Meijer 5/28

Well I must say that while I got a lot of good deals today at Meijer, my experience with the cashier was not a good one. It was nothing particular; he was just an unfriendly, rude person. I'm sorry but if you don't like your job, then find a new one. No need to take it out on the customers. Needless to say next time I will be avoiding his checkout lane.

Garden soil @ $3.99

Cottage Cheese @ .89- FREE item coupon which only took off .85 (who knows why, and it wasn't worth my while to ask Steve the cashier for 4 cents)=.04

Aunt Millie's hot dog buns @ 1.69-.55 q doubled= .59. Store was having a B1G2 free sale, so I got 3-packs of buns for .59!

Duncan Hines brownies which I had a raincheck for. FYI make sure you give the cashiers the rainchecks at the beginning. Scuba Steve grumpily informed me of this. @ 1.09 -50q doubled=.09

Milk @ 1.99

6 Smart Ones= 15.48 - 2 .75q which did not double and a free item coupon for one= $11.09 for 6

Cottage Cheese @ 2.68 -FREE coupon which took off 1.12= 1.56

Cream Cheese @ 2.99- FREE coupon which took off 2.28= .71

Pork Chops @ 4.86

Steak @ 5.30

Steak @ 7.86

Cat food @ 7.49 -2.00q= 5.49

Ribs @ 11.21

Brats @ 2.89 -.55 q doubled= 1.79

8 packs of Ballparks @ .98 each - (4) .75/2 q doubled= $1.84 for 8 packs! That's 23 cents each pack!

3 Kraft BBQ sauce @ 1.25= 3.75 and we got 8 ears of corn free because of this

2 boxes 100 calorie pack cookies @ 2.50 each -1.00 Meijer coupon= 4.00

2 bags dog food @ 16.99 -8.00q= $25.98 plus a $6 catalina printed= $19.98 also I believe there is a rebate for 1 bag that I can submit

No clue why those free items rang up the way they did. It's disappointing but I didn't want to "trouble" Steve anymore than I had to. Lesson learned: sometimes arguing over a few dollars isn't worth it.

Lesson #2: Meat is EXPENSIVE. We're grilling this weekend though. Normally we stick to pork chops and chicken for dinners with meat.

I am getting more assertive though. The 2 free buns didn't come off, so I went to customer service and got a refund.

Big Spender: the Old Navy, Meijer, and GE version 5/21

Today Old Navy had their $1 flip flop sale. I was only able to find one pair (brown) in my size. But that's okay.

flip flops: $1.07

Meijer:

2 bottles of Frank's Thick Sauce @ 1.47 each - (2) .75q doubled= paid me 6 cents to buy

tub of Cottonelle moist wipes=used FREE item coupon

bag of Ore Ida sweet potato fries=used FREE item coupon

Spent .09 in tax

Giant Eagle:

tube of Colgate toothpaste @ $1.49, used .75q doubled=FREE

2 jars of Vlasic relish on sale for $1 each, used .55q doubled=FREE

Spent .05 in tax, but found 11 cents at the Coinstar, so I earned .06 at GE

Generosity

Having a stockpile is nice for things like this: my 8th grade students had a car wash yesterday to raise money for their King's Island trip. I was able to donate the dish soap that they used, which I got free with doubled coupons.

Being frugal allows us to have money to donate when and where we see fit. The 8th graders washed my car and I was able to give them a $20 donation.

Church Sale Saturday

This is the reason why people should never pay retail.

We went to some garage sales this morning. They were all church sales, which I loooove, because they have super cheap prices. Also the proceeds go to good causes, like urban programs, trips to developing countries, relief aid, etc.

Sale #1: $2.75

Clothes were 25 cents each. I got:

* 2 Calvin Klein bras

* Dashboard Confessional t-shirt

* Xhilaration pajama pants

* Eddie Bauer sweater

* Forever 21 jean shorts/capris

* plaid Mossimo shirt

We also got some goodies from the bake sale- proceeds were going to help Japan.

