They CAN mess it up again, after all!

(The product I am about to complain about will remain anonymous for the sake of Christmas anonymity)


Frustrated.
Greatly annoyed.
Tired of talking to people on the phone who don't understand what I am saying.

I am not usually an online-ordering kind of person. I like shopping. I like to ramble through the clearance aisles, check out the goodies all around the store, and actually hold the product in my grubby little paws before I buy it. That way, if it's the wrong thing I have no one to blame but myself. And I can return it :)

So this Black Friday deal comes along (technically before Black Friday even) and I snatch it up. Or so I thought...

Skip ahead the week and a half that I anticipate my item arriving safely at my door. I bypass this same item in stores and on other websites. Waiting patiently. And then it comes.

"WHAT? That's not what I ordered..."


So I make the first call. Explaining my dilemma, I try to make the lady comprehend what it is that the mistake was, and what I want (strangely enough, I want the item I ordered). She is full of canned responses "I am so sorry for your inconvienience" and "I am happy to assisit you with that".
Not really believing that the correct item is going to arrive, I give it a try. We reorder. They eventually figure out how to refund me the amount they overcharged me for the second item (because it is no longer a Black Friday price).

And then guess what? My new order came in today! You'll never believe this, but they managed to send me~

Wait for it~

Yep.

You guessed it.

The wrong item.

I have called the local store. No help there.
I had emailed the "Customer Services" earlier, and also received a canned response which in no way asnwered the questions I asked. Why bother doing that again?
I have talked to at least 3 people with the online services today. Worthless.

(I had to spell the product to them. SERIOUSLY. They had no clue)

So maybe a Better Business Bureau complaint? Why, yes! They have 18,000 complaints this month. I'm sure they really care about resolving my issue.


P.S.
The business ryhmes with "Rears"

American Girl Sale ends Nov 13

American Girl Doll Sale on Cecile and Marie-Grace. These two historical figures are discounted~ but the sale ends tomorrow!

PRICE MATCHING ROCKS!!!

Price Matching at Walmart~ 30 items for $26



Some Things I Did Right Today

I went to check out the new Hyvee today. Had some time to kill while waiting for the hubby's phone repair and since I had coupons in hand I thought I'd give it a spin.

I'm not quite sure if the drop in temperature sent everyone into a tizzy or the "newness" of this location is still a huge draw, but that place was crazy! The ailses were packed and I felt I was taking my life into my hands trying to navigate through them a few times.

People were clamoring about this "good deal" and that "crazy price" everywhere.

Now for TIP #1.

Prepare.

The first thing I did right today was spend 20 minutes in the car previewing all the ads for the local stores. I made notes of the best prices this week on my items (things I either need or like to keep in stock). That way, I wasn't tempted to scramble over the other ladies who were clearing the shelf of $1.98 powdered sugar (on sale elsewhere for .99) or .69 cream of mushroom soup (.49 eleswhere).

TIP #2

Don't get caught up in the crazy.

Susie So-and-so thinks it's a great deal. She is telling her shopping buddy all about it. They are both very excited, but think it over for yourself and really ponder if it is a product you even wanted, and especially think about what the final cost is and if it is truly a good deal. In other words, use your noggin!

TIP #3

Tally your total.

My small purchase was off by a large chunk~ 30%. In the past I might have figured it was my own miscalculations and slunked off to inspect my receipt at home.

But this time I questioned the total (respectfully and politely) and the cashier and I viewed the receipt together. Yep, a handful of items rang up incorrectly. More than double the sale price they should have been. She called a manger and he reimbursed me for the amount of the items.

How often do I take the time to think it through before I am in the car and driving home? Not as much as I should!

Hyvee Purchase $28
5 General Mills Cereal
2 Cookie Mixes
2 Butters
2 Applesauce 6-Packs
10 Smart One Frozen Entrees

(About 1/2 price of regular retail)

Saved $110 today...spent $12!!!

Today was a good day for the coupons! My friend and I hit JC Penney's with coupons in hand and our Penney's FastCash burning holes in our wallets.
I was in search of a new winter coat for my daughter, as well as any new clothes that might be a good deal. I struck gold!!!
The coat (which I love~ nice weight that will keep her warm and so cute) was on an incredible sale. Original price was $70, on sale for $19.99! Plus I had my FastCash form last week's much needed jeans purchase (these kids are growing by leaps and bounds) which was $10 off. I PAID $10.96 for this coat!!!!!
Then I had a "$10 off any $10 purchase" coupon, which I used on the jeggings ($7), skirt ($2), and shorts($2). I paid $1.
My favorite part is when you read the bottom of the receipt and it says "YOUR TOTAL SAVINGS TODAY..."

