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

Taming the E-mail Lion

My inbox and junk mail are loaded with junk. They contain e-mails from everywhere. So much that I can barely find the real emails that I want to get. This is the curse of signing up for this promo and that promo just to get the coupons! I have discovered the cure! This was shared on one of the couponing boards I belong to.

10 minute email! When you need to get an email to confirm a sign-up - but don't want your inbox flooded for the next century - this is GREAT! You are assigned an email for 10 minutes. You get the confirmation, go back to whatever site you were on and finish your registration. Now if you want to have to sift through 50 emails a day - go ahead, give out your email address. But I will be using 10 minute mail!

How many Sunday papers do I need?

This is often asked by new couponers. The answer varies. Part of it depends on the size of your family, it is also partially determined by your goals and how quickly you'd like to see your stock pile grow. I regularly buy between 3 and 5 and get inserts from friends for 2-3 more. As I've posted before, you can buy the Saturday edition with all the inserts for $1 from Woodmans and Dollar Tree. Jewel occasionally has a double pack for $2 but I've only seen it occasionally. If you KNOW there's a good coupon coming, (Taylortown Preview has a list), you would want to buy accordingly.

Jewel Deals this week

I chuckle inside when I overhear others say how cheap groceries are at other stores. Don't be fooled by shelf prices. If you're willing to put a little effort into the cause, Jewel is the best bang for your buck.

Time to stock up on Kellogg's cereals (and milk). There are 2 promotions running right now (through Wed) on Kellogg's cereals.

Promotion 1 (ends Wed):
Buy 10 and get and instant $10 deduction. The cereals involved are plainly marked at the store. There are some other items that work for this promotion as well. Nutrigrain bars and Rice Krispie treats are among them. They are on sale for $2.50 a box. When you buy 10, you receive a automatic $10 deduction, so now they are $1.50 a box. Add in some coupons from the 2/22 RP ($1.50 off 2, $.70 off 1) and your total drops. Assuming you have 5 of the $1.50/2 coupons, you would pay $7.50 for 10 boxes of cereal.

Promotion 2 (this one actually runs longer - through 4/12):
If 7 of those 10 boxes of cereal are 12 oz or larger, you will get 3 coupons for 1 gallon of milk (up to $4.69). So you have just paid $7.50 for 10 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk. The cheapest I've seen milk lately is $1.99, so factoring that price in, you are paying about $.15 a box for the cereal. You want to make sure you get 7 cereals but you could get pop-tarts, nutrigrain bars, cheez-its or a variety of other things (just look for the signs) as your other 3 items.

The milk catalinas are generated by 7 or more so while this deal does stack, in order to maximize your milk catalinas, you will want to do it one deal per transaction. This is a good price for cereal - you'll want to stock up for at least a couple of months. Keep in mind, the milk catalinas expire in 2 weeks so assuming you have enough coupons, you'll at least want to do enough transactions to cover your milk needs for two weeks.

Free Tomato Seeds from Campbell's

Campbell's soup is helping you get you garden started! Click here to request your free seeds. And while you're there, help donate seeds to FFA. If you don't have a can of Campbell's on hand, the code for Tomato soup is:

First code: CU
Second code: 01

Kraft deal still going strong at Jewel

The Kraft deal is still going strong, but there are new things on sale this week. The cheese is still a great buy and if you pair it with some of the other things on sale, it's free.

4 Kraft 2% cheese shreds or chunks
4 Planter's trail mix
sale prices equal $13.00
You will get back $13.00 in coupons - I've done this one MANY times. Tax on $13.00 is about $.23 - that's all you'll pay. The expirations on the cheese are June and July so stock up as much as you can that you will use by then.

