Frugal Friday.....the December 6th Edition

Here's what qualified as frugal in my world this past week....................

*  I got the Weis(PMITA)Markets Freebie last Friday--

A large 24 oz. bottle of salad dressing.  I got this for Hubs as he loves Blue Cheese dressing and it's something I rarely buy.  Maybe I should put it in his Christmas stocking? lolz

*  I printed out a $5 Coupon that a local brewery sends me.  These get sent about every month.  I gave it to Hubs so he can get a growler fill there for $5 less than he usually pays.

*  I got lots of goodies at Rite-Aid last Friday and Saturday during the Black Friday sale........

This isn't counting Thursday's haul and it was all with no OOP.

*  I went out yesterday and hit some more Rite-Aids to do the Nexus/Shea Moisture Deal.
Here's what I found on Tuesday.....

 2 tubes of Body Butter.

And here's what I got on Thursday..........

2 bottles of Body Wash and 8 bars of Soap.
I spent $55.43 in Bonus Cash and earned $60 back in new Bonus Cash so it was all free!

* I found money!

2 pennies at the Burger King drive-thru last Friday.

A nickel at Weis in one of the center aisles last Friday.

A dime right in front of the register counter at Rite-Aid on Tuesday.

2 Dimes by my favorite self-checkout at Weis on Wednesday.  Who ever loads the change into the checkout machine there isn't very careful getting the coins into the hopper.  Generally the days I see empty coin rolls in the little trash can by the machine I can find a coin or two.  ;-)

This penny was found at Dollar Tree on Thursday in the checkout lane.  I needed some birthday cards and wedding wrap so that put me in the right spot to pick this beauty up.

Again on Thursday I was in the R-A downtown hunting free SheaMoisture stuff and spied this penny near an end cap display.

That makes a Grand Total this week of .39¢ free money!

Oh, I also found this(not money though)..........

A greeting card in the middle of the parking lot at Ocean State Job Lot.  Even though it was spitting snow the card hadn't been sitting there long and was in good shape still.  I picked it up and looked around to see if any was in the lot(either outside their car getting in or sitting in a car ready to leave)so I could ask if anyone dropped the card but there was no human activity in the parking lot.
I guess it got to go home with me as the owner was nowhere to be seen. ;-)

*  I sold something on eBay!

This rather pricey Fitz and Floyd Xmas themed picture frame was a gift to me many years ago from a friend from Canada who use to visit me so she could go shopping in the US.  Her mom and her had eBay business where they picked up stuff like this along with other brands from a wholesale distributor in Canada and sold them.  I haven't heard from this friend in many years also.

I've never taken this gift out of the box to use and found it sitting in a box of Xmas things so put it up for sale as it's discontinued by the manufacturer......and it sold!
Something else de-cluttered from my house and a little money in my pocket besides. 8-)

*  Hubs and I didn't eat out at all this past week.....well except for that small burger at BK, while I was running errands, which I paid for with a gift card. ;-)

*  I earned $25.65 in cash rebates on Ibotta this past week.
Mostly it was from things I bought at R-A during the Black Friday sales but there was $2.50 of it earned from Weis.

*  Speaking of Weis I bought these jars of pasta sauce last Friday there............

5 jars where on sale for .99¢ each if you bought at least 4 at a time.
There was a .50¢ rebate on Ibotta on this brand so each jar ended up costing me .49¢.  We don't care for this brand though so I'll either send these to the local Food Bank or put them into my brother in-law's basket of food I give him each Christmas. ;-)

*  I went to Ocean State Job Lot(to pick up a couple of Xmas presents)and found some foods on the "Eat For Free" table to buy...........

1 x bottle of Sunflower Oil
1 x bag of matcha mochi cookies
1 x box chamomile tea bags
1 x jar barbecue sauce
1 x jar curry sauce
2 x bottles of coconut water
2 x packets of curry sauce mix
2 x Slim-fast meal replacement drinks

$26.95 spent and $26.95 earned on a gift card.
I also cashed in some free gift card points.  I bought 2 packets of Chinese soup, $11.55 in dog treats for the puppies and $9.99 spent on a gift for Hubs for Xmas.  So what I spent on gift cards I didn't use it all on food items but I'm ok with that.
I still have $62.97 on my old gift card plus a new $26.95 gift card.

* I did do some Cyber Monday shopping.  I had a $10 reward for a clothing company that was expiring Dec. 6th and they had everything in their store 50% off on Monday so I bought a few shirts and will take the cost of it all out of my accumulated WAM.  I also needed new bras and found the best price on Kohl's so I combined that purchase with a couple of Xmas gifts and bought them all on Kohl's.  I used coupon codes and $50 in gift cards so ending up paying $5.56 in cash.  I earned $15 in Kohl's Cash so I used that on Wednesday to buy another Xmas gift, using coupon codes again and a free shipping offer which brought my OOP to just over $60.  I went through the ShopatHome portal so earned 4% back in rebates on all the Kohl's purchases(about $4 total).  $4 isn't much but every little bit helps! ;-)

Ok that's all I can think of from last week.

As always stay frugal and tell us the frugal wins you had last week! 8-)))



Sluggy

Black Friday Sale at Rite-Aid....How Did I Do?

