Menu Plan Monday 03/18/24

Well, I'm still sick. I've been sleeping the days away since Friday. I don't need a test to tell me I have Covid. I know the symptoms. I was determined to get the cooking done yesterday and today I feel a lot worse. In fact, this is the worst I've felt since I got sick. I'm just utterly exhausted and my whole body aches. I don't even have the energy to take a bath to soak my aching joints. I just took a shower instead. I'm supposed to be getting better, not worse. Here's our meals for this week. 

Monday : Chicken a la king, yellow rice, veggies

Tuesday : Bobotie yellow rice, veggies

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Not sure yet

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Gingerbread carrot muffins, cranberry almond pancakes, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, 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 also baked BBQ chicken breasts, so we have it for sandwiches & wraps. 

Americans have meatloaf & South Africans have bobotie. You can read about it's history/origin here (recipe included). The author failed to mention Indian immigrants who brought Indian cuisine to SA, same with French who brought vines (Cape Town is well known as wine country) & pastries.  I haven't made bobotie in years. I'm thinking that I should make a traditional SA recipe every week or 2. 

We got carry out on Friday and Saturday. This mama just wasn't in the mood to think about food, so we might have pizza on Friday. 

It's times like these that it pays to be a planner. I'm so glad I went shopping & redeemed all my RRs before getting sick. Our meals are cooked, so we just have to heat & eat. We set school clothes ready and lunch is packed. Now I can go sleep for another hour or 2. I just wish I bought some Canada Dry last week too, because I like my Canada Dry when I'm sick. 

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

More Drugstore Shopping

Well, I discovered that I had another $35 RRs that expires this week, so I had to take another trip to Wags. I received another $7 WYS $40 paper booster on Monday, so I figured I'd combine it with my beauty $10 WYS $30 Digital booster and $7 WYS $40 booster on my other account.

Trans 1

5 x Covergirl eyeshadow $33.95

2 x Garnier whole blends 8.00

3 x Storage bags B1G2F 2.79

Less Covergirl DQ (2.00)

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less RRs (28.00)

Tax 2.68

OOP $14.42

Earned $24 WC ($10 WYS $30 Beauty, $7 WYS 40 Paper, $7 WYS $40 DQ) + $4 WC (see below) + $15 Ibotta (Covergirl - see below)

Total earned = $43.00

Here we go again! The darn CAT machine didn't work, but I never said anything because this fragrance isn't marked as earning rewards online. So I'm holding out for trans 2 (see below). Also, Ibotta only credited me $12, but I submitted a ticket for the 5th item, because it qualified (I scanned everything before purchase). 

I would've liked to use the rest of my RRs, but I needed to make sure that I don't use more RRs than items and risk having the register reject it. See how we need to plan for Wags 😂 You need to be several steps ahead of them. 

Trans 2

2 x Garnier $8.00

2 x Oral B 7.00

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less RRs (6.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.90

OOP $1.10

Wait a minute. Nothing printed again. I knew this time that it's the CAT machine. So I mentioned to cashier (who happened to be supervisor) and asked her to add $4 to my first transaction. No problemo. So she adds $3.50 to my account 🤦 I told her it should be $4 and that she could just add it to 2nd transaction (by now there's a long line behind me. it never fails). So she adds another 50c to that first transaction. Then she adds $3.50 to my 2nd transaction. Bloody hell!!! I just told her it's $4. I wasn't gonna hold up the line over 50c, so I just thanked her and left. Got to my car and realised that I didn't tell her about the $3 for the Oral B. No way am I going back inside, wait in line for another $3. I still have a bunch of other stores to hit. 

So I earned back $3.50 on this transaction. Then last night I decided to try Wags Live Chat. I knew it was a long shot, because they don't really credit you for RRs. They'll tell you to contact Catalina Company - it depends on which CS rep you get. Well, our internet was down last night. Just my luck. That meant I couldn't watch tv either. It finally turned back on, but I was too ticked off to bother with Wags. I tried today and they told me to contact Catalina. No way. I'm just gonna return the toothbrushes and they can add that $7 to my account. 

