ACME KIDNAPPED MY CATALINAS & HELD ME HOSTAGE!

The first thing I want to impart to my readers is one piece of advise. IF you are an Acme Grocery Store Shopper and you live in or around the Philadelphia area, DO NOT.....let me repeat that, DO NOT! buy your groceries at the ACME GROCERY STORE located in HORSHAM PA!!! This store is located at 200 BLAIR MILL ROAD in the Blair Mill Village Shopping Center at the intersection of Moreland & Blair Mill Roads.
This store will SCAM you!
Here is a photo of the nasty parking lot of this shopping center. The ACME where CRIMINAL ACTIVITY takes place is off to the right side from the edge of this photo.
If you go into this ACME in HORSHAM Pennsylvania, do so at your own risk!
They perpetrate FRAUD on their customers!
Stay Away!!

Once I calm down enough to write out this whole nightmare I experienced I will add to this post.

In the mean time, if you wish to buy items that qualify for the Unilever/General Mills Catalina Deal at Acme Stores this week, AVOID this store! Go to Warminster, Doyslestown, Ambler, Chalfont, Lansdale, Flourtown.....ANYWHERE around Philly but this one in Horsham!
Unless you enjoy aggravation, having your property fraudulently taken, being lied to and treated like you are a criminal for just buying items on sale and using legitimate manufacturers coupons, do NOT go to this store!!!!!!!

Off to call my lawyer.....

Sluggy

Sunday Shoptastic Sunday! Part Two

So after a quick trip to Rite-Aid, 2 stops at CVS, we finally made it to the Acme Grocery Store.

It's a Unilever & General Mills Catalina deal that the SuperValu chains are holding that drew me to Philly. At Acme the deal is manifesting itself as a Buy $30 of participating products in 1 transaction and get $15 in OYNO Catalinas. The $15 prints out as 3 $5 Cats.
Now the $30 value is based on the regular shelf price AND alot of the participating items are on Sale! That along with using Coupons makes it easy to get to $30 and stay closer to $15 if you even go OVER $15! And some items you can work out scenarios that don't involve coupons and you end up spending under $15 out of pocket and get $15 of Cats back so it's like getting the products for free!
For example.....the Betty Crocker cake mixes(which qualify for this deal)are reg. price of $2.59 at this particular Acme store. 12 Boxes cost $31.08 reg. retail which is over the $30 mark. 12 boxes on sale for $1 each would cost you $12 out of pocket. Pay that and you get $15 in Catalinas. Buy another 12 boxes plus something that costs $3, for a total of $15 and pay with that $15 in Cats you just received. When you pay you get ANOTHER $15 in Cats.
You could just keep going through the checkout until you cleared the shelf of BC cake mixes and only be out your initial $12 for infinite boxes of mix!lol
Now, don't you DARE go clear the shelves of cake mix though. It would be very bad Couponing Etiquette & you would get lots of stares and probably be put on the managments "Don't let this person in the store" List. Plus WHERE on earth would you put that much cake mix??LOL

Some of the Unilever products also qualify for both this B30G15 Deal and another Catalina Deal-Buy 10/Get 3, Buy 20/Get 7 or Buy 30/Get 12. So if you were to buy $30 shelf priced worth of Unilever goods that qualified for both offers you would receive a total of $27 worth of Catalinas on this one purchase.($15 for the main Cat deal and $12 for this Cat deal).

There is also a $1 Cat printing when you buy Skippy Natural Peanut Butter in multiples of 2 jars. Skippy is also part of the Unilever/General Mills Cat Deal. So if you were to buy 10 jars of Natural type PButter plus a cheap item that also qualifies for this Deal to get to $30 of reg. shelf value(like a cake mix for $1), you would end up spending WITHOUT COUPONS, $21 out of pocket and get back $15(3x $5) in Catalinas as well as 5 $1 Cats from Skippy, for a total of $20 worth of Cats. Basically, without using coupons even you could 'buy' 10 jars of PButter and a Cake Mix for $1. Now if you had Skippy coupons(use 5 $1/2 ones), you would pay $16 OOP and get $20 in Cats back, making the PButter & Cake Mix MORE than free!

