Bad Business Practice: Domino's

I'm making a stand. Those businesses that practices poor customer service shall get a thumbs-down PUBLICLY from me.

Today there was a code going around for a free medium pizza at Domino's. I thought it won't work, but it did for us. Order went through, hubby even phoned the store to make sure it went through. (I then read from many comments that this deal is not good, as in many people can't get it through)

Hubby went to store. They would not give him the pizza (which was baked and sitting there). They wanted him to get something else to get that "free" pizza. YEAH RIGHT. That's horrible.

I can understand if a computer glitch got your codes wrong, but hey man, honor it! Get some good practice, especially after customer made a phone call to CONFIRM about the order and price! The workers were lost and manager oblivious.

BAD. Domino's lost my business (and hopefully most of you reading too). I wrote to them. Now let's see if they'll even respond.

Great Heathy Ones Lunch Meat deal at Stop and Shop

Certain variety of the small pack of lunch meat (about 11 pieces of them) are on sale for $1.67. With this coupon of $0.55 here, you can get these for $0.57 each after double coupon at Stop and Shop. Do this before 4/2!

Giveaways Week Mar 25

These are the giveaways I signed up this week. (there are LOTS this week!)

8th Continent Soy milk giveaway by mommieswithcents

At Sonbeams, there is a giveaway everyday. Today's giveaway is a 26 Week Membership to Sonbeams AND ABC Bible Memory Verse Songs Collection (MP3 download)

joyfulmoneysaving is giving away mabels labels (they are quite adorable!)

how about Veggie Tales DVD giveaways? (I love VT!) by growingupgabel

STL mommy is giving away label daddy (more labels!)

$10 Starbucks giftcard by twomonkeysawashtub. I love starbucks cards...

$20 Target giftcard by never2late2save (another of my fav...Target)

YEH! Another See Kai Run shoes by babesandkidsreview (You know what? I'd LOVE to get to be the reviewer huh?)

$25 outback steakhouse giftcard by a busymomoftwo. Since we have one here. This is great!

You can Make this $50 bundle by gograhamgo

Potty tots giveaway by dealectible mommies

$4 coupon for PACE salsa

$4 coupon for Pace Salsa here. $4???!!! I'm sure I can almost get it free!! (Now Hubby is going to be SOO happy)

p.s. I went back and I printed 4!!! (it seems like it just kept GOING!)

CVS/Rite Aid Mar 22

We had a good run.

CVS:
6 cans of Cream of Mushroom, $1.99/2, $1/2 coupons
Crest Enamel Shield Rinse, $3.49, ECB $3.49
4 Johnson's Buddies, $1.25 each (after tax), $1 off each (coupon)
2 Trail Mix, $4.99/2, 2 $2 coupons
2 packs of raisins
1 pack 12-roll CVS TP (I can't wait to try this, for it's a better value than Wags!)

$5/25 coupon

Total (after ECBS used and earned): $6.80

Rite Aid:
Huggies Jumbo dipe, $9.99, $2 SCR, $3 coupon, $0.75 Caregivers.

Final Price: $4.24!!

Total spent this week on Grocery and Household (More to add on): $64.94 (got out of our budget but we have some food for "later"

Best buy this week (aside from the Huggies and CVS run): $2.49 per gallon of whole milk at Target!

Giveaways week Mar 28th

These are the great giveaways I signed up for this week:

$10 gift card from Living as Mom

$20 Applebees' gift card by 4hatsand frugal

Frugal Mommy of 2 girls giving away a Tuga Sunwear!

Grocery/Drugstore Strategy

A slow week. But at CVS I'll really like to get the mixer I didn't last week (thanks to SIL who helped me with the raincheck.
So, here's my plan:

Campbell's soup (Cream of mushroom or chicken), $1.69? BOGO
Buy 6 at $5.07
3 $1/2 coupons (that we printed some time back?)
Final Price: $0.35 each!

Mixer, $9.99

Raisins (we badly need these for baking), $1.25 per 6-pack

Crest Pro-Health Enamel Care, $3.49
ECB $3.49
Final Price: FREE

Wrigley, $1.19
FREE coupon
Final Price: FREE

CVS Toilet paper, 12 double rolls, $5

$5/25 coupon

I might spend $14.56 on the above. (let's see!)

