Another February Giveaway!

Here it is.....another Giveaway!
Since I didn't get a Giveaway up in January, let's do TWO in February....unless some one out there has a problem with that.  ;-)

This is the second Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for the year.
This time it's all about Girly Girls.....Make-Up and Chocolate!

Here is what you can win if your entry is picked.......

1 x Crest toothpaste
1 x Oral-B toothbrush(medium softness)
1 x Aveeno lotion sample bottle
1 x Tag men's deodorant
1 x Pantene shampoo(w/bonus sample)
1 x Centrum Vitamints vitamins
1 x Max Freezer topical pain relief
2 x Nivea hand cream tins
1 x Nivea tinted lip balm(strawberry)
1 x Revlon lipstick(rosy nude)
1 x Wet n' Wild lipstick(dark pink frost)
1 x L'Oreal Infallible lip liner pencil(mauve)
2 x Cover Girl eye shadow(1 turquoise tempest, 1 purple pop)
5 x Sinful Colors nail polish(stormy, forget now, dream on, sugar sugar, let's talk)
1 x Rite-Aid brand tweezers
1 x Fiber Choice sample
1 x Revlon nail clippers
2 x Make-up remover packs
10 x Assorted Chocolate squares(Ghirardeli & Hershey's)

Closeup shots of the goodies up for grabs......

I'll leave this giveaway open until Tuesday, February 28th, at 11:59pm Eastern Time, so that gives everyone a full week to enter this one.  On March 1st I'll mark all the valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

You may get ONE ENTRY EVERY DAY by leaving a comment on this blog post every day until the Giveaway ends.
Tell me in your comment, what here is the thing you most like to win, what the weather has been like by you, your favorite brand and type of chocolate, your best frugal tip to share with our readers, your favorite brand and type of shampoo, if you consider yourself a "girly girl", your best tip for getting and staying out of debt, the name/link to a favorite blog you'd like to share, if you are better off now or 5 years ago and why, or anything else you'd like to share with everyone.

You can also get 3 BONUS ENTRIES by posting this Giveaway on your own Blog OR if you are a Follower of this blog.  Please leave 3 separate entries for these bonus entries with either a link to your blog post where you talk about the giveaway OR the name/ID you follow under so I can verify you follow the blog for these entries.

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.
As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten to high I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US, sorry.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies, I pay for it all out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.
If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get ahold of you if you win. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.
I again had to disqualify some entrants in the last giveaway because their profile is linked through Google and not Blogger.  Please check your profile!  And if you ARE entering through a Blogger profile PLEASE have contact info(email addy)in that profile.  If I can't access your email addy I can't contact you so email me your email addy privately or add your email address to your User Profile.  If you have sent me your email addy privately for a previous giveaway I still have it on file so no need to resend it for this giveaway.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I have had to disqualify more readers than I care to due to this issue and I sure don't want it to happen again.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

A Giving Opportunity Courtesy of Rite-Aid

I am stoked because I just saw an opportunity coming the week after Christmas at Rite-Aid to get a boat load of goodies for free to give to my local food bank!
I am posting this scenario in case anyone else out there feels like doing this Deal for their community or if you know someone who can use some free shampoo and detergent.

The December 27th-January 2nd Sales Ad has a double dipping Deal on some P&G items.
You can see scans of that ad at I Heart Rite-Aid .

If you spend $30 on items tagged as "2016 Starting Points" items in a single transaction you'll receive $10 in Plenti Points.
R-A is also running a Spend $30/Get $10 in Plenti Points Deal on some P&G items that week which means buy $30 of these P&G items and you'll get $20 in Plenti Points back.

You can do each of these Deals on each Wellness card 2 times.