So I finally had time to go through all my Rite-Aid loot this morning.
I took photos of it all, one photo per day's shopping.

This is Thursday's haul.........

Thursday I restricted my buying to my local store.

Friday's haul............

Friday I hit my local store and a store on the other side of the river in another town with Hubs.

And Saturday's haul.............

Saturday saw me hit 3 stores down the valley and then a final couple of transactions at my local store.

Total Tally of Goodies........with cost per item which was paid for in BC or gift card(* denotes freebies)

26 boxes of Kleenex(*)
4 Conair hair brushes(*)
4 Scunci hair elastics(*)
4 Gift Tape rolls(*)
2 Magnavox ear buds(*)
1 Crest toothpaste(*)
8 Russell Stover Xmas chocolates(*)
7 Colgate toothpaste(5 -.50¢/2 *)
10 Nestle candy bars(8 */2 .50¢ ea)
14 Betadine cream(-$3.50 ea MM)
12 pack of Listerine Ready Tabs(.42¢ pack)
19 bars of Yardley soap(.42¢ ea)
12 Kokie nail polish(.49¢ ea.)
2 tins of Butter Cookies(.50¢ ea)
3 Carmex lip balm(.60¢ tube)
2 Dentek floss picks(.60¢ pack)
6 cans of Almonds(.75¢ can)
4 packs of Cosmetic pads(.89¢ ea)
2 Efferdent denture tablets($1.00 ea)
2 Duracell battery packs($1.00 ea)
30 Freeman beauty masks($1.02 ea)
10 bottles of Nivea lotion($1.49 bottle)
2 packs of toilet paper($1.50 pack)
3 boxes of Cereal($1.71 ea)
6 Salonpas pain patches($2.00 ea)
2 Oral-B tongue scrapers($2.00 ea)
1 FDS feminine spray($2.00)
3 Yes To wipe packs($2.10 ea)
10 Assorted Shampoo($2.04 ea)-not counting PandG Rebate
2 3-packs of Planters nuts($2.49)
5 bags of Coffee($2.49 bag)
2 bags of Russell Stover chocolates($2.99)
4 bags of Dog Food($2.99 ea)
2 Beard Trimmers($4.99 ea)
1 Hair Dryer($4.99)
1 Curling Iron($4.99)
3 Cologne gift sets($10.32 ea)

I also got another $20 total off with "Spend $XX/Get $X Off Catalinas" used on 5 transactions.

I earned $80 in $10 Rite-Aid gift cards for buying "Beauty Reward" qualifying items(2 gift cards per account/card).  I still need to cash in 2 of the Reward Qs since my store ran out of Rite-Aid gift cards on Saturday. lolz

I've earned $11.45 so far on Ibotta and if some of the items return to my list in time I can send for more rebates($11.00 more but I figure they won't all reset in time).
I've earned $8 on SavingStar too and $2 on Checkout51.

I also had to do a "post coupon" twice totaling $3.25(I forgot a Q in one transaction and the other case at a store with an idiot cashier who wouldn't take a second of the same Q(buying 2 items)because she confused the wording "one coupon per purchase/item" with "one coupon per transaction" and wouldn't even scan it. ugh.

Gift Card Spent..................$39.11
Bonus Cash Spent............$424.78
Total Spent BC/GC..........$463.89
Reg. Retail of Items.......$1050.59

Bonus Cash Left.........................$118.52
Rite-Aid Gift Cards Earned.........$80.00
Cash Rebates Earned(so far)........$25.05($6.50 left to submit for)
Post Coupon Cash back.................$3.25

So I didn't start the week with $424.78 in Bonus Cash but by buying items that gave back BC I rolled lots of BC those 3 days..  I also had earned some BC from buying Gift Cards(which gave BC)but they were Gift Cards I would have bought anyway. ;-)

The best thing were the Conair appliances...$14.99 in the BF ad and was suppose to give back $5 BC but in reality they gave back $10(2 x $5)so only "cost" $4.99 after BC.
Those Betadine creams were a Nov. monthly deal that gave back $3.50 BC for each one(limit 4).  There was a PDF Q for it $2/1 online.  If your store had 5 of them(and you printed off 5 Qs)they were a moneymaker for BF ads....buy 5 for $10($2 each), use 5 x $2/1Q, paid ZERO and get back $14 in BC.
Crazy!!!  But of course I went to 5 different stores and 4 of the stores only had 3 boxes and 1 store didn't carry that item.  I paired them best I could with either FDS spray, Efferdent tablets, or tongue scrapers and each grouping was a moneymaker no matter what.

I also hit $75 for the year spent on Allergy items with a Kleenex purchase so I got an extra $20 BC reward on that transaction.

It wasn't a perfect plan execution however and mistakes were made.
I was trying to limit my purchases per day to how ever much BC was on that card but with items that gave back the most BC so I could roll BC into the next day's shopping.  A few times I had to use some of my free R-A gift card to pay when BC wouldn't cover the transaction.

I didn't max out a few BC deals I wanted to and when stores ran low or out of certain items I had to improvise.
I was limited by the coupons I had in hand plus some L2CQs refused to come off when I tried to use them.
Plus I used a lesser value Q on some things by mistake so I lost a bit of ground there.