Walgreens
I'll pass this week. But some deals worth talking about

Tomato soup/Chicken noodle, $0.79 (they used to be $0.69 on sale!!)
Eggs, $1.50

Rite Aid
Huggies Jumbo diapers(now will they take our IP coupon?), $9.99
SCR $2
$3 IP
$0.75 Caregivers' Rebate
Final Price: $4.24

Stop and Shop
Turkey Breast, $0.99/lb
Strawberries, $2.99/2lb (now that's better than last time!)
Buy 6 gallons of milk get 1 free is back (that'll make milk about $2.99)
Cantaloupe, $1.88 each
Francesco Rinaldi Sauce, $1.25 each (at best deal it's $0.99) but this is the BEST pasta sauce we've had

Reminders on couponing, frugal living and drugstore deals

Recently more and more of my friends caught the "coupons" and "drugstore" fever. I cannot tell you how elated and excited I am to hear about the deals they snagged and the money they saved. It really pumped me up.

Yet, I have this tingling concern at the base of my tummy...

I started this couponing/frugal/drugstore journey with the blessing and full involvement of my husband (he does the runs too). We talked about it, sometimes I run through my deals by him (because of my HORRIBLE math), laughed about it and celebrated together when we snatched some awesome deals.

However, I know I'm very blessed. Not all the sisters I know have that luxury. (I probably wouldn't have too, if not for my hubby starting to be CFO) So, I'm concerned if this frugal journey will cause dissensions among the couples which will be a BIGGEST loss!

OR...I was concerned that some of my friends would have to learn the hard way about drugstoring like me and suffer some losses (monetarily and time). I wish they can be spared of that.

So I thought of sharing some articles/blogs I read that was helpful and interesting (I'll post more when I read more) and also some of my learnings while on the journey.

Deal-seeking mom lately has some good blogs like:

Are you really saving? here

To print and clip or not print and clip here

Moneysavingmom (my favorite of all for she always keeps my values in check)! had some good archives:

Simple living here

A good deal gone bad here

And I read about this really really funny post: "I married a couponholic" here

Alright. SOME of my learnings:

1. Discuss with hubby and make sure he at least gives you the blessing (MOST hubbies will not be able to participate and that's ok). OR let him give you the blessing with his "parameters". Every marriage is different too...how you discuss and come to decisions about things. But every marriage should be more important than how much you earn/save.

2. Get your priorities right. Set time and budget aside for deals/couponing etc. Everyone has different needs and capacity. What's yours? I have 2 young kids and I realized when I first started I needed to learn about this and I need to get better. So I spent a lot of time. This year, one of my resolution is to cut down time to plan/strategize/etc on couponing/drugstoring to 15-20 mins a day. Do you have work? family? studies? hubby? hobby? ministry? Give those who deserve your attention the deserving attention. Also, remember this is about living simpler (yet I realized we're getting WAY MORE STUFF than we ever gotten, with much less money). Still to be willing to live simpler, eat simpler, use simpler is the key to saving (not the deals!!).

3. Remember your goals, never be greedy and be totally honest. It's SUPER hard esp when you start getting TONS of free stuff. But with some bad experiences, I realize, greed just doesn't get you anywhere. I always remember moneysavingmom's advice to pray about the deals (that makes me conscious to put God in all that I do in this journey). There are lots of ways to get free/cheap stuff but not all are honest. That's why I love moneysavingmom. When there are deals, I usually check her blog to see if she endorses it. She's on the journey for a much longer time than I do and I need her wisdom. I respect her values totally. That's also why I steer away from those online offers, special earning opportunities etc.

4. God knows what you need. My SIL loves to say this when we talked about deals (that we got or missed) and I think it's a wonderful reminder! God knows exactly what's good for you at this time, thus the deals you got/missed. In that light I no longer am anxious about "what if there is no stock??!!" "what if the coupon doesn't ring", etc etc...it's ok. Also, because of that I'm more willing to let go of good deals, $5/25 coupons and even some other great value coupons that I've printed (oh gosh, no!) but can't do the deal (no stock, no time, etc)

5. Never forget about giving. At this point in our journey, we have lots of household stuff stocked up, we are getting great deals (and many times I won't even do the deals unless it's overage or really free, or I can give away) and we are saving lots more. To the more God demands more. So we try to remember it's important to give to others. That keeps us in check.

