Frugal Friday.....the August 14th Edition

 Here are a few things that happened around Chez Sluggy this past week that we call frugal.......

* I had 13 items from a Weis trip last Friday that gave me an extra Midweek $1 Bonus(12 were needed to hit the bonus so I did 1 beter).  

These 13 were also tracking toward a Buy 30 items/Get a $10 Bonus that was running until mid month in August so while I was in Walmart earlier this week I finished that Bonus off.

I got......

1 x 3 pack Renuzit air fresheners($1.00)

5 x single Renuzit air fresheners($2.00)

1 x Ritz toasted chips($1.00)

1 x Townhouse pita crackers(.25¢)

1 x lg. Buddig lunch meat pack($1.00)

1 x Lily's baking chips(.75¢)

1 x Kraft mac and cheese box(.15¢)

1 x Serious Bean Co. can(.50¢)

2 x Stouffer's Veggie Lasagna single serve($1.00)

3 x Banquet Pot Pies(for Hubs to make next week)(.50¢)

1 x Perdue Ground Chicken($1.25)

1 x Country Crock "Plant" Butter sticks($1.00)

1 x Country Crock "Plant" Butter tub(.50¢)

4 x Bella wet dog food tubs (.50¢)

5 x Hall's Energy and Sleep packs($6.25)

1 x Poise pads($3.00)

1 x Fage yogurt split cup(.55¢)

Plus I earned .10¢ each on sleep aid, crackers and chips(.30¢ total), the $10 Extra Dough, a $1 Renuzit Bonus and a Cash Giveaway entry for this trip.

Total rebates earned was $32.50 and I used an old Walmart gift card $50 to pay plus another $4.84 w/sales tax total OOP(after using $3.50 in coupons also)for all this.

* I found money!

I found this penny last Friday as Hubs and I were leaving Weis(PMITA)Markets.

Last Saturday when entering the Dollar General not in my little town I saw this dirty quarter outside.  It sort of blended into the walkway but my eagle eye was on point that morning! ;-)

Then when leaving the register after checking out I spied this shiny penny halfway tucked under the candy rack.

Then the glint off the sunshine in the parking lot at Rite-Aid made me look/find this penny near my car as I exited it.  No abandoned change inside my R-A that day however.

Hubs and I went to Price Chopper to get lobster on Thursday and I found 2 pennies there-1 in the check-out lane and another in the foyer of the store on our way out.

Total Change found this week. .30¢
Total Change found this year....$47.50

* I hit the Bread Outlet for 2 loaves of Arnold Bread and a package of hot dog rolls.  Total OOP was $4 for all 3 items.  Buying just one loaf of Arnold's bread reg. retail at Weis(PMITA)Markets can run over $4!

* While I was at the Bread Outlet I went next door to Malacari's produce market for 3 types of lunch meat, 1 lb. of sharp cheddar cheese slices, 2 heads of lettuce and 5 cukes and a head of cabbage for $16.95 total.

*  Don't hate me because I had lobster and salad for lunch on Thursday..........

The Price Chopper ad last Sunday had a coupon for $4.99 lb. lobsters so Hubs and I went on Thursday to check it out.  

There were other coupon deals we did($1.99 case of water, $1.99 lb. 80% ground beef(3 lb. or more packages), $1.99 for 1 lb. of butter, and select GM cereals and/or NV granola bars for 4/$8 and you get a free gallon of Milk)plus we had to spend $15 on non coupon deal items(that's how the PC Qs always work)so we picked up a nice piece of Salmon, 3 chopped salad kits(all of them had $1.50 instant savings stickers plus were already on sale), a 24 oz. container of whole mushrooms(also with a $1.50 instant savings sticker on it). I found a gallon of distilled water too over on the markdown/damaged goods shelves with a .25¢ instant savings sticker on it so that ran me .75¢ instead of $1 I usually pay.

I also stacked a $1/2 NV granola bar peelie Q and a $1/2 GM cereals IPQ with the PC 4/$8 and get free milk ad-Q so I paid $6 for 2 boxes of cereal, 2 boxes of granola bars and a gallon of milk(here in PA whole milk by the gallon is $3.94-it's price regulated by the PA state dairy board-so that's nothing to sneeze at!)

We also picked up 2 packs of muffins for $5 and a lemon meringue pie for $3.99 and of course the 2 lobsters.  Total OOP was $53 and change for all which was a really good deal.

I don't often go to Price Chopper but when I do I have deals to get. ;-)

* I did one Rite-Aid shop so far this past week that I already posted about.

Be sure and go get your free or moneymaker toothpaste and toothbrush(or mouth wash) before the sale ends on Saturday!

*  We got Domino's on Wednesday for dinner using a gift card.

*  Things kept me occupied this past week(beyond grocery/R-A shopping)at home...........

As energy and my leg have allowed I've been slowly working on reorganizing and de-cluttering the house now that Ex-College Boy's room was emptied.

Hubs had vacuumed and shampooed the carpeting and cleaned the baseboards in there. Ex-CB came over on his day off to help move furniture and since then Hubs and I have been moving the toiletries stockpile, Xmas tubs, kids crap around in our version of Tetris.  I hope to get that room tidy and functional as a guest room before my surgery next Wednesday.  Updates and photos at some point later.  The upstairs hallway(were we've staged some stuff is looking quite empty now.

After that it's on to sewing room and those supplies then another purge of the linen closet in the hallway.  Yippee!

That's about it to report in from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Sluggy

Grocery Shopping Exploits This Week

On Tuesday after voting Hubs and I went down to Aldi to pick up a few things we needed plus we found a couple of Christmas items.  I picked those up too as I wasn't sure whether I would get back to Aldi before Christmas...........

2 bags of flour for $1.15 ea.
2 cans of cranberry "glop" for .89¢ ea.
4 cans of evap. milk for .59¢ ea.
1 pie crust rolls for $1.39
All of the above is for Thanksgiving

1 box cornstarch for .89¢ *not pictured*
1 bag cole slaw mix for $1.29 *not pictured*
6 bananas for $1.04 *not pictured*
1 bag of "Doritos" for Ex-CB .99¢ *not pictured*
4 cans refried beans for .75¢ ea.
1 bag of harvest bagels for $1.99
1 bag of chocolate croissants for $2.99(a treat)
1 container of chicken salad for $2.99(a treat)

And 5 items for Christmas--
2 packs of Bourbon Sweet Potato Ravioli for $2.99 ea.
1 Cranberry/White Cheddar Cheese round for $3.99
2 Stollen(1 Butter Almond/1 Cherry)Cake for $4.99 ea.(love this!)

And here was the deal of the day at Aldi's......

80/20 Ground Beef patties for $1.33 lb!!!  Each package was just over 1.5 lbs. and $4 off, which made them $1.33+/- lb.  I wish I had more room in the freezer for more than the 3 packages I bought.  We've eaten 5 of the patties already and the other 7 are wrapped well and resting in the freezer as I type.  ;-)

We spent $50.54 Total at Aldi.
Only $23.76 of that was Not Holiday spending(Turkey Day/Xmas).
Reg. retail at other grocery stores here would run upwards of $89 for all this.

The Aldi's had just reopened after being remodeled and I'll tell you it's a much nicer store now.  They expanded a bit and the lighting is much better(as is the floor plan).  The produce prices seem lower as well.

And don't look KIM, I hit the mother lode of abandoned change there.........

I went to get a cart and put a quarter in and some guy started waving and yelling at me, pushing his cart back to the corral.  He handed me his cart and I tried to give him a quarter(since I'd get "his" quarter back when I was done with the cart)and he just walked away, so I made a quarter. lolz
Then I looked down under the carts in the corral and saw a plethora of pennies scattered there.
It was pouring down rain but do you think I stooped over and picked up every penny I could reach?.....of course I did! lololz
Then when we were done and I returned my cart and retrieved my quarter from it there were more carts gone and I could reach the last few pennies that were under the row of carts.  I am .46¢ richer after that Aldi's visit!

We hit the Dollar Tree next door for 4 packages of boxed potatoes, $4 spent OOP.

