Not much to report...HT this week

So, I didn't buy a ton of stuff grocery shopping today (that's what we do this for, right??) so I only saved about $40 and spent $62. A couple of deals worth mentioning from Harris Teeter:

Honey Nut Cheerios is $2 per box. Pair with $1 off 2 coupons from 10-3-10 and it is $1.50 per box. Plus if you buy a certain # of General Mills products you get $ off OYNO I think. This brings it down closer to that goal of $1 per box if you buy enough.

Dannon Coolisions yogurt is $2 - $1 off cpn makes it $1

Heinz Ketchup - long term vic $1.84 - cpn 75 cents x2 = 34 cents per bottle. You can probably get this cheaper or free during Triples though

Sparkle paper towels are on sale 6.99 for the 8 pack. cpn for $1 off 2 = 6.49 - not as great as the Bounty deal last week, but the cpn expires really soon

Huggies Diapers Jumbo Pack on sale for 8.99 plus $2 cpn from today = 6.99

Amazing Savings at Old Navy!

During an amazing sale this morning, I spent $100 for $355 worth of stuff at Old Navy. Best part of the deal today - if you use your Old Navy, Gap, or Banana Republic card between now and 10/21 (this Thursday), for each adult item you buy, you get one kid item FREE (of equal or lesser value). Plus you get 10% off your purchase if you open a card plus an additional 10% on each future purchase you make at Old Navy, GAP, and Banana Republic (one discount for each store). I may not need to hit this store on Black Friday!

HT Deals this week PLUS others

FREE Mac n Cheese! Sorry, that was one highlight of this week I wanted to share right away. I spent $116 and saved $80 today. It was a combo of rain checks, coupons, and sales. I also qualified for the P&G pink cookware set - you qualify when you spend $25 on P&G products like Bounty, Pampers, Cascade, Charmin, etc. The catalina printer will print out a mail in form at the check out. There are a whole bunch of P&G coupons out there - if you have the P&G year of savings coupons there are some good ones like $1 off Charmin. If not, you can still get some coupons from the P&G brand saver last Sunday. Also there's a P&G rebate out there so I can get a bunch of $ back.

Don't have time to list all the deals but here are some good ones:

Kraft shredded cheese with Philly Cream Cheese in it - new product that is on sale for BOGO free. I got a BOGO coupon in the mail from HT today too, plus there is a Kraft $1 off two coupon. You have to buy 3, but essentially I got 3 bags of shredded cheese for $2.29 (orig. 3.29 each)

Charmin 12 roll was on sale 5.99 minus $1 off in P&G Year of Saving coupons = 4.99

Bounty 6 big roll on sale 5.77 (eVIC) - cpn for 25 cents off doubles in P&G saver last week - 5.27 (warning, my HT was out of these)

Born Free Eggs are BOGO and cpn for 35 cents off on 9/12 will double

Kraft Mac & Cheese - great sale at 4 for $2, plus you can get an printable coupon if you play the roulette game on the Kraft website. Mine was 55 cents off two which doubled to make my Mac FREE

HT Tissues are 99 cents per box

Grapes are 99 cents a pound as are the Eastern Grown apples

Chicken quarters are 49cents per pound

and, of course, remember the $10 off $50 cpn from Thursday's N&O


OTHER deals:

Great candy deal at Target - Buy two jumbo bags of Mars candy and get a $5 Target gift card. Given that I already had a $5 gift card to Target to use, plus the $1 off two bags of candy in last weeks paper, I essentially got the two big bags for $9.

At CVS, the Oral B Vitality electronic toothbrush, normally $30, is on sale for $23 plus you get $13 extra bucks back. There is also a $10 coupon from the P&G saver last week which makes this toothbrush FREE. One problem, they were totally out when I went to get mine today, so I had to get a raincheck. Hopefully they'll get some back in before my coupon expires - I've always wanted an electric toothbrush. :-)

At Kohls - there was a $10 Gift Cert for Big and Tall clothes this past weekend. Because Big and Tall T-Shirts are on sale for $9.99 - I got a t-shirt for free for D (he wears Large/Tall).

