Ibotta double dip bonus & more

It's been months since I did any Ibotta deals. I needed to get milk & mayo at Walmart and figured I'd check Ibotta, since I don't have to worry about stockpiling anymore. I had a $10 WYB 15 and $5 WYB 15 midweek bonus. That would mean an extra $1 bonus cash per item. Made my list with extra items (in case store was OOS on some) and headed to the store. 

1 x Muellers pasta $1.52

1 x Ortega mini taco shells 2.48

1 x Sargento creamery cheese 2.70

1 x Sargento shreds 3.12

1 x Breakstone doubles 1.06

1 x Butterfinger 0.88

1 x Snickers 1.48

1 x Kraft mayo 3.48

1 x Kraft dressing 1.78

1 x Mushroom soup 0.57

1 x Gallon milk 3.07

1 x Just crack egg 2.98 Free after offer

1 x Kraft parmesan cheese 2.98

OOP $28.10 Paid with a gc

Earned $8.63 Ibotta

Ugh, the wifi never works well at Walmart and I couldn't find enough items to complete my bonus offer. Of course I couldn't check for alternatives, because I couldn't get a connection. So I stopped at RA on my way home, to add 2 more items (no easy task, cause I didn't want to spend much OOP)

1 x Stayfree pads 4.29

1 x Baby ruth 0.88

Tax 0.26

OOP $5.43

Earned $2.25 Ibotta ($2 Stayfree, $0.25 Baby Ruth) + $15 bonus

Total cost : $33.53

Total OOP : $5.43

Total earned : $25.88

Several items were MMs after bonus rewards, that helped offset the cost of the other higher priced items. Without the gc, my total cost for the items would be $7.65 after earning rewards. Not too bad, since the milk and mayo that I needed, almost costs as much. However, I only spend $5.43 OOP and I redeemed my earning for a $25 Walmart gc. I still had an old $7 balance on Ibotta from months ago. I might roll that new gc into new Ibotta deals or just use it to buy groceries. There's not much that we need so I'll hold onto it for now. 

In other news. I made Sams rich this month. I stocked up on meat. Boy was I shocked by the meat prices. It's almost as if we are living in a bad dream. I've had a hard time finding Pringles snack packs and plain greek yogurt at Sams. There were only 2 Pringles boxes available on my last trip to Sams, so I grabbed one. When I talked to my girlfriends about it afterwards, it dawned on me that I should've just bought both boxes. I left the other box in case someone else needs it too. Sometimes I'm just too nice for my own good :)

The juice aisle has been empty for some time. My friend said the Kroger juice aisles look the same (I haven't been to Kroger in a while). So I checked Costco for DS's juice, but unlike Sams, it doesn't tell you if your local stores have inventory or not. I planned on going to Costco this week, but then I figured that if Sams & Kroger don't have juice, chances are that Costco won't have either. So I decided to order the juice online (weird that Sams has it available online). Shipping for one case was $6 & $8 for 2 cases. So I decided to check the shipping cost if I added my decaf Dunkin. So I added one container and the shipping changed to $7...lol What on earth?! Crazy Sam's math. Then I added another DD and shipping was $8 for 2 juice & 2 coffee (scratching my head) I really should type blog posts on my laptop, so I can add emojis. I just went ahead and ordered the 4 items. Shipping was the same price as me just ordering the juice. This was a small price to pay for convenience and my items are arriving tomorrow. 

I also stopped at Ollie's last week. I wanted to get more nuts and cranberries. Just before I left, I received a notification for 15% off at Ollies. Whoo-hoo! Say no more. I now have more than enough nuts/raisins/cranberries for baking and trail mix. I also picked up 3 books, so I was very happy. I've been waiting for a long time for them to add books from my favorite authors. Then yesterday, Ollie's sent another 15% off q that's good through next month. Oy, that place will make me broke.

I also found my mint chocolate chips and caramel for holiday baking, so I'm all set. I'm ready to try new recipes. I've already made gingerbread muffins and the guys declared it a winner. I'm beginning to think that they'll rave about all the treats just so that I can bake for them every week. 

I'm reading the news every day and the supply chain issue complaints are now getting out of hand. I agree, the government totally dropped the ball on this one. The prices of everything have skyrocketed, it's crazy. However, we've had fair warning about shortages when the pandemic started a year ago. 

I'm seeing people talk about having to go shopping almost every day just to find the items they need. Now this is nuts to me. Even if you aren't a couponer or stockpiler, you should've learned from panic buying last year. That should've taught people to be a little more prepared in case we got any 2nd, 3rd of 4th waves. I'm not saying they should've gone crazy with stockpiling. Just add little bits of things you use regularly, every time you go shopping. That's what most of us have been doing.

I've seen new moms complaining about the cost of diapers and how they're in short supply. Huh? Diapers have always been expensive. Here's my story. I was a single parent. DH's father has (to this day) not contributed a single penny towards his well being. Not only was I a single parent with no child support, I also financially supported our family of 6 (including myself & DS). Back then, we didn't have any coupons or reward programs in South Africa. However, I stocked up on all kinds of things before DS was born. After he was born, I used to stock up on diapers every time the grocery store had a sale. My colleagues used to joke about it, but it helped save me money in the long run and DS's needs were more than met. I did all this on my own, with no financial assistance from anyone. 

When one of my close friends here told me she's pregnant, I stocked up on diapers for her. Her husband didn't always work, so I decided to help her out. Back then Rite Aid had a $1 Q inside their 2pk store brand diapers. I would go to RA all week long (sometimes hit up multiple RA stores in one day) to roll those qs & stock up on diapers. I also used rewards to buy her Pampers & Huggies (whichever was on sale). Before she gave birth, I dropped of 2 large black trash bags full of RA diapers and lots of bigger Huggies/Pampers packs at her house. We actually met through couponing and became great friends. She too, had been stocking up on diapers & other baby things before she gave birth. We were always a good shopping team. We'd help each other out on all kinds of deals & steals. 

When I was a child, my parents didn't have fancy jobs that made a lot of money (no thanks for apartheid). However, my mother always stockpiled. I guess I learned it from her. She'd pay all the bills first (she hated debt), then save little bits every week towards the long summer vacation in December/January. Our seasons are opposite to the US and most businesses close over the holiday season. Everyone's on summer vacation for 4-6 weeks. She would buy little bits of non-perishables every time there was a good sale. My mother also bought meat stamps from the local butcher every week and in November, she would go buy a whole or half sheep and/or beef, because we had lots of parties & bbqs over the holidays. We saw our large family almost every day of the holidays, so you had to have food available. Despite just being simple middle class, my parents always provided and make sure that we had more than enough.

So it blows my mind when people complain about not being prepared and then blaming everyone and their mother for it. Even the Bible teaches us to prepare for lean times.  I do understand that there's those who struggle to make ends meet. Trust me, my family has been in that boat before, but somehow my parents always made it work. 

Maybe I'm being too hard on people. Maybe, it's because I'm a planner and like to have all my ducks in a row. 

Now I want people to understand that I'm not here just judging everyone, because we're in a position to plan & stock up for the future. I do a heck of a lot of giving. I just don't talk about it. As mentioned before, I'm extremely private. But when I see a need, I'm always there to help. I would give someone the shirt off my back if I have to. That's just who I am. 

I just wish that we could all get through this mess and get back to a normal life. I want everyone to be healthy, have jobs, have food on their tables and roofs over their heads. If our basic needs are met & we have family who love us and who we love, then we are far more blessed than we can begin to imagine. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!