A Weekend of Couponing

This is the follow-up to my last post but I actually did these deals over the weekend (Saturday 5/18/13) at CVS, Kroger, and Food Lion. I was pleased to get a variety of good foods at a good price, and even some more stocking up on pet items :) Heidi is so set for a while! I think there is more effort required to coupon for fresh foods, but the effort is definitely worth the savings--the hardest part I find is trying to get what you really want to eat for at or below what you really want to pay. Obviously, I think we could all say that paying nothing would be the best (and I agree!) but it's hard to do that on most foods. I try not to fall into that category of buying things only to get other things free; If I really want Coke over store brand, I will buy Coke, and I will usually just suffer the price difference. There are times, however, that I am fine buying store brand if I think we will like it just as much and if my cost will be really low.

I will break down everything below the picture and hopefully you will find some of the ideas helpful!

CVS:

I decided to go to the Main St. Salem CVS because they begin Sunday ads at 4:30pm on Saturdays and I wanted to combine the 20% off flyer from the paper last week (5/12) with the sales that technically began today (5/19). That CVS store (among others that run Sunday sales early) will allow this and it works wonders for couponers! Also, that CVS is super coupon friendly and they are so easy to work with and will do just about anything to make sure all of your coupons go through and you save the most money possible. My usual CVS (at the corner of Peter's Creek and Plantation) is also awesome, because they know me personally by now and they help me get the best deals I can. I like both stores equally and enjoy shopping at each the same amount, but only the Salem store (that I know of!) combines both week's sales...so anyway, when I have a % off coupon to use, I will likely go to that one!

Here's what I bought in a total of 5 transactions (I HAD to do multiples in order to follow the coupon policy correctly and not 'cheat' the system. Yes, it pays to be an honest couponer--UPDATE: the CVS policy actually allows for multiple $ off a $ amount q's to be used at once...I was working under the impression that this was not really allowed, but that my awesome cashiers were doing it anyway--I have done transactions before where I used a lot of coupons to get my cost way down, but was *supposed* to break them into separate orders...and this trip I broke them up but honestly, it can and will work both ways and is completely acceptable!) long story short: in this post I did multiple transactions, but in future (and some past posts) I have used multiple X $ amount off X $ amount total....

Transaction 1: (on Andrew's card) 1 Loreal Nail polish @ 5.99 (full price--but at my usual store, for some reason is reg. $7.29, wow! and yes, the prices can vary that much from store to store, it's crazy!) with tax, was $6.29

Coupons used: 1 CVS coupon for $3 off any Loreal Nail polish and 1 manufacturer coupon for $3 off any Loreal Nail item. I paid a total of $0.29 (all tax) for the nail polish (and for the record, this may be my new fave color!)

        ---this would have been a better deal with a 20% coupon, but I only had 4 of those coupons, and was getting the polish free already, why get too greedy? haha

Transaction 2: (2 through 5 were all on my card)

1 Colgate Mouthwash @ 2.99 (reg. 4.39)

2 Crest 3D White Mouthwash @ 3.99 each (reg. 6.49 each)--buy $10 worth of 3D White, get $5 EB

1 3D White toothbrush @ reg. price of 3.79 (included in EB offer*)

Coupons used: 1 CVS q for 20% (this took off 2.80, but should have only taken .75 because everything but the toothbrush was on sale, however, when the cashier scanned it--it originally did not work. She manually figured up the 20% and typed it in. I told her only the toothbrush qualified because it was full price, but she said she would just take the 20% off the entire price. The coupon is only supposed to work on NON-SALE items, so this was a bonus for me :) but I was prepared to pay about $2 more...thankfully, that CVS is super coupon friendly and the cashier was awesome and although I was being honest telling her what to take off properly, she did the better deal anyway. Other coupons used: 1 CVS q from machine for $2 off any $10 Crest or Oral B toothbrush, mouthwash, or toothpaste purchase, 1 CVS q (from cvs.com) for $1 off any Colgate mouthwash 8oz or larger, 2 Crest mouthwash manufacturer coupons for $1 off each (from coupons.com), and 1 manufacturer q for $1 off any Colgate mouthwash 8oz or larger (from smart source, 5/12, but there were more in today's paper!) and 1 manufacturer coupon for $1 off any Crest 3D white toothbrush (P&G brandsaver 5/4 I believe) and I 'paid' with another $5 Extra Bucks, which made my subtotal 0.00, but my tax was $0.49 so that's all I had to pay in cash.

Total paid after card and coupons: $0.49 and received $1 Extra Buck for the Colgate and $2 Extra Bucks from the Crest (would have been $21.65). This $2 was an accident, because the Crest 3D White mouthwash was on sale last week (5/12-5/18) for 3.99 each and buy 2, receive $2 EB. Today's (5/19-5/25) sale is spend $10, get $5 Extra Bucks with the mouthwash full price. Although that CVS begins their sales early, the computer registered my purchase as LAST week's deal, and gave me the sale price and only $2 in EBs...I simply mentioned it to the cashier and she manually printed my $5 EB :) I told her just to print $3, since I already the $2, but she said no worries and printed the total of $5 anyway, so I actually got $7 in EB from the Crest. Again, awesome that they are super coupon friendly there, but my success could vary by store.

Transaction 3:

1 Physician's Formula Eyeshadow Kit @11.79 reg. price-this is also higher at my usual CVS by 20 cents)

(spend $10 on any Physician's Formula, get $7 Extra Bucks)

Coupons used: 1 CVS 20% coupon from the Sunday paper last week (took off 2.36), 1 CVS q for $4 off any $12 cosmetics purchase (excluding nail) and a $5 extra bucks from last week

Total paid after coupons and card: $0.65 and received $7 in Extra Bucks (would have been $12.37)

Transaction 4:

1 Bottle of Excedrin Migraine 200 count @ 16.29 reg. price (I ran out two weeks ago but was waiting for a deal to come about so I was super excited for this sale!)--buy $20 worth of Excedrin, get $10 in Extra Bucks

1 Bottle of Excedrin Extra Strength 24 count @ 4.99 reg. price

Coupons used: 1 manufacturer q for $2 off any Excedrin 100 count or larger (coupons.com) and 1 manufacturer q for $1 off any Excedrin 24 count or larger (coupons.com) and 1 CVS 20% flyer (took off 4.26) and 1 CVS q (from coupon machine) for $3 off any pain relief or sleep aid purchase $10 or more. I 'paid' with a $10 Extra Bucks reward from a previous week, and was left with $1.02 which I paid in cash. So glad this deal worked well, because Excedrin is my go to headache medicine and it's not cheap (unless you're couponing, then it's practically free!)

Total paid after coupons: $1.02 (would have been $21.28, since there's no tax on meds!) I also received a new $10 in Extra Bucks, so I 'spent' an old $10 to get a new $10. Good deal.

