Economique

Grocery Deals This Week

2009-06-01T14:14:00.003-05:00

Kroger:
Kroger Hot Dog Buns (2): .88
Kroger Hamburger Buns: .88
Kraft Mac & Cheese 5 pack: 3.49 plus free pack of CapriSun Sunrise w/Purchase.
CapriSun Sunrise: Free w/ purchase above
Hunt's Ketchup: Free w/cpn
Ronzoni SmartTaste Pasta: 1.49 - 1.00 cpn = .49
Frank's Red Hot Sauce: 1.15 - .50 cpn (doubled) = .15
Ken's Salad Dressing (2): 1.69 - 1.00 cpn = .69
Daisy Sour Cream: 1.35 - .50 cpn (doubled) = .35
Knorr Rice & Pasta Sides (4): 1.00 - .75/2 cpn - .75/2 cellfire cpn = 2/.50 & 2/1.25
Dannon Activia Yogurt 4 pack (2): 2.00 - 1.00 cpn = 1.00
Total: 12.63 for 17 items + 1.50 off next order catalina printed for Kraft purchase

Walmart:
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats - 2.00 - 1.00 cpn = 1.00 (now I have enough tokens for 3 free DVD's)
Tabasco Sauce (Green): .98 - .50 cpn = .48
Tabasco Sauce (Red): .98 - .40 cpn = .58
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (2) = 1.50 - 1.00/2 cpn = 1.00
Hall's Cough Drops 30 ct = Free w/cpn
Bar S Franks (2) = 2.00 & 1.00 - 1.00/2 cpn = 1.00
Febreze Noticeables Starter Kit = 4.84 - 4.00 cpn = .84
Total: 6.90 for 9 items

Schnuck's:
Honeysuckle Ground Turkey (5): 1.00/lb = 5 lbs for 5.00
Hunt's Manwich Sauce (2): 1.00 - .40/2 cpn (doubled) = .60
Total: 6.27 for 7 items

Walgreen's:
Morton's Salt (2): 2 for 1.00
Total: 1.00 for 2 items

Grocery Deals This Week

2009-05-23T21:56:00.008-05:00

Here are my deals for this week.

Walmart:
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats: $2.00 - $1.00 cpn = $1.00. I got seven boxes.
If you collect 5 tokens from the boxes you can get a free DVD (with free shipping). Each box has 2 tokens so I have a total of 14 tokens. There are other products that have them as well. I can get 2 free dvds and I'm one short of a 3rd one. The offer doesn't expire until late next year.
Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta: $1.50 - $1.00 cpn = $.50. I got 2.
Glaceau Vitamin Water10: $1.00 - $1.00 cpn = Free. I got 5 free bottles!
Sure Deodorant/Antiperspirant for Men: $1.78 - $1.50 cpn = $.28. I got 2.
Total: $8.56 (before tax) for 16 items (plus 2 free DVDs)

Kroger:
Green Giant Frozen Boxed Vegetables: $1.00 - $.50 off 2 cpn (doubled) = $.50 each. I got 12.
Dial Hand Soap: $1.00 - $.35 (doubled) = $.30. I bought 2.
Renuzit Adjustable Air Fresheners: $1.00 - $.55 off 3 cpn = 3 for $2.45. (Glenn loves these so I get them. He sticks them down inside our air vents to make the house smell good. Strange? Maybe. I guess he likes it better than the air fresheners that attach to the air filter?)
Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta: $1.49 - $1.00 cpn = $.49. I got 2.
Weber Grill Creations Steak Seasoning: $1.00 - $.50 (doubled) = Free
I also had a $2.00 Catalina from last week so I used that.
Total: $8.05 before tax for 20 items.

Schnuck's:
Chinet Casual Plates (15 pk): $2.50 - $2.00 cpn = $.50. I bought 6.
(I'm all stocked up for the family get-togethers now!)
Campbell's Pork & Beans: 3 for $1.00. I got 6.
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs: $1.50 - $1.00 cpn = $.50.
Total: $5.50 before tax for 13 items.

