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Archive for the ‘Fred Meyer’ Category
Sunday, July 21st, 2013
On Friday, I stopped by Fred Meyer to redeem a stack of free coupons:
Total Spent: $6.49
Total Before Coupons: $32.71
Got:
1 bottle of Soft Scrub Cleaner – regularly $3.67, used one free coupon I received from a product review I did on Contest Corner.
1 box of Wheat Thins – regularly $2.00, used one free coupon that I got from a recent promotion – I believe it was on Twitter? They had an “Insurance policy” joke where you could fill out a “Claim” to get a free box of Wheat Thins.
1 bottle of Satin Care shave gel – price: $2.00
1 tub of Pillsbury Gluten Free Cookie Dough – regularly $4.69, used one free coupon that I received through a recent free offer – I guess they and Betty Crocker have both been running competing offers lately!
2 bags of Simply Potatoes – regularly $2.99, used two free product coupons I received for a forthcoming product review on my new food site, Cooking Catastrophe.
1 package of Foster Farms Oven Ready Chicken Breasts – regularly $6.89, used one free coupon I received for a review on Contest Corner.
1 bottle of Purex Laundry Detergent – regularly $2.99, used one free coupon I received for a another product review on Contest Corner. I thought this was only available at Target, but I found it at Freddy’s so I was able use one of my coupons! Yeah!
1 package of bath tissue – price: $4.49
I also stopped by Dollar Tree to stock up on some items that I didn’t have coupons for, as Dollar Tree has the best shelf price on them:
I spent $7 and got some things I was running low on – cotton swabs, floss, and dishwashing detergent for my new dishwasher! I also bought a bottle of conditioner because I finally ran out of my stockpile a few months ago. I know! It feels so weird to pay full price for conditioner…
I also got two tubes of hydrocortisone cream and a hula hoop. Now if those two items don’t encapsulate summer, I don’t know what does! 😉 I was inspired to get a hula hoop after going to the Oregon Zoo earlier in the month and getting a lesson from the “Mayor of Hooperville”. I was only able to keep the hula hoop going for 30 seconds, but my abs were sore for 3 days – that’s got to be the most efficient ab workout ever, so I wanted to get a hula hoop so I can start doing this regularly for exercise!
I also had to share this Instagram picture that I took at the end of June, because it was a classic Super Coupon Girl moment. I had the pleasure of attending the FitBloggin’ conference in Portland, and every attendee received a swag bag full of promotional items from the conference sponsors. Well, at the very end of the conference, there was a table with all the leftover sponsor items, both from extra swag bags and also excess items left over from tables in the Expo Hall, where sponsors were handing out samples to attendees. The conference organizers were encouraging all of us to take home whatever extra we’d like, as they just had to offload it anyway. All the attendees left at this point were from out of town and had already taken all they possibly carry in their suitcases, since you can only take so much baggage on a flight before incurring big fees. I was the only person local to the area and driving, and they told me to to take anything left that I wanted.
I had so many boxes of freebies that I actually had to use a pallet to take it out to my car. That’s right – Super Coupon Girl brought home a pallet full of swag from the conference. 😉 And it was all great stuff: Food such as cereal, protein bars, shakes, free coupons for food items, vitamins, socks; tons of very practical things that we’ve been using every day. The few things we didn’t need personally, we shared with our family and friend, so every single item was put to use!
Have you had any adventures this summer?
Posted in Dollar Tree, Fred Meyer | 17 Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
We used to have a Costco membership, but decided not to renew it because I can get much better deals at other stores by using coupons. However, Costco does have competitive pricing on baking supplies, and since I bake all my own bread, I’ve come to the conclusion that it would probably be cheaper to buy in bulk rather than frequently purchase small bags. Our Grandma has a Costco membership, and per Costco rules, you are allowed to bring a non-member guest with you; so I asked if I could tag along with her the next time she went shopping. We made a trip on Saturday – here’s what I got:
Total spent: $25.73
Grandma has the receipt, otherwise I would have scanned it. 🙂
Got:
2 lbs of yeast – this was priced at $3.89, which is a fantastic price for yeast!
25 lbs of flour – price: $6.99
25 lbs of sugar – price: $14.85
Because I do so much baking, I’m eager to see how cost effective this purchase of flour and sugar will be. I’m going to keep track of how long it lasts and work out the price per month to see how it stacks up – so I will keep you posted!
