Whoomp there it is!

The port strike! Remember my previous post where I mentioned that my gut's telling me to stock up? Well, it looks like my gut was right again. The funny thing is that someone in my coupon group actually said the same thing yesterday 'it's time to stock up before the prices increase'. There I was, ahead of the game again 😊

Yesterday I hit 6 stores in just under 2½ hours. At Sams I decided to get another pack of Members Mark (their store brand) t/p. I usually buy a spare pack when I open the last one (I've done this for years before the pandemic, cause I don't like to run out of things). Well, guess who was out of t/p. As in all brands. I somehow expected this. They only had a few packs of Charmin t/p, so I grabbed one. I didn't really need it (I bought a MM pack 2-3 weeks ago), but I figured it's best to be prepared, just in case. I see that their t/p is now only available online and shipping is a whopping $8.23. I'm glad I grabbed that extra pack. I also got the last p/t pack (I actually needed this). I saw people stocking up on cases of bottled water too. I'm still scratching my head at that one, cause water comes from the tap/faucet. I use a filter & only buy bottled water for DS. We've had reusable bottles leak in our bags before, so he gets bottled water. 

I was on a shopping roll, cause I had a Wags plan. Well now, we all know how that usually works out. Here's what I did. 

Trans 1

3 x OS b/w $21.00

2 x Dove shampoo/conditioner 8.00

2 x Crest t/p 10.00

3 x Dawn 2.97.

Less OS DQ (5.00)

Less Dove DQ (5.00)

Less Crest DQ (3.00)

Less RRs (9.00)

Tax 2.52

OOP $21.49

Earned $7 WC (WYS $35) + $11 RR ($5 OS, $3 Dove, $3 Crest) + $6.70 Ibotta ($4 Crest, $2, OS, $0.50 Crest bonus, $0.20 any receipt)

Total earned : $24.70

Well, things didn't go as smoothly as it should have. This is Wags after all. I get to checkout and there's 1 person at the register doing some healthcare return. So we wait & wait & wait and this line's getting longer. A manager was called and they still couldn't figure this thing out. So another register was opened. I had 3 RRs ($5, $4, $3 - this is why I added the Dawn so it could attach to the RRs. Wags is tricky like that). So she scans the $5 RR, then scans the $4 RR twice. No, no, no. So she's checking to see what already deducted and I told her that I'll give her another $4 RR (I had the exact same RRs for my 2nd transaction - I told y'all I had a plan 😂), cause I knew they'd be $1 short when they cash out and nobody would be able to figure out why. So she tried scanning that $4 RR too 🤦 Somebody help me! 😂 I explained that she already scanned the correct amount and to not try scanning it again. Then she hit total and the register rejected on of the $4 RRs. Ugh! So I told her to just hand one back and I'll pay for my items. This was my first stop and I still had 5 stores to hit, so I didn't want to waste any more time.  Sigh. I think I might've taken back the $4 one she scanned and I hope it doesn't get rejected when I try to use it, cause I don't know if it has different bar codes.Sigh. 

The good news is that I received a $7/35 paper booster. Yay. I knew I could double dip on my 2nd transaction.

So I went to a different Wags, because they don't have enough Captain b/w to do multiple transactions at one store. 

Trans 2

3 x OS b/w $21.00

2 x Dove shampoo 8.00

2 x Crest t/p 10.00

3 x Dawn 2.97.

Less OS DQ (5.00)

Less Dove DQ (5.00)

Less Crest DQ (3.00)

Less RRs (11.00)

Tax 2.52

OOP $19.49

Earned $14 WC (WYS $35 Paper & Digital double dip) + $11 RR ($5 OS, $3 Dove, $3 Crest) 

Total earned : $25.00

Wait a minute. Where's my RRs. Nothing printed, so I had them call a manager to add $11 points to my account. I'm not upset about this, because I don't have to worry about RRs expiring in 2 weeks. Points are good for a whole year, so this was actually a blessing in disguise.

I'm waiting to see if the Crest & O/S will reset on Ibotta. If it does, then I'll earn another $6. I'll also earn an additional $5 Ibotta mid week bonus (I just noticed this today), so I'm keeping fingers crossed. 

