Weis, Redners and More Weis Shopping Last Week

Daughter went to Weis for me on Friday......

I did the $5 Pepsi Catalina Deal again by buying...
2 x 20 pack Pepsi drinks=$12
1 x Tostitos Chips=$3.00
1 x Tostitos Dip=$3.00
1 x 2 ltr. Diet Pepsi=$1.25
$19.25

I used...
$2/2 Pepsi 20 packs Q
$1/2 wyb 1 Tostitos & 1 Dip
Free Diet Pepsi wyb 1 Tostitos & 1 Dip
$5 Catalina from last deal
Coupons-$9.25

Paid $10.00 OOP and got another $5 Catalina Q

I did the GM $4 off wyb 8 instantly Deal 2 x....
4 x Green Giant Veggies=$3.00
4 x Progresso Soups=$5.00
1 x Progresso Broth=$2.00
3 x Whack Biscuits=$3.75
4 x Totino's Pizzas=$5.00
$18.75

I used....
1 x $1/4 Progresso Soups
1 x .40/1 Progresso Broth doubled=$.80
1 x $1/3 Whack Biscuits
1 x $1/4 Totinos Pizzas
2 x $4 Instant discount Q=$8.00

$18.75-$11.80=$6.95 OOP

I also bought 2 x Northland Juices for Daughter to take back to school=$6.00 OOP
With tax of .50¢ my total should have been $23.45.
The receipt says $27.21.
Hmmmmm.

Moving on to Saturdays's outing to Redner's Market....

 I had a $10 off a $50 purchase Coupon I wanted to use.  Redner's policy is that with all Catalina deals that required $XX purchase, you have to hit that $XX amount AFTER coupons.  The $10/$50 coupon is similar in that your total has to be $50 or more AFTER coupons.

There was also a General Mills $10 Catalina Deal wyb $25 in GM products.
To get to $25 with my coupons I bought....
16 x Muffin/Cookie Bar/Brownie mixes for $2 ea.=$32.00
I used $5.90 in assorted Qs on these items= $26.10 OOP. *Qualifying for the $10 Catalina Q.

I bought 3 boxes of Tuna Helper on sale for $1 a box with a $1/3 Q made it $2 OOP.

I bought 2.08lbs. of salmon for $6.98 lb.=$14.38 OOP  Regular retail around here is $11.99.  I portioned the fillets into 3 meals worth.

I bought 2 dozen eggs*not pictured* on sale for .99¢=$1.98 OOP  Reg. retail here is $1.79 dz.

I bought 15 Powerade drinks for #2 son's band practice.  They were on sale for .69¢ AND there was a coupon for Buy 10/Get 5 Free in the flyer, so I paid $6.90 OOP for $15 reg. retail on these.

I bought lunchmeat, 1.5lbs. for $9.99 OOP.  They have a deal were you can buy 3 assorted packages for $9.99.  If you stick with the meats it's a good deal as the meats are the premium deli counter brands and each package is approx. 1/2lb.  The packaged cheese is not a great deal as it's not premium brands and it's about the same size portions.  Reg. retail on premium corned beef is $8.99 lb. so this was a bit cheaper.

I also bought 4 12packs of Coke.*not pictured*   It was on sale for $11 for 3 and there was a Q in the flyer for a free 12 pack if you bought 3, so 4 12-packs for $11 OOP.  Not a stupendous deal but ok for getting and hiding in my bedroom closet until the Holidays. lol

With sales tax my subtotal was $73.65 and after the $10/$15 I paid $63.65 OOP for everything.

Regular retail on the Redner's haul is $121.31.
I paid $63.65 & got $10 in Catalinas.

So last night #2 son and I went back to Weis to do the Pepsi Catalina deal & the General Mills Instant discount deal 2 more times.
No photos for these trips, sorry.  It's just a bunch of the same old, same old as before anyway.lol

First we bought 6 bags of assorted Frito-Lay snacks.
Reg. retail was $3.49 ea or $20.94 total.
The sale prices made them $15 total.
The $5 Catalina we rolled and the $3 in additional Qs brought out total down to $7 for all 6 bags.
And we received another $5 Catalina Q to use.

Then we bought....
2 x 20 packs soda
4 x 2 liters of Sierra Mist
This was $20.54 reg. retail or $17 with sale prices.
We used the $5 Catalina and 2 x $1/2 Sierra Mist 2 liter Qs and 1 x $2/2 Pepsi 20 packs Q and bought our OOP down to $8 for all this.
and we received another $5 Catalina Q to use in the coming weeks.

We also bought...
5 x Totinos Pizzas=$6.25
4 x Progresso soups=$5.00
6 x Green Giant veggies=$4.50
1 x Green Giant veggies=$1.00*One of the types of corn was higher priced but still qualified for the $4 instant discount deal.*
This lot came to $16.75.
I used....
1 x $1.10/4 Totinos Pizzas IPQ
1 x $1/4 Progresso Soups ManuQ
1 x FREE ITEM Totinos Pizza HomemailerQ
2 x $4 Instant Discount for buying 16 qualifying items
So $11.60 off and $5.15 OOP for all 16 items.
*Except the soup that was $1.14 off on sale only rang up .20¢ off!!*  Looking back at Daughter's trip's receipt on Friday, those 4 cans only rang up .20¢ off also.

I also bought 5 bags of candy for halloween.  WYB 5 bags it's $2 a bag, so $10.
I had a $1/3 Q so the candy came to $9 OOP.

and #2 son wanted Taquitos NOT ON SALE....THE HORROR!!!lol so that was another $6.99 OOP.

Sat. Weis trips totaled $29.86 OOP and $5 in Catalinas left to spend in the coming weeks.
So I have to go up to Weis and get at least $7.52 back for being overcharged on 8 cans of soup.
I wonder how many I'll get the full price back on since they are suppose to refund fully on the 1st overcharge on a receipt on like items....it's two different trips/receipts so I *should* get back $4.78 for 2 cans of the soup and .94¢ on each of the other 6 cans of soup.  It will all depend on if some teenager is working CS today or a real fulltime management person I guess. ;-)

So at the end of my shopping week I have spent $163.19 OOP and have $15 in Catalinas to use going forward.
*Update*
I got another $2.50 off (for full refunds on 2 of the cans of soup), so my OOP is $160.69.
The regular retail is $358.90.
The savings rate is now 55.23% (not counting the $15 in Cats and any full price soup refunds).

