January Budget Wrap Up

Albertsons: (2 shopping trips)

Total Shelf Cost: $148.61

I Paid: $27.44

Savings: 81%

I am SO going to miss Albertsons - the last store closed and I am SO sad *sigh*. That's one of the reasons why I didn't stay under $100 last month - I just couldn't let these deals go by because I will never see ones like them again.

Rite Aid (2 shopping trips):

Total Shelf Cost: $78.90

I Spent: $7.95

Savings: 89%

Smith's and Maceys:

Total Shelf Cost: $52.70

I Spent: $27.74

Savings: 47%

Walgreens (3 shopping trips):

Total Shelf Cost: $100.00

I Spent: $17.09

Savings: 82%

Maceys:

Total Shelf Cost: $16.70

I Spent: $4.20

Savings: 74%

Smith's:

Total Shelf Cost: $92.06

I Spent: $32.57

Savings: 64%

Walmart (2 Shopping Trips):

Total Shelf Cost: $93.85

I spent: $29.33

Savings: 68%

I did do some price matching, which is totally evil, I know, but I had to go there to pick up stuff for a Primary activity and didn't want to make any other trips, so I did it. And I only feel a little bad about it.

Buy Low:

Shelf Cost: $16.35

I Spent: $6.31

Savings: %61

Sunflower Market:

Shelf Cost: $5.14

I Spent: $3.23

Savings: 37%

(FYI - The brown bag is flax seeds)


Target:

Shelf Cost: $41.32

I Spent: $6.44

Savings: 84%

Target, Buy Low, Babies R Us (very random, I know):

Shelf Cost: $29.72

I Spent: $7.94

Savings: 73%

We also had several small trips to Smith's where we picked up bread, milk, and whole milk yogurt. I also placed an order with Alice.com for some Saran Wrap, because we were all out and I knew I wasn't getting to a store in the next few days and didn't want to make a special trip.

All told, in the month of January we:

Spent $197.22 on all groceries (food, household items, diapers, toiletries, medicine etc)

Total Value of Purchases (Shelf Cost): $714.66

Saved with coupons: $284.86 (don't doubt that coupons are worth the work!)

Saved with Sales: $233.08

Savings: 72%

At the beginning of the year, one of my favorite blogs had an excel spreadsheet to download that tracks all of these numbers - you just enter a few numbers in off your receipt and it totals everything up - I love it. I not only love seeing how much I save, but it's so much fun that it keeps me on top of my receipts so that I don't lose track of how much I've spent. I used to just keep a mental tally of how much I had left to spend, but I know there were things I forgot and that adds up. So, I'm loving this new spreadsheet because it's yet another way to save money.

Albertson's Doubles and Rite Aid deals

It has been forever since I've posted pictures of my grocery deals. It's not that I haven't been shopping, or that I haven't been getting deals, or even that I haven't taken pictures - I've done all these things, I just haven't posted them. But, I was so jazzed about the Albertson's double coupons in this Sunday's paper and the deals that I got with them, that I just had to share:

(4 cans corn, 4 cans green beans, 5lbs oranges, 2 lbs cheese, 2 packages of sausage, 1 package of salami, 1 tub of butter)

I paid: $7.20

Original cost: $61.41

Savings: $54.21

Keep in mind that Albertson's prices are inflated, but no matter where you're from, $7 for all that is a steal! Now if you're looking at this, and wondering if we're all going to have heart attacks in the next week (with the butter, sausage, cheese, salami), don't worry. Most of this stuff will be consumed over the next couple of months. I don't shop like most people - most people go to the store and buy what they need for that week (or so). I mostly buy things that are on sale at rock bottom prices and stock up on those things. That way I have enough to last until the next time they go on sale. Then I essentially shop and meal plan from my food storage and I rarely have to pay full price for anything. It really is a beautiful system.


I also went to Rite Aid this morning too:

(24 double rolls of toilet paper, 1 pack of Huggies, 1 box Triaminic, 1 bottle of Tylenol, 1 pack of gum, 1 bottle of water, 1 reusable shopping bag and 1 pack of gum)

I paid: $12.42

Original cost: $50.22

I saved: $37.88

It's kind of weird walking away from Rite Aid actually having to pay for things - usually everything I get is free. But, it's hard to get toilet paper and diapers for free. So, I just had to settle for a really great deal. We now have about a 9month supply of Toilet paper. I really need to just stop buying it - but it's hard to pass up such good deals on great quality TP (it ended up being $.16 / roll, which is right about my target price). I had free coupons for the gum, water bottle, and bag - I received them in the mail from Rite Aid. And what's great is that this is my 5th pack of Huggies from Rite Aid this quarter, so I now qualify for a voucher for a free pack! I love buying diapers at Rite Aid. Most weeks they have several free after rebate items (sometimes even money makers) and when I buy a pack of diapers too, I can usually get my total up to $25 to use my $5 / $25 coupon. Since everything else I'm getting is free, the $5 is essentially goes toward the diapers, which makes them a great deal. And then when you buy 5, you get the 6th free. So, I end up spending about $15 for 6 packs of Huggies, which is pretty darn awesome!

