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Saving money on groceries should not be limited to the pantry or your children’s favorite candy. Saving money on healthy, fresh food is possible and knowing just a few simple tips can help keep your budget intact.

1. Join the store mailing/email list:

Get savings tailored directly to your shopping habits. Many stores will mail or email coupons to you and these often have savings on fresh foods like meat or produce, so you can save simply by letting them send you mail. If you frequently purchase healthy foods, you will get coupons on those healthy foods. The store is rewarding you for how you shop!

Further, you can join lists from your favorite companies, like Fresh Express, who will often send you coupons for their products!

2. Buy in season and learn how to store your savings:

A good freezer, a few mason jars, and some planning can help you keep fresh foods at hand year-round. Buying something in season and preserving the rest can help you save in the long run. Try grilling some fresh corn in August, cut it off the cob and freeze it for grilled corn in the winter to top your soups and salads. Buy berries in the summer and freeze for later use in smoothies or desserts. Learning to freeze and can will prolong your savings since you can buy more at the low price and reserve it for later.

3. Use your smartphone to your advantage:

On top of the apps you already have, why not download apps to save money on your groceries? Ibotta and Checkout 51 are wonderful apps where you simply upload a receipt or link your store card to get cash back for buying certain items. These companies are known for offers on milk, eggs, fruit, and breads. If you are already buying those items, why not get cash back?

Try this body wash--IF you can find it!

Being a member of BzzAgent, I have the opportunity to try some awesome products if I tell them what I think of the products. I love sharing my opinions (you all know!) so this is a sweet deal. Recently, I had the chance to try the new TONE body wash in Pink Peony and Rose Oil scent.

First, I was super excited to receive a full bottle to try (yay!) and that night I took a shower with the new product. I am a loofah person, and this particular wash soaped up nicely, and rinsed completely. The smell was amazing (very floral heavy, so no sharing with your guys!) and filled the entire bathroom (added bonus?)--I could still smell AFTER getting out and putting lotion on, so I really liked the staying power of the scent. You also do not need to use a ton to get the smell, so my bottle has lasted a while now, and I like that I feel like I am getting a good value. Speaking of value, however, I encountered a problem when trying to buy TONE body wash (ANY scent)...

I tried 4 different Kroger stores here in Southwest Virginia, 2 CVS stores, AND Food Lion and none of them carried ANY TONE PRODUCTS. This was frustrating, as I was trying to score a deal with the coupons in my Bzzkit ($1.50 off). I finally found ONE scent (Cocoa butter) at a 5th Kroger, and got it at a GREAT price, but I feel that most people would not search that many stores and would just settle on another product instead. I am a brand loyal person, so if you're like me though, you might just go all over trying to find the ONE thing you need :)

I did not see the new scent anywhere (even Walmart) so if you encounter it, grab it and give it a try (you will love it)!! But, I am so glad I got it free to try since I would not have been able to try otherwise (although the Cocoa butter scent is wonderful and I haved always loved Tone products so I would have been happy anyway!)

Hopefully Tone will take my advice (suggestions?) and check out why so many stores here are not carrying their goods.

I got paid 3 cents to buy this AND If you have a cat or need soda this week, RUN to Food Lion!

I'll post my breakdown for yesterday's trip below but first, check out the deal ideas for this coming week at Food Lion (beginning tomorrow 2/19). To make these deals a moneymaker, you will need to be able to print coupons (limit 2 per computer) but if you just need cheap cat food and don't have the coupons, you can really rack up!

