Archive for the ‘
My Deals ’ Category
Monday, April 1st, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
I was excited that even though I did a good bit of shopping this week, I really didn’t spend that much.
A few of my favorite buys:
- Neutrogena Hand Cream for less than $1.50 each (retail is $5)
- Free Venus razor
- Cracker Barrel Cheese for $2/lb.
- Diapers for under $5/package
- Free Scunci hair bands
Total Spent: $27.44
Total Saved with Coupons: $54.00
Total Saved with Sales: $15.13
Total Saved: $69.13
CVS: $0
Saved with Coupons: $19.00
Saved with Sales: $2.00
I forgot my little pouch that I keep my store gift cards in so I couldn’t use the CVS gift card that I have to pay for this purchase. My total was only $0.59 though so I just used change from my grocery cash to pay for everything.
Venus razors are my favorite so I was excited to be able to get one for free after coupon/sales. As I’ve mentioned before, we love Neutrogena hand cream. It seriously works better than anything else we have tried. I was happy to get some for just $0.29 each after coupons. The Dawn was only $0.49 each after coupons.
You may have noticed that I’ve bought a lot of the Neutrogena lately and maybe you are wondering why. I mean, just how much lotion does our family use anyway?! Well, as I’ve mentioned before, stocking up is one of my favorite ways to save and so I’m doing that with the Neutrogena. Here’s why. In the 4 years that I’ve been couponing I’ve only ever seen an amazing deal on this hand lotion once or twice. So when I saw the $5/2 coupon that was in the Sunday newspaper coupon inserts a while back I figured it would be a good idea to use it to buy a bunch of Neutrogena hand cream at rock bottom price and stock up. So I went to a coupon trading website and was able to get a trade for a bunch of the $5/2 coupons. I’ve been combining them with some great sales and so far have been able to get about 10 boxes for less than $1.50 each. Regular retail is typically $5 so this is some great savings. And since hand cream really never expires and I know that we will eventually use it, I have nothing to lose- but lots to save!
Bought:
- 2 Dawn $0.99 each
- Venus Razor $6.99
- 2 Neutrogena Hand Cream $5.29 each
Coupons Used:
- Two $0.50 Dawn coupons from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $3.00 Venus coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $5/2 Neutrogena coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $10.00 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- $4.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Venus (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $5.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Neutrogena (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Rite Aid: $2.76
Saved with Coupons: $32.00
Saved with Sales: $10.76
Yes, more hand cream 
and free Scunci hair bands and Covergirl Smoothers for just a decent price. I am not a make-up wearer but I do love this Smoother. If you at all have trouble with oily, shiny skin it’s a wonderful thing!
Bought:
- 2 Scunci Hair Bands $1.99 each
- 2 Cover Girl Smoothers $7.91 each
- 4 Neutrogena Hand Cream $7.48 total (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
Coupons Used:
- Two $1 Cover Girl coupons from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- Two $5/2 Neutrogena coupons from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $20 in UPRewards (Rite Aid coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- Two $1.99 UPReward coupons for purchasing the Scunci (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $5 UPReward coupon for purchasing the Covergirl (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Walgreens: $8.79
Walgreens was having a sale on diapers but unfortunately were almost out of the sizes I needed. I was able to get 2 packs and have a rain check to get more which will make the deal better. Still, this was a great price at just $4.40/pack. Definitely under my buy price.
That hand you see there? Well, my daughter thought the baby was cute I guess and just wouldn’t leave the packages alone while I was trying to take the picture.
Bought:
- 2 Walgreens Diapers $8.79 total (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
Weis: $3.00
Saved with Coupons: $3.00
Saved with Sales: $2.37
Once again got cheese for $2/lb. For a while I was having trouble finding any at this price but lately the deals have been great again. So glad! And yes, we love sharp cheese. It’s our favorite.
Bought:
- 3 Cracker Barrel Cheese $2.00 each
Coupons Used:
- Three $1.00 Cracker Barrel printable coupons
Aldi: $12.89
Just the usual Aldi stock up things- nothing too exciting here.