Even better. There's a $15 P&G rebate available on Crest & OS, so I'll add one of last week's receipts and submit for my rebates and points. I should also get another $5 P&G gc for scanning my receipts. 

So, this whole trip will be a huge MM.

OOP : $40.98

Total earned : $73.70 (RR, WC, Ibotta, P&G)

Profit of $33.72 for 20 items. My guys are swimming in OS and I couldn't be happier with getting paid to shop 😊

Breakdown:

Number of items purchased: 20

Total Qs used : $26

Total Rewards used : $20.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $80.70 (pending Ibotta) : $73.70

Total OOP : $40.98 ($2.05 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $99.80 (excl tax)

The Dove & Crest are FREE after rewards & DQs this week. I opted for the bigger Crest, because it's still free after Ibotta. Actually, it's a small MM with the bonus. Why buy the small tubes when you can get the bigger ones for free too?

Happy shopping peeps!

Best Laid Plans

Hi everyone

Well, I had these grand plans to get blogging regularly again and then ended up sick last Monday. I initially thought it was the flu, but by Wednesday I told BF I'm convinced I have Covid again. All I did was sleep last week. I wasn't happy. I was so sick that I let my RRs and EBs - all $28 of it expire. By Friday, I finally dragged myself to the store, because we were out of bread and some produce items. Saturday was a good day, but by Sunday I needed sleep again. I'm finally back to normal, but I'm now playing catch up. I'm so far behind.

I had another $10 RR expiring this week, so I took a trip to Wags. 

Here's what I got 

Trans 1

3 x Maybelline Baby Lips B2G1F $10.98

2 x Colgate t/p 9.00

2 x Garnier shampoo 8.00

2 x Tresemme 12.00

1 x Dawn 1.29

Less Maybelline DQ (6.00)

Less Colgate DQ (2.00)

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less Tresemme DQ (5.00)

Less RRs (10.00)

Tax 2.48

OOP $17.75

Earned $12 RR ($5 Tresemme, $4 Colgate, $3 Garnier)

Wait a minute! Where's my $15 WC ($10 WYS $40, $5 WYB 2 Maybelline)? Ugh! I have to wait until I get home to check my account. I did earn $7 WYS $35 Booster, so I decided to stack it with my Digital booster in my 2nd transaction

Trans 2

3 x Maybelline Baby Lips B2G1F $10.98

2 x Colgate t/p 9.00

2 x Garnier shampoo 8.00

2 x Tresemme 12.00

1 x Dawn 1.29

Less Maybelline DQ (6.00)

Less Colgate DQ (2.00)

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less Tresemme DQ (5.00)

Tax 2.48

OOP $27.75

Earned $7 WC (WYS $35) + $12 RR ($5 Tresemme, $4 Colgate, $3 Garnier)

Ugh!!! The receipt only printed my opening balance, so I can't see what I earned. I tried the app, but it kept shutting down, so again I have to wait until I get home. 

When I finally checked my account, I saw that my digital boosters were for Spend $45 not $40! 🤦This was my own darn mistake! I especially added the Dawn to get my total to $40 😂

I actually added everything to my cart online and it showed my $10 WC earnings, but I had 3 Crest ($15) instead of Colgate in that order. I didn't want to spend too much OOP, so I switched to Colgate and ended up messing things up myself. Phew, Wags get a pass this time 😂 I know what happened. Everyone in my coupon group talked about their spend $40 boosters and posted scenarios, so I thought mine was for $40 too. The Q itself only displays $10, but you have to click on the Q to see the spend total. Sigh. Lesson learned.

I contacted CS about the Maybelline deal, but they said it's an online deal only. WTH Wags! How do you offer a deal and not state that it's online only? 😡 I love the Baby lips, so I'm not too upset about getting it at such a low price. That $10 reward would've been nice though.

Breakdown:

Number of items purchased: 20

Total Qs used : $32

Total Rewards used : $10.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $31 (I haven't scanned my receipts yet)

Total OOP : $45.50 ($2.27 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $103.40 (excl tax)

Definitely not my best work, but I'm happy to be stocking up again. My gut is still telling me to keep this stockpiling thing going, so that's what I'm doing. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

I'm back!

