Anyway - I kicked some royal New Year's BUTT at the stores today. It was one of those days where we didn't really have anything to do, so I could take my time.......and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Wally and I started off at Babies R Us this morning to do the diaper deal (Earthland's Best diapers - jumbo packs were on sale for $5 today, regularly $11.99). I had only two of the $1.50 IPs and tried to print more this morning from my other computers, but there were no more available prints. We also had some $2 off Babies R Us qs, which we used on every pack.
Here's a pic of our loot. Wally did one transaction and I did one as well.
Our totals were $10.16 and $7.16 - for a grand total of $17.32, which comes out to be $3.47 each for a jumbo pack of diapers.
I have to tell you. When we pulled up to Babies R Us at 9:30, when they opened, there were more cars in the parking lot than I thought there should be the morning of New Year's Day. About 10 to be exact.....I got a little nervous. Wally could sense my discomfort and said to me "You don't know that they're here for the diapers", my reply "yea right". We briskly walked into the store, Wally got a cart and we jetted to the diaper section. As we approached, we could hear the ladies saying - "I can't believe they're already out of size 5s" - repeatedly. I ripped my coat off, threw it into the cart, looked at Wally and said "Game on" and off I flew. I approached the endcap from the side and was able to slide the newborn sizes out out without being detected. I also wanted a couple of size 5s, so I went up front and asked if they had any more in the back. The nice cashier called to the back and they did. We went back to the store and waited. In the meantime, there was an older couple there wanting size 5s for their grandchild. We waited only about one minute, the sales clerk came out with the size 5s and we were on our way. I think Wally secretly enjoyed it. The ladies that were griping about them not having size 5s had left by then so they were out of luck. But we scored bigtime!!!
We went by Best Buy and Wally bought a new TV for his office with a giftcard that his boss gave him for Christmas (thanks Manish!!). He was anxious to get home and install it, so I dropped him off. I knew that amount of shopping that was all I could really ask of him anyway.
I was off to Wags.....my second home......
I ordered more Revlon qs from Ebay and they had arrived. My plan was to get a couple of the Revlon foundations that were bogo, I had $2 mfg qs and there is a Wags q in the Wags January book. They ended up being a little more than I thought, so I purchased a couple of clearance eye items, which are $2.19 and BOGO, used two $2 Revlon qs, which gave me a little overage, plus I had a $2 rr. I paid a total of $1.64 for $46.62 worth of product. Not too shabby!!!!
Here is a pic of the loot:
While I was there, my favorite associate pointed out all of the orange clearance stickers that had been placed on the shelves. There were some really killer deals, but, guess what - I left my large binders at home - geez!!!!
I left there and went home to get my binders.....but I did not go straight back, instead, I stopped at Food Lion in Pfafftown, on Yadkinville Road.
There were some hot chocolate deals, a Special K deal, I had two free International Delight Creamer IPs that I received for "friending" them on Facebook and I needed eggs. I got my items and was off to the register. Let me reiterate - this was the Yadkinville Road location in Pfafftown (don't you just love free speech!!!) I handed the cashier my coupons and she asked the manager that was bagging what she should do. The manager looked at my coupons and said that they did not accept internet coupons for free items....and, since I had two coupons for bogo items, and technically I was receiving something for free, I could not use those as well. She did inform me that I could use the $1 IP for the one box of cereal. I quickly let her know that I had to purchase all 5 boxes to get the deal. As the cashier was voiding off 75% of my order, I asked the manager when the policy changed and she said that recently received an email from corporate. I asked her (very nicely) how the customer is supposed to know - where is their coupon policy located? She didn't know if it was on the internet or not. Wickedly having a little fun, I kept pushing and asked her if I should call or email corporate everytime I came to Food Lion so that I would know of any changes? How is the customer supposed to know????? She didn't know yet again. And yes, I will be emailing corporate....
Update: Here is the response from corporate, 10 days later. It's a very nice letter, but they did not answer my question.
January 12, 2010
Mrs. Missy Coates
Dear Mrs. Coates:
Thank you for your recent email. We sincerely appreciate you contacting us.
