I stopped at Walgreens on the way home from work and took advantage of some great coupons it had in their weekly circular. Here are some great deals you can get:
You can get just one or up to the limit on the Q. of each of these and they expire Saturday.
.39 Whitman's or Russell Stover chocolate eggs for Easter
2/$1 baking soda or Morton Salt
2/$1 small cans of Geisha mushrooms or Madam mandarin oranges
2/$1 spices - 2.12 oz (I stocked up my garlic powder!)
.69 Bumblebee tuna - but this pales in comparison to last week's .44 BB tuna at CVS that I missed - blerg!
.69 Swanson chicken broth
2/$1 Comet
.59 aluminum foil - 20 sq. feet (stocked up!)
1.99 Ziploc bags - 15-25 pack freezer or storage or 100 pack of sandwich (they were out of the sandwich ones but the truck comes in Friday morning so I'm hoping to stock up on Saturday)
.99 Tic Tacs or Altoids
3/$1 Bubbles - for the Easter baskets!
2.99 Softsoap body wash - stack this with a .75 Q from the Sunday paper and you're paying 2.24
.99 Arrid XX or Arm/Hammer deodorant
5.00 OFF of Claritin - stack this with 4.00 Sunday Q. and this normally 21.99 product is 12.99.
.99 Halls Drops - 20-30 count
4.99 Blue diamond almonds - 19.2 oz - normally 7.99
Then, I got home and checked out the Sunday coupons. I don't have a subscription to the SC Sentinel, yet but if this works out, I'll be sure to get one. I got these from someone at work.
I think the coupon companies and the drug stores are in cahoots - to save us money!! Most of the Sunday Qs matched up with health/beauty sales and store coupons so that is great for us, if we plan right! Here are the deals you can get by clipping those Sunday Qs (SQs) and taking them to CVS or Wags:
Clean and Clear Products -
CVS has a deal to give you a $5 "Extra Buck" at the register if you spend $15 total (before Qs) and buy a C&C product (starting at 4.99) Stack this with the SQ for 1.00 off and you're making money! 4.99-1.00-5.00 = $1.00 in your pocket!
Gold Bond skin products -
CVS has the GB lotion or powder on sale for 7.99. With the SQ for $1 off, that's 6.99
Wags has a BOGO 50% off (products starting at 5.99 for comfort body powder) with the SQ you could possibly get 2 for $8.97-1=8 or about $4 each The most expensive item is 9.99 so that works like this: get 2 for 14.97-1=13.97 or about $7 each
Bic Disposable razors
Wags has them for 4.99 with an in-store coupon for $1 off and with the SQ for $2 that makes them 1.99!
CVS has some for 3.79 but with 25% off or 2.81 so with the SQ for $2 - that's .81 - even better!
Softsoap body wash
I mentioned this one for Wags, above: 2.99 and stack with a .75 SQ and you're paying 2.24
CVS has these for BOGO free (normally 4.99-5.29). At 5.29 it would go like this: 2/5.29-.75 for the SQ=4.54 for 2 which is 2.27 each - very close to Wags.
Colgate
CVS has it on sale for 2/$5 or 2.50 each and there's a SQ for .75 making it 1.75.
Prevacid heartburn relief
Both stores have it on sale for 25.99 and there's a $10 SQ making it only 15.99. Plus, there's a Q at Redplum.com for $2 which you can use making it 13.99!
Zantac heartburn relief - very similar deals at both
CVS - Sale price 19.99 with a $5 register Q and the SQ is $1 =14.99
Wags - Sale price 18.99 with a $4 register Q and the SQ is $1=14.99
Claritin allergy relief- 30 count
Wags (above, too) - 5.00 off Q from circular with 4 SQ. and this normally 21.99 product is 12.99
CVS - 19.99 with card with $5 register Q and $4 SQ making this total 10.99!! Clear winner!
Infusium 23 hair care
Wags sale price 4.99 with SQ for $2 and it's 2.99
Neutrogena cosmetics
Both stores have BOGO 50% off and there are SQs - $2 for face makeup and $1 for lip and eye makeup.
CVS' prices range from 3.49 - 14.49
Wags prices are unsure but online I saw 6.99 - 14.79
So, no matter what store you're going to this week, you can find some great deals. Plan ahead and have your Q's ready and organized and you can have lots of fun saving money!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
First post of deals
Here are a few deals that I was able to find on my lunchbreak, today. I'll try and find some more later. Hope these work for you!