Then on Sunday night, I made a quick trip to Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $19.47
View receipt
2 knee braces – $7.99 each, cost for both: $15.98
Half gallon of half & half – price: $3.49
I’m still having knee problems, and my old braces were wearing out; these are a different type that were recommended to me because they specifically target the area that I’m having trouble with. I went to the store just to buy these knee braces, and picked up the half and half as an afterthought. I should have bought a Sunday paper also, but I completely forgot!
Posted in Costco, Fred Meyer | No Comments »
Monday, September 20th, 2010
I needed to pick up some things before we left for Portland, so I headed out to a few stores the weekend before last. The first was Deals Only, a local “Dollar” store that has expanded to sell other low-priced products as well as $1 items. They happened to have a sale on clothes, which they had gotten on liquidation from Fred Meyer, and I picked up a few pieces. I was in need of a “business casual” outfit for WordCamp, and I’m in-between sizes because I’m in the middle of losing weight, so I didn’t want to spend $20 at Ross for something that I won’t be able to wear in a few months. Fortunately, I found a skirt, tank top and sweater for $11 total, so that worked out well! I also picked up 6 packets of yeast for a total of $1.58. Jai bought 2 t-shirts (not pictured), and I also bought a bag of potato chips as a snack – which smelled rancid as soon as I opened them (Not pictured, for obvious reasons)! I forgot how important it is to check the expiry date on foods at that store. Final total for all purchases: $18.52 – click here to view the receipt.
I also stopped by an estate sale, which was offering a “Fill a bag with clothes for $1” sale. This was awesome, because I was able to get the suit jacket pictured above for a buck! I had quite a bit of space left in my bag, so I picked up the two dresses pictured just for fun.
I also stopped by Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $47.88 – will get $3.99 back in rebates
View receipt
The majority of the cost for this trip went to shoes and hair bleach!
Got:
1 pair of shoes – this was a tricky one, because I’m still having knee problems and can’t wear most shoes. I needed a pair of decent shoes to wear with a suit, but heels are obviously out of the question; so it was hard to track down anything that would work. I lucked out with this pair of shoes, which are presentable flats that seriously feel like slippers inside. Price: $15
1 box of hair bleach – still lightening my hair! Price: $9.99
1 bottle of facial cleanser – I spotted this on the shelf with a “Try-me-free” rebate form attached. I love trying new skin care products! Cost out of pocket: $3.99, which will be refunded to me, making my total expenditure a .44 stamp to mail the rebate in.
1 package of toilet paper – price: $4.89
1.3lbs of zucchini – price: $1.02
1 quart of half & half – price: $1.29
1 gallon of milk – price: $1.99
.44lbs of yellow onion – price: .21 cents
1 package of Q-tips – price: $1.99
1 package of tofu – price: $1.59
1 packet of floss – price: $1.29
1 bottle of shave gel – price: $2.00
1 can of tomato sauce – price: .33 cents
1 Sunday paper – price: $2.50
Posted in Fred Meyer, Garage Sales | 2 Comments »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Phew! What a busy week this has been! There’s a lot going on right now between work and a big remodeling project, but it’s been a great few days. I’m sad that I had to cancel my planned trip to BlogHer ’10 this weekend, but I knew there was just no way that I’d have time with my jammed schedule this month.
On Monday, I ran to Fred Meyer & Safeway to pick up a few things. Here’s my trip to Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $17.23
Total before coupons: $23.79
View receipt
Got:
1 gallon of milk – price: $1.99
2 packages of chicken drumsticks – priced at $5.34 and $5.06, respectively; final price for both: $10.40
5-lb bag of flour – price: $1.99
1 box of no-bake Jell-o cheesecake – for a birthday dinner – price: $2.85
1 carton of Sabra Artichoke & Spinach Hummus – regularly $2.99, used one free product coupon that I got through writing a post on Contest Corner – final price: Free!
3 tubs of Yoplait Greek Yogurt – I had several free coupons for this that I’ve been wanting to use for months, and I finally found the product at Fred Meyer! Regularly $1.19 each, used two coupons that I got through MyBlogSpark and one coupon that I got through the Pssst… Network. Final price: Free!
Next stop, Safeway:
Total spent: $10.98
View receipt
Got:
Another box of no-bake cheesecake mix – I decided that I should get two boxes, since I wanted to make sure we had plenty; apparently, Safeway sells it for $2.99, so I paid .14 cents more for this one!
