Thrifty Thursday 10/20

I have to admit that this wasn't the thriftiest Thursday I've ever had.  My Kroger trip included only 2 coupons!  (I know, I can hardly believe it myself!)  And, I made a quick trip into Big Lots for some bath mats and ended up splurging on some treats for the kids which threw my budget off quite a bit.  However, my CVS trip and a few Food Lion deals helped to make up for it!

CVS had Almay cosmetics on sale this week, and I happened to have a $5/2 Almay Cosmetics CVS coupon AND a $3/1 Almay Cosmetics CVS coupon AND a $3/$10 cosmetics purchase coupon, so I had quite a money maker on my hands this week!  I used the extra ECBs I earned plus a $5 store coupon to buy some pull-ups and diapers!

Total value:  $43.72
Total spent oop: $1.82
Total saved: $41.90 or 96%!
(I used $4 ECBs on this purchase and got back $12!  A $8 money-maker!!)


I also made a trip to Food Lion yesterday.  I am beginning to find that I like Food Lion's produce section much better than Kroger's.  Plus, they tend to have a lot more meat marked down than Kroger does.  This week, they happen to be having their "cart buster" event - which is basically the same as a "mega sale" at Kroger.  When you buy 10 things, you get $5 off your total purchase.

One GREAT deal they had was on single rolls of Brawny paper towels.  They were on sale for $1 and, if you purchase 10 participating "cart buster" items, you get them for $0.50.  There happened to be a $0.50 coupon for Brawny paper towels in the 9/25 SmartSource insert, which made them FREE!  I ended up getting 9 rolls (I only had 1 other "cart buster" item I wanted to buy) & I had coupons for 4 of them, making it $2.50 for 9 rolls of paper towels!  Not bad!

Total value of all purchases at Food Lion: $59.59
Total spent after sales and coupons:  $26.38
Total saved:  $33.31 or 56%!

How did you do on your shopping trips this week?

Impromptu Shopping Trip = HUGE Savings and LOTS of Free Items!

Yesterday, my mom and I decided to take the girls and go out to a few stores and see what kind of deals we could get.  We knew there were coupons in this past weekend's paper that would make for free items at some stores, so we decided to try our luck!  I was surprised at how much we were actually able to get!!!  I had gotten extra papers this week since I knew the coupons were going to be good, so I was able to stock up on several things that we use on a regular basis for FREE!!!  Here's a picture of everything I got:

We decided to go to a new Family Dollar - well, not a new store, but new to us!  I found the L.A. Looks hair gel for $1.75 and had $1 coupons (from this past weekend's paper).  My husband uses this stuff every day.  And they also had 5 ct. packs of Zyrtec on sale for $4.50 with a $1 in-store coupon and I had $2 manufacturer coupons (printed online weeks ago), making them only $1.50 each!

Dollar General had a great deal on the Air Wick Freshmatic air freshners - on sale for $4 and I had $4 coupons, making them FREE!  These will be on sale all week if you can find time to swing by there!

We also made a trip in to Food Lion to get FREE Marcal paper towels (with $1 coupons from this past weekend's paper) and FREE Splenda Essentials (with $3 coupons from this past weekend's paper).  (This sale is now over.)

Kroger has Ivory body wash and Crest toothpaste free this week after coupons from this past weekend's P&G insert.

I also went into Walmart where they have 3-packs of Cascade action packs on sale for $.97 - $1 coupons from this past weekend's P&G insert made them FREE!  Plus, I found Gillette Fusion Proglide packs (with one razor, small body wash, and two other trial sized products) for $4.97.  After the $4 coupon from this weekend's P&G, I got them for $.97 each!

The box of Cherrios and can of Ocean Spray juice were mailbox freebies that I decided to throw in the picture!  :)

All in all, I ended up with 45 items totalling $95.40 in value for only $9.49!  Not bad for a quick morning of shopping!!! :)

Have you all picked up any good freebies this week?  I'd love to hear!

