My Beloved Printer Buddy is Gone

See this printer?
This is DH printer that just went to printer heaven last week.
I LOOOOOOOVED this printer!

I discovered a cool as heck thing about this particular model of HP printer about 6 months ago.
Ya see, if I printed coupons from it, I could hit the OFF button on the printer right before the print job was finished.

By doing that, the printer told itself that it hadn't printed the coupon yet.....even though it had.
And when you turned the printer back on, it would print the coupon again.


And if you follow me here.....you could in theory keep turning the printer off & on ad infinitum and you could print as many coupons as you wanted until you couldn't stand it anymore!

Ok, so I only printed coupons on it this way to get a few extra since we only have 2 printers here(and mine doesn't always work...it's a P.O.S. Canon Pixma).....
and I don't have access to other computers from family or friends to print coupons.....
or from work like lots of other people do.

It was just my little special way to get a few more prints on a coupon.

But now my beloved HP All-in-One is swimming with the fishies.....**sigh**

DH brought home a new HP All in One printer.
Ok....you can hear the wheels turning in my head, right?  
Is it possible.....that this one will be "friendly" too??
 
I was crushed to find out that the new printer does NOT hold the magical power of the old model.
So I am back to being "Two Print Sluggy" again.
No more stockpiling that awesome deal with internet printed coupons.
I have to rely on the crappy local inserts.
And when I say crappy, I do mean crappy.  I have documented such on the blog,  HERE and HERE.

I'm guessing I'll be spending a lot more time on eBay or buying through a clipping service again.

**double sigh**

 R.I.P. my beloved coupon loving HP printer.....
I miss you already!


Sluggy

Rite-Aid SCR #24 Scenario for the J&J Spend $50/Get $25 Deal

Here's a nice low OOP way to do the J&J SCR #24(Get $25 WYB $50 worth of select J&J products)at Rite-Aid this week.

And it's an especially good scenario if you suffer from allergies and/or sinus issues. ;-)

I came into this week with purchases already toward this SCR, so I didn't do it quite this way but did buy some of the items in it for my low OOP.

Here it is....

2 Identical Transactions

Buy....
1 Visine for $4.99 ($4.49)
1 Sudafed for $6.49 ($5.84)
2 Benadryl for $5.49=$10.98($4.94=$9.88)
2 Band-Aids or 1st Aid Tape on sale $1.99=$3.98

SubTotal.....$26.44 ($24.19-you'll need to add another Band-Aid or something)

Coupons Used
1 $5/$20 AdPerks IPQ=$5
1 $3/1 Visine In-Ad Q=$3
1 $2/1 Visine ManuQ(1/3RP insert)**seems to have been a regional value**=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed ManuQ(3/14RP insert)=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed In-Ad Q=$2
2 $2/1 Benadryl In-Ad Q=$4
1 $4/2 Benadryl IPQ HERE=$4
2 $1/1 Band-Aids ManuQ(1/3RP insert)=$2
Coupon Total....$24.00

$26.44-$24.00=$2.44 OOP

Total OOP after 2 transactions is $4.88 and receive a $25 SCR making this a $20.12 Moneymaker.
**If you only received the $1/1 ManuQ for the Visine, your OOP will increase by $2, for a $6.88 OOP.

Of course if you can use the Wellness card AND have enough points to get a discount on regular priced items at Rite-Aid, you can do this scenario for even less OOP.   You will have to buy 1 additional box of Band-Aids or 1st Aid Tape.

Variation for Wellness Discount
Wellness Transaction #1

Buy....
1 Visine for $4.49
1 Sudafed for $5.84
2 Benadryl for $4.94=$9.88
2 Band-Aids or 1st Aid Tape on sale $1.99=$3.98

SubTotal.....$24.19


Coupons Used
1 $5/$25 or $5/$20 AdPerks IPQ=$5
1 $3/1 Visine In-Ad Q=$3
1 $2/1 Visine ManuQ=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed ManuQ=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed In-Ad Q=$2
2 $2/1 Benadryl In-Ad Q=$4
1 $4/2 Benadryl IPQ=$4
2 $1/1 Band-Aids ManuQ=$2
Coupon Total....$24.00


