Let's chat!

I get a lot of questions by email related to coupons in general, so I thought I'd take a moment to ask if any of you have questions. I certainly haven't been couponing for as long as some people out there (I have been doing it seriously for a year) so I can remember how easy it is to feel confused and overwhelmed as you start out or try to find your own way. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about anything coupon/deal/store related, so fire away! If you don't feel comfortable posting it in the comment section of this post, you're welcome to email me at maybefrugal(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Also, I got a comment semi-recently and had to approve it because it was on an older post but can't seem to find it to anwser the question directly. So- Anonymous reader from Texas, I'm thrilled you've found me and enjoy my blog. I don't post Texas deals (although, you may have noticed that Randalls is Safeway and my QFC is somewhat like your Kroger) but there are a few great bloggers out there who do. A HUGE thank you to The Frugal Map for reminding me just who is from Texas! Here are a few you might check out:

• Jane4girls $800 Annual Budget: I actually follow this one- if there's a hot deal at Randalls, she's all over it.
• Keeping The Kingdom First: I love her $5 drugstore challenges!
• Couponing 101: A great place to get started
• Saving with Shellie
• Surviving the Stores

Okay then, while I have you here....maybe you can help me with a question. I recently found out I have tons more frozen broccoli than I realized. It was great when I made instant rice, but now I need some ideas for it. What can I make with frozen broccoli??

Lots of shopping today

Albertsons, Red Apple, and Fred Meyer:

$4.11 spent, $9.58 saved (70%)

My FREE milk catalinas were just about to expire so I knew I needed to get those redeemed at Albertsons. My total for 2 gallons was zero, plus I got a $2 survey coupon on my receipt! I hit Red Apple to take advantage of the green seedless grapes for $1.77/lb, my total there came to $3.10. I swung by Fred Meyer to use my $3 catalina from last week and paid only $1.01 for the apples, pears, and zucchini. (To the sweet cashier lady that I forgot to email last week- this is the post you'll want to read so you can do those same deals at your store!)

Safeway: $12.89 spent, $23.49 saved (65%)

This trip was kind of a bust, the store didn't have quite a few of the things I was looking for and a few of the deals I'd seen reported (free campbell's cream of x soups) were not actually happeneing. Here's what I did buy today:

• Bisquick $2.19 (minus $1.50 in ecoupons) $0.69
• 2 Mission Tortillas $1.99 each (minus two $0.75 printable coupons- no longer available) $1.24 each
• 2 Green Giant Frozen Boxed Veggies $2 each (minus $2.50 in ecoupons and two $0.50 printables) $0.25 each
• 10 lbs. Russet Potatoes $0.99 with in-ad coupon
• 12 Yoplait cups $0.50 each (minus $1 in ecoupons and two $0.40/6 coupons) $0.35 each (not super cheap, but we were almost out and all the "boys" LOVE yogurt)
• Crab Classics $0.99 with in-ad coupon (minus $1 printable) -$0.01
• Carrots $0.55
• 2 Artichokes Buy One Get One FREE @ $3.49 (as far as impulse purchases go, spendy but probably a good choice!)

Safeway: Here's the Breakdown on Ben & Jerry's

I got a comment on my Safeway Trip post yesterday about the Ben & Jerry's being included in the current Ice Cream Promo at Safeway and wanted to respond. Sadly, there are no printable Ben & Jerry's coupons, but that doesn't mean you still can't work out a great deal. Here's the information you'll want to know:

The promo is a "Buy 3, save $3" instant discount meaning you must buy 3 at a time. If you want more, you'll need to buy them in sets of 3. You can mix and match with Starbucks or any other ice cream variety included. I'll post scenarios below so that you can decide which deal is best for you.

Coupons for Ben & Jerry's are hard to find. I've heard reports on tearpads at stores like 7-11 but have never seen them myself. I did find some on ebay for a sale last year (that worked out to be a money maker or else I would not have ordered ice cream coupons) so you might check there if you really want to but I wouldn't imagine this sale is worth it. Obviously, if you're lucky enough to have/find some, you'll be able to snag an even better deal.

Different flavors have different prices. All of the "new" flavors are cheaper, which means you save even more except that your favorite is most likely more expensive. That's okay because you can still get a good deal.

• Here are the $1.79 (after discount) flavors of Ben&Jerry's: Dulce Delish, Mud Pie, Peanut Brittle, Boston Cream Pie, Milk and Cookies, Light Phish Food. All other flavors are $2.29 after discount.
• These are the "new" Starbucks flavors: Strawberries and Creme Frappucino, Vanilla Bean, Frappucino, and Hot Chocolate.

