Hellllooooo, long lost friends =)

Boy, it's been a minute!
Hello to all of you & hope life has been treating you well.
We have been busy with a hundred activities since I last posted ... way too many to try & catch up on.
So, let's just jump right in to CURRENT!

I've started a youtube channel!
I would like to invite you on over to check it out!

My channel will be a lifestyle channel, featuring recipes, cook with me videos, grocery / home decor hauls, house tours, & a bit about our life down here at the brick house!
I'm just getting started with MUCH to learn about filming, my camera, editing, & all things in between ... but I just figured there's no time like the present & I'm just diving right on in!

If you'd be interested in seeing any of the things I mentioned above, come on over to my channel & SUBSCRIBE!
This will greatly help me as I'm growing my channel.
And if you'd like notifications as to when I post, click on the little red bell & it'll let you know so you don't miss out on any of the fun!

Here's my most recent grocery haul ... a big one from 3 stores:  Kroger, Aldi, & Costco!
The link is below for you to check it out!

https://youtu.be/TLpazlxvv5A

Happy to be here again, guys!

Saving on groceries without tons of planning!

It's been quite a while since I've posted about saving money at the grocery store,
but I got such good deals yesterday that I wanted to share a quick post showing you how I saved!

This was no well-planned trip.
In fact, I just planned to run to the grocery real quick to pick up milk, toilet paper ...
you know, the things that you can't go without ;)

However, I decided to look over the sale ad before leaving & saw that there were some great deals
with the Mega Sale {buy 5, save $5}.
This is hands down, when I always get the best deals.

It's a rare occasion that I use manufacturer's coupons anymore.
We don't take the paper & I don't buy one on Sunday just for the coupons.
Truthfully, I just don't have the time to clip the coupons & plan out the trips like I used to.

What I do use are the ecoupons that I load onto my Kroger card!
There are always good ones & often times, they are picked for me based on what I buy.
Every now & then, I will get a package of coupons through the mail from Kroger,
but those don't come as often as they used to.
I think they are seeming to move towards the online coupons.

Today, I used a combo of three things to get these savings:

• ecoupons loaded to my Kroger card
• Kroger coupons that came through the mail
• coupons that printed out at the Kroger register

 

Now, I didn't plan on blogging about this, so it's not as put together as the big-time savings blogger.
It's just to show how I saved considerably with very minimal time spent.
And unfortunately, you most likely can't take advantage of every deal that I did,
because you may not have loaded the same ecoupons to your card
or have the same coupons that came by mail.
{Sorry about that.}

I can't share every single good deal, cause I had quite a few of them, but I'll show the best ones.

This one is my favorite, I think.

It was not part of the mega sale.

150 oz. Purex on sale for $7.99

- $3 off 2  ecoupon

- buy 2, get 1 free peeler coupon

$4.33 each 

Mega Sale Items {Buy 5, Save $5}

Great Lash mascara $2.49 close out price

- $1 mega sale came off

- $2 mail coupon

Free + $.51 overage

Loreal nail polish $2.49 close out price

- $1 mega sale came off

- $2 mail coupon

Free + $.51 overage 

{Being a close out item, these should not have gotten the $1 off mega sale discount.

I even asked at customer service to be sure, but for whatever reason, they still came up as part of the sale.}

Frizz-Ease $5.99

- $1 off mega sale

- $3 off 2 Kroger mail coupon

$3.49 each 

Oscar Meyer carving board lunch meat $3.49

- $1 off mega sale

- $.75 ecoupon

$1.74 

Oscar Meyer carving board lunch meat $3.49

- $1 off mega sale

- $2 ecoupon

$.49

Edy's ice cream $3.49

- $1 mega sale

- $1 ecoupon

- $1.50 register coupon

Free + .01 overage

Resolve $2.79

- $1 mega sale

- $.75 ecoupon

$1.04

Gevalia bagged coffee $6.99

- $1 mega sale

- $2.25 ecoupon

- $1.00 ecoupon

$2.74

Gevalia bagged coffee $6.99

- $1 mega sale

- $1.00 ecoupon

- $.50 ecoupon

$4.49

Freebie Friday items:

Kraft BBQ sauce

Snapple tea

I also had an ecoupon for $2 off produce.

