Meijer baking sale

I hope everyone had a good week. I stayed out of the drugstores this week (trying to recover from last week...lol), but did place an online order with WAGS on Monday. They had 30% off regular priced items and 20% cash back through Ebates/Rakuten. I bought 4 packs Dial soap (bogof sale) since we are on our last pack, razors and a Christmas gift. Used $20 points and $3.72 oop and earned $5.04 cash back. I didn't expect to earn on the full amount, since I paid with points, so I was happy to get my 20% back. Yay

I really didn't plan on doing any other deals, until Meijer released their 3 day baking sale ad. It was Buy 5 get $5 off instantly. They also have Spend $100 get $10 OYNO. I need to bake for a Christmas party this month & I know that Meijer calculates that $100 cost BEFORE their $5 off discount. They also have a Buy 10/$10 get 11th item free in their regular weekly ad. So I made my list and headed to the store. I should have gone shopping yesterday. Everyone and their mother decided to shop today and the shelves were half empty.

Here's what I did

2 x Dove deodorant $10.18
1 x Dove spray 6.29
2 x Fiber One bars 7.58
2 x D Donuts coffee B1G50% off $10.48
1 x Off the Eaten Path Veggie Chips 3.49 F
1 x Blueberry Cheerios 3.00 F
1 x Stacy Pita Chips 3.00 F
1 x On the Border Chips 2.79
11 x Dannon yogurt 10.00
3 x Old Orchard Juice 3.00

Buy 5 Save $5

10 x Frosting $15.90
2 x Confectioners Sugar $3.98
3 x Gold Medal Flour $6.57
4 x Quaker Oatmeal $13.56
4 x K Arthur Wheat Flour 15.96
1 x K Arthur AP Flour 3.99
1 x Chex PB Cereal 2.79 F

Less B5S$5 (25.00)
Less On the Border peelie (1.00)
Less D Donuts MP q (1.00)
Less Dove Spray MP q (1.50)
Less MP q (5.00)
Tax 0.92
OOP $89.98

Earned $15 CATs ($10 WYS $100, $5 Dove)
Earned 11618 Fetch Points = $11.62
Earned $8.50 Ibotta ($7.50 K Arthur, 25c Any, 25c Tortilla chips, 25c Oatmeal, 25c Limes - I don't know where they got limes from....lol)
Earned $4.50 Checkout 51 (3.50 Dove, $1 On the Border)
Earned $2 Mperks for spending $100

Total Earnings = $41.60

The items marked with a F at the end were all FREE after Fetch Rewards. I immediately cashed out for a $10 gc.

I now have enough to cash out at Checkout51. I haven't used it much, but had $18 sitting in that account for months.

I need to submit a ticket to Ibotta. The app accepted my 5 K Arthur Flour, but only credited 2. Now I have to take pics to get the rest.

I wasn't planning on getting 2 D. Donuts. I always mix Decaf and Regular, so I don't end up bouncing off the wall from all the caffeine...lol. Since it was B1G50% off, I figured I might as well cash in.

I was gonna redeem another $2 on Swagbucks (On the Border & Dove), but after submitting to Checkout51, I noticed that the Swagbucks ones were gone. Looks like Swagbucks & CK51 are now working together too. Ugh. And, I forgot to scan 2 flour peelies at Meijer too. Oh well, it was only 50c.

Not everything is pictured. I was too tired after shopping, to put everything on display and then pack it all away too.

Crazy Black Friday Drugstore Shopping

Hi everyone

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This is the only year (in all my years of couponing) that things have gone to pot at the drugstores. Not just at one store, but all 3 stores. Crazy!

First stop was CVS. I was shocked to see that I was the only customer in store. This was at 9am. I know that there are very few customers at the drugstores on Thanksgiving, but I didn't expect to see only the cashiers. What I love about CVS is that they display all the free (after rewards) items in the front of the store, so it's easy to find. You can be in and out of the store in 5 minutes (which is what I did). They are always well stocked on sale items too, so shopping is a breeze.  I did 2 transactions so I could roll my EBs.

Trans 1

3 x Wet 'n Wild makeup sets $14.97
Less EBs (14.97) I had $15 EBs, but the rest can't be applied to tax
Tax : 0.90
OOP : $0.90

Earned $12 EBs (Buy 1 set, earn $4 limit 3)

Trans 2

1 x Orbit gum $0.99
1 x Wipes 0.99
1 x Liners 0.99
1 x Disposable razors 1.99
1 x Pain tablets 4.49
1 x Schick razors 6.99
1 x Lint roller mini 2.49
Less Schick DQ (4.00)
Less EBs from Trans 1 (12.00)
Tax 1.08
OOP $4.01

Earned $11.45 EBs ($2 Schick and everything else was free after EBs). Also earned $3 Beauty EB.

When I unloaded my bags at home, I noticed a small lint roller in the bag. Oh man, the cashier packed an extra item into my bag. Then when I checked my receipt, I saw that I was charged $2.49 + tax for this lint roller that I never purchased. I don't even know how the cashier ended up adding this to my transaction. I'm thinking its probably one of those many items they have displayed on the register counters. This silly thing is getting returned on my next trip. I'm not gonna throw away money on something I don't need.

You'll notice that I have a bonus pack razors. I always look for bonus packs/sizes (any items) when the sale price is the same. Why not get more for the exact same price? :)

Then on to RA.

2 x $50 GCs  $100.00
2 x Planters nuts 11.98
2 x Russell Stover candy bags $9.98
2 x Russell Stover candy singles 1.00
2 x candy singles 1.00
2 x Dunkin Donuts coffee 9.98
2 x Kleenex 2.00
2 x Scunci elastics 6.00
1 x Oreo 1.03
Less 6/30 mailer q (6.00)
Less DD mailer q (2.00)
Less 2 DD L2C  (4.00)
Less BC points (18.00)
Tax 0.41
OOP $112.39

Earned $31 BC

Earned $1.25 Ibotta ($1 Kleenex, 25c any item). This was a nice surprise, because I wasn't even aware of the Kleenex q that I clipped before.

The cashier had trouble scanning the $10 WYS $40 in ad q. He tried several times. Transaction went well, so I grabbed my items and scanned my receipt as I walked to the door. Hold it! I only earned $31 BC. This is so not right, because the 2 gcs alone earned me $20 BC, then there's the $10/40. So that's already $30. What about the rest of my items? So I checked and noticed that I didn't earn the 10/40 and $10 for the Home Depot gc. Grrrr. So now the cashier and manager are there trying to figure out how to fix this. I'm not going into detail, but let me just say that it took them half an hour (yes, I was pissed by then, because I haven't even had coffee yet) to finally give me $10 cash for the Home Depot gc. So I told them I'd contact CS about the rest. Which I did, after I had coffee...lol

When I checked blogs on Friday, I saw that the same thing happened to other RA customers. For some strange reason, the $50 HD gc didn't produce any BC. Only the ones where you ask the to load a specific amount onto, worked. Also, in certain areas customers received the $10/40 for purchasing any items in the ad. In other areas, you had to purchase the items in the green section only to earn the reward. I don't know what the heck is going on at RA, but I'm not liking it. RA has always been really good. I had this grand plan to do a different transaction on Friday to earn another $10/40. That got scrapped after Thursday's shopping. I just didn't want to risk not getting bonus points again.

The Planters is tracking on Fetch rewards and I also earned 750 points just for buying one package.

I wish that I'd bought more of the Russell Stover bags as gifts. They are huge and will make nice gifts. I'm hoping that they'll have another sale on those before Christmas.

On Friday I received another q mailer from RA. It had a $4 Dunkin Donuts Q and $1 Kleenex. So off to RA I went on Saturday, cause I only drink DD coffee.

1 x DD coffee $4.99
2 x Blue Diamond nuts 5.00
2 x Kleenex 2.00
Tax 0.12
Less DD q (4.00)
Less Blue Diamond L2C (2.00)
Less Kleenex q (1.00)
OOP $5.11

Earned $2 BC
Earned $2.25 Ibotta ($1 Kleenex, $1 B Diamond, 25c any item)
Total cost $0.86

Now the mailer qs didn't scan. Said it was invalid. So the cashier got the shift manager/supervisor. I asked him if the qs had a start date, because my other mailer qs expired on 11/30 and I didn't want to use the new qs if it's not valid yet. He said he didn't know and pushed the qs through.

Does anyone know if the mailer qs start at the beginning of the month? Nothing is printed on the q (only an end date) and I want to be sure for future trips. TIA

Then he told me my total and I told him that I selected to use points at the beginning of the transaction, but nothing was happening. I eventually told him that I'd pay cash.