Thrifty Thursday! 7/28

Today was a full day of shopping for me!  I made it to Target, CVS, Kroger, Dollar Tree, and Food Lion! 

My goal at Target was to pick up some clearanced toys.  Unfortunately, I didn't find any that I wanted or that were "cheap enough."  (Most things were only marked down 25 - 50%.)  I did, however, find some great deals on children's clothes and picked up a few things for my kids to wear this fall and next summer!  Here's what I got:

Total value: $70.80
Total amount spent out of pocket after sale prices: $25.33
Total saved:  $45.47 or 64%!


Next, it was on to CVS.  At first, I was disappointed b/c they were either sold out of what I wanted or the deals ended up not being as good as I thought.  However, as I walked around the store, I came across a few clearance and sale items that made for a few good buys!

The Tide Stain Release was on clearance for $3.36 and after a $3 coupon, cost me only $0.36!  Plus, the cereal was on sale 2/$4 and I had (2) $1.25 coupons, making them only $0.75 each!  The Crystal Light were coupon match-up deals - on sale for $2.50, I had a $1 CVS coupon from the coupon machine and a $1 manufacturer coupon that made them $0.50 each!  Plus, the soap was FREE after a CVS coupon I had!

Total value of 8 items:  $23.80
Total spent after sales, coupons, and ECB's:  $2.93  (I used $2 ECBs on this transaction)
Total saved: $20.87 or 88%!
Total ECB's received: $1.99


My trip to Kroger today wasn't all that thrilling.  I bought a $14 package of pull-ups that drove my total up.  They were totally out of all the cereal that I wanted from the mini mega-sale, though I did find some cereal / treat bars that were part of the sale that I decided to buy.   I ended up with mostly staple items - milk, yogurt, produce, fruit, lunchmeat, etc.

The Golden Grahams Treat bars above were $1.49 (if you bought 4 items in the mega sale).  I used (2) $0.50 coupons from the 7/10 SS to get them for $0.49 each.  The cereal bars were $1.89 (mega sale price) and I used (2) $0.50 (from the same insert??) that made them $0.89 each.  The sippy cups were buy one get one free - making this one $2.27 - not a bad price, especially since these cups are my favorite and we needed a new one!

Total value of 23 items: $71.63
Total spent after sales and coupons: $44.10
Total saved: $27.53 or 39%


After Kroger, I ran in the Dollar Tree to grab some bread.  I also ended up buying a package of Snapple ice pops as a treat for the girls.  I've never had these before, so I'm hoping they are good!

Total value / total spent: $3.08


My last stop of the day was Food Lion.  I had $4 in "Catalina money" that was going to expire, so I wanted to use it up.  Plus, they had a decent price on grapes and cheese this week.  I also ended up grabbing a FREE bottle of coffe creamer after a coupon I had been saving and a carton of Breyers ice cream.  (So, that was a little bit of a splurge!)  :)  I did find a good deal on 100 count boxes of Splenda packets - on sale for $3.  I used a $1 coupon that I printed from the Splenda website to get it for $2!

Total value of 6 items:  $25.06
Total spent after sales and coupons: $7.97
Total saved: $17.09 or 68%


All in all, it was a pretty good day!

Total value of all items purchased:  $194.37
Total amount spent after sales and coupons: $83.41
Total amount saved: $110.96 or 57%!

So, how have you done this week?  Come across any good deals?!  Please share them!

Thrifty Thursdays! 7/21

There really wasn't that much happening at the drug stores this week, so I decided to skip CVS and Walgreens and focus on the grocery stores.  I went to Food Lion on Tuesday and Kroger today.

Food Lion was having a great sale on V8-Fusion juice this past week (2/$5), so I picked up 9 bottles using (6) $1.50 coupons and (3) B2G1 coupons - paying only $6 out of pocket for 9 bottles of juice.  BUT, then I got back (4) $1 catalina coupons good for my next trip to Food Lion, making it only $2 for 9 bottles of juice!  Yay!  I also picked up some bananas and a can of diced tomatoes I needed for dinner that night.

