I'm still here

Hi everyone

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. It's been a rough ride, and the stress has been taking a toll on my health again. I've had more hair breakage & I'm not sleeping. I still have a pending court case. Sigh. I just wish the ex would complete everything now so we can both move on with our lives. I'm more than ready to move forward. I can close this case without court appearance if he just does what he's supposed to, but nothing is ever easy.

I also woke up to some bad news from my family this week. Not good & has me very worried. In typical family fashion (we're good at it), they're downplaying things, but I know it might be worse, otherwise they wouldn't have contacted me. So I've been up since 3 am again. Started my day talking to them and worrying some more. I feel like I've been running on empty for some time now. The problem with being a strong person is that everyone expects you to be there for them, but nobody ever asks how you are doing. Sometimes I just need someone to ask how I am, tell me that they care and/or give me a hug. Sorry, I'm just venting, cause (like my family) we don't put our problems or personal business out there for all the world to know. We're very private! I just put on my happy face and go about my business being there for others. I just need something good to happen for a change. 

What else is new in Goose land

• I almost made an offer on that house I viewed. It was near perfect, but my gut is still telling me no. I've broadened my search to a few more cities, because the housing market seems to be on pause again. I need to move!!! 
  
  
  
• Received my $40 Rakuten check 
  
  
  
• Received $5 KC that I let expire, because I didn't want to waste a trip to the mall to just redeem $5

• Bought my vanity when Wayfair had it reduced to $285. Then over the weekend, it was reduced by another 30! Ugh! I'm not upset though, since I paid with gcs. I love that they have no limit to the amount of gcs you can use per order. However, I decided to pay $50 with my CC. I figured it's better to dispute the charge if anything arrives broken/damaged. I still have $100 gcs left. I opened one package to see if the mirror was unharmed, but only saw wood pieces (ugh). I didn't want to take the whole thing apart to look for the mirror in the middle.  The ex wanted to leave my vanity on the porch and I said 'no way'. I told him to put it in the garage or shed, because I don't want it to get damaged when it rains. Wood swells when it gets wet (even I know that...lol). See why I need to move? I hate procrastination. I just want to get things done and live life again. 
  
  

• My car battery died. I was going to take the vehicle to the car wash, only to discover it won't start. So the ex charged the battery. He said to test it to see how it works otherwise I need a replacement. I hope I don't get stuck somewhere. I've had other problems with this car a few short years ago, so I hope nothing else goes wrong. 

• I was going to buy this Date night top with my $50 WHBM reward, but the item had so many mixed reviews about sizing. You forfeit your reward if you return anything you purchased with it, so I decided to pay cash for it. I sized down per reviews and it fits perfectly!! This top is sexyyyyyy!!! Holy cow! I didn't expect it to look & fit this good. Okay, it shows a little cleavage, but not too much. The downside is that I hate wearing strapless bras. I'm always worried that the bra will end up around my ankles...lol.  I tried the top with a regular bra and pushed the bra straps slightly off the shoulder to hide it & voila! Problem solved. I'll definitely use the detachable straps to avoid a wardrobe malfunction. Now I need to lose at least 10 lbs so I can comfortably fit my behind into my skinny jeans again. 
  
  Yep, I'm ready to go on a date. Okay, maybe I'll never be ready but as Joyce Meyer likes to say 'Do it afraid'. So I've decided that I'm just going to Do it, otherwise I might never work up the nerve/courage. I haven't been on a date in about 25 years. I don't even know the protocol. What do you do, say? What if the guy decides he doesn't like me. Do I cry at the table? Wait until I get to my car?...lol. Oh boy! Maybe I should go on a lunch date first, cause I don't have anyone to watch DS. I can't get a sitter to come to the house, cause the ex will complain and he'll refuse to watch DS. So lunch is probably my best bet, but DS is now home on Fridays too, so I have 4 days to go out. Oy vey. I'm really nervous, because I never did something like this before. In CT, I met men through business, at social events or through friends, so I already 'knew' them and/or what to expect. My life has changed a lot since moving here, so I'm not as confident as I was before. 
  
