Rite-Aid this Week so Far....As the Soap Lathers

I went to my local Rite-Aid on Monday night.

I had planned on doing the Free Olay Soap Deal.

*Buy 10 2-packs of Olay Soap. It's on sale this week for $2.50. 10x $2.50=$25.00
Use a $5 off $25 Internet Rite-Aid Coupon availabe through the Rite-Aid Website.
Then use 5 $2 Off Olay Coupons from this past Sunday's P&G Coupon Insert.
$25-$5-$10(5x$2)=FREE SOAP(before sales tax).

Unfortunately, my Rite-Aid only had 6 2-packs of Olay Soap left in stock.

So, I tried to come up with some other way to utilize that $5 off $25 Coupon.
I came prepared with other options/coupons.

I tired to do a scenario involving the BLINK TEARS Eye Drops that qualifies as a Single Check Rebate item. That item would get me to $7.99 of the $25 I needed and be free after the SCR.
And they were out of that too.

I tried to get the Colgate MaxFresh Toothpaste on sale for $1.99 with 2 Qs, making it free.
Also out!

The ClinicalStrength Old Spice Deodorant with a SCRebate of $4?
Nada as well.

UGH

It looked pretty bleak at this point, my chances of getting to $25 for minimal out of pocket. I was at $15 with the only 6 packs of Olay Soap in the joint.

I wandered around a bit and looked for other options. I turned a corner and found some of the Colgate Toothpaste on an end display w/other non-dental items that no one had found yet to clear out.

Now I had the Toothpaste & was up to $16.99.

Then I found Bugles BOGO @ $2.19. #2 son LOVES Bugles. For what works out to $1.10 a bag, this went into the cart.

Up to $19.18.

Found the EXCEDRIN Express GelCaps on sale for $1.99(free with my $2 IP Q).

Up to $21.17.

I really hate to buy filler junk to get to a total I need. I'd rather spent a bit more than the bare minimum to get something we'll use or really need. I saw the 4-packs of Vitamin Water for $4.99.

Ouch, that price! More than a buck a bottle!!

And of course, my regional did NOT get the Vitamin Water $1/1 Coupons in last Sunday's coupon inserts! Grrrrr

But #2 son loves this stuff.....and we were almost out anyway.
PLUS, there is a Single Check Rebate when you buy 2 4-packs this week, so I can pick up or work up another scenario later in the week at Rite-Aid and get the second 4-pack & send for the $2.50 rebate. $4.99-$1.25(half the rebate amount)=$3.74 for 4 bottles. I can live with that cost.

So $21.17+$4.99=$26.16.
I can use my $5/25 Q....yay!

I go to the register to ring out.
Everything goes smoothly....she rings everything up.

I give her the Rite-Aid $5/25 Q and then the 6 $2/1 Olay Qs, the Rite-Aid Ad $1/1 Colgate Q, the Colgate $1/1 Man. Q & then the Excedrin $2/1 IP Q.

She says she can't take the Excedrin Q because Rite-Aid only takes ONE Internet Coupon per order and they count the Rite-Aid $5/25 Coupon as an Internet Coupon.

Grrrrr

I am thinking that's lame. The ONLY WAY you can get this Rite-Aid $5/25 Coupon is on the Internet!

My head says.....DOUBLE Grrrrr.

But I SMILE!

So she takes off the Excedrin from my order.
The order is now $.73 short of $25.

Before I could grab a candy bar or pack of gum to put me over $25 again, she gives me my total.
Ooookkkkk....lol

She didn't make me pay for a filler to use the coupon.
That was nice, huh?lolol

Total of items $24.17

Coupons Used....
6 $2/1 Olay...$12
1 RA Colgate...$1
1 Colgate....$1
RA Coupon...$5/25
Coupon Total $19

SubTotal after Qs....$5.17
Including $1.20 Tax=$6.37

$6.37 put on GiftCard from Bayer Offer SCR in Feb.

NO OOP.

Yay!

Oh, the cashier rang up my Excedrin GelCaps($1.99) after the 1st Transaction was done and took my IP Q for it, so this Total was $0...yes, Free Pills! With 3 kids and 3 dogs, I can USE free Migraine Pills.lolol

The Excedrin makes this night's Transaction's VALUE OF PRODUCTS $26.16

Tuesday's Transaction in a different Rite-Aid

They also did NOT have enough Olay Soap Packs to do the FREE Soap deal using the $5/25 Rite-Aid Coupon.
But here is what I did that was even BETTER!

