HT Super Double Trip #1

I went to HT this morning with a good friend and I have to say that shopping with a friend is much more fun thatn shopping by yourself. I did two transactions and here is what I got and coupons I used.

Transaction #1

(6) Green Giant Boxed Veggies @ .99 each = 5.94
Used (2) .60/3 coupons = 2.40
2.44
Buy (6) GG boxed veggies earned $2 OYNO

(3) Kraft block cheese @ 2.99 ea = 8.97
Used (3) 1.00 Kraft or Poly O cheese coupons = 6.00
2.97
Buy (3) Kraft block cheese get $3 off instantly

(3) Betty Crocker boxes potatoes @ 1.00 ea
Used (3) .40 coupons
.60

(6) Hamburger Helper Products @ 1.00 ea = 6.00
Used (2) .75/3 coupons = 3.00
3.00
Buy (6) HH products earn 3.00 OYNO

(3) Yoplait Smoothies @ 2.50 each = 7.50
Used (3) 1.00 coupons = 6.00
1.50

(6) Grand Biscuits @ 2.00 ea and BOGO = 6.00
Used (1) .40/3 coupon = .80
5.20
Buy (6) Grand Products earn $3 OYNO

(4) Old El Paso Taco Seasoning packs @ 1.00 ea and BOGO = 2.00
Used (2) .50/1 coupons = 2.00
0.00
Buy (3) Old El Paso products earn $1 OYNO

Buy 20 participating GM products and get $6 off your order instantly

I also bought three Febreze things I got for free because my other transaction was at its 20 coupon limit, so...

OOP = $8.72
Earned = $9.00 OYNO

Transaction #2

(3) Swanson chicken broth cartons @ 2.79 ea = 8.37
Used (3) 1.00 V8 coupons = 6.00
2.37

(2) Near East Cous Cous @ 2.19 ea = 4.38
Used (1) 1/2 coupons = 2.00
2.38

(3) Perdue Ground Chicken @ 2.99 ea = 8.97
Used (3) 1.00 clearance coupons = 3.00
Used (3) .75 coupons on Perdue frozen chicken nuggets = 4.50
1.47

(2) Butterball Turkey bacon @ 2.99 ea = 5.98
Used (2) 1.50 Butterball coupons (looks like for sliced meat) = 5.98
0.00

(2) Sabra Hummus @ 4.49 ea = 8.98
Used (2) Free coupons from a food show
0.00

(3) Quaker Oats canisters @ 1.50 ea = 5.50
Used (3) 1.00 Quaker Oats coupons = 5.50
0.00

(1) gallon HT organic milk @ 4.99
eVic special - 2.00
2.99

(1) half gallon Silk Vanilla soy milk @ 2.99

(1) Smithfield Pork Tenderloin @ 10.00
Used (1) Clearance coupon = 2.00
Used (1) 1.00 Smithfield coupon = 2.00
6.00

Shaved steak on clearance @ 3.81

(1) Lysol 4 n 1 concentrated cleaner @ 3.65
Used (1) 1.50 Lysol air freshener coupon = 3.00
0.65

(2) HT light olive oil @ 3.92 = 7.94

(2) Ziploc quart storage bags @ 2.50 ea = 5.00
Used (1) 1.50/2 coupon = 3.00
2.00

(1) Cottonelle 12 roll @ 5.99
Used (1) 1.00 Cottonelle coupon = 2.00
3.99

(3) Kool Aid Jammers @ 1.99 ea = 5.97
Used (3) 1.00 Kool Aid Fizzers coupon = 5.97
0.00

(1) Ritz Chips Original @ 2.99
Used (1) 1.00 Ritz coupon = 2.00
0.99

(5) Ears of Corn @ .69 ea = 3.45

(1) 3 lb bag of apples @ 3.99

(2.59) lbs of bananas @ .59/lb = 1.53

(2.5) dozen large HT eggs @ 3.17

(1) loaf HT Wheat bread @ 1.29

Used the $9 OYNO catalinas from transaction #1
OOP = $43.93

Grand Totals...
OOP = $52.65
Total Saved = $151.77

I plan on going back to get some more free items. I might see if I can do the same

Customer Christmas Planner

“Life… Your Way” has a GREAT free eBook download on her website here.  This is a Christmas… Your Way eBook that can help anyone become organized.  I have perused it and think it is wonderful, especially for a moderately OCD freak like me!  The book includes printable lists and such to have a great, budgeted, organized Christmas.  I am going to print all of these out and try a Christmas “Life… You Way”’s way this year. 

:: Address Book

:: Baking Planner

:: Budget Worksheet

:: Calendar

:: Cards Worksheet

:: Décor Inventory

:: Family Traditions

:: Gift Ideas

:: Gift List

:: Handmade Gifts

:: Master To Do List

:: Order Tracking

:: Shopping List

Note:  If you check in all of her forms that she has online there is one for Black Friday Shopping List.  This one will definitely be going in my Christmas Planner. 

