2014 Grocery Challenge

[FreeSalsa]

Thanks, saveinla.  I checked on something with DH and I think I'm going with my original plan, so I don't need to PM you.  But maybe another time.  I know that doesn't make sense but I didn't want you waiting for a PM that is not coming.  

[rubyslippers]

I was hoping for better 4th of July deals for next week but they are not to be found, so I will stick to my small list of produce items.  I hope Aldi has some decent deals on produce next week that will allow me to price match.  I will get my coffee at Meijer, gas cards at Kroger and try to do a deal at CVS if they have everything in stock.  I think I'll be able to get free toothpaste at Rite Aid too.   

[saveinla]

Jun 28, 2014 20:01:09 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Thanks, saveinla.  I checked on something with DH and I think I'm going with my original plan, so I don't need to PM you.  But maybe another time.  I know that doesn't make sense but I didn't want you waiting for a PM that is not coming.  

No Problem.

Haven't been doing any drugstore deals, but kmart has decided to give me some free coupons - 10$ off any 10$ home purchase, 10$ off any 10$ or more jewellery both last week and this week, so I have been ordering some gifts online and picking them at the store.

[dancinmama]

Jun 28, 2014 6:46:03 GMT -5 Blonde Granny said:

Jun 25, 2014 11:01:45 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Wow, it never occurred to me that the outer coating wouldn't dissolve.  I have been squeezing out half the goo for the first usage and then dropping what remains (coating and all) in the dispenser for the second usage.  From now on, I'm going to squeeze the remaining goo out for the second usage and throw the coating in the trash.

Thanks so much for the tip.  

I have been using Tide Pods, and I love the convenience....but!  I was changing the sheets one day and as I flipped the sheet out onto the bed there was gloppy type stains on it.  Investigating further, the stuff was really stiff.  I finally figured out it was from the pods not dissolving correctly.  It has also happened on my lingerie with parts of them sticking together.

I have resorted to poking a hole in the pod and squeezing the liquid into the dispenser.  Problem solved, but not what I was expecting to happen.  I did a quick search on the problem and found I wasn't the only one experiencing this problem.

Look for a toll free number on the product label and call and "nicely" complain.  Somtimes when you've had a problem like that with a product, manufacturers will try to make good with high valued coupons, freebies, etc.

[dancinmama]

Jun 28, 2014 19:04:19 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Jun 22, 2014 8:19:16 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Great job at CVS.  I'm glad to hear that you can still pick up an item here and there for free. 

Sorry to hear that you're having trouble at Sprouts.  It's frustrating when what used to work no longer does.  I can't see why they wouldn't accept a store Q with an MC since they get reimbursed for the MC.  It makes no sense.

More trouble this week.  I figured out the issue.  I thought it was because I was trying to use a store Q with an MC on a product that the store Q was not ringing up.  But it's just the store Q that won't ring up because this week I tried using just that.  They had a bunch of store Qs in their monthly booklet and they keep scanning 0.  I had to get a manager to come over again to add it up.  Also, the free cookie Q is not showing up on the receipt, it's just not charging for it--very strange.  Next Wed is the last week of that coupon book so hopefully that will be the end of that.  I wonder how many other people tried to use those Qs and they didn't work.

Do you have any receipts where the coupons didn't come off?  Maybe they'll reimburse you for them.

[rubyslippers]

I went to CVS and Rite Aid and didn't do too bad.

At CVS I bought 2 Tides @ $4.94, 1 Venus razor @ $7.29 using a $2.00+$2.00+$3.00 MQ's and $10.00 EB. I paid $.66 OOP and received

$5.00 in EB's. I then bought a lb. bag of almonds for $5.49-5.00 EB's and paid $.49 OOP.  Total spent: $1.15.

At Rite Aid I bought 2 Crest TP @ $2.99 each and 1 box cranraisins for $1.00- $1.00 MQ-$5.50 UPs.  I spent $.88 and received $5.98 in UPs.

At Kroger I spent $1.80 on 6 ears of corn.   The rest of the produce I need I will get later on this week.  I didn't see any great deals at Aldi for the week. 

[FreeSalsa]

Jun 29, 2014 7:33:50 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Jun 28, 2014 19:04:19 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

More trouble this week.  I figured out the issue.  I thought it was because I was trying to use a store Q with an MC on a product that the store Q was not ringing up.  But it's just the store Q that won't ring up because this week I tried using just that.  They had a bunch of store Qs in their monthly booklet and they keep scanning 0.  I had to get a manager to come over again to add it up.  Also, the free cookie Q is not showing up on the receipt, it's just not charging for it--very strange.  Next Wed is the last week of that coupon book so hopefully that will be the end of that.  I wonder how many other people tried to use those Qs and they didn't work.