Mom's Learning How To Coupon Too!

Teaching Mom the ropes of couponing, and this is the trip we had today...

75 items, original retail $188.23, and with her coupons she paid only $87.21.

Saved $100....yipee :)

Good Deals Today!!!

Price Cutter and Dillon's, I got 85 items for a total of $78! Some of the bet deals were

Yakisoba- .99 ~.50 coupon doubled= free

KC Masterpiece-.88~ .50 coupon doubled= free

Rice A Roni-.79~ buy 3 get 1 Pasta Roni free= .10 a box

Lay's 1.99- .55 matched to 1.00= .99 each

Bumble Bee Tuna .79- Buy 2 get .75 off= less than .50

Wheat Thins 1.69- 1.00 off 2= 1.19 ea

BandAids 1.79- .50 double to 1.00= .79 ea

Ajax .99-.50 double to 1.00= free

Free Shipping At Disney Store~ Over 30 items for less than $5!

 

Club Penguin 2'' Plush Puffle $2.99

 

Shop at Disney Store today and get free shipping on any order with the code LUCKY. I found several fun things in the Sale section under $5! Maybe some good Easter basket items???

 

 

Tron Toys $1.99 and up

 

http://www.disneystore.com

 

 

TIP~ Don't Be In A Big Hurry!

So I was shopping yesterday with my Mom, hoping to show her the ropes of this whole couponing thing, and it was going decently. We had ordered our coupons and made a tentative plan of attack. First one store to scoop up a few goodies, and then off to the other store for their sales.

But then I realized time got away from me! It was 12:30 one minute, and then all of a sudden it was time to get the kids out of school!

So I rushed over to the self-check lane, leaving Mom to her grocery cart and praying I could get out the door and on my way to pick up the kiddos at school. Scanned my shopper's card, all my items, and all of my coupons. Swiped my card. Waited. Why isn't this transaction over with yet???

"Ma'am, these 2 coupons are past our allowed expiration, I'll have to take them off your ticket."

Uggggghhhhhh. Fine. Do it. (I didn't say this out loud. I am polite and calm.)

So she proceeds to remove the coupons and my total goes up $2.00. I pay and leave.

Then I realize that she was incorrect, and in fact, my coupons were EXACTLY TO THE DATE allowable. 2 weeks. Excatly. That is this particular store's policy. But I was in a hurry, so I didn't catch it in time to politely discuss with her. Lesson learned, right?

On to today's shopping experience...
I went to the other store that I don't particularly love for two specific deals. Of course, like any trip to this store, you cannot leave with only the items you came there for.
Again, I am a little rushed. Not because I need to be somewhere immediately, but because this store is overrun with people for some unknown reason at 2:00 in the afternoon.
She scans my items. I hand her my coupons, and she studies them. And then she scans them, oddly making 3 piles of my coupons on her register... I pay, I collect my items (oddly enough you CAN fit 15 heavy items into ONE plastic bag!)
and I look at my reciept.

Hmmm... what happened to those 7 coupons I handed her???

1, 2, 3, 4, nope. Not 7.

So 3 of my coupons went into a pile on her register. No big deal, right? It's just a couple of coupons, right?

Nope. That's $4.50.

You bet I asked her about them. She was a bit shocked, I believe.

"Well, they are right here."

And she hands me the coupons.So I fan them out to show her all 7 of the one coupon. Instead of holding up the whole line (If you were in that line, you are welcome!) I took my coupons and left. At least I wasn't getting to pay full price AND lose the coupons. I could have gone to the service desk and gotten it fixed, but you can guess what that line looked like.

There are times when I let it fly, but not today. I really didn't care if it held the line up a little bit. I am not giving away my time and energy to make these deals work to let someone's inability to do their job affect me.

So, the morals of my long-winded story are...

Don't be in a hurry.

Count your coupons and watch the screen for them. All of them. 

Know what the policies are. (She also doubted me on the store's new policy regarding Catalinas)

Stay polite.

Build A Bear Deal!

Sign up for the Build A Bear email list, and you can get in on deals like this current one. Pair a BOGO with some of your BuildA Bear Bucks to get a REALLY good deal!

