Saturday Shopping.....Rite-Aid & Keep Your Eye Out for This!

Saturday I did some running around to finish up some Rite-Aid deals I was working on.
First the local Rite-Aid....

 I'll spend over $20 and will be able to use a $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks Q
2 x Nature's Bounty BOGO=$8.99  Used a $5 ManuQ Rewards Program & a $2/1 Any Vitamin Wellness IPQ
3 X Toblerone Candy RAINCHECK($1.50)=$4.50  Used 3 $1/1 ManuQ expiring that day!
1 x Rite-Aid Aloe Lotion clearance=$2.99  Used $2/1 any Skin Care Product over $2 Wellness IPQ
1 x Maybelline Mascara 40% off=$3.11  Used $2/1 any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ  
1 x 3Musketeers Bar**filler to get to $20 total** on sale=$.50

Total before Qs=$20.09
Coupon Total=$19.00
$20.09-$19.00=$1.09 OOP

SCR=$2 for Maybelline Mascara & $8.99 toward Healthy Heart SCR #550

So a profit of $.91 after SCR!

Then it was off to Rite-Aid #2......

 I'll spend over $20 and will be able to use a $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks Q

2 x Nature's Bounty BOGO=$9.99  Used a $5 ManuQ Rewards Program & a $2/1 Any Vitamin Wellness IPQ
1 x Nivea Body Wash=$5.99  Used $2/1 ManuQ & $2/1 any Skin Care Product Wellness IPQ
1 x Finish Dishwashing Tabs=$6.49  Used $2.50/1 ManuQ & AdPerks $1/1 Finish IPQ


Total before Qs=$22.47
Coupon Total=$19.50
$22.47-$19.50=$2.97 OOP

SCR=$1.50 for Finish. $5.99 toward Nivea SCR($5 Gift Card WYB $15) & $9.99 toward Healthy Heart SCR #550($25 Gift Card WYB $50)

Total after SCR Rebate=$1.47 OOP

Transaction #2 at Store #2.....

 I'll spend over $25 and will be able to use a $5 off $25 Purchase from Red Plum IPQ

2 x Osteo-Bi Flex BOGO=$19.99  Used 2x $6 ManuQ Rewards Program & 2x $3 Osteo-Bi Flex AdPerk IPQ
1 x Nivea Lip Care=$2.99  Used $.50/1 Nivea Lip ManuQ
1 x Nivea Creme Tin=$.99   Used $.25/1 Nivea Creme Tin GOL Q
1 x Maybelline Eye Shadow 40% off=$2.57  Used $2/1 any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ  

Total before Qs=$26.54
Coupon Total=$25.75
$20.09-$19.00=$.79 OOP

SCR=$3.98 toward the Nivea SCR Gift Card & $19.99 toward Healthy Heart SCR #550

Then it was time to move on to Rite-Aid #3.....

 I'll spend over $20 and will be able to use a $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks Q

2 x Nature's Bounty BOGO=$9.99  Used a $5 ManuQ Rewards Program & 2x $2/1 Any Vitamin Wellness IPQ
1 x Airborne on sale=$4.99  Used $1/1 ManuQ

1 x Rite-Aid Aloe Lotion clearance=$2.99  Used $2/1 any Skin Care Product over $2 Wellness IPQ
1 x Maybelline Mascara 40% off=$3.11  Used $2/1 any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ  & $1/1 Maybelline Mascara AdPerks IPQ

Total before Qs=$21.08
Coupon Total=$20.00
$20.09-$19.00=$1.08 OOP

SCR=$2 for Maybelline Mascara(BIL),$2 for Airborne(BIL) & $9.99 toward Healthy Heart SCR #550(BIL)
After SCRs this trip was a profit of $2.92!

And 1 more transaction here...

 I'll spend over $20 and will be able to use a $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks Q

2 x Nature's Bounty BOGO=$9.99  Used a $5 ManuQ Rewards Program & 2x $2/1 Any Vitamin Wellness IPQ
1 x Nivea Body Wash=$5.99  Used a $2/1 ManuQ & $2/1 any Skin Care Item Wellness IPQ
1 x Cascade Dishwashing Gels on sale=$2.99  Used a $1/1 Manu Home Mailer
2 x M&Ms on sale BOGO=$3.99  Used $1/2 ManuQ & 2x $1/1 Any Candy over $1 Wellness IPQ 

Total before Qs=$22.96
Coupon Total=$22.00
$20.09-$19.00=$.96 OOP

SCR=$1 for M&Ms, $5.99 toward Nivea SCR Gift Card & $9.99 toward Healthy Heart SCR #550

So a profit of $.04 with the M&Ms SCR.