With the P&G coupons coming out in the Dec. 27th inserts I can buy--

12 Pantene 'Poos=$41.88
4 Tide Detergents=$21.36
SubTotal......$63.24

Use 4 x $5/3 Pantene Qs=$20
Use 4 x $2/1 Tide Qs=$8
SubTotal.......$28.00

$63.24-$28.00=$35.24 OOP

Use my Plenti Points instead of cash and earn back $40 in new Plenti Points.
It looks like a $4+ moneymaker until you factor in tax and the extra newspapers you'll have to purchase to get multiple coupon inserts.  These 2 factors will absorb most of the overage and make them "just free".
I can live with free. lolz

After doing this deal twice on each card,  that will be 24 bottles of Pantene and 8 jugs of Tide for the food bank.
I don't think the food bank will turn that donation down, do you?  8-)))

Sluggy

REBATING as an Income Stream......2010 Totals

Did anyone around here do any rebating in 2010?
Are you a casual rebater?  By that I mean, you do a rebate every now and again....you don't seek out rebates, but if you happen upon one and it makes sense to buy the product and if it's not TOO MUCH trouble(the rebate process the company makes you go through)you take the time to complete it.

Do you keep track of the rebates you send for and keep a copy of the materials you send off?  Even casual rebaters should always make a copy of the info.(receipts, forms, UPCs or other qualifiers, etc.)before they send it.  It's also a good idea to jot down on your copies what date you mailed off your rebate.

I posted last year about rebating.  You can read it HERE.  I am a low tech rebater who uses a notebook to keep track of my submissions.  For those of you who love technology, you can keep track of your stuff via spreadsheets and graphs on your computer.  It's probably less work that way, once you get the software all set up....just enter your data and it automatically calculates, etc.  I just love the feel of a pencil in my hand instead......lol

I just went through my 2010 Rebate Information.
My cash refunds amounted to $1,161.46.
   $60 of this was from doing Surveys.
   $75 of this was for Focus Group work.
   $102.35 was Ad Revenue from the blog.

This $237.35...the income from surveys/focus work/ad revenue...is taxable income.
Rebates in general are NOT taxable income.  Rebates are considered a discount on the goods you buy, it reduces your cost for the product.

My gift card refunds amounted to $563.99.
   $75 of these gift cards were won in giveaways.

So my total cash and gift cards/certificates in 2010 is $1,725.45.
This isn't counting any free items, free item coupons or $ off coupons I received.

This was my first full year of rebating.
Though looking at my paperwork I did take 4 months off from actual mail-in rebating during the spring/summer months.  I did do some online rebating but mostly it was Rite-Aid SCRebates, Blog Giveaway wins, Surveys and Facebook type freebies.
My full year of Rebating total was $1.19 LESS than my Rebating total for 2009.

My costs to rebate added up to.....
$17.60 for 40 stamps
$1.00 for a box of envelopes
The copy paper was free as I still have a ton of that Staples reams of paper deal from 2009.
As for the ink cartridge costs.....not sure how to figure that.  Estimate how many pages I copied I suppose.  I'll call that 1 cartridge(I only use black ink), so $30.

Estimated total for rebate supplies.....
$48.60.

Not a bad return on investment, huh? ;-)

There is something about rebating I don't care for.  The fact that some people can be ineligible for certain rebates because they happen to live in a certain state.
If you live in a state where you can do alcoholic beverage/other foodstuffs rebates and that state doesn't require you to purchase the alcohol, you REALLY should do these types of rebates!
Usually you can find these rebates on the alcoholic beverages('wine tags' are what the forms are called).
You will need to purchase something like $20 of meat or $10 of cookout items, etc. and the rebate will be for the whole $20 or $10 cost of the non-alcoholic items you bought.  So basically, if you don't have to purchase the alcohol, you are getting $XX worth of food or other items for FREE!
How awesome is that?
Unfortunately for me, the state of PA does NOT allow it's residents to send off for these kind of rebates.....sniff, sniff......

As for 2011.....
Since the types of food items I purchase seems to be evolving, I don't see myself sending off for as many rebates as I did the past 2 years.  That's not to say I won't continue to rebate however.
I also don't shop and buy "stuff"(non-food items except toiletries)at the rate of most of Americans, so I don't do many clothing, or other "hardlines" type of rebates.  I may qualify for a paint or other hardware store type rebate here or there as an exception to this since we have home related purchases.