You need to load the $2/2 ecoupon to get the best deal. You can only load it once per Safeway Card, so if you need more ice cream- borrow a friend's card and load the ecoupon "for them". At this point, if you also want Starbucks Ice Cream, be sure to load that ecoupon as well, and print this $0.75 Starbucks Ice cream coupon as many times as you can (there's a limit of 2 per computer). Skipping B&J's? If you have access to 2 computers and can print 3 of the $0.75 coupons, 3 new Starbucks will cost only $1.12 (or $0.38 each) and 3 regular pints would be only $2.62 (or $0.88 each!).

Now, the math part:

• 3 "new" flavors of Ben and Jerrys @ $2.79 each: $8.37 (minus $3 promo and $2 in ecoupons)= $3.37 or $1.13 each
• 3 Ben and Jerry's @ $3.29 each: $9.87 (minus $3 promo and $2 in ecoupons)= $4.87 or $1.63 each
• Mix and Match B&J's: a combination of the 3 will cost you somewhere between $3.37 and $4.87. This is still a great price for Ben & Jerry's.
• 3 "new" B&J's and 3 "new" Starbucks flavors @ $2.79 each= $16.74 (minus $6 promo, $4 in ecoupons, and $2.25 for 3 Starbuck's printables)= $4.49 or $0.78 each
• 3 B&J's and 3 Starbucks @ $3.29 each= $19.74 (minus $6 promo, $4 in ecoupons, and $2.25 for 3 Starbuck's printables)= $7.94 or $1.25 each
• Mix and Match B&J's and Starbucks for a combination of 6. This will land you somewhere in the range of $0.78-$1.25 per pint. (The cheapest option would be 2 new B&J's and 4 new Starbucks, provided you could print 4 of the Starbucks coupons. You'd pay only $3.74 or $0.62/pint. Upgrading to 2 of the more expensive B&J's would only bring your total to $4.74 or $0.79/pint.)
• And one scenario that seems to be popular despite not buying in threes, because it get's you the more expensive B&J's for less: 2 B&J's and 2 "new" Starbuck's= $12.16 (minus $3 promo, $4 in ecoupons, and $1.50 for 2 Starbuck's printables)= $3.66 or $0.92 each

Hopefully this will make doing the deal easier for some of you, especially with the prices all mapped out. The only thing you'll need to watch out for is that some Safeways seem to limit people to one like printable coupon per transaction.

20 FREE prints at Walgreens (today only!)

Walgreens is offering 20 4x6 prints for FREE today (April 7th) only. To get your 20 free prints you can either place an order online and use code: PRINTS20 during checkout or bring this coupon down to the store with you. If I remember right, you do still have to pay tax, but this is a great way to save some money on photos!

Safeway: Who doesn't need Starbucks Ice Cream?!

$9.88 spent, $48.12 saved (85% savings)

Today is the last day for some of these sale prices, but the Ice Cream promo continues through next week so you have plenty of time to take advantage of that deal! Here's what I did:

• BC Warm Delights $1.95 (took off $2 in ecoupons) -$0.05
• SunChips $3.49 (used FREE item coupon, took off $3.79) -$0.30
• Pace Cheese Sauce $3.19 (used FREE item coupon I won here, took off $4) -$0.71
• 2 Starbucks Caramel Macchiato $3.29 each (used $2/2 ecoupon*, buy 3 promo took off $1 each, and I used $0.75 printables) $0.54 each
• Starbucks Hot Chocolate $2.79 (it's a new flavor so the price is lower, promo took off $1, also used $0.75 printable) $1.04 (or else all 3 average out to $0.71 each)
• 6 Always Infinity $3.99 (buy 3, save $3 promo took off $6, used $1 ecoupon, used 6 $2 coupons) $0.82 each
• Bread $0.99
• Drumsticks $3.18 (30% off took off $0.95) $2.23
• Bananas $1.39
• Onion $0.83
• Tax was $1.54

Overall, I would call this a good shopping trip- especially with 2 pints of my favorite ice cream sitting in the freezer! There seemed to be better produce prices included in next week's sales (and $1.69/lb ground beef @ Safeway on Saturday) so I'll be waiting for those prices to kick in tomorrow/this weekend so I can stock up. The overage I got from the free Pace and the free Sunchips is not something I'm used to seeing or getting, but the assistant manager was ringing me up and that's the way he did things- so I wasn't going to argue with him.

*There's also a $2 off 2 pints ecoupon for Ben&Jerry's and they are also included in Safeway's "Buy 3, save $3 promo" at varying prices. Might be worth it if this is your favorite!

