Scratch and dent sale at Top Foods!

Well it was a good morning at Top Foods!  I went in to get some dog food and produce and found MORE produce and then wandered across 5 carts full of scratch and dent markdowns!! After scoring a TON of canned goods and assorted other items there, I discovered that the Iams dog food I was planning to get was part of a P&G special buy $25, get $5 off instantly. As the dog food was 18.99, I only had to find $6.01 more to get the $5 off – essentially making whatever I bought of that $6 only actual cost of $1! After unloading my cart FULL of goodies, I was cringing to see what the final total would be. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was just under $50! So awesome considering I only used a couple of coupons.

$49 and change!

Here’s is the rundown of what I got:

2 lbs baby carrots
3 pears
3 heads cauliflower
~2 lbs broccoli
1 lb of garlic cloves
1 leaf lettuce
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans carrots
6 cans peas
11 cans green beans
1 can black olives
1.5 lb pack raisins
5-pack applesauce
1 package marshmallows
1 lb powdered sugar
1 6 lb bag Goodlife cat food
17 lb bag Iams dog food
1 crest toothpaste
1 Pantene hairspray

What’s even better is that I decided to go back on the South Beach diet next week so that is lots of veggies, beans, lean meats, whole grain carbs, no sugars. I had almost no fresh veggies and was getting low on canned veggies so this was perfect timing!

Most exciting:
$0.50 big can of kidney beans for chili
1lb of garlic heads for $1.79!
Cat food for $5.49 (0.92/lb – I try to get the best brand I can for under $1/lb)
The P&G promo! If I just bought the dog food it went like this:
Iams dog food 17# – $18.99
- $4/1 Top Food super saver coupon (from Sunday flyer)
- $3/1 Iams mailer coupon (I had this for awhile, think it was from some freebie)
Final Price: $11.99

But! With the P&G get $5 off instantly wyb $25 promo it went like this:
Iams dog food 17# – $18.99
- $4/1 Top Food super saver coupon (from Sunday flyer)
- $3/1 Iams mailer coupon (I had this for awhile, think it was from some freebie)
Crest toothpaste – $2.99
- $0.75/1 Top Food super saver coupon (from Sunday flyer)
Pantene hairspray – $3.49
- $1/1 Top Food super saver coupon (from Sunday flyer)
- $5 P&G promo wyb $25
For a total of: $11.72!!  (0.69/lb) I actually SAVED $0.27 by adding in the Pantene & Crest! If I had looked at this more closely before leaving the house and had clipped the coupons from the P&G last sunday, I would have had another $1.50 off Pantene and $0.75 off Crest for a final total of $9.47. I was at the store after work and already had all the other stuff though so I decided to sacrifice that 2.25.

I am SOOO happy with this shop. I almost never do huge shops like this since starting couponing since I’m doing a little here and there every week and I do a lot of little transactions at Albertson’s during doublers week. But considering that 90% of this was veggies…..WOW! It just goes to show you that watching for sales and clearance can be just as (or more) powerful than the coupons themselves. And mmmmm the homemade chicken rice soup on the stove smells sooooo good.

Happy hunting,

~Lissa

 

Rite Aid redeems itself

Well couponing has been all over the place! It’s hot, it’s cold, random new promotions….this is definitely a constantly evolving landscape!

I have been couponing, just not posting. There was a crazy doubler weekend a month ago where I was up at 3:30a extracting the doublers as soon as my paper arrived and going to 2 different stores before 6am because I had to be at the airport by 6:30am. A bag of nonperishables sat in the trunk of my car for 5 days while I was in Tennessee.

My name is Melissa, and I am a coupon-aholic.  But I have 4 pounds of Skittles so all is well

Anyways, it has been quiet the last couple of months at Rite Aid. Here and there will be a good deal, but nothing huge. I was worried that the great deals might be gone for good. But the last couple of weeks has been awesome! Note:

Rite Aid 10/6/11 - $1.39!