When I go looking, I don't see nearly the number of rebates so far this year being offered by the usual suspects(companies)as the last 2 years.  That may change as we get further into the year but for now it's looking sparse out there in the rebating field.

I'll continue to rebate in 2011 and I'll be interested to see how this year goes and how my numbers stack up when all is said and done.

If anyone has any rebating questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Sluggy

Are We Done Yet Mom?......1 More Trip to Rite-Aid

Well, I had a Motrin PM coupon left and I hadn't done the UKotex deal yet on BIL's account so we stopped at Rite-Aid Again! yesterday evening.

2 x Bounty Basic towels on sale $.99=$1.98
2 x UKotex on sale $3.50=$7.00
1 x Airwick Sprayer 50% off=$4.99
1 x Colgate Toothpaste on sale=$2.99
1 x Motrin PM on sale=$3.00
2 x Mounds candy bars BOGO=$.88
SubTotal....$20.84

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x $1/2 Bounty towels Manu Q=$1.00
2 x $1/1 UKotex (1 Homemailer/1 IPQ)=$2.00
1 x $4/1 Airwick Sprayer Manu Q=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste Manu Q=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Motin PM Manu Q=$3.00
1 x $.50/2 Mounds/Almond Joy candy bars AdPerks/VV IPQ=$.50
2 x $2 +Up Rewards(Nice 'N Easy & Colgate)=$4.00
Coupon Total....$20.50

$20.84-$20.50=$.34 OOP put on Free Rite-Aid gift card
Value of Items....$33.99
SCR qualified for....$3(Kotex)
+Up Rewards earned.....$3(Motrin), $2(Colgate)=$5.00

I am not out of Motrin PM and Airwick Qs, but I still have Rembrandt, Bounty and Colgate Qs.
Hmmmm....wonder what other scenarios I can come up with.  There are still cans of Hash out there calling my name!lol

MONTHLY TOTALS now--

Number of Transactions......14
Total Spent....$46.00--all put on free Gift Cards/Certificates
SCR qualified for....$58.98 in cash and $35 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$15 MIR from Neutrogena
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$5.00 Gift Card from Gillette(for survey)& $20 in Prepaid Debit Cards=$25.00
+Up Rewards earned=$52.99
+Up Rewards spent=$24.00

Total Cash I'm getting Back=$73.98
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$60.00
+Up Rewards left to spend=$28.99


Sluggy

How to get a Desk Lamp for $1.97 & Other Shopping Deals Yesterday

So after reading about all the FREE DOG FOOD "I'm So Pretty I Fart Fairy Dust" has posted about, I got my rear end out of the house and went up to Target.

Target and I have some bad history together.  I'm not overly fond of the chain and my only local store hires cashiers and then doesn't train them well. 
I put all that aside(because of the visions of FREE DOG FOOD)and armed with my coupons and a copy of the coupon policy print-out I marched into Target yesterday morning.

Was happily picking products up, deposting them into my cart and putting the corresponding coupons into my pocket.
Palmolive Dish Soap @$1.49...check!
2 x Purell Sanitizer @$1.37....check!
Cinnabon Pastries @$2....check!
2 x Chef Michaels Dry Dog Food @$4.26....che.....hey!....WTH?
I had left an envie of coupons in the car, among them all the dog food coupons and the kashi coupons.
ARGH!
So, the dog food goes back on the shelf and I check out with my 4 other items.
 $6.23-$4 in coupons($1/1 for each item bought)=$2.23+.07¢ tax=$2.30OOP
Paid cash, forgetting to use my prepaid Visa from the Staples rebate-doh!- and out to the car for the rest of the coupons.

