Sunday Shopping

Price Chopper

• 2 Reynold's Baking Cups $1 each, used two $0.35 coupons = $0.30 each
• 2 PC Sliced cheeses $3 each
• 4 Banquet Sausages $1 each
• 4 Hillshire Farms Kielbasa $2.50 each, used two $1 off 2 coupons (10/14 RP) = $8 or $2 each
• 2 PC frozen veggies $1 each
• President Brie $4.49 - probably coupons out there for this but I got it on impulse 
• 5+ lb. package chicken breasts $10.18 ($1.99/lb)
• Used $1 catalina and $3.10 in bottle slips, total was $31.33

I'll use the kielbasa and sausages towards a $10 Pyramid Ale NBPR rebate.  I got all of my rebate checks back for the spring/summer and now I'm working on my fall/winter ones.  I don't have the full list of qualifying items, but just like before, you can buy any kind of meat (no store brands in NY).

ShopRite

• Mrs. Smith's Pie $1.99, used $1.50 coupon (9/30 SS) = $0.49
• 3 Mission Tortillas $1.49 each
• 2 Wheat Thins $2 each, used $1 off 2 coupon (11/11 SS) = $3 or $1.50 each
• 2 Breakstone Sour Creams $0.99 each, used $1 off 2 coupon (11/11 SS) = $0.98 or $0.49 each
• 5 SR shredded cheeses $1.99 each
• 4 Oscar Mayer Cold Cuts $2.99 each, will send away for $10 Pyramid Ale NBPR rebate = $1.96 or $0.49 each
• Borden American Cheese Singles $2.50
• Moov Frozen Strawberries $2.50 
• Used $5 catalina, total was $30.85

For whatever reason, the lights flickered a couple of times while I was in the store.  You should have heard the groans from my fellow customers at the thought of the power going out again.  Thankfully it stayed on and I high-tailed it out of there quickly.  It was so nice to buy some food and stock up the fridge a bit.

CVS - bought my papers, plus:

• 4 Skippy Peanut Butters $2.50 each, got back $3 EB (WYB $10, Limit 1) = $7 or $1.75 each

There was a Skippy coupon in today's RP.  I'll use that to get some more PB tomorrow.

Rite Aid

• 8 Lindt Chocolates $1 each, got back four $1 UP's ($1 WYB 2, Limit 4) = $4 or $0.50 each
• Betty Crocker Brownies $2.15 (should have been $2) and two RA Applesauces $1.50 each, got back $3 UP (WYB $5, Limit 3) = $2.15 or $0.71 each
• Used $2 UP and two $5 UP's, total was $1.80 

Its nice to be back to normal again.  After being without power for a week and no generator, we obviously had to throw out all of the food in our fridge and full-size freezer.  That hurt a bit, but it gave me an opportunity to give both appliances a good scrubbing.  We had a snowstorm earlier last week and I was so afraid we might lose power again but luckily, we were fine.

I forgot I took some pictures during and after the storm.  The top shot is Gigi in her favorite spot in the house, gazing outside as the rain began.

Forgot about this!  A squirrel was taunting Gigi, sitting on our steps and staring at her from behind the glass door. 

Shadow supervised the situation.

Brave little guy, isn't he?

Other than some missing shingles, this fallen tree was the only damage we sustained.  Thank goodness the tree fell to the right instead of the left where it would have definitely hit the house and taken out some wires.

Another pine tree was tipping over as a result of Sandy, so DBF chopped that one down, plus several others.  Eventually, we'll probably take them all down and plant some hedges or something between us and the neighbors.  It seems so strange without the trees there.  Now I can hear the neighbor kids screaming even more clearly.  Oh joy.  :)

Sunday Shopping

 Price Chopper

• PC Italian Bread $0.80 with iSave coupon
• Coke 2L Bottle $0.80 with iSave coupon
• 3 Freschetta Pizzas $5 each, used three $1 peelie coupons = $4 each
• PC Milk Chocolate Chips $1.19 with coupon
• PC Flour (5 lbs) $1.19 with coupon
• PC Sugar (4 lbs) $1.69 with coupon
• 4 Campbell's Chunky Soups $1.50 each, used $1 off 4 coupon (10/7 SS) = $5 or $1.25 each
• 4 PC Salad Dressings $1.50 each
• 2 Betty Crocker Potatoes $1.50 each, used $0.50 off 2 coupon and will get back $0.50 Savingstar credit = $1.50 or $0.75 each
• Used $3 catalina and $10 PC gift cards from Jolly Time promo, total was $29.29

I bought some soup for cheaper yesterday at ShopRite, but they only had one variety that DBF had asked for so I picked up a couple more for him today.

