SOUPER Deals!!

Alright. I eluded to the fact that Albertson's is featuring a fantastic Con Agra sale starting tomorrow--2/9. It's not as extensive in product range as before, but it's still a great deal to get in on and start building a food reserve with!

This is a high-dollar savings week for the advertised products, because the way the deal goes--you have to buy $25 worth of product at the regular price for the Catalina to generate the $10 coupon. In layman's terms, that's NOT sales' price. The qualifier for the $10 is based on the $25 of regular-priced items, but what you pay is based on the sales' prices. You then "roll" the Catalina for $10 that you get on the first transaction onto the subsequent transactions. Each transaction, purchasing in transactions of $25 increments, or thereabouts, will generate a new $10 Catalina print-out. You can accumulate a LOT of food for very little, if not free, quickly.

Regular prices of some of the products:

Chef Boyardee canned pastas--$1.49

Manwich------$1.49

Healthy Choice Soup---$2.99

Swiss Miss Cocoa-$2.50

Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce---$1.19

Hunt's Tomatoes-----$1.19

Hunt's Ketchup----$2.29

Gulden's Mustard---$2.29
Hunt's Snack Pack puddings---$1.99

Peter Pan Peanut Butter-$3.29

Pam Cooking Spray----$3.99

Wesson Oil-------$6.29

Ro-Tel Tomatoes---$1.89

Sales' Prices for the same products:

Chef Boyardee canned pasta--10/$10

Manwich-$1.00

Healthy Choice Soups--$1

Swiss Miss Cocoa---$1

Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce--$1

Hunt's Tomatoes--$1

Hunt's Ketchup/Mustard/Margarine--$1
Hunt's Pudding---$1

Peter Pan Peanut Butter----$1.69

Pam Cooking Spray----2/$5

Wesson Oils---$3.49

Ro-Tel Tomatoes---$1

(There are a few other products included in this sale that I didn't research the prices of, but may be worth looking into: Snapple Fruit Drinks and Teas, Healthy Choice Complete Meals and Cafe Steamers, Reddi-wip, Marie Callender's Dinners and Steamers, Rosarita Salsa, Banquet Brown and Serve sausage and Dinners, Ro-Tel diced tomato varieties, frozen Kid's Cuisine, and assorted Healthy Choice lunch, dinner, and fresh mix entrees).

Sale Guidelines: SAVE $10 On Your Next Shopping Trip when you buy $25 or more of participating products. Purchase must be made in a single transaction using your Albertsons' Preferred Card. Coupon issued at checkout. Limit one coupon per transaction. Minimum purchase requirement calculated after manufacturer coupons.

What this means: You buy $25 of "regular-priced" goods, but the register totals what you pay based on the "sales' price". You pay the balance owed on the first transaction and a Catalina coupon is generated for $10 that you can use on your next order. For example: you buy 3 Blue Bonnet margarines and 7 Healthy Choice soups and your total will come up to $10. You pay the $10 and you also get the $10 Catalina. You can turn around and use that $10 on your next order. So if you have another $10 total, you "pay" that amount with the Catalina, you have zero out of pocket expense and still generate another Catalina to use on your next order.

Albertsons' Check-Out Policy: You are able to do three transactions before you need to exit the check-out and get back in line, so that everyone has their turn paying for the great deals. They anticipate that this is going to be a blockbuster of a sale and that there are going to be lines of people taking advantage of getting some great products for free. So--3 trannies, back of the line. Now--everything is different when there's no one waiting behind you. You can roll as many transactions as you want, until someone gets in line behind you. BE COURTEOUS. There are stores that are opening up lanes for just this promo deal. The store on 57th and Regal will have 2 check-out lanes that are for nothing except these kind of transactions. Most stores are prepared for the lines, but the customers need to play by the store rules and Be Nice.

