Rite-Aid Trips on Saturday...4 Times Because I was Too Lazy to Go All Week!

Since our Sunday inserts didn't get that $4/1 Nivea Q the Sunday before last, I ordered whole inserts off of eBay.  Couldn't find anyone there selling JUST the Nivea Q that didn't require a second mortgage on the house. 8-(

They came pretty fast but I was just too danged lazy or busy or sick or a combo of all to get my keester up to Rite-Aid until Saturday(the last day of the sale on the Nivea Body Wash).  And then I spent a good chunk of my day hitting Rite-Aids in between taking #2 son to look for new pants.
Between the Nivea Qs and the Benadryl Qs($5 off 2) and spending at least $20 at a pop so I could use the AdPerks VV Qs $5 off $20 purchase, I did quite well.


Transaction #1

2 x Nivea Body Wash on sale $3.50!?=$7.00
3 x Benadryl Allergy $5.49-Wellness Discount makes it $4.39 ea.=$13.17
2 x Cello Cherries $.33-Wellness Discount makes it .26¢=$.52
SubTotal.....$20.69

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $4/1 Nivea ManuQ=$8.00 **Yes, these went thru w/out beeps so $1 in overage!
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $1.50/1 Benadryl IPQ=$1.50
1 x $1/$10 Pain Reliever Purchase Wellness IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$20.50

$20.69=$20.50=$.19 OOP-Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card

Ok, the Cherries are because the Nivea rang up $3.50 instead of $3.99 and I was going to be negative if I used my last $1/$10 Q.  So I added 1 cherry and I didn't think about that blasted 20% Wellness discount bringing this price down too low, so I had to add another cherry.lol
I was able to use that $1/$10 Pain Reliever Q on the 3 boxes of Benadryl because I bought Benadryl with Pain Reliever in it(the sinus or cold plus type).  Regular Benadryl doesn't work for this.


Transaction #2

2 x Nivea Body Wash on sale $3.50=$7.00
2 x Benadryl Allergy $5.49-Wellness Discount makes it $4.39 ea.=$8.78
1 x Motrin PM $5.49-Wellness Discount makes it $4.39=$4.39
1 x Eos Lip Balm on sale $2.99/with Wellness Discount $2.63=$2.63
2 x Iced Tea $.99-Wellness Discount makes it $.79 ea.=$1.58 **Not Pictured**
SubTotal.....$24.38

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $4/1 Nivea ManuQ=$8.00 **Yes, these went thru w/out beeps so $1 in overage!
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $3/1 Motrin PM ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $3/1 Motrin PM In-Ad Q=$3.00
Coupon Total....$24.00

$24.38-$24.00=$.38 OOP-Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card
And I qualified for SCR #52(Eos Lip Balm)=$2.00 Rebate

**Between the coupon overage for the Motrin ($4.39-$6= -$1.61)& the $1 in Nivea Q overage, I had $2.61+ the $5 AdPerks $5 off $20 'credit' toward my bill in this transaction.
So the Motrin was free, the Nivea was free and I put $3.78 of that credit toward the 2 Benadryls' cost.
After 'paying' for all those items, I still had $3.83 in overage to spend, so I bought the Lip Balm for $2.63.  After that I still had $1.20 in overage to spend, so I added the iced teas @ $1.58 as we were thirsty. $1.58-$1.20 'overage'=$.38 OOP.


Transaction #3

2 x Nivea Body Wash on sale $3.50=$7.00
3 x Benadryl Allergy $5.49-Wellness Discount makes it $4.39 ea.=$13.17
SubTotal.....$20.17

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $4/1 Nivea ManuQ=$8.00 **Yes, these went thru w/out beeps so $1 in overage!
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Benadryl ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/$10 Pain Reliever Purchase Wellness IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$20.00

$20.17=$20.00=$.17 OOP-Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card

And then I repeated this order.....
Transaction #4

2 x Nivea Body Wash on sale $3.50=$7.00
3 x Benadryl Allergy $5.49-Wellness Discount makes it $4.39 ea.=$13.17
SubTotal.....$20.17

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $4/1 Nivea ManuQ=$8.00 **Yes, these went thru w/out beeps so $1 in overage!
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Benadryl ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/$10 Pain Reliever Purchase Wellness IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$20.00

