Oh the Joys of Banking!

Oh Lucky Me!

Hubby & I had a CD that matured on Monday.  So I got to spend this morning doing 'banking stuff'.
First I got to get the NEW RATE we would be earning if we kept our money in that CD and rolled it over.
The new rate?.....is even more of the joke than the rate we had.
The rate WAS 4.07%.
The new rate?....  .55%
Yep...that's actual AND annual yield.

After I finishing rolling on the floor laughing over that one I told the gal, "Thanks but no thanks!" 
We'll be moving the money this week.

Then I got to research current rates of financial products(cds & savings accounts) at other banks.
Before anyone writes about putting my money into riskier products(stocks, mutual funds, etc.)let me state that we do have money in other types of products that have more risk.  This pool of money needs to stay in safer instruments. ;-)

For the most part, I don't feel very comfortable putting this stash of cash into remote(not local)banking institutions.  I had a bad bad experience with this $ before in a WaMu CD. If you live out west, you can easily deal with them locally but we are in PA so not so easy to drop by a local branch.
For some weird reason I could NOT access the account via internet and none of the emails they SAY they sent me concerning the account showed up in my email program.  So anytime I had to conduct business with WaMu I had to call them....which was it's own special form of torture.  The day that CD came due was the same day last year that WaMu went belly up!  Gee, I wonder why they went belly up?lolol
You KNOW I yanked that money out so fast it made MY head spin!

The only online type bank I have had any luck with is ING DIRECT.  I've had some form of financial product or another with them for the last 3 yrs.  I have had NO PROBLEMS with them.
Ever.

So after finding all the local bank CD rates....which were all big JOKES at that....I am going to stash this cash into an ING Direct account.  Heck, if I put it into a regular Savings Account over there it is more than DOUBLED what every local bank here was offering for a CD RATE!
If I don't need the liquidity of a Savings Acct. I can drop it into a CD at ING instead and that would be FOUR TIMES the local Banks' CD Rates!!

I thought last fall's rates were bad.  If those rates were bad, the rates this fall are Abyssmal.   
And the rates may get even worse before they get better.

On the bright side, our small stock portfolio has rebounded some and we are almost back at the level we were at last fall.  We may get to retire yet......in about 30 yrs. or so.lolol

So I'm off to ING DIRECT to set a CD up.

They have a special deal going if you are in the market for a Savings Account or something they call "Electric Orange"...it's like a Checking Account but you need to deposit $50K or more to get a good rate on your money.
Anyway, go open an account there using a Referral Link I can send you and you get a FREE $25 in your account!  Oh, and I get a FREE $10 for referring you. ;-)
The only stipulation besides having to use the link is you have to put a minimum of $250 into the account and you have to be a New ING Customer.
Go check them out...ING DIRECT .

Just send me an email at slugmama@yahoo dotcom if you want a referral.

Free Money?
Yah...I am all over that!

Sluggy

Joshua Bell CD Giveaway on I Am a Money Magnet....Hurry!

Do you like good music?
Then go on over to Jamie's Blog "I Am A Money Magnet" and enter her giveaway for the new JOSHUA BELL CD HERE.   He's an amazing violinist!
Better hurry as the Giveaway ends tonight at 7pm central time!!

Sluggy

What I'm Buying at Rite-Aid this Week 10/4/09-10/10/09

It's a fairly lackluster sales week at Rite-Aid this week, at least for me.
There are two items that have full price Single Check Rebates this week and I don't care how much money I'll get back for buying it, PoliGrip just doesn't do it for me!

So that leaves the Scalpicin Wipes at $4.49, get $4.49 back after the SCRebate.

Rite-Aid is toting the Johnson & Johnson Deal products this week--SCR #75...Buy $15 of participating products, get $5 Rebate/Buy $20, get $8/Buy $25, get $10.
Many of the qualifying products are on sale this week.

Here's what I WAS considering doing.
I was going to buy the Tylenol 80-100 ct. that is on sale this week for $7.99. I have a $2 off coupon for the Tylenol 8 Hr. and there is a SCRebate #64 for $2 on this item.  There is Tylenol as part of the Johnson & Johnson #75 Deal but ONLY the Tylenol Extra Strength qualifies for that one so no double dip there. *sigh*

So here is what I WILL be doing.


If you had printed off the Clean & Clear AdPerks coupon last month, you can combine this with either the IP coupon for $2 off Clean & Clear or the sunday inserts coupon for $1 off.  I've printed my limit on the IP coupon so I'll be using the coupon inserts $1 coupon.