Half gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 cantaloupe – price: $2.00
8 ears of corn – price: .25 cents each, $2.00 for all eight.
So on Tuesday night, I hosted a fun family birthday dinner. I forgot to take pictures of the main course – I often get so preoccupied when I have company that I forget to snap photos of what I made! – but I cooked both packages of chicken drumsticks, the 8 ears of corn on the cob, made a loaf of bread, and the no-bake cheesecake (This was a big hit at Jai’s birthday party, and it’s less expensive and time consuming than making it from scratch!). There was a lot of food – we had a houseful of people, and this is just some of what was left over the next day:
We’ve been eating BBQ chicken and corn all week. Yummy!
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner, Entertaining, Fred Meyer, Safeway | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
I made a quick trip to Fred Meyer this afternoon:
Total spent: $29.06
Total before coupons: $36.55
View receipt
Got:
2 Futuro knee braces – I went to Fred Meyer right after a doctor’s appointment for some knee trouble that I’ve been having, and the doctor prescribed me some anti-inflammatory medication and recommended that I buy a brace for each knee. As luck would have it, there were coupons hanging off the shelf next to the knee braces for $2/1 – so I bought the two knee braces that I needed, originally priced at $12.99 each, and paid $21.98 total for both after coupons.
1 bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap – regularly $3.49, used one free coupon that I earned through RecycleBank; final price: free.
12-pack of toilet paper – price: $4.69
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.39
The milk purchase brings our running total for Week 1 to $39.20. Our allotment for the Grocery Challenge is $25 per person per week.
Posted in Fred Meyer | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Last Thursday, I made a run to pick up supplies for Jai’s birthday party:
Total spent: $68.33
Total before coupons: $97.20
View receipt
The menu for this party consisted of Jai’s favorite foods: PB&J sandwiches and cheesecake! I always do a big spread for parties, so after working out the number of servings per cheesecake, I decided that I would need to make five. I listed out all the extra ingredients that I would need to buy, and I decided that going to Fred Meyer would be my best bet. As I mentioned in my article Five Strategies for Shopping Success, Fred Meyer has lower shelf prices than Safeway, but whether I shop there depends on the coupon deals at Safeway and the cost of gas vs. savings. In this instance, I needed many items which I had no coupons for, making the trip to Fred Meyer well worth my while.
And after all that careful price-checking of ingredients? I got to Fred Meyer and discovered pre-made, no-bake cheesecake mixes – including the crust, filling, and fruit topping – for a fraction of the price. I had no idea there was such a thing, and I was surprised to find a pre-made cheesecake so much cheaper. As a comparison, the seven no-bake mixes that I bought (I added two more because the serving size was different from my recipes) cost a total of $24.65, whereas the cost for the cream cheese by itself alone was $19.00.
So here’s the full list of what I picked up:
Five 1 pint, 9.36 fl. oz bottles of Star olive oil – on sale for $4.99 (originally priced at $9+), used five $4.00/1 coupons that I received for taking a survey – final price: .99 cents each, grand total $4.95 for five bottles. I got these coupons a while ago from a special limited-time survey promotion on Star’s website. I’ve been hanging on to them until I could find a good olive oil deal, and this was it. These generous bottles will last me a long time – and perfect timing too, since I just ran out of olive oil!
1 32 oz jar of grape jelly – gotta have this for PB&J! Price: $1.69
1 32 oz jar of Raspberry preserves – price: $3.29
1 32oz jar of Strawberry preserves – price: $3.29
3.16 lbs of bananas – we were running low on fruit. Price: $1.86
1.05 lbs of Braeburn apples – price: .82 cents
.99 lbs of Granny Smith apples – price: .77 cents
6 grapefruit – price: $2.00
1 gallon of skim milk – on clearance for $1.49. I used about a gallon of milk just in making the bread and cheesecakes!