Expired Coupons~ Pass Them ON!!!

GrocerySavingTips.com Military Family Coupon Project - Send Expired Grocery Coupons to Military Fam

This is the site that maintains the list and information for where you can send your expireds overseas to assist our military families. YES~ they can still put to use your old and expired Q's for an additional six months past date. Go to this link when you are ready to send them, check the bases that are on the list and spread the love ♥


http://www.grocerysavingtips.com/expiredgrocerycoupons.htm

Murfin's Ads Now On FB!

I am SO GLAD the folks at Murfin's are making things a little easier on us and catching up with the technology! YAY~ Now the ad is on FB and posted the night before the sales start. I was going to comment earlier, they have officially been posting the ad for a few weeks, but there were a few glitches at first. Now I think they will be getting them out early for us serious shoppers.
Get your Murfin's Card ready!!!

Sometimes It Pays To Shop Them All!

Quite a nice haul for today. I was a little dissappointed when some of the things I had planned for today's trip didn't work out like I expected, but you sure can't complain about a total like this~

$14.59

Yep. That is 42 items. And I paid less than $15 cash for it all.

I did some store hopping this morning, but now that Price Cutter is closer with their West ByPass location, I shop there more frequently. And the Texas Toast croutons were on sale this week for .99. Which works out nicely when you have the .50 off coupon that they will double to 1.00 off.

So next I hit Dillon's, where the scenario gets confusing beause they gave me these catalina coupon last week for $3.oo off your grocery order, except you can only use one per transaction. So I did one last Daytona 500 deal (which printed out another $3.00 coupon) and I paid $7.59 for these 10 items. Then I did 4 seperate transactions with all of my 3.00 off cats, using the self-check out so I don't annoy anyone behind me :) for .43, .39, .58, and 1.67.

Then it was Murfin's time. They had the brownie mixes for .69 with your Murfin's Points, and the flour was .79 with Murfin's Points.

Not too shabby. Now I have to reorganize my cabinets again.
(PS That was over $80 worth of groceries!!!)

Whoo Hoo! Half Price Deal!!!

Home Decor on Sale Feb. 20 - Feb 27 at Dollar General!

www.dollargeneral.com

Home Decor on Sale Feb. 20 - Feb 27! 50% off Your Entire Purchase of Home Decor, Housewares & Domestics. Get your online coupon now!

http://www.dollargeneral.com/WaysToSave/Pages/HomeDecor.aspx

$10 For You or 100 Bonus Box Tops For Your School!!!

Register with Box Tops For Education, and this program will net you or your school cash! Simply print out the form, purchase 10 qualifying items (especially with the great 10 item deals at Dillon's this week!) and mail the form with your receipt before 4/2/11. Voila!
A special offer for our most valuable members!
Redeem this exclusive offer in 3 easy steps:
	Purchase 10 qualifying products
	Choose your reward
	Mail completed submission form

https://www.boxtops4education.com/

Disney Special º0º

If you know me, you know I am a Disney Addict. A cousin passed along this info to me, and while it won't work for our trip, I thought I would pass it on to you all.

Basic breakdown~ sign up your child for one of these classes held on Disney property and you can purchase 5 day tickets for your family at a reduced rate. Only one child has to attend the class (with an adult) and you can count the classes as homeschool credit, or just take the class for the great deal that it is!



http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.disneyyouth.com%2Findividual-enrollment%2F%3Fpage%3DOpenEnrollmentEventInfoListingPage&h=53824O_N65JmsC9oLb0P_tV3_Sw

GROUPON MOVIE DEAL!!!

Groupon deal of the day! This is a great way to have a cheap date :)

 

$20 for Two Movie Tickets, Two Soft Drinks, and One Popcorn at Hollywood Theaters at College Station Stadium 14

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu11644061

Party Supplies!

This is a topic I have talked about for a long time~ way back before I ever attempted couponing!!! Party Supplies can be expensive, whether it is for a birthday party, school party, or church function. 

Right now, we just finished off another fun holiday. And as always happens after any holiday, the stores are clearancing their holiday items. This can include items generic enough to work for any variety of parties.

*Holiday themed items could be stored up for the next year (not food items, though!) so maybe you could pick up the themed plastic cups, or plates, or fancy decorations you wouldn't have paid full price for.

*Generic items (no holiday decoration or packaging) work for lots of occasions like birthday parties, school parties, incentive prizes, etc.