Bought:
- 2 Sour Cream $1.29 each
- Saltines $0.99
- Brown Sugar 2 lb. $1.29
- Tomato Paste $0.39
- Canola Oil $2.69
- 2 Corn Chips $0.99 each
- 3 Cream Cheese $0.99 each
Centerville Bulk Food: $0
I had grocery cash that I had gotten out of the bank last week that I used to pay for this purchase. I honestly can’t remember what my total was but I think it was around $12-$15.
I was over in the area where my favorite bulk food store is so I stopped by and got a few things I was needing: sea salt, oatmeal, raw wheat germ, yeast, raisins and a few apples.
Monday, March 25th, 2013
And yet another week of lots of shopping. Here are my favorite buys:
- Land O Lakes butter for $1.50
- Havarti cheese for $1.00/lb! (sells for $9.50 on Amazon)
- Scott toilet paper for $3.37/12 pack
- $0.50 Shout and Ziploc bags’
- $0.25 Kleenex
- Money making Quaker Medley’s oatmeal
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese for $2.00/lb
Total Spent: $85.36
Total Saved with Coupons: $37.00
Total Saved with Sales: $42.72 +22.38 in gas rewards
Total Saved: $ 102.10
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $16.50
Saved with Sales: $14.00
As the picture says, I actually bought 4 of these. And no, they are not all for us. My in-laws are going to take 2 of them and the rest we’ll keep. At just $3.37/pack I figured I can’t go wrong in stocking up!
Bought:
- 4 Scott Tissue $7.49 each
Coupons Used:
- Two $2.00 Scott printable coupons
- $1.00 Scott coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $1.50 Scott coupon from Catalina coupon machine at Giant (the coupon printer at the checkout)
- $10.00 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- $10.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Scott (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Giant: $25.87
Saved with Coupons: $12.50
Saved with Sales: $10.82
In all reality, I only paid $3.49 for all of the above items. Read on to understand why.
Okay so this is going to get a little confusing. Giant often has what they call Gas Deals. When you buy a certain number of specific items you get gas points which you can then use to save $0.20/gal. (or whatever the promotion is) on gas. In the past I haven’t done these deals because (1.) the closest participating gas station is not on any of my usual routes and is about 7 min. out of the way and (2.) it just seemed to confusing to try to figure out how to do the deals with our budgeting. Do you figure the savings as grocery savings or gas savings? The other thing was, many of the gas points items were not items that we really used that much and so I wasn’t sure it was worth buying them just because they were really cheap. (Think lots of processed foods.) The flip side is, many of the items were moneymakers which tempted me sorely.
Well, this week there were a number of items that were gas deals that were things that I knew we would use and were a great deal, so after talking to my husband I decided to get them. We decided to figure the savings as grocery savings since the reason I was buying the products was to ultimately save money on groceries. So for instance, this week I figured I saved $22.38 with gas savings. You’ll notice at the end of this post I have a “Credit” section and there you’ll see that I credited my grocery budget with that amount. I’m going to try this and see how it works. If it gets too confusing, we’ll have to figure something else out.
The Pepsi was free after a manufacturer’s coupon. The Ziploc, Kleenex, Shout and Quaker were all gas deals. The Ziploc bags and Shout were just under $0.50 each after all my savings. The Kleenex was just under $0.25 each and the Quaker (bought with a rain check from a previous weeks gas deal) was a money maker of $3.25! The Pampers wipes were a great buy at $0.99 each and the Giant sugar was much cheaper than I can get it at Aldi- the bummer was that you could only buy one.
Bought:
- Pepsi Next $1.50
- 4 Ziploc Bags $2.00 each
- 4 Kleenex $1.50 each
- 4 Pampers Wipes $1.99 each
- 4 Shout $2.00 each
- Giant Sugar 4 lb. $1.69
- 3 Quaker $1.33 each
Coupons Used:
- Free Pepsi Next coupon from Facebook promotion (took off $1.50)
- Two $1/2 Ziploc printable coupons
- $1/4 Kleenex coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- Four $0.50 Pampers printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- $0.75/2 Shout printable coupon (doubled to $1.00)
- $1/2 Shout coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $0.50 Quaker printable coupon (doubled to $1.00)
- Two $0.50 Quaker printable coupons
Weis: $14.00
Saved with Coupons: $8.00
Saved with Sales: $17.90
Loved getting some of my favorite things for great prices: Gold Medal unbleached flour (love this flour!) for $2.00, Land O Lake Butter for $1.50/lb, and Heluva Good Extra Sharp (our favorite!) Cheese for $1.00.
