This wouldn’t be a challenge between me and my sister if there weren’t some controversy along the way. During the Eating Well On $1 A Day Challenge, I asked the readers to resolve disputes that came up — I have the first one for the Thanksgiving Dinner For Six For $1 Challenge.
I purchased some biscuits for myself for free this week and I ended up getting $0.06 back. Unlike some stores, there is no specific policy about getting money back for Lucky grocery stores. When my total comes to an overage, I always tell the cashier to keep the money, but some insist that I take it.
In addition to the 6 Pillsbury Grands biscuits I purchased for myself, I have also purchased another 240 or so thus far for local food banks. Through those transactions, I have earned an additional $0.64 (6 @ $0.06 and 2 @ $0.11 – the $0.11 comes from the cashiers that give a $0.05 discount for bringing my own bag):
My sister believes that since it is not stated store policy and I don’t get the money back for each transaction I do, I should not be able to put that money toward the Thanksgiving challenge. My opinion is that I tell the cashiers to keep the money, but some insist I take it so it is fair to add it. What do you think? Should I be allowed to add the $0.64 (and any additional money I earn in the next few days as I buy more) toward the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge?
[poll id=”11″]
Feel free to ask any questions that you have and leave comments to your opinion on this. I will abide by whatever the consensus ends up being…
Yes, you should get it back, IMO. OH my friend had a great idea for you: sometimes at holiday time, you can get a free turkey for test driving a car at car lots, etc – check around for deals like that to get your turkey! Or does that break the rules?
I don’t have any issue with you getting cash back or using it for your own grocery bill (like the $1/day challenge). However, if these biscuits weren’t for the Thanksgiving dinner I think maybe it goes against the spirit of the challenge to use the overage from them to go towards the meal.
I agree with Amanda. If the money is an overage that comes from something you bought for the dinner, than you can use it towards other items. Otherwise, no, since I’m sure you also earn money from other jobs.
You purchased items specifically to get other items or catalinas, I don’t see how this is different.
Normally I would say definitely, but this time I am not sure. The six cents you received from the biscuits you purchased for Thanksgiving can absolutely be used. The rest is hard to say about, but I may be with Amanda and Joanna about it going against the spirit of the challenge. Of course, if this ends up being a crucial part of you winning (or not) the challenge then I will wish that I had voted yes.
I would vote that the money back could go towards the dinner. If you bought everything at once, it would be deducted from the total…so why not get the same benefit?
Where do you get your Lucky store match-ups?
@Paige
I don’t know of a blog doing Lucky matchups. This was one that I found on my own simply looking through the weekly advertisements and assuming that since the Pillsbury catalina was printing at other stores this month, Lucky would have it too.
Some people seem to think that the overage is fair game if it was gained trying to get your Thanksgiving stuff anyway and that it isn’t if it was not.
So …. why don’t we just say you purchased a heck of a lot of biscuits for Thanksgiving, are using the overage for dinner and are choosing to donate, just like you did during $1 a day, food bought with your challenge funds to your local food pantry? (Makes your victory all the more impressive)
Is there a rule that everything you buy with your dollar must be consumed at Thanksgiving? (The correct answer, if your sister asks, is “when’s the last time YOU didn’t have leftovers from Thanksgiving?”) Why can’t you give to charity AND provide a nice meal to your sister?
I purchase things a lot of times — just for the overage towards my groceries so I don’t see where this is any different.
If your sister does not count this she is not playing the game correctly because that is how couponing works
If she doesn’t like it – I vote for you to get her a $1.00 Banquet Turkey TV dinner use $1.00 coupons!!!
Sounds like she is being WAAAAAYYYYY too picky!!
This is definately how couponing works — use the overage to buy produce and meats etc that normally do not have a lot of coupons out on them
Here’s what I think. Because I assume you had to purchase all those biscuits on multiple check-outs, it doesn’t seem right to add ALL the money from each transaction. But for sure you should be able to add the overage for one of them back into your $1 challenge total, because you made money off it. Who cares if it’s not store policy?