Stockpiling items of the week 02/26/24

I don't know if its just me, but the grocery ads have been disappointing the last few weeks. I mainly do my shopping at Sams lately & just cherry pick at the grocery stores. My Kroger also never has the produce that's part of their weekly deals. I don't know what is happening at my store, but there isn't even shelf space for the items. 

When I checked the ad preview on Saturday, I actually chuckled at Kroger's $1.49/doz eggs weekly deal. Yeah, I just paid $1/doz at Walmart about 2-3 weeks ago. Well, the joke's on me, cause I had to pay $2.49/doz at Walmart yesterday. I actually had 2 dozen in my cart, but after seeing the price, decided to only buy one dozen. I'll get the rest at Kroger when the sale starts tomorrow.

Three cheers for Wags! It's another good P&G double dip week. Only this time, the bonus RR deal is Spend $20 (select P&G items only. You can find a list on their site), earn $5 RR. If you pay with points, you might not earn the 2nd RR (this is hit & miss at Wags). However, you can pay with RRs. 

Combine it with the weekly deals to earn 2 x $5 RRs. Items that have been confirmed as working this week, is:

Olay body wash (seems like it's only select varieties) - Buy 3 earn $5 RR + $5 Bonus RR (caregiving RR)

Dawn dish soap - Buy 4 Earn $5 RR + $5 Bonus

Pampers diapers - Buy 2 earn $4 RR + $5 Bonus

Bounty essential p/t - Buy 4 earn $5RR + $5 Bonus

Tide Simply $9.99 jugs - Buy 2 earn $5 RR + $5 Bonus

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

Less DQ (5.00)

OOP : $16.00

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

4 x Dawn @ 5.89 each = $23.56

OOP $23.56

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

4 x Bounty Essentials p/t $21.96

OOP $21.96

Earn $5 RR +  $5 P&G 

2 x Pampers diapers $21.00

Less DQ (3.00)

OOP $18.00

Earn $5 RR + $5 P&G

2 x Tide Simply ($9.99 ones) $19.98

1 x Dawn soap 1.49

OOP $21.47

Earn $5 RR + $5 P&G

Please remember that Wags has NO limits. 

Please DO NOT purchase more than one P&G deal per transaction. You will only receive one reward if you do . 

You CAN use both $5 P&G RRs to do your next deal and earn $10 RRs again.  It's called Rolling.

I had $11 RRs expiring yesterday, so here's what I did

Trans 1 

3 x Olay b/w $21.00

2 x Colgate t/p 10.00

2 x Candy 2.00

Less Olay DQ (5.00)

Less Colgate DQ (5.00)

Less RRs (11.00)

Tax 1.86

OOP $13.86

Earned $14 RRs ($10 Olay, $4 Colgate) + $7 WC (WYS $25)

Total earned $21.00

I'm bummed that the Old Spice isn't part of the double dip deal. I paid the balance in cash in order to earn my $7 Booster. 

I added the candy for the RRs to apply to. I knew that if I didn't, then my DQs wouldn't apply. Wags is funny like that. 

Trans 2 (other account)

3 x Pantene $15.00

2 x Colgate 10.00

2 x Oral b t/b 6.00

2 x Maybelline baby lips 8.23

Less Pantene DQ (5.00)

Less Colgate DQ (5.00)

Less Maybelline DQ (5.00)

Less Oral B DQ (1.00)

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 2.35

OOP $5.58

Earned $11 RR ($4 Pantene, $4 Colgate, $3 Oral B)

I could've skipped the Maybelline, but I figured I was already at the store so why not just get it at that decent price. I added the Oral B to get my total to $20, because it would produce a $3 RR. Not the best deal, but I spent down WC, so I'm not too concerned about it. Looks like a $20 bill can still give you a bunch of stuff (16 items 😊)

I need to go back to Wags to do the same transactions on both accounts. I'll just reverse the deals between the accounts and add a few others. And here I am, stuck with more RRs. I do this to myself 😂

I'll do a savings breakdown once I'm done shopping for the week. 

I hit RA at the tail end of the sale last week. I really didn't have high hopes of finding the b/w I wanted in stock, but was pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount in our favorite scent. 

5 x Softsoap b/w $24.95

Less DQ (4.00)

Tax 1.50

OOP $22.45 - Paid with BC, so $0 OOP

Earned $10 BC + $4 BCC. 

Ugh, I had a Softsoap BCC offer for Spend $25 earn $6.30 BCC. Well, the b/w turned out to be $4.99, not $5 as I thought. I thought I missed out on this offer by just spending $24.95, but I forgot that RA has different threshold amounts per offer, so I earned $4 for spending $18 on Softsoap. RA's cool like that! 

