Timing Sales Cycles with Coupons=Savings!

 **This post is part of the Money Saving Challenge over on FRUGAL MAKES CENTS.**

It seems like all I do lately is shop and post about Rite-Aid trips!
I find this highly amusing as I signed on to go on a January Spending Diet.....lol
Yep, low spending and only the necessaries in January.
I don't know....maybe it's the contrarian in me.
I'm fairly frugal and keep to a food/hba budget each month.
But tell me NOT to spend and all hell breaks loose! ;-)

But I DO consider stocking up when things are cheap a necessary shop.
It may not be a life/death decision to buy that 10lbs. of pork loin today or this month but come the next 3-4 months when we want pork chops, I am not at the whim of the $3.99 or more per lb. at the grocery store butcher. 
Yep, saving big bucks on food/hba is necessary even in a no spending month deal.

And that is my not-so-subtle segue into one of the great ideas on saving money that anyone forearmed with some sales cycle knowledge and some spare food/hba budget cash can jump on.

Here is what I did over the last week or so to save money.

We have a dishwasher.
Dishwasher detergents are pricey, right?
So I pick it up when I find it cheap.
Once a year, Finish brand releases a high value coupon(some years they release it two times during a year).  It's generally $2 or more and it's usually available at the beginning of the year.
I knew this baby was coming and I was ready to start saving!
But phooey on the coupon gods.....this year my region did NOT get the yummy $2.25 off 1 item coupon!

So I bit the eBay bullet and paid someone to clip a pile of this coupon for me.
And wouldn't ya know it! the sales started for Finish dishwasher detergent immediately after the coupon came out the Sunday before last.

Walgreen's had a deal last week....Finish was on sale for $3.49 a box.  After coupon & tax here, it was $1.45 a box.  And for each box you bought you received a $1.50 RR(1 per transaction), making it free after Q and Register Reward.

My envelope of coupons arrived on Thursday.  I was chomping at the bit to use these babies so I went up to Wags.
Usually by Thursday here at Wags, with the good or free deals(which this was!), the shelves are long past cleared.
This particular coupon not being released here worked in my favor.....Wags was lousy with Finish!! ;-)
I did 2 transactions and bought 2 boxes.....plus a clearance jar of Italian Herbs as we were out.

Total spent....$3.49($2.90 for the dish detergent).
I have $3 in RRs to roll.
Why did I stop at 2 boxes?
Well, first off I am NOT anxious to get back into the Wags scene and rolling RRs and second, I knew Rite-Aid and CVS would have deals on this item in short order.

And the very next week(yesterday), those 2 drug chains started sales on Finish. 
The Rite-Aid deal is BOGO which is pretty sweet usually.  Not so sweet if the regular price on 1 box is $6.49 however!lol
So 2 boxes on BOGO sale using 2 x $2.25 Qs still means I am out of pocket(or out of free gift card in my case)$1.99 for 2 boxes or $1 a box + tax.
CVS came through with a better deal.  This week the Finish is on sale for $3 a box, which after $2.25 Q makes each box .75¢+ tax.  And if you buy $20 of Airwick and/or Finish this week you get a $10 ECB reward back.
So the deal is buy 7 boxes, spend $5.25 out of pocket and get $10 in ECBs back.
Even without the ECB, you spend less OOP than at Rite-Aid with the Q.

The problem is finding 7 boxes here in the CVS stores past 9am on Sunday morning!
They get hit and hit early and hard on the good deals....
But again, no $2.25 in our inserts worked to my advantage.  I slept late on Sunday and still found plenty of Finish in the late afternoon to buy....
And I bought 14.
I did the deal on my card....

And then I did it again on Hubs card at a different CVS.
I still had 4 Qs left.  So I used them at Rite-Aid, but we'll talk about Sunday's Rite-Aid rampage another time. ;-)

I spent $11.14 with tax at CVS for 14 boxes.
$2.90 at Wags + $11.14 at CVS=$14.04 for 16 boxes of dishwasher detergent and I have $3 to spend at Wags and $20 to spend at CVS.
After I spent zero out of pocket to buy 4 more at Rite-Aid(thanks to my free gift cards and +Up Rewards) I now have a yearly supply of dishwasher detergent in place.

Yes, I may buy a bottle or box here or there if it's an amazing price or free during the rest of the year, but this is one item I can check off my needing to purchase for the whole year list!