Then we stopped at WAGS on the way home. WAGS had the worst BF ad. Nothing you'd want to make a trip for, but there were other items in the weekly ad that I wanted. Plus I needed to spend down some points, because I have accumulated way too much

Trans 1

1 x Curling iron $9.99
2 x Crest t/p $5.98
2 x Herbal Essences $11.98
Less HE DQ (5.00)
Less Crest DQ (2.00)
Less BR points (20.00)
Tax 1.65
OOP $2.63

Earned $15 RR ($5 Conair, $5 Crest, $5 HE)

Except.... the CAT machine was out of ink, so you could hardly read my RRs. So the shift manager added $15 BR points to my account. Then told me to do my 2nd transaction at his register. As he's scanning my items, I noticed that his CAT machine was off and pointed it out. After checking cables and under the counter, he still couldn't get it turned on. So he eventually figured out that he could switch CAT ink cartridges with the first register I went to. So back to that register I went.

Trans 2

1 x Conair Dryer $9.99
1 x Crest t/p 2.99
1 x Oral b t/b 2.99
2 x H&S shampoo 11.98
Less Oral b DQ (2.00)
Less H&S DQ (5.00)
Less BR points (20.00)
Tax 1.68
OOP $2.63

Then my RRs printed...... in the same way it did before. Nooooooo! So he added another $10 points to my account. Wait, what? He showed me the RRs and they all said P&G so I knew that my RR for the hairdryer didn't print. Ugh. They have signs up that says buy this item, earn $5 RR. By this time I was too tired to try and figure it out or argue about it, so I left. I'll contact CS about that..... maybe....lol. I'm just worn out from all this nonsense.

Then on our way to dinner last night I asked DH to stop at a different WAGS to look for the Planters so I could finish the deal on Fetch

1 x Planters Nuts  $5.99
Less DQ (2.00)
Less BR points (3.00)
OOP $0.99

Yep, the register won't allow you to use $4, even though it's just a penny short.
Earned 2500 Fetch points for completing Planters, so I earned over $3 in points when you add in the RA deal too.

Shopping was very frustrating, but all in all I think I did okay.

I got all the above (excluding gcs) for $22.16 OOP (after coupons and Ibotta/Fetch rewards), but I'll be returning the lint roller, so its $19.53 OOP. I'll take that, because I usually pay $6-7 (depending on store) for one bag of coffee.

I'm pooped. I really need a break from shopping. The drugstore deals don't look good this week, so I might give the drugstores a miss. Thankfully my Christmas shopping is almost done.

Did anyone else score good items at the drugstores?

This week's WAGS tripping

Hi everyone

I really needed to do some WAGS shopping this week, as I had RRs that were expiring. In fact, I let a $10 RR expire on Monday, because we had snow all day that closed all schools on Tuesday. By the time I realised that I needed to check the expiration dates on my RRs, we already had a large amount of snow. No way was I gonna go out in that weather. I went to WAGS on 2 different days this week, so here's what I got.

I apologise for not including everything in the pics. I'm under the weather (my own fault for not eating what I'm supposed to) and just don't have the energy to haul everything out for pics.

Trans 1

3 x Tresemme $14.97

3 x Pantene $12.00

3 x Crest t/p $8.97

1 x 4lb Dominos sugar $2.19

2 x $25 Kohls gc $50.00

1 x $10 WAGs gc $10.00

Less 2/15 DQ (2.00)

Less Tresemme DQ (5.00)

Less Pantene DQ (5.00)

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less RRs (20.00)

Less Free WAGs gc (10.00)

Tax 2.04

OOP $53.17

Earned $10 BR points ($5 Tresemme, $2 Pantene (personal bonus offer), $3.xx Birthday bonus points) and $7 RRs ($4 Crest, $3 Pantene)

I thought I had the 50c Dominos q clipped, but when I checked my account I saw that I had forgotten to clip it.

The gc deal is buy 2 Select gcs, earn $10 WAGs gc. I don't need the Kohls gcs, cause I've saved up enough throughout the year to cover BF shopping (some already done and will do the rest when the sale goes live again). However, Kohls is my go to store and who can pass up free money?...lol

Trans 2

3 x Tresemme $14.97

2 x Colgate t/p $5.98

3 x Crest t/p $8.97

1 x 4lb Dominos sugar $2.19

2 x $25 Kohls gc $50.00

1 x $10 WAGs gc $10.00

Less Tresemme q (5.00)

Less Tresemme q (2.50)

Less Crest DQS (5.00)

Less Dominos DQ (0.50)

Less RRs (6.00)

Less Free WAGs gc (10.00)

Tax 1.62

OOP $64.73  Paid with the $10 WAGS gc and the rest in cash.

Earned $16.xx BR points ($5 Tresemme, $4 Colgate, $5 Beauty, $2.xx Birthday bonus) and $4 RR (Crest)

And this is where the crap started. Y'all know that a smooth WAGS trip was too good to be true...lol

I knew that I was supposed to earn way more points than that, because I had a 9000 BR points WYS $30 (before qs). Now you can't figure out what went wrong, because WAGS doesn't give you a detailed account of all points earned on your receipt. So when I got home, I checked my account to see what credited. That's when I saw that the 9000 bonus wasn't added. 

Once I checked my receipt, I saw that the register shows one of my RRs as a $3 off $3 purchase q. So it's reading it as a store q (not manufacturer q that it actually is). So it's showing that I spent less than $30...grrrr. Darn WAGS. You earn bonus points on your total AFTER store qs and discounts, but before Manufacturer's qs. I know. WAGs rewards is really complicated. Anyhoo, a quick Live Chat got my points added. 

My totals are as follows (excluding gcs deal)

Total before rewards/points used (after qs) $43.90

Less rewards used (RRs, bonus points, gc) (36.00)

OOP $7.90

Rewards earned : $46.00

Total cost to me ($2.10)

So this entire trip (incl sales tax) was a $2.10 MM. 

Retail value : $82.61 (excl tax)

Plus I earned an extra $20 for the Kohls gc deal.

I've seen the WAGS BF ad preview and it's terrible. I hope that they have good sales the next few weeks, because I have $110 BR points and $12 RRs to use. I'm not including the WAGS gcs ($20 one of which was for a PG rebate deal), because they don't expire. I guess I'll just do more Christmas shopping with my points.

Meijer fun!

As mentioned in my previous post, Meijer sent me a $10/50 for any of their stores in my neighboring town. No problemo. There's lots of Meijer stores around here, so it wasn't like I was taking a long drive. I also had a $10 CAT from a P&G deal I did last week. They had some decent CAT deals and also a 3 day BOGOF sale on select items. So yesterday DS & I hit up Meijer to take advantage of the sale, before it ended last night.


3 x Dove deodorant $15.27
2 x Garnier hair color $16.18
2 x Johnsonville andouille sausage BOGOF $3.89
4 x Johnsonville breakfast sausage BOGOF $7.58
15 x Kleenex $18.75
1 x Palmolive dish soap $1.99
1 x King Arthur bread flour $2.99
24 pk Coke $6.99
Bottle deposit $2.40
Less 5/20 WYS $20 Kleenex/Palmolive (5.00)
Less 10/50 (10.00)
Less CAT (10.00)
Less Kleenex DQ (3.75)
Less Palmolive DQ (0.50)
Less Garnier BOGOF DQ (8.09)
Sales Tax $2.00
OOP $40.70

Earned $10 CATS ($5 Garnier, $5 Dove)
Earned $3 WYS $18 Kleenex from Savingstar
Earned $3.75 Dove from Checkout51
Earned 300 Fetch points

Total Spent $40.70
Total Earned $16.75
Difference: $23.95

The big surprise was the Kleenex DQ. I had a 25c off each Q, but Meijer normally has a limit of 4. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that the q deducted off every purchase.

I now have a balance of $18 on Checkout51, which I rarely use. Had I known this, I would've done a separate Dove deal and submitted 2 more to CK51, so I can cash out ($20 minimum)

I like to purchase the 144ct Kleenex boxes (why buy less at the same price), but I had to grab what was available at the store (same with the breakfast sausage). I didn't clear the shelves though, but I was surprised to still find Kleenex since it's on sale & everyone and their mother shops on Saturdays (I normally avoid grocery shopping on Saturdays for this reason).

Not everything is pictured. I was just not in the mood to haul everything to the dining room. We are now well stocked on flu supplies. We now have over 30 boxes of Kleenex, so I feel good. I can't live without this stuff.

