This week I ended up shopping at my three favorite stores. I mostly bought things that were on sale that Rob insisted that he needed for school, like Ramon Noddles and pears. And there were fruit and veggies that I ended up buying because I needed them. So this post will not have as many good deals as the last one.
The store where I did the most damage was at Tom Thumb. My best deal of the week was on the selected General Mills cereals for $1.99. Now I did not need to buy cereal this week since last week I bought so much, but after all the coupons I could use to reduce the price, I could not resist. So I only bought two boxes of cereal because I had a $1 off of 2 coupon from the Sunday paper that needed to be used. I checked my Cellfire app and the Shortcuts website for any electronic coupons to add on top of that. I found one for 55 cents off of any Honey Nut Cheerios and a 55 cents off of any Lucky Charms cereal. I found those on Cellfire. On Shortcuts I downloaded one for 55 cents off of any Honey Nut Cheerios and a 60 cents off of any Lucky Charms cereal. So in total I had 5 coupons to use on 2 boxes of cereal! I knew I was going to score big on this one. So after all was taken off, I ended up paying $0.39 for the Honey Nut Cheerios and $0.34 for a box of Lucky Charms! My next exciting find was in the meat department. While checking out to see if they had any meat cheap, I noticed that they had their pork shoulder roast on sale for 99 cents a pound! Rob loves pork and at that price, I had to get one. The regular price on this roast was $12.91 and I ended up getting it for $4.75! I guess we are having pork roast on Monday. I bought other items at Tom Thumb, but those two were my greatest finds.
At Albertsons, I only spent $6. They had a coupon in their flier to make Cambell Tomato Soup $0.49 a can with a limit of 6. Not a bad price as is and considering I was almost out, I went ahead and bought six for that price. Now usually when they have Cambell Tomato Soup on sale, I usually had coupons to go with it, but alas not this time. I also had to get Ramon Noddles for Rob. They were 3 for a $1. Not bad for the ones in the cup, but I prefer to buy the other kind because they are much cheaper and multipurposal to cook with. But since Rob is taking these as his lunch for grad school, then I guess where he would need the ones in the cup.
Kroger was my last stop for the day. I had to get pears for Rob because he wanted a snack to tie him over until lunch time and since plums were too messy, he wanted pears. Kroger had pears for $1 a pound which was cheap enough for me to buy him enough to last a week. Kroger also had assorted Danamino yogurts on sale for $1.88 a pack. Since I had 2 $1 off of one for Danaminos, then I got two packs of yogurts for $0.88 each. Nice little treat I can put in the kid's lunchbox. My most exciting find at Kroger, was when I saw that the 12oz bag of Nerds where on sale for $2. I remembered my 50 cents off of one bag coupon I have in my stash, which was doubled to bring my final cost down to $1 for that one bag! Now that I have my coupons in my new organized binder, it only took me 5 seconds to retrieve my coupon! Before I would have to sort through all my coupons by hand until I found it. That usually took me minutes, and most of the time I just did not want to hassle with it. Not anymore, now I was able to splurge and buy that bag of Nerds, which happens to be my favorite candy in the entire world!
So today I didn't totally rocked it like last week, but I think I did fairly well. I spent $63.09 and got $121.19 worth of food. That is a savings of $58.10, which is almost 50%. Now next week I plan on some great deals since it will be a holiday weekend. The last holiday for barbecue, so I plan on drinks, chips, cokes, meat, etc to be on sale everywhere. But until then, I'm going to relax and enjoy my Nerds.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
2 weeks in and still going strong!
It has been over two weeks since I decided to quit Wallymart cold turkey. I will admit that there have been situations where I needed something and Wallymart popped in my head as a place to get those items. But like a good little girl, I quickly remembered what I vowed to do and for the most part have come out better for it.
There were times where I wanted to take the easy way out and just go to Wallymart and just get it over with, but I stood firm and did some research, and ended up getting some items cheaper at another store than what I would of paid for at Wallymart. I do feel it easier to squash these temptations, but I know that with the holiday season just up ahead, I am going to be in for a real challenge.
I was pondering Saturday while I was trying to buy supplies to do my new coupon binder, how I am glad that I have taken Wallymart off the table for stores where I can go to. No more trying to maneuver through their parking lot, no more rude customer service personnel, and no more feelings of frustration and regret after shopping there. In other words, I feel liberated.
Like any bad habit, I do know that it can be easy to slip up. I hope that I can be firm in my vow, but I also know that I am human. I know while I stay within the limits of the Wallymarts closer to my house, that it is relatively easy for me to abstain, but what if I'm out in country with my mom at her Wallymart. I find that the Wallymarts around my parent's neck of the woods tend to employ helpful, nice people. There still is the craziness associated with Wallymart, like finding a parking spot and navigating traffic around the store. But I do find myself more willing to succumb to temptation if I'm out and about at my mom's Wallymart. Let's hope that I don't. Then I will just be a hypocrite.
I feel like if I can survive until January, it will be all down hill from there. I also am more convinced that what I am doing is going to benefit my family more in the long run. I am making it a habit to check out Wallymart's fliers and comparing them with the other stores fliers. I have realized that Wallymart's prices are really not that much competitive as they were in the past. Like today I noticed that Wallymart has Kraft American Cheese slices for $2.50 a package, while Tom Thumb has it for $1.49 using one of their Tom Thumb coupons. I also noticed that their fresh fruit or veggies are not that great of a deal either. For example, plums are on sale practically everywhere for 99 cents a pound, while Wallymart only lowered their price by 1 cent. I just don't think that 1 cent is enough incentive for me to buy their plums. Since I am already going to either Tom Thumb or Kroger this week, then I will just buy the plums for a cent more at either store. Wallymart also has Hunts Ketchup on sale for $1.38. Well too bad that I stocked up on Hunts Ketchup when it was 10 for $10 all summer long at Albertsons while I had 20 cents off of one coupons to use. Since Albertson's tripled all three of my coupons, then I paid 40 cents for each ketchup. That's almost a dollar less than Wallymarts now advertised price.
Okay I have rambled on enough about my progress and finds. It has only been 2 weeks. I still have months to go until I can confidentially say that I have quit Wallymart for good!!!!
There were times where I wanted to take the easy way out and just go to Wallymart and just get it over with, but I stood firm and did some research, and ended up getting some items cheaper at another store than what I would of paid for at Wallymart. I do feel it easier to squash these temptations, but I know that with the holiday season just up ahead, I am going to be in for a real challenge.
I was pondering Saturday while I was trying to buy supplies to do my new coupon binder, how I am glad that I have taken Wallymart off the table for stores where I can go to. No more trying to maneuver through their parking lot, no more rude customer service personnel, and no more feelings of frustration and regret after shopping there. In other words, I feel liberated.
Like any bad habit, I do know that it can be easy to slip up. I hope that I can be firm in my vow, but I also know that I am human. I know while I stay within the limits of the Wallymarts closer to my house, that it is relatively easy for me to abstain, but what if I'm out in country with my mom at her Wallymart. I find that the Wallymarts around my parent's neck of the woods tend to employ helpful, nice people. There still is the craziness associated with Wallymart, like finding a parking spot and navigating traffic around the store. But I do find myself more willing to succumb to temptation if I'm out and about at my mom's Wallymart. Let's hope that I don't. Then I will just be a hypocrite.
I feel like if I can survive until January, it will be all down hill from there. I also am more convinced that what I am doing is going to benefit my family more in the long run. I am making it a habit to check out Wallymart's fliers and comparing them with the other stores fliers. I have realized that Wallymart's prices are really not that much competitive as they were in the past. Like today I noticed that Wallymart has Kraft American Cheese slices for $2.50 a package, while Tom Thumb has it for $1.49 using one of their Tom Thumb coupons. I also noticed that their fresh fruit or veggies are not that great of a deal either. For example, plums are on sale practically everywhere for 99 cents a pound, while Wallymart only lowered their price by 1 cent. I just don't think that 1 cent is enough incentive for me to buy their plums. Since I am already going to either Tom Thumb or Kroger this week, then I will just buy the plums for a cent more at either store. Wallymart also has Hunts Ketchup on sale for $1.38. Well too bad that I stocked up on Hunts Ketchup when it was 10 for $10 all summer long at Albertsons while I had 20 cents off of one coupons to use. Since Albertson's tripled all three of my coupons, then I paid 40 cents for each ketchup. That's almost a dollar less than Wallymarts now advertised price.
Okay I have rambled on enough about my progress and finds. It has only been 2 weeks. I still have months to go until I can confidentially say that I have quit Wallymart for good!!!!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Work in Progress
Yesterday while I was out and about trying to find something to put all my kids stuffed animals into, I decided I was going make me an awesome coupon organizer. For the past 2 years, I have used a cheap pocket coupon organizer that really does not organize my coupons enough for me. So while school supplies are cheap, I thought now was the time to buy the items needed to make my own coupon organizer binder.
Several years ago, Lisa Smith showed me her coupon binder and I fell in love. She was able to organize the coupons by expiration date, and by what type of product the coupon is for. She also told me the price tag on something like this. It cost her $64 dollars to make hers. That alone kept me from going out and getting me one.
So why now am I making one? I have come to realize for the past couple of years that my little organizer just did not organize my coupons enough. Nor did it hold much at all. If you were to look at my small organizer now, you can see that it is almost on life support. Another reason why I'm ready to upgrade, is that I'm tired of going to the store and noticing that something is on clearance and digging through my coupons to find the coupon for that clearance item. With my new binder, I can just flip through my plastic sheets to locate the coupon I need with ease, instead of having a jumble mess in my hands at the grocery store. Hopefully this will help me save even more money!
Many have asked, how do I make one of these? Well it is very simple and so far my only out of pocket cost is $8.99! Now I do have to get a few more things to make my binder complete, but those items should not cost too much. While at Target, I bought a $2 three ring binder. The binder I bought had canvas on it not plastic. The canvas ones tend to last longer. Also try to get a huge binder. The sheet you will use in it tend to get bulky after the coupons are added to the slots. I also made sure that there was a place in the binder to stick a calculator or pens. After deciding on a binder, next was to get the plastic baseball card sheets with the slots in them for the cards. These are quite tricky to find. Wallymart and Target do not carry these. You can get them on Amazon for $12.99 for a packet of 30 sheets. I ended up getting them at my local comic book store for $6.99 for a packet of 30. Which I would recommend buying 2 packets, because you are eventually going to use them all up. Unfortunately I bought their last one, so I only have 30 in my binder right now. When they get some more in I will have to go back and buy another packet. Another thing that I got while at Target, was a packet of dividers with tabs for binders. That way I can separate my coupons by categories as well.
Now that I got all my stuff, the long part begins, organizing my coupons. First I needed to decide my categories. The categories I decided on where: Breakfast,Dairy, and Breads for one category; Deserts for another; Snacks; Candy and Gum; Frozen Foods; Fruits and Veggies; Condiments; Pasta and Rice; Meats; Kitchen Essentials; Dental; Soap and Deodorant; Hair Care Products; Body Washes and Lotions; Razors; Feminine stuff; Bathroom Essentials; Cleaning Supplies; Baby Items; and finally Miscellaneous. I know these are a lot of categories, but the more categories I can divide my coupons into, then the more organize they are. Which will let me find them even more quickly in a pinch. You don't have to use the same categories that I have, mine are just an example of what kind of categories you can use.
