*HOT* Free Gold Medal Flour at Safeway

Gold Medal Flour is on sale this week at Safeway 2/$3.00. Pair this with a coupon for $0.75/15 lb bag here which doubles at Safeway and you can get it for free!

You should be able to print the coupon twice.  

This applies to the Bleached and Unbleached Flour. I checked the price of Whole Wheat flour- it was not on sale. I'm not sure about Self-Rising or Bread Flour. This deal will continue through March 9.

I bought two 5 lb bags today and got them for free!

I'm doing the happy dance!


Thanks to MoneySavingMom for the head's up on the coupon.

Know Your Store's Coupon Policy

A few weeks ago, there was this wonderful coupon out for a free half gallon of chocolate milk when you bought two gallons of milk. It came out again earlier this week. And last summer there was a great coupon that, when matched with a good sale, meant free bacon. Free stuff makes my heart sing. But, sometimes finding a store that will take the coupon can be a pain in the behind neck!

Maybe this story sounds familiar:  When I sent Hubby out to get milk one night, I sent the free coupon with him. But Shopper's wouldn't accept it. Eerrgh. If we'd realized that ahead of time, he would have gone elsewhere to get the milk.This was one of those times I was mad at myself for not double-checking the coupon policy before he went to the store. Has this happened to you too?

To solve this problem keep a copy of each store's coupon policy in your coupon box or binder. I can't do this for every store I ever enter, but I can certainly do it for the ones I frequent.

Some coupon policies are easier to find than others. So, for those who live in Maryland and some of the surrounding states here are the links to the coupon policy (that I could find) for some of our larger grocery chains.

• Food Lion - does not have policy online; check your local store's customer service
• Giant Food - doubles up to $0.99; accepts internet coupons
• Harris Teeter - complicated policy - you need to read it yourself
• Martin's Food Markets - general policy that varies by store, check at your store
• Safeway - complicated policy you need to read all the fine print
• Shoppers - doubles up to $0.99 (may be limited to 4 identical coupons); accepts internet coupons up to $1.00, does not accept internet coupons for free items
• Super Fresh - could not find policy online; check your local store
• Target - accepts coupons at face value
• Walmart - accepts coupons at face value (>40 coupons requires Manager approval)
• Wegman's: Virginia & Maryland, Other states, Internet Coupon Policy
• Weis - could not find policy online; check your local store

Have I missed one of our locals?  How do you keep track of coupon policies for your local stores?

For more tips on living a frugal life visit Frugal Friday at Life As Mom.

Sunday Coupon Preview for 01/17/10

Way back when we first got married and lived on a first-year teacher's salary one of the things I did to save money was coupon clipping. Honestly, in those days, I didn't really know what I was doing. I just clipped random coupons I thought I might need, sorted into some general categories and tried to remember what coupons I had when I went to the grocery store.

Today it's much easier to clip coupons with intentionality. One tool that makes this easier is Sunday Coupon Preview.  This site lists the inserts and coupons that are expected to be out each week - before they come out on Sunday.

Here are some of the coupons that caught my eye this week...

Proctor & Gamble insert:

$1.00 any Duracell CopperTop 6 pack or larger
50c any Dawn plus hand renewal

$1.00 any Olay body wash. bar or in-shower lotion ETS

$1.00 any 2 Pantene products

75c any Crest toothpaste 4 oz or larger or liquid gel (We're running low on tootpaste!)

SmartSource:
Colgate Total $1 (2/6/10)

Cottonelle SoothingCLean Flushable Moist Wipes 36ct or 42 ct $.50/2
Cottonelle SoothingClean Flushable Moist WIpes 72 ct $.50

Huggies Diapers $

Huggies Baby Wipes $.50
Huggies Pull Ups $2
Huggies Pull Ups Flushable Moist Wipes $1

Johnsonville Italian Sausage $.55

Johnsonville Breakfast links, patties or roll sausage $.55

Johnsonville Summer Sausage $.55

Post Cereals $1/2

Silk Light Soymilk 1/2 gallon $.55
Silk Soymilk 1/2 gallon $.55

Keep in mind, the specific coupons and inserts in your area may vary from this list. The larger the distribution of your newspaper, the more coupons it will have. Also, most grocery stores in Maryland will double coupons up to $0.99, so the Crest coupon will double to $1.50, but the Colgate coupon will only be $1.00. Go visit Sunday Coupon Preveiw to get their full list.