Analysis--This is all stuff we need/want and will use.  The crap food is for #2 son primarily(except for some chips that Hubs will eat and I am known to eat a pizza and brownies now and again). 8-)  #2 son is into muffins lately and if I have a mix on hand, he will make them for himself after band practice so I stocked up on that for him.  I'd rather have him home eating muffins than fast food...a "little" better.lol
Canned veggies are for going into soups or stews, the soups and the broth are nice to have on hand, the whack biscuits are my convenience luxury item.  The eggs, salmon and lunchmeat and beef from earlier in the week HERE were needed and good prices.  The candy is for Halloween trick or treaters and the taquitos is payment for getting #2 son to come to the store to help me in my injured state. ;-)

It's already the 9th and I've spent $163.19 in one week!  I'll be blowing past my $250 monthly food budget sometimes this coming week I think. Geez....lol
But I have to take advantage of the deals when they come around, right?  Then I can stay out of the stores like I did earlier this year in FEBRUARY, MARCH and APRIL.

Sluggy

What I Bought in September.....A Big Boring List

My good blogging buddy, Annie Jones, over at Real Life Living posts what she buys every month. The way she tells it, it shows people that she really does get a lot of food for the little amount she spends each month. You can eat well and still be frugal.

I think it's helpful to see it all written down in one place so you can gauge how you are doing with the food money each month.

So I thought this was a real good idea and decided to steal borrow her idea and post all the food I buy in a month to feed my family of 3-5.
Besides, I am a big fat NERD who likes doing this!

For September, we had 3 people at home--2 adults and a 15 yr. old teen boy. 

 I stockpile items when they are rock bottom price, so besides the obvious fresh produce & dairy, this list is not necessarily ALL we ate in September.  We may have items on the list we didn't buy to consume this month and we may have eaten many items already canned or in the freezer from past stocking-up.  But it shows you how far you can make your money go by buying on discount, bulk, sale and paring coupons and/or rebates with the deals.

Here's the food items, including pet foods, I bought in September for an out of pocket of $249.12 after $22.99 in rebates.

This list doesn't include the toiletries I bought at Rite-Aid since I didn't pay 'real money' for them. ;-)

MEAT & POULTRY

Chicken, Whole 4.5 lbs.
Chicken Breast  2 lbs.
Ground Beef   4.5 lbs.
Sweet Sausage Patties  3 lbs.
Turkey Lunchmeat  .33 lb.
Lebanon Bologna  .5 lbs.

SEAFOOD
Salmon  3 lbs.

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
Salad Greens   3 bags
Watermelon   2
Lettuce   1
Onions   4 lbs.
Grapes  3 lbs.
Potatoes  10 lbs.

DAIRY
Milk gallon   1
Sour Cream   1
Cheese   2lb. block
Ricotta Cheese  2lb.
American Cheese Slices  2 packages

Ice Cream   4
Gorgonzola Cheese  .5lb.
Eggs  1 dozen


PASTA, GRAINS, BEANS

0

BREADS

Bagels  2
Bread   6
Hamburger Rolls   1
Hot Dog Rolls  1
Muffins   3 containers

BAKING/COOKING STAPLES
Brown Sugar   1lb.
Pancake Mix  1
Flour   1

CONDIMENTS/SPICES/HERBS

SNACKS
Doritos   3
Pies   4
Potato Chips   4
Popsicles  1

CANDY
0

BEVERAGES
Gatorade   16
100% Juice  2
Soda   2 12-packs

PREPARED

Frozen Pizza  13-most were small/individual sized
Frozen Onion Rings  1
Whack Biscuits   3
Frozen Veggies   11 bags
Frozen Chicken Strips  5
Ravioli   4 bags

DOG FOOD
0

So what foods did you buy in September?

Sluggy

Shopping Trip to Weis for The Deals This Week

I waited for the pain pills to wear off so I could drive, and headed up to Weis to do the Pepsi Catalina and the General Mills Instant Discount deals......

The Pepsi Catalina Deal
2 x 20 pack of Mtn. Dew($6.49) on sale=$12.00
2 x Cheetos($3.49) on sale=$5.00
1 x Pepsi Max bottle($1.89) on sale=$1.25
(qualified for $5 Catalina)

2 x General Mills $4 Discount wyb 8 Deal
8 x Progresso soups($2.39) on sale=$10.00
3 x Whack Biscuits($2.19) on sale=$3.75
1 x Progresso Broth($2.49) on sale=$2.00
4 x Green Giant canned veggies($1.29) on sale=$3.00
(qualified for 2 x $4=$8 Instant Discount)

1 x Bakery muffins=3.49 *not pictured*
1 x Bakery muffin=$4.49 *not pictured*
1 x Yeast strip on sale($1.79)=$1.29
4 x 1 lb. Beef cubes marked down($16.90)=$14.54
1 x 2.45 lb. Ground Beef=$7.47
Sales Tax......80¢

SubTotal....regular prices  $90.13........sales prices   $69.08

Coupons
1 x .40¢/1 Yeast ManuQ doubled=$.80
1 x $2/2 Pepsi 20 packs ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Cheetos ManuQ=$1.00
1 x Free Pepsi Max WYB 2 Cheetos ManuQ=$1.25
2 x $1/4 Progresso Soup ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/3 Whack Biscuits ManuQ=$1.00
1 x .40¢/1 Progresso Broth IPQ doubled=$.80
$9 in Instant Discounts on Meat Qs=$9.00
50% off Bakery items=$4.00

Coupon Total..... $21.85
$69.08-$21.85=$47.23

Deduct the $8 in Instant Savings for the GM items bought.....$47.23-$8=$39.23 OOP
$90.13 for $39.23 & a $5 OYNO Catalina PLUS....I spent over $50(before discounts)so I got a .10¢ of gas discount too.
Savings rate of 56.50% not counting the Cat Q.

I did the GM deal twice in one transaction and both $4 discounts came off with no problem.
The meat came out to $2 a lb.(and most of it was cubed steak)so that was a good deal.
#2 son loves me for getting the junk and soda. If I roll this catalina deal to get a small soda stockpile again, I'll be hiding the soda in my closet.  That's the only way I can keep #2 son from sucking it all down too quickly. lol
The GM Instant Discount Deal is a good one.  Nothing free but if you buy items with coupons available or the cheaper items(like veggies, soup, cake mix, etc.)you can get some deals there this week.  With Qs the Progresso comes out to .50¢ a can and if you buy 8 Green Giant veggies it comes out to .25¢ can w/out Qs....of course, they only have 3 different veggies to choose from. 8

Back to bed and more pills for my back.....


Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......SEPTEMBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off....especially this month's update!lol
And here is the great photo from last month's post again.
I LOVE a special on crap, but I don't think this price is frugal enough for me......how about you?

The theme this month is some months you can tighten the belt and save better than others, and then other months?....well.....you are lucky to just get through it without dipping into the red.

On to the September report.....

I have posted my SEPTEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up September in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of September with?.......$975.52.

Income
We had $940.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $22.99 of Rebates applied against the food expenses, $2.19 in Interest on the Checking Account, and a Dividend payment of $9.87 toward the Savings Challenge for a total of $975.52

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
Obviously we didn't meet that target.
If you added our amount saved for both August and September together you'd get a little more than what I need to save for one month.