I also purchased another $100 gc and earned $20...BUTTTTT I was able to add it to my Softsoap transaction, so the $4 in BC was deducted from my gc amount (If you have enough BC in your account, it will apply BC in the total Q amount you used, to your gc). So, I ended up paying $96 for a $100 gc. I'm so happy, cause there's one cashier (from my old store) that makes you split your transactions. No adding gcs to other purchases. I will make sure not to purchase any gcs at her location.

I was just thinking that I haven't received any RA mailer Qs since my favorite store closed, then voila, I received Qs in the mail today. Whoo-hoo, cause there's a nice $9/43 and $4/15 Q. And they even sent me a battery Q. Doesn't RA know that I'm swimming in free Duracell batteries they offered last year? 😂 I know I'm gonna thank RA for that deal in the near future. I'm gonna be "I'm so glad I managed to score all these batteries, because it's coming in real handy right now". Happens all the time 😂I'll have to check the ad preview to decide if I want to shop this week or next. So many deals, so little time 😂

Happy shopping peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 02/26/24

Happy Monday everyone!

Sunshine all around, which definitely helps the mood 😊 It's a busy shopping week, so I was out & about today. I'll post deal scenarios tomorrow. It's a good week to shop at Wags. 

Our meal plan for this week:

Monday : Pesto chicken casserole, baked potatoes, veggies

Tuesday : Ravioli with meat sauce, salad, garlic bread sticks

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Sams pizza from the freezer, salad, fries (DS)

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Banana oatmeal muffins, blueberry pancakes, eggs or omelets, bacon, toast, chocolate brioche french toast, cereal

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad 

Dessert : I'm not making dessert until we finish whatever sweets are in the freezer (pumpkin pie & chocolate cookies)

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

I wanted to make roti & curry, but had some ingredients (leftover pesto, spinach, a soft tomato) that I wanted to use, so it made sense to make the pesto casserole. I'm trying to use up what we have to help eliminate waste.

I also wanted to make hashbrown egg cups, but discovered I only had 1 egg left for this morning's breakfast.  I bought eggs today, so I'll make some later this week. I've never made it before, so we'll see how it turns out. 

Bon Appetit Peeps!

Frugal Friday 02/23/24

Hi everyone

I've totally enjoyed the sunshine we've experienced the past few days (with more to come). It's the perfect mood booster. 

I'm guessing many readers assume that all I do is shop 😂 (since that's what I mainly post about), so I figured I'd show everyone the little ways I do save or live a frugal lifestyle. 

• I decided to research my camera's problem online. At first I found sites that talked about the camera's sensor not working & the motherboard needing to be replaced. I thought 'I'm not doing that" If I attempt to open the camera, I might end up breaking it (I've had that experience with a favorite watch of mine. lesson learned). Then I found a youtube video of an easy fix. Looks like this problem happens with different brands. All I had to do was knock my camera on the side with the palm of my hand & voila, it's back to working again. Hooray! No replacement needed. 
  
  
• I turn off the dryer 5 minutes before the cycle ends. That last few minutes is just for cooling, so I figured it's just a waste of energy and money. The load can cool down on it's own if you just let it sit for a while afterwards. If I'm doing more than one load, I remove the dry laundry immediately and the dryer's still semi-warm once the new load starts. I don't know if that makes any difference though. 
  
  
• I stopped buying pasta sauce. The last time I made meat sauce, I discovered that I was out of pasta sauce. Then I remembered that we never used pasta sauce when I lived in SA. We just use tomato paste & water and then add garlic and our own fresh herbs. So that's what I've been doing. Tomato paste costs far less than the sauce, so there's more $$ saved. 
  
  
• I found a tin of shoe polish clearanced to $1.41 at Kroger. This is perfect for my favorite boots. It's just a plain pair of black leather ankle boots that make my feet happy, it's so comfy. Then I pulled out an old loose sock (I don't understand how we end up with missing socks half the time) and used that to shine my boots. I used to hate polishing my shoes when I was a kid. Both public & private school students wear uniforms and we had special school shoes. So every Sunday night we had to polish that shoes to a high shine. We even had a special shoe shine case - brush, polish, old socks. You'd spread some newspaper on the floor then get to work. I'm now thankful for those lessons, because my boots last longer by polishing it. 
  
