One more day of Albertsons Super Savings

So sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I've been really busy getting ready for my oldest to start 1'st grade and prepping for the start of my new preschool year.  This morning we ran out of cereal, shocking for those who know us so I went and took a quick look at the lists and was so happy that I did.  Albertsons is running two great promos with exactly what I needed for my family and preschool.

For everything pictured behind my cute 4 year old (who insisted on being in the picture):

I Saved: $119.94

and

I Only Spent: $44.51

Some tips if you'd like to shop this today:

*Use $5/5 Kraft cheese here making the 8oz bags and bars FREE

*Use $1/1 Crystal Light here (its part of the Kraft promo) to make the final price $.50

*You need to split your transactions up if you would like to do the kraft promotion more than once.  If you do split up your purchases so you can do the promotion more than once you CAN use the $5 catalina from your previous transaction to help pay for the next transaction.

Smith's Trip (plus a few extra tips)

I ran by Smith's this afternoon.  It seems like Smith's has been my store for the last little while : )

A couple extra savings I found:

• Corn is on sale for $.25 a piece
• Pepsi 2 liter products are on sale for $.88!  (Sierra Mist, Pepsi, Mt. Dew etc.)
• All Coopertone products are on sale for $5.00 (as the list shows).  Use this $1/1 coupon here to make it even sweeter deal.

I split my trip up into three transactions when I checked out so I could do the General Mills Cereal promotion 3 times.  Once everything was paid for I bought $130.90 worth of groceries for only $51.22!!!  I saved $79.72 (that's 61% savings!)

Saving At Smith's

I put together my Smith's list today while my 6 year old was at kindergarten.  I'm really happy with how my trip went.  I spent $86.61 and saved...$109.23!!!  I also got a free redbox code from the soda and $3.50 off my next order catalina from the fruit snacks.

Here are some extra deals that I added on to my trip that aren't part of the sales add this week:

Dole Salad Kit:  $.99  (managers special)  

used $1/1 Dole Salad Kit (only valid at Smiths) Group A

Final Cost: FREE!

Soft Soap Hand Soap: $1.00

used $.35/1 Here

Final Cost: FREE! (after Smith's Coupon event)

Valasic Del Relish: $1.00

Used $.55/1 June All You Magazine

Final Cost: FREE!

Ronzoni Smart Taste Box: $1.00

used $.75/1 Here

Final Cost: FREE!

Bounty Basic Single Paper Towel Roll: $1.09

used $.25/1 PG 6/6

Final Cost: $.09

Sun Detergent: Clearanced for $1.79 liquid or $1.49 powder

used $.50/1 RP 5/23

Final Cost: $.79 or $.49

Hormel Peperoni:  $2.39

used $.55/1 SS 5/2

Final Cost: $1.39

Ziploc Freezer Bags: $2.50

used $.40/1  SS 5/16

Final Cost: $1.50  (I really needed freezer bags!)

Also Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Stickers, Fruit Roll Ups etc. are part of the Daytona 500 Promo.  Pinching Your Pennies pointed out their is a catalina deal on these as well.  Buy 3 get $1.00 off your next purchase.  Buy 4 get $2.50 off your next purchase.  Buy 5 get $3.50 off your next purchase.  I used 2 pintable coupons from Group A and loaded 1 coupon from Shortcuts to my Smith's card.

I really do love great sales! : )

My Trip To Albertsons

I made a quick trip to Albertsons this afternoon.  They didn't have everything I wanted (like the angel soft toilet paper!) but I still did pretty well especially after combining my coupons with Albertons double coupon offer.  This trip cost me $24.25 and I saved $38.17! Yeah!!!

So Excited!

Have you had shopping trips that leave you feeling giddy and wanting to ask everyone "How much do you think I just got all this for?" I had one of those days on Saturday.

