After eating from our pantry for most of the month, it was time to restock the fridge and use some good coupons before they expired at the end of the month.

Total spent: $38.76
Total before coupons: $79.99
View receipt

Safeway was absolutely packed with people getting ready for the holiday weekend, so it was utter chaos for all the staff trying to keep up. Our tourist town attracts many people, but our stores are smaller and don’t quite have the capacity to accommodate them properly. As a result of everyone being so rushed, there were two mistakes on my receipt – I was overcharged for one item, and undercharged for another. I didn’t notice it until this morning, because I had added up the total beforehand, and estimated that it would be around $36.48 – I had a few purchases where the price would be determined by the weight of the item, so I knew my figure would not be exact. When the total came up as $38.76, I was satisfied that it was correct, so I just quickly scanned over the receipt and left the store. Looking at it again today, I noticed the errors and determined that I was overcharged by a total of $2.79. I don’t think it’s worth my time to go back – plus, I’ve been meaning to make time to take in the receipt for the “Do not double” coupons which were doubled, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re even now!

.60 lbs of organic, fair trade Millstone coffee – the sign advertised the coffee as being $8.99 per pound, and I used one $1.00 off Millstone coffee coupon that I found in the coffee aisle. However, the receipt shows that it was rung up accidentally as “Select” coffee at $6.99 per pound – $4.19 for .60 lbs.
1 8-pack of Pepsi – on sale for $3.34, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company. The coupon took off the original price of $4.39, so the final price was free plus $1.05 overage. I also paid 40 cents for the bottle deposit.
1 box of Kraft Mac & Cheese – regularly $1.55, used one free coupon that I got through Facebook – final price: Free
20 Yakisoba bowls – yes, more of these! As I mentioned previously, I participated in a few coupon trains last month, and had ten Yakisoba coupons that I received that were expiring at the end of May. These happened to be on sale for .89 cents each – making the final total after coupons .39 cents each. We love these and I thought that was a decent price, so I got 20 altogether and paid $7.80.
4 cans of BumbleBee tuna – on sale for $1.00 each, used two $1.00/2 coupons that I received through RecycleBank, which doubled – final price: .25 cents each.
1 12-pack of bath tissue – on sale for $5.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $4.99. I only bought one, but I was charged for two by mistake.
2 18-count packages of eggs – regularly $2.19 each, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.49 each.
1 two-pound bag of cheese – price: $4.49.
1 half-gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 pound of butter – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99.
1 gallon of milk – price: $1.99
2 packages of Stayfree pads – regularly $3.49 each, used two $2.00/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; final price: .99 cents each.
1.96 lbs of bananas – on sale for .69 cents per pound, final cost: $1.35
8 ears of corn – on sale for .25 cents each, final price: $2.00
1-lb bag of Earthbound Farms organic celery hearts – regularly $2.99, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company – final price: Free!
2-lb bag of Earthbound Farms organic, washed & ready to use baby carrots – regularly $3.99, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company – final price: Free! Who says you can never find coupons for produce?
1 10-lb bag of potatoes – on sale for $1.48
1 jar of Marie’s Potato Salad Dressing – regularly $3.99, Safeway was offering this free with any 10-lb bag of potatoes.
1 package of tofu – price: $1.99. I’m bummed because I have a bunch of coupons for free Nasoya tofu, but all the stores in my area stopped carrying it!

I then used $6.80 in bottle return slips to bring the final total down to $38.76. I had some cans that I needed to return anyway, so I did that before I went shopping. When you return cans at Safeway, you get a voucher for the amount of your bottle refund which can either be cashed out at the checkstand or used like a coupon towards your shopping trip, which is what I did.

On Thursday afternoon, I headed over to Safeway to use the last of my meat wine tags. I had traded for 20 altogether, and they all had an expiration date of April 30th. I had planned to make use of them throughout the month, but getting sick threw a wrench into my plans – so I had a big stack of coupons left that needed to get used up before they expired!

