2013 Grocery Challenge

[marvholly]

Well, my ads came Tue. Local produce mkt has leaf lettuce well priced. Produce mkt near DD1 (be there Thur) has brocolli. Do not know what my fav fruit mkt is showcasing yet-theirs is a Thur ad. Do not know what the 2 independent markets are running as I never get their ads & they are NOT available on line.

[constanz22]

I printed the Lindt coupons yesterday.  I'm pretty sure the free deal was at Wags this week, not next week. 

They are free next week at Rite Aid so I will wait and get them there.  I don't do much of anything at Wags anymore.

[rubyslippers]

They are free next week at WAGS according to the ad on iheartwags.  If they still give gift cards for transferring prescriptions, I'll be shopping there next week, otherwise I will price match or get it at Rite Aid.

Marvholly: Our Aldi ad doesn't have anything in it that I need or want this week.  I hope they have a better ad next week for produce.

Dancin: It did sort of remind me of the good old days.  I've been filling out the surveys from my weekly receipts at Kroger to earn an extra 50 fuel points.  Doing that gives me an extra 200 points a month or $.20 off a gallon of gas, which added to the points I received for buying gas cards equaled 1000 points this month or a dollar off a gallon when I fill up.  Kroger does communicate with their employees about the feedback because I had one person thank me for the nice remarks.  I have usually found their customer service at my particular store to be very good and I tell the employees that I am very frank when doing the surveys.  I also want to keep double coupons alive.

[dancinmama]

Oct 30, 2013 6:57:16 GMT -5 constanz22 said:

I printed the Lindt coupons yesterday.  I'm pretty sure the free deal was at Wags this week, not next week. 

They are free next week at Rite Aid so I will wait and get them there.  I don't do much of anything at Wags anymore.

I have done exactly ONE deal at WAGs this year...a MM on Splenda.  That's it!! 

Since cashing out my EBs in January, I have done exactly ONE deal at CVS...the free single rolls of Charmin Basic.

I have done a couple of deals at RA, only because I did the Home Improvement GC deal around Father's Day and played around a little bit with rolling the UPs.

That's it for me. 

[saveinla]

Had personal price on 3 items at SW today

- 1.97 for Kellogs waffles - have 1.50 IPQ from Kellogs rewards - bought 2 for son who will be visiting from college
- 1.35 for Barilla pasta sauce - have 1$ MQs which makes them the cheapest I have seen so far
- 1.99 for Herdez cooking sauce and have 1$ eQ on that one.

[hopetoberich]

I'm Starting to love the outlet store.
I got a box of fig newton's fruit flavor for 69c. Six per box x3
Quaker bars 89c a box
Tricket crackers family sized @$1.99 a box.
These are less than grocery store with a mq.

I am thinking all this good stuff is going to the outlet store because folks/couponers have taken off-bailed-jumped ship-given the grocery store the "bird"

Whadda think

[marvholly]

I just do NOT understand the thinking at Safeway. They announced a few weeks ago that they would be closing all Chicago area Dominicks soon. 4 of the 72 stores have been sold. I assumed it would at least partly depend on store leases expiring. Nope. Wrong. Yesterday the announcement was ALL close 12/28/13. That to me is DUMB!

Why would Marianos, Kroger or any of our local, small, independent chains bother to buy a store (they are still for sale)? They can just wait then deal w/the leasing company afresh and NOT get stuck w/any high priced union contracts. I bet after a few months of no rent on LARGE square foot locations the owners/leasing company is going to be VERY ready to deal.

There is 1 location that was totally rebuilt about 5 years ago (gorgeous) in a HIGH income area that I suspect is perfect for Marianos or Trader Joes. This store is <2 mi from the Whole Foods in a shopping mall w/a horrible traffic pattern.

[dancinmama]

Nov 1, 2013 4:33:08 GMT -5 hopetoberich said:

I'm Starting to love the outlet store.
I got a box of fig newton's fruit flavor for 69c. Six per box x3
Quaker bars 89c a box
Tricket crackers family sized @$1.99 a box.
These are less than grocery store with a mq.