Transaction 5:

4 Men's Speed Stick Deodorants @3.29 each, reg. price

2 bonus size bags of M&Ms @2.50 each, sale price (reg. price of 4.39 each)

2 Coke Classic 12 can packs @3.00 each, sale price (reg. price 5.79)

4 Check-out caramels @0.33 each, reg. price (I'll explain in a second...)

Coupons used: CVS 20% q (took off 2.92), 1 CVS q from coupon machine for $2 off 2 M&M bags (this was last week's 'deal of the week', 1 CVS q from machine for $2.50 off any deodorant purchase, 2 CVS q for $3 off 2 Lady or Men's speed stick (one from coupon machine last week and one I printed off my online account), 2 Manufacturer Qs for BOGO  free Lady or Men's speed stick (max value of 2.99, took off 2.99 each!), and 1 manufacturer q for $1.50 two bags of M&Ms. Those deodorant coupons combined to give me $3.95 in OVERAGE and the M&Ms came to .75 per bag :) I kind of made a rookie couponing mistake and handed them too many coupons, because I got a little anxious I accidentally handed them one of my $5 Extra Bucks q's....and I did not need to. I was only planning on buying ONE pack of Coke with my overage, and paying the difference for the M&Ms, so when they hit total...my balance was $4 and something negative (because I accidentally gave them a $5 Extra Bucks...) Anyway--we couldn't figure out what was up so we threw in another pack of Coke and 4 of the little caramels at check out to make the balance up...so, that's why I had the caramels and the extra Coke. I did 'pay' for them...but as Andrew said, it was 'free' CVS money so I didn't lose anything haha. My subtotal (after EBs) was actually negative 42 cents, so it just took some more of my tax off.

Total paid after card and q's: $0.11 

Did not receive any EBs on this deal but did receive two $10 off your $50 purchase q's on the bottom of my receipt (trust me, these are like coupon gold because, as all other CVS q's...total only has to be met BEFORE coupons..and these are awesome on household purchases like detergent, toilet paper, etc) so I will be planning well for those!

So, my cash (what I had to fork over in change from my own pocket) total at CVS was: $2.56 for $96.60 worth of drugstore items (a savings of 97.5%) and I am left with one previous $10 in Extra Bucks (from two weeks ago) and $20 in NEW Extra Bucks. Not bad I'd say.

Just a thought on smaller transactions vs. one large transaction: the smaller transactions allows for 'rolling' the EBs if necessary---refer to my last post about the Free Green Giant Veggies at Kroger on why rolling can be beneficial. At CVS, if you are going to either spend $50 at the beginning, but get around $35 Extra Bucks OR spend $10 for the first transaction and get $10 EBs to use on the next order and just keep that first $10 going further. It's whether you want to spend all at once, and get more back or spend less up front, get less back at smaller intervals but keep using them to buy whatever else you want that day. Hopefully that's not too confusing. Maybe I will do a video or try taking someone with me to explain in person sometime (I currently have offered to take one of my sisters-in-law to show her the ropes! 

After couponing at CVS for a while, you will likely accumulate a decent number of EBs to use on a later week's purchase that will trigger more EBs. In my case, I really only 'roll' from week to week, or every two weeks, so I don't spend them right away, but I always try to keep at least $20 EBs in my possession at a time so if I really need milk or bread or something like that or medicine and I'm in a pinch, I can buy them at CVS with CVS money and not worry about spending my own. Usually though I just buy something one week that I want, and get Extra Bucks for it and spend some, to get some more. It's not a tough system once you get the hang of it and you'd be surprised what all you can rack up for free in CVS cash. Just keep one week's worth of EBs going into the following week's and you're never spending much of your own (i.e. REAL) money :) 

My most simple breakdown would look something like this:

Emma's current CVS EBs: $30

Will use in future weeks (by June 8, since they do expire!) to buy something.

If I buy something for just about $30 that includes EB deals (example, I buy Eucerin lotion and it gives $20 EBs for spending $30)--I will spend my current $30, to receive the lotion and $20 NEW EBs to roll next time. If I spent those EBs on say a patio table (just bought one May 4, with 4 chairs for a net of $55!) and did not receive EBs, I get something on a good price but not have any EBs to roll for next time.

My usual plan is that I keep around $20 or so from week to week. I will spend the current $20 or so, to get a new $20, along with 'free' products I want or need :) I have just simply kept my original out of pocket money going longer, by using CVS money from week to week. Okay, sorry for all the chat/explanations...back to my savings!

Kroger: (Salem Square, 5/18/13)

1 bunch of cilantro (reg. price at .64)

1-6 count Kroger bagels (reg. price at 1.89)

2-10 oz bags of Kroger tortilla chips (reg. price at 1.00 each)

1-12 count Kroger mini buns (sale at 1.00, reg. price of 1.39)

1 gallon Kroger skim milk (sale at 2.79, reg. price of 2.89..went down I think)

4 boxes of Beneful treats (clearance at 2.39 per box, rang up at full price of 4.29, so had to get that changed down!)

1-6oz bag of David sunflower seeds (sale at 1.00, reg. 1.19--I just really wanted these! haha)

2 jars of Hershey's caramel ice cream topping (clearance at 1.12 per jar, reg. 2.69 per jar)

1-4 pack of Duracell AAA batteries (on clearance for 1.99)

Coupons used:

.40 off any Kroger bagels (mailed to me in the Kroger 'best customer coupons' book)- .60!

.40 of any Kroger buns (same as above*)--made them .60!

.75 off any two Kroger bagged snacks (same as above*)-made them 1.25 for two

1.50 off any Beneful treats (had 4 of these left from Smart Source in April, made the boxes .89 each! not completely free, but wow anyway)

1.00 off two Hershey's toppings (made these .62/jar!)

1.00 off one pack of Duracell, any size (from a pack of Charmin I bought last year!)

and I had some "money" coupons left over from last week--one for 5.00 off my order, and one for 2.00 off my order (these were expiring that day so needed to be used)

Total pre-card and coupons: $32.13

Total we paid after coupons and card: $6.56

This definitely isn't my best trip to Kroger, but I bought milk, some bread items, stockpiling dog treats, ice cream toppings and snacks for really the price of a Starbucks coffee and scone (if that!) so I was cool with it. As you can see, most of those coupons were for Kroger items. If you don't have your Kroger card linked to an online account, I definitely suggest it! You can go to kroger.com and link your card to an online account; by clicking "yes" to opt-in to receive mailings (email and snail mail!) you will get mailed AWESOME coupons on about a monthly basis from Kroger. These are tailored to YOUR shopping habits (so we ALWAYS get a coupon for bagels and some sort of free produce and nearly always a Coke product haha). This last time, we also got a $3 off any purchase (good til July, so I'm saving it!). Like I said, let them send you special coupons--you won't regret it!

I know based on my above shout-out to Kroger coupons it may seem like that is my favorite grocery store...but, I really am torn between Kroger and Food Lion. My local Food Lion is so nice to shop at for so many reasons. A few of those reasons are: never crowded, never over-picked, really fresh produce, meat, and dairy and many things have lower regular prices than that of Kroger or even WalMart. I think the biggest complaints I do hear about Food Lion are that they don't carry many personal care products and that the store layout seems unorganized (this varies by store though, because my stores have fine layouts). I really do enjoy shopping at Food Lion and they always encourage me to come back with really good coupons (I'll explain in a minute!)--anyway, here was our trip.

Food Lion- 5/18/13

*we only went in to look at bread because we needed a loaf and Kroger's prices seemed too high and I just wanted to see what Food Lion had since last week I bought the store brand bread and it was delicious!*

-Once we went into Food Lion, I scanned my card at the coupon machine and got some really good coupons, so we decided to look around a bit and we bought the following:

4-10oz bags of Fresh Express Romaine salad blend (sale price of 2.00 each, reg. 2.69 each)

1-5lb bag of red potatoes (sale price of 2.00, reg. 2.99)

1 cucumber (sale price of .69, reg. 99)

5 tomatoes (on the vine) (sale price of 1.00/lb, reg. 1.99/lb, we had just over a pound)

3 jalapenos (price was .33 total, not sure what price per lb was..always cheap anyway!)