Here are a few other scenarios:

Kraft deli creations. There are Ham, Turkey and Roast Beef varieties. These are ringing at $3.95, but are on sale for $2.50. Buy 4 (use the $1/2 blinkies in the case) Buy 2 Kraft South Beach Living salad dressings (these are on everyone's Avenu for $1 off. Just remember to activate your Avenu) and an Easy Mac (on sale for $1)

Here's the math:
4 Deli creations $15.80 / $10.00
2 South Beach $ 8.00 / $ 5.00
2 Easy Mac $ 2.16 / $ 2.00
$25.96 / $17.00

2 Deli Creations coupons - $2.00
Avenu savings on dressing- $2.00

Total: $13.00

Get $10 coupon back. If you already have a $10 coupon, you'll pay only $3 OOP and get the $10 coupon back.

Nabisco variety tray packs are on sale for $4.50. Normally $7.25.

2 trays $14.50 / $ 9.00
4 Planter's trail mix $11.00 / $ 5.00
$25.50 / $14.00

1 peelie on trays - $ 1.00
2 tearpad coupons for mix - $ 2.00

Total: $11.00

Get $10 coupon back. If you already have a $10 coupon, you'll pay only $1 OOP and get the $10 coupon back.

Jewel - the GEM of grocery stores!

if you had told me last summer that I would shop almost exclusively at Jewel I would have laughed. Jewel is too expensive! Well yes they are - unless you know how to shop there.

There are SO many deals right now at Jewel, it's hard to know where to start. There is a Spend $25 or More when you Buy Select Kraft, Starkist, Arnold, Brownberry or Oroweat products between 3/4 and 3/22 and get $10 back. This is in the form of a catalina - but those are just like cash.

Some of the products are: Cheese (currently on sale for $2), Planter's trail mix (Currently on sale for $1.25), and South Beach Living cereal bars (also on sale - and possibly on your Avenu). Sashafras did a great job of outlining the cheese deal here.
The trail mix (which would be a great 72 hour kit item) is normally $2.75, on sale for $1.25. Buy 10 and pay only $12.50. Get a $10 catalina back - if you already have a cat, you'll pay only $2.50 for 10 bags or $.25 each. Around Super bowl time, there were Kraft coupon booklets out with $1 off 2, if you have 3 of those - you'll have $.50 overage (Overage is my favorite word. Free is my 2nd favorite word).

This deal DOES NOT stack so limit your buying to $25 (scanning price) each transaction.

The $19.99 4-pack meat deal is back - again, watch for packages priced $4 and under for the best value here.

Ice Mountain water (the 6-pack 700 mL flip top bottle) is on sale for $2.50 each. For every 2 you buy, you get a $2 catalina back so $3 for 12 700 mL bottles, but throw in the $.75/2 coupon from the 2/08 RP and pay only $2.25 for 12 bottles of water - that's under $.19 a bottle! And after you scan the first 2, you will get a coupon for $1 off two which you can use on your next order - less than $.17 a bottle! The $1 coupon only prints for the first 2 so if you want to keep getting them, you need to break up your transactions.

Over at Walgreens, there is a great deal on Huggies this coming week. Spend $25 get $10 back. There are coupons for $5 and $3 at www.coupons.com - make sure you print 2 of each per computer you have access to. The jumbo packs of diapers are on sale for $10 so if you were to purchase 2 packages of diapers and one package of wipes and use 2 - $5 and 1 - $3 coupon, the scenario would look like this:

$26 diapers and wipes
-$2 store discount for purchasing 2nd package of diapers (may have to remind cashier)
-$13 2 - $5 coupons and 1 $3 coupon
=$11
-$10 Register Reward
=$1 for all that!

Remember, Walgreens Register Rewards don't roll or stack.

Happy shopping this week!

$19.99 4-pack is Back at Jewel & GM buy 10 get $10 deal

I'm not loving it though. The chicken is higher priced this time ($2.66.lb as opposed to $1.99 last time). It still works the same way - (4 packs of fav 4 meat - $4.10 automatic discount) - so choose your packages wisely. One item to stock up on - not part of the Fav-4, would be Johnsonville sausages. They are on sale 2/$5 - use this coupon and pay $2.50 for 3 packages. It's a pdf so you can print more than 1. Just be aware the coupon is not coded to take the $5 off automatically. It will beep and the cashier will have to enter it manually.

