Rite-Aid Last Week....Part II--I Made $13

I did 4 transactions at Rite-Aid last Saturday.
Again, since the deals are past I won't get into the fine details unless some one asks me to. ;-)

Transaction 1 & 2 in this photo....

#1 Transaction

2 Tugaboo Diaper packs
2 Bic pens(1 Triumph pack/1 stick pens)
2 Maxwell House Coffee
2 Halls big bags of Cough Drops
1 Gilette Pro-Glide Razor
SubTotal...$27.11
Coupon Total....$17.00
+Up Rewards used...$10.00
OOP....$.11 put on free Rite-Aid gift card

Received $14 +Up Rewards($3 wyb 2 Bic,2 x$1 Coffee,2 x $2 Hall's Drops,$5 Gillette)
"Spent" 10 +Ups, Got 14+Ups back=$4 moneymaker.

#2 Transaction

4 Bic Pens(1 Triumph/3 Stick pens)
3 Folger's Coffee
1 Nexxus 'Poo
SubTotal....$26.52
Coupon Total...$19.00
+Up Rewards used...$7.00
OOP...$.52 put on free Rite-Aid gift card

Received $9 +Ups Rewards(2 x $3 Bic,3 x $1 Coffee)
"Spent" 7 +Ups, Got 9+Ups back=$2 moneymaker.

Transaction 3 & 4 in this photo....

#3 Transaction

2 Bic stick pens
2 Pine-Sol
2 Lysol Spray
1 Nexxus 'Poo
2 Foamie Kits
SubTotal....$28.00
Coupon Total...$26.00
+Up Rewards used...$2.00
OOP.....$0.00 8-))

Received $5.00 in +Up Rewards($3 Bic, $1 Pine-Sol, $1 Lysol)
"Spent" 2+Ups, Got 5+Ups back=$3 moneymaker.

#4 Transaction

4 Bic stick pens
2 Tugaboo diaper packs
2 Clorox Wipes
1 Gillette Razor
2 No nonsense Sock 3-Packs
SubTotal....$25.72
Coupon Total...$17.50
+Up Rewards used...$8.00
OOP......$.22 put on free Rite-Aid gift card


Received $12.00 in +Up Rewards(2 x $3 Bic, $1 Clorox, $5 Gillette)
"Spent" 8+Ups, Got 12+Ups back=$4 moneymaker.


THESE TRIPS
Total Spent....$.85 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$156.33
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$40.00
+Up Rewards spent...$27.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$38.00

GRAND TOTALS--December Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......6
Total Spent....$2.44  put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$241.34
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Gift of Savings Reward...$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Dec. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 12/3.....$25.00
+Up Rewards spent....$34.00
+Up Rewards earned....$47.00
+Up Rewards left....$38.00

So this weekend I put .85¢ on my gift card and came out with $13 more +Up Rewards than I started out with on Friday.

Sluggy

Got Gifts?.....Now What?

Now that you've taken care of buying your Holiday gifts, now what?
You need to prepare them for the giving.
For most people, that means wrapping them or otherwise hiding them inside of some container and decorating the outside.

I'd like to direct you to a post I wrote last December about frugal Gift Wrapping.
Before you go spend a gazillion dollars on something that will destroy old growth forests, then the product will get destroyed itself and thrown away shortly after purchase, go have a read.  Buying new gift wrap is NOT frugal, no matter how little you pay for it, when there are viable alternatives.

Save the green in your wallet AND the green in nature and say NO!

There's a brief history at the link on the story of wrapping paper in this country to entertain you as well.
The link is HERE.

It's an oldie but a goody. ;-)

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Trips.....December SCR Period--Last Week PART 1

Last Sunday was the beginning of the December Single Check Rebate Period.

My 1st trip of last week to Rite-Aid on Sunday has no photo.  It was on my computer when the machine went belly up so I lost it.
Can't recreate it now since half of the cookies/crackers have been vacuumed down the teenagers throats already.

The list of items I bought is easy to remember though...
10 cookies crackers for $1 each
1 Gilette Razor on sale
3 newspapers
2 Dawn Hand Renewal Dish Soap
2 Tugaboos Diaper Trial packs
Total Value...$41.82
Total Before Qs...$25.32
Total of Qs...$24.50
Total OOP...$.82 put on a Rite-Aid gift card
I used $8 +Up Rewards, received $7 +Ups back($5 Gilette, $2 wyb $10 of cookies/crackers).

While my computer was fried, I had nothing else to do.....so I went to Rite-Aid on Tuesday too, to use up those $5 off Olay wyb Secret deodorant, since they expired on the 30th....plus I had a Free Advil Q that was expiring that day as well.  Luckily this photo was still on the camera....