I came out of Safeway with $61 worth of groceries for $9.00. Here’s the breakdown:

Transaction #1:

Total spent: $1.18
Total before coupons: $7.18
View receipt

Got:

4-lb bag of chicken thighs – regularly $3.99, used a $3/1 poultry winetag that I got through trading; final price: .99 cents.
A little over half a pound of ham from the deli – on sale for $3.19, used a $3/1 ham winetag that I got through trading; final price: .19 cents

Transaction #2:

Total spent: .04 cents
Total before coupons: $3.04
View receipt

Got:

A little over half a pound of ham from the deli – on sale for $3.04, used a $3/1 ham winetag that I got through trading; final price: .04 cents

Transaction #3:

Total spent: .35
Total before coupons: $3.35
View receipt

Got:

1 Cook’s Ham steak – regularly $3.35, used a $3/1 ham wine tag that I got through trading; final price: .35 cents

Transaction #4:

Total spent: .47
Total before coupons: $3.47
View receipt

Got:

1 Cook’s Ham steak – regularly $3.47, used a $3/1 ham winetag that I got through trading; final price: .47 cents

Each time I went through the line, I would take my purchase out to the car, then walk back into the store and do it again. I went through the same cashier’s line each time, because she is an excellent cashier – she scans everything correctly, so you don’t have to worry about a coupon being overlooked, and she is also well versed in the store’s coupon policy. I’m well known at our Safeway, since it’s a small town, so I always have fun chatting with the cashiers and they get a kick out of my crazy coupon antics. After going through this cashier’s line four times, she looked down at the ham on her conveyor belt and started laughing – “I knew it was you again because of the ham and the reusable bag!”. She then asked me why I didn’t just use all the coupons at once, and I explained that the coupons were limit one per transaction. “Well, then just get the rest of your ham and I’ll ring each one as a separate transaction – it’ll be quicker for you that way.”

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the awesome cashiers at our local Safeway store?

Transaction #5:

First, I went to the deli once again and said, “I have a unique request for you. Can I please get eight bags filled with $3 worth of ham each?” They chuckled but were happy to oblige – and there were no other customers at the deli, so I wasn’t holding anybody up. Next, I grabbed one more ham steak and headed to the checkout. “Are you ready for all this ham?” I asked my good-natured cashier. To make it most efficient for her, I set down my club card and stack of coupons on the counter and had a big handful of change in my hand. This cashier can ring up faster than anyone I’ve ever seen – and it’s always accurate. It was pretty amazing to watch her fingers flying as she quickly swiped each coupon off the stack and keyed in each transaction. A big stream of receipts piled up at the register as she rang up each one! I was concerned that this would cause a delay for the person behind me in line, but get this – my cashier was so fast, that by the time the person behind me had finished loading their last item on to the conveyor belt, the cashier was already ringing up my last transaction! She pulled off the long strip of receipts and put them into my bag because there were so many – this is what it looked like:

So here’s the breakdown:

Total spent: $1.70
Total before coupons: $28.70

View receipts 1-2
View receipts 3-4
View receipts 5-6
View receipts 7-8
View receipt 9

I got 8 packages of deli ham, each of which ranged in price between $3.04 and $3.24 because they were all slightly different weights; after using 8 $3/1 ham winetags, the total price for all 8 packages was $1.07.

I also got one Cook’s Ham steak, which was priced at $3.63; after using my last $3/1 ham wine tag, the price came down to .63 cents.

Transaction #6:

Once I had the ham taken care of, I had two more necessities to pick up before calling it a day.

Total spent: $5.26
Total before coupons: $15.26
View receipt

Got:

2 half-pound packages of organic, fair trade Millstone coffee – regularly $8.99 per pound, used two $2.00/1 coupons from the 3/14 Red Plum newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: $3.28 for both. I had extras of these coupons thanks to a “Coupon train” which I participated in on Hot Coupon World – I mailed two envelopes of coupons to other members and received two envelopes of coupons from others in return. It was fun and I got some great coupons from it!
2 packages of Stayfree pads – regularly $3.49 each, used two $2/1 coupons from the 3/28 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: .99 cents each. I got these coupons during a recent trade also!

It’s been a while since I’ve gone to the store, because I’ve been sick for two weeks. Fortunately my lovely fiance filled in for me, and on Wednesday I was feeling well enough to re-stock on produce and the other necessities that we were out of!

I headed to Safeway on Wednesday and got $59.72 worth of groceries for $10.97.

