So Glad It's Over.....But Still Lots to Do!

Forgive me if I haven't been around to read your blogs/leave comments or respond to comments you may have left on my blog.
It's all I could do this week to just keep cranking out some new blog posts.

Nope, this has NOT been one of my favorite weeks!
Nothing bad going on here but just a really long "Things To Do" list for me....and it's not over with yet.

I was chosen to take part in a focus group back in January.  I've done one other one before this.  That one was an online chat format thing and it lasted for 2-3 hours.  Then I was done and they sent me a little check.
Well this one is a tad more involved.  It is a 5 week commitment with a 1 week break in the midst of it, so I am in this thing for 6 weeks total!  I have tasks to complete each week but I never know when a task will be thrown my way and even better, I have a limited amount of time to complete these tasks.  And they aren't easy peasy, just fill in this questionnaire type tasks either.  I am having to actually use my brain and do some w-o-r-k....ACK!!lol

We are at the end of our 3rd week and we've already lost 1 member.  If you drop out and don't finish this thing you get ZERO $.  At this point death alone will keep me from completing this assignment!

Along with the group taking up my time, I'm under the gun to get the taxes finished so I can file the FAFSAs.  I was hung up until earlier this week with all that paperwork, but #1 son's college finally sent out his 1098 form(showing what we paid them for tuition).  Now I have all the supporting documentation...rah!
At this point in time, I have the federal done tentatively, the state, the local as well as the 2 teens state returns.  Hubs needs to do their local returns Saturday, I need to do their federal returns(those will take a nanosecond)and then we both need to sit down and go over all the returns to check for errors.
After those are finalized, we can fill out the FAFSAs on Sunday.  Yes, that is our wild and crazy partying weekend plan.....filling out FAFSAs.
After it's done we may hit the bottle of Southern Comfort, if I don't open it sooner. ;-)

Add in a 2 hour session being drilled at the Dentist on Wednesday, followed by a 3 hour session working on taxes and it's no wonder I am just not feeling peppy this week.

Top the week off with a sick teen, chopping an iceberg the size that took down the Titanic(this one is in front of the door to my storage unit)so I could get the spare bags of dog food for our mutts, and then chauffeuring around the BIL most of today so he could run his errands.
I did finally get all that food to the food bank...that was the bright spot in my day.

A nice big haul, thanks in large part to the fine folks at Rite-Aid! 8-))

Well it's almost 5pm and I've got to throw something together for dinner.    Daughter's boyfriend was over on Monday evening so I cooked a large platter of pork chops with a plum glaze, stroganoff noodles and yellow beans and red bell pepper sauted in olive oil.  The only people who actually ate the meal were Hubs and I.  I could have killed daughter, BF and #2 son!!  So I have pulled my best Joan Crawford this week to show them it's not nice to fool with mother......I've offered up that leftover pork chop meal every night or some variation of the pork chops in new dishes(pork fried rice with stir-fry veggies, pork alfredo with peas, etc.)  Neither of the teens have taken me up on my dinner ideas and they have just fended for themselves from what's in the pantry or freezer.....grumbling and protesting all the while mind you.  This is great!  I don't have to cook(since I haven't felt like it this week that's a good thing!)and I don't feel guilty for not cooking for them because they are saying don't cook!lol

Another good thing is I have NOT gone to the grocery store this week(except for that stuff I bought on the gift card at Shop-Rite, so I haven't spend any cash).  Hopefully I can hold out until Sunday and stay out of the grocery store and accomplish my No Spending on Groceries Week for February.
Heck, maybe we can go TWO WEEKS without grocery shopping!  That would be awesome.

So I've got my weekend all planned out and if things go well, I'll have all the paperwork done until May when we'll have more school stuff to do....but nothing as bad as FAFSAs and all that mess.
My time will be freed up a bit and I can go back to my first love....Rite-Aid! ;-)

So what is everyone else doing this weekend?  I haven't even begun to think about Valentine's Day either.  We generally don't "do" valentine's day here.  We don't go out or anything since the restaurants are a ZOO then!
Do y'all have any special plans for the 14th?