UPDATE: The Jewels in Elgin have the Johnsonville on sale 3/$5 - FREE with the coupon - just pay tax (about $.09 on $5) through next Wednesday - please leave some for me :-)

The General Mills buy 10 get $10 promotion is advertised in this week's circular. Buy any 10 participating products (see ad for items) get $10 back. The best item to buy is the Pillsbury Grands. 10 will cost $12.50 but there are $.75/3 blinkies (use 3) to pay only $10.25 (if you have a $10 ConAgra cat use that as well and pay only $.25) - you will get a $10 catalina back. You can mix and match the items as well. I bought 6 Betty Crocker Warm Delights and 4 Grands - used 6 $.50 coupons on the Warm Delights and 2 - $.50 coupons I had for the grands - I did use a $10 catalina from the ConAgra promotion - Total OOP $.96 + tax.

Coupon Giveaway

Check it out ! You'll want to sign up for it!

Jewel Freezer Coupon Match-ups

For those of you who were able to get a freezer last week-end at Jewel - hold on to those coupons! The coupons were for $150 worth of FREE food. If you hang on to the coupons until the items are on sale Buy One Get One, you will get TWO for FREE (another trick of couponers to maximize their savings)and you'll actually get $300 worth of FREE food. Right now Deans Ice cream and Baldwin Ice Cream are BOGO - so clip those coupons and go get 4 containers of Ice Cream for FREE.

The unadvertised ConAgra promotion at Jewel

This deal is currently unadvertised and has had some hiccups and glitches up to this point but is working for the most part. The risk you take in working an unadvertised deal is that if it doesn't work, the store may not honor the promotion without the ad. But if you don't mind the risk - the pay-off can be incredible. The promotion is buy $25 of participating products and get a $10 catalina for your next shopping trip. Since this is a catalina deal, it works off of shelf prices (you don't actually have to spend $25 - just $25 worth (at regular prices)) and it does roll (you can use the $10 catalina on your next transaction). It will be advertised in the 2/26 ad but you can get a head start on it now. The best way to work this deal is to find the items you use that are on a deep discount. Then, with the catalina deal, they are free or close to it. For example, right now Swiss Miss hot chocolate is on sale for $1. The shelf price varies by store but I have seen it as high as $2.55 (West Dundee). This means by buying 10, you will hit the required amount ($25.50) but pay only $10 and get the $10 catalina back, which you could then use to buy another 10 and pay only $.18 (tax). The Pam is another fairly deep discount. You would need to buy 6 (regular price is $4.25) and pay $18 (use your previously acquired $10 catalina and 6 of the $.35 coupon from 1/18SS to reduce your oop $4.90 for 6 - less than a $1 a can.) Or mix and match with the Swiss Miss. Sales like this are how you can build your food storage for very little OOP. Watch your ad for sale prices on the following items:


Swiss Miss on sale for $1 till 2/22
Peter Pan
Parkay Margarine
Marie Callenders
Hunts tomato varieties on sale till 2/22
Reddi Whip
Wesson Oil on sale $4.49 till 2/22
Banquet
Kid Cuisine
Healthy Choice soup
VandeCamps baked beans
Pam Cooking Spray on sale for $3 till 2/22
Chef Boyardee
Rotel Tomatoes on sale for $1 till 2/22
Act II Popcorn

Getting Ready for the Big Game

Oaky, so I know the SuperBowl is on a Sunday and no one is watching. You're all going to TiVo it right? But just in case you're having a get together this weekend, here are some ideas to make it cheaper.

Hormel Party Trays are on sale $12.99, when you buy one, you get a free 8-piece chicken (coupon in store) or $7.00 towards any Chef's Kitchen chicken purchase AND when you get the 8-piece chicken, you get 2 - 2L bottles of ANY Coca-cola product (coupon in store). So for $12.99, you get snacks, chicken & drinks. That's $10 worth of food FREE. This would be an example of stacking deals.

