My latest Albertson's trips!

I made a couple different transactions at Albertson's this last week, thanks to the week-long double coupons in this week's ad! I don't have pictures of the Hefty bags, but I was able to get 5 boxes of Hefty quart-size storage bags for FREE!

I'm not sure how my mom got them, but she got a bunch of coupons for $5 off a $40 purchase with your preferred savings card and I was determined to get my subtotal to just above $40, and with coupons get it down to around $10 so I could use my $10 catalina that I got from a previous promotion and it was due to expire today. I accomplished my goal: my subtotal was $40.11 and after coupons, my new subtotal was $9.14! I actually had to buy a pack of gum as a filler item in order to use the $10 catalina, which is can only be used if your subtotal is equal to or more than the amount of the catalina. So I grabbed a pack of $1.29 gum and after my catalina and tax, I paid $1.85 for the following: 

1 pack of gum

4 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner (full price: $4.99 each!)

5 Kraft dressings

1 Heinz ketchup

1 20 oz Pepsi (I was thirsty!)

1 bag Kraft shredded mozarella cheese

2 Kraft Cracker Cuts sliced cheese

0.75 lbs bulk mushrooms

TOTAL SAVED: $54.69!

Next, I did these transactions using double coupons and 1 $3 catalina:

2 boxes Wheat Thins

2 Healthy Choice frozen entrees

1 pack of gum (as filler)

Paid OOP: $1.17

Total saved: $16.26

3 Edge Shave Gels (these were completely free with coupons, I only paid tax)

Paid OOP: $0.31

Total saved: $9.57

All in all, I spent OOP $3.33 and saved $80.52! Not bad...

I still have 2 $3 catalinas that expire on June 7. I've already looked at this week's ad (May 27 - June 2) and so far, I'm not really wanting anything special. So I just might wait until the next week after that to use them. And hopefully we will get some more double coupons if Albertson's really loves us ;)

Well, the sales are over and a new one begins at 6am Wednesday morning, but I was able to really take advantage of the promos and double coupons going on. I made several different transactions to use the doubles & I put everything into the picture and added up my total OOP (out of pocket) paid and my total savings. Savings include: preferred card savings, manufacturer coupons and store coupons (double coupons). 

Bought: 

12 boxes of cereal
3 boxes of Bisquick

3 Green Giant frozen vegetables

2 organic yogurt

2 packages Kraft singles
8 4-packs Yo-plus yogurt

1 milk

OOP: $7.56

Saved: $110.48

Bought:
4 Capri Sun

2 A-1 sauce

2 3-packs Apple juice

10 Yoplait yogurt

3 boxes Special K

22 Kraft bbq sauce

1 Listerine

6 Aveeno lotion

5 Johnson's body wash

1 Johnson's leave-in conditioner

1 Neosporin

1 Band-aids

5  children's Motrin

1 Cascade rinse agent

3 Palmolive dish soap

2 Glad trash bags

2 Clorox bleach

1 Clorox wipes

OOP: $45.57

Saved: $243.79 This is not a misprint! I really did save this much money, plus I still have a $10 catalina from one of the transactions to use on a future purchase! I also could have spent less out of pocket and saved even more money because one of the Albertsons I went to would only take 2 internet printables. So with my doubles, I could have spent about $10 less and saved around $30 more. 

Total OOP: $53.13

Saved: $354.27

I plan to contact Albertson's corporate to ask them about the internet printable coupon policy. I've been told by a few stores that they can only take 2 printable coupons per product. Period. But, I've had other stores take 12 of the same internet printable coupons in a row (for the Kraft bbq sauce). Once I get a clear answer from corporate, I will post their answer on here and plan to print off the email I receive and carry it with me at all times!!!