Sluggy

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Rite-Aiding....But Were Afraid to Ask

 So you want to be a Rite-Aid Diva but you aren't sure about how to go about it.
I'm here to tell you that you CAN learn the Rite-Aid version of the DrugStore Game!
Now I know lots of you already know all this.  This post is for anyone who wanders over here who is just getting into couponing at the Drug Stores.


2010 was a great year to shop at Rite-Aid!
Why?
Because besides having a rebate program in place, they rolled out another chainwide program call Wellness Plus.
Between these 2 programs, it was kind of like Walgreen's back when they had Mail-in Rebates(MIRs) AND Register Rewards(RRs).

Plus 2010 was the year Rite-Aid released all kinds of $X off a $XXX purchase coupons.

And they started the AdPerks/Video Values Program which gave you either $X off $XX purchase coupons or coupons for specific items that you could stack with your Manufacturer's Coupons(ManuQ).




First let's cover some basics........like some Common Couponing Abbreviations.

Coupon Lingo
Q=coupon
IPQ=internet printed coupon 
ManQ or ManuQ or MQ=manufacturer's coupon 
CRT=Cash Register Tape=your store receipt
RA or R-A=Rite-Aid
MIR=Mail-In Rebate
SCR=Single Check Rebate
Wellness=Wellness Plus(or Wellness+) Program
+Ups=+Up Rewards
AdPerks/VV or AdPerks or VV or ValVid=AdPerks/Value Videos Program
AdPerkQ or VVQ=a coupon earned from the AdPerks/VV Program
WellnessQ=a coupon that either prints on your cash register tape(CRT) when you use your Wellness + Card OR a coupon Rite-Aid emails you if have joined Wellness + and link your Wellness + Card to an account on the Rite-Aid website.



Rite-Aid currently has available these Programs.....

*Single Check Rebate Program.
   Each month Rite-Aid has available a rebate catalog(both a paper on you can pick up in the store and one online at their website HERE).  Their are Rebates you can earn on certain products you purchase that month.  The items with rebates will be marked both on the shelves at the store and in the weekly sales flyer.  You purchase a rebate item and you have 2 options to apply for your rebate.....
1. You can mail your receipts in to Rite-Aid when the month is over.
OR
2. You can submit your purchase information online at the Rite-Aid website.


Personally, I prefer the online submission for 3 reasons.
1. It is faster and easier than waiting to mail in a submission.
2. It is cheaper since you don't have to buy envelopes or stamps.
3. If you purchase 2 or more items on the same receipt that qualify for a NON-Rite Aid MIR as well as a RA rebate you can submit for the RA rebate online and use your CRT for the other Non-Rite Aid MIR submission.

It's called a Single Check Rebate because you get one check back no matter how many rebates you apply for.  1 check instead of a stack of checks, one for each qualifying item.


SCR items can be either a cash refund, a gift card or a special promotional item.   It's not unusual for me to get a SCR check, a gift card and a promo item in the same month.  It all depends on what I decide to buy.

You can cash your SCR check at Rite-Aid or use it like cash to pay for purchases.
I take mine to the bank.

* Wellness +Up Rewards
   To get the rewards, you need to sign up for this Wellness Program.  It's free.  You give them your contact information and they give you your very own Wellness Card.  You have the cashier scan it every time you buy something at R-A.  It automatically gives you the discount prices on sale items in the store.  If you don't use your card, you won't get the sale prices.  Every week there are certain items in the sales flyer that generate +Up Rewards.  +Ups are coupons that are worth $ at R-A that are printed at the bottom of your receipt.  You cut them off your CRT and use them like cash to pay for more items you purchase.  Each +Up has an expiration however.  The weekly sale items +Ups are generally good for 2 weeks.  Items that are month long +Up deals generate +Ups that are good for 2 weeks beyond the expiration of the month long deal. (IE-Pilot Pens are a month long deal until Jan. 22nd.  They generate an +Up that is good until Feb. 2nd, which is 2 weeks after the monthly deal expires, no matter when during the month you buy the pens.)

*AdPerks/Video Values
   This is a program where you watch short videos online to earn coupons.  They can call them videos but what they really are are commercials.  You can access this site through the Rite-Aid website or directly HERE.  You will need to sign up for this in order to use it.