4 serrano peppers (price was .24, again, not sure what the price/lb was...they're cheap too)

4 peaches (on sale for 1.99/lb, reg. 2.49/lb..I know that's still high, but my gosh they looked and smelled (and they are!) delicious..and I needed to reach a certain total in produce (see below))

1 loaf of Sunbeam bread (reg. price of 1.99--Kroger had it for 2.99!?!?!)

1 pack of 16 slices of Borden cheese (reg. price of 2.59--new favorite, too!)

Coupons used:

I got a coupon from the machine for $3 off any $15 produce dept. purchase--I ALWAYS try to use these when I get them because chances are, I can reach $15 in that dept. easy...and when I get coupons on fresh food, I jump on them! haha anyway, my total just needed to be reached BEFORE coupons and we hit just over $15 (at $15.28)

-I also found peelie coupons on the salads for $2.50 off the purchase of 2 (these peelies were on bagged onions, next to the salad, and they are manufacturer coupons only good at Food Lion--so these made my salads only .75 per bag!---then even cheaper once I used the $3 off produce coupon!)

-1 peelie coupon on the cheese for .50 off (made the cheese 2.09, not the best price, but not terrible)

I know I did not have many coupons in this trip, but for buying fresh veggies and bread (for which coupons rarely come out on--except those super pricey/fancy ones and usually then it's "buy 2, save x amount"..bleh)

Total before card/coupons: $25.27

Total paid after coupons and card: $11.86 (only $7.42 of this total was for all of my produce, woo!)

Saved over 50% so I'm cool with that, plus we got back some really good coupons for next time--a $4 off your next $25 purchase and a $3.50 off any produce purchase of $7 or more. I will likely combine those, and as long as I spend $7 in produce, I will get $7.50 off of $25 (and that's not too hard to reach even if I only buy bread, produce, dairy, etc)

I think my plan from now on is to buy most of my dairy and meat and produce at Food Lion, and the bulk of everything else at Kroger or other stores. Obviously if one store has a better deal on something, I will go there for it, but I really like splitting my trips between the two since like I said, in my experience, Food Lion is never picked over and they're always well stocked for produce that's on sale.

So, my total for the weekend was $20.98, and that is roughly two week's worth of veggies and milk for us so pretty good deal. And I got my much beloved Excedrin, some Coke, and a few fun snacks :)

Sorry if this post seemed long on my 'theories' I was trying to be helpful and explain some things. Not sure what is on the agenda next--I went back to a Kroger tonight and bought 8 more cans of veggies, but all they had left after that was cream corn (yuck!) but I will probably go back out Wednesday or Thursday to see if they have restocked...if not, will likely get a rain check. Also, I will be doing a (hopefully) big CVS trip later in the week. 

Until I shop some more, I may just write about something else fun--like movies. I am seeing The Great Gatsby tomorrow with a high school friend and I am really looking forward to it. Thanks to her money saving skills, we are hitting a matinee for 5.50! And I have us some coupons for lunch :)

I would really like some feedback on my efforts so far: if you're brave, please leave a comment on here, or send me an email (ajwejw@gmail.com) or a message or comment on Facebook. I would like some ideas from readers on topics I should explore or any questions I can help answer. Any and all advice/comments would be appreciated and on a high note, I have had over 650 reads, wow!

FREE Canned Veggies at Kroger

I know my last post was about my ideas for writing about more topics, but for now, I really like writing about my couponing trips (especially when it includes how to get FREE canned veggies for your family). My weekend trips were very successful and I can proudly say that I saved $160 by only spending a total of $22.85 for $182.99 worth of products. Also, I got fresh food and canned veggies--now who can say that couponing can't be practical and it's only for junk food? :) For this post, I will start at Kroger since I have a deal that EVERYONE can take advantage of, even WITHOUT coupons and finish at Target. If you're in the market for canned veggies, this deal is for you and they will be completely FREE (minus tax of course). Here we go!

Kroger: Today, May 19, 2013

Kroger is currently running a sale for Green Giant canned veggies (varieties: peas, corn, creamed corn, green beans, and french green beans) at 2 for $1. There is also a catalina (prints at the register) coupon deal currently going on for these items (the catalina is on General Mills and Green Giant products). For every 4 items you buy, you receive a catalina for $2 off your next order. The total, with Kroger card of course, is $2.05 for 4 cans. I paid this in cash out of pocket, to begin with, and I received a $2 catalina. I took that catalina and bought my next 4 cans, paying only 5 cents in tax. I did this a total of 8 times to buy 32 cans of veggies for a net total of $0.40 (all tax!) because although I spent (in cash) $2.40, I received another $2 catalina for my final set of 4. I will just hold on to that 2 dollars for next time! Everyone can do this and it does not require any manufacturer or Kroger coupons, only a Kroger card. I DID 8 TOTAL TRANSACTIONS in order to do this the way I did.

Maybe you have some questions at this point. Hopefully I can tackle a few. I am using the questions my mom asked me when I called her about the deal, so maybe this seems kind of confusing. At the beginning, extreme couponing can be kind of confusing just like learning anything else. It just takes a little time to learn the tricks, but once you do, boy it's worth it! I will actually call the above deal on the canned veggies extreme because they're free, except for tax. And who doesn't want free veggies?! Okay--questions:

Question 1: Can I buy more than 4 cans in one transaction and get more than $2 back at once?

A: Yes, you could do this. You would simply receive more $2 coupons at once. It will be one $2 coupon per 4 cans. It won't combine them all (like into one LARGE amount coupon) but you would just get them all at once, instead of $2 at a time per transaction.

Question 2: Why break it into multiple transactions?

A: This is called "rolling", where you "roll" coupons from each transaction. I took the $2 from transaction 1, and used it on #2 and so on until I had completed 8 transactions. I broke it up into multiple transactions so my cash paid out of pocket would be less up front. In question one above, I would have paid $16.40 IN CASH (or credit or whatever) UP FRONT and received a total of $16 back. I chose to only pay $2.40 in cash, and be left with $2 back. It's really your preference how you do this because someone in a hurry (though multiple transactions does not take much longer!) would prefer to just buy them all at once and just have $16 for next time, instead of $2. It works the same way, so up to you!

Question 3: What happens if Kroger is out of the Green Giant cans?

A: Take advantage of the rain check system! Simply go to customer service and ask for a rain check on however many cans of GG you want (and you would tell them which specific variety and number of each) so when they come in stock, you will get them at the current week's sale price (.50 per can). Here's the only trick---the catalinas are only printing until the 25th of May, so the stock must come in by then. This really isn't a problem since Kroger reorders pretty much every day, and when sales are this good, they usually have plenty in stock somewhere!