The rest of my Albertson's trips + Walmart + Smith's

Yesterday was the last day to use the Albertsons double coupons. Since my husband bought 12, yes 12, papers so we could get tons of coupons, I was able to make multiple trips and also use up my $25 in catalinas from the Trail Mix Crunch transactions I made earlier this month. (I got 25 boxes of cereal for just a few dollars and got 5 $5 catalinas to use on my future purchases. 2 of them expired on the 20th and the remaining 3 expired yesterday. So I had to go use up all of these coupons!) Even though I had $25 in free groceries, I wanted to make the most out of it, so I used coupons on almost every thing I bought, then I doubled them. I actually had to grab candy bars on 2 of the transactions to be able to use the catalinas. My Albertsons let me do 2 transactions in a row with the doubles. So I made 2 more transactions at Albertsons in the morning before work, then I went to a different Albertsons, who only let me do 1 transaction, so I went to another nearby Albertsons. They let me 2 transactions in a row as well. Luckily, I live near a lot of grocery stores, and I had to go to Smith's before their sale ended at midnight, so I basically just made a circle hitting up all of these different stores. I also decided to go to Walmart to try and find hummus, which Smith's didn't have but Walmart didn't have either!!! but I was able to use up alot of good coupons there. Since it is way late (or early in the a.m.) and I doubled most of my coupons, and the sales expired yesterday,  I will just post the picture of everything I bought yesterday and then I will break down the Walmart trip in the morning. But I hope this is a big inspiration to everyone to see what is possible by taking the time to coupon!

Total OOP: $31.67

Total SAVED: $160.77

3rd & 4th Albertsons double coupon trips

I split these up into 2 transactions to A. use 3 double coupons and B. use the $5.00/off any purchase catalinas that I got from my Post Trail Mix Crunch transactions. I was 0.03 short to use the $5 coupon on each transaction, so I grabbed a candy bar to make up the difference. Each transaction was exactly the same, just done twice.

2 bags Cascadian Farm frozen fruit 3.99 each

1 bag Cascadian Farm frozen veggie 2.99 each

candy bar .79

  - 3 $1.00 Cascadian Farm coupons from inserts

- 3 $1.00 doubles

- $5.00 catalina

Total OOP each transaction: $1.02 after tax

1st & 2nd Albertsons double coupon trips

The first trips I made using the double coupons, I wanted to make sure I squeezed all the savings I could out of them. I used grocerysmarts.com to compile my shopping list of items on sale and the coupons to match with them, then I broke it up into seperate transactions to use 3 of the double coupons per sale.

1st transaction: 

Quaker/Pepsi promo: Save $3 instantly when you spend $15 on participating items. Mix and Match over 400 items. These are the only items I wanted from the sale. Prices listed are the sale price before the $3/off promo

6 Quaker True Delights Granola Bars 

$2.50 x 6: $15.00

- $3.00 from promo

- 6 $1.00/1 from the 3/1 RP insert

- 3 $1.00 doubles

Final OOP: $3.50 before tax (he only rang up 5 boxes, so I actually did not get the $3 promo, but paid $2.50 per box instead of $2.00 per box if he had rang up 6. Difference of 0.50 overcharged. Not a biggie)

2nd transaction:

6 Sobe Lifewater $1.00 each

6 RiceARoni $1.25 each

2 Aunt Jemima syrup $2.00 each

- $3.00 from promo

- 3 B1G1 Sobe printable

- 2 $1.00/3 RiceARoni printable

- 2 $1.00 doubles

WackyMac pasta $1.89

- $0.50 printable no longer available

- $0.50 double

Albertsons large dozen eggs $1.39

- $1.00 Albertsons coupon received in the mail

Final OOP: $9.78 before tax

SAVED: $41.21!

Albertson's Double Coupons

UPDATE** There were only 3 coupons in the paper today and you can use 3 per family per transaction. I got 12 papers, and when I went to the store later this evening, there was a stack of them just sitting out by the frozen foods section. I only took 3 more of the ads, giving me 9 more doubles and it made up for the coupons I was using in that trip and then some, and still plenty left over for others! So just keep an eye out at your store, or ask the customer service desk if you can have some.

Thanks to Shopping With Cents, it has been confirmed that Albertson's will have double coupons in tomorrow's Sunday paper. There will be 4 of them and you can usually only use 4 double coupons per transaction. Albertsons will allow you to do 3 seperate transactions in a row, so you can take 12 doubles.

