June 11th....K-Mart Unilever CAT Deal

So when SIL was shopping in the wee hours of the morning on Monday at KMart, she took advantage of a CAT promo from Unilever. Spend XXX amount and get a Cat good OYNO for XXX amount.
Hmmmm.....

Daughter & I had planned to do a Lemon Cleanse this summer. This is our frugal, low cost version of the "jump-on-a-jet-to-a health-spa-in-Thailand, drink laxative teas and take herbal enemas & relieve yourself into a colander over the toilet" $100 a day Vacation that's all the rage with the health obsessed peeps & the body-hating/self-image celebrity set.

I had been thinking about doing some kind of pre-Cleanse dieting for a couple of weeks to get ready for this internal flush thing.
I noticed that Slim-Fast products were part of the CAT Promo. Even better, K-Mart had Slim-Fast on sale AND I had a stack of nice value SF Qs that K-Mart would be nice enough to DOUBLE for me!
Double Hmmmm.....

So I just had to go buy this.....

4x Edge Shaving Gel @ $1.99 ea.=$7.96**These were from Monday. We weren't sure what coupon limit would be enforced(10, 25 or 75)so SIL had fewer items, so I put these Shaving Gels in her cart and gave her my 4 coupons for them. the doubled coupons made them free. I put them in this picture/on this post because I don't have pictures of all the Slim Fast I bought. It's tucked away with the toilet paper stockpile and I'm not lugging all those heavy boxes out for anyone.lol

9x Slim-Fast Drinks on sale @ $5.99 ea.=$53.91**Not pictured**
1x Bic Razors @ $5.29=$5.29

SUBTOTAL $59.20
TAX $.17

Coupons Used
9x Slim-Fast Drinks @ $1.40 doubled=$25.20
1x Bic Razors @ $2.00 doubled=$4.00
$5 off $50 KMART Q=$5.00
COUPON TOTAL $34.20

$59.37-$34.20=$25.17OOP

$25.17
Savings of 57.5% BUT.....I got a $14 CAT. Yay!.....free money to roll into more free stuff!!!

I promised SIL I'd take her to CVS and WAGS today, so off we went.

At WAGS, I did 2 Transactions, since I had RRs expiring on Sat.

WAGS
Transaction #1

2x Chips Ahoy Cookies @ $2.50=$5.00
1x Purex 3-In-1 Detergent @ $5.99
Hair Clip clearanced @ $.90 It's Purple!!!
1x Olive Oil @ $3.99
1x Palmolive Soap @ $1.39
1x M&Ms @ $.69
SUBTOTAL $17.96
TAX $.50

Coupons Used...
1x Palmolive IVF Q $.40
1x Palmolive $.25/1
1x Chips Ahoy $1.00/2
1x Purex $1.00/1
Total $2.65

RRs Used....$10, $3, $1=$14.00

$18.46-2.65-$14.00=$1.81OOP on Gift Card
Received RRs...$3(Chips Ahoy), $2 (Purex)

Ok, call me crazy but.....notice that yet again, I had 7 items & the register only let me use 6 Qs/RRs in my payment. I tried again to use a $1 Bic RR but the register beeped. I bought no Bic products, used no other Bic Qs and if that $1 was deducted from my total, the OOP would still have been more than the tax I owed.
So what's the deal WAGS?!?!

Transaction #2

1x Purex 3-In-1 Detergent @ $5.99
3x Socks @ $1.00 pr.=$3.00

SUBTOTAL $8.99
TAX $.36

Coupons Used...
1x Purex $1.00/1
Total $1.00

RRs Used....$5, $1.50=$6.50

$9.35-$1.00-$7.50=$1.85OOP on Gift Card
Received RRs....$2 (Purex)

Again, 4 items, but could only use 3 Qs/RRs before the register beeped.
I am now convinced that Wags has reprogrammed their computers to accept 1 coupon/register reward LESS than the total # of your items.

Total OOP Spent today....$25.17
Total Value of Items bought...$96.64
Savings of......74%
RRs Used.....$20.50 I'm good on expiring RRs until Monday June 15th.
RRs Received....$7
KMART CAT Received...$14

Next up, my rare visit to WalMart from June 10th.

