THÊ JÚLY 2011 GROCERY CHALLENGE

[constanz22]

Jul 4, 2011 10:47:49 GMT -5 murphath said:

Then off to Nob Hill for more Mt. Olive pickles thanks to some hangtags that I found at Safeway; unfortunately there were no hangtags on the jars at Nob Hill. The 24 oz jars of pickles are ON SALE for $2.50; but come down to $1 after a $.75/1 instant coupon and a $.75/1 hangtag. Since pickles have a very long shelf life and I think $1/jar is about as good as I'm going to get for dill spears and bread and butter pickles, I picked up (10) more jars. Regular price for the pickles $3.59.

Dancin: Wish my hubby would eat Mt. Olive pickles. He's a Claussen guy and I never see q's for those--except once when we went to San Diego for DS's play. We were walking around and saw a kiosk with those Spanish language papers for free. They had a SS from the prior week inside. Lo and behold: a $1/2 Claussen pickle q!!. That was last spring so I took some of those free papers. DH ate his last Claussen pickle last week! So he will be pickleless until I discover another q!

Constanz: I'm thinking of letting DS have a garage sale to pocket the proceeds for his last year of college. I know you printed your price list but could you give me a rundown again. Thanks so much--I never know how to price stuff for garage sales.

debinwa: What did you ask for your stuff at your sale?

Sure!
Razors $3, good ones (Fusion, Schick Hydro), $2, cheaper ones (Bic, etc) I sold almost every one...
Bodywash, $2 most, depending on size/brand...all men's was $2, sold out first day
Shampoo/cond/stylers, $1-2, depending on brand
Toothpaste, 1.50 large tube, 1.00 small
Toothbrushes/floss, $1, sold every toothbrush
Tampons, $2
Pads/liners, .50-$1, depending on brand/pkg. size
OTC meds, $1-2
Candles (small Glade), $1
Airwick thingies, $3 small, $5 large
Make Up, $1-$3
Bar soap, .75-$2, depending on brand, pkg. size
Gain dishsoap, $1, sold all but ONE
Veet, $2
Deoderant, $1.50 most, $1 for a few

[mizbear]

munjoy- I had to stay in a school/hospital setting for 16 months as a teen because of me being bipolar and having brain damage. I loved it when my DM and DGPs sent care packages. I got one anywhere from once a month to once a week- toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine items, hair products, Chapstick (I was not allowed to wear makeup- even though my DGM snuck a lipstick or gloss in there once in a while), nail polish, sunblock, SPaghettio's (my comfort food), rolls of quarters for the vending machine (or individual snacks and cases of Coke), laundry detergent and softener- amongst other odds and ends. At Christmas, my mother and grandparents did a HUGE care package for the unit. HBA stuff for everyone, plus donating snacks and some other items. They did all of that out of change they saved.

Being from where I am B&G is one of the big brands here because it is produced here (although homemade pickles are top of everyone's list), Mt. Olive and Vlassic are the other forerunners. I don't know what it is- I'm not as big a fan of a claussen pickle.

I will keep my eyes peeled for Claussen q's.

[leanna]

Jul 4, 2011 2:03:08 GMT -5 sealy said:

I learned so much from everyone. I remember somebody saying to know the rules so I try to read a lot.
That binder is looking better and better as I try to go through my Qs. It would make it quicker and more
organized.

Ok I just saw something that scared me. Hot Qs had a posting regarding coupon fraud. How can I be sure that I'm not doing anything that won't get me in trouble online coupon wise. How do we know what the limit for online coupons are? For example if the store has a limit of 4 Qs can I print off 4 Qs online or will that get me in trouble.

s

Sealy,

I'm going to repeat a little bit of what others said. The three coupon sites that are legit are:

www.coupons.com
www.redplum.com
www.smartsource.com

I only discovered the on-line world of couponing this year. Which is pretty amazing, given that I've been using coupons for a few decades! So, when I first realized coupons were on-line, I made some mistakes and signed up on couple sites that were spam sites. (I now get about 100 spam e-mails a day, which fortunately get filtered to my spam folder.) I also didn't think or know to create a separate e-mail account just for couponing. So, live and learn, right?

