Rite-Aid Quickie.....

Yesterday was a mess around here!  We got some snow Tuesday night/early Wednesday so they closed the schools.  The poor doggies had to blaze a pathway to get their "business" done......

At least no school meant that I had captive shoveling volunteers for our way too long driveway!

Today, I had to haul my carcass up to the family doc's office to get some bloodwork slips for Daughter so I thought since the roads are good and the sun is shining today, I'd hop over to Rite-Aid.
After all....it has been FOUR DAYS since I was there last!

2 x Motrin PM(I love this stuff!) on sale $3=$6.00
2 x Fritos on sale $2.50($2.39 w/20% wellness discount)=$4.78
2 x Special K cereal on sale BOGO($4.79)=$4.79
2 x Fiber Plus cereal on sale BOGO($4.79)=$4.79
SubTotal....$20.36

Coupons Used
1 x $1 off your Order AdPerk/VV Q=$1.00
1 x $6/2 assort. OTC including Motrin PM IPQ HERE=$6.00
1 x BOGO Special K IPQ HERE=$4.79 *
2 x $1/1 Fiber Plus Cereal IPQ HERE=$2.00 **
Coupon Total.....$13.79

$20.36-$13.79=$6.57
I used $6 in +Ups and put the .57¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $9 back in +Ups(2 x $2 Motrin, 4 x $1 Cereals, $1 wyb2 Fritos)=$9, making this a $3 moneymaker.

*The coupon says max. value of $4.49 but the cashier insisted on writing it for $4.79.
**If you can find boxes of this cereal with the Try Me Free packaging you can get your money back using This FORM HERE when you submit the necessary paperwork.

Hopefully my coupons($6/2 ManuQ Mortin)arrive by Saturday's mail so I can get some more Mortin PM.  I was only able to print 2 IPQS for it since Hubs computer is "indisposed" and the kids won't let me use their machines to print computers dagnabbit!  The Qs are coming from Michigan and I am not hopeful the mail will get them here in time for this sale.  But Rite-Aid seems to run sales on this Motrin formula often so I am crossing my fingers there is another deal on it in the coming weeks.

When I was mucking out the place between the seats in my car earlier today I found ANOTHER receipt from Sunday's shopping rampage.  I totally forgot I had made a small transaction to test out whether the Barilla was giving 5 $1 +Ups before I bought more at my 1st store...duh!   I have updated the last Rite-Aid post Totals to reflect my spending/value of items/+Ups used/+Ups gained/etc. With the +Ups earned/used from that lost receipt, Sunday's rampage went from a $3 moneymaker to a $6 moneymaker...woohoo!   The photo and item count were correct.

Just an update for the week.....the extra Month long +Up for the Compleats has been withdrawn by the Manufacturer so if you buy it now, you'll only get the single $1 +Up.  This makes me think that next week when the Hormel Chili goes on sale, there will NOT be a double dip on the +Ups they produce.

And the Harvard Square pencils, erasers, rulers $2 wyb 2 items tags have been taken down in most, if not all stores, even though that deal was suppose to go until 1/22. 



THIS TRIP
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.57  (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$37.52
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$40.00(1 Me, 1 BIL)
+Up Rewards earned...$9.00
+Up Rewards spent...$6.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$141.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......25
Total Spent....$13.05 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1124.03
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$40.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/9.....$138.00
+Up Rewards spent....$293.50
+Up Rewards earned....$321.00
+Up Rewards left....$141.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy 

Hopes/Goals for 2011

After a fairly decent result with my 2010 Hopes/Goals I am excited to move ahead with my 2011 ones.

I am going to approach things a little differently in 2011 however.

Just laying out my 10 goals and trying for a  quarterly check-in was ok but it DID allow me to just keep pushing some of the goals to the back burner each month.  I figured I'd concentrate on 1 or 3 each month but that method left many things untouched, especially the sewing goals, of which I accomplished NOTHING in 2010. 8-(

So to change things up in 2011, I am going to make up a "Things To Do" type list at the beginning of each month.  This list will have specific points on it to accomplish or make headway on in that month.

I'll have the Monthly To Do List posted on the right sidebar.  At the beginning of each month, I'll post about the current month's hopes/goals and at the end of the month, I'll do a short post mortem on the List accomplishments(or lack thereof).
As items are dealt with they will be crossed off(if I can figure out how to do that!) and/or blogged about.
Some of y'all may not find this very interesting or helpful but I'm doing it this way for me.....because at the end of the day, it's my blog and it's my way or the highway here. ;-)

 Here is a list of areas in which I want to accomplish something(a goal) in 2011.  
Some months will be heavy in one area but other months will be heavy on another, since some of the goals/hopes are seasonal(taxes, gardening, eBay).  Some of the areas will overlap.  I know I'm not explaining this very well as I am still firming the plan up in my head and inside my head?....it's pretty mushy in there.  ;-)

Here are my Topics/Hopes/Goal Areas for 2011.

1.  Paperwork
2.   Organization
3.  Money
4.  Reading
5.  Sewing
6.  Cooking
7.  Gardening
8.  Family Life/Home
9.  Giving Back 
10.  Coupon-ing


Now, the "Big Picture" Overview of my Goals/Hopes for 2011 are, but are not limited to, these.....

1. Put more Money Into Savings.
2. File all the Paperwork that needs filing  and completing it on time.
3. Declutter my entire house and garage, and storage unit(and then stop renting the storage unit).
4. Read 30 books this year, with 75% of them being non-fiction.
5. Finish ALL in progress sewing projects and alter ALL clothing that needs it or give it away.
6. Cook more foods from scratch and phase unhealthy options out of my stockpile.
7. Grow more of the food we eat or source our food from non-grocery chain stores.
8. Use my skills to step up what I do for Others.
9. Be more "in the Moment" for my Family.
10. Organize the running of my Home. 

Now I hope this is all clear as mud to you all.

So tell us dear readers, what areas of your life are you going to be concentrating on making better in 2011?
We need to know!

Sluggy

Oh, I am Just Wicked!

Monday evening I watched Hoarders on the A&E channel.
10 pm rolls around and Hubs just shakes his head at me and leaves the family room when that show comes on.
I call it my sick guilty pleasure, watching Hoarders.  I guess it's sort of a way to remind myself weekly that "but for whatever reason, this could be me!"
The Hoarding gene or mentality or whatever you want to call it seems to run in my family.....if you've read me for long enough you know what I mean here.
It's a reminder to me of what I could be or become if I'm not vigilant.

And it's also like watching footage of a 20 car pile-up....you know it's going to gross you out but you just can't turn away. ;-)

**Before I get hate mail because I seem to be making fun of a serious "mental illness", get over yourself!
I have been in the belly of this beast so I have a slightly different perspective on the issue.
Besides, seeing the humour in stuff is what I strive for.....and it's good for your well-being and a great coping mechanism.....there are lots of people walking around with poles up their collective hineys who should try it sometime.
The world would be a much better place for it.**

At any rate, watching Hoarders and reading about hoarding is a great way to keep me motivated to DECLUTTER the House!
Yah, you Know what I'm talking about!!lol

So I'm watching the little intro part of the show on Monday.....the episode with Glen and Lisa.

Glen the pet rat lover/hoarder with avoidance issues related to the sudden death of his wife.

Lisa the cat lady/hoarder seething with passive-aggressive issues with her father.

One with 2500 Free-ranging Rats.

And one with 40+ Cats.

Do you know what my first thought was here?
.....That they should take Linda's cats over to Glen's place and take care of the rats.
Two houses cleared of their animals in one fell swoop.
And Both of them live in southern CA.....it's so DOABLE!!!

Am I an evil genius or what?