CVS - had a 20% coupon

• 2 Revlon Nail Clippers $3.29 each, got back $5 EB (WYB 2, Limit 6) = $1.58
• 6 papers $2 each
• Got $2.75 discount, used $5 EB (adjusted down to $4.86) and $10 EB, total was $1.29

A Redeeming PC Trip

Price Chopper - this trip totally made up for my last trip when I didn't even make it home with all the items I bought!  The cashier was really friendly.  I asked her to check the Pantene first to see if they're ringing up BOGO (duh me, that doesn't start until Saturday) and when they didn't ring up that way, she made one of them free without me even asking!  Very cool

• 2 Baby Back Ribs $16.99 each, BOGO sale and I'll send away for $10 Dos Equis NBPR rebate on $15 worth of prime cuts of beef and/or pork (DOSNA016, Exp. 9/30) = $6.99 for two
• 4 Pop Secret Popcorn $1.59 each, used two $0.50 off 2 coupons (9/9 RP) = $4.36 or $1.09 each
• 4 Stove Tops $1.50 each, got back $2 catalina (WYB 4) = $4 or $1 each
• DiGiorno Pizza $5
• 2 CPK Pizzas $5 each, used two $1 coupons (9/9 RP) = $8 or $4 each
• Milk $2.44
• Sour Cream $1.50
• 2 Birds Eye Steamfresh Veggies $2 each
• 2 Pantene Sham/Cond $5.99 each, used BOGO coupon (9/16 RP) and cashier gave me one for free cuz she was awesome = FREE *Don't be an idiot like me, wait until Sunday to do this deal when they will actually be BOGO
• Total was $48.78

I absolutely love the sea salt Pop Secret - its sooooo good!  I've been waiting for a sale for a while.  Perfect timing - all my shows are back this week!

Rite Aid - couldn't find any eclos at this store.  I'll keep checking...

• 4 Rite Aid Hand Sanitizers (8 oz) $1 each, got back four $1 UP's (Limit 4) = FREE
• Paid with $4 UP and $0.33 to cover the tax

Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous so da boyfriend and I went for a nice long walk.  

This park was so beautiful and relaxing, until DBF pointed out the pile of bear scat and casually remarked that the bear that made it was probably 200-300 pounds.  Yeah ok, I'm ready to head out.  :)

The park was a lot smaller than we originally thought, so we decided to continue our walk on a nearby trail.  It took us past several local farms and under a set of railroad tracks.  

We saw a squirrel a ways past this field who was chowing down on an ear of corn. Wonder how he got it down?

Such a beautiful day!

Price Chopper - very frustrating trip today.  Here's the issue with the store I usually go to - they only have one or two cashiers open at a time.  So the lines build up, they call over other cashiers who furiously work to clear the lines.  They're in a rush and guess who suffers?  Me.  This store's registers don't work well so they have to manually input EVERY coupon.  They miss coupons nine times out of ten and I've just about had it. Honestly, what store in this day and age can't scan coupons?  Today the cashier totally missed my doublers, so she input all my coupons but shorted me $2 by not putting through the doublers.  The screen doesn't list what coupons have been used, so I never know if there's a problem until I get the receipt.  I also had a bunch of bottle deposit slips and I'm pretty sure she missed a couple of those.  Unfortunately, I didn't count up the value of the slips before I checked out so I have no way of verifying if they all went through.  I asked her how many slips I had (12) thinking I'd count them up on the receipt, but the receipt just lists a total amount of the deposits, not the number of slips used.  I'll never make that mistake again.  

To add insult to injury, I get home and put out all my groceries, take my pictures and put everything away.  It occurs to me later that my cookie mix is missing.  It wasn't in any of the bags so I checked the car, thinking maybe it slipped out.  Its nowhere to be found. I guess it was somehow not bagged or left in a bag that didn't make its way into the cart.  There was a second cashier in my aisle who bagged my stuff and put it all into my cart. I was trying to watch the register to check that my coupons were entered so I wasn't paying attention to her.  So very frustrating!  I think I'm going to write a note to PC about installing registers that will allow scanning of coupons.  That would eliminate SO many problems.  I never have these issues at other PC locations because they can scan coupons rather than having to manually type in each and every one, but those stores are pretty far from the house.