Also, the stores were out of a few items that I wanted to get last time. The double coupons are usually only good for 3 days. So, make a list of which coupons you'd like to double first, then have back-ups ready. Then if they are out of a product, you can still take advantage of good deals & the doubles without running around to different stores.

I like to go through the ad to see what is on sale and figure coupon match-ups with coupons I already have or can print online. Then I see which ones would be best to use to save even more with the doubles. Or, I will go through all of my coupons that are due to expire soon or are $1.00 off so I can take advantage of the double coupons and still get things at a pretty good price, even if the items aren't on sale or a good sale price.

Walgreens: Deals for the week of March 29-April 4, 2009

Here are the best deals available at Walgreens this week, with thanks to Mercedes for her help in compiling them. Be sure to stop by her blog to learn how you can get 40% off any one item at Borders right now.

WEEKLY DEALS

Glade Soy Candles--priced at $5.99
Use $4/1 coupon (no longer available but hopefully you found them earlier & printed them)
Stack with $2/1 coupon in the April EasySaver booklet
Free after coupons

Equal Sweetener--on sale 2 for $5
Use the $2.50/1 coupon from 1/4 inserts
Free after coupon

Reynolds Foil--on sale for $0.89 after in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 from 2/8 insert
Free after coupons

Printer Cartridge Refill--$7.50
Submit for $7.50 April Easysaver rebate #28
Free after rebate

Wal-Itin Allergy Relief 30-ct.--on sale for $6.99
Submit for $6.99 April Easysaver rebate #10
Free after rebate

SoyJoy Bars--on sale 2 for $1
Use B1G1 coupon from 2/22 SmartSource insert
$0.25 each after coupon

No Nonsense Pantyhose--on sale B1G1 Free (2 for $2.49)
Use $1/1 coupon from 3/29 inserts
$0.25 each after coupons

Vitamin Water--on sale 3 for $3 with in-ad coupon
Buy 6 and use the $1/2 Vitamin Water coupon from the April EasySaver booklet (should take off $3 total)
$0.50 each after coupons

Halls cough drops--on sale for $1.39 with in-ad coupon
Use $0.75 coupon here
$0.64 after coupons

Bayer tablets (24-36-ct.)-- on sale for $1.99
Use $1/1 coupon from the 3/22 SmartSource
$0.99 each after coupon

Schick Xtreme 3 Disposable razors (4 ct.)--priced at $7.49
Use the $2/1 coupon in the April EasySaver booklet
Stack with the $3/1 coupon from the 3/8 SmartSource
$2.49 after coupons

REGISTER REWARDS DEALS

Buy 1 Edge Infused Energy Shaving Gel at $3.59, Get $3.59 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards (Thanks, Stephanie!)

Buy 1 Skintimate Cream Shave at $2.99, Get $2.99 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards (Thanks, Stephanie!)

Buy 1 100% Natural or True Shimmer Chapstick at $1.99, Get $1.99 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards

Buy 2 Quaker Life Cereals (on sale 2 for $5), Get $2 Register Rewards
Use 2 $1/1 coupons here
$0.50/box after coupons and Register Rewards

Buy 4 Diet Pepsi 12-packs (on sale 4 for $12), Get $3 Register Rewards
$2.25/box after Register Rewards

APRIL FREE-AFTER-REBATE DEALS

Buy 1 One-A-Day Multi-Vitamin Drink Mix 2 ct. at $1.49
Get $1.49 April EasySaver Rebate (offer #1)
Free after rebate

New to shopping at Walgreens? Start here.


Share Your Deals and Scenarios!
Have your shopping trip planned or did you come up with a great deal scenario/idea?

Albertson's trip

So I was able to get my hands on a total of 8 Albertson's double coupons (thank you Oma & Opa Pete). I doubled 7 $1.00 off coupons and one .55 off coupon. You could only use 4 coupons per transaction, so I did it in 2 separate transactions as follows:

Kellogg's promo: Save $10 instantly when you buy 10 participating products. Makes it:

6 Kellogg's cereal $1.50 each  

- 5 .70 off manufacturer coupons

4 Kellogg's Pop Tarts (LARGE size!) $1.50 each

- $1.00 peelie on each box

- $1.00 doubled each time

Total spent OOP: $3.83 

(I just realized that I did not use a coupon for the 6th box of cereal. So when I go back this week, I will take one in and get some $ back)

SAVED after coupons and sales: $40.10!