Sluggy

A New Giveaway Winner Chosen!

Since a solid week has elapsed since I picked the winner of the MyBlogSpark/Safeway/Gladware/Betty Crocker Giveaway with no contact from that winner, I have drawn a new winner from our 48 remaining valid entries.

Random dotorg has smiled upon Entry #23....

Ashley said...

Found this giveaway on the blog post at Looking forward to an equally frugal 2010! reynoldsmommy at gmail dot com #3

December 16, 2010 11:21 PM

Congratulations Ashley!
You have 48 hours from this post time stamp to email me your mailing information(along with your phone number as the company asks for that too).  You can find my contact email on my Profile Page(see the About Me section on the right sidebar).


This giveaway should teach everyone 2 things when entering a giveaway......
1. Always leave your contact information in your entry, especially if you don't link your info from your Blogger ID or post anonymously.
2. It pays to use other blogs to find giveaways.  Ashley found us here through Frances' blog and they both received extra entries for blogging and directing readers here!


Sluggy

Looking Back at My Favorites of 2010

We've had quite the year in the Deal Hunting/Blogging/Couponing World in 2010!

While I was sitting here doing my End of December and End of 2010 Financial Numbers, I got to thinking about all the deals that made up my year. 
Here is a List of my Favorite Deals and Ideas of 2010.

7.  GROUP BUYING--2010 was the Year that the Purchasing Power of the Group blossomed!  From Groupon to EverSave to Living Social.....purchasing everything from food to landscaping services in a group to get a great discount for said item/service was hot!  Even the slow adopter of all things new and trendy ME got in on a couple of group buying deals...lol  I snagged some food-type Christmas presents and a much wanted magazine subscription(my one and only subscription)near the end of 2010.

Since many of the companies that offered great discounts via group buying in 2010 did so to lure new customers toward their brand and make them repeat customers, we'll see if this marketing ploy worked in 2011.
Or will group buying be a bright hot nova that burns out quickly?  Time will tell.

6.  FOCUS GROUPS & SURVEY SITES--I've been a member of Pinecone Research for a couple of years now.  They are a highly reputable company and I recommend them if you ever see that they are soliciting for new members.  You won't get rich taking their surveys(nor will you get rich doing ANYONE'S surveys!)but it's steady compensation for the time you spend completing their questionnaires. I figure if I'm online anyway, I have time to do a survey now and again for a few dollars.
I also joined in 2010 a Focus Group company.  I've had 2 opportunities in the last 6 months to take part in a focus group, each of which paid considerably for your time(and thoughts).  I was only able to take part in 1 of them as I didn't respond back quickly enough to the 2nd offer.  With focus group work, the sessions tend to fill up quickly so if you snooze, you loose!

5.  SOCIAL MEDIA--Another "hot" idea in 2010 was companies using Facebook to promote their products.  Many major companies made Facebook pages last year and if you "Liked" their page you could take part in giveaways for Prizes and/or Coupons, including many, Many FREE ITEM COUPONS!
Sluggy "heart"  free item coupons!!
Free cheese, tea, shampoo, goat cheese, neti pots, gum, bacon, mac and cheese, pain reliever, facial tissues, cereal, vitamin supplements, chips, etc.....these are all items I got for free from liking companies on Facebook.
And if the automated system for sending out the Free Item Coupons went haywire, that was even MORE fun.....like the Free OREOS I got for liking the Oreos brand, or rather the FIVE packages of Free OREOS.lolol

4.  BLOGGING PERKS--Ok, so I am not a bigtime blogger.  I have a teeny tiny blog with a fair amount of readers(thank you all!).  The big corporations don't drop me emails to give me freebies in exchange for promoting them to my readership or fly me to conferences on their dime.  I wish they did, but they don't at this point. ;-)
But there are still some deal perks for blogging at the level I do.  I do get some interest from companies who want me to review and/or promote their items.  I don't take many up on their offers because the product has to be something I feel my readers would appreciate hearing about and/or something that's appropriate for this blog.
And I do reach out on occasion to companies myself to see if they'd be interested in supplying me with product to try and to give away to my readers. 
I am an affiliate of MyBlogSpark. They are a company that acts as a "middleman" to hooks up bloggers with companies wanting to promote their products online.  They send me offers that I usually accept.  The best part is they almost always offer a giveaway component....I like giving stuff away to my readers!

