WAGS tripping

 Hi everyone!

I'm still here. I'm just busy, busy, busy. Many people have received their stimulus checks & I'm trying to help them spend it...lol. It feels like you blink & the week's over again. Is anyone else enjoying this beautiful weather we're experiencing this week? 60-70s Temps. Yes, please! Temps are down to 50s again next week, but that's way better than freezing or below freezing temps. 

I haven't been to RA or CVS in weeks. Well, I did RA a few weeks ago to spend BC before it expired. I might have written a post that still needs to be published. I'll have to check. 

As much as WAGS cost me most days, I just can't resist their good deals. So here's what I got at WAGS today.

Trans 1

4 x Gillette deodorants $22.00

Less DQ (8.00)

Tax 1.32

OOP $15.32

Earned $10.22 WC ($5 WYB 3 Gillette, $5 WYS $20) + $4 Ibotta

Trans 2

1 x Bic Click razor $7.29

1 x Bic Soleil razor B1G50% off 2nd 3.14

Less Bic DQ (5.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.63

OOP $1.06

Earned $2.05 WC + $8 Ibotta + $4 WC (see below)

Also submitted my receipts to Fetch & PG

The odd cents that you see under earned, is everyday cash back earned. You earn 1% on all purchases. During your birthday month, you earn 10% everyday cash/points.

Of course smooth sailing at Wags is unheard of...lol. I had another $4 Bic DQ which didn't deduct. Contacted CS when I got home and they added $4 WC. 

As I'm writing this post, I'm realising that it's probably because the razor value is less than $4. Wags has this new silly rule about not adjusting coupons down - not even by a penny. It's dumb, because manufacturers will reimburse them the full coupon value + 8c per Q. So they're hurting themselves financially. Yes, all those little amounts add up. I have a friend who works at Kroger headquarters. At one stage, they had to work at a store just to see how it runs on a daily basis. She said that by lunchtime they had taken in $15k (yes $15 thousand) worth of coupons. So Wags not accepting all those Qs because it's more than the item value, is such a foolish thing to do. 

I also wanted Old Spice spray, because it's B1G50% off  & there's a $5.99 DQ + $2 each Ibotta rebate. I went to 2 different stores and neither had shelf space for this item. They only had the original scents (not the ones that the coupon would attach to) stocked. I don't know how Wags issues a Q for an item they no longer carry. 

I anticipated the high OOP for Gillette, because you can't use points when using a Booster Q (Spend X amount).

Total OOP : $16.38

Total cash back earned (excl Bic. I have to wait 2-3 weeks for rebate) : $28.27

Total Qs used : $13.00

Total rewards used : 5.00

Retail value : $39.54

So after earned rewards (excl Bic), this was an $11.89 MM. I'll take that!

Kroger & Ibotta double dip

Y'all Kroger & Ibotta's gonna make me broke...lol. I was considering doing the $10 WYB 20 items Ibotta bonus, when the $5 WYB 15 items popped up. Say no more. Double dip bonus combined with Kroger Mega Event. Yes, please!

I made my shopping list and headed to the store. I had extra items on the list, in case I couldn't find everything I need. First stop was for the MM Sunmaid bites. But wait, my Kroger no longer had shelf space for it. Nature's Valley bars now resides in that spot. What on earth? Then further down the aisle, they didn't have the Kind Energy bars either. Ugh, my shopping trip's not starting off well. I had to stop at 2 stores, cause i couldn't find everything i needed at the first. Not everything is pictured. This is the bulk of my Kroger shopping.

Store 1

5 x Incogmeato burgers $24.95 

4 x Daves killer bagels 17.96

1 x Kraft cheese 1.99

1 x Kelloggs cereal bars 1.49

1 x Snickers 1.29

1 x Cliff bar 1.00

1 x Crest Brilliance 6.99

1 x Schick razors 5.99

1 x Fage yogurt 1.29

1 x Kite hill yogurt 1.29

1 x Kotex pads 1.99

1 x Gallon milk 2.49

1 x Breakstone doubles 1.39

Tax 0.90

Less Crest DQ (3.00)

Less Schick Q (3.00)

Less Kotex Q (1.00)

Less KCB (3.29)

Less CAT (3.00)

OOP $57.72

Earned $24.15 Ibotta & $17.50 KCB

Store 2

3 x Klondike Cones $14.97

1 x Cheetos popcorn 2.99

1 x Core water 0.99

1 x Creamette pasta 1.25

3 x Sunmaid bites 2.97

OOP $23.17

Earned $7.85 Ibotta (including $5 Weekend bonus) + $2 CAT + $15.50 Fetch

Walmart

2 x Breakstone doubles 2.12

1 x Mountain dew zero 1.98 

OOP $4.10

Earned $14.68 Ibotta (includes $10 Bonus + $1.50 Breakstones bonus)

Total OOP : $84.99

Total earned : $81.68 (Ibotta, Fetch, CAT, KCB)

So my entire shopping trip basically cost $3.31 after all rewards

I only needed 2 more items to complete my $10 bonus, so I picked up those items while I was at Walmart. I purchased 2 Breakstone, because I only needed 2 to earn a $1.50 bonus on that brand. With the bonus, these 2 items were a MM, so why settle for 1?

