Rite-Aid Quickie.....

Yesterday was a mess around here!  We got some snow Tuesday night/early Wednesday so they closed the schools.  The poor doggies had to blaze a pathway to get their "business" done......

At least no school meant that I had captive shoveling volunteers for our way too long driveway!

Today, I had to haul my carcass up to the family doc's office to get some bloodwork slips for Daughter so I thought since the roads are good and the sun is shining today, I'd hop over to Rite-Aid.
After all....it has been FOUR DAYS since I was there last!

2 x Motrin PM(I love this stuff!) on sale $3=$6.00
2 x Fritos on sale $2.50($2.39 w/20% wellness discount)=$4.78
2 x Special K cereal on sale BOGO($4.79)=$4.79
2 x Fiber Plus cereal on sale BOGO($4.79)=$4.79
SubTotal....$20.36

Coupons Used
1 x $1 off your Order AdPerk/VV Q=$1.00
1 x $6/2 assort. OTC including Motrin PM IPQ HERE=$6.00
1 x BOGO Special K IPQ HERE=$4.79 *
2 x $1/1 Fiber Plus Cereal IPQ HERE=$2.00 **
Coupon Total.....$13.79

$20.36-$13.79=$6.57
I used $6 in +Ups and put the .57¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $9 back in +Ups(2 x $2 Motrin, 4 x $1 Cereals, $1 wyb2 Fritos)=$9, making this a $3 moneymaker.

*The coupon says max. value of $4.49 but the cashier insisted on writing it for $4.79.
**If you can find boxes of this cereal with the Try Me Free packaging you can get your money back using This FORM HERE when you submit the necessary paperwork.

Hopefully my coupons($6/2 ManuQ Mortin)arrive by Saturday's mail so I can get some more Mortin PM.  I was only able to print 2 IPQS for it since Hubs computer is "indisposed" and the kids won't let me use their machines to print computers dagnabbit!  The Qs are coming from Michigan and I am not hopeful the mail will get them here in time for this sale.  But Rite-Aid seems to run sales on this Motrin formula often so I am crossing my fingers there is another deal on it in the coming weeks.

When I was mucking out the place between the seats in my car earlier today I found ANOTHER receipt from Sunday's shopping rampage.  I totally forgot I had made a small transaction to test out whether the Barilla was giving 5 $1 +Ups before I bought more at my 1st store...duh!   I have updated the last Rite-Aid post Totals to reflect my spending/value of items/+Ups used/+Ups gained/etc. With the +Ups earned/used from that lost receipt, Sunday's rampage went from a $3 moneymaker to a $6 moneymaker...woohoo!   The photo and item count were correct.

Just an update for the week.....the extra Month long +Up for the Compleats has been withdrawn by the Manufacturer so if you buy it now, you'll only get the single $1 +Up.  This makes me think that next week when the Hormel Chili goes on sale, there will NOT be a double dip on the +Ups they produce.

And the Harvard Square pencils, erasers, rulers $2 wyb 2 items tags have been taken down in most, if not all stores, even though that deal was suppose to go until 1/22. 



THIS TRIP
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.57  (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$37.52
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$40.00(1 Me, 1 BIL)
+Up Rewards earned...$9.00
+Up Rewards spent...$6.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$141.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......25
Total Spent....$13.05 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1124.03
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$40.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/9.....$138.00
+Up Rewards spent....$293.50
+Up Rewards earned....$321.00
+Up Rewards left....$141.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy 

Hopes/Goals for 2011

After a fairly decent result with my 2010 Hopes/Goals I am excited to move ahead with my 2011 ones.

I am going to approach things a little differently in 2011 however.

Just laying out my 10 goals and trying for a  quarterly check-in was ok but it DID allow me to just keep pushing some of the goals to the back burner each month.  I figured I'd concentrate on 1 or 3 each month but that method left many things untouched, especially the sewing goals, of which I accomplished NOTHING in 2010. 8-(

So to change things up in 2011, I am going to make up a "Things To Do" type list at the beginning of each month.  This list will have specific points on it to accomplish or make headway on in that month.

I'll have the Monthly To Do List posted on the right sidebar.  At the beginning of each month, I'll post about the current month's hopes/goals and at the end of the month, I'll do a short post mortem on the List accomplishments(or lack thereof).
As items are dealt with they will be crossed off(if I can figure out how to do that!) and/or blogged about.
Some of y'all may not find this very interesting or helpful but I'm doing it this way for me.....because at the end of the day, it's my blog and it's my way or the highway here. ;-)

 Here is a list of areas in which I want to accomplish something(a goal) in 2011.  
Some months will be heavy in one area but other months will be heavy on another, since some of the goals/hopes are seasonal(taxes, gardening, eBay).  Some of the areas will overlap.  I know I'm not explaining this very well as I am still firming the plan up in my head and inside my head?....it's pretty mushy in there.  ;-)

Here are my Topics/Hopes/Goal Areas for 2011.