Do you have any receipts where the coupons didn't come off?  Maybe they'll reimburse you for them.

We added it up in the store.  The Q didn't come off but the item rang up no charge, or something like that.  I paid the right amount.  She offered to reimburse me to if I added it up again at home and it didn't come out right.

[emhalf]

I was able to put together a nice MM at CVS on saturday. I read on I<3CVS that some l'oreal products were on 75% clearance, but were still producing $10 EB wyb $30, and had $3 coupons available. At 3 different stores, I bought:

6 x l'oreal youth code BB cream (5 x 4.44 and 1 x 4.19)
2 x l'oreal ideal moisturizer (1.74 each)
= 29.87
-8 x $3/1 l'oreal (insert and IPs)...I can't believe I actually found enough
=$5.87, got back $10 EB and I qualified for another $5 beauty club

I haven't decided what to do with the product, but I may try to sell it on ebay.

I also got the colgate optic white products, 2/$6 get back $3 EB (limit 2). I had a $2/$10 oral care so they were free. The store where I wanted to buy them was out of optic white mouthwash, but they were nice enough to substitute colgate total mouthwash so I could still use my coupons and force-print my EBs. I don't know what I'll do if I stop getting good scanner coupons...it would be a shame if the deals totally dried up because my stores are so nice.

I hit up RA today to roll my UPs and use some expiring coupons. There are MM deals on bayer aspirin and crest 3d white toothpaste. Now I don't have to worry about rolling UPs until I come back from vacation next week

[FreeSalsa]

My CVS stores have been nice too, emhalf.  One tends to substitute any OOS inventory.  I went to a different one the other day and I had a $1/2 Honey Maid Q.  I asked them to check the back but they only had one box.  He said to ask at the front and they might give me 50c off one.  I happened to get a manager for a checker and he gave me $1/1, which was great.  He also let me use an ECB for a different card, instead of having to dig out the card and void and re-ring everything.  So that was nice.

[FreeSalsa]

Wasn't there supposed to be something good at CVS this week?  Aside from the Venus razor, which will cost more for me than the prices listed online, I can't see anything else of interest.

[marvholly]

free Salsa
i have NOTHING (except an Rx) at CVS this week. My lkist is at WAG & it is looking the same for next week. That is how it has been for q while now for me. NOTE: no Rite Aid here.

[saveinla]

Jun 30, 2014 23:40:00 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Wasn't there supposed to be something good at CVS this week?  Aside from the Venus razor, which will cost more for me than the prices listed online, I can't see anything else of interest.

The Tide detergent is 4.94 with a 1$ ECB this week, but limit is 1. The 2$ Q expired 6/30, but there are 1.50 off Qs on coupons.com. Not free, but still a good deal if you need it.

[marvholly]

Nearly all the stores around me changed to a Wed ad strat day some time ago. This week my fav fruit/veg market also changed & they have a BUNCH of stuff I want this week. Has not been like that in a month. In fact, it is my loingest list outside of Aldi.

[dancinmama]

This is the second week that neither I or my mom or DS have gotten a $/$$ at Safeway.  I did buy a couple of tri-tips from last week's ad as they were on sale for $3.99/lb. (untrimmed).  I stuck them in the freezer.  This week we'll be getting the $5 FRIDAY fried chicken as we both prefer dark meat.  That's the only thing on my list for Safeway.

I decided that I'm going to use my $15 survey EB on eggs at CVS.  I don't like the price of $1.79/doz., but we need eggs and I don't see anything else that we need.

This week at the ethnic markets I'll be picking up cherries for $1.99/lb. and nectarines for $.99/lb.  Last week grapes were on sale for $.87 so I picked up 2 bags the first day of the sale and the last day of the sale.

Last week at the GO I picked up a few boxes of chocolate Cheerios for $.94/12 oz. box.  They're a little sweet for me so I mix a few into plain cheerios to cut the sweetness.

I have $20 in Kohl's cash that I'm going to see if I can do something with today - clearance t-shirts for DH or socks for me - whatever is the best value.

I keep track of what we spend on food.  Of course it varies from month to month depending on what's available to stockpile; but in general, it seems to keep going up.  It was $364 in May because we had a lot of company, but in June it was still higher that I would like @ $275 in spite of shopping mostly at the GO and the 99 Cent Store.  We want to eat good and mostly healthy food so there's not a whole lot that I can do about it.

[dancinmama]

Jul 1, 2014 8:11:32 GMT -5 saveinla said:

Jun 30, 2014 23:40:00 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Wasn't there supposed to be something good at CVS this week?  Aside from the Venus razor, which will cost more for me than the prices listed online, I can't see anything else of interest.