Then we hit that town's Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!)that had all that 75% clearance food a couple of weeks ago and I picked up a few more items.......

I picked up just a few more items.........
2 MH coffee drinks
3 Avelina oatmeal
2 Jello puddings
1 Pillsbury frosting(cinnamon)
All 75% off=$2.70
The almond flavoring was $1.99(reg. Ollie's price).
So $4.69 OOP for everything above.

After my dr. appointment on Wednesday I went back to Price Chopper to use that $10 OYNO Catalina.........

The weekly flyer from the Sunday paper had a lot of coupons if you spent $15 on non coupon stuff---
1 x King Arthur flour for $1.99
2 x Domino sugar for .99¢(1 was .99¢/1 was $1.99 but I stacked a $1/2 Domino ManuQ so the second sugar was .99¢ as well)
1 x 18 ct. eggs for .99¢
1 x lb. of butter for $1.99
1 x PC brand choc. chips for .99¢
2 x Wesson oil for $1.77 ea.

I also found 2 x ZClif bars in a clearance bin for $1.79 ea.
Also bought but not pictured was a 12-pack of Snapple teas for Daughter and 3 boxes of Count Chocula//FrankenBerry cereal on clearance for $1 each for Ex-College Boy. ;-)


Here are the things I bought so my total before the special Q items was over $15.......

1 x Hatfield Black Forest dinner ham on sale for $7.19 and I had a $1.50/1 Q so $5.69.
2 x Hatfield chorizo loose pork on sale for $2.39 ea.
2 x Hatfield Pork Loins(Texas bbq flavor)on sale for $4.79 ea. and I had 2 x $1/1 Qs so $3.79 ea.
5 x Hatfield bacon packs on sale for $2.99 ea.
All the meat was $33.00 after sales/coupons.

But even better there are Ibotta cash rebates on the loose pork, tenderloin and bacon right now($1 on the loose and bacon, $2 on the tenderloins)
There was also a $1 ZClif bars rebate too.
I ended up earning back $15.50 in Ibotta rebates on this purchase($11 on meat items, $2 on Zbars, $2 Mid-Week Bonus and .50¢ November Level 1 Bonus).

$47.54 OOP after Qs and the $10 Cat and I got back $15.50 in rebates.
I'll take it! 8-)))

Then I hit Rite-Aid since it was Wellness Wednesday but that's another post for later.
I was so tired by then I never even got to Weis(PMITA)Markets before this week's sales ended.
Bu that's ok as they didn't have much I wanted in that ad.

I am over $100 spent for the week but that's aok as I picked up some Turkey Day and Xmas needs/wants too.


Sluggy

Price Chopper Shopping

I hit Price Chopper this week for a little grocery shopping.
They had some good in-ad coupons and a special on mushrooms(which hardly ever go on sale here at a good price).

Before I bought anything I purchased $50 in select gift cards to earn a $10 OYNO Catalina.
But I didn't see the Catalina print so I went to the customer service desk and they gave me a $10 PC gift card.
I then went and bought the groceries......

I had planned to get 2 x the 24 oz. mushroom packs for $3.99 but they had older 12 oz. packs marked with $1.50 instant discount stickers so I bought 2 of those and it was $2.98 for both after the discount(so cheaper than the larger sale priced packs).  I only used those two packs on a dinner this past week and will do something this coming week w/the rest of the mushrooms.

The 2 x OJ had $1 off instant stickers on them so were $2 each after sale and stickers.

The whole roasting chickens were a Q item and was .59¢ per lb.

The 2L of soda was another Q item deal and was .49¢.

The pineapple juice was reg. price but I used a .75¢/1 ManuQ that doubled to $1.50 off so that was .89¢.

The Kind bars were $1.99 each and I earned a $2 rebate so both cost me $1.98 after that.

The Fiber One bars were a Q item deal(1 for. .99¢ w/Q)so $2.98 for both(second one was $1.99).  I used a .50¢/2 ManuQ(which doubled to $1 off)so both were a total of $1.98).

The chobani flips were another Q item deal(buy 10, use Q and pay .79¢ each)so $7.90 for 10.
I used 2 x $1/4 Chobani items ManuQ and also used the 2 PC Doubler Qs on those ManuQs so it took $4 off the yogurts, meaning I paid $3.90 for all 10 yogurts or .39¢ each.

I also bought 2 x Panko house brand containers, a bag of grapes and a 6 pack of Snapples for the Daughter.

I used the $10 PC gift card and paid $27.80 OOP.
Not bad.

Then when I got home I found this in the bag with the gift cards.........

Oops!   I guess the $10 Catalina did print out after all but the cashier jammed it into the bag so fast I missed it.

Sluggy

Price Chopper and The End of the Soap Saga

If you've been following the adventures of our heroine from this post HERE, she was waiting on the Price Chopper guy to call her when the soap hit the shelves on Saturday morning.

Around the crack of 11 am the phone rings and the PC guy is on the other end.  Seems they didn't receive any more Dove Men's soap on the truck.  I thanked him for at least letting me know I crapped out on the soap, so I didn't sit by the phone ALL DAY waiting on the call.
At this point I channeled my dead beloved dog, Mango, and said, "Crap"!  This was his favorite expression.....well, the expression that would have been his favorite if indeed he could talk. ;-)

Since I had to run out Saturday to other stores I found myself over by the other PC that had soap on Friday.  I figured I'd go in and check if any was left at this late stage of the Catalina game.
And I'm glad I did check it out since they were well stocked in the soap!  I think this PC jacked the other PC's soap shipment....don't ya think?lol

So I did 3 small transactions, one after another, from left to right in the photo.....

Transaction #1
2 x Dove Men's soap on sale=$10.98
1 x PC Sour Cream=$1.69
1 x Grands whack biscuits on sale=$2.00
SubTotal.....$14.67

Coupons
2 x $4/1 Dove Men's soap ManuQ(6/26 RP insert)=$8.00
1 x $1/1 Instant PC Discount sticker on biscuits=$1.00
1 x $5 OYNO Catalina Q(from last batch of soap I bought)=$5.00
Coupon Total....$14.00

$14.67-$14.00=$.67+$.36 tax=$1.03 OOP
And I received a $5 Catalina Q.

Transaction #2
Rinse and Repeat Transaction #1.

Transaction #3
2 x Dove Men's soap on sale=$10.98
3 x Hatfield hot dogs on sale B1G2Free=$3.99
1 x Grands whack biscuits on sale=$2.00
SubTotal.....$16.97

Coupons
2 x $4/1 Dove Men's soap ManuQ(6/26 RP insert)=$8.00
1 x $2/1 Hatfield any item IPQ(from company website)=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Instant PC Discount sticker on biscuits=$1.00
1 x $5 OYNO Catalina Q(from last batch of soap I bought)=$5.00
Coupon Total....$16.00

$16.97-$16.00=$.97+$.36 tax=$1.33 OOP
And I received a $5 OYNO Catalina Q.

I had a young gal cashier who didn't bat an eye when I asked to do 3 transactions in a row.  They weren't busy and I didn't go to an Express Lane which helped.  And I was organized and prepared and ready with my loyalty card, coupons and money for a change.lol
She got a kick out of what I was doing after the 2nd transaction and she saw how little I was actually spending. 

I ended up with 6 6-packs of soap, 3 tubes of whack biscuits, 2 containers of sour cream, 3 packs of hot dogs and a $5 Catalina for a grand total OOP of $3.39.
$74.66 worth of items for a savings of 95.46% and $5 in free food to spend later.