With the above coupon sites, as someone mentioned, you will generally only be able to print 2 of each coupon, and sometimes only 1. For example, the Pillsbury brownie mix on Coupons.com right now will only let you print 1.

Each of these coupons has a unique code, in addition to the bar code. Generally that code is found on the upper right hand side of the coupon. That's how companies can tell if someone has xeroxed a coupon, because each of these coupons is unique.

There are also PDF coupons from some companies available. These generally will come from the company's website. For example, 3M will generally offer these on their website. These coupons are totally legitimate - no reason for them to be otherwise - they came directly from the company!

So, as long as you follow the rules (no xeroxing internet coupons), you are totally fine.

One caveat I will give you is that sometimes coupons beep at a store - this is true whether they are from the Sunday paper or whether they are from on-line. So, one time I had a cashier asked me if I copied the IP coupon I had given her! I was quite offended, since that is fraud of course. She wouldn't take the coupon. So, that happens sometimes. But, that doesn't mean that you or I have done anything wrong. It just means we've gotten a cashier who thinks that the computer system is smarter than they are and they won't take the time to read the coupon to know if it is the correct coupon.

If you ever have a question about a particular coupon, just ask. I asked the gals on here a few months ago about using a particular coupon, because I wasn't sure. There are many people on here who are very knowledgeable about these things.

[leanna]

MizBear

I have a not-so-secret occasional desire for Spaghettio-O's and canned ravioli. I am (almost) embarrassed by it. There's just something about the taste of that sauce that I love.

Only reason I am (almost) embarrassed is that I generally don't like processed foods, so it's rather funny that I find those foods to die for.

[leanna]

Oh, hey, everyone, I didn't die from that delicious hot fudge sauce I opened yesterday! Lol.

I think I've gotten over my fear of expiration dates.

[shelly527in]

Jul 4, 2011 6:42:19 GMT -5 munjoyhill said:

Happy 4th of July everyone.

I have been busy for a few days, I have a small jewelry business where I sell at craft shows (in addition to my day job), and Sat/Sun I was selling at one, great show! I typically earmark my craft show profit for my groceries/HBA items -- for the year! I do several shows in the summer, and a few around the holiday season. So I want to stretch those dollars as much as I can, and I think the coupons will be very beneficial.

I finally just reviewed the P&G insert that came in my Sunday paper, and there are a few good coupons that I will be using when a deal comes along. I am especially excited about the $1 off two Ivory or Safeguard soaps. I have tried many types of body washes, soaps, etc. and for some reason Safeguard is my favorite. And there's a Q for it -- and I'm down to my last bar of soap too . I will be searching the next few weeks for a deal on Safeguard, it's generally inexpensive soap, so I'll definitely use the Q by the end of July when it expires, even if the soap isn't on sale.

Would anyone have some extra of these Ivory/Safeguard Q's they're not going to use? I'd love to stock up on several of these. I am also going to go to CVS or other stores today to get an extra paper or two, and my SIL who might have the Q's she's not using.

And I have coupons for razors, but it seems every time I go to get razors on sale (even when I didn't have a coupon), they were always out at CVS or Rite Aid.

Does anyone else do this -- my daughter has always loved gifts that are care package type of gifts, just an eclectic mix of things. One year for Christmas when she was a starving college student I got her a bunch of HBA items -- shampoo, conditioner, tampons, make up, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. And she loved it, said it was the best gift ever. I didn't get it free 'cause I wasn't couponing at the time, but I did get most of it on sale. So I plan to do this for her again, her birthday is in November, and Christmas a month later, I am starting now to put together a "care package" for her as a gift. I think this year I'll buy a laundry basket (on sale of course) and fill it for her. I'm looking at it as sort of a challenge, I want to get everything free! This is fun!

I did this when I first started to really stockpile free/cheap stuff and worked as a teaching assistant. I'd give my brothers and nieces baskets of HBA products.

[The Home 6]

Happy Independence Day, ladies!! And gentlemen~! I am THRILLED beyond belief that I actually was able to get everything that I wanted at RA today, and they had enough stock for me!