The coupon in question is $2 off ANY 3 IAMS cat food (found on coupons.com)

Food Lion is still running their Gold Medal savings event where buying 10 included items will save you an instant $5 off your total OR buying 15 included items will save you $10 off your total instantly. There are lots (and I mean LOTS) of items that qualify, but I am highlighting the BEST POSSIBLE SCENARIOS below. If you do not own a cat (like me) but love to make money when you buy groceries, then go ahead and print the coupons and buy the cat food anyway and donate it to the local shelter or a friend with a cat. The following scenarios require 4 printed coupons, which also have a limit of 4 per household/day so you can only do a moneymaker ONCE per day (but if you have multiples options to print, then hold those coupons and do another trip later in the week). Food Lion will only take off a max of $10 per transaction, but you CAN do multiples transactions (if you are stocking up on cat food here). So, let's go over the options:

Option 1: YOU JUST NEED CAT FOOD AT A ROCK BOTTOM PRICE (NO COUPONS REQ'D)

Buy 15 IAMS cat foods (at $0.79 each)

Total will be $11.85 pre-instant $10 off/pre-tax. The $10 will come off and you will pay $2.48 after tax for 15 cat food tins (makes each tin 16.5 cents each)

You can do this transaction multiple times and if you have coupons for the IAMS (from the paper or computer) then you will do even better.

Option 2: YOU CAN PRINT 2 COUPONS FOR THE IAMS AND WANT TO SAVE ON GROCERIES (2 COUPONS REQ'D)

Buy 15 of the Iams cat food (at $0.79 each), use 2 $2 off any 3 Iams cat food coupons

Total will be $1.85 AFTER $10 savings, but cash in those 2 coupons, and your new total will be NEGATIVE $2.15 (pre tax) so buy something over $2.15 for FREE (you will only pay tax on your transaction here). Like I've said before, I like to use this overage to get staple items or a loaf of bread or something. You have a $2.15 moneymaker situtation above...BUT, it could be better :)

Option 3: YOU CAN PRINT 4 COUPONS AND WANT A BIGGER MONEYMAKER (4 COUPONS REQ'D)

Buy 15 of the Iams cat food, at $0.79 each, use 4 of the $2 off 3 Iams coupons

Total will again be $1.85 AFTER savings, but pre-coupon/tax. Now cash in those 4 coupons, and you will have a $6.15 moneymaker!! Buy some produce or milk, or whatever else you need :)

Option 4: THE BEST OPTION WITH BIGGEST SAVINGS (5 TOTAL COUPONS REQ'D, 1 FROM PAPER 2/16 AND 4 PRINTED)

 Buy 15 Iams cat food (at $0.79 each), use 1 paper coupon from this Sunday (buy 2 Iams wet cat/dog food, get 1 Free) AND 4 of the printed coupons to save even more

$1.85 (after savings) - $8 in printed coupons and - $0.79 in paper coupon will be a $6.94 moneymaker :)

                                                                                                                                                             
Now, another scenario is a great option if you want to buy some Coke products at rock bottom prices (as in, less than 50 cents/12 pack)

All Coke multi-packages are included in the Gold Medal savings event, and the 12 packs are on sale 3 for $10 this week. If you buy 3 of the 12 packs AND 12 of the Iams cat food, AND use 4 of the printed coupons, you will pay the following:

12x $0.79= $9.48 (Iams) plus $10 (3 Coke 12 packs)= $19.48 pre-tax

Gold Medal savings will bring your total down to $9.48, use 4 of the $2 printed coupons, pay just $1.48 (plus tax) for the cat food and 3 packs of soda :)

There are SO MANY OPTIONS to mix and match with all of the included items..and if you need personal care products or toilet paper/paper towels, etc, all P&G items are included and will pair with some nice coupons..I am just highlighting the best option with the cat food.
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Now, here's my trip yesterday (2/17) using moneyakers at both Kroger and Food Lion. This Kroger moneymaker is awesome and can be done until March 4th.

Kroger:
This moneymaker requires 2 printed coupons on Neutrogena items (found on Target.com--it's a manufacturer coupon and can be used anywhere--it is $3 off any 2 Neutrogena items)
The price of these soaps is $2.09, if you buy 4 and use 2 of these coupons, you will pay $2.80 at checkout (after tax) and get back a catalina for $5 (so, a $2.20 mm)

I bought:
4 Neutrogena soaps (2.09 each)--used 2 $3 off any 2 items (printed from Target.com)
1 Bounty big roll (2.39) --used a Kroger coupon for $2 off any paper towels and a manufacturer coupon for 25 cents off any Bounty
1 Lysol Power and Free Wipes (2.99)--used a Kroger coupon for $2 off any cleaning item and a $1 manufacturer coupon
1 bag of 3 avocados (0.99--in the reduced produce section)