Back into the store--

more Palmolive Dish Soap @$1.49...check! ($1/1 Q)
more Purell Sanitizer @$1.37...check! ($1/1 Q x 2)
more Cinnabon Pastries  @$2...check! ($1/1 Q)
1 x Dawn Foam Dish Soap @$2.29...check! ($1.50/1 Q)
2 x Chef Michaels Can Food @.84....check! (Target BOGO Q + Manu. BOGO Q)
2 x Chef Michaels Dry Food @$4.26...check! (Target $1.50/1 Q + Manu. $3/1 Q x 2)
2 x Purina One Can Food @$1.29...check! (BOGO Q)
1 x Schick Quattro Cartridges @$8.99....check! (Target $4/1 Q + Manu. $4/1 Q)
2 x Kashi Baked Bars @$2.88...check! ($1.50/1 IP Q x 2)
3 x Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal @$2.88....check! ($1.50/1 Mailer Q x 3)
SubTotal...$44.69
Coupons Used...$32.97
$44.69-$32.97=$11.72+.05¢tax=$11.77

Actual total on the receipt was $8.85 with tax.

***This is part of why I hate Target.  The way they figure things is squirrely.  You can never decipher the register receipt and I am convinced that they have things keyed in so that you always end up paying MORE than you are suppose to.  IE: Squirrely=the dog food...1 bag they took off $1 for the Target $1.50 Q and the other bad they took off $1.00. even though both coupons were for $1.50 off.  One of the Manu Q for $3 they listed under the item on the receipt, the other $3 Q was way down on the bottom of the receipt & under the item up top they marked off $4.26 for the bag for a Manu. Q right under the item, so it looks like I paid $6.02 for the 2 bags and they took off $10.26 on that sale.
HUH?  OK, so this example they undercharged me, but usually I end up paying more according to their computations.
Then the 2 small cans of dog food(which I had 2 BOGO Qs for-a target & a Manu stacked-so it should have been free), it looks like they charged me for 1 can.  Nothing adds up correctly no matter how you try to decipher it.***

Anyway, back to our story....
I hand the stack of coupons to the cashier & prepared myself for battle....
but he just scanned them all, not a word when there were a target & manufacture's Q stacked, not a look when something beeped and needed to be adjusted, nada.
Target says my total came to $8.85.  Not being a mathematician with a PhD, I don't argue the point, as it's lower than it should be.lol

I handed over my $5 Gift Card from the Quaker Granola Bars deal of a few weeks back and got a new $5 Gift Card for the Kashi items bought.
Then I slid my Staples preloaded Debit Card from a rebate on paper bought in July and paid my balance of $3.85.

Zero out of pocket and a $5 GC to use next time.
Plus the Palmolive Dish Soap has a Try Me Free Rebate so I'll get $1.49 of what I spent back & if SIL hasn't already, I can send for a TMF Rebate for her too for the 1st receipt.

Then it was to CVS to get a prescription transferred so I could get a $25 Gift Card for the CRT offer I got a few weeks back on my receipt.
Had to roll some ECBs expiring on 9/17 while I was there....

3 x Reach 2 pack toothbrushes @$3.99=$11.97
4 x Candy Corn @.50¢=$2.00
1 x Colgate Toothpaste @$2.99
1 x Cottonelle TP @$5.99
1 x Poise Pantiliners @$2.49
1 x Viologie Shampoo Sample @$1.49
SubTotal  $26.93

Coupons Used
3 x $2/1 Reach 2 pack toothbrushes=$6.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Cottonelle TP=$1.00
1 x CRT FREE Q Poise Pantiliners=$2.49
1 x CRT FREE Q Viologie Shampoo Sample=$1.49
Total  $11.98

$26.93-$11.98=$14.95

ECBs Used
$10 for Survey
$2 for ?
$1.98 for Pencils
Total  $13.98

$14.95-$13.98=$.97+$.06 tax=1.03OOP put on old CVS Gift Card
Received $8ECBs, Used $13.98
Bleh. Lost $5.98 in ECBs buying TP & Candy Corn.  Fitting, no?lol


