Confessions of an M&M Junkie

I admit it, I am an M&M junkie. I LOVE them plain, peanut, peanut butter and dark (not overly fond of the almond ones - but I have been known to eat those too). At Walgreens, the medium size bags are currently on sale 2/$5. When you buy 2, you get a $1 RR, so that makes them 2/$4. Add in the $1/2 coupon from the 6/7 RP and they are 2/$3. Not a bad deal at all considering a Tear & Share (aka King Size) bag is $1.89.

I am a snob when it comes to my M&M's - they must be fresh! How do you know if they are fresh or not? On the back of the package, there is a white box with a code in it. The first number of the code is the year the M&Ms were made (so it should be a 9 for freshest taste). The next 2 digits indicate the week of the year the contents were produced. The ones I bought said 18 - I passed on the 08 ones. If you do happen to get a package that is not fresh - be sure to call m&m's/Mars - they do send coupons to make up for it. Yes, I've done it twice.

Coupon Preview 7/12/09

This is one weekend where you may want to purchase a few extra papers. Why? According to Taylor Town Preview, there will be a $2.50 coupon for Electrasol. In the past, this has meant FREE or VERY CHEAP dishwasher detergent. There are several other great coupons. So examine your budget and buy accordingly.

kool aid/mac & cheese/sugar/capri sun deal at Meijer

Devin spotted an awesome deal at Meijer and told me about and we were able to make it even better - this is why you coupon with a friend or friends!

Right now at Meijer packets of Kool-aid are 20 for $2. When you buy 20, you get a FREE 5 pack of Kraft Mac & Cheese. So for $2 you get 20 packs of Kool-aid and 5 boxes of Mac & Cheese - good deal BUT Devin pointed out that in the 06-21 S there is a coupon for Kool Aid unsweetened envelopes buy 10 and save $2 on any sugar (you can use 2 on this deal if you have them and get 2 sugars). She was all set to do it and I said "Wait! Stop at Jewel on the way and get the peelies for FREE Capri Sun WYB the 5 pack of Mac & Cheese!"

So for $2 you can get:

20 packets of Kool-aid
1 5 pack of Kraft Mac & Cheese
2 Sugars
1 Capri Sun


Shop on!

Update: There is 2 lb sugar for $1.80 which would give you $.20 overage (YMMV). 5# sugar is $2.69, so you'd pay $.69 for it - still a great deal.

Great Post for Beginners

Check out on Common Sense with Money - it's great for beginners and a great reminder for seasoned couponershttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Jewel Deals 6/18 - 6/24

This week there is a good ConAgra spend $25 get $10 deal going on. There is a misprint in the ad. It says spend $20 get $10 - it's wrong. $25 is the threshold you need to get to. Like all catalina deals, this one works on pre-preferred prices. Use your $10 cat from the coke/GM/Unilever deal to get this one rolling. Here are a few scenarios:

Wesson oil
scan price: $5.50
sale price: $2.50
buy 5 = $12.50
use a $10 cat from the deal that just ended. Pay $2.50 and get another $10 cat

Hunts pudding
scan price: $1.90
sale price: $1
buy 13
use a $10 cat from the deal that just ended. Pay $3 and get another $10 cat


Marie Callendars (if you have room left in your freezer after all the free/almost free ice cream)
scan price: $4
sale price: $2.50
buy 6 plus a $1 filler (pudding, ketchup, gulden's mustard)= $15.00
use a $10 cat from the deal that just ended. Pay $5 and get another $10 cat
if you have coupons from 5/17 SS - use as many $1 coupons as you have to reduce your total. I had several, which made my oop $0 (just tax)

Several other products are participating. Check the ad.

Also, if you bought a freezer in Jan there is a free Polar Burst coupon in the envelop. Polar Burst are BOGO through Sat so go get 2 for free.