  Just for fun, I decided to do a search on these boots. Imagine my surprise when I saw used ones selling for 50% more than what I paid for mine (new). These boots are discontinued, so I'm very happy that I bought 2 pairs a few years ago. I just need to find brown shoe polish for my other pair - although that pair isn't scuffed yet. 
  
  
• Received a $52 Rakuten Big Fat Check and it went straight into savings. Yay for free money!I'm still bummed that Rakuten will be sitting with over $100 of my money for the next 3 months. 
  
  
• I had some peppers that were getting up in age, so I washed, diced & froze it for omelets. 
  
  
• I use the bread heels when making frikkadel. We never had breadcrumbs in stores when I lived in SA. You just soak the bread in water. The squeeze out and drain water and add the wet bread to whatever dish it's needed. I'm going back to my roots on saving, because we lived such simple lives.
  

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

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

How I splurge on ourselves

Hi everyone

It's been another one of those days. We ran out of milk this morning (I was aware of this), so I decided to just go do my Sams run and pick up milk while I'm there. I don't like to run to the store for just one item, so it made sense to just do my shopping too. Well, I went to Sams and back and as I'm carrying the items into the house I realised that I didn't buy milk. Ugh!! The milk was at the top of my shopping list. The whole point of going shopping, was to get milk 🤦 So back into my car and to Meijer to get milk and fries (that Sams as out of). I'm so glad I didn't realise this while preparing breakfast tomorrow morning. We need milk for our cereal and coffee. 

Then, as I was printing this morning, I got a Drum error message on my printer. What the heck is this? My printer's been acting up (I've had it for years - maybe 10) and keeps printing with black spots. I learned that it's because something in the drum might be dirty or it might have dust, so I cleaned the drum a few weeks ago and still no progress. Now I'm discovering it needs a drum to the tune of $86! Sigh! (apparently drum replacement is a thing. I guess it wasn't dirty. It just needs to be replaced) Thankfully, it still prints, so I'll wait to see if Staples sends me a $20 off $60 Q like they normally do (I have a Swagbucks backup plan if there's no Q). I'm not too bummed about the price, because this printer (laser) saves me tons on ink compared to my HP I used before. I do still have the HP as a backup, but having a laser printer is far better. My toner cartridge lasts me over a year. Less than $60 per year, compared to $30 per cartridge (several times per year) I used to spend on the HP. I'm just bummed about the inconvenience. I never even knew the drum had to be replaced. Mind you, I paid $100 for this printer and now a part costs $86. Scratching my head at that one 😂 It sill beats buying one of the latest inferior products. 

Well, to add insult to injury - I tried to take pictures earlier and my camera screen is just black. No focus, no photo. WTBH?! (The British will get this 😂). Well, I still have my old camera that I need to haul out and charge. I'm going to try & figure out this camera, cause it's only about 2 years old - if that long.

No stockpiling items to share this week. There are deals, but nothing worth running out for, except for the Softsoap deal at RA.

Buy 2 Softsoap b/w, earn $5 BC

2 x Softsoap $10.00

Less DQ (4.00)

OOP $6.00

Earn $5.00 BC. So 50c each after rewards

Let's switch things up for this week. I'm gonna explain how I splurge on new or designer items for ourselves. Those of you who read my old blog, know that I like to buy designer stuff but hate paying designer prices. So, when I need or want something, I look for the best possible deals. Sometimes I find things immediately, at other times I wait months before taking the plunge. As I've mentioned before, I've had to replace many of my shoes and purses, due to circumstances beyond my control. 

For years, I've had a really nice Coach & Michael Kors purse collection. So I've been keeping an eye out for a new purse. Well, I had $40 rewards to use, so when I spotted this one at $149, I figured it was a good enough deal. I don't like to pay more than $100 per purse (Does that make me cheap? 😂I don't even know what the regular price of other purses are these days). I had gcs that I purchased last year. So I used my reward & gc to get this purse and I love it! I mean, this baby comes with a free zippered pouch (a nice bonus that you can use as a makeup bag or wallet).

A week later, I received an email about a big handbag sale at the same retailer. So I went to check to see if the first purse was discounted, because I know that most stores do price adjustments. Well, my purse was sold out, but it still displayed the item with a reduced price ($30 less than what I paid for it). So I contacted CS (gotta love Live Chat) and 2 minutes later, had my price adjusted. 