Transaction #1:

Total spent: $9.43
Total before coupons: $52.18
View receipt

Got:

1 bag of Mahatma brown rice – regularly $2.89, used a .75/1 coupon from the 4/25 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: $1.64
5-lb. bag of sugar – price: $2.99
10 packages of Mission flour tortillas (10 count each) – regularly $2.29 each, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to .99 cents each – $9.90 total for all ten. The coupon was limit ten per customer – the reason I decided to get that many was because this is a very low price for tortillas, and they are a staple in our household. They also freeze beautifully, so I stuck all but one in the freezer for future use!
1 dozen eggs – price: $1.69
2 lb. bag of cheese – on sale for $3.99
4-pack of Yo Plus yogurt – regularly $2.50, used one free product coupon that I got through the Psst…Network. Final price: Free!
4-lb bag of chicken thighs – regularly $3.99, used one $3/1 poultry wine tag that I got through trading; final price: .99 cents
2 avocados – on sale 2 for $1.00
6 ears of corn – .66 cents each, $3.96 total for all six.
1 bunch of cilantro – price: .99 cents
2 mangoes – on sale 2 for $1.00
2 lb bag of Bolthouse carrots – regularly $1.29, used a .50/1 coupon that I received after writing to the manufacturer; final price: .79 cents.
A little over half a pound of ham from the deli – I asked for $3 worth of ham, and after my club card discount, the price for this came to $2.99. I used one $3/1 ham wine tag that I got through trading, which made the final price free plus one cent overage.

The cashier also doubled both wine tags and my carrot coupon, although they said “Do not double”. I’ve noticed that this happens from time to time, so I’ll be alert when I have “Do not double” coupons next time so that it doesn’t happen again. This deducted another $1.50 from the total, but I’m putting the receipt aside so that I can take it into customer service and give them the $1.50 back – I’ll post an update once I do.

I then used the $18 worth of catalinas that Jai earned during his awesome shopping trip, which brought my final total down to $9.43. Those Lunchables paid for the fresh produce and other staples that I bought on this trip!

Transaction #2:

Total spent: $1.54
Total before coupons: $7.54
View receipt

Got:

4-lb bag of chicken thighs – regularly $3.99, used one $3/1 poultry wine tag that I got through trading; final price: .99 cents
1 Cook’s Ham steak – regularly $3.55, used one $3/1 ham wine tag that I got through trading, which made the final price .55 cents.

When The Student Becomes The Master: How My Fiance Got 20 Free Lunchables & $18 in Catalinas During His First Coupon Trip

Tuesday was the last day of the $1 Lunchables sale at Safeway, and I still had 20 coupons left that I had planned to use. I’ve been under the weather and really did not feel like trying shop in my Sudafed haze, so my fiance Jai was so sweet as to offer to go for me. He’s never done any coupon shopping before, so offering to jump head-first into my extreme couponing world was brave! I do all the shopping for our household, naturally – I’m Super Coupon Girl, why send anyone else? – and Jai thinks that what I do with coupons is totally awesome. He’s never tried using coupons before because trying to wrap his head around sales or rebates is just overwhelming to him. (Likewise, the kind of work he does troubleshooting computer software would overwhelm me, so we’ve all got our areas of expertise!) So while I was grateful for the offer, I wondered how it would work out. What if they rung up the coupons wrong? What if the store was out of stock? I’m used to handling the crazy world of coupon shopping, but Jai had never dealt with this before.

When Jai returned, I asked him how it went. He smiled and said that he thought it went very well – and then handed me a huge bag full of Lunchables and $18 in catalinas good on my next shopping order.

And this, my friends, is how the student became the master.

Total spent: Zero – and got back $18 in catalinas that can be used like cash towards my next purchase!
Total before coupons: $20.00
View receipt

Got:

20 Lunchables – on sale for $1.00 each, used twenty $1/1 coupons that I got through trading; final price: Free, and $18 in catalinas printed out courtesy of Lunchables! I had no clue this catalina deal was going on – file this under the “Hit The Jackpot” category! You can imagine my face when he handed me this stack of ONYOs!

Since this was the last day of the $1 Lunchables sale, I was so very tempted to go back to the store and “roll” the catalinas – IE purchase 18 more, pay with the catalinas, and receive $18 back in catalinas. But every square inch of my fridge is stuffed, since I’ve purchased 83 Lunchables in less than a week! (Had I not been so sick, I would have done it anyway and just given the Lunchables to friends or donated them!)

And the cherry on top: Remember how I paid $12.62 in handling fees for these Lunchables coupons? Well, since I received $18 back in catalinas, that means I actually made a $5.38 profit in addition to getting 83 free Lunchables. This is a prime example of how trading can really pay off!

We’ve been discussing the benefits of coupon trading recently, and this trip is another example of how to make it work for you. Safeway recently ran a promotion where Lunchables were on sale for $1 each. There happened to be a coupon in the 3/21 Smart Source newspaper inserts for $1 off any Lunchables, so I logged on to Hot Coupon World’s trading forum and ended up paying $12.62 in shipping and handling fees for 80 of these coupons.

