6/12-6/18 Deal Ideas

Price Chopper

• Kotex Maxi Pads
• 2/$5 - $2/2 coupon = 2/$3
• Kotex Tampons
• 2/$5 - $1.50/2 coupon = 2/$3.50

Shoprite

• Think Thin Protein Bars
• $1.49 each - $0.50/1 coupon doubled = $0.50 each
• coupon here: Think Thin Coupons

Stop & Shop

• General Mills Cereal
• 2/$4 ($2/box) - $1/3 coupon = 3/$5
• Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta
• 10/$10 ($1 each) - $1/1 coupon = FREE
• Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries
• 2/$5 ($2.50 each) -$1/1 coupon = $1.50 each
• Hormel Compleats
• 2/$4 - $1/1 coupon - $3 WYB 8 = 8/$5

Walgreens

• Dial Bodywash
• $2.99 - $2/1 coupon = $0.99

Menu Monday

Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Lasagna w/ Veggies
Wednesday: Grilled Steak, Hotdogs, & Kielbasa w/ Rice & Veggies
Thursday: BBQ Meatloaf w/ Veggies
Friday: KFC Style Chicken Bowl

6/10 Shopping Trip

I went out yesterday to get the Bounty paper towels, but the Staples near me did not have them on sale. I went to a few other stores in the area and found some other deals:


SHOPRITE:

• (3) Brut deodorants
• on sale for $0.99 each - $1/1 coupons = FREE
• (6) Zone protein bars
• on sale for $1.25 each - $0.75/1 coupon, which doubled to $1.50 = FREE
• (7) Ken's Steakhouse marinades
• on sale for $1.99 each - $1/1 coupon = $1.00 each

Retail Value: $38.18
I paid: $8.07
I saved: 30.11 or 79%

WALGREENS

• (1) Tylenol Precise Heat Patch
• (1) Tylenol Precise Pain Reliever Cream
• both on sale for $5.99 - $2/1 coupon = $3.99 each
• (1) Silly Bands (added so I could use my RR)
• on sale for $0.25 - $4 RR

Retail Value: $18.47
I paid: $8.07
I saved: $14.24 or 77%

 RITE AID

• (2) Disney Gummies multivitamins
• BOGO sale $7.29 - $1/1 coupon = $3.15 each

Retail Value: $14.58
I paid: 6.99
I saved: 50%

My stockpile is growing!

Great Bounty Paper Towel Deal!

Staples has a six pack of Bounty paper towels on sale for $4.99. Here's how to them for as low a $0.99:

• Go to: Staples' $3 off purchase coupon
• Use $1/1 Bounty coupon from 6/5 P&G insert

Even if you don't have the extra $1/1 coupon getting a Bounty six pack for $1.99 is an awesome deal! Thanks iamthatlady.com for this info.

Still Learning

I went to Walgreens today for a good deal on bodywash (something we're almost out of). I planned my trip ahead of time and estimated the total cost for 4 bottles of bodywash and 4 bottles of face lotion to be about $6.00 before taxes. Nivea Men products were on a 2/$7 sale plus $2 back in Walgreens' Register Rewards. I also had 8 $2/1 Nivea Men coupons. I planned on doing my trip similar to the way I did my CVS trip earlier this week.

Transaction 1: Purchase 2 products for $7 - $4 in coupons, pay $3, and get back $2.

Transaction 2: Use the $2 in RR in addition to my $4 in coupons to purchase another 2 products, and pay $1

Transactions 3 & 4: Repeat Transaction 2

My first problem happened on my second transaction. CVS's ECB, is basically CVS cash that can be used in conjunction with a manufacturer's coupon on one item. I assumed Walgreens RR worked the same way. They don't. RR are actually manufacturer's coupons, so you cannot use them on the same item you're using a coupon on. I had to add a third item to my transaction to be able to use my two coupons AND the RR.

Solution: Add a $0.25 pack of silly bands to my order, so I could still save $1.75 with the RR

This is when I encountered my second problem. Since I used the Nivea RR on this purchase I wasn't eligible for the same RR at the end of the transaction. Here's what I should have done:

Transaction 1: Same as above

Transaction 2: Repeat Transaction 1. I would now have (2) $2 RR

Transaction 3: Purchase 4 Nivea products and 2 packs of silly bands ($14.50), use my 4 coupons plus my two RR (-$12), pay $2.50.