Bought:
- 2 Gold Medal Unbleached Flour 5 lb. $2.00 each
- 4 Land O Lakes Butter $2.50
- Heluva Good Cheese $2.00
Coupons Used:
- Four $0.50 Land O Lakes Butter printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- Four $0.50 Heluva Good printable coupons from manufacturer’s website (doubled to $1.00 each)
Aldi: $25.91
Just a bunch of my favorite things at Aldi. I don’t often buy potatoes there but we were having guests for Sunday lunch and I needed 10 lbs. of potatoes. I can often get them for $0.30/lb at Giant but since I failed to plan ahead I just grabbed them Aldi. I was happy to see that they were only $0.39/lb. there and honestly the potatoes were nicer so I think I just might continue to get them there even if they are a tiny bit more.
Bought:
- 2 Potatoes 5 lb. $1.99 each
- 2 Black Beans $0.59 each
- Bananas $0.44/lb.
- 4 lb. Oranges $1.79
- 2 Butter $1.99 each
- Cream Cheese $0.99
- Saltines $0.99
- Corn Chips $0.99
- Tortillas $0.99
- 2 Sour Cream $1.29 each
- Mayonnaise $1.99
- Kitchen Trash Bags 80 ct. $4.99
Sharp Shopper: $20.20
Sharp Shopper is a discount grocery store in a our area. I drive by it on my way to a local mom’s group that I attend so when I have time I like to stop by and see what deals I can find. I typically head straight for their meat/cheese/dairy section because while the rest of the store has decent prices, I can do better or just as good at Aldi and with using coupons. But I can often find real bargains in the meat/cheese/dairy department.
My favorite buys this week were the cheese. I got Havarti cheese for $1.00/lb ($0.50/block)! I’m kicking myself now for not getting more. For some reason I was thinking it was $2.00/lb when I bought it, which is still a great price. But since I’ve never had Havarti cheese and was a little bit afraid we might not care for it I didn’t want to get too much. We loved it though and I wish I would have gotten more- it doesn’t expire until May ’13. Oh, and by the way, this same cheese is going for $9.50/lb. on Amazon!
And yes, I know I just got 5lbs. of shredded cheddar cheese recently but I haven’t been able to find it for under $2.00/lb. in ages so I scarfed this up anyway. I divided it out into freezer boxes and froze it for use later.
- 2 Mozzarella Cheese 1 lb. $1.99 each
- Farmer’s Cheese $0.75
- 3 Smoked Havarti Cheese 8 oz. $0.50 each
- 3 Hillshire Farms Lunch Meat 8 oz. $0.50 each
- Sliced Ham 8 oz. $0.99
- Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (no filler or preservatives) $1.49
- 5 lb. Shredded Cheddar Cheese $9.99
Misc.: $30.00
Lots of miscellaneous stuff this week. Let’s see if I can explain it all without getting too wordy and confusing. But I’ll warn you it’s going to be hard on the Purex detergent!
The Purex detergent and Dial soap were both sent to me in exchange for a review as part of the Purex Insiders program. I typically am not a fan of scented laundry products. (I know, I’m weird. I just don’t like smelling like Fresh Rain or Mountain Springs.) But I have to admit that I really, really liked this Purex plus Fabric Softener Detergent. Basically this detergent combines Purex Crystals with it’s detergent meaning that you only have to buy one product to do the job of two. Anyway, what I really liked using this detergent on was my towels. Ever get tired of that musty towel smell? My husband and I both really dislike it and it kind of grosses us out. So while I add a little bleach to my white towels to kill germs and help eliminate the musty scent, my colored towels don’t take to that too well. I often add vinegar to them which helps but this Purex plus Fabric Softener Detergent was awesome. It made our colored towels smell wonderfully fresh and since Purex Crystals are mostly natural they are okay to use on towels- unlike most fabric softeners. So I’m kind of sold on this Purex detergent and plan to keep using it for our towels. My only complaint is that I wish they would make the fill lines on the cap more easy to decipher. What’s with that anyway?