Printable Coupons

Have you discovered Coupons.Com yet?

Right now there are some great and unusual coupons available at Coupons.com.

Here are just a few of the more unusual coupons available right now.

Christmas Highlights:
$5.00/$20.00 My Little Pony purchase.

$5.00/$20.00 any Star Wars toy purchase.
$5.00 - $10.00 off various Hasbro and Playschool toys 


Lactose Intolerant:
$1.00/any Coconut Milk (any unit of beverage)
$1.00/1 LACTAID Milk Product
$1.00/any 8th Continent Soy Milk Product (at Safeway)

If you've never used printable coupons before it really is very easy.
1) Register and Sign in at Coupons.com
2) Click through and choose which coupons you can use.
3) If you've never printed coupons before, it will prompt you to download a bit of software. This will enable you to print the barcodes on the coupons. Having this on my computer has never been a problem and I've printed many coupons this way.
4) Print your coupons.

There are several other sites where you can find printable coupons as well, but I find Coupons.com to be the best place to start.

Coupons all around

I've seen a number of good coupons around the blogosphere this week. Here are some that caught my eye:


15% off any purchase at Children's Place coupon, expires 11/16/2009. Go here to print your coupon.
Thanks, Moneywise Moms


$0.75/1 Del Monte Gold Pineapple, expires 5 weeks after printing
$2.00/1 24 oz or larger Nestle candy, expires 10/31/09. 

Nabisco Coupon Booklet - free booklet available here. Contains $15 in coupons and $20.00 in 2 mail-in rebate forms.

$1.00/1 dozen eggs at Food Lion; eggs are on sale for $0.88/dozen this week at Food Lion. This coupon should make them FREE!

Thanks, MoneySavingMom.

A Few Good Deals

My grocery shopping trip this week was pretty average --mostly a few items we needed or were nearly out of. (My apologies that there are no interesting pictures of what I bought. In a typical UnfinishedMom moment, I deleted them from the camera before I'd saved them on the hard drive! Ugh.)

Anyway, amongst the average purchases were a few really good deals:

#1 - Safeway (good through Oct 6, 2009)

Raisin Bran (20 oz) and Fruit Loops (12.2 oz) are on sale for $1.49/box when you buy 5.
I used 2 $2.00/2 coupons from the 08/30/ RP insert and 1 $1.00/1 blinkie coupon (found it at the store.)
I paid $0.49/box for 5 boxes of Fruit Loops.
Whoo Hoo.

#2 Martin's (good through October 3, 2009)

Nestle Toll House Morsels (12 oz) are on sale for $2.09/bag (unadvertised sale)
I used 3 $0.50/1 coupons from the 09/13/09 RP insert.

I paid $1.09/bag of Nestle Toll House Morsels. (really wish I had more of these coupons)

Birds' Eye Fresh Frozen Select Vegetables are on sale for $0.60/each (limit 10).
I used 5 $1.00/2 coupons from the 09/13 SS insert.
I paid $0.19/each for 10 Birds Eye Fresh Frozen Select Vegetables.

Whoot. Whoot.

Yes I was doing the happy dance when I got home!

Rouge Magazine

In the mail today arrived my free copy of rouge.  Rouge is published by Proctor & Gamble. It comes out about 2-3 times per year. It contains a whole bunch of fashion & beauty tips and obviously advertises Proctor and Gamble products.

But the best part (in my humble opinion) is the coupons.

