Saturday Shopping.....Just Say Cheese!

I made 2 quick runs to 2 grocery stores on Saturday afternoon.

First the local independent chain grocer....

3 x Green Giant Veggies on sale $1=$3.00--use $.60/3 ManuQ doubled to $1=$2.00 for 3
2 x Wisk Detergent on sale $2.98=$5.96--use 2 x $2/1 ManuQ=$1.96 for 2
5 x Mighty Dog dog food cans on sale $.60=$3.00--use $3/5 ManuQ=FREE 5 cans
1 x 2lb. Strawberries on sale=$3.99 for 2lbs./$2 a lb.
2 x Store Brand 1lb. bags Mozzarella Cheese on sale $2=$4.00 for 2lbs.
2 x 1lb. Butter on sale $1.49=$2.98 for 2

I wanted to pick up more of the cheese because it was the larger grate size and without all those anti-caking ingredients some pre-grated cheeses have.  But these were the last 2 package in the store.....serves me right for waiting until the last minute to get some.lol

Grand Total spent....$14.93+$.54 tax=$15.47
Value of items...$41.25
Savings....$26.32

Since I didn't get enough cheese, it was off to Weis.....
Forget Kraft cheese folks, go try the Sargento brand.  They have a Mozzarella/Provolone blend that is yummy!  Sargento runs more than Kraft but find it on sale and use coupons and it's just as cheap or cheaper than bland old Kraft.

8 x Sargento Cheese on sale $2/bag=$16.00--use 4 x $.55/2 ManuQ doubled to $1=$12.00 for 8 bags
1 x Turkey Pepperoni on sale=$2.00
1 x Ground Beef $1.99/lb. 2.03lbs=$4.08
2 x Pork Boneless Ribs @$5.29=$10.58-$4.46 markdown=$6.12--use 2 x $1.50 Instant Discount sticker=$3.12
SubTotal....$21.20
Used a $3 OYNO Catalina for a Grand Total of $18.20



That was suppose to be my total.  Going over my receipt now I see the cashier didn't ring up one of the Pork packages but did take off the $1.50 Instant Disc. sticker so....$18.20-$3.06(cost of pork)=$15.14 TOTAL.
This means I paid .06¢ for 2.5lbs. of pork. 8-)

 Total spent....$15.14
Value of items...$42.35
Savings....$21.15

Grand Total spent....$30.61(before tax)
Value of items....$83.60
Savings...$52.99
Percentage saved....65.4%

I am happy with this percentage of savings, especially because nothing I bought was 'junk'.  ;-)

$30.61 for....
5lbs. of meat
1.5 lbs. of veggies
2lbs. of fruit
2lbs. of butter
6lbs. of cheese
100 oz. of laundry detergent
5 cans of dog food

Sluggy









   

Last Chance to Enter my Coupon Binder Giveaway! NOW CLOSED

LAst

***The Giveaway is now CLOSED!***
Winner will be announced this evening.

My Giveaway for the MEAD 5 STAR ZIPPERED BINDER ends Sunday April 18th!
This is your Last Chance to enter it HERE.

Good Luck to All!

Sluggy

It's Here Finally......Rite-Aid's WELLNESS Program Goes National April 18th

Sunday, April 18th is the day that Rite-Aid Drug Stores rolls out it's Wellness+ Program to all it's stores across the US.  You can go read up on this program, which essentially is a Customer Loyalty type Rewards Program, on their website or HERE.

Basically you present your card at the register every time you make a purchase so they can credit your account with your purchases.

For every 125 points you accrue from purchases, you are mailed a one-time 10% off shopping pass.

Once you have spent $500, you are eligible for a 10% discount throughout the store on regular priced items(some items are exempt like gift cards, phone cards, money orders, prescriptions, etc.)for the remainder of the calendar year..  If an item is on sale but a 10% reduction on the reg. price is more then you get whichever price saves you more money.

After you spend $1000, you earn a 20% discount on regular priced items.
At the $500 spending level you also get a certificate for a free health screening.

The spending points accrue and are valid toward your discount for 1 calendar year.  The beginning of a new year and you lose your discount level you have earned and start all over again accruing points.

Now if you are signed up and participate in the Single Check Rebate Program, Rite-Aid will or already has signed you up for the Wellness+ Program and has mailed you a program card. 
Isn't that nice of them?