Hi everyone!

I can't believe that summer went by so fast. Heck, I can't believe this year has gone by so fast. Only 3 months to Christmas and I'm so far behind. Thus far, I only have one gift purchased each for BF & DS.

I haven't done much drugstore shopping in a while, but a few weeks ago I got the gut feeling that I need to get back to taking advantage of the deals. It's not like we're low on or out of any HBA. We have plenty, but I have this nagging feeling that I need to stock up again. I don't know why. I don't know if it has anything to do with all RA stores closing in our state. CVS hardly has good deals, so Wags is the only drugstore with great stock up deals and no limits. Well, I 've noticed that most of their deals are on repeat lately and sometimes there are very slow weeks. Uh oh. I told BF that I don't want to shop because it's more things for me to move with, but I know enough to trust my gut. So off to Wags I went this week to do a small deal. 

Tresemme is Buy 2 get $5 RR

Trans 1

2 x Tresemme $12.00

Less DQ (5.00)

Less WC (5.00)

Tax 0.72

OOP $2.72

Earned $5 RR

Trans 2

 x Tresemme $12.00

Less DQ (5.00)

Less WC (4.00)

Tax 0.72

OOP $3.72

Earned $5 RR

I only had $4 WC available on this account, so that's what I used. I still have plenty rewards on my other account that I've slowly been spending down. $1 + tax (after rewards) for a bottle of Tresemme works for me. 

I've noticed lots of changes at various stores. My Target no longer carries the Old Spice Captain b/w, so I used some rewards last week to purchase some at Wags, cause that's our favorite fragrance. 

Dove has changed the formula of the Antibacterial b/w (my favorite). I learned this the hard way after I bought some the last time. I was out of b/w so I just grabbed one of the new bottles I purchased and headed to the shower, instead of having to get one out of my storage containers. I hated the new scent. I don't like floral or musky fragrances. This one smelled like sweet flowers and I ended up throwing out the entire bottle. I'm so glad I have lots that I purchased throughout the year, so I'm good for a while. I like their Sensitive one too and I'm hoping that they didn't change that one too. 

Walmart is no longer the cheapest grocery store. Their grocery prices are through the roof. I normally shop at Sams, then fill in the gaps at the grocery stores since they always have different items on sale every week. Walmart offers zero sale items, so their prices tend to be higher lately. I cherry pick at Aldi. I never could have imagined Sams becoming my go-to store, but it works out better for us, price wise. 

I'm definitely going to try to post more now that summer is over. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

When 'Method to my Madness' pays off

As mentioned before, I've been downsizing my Ebay inventory so I can move. This a huge task. I'm already on my 2nd box of 90ct Sams trash bags that I've used to pack and donate the old inventory. I drop off at least 10-12 bags per week at the donation bins. 

Well, as I've been sorting through things, I pulled some of our 'old' clothing items and athletic shoes. Our clothes and shoes are in excellent condition. I used to earn so many gcs from point earning sites over the years, that I basically shopped for free for many years. So, I'd end up selling most of the items every time I got into closet purging mode. It wasn't that the items were bad, we just have an abundance of it. 

Now I know what y'all are thinking.... 'Ms Gee you said that you have too much clothes'. Yep, I still do.....but I've decided to keep some of the old items, because of the great quality. If any of you have been clothes shopping lately, you will find that the quality is by far more inferior than before and the prices are exorbitant. I checked athletic pants for DS at Sams yesterday and couldn't believe how thin it was. Everything is just junk - IMHO. So, I've decided to keep a few of our old things (I don't even know why I got rid of some of the stuff, because I found a few treasures) and will sell some of the newer stuff I bought instead. I always leave the tags on my items until I decide to wear it. So, I will be able to sell my newer items for far more than my old stuff, because it still has tags attached. And, we'll still have far better quality items to wear. I call that Win! I did the same with our athletic shoes. It's still in great condition. DS has enough of our old styles (new ones) available, but I only have 3 pairs left. So I decided to salvage an old pair that I had listed. Thank goodness it never sold, cause I can now get more wear out of it. The other brand I tried hurt my arches so I only wear it for short periods of time. 

