A Shopping Bender....Well For Me At Least

I went grocery/drug store shopping 4, count 'em 4 times yesterday!

I had planned a day's outing to hit some sales on the other side of town.....well the next town over really, since my town is not even big enough to have a 'side'.lol
But I didn't get out of the house in time to do all those errands in one run and make dinner and take care of some other things here.
So I hit the nearest grocery store for the broccoli I needed for my pot pie for dinner and 2 bags of onions(on BOGO special so that's why I got 2)and to use some Qs to get #2 son some Kool-Aid packets and Dipping Honey Mustard for cheap.  All totaled I spent $7.64 there and saved $5.78.

While I was out I hit, what else?!?....Rite-Aid!
And did this damage.....

3 x HerbaShine Hair Coloring on sale $5.99=$17.97
1 x Listerine Zero on sale=$2.99
1 x Celestial Seasonings Tea on sale=$1.99
1 x Crest Toothpaste on sale=$2.99
SubTotal...$25.94

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 from HERE=$5.00
3 x $3/1 HerbaShine Hair Coloring IPQ HERE=$9.00
1 x $1/$10 any Hair Care Purchase Wellness Q(link sent to you from Rite-Aid if you are a wellness member)=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Listerine Zero ManuQ(last Sunday's inserts)=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Listerine AdPerks/VV IPQ HERE=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Celestial Seasonings IPQ HERE=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Toothpaste ManuQ(P&G insert)=$1.00
Coupon Total....$20.00

$25.94-$20.00=$5.94
Used 2 x $2 +Ups=$1.94 OOP put on gift card
Well, that was what it was suppose to be!
I just discovered while reading the receipt that the Tea rang up $.92, not $1.99!  I went back later that evening and bought another flavor and that rang up the correct price.  I guess this flavor was being clearanced?....but there was no tag on the shelf.  It was the Chamomile flavor if you want to check your stores there for it.  So I was paid .08¢ after the coupon & received a $1+Up to bring it home. ;-)

So my new subtotal was $24.87....but with the tax on the hair coloring it was over $25 before coupons and tax were deducted so the $5 off $25 still worked.

$24.87-$20.00(coupons)=$4.87.
Deduct the $4 in +Ups=$.87 Out of pocket put on my ever present Rite-Aid gift card.
Value of Items purchased....$36.94
I received in +Up Rewards....$5(Garnier Buy $15), $2(Crest), $1(Listerine), $1(Celestial Seasonings)=$9.00

After getting the family squared away and fed I went back to Rite-Aid....

4 x Bounty Basic Towels on sale $.88=$3.52
1 x Listerine Zero on sale=$2.99
1 x Celestial Seasonings Tea on sale=$1.99
1 x Lamasil Spray-On on sale=$7.99
2 x Oreo Cookies on sale $3.00=$6.00
1 x Gallon of Milk=$3.25
SubTotal...$25.74

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 from HERE=$5.00
2 x $1/2 Bounty Towels ManuQ(P&G insert)=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Listerine Zero IPQ HERE=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Listerine AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Celestial Seasonings IPQ HERE=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Lamasil Spray-On IPQ HERE=$2.00
1 x BOGO Oreo Cookies WYB Milk(from Facebook, not available now)=$3.00
1 x $.75/1 Oreo Cookies ManuQ(tearpad from Jan., no longer available)=$.75
1 x $1/2 Oreo Cookies AdPerks/VV IPQ HERE=$1.00
Coupon Total....$16.75

$25.74-$16.75=$8.99
Used +Ups...($5, $3)$8.00=$.99 OOP put on gift card
Value of Items purchased....$37.96
I received in +Up Rewards....$1(Nabisco), $1(Listerine), $1(Celestial Seasonings)=$3.00
And I qualified for $6.00 in SCRs(Lamasil)=$6.00

THESE TRIPS
Total Spent....$1.86 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$74.90
SCR qualified for...$6.00(Lamasil)=$6.00
+Up Rewards earned...$12.00
+Up Rewards spent...$12.00
These trips were a $6 moneymaker.

MONTHLY TOTALS-September Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......10
Total Spent....$18.87 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$374.44
SCR qualified for....$9 in cash and $10 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$0
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....a Glam Bag
+Up Rewards spent....$70.50
+Up Rewards earned....$99.50

Total 'Spent'...$17.01 on gift cards
Total Cash I'm getting Back=$3
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$10+Glam Bag
+Up Rewards left to spend=$29.00

And I closed out my shopping spree evening at Weis Markets....

3 x Krunchers Chips on sale $2.00=$6.00
3 x Grande Tortilla Chips on sale $2.00=$6.00
2 x French's Dipping Honey Mustard $2.29=$4.58
2 x Weis Block Cheese on sale BOGO=$2.50
1 x Roasting Chicken=$5.55
SubTotal....$24.63

Coupons Used
3 x $1/1 Krunchers ManuQ=$3.00
3 x $1/1 Grande ManuQ=$3.00
2 x $1/1 French's Dipping ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Instant Meat Dept. Q=$2.00
Coupon Total....$10.00

I also used one of my $3.00 OYNO of Beef or Chicken Cats and a $10 OYN Cat for an additional $13 off=$23.00 in coupons.
$24.63-$23.00=$1.63 OOP for everything!

Analysis....
At $1 a bag after coupons, the crunchy snack food was a great deal and we were fresh out of salty junk for the Hubs and #2 son.  The son likes this dipping mustard stuff and my coupons are expiring soon so I picked up a couple of bottles....better to buy it for a buck cheaper now than a buck more next month, right?   Do I really have to explain inexpensive BOGO cheese?lol
And I couldn't turn down the chicken...it was $3.55 after the instant discount and with the chicken Cat my cost was $.55.  I'll be substituting it for something else in this week's meal plan menu.  It's great to have a meal plan to save you dollars but you need to be flexible enough that when a great deal happens you can roll with it and change up your menu ;-)

So what great deals have you found so far this week?  Let us know by leaving a comment!

Sluggy

Apples for Days Redux

Since it is once again APPLE SEASON, I thought I'd repost my crockpot applesauce recipe from last October 28th.
I'll be hitting the farm stand in the next couple of weeks to pick up a load of apples for preserving.
Sluggy


So what do you do when you go to the farmstand and there's a half bushel of homely apples priced at only $5.00 calling your name?




You buy them!
And that is just what I did.
I brought home a huge sack of Ugly Apples last week.
These are the less than perfect looking apples that nobody wants in their Peck or half Peck Bag of apples.  You know....scarred skins, not quite the perfect color, not quite the perfect shape &/or bruised.  The kid working at the stand said that after you picked over them and got rid of the bad ones,  at least they would be good for one pot of applesauce.
Ha!....little did he know!!

So I set to peeling and coring these babies to make some applesauce.  Making homemade applesauce it so easy too!
First thing is to select your apples and wash them thoroughly. I chose enough apples to fill my crockpot...about 17 apples.

Next you peel(if you want to peel them)and core them.

Since my ugly apples might have been riddled with bad spots, bruises, I chose to peel them first.
After about half I realized that my ugly babies did NOT have any bad spots.  They were just "skin challenged" with ugly scarred peels.  So I didn't peel the last part of the batch.  It's better if you leave the skins on, as most of the vitamins and "stuff that is good for you" is just under the peel.  Your applesauce will pack a bigger nutritional punch this way.

Then came the coring...

