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.

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.

...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):

• 4 boxes Green Giant Veggies $1 each
• 4 rolls of Grands $1.50 each
• 2 bags Chex Mix
• minus $5 for buying 10 participating Boxtop Promo items
• used $.60/3 GG veggies printable
• used two $1/2 Grands printables
• used $1/2 Chex Mix printable
• and three doublers
• This brought my total down to $1.40 and I got back a $1 catalina

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.

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.

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!

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.

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:

• $5 off a $25 purchase (Video Values)
• $2.50 off Huggies Pure & Natural
• $2 off Huggies Pull-ups (Video Values)
• $2 off Huggies Pull-ups
• $2 off any Huggies diapers or Pull-ups (Video Values)
• $2 off any Huggies Little Snugglers
• (For a grand total of $15.50 in 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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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).

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

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.