Friday, April 22, 2011

My $15 headache

Coupon for $15 off any item no exceptions means no exception.

Went to a website, found an item that was $15, free shipping.  Pearl earrings.  I know that's not much for pearl earrings, but I expected them to be very tiny cultured pearls.  After all it said PEARL EARRINGS, not pearlized or "pearl look" etc.  Or at very minimum simulated pearls that looked like pearls.  (And before anyone thinks I'm living in a dream world, I bought some very tiny authentic pearl earrings once for $15 online.)

Placed an order, received my confirmation that my credit card would be billed 0.00

an about a week later these came in the mail:


Ugly.  Gaudy.  Big.  Definatley not anything that resembled pearls.  And clip ons.  (I ordered pierced)

But I thought for free, my 4 year old niece might enjoy playing dress up with them.

Then this week I open my credit card bill.  $15 charge for these.  I googled and saw this happened to a number of people.

I have my invoice where they were free.

I called the company.  I got hung up on.  I was being very nice because usually the nicer you are the more willing people are to help you.

I call my credit card company.  I was told I couldn't file a dispute beacause the item had to have cost something and they couldn't put 0.00 in their system. (Didn't think at this point to mention they were not real pearls or pierced earrings.)

So I call the company back.  The man got snippy with me.  You know sometimes how it's not what you say but how you say it?  Precisely what happened.

At different points in the phone conversation he told me I had been charged $15, $6.95, and $8.95. 

He told me I used two coupons.  (Not true.)

He told me that because I gave my credit card number when ordering (required even though it should never have been charged -- I've done this with other companies with no problem) -- he said since they had my credit card number, that was giving them the authorization to charge it in any amount they desired.  (I think not!)

He told me I could return the earrings at my expense and the $15 be credited back to my credit card within two billing cycles.

I called my credit card back, told them what happened.  They said that since they were not real pearls that was enough for "item not as described".  Also I was told there was a limit of 60 days from when the charge was made to dispute it.  I was told to return them ASAP and if the credit wasn't made quickly, call the credit card company back.

I wonder how many people they charged the coupon amount to and they never noticed it.  I know I am not the only one, and this time, while $15 is a nice chunk of change, it's the principle behind it.  Unlike what the customer service rep said, just because I placed an order and they had my credit card number did NOT mean they could charge it for an amount I didn't authorize.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Where I've been

I'm going to try to get back into blogging.

My guinea pig was sick for a while, had to hand feed him for weeks, but he has done really well and recovering nicely.  But he's taken much of time time for the last two months.  I'm hoping to get back into the habit of blogging daily again!


My guinea pig before feeding time with the eyedropper a few weeks back.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

21¢ with $2.73 back

I'm not sure how this happened.  After all, I only had two coupons, used no Extra Care Bucks, and bought stuff that was not free for me.  My total before tax was 1¢, at least that's what my receipt said! 

I bought:
Russel Stover's Vanilla Cream Egg
a bag (2.52 oz) of mini Reese's Cups
a bottle of bubbles
Citrus Coconut anti-bacterial hand sanitizer

My total came to 21 cents.

I received back $2.73 in Extra Care Bucks.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

March shopping totals

March wasn't a great month in the grocery store for me, but was a great month in pharmacies!

In grocery stores, I found items on sale that we use a lot and I stocked up!  That's why there was such a lage amount of groceries bought in March.  I spent $225.01 and saved $85.15  Not only that, I bought a lot of fresh vegetables this month, and there are no savings on them.  In addition, I had a number of mail-in refunds where I got the purchase price back, so that savings will be counted in future months when I receive the refund checks back.  (I believe it was almost $50 in mail in refunds for the month.)

In refunds, I received $18.95.

At Walgreens, I spent $67.48 and saved $208.65.  I bought a lot of frozen food on clearance as well as about 20 packages of feminime items on clearance.  Great prices on both!

At CVS I spent $14.17 and saved $54.74.

