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Posted by Darlene on October 16, 2011 at 1:08 am 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 Shaw’s today to pick up some of the goodies offered in the General Mills sale. The deal with that sale is that if you buy $25 worth of participating GM products, you get $10 back. It states that the minimum needs to be met after coupons, but it usually works before coupons. It makes me nervous every time, but it worked twice for me today!
For my first GM transaction, I bought:
8 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes
8 cans of Green Giant veggies
4 boxes of Lucky Charms
The total for just the GM items before coupons was $30 (sale price, not shelf price), and after coupons it was $18. I dipped below $25 and it spit out my $10 catalina!
For my second GM transaction, I bought:
8 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes
16 boxes of Green Giant frozen veggies
The total for just the GM items before coupons was $26, and after coupons it was $15.60. I dipped below $25 and it spit out my $10 catalina!
So, at least at the Sanford Shaw’s, the catalina is triggered at the sale price total, not the total after coupons. As long as you reach $25 before coupons, you should be okay.
Here’s what I got in all…
4 big boxes Lucky Charms
16 Boxes Betty Crocker potatoes
16 boxes Green Giant frozen veggies
8 cans Green Giant veggies
4 Lunchables (I paid only 50¢ each in reduced deli with coupons)
1 king size loaf wheat bread ($1.20 in reduced bakery)
10 pound bag of potatoes (only $2 in reduced produce)
6 jars Cains mayonnaise (B1G1 FREE, price $4.89 for 1, use this coupon and get 2 for $3.89 or just $1.95 each!!!)
One bag of those popsicle things that my granddaughter is going to love when she visits!!! (on sale for 99¢ with $2 rebate, so I make a buck!)
Total before Shaw’s card and coupons: $145.36
After all coupons and after using one $10 catalina I paid $31.92 – this is NOT what I consider a great shopping trip since I only saved 78%, but it shows that you still can save a good chuck of money on stuff like vegetables, produce, and bread!
Oh, and I still have a $10 catalina to use next time!!! And I’ve got that $2 rebate coming to me! Not too shabby after all!
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Posted by Darlene on October 5, 2011 at 1:05 am I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
First, I totally apologize for the lazy photo I took. I was just too tired to set up for a pic. And the refrigerated stuff I bought is not even in the picture. Nor is the soda. And now I see that not all the cereal boxes are there either! I do not do couponing justice! Oh, well…
First, let me tell you what I bought, then I’ll tell you what I paid:
27 boxes of cereal
13 bags of chex mix, bugles and gardetto’s
20 boxes of nature valley granola bars
2 packages of toilet paper, 18 rolls per pack
8 bottles of polar soda
2 cans of coffee
4 yogurts
3 half gallons of juice
3 pounds of apples
1 pound of radishes
2 bags of cole slaw mix
4 pounds of carrots
The total before discounts and coupons was $374.90.
I paid… drum roll please… $36.72!
And I have a $3 catalina for next time!
I saved 95% – and that includes produce that I bought without coupons!
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Posted by Darlene on September 29, 2011 at 12:44 am I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I took a little walk around Shaw’s tonight to check out their reduced sections. This has become one of my favorite things to do! I get such good deals by shopping for stuff that needs to find a good home :O)
We have needed milk for about a week now, but I insisted on holding out for a great deal (yes, I torture my mother like that). The reduced dairy section finally had lots of goodies tonight (it has been empty for about a week) so I was able to pick up super cheap milk (drink up, mom!), cheap tea, and nearly free yogurt. The potatoes were from the reduced produce section for a fraction of the cost. But, I was most excited about the milk (so was my mother).
