This week's drugstore shopping

PSA - my new desktop keyboard (numeric part) is acting up (I've only used it for a few weeks. sigh), so if you notice missing zeros, it's because of the keyboard. As a former accountant, I only use the numeric keyboard (right side). I never use the numbers above the letters. Old habits are hard to break.

Wags, the good, the bad & the stick a bloody fork in me version. I walked into Wags and everything started out great! Found 3 OS Captain b/w. They normally only have 1 or 2 bottles, knowing that the $5/3 Q only works when you purchase the same scent/fragrance. So yeah, I was very happy to find my guys' favorite scent. Then they were fully stocked on the $3 Crest. This is hit or miss at all locations. Got everything on my list. Well, I wanted Persil, but this location doesn't carry it & I had a plan B (Covergirl), so no biggie. Weeeeeeeelllll, that good mood only lasted until checkout. Here's what happened.

Trans 1

2 x Crest t/p $6.00

Less DQ (3.00)

Less WC (3.00) 

Tax 0.36

OOP $0.36

Earn $3 WC (see the long cluster below)

Okay, so no RRs printed. I did this transaction first so I could earn a $7/40 Booster to double dip on my next transaction. Bummer

Trans 2

3 x OS b/w $21.00

2 x Crest t/p 6.00

2 x Colgate t/b 9.00

1 x Covergirl mascara 6.79

4 x Wags single roll t/p 3.16 (fillers so I could use my RRs)

Less OS DQ (5.00)

Less Crest DQ (2.00)

Less Colgate DQ (4.00)

Less Covergirl DQ (3.00)

Less RRs (17.00)

Tax 2.76

OOP $17.71

Earn $10 WC + $12 WC (to replace RRs $5 OS, $3 Crest, $4 Colgate) + $3 Ibotta (Covergirl)

Total earned $25.00

So no RRs printed after the 2nd transaction either, so I knew that the CAT machine wasn't working. Had the manager called, explained situation and asked her to either re-ring the items at a different register or add points to my account. Firstly, they love to tell me that it didn't print, because I paid with RRs. So I had to explain to her that RRs are never ever affected when you pay with any types of rewards. Please note that this is the Store manager. Wags needs to pay me more for now having to train store managers about their rewards program too. Oh wait, Wags doesn't pay me at all 🤦😂

So she re-rings everything, but it's not all smooth sailing. Then they expect payment from me again 🤦 Sigh, did you guys give me back any cash after voiding the transaction? So we complete the transaction and nothing prints again. The manager's a nice person, so I'm being my polite self, cause I'm trying to help both myself & them. I still had a bunch of other errands to run. So I told her I can't get wifi to show her the ad and she then said they don't have wifi. Aha! that's why I can't ever get my phone to work in their stores. So I run back to the shelves and take pics of the tags with rewards details. Back to the register and finally got the $12 rewards added. This is the abridged version of what happened.

Then I remembered that the Crest from Trans 1 should've printed a $3 RR too, so I asked her to add points on that account too. She said that they can only do 2 reward refunds (she split mine into $10 + $2). I told her it's for a different account. No, she can't do that. So I asked her to process a return for the Crest, so she said she'll add the points. What the bloody hell?! You just told me you couldn't issue another reward. Ugh!!!! So she issues $2 reward and asked if everything's good. I said it should've been $3, but it doesn't matter (by then I had been in the store for over ½ hour and wanted to get out to run my other errands before DS got home). So she said she'll add another $1. I said it's not necessary, but she said she's doing her job. I thanked her and left. 

Now, she was really nice. I told her that I don't blame her for the issues. Wags has always been crap. Most times there's problems with their systems, so people usually get frustrated with the employees. Not me. I know better, so I'm my polite self. Besides, nobody wins if we take out our frustration on the employees. However, I absolutely hate having my time wasted and Wags is very good at doing this. Sorry, I'm too tired to do a Wags breakdown. 

