Albertson's 7.20.11

Today was ANOTHER great day at Albertson's. I LOVE LOVE Albertsons! Especially because today I received more than I anticipated for in catalinas.

Here's my grocery list for today's visit.  I walked in with $14 in catalinas towards my purchase and 2 free gallons of milk from my last shopping trip.

-Albertson's Whole Milk (2) $4.29 each. Final Price - FREE!!!

Barilla Piccolini Pasta (6). On Sale for $1.89. Used (6) $1 off qpns. Final Price $.89 each

-Nesquick individual milk (6). On Sale 2 for $3. Used $.50 coupons. Final Price - $1 each

Emerald On The Go Breakfast Bars (6). On Sale 2 for $5. Used $1.50 off 2. Final Price $2 each and receive $1 catalina.

Crest Toothpaste (4). On Sale 2 for $3. Used $.75 off 1. Final Price $.75 each and receive $1 catalina.

Crest Indicator Toothbrush. On Sale 2 for $3. Used (3) BOGO qpn and (1) $2 off 2. Final Price $.88 each and receive $1 catalina.

Lucky Charms (6) Honey Nut Cheerios (6).  On Sale 4 for $10. used (2) $2 off 5 and (2) $.50 qpns for Honey Nut Cheerios. Final Price $2.08 and receive $6 in catalinas ($2 for every group of 4)

Nature Valley Thins (3) . On sale 2 for $5. used $.75 qpns. Final Price $1.75 each and receive $2 in catalinas

Fiber One Brownies. On sale 2 for $5. used $.75 qpns. Final Price $1.75 each and receive $2 in catalinas

Nature Valley Granola Bars. On Sale 2 for $5. Used $.75 qpns. Final Price $1.75 each and receive in $2 catalinas.

Total Retail Value: $224.48

Total Saved with Preferred Savings and Coupons: $147.19

Total Spent: $77.29 AND received $38 in catalinas and 7 free milk vouchers!!!

I had originally anticipated only $23 in catalinas.  No milk.  You can imagine how ecstatic I was when that catalina machine was still spitting out more coupons! 

Ralphs - 7.20.11

Another great grocery day for me at least.  Came in with a list and got EVERYTHING that I accounted for. There was one little snag though, they would only honor 3 "like" coupons, but I didn't mind seeing as they had doubled all my $.50 coupons. So it was a win-win!

Here's my grocery list... I only tried to purchased items that were part of the Mega Event Sale to maximize on savings.

- Ralph's Large Eggs on Sale for $.99 each (2) This was the only item NOT on the Mega Event Sale but at this price, who could resist!

- Colgate Toothpaste on Sale for $.99 (4) - Here's where I hit a little snag with my 4th coupon but that's okay. Used $.50 qpns (3). Final Price (3 w qpns) - $.50 each and (1) $.99 each

-Kleenex Tissue Boxes on Sale for $.99 (12). Used $.50 off 3. Another snag. Final Price (9 w qpns) - $.82 each and (3) $.99 each

-Smart Balance Spreads on Sale for $2.49 (4). Used $1 off 2. Another Snag. Final Price (2 w qpns) $1.99 each and (2) $2.49 each

-Smart Balance Butter Sticks on Sale for $2.49 (4). Used $1 off 2. Another Snag. Final Price (2 w qpns) $1.99 each and (2) $2.49 each

Wisk Laundry Detergent on Sale for $3.49 (1). Used $1 off 1. Final Price $2.49 each

Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Rice on Sale for $.89 (6). Final Price $.89 each

Kettle Chips on Sale for $2.49 (6). Used $1 off 1. Final Price $1.49

Total Retail Value with Coupons: $135.44

Total Saved with Ralphs Rewards and Coupons $91.86

Total  Spent: $43.58

Savings Tip: Today I redeemed my receipts from Shell Gas Station and received double points for the amount I spent there. Once you reach 500 points you'll receive a $5 qpn towards you're next purchase. Then you can reach $1 there after for every 100 points you earn with a limit of $250 every cycle.



Albertson's 07.13.11

Savings Tip:  Maximize your future visits by signing up online and registering your rewards cards at the stores.  Albertson's offers $5 off your order of $25 or more.  Refer your friends and receive up to 5 more $5 rewards!

Half the fun of couponing is the research that you have to do to get the best deals possible on your quest to bargain hunt.  Afterall the worst feeling for a couponer to feel is to have used all of her coupons on a previous transaction and miss out on a better deal.  So pace yourselves friends, most things go on sale within a 3 - 4 weeks and if you miss a great opportunity, rest assure that there will be another bargain you can reap your awards with.

Albertson's trip was my favorite so far this week! I had to use my coupon for free milk that was expiring that day and I scanned our weekly circular to see what specials were running and if I would get a great deal on some things that I needed to stock up on. 

Here's the breakdown...

Chef Boyardee. On Sale $.99

Kelloggs Cereal Lucky Charms - On Sale $2.50. Used (4) $1/2. Final Price $2 each. Received $5 Towards Next Purchase for Every Offer and a Gallon of Free Milk.

