murphath
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Post by murphath on Aug 1, 2014 11:40:43 GMT -5
ruby: Way to go at Rite Aid! I've been out of the drug store game pretty much. Since the kids are all gone, I don't need to stock up as much. I've actually been doing pretty well at Target using man q's, Target q's and their Cartwheel program. I know if the deals really make sense at the drug stores again, I will be out of pocket in the beginning because I have no UPs/EB's/RR's. My best buy of the week was on cereal/milk at Safeway: 3 boxes (23 oz.) Kelloggs Raisin Bran $7.50 1 box Kelloggs Corn Flakes $2.50 1 gal. organic milk: $6.29 Minus: 2/$1.50 Kellogg's Family rewards IP's $1/2 Raisin Bran .35 Real Calif. milk IP $5.99 free milk wyb 4 Kelloggs cereals (certain ones) $1.00 off $8 cereal J4U digital q OOP: $4.95 So, I figure I got the cereal for free and paid an acceptable price for the organic milk. I don't know if any of you have ever tried organic milk, but my goodness, it is soooooo good. I get the 0% and you would never know. And, it lasts so much longer. Organic Valley is my fave.
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murphath
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Post by murphath on Aug 1, 2014 11:43:13 GMT -5
I have a question for you Swiffer users out there--the one that just "dusts" the floor. Do you buy the swiffer cloths or do you use the ones from the various dollar stores. I can get a pack of 20 for $1 where the Swiffer pack of 36 at Target is $9.99 (on sale! Yikes!). Do you notice a big difference? Because if you do, I'll opt for the Swiffer as I'm all about better/easier cleaning.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Aug 1, 2014 23:15:22 GMT -5
Why I continue to shop at Rite Aid? I kept track of everything I bought this month at Rite Aid and what I spent, what I saved and what rewards I earned. I started the month with $5.99 in rewards and ended the month with $16.00 UPs. I spent a total of $23.42 OOP (mostly tax) and saved $277.29 using sales, coupons and rewards. I bought 92 items at an average cost of $.26 each. I won't mention all 92 items, but some of my best ones were 7 dozen eggs, 1 12-pack Scott TP, 1 8-pack Scott paper towels, 1 lb. almonds, 2 boxes cereal, 2 6-pack Dove bar soap, 1 can Pledge furniture polish, 2 boxes cranberries and 6 boxes of Band-aids. I try to keep my OOP to $5.00 or under a week and I went a little over this month, but I really got a lot of things we use.
Chalupabatman: I agree with everything Dancinmama said and I would only add that if you shop at Walmart, you can price match and they do allow overage when using coupons. I plan my meals 4 weeks at a time for a visual reference for what I have on hand that I can use and what I need to look out for at the stores. I also stockpile whenever there is a really good item on sale. Last week it was bacon at $2.50 lb. which we never have at that low price anymore. I will be looking for the best prices on Rotel tomatoes and canned black beans in the next few weeks to stock up for the winter. If I don't see any good deals, I will be stocking up at Aldi. Wow, ruby!! Great job at Rite Aid. Glad to see you're still making it work for you. Great point about price matching at Walmart. The price matching at my Walmart is really limited (only will price match sales that don't require store loyalty cards) so it is extremely limited.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 2, 2014 6:13:10 GMT -5
YIPEE!!! My big, generally good veggie market had several unadvertised sales so I spent WAAAY more tham planned:
0.98/lb cherries 1.50 for 24 ox cottage cheese (next best is Aldi for 2.29) 0.49/lb cauliflower 0.99 pkg clearance portobella mushrooms (for meatless Monday)
It has been quite a while since I had a good day there.
