Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Blissful (Walmart-less) Shopping, Great Deals! :)

So, yeah, I drove my coupons right past Walmart yesterday and went directly to Walgreens and then Meijer.  I can't say I particularly missed all the hassle over coupons at Walmart.  I did write to them to let them know why I was taking my coupon business elsewhere.  I was polite, but firm.  I haven't yet heard back.  Not even a "We've received your e-mail and we'll get back to you asap" form letter.  Hmmm . . . we'll see what happens.  I wrote to the local store and to corporate.  I know many people have something to say to Walmart.  I hear about it all the time.  If you're one of those people, go here and click on "e-mail customer service."  Then you're given some options.  If you click on the one about store policies, you have the option of sending it to corporate. 

Now, let's get down to business!  Great deals this week.  I L-O-V-E when I save more than I spend!  I saved a total of $76.86 at Meijer, over $30 of which was in coupons alone.  You should have SEEN my stack of coupons!  lol  It was great!  The guy behind me in line just kept watching the cashier scan coupon after coupon, his eyes widening with each one.  It was comical.  Except that I think he was a little annoyed because he had only one little frilly dress ???? he was waiting to pay for.  But, hey, he didn't get in line until well after my order was underway. ;)

Oh, and I also received $12.50 in catalinas to use on future purchases!!  Love it, love it.

Anyway, it was great because I was able to use a bunch of coupons, that were ready to expire, on products that were on sale.  A perfect scenario.  And I took full advantage of it. ;)

I'll share with you some of the best deals!

Chex Mix, normally $2.69/bag
Sale Price:  2/$3
Coupon:  $.50/1 Chex Mix
Our Meijer doubles coupons up to $.50
Final Price:  $.50 each!

Meijer has a deal right now where you buy $15 of Kraft products and receive a catalina for $5 off your next shopping trip.  You can do two of these in one transaction.  Plus, their cheeses, snack crackers, OM hot dogs, etc. are on sale.  I bought a little over $30 of Kraft products, so I got $10 back, though the catalina didn't spit out my 2nd one and I had to go to customer service to get it.  Anyway, not only did I get that $10 returned to me, but I also didn't pay $30 for those products because of all the coupons I had.  I probably paid $10 or less on that stuff.  Not bad!

Yogurt:
They have DanActive 4-packs on sale, 2/$4.  If you buy four 4-packs, you get an instant $2 off.  Use coupons here and here, plus these from Meijer Mealbox (to stack), and pay well under $1 per 4-pack.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of Hamburger Helper and things of that nature, but they have these new brands, like Macaroni Grill, Wanchai Ferry and Good Earth Meals, where you add chicken and a few staple ingredients you likely have (like oil).   I thought I'd give them a try, to have them on hand for extra busy days, especially since I was able to get them for $.99 each (regularly $4.49 each)!  If you've been clipping coupons, you probably have various ones you can stack with these $1/1 Meijer Mealbox coupons, to get them for $.99, plus the cost of chicken.

Coffeemate creamers:
2/$3
$.75/1 coupon here
Pay $.75

There are soooo many more deals.  Check out the Meijer ad for your area (available online), clip coupons, look up online coupon sites and print them off.  Then make sure to check Meijer Mealbox to see if there are some coupons you can stack with manufacturer coupons.  Remember one manufacturer coupon and one Meijer coupon per item (or however many items are indicated on coupon). 

WALGREENS

Check out the Walgreens ad for items you can receive FREE this week, when they give you back Register Rewards for the same amount you paid.  Then use those register rewards for other things you need (and don't forget to use coupons!).  That's how I spent $13.27 on $40.71 worth of products!  I spent waaay under half of what I saved.  You can do it, too! :)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Few Good Deals Today--But Not So Much at Walmart! :)

Made a quick stop at Meijer today to stock up on a few things they had on sale.  I spent $6.68 and SAVED $11.92.  Gotta love that!  Here are a few of the deals you can get if you live near a Meijer (there are more deals than this, but these are the ones I used today):

Hunts ketchup (our new ketchup of choice--pretty much as tasty as Heinz, but none of that nasty high fructose corn syrup):

They are on sale for $1.
Go here for a $1/5 coupon.  $.80 each, and you don't have to buy ketchup again for a long, long time! 

