Friday Night at Walgreens!
I really went wild on my Friday night. I had a prescription to pick up and thought, this would be a great opportunity to score some deals while I am there! I also have been slacking and my coupon collection is bursting out its accordion file because I haven’t been using them fast enough.
I sort of hate the Walgreens on 39th and Holgate for actual shopping (it’s small, cramped and usually cleaned out) I figured I’d cross my fingers and hope for the best. To my surprise, everything I wanted was in stock, and although the deals weren’t quite as sweet as they would have been if we got Register Rewards in Portland instead of stupid points, I did alright. I saved a total of $16.37, paying $12.48 out of pocket and got:
2 18 packs of Playtex Tampons (Regular $5.25, On sale $4 – 1 $1 mfg coupon and 1 $2 MFG coupon = $2.75 each)
1 Ricola Cough Drops (Regular $2.29, on sale $1.29 – $.75 MFG coupon – $.50 Wags coupon = $.04)
2 Packages Chex Mix (Regular $3.19, on sale $.99 – $.50/2 MFG coupon = $.75 each)
1 8 pack Energizer Max Batteries (Regular $8.99, on sale $5.99 – $1 MFG coupon = $4.99)
1 Travel size Eucerin Lotion ($.99, filler item so I could use two coupons on the cough drops)
Not bad for spur of the moment, and since it’s apparently raining today, looks like I have nothing better to do than score more deals. Also, special shout out to the Dude Barn for scoring a 13-week free subscription to the Oregonian and letting me pillage their coupons yesterday!
Albertsons Double Deals
Every couple weeks, Albertsons drops a few twice the value coupons in the Sunday Paper that will double the value of a manufacturers coupon up to $1. This week you could also get them on Facebook, though I didn’t bother. Anyway, this is generally the only time I go to Albertson’s, because it’s in Milwaukee, and Safeway is so much closer. This week, they were having a buy 10 save $5 promo on General Mills products, so I took advantage of that as well as getting a few other random things.
I ended up spending $16.32 for $38.59 worth of stuff, for a total savings of 58%. I got:
4 Cans of Progresso Soup (Regular price $2.99, on sale $1.79 – .50 each for buy 10 deal – $1/4 coupon – Albertsons double= $.79 each)
6 Party Pizzas (Regular prize $1.50- .50 each for buy 10 deal – 2 $.60/3 MFG coupons = $.80 each)
4 Jamba Juice Frozen Smoothie Mixes (Regular price $2.99, on sale $2.49 – 2 $1/2 coupons – 2 Albertons doubles = $1.50 each… not the best deal but they did make for some delicious cocktails on the hottest day of the year)
3 Green Giant Frozen Vegetables (Regular price $2.98, on sale $1 each – $60/3 coupon = $.80 each)
B-b-b-bargains at Safeway
I needed some Bacon bits for a recipe I was making, which required a trip to the store, so I figured, while I was there, might as well score some free stuff. Everything I got started with B, hence my super clever title, and here’s the break down. For a total of $2.12, or 68% savings, I got:
2 tubs of Gold and Soft Margarine (Regular price $2.98, on sale $2.58 – 2 $.50/1 MFG coupons – 2 Safeway doubles = $.58 for both, plus I got $.75 back so I MADE $.17 — I already gave one of these away since I really didn’t need FOUR tubs of butter, but I couldn’t resist.)
1 Can of Old El Paso Refried Beans (Regular price 1.39, on sale $1 – $.50 MFG coupon – safeway double= FREE)
Bacon Bits = Regular 2.29. Not on sale. No coupons.
- $.75 from my last butter purchase = I paid less than I would have just buying the bacon bits. Win.
Butter for Blogging
Dear Hipster Couponing fans (all three of you),
I deeply apologize for the lapse in posts. I went to South America and was a little busy to try and figure out how to say “do you take coupons” in Spanish. I’m back now, but it’s going to take me a little bit to get back in the swing of things. I have a large menacing pile of inserts to clip and I haven’t been tracking the sales. But to tide you over, I swung by Safeway tonight and did this deal:
Bought: 2 tubs of Golden Soft Margarine (on sale $1.29)
Used: 1 $1.50 off 2 coupon and 1 Safeway doubler $.50.
Paid $.58
Got back: $.75 off my next order.
In other words, made $.17 buying margarine. Booyeah, I’m back.
Total Win at Target
Yesterday was pretty much the perfect summer day. We floated, we ate pizza, and oh yeah, when we stopped at Target to buy whiffle ball stuff, I got all this with some change I had in the bottom of my purse.
I’d had the $1 off any coupons to pick up 10 Cascade items for a while now, but my goal was to purchase these trial-size action packs at Walmart, where they were not only under $1, but they will actually give you cash back if you have an overage. But after three trips and none in stock, I finally said screw it, I’ll pay 9 cents each at Target, where they were $1.09 each.