Total for the day.....
OOP=$6.89
SCRs=$8.50 cash plus $ toward the Nivea/Healthy Heart Gift Cards.

Today was a Profit of $1.61 after the cash SCRs.


Here's something you can get almost free at Rite-Aid if you have the Wellness Card....

 

See that big pale yellow bottle?  It's RITE-AID brand ALOE THERAPEUTIC BODY LOTION.
It's normally $5.99 a bottle(it's a big bottle)and it's in or near the Sunscreen/Suntan lotion items in your store.  It's on clearance for 50% off, so $2.99 a bottle.  Combine this with the $2/1 any Skin Care Item over $2 Wellness IPQ to get it for $.99.
Some stores I've been in have it marked, some don't, but Rite-Aid online has it listed as an Unadvertised Special.  Best to price check it before you pay anyway.
This is a good product to have around and it's a great cheap filler to get to your $20 or $25 threshold so you can use one of those $x off Rite-Aid Qs.
Look for it!


While I was in line to pay for the 1st transaction at Store #3 I made a mistake......I looked at some guy in line near me.  Obviously by doing that, in his mind it said, "hey, please talk to me until I can't stand it anymore!".  
This guy is a fellow couponer.  But he is also a nutcase.  Besides being loud and not SHUTTING UP because we don't want to hear your life story waiting in line to buy toiletries, he's also, er......let's call it "interesting looking".
I'm no hot babe myself but this guy looked like one of the guys in the Bowery who wash your windows when you stop at red lights in NYC.  He had one eye that rolled around in it's socket like a pinball and the other eye drifted off to the left so you didn't know if he was looking at you or the valentine's candy in the bin 2 aisles over.
Add in the raggedy pants and overcoat, the ripped t-shirt, the unkempt hair and moustache and you've got one crazed looking couponer.
I have told DH to just shoot me if I ever get that bad.lol

This guy went on and on about how much he saves and how he does rebates for everyone in his apartment building(8 or 9 sets-they let him use their addy/names and he gives them a cut of the rebates).  He also seems to have an 'arrangement' with the particular cashier who was working this evening at this store.....she takes as many coupons on each item until he gets it for pennies or free.  It sounds like he ONLY comes in when she is working....hmmmm.....I wonder how long until she loses her job?
He made 8 $20+ trips while I was in there making my 2 transactions and had paid under $1 for all.  I saw what he was buying and there is no way, even with all the different Qs you can use at Rite-Aid, that he was using the couponage the right way and in the right amounts.   Now I would use multiple of different Qs or 2 ManuQs on each item in a BOGO if the cashier lets me but I wouldn't buy 2 tubes of AquaFresh ToothPaste and use 3 of the same $1 any Oral Care Q on 1 tube to get it for free!
That ain't kosher.....


Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....February 1st Edition....Never Going to See the Back of the Freezer Again!

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
The Stuffed Shells, Alfredo & Birthday Dinner Out didn't happen.
Moving to this week.

About this cleaning out the freezer deal...after this past weekend, I am about ready to give it up.  I can't seem to go more than 3 weeks without finding something worth stocking up on and this past weekend was my downfall.  At this rate--the 3 week not stocking with 1 week stocking--I'll never find the back wall in the freezer.  I spent 4 days digging out older food to serve and filled all the emptied out space back up in 1 day of grocery shopping.  argh

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week.....a couple of my favorite recipes reappearing this week.  Most of the meals will be soft-ish foods since #2 son is still recovering from dental surgery last Friday.  He's slowly progressing from liquids/semi-liquids to soft foods so I don't want to have to cook two different meals each night.

MONDAY--Stuffed Shells(stockpile/freezer), Salad(fridge)
TUESDAY--Quesadillas-chicken or cheese, Corn
WEDNESDAY--Easy Chicken Alfredo with Vegetables(freezer/stockpile)
THURSDAY--Quiche Lorraine, Salad
FRIDAY--Beef Pie
SATURDAY--Leftovers
SUNDAY--Birthday Meal out....maybe this week?lol
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Oranges(stockpile), Brownies(stockpile), Birthday Cake(stockpile)

