Wellness Wednesday & Stuff

I almost forgot that yesterday was Wellness Wednesday for February!  Can you imagine that? ;-)

But I did get over to R-A and it seems like Wellness Wednesday is mostly gone.  True, if you are signed up for the 65+ Wellness program you get a 20% discount on what you buy(unless it's sale price is better than that)on WW.  But if you are a Gold Level Wellness member you get 20% off reg. price everyday so that's really not a deal to me.
But no more coupons for WW as far as I can tell. 8-(

Also Rite-Aid seems to have also discontinued it's Allergy Rewards Program(for every $75 spent on select Allergy Products you earn a $20 BC reward during a calendar year).  No one has gotten any credit toward this program for buying these items since Jan.1st it's been reported and there is no mention of it on the end part of receipts anymore.
Boo.

But I went up to Rite-Aid anyway to do a deal for this week.
Like Ms Goose on the Living Large For Much Less blog mentioned last week, if you got your R-A $20 Visa debit card from the last Spend $50/Get $20 Visa card from that previous promotion it's a good week to try to roll it to get another $20 Visa card this week.

While I didn't use my $20 Visa card I used some Rite-Aid gift cards earned in 2018 from a "Spend $50/Get a $10 R-A gift card Beauty" Deal instead.
I'd rather spend the gift cards only valid at R-A and keep the Visa debit card because I can spend it anywhere.  They are valid for 6 months so I can deal with that time frame to use them up.

So here is what I bought at first--
2 x R-A Vitamin D3 BOGOFree=$15.99
2 x R-A Vitamin C BOGOFree=$9.99
4 x Airwick double refills BOGOFree=$13.98
2 x Cover Girl eye palettes 20% disc.=$10.38
SubTotal......$50.34

Coupons Used
1 x $4 wyspend $20 R-A CatQ=$4.00
1 x $5 wyspend $25 R-A Vitamins R-AQ=$5.00
2 x $5.50/2 Airwick double refills IPQ=$11.00
2 x $3/1 Cover Girl eye items IPQ=$6.00
1 x $2/1 Cover Girl item receiptQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.......$28.00

$50.34-$28.00=$22.34 +.06¢ tax=$22.40
I should have earned my Reward Code for the $20 Visa card except.....

Cover Girl EYE items didn't qualify so I had to return them and rebuy two CG face items. ugh.
So the return of the CG eye items earned me back my $10 BC I had used plus $1.01 in cash(due to coupons and sales tax paid).

Not sure why the computer said give me cash since I used BC and gift cards but whatever. ;-)

So this is what I actually bought......

2 x R-A Vitamin D3 BOGOFree=$15.99
2 x R-A Vitamin C BOGOFree=$9.99
4 x Airwick double refills BOGOFree=$13.98
2 x Cover Girl concealers BOGO50%=$11.23
SubTotal......$51.19

Coupons Used
1 x $4 wyspend $20 R-A CatQ=$4.00
1 x $5 wyspend $25 R-A Vitamins R-AQ=$5.00
2 x $5.50/2 Airwick double refills IPQ=$11.00
2 x $3/1 Cover Girl face items IPQ=$6.00
Coupon Total.......$26.00

$51.19-$26.00=$25.19
If I had done the transaction correctly the first time I would have used the whole $10 in BC then $15.19 in free R-A gift cards so a "spend down" of $5.19

As it stands however I used $5.55 of my $10 BC and put the rest of the $11.39 OOP on various free R-A gift cards("spending" $16.94), received $1.01 in cash back on the botched transaction and earned my $20 Visa card code.
rah.

I've entered the code and got an email of congrats and my Visa card will be here in about 2 weeks.

Though there were no Wellness Wednesday coupons they did have the WW table set up with other coupons and samples on it........

$2/1 CeraVe item Qs and  $5 wyspend $25 R-A vitamins Qs.  R-A is introducing a new "cleaner" line of Vitamins and what with the whole R-A line of vitamins BOGOFree this week I incorporated those into what I bought.  If you need vitamins and you spend $25 it's not too bad a deal at R-A this weeek since their vitamins are also BOGOF.
That $5 Q is valid through Saturday 2/8 only though so if you find them in your store you have to use it this week but be warned, when I used the Q on 2/5 it beeped and the register said it was expired! lolz
Good old Rite-Aid.......

