The limit is 5 so you can buy 5 packs, pay $13.95 OOP and earn $5 Ibotta. Making your total $8.95 for 5 packs.

4 pk Two good greek yogurt $3.99

Less instant discount (1.00)

Less Mperks DQ (1.50)

OOP $1.49 each

There's also a $10 CAT WYS $100 available at Meijer this week.

Kroger 

Sargento cheese 2/$7.00 + B2G2F

$1.75 each after discount. Includes blocks, shredded & slices. Mix & match. Just be sure to purchase in quantities of 4. Deal ends 2/6/24

WAGS

Whoo, Wags is on fire this week 🔥 The P&G Spend $15 get $5 RR (select items) is back thru 2/17/24. This can be double dipped with the weekly deals (check your ads as I might have missed something). Brands included are:

Tide

Olay

Old Spice 

Oral B

Always

Dawn 

Secret

Charmin

Gillette

Pampers

Also reported to work on Gain, Tampax. Best scenarios for this week.

3 x Old Spice/Olay b/w @ $7 each $21.00

Less DQ (5.00)

OOP : $16.00

Earn $10 RR ($5 OS/Olay + $5 PG)

3 x Old Spice deodorant @ 2/$13 = $19.50

Less DQ (5.00)

OOP $14.50

Earn $10 RR ($5 OS + $5 PG)

4 x Dawn/Tide/Gain @ 5.89 each = $23.56

OOP $23.56

Earn $10 RR ($5 WYB 4 Dawn/Tide/Gain + $5 P&G)

1 x 34ct Tampax $11.49

1 x 34ct Tampax B1G50% off 2nd 5.76

Less DQ (3.00)

OOP $14.25

Earned $5 P&G (this is not advertised as printing, but someone reported getting RR. YMMV)

3 x Crest t/p or mouthwash or Oral b t/b @ $5 each = $15.00

Less DQ (5.00)

OOP $10.00

Earn $10 ($5 Crest/Oral B + $5 P&G) which makes it free after rewards

Box Pampers diapers $33.99

Less IVC DQ (store Q) (6.00)

Less DQ (5.00)

OOP $22.99

Earn $5 WC (WYS $15 on P&G - online reward only)

If you store prints RRs for pickup orders, you might earn an additional $5-10 RRs. This deal is even better if you have a booster (eg, $7 WYS $30 - that's what I had on my account this week). If you have the same booster, pay cash and the box will cost you $10.99 after rewards.

2 Dove b/w $14.00

Less DQ (7.00)

OOP $7.00

Earn $2 RR 

You can use points (to lower your OOP)  to pay for your purchases EXCEPT if you are using a booster. 

Please remember that prices may vary by location. Also, be sure to check the candy aisle and endcaps. Wags currently has lots of candy & personal care clearance - up to 90% off. I scored bags of candy yesterday. I'll post my deals later. I need an energy boost or I might fall asleep on my feet.  

Happy shopping peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 01/28/24

It's been a busy day.  I hit 6 stores and spent under $50 OOP. I didn't plan on going out, but the deals are too good to waste any time waiting to shop. Stay tuned for deals/stockpiling posts tomorrow. It's a good week to shop at Wags. On to our menu plan for the week.

Monday : Beef pie, veggies, salad

Tuesday : Pesto chicken casserole with mashed potatoes & veggies

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Tacos with side salad 

Saturday : Red Robin - maybe

Breakfasts : Banana oatmeal muffins, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, chocolate brioche french toast, cereal

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad (fries for DS)

Dessert : Still no dessert - there's still pumpkin pie & holiday cookies in the freezer if we ever want dessert

There's always a large variety of fresh fruit, veggies & salad fixings available

I used some of the leftover roast beef from the freezer to make a beef pie. I'm trying to incorporate some freezer items into my menu plan, so it can be used up. I also made frikkadel, fresh pico, prepped our salad fixings, diced and froze onions, peppers & herbs for omelets. I was in food prep mode, so I just did whatever I could and there's plenty to eat. 

DS loves tacos, so I bought some soft taco boats and will make my avocado bean salsa/mix (I haven't made it in ages) to go with the taco meat on Friday. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps. Stay healthy, safe & warm. 

How I scored 6 dresses for $112

This is a long overdue post. I mentioned buying 3 dresses for $38 before, but I figured I'll just give a full breakdown of the past few months.

