Finally Rollin'


I have never been able to comprehend Walgreens and the way that Register Rewards work. I was browsing around online and lots of people said that this week was a slow one for Wags. Perfect for me to start learning.

Heres how it went.
I did 17 transactions at 5 Walgreens.
I started with 0 RR and ended with $19 RR
I spent $23 OOP (I bought $17.50 worth of soda for someone else so really my OOP was $6)
I saved $161

I am actually very happy with how it went. By starting on a week that professional Wag shoppers though was slow was good for me because it meant that the shelves were not cleaned out. I had fun. I did not make too many major mistakes.

I have $19 in RR to spend in the next two weeks. I guess I better start planning now.

Look What I Got!!!!


This past week I have been scanning all the stores I go in. I am looking for coupons. Blinkies, Tearpads, you name it I looked for it.

By the end of the week I had accumulated over 200 coupons. I did not ever take all the coupons, I did not take coupons I would not use, and I did not tear off coupons from products I was buying.

I sorted them when I got home. Most of my blinkies do not expire till the end of December. I stacked them all together and they are thick like a book of cards.

Keep your eyes open at stores not just for super sales but for coupons that you can take now and use later with a great sale. It is a wonderful way to supplement your newspaper and internet coupons.

Walgreens


This is my first Walgreens trip in a long, long time. I have not gone because it is so far from home and I could not seem to get it right before.

Well this time it went great. I went to 2 stores. I did 7 transactions total and had $26 in Register Rewards left. I spent about $26 so I am pleased.

One reason I spent that is I grabbed the wrong razor on my trip and no RR spit out. I realized what I had done and it was too late to use it on this shopping day. I am holding it for next time. If that is my only snag on my first Wags trip I am pleased.




Here is what I got
9 theraflu
4 Fusion Razors
4 Baby Powders
2 Oral-B toothbrushes
3 bags of skittles
2 packs of seeds
3 dawn dish soaps
3 dentek dental floss

They were out of Trident layers so I missed out on this deal. Oh well.

Blackberry Freezer Jam



This summer I spent some time picking blackberries. I froze them because I was too busy to do anything with them.

Last night I was bored and the kitchen was clean and the dishwasher was just a few dishes away from needing to be ran. I looked in my freezer and decided it was time to make some jam.

It took less than 30 minutes from beginning to end. All you do is use one packet of freezer jam pectin, some sugar and some smashed blackberries. I was not patient enough to smash the blackberries, so I put them in my blender. Worked like a charm. Our jam is very smooth with the occasional seed.

I used about 8 cups of blackberries and came up with 9 8oz jars. I am not unhappy with that. I figured with the pectin and sugar the whole project cost only $2.

After I cleaned up I had just enough dishes to finish off the dishwasher. I started it & put my jam in the fridge. I was glad it was such an easy success.

Jumpstart January




I just read a wonderful article here.

I read the article and made it apply to my life. I am using the article as inspiration.

It is about starting off the new year on the right foot. Becoming clutter free and organized before the new year. If you do this you can start January off on the right foot.

I think I read this at the right time. I am trying to organize my life, my home, and my office. It is a big task to take on but it needs to be done. I want to have it all done in a short amount of time but know that is not logical. Maybe I should aim for January 1st as my end date. I t is a good amount of time to get things done. If I do not feel like doing it one day it will not be the end of the world, and it seems like it would fit nicely around the holidays.

So here is a new challenge for me. De clutter my house and office before January 1st. Have all my papers filed away, all my bills caught up, and my life functioning on a normal level.

Albertsons 10/17/09


So I went to Albertsons the other day and did my transactions I listed earlier on this week. It was very successful and the cashier was super nice. I had two transactions and the cat's did not print so she just credited them for me.

I decided to try my luck and go again Saturday because I had such good luck earlier. I made up my list. Got my coupons together and had stuff for two transactions again.
Well, I did not read the ad well enough and thought that the fiber one cereal was on sale. I was wrong. I had to do some quick adjustments in my head and amazingly it worked. My oop on one transaction was just a few cents higher than I had planned but not to shabby for me.


I am trying to stay under $40 a week for our grocery and hba stuff and I think that is totally attainable. The reason I say $40 is because it is well within budget. I will be able to get whatever we need with it and I will still have a little money to start my stockpile again.