(2) Profoot heel cream – $3.99
(1) Profoot insoles – $3.99
-(3) $1/1 coupons (2 were hangtags on the creams!)
-(3) $3 SCRs
= free!
(1) Scope mouthwash – $4 (incl travel size + 3 coupons)
-$1.50/1 coupon
-$2.50 UPR
= free!
(4) Knee-hi pantyhose – $0.40ea (w/ 20%disc!)
-(4) $1/1 UPR (didn’t print so have to call customer service)
= $2.24 moneymaker! ($0.56ea)
(8) Covergirl makeup – BOGO50% ~$37
-(4) $8/2 coupons
-$10 UPR
= ~$1.78 moneymaker
(5) Aveeno hair care – $5.99
(1) Aveeno lotion – $3.49
-(4) $2/1 coupon
-(1) $3/2 coupon
-(1) $2 off VV coupon
-(2) $10 UPR
=$3.13 (0.52ea)

So great! I am going to be making a bunch of different themed gift baskets so a lot of this will go into those. The Covergirl makeup also came with 8 codes for free Taylor Swift merchandise. I got an Ipad skin and 2 keychains.

And then for this week:

Rite Aid 10/10/11 - I made $5.70!!

So this week there were TONS of free items after UPR. Unfortunately, in Washington we have to pay sales tax on the pre-coupon amount so many things which are “free” actually have some (or a lot) of cost to them. This is especially true in promotions where you buy a larger amount of product in order to get a large UPR. For example, last week’s Covergirl promo was buy $30, get a $10 UPR. While coupons took off much of that $30, there was still $3.51 of tax! It adds up quickly. Many of the freebies were cough drops/cold meds which I still have a large stock of, so I passed on them. I DID get these however:

(4) John Frieda Hair Care – $5.00ea
(4) $2/1 John Frieda Product,
Pay: $13.90 (12 w/o tax), get (2) $5 UPR
Final Price: $3.90 (0.98ea)

(1) Preparation H Totables Wipes – $3.00
use $2/1 Preparation H Product printable
Pay: $1.29 ($1), get $3 +Up, limit 1
Final Price: $1.71 MM

(1) Zarbee’s All-Natural Children’s Cough Syrup 4 oz – $5.99
Pay: $6.56 (5.99), Submit for $5.99 SCR
Final Price: $0.57

(4) Rite Aid Hand Sanitizer 8 oz – $1.00
Pay: $4.38 (4), Receive $1 +Up Reward, limit 4
Final Price: $0.38 ($0.10ea)
(4) CoverGirl Cosmetics BOGO 50% off (~$16)
use (2) $8/2 CoverGirl Face Product
Pay: ~$1.25 in tax, submit for $10 MIR wyb $50 P&G beauty rebate
Final Price (incl last week’s CG): $10MM!

(1) Bayer 81 mg Aspirin Tablets, 32-36 ct $2.99
*$1/1 Bayer Aspirin coupon from 9/11 Red Plum
+ use $1/1 Bayer Aspirin Product (SavingStar.com)
Pay: $2.27, get $2 UPR + $1 SavingStar
Final Price: $0.72MM!

(2) Snack Size KitKats or Reese’s – 2/$4
use $2/2 tearpad coupon
use $1/2 KitKat or Reese’s VV coupon
Pay: $1.38, get $1 UPR wyb 2 = $0.38

This was definitely great couple of weeks! Plus I just ordered a pair of Dansko shoes for work @ 60% off for $48. I’ll be reimbursed through work, but that still gives me $50 to play with to get other scrubs with. Yay!

My 1st Paycheck

I have some exciting news!!!

I just paid myself my first paycheck!!!!!! EEEEEEEeeeeEEEE!!!

lol, I know, you’d think I’d never worked a day in my life. But this is the first check I have made out to myself from my own business. Yes, it’s officially been open for nearly a year (October 1st, 2010 if anyone wants to know). And yes, I had already “turned a profit”…..since there is almost no overhead, so I could have been paying myself before now. But since I did not fund this business with any capital, I wanted to make sure there was a little bit in the bank account to help get things set up more in a few months. July was the 1st month that I calculated the gross income and then made out a check for the 75% that I had determined so long ago would be my percentage when working a job personally.