Wonderful Walgreens

This week is amazing at Walgreens - there are so many free after RR and moneymaker deals. Here's what I got:

(1 chap stick, 1 toothbrush, 1 bag of cough drops, 1 bottle mousse, 1 razor, 1 bottle of lotion, 1 pack of floss picks, 2 cans almonds, 1 box Robitussin to go, 2 bottles of Emergen-C)

I spent $16.69
I received $17 in Register Rewards
Bottom line: $.31 in profit
Regular Retail: $45.05

I came out ahead $.31 "buying" all of the stuff above. Our Walgreens is a little lame in that they limit you to 2 transactions, so I had to spend a lot out of pocket since I couldn't do lots of transactions and just roll my RR from one to the next. So, now I have a ton of RR to use in the next couple of weeks. Thankfully, it looks like there will be quite a few freebies and cheapies coming up, so hopefully I'll be able to keep them rolling. Our Walgreens actually limits you to 1 of each of the RR offers. Which I like, it ensures that more people get a chance to get in on the deals. It's all about sharin' the freebie love.

Super Exciting Baby Einstein DVD Deals

I found out on Saturday that Babies 'R Us and Toys 'R Us had an amazing sale on Baby Einstein DVDs - $2.50 each! The sale was ending that day and we were super busy, so busy we didn't even have time to watch the BYU Football game, but I managed to squeeze a trip to the stores. I got 12 Baby Einstein DVDs for $31.98! And we're selling 4 of them on half.com for a profit that's going to cover the cost of the 8 that we're keeping. I was so giddy - I've wanted to buy these ever since Hunter was a baby, but we just didn't have the money. Patience really does pay off when it comes to frugality.

Weekly Monday Morning Shopping Trip...

Walgreens:

(4 bottles All Small & Mighty 32 load laundry detergent, 2 10ct packages of Airborne, 2 toothbrushes, 2 Febreeze candles, 1 Thermacare wrap)

I spent: $ 13.08 (That's how much 2 bottles of the laundry detergent would've cost)

Regular Retail: $ 65.36

I had heard about a lot of great clearance finds at Walgreens, but wasn't expecting to actually find them at my store. I was so excited about the laundry detergent - they would've been a better deal if I had any All coupons, but I've used them all. Darn it! $1.79 is still a great price for this detergent. The priciest thing, by far, was the Airborne - it was a good deal, but still a good bit of money.


Walmart:

(4 Healthy Choice Meals, 8 bags of veggies, 2 bottles applesauce, 2 1/2 gal Lactaid milk, 3 cans coconut milk, 4 cans cream of chicken soup, 2 boxes Jell-o, 2 bottles SeasonAll, 4 packets taco seasoning, 6 bananas, 3 pears)

I spent $ 21.81

Regular Walmart Retail (which is already low): $ 43.51

I usually only go to Walmart to use coupons that will lead to free or almost free products or to use coupons that are about to expire on products I really want or need. So that's what this trip was, plus a few well priced produce items. I should've bought fewer veggies - you should've seen me trying to get them into my freezer - it was pretty comical. The Simpson's episode where Homer uses his Tetris skills to pack the car for a family trip came to my mind while I was packing, re-arranging, and shoving everything into our freezer. I sure wish we had an extra freezer - some day :o).


Rite Aid:

(2 packages of Pull-Ups, 1 package of Diapers, 1 Clean & Clear face cleanser, 1 bottle Proantinox)

I spent $ 25.15
I will receive $17 in Single Check Rebates from Rite Aid
Total, after Rebates: $8.15!!!!!

