Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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. 



Wednesday, October 3, 2012

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