More Rite-Aid....L'Oreal Deal

This week at Rite-Aid when you buy $15 in select L'Oreal cosmetic products, you get a $5 +Up Reward.
L'Oreal cosmetics are also 30% off this week.  Add in some stacked coupons and you've got yourself a possible moneymaker.

So we went up and did this....it requires access to 2 flu coupon booklets, 3 IP coupons, a $5 off $25 coupon and at least $7 in +Up Rewards to roll.
The 2 tugaboos purchases is optional(don't "need" them for the deal)but if you don't buy them & have a 20% wellness discount(and use $1/1 coupons from inside previous tugaboo packs), your OOP will be slightly higher.  Leave off the Tugaboos and your OOP is $.74 after sales/coupons instead of $.29.
*Also note that store prices on specific products can vary so your 30% off these particular L'Oreal items may be either higher or lower.  Take your calculator and be sure to pick the items that get you over $30 after the discount.

1 x Lash Boosting System reg. $24.95 30% off=$17.46
1 x Infallible Lipstick reg. $9.99 30% off=$6.99
1 x Lip Liner  reg. $8.95 30% off=$6.26
2 x Tugaboo Diaper packs w/wellness disc.$.79 ea.=$1.58
SubTotal.....$32.29

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Lash Boosting System IPQ=$2.00
1 x $6/1 Lash Boosting System Flu Booklet Q=$6.00
2 x $2/1 L'Oreal Color Cosmetic item IPQ=$4.00
2 x $3/1 L'Oreal Lipstick or Liner Flu Booklet Q=$6.00
2 x $1/1 Tugaboo item Q from inside previous diaper purchase=$2.00
Coupon Total....$25.00

$32.29-$25.00=$7.29
I used $7 in +Up Rewards and put the $.29 OOP on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I bought $30.74 in L'Oreal so I received 2 x $5 +Ups=$10.
I spent $7 and gained $10, so I am 'up' $3 in +Ups=FREE Cosmetics & more +Ups to roll!


TUESDAY TRIP
Total Spent....$.29(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$45.87
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$10.00
+Up Rewards spent...$7.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$44.99


GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......23
Total Spent....$12.00  put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1,087.69
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$14.99
Additional Rebates....$10.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Nov. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 11/15.....$41.99
+Up Rewards spent....$93.50
+Up Rewards earned....$118.49
+Up Rewards left....$44.99
 
Sluggy

My Thanksgiving Survey Replies...

1. What is your preferred menu for Thanksgiving dinner and why?
*Crispy Roasted Duck, homemade stuffing(with sausage meat/walnuts/mushrooms), sweet potatoes, green beans, roasted fall veggies, au jus rather than gravy, Aunt Ollie's recipe potato rolls, cranberry glop from the can, sparkling cider, pumpkin pie and cheesecake.

2.  Do you cook/host the meal or do you gather at someone else's house for dinner? If you cook, how many will gather around your table to eat?
*I cook.  If I can get help cooking, all the better but I don't expect help or anyone to bring any food.
Since the kids are teens with jobs, they may or may not be here when we eat the meal.  The most if family is in town is 9, the least is 3.  We usually have about 6-7.


3. What time do you generally sit down to eat?
*Since I don't relish getting up at the crack of dawn to start cooking for the day, we try to eat around 1 or 2(usually more toward 2).  We'll have a light late breakfast so we are hungry by 1.  Dinner is "go grab something for the fridge" at whatever time you want it.

4. Do you have any traditional dishes you serve/have served and what are they?  (These can be regional dishes or family traditions or what you feel are the national dishes everyone eats.)
*The jellied cranberry glop in the can is traditional from when I was a wee one.  #2 son likes it so we keep it, even though I've tried to serve 'better' versions of this dish over the years.  The family just doesn't take to them.
The other family traditions are my stuffing(my mom's recipe which I have changed over the years and made my own)and my Great Aunt Ollie's potato roll recipe.  Aunt Ollie left this Earth about 10 yrs. ago at the age of 98.  She was a good old country cook, who cooked on a wood cookstove until she was 96.  Have to have the potato rolls....if not on Turkey Day then on Christmas.