Now I know that some of you think I'm cuckoo with my crazy shopping habits 😂, but BF gets me. He's like a breath of fresh air. He totally understands my craziness. Heck, he even agrees that we should get a new freezer 💖 The steam button on my iron broke a few months ago. The iron still worked great, so I just decided to keep using it. Then about a month ago, the iron started leaking water and it would turn cold (despite being turned on and plugged in). So guess what I did. I went into my stockpile and got out a new iron.  I mean who the heck stockpiles irons? 😂 Me ✋😂 In my defense, I bought that iron for my new home (heck, I bought all kinds of new things for my move. I'm starting afresh and I'm loving it! Okay, we're adding BF's items too, but you all know what I mean). You already know that I bought that iron on clearance. That's right! I didn't have to run to the store to buy a new iron and I didn't have to pay full price either. Now I will just keep an eye out for a sale price on a spare iron. Heck yeah, I'm getting another spare. Look how well this one worked out 😊

I also got a new charger from my stockpile for my phone & Ipad. I used my last charger until the wire was completely exposed. Hey, if it works then I'll keep using it (which I did). Well, it finally stopped charging, so I got out a new one. Every time we purchase new Apple products, I save the new chargers. I don't use it just because we now have new products. Heck no. I save it for a rainy day. Besides, we don't need to keep a pile of chargers out. I have 2 that I use regularly and the rest are still in the original boxes. If I ever decide to sell the boxes, I might get even more if I throw in brand new chargers too. TMTMM (There's method to my madness 😊). I did notice that the 'plug' USB part (whatever it's called) of the charger is now much smaller than the old ones, so I need to get a new adapter for my car, but that's an easy fix. 

So go ahead and save your spare or old items that are still in working condition. They always end up saving me $$$ and I'm absolutely loving it! 

I'm going to write about all the free money retailers have been sending me lately, next. I read about concerns about a possible US economy collapse, so I'm saving $$ wherever I can. 

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

  

Meijer fun - cheap OJ & yogurt

It's been one of those days where everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. My computer drove me crazy again with the photos nonsense. Thankfully, I figured a way around the problem and actually figured out another issue I've wanted to research for the past 2 years - I kid you not 😂 

Meijer is on fire this week! 🔥🔥🔥

There are 2 CAT (coupon that prints at register) deals that ends 8/17/24. 

• Buy 2 Refrigerated Drinks & Juice (should apply to any brand, but Meijer, Minute Maid and Simply refrigerated juices are included), get a $2 checkout coupon valid on your next order. Buy 3 or more, get $4.
  
  
• Buy 5-9 Yogurt products (should apply to any brand, but Meijer, Chobani, Oikos and Yoplait are included), get a $2 checkout coupon valid on your next order. Buy 10 or more, get $5.

The yogurt cups and Simply juice singles are on sale for $1 this week (Buy 7 or more, pay $1 per item. Mix & match). Here's what you can do:

10 x Yogurt cups $10.00

4 x Simply juice 4.00

OOP $14.00

Earn $9 CATS ($5 yogurt, $4 juice)

Please note that the CATs are STORE coupons and cannot be rolled into the same deal. You can use it to purchase more of the same items, but you won't receive new CATs on your next transaction. 

There's a $2 Chobani Mperks DQ if you prefer to purchase that brand. That will reduce your OOP cost to $12 and you'll still earn $9 CATs

Well, I had a very pleasant surprise while checking out. It turns out that the Oikos Mixed Berry flavor has been clearanced to $0.69! I'm not sure if it was just at my store or if it's at all locations. There wasn't any clearance shelf tag. I sure wish I had known about it prior to checking out. Well, I got 4 of the mixed berry flavor in each transaction, so here's what I paid.

4 x Simply OJ $4.00

6 x Oikos yogurt $6.00

4 x Oikos Mixed Berry 2.76

OOP $12.76

Earned $9 CATs. 

