CVS & Target

I am in training in VA all this coming week so my intention today was to get everything we could possibly need for the week plus do the deals I wanted to at CVS given my schedule. After sitting in DC traffic for an hour or more (let's hope not though) the last thing anyone wants to do is try to maneuver through a busy parking lot!

Anyway, first I hit CVS and then Target, but first a story.

We've been getting the Washington Post daily since we moved into our apartment back last August and we were able to get a really good deal on it through a website that our apartment complex (and my company now) partners up with. It allowed us to get the paper for $1.80 a week (in stores the Sunday section is $1.50 alone). Unfortunately, their computer system has been incredibly wonky and it never renewed our subscription even though I requested it and got the confirmation e-mail saying otherwise. Well obviously the Post stopped sending us the paper which is the only way I found out and since there were computer errors on their end, they weren't able to fix it for me, I had to call the Post myself... this morning... it was what you would call unpleasant. See, either my CS rep had no idea that they partner with a company or he wasn't very bright because he kept on repeating that they no longer had the promotion. This is true. They never had the promotion and I did not start getting the paper through them in the first place he also mispronounced my name sveral times after i had already correct him which just drives me batty. After holding my ground on the phone and asking to talk to his supervisor, they finally relented and gave me the lower price that was still up on the site I ordered their paper from in the first place! Let's hope I don't deal with this again in 28 weeks!!!

Ok, so CVS. I did the Maybelline deal as well as picked up True North products that were 50% off that I scouted out the other day/with the $1/1 coupons from one of the inserts they were only $.75 a piece!

I bought:
$8.00 Maybelline Dream Matte pressed powder in ivory
$12.00 2 tubes of Maybelline Collosal mascara
$1.75 True North honey peanuts
$1.75 True North honey peanuts
$1.50 Washington Post Sunday

- $1/1 Maybelline mascara
- $1/1 Maybelline mascara
- $2/1 Maybelline foundation
- $1/1 True North
- $1/1 True North

- $0.99 Extrabucks
- $0.99 Extrabucks
- $5.98 Extrabucks
- $4.99 Extrabucks
- $1.00 Extrabucks

- $1.03 left on giftcard
= $4.69 OOP

Received $10 back for the Maybelline deal.

Next Target. Apparently the Kelloggs promotion for buy $5 get $5 gift card is good through March 16th! I'm slightly annoyed at Target for not advertising it here in their circulars but at least that means that they still have stock.

Anyway, I bought:
$6.00 4 boxes of Kelloggs fruit snacks (on sale $1.50 per box)
$2.58 2 24oz bottles of chocolate syrup
$8.89 chocolate protein powder for the fiance (he's quite thin and we're trying to get him to gain some weight the healthy way - this explains the chocolate syrup too I'm going to start making him chocolate peanut butter banana shakes)
-------
$2.00 1 box of Kelloggs rice krispy treats
$5.08 2 boxes of Kelloggs nutrigrain bars
$5.08 2 boxes of Kelloggs pop tarts
- $1/2 nutrigrain
- $1/2 pop tarts

+ $5 gift card!
-----

And then stuff that isn't part of the grocery budget:

The fiance requested some socks: $12.70
I found him some undies that were 75% off: $5.25
And I bought some tights for myself (including Assets - usually $15 that I got for $3.75!): $7.13
And a Revlon Makeup Eraser 'pen' that I found on clearance: $.75 after my $1/1 coupon

I wound up spending $12.48 but the fiance is paying me back for his socks (the undies are a gift - aren't I generous?!) so really nothing OOP.

Take Out

Tonight is the first time I've been so exhausted that I haven't had time to cook and we have ordered pizza. We did use a buy 1 get 1 free coupon that I received from The Washington Post Post Points program so it is costing us roughly $22 ($21.12) to get 2 large pizzas (including tax and tip). We will obviously not finish it tonight so it'll be lunch/dinner (with some sort of vegetable when I have more energy) tomorrow. Usually I don't count "eating out" as part of our grocery budget, but since this is "eating in" I am.

running weekly tally: $37.50

*edit* 2 slices a piece was far more than enough to get us both full so there are now 12 slices of pizza in the freezer (which thankfully reheats well in the oven) which means that we have another 6 "quick" meals ready to go. Some quick math tells me that the $21.12 divided by 7 meals equals $3 a meal. Not too shabby.

"Post Points"

This entry is for those in the Washington Post delivery area.

Although my boyfriend would tell you otherwise, I do get the daily paper and not just for the coupons, though they are a nice perk. However, what I didn't know was that The Washington Post would send me something about their Post Points program. As a daily paper subscriber, I am eligible for "Platinum" membership (Sunday only subscribers get "Gold" and any old Joe that likes the Post can sign up for the Silver membership.

If you buy the Sunday paper at the store every week, I would recommend subscribing. Not only do they currently have a promotion giving you all the daily papers free with any Sunday-only subscription, you are eligible for higher levels of this program.

Basically, they automatically start you off with 1500 points, you can earn points buying items at participating stores, reading the paper online or taking little quizzes. Then you can redeem these points for items in their store (gift certificates, items, etc). The 1500 they give to start will get you a $5 gift certificate for free just for being a Post subscriber.

Additionally, with my membership card, they threw in 2 coupons, 1) Buy 1 Papa Johns pizza, get one free (savings if I recall correctly up to $15 or so) and 2) Take $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Shoppers Food Warehouse. I'll probably use both and I would be safe to say that most families would too.

So, if you normally buy the paper anyway, this could save you $30 just by signing up. Sounds good to me.