Another of the perks of Blogging is ad revenue.  If you place ads on your blog and people who come to your blog click on these ads, you will earn a small cash pittance each month.  This will eventually mean you get a check.  You can also sign up to become an affiliate of another site and earn cash or credit toward items available on their website.  It's a great passive income stream(or trickle in my case).  Just don't go overdoing it so that there are inappropriate ads or so many ads that readers can't find your content.  I've seen some blogs with ads so garish and obnoxious that it took 10 minutes for my eyes to focus again after leaving their site!lol

3.  CATALINA COUPON PROMOTIONS--Since I didn't travel much out of my local area in 2010 to the larger grocery chains, I didn't have opportunity to take advantage of many Catalina Deals.  The Cat Deals here were few and far between in 2010.  And when Weis had them they seemed always to be on products that there were NO valid coupons available for, and/or the amount you needed to spend was far greater  than the value of the Catalina you received.  Catalina Deals are only worthwhile if, with the sale prices and coupons you can use on the items, you have low out of pocket on the initial purchase and the Cat Coupon is a decent amount to roll to do the Cat Deal again.
My best 2 Catalina Deals for 2010 were both at Price Chopper NE surprisingly! Glimpse them HERE and HERE I don't usually shop at PC as their baseline prices here are always higher than Weis Markets or the local independent ShurSave affiliate stores.  But their Catalinas usually beat both of my usual grocery store.  HERE is the end of the best week of Catalina Deals at Weis Markets in 2010.  That was mid February 2010....they are well overdo for another good week! ;-)

2.  INTERNET PRINTED COUPONS--2010 for me at least was the year of the IPQ.  Our Sunday insert Coupons just got worse and worse this past year.  Less of the good regional coupons and more and more 'filler' in the insert pages of offers for trinkets and cheaply made clothing.  I know we had a Red Plum insert this year that had a total of THREE COUPONS and none of them were for FOOD!  There were 10 pages of offers to purchase bras, mumus, arthritis gloves, wolf knives, m&m clocks, porcelain babies, collector plates, ceramic dragons, etc., etc., etc.
If I had to guess, I'd say that 9 out of every 10 coupons I used in 2010 was printed off the internet.  By September I had stopped buying multiple Sunday paperspretty much and had taken to using a clipping service or eBay to obtain the good Manufacturer's coupons. 
Internet printed coupons are great but they are very limiting if you want to stock up on an item.  Being limited to 2 prints per computer of any coupon means you need to find access to multiple computers to access more of that coupon.  This is not always feasible.

And my favorite Deal Hunting/Couponing/Blogging thing for 2010......

1.  RITE-AID--I was a Rite-Aid devotee in 2009.  Back then, with the Single Check Rebate system, Rite-Aid was all about "you have to spend money to make money".  You'd buy items(and use your coupons), then have to wait for your cash refund to be mailed to you in about a month.  Of course, since you used coupons to purchase, your cash refund check was more than what you spent out of pocket, which was awesome.  But until you built up a pool of cash to buy your following month's SCR items, you were having to spend money oop.
Well in 2010 Rite-Aid introduced the Wellness + system, where certain items would give you Wellness Rewards(later on they became +Up Rewards)which were similar to Walgreen's Register Rewards or CVS's Extra Care Bucks.  Rite-Aid also kept the SCR system so you can combine getting cash rebates with the instant +Up Rewards for even better deals and less money out of pocket.  And Rite-Aid released tons of $X off $XX purchase coupons in 2010 as well as very nice high value coupons and deals if you joined the Wellness+ program.
Early on in 2010 I tried to spend less oop than I'd receive back in SCR checks.  Then I concentrated on completing SCR deals for Rite-Aid gift cards to cover my out of pocket outlays.  By April, between the free gift cards and the Wellness/later +Up Rewards, I pretty much had NO out of pocket spending for the rest of the year at Rite-Aid.  Now you have to LOVE a store that PAYS YOU to take things home, right?!!?!!
By the end of March 2010 I believe I had used up all my Walgreen's RRs and CVS ECBs and from that moment onward the only drug store I shopped at was Rite-Aid.  There were more than enough deals at Rite-Aid to keep me happy and by concentrating on just one Drug Store I believe I made better scores and I kept more of my sanity.....though the sanity part is debatable. ;-)

So what were Your favorite Couponing/Blogging Related Deals & Happenings in 2010?
Leave a comment and let us know!