  
  
•  I then purchased 2 of my favorite poplin shirts (was on sale last week) and paid $12 OOP. Turns out I had another $5 reward in my account, so $55 free money. Then I received another $5 reward yesterday. I don't even know what all the rewards are for and I don't need anything else. Come on! I don't need any more clothes. Heck, I hardly go out to wear all my clothes. I need to get a life...lol
  
  

• Chicos sent me a $10 reward (dunno why), so I got this blouse. It is prettier than expected, especially for a free item. I love the paisley & floral sleeve accents. This blouse is so simple, but still makes a statement - just the way I like it!
  
  

• Purchased a pair of jeans & top with my Madewell reward and paid $5.28 OOP. The jeans retails for $128, so I'm not complaining about the OOP. 
  
  

• I've started taking DS to dinner on weekends. We haven't done this in years, so it was nice for us to get out again and he's happy. It was even nicer to be able to enjoy a craft beer again. It's kinda weird doing things on my own, because I've been dependent on the ex for so long. Baby steps. I have to keep reminding myself that I CAN do this. I don't have to be afraid of the unknown, because I'll never do anything if I continue to live my life in fear.

• Went to Ollies to look for new lunch boxes for DS and came home with bakeware instead (insert face palm emoji...lol). Well, Ollies had heavy duty Wilton bakeware (cookie sheets, loaf pans, cake pans, cooling racks) at really low prices (large cookie sheets are $6.99). I had a 15% off Q, so this worked out great. I bought a Wilton cookie sheet set at Target for $18 a few months ago & this thing is so flimsy. I researched this Ever Glide line and saw that it debuted in 2018. That explains the good quality, cause everything is so poorly made lately. 

Stopped at Target after dinner on Sunday (we didn't go anywhere fancy this time), because I had a $15/100 that was expiring and I'm on my last bottle of Tide (please excuse the crooked pic. I don't know how to straighten pic on my new computer)

6 x 90 oz Tide $77.94

3 x Old Spice Spray 22.17

1 x Old Spice b/w 7.39

1 x Razors 7.29

Less 15/100 (15.00)

Less Bic DQ (4.00)

Less OS Q (6.00)

Less $3 Tide DQ (3.00)

Tax 4.49

OOP $91.28 Paid with gc

Earned $25 GC (2 x $10 Tide, $5 OS) + $14.10 Ibotta ($6 OS spray, $3 OS b/w, $5 Razor, 10c any item) and submitted for $15 PG rebate. 

Total earned $54.10

I decided to just use one of those discounted Target gcs I bought last year, since I'm only $12 short of my $1k Christmas savings. It's only May, so I can easily make up for it. Saved me from spending more OOP. 

My Target only had 1 Captain spray, so I had to get a different brand. I added the b/w, since it had a $3 Ibotta rebate. It actually smells good. Not nearly as good as the Captain, but it will do. The Deep Sea smells okay. Not bad, but not something I'll buy again.  I sense a theme here - Captain, Deep Sea, Harbor...lol. This is right up my alley, cause I grew up by the ocean. 

That's about it for me right now. I'll try to write again later this week.

Have a wonderful week peeps!

Quick check in

Hi everyone

I'm still here. Thank you to Lori & Teresa for checking up on me. I really appreciate it. I'm currently in the middle of a legal battle with the ex. This is something that could have been avoided, so I'm really mad about it. It's costing me a lot of money right now. We all know that lawyers don't come cheap. I have to deal with 2 different types of lawyers. Next week is my week for lawyers appointments.

I also have an appointment with my realtor to go view a house tomorrow. The house is really nice & fairly new. Again, over my budget and has a sink in the middle of the kitchen, but at this point, I'm just ready to move. Actually, I'm more than ready to move. I really like this house. It's not far from here and everything is modern, but I just don't have peace about it. My gut is saying no, but I'm determined to go check out that house...lol  Oh boy. The housing market is heating up, but the ones I usually like are over budget. I'm willing to pay a little bit more (not too much) if I find the right house though.