Now, back to my savings. In the above picture, I also went to Target this morning and got some fresh food at a great price! At this point, I hope I have at least helped people see that you can use coupons on good for you food just as much as on bad for you foods :) Target has an awesome app for phones (all kinds, not just apple!) that comes in really handy! Target mobile sends out coupons to your phone if you text them at 827438. Right now, there are some good mobile coupons on all kinds of items, but in particular $1 off any fresh fruit purchase $1 or more and $1 off any fresh vegetable purchase of $1 or more. If you text the word SPRING to 827438 you will get a text with those coupons. Also, text the word PICNIC to get two more identical (so, you will get two of each). They can't be combined on the same item, but they can both be used in ONE transaction. Right now, Target has ears of corn on sale for .25 each (regularly .50 each!). I bought 8 ears of corn and used my two Target mobile coupons on fresh veggies to get all 8 ears FREE. Even better, IT DID NOT CHARGE TAX, since the price and the coupon were the exact same. Awesome! Andrew came with me today and he also had the coupons loaded on his phone, so we got 8 more ears of corn FREE on his order. He went through a different check out lane than I did. Since we were already in Target, we decided to use our mobile coupons on the fresh fruit too. I bought two packs of strawberries on my order, and used both of my $2 off coupons on fresh fruit. They were 1.99 a pack, so after coupon I paid .99 each and my total (with tax) was $2.03. Andrew bought 5 bananas (at .24 each) and a lime (.49 each) and a lemon (.69 each) and used both of his fresh fruit coupons. He paid a total of $0.29. The trick (or problem really) is that these coupons won't work if the purchase total DOES NOT MEET THE MINIMUM VALUE OF THE COUPON. Basically, you could not buy something worth .99, it HAD to be OVER $1 total. Either way, still a great deal!

Total at Target: $2.32 for $14.71 worth of fruits and veggies!

The rest of my weekend shopping took place last night at CVS, Kroger, and Food Lion and I will do this in a separate post later today.

I Have Been Thinking...About New Ideas

Uh oh! I know, right, when people start thinking--it could mean trouble. I have been thinking about writing about more than JUST couponing. I do more in life than just coupon haha. I would like to talk about shopping (not just coupon shopping), food, travel, and day-to-day life. I hope that is cool with everyone! I know people talk about all of those things on Facebook, Twitter, etc. every day but how much can you really dive into in a quick status update? I have some great recipes and tips on more than just how to coupon successfully. Sound good? Awesome.


Most of you probably know that I was recently hired by Central Academy Middle School as the new cheerleading coach. I am so excited for this opportunity because I loved being a cheerleader and I want to be more involved in the community, so hopefully everything will go well! This is my first coaching job and I will be learning as I go, so I know it will be stressful and challenging at times but should still be a lot of fun and very rewarding. And, I look forward to putting my shopping skills to the test to order everything we need and want at a low cost :)

So...here's what's on my agenda for the next few weeks:

Today: cheer meeting with prospective cheerleaders and their parents. I am looking forward to meeting all of the people trying out and their families (since they will be crucial to our team!)
(and I am getting lots of subbing jobs lately!)

Memorial Day Week: TRYOUTS!!!!

June 29-July 7: SAN DIEGO, CA!!!! I will certainly be blogging about the trip but until then I will probably be discussing everything leading up to our vacation :) Andrew and I are very excited to visit his family and spend some time in his home state :) Also, I think I am going to try to tackle a little couponing in California lol.

I will be posting later this week (or weekend, I guess) about my last few couponing trips. I had some really good experiences these last few days and will try to get to CVS tomorrow evening or Saturday evening for the current week's deals. I had been visiting my grandparents earlier in the week, so that is why I have not posted until now. Family > internet right? :)

What can you do with a $10 bill?

Here are a few of my recent adventures, and some of my best to date. I did the following at Kroger, CVS, and Kroger again. I would like to show you what is possible with a mere $10.

Kroger (5/4/13)

We went in only to look at the dog food and see if we wanted to duplicate the deal I had done earlier in the week. We also wanted some cilantro since I forgot it on my first run of the week (doh!)--We did not do the dog food deal again, because...and I am still awaiting a reply from Kroger...the prices at this particular store were NOT THE SAME as the prices at the other store I had gone too. I did not, and still don't, understand how/why prices would vary so much in the same region (Williamson Road area vs. Valley View area...) Anyway, we were still lucky to have gone at that time since we found some amazing deals on a few items. Photo #1 includes a few items from CVS (the same day) but I will breakdown those items below the Kroger rundown.

2 Freschetta Pizzas, sale for 3.99, reg. 6.99 each

2 Green Giant Veggie Chips, sale 1.00, reg. 2.99 each

6 Kraft Rosemary/Garlic Freshtakes, closeout .75, reg. 2.99 each!

2 Kraft Shredded cheeses, sale 2.50, reg, 4.29 each (yuck)

3 Green Giant boxed veggies, sale 1.00, reg. 2.09 each

1 Green Giant canned veggies, sale 1.00, reg. 1.49 each

1 bunch of cilantro, .69 for the bunch (reg. price?)

1 pack of Kroger hot dog buns, sale 1.00, reg. 1.49

2 Haribo gold bears, sale 1.00, reg. 1.09 each

I broke all of this down into the following transactions with the following coupons (I'll explain why I needed more than 1 transaction)--

Transaction #1:

2 Freschetta pizzas (used a $1.50 off 2 coupon, from my Kroger mailer)-made these 3.25 each

2 Green Giant chips (used 2 $0.50 off 1 coupons from coupons.com, which doubled to make these free)

2 Kraft Freshtakes

2 Kraft Cheeses (I used 2 $1.50 off the purchase of BOTH a Freshtake and a bag of Shreds, this was a peelie on the pack of Shreds)--this made my Freshtakes FREE, and made the bags of cheese 1.75 each

3 Green Giant boxes (used a $0.60 off three, made these 0.80 each)

1 can of Green Giant veggies, no coupon

1 bunch of cilantro

1 pack of Kroger buns (used a Kroger coupon from my mailer for 0.40 off any Kroger buns, made these 0.60 for the pack)

2 Haribo bears (used 2 $0.30 coupons from coupons.com, which doubled to make these 0.40 per bag)

Our pre-card, pre-coupon price was $46.64 (without tax)

Our total, after scanning Kroger card and all coupons came down to: $15.47 with tax

We received a $3 catalina for the Freschetta, a $2 catalina for the Green Giant veggies, and a $2 catalina for the Kraft items AND $1 off two Freshtakes coupon. We paid $15.47 and got $7 back for Kroger next time. I had no idea the Kraft would give a catalina, that is why I did more than one transaction. Since there were more Freshtakes on closeout for .75 each, I decided to buy 4 more to do the deal again.

Transaction #2:

4 Kraft Freshtakes, .75 each on closeout (reg. 2.99)

I used 2 $1 off 2 catalina coupons (1 from the 1st transaction, and 1 printed as soon as I scanned the first Freshtake in the 2nd order, so I used both of course!)

Pre-card total: $11.96 (excluding tax)

After card and coupon total: $1.07 (tax included) AND received another $2 catalina

So, for all of the above Kroger items, we paid a net of $7.54 ($16.54- the $9 worth of catalinas for next time)

The few items pictured from CVS are:

2 snickers bars, on sale for .99 each, reg. 1.19 each

2 Oral B replacement brush heads, on sale for 5.99 each, reg. 9.99 each

1 bottle of Advil Migraine, closeout for 5.61, was 7.99

I did two transactions since I had coupons that matched both Andrew's card and my own.

Trans. 1 (Andrew's card)- Advil Migraine 5.61

Used a CVS coupon for $2 off any $5 sleep aid or pain reliever purchase

also used a CVS coupon for $2 off any healthcare purchase

AND a manufacturer coupon for $1 off any Advil migraine product (from coupons.com)

We paid .61 (pre-coupon price was $5.61)

Trans. 2 (my card)- 2 snickers and 2 Oral B brush heads (pre-card price was 22.36, pre-coupon price was 13.96--without tax)

I used the following coupons: 1 CVS coupon for 2.50 off any $12 toothbrush, toothpaste, or mouthwash purchase, 1 CVS coupon for a FREE candy bar (Mars or Hershey's), 2 manufacturer coupons for $3 off any Oral B brush heads 2 or 3 ct (from P&G brandsaver 4/28), and 1 BOGO free coupon for a snickers bar with purchase of a peanut butter snickers bar (this made both candy bars free, plus I got .10 overage because the BOGO coupon had a max value of 1.10)--I also used a $4 Extra Bucks reward from a few weeks ago.

