Publix

Believe it or not, this is nearly $200.00 worth of groceries.

I paid 46¢, including tax.

How I did it was a lot thanks to the $5/$30+ Target coupon, which most of my local stores take. Since I drive 30 miles, give or take, to the next town to shop, I make a roundabout trip back home that takes me past three more P stores.
At each store I tried to "spend" around $30.00 worth of my list. I'm not too good at it, or I would have figured I really only needed to spend $25.00, and then get $5.00 more worth of something I needed and didn't have a coupon for like the ground beef, chili mixes, pizza fixings, etc.

The vitamins and Whiskas treats gave a good bit of overage this week. My first couple of Mayo's and a few other things gave some overage also.
Visit Iheartpublix.com or Southern Savers to see the match-ups and coupons.

Shopping Day!

First we visited CVS for the diapers and candy. (There were a couple of other deals I had wanted to get in on, but apparently we didn't get those deals here in the ATL-Metro area.)

$9.99 Pampers Dry Diapers
-2.00 Pampers Dry Diapers IP
Pay $7.99, Get $4.00 ECB = $3.99 + tax

$10.00/4 Assorted Hershey's Candy
-2.00/2 Hershey's IP x 2 (Note, go to the page linked and print the coupon 2x from there. After the 2nd print, when the Summary page comes up, wait and it will forward you to another page with another coupon at the top you can print 2x more, for a total of 4.)
-2.50/2 CVS IP (Click on Watch Video to Save $1.00 on Hershey's Kisses)(Watch video, then choose Share to Save More in the little pop-up box.)(Type in YOUR email address and name in the next window.)(Choose to Share on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. I chose Pinterest, and a new Tab opened with the Pin Screen. I went back to the original page and it allowed me to print the coupon, without having actually shared the coupon.)
(You can only use 1 of the CVS coupons per transaction, so if you want to make the deal a moneymaker, do 2 transactions of 2 bags each.)(I did 4 per transaction and used 1 CVS coupon per transaction to make it go farther. In other words, I wanted more candy than profit.)
= Pay $3.50, Get $3.00 ECB = 50¢ for 4 bags of candy
(I was using the $4.00 ECB from the diapers in the 1st candy transactions, so I needed to spend 50¢ more so I bought a 2ltr Dr. Pepper on sale for 88¢.)

Next we headed to Victoria's Secret at the Mall, to spend my "Free Fashion Panty with any Pink Purchase" coupon.

I got a pair of Pink Ruched Boyshort (I think is the correct name of them). These were $10.50, but they had some as low as $8.50.
I had a $10.00 Secret Rewards card to spend, so my Pink panties cost 50¢ + tax, and then the Pink Nation Fashion Panty was Free.

I also shopped at Hallmark, where I bought a Keepsake Ornament, regularly priced $17.95.
I used a $5 off $10 coupon, and then I got a $5.00 off Total Purchase coupon for buying a Keepsake Ornament to use starting Monday, Dec. 10th.
So I paid $12.95 for my Ornament, and get $5.00 worth of something else free next time. Not bad!

We hit up both Staples and Office Max for batteries this week (Just Staples last week because I forgot to go to Office Max, booo!)

At Staples I got the Multi-use Paper with the Free After Rebate Coupon, and (2) packs of 16 ct. Duracell AA & AAA batteries, which are $13.99 each - Free After Rewards.
At Office Max I got (2) packs of 20ct. AA & AAA Duracell batteries, $16.99 each - 1¢ after $16.98 Rewards.

When I buy $100.00 worth of batteries before December 31st, I can send in for the $25.00 Gift Card Rebate.
So I get free batteries, and a free $25.00 Gift Card. Score!

Babies-R-Us is giving a Free Baby's 1st Christmas bib with Coupon. (Take the coupon to the Register for the Bib, they aren't the ones hanging on the Rack.)

Kohl's sent me a $5.00 off $5.00 Purchase coupon in my email. I was able to find this great Teenaged-Mutant-Ninja-Turtle t-shirt on the Clearance rack for $4.00!! I also found a pair of panties on Clearance for $1.80.
After coupon, my total was 80¢ + tax! Score again!

My oldest son is 25, nearly 26 years old, and the TMNT were the huge popular toy when he was a kid. He had all of them, and playsets, and themed birthday parties. This shirt will be right up his alley! 

When you flip up the front of the shirt, a Turtle is looking at you. What a stupid idea for a shirt, LOL!

The back side has a turtle shell. 

Publix

Checking the Publix sales last week, there were some things I wanted to pick up. I especially wanted to stock up on Publix 2-ltr drinks at 50¢ each.

Then I checked this weeks' sale and saw there were some good deals this week, too. Rather than make two trips, I waited until today when one of the Publix stores I visit starts it's new weekly sale.
The store 10 minutes down the road from it doesn't start the new sale until Thursday, so I can combine last weeks' and this weeks' sales.

Last weeks sale:

New week sale:

Visit I Heart Publix Super Deals for the coupons for these deals.

Tidy Cats 14 pound litter is BOGO $7.79. I would have bought it at that price, period, but luckily Target has a $2.00 Target coupon that made these $1.90 each!

~*~

Snuggle Exhilarations are on sale for $2.99. I used a $1.00 printable and a $1.00 Target coupon to get these for 99¢

~*~

Juicy Jucie is on sale for $1.99. I used a $1.00 off 8 pack boxes printable to get these for 99¢

~*~

The Publix 16 ounce Hickory smoked bacon is 3/$10, or $3.33 each. Doesn't sound like a great deal at first glance, but then I figured it out per ounce.
The cheapest I've been able to find bacon lately is some cheap quality Carolina Pride stuff on sale for 2/$5.00 for 12 ounce packages.

When I divide $2.50 by 12 ounces = .208333333333¢
When I divide $3.33 by 16 ounces = .208125¢

The Publix better quality bacon is clearly the better deal.