1 gallon of 2% milk – on clearance for $1.49
Half gallon of half & half – price: $4.19 (.20 cents more expensive than Safeway, but wouldn’t be worth the gas and time for a separate trip)
1 bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap – on sale for $3.49, used one free coupon that I earned through Recycle Bank – final cost: Free
7 boxes of no-bake cheesecake mix – total cost: $24.65
4 lbs of margarine – need this for baking – .79 cents each, final price: $3.16
5 lb bag of sugar – price: $2.39
1 package of Styrofoam cups – price: $1.49
Four 8-oz bags of cheese – $1.25 each, total price: $5.00
1 box of plastic spoons – price: $1.50
1 box of plastic forks – price: $1.50
1 tub of cat food – regularly priced at $1.49, used one free coupon found in the Fred Meyer coupon booklet – final price: Free
1 box of Green Giant “Just For One” frozen vegetables – on sale for $3.69, used one free coupon that I got through Psst… Network. Final price: Free
2 dozen eggs – on sale for $1.50 each, final price: $3.00
I also received a .20 cent credit for bringing my own bags.
Here’s how the party turned out:
A display case that I decorated for the party
Beverage station
Cheesecake table #1
Cheesecake table #2
PB&J table – I made five loaves of bread for the party, half of which I used for sandwiches, and half of which I set out as a “Self-serve” station for anyone who wanted to make their own creations.
We sent some food home with guests, and still had a huge plate of sandwiches left over. I’ve found that these are quite good toasted!
I spent $14.92 on the party decorations, $3.00 on plastic knives, and also $5.45 on an emergency bag of coffee – I hadn’t realized we were almost out when I went to Fred Meyer! So altogether, that’s $91.70 – which bought all the supplies for this party, as well as stocking the kitchen with some needed items. Given than this was a special event, provided more than enough food and drinks for 16 people and gave us leftovers en masse, I’m satisfied with how I budgeted it. We had so much fun and will always remember this party!
Posted in Entertaining, Fred Meyer | 19 Comments »
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 »
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
I hit up several stores on Sunday, and outlayed a total of $63.02 – however, I am getting $51.95 of that back in rebates, making my final total $11.07 spent for $108.48 worth of merchandise:
My first stop was Walgreens, where I did several different deals. Transaction #1:
Total spent: $1.49, and got $2.50 back in Register Rewards
Total before coupons: $2.49
View receipt
Got:
1 trial sized Thermacare Heatwrap – on sale for $2.49, used a $1/1 printable to bring the price down to $1.49 – and I received a $2.50 Register Reward back for the purchase. I love these things, so I was very happy to find out about this deal!
Transaction #2:
Total spent: .09 cents
Total before coupons: $2.59
View receipt
Got:
1 32 oz bottle of Coffee-Mate – we were all out, so I used the $2.50 Register Reward that I earned to make this $2.59 bottle of creamer only .09 cents.
Transaction #3:
Total spent: $1.49, and got $2.50 back in Register Rewards
Total before coupons: $2.49
View receipt
Got:
1 trial sized Thermacare Heatwrap – on sale for $2.49, used a $1/1 printable to bring the price down to $1.49 – and I received a $2.50 Register Reward back for the purchase.
Transaction #4:
Total spent: .09 cents
Total before coupons: $2.59
View receipt
Got:
1 32 oz bottle of Coffee-Mate – on sale for $2.59, used my $2.50 Register Reward from the previous transaction to make my final cost .09 cents. Always good to stock up on this!
Transaction #5:
Total spent: $5.00, and got $6.00 back in Register Rewards
Total before coupons: $6.00
View receipt
Got:
1 bottle of Roots of Nature hair treatment – on sale for $6.00, used a $1/1 printable to bring the cost down to $5.00, and received a $6.00 Register Reward back for the purchase.
Transaction #5:
Total spent: .48 cents
Total before coupons: $6.48
View receipt
Got:
1 30-count package of sponges – price: $4.00
4 Scotch-Brite scrubber sponges – on sale for .62 cents each, for a total of $2.48.
I then used my $6 register reward to bring the total down to .48 cents. The scrubber sponges were marked as $2.49 each, so I initially grabbed just one and expected my total after the Register Reward to be .49 cents. But it rang up on sale at only .62 cents, so my total was too low to use the Register Reward. I explained this to the cashier and said that I would have to go grab a few more since they were on sale. The cashier said to run back and grab them if I could do it quickly. I knew I’d have to re-think my math in order to get the total right, so I asked if she would void the transaction. She said no, she couldn’t do that because she’d half to call a manager – which I think would have been easier than having me run halfway through the store and leave her register tied up, but oh well. I quickly added up how many I would need, grabbed three more, and got back before any other customers showed up. So, I ended up spending a penny less and getting three more sponges!
I’m glad to stock up on these, because since I don’t have a dishwasher, we go through sponges at a rapid pace.
