More Rite-Aid This Week

So no surprise I made a couple more trips to Rite-Aid this week, right?lol

There are also 3 12-packs of Mountain Dew that are not pictured here.

I won't bore you with the nit-picky details on this one since it turned out to be a colossal mess!
The employees were super busy and one started my order and another finished it.
Then things rang up crazy amounts and add on that the meter got price checked and then NOT rung up....so I didn't pay for it and had crazy overage and couldn't make heads or tails of my receipt when I got home....and then I had to schlep everything back to the store and get it all fixed and actually PAY for the meter and pray that whomever was on that night didn't think I stole the meter, or even think I was a nutjob when I tried to explain it all.  I was even tempted to just put the meter back on the shelf and not try to explain all this because I didn't want the cashier to get into trouble for just making a mistake, but the meters are right under the pharmacy window so there was no way I could have taken it out of a bag and put it back on the shelf without someone noticing.

Oy vey...what a mess!
Let's just say I spent $.50 OOP on the rest of the stuff and put it on my gift card in the end, shall we?

3 things here I want to mention....
1. The Colgate Sensitive, though it is the correct size to qualify for the BOGO sale this week and nothing in the ad disqualifies it from being part of that sale, does NOT ring up BOGO.  I didn't feel like fighting about it at the store level(goodness knows I don't NEED more toothpaste personally!lol), nor did I feel like calling Corporate on this, so I just returned it(something I hardly ever EVER do!).  Well, since I was there to explain my ...ahem, stolen meter and pay for it, adding in a return on the same receipt(that the meter should have been on)just complicated the devil out of this bizarre transaction. lolol
2. The Hormel Chili is indeed giving an unexpected/not advertised $1 +Up Reward.  Add in that the AdPerks/VV Chili coupon is NOT serialized(meaning you can print and use as many as the store will let you at one time-1 coupon per can)and your can of chili on sale this week will cost you $.75 and give you back a $1 +Ups.
3. The Maxell CD pack(which I had to scramble to add to my order because I "thought" I had misjudged my couponage and turned out to be the meter not getting rung up)were a good deal for me with my 20% off discount.  However.....next week this item, reg. retail in my store of $21.99, is on sale chainwide for $12.99, so a much better deal than the 20% wellness discount cost.  And if you have a Flu Booklet, there is a $3 coupon in there for this item, PLUS there is a $3 Single Check Rebate for November on this item.  So your $21.99 price CD pack will cost you a mere $6.99 when all is said and done.
Sweet!

So let's move on to Transaction #2 from the following day when I went back after the truck from the warehouse brought restocks.....

Let me explain that I have been in search of the Alka-Seltzer Fast Powder Packs all week.  They are on sale this week for $5, there is a $3/1 coupon from this past Sunday's coupon inserts, each one gives a $2 +Up, plus if you purchase $30 in select Bayer products this week, the register also spits out a $10 +Up.  So theorectically, if you purchase 6 of the elusive Alka-Setlzers, use 6 $3/1 coupons and a $5 off $25 purchase coupon, you'll pay $7 OOP and receive $22 in +Up Rewards.
The key factor here is IF you can find 6 packages of this item.
Needless to say, no Rite-Aid had enough of this product to satisfy demand this week and all the shelves around here have been bare of this product since roughly 9:05am on last Sunday morning after the sale started.

And our store did NOT get any restock of this item.
UGH!
So I procured a raincheck for 7 boxes...that's how many I would need to do this deal with my 20% wellness discount.
And let me tell you.....trying to explain to the cashier how she needed to write this raincheck out made me NEED this product immediately!
What a mess.....
She sort of got it, and wrote it for a sales price of $3 per package since that's the price AFTER the +Ups it won't be giving after this week.  But then I tried to explain that since I would be buying 7 and my total would be over $30(before coupons and the +Ups she was discounting from the price), I should also get $10 off the total purchase.
Her eyes glazed over and she couldn't wrap her brain around how to add that into the price I was to be charged, so she wrote, "Spend $30 Get $10 Up.  Figure out at time of purchase." and signed it.
Ah, perfect!  Pass the headache onto whoever rings these puppies up in the future.....
It probably is all for naught though, since the chances of finding 7 of these items on the shelf in the next month before the raincheck expires is highly improbable.