Sluggy

June 10th...Braces, CVS & WAGS

June 10th was the last day of school for the 2 younger kids. The daughter had an appt. to get her braces off that morning. We dragged our butts out of bed early and drove 1/2 hr. to the main office to get those puppies taken off.
After over an hour in the waiting room, daughter comes back out with the braces off her Upper Teeth but the lowers still on. Nobody mentioned anything about this turn of events to us!
Great....
Daughter has an upper tooth that hasn't descended so she still needs a bracket on that 1 tooth & she has to wear a rubber band. The band attaches to the bottom brackets so they left all of the lowers on.
I hate this Ortho guy. He doesn't tell you anything until after the fact. I was led to believe that this was the LAST APPT. grrrr

So the receptionist makes an appt. for 2 weeks from then and then says you need to come back later today at 2:30pm.
Excuse me???
She says that daughter needs to come back because they are making a retainer that they just took the impression for this morning & daughter needs to have it fitted then.
I'm not driving 3 towns away and turning around in 3 hrs. and coming back here today!UGH
So, I make the appt. for 2 hrs. from now and we went shopping locally.
Yes, there were 2 CVS's & a WAGS nearby & I had ECBs and RRs expiring.lol


CVS #1 Hubby's card

2x Dawn Dish Soap @$1.00=$2.00
1x Gillette Fusion Power Razor @$7.99
3x J&J First Aid Kit @$.99=$2.97
1x Hair Wrap @$2.00
1x Wire Buffet Caddy @$3.99 (for daughter to use for toiletries at camp-we've been looking to repurpose something used for a month with no luck, so we bought this-not pictured because daughter took it to camp with her already)

SUBTOTAL $18.95
TAX $.04

Coupons Used
2x Dawn Dish Soap @$.20=$.40
1x Gillette Fusion Power Razor @$4.00
3x J&J First Aid Kit @$1.00(adjusted down to $2.97)=$2.97
ECB $7.98
ECB $2.00
COUPON TOTAL $17.35


$18.99-$17.35=$1.64OOP
Received $5 ECB($1 Dawn/$4 Razor)


CVS #2 My card

2x Dawn Dish Soap @$1.00=$2.00
1x Gillette Fusion Power Razor @$7.99
3x J&J First Aid Kit @$.99=$2.97
1x Contour Meter @$14.99 **Not Pictured**
1x Flavor Ice $1.50

SUBTOTAL $29.46
TAX $.00

Coupons Used
2x Dawn Dish Soap @$.20=$.40
1x Gillette Fusion Power Razor @$4.00
3x J&J First Aid Kit @$1.00(adjusted down to $2.97)=$2.97
1x Contour Meter $30(adjusted down to $14.99)=$14.99
ECB $4.00
ECB $2.00
COUPON TOTAL $28.36


$29.46-$28.36=$1.10OOP
Received $10 ECBs($1 Dawn/$4 Razor/$5 Meter)

Then we hit Walgreen's....



Transaction #1

Purex 3-in-1 Detergent $5.99
2x Hunt's Tomato Sauce $.99=$1.98
Kraft Mac Cheese Dinner $1.99
4x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.39=$5.56
6x One-a-Day Drink Mix clearanced $.75=$4.50
SUBTOTAL $20.02

Coupons Used
Purex 3-in-1 Detergent $1.00/1
Hunt's Tomato Sauce $.75/2
Hunt's Sauce IVF Q $1.20
Kraft Mac Cheese Dinner $1.00/1
2x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.00/2=$2.00
Palmolive IVF Q $1.60
One-a-Day Drink Mix $4.00/1
Subtotal $11.55

$20.02-$11.55=$8.47

RRs Used
$3, $1.50, $1.50, $1

$8.47-$7=$1.47+.60¢ tax=$2.07OOP put on Gift Card
Received Register Rewards.....$2 Purex

Transaction #2
I saw this carton of Kleenex in the seasonal aisle with a big clearanced sign and ran outside to see if I had any Kleenex Qs first. Didn't have any but I bought this anyway....