It was a BIG transaction, just warning you. I bought $30 worth of Tide, using my coupons from Sunday paper, 2 Fusion Razors, 4 Venus Razors, 2 Crest Rinses (whoops, the SCR is only for one), 3 Old Spice deoderant/body spray 2 for $8, and 2 crest toothpastes.

Total spent after coupons, UP's, and my 10% shopping pass~ $84
Money I got back in UP's, survey, and SCR~$45.50.

That's not too shabby, I don't think!

[sealy]

leanna thanks for the websites. I'll bookmark them.

Way to go Home 6 its always nice to save $.

constanz thanks for the list. I'm saving it for later.

When you get SCRs do they wait till the end of the month to send out the check?

s

[mizbear]

leanna- I think Spaghettios is the processed food I would want if stranded on a desert island!

[dancinmama]

Jul 4, 2011 13:42:19 GMT -5 sealy said:

leanna thanks for the websites. I'll bookmark them.

Way to go Home 6 its always nice to save $.

constanz thanks for the list. I'm saving it for later.

When you get SCRs do they wait till the end of the month to send out the check?

s

YOU tell them when you want them to send the check. You can buy rebate items all month long and submit the purchasing information on line. At the end of the month, you request a single check that covers the rebates for ALL the items that you bought. Most of us wait until the end of the month because some rebate offers aren't offered until the end of the month OR a coupon might come out that makes a so-so SCR into a really great one.

HTH

[munjoyhill]

I went to Walgreens and CVS today, did two small transactions, and I'm happy!

CVS
$3.99 Tampax Pearl
-1.00 Mfg Q
-2.00 ECB
-1.00 ECB
Paid $.20 tax
I'm psyched, I got it free! (in my book anyway)
And I got $2.00 in ECB

And they still don't have the Refresh tampons stocked from last week's deal, I have rainchecks I want to use!

Walgreens
Transaction #1
$2.99 Oral B Adv Toothbrush
-2.00 Mfg Q
$ .99 plus $.15 tax = total OOP $1.14, and receivd $1.00 RR

But I wanted to do transaction #2 and it wouldn't go through:
Transaction #2
$3.99 Crest Pro Health
-1.00 Q
$2.99 total
-1.00 RR from Transaction #1 above
$1.99 was my expected OOP
But the young man at the register (who was new) scanned the RR first, and then tried to scan the Q, and it wouldn't take the Q. I suggested he reverse the order in which he scanned them, but he called a manager over. The manager said I couldn't use two Q's for only one item purchased. I didn't realize at Walgreens you must have two items if you use two Q's, or three items if you have three Q's, etc. I'm chalking this up to a rookie mistake

So I cancelled Tranaction #2 altogether, I'll do this deal if I can get it free, and I still have the $1.00 RR from Transaction #1.

Thanks to all for your guidance here, I am finding the coupon deals pretty easy to follow, I don't yet have the Q's to do the big things, but my small transactions here and there are working out fine.

[dancinmama]

Jul 4, 2011 15:27:21 GMT -5 munjoyhill said:

I went to Walgreens and CVS today, did two small transactions, and I'm happy!

CVS
$3.99 Tampax Pearl
-1.00 Mfg Q
-2.00 ECB
-1.00 ECB
Paid $.20 tax
I'm psyched, I got it free! (in my book anyway)
And I got $2.00 in ECB

And they still don't have the Refresh tampons stocked from last week's deal, I have rainchecks I want to use!

Walgreens
Transaction #1
$2.99 Oral B Adv Toothbrush
-2.00 Mfg Q
$ .99 plus $.15 tax = total OOP $1.14, and receivd $1.00 RR

But I wanted to do transaction #2 and it wouldn't go through:
Transaction #2
$3.99 Crest Pro Health
-1.00 Q
$2.99 total
-1.00 RR from Transaction #1 above
$1.99 was my expected OOP
But the young man at the register (who was new) scanned the RR first, and then tried to scan the Q, and it wouldn't take the Q. I suggested he reverse the order in which he scanned them, but he called a manager over. The manager said I couldn't use two Q's for only one item purchased. I didn't realize at Walgreens you must have two items if you use two Q's, or three items if you have three Q's, etc. I'm chalking this up to a rookie mistake

So I cancelled Tranaction #2 altogether, I'll do this deal if I can get it free, and I still have the $1.00 RR from Transaction #1.