I LOVE my little apple corer.  It cost me $1.00 at the discount outlet.  It makes this job go so quickly too!

After coring/peeling, put your apple slices in a bowl in which you've put some water and lemon juice(you can used bottle juice, it doesn't have to be fresh squeezed).  The lemon water helps them not to brown while waiting to go into the crockpot.  Actually, since it really doesn't matter if the slices brown, you don't have to put lemon on them.  It's just a force of habit for me to lemon the apples. lol

Spray your crockpot with a spray oil to make cleaning easier.  This is optional however.

Then drain the lemon water off and put your apples in the crockpot, put on the lid and turn it on.
Don't add water!
That's it.....just walk away!

Now you can cook them down on LOW or HIGH.  Low will take about 5 hours, while High will cook them into sauce in about 2-3 hours.

You'll know when they are done when the house smells heavenly and they look like this....

(The large pieces in the photo are peel, not apple.)

When your apples are finished cooking, turn off the crockpot, stir it up and taste for sweetness.  If it's a bit tart for your taste, you can add some sugar or other sweetener at this point.  Also add cinnamon now if you want some in your batch.

If you didn't peel your apples and don't want the peels in the finished product, just fish them out after your applesauce cools.  Your applesauce at this point will be a bit chunky.
If you want it fine and smooth, get out a food mill.

Pour the sauce in and start milling into a bowl or pan.  If you are going to mill, don't bother fishing out your peels beforehand.  The mill will keep your peels from winding up in your finished product.
And speaking of finished product, here it is....

Ready for eating!
If you make a lot you can water bath can applesauce or put into freezer-safe containers and freeze any excess for later.
It will keep in the refrigerator for about a month.

My 17 medium-sized apples made a 6 Cup container(48 oz.)of applesauce.

If you wish to make Apple Butter at this point, just put your sauce back into the crockpot, add spices according to any good Apple Butter recipe you have/find and continue to cook it down until you have the consistency and the brown color of apple butter.  You can also water bath can your Apple Butter to store it longer.

I'll get out both Crockpots & do another 2 batches tomorrow of Chunky Applesauce.  That should keep us in applesauce for a couple of months.
The rest of the apples will be made into Apple Pie Filling later this week.

Sluggy

Harvesting Again and Weekly Meal Plan

Just a quick update on the garden.....
Hubs picked tomatoes again on Saturday.

That's another 11 lb. 7.8 oz. worth.
And I found these 2 peppers on Sunday.....

These babies are a combined weight of 4.4 oz.

Does any one have any good recipes for using Italian Roasting Peppers, beyond telling me to "roast" them?lol

This Harvest--
TOTAL....11lb. 12.2oz.
Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....53lb. 8.02 oz.

I can't believe we've harvested over 53 POUNDS of food so far from our tiny garden!
Wow.....

And from the sublime into the mundane.....lol.....

Here is my Meal Plan for this week.
Sunday--Italian Sausage Sandwiches on Onion Rolls, Corn *Done
Monday--Meatloaf, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, Baby Veggie Medley *Done
Tuesday--Chicken Broccoli Carrot Pot Pie
Wednesday--Baked Catfish w/Lemon Pepper, Rice & Pepper Saute, Collard Greens
Thursday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Tossed Salad
Friday--Clam Chowder, Rolls
Saturday--Leftover Feast

The Mashed Potatoes, Pot Pie and Rolls w/the Chowder are to use some of those 24 Pillsbury/Betty Crocker items I got last week....of course!  Next week we'll work on the Old El Paso.lol

I got a big pile of Ground Beef last weekend and made 3 batches of meatballs up for the freezer and the Meatloaf that was served on Monday.  1 of the batches of meatballs will be used on Thursday, leaving me 2 batches for later.  The sausage, chicken, fish, clams, rice, corn, pasta sauce and pasta are all things in the freezer or stockpile.  The peppers(for the saute)and the collards are from the garden.  So the only items I need to buy this week is lettuce for the salad and broccoli for the pot pie.  I will also pick up a couple of heads of cabbage this week as it's on sale and I'll incorporate it three times into next week's menu.  I also need onions. These veggies should run me at the most $8.
I'll also be picking up more fruit(pears and peaches on sale), milk and some other deals(using coupons), plus be using the Shursave grocery's Cats before they expire this week.  I stocked up at the bread store last week so we are set for bread products for the next 2 weeks or so.
My grocery spending for this month is at $203.44 now, so I have $46.56 left until the 1st of Oct. 

Off to the store now and then to start the pot pie...

Sluggy

Calling all You NorthEast/Central PA Bloggers.....Yes, I Mean YOU!

I went on an online hunt last week.
A hunt to find other Blogs written by folks who live in my neck of the woods.
My neck if the woods meaning northeastern or central Pennsylvania.
But I guess I am not very good at being Troy Dunn......ok so that was a pretty obscure reference to the star of that WE TV show THE LOCATOR...but still....

My search came up empty except for a couple of political ranting blogs around here that aren't updated more than once or twice a year.   I suppose I need to make more of an effort.

I just would like to link up with other bloggers of all kinds in this region.  Maybe exchange links or put up a page to promote all our blogs out there in the WorldWideW.  I'm not looking to become your BFF(but if that happens, whattheheck!) or to stalk you(Please!!... I have enough drama already in my life without that!).  I just want to connect with fellow Pennsylvania bloggers in our region.

Heck, if there is interest enough we might even end up holding a conference or some other kind of gathering!

Not quite this over-the-top....

Not quite this bizarre and wrong on so many levels.......

Not quite this strange.....

Not quite this lame......

But more like this....

.....Without the hats and corset of course....unless you really want to wear one.

Anyway, if you have a blog and you would like to connect with other bloggers in the northeastern and central PA regions(meaning anywhere from State College east to Stroudsburg and from Allentown north to the PA/NY line or Susquehanna County to any place within this framework)please email me at the address on my contact page.  Please include the URL or a link to your blog homepage too....if you are reading this I can assume you already know where my blog is located. ;-)

Let's hear from all you PA bloggers!

Sluggy

$5 or Under CVS Scenario this Week...Starting with No Extra Care Bucks

IF I shopped at CVS....(which I don't at the moment)..... and I was starting with Zero ECBs, here is what I would buy in separate transactions and in what order.

#1
2 x Edge Shave Gel-on sale for $2.79 and gives $1.80 ECBs(limit 1)=$5.58
Use 1 Edge BOGO IPQ(HERE)
$5.58-$2.79=$2.79 and received $1.80 in ECBs.

#2
3 x Right Guard Deodorant on sale for $2.49 and gives $2.00 ECBs(limit 3)=$7.47
Use 1 Right Guard $3/2 IPQ(HERE) & 1 Right Guard $1.50/1 IPQ(HERE)
 $7.47-$4.50=$ and use the $1.80ECB...$4.47-$1.80=$1.17 and received $6 in ECBs.

#3
1 x Revlon Lipstick on sale for $6.99 and gives $5.00 ECBs(limit of 6)
1 x Revlon Nail Polish at regular price $5.49
Use 1 Revlon Buy Nail Polish/Get Lipstick FREE ManuQ(9/12SS)
$12.48-$6.99=$5.49, add a .51¢ filler and use the $6ECB(or have them adjust it down to $5.49)....$5.49 to $6.00-$6.00=$.00 and receive $5 in ECBs to roll next time.