So now do you see why I had to hotfoot it down to Philly on Sunday?lolol

Since Hubby was with me, I couldn't do lots of single transactions.....this would have made my OOP MUCH lower on that 1st trip through the register, since I would have shelled out less the 1st time and then rolled single transactions one after another after that. I had to resort to doing 3 $30 groupings($90 in product)in one transaction. I picked up some things that weren't part of the Uni/GM Cat Deal too.
Here goes.....
First the items that qualified for the Cats in green.
10 Skippy Naturals Peanut Butter($2.99) @$2.00=$20.00
5 All Detergents($6.49) @ $3.50=$17.50
3 Dove Shampoo($7.89) @ $5.00=$15.00
2 Q-Tips (300 count)($3.49) @ $2.50=$5.00
Uni/GM shelf price total=$93.00(Double dip items total $30.65)
Sale price total=$57.50

Coupons Used
5 Skippy Naturals Peanut Butter $1/2=$5.00
5 All Detergents $1/1=$5.00
3 Dove Shampoo $1/1=$3.00
2 Q-Tips $.30/1 doubled to $.60=$1.20
Total=$14.20

$57.50-$14.20=$43.30 + $2.25tax=$45.55 OOP.
I received a total of $62 in Catalinas-3x $5 for each $30 grouping, 1x $12 because 1 of the $30 purchases was for items that qualified for 2 Cat deals & 5x $1 Cats for buying the Skippy Naturals.
Spend $45.55, Get $62. That's my idea of shopping!lolol

I also bought....
2 Lay's Chips on sale for $1.88 ea.=$3.76
2 Milkbones @ $4.29 ea.=$8.58
10 Pop-Tarts on sale for $1 ea.(you had to buy in groups of 5)=$10.00
Subtotal...$22.34

Additional Coupons Used
1 BOGO Q on the Milkbones=$4.29
5x $1/2 Pop-Tarts Q=$5.00
Total $9.29
$22.34-$9.29=$13.05+$.21tax=$13.26OOP on non-Cat Deal items

Grand Total of $58.81 for the Transaction.
And $62 of Catalinas.
8-))

So I had time to go back in for one more round of 3 groupings.

First the items that qualified for the Cats in green.
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights($2.79)on sale $1.66 **
1 Chex Mix($3.29) on sale $1.66
2 Bugles Snacks($3.29) on sale $1.67=$3.34
2 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix($2.39) on sale $1.67=$3.34
1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch($4.39) on sale $2.00
1 Kix Cereal($3.99) on sale $2.00
1 Honey Kix($4.39) on sale $2.00
2 Honey Nut Cheerios($3.99) on sale $2.00=$4.00
8 Betty Crocker Cake Mix($2.59) on sale $1.00=$8.00
4 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix($2.99) on sale $2.00=$8.00
5 Betty Crocker Frosting($2.19) on sale $1.50=$7.50
3 Hamburger/Chicken Helper($2.99) on sale $1.50=$4.50
2 Macaroni Grill Meal Kit($5.19) on sale $3.99=$7.98
Uni/GM shelf price total=$101.17
Sale price total=$57.11

Coupons Used
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights $.50 doubled=$1.00 **
1 Chex Mix $.50/1 doubled=$1.00
2 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $.40/1 doubled=$1.60
1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch $.75/1 doubled=$1.50
1 Kix Cereal $.75/1 doubled=$1.50
1 Honey Kix $.75/1 doubled=$1.50
2 Honey Nut Cheerios $.75/1 doubled=$3.00
3 Betty Crocker Cake Mix/Frosting Buy 2/Get $.50 doubled=$3.00
2 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix $.50/2 doubled=$2.00
1 Betty Crocker Frosting $.55/1 doubled=$1.10
1 Hamburger/Chicken Helper $1/3=$1.00
2 Macaroni Grill Meal Kit$1.10/1=$2.20
Total=$20.40

$57.11-$20.40=$36.71
I received a total of $45 Catalinas for these purchases.
Spend $36.71, get $45.