I bought....
4 x Olay Soap 2-Packs @ $2.50 ea.=$10
1 x Blink Tears Eye Drops @ $7.99(Gee, this thing was TINY!)
1 x Old Spice Clinical Deodorant @ $5.99
1 x Colgate MaxFresh Toothpaste @ $1.99
Subtotal....$25.97

Coupons Used...
4 x $2/1 Olay Soap 2-Pack=$8
1 x $2/1 Blink Tears=$2
1 x RA Colgate Q $1=$1
1 x $1 Colgate=$1
1 x $1 Old Spice=$1
1 x $5/25 RA Coupon=$5
Total.....$18

Tax....$.90
TOTAL $8.87
$3.63 on a Gift Card.

OOP....$5.24

Tonight's Transaction's VALUE OF PRODUCTS $25.97

But wait!

Next month, after I send for my Single Check Rebate, I will get back $7.99 for the BLINK TEARS and $4.00 for the OLD SPICE DEODORANT, for a Rebate totaling $11.99.

$5.24 OOP-$11.99= -$6.75 OVERAGE.

Can you say MONEYMAKER?!?! ;-))

And I am planning on heading back to Rite-Aid sometime this week with another $5/25 Coupon to do this scenario, if I can find a store with 3 2-packs of the Olay Soap.

3 x Olay Soap 2-packs @ $2.50 ea. this week=$7.50
1 x KY Yours&Mine Lotion @$15 on sale this week=$15

1 x Vitamin Water 4-pack @ $4.99=$4.99
SubTotal...$27.49

Use Coupons....
3 x $2/1 Olay Soap Packs=$6
1 x $5/1 KY=$5
1 x $5/25 RA Q=$5
Total....$16

$27.49-$16=$11.49+$.69 tax=$12.18

OOP $12.18

Submit for the KY SCR offer #39 for $3 & the Vitamin Water SCR for $2.50.

Rebate total this Transaction=$5.50

Here are the numbers by Transaction.

TRANSACTION #1

Value if Items....$24.17

OOP....................$0.00

Qs redeemed.....$19.00

SCR refund........$0.00

TRANSACTION #1A-The Excedrin
Value of Items....$1.99
OOP....................$0.00
Qs redeemed.....$1.99(adjusted down from $2.00
SCR refund........$0.00

TRANSACTION #2
Value of Items....$25.97
OOP....................$5.24
Qs redeemed.....$18.00
SCR refund........$11.99

TRANSACTION #3
Value if Items....$27.49
OOP....................$12.18
Qs redeemed.....$16.00
SCR refund........$5.50

TRANSACTIONS TOTAL

Value of Items....$79.62+$2.79 tax

OOP................$17.42

GiftCard paid......$10.00

Qs redeemed......$54.99
SCR refund.........$17.49

$17.42 OOP - $17.49SCR Refund = .07¢ OVERAGE!

Essentially, by letting Rite-Aid 'borrow' money from me until I get my Single Check Rebate next month, they are GIVING me almost $80 of stuff AND paying me .07¢ to take it all!

Stay tuned to see how this drama plays out..... ;-)
Sluggy

Oh, I Almost Forgot....3/31 Trip

I almost forgot to post about the shopping trip to the evil WALMART last week for FREE IAMS DOG FOOD!
I had 8 $5/1 Qs left for Iams Dog Food. I had used the rest at Rite Aid 2 weeks before when they had Iams Cat Food for $6.49 a small bag. I bought out the local Rite Aid of those, paying $1.49 a bag. Those Cat Food bags went to the local ASPCA on that Saturday.

So, the rest of the Qs were expiring that day.
Great!
I had been to my Walmart on 2 previous occasions looking for what everyone online w/couponing blogs had been reporting the small bags of Iams Puppy &/or Kitten Food was on sale for $5-which would make the Bags FREE with these $5/1 Qs.
My WM did NOT have these bags on sale on either trip there.
Regular price of $7.49 or some such nonsense.
I even price checked it each trip.
I had given up hope of using these Qs.

Mail comes on March 31st. What do you think I find in my mailbox?
A flyer from WM.
A flyer advertising Iams small bags of Dog/Cat Food for 2/$10($5 ea.)!
FINALLY, the sale comes to PA!
So after dinner, #2 son accompanies me in a trip to WM.
I take the flyer with me, with the sale price of the product circled in BLACK MAGIC MARKER.
I am prepared to do battle with the Front End Walmart GNOMES if the Dog Food doesn't ring up $5 a bag.