New way to get a free PSL - Pumpkin Spice Latte

One word - Swagbucks. Can't believe I didn't think of this before, but I checked the Swag store and a $10 Starbucks Gift Card is 1,300 Swagbucks. I am not a huge swagbucks user since I find that their search engine is not that great, but even so I have almost 1200 in my account right now! I'm about to get motivated to search more so I can get myself the equivalent of 2 free Pumpkin Spice Lattes :-)

http://swagbucks.com

That's much better...HT this week

Spent $116.69, saved $114.47 and got some Healthy Smile and Fresh Food Points. Much better than last week!

The Meal Deal this week is: buy a Contessa family size frozen dinner pouch, and get all of this free: Egg rolls, shrimp wonton soup, a box of Success Rice and a pepsi product 2 liter soda. Plus there is a coupon for Contessa in the newspaper 6/20 Red Plum for $1.50 off - orig. price for everything 7.95, final price = 6.45

Some great coupon deals:

Arm & Hammer Toothpaste - orig. 3.55, BOGO so about $1.77 each - plus 75 cent cpn on 6/20 and 8/22 Smart Source x2 = 17 cents per tube (what did I say about ultra cheap/free toothpaste?)

Wisk laundry detergent - orig. 7.25, sale 4.99, $3 off cpn in 8/29 Red Plum= $1.99 (love this deal - I had 2 cpns)

Keebler is doing a nice deal where if you buy 4 cookies or crackers you get $5 off at the register. Some things are on sale like Keebler Graham crackers are $2.50 each - plus there's a blinkie in the aisle for $1 off 2 Keebler crackers and two of my graham crackers had peelie cpns on them for $1 off one box. So here's how I did the deal: Two boxes graham crackers at $2.50 each, 2 boxes Wheatables at 3.69 each. - two $1 off cpns for graham crackers, - $1 off 2 wheatables blinkie, -5 at the register I got all four boxes for $1.09 per box - nice! There are a whole bunch of ways you can do this deal.

Campbell's Select Harvest soup - orig. $2.29 - sale $1.25 each - cpn for $1 off two in 8/15 smart source = 75 cents per can

Quaker Instant Oatmeal - orig. 3.79, sale 2.50 - cpn for $1 off (can't remember where this came from)= $1.50

Post Cereal on sale for $2 (orig. 3.79 - 3.95) - cpn for $1.50 off 2 boxes if you also buy 1 gallon of milk. I was buying milk anyway and I got Shredded Wheat and Grape Nuts for $1.25 per box

Born Free Eggs Omega 3 - orig. 2.99, sale 2.50 - cpn for 35 cents off 6/13 RP x 2 = 1.80

Danimals Crush Cups yogurt - orig. 2.75, sale 2.50 - cpn for $1 off in an Acme booklet or 8/15 smart source = $1.50

Fage greek yogurt - orig. 1.67 per cup - sale 1. 34 - printable cpn (seeing couponing101.com) for 50 cents off x2 or $1 off one = 34 cents each

Some other good deals:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast buy 1 get 2 free
Center Cut Pork Chops and Whole Pork Tenderloin are about half off
HT Canned Veggies are buy 2 get 3 free
Stoneyfield Yogurt is 10 for $6 - you can get printable coupons for these on the Stoneyfield website
Yellow Peaches are 69 cents per lb (Eastern Grown) (compare to 2.49 per lb is a good deal)
Orville Redenbacher Popcorn is BOGO plus a 40 cent cpn in doubles (I've already used the cpn unfortunately)
HT Cereals are 97 cents eVIC (limit 2)

eating on a budget

My husband sent me this blog and I thought it would make a good post: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

There are a ton of recipes that make for cheap and tasty eats.

Sad savings...

We just got back from a long few weeks away, I had zero time to prep my grocery shopping so I only saved $47 on my $167 bill :-( However, at least $45 of that was batteries and beer (9-volt batteries for all of our smoke detectors and beer for a last minute Labor Day get together). I also discovered that I am no longer in the running for HT's Holiday Giveaway (spend at least $70 at HT 16 out of 18 weeks and get two $25 gift cards of your choice). This is sad, but the stack of newpapers on my doorstep full of coupons (plus coupons I took from the NJ papers) will serve as motivation to get back on the coupon horse.

