Saturday, August 1, 2009

The Appliance Man Cometh....

Guess what is still lurking in my kitchen?

Yep!....the evil possessed Frigidaire Stove from hell!!
Like I recounted in a previous post, Hubby & I went out last Saturday and bought a new NON GLASSTOP Range. Oh, and it is NOT made by Frigidaire either.

Anyway, we pay and get the paperwork and arrange for a Thursday delivery. Thursday morning comes and the guys with the truck show up at the door with my new Range. The guy comes in and checks out the layout and to see the best way to wheel the thing into the house yadda yadda yadda, then he goes out to the truck to unload the Range.
I follow behind a few minutes later to go prop the screen door open so they can wheel the new machine in unimpeded.

I open the front door and see the nice shiny appliance, sitting on the road, shining in the sunlight.
The nice shiny WHITE appliance.
Ummm, I have a stainless and BLACK kitchen appliance scheme going on here.

Either the nimrod saleswoman in the store ordered the wrong color stove or the nimrod warehouse worker pulled the wrong color stove(IF it's the right model even)!

The delivery guy sees the look on my face and says, "Ya know, after I saw the appliances in your kitchen, I just KNEW this wasn't the right stove!"
Well, at least HE's got a few braincells left, huh?

So I told him, You got it, it's not right, load it back on the truck!
ARRRRGH.

I swear EVERY time we have had to deal with HOME DESPOT, they screw it up.
There is a real nice rant about them over on my old blog HERE. Just scroll down to the May 31st entry to read it.

For THREE YEARS we have avoided that hell hole they call HOME DESPOT like the plaque!
I guess THREE YEARS was long enough to temporarily forget how bad they are.
Or was it that we didn't want to go back to Lowe's since the Evil Range came from there. Between those two big box stores, there isn't much here in the way of Appliance choices....ok, maybe 1 stove at Best Buy and a few at Sears. It's very difficult to find an old school Stove with burners and NOT that glass top.
We were reduced to buying from the Despot and crossed our fingers that THIS TIME would be different.

It.
Was.
NOT!

It turns out the nimord saleswoman was the offending party in this dance of fools.
The BLACK RANGE has been ordered and we are awaiting it's arrival.

In the meantime I've been learning how to cook things on a gas grill that you wouldn't normally think to cook on one.
Like Grilled Cheese using a baking sheet. The sandwiches came out nice and crispy but it didn't do much for the baking sheet. Singed on the bottom and warped....the sheet, not the sandwich.
The grilled onions cooked up nicely in the cast iron pan I put on the grill. I've got a enameled cast iron Rachel Ray Dutch Oven that might work well for some chili or stew on the grill....as long as I don't put the lid on the pot(the knob is plastic-it might melt) and close the cover on the grill. Is that a stupid idea or what?.....putting a plastic knob on a cast iron Dutch Oven pot lid! Yes, you can still put this pot into the oven but don't let the temperature get above 350 degrees or the knob on the lid might melt.
Just another stupid design flaw OR is it a way for a manufacturer to cut corners(instead of using cast iron like the rest of the pot/lid!)to save money!
But I digress.....

I was suppose to have pasta and meat sauce Friday evening. I made the pasta sauce but until I figure out a way to boil pasta on the grill, we'll have to wait for the Range to make it's appearance. It's a good thing I have a couple of frozen pizzas in the freezer, to tied us over until Saturday.

Saturday we shall see what the HOME DESPOT truck comes bearing.
Tidings of great kitchen-y joy, or more screw-ups & stress....

Stay tuned.
Same bat station, same bat channel.

Sluggy

Thursday, July 30, 2009

FREE HAIR PRODUCTS at RITE AID until Friday!



Can you use FREE HAIR PRODUCTS?
Of course you can!
Here's how to get some.....
Take the HERBAL ESSENCE Coupon for last Sunday's coupon inserts(the one that reads Buy One/Get One) & the HERBAL ESSENCE Coupon from the P&G July 5th coupon insert(the one that reads $1 off 1 Herbal Essence Product)and go to a RITE-AID Drug Store.

The Herbal Essence Shampoo, Conditioner and Styling Products are $3 each until Saturday.
Buy 2 Herbal Essence Products(one must be a Styling Product). Use the BOGO Coupon to get the Stlying Product free & use the $1/1 Coupon to get the other Herbal Essence product for $2 instead of $3.
Go home and submit your receipt for the Single Check Rebate Program online at www.riteaid.com.
There is a $2 Single Check Rebate on Herbal Essence Products this month.
The $2 you spent on the Herbal Essence products will be refunded to you after the month is over and you submit for your Single Check Rebate.

Easy Peasy, yes?

But HURRY! The sale expires on Saturday & the $1/1 Coupon expires on Friday, July 31st. Get to Rite-Aid before closing time on Friday to get in on this FREEBIE!

Sluggy

Walgreen's Convoluted Scenario, Spend $6.19 Get $8.50RRs & Lots of STUFF


So I am up Waaaaaaay too late this evening, er....morning. Can't shut the mind off for some reason, so why not give it a work out, right?

