Stuff & Nonsense

This shirt would sum up my mood lately.  January Spending Diet?
Yah....not so much!lol
I am truly sick of spending already.

Yesterday since Hubs had the day off, we took a ride down to the Food Outlet to see what goodies we could find.
You never know what cheap finds await you at the Food Outlet.  Last time I got burritos for the teens.  Odd children here...they don't like my healthier, cheaper, homemade burritos.  They want the store bought kind. Humph!

I don't get down to the Food Outlet much as it's a long ride(see uses alot of gas!)so we look to combine that trip with other necessary shopping and we load up on the goodies we find at the FO.
Hubs wanted to get some sweaters to wear to work.  Seems they are keeping the thermostat at work lower and Hubs is getting chilled now.  He gave away or wore out all his sweaters a few years back so we hit the winter clothing clearance sale at KMart near the Food Outlet.
We found 4 nice, heavy cotton sweaters for under $35 total.
The Food Outlet was a less than thrilling outcome.  Picked up single serve applesauce for .59¢ per 6 pack(for Hubs lunch), tubes of ground chicken or turkey for $1, Blue Corn Taco Shells for $1, and some other bits and pieces.  Then Hubs snuck in a box of garbage bags for $7.99(eek!)so we dropped $32.80 in there without any real stocking up.

I dropped by a couple Rite-Aids down there as well and got a few goodies.  I'll post that separately after I get the photo taken.

Some blog business.....I've added to the right sidebar a new feature, my Monthly To-Do List.  Hopefully this will keep me from going an entire year without considering the Sewing chores I need to do.  At least now I'll have to ignore doing things IN SPITE OF it Staring me in the Face!lolz

I'll also be taking down the 2010 Grocery Spending Totals and the Savings Challenge Totals shortly.
Time to start fresh for 2011, right? ;-)

I have a hypothetical question for you all....
If  'someone' was to give away a Gift Card as a blog contest prize, for which store would YOU want to win a gift card?
Any kind of store, movie theatre chain, gas station, whatever.
Just leave a comment with your top 3 choices.

Ok, I'm off to the garage to whip my stockpile into better organizational shape.  Since I have the good fortune....cough, cough.....and pleasure of my children's company for a 4th day in a row(thank you snow day from school!), I am getting some work out of them today.

Sluggy

Free is Good, Greed is Not

So I got my Rite-Aid shopping out of the way for the week early on Sunday.

Rite-Aid has 3 items that are free after +Up Rewards this week, facial tissue, a 4 pack of toilet paper and the single rolls of toilet paper.  All are Rite-Aid brand items.
I figured if I wanted to see/get any of this stuff, I'd have to be up at Rite-Aid Sunday when they opened the doors.
Sometimes it pays to be a non-church going heathen......

Was the 1st customer in the door here.
Plenty of facial tissue boxes and single rolls and not one single 4 pack of TP on the shelf.  The manager said there is probably some in the stockroom but she couldn't locate it(it was jammed with boxes)and the person who breaks down the boxes and stocks stuff wasn't in yet to work on things.
I knew that if I came back later in the day, unless I had INCREDIBLY GOOD TIMING, I'd miss out on the TP.
So I just bought a few facial tissue and single TP rolls....

10 x TP w/wellness discount .95¢=$9.50
3 x facial tissue on sale=$3.00
Total....$12.50 +$.01 tax??=$12.51

No Coupons and used $12.00 +Up Rewards.
Used Rite-Aid gift card to pay OOP of .51¢

I received $13 +Up Rewards back, making this a $1 moneymaker.
I didn't get the memo that only $10 worth of the facial tissue triggered a special $3 +Up Reward.
If I had I would have bought 7 more facial tissues(since they were lousy with them)and gained an extra $3 +Ups.


Now free paper products is awesome!
But I just bought a 'normal' amount and didn't fill a shopping cart or something like has been reported.
If you took a store's whole stock(if they had more than just a couple rolls/packs of something)then.... Shame.
On.
You.

Unless you are destitute, you have no right taking it all.
Get your fair share and move on to the next freebie.

I could have run from Rite-Aid to Rite-Aid on Sunday scooping up free paper products but I just didn't feel the need to do so.
If you slept in on Sunday and missed out on the free paper products, be sure and get a raincheck so that if you find a spare roll/box/pack of one of these items on the shelf after this week, you can get in on the freebie.

After tucking my bit of the freebies away, I did my regular shopping......

2 x Viactiv Calcium Chews on sale $6=$12.00
2 x Ester-C packets on sale BOGO=$5.99
3 x Hormel Chili on sale $1.25=$3.75
1 x Mott's Applesauce on sale=$1.25
6 x Betty C. Muffin Mix on sale $1=$6.00
2 x Ramen Noodles on sale $1=$2.00
2 x Chow Mein Noodles on sale $1=$2.00
SubTotal....$32.99

Coupons Used
1 x $4 any Purchase AdPerk/VV Q=$4.00
2 x $3/1 Viactiv ManuQ(Sunday's paper)=$6.00
2 x $2/1 Ester-C ManuQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Ester-C AdPerks/VV Q=$2.00
3 x $.50/1 Hormel Chili AdPerks/VV Q=$1.50
3 x $.50/1 BC Baking Item AdPerks/VV Q=$1.50
Coupon Total....$19.00

$32.99-$19.00=$13.99
Used $13 +Up Rewards and put $.99 on my Rite-Aid gift card so Zero Out of Pocket.