Of course, I couldn't end my trip to PC on a high note, could I?
The parking lot at this store is crazy weirdly shaped with another parking lot just next door.  I parked in the lot next door because it was a shorter walk to the entrance of the PC.  Makes perfect sense to park closer, right?
So I go to push the cart(one of those mini carts)out of the store and out into the parking lot roadway to get to the lot where I am parked and I almost take a header OVER the cart when it stops dead in the road!
I thought I had hit a deep pothole or something.  But I look down to see there is a BOOT on the cart wheel....like the ones they put on parking scofflaws who don't pay their tickets!  It must automatically trip the boot when you go over a certain perimeter.  Since this other lot is closer than alot of the parking spaces in the PC lot, it can't be a distance thing, so there must be a 'force field' around the store and the store's lot that trips the boot.
I guess they use to have a lot of carts stolen or vandalized in this area but dang, you think they'd put a sign up warning you that your cart will be disabled outside of a certain area.  I could have actually gotten hurt if I had fallen to the ground or ran over while I stood out in the road trying to drag that blasted cart back to the curb of the store.
Hmmm....I think I need to write them a letter.....

So I get the cart dragged, half carried back to the curb.  Do you know how heavy a shopping cart is??  I do now! 8-(
Then I tried to carry my 3 bags(blasted heavy soap!)to the car with one bag split open down the side and stuff is falling out of it into the road.
Oy!

It's always something, ain't it? ;-)

Sluggy

The Dove Men's Soap Goose Chase

So I hike over to Price Chopper AGAIN on Friday since the gal yesterday told me the truck would be in then to bring more soap to the store.
Same gal was at the CS desk and remembered telling me about the truck but I explained that I had already gone over to the aisle and the shelf was still empty!
The gal asks other gal and she confirms that yes, they DID put out more soap that morning so someone came in and must have CLEARED THE SHELF!
Argh.....
I am seriously NOT liking all these Wannabee Extreme Couponistas coming in with their ill mannered shelf clearing ways!

So #2 gal says another truck is coming in late Friday and I get ahold of the guy who will be on duty early Saturday and he is to CALL ME when my soap arrives/is put aside so I'll go down when I get the call as I have other errands I can run tomorrow over there....IF I get the call since there are no guarantees that more soaps is on that truck.

So since I am out and have to go on the other side of town on Friday, I stop in the other Price Chopper......and low and behold, they have SOAP!
**The sounds of an angelic chorus as they descend over my head.**

So I bought 2 packs of soap...2 x $5.49=$10.98
I used 2 x $4/1 Dove ManuQs...$10.98-$8.00 in Qs=$2.98 +.66¢ tax=$3.64 OOP
And I received a $5 Catalina Q.

Then I bought 2 more packs of soap..2 x $5.49, and a seedless watermelon*not picture*....$10.98+$2.99=$13.97
I used 2 x $4/1 Dove ManuQs & the $5 Cat Q($13)....$13.97-$13.00=$.97+.36¢ tax=$1.33 OOP
And received a $5 Catalina Q.

So if the truck at the other PC doesn't bring more soap, I'm all good with these 4 packs.
I'll get more if they call me though.

I'm thinking of doing "this" transaction since I have another $2/1 Hatfield Q.....
2 x Dove soap=$10.98
3 x Hatfield hot dogs B1G2F=$3.99
1 x 1 zuchinni @ $1.29 lb.=approx. $.50
SubTotal....$15.47
Coupons....2 x $4/1 Dove Soap, 1 x $2 Hatfield, 1 x $5 Cat Q=$15.00
OOP....$.47 + tax and get another $5 Catalina

$.47 + tax for 12 bars of soap, 3 packs of hot dogs and a zuke sounds pretty good to me.

If I get 2 more packs of soap I can add in a couple of containers of sour cream, as we are out, and after Qs, my total OOP for 12 more bars of soap and 2 containers of dairy will be about $1.50 with tax(plus I'll receive another $5 Catalina Q).

Sluggy

Last Shopping Trip for June.....The Good & The Bad

Price Chopper(Northeast)has a Unilever Catalina Deal this week.
Buy $15 in select products(using reg. shelf price, not sale price), get a $5 Catalina.
You can buy 2 packs of the Dove Men's bar soap, on sale for $5.49(reg. shelf price of $8.49), use 2 x $4/1 Dove Men's soap ManuQs(from last Sunday's inserts) so the transaction looks like this....
2 x $5.49=$10.98-$8Qs=$2.98 + tax OOP, receive $5 Catalina Q.

Once you have the $5 Cat, you buy 2 more packs of that soap and at least $2.02 worth of meat/dairy/some other thing you want that you never have Qs for and you get it all for FREE(the 2 packs of soap and $2.02 of the other stuff you buy)& you get another $5 Catalina Q to keep rolling until you run out of the $4 Qs.

Well my Qs arrived in the mail yesterday so I ran to PC to use them.
The problem is there was not a bar of the Men's Dove soap left in the grocery store to buy!
Ugh.

So while I was there I snooped around and found a few other things to bring home.  Hey, I've already blown past my food budget limit for June, why not just add to the misery, right?lol

1 x frozen corn on sale=$1.00
3 x Pop-Secret popcorn on sale B1G2F=$2.99
5 x organic mult-grain flour Tortillas on sale $1.99=$9.95
3 x Hatfield hot dogs on sale B1G2F=$3.99
SubTotal....$17.93

Coupons Used
1 x $1/2 Pop-Secret ManuQ=$1.00
10 x .75¢ Instant dairy section discount stickers on the Tortillas=$7.50
1 x $2/1 any Hatfield item IPQ(Hatfield website)=$2.00
Coupon Total....$10.50

$17.93-$10.50=$7.43 OOP

Reg. retail was $36.89, for a 79.86% savings!

Analysis--The popcorn boxes and each pack of hot dogs came to .66¢ a piece with the sales/Qs.  Ok, they aren't Nathan's or Hebrew National, but these hot dogs are a mite better than Oscar Mayers! Suitable to feed the teenage son's hoard of friends that descends on the house in the summer.lol
The tortillas were a great buy!  The $1.50 in instant discount stickers on each package made them .49¢ per package.  Really good for organic and multigrain.  I'll tuck these into the freezer until they are needed. 
The package of corn was needed for that evening's dinner plan.

I'm headed back to Price Chopper in a little bit to see if the restocking truck did indeed arrive, as I was told it would.  If I don't end up being able to use these Dove soap Qs there, there is always Rite-Aid, right?lol

Sluggy

Using Every Opportunity to Save on Groceries...

I had a bunch of errands to run on Thursday since we were suppose to get a snowstorm today.

I had 2 Wags RRs to spend, amounting to $3 from the Finish dishwashing tabs I bought 2 weeks ago. At first I thought I'd roll them into more RRs but there was nothing I really needed that was generating RRs this week and the thought of staying on the Wags RR merry-go-round was NOT appealing. Especially since I am on the Rite-Aid +Up merry-go-round and can't seem to get off of that one!lol

No photo but I picked up 2 liquid soaps and a jar of olives. I needed .03¢ more to get to $3 and I found 2 jars of Fluff on the clearance endcap at .39¢ each. With the tax my OOP came to .87¢.
I feel better having picked up some items I can use rather than rolling RRs and spending a bit OOP on stuff I don't really need.

We also received 2 coupon triplers on the Price Chopper weekly flyer this week and it is right over by Wags, so I stopped by to see what I could find.  I don't usually shop there but if there is a Catalina Deal or something great to cherry pick, I will head over to take advantage. 

You can only use the triplers on insert(glossy manuQs) or teapad type coupons(no internet printed qs)so I was limited in what I could find that was cheap or free.
I ended up getting the 2 bars of Helavu Good cheese....on sale $2 each and I had a $1/2 ManuQ which tripled to $3/2, so each bar cost me .50¢.
I also got the French's fried onions....my $1/1 ManuQ tripled so the $3.59 can cost me .59¢ in the end.

The egg nog was store discounted from $3.19 to $1.19(I picked those up for the teens as a treat), and the Smart Balance sour cream was store discounted from $1.55 to $.55 each.
There was also a flyer coupon for $2 off bags of Weaver chicken parts(limit 4)which were already marked down to $5, so those were $3 each.  Breaded chicken are a mainstay of #2 son's diet, right behind Taco Bell and Ramen Noodles. For fun I attempt to poison him with veggies any chance I get....