The Tide detergent is 4.94 with a 1$ ECB this week, but limit is 1. The 2$ Q expired 6/30, but there are 1.50 off Qs on coupons.com. Not free, but still a good deal if you need it.

Wow, limit of 1?  It just shows how P&G has caught on to couponers stockpiling their products.  At the very end of my couponing adventures at CVS, they offered a killer deal on Tide and Gain.  I still have a few bottles left ( ) left in my stockpile.

[rubyslippers]

I took the limit of 1 on Tide at CVS to mean that only one reward will print. I ended up buying 2 Tides this week in one transaction.

I price matched Kraft dressings at Walmart for $1.29 and bought 5.  I used a $5/5 MQ in a local grocery ad.  I got 5 bottles for $.29 each.  I also price matched cheese @ $1.99 and bought 5.  I used another coupon and got cheese for $.99 each.  Not my best price on cheese but pretty good considering what it has been selling for lately.

I am going to keep trying to roll my UPs at Rite Aid.  I looked at my spending/savings  since the beginning of the year and have saved the most money there.  I have been trying to buy things for my pantry.  I often do better when they run out and I get a raincheck because I can get the item for the price after UPs have been subtracted.  I wanted 5 boxes of cranberries this week for $1.00 each with a $2.00 reward, making them $.60 a box.  They didn't have any on their shelves so I got a rain check and will be able to buy them one at a time when they get them in stock if they don't have all of them at once.  Often I need a fill for around $.50 and this will come in handy.

[dancinmama]

Jul 2, 2014 14:58:21 GMT -5 rubyslippers said:

I took the limit of 1 on Tide at CVS to mean that only one reward will print. I ended up buying 2 Tides this week in one transaction.

That's right - P&G limits you to 1 at the best price (taking getting an EB into account). 

[rubyslippers]

Rite Aid has a monthly deal on "My Town" items that produce a $9.00 UP reward. The cheapest items I saw was for $8.99 or $7.19 w/gold

discount.  I paid $7.19 for a baby onesie minus $6.98 UPs and $.71 OOP w/tax.  I rolled the $9.00 UPs yesterday buying another onesie plus a Colgate TP minus $9.00 UPs + $1.00 MQ and paid $.89 tax.  I received $10.00 in UPs.  I will repeat the deal today, earning another $1.00 UPs.  I read on a blog that the limit was 8.

[dancinmama]

Jul 3, 2014 7:36:26 GMT -5 rubyslippers said:

Rite Aid has a monthly deal on "My Town" items that produce a $9.00 UP reward. The cheapest items I saw was for $8.99 or $7.19 w/gold

discount.  I paid $7.19 for a baby onesie minus $6.98 UPs and $.71 OOP w/tax.  I rolled the $9.00 UPs yesterday buying another onesie plus a Colgate TP minus $9.00 UPs + $1.00 MQ and paid $.89 tax.  I received $10.00 in UPs.  I will repeat the deal today, earning another $1.00 UPs.  I read on a blog that the limit was 8.

Awesome deal!!  That's the way to work Rite Aid. 

[dancinmama]

I had a fairly good shopping day yesterday.  I wasn't even going to go to the 99 Cent Store, but DH told me we were out of potatoes and that's where they are the cheapest, so I had to make the extra stop and I'm glad that I did.

In addition to getting a 5# bag of russets for $.79 (we can't buy any more than 5 lbs. at a time), I also found large, seedless watermelons for $1/ea.  I bought (2).

The best buy, however, was a pair of Foster Grant Beauty Solutions/Sensitive Eyes sunglasses.  They had the original price tag of $19.99 on them and I got them for, yep, 99.9 cents and they are exactly what I would have picked had I been shopping for sunglasses at a dept. store.  They must be left over from last year's styles.  I checked to see if there was another pair that I liked, but no luck.  I'll keep checking every time I go in there.

[rubyslippers]

Today's Rite Aid transaction:

         $14.38  My Town teddy bears-2 (w/gold discount)

             4.99 Clear shampoo-1

             1.59 Eggs-1 dozen

         $20.96 Subtotal

            -5.00 L2Card reward for prescription filled

            -2.50 L2Card MQ

            -3.00 Video Value

           -10.00 UPs

            $1.30 OOP w/tax and received $20.00 in UPs

I plan to do 2 more days of transactions at Rite Aid and then be done until the 13th

[dancinmama]

Well, I didn't get the eggs at CVS this week.  I looked at the upcoming ad previews and they will be on sale starting 7/13 (the day my EB expires) for $1.49/doz. instead of this week's price of $1.79/doz.