2-liter Pepsi (feeding the habit...) $1.34

Yoplait Yo+ Yogurt (4-pack) $2.99

- $1.00 off manufacturer coupon

- $1.00 doubled

Tropicana 100% OJ 2/$5

- $1.00 off 2 manufacturer

- $1.00 doubled

2 Red Baron Pizza breads $2.50 each

- $1.00 off 2 manufacturer

- $1.00 doubled

Hormel Natural Choice lunch meat $4.99

- .55 off manufacturer

- .55 doubled

Total spent OOP: $12.69  

SAVED (sales & coupons): $14.91

**I looked at the ad before my trip and saw the Hormel meat on sale for $2.38 so I thought WOO-HOO I am going to get this cheap but I didn't pay attention that it was only that price from 3/20 - 3/22. Otherwise I would not have bought it. Little Miss loves ham and I love Little Miss but I do not love paying $4 for lunch meat! So I am not sure if I will take it back or not to get something else that is actually on sale. I'll check the ad that starts on 3/25 and see if it's worth it to exchange.

Last week's shopping trips *UPDATED WITH PICS*

I apologize for being late on my posts for these shopping trips. We've been busy! and plus the Wal-Mart trip was done earlier today, so technically, not late on that one. :)

We made a trip to Smith's last week and since the sales are over, I will just put what we got and what we spent OOP. 

2 Dole Parfaits

6 American Beauty pasta

5 Betty Crocker potatoes

5 Frosted Mini Wheats Lil' Bites Cereal

4 bag Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks

After all sales/coupons total OOP: $14.94

I had 2 $1 off coupons for the rice snacks, but since they were on sale for .99 before the sale, the register would not accept the coupon. Otherwise, they would have been free. But they weren't and I had to get 2 filler items to complete the sale Smith's was having. Still, .49 for a bag of rice snacks (that my kids love, by the way) is not bad. Now I can use those 2 coupons at Target or Wal-Mart and actually get them for less than .40 a bag. Each bag of pasta was also .49 each and the cereal boxes were .69 each. They did not have the flavor I wanted, so I will go back to exchange the next time I'm at the store.

We had to go to Target for cat litter, which I tried to print a $1 off coupon for, but for some reason, my printer was unplugged and it lost the connection for the print. Since online coupons can only be printed twice usually, I couldn't try again because it said I had printed the max 2. Oh well... I had other coupons so we got:

2 Pledge multi-surface furniture wipes $3.74 each

- $1.00 off Target coupon 

- $2.00 Printable coupon

Chips Ahoy (spur-of-the-moment buy) $2.00

2 Archer Farms bread loaves .99 each

-$1.00 off Target coupon

2 6-packs Mott's Applesauce (yes, more!) $1.69

- $1.00 Target coupon

- .55 off Printable coupon

bananas $1.46

cat litter $7.44

easter basket $9.99

easter basket $7.99

Total OOP: $31.76

Considering that the total of the 2 easter baskets = $17.98, 

and the litter was $7.44, 

we got all the other stuff for $6.34. 

The cost of the 2 Pledge wipes retail is: $7.48. 

So to me, that's like getting 2.5 lbs of bananas, 2 packs of applesauce, 2 loaves of bread and a pack of cookies for FREE. With $1.14 left over. Does that make sense? 

We also made a trip to Wal-Mart for a few things I had heard would be free or almost free after using certain coupons. This was not the case, but we still made out pretty good, considering my hubby got a Hawaiian print shirt for his friend's wedding (don't ask) for $11 when they were selling for $24 at Smith's Marketplace.

1 Hawaiian print shirt $11

1 Frank's Red-Hot sauce $.87

- .50 off Printable

2 bags Purina cat food $3.98 each

- $3.50 Printable

- $3.50 Printable

Total OOP: $13.66. Stupid shirt. 