$20.17=$20.00=$.17 OOP-Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card


Total to Date for the May Rite-Aid SCR Period

No. of Transactions....6
Out of Pocket......56¢ put on free Gift Card=Zero OOP
SCRebates due....$21.00 Cash & $25 Rite-Aid Gift Card
Value of Items Received....$166.22

Free money & free stuff.
This is the reason I don't feel the need to go to Wags or CVS lately.  8-)

Sluggy

Weis Pet Food.....What I Ended up Doing Last Week

The last you heard this intrepid Couponer had 2 $10 OYNO Catalinas and was out of Mighty Dog $3/5 cans Qs but had other Qs to use for more almost free dog food.

So we did this on Saturday....

2 x Beggin' Strips reg.$3.29/sale $2.50=$5.00
2 x Kitten Chow reg. $1.89/sale $1.50=$3.00
2 x Purina Dog Chow 20lb. bag reg. $11.99/sale $9.99=$19.98 **Not Pictured**
1 x Friskies Cat Treats reg. $1.49/sale $1.25=$1.25
SubTotal  reg. $35.85/sale $29.23

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Beggin' Strips ManuQ=$2.00
2 x FREE Kitten Chow ManuQ=$3.00
2 x $1.50 Dog Chow ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Friskies Cat Treats ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$9.00

$29.23-$9.00-$20.23

Used 2 x $10 OYNO Cats=$20.00
$20.23-$20.00=$.23 + tax $1.75=$1.98 OOP
And I received another $10 OYNO Catalina

I was so glad and shocked! that they had restocked the Kitten Chow that I had FREE ITEM Qs for...otherwise my OOP would have gone over $2.75 with the tax.egads!lol


All together, including the dog food I bought at the local independent grocery,  I spent out of pocket $6.59(2x $1.98+$2.63), all but .93¢ of that was TAX.  And if you count the $10 Cat I have left, I am "up" $3.41 in overage.

230 cans of Mighty Dog
40lbs. of Dog Chow
3 bags of Friskies Cat Treats
2 lb. of Kitten Chow
2 bags of Beggin' Strips
That's $176.81 Retail Value of Pet Food +1 $10 Catalina
And it all cost me $6.59.

Oh yah!!

Sluggy

Happy Mother's Day to All You Moms Out There!

Here's hoping all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.
This Cartoon hit home for me.  Both of my sons opted NOT to give me a card, a hug, a kiss or acknowledge the day.
Typical man behavior, no?
I would have even settled for what the mom in the cartoon got.....8-(

DH-who knows better than to do this-had a bouquet of flowers(lavender ones, of course!lol) & a card(funny on the outside, appropriately mushy on the inside) waiting for me when I came downstairs Sunday morning.  He also made dinner....from scratch! ;-)

Daughter surprised me this year.  She got her butt up early Sunday morning and went out in search of just the right Mother's Day card and bought me a plant too.....all with her OWN MONEY!  If you knew Daughter, you would KNOW what a sacrifice this was for her.lol  I also got a "Happy Mother's Day" and a big hug from her.
I just keep wondering if she wasn't in the doghouse for having a car accident in the high school parking lot on Thursday if she would have been as attentive to me Sunday. 8-P

Here's picture of the cards I received.  The larger one on the left in the photo with the purple flowers is the one Daughter gave me.....

If you can't make out the words, it says, "You've been like a mom to me...."
LOL
The insides joke here is that when she and her older brother were 3 & 4 years old, my DH took them to the drug store to pick out cards to give me for Mother's Day.  Not being able to read, Daughter picked out her card because of the pretty flowers on the front.  That card said, "You've been like a mom to me...." also.  So now she makes an effort to find a Mom Day card with that same sentiment....evidently because I am just like a MOM.
8-))

Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge APRIL 2010 Totals.....Happy Dance!

I have posted my APRIL End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up April waaaaaaay  in the Black.

The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with was.......$6,366.78.

