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Archive for the ‘Safeway’ Category
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Here’s what I bought on Saturday in anticipation of my freezer cooking marathon. There is no photo for this trip – because I forgot to take one!! I set all the groceries out nicely on the kitchen table for a picture…but apparantly put them away before I actually took the photo. Oops!
Total before coupons: 90.65
Total spent: Put $1.14 on my Safeway gift card from MyBlogSpark, spent $58.75 out of pocket
View receipt #1
View receipt #2 (refund)
Got:
4 lbs of C&H sugar – on sale for $2.95, used a .55/1 coupon from the 3/14 Red Plum newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: $1.90
1 bag of red beans – price: $1.34
1 bag of pinto beans – price: $1.34
1 bag of black beans – price: $1.34
2 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used a $1.00/2 coupon from the 3/14 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: .50 cents for both
1 package of bouillon cubes – price: $1.50
3 packages of tortillas – price: $2.50 each; grand total: $7.50
1 bottle of Holland House cooking wine – regularly $4.79, used one free coupon that I received in the mail (see next item) – final price: Free
1 bottle of Nakano rice vinegar – regularly $3.39, used one free coupon that I received in the mail – final price: Free. These coupons were a surprise to me; I got a letter in the mail with them that said, “Welcome to the NAKANO Splash Recipe Club! Thank you for visiting our website, www.mizkan.com to register.” If you want to sign up for the “Splash Recipe Club”, click here. I can’t guarantee that you will receive coupons, since they don’t make any mention of it on the sign-up page, but it doesn’t hurt to register – who knows, maybe you’ll get a surprise too!
1 package of 30 gallon freezer bags – I was almost out of Ziplocs anyway, and these seemed like the best choice for freezer meals. Price: $2.99
1 package of 40 quart freezer bags – price: $2.99
1 bottle of bleach – out of this too! Price: $1.79
Two 32 ounce bags of cheese – price: $4.49 each – $8.98 total
1/2 gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 lb of butter – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99
1 box of Popsicles – regularly $3.99, used a free coupon that I won in a Twitter contest – final price: Free
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.39
50 square feet of recycled Reynolds Wrap foil -regularly $2.99, used a $1.00/1 coupon from a booklet that I found in Safeway a while ago, which doubled – final price: $1.49
2 packages of scrubber sponges – regularly $3.99 each; Safeway had a sale where if you bought 3 participating cleaning items, the price would come down to $1.99 each. We needed sponges, and this worked out to be the lowest price on them. Final cost: $3.98 for both
1 bottle of Mr. Clean – part of the “Buy 3” sale mentioned above, making it $1.99 – used one .75/1 coupon from the Home Made Simple coupon booklet, which doubled; final price: .74 cents. I chose this as my third item because I only wanted two packages of sponges, and since I had a coupon for this it lowered my total out of pocket cost.
1 bottle of Gillette shaving gel – I was out of this, too! Price: $2.29
2 packages of ground turkey – regularly $4.99 each, Safeway was running a 48-hour sale which made them $1.99 each. Final price: $3.98
2.57 lbs of oranges – price: $2.52
4.15 lbs of broccoli – on sale for .78 cents a pound, but it initially rang up at $1.79 per pound; so first I paid $7.43, then I received a refund of $4.55, making my final total spent $2.88.
2 avocados – price: .49 cents each, total cost: .98 cents
.57 lbs of Red Roma tomatoes – $1.99 per pound, final price: $1.13
1 head of cilantro – price: .99 cents
5 lb bag of onions – price: $2.99
10 lb bag of potatoes – price: $1.78
2 lb bag of carrots – price: $1.29
1 pineapple – regularly $3.99, used a rain check that I had to bring the final price down to $1.00.
I also received a 10% discount – you see, recently Jai got a flier in the mail from Safeway telling him he would receive a 10% discount on all purchases made with his club card this month. I don’t know why they selected him and not me, but I quickly confiscated his card – ha ha! The 10% discount took off $8.95 – the great thing is that it calculates the discount based on your pre-coupon total, although certain items like milk don’t qualify for it.
Now we have all the supplies for freezer cooking – tune in tomorrow to see what I made during the big cooking day!