I also bought....
2 Lay's Chips($3.99) on sale for $1.88 ea.=$3.76
3 Hershey's Syrup($2.39) on sale @$2.00 ea.=$6.00
10 Pop-Tarts($2.49) on sale for $1 ea.(you had to buy in groups of 5)=$10.00
10 Nutri-Grain Bars($2.67) on sale for $1.67 ea.=$16.70
Subtotal...$36.46

Additional Coupons Used
1 Buy2/Get1Free Hershey's=$2.00
5 $1/2 Pop-Tarts Q=$5.00
5 $1/2 Nutri-Grain Bars Q=$5.00
Total $12.00
$36.46-$12.00=$24.46 on non-Cat Deal items

$36.71 for Cat Deals+$24.46 for other purchases=$61.17 Grand Total for the Transaction.
I used $61 of the $62 in Cats I received for my 1st Transaction and paid .17¢ OOP!
I received $45 more Cats for a total of $46 Cats after this 2nd Transaction to roll into more products.
**The Warm Delights did NOT ring up on sale for $1.66. I didn't notice until I got home, so I'll be getting a price adjustment when I go back to the store. My total should have been $1.13 lower($60.04), so technically I will get back 1 of my $1 Cats(and only pay .04¢OOP!). That leaves me with $47 Cats for next trip.

So far in the Saga, I have $234.36 worth of items & $47 in Cat Money to spend and I am Out of Pocket $58.85.

Sluggy

Sunday Shoptastic Sunday! Part One

I tell you dear readers, I am plum wore out! This past weekend was so full. Grab a chair and a cool drink because this is going to take a bit.lol

Hubby took Friday off from work. Call it a mental health day.lol Hubby took #2 son on an amusement park outing so I had an entire day to myself!....well, if you don't count the 3 dogs I had to watch.lol I stayed home and did some maintenance on the coupon binder, some playing on the computer and just plain enjoyed the Q-U-I-E-T!

Saturday we spent doing yard & garden work...not my idea of fun but it was long overdue.
And we awaited the arrival of the new Range, Take Two. They actually pulled the correct color/model at the Home Despot warehouse this time so I am again able to cook any recipe my heart desires. Rah!

Sunday......well, Sunday Hubby & I wanted to spend some time together without #2 glum son, so we jumped in the car and took off on a roadtrip down outside of Philly. My absolutely mostest favorite Chinese Restaurant is down there. They are the ONLY place left, that I know of, that makes my absolutely mostest favorite Soup. It's been almost a year since I had some & the weather was nice, so we went traveling down there to get some good eats.
Well, that's not the WHOLE truth. I did have an ulterior motive for going down toward Philly this weekend. I can sum it up in 4 little letters.....

A.
C.
M.
E.

Acme. Acme Grocery Store.
I heard tell of a really REALLY good Catalina Deal going on now at the SuperValu owned graoceries(you may know them as Albertson's or Shaw's in your region). We don't have one near Teeny Tiny Town but around Philly is lousy with Acmes, that regions brand name of SuperValu grocery stores.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning of Shoptastic Sunday.
I slept in. UGH. I had wanted to get an early start on Sunday but I needed the rest I guess.
While Hubby puttered around the house with stuff I jumped in the car and went up to Rite-Aid to do this week's FREE Deals.
Notice the shiny new Stove background behind the Rite-Aid stuff.....lol

RITE-AID
1 GE LightBulbs @ $2.00
1 Duck Tape @ $1.49
1 Garnier Shampoo @ $2.99
1 Crest Toothpaste @ $2.79
1 Natrol Priobiotic @ $8.99
1 Zantac 150 @ $4.99
2 Newspapers @ $1.50=$3.00 *Not pictured*
SubTotal $26.25
Tax $.33

COUPONS USED
Rite Aid $5/$25
Garnier $1/1
Crest $1/1
Zantac $1/1
Coupon Total $8.00

$26.58-$8=$18.58OOP

All except the Garnier are FULL PRICE REBATES(Garnier is $2 on $2.99). I'll be getting back $22.26 on the Single Check Rebate check.
AND after I submit for the Zantac MIR, that's another $5.00.
That makes a refund of $27.26 and I'm only out of pocket $18.58, making this an $8.68 Moneymaker!!