Ugh.

On the bright side, at least we aren't negative money. 8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in September......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric bill held steady.
* I stayed on the food budget.
* The Marching Band expenses were very low for a change.  September is usually a high spend month for this activity.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The credit card bill was over $1500.... the cost of Daughter's new laptop hit the bill as well as other things.
* The water bill went up $12+ in Sept.  I am still trying to figure out WHY!
* The school taxes were due...ouch.
* There was a car repair bill.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were high.  As usual Hubs won't track his spending and get receipts so I have no clue where some of that money goes....sigh.
* I paid ahead for monthly garbage pick-up through the end of 2011.  One bill I don't have to worry about paying as we get into the Holiday Spending Season.
* And I hate to have to say this but.....the car repair place didn't get my check in time so I actually had to pay FINANCE CHARGES on it. ACK!  I don't know if having to tell y'all or having to pay $19.00 in FINANCE CHARGES hurts me more.  This is the first time in "I don't know how long" I've thrown perfectly good money away like this because I missed a deadline.  I think I need to take to my bed shortly before I faint. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $22.99 I was able to stay on budget with the food spending.
Go me!  8-)

What's ahead for October.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

* We've got a short trip planned so some fun spending is on deck this month.
* The credit card will be killer this month.  It's already up to $1300 and the billing period doesn't close until Sunday.  Most of these charges are for replacements due to the lightning strike we suffered. To make this worse, we are having a problem with being reimbursed by our home insurance carrier for this lightning strike that took out electronics and damaged our house's electrical system.  I'll go into this rant another time....

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 9 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $23,536.37.
We are $400+ off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $24,000 heading into October so we are now behind the Eight Ball to catch up over the next 3 months.


So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your September financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

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

Pink Together Giveaway!

If you are a woman, or you know women, then you are bound to have Breast Cancer affect you at some point, in some way, during your lifetime.

My mother had 2 breast cancer scares with tumors that turned out to be benign thankfully.
But I do have a few friends who have battled and are survivors of this disease.
Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, one of my online friends lost her 5 year battle.

So when MyBlogSpark asked me to post about the 2011 Pink Together Campaign I was more than happy to oblige.

Visit PinkTogether.com to share your personal story and messages of hope and read about others’ personal journeys. To encourage personal connections, General Mills will donate $1 to the Komen organization for each Message of Hope that is sent to someone who has shared their story on PinkTogether.com (up to $25,000) during October. This is in addition to a $2 million donation General Mills is making to the Komen organization.  This year, for the first time in its five-year history, at PinkTogether.com consumers can choose how $1 million of this donation will be shared between two important Komen programs: the Treatment and Assistance Program, which assists women in securing care they otherwise may not be able to afford, and Prevention Research, which helps unlock the keys to preventing breast cancer. Visit PinkTogether.com from September 19, 2011 through April 14, 2012 to make your choice. Results will be announced on Mother’s Day 2012 – Sunday, May 13. Meet the 2011 Pink Together Survivor Ambassadors, and hear their amazing stories of courage and survival on PinkTogether.com and the Pink Together YouTube Channel. General Mills will also be turning the packaging of participating products pink in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.

I have been supplied with a Prize Pack as part of my participation in this Pink Together Campaign.
MyBlogSpark has also supplied an identical Prize Pack for a Giveaway to one Lucky Don't Read This; It's Boring! Reader.

WIN IT!

Here is what you can Win...

Your prize pack will contain:
• A 16 oz. box of Total cereal
• VIP coupons valid for one box of Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios cereal and one cup of Yoplait yogurt
• Betty Crocker Living with Cancer Cookbook Pink Together Edition, which includes a collection of more than 150 delicious recipes with complete nutrition information and a 32-page Pink Together Survivor Ambassador bonus section that shares inspirational personal stories of survival as well as recipes
• Water bottle and removable silicone awareness bracelet
• Drawstring sport backpack
• Rhinestone ear buds

And Here is Your Mandatory Entry.....

•  Leave a comment about "How you have been touched by breast cancer".  Be specific or be vague, whatever you are comfortable sharing.
 

For additional entries....Go to PinkTogether.com and check it out.

•   Then leave a comment on "How you have interacted with the community on PinkTogether.com" for one additional entry.
• Leave a comment about what you find most inspiring about the Pink Together community for another additional entry.
• Leave a comment on which Susan G. Komen program you feel most passionate about at PinkTogether.com for another additional entry.
• "Like" Pink Together on Facebook then come back and Leave a comment that you did that for one additional entry.
• "Follow" Don't Read This; It's Boring! by clicking on the FOLLOW Bar on the righthand side bar, then Leave a comment here for one additional entry.
• Post about this Giveaway on your own Blog or a Message Board/Online Community then Leave 3 separate comments here for three additional entries.
• Follow me on Twitter.  Here I am.  Leave a comment on this post that you are a Follower with your Twitter name/id for an additional entry.
• Tweet about this Giveaway on Twitter.  Leave a comment on this post with your status link for an additional entry.  This entry can be done once a day for more entries.

There you go.....11+ ways to gain entries!  Do one, do them all or something in between.  It just depends on how much you want to win this. ;-)

This Giveaway will be open from the moment I hit the publish button until Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 11:59pm ET.
On October 16th, I'll borrow some extra fingers and toes to tally up all the entries and use Random Org to pick a winner.

And this is open to those with US mailing addresses only please.

Here is the Legal Mumbo Jumbo.....“ The Pink Together prize pack, information and coupons have been provided free of charge by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”
I have not been paid to promote this campaign or feature this giveaway, but I did get some cool prizes.

So get busy and Good Luck!


Sluggy

The Frugal Weekend Report

Let's see.....what did I do over the weekend.....

Last weekend was one of my favorite frugal activities of the year.
One of the local churches holds a little festival, composed of a flea market, bake sale and then a country auction at the end of the day.
I go to this each year as it's a great place to round out my eating out options for the year.
Along with all the fine second-hand items donated, the ladies at this church get a load of gift certificates to local businesses to auction off as well.
Mostly the certs are for restaurants but they also have auto servicing(inspections, oil changes, etc.), hair cuts and other salon features, gas for the car, fuel for the home, et cetera.

I am a big spender at their auction and they always love to see me coming. 8-)
Not only do they like the cash I drop at this thing but I do a fair share of bidding other folks up.
Yes, sometimes certs will not be going for a fair price, so I'll jump in and start a bidding war so that the church actually makes a few dollars holding this thing.
It's one thing to get a good deal, but if you are walking out paying $2 for a $20 gift certificates over and over again, not only will they stop holding these(which I can't have happen!lol)but it's not charitable either.
Most certs go for about half of the value but the sought after ones go higher.  And since it's for charity, I will bid as high as the full retail price if it's an establishment that I would go to anyway and spend full retail at....like Mickey D's for #2 son for example.
But I don't like to make a habit of paying full price.....