I especially bought the Kotex at Kroger, cause there was an any feminine hygiene rebate. By the time I got home, the rebate had disappeared. Sigh. Scanned the Core water, only to discover that I needed 2 items for the rebate. Double sigh. This couponing/rebate shopping takes lots of concentration.

Scanned my receipts to Fetch. The ice cream is supposed to give back 14250 points (4750 each) = $14.25. However, it read my items as regular Klondike ice cream and only credited a few cents. I submitted a ticket, cause that's a lot of money. They corrected that fast.

Then my first store's Ibotta only credited for one Incogmeato, instead of 5 and 2 Dave's bagels, instead of 4. I don't know how it gets the totals wrong, because you have to scan all the items when submitting your receipt. That's $14.50. Another ticket submitted, which they corrected. The also credited me for 2 Schick razors, instead of one. Honest me told them about it when I submitted my ticket and they reversed the entire $6. WTH?! They were only supposed to deduct $3. Grrr. Contacted them again and they issued $3 credit.  Do you now see why I was hesitant to do the first Ibotta bonus? This stuff takes up a lot of time, not to mention aggravation sometime. 

Look at how expensive Kroger is. The Breakstone doubles is $1 at Meijer & $1.06 at Walmart. Kroger price is $1.39. That's 33c more than Walmart. It might seem like a small amount, but if you do the bulk of your regular shopping at Kroger, those small amounts add up to a big amount. This is why I cherry pick what I buy there. I price checked the Snickers bar at Walmart and it is 88c, compared to $1.29 I paid at Kroger! I didn't buy Snickers at Walmart, because I had enough items to complete my bonus deals.

I'm so happy to get my bagels again & boy did that ice cream come in handy after all the aggravation with missing credits...lol DH gets to try the Incogmeato & Kite Hill yogurt since he's currently eating vegan & DS is happy to get more Breakstones.

Redeemed $75 Ibotta gc & am $1 short of a $25 Fetch gc. I was gonna get more Sunmaid, but Kroger hasn't restocked their shelves with it. Once I have enough for my Fetch gc, I'll have $100 towards Sams shopping next month. That always makes me happy :)

I also still have $22.50 Kroger rewards to spend (Cash back & CATs)

February month end check in

February's grocery budget was broken, broken, broken. I don't know how the shortest month of the year turned out to be so expensive. It's those darn good sales that happens when you least expect it...lol. Well if I count all my grocery earnings, then the budget doesn't look to bad.

Grocery shopping (includes HBA and cleaning products) : 

OOP : 427.91

Ibotta : $82.90

Fetch : $3

CATs/RRs : $18.50

Kroger Cash Back (KCB) : $24.79

Total grocery earnings : $129.19

Clothing OOP : $31.75 (shoes for DS) Earned $0.60 Rakuten

Gifts : No gifts purchased

MONEY EARNED (SIDE HUSTLE)

Earned $50 gcs  (One $25 was for Walmart, which will be used for grocery shopping)

Ibotta : Redeemed $95 gcs

Personal items (things we've had listed for the past 2 years) : $19.95

2021 Closet cleanout : $33.49

Big goal : $73.38

Drugstore items : $21.91

Rakuten : 36.09

Total earnings (excluding Ibotta) : $234.82

YTD Earnings :

GCs (point earning sites) : $75

Ibotta : $95 (redeemed)

Personal items : $62.84

2021 Closet cleanout : $48.91

Big goal : $209.62

Drugstore items : $48.12

Rakuten : $36.09

Total Earnings (excl Ibotta) : $480.58

This is the smallest February Rakuten check that I've received in years (I usually get 2-3 times as much). It just shows how much less I've spent over the holidays (holiday shopping is why I usually get a big fat check), so I'm happy. 

For those who sell their personal items online - February is always slow. March should start picking up again.

I listed zero items from my closet. This month passed in such a blur, that I didn't get around to going through my closet. 

That's my February. As expensive as this month was, I'm thankful that we didn't need anything other than groceries this month.