Received $12 +Up Rewards(4 x $1 Chili, $2 WYB 10 $1 select food items, 2 x $3 Viactic)=$12.
This transaction "cost me" $1 in +Ups.

I transaction I gained an +Up, 1 I lost an +Up so I am even for the day.

THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$1.50  (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$72.34
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$25.00
+Up Rewards spent...$25.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$142.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......31
Total Spent....$16.87 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1271.35
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 1/15.....$142.00
+Up Rewards spent....$337.50
+Up Rewards earned....$356.00
+Up Rewards left....$142.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

Clipping Service Hazards & More Free Stuff from Rite-Aid

First things first.....
I found this stuff still in my car from last Sunday's plundering of Rite-Aids.  #2 son it seems is not very thorough at emptying the car.

I've already added this stuff in my big honking "What I Bought" List and numbers from last Sunday.  I just wanted to get the photo out there too.

Onward to new business......

Because our Coupon Inserts suck here, we didn't get the $6 off 2 McNeil products coupon in last Sunday's paper.
This meant I had to enlist the aid of a Coupon Clipping Service to obtain that coupon.   The geographically closest person on eBay, with the auction ending soonest, to offer this coupon clipped was in Michigan.
I took a gamble that getting those set of coupons would mean they would actually arrive here before the Motrin PM sale ended on Saturday(1/15).
Well the coupons got here in Saturday's mail...yay!
However.......
I went out to use them that day and it ended up being a hop from Rite-Aid to Rite-Aid to collect rainchecks for the Motrin PM.
Sigh......
Seems other people also got those coupons in the mail too.

While I won't be adding to my +Up Rewards count in a raincheck situation, the Motrin PM will be $1 a box and the Precise psuedo Ben-Gay cream will be $2 a tube so I'll be able to get combinations of these products for free with the coupons.  8-)

I did buy a few things in my travels on Saturday while gathering rainchecks.
That's not to say I spent money however. ;-)

No anal breakdowns since these sales are over with now.

More free Barilla Pasta(after +Up Rewards), better than free Special K Cereal(up $2 in +Ups), better than free StayFree(up $2.50 in +Ups), and .19¢ soup, .35¢ rice, .50¢ marshmallows, and $1.89 a bag Fritos after the +Ups earned.
One store had a whole slew of Beauty Tools on 75% clearance so I picked up some righteous tweezers for .62¢ and .69¢ each.


THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....4
Total Spent....$2.32  (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$74.98
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$20.00
+Up Rewards spent...$19.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$142.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......29
Total Spent....$15.37 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1199.01
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 1/13.....$141.00
+Up Rewards spent....$312.50
+Up Rewards earned....$341.00
+Up Rewards left....$142.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

Lame, Lamer, Lamest......Sucky Coupon Inserts Rant

The Good News is that yes, there were actual Coupons in last Sunday's Coupon Inserts here!
The Bad News is the number and what they were for.

Coupon Insert Score Card  1/9/11


*Smart Source #1

Food Coupons-13
Non Food Coupons-37!!(Mostly for cleaning products I don't buy/use.)

Other "Stuff"
Price Chopper Ad for Light bulbs
Grandma Shoes Offer
Custom Checks Offer
Pseudo Native American Necklace Offer
Address Labels Offer
Rose Bush Offer
Sports Team Christmas Ornament Offer
Satellite TV Offer

*SmartSource #2

Food Coupons-4
Non Food Coupons-9

Other "Stuff"
1 Sweepstakes Entry Form
Mop/Vacuum Rebate Form
Weight Loss Program
Fruit Bush Offer
Another Satellite TV Offer
Another Custom Checks Offer


*Red Plum

Food Coupons-5
Non Food Coupons-7

Other "Stuff"
Eyeglass Deal Offer
Discover Card Ad
Giant PA Ad for facial tissue
Replacement Window Offer
My Favorite.....Porcelain M&M dressed as Elvis Figurine
Yet MORE Custom Checks Offer
Yet another Satellite TV Offer
Porcelain Trinket Box Offer
Jesus/Bible Verse Throw Blanket Offer
Bose Radio System Offer
"Diamond" Ring Offer
Dragon Train Offer
Porcelain Bird Figurine Offer
Pope John Paul Coin Set Offer
Another Weight Loss System Offer
Home Security Offer
Another Eyeglass Offer
A Second of the same Satellite TV Offer

Grand Total
Food Coupons....22
Non Food Coupons....53
Other Offers....32

I might make this a regular feature, just to keep track of how bad it is here and why it makes more sense to pay for clipping service.

Did any one out there get worse coupon inserts than us?
Do tell!

Sluggy

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