~*~

Rice Krispies 9oz box $1.99, use the $1.50 off from the Kellogg's Rewards Site. 

Buy 4 and use the "Buy 4 Kellogg's Cereal, get Free gallon of Milk" Publix coupon from the Yellow Flyer. 

Total cost for (4) boxes cereal and gallon of milk $1.96.

Aldi

Stopped in at Aldi's for the 3 pound bag of Tangerines for $1.49 and a couple of other things I find cheaper there than at my other local stores like Saltine Crackers, Poptarts, and Chips.

I ended up finding bags of Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries on sale for 25¢ each!!!

I have no idea what to do with Cranberries, but I'll find something.

Nor have I worked very much with sweet potatoes - other than the canned ones I put in my Sweet Potato Casserole for Thansgiving.  I know how to can, though, so I had an idea of canning my own.

I also thought maybe I could make up a batch of sweet potato pie filling and can it. I'm not sure if that's possible, or how much it would take for a pie - pint? quart?

CVS

This was one of those deals that might or might not have worked, but I was out driving past a CVS anyway so figured I'd give it a try. It's was a Go in two different metro Atl stores.

First I bought (3) 99¢ American Greetings greeting cards (even though the ad says $2.49 and up, the 99¢ ones worked).  Paid $3.15 with tax, and got back a $3.00 ECB.

Then I bought (2) 1.5oz size John Frieda conditioners (because I didn't need any shampoo). Paid with my $3.00 ECB, adjusted down 2¢, and paid 18¢ in tax.
Then I got back a $5.00 ECB for buying (2) John Frieda products.

Final total, I made $1.67.

Kroger Mega Sale Week 2

Between last week and this we got some new coupons and deals that paired great with the Kroger Mega Sale going on.

I was happy to see the Cool Whip coupons so I could stock up at half price instead of having to buy at full price when I needed some.

I was ecstatic to see the marshmallow coupons since I was planning to buy them anyway! Unfortunately all three stores I visited yesterday were completely out of stock, so I guess I'll have to try again later in the week.

I bought the Stove Top Stuffings because they were 29¢ each, but I'll probably give them to my Mom.

Total Spent $52.44
Total Saved coupons/sale $157.83

I wasn't going to buy the Jell-O pudding cups because 89¢ wasn't that great of a deal to me, we're not huge pudding eaters, but then a new catalina deal started on these yesterday. If you buy (4) you get a $3.00 OYNO coupon back, making these only 24¢ a pack with the $1/2 printable, insert or blinkie coupon. I couldn't pass them up for that cheap. Apparently I can put them in the freezer and turn them into a frozen treat like Pudding Pops.

The Mrs. Smith's pies were a good deal if you like/eat/buy frozen pies. These are regularly $6.99, on sale for $2.99 with the Mega sale. There's a $1.00 printable coupon making them $1.99.
I make what pies we eat, so I wasn't interested in the pie at $1.99.

But then someone discovered a catalina deal that gives you a $2.00 OYNO coupon when you buy a pie and a Kroger brand bowl of Whipped Topping.  The Kroger whipped topping costs $1.00, so it and a pie costs $2.99 after coupon. Then you get the $2.00 OYNO coupon back, making the pie and whipped topping cost a total of 99¢. Sweet deal!
(I would say just in time for Thanksgiving but with all the delicious homemade desserts my Mom and Aunt and Son is (are?) making, frozen pies would probably go over like a lead balloon, lol. These will probably end up going to the fire station with the hubby.)

I've Been Krogering

Kroger is having a nice Mega Buy 10/Get $5 off Sale this week and next with some really good prices on items to stock up on.

Besides disliking paying full price for items (which are overpriced to start with IMO) I also don't love having to go out in the Winter when it's cold. So stocking up on food now, on sale, is a double-win!

This was a stock-up shop, not a regular grocery shop, so the assortment might look kind of odd to shoppers not used to this kind of shopping.
There were also probably eleventy-million other items included in the Mega Sale, but I mostly shopped per the coupons I had available.

Some items I did buy without coupons because they were a Buy Price for me:
Manwich Sauce - Mega sale price 57¢ - We use the heck out of these. Sometimes I make Manwiches and I also use it in my Meatloaf. The last sale I got on these were over a year ago and I paid 49¢, so I figure a few cents for inflation and 57¢ is a Buy Price.
I was using them as "fill ins" to get groups of 10 today and ended up with about 8 cans, but I'll be getting more before this sale is done.

Green Giant vegetables - Mega sale price 49¢ each. Need I say more?

Jet-puffed Marshmellows - Mega sale price 69¢ - Every year for Christmas I make several Rice Krispie Treat Wreaths (use Bundt cake pan for molding) as gifts for my family and I usually pay over $1.00 a bag. I'll be stocking up on a few more of these, too!

Sweet Sue Chicken & Dumplins - Mega sale price $1.89. Just because I like them.

The apples and chocolate milk were on sale yesterday and today as part of a 2-day sale.
The chocolate milks were 99¢ each, which equals $1.98 a gallon, which is cheaper than I pay for a gallon of white milk. My kid goes through gallons of white-milk-with-chocolate-syrup (chocolate milk) so I grabbed a couple of these and came home and put two of my three gallons of white milk in the freezer. I figure it'll save me some change in the long run.

The apples were $1.00 per pound. Last week and the week before last, Aldi had these on sale for around 66¢ a pound, and I got a 3lb bag the first week and a 3lb bag last week. Then I learned I could make homemade apple sauce and wanted some more apples to make some. I didn't know if Aldi would have them on sale again (probably, now that I paid more for these). Oh well.

The big water jug was on clearance for $2.39.
My husband ended up with a water machine some time back, which we don't know if it works and didn't want to buy a big bottle of water in case it didn't. I figured this was cheap enough to try it out. Maybe it'll even work, or be fixable, then it'll be a really great deal!

