Frugal Friday.....the July 9th Edition

 What frugal stuff happened here this past week.......

*  Saturday found us in New Jersey meeting the future in-laws and assorted other family.  The future daughter in-law cooked the feast and some folks brought dishes as well.  I made my "famous" Boston Baked Beans which is a relatively low cost dish as I had all the ingredients.

*  I didn't get the $5 Catalina(or instant $5 off, I don't even know the details of the deal nor did the store staff)for Spending $15 on specific items so I went back to Weis the next day, took a photo of the sign and had my receipt and explained that I got neither a discount on the bill or a Catalina.

So after going back to make sure that Spend $15/Get $5 Back sign was on the items I bought(don't believe the photo I just took much?)they handed me a $5 bill.

*  I plundered Rite-Aid a bit but not much, bringing home stuff and converting and/or spending down Bonus Cash only.  No actual money left my wallet.

*  I found money!

While I stood waiting at Customer Service for someone to decide how to handle the Catalina situation I spied this.......

A Canadian quarter.  Now I have to wait for Canada to let me in so I can spend it. lol

On that first trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets where I was "cheated" out of my $5 Catalina thing I spied this laying in the parking lot walking back to my car.........

An abandoned $5 bill with no one around to see who lost it.  I called the store and told them I found it and left my cell phone # if anyone asked about losing money in their parking lot.  It's been a week now and no one has called to claim it.

I also found this at the self-checkout peeping out of the little trash can they keep next to it on my first foray into Weis Markets....

A Catalina for $1.25 off your next ordeer.  I also found a Cat for Hot Pockets. Somebody who used the checkout before me just threw $1.25 in the trash. tsk tsk tsk

I also found this at Rite-Aid.......

A penny.  I don't recall where in the store I found this now.

Total Found This Week...$5.26
Total Found This Year....$10.94

*   There was no Take-out or Eating Out(other than the potluck in Jersey)this past week.

*  Not much to report as I stayed home mostly until today(except for the foray into Walmart on Tuesday and Rite-Aid one day).  I spent the week tending the garden, gabbing on the phone, cooking, cleaning, tending to the doggies, moving crap around the house, doing laundry during the off-peak hours, gathering a large donation to the food bank, etc.

That's about all from here.
How frugal was your week?  I hope you had some good wins!

Sluggy

Prelude to Black Friday Rite-Aid Haul & the Report on 3 Days of Black Friday Hauls

So I had a $5 when you spend $25 coupon for Rite-Aid that expired on Wednesday.

I was lukewarm about using it as I was saving all my Bonus Cash for the Black Friday sales, but then I hit the clearance shelf at my R-A on Tuesday and found a cool mist Vicks Humidifier/Vaporizer for 75% off.  My store must have found this one back in the storage recently because these went on clearance months ago and I never saw one on clearance back then in my store.

With that $7.49 price I only needed to find $17.51 more to use that $5/$25 q.  Here is what I did on Hubs' card.....

1 x Humidifier 75% off=$7.49
3 x Pringles Wavy on clearance .49¢=$1.47
2 x Colgate optic white toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.=$6.38
1 x Oral-B twin pack toothbrush on sale=$6.99
1 x Visine 20% Wellness disc.=$4.79
SubTotal.....$27.12

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 R-A Q=$5.00
2 x $3/1 In-Ad R-A Colgate Q=$6.00
1 x $2/1 In-Ad R-A Visine Q=$2.00
Coupon Total....$13.00

$27.12-$13.00=$14.12+.37¢ sales tax=$14.49 paid for with a R-A gift card.
I didn't earn any Bonus Cash on this transaction but that's ok as I am pleased as punch to get that humidifier so cheaply!  Ex-College Boy will love those Pringles and the rest of this transaction(oral care and Visine)go into the toiletries stockpile for later.

I also earned $3 in cash rebates on the Coupons dotcom app($1/3 Pringles Wavy, $2/1 multi-pack of Oral-B toothbrushes)and $3.60 in Ibotta rebates(.10¢ any item, $2 Colgate, $1.50 Visine)so $14.49 spent but $6.60 back in rebates. 

The toothbrushes tracked toward a PandG Spend $30/Get $10 BC Deal too so I spent accordingly to reach $30 to get that BC deal too during the BF sales.