Even though I already have a Wellness card I received a new card in the mail a few days ago.  It's not a duplicate but has a new member number on it.
Not sure yet if the old card will become obsolete and I'll be forced to activate this one to use or if I can use either or both.  I guess I'll find out the next time I hop over to Rite-Aid to buy something.

Now there are reports that along with the roll out of the Wellness Program nationwide, there have been changes to the Coupon Policy at Rite-Aid....thanks for the heads up on this from my bloggy friend over at I'm So Pretty I Fart Fairy Dust.  If accurate, this Coupon Policy will negatively impact the coupon using shopper and make it much harder to walk out of Rite-Aid with a load of stuff for pennies on the dollar.
I am so hoping this is NOT true.

Since I mention Rite-Aid on my blog frequently, they have been emailing me information now and again on 'goings on' at Rite-Aid that they want spread among the online community.  When my corporate mole contacted me about getting the word out about the roll-out of Wellness+ nothing was mentioned about any changes to the Coupon Policy like Fairy Dust heard about from another blogger's personal experience in the store. 
So I have contacted my source inside Rite-Aid Corporate on the details about any Policy changes and will update my readers once I hear back from my main man. ;-)

So stay tuned on this.....

Sluggy

What else?.....eBay Fun Part "Whatever"!

Remember Mr. China/NY/CA guy?

Well I refunded his payment and filed to cancel 1 of the 2 transactions after he ignored my emails for 2 days where I asked him to explain a few things before I shipped the toys.
Then I went and reported him to eBay for suspected suspicious behavior.

That evening I get an email from eBay that Mr. China/NY/CA Guy has denied canceling the transaction and eBay will NOT be refunding my Final Transaction Fee of $3.40(plus the initial listing fee of .20¢) because the buyer won't agree to cancel it.
WTF?!
Then I get an email from Mr. Guy that he wants me to cancel both transactions at the same time.
???
Well I can't do that because you already denied the cancellation of the 1st toy, can I, you dumb shit!?
Now if I cancel the other sale the 'nice' way he's going to deny he wants it cancelled and I'll be out another $6+ on those FVFs.
This a-hole has already cost me $3.80 in fees and a week's worth of having 2 items available for sale.

So I filed a Report on him that he violated my terms of sale for the other toy.
Screw him at this point!
I'll at least get my FVFs back on that one and he won't be able to leave me a negative on that sale.

So now he keeps sending me emails through eBay asking me "what's the matter?".
Get.
A.
Friggin'
CLUE.

eBay acknowledged my "report of suspicious behavior" on Mr. China/NY/CA Guy.  They will investigate(not holding my breath)but because of confidentiality they can't 'share' with me what they find....blah, blah, blah....yah, I know their spiel.
I wonder how much longer they let him act the predator on eBay before they decide to yank his account.  Hopefully before 32 sellers lose their items and get hit with chargebacks....but probably not.


I also have a potential situation with a buyer who bought something 6 days ago and still has not paid me.
My terms of sale are payment within 1 week as listed in the auction/listing.
This buyer has ZERO feedback....another just signed up person....and he owes $249.
Oh, I am just a eBay Loser Magnet, huh?


And I got an email via eBay's system.  I now have a high powered Chicago corp. law firm demanding I remove the word beanie from a listing.  Seems Mr. TY Warner of Ty Beanie Baby fame has bought the exclusive use of the word Beanie among others and you can not use it to sell something on eBay....unless it's a Ty toy.  Gee, I thought a beanie was a generic word for a generic type of doll?
I guess Mr. Warner can't think of anything else to do with his billions of $$$s(put in his pockets by little guys buying his schlocky toys in the first place)other than paying high-priced lawyers to bully the little guy just trying to sell a couple of things online.  I know I am powerful but I never thought I was a menacing threat by trying to sell a few beanie dolls!lol

Since I am already in a very pissy place when it comes to dealing with eBay, I was thinking of changing the listing by rewording it(not removing the highly offensive word buy moving it in the listing title)and adding a bonus item of a hat if you buy my dolls.....a BEANIE type hat!
Now I am sure they don't have the market cornered on the word Beanie in the hat world, so I'll sell a hat with the dolls and still use the word in terms of the hat.
LOLOL

Or I could just substitute the alternate Beanbag for Beanie.
And send a snitty reply to the lawyers of course.