The coupons you earn watching these videos are Rite-Aid Qs and can be stacked with a ManuQ to lower the price on an item even more.  You sign up for an AdPerks/VV account on the R-A website.  Besides Qs for specific items, there are also Qs available for $X off your total purchase at R-A if you watch those particular commercials/videos.  Most(if not all at this point)of the AdPerk/VV Qs are serialized.  This means they have a barcode and a unique to that Q serial number on it.  Don't bother printing multiple of these Qs out as you will only be allowed to use it once.  On occasion an AdPerk/VV Q will NOT be serialized.  You can tell because the last numbers under the barcode will be the end date for that SCR period when the Q is earned. (IE-if the AdPerk/VV Q is available to watch for the Jan. SCR period and is NOT serialized the last numbers on it will be 1222011....Jan 22, 2011.)

AdPerk/VV Qs are generally valid for 2 months or 2 SCR periods. (IE-Qs earned/watched from Dec.26/2010 until Jan.22/2011 will have an expiration date of Feb.26/2011.  They can be used during the Jan. SCR period and the Feb. SCR period.)
But you must watch the Video during the month it's made available.  The videos disappear on the last day of the SCR period when they were released.  You don't need to print the Q until you need it....the Q will sit in your account until you need to print it.  But be sure and watch the video before it's taken down.


You can save additional money by utilizing any or all 3 of these Rite-Aid Programs.



Sluggy

A Thursday Chuckle

It's no news to y'all that I grew up in the south.
But I've lived above the Mason-Dixon Line for 26+ years now so I have had my fair share of dealing with northern winters.

This clip is in tribute to my bloggy friends FRANCES and LISAPIE.




Enjoy and remember to Wrap Your Pipes!....

Sluggy

2010 Donations....And Looking Ahead to 2011

Last year, thanks partly to coupon usage, rebating and stockpiling items when at rock bottom prices, I was able to feed my family of 4-5 on a total of  $2,291.67 for a retail value of $18,932.69 worth of groceries/toiletries.

Ok....so my 'actual' costs are really higher than $2,291.67 when you add in the gas for the car to go buy the food, the cost of Sunday newspapers or eBay purchases to get coupons, the cost of printer ink and paper to make my own internet coupons, etc.  But let's use that number for arguments sake. ;-)

And not only did we feed our family on this amount, we donated over $700 worth of food to our local food bank.  That's 366 items over the course of a year.  It worked out to just about 1 item per day for a whole year.
I kept track of it all on the blog.

Here are the photos--

April's haul....

May's lot...

July's contribution....

 December's donation....

December's load was mostly toiletries but I had some other food that I didn't get a picture of....I was sort of rushed to get it all up to the food bank before the month ended, so no pictures of nice neatly laid out stuff this trip. 8-)

Add in the cash donation we made as part of participating in the June Food Stamp Challenge over at the Non-Consumer Advocate Blog as well as the food I gave to family members which we estimated to be in the $500 regular retail ballpark and we were able to make our $2,291.67 out of pocket expenditure stretch quite far!

I'll be taking up another load of food and toiletries on Friday to our local food bank.  I'm hoping that this will be just the first of many trips my strategic way of shopping will allow me to share with my local community in 2011.

So what is the point of this post?
It's not to show-off what we did last year to give back....though y'all know I am not above showing-off sometimes. ;-)
It's to show that everyone is capable of finding ways to help in their own community.  And that ALL donations are appreciated....from the largest to the smallest.
And to bring awareness that many Food Banks struggle with lack of donations, especially in-between the Holidays.  People get all compassionate and giving around the Holidays but the donations tend to dry up at other times of the year.

I often get items for free at Rite-Aid.  Ok, so I don't necessarily NEED that item for my family.
But I get it anyway because I know there is someone in my community who doesn't know to or care about taking the time to get it for free even though they really could use it.
So I get it and donate it at the food bank.
Someone who needs it and can't afford to pay for it gets the item and I get Karma points, Brownie points, Credit with the Man Upstairs, a good feeling in the pitt of my stomach, et cetera knowing I did something to help someone else.

If your soul is feeling out of whack, try a little giving and see how much better you feel!
It's better than Crack!!....or so I've heard.....