Here are some of the match-ups that would make for a great deal:

Buy:

3 Blue Bonnet Cubes + 7 HC Soups = $10 minus $10 Catalina =FREE

5 Blue Bonnet Tubs + 6 HC Soups =$10 minus $10 Catalina =$1

4 Hunt's Puddings + 6 HC Soups = $10 minus $10 Catalina =FREE

4 Ro-Tel Tomatoes + 6 HC Soups =$10 minus $10 Catalina =FREE

6 Guilden's Mustards + 4 HC Soups =$10 minus $10 Catalina =FREE

4 Hunt's Ketchup + 6 HC Soups =$10 minus $10 Catalina =FREE

4 Hunt's Tomatoes + 7 HC Soups =$11 minus $10 Catalina =$1

2 Rosarita Salsa + 7 HC Soups =$11 minus $10 Catalina =$1

3 Pam Cooking Sprays + 6 HC Soups =$13.50 minus $10 Catalina =$3.50

3 Hunt's BBQ Sauce + 6 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina =$2

2 Wesson Oil + 5 HC Soups =$11.98 minus $10 Catalina =$1.98

6 Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce + 6 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina =$2

2 Reddi-wip + 7 HC Soups =$12.58 minus $10 Catalina=$2.58

4 PP Peanut Butter + 4 HC Soups =$10.76 minus $10 Catalina= 76cents

3 Marie Callender's dinners + 4 HC Soups =$13 minus $10 Catalina= $3

3 Marie Callender's Pot Pies + 4 HC Soups =$13 minus $10 Catalina= $3

3 Kid's Cuisine + 6 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina= $2

5 Chef Boyardee + 7 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina= $2

5 Banquets + 7 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina= $2

5 Manwich + 6 HC Soups =$11 minus $10 Catalina= $1

2 HC steams/dinners + 6 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina= $2

3 HC entrees + 6 HC Soups =$12 minus $10 Catalina= $2

Boy--that's A LOT of soup and other stuff!! FYI--The stores know that there is going to be a lot of Healthy Choice Soups purchased to just get the great price on the other products, and so they are setting up stations inside the store for the local food banks if you don't find a need or want that kind or amount of soup.

I'm scoring a lot of peanut butter on this deal and so a lot of my transactions actually don't have any soup in them because the regular price on the peanut butter is $3.29 and acts as a higher mediator in accumulating the $25 needed to generate the Catalina. This is an amazing way to stock up on basics like canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, soups, cooking oils, condiments, and quick dinner ideas. Most of the expiration dates on the products are months out, if not a year or two.

I'm still thinking about that quote that says it's better to be prepared 10 years early, than 10 minutes too late. What would it hurt to have a few months supply of staples to feed your family on hand in cruddy economic times. Food is always in fashion ;)

Just to see if you read all the way to the bottom...there are some coupons that you can print for free from the privacy of your home that you can use with this awesome deal. http://www.readyseteat.com/brand-coupon.do

Plotting the Deals.....

The Con Agra sale at Albertsons', that starts on Wednesday, is going to be tremendous. The stores in the greater Spokane area are ordering vast amounts of inventory to cover the super shoppers' needs. There is going to be a lot of great deals that don't require a handful of coupons-so don't feel like you can't get in on the great deal that breaks Wednesday morning.

But I saw some deals in the Walgreens and Rite-Aid circulars that are worthy of mentioning here. The items that are included in the Register Rewards (Walgreens) and the Up Rewards (Rite-Aid) programs are almost always a great deal, especially when combined with coupons.

For how to use the rewards program at Walgreen, follow to these links and see how it works:

http://couponing.about.com/od/beautyandhealth/a/walgreens.htm

http://www.wisebread.com/dealista-tip-getting-free-stuff-at-walgreens

At Walgreens--some of the great deals I saw are:
Hershey's Candy--Sale Price: 2/$5-$2 in-store coupon=2/$3. [I need to check if the "in-store" coupon is a manufacturer coupon or not, because if it isn't, there is a $2/2 coupon available, making the bags 50 cents each.]

