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!