Last Minute Grocery Shopping: Saved 70%

Since I was feeling bad last week, I didn't make it out to any of the stores.  Today I realized that it had to be today, even though it was rainy and the temp was dropping rapidly.

First I went to Tom Thumb, aren't with a handful of store coupons (from the ad)/manufacturer coupons to stack.

Here's what I got at Tom Thumb:

Two Ken's @$0.99 each with store coupon--used 2 $1/1 =FREE
Two Danimals Crunchers @  $1.69 each--Used $1/2 printable= $1.19 each
Two Chex @  $0.99 each--Used $0.50/2 (doubled) = $0.49 each
Two Nature Valley @  $1.79 each--Used $0.50/2 (doubled) =  $1.29 each

Was a little bummed when I got to the store because only the Nature Valley Crunchy were included, and I prefer the sweet and salty variety, but I decided to give them a try anyway.

Total Shelf Price:  $25.32
Total Sale Price (After Store Coupon):  $10.92   (Already 57% savings)
Price Paid After Coupons:  $5.92  (77% Savings)

It also printed me a $5/$20 coupon good through the end of the month, so I'm hoping there's a good sale next week so I can make use of those extra savings!



Then it was off to Albertsons.  I grabbed a few Mega Items, and a few other things on my list, and then my coupons and I wandered around a bit, so I found a few things to buy that I had not intended to, but all good deals.

Here's what I grabbed:

There are two fuzzy impulse buys there in the foreground.   $9.99 slippers marked down to $2.49. I bought a size too big for each of my girls, and plan to keep them for stocking stuffers.  The little one was with me, but I told her she couldn't have them yet, and I'm betting she completely forgets before long.

I'm not going to itemize everything I bought in this trip, but I paid $30.57 in all, and my receipt says  I saved $64.92 so that means the shelf price of everything was $95.49, so I saved 68%.


All said today, I spent $36.49 on items that sale for $120.81, for an average of 70% saved at both stores.  That's right about where I like my savings rate to be when using coupons, and I was about to stock up on some snack items we've been without for quite some time around here.

Did you do any last minute shopping today?

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Getting Back To Couponing

I know I haven't posted in quite a while, and all I can say is what a wild few weeks!  Sometimes life just happens and you have to take a step back and deal with it.  I think the main thing was that I had taken on too many tutoring hours and that just made everything spiral out of hand.

My hours have calmed down now, and I am slowly but surely getting things back to normal around here (well, I was until my daughter got sent home with round 2 of headlice in 5 weeks time!  That caused a bit of extra laundry and time restraints!)

But, yes I am still around.  I am trying to refocus on my wise spending habits, as we had taken a detour through lack of menus and fast food drive throughs!  I've gotten all my coupons back in order, and for some reason that really helped me realize that there were really good deals to be had at the grocery stores this week!  (It's amazing what being familiar with your coupons will do!)

I was afraid I had completely forgotten how to use coupons it had been so long, but I think I did pretty well with an angry 3 year old in tow!

I went to two stores today:  Kroger and Albertsons.   I have been finding good milk markdowns when I go to Kroger, and today was no exception.   It wasn't necessarily a great "deal" today, as the mark down made the price the same as I would have paid at Aldi, but it saved me a trip to Aldi to get milk, so I was pleased.

Here is everything I got at Kroger:

I got 2 sets of mega items, plus a few other items we needed, and I spent $30.44 in all.   I thought that sounded a little high, but I was pleased still....until I just started looking over my receipt!  Those two jars of cheez whiz that you see marked for $0.35 each actually rang up for $4.29 each, so I was overcharged by nearly $8!  (I might have noticed had the angry three year old not been trying to grab candy!)  I will be going back down there to get my refund this afternoon!

After Kroger, I ran into Albertsons for a few of the frozen items they had on sale:

After coupons, I ended up paying just $5.89 for all of this.

I am stocked back up on fish sticks and chicken nuggets for a while, and I got them at below Aldi prices (that is my comparison these days).  I'm going to attempt to curb our late night pizza cravings with  frozen instead of Pizza Patron.  I've got some easy breakfast that will be a treat for the kids because we don't have them often and they are getting bored of the same old options.  I'm excited about my Silk because it's been soooo long since I've bought some, and I am ready for egg dying I do believe.