Total Out of Pocket....$3.96 for 2 Shaving Gel, 3 Deodorants, 1 Nail Enamel and 1 Lipstick.
"Realized" OOP is Negative $1.04 after the $5 in ECBS is figured in.

If you have ECBs to start with, a second $X off Edge coupon &/or a second $X off Revlon coupon, you can do even better than this but it's still a good scenario for a first time rookie. ;-)


Ok....I am off now to do stuff in the garden, buy some canning lids, put away a ton of stockpile stuff, make a load of meatballs and process tomatoes.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Addict.....I Can Stop Anytime....Yah, Right!

So before heading out to roll the Weis Cat Deal 2 more times on Saturday we stopped in at Rite-Aid so I could pull off one more heist, er.....I mean transaction.

This was a mini haul, using my $4 off $20 Purchase AdPerks/VV IPQ.....

3 x Trident Gum on sale $1=$3.00
2 x Maybelline Mascara on sale 40% off($3.11)=$6.22
1 x Maybelline LipSensation Gloss on sale 40% off=$3.71
1 x Crest 3-DWhite Toothpaste on sale=$2.99
1 x Playtex Tampons on sale=$4.00
SubTotal.....with the tax(tampons)it was $20.16

Coupons Used
1 x $4 off $20 AdPerks/VV IPQ=$4.00
1 x $1/2 Trident Gum IPQ=$1.00
1 x $.50/1 Trident Gum IPQ=$.50
2 x $1/1 Maybelline Mascara IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Maybelline LipSensation item IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/$10 any Beauty/Cosmetic Purchase wellness Q=$1.00**
1 x $2/1 any Maybelline Item AdPerks/VV IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Crest 3-D item ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Playtex tampons IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total....$15.50

$19.92(after tax was taken off)-$15.50=$4.42

Value of Items bought.....$29.72
+Ups Used...$2, $2=$4.00

$4.42-$4.00=$.42 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card
I earned....$1(buying 3 Trident), 2x$1(Mascara), $3(Playtex)=$6.00+Ups

Started with $27 in +Ups and ended the day with $29 in +Ups.

**Though my Beauty/Cosmetic purchases totaled .07¢ less than $10, with the tax that was figured in on those items, the Cosmetics totaled over $10, so I could use that coupon.  The tax was taken off of the transaction after all coupons were deducted.

THIS TRIPS
Total Spent....$.42 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$29.72
SCR qualified for...$2.00(Crest 3-D Paste)=$2.00
+Up Rewards earned...$6.00

MONTHLY TOTALS-September Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......8
Total Spent....$17.01 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$299.54
SCR qualified for....$3 in cash and $10 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$0
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....a Glam Bag
+Up Rewards spent....$58.50
+Up Rewards earned....$87.50

Total 'Spent'...$17.01 on gift cards
Total Cash I'm getting Back=$3
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$10+Glam Bag
+Up Rewards left to spend=$29.00

This was a very good week for +Ups rolling multiple Rewards.  Personally, I got 2 Axe, 8 Johnson & Johnson, 3 Listerine/Reach, 2 Maybelline Mascara, 2 Trident, 3 Oral-B/Crest, 2 Playtex and 1 each on the Edy's Ice Cream and Veet/Clearasil deals.  The only item I bought that didn't get an +Up that generated one this week was the 2nd Reach Toothbrush, so the limit on the Reach/Listerine was obviously 3.

So don't always believe when the sales flyer says limit 1 because, for now, it isn't always correct. ;-)


Sluggy 

Weis 9/12-9/18 GM/Purina Catalina Totals

I got a couple more trips in to Weis Markets on Saturday to finish taking advantage of the General Mills Catalina double dip Deal I talked about HERE.  I also threw in a 'roll of the Cats' on the Purina Pet Food Cat Deal as well.
I don't have the time/energy to gather it all together at this point and take a pic, so just use my 1st trip picture as a representative and multiple it x 4 AND add in 3 x 22lb. bags of Dog Chow....

Here are my totals for the Deals....

My Initial Out of Pocket is...$64.48(including the dog food and the tax)
Catalinas I have left....$13 in regular OYNO Cats & $24 in Meat OYNO Cats
Items I bought.....24 "Helpers"(beef and chicken), 24 Pillsbury bread products, 24 Old El Paso products=72 items and 66lbs. of dog food(kibble).
"Realized" Out of Pocket(after Catalinas)is....$27.48 for all, or $18.80 Out of Pocket for human food items and $8.68 for 66lbs. of pet food.
That breaks down to.....26¢ per item for people food & .13¢ per lb. for the pet food

Now this Deal was great for me whereas it might not have been as great for some one else.  Getting lots of products for cheap is wonderful only if you are going to use it all before it expires AND you have room to store it.
*We do alot of Tex-Mex cooking here and I was almost out of beans and shells from my last stock-up in February(another GM/OEP double dipping Cat Deal at Weis).  Stocking up on those products made sense for me.
*Between Marching Band fundraisers(where I am required to bake) and the Holidays ahead, all that Pillsbury stuff will save me time in the kitchen.  Plus having already made cookie dough is great for the teens to make up their own cookies(seeing as they won't make the dough from scratch and would nag me to make it). And at .26¢ per roll of cookie dough, that's some pretty inexpensive cookies!
*All that Hamburger/Chicken Helper.....what can I say?  Not the healthiest of choices but pair it with lean meat and fresh veggies and it's ok.  In my defense, at least I don't have a boxed Kraft Mac & Cheese addiction.lol 
I'll probably give a portion of these to relatives who have limited cooking skills or food bank them...yes, I just used 'food bank' as a verb.  The rest I like to have on hand for those rare occasions when Hubs is pressed into cooking duties since it's something he can comfortably make successfully.....and that's all I'm going to say about that. ;-)
*66 lbs. of dog kibble was needed as we are down to our last large bag.  Now that we are down to 2 dogs, these 3 bags should last us through the end of the year, if not a touch longer.

For our area, this Catalina Deal was a really good one.
I'm glad I had money in the food budget to take advantage of it.

Here's hoping a good Cat Deal comes your way very soon as well! 8-)

Sluggy

Partying at Rite-Aid on Friday

So I did 3 transactions at Rite-Aid on Friday....2 different stores.
At the end of each one I had a bit more +Ups in my pocket than when I started=I got paid to buy this stuff!
How could I say no?lol
I began with $26 in +Ups.

#1
2 x Veet on sale BOGO50%=$9.73
2 x Clearasil on sale BOGO50%=$8.23
1 x Playtex tampons on sale=$4.00
1 x Crest Toothpaste on sale=$2.49
1 x qt. milk=$1.99
SubTotal....$26.44

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 AdPerk/VV IPQ=$5.00
2 x $3/1 Veet IPQ=$6.00
2 x $2/1 Clearasil IPQ=$4.00
1 x $2/1 Playtex IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Toothpaste ManQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$18.00

$26.44-$18.00=$8.44

Value of Items bought.....$35.03
+Ups used....4x$2(J&J)=$8.00

$8.44-$8.00=$.44 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card
I qualified for SCR #55=$1.00, SCR #564=a Glam Bag, the toothpaste put me over $25 for the SCR #556=$10 Rite-Aid Gift Card.
I earned....$1.50(Crest), $3(Playtex), $5($15 in Veet/Clearasil)=$9.50+Ups

#2
6 x Axe Body Wash on sale $4.33=$25.98
SubTotal....$25.98

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 Pdf file from newsletter I signed up for in Jan. IPQ=$5.00
3 x BOGO Axe ManQ=$12.99
Coupon Total....$17.99