Be aware of where you make these purchases, though, and think it through. Did this store run these same items half off before the holiday (Hobby Lobby, Kohl's)? Then why would you waste your time and energy picking them up after the holiday for that same "deal", or only 10% more of a discount? I would wait until these stores go 75%-90% off. Now some bargain stores never run much of a sale before the holidays (Walmart, Dollar General) and so half off is decent. Some locations get picked over pretty quickly, and nothing good is left when they go down on the price. But if you can hang in there you might score 75% or more, it just depends on your luck!



Daytona 500 Deals!

Small purchase today, but going to make a bigger trip later. Lots of goodies on sale this week with Dillon's Daytona 500 promo, but when you combine that with ecoupons and regular coupons, you can walk away with little ca$h out of pocket and catalinas to use next time!

This transaction was $8.11 for 10 items, and I have a "$3.00 off your next order" catalina coupon.

Here's how this Daytona 500 sale is working~

For every 10 items (mix & match) included in this promo, you will receive $3.00 off your total.

You will also get a $3.00 catalina for each 10 items included in the promo.

 I made a small trip for a trial run! Now I will go back when I have more time to see how well I can do this sale :)

Good luck!

Incredible Pizza on Facebook

If 1000 people "like" Incredible Pizza Co on Facebook, they will give away a $10 gift card to all who "liked" :) They are almost to 300 already, so get the word spread!

Nice Haul!

Dillon's Trip~ Mega Sales and Lots of Coupons!!!

That is sixty two items, for a (beginning) price of $130... after sales and q's, the total was..........
                                          $57.18
Thanks to Alicia for sharing some good tips and helping me figure it out.
BTW, she totally rocked $280 worth of groceries for under $100.

Disney Family Fun SALE!

Today, Tanga has a special on Disney Family Fun 1 yr magazine subscription. Less than $1 a month!!! Great fun~ lots of activities, recipes, and good old fashioned family stuff!

http://Tanga.com/

Jackpot In My Mailbox!

So I dug a path to the mailbox, and there was this shiny envelope with my name on it! I just LOVE getting these packages from my grocery store...

Inside this pretty little envelope is a group of coupons selected just for me. ♥ By tracking the customer's spending and couponing habits, selections of q's are sent out occassionally by the grocery store chain. Another good reason to ALWAYS use your store card!

Included in this package were two q's for FREE items (my favorite!) and the total value is about $13.00 in savings. I will be putting these babies to good use next week.

Thanks Dillon's!!!

WalGreen's Deals

I know some people have been interested in getting the really good deals at WalGreen's, so here's a link to a very good blog that has LOTS of goodies!



http://wildforwags.com/

EXTRA $35 in P&G COUPONS!!!!

Follow this link to register for a book of Procter & Gamble coupons to be sent to you at no charge!

---

https://www.thepromotionaloffer.com/hmsdrtv/

Hot Pillsbury Printable!!!

Get it while it lasts!!! Hot Pillsbury printable coupon for $3.00 off 3 Sweet Moments Pillsbury products...

http://www.facebook.com/Pillsbury?v=wall&ref=ts

Pre-Storm Couponing :)

Yep, for my birthday I took the Hubby couponing with me. With the crazy storm that is about to hit us, and a new stash of coupons in my binder, I just couldn't resist! We made a good haul.

Pre-coupon price was $101.47 ~ I paid $38!!!!

Q's and deals!
$1 off Krusteaz cookie mix (1.49-1=.49) *
.55 off (clearanced) Hillshire farms lunchmeat~ matched to $1.00 (2.89-1=1.89)
.40 off Kroger storage containers (clearanced to .86)~ doubled to .80 off (.86-.80=.06)
Ken's dressing $1.00 off (1.99-1=.99) *
$1.00 off All detergent (3.80-1 = 2.80) *
$1.00 ff Kraft singles (printable) (1.99-1=.99) *
$1.00 off 3 Hunt's tomatoes (.49 x 3= 1.47 -1=.47 /3 =.15 ea) *
$1.00 off Kikkoman soy sauce (1.99- 1=.99)
Free Kikkoman Ponzu sauce wyb any Kikkoman product (-$2.69 ea)
Barilla pasta $1.00 off (FREE)
Honest Tea .50 off (.75-.50 =.25)
Progresso soup (.99 x 7 = 6.93- 2.00 = 4.93 / 7 = .71ea) *

 * denotes Mega Sale Items~ must be purchased in quantities of 10 (mix and match)

These items I bought without q's :(
Dole Salad
Sobe Energy (.79 ea) *
Breakfast sausage
Del Monte canned veggies (.49 ea) *
Paper towel
Gallon drinking water

Mega Sales will be good next week also if you want to order your coupons now and still take advantage of some of these good deals!

