Rite-Aid Trip on 3/6/10.....Strange Register Voodoo Makes me Smile!

I took a trip to Rite-Aid on Saturday to get some SCR items for BIL's account.
Well, this store only had 1 SCR item left that I wanted, the Listerine Pocket Packs.

So I wandered around the aisles looking for what else I could buy as inexpensively as possible, to get me up to $20 so I could use the $5 off $20 Q.

I ended up doing the PREVACID Deal this trip as well, though I didn't need it to get to $20.  Now I know Prevacid will be on sale next week at Rite-Aid but since I am getting everything OOP back, except for the $4 they will deduct for the ManuQ that was with the Rebate form in the Parade Magazine, I'm not concerned.  No matter the OOP now, I'll get it back minus the $4 Q amount.

So here's what I bought....

4 x Kleenex Tissue on sale BOGO($2.49)=$4.98
1 x Ocean Saline Rinse on sale=$.99
1 x Colgate Toothpaste on sale=$2.49
1 x Colgate Toothbrush on sale=$2.49
1 x Prevacid 42ct.=$28.99
2 x Revlon Eye Shadow on sale BOGO($4.99)=$4.99
1 x Listerine Pocket Packs on sale=$3.99
2 x Ricola Cough Drops on sale($.99)=$1.98
SubTotal....$50.90


Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
1 x $1/4 Kleenex Tissue ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/3 Kleenex Tissue AdPerks IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 any Oral Care over $1.99 Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 any Oral Care over $1.99 Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x $2.90 10% off Wellness Discount on Prevacid=$2.90
1 x $10/1 Prevacid Manu IPQ=$10.00
1 x $10/1 Prevacid 42ct. AdPerks IPQ=$10.00
1 x $4/1 Prevacid Peelie Q=$4.00
2 x $2/1 Revlon Eye ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Listerine Pocket Packs ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 any Oral Care over $1.99 Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Ricola Cough Drops ManuQ=$1.00

Coupon Total....$42.00

$50.90-$44.90=$6.00 OOP

I have spent enough at Rite-Aid that I get an automatic 10% discount on any item I buy that isn't on sale.
That is why I received an additional $2.90 off the Prevacid that wasn't on sale.

You'll also notice that I used THREE coupons on the Prevacid.  I came armed with a ManuQ printed from the Prevacid website and an AdPerks Q...which doesn't look like your normal AdPerks Q.
The box of Prevacid also had a $4 Peelie Q on it.  After the cashier scanned the box she started to remove the Peelie so she could scan it.  I said not to bother with it since it was only for $4 and I already had 2 coupons to use on the Prevacid.  She then said that I could use that 3rd peelie Q for another discount on the item.  I attempted to argue(LOL)since the RA coupon policy I had said 2 Qs per item, not 3.  Cashier said that they always let people buying stuff use any peelies on the products, even if they have other Qs.
OK.....lol
I must have looked dubious so she called over the MOTD=Manager of the Day, and asked her.  She said fine, take all the Qs!
Gee....it's like I didn't WANT to use as many Qs as they would let me, huh?

So on my $28.99 Prevacid, I got a $2.90 wellness auto. 10% discount and $24 in coupons taken off.
So I paid $2.09 for the Prevacid!
And then I'll get $24.99 back for the MIR!!!

Like I said, $6 is what I was suppose to pay.
What I actually paid was $2.00 OOP.

When the cashier went to use any of the 3 Prevacid Qs, they beeped....peelie, AdPerk and ManuIPQ.
Every.
Last.
One.

So she tried taking off the Prevacid item and adding it back onto the transaction multiple times, trying different coupons against it.  One time 1 Q went through but not the next....so she kept putting on and taking off the Prevacid and assorted Qs.
Finally she called over the MOTD again and had her key in or authorize or whatever it's called all 3 coupons.
My register receipt ended up being about 3 ft long!lol
And my total was now $2.00 instead of the $6.00 I had calculated it would be.
But after all that....and holding up the line for 15 min.....I didn't want to argue again and spend more time redoing this disaster of a transaction, so I just shut my mouth, paid my 2 bucks and got the hell out of Dodge!lolol

The next day I went over the receipt and found the error....the cashier had added the $4 peelie Q discount once and hadn't taken the discount off again and then gave me the $4 Q discount again in the midst of the Prevacid coupon fiasco.
I figure, it all evens out in the end, since there are times they forget to use some of my Qs.
I got the better end of the stick this time....next time, who knows?

