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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Third Time's A Charm

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines. Week 3 of The Challenge is about to begin.

I am starting the week with $50 cash, $4.99 ECB from CVS, zero RR from Walgreens and $9 +UP rewards from Rite Aid. I received my $2 +UP rewards Saturday from Rite Aid Customer Service. What great service!!

The first stop today was Walgreens. The only thing I needed was newspapers. Since I have no RR, I was going to buy the newspapers with cash. But then I saw that $1 RR were printing if you bought crayons at $1. Considering all the area sales for school supplies, $1 for crayons is very expensive. But since I was going to spend the money anyway for newspapers, I decided to get the RR from three packs of crayons. (Crayons are used a lot in my house.) I also bought a pack of six highlighters for .19 (again something used a lot). I ended up doing four transactions for three packs of crayons, highlighters and three newspapers. I know, it's not very exciting...no picture is needed.

Shelf Price and Tax: $8.29
Coupons Used: 0
RR Spent: $3
Cash Spent: $5.29
Rewards Received: 0
Rebates To Be Mailed: 0

After Walgreens, Sleeping Beauty and I crossed the street and went to CVS. I am going to spare you the picture, but I bought three 12-packs of Pepsi, three 12-packs of Mountain Dew and a bag of Doritos (which were a free perk from Pepsi). Bor-ring!!

Shelf Price and Tax: $20.38
Coupons Used: $4
RR Spent: $4.99
Cash Spent: $11.39
Rewards Received: 0
Rebates To Be Mailed: 0

Sleeping Beauty and I then went to Rite Aid (which is on the other side of Walgreens). Rite Aid is turning into one of THE places to shop. The cashier today was super nice. I didn't get his name, but I will remember next time to read his name tag. I was going to introduce myself to the manager and thank him for his phone call last week, but he was busy. He is always nice, courteous and very helpful.

Anywho, this is what I bought at Rite Aid today:


Everything that I bought will be used. It wasn't bought just to sit on a shelf...Pampers and Johnson's shampoo (part of a baby gift), wipes (can never have too many wipes), Crest toothpaste (my favorite brand), Herbal Essence shampoo & conditioner (my DD's favorite brand) and a Mr. Goodbar (my 2nd favorite candy bar).

Shelf Price and Tax: $27.30
Coupons Used: $18.24
+UP Spent: $9.00
Cash Spent: $.06
Rewards Received: $7.50
Rebates To Be Mailed: $2

You read that right...six cents! I spent six pennies!! And I get $2 in rebates and have $7.50 in +UP rewards. Whoo-Hoo!!! (Sleeping Beauty, are you taking notes!!)

Now, it was time to go to Target. Sleeping Beauty and I taught a Target class yesterday. We met a couple of students there today for a field trip. Tomorrow we will let you know how they did. Here's a hint...one did a cartwheel in the parking lot and another couldn't stop singing "Oh Happy Day". It was a very good day!!

I bought milk and hamburger buns (not worth taking a picture).

Shelf Price and Tax: $3.21
Coupons Used: 0
Rewards Spent: 0
Cash Spent: $3.21
Rewards Received: 0
Rebates To Be Mailed: 0

It was a dull trip for me. But my excitement came from watching others get so excited.

Sunday's Totals -
Shelf Price and Tax: $59.18
Coupons Used: $22.24
Rewards Spent: $16.99
Cash Spent: $19.95

Cash Left To Spend This Week: $30.05
Rewards: $7.50 +UP (Rite Aid)
Rebates To Be Mailed: $2


Just a few parting words...Sleeping Beauty and I were gone around two hours. We probably could have cut that time down but we spent a great deal of time waiting for a prescription at CVS and looking around at Target. With two young elementary-age children in the house, Sunday shopping is something I look forward to every week...getting out of the house without the kids. If you don't want to spend that much time shopping, you don't have to. If you have a list and know what you want, you can be in and out of a store in 15 minutes (depending on how fast check-out is). And we don't "run all over town"...Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS are about one mile from our neighborhood and they are right beside each other. It's kind of a no-brainer to go to each of these stores. We enjoy getting out and shopping is fun to us. Oh yes, paying 6 cents for $27 worth of merchandise is lots of fun! And speaking of shopping fun, wait until we tell you how much fun our students had!!

I have had some comments about the lack of food in my purchases. I have two freezers full of food as well as a closet full of non-perishable foods. I am at the point of cherry-picking at the grocery store. It is such a relief to not have to grocery shop several times a week for dinner. I have been stockpiling for a while and I am now reaping the rewards. And I confess...I am a Mountain Dew-a-holic!

**Pinch**

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