It Pays to Squeak!

A few weeks ago....maybe it was a month ago already, one of the couponing blogs I read(can't remember which one)alerted me to the FREE Double Stuff Oreo Cakesters Coupon that was available to members of the Kraft First Taste program.
Since I am a member of that program I went to the site, from a different computer from mine that didn't have printer capabilities, just to look.

A few hours later, I was able to access the site again from my computer, so I could print the coupon out.
Well, at that point, the coupon was gone.....yep, all I could get was some link to more information about this new product.
No coupon.
Nothing.
Oh goody.....

At that point I started steaming.
Not a good kind of steaming either.

I signed up for this Kraft First Taste Program about a year ago.
At the time I signed up there was an 'offer' to try a new Oscar Meyer Deli Creations product.
I promptly signed up for the offer.
No coupon printing link appeared, so I figured they would snail mail me a free item coupon.
And that didn't happen either.

I went to the site again a month or so later and saw that there was now a SURVEY available for me to fill out.  A Survey about what I thought of the OM Deli Creations product I got a Free Coupon for, that I had supposedly bought and eaten.
Well, since I figured they wouldn't let me have another FREE ITEM Offer unless I filled out the Survey for this item, I went and paid out of my pocket to buy one of these Deli Creations, ate it and filled out their survey.

Then in Jan. 2010 I had an 'offer' to try DiGiorno 200 Cal. Portion Pizza.  I filled out to get the FREE Item Coupon and again, no print your coupon link nor anything snail mailed.
Again, a Survey appeared for me to fill out a few weeks later.
I ended up buying this item, for full price again, so I could fill out the survey and be eligible for more offers.

So this Oreo offer/non-offer was just the topping on the cake-ster!

I emailed Kraft and just laid into them about the totally inept way this program is/was handled.  I told them if they were just going to keep 'offering' me products but not following through with free product or discounts at the very least, they should NOT expect me to spend a DIME out of my own pocket on their products and then spend my valuable time filling out their lame surveys.
I am usually a pretty low-key 'don't make waves' kind of gal but....
Oh, I was hot!

I figured....mega corporation wouldn't give a rats hiney about this email, so, yah....I would not get a response.  At least I felt better venting about it.

Well lookie at what showed up in the mail about a week later.....

 A "we're sorry you never got your coupons" letter and 3 'Free Item' Coupons for an Oscar Mayer product, a DiGiorno product and a Nabisco product.

This certainly made me feel better.
Not sure if I'll still have issues with this program in the future since I don't know if it's me, the website or my computer that causes this hassle.

Has anyone else had problems accessing the offers online for this First Taste Program?
If not, then I'm just a moron who can't figure it out or I have an old lame computer.....I'd like to think that it's the latter choice. ;-)

At any rate, I'll find out whether I'll even bother with this program in the fullness of time.
But it shows that sometimes it does indeed pay to be the squeaky wheel.

Be the wheel.
Be the squeak.
Get the goodies!


Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday.....March 22nd Edition w/Spending Breakdown & 2 Recipe Links

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
Everything was served as planned except the Corned Beef.  Couldn't find an inexpensive deal on Corned Beef anywhere last week.  I found one on Sunday so we are on for Corned Beef this week.

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 we'll be using 2 leftover proteins to make two new meals. Since alot of what I am serving is stockpiled, I'm adding a Cost Breakdown Section where I'll list 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--Beef Tips w/Gravy(leftover), Egg Noodles(stockpile), Broccoli(have)
TUESDAY--Lena's Lemon Pepper Chicken(freezer), Rice(stockpile), Zucchini(have)
WEDNESDAY--Haluski(have & stockpile), Kielbasi or Sausage(freezer)
THURSDAY--Creamy Potatoes and Ham(using leftover ham/need to buy potatoes) , Wax & Green Beans(freezer)
FRIDAY--Fish(freezer), Coleslaw(have & stockpile), Fries(need to buy)
SATURDAY--Ravioli with Sauce(freezer/stockpile), Spinach Salad(need to buy spinach)
SUNDAY--Eat Out


