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!!

Huddle to Fight Hunger Kick-Off at Albertsons'

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Wednesday. I love Wednesdays. It's kind of perverse and shameful to admit, but Wednesdays kind of give me a "buzz"--those legal highs I have when a new ad breaks. Now admit, there are some Wednesdays that are complete downers...and this in not one of them. I'm still waiting for the screaming highs...sure to come in a week or two, or so I've been promised by a reliable source in management at the local Albertsons. That's when the Campbell's Labels for Education sales will come in full-force, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

This week Kraft is doing a "Huddle to Fight Hunger" promotional on their designated products. You get $5 off a purchase of 5 Kraft items. Woo Hoo!! If you purchase in increments of 5, that's a $1 savings per item. Now slap a coupon on it and you have a deal! For items like Cool Whip, that are $1 each, buy 5 for $5 and you get a $5 Catalina towards your next purchase. If you do the math, that equals free Cool Whip. (I'm wishing that my second refrigerator hadn't chosen this week to bite the dust).

Not everything is stock-up worthy without fridge space. But things like Capri Sun sale priced at $1.99 become 99 cents a piece when purchased in sets of 5. Not to shabby for those Back to School lunches. Oscar Mayer hot dogs are on sale 2 for $3. Print a coupon to save $1 on 2, combine with the Catalina $5 savings and they are reduced to free. Remember--those dogs FREEZE!! Kraft salad dressings are similarly priced for a deal. There are coupon books available at Albertsons that contain coupons for many of the items that are going on sale. The Kraft salad dressing is one of them--save $1 on 2. If you combined it with the "Huddle" promo--you could stock up on salad dressing for 49 cents a bottle. With the dressing that cheap, a variety on the shelf could never hurt.

The Huddle for Hunger Kraft adventure was introduced on August 22nd. It's a large corporate attempt to bring awareness to the growing hunger problem around the nation. For every "like" button selected on Facebook, Kraft will donate a meal to local charities. They are also donating meals through the promotions purchase requirements. They are projecting that they will be donation 20 million meals with this ad campaign. It's a good thing that I'm feeling "charitable"--not only will I be helping my own family and building a reserve pantry, but my couponing purchases will increase the numbers of my sales and add more meals to the total that Kraft will be distributing nationwide. What a "win-win" scenario. I love "charitable" buying--especially when it benefits my own family.

Kraft isn't the only company sponsoring a great deal this week, but I thought they were noteworthy. General Mills has a "Free Milk" deal going on when you buy 4 boxes of their cereal. With a couple of stealthily placed coupons--that could be a decent deal, especially in the milk department. You know that milk runs between $2-3 a gallon. For larger families like mine, we are buying at least 4 gallons of milk a week. So if I did a trade-off and bought the cereal, threw a few coupons in the mix to reduce the cost--I'd spend the same as I would for those 4 gallons of milk, but get a slew of cereals thrown in for free. Just a thought.

Keep scanning those ads. There's a deal waiting to be had. Double coupons may or may not come out for the Labor Day weekend, but if they do...combined with the $5 Catalinas from Kraft--things would be beyond free, so make sure that you keep your eyes peeled on the Sunday's paper for the big ads coming out for the holiday weekend. You never know when a great deal will fall in your lap!

Check out those coupons here: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/huddleforhunger/home.aspx

I love Catalina!!

Catalinas are the best. They are bonus savings to whatever you are buying and can almost always be used on any kind of purchase except gift cards and gas. So what are they? Catalinas are coupons that are printed at the register at time of check-out. They are long pieces of paper-almost like a second receipt. They are sometimes coupons from the manufacturer or cash value on your next purchase. So for example, when a promotion is going on at Albertsons' that says "Buy $30 worth of Proctor and Gamble products and save $10 off your next purchase"--it means that a Catalina will print that states "Save $10 on your next purchase" courtesy of Proctor and Gamble for any grocery item. Buy steaks, candy, milk and eggs--whatever...it acts like cash up to the $10 amount! You can think of it in terms as you just 33% off your original purchase (prior to coupon application) or you can see it was 100% free for the items you buy with the Catalina! Either way--the glass is full, full, full!!