Total value of 11 items: $38.32
Total spent after sales and coupons: $8.94
Total saved: $29.29 or 76%!


This week was the last week of the mega sale for Kroger.  I got 30 items from the Mega sale today - mostly mac & cheese cups and tissues (I was down to 2 boxes in my stockpile!  Agh!)!  I also stocked up on FREE Twizzlers and $0.15 notebooks and folders (for my workshops).  I saved a lot this week, but I hate how your total is always higher than usual when there is a mega sale happening!

Total value of 90 items: $146.07
Total spent after sales and coupons: $70.55
Total saved: $75.52 or 52%!


How did you do on your shopping trips this week?  I'd love to hear!

Thrifty Wednesday! :) (with Unadvertised Kroger Deals!)

Well, I decided to do my shopping a little early this week so I could work on my freezer cooking tomorrow and Friday.  I went to CVS, Kroger, and Food Lion this morning!

At CVS, all I bought was 1 box of Stove Top Stuffing mix.  I need it for the meatballs I want to make.  It was regularly priced at $1.99 and I had a CVS coupon for $1 off making it $0.99.  My total after tax was $1.01

Next it was on to Kroger.  I had several things that weren't on sale on my list today because of my freezer cooking plans.  There is still a mega sale going on, but I didn't really want anything from it except for Huggies wipes which they STILL didn't have in stock.  (If this happens to you, make sure you ask for a rain check.  It will be written for the price the item WOULD have been had you bought it as part of the Mega Sale - plus, it has no limit on the number of items you can get at that price!  Kroger rain checks expire within 30 days of the time they are written.)  Most of what I bought was dairy and produce.  I did end up getting FREE organge juice because it rang up incorrectly!!

Total value of 48 items: $114.62
Total spent: $60.18
Total saved: $54.44 or 47%!

*****DEAL HIGHLIGHTS*****

Check out these deals you may be able to find in your store!

Traditional Medicinals Organic Echinaccea Plus Tea on clearance for $1
-used the $1 mc from the March issue of All You magazine (there is also one in the July issue)*made it FREE!

Goldfish Grahams $1
-found packages with $0.75 coupons attached!
*made them $0.25!
(There are also $0.55 and $0.35 Goldfish coupons here.)

6 count boxes of Sunmaid raisins $1 *GREAT PRICE!*
(These are at least twice as big as the packages I've gotten recently at Dollar Tree!  I always keep a box of these in the diaper bag for my daughter!)

Marcal Small Steps napkins, 250 ct. on sale for $2.49
-$1 mc from the 5/22 & 6/19 RP inserts.
*makes them $1.49 - a good price for this size package of napkins!

*****************************************************************************

After Kroger I ran in Food Lion for sausage and cereal.  Once I was inside I realized I left the cereal coupons at home!  (Yes - even I forget to take a coupon with me to the store sometimes!!)  I ended up buying 2 packages of Butterball turkey sausage, 1 head of lettuce and 1 package of blueberries for the blueberry muffins I want to make for my freezer cooking experiment!  I'll have to go back for the cereal!  :)

Total value of 4 items: $12.04
Total spent: $6.17
Total saved: $5.87 or 49%


Totals for the day:

Total value of all items: $128.67
Total spent: $67.36
Total saved: $61.31 or 48%

Have you gone shopping this week?  How did you do?

Thrifty Thursdays

I'm actually posting my Thrifty Thursday report ON THURSDAY this week!!!

I had a full day of shopping today and actually did pretty well at a few stores!  Here we go...


My first store was Walmart.  I had several free product coupons that I had been saving up that were going to expire at the end of the month, so I decided to go in and redeem those while trying to snag a few other deals in the process!  Here's what I got...

Total value: $25.24
Total spent oop after coupons: $1.94
Total saved: $23.30 or 92%!