At this point, I can't tell you how much I spent last week on Food and Toiletries.  I do know that I BLEW UP the Food Budget  with style and panache this past weekend.
I was at $277.20 for Jan.(before rebates)on the 25th.
Then Friday I went to Walgreen's to get daughter some OTC meds she needed, before #2 son's appointment for his dental surgery.  I spent almost $21 but I now have a $10RR.
And then on Saturday I hit CVS, Rite-Aid(multiple ones)and Weis(to use up Jan. expiring Qs), where they had 3lb. contains or Ground Beef that was $4.99 marked down to $2.99--$1 a lb for meat!
THEN.....Price Chopper offered TWO Catalina Deals for this week, starting on Sunday so I had to go spend more money there...and I'll be making many MANY trips back to PC over the course of this week, not only is Jan. shot, Feb. may be wounded too after this week.lolol
And hubby FORCED ME to go with him to Walmart(and I happened to take some Jan. expiring Qs with me to see if I could pick up anything cheap or free).  And it was over to Big Lots to use the 20% off anything in the store Q on all those lovely bottles of 100% juice.  And we drove right by the Bread Outlet so of course, I HAD to go in and check if they had potato bread for #2 son(which they did have...yah!) so 3 loaves and 3 boxes of doughnuts(for hubby)and $6 later, my food budget for January was blown to hell.

FOOD WASTE REPORT
ARGH....my lovely lovely Boston Baked Beans.  Since everyone was home when I made them(plus an extra relative), I made a TON!  Not enough people were around or inclined to eat them leftover so even after feeding a fair share to the doggies over the weeks, I ended up having to compost quite a bit that was still left.
I consider this a big fail on the food waste front.  And we were doing so well too until this point.....

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

Sluggy

Hershey's Chocolate Pieces Candy PROMOTION at KMart....Better than FREE CHOCOLATE!

Ok.....here's a great deal for anyone who loves Hershey's chocolate before I run off for the day to do some errands.

Starting Sunday, 1/31, KMart is running as one of it's weekly sale items the new Hershey's Pieces Chocolate for $2.50 a bag.

Wait, it gets better......

Kmart is running a promotion as well on this item!
When you buy 4 bags you can get a $10 KMart Gift Card.  The form for the rebate will print on the bottom of your receipt if it doesn't print from the Catalina machine.

And to make this deal a moneymaker.....
There is suppose to be a $1/1 Hershey Pieces Coupon in the Smart Source insert on Sunday(1/31).

So......
Take 4 of these Qs with you to KMart.
Buy 4 bags 4 x $2.50=$10.
Use your 4 $1 Qs  $10-$4Qs=$6 OOP.
Send for your rebate.
Wait what seems like forever to get $10 back.
You spent $6.00 and got back $10, so you made $4 on this deal.

Now who wouldn't want to get paid $4 to eat chocolate??

Sluggy

LEFT BRAIN MAN....Don't Argue Pork Products with a G.R.I.T.S.

First off, let me say that I am married to a wonderful man.
Ok....some days I want to strangle said wonderful man, because who among us hasn't been there?....but he is wonderful nonetheless.

But......
he is also a "Left Brain".

If you have no idea what I mean, go check out THIS before you read further.

So one morning this past weekend, I asked the family what they wanted me to cook them for breakfast.
It was a rare day when we all....er, most of us were up early enough to eat breakfast.

#2 son asked for sausage patties.  Other than his sister's 'special' turkey sausage patties I said we were fresh out.
Left Brain chimed in that we did indeed have a roll of sausage meat in the freezer.
I sweetly replied that he was mistaken, that there was no sausage meat appropriate for serving at breakfast.

With that gauntlet flung down at his feet, he marched into the garage, rummaged around in the freezer(there goes all my organizing!)and came back triumphant with 2 rolls of sausage meat.
I looked at the first roll and said, "Now you can't fix that, it's italian sausage."

Hubby has a large dose of Sicilian blood coursing through his veins but after I mentioned it, even he realized that Italian sausage may not be quite socially acceptable before noon....outside the borders of Italy.
So he holds up the second roll, secure in his feeling that he was still triumphant!
Yes, it is JIMMY DEAN SAUSAGE printed on the wrapper but it also said SAGE SAUSAGE on the roll.
"SAGE?"
"Really??"
I shook my head.

I had to explain.....
"Honey, this sausage has SAGE in it.....it is for making Stuffing, not for eating with your pancakes and syrup."

He just looked at me like I had spoken in Portugese.....not comprehending.
"But why can't we have it for breakfast?", came the reply eventually.

"Because it's full of SAGE!  It's not seasoned for breakfast eating."

He wouldn't back down, insisting this sausage would be a tasty treat with eggs and french toast.

I finally had to put my GRITS foot down....

"HONEY!.....Where I come from, You don't eat SAGE SAUSAGE for Breakfast!  I'm from the SOUTH.....I KNOW my pork products!  No self-respecting Southerner would eat this stuff for breakfast....It's just not done!!"

With that bit of throwing the Hog around, he backed down.