Dial partnered with Purex to have their Insiders review their latest product, the Dial Coconut Water Body Wash. Coconut water is found in young, green coconuts and is rich in antioxidants and electrolytes that provide replenishing hydration, so obviously this body wash is touted as being super at keeping your skin from being dry. Well, I admit that I was skeptical. I get really dry skin in the winter and it is hard to keep it moisturized. I have been using some Olay bodywash that I had gotten for cheap (of course!) and really like it since it seemed to help my skin not be quite as dry. Then I switched to this Dial Coconut Water body wash- which smells lovely by the way!- and was even more impressed. I used it for well over a week and seriously, my skin really didn’t feel as dry as usual. I didn’t do anything else different that I can think of so I really think the body wash did help. My only complaint with it? It seemed to take a bit more to get a good lather than the Olay body wash that I was using previously.
The Starkist Tuna Creations (Sweet & Spicy) was sent to me as part of the Smiley360 program. This Asian style tuna seasoned with spicy peppers and sweet onions really takes tuna to a whole new level. I made some tuna salad and used it in a sandwich. It was different but I liked it. It was just “zippy” enough to create some excitement and the sweet part wasn’t overpowering. I would really like to try it as salad topping- I think it would be excellent.
The Ocean Spray was a gift from some friends of ours that we had over for Sunday dinner. As you can see, we didn’t waste any time enjoying it! The stuff in the container labeled “Homemade” in the last picture is homemade baked beans that another friend shared with us. She had taken them to our fellowship meal at church and had more leftover than she needed and kindly shared with us. They were really good and we definitely enjoyed being the recipients! (Thanks, Sarah!)
The lettuce and mushrooms were from our local farmer’s market. I paid for them with grocery cash that I had.
The $30 was for 15 lbs. of ground beef we bought from a dairy farmer from our church.
Disclosure:
The Purex brand provided me with a sample of Purex detergent plus Fabric Softener with Crystals Fragrance in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.
Dial Soap provided me with a sample of the new Dial Coconut Water Body Wash in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.
Smiley360 provided me with a sample of Starkist Tuna in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.
Credits: $30.62
- $22.38 for gas points (see Giant details)
- $8.24 from my mom-in-law and sister-in-law for toilet paper and Shout that I bought them (what you see under CVS and Giant)
Monday, March 18th, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
Goodness, I spent a lot this week! Kind of made me gulp when I totaled it all up. But I got many things that I was needing and some really good deals too so it is all good, I think.
Some of my favorite buys:
* Banana Boat suncreen that I made $1.00 on
* St. Joseph’s aspirin that I made $2.94 on
* Neutrogena hand cream (our favorite!) for just $1.24 each
* Free Greek yogurt
* Ellios pizza for just $0.50 each
* Frozen Fruit for around $1.45/bag
* Free printer paper
* Oranges for $0.45/lb.
Total Spent: $116.16
Total Saved with Coupons: $54.63
Total Saved with Sales: $89.88
Total Saved: $144.51
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $30.98
Saved with Sales: $9.57
I used a CVS gift card that we earned through our credit card rewards program to pay for this purchase. Had I not used the card my out of pocket would have been $18.96. (And just in case you are wondering, we carry no credit card debt. We use the card and pay it off in full each month. We like the convenience and also love earning rewards for our purchases. Sometimes we earn as much as 5% cash back!)
This is kind of confusing but I plan to give two of the packs of Pampers away as baby gifts. I included them here though so that you could see how I did the deal. If you look at the bottom of this post you’ll see a Credits heading. I credited my grocery budget for the diapers there since the cost will come from our Gifts Given budget.