Sluggy

Stretching Those Eating Out Dollars

Here's a tip to file away to use next Holiday Season.
It's something I do that stretches the money we will spend anyway.

One of our splurges is going out to eat.
Nothing better for a worn out "cooking machine", a.k.a. MOM, like me, than sitting down at a table and not having to jump up to finish cooking something AND having someone else serve MOI!

We don't go out nearly as much as we use to but when we go out I still want to get a good deal.
Lots of eating establishments offer deals on Gift Cards around the Holidays.  They want you to spend all those gift-buying dollars with them!
Deals like "Buy $X worth of our Gift Cards and get an extra $X worth of Gift Cards to keep and use on yourself."

These silly businesses "assume" I'm buying gift cards to give as gifts.
Au Contraire!

I wait all year long until they offer these deals on their gift cards and then I buy a stack of 'em......to keep and use through out the year when we want to go out!

I figure it this way....
I'm going to eat at their restaurant during the coming year.
And I have some spare money not tied up in other venues besides a checking account.
So I might as well take that spare cash and tie it up into gift cards if they are also going to give me more than my money's worth.

So I bought $100 worth of Gift Cards and got an extra $40's worth for free!

Now the dark side of doing this....
*Make sure you don't buy more than you will use and only buy them for places you KNOW you will go and you like their food.
*Don't lose your gift cards.  While cold hard cash stays safe and snug in your wallet, gift cards tend to wander off and get misplaced.  If you lose it, you are screwed.
*Make sure you are aware of any terms or conditions the company places on their gift cards.  Are there expiration dates or fees if you don't use them within a certain time frame?  Get the straight poop before you hand over your cash.  My $40 in free cards have conditions but I knew it from the start and I can deal with those terms.
*Do NOT do this and pay for the Gift Cards with a credit card(unless you are one of those rare individuals that pays off your statement completely each month).  If you don't and you are paying interest on a gift card purchase, you are negating any savings you sought.

And of course, not only am I eating cheaper each time I go to the restaurant, I also take a coupon with me to make my meal even more frugal!

Now if ONLY our local Asian Restaurant would offer a deal like this!!lol
 

Sluggy

Christmas 2010 Budget/Spending Autopsy

Super Nerd Girl here again.....

Ok, so calling it an Autopsy is not very festive or cheerful.
So call it "The Post where I talk about what I was Going to Spend for Christmas and what I Actually Spent for Christmas".

We budgeted $1000 for Christmas spending.
$1000 in money we HAD already, so no putting Christmas spending on Credit Cards to pay off in June or January 2012.lol

Here is where the funds were allocated at the start.....

Traveling to visit with Family.  $300
Sending a few Holiday Cards.  $10.80
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.  $400
Cooking Christmas dinner.  $30
Charity.  $100
Baking cookies and pies.  $20
Christmas Tree.  $5
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.  $125


And here is where the money actually went.....

Traveling to visit with Family.  $0
Sending a few Holiday Cards.  $4.40
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.  $695.89
Cooking Christmas dinner.  $0
Charity.  $100
Baking cookies and pies.  $0
Christmas Tree.  $5
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.  $76.35 including tips



Here are the Spending Details....

$0  *Traveling to visit with Family----
The travel plans didn't work out so we didn't spend on this.  Not being able to visit however did mean we had more shipping costs to get the gifts we were bringing with us to their destination.  Shipping were put under the Gifts heading.

$4.40  *Sending a few Holiday Cards----
We sent out 13 cards. 10 were mailed and the others were hand-delivered or put inside of mailed gift packages so no stamps needed.

$695.89  *Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family----
WOW!  Ok, so $300 of this figure was the $100 cash we give each kid, so $395.89 was spent on gifts and shipping.  This does NOT include what Hubs spent on my gifts.
I kept an itemized list of who got what and how much it cost.  I about blew a gasket when I saw how much it all added up to!  You don't think you are spending, even if you are frugal, but boy oh boy!!!


Keep in mind that this spending number doesn't include the $200 in FREE Gift Cards I obtained from my credit card points program that I gave as gifts.

Looking back over the items, the least frugal thing has to be the Stocking Stuffers!  Even though I got most of mine this year for free at Rite-Aid, after using +Up Rewards and free Rite-Aid gift card to pay, those little "filler" type items will kill your budget!

$0  *Cooking Christmas dinner----
I didn't buy any extravagant meat or other gourmet type food.  My usual monthly grocery spending covered the Holiday meal.

$100  *Charity----
 I didn't involve the kids in a charity activity this year.  There was just nothing I could find that worked out with their school/work schedules so I just gave cash to a local Holiday charity organization.

$0  *Baking cookies and pies----
Again I was able to cover ingredients in the monthly food budget for December.  Everything but the pecans I had to buy was already procured before the month began using previous month's food funds.

$5  *Christmas Tree----
Hubs strung 2 strings of lights outside and lit the Wreath on the door.  They were only up 2 full weeks and lit for a few hours each night. 

$76.35  *A Christmas eve meal and show or movie----
We didn't have any extended family come this year so it was a smaller bill.

And the grand total we spent for Christmas 2010?

$881.64

$118.36 UNDER Budget!

Yay us.....

So looking forward to Christmas 2011 for me--
*I'm basically happy with what I ended up spending, though next year I may redistribute the amounts spent in individual categories.
*We spend way too much on gifts, even if they are money or non-stuff gifts.
*We need to be more actively involved with the charitable spending, not just throwing a check at some group.

If you kept track of your spending for Christmas, how did you do?
Did you spend more. less or right about what you planned on spending?
Did you have any money epiphanies(epiphany? epiphani?)when you looked back at the Holiday plan?
Do you see anything you'll change about your spending for Christmas 2011?

Leave a comment and let us know how ya did and what you learned about yourself & money this year!!

Sluggy

About Those NeverEnding Receipts.....

As for my Sunday shopping....
I am not even going to attempt to do my usual rundown with prices/values/coupon specifics/etc.
At this point, my head might explode if I tried.
Seriously.
Explode.

I dumped it all out on the table and took 1 shot.
Please note: no shelves were cleared in the making of this haul unlike some people on certain extreme tv reality shows.....*wink wink*.
This is the result of 5 different trips to 5 different Rite-Aids.  I could have spread it out over more stores because we have a ridiculous number of them here, though none of them are EVER fully stocked with sale merchandise.  I could have done more but I didn't want to be, oh, I don't know.....greedy?lol
Ok....to the photo.....

2 Bags Pistachios
6 cans of Coffee
4 cans of Soup
8 boxes Cereal
4 boxes Tylenol Precise Cream/Patches
6 packages of Pencils
4 packs of Pilot Pens
2 Spic n' Span Microfiber Cloths
4 Dishwashing Detergent tabs
2 packages of Maxi-pads
2 Darice Craft Kits
6 cans of Diced Tomatoes
6 cans of Spaghetti Sauce
16 boxes of Pasta
1 bag of Rice(2lb)
2 boxes of Motrin PM
29 Hormel Compleats
2 Simply Asia Noodles

I 'spent' $4.45 on my free gift card.
Used $127 +Ups, got $133 +Ups back so a $6 moneymaker.

Rite-Aid paid me $6 to fill my kitchen table with food and hba!
Have I mentioned how much I "heart" Rite-Aid lately?lol

Highlights for shopping at Rite-Aid this week.......

If you like Pistachios, grab the $1/1 Pistachio Q Here(print it twice).  If you can find a store with the Pistachios on sale for $2.50, get 2 bags.  Use your Qs and after you pay you get a $1 +Ups wyb 2, essentially meaning you pay $1 a bag after +Up.