Register Rewards--Get $5 in Register Rewards at checkout when you buy $15 or more of participating products (good on your NEXT in-store purchase). There are five things that are included in this deal--but the two items that you could really get a deal on are Skippy peanut butter and Ragu spaghetti sauce because there are coupons available on both of these items. You would have to buy a total of 10 items to reach the $15 mark to generate the $5 register reward, and that $15 is prior to coupons. I found coupons for Skippy that range anywhere from 40cents to $1 off each bottle. If you had the $1 coupons, combined with the register rewards $5 OYNO--the peanut butter is free. The coupons for the sauce are not as high as the peanut butter, but still make for a good deal. Some are $1.25/3. That's for a total of $6.25 in coupons for a 10 Ragu purchase, bringing the total to $8.75 (with coupons) and then receiving the $5 off for your next purchase. However you look at it, 88cents a jar for Ragu with $5 to still spend, is quite an improvement on $1.50 a jar. I saw some coupons that were Save $1/2. With the combined savings, they would end up being 50 cents a jar. Bigger savings is the goal, so definitely search for coupons with higher values for individual items. Remember: you are not limited to just one or the other in this kind of scenario because it's only for a total of $15 from any of the advertised items. So, theoretically, you could have 4 peanut butter and 6 Ragu--or any number of combinations.

Some of the other things to look at in the Walgreens ad (http://www.walgreens.com/):

--Ocean Spray 64oz Juices--Sale Price: $2.99-$2 Register Reward-$1.00/1 manufacturer's coupon=negative 1 cent.

--Gillette Venus or Fusion ProGlide Razor System--great coupons available

--Kotex Feminine Care (tampons, pads, pantyliners)--great coupons

--Colgate Toothpaste--coupons available for tremendous savings. **The store has printed a Limit 1 coupon printed per offer. That means that you can only get one register reward for the two toothpastes purchased in any given transaction, even if you have numerous toothpastes. So if you are looking to generate more than one register reward, you will have to purchase only 2 tubes per transaction and NOT use the Colgate register reward to pay for the next set of 2 tubes of paste.

--Aquafresh Toothpaste--99cents with in-store coupon. Apply a manufacturer's coupon for bonus savings.

--Huggies/Enfamil--$5 register reward for $25 purchases. Layer with high dollar coupons for a great deal.

There are lots more deals, depending on your needs and coupons. The key to extra savings is to not be limited to the advertised price. See if there is a coupon that can be stacked on to the sales price and if it generates a register rewards. Register rewards can be used on anything in the store and act as cash in purchasing them. So if you are super thrifty, you can do several transactions paying for a few items at a time and paying for them by only using the register rewards. You "roll" the previous register reward onto the next item that also generates a register reward. Purchasing things this way reduces the cost of the individual item significantly and is further reduced by a manufacturer's coupon.

Some of the savings opportunities/deals I see at Rite-Aid:

Know the Program. (http://www.riteaid.com/) You can earn a lot of the Up rewards to use like cash if you pay attention to what the store has marked with the "Buy and Save" blue labels. All you have to do is spend $100, prior to the discounts with coupons and previous Up rewards. The $20 Up Reward for $100 in items marked with the blue "Buy and Save" label in the ad and by the product in the store. Some of these items that are marked with the blue label also generate additional Up rewards. Pay attention to the dual savings. This $20 rebate program runs through the month of February, and expires on the 26th. Purchases between now and then accumulating to $100 (prior to manufacturer's coupons) will generate on $20 reward to be used on any purchases at Rite-Aid. (I love this program!!) I have been able to buy so much stuff on the cheap and generate my rewards cash already.

