Tuesday, November 9, 2010

QFC

Spent $1.95, saved $67.95 (97%)
...and that's just today's run. I've been having a blast shopping the promo this week at QFC and am excited to see that it'll be continuing into next week (although the prices could/probably will change). Part of what made today so awesome is the new $1.50/3 Campbell's cooking soups printable coupon (with 2 computers- that means all 12 cans were free for me!). Even if you don't have more than one computer, you can print it twice and that takes care of at least 6 of your 10 items.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I'm back with an Albertsons trip!

I'm back! Actually, I've been back to shopping for a while- and couponing like a maniac this week. Hope you've all been taking advantage of the deals at QFC too (because they're too good to pass up- seriously! If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit Heather over at Queen Bee Coupons). I've only got my Albertsons trip for you today though:

Total Spent: $0.12 --- Total Saved: $40.88
I did the same transaction twice: 6 cans Dole Pineapple and 4 cans of green beans. I used two $1/3 Dole coupons (from a recent booklet), one $1/4 Green Giant canned veggies (from the Safeway Thanksgiving coupon book), and three doublers per transaction. Gotta love 10 canned food items for a mere $.06.

The oldest helped me to carry them in and stack them up for a photo. Then he insisted that I take his picture too (and since he usually runs from the camera, I was happy to oblige). I hope to continue getting back on track with my blog now that things are settling down and I'm getting the hang of three.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Meet our new addition!

Those of you who've been following me for a while probably know we've been expecting baby #3. Well, he arrived on the 16th of this month and is keeping us plenty busy. I'm glad to have a well-stocked pantry at the moment because I'm really not up to the deal-seeking and trying to shop with 3 kiddos. Of course, I've been prompted to share some photos, so here he is:

That's baby Preston at 1 day old. Here he is again with big brother Ryan (you'll have to forgive me for the blurry photos below, the majority of which are from either my or my sister's phone...I'm behind on uploading photos from my camera).

And snuggling with big brother Trent (he adores his "wonderful Frestony Freston")

I don't usually share photos of myself, but my sister caught this big baby yawn and it's kind of cute, so here you go. New babies are so much more fun than couponing!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

...and a Rite Aid trip!

My money-making Johnson&Johnson trip!
With baby #3 on the way any day now, I had every intention of making my short Albies run this morning the very last of my couponing trips for a while. Then, I got wind of a great moneymaking deal on Johnson and Johnson products at Rite Aid. This was the only thing I had wanted to stock up on and had not seen an awesome deal on...plus it was at a store near my house?! It was just too much for me to resist. Here's how I did it:
  • I purchased 8 Johnson and Johnson products (they must be 15oz- other than that all "flavors" of bubble bath, wash, shampoo, and lotion are reportedly working) at $3.99 each
  • used a $5 off a $25 purchase RA coupon
  • used a $1 Johnson&Johnson Video Values coupon
  • used a variety of printable Johnson&Johnson coupons (each equal to $1 off per product, so these took off a total of $8 for me)
  • This brought my total down to $19.81 after taxes (I had $3 in +Up rewards at home, but I forgot them)
  • I got back one $10 +Up reward for buying over $30 worth of J&J products and eight $2 +Up rewards for a grand total of $26 +Up rewards!

That's more than $6 in profit after taxes on something we use daily, talk about a hard to resist deal! There are a couple of things you'll want to keep in mind if this deal interests you:

  • You can only get one $10 +Up reward for buying $30 worth of J&J products so you won't be able to do this more than once per Wellness card.
  • If you've been a super awesome RA shopper and already have the 20% discount, your J&J items will ring up slightly less. You can buy a ninth product to get you up over the $30 point or chose another participating item.
  • The limit on J&J $2 +Up rewards appears to be 8, so buying 9 will not net you another $2
  • Hurry! The word on this deal is getting out now- plus, it's a popular product and easily done with printable coupons. If you have specific items in mind, you probably won't want to wait as the store could run out. My store was well stocked this morning but it only takes a few couponers to put a dent in the store's stock when we're each buying 8 products.

Hope this helps someone out there! For more hot RA deals you'll want to check out For The Mommas (my favorite RA deal blogger).

Albertsons doublers today!

Spent $3.80, Saved $55.58
(and got back a $1 catalina)
I split my things into two transactions so I could make the most of the doublers that came out today. Here's what I bought (using mostly printable coupons):

Transaction #1:
  • 10 boxes Green Giant Veggies $1 each
  • 2 bottles Hershey's Syrup $2 each
  • $5 came off instantly for the Boxtops Promo (buy 10 items)
  • used two $1 off 3 GG Veggie printables and one $.60 off 3 printable
  • used $1 off 2 Hershey's Syrup (from 8/22)
  • and I used three doublers to bring my total down to $2.40

Transaction #2 (in which I realized they didn't have quite a few of the things I wanted and had to improvise):

Thursday, September 2, 2010

RA Update: My last Huggies deal got even better!

I know a lot of readers out there are buying the same things I am, so I wanted to give you all a heads up on this- just in case you also took advantage of the awesome Huggies deal at Rite Aid last week. I was pretty thrilled when I was able to buy all of this:

for only $6.37 out of pocket. I also explained that without my +up rewards and SCR to help pay the cost I would have spent only $11.47 and got back $6 in +up rewards (for a "net cost" of $5.47). BUT I also have a habit of entering all of my Rite Aid receipts into their SCR system just in case. I was surprised this morning when I got an email about my status having been updated- and then excited when I realized it was this diaper purchase that qualified me for rebate #148! That's an extra $5 I'm getting back from this deal!!

I hope that if you bought the same things you can track down that receipt and enter it. Of course, if you already qualified for #148 (by buying Cottonelle or something else) you won't be able to claim another one.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I'm loving Albertsons this week!

This cost me $0.90 (I saved $108.38)
I actually bought a lot more than what you're seeing here- including one box of Quaker Delights Granola Bars, a box of Ritz Crackerfuls, and 19 more bottles of salad dressing that went directly to St. Vincents. Between my mom and I, we took down 10 tubs of oatmeal and 43 bottles of salad dressing just yesterday. There are a ton of benefits to couponing, but being able to donate in large amounts is one of my favorites. Of course, being able to grab a few free things for yourself in the process is also kind of wonderful. Yes, it took us a while to collect all our coupons and go through the lines multiple times but it's certainly not a waste of time.

If you have the coupons and your stores are stocked up on salad dressing, you might consider picking up a few bottles to donate as well. A good number of Albertsons stores have barrels for the food bank somewhere inside- making this a super easy good deed to do.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

More shopping: FM & Albies

Fred Meyer: $12.41 spent, $3.50+ saved
I was excited to see grapes for only $.87/lb this week, along with a few other great produce prices, so I figured I do my "real" grocery shopping there. The Ronzoni was free after $1 coupons (found in various magazines about to be tossed at the doctor's office). The Swiss rolls were a treat for the husband (he likes them for lunches) @ $1 each and the donuts are a great motivator for the kiddos to help me clean during the week. The corn was also on sale for only $.25/ear and the bell pepper was $.44. Fun stuff.