Got a few other items and headed to the check-out.
The Coupon Gods must have been smiling on me that night.
The Dog Food rang up correctly...$5.
The cashier took my Qs, all 8 of them, without a problem.
She did make conversation with me about the transaction but it was a POSITIVE chat.
No freaking out over Qs and no calling over of snide Customer Service Managers.

Cashier: "Where did you get these coupons?"
Me: "In the Sunday paper."
Cashier: "But you have 8?"
Me: "I bought 8 newspapers that week."
Cashier: "Oh, that's smart! I never see coupons for this much money in the paper."
Me: "They are in there sometimes. You just have to watch for them & buy extra papers when they have the good coupons."
Cashier: "You're probably right. I don't use coupons much. I really should, huh?"
Me: "They could save you serious money if you do it right."
Cashier: "That's true. You just saved $40 on dog food!"

And here's my $40 of FREE DOG FOOD in the 4 WM plastic bags I smuggled in with me to reuse....


Not sure if this is going into the ASPCA Donation Pile. Our puppies are running low on kibble.
I don't know....if I feed them this, they might start turning up their snouts when we go back to the not-high-end-stuff. lol

If you want to get technical, the Dog Food did cost me something-the cost of 8 Sunday newspapers the week these Qs came out. 8 papers=$10($1.25x8) So the value of 2 $5 coupons covered the newspapers I bought....so ONLY $30 of this dog food was FREE.
BUT....remember, there were lots of other Qs in that paper I have also saved money by using, which brings the cost of the papers I paid for VS. Qs used down even more.

No matter how you do the accounting, I still came out ahead by using Qs.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday April 6th Edition

This week's menu is mostly Eating from the Pantry/Freezer again, except for the Ham I bought Sat. for "Company's Coming Over for Easter" Sunday's meal(though I will slice & freeze some of that for use later) and the Graham Cracker Pie Shell for the Key Lime Pie. I am out of fresh produce after using the last of the carrots today w/the roast chicken.
Oh, I do have a bunch of celery left and a few potatoes to make fries later in the week, but I need fresh produce this week (for raw or grilled dishes)so I have put the veggies on the menu that are on sale here this week.....zukes, peppers, lettuces, cabbage, carrots.

We did ok with food waste this week. The only leftover not eaten by humans was some baked fish. The beagles happily offered to help me out finishing that off.
Beagle=canine garbage disposal lolol


Last weeks' menu?
See my previous post about being flexible with the meal plan when 'life happens'.

Here's what is on the Menu at Sluggy's house this week.

MONDAY-Roasted Chicken, Carrots, Onions, Mushrooms, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce
TUESDAY-Crab Cakes, Fries, Harvard Beets
WEDNESDAY-Tacos or Taco Salad, Corn
THURSDAY-Birthday Meal Out-postponed to this day due to illness
FRIDAY-Grilled Salmon, Coleslaw, Grilled Zucchini
SATURDAY-Chili, Cornbread
SUNDAY-Baked Ham, Deviled Eggs, Sweet Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Creamed Spinach, Salad, Boston Baked Beans, Macaroni Salad, Tossed Salad, Crudite Plate
DESSERTS FOR THE WEEK-Easter Parfaits, Key Lime Pie, No Bake Oatmeal/Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cookies

I'll post my Chili Recipe later in the week so check back around Wed/Thurs. for that.


My Bargain Meal this week is the Chili & Cornbread.

Bag of dried Beans....$.99
1lb. of Ground Beef...$1.69
1lb. of Ground Chicken.....$1.99
1 Lg. Can Crushed Tomatoes....$.50
Assorted Spices......$.30
1 small Onion.....$.25
1 Head of Garlic....$.20
2 boxes Cornbread Mix...$.80
2 Eggs....$.16
1 cup Milk....$.19
1/2 cup Veggie Oil...$.13
Hot Sauce....FREE(leftover Taco Bell Packets)

Ingredients Total...$7.20
Serving Cost....$.90 each for 8 Generous Servings

Organizing Junkie is the home to Menu Plan Monday. Go see what's on her and many other Home Cooks' Menus for the week at Organizing Junkie's website.

Sluggy

Flexibility is Good for your Menu Plan & Your Bottom Line

I'm here to report that things did not go as planned last week with the menu.