Did you get any good deals this week?

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Today's Shopping Trip: JCPenney And Kohl's

This morning, strangely, I was feeling like getting out of the house.  This is pretty unusual for me, and doubly so since I had not slept well.

But, I remembered that I had these....

That's $10/$25 to JCPenney (attached to inside cover of the advertisement book that came this past week) and $10/$30 to Kohl's (stuck to the front cover of my newspaper on Wednesday morning).

Now, I VERY rarely ever shop for clothing items, as it is just not in the budget most months, but as my husband was on top of things with the taxes, and filed them as soon as he received his last W2, and had it direct deposited, we were thrilled to find out that our refund came on Tuesday!

So, since we actually did have the funds at the moment, it seemed a shame to let these two coupons worth an extra $20 in savings go to waste!  I thought I would just ride over to these places and see what I could find.   I had been wanting to get some new shoes for my girls, and he was in need of some new polo shirts to wear to work.

I had browsed JCPenney's clearance on their website before I left, and I saw some cute shoes and winter coats very cheap, but I did not see anything of the sort in store.   In fact, I could not find anything at all for my girls at JCPenney, so I decided to browse around for myself and my husband.

I was able to find him 3 shirts marked down to just $5 each (two were originally $25 and one originally $14).  I also found two shirts for myself one was marked $4 and the other marked $6 (both originally $14).  I was thinking this would be perfectly $25 and I would be able to use my coupon.  However, the $6 shirt rang up $5 at the register, so I was $1 short.  I ended up tossing in an overpriced Godiva chocolate bar ($3) sitting near the register...

Here is what I got at JCPenney, minus the chocolate.  My total OOP including tax was $18.40.

Hard to tell, but there is a grey, green, and maroon shirt for my husband up top.

By the time we left there, it was nearly lunch time, and my little one wanted Cici's.   I obliged, since it was just down the street and we weren't done with our shopping escapades yet.  So there went most of my coupon savings from JCPenney, but I suppose that is alright.   We did have to eat!

Then we went over to Kohl's.   It took me a little less time there, since I had already shopped for the two of us, so I simply made a beeline for the shoes.   I found a cute pair of dress shoes for my oldest marked down for $8.99  (originally $44.99!)  I found a cute little pair of brown casual/dressy shoes for my little one marked down for $5.99 (originally $29.99!)   They had several sizes, so I took the advice of my good friend, and went ahead and bought the next size up as well!  Then I went over to the children's clothing department and finished off my $30 needed to use my coupon by grabbing a tutu skirt for the little one marked $4 (was $20), and a nightgown with sleepmask for the older one marked $6 (was $30).

My total OOP with tax there was $22.70, and according to my receipt, I saved $134!

In all today at both stores, I spent $41.10 on items that retail (not that I would ever pay that much!) for $246.97!  That's a total savings of $205.87!  So I guess a little splurge on lunch is justifiable!  ;)


Did you do any shopping today?

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Albertsons Mega Sale: Saved 78%

Yesterday morning, after I had a glance at the new sale ads, I was spending my 15 minutes working on my coupons.  I was clipping the 1/27 SS, and noticed that there were coupons in there that matched with the Mega Sale going on at Albertsons this week.

Since I was already clipping the coupons, and since I was already heading down to the library, which is just another block or two away, I decided to leave a little bit early and run by Albertsons before the library.

I had made out my list of the 10 items I was going to get, and I brought only those coupons along.    I quickly grabbed the items and was on my way.

Here are the things I grabbed:

Total Shelf Price:  $22.50
Total Sale Price:   $17.22 (minus $5 mega sale coupon = $12.22  Already 46% Savings.
Price Paid After Coupons:   $5.02   78% Savings

The cashier laughed when I showed her my list and that was exactly the price I had pre-calculated.  ;)

Albertsons has also begun it's Monopoly game once again.   I love the Monopoly game, not because I think I will win (but you never know!), but because sometimes those little blue game pieces contain coupons for FREE items, and sometimes they contain coupons for items that will be on sale at some point during the promotion (so hold onto them!)