Total savings:

coupons: $28.50

Kroger savings: $103.82

Now, remember those register coupons I mentioned above ... well, lucky me!

These printed out for me yesterday!

So, I think I'll run back up to Kroger in a bit to use these cause today is the last day of the mega sale.

The Old Orchard juice is $.99 & the Edy's is $2.49 {if you buy 5 items that are part of the sale}.

So, I'll buy 2 juices & 3 ice creams for $6.95!

The juices will be $.49 each & the ice cream will be $1.99.

And for one last big savings ... before I went grocery shopping yesterday, 

I redeemed 100 fuel points at the gas station saving $1 a gallon on gas!

All in all, I did pretty good today at Kroger!! =) 

*My tip for the best savings using ecoupons at Kroger: get on the site often.

I don't know the rhyme or reason as to when the new coupons are added,

but when they're gone, they're gone.

So check the site regularly & add any coupons that you think you may use.

 

Happy savings, everyone!

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.

Monday           Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons  
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

Saving money without coupons - Kroger

If you are a couponer, you know that Kroger no longer doubles coupons.
And Meijer has followed suit, only doubling until the 25th of this month.

Kroger has advertised that their prices have lowered throughout the store ...
& I am happy to report that I've noticed the price drops!
Yay!

I been comparing prices & across the board, I've seen a change.
The biggest drop that I've found is in the health & beauty department, especially in make up ...
I'm talking a $3 - $4 price difference on the regular price at Kroger compared to CVS.
That's a big price difference!

Another thing I've been enjoying are the freebie items that Kroger has offered each Friday.
I've gotten free shampoo, toothpaste, & various other items.
These are loaded from the Kroger site right on to your Plus card.

Meijer is doing the same thing -- offering free items through the mPerks program.
I've gotten free milk, eggs & Jif peanut butter.

What I wanted to show you today, though, is how to save at Kroger without using coupons.
Our store has a markdown aisle & you just never know what you'll find there.

Yesterday, there were lots of medicines.
Since it'll be cold season before we know it, I decided that they were worth stocking up on.

I paid $9.33 for the following:

2 Chapstick lip balms - .39 each
2 Halls lozenges  - .59 each
1 Robitussin  -  1.99
3 Nyquil  -   5.38 for all 3

At CVS, the 2-pack of Nyquil sells for $12.99.
At that, it would've been $3 more than I paid for all of these items put together!

Last night, not only did I find some goodies on the mark down aisle, it was a cha-ching at the meat case!

 3 T Bone steaks that were $11.99 per pound -- marked down to $3.88 per pound!

This pork shoulder will be awesome in the smoker.
It was originally $2.49 per pound, marked down to $1.74 per pound.
The bad news here ... it didn't ring up the mark down price & I didn't notice til after I got home.
I'll have to take my receipt & this pic to get the difference back.

And to think ... I only stopped in at Kroger to grab a bag of dog food.

This is one way I can lower my grocery bill.
I always take a second to run through the mark down areas of my store just in case there's a bargain.

Here's to stretching my bucks!





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Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

My 10 Cent Pink Lemonade

You heard me right  .... 10 cent lemonade!
I mean who gets anything anywhere for 10 cents anymore, right?!

I love it when I find a really good mark-down at Aldi ...
& I have to admit, it's pretty often.
I am always scoping out those green oval mark-down stickers.

Here's my reeeeally good deal from yesterday:

These 59 oz pink lemonades were marked down to .10!
What in the world?!
I brought home 8 of them.
How can you go wrong with that?
We drink a'plenty of lemonade around here & the fact that it's the Fit & Active is just an added bonus.

Another find:  the stevia ... a new product for our Aldi.
Hope it's a permanent one.
I usually pay close to $7 a bag for this elsewhere.
It was $3.79.

And lastly, but my very favorite of all:  the Fit & Active cracker crisps.

I LOVE these little things!