Here is the complete breakdown along with the coupons I used:
Milk marked down to $1.50 per gallon in reduced dairy (best by Oct 1, I will pour into quart jugs and freeze it) – I used (3) $1.00 off any milk coupons (got those in the mail) and got the three gallons for only 50¢ each! 3 Gallons Milk: $1.50
Swiss Tea (Ooops! It’s Turkey Hill Tea!!!) marked down to $1.00 in reduced dairy (on its last day, but it’s tea, I’m not worried if it goes past by a few days) – I used (1) 75¢ off Swiss tea (from an insert, this coupon does not double, starts with 9) so I paid 25¢. UPDATE: I just went to my refrigerator and I see that I bought Turkey Hill Sweet Tea, not Swiss Tea! I think I saw Sweet Tea and was thinking Swiss! However, the coupon still scanned with no beeping. I wonder why??? I feel like an idiot! Half Gallon Tea: 25¢
Yoplait Yogurt marked down to 35¢ each in reduced dairy (best by Oct 1, if I don’t eat them in time I freeze in ziplock bags and use for smoothies) – I used (2) $1/3 Yoplait Yogurt coupons (no longer available, you should have printed them when I said to!) so I paid 5¢ for 3 yogurts (last week they were 30¢ and would have been free… oh well, I’ll live). Oh, I left 6 more there in case YOU want them! 6 Yogurts: 10¢
Potatoes marked down to 29¢ per pound in reduced produce (they are as fresh as ever) – no coupon for those. 7.75 lbs potatoes: $2.44
Powerade on sale for $1 each – I used 75¢/2 Powerade coupons which doubled (the coupons are right there with the powerade!) so I paid 50¢ for two. 4 Powerades: $1.00
Pasta regular price $1.29 – I used (1) $1/1 Essential coupon from the Fresh for Fall coupon book at Shaw’s. 1 box of Pasta: 29¢
So, there you have it folks! If you clip coupons and search for the deals, you can save lots of money on real food! And this is not something I do once in a blue moon… I shop like this all the time! One day I might pick up cheap meat. Another day I might get reduced bread. Then there are the days that I shop for my stockpile and buy more dog bones than any dog needs.
Anyone can save money with coupons… if you learn do it right! Subscribe to my blog and I’ll teach you how!
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Posted by Darlene on September 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
One thing I hate to run out of is dog bones (my dogs hate it too!). So, when I came across this Milk Bone deal (see below), I just had to buy all the boxes I had coupons for!
The other very exciting thing for me was the Willow Tree chicken salad. I printed coupons for Willow Tree for the first three months of my couponing career, but I never found a sale to go along with the coupons so I finally stopped printing them (that chicken salad is $3.99 for half a pound, and the coupons are $2 off, but $1.99 for half a pound is still too much!).
A few nights ago I saw Willow Tree in the reduced deli section with stickies for $2 off, but I didn’t have any coupons to go with it. I printed off two coupons when I got home with the hopes of finding that deal again. And tonight, I did! With my $2 off on top of the $2 off stickies, I got two tubs (one pound total) for FREE! I love FREE!
I’m too beat to give the step by step breakdown for Shaw’s (I did CVS tonight too, you can see that breakdown here), but I will point out highlights.
One shining moment was the Milk Bone dog biscuits. About 2 weeks ago, someone at Walmart was handing out pet food coupons. She saw my shoebox of coupons and said she would be tossing all the coupons that she had left so she offered to give them ALL to me! Of course, I took them. I got a bunch of coupons that gave me $2 off 2 boxes of Milk Bones and a bunch of $1.50 off kitten food. I only bought 5 bags of the cat food to bring my total over $25 and I’ll wait for a sale to hopefully get more for free… too bad I don’t have a cat!
Anyhoo… I was THRILLED to see the Milk Bones on sale B1G1 free! The price was $3.89, so after my $2 off 2, I got the boxes for 95¢ each! And that’s not the end of it… some of the boxes of had coupons for a FREE bag of Soft & Chewy bones when you buy 2 boxes of any Milk Bone product. Those bags of soft bones were $3.29 each, but I got 12 bags for FREE because I bought 24 boxes of Milk Bones! Did I mention I love FREE?
I also got a great deal on meat. Each pack of chicken had $3 off stickies and the pork had $2 off so I saved $8 on the meat. I got all that meat for only $6.95 (and don’t forget about that free chicken salad!).
In all, I got:
24 boxes Milk Bone dog biscuits
12 bags Soft & Chewy dog bones
5 bags Purina kitten food
2 family packs of chicken
1 pack of pork
2 boxes toaster pastries
3 individual packs salad dressing
4 bags potato chips
2 tubs Willow Tree chicken salad
I did this in two transactions. Besides my regular coupons, I also had a $5 off $25 coupon. And, I see that I ended up getting an overage on those free bags of soft bones which went toward the rest of my bill. Those dog bones were on sale, but they deducted the full price so I made 46¢ per bag! That happens sometimes, even at Shaw’s! They say no overages, but if it scans that way, they go with the flow!