This time, I only got one for 2 free game tokens, but that is just fine with me!  In the past, I have missed out on many weeks of this sale because I just did not have my coupons together, but right now I am almost completely finished getting all of my coupons clipped and filed into my binder, and I am going to be very intentional about shopping at Albertsons each week that I feel it is worthwhile so I can make the most of this promotion.

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It Never Hurts To Ask! (Saved 100% At CVS)

I had taken a long break from CVS shopping.   All of my ECBs had expired, and I wasn't really looking forward to paying the OOP expenses to get myself started again with some fresh ECBs.  Then I happened to notice that I had enough MyPoints to request a $10 CVS gift card.   While I was waiting for it to arrive, I stopped by CVS one day to browse for something they did not have, but I scanned my card, and out popped $6 in ECBs.   I guess having to get 6 prescriptions filled when I had bronchitis after Thanksgiving during the double ECB event ended up having an advantage!

So yesterday when my gift card came in the mail, I was excited.   I was almost out of shampoo for my kids, and I wanted to stock up using the Suave deal.

I went to the store and picked up 6 bottles of the 2-in-1, which is all they had left, but it is the kind we like because we have bad tangles around here.   I had two $0.50/2 from Sunday that I used, so my total came out to $11 plus tax, and I used my $6 ECB.  I was left owing $5 plus tax, and would get back $4 in ECB.   Not a bad deal.

I still had my expired ECBs in my coupon folder with me though, and I had heard that some stores accepted expired ECBs so I thought I would just ask.  The worst that could happen would be they would say no.   And they did say no to two that had expired in October, but I had another $6 one that expired mid December that she said was new enough to use, so she put it in and it zero'd out my balance.   I walked away with 6 FREE bottles of shampoo and $4 in ECBs for next time, and haven't even touched my $10 gift card yet!  =)

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Lots Of Shopping!

I hit up three different stores today.   I went to Target to take advantage of a pet food deal, stopped by a different Aldi than I normally go to, and then Albertsons on the way home to take advantage of their Buy 6 Save $3 deal.

Here's what I picked up.

At Target:

I had a Target store coupon for $5 off your choice of 2 of 4 Purina items.  Large bags of dry food were on the list.  I also had a $1 off each of them to stack, so I saved $7 total and paid around $15 for both bags and those will easily last the entire month.  

The Activia was 3 for $5 ($1.67, so I used a $1 off).  I used a $1 off the yeast from my latest All You (its a good $3 cheaper there than grocery stores!) and then I picked up the tea on clearance for $1.18, using my $0.75 off coupons, and then a learning tool for the little one from the dollar bin.

 
Total spent:  $22.08

At Aldi, I didn't grab a picture.  It was normal everyday stuff...milk, TP, butter, etc.  Spent $19.79.


At Albertson's I got Capri Suns and Peanut Butter!

  I had to buy in groups of 6, and I had 2 B3G1 FREE Capri Sun ($1.49 each wyb6), so I needed 4 more items to make 2 sets.  The Planters peanut butter was on sale for $1.69 wyb6 (pb is $2.29 at Aldi).  I had only 1 $1/2 coupon, but I didn't mind because it was still a good price, and we were nearly out!  All the creamy were gone on the shelf, and I *almost* got 4 crunchy, but then i noticed up top, the natural creamy was included in the sale.  The jar was a teeny bit smaller, but to me losing 1.3oz was worth getting rid of some additives and a ton of sodium, and maybe even more importantly, not having to hear my eldest (who would gladly sit and eat an entire jar of peanuts!) whine about how she doesn't like crunchy.   Children are such enigmas.

I spent $14.44 total at Albertsons, so that puts my total for the day at right around $54.

How did your shopping go this week?

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Kroger and Albertsons: Stocking Back Up (Slowly) 71% Savings

A couple weeks ago I told you my plan to spend just 10-15 each day getting my coupons back in order.  I told you also that I was going to ease my way back into coupon shopping, as I had taken a hiatus of sorts.

Today is January 18th, and I am happy to say that I have spent my allotted time working on my coupons each and every day for the past 18 days.

I did not make it to the store to do any shopping with coupons at all last ad week, so today I thought I would hit two stores.   Now I'm still taking things slowly!   I used 5 coupons at Kroger and 4 at Albertsons!  But I snagged some pretty good deals and a few freebies.  Plus, I began stocking back up on some items we were running out of.