Frees:
Crest $1.00 (Not part of Mega sale)
-.50/1 (doubled) PG 9/30

Gwaltney Hot Dogs and Bologna 88¢ (Not part of Mega sale)
-.45/1 Hot Dog item (doubled to 88¢) SS 9/30
-.45/1 Bologna item (doubled to 88¢) SS 9/30

Reach Tootbrushes $1.49 Mega sale price
*There's a Catalina Deal and links to Printable coupons
Trans #1: I bought (3) Reach TBs and used $2/2 and $1/1, paid $1.47 and received a $3.00 OYNO coupon, making my TBs free plus $1.53 profit.
Trans #2: I bought (4) Reach TBs and used (2) $1/2 and $3.00 OYNO, paid $1.96 and received $4.00 OYNO coupon.
I think I'm still 57¢ ahead at this point?

Other Mega deals:
Hormel Chili 87¢ - $1/2 SS 9/09
= 37¢
(One store had a Blinkie machine hanging by the Chili but it was cleaned out so I had to come home and buy some off ebay, which HIGHLY pisses me off. Jerkfaces.)

Heinz Gravy 69¢ - $1/3 IP
= 36¢ each

Minute Rice Ready to Serve $1.48 - .50/1 (doubled) RP 10/21
= 48¢

Success Rice Boil in Bag $1.69 - .50/1 (doubled) RP 9/16
= 69¢

Campbell's Cream of Mushroom/Chicken Soup 69¢
.40/3 IP (doubled) = 42¢ each
.40/4 SS 9/16 (doubled) = 49¢ each
$1/4 IP = 44¢ each
(I pay 59¢ for Aldi brand of these soups so I figure anything less is a good price to buy them.)

Carnation Evaporated Milk 69¢ - .50/2 (doubled) RP 9/30
or .50/2 (doubled) IP
= 19¢ each

Domino 4lb Sugar $2.49 - .50/1 RP 9/16 (doubled)
= $1.49

Nutella $2.99 - $1.00 RP 8/05
= $1.99 (I pay $1.99 for the Aldi brand, so thought it was an okay price to stock up on the Nutella)

Birds Eye Chef's Favorites $1.49 - 1.00 IP
= 49¢

Heluva Good Dip $1.38 - $1.00 Facebook IP
or .50/1 (doubled) Redplum IP
= 38¢

Progresso Recipe Starters $1.49 - .50 IP (doubled)
or .50 SS 9/09 (doubled)
= 49¢ (I don't know what this stuff is, but I figure for half-a-buck I'll find some way to cook it)

Ronzoni Pasta 69¢ - $1/2 IP
= 19¢ each

Pringles 99¢ - $1/4 RP 9/30
= 74¢ each (Not a Super great deal, but we had been wanting some.)

Totals:
Spent $68.55 + 3.29 tax = $71.84
Saved $113.21
Earned 96 Gas points today. 

Walmart

I was headed out for my weekly or bi-weekly (sometimes I don't go every week) grocery shopping trip to Aldi's today, and I wanted to stop in at Walmart to buy some storage tubs/bins.

I've been working this summer on my de-hoarding, and running into trouble with my Sentimental Stuff, so I decided to quit fighting with it. I get rid of what I can, I aim for at least 50% of the stuff, and the rest I'm putting in tubs and into the attic.
Years ago, when we moved into this house, I was actively "collecting" stuff, and never getting rid of anything. (I'm not technically a Hoarder, and I don't keep things like garbage, junk mail, dirty diapers, dead cats, etc. The Stuff I'm talking about is for example the kids toys, their school papers and art work, Dollar Store knick knacks, vacation memorabilia, craft supplies, and such like that.)

Anyway, when we moved in here, I put a lot of my things in boxes out in the storage room, with the intentions of going through it eventually.
Eventually was a good 10 years later, and I ended up not caring a thing about most of it and getting rid of it. So I hope that's what will happen with the stuff in the attic later on.

Either that, or it'll be up to the boys to have to deal with it.

Since I was going to Walmart anyway, I decided to check and see what kind of deals I could get while I was there.

Other sites reported the Jif Hazlenut spread  for around $1.27 or $1.50, with a $1/1 Printable coupon.
My WM didn't have it at all, at any price.

I needed cat food, and had a $1.00 MQ from the 9/30 RP.
This big bag was $8.97, and had a $1.00 off any Pounce Treats peelie on it. They had a small jar and some small bags of Pounce for 98¢, so I got those free + 2¢ overage.
Total was $7.95 for food and treats.

Another site reported Head & Shoulders shampoo at $2.67, but all the bottles on the shelf were $4.00+.
I ran across this 6.8 oz bottle with the clearance items, for $1.50.
I used the $2.00 MQ from the PG 9/30 to get it free with 50¢ overage.

These Farm Rich snack boxes were priced $2.17 at my store. I used $3/2 Printable Coupons, making them 67¢ per box.

I price matched the Campbell's Chicken Noodle and Tomato soups with Walgreens 59¢ price, then used .40/3 Printable coupons, making them 46¢ each.

There was a $2.00 off Kaytee (et.al.) Product in the RP 9/30, they are items for Birds and Small Pets.
There was bird treats as low as $2.08 and Small Pet items around $2.14. These Apple Sticks were $1.98, so I got them free plus 2¢ overage.
I don't have any birds or small pets, but they were free, so why not. I'm sure I can find someone on my FB roster that could use these.

Estracell sponges are 96¢ a 2 pk. I used the $1/2 MQ from the RP 9/30, making them 46¢ each.

I bought several other things while I was there, too, sans coupon, like OJ, pizza crust mix and sauce, candy, canned ham.....

My original subtotal was $39.36, down to $25.56 after coupons, so I saved a total of $13.80.

And storage tubs/bins never even once crossed my mind while I was in there. lol

Ingles

Here in the South, you know we drink a lot of Tea. So when I find it on sale, I stock up.

This week (ending today) Ingles has Tetley tea on sale BOGO.