I guess my Left Brained Yankee husband saw the better part of valor by not provoking me further and escalating this into one of our Battle Between the States Discussions that always ends with  yelling, slamming doors and threats of sleeping on the sofa.

Yankee....0
Southern GRITS Gal....1

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Transaction This Week.....And a Change to the Coupon Policy

Here's my 1st trip for the week and for the February Single Check Rebate period at Rite-Aid....

1 x Nivea Body Wash=$5.99
2 x Nature's Bounty Vitamin C BOGO sale=$9.99
2 x Nature's Bounty Vitamin D BOGO sale=$4.99
2 x Hall's Refresh Drops=$4.98
SubTotal....$25.95

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 Purchase(available from RedPlum online)=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Nivea Body Wash ManuQ(1/3RP insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 any Skin Care item over $2 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x $5/1 Nature's Bounty Vitamins Rewards Program IPQ=$5.00
1 x $2/1 any vitamin item over $2 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Nature's Bounty Vitamins Rewards Program IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 any vitamin item over $2 Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x BOGO Hall's Item In Store Flyer Q=$2.49
Coupon Total....$22.49

$25.95-$22.49=$3.46+$.11tax=$3.57 OOP

I have $5.99 toward a $15 purchase of Nivea, to qualify for a $5 Rite-Aid Gift Card(SCR#56) and the Vitamins purchase counts toward another Rite-Aid Gift Card(SCR#550)....purchase $25 worth of products/get a $10 gift card or purchase $50 worth/get a $25 gift card.  Of course, we will shoot for the $25 card. ;-)

Things did NOT go as planned on this trip however.

I had emailed Rite-Aid Corporate back last summer to obtain a copy of their coupon policy.  This is what I've been following when I set up my scenarios.  The email I have states that with a BOGO deal, you can use a ManuQ on each item, so 2 ManuQs total.  And since Rite-Aid lets you stack a store copy(In-Ad, Wellness, AdPerk) with a ManuQ it follows that you could use 4 Qs total on a BOGO deal(2 ManuQs and 2 StoreQs)....right?

Well, when I went to check out the Night Supervisor happened to be at the register.  And she refused to let me use any Qs on the item that was free with the BOGO deal(I bought 4 vitamins and was only allowed to use 4 Qs--2 on each not-free item).  My understanding from the copy of the coupon policy was that I should have been allowed to use up to 8 Qs...or at the very least 6 Qs(since a ManuQ was allowed on the free item and if they wouldn't take the second Store Q stacked on the ManuQ on the free item). I was going to use 6 Qs--4 ManuQs and 2 StoreQs(on the 2 Not-free items)...which would have given me a $1.57 OOP.
Follow me?

The Supervisor said NO coupons are allowed on the free item in a BOGO situation! 
Period.
Since I didn't have a copy of the policy on me(stupid me....didn't have any problems with management EVER so I just stopped bringing my copy of the policy with me!)and she had no authority to make an exception nor did she seem like she would...lol...I paid and went home.

The next day I printed out the emailed coupon policy and read it again.  Since it was from last summer, before Wellness and AdPerk Qs, it didn't address some grey areas on coupon usage.  So I called Corporate Customer Service and had a loooong talk with a Rep.  Seems that the coupon policy has changed from last summer(and he said it is always changing)so he is going to snail mail me a new copy. 

Here is the new interpretation of the policy.....
On a BOGO Deal--you can use TWO Qs BUT....both Qs have to be used on the Item that is NOT free.
This means you can now only use ONE ManuQ on a BOGO Deal, not One ManuQ on each item.  Both Qs used have to be on the non-free item, meaning you can use a ManuQ(either from an insert/IP/peelie/blinkie/home mailer)and the Second Q has to be a Store-type Q and is applied to the item you pay for, not the free item.

So....if I buy 2 Vitamins on BOGO.
I can use 1 ManuQ and 1 Store-typeQ.
2 Items and 2 Qs.
Not 2 items and 3 or 4 Qs.

Seems to me that this new policy is not better than the old one when you could use up to 2 Qs on a BOGO Deal.  They haven't expanded how many Qs can be used(since the old policy didn't address non-ManuQs really), they have just changed what type of Qs you can use in a BOGO situation and not changing the number you can use.

You can however, still use a BOGO Q on a BOGO Deal and get both items free.

I have to admit I did get a tad pushy with the Supervisor....so much for flying under the radar anymore.lol

After I receive my new copy of the Q policy I will go have a private chat with this Supervisor.  If I was inadvertently in the wrong, I'll apologize for being testy with her.  She'll probably look at me like I have 7 heads and 1 eyeball but hey, at least I'll have done the right thing.

Sluggy