Nabisco crackers are on sale for $2 (Triscuit & Wheat Thins & others) and $3 (Ritz). When you buy 3, you get a free Kraft cheese (all participating crackers and cheese are marked in the store). If you use the $2/2 coupon for the crackers from the 11/25 SS and buy 3 $2 crackers, you will pay $4 for 3 boxes of crackers and cheese. Some stores have $.75 coupons (blinkies) for the cheese and you can use this as well, then you'll be paying $3.25 for the same. If you happen to have 2 coupons, you'll still pay the same, but get 4 boxes of crackers.

The best of Walgreens 1/25-2/1

WEEKLY DEALS

Printer Cartridge refill (at photo counters) $5
Submit for ESR rebate, Get $5 back when you buy one
FREE after rebate

Reynolds Foil Wrap 20 SQFT $0.89 after in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 from 12/14 Smartsource (SS) insert
FREE after coupons

Reese’s Whipps on sale buy one get one free or 2/$0.98 with in-ad coupon
Use $1/2 coupon from 1/4 inserts
FREE after coupons

Hershey’s Chocolate Bars on sale buy one get one free or 2/$0.98 with in-ad coupon
Use buy one get one coupon from 1/25 inserts
FREE after coupons

Revlon Colorsilk $1.99 after in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 from 1/11 insert
Pay $0.99 each after coupons

Edge Shaving Gel $1.99 after in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 coupon in ESR catalog (If Vault or Energy types included)
Pay $0.99 each after coupons

Walgreens Cold Medicine on sale buy one get one free or 2/$3.99
Submit for ESR rebate, get $10 back when you buy six products (see ESR booklet for list of items)
Pay $11.97 when you buy six items
Get $10 back via ESR rebate
It’s like paying $1.97 for six products (only 97 cents if you have the rebate loaded to a Walgreens Gift Card)

REGISTER REWARD DEALS

Colgate Toothpaste $2.99
Get $2 bin register Rewards when you buy one
Use $0.75/1 from 1/18 SS insert
Pay $0.24 each after coupon and register reward

Degree Deodorant $1.99 after in ad coupon
Buy 8 get $10 RR back (this is a monthly deal ending 1/31)
Use $1.50/2 coupon from 1/11 Red Plum Inserts
FREE after coupons and Register Reward

Thanks to Mercedes for these deals

Need more coupons?

Did you forget to get the paper? Or do you just want more of a certain one (like the $2.50 Electrasol coupon - FYI some Jewels have the lemon scented on clearance for $1.99 - they will PAY you to take it home with this coupon - just make sure you get something else to use your overage)? Visit the coupon clippers to get additional coupons.

FREE Cherry 7up with antioxidants at Jewel TODAY ONLY

Today (Saturday) only, you can get a 2L bottle of Cherry 7-up with Antioxidants (so here's an oxymoron - healthy soda?). It is limit 1 per customer so this would be a good time to shop with the ENTIRE family. Normally I don't advocate that. The coupons are at the registers or customer service (that's where they were at the 2 stores I went to). Pick up your cheap butter and chicken breasts while you're at it.

Cheap Chicken Breast & Butter at Jewel

Jana H. this deal is for you. Jewel is running their meat 4-pak special again. On the surface it just seems like an okay deal because it's $19.99 for any 4 paks of meat that are included. If you can't find the right packages it is just okay. However, the chicken breast packages that are part of the deal are $1.50/lb. A decent price BUT if you buy 4 packages of chicken breasts and you choose the least expensive packages you can find (preferably under $4) the price per lb drops like a rock! After the 4th package is scanned, you will get an automatic discount of $4.10, so it's like buying 3 and getting the 4th free. My packages were all about $4.30 and with the discount, the price/lb was $1.15. Obviously, if you can find cheaper packages, it's a better deal because the discount is a fixed $4.10. There are 5 breasts per package. There may be some stew meat packages that would fall into this deal also but I wasn't able to find any at the store I went to.

Butter is also $1.77 through Saturday.