5.  Do you have any non-food Thanksgiving traditions?
*I've tried a few activities but nothing catches on.lol  The last one was to pass out paper and pencils and have everyone write down something they are thankful for.  Someone reads them all out loud before we eat.....this way we keep from embarrassing the teens since the 'thankfuls' are anonymous.
The only other tradition is to play board games after the meal, while the testosterone laden people watch football....**Sluggy rolls her eyes....**lol


6.  If you could only have 5 food/beverage items at your Thanksgiving meal, what would they be?
*Pumpkin pie, stuffing, potato rolls, roasted fall veggies, duck...then hook me up to a cardiac monitor. lol

7.  What was your worst and/or best Thanksgiving day and why?
*I can't think of a Thanksgiving day that sticks out in my mind as being the 'best', but any from when my mom was alive and we had extra relatives &/or friends there would qualify.
 
I do have a worst Thanksgiving however.....this was during my sophomore yr. in college.  I was 19. My family life was non-existent at this point so there was no going home for Turkey Day....besides, I couldn't even afford to take the Greyhound bus there.  So my BF(now Hubs)asked his parents if I could come home with him for Thanksgiving.....and they said no!  As BF told me, they didn't want 'strangers' at the house for Thanksgiving.lol  And yes, I had been to their house before at least twice before this time.
So BF did NOT stay at school with me, he went home and left me there alone.  It's a wonder I stayed with him and married him after that, huh?lol
I remember my Thanksgiving that year was spent alone in my apartment, watching the parades on a tiny 10" screen tv I owned.  I walked down to the A&P and bought myself a Thanksgiving meal...one of those turkey roll things, a frozen Stouffer's spinach souffle and I stopped at the bakery on the way home with my cart and bought a slice of something sweet...it wasn't pie because they didn't sell them by the slice and I couldn't afford a whole pie, and I might just have eaten the whole thing if I could have afforded it...I was that depressed.lol
I was approached by an old drunk on the way home from the grocery store and he panhandled me for a dime to "buy a cup of coffee".
Frankly, I couldn't spare a dime for him and I was in shock that someone had actually asked me for money, since I was destitute enough myself to be doing the asking.lol
After I got home, I just sat down and cried big time.
Alone and being accosted by bums on Thanksgiving. lol
I sure felt low and sorry for myself...


I am happy to say that things have improved since then. 8-)


Sluggy

The 3 Day Rite-Aid Bender

**If the deals at Rite-Aid make you yawn, just skip to the bottom of this post for the Totals.
I promise something NOT Rite-Aid next post.  ;-)

So I set out Saturday to find 10 boxes of Keebler products on the shelves to do that Deal I mentioned on my last Rite-Aid post.  (Buy 10 Keebler items on sale for $1.99, use $1/2 Qs, get $10 in +Ups back and submit for the $10 Keebler Rebate found in the Keebler booklet found in grocery stores.)
Well, this transaction turned out even better!
Because that Keebler booklet also had a coupon for $2 off 2 sodas when you buy 2 Keebler cookies/crackers.
So instead of having to use $5.10 in filler items to get my transaction to $25 so I could use a $5 off $25 coupon too, I bought 6 2 liter bottles of 7-Up, which were on sale for $1.33 and gave a $1 +Up Reward when you bought 3 in one transaction.

So here's how it went down...
6 x Cheez-Its=$11.94 *1 box is missing...the teens ate it already.lol
4 x Keebler cookies=$7.96
6 x 7-Up bottles=$6.66 *My wellness disc. made the price less than the sale price-$1.11 per bottle.

SubTotal of $26.56

Used...
$5 off $25 Q=$5.00
5 x $1/2 cookie or cheez-it Qs=$5.00
3 x $2/2 soda wyb 2 Keebler items=$6.00
Coupon deductions of $16.
Balance of 10.56.
Used $10 in +Ups, put $.56 on my Rite-Aid gift card.
Received $11 in +Ups back(1 for each cookie/cracker and 1 for 3 bottles of 7-Up)
If there wasn't a limit on the 7-Up deal of 1, I would have gotten 2 $1 +Ups for a total of $12.
Oh well...I can live with that.lol
So basically everything in this transaction was free and I just rolled those $10 in +Ups.
Sweet!