So I went ahead and did a Bayer Deal using what was on the shelf.  I wanted to try these Bayer AM things anyway, since they are aspirin and caffeine, which is basically what "migraine" labeled formulations contain and migraine promoted products are pricey.  With my wellness discount, coupons and the +Up Deal, it was better than free.

4 x Bayer AM ($7.29 reg. retail)w/wellness discount $5.83=$23.32
1 x Bayer 50 ct.(also part of the deal)w/wellness discount=$4.55
1 x Alka-Seltzer Cold on sale=$4.99
SubTotal...$32.86

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25=$5.00
5 x $3/1 select Bayer product In-Store Ad=$15.00
2 x $2/1 Bayer AM ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $1.50/1 Bayer AM IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Bayer product ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Alka-Seltzer product Peelie on package=$1.00
Coupon Total....$31.00

$32.86-$31.00=$1.86
I used a $1 +Up, so $1.86-$1.00=$.86 Out of Pocket put on a Rite-Aid gift card.
And I received a $10 +Up Rewards.

Spent 1 +Ups, got 10 back, making me 9 "Up" for this transaction.

*A word about stacking a ManuQ, a StoreQ and a PeelieQ on one item.
Technically Peelie coupons ARE Manufacturer's coupons and you can't use 2 manufacturerer's coupons on a single item.
However, at Rite-Aid you can stack a peelie on the product with your own Manu. coupon.
Now I don't know if this is a chainwide policy or not.
But it is done in this region at all the Rite-Aid stores I have bought anything at.  The first time it happened, the cashier was the one who noticed the peelie and went to scan it for me.  I reminded her that I had already used a ManuQ on the product and she said that they were told to let customers use any peelies on the products they were buying at the point of purchase, regardless if they had other coupons OR if the peelie coupon was past it's expiration date.  This policy has been confirmed to me by employees at two additional stores I shop at since that happened.
I am curious to know if any of my readers who shop Rite-Aid have encountered this policy for themselves?  Please leave a comment if you have.

Anyway, back to the numbers....I won't add in the toothpaste that I returned or the meter debacle to the value of items.

THESE TRIPS Total Spent....$1.36(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$78.49+$41.34=$119.83
SCR qualified for...$3.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$15.00
+Up Rewards spent...$1.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$39.00


GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......5
Total Spent....$2.74 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$258.31
SCR qualified for....$3.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Nov. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 10/24....$24.00
+Up Rewards spent....$14.00
+Up Rewards earned....$32.00
+Up Rewards left....$39.00

Sluggy

Simplifying the Holidays....Define YOUR Celebration

So what do I mean exactly when I talk about simplifying the Holidays?

What I mean is to make a deliberate plan of action this Holiday Season on how to fill your time, keeping in mind that there are only 24 hours in a day and realize that you can't do everything that is available to do, and you can't spend beyond your means.
By cutting out some activities this Holiday time, you will have more time for enjoying the ones you choose to keep and everyone around you will feel calmer for the slower pace you proceed at.

The specifics of Simplifying your Holiday Season will mean something different to every person because after all, everyone has their own likes and dislikes, family situations and amount of cash to spend available to them.  I can't tell you HOW or WHAT to include or not to include in your Holidays....that is your job to decide.  I can bring up some topics to explore and get you thinking about what you do now for the Holidays and/or consider changes you may want to make in your life.

But before you can enjoy your Holiday Season, you need to make a plan, a master list of how you plan on celebrating this year.  Even though you have a plan, remember that you still need to be flexible and open to changes if "life happens".