Paid $4.02 after tax, and got back $5 :)

Then, at Food Lion, I did the following:
15 Iams cat foods (79 cents each)--used 4 $2 off any 3 Iams cat foods AND 1 buy 2, get 1 free coupon (took off 79 cents)
1 Alexia frozen Sweet Potato fries (2.69)--used $1/any Alexia frozen item
1 Gallon (?) Food Lion white vinegar (2.59)
1 Pet Buttermilk (1.99)
1 bunch Parsley (0.79)--can't you tell I'm making ranch dressing lol

Paid a total of $0.95 (mostly tax, of course)

My net for yesterday's trip was $4.97 and got back $5 for a 3 cent moneymaker. I'm extreme, but this was one of my bests! Of course, you could use that overage on ANYTHING so if you just want a free pack of toilet paper, that's the beauty of it--it's FREE MONEY to spend at the store, all you have to do is print the coupons :)

I made $2.37 for shopping--enough to cover my snow bread!

Walmart: 2/8/14

3 Hydroxycut shakes @ $3.98 each
1 tub of Country Crock butter @ $2.00 (this was the 'medium' siz tub)

Coupons used:
3 $5/1 Hydroxycut item (mm of $1.02 each)
1 $0.30/1 Country Crock butter

Final: Walmart owed me $1.01 so I left with more cash in hand than when I walked in :)

Food Lion: 2/8/14

18 count eggs, $2.50
2 tomatoes ($1.49/lb...was $1.4 total I think)
1 bunch cilantro, $0.79
1 bunch red leaf lettuce, $1.29
1 Pummelo, $1.99
1 box Chocolate Toast Crunch, $2.99
2 Boxes Betty Crocker snacks, $2.79 for both

Coupons used:
Checkout 51: save $0.50 on any eggs
$1 off any $5 produce purchase (Food Lion coupon sent via email)
save 20% on red leaf lettuce using Savingstar (gave me back 25 cents)
$1 off any 1 box of Chocolate Toast Crunch (from bettycrocker.com) PLUS I got $1 back from Ibotta for this cereal AND $0.75 back on Savingstar (final cost of the cereal was 24 cents!!)
$1.10/2 Betty Crocker fruit snacks (from bettycrocker.com) PLUS got $1.75 back on Ibotta for buying those 2 specific boxes AND 50 cents back from Savingstar (final cost of the fruit snacks was a 56 cent moneymaker :) :)

Final cost at Food Lion:
After taxes, I paid $6.24.

Kroger: 2/8/14
**I recently got some awesome coupons from BzzAgent to check out all of the 'other' aisles at Kroger--they are promoting their paper goods, cleaning/laundry supplies, and non-food sections. These coupons helped me save a ton! So, they are not widely available and can't be duplicated unless you have these specific coupons--but I encourage anyone who likes to try products and write reviews check out BzzAgent.com**

1 box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, $0.89 sale price
2 bottles Clorox bleach, $2.19 each reg. price
1 tub of Kroger brand Oxi-clean, $4.39 reg. price
1 package of 12 rolls of Quilted Northern, $5.99 sale price

Coupons used:
Get 100% back on 1 box of Arm & Hammer baking soda (Savingstar Free Friday item)--got 89 cents back
*Kroger coupon for $2 off ANY laundry item $2+ (received several of these, used 2 on the 2 Cloroxes) made each bottle 19 cents :)
*Kroger coupon for $4 off ANY cleaning supply item $4+(used this on the Oxi-clean--paid 39 cents for it)
*Kroger coupon for $5 off ANY bath tissue purchase $5+ (combined with a 55 cent off Quilted Northern manufacturer coupon, I paid 44 cents for this whole pack of tp..yay!)

