The SAT Trip

That would be the Smth's, Albertson's, and Target trips today....

There are some killer promo's out there you can find on KCL. for all three of these stores this week through October 20th. I was looking to keep it simple and just get the stuff we needed using the high value coupons I had....

Smith's

They had an Unadvertised deal on Pillsbury refrigerated items AND Ziploc Bags.
Buy 3 get $2 OYNO
I had $1.00 off coupons for 12 separate Pillsbury items, can we say: Cookie Dough!! and pie crusts, crescent rolls, etc.
So those were $1.85 to $3.49 each original price
with coupons it brought these to $.85 to $2.49 each, then
With $2.00 off 3 promo they came to:
.19 to $1.83 each!

Ah Yeah! Sweet!


Ziplocs bags all gallon/freezer varieties: - $.4.99 each
Minus $1.00 coupons and $2.00 off 3,
That's $1.66 off each one
or $3.33 each.
I know they've been cheaper in the past, but I needed them! I got 6.
I saved $10.02 on these

Other deals w/o coupons:
Apples were .69 a pound
Kroger Cheese was .99 an 8oz bag
Coke was $1 a 2 liter

So I stocked up on those!
I Spent $54.09 and Saved 52.10
That's a 49% Savings
I haven't lost my touch!

Albertson's

Not much going on here this week which is too bad

I went for a couple of items we've been low on

Detergent, dryer sheets, broth, paper towels,

Pasta, margarine, chocolate and soft pretzels,

Hey! I'm the boss!

I spent $37.28 and Saved $16.98

I had coupons for all items and saved 32%

Not great savings %, but they were essentials

Target

I went CRAZY on the Halloween candy folks!

I got all sorts of naughty stuff for $2 a bag or less, most cases $1.25 a bag!

Target has a BIG sale on candy right now....and

I had $1 off coupons for .....

Hershey's Kisses

Nestle Bags

Wonka Bags

Dove!!!

They were $3.00 to $2.50 and $2.25 each originally

$1 off makes them $2.00 (for DOVE!) $1.50, and $1.25 for the rest. Yeah, I stocked up big time, we have enough for Three Halloween's

or one "Nathan's Fantasy Day" according to my 14 year old

Got Skippy PB for $1.04 a jar x 8 jars with $1.00 off coupon

Bumble Bee Tuna pouches for $.27 with $1.00 off coupon

Chef Michael's dog food for $1.58 a four lb bag with $3.00 off coupon

YoPlus/Gogurts/La Creme yogurt all $1.34 each with $1.00 off coupons

This was cool....

Nature Valley Nut Clusters had a buy 3 - get one free special
$2.50 each for the bars or Clusters

I had 4 $1.60 off coupons

B3G1 takes off $2.50

So for $1.10 I got 4 bags of Nut Clusters or $.27 each!
They're really good if you haven't tried them yet!
At Target I spent $77.90 and saved $68.00
That's a 46% savings!!

Ah Yea Peeps!

I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Budget Challenge Accomplished!!

I did it!!

A couple of posts ago I challenged myself to go a month without grocery shopping, and I made it!.

With all of my accumulated food storage from this couponing experience we had PLENTY of supplies in my cupboards, we used Rosehill Dairy for milk, bread, and eggs; and we didn't miss much but the fresh fruit, which was provided by my mom once in while, and CJ (bless you!) when he was here.

Did I save money?? Nah, not really. I had 3 car repairs (didn't I SAY that would happen?!?!?!?) which the money went to instead, and them some....but good thing I hadn't bought groceries so really I saved myself from utter destruction, which would happen without a car. :)

So, yes, it can be done, yes, I can resist the shopping bug, IGNORE the great deals and coupons I'm missing out on, and focus on something else for a month! Whoo Hoo. Now back to shopping!! (Rolling my eyes at myself, only slightly)

The first of the month is when you'll want to print coupons before they're all gone!

Some of the same great coupons that available on SmartSource and Coupons.com

These coupons are also available on the following sites:

Pillsbury site here

Betty Crocker site here.

Box Tops For Education site here

Eat Better America site here

*Note You can print 2 coupons for each product listed.

Credit for Recycling

Target is sending us even more savings with a new reusable shopping bag credit! Receive savings of $0.05 for each bag you use! Bags must be reusable bags (not plastic) but do not need to be Target brand. Wish I could’ve done this the other week when I bough 40 boxes of cereal for $0.38 each! I could’ve saved a bunch more with all the bags I would’ve filled! Thanks MorethanCents!

Budget Challenge!

I've been prepping my pantry and food storage for emergencies, and "emergency" need #1 will be October. Budgets are tight this month.

I am challenging myself to keep a budget of $15 per week for groceries!

Follow me as I see how much $15 can buy when you are a coupon nut!

Some bloggers have done this in the past, and some SAHMom's do this all the time to be able to stay at home with their kids....For me? My reason is my sweet Hubbie is still without a job and at least for this month we have some extra unplanned/planned expenses....

(man I pray our car doesn't break down.)

I'd personally like to see how I do with this goal;

I'm a little nervous to tell you the truth.

