Rite-Aid Reminders, Bonehead Bank & Thanks!

Saturday is the last day to watch your January Rite-Aid AdPerk/Value Videos or Video Values or Whatever they are called.
The new February Videos go up on Sunday and the new Single Check Rebate Period begins Jan. 26th.
NOTE***There are no items that qualify for SCRs from January 23rd-25th.  Rite-Aid is changing the SCR period to run from Wednesdays to Thursdays instead of Sundays to Saturdays.***
So hold off buying items for Single Check Rebates until Wednesday, ok?

In other Rite-Aid news Saturday is the last day to also qualifying for the $20 Resolution Reward!  Make sure if you are close to the $100 purchase requirement that you get there by Saturday night.

A new Winter Resolution Reward is on deck starting Jan. 23rd.  It will run the same as the last one....purchase $100 or more in qualifying items marked with a "Buy & Save" logo between January 23rd and February 26th and you will receive a $20 +Up Reward.
I sure hope this one runs more smoothly than the last one....

Sometimes I doubt my own standing in the Frugal Club!
First let me say that Hubs and I have had the same bank for about 24 years now.  The bank has changed names more times than I can count on my fingers since we signed up as their customers but we've had the same accounts for 24 years.
Imagine my surprise when a few months ago I started seeing a service fee on my checking account.  It wasn't much so I didn't even call them to complain.  Yah, I am lazy that way sometimes.lol

Then last month when we had to reorder checks I found a $40 check charge on the statement.
Let me say that I've NEVER had to pay for checks at this bank no matter what incarnation/name it had at the time I ordered checks.
This was the last straw!

So we went into the bank this morning handed the gal the statement with balances and told her to close the accounts and give us our money thankyouverymuch!
The manager took one look at the balances and her eyes got wide and after a couple of sputters she said, "Oh No!  You shouldn't be paying any fees with the amounts in those accounts!  There must be a mistake.  Please, let me fix this for you."

Since we had been with this bank, which from here on out will be referred to as the Bonehead Bank, there have been many, many takeovers/mergers with other banks.  I have lost track of how many bank names we've had to memorize over the years.

  Not the current Bonehead Bank or the many incarnations before it have ever gone back and looked at the accounts they had carried forward to the current incarnation.  If they had, they would have seen all the accounts they had customers in that were no longer even offered, some being obsolete up to 3 mergers ago! 
If the Bonehead Bank had made a point of going through it's account records they would have seen and hopefully contacted customers sitting in these obsolete products and offered to move them into current savings vehicles.
You would think.....

No, this Bonehead Bank just let things go and instead of letting customers know BEFORE they were charged fees, waited until the customer noticed and complained.

Things are smoothed over here.....I got my fees returned, updated the savings product, got a better interest rate AND a free deposit box to boot.
I heart free.....

With the federal regulations recently limiting what/how much banks can charge in credit card fees and the debit overdrafts, keep an eye on the bank where you have a checking and/or savings account!  In order to increase revenues, banks are now upping their fees on other services to your non-credit card accounts to make up for their losses.  Look for anything from your FREE CHECKING ending, to check fees, imaging fees, maintenance fees as well as the terms changing on your credit cards.
It will all sneak past you if you don't seek out the information, because you can bet, My Bonehead Bank is NOT the only Bonehead-esque Bank.  One day you may open your statement or go to read it online and find a nasty fee or two you didn't know was coming!

And lastly, thanks to everyone who sent me birthday greetings the last day or so.  It was so appreciated and truly made me feel loved....or at least liked. ;-)
I am so bad myself about remembering friends and family members birthdays.....it's true!, go ask them!  I should try harder, I know.

And don't forget to enter my Birthday Giveaway!!  Click on the link on the top of the right sidebar. 8-))

Sluggy

It's Time for Sluggy's Birthday Boring Blog Giveaway!

Ok Peoples!!!
Par-tay Time!

In honor of my birthday I am holding a Giveaway.
It's modeled on my Boring Blog Box Giveaways of last year.  You can go HERE and see what the Boring Blog Box Giveaway was all about in 2010 if you weren't around then.

We start with a box......

As for what will go into the box as prizes, I am going to let everyone who wants to win decide that.

I will post 3 items.  You dear readers get to vote on which 1 of those 3 items you would like to see in the box.  You will have 3 days to leave a comment on that post.  That vote/comment is your entry into the drawing for the box.

When the 3 days are up, that post will be closed and I'll put a new post up with 3 more items.  Again, you will leave a comment on that post which item you want me to put into the box.

We will continue like this until there is no more room for anything else in the box.
Then I'll close the Giveaway, gather all the entries and randomly pick a winner, who will receive the box of Goodies.

But Wait!
There's an extra Bonus Prize!!!
Since we try to be Frugal here, all my prizes have either been freebies or almost freebies I've gathered in my travels, just like last year.

But I wanted to include an extra special prize that was highly coveted but still cost me nothing.
I have a credit card account where I earn points and can turn them in for FREE GIFT CARDS.
So the winner of the Boring Blog Box will ALSO get to pick a $25 Gift Card to the store/restaurant of their choice from this List.....