Here is my lovely plan from last Sunday..... MONDAY-Meatloaf, Potato Salad(leftover), Green & Wax Bean Melange TUESDAY-Quiche & Garden Greens Salad WEDNESDAY-Roasted Chicken w/Veggies, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce THURSDAY-Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Spinach Soufle FRIDAY-Crab Cakes, Fries, Harvard Beets SATURDAY-Quesadillas(using leftover roasted chicken), Rice, Corn SUNDAY-Birthday Dinner
Out

Here's what we have actually had for meals this week.

MONDAY-Meatloaf, Potato Salad(leftover), Carrots/Broccoli/Cauliflower Melange I saw that Guy Fieri on the Food Network Diners,Drive-Ins & Dives spotlight a meatloaf wrapped in bacon dish on his show. So I made a latticework with bacon(!!)and changed up my meatloaf recipe a bit, formed a log with it and wrapped it in the bacon & aluminum foil. Cooked it for 40 mins. and then removed the foil & continued to cook the meatloaf for 15 mins or so, to get the bacon to crisp up. The kids have said they FORBID me to make meatloaf any other way from now on. I said in that case, I need to invest in a defibrillator machine for the house.lolol We polished off the Potato Salad leftover Monday also.

TUESDAY-Quesadillas(using leftover chicken from something I made last week) #1 son worked Tuesday evening and daughter had an away Track Meet, leaving hubby, #2 son and I to dine w/out them. #2 son is NOT a big eater(comparatively), so we had the Quesadillas. I had forgotten about some cooked chicken breasts leftover in the fridge from something I made last week. Since there was no Roasted Chicken yet this week(to provide leftover chicken for Quesadillas), this chicken served the purpose just fine. Unfortunately, nobody wanted chicken in their Quesadilla!lol Basically we had "Mexican Grilled Cheese" instead. At least we didn't make any new Leftovers that night.

WEDNESDAY-Quiche & Garden Greens Salad So I still had that leftover chicken to use up. So we bumped Quiche to the front of the menu line. Instead of Quiche Lorraine, we had Quiche Lorraine avec Poulet & a Salad. Bacon AND Chicken....what's not to love? I was able to use up some old carrot shreds in the Salad too.

THURSDAY-Hamburgers, Corn, Baked Beans
I forgot to defrost the Roasting Chicken(and who wants chicken 2 nights in a row?). The weather was so warm and nice, hubby wanted me to cook something on the grill outside. So I needed something fast that I could throw on the grill. I had a small hunk of ground beef that didn't go into the meatloaf(slated for the meat sauce w/the rigatoni) and about 4 nice thick slices of bacon wrapped meatloaf leftover from Monday's meal. This was just enough portions to make hamburgers/meatloaf burgers.(The adventurous got meatloaf, the purists got classic burger patties.) Added some side dishes and voila....it's dinner! Used up some leftovers and made NO new leftovers.

FRIDAY-Only 2 people ate here. I had a can of soup, one of the kids had fast food.
Hubby got sick on Friday so the Crab Cakes got postponed until the following week again!

SATURDAY-Chicken & Dumplings
On Saturday I deboned some chicken breasts I bought on thursday on clearance(an impulse buy-9lbs. of chicken for $10) and put them into the freezer for use at a later date. I boiled up the bones, picking off some remaining meat on them, disgarded the bones and had me a big pot of stock. I made dumplings from scratch. I added leftover carrots from the Corned Beef dinner side dish of the week before and some cornstarch and had 'Milkless' Chicken & Dumplings for Sat. dinner.(No milk because I didn't want to upset Hubby's still sick tummy.)
SUNDAY-Rigatoni, Lasagna, Grilled Summer Squash
Hubby wanted to postpone his Birthday meal out so Sunday we had the Rigatoni in Spaghetti Sauce, leftover Lasagna & I grilled some summer squash brushed with olive oil and sea salt.At this point, we put Roasted Chicken back into the pot of potential dinners for next week.

I was able to use up leftover Coconut Rice and the Bacon drippings(from the famous meatloaf) by adding these into the dogs' food over 2 nights of feedings. I wonder why these dogs love me so....ok, I KNOW why they love me.
The only food waste I couldn't avoid was about 1 cup of fresh spinach. It went to slime before I noticed it was still in the produce drawer.....bleh.
The thing I have discovered is having a meal plan/menu is a great tool to save you money when grocery shopping BUT.....you have to be flexible enough to change things up when life throws you a curveball. And believe me, life is all about the curveballs!

If you are rigid and can't change when faced with your families eating patterns, you will end up with more leftovers in your fridge/freezer and potentially more food waste.

I so detest food waste! It's like taking your money and throwing it directly into the garbage. That's what you're doing every time you have to throw food out that doesn't get eaten.

