Run to Kroger's Mega Event Sale

 Hi Everyone

Just a quick check in to share a good deal. If you have a Kroger or Affiliate Store, be sure to check out their Mega Event Sale (Buy 5 Save $5 Instantly). The sale ends 12/15. I scored so many good items, but my favorite is the Snuggle, because it has Ibotta rebates.

Here's what I got

1 x All Detergent $2.99

1 x All Free & Clear 2.99

2 x Dove Shampoo 7.98

2 x Snuggle fabric softener 5.98

2 x Snuggle dryer sheets 5.98

2 x Snuggle Scent booster 5.98 (MM after ME discount and Ibotta)

Less ME discount (10.00)

Less All IPQ (1.50)

Less All Free IPQ (1.50)

Less Dove Q (4.00)

Tax 1.16

OOP $16.06

Earned $11 Ibotta ($5 Snuggle Scent booster, $3 softener, $3 dryer sheets)

Total cost after Ibotta = $5.06

There's also a Snuggle bonus (WYB 2 different items I think), but I redeemed that last week. 

There's also Snuggle IPQs, but I didn't have time to sign up just to print one or 2 qs.

There are 2 different All IPQs (one for blue bottle, one for fragrance free). I didn't know if my store would accept 2 identical IPQs, because Kroger's coupon rules vary by store. I actually had trouble with the IPQs not being accepted by register, so cashier entered it manually.

There are loads of other items included in this sale. Last week the Tresemme was a MM, but my Ibotta rebate never reset. If you still have this rebate on Ibotta, go grab some Tresemme with the $5 Q.

Also I had a $3 Kotex Q and the register automatically deducted my DQ as well. I have no explanation, but I'm not complaining :)

I scored 23 items for $4.50 after Ibotta last week.

I hope everyone has their Christmas orders all placed, because stores are struggling with the staggering amount of online shopping & the Post Office has a HUGE backlog. I just received an envelope that was mailed from the neighboring town 3 weeks ago. Thankfully our Christmas shopping is done and we just have to wrap gifts.

Happy shopping everyone. Stay safe & healthy!

Baby week at Rite Aid

 I hope that everyone's still doing well. I'm still working hard, but I have to say that this is the slowest fourth quarter since the Recession. However, I'm still working as much as I can and hope things will pick up once the election is over & done with. 

Last week I purchased $200 Macy's gcs at RA. The deal wasn't in our local ad, but I had seen it in an ad preview online. It was Buy $100 get $20 BC. Since I'm planning on buying my favorite perfume at Macy's, I just decided to get the gcs since I'm not one to shy away from free cash/rewards. So I earned $40 BC, not knowing how handy it would come in this week. 

A friend of mine is due with her first baby next month. When I saw a great deal at Kroger last weekend, I decided to just stock up for her. When we talked about 2 months ago, she mentioned just having people drop off diapers at her house, since she can't have a baby shower due to Covid. Then I checked my RA coupon group & holy smokes, RA has an amazing Huggies sale this week!! Again, the ad preview didn't show this deal, but it was being talked about. I was crossing my fingers that it would be in our ad and was so happy when I saw it!

The deal is spend $30 on Kotex, Huggies (I forgot what else), earn $10 BC (limit 2)

There's also a $5 CAT WYS $25 on Huggies (monthly deal. This deal runs at Kroger too)

Buy 1 Huggies Snug & Dry earn $3 bonus cash (monthly deal. limit 2)

Buy Huggies Snug & Dry earn $1 Ibotta (limit 5)

There are also $2/1 Huggies qs, but we were away that weekend, so I didn't get any newspapers

Trans 1

4 x Huggies diapers $35.96

1 x All detergent 2.99

1 x Snuggle softener 2.99

Less 10/40 mailer q (10.00)

Less All q (1.00)

Less Snuggle q (1.00)

Tax 1.92

Total $31.86 Paid with BC from the Macy's deal

Earned $16 BC ($10 Huggies + $6 Huggies monthly deal)

Earned 2 x $5 CATs 

Earned $5 Ibotta ($4 Huggies, $1 All)

Earned 89 Fetch points for each Huggies pack

Total earned (excluding Fetch) $31.00

The cashier started ringing up my items, I entered my phone number and said Yes, I want to use my BC. So the register automatically applied the BC without my coupons. I think the cashier is new, because she didn't know what to do. Manager comes over, voids the transaction and rings everything again. Handed me my receipt with CATS rolled up inside. I get into my car so I can study my receipt in peace and notice that I received 2 x $5 CATS. Apparently the Catalina machine printed a CAT for both transactions, so I just received both. Happy dance!

I bought the All & Snuggle to get my total to $40. I could've done the free Colgate instead, but I didn't know if that $3 in ad q would affect my $10/40 mailer q. This girl was playing it safe...lol

I waited on Ibotta to reset then headed back to RA today. Since the Huggies deal tracks, I only needed to spend another $24.04

Trans 2

3 x Huggies $26.97

Less BC used 24.14

Tax 1.62

OOP $4.45

Earned $10 BC + $5 CAT + $3 Ibotta 

I didn't use any of my CATs, because I didn't know if it would roll. Gosh, I haven't shopped at RA in so long, that I can't even remember how things work anymore.

I now have $25 to use at RA ($10 BC + $15 CATs). I'm happy with paying $4.45 OOP for 7 packs of diapers and detergent. That Macy's deal sure was a blessing in disguise :)

Meijer

This week (and next) Meijer has Spend $15 on Dove, Tresemme, Axe earn $5 CAT. When I took out a new deodorant from my stockpile last week, I noticed that I only have one extra left. So I knew that I needed to find a deal soon. Along comes Meijer & my world is right side up...lol

Fetch also has an offer of Spend $30 on Unilever, earn $10 reward (limit 5) It tracks, so you don't have to restart your reward amounts every time

Trans 1

1 x Dove b/w $6.29

1 x Axe shampoo 4.19

1 x Dove deodorant 5.09

Less Dove b/w IPQ (2.00)

Less Axe Q (2.00)

Tax 0.93

OOP $12.50

No CAT prints. So I head to CS to get my $5 back. Except (in typical Meijer fashion) CS is clueless. I asked her to get out a copy of the ad so I can show her the deal. So she finally did (after I asked her a few times, because Meijer cashiers never know their head from their *ss). So I show  her the advertised deal and she tells me that I have to bring her the $5 coupon so she can give me the cash back (insert face palm). WTF?! I was very polite and explained that it's not how the deal work. So now I'm trying to get her to understand that the register's supposed to print a $5 coupon, but she's just not getting it. So I asked her to get a supervisor. So she gets on the phone with the supervisor and explains the situation to her. 5 Minutes later the supervisor rocks up with a $5 gc. No hello, no explanation. How about apologizing to the customer, then training your cashiers better?! Ugh. I swear you need to carry a tub of Tums with you when you shop at Meijer, cause something ALWAYS goes wrong. 

I'm kind happy with receiving a gc, because it doesn't expire

Earned $2 Ibotta (Dove b/w) and I could've sworn there was a deal for Axe shampoo, but I must've missed it. 

Also submitted receipt to Fetch and earned 500 points for buying 2 Unilver products. I didn't even know about this offer.

Then I found $2.50/2 Dove deodorant IP Q, so I went back to Meijer today

1 x Dove b/w $6.29

2 x Dove deodorant 10.18

Less Dove IPQ (2.00)

Less Deodorant IPQ (2.50)

Tax 0.99

OOP $12.96

Earned $5 CAT. Phew! I was worried the CAT wouldn't print again. 

The register wouldn't accept my $2.50/2 Deodorant q. It kept saying "too few items sold". Can you see the kinda crap we have to deal with at Meijer. Got cashier over to manually enter the q.