Go to these websites to print off coupons - TIP: have your printer already hooked up and ready before you hit print. You should be able to print each coupon 2, maybe 3 times.
Smartsource.com
Coupon for .75/1 Farmer John breakfast sausage. Safeway (SW) now has a sale on FJ sausage links for .99 for an 8 oz pkg. That means you can get a half lb. of sausage for .24!
Redplum.com
Coupon for 1.50 off of 2 Kellogg’s cereals. CVS has Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, Rice Kirspies, Apple Jacks and Froot Loops on sale for 2/$4. So you can get 2 boxes of cereal for 2.50 or 1.25 each!
Coupons.com
Coupon for 3.00 off of one pkg of Huggies diapers. CVS has the Jumbo pack or Pull-ups on sale (w/a CVS card and excludes Overnites) for 2/17.98 AND with a 5.00 Extra Bucks reward (catalina coupon at the register). So, that’s like getting 2 pkgs of Huggies for 7.98 or 3.99 each! It's been a while but I think that's a pretty great deal for all you lucky mommies out there.
Go to these websites to print off coupons - TIP: have your printer already hooked up and ready before you hit print. You should be able to print each coupon 2, maybe 3 times.
Smartsource.com
Coupon for .75/1 Farmer John breakfast sausage. Safeway (SW) now has a sale on FJ sausage links for .99 for an 8 oz pkg. That means you can get a half lb. of sausage for .24!
Redplum.com
Coupon for 1.50 off of 2 Kellogg’s cereals. CVS has Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, Rice Kirspies, Apple Jacks and Froot Loops on sale for 2/$4. So you can get 2 boxes of cereal for 2.50 or 1.25 each!
Coupons.com
Coupon for 3.00 off of one pkg of Huggies diapers. CVS has the Jumbo pack or Pull-ups on sale (w/a CVS card and excludes Overnites) for 2/17.98 AND with a 5.00 Extra Bucks reward (catalina coupon at the register). So, that’s like getting 2 pkgs of Huggies for 7.98 or 3.99 each! It's been a while but I think that's a pretty great deal for all you lucky mommies out there.
Coupon for 1.00 off of Windex. CVS has them on sale for 2.50 which makes them 1.50, total.
So, at least the next time you plan to go to CVS, this week, print off a few coupons before you go!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Valley Church adventure results!
Ok, I'm not crazy. I realized that I only had one thing to get at Walgreens and 2 things at Nob Hill - and one of those deals wouldn't start until tomorrow. So, I consolidated my trips to just CVS and Safeway which really cut down my time. Here's the final rundown on what I got:
At CVS:
Skippy peanut butter - 1.67 - saved 1.62 with sale
Kellogg's raisin bran - 2.00 - saved 2.49
Martinelli's - 1.88 - saved 1.11
Canned Ham - 1 lb - 1.77 - saved 2.72 (best deal of the day - I got one for myself, too!)
Bumblebee solid white albacore - .88 - saved .81
Betty Crocker fudge brownies - .88 - saved 1.61
generic spaghetti - 1lb - .88 - saved .31
1 Oral B toothbrush - 2.99 - saved .80
Aim toothpaste - .99
Campbell's chicken noodle - 1.19
Campbell's chicken noodle - 1.19
Subtotal - 16.32
Coupon for soup - 1.00 for 2
Total - 15.32
Plus, I got a 2.00 register coupon for my next visit from CVS' deal on the toothbrush.
Grand total - 13.32 (I always count these register coupons with the original order.)
That's a savings of 52% from the original before sale prices! Not too shabby. CVS is proving to really be a great place to find great deals - more about them another time.
Safeway:
Kraft mac and cheese - 1.09
Safeway peaches - 1.00
Safeway pears - 1.oo
Safeway grape jam - 2.49 (same price as NH tomorrow)
Del Monte Corn - 1.00 - saved .49
Del Monte Peas - 1.00 - saved .49
Jell-O cookies and cream pudding - 1.79 - saved .54
Safeway toothbrushes - 2pack for 1.99 (so .99 each)
Subtotal - 10.82
coupon for veggies - .51
coupon for veggies - .51
Total - 9.80
For a savings of 21%
So, the total savings was 42% on the whole shebang and I spent a total of $23.12. Not quite my goal of $20 but still much better than if I'd bought everything off the shelf without thinking.