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner, Safeway | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Before I show you what I made during this weekend’s freezer-cooking marathon, I want to start by giving you an idea of what I had on hand when I made my meal plan. Back in December, during the craziness of the holiday season, I got an awesome deal on meat that I never had a chance to share with you. On December 8th, I got $102.32 worth of meat for $41.65:
 This deal was the result of excellent timing. I entered the store with a coupon for $5 off any $25 Rancher’s Reserve beef purchase, from a pamphlet that Safeway was giving out during their grand re-opening. When I got my shopping cart, I found a second $5/25 meat coupon on the ground. And I got to the meat department right as they were putting out a goldmine of clearance beef, including a lot of nice steaks – so between the discounts on the beef and my coupons, I saved $60.67. The grand total for all my groceries on this trip was less than $56 – two of the items rang up at the wrong price, and I don’t recall the exact amount of the refund I received, but I believe it was around $3.00; which made the final cost about $53 altogether. The other deals I got included free clementines, free soup, free enchiladas, free peanut butter, free apple juice, and more – you can click here and here to see my receipts.
So as you can imagine, my freezer is still stuffed! The freezer cooking plan I came up with utilized some of this meat – and tomorrow, I’ll show you what fresh ingredients I bought to supplement what I had in my stockpile.
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner, Safeway, Stockpile | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Update #2 – 03/08/10: I have yet to hear back from Catalina Marketing, but I will let you know what they say as soon as I find out.
ETA: There are conflicting reports on the end date of this deal – many sites are reporting that it actually ended on 3/2. So it may be that the catalina didn’t print for me because I was a day late! However, the catalina deal was still tagged in-store directly under the Charmin. Either they hadn’t pulled the tags down yet, or there was indeed a malfunction with the catalina machine. I’ll update you tomorrow!
Total spent: $13.98
View receipt
I read a post on Common Sense With Money this morning that inspired me to make a quick trip to Safeway. There is a deal on Charmin and Bounty that could end up being fantastic – here is an overview of the basic scenario:
Buy 1 Charmin Big Roll 24 pack and 1 Bounty 12 pack priced at $12.99 each
Your club card will deduct $6.00 for buying two
Use a $3/1 Charmin e-coupon and a $3/1 Bounty ecoupon, both available at the P&GeSaver website
Grand total should be $13.98, and you should receive a $10 catalina back for purchasing $25 in P&G products.
My understanding is that the catalina counts the total before club card deductions and coupons, so this should theoretically qualify as a $25 purchase. This purchase will also qualify towards the P&G Year of Savings rebate, and if you use UPromise , they also have Charmin and Bounty incentives available under the “Coupons and deals” tab. UPromise’s “ecoupon” program does not deduct anything from your total at the checkout, but puts the amount into a college savings program when you buy participating items.
This deal runs through today, March 3rd March 2nd?, and is reported as working at Safeway, Randalls, and Dominicks.
That’s the scenario, anyway – the coupons and discounts worked for me, but no catalina printed. I just got off the phone with Catalina Marketing (we were just talking about what to do when your coupon doesn’t print!), who said they are unable to look up my receipt until tomorrow, since I just made the purchase and apparently it isn’t in their system yet. Unfortunately, this means I haven’t been able to confirm the catalina deal for myself yet. I believe it does qualify, because commenters on both Common Sense With Money and Frugal Living NW are reporting that they received catalinas so long as their total before club card discounts and coupons was $25 or higher. So, I am pretty confident that I will get a $10 catalina mailed to me, but I will report back with what they tell me either way.
Posted in Catalinas, Safeway | 8 Comments »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
I never had a chance to tell you about my last shopping trip for January, so without further ado:
Got $77.98 worth of groceries for $43.01:
Transaction #1:
Spent: $3.54
Total before coupons: $6.54
View receipt
Got:
6 tubes of Grands Jr. biscuits – on sale for $1.09 each, used three $1/2 printable coupons (no longer available). Final price: .59 cents each. I bought these because of a Grands biscuit catalina deal that was going on, and thought I would receive a $4 catalina back for the purchase, but nothing printed. I emailed Catalina Marketing about it, so I’ll keep you posted with what I find out.
Transaction #2:
Total spent: $37.59
Total before coupons: $64.06
View receipt
Got:
5lb bag of sugar – price: $2.69
5lb bag of flour – price: $1.69
1 box of Celestial Seasonings tea – on sale for $2.00, used a $1/1 coupon from the 1/10 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: .50 cents
10 oz bag of organic, fair trade Millstone coffee – on sale for $8.99, used a $1/1 peelie coupon that I found on the package, which doubled; final price: $7.49
32 oz bag of cheese – price: $3.99
2 gallons of milk – $3.98
1/2 gallon of chocolate milk – on sale for $1.99, used one printable coupon for one free half gallon of chocolate milk when you buy two gallons of white milk – Jai and I both signed up for this, and were able to print two copies each, so we’ve been getting lots of free chocolate milk!