Cheap Baby Food at Meijer

Beech-Nut baby food is CHEAP at Meijer! It's on sale 4 for a dollar. Use the $1/10 coupon from 1/4 SS and pick this up for only 15 cents a jar. If you don't have the coupon, I have several (about 5 or 6). Give me a call (so this is only open to those who have my phone #) and I will get the coupons to you. If they are out when you go, get a raincheck!

Walgreens Deals 1/18-1/24

My favorite deal this week is the Mauna Loa deal! I LOVE macademia nuts and I LOVE chocolate. Chocolate covered macademia nuts are on sale 2/$4. Use the $3/2 January EasySaver coupon (on page 4) and pay $1 for 2.

Switching gears a little, I have been intrigued by the L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara. If you have too, it's on sale this week for $7.99. Usually $9.99. There is also a $1 coupon here, which would make it $6.99. A good enough deal for me? Nope, but it's the cheapest I've seen it so far.

Some RR deals and coupon match ups worth noting:

Buy 8 or more get $10 RR, Buy 6 get $6 RR, Buy 4 get $2 RR - Obviously buying 8 gives you the best return, but which 8? This is a good stock-up on peanut butter and Ragu deal since these are the least OOP. Buying 8 of either one (or mixing and matching) totals $15.92. Minus the $10 RR means you've spent $5.92 for 8 - good deal. But add in the coupons below for even greater savings. For example, if you had 8 Skippy coupons, you would be paying $2.72 for 8 jars of peanut butter. OR 6 jars of Ragu and 2 jars of peanut butter (if you have 2 papers) would be $3.92.

Skippy $1.99
-$.40 Skippy Peanut Butter Product, any 15 oz.+ RP 11/16/08, RP 1/18/09
Ragu $1.99
-$1 off 3 Ragu Pasta Sauce, any RP 11/16/08, RP 1/18/09

Dove & sunsilk Haircare 2/$7
-$1.50 dove hair care 1/18
-$2 off 2 Sunsilk Shampoo, Conditioner, or Styling Products, any V 1/18/09
Dove Deodorant 2/$7
-$1 any 2 dove deodorants-$1.50 off 2 Dove Deodorant and/or Body Mist, any V 1/18/09
Degree Deodorant 2/$7
-$1 off 2 Degree Deodorant, any V 1/18/09
dove or degree clinical protection deodorant $7.99
-$2 Degree Clinical Protection Deodorant V 1/18/09
Dove Body Wash
Caress Body Wash
Lever Bar Soap
-$1 Lever 2000 Refreshing Soap, any 4 bar + RP 1/18/09
Q Tips
-$.30 Q-Tips Cotton Swabs Product, any 170 ct + RP 1/18/09
Pond's
Dove Lotion
-$1.50 Dove Cream Oil Hand or Body Lotion, any RP 1/18/09
Lipton Tea $2.99
-$.75 off 2 Lipton Tea Bags, Lipton To Go or any Iced Tea Mix, any RP 11/16/08
-$.60 Lipton Tea Bags, any RP 1/18/09
Hellman's $3.99
-$.60 Hellmanns Product, any 18 oz.+ RP 11/16/08, RP 1/18/09
Bertolli $5.99
-$2 off Oven Bake Meals


Buy 2 Neosporin $4.99 or Bandaids $2.99 get $3 RR - The bandaids are the best deal - use the $1 coupon in the Walgreen's Activity Book and to pay $1.99 each, but get back $3 RR - $.50 for bandaids!

For an overview of all the Walgreens deals, visit iheartwags

Win $15 in Coupons from Kraft!

Play the So Good Together on Game Day Instant Win Game for a chance to win $15 on your Kraft Foods favorites for your football celebration! There are 43,000 chances to win and I finally won on my third try on the third day I played. So don't get discouraged. Keep playing! You can enter 4 times each day until 2/2/09.

