Fab Finds....

I'm still on a high from the Con Agra sale a couple of weeks ago. I was just talking to my brother about how it took 6 trips to get everything home from the store...now THAT was an amazing deal!! It's hard to live those kind of sales down because nothing seems like a good deal after that. Albertsons' put the Con Agra products like Chef Boyardee and Healthy Choice on sale last week at 80 cents a can. Who wants to buy it at that price anymore? 56cents for 12 cans still sends shivers down my spine :)

There's a couple of great finds at Safeway this week. On the back page where the store coupons are, they have a couple of things that add up to a great idea. The Betty Crocker fruit snacks are 99cents a box. If you layer coupons on that--stock-up worthy for those little ones. And with Halloween coming, it's a cheap way to satisfy those little trick-or-treaters, too. There are some coupons floating out there for $1 off Frito Lay multi-packs. That makes the 22ct pack at $4.49 a pretty good deal. That beats Costco any day on the per bag price!

I don't need spaghetti sauce. I don't, I don't, I don't. But Ragu is on sale $5 for 4 jars. That's $1.25 each. If you get some of the 50 cent off coupons from ebay or some other coupon sources...that makes them 75 cents a jar. AND...I could use some of the Ragu Alfredo sauce that is available on the same sale. Gotta love the flexibility in merchandising similar products at the same time.

Safeway has Red and Golden delicious apples for 58 cents a pound. Another hot buy is the Sara Lee bread and milk combo. I just ordered coupons from ebay that are save $1 on milk when you buy 1 loaf of the Sara Lee Soft & Smooth bread--which is $1 a loaf when you buy 5 of them. Milk is $1.99 a gallon--so you can get a loaf of yummy bread and a gallon of milk for $1.99. We go through a lot of milk, so the bread will be a free bonus for what I'm already having to buy. There are also coupons for the bread (55cents off) if you can snag some of those...then it's a tremendous deal. Just remember--are you allowed to place ONE coupon for every ONE item. The coupon for the bread would satisfy the bread. The second coupon is actually for the milk--so don't fall into the trap that implies that you are "doubling" coupons on one product...you're not!

Safeway had a deal going on that is a combination sale for Coca-Cola 12-packs and Nabisco crackers. When you buy 2 twelve-packs, you get an additional 2 twelve-packs and 2 boxes of Nabisco crackers for free. OK. Where to start? If you went to http://www.ebay.com/, you could get coupons that were for $2 off every set of a Coca-Cola 12-pack and Nabisco cracker. And you are allowed to apply coupons to the supposedly "free" items, because there is still a positive balance at the register, even when you only are "technically" paying for the original 2 twelve-packs. So here's how the transaction would work: Buy 2 Coke products at a total price of $13.98. Get 2 more free and 2 boxes of crackers. Buy 2 additional boxes of crackers at $2 a box for a purchase price of $17.98 before sin taxes. Then you are able to lay 4 of those $2 off coupons on the transaction, saving $8!! That brings the total down to $9.98+tax for 4 cases of pop and 4 boxes of crackers. Not too shabby. If you did the sale as the ad outlines with 4 cases of soda and the 2 crackers, you'd only be able to use set of the $2 off coupons...and the results are the same at $9.98+tax--but you only get 2 boxes of crackers. I think that the best strategy would be to use 4 coupons and get 2 extra boxes and pay the same. This is just an example of how working through a sales' deal might actual result in a pretty good find on other items that are so-called "free".

Happy hunting for the deals this week. Just remember that the last 4 months of the years get the most manufacturer's coupons and the baking sales and bulk sales' events are coming up with the Holiday season. Time to match the coupons up with the sales' items that don't usually go on sale and make sure that you get enough to get you through till the next sale. Remember that canned goods are good for at least 1-3 years out. Check all expiry dates on products. Tip: Products that are in the front of the shelf usually have the oldest dates.

There's a great deal going on with McCormick Salt and Pepper seasonings at Fred Meyer and other Kroger owned stores (Smith's, QFC, etc). They are on sale this week for 10/$10; normally $2.69 a bottle. These are the grinder bottles with the sea salts, pepper berries, garlic and seasoning combos, etc. A buck's an so-so price, but you wouldn't go crazy or anything, right? But there's a Catalina for them as well. When you buy them in combinations of 3, you get a $3 OYNO Catalina that prints. Did you do the math yet? $1 a bottle x 3 bottles=$3.00. Give them the Catalina coupon and they are free. The totally gratifying sense of "YES! FREE?! YES!" comes when you get another Catalina at the end of the free transaction. So--needless to say, I'm the proud owner of some yummy peppers, sea salts, and herbal blends. I almost want to drive around eastern Washington to buy some more...because the cutest idea came to me as I was purchasing my small grundle today. Wouldn't they be darling with a cute little note attached that said "Seasonings Greetings!" for quick, (ultra-cheap) neighbor, teacher, and all-around easy holiday gift? Man!! I love that kind of find!!

How's it done?

There's another great deal going on this week at Safeway on Barilla pasta and sauces (either Barilla or Classico). It seemed like an attention grabber when I first saw it. But I found coupons for all the products. The sauce is usually upwards of $4 a bottle, so the $2 price point is noteworthy if you are buying a couple. But 2 free boxes of pasta with the $4 purchase is praiseworthy. But what makes this deal newsworthy--using the $1.25 on 2 bottles of sauce coupons and the save $1 on 2 boxes of pasta coupons. You have to buy 2 boxes at a time with the pasta--layer the coupons on the deal/transaction and your total for all four items is $1.75. That's awesome. Regularly priced, this would cost over $10. On sale, it's $4. As a connoisseur of a fabulous deal--less than HALF of the advertised price. Why not do at least 2 transactions and get twice the amount of food for still less than the suggested sales' price? You'd still have 50 cents towards another transaction. This the perfect example of how to get money ahead and food ahead without adjusting purse strings.