Transaction #6:
Total spent: $27.98, but I am getting $27.98 back in rebates, making it free (less the cost of two stamps!) – and I also received a $3.00 Register Reward for the purchase!
View receipt
Got:
1 Blood Glucose Monitor – cost: $19.99, but has a “Try Me Free” rebate attached to it, and I received a $3.00 Register Reward for the purchase – so I made a small profit, and have a great item to donate.
1 bottle of volumizing shampoo – cost: $7.99, and also has a “Try Me Free” rebate attached to it. I am a hair product junkie, so getting a nice bottle of shampoo for the cost of a stamp is a good buy in my book.
My only oversight here was that I got both items on the same receipt, but will have to send the receipt to two different places – oops. But what I will do is take these back to Walgreens the next time I go in and have them refund one of the items and then re-ring it, so I will have a receipt for both. Both rebates are valid past the end of the year, so there’s still time.
Final transaction:
Total spent: .29 cents
Total before coupons: $3.29
View receipt
Got:
One 5 lb. bag of flour – I always need flour! Regularly priced at $3.29, used the $3.00 Register Reward that I earned in the previous transaction to bring my total to .29 cents.
Next, I stopped by Rite Aid:
Total spent: $13.98, but I will get $13.98 back in rebates
View receipt #1
View receipt #2 (this time I was smart and got them on separate receipts!
Got:
1 bottle of Proantinox supplement – on sale for $6.99, and Rite Aid had this as a “Free After Single Check Rebate” item. Another great item to donate, plus everything I buy from now through October 17th will qualify for the “Gift of Savings” bonus rebate program.
1 bottle of conditioner – another item with a “Try Me Free” hangtag! I love getting nice hair products for a stamp!
Next, I headed to Fred Meyer:
Total spent: $10.73, but I am getting $9.99 back in rebates.
Total before coupons: $11.73
View receipt
Got:
1 box of Kashi Waffles – on sale for $1.79, found a coupon in the store for $1 off any Kashi frozen item. These looked good, so I thought I’d give them a try.
1 tube of mascara – yet another item with a “Try Me Free” rebate attached! I love makeup, and I love it even more when it’s free!
I also received a .05 cent credit for bringing my own bag, as well as a catalina for a free Air Wick warmer & refill – I don’t know what triggered that, so it was a nice surprise! So I went back through the line to collect on my fun freebie:
Total spent: .10 cents
Total before coupons: $4.13
View receipt
Got:
1 Air Wick Warmer & refill – normally $3.98 for both, free with my coupon!
1 packet of Ramen – since I brought my own bag, I knew I would be receiving a .05 cent bag credit. So I picked up this .15 cent packet of Ramen, and paid only .10 cents after the credit.
Last stop, Safeway:
Total spent: $1.30 out of pocket, put $4.53 on the Safeway gift card that I won from
Moomette’s Magnificents.
Total before coupons: $9.79
View receipt
Got:
4 cans of Chef Michael’s dog food – when I was in Fred Meyer, I found a display with a big stack of coupons good for one free can of this dog food. Fred Meyer was already sold out (as you can imagine!), so I took some of the coupons and used them at Safeway instead. The sale price at Safeway was .99 cents each, and I used four free product coupons – total cost, zero! (And while I took multiple copies of these coupons, I still left a stack for other customers to use.)
1 tub of Yoplait yogurt – need this for an article I’m writing. Cost: .70 cents
1 Sunday paper – more coupons! Price: $2.50
1.15 lbs of ground beef – need this for a meal I have planned this week. Price: $2.63
I then went through the line one more time:
Total spent: Zero!
Total before coupons: $14.89
View receipt
Got:
10 cans of Chef Michael’s dog food – on sale for .99 cents each, used ten of the aforementioned coupons. Final price: Free!
1 bottle of Cascade rinse agent – on sale for $4.99, noticed a free Cascade coupon in my binder that was close to expiring, so I thought I ought to use it! Once I get a dishwasher, this will come in handy.
And in case you’re wondering – I don’t have any pets, but I always pick up pet food when I can get it free with coupons. I have so many friends and relatives with dogs and cats, and they always welcome free pet food.