Albertsons: $1.60 spent, $38.30 saved
Looks familiar, right? Except that with doublers, this deal is even better! I used two $1 off 2 and one $.55 off 1 (from today's paper) coupons on the salad dressing. I also used the $3 off 5 Quaker items coupon, a $2 survey coupon, and the $5 catalina from my last transaction. I got back another $5 catalina coupon for buying the salad dressing.

If you're just getting into this deal, the best way to start would be:

5 Kraft dressing (Ranch/Italian only) @1.34 each= $6.70
use two $1/2 coupons from the orange "Fall into good things" booklet (in store)
use one $.55 coupon (from today's paper) or one $.35 peelie
use three doubler coupons
pay $1.60-$2.00 and get back a $5 catalina

then, you could buy your Quaker items (using a $3 off 5 items) coupon and pay somewhere between nothing and $2! You could also continue to add in the Kraft dressing to "roll" your catalinas each time and maximize your savings. Hope you're all having fun with doublers today!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Safeway: apple juice & dinner

Spent $19.62, saved $54.40 (73%)
(not pictured: 2 gallons of milk)
After a long day of toddler haircutting and kitchen cleaning I was kind of excited to see that the $5 Friday deal was Turkey Breast. I love turkey and not having to cook it sounded especially appealing. I decided I'd also take advantage of the Motts juice/snack deal going on this week. It is a little silly because neither of my boys drink apple juice (or any juice for that matter) but I love to have it on hand while nursing- so I took advantage of this chance to stock up for myself. My trip breaks down like this:

I bought:
  • 12 bottles Motts Apple Juice $2.00 each (used six $2 off 2 bottles coupons from the MDA booklet- check CS) $1 each
  • 5 boxes chewy granola bars $2.49 each (FREE as part of the juice promo) FREE
  • 3 boxes Rice Krispie Treats $2.49 each (FREE as part of the juice promo) FREE
  • 2 gallons milk $1.99 each
  • Fresh Express $1
  • O Organics Tea $1.19 (used $1 O Organics q) $0.19
  • Turkey Breast $5

I used a $3 catalina from last week to help pay. The juice promo didn't work quite right for some reason and only 4 of my participating "snacks" came off on their own so the cashier had to take off the price of the other 4 snacks manually. The limit on the deal is 12, so I'm not sure what the issue was but it's something to keep an eye on just in case you're doing a similar deal.

This is not the best deal on juice I've ever seen, but I'm starting to run out of deal shopping steam so I'm happy with my results. There are a few other deals worth mentioning at Safeway this week, so you may want to swing by Queen Bee Coupons to check them out for yourself.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Albertsons: Quaker Oats & Kraft Dressing

Trans #1: $11.95 spent, $27.95 saved
...plus I got back a $5 catalina
I've really been on an oatmeal kick lately, and actually found myself paying full price for store brand oatmeal last week (crazy, right??). We're still stocked up on the instant oatmeal packets- but those just aren't working for me, so when I saw the Quaker sale this week at Albies I knew I needed to make a trip down. Here's the breakdown:
  • 5 tubs Quaker Oatmeal $2.00 each
  • 5 bottles Kraft Ranch Dressing $1.34 each
  • used $3 off wyb 5 Quaker products coupon (in-ad)
  • used five $.35 off Kraft dressing peelies (found attached to bottles in store)
  • Paid $11.95 and got back a $5 catalina (for purchasing 5 bottles of Kraft dressing)

I actually got lucky and received a $2 survey coupon at the end of my receipt PLUS we spotted a few of these hot coupon booklets on the way out (Thanks CouponConnectionsNW!). The combination of good luck was too much for me to resist, so I unloaded the cart and ran back in for a quick second transaction. I bought the exact same items at I did the first go-round (this time using two $1 off 2 Kraft dressings from the new coupon booklet and one $.35 peelie), paying only $4.35 out of pocket this time and saving $35.55! Even cooler, I scored another $2 survey coupon- talk about good luck!!

There are quite a few other good deals to be had with the $3 off 5 Quaker items coupon in the ad this week BUT I've heard very reliable rumors of doublers (both from online deal seekers and a lady in the know at one of my local stores) this Sunday. I've got some nice Quaker coupons from the instant oatmeal boxes I purchased this spring that paired with doublers will make for even better deals and possibly even some freebies, so I'll be waiting to do the rest of my shopping until later this week (these prices are good through Tuesday, 8/31).

Note: I really don't need the dressing but since it does work out to be free after the peelies and catalina (or a slight money maker after $1/2 coupons and catalina) I couldn't resist grabbing some for donation purposes. If you're planning on heading to Albies this week, you might want to consider grabbing some to donate yourself.

Rite-Aid: Shopping for cheap diapers!

I spent $6.37 out-of-pocket and saved $33.49
I also got back $6 in +Up rewards to use on my next transaction! That doesn't mean my diapers were free- but they were fairly cheap (and with 1 big boy in pull-ups at night, one in diapers, and another on the way I'm happy to stock up on cheap diapers). These deals are good through Saturday.

Here's what I bought:
  • Huggies Pure & Natural: $8.99
  • Huggies Little Movers: $8.99
  • Huggies Pull-Ups: $8.99
  • Pre-coupon total: $26.97
I used these coupons:
I paid using $2 in +Up rewards I had earned previously and a $4.99 SCR check I had from July (you can either cash these at your bank or use them like cash at RA). This brought my total down to $6.37 including the almost $2 in tax, which was paid out-of-pocket. I received $6 in +Up Rewards ($2 per pack of diapers) to use on my next transaction.

Note: For those who like to think in terms of net cost, without the additional $6.99 in payment (from the $2 +Up rewards and $4.99 SCR) I would have paid $11.47 out of pocket and still received my $6 back. Without tax that works out to a mere $1.83/pack, including tax it's $2.46/pack (after you figure in the +Up rewards earned).

As always, I recommend For The Mommas for all the hottest RA deals and up-to-date info regarding what is quickly becoming my favorite drug store.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

My current sweeps

Based on the amount of clickthroughs on the last post I did about sweeps/instant win games I was playing, it looks like I'm not the only one who enjoys them. Here's the latest batch I've been playing:

Cheerios- Do What you Love: Enter daily for your shot at some amazing grand prizes. Odds you'll win aren't great, but I'm not joking when I say the prizes are worth a shot. Click the different themes across the bottom (ie Sports, Family, etc.) to read about each category's prize and to enter the one you want. You can enter once a day.

Barilla- Pasta Fridays: Enter once a week and you could win a coupon for a free box of Barilla.

Bed Bath and Beyond- Home Sweet Dorm: You can play once daily and there are lots of great grand prizes in addition to one $25 giftcard winner every hour.

Dove- Win your Favorite Things: Spin daily for your chance at 1 of 4 different hair styling tools (your choice). I don't spend tons of time doing my hair, and am fairly reluctant to buy hair styling tools- so this is kind of fun for me.

Honey Nut Cheerios- Non Challenge: Play daily and you could win a years worth of Honey Nut Cheerios (in the form of 12 FREE product coupons). I won this early on!

It Pays to eat Pasta: Enter daily and you could win either a $100 check or the grand prize of "free groceries for a year" ($5200 check).

KMart- Win $20 every 10 minutes: They're giving away $20 to one lucky winner every ten minutes. I haven't won, but I'd say your odds are pretty good with this one. You can play once a day.