After all was said and done I ended up paying $10.82 after taxes. Because of the way RR work my calculations were off by $2.50. I over paid by an additional $2 by using my first RR on my second transaction. Even after all the hiccups I paid $10.82 for $55.22 worth of merchandise. I still saved 80%, making this my most successful couponing trip to date (not including my free bandages)!!!

Saturday's Shoprite Trip

I planned a trip to Shoprite last week to pick up laundry detergent and dish detergent. While my girlfriend and I were in the cleaning aisle looking for the products a man noticed my coupon binder and gave me some leftover coupons he had! These are the things I got on this trip:

• 4 bottles of Ajax laundry detergent on sale for $1.69 - (2) $1 off 2 coupon = $4.76
• 2 bottles of Sunlight dish detergent on sale for $0.88 - (2) $0.25 off coupon, which doubled = $0.76
• 2 Spray n Wash Stain Remover sticks on sale for $1.79 - (2) $0.75 off coupon, doubled = $0.58
• 2 Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom wipes $3.99 - (2) $3.00 off coupon = $1.98

The total for this trip after taxes, minus a $0.55 Cellfire coupon  and $0.10 for reusable shopping bags was $7.88. I saved $30.17 or 79%.

This Week's Menu

Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Meatloaf w/ Yellow Rice & Veggies
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan w/ Pasta & Veggies
Thursday: Sloppy Joes w/ Veggies
Friday: Chicken w/ Brown Rice & Veggies
Saturday: Red Beans & Rice w/ Kielbasa
Sunday: Leftovers

The Power of Store "Cash"

I got my coupons and store flyers together on Sunday, and went through them to plan my shopping trips for the week, including my final cost per trip. We were running low on contact lens solution and mouthwash, both of which were on sale this week. I also had coupons for both items. My original plan was to go to Shoprite for two bottles of lens solution, and CVS for two bottles of mouthwash. My total for the two trips combined would have been about $12.

I went to Shoprite first and they were out of the solution, so I got a raincheck. I then went to CVS. When I got there I realized the mouthwash was going to cost me $2 more than I'd estimated, so I decided to go home and restrategize my shopping list before buying anything. After my restrategizing and taking CVSs Extra Care Bucks (CVS "money" you can use on your next purchase) into account I was much better off making all of my purchases there. Here's what I got on this trip:

•  2 bottles of RevitaLens Contact Solution
•  4 bottles of Crest mouthwash
•  4 Twix bars (for my mom)

The retail price for these items was $54.00
I paid $12.13, saving over 77%!

This is how I did it. I bought 2 bottles of mouthwash, on sale for $4.50 each - (2) $2.00 coupons. I paid $5.66 after taxes and got back $5.00 in ECB. I then purchased 1 bottle of lens solution on sale for $8.99 - (1) $3.00 coupon - $5.00 ECB, paying $.99, and getting back $3.00 in ECB. I did these two transactions twice (I had another $1.00 ECB from a previous trip, making one of my lens solutions free). I ended up with $6.00 ECB and my mom wanted 3 Twix bars. They were on a 4/$3 sale, so I used $3.00 ECB to get her 4, leaving me with another $3.00 ECB.

I knew about the items on sale at CVS and ECB when I was planning my trip on Sunday. Since I didn't think about splitting my transaction to use them the same day I thought that I would end up paying more out of pocket for getting the lens solution there. Clearly I was wrong. The lesson here is to pay attention when stores offer store "cash" back and see how you may be able to use them immediately to purchase multiple items you need.

Inventory

I did an inventory of everything in my pantry, fridge, and drop freezer. I wanted to get an idea of the things I'm running low on, so I can make those things a couponing priority. I also have a tendency to buy more of things I already have plenty of because I don't check my stockpile before heading out to the store. Picking up extra is fine if there's a great deal, but I definitely don't want to overbuy at retail prices.

Knowing what ingredients I have on hand will also make menu planning a lot simpler. Check back in on Monday for next week's menu!