On top of that, the washer's not working right. Ugh! We haven't even had this thing for 2 years. The previous one (a GE. Do yourself a favor & stay away from this brand) didn't even last 3 months. So we bought a Speed Queen that has worked great, but won't rinse now. I've done some research, the ex checked for ways to fix it and I'm coming up with the same answer - the filter needs to be cleaned (I've seen several people mention this. Looks like it's a common problem with the newer washers - different brands) He said he already did that and a tech is bringing a new valve next week. So I've been washing a load, then haul it upstairs to rinse in the bathtub (I tried filling the washer with water, but it won't hold), then haul everything downstairs to spin. I'm buying myself a non-digital washer when I move. I seriously don't want this headache again. All the newer digital things don't work. We actually have a digital LG dryer (probably 6-8 years old) that still works great. It seems that the newer pandemic stuff is the problem. If anyone has a newer washer that works great, please let me know the brand & model in the comments. I just need to find something that works well. TIA. 

So, I'm in the middle of packing and it made me realise that I don't need any more clothes. I filled 3 of those 27 gallon containers with just clothes from my spare closet. That is just crazy! That's just clothes. I haven't even packed any of my shoes yet & there's a lot. I just left some clothes in both closets for use now. It's actually enough clothes to fill a normal person's closet, but it feels so empty to me. Oh boy! I need to buy more containers soon. I actually like packing this way. I just lift all the clothes (hangers & all) and small piles in half. Then place inside large trash bags (in case something spills or gets wet), then into the container. When I have to unpack, I can just pull our a bag at a time and hang. Easy peasy. I've been dropping off bags of stuff at the recycling bins every week (it's closer than driving to the thrift store and I can go at any time). The thrifts are getting lots of my designer purses and clothes. 

As I was cleaning out my closet, I found a brand new bottle of my favorite perfume. I have completely forgotten about it. I've been using designer perfume since I started high school. When Target had a big sale on it (holiday season before the pandemic), I bought 2. I'm still using the other one, but forgot that I had this one. I was really surprised to see it at Target, because it's only ever been available at the high end department stores. Then they changed the fragrance name and I got a new bottle at Macy's about 2 years ago. Then the new fragrance was discontinued too and I was so happy that I scored my bottle. Now I'm even happier, because I now have 2 (3.4 oz) bottles. I've been using this fragrance for about 25 years and was sad to learn that it's discontinued. 

You'd think I can take a break from shopping, but stores keep sending me more & more rewards. How the heck am I supposed to say no. I received 3 Half Birthday rewards this week. I've never heard of such a thing, but I'll take the free money. Happy half birthday to me...lol Here's what I got

• WHBM - $50 Bday reward
• Soma - $5 Bday reward - too little to use, since I don't get free shipping 
• Madewell - $15 Bday reward 
• Kohls - $5 monthly KC

I need to make a list again, because JCP just sent me an email to say I have a $10 reward expiring soon. Totally forgot about that. I have a Nordstrom reward as well and I'm pretty sure there was something else. I need to check.

• I purchased a new Sam's membership for $10 during their 40th birthday celebrations. The ex is the main member on our old membership, so I couldn't switch it to my name. This couldn't have happened at a better time, cause our old membership expires at the end of the month.

• My CC sent me a $10 credit offer if I switch to digital statements. I might take them up on that offer, except I'm not good at remembering to print digital statements. It's so much easier for me to just open snail mail and file my statements. 

• I'm on a drugstore hiatus, but did a Wags run last week. They sent me a $20 WYS $40 booster and I had a $7 WYS $25 makeup booster. Say no more, cause I needed new nail polish. I always paint my toenails during summer. I bought 2 Dove b/w, 4 Loreal lipsticks, 4 S Hansen nail polish, 1 Loreal cleanser. Paid $30.xx OOP and earned $27 rewards. 
  
  
• The day after I spent my $18 BC, RA sent me a $8/40 Q. Then today I saw that I have $5 BC again from the monthly challenges. So much for taking a drugstore break. 

• Visited the dentist on Tuesday and they told me that my teeth are super clean. Yay! My cleaning didn't even take much time, but I spent an hour at the dentist office. The guy who did the x-rays didn't know how to do his job. Sigh. Then I had to wait a long time for the dentist to come talk to me.  Then came the bad news. I need a filling for the small cavity I have. That's going to cost over $200. I know that I need the filling. My teeth are sensitive to cold, so I can feel a sting whenever something cold hits that tooth. I told them I'll call for an appointment, because I have so much going on now & here's just another expense. I'm just gonna go pick some $$$ from that money tree in the backyard. 