Holy Moly Thats Too Much Yogurt!!!

What to do.....
I have 24 cups of Strawberry Yo-Plus Yogurt with expiration dates all around 11/11.
I need to think of some way to eat this yogurt because truthfully no one here likes yogurt, and I am not a super huge fan myself.
Well, as I was looking through my shelves it came to me. Granola and Yogurt. Delish!
So I looked through my pantry and found no granola. I did find some other crunchy cereal that would work.
I mixed 1/2 yogurt and 1/2 dry cereal and it tasted wonderful. I am glad I thought of something because really I would hate to look at all this yogurt going to waste.

Albertsons 10/16/09


I am so excited. Albertsons is doing a deal where when you buy $25 of select products you get a $10 cat. I planned it all out:
Transaction #1
2 pillsbury cookies $5
2 pillsbury crecent rolls $3.34
1 Cheerios $2
6 Yo Plus 4pk Yogurt $15
Total $25.34

Use Coupons
1 pillsbury cookies $1/2
1 pillsbury crecent rolls .50/2
1 Cheerios $1/1
6 Yo Plus 4pk Yogurt $1/1
Total $8.50 coupons

25.34-8.50=16.84
Receive $10 cat (gen mills) & $2.50 cat (pillsbury)

Transaction #2
2 pillsbury cookies $5
2 pillsbury crecent rolls $3.34
6 Green giant vegetables $12
2 nature valley bars $5
Total 25.34

Coupons
1 pillsbury cookies $1/2
1 pillsbury crecent rolls .50/2
6 green giant .50/1 & .40/1
2 nature valley .80/2
Total $5.10

Use $2.50 cat and $10 cat from before

25.34-5.10-2.50-10=$7.74
Receive $10 cat (gen mills) & $2.50 cat (pillsbury)


Day 15- Making up for lost time

So here I am behind...I need to make up for lost time. I sat down tonight and e-mailed all these companies. This should help me feel caught up on my little challenge. Now I will really be excited to go and check the mail. I hope I get some good ones. I always feel so lucky when I check the mail and there are coupons there.


Companies I e-mailed today:

Rotel

Darigold

Best Foods

Tony's Pizza

Fiber One

Jimmy Dean

Barilla

Sweet Baby Rays

Fruitabu

Vlasic Pickles

Scrubbing Bubbles

Birdseye Voila Chicken

Life

Pillsbury

Banquet

Tims

Campbells

Mission

Motts

Hidden Valley Ranch

Tillamook

Chiquita

Dole

Tropicana

Santa Cruz

Sunny D

Treeptop

Buddig Meats

Newmans Own

Ocean Spray

Snapple

Update on my e-mails

So far I have gotten good responses when I have e-mailed companies complimenting them.
It is exciting to check the mail knowing that you might have something exciting inside.
I have e-mailed about 20 companies and these are the coupons I have received.

2- .50 off Lea and Perrins
2- FREE Life water Q's
3- $1 off Hansens 6-pk Soda
1- $1/2 Hellmans Mayo

I am still e-mailing, not everyday like I wanted but at least a few times a week.
I am going to continue to do this through the end of the month if not longer.

Day 2

Yesterdays e-mails went well. I received a lot of automatic responses back and then a couple that said they would put some coupons in the mail for me. I am excited. It makes me keep e-mailing for more.

Today I e-mailed 6 more companies. We will see what their responses are. I am not going to be e-mailing this weekend because I have to work long hours Saturday and Sunday. I am hoping that when I get to the mail on Monday there might be a coupon or too.

It is kinda like Christmas. Waiting, anticipating, not really sure what you are going to get. Anyways it is exciting this far. I will continue to update more as I receive replies.

Day 1

I started my month long adventure with coupon gathering.
I have e-mailed nine companies today.
I was going to make it a goal to e-mail 5 companies a day. I do not know how that will work. I know at first I will really be into it, but I might slow down at the end. I hope to make this fun and exciting. Also I hope it makes me want to go check on my post office box more often as well. It is always fun to have exciting things in the mail and not just the usual bills.

I will continue to update here as well as to brag about my best replies on this blog.
This should be a good project to keep me distracted from the changing seasons, where has this year gone?