I've moved... yes, already :)

For the whole 3 people that I shared this link with, it's already outdated :)

Here's the new one...
http://www.competitivegroceryshopping.wordpress.com

Kroger Summer of Savings

Have you played the Kroger Summer of Savings game yet?  If not, check it out here.  You can spin the wheel daily for a chance to win one of several fun little things at the grocery store.  A couple weeks ago, I won a free 20 oz. Coke product!  It was loaded on my Kroger Plus Card and came right off at the register. 

 

While you're on Kroger's website, be sure to load coupons to your Kroger Plus Card!  You can combine a paper manufacturer's coupon with an electronic coupon for even better deals!

My Meijer Picks 8/8-8/14 (Central Ohio)

There are all kinds of wonderful bloggers out there who create fabulous lists weekly, including just about every coupon match-up there is!  At this point, I am not going to be one of those bloggers :)  My plan is to give you my top picks each week for Kroger, Meijer, and CVS.  I will give you details of transactions that work out the best and even details of failed attempts at saving bucks when they happen... like when an extra helpful toddler puts back the final box of crackers we needed for that catalina deal and whatnot. 

And now for my top Meijer picks this week...


Select peaches and nectarines $0.88/lb.


Michigan blueberry pints 3/$5
(remember you don't need to buy 3 to get these prices, though)


Cucumbers 3/$1


Celery $1


Dole Iceberg Salad $1
(sometimes you can find $1 off coupons for this so be on the lookout online)


Morningstar Farms Products 2/$6
-$1/2 Morningstar Farms from 8/1
Pay:$2.50 each wyb 2 plus...
*catalina: buy any 10 Keebler, Sunshine, Kelloggs, Eggo, or Morningstar Farms and get $10 off your next shopping order

Yoplait Yogurt 10/$5
-$0.50/8 from 8/1 I think
-$0.40/6 from 8/1 I think or printable here
Pay: about $0.37 each wyb 8

Sargento Shredded Cheese $2 

Meijer Flour Tortillas $1.39

Freschetta Frozen Pizza $3.99
-$1 from here
Pay: $2.99

Aunt Millie's Family Style Bread/Buns
-$0.55 from 6/13 (not sure if expired - I used mine already!)
Pay: FREE if coupon still works!

Creamette Pasta $0.79
-$0.50 from here
Pay: FREE

Chef Boyardee Pasta with Meat $5 for 5
-$1.50/4 participating items here plus
*2 FREE microwavable cups wyb 5 cans 
Pay:$3.50 for 7 total items or $0.50 each!

Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup $0.50
-$1/4 from here
Pay: $0.25 each wyb 4

Smart Balance Half-Gallon Milk $1.99
-$2.50 from file (sometime in July)
-$0.75 from here
-PLUS use $1 Meijer Mealbox coupon
Pay:  FREE

Ragu Pasta Sauce $1.39
-$0.60/2 from 8/1 (I believe)
-PLUS use $1/2 Meijer Mealbox coupon
Pay: $0.29 each wyb 2

Skippy Peanut Butter 3/$5
-$0.40 off from 8/1 (I believe)
-PLUS use $1/2 Meijer Mealbox coupon
Pay: $0.36 each wyb 2


Tyson Family Pack Chicken $3.99
-$1 from 7/25 SS OR
-$0.55 from SS 5/15
Pay: as low as $2.89

I am planning on doing some major Meijer shopping early in the week so I will report back then on any great finds.  Looking forward to finding good ways to use those $10 catalinas from last week!

My Kroger Picks 8/9-8/15 (Central Ohio)

There are all kinds of wonderful bloggers out there who create fabulous lists weekly, including just about every coupon match-up there is!  At this point, I am not going to be one of those bloggers :)  My plan is to give you my top picks each week for Kroger, Meijer, and CVS.  I will give you details of transactions that work out the best and even details of failed attempts at saving bucks when they happen... like when an extra helpful toddler puts back the final box of crackers we needed for that catalina deal and whatnot.  

Here we go with my top Kroger picks this week...

Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding $1

-$0.30/2 from 8/1

Pay: $0.70 each wyb 2

Gallon Milk $1.99

Iceburg Lettuce $0.88

Add Up the Savings Event - Save $4 at the register wyb 8 participating items, which is basically like taking $0.50 off each item.  Pre-coupon prices below are assuming you've bought 8 participating items.  Final prices are assuming your Kroger doubles coupons less than a dollar, like mine does.