*****DEAL HIGHLIGHT*****

White Cloud Baby Wipes (80 ct) regularly priced at $1.50
-$1 White Cloud Product coupon from June or July All You Magazine
*makes them $.50 each!

Advil "Pocket Packs" 10 ct (found at the register)
-$4/2 coupon from the 5/22 SS insert
*buy (2), makes them FREE plus $.32 in overage!

********************************

The next store I made it to was the Dollar Tree.  I went in for Father's Day cards and bread.  Here's what I ended up with (minus the Father's Day cards).  If you've never bought greeting cards at Dollar Tree, you should glance at them the next time you're in there.  The ones at our store are very high quality and only $.50!

It's unusual to find the large packs of peanut butter crackers there, so I was excited about that!  (I keep these in the diaper bag.  They come in handy when I need to occupy my children's mouths with something other than screaming!!)  :)  Plus, we are planning on having hamburgers next week, so the buns will come in handy.  I'm planning on splitting the packages of rolls and putting them in the freezer to save for future meals.

Total spent: $11.91


Next on the list was Food Lion.  My main objective there was produce and frozen pizza!  (I would have price matched my Food Lion items at Walmart to save a trip, but they don't always have the prices of everything listed in their ad.)  I also ended up buying some discounted ground beef & steak which drove my total up by about $10.

Total value of 8 items: $34.49
Total spent after sales & coupons: $23.28
Total saved: $11.21 or 67%!


After a break for a doctor's appointment, I quickly ran into CVS to redeem (2) FREE Hershey's candy bar coupons that I printed from their website.  I wanted to make sure I got them this week because Hershey's candy was on sale B2G1 for a penny! 

Total value: $3.60
Total spent after sale & coupons: $0.04
Total spent: $3.56 or 99%


Last, but not least, I finally made it to Kroger at the end of the day.  There is a new mega sale this week with the most exciting items for me being cheap Juicy Juice and FREE baby wipes (of which they had none - of course.)

Total value of 25 items: $57.39
Total spent after sales & coupons: $39.38
Total saved: $18.01 or 31%


All in all, I was pretty pleased with my day!  Here's the grand total:

Total value of all purchases: $132.63
Total spent after sales & coupons:  $76.55
Total saved: $56.08 or 42%!


How have you done this week on your shopping adventures?  I'd love to hear!

Thrifty Thursdays 6/9

I had a FULL day of shopping yesterday!  All in all, I ended up going to 8 stores!!!  (Not all of them for couponing purposes!)  :)  I'm going to highlight the ones where I bought things for the family...

First it was Kroger for my weekly shopping trip.  Kroger was definitely less than thrilling this week, with no real great sales to speak of.  It's been a bit of a sale drought there lately.  I did get 2 FREE Luna bars and a FREE Cliff bar after coupons, so at least that was something.

Total value: $67.40
Total spent: $44.43
Total saved: $22.97 (or 34%)


Next, I made it to CVS.  They had about half of the things I wanted still in stock.  Thank goodness once again for FREE diapers from CVS!  Here's what I ended up buying...

Total value: $31.65
Total spent after sales, coupons & ECBs: $1.18
Total saved: $30.34 (or 96%)!


I also ran in Food Lion for some produce and meat.  While I was there, I picked up two 4-packs of PediaSure for $.99 each after (2) $5 catalina coupons I had been saving!

Total value: $36.34
Total spent: $21.55
Total saved: $14.79 (or 41%)


Next it was on to Staples for some super cheap papertowels!  Bounty paper towels are on sale there for $4.99 right now.  Paired up with a $3 Staples coupon and a $1 Bounty coupon (from the $110 P&G booklet), I got this package for $.99 + tax!

I even made it to Target this week...mainly for a great deal on Nivea body wash.  I almost fell over in the aisle when they actually had a few bottles still on the shelf!  Here's what I got...