I won't get into the nitty gritty breakdowns on this since the deals are past.
Value of items....$43.19
Total before Qs...$28.96
Total of Qs...$28.19
OOP....$.77 put on a Rite-Aid gift card
I used $0 in +Up Rewards and received $0 back.
I forgot to use my $.50/2 Combos Q too, so it should have been $.27 on the gift card.  Oh well....my Gift of Savings total(which is like $5.00 for 8 trips!lol)can use the extra .50¢ boost. ;-)


Then this arrived in the mail.....

A free pair of No nonsense socks.
And attached to the hang tag thingy is a $1 off coupon for my next pair.
And Rite-Aid had No nonsense products BOGO last week!
I eventually went back on Saturday and got 2 more pair of socks using that coupon, and stacking the AdPerks/VV &/or Flu Booklet Qs, which made both 2 3-pair packages of socks cost me about $1.
A buck for 6 pairs of socks!
Oh yah....

The other FIVE trips last week will have to wait until later this week since my camera software won't work with this new computer(trust me, the camera is ancient!)so I have to download directly into a card reader now......as soon as I locate the card reader on the box here.  It's hell getting old and going blind.....lol



THESE TRIPS
Total Spent....$1.59 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$85.01
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$7.00
+Up Rewards spent...$8.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$25.00

GRAND TOTALS--December Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......2
Total Spent....$1.59  put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$85.01
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Gift of Savings Reward...$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Dec. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 11/27.....$26.00
+Up Rewards spent....$8.00
+Up Rewards earned....$7.00
+Up Rewards left....$25.00
 

Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge...November 2010 Totals

I have posted my NOVEMBER 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 November in the black....with a nice healthy addition!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of November with was.......$3,984.99.

Income
We had $3,954.49 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in $3 of Rebates applied to the food expenses, along with $27.50 in rolled Coins and you have a deposit of $3,984.99 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,500.00 to reach our Year End Goal.

Outgo
As for the expenses in November.....it was pretty much a 'normal bills' type month.   The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was under $450.  There was a vet bill for the beagle this month and some smallish school related bills that are out of the ordinary but otherwise, it was a low spending month here.

The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in November was right on target, unlike October's out of control spending....egads, that was bad.lol

Looking Ahead to December....

As like most people who celebrate a Holiday in December, we will have some larger than normal expenses this month.
Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice....no matter which you celebrate, the extra spending will raise your monthly costs this month....unless your surname is Scrooge.
Since I operate on a budget for Christmas, our spending is planned & budgeted for months ahead so we have no surprises coming up with the cash to cover those expenses.
You know December is coming every year.....so make sure you figure how to pay for things in advance of it's arrival.  It just makes prudent financial sense, right?

The problem for us this December is the unexpected expenses that are coming up.  My car needed repair work done on it last month and the bill will be coming in sometime this month.  That will be in the neighborhood of $600.  Plus Daughter destroyed her orthodontic mouth guard and we need to pay $300+ this month for the new one that was made.  To add to the spending rampage, my computer died a few days ago and can't be fixed.  Since the monitor, etc. are fine still, we had to buy a new processor to the tune of $400(including back-up storage).  Then my machine was not compatible with my ancient printer so we purchased a new laser printer at a bargain price.  Not only was the price good but this printer will continue to save us money since the cartridges for it last a whole lot longer than the ones for inkjet printers....but I digress.
So just those 4 items will result in over $1400 in unexpected/not planned spending in December.
Even with those expenses, we should still be able to eek out a small savings for the Challenge in December though because of that 2nd extra paycheck for the year.  December has 3 pay periods for us since Hubs is paid on a biweekly schedule, so an extra paycheck this month....yippee!
And it's a very good month to have an extra paycheck coming in if I do say so myself!lol

I am just glad at this point that we have an ample income and can cover all our bills, no matter if they are expected or not....plus, we have enough to put some money away!
It's a very good feeling knowing you are solvent and living well below your means, especially in this economy.

YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $30,232.62 in Savings. 
With one month of savings to go, we have hit our goal of $30 Thousand Saved in November!
I am thrilled to pieces!!
Even though we reached our goal early I will still keep tracking our progress to see how far over our goal we can reach in December.

So how was your November 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

2 Nights Down, 6 to Go!

I'm a couple of days late here thanks to my computer difficulties but I wanted to take the opportunity to wish all my friends and readers a Happy Hanukkah!

The video below is especially for my friend Joe, if he reads my blog anymore...



Shalom,

Sluggy