Pop Tarts/ On Sale 3/$5. Used (4) $2/3. Final Price $.67 each. Received $1 Towards Next Purchase for Every Offer

Fruit Roll Ups. Sale 2/$5. $.75/2. Final Price $2.13. Received $1 Towards Next Purchase for Every Offer.

Nature Valley Granola Thins. Sale 2/$5. Used (8) $.75 coupons. Final Price $1.75 each. . Received $5 Towards Next Purchase for Every Offer and a Gallon of Free Milk.

Total Retail Value with Tax: $151.06

Total Savings with Preferred Card and Coupons: $80.63

Total OOP with Tax: $70.43
and received 5 gallons of milk for FREE and $14 my next purchase order. 

I also scored a couple $5 coupons for referring friends over to the Albertson's website to register their card! Can't wait to see the sales next week =D

Happy Klippin fellow Koupon Kuties. 

Ralphs 7.15.11

Savings Tip: Take advantage of store specials such as Ralph's Buy 10 and save $5 instantly. Then match them up with coupons you may have for specific items to maximize in overall savings.

Okay, I guess I'm gonna pay a little here in procrastinating as I'm going to have to pick the good ole' memory bank to share with you my grocery shopping trip to Ralphs this week.

I love Ralphs, but because I'm still not clear on which coupons get a "bonus" coupon ring up (sometimes I see all and sometimes I only see the first coupons getting doubled). So I'm just going to post what coupons I used for these sale items.

Ooops - excuse the chaotic mess in the background. On couponing days, house cleaning go on the back burner, haha!

Anyways - Mayonnaise... Here's the breakdown!

All my items were purchased in groups of 10 to maximize my savings with the store special of $5 off instantly.

Sunny D. On Sale $.99

Pringles. On Sale $.99. Used (3) $1/3 coupons. Final Price $.66 each

Philadelphia Cooking Cremes. On Sale $2.79. Used (6) $.75 coupons. Final Price $2.04 each

Ore Ida Sweet Potato Fries. On Sale $2.49. Used (2) $1/2 coupons. Final Price $1.99 each

Colgate Toothpaste. On Sale $.99. used (4) $.75 coupons and (3)$.50 - Some coupons limit you to 4 "like" coupons in every transaction. Final Price $.25-.50 each.

Kraft Mayonaise. On Sale $2.49. used (5) $.75 coupons. Final Price $1.74 each

Classico Pasta Sauce. On Sale $1.79. Used (2) $1/2. Final Price $1.29 each

Barilla Pic. Pasta. On Sale 2/$3. Used (6) $1 coupons. Final Price $1

Horizon Single Serve Milk. On Sale $.88. Used $.75/3. Final Price $.63 each

Kraft Dressing. On Sale $1.49. Used  (4) $.50 coupons. Final Price $.99 each

I also bought 2-1 lb. Packages of Ground Beef, 1 2-lb Package of Chicken Breast and two books of stamps. Approximately $36.78 without tax.

Total Retail Value with Tax: $229.48

Total Savings with Rewards and Coupons: $130.67

Total OOP with Tax: $98.81.

Not bad, consider almost $17.60 of this was postage stamps =) 



Rite Aid - 07.16.11

Yikes! I've been MIA! I promise I'll never do that again!!!

I've been on a couple of shopping trip lately and I'll blog about this real soon as my drugstore visits are coming up this weekend (BTW, not much to toot and holler about, but there's still savings to be had out there)

I just realized that our Rite Aid sales actually start on Fridays rather on Saturdays like all the other drugstores usually. ROOKIE MISTAKE - I'm sure, but hey we learn right? Anyhow, I scooted my little tushie over to the closest Rite Aid earlier this evening with a couple of things that I wanted to get with this week's sales.  Remember it's not that great of a weekend for drugstore savings, but I'll get what I can =)

But first, let me tell you how nerve wrecking it was to be at the check out stand, I had one of those gut feelings that somehow my transactions would just go horribly wrong so before I even put my stuff on the belt I let two people ahead of me with a hand full of items to purchase ahead of me.  But when it came time to scan the coupons, everything went horribly time consuming.  Some of my coupons wouldn't scan (which were clipped out of the Sunday Newspapers) and then I sat there watching the cashier scrutinize my coupons - thank goodness I'm OCD with my coupons because I read every-single-word in fine print to make sure I was using them correctly. Then their own Up Rewards didn't scan at all and apparently this was a known issue within the store - PHEW! Anyways, all in all about 10 coupons had to be punched manually and you can only imagine the line behind me getting longer and my face turning white from emberassment - yes, I said white, because Filipinos don't usually turn red unless you piss them off, ha!

Anyways, here's the break down....

I rolled in $21 in Up Rewards from last week.

Colgate. On Sale 2/$5. Used (2) $.75 coupons. Final Price $1.75 each (Note: I normally wouldn't purchase these at such a high price but because my coupons were expiring tonight, I "had" to)

Care Free Panty Liners 20 ct.  On Sale $1. Used (7) $.50 coupons. Final Price $.50 each

Got2B Hair Gel. On Sale $4.99. Get $2 Up Rewards - Limit 3. Paid $4.99 each but received $2 Up Rewards each.