Total before sale prices and coupons was $192.19 but I only paid $27.86!
And get this… I really got all this for FREE because I used my FREE Shaw’s gift cards to pay it off!
And now, I’m officially tired. Oh, that Willow Tree chicken salad is awesome! Too bad I’ll never be willing to pay for it :O)
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Posted by Darlene on September 25, 2011 at 10:50 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 CVS tonight to pick up a few things. It should have been a 10 minute shopping trip. Instead, it turned into an hour long ordeal and I had to miss the beginning of the Amazing Race!
I had some Extra Bucks to spend. I had one $10 Extra Buck and four 99¢ Extra Bucks… so, $13.96 total over several CVS cards.
When I walked in, I spotted some Colgate toothpaste with an incredible sale price of only $2 each. This was not advertised (because it was a boo boo, read on), but I knew I had coupons in my inserts at home. I went home, cut the coupons and went back (which made me late for my show!!! also, there was another couponer in front of me with tons of stuff… I waited with a smile and watched the clock tick).
Transaction on one CVS card:
I picked up 5 tubes of toothpaste at $2 each for a total of $10 (get $5 Extra Bucks when you spend $10 on that particular toothpaste). I used (5) $1.00 off coupons so my cost was $5.00.
I also picked up St. Joseph aspirin using a rain check. The rain check price was $2 and I used (1) $1 off coupon (get $1 EB) so my cost was $1.00.
Then I grabbed 2 boxes of Excedrin on sale for 99¢ each (get 99¢ back, limit 2). No coupons so my cost was $1.98.
I also picked up 2 Ajax dish soaps on sale for 88¢ each and used (1) $1/2 coupon so my cost was 76¢.
Last but not least, I got 1 jug of laundry soap on sale for $1.49. No coupons so my cost was $1.49.
That brought me to $10.23 before tax. I paid using my $10 Extra Bucks so my out of pocket total including tax was $1.10 and I got $7.98 Extra Bucks for next time!
NOTE: You can’t copy transaction above because the toothpaste was NOT on sale for $2 each. They rang up at $4.99 each. But since they made a boo boo and had a sale tag under the toothpaste display, and since I made a trip home to get coupons for that toothpaste, they offered to let me have them for $2 each! I didn’t even have to ask, beg, or cry! What a lucky deal I got on that toothpaste, and I sooooo needed sensitive toothpaste in my stockpile :O)
Transactions on 2 other CVS cards:
As for the other 4 boxes of Excedrin, I bought 2 boxes each on two other CVS cards. Those were 99¢ each and I paid using four 99¢ Extra Bucks. I got four 99¢ Extra Bucks in return. I just love it when I can roll Extra Bucks over and get something FREE and get the Extra Bucks back for the next time! Total out of pocket was just 15¢ tax (for some reason, they charged me 10¢ for two boxes but then only 5¢ tax on the other two… tax with coupons can be funny that way).
My total out of pocket for everything in the photo including tax was $1.25 and I have $11.94 in Extra Bucks for the next time!!!
If you think this is complicated… IT IS!!! Learning the drugstore ropes takes time, but it’s so worth it in the end. Each week I get anywhere from $20 to $40 worth of stuff at CVS and I usually only pay a couple bucks out of pocket. I pay using Extra Bucks and only try to buy stuff that will give me Extra Bucks in return. It’s fun!!!
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Posted by Darlene on September 18, 2011 at 11:12 am I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I just love, love, LOVE getting FREE stuff! And thanks to a gift card promotion that Shaw’s had last week, I will be able to get FREE food… lots of it!
Shaw’s just had a deal where if you bought $100 in gift cards, you got a $10 Shaw’s gift card for FREE! A $10 Shaw’s gift card goes a loooooong way with me. I can buy SO MUCH STUFF for $10 by matching coupons to sales. I wanted some of those FREE Shaw’s gift cards. I did. I really, really did.