There is a $3 IP Coupon for the Natrol Probiotic also. If your Rite-Aid lets you use more than 1 IP Coupon(mine won't), you could use this coupon as well as the Rite-Aid $5/25 Coupon and make the deal an $11.68 Moneymaker!

On the way to Acme we passed a CVS. Naturally I had to run in there and do the Electrosal deal.lol

CVS Store #1
4 Electrasol Dishwasher Tabs @ $4.50=$18
1 Blink Tears @ $7.99
1 Soft Soap Body Wash @ $4.99
1 Notebook @ $.99
1 Glue Sticks @ $.99
2 CVS Pencils @ $1.99 RAINCHECK=$3.98
2 Papermate Pens @ $.99 RAINCHECK=$1.98
2 Newspapers @ $1.75=$3.50
Subtotal $42.42

Coupons Used
4 Elecrasol $2.50/1=$10.00
1 Blink Tears $4.00(let me use even though expired Saturday)
2 Rainchecks for Pencils & Pens
Total=$14.00

ECBs Used
$9,$5,$5,$4,$4,$1=$28.00

Subtotal $.42+$.02tax=$.44OOP

Received ECBs-$7.99(Blink),$4.00(Soft Soap),$4(Raincheck Pencils),$2(Raincheck Pens),$.99(Glue Sticks),$.99(Notebook)=$19.97
I didn't get the $10 for the Electrasol yet, since I need to buy 1 more box. This store only had 4 boxes left.
So I ran into the next CVS that we came to.....


CVS Store #2
1 Electrasol Box @ $4.50
2 Milkbone Treats @ $4.69=$9.38
2 Newspapers @ $1.75=$3.50
Subtotal $17.38

COUPONS USED
1 Electrasol $2.50/1=$2.50
1 BOGO Milkbones=$4.69
1 $2.50/2 Milkbones=$2.50
Coupon Total $9.69

ECBs Used
$5, $2=$7.00

$17.38-16.69=$.69+$.03tax=$.72OOP

Received ECBs-$10(Electrasol)

I used a total of $32 in ECBs & received $29.97, so I burned through a couple of ECBs buying 4 Newspapers & Milkbones. The Milkbones came out to $1.10 a box & the newspapers have all those coupons, so I'll recoup that and more eventually.

Oh, my August Freebie that printed on my receipt is for a free bottle of CVS Mouthwash.

Part two of Sunday's Shopping Escapade to follow later this evening.....

Sluggy

July BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5. No kids under 13.

CARONE'S
OOP $24.23
Qs/Ads $7.19
Value $31.42
Savings 23%

CVS
OOP $.86
Qs/Ads $54.89
Value $55.75
Savings 98.5%

FARM FRESH
OOP $26.48 **Just had to pick up some Smithfield Ham while in Virginia!
Qs/Ads $12.52
Value $39.00
Savings 32%

KMART
OOP $54.52
Qs/Ads $869.30
Value $923.82
Savings 94%

OLLIE'S
OOP $5.55
Ads $4.30
Value $9.85
Savings 44%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP $57.11
Qs/Ads $139.67
Value $196.78
Savings 71%

RITE AID
OOP $86.95
Qs/Ads $356.06
Value $443.01
Savings 80.37% **This is before Single Check Rebate & Gift Cards earned.**

SHOP-RITE
OOP $23.34
Qs/Ads $131.45
Value $154.79
Savings 85%

TARGET
OOP $62.06
Qs/Ads $130.40
Value $192.46
Savings 68%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $24.01
Qs/Ads $126.56
Value $150.57
Savings 84%

WALMART
OOP $25.17
Qs/Ads $14.06
Value $39.23
Savings 36%

WEIS
OOP $130.41
Qs/Ads $530.45
Value $660.86
Savings 80%

TOTAL Out of Pocket.............................$520.69
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings....$2376.85
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2897.54
TOTAL Savings % for JUNE......................82%

I've decided NOT to track CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons". Rebates will also show up in the Monthly Totals when spent, but I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.