So I thought to myself  'well girl, you still have a gc AND they're sending you another gc from the adjustment, so you might as well check what else is good' 😂 So, I saw this purse & fell in love. I love simplicity, but that shoulder strap adds something extra to the purse. Besides, it was reduced to $105. That was incentive enough, cause both purses retail for $298 each. But, I know that it's just the MSRP (Manufacturers suggested retail price). I don't know why they call it Manufacturer's price, because manufacturers have zero say in the price. Only the designer/company does. So here's my breakdown:

Total Retail price : $596.00

My total sales price : $254.00 ($149 + $105)

Less rewards used : (40.00)

Less price adjustment (30.00)

Total cost to me : $184.00 for 2 purses or $92 each

I'm not including tax, because Rakuten covered all my sales tax. Plus, I earned another $3.00 from my CC for purchasing the gcs. 

My favorite part of these purses is that it's leather. I prefer quality and will pay a little more for it. I don't care how famous a designer is or how expensive an item is, I always check the fabric content. I want leather. I've seen them selling nylon purses for $100+. Why on earth would I pay that much for nylon? Also, many purses are made from polyurethane, like the one below. I no longer want that. A purse has got to be really, really worth it for me to want to buy it. 

I bought this for around $90 (clearance) a few short years ago. I got a discounted gc with my CC rewards and then used the gc to purchase this purse. Isn't it pretty? It's blue. Of course I had to have it 😂 As you can see, I love satchels. They match my heels perfectly. 

Before anyone thinks I just spend, spend, spend, I should mention that I don't get an allowance or spending money. In fact, many would be surprised to learn that I spend very little cash on myself. Once in a while I'll splurge, but most of my purchases come from rewards, gcs and (before I got divorced) birthday and Christmas cash/gcs. I also prefer buying items that I can get a lot of mileage out of. I take good care of my things, so it usually lasts me years. I'm not going to build another collection. I would like a brown/tan purse though, but it can wait until I find another great sale. 

These items were a need. It's not like I can be all dressed up and carry my phone, keys and wallet in my hand - I can actually visualize this 😂 I'm just showing you how I can still get nice things without breaking the bank. 

I'm just trying to show people that you don't have to pay full price for anything. My father always taught me that Everything eventually has to go on sale. If you have a brand that you're loyal to, keep an eye out for when the item you need goes on sale. Then shop through one of the cash back sites (I actually check different ones to see which gives me the highest % cash back) and look for discounted gcs. Check if the store will allow you to stack coupons or promo codes too. There's so many ways to save on what we need. Things are so convenient these days, that it's easy to do price comparisons with just a few clicks. Don't forget price adjustments. After I purchase an item, I add it to my cart again. Most stores will send you an email if the price drops. That's how I manage to get adjustments on many things. I hope this is helpful to some of you. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 02/19/24

Monday again! The weeks just seem to fly by faster than we can blink. Well, I slept late yesterday, which threw me off. I'm an early bird. Waking up 7am or later, makes me feel like half the day is already gone. I felt behind all day long, but accomplished quite a bit

Our meal plan for this week:

Monday : Slow cooker Beef, onions, peppers & mushrooms in gravy, brown rice, veggie side

Tuesday : French onion chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Shredded beef burritos, refried beans, pico, guac (all homemade)

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Cranberry almond muffins, blueberry pancakes, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, toast, chocolate brioche french toast, cereal

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad 

Dessert : Still no dessert. We've been enjoying fruit salad with some meals

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

I didn't get any carry out on Friday. I got some Sams pizza instead and we had that with salad. Much better & costs less than fast food. That Sams app is a game changer. I downloaded the Scan & Go app, ordered pizza from my car (app says you can only use it in store, but it works from the parking lot), went into store to do shopping and picked up pizza from cafe on my way out the store. Easy peasy. No long lines and it only took 2 or 3 clicks on my phone. Now I need to learn how the scan & go works. I hope it comes with a paper receipt, otherwise it's a no-go for me. 

Bon Appetit Peeps!

More drugstore shopping

Hi everyone

My apologies for my absence. I haven't been sleeping well again & I was just plumb tuckered out by yesterday and didn't have the energy to post (I actually had other posts planned) or do anything else. I decided to knock myself out for the night (only way I'll get decent sleep) and was in front of the tv by 8pm, lights out a few minutes later (I don't know why I bother to turn on the tv) and slept for 2 hours. Checked on DS and back to bed for the night. Well, I at least got some sleep.

I decided to run a bunch of errands today, since I felt refreshed & the sun was out. DS was not too happy with me, but he got over it fast. I thought "yeah kiddo. I sacrifice my time, energy & sometimes sanity (just ask Wags), so you can enjoy many luxuries" It dawned on me that couponing is like having a part time job (or should I say Side Hustle 😂). We spend some money, we make some money and our families live well. They even get to try new brands and products we might not have been able to afford otherwise. All the money we save, allows us to splurge in other areas too. I have to admit that it's a fun part time job. 