A Few Good Clearances! Children's Place

$1.99 (Limited Sizes)

                                   $4.99 (Limited Sizes)


Check out The Children's Place for some good clearance items... good prices to stock up for next year, or finish out this cold winter (especially if your children grow as fast as mine!)

Quite A Good Deal!

IPod Speaker Clock Radio only $24.99 at Cowboom.

I purchased this exact model for the Hubby, and payed over twice this price at the Black Friday Sale :(
But if you are looking for one of these, this is a great deal, and shipping is only $5.
Cowboom.com

Thanks to Frugal Reality for sharing this deal!

FREE!!!

Here's a coupon to print for free fries at Wendy's~ http://coupondivas.com/wendys-printable-coupons
Like most printables, you are allowed to print the coupon twice, but read your retrictions to redeem the coupon correctly.

Fries go really good with a Frosty!

Today's Bargains

So this is how I spent most of my day today.

Step One: Reorganize The Binder. This process began last night. I gave up and went to bed about an hour and a half after I started. Much progress had been made, but if you have seen one of us crazy ladies in the grocery store with a well-organized binder, maybe you can apreciate how much work this really takes. It took another 30 minutes or so to comepletely finish this task.

Step Two: Search For Printables. Had to find a couple more printable coupons I needed, which always takes longer than I expect because I am easily sidetracked.

Step Three: Run Errands. Inevitable. Just when I think "I have nothing I absolutley HAVE to do today..." I remember one of the things I really do need to get done. Today it was driving into another town to feed someone's cats and water plants.
Then it was an absolute must to stop for a bite to eat before the next step.

Step Four: Hit The Stores! I had two stores on the agenda for today, and handful of purchases planned. As usual, though, I have to peruse the isles to make sure I am getting the best bang for my buck! Good thing, too, because I hit some great clearances and deals.

Step Five: Take A Pic! I love sharing my goodies. And tallying the savings.


BREAKDOWN
Price Cutter~Four packages of ground turkey @ $1.00 each
                    One package(1.5 lb) turkey breast tenderloins $3.00
                    Jimmy Dean fuly cooked turkey sausage $3.50
                    Peter Pan peanut butter (2) $.00
                   Red Gold canned tomatoes (3) $1.37
                   4 lb sugar $1.00
                   Birdseye Steamfresh veggies (4) $2.00
                   Pork Shoulder/ Boston Butt (5.5 lbs) $8.??
                   Yoplait Smoothies (4) $1.80
                   Stubbs BBQ sauce (2) $3.78
                   Shredded Cheese $1.00
                                                                (25 items~ $30.75)
Dillon's~ Sobe Citrus drinks (14) $11.06
              Chex Mix (4) $2.00
              Finish Powerball detergent (2) $3.98
                                                              (20 items~ $23.40)

                                                      Grand Total of 45 items for $54.15

What Is This Blogging All About?

I should start off by admitting I have been a cheapskate all my life. Not to say I haven't enjoyed luxurious items from time to time, and even payed (gasp) full price, but it has always been a true delight to get a really good deal. When someone compliments me on anything, I have to resist the urge (not often successfully) to tell them how inexpensively I purchased the item.

Then a girlfriend invited me to come along to a couponing class. I had heard some of the gals talking about couponing, and thought it sounded interesting. I obviously didn't "get" couponing, because I just never saw a big difference with coupons. A lot of work, I thought, to save .25 here and .30 there...and then I took the class.

I also have to admit, my knee-jerk reaction to the class was "I am not going if I have to PAY real money for a class on saving money!" That's just how cheap I am.

But I went anyway. It was $15 for the class, but on the bright side, it was a 3 hour class and I felt like that was a good value for the amount of time we spent learning. I came home with a lot of information to soak in, and a lot of my original questions were answered.

So here I am, almost a year later, thinking about starting a blog. I think my Facebook pals might be bored of seeing my pictures and posting a lot of the really fun savings I am getting. Yet I know there is a wonderful community of people out here in cyberspace who support and share, so I thought this venture might assist me in that realm.

So here we go...