I now have $10 CATS that's good for 2 weeks. We don't need anything else at Meijer this week (unless there's a good 2 day sale ad by Friday), so I'll wait to see what's good next week.

Lately, I've only been cherry picking at Meijer, but when they have a good sale, I cash in. That was a fun trip. I found everything on my list, no qs beeped, no ridiculously long lines. Just slick as snot.

Some drugstore shopping

Hi everyone

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Where has the time gone? I've been super busy. Did quite a bit of shopping last week, but I need to make time to take pics and write a post.

I had a $10 RR expiring tomorrow, so I decided to hit the drugstores today.

Walgreens
Trans 1

1 Gillette Razor $12.99
1 Gillette Razor 9.99
2 Crest t/p 7.98
1 Halloween candy 0.20
Less Gillette DQ (10.00)
Less 2 x $10 RR (20.00)
Tax 1.86
OOP $3.02

Earned $20 BR points ($10 Gillette, $5 WYS $25, the rest was 10x points this week & I also earn 10X everyday points for the entire month, cause it's my birthday) +  900 everyday points. Earned $5 RR Crest

I was wondering why my Crest DQ didn't deduct, then realised that the Q value ($3) is higher than the subtotal ($1.16). Duh...lol. Had I known this, I would've added a bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee that I wanted. I especially added the candy as a filler so that all my qs would deduct. Oh well, I can just do another Crest deal (Buy 2, earn $5 RR)

Trans 2

1 x Robitussin $5.99
1 x Advil Sinus congestion $5.99
1 x Kit Kat Halloween clearance 1.49
2 x Colgate optic t/p 7.98
2 x Maybelline eyeshadow 7.98
Less Robitussin DQ (3.00)
Less Colgate DQ (1.00)
Less Maybelline q (1.00)
Less BR points (20.00)
Tax 1.68
OOP $6.11

Earned 900 BR points (almost $1...lol). $13 RR ($6 Maybelline, $4 Colgate, $3 Cold/flu)

Submitted the Advil to Savingstar for a $3 credit. The Robitussin Adult should have worked too, but Savingstar says it doesn't qualify (insert eyeroll)

I immediately knew that something was wrong when I saw the total, because I had a paper cold/flu q and a DQ. Only one deducted and I assumed it was the paper one. When I got home after running errands and studied my receipt, I saw that the cashier never scanned my $3 paper q. Grrrr I was not happy. I will definitely let her know about it next time I'm there.

I added the candy so I could redeem $20 in points. We don't eat much candy, but DS loves Kit Kat.

Total Spent (BR points, RRs, cash ) $49.13
Total earned (points, rebates, RRs) $42 (should've been $48, but that darn Robitussin totally messed up my earnings. That's a $6 difference). Also, you earn lots of every day points at WAGs, so I earned a total of $21.xx BR points

Total cost : $7.13

The razors and Crest has given me enough to submit for the $15 PG rebate (I got the rest of the items at Meijer last week).

I also received a $9 WYS $30 CAT, so I will roll the rest of my $10 Revlon RRs next week to earn bonus points.


CVS

3 x St Ives b/w $15.57
2 x Covergirl brow pencils 9.98
Less St Ives q (1.00)
Less Covergirl CRT (3.00)
Less EBs (15.00)
Tax 1.35
OOP $7.90

Earned $15 EBs ($10 St Ives, $5 Covergirl)

I didn't get any newspapers on Sunday. Dollar Tree was out and CVS papers didn't have any q inserts, so I didn't have much qs to use for this transaction. I really wanted the St Ives, because it's my favorite brand. I have sensitive skin and the Oatmeal b/w is perfect for me so I didn't mind paying a little extra for it. The entire purchase counts towards a Beauty reward

Then I stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up juice for DH and look for the snowman mugs that I saw posted on a blog. I didn't find any snowman mugs, but I spotted this beautiful one. My Corelle mugs have been chipping at the tops. I don't know why, but I currently have 2 chipped mugs. I think this is about 3 or 4 mugs (of the 12 I bought) that have chipped. So I decided that if I find anything good at the Dollar Store, I would buy those instead since they are usually a better quality. I fell in love with this mug, because it matches my Corelle dishes perfectly (the color is much better in person). I bought 6 mugs, but I think I'll get 6 more to save a spares, next time. Even DH likes the mugs. 

I also did some Kohls shopping on the 1st. Kohls now starts their BF deals on November 1st and I was prepared :)

3 Pairs athletic shoes

1 Pair slippers (I love slipper boots, cause it keeps my ankles warm too)

6 Bath towels

$5.40 OOP and the rest with earned gcs. 

Earned $3.30 through Ebates/Rakuten and $30 Kohls cash. So I'm one happy mama :)

That's my shopping for today. I have a $10/50 from Meijer in the neighboring town. I'm guessing it's because of all the new Kroger stores that are popping up. I will make a list and drive 3 miles to that location. There's a Kleenex deal at Meijer this week and also a Savingstar offer. 

I also received my $10 WAGS rebate earlier this week (PG deal). I have to see if there's still time to submit another rebate.

I hope everyone have scored good deals too.

A quick WAGS trip

I decided to make a quick WAGS run today, because I had a 10% off $35 DQ. 

Trans 1

1 x Purex detergent $1.99
2 x Revlon foundation B1G50% off 2nd $20.73
4 x Softsoap (deluxe size) B1G50% off 2nd $8.96
1 x Loreal cleanser $5.59
2 x Revlon nail clippers $7.08

Less 10% DQ (4.44)
Less Purex DQ (1.00)
Less Revlon q (5.00)
Less Revlon DQ (5.00)
Less Loreal DQ (5.00)
Less 2 Softsoap qs (1.00)
Less BR Points (20.00)
Tax 2.39
OOP $5.30

Earned $12 BR points ($4 Softsoap, $3 Revlon clippers, $5 Beauty)

Had my transactions nicely planned out, until I got to WAGS and discovered they're out of the regular Softsoap hand soap which is $1.99 each, compared to the $2.99 I paid. So I had to rework my scenario. Thankfully I had 2 Softsoap qs with me, that I was gonna use at Dollar Tree afterwards (we need more Softsoap like I need a hole in the head. I'm gonna google hand soap to see what else it can be used for). I added the clippers, because they earned BR points and I wanted to be able to use $20 BR points. The kicker is that I have clippers qs at home.

Can y'all believe that I'm on my last face wash tube?! I normally use the Loreal Revitalift, but the 2 they had left in store were covered in dust & dirt. Yuck! I was so happy to see a $5 Loreal skincare q, which gave me super cheap face wash

Trans 2

2 x Dixie Plates $4.58
2 x Bic Razors B1G50% off 2nd $10.18
1 x Purex detergent $1.99
Less Bic DQ (3.00)
Less Bic q (3.00)
Less RR from last week's Revlon deal (8.00)
Tax 1.01
OOP $3.76

Earned $3 BR points (Bic)

Total OOP today : $9.06
Total rewards spent $28.00
Total rewards earned $15.00
Total savings : $61.39

The Dixie plates were supposed to be part of transaction one. My plan was to just buy the razors in this transaction (you can't use points when you have to spend X amount to earn reward), but I didn't want to pay $4 + tax OOP. So I added more items so I could use the $8 RR. Then I needed a filler item and thought that an 87c candy bar would do no good. Might as well grab something we can use, so I got the Purex. Well I now see that my Dixie DQ didn't deduct. It was only $1, but that would've lowered my OOP, right...lol

So far only the Garnier shampoo deal looks good at CVS this week. I haven't checked the RA ad yet.

Let me just say I was so happy to see that RMN coupon inserts were back in our papers on Sunday. We were away for the weekend, so when we got home Sunday night, I made a quick trip to Meijer for newspapers. I really wanted those BOGOF Revlon qs. So I open the first paper to make sure there are coupons inside & notice 2 inserts. What?! I was really shocked to see the RMN, so I grabbed 3 papers.Yes, I paid $9 for it, but it was worth every penny. I've already saved $9 just by using the $5 Revlon, $3 Bic & 50c Softsoap qs. And that was just from one insert.

I can't remember the last time we got RMN in the Sunday papers (probably 2 years ago). I hope this will continue. I also received a RMN insert in the mail today, so happy dance.

I didn't do the Revlon lip/eye deal at WAGS this week. It's B1G50% off 2nd, earn $5 RR. I know that they're sold out of the lower priced items, because they had a great Revlon sale last week. I also know that the register will deduct the lowest price item as free. In 2 weeks time, they'll have a $10 RR WYB 2 Revlon items, so I'm saving my qs until then. I want to cash in on the full q value and earn a bigger RR :)

Hope everyone has a good shopping week.