 

In my quest to not spend any money at RA this year, I started off by purchasing gcs (Yes, I bought gcs, but they retain their original value). RA has the monthly gc deal - Buy $100 select gcs, earn $20 BC (limit 5). I'm not too happy with the selection, but I can work with it. I have a plan 😊 There are other weekly gc deals too. I already had some BC from a gc deal I did a few weeks ago. 

Trans 1

$300 gcs. 

Earned $56 BC + $9 CC.

Total earned : $65.00 Not bad for 2 minutes of work. Easy money 😊

My receipt also printed  $10/50 and $14/$69 Qs.

Trans 2

3 x Tide liquid @ $12.99 ea = $38.97

2 x Tide pods @ 12.99 ea = 25.98

Less Tide liquid DQ (3.00)

Less Tide pods DQ (3.00)

Less 10/50 Q (10.00)

Tax 3.30

OOP : $52.25 - Paid with BC, so $0 OOP

Earned $25 BC ($15 WYS $45 PG, $10 WYS $50 in ad Q) + $14 (WYS $56 Tide) BCC (bi-monthly deal)

Total earned : $39.00

I just saw that the same P&G deal is available within 2 weeks again, so I'll probably do my Gain & Crest BCC then. 

Then to my favorite (sarcasm) store to burn some RRs - No name needed 😂

Sorry, no pics since its the same items that I purchased earlier this week, just with a cluster thrown in.

Trans 1

4 x Crest t/p $16.00

2 x Dove shampoo 8.00

Less RR (5.00)

Less Dove DQ (2.00)

Tax 1.14

OOP $18.14

Earned $11 RR ($6 Crest, $5 Dove) + $6 WC (see below)

Total earned $17

*&^%#$^&*@#%^$ 😡😡😡Wags. I did not expect this high total. Firstly, my $6 Crest DQ didn't deduct. I couldn't see everything on the screen, so I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then the cashier already hit total, so I couldn't use points (I friggin hate this at Wags). I have tons of WC to use. Why would I wanna pay cash?!! I was so mad, but I didn't take it out on the cashier. I just politely thanked her and did my 2nd transaction. Contacted CS when I got home and they added $6 WC.

Trans 2

2 x Dove shampoo $8.00

Charity donation 1.00

Less RR (5.00)

Less WC (3.00) I was prepared this time!

Tax 0.18

OOP $1.18

Earned $5 RR

I didn't notice the charitable donation until I got home. Where on earth does this come from? Seriously Wags!! Yes, it's only $1, but I don't even know how it got added to my account - that's what makes me angry. I like being in control of things and know where everything comes from. I like to have all my ducks in a row. That's what made me so good at my job. The books balanced 99% of the time, because I knew exactly where every penny fits in. Does that make me a geek? 😂

Submitted all my receipts to Fetch & P&G. 

I need a game plan to use up all my RRs. I have RRs expiring next week, the week after and the week after that. Next week's deals don't look good so I need a miracle. I also need to spend down my WC. I have too much available. I should teach BF how to use it so he can use some rewards to buy himself snacks or drinks when he has to work late. 

A funny story. One of the ladies in my Wags coupon group posted about how her husband bought her a single rose and card at Wags for valentines day. The cashier asked if he wanted to use the WC that was available on the account, so he did just that. He was very proud of himself (paying so little OOP, thinking he saved them some money) when he explained to his wife how he used her last WC to buy her a gift with her own money😂😂😂 

I also need to build up my BC. I need him to get a RA account too. That way we can earn double the rewards. RA's giving us free HBA and household items this year. It's gonna be interesting to see just how much $$$ RA's gonna be saving us this year. Gotta love free shopping!

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

Stockpiling items of the week & a Wags trip

Hi everyone

The deals seem to be rather lackluster lately. I haven't been to RA & CVS in weeks and the grocery stores are no better. Only Wags seem to keep the deals coming, but their deals have been on repeat for 2-3 weeks now & next week looks even worse. 