Next, I saw that another user had 20 “wine tag” coupons available – 3 of which were good for $3 off any meat or poultry, and 17 of which were good for $3 off the purchase of any ham. Wine tags are special coupons offered by wine companies, which are often good on items like meat and produce and are usually found in stores, just like blinkies and tearpad coupons. These coupons will either be a savings offered when you purchase a specific brand of wine (“Save $1 on onions when you buy Brand X wine”), or they will be a general coupon offered with the company’s compliments (“Save $3 on shrimp now, courtesy of Brand X wine”). Sometimes the purchase requirements of these coupons will vary depending on the alcohol laws in each state – as I understand it, some states prohibit coupons from requiring an alcohol purchase, so the coupon might say “Save $2 on rice when you buy Brand X wine – no alcohol purchase required in X, Y, or Z states”. The 20 meat coupons that I found on Hot Coupon World required no wine purchase of any kind here in Oregon, so I spent $12.88 in shipping and handling fees to order them. My savings strategy here was that spending $25.50 total on coupons that could get me $140.00 worth of meat and Lunchables for free would be a good deal.

So here’s what I got on my first trip:

Total spent: Zero
Total before coupons: $46.00
View receipt

Got:

43 Lunchables – on sale for $1 each, used 43 $1/1 coupons that I got via trading! Final price: Free
1 package of Oscar Mayer Deli Shaved Ham lunch meat – on sale for $3.00, used one wine tag good for $3 off any ham, obtained via trading; final price, free.

Once I got home, I re-arranged my fridge and saw that I still had plenty of room – I wanted to gauge how much space I had before getting them all in one trip! – so I went back for round 2:

Total spent: Zero
Total before coupons: $23.00
View receipt

Got:

20 Lunchables – on sale for $1 each, used 20 $1/1 coupons that I got via trading; final price: Free
1 package of Oscar Mayer Deli Shaved Ham lunch meat – on sale for $3.00, used one wine tag good for $3 off any ham, obtained via trading; final price, free.

I must confess: I’ve always loved Lunchables, and before I started using coupons, I would occasionally buy them anyway just because I like them! Now keep in mind, although I may buy 40 Lunchables in one afternoon, that doesn’t mean we’re going to eat them all at once. These all have long expiration dates and will keep well in the fridge, so I’m just planning ahead and stocking up while they are free; subsisting solely on processed foods like Lunchables or Yakisoba bowls isn’t healthy and I don’t plan my meals that way.

Total spent: $9.91
Total before coupons: $20.91
View receipt

Got:

1 quart of half & half – we were out! Price: $3.99
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $1.99, total price: $3.98
4 tubs of Gold ‘N Soft margarine – on sale for .99 cents each, used two $1.50/2 coupons from the 3/21 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled – final price: Free plus four cents overage. I had two copies of this coupon because 3/21 was the week I found papers at Dollar Tree!
2 packages of Stayfree maxi pads – normally $3.49, used two $2/1 coupons from the 3/28 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled; Final price: $1.98 for both. I did two coupon trades last week for 20 of these coupons, for which I paid a total of $4.50 in shipping & handling fees. Given that one package normally costs $3.49, I think this investment will provide me with a good savings.
2 Lunchables – on sale for $1.00, used two $1/1 coupons from the 3/21 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Final price: Free! I got these coupons during a recent trade.

I was happy about getting paid to buy the margarine – I don’t use it on sandwiches, but rather for baking. I’ve found that I can substitute margarine for butter in almost any baked good, even bread or hot cross buns, without it making a difference to the taste. People are surprised when I tell them that it’s not butter! (They almost “Can’t believe” it…I know, I know, bad joke.)

This week’s theme has been saving money by trading coupons. Today, I’m going to show you what I got with the last of my Yakisoba coupons! Click here to read my previous post about this deal scenario if you missed it.

I did another trade last week for an assortment of good coupons – known in trading circles as a coupon “Potluck” – most of which I have not used yet, save for the Lunchables coupon mentioned below. This trade cost me two stamps, plus one to mail it out – making the total cost for these coupons $1.32.

Spent $2.69 out of pocket, put $19.79 on my free gift card from MyBlogSpark, and will get $9.88 back in rebates – making my final cost $12.60 for $62.37 worth of groceries.