And the dog food....I thought they qualified for an Ibotta rebate but the bags were 8 oz. too light.(Rebate was for 4-14 lb. bags and my bags were 3.5 lbs.  If I had scanned them in the store first I would have known that.  They were still a good deal just not a great deal because of that.) meh.

All in all I am happy with the result.  Even though over the years Rite-Aid has gotten stingier and stingier with the Black Friday deals I feel I did well in taking advantage of the offers I wanted.
I brought home some gifts to give, some household items we can always use(looking at you TP and facial Tissues!)some food items we use(nuts, coffee and doggie kibble), some donation items, as well as a load of goodies for Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Boxes in 2020.

Now I just have to figure out how to spend down/roll/convert that $118.52 in Bonus Cash before the end of December when it all expires.

Sluggy

Après Rite-Aid

I ran out to Rite-Aid Thursday morning after getting the turkey on to roast.
After dinner and pie and the company left and the food/dishes cleaned up,  I started setting up my R-A haul on the dining room table.......

And that's as far as I got until I got home from Day 3 of Rite-Aid shopping and just dropped it all in bags on the floor in there..........

Tomorrow I'll start digging out and organizing all this loot.
I did get all 4 cards to 2 $10 Beauty Gift Cards so $80 in R-A gift cards along with all of this.

Hubs and I made the mistake of attempting to go to Kohl's on Friday around 10 am.  They had sent me a $10 gift of Kohl's scrip but you had to use it that day in store and we do need to replace one of our crock pots so whattheheck!
We walked in and saw the register line went almost all the way around the main aisle of the store back on itself so we just kept on walking, right outta there! lolz
I don't need that free $10 store scrip that bad. ;-)

So we stuck to Rite-Aid shopping this weekend.....between my BC, my Wellness discount and Qs we did well and no horrendous lines.

Ex-College Boy has survived his first Holiday Season working retail management too(well, once he gets home tonight).

A big storm is due in Sunday morning and is suppose to stretch well into Monday and beyond so we will be staying home until Tuesday at least.  We've got plenty of Thanksgiving food left so it's all good.
Frankly I'll be glad to be snowed in for a day or two.  8-)

So what has everyone else been up to this weekend?


Sluggy

3 Days of Rite-Aid Pillaging from Black Friday Sales Ad

Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday was the Black Friday Deals at Rite-Aid.  Other than the grocery store, Rite-Aid is the only place I go Black Friday shopping. 8-)

For the purposes of full disclosure, I bought various gift cards on Thursday(along with all the Freebie and near freebie deals after Bonus Cash earned).  The gift cards are ones I would have bought anyway and it's better for me to buy them at Rite-Aid and earned Bonus Cash than buying them at the grocery stores for piddly discounts on gas fill-ups.
  I don't count the price of the gift card spending in my Rite-Aid purchases budget.  The Bonus Cash earned from buying the gift cards is used to "pay" for my Rite-Aid plunder.

No actual cash was used in any of the following transaction, just Bonus Cash.

No point in laying out all the transactions at this point so I'll just do a synopsis of what I got and show photos of all the loot.


On Thursday I bought this on the Daughter's card.....

These 4 Kleenex were .37¢ per box after sale/Q/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Colgate toothpaste were -$1.39 for both after sale/Q/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Light bulbs were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned/Ibotta rebate.
This 1 Colgate toothbrushes was -.33¢ after sale/In-ad Q/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Butterfingers were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Hair ties were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 pair of ear buds were $0 after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 3 boxes of cereal were $1.48 each after sale/Q.
This 1 bag of Coffee was $1.99 after sale/Q/Saving* rebate.

On Thursday I bought this on my card........

These 4 Kleenex were .37¢ per box after sale/Q/Bonus Cash.
These 2 Colgate toothpaste were -$1.75 for both after sale/In-ad Q/stacked ManQ/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Light bulbs were -.61¢ each after sale/Bonus Cash earned/Ibotta rebate.
These 2 Colgate toothbrushes were .50¢ each after sale/In-ad Q/stacked ManQ/Bonus Cash earned.
These 4 Butterfingers were .25¢ for all 4 after sale/Q/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Hairbrushes were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
This pair of ear buds was $0 after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 packs of Duracell batteries were $2.00 per pack after sale/Qs/Bonus Cash earned.

But I forgot to bring $725 in Qs to use, so I burned $7.25 in Bonus Cash on those 2 transactions and got $7.25 in cash the next day with a "post coupon" transaction.

On Friday I bought this on my daughter's card........

These 2 Blue Diamond nuts were $1.50 each after sale/Q.
These 2 Pepsis were .50¢ each after sale/Q.
These 2 DiGiorno pizzas were $3.00 each after sale/Q.
I also bought 4 packages of Sparkle paper towels(not pictured)for $13.23 total after sale/Qs/Bonus Cash earned. 
These burned more BC than I wanted as my good L2CQ didn't come off and I had to use a .75¢/1 peelie stuck to one of the packages.

On Friday I bought this on my son's card........

