Late night cereal and final Wag's trip

LOL If you have a cat, you know this scene. The moment you set something down, he has to investigate and rub his chin all over everything. So cute!

So Matt ate an entire box of Chocolatey Delight Special K in two days (lots of snacking) and decided we needed more. So at 11pm last night we went to Jewel so we could get a raincheck for the Post Honey Bunches of Oats 2/$3. Got 5 boxes of Special K on sale 3/$7, which isn't the best, but used $1 coupon on each and used our free milk catalina, plus earned two more! I have a coupon for a free milk at Ultra Foods next week as well.

Today I hit Ultra Foods. Spent $7.62 on:
-one dozen eggs
-1 12 pack of pepsi
-4 rolls of TP (made $.15 on each after coupon!)
-flour
-pint of half and half
-brownie mix
-mushrooms
so that was good, and hit Aldi for a few things we needed like yogurt and more eggs (I eat a TON of egg whites each week) and their half gal of chocolate milk was down to $1.22! Crazy. And it's 1% which is great.




Walgreens caught on to the Softsoap "roll" midmorning, so by the time I got there after work it was over.
Transaction #1: Used my remaining FREE RR to buy one, paid $.32 on GC
Transaction #2:
Jane eyeshadow $2.69 each, used $2 manq. Bought a softsoap using a $1.50 manq, bought Easter pencils as filler to use my $2 RR from Chapstick. Paid $3.96 cash (GC all used up!) and earned another FREE softsoap which I used immediately, and now I am done for the month.

Oh Walgreens, why is this the last rebate month? grrrr

Shopping Spree today!

Bear with me, LOL, just as poor Matthew did as we went out in the snow to get to Walgreens before church =)





Transaction #1:
Softsoap $3.99, used $1.50 manq; Skintimate $2.99, Chapstick $1.99
Earned these RR: FREE Softsoap, $3, $2

Transaction #2:
4 20 oz cokes, which earned me 4 free Hershey bars. Used 2 Coke BOGO coupons so $2.98 for those 8 items (half of these are Matt's 'treat' for going with!)
Glade Soy Candles $5.99, used $2 manqx2 and $2 April IVC (I thought I had the $4 coupons, but guess not. So I paid $4 more than I 'meant' to, which stinks but oh well)
Softsoap $3.99, used FREE RR, earned new RR
Walitin 30 ct (Walgreens Claritin) $6.99 April FAR
Pepsi 12 packs: 4/$12, used B2G1 manq and earned $3 RR

Transaction #3:
Softsoap $3.99, used FREE RR, earned new RR

Transaction #4:
Jane eyeshadows: $2.19 and $2.69 on clearance, used $2 manqx2
Skintimate: $2.99, earned $3 RR
Softsoap $3.99, used FREE RR, earned new RR

Transaction #5:
Glade Soy Candles: $5.99 used $4 manqx2, $2 IVC = FREE
One-a-Day vitamin drink mix: $1.49 FAR, used $1 manq
Chapstick: $1.99, earned $2 RR
Softsoap $3.99, used FREE RR, earned new RR
Meow Mix clearance $.63 (needed filler to use RR)

(Spread over 3 stores, LOL)

Totals:
GC spent: $31.91
RR's earned: $32.95 (FREE softsoap and $2 remain)
Store coupons redeemed: $8
Man. q's redeemed: $24.48
Rebate earned: $9.33
Value: $105 at least!!! (Because I don't remember shelf price for all of the items)

Target: Gilette Body Wash $2 each, $2 coupon = $.51 for all 3
CVS: Glade Lasting Impressions $5.99, $1 CRT, $4 manq, earn $1 ECB

Crazy day :) So glad I can get things I want (like soda and some new makeup), things I need (believe it or not, I have shampoo out the wazoo and no body wash), and things I can share with others (some things not pictured, already given to friends at church) for basically FREE (walgreens cost me cash in the very beginning, but not lately).

YAY!

