Walgreens Trip 7/31 - Spent $25, Received $27 in Register Rewards

Today's visit to Walgreens was brief and productive! Peter needed mouth wash and I needed contact solution, so we went almost exclusively for our needs and were in and out in about 10 minutes. Amazingly, at 10:30 a.m. our Walgreens had every deal I wanted!

I spent $24.78 before tax and received $27 back in Register Rewards. I love using Walgreens Register Rewards at Fred Meyer to buy organic produce and eggs.

Spent $24.78 and received $27 back in Register Rewards

Walgreens Transaction #1

• Complete Contact Solution $8.00
• Used $1.00 coupon from 7/31 SmartSource
• Received $8.00 Register Reward (RR)
• Crayola Markers $2.00
• Received $2.00 RR
• Crest Mouthwash $3.99
• Used $2.00 coupon from 7/3 P&G
• Received $1.00 RR
• 2 Scope Mouthwash $3.00 each
• Used two $0.75 coupons from 6/12 RP
• Received $3.00 RR
• Goody Hair Clips $2.00
• Received $2.00 RR

Walgreens Transaction #2

• Complete Contact Solution $8.00
• Used $1.00 coupon from 7/31 SmartSource
• Received $8.00 Register Reward (RR)
  
• Crayola Markers $2.00
• Received $2.00 RR
  
• Crest Mouthwash $3.99
• Used $2.00 coupon from 7/3 P&G
• Received $1.00 RR

My Walgreens didn't have the signs up yet so I just matched them to the ad and it worked perfectly. There were a mother and son there buying out all the Crayola markers and finally the checker asked them to stop...which I thought was appropriate given that they'd already bought 6 or something between them. Sheesh!

I Heart Milk from the Milkman

When Smith Brothers Farms (located in Kent, WA) first dropped off a sample of skim milk a couple years ago, I thought it would taste like any other milk. Boy, was I wrong! I have always been a big skim milk drinker, but now when I drink Darigold, Lucerne, Island Farms, anything else, I can tell it's not the same as MY milk!

It's $2.60 per half gallon of milk, and we get four every other week, plus fresh half and half and sometimes little chocolate milks. It is so worth it...when they upped their minimum from two a week to four, we switched to every second week because I could not bear the thought of giving up my milk! In fact lately I'm trying two organic skim ($3.99 each) and two normal skim. It's still a pretty good deal if you factor in time and gas, since they deliver it to my door...so easy!

Also, I have not been couponing since the middle of last week. I'm taking a brief summer hiatus! I may have to do a few Albertsons doubler deals this Sunday though. I'll have six twice the value coupons to use so need to plan carefully!

Enjoy the wonderful weekend weather!

Albertsons Trip 7/25 - Plus Today's Mail Freebies!

Albertson's has Bailey's Coffee Creamer on sale for $1.50 or FREE after coupons, so naturally I am stocking up.

$4.99 at Albertsons, Aveda samples, coupon, $3.25 shirt and garden hydrangeas :)

Maybe I'm stocking up a little too much since I now have 10 bottles of coffee creamer in my fridge. :P So I spent $4.99 at Albertsons, on the cheese only. I just did two transactions - the six Bailey's first with my collected $1/1 coupons and spent $3 out of pocket. I then used my three $1 catalinas on my second transaction to make the cheese $1.99.

The MYHABIT men's shirt was $3.25, using the same promo code as my last shirt deal. Peter is getting a lot of random cheap shirts because the women's stuff is all super expensive or weird.

I also received a Tillamook coupon for writing to them (free baby loaf!) and another set of Aveda Smooth Infusion sample sizes. Good mail day!

Fred Meyer 7/21 - Cheap Stuff Through 7/23

Fred Meyer deals were so awesome I made one more stop there yesterday. These sales are good through tomorrow, July 23!

All this for under $13!! Woot!