Last fall, Aldi had a nice variety of new Fit & Active products.
I picked up 2 bags of the cracker crisps, the same flavors shown, to give them a try.
We loved them!
The sour cream & onion ones are so good that's it's hard to stop snacking on them.
Somewhat defeats the whole fit & active idea if you are eating the whole bag at one sitting ;)
That never happened, but trust me, it takes willpower when it comes to these little crackers.

The bad news:  they only had these for a couple of weeks & then they were gone.
The clerk told me last fall {yes, I asked if they could be ordered}  that some of these items
just come at random, similar to the seasonal products.

The good news: they had them back on the shelf yesterday!
So right after my happy dance, you can bet I stocked up on them yesterday ;)


As most of you know, I'm an Aldi fan ... been shopping there for years.
It saves me money & time.
Thanks Aldi, for the yummy food, lower prices, & especially for the unexpected discounts.

You can read about other good Aldi deals here:  saving money without using coupons,
lots of 45 cent items, &  seasonal savings.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Thursday      The Shabby Creek Cottage     Lamberts Lately
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

I have a love-hate relationship with CVS

Let's talk CVS for a moment, shall we?

I like the extra care bucks ... I really do, but I have a hard time using them before they expire.

I like the deals, but I don't like all the calculating, counting, & strategizing.

I don't like getting my shopping scenario all planned out, coupons matched, etc ...
only to get there to find empty shelves where someone has bought the sale items in mass quantities.

I don't like that every.single.cashier has a different plan & program he/she follows.
One does things this way ... another does things totally different.
It's the same story from store to store.
One store follows one procedure ... & the next ... well, you get the idea.

Whew ... now that I've gotten all that off my chest ;)

I haven't been posting many things lately about saving money, couponing, or stretching my bucks,
but I have been getting some decent deals.
Nothing too fantabulous, but saving a few dollars here & there.

I've not been major couponing since early fall & as I've said before, I do not miss it.
I do not get a 'high' from it ... there's no rush of exhiliration.
{ok, maybe the triple coupons deals ... those were pretty exciting, I'll admit}
I'm not chained to the internet to find every deal & chase it down.
None of those things.
It's lots of work, time-consuming, & sometimes frustrating.
I use coupons to, plain & simple, save a few dollars.
Sometimes it's just easier to head to Aldi & not have the coupon hassle.
Plus, I can get in & out of there in no time flat.
Time is money.

So, now that I've updated you a bit on what's been going on with me in this area of life,
I will share what I got yesterday at CVS & the whole reason I am posting this.

Here are the items I bought today for $4.30.

Pantene shampoo
Pantene conditioner
toothpaste
toothbrush
2 mouthwashes
2 Rimmel make-up products

Every item was on sale & I had a coupon for each one.
I used $24.75 in coupons -- $12 ECB's & $12.75 in manufacturer/CVS kiosk coupons.
AND, I got $5 back in ECB's to use the next time.
Not a super, super deal, but not a bad one either.


One last thing, I let $13 ECB's expire on accident.
This was the same $13 ECB that was already re-issued to me for letting it expire once before!
Good grief ... what is my problem?!
I HATE it when I do that. 
Herein is a perfect example of my ongoing love-hate relationship with CVS.
I HATE  having a clerk tell me in the store that I can't use my ECB
even if it only expired 2 days ago, when I know they usually take them
{especially when I only left the house -looking less than lovely- to go use this ECB!}
I also hate calling to beg ask for it to be re-issued.
But, thankfully, they did re-issue it ... again ;)
I will use it ON TIME this time around ... I promise.
All to save a buck or two.
Shaking my head ;)
I get on my own nerves.
When will I ever learn?

How about you?
Getting any great deals with coupons lately?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     Sunny Simply Life
Tuesday    Domestically Divine     A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    Southern Lovely     The Thrifty Home
Friday    Happy-Go-Lucky     The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday  Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Paid $15 for $50 worth of Goodies!

Here was my super duper transaction at CVS on Thursday!

I went with one thing in mind:  Getting the Jergen's lotion
& potentially using the $10 off $50 coupon, if I could pair it with additional coupons for a good deal.

Ok ... guess that's 2 things ;)

The red coupon kiosk kicked out some nice coupons & I was able to pull this deal together!