A Twittering We Will Go

Why yes, I have now joined Twitter although I never thought I would. As if I have time. I'm 'angelknits' over there, just like here.

Red Letter Mail Day!

Okay, that box on the right I had to pick up from the office. While the slightly smaller Pssst! box was shoved in my mailbox. We live in an apartment. You can picture how small a mailbox is. Well, I turned it at an angle and had to pull it the entire way out, scraping the sides as I went. Gee, thanks mr postman. You had to take my other box to the office, so why not both? Even the woman in the offie was surprised he had done that.




I had just read an e-mail I got from Pssst!, which is a General Mills product advisory board, telling me to watch for a package. It came today! The new flavor of Fiber One bars, Chocolate Mocha, plus 10 $1.35 coupons for me to share. We love these bars, and I am happy to try the new flavor since I have yet to find it in the stores.

I also got my first campaign package from BzzAgent which is a Word of Mouth marketing tool. I got Afrin nose rinse, so now I have to try it and pass out coupons (8-$3) and talk about it, then send in a 'report.' We'll see how it goes! I liked that the surveys you answer give you MyPoints, which is one of my favorite rewards sites (if MyPoints interests you, let me know your e-mail address and I can send you a referral).

I also got a $15 check from Synovate, yet another survey place. Not sure how long I've been with them, and this is the first check I requested, although I realized I could have cashed in earlier at $10, but hey, at least it didn't take too long to arrive.

Lastly, I got the first issue of my new Taste of Home subscription that a coworker gifted me with for my birthday :)

I love mail!

Walgreens today!! Clearance items galore

I was excited to see the $2/3 packs of Stride gum in yesterday's paper, since I knew Walgreens had them on sale for $.79 each this week! They were pretty bare looking when I got there this afternoon. This is also the first Walgreens I visit that actually had the Bic Soliel refills on clearance as well! Woo hoo! The only razor I use (since I've been getting it free since last July LOL)

Stride: $.79x15 = $11.85 minus $2x5 coupons = $1.85 for 15 packs
Bic: $3.59x9 = $32.31, used 9 $2 manq and IVC for $2 on each = -$3.69 for them!! haha
Schick Quattro: $8.99 each, used $4 manq and $4 IVC = $1.98 for 2

My total was $5.44 on my GC, of which $5.30 was tax. So yeah, $.14 for all that! The cashier was impressed, as was the guy behind me as my total was $60 and then down to $5. But the razors are at east $6.99, if not more, at regular price, so this was over $100 total of merchandise (the Schick razors are $11.99 and $9.99 regular)

VERY good deals! Hubby is glad to have some different flavors of gum around and already tore into the brand new Nonstop Mint flavor =)

Upcoming Kellogg's deal at Jewel!!

In Thursday's ad is the following:
Buy 10 items for $15 WYB them all in one transaction. This includes:
-Selected Kellogg's Cereal
-Pop-Tarts
-Nutrigrain Bars
-Cheez-its
-EL Fudge and Fudge Shoppe cookies
May be some other items as well!

Also, from 3/20 (Friday) until 4/12, WYB 3-5-7 boxes of selected 12oz+ Kellogg's cereal you get 1-2-3 coupons for milk OYNO, up to $4.69 each. Yay!

The last time I had a free milk coupon, it automatically took off the max value of the coupon, no matter that the milk was $1.99. So this could be a GREAT deal!

I should have enough coupons for 10 boxes of cereal (or 7 boxes and 3 pop tarts or something). $1 on each, which means $5 cash and get three free milk! You gotta start checking the cereal aisle to see which cereals count for both deals and stock up.

Still rolling the catalinas!