Up first. I bought this plain sheath dress. Not that I needed it 😂I actually bought it, because I wanted to get a pair of pumps that's similar to my favorite shoes. Well, it was a 'Buy more, save more' sale. The more you purchased, the bigger the discount. I needed 3 items to score an extra 50% off the sale price. There wasn't much else that tickled my fancy at a low price, so I bought this dress for $14.99. It's simple. It's basic, but you can do so much with it. 

Up next, the bargain of the year! Not my usual style, as the sleeves looked very puffy online, but at $6.98 I wasn't going to say No 😂 I figured that if I didn't like it, I could just sell it for a profit. I also wear very little red. It was only available in size 2, which was perfect since it's a shift dress (which is more loose than a sheath dress). I knew that if I sized down, it wouldn't be too loose. Well, I was pleasantly surprised when the dress arrived. It fits like a glove and the sleeves aren't even as bad as it looks in the pics, so I'm definitely keeping it. 

Another one that's not my usual style. I don't wear this much clothes (fabric really) 😂 and I'm not really into long dresses. This dress has a LOT of fabric. It's a beautiful eyelet fabric. (my reason for purchasing). When I was a pre-teen, my mom bought me a pink 3 piece eyelet suit for Christmas (knee length skirt, sleeveless top, short sleeve jacket). We always wore new clothes at Christmas. It's a South African tradition. Everyone gets new clothes for Christmas and the summer holidays (Christmas falls during summer & everyone's on vacation). Everyone's clothes were purchased through Lay-away. We didn't have credit cards back then. I remember that the store didn't have the whole suit, but since they had 2 locations at that shopping center, we were able to find the 3rd piece at the 2nd location. I loved that suit and couldn't wait to wear it. I guess my love for suits started then 😂 I was so happy that skirt was lined, because I hated wearing petticoats. Does anyone remember wearing petticoats and stockings? Thank goodness that is something of the past. I didn't mind stockings, but petticoats were the work of the devil 😂

I will admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of fabric on this dress, but once I tried it on, I had a change of heart. It's really pretty. This one set me back $14.99

Well, this was a total splurge. I've had my eye on this dress for almost a year (notice how long I wait to purchase something I like. That's because I'm waiting for rock bottom prices). Well, this baby set me back $39.99, but it was totally worth it. When I saw the sale price, I didn't think twice. I'm glad I bought it, because it's now sold out. You will notice that I stick to simplicity. I will buy simple items that has a small twist to make it stand out (I know how to accessorize it). This is one of those dresses and it fits beautifully. The fabric quality has gone downhill though. It's not bad, but it's not the usual quality I'm used to. So, I'm glad I bought a bunch of dresses, because I'm not interested in spending money on poor quality items. I can take a break from retailers. Maybe, because I just received rewards from 2 stores again. Boy, I'm getting sucked in again 😂 Well, what's a girl supposed to do when they give you free money? 😂

And of course these 2 dresses that I bought before. 

Total OOP : $111.94 (excluding tax, since Rakuten covered my tax)

Retail value : $1014.15

That's a savings of 89%!

Now before anyone thinks I'm excessive, please remember that there's Method to my madness. Think about it. If you need to go out & purchase a dress for an event, how much is it going to set you back? $100? More? Maybe, because you'll probably end up paying full price for it. Not me! I'll go into my spare closet and take my pick of one of my clearance dresses. Easy peasy. By shopping rock bottom clearance, I'm saving myself money long term (I know our needs). I buy classic, timeless styles, so my clothing never goes out of style.

Next time I'll show you how I can wear that first dress 20 or more different ways. 

Have a wonderful day peeps!

Bulking up meals - Mac & cheese

Hi everyone

Sorry, no stockpiling items for this week. Pickings are slim. I only see the 8lb oranges for $4.99 at Kroger.

Since there's not much we can do about the never ending rising grocery prices, I figured I'd share some recipe or ideas on bulking up or stretching meals. I'm also going to try and share some recipe ideas for using up food, in order to reduce food waste. I know that many people are opting for one meatless night per week in order to save some money. Some of my recipes or ideas might include meat, but meat will be optional. The great thing about food is that you can play around with different ingredients, to create a meal that suits your needs or taste. 

For many years, I've added extra veggies to some meals. I did it so that it's easier for us to eat more veggies, without really trying. This is also a great way to hide veggies from picky eaters. Thankfully, DS eats everything, so I don't have that problem. I'm the picky eater, but since I'm the resident chef, I get to decide what goes 😂

Many years ago, an ex colleague cooked some mac & cheese while she visited me one weekend. It was so good, that I've been making my mac & cheese the same way ever since. 

