'Fess Up.........Who Broke It?

Some Friday the 13th joke, huh? ;-)

Now who done broke blogger?
Fess up!

Here's something to ease y'all into your weekend.....
Enjoy!

Sluggy

Quickie to Rite-Aid.....Rainchecks and Not Using my +Ups

I sort of figured that they would be out of the Precise Pain Patches that are free after the $5 ManuQ by Wednesday afternoon, but I still had to go up to get a raincheck, right?  I did ask and my store will honor that new $5 Precise ManuQ that expires 5/15 if you get a raincheck for the item.  Since the Q is so short lived(only a week!)and it will take at least a week to get more of the item in stock.  It's worth asking your store's manager if they will honor the expired Q in a raincheck situation for this item.

4 x Dove Easter candy 75% off $1.24 each=$4.96
2 x Breathe Right strips on sale $3.99=$7.98
1 x canned Clams on sale=$1.25
SubTotal.....$14.19

Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Dove candy AdPerk/VV IPQ=$2.00
2 x Free Item Rite-Aid IPQ=$11.98(rings up for $5.99 reg. retail for product)
Coupon Total....$13.98

$14.19-$13.98=$.21 OOP
I put the .21¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $2 in +Up Rewards(2 x $1 Breathe Right).

I was going to get either the Hyland's leg cramp med or the StopPain topical pain reliever....they are $6.99 and give a $6 +Up this week.  I heard that there was a Q inside the packages, so I figured I'd open the boxes, take out the Q and use it on that purchase, right?
Well, that was a bust, because the Qs inside the packages are for Calm Forte, not the product in the box.
I hate rolling +Ups where I lose +Ups(in this case $6 rolls and you burn that $.99).  And I don't even have $6 to roll this week anyway....sigh.

As for the transaction I did do, I don't know WHERE my brain was because I had $2.64 in +Ups to use up before Saturday and I didn't manage to use any of them!  I should have figured in $2.64 in additional merchandise in that transaction.
Ugh.

What's happening to me?
Am I losing my Rite-Aid Groove?lol

So I'll be going back to Rite-Aid this week and try to spend those $2.64 in +Ups.
What are the good deals you are getting this week at Rite-Aid?

Sluggy

School Photos or A Comb, My Kingdom for a Comb!

All you parents out there.....
You all know how annoying those school photos can be, right?

It's a production line of kids on Picture Day so the photographers are more concerned with getting all those photos snapped within the never long enough time frame they are given and not how the kids actually look in the photos.
It's quantity over quality, right?

The kids often look uncomfortable....because they ARE!lol
They are forced to pose unnaturally and the smiles are so fake and forced.
Blogging Buddy Mark did a piece on this very same subject yesterday over HERE.

And then the schools here started those Spring photos too.
You know, the set your kid brings home without you even knowing they took more that year!  The school/photography company figure if we give the kids a big fat envelope of photos with their sweet cherubic faces on them, the parents will not be able to resist keeping them and sending us a big fat check in return.
No thanks I say....one set of awkward poses and forced smiles is enough for my checkbook per year.

And I won't even get into the whole lame photography monopoly between the photo businesses and the school boards.

Since Daughter was a senior this year(which is a whole other way to drain your bank account with overpriced graduation photos, announcements and tchotchkes), we only had the one kid left doing the School Photo schtick.
So I filled out the order form for the smallest package they would allow and went up to the blood bank to sell some plasma so I could afford to write a check to send to school to pay for the pictures.lol

A couple of weeks go by and #2 son brings home his Freshman Year school photos.....the photos that we will keep to remember this special time in his life and cherish said photos forever.

And here is what we got for our money.....about 12 copies of this in various sizes......

Was there no adult there with a comb?....or enough sense to tell him to move his hair out of his eyes?
He is a teenager for gosh sakes....his brain is NOT always engaged!

This school feels comfortable reaching into my home and telling me what I can and can't do with my kid yet they can't tell him to get the hair out of his face for a photo?  Ooooh, that would be stepping on his rights.  We may damage his self-esteem!  And we can't have THAT!!
Puhleez......