Here are the cost breakdowns...
Beef Tips in Gravy Meal--Beef is leftover(.00¢), flour and soup base for gravy(.30¢), egg noodles(.50¢), broccoli($1.50)=$2.30
Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zucchini--chicken($1.03),lemon pepper/flour(.85¢), oil(.75¢),zucchini($2.46), tomatoes(.99¢), rice($1)=$7.08
Halushki Kielbasa Dinner--Cabbage(.78¢), Egg Noodles(.50¢), Onions(.25¢), Kielbasa($3.98), Butter(.40¢), Salt/Pepper(.05¢)=$5.96
Potato & Ham Dinner--Ham leftovers(free), Potatoes($1), Butter (.60¢), Cream Cheese($1), Cheese($1), Milk(.50¢), Spices(.30¢), Green Beans($1)=$5.40
Fish Dinner--Flounder($5.99),Hush Puppy Mix for breading(.50¢), Oil for frying(.70¢), Cabbage(.78¢), Mayo, Sugar, Celery Seed & Vinegar(.75¢), Potatoes(.99¢)=$9.71
Ravioli Dinner--Ravioli($6.00), Pasta Sauce($1.25), Spinach($2.00), 2 Eggs(.15¢), Bacon(.50¢), Dressing(.09¢)=$9.99



Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 6 meals to a family of 4 adults/teens for a total of $40.44.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time.  If you divide the meals' cost by 6 nights(Sunday is dining out & that's on the enterainment budget), you get an average cost per night of $6.74.  That's $1.69 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' is the pasta sauce for the ravioli.   Who says you can't cook healthy on the cheap?

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
$17.39 was spent on food/toiletries last week...all of that was on food actually.  Much better than my previous week's total of $135+.  The only stocking-up I did this past week was a few corned beef briskets and I used Catalinas to pay.  A bit over the $10 mark I tried to stay under but not bad overall.

$12.81 at Weis(for milk and cheese), $.07 at CVS(using $4 ECBs), $3.92 at Price Chopper NE  and $.59 OOP at Rite-Aid on bunches of stuff.  I got some produce & sliced cheese at the small independent grocery also but no OOP since I used that Gift Card I had won last year.

The only NEEDS for this week's menu are potatoes and fresh spinach.  I didn't get potatoes last week for the Corned Beef dinner since we had biscuits already and didn't need more carbs in that meal.  No law saying you have to have taters with corned beef, right?lol  But I have 2 meals this week that need that ingredient so a bag of potatoes is on the list.
I have a $7 Cat to use(not Cat deals at Weis this week so no rolling it) so if I get over to the Weis that takes IPQs I'll use the IP BOGO Potatoes Q and use the Cat to pay, netting me some free taters.


FOOD WASTE REPORT
Nothing wasted this week...Again! 8-))

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

Sluggy

And the Pillsbury Giveaway Winner is.....

I wrote all the names/entries on slips of paper and had DH pull the winner.  This is the 'scientific method' as my buddy Marilyn calls it. ;-)

So the Winner is.....




Cheryl F. {The Lucky Ladybug}

Congratulations and you have 48 hours from the time stamp on this post to email me with your name and address Cheryl.
You can find my contact email on my profile page.

Thanks to everyone for playing and thanks again to MyBlogSpark and Pillsbury for supplying gifties for this Giveaway.

The next installment of My famous Boring Box Giveaway will begin shortly....so stay tuned!

Sluggy

HAPPY SPRING! & This Just In.....Spending Update

Most people would say that this picture is their image of Spring.

But here in PA, this is what we see in our mind's eye when we think Spring.....

 Every year on the 1st Day of Spring, Rita's Italian Ice locations give away FREE Italian Ice!
Now how cool is that?!

I remember one year after we moved here, #2 son was in Kindergarten, which was a half day affair at that time.  I took him down to one of the local Rita's after school for our free Italian ice.  It was rainy/sleety and cold as a debutante's stare, but we had to get our ice!  Heck, we could have stood in the parking lot and held our cups up and gotten our own ice thanks to Mother Nature, if you know what I mean.lol

That year even sitting in the car shivering with the heater on, we still had to get our ices.
Unfortunately, today we missed out on the free ice.  And it was the most beautiful 1st Day of Spring on which to eat an ice.  Warm as puppy dog kisses it was....


So how is everyone doing staying on budget this month?

Since we are 2/3 of the way through March, I sat down and subtotaled my receipts for food/toiletries spending for the month.
I'm at $202.59 as of 3/20.
The rebates that have come in this month so far total $150.60.....goooood rebate month!!

After the rebate money is deducted, my spending total so far for March is $51.99.
Woot!

10 more days to go.....

 Sluggy

Last Chance to Enter my Giveaway....Ends Tonight 3/20! CLOSED

My Pillsbury Sweet Rolls Giveaway ends tonight at midnight.
Today is your last chance to enter so don't dilly-dally!

Please go enter on the post located HERE.

Sluggy