Jewel Deals through 6/17

So I've taken a few weeks off and we've moved. I'm still surrounded by boxes and I have no desire to try to figure out where I am putting the contents of those boxes this week because Jewel is finally having another deal that will feed my couponing obsession. This deal includes products from General Mills, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. It's advertised on the inside of the first page of this week's flier. It says save up to $10 when you buy participating products. The increments of the deal are this:
Save $2 when you buy $10 or more
Save $5 when you buy $15 or more
Save $10 when you buy $25 or more
By reaching the $25 level, your savings are maximized. This deal is like all other catalina deals in that it works off of the price the product rings at before the preferred card discount, yet you pay the discounted price.
This deal does not stack, so you want to stay as close to $25, but over it, as possible. So with that information in mind, here are a few scenarios for you:

Breyer's Ice Cream
ring price: $6.59
Sale price: $3.00

Buy 4. You will pay $12.00 (plus tax), but get back a $10 catalina. Which you can use on your next order, so essentially, you've paid $2.00 for 4 containers. Just keep using the $10 catalina that spits out and you can fill your freezer with as much Breyer's as will fit for only $.50 a container. If you have coupons from the 5/17 RP, it gets even better because those coupons are for $1/2 - use 2 coupons and you'll just pay tax.

Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad
Ring price: $2.25
Sale price: $1.25

Buy 12. By using the $10 catalina from the ice cream, you'll pay only $5 for all 12 and get back another $10 catalina for the next deal, again $.50/2 coupons from the 5/17 SS make this deal even better. If you have 6 coupons, you'll pay only $2 for 12 boxes. We LOVE pasta salad during the summer so I've already bought 24 boxes for $4 - and I'll be getting a few more.

Klondike Bars
What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Ring Price: I don't quite remember and the receipt is in the car and I'm being lazy but it's over $5
Sale price: $3.00

Buy 5. Use the catalina from before and pay $5 for 5. $1 a pack is pretty good for Klondike bars.

There are TONS more products. Check your ad. Just remember to work with the price the items ring at to get to the $25 rather than the preferred discounted price and also use www.coupontom.com to do coupon match-ups.

Another deal I LOVE when Jewel runs is their Fav 4 meat deal. The ad doesn't look impressive - 4 meals for $19.99? No thanks! But if you can find smaller packages of the same items, the instant $4.10 discount will come off when the 4th pack is scanned. For instance, pub burgers packed in packs of 4 are part of the deal. They are priced at $6 per 4-pack. If you can find 4 - 2 packs for $3, you will spend $7.90 for all 4 packs. This also works for chicken breasts, and anything else that is part of the meat deal. Each store has different participating products so check your local Jewel.

It's grilling season and Sweet Baby Ray's Dipping or Grilling Sauces are B1G1 free. Use the $1 coupons for each in the 5/10 SS and pay only $1 for each one. Thanks to a great friend, I got to meet Mr. Sweet Baby Ray himself yesterday. They make some mighty good ribs at their restaurant. Mister didn't quite get the full slab I brought home for him for dinner. Oops!

Also, if you got in on the freezer deal in January and you've been saving your coupons, Jewel Polar Bursts are BOGO this week. Use the free coupon from the freezer deal and get 2 for free.

Happy shopping at Jewel this week! If you can run to Kmart today or tomorrow, they are doing doubles again this week up to $2 coupons (which double to $4) which can mean some cheap or free items. Abundant Savings has a great match up.

K-Mart Super Doubles this Week

I've been lax in posting deals here and I'll say upfront that I'll continue to be lax for the next few weeks due to other commitments right now.

That said, KMart is doing Super Doubles this week (through Saturday). Both the Woodstock and Crystal Lake locations are participating. How does this work? They will double coupons with a face value up to $2 (which will then become $4) as long as it doesn't exceed the value of the item.

This is what happens when you do doubles:

Revlon nail files happen to be 25% off. They are normally $1.49 and now $1.19. So if you use a $1 q you will only get the $1 off plus .19 cents (coupon adjusts) so it makes the item free.


Slickdeals has a excellent spreadsheet that is being updated continuously . . .

Go here: http://sheet.zoho.com/home.do
User name: slickdeals
Password: slickdeals