Bumble Bee Tuna or Tuna Salad $0.50

-$0.55 off from blinky machine in Kroger a few weeks ago

Pay: FREE

Hamburger Helper $0.99

-$0.75 off 3 from file (8/8 had them and so have others)

Pay: $0.49 each wyb 3

General Mills Cereal (Select Varieties) $1.48 

-$1/2 General Mills cereals

-$0.55 off Coco Puffs from here

-$0.75 off Multi-grain Cheerios from here 

-$0.75 off Kix from here

-$0.75 off Fiber One from file (unsure of insert)

-$0.75 off Wheaties from file (unsure of insert)

-$0.75 off Total from file (unsure of insert)

Pay: as low as FREE if any of the $0.75 ones are included

Cascadian Farm Organic Cereal $2.49 

-$1.00 off from here

Pay:  $1.49 (higher than my buy price but decent if organic is your thing!)

Pillsbury Grands Biscuits, Crescents, or Cinnamon Rolls $1.33

-$0.50/2 Crescents from here 

-$0.40/2 Sweet Rolls from 8/8 GM

-$0.30/2 Biscuits from 8/8 GM

Pay: as low as $0.83 each wyb 2 crescents

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks $1.89

-$0.50/2 from 8/8 GM

Pay: $1.39 each wyb 2 (not amazing, but not horrible)

Nestle Pure Life Water $3.27

Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue $5.49

-$0.50 from file (once again... unsure of insert)

Pay: $4.49 for 12 double rolls

Progresso Soup $1.49

-$0.50/2 from 8/8 

Pay: $0.99 each wyb 2

Yoplait Gogurt $1.99

-$0.75/2 from file

Pay: $1.24 each wyb 2

DiGiorno Pizza $4.89

*catalina: get a coupon for $2 off your next order wyb 2

I have 3 $10 off catalina coupons to Meijer so I doubt if I will be doing much Krogering this week, but I will definitely stop off for the tuna and maybe a couple other items!  I will update about which General Mills cereals are included then.

Why would I save that coupon anyway??

I used to think saving every single coupon I clipped was stupid.  I knew I was never going to buy, say, Dulcolax so why bother??  Until I saw first-hand how a silly little $3 off Dulcolax coupon paired with amazing CVS deal and a rebate could be a money-maker!!

Will I use the Dulcolax?  Probably not.  Will I keep it in my house?  Maybe for a little while, but I am the anti-Hoarder - I hate clutter so probably not for long!  But just look at the math from my previous post about CVS deals and how that $3 off Dulcolax coupon came into play...

Dulcolax $9.99
-$3 off coupon
=$6.99 (which I paid for using ECB, rather than my own money)
Then they handed me $9.99 in ECB that I used to buy things my family actually needs.
This deal was sweetened further by the fact that I am able to send in for a $5 rebate.

I just profitted $8 for clipping and saving that silly little $3 Dulcolax coupon.  That's 2 lattes from Starbucks!

Now I will confess that I don't save some coupons... like cat food.  I've never seen a money-making deal on cat food and I don't even really like cats all that much.  But it certainly doesn't hurt me any to file away a weird coupon and it could really benefit me, such as on weeks like this at CVS.

My CVS Picks 8/8-8/14

There are tons of coupon blogs where you can find a huge line-up of deals.  I'm going to give you my top picks each week, along with a couple "eh, just ok" picks that might be of slight interest to you and your family, as well.

My Top Picks:

Dulcolax 8.3 oz $9.99 ECB wyb 1 at $9.99
-$3 off coupon from 8/8 SS (or older $4 off coupon from 5/16 SS if you still have it)
PROFIT of $3 for buying after coupon and ECB!
**I also found a $5 Dulcolax rebate attached to some bottles, making this even better!

Schick Hydro 3 or 5 Razor $4 ECB wyb 1 at $8.97
-$5 off coupon from 8/8 SS
Just about free after coupon and ECB!
**Don't forget about the Schick rebate here!
**Some people are finding peely coupons attached to razors for free shaving cream.

Caliber Stationary Products $0.50 each
-$1/2 CVS coupon printing for some at coupon kiosks
FREE if you have received that coupon (I have - yay!!)

Xtra Laundry Soap $1.99
-$1 off coupon from 6/6 SS
$0.99 for detergent! (I'm usually pretty loyal to All Free and Clear but might be worth a try!)