These 4 Kleenex were .25¢ per box after sale/Q/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 packs of Planters were $2.99 per set after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Colgate toothpaste were -$1.75 for both after sale/In-ad Q/stacked ManuQ/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Light bulbs were -.61¢ each after sale/Bonus Cash earned/Ibotta rebate.
These 2 boxes of K-Cups were $3.74 each after sale/Q.
These 2 bags of coffee were $3.99 after sale/Q.
These 2 bags of Luden's cough drops were .25¢ each after sale/Q/Saving* rebate
These 2 Hair ties were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 pair of ear buds were $0 after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 Butterfingers were $0 each after sale/Bonus Cash earned.
These 2 packs of Duracell batteries were $2.00 per pack after sale/Qs/Bonus Cash earned.
I also bought a bottle of Pepto-Bismol(not pictured)per Hubs request, which after 20% Wellness discount/In-ad Q/stacked ManuQ cost me $4.43 in BC.

The Kleenex purchase also triggered a $20 Bonus Cash earned on my Allergy Rewards for this card. 8-)))



On Friday I bought this on my card......

These 2 Vera Wang fragrance sets were $8.99 after sale/Bonus Cash earned/Ibotta rebate/Checkout51 rebate(1 set).
These 2 Planters gift packs were $2.99 each after sale/Bonus Cash.
This L'Oreal shampoo was $4.39 after 20% Wellness disc./peelie Q.*counts toward $10 Beauty GC
This Udderly Soft hand cream was $1.00 after sale.*counts toward $10 Beauty GC
These 2 Pantene conditioners were $2.29 each after 20% Wellness disc./Q.*counts toward $10 Beauty GC


On Saturday I bought this on my son's card........

These 3 cereals were $1.18 each after sale/Q.
This 1 men's fragrance gift set was $7.99 after sale/Bonus Cash earned/Ibotta rebate/Checkout51 rebate.
These 2 packs of Duracell batteries were $2.00 per pack after sale/Qs/Bonus Cash earned.
This 1 Neutrogena moisturizer was $1.36 after 20% Wellness Discount/Q/Ibotta rebate. *counts toward $10 Beauty GC
This 1 Neutrogena foam cleanser was $1.61 after 20% Wellness Discount/Q/Ibotta rebate. *counts toward $10 Beauty GC
This 1 Neutrogena face make-up was $2.99 after 20% Wellness Discount/Q/Ibotta rebate. *counts toward $10 Beauty GC
I also bought 2 24 packs of Big Win water on sale at $1.75 each.(not pictured).

In addition to the rebates above I have now earned a $5 Saving* rebate for buying over $25 worth of fragrance sets and an additional $1 Ibotta Bonus rebate for buying 3 qualifying Neutrogena items in this transation.

Lastly, on Saturday I also bought this on my son's card........

These 3 cereals were $2.99 for all 3 boxes after sale/Q//Ibotta rebate.
These 2 bags of Luden's cough drops were $1.25 for both after sale/Q.
This 1 Colgate toothpaste was -.25¢ after sale/In-adQ/stacked ManuQ.

In Total......
* $321.36 in Bonus Cash was used.

* $174.00 in Bonus Cash was earned.
* $6.75 in Saving* rebates was earned.
* $21.30 in Ibotta rebates was earned.
* $4.00 in Checkout51 rebates was earned.
* $7.25 in "Post Coupon" cash was earned.

Bottom line.....I "spent down" $108.06 in Bonus Cash with $13.00 of that being state sales tax($95.06 before tax).
Not bad for $639.15 reg. retail worth of stuff, huh?  ;-)

What did ya'll buy at Rite-Aid during the Black Friday sale?



Sluggy

Rite-Aid This Week

Bought a few things at Rite-Aid this week, including some gift cards.  I took care of Daughter's birthday and main Christmas gift.  I also bought some Domino's gift cards to use throughout the year and earned Bonus Cash on all that.

As for non-gift card items, this is what I brought on my card(still have expiring BC on it to use up)........

2 x Ensure packs 20% Wellness disc. better than sale price=$17.58
I used 2 x $3/1 Ensure packs Catalina Qs=$6.00 off.
Total was $11.58 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned $2 in new BC for buying 2 Ensure packs.
rah!
Now I have no BC expiring soon.

Then I bought this on Daughter's card........

2 x Nice 'n Easy hair dye 20% Wellness disc. better than sale price=$13.58
A $3/1 Nice 'n Easy and a $5/2 Nice 'n Easy L2CQ came off so $8 off.
Total was $5.58 +.34¢ tax=$5.92 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $5 in new BC for buying 2 Nice 'n Easy in 1 transaction and I now have $30.31 toward the $50 needed to earn the $10 R-A gift card.

So I also bought this on Daughter's card........

2 x Bic razors on sale BOGO50%=$7.48
1 x Olay whips on sale=$28.99
SubTotal......$36.47

Coupons Used
1 x $3/1 Bic L2CQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Olay L2CQ=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Bic IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total......$8.00

(I had a second $3/1 Bic L2CQ but it didn't come off so I had to use a $2/1 Q I printed off the internet instead.)