Yah, I know it's still Oct. but sit down and really think about what you want your Holiday Season to be like before the Yuletide craziness starts.

Ask yourself....What do you like about this time of year?
If you could celebrate exactly how you wanted and not how everyone else thought you should celebrate, what would you do/participate in this year?

Is it the shopping and hunting for just the right gift that you love?
Or do you think about the shopping & gifting part is just way too much hassle and money spent for no good reason?

Do you like to decorate.....the tree, the rooms, the lights outside and everything else you can think of to drape garland over?
Or do you prefer a few well placed festive touches in your home or nothing special at all?

Are you all about throwing or attending parties?
Or do you prefer to visit one on one with close friends or like to hold up on the couch watching old movies alone with your dog, sipping on a mug of egg nog?

Are you the Holiday baking Queen and your kitchen emits scrumptious smells as you create food with love?
Or do you keep your favorite bakery or caterer on speed dial for your eating pleasure?

Face it--if you tried to do Everything at the Holidays, you would kill yourself from the work and the stress.
You would not enjoy anything because you would not be present in the here and now.  You would be going through the motions alright, but your mind would be thinking ahead to the next thing you needed to cross off your list...your very long list!

People set themselves up for failure by trying to do it all at the Holidays.  There are only so many hours in the day you can devote to the added strain involved in craving out time for celebrating.
The laundry, the cooking dinner, the cleaning, the regular errands of life, the homework supervision still needs to get done.  Now you have to add all those Holiday things on top of your life?
*Sigh*
When you try to do too much, nothing will live up to your expectations.
It's better for you and your family if you pick and chose specific activities and rituals to participate in this year instead of rushing head first into Holiday overload!
It will help restore a bit of sanity to your life by scaling back the scope of your plans.

So find a few quiet minutes in your day in the coming week and realistically figure out what shape your Holiday Season will take.
Choose the rituals you feel speak the Holiday's language for you....

Send cards?
Give gifts?
Bake treats or special meals?
Parties?
Church/Synagogue services and fellowship?
Christmas Tree...Deck the Halls?
Volunteer or Charity Donations?
Holiday Trips?
Special Activities with the young people in your life?
Caroling?
Winter Sports?

Don't forget to consult your spouse or significant other too!  Hash out a list for the Holiday Season that is realistic and that you both can live with.

I suggest once you have a list, to go back and number the items on it so you set up a Priority system.
That way you have a clear idea of which items are more important than others and if time runs short and you find you can't do everything on that list, you know which items are the most important to accomplish in the time you have available.

Next time I'll share my Holiday To-Do List with you.
Feel free to share your List or any Questions/Ideas for me in the Comments section.

Sluggy

I Want Caaaandyyyy!....Back to Rite-Aid for Chocolate

I still had some BOGO candy bar Qs in my pocket so I went traipsing back to Rite-Aid yesterday....

I won't bore you with the nit-picky figures.
Total before Coupons....$31.11
Coupon Total.....$21.03
Used $10 +Ups received for buying last mound of candy bars....$10.00
$31.11-$21.03-$10.00+Up=$.08 Out of Pocket.
And that 8¢ was put on my handy dandy free Rite-Aid gift card.

I should have bought 1 less $.50 candy bar and the OOP should have been $.18 but....
the cashier rang the 1st BOGO candy bar coupon for $1.59 and not the max. amount it allowed which was .99¢.  I caught it and told her so she rang the rest up correctly but she didn't go back and change that 1st one.
So I had an extra 50¢ to cover and threw in another 50¢ candy bar.
Oh, I received another $10 +Up Rewards for buying another batch of $25 worth of chocolate/candy advertising in the sales flyer.
So I basically just rolled that $10 +Up into more free candy bars and added a $1 +Up for buying the 2 Oatmeal boxes!

My teens are just thrilled to pieces with me lately!....I wonder why?  ;-)

Then I went back to the local store to pick up my Rxs last night and got this.....