2 Jergens lotions {found 2 on the shelf that were the 25% more bonus bottles}
1 CVS lotion
1 Essence of Beauty lip butter
1 CVS packet of makeup remover towelettes
1 Cover Girl pressed powder
2 Gillette shave gel {2 separate transactions}
1 Schick razor
2 {2 lts} Sierra Mist
1 Honey Bunches of Oats

Total $50.40

I just barely eeked over the $50 amount!

Here are the coupons I used:

-$10 {off $50 cvs coupon}
-$10.49 {free Schick razor coupon that came randomly in the mail}
-$1.50 {kiosk coup off any cvs makeup remover...made them free + overage}
-$1 off cereal {manu}
-$2 off lip butter {cvs beauty club coup}
-$2 off cvs lotion {cvs beauty club coup}
-$2 off Jergens {manu}
-$1 off Jergens {manu}
-$2 off any Cover Girl {kiosk}
-$1 Cover Girl {manu}
-$.50 {bonus cvs coup}


I had no ECB's to apply towards this, so my OOP pocket cost:  $15.42!

AND I got back $9 in ECB's for next time.
{If you deduct that, it's like paying $6.42 for this whole transaction!!}

My second transaction was on my hub's card ...bought the shave cream for $2.37,
paid $2 with an ECB, paid .37 cents OOP & got a $2 ECB back ...no coupons necessary!

Pretty decent deal this week ... & that was without using my 20% off that came later that day.
I got a raincheck for 2 Gillette stylers which were sold out.
CVS is helping me stayed stocked without spending much money!

My $1.28 Load of T.P ...& Other Great Deals!

I promised you details on how I got this TP for SOO cheap, so here goes.


I am a couponer ... have been for years.
My mom was a couponer.
I remember perfecting my cutting skills as a little girl by helping clip the coupons with my Mom.
So for me, using coupons at the grocery store is easy peasy.
I rarely check out at Kroger without a coupon or 2 17 ;)

I few years back, I began to experiment with couponing at CVS & Walgreen.
It's a whole different ballgame at these two places, because to really get the best back for your buck,
you want to take advantage of their 'rewards' that come back to you by way of a register coupon.

If you play your cards right, your will often pay verrrry little OOP {out of pocket}
& walk out of the store with rewards {$$ coupons} to apply to your next purchase.

This does require a bit more planning than say your usual trip to the grocery, but it pays for itself.
And, after doing it a while, you get better at putting the deals together & spend less time on it.

I decided a year or so ago to quit shopping Walgreen for these deals.
They have too many 'rules' & stipulations for me to remember & get right.
It's a bit like jumping through hoops to save a buck ... & that, I do not have the time or patience for.

CVS, however, is more user-friendly & within no time, I learned their system
{with the help of several CVS savvy friends} & I'm doing a pretty good job at stretching my buck there.
My toiletry stash has grown tremendously & I've spent very little OOP.

Here are a couple of sites I like to follow to help me snag some bargains.
They list the deals, the coordinating coupons, & plenty of tips ...
& if you are new to this, they offer lots of info to help you learn each store's system.

Southern Savers ~ I use this site for CVS & Kroger

Bargains To Bounty ~ I use this site for Meijer & CVS

In Good Cents ~ This lady is from Indiana & she posts deals for local events, etc.

I also like:
Wild for CVS
I Heart CVS

These sites really take most of the work out of using coupons.
They put the deals together for you, tell you where to find the coupons, & list links for printables.
They are full of info & keep all the current info posted.

Now, all that being said, here are a few of the deals I've gotten in the past couple weeks.
I could literally post every.single.week about one deal or another because I really do get great deals
that often {usually free stuff each week, no joke}, but honestly, I just don't have time to get them posted.

For my toilet paper deal:
It was CVS brand {I tore open the corner of the package to see what it felt like before I bought it...lol}
& was marked down to $3.99 for 24 rolls.
I had a $4 off a $20 purchase coupon that expired that day & quite a stash of accumulated
CVS 'Extra Care Bucks' that I had earned from prior purchases.
{I'll tell you about that in a sec cause this is where they come in handy!}

I bought 5 packages, used 6 coupons {5 were ECB's} & paid $1.28!