Regular Retail: $52.95

A couple of weeks ago our Rite Aid changed their hours from being open 24 hours to 8am - 12 midnight. It has made it very difficult to get there on Mondays - the only time that I have the car is before Fred goes to work (which is usually before 8). I was a little distraught this morning knowing that with the amazing diaper deal going on this week, I would probably find a lot of empty shelves by the time I finally made it to the store. And they were pretty much cleaned out of Huggies diapers (no size 3 or 4), but I was still able to get some :o)

In case your wondering the Proantinox is an ultra concentrated Cranberry drink, specifically designed to help treat UTI's. I don't really need it, but I made $3 buying it, so I figured why not. Oh, and I didn't buy Newborn size diapers because I'm pregnant, I got them because they were out of pretty much everything else and I figured that they'd make a good baby shower present some day.

Makin' Money at Walgreens and Rite Aid

My Monday started off the same as any other Monday - a 6am trip to Walgreens. And it was a pretty good trip too. Here's what I got:

(2 Schick razors, 2 packs Trident gum, 1 bottle Ibuprofen, 1 bag Nut Clusters)

I paid $3.81, plus I got back $3 RR for the Nuts Clusters and $1 RR for the gum. So, I came out a head a little :0) Originally, this woud've cost $28.56. I would have had quite a profit if I did the Triaminic deal - I could've made $7 buying 2 bottles of Triaminic. But I decided to pass on it for 2 reasons. First, Hunter's only 3 - Triaminic and all other cold medications are not advised for kiddos under 4. Second, the kind of Traiminic that was a money maker was a night time cough suppressant. And I really don't believe in cough suppressants - your body needs to cough to clear out the congestion (I usually only buy decongestants / expectorants). So, I decided to pass on the deal and allow others to make an easy $7. Alright, I'm off my soap box now. I kinda regret it, because I could've just donated the medicine to the food bank, but cest la vie, I'm still happy with my deals. And that's probably way more information than you really care to know...

Once Rite Aid opened, I went there, really excited about their weekly deals. My excitement fizzled when I got to the register and the cashier and manager told me that it was Rite Aid's policy to not allow BOGO coupons paired with a BOGO sale, so no free makeup for me :o( I needed to use some of my free product coupons so that I could get by before coupon total up to $25 so that I could use my $5 off $25 coupon. So, I ran and grabbed the chap stick, diapers, and canker melts (all of which I had free coupons for). I got all the stuff below for $5.43, which I paid with a gift card. Plus, I will receive $5 back in SCR for the Johnson & Johnson products and $1 in SCR for the Suave lotion. So, I came out ahead with a $.57 profit!

But, it gets even better. Rite Aid has a promotion (Fall Gift of Savings) going on right now, where you get Rite Aid gift certificates back when you spend certain amount of money. My pre coupon total was $30.43, which means that I already qualify to get $5 back. And there are still several more weeks left in the promotion. I have a feeling that I am going to make quite a bit of money shopping at Rite Aid this month! :o)

Once I got back home I realized that I had left my BOGO Cover Girl coupon at the register. So, I called the store to see if they had set it aside. They had and they informed me that they had talked to Rite Aid corporate and several other Rite Aid stores and discovered that Rite Aid had changed their policy and now allow BOGO coupons to be paired with BOGO sales! So, they told me to hurry on in and get my free makeup. Now that is coupon friendly customer service! So, Hunter and I ran back to the store and got this:

I paid $.84 for the CG foundation, CG mineral make up, and Reese's - basically, all I paid was tax! So sweet! It would've cost $24.37. Add that to my $30.43 above and now I've accumulated $44.81 in eligible purchases for the Fall Gift of Savings promotion . Once I reach $50, I get $10 back - which I will definitely do by the end of the promotion.

Hunter wanted the candy bar and I was weak and gave in. It's the first time I've done that and now I worry about the precedent I set. Now, he's going to be begging for candy every time we're in line. *sigh*

At the end of the morning I ended up getting paid to buy all of the items pictured above. I brought home $83.36 worth of products, spent $10.08 out of pocket, received $4 in RR and will receive $11 in rebates from Rite Aid (so far...). Which means that when all is said and done, I will have made a $4.92 profit!

That is why drug stores and coupons are so wonderful! I absolutely love shopping at drug stores. They make things ridiculously complicated, but once you figure out the puzzle you come away with some killer deals and the thrill of having conquered something challenging. It's a fun game :o)

I ♥ Case Lot Sales!

This week is the week of case lot sales - Smith's, Albertson's, Reams, Buy Low, and Harmon's are all having case lot sales. I went to Smith's because I love my Smith's, it's close and they've got good prices.

