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.