This is fabulous savings if you calculate your purchases. But sometimes the Catalinas are dollar amounts off a set number of purchases. For example, June was Dairy month at Albertsons', and for every 5 sets of dairy purchased--you saved $5 ($1 per item). So for things like yogurt, cheese, sour cream--the prices were pretty good to start, but by buying 5 of them, minusing the $5--the prices became stellar--and then add a coupon--and most things were free.

Well--this month has another great upcoming Catalina promo going on for Kraft cheese. Buy 5 participating Kraft items, and receive $5 off your next purchase. (In coupon lingo--that means a Catalina print-out will occur at time of check-out for $5 good towards any other items before using manufacturer's coupons). The promotion starts 7/19 and goes through 8/15. GREAT in terms of length of offer and the products are bound to go on sale in that time frame and the $5 off still applies even if the product is full price or sales price. So savvy shoppers would plan to buy their monthly supply of cheese when it goes on sale and take advantage of the $5 off by doing multiple transactions. Do I sound like a tour guide of your local grocery store yet? This Catalina promotional is going on at Albertsons'. Kroger stores (Fred Meyer--locally), and possibly Safeway (verify that before you spend your life savings' on cheese).

If your thinking that this is just about sandwich slices--wrong. Besides the Kraft singles (excellent for cheeseburgers, by the way), it also includes Philadelphi cream cheese, Velveeta cheese, string cheese, cracker cuts, deli cut cheeses, parmesan cheese, Cheez Whiz, Knudsens' sour cream and cottage cheeses, and packaged cheeses. Fan-tab-ulous deal if your family eats cheese...all kinds of cheese.

Dairy Promo at Albertsons'

I thought this deal ended yesterday...but it's still going on at Albertsons. When you buy 5 of their listed dairy products, it prints a $5 off Catalina. (To find the products listed in the promotion, go to www.athiftymom.com or look at the month long flier available at the store). So all purchases need to be done in increments of FIVE. I just ordered some great Darigold sour cream coupons off of www.ebay.com. They are the Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons. So the break down on this transaction goes like this: Buy 6 containers of 16oz sour cream at $1.89 a piece. The total=$11.34. Hand over the 3 B1G1free coupons; that will take $5.67 off of your total. At the conclusion of your transaction, you receive $5 Catalina print-out. If you deduct this Catalina from prices, it makes SIX containers of sour cream 67 cents. I love sour cream's longevity too. It's one of those foods that you can put in the fridge and if it gets lost for a few weeks--it's all good. Literally. Unless you're double dipping in it or forgetting it for a year, it stays good well past the dates on the container. So I am going to stock up for the rest of the summer on sour cream for just a couple of bucks. LOVE IT!!

I'm also going to take advantage of the great deal on Dannon yogurt. We got hooked on the Activia yogurts. I just bought some tonight at a competitor store thinking I did OK buying it at $2.29 and then putting $1 off coupons on them. Not realizing the sale still going on at Albertsons'--I bought 5 products. But with the $5 off and the $1 coupons together--it's going to be a HUGE savings at Albertsons--actually FREE. I really like the Dan-ni-nimo kids yogurts as well. They are on the same list of inclusions and are also on sale at $2 a set. The beauty of this one--there's a $1.50/1 coupon available in cyberland. That makes it beyond free. Shhh....don't tell the store that you are making a deal before their very eyes. I Love it!!

But as for the 5 I bought tonight: Ever have one of those "What was I thinking?" moments? I should have read the ads a little closer before I spent money on those yogurts. I could have just used coupons to get them for free and saved the money! Oh well. Even the coupon queen doesn't always see the forest through the trees. Just one deal at a time is a great way to shop. Problem is that occasionally, multiple sales that are truly tremendous get missed without a little forethought and preparation. So plan to save...and don't forget to save some time to plan! Good luck and happy shopping.

