Lots of Grocery and Drug Store Deals!

I bought a lot of fresh fruit and a few cleaning necessities (like smooth top range cleaner (expensive), but here are some of the savings highlights...
(the totals don't reflect everything listed. These are just some of the better deals).

Rite Aid

Bounty Paper Towels (6)
$.52 each (BOGO and w/coupons)

Mentos (4)
FREE (w/ coupons)

Gilette Men's Deodorant (4)
$.50 each (Coupons for BOGO and after +Up Rewards)

Finesse Shampoo (2)
$.50 each (after +Up Rewards)

Paid...$19.43
Saved...$12.42! (not including the +Up rewards!)


Kroger

Chi Chi's Tortillas (3)
$.88 (after coupons)

4 pack Activia Yogurt (1)
$.88 (after coupon)

Frozen vegetables (8)
$.88 each

Kroger canned vegetables (9)
$.50 each

Kroger canned black and kidney beans (3)
$.68 each

10 lb bag of Russet Potatoes (1 bag)
$2.92

Kroger milk (1)
$2.09

Kroger Extra Large Eggs (1)
$1.59

Kroger white bread (1)
$.88

Hormel Pepperoni (2)
$1.23 (after coupons)

Starkist Tuna (2)
$.69 each

Body Wash (w/free lotion samples attached) (2)
$2.50 each (on closeout)

Secret Deodorant (2)
FREE! (w/purchase of body wash)

Paid...$63.80
Saved...$25.46!


Meijer

Peter Pan Peanut Butter (2)
$.89 each (after coupon)

Welch's Squeezable Jelly (2)
$1.16 each (after peel off "save now" coupon)

Snack Pack Pudding (4)
$.75 each (after buy 3 get one FREE coupon)

Lysol Sprays (2)
$1.50 each (after coupon)

Hillshire Farms Deli Sliced Turkey (2)
$3.99 each (after coupons)

Gain Dish Detergent (1)
$1.50 (after coupon...BUT THIS IS GOING TO BE $.88 THIS WEEK AT CVS WITH COUPONS. LUCKILY I HAVE 2 MORE!)

Mangoes (4)
$5.00 (this was a treat).

Red Grapes (1 bunch)
$.99 a lb.

Cortland Apples (1 bag)
$3.99 (for a 3lb bag)

Paid...$39.33
Saved...$16.34!

Total Savings Today...$54.22!

Ode to Generic Handsoap

Dear $.88 bottle of generic hand soap, you have served me well!

I bought you because I had two empty bottles from Bath and Body Works that make the foamy soap and I knew that I didn't have to throw them out because I could fill them with 2 thirds water and one third soap and they would be as good as new! Thanks to you, dear generic hand soap,
I was able to refill those bottles 4 times!


You were such a good value and saved my family a lot of $$$!

Now you are gone and I have to replace you, but I just wanted you to know that you were the first and I will always remember you!

(I LOVE this money saving trick!)

I Saved Over HALF!

I just made a jaunt to Kroger to try to use up some more coupons and take advantage of the Mega Event and did pretty well I think!

I had 4 more, "Buy 4, get $1 off" of Progresso Soup, so I bought 16 (this was a mega event item).

Then, I had a coupon for "buy 3 Hunts tomatoes get $.45 off" which doubles at Kroger for $.90 off (this was also a mega event item).
.
To get the Mega Event $5 off at checkout bonus, you have to buy 10 items in one transaction.

So I threw in one more mega event item (Kraft mac n cheese) to make that transaction 20 items, to have taken $10 off!

So, after the coupons and the mega event discount, those items totaled right around $16.00 (for 16 cans of soup, 3 cans of Hunts tomatoes and one container of instant mac and cheese).

Then I had some coupons for some Kroger sale items that were not part of the mega event. They had 1/2 gallons of Turkey Hill tea buy 4 for $5.00 (which is $1.25 a piece). I had buy 2 get $1.00 off, so they ended up being $.75 a piece.

I also had some coupons for some Healthy Choice

Publish Post

and Marie Callendar dinners that were 2 for $4.00. I had a coupon for buy 2 get a $1 off, so they ended up being $1.50 a piece.

So, in all, I spent about 20 bucks and some change and saved 21 bucks and some change!

Pretty awesome.

I guess it will be soup for lunch for me for the next few weeks! ha!

I Might Be Able to Get the Couponing Thing After All!