*American Eagle Outfitters
*Banana Republic
*Barnes & Noble
*Bath and Body Works
*Bed Bath & Beyond
*Best Buy
*Bloomingdales
*Cabela's
*CVS
*Dillard's
*Fandango (movie chain)
*Foot Locker
*Gap
*Home Goods
*iTunes
*JCPenney
*Kohl's
*LL Bean
*Land's End
*Lowe's
*Macaroni Grill
*Macy's
*Marshall's
*Old Navy
*Olive Garden
*Pottery Barn
*Red Lobster
*Red Robin
*Royal Entertainment Group(movie chain)
*Sears
*Staples
*Starbucks
*Sunoco Gas Station
*TGI Friday's
*TJ Maxx
*The Home Depot
*Walmart
*William-Sonoma

Since I have to wait until the winner picks their gift card, there will be about 2 weeks until I get the card and can mail the prizes out, so the winner will need to have a bit of patience. ;-)

The Rules
1. You must be a "Follower" of my blog to enter and still be a Follower if/when you win.  Lookie on the right sidebar and press the big ol' FOLLOW button if you are not already a follower.
2.  Sorry but this Giveaway is open ONLY to those with a mailing address within the USA.  Hate to have to do that but the postal rates outside the country are KILLER.
3. 1 vote/entry per post with 1 exemption.  You can leave more than 1 comment per post but only your 1st vote/comment will count.

The 1 Exemption....You can earn EXTRA ENTRIES this way....
*If you get someone to become a Follower and enter this giveaway you can earn an Extra Entry for each person you bring on board.  You can blog about the giveaway or email people or post about it on a message board or call your neighbor on the phone....whatever way you want to recruit them, I don't care.  Just make sure that they mention in their vote/comment/entry that You(your name here)told them about the blog/giveaway and you get an extra entry that post.


As always, this is not a company sponsored or company supplied Giveaway.  Any costs associated with this Giveaway are coming out of my pocket because I'm just that kinda gal.  Please patronize our blog ads....I'm just sayin'.... ;-)



Here are your 3 items to choose from today....

1. Sarah Michaels Rose Scented Gift Set
2. Avon Naturals Vanilla Shower Gel
3. Tone Cocoa Butter Soap 2 pack


Just leave a comment on this post with your choice of #1, 2 or 3.
Additional praise for me on the anniversary of my birth is welcomed but won't earn you any Brownie points for the Giveaway. ;-)

Sluggy

Using Every Opportunity to Save on Groceries...

I had a bunch of errands to run on Thursday since we were suppose to get a snowstorm today.

I had 2 Wags RRs to spend, amounting to $3 from the Finish dishwashing tabs I bought 2 weeks ago. At first I thought I'd roll them into more RRs but there was nothing I really needed that was generating RRs this week and the thought of staying on the Wags RR merry-go-round was NOT appealing. Especially since I am on the Rite-Aid +Up merry-go-round and can't seem to get off of that one!lol

No photo but I picked up 2 liquid soaps and a jar of olives. I needed .03¢ more to get to $3 and I found 2 jars of Fluff on the clearance endcap at .39¢ each. With the tax my OOP came to .87¢.
I feel better having picked up some items I can use rather than rolling RRs and spending a bit OOP on stuff I don't really need.

We also received 2 coupon triplers on the Price Chopper weekly flyer this week and it is right over by Wags, so I stopped by to see what I could find.  I don't usually shop there but if there is a Catalina Deal or something great to cherry pick, I will head over to take advantage. 

You can only use the triplers on insert(glossy manuQs) or teapad type coupons(no internet printed qs)so I was limited in what I could find that was cheap or free.
I ended up getting the 2 bars of Helavu Good cheese....on sale $2 each and I had a $1/2 ManuQ which tripled to $3/2, so each bar cost me .50¢.
I also got the French's fried onions....my $1/1 ManuQ tripled so the $3.59 can cost me .59¢ in the end.

The egg nog was store discounted from $3.19 to $1.19(I picked those up for the teens as a treat), and the Smart Balance sour cream was store discounted from $1.55 to $.55 each.
There was also a flyer coupon for $2 off bags of Weaver chicken parts(limit 4)which were already marked down to $5, so those were $3 each.  Breaded chicken are a mainstay of #2 son's diet, right behind Taco Bell and Ramen Noodles. For fun I attempt to poison him with veggies any chance I get....

In the end I spent $17.03 at Price Chopper. Regular retail was $38.45, so I saved $21.42 or 55.70%.
The chicken is always needed, as is any kind/type/form of cheese in this house!  The fried onion thingies I like to have on hand in the stockpile and I was out.  The egg nog was a cheap treat as mentioned before.  The sour cream is reduced fat type.  While I am not a big fan of the mouth feel or flavor of reduced fat type, it will be fine incorporated into dishes.

This seems to be the way I shop lately....a little bit picked up here, a little bit picked up there.   Gleaning the good deals wherever I can find them.  Gone are the days of going to one grocery store, once a week, every week and spending $100-$150 a pop.  I scoop up a few items at a time on my travels around town.  While it does take more time shopping this way, time is something I have. ;-)

What about you?
Do you cherry pick the sales and go to more than one store a week?
What is your average weekly count of trips to the stores?