Thanks to all for your guidance here, I am finding the coupon deals pretty easy to follow, I don't yet have the Q's to do the big things, but my small transactions here and there are working out fine.

munjoyhill: Yes, the number of coupons at WAGs must equal the number of items purchased. Any coupons that are not manufacturer's coupons (i.e. WAGs in-ad coupons), do not need to be included in your coupon count.

Have you read the Grocery Challenger's handbook? There is a link to it on Page 1 and it might help you to avoid some of the newbie mistakes.

HTH

[suziq38]

Hi Everyone!
I just got in from my vacation.
I have been gone 8 days to northern California.
I see that tampons are almost free at CVS.
Thanks, Munjoy!

[suziq38]

I just love care packages.
I gave a bag of stuff to each of the secretaries.
They love the stuff I get for them.

[suziq38]

Dancinmama!
Thanks for setting up the thread this month!

P.S. We loved OD'S!

[dancinmama]

Jul 4, 2011 21:23:00 GMT -5 suziq38 said:

Dancinmama!
Thanks for setting up the thread this month!

P.S. We loved OD'S!

WELCOME HOME SUZI!! We missed you and hope you had a restful vacation.

I am sooo glad that you liked OD's. What might appeal to one person might not necessarily appeal to someone else, but we have always liked it. It's a family owned operation. We usually go for breakfast there. I get the French toast (comes with an egg and a couple strips of bacon) and DH usually gets an omelet that comes with a breakfast meat and hash browns and we split. Okay, okay....he gets 1/2 my French toast and I get about 1/3 of his omelet and some of the hash browns, but that's all I need and I walk out with a VERY happy tummy. ;D

Where did you end up having dinner in SLO town?

[sealy]

Welcome back Suzi!

[debinwa]

Jul 4, 2011 10:47:49 GMT -5 murphath said:

debinwa: What did you ask for your stuff at your sale?

I had a really simple (ridiculous) pricing structure: all body wash, shampoo, deodorant, kitchen and bathroom cleaners, etc. were $1 each. Large size Glade and Airwick thingies were $3 each. Couldn't keep the table stocked, it sold so fast.

[debinwa]

Jul 4, 2011 12:15:36 GMT -5 leanna said:

Oh, hey, everyone, I didn't die from that delicious hot fudge sauce I opened yesterday! Lol.

I think I've gotten over my fear of expiration dates.

leanna: It's funny, but for some reason, you popped into my head this afternoon, and I was wondering about your jar of hot fudge. Your post made me laugh out loud! Yay for not losing a jar of good hot fudge!!!

[marvholly]

Munjoy
Both CVS & Rite-Aid give rainchecks. Get them and INSIST the mgr ok any coupons that might expire before they get stock. I know the CVS ones are good forever, not sure about RA since I don’t have them. I do care pkg items as stocking stuffers for my adult kids at Christmas. Even the dogs get ‘treats or toys’ bought on clearance and/or w/coupons.

Murpath
There was a $2/2 Claussen coupon in the past month. Don’t remember which insert/date.

Sealy
Be aware: in my area NONE of my independent stores will take internet printed coupons and they generally have MUCH better shelf/sale prices than the natl chains. Thus, I am VERY selective about what I bother to print.

[973beachbum]

Hi all! I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.

I did 2 small transactions at target today. they had Schick hydro on sale for $6.49 plus tax and when you buy 2 you get a $5 target gift card. And since I had a $5 card from a previous transaction mine looked like this.

1st transaction Buy 2 Schick hydro's for 6.49 each-total $ 12.98
plus 7% tax .91
minus 2 MC $4 each 8.00
minus one gift card 5.00
For a total OOP of .89 cents and I got another $5.00 gift card to boot.

At which point I rinse and repeated using the gift card from the 1st transaction. So now with a grand total OOP of $1.78 I am not the owner of 4 Schick hydro razors plus a $5.00 gift card. ;D

[mizbear]

I have come to an agreement with DB about coupon inserts-
I have to get his keys and get them out of the car myself- but I can take any and all I want!
He says he only usually has 2 or 3 papers left now, but I told him that's fine- free is awesome!