Here is what I brought home.....

Mostly it's eating out certs but we snagged 2 barbershop haircuts for $5 each this year.
We enjoy eating out and this is one way I round out my eating out budget frugally.
Not only that, it supports this fine church group(though I am not a member)and because we often spend/eat in excess of the value of the certificate when we go to redeem it, it also helps support the local businesses.

While Hubs is still upset he missed winning a couple of used leather laptop cases, I did snag a food processor(used once!) and a swing arm lamp to mount on the wall next to my dungeon-like computer corner(it even still had a light bulb in it!lol)

In the end we won $300 in gift certificates, the lamp and food processor for under $200.
I always round up what I pay them to an even amount, so I cut a check for $200.

Winning!

On Sunday afternoon Hubs and I had a date.  We still had a gift certificate we won last year at the auction to a restaurant we enjoy that serves Greek food.  It's quite a distance from where we live so we decided since we had the day free to take a drive there and use this cert.
I scoped out and found that 2 different from what I usually shop at grocery stores were down the street from the restaurant so after scarfing down Moussaka and Spanakopita, we went to GiantPA.

I checked out the flyer online before we went and saw a small Deal I wanted to get there.  They had a "Buy 10 products, Get $5 off Instantly" Promotion.  Since it's a store I don't shop at regularly, in a town not nearby, this sort of instant discount promotion makes more sense for me than a Catalina one, where I would have to return to the store again to get the discount.
So I jumped on this deal since we are addicted to Brownies around here......

10 x Brownie Mix on sale 4/$5($1.25 ea.)=$12.50
The instant discount....$12.50-$5=$7.50
I also had 2 x $1/2 any Pillsbury baking item ManuQs...$7.50-$2=$5.50 OOP

This meant my brownie mixes cost me .55¢ each.
I can't buy the ingredients to make 10 batches of brownies for that cheap so I am happy paying this price.

I also picked up some inexpensive chicken breasts while in Giant.  Since Hubs doesn't enough wandering around the grocery store checking things out like I do, especially when he is full of Greek food and just wants to nap, I didn't do a whole lot of reconnoitering at Giant.  I did feel that the prices were a bit high and the sale prices weren't that great on the things I usually buy.
But then again, Weis is no great deal anymore either! 8-(

We also harvested the last items from the garden this past weekend......

My two last surviving pumpkins.  They weren't quite fully ripe yet but with it raining EVERY DAY FOR TWO WEEKS, I was done with waiting and chancing they would rot in the mucky, soggy yard before the rain stopped and they got the last dose of sun they needed.
They are now happily orange through and through and awaiting my skillful hands(skillful?...maybe....)to turn them into full-on yummy-ness. ;-)

So there you have it!

A weekend choked full of...
Buying Local
Buying Second-Hand
Buying At Discount Price
Growing Your Own Food
Can't get a much more Compact and Frugal Weekend than that, huh? 8-)

Sluggy

Guess Who Went to Rite-Aid Last Week?

Why, yes I did!

I know I said that I was on a break from Rite-Aid pillaging but I had 4 free item coupons that expired Sept. 30th.

First I need to update my Grand Totals for September Single Check Rebate Period.
I only darkened Rite-Aid's door 1 time during that SCR Period.
You can just go HERE if you want to see my numbers for September.

I am starting October with no +Up Rewards at all.  It's still hard to wrap my brain around being +Up-less....lol
So into Rite-Aid I went on Thursday afternoon, the 30th, and came out with this.....

4 x Pantene Conditioner on sale $4=$16.00
1 x Cella cherry w/20% wellness discount=$.26
SubTotal....$16.26

Coupons Used
4 x Free Pantene item up to $4.99 ManuQs(homemailers)=$16.00
Coupon Total.....$16.00

$16.26-$16.00=$.26 OOP which I put on my Rite-Aid gift card.

THIS TRIP
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.26 put on free gift card
Value of Items....$21.49
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$0.00
+Up Rewards spent.....$0.00
+Up Rewards left to spend.....$0.00
And I have $32.39 left on my gift card.

And now, the monthly totals so far.
Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--OCTOBER Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......1
Total Spent....$.26 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Number of Items purchased.....1
Value of Items purchased....$21.49
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for September SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 9/6.....$0.00
+Up Rewards spent....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards left....$0.00  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Analysis-- Obviously I needed to use these FREE Qs up before they expired.  I kept waiting for a Get X+Ups WYB XX Deal to come up at Rite-Aid involving Pantene during this time to get more bang for my(their) buck,  but it didn't happen.
Bleh.
I bought conditioner not 'poo.  I have tubs and tubs of 'poo.
Of course, because of this, #2 son decides he NEEDS conditioner for his hair.....of which I have none.
This lot of bottles hopefully will last until I can get more for free or he gets a job and buys his own, but I am not holding my breath on option 2 happening.  >_<

While I didn't need to buy that filler cherry thing, not having a $0 transaction at the register means managers need NOT be called to give me the stink eye and press a button to ok the transaction.  Throw in a cherry and everyone goes away happily flying under the radar. lol

Now I was perfectly happy with this transaction and not jumping back on the Rite-Aid Crazy Train until I saw THIS Rebate.

Everyone is using the $8/2 CoverGirl ManuQ that came in Sunday's P&G insert to get well on the way to the $50 worth of product to qualify for this by doing the "Spend $30 Get $10 +Ups Deal".  Buying tons of make-up doesn't stir my heart and Venus razors or so pricey, but........Pantene is also included in the Pink Rebate.  And the begin date is 9/1/11, which means the $16 in Pantene I just bought qualities for this rebate if I care to give it a whirl.
Hmmmm.....I only need $34 more and there is that "Spend $30 get $10+Ups deal" at Rite-Aid, but I don't have 4 of the $8/2 CoverGirl Qs, only 2.
Now my eye is twitching and I fall asleep amidst thinking up scenarios in my head....

Sluggy

This Old Blog

With my computer being rendered deader than Charlie Sheen's humility last week I lost all my FAVORITES.
ACK!!!

I'd appreciate it if anyone who reads this could leave me the addy for your blog in the comments section.

I feel like Bob Villa today with having to rebuild everything around here. 
Bob Freaking Villa I say.....but with less facial hair!

Sluggy

Is Blogger Weird or is My New Computer Possessed?

Either I am experiencing the problem everyone else seemed to have with Blogger this summer....the one about not being able to leave comments....or my new machine is possessed.

Not only am I not being allowed to leave comments on other bloggers-though I DID finally get to leave one on Judy's on Sat. and on SonyaAnn's this morning-but I can't even leave comments on MY OWN BLOG!LOLOL

I can't use my blogger/google account id to comment.  I have to comment under the Name/URL profile, preview my comment, word verification and then hit Post.
And then, get this.......my comment does NOT post to my own blog.
I have to go to my dashboard and moderate my own comment!LOL

What I don't need is ANOTHER LAYER OF CRAZY in my day!