Income
We had $2,290.77 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in a gas voucher of $26.68 for some business traveling he paid OOP for in April, a hefty $159.33 in Rebates & our big fat Income Tax Refund of $3,890.00 which we received in April and you have a nice deposit of $6,366.78 toward the Savings Challenge!
The nice thing is that even if you take off the Tax Refund, we have $2,476.78 leftover to put toward savings.  That is just $24+/- short of the $2,500 estimate we need to save each month to reach a $30K Savings Goal for the Year!  So even without the tax refund, we are right on track.

Outgo
As for the expenses in April.....

The electric bill went down another $80 in April so that number is NOT causing me dread when I peek inside the envelope each month when it arrives.

 The credit card bill was down below $350, which is always a welcomed sight.

Out-of-the-ordinary expenses in April....our municipal/local tax bill was due(over $1K), the car needed it's yearly inspection and #2 son snookered me into buying candles(I need another candle like I need leprosy!) for the Marching Band fundraiser.  It was NOT a very bad month for extra expenses, which really helped boost the amount we could throw into savings this month.

The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in April was under the budgeted $250.00 even without throwing the rebate money that came in last month at this expense.  After the rebate money we only spent $38.86 on food/toiletries and our Savings percentage was a whopping 92.40%!

Looking Ahead to May....
#1 son aka the 'eating machine' comes home from college & we have a week long visit from a relative in May, so the food spending will no doubt go up.
The Credit Card bill as of May 3rd is already over $1,000 for May(due to 2 large purchases by DH).
The water bill will increase some as DH opens the pool for the season later this month.
We will have some bills for doctor's visits & prescription drugs as well and a $1,000 expenditure for #2 son's summer camp stay which needs to be paid this month. 


On the bright side, we have potential for some addition income in May as I plan on taking the extras in my stockpile to sell at the flea market.  Wish me luck on that! ;-)

I am hoping to be able to meet our monthly goal of $2,500 saved in May.

YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $14,890.50 in Savings.  To save $30K for the year, we need to put away $2,500 per month average.  We are almost 2 months ahead of our target as the 4th month savings total goal was $10,000!  We are 1/3rd of the way through the year now and our savings should be at $10,000.  It's actually almost at $15,000, which is the savings goal for the end of June(or halfway through the year)! 8-))

While I am thrilled beyond words! to be this far ahead of our projected goal, the doomsday naysayer in me is just waiting for the other financial shoe to drop.  There must certainly be economic disaster around the next bend or some GOTCHA expense lying in wait to blow our goals out of the water.
I am trying to remain cheerfully optimistic that this pile of savings is NOT a mirage. ;-)

So how was your April financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!


Sluggy

Oh My.....

Before we moved to the house we presently reside in here in "Teeny Tiny" Town, we lived in a house outside of "Itsy Bitsy" Town, moving there in 1986.  Itsy Bitsy Town is right near the Delaware River, which serves as border between PA, NY & NJ at that area.  The interstate has an exit to the west of "Itsy Bitsy" Town near the neighboring "Even More Itsy Bitsy" Town.  There use to be a Gas Station/Mini Mart at the exit ramp where they sold fireworks every summer from a stand set up on the grass by the parking lot.  People would pop over from NY & NJ, where these fireworks are illegal.  The stand did a "bang up" business if you pardon my pun. ;-)
Here's the best photo I could find on the internet.  You'll have to pardon it too as it's from the massive flooding from 2005.  The red dot is the exit ramp and the white circle is where the gas station/mini mart stood.  The blue circle is the fire department building.

Pretty soon the Gas Station/Mini Mart did so well they started selling fireworks inside the store.  Flush with money they got a Taco Bell franchise(first for this area)inside part of the store.  The franchise didn't last but a year or two and then the Mini Mart expanded the fireworks they carried into the old restaurant part of the building.  I used to attend the Bingo at the Fire Dept. building a couple of lots away from this Gas Station/Mini Mart.  I drove by it many times a week taking my oldest 2 kids to the private school they attended for awhile over the river in New York.  I bought tacos and chalupas in that mini mart and pumped gas there too.
After we moved out, at some point the people who owned the Gas Station/Mini Mart sold out to a big fireworks chain--Phantom Fireworks.
If you get were I am going with this you are correct....this is the same place the suspected terrorist bought his fireworks he used in his car bomb parked in Times Square.
Here's a mention in the local area paper.

It is totally freaking me out....and I haven't even lived there for 10 years!

Sluggy