Earned $2 Dove b/w (Ibotta) and $10 Fetch reward.

Total OOP $25.46

Total earned $24.00 ($10 CAT/GC, $4 Ibotta, $10.00 Fetch). I actually earned around 60c+ on Fetch, but I'll stick to the round figures.  So $1.46 for 6 items and I'm stocked up on deodorant for a while. Well I might do the deal again next week, if I can find good Qs. 

Remember the WAGS fiasco where they didn't bag my toothpaste I bought. Well I had all but given up on that and completely forgot about it when I got a call from the WAGS store manager. Now I laid out the whole case for CS who sent the info to the store. Yet the manager didn't know what the problem was (I wonder if WAGS & Meijer are somehow owned by the same holding company, cause service is crappy at both stores). So I explained what happened and he asked how he can fix it for me. I asked him to just add $9 (that I was out) to my account. He agree and this mama was happy. Except, when I checked my account 5 minutes later, I saw that he added $12 to my account! Thank you Mr WAGS!...lol

We've been really good sticking to our new weekly $60 grocery budget. However, Aldi gets me every time. I'll go there for one or 2 things and end up spending almost $20. Not to mention DS costs me almost $4 every time he goes to Aldi with me. He loves their chocolate Brioche bread. I can't say I blame him, cause that bread is heavenly and it makes the best french toast. DS insists on us buying the bread every time we go to Aldi (I only eat the wheat bread). The downside is that I usually find something new to try at Aldi. I found some veggie chips (not the fake stuff whose ingredient list reads 'insert veg name' powder). This is the one that lists the veggies itself. I bought oodles of it at Dollar Tree about 2 years ago, then they stopped carrying it. I think DT is like Ollies where they mainly purchase closeout, so you never know how long they'll stock your favorite products. 

Then when DH went to Aldi, I told him to take a pic of the chips bag and buy me some more. The man comes home with the fake stuff. Ugh. Now he usually just brings whatever he can find, when he doesn't want to look for an item. Now that I've been to Aldi, I noticed that it's not his fault, cause those good chips are gone. Shhh, I'm not gonna admit that to him though...lol

I've also found Beet Tortilla chips which was really good. I love beets, but felt that there wasn't enough of a beet flavor to it. It's still good though, so I might buy it again.

That's about it for me. Hope everyone stays safe & healthy!

I don't know why my spacing is so weird. It happened when I changed the blog background. I'm gonna switch back to the original background to see if that will help.

Ibotta Double Dip Bonuses

My Ibotta account currently has  $10 WYB 15 items (number of items may vary by user). Then the $5 Mid Week bonus (WYB 12 items) popped up. So I made a list and headed to the stores.

My first stop was Wags, because DH had a $5/20 on his account. I only got a 10% off $35 on my account. 

WAGS

1 x Scott t/p $5.00

2 x Dove mens deodorant 9.98

1 x Suave shampoo $3.50

1 x Suave mens shampoo 3.50

1 x Suave kids shampoo B2G1F 0.00

Less 5/20 (5.00)

Less Scott IVC (1.25)

Less 2 Dove IP Qs (3.00)

 Less $2/2 Suave Q (2.00)

Less BR Points (10.00)

Tax 1.02

OOP $1.75

Earned $8.35 Ibotta ($3 Sauve, $5 Dove, $0.25 Scott)

I forgot to print the 50c Scott IP

The Scott also tracks on Fetch (spend $30 earn $2) plus it adds points too. 

Walmart

1 x Perfect Bar $1.98

1 x Butterfinger 0.88

1 x Ragu 1.48

1 x Oikos yogurt drink 1.94 FREE after Ibotta

1 x 4ct Chobani yogurt 3.96

2 x Chobani flips 2.44

1 x Danimal yogurt 2.98

1 x Breakstone cottage cheese 1.06

2 x Celestial Seasonings tea 4.76

1 x Kotex liners 2.97

Tax 0.18

OOP $24.63

Earned $28.39 Ibotta ($12.89 + $15 Bonuses + $.50 Monthly level 1 bonus)

Walmart was out of half the items I had planned to buy, so I had to improvise. 

Total OOP $26.38

Total earned $36.74

$10.36 MM (if you don't count the WAGS points I used)

This sure was a nice way to turn my WAGS points into a new GC.

I also purchased an Airwick plugin ($2.97+ tax) which is free on Fetch. Today's trip added enough points for me to redeem for a $10 Fetch gc. 

I also redeemed a $25 Walmart gc on Ibotta. I cash out as soon as I have enough available funds. Just yesterday I read that Fetch shut down someone's account, citing fraud. She had to jump through hoops and contact BBB to get her account reinstated so she could withdraw her funds. A similar thing happened to my friend, so I don't take any chances.

Total OOP for everything today = $29.53

Redeemed $35 GCs (I started with a $6 balance on Fetch & still have a $11 Ibotta balance). 

Yesterday I also purchased 2 Christmas gifts at Kohls. They had $15 Kohls Cash for every $50 spent. Also double rewards (triple if you have a Kohls charge). So 10% rewards instead of the usual 5%. Paid with $100 gcs and earned $30 KC and $10 Y2U rewards and 2% Rakuten. So free gifts and still $40 to spend. Whoo-hoo!

Some odds & ends

 Hi everyone

I'm still here. Things have been crazy busy around here. The days just seem to fly by. Just a few things that have happened around here.

* I haven't done any drugstore shopping 2 weeks ago. There just wasn't enough good deals for me to venture to the stores. I just did a quick CVS trip last week. Nothing spectacular

* I've heard that WAGS will be changing their rewards program AGAIN. Oy vey. No details yet about how it will work in future. All I know is that we'll have to sign up for new accounts to have our points transferred. Between DS & I, we have $63 in rewards. I'm just going to spend those rewards. There have been fewer and fewer deals, so I'll just spend it on things that we need.

* I had a nightmare trip to WAGS a few weeks ago. The cashier messed up my entire order and I was charged $9 for toothpaste, she never bagged! grrr. It was the wrong toothpaste too (placed on wrong spot on shelf), so I didn't even earn my rewards on it.  This was a store that's about 20 minutes from my house. Live Chat CS was unhelpful (told me to drive back to the store. Like I'm gonna waste an hour of my day for their mistake. Eventually got hold of a different CS dept and they forwarded everything to the store. Its been a month and no contact from store manager. I contacted CS about this again, but got no response from them either. That's why I've decided to take a WAGS break.

* Our stockpile is basically complete. I shopped hard for 2 months (July & August) from the time our state reopened and I can finally heave a sigh of relief. I'm still adding a few small things every week and our grocery budget is now way down. I'm hoping to keep it at or around $60 per week, because we eat lots of fresh produce.

What's concerning is that I'm still seeing half empty shelves at Walmart. I've been to different locations and they all look like this. I haven't seen a Prego sauce sale yet, so I've been adding a jar to my shopping trip every week. I also need bread flour. I do have 10 lbs stockpiled, but if I'm gonna bake our bread during the entire winter, then I'm gonna need more bread flour. Now if I can only find bread flour in store. 

* I'm so happy to see most stores accepting cash again (I really prefer cash over a card, even though we pay our cards in full every month),  so I went to the bank and withdrew $300 for this month. I'm adding a little cushioning, because the monthly produce market trip always makes me broke...lol

* I've started freezer cooking again. With me being so busy, it's just easier to have some things already cooked. It's so nice to just heat and eat most nights. I did so much cooking last week, that I really don't need to cook this week. I might just make some veggies on the side. 

* We've also cut down on Friday night carry out a lot. I've been making my veggie pizzas again and we're loving it. This is why I stock up on pesto and artichokes (my favourite). I use pesto instead of pasta sauce on our pizzas, then top it with mozzarella and veggies of choice. Our favorite is artichoke, mushroom, peppers & onions.