2 x Quaker Oatmeal on sale $2.50=$5.00
2 x Pistaschios on sale $2.99=$5.98
2 x Colgate Toothpaste on sale BOGO=$3.79
1 x Lady Speed Stick Deodorant on sale=$2.95
1 x Aveeno Shampoo on sale=$5.99
2 x NYC cosmetics(1 Lip Gloss/1 Nail Polish) on sale BOGO=$1.99
SubTotal...$25.70

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 from activating my wellness acct. online IPQ=$5.00
2 x $2/1 Quaker Oatmeal IPQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Pistachios IPQ(all you website)=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Colgate Total Toothpaste ManuQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Colgate product AdPerks/VV IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Speed Stick AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Speed Stick Flu Booklet Q=$1.00
1 x $4/1 Aveeno Hair item AdPerks/VV IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 NYC item IPQ(all you website)=$1.00
Coupon Total....$22.00

$25.70-$22.00=$3.70
Used $3 in +Ups....$3.70-$3.00=$.70 Out of Pocket put on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $6 in +Up Rewards back....($1 WYB 2 Quaker, 2 x $1 Pistachios, $1 Aveeno, 2 x $1 NYC items)=$6.00
So I spent $3 +Ups and received $6 back.


A few comments....
*There is a AdPerks/VV Q that can be stacked with the In-ad Q to make the Deodorant $.99 OOP. The Deodorant Q is NOT serialized and can be printed and used more than once...but you have to print the number you want to have at once since you can't go back and print them again later once you have printed them.  The non-serialized Qs end with 122510(that's the expiration date for the Nov. viewed AdPerk/VV Qs).

*The Buy 1 NYC item, Get 1 NYC nail polish prints 1 $1 +Up Rewards for each item, even the free nail polish item.  Be sure to select the $1.99 nail polish and NOT the $.99 nail polish if you want the +Up to print.  The $.99 polishes do not produce a +Up Reward.


*It has come to my attention that you can use more than one AdPerks/VV Q in your order, even the serialized ones, which you can only print and use once.  You can only do this by accessing/having more than 1 AdPerk/VV account.  You can have other people print Qs from their AdPerk/VV accounts and give them to you to use in addition to your own AdPerk/VV Qs.  However you can only use 1 AdPerk Q per item(besides stacking ManuQs with them).  For example, I bought 2 Colgate Toothpastes.  I had 2 $1/1 Manu Colgate Qs, one for each tube.

I also had 2 $1/1 AdPerk/VV Colgate item Qs...one was from my account, one was from my BIL's account.  I stacked one of these Qs with each of the ManuQs for the toothpaste.  1 Adperk Colgate Q was in his name, 1 in mine.  Both scanned through with no beeps or problems.
I hope I made this point clear as mud. ;-)


THESE TRIPS Total Spent....$.78(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$87.60
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$16.00
+Up Rewards spent...$13.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$24.00

GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......3
Total Spent....$1.38 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$138.48
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Nov. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 10/24....$21.00
+Up Rewards spent....$13.00
+Up Rewards earned....$17.00
+Up Rewards left....$25.00


Sluggy 

Drawing a Life Lesson from Spider-man

The Coupon Goddess has again brought up a Reader Issue for debate.  Go read about it HERE.
Basically it involves instituting Couponing Skills Courses for Food Stamp recipients.

If you've been a longtime reader of my blog, you'll remember that I partook in a Food Stamp Challenge back in June of this year.  I spent that month exploring the issues surrounding Food Stamps as well as living off of an average full monthly allotment of snap benefits(food stamps)in my daily life.
You can search back in the archives of June 2010 to read up on what I talked about then and see how we did with that challenge.
So this issue is not something I haven't considered long and hard before.  And over the intervening months I've continued to mull some of these same issues over in my own head.

Here is my very long response to this debate.....