So on August 3rd, I deposited my 1st paycheck for $600!! (gross: $800) I am (obviously) very excited about this and would be no matter the amount. But the fact that it is a fairly signifanct amount? I am THRILLED!! It was about mid-way through July when I looked at the schedule for the month, as well as some preplanned jobs for August that I realized how much I was bringing in. That’s when I determined that hey, this seems to be rolling right along now – maybe I am in a good position to start actually paying myself!  And so here I am. From this point forward I do not plan to “baby” the business, but to partake of it as a success – even at this small scale level. At the end of each month I will total the income, figure my standard share, and write myself a check. As for growth, in the next few months (after VECCS in September), I intend to:

• Solidify the underlying business structure
• Network to find potential contract employees
• Develop a marketing strategy
• Market and promote the business to new clinics & increase referrals in my current ones

My current monthly household budget requires me to make an extra $600-800/mo. (Without counting any PAH income) Which is 3-5 relief shifts, depending on day vs. night, overtime vs. outside clinics, length of shift.

As it stands now, that $600 paycheck I just paid myself is equivalent to 2 overtime graveyard shifts or 3 overtime day/swing shifts! Plus, I am on track currently for August to receive a paycheck from PAH of $450 even if no more clients appear before the end of the month.  And I have already scheduled  $500 worth of overtime relief shifts, plus 2 days of on-call that if called I am called in, will result in a minimum of $100 each, up to $200 each. So I am well situated for August, and in September I am not currently scheduling any extra shifts!

I am just so happy that the business is going well, despite the little efforts I have made to grow it. I have several returning clients and that is the best recommendation of all.

www.petsathomenw.com

Tips for mindful couponing (and quite a busy week!)

  It was quite a busy week around town. And besides shopping, I had a busy week elsewhere! This weekend was my rotating Saturday night shift and I have a client on Saturday mornings that requires 2 hours driving time (roundtrip), then there was 3 different store with coupon deals that required shopping on Sunday due to coupons that expired that day. Sunday night I had to do all my reading and prepwork for study group on Monday night, I had to go to my client again first thing Monday morning, 5 hours sleep, then study group, then I had picked up an extra shift that night. Swung by 3 more stores on the way home today. Phew! I now have 2 days off and a long list of chores that need to be done!! But no more shopping until next week!! I swear!

So I did a lot of couponing this weekend. It was a doubler weekend at Albertson’s and I stopped in 3 times. Plus one trip to Safeway, one to Top Foods, one to QFC, a HUGE trip to Rite Aid, and a trip to Walgreen’s. This is a VERY NON-typical week for me! I nearly always have at least one trip to Rite Aid & Albertson’s, 2-3 trips to Albertsons on doubler weeks, and here and there to the others, with rarely going to Walgreen’s or QFC. And yet, somehow this week there were amazing deals at each and every one! It’s funny because I had just taken a huge amount of groceries/toiletries into work which were snatched up quickly by the coworkers. And in just one week I’ve made huge progress in rebuilding my surplus pile! At least I’m putting those newspaper subscriptions to good use!

Something that I have commented briefly on in the past is that I don’t want to get so wrapped up in the “deal” that I lose sight of what I am buying and exactly how much money I am spending. If I have 20 tubes of toothpaste in my surplus pile, I can skip some deals. And if it is an item that I won’t be personally using, even if it’s a good deal, if it costs me money, that’s still money that I am throwing away.  Also, I am trying to make a more conscious effort to eat healthier. Yes, I love chips. And candy. And various junkfoods. And yes there are plenty of good deals on those. But I don’t want to be eating large amounts of those type of foods, so I am learning to pass up those deals also. There really are great deals out there for healthy foods! If I ever had time (hahahhaaha) I think I would put together a couponing blog focusing only on healthy lifestyle couponing.

Ok well I want to show you what I got!  The total for ALL the stores is $13.85!!!! I wish I had a picture of everything but here’s the list:

 

Albertson's #1 $3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albertson's #2 & 3 $3.17

 

QFC $1.59

 

Rite Aid $9.50 moneymaker!