* I found more disinfecting wipes. We don't need any more wipes and I'm not even looking for it. I was at Walmart last week and as I neared the cleaning aisle, I noticed people had big wipes containers in their carts. So I rushed to the wipes aisle only to find the shelves empty. Then a woman showed me that the end cap still had 4 tubs. I was in such a rush, I didn't even notice the end cap...lol. There were no limits, but I only bought 2. The crazy part is that when I found wipes at Sams the last time, I told myself that I'll buy some for my close friends (in other states) if I found wipes again. So now I'm planning on surprising them with wipes and other essential items. 

* I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. We've decided to just have a low key Christmas this year. None of us really need anything. I actually paid full price for a gift for DS last week. I did it, because I didn't want to wait on a possible sale (who knows if that will happen this year) and risk it being sold out by the time holiday season rolls around. I need to pick up 2 more items for DS, but I have Target gcs for those. I'm hoping for some sort of discount on those items before the end of next month.

* I bought my own Christmas gift at 80% off. DH and I have an agreement (actually it was all my idea...lol). I buy my own gift, because he hates shopping. This way he doesn't have to stress about what to get me (he insists on getting me gifts) and I get exactly what I want. The best part is that I ALWAYS buy my gift on clearance. He just pays for it and wraps it at Christmas time. I never have a set item in mind. If I find something I like during the year, I buy it and save it for Christmas. My gift was  originally $328 (excl tax) and I got it for $70 (incl tax). I also earned cash back through Rakuten (I think it was 2%. I'm not quite sure now).

* I also picked up a Christmas gift for $5.05. Originally $60. Item was marked down to $4.99 and I get a 5% discount and free shipping. Also got 2% back through Rakuten.

I know that many people say they unsubscribe or delete store emails. I do the complete opposite. I sign up for whatever stores I can. I have an email address specifically for that. So when I see a really good deal on something (y'all know I mean 80%+ off 😊) and I know it's perfect for someone on my list, then I buy it. This has saved me thousands over the years and it's usually really good items. I don't believe in buying a cheap gift, just because it costs so little. I still want a good, quality item, just without breaking the bank. 

* I'm not sure what's gonna happen with BF this year. I usually only shop Kohls online. I never venture to the stores, except CVS and RA. Most stores have announced that they'll be closed for BF, but no word on whether they'll still have an online sale. I'm just hoping that the Kohls sale will still happen. Who knows if they'll have enough inventory for a BF sale. I just want our athletic shoes that I buy every year. We all still have an extra new pair or 2 from last year, but I always stock up enough for when one pair breaks or the thread is worn down. I'm keeping fingers crossed.

* Business has been good and I am swamped. I've been busy since this pandemic started. We've been so blessed throughout this pandemic, that I actually felt overwhelmed by it all at one stage. I'm so thankful for it, but some days I'm so busy that I don't even know my own name....lol

I hope that everyone stays safe and healthy. I'll try to post again within a week or so.

Inexpensive snacking

We like to take road trips and one thing I've always done is to pack our own snacks for road trips. DH has no problem hitting those gas station stores, but I shudder at the prices and they don't always have things I like. 

A few weeks ago, I discovered this Goldfish veggie crackers at Dollar Tree so I bought a bag. Now we don't eat much Goldfish, but we love carrots. I fell in love after eating this Goldfish and vowed to get more. Then the last 2 weeks Meijer had Goldfish crackers on sale for 79c and guess what was included? I bought a total of 15 bags. Let me tell ya, when I stockpile, I really STOCKPILE!...lol. Why, because this price is lower than DT and who knows when this sale will come around again.

15 x 79c = $11.85

Regular Retail $2.49 x 15 = $37.35

Total Savings : $25.50

They also had Juicy Juice on sale for $1.35. Now this is not our preferred brand (high sugars), but at that price I wasn't gonna be picky. I had 2 x 75c Qs and you also earn $2 Mperks (Meijer rewards) WYB $10 Juicy Juice

9 x 8pks Juice $12.15

Less 2  Qs (1.50)

OOP $10.65

Earned $2 Mperks, so $0.96 per pack or 12c per juice box

I also got a $1.75 CAT, but it didn't say what the CAT was for. I'm not sure if my transaction triggered it, or if the person ahead of me left it behind. 

Last month Kroger had Sunbelt granola bars for $1.29 during their ME sale. There was also an Ibotta rebate for $1 per box (limit 5). So I got 5 boxes for 29c each. Each box has 10 bars. I've never had this brand before, but decided to try it. They had me at Chocolate (yep, I'm a chocoholic)...lol

So let's just call it 3c per bar. 

I also stocked up on those Snyders pretzels at DT. 

We always keep fresh and dried fruit and also bottled water.

So what does this all come down to.

The Goldfish has 4 servings per bag. Lets round it up and say it's 20c per serving

A juice box is 12c

Granola bar 3c

Pretzels (I don't know how many servings but I'm figuring 8-10. In SA we eat much smaller servings), so 10c per serving

Fresh fruit - I get these at our super cheap produce market, so we always have a nice variety. I also buy our dried apricots there, because it cost $2-3 less than the grocery store. I think it's about $6 and we only eat about 3-4 pieces at a time. 

Raisins and bottled water are bought in bulk from Sams. 

So if you grab all of the above, it will probably cost around (or maybe less) $2 - $3 per person. This is way less than buying snacks at convenience stores. 

I've long since stopped buying individually packaged items (for the most part of least). DT had the 6ct individual packs of Snyders pretzels too, but I skipped that. I could see (without comparing the weight) that it was far less than the bigger bag. 

I like to pack snacks in my purse for when I have lots of errands to run too. It's way better than those impulse splurges.

Now I'm not trying to be a cheapskate. We can well afford to buy a quick lunch, but it all adds up. Besides, I'm sick of junk food and any reseller will tell you that when we're in the zone (especially when yard saling), we have no time to stop for fast food. Besides, I prefer my own cooking. 

Lots of shopping last week

I apologise for the lack of posts. I have been so busy and from now until the end of January, I'm more focused on work. So I'll be posting less and focusing more on earning. 

Oh boy, has CVS let me down last week. I had a crazy busy day on Thursday, but needed to do my CVS shopping before the previous week's DQs expire. So I headed to CVS after being out in the heat for most of the day.

Trans 1 

1 x Gillette razors $7.99

2 x Wet n wild eyeshadow 9.98

1 x PF lipstick 9.99

2 x Covergirl mascara 13.58

Less Gillette DQ (4.00)

Less WnW 3/10 DQ (3.00)

Less PF CRT (printed last week) (4.00)

Less 2 Covergirl Qs (4.00)

Less 2/10 Covergirl DQ (2.00)

Less EBs (20.00)

Tax 2.01

OOP $6.55

Earned $24 EB ($7 PF, $7 WnW, $6 Covergirl, $3 Gillette, $1??)

I couldn't believe my high OOP. I had held back the $3 Beauty EB that printed that day, to see if I needed it at all. My store was out of Covergirl brow pencils so the mascara added an extra $1.60 to my transaction. I was so flustered with the total (after adding the $3 EB), that I only gave the cashier $6...lol. Good heavens! I also didn't get a chance to see what the mystery $1 was for. I'm guessing quarterly EB. Who knows. 

When I got home and checked my receipt, I saw that the cashier didn't scan one of my $5 EBs. That explains why my OOP was so darn high. So I checked my account online and there was the $5 EB still available. So the store has an extra $5 of mine and I now need to reprint this EB to use next time. Ugh!! 