In this issue are the following coupons:

$1.00/1 any CoverGirl product
$0.75/1 any Crest Extra White Plus Scope Outlast tootphaste (4 oz or larger)
$0.75/1 Scope mouthwash (710 ml or larger)
$1.00/1 any Nice 'n Easy hair product
$1.00/1 any Secret Flawless product
$1.00/1 any Head & Shoulders product
$1.00/1 any Natural Instincts product
FREE (when you buy Venus razor or cartridge), Free Olay Body Wash (up to $5.00)


You can sign up to get your free copy of the magazine here.

Coupons & More Coupons

If you've always wanted to start clipping coupons, but never seemed to find the right time to start -- this is a good weekend to start!

There are 5 coupon inserts in tomorrow's Sunday Sun Paper.  Just some of the highlights I found were:

• $1.25/1 Shedd's Country Crock Side Dishes
  
• $0.50/1 Nestle Chocolate morsels
• $1.00/2 PopTarts
  
• $1.00/3 Gneeral Mills cereals
• $1.00/1 YoPlus Yogurt 4 pack
• $0.50/2 Bettey Crocker Gushers, Rollups, or Fruit by the Foot

You can find out what other coupons are in this week's paper here.

I bought extra newspapers today so that I could stock up on a whole bunch of coupons!

SUPER HOT!! Free Bacon at Safeway this week!

Get ready girls. This is one smokin' hot deal. I've never seen a coupon for more than $1.00 off bacon before.

You can get a coupon for $3.00/1 Smithfield Bacon at this website. (Click on the link.)

Here's how:

1. Be sure you have software to print coupons. If you don't have the software, go here or here and you should be able to download the software - it enables you to print the bar codes. The software is free and has never interfered with any other program on our computers. (Hubby, the computer geek, would not let me use it if it did!)
2. Go to the Smithfield website and click on "sign up" (top of the webpage).
3. Complete the Member Services Registration.
4. When finished it should prompt you to print your coupon. You can hit the back button of your browser to print it twice.
   

The word from Gina at MoneywiseMoms is that Safeway will have Smithfield bacon on sale 2/$6.00 starting tomorrow. With the coupon that makes the bacon free!!

Thanks to a Tweet from DealSeekingMom I realized that Shoppers also has Smithfield bacon on sale this week - 2/$5.00, also making it free. Update #1: I realized this morning, that our Shoppers does not take printable coupons over $0.99, so I have eliminated this part of the deal.

The sale at Safeway goes through August 25. At Safeway you will need the Safeway Club card in order to take advantage of this deal. Update #2: At least 1 reader had their coupon rejected. Safeway's official policy is that they do not accept printable coupons for more than 50% of the value of the product. However, I will say that not all stores follow this policy. I suggest you ask a clerk about the coupon before you go to purchase your bacon. I still suggest getting the coupon. At a later date, perhaps at another store, this will be a good deal. Bacon is frequently on sale for $3.00 at other stores in the area.

Now, Go. Get your coupons. Get free bacon. Go. Now.

Thanks to MoneySavingMom, MoneywiseMoms and MyFrugalAdventures for putting this one together.

Giveaways at $5 Dinners

Ohh I'm so psyched. Erin at $5 Dinners is giving away 5 coupons for FREE Breyer's Ice Cream.

As this is my very favorite brand of ice cream (I rarely buy anything else, even on sale), I am really hoping to win at least one.

If your family needs a break from the heat. Go here to enter to win a coupon. The giveaway ends on Saturday 10 Am EST.

She's running a whole bunch of giveaways this week to celebrate her anniversary. You just gotta check them out.

Free Groceries at Safeway

Get 'em while they're hot. Only 3 more days to take advantage of this deal.

