Buy Coffee, Support The Troops

One of our favorite gifts to buy here at Chez Sluggy during the Holidays is bags of coffee.  Hubs as well as most of his siblings love coffee.  My kids love coffee too.
A bag of good coffee is a great gift for folks like the mailman or my favorite PO clerk.
Think teacher or co-worker gift too.

Though I am NOT a coffee drinker(imagine that!), every year I darken the local Dunkin Donuts store's door and buy lots of bags of coffee for gifting.

I just saw that Dunkin Donuts is running a promotion from November 1st until November 14th.
For every 2 1lb. bags of their coffee you buy either at a Dunkin Donuts store or through their online store, they will donate 1 bag to the US military through the USO.(up to 100,000 lbs.)
Now if DD will start their seasonal deal of a special price on the bags of coffee they run every Holiday Season, this could be a sweet deal for everyone.....more coffee for your dollar and free coffee for the troops!

Go check it out HERE.

Sluggy

Simplyfying the Holidays....What I am Doing or Not Doing

So last time we talked about making a Plan.
A conscious decision on what and how we plan on celebrating during the upcoming Holiday Season.
Cutting back and just partaking in those rituals and activities that we have the time and money to afford, and that we truly enjoy.

Here is my Prioritized List.

Traveling to visit with Family.
Sending a few Holiday Cards.
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.
Cooking Christmas dinner.
Charity.
Baking cookies and pies.
Christmas Tree.
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.

*Our actual plans(if we are traveling or not mostly)are still up in the air at this point in time but to me, the being with family & friends at Christmas is most important. 
*So I will reach out via cards this year to those I can't physically be with during the Season.
*While we aren't all about the getting stuff, we do exchange gifts and I, er...I mean "Santa" fills everyone's stocking with goodies.
*If we don't travel, I'll cook Christmas dinner and host the meal...if we travel I'll help whoever is cooking or provide edibles for the meal.
*We'll donate time/money through some organization as we do every year and hopefully we can get the kids involved since they are in more need of a life lesson than us grownups. ;-)
*The baking will be a multi-person activity and not just me thundering around the kitchen complaining about all this work and that no one is offering to help me.
*The tree will be put up but the extent of 'bling' also strewn about the house will depend on how the travel plans mesh out and if anyone else here is interested in helping out with that.
*On Christmas eve we have a tradition of a meal out together and then a family activity.....going to a show of some kind or a Holiday movie.  If we can't find something to agree on we'll sit home with some of the cookies we baked and didn't give away and watch a Holiday movie on the tv/dvd player.

I don't have young children, so there are no additional activities like Taking them to Talk to Santa, school/friend's/organizations kid parties, buying teacher/classmate gifts and such.  Not having to contend with all that sure cuts down on the time/energy/money commitments at the Holidays.
And I don't work outside the home so I don't have office parties, gift exchanges, etc. vying for my time/money.
Add in that we aren't big party throwing people either and we don't have church affiliated activities to contend with.
The list I end up with is a pretty modest one of stuff to get done by Dec. 25th and I can easily fit it all into my regular weekly "To Do" list without driving myself insane with the added work and stress if I plan ahead and work it all in to the next 7 weeks a little bit at a time.

So are you motivated to make a "To Do" list and make it a reasonable length?
If you find you have just too much to accomplish and not enough time/energy/money, try cutting down or cutting out just one thing that you have to do this Holiday Season.
What would you cut out of your "To Do" List this year and why?
Speaking of stress, next time we'll talk about the Cost of the Holidays and ideas on how to lower the expenses that pile up during this Season.

Sluggy

The Lost (Rite-Aid) Weekend

I spent alot of time at Rite-Aid this past weekend.
First I had lots of goodies still to bring home from last week's sales ad so I did 3 transactions on Saturday evening.
And I was right back up there Sunday afternoon doing 3 more transactions for the new sales week.  I had lots of coupons that were expiring on Sunday(Oct. 31st)so if I was going to do some deals, it had to be on Sunday.

*If you don't care about the "particulars", skip down to the Grand Totals at the bottom.

First Saturday's deals....I won't go into excrutiating details on these since the sales week is over for this stuff.