We had a friend in town and decided to take advantage of Buffalo Wild Wings Bucket deal for the holiday weekend. Vons is in the same shopping center as the restaurant so while I was waiting for our take out I ran over to use a rain check I had gotten almost a month ago on Cheez Its (my four year old has been BEGGING for them) I had a $2 Vons store voucher to use as well and I noticed when I picked up the boxes that some of the boxes were advertising buy 5 get a free movie ticket. In the end I walked out of Vons doing a happy dance because I bought 5 boxes of Cheez Its for $2.95 out of pocket AND earned a free movie ticket!!! My receipt says I spent $2.95 and I saved $14.50 (plus free movie ticket!!!!)

What's one of your favorite shopping moments? I'd love to hear.

Super Saturday Shopping

It feels like its been awhile since I did a big day of shopping and my fridge and freezer have been looking a little bare (to me). Over the last month we've had a lot of house guests which has been fun and fortunately we've had enough food on hand to feed 6 adults and two children without trips to the store. We have run low on a lot of items though since our household number has been up and today's shopping trip is a great example of how using the what I teach in class really works!

I did a couple things a little different today than my normal shopping routine.
1) I shopped 3 stores; Walgreens, Smith's, and Vons
2) I used very few coupons; 4 RR's (Walgreen's Register Rewards), 1 store coupon, and 2 Manufacture coupons.

I am asked all the time how many stores I shop at and my typical response is I pick 1 that meats my families needs the best that week but today I planned a little extra and just so you know I timed myself to see how long it would take: I left my house at 5:25pm and pulled pack in the drive way at 6:30pm. I planned carefully making my lists by using Grocery Smarts and my trip to all three stores took 1 hour and 5 minutes total!!

Overall I spent $81.10 total AND I saved $133.02!!!

***Also on a side note today is January 23 and after today's trip I still have $84 left from my $350 January shopping budget. (yes our budget has stayed the same even with extra adults in the house!)***

Want to learn how you can do this too? Classes are free just contact me and I will come teach you and your friends how to shop smart and save just like me. : )

Simple Trip, Simple Savings @ Smith's

I took last week off from grocery shopping (nice break after some of those awesome sales a couple weeks back) and tonight did a simple trip to Smith's. I needed a few more things for my preschool feast and am very happy with my little trip. I love when I can get nice bread for less than $1! If you didn't know it bread freezes very well. I leave a couple loafs on the shelf in my pantry and the rest I freeze. Overall I spent $21.01 and saved $39.90. Not bad for a quick trip! Go here to make your grocery shopping list(s) this week.

Smith's Mega Savings Event

I spent $87.50 and saved $155.59!

It makes me laugh, but I was kind of freaking out when I went to check out because my cart was overflowing and I was afraid that my bill would be too high even though I had already done all my math. It wasn't and once again my cashier was amazed at what I was able to do and asked for my card. I had so much stuff that split my display pictures up and added a few tips and pointer underneath each:

MY REGULAR GROCERIES

Tip: Kellogg's Apple Jacks w/ Fiber are part of the Mega Event. My smith's had $1/1 "blinkie" coupons (the ones that you can pull out of the little machines on the isles) making those big boxes of Apple Jacks only $.99!

Advice: Price for me is the bottom line. Heinz Ketchup is part of the mega event but when I got to the store I realised that the same size Kroger brand was on sale too for less than the Heniz and so I scratched the Heniz off my list and got the Kroger brand.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING

Family Tradition: A family tradition I started during the holidays is to give a box of hot chocolate to our friends and neighbors. The Swiss Miss chocolate is part of the mega event and is only $.50! I use to end up buying the boxes for $1 and its not the Swiss brand its a generic brand.

Holiday Baking: I was excited to see the carnation milk in the mega event. Its a perfect stock up opportunity for holiday baking and good food storage. The bark chocolate is a new favorite that is on sale at Smith's. Colette over at Shop Smart In Vegas posted some fun Halloween ideas that my kids and preschoolers have loved. She also in her post left a fun link to another blog with more chocolate ideas.