As I mentioned earlier today, I headed out to Safeway today, expecting to get a good deal on granola bars and fruit snacks. What I ended up with was even better than I could have imagined. I first read about this deal at MoneyWiseMoms. My son loves to take Nature Valley granola bars in his lunch. I had found a similar deal last fall and had stocked up on granola bars. They lasted him through most of the school year. It was wonderful. But this deal was looking to be even better than last year's. (you can see that deal here, though not for long as that's my old blog and I'll be shutting it down soon.)

First, I followed Gina's advice and loaded all the e-coupons I could find, printed all the printables and scoured my coupon box for every coupon that matched.

So here's the deal: Nature Valley granola bars and Trix cereal are on sale at Safeway for 4/$10.00; Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks & Gushers are on sale 4/$8.00 add to that an in-ad Safeway SuperCoupon, e-coupons, printable coupons which double, 2 peelies I found while shopping and a catalina promo and you wind up with one really rockin' deal. There are several other items on sale as well, but for me these were what my family likes. In order to use the SuperCoupons you have to purchase them in sets of 4, and your total has to equal at least $20.00 , but that total is before the SuperCoupons and manufactuer's coupons are deducted.

Here's how it worked for me:

Transaction #1
Bought:
4 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars @ 4/$10.00 (sale price)
4 boxes Trix cereal @ 4/$10.00 (sale price)
1 Kraft Mac & Cheese @ 10/$10.00 (sale price)
1 loaf bread @ $1.09/loaf (sale price)
Total before all coupons: $22.09

Used:
2 ecoupon NV granola: -$0.40 = -$0.80
2 e-coupon Trix: - $0.55 = -$1.10
1 SuperCoupon for NV Granola bars: -4.00 (4 boxes/$6.00)
1 SuperCoupon for Trix cereal: -$4.00 (4 boxes/$6.00)
1 SuperCoupon for Kraft Mac&Chese: -$0.41 (1 box/$0.59)
1 NV Granola: $0.70/2, doubled = -$1.40
2 printable NV Granola: $0.40/1, doubled = -$1.60
4 printables for Trix: -$0.55/box, doubled = -$4.40
2 peelies on Trix: -$1.00/2 boxes = -$2.00

OOP Cost: $2.38, plus I received 1 $2.50 catalina off my next order

Transaction #2
Bought:
4 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars @ 4/$10.00 (sale price)
2 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes @ 4/$8.00 (sale price)
2 boxes Betty Crocker Gushers @ 4/$8.00 (sale price)
1 Kraft Mac & Cheese @ 10/$10.00 (sale price)
1 loaf bread @ $1.09/loaf (sale price)
Total before all coupons: $20.09

Used:
2 e-coupons BC fruit shapes: -$0.40 = -$0.80
1 e-coupon BC fruit snacks: - $0.50 = -$0.50
1 SuperCoupon for NV Granola bars: -4.00 (4 boxes/$6.00)
1 SuperCoupon for BC Fruit Shapes/Gushers: -$4.00 (4 boxes/$4.00)
1 SuperCoupon for Kraft Mac&Chese: -$0.41 (1 box/$0.59)
1 BC Fruit Gushers: $0.50/2, doubled = -$1.00
1 BC Fruit Shape: $0.40/1, doubled = -$0.80
1 NV Granola: $0.70/2, doubled = -$1.40
2 printable NV Granola: $0.40/1, doubled = -$1.60
1 Catalina from last transaction: -$1.00/2 boxes = -$2.50

OOP Cost: $2.58*, plus I received 2 $2.50 catalinas off my next order
For a total of $2.42 overage. Whoo Hooo!

* I can't make this transaction add up. I've double checked the receipt several times and I can't figure out what happened. Most likely I miscounted coupons. But the total on my receipt was $2.58. It was a great deal. I'm not arguing with it.

After all this, when I told hubby about it he called me his merchant ship. (High praise I'd say.) I'll enjoy that compliment for a long time.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Gina for posting the original sale and all the links to e-coupons and printables. Those links are what made this deal really work for me.