Kroger- Summer of Savings: Select your local Kroger chain store (Fred Meyer and QFC in the NW) and then spin the wheel to see if you win a free product. You can play daily until you win a prize. It's on round 3, so you're eligible to win another even if you won a prize earlier on during the first two rounds.

M&M's- Coupon Sweepstakes: You can enter daily, and on September 1st they'll do a drawing to select over 500,000 winners for a FREE M&M's coupon. Not a huge prize, but I'd be happy with a free bag of M&M's.

Office Depot- Go Back Smarter: An instant win game with 50 winners of $100 giftcards daily (and an additional 10 teachers winning $500 giftcards daily). You do need a code, but can have a free code emailed to you daily. I've seen lots of people winning this and I'm sure there's something you could find to spend $100 on at Office Depot.

Play-Doh- You Can Win: Spin the wheel daily for your shot at a $50 giftcard (10 winners a day) or the $5000 grand prize. You'll need a code to play- they can be found on Play-Doh packages or you can use KDN185UV9JN34 (note: you can enter this code 3 times for 3 spins a day).

Quicken Loans- A Million Thanks: You can play this instant win game daily for your shot at a variety of prizes. I was hoping for the $5 Starbucks gc, $10 Amazon gc, or $10 Target GC but won a Xeko trading card game instead that I'm sure my oldest will have fun with.

Safeway- 10% Goes Back to School: Play this instant win game for your shot at a Safeway giftcard. You can also get up to 5 bonus plays a day for reffering friends. There's also a $5000 grand prize.

Sobe- Heads or Tails: You can play daily for a chance at a prize ranging from a "buy ne get one free" printable coupon to an Ipod or a new MacBook. I have yet to win anything besides BOGO and FREE sobe coupons but other people have had great luck with this game.

WhyMilk.com- Unlock Their Potential: I never win anything milk related, but there are some fun kid related prizes in this one. You can play daily- but if you win you won't know what you're getting until it comes in the mail.

Are there any other sweeps/instant win games you're playing? Did you win something from one of the sweeps I posted? I'd love to hear from you!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

My Albies trip this morning

I've skipped the last few rounds of doublers at Albertsons, but this week was just too good. I spent $1.54 and saved $111.89 for everything in the picture above! That's 8 boxes of potatoes, 12 boxes of cheerios, 10 boxes of cake mix, 10 tubs of frosting, and 1 butterfinger (so I could use the $2 survey receipt I got early on this am to help pay for the cake mix/frosting deal). You can bet I'll be headed back in for more fun with doublers!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Target Trip

Target: $8.76 spent, $29.52 saved
I don't usually do a ton of Target deals (although I do love shopping there) but there were some things just too good to pass up this week. Toddler hand not included...he was just really excited about the new pillow. Here's what I bought:
  • Bath Towel Shelf $13.49 (minus $10 Target coupon) $3.49
  • Pillow $2.54 (minus $1 TQ) $1.54
  • C9 4pack Women's Socks $5 (minus $5 TQ) FREE
  • Quaker Instant Oatmeal $2.50 each (minus $1 TQ and $.75 coupon) $1.50 for 2 boxes
  • Notebook $0.15
  • Bic Pens $0.99 each (minus $1/2 TQ and $1/2 printable) FREE
  • Scotch Tape $0.50 each (minus two $1 off 3 coupons) $1.00 for 6 rolls

I was hoping to get in on some free Post-its as well, but our Target was completely out of the $1 Post-its. Still, I think I did pretty well. All the Target coupons I used today can be printed from the website (I printed the $5 C9 coupons a while back so they might not be available anymore). Both Thrifty NW Mom and Thrifty and Thriving have some great ideas for your Target trip this week, so you may want to check them out as well.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Rite Aid: Diapers, Wipes, and Tide!

Spent $11.23, Saved $29.93
got back $6.50 +UP rewards and $2 SCR
That brings my (after tax) net cost to: $3.73
I didn't exactly need more toothbrushes, styling products, or shampoo/conditioner BUT my mom was sweet enough to do the deal using her Wellness+ card and we swapped goods. So really, I ended up with a toothbrush, 2 packs of diapers, 2 bottles of Tide, and 2 boxes of wipes (all things I like to have on hand). Most of the coupons I used came from the P&G insert we got this past weekend, making it super easy to replicate.
I bought:
  • Pampers $8.99
  • Pampers Wipes $3.69
  • Tide $5.99
  • HE Conditioner $2.50
  • HE Mousse $2.50
  • Oral B Toothbrush (with free sample toothpaste) $2.49
  • Pre-coupon total: $26.16
These are the coupons I used:
  • $5 off a $25 purchase (Video Values)
  • $3 off Pampers (Vocal Point Home mailer)
  • Free Pampers Wipes wyb Pampers Diapers (took off the max of $3.50)
  • $0.75 off Oral B Advantage Toothbrush
  • $1 off Tide
  • Free HE Styling Product wyb Shampoo or Conditioner (took off $2.50)
  • $1 Wellness+ coupon I earned last week
  • A total of $16.75 in coupons

I paid $11.23 ($1.82 of which was tax) and got back $6.50 in +UP Rewards in addition to qualifying for a $2 SCR.

As always, I suggest swinging by For The Mommas for all the latest Rite Aid information- including the latest update to their coupon policy and this week's deals.

Friday, July 30, 2010

My Target Finds: 75% off toys!

I got all this for about $40 (retail is about $160):
Our Target hit 75% off most toys yesterday, and they still had tons left when I made it in last night. I was thrilled to find more fun & educational looking games for the boys. I was also able to pick up some items that I thought would be great for gifting (and the Hello Kitty Fortune Cookie Set just looks like fun). Here are the details:

HK Fortune Cookie Set ($14.29) $3.57
Laugh&Learn Pig ($14.99) $3.74
Duck Duck 1-2-3 ($9.99) $2.48
Computer Cool School ($54.99) $13.74
Curious George Hide&Seek Zoo ($19.99) $4.98
2 FP Ice Cream games ($8.99) $2.24 each
FP Cookie Shape Matching game ($8.99) $2.24
2 Trivial Pursuit Single games ($8.99) $2.24 each

We had so much fun playing the Puppy Pals Bingo game that even though I did purchase the Duck Duck 1-2-3 game at 50% off I plan to keep it and gift the second one. While the aisle clearly marked 75% off toys had quite a selection, I had better luck wandering all the aisles and looking for items with stickers (especially with the games).

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Target Toy Clearance

It's that time of the year again where Target starts with the heavy markdowns on toys. My local store has not yet hit 75% off yet, but I'm hearing reports that quite a few stores in WA have. If you want to check on your store- Christy over at Thrifty and Thriving has the go-to blog for Target bargain hunters. Plus, there are frequent updates on her Facebook page by her readers (you can check there to see if anyone has reported the current discount at your local store).