• 4 - Tillamook shredded cheese (these freeze well) - $1.00 with in-ad coupon
• 2 - Jamba Juice smoothies - $.67 cents with in-store coupon and printable from coupons.com (NLA)
• Fresh Express salad kit - $.94 after quick sale and $.75 coupon (6/26 SmartSource)
• So Delicious Coconut Milk - $1.00 after $1.00 coupon (4/3 SmartSource)
• 4 - Fred Meyer beans and tomatoes - $.50 with in-ad coupon
• 2 - Sour Patch kids - $.50 with $1/2 coupon (6/5 SmartSource)
• Fred Meyer Orange Juice - $1.25 with in-ad coupon
• Northwest cherries - $1.06
• Tomato - $.33

= $12.92 out of pocket!

The Jamba Juice smoothies are my super fave, and this coupon is good through sometime in August. Love them!

Of course they were out of $2.99 Wisk, but I got a raincheck for four bottles that is valid for 60 days.

Using Coupon Overage for Free Stuff at Wal-Mart

This is kind of a long story, but it's how I made $8.42 at Wal-Mart on this stuff:

I made $8.42 because Wal-Mart is the only local store (that I know of) that explicitly states in their coupon policy that overage can be applied toward other items:

If coupon value exceeds the price of the item, the excess may be given to the customer as cash or applied toward the basket purchase.

I have always been very anti-Wal-Mart and haven't shopped there in years. Their corporate policies are questionable, not to mention their stores are just icky. But, after we shopped at Nordstrom Rack and Banana Republic in Auburn, Wal-Mart was close by and I needed to use two coupons.

I requested coupons from Earthbound Organic Farms in June, and they generously emailed me two coupons for $5 off any Earthbound product. I had looked *everywhere* (Fred Meyer, QFC, Albertsons, Top Foods, Trader Joe's, Target and Safeway) for their lettuce mixes and came up empty handed. They have them at Costco but Costco doesn't take any coupons but their own. So, I went online and saw that Wal-Mart carried their big spinach tubs. We used our GPS to find Wal-Mart in Auburn/Fed Way area...so this brought us to:

First Wal-Mart stop:

• 4 pack of Noxema razors ($2.97 - $2 coupon from 7/10 RP)
• Vlasic relish ($.98 - $.55 printable)
• = $1.40 out of pocket but no fresh food

Then we used the GPS to find the much nicer but still dodgy Wal-Mart Super Center just down the street (two Wal-Marts in one town?! we don't even have one in Gig Harbor thank goodness)

• 2 Earthbound Farms organic carrots ($.78 each minus two $5 printable coupons)
• Tillamook light sour cream $1.44
• Minute Maid lemonade $1.00
• Olay face lotion (I was out!) $7.67
• =$1.67 out pocket

So yes, I went to Wal-Mart. And yes, I felt dirty the whole time I was there. I don't have quite the admirable ethics as Angela over at The Coupon Project, but I'm working on it. She is super ethical and my role model for the best way to shop and coupon. Anyway, after that ordeal and one super gross and one semi-gross store, I hope I don't have to go back to Wal-Mart anytime soon!

QFC Mega Savings Event - Ends 7/19

Yesterday I stopped in at QFC to get 20 items on the Mega Savings Event (for every 10 items you buy, save $5.00). They were out of Wisk (but Fred Meyer had it!) but had everything else I wanted! Instead of the three planned Wisk, I picked up a cream cheese and two Vitamin Waters.

Spent $15.87, saved $39.03

All prices shown below are after the $0.50 savings per item but before applied coupons.

• 6 Classico pasta sauce - $1.49 each
• Used three $1.00/2 coupons from 5/15 SmartSource
• 6 Whisker Lickins cat treats - $0.79 each
• Used three $1.00/2 coupons from 5/1 SmartSource
• 1 Welch's Essential Blend juice - $2.49
• Used $1.00/1 from 5/1 SmartSource
• 4 Lean Cuisine meals - $1.49 each
• Used $2.25/4 printable coupon from awhile ago
• 1 Philadelphia cream cheese - $1.49
• 2 Vitamin Waters - $0.75 each

Received $1 catalina from Classico sauce (it prints for every 4 you buy).