Then I stopped at RA. I was determined to use that $9/43 mailed Q before it expires this weekend 😂 

4 x Dove b/w $41.96

3 x Dove b/w B1G2nd 50% off 15.72

Less DQ (2.00)

Less mailer Q (9.00)

Tax 2.92

OOP $49.60 - Paid with BC so $0 OOP

Earned $43 BC ($10 WYS $20 on Dove x 2, $10 WYS $50, $13 WYS $52 BCC)

Mmm, RA's store price is $3 higher than their online price. So RA is supposed to be 'get in get out go home'. I don't know what the cashier did, but she couldn't complete the transaction, so we had to start from scratch. Everything worked out in the end and I'm happy with my purchase. I wish the Ibotta offer didn't expire on Sunday, because I could've earned an extra $10. Oh well, nothing beats FREE b/w. The mango one smells amazing. This is the best part of drugstore couponing. We get to try products we would never have bothered to purchase otherwise and it doesn't even cost me much. 

This week's drugstore breakdown (includes Monday's purchases)

Number of items purchased: 34

Total Qs used : $24.00

Total Rewards used : $104.60

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $128.50

Total OOP : $47.53 ($1.40per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $224.76

Now I can take another week off from Wags. I still have $25 RRs that expire in 2 weeks, but I might use it on Covergirl if the Ibotta offer resets. I still have a Beauty Booster on one account. 

I don't know if it's DST or if I'm getting sick, but I woke up with the sniffles and all I want to do is sleep. I so hope I'm not getting sick, but I'm kinda glad I got the shopping done. I'm so worn out, I can barely keep my eyes open. I might need to have an early night. 

Have a wonderful evening peeps!

This week's Wags shopping

Well, I knocked myself out last night & slept like a baby. I woke up feeling exhausted, but that all changed once the coffee kicked in. The sun's out, I'm feeling great & accomplished quite a bit. 

So, I had to hit Wags again, because I constantly have a pile of RRs to use. I did stop at Wags last week to pick up hair color (which I desperately needed) that cost $1 each after Q and WC I used. Does anyone else get tired of constantly having to color your hair? I don't have much gray, but it all grows in the front where it's visible for all the world to see. I used to just cut the stray pieces, but they seem to have doubled in numbers. I just want a permanent color or something you only have to do once a year. On to the deals.

Trans 1

1 x Aveeno $14.49

1 x Aveeno B1G2nd 50% off 7.24

1 x Colgate t/p $4.00

1 x Colgate t/b 4.00

2 x Garnier shampoo 8.00

2 x Crest t/p 9.98

Less Aveeno DQ (3.00)

Less Colgate DQ (2.00)

Less Colgate DQ (2.00)

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less Crest DQ (1.00)

Less RRs (8.00)

Tax 2.86

OOP $31.57

Earned $21 RR ($10 Aveeno, $4 Colgate, $4 Garnier, $3 Crest) + $14 WC ($7 WYS $40 DQ, $7 WYS $40 Paper Q).

Total earned $35

The store had no sale tags with the Colgate products. I knew that the Optic white was on sale, but I didn't know which size. To top it off, the wifi didn't work at Wags 😡 So I checked my Wags group and saw someone had a big toothpaste. So I grabbed one of those. When the cashier scanned the items, I saw that it rang up at $5 instead of $4, so I asked if I could grab the smaller size. She voided the large one & scanned smaller one. I had 3 RRs expiring and the register rejected the $3 one. Again, there's no answer as to why. Then it wouldn't accept my $7 booster Q and the cashier insisted it's because my total was below $40 - this was after she hit total, which reduced the amount. So the supervisor comes over and reads the fine print on RR 🤦(she's worked there a long time, so she should know their Q policy) and then told me the Q works after Qs. Absolutely not!!! (I didn't say that out loud 😂). I politely asked if she could void the transaction and rescan the items. I figured that whole Colgate thing and the rejected Q probably played a role. So the cashier scans everything again and I had her scan the $7 Booster Q and whaddya know. It worked!!! They hate when I know more about their job than they do 😂 So I had to figure out a way to use the $3 RR. I wasn't going to throw away good money and I didn't want any with DQs. I needed this Q to attach to something, anything 😂

And darn it! The Crest had a shelf tag for $4 (I wanted the $3 items to get my total to $40, but they didn't have any in stock). Ugh, I only saw that it rang up at $4.99 after I got home. Grrrr

I didn't plan on using the boosters, cause I have oodles of WC to redeem. I wanted the Aveeno though and figured I might as well earn the $14 back too. My hands get so dry over winter that I had bloody knuckles 2 weeks ago. After just one use, my hands started feeling better again. I used the Aveeno Positively Radiant lotion years ago. I wish it wasn't discontinued.