After having my categories, it was time to organize my coupons into those categories and place them in their slots. I even put like coupons together to save room. For example, I have 3 of the exact same Kelloggs coupon. When it was time to slip my coupons in the plastic slots, I put those three coupons in the same slot. That way I won't waste 2 slots on the same coupon. I also put the coupon that was expiring first on top before I placed them into their slot. Now when placing the coupons in the slots, you do have to be careful not to rip the plastic or the coupon. After going through my coupons and placing them in their own little slot in the sheet, I tried to leave some blank for any new coupons that I may get. Overall it took me three hours to do this part, but once you are done, then you can just stand back and admire your new organized coupon binder! Your friends will be so jealous.
Now I should say a little about the upkeep of this. You will have to go through the binder every now and then and discard expired coupons. That should not be a big deal since you have to do that with any coupon organizer. Another thing is that any coupons that are hard to fold, for example the coupons you get in the mail or from cereal boxes, are not going to fit in the slots. You can try to fold them up and place them in there, but it just is not going to happen. Try having a different organizer for those types of coupons. I plan on using my old coupon organizer for these coupons. After wear and tear, you will probably have to replace your binder. When that happens, just go to the store and buy a new binder. All you will have to do is to transfer your sheets over to the new one.
I know that the more I use this binder, the more improvements I will make to it. When I do, I will be sure to let you all know.
Several years ago, Lisa Smith showed me her coupon binder and I fell in love. She was able to organize the coupons by expiration date, and by what type of product the coupon is for. She also told me the price tag on something like this. It cost her $64 dollars to make hers. That alone kept me from going out and getting me one.
So why now am I making one? I have come to realize for the past couple of years that my little organizer just did not organize my coupons enough. Nor did it hold much at all. If you were to look at my small organizer now, you can see that it is almost on life support. Another reason why I'm ready to upgrade, is that I'm tired of going to the store and noticing that something is on clearance and digging through my coupons to find the coupon for that clearance item. With my new binder, I can just flip through my plastic sheets to locate the coupon I need with ease, instead of having a jumble mess in my hands at the grocery store. Hopefully this will help me save even more money!
Many have asked, how do I make one of these? Well it is very simple and so far my only out of pocket cost is $8.99! Now I do have to get a few more things to make my binder complete, but those items should not cost too much. While at Target, I bought a $2 three ring binder. The binder I bought had canvas on it not plastic. The canvas ones tend to last longer. Also try to get a huge binder. The sheet you will use in it tend to get bulky after the coupons are added to the slots. I also made sure that there was a place in the binder to stick a calculator or pens. After deciding on a binder, next was to get the plastic baseball card sheets with the slots in them for the cards. These are quite tricky to find. Wallymart and Target do not carry these. You can get them on Amazon for $12.99 for a packet of 30 sheets. I ended up getting them at my local comic book store for $6.99 for a packet of 30. Which I would recommend buying 2 packets, because you are eventually going to use them all up. Unfortunately I bought their last one, so I only have 30 in my binder right now. When they get some more in I will have to go back and buy another packet. Another thing that I got while at Target, was a packet of dividers with tabs for binders. That way I can separate my coupons by categories as well.
Now that I got all my stuff, the long part begins, organizing my coupons. First I needed to decide my categories. The categories I decided on where: Breakfast,Dairy, and Breads for one category; Deserts for another; Snacks; Candy and Gum; Frozen Foods; Fruits and Veggies; Condiments; Pasta and Rice; Meats; Kitchen Essentials; Dental; Soap and Deodorant; Hair Care Products; Body Washes and Lotions; Razors; Feminine stuff; Bathroom Essentials; Cleaning Supplies; Baby Items; and finally Miscellaneous. I know these are a lot of categories, but the more categories I can divide my coupons into, then the more organize they are. Which will let me find them even more quickly in a pinch. You don't have to use the same categories that I have, mine are just an example of what kind of categories you can use.
After having my categories, it was time to organize my coupons into those categories and place them in their slots. I even put like coupons together to save room. For example, I have 3 of the exact same Kelloggs coupon. When it was time to slip my coupons in the plastic slots, I put those three coupons in the same slot. That way I won't waste 2 slots on the same coupon. I also put the coupon that was expiring first on top before I placed them into their slot. Now when placing the coupons in the slots, you do have to be careful not to rip the plastic or the coupon. After going through my coupons and placing them in their own little slot in the sheet, I tried to leave some blank for any new coupons that I may get. Overall it took me three hours to do this part, but once you are done, then you can just stand back and admire your new organized coupon binder! Your friends will be so jealous.
Now I should say a little about the upkeep of this. You will have to go through the binder every now and then and discard expired coupons. That should not be a big deal since you have to do that with any coupon organizer. Another thing is that any coupons that are hard to fold, for example the coupons you get in the mail or from cereal boxes, are not going to fit in the slots. You can try to fold them up and place them in there, but it just is not going to happen. Try having a different organizer for those types of coupons. I plan on using my old coupon organizer for these coupons. After wear and tear, you will probably have to replace your binder. When that happens, just go to the store and buy a new binder. All you will have to do is to transfer your sheets over to the new one.
I know that the more I use this binder, the more improvements I will make to it. When I do, I will be sure to let you all know.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
This week I rocked at the grocery stores!
It's once again my weekly day for grocery shopping. This week there were lots of sales going on, mainly due to the fact that on Monday the kiddos go back to school. This week I only went to Kroger and Albertsons for my goodies. Overall, I think I did much better this week than last.
I started with Kroger this time. Kroger is still having their buy 8 participating items and get $4 off sale going on. If you are not familiar with this, then check out last Thursday's post to get the details. Like usual I need cereal and other snacks to put in the girls' lunchboxes next week. I took advantage of the buy 8 get $4 off deal to have an assortment of goodies for them. I was able to once again get Kroger to pay me 50 cents to take another Chex Mix bag off their hands. I still had a 50 cents off of one coupon and a shortcuts coupon for 50 cents off of one too. The sale price on the Chex Mix was 99 cents. Kroger doubled my manufacturer's coupon to make the item free and then applied the shortcuts coupon on top of that. I was also able to get a box of Nature Valley granola bars for 49 cents. The sale price was $1.99 a box. I had one 50 cents off of one box coupon and a shortcuts coupon for 50 cents off of one box too. Kroger doubled the manufacturer's coupon to drop the price to 99 cents and then subtracted the shortcuts coupon to make the grand total 49 cents! Now try getting one of those at Wallymart for that price! Another deal was for a box of Coco Puffs. The cereal was on sale for $1.48, and I had a cereal coupon for $1.50 off of 3 General Mills cereals. Since General Mills was on the buy 8 get $4 off, then ended up getting the first two boxes for 98 cents using the $1.50 off of 3 coupon. Now on the Coco Puffs, I was able to subtract 50 cents off of the $1.48 to bring it down, like the others, to 98 cents. Then Kroger subtracted my 55 cents off of 1 box of Coco Puffs shortcuts coupon. This brought the price of that one box of cereal down to 43 cents!
I was able to use my Kroger coupon for FREE Oscar Mayer Deli Meat. So right there that saved me another $3.99! On the package of the Oscar Mayer Deli Meat, there was a coupon for a $1 off of one jar of Claussen pickles which I was also able to use today too. Now Kroger this week has a meal deal going on where if you buy a big package of Oscar Mayer Deli Meat and a package of Kraft American cheese, then you will get a jar of Claussen pickles, a tub of potatoes salad, a renewable grocery bag, a package of tomatoes, and a small thing of Kroger mustard for FREE! Now the deli meat and cheese costs $7.37, but you get $10.16 worth of FREE items! Not bad considering that my kids have been asking all week for me to make them turkey sandwiches instead of PB&J. Now since I found that $1 off of one Claussen pickles, I only paid $6.37 for all those items. Too bad my free deli meat coupon wasn't for the big package, then I would of only had to pay $1.50 for all of those items. So in the end, I paid $24.29 at Kroger and saved $42.20. A savings of 63%!!!! Not bad if I do say so myself.
My last stop was at Albertsons. Albertsons had Dole can fruit on sale 10 for $10. Which makes it a dollar a can, and this price is for the big cans of fruit not the small ones! I have several 50 cents off of 2 Dole canned fruit coupons in my stash. Now Albertsons will double all my Dole coupons. So I ended up getting 10 cans of Dole fruit for $5. Which makes it 50 cents a can! So if you still have your Dole coupons, I highly recommend stocking up for your pantry! I remember 5 years ago, Dole canned tropical fruit was 78 cents a can at Wallymart. Today I was able to get 4 cans of Dole tropical fruit for 50 cents a can! Not bad considering I paid more 5 years ago. The other item that was on sale that I bought was the Yoplait yogurts. Yoplait is on sale for 39 cents each. I had two 40 cents off of 6 coupons. I bought the 12 yogurts and paid $3.08 for all of them. That makes it about 26 cents a yogurt. Considering that it's been a while since Yoplait has been on sale, 26 cents a yogurt is not too much to pay. So in the end, I paid $25.53 and saved $28.77. That is over a 50% savings!
After all was said and done, I took my receipts and tallied up the final score. I paid $49.82 and bought $120.79 worth of food! I saved $70.97 and came in under my $50 projected budget low! Now that is a great shopping experience and I did not have to set foot inside a Wallymart to do it!
I started with Kroger this time. Kroger is still having their buy 8 participating items and get $4 off sale going on. If you are not familiar with this, then check out last Thursday's post to get the details. Like usual I need cereal and other snacks to put in the girls' lunchboxes next week. I took advantage of the buy 8 get $4 off deal to have an assortment of goodies for them. I was able to once again get Kroger to pay me 50 cents to take another Chex Mix bag off their hands. I still had a 50 cents off of one coupon and a shortcuts coupon for 50 cents off of one too. The sale price on the Chex Mix was 99 cents. Kroger doubled my manufacturer's coupon to make the item free and then applied the shortcuts coupon on top of that. I was also able to get a box of Nature Valley granola bars for 49 cents. The sale price was $1.99 a box. I had one 50 cents off of one box coupon and a shortcuts coupon for 50 cents off of one box too. Kroger doubled the manufacturer's coupon to drop the price to 99 cents and then subtracted the shortcuts coupon to make the grand total 49 cents! Now try getting one of those at Wallymart for that price! Another deal was for a box of Coco Puffs. The cereal was on sale for $1.48, and I had a cereal coupon for $1.50 off of 3 General Mills cereals. Since General Mills was on the buy 8 get $4 off, then ended up getting the first two boxes for 98 cents using the $1.50 off of 3 coupon. Now on the Coco Puffs, I was able to subtract 50 cents off of the $1.48 to bring it down, like the others, to 98 cents. Then Kroger subtracted my 55 cents off of 1 box of Coco Puffs shortcuts coupon. This brought the price of that one box of cereal down to 43 cents!
I was able to use my Kroger coupon for FREE Oscar Mayer Deli Meat. So right there that saved me another $3.99! On the package of the Oscar Mayer Deli Meat, there was a coupon for a $1 off of one jar of Claussen pickles which I was also able to use today too. Now Kroger this week has a meal deal going on where if you buy a big package of Oscar Mayer Deli Meat and a package of Kraft American cheese, then you will get a jar of Claussen pickles, a tub of potatoes salad, a renewable grocery bag, a package of tomatoes, and a small thing of Kroger mustard for FREE! Now the deli meat and cheese costs $7.37, but you get $10.16 worth of FREE items! Not bad considering that my kids have been asking all week for me to make them turkey sandwiches instead of PB&J. Now since I found that $1 off of one Claussen pickles, I only paid $6.37 for all those items. Too bad my free deli meat coupon wasn't for the big package, then I would of only had to pay $1.50 for all of those items. So in the end, I paid $24.29 at Kroger and saved $42.20. A savings of 63%!!!! Not bad if I do say so myself.