And figuring out what to buy and how much to prepare will NEVER stay the same in your career as your family's domestic manager! When my kids were little, their likes and dislikes changed almost hourly sometimes. One day green food was cool and was all they would eat. The next day a piece of broccoli on their plate would send them into hysterics. One day they ate like miniature Professional Eaters-In-Training.....the next, they subsisted on Cheerios and watered down juice.

As my kids have aged, I have had to adjust the size of portions upwards. When #1 son got into wrestling & was 'in season', I had to bulk up how much I cooked even more & adjust the types of food I prepared.
Now that #1 son will be heading off to a summer job across the state & then to college AND daughter has decided to stop eating red meat, I'll be adjusting the amount and what foods I cook for the family again.

All I can tell you is that getting the food shopping & menu plan accurate for your family is consistently variable.
You will always struggle with the leftovers/food waste issue if you cook for your family. And if you don't, I'm sure I can find you some mighty fine slime,.....er, leftovers in my fridge.

Sluggy

Lips, Face & Soap Deals at WAGS 4/1/09

Got out to WAGS this week. Register Rewards Deals on Chapstick, Shaving Cream & Body Wash and I needed inexpensive Razors, M&Ms and can always use Cereal. Picked up 2 of the Free after Rebate ESR Deals for April too.

TRANSACTION #1

1 Chapstick @ $1.99

Use $2.11 on Gift Card

Received $2 RR

TRANSACTION #2

1 Edge Shaving Cream @ $2.99

Use $2 RR(chapstick)+ $1.17 on Gift Card

Received $3 RR

TRANSACTION #3

1 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $3.99

2 Boxes Capn Crunch @ 2/$5

Use $3 RR(shave cream)+ $1/2 Q Cereal+ $1/1 Q SS + $4.53 on Gift Card

Receive $2 RR(Cereal) & Free Body Wash RR

TRANSACTION #4

1 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $3.99

1 Chapstick @ $1.99

Use MQ $1(body wash)+$5.34 on Gift Card

Receive $2 RR(chapstick) & FREE Body Wash RR

TRANSACTION #5

1 Edge Shaving Cream @ $2.99

1 Bic Soleil Disposable Razors @ $4.99

1 OAD Drink Mix @ $1.49

Use WQ $1(razors)+ MQ $2(razors) + $2RR(chapstick) +$4.95 on Gift Card

Receive $3 RR(shaving cream) & $1.49 REBATE at end of MONTH in ESR

TRANSACTION #6

1 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $3.99

2 Soleil Razor clearanced @ $3.59 ea.

2 Life Cereal @ 2/$5

Use 2MQ(Razors) $2 + $1/1 MQ(body wash) + $1/2(Cereal) + $3 RR(shave cream) + $7.84 OOP

Receive FREE SSBW RR & $2 RR(Cereal)

TRANSACTION #7

1 Chapstick @ $1.99

1 Bic Soleil Disposable Razors @ $4.99

1 Walitin Allergy Pills @ $6.99

Use WQ $1(razors)+ MQ $2(razors)+ $2 RR(cereal) + $2 RR(cereal)+ $7.81 OOP

Receive $2 RR(chapstick) & $6.99 Monthly REBATE for allergy meds in ESR

TRANSACTION #8

1 Edge Shaving Cream @ $2.99

1 Bic Soleil Disposable Razors @ $4.99

Use $1 WQ (razors)+ $2 MQ(razors)+$2 RR(chapstick) + $3.46 on Gift Card

Receive $3 RR(shaving cream)

TRANSACTION #9

1 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $3.99

2 Bags of M&Ms @ 2/$5

Use WQ $1(M&Ms) + $1 Q(Body wash)+ $3 RR(shave cream)+ $4.23 on Gift Card

Receive FREE SSBW RR

TRANSACTION #10

4 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $3.99 each.

Use 4 FREE Body Wash RR + $.96 Gift Card(tax)

Used $15.65 OOP

$26.75 Gift Card

$19 in RRs

$15.96 in Free Body Wash RRs

$20 in WQs & MQs

Will receive back $8.48 for REBATES

Value of Goods....$98.04(that's sale prices, don't know the reg. prices)

Savings of ..........84.04%

After rebates Savings of 92.68%

Full up on Cereal, Body Wash, Chapstick & Shave Cream now. They were out of the Reynold's Foil and Scott T.P. that was on sale. If I'm out tomorrow by there, I'll check again for the T.P. Can never have enough T.P. I always say.lolol

Sluggy