They also have 2 different CeraVe samples, Ricola drops(the new ones)and a little pill container for a key ring from Bayer.
Better than a poke in the eye with a stick but WWQs going away makes me sad.
But the company has to change things to stay competitive and not go bankrupt so it's understandable.

Did y'all buy anything at Rite-Aid this week?

Sluggy

This & That Boring Stuff

* Since Sue L. asked.........My Taco Con Queso Casserole on my meal plan this week is simply a Velveeta boxes dinner(Sluggy hangs her head in shame that it wasn't a cooked from scratch meal but a 75% off boxed dinner from Ollies lolz)......noodles, cheesy spicy cheese sauce and chicken.  We didn't end up having it yet this week but when we do prepare it we will add veggies(corn, red bell peppers or green chiles, that sort of thing).  You can probably make something like this from scratch....just google it.
Mostly I see it served with or cooked with rice rather than pasta.

* About couponing since a couple folks asked.........
Digital coupons are those that attach to a loyalty card.  Most grocery stores have them so check with your store's website and/or app.  Weis(PMITA)Markets as well as Rite-Aid have digital Qs(known as Load2Card at R-A).  Other than checking with your store or checking out the the Coupons dotcom app on your smartphone I don't really have much more info on that whole arena.  If anyone reading is a digital coupon Goddess please give us from tips!

About coupon lingo and shorthand, go HERE for a pretty comprehensive list of coupon abreviations and explanations.  I'll add a couple Rite-Aid specific abbriviations--L2CQ(Load to Card coupon), WW refers to Wellness Wednesday(the first Wednesday of each month when one day Qs are available)so a WWQ is a Wellness Wednesday coupon.

* Friday and Saturday are 30% sale days at Rite-Aid.  You need a catalina or a coupon for it that printed out on your receipt in the last 10 days or so or if you are lucky, you store will have coupons available at the register or somewhere in the store(sales flyer kiosk, by the pharmacy, etc.)  Let me just say that having/getting/using a 30% coupon is a YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary)situation.  Some stores will be pretty aggressive with handing the Qs out, some stores will have a stack at the register or one taped to the register and automatically give you the 30% off(if the items is on sale for BOGO50% or at a sale price that is GREATER than a 30% off discount the 30% off won't apply).
Other stores........*whomp whomp*.....other stores don't give a rat's ass if you know about the Friends and Family sale, won't mention it, won't KNOW about the sale(depends on that store's management)and might even look at you suspiciously if you hand them a coupon for it.
If you didn't get the Q go on the Rite-Aid website and there should be a link somewhere there to either print it out or show at the register from you smartphone. 8-)

* Since Teddie asked........... My Korean BBQ from Sunday was using a bottled sauce for the marinade rather than making it from scratch.  Again, I got the sauce/marinade very cheap at a discount outlet.  It's called Bulgogi sauce and you can find recipes for many versions of the sauce online.
A tip that really helps is that you slice your beef(against the grain)when it's frozen so you can get it really, really thinly sliced.(Next time I'll also add pineapple juice to the marinade as it adds in breaking down the connective tissues in the meat....oh, I am so smart!lolz).
Anyway, proper Korean BBQ is cooked on charcoal grills but being February in Pennsyltucky I high heat cooked the beef in a cast iron pan to get the crispy bits on the meat like from grilling it.  Then stir-fried the broccoli with some of the marinade and dumped it all together with ramen noodles and called it dinner. ;-)

* The last few days of February have seemed to have taken weeks to finish.  Ok, so maybe it's because we cashed out a CD a few days ago and are waiting for it to fully process and set up a new, higher interest CD at a different financial institution.  It was heart stopping yesterday to go online and see the CD account was close with a ZERO balance but the monies hadn't showed up in the bank where it was suppose to go!!!  That's a whole boatload of cash to have suspended in the ether somewhere and freaked me out a bit.  Hopefully everything will get to where it needs to go and I can fund the new CD before we leave for down South the end of next week.