Ran all my errands, then stopped at CVS, because they sent me a $4 Q to use on anything. I also had a $3 Maybelline Q on my account, so I figured I'd pick up 2 Baby Lips. A $3 CRT also printed in store. Then I saw I sign that said Buy $15 Maybelline, earn $5 EB. So I grabbed 3 

3 x Baby Lips $14.97

Less DQ (3.00)

Less CRT (3.00)

Less email Q (4.00)

Less EB (0.06) I guess I still had a few cents on my account

Tax 0.65

OOP $5.56

Looks like Baby Lips isn't part of the promo, but another $4 off anything Q printed on my receipt. Then I received an email with a $4 Q. I figured it was the same as my receipt, so I sent it to my card. Imagine my surprise to see 2 x $4 Qs on my card (receipt & email Q), so thank you for another free $8 CVS!!! Y'all made up for that Wags fiasco.

Well, I still have another $5 RR, so I'm gonna use that and take a Wags break. Next week's ad doesn't look good anyway. 

Have a great weekend peeps!

Menu Plan Monday 05/20/24

 

Hi everyone

I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen, cooking & baking. I was very thankful for all that labor, because I just had to heat & eat all my meals today. No cooking and hardly any dishes to clean. I'm loving it! Here's what's on the menu for this week

Monday : Korean BBQ stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday : Chicken pot pie, veggies & salad

Wednesday : Same as Monday

Thursday : Same as Tuesday

Friday : Italian sausage/onions/peppers on sub buns, potato salad, baked beans salad

Saturday : Red Robin (DS)

Breakfasts : Banana oatmeal muffins, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast sausage, eggs or omelets, toast, chocolate brioche or raisin bread french toast, cereal, muesli

Lunch : Leftovers or protein from freezer with salad 

Dessert : I'm not making dessert until we finish whatever sweets are in the freezer (pumpkin pie & chocolate cookies). We still haven't eaten the pumpkin pie. All I want is ice cream for milkshakes. Meijer has some on sale this week & I have a DQ, so I'm going to buy some. DS will be very happy. 

There's always a large variety of fresh fruit, veggies & salad fixings available.

I also made a dozen smokies/hot dog 'sausage rolls' for DS and some fresh pico for snacks with tortilla chips. 

It's been years since I made breakfast sandwiches. It's not the prettiest, but it tastes good. I made my own bread rolls. I intentionally overbake them, because I love the flavor or darker baked breads & cookies (Belinda will understand 😊). Meijer had breakfast sausage on sale last week, so I stocked up. I bought links and patties, cause Johnsonville is my preferred brand. The best part about making your own breakfast sandwiches is that you can modify the ingredients to your liking. I just used sausage patty (it's a bit on the small size compared to my roll), slice of white cheddar cheese, eggs with onions, peppers & broccoli (I'm replacing broccoli with spinach tomorrow) and add a slice of tomato.

 

 I cook my eggs fresh daily, because I'm extremely picky about eggs. 

• I won't eat cold eggs. 
  
  
• I don't like eggs that have been flipped over during cooking. My mother & oldest brother both do that.
  
  
• I prefer sunny side up eggs. No broken yolks or I won't eat it. My father spoiled me with this, because he cooked the perfect eggs and he's the only one I ever allowed to make eggs for me. The yolk must be a little soft, so it's still a bit runny. 
  
  
• I never order eggs at restaurants, because I don't know if I'll get the perfect egg. I also don't want something like Egg beaters or other egg substitutes. I prefer the real deal.
  
  
• I prefer to have the eggs seasoned while it's cooking, so it can soak up the seasoning - heavy on the pepper
  
  
• I don't eat boiled eggs. I'll eat eggs in any other form, but don't anyone dare offer me boiled eggs. 

Our new Friday night dinners have been switched to Italian sausage. I love Italian sausage just for that fennel flavor. I cook it on the grill with peppers & onions. The best part - DS doesn't even miss fries, cause the potato salad is so good. So, we'll be eating this until we get tired of it. 

Bon Appetit Peeps! 