10x Kleenex Tissues(big 180 ct. boxes!) clearanced .57¢ box=$5.70
Tax $.34
SUBTOTAL=$6.04

RRs Used...$5(Meter)
$6.04-$5=$1.04OOP put on Gift Card


Lunch time & then back to the Orthodontist.
Retainer in hand(or should that be mouth?)and we hit the other WAGS....

WAGS #2
Transaction #1

Purex 3-in-1 Detergent $5.99
2x Kraft Mac Cheese Dinner $3.98
4x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.39=$5.56
2x Chips Ahoy Cookies $2.50=$5.00
Stainless Steal Water Bottle $3.99
Strap Perfect $9.99-daughter wanted this
Head Bands $5.99-another daughter thing
SUBTOTAL $48.60

Coupons Used
Purex 3-in-1 Detergent $5.99 Freebie Q
2x Kraft Mac Cheese Dinner $1.00/1=$2.00
2x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.00/2=$2.00
Palmolive IVF Q $1.60
Chips Ahoy $1/2=$1.00

Subtotal $12.59

$48.60-$12.59=$27.91

RRs Used
$9, $9, $2.50

$27.91-$20.50=$7.41+$1.80 tax=$9.21OOP put on Gift Card
Received Register Rewards.....$2 Purex/$3 Chips Ahoy

Something is wrong because I had 12 items but the register only let me use 9 coupons/rrs.
grrrr




WAGS #2
Transaction #2

3x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.39=$4.17
2x Chips Ahoy Cookies $2.50=$5.00
Ramen Noodles filler $.29
SUBTOTAL $9.46

Coupons Used

1x Palmolive Dish Soap $1.00/2=$1.00
1x Palmolive Dish Soap .25¢
Palmolive IVF Q $1.20
Chips Ahoy $1/2=$1.00

Subtotal $3.45

$9.46-$3.45=$6.01

RRs Used
$1

$6.01-$1=$5.01+$.18 tax=$5.19OOP put on Gift Card
Received Register Rewards.....$3 Chips Ahoy

Again, something is hinky here. I had 6 items & the register only let me use 4 coupons/rrs. I had some $1 Bic RRs to use & a $3 from Kraft or ConAgra...is Nabisco one of those?lol I know it wouldn't take my $1.50 RRs from the Colgate Toothpaste 2 weeks back b/c the dish soap was Palmolive(as in Colgate-Palmolive). I should have been able to use at least 1 more $1 Bic RR tho.
Oh well....yet another reason to stick to small transactions and write out the plan before you set foot in the store.

Total Spent Today............$2.74 Cash($17.51 on Gift Card)
Total Value of Items....$222.22
Total Savings...................98%
ECBs Used.....$15.98
ECBs Received...$15.00
RRs Used....$33.50
RRs Received...$10

More of the week's adventures to follow.....

Sluggy

Have a little Cheese with that Coupon Whine

Ok, so have I mentioned before that we get sucky couponage where I live?
I posted a very mild rant about it before, located Here.

On Sunday, I bought my usual multiple newspapers. The number of papers varies from week to week, but I seem to average about 6 papers per week. There was only 1 coupon insert this past Sunday, but there were some good high value coupons in it, so I bought 9 local papers.
I hiked up to the Mini-Mart later and bought 4 more, but at this Mini-Mart I can get Philly newspapers, so I spent the extra .50¢ they cost me.
I spent last night collating the pages, stapling and cutting out all those coupons. Since the way the coupons are arranged in the inserts is different paper to paper, I had to do two sets of collating, stapling & cutting. I ended up with 2 stacks of coupons-1 from the local paper, 1 from the Philly paper. I was just floored at how bad the coupon count in the local paper was that I did this--I took all the coupons out of the philly stack that we didn't get in the local paper also. Here is a photo of the two stacks with identical couponage. The stack on the right is LOCAL Qs, the stack on the left is PHILLY Qs.
Note that the stack on the right/LOCAL is from 9 papers, the stack on the left/PHILLY is from 4 papers. Logically, the stack on the right SHOULD BE about TWICE as high as the stack on the left, and it is.



Now let's add on all the coupons that the Philly paper users got that weren't in the Local paper, shall we? Remember....local on right, philly on left.