Although, at Smith's you have to buy whole cases to get the case lot price, Macey's usually allows you to get individual items at the case price. So, I only picked up whole cases today and am hoping that when Macey's has their case lot sale next week they'll have things priced individually, where I'll pick up other things that I want to stock up on, but just not a case at a time (mandarin oranges, cream soups, tomato paste and sauce, honey, oatmeal, peanut butter, vegetable oil, and maybe a few other things)

Here's what I got:

(24 boxes corn bread mix, 24 cans black beans, 24 can corn, 12 cans Chicken, 8 4 packs pudding, bananas, tomatoes and milk)

I spent $55.66, originally it would've cost $109.82. They're not amazing prices, especially when I've been able to get so much for almost free lately. But, with Albertson's changing hands, we've not had very good sales lately from them and I doubt we'll see double coupons ever again. So, I'm happy with the deal I got. Fred's especially stoked about the corn bread - it's not a great price, but he loves the stuff and now we have lots on hand so we can have corn bread when ever his little heart desires. I'm excited about the sugar free chocolate pudding. I'm trying (slowly, but surely) to loose weight and sugar free chocolate pudding is a life saver when I get a craving for chocolate (which is pretty much daily).

While I did have to buy things by the case to get the sale price, they still took my coupons for the corn and pudding - they had to manually override them, but they were happy to do so. And that made me very happy, because the coupons saved me an additional $7 on top of the case lot prices - yay!

We bought the same amount of beans and corn last year and I actually ran out of my last can of black beans and corn last week - I bought them 1 year ago exactly. That worked out pretty well :o) However, I did buy way too many crushed and diced tomatoes last year, I probably wont' get any of those this year. Stocking up like this is very important if you are trying to cut your grocery budget. If you stock up when items are at their lowest, then you'll never have to pay full price ever - and that's a good thing.

Monday Morning Madness

On Monday I hit up Walgreens, Albertson's and Target, all before 9am! I was actually so excited about the Target deals that I had a hard time sleeping Sunday night (what a dork!).

Here's my Walgreens trip:

(2 Reese's candy bars, 1 Glade scented oil candle holder, 1 candle refill pack, 2 glade candles, 1 water bottle that had travel size tissue and lotion in it)

I spent $4.71 out of pocket, but received $3 in Register Rewards that I can use later. Originally this would've cost $21.64. I probably wouldn't have run out to get this stuff, except I had Register Rewards that were expiring and so I needed to roll them. Now, I have $3 that I hopefully can roll on more useful items. While Fred loved the Reese's and I'll love the candles, we don't need them, and I'd rather be getting stuff we need for almost free.


I then headed over to Albertson's where I picked up:

(2 6 packs Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt, 8 bottles DanActive yogurt shots, 4 Activia, 2 6oz Dannon Light & Fit, 6 boxes frozen veggies, baby lotion, saline solution, and hydrocortizone cream)

I spent $11.77, originally $48.75! I wanted to get more veggies but there is NO room in my freezer. I had a hard time just getting these 6 boxes in. And our fridge is pretty full of yogurt too - we got quite a bit the last 2 weeks with Smith's Mega Sale and now this Dannon promo (which was save $2 instantly on $10 of Dannon products, plus I used coupons). Good thing we eat a lot of yogurt. I used a $5 catalina from earlier in the week to help pay for this shopping trip. Also, all Albertson's brand items are 50% off right now (as part of the AFS transition), so the lotion, saline and hydrocortizone cream were really cheap!

And last, but definitely not least, Target! I was SO excited about this sale - I dreamt about it all night. Here's what I got:

(8 boxes Fiber One Caramel Delight cereal - yum!, 2 boxes Fiber One Granola Bars, 4 string cheese, 4 5pk Ponds cleansing cloths)

My total for all this was $11.54, plus I got $10 in Target Gift Cards, so it was almost a wash! Originally this would've cost $52.02. Our family LOVES this cereal - I was so excited that I was able to get it for free! Wahoo :o) I combined manufacturer coupons, target coupons, and a target gift card promo - now that's what I call a perfect storm. And, bonus! 4 of the boxes have BOGO coupons for Fiber One yogurt - and when I use a $1 coupon (which I have a lot of) on the one I'm buying, I should be able to get 8 containers of Fiber One yogurt for about $1! Sweet! But, I've gotta wait until we get through all that Dannon yogurt first :0) I wish I was able to get more of this cereal, because even though I got 8 boxes, it will probably be gone in a month! And even though I bought 8 of one kind, there were tons on the shelf, so hopefully I left enough for others - it was really hard to restrain myself. The cheese was free using target coupons and the Ponds was free using a manufacturer coupon that didn't exclude trial sizes. Once again, my Target is awesome and I had no problem using all the coupons (24 of them!)