Bought:
- 3 Pampers Diapers $10.00 each
- CVS brand Jelly Beans $0.99
- Poise $3.99 (bought with rain check)
- Brookside Dark Chocolate $0.67 (bought with rain check)
- Tena Underwear $14.29
Coupons Used:
- Three $1.50 Pampers printable coupons
- $3.00 Poise coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $14 Tena coupon received from manufacturer
- $9.48 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- $10.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Pampers (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $0.99 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the CVS Jelly Beans (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $1.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Poise (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $1.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Brookside Dark Chocolate (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- this would usually have just printed a $0.67 EB but with rain check items the coupon always gets rounded up to the nearest dollar!
Rite Aid: $9.86
Saved with Coupons: $13.65
Saved with Sales: $38.73
I returned an item that I bought earlier and used that money to pay for part of this purchase, otherwise my total would have been $5.61 more.
I’m sure some of you are wondering why I bought a pint of milk. Well, there’s a funny little story behind that pint. I was making a chocolate cake with caramel icing to take to our church’s fellowship dinner on Sunday and in the middle of making the cake part our older neighbor man stopped by to chat. Well, this particular recipe uses baking soda as the raising agent and you are to mix the baking soda with boiling water and as the last step you mix that into the rest of the ingredients. Because of my interruption, I totally forgot about adding the baking soda and ended up with a rather flat, brownie-ish cake. Sigh. And to make matters worse this exact same thing, including the neighbor man stopping by happened less than a month ago! Well, I didn’t really feel like having another whole flop cake to try to eat so I decided to get creative and make a trifle with it. Problem is, you can’t use raw milk to make instant pudding. So since I was going to Rite Aid anyway, I grabbed a pint of milk to use in my pudding for the trifle. No, it wasn’t the most economical choice probably but I was in the mood to be creative and see if I could concoct something good out of it and besides, it was far better than throwing it out or trying to eat it all as-is!
The Banana Boat was a $1 moneymaker, the St. Joseph aspirin a $2.94 moneymaker, the Blue Diamond almonds just $1.00 each and the Neutrogena, our favorite hand cream hands down, was just $1.24 each!
Bought:
- 2 Banana Boat Sunscreen $10.99 total (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
- Pint of Milk $0.99
- 2 Blue Diamond Almonds $3.99 (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
- 2 Neutrogena Hand Cream $7.48 total (on sale Buy One, Get One 50% off)
- 2 St. Joseph’s Aspirin 200 ct. $8.99 each
- St. Joseph’s Aspirin 120 ct. $5.84
Coupons Used:
- Two $1.00 Banana Boat printable coupons
- Two $1.00 Blue Diamond printable coupons
- $5/2 Neutrogena coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- Two $4.50 St. Joseph’s coupons from the Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $2.25 St. Joseph’s coupon from the Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $12 in UPRewards (Rite Aid coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- Two $5 UPReward coupons for purchasing the Banana Boat (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $20 UPReward coupon for purchasing the St. Joseph’s (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- I had bought another bottle of St. Joseph’s last week that also counted towards this reward
Giant: $20.26
Saved with Coupons: $10.00
Saved with Sales: $41.58
Wowzers this was an amazing week at Giant! I got over $60 worth of groceries for less thank $13! The Dole fruit and Ellio’s pizza were part of a deal where when you bought $25 worth of certain products you instantly saved $15.
Even though I can/freeze most of the fruit we consume I jumped on this Dole frozen fruit deal when I did the math and realized that it was a nice amount cheaper than what I pay when I freeze my own peaches and strawberries. And I’m sure some of you are wondering about all that pizza since you know I rarely buy that kind of thing. (And yes, I just recently bought 4 DiGiorno pizzas too!) Anyway, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve lost my head or something buying it all. But no, really, here’s the scoop. I realized that I would just be paying just $0.50/box after coupons/sales and I got to thinking about how nice it would be to give my husband something different than the usual sandwiches in his lunch. One box of pizza will give him 2-3 lunches and so while it might be a tiny bit more than the cost of his sandwiches I decided to go ahead. He never complains about eating sandwiches almost every day- in fact he chooses to eat them- but I knew he would enjoy a change of pace. And with some of the busy weeks coming up I knew I would enjoy the speed of packing pizza for his lunch!
The yogurt was free after coupons/sales and the croutons and Snuggle just a great price.