Here's what I found at Kroger:

7 Dial liquid soaps @ $1 each, used $1/3 from 1/13RP  and $2/4 printable (looks like it's no longer available) =  $0.57 each average cost for all 7

1 Ken's 9oz dressing @ $1, used $1/1 from 1/13 SS = FREE

Lever 2000 @ $1, used $1/1 from Jan. All You = FREE

Beyond Cat Food @$2.99, used FREE coupon from 1/13 RP = FREE

4 half gallons of milk (that don't even expire until 1/30!) marked down to $0.49 each  (That's $0.98/gallon!  I normally spend $2.49 for 1 at Aldi!!!)

Shelf Price:  $24.16  (estimating the milk's normal price at $1.49--could be low)
Sale Price:   $13.95  (Already 42% Savings)
Price Paid After Coupons:   $6.01    75% Savings


I left Kroger stocked up for a little while on milk (two will likely end up in the freezer), and stocked up for a LONG time on hand soap.



When I left there, I drove a couple blocks down the street and went to Albertsons  (I always try to go to both places and grab what deals I can if I'm making the trip that direction anyway).

I only intended to buy $4.71 worth of items in Albertsons (I had my list made and all added up), but when I got there I found a few extra items that I could not pass up.

4 Chef Boyardee @  $0.88 each, used $0.50/4 from 1/13 SS (doubled)  =  $0.63 each

2 Swiss Miss @ $0.98 each, used $0.50/2 from 12/9 SS  (doubled) =  $0.49 each

1 Carmex @ $0.88,   Used $0.30/1 printable (tripled to .88) = FREE

Colgate Toothbrush @  $0.88, used $0.75/1 from 1/6 SS  = $0.13

(tried to snag same deal for the toothpaste, but they were all out)

Zote @ $1.19  (decided to grab this when I got there--planning to attempt homemade laundry detergent if I can find the final ingredient)



Then, I found the clearance aisle.   Ok, well I had already picked up the $0.99 5-pack of chocolate glazed and rainbow sprinkled day old doughnuts, but then I found the real clearance aisle.

I picked up 4 girls stationary/hair accessory sets for $1.49 each.   I have a first grade daughter and we've had birthday party invites left and right, so I figured that these would be a nice thing to have on hand!

I picked up a 100 ct. pack of dryer sheets marked down for $1.00.  We were all out and I had forgotten to put them on the list yet again, so that was a nice surprise.

Then, there was a 5-pack of red and white swirly straws for $0.20.  My girls love fun straws so I grabbed one.


Total Shelf Price:  $43.09
Total Sale Price:  $16.59  (Already 61 % Savings)
Price Paid After Coupons:  $13.65 with tax     68% Savings


I spent a total of $19.66 today on items that retail for $67.25.  That's a 71 % savings overall.



My daughter asked to hold my receipt when we got back in the van.  When I handed it to her, she exclaimed "Hey, it's supposed to be long!"  I suppose she had gotten used to me doing much larger shopping trips.  ;)

My grocery spending for the entire week this week was probably my lowest ever.   On Sunday, I spent roughly $8 at the 99cents Only store, and on monday I spent roughly $10 at Fiesta, so I spent less than $40 for the entire week this week.  Of course, it could have been even less without all of those Albertson's impulse purchases!  But I think I got some great deals today!


How did your shopping go this week?

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Back In Town And Already Finding Deals At Aldi

It's been over a week since you guys have heard from me, and that is because we were out of town.  Now I brought my laptop with me on the trip, but once we got there, I decided not to use it.  In fact, I never even took it out of the bag and turned it on!  And it felt fabulous! ;)

But now I'm back, and trying to get back into the swing of things and plan for the new year (I'll share some of that a bit later).

We got home around 3pm yesterday, unpacked the van, discovered our betta fish was dead, tried to do laundry only to remember that I was completely OUT of laundry detergent, grabbed my pre-written list of things I was not shopping for before we left, and headed out to Aldi.

We had run out of a lot of things, in fact our fridge was nearly empty!  Were it not for my dad and his chickens and citrus trees (he sent us back with eggs and oranges) I think it would have only contained a single slice of cheese (of which I forgot to purchase more), and half a tub of margarine, and also some aging onions.