• Ordered a Wayfair gc with my CC points. They haven't had any good discounted gcs in a while, but when I checked this morning there was a whole bunch of them at 10% off. However, the Wayfair was 15% off and I need a few furniture items from them. So I ordered the gc and combined with those Wags MM ones I bought last year, I now have enough to pay for the vanity I have my eye on. I'm not crazy about the knobs/handles, but that can easily be replaced. I'm not getting the vanity for makeup. I mainly want it for the drawers (storage) & mirror. I'm not crazy about a dresser and I don't like a chest of drawers. 

I apologise for venting. I'm a smooth sailing kinda girl. I just want to get everything done so I can move on with my life. I just keep reminding myself that 'This too shall pass' & that God still has great plans for my future. I'm looking forward to it!

I might not be able to post regularly, but I will check in from time to time. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps! 

Meal Plan Monday 04/17/23

Happy Monday Everyone

Boy, I'm already missing that lovely warm weather we had last week. We had rain yesterday, so it was a good day to cook & bake. Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday : Beef pot pie, veggies, salad

Tuesday : Pesto chicken casserole, mashed potatoes, veggies or salad

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday 

Friday : Something from the freezer & salad

Breakfasts : Bran apple muffins, raisin bread, WW toast, eggs or omelets, breakfast sausage

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from the freezer with salad

There's always lots of fresh fruit, veg & salad fixings available

The beef pie was made with leftover roast beef from the freezer. We will also have roast beef sandwiches or wraps (lunch) since the beef was too much for the pie. I can't refreeze the meat, so I'll just eat it for lunch. 

There's quite a bit of cooked food in the freezer for easy meals - beef burritos, samosas, BBQ chicken breasts, frikkadel, taco meat, fajita chicken and there's still leftover sausage rolls from last week that DS can have for lunch tomorrow. This girl ain't cooking until next Sunday again

Someone asked about my beetroot salad last week. Well, it's not exactly a salad per se. It's actually pickled beets, but has always been called beetroot salad. I'm guessing it came from the British. Canadians might use the same term too and/or know what I'm referring too. Koo has always been my preferred brand when I lived in SA. Store brand wasn't good enough for me...lol (my parents usually bought Koo - a very popular food brand in SA. Think Kraft or Heinz). There's a difference in the flavor - trust me :) My father always used to ask whether I'm eating the meal or salad, because my food would be covered in beetroot. Well, he was big on flavor (I get it from him) and always liked to kick things up a coupla notches. He'd add grated onion, a little vinegar, a bit of water & sugar to dilute and sweeten the tartness of the vinegar, to the beetroot. I still make mine the same way. When I can't find the jar stuff (from South Africa), I cook fresh beets in instant pot. Then add all my dad's fixings. I don't add pickling spice, because there's no time to wait on that pickling process. Another favorite of mine is pickled onions. If you like fish & chips, try pickled onions with it. So yummy. 

I've posted the Koo site's link so you can have a look around. There's some recipes to try (I have to try the phyllo beets). If you've never had samp (hominy) & beans, be sure to try it. It's a yummy, hearty meal. 

I have a busy week ahead of me - lots to do. Have a wonderful week peeps!

Odds & ends

Hi everyone

The weather has been great this week. I'm so thankful for warmer weather. My daffodils have started blooming. They're so pretty. The weather's so nice that I placed my lemon tree outside today to catch some sun rays. I bought 2 blueberry bushes on clearance at Menards last year & I'm happy to see that they survived winter. I just hope they keep thriving when I have to replant them after I move. I miss planting this year :( Just a few things that have happened around here. 

• Received a $20 Chicos semi annual reward. Of course they increased their prices again, so I'm hoping to find something that doesn't cost me any or very little OOP.

• Kohls has extra 50% off clearance again, so I used my $10 KC (monthly reward) to buy items to resell.

• Received another free item Q from BBW. 

• I've been waiting for a good Rakuten discount to purchase my new desktop. I knew that the retailer had 5% cash back before, but it was only 1% when I needed to make my purchase. I checked Rakuten & the retailer daily & last Monday saw that the computer was marked down by $80. I didn't even bother waiting for that 5%, because $80 off was a bigger discount. I went ahead and ordered my computer.

