Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to see Wall-E, as part of a belated Birthday gift for my eldest. SOO...that left me free to shop ALONE! Do you hear me? AlONE!
Can you tell I'm excited? If you would have told me 10 years ago how happy I would be to go to a drugstore or a grocery store, I would have rolled my eyes and laughed. Yeah, right!
But, alas...here I am...and, darn happy, mind you.
So, what are the fun deals I took advantage of this week? Well, most of them were from the grocery game ( please use referral moneysavingmethods@yahoo.com ).
But, there were a few that I added to, tweaked, stumbled upon in store or on someone else's blog. So, I thought I would post a few tonight:
- Walgreens Jumbo Diapers - Reg $7.99 - Sale $5.99 - Walgreens Coupon from the July Rebate Catalog ($7.50) ( takes off $2.50 per diaper pack) - Go back to the Pharmacy and ask the Pharmacist to tell you about their Prescription program for their Coupon Book. They hand you a sheet quickly, explain the program them give you a coupon booklet. Inside...another Walgreens Diaper coupon ($6.00 ) ( $2.00 off per diaper pack ) = Price $5.22 for 3 packs of diapers. PLUS...when you buy 3, you get a $5.00 Coupon off your next purchase. Final Price = 22 cents!! I have done this twice so far over the last few days...so I had $10 in coupons to use on the following....thanks Lili for the info!
- Reynold's Aluminum Foil 20 ft - Reg $1.69 - Walgreens Coupon from Sunday Walgreens Flier - Brings the price down to 89 Cents - Coupon from past Sunday paper - ($.55 Off ) = Final Price $.34
- A&D Ointment 40oz.- Reg $6.49 - Walgreens Coupon from the monthly Rebate Catalog ($2.00 ) - A&D Coupon sent out to new mothers for free product up to $3 ($3.00 ) = Final Price $1.49
What else did I buy off the grocery game list? The Pilot Pens and Crayola Markers and Turtle Chocolate which will be free plus 10% from the monthly rebate book. Kashi cereal on sale combined with coupons. Bumble Bee albacore tuna on sale plus coupons. Mechanical Pencils.
My total for all that listed above came to $.50 ( after taking off the 2 $5 off coupons from diapers ). The poor cashier kept commenting that he had never seen anything like that happen before. :-)
How did I technically do there? I paid NOTHING! ZILCH! For each diaper transaction, it came to $5.22. So, $10.44 total. Plus the 50 cents from all those other things, should have cost me $10.94...BUT, I paid for it all on my Walgreens Gift Card, which is funded from all the free after rebate purchases from previous months. The grand total normally would have been over $70!!
Not a Walgreens shopper? I highly advise it. Once you make your rebate purchases the first month and have your Walgreens gift card loaded, you will probably never spend any money again. I literally bought products at the beginning of the year..spend about $30...and have never spent anything there again. I just keep buying products with the money they keep giving me back.
The key, if an item is free after rebate and you have a coupon..you make money. Plus, if you choose to have your money loaded to a gift card, they give you an extra 10%. So, you are making even more money.
Anyway...on to...
Kroger
They are running their Buy 10 Participating items, get $5 back. Click here to read Mommy Snacks breakdown on some great finds.
Here are a few items I took advantage of in addition.
- Sargentino Cheese - Reg $3.99 - Sale $2.00 - Manufacturer Coupon mailed to me from Kroger ($1.00 off 2 ) - 50 cents off each item due to Buy 10 get $5 promotion = Final Price $1.00 per package
- Muir Glen Canned Whole Tomatoes - Reg $1.79 - Discontinued Price $1.07 - Click the coupons.com ad under my Weekly Must Clicks to get a coupon for $1.00 off = Final Price $.07
- Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis - Reg $2.29 - Sale $2.00 - ($.55) Shortcuts Electronic Coupons...load to your Kroger card - Click the coupons.com ad under my Weekly Must Clicks to get a coupon that doubles to $1.00 off or in past Sunday papers - 50 cents off due to Buy 10 get $5 promotion = Final Price...you make 5 cents
- Also, keep your eyes peeled as going thru the store. Shortcuts has a $1 off any Private Selection item purchased. I got some vegetables at mine that were reduced due to a soon to be expiration date. So, I got them for almost nothing. Do the same with the beef. There is a $2.00 off an Private Selection Beef or Chicken. I searched thru the pile until I found a steak for not much more than $2.00.
Don't forget....bring your plastic bags from your last trip. I have been averaging almost $1 back a week. And, check your receipts for their Price Guarantee. I got $2 back today.
And, when you get home...check all those labels. Many of my products had the Labels for Education on them, so I cut them out right away. I have a baggie full for my son to take back in the fall.
What was my final out of pocket today? $41.93 for $174.96 worth of products.
My savings? $133.03
Total Percentage saved? 76%
Finally, thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks for her recent post on how much she has spent and saved grocery shopping this year.
I always have my money saved posted under my 2008 Savings and Earnings. BUT, I do have it broken out to Grocerys, CVS and Walgreens. Technically, those are all linked in regards to groceries.
Plus, rebate money back comes off, Electronic Coupons and Price Guarantees, Prescription Coupons and Recycling Bags. So, it is not consolidated up there for you. So, I ran the numbers, and here they are YTD......
Spent = $1,554.74
Total Saved = $3,053.01
Percentage Saved = 66%
Weekly Spent on Average = $51.82 for a family of 5.
And, we have so much extra, especially in beauty supplies, we donate it. Fun, fun!
If you aren't a coupon shopper, if someone handed you $3,000 to cut some coupons and mail some rebates, would you do it? That is how much I basically got handed to us this year for my time. It is definitely something to think about.
Photo courtesy of: Jon Fravel
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5 comments:
Hey there! I just started playing the Grocery Game and LOVE it! I am currently "stockpiling" and working on "month long" menus. It has proven to save me greatly and I look forward to saving much more as I keep playing! Goal, get to $50 a week for our family! The hard part for me is we have some dietary restrictions (no oats and soy), but I'm working around it! Thanks for encouraging me and having the cool coupon links!
Awesome savings girl! And, if I had that Wags Pharmacy q for those diapers, I would have done several more too! I didn't realize you could actually ask for it back. arrrghhh. Live and learn!
I am glad you enjoy the grocery game, too.
I love it because all my deals for Kroger, Meijer, Walgreens and CVS are all at my fingertips...I click a few buttons and print them all out. So easy and fast for me! And, that is what I need.
Pretty much anymore...the only other site I check is Mommy Snacks to see if she has any additional deals ( she posts printable coupons ), so that adds a few to the list.
I used to try to check many blogs and message boards, but it just took too much time for me, for too little cost savings.
And, don't worry..you will work your way down to $50 a week eventually...or pretty close.
I was pleasantly surprised when I ran my numbers yesterday. There are some weeks when I spend only $40 something...like this week...and then other weeks there are so many great sales, I spend close to $100. I don't sweat it, as long as I know I am getting a deal on things we will use, because as you see from the #'s, it averages out to be low. Plus, then I can skip slow sale weeks because I am so stockpiled.
Food restrictions would be difficult. I don't wish that on anyone! But, it sounds like you have a pretty good plan going.
THANK YOU THANK YOU, for this diaper deal, my husband and I both just went to several Walgreens togethor and there are now 12 packs of diapers upstairs that we only paid less than $7.00 out of pocket for. Considering we are very close to having 2 in diapers I couldn't pass this up.
Leslie,
So glad you were able to take advantage of this great deal, too. Diapers can be so expensive, so it is always nice when we can stock up for next to nothing!
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