Our price paid was $0.17, and we received a $6 Extra Bucks reward for buying the Oral B

For everything above, we paid $8.42 (for $88.95 worth of product--so, a 90% savings)

The next picture is from Kroger later that night. It's a small brag. but I am proud of seeing the 100% savings on my receipt :)

We went to a different Kroger for this one (yeah, we have 4 all about the same distance from us, yay!) and were able to do all one transaction. After this trip, I would recommend anyone using coupons at a self checkout be sure and WATCH the cashier physically scan the coupons because he only scanned half of mine before putting them all in the drawer. He started helping another customer before finishing scanning mine, and I guess he assumed he had scanned them all. I am glad I keep a watchful eye, because the coupons he 'skipped' were worth $5...Just reminding you that if you are couponing, be observant when they take and scan the coupons because sometimes, the cashiers get busy and may not realize what it going on right away.

Here is what we did:

4 Covergirl eyeshadow singles, reg. price 2.55 (on a promotion, see below)

2 Beneful Medleys canned 3 pack, reg. price 2.09, on sale for 1.25 each

1 Clif bar, reg. price 1.00

4 Colgate toothpastes, on sale for 1.00 each, reg. price 1.89 each

1 Chiquita whole pineapple, on sale for .99 each, reg. 3.99!

3 jalapenos, were .14 for all 3, not sure what actual price/lb was...

Our pre-card total was: $27.07 (excluding tax), and after card total was: $14.83 (exc. tax)--our after coupon total was -0.17, and our tax was .64 so we paid a total of $0.47!

We used the following coupons:

4 $2 off any Covergirl Lashblast or eyeshadow (from P&G brandsaver, 4/28)--these were on a Kroger special buy 4 cosmetics, save $4 so I received an overage of .45 per eyeshadow purchased (a total of 1.80 in overage!)

1 $2 off 2 Beneful Medleys dog food, so this made each 3 pack only 0.25!

4 $0.50 off ANY Colgate toothpaste (this was from a Smartsource in April...but exp. 5/11 but the coupon had no specific type/flavor restrictions, just had to be over 4oz, so these doubled to $1 each, making all the toothpaste free)

1 catalina coupon for a FREE clif bar, any flavor

We paid $0.47 for $27.07 worth of products (the receipt said a savings of 100%, likely because our subtotal was negative)

This last picture is from CVS yesterday (5/6/13) and I planned this deal out beforehand. It could not have gone more smoothly and I love when a trip comes out exactly as I have planned, nearly to the penny :)

I had some good CVS that needed to be used, so I sat down for a bit and figured out a deal to combine with my manufacturer coupons and current sales that CVS is running. This was not an Extra Bucks deal and I paid truly out of pocket, without any CVS money. 

I bought 4 Physicians Formula eyeliner 3 packs (sale price of 6.29 each, reg. 12.29 each) and I bought 1 bottle of Got2B Curl Gel Spray at 3.99 (reg. price of 7.29)

The regular price total of the above was: $56.45 (excluding tax)

My CVS card took me down to $29.15 (again, excluding tax)

I then used the following coupons:

1 CVS coupon for $5 off any $25 cosmetics purchase

1 CVS coupon for $3 off any Physicians Formula cosmetic item

2 Manufacturer BOGO free Physicians Formula eyeliner or kohl pencil peelie coupons, up to 9.76, from former Physicians Formula products (my CVS does take off the max value)

1 $2 off any 1 Got2B styling item (from Redplum 5/5)

After all coupons, I paid a total of $1.09 out of pocket for $56.45 worth of makeup :) considering my tax was $1.45, I am pleased with this :) AND, the pre-coupon amount put me over the $50 I needed for my Beauty Bucks rewards at CVS (if you're unfamiliar with this, check out CVS,com--I highly recommend joining, it's free!, because for every $50 spent, you get $5 back, and like all other CVS promotions, that total simply has to be met BEFORE coupons haha)

So, this past week I got all of the above (over $175 worth!) for a mere $9.98. That is a savings of 94.5%, woooo!

How to Shop for Free! and Types of Coupons

Walking into a store and paying 0.00 is quite tricky, so when I say "free" I mean getting your total down to nothing but tax, or close to nothing. It IS completely possible to pay absolutely nothing, or even get paid to buy certain things, it just takes some strategy and some planning. I would like to give a few examples of my idea of 'shopping for free' and honestly, I can say it is harder to spend coupon money than regular money. What I am referring to as coupon money is money that a coupon takes off of your total bill that is GREATER than the price of the item to which the coupon belongs. Don't worry if that confuses you, I will give a few examples below in my breakdown. There are so many couponing/extreme couponing websites that can help you 'shop for free' but I am just sharing a few of the ways I have been able to do this and practical ways to use the overage (remember, this is what I'm calling 'coupon money').

Being able to shop for free depends on a few things:

1. The store you are shopping in. 

Some stores' registers automatically deduct the MAXIMUM value of the coupon, while some stores will prompt a cashier to 'check the price' of the item and fill in the price, essentially forgoing the remaining value of the coupon. Stores I know for certain that automatically take off the max value are: Target and CVS. I think Walgreen's will also do this, but I personally know less about Walgreen's than other stores. Stores I know that prompt for a cashier to check price are: Walmart, Kroger, and Food Lion. I will give an example of coupon use in both scenarios (say, a Target and then a Walmart).

This coupon example uses a coupon for Dove lotion that says "FREE Dove lotion, up to $4.00" (the 'up to', or 'max value' wording is key to my examples below):

              In Target, I see Dove lotion on sale for $3.50 and I have a Dove coupon with a max value of $4.00. While I am shopping at Target, I will remember that said coupon gives me an overage (FREE money!) of .50 towards the rest of my purchases, because I know that Target will scan the coupon and it will automatically deduct the max value, so 3.50-4=an overage of .50. Just for knowing that this is Target's system policy, I will want to remember that I will have .50 cents more in coupons than my item total (at least so far). [scenario 1] Since I have a free .50, I could simply buy something for .50, like a candy bar and be done with it. I will get both a candy bar and the Dove lotion for free (I would have to pay tax but that's it).  [scenario 2] If I am buying other stuff (like milk or bread or whatever) I could just use the extra .50 towards the total from those items and save .50 on my milk/bread/whatever. OR [scenario 3]....and my personal favorite, I could find several of these overage-giving coupons and get all of my stuff that I want/need for free, or close to it. In this case, I would buy 4 or 5 Dove lotions and use 4 or 5 overage-giving coupons to 'up' my amount of free money. If i bought 4, I would have an overage of 2.00, and of course, buying 5 would give me an overage of 2.50. This would likely take care of at least the bread, and maybe a little extra. So, I can proudly say I bought my bread for free, just for buying lotion. 

                    If you want to know WHY anyone would want to buy 4 or 5 lotions, I would just say that they            can be donated or given as gifts (who doesn't like getting goodies sometimes). If I can buy item A, to get item B (that I want or need) for free, then why not? Or, as my first idea suggests, if the lotion (or whatever item A was) was something I wanted or needed to begin with, and I just got extra money from it to buy something else, score! Now, let's see how this would work out differently in Walmart...