I think this was a pretty successful experiment. Normally, you can get higher percentages of savings if you are concentrating on getting just coupon stacking deals. Since I was trying to get specific items (which is what we tend to do) the percentage was a bit lower, I think.
Now the hard part- I have to take my bag of goodies to the SV Chamber of Commerce site on King's Village road between 10 and 3 tomorrow. It's always a challenge for me to do things during the day but I'll make it happen. Oh, and they also ask for a check for $15 so the family can buy fresh food - totally worth it.
If you would like to help a family this Easter by getting a bag of groceries, just stop by the Safeway and pick up a bag. They're outside near the door by Coffee Cat. Use some or all of my money saving tips and feel good that you helped someone and saved a bit of money at the same time.
Giving on a tight budget
For my very first entry, I thought I would combine two of my passions - saving money and helping others. I noticed the other day, in front of the Safeway, paper bags to fill with groceries for the Valley United Churches. I usually try to do this and since I've been getting into couponing lately, I thought I'd see how well I could do at getting this bag filled with as little money as possible. Ok, maybe that's not the main idea of the bags, but I figure this allows more people to give, if it doesn't cost so much.
So, I checked out the list on the bag:
1 canned ham or other canned meat
2 cans of fruit
2 cans of veggies
1 box of pasta or rice
2 cans of soup
1 dessert
1 box of cereal
1 sparkling cider
1 macaroni and cheese
1 peanut butter and one jelly
1 tuna
1 jello or pudding
1 toothpaste and 1 toothbrush
Well, right away I remembered that I saw an ad somewhere for a canned ham for $1.77 so I knew I was on the right track!
So, I scoured the new ads from the local stores - Safeway (SW), Nob Hill (NH), Walgreens (Wags), and CVS as well as all the coupons I've gotten recently. By the way, I don't normally shop at the SV Market at the other end of SV Dr. I've just never been impressed with their variety and prices.
Now, the secret that I've learned recently from my good friend Mary in Florida is that you have to "stack" coupons with the sales. Meaning you find coupons that match sale items - and you can use store coupons and manufacturer's coupons - and you can also combine these with what they call "catalina" coupons, which are those ones that spit out at the register after you've paid. I'll go into more on this on a later blog.
Here are the sales I found in the circulars that match the items I need:
Canned ham - 1.77 CVS
Martinellis - 1.88 CVS
canned fruit - 1.00 SW
Del Monte canned veggies - .49 SW - with coupon from circular
box of pasta - .88 CVS
Campbell's soup - .88 CVS
brownie mix - (dessert) .69 SW
Kellogg's cereal - 2.00 CVS
peanut butter - 2.00 SW
jelly - 2.49 NH
tuna - .88 CVS
toothpaste/toothbrush .99 each CVS
You can see these circulars at their websites:
Safeway
Nob Hill
Walgreens
CVS
Note - the NH deal isn't good until tomorrow, the 31st.
Ok, now it's time to find some coupons!
I thought that the 2.00 cereal deal at CVS was ok and I knew I had a coupon for $1.50 off of two boxes of Kellogg's mini wheats but once you buy 2 and take off the coupon, you're still spending more. So, I checked the NH circular more closely and found that they have General Mills Cereal on sale for 2.49. And, I looked more closely at all my coupon sites and found a coupon for .75 off of Chex cereal that I at GrocerySmarts in the singles section. This took me to either Betty Crocker, Pillsbury or the school boxtops site to get it. That makes it $1.74! That's a lot better.
Walgreens has a coupon for .69 tuna in its circular this week. That's better than the .88 at CVS so I'm going for that one.
There's an online coupon for Betty Crocker Warm Delights at Coupons.com for .50 off of 1. CVS has these on sale for 1.00 each which I originally passed up for the .88 brownie mix. That would make my dessert only .50. Of course, you have to balance this with how many brownies you can get from one brownie mix. I may get the .88 mix anyway just so I'm not short-changing the family because I'm so cheap!
I found a coupon for $1.00/2 Campbell's soups at GrocerySmarts in the singles section. This took me to the Campbell's website. Stack this with the sale at CVS and I'm only going to pay .76 for both cans!
So, I'm going to go shopping after work and will update this blog tonight with what actually happens.