Stockpiling items of the week

Kroger (starting tomorrow)

18 oz Blueberries $2.99

16 oz Strawberries $2.99

I've been paying over $7 for 2lbs strawberries at Sams and it's not even good strawberries. It's completely white on the inside & tasteless

Wags

Buy 2 Dove or Tresemme, earn $5 RR (Dove is definitely the better deal)

2 x Dove shampoo $8.00

Less DQ (2.00)

OOP $6.00

Earn $5 RR. That's like paying 50c per bottle after rewards

Well, Wags sent me a $10 WYS $30 on Valentines, $7 WYS $40 Boosters & I had a $7 WYS $40 paper booster, so I said "Challenge accepted" 😂 Of course I'm going to take advantage of a free $24 deal 😂, cause I had a bunch of RRs that I needed to redeem. Free money & using RRs sounds like a winner to me. But in typical Wags fashion, things went south. Here's what I did.

Trans 1

4 x Chocolate $23.96

3 x Chocolate B1G2nd 50% off $8.97

4 x Crest t/p 16.00

Less Crest DQ (6.00)

Less RRs (24.00)

Tax 0.96

OOP $19.89

Earned $24 WC ($7 WYS $40, $7 WYS $40, $10 WYS $30) + $6 RR (Crest)

Total earned $30

Ugh, Sigh, Boo, Hiss! The chocolate is clearanced to $4.19 online. I asked the cashier if they price match their online prices and the shift supervisor (a really rude woman who doesn't like me for telling her she's rude - she's been extremely rude to me twice) said no. Wags slogan should be 'Wags, where everyone makes up their own rules'. I've read from other couponers that some of their stores price match online prices. Okay, I was kinda prepared for this. Just like I was prepared for the toothpaste deal. I wanted the $3 Crest, but my store only had 3 and I knew that the $6 DQ wouldn't attach if I mix & matched, so I just bought the $4 toothpaste. No biggie.

What I wasn't prepared for was Ibotta not working on the candy. I was expecting another $3.75 back, but it didn't work on these size bags. The size Ibotta has listed, isn't even available in store. Sigh!

Well, DS's classmates were all happy with their candy, so it's a win in my book. 

Trans 2

2 x Dove conditioner $8.00

Less Dove DQ (2.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.48

OOP $1.48

Earned $5 RR

I'm so glad both Dove Qs didn't attach last week, because the deal is much better this week. I still have a Q to use on my other account, so I can earn back my $3 on Fetch. 

I still have a bunch of RRs to use next week. Wags gave me another $7 WYS $40 paper booster, but I'm not biting. I might just do a bunch of Dove deals this week, cause I don't see anything good next week. The toothpaste rewards are much lower, so it's not worth buying then. I have a CVS reward that expires tomorrow too, so I need to redeem that. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 02/12/24

It's been a crazy day. Wags forced me to go shopping, because I had a bunch of RRs that were expiring today. Can't throw away good money. Well, guess who came home with more RRs 🤦😂 More on that tomorrow. It was a beautiful day to be out, so I stopped at a bunch of places. I love having sunshine. I don't care how cold it gets, as long as the sun's out, I'm happy. 

Our meal plan for this week:

Monday : Chicken roll with veggies

Tuesday : Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : I'm actually considering carry out. I'm not sure yet. 

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Carrot ginger muffins, eggs or omelets, bacon, toast, chocolate brioche french toast, cereal

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad 

Dessert : Still no dessert - we ate some cookies last week, but there's still a lot left

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

I had a few overripe bananas to use, so I decided on ginger muffins (we are a bit tired of banana muffins) since the recipe requires bananas. Guess who was out of AP flour. Thankfully, I had wheat flour and the muffins turned out fantastic. Oh boy, the flavor is spot on! When DS is in the zone, we end up with really delicious muffins. I don't know how he does it, cause he hates measuring. 

We've been doing really well with eating at home on Fridays, so I might get carry out for DS this week. I have gcs to use anyway. 

I only order RR for DS on Saturdays and make my own burger. The good news is that the extra fries (bottomless) is free, so I've been getting extra RR fries (for myself) with his meals. Not good, cause I've gained 2 lbs again 😢 Oh well, I just have to burn extra calories & watch my food intake tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps!

Wags Fun!! You don't wanna miss this deal!

No stockpiling items of the week post. Other than Mission Tortilla chips on sale at Kroger starting today, I don't see anything else that tickles my fancy. 

Wags deals are the same as last week (P&G), with the exception of Bounty/Charmin added. You'll want to take advantage of this deal. 

Buy 2 Bounty or Charmin earn $6 RR (select sizes. Only $11.99 ones work for this deal. This is for the 6pk Bounty p/t and 9 ct Charmin t/p). Mix & match. If you can only find the blue Charmin, be sure to get the one that says "Smooth tear". The double dip RR only works on this blue pack

There's also 2 digital boosters to combine with this deal. 