Final cost at Kroger: $1.99 (tax was 78 cents)

Saturday's Total: $6.24+ $1.99 - $1.01= $7.22 for everything pictured above but I canceled all of that spending out with Sunday's trip to Walgreen's (see below)

Walgreens: 2/9/14

**Using paper coupons, anyone can recreate this deal this week--I have not been couponing at Walgreens much before, but I am definitely starting to like it there--and don't you know I actually needed chapstick? Lol. Sorry this photo is turned**

Also, I did multiple transactions for the deodorant so I would get the rewards. Walgreens is a little tricky to begin with just because of their reward programs, but so worth it! I will break down by transaction.

Transactions #1 and #2 were identical:

2 Mitchum deodorants, on sale for $3 each--register reward of $4 wyb 2

*Used 2 $2/1 Mitchum deodorant from SS insert (2 weeks ago I think)

Paid: $2.31

Received a $4 register reward (moneymaker of $1.69) (this was exact same for both)

Transaction #3:

2 Mitchum deodorants, $3 each--register reward of $4 wyb 2

5 Nivea 'regular' chapstick, $2.99 but sale was buy one, get one half off AND get $2 in points wyb 2

3 Nivea 'lipgloss', $3.49 and same sale* (2 rang up at $3.49, one rang up at $1.75, 2 rang up at $2.99, and 3 more rang up at $1.49 each for a total of $19.18 for the Niveas)

Total: $26.04 pre-coupon inlc. tax

Coupons used:

1 $2/1 Mitchum deodorant (I only had 5 total coupons of that kind, so I could have save $2 more, but I used what I had)

4 $3/2 Nivea lip products

1 Walgreens store promo coupon "get $5 back in points when you spend $25" from the ad yesterday

AND I have the winter beauty event loaded onto my card, for an extra 50 points on all skin/body/beauty items for every $1 you spend (everything I bought counted)

Final total for this transaction: I used a previous (from the free Culterelle last week) $10 register reward and $2.04 in cash to pay. I got back $4 in register rewards, $13 in points, and $1.25 in bonus points so that gave me a $6.21 moneymaker!

**I calculate my moneymakers by counting what I used to pay (in ANY form) and then subtracting what I earned. If I used less than I earned, it's a mm to me since I spent less than I got back. I used a total of $12.04 and got back a total of $18.25, for a difference of $6.21.

My totals at Walgreens: $9.59 moneymaker woohoo!

If you look at it this way, the $9.59 I made at Walgreens - the $7.22 I spent on Saturday still leaves me with a $2.37 moneymaker (enough to pay for bread I will need before this next snowstorm haha)

Fruit Snacks for 2 cents each? Yes, please! And my Sunday trips for about $20.

This coming week at Food Lion (beginning 2/5), Betty Crocker fruit snacks will be on sale BOGO free for $2.79. If you combine a coupon with some awesome Ibotta and Savingstar deals, you can get 2 boxes for just 2 cents each (yeah!)

Ibotta is an awesome app that gives you cash back for buying certain things (if you are interested, use my personal referral link HERE and it helps me out) and I have written about Savingstar before but it's basically the same idea.

Buy 1 box of Despicable Me fruit snacks and 1 box of Fruit by the Foot Flavor Mixers and use a $0.50/2 manufacturer coupon (from various SmartSource inserts, but the one I have expires on 3/2)

Pay $2.29 at checkout
Submit for $1 back on the Fruit by the Foot Flavor Mixers (Ibotta) and $0.75 back on the Despicable Me (Ibotta) AND get back $0.50 for buying 2 Betty Crocker snacks (Savingstar)

So, $2.29-$2.25 in credits = 4 cents total for 2 boxes (woohoo!!)

**You MUST buy those two certain flavors/types because the Ibotta offer will ONLY work on those specific boxes, but hey, who doesn't love nearly free fruit snacks? Also, if you don't have the manufacturer coupon, no big deal because you will still get both boxes for only $0.54 total which is awesome still!

(sorry the quality is awful, I have tried everything...)