10 Smart Ones frozen dinners – on sale for $1.99 each when you buy ten, used a $4 off ten peelie coupon that I found on the package, which doubled; final price: $1.54 each
4-pack of Danimals yogurt – on sale for $2.00, used a $1/1 coupon from the 1/10 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: .50 cents
2 pints of Coffee-Mate – originally priced at $1.24, these holiday flavors were marked down with .75 cents off clearance stickers, making them .49 cents each.
2.36 lb of cabbage – price: $1.39
.50 lb of yellow squash – price: .90 cents
.77 lb of onion – price: .30 cents
3.13 lbs of pears – price: $1.78
2 bags of Everybody’s Nuts pistachios – on sale for $4.99, used two free product coupons that I earned through Recyclebank, which took off the full value of $6.99 – final price: Free plus $4.00 of overage.
I overpaid $1.50 initially because three of my coupons didn’t double, so customer service refunded me the amount and noted it on the receipt.
Transaction #3:
Total spent: $1.88
Total before coupons: $7.38
View receipt #1
View receipt #2 (refund)
Got:
2 packages of Mission corn tortillas – on sale for $2.19 each, used two $1/1 printable coupons, which doubled; final price: .69 cents each
2 cans of BumbleBee tuna – on sale for $1.00 each, used a $1/2 coupon that I earned through Recyclebank, which doubled; final price: .25 cents each.
1 bag of Halls cough drops – on sale for $1.00 (it incorrectly rang up as $2.49, so they refunded me $1.49), used a .50/1 coupon from the 1/10 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: Free
Posted in Safeway | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
I headed over to Safeway yesterday to pick up some necessities and get in on some great catalina deals that Money Saving Mom alerted me to. I ended up with $60.83 worth of groceries for $3.81:
If you’re new here and not sure what a “catalina” is, check out my articles “Catalinas 101” and “How To Find Catalina Deals” for a full explanation!
First transaction:
Total spent: $2.00, and got a $2.50 catalina back
Total before coupons: $8.00
View receipt
Got:
2 boxes of Fruit By The Foot
2 boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups
Regularly $2.00 each, I received an automatic $4 discount for purchasing 4 boxes, making them $1.00 each. I then used two $1/2 printable coupons to make my final cost $2.00 – and then I received a catalina back for $2.50 off my next purchase, because I bought four Fruit By The Foot/Fruit Roll-Ups; so I made a .50 cent profit.
Second transaction:
Total spent: .50 cents, and got a $2.50 catalina back
Total before coupons: $8.00
View receipt
Got:
4 boxes of Fruit By The Foot – regularly $2.00 each, I received an automatic $4 discount for purchasing 4 boxes, making them $1.00 each. I then used two .50/2 printable coupons and the $2.50 catalina that I earned during the previous transaction, which brought my final total to .50 cents. I then received another $2.50 catalina back!
Third transaction:
Total spent: $1.00, and got a $2.50 catalina back
Total before coupons: $8.00
View receipt
Got:
4 boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups – regularly $2.00 each, I received an automatic $4 discount for purchasing 4 boxes, making them $1.00 each. I then used one .50/2 printable coupon and my $2.50 catalina earned during the previous transaction, bringing my total to $1.00 – and I received another $2.50 catalina back.
Fourth transaction:
Total spent: Zero, and got a $2.50 catalina back!
Total before coupons: $8.50
View receipt
Got:
1 head of Garlic
4 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks – these are also included in the “Save $4” and catalina deal – regularly $2.00 each, I received an automatic $4 discount for purchasing 4 boxes, making them $1.00 each. I then used two $1/2 printable coupons and my $2.50 catalina from the previous transaction. I added a head of garlic to this transaction, because it was exactly .50 cents and I needed it anyway, which made my final total zero – and I received another $2.50 catalina back!
Fifth transaction:
Total spent: .30 cents, and got a $2.50 catalina back
Total before coupons: $8.00
View receipt
Got:
4 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks – regularly $2.00 each, I received an automatic $4 discount for purchasing 4 boxes, making them $1.00 each. I then used three .40/1 printable coupons – which can be found here and here – and my $2.50 catalina from the previous transaction, bringing my total down to .30 cents. And of course, I received another $2.50 catalina back for purchasing the fruit snacks!
Sixth and final transaction:
Total spent: .01 cent
Total before coupons and bottle return slips: $20.83
View receipt
I had a ton of cans and bottles that I needed to return, 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.
Got:
1 12-pack of bath tissue (double rolls) – price: $5.99
1 2-lb bag of cheese – price: $4.49
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $1.99 when you buy two gallons, final price: $3.98 for both
1 half gallon of chocolate milk – on sale for $1.99, used one printable coupon for one free half gallon of chocolate milk when you buy two gallons of white milk – final price: Free!