I am thinking all this good stuff is going to the outlet store because folks/couponers have taken off-bailed-jumped ship-given the grocery store the "bird"

Whadda think

I haven't taken off, bailed, or jumped ship.  I don't discriminate. I will cherry pick the very best deals no matter where they are.

Last week I stockpiled Fresh Express salad kits at Safeway for $.40/ea.  What is left expires on Nov 9.  When they are gone, I will go back to buying bagged salad at the 99 Cent Store for $1 or 3 packs of romaine for $1.

I think the economy has forced a lot of people to become smarter consumers.  It used to be very common for people to go to the grocery store and load up a cart.  I don't see a whole lot of that anymore.   I have my go-to places to get milk, bread, and produce at the lowest everyday prices.  Other than that, I wait until I see an awesome deal for something we will use and then stockpile when I see it. 

I will say that the outlet grocery stores offer deals that you'll probably never find at a grocery store even after sale or clearance and coupon.   I NEVER buy Canadian bacon, but when I saw 12 oz. pkgs. vacuum sealed packages for $.99 at the Grocery Outlet, I bought several and stuck them in the freezer.  They will be great for making anything that calls for ham - bean soup, casseroles, or even diced up in eggs.  I saw them again yesterday, but they were $2.99 ea.

[marvholly]

Dancin said:
I haven't taken off, bailed, or jumped ship. I don't discriminate. I will cherry pick the very best deals no matter where they are.
Me, too. Do wish we had a reasonably nearby grocery outlet. Am somewhat jealous.

I have a special purchase item I want at Aldi this week but I will NOT go until mid-week. EBT cards were loaded Fri and the place is just a total ZOO until after the first weekend. If I miss the item I will find it elsewhere or wait until I do find it in MY size for what I am willing to pay .

[rubyslippers]

I did some cherry picking yesterday at Walmart by price matching Meijer 2-day sale items.  I got bananas $.38 lb., Oreida Simple fries $.67 each after $1.00 IPQ's, B. Evans rolled Italian sausage for $1.38 each after $1.25/2 IPQ, Jack pizzas for $2.00 each and milk for $1.99 (on sale at a local store).

I've also been going through the 90% off section at Dollar General.  They had metal plant trolleys for $.30 each and I bought 3 of them.  I don't want to use them to trot plants around, but I bought them for the wheels.  I have a project for DH and getting 9 wheels for $.10 each was a bargain to me.  I got BBQ tools for sons for $.25 each and DS1's fiancée, I got chimes for $.80 and a couple of garden things for a dime.  Since both sons are getting beef for Christmas, I'm trying to find some inexpensive stocking stuffers so they will have something under the tree to open.

[constanz22]

I got lucky this morning.  I was at Target at 8:30 am and they were just marking Halloween 70% and candy 50%.  Lots and lots of goodies.  There was a full end cap up near paper products of Bounty napkins, solo cups, plates, cups, Dixie insulated coffee to-go cups.  They hadn't changed the signage so nobody was really paying attention.  I started scanning them and they all scanned at .89!  Jackpot!  I loaded my cart with as many would fit!  LOL!  I don't care if they are Halloween colors or patterns!  The bowls and the coffee cups were Halloween colors but not patterns.  They were still LOADED with stuff...LOADED!  I actually checked out cuz I couldn't fit one more thing in my cart and took another run through the store to see if I'd missed anything.  I didn't have any coupons for that stuff, but was still a fantastic deal!!

[dancinmama]

Nov 2, 2013 6:51:32 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Dancin said:
I haven't taken off, bailed, or jumped ship. I don't discriminate. I will cherry pick the very best deals no matter where they are.
Me, too. Do wish we had a reasonably nearby grocery outlet. Am somewhat jealous.

I have a special purchase item I want at Aldi this week but I will NOT go until mid-week. EBT cards were loaded Fri and the place is just a total ZOO until after the first weekend. If I miss the item I will find it elsewhere or wait until I do find it in MY size for what I am willing to pay .

I wish EVERY Grocery Challenger had a Grocery Outlet.  You NEVER get anything for free because they don't accept MCs; but if you can bite the bullet on the OOP to stockpile when there is a killer deal (cuz it won't be there the next time you go), it's definitely worth it.