My last stop was at Albertsons. Albertsons had Dole can fruit on sale 10 for $10. Which makes it a dollar a can, and this price is for the big cans of fruit not the small ones! I have several 50 cents off of 2 Dole canned fruit coupons in my stash. Now Albertsons will double all my Dole coupons. So I ended up getting 10 cans of Dole fruit for $5. Which makes it 50 cents a can! So if you still have your Dole coupons, I highly recommend stocking up for your pantry! I remember 5 years ago, Dole canned tropical fruit was 78 cents a can at Wallymart. Today I was able to get 4 cans of Dole tropical fruit for 50 cents a can! Not bad considering I paid more 5 years ago. The other item that was on sale that I bought was the Yoplait yogurts. Yoplait is on sale for 39 cents each. I had two 40 cents off of 6 coupons. I bought the 12 yogurts and paid $3.08 for all of them. That makes it about 26 cents a yogurt. Considering that it's been a while since Yoplait has been on sale, 26 cents a yogurt is not too much to pay. So in the end, I paid $25.53 and saved $28.77. That is over a 50% savings!
After all was said and done, I took my receipts and tallied up the final score. I paid $49.82 and bought $120.79 worth of food! I saved $70.97 and came in under my $50 projected budget low! Now that is a great shopping experience and I did not have to set foot inside a Wallymart to do it!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
My love affair with CVS continues!
So today after the dentist and getting my flat tire fixed, I was able to go to CVS for some much needed things. I was running low on dish soap and I had 2 Dawn coupons that I needed to use soon. So I bought two small dish soap for 72 cents. Not really a great deal, but I needed the dish soap. I tend to go through 1 small bottle a week and I have almost depleted my surplus.
The big deal that I was very excited about was the Crest deal going on. If you buy one participating Crest product, you will get a $2.50 Extra Bucks coupon. Now this deal has a limit of 2. Rob uses mouthwash every day and it has been awhile since mouthwash has been really cheap. Fortunately Crest mouthwash is on the sale. So I bought two mouthwashes for $3.49 each. Which by itself is not a good deal, but if you add on the $5 Extra Buck coupons I will get, then it will make the mouthwash 99 cents each. Now I could buy it for that price. I did have two $2 off of one 946ml or larger Crest mouthwash. I was hoping that the big size mouthwash was on the sale, but alas it was the medium size. If the large size was on the sale, CVS would of ended up paying me money to take that mouthwash off their hands! It kind of killed my 99 cent buzz, but we can't always get what we want.
Head and Shoulder shampoo is on sale too. In the Sunday paper, I got a $1 off of any Head and Shoulder shampoo or conditioner. I saw that CVS has Head and Shoulders for $4.99 and if I buy one then I will get $2 in an Extra Buck coupon. This has a limit of one. Now take in account the $1 coupon, I really ended up paying $1.99 for a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo. I was able to get the extra strength one for dandruff too. Which is highly recommended by Caisa's pediatric dermatologist for the Psoriasis on her scalp.
My last deal was that CVS had Gillette Fusion Pro glide razors for $9.99 with an Extra Bucks reward of $5.00. This made the razor $4.99. Not too bad, but I knew I had a coupon to make it even better. I used my $4 coupon and got the razor for 99 cents! Now that was great! So now we have two Gillette Fusion razors. One for the shower and the other for the bathtub. Rob no longer has to ask me to hand him the razor when he is shaving in the shower.
I did use my $5 Extra Bucks coupon that I got last week from getting the Lysol starter kit to help lower my cost even more. So in the end, I paid $13.79 for my items and got $12.00 back in Extra Buck coupons. That means I only paid $1.79 for all of my items! I think that was a good shopping experience.
The big deal that I was very excited about was the Crest deal going on. If you buy one participating Crest product, you will get a $2.50 Extra Bucks coupon. Now this deal has a limit of 2. Rob uses mouthwash every day and it has been awhile since mouthwash has been really cheap. Fortunately Crest mouthwash is on the sale. So I bought two mouthwashes for $3.49 each. Which by itself is not a good deal, but if you add on the $5 Extra Buck coupons I will get, then it will make the mouthwash 99 cents each. Now I could buy it for that price. I did have two $2 off of one 946ml or larger Crest mouthwash. I was hoping that the big size mouthwash was on the sale, but alas it was the medium size. If the large size was on the sale, CVS would of ended up paying me money to take that mouthwash off their hands! It kind of killed my 99 cent buzz, but we can't always get what we want.
Head and Shoulder shampoo is on sale too. In the Sunday paper, I got a $1 off of any Head and Shoulder shampoo or conditioner. I saw that CVS has Head and Shoulders for $4.99 and if I buy one then I will get $2 in an Extra Buck coupon. This has a limit of one. Now take in account the $1 coupon, I really ended up paying $1.99 for a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo. I was able to get the extra strength one for dandruff too. Which is highly recommended by Caisa's pediatric dermatologist for the Psoriasis on her scalp.
My last deal was that CVS had Gillette Fusion Pro glide razors for $9.99 with an Extra Bucks reward of $5.00. This made the razor $4.99. Not too bad, but I knew I had a coupon to make it even better. I used my $4 coupon and got the razor for 99 cents! Now that was great! So now we have two Gillette Fusion razors. One for the shower and the other for the bathtub. Rob no longer has to ask me to hand him the razor when he is shaving in the shower.
I did use my $5 Extra Bucks coupon that I got last week from getting the Lysol starter kit to help lower my cost even more. So in the end, I paid $13.79 for my items and got $12.00 back in Extra Buck coupons. That means I only paid $1.79 for all of my items! I think that was a good shopping experience.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
My New Finds
Yesterday I discovered two new ways to save money. One was with Kroger and the other with Upromise. Yesterday I received an email from Kroger asking me to be a part of their new survey panel group. It's an online survey group that give their opinions on food and personal care items in return for money. It's still really new, so I do not have too much info about it yet, but hey if Kroger wants to put money in my Pay Pal account for doing surveys, then I'm all for it.
The second was when I was updating my Upromise account I noticed that they now how electronic coupons. Now the coupons with Upromise are different than the ones with the other websites that I have mentioned in the past posts. With the Upromise coupons instead of getting money off of the item in the coupon, you will get money deposited into your Upromise account. For example, Upromise has a coupon for 50 cents on Bounty paper towels. So if I go to the store and buy Bounty paper towels, then Upromise will deposit 50 cents into my account. It's not much, but more than what I would of received without the coupon.
I know it's not a lot to post about, but every little bit helps. Overtime it adds up. Less is coming out of my pocket book and more into my savings account. And with 4 children, I need every penny I can get. Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist, but afterwards I will have a perfect kid free chance to go to CVS and buy some of the items on sale in this week's flier. If all goes well, then I should have tons to post about tomorrow. Until then keep on looking for the next big deal.
The second was when I was updating my Upromise account I noticed that they now how electronic coupons. Now the coupons with Upromise are different than the ones with the other websites that I have mentioned in the past posts. With the Upromise coupons instead of getting money off of the item in the coupon, you will get money deposited into your Upromise account. For example, Upromise has a coupon for 50 cents on Bounty paper towels. So if I go to the store and buy Bounty paper towels, then Upromise will deposit 50 cents into my account. It's not much, but more than what I would of received without the coupon.
I know it's not a lot to post about, but every little bit helps. Overtime it adds up. Less is coming out of my pocket book and more into my savings account. And with 4 children, I need every penny I can get. Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist, but afterwards I will have a perfect kid free chance to go to CVS and buy some of the items on sale in this week's flier. If all goes well, then I should have tons to post about tomorrow. Until then keep on looking for the next big deal.
Monday, August 16, 2010
When to buy in bulk
Today, I had to make my monthly Sam's run. So that put in my head that today I should post some info on buying in bulk. The more I did coupons, the more I realized that certain items where still cheaper to buy in bulk at my local warehouse club. Mainly due to the fact that coupons for these items were hard to come by or just did not exists. The items I tend to buy in bulk are cheese, butter, meat (sometimes), bottle water, diapers, Clorox wipes, and frozen blueberries. There are probably other items out there that are cheaper if bought in bulk, but these are the ones that I normally buy in bulk.
Now diapers you can get cheaper else where, but from my experience it was hard to keep up with which stores had what diapers on sale and what coupons I had. I also had problems with the stores not having the diapers in stock when I did my grocery shopping. So to save me time and effort, I just buy a big box of the Member's Mark diapers for $29 every 3 months.
Most of the time, I check the local grocery stores weekly fliers to see what deals they have on meat. When something I want or need is really cheap, that is when I try to stock up. Tom Thumb usually has a great meat deal going on where I can stock up on 90/10 ground beef,chuck roasts, or pork chops. Albertsons usually has my chicken on sale very cheap, where I don't have to buy it at Sam's. Once in a while, I run out of hamburger meat before the next big sale and just have to buy it at Sam's.
Bottle water is always cheaper in bulk. I pay $3.88 for a 32 pack of Nestle water. So far I have not been able to beat that price anywhere else.
Diary products are also cheaper in bulk. I tend to get my butter and cheese in bulk. The price on these items do fluctuate quite a bit, but in the end is still cheaper than buying smaller portions at the grocery store. For 5 pounds of Cheddar cheese, I spend between $8-$10. Butter tends to run $7-$9 for 4 boxes. Sometimes, I even stock up on eggs. Two half a dozen packs of eggs run $3.12.
Frozen Dole blueberries are the cheapest at Sam's Club. Today I bought 4 pounds of blueberries for $7.58! Usually at the grocery store it costs $10 for 2-3 pounds!
Next time you are at your local warehouse club, find out the price per unit or the price per pound you pay on the items you buy there most often. Sometimes you will find that you can get these items cheaper when they are on sale at the local grocery store. I used to buy my Swanson Chicken Broth in bulk every month, but now I have discovered that during the fall and winter months this item is always on sale at some grocery store and the Sunday paper is loaded with coupons for Swanson products during the same time. So instead of paying $0.69 a can at Sam's, I can get it for $0.50 a can or lower during the holiday seasons. I try to take the time to stock up to last me until they go on sale again.
Now with warehouse clubs, they do not take coupons from the Internet websites or Sunday papers. Instead they will take coupons that they have mailed or emailed to you. For example, Costco mails out coupons to the masses trying to get them to come shop at their store. Sam's Club has electronic coupons that you can get at their store or on their website. At Sam's there is a machine right when you walk, that will scan your card and download coupons for you to use immediately. It will also give you a print out of all the coupons you have on the card and when they expire. Today I was able to use a $3 off of Charmin Ultra Soft Bathroom Tissue coupon. The price at Sam's was $18.48, but with the $3 coupon it made my final cost $15.48. 50 cents cheaper than the Member's Mark brand. So I guess even the warehouse clubs are getting into the whole coupon thing. Now if only Wallymart can get with the times and revamp their coupon policy instead of making their isles bigger.
Now diapers you can get cheaper else where, but from my experience it was hard to keep up with which stores had what diapers on sale and what coupons I had. I also had problems with the stores not having the diapers in stock when I did my grocery shopping. So to save me time and effort, I just buy a big box of the Member's Mark diapers for $29 every 3 months.
Most of the time, I check the local grocery stores weekly fliers to see what deals they have on meat. When something I want or need is really cheap, that is when I try to stock up. Tom Thumb usually has a great meat deal going on where I can stock up on 90/10 ground beef,chuck roasts, or pork chops. Albertsons usually has my chicken on sale very cheap, where I don't have to buy it at Sam's. Once in a while, I run out of hamburger meat before the next big sale and just have to buy it at Sam's.
Bottle water is always cheaper in bulk. I pay $3.88 for a 32 pack of Nestle water. So far I have not been able to beat that price anywhere else.