Total value: $16.01
Total spent: $4.46
Total saved: $11.55 (or 72%)

So....my totals for the whole day were....

Total value: $157.39
Total spent: $72.88
Total saved: $84.51 or 54%!

I'm always happy when I save at least half!!

So, what great deals did you get this week?  I'd love to hear!

Impromptu Shopping Trip = BIG Savings!!

Today, while the girls were napping, I decided to run out to CVS and Food Lion to pick up a few freebies!  (Don't worry.  My husand was home - I didn't leave the girls alone!!)  :)


I was surprised to find that CVS actually had everything I wanted except for the Suave bodywash.  Here's what I got...

I was so excited to get a good deal on diapers because we were down to one pack!  Same goes for the pasta sauce, too! 

Total value of 14 items:  $62.61
Total amount spent oop:  $1.97!!
(I used just over $28 on this trip and got back $26!)

Next it was on to Food Lion.  When I was there last week, I picked up a box of Purina One Beyond cat food that was on sale for $2 and I had a $2 coupon that I had gotten with a free sample in the mail.  I noticed that in this past week's paper there was another $2 coupon for any Purina One cat food product, so I went back to get more!  (Today was the last day of that sale.)  I also wanted to see if I could use the $1 off ANY Marcal Small Steps product coupon that was in this past Sunday's RedPlum insert to get any deals.  And I did!!!  I found single rolls of paper towls regularly priced at $1.19 and 4 packs of toilet paper regularly priced at $1.49!!  I opted for the paper towels....

Total value of 8 items:  $17.40
Total amount spent oop: $1.40
Savings = $16 or 92%!!!

And, finally, I ended my shopping trip with a stop at McDonald's where I used my FREE Frozen Strawberry Lemonade coupon to get a nice treat!!

I'm hoping I do this well on Thursday when I do the rest of my shopping!

Exciting News for Food Lion Shoppers!

I have good news for all you Food Lion shoppers out there!  You can now download Ecoupons to your MVP card!  Here's what you need to do...

1.  Head on over to the Food Lion website and Sign up to "Save more as a Food Lion MVP" or log in to your account.

2.  Once you are signed in, scroll over the "Savings & Promotions" tab at the top of the page and click on "coupons."

3.  Next, you will need to create another account to be able to use the digital coupon feature.  You will need to have your MVP card handy so that you can enter the number on the back of your card.

4.  Once you have logged in to the Food Lion dgital coupon center, you will then be able to view all of the coupons available download.  Once you find a coupon you want, simply click the box next to the word "card." 

5.  Once you have selected all the coupons you want to download, click on the button at the bottom of the screen that says "get selected coupons" and they will be loaded onto your card!

To view all of the coupons that you have downloaded, click on "My Offers" at the top of the page.  You can then choose to print a list of your coupons!

I am not sure whether or not Food Lion allows a digital coupon AND a paper coupon to be used on the same item, but will hopefully find that out this week and report back to you! 

Thrifty Thursdays!

Yesterday I made shopping trips to CVS, Walgreens, Food Lion, AND Kroger!  This was a long day for me as I haven't shopped that many stores in one day in a while!! 

I started with CVS where I just wanted to pick up some free toothbrushes and cheap shave gel, but because I got $1 ECB back from using my green bag tag that I wasn't expecting, I actually made money on this!

Total Value = $11.27
Total amount spent out of pocket = $0.02
I used $7 ECB toward this purchase but got back $7.50! 

Next, I went in to Walgreens for some free items and cheap apple juice.  (We were down to 1 jug and my kids would not be happy if we ran out!)  :)

Total value of 14 items: $34.70
Total spent out of pocket after sales, coupons, and Register Rewards = $5.29
I made 4 transactions in this visit.

Next, I went in to Food Lion just to get cheap potatoes, ground beef, FREE butter, and cheap barbeque sauce.  I also ended up picking up some deli turkey b/c I didn't realize it was on sale!