• Ordered an Easter gift & stir fry sauce from Target (the Korean BBQ isn't sold at my local store, so I buy it online). When I received the items, the entire box was filled with stir fry sauce. They packed 5 glass bottles into a plastic bag (no bubble or protective wrap) and then didn't even have proper filler for the rest of the box...smdh. One bottle was completely shattered (only the bottom of that bottle was left). Did online chat & they refunded my money. I threw out the stir fry sauce, because I wasn't going to risk using the rest without knowing if there's glass splinters in or on those bottles. Well, DS got a free $60 gift, but that was a huge mess to deal with. I could've done without it. Now I need to wait until I can find the sauce at another location, because I might end up getting broken bottles if I buy online again.

• Bought Nathan's hot dogs at Sams and when I got home, I noticed that the best buy date was for a week earlier. Ugh, this is the 2nd time I got expired meat from Sams (2 different locations). The crazy part is that when I got the package in store, I thought to myself 'check the date'. I wasn't wearing my glasses and DS was waiting with the cart on the side, so I didn't get around to checking the date. Yes, I'm one of those people who check expiration dates...lol I usually purchase the items with later dates. They refunded my money, but I needed the sausages to make sausage rolls for DS. Well, good thing that happened, because Kroger OM sausages (we love the smokies) were $1.99 each last week, so I paid 50% less for the same amount of sausages. 

• I purchased storage totes at Sams. I figure I'm better off buying totes instead of boxes for my move. This way I can still use the totes in future. 

• I found a house I really, really like in the neighboring town. It's listed by my realtor's agency, so I have the inside scoop. The entire house is beautiful - nicely updated (I'm a modern girl). I want a move in ready house. One thing I like about houses built in the 90s, is that the basements have ceilings. That house's kitchen is gorgeous too!!! All white & gray - clean fresh look - just the way I like it. My navy blue kitchen accessories will match perfectly. Kitchens & bathrooms are my favorite places in a house. I also love a good size closet. I NEED a large closet. Well, I've always wanted a walk in closet, so if I find a house with enough bedrooms, I will turn one room into a walk in closet if the bedroom doesn't have a big enough one. The downside. It's $80k over my budget :( Ugh!! I can't afford to spend that much right now. 

• I need to buy new luggage before I can get rid of my old luggage (I'm on a roll with decluttering & packing), but the new luggage is pricey. I don't have any travel plans. I'm just a planner. I like to have all my ducks in a row. The last 2 times I went to SA, my luggage was stolen. In fact, I saw a women lift my luggage off the conveyer belt, not check the tag and just hold onto it. I went over and asked her about the luggage & she just shrugged it off. Then it hit me that she was just gonna take my luggage home with her. I was so mad, because I flew to SA for my parents' funerals.
  
  This time I'm getting hard luggage & all kinds of security features (gotta love the digital age). I need new luggage in case there's ever an emergency with my family. If I need to travel to SA at short notice, I'll already have luggage available (I always keep our passports updated) and just go to my spare closet for new clothes. Easy peasy.   

• Since the weather was good on Monday, I decided to wear a new outfit. No more sweats for me.  I have a closet full of clothes, so I decided to treat myself (from my spare closet)...lol. This is what a $42 outfit looks like.
  
  WHBM Jeans - $1.99 after bonus reward discount
  Chicos Tunic - $10 sale
  Chicos denim jacket - $10 sale (I'm not much into florals, but the price was good. I like the longer length and frayed hem). 
  Skechers flats - $20 clearance
  
  The shoes isn't a perfect match to my outfit, but it's closest in color to the olive (which I have very little of). If you want comfortable shoes and/or you're a dog or cat lover, try Bobs by Skechers. A portion of each sale goes towards supporting dogs/cats.  I love this brand!! I've had a few pairs over the years. They are cute & comfy. Much better than Toms. I've never had Toms before, but I've seen them before and their insoles are nothing like the Bobs memory foam ones.
  
  DISCLAIMER : I'm in no way associated with Bobs/Skechers and don't earn any commission from them. The opinions expressed are solely my own. 