That's like paying $0.27 per item, after rewards

Whoo hoo! Happy dance! This is my preferred brand, so I was very happy with this deal. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get more yogurt before the sale ends on Saturday. 

I won't be posting any Meal Plan Monday's until after Labor Day, because we've been eating light. I just make a protein and then add veggies and/or salad to that. Easy peasy.

 

Tonight's dinner. Falafel with Aldi garlic naan. I can't find any decent pita and these mini naan breads are the perfect size and so delicious. 

I also made individual spinach feta pies (think spanakopita) and it was so good! Okay, I love anything with puff pastry 😂 That's Definitely a keeper! Both DS & I love it!

Happy shopping peeps!

Back in the saddle

Hi everyone

I apologise for my lack of posts. Thank you to those who checked up on me. Life has just been crazy busy. BF & I are busy working on some big goals, so I've been working hard at downsizing my Ebay store, amongst other things. My silly computer has been acting up too. I mentioned before how I needed a new card reader to download photos. Well, I got one and tried it, but still had the same problems (not being able to download anything from my camera). After much searching, I learned that it's due to a software update. Many other users aren't able to access their photos app or download anything. I hate hiccups and I'm the type of person who will lose sleep to figure out and fix a problem 😂 I don't know if this is a good or bad thing 😂 Well, on Saturday I got a notification that the software updated. Then I was able to download pics from my camera without a card reader (Yay! I can just use the cable). That joy was short lived though. I tried to open my pics app to edit the photos, but I'm back at Square One - can't access anything 😡😡😡So, back to the drawing board I went. The software worked the next day again, so I was able to download & edit pics. Let's hope it keeps working. Our internet was also down for most of Saturday morning. It never rains...

I've been so busy that I haven't even done any drugstore shopping in about a month. Can you believe it? Well, I'm glad I quit RA, because I learned that they're closing all stores in our fine state, so there's really nothing left around here. I'm gonna miss all their free deals, but I'm so very thankful for that Duracell batteries I bought last year. 

I finally hit up Wags last week, because I have tons of points that I need to use and the deals were good. So here goes

Trans 1 & 2

2 x Dove b/w $14.0

2 x Crest t/p 8.00

2 x Dove shampoo 8.00

2 x Ganier shampoo 8.00

Less Dove b/w DQ (7.00)

Less Crest DQ (2.00)

Less Crest DQ (2.00)

Less Dove shampoo DQ (5.00)

Less Garnier DQ (3.00)

Less WC (20.00)

Tax 2.28

OOP $1.28

Earned $15 RR ($3 Dove b/w, $3 Crest, $5 Dove shampoo, $4 Garnier)

I did the same transaction twice (one on each account). 

I had boosters to use on both accounts (I would've added 2 other items to make it a free deal), but I didn't want to spend $30+ OOP per transaction. Why waste cash when I have oodles of points to use. 

Even if I didn't have WC to use, this would still have been a great transaction ($4 + tax) after earned rewards.

Breakdown

Number of items purchased: 19

Total Qs used : $38.00

Total Rewards used : $40.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $30.00

Total OOP : $2.56 ($0.16 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $97.04 (excl tax)

I'm hoping to be back to regular blogging again. I also need to catch up on reading everyone's blogs.

Have a wonderful week peeps!

3 Cheers for CVS & Tarjay!

Hi everyone

I'm still here. I've been busy, busy, busy. I went to the dreaded dentist today and have been so stressed about it. I haven't had an extraction in about 24-25 years, so I was nervous about what to expect. Not so much about the procedure, but this dentist has a HUGE staff turnover (this includes his partners), so you never know who you're gonna get. In SA, I had the same dentist from childhood until I moved here. I even visited him on one of our vacations to SA, I trust him so much. SA Drs & dentists aren't in the business for moneymaking. They genuinely care about what's best for your health so they usually have lifelong patients. 