When he started ringing them up though, they were apparently on sale for $.97 cents each (same price as at Walmart) which means I had a $.30 cent overage to use. I grabbed a couple packs of Mentos gum, which I had a $1/2 coupon for in order to complete the transaction. For some reason though, it kept beeping “too many coupons” and wouldn’t even use the gum coupon. With my total at $.94 (and people now in line behind me) I decided to call it good. I used $.13 I had left on a giftcard and paid $.81 in change, which the high school boy at the register pointed out is not really like paying real money.
Couponing Confessions (plus 91% Savings)
I have a confession to make. Yesterday was 8/16, and also the expiration date on the Safeway $5/15 Frozen Food coupon. This is the coupon that made my 100% savings shopping trip possible, and I actually had enough ice cream coupons to do it again. So after resisting for a solid 6 days, I said screw it and went to Safeway to pick up 10 more ice cream bars for free.
Unfortunately, or luckily, depending on how you look at it, the Magnum Ice Cream bars were no longer on sale. I probably could have swung a good deal still by purchasing fewer and getting some other sale items, but honestly, I only wanted them if they were free. Is that so wrong?
I did pick up a few other things though, and managed to walk out for $1.48 or 91% savings. I got:
2 Boxes Hefty One Zip Bags (On sale $2.99 and buy one, get on free – $1/2 coupon – Safeway doubler = $.74 each)
2 Bottles of V8 V Fusion (Been sick so drinking lots of this stuff. $3.99, On sale buy one get one – $1/2 coupon – Safeway doubler = $1 each)
1 Fresh Express Caesar Salad kit (On sale $2.50 – $2 coupon from some Safeway pamphlet = $.50)
Then I used the $3 catalina I got buying Gain, bringing my total down to under 2 bucks.
Clean Dishes at a Discount!
Cruised by Safeway on my way home from work and took advantage of this deal on Gain. I could have saved another $1 if I wasn’t short one coupon, but still managed to get a good deal on some dish soap and laundry detergent. For $4.47 out of pocket and a total savings of 68% I got:
2 Bottles of Gain Dishsoap (Regular price 2.99- on sale $1.99, save $1 instantly when you buy three Gain products – (1) .50 off coupon – 1 safeway doubler = $.49 each)
1 Box Gain Laundry Detergent (Regular price $7.99, on sale $5.99 – $2 off coupon – safeway doubler = $3.49)
But wait there’s more! I also got a $3 catalina for buying one Gain detergent and two additional Gain products. This explains why I bought the detergent… it’s not that we wash our clothes that much, it just made the deal that much better. Considering the $3 off my next order I basically got all three items for $1.47.
100% Free
I did Target “free,” but only because I had a $5 gift card to use. Today at Safeway though, I finally did it for real. My total was $0 and Bob was as excited as I was. He even yelled to next cashier over about it. Here’s what I got:
10 Magnum Ice Cream Single Packs (On sale 2/$3 – 10 $1 off coupons = $.50 each)
1 Sunday Newspaper ($2)
Then I added two more safeway coupons, on for $5 off a frozen food purchase of $15 and a safeway doubler, $2 more off, bringing my grand total to zero.
Extra bonus, Magnum Ice Cream Bars are amazing and I was out from my last good deal on them!
Nature Valley Granola Thins: My Official Review
Nature Valley (ahem, General Mills) has been desperately trying to get people addicted to these granola thins. I know because I had tons of coupons for them that have been accumulating almost every week. They were finally cheap enough at Safeway that I decided I would pick some up.
They are regularly $3.99 and on sale for $2.99. If you bought four you saved an extra $1 per box, plus I had 4 $.75 coupon, which Safeway doubled all four of, saving me another $2. Total I paid $.74 cents a box.
Now the real question: was it worth it?
I was kind of excited that they were only 80 calories each, of course, when I opened the box I found out why: they’re tiny. We’re talking almost bite size. In other words, you’re looking at 240 calories by the time you accidentally eat four.
As far as taste goes, they’re pretty yummy. The chocolate masks the fact that granola is allegedly healthy pretty well, but I don’t see myself getting addicted enough to ever pay full price for these things. Next time, General Mills should just package crack, it would be a lot more effective than coupons.
But it Was Free!!
Two-packs of Dry Erase markers are on sale for $.99 each at Walgreens right now. A few days ago, a $2/2 packs of said markers appeared on Coupons.com (it looks like it’s already be gone). Now I don’t even own a dry erase board and have no plans to purchase one, but I’m sure you can do the math here. I only printed out one coupon, but I figured if I happened to be at Walgreens and they happened to be in stock, well, why not?
Today I had to pick up a prescription and sure enough, there were plenty of markers. So I got some. And technically, I saved $.02 on my prescription because of it. But now I have these markers that I really, really don’t need so if any one in Portland will use them, hit me up and they’re yours. Otherwise, I’ll send em to my mom, but the postage will really negate my savings!