Trans 2

2 x Garnier $8.00

3 x Storage bags B1G2F 2.79

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less RR (3.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.65

OOP $0.44

Earned $4 RR Garnier

Well shucks, I just noticed that the storage bags rang up at 2.79, instead of being tagged $3.49. Yay. 

The best deal this week is Garnier. There are 2 different kinds, so you can do this deal both times but need to split your transactions to earn the reward.

2 x Garnier or Garnier whole blends $8.00 (do NOT mix & match)

Less DQ (3.00)

OOP $5.00

Earn $4 RR

Kroger is the place to shop this week. 

BOGOF Sargento cheese $1.75 each (price may vary by location)

Kraft salad dressing $1.49

OM lunch meat $3.49

½ Gallon milk $1.29

And if you need soda 12pk Canada dry fruit splash $3/14 and there's a $3 Ibotta rebate (limit 2) that ends tomorrow. So $8/3 pks or $2.66 each.

These are all items we need (excl soda). I'm on my last bag of shredded cheese. 

Happy shopping peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 03/11/24

DST kicked my behind right from the get go. My plan was to get up early yesterday, finish cooking then take DS out for a drive and dinner. Well, I woke up at 8:30 (which is late for me) and my body was totally out of sync. DS wasn't feeling the day either and didn't even want to help with baking. He wanted me to make muffins, but he refused to help in the kitchen. So we stayed home and went to bed our usual time. Guess who's been awake since 4am? Boy, do I hate this time change 😡 My body & brain are confused, my back hurts and I'm cranky. I needed to go to Wags cause I had RRs expiring today. So I decided to just run a few more errands too. Wags was it's usual crappy self and I just wasn't in the mood for it (more on that tomorrow). Thankfully, dinner is ready, so we can just heat and eat. Here's our plan for this week.

Monday : Ravioli with meat sauce, salad, mini garlic naan (see below)

Tuesday : Chicken biryani, veggies,

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Pizza & salad, fries (DS)

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Carrot pineapple muffins, cranberry almond pancakes, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, 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 also prepped salad fixings & made samosas.

My plan was to make lasagna with meat sauce from the freezer, but then I noticed the ravioli in the freezer. This is less work than lasagna (we make our lasagna with bechamel sauce, so there's extra cooking involved) and one less item in the freezer. Yay, for not having to cook another meal. I'm using Aldi mini garlic naan, because I rarely eat bread with pasta. This way I can just pull one or 2 from the freezer and heat it for DS. Easy peasy. 

Biryani - there's different ways to cook it. Ours is basically a meat (beef, lamb, chicken or you can use fish too), rice & lentil dish. I haven't made any in years and we had some for dinner last night. It was so good. 

We stopped at Aldi on Saturday (our last stop after running a few errands) for brioche bread and onions. As we were heading to checkout, I said to DS 'let's go see if they have samosas'. I don't even know where that idea came from (okay, I do know 😊), because Aldi hasn't had samosas since last summer. So we get to the fridge section and there's a fridge full of veggie samosas. I couldn't believe my eyes. The look on DS's face was pure happiness. He was so happy to load the cart with samosas. We bought 8 boxes. No shame in our game, cause they'll probably be sold out next time we go to Aldi. We left the store $61 later, but that's a small price to pay to make my kiddo happy. He's so easy to please. I'm the same way. Surprise me with my favorite food & I'm happy. Most people assume I just want fancy things, because they mainly see my proper self. They have no idea that a simple CFA spicy deluxe chicken sandwich can work wonders for my mood 😂 I love CFA, but there are very few in our fine state so it's a real treat to get it. I'm a simple girl. Well, DS is having samosas as part of his lunch all week, so he's happy. 

I made taco meat, beans & pico on Friday, so we had beef (taco meat) quesadillas with beans and pico. So pizza has been moved this Friday. 

Bon Appetit peeps!

Wags fiasco

Oh boy, was Wags a pain in the patoot the last week and it's all because of the P&G promo. Well, Wags is well known for changing things in the middle of this promo (it's happened before). I've also read that they've had a system reset, so I'm not sure what the real reason is. I'm going to post my transactions and explain as I go along. 