I was just perusing the upcoming WAGS RR deals for Sunday....
  • Gum Toothbrush (2 pack) $3.49, use $1 coupon (6/21 RP) and get back $3.49 RR = $1 profit
  • Suave Deodorant (2.6 or 6 oz) 25% off sale so $1.41 each ($1.89 regular price), buy 4 and get back $2 RR, buy 6 and get back $6 RR or buy 8 and get back $10 RR. Buy six and use six $0.50 coupons (5/17 RP) = $5.46 and get back $6 RR = $0.54 profit. Buy eight and use eight $0.50 coupons (5/17 RP) = $7.28 and get back $10 RR = $2.72 profit
  • Vitamin Sham/Cond (13 oz) $3.99, get back $3.99 RR = FREE *Look for bottles with a Try Me Free rebate on them = $3.99 profit
  • Spend $10, get back $5 RR. Includes Cheez Its (7.5 or 9oz) $2, Keebler Cookies (11.5 or 15 oz) $2, Cheez Its (4.5 oz) or Keebler Cookies (5.25 - 6 oz) $1, Rice Krispies Treats $2, Pop Tarts $2, Club Crackers/Sandies Pecan Shortbread $2.50, Fiber Plus Bars $2.50, Nutri-Grain Bars $2.50 and Special K Protein Bars or Shakes $5
Here is what I came up with for a scenario....try to stay with me, it's long.lol Follow the steps, don't skip any!

You will need 3 $1/1Gum Qs, 6 $1/2 Suave Deo Qs, 2 $1/2 PopTart Qs. (You can use 12 $.50/1 Suave Deo Qs but you'll need to buy a cheap filler 2 times in this scenario.)

*Buy the Gum Toothbrush for $3.49, use a $1/1 Q & Pay $2.49OOP, Get a $3.49RR(this will probably print as a $3.50RR)

*Buy a Vitamin Poo for $3.99, use the $3.50RR & Pay $.49OOP, Get a $3.99RR(this will probably print as a $4RR).

*Buy 6 Suave Deos for $8.46-3x$1/2Qs=$5.46, use $4RR & Pay $1.46OOP, Get a $6RR.

*Buy 1 Gum Tbrush & 1 Vitamin Poo for $7.48, use $1/1Gum Q=$6.48, use $6RR & Pay $.48OOP, Get a $4RR & a $3.50RR.

*Buy 8 Suave Deos for $11.28, use 3 $1/2Qs(11.28-3=$8.28), use both $4RR & $3.50RR & Pay $.78OOP, Get a $10RR.

*Buy 1 Gum Tbrush, 5 Pop Tarts($3.49+$10=13.49), use 2x $1/2 PTarts Q & $1/1 Gum Q(13.49-3=$10.49), use $10RR & Pay $.49OOP, Get $8.50RRs(3.50 & 5)

You now have....
14 Suave Deos
3 Gum Toothbrushes
2 Vitamin Poo
5 boxes Pop Tarts
That's $48.19 worth of products.
$8.50 in RRs($3.50/$5)
And you've spent $6.19 not including state sales tax & used 11 Qs.

Not exactly free(unless you count the RRs you now have)but pretty good.

What will you do with 14 Deodorants?
Hey, that's YOUR problem!lol

So can you come up with a better scenario? Let me know!

Sluggy

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Back-To-School Shopping for the College Student

The back-to-school adventure is even more fun this year for me. Not only are all 3 of my kids going back to school next month, #1 son is heading off to college on the other end of the state. This translates into even more outlay of $$$ for him, as he will require a laptop computer and items for daily living in his dorm room.
What makes this a challenge is the fact that #1 son is living away from home this summer and after his summer job is over, he will only be home for 6 DAYS before having to leave for college, so it's been left up to me to pick out/up all these items he'll be needing BEFORE he comes home.

And you know I am all about being frugal, so the mission is to get what he needs for as little as I have to spend, while still getting him decent stuff.

He'll be sleeping on a twin sized bed at school. As he has a full size bed at home, I've been on the look-out for sheets for him. I finally found a deal on bedding.

I know these are NOT high quality luxury sheets but this is a college dorm situation for an 18 yr. old. It's highly probable that either #1 son will ruin these doing his own laundry or they will get 'lost' or just walk away at some point in the year, so I'm not wanting to spend big buck$ on sheets. I found these bedding separates at a local discount/discontinued item store.
I got 2 whole sheet sets(1 flat/1 fitted/2 pillowcased)for $18.16.....that's $9.08 per set.
I bought blue sheets. I figure this way, he won't have to deal with bleach as they aren't white sheets, so less chance of him ruining them. And the color will hide stains too.lolol
I may go back and get a couple more fitted sheets because they tend to wear out faster than top sheets.

I am all about buying used whenever possible. I was reticent about buying these WALMART Sheets, as they are made in China. But I figure buying them from a discontinued item store is as close to buying used as I want to get with sheets. Walmart got pennies on the dollar selling these items to my local odd-lot store so Walmart isn't seeing a profit on this purchase.

So I've gotten the bath towels and the sheets. I'll let #1 son pick out the comforter when he gets home.

Sluggy

Soft Soap Body Wash Update.....Success!

I finally was able to use my FREE SOFT SOAP BODY WASH COUPON talked about in the post HERE.

One of the WAGS near my home got some more in before it expired on Sat. July 25th.


5x Soft Soap Body Wash @ $2.99=$14.95
12x One-A-Day Vitamin Drink Powder clearanced $.75=$9.00
SubTotal $23.95

Coupons Used
1x FREE Soft Soap=$2.99
4x $2/1 Soft Soap=$8.00
3x $3/1 O-A-D Product=$9.00
Coupon Total $19.99

$3.96+$.72tax=$4.68OOP

I had NO RRs to use and received no RRs. That hasn't happened in months!lol
I was just going to get the Free SoftSoap Wash and the One-A-Day Powders because they were free with the last of the O-A-D Qs I had. But I had those $2/1 Soft Soap Qs so the Body Washes on sale only cost me .99¢ + tax each. I couldn't say no at that price.

I am just relieved that they had 1 for my free Q and I didn't have to go another round with the Catalina company on the phone to try to get another replacement for that Freebie Q AGAIN!
I'm so glad to close the book on this saga....

Sluggy