Then I stopped in to my local Rite-Aid that evening while I was out grocery shopping....

After coupons, the ColorSilk was $.50 ea., the Summer's Eve was $.63, the Renuzits were -$.24, the Tugaboo trial size was -$.21, the Hand Sanitizer was $.99 total for both, the Edge gel was $1.89 total for both(1 BOGO Q and a $1.50 adperk/vv Q stacked) and the Skittles were were $.25 ea. so $1.50 for all 6.
Subtract the $4 off $20 Wellness AdPerks/VV Q and we end up with $.56 total OOP put on a Rite-Aid gift card.
Nothing gave +Ups in this transaction.


SATURDAY TRIPS
Total Spent....$1.13(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$83.62
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$11.00
+Up Rewards spent...$10.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$32.49



Then Sunday I did this....

3 Colgate Toothbrushes on sale=$6.99   *Get $2 +Ups back
8 Assorted food items on sale $1.50=$12.00   *Get $1 +Ups back WYB 2 items
1 Herbal Essence 'Poo on sale=$2.99   *Get $2 +Ups back on each bottle
2 Right Guard Deo on sale BOGO=$3.29
2 Newspapers =$1.58  *Not pictured*
SubTotal...$26.85


Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 Q=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothbrushes(smartsource online)IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Colgate Toothbrushes Sunday inserts ManuQ=$1.00
3 x $1/1 Colgate 360 Toothbrush AdPerks/VV IPQ=$3.00 *These beep.
1 x $1/3 Heinz Gravy (living delicious website)IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Stovetop (living delicious website)IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 FFOnions ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 BC Taters ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 BC Taters AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Herbal Essence ManuQ(sunday's insert)=$1.00
1 x Right Guard BOGO ManuQ=$3.29
Coupon Total....$21.29
**Actual on the receipt was $19.29


$26.85-$19.29=$7.56.
I used $7 +Ups so $.56 OOP put on Rite-Aid gift card.

I received $8 in +Ups($2 Herbal Essence, $2 Colgate toothbrushes, 4 x $1 for buying 8 Thanksgiving food items).
I wanted to do the $4 +Ups wyb 10 items that were $1 each but even with getting to the store by noon on Sunday, they were out of the ones I wanted.  They started the sale that morning with very little of those items on the shelves and I've seen others have complained that their stores were similarly SO Understocked!  Rite-Aid missed out on some big bucks with this one.....


Then I stopped in later that evening to use those $2/1 Clairol family Qs on some Herbal Essence(a Clairol product).....

4 x Blistex on sale $1.50*1 rang up $1.43=$5.93
3 x Herbal Essence 'Poo on sale $2.99=$8.97
1 x Tugaboos trial pack w/wellness disc.=$.79
2 x Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks on sale BOGO 50%=$11.98
SubTotal...$27.67


Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25=$5.00
2 x $1/2 Blistex ManuQ=$2.00
3 x $2/1 Clairol product ManuQ=$6.00
2 x $5/1 Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick Q mailed to wellness members=$10.00
Coupon Total....$23.00**'
Some how 1 of my $1 Qs didn't come off. I forgot my Tugaboos $1 Q and I think the Blistex Qs stuck together...ugh.
So coupon total is $22.00


$27.67-$22.00=$5.67
I used $5.50 in +Ups so $.17+$.50 in tax=$75 OOP put on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I received back $14 in +Ups(3 x $2 Herbal Essence 'Poo, 4 x $1 Blistex, $4 WYB $10 in Revlon/Almay).

The Blistex was giving out $1 for EACH item, not $1 for 2 items as the flyer stated.  That has since been corrected and it's only giving 1 per 2 items as of Monday.
Please note that the Almay/Revlon $4 +Ups deal is a LIMIT 1 per card.

SUNDAY TRIPS
Total Spent....$.1.26(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$86.54
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$22.00
+Up Rewards spent...$12.50
+Up Rewards left to spend....$41.99


Onward to Monday's trip out....