Sluggy

Money Saving Challenge 2011....Latest Trip to Rite-Aid & Some Tips-UPDATED!

First an apology for all you non-Rite-Aid shoppers.
I'm sorry that almost everything has been Rite-Aid related lately.  This will change soon...I promise!

This post is part of the Money Saving Challenge 2011 on Precious' BLOG.
Here's what I did to save money on Thursday.
I went to Rite-Aid!lol

2 x Wet Ones on sale $1.99=$3.98
2 x Planters Nutrition nuts on sale $3.99=$7.98
2 x Planters Nutrition bars on sale $2.50=$5.00
4 x Rite-Aid Chicken Soup on sale .69¢=$2.76
2 x Pilot Pens 20% wellness disc.$1.83=$3.66
2 x Foam craft kit 20% wellness disc. $1.83=$3.66
1 x Joint Juice on sale but 20% disc. lower=$4.79
2 x Nature Made Fish Oil BOGO sale=$11.49
SubTotal....$43.32

Coupons Used
1 x $1 any Purchase AdPerk/VV Q=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Wet Ones IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 any Planters Nuts item IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Nutrition Bars Peelie(found on the lids of the cans of nuts I bought)=$2.00
2 x $1/2 Rite-Aid Soup IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Joint Juice IPQ=$1.00
1 x $3/1 any Nature Made item Wellness IPQ=$3.00
2 x $3/1 Nature Made Fish Oil AdPerks/VV Q=$6.00
Coupon Total....$19.00

$43.32-$19.00=$24.32 + $.10 tax=$24.42
I used $24 in +Ups to pay and put the .42¢ on my free Rite-Aid Gift Card.

I received $16 in +Up Rewards back($4 WYB 2 Pilot Pens, $1 Joint Juice, $5 WYB 2 Darice craft kits, 4 x $1 on nuts and nut bars, 2 x $1 Wet Ones) and qualified for a $2 SCR for BIL's account(Joint Juice), leaving this transaction 'costing' me $6.....I paid with +Ups so I am down $6 in +Ups.

Let's analyze each item purchased.....
*The Wet Ones after $1Q and the $1 +Up they generated were a .01¢ moneymaker.
*The nuts after $1Q cost me $2.99 a can.
*The Nutrition bars after $1Q and $1 +Up they generated cost .50¢ per box.
*The Rite-Aid soup after sale price of .69¢ and $1/2Q made each can cost .19¢.
*The 2 Pilot Pens after the $4 +Up they generated were a .34¢ moneymaker.
*The 2 Foam craft kits after the $5 +Up they generated were a $1.34 moneymaker.
*The Joint Juice after $1Q, $1 +Up and $2 SCR cost $.79.
*The 2 Fish Oil bottles after Qs cost me $2.49 for both bottles.

UPDATE....I goofed about the $1 +Ups on the soup....the nuts and nut bars were giving the $1 +Ups, not the soup.  I've corrected below.....
 If you have the Rite-Aid Qs PDF  that they sent out to people who registered their wellness card on the Rite-Aid website, among the 8 pages of Qs is one for $1 off 2 cans of Rite-Aid soup.  The big Rite-Aid downtown had the soup for .69¢ today.  The sign says this deal is good through February some time(I didn't pay close enough attention to the actual date in Feb.).  Now I'm not sure if the sale is valid at all Rite-Aids but it's worth checking at your local store.....so if you use a $1/2 Q your soup will cost you only $.19 a can!

I predict a run on Rite-Aid soup in the near future....lol

Another heads up!.....about the Qs you can print when you sign into your wellness account at the Rite-Aid website.....you can only use them once, they are serialized!  I got a $2 pain reliever Q and a $3 Nature Made Vitamin/Supplement Q.  If you try to use a duplicate Q of these, they beep and say already used at the register, so don't even bother printing off more than 1 of these.

Rite-Aid stats....

THIS TRIP(plus the trip on 1/5 to get my Resolution Reward to generate where I spent .25¢ on my gift card) Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$.67put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$70.66
SCR qualified for...$2.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$41.00
+Up Rewards spent...$73.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$130.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......17
Total Spent....$7.28 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$729.58
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/3.....$141.00
+Up Rewards spent....$151.50
+Up Rewards earned....$168.00
+Up Rewards left....$130.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

The Rite-Aid Resolution Reward Debacle...The Day I Broke the System

*Sluggy draws a big long breath before beginning, because this is going to take awhile....*

So if you 'do' Rite-Aid you know about their current Promotion....the Resolution Reward.