Just yesterday, I purchased 12 large 48 ct packages of Stayfree Feminine Care products and 10 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste for 35 cents. Now--I know what you're thinking...35 cents!! Yep. But here's how it went down. Each Stayfree package was $6.99. Do the math, times that by 12. [$83.88 before tax]. The toothpaste was $3.79 each on sale for $2.99, generating $2 Up rewards each. I had coupons for both items. For the Stayfree, I had "Buy One, Get One Free" manufacturer's coupons and Save $1 on each tube of Colgate. The cash register automatically takes $6.99 off of each set of pads (x6 sets). I hand over the coupons and the cashier takes $6 off per set (that is the max the coupon would allow per set as per the manufacturer), and $1 for each of the 10 tubes. I still have a pretty significant cash total even after the coupon discounts are taken. But I use the $2 Up rewards from the toothpaste deal last week to pay for the tubes this week (that way it generates the new rewards this week) and 2 of my $10 Up rewards...bringing the $30.35 total down to 35 cents. Euphoric!! And I generated a lot of dollars towards the $100 bank to earn my $20 Up reward that I can use on next week's deals.

So for some good deals I see this week:

--Covergirl Cosmetics, Olay skin and Bath care, Pantene products, and *Secret products--a $5 Up reward is generated when you buy $25...play with the numbers ahead of time and get come great coupons because they are on sale too--Buy 1 and Get the second 1/2 off! **Ok. There's a coupon in this week's ads that is for Secret (Buy 2, Get 1 Free). What you would do is buy 6 deodrants--with 3 at regular price, and 3 at half-price (the register will automatically do that) and then hand over the coupon at the end. The cashier should mark the price in the box of the first deodrant that is regular price, making it "free" as well. This could add up to the $25 you need to get the $5 back and it could be very, very inexpensive overall for a bunch of great products!

--Maybelline Cosmetics/Physician's Formula Cosmetics--same type of deal but you only have to spend $20 to get the $5 back, and the second product is also half off!
--Gillette razors--great coupons available [like $3 and $4 off of each package!] to use in addition to the high dollar Up rewards

--Gillette and Old Spice Body Wash--2/$8-$3/2 Up reward=$2/5 minus 2 manufacturer's coupons for $2/1; making the grand total $1 for 2 bottles. **Rite-Aid stipulates that there is a limit of 2 Up rewards for this deal per household. But hey! Four bottles for $2, who's complaining, right?

--Colgate Toothpaste--2/$5-$2 on 2 Up reward=$2/$3. There are coupons available but this deal is also limited to 2 per household. (It also is marked with the blue Buy and Save and helps generate the $20 off Up reward).
--Arm and Hammer toothpaste--Buy one, get one free (also has blue "buy and save" label). There are $1/1 coupons available.

--Lysol spray cleaners--2/$5-$1 Up reward=$2/$4+$1/1 coupons=$1 each

--Scope Mouthwash--$2/$5 on sale and there are $1/1 coupons that came in the 2/6 paper! [Just in comparison, the same mouthwash is advertised at Walgreen's this week at $3.99 a bottle. Ouch! That's a no-brainer.]

Remember to think outside the box when you are looking at the ads and see if there is really a better deal going on. Coupons create a golden opportunity to stock up for the same price that you would have already spent and never have to pay full retail price again. Be aware, be smart, and it will pay off in green!

A Well-Padded Deal........

So I've been sitting here looking at the ads and I always save Rite-Aid and Walgreens till last. I was so pleased with my purchases at Rite-Aid last week, I was giddy--waiting to see what the deal of the week would be. It looks like they have recycled the buy $100 worth of the items that are designated with a blue label that says "Buy and Save"--and receive a $20 Up Reward. I've love those. If you stagger your purchases, not only are you getting the Up Rewards on your items, but you can also apply coupons. When you reach the $100 mark (the total before coupon usage), an additional Up Reward of $20 prints out on your receipt. Staggering deals if you have a mind for it.

So here's the savvy shopper's dilemma. Both stores have Stayfree feminine care products on sale. The price at Walgreen's is $1.99 for the 14-24 pack of Stayfree Maxi pads. The same pads are $2.99 at Rite-Aid...but they are marked with the blue "Buy and Save" and get credited towards the $100 Up Reward total for the $20 back.