Grocery, CVS Earning Trip and our wipes stash

This is why I love CVS and I'm loving it more than Walgreens:

Even though counting the $5/25 purchases and all the ECBs are always nerve-wrecking, I have better customer service and LOTS of ease when it comes to coupons (they just scan them and not scrutinize them) and I always come out happier than when I go to Walgreens. I'm sad, cos Wags is closer and it started me on this frugal journey. Anyhows.

Here's today's trip. I went at first only to find the Irish Spring Free-after-ECB item. THEN I waited and waited for someone to come by. (I waited for QUITE A WHILE!) A VERY nice man (I have the intention to give a positive feed back on him) came by, went to search for the items I need (even though the mixer that I really want is out of stock). I got 3 packs of sensitive wipes because he took the trouble. He even said he'll bring them to the front for me!!! WOH!

So...
I got...
Irish Spring Wash
Progresso Soup (2 cans)
2 Johnson's buddies' soap
3 pack of wipes
2 packs of Wrigleys (I have a CVS coupon BOGO and used 2 free coupons from this week's SS)
and I EARNED $0.61!!

Now, after all the tripping at Stop and Shop and today, we have a stash of 13 packs of wipes (that will last both of our kids for 6 months). And we spent: $10.72 on all of them!!! Wipes for 6 months? Gosh!!!

And for Grocery this week, we spent: $42.50 on the pic above (that includes 6 more yogurt not in the pic), $10.33 at Target, another $4.36 on eggs, tofu and salt and $4.38 today at CVS. But we have $4.99 ECB back.

So total we spent on grocery and household: $56.58 (My budget is $60, so that's great!)

Target dairy deals

Our target has much higher prices on things, always has beeping issues with coupons and doesn't seem to be wiling to stack target coupons and manufacturer's coupons.

BUT! I got some awesome deals today.

2 gallons of Milk, $2.49 each (This is the MOST amazing price I've seen)
2 packs of Market Pantry Shredded Cheddar Cheese, $3.50, $1 Target web coupon, Final Price: $1.25 each!
Goldfish, $1.89, $1 Target web coupon, Final Price: $0.89 each!
Bread, $1.29 (24 oz)

Total: $10.33 for all that. I think it's a real good buy (I have to take off $10 of my grocery tomorrow though)

Grocery/Drugstore Deals Mar 13, 15 *EDITED*

These are the deals I see this week:

CVS (Yeah! We are coming back for good deals!)
Irish Spring Body Wash, $4.99, $4.99 ECB, Final Price: Free
Colgate Max White toothbrush or toothpaste, $2.99, $2.99 ECB, $1 MQ here (sign up and find coupon) Final Price: Free +overage!
RTH appliance (I badly need a handmixer..it's $9.99 and I can use my $5/25 coupon)
Progresso soups, $1.25, I had $1.10 coupons still, Final Price: $0.15 each
Huggies wipes (GASP! MORE??!!), $5.99 I wonder if they have the gentle care ones which I can get for $0.99 after coupons!!
Dry Idea Deodorant, $2.99, $2 ECB, $2 MQ on my side bar, Final Price: Free + Overage

Now if you have $5/25 coupons These will make great deals!!

Rite Aid
Nothing much

Walgreens
Walgreens dipes at $4.50 again, if you need them!

Stop and Shop

Top/Bottom Roast, $1.99/lb (that's great price for a roast!)
Wise potato chips, $2, $0.50 MQ (not sure if it still prints), Final Price: $1 each
Dannon Yogurt, 10 for $4, $1 MQ (SS), Final Price: $0.30 each (that's too expensive compared to our $0.50/4 Yoplus huh?)

Giveaways week Mar11

I signed up for these giveaways this week

Jack And Lily Shoes (Open toe red patent) by Frugal Mommy of 2 girls

Mommies with cents has many give aways, which I love a lot!

Crane Humidifiers (these are great! I like the panda one)

Miracle Blankets (never had these but they sure look nifty!)