The Philly stack is now HIGHER than the local stack AND that stack has coupons from HALF as many papers!!!

Or let's look at it from another visual perspective.


The stack on the left above has all the unique coupons in BOTH the local & philly papers.
The stack on the right above has all the unique coupons that ONLY came in the philly papers.

For all you 'numbers' people....
There were 35 unique & individual coupons in my local newspaper on Sunday.
There were 35 unique & individual coupons in the Philly newspaper on Sunday PLUS 45 Additional unique & individual coupons.
LOCAL PAPER.....35
PHILLY PAPER....87

I spent $1.50 for 35 coupons locally.
I spent $2.00 for 87 coupons from Philly.(The paper was only .25¢ more, but the mini-market charges you a .25¢ 'fee' also.)

Now I know Philadelphia is a much larger advertising market & the most populous city in PA.
But we live outside of the 7th most populous city in PA.
The couponage disparity should NOT be like this!

About the ONLY advantage to living here/getting local coupons is that we usually get $1/1 Toothpaste Qs when most of the counrty gets .50¢ or .75¢ Toothpaste Qs.
I guess the advertisers feel that we don't take as good care of our teeth as the rest of the country and they NEED to encourage us to buy MORE TOOTHPASTE than other people.
It's kind of insulting if you look at it that way, huh?
;-)

Sluggy-wondering who I complain to, to get some Coupon Parity around these parts!

Catch Up...K-Mart & SIL

So Sis-In-Law arrived in town last Sunday for a week long stay. 2 days to drive out here from eastern IL.
Guess what else arrived last Sunday?
Yup, KMart Super Doubles.....AGAIN!

Have I ever mentioned that SIL is a longtime, die-hard coupon hound?
Double Coupons AND a "Partner in Crime" this week to egg me on into a shopping frenzy.....
Oh, this is bad my friends, VERY Bad!!!

Did I mention that the previous week I only spent $1.79 on groceries for the whole week?
Remember my 'being good' because I am about to blow that low spending week out of the water!lolol

After 2 days driving across the country, SIL was tired. But not tired enough to NOT want to head down the mountain to KMart on Monday morning at the crack of dawn.

Here's what I got....

4x Edge Shaving Gel @ $1.99 ea.=$7.96
2x Quantum Dishwashing Detergent @BOGO $6.99=$6.99
2x Finish Dishwashing Detergent @BOGO $6.99=$6.99
3x MarroBones Dog Treats @ $2.99 ea.=$8.97
2x Bic Razors @ $5.69 ea.=$11.38
1x Bic Soleil @ $5.29
1x Bic Bella @ $5.99
1x Candy Bar(filler b/c the register said my total was under $50 but it wasn't!!)$1.25 **not pictured**

SUBTOTAL $54.75
TAX $2.14

Coupons Used
4x Edge Shaving Gel @ $1.00 doubled=$7.96
2x Quantum Dishwashing Detergent @ .75¢ doubled=$3.00
2x Finish Dishwashing Detergent @ .75¢ doubled=$3.00
3x MarroBones Dog Treats @ $1.00 doubled=$6.00
2x Bic Razors @ $2.00 doubled=$8.00
1x Bic Soleil @ $2.00 doubled=$4.00
1x Bic Bella @ $2.00 doubled=$4.00
$5 off $50 KMART Q=$5.00
COUPON TOTAL $40.96

$57.89-$40.96=$16.93OOP
Used 2 K-Mart Gift Cards(obtained from prescription transfers last month)so actual Out of Pocket was ZERO!

And it was a good thing I spent nothing because then we had to go to the Grocery Store for Pasta Salad veggies and a Teeny Tiny Graduation Cake and I spent $44!
And.....sit down for this part.....I didn't use a Single Coupon!!! I didn't have my binder with me and we were in a hurry to get home and get the food ready for the cook-out. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I can't remember the last time I went grocery shopping and didn't use any coupons. I am still in semi-shock over it. ;-)

More of the week's adventures to follow.....