I went to Kroger this evening and scored some serious deals! They are having a meat sale, so I stocked up. And I tried the whole matching up my coupons with the store sales. And what do you know? I scored some good deals and some FREE stuff!!! WOOHOO!

My total was $72.59 and my receipt says that with my store card and coupons, I saved $40.72! Pretty awesome!

I also unknowingly bought 10 of their mega items, which took
$5.00 off of the total.

This trip, I bought fresh vegetables like celery, onion, carrots, cucumber and lettuce. And a 5lb bag of Fugi apples for $3.99 which is about $.80 a pound.

In all, the fresh fruit and veg totaled $13.02

Now for the meat deals...

Split, Bone-In Chicken Breasts were $.99lb

Chicken Leg Quarters were $.49lb for a 10lb bag, which totaled $4.90. But you could say that I got it for FREE because of the $5.00 credit from the mega savings promotion!

Pork Loin was either $1.49lb or $1.89lb...I don't remember. But either is a good deal.

So, in all I spent $12.32 which is pretty awesome for like 15lbs of meat!

Then I bought a few things that weren't necessarily on sale so that I could make for a recipe for my MOPS breakfast tomorrow, but I bought the store brands to try to keep the costs down, which is no big deal.

But I also got some things for FREE using coupons!!! Too cool!

I had a bunch of Colgate coupons, so I thought I'd just check and see if it was on sale, and it was, 10 for $10. Which at Kroger, means it's $1.00. I had two $.50 off any Colgate toothpaste coupons which at Kroger doubles. So each coupon was worth $1.00, meaning both tubes were FREE!!!
I also needed butter and had a $.50 off coupon for Best Life spread. When I got to Kroger, Best Life was also 10 for $10, so with the coupon, it was FREE! (it's really fun to write FREE in all caps! LOL) I may even have another one in my coupon stash,
so I'm going back to get more if I do!

I also got yogurts for about $.25 a container using coupons as well as some frozen items like Toaster Strudel, Green Giant veg, Lean Cuisines and Banquet Chicken Nuggets for about $1.50 or less a piece using coupons.

SUH-WEET!

There certainly is quite a feeling of accomplishment when you can get something for free or nearly free. It makes me want to work a little harder to find the best deals.

I also dug out a binder and bought some of those baseball card sleeves and some dividers to place my coupons in so that I can get organized.

I'm on a roll folks!

Clipping Coupons...A Love/Hate Relationship

One thing I've found is that clipping coupons is totally REPOSEFUL. It's really relaxing to sit on the couch with my circulars, flip through the great coupons, take out my sharp scissors, clip away and dream of getting a great deal or something FREE with those little slips of paper!

How many times has that happened?
NEVER!

While the act of clipping the coupons is fun and relaxing, actually making them work for me is seriously stressful! I just feel lost, like I don't know where to begin. I know there are websites that do the work for you, cross referencing the store sales fliers with available coupons for the best deals. But a lot of those services charge a monthly fee. And my objective is to SAVE money, not spend it on something I could easily do myself. But it's not easy. The folks I do know personally who are super couponers spend a lot of time online and at the stores searching out the best deals. It really is a time investment if you want to learn to do this right.

But I just don't get how it all works? It seems like when I get to the store, the price of the name brand product with a coupon is still more expensive than just buying the store brand. I also think it's more expensive to buy processed prepackaged food than it is to just make certain things yourself. For example, why would I buy a jar of Ragu with a coupon that saves me a few pennies when it's just cheaper and healthier to make my own sauce with a can of store brand tomatoes, a $.30 can of tomato paste, half a green pepper, half an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and spices? And it tastes better too! Although I would like to get in on getting those boxes and boxes of free pasta that everyone talks about. I can see how that works. Right now Barilla pasta is $1.00 a box at Kroger. If you had a $.50 off coupon, which Kroger doubles, then it would be free! I'm all about easy math like that. But once it gets complicated with mixing and matching and earning bucks and points etc. then I get lost. So, back to the pasta...does anybody have any Barilla coupons or know where I could find some? :)

If I had someone to sit with me and go through the fliers, help me match up the coupons and then walk me through the store to show me how to take advantage of the great deals (especially at Rite Aid), then I think I could learn how to do it. But I'm not going to pay for it!

Could any of you offer some suggestions, favorite websites, advice, ANYTHING?