I was also upset that they didn't have beauty bags. The cashier (male) didn't even know what I was talking about. I especially did this deal, because it comes with a free beauty bag. CVS always emails me a survey after every trip, so I let them know what a disaster today was. Got not response from them, but I did get a $5/15 DQ this week. Wonder if that's to make up for last week's disaster. I'll take free money any day.

Trans 2

2 x Garnier shampoo/conditioner $7.00

2 x Garnier whole blends 7.00

2 x Loreal Elvive 8.00

1 x Tide pods 4.94

1 x Tide liquid 5.94

3 x Crest t/p B2G1F 9.18

2 x Old Spice b/w B1G50% off 11.98

Less Garnier Q (3.00)

Less Garnier whole blends q (3.00)

Less Garnier CRT (2.00)

Less Garnier DQ (1.00)

Less Garnier WB DQ (1.00)

Less Loreal Q (4.00)

Less 4/18 hair care (4.00)

Less $2 off hair care (2.00)

Less Tide pods DQ (2.00)

Less Tide DQ (2.00)

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less OS DQ (5.49)

Less $2/8 Body wash DQ (2.00)

Less EBs (18.00)

Tax 2.85

OOP $4.80

Earned $10 EB (WYS $40)

I mainly did this deal to use my Old Spice DQ. The Garnier wasn't part of the sale, but I added it so I could use 4/18 DQ. I didn't even know that an extra $2 would deduct, because my paper Qs were $3/2 each. I'll take the extra discounts though.

I've also noticed that the $3 Whitening DQs no longer works on the Crest 3D white. It's always deducted before and I have 2 of those Qs. Bummer. 

I now have a total of $21 EBs and only earned $3 Beauty EB (bought over $60 worth of beauty products today). So $24 EB

At first I couldn't believe that I spent over $11 OOP at CVS. Then I realised that $4.86 of that was tax. Then I discovered my missing $5 EB.... grrrr. So I figure I would've done pretty well (if things went smoothly). 

Total OOP $11.35

EB starting balance : $25.00

EB ending balance : $24.00

Total coupons used : $51.49

Retail value : $119.61

My receipt shows I spent over $900 on beauty for the YTD. Divide that by 30 and I've earned $90 in free Beauty EBs. You earn $3 for every $30 spent. 

CVS has a great Beauty event for the next few weeks, so I'll be headed there later today. Buy $25 get $10 EBs. If the CRT/DQ stars align, this could be a good MM. This week is not that great, but the next 2 weeks look promising.

Kroger 

As mentioned before, I'm not a big Kroger shopper, but boy are their Mega Event Sales fun. Well, I mainly went to Kroger for the All detergent deal but they didn't have any in stock. I figured I'll pick up some ME items too, while I was there

Price is after ME discount (Buy 5 Save $5)

4 x Mega Stack Pringles $3.88

3 x Oscar Mayer smokies 3.00

3 x Cracker Barrel cracker cuts 8.97

Other items

2 x Fage Yogurt 2.00

2 x Fage split yogurt 2.00

1 x Perfect bar 2.00

OOP $21.85

Earned $6.50 Ibotta ($2.25 Cracker Barrel, $2.25 Perfect bar, $1.10 Fage split, $0.90 Fage)

Total Cost after cash back : $15.35

Dollar General

I wasn't planning on shopping at DG last week, because the deals didn't look that good to me. I've been needing a mop for a while now, so when I saw it advertised as Buy mop get free refill (Fri/Sat), I just had to go shopping. I figured I might as well do the $25 deal, since the mop already cost $9.

1 x Mr Clean Mop $9.00

1 x Mr Clean mop refill 4.00

1 x Bic razors 6.00

1 x Schick razors 4.50

1 x Tide 4.95

1 x A&H 3.95

Less 5/25 (5.00)

Less Free mop refill (4.00)

Less Bic DQ (4.00)

Less Schick DQ (3.00)

Less Tide Q (2.00)

Less A&H DQ (2.00)

Tax1.40

OOP $13.80

Now the OOP seems high, but the mop & refill alone would've cost me $9.54 (incl tax). So for $4.26 extra, I got 2 detergent and 2 razors.  I just noticed that the A&H is a big 32 ct bag. I really should start using my pods. I have a huge pile of it.

I probably could've done better, but I didn't know how the free item would ring up (I'm still new to couponing at DG). I didn't know if it would count towards my $25 or not. I figured the safest thing to do, was to not include the refill price in that total. 

I didn't do any Walmart shopping last week. I did stop at Meijer for some stockpiling items. 

Then on Tuesday morning I was reading posts on my WAGS couponing group when someone mentioned that they found Disinfecting wipes at WAGS online. Of course others already reported that it's OOS, but I had to go check myself...lol. Then my gut told me to check Sams online and it showed in stock at all of my local stores (Gasp!). So I hit the shower & hightailed it to Sams while my guys still slept. There was only half a pallet left when I got there, but I got my pack. The aisle was packed, because when people saw wipes in someone's cart, they asked where it was located. I actually saw one woman escort another to the wipes aisle when I entered the store, so I just followed them....lol I knew that it would be in the cleaning aisle, but I didn't want to waste time looking for it and end up missing out. Boy that wipes made my day. I paid $9 for the 4pk, compared to $8 for 2 tubs at Meijer, but I'm not complaining. I'm just thankful that we have more wipes. It's now sold out at all Sams stores within 150 miles from me. God sure knows how to show me where the good deals are.

Please excuse the poor photo quality. I don't know why my Ipad takes bad pics at times.

Back to the grindstone for me. Have a great day everyone!

Let's go Krogering!

I rarely shop at Kroger, because they're the highest priced grocery store around here. However, I totally love their Mega Event Sales. I'm also liking their cash back rewards that you can combine with other grocery rewards apps like Ibotta, Savingstar etc.

The event is Buy 2 Save $5 instantly. Prices are after ME discounts

4 x Mission Tortilla Chips $3.96

2 x Bic Razors 4.98

2 x Garnier Shampoo 4.58

5 x G2B Hairspray 19.95

2 x Suave Lotion 2.98

Less Bic DQ (6.00)

Less Garnier Q (4.00)

Less 2 Suave Qs (2.00)

Tax 1.95

OOP $26.40

Earned $10 Ibotta (G2B) + $10 Kroger cash back (G2B)

Total Cost after rewards $6.40

Had I know the Bic DQ was a limit of 5, I would've bought the max amount and used the overage to pay for my groceries. I wasn't planning on buying all these items. I just read about the Got2B and Bic deal and didn't know it was part of the Mega event. Thankfully I had Suave & Garnier Qs in my wallet.

It's a wipes kinda week

 Yesterday I was up at the crack of dawn (first time since being sick). So after I showered and brewed coffee, I decided to just go to Meijer instead of later in the day, as planned. My plan was to hit up 2 stores to do the Dial Deal (Buy $12 save $3 instantly), since I didn't know how much inventory they'd have or whether there would be limits posted on the shelves. 

Got to the first store and they had tons of Dial Soap and NO limits. So I just decided to do 2 transactions and skip the 2nd store. 

When I hit the cleaning aisle to get bleach (another thing I'm stockpiling), I spotted shelves half full of DISINFECTING WIPES! I couldn't believe my eyes!! It's like Christmas has come early. I was in such shock, I forgot to take a pic...lol The limit was 2, but that's no problem for me because we still have 3 new big tubs. All I could think was "who would be dumb enough to buy the small containers?" Even if you live alone, I'd buy a big tub. These things haven't been seen in 6 months, so who knows when we'll find it again. The wipes cost $3.99 each, but right now I don't care about price. I do have a plan for making my own wipes, should things come to that. However, combined with the open containers, we have enough wipes to last us about at least a year (if we use it sparingly).