I paid $2.05 for 16 boxes of cereal at RA

Hi everyone

I've hardly been to the drugstores this week. I just never got a chance. However, I saw a brag about Kellogg's cereal on another site and just had to go cash in on that deal. Printed my qs and stopped at RA while running errands today.

This week select Kellogg's cereals are on sale for 2/$5. It's part of the Spend $40 get $20 BC deal and there's also a monthly deal 'Spend $12 get $3' on select flavors. Add the Ibotta rebates to that and you have an awesome deal. Unfortunately, this store didn't have all the flavors that I wanted, so I just grabbed what I could. I still needed to head to Sams after RA and didn't want to stop at multiple RA locations to search for what I wanted.

6 x Kelloggs Special K Red Berries $15.00
4 x Special K Vanilla & Almond 10.00
3 x Frosted Mini Wheats 7.50
2 x Frosted Mini Wheats Strawberry 5.00
1 x Raisin Bran Crunch 2.50
Less 4/20 CAT (4.00)
Less 2 x $2/4 IP qs (4.00)
Less 3 x 50c peelies (1.50) only a few boxes had the peelies
Less BC (7.00)
OOP $26.00

Earned $23 BC ($20 WYS $40, $3 Monthly)

Earned $7.95 Ibotta ($3.25 Special K, $3 Mini Wheats, $0.60 Raisin Bran, $1 Bonus, $0.10 any item

Total Earned = $30.95
Total Spend = $33.00

Here's the kicker. As I was typing this post, I wondered how my OOP had a round number, when I used 3 x 50c qs. So I counted the items and saw that the cashier charged me for 17 boxes!!  I only bought 16. Grrrr. So this should've been a small MM trip for me. There's no way I can prove that I only bought 16 boxes and I'm not gonna waste any time driving to RA for $2.50. I'm already way too busy as it is. I also had a $2/4 L2C that didn't deduct.

All in all, it was a good sale. I wish that I had checked the deals earlier this week. I could've done this deal twice (once Ibotta reset) and donated half the cereal.

We really don't care for such sugary cereal (24g Yikes), but I'm gonna mix it with the plain Walmart brand Bran Flakes, since that doesn't contain any sugar.

I need to head to WAGS again tomorrow, cause they have a great deal on Revlon & Almay B1G50% off 2nd. Buy 2, earn $8 RR. I did stop at WAGS on Sunday and bought 2 Lip Balms (sorry no pic)

2 x Revlon lip balms $8.49
Less RR (6.00)
Less BR (2.00)
Tax 0.50
OOP $0.99, earned $8 RR

I like converting my points to RRs, cause they're much easier to use.

I think I should do my drugstore shopping on Mondays, so I don't miss out on the good deals in future.

Today's Drugstore shopping and RA heads up

Well, today didn't exactly go as planned. I really didn't have much of a plan, but wanted to use some qs that were expiring.

First stop, WAGS.

3 x 50ct Sandwich bags B1G2F = $2.79
3 x Revlon Kiss balm B2G1F = $10.98
3 x Colgate t/p 8.97
Crest t/p 2.99
Oral b t/b 2.99
Less 2/15 DQ (2.00)
Less Revlon CAT (10.00)
Less Oral b DQ (1.00)
Less BR points (10.00)
Tax 1.60
OOP $7.32

Earned $6 RRs ($4 Crest/Oral B, $2 Colgate)

When I got home, I saw that my $5 Colgate q never deducted. So I checked the Q and it's not valid on the t/p I purchased. Ugh. The crap shoot is that I can never get a signal on my phone at any WAGS store. I usually scan the items or check the qs to see which items qualify. Ugh, I'm so mad. I think I'll just return the Colgate next time I go to WAGS. I don't wanna spend $7 on something we don't need.

I also purchased a Loreal eyeshadow. I figured that was the Q that didn't deduct, but when I got home I saw that the cashier never rang it up and there was nothing in the bag either. Oh well, it's not a need. I just bought it, because I had a $4 Q that was expiring today.

We were completely out of sandwich bags, so I was happy that these were on sale. I like to fill them with dried fruit for when I'm on the go, so I don't have to stop and buy junk food. This way I'm eating better and saving money. Win-win! :)

Rite Aid

3 x Elf makeup brush (10% discount) $2.70
2 x Bulldog shave gel $11.23
2 x Bulldog face scrub 11.23
6 Chobani yogurt 6.00
Less 6/30 mailer q (6.00)
Less BC points (9.73)
Tax 1.22
OOP $16.65

Earned $7 BC ($5 Bulldog, $2 Chobani) and should get $12 Bulldog + $1.25 Chobani from Ibotta.
Total earned back = $20.25

WTH, no Elf rewards. The sign didn't exclude the brushes (at least I don't think it did...lol) and it was Buy 3 get $3 BC. I'll have to contact CS. I did receive a $4/20 CAT though.

The Bulldog is a great deal! If you still have your $5 L2C Card, the 4 tubes will only cost $0.47 after all discounts. My store had exactly 6 Chobani, so I was very happy to find these. Yogurt is a staple in our house and I needed it to get my total to $30. And darn, I forgot to clip my Chobani q.

I'm headed to CVS later this week. I haven't been there in over a month and my EBs have expired - again. Yikes! I've never been this bad about rewards, but I'm just focused on work right now.

Hope everyone has a good shopping week!

WAGS trip 9/3/19

Hi everyone

I apologise for my lack of posts. We returned from a week long vacation on Labor Day and then I was playing catch up with just about everything else. I turned off all electronics and just enjoyed some sun, sea & alcohol. It felt great to just unwind and not have a care in the world.  With 4th Quarter almost here, I'm working my heinie (behind) off. I'm now working 7 days a week, so blogging will have to take a back seat until the end of the year. I'll try to post whenever I can though. People are now in spending mode and I'm more than happy to rid them of their $$$....lol. I'm also working on my stockpile, but that's a post for another day.

I only hit WAGS the first week we got back, because I just didn't have the time or energy to look at ads for the other stores or go shopping.

Trans 1

2 x Crest t/p $7.98
1 x Tide 4.99
1 x Tide pods 4.99
1 x Charmin t/p 4.99
2 x Colgate t/p 8.00
1 x Toffifay 1.39
Less Crest q (2.00)
Less Crest DQ (2.00)
Less Tide DQ (2.00)
Less Tide pods DQ (2.00)
Less Charmin DQ (1.0)
Less Colgate DQ (4.00)
Less BR points (20.00)
Tax 1.86
OOP $1.25

Earned $4 BR (Colgate) & $0.50 Ibotta (Toffifay)

Now this would've been a perfect transaction, except NO RRs printed. CAT machine was on and I even asked the cashier if it was working and she said yes. So she called over a manager and explained the situation. I then showed the manager RR deals in the ad. Then she added $3 BR to my account then another $1 for the Crest deal. Now Ms Manager, y'all still owe me $6 for the Tide deal. Sigh. So she proceeded to add more small amounts to my account. This was another 10 minutes wasted at WAGS. Now, I don't blame the employees. Corporate should make sure that everything works smoothly. So I got back a total of $10 BR points. As she was adding my credits at the register, the CAT machine spit out a Q for Toffifay. Go figure.

To recap

OOP $1.25
BR spent $20.00
BR earned $14.00
Ibotta earned $0.50

So I spent down a total of $6 BR points

Trans 2

I had a RR that was expiring, so just grabbed some Ibotta items. Sorry no pic

2 x Chobani yogurt $2.00
Godiva masterpieces 2.99
Less RR (4.00)
OOP $0.99

Earned $1.50 Ibotta (50c Chobani, $1 Godiva)

The next day I went to a different WAGS and everything worked slick as snot. Weird!

Tide $4.99
Tide pods 4.99
Charmin t/p 4.99
Less Tide q (2.00)
Less Tide pods q (2.00)
Less Charmin q (1.00)
Less BR points (10.00)
Tax 0.90
OOP $0.87

Earned back $6 RR

Trans 2

2 x Colgate t/p $8.00
Less Colgate IP q (4.00)
Less BR points (4.00)
Tax 0.48
OOP $0.48

Earned $4 BR points

I have to see if I can submit my receipts for another $10 WAGS rebate (Tide/Charmin). I've already submitted a different receipt before, but I know there wasn't any limit stated on the rebate form. If it works, then all these items will be a small MM.