Walgreen's:
Walgreen's Royal Gelatin: $.25. I bought 4.
Walgreen's Isopropyl Alcohol: 3 for $2.00.
Walgreen's Plastic Forks & Spoons: 2 for $1.00.
Total: $4.00 before tax for 9 items.

How to Save Money on Groceries

2009-05-19T13:11:00.004-05:00

1. Clip coupons. Collect as many coupons as possible and save all of them. This can reduce your grocery bill by a lot more than you may think, and you might end up using some of those coupons that you weren't really expecting to use.

2. Look at weekly store ads. Every week stores put out their advertisements listing current sales in newspapers and/or online on their websites. Look through these ads for good deals and compare them with any coupons you may have. Sometimes you'll find that you can get items for very cheap or even free. This is where those coupons come into play that you might not have expected to use. Most of the freebie items you end up with will be usable to you personally, and if not, you can give them away as gifts or you can donate them. If you're the type of person to donate regularly, this will be a good way to find items to donate without breaking your budget.

3. Meal Planning. Plan your meals for the entire week (or longer) using the advertisements. This way you can eat inexpensive meals all week long.

4. Grocery List. Make a grocery list of all of the bargain items you plan on getting and stick to the list. If you veer away from the list, you might end up breaking your budget.

5. Brand Loyalty. Don't be brand loyal. I know sometimes it's hard to settle with anything but a particular brand, but if you're this way with everything, it will be a lot harder for you to save money. Learn to buy what's on sale and learn to buy generics. Not all generic foods are bad. Some of them are made by the exact same company as the name brand products, with the exact same ingredients. The only difference with some of these items is the packaging.

6. Buy in bulk. If there is something you use a lot of (like flour, sugar, etc.), buy it in bulk sizes. Now, this isn't always the more economical choice, but sometimes it is. Make sure to compare the size and the price when you do this. Sometimes you can buy these items on sale for a cheaper price than bulk buying, so do this at your own discretion.

6. Stockpile. When you come across a really good deal, this is the time to stock up. For example, if sugar is on sale today and you buy five bags of sugar, you just might not have to buy sugar again until the next sale, and that means you might not ever have to pay retail price for sugar ever again. It is also good to get a nice stockpile going in case of emergency. If you lose your job or something else unfortunate happens, you will have enough food to feed your family while times are rough and that will be one less worry for you.

7. Grow a garden. Start your own garden. If you plant your own garden, you can save money on vegetables, fruits, herbs and even nuts if you also plant trees. If you don't have room for a garden, you can still grown some of your own produce. For example, you can grow a tomato plant in a bucket on your patio. Sometimes gardening can be just as expensive as buying produce at a store. It all depends on how you do it. Some ways are more inexpensive than others. ...And if you grown an organic garden, you'll most likely always save money in comparison to buying organic produce.

8. Shop discount. Bread and other baked goods can be bought for a lower price if you buy them at a discount bakery. These items might be close to their "sell-by" date, but that doesn't mean you can't buy them. The sell-by date is not an expiration date, so you won't be eating expired food. Products close to their sell-by dates can be eaten quickly or frozen.

9. Freeze your food. Don't think that you can't stock up on certain products just because you won't be able to use them in time. Some foods, like bread (again), can be frozen and eaten long after it normally would have gotten stale. The same goes for produce, flour and other items.

10. Make your own. Some food products can be made at home for a lower cost than buying them at the store. Bread is an example (yet again), as well as cake, lasagna and other foods. Most of the time homemade foods taste better anyway and this way you will also know exactly what is in your food. Have you ever looked at the labels of certain food products in the store? Some of those words are unpronounceable and I don't think I want to know what they are.

None of this is very hard to do. It just takes a little time and effort, and it's will all be worth it in the end.

Grocery Trip this Week

2009-05-16T20:45:00.004-05:00

All of this cost about $8 after coupons and rebate.
I forgot to add 2 packs of taco seasoning to the picture though, so that should be included.