Bought:
- 4 Yopa yogurt $1.00 each
- Texas Toast Croutons $1.25
- 11 Ellios Pizza $2.50 each
- 6 Dole Frozen Fruit $3.19 each
- 2 Dole Frozen Fruit $2.89 each
- Snuggle $2.50
Coupons Used:
- Four $1.00 Yopa printable coupons
- Five $1.00/2 Ellios printable coupons
- $0.50 Snuggle printable coupon (doubled to $1.00)
Aldi: $28.96
Bought:
- 3 Oranges 4lb. $1.79 each
- Sweet Potatoes (4) $1.99
- Bananas $0.44/lb.
- Pinto Beans 2lb. $1.79
- Spinach 9 oz. $1.79
- Saltines $0.99
- 4 Cream Cheese $0.99 each
- Pepper Grindere $1.49
- 5 Butter $1.99 each
Staples: $7.41
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know that I often put paper purchases in my grocery expenses. The reason I do this is because we primarily use this paper to print coupons and usually the cost is minimal because I buy it when it is free after rebate and the only thing I have to pay is the tax. Today this tax was just $0.42!
I’m trying to stock up a bit on paper because my husband is planning to go back to school this fall and so I anticipate going through more than we have the past number of years.
Bought:
- Staples Copy Paper 500 ct. $6.99
Will Get Back:
Centerville Bulk Food: $37.70
Finally was able to go to our local bulk food store and stock up on the staples that I like to purchase there. Sorry I don’t have the prices listed. It’s an Amish run store so they use an old cash register that doesn’t list the actual item on it so it’s kind of a pain for me to get all the prices together to list. If there is something you are curious about the how much they sell it for just ask and I’ll be happy to see if I can tell you.
Most of what I got are the ingredients for my Homemade Granola recipe, a staple around here. I should mention that I paid more for the cheese than I think I’ve ever paid. I try to pay $2/lb or less but have had a harder time doing that lately. I hate shredding my own cheese, so I like to buy these big 5lb. bags of pre-shredded and typically it’s about $2/lb. or just a bit over. This time though I paid a whopping $2.60/lb! Still a good price really, I know, but nevertheless it galled me.
Raw sugar
Brown Sugar
Rolled Oats
Oatmeal
Raw Wheat Germ
Sunflower Seeds
Popcorn
Basil
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cheese
Misc.: $22.30
This was the cash I had left over from the money I got out for my bulk food store purchase. I will use it to buy produce at our local farmer’s market. I also got out $20 to use to buy milk from a local dairy. We love getting whole, raw milk!
The flour is fresh ground from my mom-in-law. They get big 50lb. bags of wheat and then I get my whole wheat flour from them to use to make bread and such. I pay her $6 for those two big container’s full. The eggs were a gift from some friends of ours who we invited for lunch last Sat. They are free-range and huge! Don’t you love the green and pink ones?
Credits: $10.33
As I mentioned above under the CVS summary, this was for diapers that I purchased and plan to use as a gift.
Monday, March 11th, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
Favorite deals this week:
- Our favorite chips for FREE!
- LOTS of meat for under $2/lb.
- Free tuna
Total Spent: $96.07
Total Saved with Coupons: $10.48
Total Saved with Sales: $1.20
Total Saved: $11.68
Rite Aid: $1.31
Saved with Coupons: $10.48
Saved with Sales: $1.20
We love Grandma Utz’s chips- they are my husband’s absolute favorite. So yes, he was impressed when I told him that I got them for free! The light bulb was $1 after a rain check. I actually had a $1 coupon which would have made it free but unfortunately it expired 2 days before I shopped. Ugh. That is one thing I hate about rain checks. And Rite Aid is notoriously slow at getting items back in stock so unfortunately it happens kind of often to me. Still, $1 isn’t a bad price and we were needing more light bulbs. The St. Joseph aspirin is part of a monthly deal. I need to purchase 2 more bottles this month to reach the amount needed to get the UPReward but when I do I will actually make money on them. The cool thing is that my parents and our elderly neighbor man both use them so I can have fun supplying them with my moneymaking purchase!