So stay tuned. I'm used to spending about $400-$600 a month now,

which is $500-$700 less per month than I used to spend on groceries

(Before couponing and my tale of desperation)

these numbers include dining out and entertainment,

I wrap them all together because they always coincide anyway -

Out with friends? ...Food. Movie? ...Usually

"a dinner and a". The Fair? ....Food!

Everything revolves around food.

At least most of my entertainment does. :)

If you'd like to do this challenge with me or if you do this already I'd love some tips.

I'll be baking with inexpensive items, staying in and not eating out;

entertainment will be home based or free!

I'll also be selling some items from home to help us with bills this month...

I may have to use my food budget for gas KWIM if anything unexpected comes up

....anyone need scrapbook supplies and XBOX stuff?

Like I said before;

I'm an impulse buyer, and that goes for going out to eat too;

I do this about 3-4 times a week or more when I just need to GET OUT!

But I will have to suppress that impulse

and find a more productive outlet for my cabin fever.

If you need to save for Christmas,

or want to jump start your general savings,

or just would like to see if you can do it,

I'll be here with ya!

(This $15 will not include Roshill Dairy for us, I spend about $100 a month on them but will cut that back to $75 if I can; it goes in my regularly scheduled bills)

WISH ME LUCK!

Um...anyone have a coupon for Baking Powder and/or Vanilla?

Dining out deals - Red Robin!

We LOVE Red Robin
Kids eat free on Tuesdays!
This is a deal I sent in to my favorite couponing blog, KCL
and now I'm published. :) KCL! -
"Kelley says,
"I love this deal and do this EVERY time I go to Red Robin....

It's their Dinner and a Movie Deal - Just ask the server,
there's no advertisements for this on their site or in the restaurant.

For $31.99 (with tax)You get:

$20 Red Robin Gift Card

2 Adult Movie Tickets to Cinemark - $16.50 value -
It's not for opening week premiers Night-
but a week after opening night worked fine.

1 free cheese sticks appetizer - $6.99 value

That's a total of $43.50 worth of Items for $32!

Also:Our Hometown Values mailer has a $5 off $20 at Red Robin coupon or something similar every month,
I used that for the bill, along with the gift card that same day.
So Technically I got our entire date night
(Red Robin appetizer, drinks, two meals, and and two movie tickets)
for $31.99! You can use the gift card anytime,
as a gift, or for your visit that day;
you must purchase this deal separately (before you order food)
Other than that there's no restrictions!"

When you sign up for their birthday club, you should get a "$3 off your next bill"
coupon at your email and a free burger on your birthday. Which I just redeemed yesterday!
And of course, againI got the "Dinner and a Movie Deal"

Here's what it looks like:

We saw Harry Potter last night with the movie tickets, it was fun!

Target Redemption!

Target Deals! I tried Target again and boy am I sold!

Here's the Dealio Breakdowns:
General Mills Cocoa Puffs $1.99
(price match Walgreens ad)$1/1 Cocoa Puffs printable)

OR use your .75 off 1 mfgr coupons....

$1/1 General Mills Target printable, exp. 9/13/09

FREE to .25 after coupons!(Thanks, Common Sense With Money!)

Note that Target does their price matching at the customer service after your purchase.

You can get other varieties of General Mills cereal very cheap with the price matching using the same Target coupon and any of the General Mills printables here , here, or here.

Fiber One Cereal, $2.50

Get a $5 Target GC wyb 5

Use (5) $0.75/1 Fiber One Cereal printable

Use (5) $1/1 General Mills Target printable, exp. 9/13/09

Better than FREE after coupons and gift card!

Chef Michael's Dry Dog Food - $4.49/ea

Use $3/1 in 8/23 Red Plum insert

PLUS Use $1.50/1 Target coupon here

Final Price = FREE or overage

Chef Michael's rang up at 2.49 originally!

Nabisco select varieties, buy 5, get a $5 gift card.

I got 10

Used 10 Mfgr $1.00 to .75 off two boxes coupons

Got them for $1.50 to $1.75 each

And TWO $5 gift cards!

Check out the other deals HERE

at Stretching a Buck for next week

Here's the Loot!

And the Breakdown:

10 Nabisco items = $29.99 - minus Mfgr coupons (had 1 BOGO for Ritz)= $11.00 + $10 GC's
3 Wonka items = $4.77 = minus Target coupons = $1.77
2 Chef Michael's = $9.99 = minus Target and Mfgr coupons = better than free!
($4.00 overage because of $2.49 ring up)
5 Trix = $19.99 = minus Target and Mfgr coupons = free!
5 Fiber One = $21.25 each = $1.25 + $5 GC

$14.02
Original price =
All of this came to -$.98 with my Gift Cards!

They paid me $.98 to take this stuff home!!!
(AND I still have 2 $5.00 gift cards - above - from a previous trip)

Albertson's Deal!

Albertsons has a great deal on Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle Soup.

If you buy $15 worth of Campbell's or Pepperidge Farm products from 9/11/09 - 9/26/09, you will earn a $5 Catalina, good for your next order.

I bought 30 cans of soup for $15 and got $5 back, making them 3/$1.