Seriously Noteworthy Kraft Deals again...

For everyone with a Safeway store within the sound of my voice: hear ye, hear ye. Check out the deal on Kraft in this week's ad. Seriously delicious. You'll have to research the full products list that is included, but there are 2 products that have me giddy: macaroni and cheese and the salad dressing. Why more salad dressing, you wonder? It's a conjunction sale. For every 8 Kraft products that you purchase, you automatically save $4 at the register. And now through 6/27--there is also a Catalina coupon that prints for $3 off a 4 bottle-purchase of Kraft salad dressing. So.....Safeway has the salad dressing for $1.49 a bottle--you must buy 8 to qualify for all the deals. That's $11.92 minus the $4 automatically=$8.92. You add the Catalina savings for $5.92, then hand over the coupons. I just ordered "Save $1/2" from www.thecouponmaster.com and from www.ebay.com. The beauty of this deal: there is a coupon for $1 off produce for every two bottles of salad dressing purchased. So--not only is the salad dressing a mere 16 cents a bottle, you can get $4 of free produce for every transaction of 8. Do 3-4 transactions...that's a lot of dressing (no worries--expiry is all next year) and a lot of produce. And who said you can never get a coupon for produce??? Schweet Deal!!


(Disclaimer: the Catalina deal on Kraft is also running at Albertsons' through the same dates--but the key to getting a truly stellar deal that is stock-up worthy is to apply the coupons to the lowest sales price. And at Safeway, the sales price plus the automatic savings seals the deal on this transaction. It didn't take very long to realize the difference in savings isn't pennies this time).

Kraft Deals Galore!!

So we left town today for the long, holiday weekend...that means that I had to take advantage of a fabulous sale on Kraft products early on in the sale period. Check out http://www.albertsons.com/ and the deal they are running on Kraft products. When you buy 6 selected products, you automatically save $3 on your total (no coupons, no waiting at the end for a Catalina print-out). I got coupons at the store for $1 off 2 products (BBQ sauce, salad dressing, A-1, etc). They were hanging near the products.

Now what makes this such a great deal is that there is another Kraft sale running in conjunction with this one. For every $25 you spend, you get a $5 Catalina OYNO coupon at the end. Disclaimer: last night I did all my transactions in increments of 6 products...but it was a long drive and I got to thinking about how those two deals could be used together. This is what I came up with...and you need a a couple of friends to enjoy this deal or a love for BBQ sauce. You need 19 coupons from the pad hanging in the condiment section. If you buy 38 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce, your total is $26.22 before those 19 coupons. The coupons are $1 off 2 bottles--bringing the total to $7.22. Then you get the automatic $3 off (for buying the required 6)...and then you get the $5 coupon back at the end of the transaction. That makes the total deal a whopping -78cents. See what you come up with when you drive 350 miles....free goodies. Now-how to get that much BBQ sauce home?

Note: I saw the Kraft coupons hanging with the product in 2 different Albertsons' in Spokane. Since I'm in the greater Puget Sound area right now, I am going to check a local store to see if the same coupons are available. The coupon is what makes this a stellar deal and if it's not available...it's still a great price, but not so stock-up worthy--if you know what I mean. Also--watch the expiry dates on the products. Sad to say, these kinds of sales are a great way for the store to flip their inventory and that means that there could be a range of dates on the bottles of about 18 months!! I had to go through the bottles to find the dates that were furthest out into 2011, but I was weeding through Mar2010-October 2010. Yes--that was March 2010...gross!! You know the store has had the product awhile when there is dust on the bottles! (That reminds of an old country song...except they weren't talking about BBQ sauce ;)

The coupon that I mention here that is available at the grocery stores, includes the salad dressings as well. There is a Catalina promo coupon for this product as well, when you buy 4 bottles, you get a $4 Catalina print-out automatically. You can crunch the numbers and set up different purchase scenarios to see how you can balance you quantities to include another fabulous deal. It's not very often that you have a sale that layers so much savings at one time. The price-savvy will take advantage of this great deal, so don't miss it because you waited till the last day.