Just for fun, here are a few of my recent finds (not all toys):
Cranium Puppy Pals Bingo and Duck Duck 1-2-3 (50% off $9.99) $4.98 each
ConAir Infiniti Curling iron (50% off $24.99) $12.48
Mini Rubber Football (75% off $6.99, was not marked with a clearance tag) $1.75
Schwin Bicycle Seat (75% off $24.99, husband had been eyeballing this) $6.24
Remote Controlled R2D2 (50% off $29.99, was only tagged 30% off) $14.99
Mariner's Onesie and shorts set (75% off $12.99) $3.24
Cars Card Game Set (50% off $6.99) $3.48

I did buy a few things at only 50% off, it's not something I normally do- but in most cases the item at 50% off was either the last or second to last one of it's kind. I also noted in my list a few times that the item was either not tagged, or else tagged incorrectly (at a higher price)- it's really important with this markdown that you scan and check to see. Odds are good I'll be going back to see what else my store has going on sometime soon, they were just consolidating everything to one aisle which means they're close to marking things down lower but they do sometimes like to let things sit for the weekend. I was especially excited about the Cranium games as I've been looking for fun and educational games I could play with my oldest, and these too have great reviews (the ABC one in the same line though has terrible reviews on Amazon though, so I skipped that).

EDIT: Puppy Pals Bingo is fantastic, and I'd reccomend grabbing it if you have/know a toddler (especially one who likes dogs). My 3 year old and I have been playing it off and on all morning- and the only reason we stopped was so that little brother wouldn't lose the pieces.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Major Grocery Shopping Trips

Fred Meyer: $12.38 spent
I split my items up into two transactions because I don't make it over to Fred Meyer often and I wanted to use the $5 Kraft catalina (from buying cheese) on the blueberries. The 5lb box of blueberries were only $7.88 and the cans of beans were only $.50 each with in-ad coupon.

Safeway: $32.93 spent, $71.02 saved (69%)
(I also got 3 green bell peppers, 10 Sobe Lifewaters, and one BC Warm Delights but they didn't make it into the photo)
I did also find a "Try Me Free" rebate hangtag attached to the Lea&Perrins so I'll be getting some money back from that. You'll want to visit Queen Bee this week for an awesome list of matchups, but if you have questions about any deal in particular you see in my photo- let me know. I also swung by Albertsons to take advantage of the $2 off produce coupon and was able to grab celery and carrots for only $0.08.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Stock up on cheese

There's a great new catalina on Kraft Cheese products running almost everywhere at the moment, and that means a great chance for you to stockpile some cheese. Here are the details of the catalina:

Buy any 5 Kraft Cheese or Dairy products (6oz+) between 7/19-8/15, get $5 OYNO

Participating items:
Kraft Singles
Kraft Parmesan Cheese
Kraft Natural Cheese Chunks, Shredded, Crumbles (5oz+), Sticks and Cubes
Kraft String ums
Kraft Cracker Cuts
Kraft Deli Deluxe Cheese slices
Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Velveeta Cheese product
Cracker Barrel Cheese (5oz+)
Cheez Whiz
Breakstone's Sour Cream (16oz+)
Breakstones Cottage cheese (16oz+)
Knudsen sour cream (16oz+)
Knudsen cottage cheese (16oz+)

This deal is currently available at Fred Meyer, Albertsons, QFC, and Safeway. Most stores are also starting to get in blinkies with coupons for $1 off 2 bags. Obviously, you'll save more with the coupons, but even without them you're still getting a great deal. Wondering where to buy your cheese? Here are the two best places to take advantage of this hot deal at the moment:

Fred Meyer (through Sat 7/24)
Kraft Cheese is currently on sale for $1.50/bag

Buying 5 @ $1.50 will cost you $7.50
You'll get back a $5 catalina, making your net cost only $2.50 ($0.50/bag)
*With the blinkie coupons, your net cost will be $0.50 for all 5 bags (or $0.10/bag)

QFC (through Tues 7/20)
Kraft Cheese is currently $1.75/bag (or $1.25/bag as part of the Mega Promo)

Buying 5 @ $1.75 will cost you $8.75
You'll get back a $5 cat, making your net cost only $3.75 ($0.75/bag)
*with two $1/2 coupons, your net cost will be only $1.75 ($0.35/bag)

However, done as part of the mega promo my scenario looks like this:
Buy 6 @ $1.25 = $7.50
Buy 4 Gatorade @ $0.49 = $1.96
use 3 $1/2 coupons (takes off $3)
Pay $6.46 and get a $5 catalina
*I've been rolling my $5 catalina, so I only pay the net cost of $1.46 each time

I also switch it up on occasion, doing this:
6 Kraft Cheese @ $1.25 = $7.50 (minus 3 $1/2 coupons)
3 Ben & Jerry's @ $1.75 = $5.25 (minus $1.50/3 catalina coupon- it prints after you buy the B&J's)
1 Gatorade @ $0.49 = $0.49
Pay $8.74 and get back a $5 catalina from Kraft and a $2 catalina from Ben&Jerry's
*Rolling the $7 in catalinas allows me to only pay the net cost of $1.74 each time

The current prices of cheese at both Safeway and Albertsons would not make this deal worth the trip, however that could change as the new sales will kick in at both stores tomorrow.

Friday, July 16, 2010

QFC: Mega 10 promo

$8.72 spent, $45.28 saved (84%)
*I also got a bag of Kraft Shredded cheese, not pictured* Plus, I got back two $2 catalinas. Net cost for all that junk food? $4.72! Even better? The husband loves Ben & Jerry's and but I don't- so it'll be a fun surprise for him without being tempting to me. Everything pictured is part of the "Buy 10, save $5 Mega Event" except for the Edwards singles. Here's what I did:
  • 6 Edwards Singles $1 ea (minus $1 coupons) FREE*
  • 3 Tombstone Pizza $2.49 ea after promo (minus $2 printable coupons) $0.49 ea
  • Kraft Shredded cheese $1.25 after promo
  • 6 Ben & Jerry's $1.75 ea after promo (minus $1/2 coupons from the Safeway Dairy booklet) $1.25 ea

I got back a $2 catalina for every 3 pints of B&J's ice cream. That makes them about $0.58/pint after you figure in the catalina savings.

Note: You can find a $1/1 printable for Edwards Singles at coupons.com

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Safeway: Buy 4, Save $4 cereal promo

Transaction #1:
$4.64 spent, $46.57 saved (91%)
Plus, I got back a $1.50 catalina for buying the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (that catalina ends today). I used a combination of ecoupons and printable coupons (mostly from smartsource.com) but my total was lower than anticipated and I'm not sure why. I've had a long day so I'm not going to provide tons of details- especially since I'm still not sure how it worked out- but I will point you in the direction of the Krazy Coupon Lady. Keep in mind, you get one free box of Nature Valley Nut Clusters per 4 promo items (the Nut Clusters are part of the promo, but were not tagged as such at my store). I took my things out to the car and turned around to use my $1.50 on a second transaction...

Transaction #2:
$3.26 spent, $12.99 saved (80%)
I decided to "splurge" on some of the favorite cereals (CTC for the husband and Cheerios for the boys) plus grab another free box of granola bars (my fav!). All in all, I was able to buy 9 boxes of cereal, 5 boxes of granola bars, 4 bags of Nut Clusters, and 2 boxes of fruit snacks for $7.90 (a mere $0.37 each).