Aldi for the win & Wags grrrrr!

Hi everyone

It's been another crazy week! I've had 2 days of back to back errands. Yesterday included the dreaded dentist & errands. I only managed to make myself a cup of coffee at 3 pm. I only drink one cup a day and I like to savor it. Last month was a very expensive month and I now have to go back to the dentist in 2 weeks. More bills. I have a tooth that's laying sideways. It doesn't bother me, but it's gotten worse and I decided to just have it extracted. Then they told me I need a filling too. Ugh. So just hit me with everything at once and let me pay that bill and get it out the way. I've had lots of health problems due to stress.

On to the shopping. Meijer has lots of good deals this week that I wasn't even aware of. You know I'm not myself when I forget to check the store ads. I hate feeling behind, because I like to have all my ducks in a row. 

Well, Aldi was the clear winner (in my book) this week. I just stopped there for bread on Wednesday (they have my favorite bread, since Milton bread was discontinued). I like to check the aisle where they add new things (don't even know if this aisle has a name), because they sometimes have some yummy Thai curry chips that I love. Well, I found something even Better!.... German muesli! (not to be confused with granola) I'm so excited to try this. Muesli is very common in South Africa. Contrary to popular belief, we eat lots of European food, because we have a strong European heritage (predominantly Dutch, lots of British & some French & German). I'm not a big Aldi fan, but I love all the German goodies they carry (I know, it's a German store 😂, but it feels like getting a taste of 'home'). I wanted to order muesli from the SA food shops here, but they were OOS. No problemo, cause Aldi saved the day and I don't have to pay shipping. I bet it's gonna be good. 

Now for my favorite (sarcasm) store 

Wednesday

Trans 1 & 2 - I did the same deal twice

2 x Garnier shampoo $8.00

 Less DQ (3.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.48

OOP $0.48

Earn $4 RR

I did this deal so I could earn paper boosters to combine with my digital boosters to earn more cash back. 

Well, the whole RR didn't print after the first transaction, because the machine was out of paper. So the cashier was all concerned about refilling the machine and and forgot to give me 52c change. After trans 2, I told him to just deduct my total from the 52c he owed me. I told him that I didn't even need the 4c back, I just wanted him to be aware that I've already paid for both transactions. He then proceeded to give me 52c change after trans 2. I gave him 50c back and explained that I didn't want him to be short at the end of his shift. He insisted I take the cash (he's a really nice young man. always polite and does his job well) and I insisted that he take the 50c. I told him that he can thank me next time. I'm guessing the math didn't make sense to him, but he would get it once he cashed out at the end of the shift. So I ran a bunch of other errands on Wednesday and then proceeded to work on a transaction to use my boosters. Of course I didn't have all the Qs that were listed on my Wags group, so I made a slightly different plan for a MM transaction.

After I got back from the dentist on Thursday, I grabbed my list and headed to Wags and other places. 

Trans 3

2 x Nivea men b/w B1G2nd 50% off $10.48

2 x Dove conditioner B1G2nd 50% off 7.48

2 x Garnier whole blend shampoo 8.00

2 x Colgate t/p 9.0

2 x Crest t/p 8.00

2 x Reeses candy 2.00

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less Colgate DQ (4.00)

Less Crest DQ (3.00)

Less RRs from last week (32.00)

Tax 2.58

OOP $5.54

Earned $16 RR ($5 Dove, $4 Garnier, $4 Colgate, $3 Crest ) + $15 WC ($10 WYS $30, $5 Nivea) + $2 Ibotta (Crest)