Target Steals......I mean Deals

I'm heading to a great deal today. I printed my coupons for Aquafresh Kids' Toothpaste. It's on sale at Target for $1.62 a tube. I printed $1 off manufacturer's coupons and Target has a store coupon for 50 cents off. That makes the tubes 12 cents.... Hmmmm. I think I'll get 4. (Hahhahaa...we have 2 computers and I was able to print 2 sets of coupons from each computer, thus the magic number of 4).


I did the same deal with Cottonelle Toilet Paper at http://www.coupons.com/. They have a manufacturer's coupon for 50 cents off a 4 pack, and at http://www.target.com/ (under coupons), I was able to print $1.50 off coupons. The beauty of this possibility is that the Target coupon doesn't have any size restrictions....so. I don't know what the going rate for 4 packs of toilet paper are, but I'm hoping that they aren't too much over $2 a package. If they are...wowzers!! I'm going to start getting a little more irritated when I see how much gets wasted in the kids' bathrooms for everything except for what it was intended for. I know--TMI. But that's what happens when you don't really have to "pay" regular price for things from your living wages...you don't freak out over the wastefulness as you would if you'd just worked an hour of hard labor for the money that would have paid for what the 5 yr-old just flushed down the toilet to see if it would actually go!! (Thrift and budgeting is in the works for a lesson to said child....but we are also trying to encourage curiosity and interest...just haven't introduced cost factors to her yet).



Other things on the Target shopping list: Huggies' Baby Wipes. I printed coupons that save $2 on a container of 64ct or more. WOW!!! Now that's what I call a deal. I would buy a year supply (or 10 years) if I had 100 computers. That's a stellar deal. By the way--5 yr-old has been out of diapers for 2 years now. But I got hooked on baby wipes almost 13 years ago with the first child-and now they are a must for everything from road trips, preschool, sticky hands, etc. Life will never be the same again in our household because we love baby wipes. Just sayin'....


I e-mailed my sister-in-laws the fabulous Huggies deal going on at Fred Meyer this week. Haven't heard back if it was profitable for any of them...but here's the scoop. You need to hit all the websites and print the SWEET Huggies coupons and then take them to Freddies' to clean house on this deal because they have a Catalina deal going on in conjunction with the Huggie's sale price. Buy 2 Huggies Jumbo pack diapers for $7.99 each with in-ad coupon. (This includes Little Movers, Little Swaddlers, and Snug & Dry). Use 2 of your printed coupons from any of the coupon websites. You will end up paying $9.98--then receive a $3 Catalina coupon...making the final price for each package $3.49. You could do a second transaction (and third, and fourth, etc.) and use the $3 Catalina coupon with other coupons, making each transaction $.96--plus you keep generating a new $3 Catalina coupon from each new transaction. For all of you in diapers still--great deal!!


The best diaper websites to print free coupons from: http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.smartsource.com/, http://www.bricks.coupons.com/, and http://www.target.com/. There are more--you'll just have to find them. It probably wouldn't hurt to google "Huggies coupons" and see which sites you can print for free from.

Follow-up: Home from the stores. I got everything in the picture for $9.24 (the bulk of that being my contribution to the Governor's slush fund). If I had been in my "left" mind instead of my "right" mind--it would have cost $37.42 before tax. I saved around 80% off of that original price with coupons I printed for free from home. Now if I can do it--anyone can, if they have a computer and a printer ;)

Ins and Outs...

I was in Winco a couple of days ago and saw a tremendous deal on Ragu spaghetti sauce. It was 98cents a bottle. That's pretty stellar since it goes "on sale" for anywhere between $1-2...with purchase requirements usually in increments of 4 to 10 items to get sales' price. But at Winco that's the sales' price with no limit on quantities or purchase amounts. It got my head rolling and last night I ordered Ragu coupons on e-bay. I was pretty conservative this go around and only ordered 2 sets of 20 coupons. But the coupons are for "Save $1/2"--bringing the cost of the spaghetti sauce down to 48 cents a jar. Not too shabby for stuff that goes "on sale" for $2. Just sayin'....


