Frugal Friday.....January 5th Edition

Here's what I gots to report on this week in Frugal Land...........

*  We stayed home and didn't eat out this past week.  Last week and the week before was heavy w/eating out so we needed a break.

*  I got some loss leaders at Weis this past week..........

Including 10 packages of flour tortillas.  They were part of the Mix & Match Sale(items on sale plus you get $3 additional off wyb6 items)last week plus the coupons online reset for I had lots of prints to pair with the sale.  Tortillas for $1 a package to add to my stockpile.  They keep a long time plus we'll be eating more Mexican type meals anyway with College Boy home. ;-)  Now I just need to find a deal on green chiles as I will be fresh out as of tomorrow.

I also scored a few Xmas candy deals at Weis this week..........

White peppermint M&M's for .50¢ a bag.  These will be nice in cookies this coming Christmas.

.10¢ a bag, regularly $1 a bag Lindt white chocolate peppermint truffles.  I'll tuck these into February's Giveaway box. 8-)))

*  When we rang in 2018 on Monday I still had all this WAM from December in my wallet......

$87.  I would have had $107 if Hubs hadn't promised $20 to College Boy for new work shoes(of course Hubs had no WAM so "I" had to give it to him out of my cash. 8-(

*  I hit Rite-Aid for some freebies, moneymakers and cheapies............

*  And something NOT frugal was this.......

I bought two lottery tickets last Friday when both Mega Millions and Powerball were over a $300M jackpots.  I don't play the lottery, period.  It's not a good retirement plan. lolz
And I hit!

I got one number and the MegaBall and won $4.
Woohoo!! 8-)))
So I rolled that $4 back into more tickets for tonight's drawing.  It's suppose to be over $440M now.
Eesshhh!
If I win the "big one" I'll hold a big ol' blogger party.....stay tuned! 8-)))

Sluggy

Rite-Aid....Oh Brother Here We Go Again!

Seems like every 2-3 years Rite-Aid changes up their program/how they do things.
WTF Rite-Aid!?!?
I guess they've never heard of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!".
That or somebody has to keep all those marketing folks in business, right?  ;-)

This new Bonus Cash system is going to suck ass, pardon my French, but it will.

I've heard the following from online sources and from a head-to-head conversation with my store's manager and a couple of cashiers too.....some are indeed fact and some of the following are rumors.....

*  That new Wellness cards will be issued(the employee are rolling their eyes about that one, since all the work will fall to them).rumor still
*  The you need to accumulate $5 in Bonus Cash(BC)in order for it to come "off" your card and be used.  Also heard you don't need to accumulate BC for it to come "off" your card.  I guess we'll find out when I go back next week and attempt to spend it. 8-)
*   When you earn BC it will appear on your receipt(it did)but sources say it won't appear on subsequent receipts(but it will be attached to your card/account).  If so, people aren't going to be able to keep track of how much BC they have(unless they study and keep track of it in a spreadsheet or with pencil/paper).
*  Unlike with +Up Reward(the predecessor of Plenti Points)you could choose to have Up Rewards printed out on your receipt OR have them electronically attached to your account(like Bonus Cash).  No such printed Rewards option with BC.
*  If you have Plenti Points AND Bonus Cash in your account, which will be taken/used first? no clue yet
*  I also heard that if you have BC to use that the register will take those as payment even before your coupons!  The workaround of not scanning your Wellness card until AFTER you hand over the coupons will work for some items but not for those that you need to scan your card to get the discount?  I foresee a lot of "post coupon" situations ahead for me and other couponers at Rite-Aid.
*  At some point, will Rite-Aid not take your Plenti Points in payment before your PPs expire in 2 years?  I don't see them hanging onto the Plenti system that long.  As long as they give us advance notice that won't be a problem.

So in some ways this new system is worse and in others it's better.
It's worse as the BC expires in 60 days, but better than the +Up Rewards because those expired in 2 weeks.
A mix of PPs and BC is a problem just waiting to happen.
Having to use your BC even if you don't want to is a problem, at least for me.
Also what about folks who share a card?  Person A may be saving BC to use on something for themselves but Person B can't not use the BC if they go to Rite-Aid first.

Again, time will tell and shake out the problems.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid with the New Bonus Cash System

I went to Rite-Aid on Wednesday since it was Wellness Wednesday(w/the special one day coupons that you can stack with reg. Manu/IPQs)!

Here is what I got on my card...........

2 x Centrum chewie vitamins on sale$9.99=$19.98
2 x Robitussin meds on sale BOGO50%=$11.23
2 x Crest toothpaste on sale $3=$6.00*
*Except one of the toothpastes was clearance priced to $2.44, so $5.44(it still gave Bonus Cash too-look for Pro-Health smooth peppermint)
SubTotal........$36.65

Coupons Used
2 x $4/1 Centrum any IPQ=$8.00
2 x $4/1 Centrum chewies WWQ(Wellness Wed. Q stacked w/Q above)=$8.00
1 x $5/2 assorted flu remedies including Robitussin Load2CardQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Robitussin Load2CardQ(this also came off unexpectedly)-$1.00
1 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste Load2CardQ=$2.00
Coupons Total..........$26.00

$36.65-$26.00=$10.65
I paid with Plenti Points and I got $10 in Bonus Cash back($5 wyb2 Robitussin, $3 wyb2 Centrum, 2 x $1 Crest toothpaste) so basically I spent .65¢ in PPs and converted the rest I spent to BC(Bonus Cash).