New Printable Coupons Tomorrow

With all the business of Vacation Bible School this week I haven't had much time to think about coupons and grocery deals. I did go to the grocery store this week, but just for a few essentials and, (*gasp!) I didn't even take my coupon box - I'd forgotten and left it at home.

It suddenly occurred to me that tomorrow is the first of a new month. That means there should be a whole bunch of new printable coupons available.

Be sure to visit Coupons.com and SmartSource.com and get yours tomorrow.

My tips for printing coupons:

1. If you've never done this before, you'll need to download the software. Both Coupons.com and SmartSource will prompt you how to do this. The software enables you to print the bar codes that come on coupons.
   
2. You can print 3 to a page. I generally try to pick coupons in multiples of threes or if I've only got one, then flipping the paper around to print the second copy on the back side.
   
3. You can print more than one copy of most coupons. You only need to click on your browser's back button and it will initiate a second printing of the coupons. If you have a second computer in the house (like a laptop) you may be able to print more copies.
   

Also, CouponsInc. has an ongoing list of "bricks" coupons and links that are currently available. These can also be printed twice by clicking your browser's back button.

Printable Coupons Renew Tomorrow

Tomorrow starts a new month and that means new printable coupons.

Be sure to visit Coupons.com and SmartSource.com and get yours tomorrow.

My tips for printing coupons:

1. If you've never done this before, you'll need to download the software. Both Coupons.com and SmartSource will prompt you how to do this. The software enables you to print the bar codes that come on coupons.
   
2. You can print 3 to a page. I generally try to pick coupons in multiples of threes or if I've only got one, then flipping the paper around to print the second copy on the back side.
   
3. You can print more than one copy of most coupons. You only need to click on your browser's back button and it will initiate a second printing of the coupons. If you have a second computer in the house (like a laptop) you may be able to print more copies.
   

Also, CouponsInc. has an ongoing list of "bricks" coupons and links that are currently available. These can also be printed twice by clicking your browser's back button.

Printable Coupons

Thanks to a reminder from MoneywiseMoms today, I remembered that it is the first of the month and many of the printable coupons have reloaded.

My favorite sites for printing coupon are Coupons.com and
SmartSource.com.

I've already spotted coupons for YoPlait yogurt, Nature Valley Granola bars and more Kraft cheese coupons.

Here are a few tips for printing coupons:

1. If you've never done this before, you have to download the software. Both Coupons.com and SmartSource will prompt you how to do this. This software enables you to print the bar codes that come on coupons. And honestly, I've never had a problem with it interfering with anything else on our computer.
   
2. Do check that there's paper in the printer first. It's rather frustrating to have to go get paper when you're excited about a good coupon you just found -- Ask me how I know.
3. Don't make the beginner mistake of printing every coupon. It's not likely you'll use every one, and printing them does cost you paper and ink. Pick the ones you are most likely to use and print those.
4. The coupons usually print 3 to a page. I generally try to pick coupons in multiples of threes or if I've only got one, then flipping the paper around to print the second copy (see #4).
5. You can print more than one copy of most of coupons. You only need to click on your browser's back button and it will initiate a second printing of the coupons.

Bonus Site: CouponsInc.
This site has an ongoing list of "bricks" coupons and links that are currently available. You can also print these twice by clicking your browser's back button. I spotted one today for $3-$5 off Leapfrog educational software.

Shoppers Grand Slam Weekend Coupons

I opened my paper and what to my wondering eyes should appear?
But, three fantastic coupons to save money and cheer!

Today's Carroll County Times (page C2) has a Shoppers add with three $/off coupons. The three coupons are $5/$25, $10/$50, and $15/75. You can also combine two or all three three to save up to $30 on $150 purchase. There is a limit of one set of coupons per family per order.

The add says you must clip the coupons - none are available in store. They are good for Today (Thursday 5/21) - Monday (5/25).

There's also a coupon for 24 Pack Pepsi Cubes for $3.99. You must buy 2 to get that price. It expires 5/27.