PRESENTS

Presents on a Budget: While I was at Smith's they announced an hour long 75% off sale on a pile of books at the back of the store. I think books are a great present for any occasion (baby shower, birthday, Christmas etc.) so I went and looked at the pile and found a few that I liked. The most I paid for one of the books was $1.50 and the rest were $.50 or $.75. (I think my library fines for over due books is more than that and I never have to return these! : P )

A procrastinators pay off!

I spent $26.15 and saved $38.24

My name is Nancy and I am a shopping procrastinator (and my family LOVES cereal!). Again another crazy week and I didn't make it to Albertsons sale until tonight. On a happy note everything on my list was still on the shelves and I saved 59% and have a voucher for $10 off my next purchase!

I LOVE Albertsons I spent $79.71 and saved $97.89

I already made a run to Target this week to get a couple dog food deals and was thinking I'd call it good but then I saw a fellow blogger's post on Albertsons and I just had to look at the lists this week and I'm so glad I did. I'm starting a biggest loser competition on Tuesday and they had some special K 90 calorie bars on sale (perfect for weight watchers diet) and tons of my favorite fruits on sale! Plus some other awesome deals I just couldn't resist since we were out of them. I was also really excited to see the strawberries on sale just in time for date night and because we just ran out of jam and I need to make some more jelly. Overall I spent $79.91 and saved $97.89. Yippy!

(If you are interested in joining my biggest loser contest e-mail me and I'll send you the information.)

Shouldn't Everyone Learn How to Save Like This?

I just back from shopping @ Albertsons...

Total Value Purchased: $128.07

Total Savings: $83.24

Total Out of Pocket: $44.83

That's a 65% Savings and ANYONE can do this!

PLUS I also earned....

$10 worth of vouchers for my next visit (basically $10 store credit)

AND

$0.10 off per gallon of Albertsons gas up to 20 gallons

Ready to Learn How and Help your Friends and Family learn how too?

Come to my class tomorrow, Saturday, August 29

@11 AM

e-mail or call me for the address and directions

553-2080

or

Contact Me to Book a class of your own! Classes are free and you can earn a $20 gift card to shop smart with AND 2 invites to my advanced couponing class.

Successful Shopping

I haven't shopped for our house in two and half weeks so I pulled together a list for a couple stores and went shopping this morning. I plan on using a lot of this trip on my families up coming family reunion camping trip. I'm in charge of making the menu for a week long trip and buying all the snacks, drinks and food. What do you have coming up that you can shop in advanced for to help save money? Here's how today's trip breaks down:

Total Value: $159.83

Total Saved: $85.33

Total Spent: $74.50
Percentage Saved: 53%

Also worth mentioning I used $30.70 in manufacture coupons and majority of them from my Sunday papers!

These sales are still good until midnight tonight so happy shopping!

Last Minute Trip to Vons

Well life happens and again this month it was the last week of the month and due to hosting several events at my house my grocery and household items budget went a little over so I didn't even look at the lists for last sales week until yesterday (Tuesday the last day of the sale) since its now a new month and noticed that there were a few 4 and 5 star items that were on my "watch" list at Von's. Here's what I got and a transaction summary:

Total Value: $73.02

Club Card Savings: $33.27

Coupon Savings: $7.50

Total Saved: $40.77

Total Out of Pocket: $32.25

that's a 56% savings

Tip: My "watch" list are things that I am starting to run out of. I have a small board by my fridge that I write things that I notice I am almost out of so I can "watch" for them in the grocery smarts lists. Knowing what things I need to be looking for helps me stay on budget (because I am watching for good sales prices BEFORE I am out) and keep my pantry stocked.