Since we all cook mac & cheese (I don't eat box mac & cheese) differently, I'm not going to post the recipe. I'm just going to list the add-on ingredients. 

Ingredients

1 Onion

Container fresh mushrooms (canned will work too)

Diced red pepper (or any color pepper)

1 Tomato

Diced ham or any other meat of choice. Not every type of meat works, but I'm sure you'll figure it out 😊 

Sauté diced onions, peppers & mushrooms. Add everything including diced ham to your macaroni mix. Top with extra cheese and tomato slices & bake. 

South Africans like to top our mac with sliced tomato, so this is optional. You can add any veggies of choice to your mac. This is just what I like to use. You can also roast your veggies of choice and add it to your mac & cheese. 

Don't sauté mushrooms if you're using canned mushrooms. Just dice it into smaller pieces and add to your mix. 

You now have a mac & cheese meal. Just add a side salad & dinner is served. 

Bon Appetit peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 01/22/24

Happy Monday everyone!

We had another productive cooking day. We were in the zone again and DS was, once again, very helpful. He's happy when I make his favorites, so he doesn't mind helping with cooking 😂 I should try that every week so he can help with the cooking 😂Here's what's on the menu for this week.

Monday : Chicken roll, green bean casserole, salad

Tuesday : Cabbage stir fry & brown rice

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Carry out 

Saturday : Red Robin - maybe

Breakfasts : Lemon blueberry muffins, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, toast, cereal

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad

Dessert : Still no dessert - there's still pumpkin pie & holiday cookies in the freezer if we ever want dessert

There's always a large variety of fresh fruit, veggies & salad fixings available

I tried something new. Cabbage stir fry. I don't even know what to call it, so I just gave it that name 😂 A long time ago, Thrifty mom posted a recipe for ground beef, cabbage mix and I told her that I make something similar with smoked sausage and cabbage - pan fried. So this weekend, I decide to try something similar to what she made. 

Ground beef

Bag of coleslaw

1 Onion

Garlic

Stir fry sauce

Cook ground beef and drain fat. Sauté onion and add garlic, coleslaw, ground beef and stir fry sauce. Simmer approximately 10-20 minutes. Season to taste. 

I couldn't remember her exact recipe, so I made it my own way. The stir fry sauce was totally my idea. I know she added soy sauce and I can't remember what else, but I needed something to add flavor. I also added more chopped cabbage, because that coleslaw bag cooks down fast. Next time I'll add fresh ginger too. I was out of ginger and I don't like adding the powder to my meals. I use it for baking only. 

Here's the recipe I normally make

Smoked or andouille sausage

Onion

Can tomatoes

Garlic

Cabbage

Slice and fry sausage. Remove from pan. Sauté onion and add garlic, canned tomatoes, sausage, cabbage & cook until cabbage is tender. Season to taste.

Both taste great and if you're low carbing, this recipe is for you. It's a quick & easy meal. Serve it with rice or mashed potatoes.

I made some 'sausage rolls' for DS. Not the real sausage roll (I need to buy meat and make some). It's just a hot dog (we use the OM Smokies for the flavour), cheese & jalapeno, wrapped in puff pastry. He loves it! I'm just here for the puff pastry 😂

I made green bean casserole to use up some French's onions. I also prepped our salad fixings and made applesauce. 

DS had the last pancake yesterday and I'm out of pancake mix.  I need to buy another box. I just noticed that I'm out of CFA sauce too. The horror 😂 I need my CFA sauce!

I started adding plain greek yogurt to my muffins for a little extra protein. I figured that if you can bake with sour cream, then you can bake with plain yogurt too, since it's the perfect substitute for sour cream. And it works! Don't be fooled by the look of those muffins. They're not the prettiest, but they taste so good and it's light & fluffy on the inside. I used a whole container of blueberries, because I wanted it to pack a punch. It did not disappoint. 

We did very well with eating at home this weekend. My body's loving it & DS didn't even miss it. Well, he's getting a treat next weekend, because I already have gcs, Duh! The food's already paid for.  However, I was thinking that I should probably do Friday night carry out one week + Saturday homemade dinner. Then Friday night homemade dinner the next week and RR or whatever restaurant the Saturday. That way he still gets a 'meal out' every weekend. Something to think about. 

Bon Appetit peeps! Have a wonderful week. 