CVS

1-18 count Cottonelle, 4 packs of Cottonelle wipes, 1-6 count Scott paper towels, 1 Glade plugin, 1 Glade wax melts

Pre-coupon sale total: $39.95 (incl. tax)

Coupons used:
1 CVS coupon for FREE Cottonelle wipes wyb an 18ct toilet paper (-$3.99)
1 CVS coupon for $1.50 off any Glade product
1 Manufacturer coupon for $1 off any Scott towels, 6 count or higher
1 Manufacturer coupon for $3 off the purchase of BOTH a Cottonelle toilet paper and wipes
3 Manufacturer coupons for $2 off any Cottonelle wipes (peelies on the product)
1 Manufacturer coupon for a FREE Glade customizables scented oil plugin (took the $5 off)
1 Manufacturer coupon for a FREE Glade wax melts (these 2 Glade coupons were mailed to me directly as a part of my participation in BzzAgent  I take surveys and fill out my opinion of products in exchange for free stuff. How cool is that?!)

After coupons, $16.46. I got back $10 ExtraBucks (for the toilet paper, towels, and wipes) and got $3 back on Checkout 51

Final cost at CVS: $3.46

Food Lion

2 Nutella jars, 1 loaf of Sara Lee bread (this is free this week wyb 1 Nutella), 2 pork loins (3lbs. each) and 1 gallon of milk

Pre-coupon sale total: $21.74

Coupons used:
1 BOGO free Nutella (man. q for yesterday's paper) (this took off $3.79, which is the regular price...)
2 $1 off "this pork loin" peelie manufacturer coupons (were on the pork)
1 Food Lion coupon for $1 off any $5 meat department purchase (emailed to me)
1 FREE loaf of Sara Lee bread wyb Nutella (Food Lion promo) -$2.50

After coupons, $12.36 (I think the tax gets adjusted acording to store coupons...)

I got $1 back on my milk from Ibotta and $0.50 back on the milk from Checkout 51 (yes, these work together and you can save a ton if you combine all of these apps to save on the same product!)

Final cost at Food Lion: $10.86

Walgreens

4 Mountain Dew Kickstarts ($4), 2 AZO Cranberry supplements ($20), 2 Culterelle supplements ($20), and 4 Coke 12 packs ($10)

Pre-coupon total: $54 (and that's the sale price. The Culterelle is reg. price at $24.99 what?!)

Coupons used:

I had 4 surveys on my receipts worth $1 each, so I used 1 of those on each transaction before the Coke. and otherwise, I simply took advantage of this week's awesome "freebie after register reward" items and a great 1-day sale on Coke. Walgreens is a little tricky since register rewards can be rolled, but must be rolled in a certain order (no problem once you get the hang of it though).

I did multiple transactions and used the money I earned from #1 to buy #2 and so on like this:
#1: 1 AZO at $10 and 1 Mountain Dew Kickstart at $1 and used $1/$5 purchase survey q
Paid $10.03, got $11 in register rewards back (3 cent net)

#2 1 Culterelle and 1 Mountain Dew Kickstart (used the $10 from #1) and paid $0.03, got $11 back
and I did those exact two over again, and then I used my final $10 to buy the 4 packs of Coke (paid 25 cents in tax). I left the store with $4 in Register Rewards from the Mountain Dews.

In all, I paid a final of $6.37 after register rewards at for everything. Pretty sweet for the Cokes :)

Total Spending for yesterday: $20.69 (not my lowest ever, but considering I bought 4 packs of Coke, houshold goods, milk, bread, and meat--I'll take it!)

Everything for under $5!

I think I have had enough time to find the perfect blend of writing for what I hope to accomplish. I will continue to post my brags and my blog entries on this site, and I will post weekly match ups to my official website (www.doxiedollars.com). I think people enjoy seeing the actual purchases and how I got them in addition to just the coupon match-ups. Hopefully this is the case!

Outside of couponing, I have been toying with a few ideas lately: I want to get into furniture and home decor upcycling. Eventually, I am thinking an etsy shop or something similar, but until then I will continue to prep the items I want to work with and I will keep working on new ideas. Also, I am challenging myself to try different (i.e. new) recipes each week and trying out ways to get the most out of the items I save money on by couponing :) If anyone has any advice, please share with me on Facebook, Twitter (@hokiemma) or email me : ajwejw@gmail.com
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Now, the fun part! My first brag of the new year and it's a good one! I spent a net of less than $5 for everything pictured and I was very pleased since some of these things I desperately needed and could not have gotten much cheaper if I tried. Hopefully you can repeat some of these :)

I went to Food Lion, Walgreens, and CVS and I spent a total of $23.36 in cash and walked out with a total of $18.50 in store monies/credits. That's a net difference of $4.86!!