Transaction #1:
Wheat Thins Artisan blends: $3 each, self price $4.15. Used BOGO coupon
Kraft 2% shreds: $3.89 sale, $4.19 shelf price
Total shelf price: $25.06
Sale prices: $21.56
$3 BOGO q, $10 and $4.50 catalinas. $10 from last Jewel deal and $4.50 from Dominick's. Yes, as I have read on other blogs, it is just a manq and you can use it anywhere. It scanned, no problem!
And of course, my $10 and $3 did NOT print, which bothered me. So I went to the service desk and the assistant grocery manager didn't really understand the deals...asked if maybe using a $10 coupon would negate (his actual words!) the new one printing, but I said I'd done it before. He nodded, asked the service desk girl what she could do...so I suggested a GC because I would be using the catalinas at Jewel anyway. So they did! Except she did it as a grocery return, so I got $13.29....

Transaction #2:
Capri Sun: $2.95 shelf, $2 sale. bought 8
Easy Mac: $1.08 shelf, $1 sale
Total shelf: $25.76
Sale: $18
Used $13.29 GC. New $10 did print!
(also bought a gallon of milk)

Paid $12.94 for all of that. The Capri Sun will go with our peanut butter and granola bars to feed the homeless. Now we just need to decide when we will go (maybe when it is a tiny bit warmer for more than one day) and buy bread at Aldi and make the lunches!

I am offcially done with this Catalina deal LOL However, there are two Kellogg's catalina deals coming up.

CVS today

Easter Candy!

Hershey Kisses: $1.88 each, bought 3, used $1.50 CRT and $1.50 manq
Hershey Bliss: $2/$7, used 2-$1 manq
Cadbury Mini Eggs: $2
Cadbury Mini Eggs single size: $.50
=$15.14, earn $5 ECB back
Colgate toothpaste: $2.99, earn $2.99

Paid $.39 GC and used $13 ECB. Earned $7.99 ECB.

Sometimes it's not about earning more bucks. It's just buying the things you want. My bro only uses the toothpaste in this type of container, so it's worth it to me to just pick it up to extend my ECBexpirations.

Dominick's 3/13

Yay Dominick's! We had a guy who I think was an assistant store manager or something. Very nice, helping us out. Especially when after I entered all my items and ALL my coupons and hit 'pay with gift card' it went into a blue screen of death. So we had to retrieve my coupons and do it again on another register. But he was joking and smiling the whole time and telling me he must have missed the class on saving money! LOL

Annie's Mac n cheese: $1.25 x2
Cheetos Hot 3/$.99
Quaker Granola Bars: $.99 with in-ad coupon
Cranergy and Welch's $3 each, then $5 instant off, used $1x3 coupons = 5/$7
Peter Pan PB: $.99 with in-ad coupon, used $1 manq = FREE
Funfetti Cake and Frosting: $1.99 and $1.50 (for work)
Ghiradelhi Chocolate Chips: $3.85 (special treat for Matt to make his fave cookies)
18 ct eggs: $.97 with in-ad coupon
Glucerna cereal $4.69 (but it didn't scan in the system, they had to enter as grocery item, which messed up my catalina), used $5 coupon
Glucerna Cereal Bars: $2.84 each, used $2 coupons
Suave: $1.99, used my FREE coupon and it automatically took off the $3 max.
Zone Perfect Bars: $1 each, bought 10. Used B1G3 and 3-$1
Thomas' English Muffins: $1.49, used $1 coupon

Used $10/$50. Spent $16.45 on my gift card (from my script) for 32 items, and got a $4.50 OYNO catalina from the Glucerna bars! yippee!

Ultra Foods This Week

Ultra sent out a sheet of coupons for free and super-cheap items when you spend $10 for the next four weeks.





They had our TP on sale for $6, which is the price to get it at. I had a $1 and a $.75 coupon. Plus by buying that, I got the case of water for $.98 and the eggs for free! I also had FREE coupons for the single TP rolls, and remember Ultra gives you $.05 off for each bag of your own you bring in to use.

$12.33 for all that. Not bad at all!

CVS today. It evens out!