BR Points + RR Spent $38.00
Plus Total OOP $3.59
BR + RR Points earned ($30.00)
Ibotta earnings ($2.00)
Possible MIR ($10.00)
MM $0.41


I did a few more WAGS deal afterwards, but that will have to wait until another day.

Misconception about couponers and frugalists

Hi everyone

I'm sure that some of you have been judged by society for being a couponer and/or frugalist. To me, it seems that most people look down on those who try to save a dollar or few. I just don't understand why some people act like this. Maybe it's because I was born and raised in a different country with a totally different lifestyle. In South Africa most people live simple lifestyles and not everyone tries to keep up with the Joneses (and NO we are not poor people. I know that tv gives people the misinformation about 3rd world countries). People are just much more content with what they have.

So let's start with couponing

Couponers are poor or struggling financially

In most cases this is not true. The majority of couponers just know that you don't have to pay full price for almost anything. Companies issue coupons to get you to try their products (especially new products). So why pay full price, when you can save quite a bit of money on your grocery bill. Money that can be used for something else.


Couponers are hoarders

I can't speak for everyone but in most cases this is not true. Many who have big stockpiles, have it for a reason. I for one, do not like to run out of anything or have to run to the store for just one item. Many have big families that they have to plan for, special occasions that they're stocking up for or just plain prepared for an emergency (job layoff, recession, natural disaster etc). So, please don't judge people with large stockpiles. They have it for a good reason.

Also, many couponers are extremely generous. Look at Sluggy who holds giveaways on a regular basis. It's not something she has to do. She could easily just keep those items for herself or sell it and make extra money for her family. Instead, she pays postage OOP (I know it's not cheap) to make someone else feel special. My hat's off to Sluggy

Many people must wonder why I keep buying more and more of a certain item or items that my family doesn't need. Those close to me know that I'm a big giver. I never talk about my giving. I come from a well respected church family (not going to go into detail) and my parents have always drilled it into us to give, give, give and to never ever talk about our giving, because it's a personal matter between us and God. We don't give to get a pat on the back. Also, I'm extremely private so I don't share many things. It's just the way I was raised).

I'm not a shelf clearer (that TLC show definitely gave most people the wrong impression about couponers. I hate that damn show). If there's a good sale somewhere, I buy enough to last us a long time (because it save us money long term).

You probably don't have much money if you don't drive a fancy or latest model car

We live in the Motor City. My DH is a mechanic. We both know that buying a brand new car is pure foolishness, since that car starts depreciating the minute you drive it off the lot. Why waste good money on something that continues to depreciate over time. We're better off investing that extra cash, than buying a new car. Most people have flashy, luxury vehicles to show off with. In many cases, they have to take out a loan to pay for those fancy cars.

Which brings me to the other foolish car point. A leased car. I have never, ever heard of leased vehicles until I moved to the US. This is even worse that buying a new vehicle. You are throwing away money on something that you won't even own at the end of the day.

What is wrong with buying a nice little used vehicle? That's what we do. We've never leased a vehicle. I've had my car for 9 years now and we didn't even pay much for it. It's a 2005 model and still going strong. Now, I do have the added benefit of having my own personal mechanic (DH). So when we purchase a used vehicle, he can easily tell if it's worth the money or not. My car hasn't had much problems over the years. I recently had an alternator problem, that was fixed in no time.

Can we afford a new vehicle? Absolutely. We are financially independent. We are not trying to impress anyone with what we have. We love our used vehicles. They are in great condition inside & out. Would I like a new car? Yes. But I also know it would be dumb to get rid of a perfectly good vehicle just because I want something else. It's not a need, so I can wait.

Look at my big fancy house. You probably can't afford it.

Why would anyone want to buy more house than they can afford? If you can't afford to pay cash for that house or have a huge down payment, then you're gonna end up with a hefty mortgage. Then there's property taxes. Not to mention high heating/cooling costs. Why pay so much more, when a simple, smaller house will do. Look at Europeans. They live in small, simple homes. We have the same concept in SA. People are happy with having simpler, smaller things. There's less to maintain and you definitely don't have to work until you fall over, to pay for it all.

You must be poor if you don't wear fancy duds

Let me start off by saying that I'm a bit of a fashionista. No shame in my game. Again, it's how I was raised. DH says he feels like a farmer whenever he's in SA, because everyone's always well dressed. It's a way of life, so I make no excuses.

However, he prefers to dress simply here. I too, have some items (not fancy) that are old and worn, but I still love them, so I wear them. I have 2 pairs of jeans that are so worn, they're gonna get holes soon (that I love to wear). So people judge you based on your appearance. There's nothing wrong with simple styles, if that's your choice. Nobody works for your money or pays for your clothes. So wear what makes you feel good.

I remember when I went for my immigration interview in SA years ago. DH had flown to SA to attend it with me. While at the consulate, a man in a very nice suit and big case/briefcases (he was either a lawyer or CPA. I know this because I worked for a prestigious accounting firm back then and knew that there's only 2 kinds of people who used those cases) started talking to DH. He took a look at the Rolex (not fake) on DH's arm and asked DH what he did for a living (my Farm boy wasn't dressed fancily enough by SA standards...lol). You should have seen the look on his face when DH told him that he's a mechanic. It was priceless....lol. So yeah, you should never judge a book by it's cover.

Now, I'm not saying everyone should just be cheapskates and hoard all their money. Absolutely not. If you have they money and can afford a bigger house, a brand new fancy car etc, then go for it.

We choose to live below our means. There are certain things that we splurge on. We can afford to because we are frugal.

We have all our needs met and more (I seldom buy store brand) thanks to couponing. I also had bad experiences (food poisoning) from Meijer store brands, so I absolutely avoid their stuff. We save thousands per year and live very well, all because I take the time to plan and clip coupons. Y'all know I don't just coupon for groceries. I can't see myself NOT using coupons. It would feel like throwing away money, if I had to pay full price for anything. DH does the same with big ticket items. We search for the best deals on things we need.


To quote Nene Leakes of RHOA "I don't keep up with the Joneses. I AM the Joneses" (I'm not saying we are the Joneses. Just sharing some food for thought). So instead of trying to impress others with what you have and living way above your means, how about being the Joneses instead. It will surely give you peace of mind in the event that any kind of disaster should strike.

or as Dave Ramsey says "Live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.

Don't worry about others judging you for being frugal. Just know that most of those people can't even afford half the things that they 'own'.

How much detergent is too much?

Here we go again. Another day, another hassle free (snark) WAGS trip. I had a bunch of $7 RRs that I wanted to get rid of, so I decided to pick up a few things. Made my list, clipped my qs and off to the store I went.

Got everything on my shopping list and headed to the register to do 2 transactions.

Trans 1

2 x Swiffer wet cloths $9.98
1 x Gain detergent 4.99
1 x Cascade gel 4.99
1 x Tide detergent 4.99
1 x Tide pods 4.99
4 x Pringles 5.00

Less
$2/15 DQ (2.00)
Cascade DQ (3.00)
Tide DQ (2.00)
Tide q (2.00)
Gain DQ (2.00)
2 x $7 RR (14.00)
Tax 1.69
OOP $11.63

Earned 6200 points ($3 WYB 3 Swiffer/Cascade) + I had a q for 10x everyday points + $4 RR (Tide) = $10.00

I already knew that this was crap, but until I got a chance to study my receipt I wasn't saying anything. The register also allocated the qs incorrectly, cause I had a $3 Tide Man q (not Cascade), but since the correct amounts deducted I wasn't too worried about it.

And yeah, we need more Cascade like I need a hole in the head, but I wanted to earn that $3 points. In fact, I just opened a new bottle from my stockpile yesterday - exactly 6 months after opening previous bottle. So I only use 2 bottles for year and I still have more than 10 bottles stockpiled.

Trans 2

2 x Papermate pencils $0.98
1 x Gillette razor 9.99
1 x Gillette cartridges 11.99
2 x Colgate t/p 5.98

Less
Colgate DQ (4.00)
Less 2 x $7 RR (14.00)
Tax 1.74
OOP $12.68

Earned $12 (12800 points, almost $13) $10 Gillette + 10X everyday points

Before paying, I showed the cashier my $10 Gillette DQ on my phone. I now know that the manager can override the DQs. They hemmed and hawed over the DQ, because neither of us could see the participating products on our phones. I eventually told them that I'll just pay cash and contact CS. This location is always busy and once again, there was a line behind me.