I'll continue keeping an eye out for wipes though. I now know which stores to check and I have a few close friends who I know can use some. 

Well so much for not going to the 2nd store. You bet I was gonna look for more wipes...lol. No wipes or shelf space for it at the 2nd store though - very strange. However, I did another Dial bar soap transaction. $30 and 9 x 8ct packs later. I'm fully stocked for winter.

A funny story. When I went thrifting last week, I walked into the store at the same time as another woman. As we got to the carts, she put hand sanitizer on her hands and offered me some. I politely declined and told her that I have my own. Then I asked her if she wanted a wipe for her cart. The look on the woman's face when I hauled a tub of Clorox wipes out of my purse, was priceless. You'd think I took a gold bar out of my purse...lol. I guess wipes are seen that way these days. She was so grateful for it. Afterwards I wondered why she was sanitizing her hands before touching a dirty cart. Who knows. I'm not here to judge, especially since she was so nice to me. 

CVS

3 x 32 oz Dial b/w $21.00

Less BOGOF Dial Q (5.99) Max value is $5.99

Less Dial DQ (2.00)

Less $2/6 Irish Spring b/w DQ (2.00)

Less EBs (10.00)

Tax 1.14

OOP $2.15

Earned $7 EB and should get another $3 Beauty EB. So I spent $10 EB and earned $10 EB. 

I wasn't sure if the $2/2 Dial DQ would deduct, since I've already used the BOGOF Q and the digital was off 2 items.

The Irish Spring DQ was a surprise, because I didn't know that it would apply to ANY B/W. I'm so very happy about that. So glad the Softsoap b/w deal at WAGS last week ($2.50 after discounts) didn't appeal to me. I knew it's because I would find a better deal and whaddya know - $2.15 for 3 large bottles. I can't complain.

Nothing else at CVS appealed to me this week and I did zero WAGS shopping this week (shocker). 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm Dial & wipes wasted this week...lol

Homemade Buffalo Wild Wings

 When Buffalo Wild Wings opened here years ago, we frequented the place. Chicken is my preferred meat and we loved most of their sauces. Then the quality of the food went down and the prices went up, so we stopped going there. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I asked for some Ranch dressing on the side (I love to dip potato wedges in Ranch) and they charged us $1-2 for the tiny cup. That was it! No more BWW.

When I saw these bottles at Walmart a few weeks ago, I just had to have some. After all, Caribbean Jerk is the one I always ordered at BWW. So I marinaded the chicken tenders (that I got at Sams) in the sauce overnight, then baked it in the oven. 25 Minutes later, we had to most delicious, juiciest chicken tenders ever. That tenders turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it cooks so fast. That did it for me. This sauce is now one of the items I have to stockpile....lol

So this is what we did for dinner that night. Tenders, baked potato, baked beans, carrot/pineapple salad. It was so good that DH said he's gonna try the sauce on fish too. A week later, I cooked double the amount of tenders and made chicken sandwiches for ourselves with Romaine salad (I don't buy lettuce, cause it would just go to waste here), roasted red peppers, pineapple slices. We had that with potato salad. A sandwich like this would set you back at least $10 at BWW or other restaurants and you get no sides with it. So how much did it cost us?

Package of non GMO chicken at Sams (around 5 lbs) $10-12 (this is packaged in 4 individual bags.

Let's say I used half the chicken. That would give us a price of $5-6 (you only need 2 tenders per bun). I'm using the $6 price

8ct Buns $2.50

BWW Sauce $2.96

Can pineapple slices $0.92

Jar Roasted red peppers $1.98

Bag salad $2.98

Total cost to for 8 sandwiches = $17.34 or $2.17 per sandwich.

The best part is that we're getting good non GMO chicken. You can't find that in a restaurant, unless you pay a ridiculous price for it. 

Today we made chicken wraps with the leftover tenders for lunch. I now just freeze the leftover cooked chicken and nuke it when we need some. Soooo good!

Tonight I'm gonna try to make Taco Bell crunchwrap supreme.

I'm gonna try to make all kinds of restaurant foods at home. We're sick of getting carry out. Not only is it safer & cheaper to make our own, but it tastes way better too.

Warning: If you don't like Hot or Spicy food, stay away from these sauces. 

This week's stockpiling highlights

I'm only posting some stockpiling highlights, as I'm recovering from a cold and didn't have the energy to set everything up for pictures. I spent the better part of the weekend in bed and didn't even get the paper on Sunday. So bummed, because I wanted those BOGOF Dial Qs. So off to Walmart I went on Monday, because I know they still sell the Sunday paper on Mondays. I first stopped at Dollar Tree next door. They had papers, but no inserts. ugh.

While at Walmart, I decided to just do grocery shopping on the fly. As I walked into the store, I saw a man with what looked like disinfecting wipes in his cart. It was under other groceries and I could just make out the top part. So I hightailed it to the cleaning section and found empty shelves :( I'm guessing I was wrong, because I didn't see anyone else with wipes). I did go to the Beauty section though to see if they had any Wet Ones. I had a 'be still my heart' moment when I spotted these babies. It's only the 20ct packs, but I was so very happy to see these again (I forgot to check RA last week). So I took 2 packs and placed it in my cart. Then I thought 'there's no limit', so I went back and got another one...lol I do still have 2 tubs of Wet Ones (I always keep these in my car for when I go thrifting or to yard sales), but decided to get more since we don't know how long shortages will last. 

I also bought 2 more cooking spray. I don't know why I bought more. I had that exact same thought when I bought Softsoap refills last year. The refills were on sale for $1.99, so I bought 3, used $5 points and paid $1.06 for 3 bottles. I remember thinking 'why on earth am I buying more soap when we still have a new refill bottle at home (I know that one bottle lasts us a year).... and then Covid happened. So I'm just trusting my instincts on this. 

Walmart had zero canned peas. Yikes. I've been shopping at a different Walmart (a few miles further from home), because DH said that our local Walmart is near a hotspot area (this was when the pandemic started). But since I was out that way, I decided to just stop there. I also couldn't find any molasses. I remembered that I need molasses for my ginger(bread) cookies. I'll have to check Meijer. I did find more of those Libby's pumpkin pie filling cans, so picked up another one. No regular canned pumpkin though.

Still no yeast to be found at any Walmarts, but DH found some at Aldi. I'm thankful that we have a good yeast supply now. 

If you love baking over the holidays, then I'll advise you to stock up now. It's scary to see how empty shelves are. What if there's another lockdown? Things will look even worse then. 

I was very happy to see store brand chickpeas. I got 6 cans, but when I got to checkout I noticed that one was dented, so I left it behind. 

I also stopped at the produce market. As I walked into the store, I saw these blueberry boxes for $2! Whoo-hoo! I'm a berry girl, but blueberries are my absolute favorite. DH knows to bring blueberries when he finds it at a good price. It doesn't matter if we already have blueberries at home. He knows I love this stuff. There were 8 x 18 oz containers per box (DH already took one package to eat when I got home). I really wanted another box, but the rest were in poor shape. 

Let me tell you that cleaning these suckers is no small task. Well separating the good from the bad is the hard part. I got that done yesterday. I filled 2 gallon size bags and froze them. So happy to have some berries for winter. I love them in smoothies.

I also bought a huge bag of red peppers for $8.xx. There were 15 peppers in the bag. Another favorite of ours. Today I'll clean, dice and freeze those.

I overspent our weekly budget by $10, but that always happens when I go to the produce market. I go every 3-4 weeks and fill my cart.

I still need to head to Meijer & CVS for Dial deals. Meijer has the spend $12 get $3 discount again, so I'll pick up bar soap. I'll get b/w at CVS, since the price is better than Softsoap.