2 pints of International Delight coffee creamer – on sale for $2.19, used two free product coupons that Jai and I signed up for during one of their promotions on Facebook last month. The coupons took off $2.49 each, so they were free plus .60 cents overage.
I then used my $11.35 in bottle return vouchers (told you I had a lot of cans to take back!) and my $2.50 catalina from my previous transaction, which brought my final total to .01 cent.
The fruit snack catalina promotion runs through the 24th, so if you shop at Safeway, be sure to stop by this week so that you can get in on the good deal!
Posted in Catalinas, Safeway | 1 Comment »
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
I hit a few stores yesterday, spending $22.85 for $57.66 worth of groceries – and I will get back $4.69 in rebates, making my final total spent $18.16 plus the cost of a first-class stamp.
First stop, Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $8.29, and I will receive $4.69 back in rebates
Total before coupons: $22.32
View receipt
Got:
5 Healthy Choice frozen dinners – on sale for $2.69 and $2.79 each. Used one $5 off 5 printable coupon stacked with a $5 Fred Meyer e-coupon. Final total: $3.65 for 5 – .73 cents each. It always pays to do your research; before I went to the store, I checked a few websites and found out that Fred Meyer’s e-coupons are store coupons, and may be used in conjunction with manufacturer coupons. However, the cashier had trouble ringing it up and a manager came over and told me that I was trying to use two manufacturers’ coupons on the same item and that he could not accept them. I told him what Fred Meyer corporate had stated, so he made a call to check with another manager and discovered that I was correct and could indeed use the Fred Meyer store e-coupon in combination with my manufacturer’s coupon, and the register issue was rectified.
1 bottle of Kikkoman curry sauce – price: $4.69, and had a “Try Me Free” hangtag on it which caught my eye. My full purchase price will be refunded, so it will only cost me the price of a stamp to mail it in. We like curry, so it’s a good investment, especially with my current stockpile of meat – I’ll be putting up a stockpile update soon to show you what’s in my freezer!
2 bottles of International Delight creamer – on sale for $1.99 each, used two free product coupons that Jai and I received for becoming fans of International Delight on Facebook. Final price: Free!
I also received a .05 cent credit for bringing my own bag.
Next stop, Walgreens. First transaction:
Total spent: $1.49, and received a Register Reward for $2.49
Total before coupons: $2.49
View receipt
Got:
1 Thermacare wrap – on sale for $2.49, used a $1/1 printable coupon. Final price: $1.49, and I received a $2.50 Register Reward back, netting me $1.01 in profit! I love these wraps so I’m delighted that this deal came back.
Second transaction:
Total spent: $4.50, and received a $4.00 Register Reward back
Total before coupons: $9.00
View receipt
3 packages of Kotex pads – on sale for $3.00 each, used one $2/2 coupon from the 1/10 Smart Source newspaper insert and my $2.50 Register Reward from the previous transaction, bringing my total down to $4.50; and I received a $4.00 Register Reward back.
Third transaction:
Total spent: $1.48
Total before coupons: $6.48
View receipt
Got:
1 12oz bag of coffee – price: $3.99
1 Thermacare wrap – on sale for $2.49, used a $1/1 printable coupon in addition to the $4.00 Register Reward that I earned in the previous transaction, making my grand total for both items $1.48. Jai and I both signed up for the Thermacare coupon, which is how I received two of them. I also received a $2.50 Register Reward back for purchasing the Thermacare, netting me $1.02 in profit.
Fourth transaction:
Total spent: .39 cents
Total before coupons: $2.89
View receipt
Got:
1 package of cotton buds – we were out of these! Regularly priced at $2.50, used my $2.50 Register Reward from the previous transaction to make them free.
1 package of Ramen – filler item, because Register Rewards now require that your purchase total be higher than the value of the coupon. The Ramen was .39 cents, which was my final total.
Then I headed to Safeway:
Total spent: $6.70
Total before coupons: $14.48
View receipt
Got:
1 bag of Quaker Rice Cakes – on sale for $1.00, used a .75/1 coupon from the 1/10 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled. Final price: Free plus .25 cents overage.
1 bottle of Gatorade G2 – on sale for $1.00, used a .50/1 coupon from the 1/10 Red Plum newspaper inserts, which doubled, making it free.