I love helping others learn how to shop smart and save. Grocery Smarts is hard for me to not be excited about and I LOVE when I hear from those of you out there who are doing such a great job. Yesterday when I was checking my e-mail I noticed this e-mail from Judy:

So to those of you doing grocerysmarts and to those of you that have not jumped on the bandwagon I wanted to share the good sale I got last week. These items will be on sale again in about 12 weeks if you did not get the good deals this time. I shopped three stores this week because there was a few items at each store I could not pass up. I got it all done in about 1 1/2 hours including drive time and I did not do it all in one night. I only bought dressing at vons and I got dressing, miracle whip, pasta sauce and great produce deals at smiths. Most of my shopping was done at Albertson's and I was really excited to get the london broil for 1.99 a lb. I marinated and grilled up a pound of it and served it over salad. My kids loved it and devoured the whole thing! I only got a few pieces. My mom cut it into cubes, marinated it and made shishkebobs. They were a huge hit at our memorial day bbq. I went back Tuesday night and bought 9 more pounds to freeze and enjoy all summer long. So here are some of the items I purchased and what I paid for them. I also added totals at the bottom.Judy

Item purchased price I paid
*Crystal light on the go 10pk 2.00
*Crystal light essentials on the go 10 pk free! I had two coupons so I got two freeKen's salad dressings
*1.00Kraft bbq sauce free! again two coupons two bottles free.
mccormick grill mates marinades .17
nabisco honey maid grahams 1.50
nabisco triscuit crackers .67
nabisco wheat thins .67
breyers icecream 1.50
bertolli pasta sauce .67
miracle whip 32oz 1.49
kraft salad dressing .69 at smiths and .33 at vons
bar s bacon 2.00
tombstone pizza 2.13
London Broil steak 1.99 per lb.

total value if products were purchased at regular price 171.00
total savings with products on sale and coupons 131.00
actual amound paid 40.00

Thanks for sharing Judy! That is AMAZING savings!!!

Do you have a savings trip you'd like to share? I love posting what you guys are doing to shop smart and save.

Super Saturday Shopping

I've been trying to find time since Wednesday to hit the stores and today I finally got the chance. After looking at all the lists I decided to go to both Smith's and Albertsons. I am hosting a baby shower/farewell open house this week so I bought a little extra to help get ready for that. It took about an hour for me to prepare my list and clip my coupons and then another hour to shop both stores. Here's what my trip looked like when I got home:

The breakdown:

Total Value: $201.33

Total Savings from coupons: $39.14

Total Overal Savings: $109.67

Total Out of Pocket: $91.66

Percentage saved: 54%

One thing to note in the savings is that Smith's doesn't show you how much you'ved saved on produce. For example the water mellon I bought was $.19 per lb, a great deal! But... it doesn't show up as any savings on my reciept. So if you are getting frustrated when you shop at Smith's because your percentage saved doesn't seem right it might be because you are saving a TON on your produce but Smith's computer system doesn't recognize that. Had my Smith's reciept reflected the great deals I got on my produce items my savings probably would have been around 60% today.

My Shopping Trip Today

I haven't shown a shopping trip for a couples weeks. Its been so nice to eat out of my fridge and pantry and only worry about fresh produce. So today I made lists for Wal-Mart and Vons.

Here's my trip to Vons:

Total Value: $66.15

Total Savings: $41.72

Total Coupons Used: $12.50

Total Out of Pocket: $24.43

Percentage Saved: 63%

Trip to Wal-Mart:

Total Value: $36.77

Total Savings: $17.04

Total Coupons Used: $9.50

Total Out of Pocket: $19.73

Percentage Saved: 46%

BIG Vons news!

Have you checked the store list on grocery smarts recently? The Vons list is up and running!!! Horray!!!!!!!!

Another BIG Vons announcement that I can't believe I missed is the Living Well promo running until May 5. When you buy $30 worth or participating items (there are 3000 of them!) you earn a $10 voucher off your next purchase. There are no limits on this so you can "roll" your transactions (split them up so you can do the promotion more than once during your shopping trip and use the voucher from your previous purchase to help pay for the second, third etc.) A big, Big, BIG thanks to Lisa for posting about this on her blog. Go here to read her post and see links that connect to deal match ups for this sale. I shopped this sale this afternoon and plan to go back and do it again. Here is a picture of my trip today:

Break Down:
Total Value: $106.08
Club Card Savings: $54.11
Coupon Savings: $25.00
Total Out of Pocket: $26.97
Percentage Saved: 75%

Extras:
*$.10 off gas (I don't know where I could redeem this yet)
*$10 voucher for the next time I shop

Some of my favorites from this sale are the electrosol that after sale, promotion and coupon were only $.17 (we all got $2.50/1 coupons in the SS 4/19)!!! And the Healthy Choice Steemers for only $.50 (at the Albertsons ConAgra promotion this week they are $.70 so this is an even SWEETER deal) There are $1/2 in the SS 4/5 and printable ones available.