I checked online and one of the unadvertised specials in the store here is the Afrin Pure Sea Nasal product for $9.99.  There was a $4 off AdPerk coupon for Pure Sea last month of which I printed out 2 copies a couple of weeks ago.  I can combine this coupon with the IP coupon for $3 off and get this product for $2.99.  I noticed last week that there was some of this item on the clearance shelf at my store marked from it's orginal price of $14.99 to 50% off($7.50).  If there are still any of those containers in the store, after coupons I'll be paying $.49 for this item.

These 4 items(Scalpicin/2xClean&Clear/Pure Sea) get me to a PRE-coupon total of $20.99($23.48 if there are no clearanced Pure Sea items).

I'll add in 3x Bandaids at $2 for a Pre-Coupon total of $26.99.
Now I can use the $5 off $25 Rite-Aid coupon.

$26.99-$5=$21.99
Use $1 off Scalpicin IP coupon HERE
$21.99-$1=$20.99
Use 2x AdPerk coupons($6)and 2x insert coupons($2)for Clean & Clear.
$20.99-$8=$12.99
Use AdPerk coupon($4)and IP coupon($3)for Pure Sea HERE
$12.99-$7=$5.99
Use 3x $1 off Band-Aid coupons($3) from sunday inserts last month.
$5.99-$3=$2.99
My OOP total before taxes is $2.99.

The Clean & Clear and the Bandaids qualify for the Johnson & Johnson deal #75.
$9(C&C)+$6(Bandaids)=$15.
This qualifies me for the $5 rebate.
Add in the $4.49 rebate for the Scalpicin and my SCRebate total for this transaction is $9.49.
Spend $2.99 and get back $9.49=a $6.50 PROFIT!
If the Pure Sea is $9.99 instead of $7.50, my OOP becomes $5.48 and my PROFIT becomes $4.01 after rebates.

Not bad for a slow week at Rite-Aid.
If you can't find anything you really need this week at Rite-Aid, spend the free time checking out what will be free after Rebates the week after next.  Go get your coupons ready so you can save some extra money upfront buying these items as well as getting the cost of them back in rebates at the end.  This will make some of them Moneymakers for you so get busy hunting down the coupons you will need! 8-)

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday....October 5th Edition Eating from the Freezer/Stockpile

Last Week's Menu Post Mortum...

Everything was served as planned except for the Salmon/Crabcake meal on Thursday.  This will go on this week's menu.  I made a double batch of the Mac & Cheese on Tuesday. The half we didn't eat that night, I assembled but didn't cook.  This portion went into 2 small casserole dishes and put into the freezer to be cooked fresh as side dishes for 2 meals in the future.
The Beef Bourguignon was a smash hit!  I took photos while making it and will be posting 'my take' on this recipe.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week....it's a mix of double batch cooking items in the freezer, easy prep cooking, cooking from scratch & take-out.

MONDAY--Smoked Kielbasa Sandwiches(freezer), Sauerkraut(leftovers)
TUESDAY--Roasted Turkey(freezer), Stuffing(stockpile), Cranberry(stockpile), Green Beans(freezer)
WEDNESDAY--Manicotti stuffed with Ricotta & Spinach(freezer), Ginger Carrots(root cellar)
THURSDAY--Salmon in Ginger Teriyaki Sauce(freezer), Crabcakes(freezer), Rice(stockpile), Squash Casserole(garden)
FRIDAY--Leftover-Lots of Turkey!!!
SATURDAY--Pork Chops(freezer) with Apricot Glaze, Mushroom Noodles(stockpile), Summer Veggie Mix(freezer)
SUNDAY--Take-Out Chinese Food & Sushi

Last week I spent $75.68 on food counting 2 trips to Weis and all the food purchases at KMart that cost me anything out of pocket after doubled coupons($25).  A full $15 of that amount was candy for handing out at Halloween.  Chocolate is getting so expensive that you need a second mortgage on your house to give it out at Halloween.lol  About $10 was money out of pocket on 'real food' at KMart after doubled coupons. $50 was spent at Weis on the few things I needed for my weekly menu last week and on 11 packages of meat & seafood.
This week's menu shopping list contains steak rolls....that's it besides the usual milk purchase.  I have a $7 OYNO Catalina that expires tonight for Weis, so I will be picking up a few other things in order to use that coupon.  I'll get the steak rolls, yogurt and ??
I won't be buying lunch meat this week for daughter.  She wanted turkey this week so I'm roasting a turkey and she can take leftover from the bird for her sandwiches at school.
I'm going to try to stay out of the grocery store this week after spending that $7 Cat today.  Wish me luck!