[dancinmama]

FREE C&H LIGHT (40 cnt. packets) @ WalMart

The price is $1.92 and there's a $2/1 in the 9/15 RP.  The coupon states one per customer but I called CS and they said that every time I approach a register, I am a "new" customer, so I spent a little time today bouncing from one quick check cashier to another until I got the job done. 

Now I have (18) boxes that we will use when our Splenda stockpile is gone. 

[marvholly]

Dancin

It is not free but I bought artificial sweentner at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago.  Box is 100 pk for the $1.  Worth it to me.

Ran out of time & energy on Sat so never stopped at Ulta to use my $20 off coupon. Turns out it is a good thing. The OPI polish I wanted to check out is on SALE this week at $14 for 2 and I have a $10 off any order coupon.

I also plan to hit my 24 hr WAG VERY early (6-7 am) because I have BIG coupons for Lindt and Carmex and I know they will be OOS very quickly and NOT get these back in stock for a LONG time (until after the coupons expire). I will also hit CVS for the FREE paper towels on Dad’s card and see what pepsi is on sale.  I WANT my diet cranberry Sierra Mist.

[dancinmama]

Nov 3, 2013 7:01:13 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Dancin

It is not free but I bought artificial sweentner at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago.  Box is 100 pk for the $1.  Worth it to me.

Every time I think I've seen the last freebie on "diet sugar", another one comes along.  I was not going to stockpile the C&H Light unless I could do it in a minimal amount of time.

You know our old motto:  "if you don't ask, the answer is 'no' ".  I'm glad that I called and asked.  

[Deleted]

 Some artificial sweeteners have limited shelf-life. Aspartame, if I remember correctly, deteriorates/breaks down rapidly in warm environments.

[rubyslippers]

l went to Rite Aid to do the Anacin deal but they didn't even have any on the shelf.  I might try another store out of town later this week.

Marvholly: Since there is no WAGs in my immediate area, I went to Walmart and price matched 6 of the Lindt chocolate bars.  I also price matched Aldi's sale on grapes @ $.89 lb. and a pineapple for $1.49.  I spent $2.83 OOP and saved $12.00.  Five of the bars will be for Christmas gifts and one will be for my enjoyment.

I might be doing a deal at Kroger later this week if I can see that it'll be worth my while.  I also have a free collage picture to pick up at WAGs and they have a senior discount on Wednesday, I think.  I also want to see if they still give a $25.00 gift card for transferring a prescription.  I did really well the last time I did that and it would come in handy before the holidays.  I'm saving the Carmex IPQ's for Rite Aid on Black Friday.  It'll be a moneymaker.

[FreeSalsa]

Hi all!  I've been sticking to Sprouts for most of my shopping.  Last week I didn't do too much.  I kept meaning to go to Target for the last two weeks but it's out of the way and not very coupon-friendly so I haven't yet.  I think some of the Q's have expired now.  I got a few of those items at CVS using a GC and now I have 5 ECB for Black Friday.  I need TP again so I'm looking at the B$20G$5ECB sale.  Walgreens has a few items this week:  $2 Jack's pizza, Lindt chocolate, 99c eggs and turkey bacon, baking supplies.  I did an inventory a while back and put a post-it inside the cabinet so I would know what I need when the holiday sales arrived.

I've also been saving money by cooking at home and making my own frozen dinners to avoid eating out for lunch and dinner.  I'm trying to take advantage of the free fruit I've been getting for years because I know that it could disappear at any time.  I didn't take advantage when CVS was great so I've learned my lesson, I hope.  It's hard to stay motivated but I need to do it.

The last two times I went to get the fruit, the guy wasn't there so one time I got just a few bananas and the other time I got nothing.  I think he felt bad so this time he gave me two banana boxes filled to the top with fruit.  Three pineapples, tons of plums and pomegranates, and some grapefruit.  It took two weeks to get through it all but we finished eating the pineapples and I'm glad I dried some before they went bad.  Today I finished drying the apples and plums (made six quart bags of dried fruit and four 12" x 12" fruit leather.)  DH did the pomegranates and got four gallons of seeds!!!  He juiced most of it and there's not a lot of juice, compared to the size of the seeds container.  No wonder pom juice is expensive.  It's good though.  And tomorrow is fruit day again so I can start all over tomorrow!