Sluggy
"With great power comes great responsibility"--Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-man

****
First off, I am older than dirt and have "been around" on this big blue ball many many years and seen a lot of human nature.
We are fascinating creatures, are we not?

Requiring 'courses' of some kind by social service agencies has been tried off and on over the years since the modern day food stamp program began a long time ago.  Anything from mandated lessons on nutrition to shopping skills to cooking skills have been held.  States are in charge of implementing, modifying & setting rules within a standard frame for their individual Food Stamp programs so nothing has been tried on a nationwide scale.

The result of all these courses overall? 
Unless attendance was required to get the food benefit, most people in the program did NOT go.  While I'm sure you have recipients with legit reasons why they couldn't attend, it is human nature to keep doing what you are doing and not step outside of your comfort zone and try new things.  Most people are not motivated to make the effort it takes, even though they would reap many benefits in the life they lead from partaking of something like these courses.  Some people would be against being told to attend from the word "go",  since grown up people don't take kindly to being treated like a child and being told what to do is seen as condescending by many.  Then the Food Stamp employees would be dealing with a whole lot of passive-aggressiveness on their part when dealing with these clients.

If efforts are made(and additional monies in the program's budget spent)on ideas that only a few take advantage of(like courses), those in charge end up discontinuing those services.  Obviously, the courses are NOT cost-effective from an accounting standpoint.  Also when budgets are cut if these kind of services are in place, they are the first thing to be cut(even if the clients utilize them),because the funds need to go for actual food benefits and spread out to cover the largest group of recipients it can.

It's sad really, that people as a whole don't take every advantage or help offered to them, and that we keep cycling through plans like this...start a course, have it met with indifference by the majority, discontinue that service and years later, after that service is forgotten have a new set of program directors try what is basically the same idea again.  Sad and frustrating.

That being said....I do feel that these sort of nutrition/cooking skills/shopping skills courses ARE a good thing.  And if it helps just one family break out of a cycle of poverty and/or diminished health, it was worth attempting.

I took part in a Food Stamp Challenge this past summer where I attempted to feed my family on the avg. monthly snap benefit amount those on full food stamp allotments receive.  With my couponing/cooking/budgeting skills I was able to complete it fairly handily without altering the diet I fed my family much.  If I had shopped/cooked like the average American, I doubt that I would have completed the task as handily.

As a part of this FS Challenge, I also researched the history of the program, the statistics, the shopping habits, the rules, and how to augment your scrip with other resources available to the general public and how to make frugal workarounds to stretch that money further.  I talked to people in the grocery store who used snap benefits to get some 'real' feedback to my 'phony' poverty.

In all this I found that the majority of snap benefit recipients have NO CLUE that you CAN USE COUPONS WITH FOOD STAMPS!
I was floored to find this out frankly.  The ones I talked to were equally surprised that they could combine the 2 forms of payment as well.

Now, I do see that using coupons if you are on food stamps is problematic, since if you are on food stamps, you are economically disadvantaged.
The majority of food stamp recipients don't have either extra money available or the resources to gather coupons.  If you don't have enough money to buy food for your family, how can you justify spending money on multiple newspapers for the inserts or paying for a coupon clipping service to get coupons?  Also, if money is tight, where do you get the cash for crazy expensive ink cartridges as well as paper to print out the coupons available online(if in fact, you have access to a computer WITH a printer)?

Here is what I would like to see happen.  It would NOT require any additional monies in a state's food stamp budget to be spent on non-food stamp benefits NOR would it require any added payroll funds.
1-Have every social services employee who deals with the public in the FS program make each recipient of the benefits aware that coupons CAN be used with Food Stamps in payemnet at the stores.  If handouts could be printed off at a small cost, then also give each recipient something in writing to take away when they come in to the agency.
Knowledge is power.  Those who are pro-active in their lives will take that power and use it, I hope. ;-)