$36.47-$8.00=$28.47 + $1.71 tax=$30.18 paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned $2 BC back(wyb 2 Bic)and I earned the certificate to get another $10 R-A Beauty gift card on Daughter's card(limit 2 per card/account).
I also have enough spending to send for the $15 off $50 P&G beauty prepaid Visa card now.
rah!
Spent $30.18 in BC earned back $27 in BC/gift cards......works for me.  ;-)

Now I need to go study up for the Black Friday ad which starts this Thursday.  I don't see much in the way of freebies yet......same old, same old like candy bars, ear buds, hair brushes/hair ties, light bulbs and 1 free Colgate toothbrush(if you have the $1/1 L2CQ in your account).  Oh, and there will be free Colgate toothpaste starting on Sunday. all week, with the In-Ad Q and if you also get a Colgate Q in the Sunday inserts.
But not even as many freebies as in previous years I'm afraid. 
The Luden's cough drops will be free if the $1 Ibotta offer is still alive next week(pay $1 at R-A, get $1 cash back at Ibotta.

What are you looking forward to getting at Rite-Aid on the Black Friday ad?


Sluggy

The Rest of the Rite-Aid Trips This Week...BF Madness!

I made another Pre-Black Friday trip to Rite-Aid on Wednesday evening.

First I bought 2 restaurant gift cards that gave $10 in Plenti points.  Money spent on these Xmas gifts doesn't come out of the food/toiletry funds(but instead out of the gift budget), so this purchase gave me $10 in "free" monies to spend on toiletries/HBA/OTC items(well I spent down my Plenti points on this transaction, but the next day those $10 in points went live in the account to "pay" for what I bought Wednesday evening).

In a separate transaction I bought this........

The Pantene shampoos were on clearance for $2.49 each, so those were $4.98.
I used a $4/2 Pantene ManuQ on those making that purchase cost .98.

The Colgate toothpaste was on sale for $3.
I used a $2.50/1 Colgate R-A FlyerQ and stacked a .75¢/1 IPQ,  making this purchase a .25¢ moneymaker.

The MidNite sleep aid was B1G2Free so $10.99 for all 3.
I used a $1/1 IPQ I've had for awhile making this purchase cost $9.99.

Total OOP for all with tax of .06¢ was $9.78.
I paid with Plenti points.
After the $10 in gift card puts went live the following morning this transaction became a .22¢ moneymaker.

I had planned on a $1.22 moneymaker except that the Checkout51 $1 cash rebate on Pantene shampoo were all claimed by Wednesday evening for that week. bleh.  Still a good trip.


On Thursday, since we were eating late due to Daughter's work schedule, I had an hour in the early afternoon when I had no cooking chores to attend to so I ran up to Rite-Aid to start doing the Black Friday Deals.  Since there were so few freebies after Plenti points this year I was able to do them all in one day/one transaction on my Plenti card........

Everything was free(or better than free with coupons)after Plenti points they gave back, except that Huggies wipes(.49¢ each after sale/points/coupon)and the Dial hand soap(didn't give points/didn't have coupons, so sale price of .99¢ each).

The freebies I got were-
* Kleenex facial tissue
* Scunci hair elastics
* Rite-Aid gift tape
* Colgate toothbrushes

Better than free using coupons with the sale prices were-
* Listerine dental floss was $2.99 on sale and gave $2 in PPs, but with my $1/1 tearpadQs from the dentist's office these became a .01¢ moneymaker.
* GE light bulbs $2 moneymaker each with $2/1 Q
* Philips ear buds gave $6 in PPs but w/20% wellness discount cost $5.59 so a .41¢ moneymaker each
* Conair hairbrush gave $3 in PPs but w/20% wellness discount cost $2.63 so a .37¢ moneymaker.
* Colgate toothpaste suppose to be $4 a tube but this variety was clearanced to $1.19.  I had .50¢/1 IPQs plus these still gave back $4 in PPs so they were a $3.31 moneymaker. 8-)))  Had I been more aware, I could have also stacked the $2.50/1 R-A Flyer Colgate Q(as this variety of toothpaste also qualified for that Q) and made this a $5.81 moneymaker! ack!!!

As far as I know this variety may be clearance priced in most stores but it is not marked(and wasn't marked in my store).  It's the Enamel Health sensitive variety but do a price check before you have them ring it up to make sure.

This transaction cost me $47.91($1.79 of that tax)in Plenti Points but earned me back $54.00 in new Plenti Points.  No $ spent OOP and even with the not free after points Wipes and Hand Soap(and not realizing I could have made the toothpaste a larger moneymaker!) this was a $6.09 moneymaker.

On Black Friday proper I hit Rite-Aid again to do the Deals on Daughter's and Son's cards in two different transactions of course but photo is everything together........

R-A gift tape x 8
Colgate toothbrushes x 4
Colgate toothpaste x 4
Ge light bulbs x 4
Scunci/Conair x 4
Listerine floss x 4
Philips ear buds x 3(I ran out of PPs on one card so coudln't get 2 for free on that one)
Kleenex tissue x 4
Huggies wipes x 2(not free after PPs but .49¢ ea.)