2 x Blistex on sale=$3.00
3 x Colgate 360 Toothbrushes on sale=$6.99
3 x Reach Dental Floss on sale $.99=$2.97
1 x VapoRub on sale=$3.99
2 x Glad trash bags raincheck item $3.74ea.=$7.48
1 x Tugaboos diaper pack w/wellness disc.=$.79
SubTotal...$25.22

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25=$5.00
2 x $1/2 Blistex ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Toothbrush (smartsource online)IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Colgate Toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
3 x $1/1 Colgate 360 Toothbrush AdPerks/VV Q=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Reach Dental Floss ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1.50/2 Reach/Listerine items ManuQ=$1.50
1 x $1/$10 any Oral Care items Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1.50/1 VapoRub ManuQ=$1.50
1 x $2/1 VapoRub Flu Booklet Q=$2.00
2 x $.75/1 Glad trash bags ManuQ=$1.50
1 x $.50/1 Glad trash bags AdPerks/VV Q=$.50
1 x $1/1 Tugaboos product Q inside previous diaper pack=$1.00
Coupon Total...$21.00


$25.22-$21.00=$4.22
I used $4 in +Ups to pay so the $.22 OOP was put on a Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $4 in +Ups($1 Blistex, $2 Colgate, $1 NyQuil/VapoRub) so I rolled my +Ups here.

MONDAY TRIP
Total Spent....$.22(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$43.19
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$4.00
+Up Rewards spent...$4.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$41.99






GRAND TOTALS--November Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......22
Total Spent....$11.71 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1,041.82
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$14.99
Additional Rebates....$10.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Nov. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 11/12.....$31.49
+Up Rewards spent....$89.50
+Up Rewards earned....$108.49
+Up Rewards left....$41.99
 

Sluggy

The Good, The Bad & The Not-So-Pretty

First the good.....
If you haven't seen this on my Facebook already, #2 son's Marching Band had a big regional tournament Sunday in Hershey PA.  The band performed very well and they won their Division!  In addition they were awared top honors in 4 individual areas.

I am so glad to see them do well finally.  Our Band Parent's Association hosts one of the big local Tourneys at the high school.  Our band finished last in the 'open' division at that.  Our band is very small.  Our band gets next to zero $s from the school district, so the parents are saddled with most of the costs to cloth, host competitions, travel to competitions, etc.  This lack of resources puts our band at a large disadvantage next to other schools who have much larger parent associations as well as more funding.  We usually compete in the open division but with the big glitzy bands the kids have to compete with, they never finish very high up the food chain.

There is one local band that we have a David and Goliath type competition with.....to put it into GLEE SPEAK(for those of you who are "gleeks", we are New Directions and we compete with Vocal Adrenalin.
And after working the tourney our band hosts and seeing the directors and parents and the kids in this Goliath band up close and personal, I can honestly say that most of them that I have had to deal with are NOT very nice people.  They are rude, the universe revolves around them and their needs, and they have no class.
So seeing as we really can't compete on an equal footing with the Mega-Bands, we now compete in a different division.  And it seems to be paying off.

Speaking of people who think the universe revolves around them.....
We are having large problems with our Daughter.  She has always been too smart for her own good.  Getting good grades, etc. has been a nice result.  But she has "too big for her britches" syndrome and has had it for the last 5 years or so.  She feels she is the center of the universe and she treats other people(her family)like dog poo....unless of course, she wants something from you, and then she treats you nice until she gets her way.  She no longer wishes to be associated with our family except for us to do for her and give her her own way in things.  She doesn't feel the need to respect her parents or her siblings, or to lift a finger to help the family.  It's all a big she takes and we give.

If fact, she is making life so stressful for her parents and her younger brother when she is home that we are at the point that once she turns 18 next month, she may be asked to find someplace else to live.
I love my Daughter and I thought we could make the current living situation work well enough to get her graduated and off to college(which would have her NOT living here then), but I'm not so sure we can make it until June.  My health is suffering and she is becoming verbally abusive toward me.
Unfortunately we don't have any family locally who we can pack her off to for awhile until things cool off or she grows up a tad so I don't know what you are going to do.

In other news.....Daughter got her acceptance to Ohio State today.  I have no clue WHY she applied there.  We aren't big OH football fans and we don't live in Ohio.lol
But she did and she got in.
We are still waiting for the "yeah" or "ney" from the one school we haven't heard back from....Penn State.
Hopefully soon.

I have reopened my eBay store for the Holidays. SSP(aka Shameless Self Promotion) link is HERE.