There is also a very nice sale going on at Albertsons' this week on ConAgra Foods. They are the makers of Hunts' products, amongst others. For a purchase of $25, you get a $10 OYNO Catalina print-out. Most of the products in the fab deal are on sale for $1 each....SWEET!! Included in this sale are: Hunts' Ketchup, Spaghetti sauce, pudding, Manwich, Chef-Boyardee, etc., etc, etc. Go to www.albertsons.com to look at the ad if you didn't get the weekly circular. But the true goodness of the plan here is that you only have to reach the $25 before you coupon the items. So you can shop the internet for the coupons or see what you have from the recent Sunday papers--and take advantage of a GREAT deal. The best coupon that I found is at www.childhungerendshere.com and it's a ConAgra-based website and they are offering a coupon for $1.50 off any four ConAgra products of your choice. That makes the mixing and matching so much easier without having to be specific to a coupon's requirements for purchase amounts. Printer-disclaimer: you are only allowed to print 2 per computer. But that's still a jump start on the deal because it covers 8 products in 2 coupons.


If you don't have coupons, this is still a great time to buy on the ConAgra deal because it's 40% off the listed items in the promotion without coupons. That makes the cans of spaghetti sauce only 60 cents each....Wal-Mart can't even touch that price. Make a plan. What will your family eat in the next 3-6 months on the products you use the most of. Can you get a coupon on it as well? Is it worth stocking the pantry till the next stellar deal comes along. It generally is--especially when you do the math and see how many products you can buy for what you would have spent on ONE can. With the spaghetti sauce example--you can buy 2-3 cans more on this sale than you could have at regular price. Regular price=buy only what you need at the time (like 1 can)....Sales' price=buy the dollar amount of what you would have spent for 1 can and get the difference in the number of cans on sale. Put those cans in your pantry and don't purchase at regular price until the product goes on sale again...Money in the bank.

Schweet Deals again...

Got another little fix tonight. I know the receipt is a little caddy-whompus on the total, but it says $13.76. That's what I paid for my haul tonight...except, note: $8 worth of OYNO coupons. So technically--I paid $5.76 for the goods on the table. That would be 5 boxes of Fudge-covered Oreos, 5 gallons of milk, 3 boxes Capri sun (another story...), 4 bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-a-Clean, and 4 bottles Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-a-Clean Refills. Well, you're probably thinking that's an odd combination of goods. And, yes, I agree with you. But I had to go to the store because we were almost out of milk. I usually get 3-4 gallons at a time. I generally pay $2 a gallon. But everything on the table except the milk was bonus (ie...FREE) because I contrived the deals to my advantage to basically get the milk for the aforementioned totals. But the irony of the deal--it would have totaled $98 without coupons. It was a no-brainer...it's better to buy the surplus goods--even if you've never heard of them before (like me and these cleaning products...)

So--I would never buy a bottle of cleaner, no matter how golden it promised to be, for $8.99 a bottle. But it was on sale for $6.99 a bottle. (I know--whoo-hoo...NOT). But there were $5 off coupons for each bottle. And another coupon that said "Free Scrubbing Bubbles Refill with purchase of Extend-a-Cleaner Spray"--AND, for every 2 sprayer products purchased, you got a $3 Catalina coupon OYNO and for every 2 refills, you got a $1 Catalina OYNO. So--with the sprayer product at $6.99 each and the refills on sale for $3.50--it was still a moneymaker at negative $4.02. **Remember--I still needed milk so I used my Oreo/milk combo coupons that saved $1.50 on each gallon of milk. All in all, it was a fabulous night at Safeway.