Total earned $33.00

Ugh 😡 Wags has been working too well for too long. This was not my regular store, but I shop there from time to time, cause they always have inventory. Firstly, the cashier hit total before scanning my Qs. The pharmacy techs don't understand how Qs work and do this every time they work the front register. If they do that, the register will reject all Qs. Ughhhhhhhhhhh!!! So I had to explain things to her (Wags really should start paying me for having to constantly train their staff how to do their jobs), she called over a manager and I asked if we could just void the transaction and start over. He agreed, because he knew it's the only way to fix it. So we did that again & I told her to scan my booster Q (7 WYS $40) first so it wouldn't get rejected. No, she's gonna scan the other Qs first. #$%&^%^ Bloody hell!!!!!😡 So the register says '$6 RR not accepted'. @*&%%$)@# Come friggin on. I knew this was gonna happen. Scan the Qs in the order I asked you to. I don't know what keys she hit, but the register finally displayed my total. Phew! Then holding my breath waiting for the RRs to print. RRs printed fine. Another phew! Left the store and ran my next errand. I eventually remembered to check my receipt. WTH? I didn't earn my $7 WYS $40 points. Double ugh!! It's cause she didn't scan the damn Qs like I asked her to 😡The register reads my total as being below $40, because she scanned some RRs first. So I contacted CS and they told me they can't help with paper Qs and gave me an email address to write to for my points. Again, Wags isn't paying me for my time. I might or might not send that email. I'm not going to jump through hoops. The Reese's were used as fillers, so I could use all my RRs. 

Well, the good news (I'm trying to look on the bright side here 😂) is that I basically broke even on rewards used & earned in that transaction (okay, it's a $1 MM after Ibotta 😊), so the items basically cost me my OOP. 

Breakdown for the week:

Number of items purchased: 16

Total Qs used : $16.00

Total Rewards used : $42.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $43.00

Total OOP : $6.50 ($0.41 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $82.44

A stressful, but low spend week at Wags. I really can't complain 😊

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

This week's Wags fun!

Hi everyone

I apologise for my lack of posts. The days seem to pass by in a blur. I've been really busy getting rid of my Ebay inventory. I'm ready for the next chapter in my life & don't want this albatross around my neck. It's a big job, but I'm making progress and it feels good!

Thank you Jackie for checking on me. It's much appreciated.

Well, Monday turned out to be a Blessing Day (that's what I called it😊). I first went to Kroger to get Mission Tortilla Chips before the sale ends. I decided to get parsley too, so I can make more potato salad. I walked into the store and there's a huge sign for blueberries pint on sale for $1.99. I was so happy to see this, because I paid $4.29/pint at Aldi the week before and decided to just get more at Aldi (lowest price around here). Had I not needed parsley, I would've missed the blueberry sale. I must be getting old, cause I get excited about grocery sale prices (I know y'all will understand) 😂 So I got my chips, blueberries and parsley and then someone left 32c change at the self checkout. Then I went to Wags, got out of my car and found a penny right next to my car. Got to checkout and saw a $5 WYS $20 Booster Q hanging from the Catalina machine (I'm too proud to ask the cashier for the Q). Did my first transaction and she handed me the 5/20 Q and the register printed a $7 WYS $40 booster for my transaction (which I expected). Happy Dance! (see more below)  Then at 2nd Wags, I actually checked to see if there was any change on the ground (cause I was on a roll 😂), but nope, nothing nada. Did my shopping, got back to my car and there's a penny right next to my car. How did I miss it in the first place? All I could think was 'Sluggy's gonna be jealous' 😂, cause I never keep an eye out for change. Sometimes I just get lucky and find some. Okay, on to the shopping.

Clip your DQs and head to Wags. It's another good week to shop. I still had $10 RRs (2 x $5) to use, so here's what I did. 

Store 1

Trans 1

3 x Dial b/w $10.50

Less DQ (2.00)

Less RR (5.00)

Less WC (4.00)

Tax 0.63

OOP $0.13

Earn $5 RR

I expected to use $3 WC, but sometimes WC will help cover the cost of tax. I don't know what % applies, but I'm happy to use WC cause I need to spend it down. 