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rubyslippers
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Post by rubyslippers on Aug 2, 2014 7:37:32 GMT -5
We cook the majority of our meals here at home but we do eat out occasionally. Last night I ordered pizza from Pizza Hut and looked at the menu online before I ordered. When I was proceeding to call in my order, I asked the guy if it was cheaper to order online and he said it was. So instead of paying $12.00 for a pizza, we got the same thing for $7.99 buy ordering it online. DH had some money left on a gift card and he walked out paying $4.00 for a large 2-item pizza. Marvholly: I haven't had much luck with doing the dry beans but I will have to check into it. Does freezing the beans make them mushy? I like having black beans on hand for fajitas and when I make soup in the winter months.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 3, 2014 6:01:52 GMT -5
ruby To me the beans are not mushy (esp in comparison to canned) BUT you might prefer to undercook them a tiny bit if you are really picky. I cannot get garbanzo beans to cook up correctly so I ALWAYS buy those. I so seldom use pintos that I just buy the large can when I make chili. I do not like or cook any kind of red/pink (kidney) beans. I do use lentils but those are easy.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Aug 3, 2014 13:18:27 GMT -5
YIPEE!!! My big, generally good veggie market had several unadvertised sales so I spent WAAAY more tham planned: 0.98/lb cherries 1.50 for 24 ox cottage cheese (next best is Aldi for 2.29) 0.49/lb cauliflower 0.99 pkg clearance portobella mushrooms (for meatless Monday) It has been quite a while since I had a good day there. $.98/lb. for cherries!! I'd be all over that. The cheapest I've been able to get them here is $1.99/lb. and I thought that was a good deal.
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hopetoberich
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Post by hopetoberich on Aug 3, 2014 16:40:05 GMT -5
I had $20 in swagbucks GC for Walmart again I got a large pack of chicken breasts Mash Bananas Priced matched blueberries $1.29 with aldi And a few other price matches I paid them $1.40 oop Then today I had a $5 domino GC from searching bing. Special medium for $3.99 And another with extra topping so.... $6 and change for 2 pizzas Dh looked impressed with me again
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 4, 2014 6:14:38 GMT -5
Dancin Most of the fruit/veg markets around here have been 1.99/lb. Big chain stores even more – like 2.49 which is why I bought more even though I still had a few cherries on hand.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 5, 2014 6:14:46 GMT -5
This batch of cherries is NOT as tasty as my previous purchase. Probably wil not buy again this year.
I am actually getting 2 Mariano’s grocery stores. This is a regional chain started by a former biggie from when Dominick’s was family owned. He got out & started his own store when the CA chain bought out the family. As it happens 1 store is on my routine shopping/travel pattern & is reportedly opening in OCT. The other is near where a BIG WalMart is being built in a nearby town.
I know I have been in Mariano’s at least once, possibly twice & I was NOT impressed. I will however, check them out when it opens in my area.
A blogger I follow for the 1x/week weekly meal plan has moved this program from her FREE site into a pay $5/month site to belong/get the info. NOT me. I do not remember EVER downloading a recipe in the 5/more years I have followed the current site. Also, It is just NOT worth it to me w/SOOOO many FREE sites available. I suspect I will NOT be the only one to say FORGET IT! I will keep the basic site on my favorites list and in about 6 months check to see if the meal plan returns to being FREE.
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murphath
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Post by murphath on Aug 6, 2014 10:56:47 GMT -5
I have a question for you Swiffer users out there--the one that just "dusts" the floor. Do you buy the swiffer cloths or do you use the ones from the various dollar stores. I can get a pack of 20 for $1 where the Swiffer pack of 36 at Target is $9.99 (on sale! Yikes!). Do you notice a big difference? Because if you do, I'll opt for the Swiffer as I'm all about better/easier cleaning. Thought I'd ask again as there was no response. I think it got lost in all the grocery chatter.
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rubyslippers
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Post by rubyslippers on Aug 6, 2014 17:51:28 GMT -5
My best produce this week has been from price matching Aldi and a local grocery store. I got red grapes for $.89 lb., bananas $.39 lb, a head of cauliflower for $.99 and a pack of 3 romaine hearts for $2.00.
At Rite Aid, I started out with $21.00 in UPs and ended with $22.00. I spent $2.38 and saved $39.50 and got 2 dozen eggs, 1 lb. butter, 2 boxes cranberries, 3 Nexus shampoos, 2 Crest TP, 2 Scuncii hair bands, 1 large Softsoap refill and a caramel, saving 94%.
Murpath: Could you buy a box of the cheaper cloths at a dollar store and try one to see if you like it. If you don't like how it cleans, you might be able to return it and get your dollar back. I would at least give it a try. That's a huge difference in price. I have a friend who uses a paper towel over her Swiffer and is pleased with how that cleans.
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FreeSalsa
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Post by FreeSalsa on Aug 6, 2014 23:54:31 GMT -5
Great job at Rite Aid, Ruby!
chalupabatman, don't forget to try using cheap products in place of other more expensive ones. If you can get free paper towels, use them as napkins instead of buying, toilet paper instead of kleenex, shampoo instead of liquid soap, conditioner instead of shaving cream, etc. Be flexible.