The Barilla Pasta is on sale $5 for 4 boxes.  You'll receive $5 in +Ups back($1 this week for buying 4 and 4 x $1 ones as this item is a month long food item that generates a $1 +Up).  Free pasta!
Unfortunately it will be hard to find 4 boxes in any one store, as with alot of the food Rite-Aid stocks.

The Hormel Compleats are likewise free this week after +Ups.  Each one is on sale for $1.99 this week and gives back a $1 +Up and is a month long food item that generates another $1 +Up. Pair it with a Q and better than free!

The Special K cereal is BOGO this week.  Use the IP BOGO Q and get 2 boxes for free PLUS it's a month long food item that generates a $1+Up so you'll get $2 in +Ups for 2 boxes....a $2 moneymaker.

The Tylenol Precise is also free or better than free after +Ups.  On sale for $5 each, use the $3/1 or buy 2 and use the $5/2 ManQ, pay $2 or $5(w/the $5/2Q) and receive a $3 +Up for each one you buy.  Depending on the Q you use it's either free or a $1 moneymaker(on 2)after +Ups.

The Coffee is free after the $1 +Up and the $2/1 Rite-Aid Qs available.
The Rite-Aid soup is .19¢ a can until Feb. something-or-other after $1/2 Q as mentioned in a previous post.

The Sauce and Diced Tomatoes are 4 cans for $4 on sale and after the $1 +Up wyb 4 cans.  These are NOT producing a monthlong $1 +Up per can, nor is the soup on sale 4/$5.  A buck a can for tomatoes while not free is a good price for here.

The Stay-free is better than free on sale 2/$5, combined with the BOGO Q and a $1/1 Q after the $2 +Ups wyb 2 packages.

The pens and pencils are a previously mentioned deal as well, though none of my pencils produced the $2 +Up on Sunday.  Anybody else having problems with that +Up?

Some Rite-Aids have the Spic n Span branded cleaning aids/tools 50% off(.50¢ per item)and there is a $1/1 Spin n Span Q on coupons dotcom so you can pick up free cleaning tools.

It's difficult to see on top of the pasta boxes but there is a 2lb. bag of white rice.  It and the brown rice are producing a $1 monthlong +Ups.  With my 20% Wellness +Discount the $1.49 per bag is $1.19, so after +Up it cost me .19¢.  The brown rice is higher at $1.69 so after 20% off it will cost you .35¢.

If anyone needs an particular(about stacking Qs or location of Qs)just leave a comment.

And that's just what I deemed worthy of buying for my family.  There are even more deals this week to be had but I didn't want to just buy stuff for the sake of buying it.
This is all part of my "Intentional Purchasing Plan" for 2011.  Having a plan for everything I bring home, be it using, giving away, donating.  No more buying stuff just because it's a moneymaker unless I have a plan for it ahead of time.

It was a sweet day of deal shopping on Sunday, except for the new fly in the Rite-Aid ointment.
Word is that register receipts are now printing out a limited number of +Up rewards per tape.  The number is somewhere around 24 or so.  If you are due back more than around that amount of individual rewards, some may not print.
My advise.....Keep your transactions shorter to avoid having this happen!

I fell victim to this new glitch twice on Sunday.  I was just trying to get it all done and quickly since I didn't need to break the shops into $25 lots to use a $5 off $25 Q on each order.
That's what I get for being efficient and helpful to my cashiers......argh!

Being the super nerd that I am, I measured my receipt tapes before I cut up the +Up Rewards.
1 tape was 6 feet long, 2 tapes topped off at 8 feet long, 1 came in at 8 feet, 10 inches and 1 was 9 FEET LONG!
Here it is next to the yardstick....mind you the receipt is folded twice so 3 layers deep.  8-))

They looked like those rhythmic gymnastic ribbons you see on the Olympics.

Just dye the register tape pink and learn how to hoist my leg up over my head and I'm alllll set! lol


Here's the big ol' numbers round up--

THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....6
Total Spent....$4.35  put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$312.94
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
Resolution Reward....$40.00(1 Me, 1 BIL)
+Up Rewards earned...$133.00
+Up Rewards spent...$127.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$138.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......24
Total Spent....$12.48 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$1086.51
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$40.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/7.....$132.00
+Up Rewards spent....$287.50
+Up Rewards earned....$312.00
+Up Rewards left....$138.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

Just a Fine Mess

I don't have time to post Sunday's Rite-Aid Rampage today but here's a sneak peek at my mess of register tapes.......

5 receipts......
4 of which are taller than me and have +Up Reward errors that I got to chat with Customer Service about this morning.
So much fun!....yah......you're not buying the "fun" crack, are you? lol

I need to do some post writing tonight that doesn't involve Rite-Aid so I have something for folks to read on the blog tomorrow.
I also need to put away a lot of stuff taking up my whole kitchen table at the moment so I can serve dinner.
Come back tomorrow!

Sluggy

Giving to Others......Friday at Rite-Aid

I don't know what possessed me, but I went back to Rite-Aid on Friday to do the Spend $20 on Aquafresh and get $10 +Up Rewards.

Ok, I DO know what possessed me.

I dropped off a load to the tiny little local food bank in my town on the 31st.  The 'food bank ladies' were there and I got to meet them finally.  Every time before the food bank wasn't open when I had goodies to drop off and I dealt with the church secretary.

So I popped me head into the food bank room and asked if I could drop some bags of stuff off.
As I brought in bag after bag, one of the ladies asked me if I was 'that lady who shops a lot of great sales and gets stuff for free and brings lots of food to the food bank'.
Um....I guess that would be me.lolol
The church secretary had been telling them tales about me and my escapades apparently over the last year, so they were happy to put a face to the "legend". ;-)
They gushed and gushed over me until frankly I felt like Garth..."totally not worthy".

So I've had that meeting in the back of my head lately.  It's pushing me to try to do more and give more to the food bank.  For me, 2010 was so NOT about getting much food for free or real cheap so most of what I brought them wasn't food but toiletries and paper goods.  I'm crossing my fingers that the food coupons get better in 2011 so I can have more actual food in the bags I take in to them.

Now the last thing we need is another tube of toothpaste, but this Aquafresh deal was so easy, didn't cost me anything but my time, some gas to get to the store and some ink and paper to print the necessary coupons.

8 tubes of Aquafresh a $6 moneymaker at +Ups.
6 cans of soup at .19¢ per can with Q.
2 packs of Angel Soft TP for .70¢ a pack after sale and $1 +Ups wyb2.
1 can of Cranberry Glop on clearance for .32¢.
I ended up using $9 +Ups, getting back $11 +Ups and it cost me .85¢ off my free Rite-Aid gift card.

The Toothpaste and soup will go into the food bank donation pile.
The TP will go to BIL and I'm keeping the Ocean Spray Glop. ;-)

Which leads me to a food bank donation dilemma I am having.

If you've been reading here for awhile you know I have been donating food/hba to a relative that is having financial problems.   This help has pretty much been on a regular basis since the fall(and irregularly before then).
This relative frequents this food bank as part of other help they receive.
Should I just give my donations to them since they are family?
Should I give my donations to the food bank and have the relative get stuff from there instead of from me directly?
Should I divide up what I have and give to both?....and if so, how much to each?

When I give to the relative directly they still go to the food bank as well....it's not like my donation directly to them keeps them from using the fb.

I don't know....I was letting the relative choose from my donation stash first and then taking what they didn't want to the food bank.  I'm thinking this is probably the best way to handle things.
Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

Anyway, here are my updated Rite-Aid totals for this shop.....


THIS TRIP
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.85 put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$43.99
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$11.00
+Up Rewards spent...$9.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$132.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......18
Total Spent....$8.13 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$773.57
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/6.....$130.00
+Up Rewards spent....$160.50
+Up Rewards earned....$179.00
+Up Rewards left....$132.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

Timing Sales Cycles with Coupons=Savings!