REBATES RECV'D. IN JULY

Rite-Aid SCR........$54.18
Reynolds Foil........$2.99
Cheerios Check....$5.00
Dove Hair Repair Challenge...$4.69
Lysol......$3.00
Physician's Formula....$7.13
Subtotal........$76.99

FREE ITEMS
Kashi Bar Coupon
Starbucks Ice Cream Coupon
Soft Soap Body Wash Coupon
Candy Bar Coupon
Purex 3-In-1 Coupon

NO Gift Cards

TOTAL Value of Cash Rebates..$76.99

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Walgreens at 84%, KMart at 94% & CVS at 98.5%. If you figure the Rebate I am due back from Rite-Aid($85), then my Savings % there is 99.5%.
(I spent $86.95 OOP and will receive back an $85 Check and $50 in Gift Cards.)
This closes out the July spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
Well, I set out to keep the Grocery/HBA spending under $500 for July...something I haven't been able to do yet. I didn't quite make $500 but at only $20 over, this is my least food/toiletries spending for 2009!

And this amount was with very little fresh produce included from my garden! I figured keeping it to $500 for July but that amount was counting heavily on not having to buy much in the way of fresh produce. We just harvested the first of the squash and cukes a couple of days ago, so in July we only had fresh salad greens supplementing the menu. This makes that $520 spent an even better showing.

I know that some of you out there may spend way less than $500 a month on your Food/Toiletries Budget. I don't know how you do it(unless you are eating rice and beans all the time!lol). But for us, $500 is really low. ESPECIALLY if you consider that a year ago I use to grocery shop.....sit down for this revelation.....WITHOUT COUPONS!
Yes folks, I never even peeked inside the Newspaper inserts on Sunday. Just threw the coupons out when we were done reading the paper.

It wasn't always like that. I used to coupon years ago, when I was a young married woman & hubby and I were living off of a much smaller salary. As he started earning more and I brought in some extra money on my side hustles, and then the babies started coming in quick succession, I had no time or energy for saving money with coupons. Then the babies started growing and eating ALOT MORE!lol Soon that small food bill was double and triple and taking too big a bite out of the income.

Last year, I would just go to the store once a week and do a $150 shop. But that big shop would be supplemented with 2-3 little mini-shops during the week to pick up things I forgot during the big shopping trip. $20 here, $15 there....add on another $40-$80 a week to that $150 total=$200+ a week!
And for that $200+ we barely had enough to eat through to the next week. We certainly didn't have shelves of extras for an emergency situation like we do now.

And that was a year ago.....since then, the price of everything has increased at least 6%. So I'd need $222.60 in today's dollars to buy last year's same $200 worth of food. Extrapolate out that weekly amount to a month and I was keeping a food/toiletries Budget equivalent to $964.60 a month in 2008.

So it blows my mind that I can spend LESS now on the Food budget and we have so much MORE foodstuffs than before!

Even with keeping the budget down to $520 in July, I was still able to take advantage of a couple of INCREDIBLE SHOPPORTUNITIES that came my way.

This $520 for July included 11 Trips to KMart during the Double Coupons Week in early July, a couple of trips to Target for cereal/cookies for the Kellogg's Rebate & a trip to Price Chopper to stock up on sale/clearanced staples(rice & spaghetti sauce mostly), as well as all the smaller food shopping trips & a splurge on that expen$ive Smithfield Ham we picked up at the Farm Fresh down in Virginia.

As for the total I am shooting for with my Food/Toiletries Budget for August....I am torn. The stockpile is looking quite healthy except for a few types of items, so I have a small percentage of things to stock-up on.
I have a Shopping Campaign all set to launch on Sunday for a really really good Cat deal at a grocery chain down the road from here. And then there is the return of KMart's Double Coupons Week later in August. There shouldn't be much I need by then, so I'll still check it out but I'll try to limit myself to things that will be free with the doubled coupons. I usually do free and items under $1 during these KMart Sales, so free only will be cutting back for me.

So I'm going to keep the Food Budget for August at $500 again. The kids will have returned from their summer jobs this month and the #1 son will be leaving for college too. I anticipate some irregularities with the menu(eating out and extra meals)this month, plus some farmer's market spending(to preserve for winter) so we'll leave some wiggle room in the budget for whatever pops up in August.

Sluggy

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