In the end I spent $17.03 at Price Chopper. Regular retail was $38.45, so I saved $21.42 or 55.70%.
The chicken is always needed, as is any kind/type/form of cheese in this house!  The fried onion thingies I like to have on hand in the stockpile and I was out.  The egg nog was a cheap treat as mentioned before.  The sour cream is reduced fat type.  While I am not a big fan of the mouth feel or flavor of reduced fat type, it will be fine incorporated into dishes.

This seems to be the way I shop lately....a little bit picked up here, a little bit picked up there.   Gleaning the good deals wherever I can find them.  Gone are the days of going to one grocery store, once a week, every week and spending $100-$150 a pop.  I scoop up a few items at a time on my travels around town.  While it does take more time shopping this way, time is something I have. ;-)

What about you?
Do you cherry pick the sales and go to more than one store a week?
What is your average weekly count of trips to the stores?

Sluggy

Mmmmmm.....Bacon! + Price Chopper=Love

Well the Couponing Powers-That-Be heard my whining last week about the price of bacon and the lack of any deals for said porcine goodness.

Price Chopper and Hormel have come to my rescue!!  *see Sluggy bat her eyelashes furtively at her heroes*

I don't have a picture but yesterday after hitting up Rite-Aids I cruised into Price Chopper to start the ball rolling, er, I mean the Cat rolling.
I bought 4 packages of Hormel bacon and half a dozen fresh bagels.
Not only is the bacon part of the Cat deal but did I mention it's on sale for BOGO?
So 4 packages of bacon was $10.98(reg. price $5.49)after the sale.  Unfortunately there are NO Hormel bacon coupons currently....*sniff*.
The bagels are on sale Buy 3, Get 3 free this week so my bagels cost $1.99 for 6.
Grand Total for my 1st transaction at PC was $12.97.  For this transaction the bagels cost me $.33 each and the bacon was $2.75 a package.  Even at that price it was pretty darn good.....but now it would get much MUCH better!


Because the machine spit out a precious $7 OYNO Cat Q for buying that bacon.
Yay!

So I cruised over to Price Chopper this afternoon to roll it....

Transaction #1
4 x Hormel Bacon on sale BOGO=$10.98
1 x 6 Bagels on sale 1/2 price=$1.99
2 x Grands! Biscuits on sale $2=$4.00
SubTotal....$16.97

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Instant Store Q on the Grands!=$2.00
1 x $7 OYNO Cat Q=$7.00
Coupon Total....$9.00

$16.97-$9.00=$7.97 OOP
And I received another $7 OYNO Cat Q.


Transaction #2

4 x Hormel Bacon on sale BOGO=$10.98
6 x Libby's Veggies on sale $.67=$4.02
SubTotal....$15.00

Coupons Used
2 x $1/3 Libby's Veg. ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $7 OYNO Cat Q=$7.00
Coupon Total....$9.00

$15.00-$9.00=$6.00 OOP
And I received another $7 OYNO Cat Q.

Basically with spending $14.00, the bacon & whack biscuits were $1 a package, the veggies & bagels were $.33 a can/a piece.
Plus I've got the $7 Cat to keep rolling into more cheap bacon. ;-)

But first I need to clean out the freezer a bit so I have a place to put it all.

Sluggy

Randomly Yours Monday

**My sleep schedule has been off for a week now.
I am wide awake at the crack of dawn.....so unlike me.
Then I crash and nap by noon and wake up again around 2 or 3pm.
Then I am wore out by 9pm and crawl back into bed.....and it starts all over again the next day.

I know this schedule is like most people's out there but my usual schedule is to to go to bed between 2 and 7 am, sleep until 2pm, nap again around 7pm for 2 or 3 hours and then up by 10pm until 2am or later and start it all over again the next 24 hours.
I have always been a night person and find I am much more productive at night.

Anybody else have unusual sleeping/waking patterns?

**And no, I haven't been to Rite-Aid this week yet.....but the week is young yet!lol
Anybody else been yet?  What did ya get??

**I have a Meal Plan figured out for this week to as far as Tuesday.lol  Last week I hardly cooked at all.  Only one night getting take-out too.  Seems the teens have hardly eaten here all last week so when I cooked something it lasted for 3 meals or so for just Hubs and I.....meaning I didn't need to cook but 2 times.

**I just found 2 high value coupons over on AllYou dotcom.  1--It's a Scott products Q for $2.50/1 on the purchase of 8 or more roll package of Scott Extra Soft Bath Tissue or a 4 or more roll package of Scott Towels.   Print it now for any upcoming TP deals.  2--It's a $2.50/1 Kendall/AMD Wound Care Product(they make bandages, etc.) Q.  Rite-Aid has a sale/+Ups deal coming up on Kendall/AMD products in a week.

**After slacking off on the decluttering/donating the last couple of months, I sent 2 loads to Sallie's last week.  No pretty pictures though....

**And from the annals of "The Grocery Store Powers That Be Heard Me"......I saw a Catalina Deal in the Price Chopper(northeast) Sales Flyer from my Sunday paper yesterday involving.....BACON!
Woohoo!!!
It's a Hormel Catalina.....Spend $10-$14.99/Get $3 OYNO Cat Q, Spend $15-$19.99/Get $5 OYNO Cat Q, and Spend $20 or More/Get $7 OYNO Cat Q.
Price Chopper has historically gone off of the reg. retail shelf price to figure spending threshold levels(not the sale prices on the participating items),but I haven't been in awhile so I'll be taking a trip to the store tomorrow to test the waters.  When my coupons arrive in the next couple of days I'll be all ready to stock-up then on some Pork Love. ;-)

**I got something rigged up for my Eggplant plants, in hopes that I could keep them alive long enough for the tiny eggplants to grow enough to be edible.
First I took a clear plastic gallon milk jug and cut the bottom off of it so I could put it over the plant.
That would have been quick and easy but the plant was too tall.  I then considered taking more milk jugs, cutting the bottom and tops off and leaving the sides(making a big plastic square)that I could duct tape together to make the 1st milk jug taller.  But that idea fizzled out once I started the cutting.lol

Then Hubs and I came up with this.....

We put a tomato cage on each plant.
Then we took a drum liner.....it's a HUGE clear plastic bag(used to line metal drums, like oil drums).....and put it over 2 cages at a time. 
Then we used pieces of bricks to hold down the edges of the liner to keep out the cold and keep the liner from sailing off with the first stiff wind gust.
It turned out to be a quick and easy fix with no cutting or taping involved.  Plus we can reuse the bag. ;-)

Two days out and so far so good.
I don't know how much time I can by these eggplants though since we will probably get our first freezing night later this week. 8-(

**October is almost 2/3 over!  I was adding last week's grocery spending to my budget book and realized that.  Speaking of grocery spending, I spent $37.89 last week.....fresh fruit, produce, 1lb. of butter on sale and about 16lbs. of meat/chicken.  Ok...I also had an impulse buy and picked up a bag of cheese curls for $2 on the spur of the moment.  Yes, my one wild and crazy purchase for that week!lol  Sometimes junk food calls my name.....well, it seems to SCREAM my name loudly and often.....and I just give in.  Ah well......
Anyway, I haven't even broken $100 for food spending in October yet.  Yay for the freezer and the stockpile!! ;-)

So what has everyone else been up to lately??

Sluggy

Price Chopper Catalina Fail.....Oy! And How!!

Under the Annauls of "It's Never a Dull Moment Around My Life"--
 So remember my trips to Price Chopper early last month(Feb.) to roll my Catalinas on the 2 Cat Deals they had?
Well, I had 2 Cats that didn't print...one was due to the Q-Tips included in the Cat Deal that weren't coded correctly and the other was a Cat that didn't print due to the Cat machine being turned off.

I get an envie in the mail today, postmarked Feb. 25th, from Catalina Marketing.
It's a "sorry you didn't get your Catalina coupons" letter along with $20 in Cats.....

In the letter is this line....
"Please not that the coupon must be used by the expiration date on the coupon."

Now let's get a close up of the date on the letter.....

  February 24, 2010.
Now let's take a look at the date on the Catalinas that were enclosed....

In case you can't make it out, due to my lame camera that doesn't do close-ups, the Cat says....
"Expires 02/20/2010".