So off I went, and as usual I found a couple of things that were not on my list that I simply could not pass up.

#1:  Ham.  

All of their hams were $3 off, making this one that I brought home just $6.15.

We will slice some, and dice some, use some for sandwiches, use some for noodle salads, and freeze the rest.

#2:  Stuffing.

Herb stuffing to be exact.   It's my favorite of their stuffing flavors, and it is a seasonal item so they only sale it twice a year during the winter holidays and Easter.  My husband bought 4 boxes before we left when he saw it marked down for $0.69, but when I went in yesterday, it was marked down even farther...just $0.25 a box!

I bought 8.

They also had lots of their toys and candies reduced in price, so be sure to look all around for seasonal markdowns next time you are in Aldi, or perhaps hurry over before they are all gone!

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Thrifty Christmas Dress Shopping

I have two daughters, 3 years apart.  Sometimes they can be a pain, like all kids can be.  They fight alot and just plain get on each others nerves.  BUT they can SHARE everything.  They like the same toys so they can be passed down, but mostly what they can share are CLOTHES!

This really only benefits the younger one, obviously, and being only 3 she doesn't tend to mind yet because it all seems new to her.  Plus, I have had really good luck finding nice school clothes for my oldest at garage sales in my neighborhood.

But, Christmas is fast approaching, and of course my younger girl has a lovely dress that was worn only once or twice by her sister, but I didn't have a dress for my oldest, and a new Christmas dress was certainly NOT in the budget!  And it's been too cold for garage sales, so I was wondering whatever I would do!

Earlier this week when my husband was home sick, I was able to escape and go grocery shopping by myself, and when I got to the store I recalled that there was a very nice thrift store in the same shopping center, so I decided to run in and have a look around.  I was very pleased with what I found!  It is black velvet at the top and red silky shiny material at the bottom, and in near perfect condition!

The dress itself was a size 7 (just what I needed!), but sleeveless, marked half off of its original price for $4.54.  I did a little bit more looking around for a black or red shirt to go under it, but instead I found the velvet sweater cover up in the exact same shade of black velvet!  It looked like it was made to go together, except I knew it wasn't since the sleeve part was a size 6 (a little short maybe but they look like 3/4 sleeves so its all good!).  And it was marked half off as well, for only $0.99.

My total, including tax, came out to $5.99, and it fit her perfectly, if not a little on the large side, so she should be able to wear it for a while!  She has even already begged me if she can wear it to her school party next Friday!  

What have you bought second hand lately that has filled a need that you had?

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Aldi Trip: Lots Of Markdowns!

I was needing quite a few things from Aldi this week, but not quite as many as I ended up coming home with!   I really am a sucker for things marked down.  If its something we use, i have a really hard time passing up a good deal even if we don't need it right away.

Case in point:

That's over 5lbs of ground beef for $7.03.   Now right now, I have a TON  (okay maybe slightly less) of uncooked meat in my freezer, but none of it is ground beef.   I could have easily passed this up, but I didn't.   I did talk myself out of buying a 2nd package, though.

In the front of the store, there was a large markdown rack with lots of Italian-y things on it.   We like Italian-y things.   There were also some breakfast-y things.  We like those, too.

Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce-  $0.85 each.

Four Cheese Tortellini--$1 each  (these actually rang up $1.49 on my receipt.   I went back and showed the cashier-who I believe was a manager, and he simply opened the drawer and handed me $1).

"Cream of Wheat" -$1

Steel Cut Oats  $1.25


Now I'm pretty new to this whole healthy foods thing, so somebody please tell me the difference between a steel cut oat and a regular oat, and anything important I may need to know about them.

There were also a LOT of produce markdowns ($0.29 celery, $0.49 cranberries, $0.49 sweet potatoes, $0.69 yellow onions), but as I've ordered my Bountiful Basket I wanted to wait until Saturday to see what I would get.  I did get a bag of red delicious apples because my girls can't seem to get enough apples, so even if we get apples Saturday, I've no doubt they will still get used up.