These are the deals I got today:

Menard's
2 bags of Alley Cat Cat Food (3.5 lbs) = Free after rebate
3 packs of Rain-X Glass Wipes = Free after rebate

Kroger
4 bottles of Kraft BBQ Sauce = $.33 apiece after coupon
Plus a $2.00 off my next purchase coupon printed out at the register

Target
1 Kraft Mayo w/olive oil = $.99 after coupon
Plus a $1.00 off any Nivea product coupon printed out at register

Wal-Mart
1 package of Pepper Jack Tornados = Free after rebate
1 package of Kashi GoLean Waffles = Free after coupon
1 box of Smart Taste Rotini = $.50 after coupon
2 packets of Ortega Taco Seasoning = around $.25 apiece after coupon
1 bag Great Value rice = $.82 retail price
4 bottles of Kraft BBQ Sauce = $.23 apiece after coupons
2 bottles of Sure Men's Deodorant = $.28 apiece after coupons

At Wal-Mart my original total was $15.98. When the cashier entered in my coupons, it brought my total down to $5.69 after tax. Her face was so funny. Her eyes bugged out and she said, "$5.69?! Wasn't your original price 15-something?" I said, "Yeah, I think so." She looked at my receipt and said, "Yep, $15.98," and smiled. Maybe she'll start using coupons now. If you think about it, considering I had to pay full price for the Tornados but will be getting back a rebate for them, I really paid $3-something for $15.98 worth of stuff.

I ended up not getting all the stuff I had planned to get. It always turns out that way for a combination of reasons. Sometimes I have trouble finding certain things, sometimes they're out, and other times I get tired of shopping and go home without them. That's what I did at Menard's. The store is so huge and it's so hard to find everything. Instead I just made sure to get the cat food and Rain-X because those were the things I wanted the most.

Grocery Deals This Week

2009-05-11T23:27:00.003-05:00

Here is a list of some of the deals and freebies I'll be getting this week.

Kroger
- Lettuce - $.77
- Marcal Soft Steps toilet paper - 2 rolls free with freebie coupons from 5-3 Smart Source
- Kashi Go Lean Waffles - 1 free box with freebie coupon from Vocalpoint
- Swiss Tea - 2 gallons free after mail-in rebate from Martha Stewart Living and Ladies Home Journal magazines
* I can actually get the tea and waffles just about anywhere, but I just added them to my Kroger list.

Schnuck's
- Right Guard Xtreme Deodorant - $.50 after $1.00 coupon from an old Smart Source

Wal-Mart
- True North Peanut Clusters 5 oz - Free after $1.00 coupon from old Smart Source
- No Nonsense Pantyhose - Free after $1.00 from old Smart Source
- Sure Men's Deodorant - $.28 after $1.50 coupon

Target
- Banana Boat Sunscreen (travel size) - Free after $1.00 coupon
- Kraft Miracle Whip - $.99 after $1.00 coupon
- Kashi GoLean Waffles - Five boxes for $.49 apiece ($2.45 total for five boxes!) after five $1.50 coupons from Vocalpoint

Walgreen's
- Roots of Nature Haircare product - $6.00 total, but like getting it free after $6.00 Register Rewards
- Iceland's Health Omega-3 Fish Oil - $8.00 total, but like getting it free after $8.00 Register Rewards

Food Giant
- Dozen Large Eggs - $.78
- Kraft Barbecue Sauce - $.23 after $.75 coupon from 5-3 Smart Source
- I think they also have a couple of decent meat deals.

There are also a lot of Menard's free after rebates items, but I probably won't be able to get them this week again because of the tornado/storm damage to that area. We'll see, I guess! A nice list of them can be found at the Daily Essentials and Deals blog. Also, you can go to her blog post here for CVS deals. I haven't started doing the whole CVS thing yet, but I hope to start soon.

