Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway Week #1......Come and Enter!

Time for another......

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

Here's how it works.....

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

Here is what went into the Box today.....

1.  1 bottle of Herbal Essence Shampoo "Tousle Me Softly"
2.  1 Glad Soy Candle "Lotus Bamboo"(or something like that)
3.  1 tube of Colgate Toothpaste
4.  1 more tube of Colgate Toothpaste
5.  1 sample of Cottonelle Wipes

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email addy and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about vacation plans.....are you taking a vacation or will you be "staycationing" instead?  Do go/do the same thing every year or do you like to go different places each time and do different things? Is there someplace you want to go before you die and where is it and why?

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once on each new Giveaway post.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog or on your Facebook page with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post or your Facebook ID so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once on each new Giveaway post.


Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

The Weis Dairy Month Deal.....Not So Great But OK

Weis(Pound Me In The Ass)Markets had an Instant Savings Deal this past week, while I was on vacation.

It was a "June is Dairy Month" Promotion.  When you purchased $12 in selected "dairy" items, you got an instant $3 Off your order.
Let's not even get into that one of the items in this DAIRY Promo was ICE TEA.
WTF?lol

Now in the past, Weis Promos(Catalinas and Instant Discounts)have worked off of regular shelf price....meaning your total before Qs and sale prices had to hit the $12 mark, but you didn't actually have to "spend" $12 in goods to get the discount.
IE--The reg. shelf price was $12 or more, but the sale prices made the order $9.50 and the Qs added on brought your order to $7.00, but you still got $3 off your order, so you paid $4.00 OOP for the items.

So when we got back to town, Hubs and I went up to Weis PMITA Markets and I tried the deal by purchasing....
2 x Friendly's Ice Cream reg. price of $5.99/sale price $1.99
1 x Yo Crunch Yogurt Cup reg. price of .89¢/sale price .60¢
Reg. Shelf Total of $12.87/Sale Price Total of $4.58
With $3 discount the OOP should have been $1.58 for all 3 items.

But the $3 Discount didn't come off.

So I sent Hubs back for more items.....
2 x Daisy Sour Cream  reg. price of $2.29/sale price $1.50
1 x 18 ct. Eggs  reg. price $1.79/sale price $1.69
3 x Yo Crunch Yogurt cups reg. price .89¢/sale price .60¢

With a reg. shelf price total of $22.01 and a sale price total of $11.07 the $3 came off.

I sat for an hour trying to figure out what went wrong here.  Neither reg. price or sale price was at the $12 mark.
And Hubs was none too happy to be send back to get more stuff and I got an earful for that!!! 8-(

Then I read comments from some deal blog readers on this Weis Deal and how there was no rhyme or reason to how this Deal was being applied to folks orders.

And then I figured it out Friday night.
It is/was working off the sale price....you had to actually spend $12(before Qs)on the items to get the $3 discount.

And here is why my sale prices of $11.07 DID trigger the discount....
Our Weis is still having special pricing on some items, due to the Grand Opening of the gas pumps in my town. 
The Friendly's Ice Cream was on sale for 2/$5 chainwide but in our store ONLY it was $1.99 each.

So if you figure my whole order at sale prices and use the 2/$5 price instead of the $1.99 I paid per carton, my OOP before discount, on the sale prices comes to $12.09 and NOT the $11.07 I paid.
That was enough to trigger the $3 coming off.
(I guess there was not a way to make the computer figure our ice cream at $1.99 for the deal ONLY when in all the other stores it was $2.50 each.)

So with the 2 4-packs of muffins I bought with this stuff, I am OOP $13.65.


After having figured out how the Deal was working, I would have loved to have made Sonya Ann super jealous with all the ice cream I wanted to buy!
But seeing as my freezer is mostly full, I nixed a boatload of ice cream and sent Hubs back to Weis on Saturday afternoon for this....

First the $3 off Instant Dairy Deal....
1 x Friendly's Ice Cream=$1.99 *not pictured*
2 x Smart Balance Margarine stuff @$2.99=$5.98
2 x Cabot Cheese @ $2.00=$4.00
SubTotal of $11.97, but using the REAL price of $2.50 for the ice cream, the SubTotal was $12.48
And the $3 Instant Discount came off...$11.97-$3.00=$8.97

Coupons I used....
1 x $1/1 Smart Balance Spread ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1.10/1 Smart Balance Spread IPQ=$1.10
1 x $1/2 Cabot products IPQ=$1.00

$8.97- Coupons of $3.10=$5.87 for my 5 Dairy Items.

The Greek Yogurt was not part of the deal, but I was out and had a $1/1 IPQ.
$4.19-$1=$3.19+$5.87 dairy items=$9.06

I also had Hubs pick up a Pork Loin at the rock bottom price here of $1.69lb.
My 11.75lb. piece was $19.87.

My order came to the grand total of $28.93.

I gave Hubs $28 in Catalinas to use, so his OOP should have been $.93¢
But the cashier only let him use 1 of the $10 Cats(instead of the 2 I gave him), so he got $18 off in Cats and not $28, leaving a Grand Total OOP of $10.93.

I made a note to myself that I have to do a separate transaction for each $10 Catalina this coming week in order to use them all up.