Yup yup, haven't been to CVS in a while. I had a good trip, which I deserved after Target gave me trouble. Thought I would stop at a different one I drove by, rather than waiting til after worship practice....dumb idea! The cashier told me I couldn't use a store coupon AND a manq on the same item. No matter how I explained it, she wouldn't do it, called a guy over, he said no. I said I wanted the manager, "I am." uh, right, that's why your name tag says 'trainer'? So I went to the desk, after taking my coupons back (Mott's applesauce) and asked a really nice woman there (who's name tag had no job title) and she said yes, I can, and told the guy who had just said he was a manager, to go tell the cashier I could use them. Haha! So he had to ring me up at a different register, and my original cashier (now 4 lanes over) was yelling at him to check the price because my coupons were more than the item (they aren't!) LOL All that to get 2 packs of applesauce for $.14 each. Sheesh ;) Plus a basket I need for organizing cleaning supplies





On to CVS!
Herbal Essences Hydraliscious shampoo/conditiner (cuz I need more!): $2.88 each, use $3/2 manq, earn $1 ECB each (got raincheck for 3 more)
Nature Valley & Fiber One Granola Bars: 3/$10, used $.60x2 and $.50x1, earned $5 ECB
Crest Pro-Health toothpaste: $2.99, used $1 q, earn $2 ECB, PLUS free MIR
Mt Dew Voltage: $1.49 used $.50 CVS coupon from cooler door (to reach $20)
Used $4/$20 that came in my e-mail today, spent $1.32. Used $9 ECBs, earned $9 ECB

A Dominick's Primer

Here are some tips for shopping at Dominick's!

-Sales run Thursday-Wednesday. Watch for the Sunday ad, as it may have different coupons and new sale items to coincide with the 2nd half of the period of Thursday's ad.

Ads oftentimes contain "Super Coupons." These generally require a $10 purchase to use, but the prices are amazing. They are store coupons, so you may combine your manq's with them. Always offer the store coupons last. Remember to cut them out, as they keep them after they scan them.

The 'regular' price of these super coupon items do NOT count towards your $10 total. You must still spend $10 on other items. However, the regular price counts toward any $x/$xx coupons you may have, so base your math on that.

One fun thing of note for this store is a promotion from Proctor and Gamble called "E-Saver." These are coupons that you 'load' onto your store savings card from this website. I have redeemed these before, and the first time I used it, I thought it didn't work, but now I figured it out after looking at my receipt.

We had $1.50 off any Crest toothpaste with my e-saver. I also had a store coupon for $1 and a manq for $1.50. The shelf price was $2.49. SWEET! It would be more than free since I had $4 in coupons. Indeed, it worked! This means their registers are not picky when you have a coupon worth more than the item. I checked my receipt, and the e-saver comes off as part of the card-sale-price. It said $3 card savings, and scanned at $.99. I then used my $1 and $1.50 coupons.

E-saver coupons can be used once, they do expire (about every 2 months?) but new ones pop up. You only need to load them on your card once, and you can then print a sheet of what is loaded. Combine this with manqs and store sales for some amazing deals!

Dominick's is also great with allowing you to use a new/transfered GC coupon from any other store. They love to get your business, and the pharmacsists we have dealt with at all locations have been nothing but super-nice.

I didn't use to shop at Dominick's, because I thought they were SO expensive. And they are, because the newspaper recently ran an article saying how Jewel and Dominick's are 30% higher than your smaller stores, and Whole Foods is about 15% higher than even those. Ouch! However, if you know how to play the deals, it will work well for you! Use those GCs!

A note about Internet printed coupons: Their policy strictly states only ONE will be accepted at a time, meaning even though you can print two, only one per transaction is allowed. No FREE items, but BOGO are okay. If you e-mail them, they will write you back with their policy so you can take it with you.

I don't have much experience using their self-checkouts yet, as the one I shop at most often is old and small and doesn't have them. If you have anything to add about them, please jump in in the comments section!

Grocery Previews

Hello!