UPDATE 4/26: Some of the deals that are part of the Living Well promotion are being listed and matched up with coupons on the gs Vons list. Oh I am so happy to have the list up and going!! : ) Go make your lists and happy vons shopping!

Albertons Take II

This is my second trip to Albertons doing the ConAgra promotion.
Here's the breakdown for this trip:

Total Value: $62.35
Preferred Card Savings: $34.03
Coupon Savings: $5.50
Total Out of Pocket: $22.82
Percent Saved: 63%

Extras:
*from part I and part II I have earned $.10 gas rewards
*$10 voucher for my next trip

Albertsons Day 1

There is a great sale this week at Albertsons: **Albertsons ConAgra promo: Spend $25 on participating products, get a checkout voucher worth $10 off your NEXT shopping order (It prints after you pay). Limit: 1 voucher per customer**

With this sale you are only allowed 1 voucher per day. You can shop the sale more than once but it needs to be at least 24 hours after your previous purchase. I don't like to go to the store more than once a week but when there is a sale that will allow me to stock up on some things that I like I will. I don't know how many times I will make it to this sale (I'm hoping at least 2 more times) but here is what I did today:

Total Value: $107.67
Preferred Card and Price Cut Savings: $46.41
Coupon Savings: $25.75
Total Out of Pocket: $35.51
Percent Saved: 67%
Total Items Purchased: 40
Average per item: $0.89

Today was the first day of the sale and it will continue through next Tuesday. There is still LOTS of time to save big and stock up! Go make your list here! If you have any questions or need help making your list call or e-mail me at any time. I really don't mind : )

Did you have a great shopping trip?
I'd love to hear about it e-mail me and I'll post your great trip here.

Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet?...

I feel like a kid that is REALLY excited about doing something and can't stop asking if its time. What am I so anxious about? The Vons list to be added to grocery smarts! We have been told it should be any week now and I hope so because while I do enjoy hunting down great deals, having the list already made is just SO NICE!!!! This week would have been one of those nice weeks to have a list already made because Vons had some great deals and its actually the grocery store that is closets to my house.

(This is the sales add that came in the mail for 4/1 - 4/7)
Tip: Keep the sales adds that come each week until the sale week is over. They should be in with your RP insert. Inside these adds are the store coupons that are referenced, if applicable, on the grocery smarts lists, and its sometimes nice to have an add on hand in addition to your GS list.

This is my Vons purchase this week, I forgot my baby carrots for $1.99 for 2 lbs but this is how the rest breaks down:
18 ct Eggs: $1.99 w/ in add store coupon
Cuties: $4.88-$1 off Manufacture Coupon (MFQ)= $3.88
Broccoli Crowns: $.88 per lb
Tyson Chicken Nuggets: Buy One Get One Free/Store price $7.99-$2 MFQ= $5.99 for 2
Life Cereal: $.99 w/in add store coupon limit 1 or buy 2 and use store coupon plus $1/2 MFQ and each box is $1.14
Reynolds Wrap: 2/$5 w/ in store coupon - $2 MFQ's= 2/$3
Sauve: Free with MFQ (I requested online and was sent in the mail)
Duracell Batteries: $5.99 - $2 in store coupon - $1 digital coupon -$1 MFQ= $1.99
want to learn more about digital coupons go here

Total Value: $63.51
Total Savings: $41.84
Total Spent: $21.67
Percent Saved: 67%