There was a similar coupon out several weeks ago that appeared in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post. I'm guessing these same coupons will be in all those newspapers.

Shoppers Trip - Saved $78.09

I just got back from my trip to Shoppers and I'm thrilled. I saved over $78.00! The total before coupons was $151.71. Since Shoppers is tripling coupons up to $0.99, my out of pocket = $73.62!

The best coupon matchups for me were:
$0.75/1 Breyer's ice cream (I used 9), making the ice cream $1.25/each; a great price for our family's favorite ice cream!
$0.75/1 McCormick spices - several were free after sale & coupon
$0.50/1 Betty Crocker Frosting. The frostings were on sake for $1.50 - free after sale & coupon!

** Updated Saturday 5/16
Okay, Here's the update on what I bought at Shoppers yesterday with as many coupon matchups as I can remember.

1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights $1.50; Used 1 $0.50/1 = free after tripled coupon
5 Betty Crocker Frostings @ $1.50; Used 5 $0.50/1 = free after tripled coupon
1 French's Honey Mustard @ $2.00; Used $0.75/1 = free after tripled coupon
1 French's Mustard @ $0.99; Used $0.75/1 = free after tripled coupon
2 Marcal Paper Towels @ $2.00; Used 2 Free/1 coupons
1 Marcal Napkin 25o count @2.00; Used 1 Free/1 coupon

9 Breyer's Ice Cream @ $3.50; Used 9 $0.75/1 (I bought extras from Dede's) = $1.25/each

1 McCormick Parsley Flakes @ $1.89; Used 1 $0.75/1 = free after tripled coupon (no overage)
1 McCormick Garlic Blend @$2.25; Used 1 $0.75/1 = free after tripled coupon
2 McComick Basil Leaves @ $2.25; Used 2 $0.75/1 = free after tripled coupon
1 McCormick Oregano Leaves @ $2.39; Used 1 $0.75/1 = $0.14
1 McComick Vanilla @ $5.59; Used 1 $0.75/1 = $3.34
1 Land O' Lakes Tub Butter @ $1.69; Used 1 $0.50/1 = $0.19/each
2 Land O' Lakes Unsalted Butter Quarters @$3.29; Used 2 $0.50/1 = $1.79/each
6 Dole Mandarin oranges @ $0.98; Used 3 $0.55/2 = $0.31/each
2 Clorox Bleach @ $1.79; Used 2 $1.00/1 = $0.79each
2 Kotex Tampons @$3.19; Used 2 $1.00/2 = $2.69/each
2 Kotex pantiliners @$1.50; Used 2 $1.00/2 = $1.00/each
2 5 lb Domino Sugar @ $2.89; Used $0.35/1 = $1.84/5 lbs
4 1 lb Domino Confectioner's Sugar @ $1.00; Used 2 $0.50/2 = $0.25/each
2 2 lb Domino Brown Sugar @ $1.78; Used 2 $0.35/1 = $0.73/each
6 Campbell's Soup @ $1.33; Used $0.25/3 =$0.58/each
2 Egg Land's Best Eggs @$2.49; Used $0.35/1 = $1.44/dozen (this was a mistake - mislabeled at the store)

I'm pretty sure these were the matchups. By the time I got home and got everything sorted out, kids fed, etc. etc. etc. - the daily stuff of life, I forgot which coupons I used for what. But as best I can determine, this is what I found.

When you go - watch your prices carefully. I've noticed that the prices at my Shoppers are not always the same as the prices for other Shoppers stores.

For more great Shoppers deals be sure to visit Redemption Unlimited.

Safeway: Spent $24; Saved $26; Got $13 for Next time!

I am generally not a Safeway shopper. In my town, they usually have the highest prices on almost everything. However, sometimes, they have really great sales that I just can't pass up.