When you use your Wellness + Card and purchase certain items at Rite-Aid(marked with a "BUY & SAVE" tag on the shelf and in the sales flyer), the amount you spend on these qualifying items counts toward a special +Up Reward.  Spend at least $100 on these qualifying items before Jan. 22nd and you earn this special $20 +Up Reward.  Your current total toward the reward shows at the bottom of your register receipt.
Pretty straightforward, right?

If the promotion runs smoothly.
But NOOOOOOO............
It is NOT running smoothly!

Let me explain, by using my own experience thus far with this Resolution Reward Promotion.
I'm going to illustrate with pictures of my own cash register receipts.

Here is my receipt bottom from 12/30, a purchase at 2:21pm, Store #1....

I have $13.58 in purchases toward the reward at this point in time.

Here is my next receipt from 12/30, a purchase at 2:58pm, Store #2.....

I purchases an additional $32.97 worth of qualifying items.  My $13.58 total has disappeared and only the $32.97 total is showing.

Here is my next receipt from 12/30, a purchase at 4:18pm, Store #3.....

I purchased an additional $3.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $13.58 total is back and the $3.00 purchases has been added, giving me a total of $16.58.
The previously showing $32.97 amount has now disappeared.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 12:21pm, Store #1....

I purchased an additional $6.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $16.58 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $22.58.
Still no trace of my $32.97.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 12:32pm, Store #1.....

Nothing I bought qualified for the reward, so my total remains at $22.58.
Still no trace of my $32.97.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 8:22pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $4.58 worth of qualifying items.  My $22.58 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $27.16.
Hello $32.97!.....where are you??

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 8:25pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $6.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $27.16 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $33.16.
Still no word from $32.97.


Here is my next receipt from 1/3(2 days have elapsed since my last purchase), a purchase at 2:58pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $43.75 worth of qualifying items.  My $33.16 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $76.91.
Still no $32.97.

At this point if my $32.97 was added back in, I would be over the $100 threshold.
So I call Rite-Aid CS.
And I explain this whole thing to CS Rep "Amy".
After she confers with her supervisor she advises me that my $20+Ups should print on the bottom of my next receipt.  The $20 reward is programmed to print on the receipt AFTER you make purchases that make your total hit or exceed the $100 mark.
So if my $32.97 was counted in but just not showing I should get my reward on my next register receipt.

Sounds logical and plausible, right?
Yah.....

So it is now 2 days after my conversation with Rite-Aid CS and 2 days after my last trip to Rite-Aid where I should have exceeded the $100 purchase amount.

So I go up to Rite-Aid Wednesday evening.  And here is my next receipt from 1/5, a purchase at 4:52pm, Store #1....

You will notice that I can't actually show you what my Resolution Reward Total is because NOT ONLY IS MY MAGICALLY DISAPPEARING $32.97 PURCHASE NOT SHOWING, BUT NO PURCHASES WHATSOEVER ARE SHOWING AT ALL ON MY RECEIPT!
I HAVE NO PURCHASES TOWARD THE $20 REWARD!
 
And yes, I did use my same Wellness Card on this purchase.

When I saw that receipt I believe I did say WTF?!?! out loud.
If you were in the store near me and you heard that, I'm sorry....but I just couldn't hold it in....


So this last trip to Rite-Aid necessitated another call to Rite-Aid Customer Service as soon as I stormed home.
My rep this time was "Quincy".
After another half hour on the phone with CS(my second half-hour long call in 3 days!), the consensus is this.....

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED!  WE HAVE NEVER HAD A SITUATION LIKE THIS!
Yep, that is what Quincy and her Supervisor told me.

Gee, I admit I am special but in this case I'd sure like to be a LOT LESS special!lolol

So if your RESOLUTION REWARD TOTALS are changing in odds ways or not adding up right, keep your receipts, list them chronologically and pinpoint where things are going weird and CALL RITE-AID!
Make them fix it for you asap!

And yes, Rite-Aid CS is mailing me my $20+Up Reward.  And I truly don't think this is enough of a payment after all the grief, consternation and hassle they have caused me!
At the very least I deserve a nice big $25 Gift Card or something, don't you think? 8-(

If you are having a problem with this Promotion, leave a comment and tell us about your experience.

Sluggy