4 DAYS BEFORE the Letter was written and dated.

Let's recap....
2/20/10  Cats Expire.
2/24/10  Letter written.
2/25/10  Letter mailed.
3/1/10    Letter received.

So guess who was just on the phone to Catalina Marketing AGAIN over these Cats?

Yep.
Having.
MORE.
Fun.


"Rob" assured me this will be kicked back over to fullfillment AGAIN.
I'll cross my fingers they find me some more timely Catalina Coupons that I can actually spend!lol 

To Be Continued.....

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

Price Chopper Grocery Store Catalina Deals Last Week

So how much can you buy at the Grocery Store for $92.32?
Here's what I can buy.....

 

How about some closer photos.....

21 Mac & Cheese
12 Jello
2 Planters Cashews
6 Capri Sun
15 Parmesan Cheese(1 not pictured)
10 Oreos
10 Ritz Toasted Crackers
4 Knorr's Sides
2 Wishbone Dressing
5 Quaker Oats
12 Old El Pas Sides & Seasonings
22 PC Tomato Paste small
14 PC Tomato Paste large
8 PC Pasta
3 Baking Soda
2 Cheez Doodles(1 not pictured)
1 Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream(not pictured)
2 PC Facial Tissue
1 PC Hand Soap
20 Dove Shampoo
15 Wisk Laundry Detergent
1 Dove Men Body Wash
1 Dove Men Soap
7 Dove Deodorant
1 Degree Deodorant
1 Dove Lotion
3 Caress Body Wash
1 Q-Tips
5 Toothpaste(4 Colgate/1 Tom's of Maine)
1 Marcal Paper Towels
4 Marcal Toilet Paper

That's 211 items.
A retail value of $642.22.
A savings of 85.62%.
Plus I ended up with $36 in Catalinas($6 On Your Next Meat Purchase/$30 on Any Purchase) to spend in the coming weeks.
AND...once I buy 5 single serve Mac&Cheese cups(when I find them on sale for .50¢ or less)I can send for the Kraft Back to School $20 Rebate.  I bought the 10 cookies/crackers(oreos & ritz) and 5 beverages(capri sun) in these PC trips for this rebate. 
And I received my FREE OREOS Qs(we got multiple copies of it & I don't know why...did anyone else?) in the mail Saturday morning, so I was able to use them on my last trip to Price Chopper to have an even lower OOP than I had planned.

Price Chopper had 2 Doubler Qs on their ads in the newspaper last week.  I used them on the $2 Marcal Qs so I got the Marcal products for $1.99 a package after sale, Q and doubler.  The rest I used on assorted items in the Catalina deals with higher value coupons.(Dove $1.50 shampoo Qs, Wisk $2 Qs, Ritz $2/2 Qs, etc.)  PC also had a store Q that doubled any Colgate Q in the sales ad.  Unfortunately, Colgate doesn't release high value Qs but my $1/1 Total Toothpaste Q doubled to $2 and the Colgate Tpaste was $2.50 on sale, making it .50¢ after Qs.

Price Chopper also had a store coupon for Facebook fans for $5 off WYB 10 PC/Store Brand items.
I used that Q 5 times....I got tomato paste for .22¢, pasta for .19¢, etc. doing that.

My favorite deal I got was the Quaker Oats.  I found a $3/5 Quaker  Manu Q  in a store sales ad from another store from a couple of weeks ago in my stack of newspapers in the garage.  Quaker oatmeal was on sale for $1.50 a canister.  I bought 5 canisters for $7.50 and using that $3/5 Q AND a Doubler Q I turned my Q into a $6 off Q, making my 5 canisters of Oatmeal cost $1.50 or .30¢ each!


I am proud of myself this time around at Price Chopper too because for the most part I bought things we needed(we had just run out of Parmesan Cheese!).  The pasta, baking soda and tomato paste are things I use alot of, plus toilet paper and laundry detergent is always welcomed here.lol  Most of the Dove will be making a trip to the flea market as we are still stocked to the gills with those items.

So the Price Chopper campaign is complete.
I just loooooove getting great deals, don't you?
Even as old and jaded as I am, I still get a thrill when this coupon obsession pays off.lol

I'm hoping they have another good Catalina Deal around Easter like they did last year, but I'm not holding my breath.lol

Now we open the floor to questions and comments......anyone?

Sluggy

I Couln't Resist the Unilever Deal at Price Chopper Last Week...Saved 77+%

Yes, I admit it....
Even though the Unilever Promotional Deal at Price Chopper "Spend $30/Get $10 OYNO Cat" wasn't all that great I still couldn't stay away!  Since I didn't get a chance to do the Weis Unilever Deal but twice, I felt compelled to try the PC one.  After all....what else was I going to do with all those Unilever Qs?lol
I learned on the AFullCup PC forum board that there were also 2 double dips within this Unilever Deal.  Buying 2 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter triggered a $2 OYNO Cat and buying a pint of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream & a Bertolli frozen meal for 2 Bag also triggered a $3 OYNO Cat.

Let me just say that before I bought anything, I asked the CS Desk Manager what products were valid for the Catalina Offer....the ones only listed in the sale flyer or what?  He said it was ALL Unilever products.  Some how I doubted that but I now had his word on it IF anything went wrong.

3 x Lipton Gallons of Tea on sale $2.49=$7.47/Reg. Shelf $2.99=$8.97
4 x I Can't Believe It's Not Butter on sale $1.50(2 stick packs/2 tubs)=$6.00/Reg. Shelf $2.39=$9.56
1 x Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream on sale $2.50/Reg. Shelf=$4.19
1 x Bertolli Frozen Meal on sale $5.99/Reg. Shelf=$7.99
SubTotal=$21.96/Reg. Shelf=$30.71 **Should qualify for the $10 Catalina Deal**

Also bought...
2 x PC Butter on sale $1.49=$2.98
2 x PC Cream Cheese on sale $1.00=$2.00
2 x Tropicana OJ $2.99=$5.98

SubTotal ALL...$32.92

Coupons Used
2 x ICBINButter $1/1 Stick Packs=$2.00
1 x ICBINButter $1/2 Tubs=$1.00
1 x PC IPQ $1/2 PC Cream Cheese=$1.00
2 x PC Store $1/1 MarkDown Q on OJ=$2.00
Coupons Total...$6.00

$32.92-$6.00=$26.92

I should have received $15 in OYNO Cats for this purchase but only the $2 ICBINButter one and the $3 Ben&Jerry's/Bertolli Frozen Meal Cats printed.
So it was back to my CS Desk Manager with receipt in hand.  I told him per our conversation, my $10 Cat did NOT print.  I then really confused him and showed him that a $3 Cat HAD printed(it was also from Unilever so he thought it printed INSTEAD of the $10 Unilever Cat).  As he had no clue that there WAS a $3 B&J/Bertolli/Unilever Cat Promo, this really stumped him!lol  So he tried reringing the order(by just using the Lipton Gallon Teas over & over until it showed I had bought over $30 worth)and still nothing printed.  That is why I now know it was the Lipton Gallon Teas that screwed it up as they obviously weren't part of the qualifying products for the Unilever Cat Deal.
So he just gave me $10 cash.....well no, actually he handed me $12 in cash!  I said it was too much and he just said keep it.
Ok....I can live with that!lol
So I spent $26.92 and got back $17 in a combination of Catalina Qs & cash in lieu of Cats.

I went back to Price Chopper on Saturday evening to roll the Cats/cash in the Unilever Deal and busted the heck out of my Food Budget for the week! ugh

I was super organized though, with all my scenarios written down and all my Qs ready to go.  I did 5 transactions in 1 hour...and that was counting all the lines I had to wait in as I didn't go super late to avoid the hoards of shoppers.

Just to refresh, the deal is Buy $30 in Unilever Products, Receive a $10 OYNO Catalina Q.  The $30 mark is based on the Regular Shelf Price of the Items, Not the Sale Prices you pay.
Saturday's Loot....