Sluggy

Decluttering P*rn...the Big Purge of 2011 Begins

Here is the first load of stuff I am letting go of in the Big Purge and Clean-Out of 2011.
Most of this stuff is new merchandise(a few vintage/used/valuable things too but mostly new)I bought to sell on eBay but for some reason or other it just didn't happen.
If anyone sees something they can't live without, give me a holler and maybe we can do some bartering. ;-)

Spock and "Q" Star Trek action figures anyone? I think I have the whole set of 5 or 6 figures in this series but I just haven't located the others yet....maybe they've beamed themselves up somewhere else?

An old kid's book from when my kids were tiny, a bunch of new/unused stuff like Power Rangers folders(Go Go Power Rangers.....Go Go do your math and spelling!) and a couple of Star Wars Posters and Books....

 Elvis has left the building.......sorry, but I couldn't resist saying that.......

More merchandise--a Power Rangers Megazord 3-D wall plaque(scary enough to give any kid nightmares), an Austin Powers adult novelty/gag gift toy(*ahem* don't ask!), a set of collectible Lord of the Rings playing cards, 2 black bear Christmas ornies and a SpongeBob SquarePants Christmas ornie(because obviously nothing says celebrating the birth of Jesus like black bears and cartoon sponge people), a vintage English tinware decorative bowl, a Ty brand Monkey plush, a Power Ranger Galaxy Megazord figure & a Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss novelty clock(complete with Thing 1 AND Thing 2 no less!).

3 pairs of shoes(2 used/1 pair is new in the box from Christmas-they didn't fit Daughter), a Boyd's bears tapestry wall hanging, 2 Disney store Tiny Kingdom figures, an eyeglass case, a set of Power Ranger cupcake liners, a Lionel brand porcelain Santa Christmas ornie, a change purse, a gold lame evening bag, a vintage beaded/pailletted  evening bag.....

a Hot Wheels Home Improvement Action Set, a Beetleborgs action toy, a set of Scooby-Doo themed hot wheels cars, a miniature Hallmark tractor ornie, 8 sets of Toy Story stickers, 12 Small Soldiers window clings, a Johnny Lightning eBay car, a Precious Moments beanie, a Gargoyles set of stickers and a novelty "Wisconsin Mosquito Trap" bought at a tourist place in Wisconsin on my way home from Minnesota many years ago.....

Assorted used video tapes my kids have outgrown like Veggie Tales, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Herbie the Love Bug and The Muppets to name a few....

Lastly 2 large garbage bags full of clothes that no longer fit, that my Daughter cleaned out of her drawers.
This was the nice stuff we could send to Sallies.  She filled an additional bag of  'raggy' clothing we'll cut up for rags and such.

After #2 son gets back from his Marching Band trip, I'll be supervising the clean out of his clothes.  I can't wait to get to that, but we'll have to shovel a path from his door to the closet first! ;-)

All this is headed to Salvation Army by the end of this week unless someone gives a shout out that they want something in this batch.

1 load down, more to come.......

Sluggy

Weis Catalina Results from Last Week or How to Destroy Your Food Budget in One Week!

So I did the Purina Catalina Deal 4 times and the Nestle Catalina Deal 4 times last week at Weis Markets, rolling the $8 Nestle Cats and the $10 Purina Cats one into the next.

Grand Total of what I got....

17 lb. Dog Chows....7
Cans of Mighty Dog...60
Cans of Alpo....19
Busy Bone.....1
Taster's Choice instant coffee...4
Coffee-Mate powder....1
Juicy Juice.....4
Nesquick.....12
Nestle Syrup...8

Cost OOP...$123.31 and an $8 Catalina left to use
Reg. Retail Value....$270.75

Not great but a 54.45% savings rate.
A full year's worth of dog food(when supplemented with the fresh veggies/meat I give them also) and a supply of coffee and chocolate milk mix to get the family through the summer or longer.

Add in the non Catalina items I bought last week at Weis Markets and the Restaurant Supply purchases and I've nearly spent my whole month's food budget for May already.
And the month is only one third over.
Geez....

Here's hoping I get some rebate checks in soon to put toward the food budget. 8-)

So how is your food budget going this month?

Sluggy