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.