Johnson & Johnson First-Aid To Go kits $1
-$3/3 coupon from 8/1 SS
3 for FREE!
**Plus, you can submit for free Toy Story book here!

My "Eh, Just Ok" Picks:

Coke 12 Packs $3 ECB wyb 4/$13
like paying $2.50 per 12 pack
This is good if you are a Diet Coke addict like I am ;)

Lysol Healthy Touch System $5 ECB wyb 1 at $9.99
-$3 off from 7/11 SS
$1.99 after coupon and ECB
I can usually find hand soap for less than a dollar but if you're interested in trying this, go for it.

Huggies $3 ECB wyb $10 worth (pre-coupon)
Diapers priced at $9
Wipes priced at $6
You might be able to work out a decent scenario with this, especially considering the $3.50 off Huggies diapers and wipes manufacturers printable from Target's website (or other printables from coupons.com).  The best I could come up with was still paying $4.25 each for diapers and wipes - not amazing, but not horrible.

Clean & Clear Morning Burst Surge
Buy power cleanser at $14.99 and get refill pack for free
-$3 off power cleanser or refill from 8/1
If you had (2) of the $3 off coupons, you could pay $8.99 for both.  


My Plan: (starting with $10 ECB and $1 ECB - more than I usually go into a week with)

Transaction #1
Bought...
Dulcolax 8.3 oz $9.99
Schick Hydro Razor $8.97
2 Caliber Stationary Items $0.50 each
small filler item, less than $1.00 (I had a coupon for Dove candy bars so I used those)

Coupons used...
$3 off Dulcolax
$5 off Schick Hydro
$1/2 Caliber
$10 ECB from previous week
$1 ECB from previous week

Less than $1 out of pocket (before taxes) and $13.99 in ECB back!

Transaction #2
Bought...
4 12-packs of Diet Coke $13
small filler item $1 (like a $0.99 pack of gum)

Coupons used...
$9.99 ECB from Dulcolax above
$4 ECB from Schick above

Less than $1 out of pocket (before taxes) and $3 in ECB back to use next week!

My Meijer Trip

Here are my latest scores from the Meijer deals I talked about here!  I just keep going back!  Ha!  We ended up doing 4 separate transactions and rolling the $10 catalinas.  We got 16 boxes of Cinnabon cereal, 6 boxes of Eggo cereal, 6 boxes of Smorz cereal, 3 bags of Pops Mixit cereal, 8 packages of Keebler crackers, 3 Kool-Aid Bursting Waters packs, 2 24-packs of pop, 1 pack of Pop Tarts, and a 2-pound package of strawberries!

The trick is to make sure you have 10 Kelloggs items per transaction, use coupons to get the total down, then buy filler items (such as the strawberries) that your family would buy anyway to get the total up to $10 so you can use a $10 catalina coupon from a previous transaction and pay little to nothing out of pocket.  

An example of one of our transactions is this:

Bought...

4 boxes of Cinnabon cereal $1.25 each

6 packages of Keebler crackers $1.25 each

1 24-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper (filler to use $10 catalina from previous transaction)

Coupons Used...

2 $0.75/2 Cinnabon cereal (from the back of a box I'd previously bought!)

3 $1/2 Keebler crackers (from the 8/1 SS I believe)

1 $10 catalina from previous transaction (N/A if this is your first transaction)

Paid $0.76 

Received another $10 coupon off my next shopping order

$123.13 worth of groceries

Total out of pocket spent $2.02... Total dollars to spend on next grocery trip $10.00

PROFIT of $7.98!!!

I really, really don't know how I'll be able to beat this one!  But I know I'll still try!  Hope you have time to run out to Meijer this afternoon... Happy shopping!

Coupon Organization - Finding Your *Thing*

I know everyone has their own *thing* as far as coupon organization goes.  A very popular way is to just keep them whole and unclipped so that you can search for coupons by which insert (date and type - for example, 8/1 SS would be the Smart Source insert from August 1).

This just does not work for me.  I buy too many things that are not on someone's random list of what's cheap and when I'm searching for a coupon for a particular item (let's say, sugar), I am not going to remember which insert the Domino sugar coupon was in.  BUT if I organize them alphabetically by product name in a nice, practical binder, I can go right to the D section and grab that Domino coupon!  My one exception to this is that I put all of my coupons for cereals in the front of the C section.  This is just because of the large number of cereal coupons that are fairly generic (for example, $1 off 2 of the following cereals: Fruit Loops, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Apple Jacks, etc.)