I normally buy toilet paper at Aldi.
It's 4.99 for a 12 double roll pack & is very similar to Quilted Northern.
It's the best price on TP, without a sale or coupon.
So, I basically saved $25 on TP, which is a great savings considering it's 'money' going right down the toilet!

Here are the 2 transactions that I made earlier in the week at CVS that gave me so many of the ECB's
that I used toward the toilet paper.
This one was a dandy!

-2 gallons whole milk
-3 Glade air freshener
-2 Glade scented oil twin packs
-2 Glade Expressions air freshner
-2 Thermacare wraps
-Venus razor
-Gillette Fusion razor
-Tom's of Maine toothpaste
-CVS body wash
-Nuance am/pm cream

And you know what I paid OOP for alllll this stuff?!
I paid $3.55!
AND & I got back $24.58 in ECB's!!
I'd have to say, this was one of my best deals yet at CVS!

I called my hubs after all this & said, "Oh yea, I can shop like a rock star!"

I also hit up Meijer to take advantage of the Glade/Pledge/Scrubbing Bubbles/Windex deal.
It was 'Buy $20 of participating items, get $5 back' & some of the products were offering an additional
$2 & $1 back, in conjunction.
There were lots of manu. coupons out for these products too.

I spent $30.30 OOP & got back $16 in register coupons, which I applied directly to my next order.
{Canned veggies were on sale for .33 each ... I bought 48 cans of green beans which totaled to $16,
which I paid for with my $16 in coupons!}

Now, the $30.30 was a bit more OOP than I usually spend, but I got a lot of goodies for that price!
-4 Pledge sprays $3.69 each
-3 Glade oil diffusers $7.99 each
-1 Glade diffuser refill $4.99
-1 Glade expressions $3.99
-1 Glade expressions refill $2.99
-2 Glade candles $2.99 each

I used over $32 in coupons on these 12 items!

This post is kinda longish already, but I'm ganna throw in 2 more deals that I got recently.
You won't get too mad at me, right?!

This was another steal at Meijer.
3 big packs of broccoli for .30 each!

 

 Found these babies on the markdown cart.

Tip:  Know your store.
Find out when/where the markdown items are & always check for deals.
Our favorite way to eat broccoli is oven roasted & that's exactly what I did with this the next day.
{If you haven't tried it this way, find the recipe here.

And lastly, our Kroger is remodeling.
They've been marking down lots of items & I scooped up.

All the olives/peppers were $1 a jar ... great stock-up price especially for all the Mississippi Potatoes
I'll be making during the holidays.
The vitamins were $2 each & I had $1 off coupons ... & the mac & cheese was .29.

The bottom line is this:  the more I can save on this & that, the more money we have for ....
VACATION =)
Yes, folks, this is my motivation.

Anyhoo...I'm stretching my bucks over here in my neck of the woods & I hope you are too =)

CVS & Kroger Cheapies!

I know I've had mostly coupon & savings blog posts lately, but within the last few weeks,
several friends have contacted me asking for helpful hints in this area.
I am happy to oblige & fortunately, there have been some decent deals to share.
Someone even sent a note & asked me if I was one of those 'extreme couponers' ;)
That, I am not, but I do like to stretch my dollar as far as I can ...
& couponing is one way to do that.

I do my very best savings at the grocery store.
They tend to have the most straight-forward deals & less coupon confusion.
{Shopping at Walgreen can net you some freebies pretty often, but it's a bit like jumping
through hoops to get them.}

However, the next best is CVS.
They offer many different scenarios for saving & after you do it a time or two,
you become familiar with their system & get some really good deals.
It just takes a bit of planning.

This week at CVS, I made a couple transactions.

First, I bought the Listerine.
It was $2.99 & I had a $.50 coupon, making my OOP {out of pocket} $2.70.
Now, why this was a good deal:  I got a $2 coupon {extra care buck} back that can be spent
on my next transaction.

I had a $1 ECB {extra care buck} left from a couple weeks ago, giving me $3 to put toward
the Dove deal.
Also, some customers received via email a $2 off coupon from CVS this week.
I was one of those lucky customers!
I applied it here, as well.