There were coupons in one of June inserts, which I don't have any (and didn't think to look for any to buy from the coupon sellers)(and anyway, I never did really learn how to use coupons at Ingles). So, I paid more for mine that I should have, but despite all that, I'm still happy with the deal I got.

Last year when I stocked up they were $1.98 a box, which worked out to 99¢ each after BOGO.
When I got my paper this week, it said "Save $2.38", making them $1.19 a box. Not a good as 99¢, but still better than $2.38 for one box, which is what I would have to pay if I ran out while they weren't on sale.

So I get to the store, and the sign reads "$1.98 BOGO". Woot!
I get 10 and my son gets 10 and we check out, but then my total came up to over $12.00 with tax.
My math skills suck bad, but even I knew it should have been less than $10.00 plus tax, which was only 36¢.

The receipt showed that I was charged $1.98 for the first box, but then it only took off 79¢ rather than 99¢ for the BOGO.
The Manager agreed it rang up wrong and gave us each (1) box free because of the right price guarantee, and then refunded the 20¢ per box we were overcharged.

I figured it up when I got home and the $1.98 - 79¢ made them cost $1.19 per box, same as the "Save $2.38" in the ad, but I don't think they can do that, advertise one price in the store, and charge another.

In the end, I paid about 83¢ each.

Starting Back

Or not.

After the 'Great Extreme Couponer Crash', I didn't think it was progressing me to continue trying to coupon shop.

First of all, the only "coupon" store we have here in my town is a small, old Rite Aid, with very little stock. I rarely had any luck trying to do my deals there.
Any of the next nearest towns with shopping is at least 25 miles away.

It used to work out, I could drive to the next town over, buy the "Metro Region" Sunday papers for $1.00 each, and be able to do my shopping while I was out. (The town I live in is one county outside the Metro area, and doesn't get as many or as good of coupons.)
Then, they quit selling the papers on the corner.
Then, the stores "cracked down" on coupons, changing the rules, placing limits.

It was just not worth the gas or my time to drive 50+ miles round trip, pay $2.00 for my papers, to be able to buy (1) item/deal.

I still drive to the next town over, but it's to shop at Aldi, where I can buy $1.99 milk, 99¢ large dozen eggs, 85¢ loafa bread, 69¢ 2ltr Cola, and cheap fruits and veggies.

Sugar, corn chips, tortilla chips, cereal, poptarts, refried beans and a few other things are also cheaper there.
Maybe not cheaper than using coupons, but by the time I pay $2.00 or $2.50 per paper and use the gas driving around to different stores, then it probably works out about the same.

I generally spend around $50 a week and get everything we need, including boneless/skinless chicken breast, except for beef or pork meats.  I try to get up early and hit Food Lion's Mark-down meats about once a month.

This week a local, hometown grocery had a 3-day sale, with Milk $1.99, and ground beef $1.79lb. I got my usual (4) gallons of milk, and stocked up on a lot of ground beef.
But the majority of their other prices liked to have caused me heart failure!

Then we went up the road to Walmart, and their prices are really only cents cheaper. It's just that everything has gotten so much more expensive since I last shopped like a regular person, pre-couponing.

I told my kid, I am going to have to get back to coupon shopping. This is crazy.

Other people still coupon shop and seem to do well. I figured if I just planned better, hit all the stores at once while I was out, only go one time a week, go early in the week before stock runs out...I won't be able to do like I used to, when I pretty much got paid to shop, but even if I save 50% or more, that's something.

So I sat down yesterday and visited all my old haunts and looking for deals. Granted, I didn't have any current newspaper coupons, but I figured I could make a pretty good start with Printables.

Other than the Food Lion toilet paper deal - and I didn't even really need TP at the moment, but I know I will later, and this is one of those really rare deals - every single thing I found was absolutely nothing I needed. In fact I'll end up donating/giving a good bit of it away.

Absolutely nothing I needed cost me $57.81 even after Rebates, and 1/4 tank of gas, which works out to be around $14.40 worth of gas.

I shoulda just stayed home.

Food Lion

Food Lion has been having a Big Deal I wished I'd paid attention to a lot earlier than two days before the sale ends!  It's like a Mega Sale, where you buy a certain number of items, and get an amount off:
Buy 10 items, get $5 off
Buy 20 items, get $10 off
Buy 30 items, get $15 off
(Limit $15 per order)

There's also a $5/$30 FLip coupon you may or may not be able to use to make the deal even sweeter. (If you can get them to scan the coupon before they scan your MVP card.)

Well, these (4) Roll Angel Soft toilet paper, and Sparkle and Brawny single roll paper towels are on sale for $1.00 per package. If you buy 10, 20, or 30, you get half off, making them 50¢ each.
I went with the intention of buying 2/3 toilet paper, but sadly, they only had (7) packages left in the store. JML.

I got total (30) packages of toilet paper and paper towels, and was able to use my $5/$30 coupon.
Final Total $10.00 + 2.10 Tax = $12.10 (or about 40¢ each. Ohhhh how I wish that was all toilet paper!!!)

I had my son with me to also get toilet paper, but since they didn't have any, I didn't really want to spend another $10 (or $15) on more paper towels.
They have Old El Paso Taco, Burrito, and Fajita seasoning packages on sale for 79¢ (dang, I should have scouted out to see if they had any chili seasoning. Didn't think about it.)
After the Big Deal, they're 29¢ which is a great price for Taco seasoning.

By the time we got (30) packages of Taco seasoning, we were at $23.70 (before Big Deal sale). I figured we're "that close" to $30.00, might as well get $6.30 more of something and get $5 of it free with the coupon. So I got a 5lb bag of potatoes on sale for $2.99, and a package of Mark-down boneless pork chops for $3.68.

Dummy, Jr...er, I mean my son, didn't even give his cashier the coupon! He said he forgot, he was still stuck on us not being to use it because they were out of toilet paper...or some such thing. Sigh.