Ok, so I am OOP $2.00 for this transaction.
I qualified for a $3 SCR(Listerine) so this becomes a $1.00 Moneymaker!
Add in the $24.99 Prevacid MIR and I've got a $25.99 Overage...WOOT!!!

Sluggy

Tuesday Frugal Tip Because Spending Money Sucks!

Ok...this isn't a ground breaking, new way to save money.
And it won't save you A LOT of money all at once but if you do this and live to be oh....120, it might save you enough to pay for your trip to the Scooter Store for your motorized chair.

See this?

This is a mini Oreck Vacuum Cleaner called the Buster.  I got if for free when hubby bought me a big Oreck about 6 yrs ago.
I heart my baby vacuum.
It's highly portable & lightweight, not like the big vacuum cleaner.  It has a strap so you can wear it on your shoulder while you vacuum.
It's good for cleaning stairs, around the edges of the room or under/near furniture where the big vacuum can't go.
Since moving here 10 yrs. ago we have slowly reduced the number of rooms in the house that have carpeting to 4, so I don't use the big vacuum nearly as much as I use to, but I continue to use the baby vacuum a lot!

Vacuum cleaners are great.
But besides the electricity they draw to operate, there is another continuing cost associated with them....well, unless you bought one of those bagless Dyson ones.

Vacuum bags.

It's sort of like printers, you know?
The printers are cheap but the ink cartridges will bleed your wallet dry.
Vacuums are not too expensive but buying those vacuum bags for them every year is an annoying expense I'd rather do without.
And I do.....do without that expense.

See this?

It is my vacuum bag for my baby Oreck vacuum.
This is the last bag from the original set of 12 that came with the vacuum when we bought it new.
I have been using/reusing this bag for the last 3 yrs.
Yes, I said three years.

That was when I discovered we were on the last bag, three years ago, and told the kids NOT to throw out the bag when it was filled.
And I have been taking it out, emptying it out gently into the trash and reusing it ever since.

In the 1st three years we used/owned the vacuum we went through a bag every 3 months...4 bags a year.
A dozen new bags cost $15 and lasts us 3 years....for an expense breakdown of $5 a year for bags.

After 3 years of reuse my last bag has about had it and will need replacing soon.  I am coming around to facing the fact that I'm going to have to buy a new bag of bags soon.

$15.
Ok...$15 might not sound like much but I am sure you could think of things you'd rather spending $15 on or save $15 for, right?lol

Once I buy the new bags, it's the LAST TIME I plan on buying bags for this vacuum.
It will then be a contest to see what goes to it's reward first....me or my baby vacuum!
3 years out of 1 bag x 12 bags=36 years.
I'm pushing 51.
Let's hope the vacuum goes to Oreck Heaven before I do...because if this 86 yr old half-blind woman has to drive her motorized scooter to the Oreck store to buy more bags, it won't be pleasant!

Sluggy

What's Worth Buying this Week at Weis Markets...3/7-3/13

It's an interesting week at Weis.  Nothing free and not much cheap but interesting nonetheless.

MEAT
Perdue Frozen and Weis All Natural Fresh Chicken is 40% off.
Angus Top Round Roasts are BOGO. Reg. price is $5.29, so if you can find 2 Roasts that are about the same size, you'll pay $2.65 lb.
My meat pick of the week is the Catfish, Flounder or Tilapia Fillets for $3.99lb.  The best price/value item here is the Flounder, which you hardly ever see for less than $7 or $8 lb.  This Fish Special comes IQF in bags of around 2lb. each so you'll have to spend $8+ of your budget.  But you'll have 2 or more meals from each bag, depending on how big your eaters are at your house.  I've already picked 1 bag up and will have to stock up a bit more.

DAIRY
More yogurt...AGAIN!....Dannon for $2 a pack.  Various $1/1 ManuQs out there, so $1 yogurt.
Kraft Singles are $2, so if you found any $1/2 blinkies you can get them for $1.50 WYB2.
Laughing Cow Mini Cheeses are $2.50.  Use the $1/1 ManuQ and pay $1.50.