 **This post is part of the Money Saving Challenge over on FRUGAL MAKES CENTS.**

It seems like all I do lately is shop and post about Rite-Aid trips!
I find this highly amusing as I signed on to go on a January Spending Diet.....lol
Yep, low spending and only the necessaries in January.
I don't know....maybe it's the contrarian in me.
I'm fairly frugal and keep to a food/hba budget each month.
But tell me NOT to spend and all hell breaks loose! ;-)

But I DO consider stocking up when things are cheap a necessary shop.
It may not be a life/death decision to buy that 10lbs. of pork loin today or this month but come the next 3-4 months when we want pork chops, I am not at the whim of the $3.99 or more per lb. at the grocery store butcher. 
Yep, saving big bucks on food/hba is necessary even in a no spending month deal.

And that is my not-so-subtle segue into one of the great ideas on saving money that anyone forearmed with some sales cycle knowledge and some spare food/hba budget cash can jump on.

Here is what I did over the last week or so to save money.

We have a dishwasher.
Dishwasher detergents are pricey, right?
So I pick it up when I find it cheap.
Once a year, Finish brand releases a high value coupon(some years they release it two times during a year).  It's generally $2 or more and it's usually available at the beginning of the year.
I knew this baby was coming and I was ready to start saving!
But phooey on the coupon gods.....this year my region did NOT get the yummy $2.25 off 1 item coupon!

So I bit the eBay bullet and paid someone to clip a pile of this coupon for me.
And wouldn't ya know it! the sales started for Finish dishwasher detergent immediately after the coupon came out the Sunday before last.

Walgreen's had a deal last week....Finish was on sale for $3.49 a box.  After coupon & tax here, it was $1.45 a box.  And for each box you bought you received a $1.50 RR(1 per transaction), making it free after Q and Register Reward.

My envelope of coupons arrived on Thursday.  I was chomping at the bit to use these babies so I went up to Wags.
Usually by Thursday here at Wags, with the good or free deals(which this was!), the shelves are long past cleared.
This particular coupon not being released here worked in my favor.....Wags was lousy with Finish!! ;-)
I did 2 transactions and bought 2 boxes.....plus a clearance jar of Italian Herbs as we were out.

Total spent....$3.49($2.90 for the dish detergent).
I have $3 in RRs to roll.
Why did I stop at 2 boxes?
Well, first off I am NOT anxious to get back into the Wags scene and rolling RRs and second, I knew Rite-Aid and CVS would have deals on this item in short order.

And the very next week(yesterday), those 2 drug chains started sales on Finish. 
The Rite-Aid deal is BOGO which is pretty sweet usually.  Not so sweet if the regular price on 1 box is $6.49 however!lol
So 2 boxes on BOGO sale using 2 x $2.25 Qs still means I am out of pocket(or out of free gift card in my case)$1.99 for 2 boxes or $1 a box + tax.
CVS came through with a better deal.  This week the Finish is on sale for $3 a box, which after $2.25 Q makes each box .75¢+ tax.  And if you buy $20 of Airwick and/or Finish this week you get a $10 ECB reward back.
So the deal is buy 7 boxes, spend $5.25 out of pocket and get $10 in ECBs back.
Even without the ECB, you spend less OOP than at Rite-Aid with the Q.

The problem is finding 7 boxes here in the CVS stores past 9am on Sunday morning!
They get hit and hit early and hard on the good deals....
But again, no $2.25 in our inserts worked to my advantage.  I slept late on Sunday and still found plenty of Finish in the late afternoon to buy....
And I bought 14.
I did the deal on my card....

And then I did it again on Hubs card at a different CVS.
I still had 4 Qs left.  So I used them at Rite-Aid, but we'll talk about Sunday's Rite-Aid rampage another time. ;-)

I spent $11.14 with tax at CVS for 14 boxes.
$2.90 at Wags + $11.14 at CVS=$14.04 for 16 boxes of dishwasher detergent and I have $3 to spend at Wags and $20 to spend at CVS.
After I spent zero out of pocket to buy 4 more at Rite-Aid(thanks to my free gift cards and +Up Rewards) I now have a yearly supply of dishwasher detergent in place.

Yes, I may buy a bottle or box here or there if it's an amazing price or free during the rest of the year, but this is one item I can check off my needing to purchase for the whole year list!

Sluggy

A New Giveaway Winner Chosen!

Since a solid week has elapsed since I picked the winner of the MyBlogSpark/Safeway/Gladware/Betty Crocker Giveaway with no contact from that winner, I have drawn a new winner from our 48 remaining valid entries.

Random dotorg has smiled upon Entry #23....

Ashley said...

Found this giveaway on the blog post at Looking forward to an equally frugal 2010! reynoldsmommy at gmail dot com #3

December 16, 2010 11:21 PM

Congratulations Ashley!
You have 48 hours from this post time stamp to email me your mailing information(along with your phone number as the company asks for that too).  You can find my contact email on my Profile Page(see the About Me section on the right sidebar).


This giveaway should teach everyone 2 things when entering a giveaway......
1. Always leave your contact information in your entry, especially if you don't link your info from your Blogger ID or post anonymously.
2. It pays to use other blogs to find giveaways.  Ashley found us here through Frances' blog and they both received extra entries for blogging and directing readers here!


Sluggy

Looking Back at My Favorites of 2010

We've had quite the year in the Deal Hunting/Blogging/Couponing World in 2010!

While I was sitting here doing my End of December and End of 2010 Financial Numbers, I got to thinking about all the deals that made up my year. 
Here is a List of my Favorite Deals and Ideas of 2010.

7.  GROUP BUYING--2010 was the Year that the Purchasing Power of the Group blossomed!  From Groupon to EverSave to Living Social.....purchasing everything from food to landscaping services in a group to get a great discount for said item/service was hot!  Even the slow adopter of all things new and trendy ME got in on a couple of group buying deals...lol  I snagged some food-type Christmas presents and a much wanted magazine subscription(my one and only subscription)near the end of 2010.

Since many of the companies that offered great discounts via group buying in 2010 did so to lure new customers toward their brand and make them repeat customers, we'll see if this marketing ploy worked in 2011.
Or will group buying be a bright hot nova that burns out quickly?  Time will tell.

6.  FOCUS GROUPS & SURVEY SITES--I've been a member of Pinecone Research for a couple of years now.  They are a highly reputable company and I recommend them if you ever see that they are soliciting for new members.  You won't get rich taking their surveys(nor will you get rich doing ANYONE'S surveys!)but it's steady compensation for the time you spend completing their questionnaires. I figure if I'm online anyway, I have time to do a survey now and again for a few dollars.
I also joined in 2010 a Focus Group company.  I've had 2 opportunities in the last 6 months to take part in a focus group, each of which paid considerably for your time(and thoughts).  I was only able to take part in 1 of them as I didn't respond back quickly enough to the 2nd offer.  With focus group work, the sessions tend to fill up quickly so if you snooze, you loose!