So, they swabbed my mouth, then came the injections. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate needles? I'm not afraid of it, I just don't like it. When they were ready to start work, they asked how my mouth feels. I told them it doesn't really feel numb, but they can start & I'll tell them to stop if I feel anything. That is exactly what happened. So out comes the needle again. Uggggghhhhhh! I finally felt numb, but I was really nervous. I told myself to just think of BF (that's always happy thoughts 😉) to help myself relax. Next thing I know, they told me the extractions done. Wait, what?! I just started fantasizing about BF 😂 Phew! Huge sigh of relief that it was done so fast, so they started on the filling. They normally do filling first, but my tooth was lopsided so they wanted to work on that first. Filling also went well and I was happy to leave there. I sure hope I don't need any more dental work (other than cleaning) for a very lonnnnngggggg time. I hate the damn dentist!!

Well, I've been in pain since I got home (12:30 pm). The numbness is finally gone, but my mouth hurts and I have earache too. I just want to take a Tylenol & go to bed. I had some refried beans & ice cream for dinner (haven't eaten since breakfast). Every cloud has a silver lining 🍨😊 I only slept 4 hours last night, because a close friend of mine in SA keeps sending me these forwarded messages that wakes me up in the middle of the night 😡 I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally texted and asked her to not send me these messages, because it wakes me up every night (time difference). Besides, I don't read that forwarded stuff. 

Sorry, no pics today. I've been experiencing problems with my flash drive for a while, but it would still download pics. Well, part of it broke off in my computer's USB port today, so I'm ordering a new one. Hopefully, that's the only problem. It's one of those days. 

CVS has been so good to me. They keep sending me $ off Qs and I was more than happy to go spend it. Here's what I did.

Last week - Trans 1

I had a $4 Q that printed on my receipt the previous week and they also emailed me a $4 Q. 

2 x Maybelline baby lips $9.98

3 x Covergirl brow pencils 16.47

Less Maybelline DQ (3.00)

Less Covergirl DQ (3.00)

Less Covergirl DQ (5.00)

Less freebie Qs (8.00)

Tax 1.11

OOP $8.56

Earned $16 EB ($6 Maybelline, $10 Covergirl)

This high OOP was intentional. I wanted to build my EBs so that I don't constantly have to do a bunch of small transactions.

This week - Trans 2

I had a $3 paper Q and $4 email Q to use

3 x Neutrogena makeup remover wipes $23.97

Less DQs (4.00)

Less freebie Qs (7.00)

Less EB (10.00)

Tax 1.02

OOP $3.99

Earned $10 EB

I should've gone shopping on Sunday, because I had a B1G40% off 2nd Q that expired that day. I hate that drugstore in store prices are always higher than online. Still a good deal though.

Boo, CVS only gave me item specific Qs on my receipt, so I'm hoping I'll get an email one tomorrow. 

Tarjay (french for Target 😂)

Buy 4 beauty products earn $5 GC

1 x Dove b/w 6.99

1 x Dove plant based bar soap 5.29

1 x Colgate t/p 4.99

1 x OS bar soap 4.99

Less Dove b/w DQ (2.00)

Less Dove soap DQ (2.00)

Less Colgate DQ (3.00)

Less OS DQ (2.00)

Less 10% off Circle DQ (2.25)

Tax 0.93

OOP $11.94 - paid with Target gc

Earned $5 GC + $7 Ibotta ($2 Dove b/w, $3 Dove Soap, $2 Dove Bonus)

Total earned $12!

Whoo hoo! Tarjay's totally rocking it this week. Clip your DQs and head to the store & pay sales tax for 4 items. Easy peasy! I'm one happy mama & my guys get to try new OS soap. Win-win!

Breakdown

Number of items purchased: 12

Total Qs used : $40.72

Total Rewards used : $10.00

Total Rewards earned (RR, WC, Ibotta, Fetch): $38.00

Total OOP : $12.55 ($1.05 per item - this includes sales tax)

Total Retail value : $72.68

Rite aid who? CVS & Target's making me happy these days 😊 Well, until CVS stops giving me free money 😂

That's my shopping for this week peeps. I have boosters to use at Wags, but I don't want to spend large amounts of cash OOP. I want to use my WC, but the Catalina machines haven't been working well, so I'll wait to roll my rewards into RRs. 

Have a great week peeps!