I decided that since I easily save $600 a month on groceries and household items, I’d spend $600 of my savings on Gulf gas cards. I’m going to buy gas anyway, right? By doing that, I got $60 worth of Shaw’s gift cards that I can use toward my groceries! That FREE money will go a long way for me because I will still shop for bargains and use coupons. Just because I got free money does not mean I will pay full price for anything!
Now I have enough gas for probably a year, that’s if I do only my usual traveling. And I know I can stretch that $60 worth of FREE food (along with the $20 Shaw’s gave me just for being me) to last me two months, maybe even three months. That means no more out of pocket spending for me for awhile, not at Shaw’s and certainly not on gas!
Once you start extreme couponing, you will quickly realize just how far $10 can go. It’s amazing!!! Some people might think it’s crazy to dish out $600 on gas just to get $60 in return. But remember, that $60 is FREE MONEY! And when you shop like I do, you can build a nice stockpile for sixty bucks! And when you save like I do, you will have $600 to spend on gas cards! It’s a win, win!
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Posted by Darlene on September 17, 2011 at 10:34 am I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I had an awesome and uplifting visit to my Sanford Shaw’s on Friday. First, I must tell you that I was on a mission when I walked in the door. I had to talk to Mrs. Purdy about a not-so-good experience I had on Monday night. And when I say not-so-good, I mean I cried in the car when I left and took three days off from couponing. Yes, couponing can be stressful!
I won’t get into all the details about my Monday night madness, but let’s just say it boils down to how I was treated by a cashier. Mrs. Purdy (I’m so sorry Mrs. P but I don’t know your exact position, store director? Assistant store director?) had asked me to do something to sort of kind of test the cashiers. First time I performed the task, all was find and dandy. The second time, I was humiliated, made to feel like a liar, and found myself to be the topic of gossip only minutes after the incident, while I was standing only a few feet away!
I. Was. Crushed.
Friday, I asked to speak to Mrs. Purdy and both she and Vicki (customer service manager) came down to hear my story (they are by far THE MOST wonderful women any Shaw’s could ever hope to have working for them). They were completely tuned in to my report and they were beyond happy that I came in to talk to them about my experience. They were so grateful that they gave me a $20 gift card just for being me!
After my meeting, I felt renewed and was ready to shop again. I had not planned a shopping trip, but I knew there were a couple things I could pick up. I got my Hormel Compleats for 50¢ each. I also knew that TransOcean Lobster Classic was on sale and I had lovely coupons for that too (got those coupons in the mail), so I picked up 4 packages for a total of $3.76 (that’s 2 pounds of imitation lobster for under four bucks!).
Then I checked out the reduced sections of the store. The reduced dairy and reduced produce are my favorites. I find lots of good deals there! Here’s what I got on Friday:
2 reduced Heluva Good dips marked down to $1.00 each. I had two $.50/1 coupons that doubled and got both dips for FREE!
1 bag Fresh Express lettuce marked down to $1.00 (“best by” date still 3 days away). I had one coupon for $1/1 Fresh Express so I got it for FREE!
3 boxes of Wholly Guacamole marked down to $1.00 each. OMG, I could not believe that treasure find!!! I had three coupons for $1/1 Wholly product so I got all 3 boxes for FREE! (I had one coupon left… how I wish there would have been four boxes!).
So that was my Friday. I got FREE food, a FREE $20 gift card, and I was FREE to be me! Thank you Mrs. P and Vicki! You both ROCK!
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Posted by Darlene on September 9, 2011 at 8:55 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
UPDATE! Thanks for all the guesses! To end the mystery, I only spent $1.36 for all this… that includes the diapers! I had a CVS coupon for a free bag of diapers so I only paid 40¢ tax on those. For everything else, I did transactions that were just a couple pennies over $1 or $2 and used either one or two Hannaford coupons to pay only just a few cents per transaction (you can use a $1 off Hannaford with a $1 off My Essentials for two items). Anything that comes to exactly $1 (like two cans of veggies) is free!
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I had to go to Portland Thursday for an appointment and I turned my journey into a Hannaford roadtrip (my second such roadtrip).