2-Somehow get manufacturer's to supply their coupons(for food products only) to food stamp recipients for free.
I don't know who this could be accomplished, but by putting the coupons in the hands of those using snap benefits you take away one more stumbling block to stretching your food scrip dollar further.  I am sure that giving free coupons to the govt. agencies who handle the FS programs would be viewed as some how wrong(think companies using that 'in' supplying coupons directly to these consumers as a form of advertising and drumming up business and profits for those companies), perhaps some one can find a happy compromise that offends no one's sense of fair play.  An independent clearing house to receive the free coupon supplies, in charge of distributing said coupons to those in need.  I'm unclear on the actual 'how to' to get this accomplished.

3-While most govt. social service agencies are resistant to new ideas and people coming in off the street offering them help, try this at your local food bank or soup kitchen--a non-govt. entity.  If you coupon and have the bent or ability to teach others, go to said private entity and offer to hold a couponing class free of charge to anyone who wants to attend.  It may take some convincing but hopefully if you are persuasive and have a good argument for why it's a VERY good thing, and someone in charge will give you a chance to do something to help their clients outside of handing them a bag of food or a plate of hot food.
Or at the very least, approach these same independent entities about starting a Coupon Box at their location.  This would just be some system(a box in a corner or something more elaborate if wanted/needed)where someone could get free-to-them coupons to use.  Get a group together to donate coupons they won't or can't use to this effort.  File the coupons by category and make it available at the food bank or soup kitchen, etc. so people can take what they need.  It would just require getting the approval and setting this up initially and then once a month, someone would need to glean through and trash the out of date coupons, maintaining the system as it where.  Low maintenance and BIG potential for rewards!

Now I am off to DO something to help someone here using my coupon smarts.
What can YOU do in your world to make a positive impact?

Sluggy

An Open Letter to McDonald's

Dear McDonald's Corporation,

Since 1981, your company, McDonald's has been trying to get the world to eat the abomination of a sandwich you call the McRib.

It was a dismal failure the first go round so you quietly pulled this puppy from the lineup in 1985.
4 YEARS you had tried to turn a profit on this concoction of a ground pork patty, bbq sauce, raw onions and pickles on a bun.
Just makes my mouth water typing that......
Wait! I lie.....NO it doesn't.

And instead of taking heed of the world's lack of love for this sammie, you, McDonald's, have brought it back sporadically in some form or another to grace your restaurant menus for the last 25 years.
25 years.....haven't we all suffered enough already?!
And now it's back again.....just in time for Oct. 31st....like a very bad Halloween prank gone wrong!

All that money on marketing wasted with no profits produced.
All that "food" produced that you end up not needing since the demand for this product is nil.
By the way, what do you do with all that food when you yank the McRib from your menus?
On second thought, don't tell me....it will only make me throw up a little in my mouth.

The McRib has had more Farewell Tours than the Who.
Of the two, I think Peter Townsend looks better than the McRib for the wear.

And another thing......
Pickles?
Pickles on a bbq sammie?!?

I grew up in the South and take my word for it, McDonald's executives, because sauce runs through my veins.....
No self-respecting Southerner would put pickles on a bbq pork sandwich!
Ok, maybe Uncle Cleatus' third cousin Bubba who got kicked in the head by a mule when he was a kid.
And maybe those immigrant Cuban folks in Florida but that's a totally different pork sandwich and Florida is NOT the South. ;-)

So take my advice and just take the McRib out to the woodpile and put it and us out of our misery please!
You know what a woodpile is don't you McDonald's?...it's that thing next to the Smokehouse and the Barbecue Pitt where real chefs cook/smoke real pigs before they put that real meat between a bun.

A little coleslaw on a real bbq sandwich is optional but definitely not pickles.

I think the McRib needs to go toward the light this time and stay there!
It would be in the best interests of our planet and mankind.
Stomachs across our world will thank you for your humanitarian efforts.

Sincerely,

Sluggy, G.R.I.T.S.*

*Girls Raised In The South