Thursday

Trans 1

3 x Olay b/w 21.00

2 x Kit Kat 2.00

Less Olay DQ (5.00)

Less RR (4.00)

Less WC (10.00)

Tax 1.26

OOP $5.26

Earned $10 RR ($5 Olay + $5 P&G)

Ugh, this was the beginning of the nightmare. I had a $5 PG RR and $4 RR. These both scanned, but then the screen said 'coupons rejected'. I know from prior experience that if the register doesn't accept just one RR, it will reject all RRs you're trying to use. Neither the cashier nor I could figure it out. She hit a bunch of keys and it finally accepted the $4 RR, but not the $5 one. So I told her that I'll just use the $5 one next time. The Olay totally threw me off too. I didn't expect the DQ to deduct, because I had different scents. I figured I'd just contact CS when I get home. Looks like Wags changed the rules again. I added 2 Kit Kats as filler for the RR. I only needed one, but it's $1.49 each or 2/$2. No brainer 😂

Trans 2

2 x Pampers diapers $21.00

1 x Oral b t/b 3.00

1 x Burts bees t/p 3.50

Less Pampers DQ (3.00)

Less Burts Bees DQ (2.00)

Less Oral b DQ (1.00)

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 1.65

OOP 3.15

Earned $12 RR ($4 Pampers, $5 P&G, $3 Oral B/BB)

I didn't even attempt to use any RRs on this transaction 😂When I got home and checked my Wags group, I learned that everyone else were experiencing problems with their RRs being rejected too. Not good, because I had a bunch of RRs expiring this week and the ad doesn't look good. So Saturday I headed to a different Wags. I'm glad I did, because this problem persisted until Monday. I don't even know if it's been fixed yet.

Trans 3

1 x Aveeno lotion $14.49

1 x Aveeno lotion B1G2nd 50% off 7.24

3 x Pantene 15.00

2 x Oral B t/b 6.00

1 x Dawn 1.29

Less Aveeno DQ (2.00)

Less Pantene DQ (5.00)

Less RRs (21.00)

Tax 2.64

OOP $18.66

Earned $17 RR ($10 Aveeno, $4 Pantene, $3 Oral B) + $7 WC (WYS $40 - I had a paper booster). 

Son of a gun! The darn register rejected all my RRs again (I had 4 and it included the P&G ones). However, I was mentally prepared for this. I explained to cashier that it's P&G and that it's rejected nationwide. I didn't originally have the Dawn, but added it once manager rerang the items so P&G RR would attach to it. No such luck, but the nice manager manually entered my RRs. Phew!

So, I still had 2 more $5 P&G to use (they have short expiration dates and I just wanted to use all RRs so I don't have to shop this week). I vaguely remembered a previous P&G RR stating 'on your purchase of $5 or more (I have a photographic memory). So I placed all my items back on the shelf (I had the exact same items for this transaction too, but already knew it wouldn't work) and grabbed 4 big bottles of Dawn since they're over $5 each. And whaddya know, the transaction went smoothly. I sure as heck don't need any Dawn, but I was glad to get through that Wags headache. 

Trans 4

4 x Dawn $23.56

Less DQ (0.50)

Less RR (15.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 1.41

OOP $4.47

Earned $5 RR

Wags Breakdown for last week 

Number of items purchased: 37

Total Qs used : $44.50

Total Rewards used : $106.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $83.00

Total OOP : $50.98 ($1.38 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $241.23

So I basically paid 21.13% of the retail value. Technically speaking, I paid 16.5% of the retail price, because $11.17 of my total OOP was sales tax. Tax isn't included in the retail price. Yeah, I'm a bit of a geek 😂

The ads for this week didn't look too good & I'm not messing with any P&G deals this week. There is a good baby diaper deal if you have paper boosters. I've decided to just take this week off from drugstore shopping & I'm totally enjoying it. I think I'm burned out from shopping. I have Wags RRs expiring next week again, so it will be back to the shopping grindstone for me. The ad previews are decent, so I already have a plan 😂

Happy shopping peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 03/04/23

Happy Monday everyone! I'm just loving the warmer weather. Yesterday was a busy cooking day. Here's our plan for the week.