All of the Target coupons can be printed multiple times from hotcouponworld.com. This saves you & our planet!

Pics of the Target and Wal-Mart trip will come tomorrow.

Target trip

We went to Target the other night to use a combo of Target coupons and manufacturers coupons. Here's what we got, the prices we paid for each product, and our total OOP (out-of-pocket).

2 packages of pre-packaged brocolli 2 for $3
Used 2 $1 off Target coupons 

Total: $1.00 for over 2 lbs

2 packages of Huggies Gentle Care wipes $5.99

Used 2 $5 off manufacturers coupons 

Total: 2/$1.98

3 packages of Dodge & Sutton meat, various prices on sale

Used 3 $2 off Target coupons available here

Total: $6.62

2 6-packs of Mott's Applesauce cups $1.69 each

Used 2 $1 off Target coupons 

Used 2 .55 off manufacturer's coupons

Total: .28 for 12 cups 

Total after tax: $10.97

As you can see in the picture above, the meat alone would have cost us $12.62 and the wipes alone would have been $12. Our total before our coupons was over $32. Not a bad trip!

$58.13 Shopping trip!

Here are all the details of our last grocery shopping trip:

Albertson's is having a sale when you purchase 10 participating items, you get a $10 off coupon good towards your next purchase, with no minimum purchase amount required! We split up our transactions, buying the most inexpensive foods first to start getting our first coupon and made our way up to the most expensive and ended up getting most items for FREE! All prices listed are the SALE prices, not regular price. Each item was more expensive before the sale. Prices that I paid OOP (out of pocket) are after sale prices and after all coupons and promotions.

1st transaction:
2 Betty Crocker cake mix (1.25/each = $2.50)
1 Betty Crocker frosting (1.67)
1 Betty Crocker cookie mix (1.67)
2 Pillsbury Grands biscuits (1.25/each = $2.50)
2 cans Progresso soup (1.50/each = $3.00)
2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights (1.67/each = $3.34)

Total before coupons: $14.68
Total after coupons: (-2.40) = $12.28 + $10/off next purchase!



2nd transaction:
4 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (2.00/each = $8.00)
2 Betty Crocker frosting (1.67/each = $3.34)
1 Pillsbury Orange Cinnamon Rolls (2.00)
2 cans Progresso soup (1.50/each = $3.00)
1 Betty Crocker muffin mix (2.00)

Total before coupons: $18.34
Total after coupons: (-13.20) = $5.14 + $10/off next purchase!

3rd transaction:
2 Trix cereal (2.50/each = $5.00)
2 Lucky Charms cereal (2.50/each = $5.00)
6 cans Progresso soup (1.50/each = $9.00)

Total before coupons: $19.00
Total after coupons: (-15.20) = $3.80 + $10/off next purchase!

4th transaction:
6 Campbell's Soup at Hand (1.00/each = $6.00)
1 Old Orchard frozen pineapple juice (1.67)
24 Top Ramen (.15/each = $3.60)
2 cans Del Monte green beans (.79/each = $1.58)

Total before coupons: $12.85
Total after coupons: (-12.50) = .35!

Total groceries before all sales and coupons: $119.59
Total after sale and before coupons: $64.87
Total paid OOP with all sales and coupons: $21.57

After that, we made our way to Smith's, where we picked up:
3 Simply Orange juice on sale for 2.99/each = $8.97
Total before sales and coupons: $13.77
Total after coupons (-3.00) + tax = OOP $6.24

These juices are regularly $3.19 at Wal-Mart, I believe, and the cheapest I've seen them on sale for is the $2.99. So with our 3 $1.00 off coupons, I consider this a good buy!

At Harmons, we picked up fruits and veggies, all on sale plus:
2 Viva Cottage Cheese @ 1.25/each = $2.50
+ fruits and veggies and tax: paid OOP $30.32

I don't know how much the price would have been at regular price because it doesn't say on the reciept, but I am sure it would be almost double the $30 we paid.

Complete total before all sales and coupons: $183.36 ( I just guestimated that Harmons would have been $50 even before the sales)
Total spent on entire grocery shopping: $58.13
Total saved: $125.23