I'm so glad I did all the shopping and cooking on Monday, because I couldn't keep my eyes open yesterday. I needed to run some errands and just plopped down on the couch when I got home. Thankfully I'm feeling better today, so I can get some stuff done. 

This week's Walmart stockpiling trip

Well so much for my $20-30 a week stockpiling. Reading about European countries shutting down again, gives me more of a sense of urgency to get our stockpiling completely done. 

Here's what I got at Walmart.

3 x Bush's baked beans $5.94

2 x Organic chickpeas 1.84

3 x Rotel 3.94

5 x Peas 2.20

3 x Black beans 1.74

4 x Mixed vegetables 2.32

5 x Green Beans 2.20

3 x Beef broth 1.50

4 x Tomato paste 1.68

4 x Mushrooms 2.28

3 x Pineapple 2.76

1 x Peaches 0.96

1 x Salsa 2.98

1 x Pesto 3.98

1 x Large oatmeal 2.46

2 x Whole wheat pasta 2.56

3 x 2pk Boxed potatoes 6.75

2 x 1lb Lentils 1.96

Total $50.05

We normally eat mainly fresh and some frozen produce, but I've decided to get canned because we don't know how bad things will get this winter. That's why I've decided to add mixed vegetables, canned mushrooms and box potatoes.I'm not really crazy about box potatoes, but I'll eat it if fresh isn't available. This pandemic has taught us to set our pickiness aside and make the most of what we have available.

I've been buying bigger jars of salsa & pesto, because it costs less than buying 2 smaller jars. 

I won't be buying more oatmeal, because we still have 2 large Quaker canisters in the pantry. We mainly eat cereal and oatmeal is mostly used for baking.

I'm hoping that Meijer will have a good Prego pasta sauce sale again, because I'm running low. I can't see myself paying $2 a jar, when I know that they usually run a 99c (or was it 75c) sale. I normally buy enough sauce for a year. I also need to add lasagna to my stockpile list.

I wanted more brown rice, but they didn't have any 2 lb bags. These cost less than buying the 1 lb bags. It's not a problem, because I already have 14 lbs stockpiled. In my culture, we eat a lot of rice, so I have to keep that on hand.

DH has been picking up dried pinto beans and vinegar at Aldi every week. We make our own refried beans. We no longer enjoy canned refried beans, since we started making our own. There's such a huge difference in taste and we know exactly what ingredients are in it. 

Do you make any of your own food items, instead of buying it? Please feel free to share your recipe(s)

We're in decent shape now. Not much more I need to stockpile. I have a number in my head for select canned goods. We love peas & baked beans, so those are 2 things we need lots of. Boy I'll be glad when this stockpiling business is done. It's stressful having to plan for it, but it will give me peace of mind knowing that we're well provided for. 

It's laundry week at WAGS

Wags has an awesome sale on Purex & Snuggle this week. Buy 2 @ $2.99 get $4 BR points. This makes each item 99c each. 

Even better if you have points to pay with. If you don't have any points, just pay for your first transaction and then roll your points into the next transaction. Rinse & repeat.

The best part though is that there are NO limits. I'm not buying anymore this week, because I already have 25 bottles of detergent in my stockpile (please don't judge. I use detergent for business purposes too). I'll stock up on Snuggle liquid if I can find it though. It's my favorite fabric softener.

I hit up 3 stores (did my shopping in 40 minutes, since the stores are all near my home) 

Store 1

4 x Purex $11.96

4 x Snuggle softener 11.96

Less Snuggle q (1.00)

Less BR Points (20.00)

Tax 1.44

OOP $4.36

Earn $16 BR Points. 

Store 2

4 x Purex 11.96

4 x Snuggle dryer sheets 11.96

Less BR Points (20.00)

Tax 1.44

OOP $5.36

Earn $16 BR Points 

Store 3

8 x Purex $23.92

Less BR Points (20.00)

Tax 1.44

OOP $5.36

Earn $16 BR Points 

I only had 1 Snuggle q left from the last sale. The Q expires today, that's why I decided to shop today.

Store 2 only had Snuggle sheets. I would've preferred the liquid.

Store 3. Someone had cleared the shelves of all things Snuggle....grrrr

I started out with $52 Points and ended with $40 Points. So I spent down $12 Points

Total OOP $15.08 for 24 items. That makes it $0.63 each

Retail value : $151.76

I've never seen the Snuggle this cheap and haven't seen 99c detergent since the pandemic started, so get yours while you can.

Quick CVS trip

Nothing really tickled my fancy in this week's CVS ad, but I wanted to use my $7 Loreal moisturiser DQ that expired today.  The ad says that a mystery Loreal CRT would print, but it turned out to be for cosmetics, not facial care. I sure wish that CVS would send me an any Loreal moisturiser DQ, because I prefer the Revitalift over this. However, I won't say no to free moisturiser. I only had one PG insert to work with, that's why I didn't use 3 Gillette qs. Turns out I didn't need it after all. 

1 x Loreal age perfect moisturiser $19.49

2 x Loreal makeup remover wipes 11.98

2 x Venus razors 15.98

1 x Gillette razors 7.99

Less Venus Q (4.00)

Less Gillette Q (4.00)

Less $3 off Gillette razor CRT (3.00)

Less 5/20 Shave DQ (5.00)

Less Loreal DQ (7.00)

Less 5/22 facial care DQ (5.00)

Less EBs (27.44)

Tax 1.59

OOP $1.59

Earned $18 EB ($10 Loreal, $8 Gillette/Venus) and should get $3 Beauty. 

I ended up with a $6 Beauty EB from last week (not $3 as I thought). I used $27.50 EBs, but the register adjusted it by 6c, because my OOP (before tax) was $0.

OOP $1.59

Coupons used : $28.00

Rewards used : $27.50

Retail value : $65.50

I'm so excited to see that my CVS now has self checkout. I'm gonna try it next time I shop. I love self checkout, because I have complete control over my transaction. I can see which coupons have deducted (without keeping a cashier waiting) and also see if I need to add a filler item or another EB.

I'm done with shopping for this week.

WAGS fun & another big stockpile trip

I know, I know. I said that I'm only gonna spend about $20-30 per week on groceries, but after visiting the stores this weekend, I decided to do another big stock up. I started reorganizing my stockpile last week (it's still a work in progress) & have a better idea of what I still needed. I apologize for the lack of pics, but by the time I've unpacked and wiped down everything, I'm too tired to still think of pics.

When I was out on Sunday, I stopped at Meijer to get newspapers & blueberries. The store didn't have the main paper & the other paper only had the SS insert. Grrr. I did get my blueberries & 4 more strips of yeast. I noticed that they had limits on peanut butter and canned pumpkin was non-existent. 

Then I went to another Meijer and they had the main paper. Except, no PG insert. Ugh. It's a mystery as to why we never got PG inserts this week. Thankfully I got a PG insert in the mail. Same story with PB & pumpkin and their yeast was limit 1, so I grabbed one strip. No use passing it up.

On Monday I headed to Walmart for a few produce items and eggs. I decided to make a list of things to stockpile, because shortages seem to be getting worse every week. I keep seeing more items added to the shortage list - not good. I normally buy 1 or 2 cans of baked beans, but decided to be bold and just grab 4. I figured if I keep buying 1 at a time, I'm gonna end up seeing beans shortages at some stage too. We love our Busch's baked beans. 

The canned goods aisle was half empty. This was a shock to me. I've switched my shopping day from Sunday to Monday, to give them time to restock the shelves. Usually they're pretty well stocked, so I was shocked to see so little goods. I grabbed what was on my list. Their store brand chickpeas (another favorite of ours) has been OOS for almost a month, so I picked up some of their store brand organic ones. It's actually still a few cents less than the regular name brand chickpeas. So organic wins the day.