Jewel 1/15 - 1/21

Jewel's deals this week aren't quite as exciting but there are still some to be had. Right now there is a catalina deal from ConAgra Foods. The thresholds are $3 back when you spend $15, $5 back when you spend $20, and $7 back when you spend $30. A quick calculation tells you that the optimum return is the $20 threshold - you'll get 25% back if you can keep it as close to $20 as possible. With that in mind, here is a great deal that isn't advertised but I know it works because I have done it. Ketchup is a necessary part of our food storage. There are some members of my family who think it is a vegetable (it's a stretch I know, but at least there is some nutrition in it.) I digress. Hunt's ketchup is currently 10/$10. It's also part of the promotion, but isn't listed in the ad. This works off the REGULAR price which is $1.95. If you purchase 11 of the ketchups, you will pay $11. But you will get a $5 coupon back because 11 x $1.95 takes you over $20. $6 for 5 bottles of ketchup isn't bad. I don't know of any coupon matchups for this to make it better, but if you have the $5 coupons from the P&G/GM/Coke deal - you can use those. Another good deal is the Healthy Choice soups. They are normally $2.95 - NEVER in a million years would I pay that. But if you buy 8, and use the $.45/2 blinkie coupons (4 of them - just stand there, they will come out eventually)that are in the aisle, you will pay $8.20, and get the $5 coupon back. That works out to $.40 each - not bad for a quick easy lunch. These coupons should "roll" although I haven't tried it yet. I also have not tried "stacking" it and because of the triple threshold, probably won't. Check your Thursday ad (1/15) for more details on this promotion.

The $5 instant savings listed in Sunday's ad for General Mills products works off the sale prices with your Preferred Card.

As always, check your Avenu. Many people have $1.50 off South Beach Living cereal bars which are on sale 2/$6 this week. Print this coupon for $2 off (hit your browser's back button to print 2) and get paid $.50 each to take them home. Remember, you won't actually get the cash but you can purchase other items which it will help pay for.

3 Month Supply - The Journey

Last year (2008) our ward (congregation) at church set a goal that all members would have a 3 month supply of food on hand by the end of the year. I must admit, that when I read the goal in January of 2008, I sort of dismissed it because I knew that there was no way I could add extra food into our already too tight budget. It frustrated me because the goal was one that I knew we needed to work on, but I had no idea how to accomplish it. In August, I attended a class at our local library about Super Couponing in order to learn more about saving money on groceries and the light went ON. This was THE ONLY way without increasing our income that we could accomplish the goal and this is the result. Have we accomplished the goal? Not quite yet, unless we eat ONLY cereal (130 + boxes) and hot chocolate (started with 70 boxes and I think we're down to 50ish). But we are much closer than we were 4 months ago and we have the knowledge to accomplish the goal. We have quite a few side dish foods (rice and potatoes) and some canned veggies (about a month's worth). Did this kill the budget? I would have to say no. Those 70 boxes of hot chocolate cost under $2 - for ALL of them. The cereal? Each box cost between $.03 and $.50 with the average being less than $.20. We have a year's supply of razors for about $15 out of pocket (I know you can't eat those but you do still have to look good and feel good about how you look). Many of the items cost NOTHING - we MADE money (coupons for groceries or overage towards other items) by buying some items. Not only has this method helped us, we have been able to donate many items to our local food pantry. So we're able to help ourselves and others. Our goal this year is to round out this supply and continue to build our year's supply. We want to continue to contribute to the food pantry and help others learn how to do this themselves so they can be self-reliant.

Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix - a review

Just wanted to share. This Jewel sale was the first time I purchased the Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix. While I think the box is a little on the small side (28.3 oz) and a little pricey for my taste at a retail price of $3.65 a box, the sale at Jewel that ends today (it is part of the 3/$10 group), combined with the $.60 coupon in the 1/4 SS, makes the price much more reasonable and the taste is REALLY good - a lot like the pancakes my mom made when I was a child. Since it is a complete mix, it is a good candidate for 3 month food storage (expiration dates on my boxes are AUG '09). Assuming you are starting with 3 - $5 catalinas and no other coupons and this is the only item you are buying, 9 boxes will get you to your $30 threshold (you could also do 8 and a $1.50 filler like the Fuze drink or Puffs) by using the $15 in catalinas you already have, these 9 boxes will cost you $1.66 each. If you happen to have the $.60 coupons, they will drop to $1.06 each. The sale lasts till midnight.