I made a quick trip to Albertsons' to use my double coupons. I needed NOTHING, but I had Capri Sun coupons for a $1 and they were on sale for $2. The doublers made them free...so it was worth the pit stop. But was even more impressive than my great deal was seeing flocks of serious couponers (with filing/organizing systems in their carts) taking advantage of the double coupon and Catalina deals. WOW.... It made me realize that I'm not the only one that sees a great deal for what it's worth! The stores love us. You've got to remember that coupon-users bring more money into the stores' profits than the average shopper without coupons. I had to stop and talk to a lady tonight because I knew what she was up to and I wanted to see her system. Everybody goes about it in a different way, but the results are the same--YOU control what you spend rather than the stores controlling you. And what a way to stock up--LOVE it!! It changes the way you shop--and I laughed when I told her that 50cents for a box of cereal IS NOT a good deal anymore!! There was a guy in there buying 6 boxes of Kelloggs' for 50cents...as in 50 cents for all 6 boxes. So make a plan. What do you want to accomplish with your weekly shopping trips? Learn a few techniques and put them to work. And the most important thought for shopping with a plan--It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

SWEET Deal!!

Last night was an unbelievable night. I got lucky...literally.I didn't get to the store till 11pm. I had a raincheck for the super nice boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound (and needed 25lbs worth for today's cooking group). I took my own advice and decided to take advantage of the Kellogg's Catalina deal while I was there. It pays to carry your coupons on you in an envelope in your purse because I hadn't planned on power-shopping at midnight with the nightlife of Spokane as my only company in the store. I did enjoy the check-out experience with no one staring at me while I mass-produced my savings right down to $21.51 for everything you see in the picture. **And I still had a $3 OYNO coupon for the next go around....

So what did I get? I bought 40 boxes of cereal (all free), 3 pounds of Fuji apples and bananas, 2 gallons of milk, 2 boxes of the most amazing mint Oreo cookies, AND 25 pounds of premium chicken breasts. It was such a serotonin rush, that I literally hauled my groceries in and went to find the camera at 1am. [This Catalina deal is good at Safeway through today--so print your coupons from the websites I added on 5/12 and get on down to the store!!]

The kids think we have a cereal fairy that regularly visits our house.. It comes in the middle of the night and leaves all kinds of cereal on the kitchen table. The myth is quickly burst in the morning when the queen of the fairies tells the kids that all of it needs to go downstairs to the food room. They turn into ogres and beasts--but are easily swayed with the promise they can keep a couple of boxes upstairs.

FREE cereal at SaFeWaY!!

You gotta go check out www.safeway.com or look at the ads from the Wednesday circulars!
Safeway has a Catalina deal running on Kelloggs' cereal through this Friday (5/14). I would normally say BUY YOUR COUPONS now, but as there is no time till the end of the deal to get them by Friday, you must be creative--and it's possible. The Catalina deal is separate from the store deal. The Catalina is a print-out at the end of your transaction for the products you buy. For Kellogg's cereals it is printint till Friday, 5/14 at Safeway, and has different expirations for different chains. The coupon will be for--buy 3 boxes of cereal =$2 OYNO, buy 4=get $4 OYNO, and buy 5=$4 OYNO. Again, this is a promotional that is happening outside of the stores sale price and coupons.

So in the ad today there are 3 price points on cereal--$2 a box--Kellogg's 12oz Corn Flakes, Quaker Captain Crunch cereals, and Life. $2.50 on most General Mills, variety of Kellogg's and Quaker products not included in the $2 price; and $3 on you Kashi, Post Honey Bunches of Oats, oddball flavors of General Mills' cereals. So, buy 4--you get the $4 off automatically, then put coupons on it, and you still get the catalina OYNO at the end of the transaction. Score!!

There are several places that you can go to print your coupons for the Kellogg's' cereal.
Try www.coupons.com, www.redplum.com, www.snackpicks.com, www.kelloggs.com to start. You are allowed 2 prints per computer. If you have more than one computer, you're set!

You can get Kellogg's Corn Flakes (12oz box) for -.25 cents a box. I always say that things that a free taste better. I don't know if you're kids will think that, but at least it won't be painful to eat.