Final Total $15.37 + 46¢ Tax = $15.83

Staples

Staples is having another big Back-to-School sale this week. There's a $5 off $30 Printable Coupon that you can use to make sweet deals even better.

Last week I didn't go 'til Thursday and they were out of several of the things I was looking for to make my total $30 or more, so this week I made sure to get there early.

This week (7/22 - 7/28) deals I got (there were more I didn't need/want):
$4.00 Zebra Mechanical Pencils 10, limit 1
-4.00 Easy Rebate (in store only)
Free after Rebate

$4.00 Pentel Ballpoint 5 pk. limit 1
-4.00 Easy Rebate (in store only)
Free after rebate

1¢ Staples Pink Cap Erasers 12 pk. limit 2
With $5 purchase

1¢ Staples 3x5" White Index Cards, limit 2
With $5 purchase

50¢ Sharpie Accent Highlighters 5 pk limit 4

25¢ Staples Stickies Flags 125 pk limit 4

$6.99 Staples Multi-purpose Paper, limit 2
-5.99 Easy Rebate
$1.00 after Rebate

$9.99 Everyday Photo Paper 50 pk 8.5x11" limit 4
-8.99 Easy Rebate
$1.00 after Rebate

Total $35.01 - $5/$30 coupon = $30.01 + $2.10 Tax = $32.11
-28.97 Easy Rebates
$3.14 Final Cost inc'l Tax

Last week (7/15 - 7/21):

Order #1:
$14.04 + 42¢ Tax = $14.46
-13.38 Easy Rebate for the Paper
Final Total 98¢ inc'l Tax

Order #2:
$29.53: I was keeping an estimated running total in my head (L.O.L.), and of course was off in the end.
I told my kid to grab a candy bar, not knowing they charge $1.19!!!! for regular candy bars!
Total $30.72 - $5/$30 coupon = $25.72 + $1.24 Tax = $26.96
-22.47 Easy Rebates
$4.49 Final Cost inc'l Tax

Kroger, CVS, Walgreens

Kroger was our first stop. The Mott's for Tots 64oz. juices are priced $2.29.
Use $1.00/1 Printable Coupon to make them $1.29 each.
(I'm going to use mine to make Moonshine, lol)

The double newspaper was $3.99 + tax. OUCH!!

Kroger total $6.99 inc'l Tax

Next we went to CVS (where I was obviously suffering from a bad case of the Brain Farts, ugh.) For some reason I had the idea to roll the $3.00 ECB from the Starbucks refreshers to newspapers, because I didn't want to have ECBs left over until I decide if I'm going to get back more into Couponing.
The papers cost about 51¢ more each buying them separated, and for some reason I was thinking they were $2.99, rather than $2.50. I should have just bought another double stack at Kroger :(

I went ahead and paid for one of the papers and kept the ECB, but for the other deal I grabbed a bottle of VO-5 conditioner price cut to 79¢ (I want to try making DIY Fabric Softener).

2/$3.00 Starbucks Refreshers or AMP Energy drinks, Get $3.00 ECB limit 1
(There are Starbucks tearpad coupons out there, I didn't have any)
Free after ECB

$2.00 Stayfree Maxi-pads
-2.00 MQ 7/22 SS
Free w/ coupon

2/$1.00 Mars candy
-$1.00/2 Q from the Big Red Machine
Free/2

I had $6.01 left on a CVS Bucks gift card from some deal a while back, so that cut down on my OOP a good bit.

CVS total $6.72

Then we went to Walgreens. Just for the Stayfree. Right.

$1.99 Stayfree
-2.00 or 1.99 MQ 7/22 SS
Free
(Coupon didn't beep in the first order where I had other items, had to be marked down and entered when buying them alone.)

50¢ Arizona Teas

20¢ Spiral or Composition notebooks w/ in-ad IVC

I had IP coupons for Post Shredded Wheat Cereal and the Right Guard Total Defense 5 Clear Stick, but neither seemed to be included in the sales.

Wags total $7.56

CVS

Had $6.00 ECB expired last week, so I had to go spend it.

Saw the children's Advil deal posted: it's on sale for Buy One - Get one 50% off. They have these little 1oz Travel size for $2.49 (up to $2.69 prices may vary).
I have $2.00 any Children's Advil q's from the Doctor's office.
On the first deal I believe the last one beeped for overage, but the cashier put it in manually for the whole $2.00 so I got a little overage. At the 2nd store both coupons went through at $2.00 with no beeps. Yay for overage!
$2.49
$1.25 50% sale
-2.00 mq x 2 = +26¢ overage

Total Cost $17.78

Also read that the Big Red Machine is giving $1.00 off Any Toothbrush every day this week (so far) which makes the Colgate toothbrushes free.
$2.99 - $1.00 CRT = $1.99, get $2.00 ECB = Free

And that the 2.7oz Crest Complete were counting towards another deal. These were $2.77 at my stores, didn't have any coupons, got $3.00 ECB back for each, limit 2. I bought both of mine at the same time and got $6.00 ECB =  46¢ overage/2

The Mars single candy bars are 75¢, get 75¢ ECB = Free (There were coupons but I didn't get any.)

+$3.86 moneymaker

I still have some Rainchecks from when the 5ct Zyrtec was $5.99 Free After ECB, so I used my $4.00 off mq from the 4/15 SS and they were a $4.00 moneymaker.

I didn't want to go home with ECBs so I spent the ones I had on the candy deal. Reese's Mini's bags are $3.00 each; deal is Buy $15.00 and get $5.00 ECB.
I bought 5 bags, used (2) $1.00/2 mqs from 4/15 SS = $13.00, get $5.00 ECB = $8.00, or $1.60 a bag.
King size candy costs about that, or more, and I looove these Reese's Minis, so I thought it was a good deal.

What wasn't a very good deal was the Starbucks K-cups, in comparison with deals I've gotten on other kinds of K-cups, but I guess for being Starbucks they were probably an okay deal.
They're on sale for $7.49 for a 10ct box, and I used $2/2 IP, making them $6.49 per box, or about .65 per cup.

