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Posted by Darlene on January 14, 2012 at 10:01 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
My father could not walk past a coin on the ground without stopping to pick it up. He would go out of his way… way out of his way… to check if that shiny thing he spotted might be a dime or a nickel or even a penny.
After he died, I started picking up coins because I know my father is sending them to me. My son also picks up coins in honor of his pepere. And when I’m out with my granddaughter and we find a coin on the ground, I tell her it’s from her grand pepere.
Sometimes I test my father to see if he’s listening. Tonight when I walked through the store parking lot, I spotted a penny. I picked it up and jokingly told my dad I wanted to pay for my groceries with that penny. I usually keep all the coins I find in a jar, but I was willing to part with that one, if that’s what my father intended.
As I shopped, I added up my purchase like I always do:
(4) boxes Mueller’s, FREE with coupon plus a $1.24 overage
(1) squash from reduced produce, 78¢
(2) packages Johnsonville sausage, $3.99, each with $2 off peelie, and I had (2) $1 off coupons, total 99¢ each
My total so far was $1.52. I needed to spend over $2 because I had a $2 catalina coupon I wanted to use. So, I grabbed…
(1) bag of onions, $1.49
I hated to buy the onions because they were not reduced and I did not have a coupon for them. But, my mother has been asking for onions and the bag brought my total to $3.01. I liked that number. After my $2 catalina, I would pay $1.01. I could hand over a dollar bill and also use my penny. It was not a penny transaction, but it was a good enough sign for me.
As I watched the screen while the cashier rang up my items, I noticed the sausage rang up at $3.99 but then it took 50¢ off. The same thing happened to the other package. Another 50¢ off. Two discounts I was not expecting. I was bummed that my total would be messed up. I was so flustered that I could not do the math. I could not see that I had just gotten an extra dollar off.
After my coupons, my new total was $2.01, not $3.01. I handed over my $2.00 catalina then heard the cashier say these awesome words…
Your total is one penny.
I love and miss you dad!
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Posted by Darlene on January 13, 2012 at 10:44 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I had a nice little shopping trip at Shaw’s tonight! I got $20.91 worth of food for only 50¢!
And look at the boxes of cereal… I have coupons inside! I will also get a FREE Grain Berry product with this mail in coupon.
Bought (2) Grain Berry Cereal, reg $4.59, sale price $2.50
Used (2) $2/1 Grain Berry Cereal coupons
Final price 50¢ each, $1.00 total
Bought (1) Silver Palate Oatmeal, reg $3.29, sale price $2.00
Used (1) $2/1 Silver Palate Oatmeal coupon
Final price FREE!
Bought (2) boxes Nescafe Taster’s Choice, reg price $1.29
Used (2) $.75/1 Nescafe Taster’s Choice coupons
coupons doubled to $1.29 off
Final price FREE!
Bought (4) boxes Mueller’s pasta, reg price $1.25, sale price 79¢
Used (4) $.55/1 Mueller’s pasta coupons
coupons doubled to $1.10 off
Final price FREE plus $1.24 overage
2 bananas from reduced produce, 31¢
2 oranges from reduced produce, 55¢
Thanks to the little Mueller’s overage, my total was 62¢. But for some odd reason it subtracted 12¢ tax, so I paid only 50¢!
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Posted by Darlene on January 9, 2012 at 7:57 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I walked around both Shaw’s and Walmart in Sanford tonight, and since I know some of you are heading out to the Sanford stores soon, I took some notes. Here is a report on some of the freebies and cheapies that might be on your list.
Please click the links to see what I’m talking about and to get the coupons (if they are still available) so I don’t have to repeat it all.
Shaw’s, Monday night:
Shout out to Jessica! Jessica is a blog follower who recognized me in Shaw’s. It was nice to meet you!
50¢ Cereal: They had one box of the Grain Berry Cereal. It’s in with the other cereals, not in the “healthy” section. I left it there because I’m at the point where I won’t even spend 50¢ on cereal. It was a very big box.
Free Oatmeal: They had NO Silver Palate Thick & Rough Oatmeal (sounds almost naughty). The very good news about this is that the sale price of $2 is good until Jan 21 (or was it 26?). So, we all have time to pick up some free oatmeal. It’s in with the other oatmeal, top shelf. Keep checking for it! I didn’t check the Grain Berry Cereal date, but I bet it’s the same.
Free Coffee: They stocked back up on the Nescafe Taster’s Choice 6-packs. I only grabbed one and left about 10 boxes for the rest of you!
Free Cereal: The Kashi GOLEAN cereal single cups are on sale for $1, so free if you printed the coupons. Those are in the “heathy” food section. Probably had 8 or 10 of them.
Free Egg Noodles: There are still plenty of bags of Pennsylvania Dutch noodles!