Transaction #1:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $5.93 on my gift card
Total before coupons: $15.64
View receipt

Got:

4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent deduction each because of the 10% club card discount; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage. (More about the 10% here and here.)
1 can of Mighty Dog food – on sale for .65 cents, used one free product coupon from the 03/38 Smart Source newspaper inserts; an additional .06 cents was deducted because of the 10% discount, making the final price free plus .06 cents overage.
1 Odwalla fruit smoothie – on sale for $2.50, used one free coupon that I got in the mail after emailing the company (I’ll be writing more on this topic soon!). I also received an additional .25 cent discount because of the 10% promotion, making the final price free plus .25 cents overage.
1 Odwalla bar – on sale for $1.00, used one free coupon that I got in the mail after writing to the company. I also received an additional .10 cent discount because of the 10% promotion, making the final price free plus .10 cents overage.
One 100 count bottle of ibuprofen – I was all out of ibuprofen, and even though I have a generous stockpile of Ecotrin and Bayer, I find that only ibuprofen will cut it for me. So I bought this, which was originally priced at $7.49; the 10% took off a .75 cent discount, and the overage from the other coupons brought the final price down to $5.93.

Transaction #2:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $1.21 on my gift card
Total before coupons: $5.79
View receipt

Got:

4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 package of rubber gloves – I needed a new pair! The 10% deducted .18 cents, and the .40 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to $1.21.

Transaction #3:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .22 cents on my gift card
Total before coupons: $4.69
View receipt

Got:

4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 can of cream of mushroom soup – I bought this as a “Filler” item to absorb the overage from the Yakisoba – this soup is so handy to have on hand for casseroles. Originally .69 cents, the 10% discount deducted .07 cents, and the .40 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to .22 cents.

Transaction #4:

Total spent: Zero
Total before coupons: $5.00
View receipt

Got:

5 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used three .50/1 coupons and one $1/2 coupon, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion. The first three were free plus .30 cents overage after the .50/1 coupons; the other two cost .30 cents total after the $1/2 coupon, so the overage paid for them exactly. Final price for all five: Free

Transaction #5:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $4.04 on my gift card
Total before coupons: $12.27
View receipt

Got:

4-pack of Dannon CrushCups yogurt – on sale for $2.00, used a $1.00/1 coupon from the 3/28 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; the 10% discount took off an additional .20 cents, making the final price .30 cents.
1 package of Stayfree maxi pads – regularly $3.49, used a $2.00/1 coupon from the 3/28 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled; the 10% discount took off an additional .35 cents, making the final price .64 cents.
1 Lunchables – regularly $1.99, used a $1/1 coupon that I got through trading, which doubled; the 10% took off an additional .20 cents, making the final price .29 cents.
2 packages of Farmland bacon – priced at $4.79 and on sale for “Buy one, get one free”, I used a $1/1 coupon that I got through their coupon mailing list, which doubled; the 10% took off an additional .48 cents, making the final price $2.81 for two packages of bacon.

Transaction #6:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $4.49 on my gift card; and I will get $4.49 back in rebates.
View receipt

Got:

2 lbs Jennie-O turkey & gravy in roasting pan – regularly $4.99, the 10% discount took off an additional .50 cents; and I will submit this for the Jennie-O rebate that I signed up for, which will make my final price free less the cost of a stamp to mail it in. And who knows, they might even refund the full amount, pre-10% store discount, which would turn this into a small money-maker. I will keep you posted!

Transaction #7:

Total spent: $2.69 out of pocket, put $3.90 on my gift card, and will get back $5.39 in rebates
Total before coupons: $13.99
View receipt

Got:

8 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00, used four $1.00/2 coupons, which doubled; and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion. Final price: $1.20 for all eight.
1 bottle of Olay Quench body lotion – on sale for $5.99, and I will send in for the Olay Quench “Try-Me-Free” rebate, making this free less the cost of the stamp to mail it in. Also, I may be reimbursed for the full price, pre-10% discount, in which case it will turn into a small money-maker. As always, I will keep you posted!

We’ve been talking a lot about trading coupons this week. I wrote an article explaining what it is and how to do it, and showed you an example of my savings after coupon trading. In my last post, I explained how I was getting Yakisoba bowls for free plus .10 cents overage – click here if you missed it – and as you’ll see in today’s recap, it was the first of many Yakisoba-filled shopping trips. I conducted two additional trades last week for the .50/1 Yakisoba coupons that were getting me this good deal; this time, I traded 8 stamps for 24 .50/1 Yakisoba and 5 $1.00/2 Yakisoba coupons. After the two stamps that it took to mail my trades out to the two people that I was trading with, my total cost for the coupons was $4.40 (the cost of 10 first-class postage stamps). So here’s the groceries that I got on Monday:

Spent nothing out of pocket, put .15 cents on my free gift card from MyBlogSpark, and came home with $11.83 worth of groceries.