 

Keep an eye out for the Home Management Notebook… I have to check this out.  I saw many references to this throughout this great eBook and think I might be headed there next to check it out.  This looks like a GREAT way to keep track of the holidays and try not to let the commercialization of the holidays take over with overspending and making it all about presents instead of great memories and family.

 

 

RDU Groupon

The Groupon for the Raleigh area today is awesome!  $75 for a 50 minute Swedish massage and 50 minute facial at B Roman Spa in Cary.  I have been there before and they are absolutely fantastic.  Go here to get this awesome deal!!!  If you get the chance Kelly is an awesome massage person, don’t know what you call it!

HT Super Doubles

Go here for an awesome document (spreadsheet) that has all the deals matched up.  Remember work SMART NOT HARD when trying to save money with your coupon shopping.  Your time is worth a lot too!

Muellers Pasta Coupons

If you have not signed up for Mueller’s Pasta “club” (or whatever they call it) then you need to do that and print out the awesome coupon they have there.  Go here to sign up.  Then, you need to go to coupons or promotions and they have a coupon you can print for $2 off five Mueller’s products.  When you click on the icon to print your coupon your print box will pop up.  In here you can put how many of the coupon you want it to print. 

These often go on sale 2/$1 (two for $1 or .50 ea) so if you bought five for $2.50 and used the $2 MQ you would only be paying .50 for five boxes, or .10 each!  The expiration date on mine is 10/16/10.  I’m not sure if that’s because it’s one month from the date I printed or if it’s really on 10/16/10 which it might be since that’s a Saturday.  Either way, this should get you a great deal on pasta.  Does pasta ever expire??

How do you do it???

One of my girlfriends is about to go through a life changing event.  Well, more than one but a huge life changing transition period in her life.  She has two wonderful children now… two years old and almost one.  She is pregnant with number three (don’t know what it is yet) and then she will have three children two years old and less!  She is a very brave woman as far as I’m concerned!!!  She was working part time (30 hours) but now has started to work full time to give them some more money to save in preparation for number three.  Her hubs works full time and wears a badge every day as mine does (no, they don’t work together).  The two little ones are in full time day care.

Once number three gets here she is going to be a full time stay at home mom!!!  Yes, I’m seriously jealous of her.  She is so happy to be able to do this but the problem she is having right now is how to juggle working full time, two kids, husband, dogs, house, being pregnant (that alone is a serious energy zapper!) and everything else that goes along with running the lives and household for a family of four.

She asked how I get everything done.  I work full time, have two little ones, a hubs that works full time as well (and sometimes more with his spot on “the team”), I have a full course load for school (four classes – one in class and three online to teach myself), and just everything else that I try to get done… couponing, Aly’s dance class, shopping at multiple stores with coupons, cooking dinner every night, cleaning our whole house, keeping up the laundry and everything that needs to be done and goes along with life.  It’s a huge long list and everyone for some reason thinks I have it all together, my house is always clean, my kids always look perfect, I get good grades in school, I’m excelling at my job and everyone thinks I have it all together, like REALLY together. 

Guess what… I don’t!  Contrary to popular belief you CANNOT eat off my floors!  If you open the linen closet in our bathroom you would see a big pile of dirty clothes.  Not to mention the two loads of clean laundry in baskets on top of the washer and dryer that are hidden behind doors yet to be folded and put away.  There is a ring around one of the toilets upstairs (gasp!).  You know what… I don’t have it all together.  Mainly because we are busy people, always on the go, always something going on, taking weekends to the beach and leaving the house stuff for when we get back just to jump into our lives again.  I do have it together for the most part but there are always things to get done.  The housework doesn’t cease, my to do list grows and grows… seriously it multiplies into ten lists by the end of the week, and the dirty clothes that a family of four can accumulate in two days time is horrendous and scary at best!

Do I get it all done?  Yes, eventually it all gets done, especially this weekend while we’ll be home for the first time in three weeks!  This is the basic list of how I try to keep everything together.  I will elaborate more later but these are my basics.  They may sound funny at first or way too super easy or just plain strange but this works for me.  It may work for you, it might not but everything doesn’t work for everyone.  Take from it what you will but this is how I plan on taking care of me, mine and ours!

·         Have a planner… I made my own

·         Remember what’s really important

·         Plan on doing it all without help 

·         Clean as you go

·         Make a weekly menu

·         Limit your shopping

·         Make your “to do” list of your top ten

This is what works for me and I will elaborate on each one later…

 

CVS Trip

I hit CVS without children yesterday and had a good time poking around and seeing how much I couldn’t spend!