Bought:
- 2 Utz Chips $0.99 each
- GE Light Bulb $0.99 (bought with rain check)
- St. Joseph aspirin $8.99
Coupons Used:
- $4.50 St. Joseph coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $5.98 in UPRewards (Rite Aid coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- Two $1 UPReward coupons for purchasing the Utz (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Aldi: $14.76
Yes, I love Aldi and yes, I pretty much end up going there every week anymore. I keep thinking I’m going to do better and buy ahead enough that I won’t have too but somehow I always end up needing something. Not that I mind that much. Our 1 yr. old is on a banana kick and Aldi’s banana price is much cheaper than anywhere else so it helps me keep her supplied!
The items you see above are all items that I can hardly ever find cheaper than Aldi’s price even with using coupons. So these are some of my “staple” Aldi purchases. Well, I rarely purchase vegetable shortening- the stuff grosses me out!- but I haven’t found anything I like better to grease my bread pans and other baking dishes. I know, I could use spray but somehow that just doesn’t grease as well, especially for bread. And so I keep purchasing shortening exclusively for that purpose.
Bought:
- Bananas $0.44/lb
- Canola Oil $2.69
- Brown Sugar 2 lb. $1.39
- Shortening $2.99
- Heavy Whipping Cream $1.99
- Saltines $0.99
- Pure Vanilla $1.99
Dutchway: $74.27
I decided to stock up on meat since a local grocery store was running a meat sale. We love their ham loaf and it makes such a quick, easy Sunday lunch. And while I still have some canned chicken left from last time I bought meat I wanted to restock my frozen meat supply. So I got some turkey thighs for that. We like to use the canned meat for chicken salad or wraps, that sort of thing and then use the frozen meat for other dishes.
Here’s what I got from the 20 lb. of turkey thighs:
- 28.5 cups of chopped, cook meat
- 16 cups of broth to use in soups etc.
- 12 small thighs to use in chicken dishes
Bought:
- Boneless Pork Chops $1.79 – pack of 4
- approx. 20 lb. Ham Loaf @ $1.79/lb.
- approx. 20 lb. boneless, skinless turkey thighs @1.59/lb.
Misc.: $5.73
I had taken $80 out of the bank for the meat I purchased at Dutchway. The $5.73 you see above is what was left over; I’ll use it for produce from our local farmers market.
The tuna was free at Kmart. I had $3 in Shop Your Way rewards points to spend there. I used some of it to purchase a plastic container to keep our card games in and since I didn’t really need anything else I grabbed this can of tuna to use up the rest. If you ever shop at Kmart or Sears I highly recommend signing up for their Shop Your Way rewards program. They frequently send out free rewards points plus as a member you can shop online and get free shipping to store which is really handy.
The mushrooms and lettuce were from our local farmers market. I can get a lb. of mushrooms for $1.75 and beautiful leaf lettuce for around $1.50/head.
Monday, March 4th, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
Whew, I hadn’t realized I had done so much shopping this week until I did my Weekly Spending Summary! Even though I spent a lot, I feel like I saved a lot too. Plus, I’ll be getting $10.98 of this back in rebates which makes my savings even better.
Favorite deals:
- Crest toothpaste moneymaker
- Free Thermacare
- Moneymaking Poise products
- Free printing paper and pencils (well, actually I paid the tax for it)
Total Spent: $75.41
Total Saved with Coupons: $19.29
Total Saved with Sales: $33.86
Total Saved: $53.15
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $5.79
Saved with Sales: $0.50
I used a gift card that we earned through one of our credit card reward points programs to pay for this purchase which was $2.31.
All of the above was almost free after coupons/sales- I paid $0.05 for the Minute Maid because the coupon was only for $1.79. Funny thing is, the shelf said that the Minute Maid was only $1.79 but it rang up more. I noticed it later and figured $0.05 isn’t worth quibbling about!
As usual, I’m planning to give our neighbor the Thermacare since we don’t use it.