5.  SOCIAL MEDIA--Another "hot" idea in 2010 was companies using Facebook to promote their products.  Many major companies made Facebook pages last year and if you "Liked" their page you could take part in giveaways for Prizes and/or Coupons, including many, Many FREE ITEM COUPONS!
Sluggy "heart"  free item coupons!!
Free cheese, tea, shampoo, goat cheese, neti pots, gum, bacon, mac and cheese, pain reliever, facial tissues, cereal, vitamin supplements, chips, etc.....these are all items I got for free from liking companies on Facebook.
And if the automated system for sending out the Free Item Coupons went haywire, that was even MORE fun.....like the Free OREOS I got for liking the Oreos brand, or rather the FIVE packages of Free OREOS.lolol

4.  BLOGGING PERKS--Ok, so I am not a bigtime blogger.  I have a teeny tiny blog with a fair amount of readers(thank you all!).  The big corporations don't drop me emails to give me freebies in exchange for promoting them to my readership or fly me to conferences on their dime.  I wish they did, but they don't at this point. ;-)
But there are still some deal perks for blogging at the level I do.  I do get some interest from companies who want me to review and/or promote their items.  I don't take many up on their offers because the product has to be something I feel my readers would appreciate hearing about and/or something that's appropriate for this blog.
And I do reach out on occasion to companies myself to see if they'd be interested in supplying me with product to try and to give away to my readers. 
I am an affiliate of MyBlogSpark. They are a company that acts as a "middleman" to hooks up bloggers with companies wanting to promote their products online.  They send me offers that I usually accept.  The best part is they almost always offer a giveaway component....I like giving stuff away to my readers!

Another of the perks of Blogging is ad revenue.  If you place ads on your blog and people who come to your blog click on these ads, you will earn a small cash pittance each month.  This will eventually mean you get a check.  You can also sign up to become an affiliate of another site and earn cash or credit toward items available on their website.  It's a great passive income stream(or trickle in my case).  Just don't go overdoing it so that there are inappropriate ads or so many ads that readers can't find your content.  I've seen some blogs with ads so garish and obnoxious that it took 10 minutes for my eyes to focus again after leaving their site!lol

3.  CATALINA COUPON PROMOTIONS--Since I didn't travel much out of my local area in 2010 to the larger grocery chains, I didn't have opportunity to take advantage of many Catalina Deals.  The Cat Deals here were few and far between in 2010.  And when Weis had them they seemed always to be on products that there were NO valid coupons available for, and/or the amount you needed to spend was far greater  than the value of the Catalina you received.  Catalina Deals are only worthwhile if, with the sale prices and coupons you can use on the items, you have low out of pocket on the initial purchase and the Cat Coupon is a decent amount to roll to do the Cat Deal again.
My best 2 Catalina Deals for 2010 were both at Price Chopper NE surprisingly! Glimpse them HERE and HERE I don't usually shop at PC as their baseline prices here are always higher than Weis Markets or the local independent ShurSave affiliate stores.  But their Catalinas usually beat both of my usual grocery store.  HERE is the end of the best week of Catalina Deals at Weis Markets in 2010.  That was mid February 2010....they are well overdo for another good week! ;-)

2.  INTERNET PRINTED COUPONS--2010 for me at least was the year of the IPQ.  Our Sunday insert Coupons just got worse and worse this past year.  Less of the good regional coupons and more and more 'filler' in the insert pages of offers for trinkets and cheaply made clothing.  I know we had a Red Plum insert this year that had a total of THREE COUPONS and none of them were for FOOD!  There were 10 pages of offers to purchase bras, mumus, arthritis gloves, wolf knives, m&m clocks, porcelain babies, collector plates, ceramic dragons, etc., etc., etc.
If I had to guess, I'd say that 9 out of every 10 coupons I used in 2010 was printed off the internet.  By September I had stopped buying multiple Sunday paperspretty much and had taken to using a clipping service or eBay to obtain the good Manufacturer's coupons. 
Internet printed coupons are great but they are very limiting if you want to stock up on an item.  Being limited to 2 prints per computer of any coupon means you need to find access to multiple computers to access more of that coupon.  This is not always feasible.

And my favorite Deal Hunting/Couponing/Blogging thing for 2010......

1.  RITE-AID--I was a Rite-Aid devotee in 2009.  Back then, with the Single Check Rebate system, Rite-Aid was all about "you have to spend money to make money".  You'd buy items(and use your coupons), then have to wait for your cash refund to be mailed to you in about a month.  Of course, since you used coupons to purchase, your cash refund check was more than what you spent out of pocket, which was awesome.  But until you built up a pool of cash to buy your following month's SCR items, you were having to spend money oop.
Well in 2010 Rite-Aid introduced the Wellness + system, where certain items would give you Wellness Rewards(later on they became +Up Rewards)which were similar to Walgreen's Register Rewards or CVS's Extra Care Bucks.  Rite-Aid also kept the SCR system so you can combine getting cash rebates with the instant +Up Rewards for even better deals and less money out of pocket.  And Rite-Aid released tons of $X off $XX purchase coupons in 2010 as well as very nice high value coupons and deals if you joined the Wellness+ program.
Early on in 2010 I tried to spend less oop than I'd receive back in SCR checks.  Then I concentrated on completing SCR deals for Rite-Aid gift cards to cover my out of pocket outlays.  By April, between the free gift cards and the Wellness/later +Up Rewards, I pretty much had NO out of pocket spending for the rest of the year at Rite-Aid.  Now you have to LOVE a store that PAYS YOU to take things home, right?!!?!!
By the end of March 2010 I believe I had used up all my Walgreen's RRs and CVS ECBs and from that moment onward the only drug store I shopped at was Rite-Aid.  There were more than enough deals at Rite-Aid to keep me happy and by concentrating on just one Drug Store I believe I made better scores and I kept more of my sanity.....though the sanity part is debatable. ;-)

So what were Your favorite Couponing/Blogging Related Deals & Happenings in 2010?
Leave a comment and let us know!

Sluggy

Money Saving Challenge 2011....Latest Trip to Rite-Aid & Some Tips-UPDATED!

First an apology for all you non-Rite-Aid shoppers.
I'm sorry that almost everything has been Rite-Aid related lately.  This will change soon...I promise!

This post is part of the Money Saving Challenge 2011 on Precious' BLOG.
Here's what I did to save money on Thursday.
I went to Rite-Aid!lol

2 x Wet Ones on sale $1.99=$3.98
2 x Planters Nutrition nuts on sale $3.99=$7.98
2 x Planters Nutrition bars on sale $2.50=$5.00
4 x Rite-Aid Chicken Soup on sale .69¢=$2.76
2 x Pilot Pens 20% wellness disc.$1.83=$3.66
2 x Foam craft kit 20% wellness disc. $1.83=$3.66
1 x Joint Juice on sale but 20% disc. lower=$4.79
2 x Nature Made Fish Oil BOGO sale=$11.49
SubTotal....$43.32

Coupons Used
1 x $1 any Purchase AdPerk/VV Q=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Wet Ones IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 any Planters Nuts item IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 Nutrition Bars Peelie(found on the lids of the cans of nuts I bought)=$2.00
2 x $1/2 Rite-Aid Soup IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Joint Juice IPQ=$1.00
1 x $3/1 any Nature Made item Wellness IPQ=$3.00
2 x $3/1 Nature Made Fish Oil AdPerks/VV Q=$6.00
Coupon Total....$19.00

$43.32-$19.00=$24.32 + $.10 tax=$24.42
I used $24 in +Ups to pay and put the .42¢ on my free Rite-Aid Gift Card.

I received $16 in +Up Rewards back($4 WYB 2 Pilot Pens, $1 Joint Juice, $5 WYB 2 Darice craft kits, 4 x $1 on nuts and nut bars, 2 x $1 Wet Ones) and qualified for a $2 SCR for BIL's account(Joint Juice), leaving this transaction 'costing' me $6.....I paid with +Ups so I am down $6 in +Ups.

Let's analyze each item purchased.....
*The Wet Ones after $1Q and the $1 +Up they generated were a .01¢ moneymaker.
*The nuts after $1Q cost me $2.99 a can.
*The Nutrition bars after $1Q and $1 +Up they generated cost .50¢ per box.
*The Rite-Aid soup after sale price of .69¢ and $1/2Q made each can cost .19¢.
*The 2 Pilot Pens after the $4 +Up they generated were a .34¢ moneymaker.
*The 2 Foam craft kits after the $5 +Up they generated were a $1.34 moneymaker.
*The Joint Juice after $1Q, $1 +Up and $2 SCR cost $.79.
*The 2 Fish Oil bottles after Qs cost me $2.49 for both bottles.