Transaction #1
8 x Dove Soap 2 packs on sale BOGO($3.19)=$12.76
3 x Knorr Sides on sale $1=$3
Subtotal=$15.76 (reg. shelf price $30.59)

Coupons Used
1 x $1/3 Knorr's=$1.00
1 x $3 OYNO Cat from Thursday=$3.00
1 x $2 OYNO Cat from Thursday=$2.00
Coupon Total=$6.00

$15.76-$6=$9.76+$.77tax=$10.53 OOP
I used part of the $12 Cash in lieu of Cats that didn't print from Thursday to pay, so $0 OOP really.
And I received a $10 OYNO Cat.

Transaction #2
6 x Dove Soap 2 packs on sale BOGO($3.19)=$9.57
2 x Skippy PButter on sale $2=$4.00
2 x Q-Tips on sale $2=$4.00
1 x Dial Hand Soap on sale=$2.00
Subtotal=$19.57/$17.57 for the Cat Deal(reg. shelf price for Cat Deal Items $30.30)


Coupons Used
1 x $1/2 Skippy ManuQ=$1.00
1 x$.55/1 Dial IPQ doubled to $1=$1.00
$10 OYNO Cat=$10.00
Coupon Total=$12.00

$19.57-$12=$7.57=$.69tax=$8.26 OOP/$6.57 for Cat Items
And I received a $10 OYNO Cat.

Transaction #3
6 x Dove Soap 2 packs on sale BOGO($3.19)=$9.57
2 x Hellman's Mayo on sale $2.99=$5.98
2 x Lipton Soup Mix on sale $1.59=$3.18
1 x Knorr Sides on sale $1=$1.00
3 x Progresso Soups on sale $1.25=$3.75
2 x Dole Pineapple on sale $1=$2.00
Subtotal=$25.48/$21.73 for the Cat Deal(reg. shelf price for Cat Deal Items $31.39)

Coupons Used
$10 OYNO Catalina=$10.00
1 x $1/2 Hellman's Mayo ManuQ=$1.00 1 x $1/2 Lipton Soup Mix ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1.10/3 Progresso Soups IPQ=$1.10
2 x $.50/1 Dole Pineapple IPQ doubled to $1ea. =$2.00
Coupon Total=$15.10

$25.48-$15.10=$10.38=$.57tax=$10.95 OOP/$9.73 for Cat Items.
And I received a $10 OYNO Cat.

Transaction #4
4 x Dove Soap 2 packs on sale BOGO($3.19)=$6.38
4 x Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream on sale $2.50=$10.00 *NOT PICTURED*
1 x Knorr Sides on sale $1=$1.00
Subtotal=$17.38(reg. shelf price for Cat Deal Items $31.21)

Coupons Used
$10 OYNO Catalina=$10.00
Coupon Total=$10.00

$17.38-$10.00=$7.38+$.38tax=$7.76 OOP

And I received a $10 OYNO Cat.

Transaction #5
6 x Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream on sale $2.50=$15.00 *Only 1 Pictured-the rest buried in the freezer*
1 x Bertolli Frozen meal on sale $5.99
4 x Kashi Go Lean Cereal on sale $3.00=$12.00
2 x Nabisco Crackers on sale $1.99=$3.98
1 x Dial Hand Soap on sale $2.00
1 x Turkey=$14.20 *NOT PICTURED*
Subtotal=$53.17/$20.99 for the Cat Deal(reg. shelf price for Cat Deal Items $33.13)

Coupons Used
$10 OYNO Catalina=$10.00
1 x $1/1 Bertolli Frozen meal ManuQ=$1.00
1 x PCQ $4 off WYB 4 Kashi Cereal=$4.00
3 x $1.50/1 Kashi Go Lean Cereal Home Mailer=$4.50
2 x $1/1 Nabisco Crackers ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $.55/1 Dial Hand Soap IPQ doubled to $1=$1.00
1 x Turkey Spend $25/Get Turkey for $.29lb=$10.04
Coupon Total=$32.54

$53.17-$32.54=$20.63+$.12tax=$20.75 OOP/$9.99 for Cat Items.

And I received a $10 OYNO Cat & a $3 OYNO Cat(Bertolli/Ben&Jerry)=$13 Cats.

Grand Total....
OOP $58.25 but $46.25 OOP after applying the $12 in Cash(from Thursday's transaction).
OOP for Cat Deals only was $35.78.
Have $13 in Cats to roll in the coming weeks(if PC has any Cat Deals), otherwise will spend it on fresh produce/dairy/meat.
Value of Products $208.29
Savings of 77.80%

Sluggy

Grocery Store Run to PRICE CHOPPER to use Catalinas

I had $14 in Catalinas for Price Chopper from the Unilever Promo I did 2 Saturdays ago.
Since they were expiring this past Saturday, I headed out last week to PC to pick up some groceries I needed for my menu.

Chicken 3lb. package on special $2.99
Ground Beef 3lb. package $6.56
2 x 1lb. Butter on special $1ea. =$2.00
4.14lb. Cherries $2lb. on special=$8.28
Hot Dog Rolls on special =$2.00

Subtotal $21.83
Catalinas $14.00
TOTAL $7.83 Out of Pocket

Value of Items $27.28
Amount Saved $19.45
Savings of 71.30%

Ground Beef used on Sunday for burgers and tonight for Meatloaf, Chicken being used this week for dinner, Hot Dog Rolls used on Sunday, Cherries made into a pie this afternoon & the 2lbs. of butter in the freezer/stockpile for fall/winter baking.


Sluggy

Price Chopper Steals & Deals...Olay & Clearance Food

Price Chopper Grocery Stores had a small sized Olay Body Wash on special this past week(July 19-25) at 2 for $3(or $1.50 each). I had 20 Coupons from the 7/5 P&G Sunday Coupon Insert-$2 off 1 Olay Body or Shower Wash.
So you KNOW I had to make a trip to PC this week. Mindful of being within $100 of going over my July budget & a week left to go in the month, I set out to the store. I had figured out ahead of leaving for the store that I would spend $5.15 including the tax on the Body Wash.
Piece of Cake, right?

Of course, seeing as I was trying so hard to keep within this $500 food/toiletries budget for July, as soon as I walked into the store I was greeted by 6 shopping carts full of just marked down items right at the door!
Argh!
Oh the temptation of cheap cheap foodstuffs.....
My downfall.

Here are the things I just couldn't leave the store without.

2 bags of Goya Beans @.50ea.=$1.00 (less than half price)
6 large containers of Rice Select rice @$2 ea.=$12.00(Texmati, Arborio, Jasmine) (I've seen this go for between $6-$7 ea. in stores)
6 boxes of Jasmine Rice @.50ea.=$3.00 ($2-$3 in stores)
2 Ginger Noodles @$1 ea.=$2.00 (Not such a tremendous price but daughter likes)
2 Goya large Tomato Paste @.32ea.=$.64 (reg. over $1 a can)
3 boxes asstd. wheat Pasta @.35ea.=$1.05 (reg. $1.50 a box)
1 Ginger flavored Soy Sauce @.50ea.=$.50 (reg. over $2 bottle)
2 Wild Rice Mixes @.79ea.=$1.58 (about half price)
2 Goya Rice Flour @.29ea.=$.58 (reg. $2.49 bag!)
2 A&H Essentials Cleaner Refills @.75ea.=$1.50 (reg. $4 or so ea.)
1 Bag PC brand Dog Food @.69ea.=$.69 (not sure reg. price-much more than .69¢ tho)
Subtotal $24.54

Then it was on to the items I came into the store to buy....

20 Olay Body Wash(I broke this up into multiple transactions & went through the line 4 times. I've summarized all these trips with the food item trip for clarity's sake here.)@$1.50ea.=$30.00

6 Ragu Pasta Sauce @BOGO 2/$2.19=$6.57
SubTotal $36.57

Total for all items $61.11
Tax $1.21
Total before Coupons $62.32

Coupons Used
20 Olay $2/1 (Adjusted down to $1.50ea.)=$30.00
2 Ragu $1.25/3=$2.50
Coupon Total $32.50

$62.32-$32.50=$29.82OOP

The regular retail on all this at P.C. is at least $125.00(low end actual figure is $124.64).
That's about a 76% Savings.