Bought:
- Minute Maid Lemonade $1.84
- Thermacare $3.49
- Crest $2.77
Coupons Used:
- Minute Maid FREE product coupon from My Coke Rewards ($1.79 value)
- $4.00 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- $3.49 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Thermacare (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $3.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Crest (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $1.00 Extra Bucks coupon for using my Green Bag Tag (can scan each time you use a reusable bag and after 4 times you get $1 EB)
Rite Aid: $0.97
Saved with Coupons: $9.00
Saved with Sales: $5.99
The Poise products were a $4 moneymaker after coupons/sales and the Blue Diamond almonds were just a great price after coupons/sales. I love using them in salads and for snacking too!
Bought:
- 2 Poise products $2.99 each
- 2 Blue Diamond Almonds $3.99 total (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
Coupons Used:
- $3.00 Poise coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $1.00 Poise printable coupon
- Two $1.00 Blue Diamond printable coupons
- $3.00 in UPRewards (Rite Aid coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- Two $2.99 UPReward coupons for purchasing the Poise (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Giant: $20.29
Saved with Coupons: $4.50
Saved with Sales: $27.37
Well, I pretty much never buy prepared pizza or other prepared foods for that matter but this week I kind of broke the rules! The pizzas were only $2.50 each and since we have several busy weeks coming up, I decided to get them just have on hand for a quick dinner when we need it. The Progresso Recipe Starters were part of a gas deal- I don’t typically do those deals because I find it annoying to try to figure out how to apply the savings to my grocery budget. But I decided to give it a try and see if I can make it work since often you can make money buy doing those deals.
So anyway, the deal was that when you bought 7 specified items you got $0.40/gal. of gas. As you see I only bought 4 Progresso’s. I was planning to also buy 3 Quaker items that were part of the deal but my store didn’t have them in stock. However, they gave me a rain check and said they would honor the gas deal when I redeemed the rain check. The way I figure it, I should make around $4.00 on the purchase with the savings I’ll get in gas. I’m not actually sure that I’m going to keep the Progresso Recipe Starters (at least not all of them) since I prefer to stay away from prepared foods. I’ll likely donate them to our local food bank.
The tissues were a decent price especially considering the fact that we were needing them badly since we all had colds and were using tissues as a fierce rate. The Texas Toast? Well, who can resist getting your favorite croutons when they are on sale? And the Sorrento ricotta cheese was a better price after coupons/sales than Aldi’s cottage cheese and we prefer ricotta cheese in our lasagna anyway.
Bought:
- 4 DiGiorno pizza $2.50 each (had to buy 4)
- 4 Kleenex $1.00 each
- Sorrento Ricotta Cheese $3.49
- 4 Progresso Recipe Starters $1.25 each
- Texas Toast Croutons $1.33
- Giant Facial Tissue $1.00
Coupons Used:
- $1/4 Kleenex coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $1.00 Sorrento cheese coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- $1/2 Progresso coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- Two $0.50 Progresso coupons from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts (one doubled to $1.00)
- $0.50 Giant e-coupon for Giant facial tissue
Aldi:$17.67
Just stocked up on the usual things at Aldi. Notice the Great Northern Beans I got to soak and cook.
Bought:
- 2 Corn Chips $0.99 each
- Saltines $0.99
- Great Northern Beans 2 lb. dry $2.29
- 2 Coconut Flakes $1.49 each
- 2 Black Beans $0.59 each
- Bananas $0.44/lb.
- 2 Flour Tortillas $0.99 each
- Parmesan Cheese $2.39
- Spinach 9 oz. $1.79
Staples: $11.64
This purchase was actually from last week but I forgot to include it then. Both items were free after Staples Easy Rebates- well, actually I guess I paid $0.66 tax so it wasn’t quite free. This is a great way to get an excellent deal on paper for printing coupons!
Bought:
- Bic Pens $3.99
- Staples paper $6.99
Got Back:
- $3.99 in Staples Rebates for purchasing the pencils
- $6.99 in Staples Rebates for purchasing the paper
Misc.: $25.50
I bought 5 doz. eggs from a local farm for $1.10/doz. I also got $20 cash out of the bank to use for produce at our local farmer’s market. I then used part of it to buy 10 lbs. of potatoes for $3.00 and a sweet potato to use when I make Herb Roasted Chicken.