[hopetoberich]

I pulled out a CVS raincheck tonight

I stocked up on soda

4x12 packs rc for 4\$15+$5ecb.

Mq $2 wyb 4x12 packs...found in wm.
3x$3 off 1  12 pack...coke codes mq
50cents ecb rewards

Total oop $3.71 
Got back $5 ecb.

So a $1.29 MM.

I paid the balance with a $10 GC from Swagbucks for the $3.71
Dates on the soda are 09/14. I always check now.

[hopetoberich]

My mq's came in the mail
Arm n hammer on sale for $1.99
Mq $3/2. Oop was $5.20 for 10 laundry detergent. Best deal I have gotten on soap ever I think.

Date night was a cheapo deal
BK coupons 2 big meals for $6.99
I had a $5 gift card for searching bing 10000000000 times this month :Pit all adds up! Anyway i paid $2.41 oop for our date night 
With last nights coke deal this is the best weekend i'v had since i stepped back from the game. And it was fun!

[dancinmama]

Jul 5, 2014 0:14:24 GMT -5 hopetoberich said:

I pulled out a CVS raincheck tonight

I stocked up on soda

4x12 packs rc for 4\$15+$5ecb.

Mq $2 wyb 4x12 packs...found in wm.
3x$3 off 1  12 pack...coke codes mq
50cents ecb rewards

Total oop $3.71 
Got back $5 ecb.

So a $1.29 MM.

I paid the balance with a $10 GC from Swagbucks for the $3.71
Dates on the soda are 09/14. I always check now.

At one point in time, they had that same EB deal on Pepsi products.  I used $4/$20s and $1/1 peelies.  We have a $.05/can recycling fee here which helped me get to the $20 I needed to spend and I eventually got it back when I recycled the cans.  I paid my OOP using EBs.

I loved always being able to get my soda for free at CVS.

[dancinmama]

Jul 5, 2014 16:40:32 GMT -5 hopetoberich said:

My mq's came in the mail
Arm n hammer on sale for $1.99
Mq $3/2. Oop was $5.20 for 10 laundry detergent. Best deal I have gotten on soap ever I think.

Wow!!  Another great deal.  You're batting 1000!!

$.52 each for laundry detergent is a killer deal these days.  The best "straight" deal (sale minus coupons) that I ever got on laundry detergent was Purex at Safeway - $1.77/bottle minus a $1/1 coupon.  That was before the drug chain freebies on it.

I remember that there was a killer MM/RR deal on Arm & Hammer at WAGs way back when that I had the coupons to do, but the store was OOS.  I was never able to get that brand into my stockpile....but I have all the others. 

Anyway, it's fun to see and hear that other people are still getting some awesome deals!!  Keep those great deal posts coming!!

[rubyslippers]

Yesterday at Rite Aid I bought 3 My Town items @$7.19 w/gold discount.    Subtotal plus tax was $2.08 after using $21.00 UPs.  I received $27.00 in UPs.

Today I bought 2 Kellogg cereals @ $1.97 each, 2 Dove soap 6 packs @ $6.50 each, 2 Goldfish crackers @$1.99 each, 2 dozen eggs @ $1.59 each w/discount and 2 polish remover pads @ $.39 each.  I used 2 $1.50 Kellogg reward IPQs, $2.50 video values and $18.00 in UPs.  I paid $2.34 OOP and received $4.00 in UPs back.  I'm done with Rite Aid for the week and will try to roll UPs next week on toothpaste deals.  I also got a raincheck for the Dove soap as there was a limit of 2 and not enough of the type I buy.

The week of 7-20, Kohls $25.00 gift cards will give back a $5.00 UP reward, limit of 2.  There are other gift card deals too.

[dancinmama]

I found some lean 100% Angus beef hot dogs today at the GO for $1.49/pkg.  They had (9) packages left on the shelf and I grabbed them all.  Got an additional 5% off cuz I'm old and it's Wednesday (senior discount day ).

This week fruit will be peaches for $.77/lb. and cantaloupe for $1/ea.

I got a $5/$30 at Safeway, but I haven't found enough decent deals to put it to good use. 

[marvholly]

Some decent food deals this week: cherries, pineapple, chicken thigh quarters, eggs & broccoli. You can guess my next meal plan will be heavy on chicken (mesquite smoked?) & eggs (quiche).

[marvholly]

I have not bought shrimp in a LOOOONG time (>a year) because prices got OUT OF SIGHT! I decided that would be my monthly grocery treat (june was steak).

As I recall the cooked, frozen shrimp I used to buy at Aldi was $5 for 12 oz. Paid $6 for 12 oz. Not bad considering how all food prices have risen over the past year.