So I get home and studied my receipts and noticed that I was missing several other points. I had a $5 WYS $25 Q (this is why I didn't pay with points, cause you don't earn back points. Same with the Gillette deal), $10 Gillette, $1 Pringles and $2 Swiffer that didn't deduct. I also never received the $2 Colgate RR. That's $20!!

So I go online and do Live Chat (I think I'm now a Pro at Live Chat...lol)  CS was very helpful and said she can only add $25 points per day. I told her, no problem and that they only owe me $20. However, she said she already added $25 and to have a good day. Yes, I'll take the $5 as compensation for my time wasted....lol

So to recap

OOP spent : $24.31
Plus RR spent $28.00
Total Spent : $52.31

Earned $19 + $25 points + $4 RR = $48.00

Will submit for a $10 WAGS rebate (PG products from the first transaction). So total earnings = $58, which makes this a $5.69 Profit!

All that aggravation got me $90.44 worth of products for free, so I'm one happy mama :)

I just wonder why WAGS doesn't fix their system (digital qs), instead of having to compensate thousands of customers every week. Makes no sense to me.

Quick WAGS trip & Moneymaker Kleenex heads up

I really wasn't planning on going shopping today. My plan was to just stay home and work today. Best laid plans....that's all I'm saying. I read that the 85ct Kleenex is ringing up at 25c at WAGS. With the 50c Ibotta rebate (limit 5), this will be a 25c MM per box. So I made a quick shopping list and headed to my store. Of course my store didn't have any. I'm thinking this size is probably being discontinued, cause my store didn't even have shelf space for it. I know that the last time (several years ago) Kleenex changed their packaging, my WAGS was selling the 200ct boxes for 30c each. Of course I bought almost everything...lol. I'd be a fool to have left a lot behind. I think I picked up around 30 boxes then. So anyhoo, if you can find these items at WAGs, then it will be MM tissues for you.

Here's what my trip looked like. I used all digital qs today.

1 x Purex detergent $1.98
1 x Almay lip gloss $6.99
1 x Revlon lip gloss $6.99
1 x Rimmel eyeshadow palette $5.09
2 x Crest mouthwash $5.98
1 x Oral B t/b $2.99
2 x 8ct Dial Soap $7.00
3 x Kleenex 50ct $3.00
Less Purex q (1.00)
Less Revlon q (3.00)
Less Rimmel IVC (WAGS store booklet) (2.00)
Less Rimmel q (3.50)
Less Crest q (4.00)
Less Oral b q (1.00)
Less Dial q (2.00)
Tax 2.40
Less BR points (20.00)
OOP $5.92

Earned $14 RR ($7 Revlon/Almay, $7 Crest/Oral B) and $1 Ibotta Kleenex

Son of a gun! I just knew something was wrong when I saw the total but knew there's nothing the cashier could do. So I grabbed my items and receipt and headed to my car. I saw that my $3 Almay DQ never deducted. I especially bought the Kleenex so I could redeem $20 in points. Otherwise I would only have been able to use $10 points. When I got home, I did live chat and within 2 minutes had $3 points added to my account.

Then the Kleenex didn't all qualify for the Ibotta rebate. What the Sam Hill is happening here? The boxes all look the same, but when I checked receipt, I noticed they have different UPCs? Ugh. So only 2 qualified for the rebate. Not a train smash. We can always use Kleenex

I'm in love with that Rimmel eyeshadow. I can't believe it was a small MM. Even if I use the $3 IPQ (coupons dot com) on it, I'll only pay 9c for it. My nieces are gonna love this!

I was happy to see the Dial soap on sale. I was down to my last bar. I do use bodywash, but at night I prefer milder scents, so I either use bar soap or Aromatherapy b/w (when I need sleep).

How much detergent is too much? All I'm saying is "we don't need any more detergent". I have a really nice stockpile, but at this price I couldn't resist. Also, winter will be here soon. I'm not always in the mood to chase deals when it's cold or we've had bad snowstorms. So having most things stockpiled will come in handy during the cold months.

I'll go back to WAGS to do this deal again, minus the detergent (I don't have any qs). I need to figure out a filler item that will either earn points or have a high value q. I also need to get my butt to CVS.

For those who aren't too familiar with WAGS coupons. You can stack a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon (found in the booklet next to the ads). Don't let a cashier tell you otherwise. All coupons in the booklet are store coupons. 

Busy shopping week

This week the stores sure delivered on good sale items. I've been to Meijer every other day since Sunday. Why, because they have a great sale on Kleenex tissues and wipes and they also offered a 25c Kleenex q that could be used multiple times. Combine that with the Ibotta rebates and I scored super cheap Kleenex. Boy am I glad about this, because I was down to 2 boxes in my stockpile. I usually keep at least 20-30 boxes stockpiled (yes, I'm that nut...lol), because I like to have an open box in various rooms in the house and also a box in each of our vehicles (we don't always drive the same vehicle every time and mama hates running out of anything).  Whenever there's a large Kleenex stockpile, DH would joke and say "honey we need more Kleenex", every time I went grocery shopping...lol.  So here's what my shopping looked like this week.

Trans 1 (Sunday)

5 x Kleenex tissues $6.25
5 x Kleenex wipes 6.25
Less tissues MP q (1.25)
Less wipes MP q (1.25)
Tax 0.60
OOP $10.60

Earned $5.00 Ibotta (50c for each item)

Trans 2 (Tuesday)

5 x Kleenex tissues $6.25
5 x Kleenex wipes 6.25
Tax 0.75
OOP $13.25

Earned $5 Ibotta (50c for each item)

What on earth?! None of my qs deducted from DH's account. This was the day I forgot my phone at home, so I couldn't check his account. I prefer to use Wet Ones, but I bought the Kleenex wipes cause it was on sale and is a nice size to stick in my purse for road trips.

When I got home to check DH's Mperks account, I saw another $5 off anything q (whoo-hoo. I'll take free money any day) and noticed that I didn't clip the Kleenex qs on his account. No problemo. I'll just use it on my next trip.

Trans 3 (Thursday)

5 x Kleenex tissues $6.25
5 x Kleenex wipes 6.25
Less tissues MP q (1.25)
Less wipes MP q (1.25)
Less MP q (5.00)
Tax 0.60
OOP $5.60

Earned $5.20 Ibotta (50c for each item and 20c any item)

So to recap

15 Kleenex tissues
15 Kleenex wipes
Total OOP $29.45
Earned from Ibotta ($15.20)
Total cost for 30 items = $14.25

I'm waiting to see if Ibotta will reset before the sale ends and make another run to Meijer for just tissues.

They also have 8pk Juicy Juice boxes for $1.37 this week. I bought 12 packs, so I can easily get my Vitamin C when I'm out and about.

On to WAGS. I don't have to remind y'all that my WAGS trips weren't without incident...lol. I actually kind of expect things to go wrong at their stores...lol

Trans 1 (Tuesday)

2 A&H detergent $3.98
1 x A&H pods 1.99
1 x Black Forest gummies 1.99
2 x Colgate t/p 5.98
3 x Pantene shampoo 11.97
Less 4/20 DQ (4.00)
Less RR from last week (7.00)
Less AH IPQ (1.00)
Less Colgate IPQ (1.00)
Tax 1.21
OOP $9.09 Paid with a GC

Earned $9 BR points ($5 Pantene, $4 Colgate) and $1.99 RR

Earned $0.50 Ibotta (Gummies) These are a MM this week and they are sooooo good! For health reasons I can't eat much sugar, but these suckers won't let me put the bag down...lol

Now, the first mistake was mine. I thought that the $4/20 q was an earn $4 bonus WYS $20. That's why I paid with my gc. I also made sure my pre-tax total was over $25, cause I had a $5 bonus WYS $25. So I figured I could double dip on the bonuses. Except, the $4/20 lowered my total to under $25, so no bonus for me.

Now, my 2 A&H DQs didn't deduct. Grrr. I was really not in the mood to waste time with CS over $2, so I let it go.

Trans 2 (Thursday)

6 x Pantene shampoo $23.94
2 x Garnier shampoo 7.00
1 x BF gummies 1.99
Less 2 x Pantene qs (10.00)
Less Garnier DQ (4.00)
Tax 1.86
OOP $17 (paid with gc) + 3.79 cash = $20.79

Earned $22 BR points ($10 Pantene, $7 WYS $25 on beauty, $5 Beauty) + $1.99 RR

Once I saw my high total I immediately knew something was wrong. Then I remembered that I didn't give the cashier my $7 RR. Ugh. Once they total your order, they can't add qs (stupid WAGS rules) and there was a long line behind me, so I couldn't ask her to void the transaction and rering cause that would need a manager's approval. I also didn't know if my DQs would deduct again or just not be available. Thankfully I still had some gcs left, so my OOP wasn't too much.