I'd like to Challenge all of you dear readers to make 2011  the Year you GIVE!

*If the Boy Scouts or some other Service Organization comes around door-to-door asking for food, open your pantry & give if you have something to spare. 
*If the local drug store chain has some freebie available, go get it and start a donation pile for your local homeless group, domestic abuse shelter, church food pantry.
*If you have a few extra coupons, clip them and pair with some sales at your grocery store to get a few extra items of food for a neighbor who is struggling to feed their family due to an unexpected job loss.
*If you don't have a pet but get great pet food coupons in your paper, pair those with a sale/deal at your local store to get items to donate to your local animal shelter....or pass along those coupons to the shelter if they can use them.

So let's hear some ways you plan to give back to your community in 2011.

Sluggy

Who Wants a $25 Shop-Rite Gift Card?

Doing your part to help local participating schools through Box Tops for Education and donating to ShopRite’s Partners in Caring, a community-based, hunger fighting initiative that works to provide $2 million annually to charities that aid those in need, can be as simple as your everyday food shopping.

Now through September 30, 2011 visit ShopRiteShopOnceGiveTwice.com to register your ShopRite Price Plus Card. Check back each month for participating products and great savings. When you purchase any 5 participating products on or before the end of the month using your ShopRite Price Plus Card, let the giving begin. 

With a qualifying purchase of 5 participating products you earn 5 Bonus Box Tops to be electronically added to your school, and $0.55 will be donated to the ShopRite Partners in Caring Fund. 

A few of the great items for February include some of your favorite products like, Cheerios, Wheaties, Nature’s Valley Granola Bars, Fiber One Bars, and Fruit by the Foot. 
You can find the whole list of participating products on the Shop-Rite website HERE.


My BlogSpark and Shop-Rite sent me a $25 Gift Card so I could go show you how easy it is to participate in this worthy cause and get some great food deals for your family.
They also enclosed a sheet of coupons for a variety of General Mills family of products.  I took some of my own coupons too and here are the 5 participating products I bought.....

I know it's shocking but we were almost out of cold cereals here!
The horrors.....
So I bought some favorites of my family.
The Kix and Cocoa Puffs are on sale this week at Shop-rite too for $2.49 a box!
And even if they aren't on sale we have to have our Cheerios.  I had coupons and the gift card to cover the cost of all so I am not very broken up about paying regular price on the Cheerios.lol
The coupons & sale prices on some brought my costs down to $2.48 a box, before applying the gift card...and I had half the gift card left to get other items on my list.

Free cereal for my family and 5 bonus BoxTops for Education for my selected school and $.55 donated to the Shop-Rite Partners in Caring Program.
A big Win/Win/Win all around!
*The Partners in Caring Program does have some restrictions and limitations.  Visit www.shopriteshoponcegivetwice.com to obtain all of the details about the program.*

And if that’s not enough, be sure to enter the ShopRite “Shop Once. Give Twice.” Sweepstakes* by filling out the form on ShopRiteShopOnceGiveTwice.com for your chance to win one of 10 Grand Prizes of 5,000 Bonus Box Tops for the school of your choice! 
*No purchase is necessary to enter the sweepstakes.  Go to ShopRiteShopOnceGiveTwice.com for all the details about the sweepstakes, prizes, and instructions on how to enter.*

My General Mills, Shop-Rite & MyBlogSpark have agreed to furnish a second $25 Shop-Rite Gift Card for one of my readers!
So if you would like to win this prize, here is how to enter......

**Go to ShopRiteShopOnceGiveTwice.com to see the list of particpating food products.  
Then leave a comment on this post about which product you are most excited to see as a participating item in this program.**  Be sure to leave your email address in the comment especially if you don't have a google account or are posting your comment Anonymously.


This Giveaway will be open until next Wednesday, February 16th at 11:59pm ET.  I'll draw a name randomly and post the winner the following day, on Thursday.


So go enter the Giveaway and register your Shop-Rite Price Plus Card and get ready to shop!

**This is where I disclose that the gift card, information and additional gift card to give away were all given to me from General Mills and ShopRite through MyBlogSpark.**


Sluggy