 Ok so here’s the purchase list:

Albertson’s – $6.17

(10) Atheno’s greek yogurt
(4) Snackwells cereal bars
(5) TicTacs
(1) bag Twizzlers
(1) Franz WW bread
(1) Franz WW english muffins
(1) Franz WW mini bagels
(1) Driscoll’s raspberries
(1) Friskies canned cat food
(3) bags Kraft 2% mozzarella shredded cheese

Except for candy, all quite healthy items, including meal stuff

Safeway – $8.02 (not pictured)

(1) 20lb Tidy Cats scoop litter
(5) Fiber Plus cereal

I actually needed to get cat litter, and the cereal was 0.49ea and will make an excellent healthy snack item. Plus each box came with $5 worth of coupons, including $1 off fruit wyb 2 boxes any Kellogg’s cereal – doesn’t expire til March 2012 so will definitely happen upon more cereal deals before then! So really it’s like I made 0.51 on each box once I redeem the free fruit!

QFC – $1.59

(8) Beggin Strips
(5) bags frozen brussel sprouts

This was an incredible deal, one of those too-good-to-be-true! I have to break it down for you:

Transaction #1
Buy 8 Beggin Strips at $4.19ea = subtotal of $33.52
Store sales promotion is BOGO = -16.76
Sales tax now calculated = new subtotal of $18.35
Use 4 BOGO insert coupons from SS 5/8 = $1.59
Pay $1.59, receive $5 catalina (wyb $30 worth of Purina products)

Transaction #2
Buy 5 bags Kroger frozen veggies – $1ea
Use $5 catalina from transaction #1
Pay: nothing!!

The Beggin strips will go to work to keep patients very happy (I saved a couple of bags for Emmy). And I actually love oven-roasted brussel sprouts and they are never included in the $1 sales that Albertsons and Safeway have! So I am very excited by this one!

Top Foods – $2.10 (not pictured)

(2) 2lb bags of whole carrots
(3) yellow onions

Great cooking/snacking essentials at rock bottom prices!

Walgreen’s – $4.60 (not pictured)

(2) 12pk Cottonelle TP
(1) Crayola washable markers
(3) Folders (filler- 0.11ea)

Less than $2ea for the TP, donated the school supplies.

Rite Aid – $8.83 MM!

#1 – J&J deal ($10 UP wyb $30)
(4) Bengay – 4.94ea
(4) Stayfree – 3.99 BOGO50%
(2) Folder/Envelopes – 0.29ea (fillers)
= $31.73 (34.74 w/ tax)
-(4) $3/1 Bengay from 7/31 RP
-(4) $2/1 Bengay in-ad
-(2) BOGO Stayfree (-3.99ea) from SS 6/26
Paid: $6.76, get $10 UPR

#2 – Oral care deal ($5 UP wyb $25)
(4) Crest 1L mouthwash - 5ea
(1) Oral B battery toothbrush – 5.99
=$25.99 (28.46 w/ tax)
-(4) $2/1 Crest from PG 7/31
-(1) $3/1 Oral B from PG 7/31
use $10 UPR from #1
use $3/$15 survey coupon (NLA)
Paid: $4.46, get $5 UPR, submit $10 SCR (Crest), $2.99 SCR (Oral B)

#3 – P&G deal ($10 UP wyb $30)
(8) Gillette body wash – 3.98ea
=31.84 (34.86 w/ tax)
-(4) BOGO from 6/5 PG
-(4) $2/1 Gillette body wash from 7/31 PG
use $5 UPR from #2
use $3/$15 survey coupon (NLA)
Paid: $2.94, get $10 UPR

Total OOP: $14.16
Leftover: $10 UP, $12.99 in SCR
Final Trip Price: $8.83 profit!!

Freebies and Rebates

So I finally at least sorted the pile of mail on my table. Whenever I bring in the mail I immediately throw away obvious junkmail and open obviously important stuff. Otherwise I’ve been lazy and throwing it on the table to open later. I think I have about 2 months of it in there. Sorted through today and separated all my rebate checks and sample freebies that have come in!