In all this cost $77.04(including $2.94 tax)in PPs.
This all earned $100 back in new PPs(on two different cards)making these purchases a $22.96 moneymaker.

Total Black Friday Deal spending so far was $124.95 in PPs and $154.00 in new PPs earned so a $29.05 moneymaker all together.

I may go back up Saturday(today)for 1 more "better than free" ear bud and maybe do some deals that aren't free, like the 7-Up 12-packs($2 each after sale/points) or some DiGiorno pies($1.99 each after sale/points)and spend down some PPs.  I have so many!

And I also need to get some gift cards that give back PPs, both gift cards for Xmas presents(paid for out of the Xmas monies)and Home Improvement gift cards paid for out of the home maintenance budget.  The PPs I get back are just gravy really.  Hmm, gravy.... ;-)

And except for 1 small online purchase from Macy's which cost me ZERO OOP(I'll blog about that once the item arrives)that is ALL the Black Friday shopping that was done by yours truly this weekend.
Yes, my Black Friday is not so mad, is it?

I had some coupons that would have gotten me more free stuff on BF but I just don't like to go out in insane crowds alone and neither of my kids would go out shopping with me. *sniff, sniff*
I guess I have raised non-shoppers. 8-P

Free is awesome but going out alone in that shopping frenzy was not even enough to lure me into it! lolz

So what great deals did you get on Black Friday?

Sluggy

Black Friday Ad Shopping.....Stretching a Nickel at Rite-Aid

Well it is done.

My Rite-Aid Black Friday Weekend Shopping that is!

I was up early Thursday to start cooking but before I began I made a quick trip to Rite-Aid to start getting the freebies.  I didn't have enough Plenti Points to get them all in one trip/in one day so I had to plan to go each of the 3 days of the sale to maximize my point usage.

I arrived 10 min. before the door opened.  I thought they opened at 7am on Thursday but it was 8am.
I left the house around quarter of 8 and was shocked to find the store wasn't open yet when I arrived. lolz
They opened at 7 am on Friday not on Thursday so I sat in the car a few minutes.  No biggie.

I went in having my scenarios all written and mapped out and in which order/priority to get items(since I didn't have enough Plenti points on either card to get everything the first day).  If they didn't have something I just went down the list to the next freebie.
Even doing 2 transactions(one for each card)I was in and out in under an hour.  There were people still wandering the aisles when I left who had gotten into the store before me.  Obviously they didn't have a plan. ;-)

I got this on my Son's card........rolling most but not all of the Plenti Points on it.

The freebies were the hair brushes, Sharpie pens, Tresseme trial bottles, Kleenex, Nail polish, cookie packs, light bulbs, gift tape, and small Russell Stover candy boxes.

The "moneymaker" items(due to the 20% Wellness discount being lower than the sale price and/or I also used a coupon)were the earbuds(.76¢ ea.mm), toothbrushes(.75¢ ea.mm), dental floss, Lubriderm lotion and Clear shampoo(.01¢ ea.mm)and the gift pack of Planters nuts($5.60 ea. mm!).
The nuts were suppose to be a .01¢ ea. moneymaker(after rain check and Plenti Pts. earned)but the cashier somehow adjusted for the rain check too much and I was only charged .39¢ for each gift pack.  I tried to tell her they were ringing up too low but she was not having it.  lolz

Also, not only was the Clear 'poo a moneymaker but one of the bottles had a full sized bottle of conditioner attached to it as a freebie. Woohoo!

I spent $58.40 in points and earned back $68 in new points.  No $ spent OOP.


After that bunch I got this on my card..........rolling ALL the Plenti Points on this card but with tax I was a nickel over so owed them .05¢ OOP. ;-)

The freebies were the 1 Tresseme trial bottles, Kleenex, cookie packs, light bulbs, gift tape, Colgate Optic White(stacking a R-AQ and a ManuQ)and small Russell Stover candy boxes.

The "moneymaker" items(due to the 20% Wellness discount being lower than the sale price and/or I also used a coupon) were the toothbrushes(.75¢ ea.mm), dental floss(.01¢ ea.mm)and the Colgate enamel toothpaste(.25¢ ea.mm)

I used all $36.19 worth of Plenti Pts. on this transaction plus I went over my points total and owed a nickel.  Instead of putting that .05¢ on my free R-A gift card I slipped up and paid with a nickel in cash. ;-)
I earned back $39.00 in new points on this lot.


Then on Friday it was all about rolling more Plenti Pts. for whatever freebies were left on the shelves and then buying items we wanted that were very cheap OOP after sale/coupons.

First I bought all this on my son's card..............Zero OOP.

The freebies were 6 Nivea lotion tins.

The "moneymaker" items were the earbuds(.76¢ ea.mm), Max-Freeze pain rub($2 ea.mm)and the Eucerin lotion tubes(.05¢ ea.mm).

After sale/coupons/new points the 4 cans of Pringles cost .32.5¢ ea., the Carmex 3 pack cost .13¢, the 2 bottles of nail polish cost .19¢ ea., the bleach and dish soap cost .86.5¢ ea., the Toblerone chocolate bars were $1 ea., the Tic-Tacs were .45¢ ea. and the Venus razor packs cost .29¢ per pack.