Excedrin Migrain 24 ct and Extra Strength 20 ct. On Sale $1.99. Used (6) $.75 coupons. Final Price $1.24 each

Gilette Fusion Cartridge 4ct. Special Morning Must Haves Store Special - Purchase $25, receive $5 Up Rewards. And purchase a Gilette Fusion Cartridge, get a Gilette Fusion Shaving Gel for FREE!!!! Price $15.99. Used (2) $4 coupons. Final Price was $11.99 each, received one Gilette Fusion Shaving Gel for FREE!!!

Total Retail Value: $120.58

Total Savings with Wellness Card and Coupons: $81.49

Total OOP with Tax: $39.09 and received $11 in Up Rewards for my next visit.

Savings Tip:  Always go the first two days of a sale to maximize on savings and get things while they're in stock =)

Happy Klippin Fellow Koupon Kuties!

Taking The Good With The Bad.

I've shared before that sometimes hauls aren't as great as I wish they would be. But a savings is a savings right??  Right.  The last few visits haven't been magnificent but I think it's because I jump the gun on sales or posts about sales that I run over to grab them before they run out.  Not thinking that I'm far too excited to care how much of a savings I get, but more that I'm getting a savings at all.

So I've decided not to purchase any items that won't have a greater return, unless it's an item that I'm absolutely in need for i.e. uhhhh.... a staple food, OTC meds my family or myself needs, etc.  I'm hoping this change in tactic might help with the overall savings.

This is the first month I've been building up my stockpile and I've come out of pocket but not over my normal shopping budget for groceries and necessities. Somehow I've managed to keep myself under budget throughout the month and perhaps even saved as well. 

The hubby was kind enough to create a small stockpile center for me in our garage, while the reorganization is going on in the garage. And probably to keep my stockpile from taking over the living room, LOL! The picture above are all the items I've purchased that are non perishable and are things like personal hygiene, cleaning supplies, and other items that can sustain the fluctuating environment a garage has. 

I think I've visited it about 4 times since I've organized it and have looked at the picture on my iPhone in astonishment countless times. It's funny how attached you get to each item, knowing exactly how much you spent for it and how big of a savings it was. It's a little weird, I know. But seriously can you believe that this is a fraction of what I've purchased in the last month without going over my normal monthly grocery and shopping budget??  Leave ya' wondering why the heck I didn't do this before. Uhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Anyway, there will be some weeks that are Uh-mazing and some weeks where you save on average.  The point is, you saved =D This was a bad week for me. Paying a  little on the higher side but getting a great return for my next visits.  I just need to learn to pace myself =D

Happy Klipping Fellow Koupon Kuties! 

Rite Aid 07.11.11

A couple of weeks ago when Rite Aid had a glorious sale on Lysol No Touch Dispensers, I was disappointed to find that they were completely out of stock. So as my first attempt my BFF and I decided to ask for Rain Checks, because the UP Reward Limit was 2, we asked for 2 each and decided that we could wait.  No Touch Dispensers usually retail for about $15.99, but were on sale for $7.99 with an UP Reward of $3 each. We also had $3 off coupons from one of the coupon inserts bringing down our discount significantly to $1.99!!!

So in an attempt to take advantage of this deal and redeem my Rain Check I trekked on over to Rite Aid after picking up some last minute deals at Stater Bros.

Unfortunately, they were still out of stock! BUT I'm always prepared with sorted coupons for all my favorite stores in the event that I should be close to one. I was already there so I decided to take advantage of my time and purchased some goodies...

Walked in with $4 in Up Reward QPNS from a previous visit. 

Soft Soap. Sale Price $2.99, Up Reward $2. Limit 4. Purchased 4, paid $.99 each and rcv'd $8 in Up Rewards

Schick Hydro Razors. Sale Price $7.99. Up Rewards $2. Limit 4. Purchased 4, used $4 qpns and paid $3.99 each and received $8 in Up Rewards.

Cover Girl Naturelux, BOGO 50% off. First Item $7.49, Second Item $3.74. Purchased 4, used $5/2 qpns and paid $6.23 for 2 ($3.12 each)

L'Oreal Kids Shampoo. Sale Price $2/$5. Purchased 6, used $.75 qpns, paid $1.75 each.

Oral B Pro Glide. Sale Price $3.99. Up Rewards $1.50. Limit 4. Purchased 4, used $.75 qpns and paid $3.24 each and recieved $6 in Up Rewards.

Sally Hansen Standard Nail Clipper, BOGO 50% off.Bought varioius Beauty Tools to use $2 qpns. Purchased 8 and paid $14.82 for 5 Nail Clippers, 2 Brow Shapers, and a Nipper. 

Total Retail Value with Tax: $182.06

Total Savings with Wellness Card and Coupons: $96.54

Total OOP: $85.52

and walked away with $21 in Up Reward Coupons to use towards my next purchase!!!

And a rain check for that darn Lysol No Touch!