Odds & Ends

 It's been another crazy week. Monday was a holiday. Tuesday, the schools in our city and neighboring cities were all open, despite the frigid temps. DS arrived home half hour early that day. Wednesday all schools were closed. Yesterday morning, we had some snow (not much, but the roads were bad) and the bus arrived half an hour late. Today we got some more snow and DS had a substitute driver, so the bus arrived an hour late. I understand that there are some things that we can't control, but this throws me off schedule. I'm a smooth sailing kinda girl. 

Here's what's been happening at Casa Goose lately:

• Received my $15 P&G rebate
  
  
• Redeemed for $10 Microsoft Rewards gc
  
  
• Redeemed $25 Mypoints gc
  
  
• Redeemed $20 Ibotta Walmart gc. This covered a package of chicken (4lbs) and 3pk cucumbers at Sams
  
  
• Received another $5 WHBM reward
  
  
• Stocked up on Dunkin Donuts coffee at Sams. DD currently has $6 Instant Savings (limit 5). Costco normally has this deal, but they don't carry Decaf. Their price is also higher than Sams'. So I bought 3 decaf containers (only available online). Shipping for the first item is $5, then it kept adding around 18-20c per item (up to 3). Anything more than that had high shipping costs again. So I ordered 3, used a $25 gc that I earned from Swagbucks and I'm now set on coffee for over a year. I already have regular Dunkin for BF. DS doesn't drink coffee.
  
  I like to purchase these at Sams, because their price is the lowest. $16.48 (after discount) for 45 oz. That comes to $0.37 per ounce
  
  vs 
  
  12 oz bag for $8.59 at grocery store (even more at drugstore), which comes to $0.72/oz. Even if you pay full price at Sams, it still costs at least 22c/oz less than purchasing anywhere else. 
  
  Why do I love Dunkin? South African coffee contains chicory and Dunkin Donuts is the closest thing in taste to it. Cafe du Monde coffee tastes similar too, but it costs more than Dunkin and isn't available everywhere.
  
  
• Pulled some old long sleeved sleepshirts to wear during the Arctic blast and realised that I've worn it for 11 years. I bought these, because my luggage went missing the last time we went to CT. I was without luggage for 3 whole days, so I had to buy all new clothes. These pjs have held up well over the years and are still in good shape. 
  
  
• Swagbucks rejected my CVS receipt. Ugh, I have forgotten how crappy they are with redemptions. That's why I never bother with them. Back to skipping magic receipts again.
  
  
• On the plus side. I've discovered that you can earn points through Trivia, without waiting for Live Trivia. I just do my Trivia (I love all kinds of Trivia) on the app. Only 10 questions, but you can earn SB from it. Guess who almost scored full points today? Well, I actually had the correct answer for the one I got wrong, but changed my mind 🤦
   
• On another positive note. Hideoutv is working again, so I'm trying to earn points on there again. I'll take whatever I can get, even if it's just $10-25. 
  
  
• Checked my Rakuten account and saw that I'm only getting a $44 Big Fat Check next month. How on earth? I've had over $100 in my account since Christmas and was looking forward to that check. Ugh!
  
  
• I'm working on a new earning/saving strategy. Nothing major. At least not yet. This is going to take some work (trial & error), but I might be onto something good here. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head. 
  
  
• I also have lots of new post ideas. Can my thoughts just magically jump onto blogger so I can just hit publish when I'm ready 😂
  
  

I know there's a few more things, but I can't think of it right now. I'm cold & tired. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps. Stay healthy, safe & warm. 

Stockpiling items of the week 01/14/24

Baby, it's cold! ❆⛄, but I braved those frigid temps to run my errands. Let's start of with an easy MM deal at CVS

Buy 2 Softsoap/Irish Spring (mix & match) earn $4 EB

1 x Softsoap b/w $6.99

1 x Irish Spring b/w 6.59

Less Softsoap DQ (2.00)

Less Irish Spring DQ (2.00)

Less EB (0.23)

Tax 0.64

OOP $7.35

Earn $4 EB and submit to Swagbucks for 200 SB ($2) each on both items. So a small MM of $0.65. 

I would have preferred 2 Softsoap, but my cost would've been much higher. I had a stray 23c EB on my account and decided to use that. I need to build up my EBs again. This is a super easy deal. Just clip your DQs and head to your nearest CVS. Then submit to Swagbucks. 

I was surprised that our schools weren't closed today, because it's so frigid out there. It was a crazy errand day. It was one of those 'whatever can go wrong, will go wrong' days. I ended up getting home shortly before DS. His bus arrived half an hour early. Phew! Then shortly thereafter, we received notification of school closing tomorrow (picture me thanking my lucky stars that I ran errands today). I can't believe the kids had to go to school today. It is icy cold! I can't wait for this Arctic Blast to pass. 