I think I have come up with the perfect name for this new machine.
HAL



I am off to figure this out so I can get on with the usual f'ed upness that are my days....

Sluggy

September Budget Results.....Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2011.

I have posted September's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in September.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $8.78
Value  $38.11
Savings  77%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $89.28

Qs/Ads  $81.70
Value  $170.98
Savings  47.78%

RITE AID
OOP  $.50 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $3.79
Value  $4.29
Savings  88.35% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $174.05
Qs/Ads  $93.89
Value  $267.94
Savings  35.05% 

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN SEPTEMBER
Rite-Aid SCR...$22.99
Subtotal........$22.99

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
$0.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$22.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%,  the Bakery Outlet at 77% and Carone's at 47.78%.  I shopped at 4 whole different stores in September.....wow. lol


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$272.11
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$209.21
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$481.32
TOTAL Savings of...................................43.46%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$22.99
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$249.12
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$232.20
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$481.32
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................48.25%

Since my Rite-Aid shopping(which contains No OOP)always skews my savings percentages, I like to figure my Totals without the Rite-Aid numbers also.
TOTAL OOP after Rebates.....$249.12
TOTAL Value of Items Purchases(w/out Rite-Aid items)....$477.03
TOTAL Savings After Rebates(w/out Rite-Aid items).....47.78%

My food savings percentage seems to run about 50%-60% for the strictly food items only.
Those Rite-Aid purchases always boost up my savings total about 20% points.  This month Rite-Aid purchases only boosted my Savings Percentage a half of a percentage, since I only bought 1 item from there in September.lol
This closes out the September spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With my rebate check added into my food budget I came in at right on my $250 target.
Yay me!lol

I confess that a lot of what I bought was junk this month, mostly bought for #2 son's after-school snacks and for his sleepover.  It I had held strong and not succumbed to his pleadings I would have only spent about half of my $250 budget.
Soda, pies, chips, pizzas......bleh!
What can I say?
He is my last one left at home and I am an old softee. 8-))

What's ahead for October.....
No big holidays this month, no birthdays either.  Daughter is coming home for 1 weekend though so more mouths to feed temporarily.
Yes, I have a COLLEGZILLA on the way home this coming weekend!lol

I am thinking about giving myself $300 per month going forward until the end of 2011 instead of $250.
Why?
First we can afford another $50 per month for food.
Second I plan to use the extra to stock up for Thansgiving/Christmas Holiday essentials since I don't think I can do that and my regular monthly foods for $250.  Somebody has to pay for the cost of remodeling at Weis Markets so it might as well be me! ;-)
Besides, I am just tired of keeping such a tight rein on the food expenses after the last 9 months of doing so.

Heck, I might just say to heck with the food budget for the rest of the year and just spend what I want but with an eye toward frugality.

What do y'all think?
Should I stick to the food budget?....but make it a bit larger?....or just go on a 3 month long binge?
I need help here people!!

With 3 months left in the year, we have spent a total of $1,907.69 of our income on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $211.96 per month.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $11,198.72.
That's a savings of $9,291.03 or 83%.

How did you do in September with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for October?  Any family coming to stay....Holiday Celebrations?.....or is your school/work schedule too busy to shop/cook/eat as a family?

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

Never Talk Trash About Old People

This is my new motto.
You may have noticed I haven't been around the last 3 days...since about 5 pm on Tuesday.....right after I posted about how much rude senior citizens tick me off, remember?

Well about an hour later a tremendous thunderstorm came through here.
A nearby lightning strike took out some electronics as well as part of the electical system in our house.

The lightning surge was so strong, even though everything was on a surge protector, it blew the side cover off the router, fried the modem and turned my computer into an inert heavy metal & plastic box that doesn't absolutely nothing.

Crap!
It also turned some electrical outlets into non-funtioning decorative features on the walls and fried the garage door opener.
For kicks, it also turned on my iron up on the ironing board in my bedroom.....and not in a good sexy way.
We are stil finding weird consequences from this freak occurance as we add to the list of losses for the insurance company.
We also need to have an electrician come in and check the whole house's electrical system out.
Fun, fun.

The end results is I now have a new computer as of today, like it or not.
With the deductible, I'll be OOP for this machine, but everything else that got fried we'll be able to get replaced with insurance $.
My dead computer wasn't even a year old.
But at least they were able pull my important files off the fried machine.

So don't trash talk about old people because those senior citizens have connections and will use them to have Mother Nature bring you down. ;-)

Sluggy

I'm Back! & I'm on a Roll...a Nice Ranting Roll not Kaiser

Did y'all miss me while I was gone today? 
In a few minutes you will wish I was still out...lol

I hit the bread store.....$8.78 and 9 bread type products later.  It was Senior discount day(I forgot!)so I had to run the old people gauntlet.

What has happened to old people?
They use to be docile and sweet.
The ones I ran into(almost literally since they won't move out of the way!)today at the bread outlet were nuts.  One especially cutting in line ahead of me like they are entitled and giving me 'tude in a look that said, "if I had a shiv, I'd cut you just as soon as look at you".  If you wanted to get ahead of me you old bat, you could have asked nicely and I probably would have let you go first even though I was in line 5 MINUTES before you even thought of getting in the check-out line.  I don't care if you only have 3 items(hey! I only had 9!!) and I have alot of other places I need to get to today too.  Then you abandoned your cart in the middle of the aisle when that other cashier opened an aisle and took your 3 loaves, leaving it to gridlock our aisle.  Yes, because you were in such a big hurry to get back out to your Cadillac which had NO handicapped tags and was parked across TWO Handicapped Parking Spaces!
I should have keyed your car when I walked past it going into the store.....


Two more stops and a teen to the Orthodontist later and I finally get to the grocery store.

I hate you Weis Markets!
You decide to remodel the whole. fricking. store.
Nothing is where is use to be and your new discombobulated design makes NO. SENSE.
Products I like to buy are now banished from your shelves.  New(=more expensive)items are replacing them.
And the prices.

Every time I go, I notice prices have risen.....SHARPLY!
Way to Go Weis....using the excuse of a remodel to jack up the prices.
Spending money on the "atmosphere" of the place so you can justify jacking up prices not once, but twice or thrice.
I don't care if it looks like an abandoned warehouse inside, as long as the prices are good.

Yes, prices going up lately in this economy seems to be the refrain of the old song, but jacking them up every trip for the last three trips I've made to your store is INSANE!

I dread going back to the grocery store because I'll see the prices have gone up yet again.
If this keeps up, even with spending on the gas to get there, I may start shopping at the Weis in another town since the prices on the same items are lower.  I've compared them, item for item, and it's true!