Today I decided to wear the same shoes & jeans with a white kimono top (mix & match). It was hot, so I painted my toenails and decided to wear sandals. I figured the sandals didn't go well with a cargo jeans, so I wore blue ankle jeans and a white eyelet tee. 

Sandals - FREE. I purchased these for vacation before the pandemic (black & brown) and added extra items to help cover my expenses. The items sold like hot cakes, so I ended up with 2 free pairs of sandals. That brand is hard to find now. 

WHBM laser cut jeans - $10 (paid with a xmas gc)

Chicos eyelet tee - $10 or $15 (paid with a xmas gc)

So today's outfit was basically free!

I've decided to take a break from stockpiling. It defeats the purpose of downsizing to move. So I'll redeem my CVS & RA rewards (Wags rewards are good for a year). It's not like we need more HBA anyway. I just need some hair color. 

That's all I can think of right now. I'll post my numbers when I get a chance. I'm just dealing with some personal stuff right now. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

Meal Plan Monday 04/10/23

I hope that everyone had a good holiday weekend. It's back to school for us today. I woke up an hour earlier than usual and so did DS. I told him to go back to bed, because I wasn't ready to be up yet. Needless to say, I couldn't fall asleep again. 

It's been a busy day. I didn't do my regular cooking yesterday, because I needed ground beef. I only made muffins yesterday, so DS could have it for school. I hit the stores today and stocked up on meat products. Then I got to cooking when I got home. Here's our plan for the week:

Monday : Chicken a la king with rice and veggies

Tuesday : Ground beef curry with rice, veggies & beetroot salad

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Nachos, tacos and/or quesadillas with all the fixings. Take your pick

Breakfasts : Carrot gingerbread muffins, lemon pancakes, breakfast sausage, eggs, omelets, cereal

Lunch : Protein from the freezer with salad

There's always lots of fresh fruit, veggies & salad fixings available

I usually serve my Chicken ALK with yellow rice, but I didn't want yellow rice to go with the curry. Too much yellow for me...lol. When I got home from shopping, I fixed dinner and cooked 4 packages of breakfast sausage with onions & peppers. Kroger has the Johnsonville sausage on sale for $3.50 (lowest price I've seen in over a year and it's our preferred brand). Then I divided it into portions for the freezer. I always do this, cause I hate cooking in the morning. Now we can just heat & eat whenever we want sausage. I also marinaded the rest of the chicken breasts (from the package I used for dinner) & will bake that tomorrow. More freezer food. 

I found bags of green peppers (6-7 medium peppers per bag) for $1 at the produce market on Friday. I bought 5 bags, because that's a great price. They have $1 pepper bags from time to time. Tomorrow I'll clean and dice all the peppers (I bought colored ones too) for the freezer. Some will be frozen for omelets. I mix diced peppers, onions & a herb (parsley or cilantro) together and freeze. Just add to your egg and top with cheese or add more veggies. Easy Peasy. I'll also make sausage rolls for DS (bought the smokies that's Kroger weekly deal this week), since the oven will be on for the chicken. I'll also make some a pot of taco meat & beans, then make burritos for the freezer. I'll add a batch of fresh pico too. It's been a while since I made some. This way there's lots to eat when needed, instead of getting fast food. 

I have a sinus headache & I'm pooped. I'm going to have an early night. 

Have a great week peeps!

Drugstore shopping & more

Hi everyone

Please pray for all those affected by the tornado in Mississippi & school shooting in Nashville. Pray for emergency personnel & all those involved in the helping with the clean up and/or rebuild. My heart just breaks for all those innocent lives lost & the devastation endured. Every time I read about some disaster, it makes me realise just how fragile life is. It makes me appreciate everyone & everything in my life even more. It makes me want to do more special things for those I hold near & dear, to show them how much I love them. Family & appreciating the simple little things in life, are most important to me. Please hug your loved ones a little tighter, spend more quality time with them, be kind to everyone you come across - even if it just means smiling at them. 

PSA - JCP has B1G1F clearance. It's for Pink clearance sticker items only. The items all ring up at 50% off, so you don't have to buy an even amount of items. 