I did get a couple of decent deals - There are peelie's by the chips for $1 off two bags of Lays/Tostitos/Rold Gold products, plus the tostitos and lays were BOGO, so that was a good deal on chips. HT salsa is also BOGO and I LOVE the Peach variety. Also, I got Danimals Coolisions yogurt for K for $1.50 after sale and coupon. Back to the real savings next week! Don't forget about the holiday giveaway if you're still in the running - it should say how many weeks you have qualified on your receipt.

Free Boba Fett

This one is for all my Star Wars loving nerd friends (Marathon is on today on Spike, btw)

Free Boba Fett with purchase of 5 other Star Wars Figurines

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/free-star-wars-boba-fett-figure/

The Pumpkin Spice Latte - Can you get the high without paying the same price as a pie?

With much anticipation, the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) is out at Starbucks! This is cause for much joy and much sorrow, since they are so delicious and yet so expensive. My grande cost me just over $5 today (whoa!). So, I tried looking around to see how you can get a discount at Starbucks. Unfortunately, there aren't too many ways to do this. I have yet to see a coupon for $ off of a Starbucks specialty drinks just floating around out there. Last year, I did get one when I made a purchase at Target; it was a BOGO half off coupon for any specialty coffee at the in-store Starbucks that printed out at the register. I shared it with my mother-in-law since my husband is a "black coffee that puts hair on your chest" kind of guy. I have seen coupons for their grocery store products, but those don't get you any closer to the coveted PSL. If you're a Starbucks regular, getting a Starbucks Rewards card might be worth it, but since I have become focused on savings, I pretty much avoid the place at all costs unless they're doing a free coffee giveaway (which is usually just regular coffee when it happens).

Long sentences aside, I started to think about alternatives. So here are some options for all you rebels out there fighting against the Starbucks Juggernaut.

1. Mom & Pop Shops - ok, so maybe these are more like "Mike & Steve" shops nowadays, but you get the idea. Local shops tend to charge less and have "buy 8 and get your 9th cup free" punch cards. In Durham, you can try Joe Van Gogh on Broad St. or Bean Traders on 9th. In Raleigh, I always liked Global Village Organic Coffee on Hillsborough right near NC State - though parking there lately is a B. In Cary, Crema Coffee (shout out to Kevin & Regina, proprietors) on the corner of High House and Davis has always been a favorite of mine. These shops usually do some seasonal drinks that can be pretty close to the precious Starbucks PSL and maybe save you a few cents. Plus, they tend to roast their own coffee so the quality of their beans is incredible if you're into the "hair on your chest" variety or just want to brew some high quality coffee at home. We do this instead of spending $ picking up a cup every day. A final perk - if you stick around you might get to see some local musicians. This, to me, is better than sitting in Starbucks in the uncomfortable chairs listening to the latest John Mayer Album that they just-so-happen to be selling at the counter, but it's a personal choice. Just like being a DJ-person instead of a Live Band-person or a Cat-person instead of a Dog-person. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just not how I roll ;-)

2. Other Chains - One of Starbucks' major competitors, Caribou Coffee, also does wonderful seasonal lattes and specialty drinks. Depending on where you are located, these can be cheaper, and they also put out more coupons than SBs - I have found several $1 off a large drink coupons from the newspaper this year, and there were coupons in my Entertainment book. Some locations even have a drive-thru like the one in Cary off of Maynard. Dunkin' Donuts can definitely be cheaper, but if you're a coffee snob you probably don't think of their lattes as "real" lattes. However, I find that their "Vanilla Spice" coffee they have during the Fall and Winter months to be quite tasty, especially "Light and Sweet" - and it's much, much cheaper than the PSL. They put out a lot of coupons and special deals, as well. For a while, my receipt at HT had some coupons for 99 cent lattes printed on the back! I saved a bunch of them since they didn't expire.

3. Non-coffee places - Other places not necessarily known for their coffee but who can do a good job with this type of latte are Panera Bread (whose house latte has always tasted like a PSL to me) and Cosi (don't think we have a Cosi in the triangle area yet). Have lunch, then a latte to go. My latte at Cosi in NJ a few days ago was cheaper than SB, and I used my Cosi card so if I buy 10 I think I get one free. That would probably take me all year to get to 10 even if I lived near a Cosi, but it's the principle of the thing.