Well, Meijer came through for the win! I did pretty big shopping trip. I had a plan and just stocked up on a few things since I'm already at the store. 

The good stockpiling items for this week are:

Blueberries - $2.99/pint 

8 lb Oranges - $4.99

Dave's Killer Bread $5.89 (less $1 DQ, less $1.25 Ibotta) = $3.64

OEP Taco shells 3/$5 (less $1/3 DQ, less $1/2 Ibotta) = $3/3 or $1 each

So my plan was to get blueberries at Aldi last week. I ended up going to the store during the later part of the week (due to being sick), only to discover that my Aldi ads now runs from Wednesday to Tuesday. Ugh!  I already hate that Kroger does this. Just start the sale at the beginning of the week, so it makes sense. So, no Aldi blueberries for me. Well, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the Aldi blueberries were on sale for $3.69 or $3.89. Almost $1 more than Meijer's. I bought 5 pints. It's a staple in our house. 

Same thing happened with the oranges at Kroger. The price was the same, but Kroger didn't even have the item in stock or shelf space for it last week 😠

I didn't plan on buying this much bread. However, the Mperks Q applies to all like items, but it's a one time use. So you need to buy the amount you want/need in one transaction, to take advantage of the discount. I like this bread, but it costs more than I'd like to pay. I can get it at Costco for a little over $4 each, but I rarely go to Costco. I like the thin slices, because it helps me eat less without even trying 😂

I bought a pile of other items, including puff pastry. DS wants his 'sausage rolls' 😊 My total after sales & discounts came to $99.82....BUT.. I cashed in pop cans to the tune of $30.50 and I still had $20 CATs from the Kleenex deal. So I paid with those and my OOP was $49.32. Then I submitted to Ibotta for Dave's & OEP and earned $6. Submitted OEP to Swagbucks and hope that credits another $1. I also earned a $3.50 CAT for Pringles. Total earnings - $11.50.

Breakdown:

Total cost after discounts = $99.82

Less CATs & bottle deposit (50.50)

OOP : $49.32

Earned : $11.50

Number of items purchased : 39 ($1.26 per item)

Meijer receipts say I saved $53.41. So I bought $153.23 worth of groceries for $49.32 and earned back $11.50. Thank you Meijer!

Besides a few fresh produce items and milk, we are all set on groceries for the rest of the month. I'm happy about that. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps! Stay healthy, safe & warm. 

Menu Plan Monday 01/15/24

Brrr, it is bitterly cold. I hope everyone's safe & warm. I'm so glad I felt well enough to run most of my errands on Thursday. I had planned on taking DS out after cooking was done yesterday, but it was way too cold me us to venture out. So today we're hitting a bunch of places - maybe. It's still icy cold, so I don't know if it's a good idea to drag DS to a bunch of stores. I might just run errands when he's at school tomorrow. 

Yesterday we did a whole bunch of cooking. Despite sleeping late, I was in the zone and so was DS. He helped quite a lot, which enabled me to get a lot more done. He had his food prep tasks, while I handled others.  Here's our menu for the week.

Monday : Slow cooker meatballs & spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday : Ham, spinach & mushroom quiche

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Chicken wraps with baked beans & fries

Saturday : Homemade burgers, fries & salad

Breakfasts : Cranberry almond muffins, bagels with cream cheese, cereal, eggs or omelets, toast, cranberry orange pancakes (DS was very happy to eat pancakes from the freezer, all weekend long)

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad

Dessert : Still no dessert

There's always a large variety of fresh fruit, veggies & salad fixings available

That ham was such a blessing. I sliced and diced the whole thing & froze in individual bags. I've been adding it to our omelets every day and then decided to just make quiche for dinner. I only ended up using half a baggie, so I can see this ham lasting for quite some time. I need to figure out more recipes. 

Besides our dinners, I made BBQ chicken breasts (for wraps and salads), baked 2 dozen samosas since the oven was already on & made a batch of pico de gallo for snacking with tortilla chips. 

I made a huge batch of meatballs and froze most of it for future use. This way I can just add it to my slow cooker with sauce & veggies. Easy peasy. Any leftover slow cooker meatballs can be used for meatball subs. I'm trying to get more creative with leftovers. I'll say it again. I CAN'T WAIT to move & get a freezer! I can do all kinds of meal prep this way. I like having my life simplified.   

Have a wonderful day peeps! Stay healthy, safe & warm!