I looked at the Albertsons' ad last night and felt the serotonin release in my brain. I love Con Agra sales. I researched http://www.ebay.com/ and found all the coupons that I wanted to use. I ordered then--all should have been posted in the mail today by the sellers. This morning I called the local Albertsons' store and ordered the goodies I wanted in bulk. This is when the slight "hoarder" tendency I have comes out in force. I found amazing coupons for Hunts' Snack Pack pudding cups, Chef Boyardee, Hunts' tomatoes, Pillsbury cookie mixes, Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate, and Hebrew National Hot Dogs.


I'm just thrilled about the pudding cups. Here's what I did: they are 88cents a 4-pack. I'm going to purchase them in the bundle of 30...the coupons save $1 on every three...plus the Con Agra save $10 transactions of $25...making each Snack Pack 20 cents...that's 5 cents per serving. Considering that this is my second post in as many days about this deal--you can tell that I'm excited.


I'm not a canner. But I have traditional values and core beliefs in being prepared for whatever circumstances. I googled "food storage" and thought it was the best basic explanation for why it is important to have food on hand. In a strained economy, it still doesn't have to cost a lot to get ahead of the game and put up some seasonal "canning"--literally. Taking advantage of the good deals will never go out of style or be deemed outrageous. Make good choices, and be prepared.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_storage

Heads UP!! Con Agra Deals at Albertsons'!!

This is a huge week for the pantry if you are looking for stellar deals to put away. Con Agra, manufacturer of products like Hunts' Tomatoes, Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee, Pillsbury, and Crisco is doing the fabulous deal of buy $25 worth in one transaction, save $10 on your next transaction. I LOVE THIS kind of savings. Because even though the prices scream "good deal"--there's an even greater deal in the works. Cans that are on sale for 88cents each, go down to 55cents if you buy 30 of them. (Don't freak yet--there's more!!) And if you put coupons on top of those prices...the numbers keep dropping even more. So for example: on the Chef Boyardee--they are 88cents a can. 30 of them would cost $26.40. Minus off the $10 OYNO coupon (since I'll start my first transaction next week with the one I just came home with tonight) for $16.40--then add all those stellar coupons. I found some "Save $3 on 10 cans of Chef Boyardee" on www.ebay.com; so I would apply 3 ($9 worth) of those coupons to the adjusted sales' price of $16.40, for a grand total of $7.40!! That's basically 25cents a can. That's a screamin' savings.



I took this method to ebay for several other sets of coupons...for Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate, Hunt's Spaghetti sauce, Chef Boyardee, Pillsbury Cookie Mixes, and Hebrew National Hot Dogs (our family's personal favorites...and we're not even Jewish ;)
Because my quantities are larger than normal, I'm going to call the store tomorrow morning and have them case order the lots that I want so that I'm guaranteed my product when my coupons get here in a few days. Problem: I may have to make a couple trips to the store in order to get my haul home. The reason I share this kind of tiddly bits...because anyone can get in on this kind of savings. Plan, Plan, Plan. I just wish I lived in the areas that are doing "Coupon Round-up" and multiplying coupons up to $1 each for HUGE savings. I can't imagine the kind of hauls with those savings! Hope somebody else is taking advantage of those opportunities to build a family food storage--or a "victory pantry".

Go to www.albertsons.com to view the ad and start a savings plan today :)

Coupon Doublers....

I went on a little binge shopping spree last night at the local Albertsons'. I bought into the Proctor and Gamble deal where you buy $30 of the selected items and get $10 towards your next purchase. I ordered my coupons early and they were in the mail on Friday. By Saturday they were burning a hole in my pocket. I just knew that if I went shopping on Saturday, there would be doublers in the Sunday ad. Guess what? I'm kicking myself today!! I should have waited till Monday, like I always do...but I put the cart before the horse and it cost me some $aving$! Oh well. I'm here to share so that you can save your cash and stockpile your pantry--so even this experience was a reminder that we are playing a game of wits and mystery. Patience is sometimes our friend.


I know...I got a great deal even without the doublers and I'm still beating myself up. I bought 4 cases of paper towels (regularly $9.99 each), 9 bottles of Herbal Essence hair gels ($3.69-$4.29 each), 1 Cover Girl Mascara ($5.19) for the new teen in our family, 12 packages of the superior Glide dental floss ($3.99 each), and 20 bottles of Pringles (regularly $1.99 each) for $54. But if I had extended a little self-control or had a magical crystal ball--I could have save more than half of what I spent; taking the savings from a 65% savings to 75-80% savings. So here's the plan. I still have more coupons...much to my delight. The Pringles will be free. The Herbal Essence goods will be free. And I am going to go through my stack of coupons and make a buying strategy that will make most people weep. Heehee. It's that time of the year...Hunting Season--and I love a good hunt...if you know what I mean.


Doublers are free money. They take the face value of a coupon, up to $1 each, and double it. You are allowed the three in the ad flyer per transaction. These babies are worth bucks and bring out the dumpster diver in me. When you combine them with a pretty stellar deal already on ad in the store, like the Proctor and Gamble save $10--the savings can constitute a pretty hefty chunk of change. The trick is to use the coupons on the cheapest items, making them as close to free and then letting the $10 coupon cover the more expensive items and using the coupons on them that are not doubled, as well. Just remember, you can use ONE coupon PER item, but only 3 of the coupons can be doubled PER transaction. If you buy into the P&G deal, make sure that you are not going over the $30 transaction requirements. Keep the totals to the requirements and just do multiple transactions instead. You save TONS more money in the long-run.


So here are three words to inspire your grocery savings: PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.