UPDATE....I goofed about the $1 +Ups on the soup....the nuts and nut bars were giving the $1 +Ups, not the soup.  I've corrected below.....
 If you have the Rite-Aid Qs PDF  that they sent out to people who registered their wellness card on the Rite-Aid website, among the 8 pages of Qs is one for $1 off 2 cans of Rite-Aid soup.  The big Rite-Aid downtown had the soup for .69¢ today.  The sign says this deal is good through February some time(I didn't pay close enough attention to the actual date in Feb.).  Now I'm not sure if the sale is valid at all Rite-Aids but it's worth checking at your local store.....so if you use a $1/2 Q your soup will cost you only $.19 a can!

I predict a run on Rite-Aid soup in the near future....lol

Another heads up!.....about the Qs you can print when you sign into your wellness account at the Rite-Aid website.....you can only use them once, they are serialized!  I got a $2 pain reliever Q and a $3 Nature Made Vitamin/Supplement Q.  If you try to use a duplicate Q of these, they beep and say already used at the register, so don't even bother printing off more than 1 of these.

Rite-Aid stats....

THIS TRIP(plus the trip on 1/5 to get my Resolution Reward to generate where I spent .25¢ on my gift card) Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$.67put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$70.66
SCR qualified for...$2.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$41.00
+Up Rewards spent...$73.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$130.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......17
Total Spent....$7.28 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$729.58
SCR qualified for....$12.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 1/3.....$141.00
+Up Rewards spent....$151.50
+Up Rewards earned....$168.00
+Up Rewards left....$130.00 includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

The Rite-Aid Resolution Reward Debacle...The Day I Broke the System

*Sluggy draws a big long breath before beginning, because this is going to take awhile....*

So if you 'do' Rite-Aid you know about their current Promotion....the Resolution Reward.

When you use your Wellness + Card and purchase certain items at Rite-Aid(marked with a "BUY & SAVE" tag on the shelf and in the sales flyer), the amount you spend on these qualifying items counts toward a special +Up Reward.  Spend at least $100 on these qualifying items before Jan. 22nd and you earn this special $20 +Up Reward.  Your current total toward the reward shows at the bottom of your register receipt.
Pretty straightforward, right?

If the promotion runs smoothly.
But NOOOOOOO............
It is NOT running smoothly!

Let me explain, by using my own experience thus far with this Resolution Reward Promotion.
I'm going to illustrate with pictures of my own cash register receipts.

Here is my receipt bottom from 12/30, a purchase at 2:21pm, Store #1....

I have $13.58 in purchases toward the reward at this point in time.

Here is my next receipt from 12/30, a purchase at 2:58pm, Store #2.....

I purchases an additional $32.97 worth of qualifying items.  My $13.58 total has disappeared and only the $32.97 total is showing.

Here is my next receipt from 12/30, a purchase at 4:18pm, Store #3.....

I purchased an additional $3.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $13.58 total is back and the $3.00 purchases has been added, giving me a total of $16.58.
The previously showing $32.97 amount has now disappeared.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 12:21pm, Store #1....

I purchased an additional $6.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $16.58 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $22.58.
Still no trace of my $32.97.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 12:32pm, Store #1.....

Nothing I bought qualified for the reward, so my total remains at $22.58.
Still no trace of my $32.97.

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 8:22pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $4.58 worth of qualifying items.  My $22.58 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $27.16.
Hello $32.97!.....where are you??

Here is my next receipt from 12/31, a purchase at 8:25pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $6.00 worth of qualifying items.  My $27.16 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $33.16.
Still no word from $32.97.


Here is my next receipt from 1/3(2 days have elapsed since my last purchase), a purchase at 2:58pm, Store #1.....

I purchased an additional $43.75 worth of qualifying items.  My $33.16 total has updated to show that purchase, giving me a total of $76.91.
Still no $32.97.

At this point if my $32.97 was added back in, I would be over the $100 threshold.
So I call Rite-Aid CS.
And I explain this whole thing to CS Rep "Amy".
After she confers with her supervisor she advises me that my $20+Ups should print on the bottom of my next receipt.  The $20 reward is programmed to print on the receipt AFTER you make purchases that make your total hit or exceed the $100 mark.
So if my $32.97 was counted in but just not showing I should get my reward on my next register receipt.

Sounds logical and plausible, right?
Yah.....

So it is now 2 days after my conversation with Rite-Aid CS and 2 days after my last trip to Rite-Aid where I should have exceeded the $100 purchase amount.

So I go up to Rite-Aid Wednesday evening.  And here is my next receipt from 1/5, a purchase at 4:52pm, Store #1....

You will notice that I can't actually show you what my Resolution Reward Total is because NOT ONLY IS MY MAGICALLY DISAPPEARING $32.97 PURCHASE NOT SHOWING, BUT NO PURCHASES WHATSOEVER ARE SHOWING AT ALL ON MY RECEIPT!
I HAVE NO PURCHASES TOWARD THE $20 REWARD!
 
And yes, I did use my same Wellness Card on this purchase.

When I saw that receipt I believe I did say WTF?!?! out loud.
If you were in the store near me and you heard that, I'm sorry....but I just couldn't hold it in....


So this last trip to Rite-Aid necessitated another call to Rite-Aid Customer Service as soon as I stormed home.
My rep this time was "Quincy".
After another half hour on the phone with CS(my second half-hour long call in 3 days!), the consensus is this.....

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED!  WE HAVE NEVER HAD A SITUATION LIKE THIS!
Yep, that is what Quincy and her Supervisor told me.

Gee, I admit I am special but in this case I'd sure like to be a LOT LESS special!lolol

So if your RESOLUTION REWARD TOTALS are changing in odds ways or not adding up right, keep your receipts, list them chronologically and pinpoint where things are going weird and CALL RITE-AID!
Make them fix it for you asap!

And yes, Rite-Aid CS is mailing me my $20+Up Reward.  And I truly don't think this is enough of a payment after all the grief, consternation and hassle they have caused me!
At the very least I deserve a nice big $25 Gift Card or something, don't you think? 8-(

If you are having a problem with this Promotion, leave a comment and tell us about your experience.

Sluggy

2010 Hopes/Goals.....How We Did, or Didn't Do

Today I'm revisiting my List of Hopes we wanted to accomplish in 2010 and see how we did, or didn't do. ;-)


1. Put more money into savings than was put away in 2009.
--$23,865.36 was banked in 2009. I will be shooting for $30.000 in 2010, barring any unforeseen personal economic crisises. 
PASS
We put $34,000 into savings in 2010.

2. Pare down the stuff I need to eBay by sending more of it to the Thrift Store or sell it on Craigslist.
--Get off my rump and get stuff SOLD! And what I can't readily sell, send it off to a Thrift Store. I have had enough of boxes of crap hanging around my living room. It's time to actually USE that room in the manner it was intended.
SORT OF PASS
I thrifted alot of stuff earlier in the year but my efforts waned by August.
I sold things on eBay in April and May.
I had wanted to jump back onto eBay in September but things being what they were, I didn't get around to selling there until November.  Considering the economic climate I still think I had a fairly good month+ of selling.  I just wish I had been more organized and had more things to offer during the busy season. 
I was able to sell 154 items on eBay and 1 item on Amazon in 2010.
I'll update when I have the total value of non-food donated items to charity later this month.