But! Here's the math with the coupons that came out from yesterday, doublers and the Catalina:

Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup $.50 each

Buy 30 Cans, Earn a $5 Catalina

Use (7) Campbell's Condensed Soups $.40/4 coupons from 9/13 insert

Use 3 Albertson's Doublers

Final Price OOP: $11.00

Final Price When factoring $5 Catalina:

$6.00 for 30 cans or $.20 each !

Too much fun!

Had a couple of killer trips these last few days at Walgreens, Albertson's and Target, then Red Robin! I usually don't go to so many stores but I had errands to run and needed things from each store, so I decided to see what I could get as far as deals go as well.....

Here's the Walgreens finds:
I found a TON of candy marked down, bags for 1.19, King Size Hershey for .25, Wrigley’s gum and Rice Krispie treats marked way down. (Which I had coupons for, and Twizzlers too!) I got two bags grocery bags full of candy for fun, some dark chocolate bars for baking; and some lunch snack items for 75% off to free when I added coupons to them:

Big bags of Twizzlers marked down to .70 each

Got 3 bags

Coupon for $1 off 3

They were .37 each

King size Hershey Bars 8 @ .25 each, 2 King Size Symphony Bars @ .50 each

Had 3 "$1.00 off 2" King Size Hershey Bar coupons

Bought $3.00 worth of bars

With coupons got all 10 bars for free!

Wrigley's Gum buy one get one free coupon

Plus got a $1 RR for these

Trident:

2 $1.00 off 2 coupons

.77 per pack store sale

Bought 2 and made .66!

Carefree Ultra Protection Pantyliner $1.99, Earn a $1.99 RR when you buy on

Use $1/1 printable coupon or from 8/30 SS insert

FREE plus $0.99 in overage after coupon and register reward - Monthlong deal!

Ice Cream pints

By $10 get $2.00 off your next order

Bought 4 $3 pints of the sinful stuff which brought me to $12.00 total

Had 4 $2.00-$1.50 off coupons

Took it down tht total down to $4.50

got these for $1.00 to $1.50 each

Plus $2.00 to spend OYNO
That's like getting two for free!

I also got 4 boxes of Cheerios (big boxes!)
$1.99 each store sale, $8 total
4 Coupons for $1.00 - $1.5o off one

$3.50 total
.49-.99 each!

I spent $40.55 (had to get some items not on sale and no coupons Ak! )

I got $5 RR (register rewards) to spend on my next order and saved $79.12!

That's a 66% savings with $6 to spend next time....

If I took out all the stuff I needed with NO coupons and just add up the savings for the sale/couponed items I spent $18.20 and saved $79.12. That's a 82% savings!!

Case Lot SALE!!

I had a great time at Smith's with this sale and recruited Hubby's help with the dual shopping carts for this baby. And now I'm good and stocked up on some items I was worried about. Can you believe I worry about not having enough of something like canned chicken? Seriously who is this person I've become???
Ah, well! Necessity is the mother of invention I suppose.

This is truly food storage at it's best, the Case lot sale at Smith's was EXCELLENT.
Here's the booty.....

4 Cases of 24 12oz bottles of water $10.00
Saved $5.96

Kroger Apple Juice
Case of 8 - 1/2 gallon bottles
$9.99
Saved $4.09

Chunk Chicken
Case of 12
$21.48
Saved $16.48

Case of Honey
12 jars for $27.00
Saved $7.26

Case of Vegetable Oil
9 bottles
$15.90
Saved $5.88

Tillamook Cheese
10lbs for $16.99
Saved $6.00
2/ $1/1 coupons
$14.99
Saved $8 total

Cup of Noodles
2 Cases of 12 each - $6.00
Saved $2.16

The BEST Deals:
40 lbs of butcher block skinless boneless chicken breasts
$1.33/lb or $53.60 total
Saved about $60.00 or more

We divided these humongous chicken breasts into Gallon Ziploc bags

of 5 or 6 breasts per bag.....

when they come this big I'll make 2 meals for the 5 of us

out of each bag, one to eat, one to freeze, or for leftovers etc....

I got 12 bags total (below) out of the 40 lbs.

That's 24 meals for $2.23 each!!!

This really changed my perspective.

Think about it....

See what $2-3 can buy at a grocery store vs dining out???

$2 doesn't even buy one kids meal or one decent burger any more,

but I can feed 5 of us from the grocery store!

This has put the whole couponing thing in perspective

yet again for me.

What am I accomplishing every day

Not just saving money on a few items,

but shifting my whole thought process

on spending money wisely and in ways

that make sence for us now and for ages to come.

I learned a lot from chicken today. Thank you chicken.

Another FAB Deal:

Bumble Bee Light Tuna in Water
Case of 36
$24.00 - That's $.66 per can - Tuna's awesome, one can = one casserole with noodles and cream of chicken soup? Another super cheap yummy meal for less than $3
Saved $33.12 on this case.

$182.96 was the total for everything, I'm stocked up and happy and relaxed!
Whoo hoo!!

I Saved $142.95 on this sale; That’s 43%!!!