4. Beg - If you're really hard up and very picky about the PSL, remind people that your birthday/Bat Mitzvah/engagement/retirement/baby shower/house warming/(insert religious holiday here) is coming up, and that Starbucks gift cards are your preferred method of currency. Wear an "I heart my Pumpkin Spice Latte" sticker on your person at all times and get a bumper sticker to drive home the point. No judgment; there's an SB on literally every corner in most US cities so trying to avoid your addiction may be futile until they build some PSL rehab clinics.

5. Make Your Own - What really makes a pumpkin spice latte different than any other sweet latte at Starbucks is, well, pumpkin spice. You can literally buy it at the grocery store (maybe with a coupon??) and sprinkle it on your homemade latte or coffee. You can even make your own pumpkin spice out of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ground ginger (same stuff they put in pumpkin pie). Here is a recipe if you really want to try to make a pumpkin spice latte yourself - don't know how good it is, but if you try it, let me know!

Many thanks to my friend Emily to inspired this post and from whom I stole the picture... :-)

More Coupon Month news...

I love Coupon Month! Coupon Sherpa is doing 30 days of tips - I highly recommend the first three!

http://www.ilovecouponmonth.com/tips/

September is National Coupon Month - who knew?

I know a lot of people with September birthdays, but those have all been eclipsed by my new favorite September celebration: National Coupon Month (who knew?)

To celebrate, Red Plum is doing September Dash 4 Deals this month. There will be special printable coupons and deals each day of the month this month. Today's was a 20% off coupon at Kmart when I checked. Check it out: www.redplum.com/dash

Do you know of any other celebrations for National Coupon Month?

Stuff you shouldn't have to pay for...at least not often

I was thinking tonight about things I usually get free or close to free on a regular basis. Just because you don't like these brands doesn't mean that you can't get discounts on brands you normally buy. I'm just pretty brand flexible most of the time. These are my top picks:

Rice - usually Mahatma brand. There are frequently 50 cent off coupons for these online or in the paper. Some stores sell the small rice bag regularly for only a little more than a dollar and then when the coupon doubles, the item is almost free. Or you can use them during triple coupons at HT to get it free.

Bread - Nature's Own has been putting out these 75 cents off coupons online. They say they are for the premium bread but you use them on the regular honey wheat or 100% whole wheat kind. When the bread is on sale BOGO at Harris Teeter and the coupons double to $1.50 the bread is free. Even when the bread is 1.99, it's only 50 cents. Plus Harris Teeter has given me some catalinas and special eVICs for free bread lately.

Toothpaste - I've gotten free toothpaste at Kroger and Harris Teeter. I haven't paid more than 50 cents for brand name (Aquafresh, Colgate, Crest) toothpaste (sensitive or advanced care or just regular) since last summer. Remember to pick up toothpaste and toothbrush coupons at your dentist's office.

Deodorant - especially the Sure brand - with coupons and sales it has been 50 cents or less.

Shampoo - Herbal essences shampoo and conditioner with sales and coupons has been 50 cents. I've gotten a similar deal with Pert Plus also.

Wholly Guacamole - every time Harris Teeter does Super Doubles I get the small package for free using the $1 off printable coupon

Yogurt - the most common ones I get free with sales and coupons are Danactive, Activia, Yoplait YoPlus, Yoplait Fiber One, or Dannon Light and Fit 4 packs. The Danimals crush cups and Danonino have been free or close to free.

Mission Flour Tortillas - 50 cent coupons triple to $1.50 which frequently match up with sales on these

Pillsbury Cresent rolls and biscuits - there are always tons of coupons for these online and in the paper and there are lots of sales and catalina deals for these things that give you $4 or $5 off your total order or next order if you buy a certain number of them. I've actually made money on these deals.

Lysol bathroom cleaner - with coupons and sales, especially during triples, these can be 50 cents each

Dawn dish soap - a 50 cent coupon can double and make the small bottle free when it's on sale for 99cents

Chex Mix - It's easy to get these for 50 cents during triples if they are on sale. I've gotten them as low as 17 cents a bag though

Heinz Ketchup and French's mustard - Ketchup has been as low as 17 cents per bottle and mustard has been free. It's good to stock up on things like this because they last a long time.

Kix cereal - there have been some great 75 cents off coupons that during triple coupons have made this 25 cents per box. I try not to pay more than $1 to $1.50 per box for brand name cereal (usually Cheerios, Special K, and Frosted Mini Wheats have the best deals)

Ken's steakhouse and Wishbone salad dressing - small bottles have been 25 or 50 cents with sales and coupons

Anything you typically get for free (or close to it)?