I stopped at 5 different Hannaford stores and did multiple teeny tiny transactions at each one. I used their $1 off coupons for every transaction.
The only thing I did not buy at Hannaford were the diapers. But, when you guess how much I spent, you need to also include the diapers in your guess.
Here’s a list of what I got:
6 small cans of tomato paste
2 rolls of toilet paper
4 big cans of diced tomatoes
4 jars of concord grape preserves
2 dozen eggs
3 cans of green beans
3 cans of corn
4 cans of organic black beans
2 small boxes of spaghetti
4 boxes elbow macaroni
6 boxes mac & cheese
4 big cans of dog food
2 small cans of dog food
2 shakers of parmesan cheese
2 packets Kool-Aid
1 pack of Huggies from CVS
How much do you think I spent? Please post your guess on the facebook thread!
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Posted by Darlene on September 4, 2011 at 11:23 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 Shaw’s today to pick up some cereal during their Kellogg’s sale. While I was there, I checked out the reduced dairy section. How excited I was to find half gallons of Garelick Farms milk marked down to $1 each!
I knew I had $.50/1 coupons for that milk, and since I always carry ALL my coupons when I shop, I was able to pick up 2 half gallons for FREE after my coupons doubled!
I just wish I would have had room in my freezer for more milk (yes, you can freeze milk), but I had to stop at 2 half gallons. Had I not had my coupons with me, I would have missed out on that deal!
Want to know what else I got? I got some good stuff super cheap!!! It includes:
9 boxes of cereal, and the boxes of cereal had peelies on them for 1 FREE bag of Marshmallows if I buy 2 cereals, so I also got…
4 free bags of Kraft Marshmallows (it was a good day for my mother because two of her favorite things are marshmallows and Milky Way bars that I got FREE at CVS)
2 free half gallons of milk (I’m still tickled about that!)
2 boxes of pasta
4 bags of Goldfish crackers
and some other stuff.
My cereal was almost FREE because I had store coupons that doubled and stacked those with manufacturer coupons!
I ended up with $63.42 worth of groceries for only… ta da… $2.06!
I’ve only been doing this for 4 months. If I can do this, YOU can do this too!!! Just start small. Stick around and I’ll teach you :O)
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Posted by Darlene on September 4, 2011 at 10:19 pm I use affiliate links in some of my posts. I may earn a commission if you use my links. Full disclosure.
I went to CVS today with the hopes of picking up some freebies. I had it all planned out, but I worried that they’d be out of stock. To my surprise, they had everything on my list!
I got all this stuff for FREE! I only paid the tax. Here’s how I did it… first, I need to mention that I have 4 CVS cards (me, hubby, mommy, sis).
I did 4 identical transactions. Here is how each transaction worked.
1 Milky Way – used the coupon for a free Milky Way or Dove Bar that spit out of the magic coupon machine (that was an unexpected treat!) and got it for FREE
1 Hershey Bar – on sale for 99¢, I paid 99¢ (got back 99¢ Extra Care Bucks for future use)
2 Orbit Gum – BOGO sale, $1.49 for 1, got 1 free and used (2) $1/1 orbit coupons that I got from the magic coupon machine last week (if you tossed those coupons, shame on you!), I got the gum for FREE and got 51¢ overage toward my other purchases
2 Suave Deodorant – on sale for 99¢ each, I used (1) $1/2 coupon from 8/14 RP insert, I paid 98¢ for two
1 Skintimate Shaving Gel – on sale for $1.99, I used (1) $1/1 CVS Skintimate coupon and stacked it with (1) $1/1 Skintimate manufacturer coupon (no longer available), I got it FREE and got a penny overage toward my other purchases
1 Carefree Panty Liners – on sale for $1, used (1) $.50/1 coupon from the 8/21 SS insert, I paid 50¢ (got back $1 Extra Care Bucks for future use)
My total came to $1.95. I used $2 ECB that I earned last week (for buying St. Joseph aspirin) and that made my entire order FREE!!!
I did that same exact transaction 4 times. I paid only 37¢ tax on each transaction.
And the very best thing is that I now have $7.96 ECB ($1.99 per CVS card) to spend the next time! That’s free money!
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