PRODUCE
Not much at a real good price this week.  Grapes are still $1.99lb., strawberries aren't quite seasonal yet so $2.50 lb.
My local store had a special on Empire Apples...$2 for a 3lb. bag so I picked that up.  Smaller apples in it which is good for the teens to take to school.
If your store has the loose mushrooms, they are a better deal at $2.99lb. than the packaged sliced ones on sale for $2 for 8oz.
You'll probably do better buying the Weis brand bags of veggies this week over in the frozen section.  Some of them are $1 per 1lb. bag.

BREAD
Sara Lee Bagels are BOGO($3.69).  There's a $.55/1 ManuQ in the 2/21 RP insert.  Use 2 and if your store doubles, pay $1.69 WYB2($2.69 WYB2 if your store won't take 2 Qs on a BOGO.

CATALINAS
There are FOUR Catalina Deals this week.   I've done some recon work for you on the 1st three Cat deals, so here are the Regular Shelf Prices so you can figure your scenarios.  REMEBER--Weis calculates off the reg. shelf price, not the sale price for purposes of seeing if you bought enough to trigger the catalina coupon.  In this way, "Spend $XX" means you don't necessarily have to spend that to qualify for the Catalina IF the item is on sale.  So you can get a deal even without a coupon...of course, coupons would make this better and cheaper!lol
Please keep in mind that the reg. prices at my local Weis make NOT be the exact same prices at your Weis.

#1  $3 Cat WYB $12/$7 Cat WYB $20 KELLOGG'S products
 Kellogg's Corn Pops/Apple Jacks/Froot Loops   Shelf $4.29/Sale $2.50 **Blinkie machine with $.70/1 on the shelf!
Pop-Tarts 12 ct.    Shelf $2.99/Sale$2.50
Kashi Hot Cereal    Shelf $3.19/Sale $2.50
Keebler Chips Deluxe or Fudge Shoppe  Shelf $3.59/Sale $2.50
Cheez-its Crackers    Shelf $4.19/Sale $2.50
Nutri-Grain Bars   Shelf $3.29/Sale $2.50
Fruit Snacks   Shelf $2.69/Sale $2.34

The items here are junk food...sugared cold cereal, pop-tarts, cookies, fruit snacks, though it does include Kashi Hot Cereal.
If you need the cold cereals in this Catalina, do this transaction....
5 x Corn Pops/Apple Jacks/Froot Loops  Shelf $21.45/Sale $12.50
Use 5 of the $.70/1 Qs from the Blinkie Machine...$12.50-$3.50=$9.00 and if you are rolling one the $7 Cats your total is $2.00 OOP!

#2  $3 Cat WYB $12/$7 Cat WYB $20 on Heinz Products
Smart Ones Entrees(smaller sizes)   Shelf $2.50/Sale $2.00
Smart Ones Entrees(6-11 oz.)   Shelf $3.33/Sale $2.50
Bagel Bites   Shelf $2.60/Sale $2.00
TGIF Appetizers or Poppers Stuffed Jalapenos  Shelf $3.79 or $3.49/Sale $3.00
Classico Sauces  Shelf $2.55/Sale $2.00
Heinz Ketchup 40oz.  Shelf $2.85/Sale $2.00
Ore-Ida Potatoes/Onion Rings  Shelf $2.89/Sale $2.50
Ore-Ida Steam and Mash   Shelf $3.89/Sale $2.50

Now is the time to stock up on your Heinz ketchup!  Coupons are non-existent on the ketchup but there are coupons floating around for most of the other items that qualify for this Cat.
I'll definitely be doing this Cat a couple of times.   Freezer space limits me on the frozen stuff however.

#3  $3 Cat WYB $12/$7 Cat WYB $20 on Clorox owned brands
Clorox Bleach 82-96 oz.   Shelf $1.99/Sale $1.79
Clorox 2 Color Safe Bleach   Shelf $5.29/Sale $4.49
Clorox Wipes   Shelf $2.89/Sale $2.50
409 or Clorox Anywhere   Shelf $2.79/Sale $2.50
Clorox Clean-Up or Pine Sol  Shelf $3.75/Sale $2.99
Brita Water Filters   25% off  Shelf price
Glad Trash Bags 14-35ct.   Shelf $4.39/Sale $3.50
Glad Pres N'Seal or Containers or Bags  Shelf $?/Sale $2.50
Fresh Step Cat Litter   Shelf $10.49 or $10.95/Sale $8.49
Kingsford or Match Light Charcoal   Shelf $11.99/Sale $8.99
KC Masterpiece BBQ or Marinade Sauce  Shelf $2.89 or $2.99/Sale $2.50
Hidden Valley Dressing   Shelf $3.65/Sale $3.00

Another Cat I'll be rolling.  If you are in need of Brita products, I found some packages of the faucet system had $10 MIR stickers on them($5 WYB the faucet system and $5 off WYB a replacment filter later on). There are coupons available online so the Cat with the 25% off makes this a possible good buy.  I'll be picking up loads of bleach here.