I’m not a huge freebie/sample so I don’t get all of them that are out there, though I’m trying to do more of it. Here’s what was in the pile from the last couple of weeks:

Freebie sampler pack of U by Kotex + coupons
Free sample of Carefree liner + coupon
Free sample of Miralax
Free sample of Garnier shampoo/conditioner
Free sample of Aveeno (lotion?)
Free sampler of Taster’s Choice

I also got in some rebate checks for Rite Aid SCRs, Snapple, and one I can’t remember what it was from. Yay!

Quickie coupon trip

Ok, so I have been EXHAUSTED this week. I was taking antibiotics and Ibuprofen for a cat bite I got last week and I don’t know if that was part of it, but this week at work I have been low-grade nauseous and so tired. Thursday night I felt feverish and Friday night I woke up with all of my muscles sooo sore like I had done some kind of crazy workout or something. Maybe I’ve been fighting off a low-grade flu? Anyways….not much time to organize coupon shopping but copied over a few deals here and there into my email. Before work last night I just quickly grabbed the inserts for my Albertson’s preliminary list. Sooo after work I stopped at one client’s house, drove an hour to another client’s house and then dropped by the Albertson’s near there (much less coupon shoppers!). I pulled up the list on my phone and clipped coupons from inserts in the car. It worked out just fine but definitely not the level of prep I usually put in! Here’s my normal “system” (varies a bit store to store):

1. Skim through the inital matchups on www.couponconnectionsnw.com and www.thecouponproject.com. If Albertson’s also check www.thekrazycouponlady.com. If Rite Aid also check www.forthemommas.com. Copy & paste obvious good deals to either a Word document if at home or to an email if at work.

2. Monitor these 4 blogs daily for any new deals that come up for the store, add to shopping list if desired.

3. Before workweek is over, print out any printable coupons that are on my list from work computers.

4. Right before putting together the final list, read through comments on the matchups of these blogs in case there are problems/other deals that other shoppers have seen. Edit list appropriately.

5. Edit final list. Print from online and/or clip coupons from inserts. On shopping list remove all other coupon options except what I will be using, note how many of items to buy, calculate final prices of each item, potentially organize into separate transactions if needed. Put coupons for each store in separate envelopes along with printed list.

6. Shop!!

So yeah….obviously I make it much more involved and time-consuming than it needs to be. The reason for that is that couponing is not just a budget necessity. It is a really enjoyable hobby and so I dwell a little more on it than necessary. But if time is of the essence, I CAN skip a bunch of these steps, as I did this week.

Anyhoo. I am glad for the weekend! I am skipping Rite Aid this week and Safeway. Might take one more trip to Albertson’s, might not. Just looking forward to sunshine, sleeping, and watching my newest addiction: True Blood. Cuz a new show is just what I need! Haha. Here’s today’s quickie trip to Albertson’s:

I paid a grand total of $4.78!

(8) Crest toothpaste – 0.65MM total
(6) Snackwells cereal bars – free (cause I need more granola bars, lol. This brings the count to 76 boxes total in the last month-ish)
(12) Knorr rice & pasta sides – $4
(2) Emerald roasted peanuts – $3.50
(2lbs) whole salmon – $3.92 (I have them fillet it for me)
I also used a $5 wyb $50 catalina that I got last week!

So I am pretty psyched about that! Here’s hoping for a sunny and restful weekend!

~Lissa

The catalina deal that wouldn’t die

I hereby declare myself FINISHED with these GM catalinas! What with the last 2 weeks of Nature’s Valley and Fiber One….then this week new and fun catalinas ON THE SAME PRODUCTS, just add cereal and free milk. What’s a girl to do? Coupon!!

Ok, it’s not too crazy this week. I didn’t shop every day or have huge insane trips or use 70 doubler coupons. Really. But still, look at the score!!

This is Albertson’s. 2 separate shops, one yesterday, one today. Grand total? $12.02!