This(along with the $5.40 I spent at KMart this week)brings my July Food/Toiletries Spending to $415.06-still under $500 total. I have a little bit I spent at WAGS & CVS this week still to account for in upcoming posts.

I found out later that there is a printable coupon for $2/1 Rice Select. ugh! Since I had no clue it would be on deep deep discount before I got to the store, and I wasn't about to go back to see if any was left once I had printed out a coupon, there is no way I could have done better on the price of those 6 jugs of rice. I would venture further that HAD I returned with a $2/1 Q in hand and tried to get any of these $2 discounted containers of Rice for FREE, this being a Price Chopper(they are not known for being 'coupon friendly' here!), the cashier or front-end supervisor would have had some reason why they would have denied to accept the coupons. They are good at making up the rules as they go along if they see you are about to get something for pennies or for free. They gave me a big enough hassle over the Olays!lol

But it would have been nice to have had coupons to get all that Rice Select rice for FREE!
$15 for over 18 lbs. of Fancy Pants Rice is worth doing the Happy Dance over. This will keep us in rice for some time to come.

Sluggy

CVS & Price Chopper Quickies on Saturday

After a few hours of recuperating from my Yard Sale Trauma, I was itching to get out of the house. Well, it started because I had a $7 OYNO Cat from Price Chopper(from buying $20 Kraft/Unilever/General Mills Deal a couple of weeks ago)the that was expiring that night.
So I just HAD TO go out.
Yah.....that's my story.....

I hadn't been to CVS in Eight Whole Days!(is that sad or what?) so I went to my favorite one.
This one has the overlapping sales. They start honoring the coming week's sale on Saturday as they put the signage out early Sat. But they also honor the current sales ad prices, so you can do both sale weeks at once. Granted if there is a popular item on sale, since it's the end of the current sales week, they will be OUT of that item. But you can get first crack at the upcoming sales ad hot items.

CVS Transaction #1

2 Pencils @ $1.99=$3.98
2 Filler Paper @ $2.00=$4.00
4 Min-Notebooks(2 different sizes) @.99¢=$3.96
2 Paper-Mate Pen Packs @ .99¢=$1.98
1 Gillette Fusion Razor @ $7.99=$7.99
SubTotal $21.91

Coupons Used
1 Gillette Fusion Razor $3.00
CVS ECBs $12, $1.50, $1=$14.50
CVS $4/$20 Coupon=$4.00
Total $21.50

$21.91-$21.50=$.41+.03¢tax=$.44OOP
Received $4(Gillette Fusion)ECB.
NO ECBs for the School Supplies.
EEK!

So she calls the Manager.
This is how I learned that even though you can go to this CVS the day BEFORE a sale starts and still get the SALE PRICES, you Don't get the ECBS for those items.
Not the best way to learn a lesson IMHO.lolol

So I told the Manager if I couldn't get my ECBS today that I'd like to return everything but the razor & I'd come back on Sunday and buy the items again. I was just trying to play by the rules, now that I knew what the rules at this store were. I wasn't threatening or pissed off(more embarassed really), just matter-of-fact like.
I guess he didn't want the extra paperwork that a return generates or he didn't want his Sunday spoiled by me darkening his door again the next day, because he went over to the other register and after about 10 minutes he produced my ECBs for the stuff.
Oh, from the steam coming out of his ears I could tell he was telling me off in his head.lolol

And I learned something else another time when I had a problem with the ECBs printing.
When they 'force' the ECBs....at least this time and the last time they didn't print, the cashier uses a number to print them that isn't your Customer Care Number. So for these school supplies, there will be no record of me redeeming these ECB offers yet. So I could go back to CVS this week while they are still on sale(and a store still has some in stock)and I could get another set of them and have another set of ECBs print for my card.
Not that I would ever do that, mind you. ;-))
Just a little tidbit of info....

So Updated ECBs...$4Gillette, $14 School Supplies(he rounded the .99 on some up so it was even dollars, no cents)=$18

So I still had to buy some Tylenol Arthritis(I love this stuff!) & I had a $3 off $15 Coupon.


CVS Transaction #2

3 Tylenol Arthritis @$3.99=$11.97
3 Mini First Aid Kits @$.99=$2.97
1 Nutter Butter Cookies @ $1.00=$1.00
SubTotal $15.94

Coupons Used
3 $2/1 Tylenol=$6.00
3 $1/1 J&J Item(adjusted down to .99)=$2.97
CVS $2.50 off a $10 Pain Reliever Purchase=$2.50
CVS $3/$15 Coupon=$3
Total $14.47

$15.94-$14.47=$1.47OOP
Received $9(Tylenol)ECBs

GRAND TOTALS
Value of Items $52.25
Coupons & Sales $50.34
OOP $1.91(includes .03¢ tax)
Savings of 96.35%
ECBs Used $14.50
ECBs Received $4(Gillette),$14(School Supplies),$9(Tylenol)=$27

A quick note****The J&J Travel 1st Aid Kits qualify as part of the Buy $10 in Band-Aid/J&J Red Cross/Neosporin Items, Get $5 ECBs deal this week at CVS. So if I spend $7.03 more on J&J this week, I get $5 ECBs.

Then it was on to Price Chopper to see how far I could make $7 go.
Ok, I confess I spent an additional $3.60.
Shoot me.
Sit down for this.....I took NO COUPONS into the store with me.
Gasp.
I know!


Price Chopper Transaction

1 bunch Bananas on sale $.39lb.=$.79
1 head of Cabbage on sale $.59lb.=$2.47 Not pictured, already used
1 Half Gal. Organic Orange Juice PC Brand=$2.59
3 Containers PC Brand Ice Cream on sale $2.00=$6.00
1 Reduced Pear Cups(for hubby's lunch) half price/torn packaging=$1.25 Not pictured
SubTotal $13.10
No Tax

Coupons Used
(Scanned my card and got PC Qs at the coupon machine)
1 $1 wyb 3 PC brand Ice Cream from machine=$1.00
1 .50¢ off PC OJ Coupon from machine=$.50
2 .50¢ off Dairy Stickers on the OJ Carton=$1.00
1 $7 OYNO Cat.
Total $9.50

$13.10-$9.50=$3.60

Totals
Value of Items $15.47
Coupons & Sales $11.87
OOP $3.60(includes tax)
Savings of 76.75%

Sluggy

I'm a Chopper Shopper.....at least this week I am.

One of our local grocery stores, Price Chopper, has a silly slogan-"Be a Chopper Shopper!" Yes, they are all about "Chopping your Food Bill", etc, etc....blah, blah, blah.
Their marketing folks think this is clever, I think it is annoying. All those "chopping" references are a tad violent to boot.

Frankly, Price Chopper is NOT the least expensive overall in this area. I only go there to cherry pick the great buys(when they have them) or if they are holding a Catalina Promotion. You may recall my haul back in early April at PC from THIS post.

Well, Price Chopper is running a similar Unilever CAT Deal this week. Buy $20 in selected Unilever items and get a $7 CAT GOYNO(=Good On Your Next Order). Not as good as the Spend $40, Get $20 CAT Deal with the FREE EASTER HAM DOUBLE DIP, but there haven't been ANY CAT Deals around here for some time, so I took the bait!

Even though it's only a stinking $7 CAT for a $20 purchase, A-the total is based on the REGULAR SHELF Price, NOT the Sale Price! & B-some of the items included are Buy One/Get One FREE, so that alone will bring down your Out of Pocket costs and might make this stinking $7 CAT Deal worth doing.

Oh, and C-this CAT deal can roll. You can take that $7 CAT and use it on your next order of Unilever products and get another $7 CAT(if you purchase $20 or more in your next order).

So after dropping #1 son's car at the Oil change place and then dropping #1 son at school, I had an hour to hit the Price Chopper to scope out the shelf prices and figure out the least expensive way to get to $20 & then bring that down with coupons.

First I did this....