1 lb of butter – no coupons, we just ran out of butter! Price: $2.49
4 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts – regularly priced at $9.99, I used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $5.96 as well as a $1 off Safeway e-coupon, making the final cost $4.96. For some reason, the e-coupon didn’t come off, so the manager refunded me $1.00 – she needed to keep the receipt for the refund so that she could call corporate and find out why the e-coupon did not come off. From what I understand, there have been reports of glitches with the Safeway e-coupon system since they just rolled it out recently.
Also, as I was scanning in my receipt, I noticed an extra .50 cents that was deducted, so I think I received an extra double coupon by mistake. The e-coupon not deducting threw my math off.
If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, I highly recommend paying a visit to our friends over at Frugal Living NW. They post great coupon matchups for local stores like Safeway and Fred Meyer, which inspired several of these purchases!
Finally, I’d like to mention a great effort put together by another coupon-clipping blogger. You all know how highly I recommend Money Saving Mom’s site – and she is currently doing a “Blogger Drive” to benefit disaster victims in Haiti. You can easily help out with just a few clicks, so please check it out if you have a chance. Over on Contest Corner I’m offering extra entries into all my giveaways to anyone who donates to Hope For Haiti, so you can click here to read more about that as well.
Posted in Fred Meyer, Safeway, Walgreens | No Comments »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
I have several trips to report this week, so let’s start with Monday’s Safeway run:
Total spent: $41.78
Total before coupons: $53.87
View receipt
Got:
3 boxes of Pop Tarts – regularly priced at $2.00 each, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.00 each. I then used a $1 off two Pop Tarts coupon that I found in a cereal box a while ago, making the final price $2.00 for three boxes (roughly .66 cents each).
1 package of tortillas – price: $2.89
1 package of toilet paper – $5.99
1 package of trash bags – price: $3.29
5 Lean Cuisine meals – on sale for $1.59 each when you buy five – final price: $7.95 for five. I have a lot going on in the evenings these days, so I need to have things on hand for quick dinners. Now that I’m reorganizing my schedule, I’ll be making time to do more make-ahead cooking and freezer meals; but in the meantime, these dinners are tasty and low in calories.
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $1.69, final price: $3.38 for two. I like this new lower price on milk!
1 half-gallon of chocolate milk – on sale for $1.99, used one “Buy two gallons of milk, get a half gallon of chocolate milk free” printable coupon – final price: free.
6 Banquet dinners – on sale for $1.00 each, used one .60 cents off 6 dinners coupon that I found inside another Banquet package, which doubled – final price: $4.90 for 6 (a little over .81 cents each)
2 32 oz bottles of Coffee-Mate – regularly $3.49 each, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99 each, and then stacked it with a $1.50 off two bottles printable coupon, which doubled. Final price: $1.98 for both.
1 Sunday paper – price: $2.50
2.46 lbs of broccoli – $1.99 per pound, final price: $4.90
4 mangoes – on sale for .50 cents each, final price: $2.00
Posted in Safeway | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Friday night was my local Safeway’s grand re-opening party. They just finished remodeling the store, and celebrated by hosting an event from 4pm to 8pm. For those four hours only, you could receive 10% off your purchase of $50 or more; they also sent out a coupon booklet in the mail that included coupons for all kinds of freebies and great deals. Because of these deals, I decided to take advantage of the savings and stock up some things which I know we will need this month anyway. In all, I spent $58.71 for over a hundred dollars worth of groceries – according to the receipt, I saved $89.12, but that is slightly inflated because it’s including club card savings. I don’t count those, because I would never shop without my club card – then again, some people never bother with it. (I can’t imagine, because the prices are so steep without the club card savings!)
This was a little more than I usually like to spend out of pocket for one trip, but worthwhile since buying all at once allowed me to save more with the 10% discount. I bought 44 items, so that averages out to $1.33 per item.
Total spent: $58.71
Total before coupons: $107.32
View receipt
Got:
1 24-pack of water – on sale for $3.49, used a free water coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free, with a $1.20 bottle deposit.
1 bottle of apple juice – on sale for $1.99, used a free apple juice coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
4 cans of refried beans – on sale for .89 cents each, final price: $3.56
12 oz bag of Hazelnut coffee – on sale for $7.49, used a coupon for $2 off from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: $5.49
1 jar of peanut butter – on sale for $2.00, used a free peanut butter coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
1 package of tortillas – price: $2.29
3 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese and two 8 oz bags of Kraft Natural shredded cheese – the cheese was on a sale for “Buy 5, save $5”. This brought the price of the cream cheese down to .99 cents each and the shredded cheese $1.49 each. I then used one $ 1/2 Kraft cheese printable and one $.55/2 Philadelphia cream cheese printable, which both doubled, making the final price .68 cents each – $3.40 for all five.