$25.98-$17.99=$7.99

Value of Items bought....$34.14
+Ups used....3x$2(Listerine/Reach), $1.50(Crest)=$7.50

$7.99-$7.50=$.49 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card
I earned....2x$3(for buying 3 Axe in one transaction)=$6+Ups

#3
1 x Johnson's on sale but 20% wellness discount was $3.83=$3.83
2 x Johnson's on sale $3.99=$7.98
2 x Oral-B Toothbrush on sale $2.49=$4.98
3 x Trident Gum on sale $1.00=$3.00
2 x Edy's Ice Cream on sale $3.50=$7.00
SubTotal....$26.79

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $25 AdPerk/VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Johnson's PeelieQ=$1.00
1 x $2/2 Johnson's IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/$10 any skin care Wellness IPQ=$1.00
1 x BOGO Oral-B Toothbrush ManuQ=$2.49
1 x $1/1 Oral-B Toothbrush ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 any Oral-B Toothbrush RA booklet Q=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Trident Gum IPQ=$1.00
1 x $.50/1 Trident Gum IPQ=$.50
Coupon Total....$14.99

$26.79-$14.99=$11.80

Value of Items bought....$41.20
+Ups used....$10(Buy $30J&J)=$10.00

$11.80-$10.00=$1.80 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card
I earned....3x$2(Johnson's), 2x$1.50(Oral-B), $1(buying 3 Trident), $1(buying 2 Edy's)=$11.00+Ups

Started with $26 in +Ups and ended the day with $27 in +Ups.

THESE TRIPS
Total Spent....$2.73 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$110.37
SCR qualified for...$1.00, $10 Gift Card & Glam Bag
+Up Rewards earned...$26.50

MONTHLY TOTALS-September Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......7
Total Spent....$16.59 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$269.82
SCR qualified for....$1 in cash and $10 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$0
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....a Glam Bag
+Up Rewards spent....$54.50
+Up Rewards earned....$81.50

Total 'Spent'...$16.59 on gift cards
Total Cash I'm getting Back=$1
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$10
+Up Rewards left to spend=$27.00

Sluggy 

Double Dip Time at Weis....but Hurry!

I am late to the party as usual, but I wanted to let all the other procrastinators out there know about the GM Double Dip that's going on this week at Weis Markets.

There is a Buy $25/Get $5 or Buy $35/Get $10 Catalina Deal this week on assorted GM products(and brands owned by GM).
Within this Cat Deal are 4 other nationwide Catalina Deals running now, so if you buy the items that qualify for both Cat Deals, you get both Deals!

The 4 other Deals are when you buy qualifying Green Giant veggies, Old El Paso items, Hamburger Helper items &/or Pillsbury refrigerated items(not the frozen ones).

Here is what I just hauled home from Weis....

6 x Hamburger Helper reg. price $1.99/sale $1.00=$11.94/$6.00
3 x OEP Beans reg. price $1.45/sale $1.25=$4.35/$3.75
1 x OEP Shells reg. price $1.79/sale $1.25=$1.79/$1.25
2 x OEP Seasoning Packets reg. price $.89/sale $.67=$1.78/$1.34
2 x Pillsbury Simply Cookie Dough reg. price $3.19/sale $2.50=$6.38/$5.00
2 x Pillsbury rolled Cookie Dough reg. $2.99/sale $2.50=$5.98/$5.00
2 x Pillsbury Crescent Rolls reg. $2.29/sale $1.67=$4.58/$3.34
SubTotal reg price $36.80/sale price $25.68

Coupons Used--remember I can only use ManQ at this Weis store
2 x $1/3 Hamburger Helper=$2.00
2 x $1/2 Cookie Doughs=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Crescent Rolls=$1.00
Coupon Total....$5.00

$25.68-$5.00=$20.68 OOP

Buying $35 in reg. priced  GM items triggered a $10 OYNO Cat
Buying 6 Hamburger Helpers triggered a $3 off Hamburger/Tuna/Chicken OYNO Cat
Buying 6 Old El Paso items triggered a $3 off Meat/Chicken OYNO Cat
Buying 6 Pillsbury items triggered a $3 OYNO Cat

That's $19 in Cats for spending $20.68!

I plan on hitting up a different Weis that takes Internet Qs and rolling the $10 & $3 Cats a few times on this deal before the sale ends on Saturday evening.  With the Pillsbury items I'll be able to get other products since I won't be limited to ManQs only.  My after Q total will be around the same($20-$22) but by using the $13 in Cats I'll pay $7-$9 for each order of 18 items and still receive $19 in Cats.

If I roll this deal 3 times, I'll end up with 72 items, under $50 OOP and $13 in OYNO Cats as well as $24 in Meat Cats.
Weis has ground beef for $1.99lb in-store special here so I'll probably turn around and use that $24 in Meat Cats to buy 12 lbs. in ground beef and make a very large batch of meatballs and meatloaves on Sunday.

So get on down to Weis before this ends Saturday evening!

Sluggy

Another 2010 BORING BLOG BOX of FUN GIVEAWAY is OPEN! Box #4 POST 1 is CLOSED

***This Post is CLOSED for ENTRIES.   Please go to the new Giveaway Post linked on the right sidebar to Enter. thanks!

 This is the 4th Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY for 2010!

It's time again for a Boring Giveaway.
I run a Boring Blog here so why not giveaway boring stuff, right?

Just to recap, 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.  The stuff can range from HBA, food, toys, collectibles, home decor or books.  Someday if enough people click on enough ads and this blog makes some cold hard cash, I may add a gift card, so get to clicking already!!lol

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

1. Star Trek Sticker Book-this is filled with all kinds of Star Trek insignia stickers
2. Star Trek First Contact bubble bath
3.Star Trek Party Hats(visor type)
4. Star Trek Party Blowers

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

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---->


TIME TO ENTER.....

Just put a comment on this POST for your entry.  Easy Peasy!

When I post again about this BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY, entries on this Post will be CLOSED and you can post on the New Giveaway Post and enter again.  I hope this isn't too confusing. ;-)

Here are the ways to get UP TO 2 EXTRA entries PER POST.....

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST only with the URL of your blog. If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra comment.
2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog or on a Message Board.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST only with a link to your blog post or the message on the board.

You can do each of these 2 things once per post, so that's a total of up to 3 entries per person per post.

Again, you can enter on this post until I put another Giveaway Post up and then you need to enter on the NEWER Post.
FYI if you are new here....it generally takes 4 weeks to fill the box, so there will be 4 posts(give or take)about this Giveaway where you can enter to win up to 3 times.

Any questions?  Just email me at slugmama@yahoo.com

Oh yah, I pay for all the stuff in this giveaway and nobody(business or person) gives me stuff or pays me to hold them or promote their products.  I even pay the shipping just because I loves ya'll and....and.....that's how I roll!  ;-)

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

A Moooo-ving Tip for All My PA Readers

So I found about about a great freebie back in the Spring from one of the big Deal Blogs.  This particular freebie was for a coupon for a free container of Simply Smart milk, made by the Hood brand of dairy products, which was available if you signed up through Facebook.  I am all about the free(if it's something I am going to use or can give to someone else who will use it), so I signed up for the coupon to be mailed to me.