3. Get rid of my last storage unit!
--This goes hand in hand with #2 above. If all the crap goes, I won't need to pay for a storage unit any longer. I went from 2 to 1 units last year. It is time to let this one go as well.
FAIL
Because of the lack of decluttering/Sallie-ing the latter half of the year and my shortened selling season on eBay, this goal is not happening now.  
I have, however, made progress here but I still consider it a fail.

4. Plan and implement my garden better so I have a chance for it to be more productive this summer.
--Last year's garden was lame. I need to be more proactive and get things planned and going earlier this year for it to be successful. Every bit of work you put into a garden will pay dividends in increased health from eating better and money saved on food spending.
PASS
Though I could have done even more, I am happy with the garden's outcome!

5. Do the taxes and complete paperwork for #1 son's schooling.
--This will be the first Hope accomplished as is needs to be completed by mid February. It could also be a big PITA as we have added tax implications for 2009 due to an estate/inheritance issue.
PASS
All the paperwork was completed in a timely fashion.  Geez, I hate paperwork....

6. Decide on and install a hew heating system for the house before the rate cap expires and heat is needed this fall.

--This one is VITAL and it must be completed by September!
FAIL...sort of
After sitting down with Hubs and realizing that we may be living here only 3.5 more years,  replacing our current system with a geothermal one would not be cost effective.  It would bring down the monthly heating costs but we wouldn't be living here long enough to negate the initial purchasing and installation costs of the system.
We are continuing to get by with our current system and looking into lower cost alternatives to install before we move.
So this isn't really a Fail, more of a "Removed as a Hope/Goal.
 

7. Rethink how and how much I coupon/rebate and reorganize my freezer/pantry/stockpile.
--With my 1st year of extreme couponing and stockpiling over, now is the time to step back and see what I did well, what I need to improve upon and what needs to go.
SORT OF PASS
I cut way back on the couponing, both as a conscious decision on my part and also due to the amount/lack thereof, of coupons available.   Less food was bought and stockpiled overall.  The stockpile was revamped and reorganized, though lately the stockpile maintenance has been neglected.

8. Continue to meal plan and retool our diet, including cooking for scratch/semi-homemade.
--This will involve making better choices with food, will depend partly on how successful #4 is, and will require all of us to change some old habits. It's probably going to be the most difficult Hope to accomplish.
PASS
Meal planning became automatic for me this year and making foods/dishes from scratch was done overall, I'd say 65% of the time.  Even Hubs remarked that there seemed to him to be far less convenience foods in the house....this was usually said in a tone of consternation when I wasn't feeling well enough to cook and he had to come up with a dinner and prepare it himself.lolol

9. Decide on and complete 1 major house remodel project.
--Once we decide what it will be, it's just a matter of pulling the trigger on the job, as the money is there waiting to be spent thanks to our savings challenge of 2009.
FAIL
Well the cash is STILL sitting there....waiting.
With everything else going on this year, we didn't come to a concensus and "pull that trigger" yet.  We thought this would go hand-in-hand with the Replace the Heating System Hope/Goal but when that Hope fell away as necessary, we were left adrift on this dingy of Hope.

10. Complete all the unfinished craft and sewing projects!!
--This Hope is my own personal one that doesn't involve any other family members directly. I need to just put my head down and plow through all these started projects OR make a decision to release them to someone else who wants to complete them. This should take a good part of the year to accomplish.
FAIL
Of all, this Hope was the obvious, biggest FAIL of them all, with absolutely NO progress!!
I don't think I ever even opened the big Rubbermaid tub of in-progress sewing projects, let alone touch any of them or finish anything.
I did however hem many pairs of pants this year and do a couple of garment repairs.....but that was the extent of my sewing for 2010.

So we end the year with 6 Passes and 3 Fails and a removal of 1 Goal/Hope.
Two Thirds of our Goals were accomplished.


Now I'm off to consider our List for 2011.
Have you or are you making any plans for 2011?  Leave us a link to your blog post or leave a comment here and tell us what you want to change or get done in the new year!


Sluggy

Last Chance to Claim Your Giveaway Prize....KathyM!

Ok, I am still waiting to be contacted by the MyBlogSpark/Safeway Giveaway Winner, Kathy M.

She didn't leave an email address in her entry so I can't contact her.  I've waiting a bit longer than usual since we're coming off the Holidays and she may not have been online.

You have 1 more day Kathy to get in touch with me.....either leave a comment on this post with your email addy or go to my Blogger Profile page and get my address and send me an email.

I feel badly but if people don't leave a contact email and have no blogger profile I can poke around in and find their addy I'll have to pull another winner.

So step up Kathy M, wherever you are!!

Sluggy

Keep this Rite-Aid/AdPerks Link Handy

Just a quick post for all you Rite-Aid aficionados.

Here's a back door URL to access your AdPerks/Video Values Account for days you can't get onto the Rite-Aid Website main page, due to heavy volume.....like today.

Go HERE.
This will take you to the current months AdPerks/Video Values Log-In page.

You can take it from there.....

Sluggy

1st Rite-Aid Trips of 2011...1 Good, 1 Eh & Resolution Reward Total Problems

I have $47 in +Up Rewards expiring the end of this week.
There are a few things I wanted to pick up and I needed to get up there before the store got cleared of stock.

Oh, and the Christmas candy went to 75% off on Sunday too. ;-)

4 x Reese's PB Cups 75% clearance(.89)=$3.56  $1.56 for 4 bags after Qs
4 x Hershey's Miniatures 75% clearance (.89)=$3.56  $1.56 for 4 bags after Qs
1 x Gas-X Prevention on sale=$4.99  $1.01 moneymaker after Q and SCR
1 x Joint Juice on sale but wellness disc. was lower=$4.79  $.79 after Q, +Up and SCR
2 x Airwick i-Motion Kit BOGO sale($13.99)=$13.99  $3.03 moneymaker for all Airwick after Qs and +Ups
4 x Airwick Freshmatic Kit BOGO sale($9.99)=$19.98
SubTotal.....$50.87

Coupons Used
1 x $4 off $20 purchase(the Beauty AdPerks/VV Q)=$4.00
2 x $1/2 Reese's PB Cups AdPerks/VV Q=$2.00
2 x $1/2 Hershey's Miniatures AdPerks/VV Q=$2.00
1 x $4/1 Gas=X Prevention ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Joint Juice IPQ=$1.00
2 x $3/1 Airwick i-Motion Kit ManuQ=$6.00
2 x $4/1 Airwick Freshmatic Kit IPQ(Manu website)=$8.00
2 x $2/1 Airwick Freshmatic Kit IPQ(Manu website)=$4.00
Coupons Used.....$31.00

$50.87-$31.00=$19.87
I used $19.00 in +Up Rewards and put the $.87 on my free Rite-Aid gift card so ZERO out of pocket.
I earned $20 in +Up Rewards($1 Joint Juice, 3 x $3 Airwick wyb $10 worth, $10 GE Lightbulbs/Airwick*).
I also qualified for $4 in SCRs...$2 for the Gas-X and $2 for the Joint Juice.
After +Ups and SCRs, this trip was a $5 moneymaker!

*The Airwick items double dip this week....you get the $3 wyb $10 worth this week as well as a month long(until 1/22)$10 +Up wyb GE products.  I am supposing that Airwick is owned by GE?
Be careful on the Airwick this week if you are buying it for BOTH the +Up Rewards and to qualify for the special $20+Up Reward(wyb $100 of BUY & SAVE labeled items).  One of the large Airwick Air Fresheners was part of both the Airwick $3 +Up deal and the Buy & Save special $20 +Up deal in my store....the $13.99 one.  The similar $12.99 Airwick Air Freshener kit was marked as part of the $3 Airwick + Up deal but did NOT have a Buy & Save tag, showing it was part of the $20 +Up promotion.
I could have had a $1 less total if I had bought the second one but I didn't want to chance that the shelf tags were correct and that the lower priced Kit didn't double dip.