Posted in Fred Meyer, Rite Aid, Safeway, Walgreens | No Comments »
Friday, August 28th, 2009
As I mentioned last week, MyBlogSpark recently sent me a $30 Fred Meyer gift card so that I could use it during the Mega Savings Event. Unfortunately, my local store decided not to participate in the promotion, so I wasn’t able to check out the deals; so instead, I thought it might be fun to see what kind of deals I could get on the same items by matching coupons with the regular sale prices. I also picked up some things I needed for my trip. Here’s how I did:
Total spent: $9.67 out of pocket, put $30 on my Fred Meyer gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $53.50
My scanner is still out of commission for the moment, so I will upload this receipt as soon as it’s back up and running.
Got:
1 4lb bag of sugar – the huge bag of sugar that I bought in December finally ran out, so I bought some more! Price: $1.99
A 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt – on sale for $2.69, used a $1.00 off 1 printable. Final price: $1.69
A 4-pack of YoPlus yogurt – on sale for $2.49, used a $1.00 off 1 printable. Final price: $1.49
A 4-pack of Yoplait Delights – on sale for $2.89, used a $1.25 off 1 printable. Final price: $1.64 (You may remember this yogurt from my V-log about it!)
2 packages of Toaster Strudels – on sale for $2.00 each, used a coupon for $1 off two Pillsbury frozen food items from this month’s issue of the Pillsbury “Pot Pies and Casseroles” recipe magazine, which I received from MyBlogSpark. Total cost: $3.00
1 box of Chex Mix bars – on sale for $2.50, used a printable coupon for .60 cents off one box. Final price: $1.90
1 cup of Yoplait Whips yogurt – on sale for .75 cents, used a free product coupon that I received in the mail. I’m not sure where this came from, but I think it was from a special promotion to do with registering for the Betty Crocker newsletter. Final price: Free!
1 box of gluten-free brownie mix – on sale for $3.99, used a free product coupon from the offer I mentioned last month. Final cost: Free!
1 package of “Simply…” refrigerated cookie dough – on sale for $3.49, used a free coupon that I received from MyBlogSpark for an upcoming review on Contest Corner. Final price: Free!
2 bags of Nature Valley Nut Clusters – on sale for $2.50 each, used two $1/1 coupons that were sitting on the shelf right next to them. Total cost: $3.00
1 Twix bar – used a free chocolate bar coupon that I won in a giveaway from Psychic Mama Indigo Child! Thanks again! Final price: Free
1 birthday card – for a party that I’m going to in San Diego! Price: .99 cents
1 bottle of Satin Care shave gel – I just ran out of shaving gel for the first time in a year. I stockpiled a whole bunch of it with some awesome coupon deals last summer, and haven’t needed to buy any until now. This is one of two brands of shaving cream that don’t give me a rash, which is why I always buy this particular kind! Price: $2.79
1 travel-sized bottle of Alba shaving cream – this would be the second brand! Since I’m flying, I need a non-aerosol shaving cream to pack in my suitcase. I’m only taking a carry-on, so it also has to be under 3 ounces. So, this fit the bill! Price: $2.49 – almost as much as the full sized bottle of Satin Care!!
1 tube of Wet ‘N Wild lip gloss – I was running low on lip gloss, and I really like this kind. Price: $3.99
2 packages of floss – price: $1.29 each. We were out, so I bought two packages – one for me to take with me, one to leave home for Jai! Total cost: $2.58
1 box of trash bags – out of these, too! Price: $3.63
1 tube of sunscreen – once again, I needed a 3 oz tube of sunscreen to pack in my carry-on. Price: $8.49
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Monday, August 24th, 2009
On Friday, I did the rest of the shopping for my cause party. I had $138.30 left from the $200 party supplies stipend that Johnson & Johnson had provided me with, so I headed to Safeway and Fred Meyer to pick up the rest of the food.
Safeway:
 Total spent: $34.35, paid for by Johnson & JohnsonMy main computer is still down, and since that’s the system that my scanner is attached to, I won’t be able to share the receipt with you until it’s back up and running.
Got:
12 oz bag of organic, fair trade coffee – price: $7.99
1 bag of hamburger buns – regularly priced at .89 cents, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to .79 cents.
1 bag of hot dog buns – regularly priced at .89 cents, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to .79 cents. Each store had a different sale on buns, and since both stores had a limit of 2 per transaction at the sales price, I bought buns at both stores in order to maximize my savings.
2 20-count boxes of hamburger patties – price: $8.99 each, for a total cost of $17.98.
1.55 lbs of onion – price: $1.22. These rang up at the wrong price initially, coming up at $1.53; so I went to customer service and got a .31 cent refund.