So everything pictured above plus the ice cream(not pictured)cost me $10.93.
$65.96 worth of food for a savings rate of 83%.
And I have $59 in Cats left to spend this coming week.

So this Dairy Deal was ok but not great, since it worked off of the sale and not the shelf prices.
I did get some things I needed(like eggs, cheese, sour cream, margarine stuff)and the ice cream was a really cheap want.  If I had known the deal was working off of sale rather than shelf I sure wouldn't have bought those single serve cups of sweetened yogurt.  What a waste of money!
But understandable as I had to think fast and I hadn't brought the calculator with me to the store.

Live and learn I guess....
At least the 4 I bought didn't put our food budget into jeopardy or anything.

I'll be running to the store alot this coming week, since I have to use those 5 $10 Catalinas in separate transactions.
Plus I have a ton of +Up Rewards expiring at Rite-Aid so stay tuned for some Rite-Aid trips again.


Sluggy

The OHellIO Trip...Prequel Part 1

Well I am back from my trip.
And I must say that like most of my trips it was....."eventful".
Mostly not the sort of eventful you want however.

Being away from home and the dogs was, generally speaking, nice.
Being away from my bed?.....not so nice.
Man!....did I miss my bed.

Let me say that after I finish recounting our trip, you will be amazed that we kept a smile on our faces(most of the time)and we kept a good outlook on the whole situation mentally.
Because really, if you don't laugh about what life throws at you, you end up crying and complaining your whole life away.
So we chose to let these experiences be something we soldiered on through and we will laugh about in the future.

And the fun all began before we even left the driveway........

How did I get the great good fortune of having all these things happen to ME?!?

Either I am just the luckiest gal on the planet* or my real name is Joe Btfsplk.

Stay tuned as I'll begin deconstructing the Trip to Ohellio on Monday.

Sluggy

*said with heavy sarcasm

June is Busting Out All Over....with Decluttering P*rn!

More stuff leaving my house this week.....

2 x Transformers Beast Wars toys
9 x Micro machines Star Wars Battle Packs and Vehicles
1 x Racing Champions Black Sabbath Car
1 x Set of Star Wars Curtains

1 x Stick Horse
3 x Blankets/Flat Sheets

1 x Scooby Doo Mystery Machine
1 x Oreo Cookie Jar

1 x Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel
1 x Flubber Doll
2 x Star Wars Metal Keychain Sets
8 x Miniature Mme. Alexander Dolls
1 x Racing Champions Ozzy Osbourne car
1 x Teletubbies Dominoes Set
1 x Star Wars Simon Sez

And  courtesy of #2 Son's closet we have this......

2 pair men's shorts
5 men's t-shirts
2 men's l/s shirts
1 scarf
1 pair men's pajamas
6 pair men's jeans
1 pair men's dress slacks

So what stuff have you pared down in your life this month?

Sluggy

I Finished Buying Gift Cards

Well I did the gift card Cat Deal at Weis Markets 2 more times.  This was 1 time short of my goal of 3 more times, but I didn't have my car one day due to the Daughter having to take it to work.
So 2 times had to be enough.

I got some more soda and coffee along with each of the gift cards(purchased in separate transactions) so I received 2 more of the smaller denomination Cats as well as the $10 Cats.
And I am back up to 70 gas points, so I can fill my minivan's tank by Saturday at $2.65 a gallon.


I also went back to Rite-Aid and bought 2 more of the "Home Improvement" Gift Cards that were generating $10 +Ups and used the BIL's Wellness card.

Since I spent the 1st $10 Cat and other smaller Cats already I have left to spend......

6 x $10 OYNO Cat
1 x $5 OYNO Cat
2 x $4 OYNO Cat
2 x $2 OYNO Cat
1 x $5 Weis Gift Card

4 $10 +Up Rewards(Rite-Aid)

For a total of $83 in free food at Weis and $40 in free food/toiletries at Rite-Aid left to use.

$200 in Lowe's Gift Cards
$200 in "Home Improvement" Stores Gift Cards
2 x $25 Restaurant Gift Cards
$100 Kohl's Gift Cards**used already**

I'm OOP $550 for $550 worth of stuff I have to buy anyway.
And I have $123 worth of free food/toiletries as a bonus.
Plus I have another 70 gas points to use by the end of this week.

And the Cats I spent already($22.50 worth), helped me get my food spending last week down a bit more.

If you have to spend money, why not find a way to get something extra for spending it?! 8-)

Another scenario where I would buy gift cards when you would get a $XX Bonus Catalina is for Christmas(or Birthday or other gift occasions in your life).

If you have to cash on hand to spare or tie-up  until the gift is needed AND you are sure the recipient needs/wants/can use the gift card you are buying(or you can use the gift card to go and buy an actual "thing" present when the time comes to "gift" them), then wait for a Catalina Bonus when you buy gift cards at the grocery store and then go purchase them.  Gift cards are easy to store and don't take up the amount of room buying actual gifts can.  You don't need a gift room or gift closet to store these presents, just an envelope in your desk or a sock drawer.
But you DO need the spare cash and that doesn't mean to use money in your Emergency Fund to pay for them.
Gifting is not an emergency situation, no matter what your kids tell you......

Sluggy