I forgot to use a $1/1 Visine hangtag ManuQ I had so I'll be going back today to do a post coupon and get $1 cash back for it.  After that this transaction will have cost me $6.89.....less than the clearance price of the humidifier.  I'll take it.

As for Rite-Aid Black Friday shopping this year....it was insane!  True there were very few freebies(things that earned you back equivalent funds in Bonus Cash)but instead of a "Spend $40 on stuff in the BF ad/Get $10 back in Bonus Cash" coupon of 2019, there was a "Spend $50 on anything in the store/Get $15 back in Bonus Cash" coupon.  And this was on top of anything that already gave you Bonus Cash in that purchase.
Plus there was a stacking weekly/monthly Deal on the Zim's Max Freeze pain relief.  During the BF sale it was $8 and gave back $7 in BC(limit 2)plus there was a $5 monthly deal on 1(limit 4)so if you bought 2 you paid $16 but you got back $24 in BC(and it tracked toward your spend $50/Get $15 BC too.  The Compeed was a great deal on Thursday(especially if you had the ManuQs-I did not-and there were Ibotta rebates).  Also the almost or free Colgate toothpaste had Ibotta rebates which made them large moneymakers until Ibotta pulled those rebates as well. 

Then me and a bunch of people who are die-hard Rite-Aid fans figured out that there were TWO different Spend $50/Get $15 in BC coupons-one in the weekly ad and one in the Black Friday ad and they had different bar codes so you could use one Q on a transaction of $50 and then use the other one on another transaction. So there was double opportunity to get free BC this year. 8-)))

On Thursday I ran up to Rite-Aid early in the morning to do the Home Despot gift card deal on each card....Spend $100 Get $20 in Bonus Cash.  I do this gift card every BF sale because we spend $$ at HD on house stuff anyway so why not get the deal and have basically free Bonus Cash to play with?

I also did 2 transactions on Thursday, spent at least $50-one on my card and one on Hubs' card and used a $50/Get $15 Coupon on each transaction.

Back again on Friday and/or Saturday after the $20 from the Home Despot gift cards kicked into the accounts and did another transaction on each card, using the BF ad Spend $50/Get $15 Qs.

Here is everything I got on my card during those 3 days of the BF sale.........

I used a total of $121.11 in Bonus Cash for all this.
I earned a total of $104 back in new Bonus Cash, a $5 Catalina for buying the 7th Gen laundry detergent and $8.65 in Ibotta rebates($5 Compeed, $2 Colgate, $1.55 cereal, .10¢ any item).
After all was said and done I was "down" $3.46 for these transactions.

And here is everything purchased with Hubs' card.........

I used a total of $95 in Bonus Cash for all this.
I earned a total of $100 back in new Bonus Cash, a $5 Catalina for buying the 7th Gen laundry detergent and $5.50 in Ibotta rebates($2 on each Listerine item, $3 on each Purex item and a .50¢ Listerine Bonus).
After all was said and done I was "up" $15.50 for these transactions.

I ended up finishing up the Spend $30/Get $10 BC PandG Deal on Hubs' card(the Tide, Pantene and multi pack Oral-B toothbrushes above).   I hit 3 different Rite-Aids over the course of the 3 days in order to finish up/find what I wanted.  I had to go to a bigger store to find the coffee Monster drinks for Ex-CB and to find another set of Conair/Scunci freebies and Baby Ruth candy bars.  My store had very few of these things and started Thursday with no Baby Ruth bars but the bigger store was still loaded with much more on Friday.

On Saturday I went to CVS after debating on whether to go or not during the BF sale there.  I didn't have any ECBs expiring until 12/11 but what the heck. ;-)

We get take-out from Applebee's as it's one of the few restaurants still open here so I did the gift card deal(would spend cash there anyway so why not earn $25 in ECBs to get some stuff?).

I wasn't there to get any gift sets or other giftie deals, I wanted to get the freebies after ECBs and practical stuff for us.

The Colgate, cleansing wipes and CVS Acetaminophen were free after ECBs.
Unfortunately I didn't have that BOGO or B1G2F Babo TP CRT so that cost me $7.99 for both packs after ECBs and BOGO sale but that's ok by me.
The razor was .99¢, the toothbrush was an .81¢ moneymaker, the Joah cosmetic items were $2.98 for both, and the Eucerin was $8.98 for both after all Qs, CRTs and ECBs earned back.  There was also .31¢ off (40% off of one item)but I can't tell which one from my receipt. lol

I rolled $46 in ECBs and earned back $43.19 in new ECBs including a $3 Beauty Buck(plus I have an older $5 ECB left)so I didn't spend my ECBs down at all in the end darn it!  CVS has me in their snare.....argh

I spent $3.85 OOP also on all this(not including the gift card)besides all the Extra Care Buck action.