$5 WYS $25 on grocery or household items

$$5 WYS $20 (Amount may vary by account. I got a $5 on one account and $7 on the other). Here's the scenario

2 x Bounty/Charmin $23.98

2 x Dawn 2.48 (filler item to get total to $25. You can buy one Dawn, but there's a RR deal WYB 2)

Less Bounty DQ (0.50)

OOP $26.46 - Please pay cash so you can earn all rewards

Earn $12 RR ($6 Bounty/Charmin, $5 WYS $15 P&G, $1 Dawn) + $10 WC ($5 Grocery/household, $5 WYS $20)

If you manage to find the Bounty, submit your receipt to Ibotta for $4 cash back.

Total earned : $26.00!!!

If you have a paper booster, you can triple dip on this deal. Here's what I did with my $7 WYS $40 paper boosters

Trans 1

1 x Bounty $11.99

1 x Charmin 11.99

2 x Dove shampoo 8.00

2 x Colgate t/p 8.00

1 x Dawn 1.24

Less Bounty DQ (0.50)

Less Charmin DQ (0.50)

Less Colgate DQ (4.00)

Less Dove DQ (2.00)

Tax 2.47

OOP $36.69

Earned : $16 RR ($6 Bounty, $5 P&G, $3 Colgate, $2 Dove) + $19 points ($5 Grocery, $5 WYS $20, $7 WYS $40, $2 see below) + $4 Ibotta (Bounty) + $1.50 Fetch (There's a Dove deal I wasn't aware of). 

Total earned : $40.50

There are 2 x $2/1 Dove DQs. When you add the items online, it applies both Qs. However, only one deducts in store. I contacted CS (for a few things) and they added $2 for the Q, hence the $19 WC. 

Trans 2 - other account. I had 2 x $7/40 boosters

2 x Charmin $23.98

2 x Dove shampoo 8.00

2 x Colgate t/p 8.00

1 x Dawn 1.24

1 x Sour cream 2.49

Less Colgate DQ (4.00)

Less Dove DQ (2.00)

Tax 2.47

OOP $40.18

Earned : $16 RR ($6 Bounty, $5 P&G, $3 Colgate, $2 Dove) + $19 points ($5 Grocery, $7 WYS $30, $7 WYS $40) 

Total earned : $35.00

I forgot to clip the Charmin Qs on this account. I need to contact CS about the $2 Dove Q. 

So I spent $76.87 and earned $75.50 + $2 (Dove).

I sure as heck wouldn't pay full price for p/t or t/p at the drugstores. The rolls are much smaller than the ones I get at Sams and Sams price is much lower. 

Trans 3

3 x O/S b/w $21.00

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 2.26

OOP : $2.26

Earned $5 RR + $5 WC 

I knew that the DQ wouldn't work, because you can't mix scents. I only found 2 Captain, so I grabbed a different scent. That DQ is still available for use and I was able to use more WC to pay. Win-win! I contacted CS and they added the $5 for the DQ. 

Ugh, Wags keeps changing the rules. They do this every time they have the P&G promo. You no longer earn $5 WYS $15 PG RR if you pay with rewards. It sure as heck worked last week. Trust Wags to change things in the middle of a promo. Same thing happened with the Tampax, but there's good news. 

Trans 4

1 x Tampax $11.99

1 x Tampax 50% off 5.98

Less DQ (3.00)

Less WC (10.00)

OOP $4.98

Earn $5 RR WYB 2. However, it also prints a $5 Store coupon for sanitary, vitamin & weight loss items. Since this is a store Q, it can be combined with manufacturer's Qs. So your transaction would look like this. 

1 x Tampax $11.99

1 x Tampax 50% off 5.98

Less DQ (3.00)

Less Store Q (5.00)

Less WC (10.00)

OOP $0.00

Earn $5 RR and possibly another $5 store Q. 

I haven't tried it this way yet. If you want to play it safe, add a filler item to be able to use $10 WC. I didn't pay tax on mine, but you don't need a filler if tax is added. Only the above pictured package has the promo shelf tag, so be sure to purchase the exact one. You might not earn RRs on any other size/variety.

Breakdown of yesterday's trip

Number of items purchased: 19

Total Qs used : $16.00

Total Rewards used : $30.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $90.50

Total OOP : $84.11 ($4.43 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $148.91

Last week at Wags was such a cluster. I don't even have the energy to tell the story (it's a long one). I eventually got it sorted and earned my rewards. But seriously, I don't want to have to teach Wags employees (including shift supervisors) how to do their job, every time I go shopping.  