Sluggy

Food Outlet & Rite-Aid Shopping on Monday

I'm finally getting around to posting my Rite-Aid updates for the week.

Monday, Hubs and I went out shopping for those sweaters I mentioned before. We hit 3 Rite-Aids as well, per my request.lol

Rite-Aid #1--I got 1 bag of Rice, 1 bag of TGIF Snacks and 1 bag of BK Snacks. I know the BK Snacks aren't giving a $1 +Up back but #2 son likes that kind.
After using $3 +Up Rewards, total was .13¢ put on a gift card.
I received $2 +Up Rewards back.

Rite-Aid #3--I got 3 bags of TGIF Snacks & 1 Rite-Aid facial tissue(their sign said limit of 3). After using $2 +Up Rewards, total was .91¢ put on a gift card.
I received $3 +Up Rewards back.

The weird thing at this store was the cashier didn't even ring up the R-A facial tissue and no +Ups printed of course! I am guessing here, but with all the misinformation flying around on Monday about the limits on the free paper goods, management must have told them to keep track of how many they 'sold' but not ring it up since the register wasn't giving back the correct amount of +Ups? I bet they were tired of hearing the customers complain when the +Ups didn't print, so they just gave the stuff away.lol  I'm just guessing here....

At any rate, I was down $1 on one transaction, and up $1 on the other.

At Rite-Aid #2 I did a bit more buying.......

2 x Eco-Speakers 90% xmas clearance .59¢=$1.18
1 x R-A Coffee on sale=$1.99
5 x TGIF Snacks on sale .97¢=$4.85
4 x Hormel Chili on sale $1.25=$5.00
1 x R-A 4 pack TP w/wellness discount=$.80
1 x 2lb Rice w/wellness discount=$1.19
2 x 2lb. Brown Rice w/wellness discount=$2.70
1 x Computer Mouse on sale=$2.99
SubTotal....$20.70

Coupons Used
1 x $2/1 R-A Coffee Wellness IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$2.00

$20.70-$2.00=$18.70+.04¢ tax=$18.74
I used $18 +Up Rewards and put $.74 on my free Rite-Aid Gift Card so Zero out of pocket.

I received $19 in +Up Rewards back(5 x $1 TGIF Snacks, 5 x $1 Hormel Chili, $1 R-A TP, 3 x $1 Rice, $5 Mouse), making this a $1 Moneymaker.

The coffee was free after my Q, the Chili was free after +Ups, the TGIF snacks were a .30¢ moneymaker and the TP was a .20¢ moneymaker after +Ups, I got paid $3.01 to buy the Mouse after +Ups, the rice was either .19¢ for reg. or .35¢ a bag for brown after +Ups and the speaker sets were 90% off.

******************

At the Food Outlet I bought packs of Mott's single serve applesauce for Hubs lunches for .59¢, cans of Whack Biscuits for .50¢, a large bottle of Blackstrap Molasses for $2.50, 2lb bag of Powdered Milk for $1.99, boxes of blue corn taco shells for .99¢.  I also picked up some impulse buys--a Mayan chocolate coffee drink powder for .99¢ and some Jasmine Tea for .99¢.
It wasn't a very fruitful trip to the Outlet but that's how it goes sometimes. 


Now for the Rite-Aid numbers....

THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....3
Total Spent....$1.78 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$61.47
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$24.00
+Up Rewards spent...$23.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$143.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......34
Total Spent....$18.65 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1332.82
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 1/16.....$142.00
+Up Rewards spent....$360.50
+Up Rewards earned....$380.00
+Up Rewards left....$143.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

My 1,000th Post & Birthday Giveaway Jamboree Celebration!

First off, thanks for stopping by to read me today!

After I posted my last blog post I noticed on my dashboard that it indicated that I had published 999 blog posts.  I don't usual keep track of stuff like that but....
WOW!
I was one post away from my ONE THOUSANDTH POST!!

The stars must be aligning themselves, I thought, because my Birthday was 3 days away(Friday the 21st) so it I held off posting until Friday I could have my 1000th post on my Birthday.
Now how cool would that be, huh?!?!

But alas.....
I went to work on this post this morning and I saw that my Dashboard now indicated that my PREVIOUS POST was #1000, not the one I was working on.
Blasted Dashboard Lag!

So I am going to ignore I saw that last bit on my Dashboard and THIS POST is the Official 1000th Post!
Yah, you all KNOW I can't keep my mouth(or fingers)still for another 2 days so that my "fake" 1000th post is published ON my Birthday, so why try to be what I am not--a patient, well mannered, quiet blogger?!

In honor of my Natal Day I am pulling out all the stops and holding a Birthday Giveaway!
It's sort of a BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY but on Steroids!

You will all have to come back on Friday to find out the details.
As Oscar Wilde once said, "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."

In the meantime, I need to go sort through all the birthday freebie food deals in my inbox.   Yes, I'll be eating my way through this birthday.lol

Sluggy