The baking aisle had no yeast and I searched high and low for pumpkin. I eventually found it on a bottom shelf at the end of the aisle. There wasn't much, but I grabbed 3 cans and also a ready made pumpkin pie mix. Just add eggs and evaporate milk. I tried making a pumpkin pie once and it was a flop (I guess it didn't bake long enough, because the filling was still loose), so I've been buying pies ever since DMIL passed away (she used to bake our pies). Now I'm a good baker, so I was disappointed when my pie flopped. I'm not taking chances this year. If Sams doesn't have pumpkin pie, then I at least have the filling all ready in a can. Easy peasy...lol

I also found store brand EVOO cooking spray. I bought 3 cans. I wasn't out, but I figured I'd get some more. I opened a 2pk Pam spray last week, so we're still in good shape

Now I'm basically stocked up on Thanksgiving food. We don't care for cranberry sauce or even turkey and stuffing (I've never liked stuffing). So we get seafood and other meat (for me) and add all the other sides. The most important part of the meal (for me) is the pumpkin pie...lol

I cashed out for another $25 Walmart gc on Ibotta. Then I headed to Sams with $75 gcs. They had lots of t/p & p/t, but no Dunkin Donuts coffee, DS's juice was out (I got the last one and the shelf space has been filled with a different brand). I bought another pack of store brand tissues. I wanted to get 2, because I want to donate one. However, there were only 4 packs on the shelf and I didn't want to deprive someone else of getting some. I can always buy another pack next time.  I also got a 2pk PB (we don't like any other brand). These jars are huge and we still have one unopened jar in the pantry.

They were once again out of my non GMO chicken breast. There were only thigh meat & tenders, so I got 2 packs of tenders. 

I stocked up on the rest of my baking supplies - baking powder, vanilla extract, raisins and I found more cooking spray. Turns out the Sams brand EVOO spray cost more than Walmart. Huh? Isn't Sams supposed to be cheaper, since we're paying for a membership? I did buy a pack, but will pick some up at Walmart again. At Walmart I paid 26c/oz and the Pam Spray at Sams costs 29c/oz. I know that most people will just buy Pam, because the bottles are bigger (12 oz vs 7 oz store brand). I always calculate the unit cost to see which is the better price. I use the spray for cooking & baking. 

I feel a whole lot better about my stockpile now. I can finally say that we're in good shape. Now I can really focus on that $20-30 per week stockpiling, because I just need to fill in the gaps. The problem I have is not knowing how long shortages will last or whether Covid will be worse or better during winter. 

So DH has started with the stockpiling crap again. He's not complaining per se, but making comments about it. Looks like he hasn't learned from the pandemic after all. He's been bragging about how Aldi's fully stocked. I told him it's because most people shop at the big grocery stores (especially since Aldi doesn't carry half the stuff that they do). Our Meijer is like a super Walmart. It has everything under the sun. Actually Meijer is better than Walmart, because it carries a much larger variety of items and brands. We have all stores right on our doorstep, so why would people go to Aldi, except to fill in the gaps. Anyhoo, after some back & forth with him, I told him to not listen to me. That we can take up this conversation again in a few months (boy is he gonna regret it...lol). Immediately after the conversation, he went into the pantry to get a bottle of his favorite juice....smdh. I told him to leave the juice alone and go buy some at Aldi....lol, since he's so anti stockpiling (hoarding he calls it. As if we don't use any of the stuff). So I've decided to teach him a lesson. I know that Aldi doesn't carry this juice. It's the only thing he'll drink, because of the low sugar. I've been picking up a few bottles at Dollar Tree every week. Well, I'm just not gonna buy anymore. He drinks at least 2 bottles per week. So when it's gone, he can go see if his beloved Aldi has it....lol (we all know he's not gonna find any...lol). Then he can do the running around to find his favorite juice (better hope things don't get worse here again, cause flu season will be here too). No, I'm not being mean. Sometimes you just have to teach them a lesson, so that they can truly appreciate what you do.

I wasn't planning on going to WAGS this week, but read about the inexpensive Scott p/t deal. 

Trans 1 (DH account)

2 x Scott p/t $10.00

3 x Robitussin 6.57

1 x Kit Kat 0.99

Less Scott DQ (2.00)

Less Scott IVC (2.50)

Less Robitussin IVC (6.57)

Less BR Points (5.00)

Tax 0.99

OOP $2.48

Earned $5 BR Points. 

DH had a earn $5 BR WYS $1 DQ. I added the candy, because I knew that my total would be 50c after using BR to pay.

The Robitussin is clearanced to $2.19 (check your stores). There's a $3 IVC. The cashier told me that I cannot use the q, because it's higher than the cost of the item. She told me that she'll try the kids one (which I knew wouldn't attach, because it's for a 2pk). I very nicely asked her to just try scanning the $3 one, so she did & voila, it deducted the full value off each item. All the while I was thinking 'girl please, I know that q works. I've got the inside scoop'....lol

To save yourself the same headache, go clip the IVC to your card. I should've done that instead, but didn't check our accounts first. The q will automatically deduct and you'll just have to pay tax on the medicine. 

Trans 2 (my account)

2 x Scott p/t $10.00

Less Scott DQ (2.00)

Less IVC (2.50)

Less BR Points (5.00)

Tax 0.60

OOP $1.10

I don't use much p/t, but am saving this in case DH ever runs out....shhhhh (I didn't tell him this...lol)

That's been my shopping week. I feel like this stockpiling has been consuming my life. I'm happy to basically be done with it. All I need to do is make a CVS run. I don't even have a game plan yet, except for the Loreal moisturizer deal.

Ibotta double dip bonus

Last week Ibotta had 2 bonus deals that overlapped. I wasn't planning on going shopping, but after reading about Sluggy's purchase I decided to take my behind to Walmart

1 x Sweet Earth Burrito $2.78
1 x Ritz chips 2.57
1 x OEP cheese 2.68
1 x Cracker barrel cheese block 3.18
1 x Butterfinger 0.88
1 x Cottage cheese 2.08
1 x Kind nut clusters 3.96
1 x Laughing cow cheese wedges 2.87
1 x Feta cheese 3.96
1 x Chobani 4pk 3.96
2 x Oui yogurts 2.68
2 x Stayfree 5.56
Tax 0.33
OOP $37.49

Earned $21.08 Ibotta (this includes the $5 Bonus & 50c July bonus)

The nut clusters and Oui were all free after rebate, so I bought the max amount of 2 Oui.

Dollar Tree

1 x Sour Patch pops $1.00
Earned 0.75 Ibotta

The above items counted towards both the $5 & $10 bonuses. However, I still needed 2 items to complete the $10 one.

WAGS

2 x Pringles $2.13 (this was my OOP at WAGS on Monday)

2 x Bic Razors $10.18
Less 2 Bic Qs (6.00)
Tax : 0.62
OOP $4.80

This was the cluster transaction, so I'm just giving you the totals as if it was a perfect transaction. I know it cost me less, but I'm not in the mood for crazy WAGS math...lol

Earned $16.30 ($6 Bic, $0.30 Pringles, $10 bonus)

Total OOP :  $45.42
Total earned : $38.13
Total cost after rewards : $7.29
Total items purchased : 19

There's lots of dairy, but we don't mind. It's our favorite.

On another note. I learned that Aldi carries Gouda cheese, so off I went to get Gouda slices and shreds, because my Sams no longer carries it. What a disappointment that cheese was. I grew up eating Gouda. It was as common as cheddar to me, so I was happy to see it finally become popular here. I'll have to check other Sams locations to see if I can find it there.

