Friday, October 20, 2023

This week's odds & ends

Hi everyone

Please excuse the spacing. I don't know why blogger spacing is so weird in the bottom half of this post. 

I can't believe it's weekend again. This week sure flew by!! 

Not much to report. I've done a bit of shopping, because rewards & Qs needed to be used. I also did more cooking. I made BBQ chicken breast & frikkadel for the freezer and some more applesauce. 

  • Kohls sent me a 40% off Q last weekend (perfect timing), so I bought DS some new sweatpants, a Ninja juicer (I've wanted a new juicer for a long time and I love Ninja products), 13" Pyrex dish. Paid with those RA gcs and earned $30 KC. Well, the Pyrex dish was just dumped into the box with all the other items (excl juicer) - no bubble wrap or any other protection 🤦 Surprisingly, the dish arrived in perfect condition, but the lid was cracked/damaged on one end, so it won't seal. So I went online and they have Live Chat. Hooray! You are number 49 in line. A rep will be with you in about 20-30 minutes. Not Hooray! 😠 I don't have time to wait in line.  Then I forgot to contact them. So I need to try again. 

    I used the KC to purchase a bunch of clearance items (at extra 50% off) to resell. That should add another $90 to my pocket. So here's the breakdown.

    Paid $150 OOP for the gc (I only used $150 at Kohls)
    Earned - $30 BC at RA
    Earned - $4.50 CC (3% cash back)
    Earned $30 KC that I will turn into $90, so $90 earned
    Earned $5 monthly KC
    Total earned : $129.50

    Total cost for all my items after earnings = $21.50. Not a bad deal for a new Ninja juicer 😊

  • Purchased a new top with my WHBM rewards. Total cost : $0.00

    I've just been adding new clothes to my storage containers as they arrive. About 80% of my clothes have been packed for months and I haven't worn anything new this year, except when I went to the fair. I decided to wear a brand new outfit from my hat right down to my shoes. 

  • Pre-ordered a Christmas gift for DS and paid with a gc. I don't usually pre-order things, but I'm afraid this item might sell out since it's in demand. The pre-orders were already sold out at one retailer. 

  • Redeemed a $20 Ibotta gc that I used at Sams. 

  • Kroger finally had the Mission tortilla chips (my preferred brand) on sale. I've been waiting for this, because I'm out of chips. I did the following deal

    5 x chips $9.95
    1 Doz eggs 1.29
    Oscar Mayer smokies 3.29
    Less eggs mailer Q (0.50)
    Less OM mailer Q free  (3.29)
    Less KC (4.25) I forgot I had this on my account
    OOP $6.49

Target had $10/40 Beauty Q for Circle users. I really needed bar soap, but nobody seems to have had a good sale on it for weeks. So I decided to put a deal together that would give me the best bang for my buck (and wait for a better deal on the soap). Of course, I had to get Old Spice. The drugstores usually just stock one or 2 bottles and Target only had 5 on the shelf. So yeah, I'm stocking up whenever I see the Captain ones.

 

12 pk Bar soap $9.49 (sorry, I already opened and packed it away when I took pic)

2 x OS b/w 14.78

2 x OS deodorant 11.98

1 x 750 ct Qtips 5.39

Less 10/40 (10.00)

Tax 1.90

OOP $33.54 - Paid with a gc so $0 OOP

Earned $10 Ibotta ($5 b/w, $5 deodorant) and submitted to P&G for points


I wasn't in the mood for drugstore shopping this week. I think I'm burned out from drugstore shopping. First RA sent me a mailer that arrived on the day that the $10/40 Q they included, expired. Grrr. I don't know why the Qs arrived so late this month. Then I received an email with 10/40 Birthday Q, so I decided to complete 2 more BC Challenges. I needed to spend another $6 on Colgate, but RA also has a $10 BC WYS $50 this week. No need to not go big! None of the items were needed, but I might as well take the free stuff. 