Well, I'm sick again. Actually, I don't even know if I'm sick. I've had non-stop sneezing, a runny nose & puffy eyes yesterday. This makes me think that it's allergies. I don't feel too bad. I was out & about for hours yesterday. Then took an allergy pill with sleep aid, but didn't sleep well. After DS left this morning, I did mail & breakfast, then went back to bed. After I showered & ate again, I felt a lot better. I just need more sleep. I think my body's just run down from all kinds of stress & poor sleeping the last few weeks. Add allergy season to that & it's a recipe for disaster. I need to get better, because I need to run errands again tomorrow. It's times like these that I'm thankful our meals are all cooked. 

It's been a while since I've posted drugstore deals. I haven't been doing much drugstore shopping lately, cause Wags made me broke last month..lol. However, thanks to inflation, I've decided to continue adding inexpensive deals to my stockpile. I'm trying to combat inflation by doing this. Trying being the operative word, because I'm constantly shocked by grocery prices. Sorry, no pics. I don't have the energy to haul out items for photos. 

CVS

1 x Dove b/w $8.99

2 x Dove shampoo $10.58

1 x Suave shampoo $2.89

Less Dove Q (3.00)

Less Dove shampoo Q (3.00)

Less EBs (15.00)

Tax 1.46

OOP $2.81

Earned $10 EB

I had $15 EBs that were expiring this month. The deals didn't look too good this week, but I was determined to roll my EBs into new rewards. I was going to add another Dove shampoo to get my total to over $20, when I noticed that Suave & Tresemme is part of the same deal (Spend $20 get $10). I know that Suave is normally the least expensive item, so that's what I added.

RA

I had $29 expiring this week & again, no good deals. I decided to just purchase items that we will use (that will earn more rewards)

2 x A&H t/b refills $10.48

4 x Colgate t/p 15.96

1 x Softsoap hand soap refill 5.99

Less Softsoap DQ (3.00)

Less Colgate DQ (1.00)

Less BC (29.00)

Tax 1.95

OOP $1.38

Earned $18 BC ($14 Colgate, $4 A&H)

The Softsoap will last us an entire year by using the foaming soap dispenser. I was going to purchase A&H t/b (B1G1 50% off). However, the store price was $10.49 compared to $8.99 online. Then I noticed the refills on clearance (50% off) and didn't care if I didn't earn BC on it. Success! It worked!

Wags

2 x Garnier stylers $8.00

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.48

OOP $0.48

Earned $4 RR

I did this deal 3 times. Regular Garnier & Whole Blends are all part of the same weekly deal, so I had to split my transactions in order to earn more than one reward. 

Rewards Spent : $59

Rewards earned : $40.00

Total OOP : $5.63

Total items purchased : 16

Retail value : $104.03

A whopping $5.63 OOP spent at all 3 drugstores!! Happy dance :)

In other news:

• I stopped at Aldi while out on Friday to pick up brioche for DS and look for samosas. I checked the fridge and there were other frozen items in the samosas spot. No biggie. I already bought 6 boxes and we already ate half of that...lol. I rounded the corner and saw a full display of samosas in both flavors on the other side of the fridges (It's set in a square, so there's 4 sections to look for things). I should've taken a pic, because I couldn't believe my eyes. I've never seen that much samosas at Aldi (or even Trader Joe's). They should just add this as a regular item, because it's so popular. I bought 8 boxes. Oh yes, I did...lol. I sure wish I had an extra freezer. I'd be stocking up until Aldi runs out, because I know their products keep changing. 
  
  I have to explain that not all samosas are created equal. I've seen samosas at Meijer, Target & even the Ethnic Indian store and they didn't look half as good as what I'm used to. I once ordered samosas at a Pakistani restaurant not far from our home and didn't even want to touch the samosas when I saw it. That thing looked horrible. It was as if someone attempted to make a triangle, but turned it into a circle with 2 pointy edges (not 3) instead. It was burned too - fried too long. Only Trader Joe's & Aldi have samosas that look & taste like what I'm using to eating back home. I told y'all I'm a food snob...lol. If a man brought me a box of samosas from either of those stores (just because), I'd be the happiest girl on earth. I've always said that I'm a cheap date. Just feed me well....lol. I love good food!

• Picked up a free b/w at BBW with my Q. Has anyone noticed their huge price increases?