First, I got a prescription filled, a new one so I got to use an “ECB” to get a $25 gift card for filling it.  This was nice to have because I just used the rest of the last one last week.  FYI… I was filling my Chantix (stop smoking drug) and I knew it was going to be $40 but I had a discount card from my doctor and I called Chantix to activate it and it came out to $15.  That was a nice surprise.  I thought it would only take off $10 but maybe my co-pay for Chantix isn’t as high as normal name brand medication because of it making you healthier, I don’t know.  Regardless, it was $15 and I got a $25 gift card. 

Next, I used my mother in law’s CVS card at the coupon scanner and got $3 off “As Seen on TV” product and $3 off $10 grocery purchase.  The first place I headed was the grocery aisles.  They had a deal going on cereal but I already have way too much cereal (even after taking five boxes to the beach house), but they did have a two pack of Cheez-Its for $5.99 and on the package it said I would get back $3 in ECBs.  Not a bad deal.  Then, I noticed peanut butter was on sale and we’re about out at my house so I got two jars of Skippy ($2 each) so that brings my grocery total to $9.99.  I knew that was close enough.

Then, I perused the as seen on TV products and found Aqua Globes priced at $2.99… cha-ching!  FREEBIE!  I will use these for Christmas presents.  I also went down the clearance aisle and they had a little Tinkerbell figurine (and when I say little I mean teensy tiny) with her little animal for .47.  I went ahead and got this too for a stocking stuffer for Christmas.  I also saw they had all kinds of cooler stuff on sale for 75% off so I found one that would work GREAT for me for lunch.  It is on the bigger side of lunch box coolers, is a flexible one, made to fit a six pack easily, the top zips up and has plenty of room for all kinds of Tupperware containers.  I am happy to report that I got this for $1.99!!!!  I also got a $1 pack of dum dums as a filler because I knew I was paying with ECBs.  All in all my total was $10.90 and I used (2) $5 ECBs to pay for it, so .90 OOP and got back $3 ECBs for the Cheez Its.

I remembered that I didn’t scan my CVS card, so I went to the scanner and scanned my card.  I got the $3 off As Seen on TV product and $3 off $10 grocery purchase.  I got the double pack of Cheez Its, (2) jars Skippy Peanut butter and another pack of Aqua Globes.  My total was $7.21 and I used the gift card to pay for it.  I also got back another $3 ECB.

All in all .90 OOP for everything.  I’m really excited about that.  I went back today on break and scanned my card hoping to get another $3 As Seen on TV product, but I didn’t.  I got .75 off King size candy… limited to certain kinds, so I got peanut M&M’s for .25!

 

RDU Groupon

$35 for an oil change, oil filter change, two wiper blades, and a state emissions inspection at Auto Pro to Call (Chapel Hill) or CarFix (Garner).  This is an $85 value.  Had I not just gotten all that done a few weeks ago I would be jumping all over this deal.  Head on over here to get in on this deal.

Jimmy Johns

I emailed Jimmy Johns yesterday as I have a bad habit of ordering from them when I cannot make it out to lunch.  This is what I submitted via their website… “I order from Jimmy Johns AT LEAST once a week, normally more. How come there are no coupons for JJ's? I have looked everywhere and cannot find any and as I'm having to cut how much I spend on eating out each week it would be great if I could keep ordering as much as I do. The food is delicious and fresh, and freakishly fast!”

THIS is the response I got… “Thank you for taking the time to write.  We do not believe in discounting our food.  Therefore, we do not currently offer coupons. Maybe in the future.”

That response just hit me WRONG.  Why be so short, curt and in my eyes, rude.  I wrote a nice email complimenting their food and service and get such a mean response.  So, this is what I wrote them back…

I will not order Jimmy John’s again.  What a crappy response to write.  Yes, I know very mature of me to write that but I really don’t know how else to put it.  Yes, I’m aware that the statements in the below email response are true but it doesn’t have to sound like JJ’s is above rewarding customers for their repeat business.  In the last year I have spent more than $300 at Jimmy Johns and that’s only looking at my online orders and my bank statements.  This does not include the many times I’ve ordered over the phone and paid cash.

The lack of a customer retention program, unwillingness to reward customer loyalty and the horribly worded response below is the reason I am requesting the following and will not do business with Jimmy Johns again.

Delete my online Jimmy John’s account associated with (insert work email here).

Delete my credit card number.

Remove me from the Subculture that I signed up for yesterday.

Once this is complete please notify me via email so I have confirmation that my requests have been addressed.

Word of mouth from an unhappy consumer can reach further than the mouth of a happy consumer.  Please remember this in your future responses to customer inquiries.

Kind Regards

Me

Groupon

Today’s RDU Groupon is $10 for $25 worth of nuts, dried fruit and more from Nutty Guys.

There is also a side deal… $10 for a 20 page 8”x8” hardcover photo book from Shutterfly.

To see either of these deals go here.