Safeway Trip: FREE Tofu

$5.24 spent, $21.03 saved (80%)

I decided to make a quick Safeway run tonight to take advantage of the "Buy 8, save $4" promo this week. We needed a couple more things for our upcoming camping trip and it was nice to see them included. Here's what I bought (original price listed includes $0.50 discount per item for buying as part of the promo):

• Safeway hot dog buns $0.50 (not part of the buy 8 promo)
• Cheerios $1.49 (minus ecoupon and half a $1/2 GM cereal) $0.44
• Trix $1.49 (minus ecoupons and half the GM q) -$0.11
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.99 (minus ecoupon and half a GM q) $0.94
• Lucky Charms $1.99 (minus ecoupon and half a GM q) $0.94
• Hefty bowls $1.00
• O Organics Extra Firm Tofu $0.99 (minus $1 O Organics q) FREE
• Kraft Cheesy Explosion $0.75 (used FREE item q, took off the full $1.25) -$0.50
• Ballpark Angus franks $2.49 (minus $0.55 q) $1.94

The cereal didn't work out to be as cheap as I like, but they're some of the husband's favorites and will give him a nice break from the massive amounts of Post brand cereal he's been eating. Likewise, the hotdogs weren't super cheap but it's the brand I like and the husband really wanted some for the trip. The $1/2 General Mills cereal coupons came from the recent Shrek booklet (no longer in stores). Even if you don't buy it as part of the 8, the Tofu is only $1.49 or $0.49 after the O Organics coupon. This is not something I usually buy (I'm planning ahead for my vegan sister's visit in a few months) but it seems like a great price, especially since it's usually $2.49. That alone nets you an 80% savings!

One important thing to keep in mind when planning your trip is that you don't need to buy in sets of 8. As long as you have 8 or more items in one transaction, you'll get the $0.50 discount per item. Frugal Living NW has a really great matchup posted for this deal. Likewise, the Krazy Coupon Lady has an easy scenario using a combination of ecoupons and printable coupons that will net you 8 items for less than $5! Even if you don't follow that plan exactly, it's a great starting point for an easy deal.