Fisher Boy- tasty and easy seafood!

I'm going to start off this post with a tiny confession of sorts- I've never liked seafood. Tuna is okay, and I can make some pretty awesome ceviche, but everything else? I'm just not interested. Of course I know it's healthy for you, but it's something I struggle with all year round, especially during Lent! Not having ever been a fan of seafood, there are only so many things I know how to make- so I was beyond thrilled when Fisher Boy contacted me and asked if I was interested in sampling some of their products. Something I can serve on Friday with ease? Of course I wanted to give it a try! It helps that both of my boys were thrilled as well, especially when the package arrived shortly after breakfast:

Another fact about me and seafood? I had no idea there were so many varieties of frozen fish products! We generally buy Gorton's because it's what we had growing up so it's familiar, and I always try to grab something labeled "crunchy" because if there's anything worse than fish, it's soggy breaded fish. But Coconut Popcorn Shrimp? Fishin' Tater Sticks?? Who comes up with this stuff?

(Don't worry, the baby just got veggies since he's still a little bit too little for seafood. He did have fun watching everyone else taste test though!)

The Coconut Popcorn Shrimp was a hit with everyone, both toddler and gamma had a blast dipping it. The husband seemed to enjoy it most of all. I loved the coconut aroma it filled the house with- delicious! The Crunchy Tenders were my favorite by far- they were not only delicious but they had a serious crunch to them. I have honestly never had such crunchy breaded fish and will definitely be shopping for this brand regularly. We also sampled the Fishin' Tater Sticks- and while they were light and fluffy on the inside, and low of fishy flavor, they just didn't compare to the tenders. We did like them better than any other fish stick product, and I think they'd make a great choice for kinds who are reluctant to try seafood. The round shape is fun and kid-friendly and the lighter flavor of the sticks would make for a fun "dipping" themed meal.

All in all, we were impressed with not only the flavor but the quality as well. The only downside (for me) was that each of the products we tried had different cooking times- so it'd be easier to only make one or two items. On the other hand, everything cooked up fast, clean up was a breeze, and everyone enjoyed an easy made-at-home seafood meal- and it's hard to beat that!

You can find a $0.75 printable coupon for Fisher Boy products here. All opinions expressed here are mine. I was not compensated for this post, but the 3 products mentioned were provided (for free) in exchange for an honest review. And seriously? Those Crunchy Tenders I mentioned...you can hear the crunch when you bite into them- awesome!

Fred Meyer: FREE BC potatoes and cheap brie!

Fred Meyer: $1.28 spent, $16.27 saved (93%)

Note: my Fred Meyer savings total doesn't reflect savings in sale prices, only what I used in coupons. I'm newer to shopping FM and just noticed that their receipts don't include your savings as a result of sale prices. That seems odd to me, but every store is different. This was done in two separate transactions in order to make the best of the BC potato deal, here are the details for those of you interested:

Transaction #1:

• 3 BC Potato Pouches (used $0.40 coupons printed from here, here, here, here, or here)
• 2 SBC drinks (used FREE item catalina coupons- found in the coupon trading basket)
• President Brie Log $3.99 (used $3 printable)
• King Sized Reese's PB cups (FREE, this was a prize from the Hit the Hoops game)
• Kraft Cheese (FREE, also a prize from HtH game)
• I used a $3 catalina I earned last week by buying 3 pouches of BC potatoes, to bring my total down to only $0.54 and I got back another $3 off my next purchase catalina!

Transaction #2:

• 1 lb. Strawberries $1.67
• 3 pouches of BC potatoes (only used two $0.40 coupons this time, my printer ran out of ink)
• 2 cans Mighty Dog food (used FREE item coupons from last week's paper)
• I paid using the $3 catalina earned in my previous transaction, plus a $1 catalina someone had discarded in the coupon trading basket. The dog food was taxed, so I ended up paying $0.74 and getting back another $3 catalina good on my next purchase.

My mom's FM deal: $0.31 spent, $8.98 saved (97%)

My mom lucked out and won a $5 credit on her Fred Meyer card by playing the March Madness/ Hit the Hoops game, so she was able to buy quite a bit of produce for pennies. She also won a 20oz coke zero from the same game and found a FREE SBC catalina coupon in the basket herself (did we get lucky, or what?). This was an awesome deal- and it just goes to show that you can get amazing deals on produce using coupons when you know what you're doing!

Reminder: Don't forget that you can usually print two copies of each printable coupon- but making photocopies is a big no-no.