Food Waste Report....We had 2 failures this week.  A couple of sausages that got pushed to the back of the fridge and got too old to eat and a small bowl(1 large helping)of spaghetti that turned into a science experiment.lol 

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid September Single Check Rebate & Out of Pocket Totals

I just thought I'd do a brief post with my Rite-Aid Totals for September.

I just finished counting up all my receipts for the Single Check Rebate period of SEPTEMBER, which ran from August 28th-September 26th.

Here are the results.

Purchased 61 Items.

Value of Items is $281.51.

Spent on Items $78.01...$50 in Gift Cards(free from Rite-Aid) & $28.01 in Cash.

Therefore Out of Pocket is $28.01.

Rebates qualified for is $76.98.

Also qualified for the Gift of Savings Deal at the $20 Gift Card level(on BIL's account).

So I'm OOP $28.01(including tax).

And I'll get back $76.98 CASH & a $20 Gift Card.

That's a PROFIT of $48.97 cash & $20 in Gift Card!

In addition, I sold the diapers I bought for a rebate, netting $15 cash, making my PROFIT $63.97 + the $20 Gift Card.

Once again Rite-Aid proves the old adage, "It takes money to make money" is true.  I spend a little out of my pocket and get it ALL back at the end of the month Plus MORE!

Here's how to use the system to gain the advantage....

*Purchase Single Check Rebate items if the rebate is equal to what you have to pay for it.  Even better, find a coupon to use when you buy the item which makes the item Profitable once the rebate comes.

*Wait for items to go on sale to use coupons. When an item is BUY ONE GET ONE FREE, you can use 2 of the same coupons, thus you get double coupon $ off the first item since the 2nd item is already free.

*Look for clearance items in the store and pair them with coupons currently in circulation.  Sometimes you can find items with monthly rebates on clearance, so this makes your profit on the rebate even better....or if you are trying to get your purchase to the $ amount threshold to use a $X off an $XX purchase Rite-Aid coupon, clearance items that are cheap or free after coupons are great to raise your 'before coupon' total.

*Study the Single Check Rebate flyer each month.  Often there are products that will qualify for more than one rebate deal. This is called double dipping.  Besides individual items with rebates there are Group rebates(where you need to buy $XX worth of stuff or an assortment of items for a Check or a Gift Card) that can contain items that qualify for their own rebate.(IE:This month there is a Scope Mouthwash Rebate for $2 but your Scope purchase also qualifies for a P&G rebate for a $10 Gift Card when you buy $30 of products.)

*Utilize any kind of coupons available to you--manufacturer's coupons, internet printed coupons, Rite-Aid coupons printed in the weekly sales flyers and the Rite-Aid/AdPerks online coupon Program.

Be sure to "stack" or use the Rite-Aid flyer coupons WITH a manufacturer's from the coupon inserts or internet printed coupon for the same item.  You can also stack a manufacturer's coupon with a Rite-Aid/AdPerks coupon.  Doing that increases your savings on the cost of the item.

*Use the internet Money Off when you buy $XXX Rite-Aid coupon offers.  There has been a $5 off a $25 Rite-Aid purchase available online for most of this year.   Group your purchases so that you hit that $25 threshold and there's an additional $5 off your total!  The AdPerks program mentioned above also has a $5 off $20 purchase Rite-Aid coupon available.

*If you have any FREE ITEM coupons sent to your from a manufacturer wait to use these at Rite-Aid when you are trying to 'build' a purchase's total(needing to get to $25 total purchase so you can use a $5 off Rite-Aid coupon).  These FREE ITEM coupons can build your total so you get that additional $5 off your purchase without costing you any additional Out of Pocket in cash.

*Consider transferring prescriptions or having new prescriptions filled at Rite-Aid.  At certain times  in the year Rite-Aid will offer free $25 Gift Cards for new pharmaceutical business.  I have also gotten the gift card offer via letter after I've moved a prescription away from a Rite-Aid pharmacy.  Be sure and read the stipulations/fine print though on the Rite-Aid gift card offers as not every prescription will qualify you for a free gift card.

If you need to have a prescription filled & have to spend that money anyway, why not spend it at Rite-Aid and get a Gift Card as a bonus?  Use the gift card to buy your SCR items and that's more money you aren't shelling out initially to buy SCR items.

The point here is to spend as little as possible to do the Rebates AND to get a bigger rebate/refund than you spend.

So what are my plans for October & this month's SCR?

Check out my post HERE with what I already bought last week.

I'll be posting what deal I'll be doing this week tomorrow.

Sluggy

PS.  The Aveeno snafu is no more.  The rest of the Rebate was credited to my account this morning. ;-)