Diary products are also cheaper in bulk. I tend to get my butter and cheese in bulk. The price on these items do fluctuate quite a bit, but in the end is still cheaper than buying smaller portions at the grocery store. For 5 pounds of Cheddar cheese, I spend between $8-$10. Butter tends to run $7-$9 for 4 boxes. Sometimes, I even stock up on eggs. Two half a dozen packs of eggs run $3.12.
Frozen Dole blueberries are the cheapest at Sam's Club. Today I bought 4 pounds of blueberries for $7.58! Usually at the grocery store it costs $10 for 2-3 pounds!
Next time you are at your local warehouse club, find out the price per unit or the price per pound you pay on the items you buy there most often. Sometimes you will find that you can get these items cheaper when they are on sale at the local grocery store. I used to buy my Swanson Chicken Broth in bulk every month, but now I have discovered that during the fall and winter months this item is always on sale at some grocery store and the Sunday paper is loaded with coupons for Swanson products during the same time. So instead of paying $0.69 a can at Sam's, I can get it for $0.50 a can or lower during the holiday seasons. I try to take the time to stock up to last me until they go on sale again.
Now with warehouse clubs, they do not take coupons from the Internet websites or Sunday papers. Instead they will take coupons that they have mailed or emailed to you. For example, Costco mails out coupons to the masses trying to get them to come shop at their store. Sam's Club has electronic coupons that you can get at their store or on their website. At Sam's there is a machine right when you walk, that will scan your card and download coupons for you to use immediately. It will also give you a print out of all the coupons you have on the card and when they expire. Today I was able to use a $3 off of Charmin Ultra Soft Bathroom Tissue coupon. The price at Sam's was $18.48, but with the $3 coupon it made my final cost $15.48. 50 cents cheaper than the Member's Mark brand. So I guess even the warehouse clubs are getting into the whole coupon thing. Now if only Wallymart can get with the times and revamp their coupon policy instead of making their isles bigger.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
My New Best Friend.
Last night I discovered a new electronic device that is going to help me save even more money! My iPhone. Now I know not everyone has an iPhone, but this post is for all of you that do or will in the future have one. Last night while doing some research on new apps, I discovered some new coupon apps that are great. Best of all, they are all FREE!!!! So what is there to lose to try them out.
Before we get to my newly found coupon apps, lets start with the one I already have. Cellfire is another free app that has electronic coupons you can download onto your Kroger, Tom Thumb, and other store's savings cards. You have to register online for an account before you can use the app. But once that is done, it is very convenient to use. Now with Cellfire, they have a lists of coupons to choose from, but unlike the other apps I will write about, you have to pick which store to use your coupon at. For example, on Thursday Tom Thumb and Kroger both had General Mills cereal on sale. I checked to see which cereals are on sale at which stores. Then I checked my Cellfire app for any coupons to use. I noticed that I had Cellfire coupons for Reese's Puffs and Banana Nut Cheerios. Kroger did not have these on their cereal sale, but Tom Thumb did. When I went to select these coupons, I made sure to select them under the Tom Thumb tab instead of the Kroger tab. After selecting my coupons, I was able to use them in 5 minutes. Cellfire also has coupons for picture packages at Sears. Sometimes, there are coupons for Payless Shoes.
Last night while searching my phone for new apps, I saw that Coupons.com has an iPhone app. I couldn't resist, so I downloaded it to check it out. I have to say, I am glad that I did. It has all the coupons you can get off their website plus more. It also gives you the option to print the coupons you selected from your phone. Now in order to do this, your printer needs to be able to connect to Wi-Fi network. If have a cheap, basic printer like me, the app gives you the option of emailing your selected coupons to your email account. So when you are on your computer you can just print the coupons out from your email. This app also has electronic coupons that you can select to put on your savings cards. Now unlike Cellfire, you cannot use your Kroger card, but it will take my Tom Thumb card. The app also has local coupons for businesses in your area. I cannot wait to try these coupons out!
After checking out the Coupons.com app, I noticed that it was recommended for me to get the Grocery IQ app as well. The Grocery IQ app syncs with the Coupons.com app. Like Coupons.com, they have coupons you can print off and electronic coupons you can select. Another thing they have in common is that I could only register my Tom Thumb card. Something that this app has that the other's don't, is that it can store your grocery lists. It can also keep tabs on the items you buy a lot of and how much it costs at your favorite stores. You can share your list with other people who are registered with Grocery IQ. There is also bar code scanning option using your phone's camera. I noticed there is much possibilities with this app, but it looks like it will take me some trial and error to figure out what all I can and want to do with this app.
I checked out the Groupon app, and to my satisfaction, it now included deals for my area. Before when I would look at this app, it only had deals for Dallas and not Fort Worth. As more people started using Groupon, there seemed to be a need to add more areas. The app is pretty simple, you buy a deal and the app will store the deals you buy. That's it.
I did check out the other coupon apps that were available to me, but they just didn't seem to get good ratings or the other apps I had accomplished what they did. Now if only Shortcuts will release an iPhone app, I will never have to use a computer again to find my coupons. In the words of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite,"I love technology!"
Before we get to my newly found coupon apps, lets start with the one I already have. Cellfire is another free app that has electronic coupons you can download onto your Kroger, Tom Thumb, and other store's savings cards. You have to register online for an account before you can use the app. But once that is done, it is very convenient to use. Now with Cellfire, they have a lists of coupons to choose from, but unlike the other apps I will write about, you have to pick which store to use your coupon at. For example, on Thursday Tom Thumb and Kroger both had General Mills cereal on sale. I checked to see which cereals are on sale at which stores. Then I checked my Cellfire app for any coupons to use. I noticed that I had Cellfire coupons for Reese's Puffs and Banana Nut Cheerios. Kroger did not have these on their cereal sale, but Tom Thumb did. When I went to select these coupons, I made sure to select them under the Tom Thumb tab instead of the Kroger tab. After selecting my coupons, I was able to use them in 5 minutes. Cellfire also has coupons for picture packages at Sears. Sometimes, there are coupons for Payless Shoes.
Last night while searching my phone for new apps, I saw that Coupons.com has an iPhone app. I couldn't resist, so I downloaded it to check it out. I have to say, I am glad that I did. It has all the coupons you can get off their website plus more. It also gives you the option to print the coupons you selected from your phone. Now in order to do this, your printer needs to be able to connect to Wi-Fi network. If have a cheap, basic printer like me, the app gives you the option of emailing your selected coupons to your email account. So when you are on your computer you can just print the coupons out from your email. This app also has electronic coupons that you can select to put on your savings cards. Now unlike Cellfire, you cannot use your Kroger card, but it will take my Tom Thumb card. The app also has local coupons for businesses in your area. I cannot wait to try these coupons out!
After checking out the Coupons.com app, I noticed that it was recommended for me to get the Grocery IQ app as well. The Grocery IQ app syncs with the Coupons.com app. Like Coupons.com, they have coupons you can print off and electronic coupons you can select. Another thing they have in common is that I could only register my Tom Thumb card. Something that this app has that the other's don't, is that it can store your grocery lists. It can also keep tabs on the items you buy a lot of and how much it costs at your favorite stores. You can share your list with other people who are registered with Grocery IQ. There is also bar code scanning option using your phone's camera. I noticed there is much possibilities with this app, but it looks like it will take me some trial and error to figure out what all I can and want to do with this app.
I checked out the Groupon app, and to my satisfaction, it now included deals for my area. Before when I would look at this app, it only had deals for Dallas and not Fort Worth. As more people started using Groupon, there seemed to be a need to add more areas. The app is pretty simple, you buy a deal and the app will store the deals you buy. That's it.
I did check out the other coupon apps that were available to me, but they just didn't seem to get good ratings or the other apps I had accomplished what they did. Now if only Shortcuts will release an iPhone app, I will never have to use a computer again to find my coupons. In the words of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite,"I love technology!"
Friday, August 13, 2010
How I Love CVS!
Yesterday after dinner, I was able to make a quick run to CVS. As I stated in a previous post, CVS has my All Free and Clear on sale buy 1 get 1 free. I also saw that CVS has the Lysol hands free soap dispenser starter kit on sale. Now with the All the regular price was $7.49. Since it was buy 1 get 1 free, I only had to pay the $7.49 for my 2 containers. I had 2, $1 off of any All product coupons to use. Knowing that CVS will take both my $1 off coupons, I was able to reduce the final cost to $5.49. Which if you divide by 2 is about $2.25 per container. A lot cheaper than paying $2.99 at Tom Thumb.
Now the Lysol was my favorite buy of the week! The price is originally $9.99, but there was an Extra Bucks sale attached to it. Which is if I buy 1 Lysol starter kit, then I will get a $5 Extra Bucks coupon printed on my receipt. That would make the final price $4.99. Not bad, but I knew I could do better. I remembered that I had a $3 off of 1 coupon for the Lysol starter kit. I searched my coupons, and behold I was right. I also had $4 worth of Extra Bucks coupons that I needed to use. Good thing CVS allows you to use manufacturer coupons on top of your Extra Bucks coupons. And there is no limit to how many Extra Bucks coupons you can use, as long as there is not a remainder left. So with my coupons alone, It brought the total from $9.99 down to $2.99. Now if you take in consideration the $5 Extra Bucks coupon I got from buying the Lysol, in the end CVS paid me $2.01 to take that Lysol starter kit off their hands!!! Way better than the 50 cents Kroger paid me to take those Buggle snacks.
I had to hurry home and tell Rob. He was not happy about my spending money, but when I told him that on the Lysol, CVS paid me to buy it, he changed his mind fast. Now on the Lysol there is a limit of one per household and there is a limit of 4 on the All. CVS usually has to limit these deals, or else one person would wipe them out. The manager was very helpful when I couldn't find the Lysol. He went in the back to see if they had anymore, which thankfully they did. If I was at Wallymart, then it would have taken me at least a half hour to find someone who could help me, let alone someone how has any clue to what I want. And would a Wallymart employee go and see if they have any in the back? Most likely not.
If you ever go to CVS to get something and it looks like they are all out, then ask. The worse that can happen is that they are out. Or who knows, they just might have some in the back but just haven't gotten around to restocking the shelves yet.I hope my experience will help you all out there to take advantage of the CVS closest to you. You may just fall in love with that store as I have.
Now the Lysol was my favorite buy of the week! The price is originally $9.99, but there was an Extra Bucks sale attached to it. Which is if I buy 1 Lysol starter kit, then I will get a $5 Extra Bucks coupon printed on my receipt. That would make the final price $4.99. Not bad, but I knew I could do better. I remembered that I had a $3 off of 1 coupon for the Lysol starter kit. I searched my coupons, and behold I was right. I also had $4 worth of Extra Bucks coupons that I needed to use. Good thing CVS allows you to use manufacturer coupons on top of your Extra Bucks coupons. And there is no limit to how many Extra Bucks coupons you can use, as long as there is not a remainder left. So with my coupons alone, It brought the total from $9.99 down to $2.99. Now if you take in consideration the $5 Extra Bucks coupon I got from buying the Lysol, in the end CVS paid me $2.01 to take that Lysol starter kit off their hands!!! Way better than the 50 cents Kroger paid me to take those Buggle snacks.
I had to hurry home and tell Rob. He was not happy about my spending money, but when I told him that on the Lysol, CVS paid me to buy it, he changed his mind fast. Now on the Lysol there is a limit of one per household and there is a limit of 4 on the All. CVS usually has to limit these deals, or else one person would wipe them out. The manager was very helpful when I couldn't find the Lysol. He went in the back to see if they had anymore, which thankfully they did. If I was at Wallymart, then it would have taken me at least a half hour to find someone who could help me, let alone someone how has any clue to what I want. And would a Wallymart employee go and see if they have any in the back? Most likely not.