Final total $13.92 oop 

Zyrtec

I ended up with 25 more $4.00 coupons from the 4/15 SS after I bought all those last month, and as they are expiring day-after-tomorrow, I had to get out and use them.
Visited Walmarts (yes, plural) for these.

Total cost including tax = $37.17 (about 32¢ per pill)

Aldi

Aldi's produce special this week included 59¢ lettuce and 59¢ on-the-vine-tomatoes. A large garden salad for $1.18!

Bread, milk (I got 4 gallons @ $1.99 each), cokes (I got 8 cokes @ 69¢ each), refried beans, hot dogs, eggs, poptarts, chocolate milk syrup, corn chips, and tortilla chips are all cheaper at Aldi than other stores I shop.

Meats are hit and miss at Aldi, but this week I found boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.99lb, which has lately been my stock up price.

Total cost including tax $37.77

Walgreens

I saw last week the Kotex U Sleek Tampons were going to be free after coupon and RR this week, so I jumped on eBay and ordered 20 coupons. I think I paid $2.49 with free shipping.

I use Kotex tampons, and I like the orignal U tampons we got last year (or year before) when they were new, later on my lighter days.  These new ones are called Sleek. I'm not sure what's new and different about them, but I like Kotex, I like U, and I like Free, so it was a deal I wanted in on.

Then, this morning I checked my go-to-for-info Board for any last minute intel, and found out the RR was rolling for a lot of people. That would be fantastic if it worked for me because I didn't have anything I wanted to roll or spend 20 $3.00 RR's on.

So I bought one and got my $3.00 RR, then bought another one with some clearance Jello as my filler, to be able to use the MQ and the RR. The cashier informed me it wouldn't print another RR if I used that one, but I told her that was Okay.
I was happy and she was surprised when another $3.00 RR came rolling out.

Bad thing was, I went without any real plans for fillers, and I looked around and couldn't find anything for less than .39¢ Jello, and I didn't really want to spend .39¢ on Jello I sure as heck don't need.

So at the next Wags store, my son had some photos on his phone so we printed photos, which are on sale this week for .15¢ each with coupon code 6221.
I've heard of people using photos as fillers, but hadn't done it myself before, and I have to say, they were less than enthusiastic with me making separate orders in order to buy 1 per transaction.
That didn't stop me, though.

At the next Wags we went to, they had the Walk for Walgreens blocks. They'd only let me get one per person, so luckily my son was with me.  They rang up a penny, but thenshe put in a code and deleted it, so my RR beeped as being too many coupons/ not enough items. I managed to talk her into leaving the penny charge on, but she was really scared she was going to get into trouble for it.

I still have 8 more coupons I hope to be able to use up tomorrow. I wanted to come home and get some pictures off my computer I would like to have printed. I'd like to do the orders online and just pick them up at the store, but since I never know when I'm going to run into trouble with Managers or scared/hateful/jealous cashiers, I don't know which stores I'll end up being able to do my shopping in. Most likely I'll end up shopping 2 or 3 different stores again.
Because none of my local Wags like to actually make sales. They'd prefer to keep their stock, as to let someone get a good deal.

(I hate to be so constantly negative about my shopping adventures, but that's what my shopping experiences are 99% of the time - negative. The cashiers are surly and the Managers think you're scamming. I get sick to my stomach and have to force myself to go shopping these days. Many days, I just chalk it up to "not worth it" and won't even go.)

Walmart Zyrtec

OMG, I let us run out of Zyrtec/Cetrazine/Allergy Meds a couple of weeks ago. Luckily the Allergy count stayed low enough to not send my hubby running to the Doc with sinus infection until I could get some more. 

I didn't post last week (because I was in a state of disorganization) but I got a couple of packs of these 5ct. Zyrtec from CVS using Rainchecks from a previous FAECB sale.

Then I caught a break at Publix, the last day of the last green flyer, there was a $4.00 off Allegra PQ and I printed a $5.00 MQ, so I got a box of 30ct for $7.99, I think it was. 

(I prefer Allegra as it's non-drowsy, and the Zyrtec knocks me out. Even if I take it at night, I sleep all the day the next day.) 

Then I saw the deal with the $4.00 off Zyrtec coupons making these 5ct. .76¢ at Target (last week) or $1.27 at Walmart. I got some coupons but didn't make to Target last week.
So while we were out today we stopped in a Walmart to see if we could use them.

I'd read that people were having trouble, they would beep, they got the old "It's limit 1 per purchase"/transaction mistake, or cashiers/managers insisting that 5ct. was Trial size.

The coupons didn't "beep", but did ask something on the register, I couldn't see what it was. Anyway, the cashiers just hit a key and it went through without them giving me a bit of trouble.

I paid about $26.25 (including pre-coupon tax) for 16 packs, or 80 pills, which comes out to about .32 per pill. (As opposed to $1.13 per pill regular price)

*Disclaimer: The above Math figures may be wrong, because I stink at Math!

Staples

This week (thru tomorrow, the 18th) Staples has 100% Rewards back on PNY 4GB flash drive.

Flash drives disappear around here like socks in the washer, so anytime they have these free (after rebate or rewards) I always get a couple.
(I have a card and my son has a card.)

*Reminder: Being a Staples Reward, you won't get the Reward if you use Staples Rewards to pay for it. So pay cash, and save your Rewards for Easy Rebates, or something else you need.

Staples/Office Max

I had $16.00 Staples Rewards from last quarter about to expire, so I had to get on the stick and find something to spend them on.

Wish I had paid attention earlier in the week and had been able to get the paper; or that they wouldn't do Sun - Wed sales only. I'm barely even conscious before Wednesday :(

At any rate, I found a Free After Easy Rebates deal on an Anti-virus:
$39.99 - $4.99 easy savings = $35.00/ Get $35.00 Easy Rebate = Free

I was below the $45.00 threshold for free home delivery, but I chose Store delivery and it was free, too.