Spent $15.87, saved $39.03 (saved 71%)

Albertsons Doubler Trip 7/17 - Liking the New Twice The Value Policy!

Albertsons was so much less stressful this morning! I showed up around 10:30 a.m. and there were a few other couponers in the store with their binders. I still use my ghetto envelope system so I felt a little shame. Anyway, overall the store was quiet AND all the deals were in stock! Hurray!

Spent $10.36, saved $42.73!

Transaction #1

• Mission tortillas - $0.99 with in-ad coupon
• 2 Nature Valley Granola Thins - $2.50 each
• Honey Nut Cheerios - $2.50
• Lucky Charms - $2.50
• Used two $0.75 Nature Valley Thins coupons (from 6/26 SmartSource)
• Used one $1.00/2 General Mills cereal (6/19 SmartSource)
• Used three doubler coupons
• Spent $5.99, saved $15.26
• Received $4 in catalinas plus a free milk catalina worth $4.50

Transaction #2

• 20 Yoplait yogurts - $0.60 each
• 2 Odwalla bars - $1.00 each
• Gallon of 1% milk (my nephew is coming to visit Saturday!) - $3.79
• Used two $1.00/10 Yoplait (from 6/12 SmartSource)
• Used one $1.00/2 Odwalla products (from QFC booklet)
• Used three doubler coupons
• Used all catalinas from Transaction #1 (-$2.00, -$2.00, $4.50 for milk)
• Spent $3.29, saved $18.88
• Received $2 catalina from Yoplait

Transaction #3

• Small Frank's Red Hot Sauce - $1.59
• Pretzel M&Ms - $2.99 (again for house guests...hope these last until then!)
• Emerald Breakfast to Go - $2.50
• Used one $1 off Emerald Breakfast to Go printable
• Used one $1 off pretzel M&Ms from 6/19 RedPlum
• Used one $1 off Frank's from 5/15 SmartSource
• Spent $1.08, saved $8.59 
• (I didn't quite plan this right since it was too cheap to use my last catalina, but I was able to use the catalina later at Fred Meyer)

Total spent $10.36, total saved $42.73 (almost 81%!) plus $2 catalina

Could I have used more doublers if Albertsons still had them at customer service? Of course...but my walk-in pantry is pretty stockpiled with about 7 or 8 boxes of cereal, and we have yogurt now for two weeks (2 people x 10 weekdays = 20)...so I'm happy with my Twice the Value shop today. :)

Fred Meyer 7/17 Deals - $0.99 Wisk and $1.00 Tillamook Cheese Shreds!!

Fred Meyer sales were unexpectedly amazing today! I hadn't even planned to stop there after church, but I peeked at the ad and was pumped to see Tillamook shreds were 5 for $5.00! Cheese hasn't been on sale in far too long, and I personally think $1.00 a bag (8 ounces) is a SUP (stock up price!)

And a great surprise...Wisk was $2.99 with an in-ad coupon!! This is the same price couponers everywhere were excited about at QFC this week, because of the available $2.00 off manufacturer's coupon. I tried to get it at QFC earlier today, but the cashier said the warehouse is out of stock. So thank goodness for Fred Meyer!

$11.82 out of pocket! Including $5 worth of pork ribs.

Here is what I purchased at Fred Meyer and the coupons used:

• 5 Tillamook shreds - $1.00 each with in-ad coupon
• 3 Wisk detergent 50 ounces - $2.99 each with in-ad coupon
• Used three $2 off manufacturer's coupons from 6/26 Red Plum
• Darigold Natural Sour Cream - $1.50
• Used 40 cents off from tear pad at store
• Country Style Pork Ribs - $4.98 for almost three pounds
• Cabbage (for cole slaw!) - $0.77
• Used two catalinas from earlier Albertsons ($2.00) and QFC ($1.00) shops 

Total out of pocket - $11.82!
Total coupon savings - $22.40! 
Plus the ribs, cabbage and sour cream were on sale.