Bobux Shoes (someone gave my daughter a pair and I love them)

Super Coupon Girl has a new contest blog and she's giving away Magic Pumpkin wall art nursery deco here

Thifty and chic mom has Wisey diaper bag (that looks really chic) giveaway

Combi Coccoro Carseat by My Baby Moderns

Giftcard of your choice by allthingsfrugal4u (I cannot believe she has 7 kids)

Giftcard and chocolates by myreasontoblog

$10 CVS giftcard by frugal RI mama

STL Mommy has a $50 diapers.com giftcard!

Yobaby $0.50 coupon

Print a $0.50 yobaby coupon here, one for drinkable and one for whole milk yogurt. You can only print these once and they expire 10 days from printing. These will double at Stop and Shop and that will possibly give a you great price for baby yogurt!

$0.50 for 4 Yoplus Yogurt at Stop and Shop

Yoplus for $0.50 at Stop and Shop after this $1.50 coupon here. (It's $2 this week)

$0.50 for 4 VERY delicious yogurt? YUM!

While you're there, grab the $5 Huggies coupon (if you still haven't printed them). You can on my side bar, and get $0.99 Gentle Care wipes.

And $1.67/lb of strawberries. These are what we're grabbing AGAIN this week. =)

Poor Coupon Management at Walgreens

With the rave on the Huggies deal, I was quite apprehensive. I can tell you, I really dislike Register Reward. They either don't print, don't be used well or...whatever.

So, we managed to get 3 packs of size 6 dipes, for $21 OOP (then get $10 RR, and I'll file for rebate of $2.25 at Caregivers) so that's $2.91 per pack. A real deal yes. But not without stress. We wanted to get size 4, but there isn't any.

I wanted to use the $10 RR to buy Toilet paper and the Axe shampoo. No TP (Wags) either. ($10RR is REALLY hard to use, esp when the FAR items are always out of stock)

Then my friend went to the same Wags, didn't get her RR to print and the cashier starts to give her "reasons" (all speculated and not real). In the end it was the RR machine that was broken and the manager would not do anything about it. Then she went to the next Wags and they said they won't take IP.

Now. I've had enough of Wags' coupons "policies". When it beeps (though it's totally legitimate or even if they don't, the cashiers start to give me reasons like these:
-You need to spend $25 AFTER coupons to get the RR to print (the Huggies deal). YEAH RIGHT! I did that once and it printed and no where it was printed as so
-You have too many coupons, that's why it's beeping (YEAH RIGHT again, I know the policy better than you...one Manufacturer's coupon per item, stackable with Walgreens' coupons)
-(this is my favorite) We do not accept any coupon on dairy products (when I tried to use a coupon for milk)
-No, you cannot use this coupon, because it's 1 cent more than price (even though my total is more than $0)
-No, this easy saver coupon is only for the "Bells" Hershey kisses (where is that written?!!, and sure enough, even when I took the "Bells" ones, it didn't work)

Now, I'm not saying my coupon is not ALLOWED to beep. There must be some reason for that and since it's not the cashier's fault that they can't do some readjustments. What I'm not happy is that why do they give their own silly speculations about such things? Just say it's beeping and I do not know why. Or "I'll try to understand why it's not going through" (even though it's perfectly legitimate)

I don't think I'll try to do another round of the Huggies deal even though it's such a good one (with the right conditions). I'll bring my business to Stop and Shop and get $0.99 wipes.

Walgreens is really getting on my nerves. Things should be improving and not getting worse. That's not the civilizations work.

Groceries Mar 6th

How's that for $48.24? I can't tell, but we had A LOT of good deals!

3 Mystic pizzas for $9
Yoplus yogurt for $0.50 each
Free Jell-O pudding
Free Riceworks
Free Over the Moon milk (Try it free rebate)
$0.50 Ziploc containers
$0.99 wipes

Grocery/Drugstore Plan Mar 8

After studying Stop and Shop Double Dollar Coupon thingey, I realized it's not that easy!

First, the $15 is AFTER coupons (now that's always a hard one...not much meat on sale this week...so that's off), then they only take coupons from magazines/newspapers (does that mean they won't take IPs?) AND they explicitly say they won't take those that says "DO NOT DOUBLE" (usually the cashier will take them and double). SOOO...

I'll only use 4 coupons. The 2 ziplogs and 2 Mystic pizza ones. Dawn still gives me free though, that's cool.