Monday : Beef pot pie, salad, veggies

Tuesday : Chicken sausage rolls, roasted veggies, foil potatoes

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Haven't decided yet, but mexican or pizza

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Bran apple muffins, cranberry almond pancakes, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage, 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

We ended up eating taco boats on Friday night, because we love it! Now I have to figure out dinner for this Friday. I'm thinking we should eat the last of the pizza - if DS doesn't have it for lunch this week. We ate some cookies from the freezer & it was so good. I'm so glad that stuff is frozen, because it was so good that I wanted more. I only thawed 4 cookies (2 each). Thankfully, my self control won. 

I also made frikkadel to make an easy sandwich/'burger' when we need a quick bite. Halfway through cooking I realised that we're eating pastry all week (not that I mind 😂 that's my favorite part of the meal), but I made the sausage rolls so DS could have something other than his usual sandwiches & wraps for lunch. I used the last of the beef roast to make the pot pie. I'm eating down the freezer. I was so worn out from cooking & food prep yesterday, that I ended up making the pancakes this morning. Once again, I'm using up the cranberries from the freezer. 

I'll post all about the Wags fiasco tomorrow. I'm on a drugstore hiatus this week.

Have a wonderful evening peeps! 

Frugal Friday 03/01/24

How crazy is it that we are already into the 3rd month of the year? Before we know it, it will be Christmas again. 

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

• My Staples gut feeling paid off. I had the printer drum in my cart & received a $10/60 Q 2 days ago. Swagbucks also had a Shop offer for Spend $75 earn $5. I first checked Rakuten to see what their cash back percentage was. Turned out to be the same as Swagbucks. I went with Swagbucks for that $5 bonus & already have everything added to my account. Whoo-hoo!
  
  I always compare cash back between the 2 sites. I don't mind using Swagbucks, because they still offer that discounted $25 reward every month (which saves you $3). This works out better than Rakuten. 
  
  
• Ordered discounted RR gcs for DS.
  
  
• Chicos sent me a $15 reward. I already received a $15 one last month, but got another one this month. 
  
  
• WHBM also sent me a $50 reward (we get these twice a year, but it's kinda early this year). I still have a $5 reward they previously sent me. So I have a total of $85 to spend and can't find anything good to purchase. You know things are bad when I struggle to spend that much free money. 
  
  
• Received my Kroger mailer Qs and my freebie is a big bag of Lays chips. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, cause I'm trying to lose weight but I'm not saying no to free chips 😂
  
  
• Also received good RA mailer Qs and my new BCC offers are really good. They even added Old Spice to the list. 
  
  
• Received a $5 Kohls reward today. I don't even remember the last time I shopped at Kohls. I guess yesterday's small purchase gave me enough to cash out.
  
  
• Logged into my other IGC account (it's been about 2 years) and saw that I had more than enough old points for a $10 gc, so I redeemed for a $10 Target gc. 
  
  
• Froze this week's dinner leftovers as individual portions so I can have it for lunch every day. Less waste that way & I can just heat & eat. 
  
  
• I've been looking for new ballet flats/loafers for years. I sold my old pair almost 3 years ago and have been searching for a new pair since, without any luck. I had my eye on a pair of leather ones for almost 2 years, but every time I considered purchasing it, my gut would say no. The sales price was just not good enough for me. Last weekend, I received an email for BOGOF shoes (I've never seen them do a BOGOF sale) and those loafers were reduced to $60. Thankfully they had my size in stock, so I ordered 2 pairs in different colors. At checkout, I saw that I had rewards available - a whopping $15 rewards. I have no idea how I earned this, because I've only shopped with them twice and I didn't even buy much (a big blue purse & matching wallet). So $45 for 2 pairs of genuine leather loafers. Count me in! The best part is that I sold my old pair for around $40, so it's almost like getting free shoes.
  
  
• Did the whole Wags thing yesterday and there was another snafu (system error). I hit 4 stores and spent around $40 OOP. I love shopping with gcs and rewards. Gcs are already paid for (and extra money earned on them) and rewards just keep being rolled. I didn't have any rewards for Kroger and the pop (we only had one can of Coke Zero left & I wasn't going to fight DS for it 😂) and bottle deposit took up most of the bill. 

That's all I can remember for this week. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!