#4 $5 Cat WYB$25/$10 Cat WYB $35 on P&G products

I don't know about you but I am just about P&G'ed out!lol  There is nothing much I want/need here after getting tons of P&G at Rite-Aid over the past 2 months for almost zero OOP.  Unless there is an incredible deal(like the recent Gillette Body Wash and Deodorant Deal with great high value coupons), I don't buy toiletries at grocery stores so I didn't check the shelf prices on these items, sorry.

So what are you getting at Weis this week?
What great deals did you find that I didn't see?  Let us know!!

Sluggy

Amazon Gift Card Giveaway at Four Hats & Frugal

Amiyrah over at FOUR HATS & FRUGAL is having a Giveaway for a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

Go check it out HERE.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....March 8th....Spending Breakdown & 2 Recipes

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
Everything was served as planned except the Crockpot Chicken. Weis had a special on fish fillets($3.99lb!) and I went and bought some flounder and we had a fried fish dinner last night instead of the chicken.  I just had a hankerin'!lol  Since I'm not in the mood for Crockpot Chicken this week, the chicken that's moving to this week will be a casserole dish instead.

Hubby won't be here for dinner 2 nights this week so the teens have convinced me to do Take-Out those evenings, which comes out of the Entertainment money.  It shouldn't be too much of a hit on the budget in this way....
1.We'll do chinese take-out but order it before 3pm so we get the lunch prices.
2. At Taco Bell they'll order off of the $1 menu and I'll just have something from home or a leftover.
These 2 things should keep the total under $20 for both nights for 3 people.


Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week.....our household presently consists of 2 adults and 2 teens at home.  No children under 14.

This week is all about using what I have and incorporating leftovers as well. Since alot of what I am serving is stockpiled, I'm putting what  I paid for the ingredients that are on hand so you can see what I spend w/stockpiling & sales versus buying it weekly when it might not be on sale. If I use a leftover ingredient I won't add that cost as it was already figured into the previous meal's cost.

MONDAY--Taco Bell .89¢ Burritos for the teens($4), leftover Baked Ziti for me
TUESDAY--Chinese Take-Out($15 ordered at lunch prices)
WEDNESDAY--Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole($4.50)-makes leftover for 1 additional meal
THURSDAY--Ham Slices($4), Green Beans(.50¢), Potato Skins($2)
FRIDAY--Corned Beef(need to buy), Cabbage(need to buy), Biscuits(.50¢)
SATURDAY--Leftovers
SUNDAY--Dutch Oven Pot Roast with Carrots, Mushrooms & Onions($5), Mashed Potatoes(free)
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Cantaloupe(leftover),cookies(.49¢), apples(.15¢)

I need to buy $10 worth of items for this menu. I'll pick up a small corned beef on sale for $1.29lb. this week plus cheap cabbage & a gallon of milk for drinking.

Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 5 meals(not including the take-out nights as that is on the entertainment dime) to a family of 4 adults/teens for a total of $30.14.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time.  If you divide the meals and snacks cost by 5 nights, you get an average cost per night of $6.03.  That's $1.51 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' are the can of soup and the roll of biscuits.  Who says you can't cook healthy on the cheap?

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
$59.05 was spent on food/toiletries last week. $38.17 at Weis(and I received a $7 Catalina to roll this week), $.01 at CVS, $9.87 at Boyer's(on cheap tp and BOGO eggs), $9.00 at the Entenmann's Bread Outlet($3 bread and Hubby went and asked for donuts $6) and $2.00 at Rite-Aid on bunches of stuff.
$48.71 of the $59.05 of the spending was strictly on food.


FOOD WASTE REPORT
We still have Baked Ziti leftover but it will be eaten this week. The only food that was wasted was the slice of cheese I had to cut off block of cheddar that molded.
Cantaloupe rinds, potato peels and other clippings were composted.

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

Sluggy