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....June 15th Edition

Well if you are a regular reader of my blog,you know already that last week's meal plan was a disaster because, well.....there WAS NO MEAL PLAN!lol

The relatives are all gone finally.
2 of the 3 kids are gone as of this morning too.
I am slowly picking up the pieces today(of laundry, of used glasses and plates, of trash left behind, of dog bedding due to a sick dog who's having a hard time getting outside in time-if you know what I mean!ick, & of shopping bags from shopping I did over the last few days that I haven't had a chance to put away).

So no Meal Plan and I had to wing it last week. Except for shelling out $44+ at the grocery store last Monday morning(for ingredients Sis-in-law needed to make Pasta Salad she wanted to make for the Graduation Cook-Out Lunch)& the $60+ trip to Bob Evans for dinner hubby decided we needed Wed. night, I did ok feeding all the crew on mostly what I had on hand. My brain is so fried though, that I can't recall most of what I made for dinner last week!lol

I do recall the Steak Enchiladas I threw together on Friday.
We invited BIL & the Nephew over for our Mexican Fiesta night since nephew LOVES all Mexican Food.
I had 2 packages of stew beef in the freezer I wanted to use up as part of my Cleaning out the Freezer Challenge. I put that into the crockpot along with a roughly chopped large onion and a baggy full of red bell peper strips I froze last fall from the farm stand. I cooked that until the beef was pretty tender(about 4 hours on high), then I took it out to cool and sliced/tore the stew pieces into smaller pieces for the enchilada filling. Put it back into the crockpot with mexican spices like cumin, garlic, chili powder, paprika, etc.(You could just use a packet of premixed taco or fajita seasoning instead.) I let that simmer while I opened the refried beans(pantry stockpile), grated the jack & cheddar cheeses and thawed out the tortillas(all stockpiled in the freezer). I also made enchilada sauce(from stockpiled tomato puree).
I smeared some refrieds on the tortilla, put on 2 big spoonfuls of the seasoned beef and then a handful of cheese. Roll it up and put into the casserole pan. Cover with Enchilada Sauce and grated Cheeses. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 min. or so. While the Enchiladas baked, I made the Knorr Mexican Rice side dish(also from stockpile)in a pan on the stovetop & heated up the Green Giant Corn(stockpile again).

The FOOD WASTE report....the doggies had nice leftovers added to their kibble almost every night. Just the dribs & drabs of leftovers nobody wanted to eat.
Hubby is the cause of half a watermelon going bad. After it was cut up, we had half left. So I told him to put it into the cooler on the back deck as we had no room in the fridge(we had ice and drinks in there for the Cook-Out). So 2 days later I was looking for the watermelon to serve it.
Nope, not in the cooler. I figured one of the masses of people wandering in and out of the house this past week had eaten it.
On Friday, I happened to open the OTHER COOLER SITTING ON THE DECK THAT WE HADN'T BEEN USING.
Guess what was in there?
Yep.....

So now I have a formerly luscious melon rotting away in my compost pile while I ask myself, "Why would someone put a half a watermelon in a hot cooler with no ice?"
A hubby not thinking and just doing what he's told, that's who.


Back to the Menu....
We are down to 3 people this week, so I am taking it easy & making it simple. Lots of quick stuff and things I can use up from the freezer/stockpile.

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

SUNDAY-Steak Quesadilla(from leftover Steak Enchilada filling), Salad

MONDAY-Pizza, Salad

TUESDAY-Hot Dogs, Potato Salad, Applesauce

WEDNESDAY-Tuna w/Noodles in Alfredo Sauce, Peas

THURSDAY-Rigatoni w/Spaghetti Sauce, Salad

FRIDAY-Grilled Fish, Baby Mixed Veggies on Grill w/Mrs. Dash's

SATURDAY-Grilled Italian marinated Chicken, Rice w/Mushrooms, Grilled Summer Veggie Mix

SUNDAY-Dinner Out/Kid to Camp

DESSERTS FOR THE WEEK-Brownies, Fresh Fruit Salad

All I need for this Menu are some Hot Dog Rolls and some fresh veggies(after I see what is still usable from the $44 Pasta Salad trip veggies). Everything else on the list is in the stockpile or freezer.
Hopefully, I can refrain from making too much of anything, since I am not use to feeding ONLY 3 people at a meal.

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