 With sales, Qs and +Up Rewards, this lot cost me $.23+$.04 tax, so $.27 OOP put on a free Rite-Aid gift card.  I used $8 +Ups and received $10 +Ups back(Chili, NYC, Halls).

Then I did this.....

Select Gillette men's items gave a $10 +Up Reward when you purchased $30 or more(before coupons).
With my 20% wellness discount the Gels were $3.83 and the Pro Series Washes were $6.39, making my pre-coupon total $30.66.
I had $20 in Qs and used a $10+Up from the Halloween candy I bought earlier in the week, which brought my total to $.66 to put on my RA gift card.
I received another $10 +Up.

I finished off the evening with this transaction.....

More Chili, more NYC Cosmetics, another Lady Speed Stick Deo, 4 more Lipton 1 Liter Teas(I had $.35 tearpad Qs-expiring Sunday-from a different Rite-Aid...no tearpads in this store).
Having 2 Flu Booklets, I was about to use 2 Peroxide Qs and 2 Dial Hand Soap Qs.  Each of these two items was on BOGO sale, so after Qs the Dial Hand Soaps were $1.29 for 2(2x$1/1 Qs off retail of $3.29)and the Peroxides were $.49 for both(2x$.50/1 Qs off retail of $1.49).
Total before Qs was $23.31.  After using a $4 off $20 and assorted coupons on each item, the total was $11.71 with tax.  I used $11 in +Up Rewards and put $.71 on my RA gift card.
I received $12 in +Ups back(Chili, NYC).
This transaction should have been $1 less but I picked up a $2.99 NYC lip gloss instead of a $1.99 one by mistake when I bought the 4 lip cosmetics I chose.

All in all, Saturday's transactions cost me $1.64 on my gift card and I used $30 +Up Rewards.  I received $32 in +Up Rewards.
So I gained $2 Ups in the course of these transactions.



As if that wasn't enough to make your eyes cross, here is Sunday's haul....

3 Tide 18 ct. Stain Booster thingies, on sale for $5.88.  I used the $3/1 Q that was expiring Sunday(10/31) and they each gave a $1 +Up, making them $1.88 ea. after Qs and +Ups.
2 Febreeze Warmers on sale for $2.49.  I used the $3/1 Q that was expiring Sunday and they each gave a $1 +Up, making them -$1.51 after Qs and +Ups.
1 St. Ives Scrub on sale for $3.99.  I used a $1/1 Q and will receive a $3 SCRebate on this item, making it -$.01 after Qs and SCR.
My total was over $25 so I could use a $5 off $25 Q and I used $5 in +Ups, making my grand total $.78 with tax(put on my gift card).  I received $5 in Ups back(3 x $1Tide and 2 x $1Febreeze).

2 Kendall AMD bandages on sale for $3.50.  I used 2 $2.50/1 Qs from the Allyou website, which made it $2 for both.  These will qualify for a $3 SCRebate so it's eventually a $1 moneymaker.
2 Folger's coffee on sale for $2.99.  I used 2 $1/1 MaunQs, which made the price $3.98 for both.  These gave me 2 x $1 +Ups back, so I ended up paying $1.98 for both( or .99¢each).
The Oral-B Toothbrush was a $12.49 clearance find behind the other Oral B electric Toothbrushes on the rack.  I used a $10/1 Oral-B Vitality Toothbrush Q from the 9/26 P&G insert(expired 10/31)and paired it with a Wellness IPQ for $1 off $10 of any Oral Card purchase, making the toothbrush cost $1.49 in the end.
My total before Qs was over $25 so I could use a $5 off $25 Q.
After all coupons and using $2 in +Ups, my OOP was $.57 with tax, which I put on my gift card.
I received $2 +Ups back, one for each Folger's coffee purchase.

And I finished up my trip with this transaction....