Oh the choices! I was on www.ebay.com looking at coupons and found two different ways to field this deal. There's coupons for "Buy One, Get One Free"--[making the 2 packages at Walgreen's $2.99 and 2 packages at Rite-Aid $1.99]. Or...they have $1 off per package coupons--[making the pads 99cents at Walgreens' and $1.99 at Rite-Aid]. But it all comes back to the extra Up Reward, huh? Ok...I'll get the Buy One, Get One Free coupons to use at Rite-Aid--because I don't have to pay for half as many of the pads to accrue the Up Reward kick back. I guess I just settled my own dilemma. It's just a numbers game that we volley around to see who has the better price when the deal's done.

Steal of a Deal

Through January 22nd, Rite Aid has been running a promotional deal where if you buy any of the products marked with a blue "Buy and Save" dot, totally $100 (before coupon discounts taken), you get a $20 Up-Reward. An Up-Reward is like the Catalina coupons...it prints out on the bottom of the register tape and is like CASH towards anything on your next purchase. If you jockey your purchases around and accrue the Up-Rewards first, you can pay for subsequent transactions with the rewards, rather than money.

That's what I did a couple of nights ago. I was looking for birthday invitations at one store and didn't see anything I liked. I remembered that I had already received my Rite-Aid Up-Reward for all the household cleaners and mouthwashes I had purchased at a discount the week before. So it was like having a $20 bill burning a hole in my pocket. The invitations I found were only $4--leaving $16 of the Up-Reward to still use.

So I wandered down the school supply aisle, as I was looking for supplies for preschool, and came across several things that also regenerated new Up-Rewards. The best were on the sticker labels and paper clips. They were $2.49 each, but generated a $2 Up-reward each. Working the numbers...that means I'd only have to pay the "difference" of 49cents. [The Up-Rewards are like "paying it forward"--you pay the whole amount now, and then the store returns the Up-Reward portion for each item to you on the receipt, to be used on future purchases.]

I methodically worked out how to pay for everything with the littlest cash out of pocket. I bought all the office supplies first, making sure to watch the total as to not go too far over $20. I paid for that with my $20 Up-Reward. The Grand Total on that transaction: 6 cents. On the bottom of that receipt was almost another $20 in new Up-Rewards. We had several dear families bring us dinner in the last couple of weeks with Nathan's surgery and recent home care. I didn't want to send the dishes back without a token of appreciation, so I bought five of my favorite chocolates--Ferrero Rochers at $4.99 each. After the Up-Rewards were taken off the last total, I only paid $2.11 (basically--sales' tax). So all the goodies on the table only cost me $2.17 out of pocket (OOP)!!

It's amazing what a little forethought and strategy can accomplish in your shopping adventures. Mass purchasing doesn't have to cost a lot. Knowing the store programs and using them to your advantage means HUGE savings. Tip for new users: Up-Rewards do not mean you can't use coupons on the items. The best combination of savings is to put the coupon on the lowest priced items, generate a Catalina-style return to use on future purchases, and combine the two savings options! Pennies on the dollar, if not free, is always the BEST price in town!!

My purchases here would have easily totaled $46 before tax. I felt pretty good about only paying $2.17 for everything that night. That's a 95% savings! The particular Up-Reward program that just earned me $20, ends today--but there are on-going programs just like the one I used, going on at stores all the time. Rite-Aid and Walgreens are both awesome stores to get Health and Beauty aid needs, household cleaners, and OTC medicines and supplies. I'll never pay cash for most of these products again!

Whoot Whoot!!

This coming week Albertsons' has Campbells' Great for Cooking soups (Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom) on sale for 59cents a can! That's a great price to begin with, but on I found coupons on http://www.ebay.com/ for Save $1/4. Now that makes a GREAT price of 34cents a can. Albertsons' hasn't had a double coupon fest in a couple of weeks and I might be reaching by thinking that we are about due for one. So, although I ordered my coupons tonight and they should be getting here on Friday or Saturday, I'm going to hold on to them to see if there are the doublers. If I were to buy 12 cans per transaction, with coupons and store doublers, each can would only be 9cents!! I think that is something to Whoot about!!