When that letter arrived, is when I discovered that there is a Ginormous DAIRY LOBBY within PA. Not only do we have state regulated minimum milk prices here in PA but companies located outside of PA are not allowed by PA law to send residents of PA free dairy product coupons. 
Don't you just love government monkeying with the free trade system in this country?

So along with the nice letter explaining why they can't mail me a coupon for a Free Container of Milk, was a check for $5.00.....to make up for the injustice of not being allowed to get free milk.  I could use it to go buy my own milk.

Also enclosed with my check from Hood was a coupon for a free container of Hershey's Milk or Milkshake.
The Hershey's FREE item coupon is perfectly fine since Hershey's is a huge corporation located within PA.
FYI--Hood LCC and Hershey's partnered to produce this line of chocolate milk drinks...Hood supplies the milk, Hershey's supplies the chocolate.   But if Hershey's(the PA company)is NOT supplying the milk that means Hood is so how come this free item coupon is allowable but not the coupon I sent away for?
Me thinks that not only is the PA Dairy lobby humongous but the Hershey Company lobby is just as powerful.
Hmmmm.....
I find it funny(as in weird)that Hood can NOT send me a free milk product coupon but if the Hershey's name is attached, it's A-Ok.
Just another example of government intruding into & screwing with your day-to-day life folks......

So the moral here?
If you are within PA, go ahead and send for those dairy product freebies anyway!
You won't get the freebie(unless it's a PA dairy or connected to Hershey) but you just might get something just as good OR BETTER(aka CA$H!)for your troubles. ;-)

Sluggy

Getting a Little Something Done..Little Being the Operative Word Here

Sunday I harvested the garden and here is what I got.....

I just don't know WHAT I am going to do with all this???lol

Oh wait!
Here's what I'm doing.....

Adding him to his little green friends I harvested last week, blanching them all and stuffing them into the freezer. ;-)

And remember this pic......

I finally got around to processing them and they now look like this....

3 lovely quarts of tomato sauce!

I also got lucky this week when I called the courthouse and they said I had finished my Jury Duty Service. 
I hadn't actually had to report to the courthouse any of the weeks this month but oooookay! 8-)

That meant I was able to participate in my 1st paid online video focus group earlier this week. 
Let me get this.....you're going to pay me to sit at the computer and give you my opinion on something?
Oh, they just don't realize the monster they have unleashed upon the "focus group world"......

I am off now to run some errands that have been neglected thus far this week, including mailing off the latest Boring Blog Box Giveaway Winner their box of prizes.  I've got another Boring Box of Stuff set to launch in the next day or two so don't touch that dial! ;-)

Sluggy

5 Steps to Effective Complaining...Make it Pay Off!

At my advanced age....cough, cough.....I would hardly consider myself a shrinking violet when it comes to speaking up about something.

True, when I was younger I may have let problems slide and not made an issue of something just for the sake of "not making waves".  It was easier to just let problems with products and companies go.
Who needs the hassle of having to write a letter to complain that a food product wasn't fresh or edible even or that some houseware  broke the first time you used it? 
It was easier to just move on and mentally make a note in the back of your brain not to EVER buy that item again or even to blacklist the entire company that provided you that defective product.

But, that was many years ago.....back before I racked up many many MANY incidents of products that didn't live up to what they were suppose to be and companies that didn't provide what was promised.
Eventually we all get to that point in life, when dealing with companies, where we become Howard Beale and get fed up with the status quo and just let them know how we feel about the situation....



(I love this movie!  Even back in the '70s it was so ahead of it's time...)

Ok, so yelling out your window won't get you much except a case of laryngitis when it comes to getting satisfaction from a company.

You need to practice a little thing called "Effective Complaining". 
 Here are the steps I use...

*Seek out a venue for communicating with the company.
Use the internet to find their website.  From there navigate the site for any contact links(email, telephone, mailing address, etc.)they provide to communicate with the company's representatives.

*Present your complaint.
Be factual.  Don't let your emotions run wild and just call them names and tell them they suck.....even if they DO suck and the little man in your head won't shut up saying that.  The person taking your complaint is not the one who has wronged you.  They are the one who may HELP you get satisfaction so be cordial or even nice to them.  I like to open with saying something positive about the company or product but that I am disappointed in some way.  Then lay out what is making you unhappy and why.  Give pertinent details.

*Suggest ways in which they can rectify the situation to your satisfaction.
 If you are unhappy with a company, they want you to make you happy.  Happy customers give them more money and dah!...businesses want your money.  Letting the company know what specific things will turn you from an unhappy consumer to a happy one makes their job easier and will help you ultimately find satisfaction quicker.  Do you want a refund, a replacement, an apology?  Be realistic about your expectations.  Asking a company for an all-expense-paid trip to Paris because their ballpoint pen leaked in your shirt pocket is a little over the top.

*Escalate if your needs are not met.
If your first contact about your complaint brings about no satisfaction, try again.  If you emailed, try a telephone call.  If you called first, try another telephone call, as  you will probably get a different customer service rep. who might be having a better day and is more willing to make you happy. If that rep. can't help you, go up the "calling food chain" and ask to speak to the supervisor or to their manager. Or try an email if you called first.  If neither an email or phone contact bring results, mail a letter.
If a mailed letter doesn't kick-start someone to respond, you can consider contacting outside sources to help you beat them into submission, er.....help you get some resolution.  There is the Better Business Bureau, among others, as well as your local newspaper or tv investigative reporter.  For serious issues, these outside sources can put pressure on a business on your behalf.  There is always the A-Team but calling them will only help you rescue a hostage or blow something up. 

*Follow-up goes a long way.
When your situation/complain is resolved let the company(customer service dept.)know that you are satisfied.  If you contacted via email or mailed letter, send a "thanks for resolving my issue" email.  Just a couple of sentences is enough.  If you go on & on, they may flag you as a nut job, and avoid future emails you may have to send them.  If your interaction is via telephone and they resolve your problem then and there, just thank the customer service rep on the other end for their help before you hang up.

Let me illustrate the process with a situation I had at Chez Sluggy.
See this bottle of juice?

I purchased it at KMart late last year during one of their Double Coupon Events, using a coupon.  It was on sale and with the coupon doubling, I paid maybe $.10 for it.
When I went into my stockpile to use it some months later, I found that this had happened.....

The glue holding the spout to the paperboard container had crapped out.  Yes, crapped out is my technical term, what of it?
My first thought was to find the receipt and return this bottle to the store for a refund or replacement.
Well, it was well past the 90 day KMart Return Policy period so that option was off the table.
Since I had only paid .10¢ for the juice, I considered just chucking the bottle in the garbage and moving on with my life.
But.....I couldn't do that. 
This "juice malfunction" ate at me.  Ok, so tell me I 'need a life'!
Knowing I was letting this company off the hook and NOT being satisfied as a consumer drove me to contact them and attempt to find relief from my sleepless nights.

My first plan on attack was to see if the company had a customer service email address.
The company website had a contact form so I filled it all in, including complete product information(size, type, UPC any other code I could find on the container,etc.), when and where the item was bought, and then I laid out the problem (container malfunction). I added what steps would satisfy me(a refund or replacement)and closed with the fact that my family has been a consumer of their products for many years without encountering any problems.

Had I received no response(after 1 week had passed), I would have tried a phone call, as the company supplied a customer service phone line on the website as well.  I prefer to go the email route first since I am not a big fan of the telephone.