2x Wisk Laundry Detergent Reg. Price $6.59 ea.=$13.18/Sale Price BOGO
2x Q-Tips Swabs 500 ct. Reg. Price $3.99 ea.=$7.98/Sale Price 2/$5.00

Reg. Price Total=$21.16 **Over the $20 threshold

Sale Price Total=$11.59+.40¢ tax=$11.99

Coupons Used

1x $1.50/2 Wisk
2x $.30/1 Q=Tips doubled=$1.20

Coupon Total=$2.70

$11.99-$2.70=$9.29 OOP

Received a $7 CAT good OYNO

The 1st payment is the worst. Now it was time to 'play' with the PC money and get stuff for real C-H-E-A-P!

Next go 'round....

4x Caress Body Wash Reg. Price $5.49 ea.=$21.96/Sale Price BOGO

Reg. Price Total=21.96 **Over the $20 threshold
Sale Price Total=$10.98+.66¢ tax=$11.64

Coupons Used
4x $1.00/1 Caress Q=$4.00

$7.00 CAT
Coupon Total=$11.00

$11.64-$11.00=$.64 OOP
Received a $7 CAT good OYNO**

**Well I SHOULD have gotten a CAT but the machine ran out of paper halfway through my Cat!ack So the Manager came over and just gave me $7 cash back. I used that $7 as my CAT for the next transaction.

Round #3.....

2x Wishbone Dressing Reg. Price $2.69 ea.=$5.38/Sale Price BOGO=$2.69

3x Suave Shampoo Reg. Price $1.19 ea.=$3.57/Sale Price $.88=$2.64

2x Degree Deodorants Reg. Price $3.49 ea.=$6.98/Sale Price $2.00=$4.00

1x Degree Deodorant Reg. Price $4.49 /Sale Price $3.00

Reg. Price Total=$20.42 **Over the $20 threshold
Sale Price Total=$12.33+.58¢ tax=$12.91

Coupons Used
1x $1.00/2 Wishbone Q=$1.00

1x $1.00/2 Suave Q=$1.00

1x $1.00/1 Degree Q=$1.00

2x $1.25/1 Degree Q=$2.50
Coupon Total=$5.50

$12.91-$5.50=$7.41**-$7.00 cash from last Catalina that didn't print=$.41OOP Received a $7 CAT good OYNO

3 Rounds and I'm OOP $12.96. The value of the items I've purchased is $65.54. I'm just over an 80% Savings rate.

The more rounds I do, the lower my OOP will be proportionately to my Value of Items, meaning my percentage of savings will go higher.

I plan on going back over the next 2 days before the sale ends to do some more deals. Nothing as radical as back in early April but we can always use some more spaghetti sauce and soap. ;-))

Check back with me after the weekend to see how I did.

And if you have a Price Chopper near you, get on over and give this Catalina Deal a try. Go on now, I have faith that you can do this!

Sluggy

Unilever Deal + Price Chopper Deal=Smiling Coupon Hound

So, Price Chopper was the grocery store to be at this past week here near Teeny Tiny Town.

They had a special promotion going. Spend $40 on Unilever owned brand products in 1 transaction and you got a $20 CAT good OYNO(=On Your Next Order).
For my readers who don't coupon, basically PC gave you $20 to spend in their store if you spent $40 first. So the 1st trip to the store, you spent $40 and use coupons to bring that total down as low as you can for your Out of Pocket expense.
The OOP(Out of Pocket) you pay this trip, will be your highest amount paid in cash, out of your pocket.
After you pay, the CAT machine at the register generates a $20 CAT.
You then go buy $40 worth of products again & use your coupons to bring the total you owe down as low as you can and then pay with the $20 CAT+ a little bit of cash if your total is higher then $20 after the coupons are applied.
After you pay, the Cat machine spits out another $20 CAT and you do it all again, and again, and again, until you either run out of coupons, cash or energy.lolol

Ok, so if this isn't good enough, there is also a MIR(Mail-In Rebate) form from last Sunday's Unilever Coupon Insert. Send your receipt(s) for $40 worth of Unilever owned brand products purchased + a Ham or Turkey purchase(these purchases do Not have to be in 1 trip or even from the same store) & Unilever will send you a check for the cost of the meat product(up to $20). This is what we Coupon Hounds call a Double Dip. Using 1 purchase to get 2 or more Perks.
Your $40 purchase at Price Chopper got you $20(CAT to spend) AND a check up to $20(for a meat purchase). Pretty sweet, huh?

I ended up doing NINE Transactions at Price Chopper.
9 times through the checkout over the course of 2 days. Most of them were late on Sat. night. I still had coupons to do a 10th transactions before midnight(the end of the promo period) but my legs just gave out.

I think I did pretty well on this campaign. I forget my calculator on Sat. for keeping track of totals so I could get to $40 w/out going much over or ending up under(even worse!). By the time I left PC, my head hurt from all those math calculation I did in my head. It's a wonder I could do simple math accurately that late at night!lol

Hubby & I did the 1st two transactions on Friday. When I got home I was going over the figures for those runs and realized something.
I assumed that the store was figuring 'totals' on the sale prices of items. On my run(transaction #2)through the register, my 'total' after the sale price deductions was UNDER $40....but the CAT still printed! This means, the store used the REGULAR SHELF SELLING PRICE on ITEMS to figure when you hit $40, not your total including the week's Sale Prices on some items.
For example, say you bought Axe Shower Gel to get to $40. The regular price at this PC is $4.49 but was on sale this week for $3.99. You would have to buy 11 of them at the sale price to hit the $40 threshold. Using the regular selling price, you only need 9 to get to $40. That's a difference of what you need to spend to generate the CAT of over $9....meaning that's potentially $9 more OOP you have to spend(before coupons were applied). At that point, I could have kicked myself for OVERSPENDING on the 1st two transactions. I could have done them for less money and still have gotten the $20 CATs. Ugh. So, I got over it and hit the store 7 more times before midnight at Saturday when the sale ended.

Luckily, there was a whole separate Unilever coupon insert last Sunday and I had bought LOTS of copies of that week's Sunday paper, so lots of coupons to redeem.

As it's so many Transactions, I'll just cut to the chase with the important numbers.
Here's what I hauled home.
Skippy Peanut Butter.....28
Lipton Rice/Noodle Sides....37 (6 not pictured)
Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce.....23
Lipton Tea......6
Knorr Gravy/Sauce.....2
Breyer's Ice Cream......2 (not pictured)
Axe Shower Gel......14
Caress Body Wash.....16
Suave Shampoo......22 (1 not pictured)

It may not look like much in the photo but it was a Metric TON. You can't heard the table groaning under all that weight!lolol

Except for the Ice Cream, I bought items that were shelf stable & didn't need refridgeration/freezing. It's all stuff we eat and the toiletries are all items we will use(some toiletries will be shared). I tried to buy items that after sale prices that week & couponage cost me the least per item. I wish they hadn't run out of the size peanut butter I bought as that was a good item size/cost to buy & the food bank is always asking for peanut butter.

Value of all these products was $422.51 ($413.47+$9.04 tax)

That's 150 Items total.

Savings
Sale Prices.............$92.89
Coupons Used......$109.95
$20 CATS Used...$160.00(8x$20)
Savings Total.......$362.84

OOP.........$59.67 ($9.04 of that was tax.)

Per Items it comes out to .40¢ each.

And I have a $20 CAT to spend so I'll get at least $20 MORE Free Food!

Add in that I can potentially send in for 9 FREE Ham or Turkey REBATES(once I buy some meat, that is!)using various family members &/or friends who aren't going to be doing this rebate themselves, so I have potential for up to $180 more worth of products with NO Additional OOP.
Well, except for some stamps & envelopes.

I'm not going to send in for 9 Rebates so does Anybody want to buy a register receipt or trade one for coupons?lol Then you just have to buy the ham or turkey and send in for your Refund on the meat. You won't have to purchase the $40 of items since I already did it for you. ;-)

Including the $20 CAT left to spend, this gives me a SAVINGS of 86.5% + a potential for over a 90% Savings after the Free Meat MIRs.

Can you see me smiling??

Sluggy