Overall it was a very successful morning of shopping - I spent $28.02 on $122.41 worth of merchandise and I still have $10 Target gift card and $3 in Register Rewards. What a great way to start a day :o)

Lots of Veggies from Albertson's

Fall is in the air, which means sales on veggies and soup - way excited about the veggies, not so excited about the soup. I like to have canned soup in my food storage because it is a good staple to have on hand in case of emergency, but I really don't like canned soup (everything's mushy and salty and homogeneous in flavor). So, we usually stock up during the fall sales, hold onto it, and when it's about to expire we donate it to the Food Bank. We just don't really eat it, but we would if we had to.

Albertson's has a pretty good sale going on right now. I was able to get all the stuff below for $14.80, plus I received a $5 catalina that I can use like cash anytime in the next 2 weeks. Originally this would've cost $52.93 (with Albertson's inflated prices). Pretty good deal.

(10 boxes of vegetables, 2 cans of biscuits, 1 tub of frosting, 6 cans light Progresso Soup)

The challenge was fitting all the veggies in my freezer! I want to get more, but need to make room for them first. We pulled out all the bread ends I had been saving and fed the ducks, so that helped. Hopefully we'll go through a bunch of food with the football game this weekend. Fred absolutely loves biscuits and since baking is not really my cup of tea, I'm glad he can have some (plus, they were free!). And now that the weather is cooling down, I might actually turn on my oven and "make" them for him. I'll probably also come up with some tailgate recipes to use them because I got a bunch at Smith's Mega Event Sale the last 2 weeks as well (those were free too!)

Target and Walmart in one Night - Totally Different Experiences

I was completely exhausted Monday night, but HAD to get to Target - the deals were just SO good! Can I just say how much I love my Target - I've been reading all over the blogosphere about people having problems with grouchy cashiers and managers, and yet I have never had a problem. And tonight my cashier was SO super friendly - she was so happy for me and the deals I scored. She congratulated me and told me I was a good shopper! Now that is the kind of customer service that keeps customers coming in the doors. I plan on e-mailing Target corporate to let them know how wonderful she was - seriously she was a doll! With Albertson's out of the Double Coupon game, Target may be my new favorite place to shop! I seriously love all of their web coupons - there are some great deals every week. I just wish our Target wasn't so far away...

Anyways, here's what I got:

(4 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of granola bars, 1 1/2 lbs of Boneless Skinless Buffalo chicken breasts (yum!), 2 cartridges black ink, 28 1 quart hefty bags, and 4 cheese sticks)

I spent $24.20, originally this would've cost $62.43! The biggest expense was, of course, the ink - it was originally $30 itself. But I used $20 in gift cards ($10 for the Quaker deal last week and $10 from the Special K deal this week) to pay for most of it - I only had to pay $10.49 for 2 cartridges of ink. AND I still have $10 in gift cards that I earned for buying the ink, which I will roll into next week's deals.

I wanted to snag several more things (bananas, baby bottles, buddies soap, Honey Nut Cheerios cups), but they were cleaned out! Bummer - I was expecting it though and was still very happy with the deals that I got.


I also went to Walmart earlier in the evening, where I picked up my free Glade candles, free after MIR Palmolive dish soap, almost free Tabasco sauce and Chinet plates as well as a few other odds and ends. **WARNING: There is a little bit of venting ahead!** When it came time to pay, my total seemed a little high, but there was already a huge line, so I decided to just pay and look over my receipt out of line. Sure enough, my cashier missed one of my $3 Glade coupons. I went to customer service and explained the situation. The girl I talked to was very nice and called another employee over and asked her to check the cash drawer for the 4th coupon. This other employee treated me like I was a criminal - she was questioning what all of the other coupons were for on the receipt and comparing bar codes to make sure I wasn't lying. I told her that I wasn't trying to rip them off and that I just wanted them to check the drawer. If there were only 3 coupons in the drawer, then I must've forgotten the coupon. But, if there were 4 coupons in the drawer, then clearly one of them was missed and I would like the money for it (being that I had already paid out of pocket). I don't know why she was so quick to assume that I was being dishonest - it was very rude! She came back from checking the drawer and sure enough there were 4 Glade coupons in there. The first girl gladly gave me my money back and I was on my way. What a different experience that was from Target! I can't say that I love shopping at Walmart - I'm happy with the deals I get sometimes, but it's kind of an unfortunate, necessary evil.