[FreeSalsa]

Oh, I did pick up some 80/20 ground beef at Vons/Safeway last week at $1.99/lb., economy pack.  Dancin, I would have mentioned it at the time but last time my store had that, none of the other Safeway stores did, and Saveinla, you're a vegetarian if I recall correctly.

DH is making Salisbury steak with it now (I'll stick some in the freezer for another day.)  I'd better go help him out with something.  I'm so lucky to have a man that cooks so well and so often!  

[marvholly]

Patience
I do not like the taste of aspartame and do not use those but this does explain why the stuff at DD1’s is horrible. Stuff I bought contains saccharin which many find a bit bitter but I have liked for MANY years.

Ruby
I do not have a close Super Walmart but am getting one in the spring. More likely to shop there then.

YIPEEEE! Going at 6:20 am I WAS able to get the items I wanted at WAG: 2 lindt bars, baking soda and 4 carmex tubes. Actually, from the stock I saw on the shelves I could have even waited a day or 2 but that is NOT usually the case at any of the 4-6 local WAG stores I pass/shop regularly.

Also got the FREE paper towels on my Dad’s card. This is NOT an item I would normally buy. Roll seems MUCH smaller than comparable, even house brand rolls.

[dancinmama]

Nov 3, 2013 14:39:53 GMT -5 @patiencetried said:

 Some artificial sweeteners have limited shelf-life. Aspartame, if I remember correctly, deteriorates/breaks down rapidly in warm environments.

Yep, that's why diet soda tastes "funny" if you keep it too long. 

None of my sugar sub packets have an aspertame base.  I think Sweet N Low and Equal might be the ones that do.

[dancinmama]

Nov 3, 2013 21:58:29 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Oh, I did pick up some 80/20 ground beef at Vons/Safeway last week at $1.99/lb., economy pack.  Dancin, I would have mentioned it at the time but last time my store had that, none of the other Safeway stores did, and Saveinla, you're a vegetarian if I recall correctly.

DH is making Salisbury steak with it now (I'll stick some in the freezer for another day.)  I'd better go help him out with something.  I'm so lucky to have a man that cooks so well and so often!  

No problem.  I was able to stockpile 81/19 Harris Ranch ground beef from the Grocery Outlet a while back for $1.99/lb.  , but next time if you have time, please post.  I might need GB by then and my store might have the deal. 

[marvholly]

Dancing
Sweet n Low is saccharin. Equal is aspartame.


Going to try to use my $10 Ulta credit today and NEED cat food.

[skubikky]

Micro deal report
-Got a $6 off Hydro silk Q from a co-worker that came in the mail. Used it at WM on the $4.97 disposable Hydro silk single razor and applied the overage to food.

- WM, 2 bags of 10lb Tidy cats @ $1.77 each - $1/1 and $2/1 = $0.82 including tax

-Picked up free acorn squash in my front yard. Our neighbor, farmer Vendetti, was harvesting and dropped a few as the truck was coming out of the field. At $0.99/lb at Wegmans, I got about $7 of free squash. Roasted it and it was great.

-Had a TMF for Finish dishwasher tabs. $3.69 at Wegmans -$0.50 doubled + tax = $2.91. Should get rebate for $3.69 - $2.91-$0.46 stamp, might have a profit of $0.32 plus the box of product.....gee....it's getting harder and harder.

-I've been selling things on e-bay. Just sold a long sweater that I bought and ended not liking. I love being able to "liquidate". I use my PayPal money to buy stuff I need and would have paid cash for anyway. It's a lot of fun.

[gailbon]

Hi All!  I haven't been on in quite some time due to personal reasons, so I apologize if this topic has already been addressed.  I went back a few pages, and didn't see anything.
ANYWAY....I went online to CVS.com, and noticed that the local ad is no longer posted.  The prompts bring me to something called "My Weekly Ad", but will not allow me to see the page-by-page circular, only things that CVS thinks I may be interested in buying.  What's up with that?!  I called to confirm that the ad is no longer available online, and they confirmed that this is true.  Is anyone else having this problem?  Thanks for your help!