Banana Republic Outlet Amazing Deals - $15 out of pocket!

If you can get to the Banana Republic Outlet this afternoon, they are having a crazy sale. The entire store is 40% off (which makes for sweet deals already) plus today only there is an email coupon for 25% off your entire purchase (30% if you spend over $100). The 40% off sale applies to the ENTIRE STORE! Clearance included!

Only $15 out of pocket!!

Between Peter and I, we got all the clothes pictured above for $15 and change! I had a $25 gift card so the actual price after discounts was around $40, but I got FOUR dressy tops and a work skirt (original price $79), plus Peter got a super nice dress shirt (original price $60), two boxers and a t-shirt. I regret not buying a cute dress that would have been about $10 and perfect for a wedding. Next time! I heart Banana Republic sales!

MYHABIT super deal! Men's Dress shirt for $4.34!

By now you've probably heard of MYHABIT, amazon.com's new private shopping site. There is a promo code valid through the end of July for $25 off a $25 purchase! Every sale goes live at 9 a.m. Pacific and the cheaper items sell out within minutes since they're free or almost free.

I got this dress shirt for Peter for only $4.34! It's usually $80-something!

Caesar also likes Peter's new shirt!

If you need an invite, email me and I'll send you one! Also, the code is SUMMER25 and can only be used once per account. I should note that shipping is always free on MYHABIT and they have a lot of sweet designer brands. Love good deals!

Target Deals (Free Floss and Sharpies!) - 7/13 Trip

Today I was in and out of the Tacoma Target store in 25 minutes flat. It's all about planning your route! I had a list of about 12 deals, and I was able to get 9 of them! They were out of stock of the 50 cent pillows and the Oral-B floss, but I found some sweeter clearance deals! And I got free Reach floss, free Sharpies and 7 cent pens. Yay Target!

Only $16.35 out of pocket! (Two citronella candles alone are usually $12.58)

Here are my awesome deals:

• Two pack of Sharpies - $1
• Used a $1/1 target.com coupon (FREE!)
  
• Papermate 10 pack of pens - $1.07
• Used a $1/1 target.com coupon (7 cents!)
• Vlasic relish - $1.04
• Used a .55/1 printable coupon 
• 3 Coffee mate creamers (2 Natural Bliss @$2.39 and one normal @$1.92)
• Used a target.com coupon for $1/3 Coffee mate creamers
• Used two $1/1 Natural Bliss from the Albertsons savings book
• Used one $.55/1 printable coupon
• 2 big (18) packs of fruit snacks (clearance!) - $1.27 each!
• Used $1/2 target.com fruit snack multi packs
• 2 Reach floss - $.89 each
•  Used two $1/1 any Reach floss from a March insert (FREE plus $.11 overage each on these!)
• Target brand face scrub - $2.10
• Used $.75/1 target.com facial product coupon
• 2 Off! Citronella candles - $5 each sale
• Used $2/2 target.com coupon
• Used $3/2 manufacturer's coupon from the 6/26 SmartSource
• 3 vitamin waters - $1 each
• Used buy 2 get 1 free from target.com
• Summer clearance alert! Three sets of plates and cups at $.99 each 

Total out of pocket - $16.35! Saved $24.11!


Remember you can stack Target coupons with manufacturer's coupons (1 of each per item) which I definitely did today! Here is what those Target coupons look like if you print them off from target.com.

And if you know your Target store layout, you can be in and out in a jiffy! And bring home fruit snacks, citronella candles and face wash for a happy husband. :) Cheers!

Top Foods/Haggen Deals and Awesome Coupons - Trip 7/11

Today's trip to Top Foods was amazing...they have customer appreciation coupons that only come with the ad in the mail (lame, right!) but you can use all four coupons together on one trip! I got all the stuff picture below, including the Full Circle organic brown eggs and two-thirds a pound of 93/7 ground beef, for $6.24 out of pocket!