$24.19-$24.00=$.19 OOP


Wellness Transaction #2

Buy....
1 Visine for $4.49
1 Sudafed for $5.84
2 Benadryl for $4.94=$9.88
3 Band-Aids or 1st Aid Tape on sale $1.99=$5.97

SubTotal.....$26.18


Coupons Used
1 $5/$25 or $5/$20 AdPerks IPQ=$5
1 $3/1 Visine In-Ad Q=$3
1 $2/1 Visine ManuQ=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed ManuQ=$2
1 $2/1 Sudafed In-Ad Q=$2
2 $2/1 Benadryl In-Ad Q=$4
1 $4/2 Benadryl IPQ=$4
3 $1/1 Band-Aids or 1st Aid Tape ManuQ=$3
Coupon Total....$25.00


$26.18-$25.00=$1.18 OOP

$.19+$1.18=$1.37 OOP
Qualified for SCR #24=$25 making this a $23.63 Moneymaker!

Sluggy

Weis Catalina Shoppers.....Get Your Money Back for Clorox 2

If you did the Clorox Catalina Deal at Weis Markets last week and bought a bottle of Clorox 2 as a part of your transaction, you can get the purchase price of that item back from the manufacturer.

Just go HERE.
Print the form and send in the supporting documentation(receipt, etc.).
Get back what you paid.

Nice!

Ok, so even if you didn't buy Clorox 2 last week at Weis, save the link to your computer and the next time you buy the product (from any store, not just Weis), you can send for the refund.

Sluggy 

My Personal Stockpiling Pittfalls....Only Because I Have Children

Stockpiling is a beautiful thing....once you get a system down.
My first year of extreme couponing was full of experimentation.
Figuring out WHAT to stockpile and HOW MUCH to stockpile was the most important and the most difficult mission.
I stockpiled primarily real food....still do.
You know....the stuff you use to make meals.
But I did also start stockpiling snack type foods and drinks but on a smaller scale.

Once I started getting a handle on the "how much to buy" aspect of stockpiling the savings started piling up.

Then my kids torpedoed my plan.

Oh, they loved that mom was now going to have tons of "bad-for-you" snacks at their disposal.
You know, the stuff that your kids always want you to buy.....Pop-Tarts, Crackers, Chips, Soda, Juice bags(that are mostly sugar), Cookies, Cake Mix and Frosting, Fruit Roll-Ups, etc.  The stuff that goes on sale and there always seem to be coupons available so you can buy it really really cheaply?

This was the kind of stuff I hardly ever use to keep in the house.
I'd buy it now and again, but only 1 or 2 boxes or bags at a time.
And it would get devoured before I would even finish putting away all the groceries from the shopping trip!lol

Well once I began stockpiling snack/junk foods for them, I noticed most of the items piling up.
Piling up not in a "good stockpiling and rotating your stock" way. 
Piling up meaning, that no one was eating the stuff anymore and it was sitting and inching closer to the dark side of the expiration/use by dates!

They complained and begged for years for me to buy snack/junk food for them and whatever food I start bringing it into the house in large quantities, they STOP eating it!
W.
T.
F?

#2 son loves Fruit Roll-Ups.  So I hit a killer sale w/Qs and load up on dozens of boxes for almost free.
Suddenly he stops eating them and I am now considering using them to wallpaper the downstairs powder room.

Daughter pleads for a certain brand of sugared cereal.  I head the plea and gather many many boxes to quench her hunger for it.  Like clockwork, the very day I bring in a dozen boxes, she announces that she no longer will eat this cereal. 
I begin to contemplate using this cereal as packing material for shipping my eBay goods.

The only exception to this trend was the 180 cans of Amp.

I was able to 'buy' that many over the course of 4 months due to some great Qs I found and KMart having those awesome Double Coupon Sales last spring/summer.  2 of the 3 teens begged for this stuff!  It's full of caffeine and sugar....how could they NOT want it!?

I sat them both down after I had acquired about half of the stash and told them, "Look, this is NOT something I am going to continue to buy for you once the sales/coupons run out.  Whatever I get will be IT!  So you had better not plow through them all.  If I were you, I'd make it last a good long while."