I also know people with binders who sort them by section of the grocery store.  I can see how this would make sense, too, but it is not my *thing* so I don't do it.

You need to find your own *thing*... and in the meantime, be patient with me as I will often not know which insert a particular coupon was in!  It's just not my *thing*.

Target Toy Clearance

Just in case you weren't aware, Target seems to do a big clearance of their toys both right after Christmas in January and also at the end of July and into August as Summer winds down.

I've heard different Targets have had different items clearanced.  My Target has most clearance toys down to 75% off now.  I picked up a few stocking stuffer items (Mickey Mouse toys, small balls and trucks) for less than a dollar each but my biggest find was this Toy Story 3 inflatable pool with little squirt guns to knock down the alien dudes.

Original Price... $29.99                   
Paid... $7.48

                                            

Swagbucks - $50 for Christmas Shopping!

I've finally started really cashing in some of my swagbucks.  I've been saving for Amazon.com gift cards to use towards Christmas, when I realized I had enough swagbucks saved to buy $50 worth of Amazon gift cards!

When I started using swagbucks, I was skeptical.  I didn't see the bucks accumulating all that fast.  I didn't think the search results were quite as good as google, etc.  But when I see that I already have $50 I can spend on Christmas for free, just for using swagbucks as my search engine a couple times a day... I think that's worth it!  I can't wait to see how many more Amazon gift cards I can buy between now and December 25th!

Interested in joining me, banking those swagbucks that lead to all kinds of rewards - including Amazon gift cards and even cash through paypal?  Just click on any of these swagbucks links - It is free and they'll start you off with 30 bucks!

Make Money Buying Crayons at Kroger

Kroger is running a catalina deal where if you spend $20 in select school supplies, you'll get a coupon for $4 off your next shopping order.  Their crayons are regularly priced around $2.25 but are on sale for $0.25!  When you buy 9 packs, though, Kroger recognizes it as $20 worth of school supplies so here's what it looks like...

Bought...
9 boxes of Crayola crayons $0.25 each

Coupons Used...
NONE

Paid $2.25 plus tax
Received a coupon for $4 off my next shopping order.
PROFIT of $1.75 for buying 9 boxes of crayons!!!

If crayons weren't on your son or daughter's school supply lists this year (like mine - sigh, must mean she's growing up if she needs colored pencils instead), then I suggest keeping some around the house for fun little projects or donating them.  We are taking several boxes up to a church in the Toronto area that our good friends are launching this month!

Awesome Cereal Deal at Meijer - Today and Tomorrow ONLY! UPDATED

*UPDATE* There is now a $0.50/1 coupon for the Pops Mixits, too... making this an even better deal!!

Meijer is running a catalina deal where if you purchase 10 Kelloggs, Keebler, Sunshine, Eggo, or Morningstar products, you will get a coupon for $10 off your next shopping order.  They are also have some super prices on cereal this weekend during their 2-day sale.  Here are a couple of my favorite scenarios for this catalina deal... keeping in mind that my 3 kids go through cereal like it's their job!!

Deal Idea #1
Bought...
8 boxes of Kelloggs Cinnabon Cereal $1.25 each
3 boxes of Kelloggs S'mores Cereal $1.25 each
(Yes, I know that's 11 rather than 10 but it works with the coupons below.)

Coupons Used...
4 $1/1 printables found here
1 $1/1 Cinnabon cereal (I believe it was in the 6/27 RP)
2 $1.25/3 Kelloggs cereals (cannot remember which insert - I don't organize my coupons that way... more to come on coupon organization later!)

Paid $6.25
Received coupon for $10 off my next shopping order
PROFIT of $3.75 for 11 boxes of cereal!!!


Deal Idea #2
Bought...
10 bags of Pops Mixits Cereal $0.99 each (sign nearby read 3/$5 but they rang up as $0.99 each!!)

Coupons Used...
$0.50/1 printable here (as many as you can print, 2 per computer - for me it was 4 coupons total)

Paid $5.90
Received coupon for $10 off my next shopping order
PROFIT of $4.10 for 10 bags of cereal!!! or even better if you have more than 2 computers!!!

Welcome to Competitive Grocery Shopping!

Welcome to Competitive Grocery Shopping, where I will challenge myself to get the best prices on all my family's needs each week!  I will post deals as I find them and hope that you can beat your best prices and grab some good stuff for your family, too!