Cheap Cole Slaw: I don’t see this in the flyer, but they have 16 oz Fresh Express Cole Slaw on sale for $1.59 per bag. It’s the 3-Color Deli variety and it’s in with the bagged lettuce. If you have the Fresh Express coupon, you’ll pay just 49¢… and you don’t have to shop in reduced… lol! If you need the coupon email me.
Sort of Cheap International Delight: I noticed the seasonal flavors of International Delight creamer are on sale again for $1.99 each, so you can pick them up for 89¢ with the coupon. That’s not as cheap as we got them before the holidays, but it’s still a good deal.
Reduced Produce: There was a very large veggie platter marked down to $5.00… and I came this close to buying it. But $5 is soooooo much money! LOL Other than that, both refrigerated and non refrigerated produce was a bust.
Reduced Deli: Nothing spectacular in there.
Reduced Dairy: Practically empty except for about (10) 16 oz containers of Breakstone’s sour cream marked down to $1.00.
Expensive Meatballs: I checked the price of Armour Meatballs again and they are $4.59 for 14 oz. The same exact bags are $1.99 at Save-A-Lot, so definitely shop there for that.
My Alpo Wish: I’m sooooo keeping my fingers crossed that Shaw’s will have a B1G1 free sale on Alpo. The regular price is 85¢ per can, so if they do a B1G1, we’d get 10 cans for $2.75 with the coupon. Print the coupon if you still can, just in case this happens! And print as many as you can.
Walmart, Monday night:
Cheap Pictionary Card Game: UPDATE: The coupon prints out Hasbro but it seems the card game is by Mattel, so we can’t use the coupon for the card game. You can still print and use for the Hasbro game. Guess what! They actually had 3 Pictionary card games priced at $5.88, so only 88¢ with the coupon. I didn’t bother buying one because deep down inside, I know we’d never play it. The card games are on the wall over by the gardening center doors.
No Play-Doh: I could not for the life of me find any Play-Doh, not in toys, not in crafts. But, I got plenty of exercise looking! That does not mean they don’t have it. It just means I didn’t find it. If you find it in your store, please do a price check for me so we can determine how valuable this coupon is.
Free Nabisco Snacks: I used my $3/3 Nabisco coupons on the $1 boxes of Oreo’s and Chips Ahoy cookies. I got them all for free and now I don’t need to go to Rite Aid. I didn’t bother with the $1/2 coupon because I’m at the point where I only want free cookies :O) Oh, they had lots left. Also had Wheat Thins and Nilla Wafers that you can use the coupons on.
Free Batteries: I finally found more of the 4-packs of Rayovac priced at 99¢ at the back of the store. I thought they might have stopped carrying them which scared me, ’cause I only have 1/2 a drawer full. I’ve been getting (4) free 4-packs a month for 8 months now. Gotta love it!
Free Toothpaste: They have plenty of the Colgate toothpaste in those Back on Track bins. And since we got the $1/1 coupons in this area, they are a 6¢ money maker. They were all out of the free travel size Aquafresh.
Free Reach Floss: None to be found. All sold out of the Reach floss, 55 yd size. I got zero.
Free K-Y: Also gone. That has been gone for quite a while. Free K-Y is popular!
I ended up coming home with $45.40 worth of goodies and only spent $1.21 total :O)
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Posted by Darlene on January 5, 2012 at 10:07 am I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I did my little walk around my Sanford Shaw’s last night to check out the reduced sections. I was soooo happy to find 2 bags of Fresh Express marked down to 99¢ each, which of course, ended up being free after coupons.
I also found something I have never found in reduced before… Kozy Shack Bread Pudding! And can you believe I had coupons for that exact item? I did! Turned out to be a nice little money maker, too!
I bought (2) bags Fresh Express in reduced, 99¢ each
I used (2) $.55/1 Fresh Express (email me for coupon)
the coupons doubled to $1.10 off
Final price: FREE plus 22¢ overage
I bought (2) packages Kozy Shack pudding in reduced, $1.00 each
I used (2) $.75/1 Kozy Shack Bread Pudding (NLA)
the coupons doubled to $1.50 off
Final price: FREE plus $1.00 overage
I also picked up 8 pieces of cooked chicken for $6.99 that had a $3.00 off peelie attached. After the peelie coupon and the overage (and that odd tax deduction that sometimes happens), I paid only $2.64 total for 8 pieces of chicken!
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Posted by Darlene on January 3, 2012 at 10:30 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I had a good FREEBIE night at both Shaw’s and Walmart tonight! Below is the breakdown for my Shaw’s trip. You can see my Walmart trip here.
I’m not sure what is available for coupons, but I’m giving you the links if you want to check. And you can see what reduced dairy looked like tonight here.