              In Walmart, I see the same Dove lotion for 3.28 (since they like to end prices in 7 or 8 for some reason...). This is cheaper than at Target, that is true, but watch how much less flexible my shopping will be because I chose Walmart over Target: when I go to check out at Walmart, the cashier scans the coupon and will be prompted to 'check' the price, and s/he will verify that the price on the coupon is the price of the product. Since my coupon does not specify a price (only a max value), the cashier will write-in the selling price (3.28) on the coupon and that's that. No overage applied anywhere, and although I made out with a free lotion, I got nothing else for it or, if you will, I did not get to shop for my other stuff for free/cheap.

  Although the price at Walmart was better than the price at Target, Target gave me more flexibility with my purchasing since it actually paid me .50 instead of nothing.

2. The Type of Coupon Used.

In the above examples, I used a "FREE" coupon with a max value. Other types of coupons can affect your shopping ability and/or ability to shop for your other stuff for free. One of the most common coupons is a "x amount off of product A", say $1 off of any Duncan Hines flavor packet (click here if you would like one ). I'm sure you have seen this type of coupon for just about anything you could want, $2 off any Tide or $1.50 off any Gain, etc. This type of coupon is usable anywhere, but finding the best (i.e. lowest) price to begin with is the smartest way to use the coupon. In the above example, the Dove lotion was .22 cents cheaper at Walmart than Target, so if I had simply a $1 off coupon, I would be better off at Walmart. I will use the linked Duncan Hines coupon in the following example to show how one coupon can be used differently at different stores.

At Walmart, the Duncan Hines item is .84 reg. price. At Target, I believe it's close to the same. My coupon is for $1 off, so yes, that is worth more than the selling price at both stores. At Walmart, when I go to check out, the coupon will simply scan as is, giving me $1 off of an .84 item, so I will have .16 cents in free money. At Target however, the coupon would alert the cashier that it is worth more than the item and s/he would adjust the value of the coupon down to match the selling price. This would give me NO overage. Walmart's policy clearly states that a coupon worth more than the item can be applied as is and overage can be given in the form of cash or payment toward the rest of the basket (if I was buying milk or whatever, I just got .16 off that...) or, since tax on less than $1 is not much, I would actually get cash back from buying the Duncan Hines...and this is clearly stated in Walmart's policy too. Either way, you essentially 'make' money since you take some off your total or get cash back. I am thinking I may try this exact example later in the week (and will definitely report my findings)

So far, we have concluded that a MAX VALUE coupon is better at Target and a $/any item coupon is fine either way, but allows for overage at Walmart. You may be asking why a Target store will allow the max value, while it will adjust others and honestly, who knows how they decide. I just know that some cases are better at Walmart and some at Target (and, see below how CVS is my favorite of all).

3. The use of store coupons allows for the most 'free shopping ability'.

As I have mentioned, CVS has that magic coupon machine. Target is also know for their store coupons (highly recommend signing up for Target Mobile), and Food Lion has a coupon machine that is pretty sweet too. All of these stores allow for stacking a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon, and the savings can be awesome. I will give an example of a recent CVS trip using this technique:

I scanned my card at the CVS machine and received two coupons: $2 off any healthcare purchase and a $2 off $5 sleep aid or pain reliever purchase. CVS policy states that no more than one "minimum purchase" type coupon can be used together (so, if I had gotten a $1 off any $3 or more purchase, I could not combine that with the $2 off of $5 coupon, BUT I CAN combine the minimum requirement and NO MINIMUM requirement together). For these two coupons, I did the following:

1 Advil Migraine 40ct.--reg. 7.99 and on clearance for 5.61

I used the $2 off $5 pain reliever AND the $2 healthcare coupon AND THEN a manufacturer coupon worth $1 off any Advil product ALL TOGETHER. I spent a total of .61 since I used $5 worth of coupons, two of which were CVS coupons. See how stacking can be cool?

If I want to elaborate on how to shop for free, I could use the above example with a twist. If I had gotten a coupon for $4 off any healthcare purchase (instead of $2), I would have used that on my advil and would have had $1.39 in OVERAGE because my coupons were worth more than my product. I could have bought just about anything worth $1.39 for free (like a 2 liter or a 20oz Coke, etc) and would have paid little to nothing or simply a few cents in tax, all because my coupons stacked and were bigger than my total. This DOES happen, a lot actually! This is what I meant when I said "shop for free" since I can sometimes use coupons to buy other stuff, even stuff without coupons, for free just by using coupons. 

It is hard for me sometimes to decide WHAT to buy with my overage, since I try to get down to the exact penny so I break even and don't "waste" coupon money, but it gets easier after a while and some trial and effort. I personally like to buy staples (eggs, milk, bread, fruit, veggies) since those rarely come free on their own and feel better saying I got them free or cheap and used my coupon money in a good way :)

Next up, $1.56 for over $87 worth of food and makeup!

A Few Tips on Saving

For starters, the time has come where Kroger will end their double coupon policy :( It sucks, but maybe they will bring back certain events or days where they will double manufacturer coupons (like they use to!) Anyway, I think a lot of people (myself included) will start to spread their business to other stores since there will be little advantage to shopping at Kroger (besides the wine selection and fuel points).

I just wanted to share a couple of experiences I have had recently:

Let's begin with Walmart's Ad Match policy:

Recently, Andrew and I took advantage of this wonderful idea by 'matching' prices featured in a Walgreen's ad (this was the ad week of 4/21-4/27). Walgreens (if you're unfamiliar) uses something called "register rewards" where when you buy the qualifying item, you receive a coupon (printed with your receipt) good on your next order. All of the times I have posted "I received a checkout coupon", this is what I was talking about. Walgreen's calls them Register Rewards, most stores (Target, Food Lion, Kroger) call them Catalinas (because that's what the printer is called)--anyway, these RR (Register Rewards) can be obtained WITHOUT needing a Walgreen's card or account. That means anyone who walks into Walgreen's can buy the item, or however many items, and get the coupon (no card needed). I decided to 'match' the deal below at Walmart (I was really just seeing how it would work, and it did!): To see the pic of what I got, click here

Ad price/deal at Walgreen's on Planter's Nutrition Peanut Butter: 2.99 each, get a 2.99 RR (for next purchase) The ad stated "like getting purchase FREE". I wanted to 'match' the FREE price at Walmart, because, as I explained to Walmart cashier, if I went to Walgreen's, I would pay 2.99 and get 2.99 back, so FREE. The cashier had to call over a head cashier, but simply rang up my items (I bought 2) and then typed in "vendor coupon" to take off Walmart's price (3.28). THEN I used a manufacturer coupon for $1 off 2 Planter's PB, so yes, I did get $1 overage at Walmart simply for ad-matching :)

I also bought 4 12-packs of TEN soda (A&W, Sunkist, Canada Dry)--I matched the Walgreen's price, which was 1.99 each (5.96 for 4 total) and used two manufacturer coupons (found on the boxes of soda) for $1 off 2 packs. In order to make this deal work the way I wanted, I purchased 4 Almay eye makeup removers @ $1.24 each (4.96 total for 4). I used two manufacturer coupons for $5 off 2 Almay products, so these coupons gave me $5.04 overage to pay for my soda :)

The transaction worked like this:
$4.96 (Almay) 1.24 each
$6.56 (Peanut Butter) 3.28 each, then matched to Free
$15.92 (soda)--Walmart price was $3.98 each, but matched to 1.99 each
Total pre-coupon/pre-match: $27.44 (plus tax)--match brought down to: $10.92
Total after coupons/match: $0.11 (the coupons took off a total of $13.00...which took off most of my tax too, which on the previous Walmart price total was $0.81)

I went back later in the week to try the Peanut Butter match again, and the cashier was extremely rude and unhappy about it--she called the head cashier over and both tried to tell me it would not work because that was not their policy. I told them I had done it just earlier in the week (and got the name of the manager who did it the first time) so eventually, it worked for me and I got two more jars of PB free. My impression is that the ad-match guarantee is hit or miss depending on the cashier. Personally, Walmart is not my go-to choice for store shopping because the employees are never as educated as I think they should be on many things, especially coupon policy. The cashier the second visit proceeded to tell me "I didn't even know we had a coupon policy".......really?!? Anyway, my advice is just try it sometime if you want. If it will not work to your advantage, walk away and don't fret. In my experiences, I have learned to just walk away and if all else fails, call or email corporate and get them the clarify.