This is one of them. I'd been browsing around my favorite blogs this week and came across MoneywiseMoms' and her series Living Well, Feeling Great deals at Safeway this week. Knowing that I had a big stack of Skippy peanut butter coupons and that I wasn't likely to see this good a deal again in a loooong time, I decided to go try it out for myself. I was so psyched over this I begged hubby to go with me to help me keep my head math straight.

I ran into a little trouble at the beginning when I stopped at the Customer Service to check this store's coupon policy (I've found this to be very helpful recently). I was told they do not take more than one coupon of the same kind. That really threw me as it completely blew my peanut butter deal I was counting on. It also slowed me down considerably as I now needed to combine more items so that I only used one of each coupon.

The more I thought about it the more I thought that was probably wrong, so I sent hubby to talk with a cashier. He went with peanut butter and coupons in hand. Sure enough there'd been a misunderstanding. They do take more than one of the regular newspaper insert coupons; it's the printable internet coupons for which they only accept one.

Anyway, here's what I came home with:



The total before sales & coupons was $50.74.
Total after sales & coupons: $24.55 (52% savings).
Plus I came home with $12.00 in Catalina OYNO coupons and a $1.00/2 coupon for Deer Park.

Here are the Coupons I used:
Free Safeway Sloppy Joe
Free Safeway Salsa
6 $0.40/1 Skippy Peanut butter (all doubled)
$1.50/2 Bertollli Pasta Sauce
$0.55/1 Reynolds (doubled + I'll send in for rebate.)
$1.00/1 Barilla Tortellini
$1.00/1 YoPlait yogurt

The two free coupons came in the mail.

This was such a great deal; I'm pretty sure I'll be going back to stock up some more on peanut butter and yogurt. The sale continues until May 5 so I've got some time. Be sure to visit MoneywiseMoms for more details and to see other great Safeway deals!

Cheap Veggies!

Did you get your Shoppers ad today?

Did you notice this great sale....?

Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables are 10 for $10.00 this week. This makes them $1.00/bag. Pair that with the recent $1.00/3 coupon and your bag of veggies is only $0.66/bag! That's a stock up price in my book, even cheaper than I got last week with double dollar coupons!

Get 'em quick; the coupon expires on Saturday April 11!

Coupons & Catalinas

Coupon Inserts:
Did you get a newspaper yesterday? There were 5(!) inserts in yesterday's paper. I was so wowed by the coupons, I went and bought 3 more papers. The clerk thought I was nuts, "You want all of these? They're all the same!" I told him there were 5 coupon inserts in that paper and that I would make more money from the coupons than I would spend on buying the papers!

Catalina Coupons:
During my recent trip to Shoppers I received two Catalinas coupons for money off my Next Shopping Order (NSO). Here are the details I could find.

Post Cereals - 3/27 -- 4/19/09
Buy 3, get $2.00 off NSO
Buy 4, get $3.00 off NSO
Buy 5, get $5.00 off NSO
All items must be purchased in one shopping order; not subject to doubling.
I got mine at Shoppers, but it is a Manufacturer Coupon and, therefore, should be usable at any store that accepts manufacturers coupons; check your store's policy to be sure.

Dole Mandarin Oranges
$0.75 off NSO
There is no other information on the coupon about what the requirements are for this coupon.
I bought 4 large cans of Dole Mandarin Oranges, but Gina @MonewiseMoms only bought 3 and got the same coupon. This is also a Manufactuer coupon and should be good at any store that accepts manufactuer coupons; check your store's policy to be sure.

$40 Challenge - 1st Week

Ummm. I blew it. This was the first week of our $40.00 Grocery Challenge and I went over budget. Ugh. This is gonna be harder than I thought.

I got a bit overzelous at Martin's and Shoppers this week. Both had good sales going on and, well, I blew it.

Here's how the week shaped up:

First up, Martin's:

I went to Martin's early in the week because they had sweet potatoes on sale for $0.39/lb. They won't be that cheap again until Thanksgiving, so I stocked up - about 10 pounds of sweet potatoes. They're also the only place I can find the really large boxes of dry milk which I needed.