Free Suave Shampoo TODAY ONLY (12/14)!

Register TODAY for a FREE bottle of Suave shampoo. Don't use or like Suave? Register anyway, you can donate it to your local food pantry or use it to give your favorite furry friend a bath.

Jewel 1/8 - 1/14

The GREAT P&G, GM & Coke sale continues at Jewel! This will be the last week - they don't usually go longer than this, so get any coupons together and put yor transactions together to get the best bang for your buck. If you don't subscribe to a paper, Dollar Tree and Woodman's both sell the early edition of the Tribune for $1 on Saturday, complete with inserts - it's also a good idea to get the paper on Saturday because there are sometimes coupons in there for current sales.

Some other great sales going on at Jewel include the Nestle spend $20 get $5 instantly. Because this is an instant discount, it is based on the sale prices. Check your ad for a full list of participating products, but some are Edy's ice cream, Purina dog food, Lean Cuisine, and Juicy Juice.

A few other deals:

Buy 2 - 64 oz bottles Ocean Spray Grapefruit Juice (at 2/$4) get a 5 lb. bag of grapefruit FREE. This is a GREAT price just for the juice but to get the fruit on top of it is an even better deal! Update: Make this deal even better with the $1 coupon in Sunday's SS insert. If you have 2 coupons, pay only $2 for 2 bottles of juice and 5 lbs of grapefruit!
Rice-A-Roni is on sale 8 for $10 - not bad, but buy all 8 and ANY meat and get $5 off. Then they will be 8 for $5 AND if you have coupons from 1/4 RP, there is a $1/4 in there and you will pay only $4 or $3 for all 8 if you have two coupons.

Free Johnson Buddie Bars

If you're not familiar with these kid-friendly floatable soaps, they can be found at Target and Walmart for under $1 - making them free with coupons. Click here for a $3 off 3 printable or there were coupons in the 1/4 SS as well. I have also used them as "fillers". Say you have a $5 off $25 coupon at Meijer and you're at $22. Pick up 3 of these to get you over the $25 mark, use your Meijer coupon first, and then scan any manufacturer coupons you have. These bars are a little more expensive at Meijer ($1.09 per bar last time I bought them), but I'll gladly pay $.27 to save $5. You will begin to have a plethora of buddie bars.

P&G Coupon Book

If you're enjoying the sale at Jewel, you have probably already met the requirement for this FREEBIE. Spend $50 on Proctor and Gamble products and get a coupon book with $120 in coupons. P&G products include Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Iams dog food, Always Infinity, Tide, Febreze and Puffs, just to name a few. The purchase requirement is the price of the item BEFORE coupons so the Bounty and Pampers are worth $10 each towards the goal. The Charmin is $12.99.
Here is a sample of some of the HIGH VALUE coupons you'll find in the booklet:


$1/1 Charmin toilet paper (3 coupons)
$1/1 Crest toothpaste (3 coupons)
$1/1 Duracell batteries (3 coupons)
$2/1 Pampers diapers (3 coupons)
$1/1 Pringles Sticks or Snack Stacks (2 coupons)

GET THE MAIL-IN FORM HERE.

Jewel Day 2

The fruit snack deal wasn't working today. So I had to revise my game plan. Today's haul:

5 24 big roll packs of Charmin
32 various boxes of cereal
1 box of Puffs

Total OOP: $16.00 exactly
Total Savings: $203.95

ROUND 2: (I had to do something constructive during Cubscouts) (no pictures)

15 boxes cereal (Fiber One and Cheerios)
2 boxes Pizza Rolls
1 box Fiber One Toaster Pastries [healthy(?) Pop-Tarts]

Total OOP:$2.28
Total Savings: $67.43
But I also 'earned' 2 $5 catalinas I didn't have before so they basically 'Paid' me $7.72 to take all this home.

Jewel Day 1

What an incredible sale Jewel is having! Get there if you can! For my readers who have an Albertson's close by - this is coming to you - don't miss out! This was 11 or 12 separate transactions, which kept the OOP low.