At Dollar General I spent $3.30 and saved $13.00

So what I spent for the month was $309.96.  I saved  $364.54

I also cashed in for $25 in gift certificates to Amazon from  Swagbucks   (Very easy to earn, search engine and you can earn points to cash in for gift certificates.)

So far this year my totals are:

CVS:
spent:  $84.48   saved  $245.63

Walgreens:
spent:  $93.39  saved:  $261.75


I'm hoping to not have much spent at the grocery store in April because I did do a lot of shopping in March!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

MONEY MAKER shopping trip! Made $1.80

Well, it's the end of the month and I have to hurry and use all those coupons that I want to use that expire this week.

I did really well.


First stop:  Dollar General.  I bought:
one very large Clorox bleach (clothes)
one regular sized DG bleach (dishes)
one large vinegar (laundry)
1 jar Cummin (I had run out.  Who runs out of Cummin?)
2 cans hominy
1 buy one get one free Excedrin Migrane (so two total)
2 jars chili powder (again I had run out)

price before coupons and gift card I won:  $16.30. 
Total I paid:  $3.30
Total saved: $13.00


CVS:
2 bags of Halls
1 Skintimate Shave Cream
1 Physician's Formula Mascara
2 Cadbury Creme Eggs
2 Cadbury Mini Eggs
1 Old El Paso Enchalada Sauce

Total before coupons:  $23.52
Total after coupons: $5.45
Total saved:  $18.07
Total I'll get back in mail in refund:  $9.99
Total I got back in Extra Care Bucks for my next purchases: $11.50


Foodland:
2 bananas
4 onions
12 pepperoni rolls
3 jars baby food
2 stalks celery
1 Take and Bake deli pizza
(and bonus, found some Coke Coupon booklets!  Whoo hoo!)

Total:  $20.05
Total I will get back in mail in refund:  $10



Walgreens:

9 cans/jars of nuts
1 package dried blueberries
1 fridge pack Diet Coke
2 48 count Stayfree Maxi Pads
1 48 count Poise Pads
1 Colgate Toothbrush
1 Colgate Total Toothpaste
2 Gain dishwashing liquid
2 Skintamate Shave Gels

Total before coupons: $67.92
Total after coupons:  $16.40
Total I received back in Register Rewards: $8.50
Total I will receive from mail in refund:  $7.00

So, my grand total for today:

Total before coupons:  $127.79
Total after coupons: $45.20
Total in mail in rebates:  $27.00
Total in Register Rewards/ Extra Care Bucks good on next purchases: $20

Or I made $1.80 after buying all this stuff if you take into account the money good on my next purchases!


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Paid $23.23 for $153.05 of groceries.

There once was a joke on a sitcom about "Who buys groceries at a pharmacy?"  Well, I do! 

I usually do a couple big shopping trips before winter hits, and it's about time to replenish.  So this was a great day for me!

My guinea pig has been needing lots of care and I had a break for a few hours this afternoon right after I fed him and decided to run into town just to get out of the house.  I wanted three things at Walgreens, but they were sold out of two of them!  However, I discovered a treasure in the frozen foods.  They had tons of stuff on clearance.  I bought things I knew that we would use. 

Then I went to CVS.  CVS had a promotion on their Facebook page that if you were their "fan" you could print a coupon for one totally free candy or single serve beverage to $2.00.  My clerk tried to argue that "any" didn't mean "any" but what waas pictured on the coupon.  She wouldn't even try it.  Never mind that the dictionary says "any" means "Without specification or identification".  She kept insisting I could only get Orbit gum with the coupon.  I pulled out my phone and started dialing the number to corporate.  (I rarely go this route, but have called corporate from the store before.  I've found they will at least try whatever I want before I actually call corporate and I have never asked them to do something that isn't allowed.)  At which point she said that was fine, no need to call, she would see if the register would accept the coupon.  (It did with no problem.)  Then she made me get something that was sixty cents.  I'm not sure the reasoning behind that, didn't argue that one, just grabbed a blow pop.