Walgreens:

I went in for the Spend $20, get a $5 Register Reward on Nestle/Purina items. I was expecting to spend a net of $7 (plus tax) for 4 bags of dog food, but I left doing better than planned!

5 bags of Beneful: $20 total (retail: $7.49 each (!) = $37.45)

2 Alka Seltzer cold products: $6 total (can't remember retail...)

Coupons used:

5 $2/1 any Beneful dry dog food, any size or variety (pre-Christmas coupon)

2 $2/1 any Alka Seltzer cold product (from this Sunday's paper)

Paid: $9.83 in cash

Received a $5 register reward for Nestle and 2,000 points on Alka-Seltzer ($2 reward)

Net spent at Walgreens: $2.83 (each item cost me $0.40)

**Bought 5 bags of Beneful (three rang up at $5 sale price, and two I got for $2.50 each because their "best by" date was passed. I just asked if they would let me have both 'expired' bags for the price of one, and they did--which also meant I was able to use 5 coupons, instead of 4 so my savings was better than planned!) 

**Also, the Alka-Seltzer is advertised on sale 2 for $11, then use an in-store coupon to pay $6 for 2 AND get 2,000 points (which would bring you to $4/2 sans coupon)--this is a national typo since there is no in-store coupon, BUT they will honor the price at the register if you ask and THEN use 2 of the $2/1 coupons to get two boxes free (pay $2 after sales/coupons, and get $2 in points back!)

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Food Lion:

Took advantage of some closeouts and the store brand sale and a great personalized coupon I got in my email. YES, THE STORE BRAND ITEMS ON CLOSEOUT DO GIVE YOU THE CATALINA :)

1 bag of Food Lion frozen chicken breast tenderloins: $6.49 (on sale from $6.69)

2 boxes of Food Lion poptarts: closeout of $0.87 each ($1.74 total)

3 cans of Food Lion mixed veggies: sale price of $0.50/can from 67 cents/can ($1.50 total)

1 Bear Creek rice mix: closeout of $0.62 (no coupon but I love this stuff)

2 Skinny Cow candies: sale of BOGO @ $0.89 (each rang up at 44 cents each)

Coupons used:

$2 off any $5 purchase of frozen food items (emailed coupon) (I try to use these on practical items like chicken--which we needed-- but you CAN combine these email coupons with manufacturer coupons or other deals to get great savings)--this made my chicken $4.49/bag :)

1 BOGO Skinny Cow candy singles (took off $0.44 so it made each candy bar come to 22 cents/each)

Paid: $9.07

Received: $1.50 in store cash catalina for buying 6 store brand items

Net spent at Food Lion: $7.57 (final price for each store item: canned veggies: 25 cents/each, poptarts: $0.62/each, chicken $4.24)

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CVS:

I love getting good deals on Tena pads because I give them to people I know who need them and they are pricey otherwise.

6 Tena pads (various kinds): 3 @ full price of $7.29 each and 3 @$3.64 (half price)--$32.79 total

2 Goody's headache relief shots: $0.99 each (sale from $2.99 each)--$1.98 total

Coupons used:

6 "up to $5 off ANY Tena product" (from this Sunday's paper) *took of $30 total

2 $1/1 Goodys headache relief shot (had these since Novemeber) *took off $2 total

Paid: $4.46 total

Received: $10 in ExtraBucks

Net at CVS: $5.54 moneymaker :)

Tena pads (all varieties) are currently BOGO 1/2 off now AND part of a spend $30, get $10 ExtraBucks or spend $50 get $20 in ExtraBucks.

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If you want to break it down further, I paid just 20 cents per item. Woo, a bag of chicken and dog food for that low--I'll take it!