And it was Senior Discount day at Weis too.....for the love of David Hasselhoff's Sainted Mother!

MEMO TO SELF--STAY HOME on TUESDAYS!

And it's almost October, right?
Why in gosh sakes is it so MUGGY???!!!
I came home and sat down and I am drenched in sweat!
And of course, the a/c units are in the garage and the pool is closed for the season since it's almost October and not suppose to be this warm here now!
Oh to be a 70 lb. gymnast and be able to fold myself up into a cube and put myself in the freezer!

And it's too hot to cook.
Seriously, who can cook in this heat/humidity?
I wish my stomach would figure out it's too hot to eat too.......ack!


Sluggy

Can It Be??......More September DeCluttering P*rn!

Oooh Baby!
I am on fire....on fire with decluttering p*rn!!

First off, Hubs contribution to the last trip's clutter was the Get Smart beanie, the Mets truck and the hand massager.....not that anyone tried for the Bonus Points or anything. ;-)

Onward to the third trip, as in "#3",  to Salvation Army for September.....

1 Cat in the Hat facial tissue cover(in the white box)
1 Wilton train cake mold
1 Christmas ornament
3 assorted books
2 Curious George toothbrushes
1 Cabbage Patch Kids playset
1 novelty coffee mug
1 Precious Moment figurine
1 Power Rangers candy mold

1 Gerber baby doll
1 Dilbert day planner/calendar
3 Pokemon pocket monsters
1 vintage cast iron wagon
3 Godzilla stamp sets
1 Polly Pocket pet shop
6 Teenie Beanies
1 Star Wars pin
2 Wilton cookie cutters
1 pair Thomas the Tank Engine shoelaces
1 roll Power Rangers stickers
1 Cat in the Hat watch
1 Walmart watch...yes a Walmart watch, as in a walmart truck goes around the face of this one!
1 package Troll party napkins

2 Avalon Hill strategy games
1 cross stitch pattern book
1 set Chinese iron balls(#2 son's contribution-still shaking my head why he spent good money on this at the amusement park?!)
1 McDonald's glass
3 California Raisin figures
2 Just the Right Shoe figurines

And if you are keeping score at home, that's 38 more items and the 11th load to Salvation Army for 2011.

Now I am off this blasted machine for awhile.
I actually have to leave the house today.
Go me!

What's on your plate for today?

Sluggy

Food Spending Week 2.5-3.5 & Meal Plan

So here is what I planned on serving for dinner last week....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Pan Roasted Summer Veggies
Wednesday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Potato Salad, Brussel Sprouts
Thursday--Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--Hot Dogs, Leftover Veggies/Potato Salad

And here is what actually happened....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Brussel Sprouts
Wednesday--Leftovers
Thursday--Meatloaf, Potato Salad, leftover Corn
Friday--Chinese take-out, Pizza(sleepover night)
Saturday--Hot Dogs on rolls, leftover side dishes

We got takeout on Friday since there was a surprise Teen Sleepover & I didn't have enough Pork Chops thawed to feed everyone.

Groceries bought last week....
$33.87
And most of that($25.09)was crap/snacks bought on Friday for the sleepover....ice cream, chips, soda and pies.  I never went grocery shopping last week. The only 'real food' I did buy were a container of ricotta cheese, a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs.

This week I want to stock up on some salmon which is on sale.  This hasn't been a good price in ages so I'm spending what I have left in the budget for September on fish for the freezer.  I should have enough for about 5 lbs. worth.

So here is what I am planning on serving this week for meals, working solely on what I have already.

Sunday--Pork Chops, California veg. medley, leftover Potato Salad, Applesauce
Monday--Lasagna(using crumbled leftover meatloaf from last week in the sauce)
Tuesday--Fried Mac & Cheese(using up leftover mac/cheese), Mixed Veggies
Wednesday--Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Broccoli
Thursday--Beef Pie Casserole w/carrots and green beans
Friday--Chicken Cheese Quesadillas, Green Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

No take-out this week.  And I know that Tues. meal is lame but it's the only thing I can think of to get them to eat the leftover mac and cheese!lol  I look at this unhealthy choice this way....the Fair they hold this week is canceled this year due to the flooding....and they ate far worse stuff at the Fair so Tues. meal is my homage to fair food.lol

I've got most everything to accomplish this meal plan except I will have to buy carrots and salad greens along with our usual milk purchases for the week.
And some fresh fruit as we are all out.

I'm at $215.34 spent for September so far.
I've got $34.66 left in the food budget with 5 days left to go.

Sluggy

Weekend Feelings & Progress

Well my back gave out sometimes between Friday evening and Sunday morning.
This means I didn't get all the potential toy sale boxes gone through in storage before the weekend was over.
Shoot!

I have sorted many of them however.

I also got all the shelving put together and arranged in the garage.

 I have 40 shelves, 1 banquet table with a shelf on top, 1 card table, 1 tea cart, 1 patio table & 2 storage tubs I can use to put items on(fragile/heavy items like ceramic cookie jars, etc. that the shelving can't hold).  If needed I can also put the pool deck storage box in the driveway and display more items on that.

And I got the Advertising Flyer designed and ready to print.

Now I need to dust off and price all the items in the garage and put them out for display since there are so many boxes of items out there now you can't even walk around.lol
After I get that all priced and out(the empty boxes go into storage in case I need them to cart what doesn't sell to charity), I'll get back to going through what is left in storage.
I am tired.

And I am emotionally raw too.
It sucks to be me right now, but I know I have to face these feelings so I can get past them.

Going through all these boxes of items and deciding what to do with them has been rough.
I've had to confront some bad memories.......from a time when I wasn't very happy and bought some of this stuff.
I've had to confront things about myself.
Things like...what made me buy all this stuff in the first place.
Things like.....the waste of money.  I made money on this stuff but not being able to sell what is left and hanging onto it has cost money.
Things like....not making decisions for so many years on some of this stuff.  Not being able to let it go!
Things like....throwing good money after bad and not just cutting my losses sometimes.
Things like.....letting some of this stuff take over my life.
Things like.....feeling like a hoarder.  It runs in our family so I have to keep an eye on myself.

Spending so much time with all this crap just makes me depressed. 8-(

But I know I am getting better.
Because if I had tried to sell all this crap last year for as little as I am going to charge, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it!
This tells me that I have loosened my emotional hold on these "things".....or have they loosened their emotional hold on ME?!?!
Hhhmmmm...

At any rate, I'm done dealing with this stuff for today and tomorrow I'll continue to make preparations for the sale.

Here's hoping your Weekend brought you some time off or good progress toward a goal!

Sluggy

When You are a Plant, There is a Thing As Too Much Rain!