*  I am in full-on planning mode for this coming WW(see what I did there?)sale.  The WWL2CQs are now available online.  Load all the WWQs to your account(s)as they come off ALONG with the paper WWQs in the store that day.  There are suppose to be RMNQs in the inserts this Sunday(of course I don't get these here!)for Centrum and Enmergen-C that will pair with the double dipping R-AQs making these items a MM.
A Werther's candy Q just popped up on Coupons dotcom too which would make this an even bigger MM too. ;-)

Ok, that's enough outta me for today.
Time to go close the books on February here(except for the interest which doesn't come through until tomorrow).
Hope everyone out there is ready for March......because it's coming if you like it or not!  8-)))

Sluggy

Wellness Wednesday Scores

So Wellness Wednesday at Rite-Aid this month was yesterday not on July 4th(which was the first Wednesday in July)because the 4th was a holiday.

I gathered a few Qs, loaded a few Load2CardQs onto the only account that works(Daughter's)and went up to do a transaction that I heard might or might not have gone off well.
Mine went exceedingly well.........

1 x Boost 6 pack 20% Discount=$7.99
3 x Ice drinks on sale=$3.00
1 x Crest Scope mouthwash on sale=$4.00
1 x Centrum 100 ct. vitamins 20% Discount=$9.99
1 x Crest toothpaste on sale=$4.00
1 x Colgate toothpaste 20% Discount better than sale price=$3.43
SubTotal.......$32.41

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Boost IPQ=$2.00
1 x $4/1 Boost WWQ=$4.00
1 x $4/1 Boost WW/L2CQ=$4.00
3 x $1/1 Ice drinks WWQ=$3.00
1 x $2/1 Crest mouthwash L2CQ=$2.00
1 x $4/1 Centrum WWQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 Centrum L2CQ=$3.00
1 x $4/1 Centrum WW/L2CQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste L2CQ=$2.00
1 x .50¢/1 Colgate toothpast L2CQ=.50¢
1 x $3/1 Colgate RA In-AdQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$31.50

$32.41-$31.50=.91¢ OOP paid with Bonus Cash pts.

And I earned back $6 in new Bonus Cash($3 Crest mouthwash, $2 Crest toothpaste, $1 wyb3 Ice)making this a $5.01 moneymaker.
I also applied for and received a .50¢ rebate at Checkout51(buy 2 Ice drinks on the same receipt and get .50¢ back)so it's now a $5.51 moneymaker.  8-)))

The WW one day Qs were available in the store AND could be loaded to your Wellness card/account online so I got double off on the Centrum and the Boost items.  Plus there were two regular Centrum L2CQs on this account/card($4, $3)and BOTH came off!!  8-))

The Colgate, Crest items can be picked up all week for free and/or free after BC(if you have the L2CQs for the Crest and the Colgate ManuQ or IPQ-coupons dotcom).  And these Crest items double dip with the P&G monthly long Spend $30/Get $15 BC if you haven't finished that deal off yet.


I had another Colgate Q and the Mitchum Q from the inserts on Sunday so I also did this transaction on my card.........

1 x Mitchum deodorant 20% discount=$4.39
2 x Colgate toothpaste 20% discount less than sale price=$6.86
SubTotal.........$11.25

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 Mitchum ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Mitchum In-AdQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Colgate toothpaste ManuQ=$1.00
2 x $3/1 Colgate toothpaste In-AdQ=$6.00
Coupon Total.......$11.00

$11.25-$11.00=.25¢+.03¢tax=.28¢ OOP paid with Bonus Cash.
No BC earned so I didn't roll the Bonus Cash, just spent it down by .28¢ here.
Toothpaste was negative .14¢ after stacked R-A and ManuQ and deodorant was .39 after stacked Qs so .14 applied to .39 left .25+.03tax due or .28¢.

I'm glad to roll those $6 in BC since the rest of July looks pretty dismal at Rite-Aid.  I need some good deals to roll BC by mid August.

Sluggy

It's Always Something at Rite-Aid!

