Just joking, of course, I know many others are playing just as well or better! But it certainly is FUN!
Today was a BUSY day! I dropped off some of our homeschool materials at a used curriculum sale (tagged them this morning for the sale, too!) at about 10 am. Then it was off to the grocery stores! I mapped out the 9 closest Albertsons to our house (but only ended up going to 5). I had all of my deals written out, as well as what each purchase would end up totaling. I had the coupons in a little expandable divided thingy, set up for each trip. Why did I do separate trips? The double coupons--you can only use 3 per trip. At each store I asked for more double coupons, also--and then used them at the next store.
FYI~~People keep telling me I can just do multiple transactions at 1 store. So maybe the different Albertsons runs weren't necessary. :)
I print most of my coupons online, and I get some from the paper. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!!!!
How much do you think I spent on all of this???
Well, the total WOULD HAVE BEEN $197.46, had I paid full price for everything. And had I just purchased sale items, with no coupons, I would have paid: $82.40. Still a decent savings, but
I only spent $21.60!!
Here are the details:
4 Country Time Lemonades, .50 each! Plus every 2 lemonade purchases prints out a $1 catalina for your next purchase!
- 4 x Juicy Juice, $1 per box
- 2 Jello Ready-Made Snacks, .75 each
- Seattle’s Best Coffee, $1
- 3 Kraft Mayonnaise, .33 each
- 3 boxes of Jello Pudding Mix & 3 boxes of Jello Mix, .03 each!!!
- 8 bags Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese, .40 each!!
- 5 boxes of Bayer Asprin Quick Crystals (to donate), all free!
- 11 bags of Jet Puffed Marshmallows, .70 each, and 1 for $1 (this was an “oops!” I grabbed 1 too many and didn’t get the deal--but $1 is still decent)
- 2 Kraft BBQ Sauce, Free!
- 2 Grey Poupon jars of mustard, free!
- 1 pack Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs, FREE!
- 1 pack M&Ms, FREE!
- 5 Sobe Life Waters, $2 (vs. $1 each!)
- 1 Tazo Herbal Tea, FREE!
- 2 International Coffee Blends, .33 each!!
- 1 Edge Shave Gel, FREE!
You can do this too! I check out what others are saying about the deals at least 1x per day here on Shop.Eat.Live. (look on the left). I try to go to Albertsons Weds or Thurs so that everything isn’t out of stock. I keep a running list going of what I’m going to get. I print coupons whenever I see they’re available (you never know, they may reach their print limit!).
Today it took me a lot of the day. I was back in town to pick up my books and the $2.50 I made at the sale (woo hoo! :) by 2:30, and then went home to put the kids down for nap. So 4 1/2 hours of driving around and grocery shopping. My husband met me (he even did 2 of the transactions today!!) in Lake Oswego during his lunch break. :)
It wasn’t as hard as I thought with the kids. They’re especially excited when they see me getting things like Jell-O and Juicy Juice for our upcoming camping trips. :) They acted up in 1 Albertsons, and I could tell the lady was a bit frazzled. I have found though, that in general, female cashiers are kinder about the coupon thing than the male cashiers. Not to be sexist, but they just (in general) seem to get more frustrated by a stack of coupons. Test my theory and tell me what you think! :)
We listened to “Subtraction Songs” in the car and I paused it to teach them often, so I feel good that we were getting some homeschooling done, too. :) And, when we would leave a store, I’d say “did you see how much I got? I only spent $2!!” They’re learning--for sure!
Was the gas $$ worth it? I think so--I need to calculate that out. But I certainly didn’t spend $60 some dollars in gas. Will I do this every week? Probably not. But it is really great to stock up on things that we know we’ll use. This way I don’t have to pay full price, ever--because I’ll always have items stocked up in my house. And cheese freezes, by the way! A lot of foods freeze!