Spent $6.24 out of pocket!

• Tostitos - $1.77 (with in-ad coupon)
• Food Should Taste Good $2.00
• Sweet onions - $.77 (.47/lb!)
• Roma tomatoes - $.68 (.77/lb!)
• Broccoil - $.64 ($1/lb!)
• Green pepper - $.79
• Cilantro - $.59
• Panette - $.99
• Sourdough roll (ate for lunch) - $.35
• 93/7 lean ground beef - $2.66
• Full Circle organic brown eggs - $4.49

The first four coupons are from the Top Foods customer appreciation insert in the ad.

• Used free eggs coupon (-$4.49)
  
• Used $1 off produce
• Used $2 off meat
• Used $1 off any bakery item
• Used $1/1 Food Should Taste Good coupon

Spent $6.24 out of pocket! I can't figure out how much I saved with Top Foods complicated receipts, but it was toward $20 I think. The Top Foods coupons save "Save x with a $10 minimum purchase" but the $10 minimum is including the eggs, meat, produce, etc. so you could feasibly spend under $2.00...but I felt sort of bad doing that since I go to this store often. Plus I needed tortilla chips and extra cheap produce.

Target and QFC Trip - Deals from 7/9

After my awesome deal on printer paper, I went to Target to use some coupons and get some first aid items for my husband who has a crazy finger gash. I spent $6.19 and saved $7.44. Next I went to QFC for an awesome deal on Rainier cherries (did I mention I'm obsessed with cherries?) and I spent $4.98 and saved $10.17. Here is all the loot I got for $11.17!

Spent $11.17 and saved $17.61!

Target

• Method spray cleaner - sale $2.54
• Used $1/1 coupon from 6/26 SS and $.50/1 coupon from Target mailer
• Wheat bread - $1.42
• Used FREE coupon from Target mailer (renovated store promo)
• Large eggs - $1.79
• Used coupon from Target mailer to make them $.99
• Neosporin - sale $3.49
• Spiderman Band-Aids - clearance $2.07
• Used $1.50 off neosporin plus band-aids and $.50/1 Target mailer coupon
• Paid $5.59 plus tax

QFC

• Rainier cherries - sale for $2.99 a pound!! 1.33 pounds - $3.98
• 2 corn on the cob - $.50 each
• 3 Seattle's Best Iced Coffee cans (finally found these!) - $1.49
• Used 3 FREE Seattle's Best Iced Coffee cans so all 3 free!
• Paid $4.98 (no tax)

QFC sales are valid until Tuesday, and the Target sales were all price cuts so should be around for awhile. I was hoping to get the Target Schick razor deal but of course they were out, so no big deal. Next time!

Office Depot - 10 Reams of Paper for $7.49 with Staples Coupon!

This morning I saw over at Coupon Connections that it's the last day to get a case (as in 10 reams) of HP paper for under 8 dollars at Office Depot! Hello!

There is an Office Depot about four minutes from my house, so I printed the coupon and headed up there. The two young guys helping me out almost couldn't believe I was only paying $8.12 (with tax) for 10 reams of paper. It was so heavy that thankfully one of them (Gig Harbor store) carried it out. Whew!

Here is how you do it...and you only have until tonight to make this work!

• Print off this coupon for 75% off one HP paper item at Staples.
• Take it to Office Depot (they accept competitors' coupons) and get the $29.99 case of paper (original price $46.99 - $17 instant discount). 
• Enjoy 10 reams of paper for $7.49 plus tax...enough for months (years?) of coupon printing. Woot!

Fred Meyer Trip 7/6 - Cherries and Bailey's Creamer Deals!

Today I was seriously craving cherries. AND they were only $1.68 a pound at Fred Meyer...no coupons needed! So of course I bought almost 3 pounds. In total, I spent $18.65 on all this loot!