2 dozen eggs – this one is a little complicated. There was a coupon for a free dozen eggs in the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet, so I bought 2 dozen and paired it a “Buy One, Get One Free” printable egg coupon. The “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon came off, and there is a second “Egg Coupon” listed for .00 cents on the receipt, but I realized later that it didn’t actually deduct the price of the eggs – the coding on these particular Safeway coupons is a little odd, and a cashier mentioned yesterday that if you don’t hit “Enter”after scanning each one, it will show up on the receipt but not take anything off.
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $1.69 each, final price: $3.38. Lower shelf prices appear to be a part of this re-opening, so I hope these last – this is the cheapest I’ve seen milk for a while.
6 Banquet pot pies – on sale for .69 cents each, used a coupon for .60 cents off six, which I found inside a frozen dinner package; this also doubled, making the final price .50 cents each – $3.04 for all.
1 bottle of Peppermint Mocha Coffee-Mate – I’ve been waiting all year for this flavor! On sale for $3.49, used a $1/1 printable that I received after sending a “Cup of Confidence” on the Coffee-Mate site (they also donate $2 to “Dress for Success” in addition to giving you a coupon!). This also doubled, making the final price: $1.99 Never mind – just opened my coupon binder and saw the $1 off coupon still sitting there. I forgot to hand it to them! DOH! (In case you’re wondering why I didn’t use my free International Delight printable – Safeway no longer accept printables for “Free” items, so I’ll be taking those to Fred Meyer. Safeway do take printable “Buy One, Get One Free” however, which is why I used the egg coupon.)
1 lb of butter – price: $1.69
1 package of O Organics frozen enchiladas – on sale for $2.00, used one coupon good for $2.00 off any O Organics item from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
1 bottle of Gillette Shaving Gel – I mentioned yesterday that there are few things I am brand loyal to. This happens to be another one of those items; many of the things I am loyal to are due to allergies – most other shaving gels give me an awful rash all over my legs. I had a great stockpile of this for a year that I got super cheap with coupons – time to stock up again, since that stash finally ran out! Price: $2.49
1 bottle of Bright Green Toilet Cleaner – on sale for $2.25, used a coupon for $2 off any Bright Green product from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: .25 cents. Not bad for toilet cleaner – for some reason, that seems to be a harder cleaning item to get deals on. I used to use bleach to clean the toilet, until I found out you’re not supposed to use it with septic systems – oops.
1 package of Dramamine – this was a last minute addition to my shopping list, and I didn’t think I had any coupons for it. However, the night before, I had gone on Safeway’s website and loaded a bunch of e-coupons onto my club card. Apparently, there was a $1.00 off coupon for Dramamine on there, so hooray! It pays to load all the e-coupons you can, even if you don’t think you’ll use them. Final price: $3.29
1 dozen bagels – regular price $5.99, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.50.
1 loaf of French bread – regular price $1.59, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to .49 cents.
About two and a half pounds of steak – price:$10.82
Another two and half pounds or so of steak – price: $9.11
One and a half pound beef roast – price: $4.69
1 package of beef cube steak – price: $1.36
I then used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet for $5 off your $25 beef purchase, making the total for all beef $20.98.
A little over two pounds of natural boneless, skinless chicken breasts – need this for a recipe – price: $5.35
1.83 lbs of grapes – on sale for 1.28 per pound, final price: $2.34
3 avocados – on sale for 3 for .99 cents
1 pineapple – regularly priced at $4.99, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.00.
1 package of O Organics salad – regularly priced at $3.49, used a coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet that brought the price down to $1.00.
1 package of O Organics basil – also need this for a recipe – on sale for $1.99, used a coupon for $1.00 off any O Organics product that I found at customer service – final price: .99 cents
1 24oz Signature Tomato & Basil soup – regularly $3.99, used a free soup coupon from the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet. Final price: Free
.55 lbs of deli pastrami – there was a coupon in the “Grand Re-Opening” booklet for a free half pound of deli meat. Half a pound of deli meat is $5, so that’s how much the coupon took off – since they gave me .55 lbs at the deli, I ended up paying .77 cents for it. We love pastrami, so that was OK with me.
The 10% coupon then deducted $10.81, making the final total $58.71. Although the coupon stipulates that you purchase $50 or more after all coupons, the 10% discount itself was calculated on the pre-coupon total. So the re-opening party made for a productive shopping trip – and they also handed out free samples of food as you shopped, so that was fun.
