Frugal Friday.....the November 3rd Edition

Here's some of the frugal stuff we did last week.......

* I had a hankering for bagels so on Tuesday I went to Panera armed with a free gift card and got a Baker's Dozen.  Only $6.99 for gourmet bagels on Tuesdays.

* We attending the local Church Auction that we always patronize......

They had oodles more "stuff" to bid on and not so much, as usual, in the gift card category unfortunately this year.
The only "stuff" things we bid on and won was a Halloween skeleton and a nice set of table flatware............

Everything else was a gift card.........

Everything from grocery store gift cards, to gas gift cards to restaurant gift cards.
We didn't spend as much as in years past but still using these, which went for below face value, will save when we buy gas, groceries and meals out..

*  While not something frugal I did, I'll call it a win--Chester the puppy lost his last two baby teeth this week.  At his initial doctor visit the vet noticed he still had 2 baby teeth that would need pulling if he didn't lose them on his own.  So we set out to give him lots of things to chew on to work those teeth out.

Chester working on his rawhide stick.

Yesterday morning, right before we took Chester for his distemper shot the last baby tooth came out....rah!

So no vet bills for tooth extractions. Yay Chester!

*  I got all this at Rite-Aid this week....

and got paid $13.37 in Plenti Points and cash rebates to take it all home.
Since it was Wellness Wednesday I got some samples to bring home for free as well.....

*  A few of the best grocery deals I got this past week......

The Shursave market had free 2 lb. bags of onions for free if you clipped the digital Q to your card and they had cartons of stock half price for .99¢ each.  Sometimes Dollar Tree has broth for $1 a carton but it's hit and miss at our stores here so I loaded up.
Fall/Winter is soup and stew season so stock up on broth for cheap when you can.

And Weis had a closeout of pouches of Geisha brand tuna, reg. .99¢ for 3/.99¢, so I bought 12.

That's about it worth noting at Chez Sluggy.
What frugal wins did you have this week?

Sluggy

What I Got at Rite-Aid This Week

Wednesday was the 1st Wed. of the month, thus it was Wellness Wednesday at my Rite-Aid store.
There was a special sheet of coupons good for that day only too.
Plus I had a $5 off $50 purchase Catalina for my Wellness card that was expiring on Thursday I wanted to try to use.

I was going to do the P&G Spend $30/Get $10 PPs Deal by buying a bunch of Pantene but I seriously don't need any more shampoo!  Plus, my store was already out of the 3 Minute Miracle Pantene Conditioner so I couldn't utilize the BOPanteneGO3MinuteMiracleCon.Free Qs for this Deals so I punted and came up with a substitute plan.

There were Tena and Conair Wet Flex Qs in the one day Q Ad that I could pair with reg. Manu Qs and In-Ad Qs for the toothbrushes, plus the toothbrushes double dipped and the Remfresh generated PPs.

Here is what I bought.........

2 x Tena overnight underwear Wellnes 20%off discount($11.99)=$23.98
2 x Remfresh sleep aid Wellness 20%off discount($7.99)=$15.98
1 x Conair Wet Flex hairbrush Wellness 20%off discount=$6.39
2 x Arm and Hammer battery operated toothbrushes on sale($5.99)=$11.98
Subtotal........$58.33

Coupons Used
1 x $5 wyspend $50 CatalinaQ=$5.00
2 x $10/1 Tena underwear One Day SaleQ=$20.00
2 x $5/1 Tena underwear IPQs=$10.00
2 x $5/1 Remfresh ManuQ=$10.00
1 x $5/1 Conair Wet Flex One Day SaleQ=$5.00
1 x $2/1 Conair Wet Flex CatalinaQ=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Arm/Hammer Toothbrush In-AdQ=$4.00
Coupon Total........$56.00

$58.33-$56.00=$2.33 +.30¢ tax=$2.63 OOP

Except that for some reason the register wouldn't take my $5/1 hairbrush WellnessQ so my total was $7.63(w/out that $5Q).

I thought maybe the CatalinaQ and the WellnessQ didn't want to "stack" so I said take off the $2 CatQ and just put the $5 WellnessQ through, that's fine by me only using 1 of the Qs.
But instead the manager said I'll just give you $5 cash and we'll treat this as a "post coupon" situation to which I said, "Yes."  Heck, why not, right?