Rite Aid and Target Deals

I took Hunter with me on my Monday morning shopping spree today. He did very well, except for one little incident at Target where he was trying to play with the credit card machine and almost fell out of the cart - yikes!

At Rite Aid I got:

(2 bottles of Lysol Wipes, 4 Pilot Pens (Fred's favorite), 4 composition notebooks, 8 D batteries, 4 AA batteries, 1 toothpaste and 1 bottle of Tylenol)

I spent $17.50 out of pocket, but will receive a $5 rebate for the batteries, $2 rebate for the pens, $2 rebate for the Tylenol, and a $2.49 rebate for the toothpaste. So, after rebates, I will have spent $6.01 (that's how much the 4 pack of AA batteries would've cost)! Original Price: $52.28 (yikes!)


At Target I got:

(2 mini loaves whole grain bread, 2 bottles shaving cream (more art for Hunter!), 2 bottles baby wash, 2 bags of skittles, 2+ lbs of bananas, 1 mini watermelon, 2 travel size Hungry Hungry Hippos, 2 cups Honey Nut Cheerios cereal, 2 travel size toothpaste, 1 Bounce Dryer bar (so excited to use this!), and 2 baby bottles)

I spent $8.22 on all of this, originally it would've cost $39.84. Target has been really hot lately with all their web coupons. I love the baby ones they came out with this week and am looking forward to using a couple of them again next week (once the shelves are re-stocked!). Speaking of shelves, I turned onto the cereal aisle to find a woman clearing the shelf of the individual Honey Nut Cheerios cups. I walked up, grabbed my 2 that I was planning on buying and watched her continue to fill her cart and empty the shelf of every single one. She did not leave any for anyone else, and this was at 8:15 in the morning. And the web coupons are good until 9/12 - there is plenty of time to stock up and still allow others to get some too. There are going to be a lot of sad shoppers today who are trying to get a few free cups of cereal only to find an empty shelf. SO Rude! I just don't get it. Anyways...

I also hit up Walgreens, not because there was anything there that I really wanted to get, but I had some Register Rewards that were expiring and I needed to use them, so I got some printer ink - I've been printing too many coupons! :o) Walgreens' sale this week was pretty disappointing so I just picked up my ink, talked with my favorite cashier, grabbed my free photos and left.

All in all, a great morning of shopping :o)

Target Freebies and Cheapies

Target has some great web coupons out right now, so I decided to make the trek up to our nearest Super Target (10 minutes away). I know, I'm super spoiled because this is farthest I ever have to drive to shop. I don't make it to Target every week, but because of the great web coupons and needing to get some toys for Grant's first birthday I headed out today.

Here's what I got (minus the toys for Grant)

2 cartons soy milk, 2 bottles french vanilla coffee creamer, 2 bags skittles, 3 ears corn, 2 small loaves of whole grain bread, 3 apples, 5 bananas, 3 pouches tuna, 2 cups honey nut cheerios, 2 travel size shampoo and conditioner, and 1 first aid kit

I spent $9.55. Originally it would've cost $23.82. The corn wasn't a great deal ($.33 each), but Hunter really wanted it and how can you say no to a child when he's begging for vegetables. I'm lactose intolerant and drink soy milk all the time - with the $.50 target coupon it's the cheapest way to buy it. I will be super sad when the coupons expire this weekend. I love when Target releases coupons for produce and bread - it's great to get deals on healthy food that we need. The coffee creamer I bought on a whim because it was only $.15 each after coupons - it will make yummy smoothies and french toast :o) I wanted to pick up more travel size items for free, but they were cleared out of several of the items I wanted. Oh well, there's always next week.

More great Albies Deals

You all may be very sick of all my grocery deals posts. But, I'm gonna keep hitting you over the head with them because I want to make coupon converts out of you. Okay?!

Albertson's is in the process of changing over to AFS and has a lot of products marked down so that they can clear the shelves for the new brands. I didn't take a lot of time to browse through the store today because I had the kiddos and Hunter was already hard enough to keep track of (he was running up and down the aisles "Super Fast just like Dash"). But, I did get some great deals on baby products. As far as I could tell, all of the Baby Basics brand (Albertson's baby brand) items were all 50% off! Lots of Pampers and Huggies items were marked down t0o (27% - random!), which I thought was odd because, surely, AFS carries those products (I guess we'll see). I picked up a few baby things - I wanted to get more, but I didn't want to clear the shelves. I got some baby food even though I've been making my own, because they were clearanced and I had a coupon, so I figured the minimal extra cost was worth the convenience. If you need diapers, wipes etc I suggest heading to Albertson's ASAP to get in on these deals before they're gone.