Then on the way home from CVS I stopped into Dollar General to see what deal I could make up using the $5 off $25 Saturday Q.......

I had a $3/2 Vaseline IPQ and 2 x $2/1 DentaLife dog treats ManQs but otherwise all the other Qs used were DG digital ones.

I spent $5.97(.22¢ was sales tax)OOP for everything, a savings of $26 according to my receipt.  rah.

Not a bad haul to finish off all the Black Friday weekend shopping madness. 8-)

Did you get any good shopping deals during the Black Friday weekend?

Tell us all about it!

Sluggy

Go SEE Frances for Some Biscuits! & Shopping....And It's NOT Rite-Aid!

I still have $15 in Catalinas to use by Saturday at Weis Markets from my Cat Deals of 2 weeks ago.
I also have a $25 Walmart Gift Card I won awhile ago over on Frances' Blog HERE.  She was joking about how much stuff using coupons I'd be able to get with that amount of cash so I promised I'd post about what I got with my winnings.

****Oh, and Frances is having another Giveaway for Grands! Mini Biscuits now so Go Enter it on this Post HERE.****

So now, on to the Savings!
I wanted to use 2 of those $5/5 Kraft items Coupons because mine were expiring in the next couple of days so I decided to try Walmart as they have the cheese on rollback for $2 a bag.  I hadn't tried using them here yet, just at the local chain grocer that takes internet printed coupons.  I don't shop at Target but was considering trying there if I HAD to, but there are reports that Target isn't being very friendly about taking these Qs.
I had an ace-in-the-hole if Walmart had tried to deny the Qs though!
Look at the bag of MEXICAN cheese in the photo.  Quite a few of the bags had this peelie on it....the peelie that tells you to go to the Kraft "Huddle To Fight Hunger" website & print off a $5 off 5 Kraft products coupons(the same one I am trying to use here!)  I was all set to rip that peelie off the bag and ask why they are selling products that tell me to go print and use this coupon on these products if the store won't take the coupon??  And then if they still wouldn't relent I'd be giving Kraft an earful about this!

10 x Kraft shredded Cheese on rollback $2=$20.00
3 x Ocean Spray Grapefruit Juice on rollback $2=$6.00
3 x French's Dipping Mustard $1.94=$5.82
2 x Ground Turkey w/Taco seasoning $1.18=$2.36
1 x GV Sour Cream=$1.14
1 x 2.02lb. Grapes on sale $1lb.=$2.02
1 x 2.06lb. Bananas on sale $.39lb.=$.80
SubTotal....$38.14

Coupons Used
2 x $5/5 Kraft items IPQ=$10.00
3 x $1/1 French's Dipping Mustard ManQ=$3.00
Coupon Total...$13.00

$38.14-$13.00=$25.14
Used $25 WalMart Gift Card=$.14 Out of Pocket

Ka-ching!  
The Grapefruit Juice was an excellent buy as well for the 100% Juice stuff at $2 a bottle.
I finished using my French's Qs too so #2 son is set for dipping mustard for some time to come.

If I had bought this load of stuff at one of the two grocery stores in my town at reg. retail prices, it would have been something like $62.76, or $59.76 after French's coupons because they won't take the internet printed ones.


Then I hit Weis Market with my $15 of Cats in hand....

2 x Fresh Express Salad Mix on sale BOGO=$3.69
2 x 3lb.approx. each Ground Beef=$18.39
2 x Breyer's Ice Cream on sale $3=$6.00
SubTotal....$28.08

Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 Instant Meat Dept. Discount Peelie on package=$6.00
1 x FREE FE Salad Mix(won in a giveaway)=$3.69
4 x $3 OYN meat or chicken Order Catalina=$12.00
1 x $3 OYN Order Catalina=$3.00
Coupon Total....$24.69

$28.08-$24.69=$3.39 Out of Pocket

Ok, I screwed this one up a bit!  The ice cream was suppose to be $1.99 each, not $3 each.....if you bought THREE containers.  And obviously math was not my strong suit in school as I only bought TWO.  So I have to go back with my receipt and return the 2 and rebuy them with ANOTHER one to get the $1.99 price.  So stupid....if you buy 3 it's 3 cents cheaper than if you buy 2 at $3.  They should just tell you(me) as you(me) are checking out with only 2 containers, "Look moron!...Go back and get another ice cream so I can give you 3 cents change!"lolol
Gawd.....sometimes I just outwit myself.....