With that, I have turned all my Rewards from last quarter back into cash to be able to spend again.

Last quarter (around November) I bought Duracell batteries, a USB flash drive, and Earphones for 100% Rewards back.
Then in February I bought a Titanium Internet Security for Free after Easy Rebate. I received a Pre-paid Visa card for that.

This week at Staples they have Free after Rewards copy paper and Duracell batteries again:

HammerMill 8.5″ x 11″ CopyPlus Copy Paper $5.99 (Limit 2, in-store only)
Spend $5.99, get 100% back in Staples Rewards
Final price: Free after Staples Rewards

Duracell CopperTop AA or AAA Batteries (16 pk.) $12.99 (Limit 2, in-store only)
Spend $12.99, get 100% back in Staples Rewards
Final price: Free after Staples Rewards

The plan is to buy (2) of each for a total of $37.96 + tax, using the Pre-paid Visa.
At the end of this quarter, I'll get back $37.96 in Rewards, which (hopefully) I'll be able to turn over into an Easy Rebate again, making my paper and batteries free (or, cost only tax).

I have $105.50 Office Max rewards, from $95.50 I spent on Free After Rewards items around Christmas, plus $10.00 I earned for "spending" over $75.00.

I had determined that my printer ink was a better deal at Office Max, so even though Rewards spent don't count towards the $75 threshold for earning the $10 Rewards, I was okay with that. I have to buy ink anyway, but with this deal I got cheap/free batteries plus a free $10 in Rewards.

This week, they have a deal where you get a free $10.00 Office Max Gift Card with the purchase of $60.00 or more of Ink (excluding HP, Epson, Office Max brand and Refills).

I couldn't find much details, "fine print" about the deal, so at this point I don't know if I'll get the free gift card since I used to Rewards to pay, but if it works out, then I managed to earn myself a free $10 anyway.

*Notice, As of April 1st, Office Max's Ink Recycling benefits are changing to match Staples, in that they only give $2.00 Rewards each, and limit to 10 per month.

Strawberry Shortcake

The other day I posted about our new Aldi store, and that I had gotten strawberrys for 50¢ a pack. I'm not a great big fan of strawberrys, but I do love strawberry shortcake so I thought I'd experiment with these berrys and see if I could make my own strawberry shortcake dessert topping.

I had a recipe in my handwritten cookbook from some years ago where (probably) one of my Grannie's told me to "cut up fresh fruit, add sugar and water, boil".  That's the way my Grannie's cooked, they just eyeballed and added stuff and created what they wanted. That don't always work out so well with me.
This time, it did!

First I washed and (de-hulled? pulled off the stem) then sliced the strawberrys.

Put the berrys in a pot and I added 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup of water and boiled. It's pretty sweet which is the way I like it, but otherwise you might want to cut back on the sugar to 1/4 cup.

I stored mine in a canning jar because it was clean and handy. I didn't "can" it.  I had Sarah Lee pound cake and Cool Whip in my freezer from some past Publix or Food Lion sale.

I like to cube my pound cake, spoon on the strawberry dessert topping, and top with Cool Whip. Yum!

*No, it's not Gluten-free, Yes, I am cheatering. Luckily it won't kill me too much.

Drop Cloth Curtains

Awhile back I started a project, attempting to make drop cloth curtains for my new blue livingroom.

I found the canvas painters drop cloths at a local discount store for cheap ($2.69 as opposed to $9.99 at the home improvement store) and bought four and some dark brown RIT dye. I wanted to dye the drop cloths a dark chocolate brown.
I only used one bottle of dye and knew they weren't as dark as I'd wanted, but before I tried to dye them more I thought I'd see how the "chocolate ice cream" color would look. Maybe it would work okay.

I don't really like it. But worse, where other people can use drop cloths and make very nice looking curtains, mine look like dyed drop cloths. Not only that but I don't think they are long enough.

Neither of us seem to know where the rod is supposed to hang in reference to the trim - right across it? Right above it? A couple inches above it?

Where J is holding the rod here, the "curtains" just touch the floor. If we raise it up any, they won't reach the floor like they're supposed to.
So I'm thinking, even if I relegate these drop cloths to the back porch like I said I could if they didn't work out for the livvyroom and buy real curtains, I don't know if they are even going to reach the floor.

Argh.

CVS

My husband has to take an allergy pill every night, so last night he threw an empty bottle of Rite Aid's Cetrizine away and I went to look for some more and - gasp! - we didn't have any more, of any kind!

Lucky for me, CVS has 5ct Zyrtec free after ECBs this week, so I can about a months worth (using my family's cards).

The CVS I went to today didn't have any on the shelf, but I happened to have a Raincheck from a sale on the CVS brand allergy relief from last September so I picked up a box of those.
I asked for a raincheck on the Zyrtec, but turned out they had some in a bin right there in the front that I had walked right by. Duh.

The CVS allergy was $3.69, free after ECBs, so I went ahead and bought those. Got a $4.00 ECB, because when they print them for rainchecks it rounds up.

I had a $3.00 off any Zyrtec from an allergy booklet I found in CVS a few months ago, so my Zyrtec was only costing me $2.99 instead of $5.99.
I wanted to spend the $4.00 ECB so I needed another $1.01 worth of product.
I found green sweet peas on clearance 2/$1.00.  So happened, sweet peas were on my shopping list.
I lost a penny, but that's okay.

I also saw the Kraft Parmesan cheese is on sale this week 2/$5.00. So happens Parmesan cheese was the other thing on my shopping list. This stuff is regularly $5.29 each, so I'm going to be looking to stock up on this this week. Or, at least, stocking up on rainchecks, like I had to get today.
Otherwise I would have spent my $5.99 ECB on (2) Parmesan cheese and (2) sweet peas and been happy, happy, happy!

