Just a NOTE from Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger

I just wanted to tell ya'll that I have added to my right side bar layout. Besides keeping a running total on the $60K Saving$ Challenge I am doing this year, I have added another running total for what I have Spent and Saved in the Grocery Budget for 2009. I think visitors to the blog might have seen the Savings Challenge and thought it was me keeping track of my Savings on Food/HBA Shopping for the year.
Nope.

So I added a keeping track of money saved/spent on Food/HBA for the year too, as a lot of frugal mom/couponing/financial accountability blogs I see have them.
Not that this is JUST a couponing/frugal blog but it's a facet of me and my blog so I'm trying on the appropriate bells & whistles.
And speaking of grocery savings for the year, I am FLOORED that by shopping sales & using coupons I've saved my family over SIXTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS so far this year!
Incroyable!
Incredible too.... ;-)

And while I have your attention.....I DO have your attention, yes?!.....I'd love to hear some feedback or comments or suggestions or constructive criticism you might have about my blog. Keep in mind that I am NOT about the 'prettiness' thing here-no fancy designs or colors. Layout and readability is more what I am striving for here. Is is easy to read?

Do I go on too long and ramble too much....or do you like a personal rambling blog?

Are the financial type posts with all the numbers and figures too dry and drive you away or do you just skip over that so you don't fall asleep with your face on the keyboard?

Do you want to see something different? More photos? More cooking/recipes? More coupon stuff?

Or is there something I do here that drives you crazy that you want a lot less of?

Be frank but be kind and tell me!

Do you prefer one big Looooong post where I mash everything in together like the way it rattles around in my head or would you like to see more smaller entries....maybe even lots of entries a day if lots of stuff is going on?

Are there any regular features you'd like to see me host? Charity Challenges? Contests?

How about giveaways? This is an idea I've been toying with in my head lately. If I did those, what would you want to win?
I've got some dogs and kids I'd gladly donate to that cause.....**BEG**<-that's a Big Evil Grin

As always, thanks for the opportunity to share my day & life with ya'll. Now back to your regularly scheduled day....


Sluggy

$60K Savings Challenge JULY Totals...Gaining some Ground!

I have posted my JULY End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I am once again able to say that we finished up JULY in THE BLACK!
The Savings for July was just under $2,700.

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just over $2K this month. We had some big unusual purchases like 4 pairs of eyeglasses for assorted family members & the new stove. Those alone accounted for over half of the bill. UGH. Add in hotel bills & gasoline expenses from the Bermuda Triangle trip(Eastern PA to VA to Western PA to home) and that's the bulk of the cc bill. It's a good thing July had 3 paychecks in it. ;-)

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but I am still sitting out on eBay for now.

On the recurring utilities front, we saw a $19.43 reduction in the cost of the electric bill from June. The unseasonably cool summer so far here is responsible for this. The water bill increased by $6.64 from June's total. Hubby continued dealing with pool problems in July, where he's had to partially empty and refill the pool so usage was up more than the month before. I hope the August bill will decrease since the hole has been patched finally!

The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located Here. Food/Toiletries spending in July was my lowest monthly total for the year. I was $20 above my goal of $500 for the month so I'll stick with that budget amount for August as well. I dare not say I won't add to the stockpile, because we all know I WILL anyway!lol The garden has just started yielding produce which will help keep me out of the grocery store's fresh veggie section for another month or so.

We are Seven Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $14,846.16 for the year.
Shall I mention that I should have $35K at this point since that's 7 months worth of $60K?
Naaaah, let's not go there.lolol

What's ahead for August.....I'll try to keep the stockpiling to a minimum, despite KMart holding ANOTHER Double Coupon Event.....oy! They sabotage me every month it seems!lolol I may have another Garage Sale(if the heat doesn't get too unbearable)or find a Flea Market to set up at(if the cost of the space isn't too high). Or maybe I'll wait until early Sept. to do that. At any rate, I see another Yard sale or something similar in my future. ;-)
I will also be ramping up my eBay Store later this month or early in Sept. It just depends on when I see selling prices picking up for what I have to offer.

In terms of cash outlays in August, it could be another expensive month with the back-to-school costs(shoes for the kids, school fees, etc.)The school supplies like paper and pencils, etc. are pretty much taken care of already, thanks to Staples, WAGS and CVS. But we have an incoming College Freshman so there are travel expenses and major outlays of money involved here(laptop computer, dorm stuff still to be determined, & the killer-College Textbooks!!). I'll be looking for ways to reduce these costs were I can in the few short weeks I have to procure these items.

I'm hoping to NOT loose ground on the Savings Challenge front and would be thrilled to sock away another $1K in August. Cross your fingers we can achieve this goal! 8-))

Check out Money Saving Mom's Blog May Financial Update Post to see how others are saving money and living more frugally Here.

Sluggy

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