So this was actually a small MM transaction. The $7 RR is good for another week, so I can use it next week.

I need to contact CS, because I didn't earn $5 Bonus for spending $25. Ugh. WAGS must think their customers have nothing better to do than contact CS all the time.

Trans 3 Thursday (this was much smoother)

1 x BF Gummies $1.99
2 x A&H detergent 3.96
1 x A&H pods 1.99
Less A&H DQs (3.00)
Less BR points (5.00)
Tax 0.30
OOP $0.29

Earned $1.99 RR (Gummies)

Whaddya know! My DQs actually worked this time. I'm beginning to wonder if it's my store. Last time the DQs didn't work at my local store either. Then when I tried it at this location, all the DQs worked slick as snot. Very strange. I think I'll just try this store in future. There are lots of drugstores in my area, so no worries about driving out of the way.

Earlier this week, WAGS had a deal on desktop calendars for $1.99. So I ordered 6. Paid $10 in points and $2.72 with a gc. These babies are on their way to my family abroad as Christmas gifts. The only kicker is that shipping cost $36! But yay for free gifts!! When they're done with the calendars, they can just cut off the photo parts and place it in a photo album. 2 Gifts in one. Happy mama :)

Between BR points & RRs, I have over $100 to spend at WAGs. Just another reason why I can't stay out of that store.

Rite Aid

Big Thank You to Sluggy for sharing the Arnicare deal

1 x Arnicare Roll on $11.69 (10% wellness discount)
1 x Arnicare leg cramps $10.34 (10% wellness discount)
1 x Crest t/p 3.00
1 x Oral b t/b 3.00
Less 2 Arnicare peelies (6.00)
Less Crest DQ (1.00)
Less Oral B DQ (1.00)
Less BC (11.07)
Tax 1.68
OOP $10.64

Earned $14 BC ($10 Arnicare $2 Crest, $2 Oral B) and $6 Ibotta

I could've saved the Crest for another day and have a lower OOP, but that would mean another trip to the store.

And darn, I forgot to pick up more A&H detergent. I still have digital qs for both RA & CVS and 1 IPQ. I might go back tomorrow. It's not a need, but for 99c or free, I'll take it :)

My Moneymaker clothes shopping

Hi everyone

I know I haven't posted much about my clothing purchases this year. That's cause I haven't really bought much for ourselves (except for my big WHBM splurge with my Christmas gcs).

A few weeks ago Ann Taylor Loft had a huge clearance sale. Their clearance items were an extra 70% off, which made their jeans $4.94 each (before tax. My tax was covered by Rakuten). Since I mainly live in jeans & sweats during the cold months, I decided to just buy 3 pairs. Of course I had to pay $8.95 shipping (ouch), but I didn't mind too much, since the jeans were dirt cheap.

So I immediately went to my closet and pulled 3 pairs of old jeans to sell. I usually clear out the closets every few months, but I decided that since I had to pay OOP for the jeans, I will make up for the expense by selling my old ones.

Then I purchased a blouse on sale at WHBM. Blouse cost $10.06 after tax and my discounts. I get free shipping from them, so that was good.

A week or 2 ago, I stopped at Kohls to redeem my $5 Yes 2 You Reward (Y2Y). I didn't make a special trip to the store. There was a Kohls in the area I was running errands, so I stopped by to redeem my q. After much searching through the clearance rails, I spotted this shirt. I rarely wear shirts and I've never worn this brand, but the price was right and they match my jeans nicely. This baby cost me a whopping 85c after reward. You can see that it was $6 (90% off retail price) and I used my $5 Y2Y and 20% off q. So 85c after tax. Yes, please....lol  Then I pulled 2 tops from my closet and listed those.

To date, I've sold one top and a pair of jeans and make a nice profit of $22.64 after fees.

So here's what 3 new jeans and 2 shirts cost me

Total OOP : $34.68
Total earned to date : (22.64)
Total cost to me : $12.04
Total regular retail : $379.84 (excl tax)

BUT

The other 3 items still need to sell, so I'll actually be making a profit on my purchases. This is why I love buying clothes at Rock Bottom prices. I usually end up selling it for way more than I paid for it, once I'm done using it.

This is how I do most of our clothes shopping. I'm not going to wear all 3 pairs of jeans when it gets cold. I'll use 2 pairs and save the other for when one wears out.

This week's WAGs and CVS tripping

This was a fun shopping week at the drugstores. I had plans to hit all 3, but as you can see from the title, RA is missing. I had this grand plan to do the Spend $40 get $20 BC at RA, but noticed that the Tide qs said Limit 1 like coupon per person. Ugh.

It doesn't end there though. I could work around that deal and switch up with Tide with Pantene and other items. However, our newspapers didn't have all the q inserts this past weekend. This is the 2nd time I've noticed this. The main newspaper had only the PG inserts and the other newspaper had the SS (we don't get RMN in the paper). So I picked up a newspaper at WAGs that had all the SS inserts. Then my DTs were both sold out of papers. So I hit Meijer and got the paper with the PG insert. The next day I got the RMN & PG inserts in the mail, but this PG insert didn't have any Tide qs (whereas the one I purchased did). Grrr. Now can you understand my frustration. The newspapers now cost $3 around here and they want to play stupid games like this. Oh well, I still managed to score good deals with my digital qs.

WAGS (I shopped on different days)

Trans 1

3 x Crest t/p $8.97
2 x Colgate t/p 7.98
1 x Newspaper 2.50 (I'm surprised by the price, cause it's $3 at Meijer)
Less $4/2 Crest DQ (4.00)
Less Colgate IP (1.00)
Less Colgate DQ (1.00)
Less BR Points (10.00)
Tax 1.02
OOP $4.47

Earned $7 RR (Crest) and $5 BR (Colgate)

So I spent $14.47 and earned $12. Not too bad since $2.50 was for the paper, so everything else would basically be free.

Trans 2

1 x Tide $4.99
1 x Tide pods $4.99
Less Tide DQ (2.00)
Less Tide pods DQ (2.00)
Less BR Points (5.00)
Tax 0.60
OOP $1.58

Earned $4 BR (Tide).

Trans 3

4 x Crest t/p 11.96
1 x Tide 4.99
1 x Tide pods 4.99
Less Tide q (2.00)
Less Tide pods q (2.00)
Less Crest DQ (1.00)
Less Crest DQ (2.00
Less BR Points (10.00)
Tax 1.32
OOP $6.26

Earned $7 RR (Crest) and $4 BR (Tide)

Now this is where the crapola hit the fan! When I saw the high OOP cost, I knew something was wrong. I checked the register and saw that the 2 low value Crest qs deducted, instead of my $8/4 DQ. I don't know why WAGS has this dumb rule. I especially bought 4 Crest (only needed 3 to trigger RR) so I could use the high value Q. I knew that the cashier couldn't do anything about it, so I paid and left.

When I got home, I did live chat with CS and explained what happened. The CS rep was very nice and after checking the qs on my account, told me that they'd fix the problem and refund with me BR points. I was happy and thanked him. When I checked my BR points, I saw that CS has issued me $11 points, instead of just the $8 that didn't deduct. So they refunded me for all the Crest qs, instead of just the $8 one. Nothing I could do about it, so score for me.

So to recap

I spent $6.26 oop + $10 BR = $16.26
Earned $7 RR + $4 BR + $11 BR = $22

MM!! Yay for me!...lol

The $8/4 Crest is still available, so I might go back to the store and do the Crest deal again. I have lots of BR points that I'm happy to turn into RRs.

I also received a $20 WAGs gc for a WAGS PG rebate I did about a month ago. I'm saving that and my other gc for when they offer bonus BR points, because you can't use points to pay (you won't earn any rewards then). I know, I know, it's complicated....lol

Prior to my 3rd transaction, I stopped at CVS. I was out for work yesterday morning, so I just stopped at this CVS (not my regular store) on my way. I was surprised to see they still had stock on razors, because I know everyone and their mother was doing the Schick & Kotex deals this week...lol

2 x Kotex $8.00
3 x Schick Razors $17.65
1 x Oral b t/b pack $5.29
Less Kotex q (4.00)
Less 2 Schick DQ (8.00)
Less Schick IP (4.00)
Less Oral b q (1.000
Less EBs (11.50)
Tax 1.70
OOP $2.46

Earned $11 EBs ($5 Schick, $2 Kotex, $4 Oral b)

I don't know why my razor price is so weird. It's on sale for $5.99 this week, but 2 of my prices show as $5.89 and one at $5.87. I really can't explain that one, but I'll take it...lol

CVS always makes my day!