When I was walking from the back after paying for my prescription & getting my new $25 GC, I noticed some clearance items at the far end of the Halloween candy display.  The sign said 25% off and there was a gooseneck desk lamp sitting there.  As #2 son just moved into his brother's room, he now needs a desk lamp for the desk in there.  So I looked it over and couldn't find a price.  I hauled it upfront to the register and had the cashier price check it for me.  She said, "It's $3.74".
Huh??  You mean 3 DOLLARS and 74 CENTS...right?
"Yah, that's what I said."
"I'll take it!"
The lamp is not fancy but it looks sturdy and is just the thing he needs.
And for $3.97(with tax), you KNOW I'm all over that!!  8-))
Turns out, it's got one of those energy saving globe lightbulbs included and it's suppose to last for 9 Years. (And you'll realize an energy savings of $47 over that time according to the box.)
But what makes this desk lamp all the more sweet to me is the little sticker on the box.....

Yep, that's a MIR for $2.00.  My little lamp will end up costing me ZERO OOP & I'll get a $2 check for buying it.  I put the $3.97 on a Gift Card(.97¢ left on the old GC and $3 on the one I just got at the Pharmacy)& I'll get a check for $2 for the Rebate.

Then it was off to WAGS....

 

1 Murine Ear Care=$6.00

2 Big Roll TP@.50¢=$1.00
Subtotal  $7.00

Used $6 in RRs
$1.00OOP

Received a $6RR for the Murine

The reported Big Roll TP ringing up .50¢ BEFORE the In-Ad Q wasn't happening here.

 

Transaction #2

4 x Lindsay Olives @$2.00ea(when you buy 2)=$8.00
2 x Triaminic Nighttime Syrup @$5.00ea=$10.00
1 x Wags Cashews on sale $1.99
2 x GUM Tooth & Tongue pack @5.29=$10.58

SubTotal  $30.57

Coupons Used
4 x Wags AD Q Lindsay Olives@$.99ea.=$4.04
2 x Lindsay Olives $1/2=$2.00
2 x Triaminic Nighttime Syrup $1.50=$3.00
2 x Wags Booklet Triaminic Q@$2.00ea.=$4.00
2 x GUM Tooth & Tongue pack RAINCHECK-BOGO/RR Deal so Free=$10.58
Total  $23.62

$30.57-$23.62=$6.95

Used $6 Murine RR
$6.95-$6.00=$.95OOP

Received $10RR(2x$5)

So when the 2 $5RRs popped out I thought, Great!....the Nighttime Triaminic IS giving double RRs.

One was a Novartis generatedRR(the Triaminic)& the other was a Reckitt Benckiser RR.  Not sure what this means.

So I went back for some more Triaminic.
But they only had the Strips left in the Nighttime....

Transaction #3

2 x Triaminic NIghttime Strips @$5.00=$10.00

Coupons Used
2 x Triaminic Nighttime Syrup $1.50=$3.00
2 x Wags Booklet Triaminic Q@$2.00ea.=$4.00
Total  $7.00

$10-$7=$3.00OOP Put on Staples Prepaid Visa Debit Card

Received $5RR

Ok, so this time only 1 $5RR comes out.  Now I am really scratching my head!lol

The CAT machine made a little noise after the 1st RR appeared, a bad "I think I'll jam now & stop working" noise.  Now I had to figure out whether I needed to make a scene and have the machine looked at or just let it go.  As I'm not sure if the Triaminic was suppose to give 2 Cats from 2 different companies and I was so tired and had to pick up kids at school, I just let it go.

I know.....so NOT like me!lolol
So I'll have to settle for a $9 moneymaker instead of a $14 moneymaker on the Triaminic.

In the end, I 'spent' $21.10.

OOP cash spent was $4.25.  The rest was paid with assorted Gift Cards/Prepaid Visa.

I used $13.98 in ECBs/gained $8 for a total loss of $5.98ECBs.
I used $12 in RRs/gained $15 for a total gain of $$3RRs.
Will receive $3.49 in checks($1.49 & $2.00 for Palmolive & Lamp MIRs).
Got a new Target $5 Giftcard & have $22 left on my new CVS Giftcard as well.
And I got $161.62 worth of stuff.

Not a bad days work....

Sluggy