I know....I am spending waaaay too much of my energy and time on this.
I just hate bullies....
And lawyer firms.

Sluggy

Splurge Week...But Still Under Budget

Longtime readers of the blog probably noticed that there was no Meal Plan Monday post on Monday....or Tuesday 'cuz sometimes I don't get it together in time for Monday posting.
But I did NOT post a MPM this week.

DH was out of town most of the week.
Daughter works evenings, 4 nights a week, so if she doesn't like what I am serving she either makes her own dinner or skips it and eats at work or eats my meal as a leftover if any is left when she comes home.
#2 son often doesn't eat at all, since he will gorge himself as soon as he gets home from school or he'll not like what I am serving and just do without.....even though he is hungry. Oh to be a teen again and be able to do that....

Some nights DH and I are the only ones who eat my dinners.  If that happens and we are left with lots of leftovers, we then eat those leftovers another night.  Since I could have potentially made meals all week and had NO ONE except me here to eat them, there would not have been room in the fridge for all the leftovers. 
So I just said screw it to the meal planning this week.
Besides I was just tired of cooking and thought I would enjoy the break for that chore.

However with no plan in place I was flying without a net.  After meal planning for going on 1.5 yrs, that is a scary place to be for me. 
But it didn't seem that big of a problem until Friday afternoon.
That's when I just went plum loco and the wheels went flying off the truck.

Yah see....Price Chopper NE had fresh Maine Lobster this week for $5.99lb.  A most excellent price for lobster in this landlocked state situated squarely outside of New England. 
After ignoring the siren song of those yummy water bugs for the better part of a week, I finally couldn't hold out any longer and jumped into the car to head to PC.
And I bought 6 lobsters.  Say hello to my little friends.....

And I cooked them all up and ate TWO of them straightaway!
I heart lobster!
Nom, Nom, Nom....................

Since daughter was off to work and #2 son had filled up on 89¢ burritos at Taco Bell, I threw the other 4 in the fridge.  They are destined for lobster rolls or lobster Newburg or something in the next couple of days.

The damage to the grocery bill for 8.70lbs. of lobster?
$52.11.
Eek!

I also picked up a few things while at PC that I found good prices on.  And I used No coupons. **Sluggy  hangs head....**

2 x Lobster Rangoons on sale BOGO=$9.99-at this price, cheaper than the Chinese restaurant
1 x Tortillas--had $1 instant savings Peelie on it=$2.29
4 x Shredded Cheese on sale BOGO($2.99) plus 2 bags had $1 instant savings Peelies on them=$3.98
2 x 10lb. Red Potatoes on sale BOGO($3.99)=$3.99 **Not Pictured
1 x Gallon of Milk=$3.15**Not Pictured

The cheese was $1 a bag, the tortillas(something we needed)were $2.29 & the rangoons were half price.
Not too bad in the savings dept.

Grand Total spent with lobsters.....$75.51
I saved $22.96 on the groceries and $26.10 on the lobster for a savings total of $49.06.

I went to the local market earlier this week for ricotta, deli cheese and frozen veggies(all on sale) and spent $17.73.
So my grocery spending for this week is $93.24.
Considering the only other money I've spent this whole month of April was $4.80 last week for milk at the convenience store I don't feel so awful.

My April spending is at $98.04 and there are exactly 2 weeks left in the month.
Even though I'll be picking up some more grated cheese Saturday at Weis, I'm still well below my $250 monthly budget for food/toiletries.

I think this got the Splurge thing out of my system now!  It just goes to show that by being frugal for the most part, you can allow yourself some splurges now and again and still stay on track.  It's when the splurges start to outnumber the frugal times that leads you into trouble.

Would I have still spent $52 on lobsters if I had spent more of my April budget to this point?
Maybe.....it all depends on how much was left in the monthly budget or if I had extra funds I could cover the purchase outside of the food budget(would NEVER put this on a credit card!).  I might have bought fewer lobsters if the money was tighter.
But it wasn't.....because I am frugal in most everything else.

Do I regret now spending that much on a luxurious want?
Not really.....I didn't put the purchase on credit and I have more than enough cash to cover it.
It was weird however spending that much at one time, on 1 purchase.  I don't think I've spent $75 in a single transaction in ages....lol

Sluggy