CVS
I'm skipping this week

Walgreens
Yeh! We have the $25 Kimberly-Clark, get $10 RR!

Possible Deals:
2 Natural Fit Diapers, $10 each 2 $3 Coupons (on my side bar), $1.50 Caregivers Rebate
1 Gentle Care wipes (if they have it), $6, $5 off (on my side bar)
Pay$15, get $10 RR and $1.50 rebate

Or
2 Gentle Care dipes (step 1-2), $10 each, 2 $5 coupons, $1.50 caregivers rebate
1 Gentle Care wipes, $6, $5 coupon
Pay $11, Get $10 RR and $1.50 rebate (MM!)

Now, what can I use for the $10 RR? (rumor has it that Wags dipes on sale for 2/$9 next week again...I don't know if we have that deal here)

OR...
Axe shampoo, $5.99
Wag TP, 2/$5 (that's a good deal and good TP!)

OR...
Advanced Memory Formula, $19.99

Rite Aid
nothing much

great buy and new service

Thanks to Thriftymama, I got this pair of great (very comfy) shoes for $4.99 shipped at Monterey Bay. (I got a pair of jeans @ $6.49 too but the size is warped & I need to exchange it).

Anyhows, do you hate it when you don't get your mail but the peach slip instead? ("Sorry we missed you") Postal Service must be better elsewhere but here in some parts of NYC, it's A REAL PAIN and I reaaly didn't want to dredge through the unmelted snow with 2 kids for this parcel...then I realize I can schedule redelivery online!!! I asked for redelivery for today yesterday night. yah right, I thought, they probably haven't gotten my parcel at the office!!

Here they are, 9am in the morning. And I'm super impressed. Kudos, usps, finally.

Stop and Shop Double $1 Coupon Days!!!

I hope you understand why I'm giddy with adrenalin rush to the sky. The Stop and Shop is doubling coupons up to $1 this coming week!!!! (3/6-3/12) Get the ad in store for details. I think you can use up to 4 at once.

Here are our best buys:

Mystic Pizzas, at 3 for $11. I have 2 coupons ($1 off 1, and $1 off 2), that will make final price: 3 for $7!!!!

Ziplog containers, $2.50. Mailer coupon $1, Final Price: $0.50

Yo-plus yogurt, 4-pack, $2, $1 MQ here. Final Price: free

Dawn, $1, $0.50 MQ (mailer), Final Price: free

Giveaways week Mar 4

I signed up for these this week:

$50 Walmart gift card by Frugalfreebiesanddeals

$50 Target giftcard by notmadeofmoney

$5 giftcard of your choice by livingasmom

Fabric scrapes by jumpupanddown

Jack and Lily shoes by mamasmoneysavers

See Kai Run Shoes by mamasmoneysavers

Ergo Hands Free by "Deal"ectible Mommies

Totally Toddler by "Deal"ectible Mommies

Neat Solutions Table Toppers by "Deal"ectible Mommies

Fulfilling Trip CVS/Walgreens

*Sorry no pic, no time*

Walgreens today:

Colgate, 3.57(+tax), RR $3.50, Final Price: $0.07

Diapers (4 packs), each $4.50

Axe Shampoo, $5.99, Rebate $6.59, Final Price: - $0.60


All in gift card


CVS (Wonderful trip!)

Glucerna, $4.89 X2, $2.44 X2 (50% off 2nd), Total: $14.67 Coupons: $19.56 (don't ask me why, but the cashier rung the last as this, but I'm not complaining, in fact I'm complimenting! CVS is doing a great job making adjustments so all my coupons go through!!) Final Price: Free + Overage (now now, silly me, I should have used this on a different transaction so I can send in for Caregivers' rebate!! That's $4!!)

Ensure, $7.99, $3 MQ here (can't find it anymore?), full rebate here, Final Price: Free + Overage

Johnsons' baby wash + shampoo (4 of them, each $3), $3 off coupon

Pampers $10, $1.50 off coupon

Milk, $3.29


$5/30 coupon


Total OOP: $4.90, (ECBs used $10.98), ECB earned: $5, Rebate to be earned $7.99
Final total: $2.89 (should have been an earning trip...hmmm I wonder if I can get another receipt?)