Anyway, here is what did make it home - 

• 6 Jolly Time Popcorn $1.66 each, used three $1 off 2 coupons (9/16 SS) and will send away for two $5 rebates/prepaid gift cards (rebate form found in circular, Limit 2) = $3.04 profit
• PC Cream Cheese $0.80 with coupon 
• 8 Goya Beans $0.79 each, used two $1 off 4 coupons (9/16 RP) plus two doublers = $2.32 or $0.29 each
• Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $2, used $0.50 coupon (from coupons.com, still there?) and will get back $0.50 Savingstar rebate = $0.50
• 8 Banquet Sausages $1 each
• Milk $2.44
• Total was $21.52

CVS

• Dermasilk Skin Perfect $29.99, used $5 coupon (9/16 RP), $5 CRT (got last week) and got back $10 EB (Limit 1) = $9.99
• 2 Popcorn Indiana Chip In's $2.50 each, used $1.50 off 2 coupon (8/19 SS) = $3.50 or $1.75 each
• Pretzel Crisps $2.50
• Used 20% off coupon (took off $5.20), $0.67 EB, $5 Beauty Club EB (reduced the amount of my 20% off coupon but I wanted to get everything all at once) and $10 EB, total was $2.89

Rite Aid

• 2 Doritos $3 each, got back $2 UP (WYB 2, Limit 2) = $4 or $2 each
• 3 DiGiorno Pizzas $5 each, used $1 off 2 coupon (9/9 RP) and got back $5 UP (WYB $15 of qualifying items, Limit 3) = $9 or $3 each
• Total was $20 - paid with UP's

Shopping and a Visit Downstairs

Rite Aid

• 4 Super Poligrips (0.75 oz) $2.49 and $1.24 each (BOGO 50% off sale), used four FREE coupons (8/26 SS) and got back two $2 UP's (WYB 2, Limit 2) = $4 profit
• Sani-Hands Hand Sanitizing Wipes (50 ct) $2.99 and will get back $2.99 (SCR #591, valid 9/2 - 9/8, Limit 1) = FREE
• Organix Moroccan Oil $4.99, got back $3 UP = $1.99 *Kills me that I got suckered into buying this at the salon for just a bit more money.  Oh well
• Reese's candy $0.59
• Used two $4 UP's, total was $1.69

CVS - found another store with vanilla in stock!  Bought that for $0.66 and got some cinnamon too ($0.66), used a $1 EB to pay and got another one back from my green bag tag!

Price Chopper

• 6 Temptations Cat Treats $1.66 each, used six $0.50 coupons (or here or 8/26 RP) = $0.66 *Was expecting to get back a $1 catalina as reported here but didn't.  I wonder if its because two of the bags were All Natural Temptations?
• 3 Old El Paso Taco Seasonings $1.19 each (regular price), used $0.60 off 3 coupon and will get back $0.60 Savingstar rebate (WYB 3) = $1.77 or $0.59 each

Bought some other stuff too - Banquet sausages for $1 each, Stouffers pizzas $2.50 each, some beans and random not-so-great-prices-but-we-needed-them-stuff

Saturday Night Fever aka "Catnip Fever" cat treats - I love it! 

I am so grateful that the previous owners left us this freezer.  We have a regular fridge/freezer in the kitchen but its too large for the space its in and you can't fully open the freezer door.  Its one of those with a vertical split down the middle - fridge to the right, freezer on the left, so the freezer is narrow to begin with.  I don't think I could fit a full-size frozen pizza in the upstairs freezer if I had to!  Its very frustrating to try and squeeze food in and out of there, so this full size freezer has really been awesome.  I really need to organize it up a bit, but c'est la vie.  All it looks like we have in there are the Easy Fries I got for a penny each at S&S last week, but there's lots of food behind them.  Frozen pizzas, bagels, chicken patties, hot dogs, kielbasa, butter.  The freezer also needs a good defrosting but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.  We got some eatin' to do!

We use these three plastic boxes to sort out our meat - chicken in one, beef/steak in another and pork in the third.  Its really helped us not to lose meat in this big old freezer.  And its makes eating the oldest meat first pretty simple.  We label our freezer bags with the date purchased and use the oldest first.

 Shall we progress onto the stockpile room? We haven't been here since the renovation!

Really stocked up on paper goods at Price Chopper a couple weeks ago.  My paper towel pile has reached the ceiling:

I just love this metal shelf.  DBF's mom gave it to us.  Its super strong and has wheels, so its easy to move around if I need to. I think she got it at BJ's?

I was trying to think of different ways to really maximize the space in this room and I decided to put these two shelves back to back, rather than up against a wall.  As you can see, they're not quite even due to years of use (I've had these since college) and they don't always stand up very straight.  Putting them up against the walls just emphasizes how crooked they are, and also drives me crazy, so this works better.  I've kept the stuff stored on them pretty light so as to not add to the strain.  

Happy stockpiling!

Take Two

Saw this awesome deal on A Super Savvy Saver and jumped in the car to take advantage of it.  The doubler coupons are good through today.

Price Chopper

• 2 Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Cold Cuts $3.33 each, used two $1 coupons + 2 doublers = $2.66 or $1.33 each
• 2 Kraft Singles $3 each, used two $1 coupons + 2 doublers = $2 or $1 each
• 2 Crystal Lites $2 each (everyday price), used two $0.50 tearpad coupons (found at Walgreens) = $1 each
• Total was $6.90 and got back $5 catalina for buying six qualifying Kraft items = $1.90 for all six items or $0.31 each!