Anyway, the Ground Beef ending up costing me .39¢ after the Cats and Instant Peelies, both bags of salad were free with the BOGO sale and the Free Item Q and the last $3 OYNO Cat made my ice cream half price($3).

All totaled, I am out $3.53 for both orders.
Mucho Savings!

Sluggy

The Last of the Rite-Aid & I Almost Go a Whole Week without a Grocery Store Visit

Friday night I ran out to finish some rebate stuff at Rite-Aid.

Rite-Aid #1

1 x Lysol Hand Soap System thingy=$12.99  egads!
1 x L'Oreal EverStrong Shampoo on sale=$5.99
1 x Vaseline Lotion on sale=$2.99
SubTotal....$21.97

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
1 x $3/1 Lysol Hand Soap System ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $5/1 Lysol Hand Soap System In-Ad Q=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Lysol Hand Soap System AdPerks IPQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 L'Oreal Shampoo ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Any Hair Care item over $1.99 Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Vaseline ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Any Skin Care item over $2.99 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$20.00

$21.97-$20.00=$1.97 + $.12tax=$2.09 OOP  Put on a Rite-Aid Gift Card.
Single Check Rebates....$1 Lysol


Then to Store #2....

2 x L'Oreal EverStrong Shampoo on sale $5.99=$11.98
2 x Starbucks Coffee on sale $1.66=$3.32
2 x Luden's Cough Drops on sale $.99=$1.98
1 x Vaseline Lotion on sale=$2.99
1 x Wet N' Wild Makeup 40% off=$2.39
SubTotal......$22.66

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
2 x $2/1 L'Oreal EverStrong Shampoo ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Any Hair Care item over $1.99 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Starbucks Coffee IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Luden's Cough Drops ManuQ=$1.00
2 x $.25/1 Luden's Cough Drops GOLife Q=$.50
1 x $1/1 Vaseline Lotion ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Any Skin Care item over $2.99 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$17.50
**Checking my receipt now, somehow the Cashier rang up an extra Hair Care $1/1 Q, so I got $18.50 in Coupons instead of the $17.50 I was due.

$22.66-$18.50=$4.16 = $.15tax=$4.31 OOP  Put on a Visa Prepaid Card.
Single Check Rebates qualified for....$2 Wet N' Wild, $5 L'Oreal EverStrong Items totaling over $13(adding in the 1 Shampoo in the previous transaction)=$7 SCR

Total OOP.....$0.00
SCRebates.....$8.00

I discovered that I made a tactical error earlier this week.  I bought 2 L'Oreal Shampoos for BIL's  $5 L'Oreal SCR.  Only the EverStrong 'Poos qualify for this rebate, not the EverPure ones.  I bought 2 EverPures by mistake.  OOPs!  Since this rebate runs the full month and not just the week the 'Poo was on sale, I can take those 2 bottles back and exchange them for the right ones and get my receipt fixed so I can submit for the SCR.  What a pain....

And I almost went the entire week without setting foot in a grocery store!  What sunk me was that I had $16 in Catalinas expiring on friday night from my Kraft/Unilever trips to Price Chopper the week before last.  So I was forced to go grocery shopping....the horrors!lol
No photo but I got...
1 head of lettuce=$1.49
1 lb. of frozen squid=$4.99
2 pork loins BOGO=$9.53 (for just under 2lbs. each)
3 Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream on sale $2.99=$8.97
SubTotal....$24.98

Coupons Used
3 x $1/1 Ben & Jerry's=$3.00
And the $16 in Cats=$16.00
Total....$19.00

$24.98-$19.00=$5.98 OOP
The value on the order was $38.01 before sales.

With 1 more week to go in February I've calculated that I have $2.42 left in my $250 monthly food/toiletries budget.  Here's hoping I receive some more rebates this coming week to give me a bit of wiggle room, otherwise I'll be staying out of the grocery store for another week, except to spend those Weis Catalinas that will be expiring the 27th!

Sluggy

I found a Shop-Rite & I got some deals!