4 x Colgate $15.96

6 x Scunci elastics 21.54

1 x Joint Flex 19.99

Less Colgate DQ (4.00)

Less 10/40 Q (10.00)

Tax 2.85

OOP $46.34 Paid with BC, so $0 OOP

Earned $36 BC ($10 WYS $50, $10 Joint Flex, $10 Scunci, $6 Colgate)

Earned $11 BCC ($5.10 Colgate, $5.30 Scunci). RA rounds it to the nearest $, so I'll earn $11

Total earned $47.00 So a teensie MM. I thought I had 2 Colgate DQs. I was seeing double, because their site seems to show you the same Qs over and over as you scroll, but there are no extra Qs. Oh well, it was still a MM deal. 

I just read that my local RA is closing (This is the one where the manager refused to scan my Q). I'm not surprised. It's across the street from a CVS that's in a strip with other busy stores. RA is always empty, whereas CVS gets lots of traffic, due to it's location. I feel bad for the employees though. I hope they get transferred to other locations. On another note. I need to keep checking this store for good store closing sales. 

Stopped at Aldi for mainly bread & bagels. I bought 3 packages of the harvest bagels, because I know this item is hit & miss (expires 11/28, but it won't last longer than 2 weeks with both DS & myself eating it). They only had 3 Harvest ones and tons of Cinnamon raisin, blueberry & pumpkin. The blueberry has a weird taste (fake) so I stay away from that. The pumpkin is underwhelming (I had it a year or 2 ago). I paid $4.29 for a pint of blueberries at Aldi (this is the lowest price. Meijer's price was much higher). I bought DS & myself a pint each. That's $8.58!!! Yikes. I miss those $1.50/$2 summer prices. Next year I'm stocking my freezer with all kinds of summer produce (blueberries, kiwi, peaches etc). I made burritos for dinner and just ordered fries (no other junk food for DS), so I was happy to add his chocolate brioche bread to my shopping trip. 

Between the 4 stores, I spent $41.28 OOP. 

I actually found a receipt in my Aldi cart (that someone left behind) and the total was $326.xx. I thought 'Who on earth spends that much at Aldi?' I don't even spend that much in one trip at Sams!! It's not like they bought a truckload of food. There was lots of produce and also paper products on the list. I'm not judging anyone's shopping. I just wanted to point out how crazy grocery prices have become. I buy my t/p at Sams, because the price & quality are great! I stick to the drugstores and Target for HBA and cleaning, but I use earned gcs for Target and rewards at the drugstores to keep my OOP low. Holy cow! I can understand why most people are struggling with grocery bills. The prices are ridiculously outrageous!!

That's all I can think of right now. I still need to redeem more clothing rewards before the end of the month. I don't even know what to 'buy'. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps! Stay safe & warm


6 comments:

  1. I was already not buying certain things, like beef, before the rise in grocery prices. Now, I just add more things I wont pay full price for to the list to the list regularly. I can't imagine spending that much money at Aldi either or any store for that matter.

    Hopefully Kohls will replace your lid. I know it stinks having to stay on hold for so long.

    I would definitely keep an eye out on the closing deals at RA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I watch my spending closely. I stick to the deals. We can still eat & live well without breaking the bank. Things are still going to get much work, so it's best to save in whatever way we can now.
      Thank you. I need to contact Kohls or just give up on the lid. I keep forgetting. Fingers crossed RA will have good sales.

      Delete
  2. I really admire how you manage to keep track of all those deals and how to get the best from your gift cards. Me, well I just hope something is on sale and use a gift card then... No extras back though.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jackie! You do very well in many other areas like the garden & with all your crafts (sewing/knitting). You still manage to save & that's what's important!

      Delete

  3. Sounds like you had a very busy week. I love your meals. Can you believe we only have two months left of this year? I don't know how time is going by so quickly. I just want it to slow down. I am ready to hibernate for the winter though. That always helps. Wishing you a fabulous week!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lori! Oh man. I don't even want to think about the time flying. So much to do, so little time. I'm getting nervous. Ooh, I love winter weather. You can give me snow any day. Hope you have a wonderful week too!

      Delete

My blog has moved

Hi everyone I have decided to move my blog. I tried to sign up for ads several years ago, only to to discover that the ex already owned an a...