The next step, if a phone call had not gotten me what I wanted, was to drag out the BIG GUNS and write an honest-to-goodness letter.
A letter takes a bit more effort than an email or phone call.  Popular wisdom is that companies believe that for every complaint letter they receive there are scads more unhappy customers out there that don't bother to write that letter.  Every letter represents many more disgruntled consumers, therefore companies seriously don't like to get complaint letters!  Because of this, I have found that writing the company a "I'm mad as hell & I'm not going to take it anymore!" letter will at least get you a response & an attempt to placate you, if no other form of contact does.

Luckily for me, the email did it's job, so I didn't have to escalate this and spend any more time to communicate my displeasure.
And fairly quickly, a response arrived in the mail....

A free replacement item coupon plus a $.75/1 Coupon good on my next purchase of this item, good until mid December.
So, a few more high value coupons would have been nice but for the amount of time I spent on my complaint, this was a decent outcome.

I did follow up by using the contact form on the company's website to let them know that my coupons had arrived and to thank them for taking care of my issue. 

I had asked them when I had contacted them initially if there was a known issue with the glue holding the spout onto the container.  They never did address that part of my inquiry so I have no clue whether this is an ongoing problem or just an isolated incident I experienced.  Because of their unwillingness to response to this issue, I will be avoiding these types of containers in the future, so they have lost me as a consumer of this particular product.

In closing, I'd give Nestle a B- for their customer service.
Good response and follow-through but they lost the A by avoiding my glue question.

Do you contact companies when their products don't live up to your expectations?
If not, why don't you pursue a resolution?
Do you have an interesting story about a product complaint issue?
Let us know!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Trip on Monday....Receipt Tape for Days!

Since I hadn't been to Rite-Aid since a week ago Sunday, I was due for a trip.
There are lots of yummy deals at Rite-Aid this week that will net you items for free or cheap out of pocket costs.
I decided to concentrate on the J&J deal, which is 'Spend $30 on specific Johnson and Johnson branded items and get a $10 +Ups Reward'.  Many of the qualifying items are on sale AND also give an individual +Ups Reward as well so a true Double Dip opportunity!  Add in a $X off $XX purchase coupon and individual items coupons and you have the making for very little out of pocket or for Moneymakers after figuring in the +Ups that you'll receive on the purchase.

Here is what I bought....

4 x Johnson Baby products(shampoo, lotion, baby wash)on sale $3.99 but $3.83 with my 20% wellness discount=$15.32
1 x Desitin on sale $3.99=$3.99
2 x Reach Toothbrushes on sale $2.99=$5.98
2 x Listerine Pocketpacks on sale $2.99=$5.98
SubTotal.....$31.27

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$25 Adperks/VV IPQ=$5.00
4 x $1/1 Johnson's products(some Peelies, some IPQs)=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Johnson's or Desitin product IPQ=$1.00
1 x BOGO Reach Toothbrush ManuQ=$2.99
1 x $1/1 Reach Item IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Reach AdPerks/VV IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 Listerine products(Pocketpacks)ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/$10 any Oral Care purchase Wellness CRT Q=$1.00
1 x $1/1 any Desitin/Johnson item Adperks/VV IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$17.99

$31.27-$17.99=$13.28

+Ups Used....$4/$2/$2/$2/$1=$11.00

$13.28-$11.00=$2.28 OOP put on free Rite-Aid gift card


And here are the +Up Rewards I received.....

Ok....here's a different shot of the bottom half of my receipt.....

Unfortunately, my arm was not long enough to get the receipt far enough away from the camera to get all 4.8 ft. of it in the photo!lolol

1 x $10 +Ups for buying $30 of Johnson products in 1 transaction=$10.00
5 x $2 +Ups for each of the Johnson baby items=$10.00
3 x $2 +Ups for 3 of the 4 Reach/Listerine items=$6.00
Total +Up Rewards received.....$26.00

Since I bought 4 Reach/Listerine items and only got 3 +Ups I guess the limit on this deal is 3.
I was only planning on buying 3 of these items but my Listerine/Pocketpacks Q was a $1 off 2, not $1 off 1.  Oh well....I'll have to suffer with $26 instead of the $28 if I had been able to buy one less Pocketpack and 1 more Baby Shampoo. ;-)

THIS TRIP
Total Spent....$2.28 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$43.61
SCR qualified for...$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$26.00


MONTHLY TOTALS-September Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......4
Total Spent....$13.86 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$159.45
SCR qualified for....$0 in cash and $0 in Gift Cards
Other Cash....$0
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0
+Up Rewards spent....$29.00
+Up Rewards earned....$42.00

Total 'Spent'...$13.86 on gift cards
Total Cash I'm getting Back=$0
Total Gift Cards I'm getting=$0
+Up Rewards left to spend=$26.00

I might go back in the next couple of days to do another deal or two.  Nothing planned out yet but I'll study  the sales flyer again later today.
What deals did you do or do you plan to do at Rite-Aid this week?

Sluggy

My Shopping Trips and Meal Plan Monday Menu....Rambling Post

Not that this will help anyone directly,l but I just have to post about it since it's the closest to a honest-to-goodness Grocery Deal I've done in ages!  We bought other stuff but I wanted to mention this deal in case stores near you were going to run something like this one in the near future.

Our local independent chain stores--each one is independently owned, but they share an affiliation(shurfine brand markets), so they share the same weekly deals/sales--had a double dip opportunity I just found out about on Sat. morning.  The bad news was their deal was ending that evening. 8-P

This past week they were running a General Mills sale/deal.....buy 12 participating items(most of which were on sale as well and there were coupons in circulation for these items)and get an instant $5 off your bill.  Other chains may run this as a Catalina deal instead of an Instant Discount deal.  Among the included General Mills 'brands' were Green Giant, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Yoplait, etc.

Included in the participating items were the small, boxed Green Giant veggies, which were on sale for $1.25 each.  This chain is also participating in a nationwide Green Giant Catalina through Oct. 3rd--Get a $1 Cat WYB 4 boxes/Get a $2 Cat WYB 6 boxes/Get a $3 Cat WYB 8 boxes or more, making this a great Double Dip Opportunity!

I've got no pic of all the items we bought but here's a shot of some of the frozen vegs...

So I bought.....
8 Green Giant veggies @ $1.25=$10.00
2 Betty Crocker Taters @ $1.25=$2.50
2 Coco Puffs Cereal @ $2.00=$4.00
SubTotal....$16.50

Coupons Used
2 x $.60/3 IP Green Giant Qs(1st identical Q doubles to $1)=$1.60
1 x $1/2 BC Taters IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 GM Cereals IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total...$3.60

$16.50-$3.60=$12.90
Minus Instant $5 off Bill for buying 12 items $12.90-$5.00=$7.90 OOP
And I received a $3 Catalina for buying the 8 Veggies, so after figuring in that, the 'OOP' is $4.90.

I brought Hubs along and at another register he bought....

8 Green Giant veggies @ $1.25=$10.00
3 Hamburger Helper @ $1.00=$3.00
1 Cheerios Cereal @ $2.00=$2.00
SubTotal....$15.00

Coupons Used
2 x $.60/3 IP Green Giant Qs(1st identical Q doubles to $1)=$1.60
1 x $1/3 Hamburger Helper IPQ=$1.00
1 x $.55 Cheerios IPQ=$.55(didn't double)
Coupon Total...$3.15

$15.00-$3.15=$11.85
Minus Instant $5 off Bill for buying 12 items $11.85-$5.00=$6.85 OOP
And I received a $3 Catalina for buying the 8 Veggies....$6.85-$3.00=$3.85
AND as an unexpected Bonus, Hubs received a $1.50 WYB  Beef/Chicken/Tuna Catalina(for buying 3 Hamburger Helpers)....$3.85-$1.50=$2.35 'OOP'

 $7.90 + $6.85=$14.75 OOP for 24 items(16 veggies, 3 cereals, 5 boxed taters and helpers)& $7.50 in Catalinas to use next trip, since I didn't use Cat from Transaction #1 in Transaction #2, as they were done simultaneously.