An Unfortunate Weekend

2009-05-10T19:31:00.004-05:00

A huge storm and two tornados hit on Friday and destroyed a lot of the town where I normally go shopping, knocking down structures and power lines, and many places are closed down right now. I wasn't able to go shopping this weekend as a result. I could have gone to another town, but I'm not sure which ones were left unhurt, so I didn't bother because it's too long of a drive to risk it. I also had to do without my coupon insert this weekend, because the newspaper place has no power and had to get their papers printed in another town, which meant they weren't able to add the coupons to the paper.

I was able to run to Dollar General (one of the few stores nearby) and pick up a bottle of Kraft Barbecue Sauce for $.25, using my $.75 off coupon, but paying $3.00 for a gallon of milk when I normally could have purchased it for less than two dollars sort of dampened the deal for me.

All You Magazine Giveaway

2009-05-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

Two of a Kind blog is hosting a giveaway for a 2-year subscription to All You magazine. All You is a very good magazine with great coupons and material. It is definitely one of my favorites! If you would like a subscription, then it is worth a shot to enter this giveaway. Even if you don't win you can sign up for a subcription for a low price through the Two of a Kind blog. Check out the blog to see details here!

Vocalpoint

2009-05-06T14:20:00.001-05:00

Samantha told me about a website called Vocalpoint a while back, and I've been a member ever since. You can learn about different products on this website, talk about them with other members and more. The reason I like this website, and the reason it was recommended to me, is because Vocalpoint will send its members coupons and free products from time to time. In my last post I mentioned the coupons I received from them for Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats cereal. Today I checked my mail and I received another set of coupons. This time they are for Kashi GoLean waffles. I received five coupons for $1.50 off and one coupon for a free box of any flavor of waffles, which I'll be adding to my shopping list for the weekend.

I recommend joining the Vocalpoint website so you can get in on these free coupons and products. You don't have to be very active on the site to receive them, if at all. You can join by clicking here.

Schnuck's Deal - Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats Cereal

2009-05-03T14:29:00.000-05:00

If you're a member of the Vocalpoint website, it is likely that you received a free product sample of Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats cereal in the mail yesterday. This product sample came with five $1.00 off coupons and one Buy One Get One Free coupon for the cereal.

This week at Schnuck's (it may vary by area) there is a sale on certain Kellogg's cereals. Frosted Mini Wheats is one of them. They are selling for 4 for $8. If you buy any and use your coupons, you can get them for only $1.00 apiece. Better yet, if you buy four (which will only cost you $4 with your coupons), a $2.00 coupon for your next purchase will print out with your receipt.

Groceries for 5-2-2009

2009-05-02T20:51:00.002-05:00

I managed to get all of this for $22.85 after sales tax. (I forgot to add a 5 lb bag of potatoes.)

In the photo are the following (except the potatoes):

2 Loaves of Kroger Wheat Bread

1 Small bag of Purina Kitten Chow - Free w/coupon for a free bag from this week's Smart Source

2-2 lb containers of strawberries

2 cans of Kroger corn

2 cans of Kroger peas

1 Large spray bottle

1 Bottle of hand sanitizer

1 Set of salt & pepper shakers

1 Bath sponge

1 Roll of masking tape

2-64 oz Bottles of Schnuck's ketchup

2 Bottles of Marzetti salad dressing - Both free with coupons (on sale for a dollar apiece & purchased for free with two $1.00 coupons I got from a couple of magazines)

2 Bottles of Glade air freshener spray

1 Pack of Kotex panty liners - Free with coupon (Retail for $1.00; purchased with $1.00 off coupon from magazine)

2 Containers of Morton Salt

1 Can of Campbell's Tomato Soup

1 Single serving container of Frosted Mini Wheats - Free (came in the mail from Vocalpoint with five $1.00 coupons for Frosted Mini Wheats and one Buy One Get One Free coupon for Frosted Mini Wheats)

I didn't need much this week. Most of this was just "stock up" items and a few extras. Hopefully I get better at this and can get even more stuff for a lower price!