I'm hoping even with the economy and the sluggishness of eBay, I can unload some goodies to the Holiday buyers.  I am concentrating on listing toys and collectibles since it's the gift buying time of year.  Even with this heavy stuff at Christmas someone might overlook the shipping expense more and I can get some of these large weighty items outta here!lol
At any rate, my living room and dining room now looks like a postal warehouse has exploded in there with all the bubble wrap, boxes and merchandise everywhere.  Throw in a few boxes loaded with fabric since I store those in there and it's such a lovely sight.lol

The one thing that all my years doing eBay has done for me?  It has made me an expert at re-cutting and gerryrigging boxes for shipping.  Now, if there was some industry where I could put this skill to work for me as a career....besides eBay that is.lol


I cleaned the interior of my minivan on Sunday.  It was LOOOOOONG overdue!  For the past 2 years I have told the kids that if they wanted to make some extra money that cleaning my car was tops on that list and the money was available at any time should they undertake that chore.
2 years and it was still undone.
So I hauled out the vacuum cleaner, clorox wipes, windex and newspaper and just got it done before winter weather sets in.

Saturday was the last day to qualify for the Thanksgiving Deal at the local independent grocery store.  If you spent a minimum of $300 in 5 weeks' time you got a $15 gift certificate.  It wasn't even a free bird deal but the best thing going in these parts.
I made a run to the grocery store Saturday evening and we ended the qualifying period with $115 in purchases....so not EVEN halfway to the amount we needed to spend to get that $15 certificate.
Oh well.
Last year I ended up doing the Price Chopper Turkey Deal....spend $25 in one transaction and get a free bird.
This year Price Chopper has upped the ante tho....spend $50 in one transaction and get a free bird.
Egads!
Doubled the qualifying price!!
And I don't even like turkey so I am so not liking this deal and tempted to eat chicken this year instead.lol

That's about it for now from  my corner of the world.
What's new in yours?

Sluggy

Let's Talk Turkey & T-Day

I so love Thanksgiving!
Of all the holidays we celebrate this is about the only one that is basically secular.  Everyone, no matter their religious beliefs(or lack thereof)can/will celebrate it on an equal footing.  It's all about thankfulness and appreciating family ties and those pretty much transcend the ideological differences that our chosen religions possess.

I have a confession to make....
I am not a big fan of turkey as a food myself. 
Ok, I DO love fresh hot roasted turkey slices right from the bird.  But once it has sat for awhile or has been refrigerated, I don't want it.
Now, it's not about having an aversion to leftovers.

It's the smell of turkey.
Maybe it's just me and my strange sense of smell but "not-just-out-of-the-oven turkey" has an odor to it that I can't abide.
So every year I pack off as many turkey leftovers  as I can  get away with to the BIL and I eat some other protein or just eat the side dishes whenever I have to serve the leftovers from Thanksgiving.
But another funny thing about me, while I can't abide " NOT fresh hot turkey from the bird", I can eat SMOKED TURKEY until I burst!
Maybe it's the southerner in me....loving a food smoked that I can't stand not smoked.lol

I continue to prepare/serve turkey at Thanksgiving because well, it's pretty much expected and traditional.  And the family likes it.
And it's the most frugal meat protein around at the Holidays.

I would much prefer having "Chinese Turkey"(aka duck), like the family in "A Christmas Story" have on Christmas....minus the head.

With Thanksgiving right around the proverbial corner I was curious about everyone else's Turkey Day meal and traditions.
So I have a little survey for y'all.  Please leave a comment with your thoughts on today's topic.

1. What is your preferred menu for Thanksgiving dinner and why?
2.  Do you cook/host the meal or do you gather at someone else's house for dinner? If you cook, how many will gather around your table to eat?
3. What time do you generally sit down to eat?
4. Do you have any traditional dishes you serve/have served and what are they?  (These can be regional dishes or family traditions or what you feel are the national dishes everyone eats.)
5.  Do you have any non-food Thanksgiving traditions?
6.  If you could only have 5 food/beverage items at your Thanksgiving meal, what would they be?
7.  What was your worst and/or best Thanksgiving day and why?

Next time I'll give you my survey answers.

Sluggy