I also snagged 4 boxes of Post cereals, for which a Catalina started today. I was at the store by 10am and already most of the Post Selects were gone! I sure hope they were gone because lots of people had already come in and not because a couple people came and hoarded a bunch.

Anyways, here's a picture of what I got:

I paid $9.17 (that's basically how much the diapers would've cost). Originally this would have cost $43.13. I did 2 transactions and used my $5 Kraft Catalina and my $3 Post Catalina to pay for most of the second transaction.

I am really well stocked on diapers now - I need to stop buying them. But, I just keep getting such great deals that it's hard to pass up. It's hard for me to pass up any good deal - I'm pretty much addicted :o)

Kraft Freebies at Albies

This week is another amazing week for Grocery deals. Smith's has a great sale on Kelloggs items, which combined with coupons and the Fuel for School rebate, means that you can actually make money shopping there. We already did the rebate, so I just picked up 2 boxes of cereal and 2 boxes of fruit snacks for $.50 each.

Albertson's also has a great deal running this week which allows you to make money. When you buy $25 of Kraft products you get a $5 Catalina and a $20 MIR form - so everything is essentially free. It turns into a money maker when you use coupons because you still get the full $20 rebate. And they have a great Post cereal sale going on that let me get 4 free boxes of cereal! Well enough blabbing, here's a picture of what I got at Albertson's today:

2 pizzas, 1 flat bread sandwich, 2 boxes breaded fish fillets, 4 boxes of cereal, 12 puddings, 2 boxes of crackers, 24 bottles of water

I paid $22.30 out of pocket. But, I received a $5 Catalina and will get $20 back from the rebate. So, I ended up making $2.70 profit! Original price of all this was $77.04. I didn't even use any of my $5 Catalinas from last week's sale to pay for it. Sound too good to be true? Here's the proof:

How fun is that?!

Marathon Shopping Day

I am on complete shopping overload this week. Smith's is doubling coupons (unlimited!), Albertson's has multiple sets of double coupons and a smokin' hot sale, Rite Aid and Walgreens both had tons of free after rebate and RR offers. And I went to all of them yesterday, and Target too! I actually went to Smith's 3 times because I kept reading about new hot double coupon deals. In all I went to the store 7 times yesterday! And I had a great time doing it (well, until my last transaction at Albertson's and the catalina didn't print, then I just wanted to be done!) I brought my SIL along with me to Walgreens and Rite Aid first thing this morning. These 2 stores are not the best place for a newbie couponer to start out, but the deals were so great that I wanted to share the love. She had a great time and is totally hooked.

I was so excited about all this Sunday night that I hardly slept at all. I am such a grocery geek - I get an adrenaline rush just thinking about all the money I'm going to save.

So, how'd I do? I think I did pretty good. I don't get multiple copies of the paper so I wasn't able to get as great of deals as a lot of other people, but I'm happy with my success. I didn't take pictures of it all because I just wanted to get it all home and put away.

In total I spent $83.94 yesterday on $270.77 worth of groceries. I will get $38.74 back in rebates, so accounting for that, I spent $45.20. Plus, I still have $30 in catalinas and $8 in Register Rewards to spend later. Once I use those, I will have spent $45.20 on $308.77 worth of products! That's a savings of $263.57, or 85%! I spent about 3 1/2 hours in the stores (and driving) and about another hour or so planning everything out. So, saving over $263 is a pretty good return on my investment - about $58 / hour.

I did take a few pictures...

Here's what I got at Rite Aid: I spent $16.50, but will get back $31.75 in rebates, so I actually made $15.25 shopping there (Love it!). Rite Aid has really had amazing deals the last few weeks. And the employees at my store are super friendly. They even had all of the free after rebate items on 1 shelf right at the front of the store - so convenient!


At Walgreens I got:
I spent $8.74, but I still have $8 in RR to spend in the next 2 weeks. (btw, the green bottles are shampoo and conditioner)

In one of my trips to Smith's I got:

I spent $4.33 (that's less than the deodorant costs normally!) Smith's was crazy yesterday. I went at 6am and there were already dozens of hard core couponers there. When I went in the evening, it was a mad house. I don't think Smith's had any idea what they were getting themselves into when they announced they were doubling coupons. I saw a lot of empty shelves - they were not prepared for this, especially with the P&G promotion running concurrently. But, I hope they do it again, because, my goodness, it was so much fun seeing that total just plummet as they scanned the coupons.