1.  Paperwork
2.   Organization
3.  Money
4.  Reading
5.  Sewing
6.  Cooking
7.  Gardening
8.  Family Life/Home
9.  Giving Back 
10.  Coupon-ing


Now, the "Big Picture" Overview of my Goals/Hopes for 2011 are, but are not limited to, these.....

1. Put more Money Into Savings.
2. File all the Paperwork that needs filing  and completing it on time.
3. Declutter my entire house and garage, and storage unit(and then stop renting the storage unit).
4. Read 30 books this year, with 75% of them being non-fiction.
5. Finish ALL in progress sewing projects and alter ALL clothing that needs it or give it away.
6. Cook more foods from scratch and phase unhealthy options out of my stockpile.
7. Grow more of the food we eat or source our food from non-grocery chain stores.
8. Use my skills to step up what I do for Others.
9. Be more "in the Moment" for my Family.
10. Organize the running of my Home. 

Now I hope this is all clear as mud to you all.

So tell us dear readers, what areas of your life are you going to be concentrating on making better in 2011?
We need to know!

Sluggy

Oh, I am Just Wicked!

Monday evening I watched Hoarders on the A&E channel.
10 pm rolls around and Hubs just shakes his head at me and leaves the family room when that show comes on.
I call it my sick guilty pleasure, watching Hoarders.  I guess it's sort of a way to remind myself weekly that "but for whatever reason, this could be me!"
The Hoarding gene or mentality or whatever you want to call it seems to run in my family.....if you've read me for long enough you know what I mean here.
It's a reminder to me of what I could be or become if I'm not vigilant.

And it's also like watching footage of a 20 car pile-up....you know it's going to gross you out but you just can't turn away. ;-)

**Before I get hate mail because I seem to be making fun of a serious "mental illness", get over yourself!
I have been in the belly of this beast so I have a slightly different perspective on the issue.
Besides, seeing the humour in stuff is what I strive for.....and it's good for your well-being and a great coping mechanism.....there are lots of people walking around with poles up their collective hineys who should try it sometime.
The world would be a much better place for it.**

At any rate, watching Hoarders and reading about hoarding is a great way to keep me motivated to DECLUTTER the House!
Yah, you Know what I'm talking about!!lol

So I'm watching the little intro part of the show on Monday.....the episode with Glen and Lisa.

Glen the pet rat lover/hoarder with avoidance issues related to the sudden death of his wife.

Lisa the cat lady/hoarder seething with passive-aggressive issues with her father.

One with 2500 Free-ranging Rats.

And one with 40+ Cats.

Do you know what my first thought was here?
.....That they should take Linda's cats over to Glen's place and take care of the rats.
Two houses cleared of their animals in one fell swoop.
And Both of them live in southern CA.....it's so DOABLE!!!

Am I an evil genius or what?


Sluggy

Stretching Those Eating Out Dollars

Here's a tip to file away to use next Holiday Season.
It's something I do that stretches the money we will spend anyway.

One of our splurges is going out to eat.
Nothing better for a worn out "cooking machine", a.k.a. MOM, like me, than sitting down at a table and not having to jump up to finish cooking something AND having someone else serve MOI!

We don't go out nearly as much as we use to but when we go out I still want to get a good deal.
Lots of eating establishments offer deals on Gift Cards around the Holidays.  They want you to spend all those gift-buying dollars with them!
Deals like "Buy $X worth of our Gift Cards and get an extra $X worth of Gift Cards to keep and use on yourself."

These silly businesses "assume" I'm buying gift cards to give as gifts.
Au Contraire!

I wait all year long until they offer these deals on their gift cards and then I buy a stack of 'em......to keep and use through out the year when we want to go out!

I figure it this way....
I'm going to eat at their restaurant during the coming year.
And I have some spare money not tied up in other venues besides a checking account.
So I might as well take that spare cash and tie it up into gift cards if they are also going to give me more than my money's worth.

So I bought $100 worth of Gift Cards and got an extra $40's worth for free!