[dancinmama]

Nov 5, 2013 12:13:21 GMT -5 gailbon said:

Hi All!  I haven't been on in quite some time due to personal reasons, so I apologize if this topic has already been addressed.  I went back a few pages, and didn't see anything.
ANYWAY....I went online to CVS.com, and noticed that the local ad is no longer posted.  The prompts bring me to something called "My Weekly Ad", but will not allow me to see the page-by-page circular, only things that CVS thinks I may be interested in buying.  What's up with that?!  I called to confirm that the ad is no longer available online, and they confirmed that this is true.  Is anyone else having this problem?  Thanks for your help!

This "My Weekly Ad" thing is new at CVS.  From what I have read, most CVS couponers are not happy with it.  They will buy lotion at the beginning of the week and then get a CVS CRT for lotion later in the week - type of thing.

Since I am not shopping at CVS these days, I have no clue what is up with the site not providing the weekly circular on-line.  All I can suggest is going to the iheart site and checking out the ad that they have posted.  MOST OF THE TIME, BUT NOT ALWAYS, the ads are universal.

[hopetoberich]

As I only work next to Walmart 2 days a week I went in with my aldi add again last night

Red apples x4 lbs @69c lb
Anjou pears lbs x99c lb
Red grapes 4 lbs @99c lb
Bananas. 3lbs @ 37 lb
Roma tomatoes @99c lb 2lb
That is a lot of fruit for the week and aldi made it happen

They do not train the cashier on this and 2 of the last 3 had no idea how to price match.
Rightnow in the grocery challange game....fruit price matching is the biggest thing here. Wm prices on each lb was at least double what i paid.

A job I have gets the paper on Sunday with coupons and the ad's for the local stores and its the only way I get the ad. I make a point to take it on a
Monday to use.

I am still collecting aluminum cans and am over the $20 range now  i have another 5 lbs in my trunk double bagged.
All these small things add up.
I applied and got a new credit card last month and when my score was pulled it was 773!   Yay me...lol

[FreeSalsa]

What was the free paper towel deal?

[saveinla]

Nov 6, 2013 9:38:56 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

What was the free paper towel deal?

CVS - scan your card to get a 79c CRT for Just the Basics PT. It's on sale this week for 79c, so free. 

[rubyslippers]

My cherry picking today consisted of Meijer, Aldi, WAGs, Staples, Kroger and an independent store. 

Meijer: 1 bottle of Pompeian olive oil 32 oz. $3.99 after $1.00 IPQ.

WAGs: 1 free photo collage, 2 Nice toilet paper 12 pks., 2 cans Blue Diamond almonds, 1 Rescue Sleep.  I paid $7.62 and saved $11.84, not including the photo collage.  The manager was nice enough to let me substitute the toilet paper for the larger size and also to get the 15% and 20% discount that I missed as that sale was yesterday.

Kroger:  I took advantage of the buy 10 save $5.00 sale and got 4 cans Campbell's cream soups, 4 Ronzoni pasta, 2 BC mac & cheese, 4 Reach floss, 1 sm. pouch BC cookie mix.  With senior discount, digital freebie and coupons, I paid $2.71 and received a $3.00 catalina on the floss.  I used the catalina to buy 1 celery, 2 breads and 1 candy bar.  Total spent was $2.92 and saved $12.49.

Aldi: Before I started my shopping, I asked if they would honor the $10/40 IPQ that was out earlier in the week and they did.  I won't name everything I got but I got a ham, a bag of chicken breasts, Polish sausage, vegetables fresh and frozen, canned salmon, canned beans, beef broth, rice, butter, and a cheesecake.

Staples: A cousin saves ink cartridges for me so with her 9 and my 1, I turned in 10, so will get $20.00 in rewards next month.

Independent store: I bought 2 bags of frozen vegetables on sale for $1.00 each.  My 2 $.35 IPQ doubled and I paid $.60 OOP, and saved $1.40.

This is more than I normally spend on groceries in a week and I'm not done.  I'm doing 2 deals at Dollar General this weekend and our church is having a fundraiser and selling whole hog sausage.  They only do this once a year and it goes fast.  I'll save some for New Year's Day as it is our tradition to eat it with sauerkraut.