So my card was deducted $7.63 in Plenti Points and I got $5 cash.

But.........you knew there was a but coming, didn't you? ;-).......I also earned $10 in new Plenti Points for this transaction.
2 x $3 for buying 2 Remfresh(limit 2 deals per card).
2 x $1 for buying 2 Arm/Hammer toothbrushes
1 x $2 for buying 2 Arm/Hammer toothbrushes(a monthly deal? wyb in lots of 2)-Only two varieties of the Arm/Hammer toothbrushes qualify to double dip both toothbrush deals so be careful which you select.
Except I ended up getting $12 in Plenti Points back.

The cashier hit the submit button to total out the transaction BEFORE I handed her my stack of coupons......I was standing there holding them out and waiting for her to get to the point she could scan then and she just had a blond moment and forgot to take them. ugh.
So she had to return all the items and ring them up again in a new transaction.

But, here's the dirty little secret about Rite-Aid and Plenti Points.............
When you have to re-ring your items, the Plenti Points that you used and were deducted from your account to pay, when they get returned to your account(for the return)if you bought anything that earned new Plenti Points those don't get taken off your account.
So I earned $10 in Plenti Points for the transaction that had to be returned.

Then I earned another $2 in Plenti Points on the 2 toothbrushes again.  There were 2 PP Deals on those, while the weekly earns $1 on each toothbrush bought(limit of 2 deals), the monthly PP Deal which earned $2 if you bought 2 per transaction has a limit of 4 deals.  So I earned a second $2 PP Deal on re-buying the toothbrushes.  I suppose one could return and re-buy the toothbrushes two more times and earn the limit of 4 deals and another $4 back in PPs.  But really, that's not very ethical, is it?
I don't do this(make the cashier mess up)to purposely earn more PPs than I am due and really the store staff can't do anything about taking the PPs back from me(which would be fine by me if they did).  It's a flaw in the system that I don't try to exploit.  It's up to Rite-Aid to fix it if it's a problem.  I just go with whatever happens. 8-)

So I earned $12 in new Plenti Points instead of $10 in new PPs.

And then when I got home I uploaded my receipt to Checkout51 and claimed 2 x $2 in cash rebates for the 2 packs of Tena.

For those keeping score at home......
Spent down $7.63 in Plenti Points
Earned $12 in new Plenti Points
Earned $4 in cash rebates
Got $5 in "post Q" cash.
So I am "up" $13.37 in cash/PPs and I have all the items pictured above to use and/or give away.

The Tena after sale price, Qs and rebate were -$5.01 or I was paid $5.01 each to take those home.
The Remfresh after sale price, Qs and PPs earned were -.01¢ each or I was paid .02¢ to take those home.
The Conair hairbrush was -.61¢ or I was paid .61¢ to take that home.
The Arm/Hammer toothbrushes were .99¢ each after sale price, Qs and double dipping PPs earned but my $5 wyspend $50 covered that OOP amount basically.

This back-up plan worked much better than the plan I was originally going to implement.
No shampoo to get rid of, just items I have a plan for that were moneymakers. 8-)))

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report.....October Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ until October)I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up in August and September.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017(probably), the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the October report--
I had 2 goals for October......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in subsequent months.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of October with?.......$3454.25

Income

The income in October was the monthly annuity payment and the September overage of $3145.15(this was mostly a healthcare premium account reimbursement).

Other monies received in October totaled $306.73.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $3454.25.  If you deduct the overage from previous months that carried over into October, this means we spent $309.10 LESS than what we brought in IN October(annuity and interest earned on non-retirement accounts).

Since we have no debt, this will get put aside to apply to the irregular bills coming due in November(car insurance)and then rolled over into 2018 to pay either $3K HDHP costs or property taxes that are due near the beginning of the year.

Outgo

As for the expenses this October, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $14.16 lower than in September.
*  The gas card bill was $39.55 lower than last month.
*  The electric bill was $18.90 lower than last month's bill.
*  The credit card bill was $277.50 lower in October compared to September.
*  The medical bills were $7.30 lower this month over last month's bills.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The cash withdrawals were $145.00 higher than in September due to puppy expenses.
*  Long Term Care Premiums were due(quarterly bill).
*  Garbage fee(irregular bill)was paid in October(I try to pay this quarterly as well).
*  We had to pay the October health insurance premium of $1646.04.
*  I paid a store card bill for clothing of $50.35(paid in full).