If you ever go to CVS to get something and it looks like they are all out, then ask. The worse that can happen is that they are out. Or who knows, they just might have some in the back but just haven't gotten around to restocking the shelves yet.I hope my experience will help you all out there to take advantage of the CVS closest to you. You may just fall in love with that store as I have.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Big Day!
So my big day has arrived, the day I take my lists with coupons, and head to the stores. Today I went to three different stores with 4 kids in tow, and it only took me an hour and a half to get my grocery shopping done. If I were to go to Wallymart with the kids in tow, then it would of taken me at least 2 hours! So right there just by skipping Walmart, I'm saving time! Which somewhere I heard was the same as money.
Now the three stores I shopped at today was Tom Thumb, Albertsons, and Kroger. I tend to have my travel route planned as well to help me save time. If I go to Tom Thumb, I always go there first. It is the furthest away and on my way back home, I am able to make stops at the other stores.
Lets start with the first store, Tom Thumb. I did get lots of things on sale at Tom Thumb today, but for time I'm going to write about the best deals I got there. I was able to get most of my cereal there for under $1.50 a box. Now the cereal I got was an assortment of General Mills cereal that I had coupons for and were also on sale. In yesterday's flier, I clipped two coupons. One has 4 boxes of General Mills cereal for a sale price of $1.49. One of those selected cereals is Reese's Puffs. I looked through my coupons and discovered a $1 off of 3 of any General Mills coupon. Next I checked Shortcuts and Cellfire for electronic coupons to use on top of the coupon I already had. I discovered a 50 cents off of one box of Reese's Puffs. So when I checked out, I paid $0.66 for that one box of Reese's Puffs! The other 2 boxes I got for about $1.16 a box. There was also a separate coupon making Banana Nut Cheerios a $1.99 a box. Like before, I looked through my coupons and found a $1 off of 2 boxes of any Cheerios. So far that dropped the price to $1.49 a box. I checked Shortcuts and Cellfire again for Cheerio coupons and discovered one for a 50 cents off of one any type of Cheerios. So in the end, I got one box for $1.49 and the other for $0.99! Try getting General Mills at Wallymart for that price!
Next on my route was Albertsons. I spent the most at Albertsons today since I had to buy meat and produce there today. I also had to buy garbage bags and nobody had them on sale this week. Albertsons did have nice cantaloupe on sale for 99 cents. I was also able to get 4 large ripe coconuts for $1. The kids were excited for that since they want to drink the coconut milk. I also got the shrimp I wanted for $3.99 a pound instead of $4.88 a pound which was advertised in my flier. And these shrimp were the extra large ones too!!!
My last stop was Kroger. Kroger has a buy 8 participating items, get $4 dollars off deal going on this week. I was able to get all 8 items and use coupons too. Sunny Delight was on sale for 75 cents( after the $4 was taken off). I had a 25 cents off of any Sunny Delight coupon. Kroger tripled my coupon and in the end, it was FREE!!! Then the Chex Mix was 99 cents(after the $4 was taken off). I had two coupons to use on this one. One was a regular 50 cents off of one and the other was my electronic coupon for 50 cents off of one. Kroger doubled the regular one to make the item free, but then they applied my electronic one to it as well. So in the end, Kroger paid me 50 cents to take that bag of Chex Mix off their hands! How could I refuse to help them out. I was also able to get a bag of Buggle snacks for free too! The Buggle snacks were 99 cents as well, and I had a 50 cent coupon that was doubled. There were other deals, like I got Smart Balance Sour Cream for $0.49 cents. and Progresso Thick and Hearty soup for $0.69 cents a can. All using the buy 8 get $4 off deal and coupons.
I hope my examples can shed some light on how to find the deals in your area and how to use coupons with those deals. When I used to shop for groceries at Wallymart, I would spend $100 every week, now I spend way less and get more. Because of this, I no long have to shop Wallymart for my groceries. Today I spent $69.39 and was able to get $134.04 worth of food. Which is a savings of $64.65! Not bad for a day's work.
Now the three stores I shopped at today was Tom Thumb, Albertsons, and Kroger. I tend to have my travel route planned as well to help me save time. If I go to Tom Thumb, I always go there first. It is the furthest away and on my way back home, I am able to make stops at the other stores.
Lets start with the first store, Tom Thumb. I did get lots of things on sale at Tom Thumb today, but for time I'm going to write about the best deals I got there. I was able to get most of my cereal there for under $1.50 a box. Now the cereal I got was an assortment of General Mills cereal that I had coupons for and were also on sale. In yesterday's flier, I clipped two coupons. One has 4 boxes of General Mills cereal for a sale price of $1.49. One of those selected cereals is Reese's Puffs. I looked through my coupons and discovered a $1 off of 3 of any General Mills coupon. Next I checked Shortcuts and Cellfire for electronic coupons to use on top of the coupon I already had. I discovered a 50 cents off of one box of Reese's Puffs. So when I checked out, I paid $0.66 for that one box of Reese's Puffs! The other 2 boxes I got for about $1.16 a box. There was also a separate coupon making Banana Nut Cheerios a $1.99 a box. Like before, I looked through my coupons and found a $1 off of 2 boxes of any Cheerios. So far that dropped the price to $1.49 a box. I checked Shortcuts and Cellfire again for Cheerio coupons and discovered one for a 50 cents off of one any type of Cheerios. So in the end, I got one box for $1.49 and the other for $0.99! Try getting General Mills at Wallymart for that price!
Next on my route was Albertsons. I spent the most at Albertsons today since I had to buy meat and produce there today. I also had to buy garbage bags and nobody had them on sale this week. Albertsons did have nice cantaloupe on sale for 99 cents. I was also able to get 4 large ripe coconuts for $1. The kids were excited for that since they want to drink the coconut milk. I also got the shrimp I wanted for $3.99 a pound instead of $4.88 a pound which was advertised in my flier. And these shrimp were the extra large ones too!!!
My last stop was Kroger. Kroger has a buy 8 participating items, get $4 dollars off deal going on this week. I was able to get all 8 items and use coupons too. Sunny Delight was on sale for 75 cents( after the $4 was taken off). I had a 25 cents off of any Sunny Delight coupon. Kroger tripled my coupon and in the end, it was FREE!!! Then the Chex Mix was 99 cents(after the $4 was taken off). I had two coupons to use on this one. One was a regular 50 cents off of one and the other was my electronic coupon for 50 cents off of one. Kroger doubled the regular one to make the item free, but then they applied my electronic one to it as well. So in the end, Kroger paid me 50 cents to take that bag of Chex Mix off their hands! How could I refuse to help them out. I was also able to get a bag of Buggle snacks for free too! The Buggle snacks were 99 cents as well, and I had a 50 cent coupon that was doubled. There were other deals, like I got Smart Balance Sour Cream for $0.49 cents. and Progresso Thick and Hearty soup for $0.69 cents a can. All using the buy 8 get $4 off deal and coupons.
I hope my examples can shed some light on how to find the deals in your area and how to use coupons with those deals. When I used to shop for groceries at Wallymart, I would spend $100 every week, now I spend way less and get more. Because of this, I no long have to shop Wallymart for my groceries. Today I spent $69.39 and was able to get $134.04 worth of food. Which is a savings of $64.65! Not bad for a day's work.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Getting Ready!
Okay the moment you all have been waiting for has finally arrived. I now tell you how I find the deals. This week there are tons of deals out there, it's just too bad I don't have enough in my budget or pantry to do them all. I will break down what deals I am doing this week store by store, but first we need to decide on a budget.
I try to stick within a $50-$75 dollar weekly grocery budget. Most of the time, I tend to stick to $50, but this week there are things I need to get that are not on sale. When calculating my costs per store, I tend to round up just to be on the safe side.
Now many have asked how do I plan my lists. Do I just buy things that are on sale only, or do I make a weekly menu and buy according to that. Well I do not make a weekly menu, I tend to buy things on sale and stock up on things that are really, really, cheap or free. At first this may seem hard for you to do, but as time goes by you will find your pantry full of things that when you feel a whim to cook something new, you already have the ingredients. The method I use is great for stock piling for food storage. Right now I have enough canned tomatoes to last my family at least 6 months!
As you get going, you will notice that certain foods during certain times of the year are on sale weekly and you always have coupons for them. An example for this is canned soup. Last Sunday I got my first Progresso canned soup coupon. And this week at all the major grocery stores close by, that soup is on sale. During the fall and winter months I tend to stock pile on soup. Rob loves to take the soup to work and I usually can get it for just pennies a can. Whenever a product starts going on sale frequently, then that is usually the time to start to stock pile up for the times when the price rises again. I find this very true around the holiday times. I tend to stock up on baking items and condensed soups since they are always on sale and I always find great coupons for them.
There are some foods that are almost weekly on sale. Cereal is a prime example. I can for the most, part buy my cereal for $1.50 a box or less weekly. I'm talking about name brand cereal too, not generic. This week at Kroger and Tom Thumb I can get cereal for under a $1.50 a box using their sales and coupons I have. Shortcuts and Cellfire also always have great cereal coupons you can use on top of the regular coupons you have.
Produce takes some time to figure out what is a good deal and what is not. There are stores that I tend to like their produce better than others. Albertsons is a store, for my opinion, that tends to have decent produce; while Wallymart I think does not. I try to buy produce that is in season. If it's in season, then the cheaper it will be. As you continue to shop different stores, in time you will know what prices your celery, garlic, carrots, etc are at each store. So when you need more celery you will know which store has cheaper celery or fresher celery, which ever you prefer.
The same can be said about buying produce that is locally grown. Farmer's markets can have good deals on fresh, locally grown produce. With farmer's markets, you always know that what they have is in season. Now with farmer's markets you need to do some research and make sure the produce comes straight from local farmers and not from other farmer's markets farther away. If it comes straight from the farm to the market, then the cheaper it tends to be. Spring, Summer, and even Fall are great times in my region to take advantage of farmer's markets.
Now there are some things that are basics to have in any pantry, but usually it is hard to find coupons for these items. For those, I tend to buy in bulk. Examples are eggs, cheese, butter, bottled water. In another post I will get more in depth about buying in bulk.
When going grocery shopping I try to make an individual list for each store with what I want to buy and what coupons goes with which items. I also have the final price I expect to pay on the list too. I stick the coupons with the list, fold it up, and put it in my coupon sorter. When I check out at the stores, it is very important to pay attention to the prices as it is being scanned. If you have any questions on something, don't be afraid to speak up. Usually the checker is nice and will tell you if the discount is taken off at the end or not. If you think a mistake is made, then politely ask her to check it out. After you pay, check your receipt to make sure it all looks to be in order. If something was charged too much or discounts not taken off, then double check to make sure the mistake was not on your end. If a mistake was made by them, go to the customer service and have them look at it. For the most part, very seldom are there problems that I had to go to the customer service and have something fixed, but you never know when that time may come so it pays to check your receipt.