I paid $5 for a quart of cherries (not sure the weight) from the farmer's market but they were SO good. But we get so much free fruit that I feel ok spending a little more on my favorites.
We found a house! We're going to rent but it has everything we want in a good neighborhood. It's just a little more than we wanted to spend but after seeing what we've been seeing, I think it's worth it for the peace of mind. I will save on vacation and therapy what I spend on the tree-filled neighborhood. It has a lot of closets and storage spaces for stockpiling. Meanwhile we've eaten lots of what was in the cabinets and freezer. We don't move until mid-next month so we still have time to eat more and pack up without stress.
With the Wednesday store flyers there is a Red Plum ad wrapped around it and it has a B3G1 free coupon from the 99 Cents Only store. I've been saving mine the last two weeks and getting some from the recycle bin by the mailboxes so I have 8 now. It's one per customer so I'll have to make 8 trips to the register.
I think they finally caught on to me. I realized that I bought my Groupon for the newspaper last March and I've still been getting papers until the last few weeks when I didn't get them every week. I think it's done now.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 7, 2014 6:10:35 GMT -5
My local independent stores & big veggie markets have some good deals this week:
raspberries & strawberries $1 pkg cuke 0.33 chicken leg quarters 0.69/lb pineapple 0.79 ea small watermelon 2 ea green grapes 1/lb
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Aug 7, 2014 10:08:44 GMT -5
I got a special J4U price on Lays Kettle chips plus a J4U 10% off any chips plus a $3/$20 so I decided to combine all three to stockpile a few bags. My fav is the Applewood Smoked 40% less fat variety (not only less fat but not as salty as the other flavors), but when I went in the store there were none on the shelf because apparently my Safeway discontinued carrying them. I talked to the store manager and they special ordered some for me that I will pick up today and she is going to put in the paperwork to bring them back to the store. I used to get them for under $1/bag all the time, but with the changes they've recently made, I'm lucky if I can get them for around $2/bag. ---------------------------------------------------------- On a more positive note, yesterday I was able to score nectarines for $.50/lb. at the 99 Cent Store again. Gotta love that store for the cheap (and really good) produce.
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murphath
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Post by murphath on Aug 7, 2014 11:32:34 GMT -5
Murpath: Could you buy a box of the cheaper cloths at a dollar store and try one to see if you like it. If you don't like how it cleans, you might be able to return it and get your dollar back. I would at least give it a try. That's a huge difference in price. I have a friend who uses a paper towel over her Swiffer and is pleased with how that cleans.I did buy a box at The Dollar Tree and they seem okay. I was just wondering the Swiffer ones have supernatural, superhero powers to make them worth the extra money. I HATE cleaning with a passion and will do anything else before that so if a product makes cleaning faster/easier, I'm all over it. It does help that there are only 2 of us here now so not so much messiness--although I swear DH is the worst kid of all. Good thing he's cute.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 10, 2014 6:09:46 GMT -5
Wallgreens has 3 items I want on sale. ALL have IP coupons. I KNOW they will quickly run out of the tuna and may run out of the olives. Think I will hit my 24 hr store early. Just hope I don't get the cashier who has 'issues' w/IPs.
I hit it BIG at Salvation Army on Sat. Found 2 velour warm up suits (red & burgundy so have tops) on the $0.69 color of the day sale. Regular SA priced at $30 for both. I was sure the everyday cashier would say special price not good on outfits so I went to a gal I had never seen cashiering before. I also assumed I would pay, at best, 0.69 per piece. WRONG. I paid $0.69 per outfit. One jacket has a spot that I think will wash out but the pants alone are worth that price.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Aug 12, 2014 11:53:58 GMT -5
I just made my first visit to Aldi's when I was visiting Mom and Dad in Miami. I am now SOOOO jealous of anyone who has an Aldi's near them!
We stocked up on a lot of stuff for our vacation. We cook all our meals at our vacation spot to keep costs down.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 13, 2014 6:04:58 GMT -5
i have 2 Aldi stores: one in my burb that I regularly pass that is so so one on my routine errand shopping run this is usually pretty good (& has better mgr).
There are several more located situationally - near DD1, near a Target, .............