There's also a Kraft cheese sale going on this next week at the big A. Philadelphia cream cheese is 99cents an 8oz block and the Kraft shredded cheeses are $2. Not a stellar deal, but I got coupons for Save $1 when you buy 1 cream cheese and 1 package of Kraft shredded cheese. And hoping for the doublers the first of next week, that would make both cheese products $1 with coupon. That would make them stock-up worthy, in my book.

Here's a tip for Holiday shopping: many of the stores discontinue their Christmas packaged products immediately with 50% or more off deals starting right before Christmas or at latest, the day after. I'm talking about things like Hershey Kisses and novelty foods. Many of these products have coupons available for them, like the Save $1/2 Hershey products. A lot of those coupons are available for free at sites like http://www.coupons.com/, as well. Typical expiration dates are 12/31/10. If you were to set some of those coupons aside for when the products are clearanced, you would have a tremendous deal on your hands with some products. And things like the candy, stuffing, packaged sets, etc...are good for months and months after Christmas. So don't let the Christmas packaging fool you. A Hershey's Kiss in red and green wrappers is still a Hershey's Kiss without it's wrapper on ;)

Extreme Couponing Coming to TLC in December

Set the DVRs for 12/29 at 8pm on TLC for Extreme Couponing.

I'm not surprised that this kind of program is coming to TV...since ever morbid and perverse aspect of life has a reality show to its' name. But this is a show with BENEFITS!! Not only do you see the crazy state of the extreme coupon shopper in their frenzy, but you get to glean techniques and skills that you can use to benefit yourself and family.


http://press.discovery.com/us/tlc/programs/extreme-couponing/

I think what impresses me most is that most of these shoppers are fairly new to couponing...like 3-4 years new. Economic times have caused the vast majority of people to review their expenses and see where they can cut corners to reduce costs. Food is the second highest expense in the budget, following the mortgage/rent. And generally, it's one of the only expenses that is "discretionary"--whatever we choose it to be. That means that it fluctuates on our mood, the cost of foods we are drawn to, or if we have less money to work with. For the credit-saturated culture that we live in, most of the residual expenses on groceries get diverted to a credit card when liquid funds are not available in the bank.



I've been "bargain shopping" for over 16 years, "coupon shopping" for the last 10 years, and "extreme couponing" for the last 6 years. I used to be the novelty customer at the stores I shopped locally. Now I'm just one of masses that are trying to get the most for my buck. I see women who are far more organized and methodical than I am with 6" binders full of coupons and lists of game plan options for the products on sale. I see some who shop using coupons for single quantities and those who shop for case lots. Everyone plans their strategy according to what they can store, expiration dates, and what they use. But the bottom line for all the couponers is: they do it to save money. Because coupons are the only time that you will see a cost realization that is reduced and paid for with money you did not have to make yourself! The coupons are acting as "cash" to pay for products that you would normally have to pay for yourself. That means the money you could have spent stays in the bank rather than going into the grocers' tills. Think about that. How much money do you spend on food? How much money could you save? If you put the numbers on paper...it's surprising how much you will pay yourself if you create a game plan for you and your family. Good luck and happy shopping.

Check it Out!

'Tis the holiday season and everyone is looking for a great deal. Gift cards are very popular and I like to receive them...hint, hint. But if you are trying to decide which ones to get/give, I think that it's always best to lean towards the ones that pay you back. For example, Red Robin has a deal going for when you buy a $25 gift card, you get a $5 card to use between January and February.

What I've done in the past is buy the gift card before we eat and pay for the meal with the gift card on the same day--with the perk of a gift card to use in the new year.

I know that many of the restaurants are doing this and it's a great way to kill two birds with one stone...and enjoy the gift of giving, especially when it comes back to you. I guess this would be the perfect example of a "piggyback" deal.