 The bad thing is that I have to go to this particular Shurfine affiliated store to use them and I can't use them at the store here in Teeny Tiny Town.
But I drive the 5 miles to go to that affiliated store anyway since they DO take internet coupons!

Other items purchased were 2 gallons of milk, 9 white eggplant, 5lb potatoes, 1 lb. red peppers, 1 lb. broccoli, 1lb. peaches, 6lbs. apples, 1.39lb. bananas, bottle of dipping mustard, 2 packages of Oreos, 9 lbs. of chicken & a pie that was on clearance.
We spent $53.11 combined($14.75 of that was on the GM Cat deal).
Reg. retail of all items was $116.06
Savings of 54.25%


We also went to Weis Markets on Saturday and picked up more groceries......have I mentioned I haven't gone grocery shopping since last month?lol


4 x Perdue bags of chicken tenders(for #2 son on band nights) on sale $4.00=$16.00
3 x Weis shredded cheese on sale 3/$5=$5.00
5 x Weis cream cheese on sale $1=$5.00
1 x 3lb. Jennie-O ground turkey=$5.99
2 x 8 oz. fresh oysters on clearance $3.59=$7.18
1 x iceberg lettuce on sale=$1.50
2 x fresh pears on sale=$.83
3 x fresh limes on sale=$.60
1 x celery on sale=$1.50
3lbs. sweet italian sausage=$6.05
SubTotal....$49.65

Coupons Used
4 x $1/1 Perdue chicken ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 Instant Discount Q for Sausage=$3.00
Coupon Total....$7.00

$49.61-$7.00=$42.65
Reg. retail $80.53
Savings of 47%

Grand Total spent for all shopping....$95.76
Total value of items....$196.59
Savings of 51.30%


Ok, so I bet you are asking yourself, "self, why did Sluggy buy this particular stuff?".
Glad you asked!! ;-)

To analyze the purchases....
*The Cat deal stuff is obvious--veggies for the freezer, helper & instant potatoes for quick fix nights, 1 cereal for me and the chocolate stuff for #2 son snacks.
Other items bought at Gerrity's Shurfine....
*2 gallons of milk--we were totally out of milk
*2 packages of Oreos--tried to use the free Oreo/milk Q but they wouldn't take it so I bought Oreos anyway for #2 son snacks(they were on sale at least)
*9 white eggplant--great price for this so Eggplant Parmesan is on the menu this evening
*5lb potatoes--cheap price for this
*1 lb. red peppers--ditto, I'll slice and freeze these for use this winter
*1 lb. broccoli--for dinner this week
*1lb. peaches--great price
* 6lbs. apples--ditto
* 1.39lb. bananas--ditto...daughter is on a fresh fruit binge lately
* bottle of dipping mustard--had $1 off coupon so got it for $1.25. #2 son likes this with his chicken tenders
* 9 lbs. of chicken--great price on boneless chicken breast so I stocked up some
* a pie--Hubs wanted this and with the $2 off instant coupon stuck to it, I said ok!lol
*4 bags of Perdue chicken-#2 son is in the midst of Marching Band season so he needs easy meal protein most nights since he isn't here for dinner.  It was $2.99 a bag after coupons so I bought as many as I had coupons for.
*3 Shredded Cheese-on sale for $1.66 bag and I still needed some in the stockpile.
 *5 Cream Cheese--stock up price so I did.lol
*Ground Turkey roll--Daughter needs easy meal protein some nights as well due to her part time job schedule. I divided this roll into burger patties for her.
*Fresh Oysters--50% off on something we hardly ever buy.  At this price, we splurged and had fried oysters for dinner last night. ;-)
* Lettuce-good price, we were out.
*Pears--sale price, daughter wanted
*Limes--sale price, I wanted for my iced tea
*Celery--good price, we were out.  I'll make clam chowder this week, plus use some for raw veggie sticks for snacks.
*3lb. italian sausage--with Instant Meat Dept. Coupon this was $1 a lb....half of any sale price around here so I grabbed it.  Many uses for this item....in spaghetti sauce, in meatloaf, in various other casseroles or just grilled and eaten on a bun.

My Meal Plan Menu so far for this week....
Sunday--fried oysters, fried potatoes, fried crabcakes, sauted yellow squash
Monday--eggplant parmesan, steamed broccoli
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--grilled chicken, potatoes and onions, tbd fresh veggie-all on the grill
Thursday--spaghetti & meatballs, salad
Friday--Game night so Hamburger Helper, assorted  steamed veggies
Saturday--clam chowder and sandwiches or leftovers again

I'm using some of what I bought this week but I'll have chicken, chicken tenders, potatoes, ground turkey, italian sausage, cream cheese and the shredded cheese, along with most of the GM items from the Cat deal left for next week's meals.

Have you found any good Deals lately?

Sluggy

Go Print the $5 on 5 Kraft Products Again!

That awesome $5 off of 5 participating Kraft dairy items coupon has reset.
If you printed it off last week, go HERE and see if you can print it again. (Be sure and hit the back button to print it twice.)
It has reset for many people, including yours truly!   Maybe it's reset for you too! 8-)

Speaking of this coupon, has anybody had any problems using it so far?
And if you did, what store gave you a hassle??

Sluggy

In the Land of Randomness...Welcome to My World! Sept.10th

This is a photo of Little Edie aka Edith Bouvier Beale taken around 1972.  She was the cousin of Jackie Kennedy(as in First Lady Jackie Kennedy).  If you haven't been under a rock for the last couple of years you already have some inkling who this woman was.  If you want to watch the documentary the Maysles Brothers made, that brought her and her mother, Big Edie Beale, to the attention of the public, go to Hulu and find "Grey Gardens".  It's much better than that movie HBO put out last year.  Too bad the Broadway show of their lives isn't still running.  Christine Ebersole was grand in the role of Little Edie.  To find one of the few clips of her in the role, performing at the 2007 Tony Awards go HERE.
I think this documentary is a mesmerizing and wonderful study of two amazing women who were both trapped by their time/society and made free by their approach to that life.
If I can be half the Staunch Women that the Edies were, I'll be happy with how my life turns out.

It's here!!!

It's so nice to have a real working refrigerator again.....
Now I need to clean up the inside of the old one that is sitting in the garage and after Jury Duty month I can try to arrange for a repairman to look at it again.

From the annuals of "I just don't get it".  How come people who realize that they are on the brink of disaster won't change their behaviors...or won't even do the few things they need to do to make their situation not-so dire?  It's one thing to not know that the cliff is there but when you know it's there and you are standing on it, why do you insist on taking that one step over it when you know how to take a step back instead??
I just don't get it....
I do get that you can't force someone to change if they are not ready.  If you try, they just get all passive/aggressive on you.
And then later, after the sh** hits the fan, others will blame you for not helping, when in fact you tried to help.  The other people's definition of help is really 'enable' anyway, and enabling does everyone involved a disservice and makes nothing better.