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

My Safeway trip: 63% savings

Safeway: $21.19 spent, $33.36 saved
I haven't posted a grocery trip in a while, we've mostly been shopping for fresh ingredients here and there (I'm still using coupons of course!) but haven't done much major deal shopping. These deals are only good through the end of tonight as far as I know, with the exception of the $5 off wyb a frappucino 4pack and something worth more than $5 from the floral department. Still, here are the details:
  • 2 gallons milk $4.78
  • Frappucino $3.99 w/in-ad coupon
  • Nilla Wafers $1.99 with in-ad coupon (used $1 off Nabisco cookies wyb milk tearpad) $0.99
  • Bananas $0.47 (used free bananas wyb Nilla Wafers peelie, took off full $0.55) -$0.08
  • Barq's $1.67 (something took off $2.39 for this?) -$0.72
  • Mini Roses $5.99 (minus $5 promo for buying frapps) $0.99
  • Cheer $4.99 (minus $2 PG Esaver eq) $2.99
  • 2 Charmin $9.98 (minus $3 PG Esaver eq, and $0.25 coupon) $6.73
  • O Organics Tea $1 (minus $1 coupon) FREE

Monday, July 12, 2010

Online Sweepstakes

I've recently gotten into playing online sweepstakes and instant win games. While I usually consider myself to be a person who doesn't win anything- in the last week or so I've won 5 FREE Sobe coupons, a pair of movie tickets (worth up to $30), a free 20oz coke product, $25 for Costco (and some yummy snacks), and 12 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios! Not too bad for a few minutes of my time. Here's what I've been playing:

Barilla- Share the Table: Enter once a week for a chance at a free product coupon. This is my favorite pasta, so I've got my fingers crossed.

Bed Bath & Beyond- Home Sweet Dorm: Not only are they giving away 1 $25 BB&B giftcard every hour, that's the smallest prize on the list!

Best Foods- Wheel of Real: Spin the wheel 3 times a day for your shot at a variety of food & kitchen related prizes. There's also a link to a Best Foods mayo coupon.

Bic Soleil- 100 Days of Summer: You can play daily for the chance to win a variety of things, mostly small prizes. No luck for me yet (although I do already have tons of free razors in my stockpile thanks to coupons).

Breyer's Wheel of Delights: Spin the wheel in this Facebook instant win game up to 3 times a day for your chance at instant prizes (coupons for free boxes of ice cream). Each day you play, you're also given one entry into their grand prize drawing of $1000.


Cheerios: Enter daily for your chance to win a free box of Cheerios. If you haven't entered already, you'll also get a $1 printable coupon in your email each week for 4 weeks. It's a great way to score some free or cheap Cheerios.

Coca Cola & Wendy's Summer of Real: Another daily instant win game. Lots of prizes, most of which are 30 My Coke Rewards points redeemable for a free 20oz Coke product. There's a limit of 1 prize per person and you need a code to play (329492855844 is the reusable code found on drink cups at Wendy's).

Dole- Salad Seekers Taste Adventure: You can play up to 3 times a day for a chance to win free bags of salad. Just be sure to click the blue button in the lower left corner of your screen so you can play without a code.

Honey Nut Cheerios- Non Challenge: Lots of chances to win a years supply of Honey Nut Cheerios (in the form of 12 FREE item coupons) and you can play daily. I won this on my second try!

Kroger Summer of Savings: Another daily chance to win something from your Kroger affiliate (QFC or Fred Meyer in the NW). I won a free pack of toilet paper in round 1, the second round started on July 4th and I've yet to win a prize from this round. These prizes load directly onto your shoppers card, so when you go in to the store and "buy" the item it should discount the full purchase price.

Milano- Share your Milano moment: Share your "milano moment" on Facebook for your chance to win a case of new Strawberry Milano cookies. You'll have to "like" them to participate. While you're there, you can also print a coupon for the Strawberry Milano cookies.


Pace Hand Pick & Win: You can play this game daily, and win up to 5 times (I've had 4 wins myself). Instant win prize is a coupon good for a free Pace product worth up to $4.

Raisinets Gift Basket: You'll need to "like" Raisinets on facebook, and then enter once for your chance at a gift basket loaded with Raisinet goodies. Only one winner a day.

Sobe- Heads or Tails: Easy to play daily with lots of prizes ranging from a printable "buy one get one free" coupon to a MacBook Pro. You can only win one prize valued over $25 per household so I'd pass on the backpack or track jacket, unless you really want one of those items.


Twix "10,000 Reasons to chew it over": You can play the instant win daily for your chance at a free bag of fun-size Twix or special Twix pack AND be entered for the grand prize drawing of $10,000.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Plum District: discount movie tickets through fandango (6/29 only!)

Plum District is another one of those deal a day sites, and while it's not really up and running for the Seattle area just yet- today's steal is certainly one worth buying if you're planning a trip to the movies anytime soon (and yes, it'll work at any participating theater nation-wide)!

For a limited time today only, you can buy up to 2 movie ticket codes for only $6 each- these can be used through Fandango to buy tickets (worth up to $12). I'd check with Fandango first to make sure a theater near you will work (simply look up theaters near you and click the "Fandango Ticketing Theaters" button)- I haven't seen an area yet where it doesn't but you never know. Depending on how much tickets cost in your area, you could be saving 50% on your movie ticket. The codes are good through October 31st so you'll have plenty of time to use them. Enjoy!

Fandango does charge a convenience fee, so if the cost of your ticket and the fee are more than $12- you'll have to pay a little bit extra when you do redeem your code. However, this is still a great deal (and one I'd be jumping on myself if we went to movies as often as we used to, or if we didn't already have a few free movie passes from the recent kellogg's promos). Note: Most people are receiving their codes within 10-15 minutes, so be sure to check your email spam folder just in case you don't see yours shortly after purchasing. You should also be able to find your codes on the Plum District site by clicking the "My Account" button in the upper right corner and then "My Deals" on the right side toolbar. Thanks SD!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Rite Aid (again)

$8.65 spent, $72.35 saved
plus I still have $8 in +UP Rewards
I couldn't help but go back- seriously, who can resist deals like this on things we use and like to use?! In addition to the $8 in UP Rewards, I've also qualified for $4.99 in Single Check Rebates ($2.99 on the toothpaste, and $2 for the Luvs diapers) but I don't like to count those until I'm spending them (or depositing them). Without including those, my net cost is only $12.65. It's a lot like what I did earlier but here's how things worked anyways:

Transaction #1:
  • Crest 3D White Strips $29.99
  • used $5/$25 coupon
  • used $10 Crest White Stripes coupon
  • used $1/$10 Oral Health +UP Reward
  • used $12 +UP rewards (from earlier today)
  • paid $3.62, saved $39, and earned another $12 +UP reward

Transaction #2:

  • Luvs $15.99
  • Crest 3D White mouth rinse $2.59
  • Crest ProHealth toothpaste $2.99
  • Starburst $0.88
  • 2 M&M's $0.88 (on sale bogo)
  • 2 Stayfree $3.99 (on sale bogo)
  • Used $5/$25
  • used $2 Luvs coupon
  • used bogo M&M's coupon
  • used bogo Stayfree coupon
  • used $12 +UP rewards from transaction #1
  • paid $5.03, saved $33.35, earned $2 +UP rewards for the mouth rinse and $6 +UP rewards for the Luvs
Curious about all the $5 off $25 purchase coupons I seem to have? On Rite Aid's Video Values site, you can watch 2 separate ads for RA and each one will allow you to print a $5/$25 coupon. You can also earn points by watching other ads (each one will allow the print of a unique RA coupon) and 20 points will get you the $5/$20 coupon. The last $5/$25 I used was a welcome coupon for signing up with the Wellness program.