Sale #2: $1.00

Clothes were 50 cents each. I got:

*long-sleeved Old Navy shirt

* pair of SO jeans

Sale #3: $5.50

Perhaps my favorite part of church sales is they often have fill-a-bag deals towards the end. This sale had fill-a-bag for $5.00. I got a bag of the following:

*Victoria's Secret bra

*No Boundaries shirt

* 2 American Eagle shirts

* Juicy Couture shirt

* OSU sweater

* Eddie Bauer shirt

* Old Navy shirt

* Tommy Hilfiger shirt

* Gap Inspi(red) shirt

* Volcom zip-up hoodie

* 5 other no-name shirts

* Tommy Hilfiger pants

* Merona khaki shorts

* J. Crew pants

* 2 pairs of AE jeans

* AE khakis

* no-name dress pants

* no-name dressy capris

* gorgeous Old Navy skirt

*I also got a pair of Nine West sandals for .50

Overall I picked up 35 items and spent $9.25. Upon inspection at home, I noticed one of the pairs of pants is ripped. But I can live with that. It cost pocket change to build up my wardrobe, so I'm not overly bummed if I stain a shirt or if the dog eats a pair of shoes (oh and she has, like a pair of Crocs, which I got for... one dollar... gasp) . If clothes I pick up don't fit, I will auction them off on Listia, or as I am currently doing, put things aside for my own garage sale this summer.

Companies I've Emailed Today

Chiquita

DiGiorno

Seventh Generation

Sweet Baby Ray's

Heiner's bread

Renpure Organics

Buddig

Crest

Fresh Express

Lindsay Olives

Bic

Annie's

Mail today

I got a response from Mrs. T's, 2 .55 coupons!

I also got another envelope from Nielsen's asking to fill out another survey. As a thank-you, they enclosed $5.00.

May Day Festival & Silent Auction

My school had a May Day Festival to earn money to build a security fence. I brought my "birthday money" (LOL...) which my dad sent to me, $20, to spend. I spent $17 of it on the following:

$10 on a handmade necklace & earring set one of my students' sisters was selling

$3 on sweets my student made

$3.50 on hamburgers

$.50 on a carnival game

(have $3 left)

There was also a silent auction. I won the following which I wrote a check for:

a handmade bracelet @ $2.50

FREE haircut coupon @ $1.00

gift card for Loops restaurant (not sure how much is on it, I will ask the PTO mom on Monday) @ $5.56

the cake pictured which is delicious... @ $13.00

Jimmy John's 15-piece party tray @ $7.50

FREE professional bike tune-up @ $2.00

So we spent around $50 which goes to a good cause... And we got some cool deals out of it.

Free Comic Book Day!

We had to go to the BMV to get new tags, and on the way we passed Packrat Comics where they were having Free Comic Book Day events. Billy West, voice actor (Futurama), was there. We didn't wait for his autograph but did see him. They were having lots of freebies. Each person got a free Delivery-Boy Man comic and you got to pick another free comic. We also got free popcorn, two free bottles of Diet Sun Drop, and a bunch of buttons. DH has put his on his backpack and I'll be using mine as prizes in my classroom store.

Deals on my Birthday!

Today is my birthday, so I did what any frugalista does, and that's go couponing! Here's what I got at Wal*Mart.

I spent $5.24. Retail value $34.98.

Easter candy @ 75% off:

4 packages of marshmallows .25 each

2 packages of chocolate eggs .50 each

3 crispy bunnies .25

Dude the Bunny 1.74

6 Nivea body washes @ 3.00 -(6) $3q=FREE

Purex laundry sheets @ .97-$1q=.03 overage

$1.28 in tax

E-mailing Companies

It's time again that I try my hand at emailing some companies to get coupons.

Today I emailed:
Horizon Organic Milk
World's Best Cat Litter (they have a rebate up on their Facebook page which I found after the fact, so I'm not sure if they'll send me anything else... oh well their litter really is the best; it clumps like a charm!)
Mrs. T's pierogies
Smart Ones (again!)
Better'n Peanut Butter
Dr. Pepper