 

• Two Seneca applesauce $1.67 each
• Used $1/2 coupon from 6/26 Smart Source insert
• Two 3 Musketeers candy bars $.40 each 
• Used in-ad coupon plus $.50/2 from 6/26 Smart Source insert
• Dove Men's Bars $5.99
• Used $4/1 coupon from 6/26 Red Plum insert
• Country Oven Bread $1.33 
• Used in-ad coupon
• Sabra hummus $2.99
• Used $1/1 coupon from 6/26 Smart Source insert
• 2 Bailey's creamers ($2.50 and $2.00) LOVE THIS STUFF!
• Used two $1/1 coupons from baileys.com
• Cherries (1.68/lb) $4.77
• Walla walla onions (.78/lb) $1.84
• Kiwi $.34
• Nectarines ($1.49/lb) $1.24

Spent $18.65 total which is pretty sweet for all this produce plus the expensive men's soap! Can't forget 15 cent candy bars for the husband. The hummus is already gone since I was famished when I got home. I am looking forward to Bailey's in my coffee in the morning... non-alcoholic of course!

Fred Meyer has the best deals on produce generally without sales. For example, green peppers were $.79 which is the sale price at Top Foods/Haggen this week. And if you're having a salad that evening, they almost always have organic spring mixes at half price that expire within 3-4 days. Good deals!

Albertsons Trip 7/4 - Deals without Doublers (.09 brownies!)

The days of getting Twice the Value (doubler) coupons at customer service are gone. I think it's actually a good thing, because the policy varied by store and even by cashier, so it was difficult to plan. Plus people were clearing the shelves at 7 a.m. on Sunday. So, the official word has come down from corporate, and Albertsons is changing their policy. Doublers will now only be available in newspapers.

Anyway, this past weekend there were no Albertsons doubler coupons, but I still managed a decent shopping trip (73% savings!).

Spent $13.56 and saved $35.86 (73% savings)

There were a few awesome deals and a few decent deals on things I actually needed. I used seven coupons.

First, I bought 10 items and received $5.00 off. The prices below are after the $.50 per item savings.

• 3 Pillsbury brownies - $.49 each
• 2 Twizzlers packs - $1.38 each
• 2 Reynolds wrap foil - $2.49 each
• 2 French's mustard - $.99 each
• 1 Kraft extra sharp cheddar - $2.19

In addition, I purchased almost three pounds of chicken breast ($1.69/lb) and light mayonnaise ($1.99). I used the following coupons:

(3) $.40 off Pillsbury brownies (6/12 Red Plum insert)
(2) $.75 off Twizzlers (6/26 SmartSource insert)
(1) $1/2 Reynolds foil (Albertsons Summertime Savings book)
(1) $3 off Albertsons meat purchase (by mail)

For $13.56 out of pocket after coupons, I think I did a pretty sweet job and saved 73%! Woot!

Top Food/Haggen Deals - Through 7/3

I did this deal on Thursday but wanted to be sure and share it before the sale is over! The 4 day sale (which includes the pop 12 packs) ends tomorrow (Sunday) so hurry!

Not as nicely arranged as usual...but I came home to out-of-town guests and a football game.

I've bolded the best deals and their accompanying coupons!

• 4 bottles of wine - $4.49 each
• Tortilla chips - $2.50
• Kettle chips - $2.00
• Onion - $.90
• Celery - $1.49
• 4 Cream cheese - $1.50 each (sale through Tuesday...$1 after coupon)
• 4 Coke product 12 packs - $2.69 each
• 1 8 pack Coke Zero - $3.99
• Sour cream - $1.67
• Watermelon - $2.86
• Cantaloupe - $1.26

Used coupons:

• $5 off $25 or more (in-ad)
• Two $2/2 Coke product 12 packs (Albertsons savings book)
• Free Coke 8 pack wyb 3 12 packs (Albertsons savings book)
• Kraft $2 coupon (in-ad)
• Kettle Chips $1 off coupon (newspaper)

Spent $38.44 out of pocket, of which about $20 was wine!

The receipt says I saved $70.25 and that doesn't even count the $.29/lb watermelon and $.33/lb cantaloupe!