I guess they just didn't believe or hear me.....

I bought the last can in late August of '09.
The Amp stock was gone by that October.
3 months.
2 teens drank 180 cans.

I guess they each figured they had to drink them as fast as possible so that the other teen wouldn't get as many.
Have I mentioned these two don't like each other very much and do this sort of competitive/passive aggressive thing on a regular basis now that they are teenagers?

Wanna bet if only one of them wanted these Amps, most of those cans would still be sitting in my garage?!

I guess the lesson here is to KNOW the audience you are buying all your stockpiled goods for and tailor your spending to those needs.
And don't believe ANYTHING your kids tell you.

Sluggy

My 1st Blogging Award

I was given this award by Who Doesn't Love Coupons?  Well it was the end of last month but I totally forgot until last week so that's why I am sooo tardy posting about it. It took me a whole week to think of 7 interesting facts about myself as well!lol

I hope my delay doesn't mean I am a bad blogger or something.
 That's just me.....all scatter brained sometimes. ;-)

I know this will surprise ya'll (no, not really I hear you say)but this is my very first bloggy award!
Yes, Sluggy's been faithfully blogging on an almost daily basis for over a year now and nada in the awards category until now.  Sluggy obviously doesn't run in the right blogging circles it seems.


Nope....no awards for being a top frugal blog, a funny blog & no awards for being a 'pretty' blog.
So I am thrilled as pie(Mmmm....piiiiiiieeeee!)to receive this award.


The rules for accepting this award:

1.Thank the person that gave you the award...ok, "Thanks Jenn", she said as she waved wildly.

2. Pass this award on to 13 bloggers you've recently discovered and whom you think are fantastic!

3. Contact the Bloggers you pick to let them know they've won.

4. State 7 Things about yourself!

Here are the 7 things about me:

1.) I dropped out of graduate school at the NC School of the Arts.
2.)  I sang on the radio with the Chorus of The US Naval Academy.
3.) I have a confirmed ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War.
4.) I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
5.) I have been a natural redhead, brunette and was born with a full head of black hair.
6.) Oprah Winfrey gave the commencement speech at my college graduation(back before she was "Oprah" & just a news reporter in Baltimore).
7.) I can touch my nose with my tongue(without using my hands to push either one toward the other).....try it, it ain't easy!

Here are 13 blogs I have discovered and love.  There are so many others that I read so this list is NOT exhaustive.  Don't feel bad if I read ya and you aren't on the list here.  These are just the blogs my pea-brain could think of at this moment.....

1--Coupons Deals and More  Ann has a delightful sense of humor wrapped around the 'deals'.
2--A Mom Money and More  SonyaAnn is my budget buddy who can be downright wickedly 'bad'...right SonyaAnn?
3-- Graceful Retirement  Great blog about a woman playing catch-up to stash away those retirement $s.
4-- The Happy(Atheist)Homemaker  A quirky young fresh face in the blog-o-sphere.
5--Things I Want to Punch In the Face  Funny. As. Hell.
6-Tight Fisted Miser  Great tips and info for your Inner Miser.
7--Yard Sale Queen's Blog  Chris has a great sense of humour and you never know what she's going to find in her thrift store/yard sale travels.
8--All Doors Considered  An interesting blog by a woman who retired early and her life adventures.
9--Real Life Living  Annie Jones cooks, practices frugality, does home improvement...a true renaissance woman.
10--Sew Not My Day!  McVal recounts her exciting life in middle America.
11--I'm So Pretty, I Fart Fairy Dust  Ms. Fairy Dust's take on life and couponing.
12--The West Virginia Surf Report   A local PA guy's very irreverent humor blog.
13--Marilyn's Money  Marilyn has frugality covered in western OH.

Ok....the following aren't 'blogs' per se, but I like these sites and they are worth checking out too.
Hoard House  This is an issue close to my heart & seems to be the mental illness du jour.
Water Cure This is an alternative health site.
Buy Less Crap  A non-comsumerist Charity site.

 Sluggy