Bought (2) quarts Hood Half & Half in reduced dairy, 50¢ each
Used (1) $1/2 Hood cream products (should still be available)
Final price: FREE
Bought (2) Tropicana Trop50 juices in reduced dairy, $1.00 each
Used (2) $1/1 Tropicana Trop50
Final price: FREE
Bought (3) Muir Glen tomatoes, on sale for $1.50 each
Used (2) .85/1 Muir Glen – coupons doubled
Used (1) .75/1 Muir Glen – coupons doubled
Final price: FREE plus 40¢ overage
I needed to spend 40¢ to cover the overage and was tickled to find a can of chick peas in reduced grocery for 45¢. That was supposed to make my OOP total 5¢, but read below…
Bought (1) can Goya chick peas in reduced grocery, 45¢
No coupon, used 40¢ overage from Muir Glen
Final price: 5¢, or so I thought
The coupons did something funny with the tax (as they do sometimes) and it subtracted 13¢ from my total. Instead of me paying 5¢, the cashier paid me 8¢! I can’t even spend money when I try!
And since the juice is reduced and they slap a sticker over the bar code, you don’t even pay the deposit because the scanner does not recognize what you are buying. Ain’t life grand?
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Posted by Darlene on January 3, 2012 at 9:54 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I stopped by Walmart tonight (Shaw’s too… see that trip here) and I got all this stuff for FREE! (I paid just some of the tax).
The toothpaste coupon might still be up for grabs, not sure. The flashlight coupon might be too. If you can’t get them, next time print when I tell you to (wink, wink)!
Bought (8) Wonka Candy Canes, 75% off, 50¢ per box
Used (4) $1.00 off TWO Wonka 6 oz Candy Canes (NLA)
Final price: FREE
Bought (4) travel size Aquafresh Toothpaste, 97¢ each
Used (4) $1/1 Aquafresh Extreme Clean
Final Price: FREE plus 12¢ overage that went toward tax :O)
Bought (2) rolls Duck brand packing tape, $1.00 each
Used (2) $1/1 Duck brand packing tape (NLA)
Final price: FREE
Bought (4) Rayovac Flashlights with batteries, $1.00 each
Used (4) $1/1 Rayovac Flashlight
Final price: FREE
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Posted by Darlene on December 31, 2011 at 9:27 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I was walking around Shaw’s with my envelope of coupons that expire today to see if I could put some to good use. I had 5 coupons for $1.50 OFF Purina Kitten Chow, any size bag. I got those coupons quite awhile ago from someone handing out coupons at Walmart. Every week I check to see if the small bags are on sale, and every week… they’re not.
Except for tonight!
Tonight the Purina Kitten Chow was on sale for $2.19 and was also on Clearance for 20% off. That brought the price down to $1.75 per bag. With the coupons, I paid just 25¢ each! How cool is that? I paid $1.25 (plus tax) for 5 pounds of kitten food… too bad I don’t have a cat :O)
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Posted by Darlene on December 30, 2011 at 2:25 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure. Reduced Refrigerated Produce at Shaw's in Sanford, ME
I have been shopping in the Sanford Shaw’s reduced sections for several months now. I often post about my finds and even take photos to share with my readers so they can run to Shaw’s if they see anything they like.
I love, love, LOVE that Shaw’s offers reduced food AND that they let us use manufacturer coupons on the reduced items (and the coupons still double!!!). By shopping for reduced food, I have saved mega bucks! I get free eggs, free milk, free cheese, free hummus, free lettuce… let’s just say I get lots of free and super cheap stuff by shopping reduced. But, shopping the reduced sections is not always a perfect experience. I know this first hand.
My Very Rotten Potato
Last October, I picked up a 10 pound bag of potatoes in reduced produce for $2 (you can see that shopping trip here). The potatoes were in the original paper bag, so I could not check the quality. When I opened the bag, one potato was sooooo rotten… that… that… that… it had maggots all over it. Yes, it did. Lots of them. For some odd reason, the potato did not stink. But man, was it rotten.
I took the entire bag to Shaw’s and showed customer service the little critters. The store manager was not there, but when I spoke to him the next day, I explained what happened and I suggested that next time they have potatoes in the paper bags that they open the bags and sell the potatoes in clear plastic so we can see what we are getting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen potatoes in a paper bag since.
And if you think I’m nuts for still shopping reduced after the maggot episode, I totally understand that stuff like that happens. I don’t hold it against Shaw’s. There were absolutely wonderful in the way they handled my buggy ordeal.
My Reader’s Rotten Coconut
A reader on my Deals by Darlene facebook page shared her recent reduced coconut purchase. I had posted that Shaw’s had reduced coconuts for only 25¢. My coconut was perfect (you can see it here). My reader’s coconut was not. Hers was rotten and moldy.