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE.

So we end October in the black with $3454.25 to apply to the semi-annual car insurance bill due in November and other irregular bills going into 2018.


FINAL THOUGHTS on October---It was a pretty good month financially.  Most of our regular bills were all a little bit lower than in September(We still had to use a bit of a/c in September.)  But with the turning on of the heat in November the electric bill will be on it's yearly climb into the much higher $$$s.  It's just a fact of living in the Northern part of the country during the Winter.

I started the Sinking Fund in October to help cover those irregular bills that come due throughout the year.  This is giving me a lot of peace of mind knowing I have a little pile of cash growing over to the side to apply to those irregular/quarterly/semi-annual/annual expenses that will come no matter what.
Serenity does indeed have a price.  ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into November of 2017----

Electric usage(and thus costs)will rise this month, and a few medical co-pays will crop up due to my HS infection and dr. visits.  I also have blood work due so another medical bill(which probably won't come due until December however).  The credit card bill may be a tad higher due to buying a piece of furniture that is needed.
Food spending shouldn't be over $400(even though it's Turkey Day this month).
Most of the usual bills will be about what October's levels were.

So how was your October financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Finishing Off my Oct. Rite-Aid Deals.....Madness I Tell Ya!

The last 4 weeks at Rite-Aid, by buying selected items and spending $50(before Qs)you could earn a $25 TRU(aka Toys R Us)gift card.
A $10 off your next order Catalina Q was also generating if you purchased $30+ in Huggies diapers in a single transaction plus during one week of this 4 week window you also earned $10 in Plenti Points on said $30+ purchase of said diapers(double dip but limit of 2 Deals per Wellness card).

If you've been reading here you are aware that I can generally get Huggies during these sort of Deals for pennies on the dollar(or pennies worth of points)and turn around and sell them locally via a tag sale site.

So I bought these x 4 times for a total of 16 packs of diapers........

Plus a few extra things in one transaction.............

Earned 4 of these...

When I hit $50 of diaper spending on two of the Wellness cards I earned two of these(one on each account).........

So going into this final week of the TRU gift card Deal(last week)I had $17.92 on two different Wellness cards tracking toward earning another TRU gift card which meant if I spent $32.08 on select items on either card I'd earn a second gift card on that account/card.

I also want to get Hubs this for Xmas......

It's a Cusininart conical burr coffee grinder.
I was going to order it from Kohl's last week, where it would have cost $80+ with sales and coupons and discounts.
But Amazon has it for virtually that same price everyday.

I have a $50 Amazon gift card I earned from staying at a certain motel chain on our Summer road trip.  It was free from points earned for my stays.  So I needed to come up with a way to cover the rest of that $80 purchase without paying any cash out of pocket.
Hmmmm.
So my brain got to working on this evil plot. ;-)

I found a way to get a third TRU gift card before the Deal ended on Saturday without spending any cash.
Bear with me here.........

I went to Rite-Aid and bought this on one of the Wellness cards tracking $17.92 toward the $50 in spending needed for a second gift card on that account........these products I bought didn't count toward the GC Deal but they saved me OOP on the transaction that followed which DID contain GC Deal items.

3 x Aveeno facial cleansers BOGO50% sale(reg. $8.79)=$20.21
I used 3 x $2/1 Aveeno facial product IPQs....$20.21-$6=$14.21+.78¢tax=$14.99

I paid with $14.99 in Plenti Points and earned back $8 in new PPs(Spend $20 Aveeno face/Get $8 in PPs Deal).  So I am "down" $6.99 in PPs.

I loaded a cash rebate to my Ibotta account before heading to the store for $1.50 back on Aveeno facial cleansers and you can submit up to 3 offers so I got back $4.50 in cash rebates from there.
After those rebates my "spending" is now $2.49 for all 3 items.

When my receipt printed out for this transaction the Catalina machine printed off a $4.50 OYN purchase Catalina good at Rite-Aid AND a $3 Off an Order of $30 Rite-Aid Q.  The last one being a happy accident and I hadn't planned on that! 8-)

The items above didn't track toward the gift card deal but it earned me $7.50 in store script to apply to my next transaction, using the same Wellness card as the last transaction..........