Rite-Aid: My first +UP Rewards trip!

$16.06 spent, $51.65 saved
Plus $12 (in +UP rewards) for my next trip
Which I suppose makes my net cost $4.06 for everything pictured above. Verdict? I am in LOVE with Rite Aid! Even better, all of these coupons came in the paper from this past weekend, making it super easy for you to duplicate my deals. Please bear in mind I haven't really been doing Rite Aid deals, so there may be better deal potential here- but I'm very happy with my results. You do need a Wellness card (it's free) to get some of these prices and to get the +UP Rewards. Here's what I did:

Transaction #1:
  • Luvs $15.99
  • 2 Packs Stayfree $3.99 (on sale buy one get one free)
  • 2 bags M&M's $0.88 (on sale buy one get one free)
  • Used a $5 off a $20 purchase Video Values coupon
  • Used a $2 Luv's coupon
  • Used a BOGO Stayfree Coupon
  • Used a BOGO pretzel M&M's coupon
  • Used $4 in Single Check Rebates from April
  • Paid $6.01, saved $18.65, and earned $6 in +UP Rewards

Transaction #2

  • Crest 3D White Strips $29.99
  • Used $5 off $25 purchase coupon
  • Used $10 Crest 3D White Strips coupon
  • Used $1 off $10 Oral Care coupon (this printed on my receipt from transaction #1 with the $6 UP Rewards)
  • Used $6 +UP rewards
  • Paid $10.05, saved $33, and earned $12 in +UP Rewards for my next trip!

Yes, it feels like too many coupons for each transaction, but it isn't. You're allowed one manufacturer coupon, one store coupon, one "total purchase" coupon (these are the $5 off $20 or $25 purchase). The +UP Rewards and SCR's are treated like a form of payment. For The Mommas is an awesome resource with weekly matchups and information of how to shop Rite Aid. It's also a good idea to print a copy of the Coupon Policy, just in case!

Menu Plan Monday (and what we did this weekend!)

We had one busy weekend, here's what we've been up to:


Enjoying some of the awesome produce on sale this week (we made scones)


We took the plastic off our garden after our broccoli started blooming faster than we could eat it. We have a second garden bed, but this one really took off (the tomatoes are as tall as my 3 year old!)

We snacked on the broccoli as well because it tastes better right off the plant.

And we started a new project, I'll share more once we're done!

I did quite a bit of shopping last week for groceries, so we're using a lot of things we already have on hand this week. I'm practically out of cheese, so I'm excited to see Tillamook will be on sale at Safeway starting Wednesday (I plan to stock up).

  • Monday: Tostadas
  • Tuesday: Teriyaki Chicken with Rice and Broccoli (from the garden!)
  • Wednesday: Crockpot Chili
  • Thursday: Breakfast (it's silly and a great excuse to use up those sausages I found marked down last week)
  • Saturday: Steaks, Hashbrown casserole, veggies

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Safeway: cheap goldfish!

$5.95 spent, $39.18 saved (87%)
Plus, I'll submit for the Snapple Rebate for the full purchase price of $6.49! I LOVE shopping trips like this. It didn't quite turn out as anticipated but it'd be silly to complain about the way it did turn out, wouldn't it? Especially since it's all free after you figure in the rebate.

Notice the toddler hand in the bottom right corner? It's been a while since I last bought goldfish, and we've been out for months. He was super excited to see them, so I may go back this weekend and stock up a little bit more. I know they're not healthy but they are fun in small batches! (By the way, all the flavor varieties were included in the weekend $0.88 sale)

For matchups, you may want to check out Thrifty and Thriving. I'm linking you in the direction of her recent Safeway posts instead of the actual weekly deals post because you'll find the links for goldfish coupons (makes them $0.38 each) and a hot deal on blueberry juice. If you're not interested in those deals, you can see the weekly matchup here. Thanks Christy!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Locals- Red Apple's HOT produce tent sale

I'm not sure how wide spread this chain is or even if this weekend-type sale is going on anywhere else- but the prices are too awesome to pass up if you're a local. I shopped the Kitsap Way location in Bremerton today so I can verify that it's going on there. The tent sale only extends through tomorrow, so if you want to take advantage of any of the amazing produce prices- don't wait! (If you're not sure it's going on near you, you may want to give your local store a call to check it out. Good luck!).

I'm slacking today, so no photo for you, but here's what I was able to snag for about $10:
  • 2 mini watermelons
  • avocado
  • 2 onions
  • 10lb bag of potatoes
  • a little over 2lbs of grapes
  • red bell pepper
  • 64 oz SunnyD ($0.89 with in-ad coupon)
  • 6oz Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (on sale for $1.50! It's usually around $10)

If that doesn't do much for you, here are a few of the AMAZING produce prices (these are off the top of my head, so I know I'm forgetting things- sorry!):

  • Mangos 3/$1
  • Red Bell Pepper 3/$1
  • Red & Green grapes $0.99/lb
  • Mini Seedless Watermelons $0.99 each
  • Whole Seedless watermelon $0.33/lb
  • Yellow Onions $.50/lb
  • Limes 10/$1
  • Lemons 3/$1
  • Avocadoes $0.69 each

Walgreens trip tonight

$2.67 spent, $15.50 saved (85%)
The husband was bummed when he realized we were down to nothing but Smart Balance milk this morning so I figured I'd better run into Walgreens today (the only place I know of offhand with $1.99/gallon milk this week). I had $10 in RR from previous weeks so I thought I'd just use it up on cheap toilet paper so I wouldn't have to worry about heading back in before Sunday. Luckily, I spotted a few bars of Neutrogena soap in stock! Here's what I bought:
  • 2 Gallons on milk $1.99/ea = $3.98
  • 12 big rolls toilet paper $5 (minus $1 coupon in the monthly booklet) = $4
  • 3 Bars Neutrogena @ 2.69 ea (used three $1.50 coupons) = $3.47
  • tax was only $1.12 and I paid using the $10 in RR I had
  • I earned $10RR for buying 3 Neutrogena products (this deal ends on Saturday!) making net cost and out-of-pocket cost the same (and not too shabby for the 2 gallons of milk we needed anyways)

My shopping trip this week

Safeway & QFC: $29.19 spent, $41.00 saved (59%)
(the photo is missing a package of Johnsonville breakfast sausages- oops!)

This past week has been super busy for me. We had 2 dogs staying with us, a birthday, followed by the birthday party, and father's day- among other things. Anyways, this was the majority of my shopping for this next week. I didn't use a ton of coupons this time around because I was taking advantage of some awesome sale prices at QFC. Even without coupons, a savings of nearly 60% is pretty awesome! I am planning on heading back into Safeway this weekend for some of their Saturday/Sunday only deals and will most likely also swing by Albies this weekend if we do get doublers on Sunday.