I suggested to my reader that she let Shaw’s know about the coconut because it will help everyone in the long run. The more Shaw’s knows about the quality (or lack of quality) of their reduced items, the more the reduced sections will improve! I have seen a big improvement in the quality of reduced items over the past few months. That’s probably because they actually listen to my suggestions!
Ways YOU can Help Shaw’s Improve Their Reduced Sections
1. Make suggestions! I will suggest to Shaw’s (without mentioning any names) that next time they sell reduced coconuts, maybe they can crack the coconuts open, put them on the little green tray, wrap them in plastic wrap then toss them in the refrigerated section of reduced produce instead of on the non refrigerated carts. Then we can see what we are getting and they won’t be putting out bad fruit!
2. Point out the bad stuff! Whenever I see something in reduced that has gone too far, I point it out to whoever is in charge. I do it nicely. They want to know. They really do. Sometimes they say people buy the overly ripe stuff to feed to their animals. When they say that (and they say it often), I always insist suggest if it’s meant for animals, they need to knock the price down to next to nothing. And now I’m thinking maybe they should start a separate section for overly ripe food for wild stock… if that’s their true intent. Hey, that sounds like a good suggestion!
3. Discuss price with the managers! For weeks, I was buying potatoes for 29¢ per pound or less in reduced. Then the price suddenly jumped to 59¢ per pound or more and it stayed there for two weeks! On three different occasions I spoke to three different managers and whole-heartedly express my sadness about the price increase. I was spoiled rotten (no pun intended) and wanted my cheap potatoes to be dirt cheap (pun intended). I guess the 3rd time was the charm, because next time I shopped the potatoes were back down to 29¢ with only minor increases in price now and then.
4. Tell them what you want to see in reduced sections! I have heard through various followers that the Shaw’s in Sanford has just about the best reduced sections around! If you want your store to offer more reduced items, tell them! Tell them Deals by Darlene wants YOU to get great deals too! And when I post photos of the goodies I find in reduced, print them and show your store manager! Seriously. You should do that :O)
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Posted by Darlene on December 29, 2011 at 9:41 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I sure hope I can freeze hummus. I’m about to find out, because I scored BIG TIME tonight on Tribe hummus and I’ll need to freeze most of it. I figure the texture might change if frozen, but that’s no biggie to me. I’ll freeze (and eat) just about anything.
Okay, here’s how I paid only 15¢ for all this by shopping at my lovely Shaw’s in Sanford. Then I got such a sweet surprise after I paid!
Bought (7) Tribe Hummus in reduced deli, $3.49 each, total $24.43
Used (7) $2 off stickies that were on the hummus, total $14.00 OFF
Used (7) $1/1 Tribe hummus from tearpad, total $7.00 OFF
Hummus $24.43 – $14.00 – $7.00 = $3.43
Bought (8) Muir Glen tomato paste, $1.19 each, total $9.52
(the Muir Glen coupons are no longer available)
Used (4) $.85/1 Muir Glen (coupons fully doubled), total $6.80 OFF
Used (4) $.75/1 Muir Glen (coupons fully doubled), total $6.00 OFF
Muir Glen $9.52 – $6.80 – $6.00 = $3.28 overage
I spent $3.43 on the hummus but I made $3.28 on the Muir Glen so I paid only 15¢ for everything! That’s 15¢ for $33.95 worth of hummus and tomato paste!
Then SURPRISE!!! Along with my receipt, I got not one but TWO $2.00 catalina coupons for buying the hummus! Now I have $4.00 to spend on anything next time I shop at Shaw’s! I ended up $3.85 richer than when I entered the store. I had no clue there was a Tribe catalina… I just got super lucky!
And I just did a quick search online and it seems I’ll be able to freeze that hummus and it should thaw perfectly with no change in texture!
NOTE: Even though Shaw’s states they do not allow for overage (it looks like that policy might be changing in our favor… more on that later), if the coupon scans and automatically doubles for the full amount, then they usually don’t catch the overage. You won’t get cash back, so make sure you have enough other stuff to cover the overage. I used Muir Glen coupons before, so I knew they would double for the full amount. I bought just enough hummus to cover the overage.
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Posted by Darlene on December 28, 2011 at 10:34 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I ran over to my Sanford Shaw’s Wednesday night after my TOPS meeting and of all things… I found coconuts in reduced produce. And they were only 25¢ each. No coupons necessary!
I only bought one because I was not sure if they were dried out. The one I bought was DELICIOUS! And these are easy to open because they are pre-scored (no coconut milk). Just tap against something hard and they crack open. Nice and juicy. Very fresh.
I think this has to be one of my favorite treasures that I find in reduced produce. I mean really, a coconut for a quarter. I love it! They had maybe 5 more, so if you are heading to Shaw’s in Sanford Thursday morning, pick one up!
And here’s a shout out to Pat… it was fun shopping with you!
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