When I was newly married back in the early 1980's, my hubby & I lived in northeastern New Jersey. My grocery store of choice back then was Shop-Rite. I loved me some Shop-Rite! ;-)

Eventually we bought our 1st home & moved to Pennsylvania. The 2nd closest grocery store to our house was still a Shop-Rite over the border in NJ. This was a 45 min. trip each way to the store but I gladly chose it over the 30 min. trip to the closer Grand Union store.

8+ years ago we moved again to a different location in PA with NO Shop-Rite. They did open a Shop-Rite here, in an old abandoned Hechinger's Lumber/Hardware Store. It was open all of 9 months before the company pulled out of the area and closed this extensively remodeled store. It was hardly open long enough to find out if this location would make or loose money! I've been lamenting the demise of Shop-Rite here for the last 6 yrs.

After seeing someone online post about yet another good deal at their Shop-Rite store, I went to the company website and started poking around. I discovered that there IS a Shop-Rite location 'sort of' near me! Well, it's 30 miles each way, so no further than what I use to have to drive to get to the one where we use to live in PA.


I had some time, a nice day & a good weekly sales ad, so I went to find the Shop-Rite the end of last week.
With my trusty coupon binder in hand, I went to sniff out the deals.
Here is what I found.....it was done in 3 transactions & only part of the goodies from this shopping trip are pictured.

5x Joint Juice Water on sale @$2.50=$12.50
2x Wesson Veg. Oil on sale @$2.49=$4.98

1x Large Eggs on sale @$.98 **Not pictured

1x Tropicana OJ 64 oz. on sale @$2.88 **Not pictured

1x Pork Shoulder Picnic $.99lb.=$9.24 **Not pictured

14x Perdue Cutlets/Strips @$1.99=$27.86 **Not pictured

3x Perdue Buffalo Bites @$1.99=$5.97

12x Aqua-Fresh Toothpaste on sale @$.99=$11.88

3x Colgate Toothbrushes on sale @$.99=$2.97

13x Spray n'Wash on sale @$1.64=$21.32

2x Spray n'Wash Stick on sale @$2.00=$4.00

Subtotal $104.58

Tax $2.41

Coupons

5x Joint Juice Water on sale @$2.00=$10.00
14x Perdue Cutlets/Strips @$1.00=$14.00
3x Perdue Buffalo Bites @$1.00=$3.00
12x Aqua-Fresh Toothpaste on sale @$1.00=$12.00
3x Colgate Toothbrushes on sale @$1.00=$3.00
15x Spray n'Wash on sale @$.50 doubled=$15.00

2x $5 Catalina for buying 5 Spray n'Wash=$10.00

Coupon Total $67.00

$106.99-$67.00=$39.99 OOP

And I have a $5 Catalina OYNO to spend.

I got some amazing deals. The Wesson Oil was Gallon sized, the Pork Shoulder was a great price at .99¢ lb., the Toothbrushes and Toothpaste Tubes were free w/coupons, the Joint Juice was .50¢ per 4-pack w/coupons. The Perdue chicken-regularly $3.99 a package was half-price and with my $1 coupons, it came out to .99¢ a package! The Buffalo Bites even had $1 Peelies on the packages. I ONLY bought 17 Chix because I didn't have room in the freezer for more.lol

The best was the Spray n'Wash deal. It was 1/2 price at $1.64 for the Spray Bottles or $2 for the Stain Sticks. I had .50¢ coupons that doubled to $1, so the first 5 cost me .64¢ each. With each 5 you bought, you got a $5CAT good OYNO. So I bought 5 more, used 5 more coupons, making my total $3.20 and used the $5 CAT, so had overage of $1.80 per 5 bottles and got another $5CAT.

I could only use 15 coupons though as they ran out of Spray n'Wash....rats! I got a raincheck so I can go back next week, use my coupons and get it for better than free with the $5 CAT I have left. I figured out that the 15 bottles I bought cost me $10.32+tax after coupons. I used 2 $5 CATs, so basically I paid .32¢ + tax for 15 bottles of Spray n'Wash. And the last 4 bottles(couldn't get a raincheck for more than 4) with cost me -$2.44 after I use my last $5 CAT.

Value of Items purchased....$198.57

Out of Pocket.........................$39.99

Savings......................................80%

I can say, I STILL loves me some Shop-Rite!lol

Sluggy