Now when looking at your fliers, read the fine print. Make sure you buy the items on sale at the right stores or on the right days for the sale. Especially read the fine print on any sale that has you buying 4,8,or10 items and get a certain amount off your final price. There tends to be a limit on how many items you can buy. For example at Tom Thumb this week, if you buy 4 specially marked cereals or fruit snacks, then you will get $4 dollars off your bill. Now in the fine print, it tells you which cereal and snacks, what sizes, when the sale starts and ends, and the limit to how many items you can buy on this sale. Which for this sale is a limit of 20 items. Some sales want a minimum purchase before you can get that item at the sale price listed. Tom Thumb coupons tend to have a $10 minimum purchase in order to get that sales price. Like this week, they have Mr. Clean cleaning supplies on sale for $2.49. Now if you read the coupon, there is a limit of 2 items at this price and before you get that price, you need to purchase $10 in goods. Some people may think it's hard to reach the $10 minimum, but it actually is not if you are buying other things at the store. The item on the sale also can be applied towards that $10 minimum. This week I have no problems hitting the minimum since I'm buying cereal, milk, bread, and a couple of other things. Just to let you know, since that Mr.Clean coupon is a Tom Thumb coupon I can put my $1.50 coupon off of 1 on top of it, which will make me only pay $1!
Tomorrow I plan on going to my stores and buying my items. Hopefully in tomorrows post I can give you the ins and outs of how I figure out what I paid for those items. I plan on having visual aids to help you see what your receipts can look like.
I try to stick within a $50-$75 dollar weekly grocery budget. Most of the time, I tend to stick to $50, but this week there are things I need to get that are not on sale. When calculating my costs per store, I tend to round up just to be on the safe side.
Now many have asked how do I plan my lists. Do I just buy things that are on sale only, or do I make a weekly menu and buy according to that. Well I do not make a weekly menu, I tend to buy things on sale and stock up on things that are really, really, cheap or free. At first this may seem hard for you to do, but as time goes by you will find your pantry full of things that when you feel a whim to cook something new, you already have the ingredients. The method I use is great for stock piling for food storage. Right now I have enough canned tomatoes to last my family at least 6 months!
As you get going, you will notice that certain foods during certain times of the year are on sale weekly and you always have coupons for them. An example for this is canned soup. Last Sunday I got my first Progresso canned soup coupon. And this week at all the major grocery stores close by, that soup is on sale. During the fall and winter months I tend to stock pile on soup. Rob loves to take the soup to work and I usually can get it for just pennies a can. Whenever a product starts going on sale frequently, then that is usually the time to start to stock pile up for the times when the price rises again. I find this very true around the holiday times. I tend to stock up on baking items and condensed soups since they are always on sale and I always find great coupons for them.
There are some foods that are almost weekly on sale. Cereal is a prime example. I can for the most, part buy my cereal for $1.50 a box or less weekly. I'm talking about name brand cereal too, not generic. This week at Kroger and Tom Thumb I can get cereal for under a $1.50 a box using their sales and coupons I have. Shortcuts and Cellfire also always have great cereal coupons you can use on top of the regular coupons you have.
Produce takes some time to figure out what is a good deal and what is not. There are stores that I tend to like their produce better than others. Albertsons is a store, for my opinion, that tends to have decent produce; while Wallymart I think does not. I try to buy produce that is in season. If it's in season, then the cheaper it will be. As you continue to shop different stores, in time you will know what prices your celery, garlic, carrots, etc are at each store. So when you need more celery you will know which store has cheaper celery or fresher celery, which ever you prefer.
The same can be said about buying produce that is locally grown. Farmer's markets can have good deals on fresh, locally grown produce. With farmer's markets, you always know that what they have is in season. Now with farmer's markets you need to do some research and make sure the produce comes straight from local farmers and not from other farmer's markets farther away. If it comes straight from the farm to the market, then the cheaper it tends to be. Spring, Summer, and even Fall are great times in my region to take advantage of farmer's markets.
Now there are some things that are basics to have in any pantry, but usually it is hard to find coupons for these items. For those, I tend to buy in bulk. Examples are eggs, cheese, butter, bottled water. In another post I will get more in depth about buying in bulk.
When going grocery shopping I try to make an individual list for each store with what I want to buy and what coupons goes with which items. I also have the final price I expect to pay on the list too. I stick the coupons with the list, fold it up, and put it in my coupon sorter. When I check out at the stores, it is very important to pay attention to the prices as it is being scanned. If you have any questions on something, don't be afraid to speak up. Usually the checker is nice and will tell you if the discount is taken off at the end or not. If you think a mistake is made, then politely ask her to check it out. After you pay, check your receipt to make sure it all looks to be in order. If something was charged too much or discounts not taken off, then double check to make sure the mistake was not on your end. If a mistake was made by them, go to the customer service and have them look at it. For the most part, very seldom are there problems that I had to go to the customer service and have something fixed, but you never know when that time may come so it pays to check your receipt.
Now when looking at your fliers, read the fine print. Make sure you buy the items on sale at the right stores or on the right days for the sale. Especially read the fine print on any sale that has you buying 4,8,or10 items and get a certain amount off your final price. There tends to be a limit on how many items you can buy. For example at Tom Thumb this week, if you buy 4 specially marked cereals or fruit snacks, then you will get $4 dollars off your bill. Now in the fine print, it tells you which cereal and snacks, what sizes, when the sale starts and ends, and the limit to how many items you can buy on this sale. Which for this sale is a limit of 20 items. Some sales want a minimum purchase before you can get that item at the sale price listed. Tom Thumb coupons tend to have a $10 minimum purchase in order to get that sales price. Like this week, they have Mr. Clean cleaning supplies on sale for $2.49. Now if you read the coupon, there is a limit of 2 items at this price and before you get that price, you need to purchase $10 in goods. Some people may think it's hard to reach the $10 minimum, but it actually is not if you are buying other things at the store. The item on the sale also can be applied towards that $10 minimum. This week I have no problems hitting the minimum since I'm buying cereal, milk, bread, and a couple of other things. Just to let you know, since that Mr.Clean coupon is a Tom Thumb coupon I can put my $1.50 coupon off of 1 on top of it, which will make me only pay $1!
Tomorrow I plan on going to my stores and buying my items. Hopefully in tomorrows post I can give you the ins and outs of how I figure out what I paid for those items. I plan on having visual aids to help you see what your receipts can look like.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saving Money at the Pharmacy
I have learned to appreciate the savings I can do at my local pharmacies. The two closest to my house is Walgreen and CVS. For the most part, I shop at CVS. Mainly because I love the people who work in the pharmacy and they have all my daughter's medicines available whenever I need to refill her prescriptions. I will write some what about the coupon policies of these two pharmacies and other saving plans they have to offer.
Lets start with my favorite CVS. Most every body knows that CVS has a savings program called the Extra Care card. This card earns you extra bucks rewards, which are coupons that you can use for anything in the store except prescriptions, alcohol, gift cards, lottery, money orders, stamps, pre-paid cards, and tobacco products. Every week in the CVS flyer there are multiple products that can earn you extra bucks. This week at CVS you can get $3.00 extra bucks reward when you buy 4, 12 pack of Coke products. So if you buy 4, 12 packs of Coke, when you check out at the bottom of your receipt there will be a coupon that will say $3.00 extra bucks. It will also have an expiration date. Usually you have a month to use the coupon. Another thing I like about the extra bucks reward program is that every quarter, CVS will give you 2% of your total purchases for the quarter back in the form of an extra bucks coupon. CVS also is a place where I used to get make-up for free. They used to have deals where some brand of make-up was buy one get one free. So I would get my buy 1 get 1 free coupons for that brand out and go to CVS to get my free make-up. When using a buy 1 get 1 free coupon on top of a buy 1 get 1 free sale at CVS, you get the product for FREE!!!! I guess a lot of people caught wind of this practice, because in the past year I have not been able to get free make-up again. This week at CVS, All laundry detergent is on a buy 1 get 1 free sale. This is the perfect opportunity for me to stock up on my All Free and Clear. The regular price starts at $7.50 each, but since it is buy 1 get 1 free, I will get two for the price of one. But where the real savings comes in handy is that CVS will allow me to use 2, $1 off of 1 All product coupons. So I end up getting my 2 laundry detergents for $5.50. That equals to $2.25 each! Definitely cheaper than buying it in bulk at Sam's Club or just going over to Wallymart and picking me up one. CVS also has a great renewable shopping bag discount program. For 99 cents, you can get a CVS green savings discount tag to put either on your shopping bags or key chain. Each time you use it, you will get a discount for being environmentally responsible. After 4 uses, it will have paid for itself. I still need to pick me up one the next time I'm at CVS. CVS also came out with a special extra bucks program designed for people with diabetes. Certain products that diabetics need to use everyday can earn you extra buck rewards to go specifically towards buying your diabetic supplies. I just thought I would throw that one out there for all the diabetics who might be reading.
Now to Walgreens. I have to admit that I have not too much experience shopping at Walgreens, but the few times I have done it, I had good experiences. Rob's cousin, Erica, loves to shop at Walgreens and is what I refer to as the Queen of Walgreen shopping. Walgreens and CVS pretty much have the same set up, but just a little different. Walgreens does not have a savings card program, instead they have what is known as register rewards. It is just like the extra bucks, where when you check out, there will be a coupon printed out saying how much you can save the next time you shop. No card needed! They also have a great rebate program. Every month certain items have rebates attached to them. At the end of each month, you go to the Walgreen website and mark what items you have bought and send it in. You may have to verify that you bought the item by saying when and where you bought the item, but you do not have to mail in a receipt and a form showing you bought it. Everything is sent over the internet and even the verification is done on line. Once it is verified and sent in, then in about a month you will receive a check. Another good thing with the rebate is that when you buy the item, you can also use a coupon. Erica has been known to end up getting paid to take things off their hands by using coupons on items that are also on rebate. It does take some time to get used to the Walgreen website to figure out how to turn in your rebate form, but once you have figured that out, it is fairly easy.
Now really the only con with shopping at Walgreen or CVS is that they do not double or triple coupons. Besides that, there is lot to save by shopping there. I have gotten tons of diapers for pennies and even have gotten paid to take candy off their hands. So every week I do check out the CVS flyer just to see if there is something that is cheap and I really cannot live without. They both also do a good job by letting you know which items in their flyers have coupons you can use. I especially love this, because every month the hair dye I like to use goes on sale and the flyer also lets me know if there is a coupon for that product in the Sunday's paper. I have gotten hair dye for free many times because of using CVS's savings programs and coupons.
I know there are other big chain pharmacies out there, but since they are not in Fort Worth, I have no clue as to their coupon policy. If you know of any of these, then please write a comment to share with us. Tomorrow is the big day when the new weekly ads get released and I start making my lists. Hopefully I can guide you along my thought process on how I get this done.
Lets start with my favorite CVS. Most every body knows that CVS has a savings program called the Extra Care card. This card earns you extra bucks rewards, which are coupons that you can use for anything in the store except prescriptions, alcohol, gift cards, lottery, money orders, stamps, pre-paid cards, and tobacco products. Every week in the CVS flyer there are multiple products that can earn you extra bucks. This week at CVS you can get $3.00 extra bucks reward when you buy 4, 12 pack of Coke products. So if you buy 4, 12 packs of Coke, when you check out at the bottom of your receipt there will be a coupon that will say $3.00 extra bucks. It will also have an expiration date. Usually you have a month to use the coupon. Another thing I like about the extra bucks reward program is that every quarter, CVS will give you 2% of your total purchases for the quarter back in the form of an extra bucks coupon. CVS also is a place where I used to get make-up for free. They used to have deals where some brand of make-up was buy one get one free. So I would get my buy 1 get 1 free coupons for that brand out and go to CVS to get my free make-up. When using a buy 1 get 1 free coupon on top of a buy 1 get 1 free sale at CVS, you get the product for FREE!!!! I guess a lot of people caught wind of this practice, because in the past year I have not been able to get free make-up again. This week at CVS, All laundry detergent is on a buy 1 get 1 free sale. This is the perfect opportunity for me to stock up on my All Free and Clear. The regular price starts at $7.50 each, but since it is buy 1 get 1 free, I will get two for the price of one. But where the real savings comes in handy is that CVS will allow me to use 2, $1 off of 1 All product coupons. So I end up getting my 2 laundry detergents for $5.50. That equals to $2.25 each! Definitely cheaper than buying it in bulk at Sam's Club or just going over to Wallymart and picking me up one. CVS also has a great renewable shopping bag discount program. For 99 cents, you can get a CVS green savings discount tag to put either on your shopping bags or key chain. Each time you use it, you will get a discount for being environmentally responsible. After 4 uses, it will have paid for itself. I still need to pick me up one the next time I'm at CVS. CVS also came out with a special extra bucks program designed for people with diabetes. Certain products that diabetics need to use everyday can earn you extra buck rewards to go specifically towards buying your diabetic supplies. I just thought I would throw that one out there for all the diabetics who might be reading.