I spent $47.52 in Plenti points and earned $41 in new points on this transaction.
Nothing OOP.

I also bought $100 in Home Despot gift cards on son's Plenti card using $100 of our home maintenance/repair Budget and received $20 in new Plenti points on this card.

I then turned around and used my Plenti card and bought another $100 in HD gift card using home/repair Budget funds and received $20 in new Plenti points on that card.

And this lot was bought on my card........

The freebies were 6 Nivea lotion tins and Sally Hansen polish.

The "moneymaker" items were the earbuds(.76¢ ea.mm), the Eucerin lotion tubes(.05¢ ea.mm)and the Clear shampoo(.01¢ ea.mm).

The other nail polish cost .19¢ per bottle, and the M&Ms after sale/Q were $1.50 a bag.
The Cerave lotion was on clearance for $2.64 and I used a $3/1 Cerave ManuQ so this was a .36¢ moneymaker.

This transaction used $39 in Plenti pts. and earned $36 in new pts.  With the tax I owed .61¢ after all my points were used and that amount was put on my free R-A gift card so again Zero OOP.


On Saturday was a few more items to pick up, first on my son's card........no more freebies except the toothpaste......

3 large boxes of Russell Stover chocolate for $9.99 total($3.33 a box).
4 bags of Doritos(one is missing as it was pounced upon at the door lolz)for $7.96 total and gave back $2 in points so "cost" $1.49 per bag.
2 bags of M&M's with sale and Q were $3 total and I activated a Plenti reward of $1 in points online so each "cost" $1 per bag.
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste was free after sale and stacking in-ad RAQ with ManuQ.
3 boxes of Tic Tacs were $1.35 total after B1G2F sale and B1G1 Q so .45¢ each.

$22.08 in Plenti points used and $3 in new Plenti points earned and Zero OOP.
$65 in PP left on this card.

And this stuff on my card................

Freebies on this card were the Tresemme travel size, 2 x Scunci hair bands.  After sale/points back/coupon the Venus razors were .29¢ per package.
After activating the M&Ms $1 wyb2 Offer on this Plenti card and using sale and a coupon each bag cost $1.

$19.52 in Plenti points used, $16 in new points earned on these items and Zero OOP.
$52.48 in Plenti points left on this card.

Total regular Rite-Aid retail price on everything I bought?  $500.36
Total OOP paid?  .05¢(when I forgot to use my free R-A gift card to pay).
All the rest of the OOP was paid on a gift card(.61¢)or rolling/using Plenti Points.

Now THAT is what I call Black Friday Weekend shopping! 8-)))


Sluggy

Getting Ready for Black Friday at Rite-Aid

I went into Rite-Aid today while I was out to the bank.
I had this from last Black Friday at Rite-Aid.........

JR Watkins lotions were a freebie last Black Friday, limit 2 bottles per card.
$5.99 on sale and gave a $5.99 +Ups Reward.

They never seem to have 2 bottles on the shelf of the same scent.....this rain check is for lavender.....so I hadn't cashed it in yet.

So I got 1 bottle of aloe and 1 bottle of lavender and cashed it in today.

Why cash it in this week?
Because when you buy 2 bottles of JR Watkins this week you earn 200 Plenti Points......

I also still have a Planters peanuts gift set rain check from Black Friday 2014 which I plan on using Black Friday 2015.  These nut gift sets will be on special......

$5.99 and gives $3 in Plenti Points.
My rain check lets me buy 2 of these gift sets for $2.99 and I'll get the $3 in points back making these .01¢ moneymakers each.
Sweet. 8-)

Also I am having a hard time deciding on my Black Friday strategy on what to buy of the freebies.
The plan is to use all my points(should be $37 on one card and $50 on the other card)on Day 1 of the BF sales on freebies and earning those same amount of points back on each card.  Then using those new points to buy more until I either run out of freebies(or freebies after coupons)OR time(3 Day sale).

So what are you planning on spending/rolling your Plenti points on during the Black Friday sale this year?

Sluggy

Random Stuff Lately

Let's see.....

*  The "spare" car(the one CB drives when he is home)konked out before we left on our trip.
The battery died apparently so Hubs recharged it.  It ran fine the day before we left when Hubs took it for a spin.
Then when we got home from IL Hubs tried to take it out to get a Sunday paper and the battery was dead, again!

Then Hubs recharges the battery again and takes the blasted car up to the auto shop and they can't find anything wrong with it.  The battery is now holding a charge and no other electrical system item is draining the battery.
So Hubs says to just replace the battery and do the inspection that is due.
The auto shop checks the paperwork and this battery was 6 days past being in warranty.
Great!
Well we are just good customers for so long here that the auto shop guys replaces the battery for free.
Nice!!!

So far so good it's still running and we are only out the cost of the yearly inspection.
I thought going in this would be an expensive repair but it didn't turn out that way.

*  This is the state of the Candy Supply on the morning after Halloween.  I had two mostly full gigantic bowls and now we are down to 1 bowl plus a little bit.
We had hardly any ghouls at the door wanting candy last night.  It's a good thing I didn't buy tons of candy, huh?
It would be such a shame to have to eat all that stuff myself. lolz
We were the only house on the cul de sac with their porch light on giving out treats.
I guess all the families here are older now with no kids left at home or older teens.
I think this will be our last Trick or Treating Season.