BIL needed ink for his printer and I had +Ups to burn so I used his card to buy this.....

2 x HP Ink Cartridges on sale $14.99 but 20% wellness disc. $14.24=$28.48
1 x Candy 75% off $3.99=$.99
1 x Eco Speakers 75% off $5.99=$1.49  *The speaker housing is cardboard, not plastic!*
SubTotal...$30.96

Ok....sit down for this one.....
I used ZERO Coupons!
I paid with $30 in +Up Rewards.
After using those the tax came off the receipt(huh?)except for .03¢, so I put the $.99 left on my free Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $5 +Up Rewards for buying 2 ink cartridges in a single transaction. 

Again, this $20 Resolution Reward thing is being screwy!!
BIL had $20 on his card's balance toward the $100 needed to earn the $20 +Ups.
The ink cartridges are a qualifying item, so he should have $28.48 more toward the reward.
$20+$28.48=$48.48 the last time I learned math, right?

So after this transaction, his balance toward the $100 is STILL SHOWING ONLY $20!
WTG!?!?
I think I'll be calling Corporate soon about this.....

Just be sure to watch your balances folks to make sure you get credit for the qualifying purchases you make!

THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$1.86(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$156.90
SCR qualified for...$4.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$25.00
+Up Rewards spent...$49.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$138.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......15
Total Spent....$6.61 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$658.92
SCR qualified for....$10.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 12/31.....$165.00 includes ALL +Ups left
+Up Rewards spent....$127.50
+Up Rewards earned....$152.00
+Up Rewards left....$141.00

Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge....December 2010 Total and END of YEAR TOTALS

I have posted my DECEMBER End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black yet again!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with was.......$3,787.26.

Income
We had $3,595.01 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in $175.25 of Rebates applied to the food expenses, along with $17.00 in rolled Coins and you have a deposit of $3,787.26 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,500.00 to reach our Year End Goal. We passed the $30K yearly target mark in November.

Outgo
As for the expenses in December.....there were a few large bills.  The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was over $1100(had to replace my computer's hard drive among other things) and 2 car repairs cost us over $1500 as well. There were also some smaller non-regular or quarterly bills, like paying for the replacement retainer for Daughter's ortho and the sewage bill.  Then both the water bill and the electric bill came in VERY high this month...ouch.
It's a good thing there was an extra paycheck this month because otherwise we would have barely had anything to throw into the Savings Challenge pot after paying the bills.

The good news with December is that nothing I bought for the Holidays was put on a credit card.   Hubs did put his gift to me on the card and we have some Dining Out on it(Daughter's Bday, Steakhouse with #1 Son home from school and Christmas Eve eating out tradition at the local Chinese Restaurant). Add in the usual gasoline purchases and such and we still will have a substantial CC bill but nothing swollen beyond being able to pay it all in January.
No interest, no payments being dragged out until June or worse.....yay!

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in December was kept low due to the large rebate amount received that month.


YEAR-END GRAND TOTAL.....
With December's addition we ended the $30K Savings Challenge with a Total of $34,019.88 saved for the Year!
I am so happy with how much we've been able to save in 2010.  This is $10,000+ more than we saved in 2009!

It was a great year!  I think the key to staying on course and having a good result was to keep track month-by-month and doing it publically.  If I had no one holding me accountable how easy would it have been to have just stopped putting the money away when things got too hard?  Yep, it would have been very easy to let it go and go on spending sprees for junk we didn't need. 

So how was your December financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!


Sluggy

Last Grocery Shop of 2010....Using Up the Freebies! & 1st Shop of 2011.

I still had some free item coupons to use up on December 31st so I hiked up to Weis Markets.

The JollyTime popcorn was BOGO marked down to $2 each as well.  I had 3 x $1/1 Qs, so I ended up paying .25¢ per box.
I had Free Item Qs for the Dole fruit cups so they were better than free since they were marked $2 each and the coupon scanned at $2.59 each.
I also had Free Item Qs for the Cheese so that cost me nothing.
1 box of the Barilla Plus pasta was free and the other 2 were BOGO with the other VocalPoint Q, so $2.19 for both boxes.
I picked up the Weis brand of Rigatoni just because we were out and it was marked down to .79¢ a box.

The best deal was just shy of 5lb. total of Ground Beef at $1.39lb on special.  It's the fatty stuff so I'll just mix this with some lean stuff and use it in recipes where I need more 'moisture' in my meat.

Total OOP....$11.19
Value of items....$44.32
Savings of....$33.13...or 74.75%

Weis also had pork tenderloins, LARGE tenderloins for $1.47lb. last week.  I didn't buy one this trip on Friday, but sent Hubs back up Saturday afternoon and they were out, don't give rainchecks for it and the butchers had left for the day.  But the manager told him to come back early Sunday morning and he's let him have one for the sale price even though the sale was over on Saturday....cool!

So Hubs made the 1st food purchase of 2011.....a 10lb. pork tenderloin for $14.75.
Sorry, I didn't get a picture before I hacked that baby up.lol
I made 25 boneless pork chop medallions and a good sized pork tenderloin roast which I marinated before freezing. 

Food/Toiletries Spending for January 2011.....$14.75

Sluggy

Finishing Up Rite-Aid Business from Last Week...Updated!

Last week was a blur of Rite-Aid activity here.
With the passing of the $5 off $25 Coupon on the 31st, I crammed a bunch of extra trips to Rite-Aid into my schedule.
Here's my lone trip on the 29th.....

The Benefiber are on SCR this month and the drink powder boxes also qualify.  After 20% wellness discount & the $4/1 IPQ it was/is $2.15.  Add in the $3 SCR and they pay YOU $.85 to take it home!
(Your store's base price on this item may vary from mine.)  And you can submit for 3 of this rebate per household too!

The Progresso Soups are a month long deal until Jan.22nd.  For every can you buy, you receive a $1+Up Rewards(when you use your wellness card).  They also count toward the $20+ Resolution Reward Promotion.  Too bad they aren't on sale this week, like they were last week when I bought them.  With any luck, they may go back on sale before the 22nd....cross your fingers!

Grand Total on this trip was $.52 OOP put on my free Rite-Aid gift card.   I used $5+Ups to pay and received $8+Ups back making this a $3 moneymaker.

And here is what I bought on 12/30 and 12/31.....

9 trips. * I bag of stuff disappeared in the garage.  I found it on Tuesday evening and have updated my totals accordingly.

I could let the $5 off $25 coupon go out with a whimper now, could I?lol
I also had some other $X of $XX coupons to use up....$3 off $15, $4 off $20, 20% one-time use discount, those $1 off any AdPerk/VV Qs, etc.

Not pictured are 2 boxes of Prevacid and 1 bottle of Rite-Aid brand Mucinex DM.

Out of Pocket Spending.....$3.19-put on my free Rite-Aid gift cards so ZERO out of pocket!
Retail Value.....$337.03
+Ups Used.....$56.00
+Ups Gained...$79.00
After the +Ups are figured in, I basically got paid $20 to take all this home. ;-)

I have $47 in +Up Rewards expiring the end of this week so I'll be heading back to Rite-Aid in the next or 2, so stay tuned to see what I'll bring home(hopefully for free!).lol

THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....10
Total Spent....$3.71(put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$379.33
SCR qualified for...$6.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$87.00
+Up Rewards spent...$61.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$165.00

 
GRAND TOTALS--January Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......14
Total Spent....$4.70=5 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$508.02
SCR qualified for....$6.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for Jan. SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 12/28.....$134.00 includes ALL +Ups left
+Up Rewards spent....$78.50
+Up Rewards earned....$125.00
+Up Rewards left....$165.00


Sluggy