Now to Walgreens. I have to admit that I have not too much experience shopping at Walgreens, but the few times I have done it, I had good experiences. Rob's cousin, Erica, loves to shop at Walgreens and is what I refer to as the Queen of Walgreen shopping. Walgreens and CVS pretty much have the same set up, but just a little different. Walgreens does not have a savings card program, instead they have what is known as register rewards. It is just like the extra bucks, where when you check out, there will be a coupon printed out saying how much you can save the next time you shop. No card needed! They also have a great rebate program. Every month certain items have rebates attached to them. At the end of each month, you go to the Walgreen website and mark what items you have bought and send it in. You may have to verify that you bought the item by saying when and where you bought the item, but you do not have to mail in a receipt and a form showing you bought it. Everything is sent over the internet and even the verification is done on line. Once it is verified and sent in, then in about a month you will receive a check. Another good thing with the rebate is that when you buy the item, you can also use a coupon. Erica has been known to end up getting paid to take things off their hands by using coupons on items that are also on rebate. It does take some time to get used to the Walgreen website to figure out how to turn in your rebate form, but once you have figured that out, it is fairly easy.
Now really the only con with shopping at Walgreen or CVS is that they do not double or triple coupons. Besides that, there is lot to save by shopping there. I have gotten tons of diapers for pennies and even have gotten paid to take candy off their hands. So every week I do check out the CVS flyer just to see if there is something that is cheap and I really cannot live without. They both also do a good job by letting you know which items in their flyers have coupons you can use. I especially love this, because every month the hair dye I like to use goes on sale and the flyer also lets me know if there is a coupon for that product in the Sunday's paper. I have gotten hair dye for free many times because of using CVS's savings programs and coupons.
I know there are other big chain pharmacies out there, but since they are not in Fort Worth, I have no clue as to their coupon policy. If you know of any of these, then please write a comment to share with us. Tomorrow is the big day when the new weekly ads get released and I start making my lists. Hopefully I can guide you along my thought process on how I get this done.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Learning to use coupons
Now that you are starting to collect coupons, then next thing you need to do is to learn each stores coupon policies. You can find these either on the company's websites or just go to the store and ask for a copy of their coupon policy. Through trial and error, you will find little loop holes to use to your advantage. My coupon mom friends and I like to call each other and dish about what loop holes we have found. Through my experience, I have found that Wallymart has one of the worst coupon policies out there. They do not double or triple any coupons, they will not accept any online coupons, and if a coupon does not scan, they will not override the system and give you your savings. Don't bother complaining to customer service about this, because they are just rude and will refuse to help you even if you are right. Then there is the price matching that Wallymart says they do. I have tried over and over again to do the price matching thing, but each time they just find a way not to give it to me. After enough failed attempts, I have decided to take my business elsewhere.
The stores I mainly shop at are Kroger, Albertsons, and Tom Thumb. These are the stores closest to my house and the ones that send me flyers in my Wednesday mail. I will talk some about the coupon policies of each store.
Let's start with Kroger. For the most part, I like Kroger. They have electronic coupons and for the most part have something on sale that I can get really really cheap or free. I tend to get more free toothpaste or deodorant at Kroger. I also like it when their milk goes on clearance, because you can get some milk that still has 7 more days until it expires for cheap. And just to let you know, milk will stay good for 7 days once open. My family will go through 4-5 gallons of milk a week, so there is never a problem of milk going bad at my house. Kroger last year changed their coupon policy. Their "official" policy is that they double or triple the first coupon and any like coupons afterwards will be accepted at face value. Along with that you can only use 3 like coupons in one transaction. Now I have discovered for myself and from other people, that there are other Kroger in the area that has not updated their systems, so they will still double or triple all my like coupons. Now electronic coupons can be used on an item that you have already used a regular coupon on. So for example, if you have a coupon for 50 cents off a box of Cheerios on your Kroger Card, you can also use a regular 50 cents off a box of Cheerios on top of that coupon. So with our example, that is a $1.50 off a box of Cheerios since the store will double the regular coupon and accept the electronic coupon on top of that. You do need to know that electronic coupons will not get double or tripled at any store, and sometimes the electronic coupons for some weird reason will not be applied to your bill. When this happens, you can let the people at Cellfire or Shortcuts know and they will reimburse you. Something new at Kroger is that they no longer pay you to take stuff off their hands. This happens when something is on sale and you have a coupon that is more than the sale value of the item. The store will not credit the remainder to your bill, instead they will just give you the credit for the sale price. For example, Lady's Speed Stick is on sale at Kroger this week for 88 cents. I have a 50 cents off of 1 coupon. So when I go to get my Speed Stick, the computer will still double my coupon but instead of giving me the full dollar off, they will only give me the 88 cents off. Enough to make that item free. I remember I used to get tons of sour cream at Kroger and my defense to Rob was, "But Rob, they paid me 5 cents to take this off their hands!" He couldn't argue with that even if he really hated sour cream. Kroger also loves to give me coupons every 3 months for things I have bought during the prior 3 months. Kroger keeps track of the items you buy and how much you buy them with your Kroger plus card. Every 3 months you will receive Kroger coupons in the mail for some items and all the time they throw in a coupon for something for FREE!!!! I find that around November I always get a coupon for a free turkey. I usually either get free cereal or free lunch meat. Now those coupons, do not double or triple. So I guess Kroger is right when they say, "It pays to shop at Kroger."
My favorite store in regards to their coupon policy has to be Albertsons. They will double and triple coupons up to 3 like coupons. Another thing Albertsons has is every so often they have Albertsons coupons in their mail flyer. Now with these, you can use regular manufacturing coupons on top of Albertson's coupon. For example, Albertsons loves to send out coupons for Yoplait Yogurts. If I got an Albertsons coupon for yogurt at the price of 20cents each limit 20, then I can get 20 yogurts for 20 cents each, but I can also use 3 Yoplait 45 cents off of 6 yogurts manufacturing coupons. That equals to $1.30 for all 20 yogurts, or just a little over 6 cents each. Now if you did not see where I got that number, then I will break it down for you. First your Albertsons coupon makes the sale price on those 20 yogurts 20 cents each. We decided to get 20 yogurts and find that we have 3,45 cents off of 6 coupons. At Albertson they will double all three of those coupons. So first I find the price of all 20 yogurts which is 20x.20=$4. Then I figure out how much to subtract from the $4 dollars by doubling all three coupons and adding them together. So it will be .45+.45=.90. .90x3=$2.70. Subtract the final coupon discount from the four dollars. $4.00-$2.70=$1.30 for all 20! Another thing that Albertsons does that the other 2 groceries stores do not do, is that they will give you a 5 cent discount on each renewable shopping bag you use. Sometimes I use 8 bags there and at 5 cents each, that equals 40 cents. That can be enough to pay my sales tax.
The last store I shop at is Tom Thumb. Tom Thumb in my book has really stepped up and started to compete with the other stores. When I first started to shop there, their coupon policy was worse than Wallymart! Now their coupon policy is more of a cross between Kroger and Albertsons. Like Kroger, Tom Thumb does use electronic coupons that you can use on top of regular coupons. They also only double or triple the first coupon and take the other 2 at face value. Now some people have had problems with Tom Thumb not taking a coupon if it does not scan in their system. I have not had this problem, mainly because the lady who checks me out every time I go there, knows me and likes me so she ends up just overriding the system to give me my 40 cents. Try getting someone at Wallymart to do that for you! Now where Tom Thumb is like Albertsons, is that every weekly flyer, they have Tom Thumb coupons that you use manufacturing coupons on top of. Just like the Yoplait Yogurt example I used above. Tom Thumb almost always has some form of dairy product on clearance. Like Kroger, you tend to have 7 days until the expiration date. There are times I have gotten Organic Borden milk for cheaper than the regular Tom Thumb brand milk. Mainly because once the milk is put on clearance, it is always 50%off regular price and I have $1 off of one gallon Borden milk coupons.
Something that I will like to address separately is each store's policy about printable online coupons. Kroger and Albertsons will take any online coupon, as long as it scans. If it doesn't scan, then odds are they will not accept it. Tom Thumb used to not accept any online coupons at all, but has recently decided to accept online coupons that you can get only on the Tom Thumb website. Most of those coupons are from Coupons.com. I do know that Wallymart no longer accepts online coupons at all. The reason why grocery stores do not take online coupons or if they do they are very hesitant to, is because there is a lot of fraud that goes on with the coupons you can get online. So that said, try not to put the majority of your saving techniques into online coupons. It just might not be worth the hassle. I know I have tried to steer mostly away from print online coupons.
Now I know there are other stores out there that I have not mentioned. Probably because they are not around in my area so I have no way to shop there. So if there is a store you like and I have not mentioned, please feel free to comment on their coupon policy for the other readers who may want to know. There is a Super Target here and I hear from many people that they have an excellent coupon policy. I don't shop for groceries at Super Target because I love that store so much I would end up blowing my budget on clothes and other things in addition to buying groceries. I know my weaknesses and I try to stay away from them. If there are other things that I have failed to mentioned then please comment.
Knowledge is power, and the more you know, the more you can save. Get to know your favorite stores coupon policy because I guarantee there will be a time when something does not scan right and you want that mistake fixed. If you know their policy then you can fight successfully for your money back . Albertsons is pretty good about admitting mistakes and if one is made you can get that product for free. Kroger and Tom Thumb on the other hand, you will have to fight a little more to prove that they made a mistake. Next post I will take you through the weekly deals and how I make my lists.
The stores I mainly shop at are Kroger, Albertsons, and Tom Thumb. These are the stores closest to my house and the ones that send me flyers in my Wednesday mail. I will talk some about the coupon policies of each store.