The Dove deal was this:  buy $15 in Dove products, get a $5 ECB coupon back.
I bought the 3 shampoos, 1 body wash, 1 hairspray.
I used my ECBs & my CVS coupon, & I had coupons for every Dove item I purchased.
With a total of 6 coupons, valuing $12, I paid $6.05 OOP, & got back a $5 ECB for the next time!

Yes, this deal took a little bit of planning, but so worth it in the end!

**The bonus for this week:  I scanned my card at the CVS coupon kiosk
& got 2 awesome coupons that I went back & used the next day!
I will tell you all about that one tomorrow morning. 

{If you are new to CVS shopping, be sure to always scan your card at the red coupon
kiosk at the front of the store. 
It prints out coupons that you can combine with other coupons for additional savings!}




This week also involved 2 quick trips to Kroger {I'll share 1 today, 1 tomorrow}.
Here was the best deals!

This was done simply by matching my coupons with their sale items.
Here's the breakdown:
Chex .99
Irish Spring .49
Speed Stick .49
2 Dial soaps .18 each
2 Carefree .09 each
2 Skittles .09 each

I love these cheapie deals!!
Stayed tuned tomorrow for more =)

Good Deals at Kroger & Meijer

Kroger is having their mega event again this week & I took advantage of some good deals!
You've got til Wednesday to scoop up on these savings!

The way the mega event works, for every 10 items you buy that are part of the deal,
you get $5 off.
What sweetens the deal is when you combine coupons to save even more.
That is exactly what I did these week.

I planned out my shopping trip to include 40 items in the mega event,
counting off & marking my list carefully, mind you.
If you come up short an item or two, it will throw off your whole deal.
{If that ever happens, they can suspend your order til you grab what you need ...
or they can scan an item twice & you can run back to pick up another when you are finished.}

The bonus, the super good deal for this week was the Fiber One & Nature Valley granola bars.
They are on sale through August 26 as part of the mega event.
Here's how it works:

$2.49 Fiber One Bars
-$0.50 on each when you mix/match 10 participating items
-$0.50/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars coupon (from 7-8 SS or 8-5 GM)
Final price $.99

Now, that's a good deal, in & of itself ... but here's where the bonus comes in!
Kroger is offering a catalina too:
Buy 3 Fiber One Chewy Bars {many varieties} in one transaction, 
get a $1.00 checkout coupon valid on your next order. 
Buy 4, get $2.00. Buy 5 or more, get $3.00. Limit 1 offer per transaction. (through 9/2)
OR
Buy 3 Nature Valley Bars in one transaction, get a $1.00 checkout coupon valid on your next order. Buy 4, get $2.00; buy 5 or more, get $3.00. Limit 1 offer per transaction. (through 9/2)


I did both deals!
I bought 11 boxes total ... 6 Fiber One & 5 Nature Valley & received two $3.00 checkout coupons!
Woohoo!
Funny thing, I didn't even know this catalina was going on!

So, I have 2 coupons for $6 off my next trip
OR
 if you look at it this way, I got all these items for $9.63!
{I tallied up what I paid for all these items, taking the $6 off}

I pack 3 work lunches every day for my hubs & 2 sons, so these granola bars won't last long.
With only 6 in a box, we can go through 1 box every 2 days.
This was definitely a good deal for us.

I got the Ragu for free {a coupon by mail from Kroger to get a free jar of Ragu}.

The Irish Spring was also free.
It shows in the ad to be $1.49 {after the .50 off for the mega event}, but mine rang up for .99.
I added a .50 coupon which doubled to $1, making it free!
{There's also an ecoupon that you can load to your Kroger card.}

The Hefty bags were .99 {mega event} & combined with coupons, they were .49 a box.

So, you've still got time to make a quick trip to Kroger to get in on some good deals!