Total value of 14 items = $36.96
Total spent after sales & coupons = $16.84
Total savings = $20.12 or 54%

Last, but not least, I made my weekly trip to Kroger.  There was nothing terribly exciting to talk about this week.  My favorite coffee was on sale, which was nice, and I picked up some cheap cinnamon rolls as a treat for the kids to have this weekend.  Oh, and the Nabisco Snak Saks were on sale for $1 again!  I bought 5 bags to add to the ones I still have left over from the last sale so we will be stocked for the spring months.  They are only on sale through Saturday, so if you want to get any, hurry over there!

Total value of 35 items = $112.04
Total spent after sales & coupons = $66.34
Total savings = $45.70 or 41%


Whew!  just typing all of that makes me remember how tired I was when I got home!!  How did you all do this week?  I'd love to hear!

Thrifty Thursdays - Friday edition!

Since everyone in my house has been so sick, I am STILL not back on a regular "shopping schedule," but I did manage to make it to a few stores this week (Thank you, Memaw!)! 

Kroger has a new mega sale going on....buy any 10 participating items, get $3 off instantly AND a coupon good for $3 off your next purchase.  This was by no means a thrilling sale, but if you added the $3 coupon in to your savings, there were a few good deals.....including Chef Boy R D pasta (I know that's not how you spell that, but I can never remember...) and Capris Sun juice pouches.  You could also get Pillsbury canned biscuits for $0.50 a can if you have the $1/2 printable.  Anyway, here were my totals...

Total value of 44 items: $115.98
Total spent out of pocket: $60.65
Total saved with sales & coupons: $55.33 or 48%
*I also left with one $3 coupon good on my next purchase.

I also went to Food Lion to pick up some ground beef.  I can always seem to find discounted meat at my local Food Lion....definitely cheaper than Kroger!

Total value of 5 items: $11.13
Total spent out of pocket: $11.13
Total saved: $0  :(  (I didn't even take my coupons in!)

Last, but not least, I made it to CVS this week also!  This was a good trip for me because I got another great deal on diapers!!!

Total value of 7 items: $44.49
Total spent out of pocket after sales, coupons, and ECB's: $2.05
Total saved: $42.44 or 95%!!

I had a $5 off $30 CVS coupon for this transaction, a CVS coupon for FREE pantiliners that printed from the coupon kiosk, and I used $13.38 ECB's.  BUT, I got back $14.58 in ECB's, so I made more than I spent!

On a side note...if you look at the bottom of your CVS receipt, you will see that it keeps track of your year-to-date savings.  I was looking at my receipts for 2010 earlier today and noticed that the last one I had for 2010 said my year-to-date savings was $1820.62!!!!!  Also, in November of last year, my brother gave me a $15 gift card that I have been using ever since for my deals each week.  So far, I have been able to buy $273.65 worth of stuff with my $15 gift card and still have $4.35 left over!

I LOVE CVS!!!!!!!!  :)

New Food Lion Coupon Booklet

The next time you're in Food Lion, check the display in front of the meat case in the back of the store for the new "Hunger Has a Cure" coupon booklet.  It has several Food Lion store coupons in it!

The Coupons:

$2 off any 2 Peter Pan peanut butter 13-16oz.
$2 off any 5 Banquet Dinners
$2 off any 1 Marie Callender's Bakes
$1 off any 3 Chef Boyardee products
$1 off any 3 Manwich 15.5oz

And, don't forget to scan your MVP card that the coupon kiosk at the front of the store (if your store has this).  You can scan your card once a day to have store and manufacturer coupons printed out!

Now, on a very random, personal note....can I just say how much I love the new "race car buggies" that they have at the Food Lion in Salem?!  My kids love these buggies and they do help to distract them while I shop, but the old ones were sooooo big and hard to drive!  The new ones are so much better and I actually don't dread my kids asking to sit in them!  Whoever designed the smaller, easier to push, version is a GENIOUS in my opinion and obviously has children of their own!!!  (Imagine!)  :)