Also hit up another Rite Aid while I was out.  Bought all of the same stuff as earlier today plus:

• 6 NYC Nail Polishes $0.79 each ($0.99 reg price, 20% discount) and got back two $3 UP's ($3 WYB 3 nail polishes, Limit 2 offers) = $1.26 profit

What a Day

Da boyfriend and I both had off from work today and were looking forward to a relaxing day together.  We were going to take a drive to check out Orange County Choppers, but alas, the house did not want us to leave.  We have a crack in the housing for our water filter thingie, which means its slowly dripping and leaking water in the basement.  DBF has been trying to fix it all day (he's still working now).  The joys of home ownership...

In between standing around and "helping," I snuck outside for a flower photo shoot.  I just cannot believe how well these flowers have grown!  All I did was sprinkle the seeds in the dirt and walk over them to smoosh them in the ground.  Guess I'm onto a new gardening method!

I thought this was such an interesting angle.  I sat down on the ground and pointed the camera up towards the sky.  I have about 40 out of focus pictures using this method, but got a couple good ones.

In between trips to Lowes, I got some grocery shopping done too -

Price Chopper - was going to do this Kimberly Clark scenario but the store was out of the Kleenex hand towels and only had two packs of toilet paper (one was ripped open).  I might try another store on Saturday.

• 2 Scott Paper Towels $6.99 each and Scott Extra Soft Toilet Paper $6.99, used two $0.75 paper towel coupons and one $1 toilet paper coupon (8/12 SS) plus doubler coupon and got back $10 catalina (for spending $30, based on shelf price) = $5.97 or $1.99 each
• Gillette Shaving Cream $2.22, used $1 coupon (7/22 RP) plus double coupon = $0.22
• Caraway Seeds $2.99
• Case of Yuengling Beer $17.99 + $1.20 deposit - DBF definitely deserves some beer today
• Total was $41.75

I'm hoping the caraway seeds will add some oomf to my homemade rye bread.  It needs a little sumthin.

ShopRite

• 8 Keebler Cookies $0.99 each, used four $0.55 off 2 coupons (7/29 RP) = $0.44 each
• 4 Ken's Salad Dressings three @ $1.67 and one at $1.66, used two $1 off 2 coupons (8/12 SS) = $1.16 each

First PC Doubles Trip

Price Chopper - did Sheila's deal and it worked perfectly!  I'm very excited about the doubler coupons this week.  Unlike in the past, you don't have to spend a minimum amount to use them.  The circulars in the paper had these coupons, and I'm hoping they'll put the coupon online somewhere too.

• Scott Paper Towels $6.99 ($10.99 shelf price), used $0.75 coupon (8/12 SS) and 2 Scott Toilet Paper $6.99 each ($10.79 shelf price), used two $1 coupons (8/12 SS) and two doubler coupons = $15.47 and got back $10 catalina (WYB $30, based on shelf prices) = $5.47
• 2 PC Pickles $2.19 and BOGO sale = $2.19 for both
• 2 Wishbone Dressings $2 each, used two $0.25 coupons (7/29 RP) = $3 or $1.50 each
• Used $5 off $25 Save A Lot competitor coupon, total was $17.36

Stopped into CVS for my papers - $2 each.  I used a 30% off coupon I got in my email and a $5 Beauty Club EB.  After scanning the EB, the discount adjusted to $2.10, so I paid $9.90 for my papers.  So strange how some things make these coupons adjust the discount!

Welcome to my least favorite room in our house, except maybe the basement.  The pink room, named after the lovely carpet, has become our junk room.  We haven't really done anything with it yet because we're planning to rip out the carpet and take down the paneling.  Until we do that, we haven't had much motivation to do much in here and its become the storage space for our odds and ends.

I had all my scrapbooking materials stored in the large box.  I took most of the stuff out about a month or so ago to work on a scrapbook of our projects/updates around the house.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed a funny thing.  Gigi was disappearing somewhere in the house for hours on end.  She still loves the dining room and spends a lot of time gazing out the window, but she'd found a hiding spot somewhere else in the house.  She always emerges when its time to eat or when she decides she wants to play, but when we looked for her - couldn't find her anywhere.

This has been going on for a couple weeks.  We saw her poke her little head out of the pink room a couple times but when we'd look for her in there, couldn't find her.

Until...

...one day when da boyfriend had enough and was determined to find her.  He snuck into the pink room, looked around for places we hadn't checked before and slowly lifted the lid of the box.

TA DA!

That little bugger had been hiding behind the box, in a tiny spot just big enough for her.  She'd probably been laying back there, a little smirk on her face as we walked all over the house calling her name.  Its amazing how good cats are at hiding (when they want to).

"Crud, now I gotta find a new spot to hide."