Check out Coupon Connections NW for a great list of QFC deals this week!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Yet Another Safeway Coupon Policy Change

Yes, it's old news but I wanted to make sure you all saw that the Safeway policy has been changed again- this new change simply means you cannot use Register Rewards from Walgreens (or catalina coupons for an amount off your next purchase with any other store's logo on it). For more details, you can check out Thrifty NW Mom's post.

You can also read (and print) the full Safeway coupon policy here.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Safeway Trip: I used RR successfully!

$7.57 spent, $28.19 saved (79%)
This trip is nothing spectacular, except for the fact that I was able to use Register Rewards from Walgreens to help pay down the cost of my groceries! I had a trip earlier this week where my RR were refused (for a range of reasons, and the manager on duty didn't seem to be informed of the new policy). When I heard that another local Safeway was accepting them, I headed in again (ready with my printed copy of the new policy) and went straight to CS to find out for myself. The lady working CS initially said no because she was sure Safeway didn't take any catalinas printed by other retailers, but after reading the new policy she called for the manager. He came by, and headed back into the office for a moment to double check, but came back out and said they were accepting them until they heard otherwise (he did double check my RR to see that they qualified). It was super exciting to get the go ahead and I was thrilled to encounter a friendly and informed manager- you can bet I'll be shopping this store more often! HOORAY!! Thanks Safeway!!

Nothing I bought today was an especially awesome deal (with the exception of the O Organics Raisins for $1.50 after coupon) but we're having people over this weekend to celebrate kiddo #1's 3rd birthday and while the husband is insisting on ordering food from Azteca- I had planned to make ceviche. I did splurge some on the frappucino and doughnuts but I figured I deserved a treat for sticking with it this week and to making my RR work for groceries.

Monday, June 14, 2010

My Walgreens trip: gotta use up those RR!

3 transactions: $11.20 spent, $36.60 saved
I had $10 in Register Rewards set to expire tonight, so while I was out doing my best to find silver sprinkles (would you believe the local Michael's was all out of silver cake decorating items) and mostly couponless, I swung by Walgreens to roll some RR quickly. I will be getting back the full purchase price of $7.99 for the Schick Hydro (thanks to For The Mommas for posting about the rebate this morning!). I did have some $1.50/1 Neutrogena coupons in my purse (just in case the bars of soap ever come back into stock) which made the face wash a bit of a moneymaker- here's how that works out:
  • Buy 3 Neutrogena facewash @$4.11 each (sale price)= $12.33
  • use 3 $1.50/1 coupons (from last month's Safeway book)
  • pay $7.83 plus tax, get back a $10 Register Reward
  • (If you're going to pay with RR, you'll need a filler. I used a $.25 box of lemonheads and a $4 RR. I paid $5.16 and got back the $10RR)

It's certainly not my best Walgreens trip ever, but for planning while in store- it's not terrible. After I get my rebate, the net cost of this trip will have been $2.21 and that's not bad.

2 Winners! (Safeway O Organics coupons)

So, it's officially Monday night and therefore time to announce the 2 winners of O Organics coupon sets...are you ready? The winners (as selected by random.org) are:
  • Poster #16: Kaila who said "I would use them for fruits and veggies!"
  • Poster #25: Heather who said "I would use them on Tofu + Produce! Yay!"

...and then just for a little bit of extra fun, I decided why not add a third winner?

  • Poster #23: Annette who said "Will use them on produce, probably carrots! "

Congrats to all the winners! I'm going to do my best to get emails out to you all tonight so that I can get your address and send some coupon-y goodness your way as soon as possible (but it is almost bedtime and I'm on my own with the kiddos tonight, so you may have to wait until tomorrow for your email, sorry!). I'll be adding some random coupon goodies to your envelopes as well, just because it's a little bit more fun.

Menu Plan Monday

gak! I can't believe it's Monday already, can you? We've got a busy week this week- with a birthday on Wednesday and a party this weekend. I did get out and do some shopping for produce (plus, we've got broccoli that needs to be picked...or cut...or whatever it is you do to broccoli in addition to all the lettuce). Still, I need to attempt a menu plan and it's going to look something like this:

Monday: taco night
Tuesday: I've got peppers that need to be cooked, and onion, so I'm leaning towards chicken fajitas
Wednesday: Crockpot Broccoli Beef and rice (but maybe I'll let the birthday boy pick something) followed by "chocolate cake with yellow frosting"
Thursday: Stuffed cheesy spinach manicotti (with beef) and a garden salad
Friday: Black beans and brown rice (we ended up going out last week so I'll be making it this week)
Saturday: Birthday party!

Friday, June 11, 2010

A non-deal post

I am on the hunt for a delicious (from scratch) almond poppy seed muffin recipe. I've had great luck in the past googling for recipes and then picking one that sounds about right, but recently? NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. I found something that looked delicious yesterday, but after following directions exactly- they were a fail: they looked and tasted so bad there was nothing that could be done to save them. Honestly, even the littlest one (who very recently tried to eat used coffee grounds from the trash) wouldn't touch them. That's bad.

Really, I'm not a bad baker- promise. I also don't want to spend $2.50 for a box mix (on sale) or use the (yummy) costco copycat recipes that start you off with a box of cake mix. Does anyone know of a great almond poppyseed muffin recipe? Or know of a place I should search?

The photo above is of a yummy looking lemon poppyseed muffin that is the very next recipe I'm going to attempt to modify (we're not big lemon fans). Of course, I'd still LOVE your input.

Redbox: FREE rental for Facebook fans (6/21)

Become a "liker" of Redbox on Facebook on or before Monday, June 21st and you'll get a personal code good for one free rental. The code will only be valid on the 21st until 8:59 PST, which is perfect for a Monday movie night! Just be sure to return your movie the next day before 9pm to avoid getting the $1 charge for your movie.

They're a little bogged down with code requests at the moment, but should get everything sorted out before the 21st so don't worry if you don't get your code right away. Thanks Redbox!

The Limited: FREE $10 store cash

Swing by The Limited anytime between now and Monday June 21st to pick up a FREE $10 in Fashion Cash. You can use this on any item price $10 or more, so there's potential for free/cheap clothing and accessories. I'm not sure you need it, but I'd be tempted to bring a copy of the email with details down to the store just in case.

The fine print reads "Fashion Cash valid through June 21, 2010 in-store only for $10 off a purchase. Minimum purchase must be equal to or greater than $10. Limit one per customer. Cannot be combined with Virtual Dollars, other coupons or redeemed for cash. Not valid on markdown prices, previous purchases, purchase of gift cards, or as payment on The Limited Card. No cash or credit will be rewarded if merchandise is returned. No reproductions will be accepted. Associates not eligible. Card must be surrendered at time of purchase to receive discount." It does say that it cannot be used on markdowns although I have heard of stores allowing it in the past so you may want to double check with your local store.

The only locations in WA state can be found at: Alderwood Mall, South Center, and the Tacoma Mall. Of course, if you're not in Washington, you can click here to find a location near you.

FREE Sweet Tea @ Popeye's 6/12

Tomorrow only (June 12th) you can swing by your local Popeye's and get a 22oz Sweet Tea for FREE! I haven't tried their sweet tea before (and I do love sweet tea), but this sounds like a neat freebie. There aren't a ton of NW locations, but you can find the one nearest you here.

Don't forget that this Saturday is also the $2 Old Navy Tanktop sale!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

O Organics: Coupon Giveaway!