This was when I received the $5 off $20 booster. My plan was to use the 7/40 (I always get this amount, so I already know what to expect) and had over $40 worth of items, so I had to make a plan B because I'm all for a lower OOP. I also had $7 WYS $30 DQ, so I was ready for a triple dip 

Trans 2

3 x Crest t/p $12.00

3 x Head & Shoulders shampoo 18.00

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less H&S DQ (3.00)

Tax 1.80

OOP $23.80

Earned $11 RR ($6 Crest, $5 H&S) + $12 WC ($5 WYS 20, $7 WYS $3) + $6.50 Ibotta (Crest - $2 each +50c bonus)

Total earned : $29.50

&^$#$^*&% WAGS 😡😡😡 I was supposed to earn $5 WYS $20 P&G, but no points. Ugh! I contacted CS and they said I should contact Catalina company cause it's supposed to print a RR. WTH?! CS said you only earn points for online order. Huh?! That Q never said that, but in typical Wags fashion they changed the Q. I know this, because I did a P&G order last week and when I didn't receive my points, CS just added it to my account. Ugh, and I did this deal twice. Okay, I'm not all that mad, because both transactions were MMs, but an extra $10 would've been nice, especially since others earned it on Sunday. How about some consistency Wags?

Store 2

Trans 3

3 x Dial b/w $10.50

Less DQ (2.00)

Less RR (5.00)

Less WC (4.00)

Tax 0.63

OOP $0.13

Earn $5 RR

Trans 4

2 x Dove shampoo $8.00

3 x Crest t/p 12.00

3 x Head & Shoulders shampoo 18.00

3 x Dawn 2.91

Less Dove DQ (2.00)

Less Crest DQ (5.00)

Less H&S DQ (3.00)

Tax 2.45

OOP $33.36

Earned $16 RR ($5 Dove, $6 Crest, $5 H&S) + 14 WC (7 WYS $40 DQ, 7 WYS $40 Paper) + $6 Ibotta (Crest)

Total earned : $37.00

I added the Dawn to get my total to $40, but look at this new product. Notice the size difference? The bottle has now shrunk down to 5.5 oz. I still remember when the small bottles were 11 oz. Manufacturers constantly trying to force us to pay more for less product 😡 I would never buy the small bottles when I need soap. The bigger bottles cost far less per ounce, especially when there's a good sale. I just use them as fillers, because it's inexpensive.

My advice to anyone trying to save some $$$, get a foaming soap spray bottle. It doesn't have to be the Palmolive one (I love my bottles). I've seen other spray bottles at Dollar Tree. All you need is a  tablespoon of dish soap and water and it works perfectly. It also works great when you have food stuck to your dishes (sometimes happen with my casserole dishes). I just spray once or twice and a few minutes later, the food is easy to remove. 

Breakdown

Number of items purchased: 23

Total Qs used : $22.00

Total Rewards used : $18.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $76.50

Total OOP : $57.42 ($2.50 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $119.51

Dove shampoo/conditioner is a great deal this week

2 x Dove $8.00

Less DQ (2.00)

OOP $6.00

Earn $5 RR

So 50c each after rewards. You can then turn around and buy 

3 Crest t/p $12.00 (check the ones that shows earning a $6 RR - there are 2 different promos)

Less DQ (5.00)

Less Dove RR (5.00)

OOP $2.00

Earn $6 RR + $6.50 Ibotta

Total earned $12.50

You might need a filler for the Dove RR. Wags is tricky. Sometimes you don't need fillers, but I try to avoid any snafus.

So you spend $8 OOP for 5 items and you'll still have another $6 to spend in the next 2 weeks and $6.50 cash through Ibotta. Sounds like a winner to me. Please be sure to clip your DQs before going shopping.

And if the register prints you a low amount booster (eg $5 WYS $20 - amounts vary by customer) do the following

5 x Crest @ $4.00 = $20.00

Less DQ (5.00)

Less Dove RR (5.00) - no filler needed

OOP $10.00

Earn $11 RR ($6 Crest + $5 WYS $20 P&G) + $5 WC (for spending $20) + $10.50 Ibotta (limit 5, so you'll earn $2 per item)

Total earned : 26.50

Have a wonderful evening peeps!