My friend Brenda said I could share this photo with ya'll.  She did something creative this year in her garden.  If I had a wooden shed that got good sun, I'd do this too in a heartbeat next year!

It's sections of gutter, nailed to her shed and used as a planter box.  Just fill with some soil and sew lettuce seeds and pretty soon you have salad!  Salad greens without ANY BENDING OVER TO PICK!
It's genius I tell ya, Genuis!...lolol


Tomorrow we say goodbye to our dog Peanut.  With the loss of his bladder and bowel control as well as the deterioration of his back legs, the time has come.  He will have family there with him as he takes that last walk to the Rainbow Bridge and a steak dinner in his belly.

As Edie Beale might have said,  "He was a Staunch Character".....

Sluggy

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box #3 Giveaway....WINNER!

There were 58 valid entries to the 3rd Boring Blog Box Giveaway.
I listed the names in order of them being received and assigned a number to each entry.
Then I plugged the parameters into Random.Org and it spit out the Winner.


And the winner is......


Entry Number 41

I'm So Pretty said... and you are so on my blogroll! ;)

Congratulations "I'm So Pretty" and please email me your snail mail info. within the next 48 hours from this time stamp and this lovely box of assorted Boring Blog Stuff will be on it's way to you!

And thank you to everyone who entered!!  We picked up a couple new readers along the way during this Giveaway and I'd like to say Welcome to them! and I do hope they stick around and keep reading and participating.

More Giveaway Fun coming soon....

Sluggy

Renting College Textbooks....A Great Idea in Theory

In theory I am all for renting college textbooks as opposed to buying them.
This is especially a good idea if the books are for your students classes that they don't think they will need ever again as a reference material in their college career or out in the working world.

College textbooks are insanely expensive today!   I haven't bought a college textbook since 1981, and I about dropped a rectal plate when #1 son handed me the price list of the books he needed last fall for his freshman courses.
So we explored buying used textbooks and even buying them used, can cost a whole lot of money.

And they go out of date so quickly too.  Companies will release new editions of a book after changing small amounts of information in them.  This makes the last edition of the book basically worthless and most college bookstores will NOT even buyback the book.  You are stuck with a heavy, expensive paperweight in these cases.  All those newer editions just so publishing companies can produce/sell more books.  It keeps students from recycling their books and gobbles up natural resources to print more and more books and we are left with a growing problem of what to do with all those old textbooks.

So when I heard about renting college textbooks as opposed to buying them, I was all over that concept!
It's brilliant really.....rent your books for cheap & turn them in to be re-rented by someone else for the next semester.
Lower amount of money out of pocket and no books to have to resell or otherwise dispose of when you are done with them!

So we decided to rent #1 son's college books his first semester in college.
That was a good thing.

We decided to rent them from a company called CHEGG.
That was a very bad thing!

I began dealing with this Nightmare of a Company in August of 2009!
I was so glad when it finally came to a close in March of 2010.
Please, do NOT use them.  Use anybody else, just not this one!

They sent 3 shipments total, because of books that never arrived the 1st time or in some cases even the 2nd time.  We live in eastern PA and had the books delivered to #1 son's dorm in western PA.  I spent hours on the phone trying to trace these book shipments over the course of a month.  1 shipment of books was delivered finally....to an address in eastern NEW JERSEY!  Another shipment of a book was mailed for delivery with NO STREET ADDRESS.....just #1 son's name, the town, state and zip code.

I come to find out later that this company does not always have the books you order so they buy them off of other sellers, like from private sellers on Amazon.com.  So not only are you at the mercy of the company(a middleman really)you are renting the book from, but you are at the mercy of the seller who is supplying the book for Chegg to you.  If that seller Chegg buys your book from is clueless about how to properly ship something(the guy who shipped a book with no street address), YOU bear the brunt of it.

I fought with this company over a book that was ordered 3 times and was NEVER delivered.  They claim it was delivered.  Yes, it arrived at the University(to their mail room were somebody signed for it and then either misdelivered it or never delivered it via the on-campus mail system)but in the end, my son never got the book.  The incompetence of college mail systems is yet another problem and a reason not to have rented books sent directly to your school, especially a large public university.  But I digress....

So I paid over $55 to rent a book that never arrived, plus #1 son had to go out and buy this book for $65+.  Then Chegg expected me to return said book-which #1 son never got-when I returned the rest of the books at the end of the semester.  Since we don't have said book, they said I had to buy the book and tried to charge me for the cost of the book.
I don't think so!
In the end, this company did me the favor of dropping the charges that I owed them for the book that never arrived.
So nice of them, wasn't it?

Perhaps I should have sent them the bill for the blood pressure pills I needed after I started dealing with them....

After this fiasco Hubs is dead set against renting textbooks again...EVER!...from Anyone!  So we are stuck with buying...used at least, whenever possible.
Unless of course the college goes to in-house rentals or eBooks or Kindle books.
I think that would be a good thing.

Do you have a college student?
What are your textbooks costs like?  We got off easy this semester for ONLY $515!
Have you rented textbooks?  Who did you use and what was your experience like?
Leave a comment!

Sluggy

Weekend Stuff....And Tuesday Feeling Like Monday

Well Hubs and I found a fridge that would fit into the space that we have in the kitchen for it, so we bit the bullet and bought it from the Home Despot on Saturday.  The funds will come out of the Savings Challenge cash we saved last year that we have left. 
The clerk showed us the one we bought(which is almost 2 cubit feet smaller inside than the current non-working fridge)and another one that was the EXACT SAME Fridge we have now.
Ummm, I don't THINK I want to buy the same fridge....unless of course, I WANT to have to replace it again in less than 5 years.lolol

We'll keep the broken fridge and put it out in the garage and look into fixing it at some later date.  We found out that the local power company will haul the old fridge off for free if at some point in the future we decide it isn't worth or can't be repaired.
It also took a bit of the financial sting off of the fridge purchase when we found out that it qualifies for a rebate of sorts from the power company.  Since it's an Energy Star appliance, it qualifies us for a $50 Visa Card.
Nice.....

We got the deck cleaned and sealed this weekend.  Since we weren't suppose to get any precipitation, we hired the nephew and #2 son to do the job.  No bending for us and walking around money for them...
It was a 2 day job.....cleaning on Saturday and staining/sealing on Sunday.....and dry enough to put everything back on the deck Monday.
Hubs and I spent a good while on Monday in the garage making room for the broken fridge and doing a bit of reorganizing in there.
Then we finished off the 3 day weekend by picking ripe Roma tomatoes off the plants.
Here's the harvest we ended up with.....

 And there are still a TON of tomatoes out there that are yet to ripen!  These are headed into the freezer now so that I can skin them easily when I get the chance to process and can them.

This Harvest--
TOTAL....10 lb. 12.2 oz.
Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....52 lb. 8.02 oz.

I made myself a BLT for dinner.....anybody wonder why? ;-)
Hubs & #1 son had a traditional American Labor Day meal....Taco Bell.lolol
After dinner I went through the island cabinets in the kitchen and started throwing the accumulated leftover Chinese take-out container into the plastic recycling bin.

I woke up this morning with the decluttering bug still up my rear so I've done some throwing out and "Salvation Army setting aside" as I move around the house.  I'll be interested to see how much I can let go of by the end of today.

I love my family but boy!....I am glad they all went back to school or work today. ;-)

Here's hoping your day goes the way you want it to!

Sluggy