Transaction #1:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .10 cents on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $7.33
View receipt

Got:

One 70 count box of Snuggle dryer sheets – on sale for $3.99, used a $3/1 coupon from the 3/28 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled; I also received a .40 cent deduction because of the 10% club card discount. (More about that here and here.) Final price: .09 cents.
3 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used three .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .30 cents overage.
1 package of Ramen noodles – regularly .34 cents, the 10% club card deducted .03 cents, and the .30 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to .01 cent. This is what is known as a “Filler” item – something useful that absorbs a small amount of overage.

Transaction #2:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .05 cents on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $4.50
View receipt

Got:

4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 head of garlic – regularly .50 cents, I saved an additional .05 cents thanks to the 10% club card discount; and the .40 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to .05 cents.

As I mentioned in my article about trading coupons, I did several coupon trades last week. I put the first batch of coupons to use over the weekend – and this was the motivation for my trades:

There were coupons in the 01/03/10 Smart Source newspaper insert for .50/1 off any Maruchan Yakisoba bowl. These are on sale for $1.00 at Safeway, which makes them free after coupons and doubles. What makes this even more interesting is the 10% discount that is loaded onto our club card. As I’ve mentioned previously, this deducts the 10% based on your pre-coupon total, which turns this Yakisoba scenario into a money-maker. Here’s the math breakdown:

1 Yakisoba bowl: $1.00
-.50 cent coupon
-.50 cent double
– 10 cents for 10% discount

Total: Negative 10 cents (AKA overage)

My first coupon trade last week was for 9 of these coupons. I paid a .05 cent handling fee per coupon, plus .44 cents postage, for a total of .89 cents spent through PayPal. This evens out to roughly 9.8 cents per coupon – and since the coupons resulted in free Yakisoba bowls plus .10 cents of overage each, the coupons essentially paid for themselves. So here’s what I got on my trips –

March 27th Safeway trip:

Spent nothing out of pocket, put $2.91 on my free gift card from MyBlogSpark, and came home with $31.34 worth of groceries. We’re also giving one of these gift cards away, so don’t forget to enter!

Transaction #1:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $1.99 on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $6.39
View receipt

Got:

4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent deduction each because of the 10% club card discount; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 gallon of milk – was almost out! Originally $2.39, the .40 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to $1.99. (The 10% discount does not apply to milk, which is why it only deducted .40 cents and not .64 cents.)

Transaction #2:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .92 cents on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $24.95
View receipt

Got:

1 Warm Delights cake – regularly $2.19, used one free product coupon sent to me by MyBlogSpark. The 10% discount deducted an additional .22 cents, making the final total: Free plus .22 cents overage.
4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 bottle of Holland Wine Cooking Sherry – regularly $4.79, used one free product coupon (see below) and received a 10% discount of .48 cents. Final price: Free plus .48 cents overage.
1 bottle of Nakano rice vinegar – remember last week when I got free coupons for rice vinegar and cooking wine in the mail, and was trying to figure out where they came from? Well, whatever it was, I apparently had Jai sign up for it as well, as a second envelope arrived for him with two more free coupons! This rice vinegar is regularly $3.39 – I used one free product coupon and received an additional .34 cent discount because of the 10% offer. Final price: Free plus .34 cents overage.
2 bottles of Vitaminwater – on sale for $1.25 each, plus a .10 cent bottle deposit; used two free product coupons that we got from the recent free coupon offer on Facebook. The coupons automatically deducted the full value $1.59 each, and I also received a .25 cent discount because of the 10% offer. Final price: Free plus .83 cents overage.
1 box of Popsicles – normally $3.99, used one free product coupon that I won during a Twitter contest. I also received a 10% discount of .40 cents. Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1/2 gallon of half & half – I was all out! Normally $3.99, received a 10% discount of .40 cents, and the overage from the other coupons brought the final price down to .92 cents.

March 28th Safeway trip:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $2.15 on my gift card from MyBlogSpark.
Total before coupons: $3.50
View receipt

Got:

1 Maruchan Yakisoba bowl – on sale for $1.00, used one .50/1 coupon, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion. Final price: Free plus .10 cents overage.
1 Sunday newspaper – regularly $2.50, received an additional .25 cent discount because of the 10% club card promotion; and the .10 cent overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to $2.15.