Here’s the rundown:

12 boxes GM cereal = $0.50ea
4 boxes granola thins = $0.19ea
4 gallons of milk = free wyb 4 cereal/granola thins
4 Emerald Breakfast on the go = free
6 boxes Ronzoni Healthy Harvest = free
1 Chips Ahoy = free wyb milk (free milk counts!)
6 S&W beans = $0.69ea (should have skipped these, cheaper at Walmart or Fred Meyer’s- but I’ll eat em!)
1 Nalley dill pickles = $0.89
and 1 lettuce head = $0.24

Into the “share” pile goes 8 boxes cereal, 2 boxes granola thins, 4 boxes Emerald togo, 2 gallons milk, and Chip’s Ahoy. Happy happy coworkers!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I also went to Fred Meyer, though I don’t typically shop there, look at the ad, or even look through the matchups. But their ad has a huge picture advertising cherries for $1.49/lb. I like cherries and I happen to KNOW this is a stock-up price.

I spent $17.45 and got:
10 cans beans – 0.50ea
5 packs Tillamook shredded cheese – $1ea
5lbs of cherries – $1.49/lb

Not a super cheap bill compared to alot of times, but when you consider all the cheese and cherries….it’s good prices. I think I’m going to make some dried cherries!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

And then I had a Walmart run. The Walmart isn’t very close by and it’s not a supercenter with a full grocery section so I don’t make trips there unless I’m nearby. It is on the way to my massage clinic though so once or twice a month I stop in. It was a great trip today!

All this for just $3!!!

One of the great things about Walmart is that they give overage. So sometimes there is a good moneymaker (or several) and it reallys helps to bring down the cost of other items. Here’s the rundown:

(7) Travel-size pronamel sensodyne toothpaste: 0.06ea
(6) Travel-size men’s Dial lotion – 0.94 moneymaker each!
(3) Noxema razors 4-pks – 0.16ea
(1) 4lb Iams dog food – $1.58
(12) M&Ms – 0.12ea
(6) 3 Musketeers – 0.25ea
(2) Tomato soup – 0.58ea

So all the travel items, the razors, and the 3 musketeers go into the “share” pile. I made $5.64 in overage which basically paid for everything else, I just paid a touch more than tax!

Phew! In other news, I bought new tires for $328 and I need a crown that will cost me about $550….and may end up needing a root canal anyways. Guess it’s a good thing I coupon!

Happy hunting!
~Lissa

My *almost* free Rite Aid trip

Slow week, WHATEVER!! Ok, after today though, I think I am done shopping for the week. Unless doublers come out for Albertson’s. Which I don’t think will happen. (or so I hope!). The stores SEEM quiet so far….usually some crazy stupid deal comes up every time I say that. Like Rite Aid this week. I wasn’t even going to GO to RA this week. (I did actually skip last week…..and I even had a list ready.) But then……*sigh*……the Jergens moneymaker deal came out. And so…..

….the total for this trip: $0.36

For EVERYTHING.

Including the 2 DVD rentals.

Ok, I was so excited that I posted this on Facebook and I said I would give the full breakdown of HOW I did it. Since this isn’t *really* a coupon blog, I usually just post brags here with what I bought, total paid. But here’s the full rundown:

“*Note: Rite Aid offers UP rewards, which are the $$off coupons that print on your receipt at the end. You can use these on anything else you buy on your next transaction, just like they were cash. They won’t apply towards tax though. I shop RA a lot so I usually have a bunch of these from previous trips and just buy everything in one transaction. Right now I didn’t have any previous UPs so I did multiple transactions in order to not pay as much out of pocket. So it looks really obnoxious, but I don’t usually break it up so much!

Transaction #1

(2) Oral-B Advantages Plus toothbrush - $2.57 each
Buy 1, Receive $2+UP Reward, LIMIT 2*
Use:(2) $2/1 Oral B Toothbrushes 7/3 P&G Insert
Pay: $1.63, Receive (2) $2+UP Reward

Transaction #2

Buy 4 Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer, 2 oz. – $2.24 each
use (4) $1/1 Jergens Natural Glow
use (2) $2 UP from transaction #1
Pay $1.81, receive (2) $5 +Up Reward, limit 2

Transaction #3

Crest Pro Health Rinse – $4.99
Buy 1, Submit for $4.50 SCR (an SCR is a rebate that RA will mail to you when enter the info online.)
$2/1 Crest Rinse 6/5 P&G Insert