Let's start with Kroger. For the most part, I like Kroger. They have electronic coupons and for the most part have something on sale that I can get really really cheap or free. I tend to get more free toothpaste or deodorant at Kroger. I also like it when their milk goes on clearance, because you can get some milk that still has 7 more days until it expires for cheap. And just to let you know, milk will stay good for 7 days once open. My family will go through 4-5 gallons of milk a week, so there is never a problem of milk going bad at my house. Kroger last year changed their coupon policy. Their "official" policy is that they double or triple the first coupon and any like coupons afterwards will be accepted at face value. Along with that you can only use 3 like coupons in one transaction. Now I have discovered for myself and from other people, that there are other Kroger in the area that has not updated their systems, so they will still double or triple all my like coupons. Now electronic coupons can be used on an item that you have already used a regular coupon on. So for example, if you have a coupon for 50 cents off a box of Cheerios on your Kroger Card, you can also use a regular 50 cents off a box of Cheerios on top of that coupon. So with our example, that is a $1.50 off a box of Cheerios since the store will double the regular coupon and accept the electronic coupon on top of that. You do need to know that electronic coupons will not get double or tripled at any store, and sometimes the electronic coupons for some weird reason will not be applied to your bill. When this happens, you can let the people at Cellfire or Shortcuts know and they will reimburse you. Something new at Kroger is that they no longer pay you to take stuff off their hands. This happens when something is on sale and you have a coupon that is more than the sale value of the item. The store will not credit the remainder to your bill, instead they will just give you the credit for the sale price. For example, Lady's Speed Stick is on sale at Kroger this week for 88 cents. I have a 50 cents off of 1 coupon. So when I go to get my Speed Stick, the computer will still double my coupon but instead of giving me the full dollar off, they will only give me the 88 cents off. Enough to make that item free. I remember I used to get tons of sour cream at Kroger and my defense to Rob was, "But Rob, they paid me 5 cents to take this off their hands!" He couldn't argue with that even if he really hated sour cream. Kroger also loves to give me coupons every 3 months for things I have bought during the prior 3 months. Kroger keeps track of the items you buy and how much you buy them with your Kroger plus card. Every 3 months you will receive Kroger coupons in the mail for some items and all the time they throw in a coupon for something for FREE!!!! I find that around November I always get a coupon for a free turkey. I usually either get free cereal or free lunch meat. Now those coupons, do not double or triple. So I guess Kroger is right when they say, "It pays to shop at Kroger."
My favorite store in regards to their coupon policy has to be Albertsons. They will double and triple coupons up to 3 like coupons. Another thing Albertsons has is every so often they have Albertsons coupons in their mail flyer. Now with these, you can use regular manufacturing coupons on top of Albertson's coupon. For example, Albertsons loves to send out coupons for Yoplait Yogurts. If I got an Albertsons coupon for yogurt at the price of 20cents each limit 20, then I can get 20 yogurts for 20 cents each, but I can also use 3 Yoplait 45 cents off of 6 yogurts manufacturing coupons. That equals to $1.30 for all 20 yogurts, or just a little over 6 cents each. Now if you did not see where I got that number, then I will break it down for you. First your Albertsons coupon makes the sale price on those 20 yogurts 20 cents each. We decided to get 20 yogurts and find that we have 3,45 cents off of 6 coupons. At Albertson they will double all three of those coupons. So first I find the price of all 20 yogurts which is 20x.20=$4. Then I figure out how much to subtract from the $4 dollars by doubling all three coupons and adding them together. So it will be .45+.45=.90. .90x3=$2.70. Subtract the final coupon discount from the four dollars. $4.00-$2.70=$1.30 for all 20! Another thing that Albertsons does that the other 2 groceries stores do not do, is that they will give you a 5 cent discount on each renewable shopping bag you use. Sometimes I use 8 bags there and at 5 cents each, that equals 40 cents. That can be enough to pay my sales tax.
The last store I shop at is Tom Thumb. Tom Thumb in my book has really stepped up and started to compete with the other stores. When I first started to shop there, their coupon policy was worse than Wallymart! Now their coupon policy is more of a cross between Kroger and Albertsons. Like Kroger, Tom Thumb does use electronic coupons that you can use on top of regular coupons. They also only double or triple the first coupon and take the other 2 at face value. Now some people have had problems with Tom Thumb not taking a coupon if it does not scan in their system. I have not had this problem, mainly because the lady who checks me out every time I go there, knows me and likes me so she ends up just overriding the system to give me my 40 cents. Try getting someone at Wallymart to do that for you! Now where Tom Thumb is like Albertsons, is that every weekly flyer, they have Tom Thumb coupons that you use manufacturing coupons on top of. Just like the Yoplait Yogurt example I used above. Tom Thumb almost always has some form of dairy product on clearance. Like Kroger, you tend to have 7 days until the expiration date. There are times I have gotten Organic Borden milk for cheaper than the regular Tom Thumb brand milk. Mainly because once the milk is put on clearance, it is always 50%off regular price and I have $1 off of one gallon Borden milk coupons.
Something that I will like to address separately is each store's policy about printable online coupons. Kroger and Albertsons will take any online coupon, as long as it scans. If it doesn't scan, then odds are they will not accept it. Tom Thumb used to not accept any online coupons at all, but has recently decided to accept online coupons that you can get only on the Tom Thumb website. Most of those coupons are from Coupons.com. I do know that Wallymart no longer accepts online coupons at all. The reason why grocery stores do not take online coupons or if they do they are very hesitant to, is because there is a lot of fraud that goes on with the coupons you can get online. So that said, try not to put the majority of your saving techniques into online coupons. It just might not be worth the hassle. I know I have tried to steer mostly away from print online coupons.
Now I know there are other stores out there that I have not mentioned. Probably because they are not around in my area so I have no way to shop there. So if there is a store you like and I have not mentioned, please feel free to comment on their coupon policy for the other readers who may want to know. There is a Super Target here and I hear from many people that they have an excellent coupon policy. I don't shop for groceries at Super Target because I love that store so much I would end up blowing my budget on clothes and other things in addition to buying groceries. I know my weaknesses and I try to stay away from them. If there are other things that I have failed to mentioned then please comment.
Knowledge is power, and the more you know, the more you can save. Get to know your favorite stores coupon policy because I guarantee there will be a time when something does not scan right and you want that mistake fixed. If you know their policy then you can fight successfully for your money back . Albertsons is pretty good about admitting mistakes and if one is made you can get that product for free. Kroger and Tom Thumb on the other hand, you will have to fight a little more to prove that they made a mistake. Next post I will take you through the weekly deals and how I make my lists.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Where To Begin
I know what you are thinking, how am I going to save money without shopping at Wally Mart? Well the number one answer to that question is coupons. That is where I began. I began getting Sunday papers and cutting the coupons out. There are only very few coupons I do not clip. I do not clip adult diapers or coffee coupons, since I do not use these products at all. At first I was clipping coupons only for the brands that I liked, but I learned quickly that toothpaste is toothpaste so if there is a coupon for it, then clip it. So what if it's not Colgate, if it's cheap or free, I'll take it. A good friend of mine, Lisa Smith, told me the best thing I can do is not to be picky about what brands I use. They all get the job done and if it's free, then hey I'm out no money. Now there are certain circumstances where I can not follow this rule. The only exception for me is the kind of laundry detergent I can buy. My daughter, Caisa, has psoriasis and my other children tend to break out in hives if I don't use a product like All Free and Clear. I know of several parents who can only buy Pampers since the other diapers cause their kids to break out in a rash.
How many Sunday papers you want to buy is up to you, but I tend to get either 2 or 3. My personal system is I have a weekend subscription so I get coupons from my paper, then my in-laws give me theirs, same goes with my parents. I know not all of you are as lucky as I am to have relatives that will give you their coupons, so for that there is another method. Most of my coupon loving friends like to get up early Monday morning, head out to the closest grocery store and buy the double Sunday paper bundle for a couple of dollars. For less than $3 you can get 2 sets of coupons and sometimes if your lucky, there just might be an extra set in there due to packing errors.
Now if just newspaper coupons are not enough, there are coupons on the Internet. I know that the Betty Crooker and Pillsbury websites have coupons on them along the Kroger and Tom Thumb websites. Kroger and Tom Thumb also have links to websites where you can do electronic coupons like Cellfire and Shortcuts. I highly recommend registering with these two sites. I have found more ways to get free food and other items when using electronic coupons. They are really easy to do, just select the coupons you want and in ten minutes, you can use them at the grocery store.
I spend most of my time cutting and printing coupons then when I'm searching the ads for deals to put on my grocery list. Next post I can get more in depth about store's coupon policies and the ins and outs of using coupons.
How many Sunday papers you want to buy is up to you, but I tend to get either 2 or 3. My personal system is I have a weekend subscription so I get coupons from my paper, then my in-laws give me theirs, same goes with my parents. I know not all of you are as lucky as I am to have relatives that will give you their coupons, so for that there is another method. Most of my coupon loving friends like to get up early Monday morning, head out to the closest grocery store and buy the double Sunday paper bundle for a couple of dollars. For less than $3 you can get 2 sets of coupons and sometimes if your lucky, there just might be an extra set in there due to packing errors.
Now if just newspaper coupons are not enough, there are coupons on the Internet. I know that the Betty Crooker and Pillsbury websites have coupons on them along the Kroger and Tom Thumb websites. Kroger and Tom Thumb also have links to websites where you can do electronic coupons like Cellfire and Shortcuts. I highly recommend registering with these two sites. I have found more ways to get free food and other items when using electronic coupons. They are really easy to do, just select the coupons you want and in ten minutes, you can use them at the grocery store.
I spend most of my time cutting and printing coupons then when I'm searching the ads for deals to put on my grocery list. Next post I can get more in depth about store's coupon policies and the ins and outs of using coupons.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Genesis: Why am I doing this
It's the beginning of August and time for back to school shopping for my girls. I have my school supply list in hand and ready. Time to head out to Walmart and buy the supplies. Every year I do the same thing, I get the school supply list and head to Walmart, which I like to call Wallymart. And every year, I end up getting upset because of the stupidity of those in charge of running the store. Like the previous years, I show up get the basic supplies like pencils, paper, rulers, crayons, and color pencils; but I end up wasting time trying to find the 12x18 assorted construction paper, composition notebooks, and folders with brads that the school deems important. After finally finding someone who can help me, I learn that Wallymart just does not carry these things. What I don't understand is that when I walk right in the front door, there is the list for the school supplies for the local elementary schools, which are either Fort Worth ISD or Crowley ISD, but Wallymart does not carry some of the basic school supplies on those lists. From Walmart's commercials, I get the sense that they pride themselves of making shopping convinent while having competitive prices. If that is the case, then why would they not stock up on all the back to school supplies that the local school districts want. They have the lists, then they should know what to order. Another thing I really don't understand is if CVS and Walgreens can have composition notebooks, then why doesn't Wallymart?
Okay I am starting to digress, after finding out that I'm going to have to find these items elsewhere, I discovered another mother in the same predicament as me. I told her loudly, due that a Wallymart employee was close by, that she can find all this stuff at Mardels. I also made sure to drop the fact that Mardels' prices were just as good and some times better than Walmarts. I know the employee has really little input on the way things are at Wallymart, but who knows maybe she will tell her manager what she "overheard" me say and he can do something, but that is wishful thinking. So I paid for my things,went to Mardels, and finished my shopping.
When I got home, I had to tell my husband, Rob, all about my experience and what I really think about Wallymart. That is when a light bulb came on in my head. Everyone now has a blog, why not start a blog about why I hate Walmart. Rob thought this was an excellent idea. Of course I had to get some unbiased opinions, so I posted on Facebook my idea. I had some people who liked the idea and a couple who just couldn't live without Walmart. So I decided that I would blog about my loathing of Walmart while vowing not to buy one thing at Walmart for one year and hopefully never again!
So now here we are, I am starting this blog. I do want to clarify a couple of things. I will NOT buy things from Walmart for one year, but I probably will set foot in their stores during this year. Mainly due to the fact that when I go grocery shopping with my mom, she goes to Walmart. My other clarification is that I Will shop at Sam's Club. I know some of you think that I shouldn't shop at Sam's since it is affiliated with Walmart and I should shop only at Costco. I shop at Sam's Club because they have the exact same things as Costco and then some for cheaper prices. The parking at Sam's is better, and my membership is way cheaper than Costcos. Sam's is also trying to keep with the times and have electronic coupons you can add right to your Sam's card. Last I saw Costco did not do this, but I could be wrong. Besides my problem is with Walmart not Sam's Club.
Okay with that out of the way, I'm ready to ween my family off of Walmart and save tons of money in the process. During this process, please feel free to leave your own experiences and comments. All mature opinions and debates are welcomed.
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