2 x Lil' Critters vitamins on sale=$19.98
2 x Advil Jr pain reliever 20% Wellness discount=$10.86
1 x Boogie Wipes 20% Wellness discount=$3.83
Subtotal........$34.67

Coupons Used
1 x $3 off $30 Purchase=$3.00
2 x $3/1 Lil' Critters vitamins IPQ=$6.00
2 x $1.50/1 Advil Jr IPQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Boogie Wipes IPQ=$1.00
1 x $4.50 OYNO CatQ=$4.50
Coupon Total......$17.50

$34.67-$17.50=$17.17 Total
I paid with $17.17 in Plenti Points and earned $3 in new PPs(wyb2 Lil' Critters vitamins), making a  $14.17 "spend down" in Plenti Points.
Once I got home I submitted online for a $5 cash rebate for buying the bottles of vitamins so I am "down" $9.17 for this transaction.

And all items in this transaction qualified for the TRU gift card Deal so I earned another one of these.....

Let's recap what I brought home in total doing these deals in October.......

16 packs of diapers
2 packs of Tummy Zen
1 pack of light bulbs
1 spray deodorant
3 Aveeno cleansers
2 bottles of vitamins
2 bottles of pain relievers
1 pack of disposable wipes
3 $25 TRU gift cards

And here is what it "cost" me.....

Used $109.99 in Plenti Points
Earned $56.00 in new Plenti Points
So I "spent down" $53.99 in Plenti Points
I also earned $9.50 in cash rebates bringing the "spending" down to $44.49.
After I sell off all the diapers for between $80-$88 cash I am in the black for at least $35.51 on all this.

And I have $75 in free to me TRU gift cards.

So back to this.........

Here's the evil plot twist--
I can either sell  TRU gift cards for $18 cash or trade each $25 worth for an Amazon gift card worth $19+/-(currently what these are trading for).
Selling or trading two of the gift cards will give me enough Amazon gift card value when combined with the $50 freebie Amazon gc I earned this Summer to procure this awesome Christmas gift for nothing.

I can keep one $25 TRU gc to use some other way(giveaway? buy toys for Toys for Tots donating?, gift it to someone?).
Some of what's left(besides the diapers which will be sold)will be gifted, some used here(the Tummy Zen and maybe some Aveeno)and the rest will make appearances in future giveaways.

Sometimes I am Pinky but sometimes I am The Brain! ;-)
And at least it keeps me off the streets......

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Black Friday Freebies

So the Rite-Aid Black Friday sales ad has been released.
Some of the same old stuff will be free after the Plenti Points they earn.
I must say that the list of freebies is much shorter compared to last year's ad or previous years too.

* Kleenex facial tissue 85 ct. $1 Earns $1 in PPs
* Single Serve Candy bars 2/$1 Earns $1 in PPs for each purchase of 2
* Listerine pocket packs or floss or flossers $3 Earns $3 in PPs
* Home select Gift Tape 3/4" x 300' 2/$2 Earns $2 for each purchase of 2
* Scunci Elastics and Conair Vibe Hairbrush $3 Earns $3 in PPs
* Colgate Sensitive/Optic White/Enamel Toothpaste 2/$8 Earns $8 for each purchase of 2
* Magnavox digital Ear Buds $6 Earns $6 in PPs
* GE Select Lightbulbs $5 Earns $5 in PPs
* Zimm's MaxFreeze pain reliever $5 Earns $5 in PPs

Hard to tell but they are all probably a limit of 2 of each Deal per Wellness card.
If so, you can get $68 worth of items and earn $68 in Plenti Points so free after points on each card. (If the store has everything in stock.)
Some years I've had to go back two or three days to do all the Freebies by rolling Plenti Points and not have to pay anything OOP.  This year there are so few Freebies that I can easily roll all my PPs in one day/one transaction.
Sigh.

There are some Buy One/Get Two Free items in the ad but then again, those aren't free and nothing much that's exciting.
There are some gift card Deals--the usual Home Despot one, Gap, Old Navy, Red Lobster, the Brinker Restaurant Group, Burger King, Wendy's, Hardee's/Carl's Jr..  New gift card Deals are Netflix, Uber, Spotify, Uber and Hotels dotcom.  There is also an XBox 3 mo. membership gift card deal too.

Just wanted to give all the Rite-Aid shoppers out there a heads up.

Sluggy