Happy shopping peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 02/05/24

Well our menu plan for this week went sideways fast. I gave myself food poisoning last night. I cooked all our meals again yesterday. I had 2 meals with mushrooms planned. I had 2 packages of fresh mushrooms - one I bought on Friday & one the week before. The fresh ones went into the stroganoff and the older package was sautéed for breakfasts. I decided to add some sautéed mushrooms to our ravioli, which we had for dinner last night.

Well, I dreamed that I was out somewhere at night (I don't know who or where), but I started hurling my guts out and the person in the dream told me it's food poisoning (it's so weird that I dreamed about it, while getting sick). I immediately woke with a very upset stomach and just this liquid feeling in my mouth. I know that means I'm close to tossing my cookies. My saliva always turns to water right before I throw up. Now, it's extremely rare for me to throw up, but I was so sick last night I ran to the bathroom and it was just water coming out of my mouth. Spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom, but no throwing up (this was just after midnight). Went back to sleep and my darn phone started buzzing. Ugh! It wasn't even anything important. I leave my phone on, because I use the alarm on my phone and also in case my family needs to contact me during an emergency. 

Thankfully, DS didn't get sick, because he has a weak stomach. I felt sick all day. I felt a bit better after going to bathroom this morning (TMI), but that food hasn't left my body yet. I wasn't even up to dinner tonight, so I just had a grilled cheese. DS opted for a chicken wrap and leftover fries. I'm normally an expiration date junkie, but didn't want to waste the mushrooms. Besides, it still looked fine (except for a few slimy ones that I didn't use). I would rather throw out food than get sick. Trying to save a few $$$ while being sick for an entire day & being unproductive, is not worth it to me. So here's what our menu was supposed to look like. 

Monday : Pesto ravioli (with mushrooms, roasted red peppers) and salad

Tuesday : Beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes & veggies

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Mexican night

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Bran apple 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 - we ate some pumpkin pie last week, but there's still lots of cookies left

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

Needless to say, the mushrooms and the entire ravioli dish got tossed. I'm upset about the ravioli, because it's the yummy Sams one. I considered just removing the mushrooms, but I don't want to risk getting DS sick too. 

I don't have any noodles for the stroganoff, so we're just having mashed potatoes instead. I originally had a totally different menu planned, so I didn't buy any noodles. 

Thankfully, I also baked BBQ chicken breasts, so that's our dinner alternative for this week. 

Bon Appetit Peeps!

Last night's dinner - Taco boats with black bean avocado salad

My apologies to Belinda who's been waiting on this recipe 😊 I'm utterly exhausted. I woke up extra early all week long (3 am, 4am, 5am). By Thursday I just felt worn out. Yesterday I felt better, but had to run errands (and it was one of those 'let's just see how much crap Ms Gee can take'😂 days - more on that next time). By 8pm I was in my jammies ready to binge watch one of my favorite shows. Well, guess who fell asleep about 20 minutes in? When I woke up, it was 10pm. So I checked that DS went to bed, then got some fries and back to my show. I finally called it a night by 12:30pm. Then I woke up at 5:30am. Grrr. My body clearly didn't get the memo that it's weekend so I can sleep late. So I'm gonna try that binge watching, early night again after this post. 

On to the recipe. I found this avocado salad recipe years ago (this is a new one, but the ingredients are the same) and used to make it all the time. It's so yummy, healthy and easy to fix. What you'll need besides the salad

• Old El Paso soft taco boats 
  
  
• Taco meat (beef or chicken)  - I'm not posting the details, cause taco meat is easy cook, although I add my own extras
  
  
• Cheese 
  
  
• Sour cream (definitely optional)

Add cooked taco meat to boat, top with cheese and nuke (microwave). Then top with black bean salad and enjoy. Easy peasy. 

I don't add sour cream, because I don't want anything else to mess with the salad's flavor.

I prefer the taco boat, because the taco shells don't hold much filling (only reason why I'm not crazy about corn tacos) and/or the shells break easily.

You can double or triple the recipe if you have a large crowd to serve. I just use the regular recipe (it's just DS & me), because avocados don't remain fresh too long. I can easily make another batch after a few days. 

I love this salad! There's so many ways to use it

• Serve it on the side with quesadillas or burritos
  
  
• Top your grilled chicken or beef  with it - I'd use fajita seasoning on the chicken
  
  
• Or just serve it with tortilla chips
  
  

I'll be using regular tortillas for the leftover filling, since we're out of taco boats. So this is our new Friday night dinner item until we get tired of it 😂 We'll just serve it a different way every week. 

Bon Appetit Peeps!