This may seem like a lot of work to save a few pennies - and yes, it is time-consuming. But, I have found it really fun to find all these deals so it's been well worth it. Also, because we have 4 stores within a block of each other, going to each one for a few things isn't as cumbersome as if they were spread apart. I still think I spend less time than going to Costco and I can make small runs after work on my way home if there's a really good deal I want to take advantage of.
And of course, YOU don't have to do all that work. From now on, you can subscribe to my blog and I can do the work for you! I will go through the ads, check out the coupons and catalina coupons and let you know all the best deals in town!
I would bookmark the coupon and grocery store sites though to make it easier if you want to start doing your own searching.
Check back this evening!
So, I checked out the list on the bag:
1 canned ham or other canned meat
2 cans of fruit
2 cans of veggies
1 box of pasta or rice
2 cans of soup
1 dessert
1 box of cereal
1 sparkling cider
1 macaroni and cheese
1 peanut butter and one jelly
1 tuna
1 jello or pudding
1 toothpaste and 1 toothbrush
Well, right away I remembered that I saw an ad somewhere for a canned ham for $1.77 so I knew I was on the right track!
So, I scoured the new ads from the local stores - Safeway (SW), Nob Hill (NH), Walgreens (Wags), and CVS as well as all the coupons I've gotten recently. By the way, I don't normally shop at the SV Market at the other end of SV Dr. I've just never been impressed with their variety and prices.
Now, the secret that I've learned recently from my good friend Mary in Florida is that you have to "stack" coupons with the sales. Meaning you find coupons that match sale items - and you can use store coupons and manufacturer's coupons - and you can also combine these with what they call "catalina" coupons, which are those ones that spit out at the register after you've paid. I'll go into more on this on a later blog.
Here are the sales I found in the circulars that match the items I need:
Canned ham - 1.77 CVS
Martinellis - 1.88 CVS
canned fruit - 1.00 SW
Del Monte canned veggies - .49 SW - with coupon from circular
box of pasta - .88 CVS
Campbell's soup - .88 CVS
brownie mix - (dessert) .69 SW
Kellogg's cereal - 2.00 CVS
peanut butter - 2.00 SW
jelly - 2.49 NH
tuna - .88 CVS
toothpaste/toothbrush .99 each CVS
You can see these circulars at their websites:
Safeway
Nob Hill
Walgreens
CVS
Note - the NH deal isn't good until tomorrow, the 31st.
Ok, now it's time to find some coupons!
I thought that the 2.00 cereal deal at CVS was ok and I knew I had a coupon for $1.50 off of two boxes of Kellogg's mini wheats but once you buy 2 and take off the coupon, you're still spending more. So, I checked the NH circular more closely and found that they have General Mills Cereal on sale for 2.49. And, I looked more closely at all my coupon sites and found a coupon for .75 off of Chex cereal that I at GrocerySmarts in the singles section. This took me to either Betty Crocker, Pillsbury or the school boxtops site to get it. That makes it $1.74! That's a lot better.
Walgreens has a coupon for .69 tuna in its circular this week. That's better than the .88 at CVS so I'm going for that one.
There's an online coupon for Betty Crocker Warm Delights at Coupons.com for .50 off of 1. CVS has these on sale for 1.00 each which I originally passed up for the .88 brownie mix. That would make my dessert only .50. Of course, you have to balance this with how many brownies you can get from one brownie mix. I may get the .88 mix anyway just so I'm not short-changing the family because I'm so cheap!
I found a coupon for $1.00/2 Campbell's soups at GrocerySmarts in the singles section. This took me to the Campbell's website. Stack this with the sale at CVS and I'm only going to pay .76 for both cans!
So, I'm going to go shopping after work and will update this blog tonight with what actually happens.
This may seem like a lot of work to save a few pennies - and yes, it is time-consuming. But, I have found it really fun to find all these deals so it's been well worth it. Also, because we have 4 stores within a block of each other, going to each one for a few things isn't as cumbersome as if they were spread apart. I still think I spend less time than going to Costco and I can make small runs after work on my way home if there's a really good deal I want to take advantage of.
And of course, YOU don't have to do all that work. From now on, you can subscribe to my blog and I can do the work for you! I will go through the ads, check out the coupons and catalina coupons and let you know all the best deals in town!
I would bookmark the coupon and grocery store sites though to make it easier if you want to start doing your own searching.
Check back this evening!
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