Our company will gladly accept manufacturer and store coupons, provided they scan in our register system. We will however, decline the use of single-sided coupons offering a free product, free internet coupons.a coupon that has a higher dollar amount than the value of the product, a competitors' coupon, or if the coupon appears to be fraudulently generated, copied, or reproduced. Unfortunately, we will only accept one coupon per item. I hope you find this information beneficial and do apologize for any inconvenience. Please feel free to speak to the store manager with any concerns you have.
Again, Mrs. Coates, thank you for taking the time to contact us. If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know.
A Leader in Your Community,
Andrea
Consumer Research Specialist
As you can see in the pic below, I purchased 2 boxes of FL brand Hot Cocoa, 1 box of Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa, 1 2-liter of 7 Up and 1 dozen eggs.......all for a grand total of $1.41.
Sorry - The 7-Up is missing from the pic!!On to the next store....Wags again....
I have minimal qs for the items that were on clearance, but still did well. I paid $1.34 for the following (non coupon/sale price would have been $31.47):
The LaCross items were bogo, so that made for more bang for my buck.Specifically, in the pic are two foot lotions, three nail polishes, one eye makeup pencil, two nail clippers and the Nivea cream, travel size. Not too shabby!!!
Rite Aid....
I wanted to do the Benevia deal and they had some makeup on clearance and I had qs. I got four 4 packs of Benevia, one Covergirl Mineral Makeup, one Oral B toothbrush, Reeses Cups (Christmas clearance) and one RA facial apricot scrub. I should've gotten more items, because I was not able to use all of my qs. The manager was very nice and patient. The mfg q for the toothbrush beeped, so I gave him a RA q and all was well. My total was $2.02 for the following:
And next we have CVS. I made the mistake of going to a CVS that I was not familiar with and walked in circles at that store. I know they probably thought I was shoplifting because I was darting in and out of isles. Anyway, I picked up (no pun intended - I paid for everything - even though it SEEMS I really did rob them) three Coke Zeros, one Colgate toothpaste, a three pack of Ivory Soap and two boxes of Sweet-N-Low. I was trying to use an $8.00 RR before it expires next week and the Sweet-N-Low was bogo. I also purchased a CVS Green Bag Tag. I usually take my own bags to the store and by purchasing this tag for .99, for every four times that I come in with my bags, they scan the tag and I will receive $1 in ecbs. My oop was $1.33 and I received $3 in ecbs. My savings was $17.26. Here's the pic:
Wally needed some screws from Home Depot, and I was close, so I picked those up for him. No picture....
Next on the docket was a different Food Lion. The one on Country Club road.....where the managers are very helpful . When I entered the store, I asked a manager what the policy was on IPs and she said that she would have to look at them. She glanced at them and said that they were fine, so off I went. I got two FL Hot Cocoa mixes, one Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa mix, two Int'l Delight Creamers, and 5 boxes of Special K Cereal. With all of the coupons, my total was -.13. I quickly grabbed a banana and paid .15. I really enjoyed that banana. I was hungry from shopping. I do not have a pic of this....I am slacking....I know.....
BUT - here is a pic of all of my loot for the day:
My total OOP for the day was $23.88
Value without sales/coupons: $244.97
Impressed? I certainly am.....But....with that being said, let's talk about necessity. Less than half of these items are "necessary". They are the diapers, eggs, Int'l Delight creamer, Sweet-N-Low and soda and cereal. These items, without qs or sales would total approximately $100. With qs and sales, their value is $18.86. Is the extra $5.02 oop really worth it???? I think yes. The makeup is a great luxury that I would be too frugal to buy with the sale/q, the Benevia will go to a neighbor, whose elderly father lives with them, the Hot Cocoa will go to the food pantry. The remainder will go into the "bunker" for our use or a future donation. You can't buy a value meal at McDonald's for that!!!
Thanks for listening!!!
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1 comment:
Really Awesome day I say! Im sure your husband was enjoying the Tv while you were out as well too! lol
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