I usually have pretty good luck couponing at Walmart and other stores, and Walmart's policy clearly states that overage (extra $ from a coupon) CAN be applied to the basket purchase or simply handed over in cash (yes, they will do it, I have seen it)--although, like my second, less educated cashier, some employees will try to tell you otherwise and will say they can't give cash or overage. Just show them the policy (I printed mine from the website). As for the ad-match policy, there is not a universal Walmart policy to matching--some stores will match the "like getting purchase free" price, and some will simply only match the price shown (in my example, the peanut butter was on sale for 2.99), so some Walmart's would only match the 2.99 price...bummer. Either way, it is worth at least trying sometime!

Report on CVS Magic Hours:

I have found a loophole to couponing at CVS. I already love CVS, no doubt, but found that it can get even better. Some stores (the one I am positive of is on Main Street in Salem, near the Lowes and post office) begin their following week sales on Saturday evening. This particular store starts the Sunday sale at 4:30pm on Saturday. The awesome part of this (because you are probably thinking, big deal...) is that the two weeks of sales will overlap. For instance, if say Sally Hansen nail polish is all 50% during week 1, this is a good sale. But starting week 2, spending $10 on any Sally Hansen gives you $5 extra bucks, although it is full price. So, one gives you a good sale up front, but the other gives you money back..which do you prefer? Well, it so happens that you could get both scenarios at once, during this "all coupon stars align" time at CVS, like I said at the one I mentioned it is between 4:30pm and midnight. I mean, that's no different timing than many of those moonlight madness sales. If you took advantage of my example above, you would get half off the product AND $5 back, simply by using both weeks of deals at once, and the fact that the store puts their signs out early and triggers the computer to recognize the sale early. I have done this only once at that Salem store (on Almay, not Sally Hansen, by the way) and the cashier was wonderful to work with! She assured me that if the Extra Bucks did not print, she would simply print them manually. She had to print them because the register did not trigger them, so I am thinking that is more common, but since she was able to type them up for me, it all worked out. I will look forward to trying this 'magic hours sale' again!

Those are just a couple of things that have happened lately, but I will share more about Kroger in my next post in which I will break down some of my best deals yet. And, I will share how I got a patio table for $5 with Extra Bucks at CVS :)

All the Staples and Enough Dog Food for 3+ Months

Apologies for not updating for a while. I HAVE been couponing (pretty well, too!) just not blogging about each one. And, apologies for the picture: I had SO much stuff it was really hard to fit into one big picture, but if you zoom in you should be able to see everything :) This is probably the biggest single trip for groceries I have ever done (aside from back-to-college first of the year runs...) and I planned it all out, spent my time preparing and researching and then nailed it! I went to three stores (Target, Food Lion, and Kroger) and spent a total of: $126.68 and got $15 back for next time (so, a net of $111.68!)

First up, Target:

 3 Boxes Beneful Baked Delights Dog Treats @ $3.50 each (usually 3.99)

1 Variety Bag of Beneful Dog Food (included 9 cans of food, and one 3.5 bag, and COUPONS!) @ $7.99 (usually 9.99, but this is a special product on an endcap, they do not normally carry)

Coupons used:

1 MQ for $3 one bag of Beneful dog food AND one box of Beneful Baked Delights

1 Target Q for $2 off one bag of Beneful dog food

2 MQ for $1.50 off 1 box Beneful Baked Delights

2 Target Q for $2 off 1 box of Beneful Baked Delights

tendered $10 in coupons

Remember, Target does allow stacking (combining a manufacturer Q with a 'Target-only' coupon) and this is an easy way to save serious money at Target. My Target coupons all came from a savings booklet in a bag of Beneful that I bought a while ago, and the manufacturer coupons were all from the Sunday paper (Smartsource 2/10 and 4/28)

Total Before Coupons (should have been...see below): $19.41

Total After Coupons: $0.66!!!!!

*Disclaimer: the cashier scanned the incorrect barcode on my variety bag (she scanned one of the cans inside, instead of the outside barcode for the ENTIRE bag)--I did not notice what she had done until I got to the car and was like "why/how was that so cheap?"--it was her mistake, not mine as all my coupons did go through okay, so we will just call this blind luck! My total SHOULD have been, and what I had planned to pay: $7.41...anyway, it worked for me and hey, everyone loves practically free dog food :)

Next stop, Food Lion:

I'll begin by stating that Food Lion is not my usual grocery store, I only go there to get a few things when they have a good deal, but I do believe I prefer their produce section, and cheese section. Their prices on cheese are almost unbeatable and the produce is never picked over, and always looks better. Plus, when that magic machine at the front of the store puts out a coupon for an entire department (like, $4 off a $20 produce purchase) I am amazed at what can be done when stacking store coupons and manufacturer coupons. Yes, Food Lion DOES allow stacking like Target. As long as one coupon says "store coupon" or "point of sale" coupon, it can be combined with a manufacturer coupon :)

3 tomatoes (.99/lb)-- usually 1.29/lb

3 avocados (.99 each, and go figure--today they are 2/$1...boo) usually 1.29-1.99 each

2 mangoes (.69 each) usually 1.29

2 limes (.25 each, regular price)

1 pack of strawberries (1.50) usually 2.99!

1 loaf of Food Lion bread ($1 regular price)

3 Kraft Freshtakes (2.29 each) usually 2.99 each

3 Kraft Shredded cheese bags (2.00 each) usually 3.29 each (higher than that at Kroger!)

1 pack of Food Lion cookies (.97, regular price)

1 Hormel Sandwich makers (2.00) usually 2.29

1 House Autry Cornbread Mix (.99) usually 1.59

1 House Autry Biscuit Mix (.99) usually 1.59

Coupons used:

(2) .20/1 House Autry Mix

.50 off Food Lion bread (from machine)

.50 off Food Lion cookies (from machine)

(3) 1.50 off the purchase of a Kraft Shreds AND Freshtake

.50 off any bread with purchase of a Hormel sandwich makers

So, my bread was free, and the cheese only cost .50 each when I bought the Freshtake

Total Before MVP card: $39.02

Total before coupons: $26.62

Total after coupons: $20.72

Lastly, Kroger (which was the largest trip!): 

Like weeks prior, Kroger was running a "buy x, save x dollars" promotion. This time it was select Procter and Gamble products and I had lots of coupons that were expiring yesterday (4/30) to combine with the sale! Also, Purina dog products are on an awesome promotion at Kroger and I had been waiting on this sale :) This is a longer list, so here goes:

Produce Department:

7 bottles of Marzetti Simply Dressing (1.99 each, on a BOGO sale)--reg. 3.99 each!