So here’s my basic meal plan – no set days for the meals, we’ll just eat whatever needs to be used up first and is most convenient at the time. I find that having a flexible list of easy dinner options works well for me, because then I can pick and choose what to have on any given night according to what we have and what we need to use, like leftovers or produce. Note the simplicity of the meal plan- I have some major work projects coming up this month, not to mention the holidays; so now is not the time for complicated dishes!
Breakfasts:
Bagels & cream cheese
Scrambled eggs, fruit
Stockpile Special: Oatmeal, cereal, or pancakes
Lunches:
Pastrami sandwiches on French bread
Peanut butter toast
Egg on toast
(We’ll do fruit, salad, and/or hardboiled eggs with the sandwiches)
Leftover buffet
Dinners:
Quesadillas with black beans & avocados
Grilled cheese sandwiches served with tomato & basil soup
Refried beans & rice (leftovers from this make great burritos the next day)
Red Curry Chicken
Steak & salad
Shepherd’s pie
Frozen dinners
Zucchini dish of some sort – I was given a huge home-grown zucchini that I need to use or freeze. Feel free to share your zucchini dishes in the comments!
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Friday, December 4th, 2009
It’s certainly been a hectic year. Jai and I have both been working overtime, so there haven’t been much shopping trips to report recently because we’ve mainly been eating takeaway. I hate wasting money like that, but when I’m stressed out I think, “If I can just get X finished, then tomorrow I’ll have more time.” Except X turns into Y and Z, because there are never a shortage of projects in need of attention. When working overtime means that you have to order a pizza for dinner, any extra money you would have made is negated by ordering out (and then some). So as I get a better schedule established for myself, the first order of business is to pick up some groceries!
I had a bunch of free coupons that I wanted to use on Tuesday, as well as one or two necessities to pick up. You’ll notice that I didn’t buy any fresh food – that’s because Safeway is having a grand re-opening today, and there will be a bunch of great deals and special coupons available during tonight’s re-opening party, so I’ve been waiting until then to pick up produce, meat, etc.
So on Tuesday’s trip, I visited Rite Aid and Safeway and bought $76.65 worth of groceries for $11.24.
First stop, Rite Aid:
Total spent: .33 cents
Total before coupons: $5.33
View receipt
I wasn’t aware of this, but Rite Aid does a special sale on the first Tuesday of every month where you receive an additional 20% off everything – so this was good timing!
1 6-pack of toilet paper – on sale for $3.59 after 20% off discount
16 oz of Epsom salts – need these for my foot – bleh! On sale for $1.35 after 20% discount.
1 packet of Ramen noodles – needed a filler item to get my total to $5 or more, and Ramen is one of my favorites – it’s often the cheapest thing you’ll find at a store, as well as yummy! On sale for .39 cents after 20% off discount.
I then used a $5 gift certificate that I earned during the last “Gift of Savings” rebate promotion, bringing my total down to .33 cents.
Next stop, Safeway:
Total spent: $10.91
Total before coupons: $71.32
View receipt
Got:
1 Marie Callendar Pot Pie – remember how I mentioned that I entered the “Delicious Moments” contest because they were offering a free coupon booklet to the first 75 who uploaded videos? Well, this was one of the coupons from that most-generous booklet: bought one pot pie on sale for $3.00, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 Marie Callendar Shrimp & Pasta Frozen Dinner – on sale for $3.00, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 Marie Callendar Pasta Al Dente bowl – on sale for $3.49, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 Banquet frozen dinner – on sale for $1.00, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 bag of Banquet Honey Wings – on sale for $7.99, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
2 bottles of Coffee-Mate – on sale for $2.49 each, used two $1/1 printables, which doubled. Final price: .99 cents each.
