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Friday, September 16, 2011

WOW.

It's been 7 months since I've posted.  Surely I've had SOMETHING to say.

Be back soon.

Monday, February 21, 2011

WHATTAWEEKEND!!!

I am on a money-saving high, don't mind me.
Technically, this should be split into 2 posts.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't.  I'm kinda lazy that way.....
On Saturday I went to RiteAid. As you know, Saturday is the end day for most sales (as far as I know, everywhere except Acme) and on Sunday morning I went to ShopRite.  I do have a picture of my RiteAid booty, but of course it's on my SD card still in my camera at home, and I'm here working hard at my place of employment.  Maybe I'll come back and insert it later;  read that thing about lazy up there...
So here's what I bought:

2 Colgate Sensitive (the big 6.0!)  $3.50 ea.
2 Finish Quantumatic starters BOGO, $10.99 (they were supposed to be $3.99)
1 Almay concealer (love these!) 40% off = $4.79
2 Bags dark chocolate Chex mix 2/ $3.00
1 Lays Stax $1.50
2 Stayfree maxi-pads BOGO, $3.99
1 50ct. Excedrin $4.99
1 80 + 20 ct. Advil $10.99
1 Uncle Ben's ready rice $2.29
2 Snickers PB2 .88 ea.
2 Palmolive dish liquid BOGO, $3.39

Used:
2 Colgate coupons (.35 each)
2 Finish coupons (3.00, 1.00)
Almay (2.00)
Chex (.50/2 +.50VV)
Stayfree (BOGO, 1.00)
Exedrin (Free, in mail)
Advil (1.00 in ad, 1.00)
Uncle Ben's (1.00 + .30VV)
Snickers (BOGO)
Palmolive ($1.00, .50)

I can't remember if there were any specific VV coupons besides the ones I mentioned, but I did use my $4 off $20, a $2 VV and my $13 +UP from my last RiteAid excursion.
I probably wouldn't have bought the Advil if there had been a price sticker on the shelf.  I'd rather have my stuff for closer to free.  But it's something we use a lot of, so I took the chance.  Also a splurge was the Lays, since I didn't have a coupon. (I did, however have an 8 year old boy tagging along-bad for the budget.)  I was slightly perturbed that the Finish rang up at $10.99, since the shelf price said it was on sale for $3.99 (which would have utimately had me purchasing 2 for .99) but I decided to let it go, as I had the poor cashier boy all discombobulated with my coupons.

I saved $41.86 with coupons and R/A coupons.  My OOP was 14.82 + tax.  I got back $16  in +UP's, and the most exciting part is that I hit my $100 Winter Savings, so I got my $20 reward.  Woo-Hoo----I wasn't even going for that because I didn't think it was possible for me to do with my low-key spending.  But, not only did I get it, I only actually spent less than $40 OOP to get there.

It may not be possible to spend $20 at RiteAid in one trip.

********************************************************************************

A Brief Summary of ShopRite:
I don't have my receipt with me, but this is close to what I got:

18 boxes of Ronzoni pasta @ .74 each
4 jars Ragu pasta sauce @ 3/4.00
16 cans Progresso soups @ 1.00 each
1 Kashi cereal @ 2.69
2 Kashi cookies @ 2/5.00
2 Kashi crackers @ 2.500
1 box Golden Grahams @ 2.49
2 Chex Mix @ 2/4.00
1 Vlasic pickles @ 2.00 each
1 lb. Keller butter @ 2.99?
2 Eggland's best eggs @ 2.69? each
2 jugs Clorox @ 2/3.00
2 Horizon single serve choc. milk @ 1.00 each
3 blocks cheddar cheese (Macadam) @ 1.69? each
1 pkg. Borden swiss cheese @ 1.99 ea.
1 pkg. Borden provolone cheese @ 1.99ea.
2 Mama Rosie's ravioli @ 1.49 ea.
2 Boca burgers @ 3.59 ea.
2 Green Giant Valley Steamers broccoli @ 2/4.00
1 loaf Arnold double fiber bread @ 2.99 ea,
celery @ 2.99 ea.
strawberries @ 2.49 ea.
2 mangos (is it mangoes?) @ .99 ea,

I had one or two $1 coupons for the pasta, making those free, and a the rest were .48 for two after the 1.00/2 coupons.  I had 1.00/2 Ragu coupons. $1 Mama Rosie's coupons, $1 Vlasic, $1 Horizon (making them both free) $1 Clorox, $1 Eggland's Best, $1 Golden Grahams, $1/2 Chex mix, 4 @ $2 off any Kashi, $3 Kashi cereal, 4 @ 1.00/4 Progresso soup, and $1 off Green Giant vegs. Also, I had a $5 off any order over $40, and a ShopRite coupon for a free lb. of Keller's butter.

My total after savings card but before coupons was $104, and OOP I paid $62.00.  My cashier was more excited for me than I was.  I feel good about this trip--I bought the bread, cheeses and produce with no coupons at all.  AND I got $24 in Catalinas.

Since I only just recently started posting my shopping trips, there are a couple of things I should point out:
We are mostly vegetarian.  (I am completely, and my husband isn't compelled to eat meat.)
We have a lot of food in the freezer.  Our freezer is very small, but there are only 3 of us.
While I don't have a strict grocery budget, I try to keep it under $100/wk.
My husband is a salesman, and is usually not home for dinner :-(
Our church has a food pantry, and we donate regularly.
My son (8y.o.) doesn't eat much, but we stock up on things that he will eat, and to that end, I have enough Tyson's frozen chicken and Perdue fun shapes to last him quite awhile, all purchased with coupons at an awesome sale price.
For a long, long time I was a single mother with 5 kids and no child support.  Using coupons combined with sales was not a hobby, it was the only way I could feed my family. My husband's ex-wife wouldn't be caught dead using a coupon, so he is particularly pleased with my dedication to conserving family funds.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

How About A Post Every 2 Months?...................

Seems like that's how it's turning out, anyhow. 

Money I've spent/saved so far this week:

Walgreen's

Purchased 4 Arm & Hammer deodorant for 3.96 + tax.  I did NOT use RR's because there was a limit of 4 (Wags coupon) and I have one RR worth $6.  I had run into Wags on my lunch hour to grab a sale flyer, and saw that these were on sale.  This is the only deodorant that my husband will use, so I took this rare opportunity to get 'em cheap.  I will have to spend my RR by Monday, so will look to see if I can roll it, and maybe get even more deodorant.

CVS:

Started the week with $8 in ECB's from last week, which I had rolled a couple of times.  All I did this week was purchase 2 Colgate Sensitive toothpaste for $7.98.  Since I had a coupon for $1, and one for .35 I needed a filler.  I bought a bag of 1/2 price Valentine candy to share at work.  OOP was .63 and I got my $7.98 back.

I will go to Rite Aid tomorrow or Saturday.  And then ShopRite, but only if I can save big-time, as we have plenty of food, and only need milk and bread.