4 Fuji apples (.99/lb) reg. 1.59/lb

2 Roma Tomatoes (.99/lb) reg. 1.49/lb

1 cucumber (.69 each)

1 head of leafy Romaine lettuce (.99 each) this is the new 'low' price

1 box of Kroger Spring Mix (2.50) usually 3.29

1 bag of red onions (2.29, regular price)

1 white onion (.69/lb, regular price)

2 Lemons (.47 each) this is the usual price, I think

2 packs of Blackberries (.99 each)--these are usually anywhere from 1.50-2.99 a pack!

Bulk purple potatoes (1.59/lb)--I just threw in 6 medium ones, not sure how many lbs..

Bulk gold potatoes (also 1.59/lb)--same as above* but both of these are usually 2.99/lb, yuck

Dairy/Meat:

1 gallon of skim milk (2.79, used to be 2.99--not complaining!)

1 Tropicana Farmstand Juice (2.99) regularly 4.29!

16oz pack of Daisy Sour Cream (1.99) usually 2.69

1 dozen organic Eggland's best eggs (3.19)

4 packs of Gwaltney Hot Dogs (1.00 each) regularly 1.29 each

4 fresh pork chops (were 3.11 with my card, but reg. 6.22, so I think all the pork is 50% right now)

Pantry Items:

5 bags of Green Giant Veggie Chips (1.00 each) usually 2.99 each!

2 Bags of Kroger Tortilla Chips (1.00 each) same price for big or small bag, I bought the big ones...

2 boxes of Velveeta shells (2.28, regular price)

2 Kraft BBQ sauces (1.00 each) usually 1.69 each

6 boxes of San Georgio Pasta (1.00 each) usually 1.99 each

1 bag of Texas Toast croutons (1.50 each) usually 1.99 each

2 jars of Pace salsa (1.99 each) usually 3.59 each

2 cans of Green Giant peas (1.49 each, regular price) (buy 4 G.G. items, get $2 off next order coupon)

1 twin pack of Ziploc large container (2.69) regularly 3.79

2 Jugs (Gallon) of Hawaiian Punch Juice (2.18, reg. price)

6 Nerds Ropes :) (.89 each, regular price but if you bought 2, you got a 3rd free from Kroger, so .59/each)

Frozen:

2 Freschetta Pizzas (3.99 each--buy 2, receive a "$3 off your next order coupon") reg. 6.99 each!

1 box of Texas Toast garlic bread (2.69) regularly 3.29

3 Green Giant vegetable boxes (1.00 each) reg. 2.09--*buy any 4 G.G. items, get $2 off next order

Pet Stuff (and my personal favorite deal!):

24 Beneful Wet Dog Food Tubs, 10oz. (1.25 each) regularly 2.09 each!

8 Beneful Medleys 3pk cans (1.25 each) regularly 1.99 each!

8 Iams Can Shakeables Treats (1.99 each, "on the buy 4, save 4") regularly 2.99

Personal:

1 Herbal Essences Shampoo (1.79 on the buy 4, save 4--if not buying 4, was 2.79) reg. 3.29

1 Herbal Essences Conditioner (same as above*)

1 Herbal Essences Curl Gel (same as above*)

2 Old Spice Men's Deodorant (1.29, on the buy 4, save 4) regularly 2.99

1 Old Spice Men's Deodorant-smaller one- (.99, on the buy 4, save 4) reg. 1.99

1 Gillette Men's Deodorant (1.29, on the same buy 4, save 4 deal) reg. 2.99

1 Gillette Men's Body Wash (1.99, same deal as above*) regularly 3.99

Still With Me? Ready to Coupon?? :)

Coupons Used:

7 $0.50/1 Marzetti Dressing (doubled to $1 off each, so made them .99 instead of the reg. 3.99!) 75% off

1 $0.40/1 Kroger Salad (no double, as it is a store coupon)-salad was 2.10

1 $1/1 Tropicana Farmstand Juice-made the juice 1.99

1 $0.50/1 Eggland's Best Organic (doubled to $1 off)-made them 2.19

4 $0.45/1 Gwaltney Hot Dogs or Bologna (doubled to .90, which made these .10 a pack--We don't eat them, but our dog loves them :)

4 $0.50/2 Green Giant Chips (doubled to $1 off 2, which made these 50 cents a bag!)

1 $0.50/1 Green Giant Chips (Kroger coupon loaded to my card, did not double)

1 $0.75/2 Kroger bagged snacks, any variety--made the tortilla chips .62 each!

2 $1 off when you buy a Velveeta shells AND a Kraft BBQ, so made the BBQ FREE!

3 $1 off 2 San Georgio Pastas (made these 50 cents a box)

1 $0.30/1 Texas Toast croutons, doubled to 60 off and made these 70 cents for the bag

1 $0.40/2 Pace salsas, any kind--doubled to 80 cents off, made these 1.59 each

1 $0.40/1 Ziploc container, doubled to 80 cents off-making these 1.89

2 $1/1 Hawaiian Punch--made these 1.18 each!

2 $0.75/2 Nerds Singles (ropes or boxes)--with Kroger's buy 2, get 1 free sale, I got 6 for $2.06

1 $1.50/2 Freschetta frozen pizzas (made these $3.24 each AND I got $3 back!)

1 $0.40/1 Texas Toast Frozen Item (doubled to 80 cents off and made these 1.89

1 $0.60/3 Green Giant Frozen Boxed veggies--made these 80 cents each, and I got $2 back

4 $3/6 Beneful Tubs (this made each Beneful 75 cents each, and they're usually 2.09!) AND, PURINA PROMOTION IS CURRENTLY ON: buy $40 worth of Purina product, get $10 back. The $40 is PRE-coupon! I spent exactly $20 out of pocket (after coupons) and got $10 back!

4 $2/2 Beneful Medleys 3pk. (made these 25 CENTS EACH! for 3 cans of dog food!) and yes, this counts for the above Purina promotion!

4 BOGO Free Iams Treats, max of 2.99--They were 1.99 each on the sale, and my coupons each took off 2.99, so I got each can for 50 cents! That's 92% off!!

1 $3/3 Herbal Essences Products (were 1.79 on the sale, so made them 79 cents each after coupon!)

3 $0.50/1 Old Spice Product (doubled to take $1 off-making 2 of them .29 each and one FREE!)

1 BOGO FREE (buy a Gillette Deo, get a FREE Gillette Body Wash, max of 4.29)-The coupon took off   3.99 (Kroger's reg. price) so this made the deodorant FREE, the body wash FREE AND gave me 71 cents over--woo!

After everything was rung up, my pre-card total was OVER $300 (yea, I know!)

After Kroger Card: $203.60

After Coupons: $105.30 AND got $15 back, so my net at Kroger was about $90!

Everything in the picture above cost me $126.68 and Heidi is set for at least 3 months, since she does not eat that much in a day haha and I have added more deodorant, body wash, shampoo, and pantry food to our stockpile. I will likely return later in the week to get more of the Green Giant chips and possibly more dog food, as I have enough coupons to do the same deal again, and can use my $15 to cover most of it :)

My next post will be a rundown of some recent coupon news and things that we have encountered on recent trips. I will also give some tips on how to make the best shopping strategy for your needs :)