1 Healthy Choice Natural Entree – on sale for $2.50, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 Healthy Choice Lemon Pepper Fish Frozen Dinner – on sale for $3.00, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 package of Smuckers Uncrustables – on sale for $3.00, used one free coupon that I got during a recent online promotion. Final price: Free
1 Healthy Choice Honey Ginger Chicken Frozen Dinner – on sale for $4.19, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 Healthy Choice Pumpkin Squash Ravioli Frozen Dinner – on sale for $2.50, used one free product coupon from the “Delicious Moments” booklet. Final price: Free
1 foil roasting pan – I actually bought this for my Christmas tree! You see, I have a potted pine tree outside that I pull in and decorate for Christmas. Since it’s a live tree that needs to be watered, I have to stick something underneath it so that my floor doesn’t get soaked. This was the best thing we could think of to use! Price: $3.79
1 box of Always pads – on sale for $5.49, used one free coupon that I got with my free “Being Girl” sample pack. Final Price: Free
1 box of Olay makeup removers – one of the few things that I’m brand loyal to. Frugality is all about getting the best value for your money, and since this is one of the only makeup removers that doesn’t give me a huge rash on my face, it’s the best value by far! Price: $7.19
1 bottle of Herbal Essences conditioner – on sale for $3.49, used one free coupon that I received during their Facebook “Free Coupon” promotion. Final price: Free
1 box of Little Debbie cupcakes – on sale for $2.84, used one free coupon that I won in the “One Million Cupcakes” sweepstakes. Final price: Free
3 boxes of Lunchables – on sale for $3.29 each, used three free coupons that I won in a blog giveaway from Cha-Ching on a ShoeString. Final price: Free
Two of my “Free product” coupons were doubled, saving me an extra $1.00. I’ve mentioned to cashiers before that I didn’t think that free coupons could be doubled, but at least two cashiers have said otherwise – I need to look into it further. There were also some additional savings because a few of the “Free” coupons automatically deducted the full value of the coupon, even if the sale price of the product was lower, resulting in overage. I’d love to interview a professional that works on the coding of coupons to learn more about why coupons scan the way they do – so if one of you is reading this, email me!
Safeway receipts can be hard to decipher at times, but there may also have been some additional overage because I noticed a .70 cent deduction at the bottom of the receipt under “Heatlhty Choice Club Savings Award”. This might have just been a deduction for the sale price, or it could have been some bonus for purchasing more than one frozen dinner.
I think this shopping trip is a good illustration of how entering contests goes hand-in-hand with my love for coupons and general frugality. I don’t spend a lot of time entering giveaways, but I do enter pretty consistently, and it’s been extremely worthwhile, as well as fun!
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Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
I haven’t been to the store for a while, and we were low on supplies. So I did some stocking up at Safeway:
Total spent: $32.01
Total before coupons: $46.89
View receipt
Got:
1 package of tortillas (10 count) – Safeway had an advertised sale on Mission tortillas for $1.99, but they were all out of the variety that was on sale, so they substituted this “low fat” package for the same price.
4 2-liter bottles of Wild Cherry Pepsi – a treat for the flu-stricken! I was only planning on buying 2 bottles, but with the sale they were having it was a better deal to get four.
2 boxes of Kashi Go Lean Crunch – on sale for $3.00, used two $3.00/1 coupons that I received in the mail from Vocalpoint, which doubled; making the final price free plus $1.00 in overage.
2 cans of refried beans – on sale for .89 cents, final price: $1.78
2 boxes of Coffee Mate powder singles – on sale for $1.29 each, used one “Buy one, get one free” coupon from the 8/09 Red Plum newspaper inserts. This will be handy to have on hand for emergencies when I run out of coffee creamer!
1 24-pack of toilet paper – price: $4.99
2 32 oz bags of cheese – on sale for $4.49 each, for a total of $8.98
2 gallons of milk – on sale for $3.98 for 2
2 16 oz bottles of International Delight – on sale for $2.19 each, used two .55/1 printables, which doubled; making the final price $1.14 each.
1 pint of Starbucks ice cream – on sale for $3.00, used one free coupon that I received for signing up on Facebook back in July. Although the ice cream was on sale, the coupon automatically took off the full price of $4.49, so I ended up with $1.49 in overage.
1 bottle of Gillette shaving gel – price: $2.49
1 carrot – price: .19 cents
1 bunch of cilantro – price: .99 cents
1 10-lb bag of potatoes – on sale for $1.38
I bought these items to compliment what I already have on hand, and should be able to get many meals out of it. Here’s my planned menu for the coming week – I kept it really simple, because we’ve been eating out way too much with everything being so hectic. I know if I have something easy to make, I won’t feel so tempted to order out.
Breakfasts:
Cereal, oatmeal, or pancakes/waffles
Lunches:
Leftovers, grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread, black bean and cheese quesadillas with chopped onion and cilantro, omelettes
Dinners:
Homemade chili served in homemade bread bowls
Meat and potato pie
Refried beans topped with cheese and served with rice (seasoned with curry powder, chopped onion and cilantro)
Homemade pumpkin soup served with pumpkin bread (I still have several bags of frozen pumpkin puree from last year)
The meat, onion, black beans, and baking supplies for bread and pancakes are items that I already have on hand. I plan on improvising a few more meals from what I have on hand – I’ll probably make burritos one night, and maybe pasta – I like to take stock of what I have throughout the week and use up any leftovers or overripe produce as needed. I like doing Google searches for recipes that call for ingredients which I need to use; I’ve found it’s a really good way to get inspiration and find new ways to use what you have.
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