[mizbear]

This message has been deleted.
Double post

[murphath]

constanz and debinwa: Thanks for the price list. Since I get most of the stuff for free, it's hard to imagine someone wanting to pay more than $1 for the stuff. I'll let you know how he does. I don't really have a huge stockpile, but it will give him some things to sell along with the normal garage sale type things.

marvholly: I checked hotcouponworld's database and there is a link to smartsource for a $1/2 Claussen. But when I click on the link, the q's available do not include the Claussen! Darnation! If anyone knows which newspaper smartsource it is in, please let me know. That might not matter, either, as Dancinmama and I live in the land of carpy coupons!

[Deleted]

Hello ladies! I am giddy about a small transaction I did today at CVS.

First, a little background. I am planning on throwing a surprise pizza party at my office to thank a gentleman who has been volunteering a few hours every week to help us out. Some of us are learning to use asp.net with C# to create applications for various other departments. He comes and gives a presentation and answers questions we have. He is a very busy person and I wanted to show our appreciation for the time he's given us. One day he mentioned how chincy (sp) his department can be when giving pizza parties. A light bulb went off in my head, hence, the party.

Back to CVS:
Coca-Cola 2 liter products .69 (4 bottles) = $2.76
used $2 EB for Patene purchase
.50 off any Greenbag tag purcase (printed this morning)

Total OOP: .28 cents

Yaaa!

[sealy]

texas that is so nice of you to do that for him CONGRATS on you low OOP! ;D

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2011 12:33:53 GMT -5 sealy said:

texas that is so nice of you to do that for him CONGRATS on you low OOP! ;D

Thank you Sealy...I was really surpised myself.

[dancinmama]

Jul 5, 2011 11:21:43 GMT -5 murphath said:

constanz and debinwa: Thanks for the price list. Since I get most of the stuff for free, it's hard to imagine someone wanting to pay more than $1 for the stuff. I'll let you know how he does. I don't really have a huge stockpile, but it will give him some things to sell along with the normal garage sale type things.

marvholly: I checked hotcouponworld's database and there is a link to smartsource for a $1/2 Claussen. But when I click on the link, the q's available do not include the Claussen! Darnation! If anyone knows which newspaper smartsource it is in, please let me know. That might not matter, either, as Dancinmama and I live in the land of carpy coupons!

murphath: I checked out the database too, based on holly's post and saw the same printable that you did, but no insert coupon. Maybe she's confused about what she saw (I do that all the time) OR it had a very short lifespan.

[dancinmama]

Jul 5, 2011 9:59:41 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Hi all! I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.

I did 2 small transactions at target today. they had Schick hydro on sale for $6.49 plus tax and when you buy 2 you get a $5 target gift card. And since I had a $5 card from a previous transaction mine looked like this.

1st transaction Buy 2 Schick hydro's for 6.49 each-total $ 12.98
plus 7% tax .91
minus 2 MC $4 each 8.00
minus one gift card 5.00
For a total OOP of .89 cents and I got another $5.00 gift card to boot.

At which point I rinse and repeated using the gift card from the 1st transaction. So now with a grand total OOP of $1.78 I am not the owner of 4 Schick hydro razors plus a $5.00 gift card. ;D

beachbum: Way to play the game!! Great job.

[973beachbum]

Jul 5, 2011 12:04:15 GMT -5 @texasjunebaby said:

Hello ladies! I am giddy about a small transaction I did today at CVS.

First, a little background. I am planning on throwing a surprise pizza party at my office to thank a gentleman who has been volunteering a few hours every week to help us out. Some of us are learning to use asp.net with C# to create applications for various other departments. He comes and gives a presentation and answers questions we have. He is a very busy person and I wanted to show our appreciation for the time he's given us. One day he mentioned how chincy (sp) his department can be when giving pizza parties. A light bulb went off in my head, hence, the party.

Back to CVS:
Coca-Cola 2 liter products .69 (4 bottles) = $2.76
used $2 EB for Patene purchase
.50 off any Greenbag tag purcase (printed this morning)

Total OOP: .28 cents

Yaaa!

Good job at keeping the OOP so low! That is a great transaction.