So it's Wellness Wednesday.....again!
And I had to go up to get an Rx refilled so I finished the second "Spend $10/Get $3 BC" Deal on my card......

2 x Nestle h2o case=$6.00
2 x Hershey Gold bars=$1.38
SubTotal....$7.38

Coupons used
1 x $1/2 Nestle h2o IPQ=$1.00
2 x $1.50/1 Hershey Gold IPQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$4.00

$7.38-$4.00=$3.38
Except.....
1-a .50¢/2 Hershey L2CQ came off.
2-Bonus Cash jumped onto the transaction and kicked off my water Q and 1 of my Hershey Qs!

So the transaction became.....$7.38-$2.00=$5.38 and $5 in BC came off, leaving me owing .38¢ OOP.

I paid with a Rite-Aid gift card and then got back $2.50($1.50 and $1)in a "post Q" situation.
I also earned a new $3 BC for buying the h2o and candy bars(Spend $10/Get $3 Deal).

Rite-Aid emailed me a 25% coupon this morning so I paired that with Wellness Wednesday Qs and reg. manuQs and I found some items to buy that were cheap.......

2 x Fiber One lemon bars($3.29 25% off)=$6.58
1 x Flonase 60ct.($12.74 25% off)=$12.74
1 x Rohto eye drops($6.36 25% off)=$6.36
4 x Werther's candy drops(on sale 2/$4)=$8.00
SubTotal...........$33.68

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 WWQ Fiber One=$4.00
2 x .50¢/1 Fiber One Q on the boxes=$1.00
1 x $5/1 Flonase WWQ=$5.00
1 x $3/1 Flonase ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $5/1 Rohto WWQ=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Rohto IPQ=$2.00
4 x $1.50/1 Werther's candy WWQ=$6.00
Coupon Total.......$26.00

$33.68-$26.00=$7.68 and Bonus Cash should have covered all but .68¢ of this total(w/that .68¢ going on my R-A gift card).

But.........
In order to get my ManuQs(2 of them)to come off, after the cashier scanned my 25% paper he took it off and at the end of the transaction it wouldn't go back on again! lolz

So my total were thus instead.......

2 x Fiber One lemon bars($3.51 20% off)=$7.02
1 x Flonase 60ct.($12.74 20% off)=$13.59
1 x Rohto eye drops($6.79 20% off)=$6.79
4 x Werther's candy drops(on sale 2/$4)=$8.00
SubTotal...........$35.40

$35.40-$26 in Qs=$9.40
$9 in BC came off and I paid .40¢ on my R-A gift card.

Then we figured the 5% difference on all but the Werther's and I got another $1.72 back in cash(post coupon)for the % that didn't come off.

So for all the above(both transactions)I used $14 in BC, earned $3 in new BC, spent .78¢ on my gift card and got $4.22 back in cash so I am "down" $7.56 for 2 cases of water, 2 candy bars, 2 boxes of snack bars, 1 bottle of Flonase, 4 bags of caramels and eye drops.

The Fiber One bars were .79¢ after stacked Qs.
The Flonase was $4.74 after stacked Qs.
The eye drops were a .64¢ moneymaker after stacked Qs.
The Werther's candy were .50¢ a bag and there's an Ibotta .75¢ rebates for the sugar-free variety and I bought 1 bag of that kind so after rebate each bag averages out to .31¢.

College Boy has been asking for some eye drops so that's why the Rohto was bought.
Daughter loves hard caramel candies so those are going into the Xmas box for her. Ssshhh
The lemon bars are something Daughter and I will eat.
And the Flonase is for me(plus I got $13.59 credit toward an Allergy Rewards BC....still need $15.45 to reach that $20 BC Reward).

And another thing, the message you get when you scan your Wellness Card has changed.....it doesn't say how many Plenti points you have(your receipt still shows them but in tiny numbers now)though it still asks you if you'd like to use your PPs.
Weird.
I wonder how much longer the PPs will be accepted at Rite-Aid?

They had some free samples out on the WW table today(there were no samples last week).....Breathe Right strips and Crest gum detoxify toothpaste tubes.

Did you find anything worth buying?

Sluggy