It's days like today that make all the time I spend clipping, filling and planning worth it. I truly do enjoy it all - it has become a hobby for me. But, even the hard core grocery geeks need to take a break, so I'm not going to the store at all today. I know, not much of a break. But, Wednesday starts a new sale cycle for Smith's and Albertson's and you never know what great deals it's going to bring :o)

My Best Shopping Excursion Ever!

It was another blissfully successful morning of deal shopping. Check it out:

At Rite Aid I got:


And a BIC Triumph Roller Pen (Fred was really excited about it and opened it up before I took a picture), for $15.68. Which isn't really that great of a deal. The real story here is in the rebates. I will be getting back $9.95 for the mascara, $4.00 for the Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner, $2.00 for the BIC pen, $2.00 for the Neutrogena make up. So, after rebates, I ending up making a $2.27 profit! Regular price was $51.24. How sweet is that?! Big thanks to Hip2Save for compiling such a great Rite Aid shopping list.

At Walgreens, I got:

for $4.99. Which again, isn't a great deal, but I will get a $3.99 rebate for the head band. So, that brings my total down to $1.00. Regular price for this was $17.48.

We got Albertson's Double Coupons in the paper yesterday, so I made another run to Albetson's and was totally surprised by the Palmolive dish soap deal I stumbled upon. I was able to get 4 bottles for $.68 total! Here's everything that I got:

for $3.08! Regual price was $30.61.

Between the three stores, in total, I spent $1.81 on $99.33 worth of merchandise - that's 98% savings! I think this may be my best shopping excursion yet!

Albertson's - 87% savings!

Even without doubles this week's Albertson's sale is pretty HOT! Check out what I got today:

16 double rolls of toilet paper (32 regular rolls)

4 rolls paper towels

1 gal Nursery water

12 cups Mott's applesauce

3 boxes Wet Ones hand wipes (72 wipes)

5 packets Ranch Dressing Mix

10 disposable latex gloves

for $6.82! Original Price on all this: $55.72. Oooooh yeah. Love it!

There are a few more things that I will probably go back to get on Monday. I'm still hoping that there will be doubles in this Sunday's paper, even thought the rumors are that there won't be. I'll wait and see. If not, I'll still head in Monday because they have some pretty good deals going on that I'd like to get in on. Plus, I think I'd like more Ranch packets - we go through a lot of those and at $.70 a piece, you can't beat it!

Smith's and Albertson's Shopping Trips

This week's sale at Smith's blows Albertson's sale out of the water! Even taking into account double coupons at Albertson's, I would shop at Smith's over Albertson's this week. Smith's sale is huge - there are so many participating items (a lot aren't even listed in the add) and the sale is on items that aren't complete junk, like a lot of the Albertson's sale items are.

I did make a couple trips to Albertson's today though. They have a great deal going on with Fiber One products. You won't hear a lot of buzz about the deal on any deal blogs, because most of them don't get excited unless cereal is less than $1.00 a box. But, usually the cereal that is that cheap is complete junk, and I don't buy it. So, when our family's favorite cereal was on sale, I just had to jump on it. Here's what I got at Albertson's today:



I paid $15.44, original price: $63 (Do keep in mind that Albertson's regular prices are very inflated). And I feel great about what I bought. Sometimes, I come away from a great deal knowing that I saved a ton but also feeling like I spent my money on second rate items. But, not today. I absolutely love fresh salsa, and it was free after doubled coupons. We love the cereal and granola bars. I use Dijon mustard and pineapple all the time. The only thing that I wasn't over the moon about was the Fiber One toaster pastries, but they were so cheap, that I decided that I could live with it (at least they have a good amount of fiber right?!)


And now for Smith's. I got:


For $19.30, Original Price: $42.16. I only spent around $7 for the 10 items in the promotion: cream cheese, gum, yogurt, salad dressing, water, cheese, and jelly. The package of blueberries is HUGE (but a great deal) and we will be eating blueberries on pretty much everything for the next few days. I had BOGO coupons for the Jones soda, and I am drinking it while blogging and it is heavenly! I will definitely be making a second trip to Smith's this week - there were so many things in the promotion that I didn't know about, I wasn't prepared for them. I'll have to go again sometime when I have more time and can browse and find the best deals.