Now the dark side of doing this....
*Make sure you don't buy more than you will use and only buy them for places you KNOW you will go and you like their food.
*Don't lose your gift cards.  While cold hard cash stays safe and snug in your wallet, gift cards tend to wander off and get misplaced.  If you lose it, you are screwed.
*Make sure you are aware of any terms or conditions the company places on their gift cards.  Are there expiration dates or fees if you don't use them within a certain time frame?  Get the straight poop before you hand over your cash.  My $40 in free cards have conditions but I knew it from the start and I can deal with those terms.
*Do NOT do this and pay for the Gift Cards with a credit card(unless you are one of those rare individuals that pays off your statement completely each month).  If you don't and you are paying interest on a gift card purchase, you are negating any savings you sought.

And of course, not only am I eating cheaper each time I go to the restaurant, I also take a coupon with me to make my meal even more frugal!

Now if ONLY our local Asian Restaurant would offer a deal like this!!lol
 

Sluggy

Christmas 2010 Budget/Spending Autopsy

Super Nerd Girl here again.....

Ok, so calling it an Autopsy is not very festive or cheerful.
So call it "The Post where I talk about what I was Going to Spend for Christmas and what I Actually Spent for Christmas".

We budgeted $1000 for Christmas spending.
$1000 in money we HAD already, so no putting Christmas spending on Credit Cards to pay off in June or January 2012.lol

Here is where the funds were allocated at the start.....

Traveling to visit with Family.  $300
Sending a few Holiday Cards.  $10.80
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.  $400
Cooking Christmas dinner.  $30
Charity.  $100
Baking cookies and pies.  $20
Christmas Tree.  $5
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.  $125


And here is where the money actually went.....

Traveling to visit with Family.  $0
Sending a few Holiday Cards.  $4.40
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.  $695.89
Cooking Christmas dinner.  $0
Charity.  $100
Baking cookies and pies.  $0
Christmas Tree.  $5
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.  $76.35 including tips



Here are the Spending Details....

$0  *Traveling to visit with Family----
The travel plans didn't work out so we didn't spend on this.  Not being able to visit however did mean we had more shipping costs to get the gifts we were bringing with us to their destination.  Shipping were put under the Gifts heading.

$4.40  *Sending a few Holiday Cards----
We sent out 13 cards. 10 were mailed and the others were hand-delivered or put inside of mailed gift packages so no stamps needed.

$695.89  *Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family----
WOW!  Ok, so $300 of this figure was the $100 cash we give each kid, so $395.89 was spent on gifts and shipping.  This does NOT include what Hubs spent on my gifts.
I kept an itemized list of who got what and how much it cost.  I about blew a gasket when I saw how much it all added up to!  You don't think you are spending, even if you are frugal, but boy oh boy!!!


Keep in mind that this spending number doesn't include the $200 in FREE Gift Cards I obtained from my credit card points program that I gave as gifts.

Looking back over the items, the least frugal thing has to be the Stocking Stuffers!  Even though I got most of mine this year for free at Rite-Aid, after using +Up Rewards and free Rite-Aid gift card to pay, those little "filler" type items will kill your budget!

$0  *Cooking Christmas dinner----
I didn't buy any extravagant meat or other gourmet type food.  My usual monthly grocery spending covered the Holiday meal.

$100  *Charity----
 I didn't involve the kids in a charity activity this year.  There was just nothing I could find that worked out with their school/work schedules so I just gave cash to a local Holiday charity organization.

$0  *Baking cookies and pies----
Again I was able to cover ingredients in the monthly food budget for December.  Everything but the pecans I had to buy was already procured before the month began using previous month's food funds.

$5  *Christmas Tree----
Hubs strung 2 strings of lights outside and lit the Wreath on the door.  They were only up 2 full weeks and lit for a few hours each night. 

$76.35  *A Christmas eve meal and show or movie----
We didn't have any extended family come this year so it was a smaller bill.

And the grand total we spent for Christmas 2010?

$881.64

$118.36 UNDER Budget!

Yay us.....

So looking forward to Christmas 2011 for me--
*I'm basically happy with what I ended up spending, though next year I may redistribute the amounts spent in individual categories.
*We spend way too much on gifts, even if they are money or non-stuff gifts.
*We need to be more actively involved with the charitable spending, not just throwing a check at some group.

If you kept track of your spending for Christmas, how did you do?
Did you spend more. less or right about what you planned on spending?
Did you have any money epiphanies(epiphany? epiphani?)when you looked back at the Holiday plan?
Do you see anything you'll change about your spending for Christmas 2011?

Leave a comment and let us know how ya did and what you learned about yourself & money this year!!

Sluggy