Here's everything:

Spent roughly $53.  Add that with the $15 for the produce basket, and I've used up $68 of my $70 for the week, so hopefully that is all I need! ;)


I will add one thing that I noticed that really impressed me.  Aldi's yogurt...has no artificial dyes in it!   I've had issues with yogurts before with my oldest daughter.   Aspartame and red dye hype her up beyond belief!.  Yogurts in the past have contained both of those.   Aldi's yogurt...carrot juice for coloring!  NICE!  One less worry for me!  And only $0.39!

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Shopping Trip: Kroger And Albertsons

I *finally* made it out to the store and used some coupons again today!   It had been so long that I was afraid I had forgotten how, but everything went very well.  I even was able to get some Halloween markdowns!

Here's what I picked up at Kroger:

Shelf Price:  $52.18
Sale Price:   $28.20    (already 46% savings)
Price Paid After Coupons:  $21.20      59% Savings


Here's what I picked up at Albertsons:

Shelf Price:  $62.21
Sale Price:   $24.56  (Already  61 % Savings)
Price Paid After Coupons:  $16.66    73 % Savings



Altogether today, I spent $37.86 on $114.39 worth of groceries.  That's an average savings of  67%!

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Kroger Trip 9/11

After my CVS trip, I headed over to Kroger.  I had intended to also go to Aldi today, but decided that there were so few things I needed, I would just pick them up while I was at Kroger, and there honestly wasn't that much of a price difference anyway.

Here's what I picked up:

I got one set of Mega Sale items.  I was looking for Multigrain Pringles, but they were all sold out, so I opted for Capri Sun instead.  I didn't have coupons, but at $1.49 that beats the Aldi price by $0.40 and we will definitely use these in the lunchbox, so it wasn't a bad substitution.  I think I'm stocked up with drinks for the whole fall semester now.

I'm going to be doing some freezer cooking, but I was out of pans.  Well those aluminum foil pan 3 packs are what I was going to get, and they were on sale B2G1 FREE, so that was a nice surprise.   I was going to buy 2 anyways. ;)

Also, what they are sitting on is a 12 pack of kroger brand toilet tissue.   It was something that I planned on getting at Aldi, but a little coupon fairy had left a Kroger store coupon from a home mailer sitting right in front of them, so I grabbed it and saved $0.85! ;)

I was also nearly out of frozen veggies, so I grabbed a few while I was there.  $0.05 more than Aldi, but so worth it since the stores are in opposite directions from my house.

I also found this fresh organic mint marked down.  I've never actually used fresh mint, but for that price I figured it would be a nice thing to try.   I'm totally open to suggestions!


Total Shelf Price:  $55.64

Total Sale Price:   $40.45

Price Paid After Coupons:  $35.24  (not many coupons today)  37% Savings



This post is being linked up at:

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CVS Trip 9/11 89% Savings

I made a quick trip to CVS this morning before heading over to Kroger.   I had $8 in existing ECBs and was especially wanting to get the children's Colgate toothpaste, as my supply of kids toothpaste had completely run dry.

Here's what I got today:

Why, yes that is a wrapper from chocolate that didn't make it out of the parking lot...but come on...free chocolate!

The other candy was a bit of a splurge, but I needed a little bit of filler after my extra bucks, and I've seen some yummy looking things on pinterest using candy bars, so I figured I'd just go ahead a grab a few packs while I could get an ECB back.

The small shampoo in the middle was something I had gotten a free beauty club coupon emailed to me for, so I picked that up while I was there.

The red machine printed me out a $5 off Centrum Flavor burst (which I had read would be free after a coupon stack), however my store did not even have them in the planogram on the shelf.   The manager looked them up for me in the computer, and there was one store in my area across town that had two bottles, so be on the lookout for that coupon, but beware you may have issues redeeming it!


Total Shelf Price:  $23.73

Total Sale Price:  $16.16

Price Paid After Coupons/ECBs:   $2.64  and I got back $5.67 in ECBs.

That's a savings of  89%!

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CVS Trip 8/20

This afternoon I had to run out to the RedBox machine to get my daughter a movie as a reward for filling in her second reading chart in as many weeks.   The RedBox is at CVS, so I thought, hey while I'm there I might as well just walk inside and scan my card and see what coupons it gives me.

I was quite surprised to find that it gave me a $5 ECB for a Beauty Club reward.  I had no idea I was even close to getting another!  So, suddenly I had $10 in ECBs to work with instead of $5, and the ad started looking a little bit better!