Total before Sales & Coupons: $41.21
Total after Sales & Coupons: $24.94

Coupons used:
$3.00/$30 store coupon
$2.00/next order Catalina coupon from the recent Kellogg's deal
$3.00/1 Infusium coupon
$0.50/2 Domino Sugar coupon, doubled

This wasn't the best trip I've ever had, but it did pretty well and I'm was under my budget for the week at this point. The powdered milk was the most expensive - $14.55 for 20 quarts = ~$0.27/ 1/2 cup of powdered milk. Real milk is definitely less expensive, but I use this in our homemade yogurt and in the hot chocolate mix I make. The sweet potatoes I've baked, mashed and frozen for future meals - just over 7 pints. Bananas & celery are both cheaper at Shoppers this week, but then I'm not sure I could use my $3.00/30 coupon, so maybe it was a wash.

Second up, Shoppers:

I went to Shoppers today, Saturday, because they're running double $1.00 coupons through tomorrow. I really wanted to avoid going to the grocery store on Sunday again, so I was determined to go. I also was fortunate to find a website that does coupon matchups for Shoppers. If you frequent Shoppers, you should definitely visit RedemptionUnlimited. I'd also checked out Gina's (MoneywiseMoms) trip The problem with my trip came when my calculator died in the middle of my shopping! I looked at it and suddenly, everything I'd entered was gone! Very frustrating. So at that point, everything was done with my leaky brain.



Total before Sales & Coupons: $90.26
Total after Sales & Coupons: $32.31 (64% savings!)
Plus: $5.00 Catalina (Post Cereal); $0.75 Catalina (Dole Mandarin Oranges) for Next Order

Coupons used (ALL coupons doubled except the free milk):
Free/1 gallon of milk (Catalina from Kellogg)
1 $1.00/2 Post cereal (manuf. coup.)
1 $1.00/2 Post ceral (store coup. - mine doubled!)
2 $1.00/2 Post Select cereal (manuf. coup.)
(6 boxes Post cereal free after coupons, Catalina and $1.00 extra earned for next order)
2 $1.00/1 Bounty papertowels (free after coupons)
2 $1.00/1 Starkist Gourmet Seas (free after coupon)
2 $1.00/1 Quaker Rice Snacks (free after coupons)
2$1.00/1 McCormick spices (pepper grinder - free after coupon)
2 $1.00/2 Barilla whole grain pasta (free after coupon)
2 $0.50/1 Barilla Piccolini pasta (free after coupon)
1 $0.75/1 No Yolk noodles, printable (free after coupon)
1 $0.50/1 Wacky Mac, printable ($0.25 after coupon)
1 $0.65/1 Clabber Girl baking powder, printable ($0.29/each after coupon)
2 $1.00/3 Dole canned Fruit ($0.33/each after coupon)
3 $0.50/1 Betty Crocker Tub frosting ($0.50/each after coupon)
1 $1.00/2 Palmolive dish liquid ($0.59 after coupon)
2 $0.55/1 Barilla pasta sauce ($0.90/each after coupon)
1 $0.65/2 2 lb/bag Dominio sugar ($1.07/each after coupon)
1 $1.00/1 McCormick spices (ginger - $1.29/ech after coupon)
2 $1.00/3 Birdseye Steamfresh Veggies ($1.33/each after coupon)
1 $0.55/1 Ziploc Steamer bags ($1.35/each after coupon)
1 $1.00/3 Jello pudding + 1/2 gallon milk, printable

Total Spent this week: $57.25
Total Saved: $73.25

I'll have to take next week's grocery budget down to $33.00 to make up for the overage spent this week. If I pay attention(!) and take a working calculator, this shouldn't be too difficult. We're already very well stocked on meat, produce, eggs, & milk, so unless something comes up when I do menu planning I don't think I'll need much.

Now, so long as I don't get sucked in by another good sale!