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princessleia
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Post by princessleia on Aug 13, 2014 12:18:08 GMT -5
I just made my first visit to Aldi's when I was visiting Mom and Dad in Miami. I am now SOOOO jealous of anyone who has an Aldi's near them! We stocked up on a lot of stuff for our vacation. We cook all our meals at our vacation spot to keep costs down. Yes, Aldi is a god-send. I have been buying whatever fruits they have on sale and have been enjoying their 49¢ (or 59¢) mangoes, 99¢ cantaloupe, $1.79 raspberries, etc....Amazingly, the starting pay there is more than $12/hour, better than most grocery stores.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Aug 13, 2014 15:06:26 GMT -5
My mom said the cashiers at Aldis get paid based on how fast they scan. No chit chat, just scan and take your payment, and you have to bag yourself. I liked it.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 14, 2014 6:29:05 GMT -5
Don't think the cashiers at Aldi get paid based on scan speed. Ones at both my stores DO chit chat w/ customers & co-w3orkers.
This is the time of year salad greens get VERY $$. They do NOT do well in hot weather. Probably will buy cabbage this week for slaw 7 ?? Its on sale for 0.29/lb.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Aug 15, 2014 19:55:43 GMT -5
Safeway J4U
My mom and DS both got $5/$20s that don't expire until 8/28. I won't be using either this week, but am hoping there will be something to use them on in next week's ad.
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FreeSalsa
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Post by FreeSalsa on Aug 15, 2014 22:48:40 GMT -5
At cvs I bought a bunch of the free after Ecbs stomach remedies, which we can always use. They were giving away about 8free items, which I haven,t seen them do for ages. Some of them I bought one on each card total of 3. Then with a 25 percent off e-mail q and some Ecbs I bought another kind that was not on sale and is quite expensive for dh. I started out each transaction with a gc.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Aug 16, 2014 6:35:44 GMT -5
Have not had anything I want at CVs for several weeks. Might get sprite next week on the RMC coke deal.
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rubyslippers
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Post by rubyslippers on Aug 16, 2014 12:16:32 GMT -5
I started stocking up on some pantry items at Aldi this past week. I bought 10 cans of generic rotel tomatoes, 10 cans black beans, 1 bag flour and 1 bag of sugar. I spent less than $15.00. Next week I will be getting navy beans, cannellini beans, tomato sauce, rice and oatmeal.
Marvholly, I've been vacuum packing my salad greens all summer into canning jars. They have stayed good up to 10 days. Do you have a Food Saver? I bought the wide mouth canning jar attachment on amazon for $9.99. My son even bought a case of canning jars and brings them over to seal his salads whenever he runs out. I haven't had to throw out lettuce in a long time. I've also been sealing dried foods too.
WAGS question: Can you use more than 1 RR at a time in a single transaction?
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Aug 16, 2014 15:35:40 GMT -5
WAGS question: Can you use more than 1 RR at a time in a single transaction?
Yes. You can - as long as the item count is equal to the total of the RR or MQs. BOGO qs sometimes attach to 2 items , so be careful.
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dogmom
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Post by dogmom on Aug 17, 2014 14:07:46 GMT -5
I stopped at Meijer today. I had a few MPerks and Store coupons to use. It is an odd assortment, but, I was good with what I got.
2 Desenex foot powders (cheaper than Wags this month) $10.78 1 Salad mix $1.99 Bananas $1.01 Broc/Cal/Carrot mix $2.79 Bread: $1.29 Total: $17.86 Used: 2 $2.00 off of Desenex coupon 1 Mperk coupon for the Broc/Cal/Carrot Mix $1.25 1 Store coupon for $1. off $5. produce 1 Free bread w/$10.
Coupon total: $7.54
OOP $10.32 plus tax. All will be put to good use. Now I just have to find a decent buy on laundry detergent. We are okay, but running lower than I would like.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Aug 18, 2014 11:30:40 GMT -5
Anybody tried the new Walmart promo, Savings Catcher. No need to price match at the store. You just buy everything, enter your receipt online (or by smatphone scan) and they are supposed to price match against all local stores and rebate you the difference on a gift card. I just entered my first receipt.
Probably only good for sale prices, not counting Extra Bucks type programs.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Aug 18, 2014 11:55:19 GMT -5
Anybody tried the new Walmart promo, Savings Catcher. No need to price match at the store. You just buy everything, enter your receipt online (or by smatphone scan) and they are supposed to price match against all local stores and rebate you the difference on a gift card. I just entered my first receipt. Probably only good for sale prices, not counting Extra Bucks type programs. I think for people who shop at Walmart, this will be a good tool. Not sure how it works on price matching. I know rubyslippers does a lot of price matching at Walmart.
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