I can't remember if I shared this photo yet....yes, it's hell getting old.lol

Late last month I harvested my banana peppers.  There were a few left on the plants that were still green but I think the rabbits have since stripped the leaves and peppers that are left.

And I had a tremendous bounty of pie pumpkins out in the yard....

Last I counted there were 9 pumpkins.
Then the rains from 2 Hurricanes came through within a week of each other, dumping 16 inches on our yard.
All my ripened pumpkins rotted or fell victim to hungry chipmunks.
Same fate befell many of my tomatoes.

I was able to pick/save enough tomatoes to make one large batch of pasta sauce(besides the few we ate on sandwiches).  There will be no canning of tomatoes this year......

I was able to save one pumpkin....

Well, the chipmunks did nibble on it....

I cut that part off, roasted, pureed and froze the pulp.
The good news with the pumpkins is that there are two still out there that are just ripening now, so not all is lost.  I'll be picking and bringing them inside this weekend.

 And my volunteer Morning Glories survived the rainfall, dried out finally and are still blooming.

We'll be closing up the pool and the gardens this weekend.
Fall is officially here and the changing leaves have already stepped up the rate at which they are a changin'.

Here's hoping you can get outside this weekend and get your hands dirty!

Sluggy

Making Progress on the Toy Sale Prep

Here's an update on everything I've been working on to get ready to hold this Toy Garage Sale next month.

I've been getting boxes of inventory out of storage and going through them.
I sort every item into one of three piles....
1. Still worth selling on eBay-those boxes go into the living room
2. Going directly to Charity-those boxes get photographed and put into Hubs car trunk
3. For the Toy Sale-those boxes get stacked in the garage

I figure I've got about 1/3 of the inventory left in storage to go through.
As I hauled boxes out, I put back and organized other boxes(no-toy stuff)in the storage unit.

Here's a shot of the whole unit from Tuesday afternoon....

Well you can see the foreground of what is left in this shot.

Here is what's in back....

And in the very back....

The stack of boxes on the right in the picture contains empty boxes, extra bubble wrap and the one on the bottom is filled with toilet paper.lol  All the rest is merchandise.

Here is what I organized.....

This set of tubs/boxes is all the extra toiletries and HBA products I have. There is 1 box left in the garage to take over and add to this stack.

In this picture(the stack with the paper towel rolls and facial tissue and the tubs behind that stack)shows my fabric stash.....well, some of my fabric stash.  I still have tubs of it in the garage to move.  But at least now in storage, all the fabric is in one place.

I got the last 3 shelving units taken out of storage on Tuesday.  After I get them cleaned up I can start arranging all the shelving in the garage for the sale.
Yesterday I began rearranging and emptying some of the shelving already in the garage.
I cleared 3 shelves on this unit.....

And I cleared 1 shelf on this one.....

The shelf below the one I cleared is toys I need to go through to sort, so I consider it half cleared off already.lol

Now you are probably wondering WHAT was ON those shelves I cleared, aren't you?
The 1 shelf above I cleared was stockpiled noodles, canned cheese, foil and plastic wrap(the plastic is not mine, it's Hubs!).  All that just got consolidated into the other big shelving unit of stockpile goods.
But the unit I cleared 3 shelves off had held most of my TP stockpile.  So I shifted some and filled up these shelves above and below with TP, since they are too tall or too low for holding the toys that are for sale.......

And the rest of the TP stockpile was moved to here.....

Under the bed in Daughter's ex-bedroom where piles of her crap use to live.  So now my TP stockpile is spread out over 3 locations.....bedroom, garage, storage.  I hate that but it's only temporary until the toy sale is over.  Then I'll move what is in storage into the garage(where the toys sat for the sale) in preparation for getting rid of the storage unit.  It should all fit by then since we'll be using it down some.  Just pray I don't find a sale on TP anytime soon that makes it free with Qs and promotions....then we'll be in trouble!lol

Next up on my plate here.....
1. Getting the last of the shelving into the garage and organized.  I have the boxes of what I am planning on putting into the toy sale stacked out there and there is no room to move around.  The shelves need to go into place and I need to take some tubs of fabric out of there and put into storage, now that there is room in there for them to be stacked neatly. 
2. After organizing shelving for the sale, I can start to put the toys out on the shelves, making room in the garage for more boxes.  Then I can haul more loads of boxes of toys home to sort through.  I hope to finish getting all the boxes of stuff here for sorting(and get them sorted!)by the end of the weekend.  That should keep me on schedule for now.

Wish me luck!


Sluggy

It's All About the Rite-Aid Baby!....A Woot!, The End of an Era and some Ranting

Ok, so that title may be a little misleading.  It IS about Rite-Aid but in a larger sense it's about couponing too in general.
So even if you don't Rite-Aid, it's worth reading....maybe. ;-)

First off, I need to catch up with a Rite-Aid trip I took weeks! ago.
It's a big one......are you ready for it?

1 x Doritos on sale=$2.50
SubTotal....$2.50

No Coupons were used.

Total...$2.50
I used $2 in +Up Rewards to pay and put the .50¢ remaining on my free to me Rite-Aid gift card.
I received no new +Ups.

Here is my updated Grand Totals at Rite-Aid for the September SCR Period.....

THIS TRIP
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.50 put on free gift card
Value of Items....$4.29
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$0.00
+Up Rewards spent.....$2.00
+Up Rewards left to spend.....$0.00*
And I have $32.65 left on my gift card.**


And now, the monthly totals so far.
Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--SEPTEMBER Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......1
Total Spent....$.50 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Number of Items purchased.....1
Value of Items purchased....$4.29
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for September SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 8/26.....$2.00
+Up Rewards spent....$2.00
+Up Rewards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards left....$0.00  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

*If you remember, I was owed $2 in +Up Rewards from last month.  I opted to return the item instead of fighting to get my rightly deserved +Ups from Corporate.  So instead of having $4 in +Ups, I started September with $2.

**After returning the item in question above, I got a credit toward my gift card balance so that it why it is larger than August's ending balance.


If you haven't noticed yet, I've been taking a Rite-Aid break.
I want to share 2 different thoughts on deal hunting at Rite-Aid with you.

First I want to blow my own horn.

Since I wore myself out physically yesterday at storage I have been doing nerdy sedentary things today....like going over all my spreadsheets and transaction logs for recent years from Rite-Aid.
Because that's what us nerds like to do! 8-)

I found I achieved a major accomplishment with my Rite-Aid shopping.
From September of 2010 through August of 2011, I spent not one cent of my own money at Rite-Aid.
That's one solid year, 12 months, of hauling home bags and bags of goods without forking over ANY CASH.

Sssssshhh....don't tell them.
 
Between sales, strategic use of coupons, +Up Rewards and free gift cards I was able to supply my family with toiletries, HBA, cleaning supplies and a little bit of food(and non-foods like snacks and candy) for $0.00 spending.