(1) John Freida flyaway tamer – $9.99
(1) John Freida shampoo – $3.50 (buy one John Freida, get one 50% off)
Buy 2 John Freida products, get a $5 UP reward, limit 3
use (2)  $2/1 John Frieda  Hair Item 6/5 SS Insert
use (2) $5 UP from transaction #2
Pay:  $4.22, get $5 UP for John Freida, submit $4.50 SCR for Crest

Transaction #4

(1) John Freida conditioner – $6.99
(1) John Freida leave-in conditioner spray - $3.24 (buy one John Freida, get one 50% off)
Buy 2 John Freida products, get a $5 UP reward, limit 3
use (2)  $2/1 John Frieda  Hair Item 6/5 SS Insert
use $5 UP from transaction #3
Pay: $2.20, get $5 UP

At the end of it all, I paid $9.86 out of pocket (most of which was tax)
 I have a $5 UP leftover from transaction #4
And a $4.50 SCR coming to me from transaction #3
Which results in a grand total paid for these products of: $0.36!!!

I love couponing!

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And then I just sorta “swung by” Top Foods to pick up some cheap produce. Every now and again they have some great customer appreciation coupons that come out in their sales ad. These coupons require you to purchase $10 of any and all groceries in a transaction and then you can use any and all of the coupons in the same transaction. They have these coupons out this week:

-Free organic eggs, 1 dozen large
-$2 off any meat
-$1 off any produce
-$1 off any bakery/deli item

This is a small portion of what I bought (I didn’t get a picture of it all!)

I spent $5 at Top Foods.
For that $5 I got:

(3) dozen eggs
(3) bagels
(3) ~$2 packs of beef
(1) cauliflower
(2lbs) broccoli
(1) 32oz greek yogurt

Here’s how:

Transaction #1
eggs – 4.50
beef – 2.25
bagel – 0.75
cauliflower – 2.50
- free egg coupon
-$2 off meat
-$1 off produce
-$1 off bakery
= $1.50

Transaction #2
eggs – 4.50
beef – 3.50
bagel – 0.75
broccoli – 1.25
- free eggs
-$2 off meat
-$1 off produce
-$1 off bakery
= $1.50

Transaction #3
eggs – 4.50
pork – 1.25
bagel – 0.75
broccoli – 1
yogurt – 3
- free eggs
-$2 off meat
-$1 off produce
-$1 off bakery
= $2

 I did separate transactions because you can only use each coupon once per transaction. The value of the free eggs and other couponed items is counted towards the $10 minimum total, so I ended up having a very low total after the coupons were applied! Also, the full value of the coupon was applied, even if the item didn’t cost as much as the coupon. For example, the bakery coupon was for $1 off and I bought a single bagel priced at $0.75. But the coupon still came off for $1, giving me 0.25 overage (or money “back”) that applied to the other items I was buying.

It’s all about knowing how the system works!

~Happy Hunting!
~Lissa

Holy Granola Bar!

Ok, I have officially survived the Great Granola Bar Catalina Deal.

It was a little iffy. This was like the deal that Wouldn’t Die.

I don’t have a picture of the true extent of it because every time I thought it was over, it continued. And I was not about to try and gather all the boxes (and a bunch were already gone anyways), just to take a pic.

Grand total: 68 boxes of Nature’s Valley and Fiber One granola bars for $21.50. That equals $0.32/box. Oh yeah, and 4 free gallons of milk. That is CRAZY!!!!

It started 2 weeks ago (see the last post!)…. There were a few low value coupons available but doublers made it better. There was a catalina double dip with 2 different catalinas for each set of 4 boxes bought. Stock was sold out. I bought 8 boxes. (one trip)

Then last week both catalinas ended up carrying over for the full sales week. The milk catalina unexpectedly carried over for a couple of days. Even without doublers and the low value insert coupons, boxes could be had for only 0.50/box. I bought 12 more boxes early in the week. (one trip)

And then it was July. And new online printable coupons were released on coupons.com. Higher value for ALL the various granola bars. Plus even slightly higher value ones from pillsbury.com. 2 prints each site per computer. I printed from 3 work and one home computer. And on Tuesday, the last day of the sale, I headed to a nearby store to see what was left in stock.