3 lb container of potato salad – price: $3.99
1.07 lb container of potato salad – price: $1.59. There was a weekend sale at the Safeway deli for potato salad at $1.49 per pound, so I decided to get 4 lbs for my party. However, the guy at the deli let me know that it would actually be cheaper to buy one of the 3 lb pre-packaged potato salads, and then get one separate pound of the $1.49 potato salad. So thank you, deli guy, for saving me money!
Next stop, Fred Meyer. Remember the chicken I bought there on Wednesday that turned out to be rotten? Well, I took it back to the store to see if I could return it. The unopened package smelled so awful that I had to drive with the car window rolled down. As I stood in line at customer service, everyone inched away from me and gave me funny looks. When I showed the package to the customer service rep, she practically gagged from the stench! Suffice to say, it was obvious that I had been sold rotten meat and they had no issues with refunding my $2.57!
Total spent: $104.69, paid for by Johnson & Johnson
Receipt to come once my scanner is back up and running!
Got:
48 ears of corn – on sale for 12 for $3.00, final cost: $12.00
1 package of Chocolate ChipMate cookies – price: $1.77
6 boxes of Boca veggie burgers – price: $2.50 each, final cost: $15.00
3 boxes of Zips crackers (store brand for Ritz) – price: $1.99 each, final cost: $5.97
1 box of disposable cutlery (150 pieces total) – price: $6.99
1 package of plastic cups – price: $2.69
2 quarts of half and half – price: $1.50 each, total cost: $3.00
1 bottle of ketchup – price: .85 cents
1 package of chocolate cookies – price: $1.79
5 packages of hamburger buns – your first two are priced at .39 cents each, and each package after that is .89 cents. Total cost: $3.45
2 packages of hot dog buns – they were all out of the .89 cent buns, so I bought two of the next cheapest kind for $1.19 each. Total cost: $2.38
2 heads of red leaf lettuce – price: $1.29 each. Total cost: $2.58
1 package of white chocolate ChipMate cookies – price: $1.77
1 package of chicken drumsticks (roughly 4 lbs worth) – to replace the rotting meat from Wednesday! Price: $3.63
1 tub of Fromage Blanc cheese spread – marked down to $2.49
1 bag of croutons – price: $1.50
1 box of vanilla wafers – price: $1.79
1 big block of cheese – price: $4.99
1 package of pepperoni – price: $3.00
2 lbs of organic salad mix – price: $4.99 each, total cost: $9.98
6 bottles of BBQ sauce – these were marked on the shelf as being .69 cents each, with no limits stated on any of the signs. But when they rang up, only a few came up at the sale price and the rest came up at .85 cents. When I asked the cashier about it, she spent a long time trying to ring and re-ring the sauce to figure out what was going on. It was extremely confusing, and after 15 minutes she eventually said, “Let’s just total you out and then I’ll refund the difference.” After she did this, we saw that only 3 had been rung up. The cashier told me that I ought to “Just take” the other 3 bottles without paying for them. I insisted that no, I was going to pay for them, so she ended up ringing the other 3 up in another transaction and having the same problem. She finally called a manager and they told her that the sale was supposed to have been .69 cents for your first two and then .85 cents for each one after that. Since she rang them up in two transactions, I ended up paying .69 cents each for four and .85 cents for two, for a total of $4.46. Very confusing!!!
1 bottle of mustard – price: .99 cents
3 gallons of ice cream – price: 3.99 each, total cost: $11.97
I also received .35 cents in bag credits for bringing my own bags.
So my total cost for food was $198.17 – just under the $200 that Johnson & Johnson sent me to buy party supplies with. The day of the party, we found out that we needed to buy a tank of gas for the grill, and it also dawned on me that I needed coolers and ice for the drinks and meat. I also wanted to get an ice cream scooper, since I didn’t have one. The cost for these supplies was about $50 – I say “About” because Jai picked these items up for me while I did other party prep, so I don’t have the receipts. It didn’t occur to me that I needed these things until after I had bought the food, which is why I didn’t work them into the stipend budget. But it was well worth it – we had a great party with a huge spread, and I have a HUGE amount of food left over. And most importantly, we raised a lot of money for an important cause! I’ll be posting party photos later today and showing you what I’m going to do with the leftovers, so stay tuned!
Posted in Cause Party, Fred Meyer, Safeway | No Comments »
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