{BTW, I could've shared lotsss of things this week, as all of my mega events items were paired
with coupons & ended up being pretty cheap, but it was just too much to post.
I used $28.42 in manu/Kroger coupons & saved $95.39 by using my Kroger plus card.}

On Saturday, I made a quick trip to Meijer for their Super Saturday Sale.
The best deal here was the Soft Soap.
It's was on sale for .99 ... & if you bought 4, you got a coupon back for $4 off your next purchase!
{basically, you were getting your 4 Soft Soaps for free!}

This week's freebie items!

I rolled my $4 coupon right onto my 2nd purchase which was the Peter Pan peanut butter
that was $1.67 each, part of the Super Saturday Sale.
Last year at back-to-school time, I stocked up on Peter Pan pb for .99.
I was hoping to see that deal again, but no such luck.

As far as CVS/Walgreens, I didn't see any deals last week that were worth taking advantage of,
except the .99 eggs which I price-matched at Walmart.

Couponing & planning out your grocery trip is work & takes time, but it's worth it to see the savings.
The money saved can be put toward something else {like vacation!}

Stocking Up {part 2} VLOG

article 9 in Stretching Your Dollar series

WOW!  I am super stocked in the health & beauty department!
This is my largest stash ever!
This was the result from one of our local grocery stores running a triple coupon event!
You never hear of that around here anymore.
{Thank you, Marsh!}
While I did well on the grocery side too, I hit the jackpot in the HBA isle!
Check out this video to see my stash.

If you are wondering where I fit this abundance of shampoo & body wash,
here's where it's at.
It's on a couple shelves in our master bathroom closet.
The storage basket is the key to holding lots of products.
The extra {which I normally don't have}, is on the shelf above.
And from the looks of it, this bathroom closet needs a makeover!
Boy, I was brave to show you this picture ... don't judge me too harshly ;)



Stocking Up

article 8 in 'Stretching Your Dollars' series

The buzz word these days seems to be stockpile!
I really don't like using stockpile too much though.
Conjures up an image of a person frantically gathering piles & piles of stuff
due to some impending doom.
The term stocking up tends to more accurately represent my way of shopping.
When the deals are great ... AND I have coupons, that's the time I buy several of
those particular items.
OR, in the case of realllly great deals + coupons, often times, I am getting items
for FREE!
Yep, that's when my pantry shelves overflow.


That was actually my strategy a few months back ... & I am pleased to say,
it worked masterfully!
While I enjoy couponing to save money {not because I'm addicted/bored/like scissors},
I do get tired of it!
While I don't mind going to the grocery, I get tired of that too!
During the summer, our regular routine goes out the window ...
so, I thought this would be a good time to stock up during May & June,
then take a couple months off!
With July being our most busy month, not having to take the time to make
out a big grocery list & match the coupons to the sales saved me lots of time
{& brain power! ... yes, couponing requires both thinking & planning!}


So, as shocking as this may seem to those of you that know I'm a couponer,
I have not used a single coupon for about 7 weeks!
I was able to pull that off by stocking up on plenty of meat, staples, snacks,
paper & hygiene products.
That way, I'd only have to make quick trips to the grocery for fresh fruit & veggies,
bread, & milk.

Here are some of the items I stocked up on:

pork chops $1.47/lb.
ground chuck $1.88/lb.
b/s chicken tenders $1.77/lb.
spaghetti sauce $1 per jar
pasta 24 boxes FREE
canned veggies .39 can
Campbell's chicken noodle soup .25 can

Carnation evaporated milk .29 can

these were scratch 'n dent cans from the markdown cart

6 bags tortilla chips .49 bag



Fiber One bars $1.50 box
goldfish crackers 8-10 bags FREE
6 boxes Triscuits FREE
mayonnaise (32 oz) $1.29
ranch dressing ~ 6-8 bottles FREE
toilet paper 5/12 double roll pks. $2.50
warehouse box of foam plates (640 plates for $9.99)

Now, this is where it gets pretty impressive, if I say so myself ;)
I was stocked pretty well in the hygiene products already when Marsh decided to
have a triple coupon event.
'Bless them' is all I've got to say!
I totally scooped up in the health & beauty department, getting LOTS of items
totally for FREE!
Here's a sneak peek pic of the products, but be sure & stop back tomorrow!
I'll be posting a video telling you all about these deals!