• Bought 4 items at Kohls & paid with KC. Zero OOP for me. Peeps, be sure to take advantage of all kinds of deals & rewards. I shopped at Kohls, BBW, CVS, RA & Wags and only spent $5.63 OOP. Use that free money, because times are tough. There's not much we can do about grocery/food prices, so all the drugstore and other savings help balance things. 
  
  I don't know what happened, but my Kohls had very little clearance available. The store was overflowing with clearance during the extra 50% off sale. I'm glad I took advantage of those sales, because all other retailers have very little clearance or regular inventory. The only other retailer with good clearance, is JCP

• I received my cotton sleep shirts from Macy's & am very happy with it. The tag says 100% cotton, but the fabric has a bit of stretch in it. That's definitely not 100% cotton, but I'm pleased with the items. I decided to wait until they had a good sale price on it again, to order more. They had it on sale for $14.99 last week, so I ordered 6 more. Used the rest of my Macy's gc and paid $33.48  OOP. I don't care that I have duplicates in the same color or style. There's nothing sexy about these sleep shirts, but I'm just happy to have cotton sleepwear again. These will last for years. I'll only keep 3 out at a time. I might return that RL one I bought at Marshalls, because the Macy's ones are a far better quality.

• I only bought myself a pair of slipper booties at JCP (I buy a spare pair every year or whenever I need an extra pair). Paid $5.80 + tax OOP, because somebody forgot their gc at home...lol. Received a $10 reward. I only shop JCP once a year, so the rewards are always a surprise.

• Purchased a pair of jeans & 3 tops/blouses from WHBM with my $80 rewards. Paid $11.20 OOP. This was no easy task, because they always increase their prices during rewards week. As expected, the prices were reduced again as soon as rewards expired. Ugh!
  
  Then I received an email stating that I earned another $5 reward. Go me!

That's all I can think of right now. 

Enjoy the rest of the week peeps! Stay healthy, safe & warm.

Menu Plan Monday 03/27/23

Oh boy. I 'overslept' this morning. I woke up when the alarm went off & fell back asleep again and woke up 40 minutes later. Kinda my own fault. I inadvertently knocked myself out for the night, because I haven't been sleeping well for almost a week. I was so worn out on Saturday, I took a 4 hour nap. I don't even know if you can call it a nap, because it was so long. Thankfully, I wake up way earlier than I need to get up, so I wasn't exactly late. I was only slightly off schedule.  Then the bus arrived 10 minutes early, but we were ready. I have always stressed to DS that we should always be ready early in case the bus arrives earlier. We set everything ready the night before (clothes, pack lunch etc) and I have that extra time built in. I don't like to keep anyone waiting. 

Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday : Lasagna, big salad 

Tuesday : Pesto chicken casserole with veggies and/or salad

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Something from the freezer with salad

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

Dessert : Peppermint fridge tart (icebox cake). I'm blaming Lori for Monday's menu...lol. I love Italian food, so when I read about it, I just had to make lasagna. I wanted to make tiramisu (my absolute favorite dessert in the whole wide world), but the ingredients list made me change my mind. I didn't want to go spend a bunch of money just for dessert, when I only needed whipping cream for the fridge tart (another favorite of ours).  I'm trying to build meals around what we already have in our freezer & pantry.

Here's the simple version for USA folks (I normally use a 13" rectangular dish)

Graham crackers

Heavy whipping cream

1 Can Dulce de leche caramel (or any other caramel brand)

Any kind of mint chocolate

Crush chocolate in blender. Whip cream until stiff. Add caramel and 3/4 crushed chocolate and mix. Layer graham crackers in a square or rectangular dish. Top with caramel mix. Rinse & repeat. It's like building lasagna. Top layer should be caramel mix. Top that with leftover chocolate and refrigerate overnight. Many moons ago, I added sliced banana (I still don't know why I did that...lol) as a layer. I still do it and it helps cut some of the richness of the caramel. 

Tip : If you ever overwhip your cream, add a bit more fresh whipping cream to it and fold in gently. 

Breakfast : Banana oatmeal muffins, french toast (I caved & bought chocolate brioche again), eggs, toast, cereal. Pick your own breakfast.

Lunches : Leftovers or something from the freezer & salad

Have a wonderful week peeps!