So what all did I buy in my shopping trip?

CVS:
4 fridge packs of 12 cans Diet Pepsi
Whopper Robin Eggs, 10 oz. package
1 can Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli
1 Charms Blow pop

After coupons I paid 83 cents.  I received $3 back for my next shopping trip at CVS.  I saved $24.39

Walgreens:

1 carton Walgreens ice cream, Rocky Road
9 Stouffer's Stuffed peppers
4 Mama Mia microwave pizza 4-packs
4 Stouffer's chicken and vegetable skillet meals
4 Jimmy Dean Sausage bowls
2 Always Maxi pads
1 Lean Cuisine Sesamae Chicken
1 Cafe W Taquitos
5 Ore Ida Crispy Friea
5 French Bread five-cheese pizzas
3 Reese's cup candy bars
1 can Walgreens Mixed nuts
1 fleece throw (great for holding guinea pigs)

I paid a total of $22.40 and saved $105.43 and I got $8 back to spend on my next shopping trip.

So my total today while shopping?  I spent $23.23.  I saved $129.82.  I have $11 to spend on my next shopping trips.  (And I came home with $153.05 of groceries.)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Book Review: Lazarus Awakening

I usually can read a book in two to three days. This book, however, was a two month journey for me. Why? Because I couldn't get into it. I didn't really enjoy it, but there isn't really anything to say negatively about it either. The one exception is I felt her calling a town “Lazarusville” and then later in book saying that wasn't the real name was confusing. (I thought at the time why not just say “The town could have been called Lazarusville.”) I also didn't particularly like the use of Lazarella in one point. Do we always need to make a name feminine to relate?
I do have to say overall I was disappointed. I was excited to be given the opportunity to review this book. I wanted to like this book. I wanted to write a good review. I am sure this book will be well loved by some people, and likely some women will find it life changing. Me? Not so much. I kept thinking that it would be getting more in depth soon, but I didn't find that. I expected more of a deeper book, after all the subtitle is “Finding Your Place in the Heart of God”. It felt more of “Women's Study Lite” to me. It may be I've read a lot on this subject and didn't find anything new in this book, or it could be my personality.

I really, really hoped to be able to post a review saying this book was fantastic, but unfortunately, all I can say is “It's okay.” I hope others enjoy it more than I did, but for me it was difficult to get through.

I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my review. I read the entire book, and the free copy in no way influenced my opinions of this book.

I would appriciate if you would take a moment and rank my review (5 is the best, 1 is the worst). Your doing this allows me a better selection of books.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Walgreens last week

My Walgreens trip last week was pretty good, even though I didn't have any Register Rewards.

I saved $19.57, which is exactly what I paid.

I got the following:

2 Motrin PM
3 Chicken of the Sea tuna
1 Baby Magic Lotion
1 pound Mr. Coffee coffee
NasoGel for Dry Noses
1 Colgate Total
1 Aquafor Lip repair

I paid $19.57 and got $18 in Register Rewards back for my next Walgreens trip.  Also I received a Register Reward for free Poise Pads.

Last week: CVS money maker

I'm still nursing a sick guinea pig, but stopping by to tell about my CVS trip last week.

I got 2 tubes of Crest toothpaste and one Physician's Formula eye liner.

I had  $3, $1, and 75 cent coupons.

My total came to $7.89, and I saved $12.74.  I received $15.58 in ECBs back.

But, there was a "try me free" offer on the make up.  I sent off for a $10.95 refund.  Even if they only refund the price I paid for everything I'll still be making a few dollars on this.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

CVS $31.89 for $6.32

I don't have a photo to post tonight.  But did want to tell about my CVS trip.

8 candy bars
1 bag of jelly beans
3 12 packs of diet root beer
5 bottles of SoBe

Retail price is $31.89.  After sales, coupons, and extra care bucks, I paid $6.32 (with $1.21 of that being sales tax since tax is paid on pre-coupon price), and I got $6 back in extra care bucks for the next time I shop at CVS.