*  We got lots of work done around here this weekend.  Hubs raked leaves, got the garden mostly put to bed, did some housekeeping in the garage, put all the deck furniture away, cleaned out the kitchen junk drawer, my desk drawer and I cleaned the door shelves in the fridge(I spilled an entire bag of walnuts on them so sort of HAD TO clean them then. lolz).

Now it's on to cleaning out a couple of boxes in the living room and getting some things on eBay.

*  There is a woodpecker here that has fallen in love with our vinyl siding.......
I can't get this stupid bird to leave our house alone!   Hopefully he will realize it's vinyl and stick to the trees in the yard.

*  I can't believe that Thanksgiving is less than a month away now and we have to pick up College Boy in 3 WEEKS for the holiday.
Then it's back 2+ weeks later to pick him up for Winter break until late January.
Didn't we just drop him off for this semester?
Where does the time go???

*  The weather here this week is crazy warm for November.  Highs in the 70's the next few days
This is November in Northern PA!?!
I will have the windows open this week for the last gasps of fresh air until Spring 2016.....

Another good thing is that the heat is NOT ON....in November!
Yay!
I'll take the savings where I can get them.

*  I heard from a childhood friend yesterday I haven't been in contact with since 2007.  She had been on my mind strongly when the calendar rolled over into October.  She isn't online at all and the only number I had for her was a 20 year old landline but her daughter I knew was on FB, but I couldn't remember her married surname.  It finally came to me right before we went on vacation and I sent her a friend request.  When we got back from our trip she had "friend-ed" me so I asked her if her mom was still living at the addy I had for her.  She went on to give me her new phone number and let me know that my friend's husband had died the beginning of October.  I never met her husband George. They were married 10 years.  This was my friend's third spouse(divorced x 1, widowed x 2).
No wonder she was on my mind earlier in the month......

So I called her last week but it went to voice mail.  She called me back yesterday and we talked for a long time.  She's doing good despite life events and she's contemplating relocating to a different part of the country.  I invited her to visit here anytime and the next time I am down in VA I'll make a point of getting over to see her.

*  In Rite-Aid news......I'll be returning to Rite-Aid to do some shopping during their Black Friday sales.  I don't have enough Plenti Points to just buy all the freebies they'll be offering in one fell swoop(on either of our Plenti/Wellness cards)so I'll buy half and go back the next day and get the other half of the freebies once the points kick in.
Speaking of freebies everything offered is really low cost items this year there for BF.  It's disappointing.  I'd like it better if they offered less freebies but of higher cost/value and more the things I need.
And again this year those Philips ear buds offered as a freebie......really?  These have been a BF Deal freebie for something like 6 years now!  How about some different items howaboutit?

The only coupons(which after points would turn these freebies into moneymakers)so far I can find for any Freebie Deals are for Clean & Clear shampoo.  If you go HERE and sign up for email offers you'll get to print 2 copies of a $1/1 shampoo coupon.

The other Rite-Aid new is that they are being bought up by Walgreen's.  Of course this is a big merging(making them the biggest combined drugstore chain in the US)so it will take eons to do this deal, thus stores won't be consolidated and/or closed for a long time yet so no immediate worries on your drugstore shopping plans.
But they will be forced by industry regulations to close or sell-off between 500 and 1000 stores.

There is no doubt that Rite-Aid stores will close around here.  R-A is Harrisburg, PA based so there are many many stores in this region.
Just in my area there are 3 Wags and 10 R-A stores which when combined as Wags stores would over-saturate this area.
If they rebrand the R-A stores then mine will become a Wags but it is in no danger of closing as there is no nearby Wags to compete.

Will be interesting to see how this all shakes out but I am NOT looking forward to dealing with the Walgreens system of offers/deals/rewards.  I may have to go back to CVS hounding again.  bleh.
Plus all those Rite-Aid employees will have to learn the new Wags Points and Rewards systems and there will undoubtedly be problems and issues for customers.
double bleh.

*  My laptop is having issues.  It may be time to "put er down".
Being able to get online comes and goes these days and accessing my email program is spotty at best. I am trying to get it running better but if I throw it through the window in frustration give up I might be looking at purchasing a new machine soon.
As of November my laptop is closing in on 3 years old.  I got it right after my dr. tried to kill me back in Feb. 2013.

So if I don't update in a timely manner(for me)that's probably why I am not around.  I can jump on Hubs laptop to check my web based email so if someone needs to contact me try my "slugmama atyahoo dotcom" email instead of the email linked to my blogger account until my world is back in balance.

*  As for the money here--things are going swimmingly(except for maybe having to buy a new computer).  3 paychecks in October did good things for our bottom line.  Just trying to keep as much of the money that comes in from going back out again. ;-)  Eating from the freezer this month, keeping the heat off while it's unseasonably warm, staying out of the stores(or online)to shop for entertainment and jumping back on eBay at the Holidays to make a little extra change all help in that regard.

What's up in your world?

Sluggy