2 more Kendall AMD bandages, yadda, yadda....after SCR it's a $1 moneymaker.
1 bag of Dog Chow on sale for $4.99.  I used a $2/1 IPQ.  I got a $1 +Up so after that, the puppies can continue to eat for $1.99.
2 Febreeze Air Fresheners on sale for $2.49.  I used 2 $1/1 Qs and they produced a $1 +Ups each.  After +Ups these were $.49 each.
4 more Lipton Tea 1 liters with Wellness disc and $.35 Q cost $.44 each.
The Crest Toothpaste was on sale for $2.27.  I used a $1/1 ManuQ(10/10 P&G insert)and stacked it with a $1/1 Crest Pro-Health Paste Flu Booklet Q which dropped the price to $.27 after coupons.
The Trident gum did NOT ring up BOGO as the ad stated so instead of a $6.97 after Qs total and using $6 in +Ups, the total was $7.86 after Qs and I had to use $7 in +Ups and I obtained a $.89 cash refund for the difference in price for the gum.
I received $3 in +Ups back($1 Dog Food, $2 Febreeze)and the bandages qualify BIL's account for a $3 SCRebate.

With the Kendall bandages purchase I should have gotten a $5 +Ups for the Diabetes Deal(Between 9/26-12/25/10 purchase $30 in select items, receive a $5 +Up Rewards).
Between the Bayer AM I purchased on Friday and the Kendall today, I was well over the $30 mark, yet no +Ups printed.  I suppose I'll be on the phone with Corporate sometime today.....bleh.

Totals for Sunday.....
Spent $2.21 on gift card.
Received $.89 cash refund.
Spent $14 in +Up Rewards.
Received $10 in +Up Rewards back.
Qualified for $9.00 in SCRs.

I'm down $4 +Ups but up $9 cash in SCRs so we'll call it $5 in overage for these 3 transactions.

THESE 6 TRIPS
Total Spent....$3.85(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$245.02
SCR qualified for...$9.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$10.00
+Up Rewards spent...$14.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$37.00


GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......11
Total Spent....$6.59 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$503.33
SCR qualified for....$12.00
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....$28.00
+Up Rewards earned....$41.00
+Up Rewards left....$37.00

Sluggy

Boo!

There!
Did I scare ya?

Darkness made our decorations look a little bit better.
#2 son dressed up and went out with his buddy but the buddy had to go home fairly early so #2 continued on with the 'candy looting' mission.
What a brave soul!
That's what sugar motivation will do for ya!lol

We were hit hard by the zombie children and often and were down to our last spare bag of chocolate when curfew time rolled around.
That was a squeaker!

#2 son refused to let me take his photo in his get-up....what a party pooper! (He went as Garth from Wayne's World btw...his buddy had been Wayne.)
For being a spoil sport, I told him I was posting this photo of him at Halloween when he was 4....

He's the one in PINK.....
Yes, he went as Kimberly the Pink Power Ranger for FOUR YEARS!
And it was his own choice.
He was in love with the Pink Ranger....

Does this make me a "Scary Mommy"? lol

Hope your night was special!

Sluggy

Happy Halloween....Are You Ready?

Except for the string of pumpkin shaped lights framing the front porch, this is all we could muster up to greet the Trick-or-Treaters this evening.
My dying potted mums(gee, the purpled ones never even bloomed fully before the cold got them)and 2 'fake' light-up jack o'lanterns.

We are pathetic....

No one got the 'umph' this year to get a real live pumpkin and carve it.  The teens are at the age where they hardly care about this kind of thing anymore....the Daughter has to work and the #2 son just wants the "Halloween Loot"....perferably Twix bars.

But our lack of Halloweenie spirit won't deter all the little and not-so little hobgoblins in our neighborhood from darkening our door as soon as the sun dips below the horizon this year. 
You see, we have a "rep"....as in reputation around here.  We are on the list of "best houses to hit" for Trick-or-Treating.
That's because we give out BIG CANDY!
No little bite-sized pieces of candy or even worse, that generic stuff in the plain wrappers.
We give out full sized candy bars and full packs of gum.  And this year, we also have, for the lucky few, KING SIZED candy bars, thanks to Rite-Aid's candy deals.
We get hit early and hit up often for "loot" and often have to turn out the light because we run out before the parade of kids is done for the night.
I would go broke if I had to pay full retail price for all that candy!
Sigh....What I do to be popular for one night a year....lol

And when I got home from my trip to the farm on Thursday with eight pie pumpkins Hubs started stroking his chin and sizing them up as carving material.  I looked him in his beady eyes and told him these are not decorating gourds, so no one lays a piece of cutlery on these babies unless the end result is to make pie, so back off Michelangelo! 


Here's hoping that only the nice ghouls and goblins surround you this year.
Happy Halloween!

Sluggy