Skippy peanut butter (including the natural):

They are on sale for $1.67
Go here for $.50/1 Skippy natural pb (print 2--the limit--while you're at it!)
Our Meijer doubles $.50 coupons, so I got 2 jars for $.67 each.
PLUS, if you buy 2 jars of any Skippy pb, you get a free 18 oz grape jelly or jam.  Not my fave, but I think Little Mister will like it. :)

Yo-plus yogurt:

The 4-packs are on sale for $1.67.
Go here for a $.50/1 4-pack.
With the double coupons, I got 2 packs for $.67 each.

You can do the above deal with the Fiber One yogurt as well. 

Now, for those of you on Facebook, you may have seen my status about boycotting Walmart.  I'm not sure how I feel about that now that I've had time to clear my head.  I really don't want to deal with them anymore when it comes to coupons.  But if I just stop going there without letting them know why, it's not going to do any good.  So, if I can figure out who to address it to, I plan to write to the company.  I'm not sure I can make a difference on my own, but if any of you who have had the same troubles would be willing to say something, too, maybe we can make a difference together.  I have this gut feeling that they really don't care, but I don't like to be pessimistic and assume the worst either.  We'll see how it plays out. :)

Happy saving!! :)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Great Deals Today! :)

Little Mister and I "braved" the rainy day and went grocery shopping this morning.  Besides the fact that we looked like drowned rats (LM makes a very cute drowned rat, though, I must say!), we had a good time together.  He was a big help and it was a great opportunity to take all those math facts he's been learning in the books and put them to use in real life.  Not to mention he's just great company! :)

I bought Kraft cheeses for 17 cents each, Wheat Thins and Triscuits for 62 cents each, Manwich for 50 cents each and got Old El Paso fajita seasoning for free!  Just to name a few of my best bargains. ;)  I shopped at Meijer, and here's how I got those deals.

First of all, let me explain that Meijer is having a Catalina deal where, when you buy $15 worth of certain Kraft products (including cheese, Wheat Thins, Triscuits, 100 Calorie snacks, mayo, Miracle Whip and several others), you receive a $5 catalina to use on your next purchase.  You can do two of these deals in one transaction.

The Kraft 8oz bricks of cheese are on sale for $1.67 (3/$5).  To make this work, you have to buy 10.  But then you don't have to buy cheese again for a long time!  The date on it was December something, and it can always be frozen.  So . . . .
10 Kraft cheese at $1.67  =  $16.70
Print a $5/5 coupon here (actually, print 2, which is the limit).
So, when you take off the $10 from the coupons, you're down to $6.70 for 10 bricks of cheese.
Then you'll get a $5 catalina to use on your next shopping trip, which brings your grand total down to $1.70, or $.17 each, for 10 bricks of cheese!

Wheat Thins and Triscuits are on sale for $1.99 and are also part of the Kraft deal.
I bought 8 boxes--4 of each.  $15.92
If you "like" Wheat Thins on Facebook, you can print up to two $1/1 coupons for Wheat Thins.  Even if you "liked" them a long time ago and printed out coupons, try again.  They seem to have reset the coupon.
With my two coupons, the total came down to $13.92. 
I got the $5 catalina from Kraft, since the items totaled more than $15.  Down to $8.92 for 8 boxes.
THEN, the catalina machine spit out an extra $4 off coupon for my next shopping trip!  Fun surprise!  That brought the cost down to $.62 per box of crackers!

I paid for my groceries in two separate transactions.  I did all the Kraft products--the cheese and crackers--first, then used the catalinas from that when I paid for the remainder of my groceries.  The one thing I didn't know, though, was that you can only use one of the Kraft $5 catalinas per transaction.  If I had known that, I may have divided my remaining groceries into 2 transactions.  Or maybe not!  I have it to use for next time, which is just as good to me.

A couple other deals I can think of are the Manwich I got for $.50 a can (I totally forgot to look at the label until I got home and, unfortunately, it is sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup--yuck!).  But that doesn't bother everyone, so if you want a good deal on Manwich, go to the Meijer Mealbox, to "specials" and there you will find all kinds of coupons, including one for $1 off 2 Manwich.  They are on sale for $1 so, with the coupon, they are $.50 each, if you buy two.  And I think you can print off as many Meijer coupons as you wish.

I went here for a $.50/1 Old El Paso coupon.  I needed fajita mix, which was $.89.  My Meijer doubles coupons up to $.50, so they took off the extra $.39 and I got it for free!

Lots of beautiful produce at great prices and other deals that might work well for your household.  Worth a look! :)