I realised that the $4 RR the cashier gave back to me, expires tomorrow. So while we were out today, I decided to stop at a WAGS. Boy I'm a real sucker for punishment....lol. I used it on DH's account, since RRs aren't account specific

2 x Tide $9.98
1 x Tide pods 4.99
5 x Oral b t/b $5.00
1 x Oral b t/b 3.99
3 x Oral b t/b B2G1F 0.00
Less Tide DQ (2.00)
Less Oral B DQ (7.00)
Less RR (4.00)
Tax 1.44
OOP $10.96

No Tide RR printed, so the manager added $5 points to DH's account. Then as I left, I saw that his Pods DQ didn't deduct. Contacted CS when I got home and they added $2 points. DH is now the proud owner of $7 points and he doesn't even know it...lol

My plan was to buy 10 of the $1 t/brushes, so the $7 could attach. However, the store only had 9, so I grabbed the $3.99 one instead.

Not too bad a trip, since that $4 RR was free and DH had zero points to begin with.

I don't know what is going on at WAGS. I've been to several different locations and only 2 of them were able to print RRs. Something strange is going on. I'm guessing it's a Catalina problem, because the machines are all turned on, but not printing anything.

I don't see anything good at WAGS next week, so I'm hoping to take a break. I'll hit up CVS and check what's good at RA.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend.

CVS & the Cluster called WAGS

Boy WAGS sure knows how to try my patience. I was so looking forward to the Tide deal, but after today's fiasco I might not go back to do another round.

Trans 1 (this was done on Monday at a store a little further from home)

2 x Tide $9.98
1 x Tide pods 4.99
2 x Pringles wavy 3.00
Less Tide Q (2.00)
Less Tide DQ (2.00)
Less Tide Pods DQ (2.00)
Less BR Points (10.00)
Tax 0.90
OOP $2.13

Earned $5 RR (Tide) + 30c Pringles (Ibotta)

I added the Pringles to get my total to at least $10 and I also needed it for the Ibotta bonus deal (will post that tomorrow)

Trans 2 (today - another different store. There's lots of drugstores around here)

1 x Maybelline mascara $7.79
1 x Maybelline mascara B1G2nd 50% off  3.89
1 x Bic razor 6.79
1 x Bic razor B1G2nd 50% off 3.39
2 x Chobani yogurt 2.00
Less Bic Q (3.00)
Less Maybelline DQ (10.00)
Less RR (5.00)
Less RR (4.00)
Tax 1.86
OOP $3.17

On Monday I received a $6 WYS $30 CAT after doing the Tide deal. I also have a $5 WYS $20 DQ. I know that these will sometimes double dip, so I figured I'd try it. Besides, I had a $10 Maybelline DQ that was expiring soon too. So the cashier hands me back the $6 CAT and says I didn't reach the threshold (this was after all coupons had deducted, so I couldn't see my pre-coupon total. I especially added the Chobani so I could get my total to $30. I told her that I'd just contact CS. So I moved the Tide to do a separate transaction and see the Revlon items hidden behind the Tide (that was supposed to be part of the $30 spend transaction) . Ugh, my own stupidity. So I asked her if she could void the transaction and add the Revlon. Cashier was really nice and said yes and there was a line forming behind me. I told her to ring up the other customers first.

I also asked her if the CAT machine works, because I didn't get my $5 Tide RR. She showed me that it's turned on, but nothing printed.

So she voids the transaction then rerings everything, including the Revlon. I also added a huge Kit Kat for her, because she was super nice and patient. This was MY fault after all.


1 x Maybelline mascara $7.79
1 x Maybelline mascara B1G2nd 50% off  3.89
1 x Bic razor 6.79
1 x Bic razor B1G2nd 50% off 3.39
2 x Chobani yogurt 2.00
2 x Revlon tweezers 6.98
Less Bic Q (3.00)
Less Maybelline DQ (2.00)
Tax 0.42
OOP $4.19

So she hands me back the $4 RR & I'm thinking that it's because RRs don't apply to tax & my total before tax was $3.77. Now that I'm home and have studied my receipt, I realised that when I did the return the register automatically refunded all my previous coupons and RRs (it doesn't show on the receipt. The return and new transaction was printed on one receipt, so it's hard to figure things out). So she should just have kept the RR. Also since the register refunded my $10 Maybelline DQ, it automatically applied my other $2 Maybelline DQ. The cashier also scanned my $3 BIC Q again. Are you confused yet, cause my head is spinning from WAGS math.

My $5 Revlon CAT didn't print.

Earned $11 BR Points + $6.50 Ibotta ($6 Bic, $0.50 Chobani)

I paid $7.36 OOP for this transaction and earned back $22.50 (including Revlon)

Trans 3 (today)

2 x Tide $9.98
1 x Tide Pods 4.99
Less Tide Q (2.00)
Less Tide Pods Q (2.00)
Less BR points (10.00)
Tax 0.90
OOP $1.87

Was supposed to get $5 RR, but nothing printed.

So when I got home, I contacted CS. They told me to contact Catalina about the RRs. I said No way! It's not my fault their machines don't work in half their stores. So they issued me $10 BR Points for the missing RRs. If it wasn't for CVS working well, I would've been really pissed today (excuse the bad language).

I set up a WAGS account for DH so we could get more Tide DQs, but I'm not so sure I'll go do another deal. WAGS wore me out today.

CVS 

I hit CVS before WAGS, so I was on a high by the time I got to WAGS

2 x Head & Shoulder $12.00
2 x Pantene hair spray 10.00
1 x Pantene mist 5.00
2 x Tresemme 10.00
3 x Schick razors 17.97
Less Tresemme Q (4.00)
Less 2 Schick Qs (8.00)
Less Schick DQ (4.00)
Less H&S DQ (3.00)
Less Pantene DQ (5.00)
Less 4/18 Hair care (4.00)
Less 4/18 Hair care (4.00)
Less Tresemme CRT (2.00)
Less H&S App Q (1.50)
Less H&S App Q (0.50)
Less EBs (18.97)
Tax 2.16
OOP $2.16

Earned $7 EB ($5 Schick, $2 Tresemme)

I had $20 EBs, but the store was out of Tide Pods (my last item to complete the spend deal with Pantene & H&S), so the register reduced the amount because my total was $0 before tax

Trans 2 (different store)

Tide Pods 4.94
Less Pods DQ (2.00)
Tax 0.30
OOP $3.24

I still have a $4.50 EB from last week, but I didn't want to lose another $1.50 when it gets adjusted down, so I just paid cash

Earned $10 EB (Spend $30 get $10)

Should also get $3 Beauty EB

You'll notice that I post drugstore deals later in the week. That's because I print or add my digital coupons later. It's good for 7 days from the date it's printed or sent to card. They issue new DQs on Sunday, so you can double dip 2 week's worth of DQS/CRTs in one transaction (like I did with the hair care one)

DQ and CRT is the same thing. Well for the most part. If you don't send your digitals to your card, then it will print the next time you visit the coupon machine (CRT). If the machine doesn't work, then it will print on your store receipt (hence the name Cash Register Tape).

To recap CVS

OOP : $5.40
Earned : $20 EB (including beauty)

So here's my drugstore totals for the week.

Total OOP : $16.76
Total Rewards used : $43.97
Total Earned (rewards + cash back) : $52.80
Total Coupons used : $64.00
Retail value : $167.54
Number of items purchased : 26

Will submit all my receipts to PG. I have enough for another $5 gc.

For those of you who coupon, do you cringe when you see the actual retail price? I always get sticker shock, because I just can't believe how expensive things really are at the drugstores. DH is one of those people who would just go pay full price, because they want to be in & out of the store in no time. Silly man. He's learned to ask me first if we have an item, before just running out to pay those rip off drugstore prices.