I sat down and made my list out after I got the girls to bed, and I planned on going in the morning, but since it was only 8:30, I decided to just go ahead and run on over there tonight...alone!  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed shopping at night at CVS.  So peaceful!

Here's what I got:

2 Cheerios @ 2 for $5   Used 2    Get $2 ECBs

• Used 2 $0.50 off ONE BOX Original Cheerios cereal 

Zantac 150 24ct.  @$8.99   Get $2 ECBs

• Used $5/1 from 7/8 SS

Revlon Lipstick @ $6.49  Get $4 ECBs

• Used $3 Revlon makeup from coupon scanner (also printer this afternoon)
• Used $1/1 from from 7/22 SS  (also one in 8/5 SS)

Hershey Simple Pleasure @ $3

• Used $2/1 from 8/19 SS

Also used $10 in existing ECBs.

 $1.68 OOP and got back $8 in ECBs.

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Shopping Trip 8/20: Kroger & Albertsons

This morning I went to two stores.   I had not been shopping with coupons in a LONG time, and I had both girls with me so I thought that it very well could end up being a bust, but we actually had a pretty calm and successful outing.

Our first stop was Kroger.  I had a few things on my list that I wanted to get at Kroger, and also I just really enjoy hitting Kroger in the mornings because you never know what sorts of markdowns you are going to find!

I got one set of mega sale items, several SunnyD (and used this coupon), and some markdown items.

Total Shelf Price:  At *least*  $66.19  (I don't actually know the original prices of all the marked down items)
Total Sale Price:   $38.42
Price Paid After Coupons:  $30.54    At *least* 54% Savings


Then we went to Albertsons, and I got all of this:

Total Shelf Price:  $57.44
Total Sale Price:   $25.75
Price Paid After Coupons:  $15.31   73% savings


So altogether today I spent $45.85 on over $125 worth of groceries.   That's an average savings of over 63%.

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CVS Trip 8/8

I finally made it out to CVS this afternoon.  I wanted to do the Dove deal, and I had a ton of coupons for Simple products, so I did a second transaction in order to do that deal as well.

Here is what I came home with:

Transaction 1:

Dove Shampoo/Conditioner @ 2 for $6
Dove Men Care @  $5
2 Dove Deodorant @ 2 for $5

Used $3/$15 Beauty Club
Used $3/2 Shampoo/Conditioner from 7/29 RP
Used $1/1 Men Care from 7/29 RP
Used $7 ECBs

Paid $2.10 OOP, Got back $5 ECBs.


Transaction 2:

Simple Scrub  $5.79
Simple Gel  $5.79
Simple Exfoliating Wipes  $4.39

These were all on sale $2 off, and get $5 ECB wyb $15.  This subtotal was $15.97.   I misread the signs about the $5 and thought they were on sale $5 each.  I could have spent less if I got a second wipe instead of the Gel.

Used $2 Simple CVS scanner Q
Used $3.50/2 printable  (watch the video to add $1 to coupon value)
Used $1.50/1 printable
Used $5 ECBs from transaction 1

Paid $4.30 OOP, Got back $5 ECBs.


Altogether today, I got $47.82 worth for $6.40  (87% Savings), and I have $5 ECBs for next trip.

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CVS Trip 7/22: FREE Kotex, M&Ms, and Amp

Made a quick trip to CVS this afternoon to pick up a few things.   I wanted to use my $2/1 Kotex from today's paper to get FREE Kotex, and I also wanted to get 2 Starbucks Refreshers for free after ECBs.  My store did not seem to carry then, however, so I opted for the Amp drinks in hopes that my husband will like them.  He's more of a Monster kinda guy....

I also got a nice surprise from the little red machine on the way in.  It printed a $1/2 Mars singles for me, and those happened to be on sale 2 for $1, so that meant 2 FREE candy!  My daughter was excited about that one!

I had $6 in ECBs to start with , so I needed one more item.  I decided to take my 6 year old along and let her pick out a new shade of Revlon nail polish.  (She is currently doing her nails as I type this--Glitz & Glam--AKA Red Glitter!.)  I used the $1/1 from this morning's paper, but it would not scan.   The cashier (obviously new) tried several times, and then called a manager who told him how.   However when he put it in, it didn't come off.  I knew it didn't because the total didn't change, and it was over $2 when the subtotal I had figured at home was just $0.99.