I've been getting tons of questions on and off since I began posting about these great O Organics Safeway coupons, even more so after my O Organics pick of the week post. Most of the questions are in regards to where these coupons can be found and what they look like. I've had great luck in finding them in the pharmacy area, sometimes even behind the counter where I've had to ask someone for a few. As for what they look like, take a peek:

I set these out so you can see both sides. As you can see from the stack on the left, the coupon is a tiny piece of the ad at the bottom. It's valid on all O Organics products (with the exception of fluid dairy products) and doesn't expire until 12/31/2010! They can be used at any Safeway or affiliate store.

Since I've been so lucky in finding these awesome coupons- I'd love to share some with you. Two lucky people will each win a set of 5 O Organics coupons (and a few miscellaneous coupons, to make this a little more fun). You may enter twice, once by leaving a comment on this thread with what you think you might use the coupon on. You can leave a second comment if you are a follower/email subscriber, letting me know that you follow or subscribe to me. Please be sure to leave a way for me to get ahold of you!

I'll use Random.org to select two winners on Monday night (6/14), so be sure to enter before then. Good Luck!!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Old Navy: $2 Tanks

This Saturday, June 12th, Old Navy will be running another $2 tank top sale! There's a limit of 5 per person. Obviously, that's a great deal- but we can do better, right? Old Navy's current printable coupon promotional thing is Barker's Bones on Facebook. It resets every Thursday (that's tomorrow) so you'll want to check that out for your chance to save even more- and who doesn't love that?!

The trick with these one-day Old Navy sales is to try to get there early, because they do sell out of certain sizes quickly. If you get there and they don't have your size, you might consider buying whatever size they do have and going back later to exchange for the right size. Obviously, that's slightly risky but it seems like tons of people have had good luck with that.

HOT deal on Milk at Safeway

Update 6/14: From most reports this deal seems to be over, hope you got in on time!
Safeway seems to be the place to be! After the exciting new changes to their coupon policy (and YES! I've already heard success stories from people using RR at Safeway- SOOO exciting!) I announced this morning- I was thrilled to find this AMAZING deal on milk.


Smart Balance Fat Free Milk $3.99
Yes, it's expensive- but see that coupon at the bottom of the photo? That's a catalina for a FREE carton of Smart Balance milk (up to $3.99), it printed when I bought my first carton along with a $2 off 2 cartons coupon. Then when I bought the second carton, I got another FREE carton catalina! Even better, it didn't stop there- each time I bought another entirely free carton, I got back another free coupon.

Sure, it's Fat Free, but I've heard from several people that the added vitamins make the fat free variety have the same consistency as 2%. That's what we normally drink, so this was perfect. I do not know how long the FREE milk catalina will be working, so I suggest RUNNING to your store to take advantage of this deal. There have been a ton of coupons for this recently, ranging from $0.75 to $2 which will help cut your out-of-pocket on your initial purchase if you have them.

One more quick note on this: I have heard but have not confirmed for myself that buying the Smart Balance Butter or Peanut Butter also produce the FREE milk catalina. If you want/need either, you may look into starting off with either of those items.

Safeway O Organics: pick of the week

I hope you all have had luck in finding the $1 O Organics Safeway coupon in stores. Starting this week, I'm going to feature my favorite freebies/cheap O Organics products for those of you interested in finding the best use of your O Organics coupons! Keep in mind that the coupon will automatically adjust down if the item you purchase is on sale for less than $1- there will be no overage. Please remember that you can only use one O Organics coupon per transaction.

As in previous weeks, select jarred baby food ranges from $0.65 to $0.75 and will be free after coupon. O Organics yogurt cups are also still priced at $1.09 each, a mere $0.09 after coupon. A few other great deals are (prices shown are after $1 O Organics q):
  • $0.25: Whole Wheat Spaghetti - 16 Oz, Organic Whole Kernel Corn - 15 Oz, Organic Cut Green Beans - 14.5 Oz, Organic Sweet Peas - 15 Oz
  • $0.69: Carrots 1 Lb Prepacked (compare to bulk carrots at $1.09/lb. The 2lb bag of O Organics is only $1.19 after q)
  • $1.00: Baby Peeled Carrots 1 Lb Prepacked (next cheapest price on 1lb. baby carrots is $1.69)
  • $1.09: Vanilla/Plain Soy Beverage - 32 Fl. Oz.
I'll probably be buying the baby carrots again (such an easy snack food to have on hand for the toddler!) but I am tempted to pick up some of the canned corn&peas for only $0.25/can. What will you be using your O Organics coupons on this week?

NEW Safeway Coupon Acceptance Policy

I know, I know...it seems like not that long ago they updated it, and now it's being updated again. Of course, there were some GREAT changes made that I'm excited to share with you all. You can read the full policy on Safeway's website (and you may want to print a copy). Here are a few highlights:

8. Safeway will accept valid manufacturer coupons that display another retailer’s logo or name. No more stress about the manufacturer coupon you clipped from an Albertson's ad not being accepted because it has the store logo on it? Fantastic!

9. Safeway will accept valid Catalina manufacturer coupons that are issued to a customer by another retailer. This one is really exciting for me, because now I know I can use catalina coupons from anywhere at Safeway! I'm also curious to see if RR from Walgreens will be accepted, seeing as how it is a manufacturer's coupon- can you imagine the potential here??

16. We gladly accept internet printed coupons. The same manufacturer and store coupon rules above apply to all internet printed coupons. Remember that silly rule none of use really understood about Internet coupons worth 50% of an item not being acceptable? It's GONE!

And the less exciting stuff? Well, it's there too:

28. Rainchecks can be written for a limit of no more than 3 items unless otherwise stated in the advertisement. Not great news if you're hoping to take advantage of one of Safeway's "Buy X amount, Save X amount" promos and they won't write the raincheck for enough items to get the promo price. Especially since at my stores, those are the deals that usually sell out to the point where you need a raincheck. Although that may be a case where they make an exception.

There's also a bit about not allowing the "stacking" of ecoupons with manufacturer coupons, although the policy seems to limit that rule to Hawaii. It seems odd that they would apply that rule to one state only, and even more so in light of a recent post I read at Coupon Connections NW.

If you have questions about these or any of the other changes to the Safeway policy, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be happy to try to help you out. I'm also going to be looking into rule #9 because I would LOVE to be able to use my RR somewhere besides Walgreens (especially when they start building up). If you hear any confirmed reports of this before I do, please let me know!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Albertsons trip: Lots of LOL Butter

$1.81 spent, $42.31 saved (96%)
I started out with a $5 catalina and ended with a different $5 catalina- so net cost and out-of-pocket cost are the same on this one. I did 3 transactions, the first of which was the 6 sour cream. I used 3 Buy one get one free coupons (from the paper months ago) and paid only $0.67. I did one set of 5 Land O Lakes butter with the Dan-o-nino for only $0.20 after coupons. The other set of LOL butter and the Ricotta (on markdown!) was only $0.94.

The "buy 5, get $5" catalina continues next week but the sale prices on the Land O Lakes butter will most likely change. You can find the $0.50 coupons for this in the Safeway Dairy coupon book. Heather at Queen Bee Coupons has the details on this deal.