Total OOP: less than $33.74
Total Savings: $484.81
Items:
32 Febreze (these were a money maker so I had to buy them)
48 boxes fruit snacks (again a money maker and only $.21 OOP for 12 boxes)
11 boxes Go-gurt
12 packages Yoplait kids yogurt
1 bag Thomas' mini bagels (lunch)
1 package drinkable yogurt (lunch - not pictured)
1 package Fiber One yogurt
5 Always Infinity
6 6 packs Sprite and Coke
7 bisquik
1 Fiber One Pancake mix
5 Fuze drinks

3 8 lb packages Iams Smart Puppy (for my oldest daughter's dog)

16 Garnier haircare products (walgreens)

I think that's everything, but I may be forgetting something since it's all been put away. Day 2 is cereal and more fruit snacks day.

FREE Garnier at Walgreens!

Hopefully you got lots of papers this weekend because this week Garnier is on sale at Walgreens for $2.99. Use the $1 coupon from Sunday's inserts and the $2 Walgreens coupon in the Easy Saver book to get it FREE!

Also a good deal this week is Palmolive dish washing liquid. It is $1.79. Use the $.25 coupon from the 1-4 SS and the $1 store coupon in the flyer to pay $.54!

Another good deal is Electrasol dishwasher detergent. There is a $2.50 coupon again in Sunday's paper. There is also a $1.50 rebate (limit 1) but this makes it FREE with overage! Editted to add: Electrasol is also on sale at Target for $3.25, so only $.75 after the coupon.

Happy Shopping!

Jewel Buy $30 get $15 back

This is one of those incredible stock-up sales! Remember that these deals run off the prices the register rings before Preferred Card savings! The ad lists that the prices are effective through the 7th but that the Catalina deal runs through the 14th. That makes it a little confusing but here are some of the REALLY great deals:

Pampers jumbo diapers normally $12.49 on sale for $10 - purchase 3 and get not $15, but $20 back in Catalinas due to a separate deal (spend $25 or more on baby products - get $5 back) that is running. There are also Pampers wipes 2/$10 included in this deal. Here's an idea (I'm out of the diaper phase so you'll have to try this one on your own) buy 2 packs of diapers and one of wipes $25 and get $20 back - $5 for that bundle is a STEAL! Any coupons you have will only make this better. I understand there are some $3 coupons out there but don't know the source. There are also some free Kandoo wipe coupons - also don't have the source on those. Coupontom.com is an awesome site for finding what current coupons are out there.

Tide 75-100 oz liquid on sale for $11.47 (normally $15.99) Buy 2 - use the $1 off coupons in the 12/28 PG get $15 back. Here's the math:
$11.47
$11.47
-$1.00
-$1.00
=$20.94
-$15 back
=$5.94 ... less than $3 a bottle!

Bounty 8 pack Giant Roll normally $14.99 on sale for $10. You'll need a small filler item for these and since there were 25 cent coupons in Sunday's paper, it's a great one. Also, make sure to activate your Avenu savings before you shop for an additional $1 off each on the Bounty. There are 25 cent coupons in the 12/28 P&G as well:

$10.00 Bounty
$10.00 Bounty
$1.50 Fuze
-$1.00 (Avenu savings)
-$1.00 (Avenu savings)
-$.75 (2 - $.25 Bounty & 1 - $.25 Fuze)
$18.75
-$15 back
$3.75 for 2 huge packs of Bounty and a drink to keep you going!

Dasani Water 24 pack .5 L normally $6.99 on sale for $5
4 packs will get you to $26.96 - add in a box of any of the cereals to get over $30. Here are how the sale prices add up:
$20 (4 x $5)
$ 2
-$.75 printable on cheerios
$21.75
-$15 back
=$6.75 for 96 bottles of water and a box of cereal



Make sure you check your ad and coupons for more really great deals on cereal, Go-gurt (at less than 50 cents a box with coupons), fruit snacks, Iams dog food and more - this is a shop til you drop sale!