I also bought 2 Rite-Aid brand nose spray(generic Flonase)on sale for $15.99 this week.  I used an old Rite-Aid gift card to pay so no PPs or cash used.  I earned $4 in BC(2 x $2 BC)for buying them too plus it tracks toward a year long $20 Allergy BC Deal wyspend $75 on Allergy items.

So this card, going into next week has $14 in Bonus Cash attached to it.
It will be interesting to see how next week's transaction plays out.

I also bought this on my son's card/account...........

2 x Robitussin meds on sale BOGO50%=$11.23
1 x Crest toothpaste on sale $3=$6.00*
*Except the toothpaste was clearance priced to $2.44, so $5.44(it still gave Bonus Cash too-look for Pro-Health smooth peppermint)
SubTotal........$13.67

Coupons Used
1 x $5/2 assorted flu remedies including Robitussin Load2CardQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Robitussin Load2CardQ(this also came off unexpectedly)-$1.00
1 x $2/1 Crest toothpaste Load2CardQ=$2.00
Coupons Total..........$8.00

$13.67-$8.00=$5.67

I paid with PPs and earned $6 in Bonus Cash($5 wyb2 Robitussin, $1 Crest toothpaste) so a slight .33¢ moneymaker.
Rah.
I would have also bought the Centrum but my store only had 2 bottles of the chewies.
I go into next week with $6 in BC on son's card.

I also bought a few other items that were a good deal with the Wellness Wednesday Day Qs, but not free, on son's card/account........

2 x Big Win Tea bags BOGO50%=$5.98
2 x Right Guard deodorant on sale $2/$8=$8.00
2 x Big Win Candy bags BOGO50%=$2.98
1 x Wet n' Wild eye shadow palette 75% off=.79¢
1 x Wet n. Wild nail color 75% off=.69¢
SubTotal.......$18.44

Coupons Used
2 x $2/1 Big Win tea bags R-AWWQ=$4.00
2 x $3/1 Right Guard deodorant R-AWWQ=$6.00
2 x $1/1 Big Win candy bags R-AWWQ=$2.00
Coupon Total......$12.00

$18.44-$12.00=$6.44+ .03¢tax=$6.47
None of this earned Bonus Cash so I spent down my PPs $6.47.

After Qs, the boxes of tea bags were .99¢ each, the deodorant were $1 each, the candy bags were .49¢ each.

Have you been to Rite-Aid since the change to BC deals?

Sluggy

What Sluggy Got For Christmas

I didn't ask for much from Santa(Hubs)as I don't really want much.
Here is what Sluggy got for Christmas..........

I asked for the Salt Lamp and the chocolate covered cashews(had to tell Hubs where exactly the cashews were(what shelf and aisle)in Rite-Aid otherwise I don't know WHAT he would have bought! lol
He put a bunch of cheap crap in my stocking(a dreidel game from the $ store??....really?lolz)but also a $50 Visa card.  I can use that for sure.
The eldest gave me pine scented body lotion and a small box of chocolates.  The other kids didn't give me anything but then again, they are broke college students. ;-)

About a week before Xmas I received a package with one of Lorraine's hand painted rocks in it. 8-)

Then on the Friday after Xmas the UPS man showed up with a package from Kim........

With her famous Pepperkrakke..........

Handmade Caramels and a DYI kit of some wax treated fabric(for making leftover covers for containers??).  She enclosed a finished one to show me how to finish them off.

For a laugh I posted on Kim's facebook a photo of me in the shower cap she sent me but she's been too busy with life to see it there so I am putting it here. lololz

The "real" gift this Christmas was having all my kids home for the holiday for the first time in three years.  Now that was the best gift ever!  8-)))


Sluggy

Net Worth......January 1st Update

We have gone from acquisition mode with money into spend-down mode since we are now officially retired here at Chez Sluggy.

Our Net Worth will no longer be growing so I have to stay on top of what we have and where it sits.
I shared where we keep out money and why in the first Post-Retirement Net Worth post HERE.

So here is how the money did in December......

* Checking Account #1 Went down by $2285.09(life is expensive sometimes and family needed rescuing too)
* Checking Account #2  Went up .23¢(monthly interest)
* Savings Account  Went down .96¢(monthly fee offset by .04¢ of interest earned)
* Online Accounts  Went down $1620.47(monthly interest helped but paying some bills on the LA house and buying gift cards in Dec. accounted for this loss)
* Certificate of Deposit  Went up $245.82(interest)
* US Savings Bonds  Went up $13.80(interest)
* Cash on Hand  Went down $122.41(had some extra bills to pay)
* 401K Account  Went up $1,350.14(monthly interest) We didn't have to tap it in December so it just grew. 8-)
* HSA Account  Went down $1.19(That's the fees we paid before we were able to move it once that bank started charging us.)
* RMSA Account  Went down $1473.17.  The interest earned on this account offset the healthcare premium reimbursement amount by $298.77 so it didn't go down as much as it might have.

Overall we are $3893.30 down from December's Net Worth.  Between the interest on all accounts and income received, weighed against our spending last month,  our holdings sank by the amount of our healthcare premium in December, plus some LA house bills, buying gift cards, some misc. spending due to College Boy and bills for the rescue mission.
The only of these that will continue are the healthcare premium payments and some LA house bills so though we lost some ground in December I am not concerned overall going forward.  Plus I haven't calculated the eBay sales I had in November and December where I can add that profit to our Net Worth. That will be reflected in the February Net Worth Update.

I am by no means a financial expert but I'll readily share what worked for us on our financial journey if you have questions.

Did you increase your net worth last month?
Or are you in asset spend down mode(retirement)?
Do you have a retirement plan in place?

Sluggy