They had a TON. (no granola thins but WHO CARES!). In a single shopping trip I bought 40 more boxes!!! I got a wide range of varieties/flavors and there were multiple boxes of each left on the shelf. It was a quiet afternoon in the store and I spent about 40 minutes at the self-checkout running my 10 transactions through – 4 boxes at a time (because of the catalinas). The cashier was so nice and patient!

Finally the week was over, both catalinas are dead, and I have a zillion boxes of granola bars to bring to work and filter into the candy drawer so everyone has tasty and healthy snacks on busy days! As well as a couple of coworkers who took home several boxes each. Who’s the most popular coworker ever???

In other shopping news this week:

Thank God Albertson’s didn’t have much else in the way of deals (or doublers!). There was a good buy 10 save $5 sale that I did twice, once at the beginning of the week, once at the end. I got:

(11) boxes of brownies – 0.49
(9) cans veggies – 0.49
-(5) 0.55/1 brownie printable
-(6) 0.40/1 brownie insert
= $4.65 (brownies = 0.24 for 11 boxes!)

Brownies will also be making their way to work this summer…….again, campaigning for most popular coworker

I had a few deals lined up for Rite Aid last week but I was so tired that I ended up skipping it. They were all things I had stock of already so I didn’t feel too compelled to exhaust myself with the effort. I thought about skipping this week too, but there has ended up with a couple of good moneymakers so I will *probably* go tomorrow. We’ll see! The grocery stores are all snoozers this week (thank goodness!) and I am well stocked on most everything so it will be a very light weekend for me!

Maybe I’ll actually get some studying done? Pray for sunshine!

Take Care
~Lissa

Oh Albertson’s, how I love you….

Another week, another set of doublers, another happy shopping trip for me. There were some HOT deals this week with catalinas. It really seems like the catalinas come and go alot. When they are in, they are HOT! I discovered that one of the stores that is a little further away from me seems to have less coupon shoppers than my 2 main stores, they actually had stock in of a couple of the things I was looking for! I have hopes that next week there will be doublers and that the stock of Nature’s Valley Granola Thins will be in so I can score that deal. Their catalinas roll for a few more days so maybe I can squeak that deal out still.

Here’s the rundown for this weekend’s trips. This was done in 2 trips, 9 doublers each:

Total OOP: $21

Ok, so that seems like a big out of pocket, compared to my normal. But just LOOK at what I got! The majority of that was the cost for the Pasta-roni ($5.50) and the Minute Maid lemonade ($8).

(4) 12pk Minute Maid lemonade ($7.50)
(6) Healthy harvest pasta ($1.25)
(8) Danimals yogurt ($2)
(2) Gallon of milk (free!)
(1) Ritz crackerful ($1)
(4) Athenos greek yogurt (free!)
(4) peaches ($1.50)
(3) Life cereal ($1.47)
(7) Pasta-roni ($5.53)
(4) Fiber One brownies (free!)
(1) Tic-Tacs (free!)
(1) Cucumber (0.50)

The only deal I missed was the Nature’s Valley Granola Thins. Here’s what it would have looked like:

(4) Granola Thins – $2.50ea ($10)
-(4) 0.75/1 coupons from SS
- 3 doublers
Pay: $4.75, get $2 cata + $5 cata + free milk cata
Final Price: $2.25 moneymaker + free milk!

Now, the free milk is a weekly deal, so that’s gone now. And the various catalina deals end before we would get doublers next weekend (if we get any that is). So I have a raincheck for these and if I can pick them up next week while the catalinas are still being offered, the deal will look like this:

(4) Granola Thins – $2.50ea ($10)
-(4) 0.75/1 coupons from SS
Pay: $7, get $2 & $5 catalinas
Final Price: Free!

So while it is no longer a money maker and I lose out on the free milk, it’s still 4 free boxes! I have to doublecheck what dates those catalinas run through so I make sure i get out to the store in time to pick them up. Happy hunting everyone!

~Lissa