Trans #1:
$3.69 CVS allergy tabs
    .26 tax
= $3.95 from CVS Cash card earned from the Buy $30 get $10 Coke deal awhile back
Got $4.00 ECB = + 5¢ profit

Trans #2:
$5.99 Zyrtec 5ct
$1.00/2 sweet peas
   .20 tax
-3.00 Zyrtec coupon
-4.00 ECB (3.99)
= .20 oop
Got $5.99 ECB Zyrtec & $1.00 ECB green bag tag = + $2.84 profit
(A $2.84 profit will bring the cost of my parmesan cheese down to about $2.16, or $1.08 each. WOW!)

Aldi

We got an Aldi! (When I say we, I mean the next town over, about 30 miles away, not here in Podunkville). It's brand new, just opened Thursday past. There are other Aldi's around but I've never been to any of them, so this was my first time.
I read on the internet about needing a quarter to get a buggy and bringing my own bags (or having to buy them if I wanted bags, no way jose'!) so I was prepared for that. (I hate going anywhere not knowing about the place and being unprepared for new and different things.)

The cereal was about 30¢ cheaper than Kroger's store brand I have been buying here lately (going to Kroger for $2.99 milk), but I don't know yet how they taste to know if it was worth it or not.
On the subject of milk, Aldi's is $1.99 a gallon compared to Kroger's $2.99 on sale. I bought 4 gallons that were already put in the fridge before I took this pic.


I bought some 75¢ hot dogs but don't know how they are going to taste.
Found some 29¢ frozen beef and bean burritos my kids like to pop in the microwave if I decide not to feed them.
Oreo-like cookies were about $1.00 cheaper, and I saved about 50¢ on the chocolate milk syrup and the corn chips.
The vinegar was 99¢ and the refried beans were 79¢ which I'm not sure was cheaper than other stores, but if not, at least not more expensive.
I also got a 2-ltr Cola at 59¢ to see how it tastes (but I'm not sure where it is at the moment).

The breads were 89¢, about a dime cheaper than around here. I wouldn't drive out of my way to go buy it, but if I'm there anyway, good savings.


The best deals, of course were the produce.
The sale ad on strawberries this week said they were 79¢ per pack, then I read on a local message board someone had paid 69¢, but today they were 50¢ per pack so I guess they go down in price as they age or something?
We bought 8 packs of them, but I'm thinking I should go back and get more. I gave 7 of the packs to my son who loves, loves, loves strawberries and told his gf how to wash, slice and freeze them and he can eat them frozen like a treat, or use them in smoothies.
My one pack I brought home and sliced up and added a cup of water and a 1/2 cup of sugar and boiled it to make a topping for strawberry shortcakes. I wasn't sure how that was going to work out is why I didn't invest in a lot of the berries, but it turned out good, so I think for 50¢ a pack I can make a whole big batch of it and freeze in quart size freezer bags for desserts later, when strawberries aren't as cheap.

The bag of onions was only 59¢ for 3lbs, bag of carrots were 49¢, cabbage was 69¢ each, lettuce 99¢ each, the cantaloupes were 99¢ each, the bag of oranges (there were 8 or 9 in the bag) were $1.49, and the bag of grapefruit (6 in the bag) was only 79¢.

I quartered the oranges and halved the grapefruit and froze those, too. I didn't really know you could freeze citrus until a few months ago when my youngest son was running Cross Country and one of the Moms brought way too many quartered oranges to one of the meets. No one knew if they would freeze, but I brought them home and put them in the freezer because even if they didn't freeze well they weren't going to be any good a week later at the mext meet anyway.
Turned out they did fine. I didn't know when to take them out to thaw, and they were still partially frozen when I took them to the meet and the kids actually liked them even better.

They also had whole pineapples for 99¢. I went to Kroger after and saw theirs was on sale for $1.99.

Including my four gallons of milk, I also bought my son a gallon, plus the 7 packs of strawberries, onions, carrots, lettuce, pineapple, tortilla chips and corn chips.

All totaled including tax was $55.81.

The produce prices just amaze me! I can't believe other stores charge the prices they do, that big chains like Kroger, Publix or Walmart can't negotiate these same kind of deals on produce.

Gardening Update

A week ago I had one sunflower sprout, and two just about sprouting. Now I have twelve good sunflower sprouts up.

My Lima Beans are also coming along really well!

Otherwise, not so great.
My Beefeater tomatoes didn't sprout at all. I don't know if they were bad/old seeds, or maybe they needed the greenhouse effect, or - ?

Also my peppers haven't come up. One cup of the bell peppers came up with something, but since I only planted three seeds per pot, I'm guessing those aren't bell pepper plants:

That's one of my problems with using compost soil for sprouting, I'm thinking. The reason I sprout the plants before putting them in the garden, rather than just sewing the seed right into the garden, is because I can't tell the different between a veggie plant and a weed. I've been known to weed out our veggie sprouts out of the garden!
Turns out I get grass and other things growing in my seedling pots from the compost soil that I don't know what it is. The only reason I was able to recognize that some of it wasn't my seeds sprouting was because the same little plant sprouted in every cup. Since I could see some of them obviously weren't what was supposed to be growing there, like the lime beans and sunflowers, I knew the alien little growth didn't belong in any of them.
Or, at least, I hope not, since I plucked it out of all of them!

As far as the newspaper seedling pots, they are still holding up to watering, not disintegrating or coming apart.
I do have to water a lot. I'm not sure if the newspaper is actually sucking the water out of the soil and drying them out.

Anyway, I think my verdict on the experiment is that I'll sprout my seeds like I originally used to, in the little peat pods/ greenhouse thing.  Then when they sprout, the time I would have transplanted them into a larger little plastic pot to give them room to grow and "hearty" before planting them in the garden is when I'll use the little newspaper cups instead.

These are all Black Russian tomatoes J and his partner sprouted at the station:

We lost several of the original couple dozen J brought home because one night last week we had a freeze warning so I brought them in set them in the laundry room floor, and Kitty had a salad for dinner. Silly Kitty!