Normally I just post the deals I get, as so many blogs actually TELL you the deals. I don't have the consistent time each week to post the deals, and oftentimes don't get them early like some bloggers seem to. Instead, here are my thoughts on the sales starting tomorrow:

Dominick's

I have a $5/$50 coupon, and a $3 off any 'extreme value' pack of beef (when you spend $25 total). The key to a $5/$50 (or any amount) is to bulk up your total with coupons for free items!

The super coupons this week I am interested in (limit 1 item per coupon, must spend $10 to use coupons):
18 ct eggs $.97
64 oz Tropicana OJ $1.97
Kraft Mac & Cheese $.49
Quaker Granola bars $.99
Peter Pan PB $.99
Sara Lee Sandwich Bread $1.99

These items do not count towards your $10 purchase. But if you have coupons, it could help. Unfortunately, I don't have great ones. $1/2 Quaker, $1/2 Tropicana but 2nd item is at regular price, so not really a great deal.
However, I do have a $1/1 PP PB coupon, so I'll score that for sure. Will buy granola bar as well. Depending on price of 'premium' kraft mac & cheese, I might use my $1 off when you buy premium/velveeta and a box of regular. Could be good!

As for beef, the 93% lean is $3.99/lb. Depending on what size pack (The ad does not say what size qualifies as 'extreme value') my $3 store coupon could make it a good deal! Then we could make yummy low-fat meatballs for our next spaghetti night.

Many juices (Mott's, Welch's, Ocean Spray) are a $5 off WYB 5 deal this week, and I have many $1 coupons. However, not much room to store juice, which is quite annoying. Our tiny apartment is full of food as it is! We try and use up stuff, but lately there have been so many deals. Really, you just have to know when to stop ;)

I also have my coupon for a free Kashi entree, a free bottle of Coffeemate, etc. Hoard those coupons for $x/$xx coupons! It really helps. I'd never dream of spending $50 cash at Dominicks. But after coupons I know it will be under my GC amount (gettinf $25 with my script today) or so I hope. I will try really hard!

Ultra Foods

There aren't too many location around, and not one near where I live, but it is semi on the way home from work, so I go occasionaly. Especially with the amazing sheet of coupons they put out today! For the next four weeks, they have FREE items when you spend $10. This week it is a free dozen eggs, and a 28-pack of water for $.98. They have Scott Ultra Soft TP (the only kind we buy) for $6, which is decent. So that's my $10 threshold, and I have coupons for the TP. Tack on the 'free' items and bam. Worth the trip! I can't wait. Definitely going there on my way home tomorrow.

Plan to hit Dominick's on Friday. Hopefully not the one next to my apt. building as they don't have self-check. sheesh. Self-check is so much easier! LOL

Twenty-Eight Cents Each ;)

Well, Jewel and Catalina have teamed up again to make me one happy shopper! Matt even went with me on all but the first trip I made on the way home from work yesterday. He loves the Peanut Butter South Beach bars, so he was happy. Basically it was spend $25 on Kraft products, get $10 OYNO. Heh. got FOUR of them :)

Transaction #1:
South Beach Bars regular $3.95, bought 7 = $27.65 to qualify for the catalina.
On sale for $3 so $21 total.
Used 6-$2 coupons
Avenu was $1.50 per box, limit 6 per household, meaning I could only do it once.
Paid $.37 cash, got $10 catalina

Transactions 2 & 3:
7 South Beach Bars again = $27.65
Used coupons: $2x3, $1x4
Also one impulse buy: Ocean Spray cranberry/pomegranate oatmeal. Matt said it looked delish, and I agreed. $1.50 on sale
Paid $4.48 for both trans., got $10 catalina each time

Transaction 4:
South Beach Bars x4 = $15.80 shelf price, used $1x4 coupons
100 Calorie Oreo Mini Cakesters = $3.89 BOGO x4 boxes
used FREE coupon and $2/2
100 Calorie snacks= $3.89 BOGO
Shelf total: $27.47
Paid $4.40 cash, got $10 catalina