I went ahead and paid, and then examined my receipt once I walked outside, thinking maybe something had rung up wrong.  But, I was right and I was missing a $1 coupon.   I walked back in and showed him, and he and the manager pulled all of my coupons back out of the drawer and added them up, and found that I was right.   Instead of giving me back $1, they printed me an extra $1 ECB, which is fine by me, but be warned if you try to use that coupon that you may have issues with it.

Here's everything I got  (sorry blurry phone pic):

I left my receipt in the car so I'm not sure the total savings, but I paid $2.16 OOP originally, and I got back $6 in ECB plus the $1 from my coupon that didn't scan, so $7 ECBs total remaining for next time.

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Kroger Trip 7/9: Freezer Bags and $0.19 Milk

After my large Albertsons trip this afternoon, I made a quick run into Kroger, which is just down the street.   They had a stock up price on Hefty freezer bags, and if you do any freezer cooking, you need freezer bags.  I had ran out and had been buying one pack at a time at Aldi as the need arose.   I would often not realize I was down to my last few bags, and I just don't like to live that way!

I grabbed some of those, and picked up a few things that I had free coupons for from Purex and BzzAgent promotions.  I also picked up a gallon of milk while I was there.  It was on sale for $2.19, which is the same price at Aldi.  


Here's what I bought:

Everything except for the milk:


Shelf Price:  $50.21


Sale Price:  $27.99  Already 44% Savings


Price Paid After Coupons:  $6.26   88% Savings


Plus I got back a $2 off my next order coupon.


Because I knew I would be getting this back, and I haven't been going to Kroger very regularly (since they stopped doubling coupons....), I chose to pay for my milk in a separate transaction, and use this coupon to pay for it, so it only cost me $0.19!

Altogether today at Kroger, I paid $6.45 for $53.20 worth!

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Albertsons Trip 7/9 75% Savings

I had not been shopping with coupons in a very, very long time.   I was beginning to run out of things I normally have plenty of in my pantry, and I noticed that Albertsons was having a pretty good sale this week.

I spent a very long time going through all of my coupons, and I'm pretty sure that the people being me in line were thinking very not nice things about me, but I'm ok with that.   I saved nearly $90!  When you are saving $90, I don't think it much matters what other people are thinking.

Here's what I got:

Total Shelf Price:   $120.41
Total Sale Price:    $62.83  Already 48% Savings!
Price Paid After Coupons:    $30.54    75% Savings!


I even used a coupon on the steaks!  $2 off when I bought 3 Kikkoman.   I also got a $1 off my next purchase for buying Kikkoman!

After this trip, we changed up the menu a little bit, and had steaks and tonight with a side of Suddenly Salad! ;)  I ended up paying just $4.14 for the whole pack or about $2/lb for petite sirloins.  It was a tasty treat!


My girls got to the groceries before I could put them away.   They made a castle for their unicorns.  The Ozarka bottles are supposed to be a sound sensor that lets them know when predators are approaching their castle.  My girls are a trip!  And they might want to check their sensors, because I think a tiger got in...

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CVS Trip 7/8: $0.07 OOP

I made a trip to CVS this afternoon.  First off, its been a really long time since I've been to CVS.  One of my ECBs was actually a few days expired, but they let me use it without any trouble.  I also had a $3/$15 that I had gotten by email that I had to use today.

There wasn't a whole lot in the ad that I really was interested in, except for the free chocolate, which sadly my store had not gotten in stock yet.

Here's what I ended up getting:

5 drinks @ $1 each  (Got back $1 ECB)
Neosporin @ $9.79  (used $2/1 from 6/10 RP)  (Got $3 ECB for spending $7--there were cheaper options)
Bic Soliel Savvy  @ $6.79  (used $3/1)  (Got $2 ECB)
Dove (to cover overage)  $0.99

Used $3/$15
Used $5 ECB and $9.50 ECB

Paid $0.07 OOP     99.7% Savings and I got back $6 in ECBs.


Then, when I went back to my van, there was $0.30 just lying on the ground by my door.  I guess that means I made $0.23 today?

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