Christmas shopping update

I don't think I've done a Christmas shopping update for the year yet. As most of you know, I shop for Christmas gifts year round. This year has been no different. I normally start saving earned gift cards once my Christmas shopping is done for the year (normally by the end of November).

I've decided not to buy as many gifts as before. It seems the older we get, the less we need. So I'm getting one big ticket item for DH & DS each and smaller items. I'd rather take a nice vacation to somewhere exotic, that just fill our lives with more 'stuff'.

We also have a trip to South Africa planned in the near future, because there's several upcoming close friends & family weddings that we need to attend. Not sure about the dates yet, but since I'm a planner, I'm preparing and saving for it now. That includes stocking up gifts for my immediate family.

Aren't these socks pretty? They are Earth Therapeutics and they're super soft. These are 2 pk socks (2 pairs per pack) and I bought 6 sets (12 pairs) when Kohls had it clearanced to $3.60 per set. Of course I had gcs, so I scored these for free. My plan is to use these as stockings (each person will receive a pair (not just one sock). I want to fill these socks with all kinds of free/near free makeup that we get from the drugstores. I know most young women will be happy to get free makeup, especially brands that they don't have in SA.

Then I also picked up lots of men's winter accessories when Kohls had them at extra 90% off. I mean the items were dirt cheap. I got brands like Levi's & Under Armour. Again, I paid with a gc and earned Kohls cash back on my purchase. I love shopping this way, cause Kohls cash is like free money to me. I never really overspend my rewards. I'll pay up to $5 extra, but I try to stay within budget. Not getting sucked into Kohls trying to trick me into spending more. So the males are mainly taken care of.

Then for my nieces, I picked up some goodies at Victoria's secret. VS had sent me a 30% off any item coupon and they had free shipping. So I managed to score 6 items for $36 OOP.

So VS keeps sucking me in, cause they keep sending me extra discount & free shipping qs. So I ordered 3 more gifts for $26.67. So my SILs and sister are now taken care of.

A few weeks ago Loft had an extra 60% off clearance sale and free shipping. I found a beautiful linen blend blouse for my sister for $4.50 (incl tax). Original retail $59.50!  So another gift done for under $5. Score!


My family know that I'm a bargain shopper. They really don't mind that I purchase clearance items for them. They're happy that I'm able to find name brand items at a low price, because name brand clothing is very expensive in SA. As my nephews like to say "aunt Goose has the best taste and buys the best gifts", so I can't disappoint them...lol

Did you know that you can use Amazon credit to purchase gcs for other stores? I've never rolled coins in my life. And since banks no longer have coin counting machines, I've been using Coinstar for gcs. However, the variety of gcs have become very limited. Now I'm not much of an Amazon shopper. When I learned that I could turn amazon gc into other gcs, I immediately went and cashed in my coins for a gc. Then I used the gc to purchase 2 gifts for DH & DS. Ugh, I didn't know that this store only accepts one gc, so I ended up paying $13.39 OOP. Original retail was $200. My price $63.39 after tax.

Unfortunately, I cannot mention any of the gifts that I've purchased yet, because my family read the blog. I love seeing their faces light up, when I give them something cool. So for now, everything is a secret...shhh......lol

All that is left are 2 big ticket gifts for my guys and gcs for DH. Easy peasy. Then toys for my youngest niece. This is gonna be tricky, cause I have to find small, lightweight items that's not gonna take up much space in my luggage.

So that's my gift shopping thus far. Retail price for everything is around $600-800. My total OOP cost for 13 people thus far (excluding the socks gifts) is $80.56. This is all for name brand items.

I'm done with Christmas shopping until November. I just need to get DH some gcs and another item (I already have it earmarked and can redeem for a gc for it) and a big gift for DS (I have something in mind, but not 100% sure if I want to buy that).

I've also earned cash back through Ebates for all the online purchases and should get a $5 Swagbucks bonus (for shopping through their site), so I'm one happy mama.

Now I'm busy saving my Kohls gcs for Black Friday shopping.

Has anyone else started doing Christmas shopping yet?

Grrr Walgreens & other drugstore deals

Hi Everyone

I hit all 3 drugstores this week. My first stop was to see what CRTs (cash register tapes - coupons from red machines) I can score and to use one from last week, that was expiring. I had zero EBs, so I had to start from scratch.

1 x Almay foundation 15.99
2 x Kotex 8.00
2 x Colgate t/p 7.18
1 x Crest t/p 3.99
Less Almay CRT (6.00)
Less Kotex DQ (4.00)
Less Colgate Q (4.00)
Less Crest DQ (1.00)
Tax 2.04
OOP $21.01

Earned $12 EBs ($4 Almay, $4 Colgate, $2 Kotex, $2 Crest)

I could've purchased cheaper foundation (spend $12 earn $4 EB), but they didn't have any colors that I needed. I could also have split my transactions to lower my OOP, but that would've been too much work and I now have a larger EB amount to roll.

Then on Wednesday I decided to hit all 3 drugstores, starting with WAGS. I had a nice spend $40 earn $12 BR DQ. So I worked out a scenario, using only DQs (I have several high value ones), so that my transaction will turn into a MM. Of course, this didn't work out. First, my store never restocked any Crest t/p. The Burts Bees are non-existent too. No problem, I purchased 2 higher priced ones, to still meet my $40 OOP. Cashier scans everything and WTH, none of my qs deducted. Not a single bloody q. She called over a manager who fiddled with the register, still nothing. NADA, ZIP! Grrrrrr! Now I know, from prior experience, that the store can't fix your BR points or Qs. So I asked them to cancel the transaction, cause there's no way I was gonna spend $44 OOP (you can't pay with points to earn bonus rewards and I have over $50 worth of points to use). That was my total before qs. I have $24 DQs that were supposed to deduct. I know that if I paid cash and contacted CS, they would refund me BR points (that comes with restrictions). Nuh uh, I wasn't doing that.

So off to my happy place I went - CVS :)

Scanned my card and earned a $3 Beauty Rewards EB. Yay! This made me feel better.

2 x Softsoap b/w $7.98
Less 2 Softsoap qs (1.50)
Less EBs (6.00)
Tax 0.48
OOP $0.96

Earned $4.50 EBs. So I now have a total of $13.50 EBs to roll into future purchases

Next stop RA. I first have to do last week's transactions, so things make sense

I purchased $100 Kohls gcs and earned $16 BC. The gcs went into my BF jar. Y'all know how I love to shop Kohls BF sale :) I also received another $6/30 CAT. Whoo-hoo. I'll take any free $$$

Next day

PF bronzer $15.69
PF bronzer B1G2 50% off 7.49
2 x Dial b/w 8.00
Less 6/30 from last week (6.00)
Less PF q (4.00)
Less BOGO Dial q (4.00)
Tax 1.51
OOP $18.69 Paid for with BC

Earned $12 BC (PF)

I should've earned another $2 Savingstar credit for Dial, but nothing credited. This is the part I hate about store linked cards, because Savingstar doesn't credit half the time. It's just not worth my time, contacting them about that missing $2. So moving on.

I've been out of face makeup for a while now and have been waiting on a good sale. So getting brozer for free is definitely my kinda deal :)

This week

2 x Colgate t/p $7.00
2 x Stayfree B1G50% 2nd 6.43
Less Colgate in-ad q (3.00) My store doesn't allow more than one in-ad q if the limit is 1 per customer
Less Stayfree q (2.00)
Tax 0.81
OOP $5.24 Paid with BC

Earned $3 BC (Stayfree)

I used an IP Stayfree q instead of DQ, because I earn 25 Swagbucks per redeemed q. All those points add up to earn some nice gcs for Christmas shopping.

When I got home from shopping, I did WAGs live chat. Of course they couldn't help me (insert eyeroll), but they told me that the manager can override the DQs (another eyeroll, cause the manager should've known this). I'm not even sure if I want to go back to WAGs to attempt this. I'm not in the mood to be annoyed if things don't work out again.

Someone else posted that the same thing happened to them on Sunday. She paid cash for her transaction and earned her cash back in points. Then she went shopping again yesterday and the DQs worked. Go figure! It's not like I need the items at WAGs. So I'll probably just stay home, keep my sanity and use that time to work instead.

Hope everyone had a good shopping week!