It would have been 3 months longer(from June 2010-August 2011)without spending actual cash, if I had taken a RA gift card on vacation with me in August of 2010 and hadn't paid $8.99 cash for that coffeemaker I bought at a Rite-Aid in New Hampshire.
Doh!

Here are the numbers.....

From September 2010 through August 2011 at Rite-Aid--
I spent $0.00 cash OOP.
I spent $141.97 in gift cards that cost me $0.00 cash to obtain.
I took home merchandise that retailed for $11,224.28.
I earned gift cards/certificates worth $95 during this time.
I earned cash rebates of $412.12 during this time.
I also sold excess items for $682 cash.
I gave away many items to friends and family, as well as made 3 sizable  food bank donations from the excess items.
I also still have an "ass ton" sized stockpile of drugstore items.

So you could look at this and say that I was paid $1,094.12 in cash(rebates and garage sale profit)to take $11,224.28 worth of merchandise home from the store.
Now if THAT is not an accomplishment, I don't know what is!LOL

You may notice that my free gift card value earned was less than my gift cards used during this 12 months, so how did I not spend any cash on all this?

In 2010, there were MANY SCR deals that gave gift cards instead of cash.  I must have pursued ALL of those deals, since from 7/2010 until 12/2010 I earned $280 in free gift cards.(I earned even more gift cards earlier in 2010 which I am not recounting here.) And that $280 worth doesn't even count the ones I earned from transferring prescriptions to Rite-Aid last year that earned me a $25 gift card for each one.  This explains why all my $141.97 OOP was paid for with gift card that cost me nothing to obtain.
And I still have about $70 left from my gift card stash.

Another thing I noticed was that since Rite-Aid introduced the +Wellness and the +Ups Rewards program early in 2010(Feb. in my area since it was within a test market program), this is the FIRST TIME I have had NO +Up Rewards in 20 contiguous months to spend.  At. All.
Wow.....

My Other Thought--
Now, I love my Rite-Aid stores here and the people who work there.
While my local employees are missing me coming to see them(yes, I am loved!lol),the bean counters in corporate are breathing a sigh of relief that, for now, my plundering and pillaging of Rite-Aid is over.
Now they don't have me to bring down their profit numbers.
Maybe now, my local Rite-Aid stores can show a profit. ;-)
(Did I say NOW enough times for you in the last few sentences?lol)

So I'll look at my Rite-Aid break as my way of helping them stay in business.
Because it everybody shopped there like I did/do, they would be long gone. ;-)

On the down side, the "perfect storm" of conditions that aided me in getting so much for free at Rite-Aid no longer exist.
I benefited from being able to combine SCR deals, free gift card deals, liberal coupon policies, bonus coupons and deals and promotions from the company and some amazing deals that made many items free.  It was all perfectly ethical, legal and in every other way acceptable.  I didn't scam any one or do anything immoral to get what I got. You just had to be motivated and dedicated enough to work all the angles and take advantage of all the opportunities.  It was by no means easy and yes, it took time and energy.

Currently, Rite-Aid offers no prescription transfer incentives, no survey coupon incentives, no $X off $XX coupons, no gift card SCR deals, +Up Rewards and Single Check Rebates that require you to spend too much OOP even after coupons to get them.
Add in that they have restricted their Coupon Policy twice in the last year and that the Manufacturers have clamped down on releasing high value coupons or even any coupons at all for certain products
AND have raised the cost of their products in this economy.

Every opportunity has tightened up so much(if it even still exists!), your results will NOT net you as much free stuff as before.  Not at Rite-Aid or any store that you can name.
That's just the world we currently live in.

Will it change?
You bet!
Retailing is ever changing....it could get better or it could get worse, and it will probably do both over the coming years.
Just keep your thumb on the pulse of retailing and be prepared to seize deals and opportunities when you find them.

I, for one, am anxious to see where shopping in 2012 leads us!

Sluggy

September Food Spending Week 2.5 and Menu Plan

 I love this little Flow Chart from Summer Tomato to help you find REAL FOOD in the grocery store.
Check it out!lol

Speaking of supermarkets, I made 3 trips to the grocery store last week...really 1 trip last week and 2 trips into Week 3 or Week 2.5.lol  I can't seem to line up the weeks with the menu plans.  I need to come up with a better system for reporting in.

The local market had some BOGO sales so I stocked up on basic things like onions, potatoes, bread and bagels(as I didn't get over to the Bread Outlet yet).  I bought a number of items for #2 son for snacking including 1/2 off muffins, juice, pizza and chicken strips. Also some Gatorade for band practice, and sweets like ice cream and pie.
I picked up some deals.....a package of trout, a package of hot dog rolls, frozen veggies, as well as a General Mills Promotional Deal when you bought 8 items you received $4 off your total.  For that I bought 4 boxed veggies, 1 sack of flour and 3 rolls of whack biscuits.  Total w/sale prices was $11.59....total after $4 and $2 in Qs off=$5.59 for 8 items.
I also used a $10 gift card I won ages ago to pay for a part of this order so my $20.84 total was $10.84 OOP.
Sweet!

My meal plan for last week ended up looking like this....
Sunday--Tacos
Monday--Ravioli, Salad
Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches
Wednesday--Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Chinese take out
Saturday--Pecan Crusted Chicken, Cream of Spinach

The only items I needed to buy to accomplish this menu?.....A loaf of bread

So this week, using what I bought last week and what was already in the freezer/pantry, is looking like this.....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(fresh sauce from garden and homemade balls for the freezer)
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn(roll of biscuits, frozen chicken patties and corn in freezer)
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Pan Roasted Summer Veggies(trout and taters I bought, veg. in freezer)
Wednesday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Potato Salad, Brussel Sprouts(chops in freezer, taters and sprouts I bought)
Thursday--Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes and Carrots(beef in freezer, taters I bought)
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--Hot Dogs, Leftover Veggies/Potato Salad(dogs in freezer, rolls I bought)

Left to buy for this menu.....Carrots.
I know it's heavy on potatoes but 2 of us ate a lot of rice last week for snack meals and for lunch, so I'll make #2 son happy and serve fries instead of rice with the trout.

Last week I spent $116.29 at the store on $217.74 worth of items, for a savings rate of 46.60%.
I only used $4 in Qs.  Seriously, I can't find a coupon deal unless I want to buy a bunch of processed stuff lately.

I have spent a total of $181.47 so far for September in 2.5 weeks.  $68.53 left in the food budget with 11 days to go so I am short about $20 at this point in the month.

This week we need some dairy and eggs and I'll pick up what is on special and work it into a menu for next week.
If I find some good deals I won't worry about that $20 overage.

At this point, I'll hold off going to the bread store until next week or October.
I'm debating doing the Campbell's Catalina at Price Chopper(for the Prego sauce) as it will put me over the budget if I do.

What are y'all eating and buying this week?

Sluggy