Transaction #5:
Over-the-moon Milk = $2.99, used $1.50 coupon (also have a rebate, but not worth it this time. I liked the milk!)
Poptarts: On sale 3/$5, bought 2, used two $1 coupons from the front of the boxes
Chocolate Chips: On sale $3.99
Instant Coffe: $1 each, used BOGO coupon (I use this in baking. Doesn't go bad like a jar would)
Bakers Chocolate: $2.99
Used our $10 catalina
Paid $1.65 cash (we needed these to make some cookies for our small group tonight)

Value of items: $141.90
Sale prices: $101.98
Used $40 of catalinas
Used $46.39 in coupons
Spent $10.90 in cash for 39 items! Yes, that's $.28 EACH.

We are taking most all of the bars to our small group tonight to 'share the wealth.' Our youth pastor's wife LOVES the SB PB bars too, and has been eating a lot since she is pregnant LOL We are so happy to be able to help other people out this way.




We then went across the street to Dominick's as they are having one of those "Buy 5 get $5 off" promos, on cereal.
Special K was $2.99 each, used 2-$1 coupons
Pebbles were $2.49, used $1/2
Cap'n Crunch was $1.99, used $.50 coupon
Then get $5 off instantly. Used our $2 catalina from Ragu two weeks ago.
Spent $2.63 cash for 5 boxes. YUM! 50 cents each. Cashier was most impressed!

Walgreens!

Well, well, well. Walgreens lured me back in. I wasn't going to buy a lot, but stopped in for one item, and I called my GC to check my balance because I thought it was around $4 but they had already reloaded the Feb rebate I submitted last month! Craziness. So I shopped!

Transaction #1:
8 bars of Dove soap: $.99 with in-ad coupon. Buy 8, get $10 RR! Paid $8.53 GC to get $10 (only did this because I was gonna spend $10 anyway, so it's like I only spent $8...y'know.)

Transaction #2:
The Axe shampoo had one of those "check out at cosmetics!" signs so I figured they got some credit, but the young girl looked at me like I was nuts, but the nicer woman volunteered. Great thing she did! First off, she loved that I brought my own bag, and loved my deals, and we talked about the weather, etc. Fun stuff.

Glade Sense & Spray and Lasting Impressions: $9.99 each (x4)
Used 2 BOGO coupons, 2-$4 manq and got $4 off each with IVC = -$4.02 for 4
Axe Shampoo $5.99 FAR
Wal-Zyr $3.99 FAR (yes, it is almost allergy season ugh. I think I have enough free pills to last me the entire season though!)
Hershey's Mix packs: sale 2/$7, use IVC for $3/2, then manq for $2/2 = $4/4! We love Reese's by me, and I am giving one to my brother.
Thingamajig candy bar: 2/$1 (this is PB where the Whatchamacallit is caramel. should be yummy!)
Peeps: $.39 with in-ad coupon, as a filler

Total before any coupons: $65.63
Store coupons: $22.30
Man. coupons: $31.98
Used $10 RR from Dove and $1 RR from Excedrin
Paid $4.25 with GC. Only $.35 of that was item cost, the rest is SALES TAX. Yes, that is how well I did!
Rebate coming back: $10.98
So paid $12.78 GC to get $10.98 rebate, seems good to me! ;)

And yes, if I waited to buy the Glade this coming Sunday (they are on sale for $7.99 each) I would have made $2 more on each pair (so -$4.01 on two). However, that store sometimes gives me trouble using the coupons that way, and even though it would most likely be the same cashier that allowed the Glade coupons before, why wait? Why risk them not having stock when they are still paying me for them this week, and I 'applied' that overage to my FAR items?

Going today (probably a different store than yesterday though, to use my last Glade BOGO) and I need to return the Apple Cinnamon Glade Gel Plugins because they aren't part of the rebate from last month. Which is STUPID. But oh well. They better give me my money back considering I wrote on the receipt for my rebate, grrrrr. They can call themselves and find out it isn't an 'accepted' item.