Follow Me on Twitter! @lovelimom

I've decided that every good blogger also needs a Twitter account. Not sure how much I'll Tweet and how much I'll just use it to get other deals. I already retweeted a coupon contest from Nature's Own to win free bread for a year (awesome!). I'll look for those things and retweet them for ya!

Coupon Class in Burlington, NC this Saturday

There is a "Coupon Makeover Class" going on in Burlington NC this Saturday. They say you can save 50-75% on your grocery bill! Here are the details, courtesy of my friend Lori!

Saturday August 21st, 2010 @10am
May Memorial Library
342 S. Spring Street
Burlington, NC 27215

336-229-3588
Call to register or ask at the Reference Desk

Harris Teeter this week 8/7/10!!!

Spent $144.18, saved $122.64 not including the $5 rebate I have to do for my Sorrento String Cheese.

Just a warning for the MLK store in Durham - a lot of things were mis-tagged yesterday, meaning if you don't get that discount, you might get the item for free. That's what happened with my Mission Tortillas - the tag said 2 for $3, but it rang up as 2.95. They gave me my entire purchase price back. It always pays to check your receipt. Typically I at least scan for items that did not ring up with some kind of sale discount because almost everything I buy is on some kind of VIC special. If it's not, I had to have planned it that way or it rang up wrong. :-)

Please check Sue Stock's Blog Here for which circulars the coupons are in. Remember also that at HT, you can buy just one item at half price if the sale is BOGO.

Other reminders:

"blinkies" are coupons found in the dispensers in the aisles - The could have been in the aisle this week, or I could have pulled them some weeks ago and just kept them. They're called blinkies because there is sometimes a red blinking light on the dispensers.

"peelies" are cpns found stuck to the package. Again, you might use the ones stuck to the package you bought today, or you might just keep them for a later use if you have a better paper coupon.

"tearpad" are cpns found in a thick post-it like pad near an item. There was a big penguin cardboard cut out in the freezer section a few weeks ago with a ton of tearpad coupons for dairy and frozen stuff.

"IP" means "internet printable" coupons, though I may just refer to them as printable. Find them online at coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, or couponing101.com

Most other coupons are from the newspaper unless otherwise noted. Some are home mailings or from magazines.

**Keep in mind, if you are an eVIC member, you will get personal eVIC specials that are just for you. They usually send and email about these on Fridays though they also show up at the bottom of your receipt. You can go to the front desk at the beginning of your shopping trip and ask them to print out your deals for you also (thanks to Lori for this tip!) Sometimes you'll get to try an item for free this way - last week it was HT Slow Churned ice cream for free and this week it's HT Almond butter for me.

On to some of the deals (in no particular order):

Lots of P&G products on on e-VIC special this week and there are tons of cpns out for those. Plus I get a bunch in the mail since I signed up for a rebate with them a few months ago. They include:

Dawn Dish Liquid - orig. 3.19, on eVIC special (limit 1) for 1.77, $1 off coupon for the Olay Hand Renewal type made it 77 cents, there is a 25 cent coupon in last weeks P&G Saver which will double if you don't have the $1 off one.

Tide Laundry Detergent (64 loads) - orig. 14.75, eVIC for 9.97 (limit 1) - $2 off coupon in the most recent Parents magazine = 7.97 - or use the $1 off coupon in the P&G saver

Charmin Big Roll (12) toilet paper - orig. 8.79, eVIC for 5.77 (limit 1)- $1 off coupon I got in the mail, but again, there are other cpns in the paper = 4/77

Bounty 8 BIG rolls - orig. 9.99, eVIC for 5.77 - 25 cents coupon in 8/1 P&G saver doubles to 50 cents = 5.27

I try to pay less than $5 for toilet paper and less than $6 for the paper towels, otherwise I don't fee like it's a good deal. Less than $4 is the best I get for the TP and less than $5 is the best for paper towels

Cascade Action Pacs (love these!!! and the Finish ones too, no getting powder everywhere or splattering the liquid, plus they clean really really well, no spots on glasses) - orig. 7.79, sale 5.99, - I had a $3 off catalina coupon (the ones that print out at the checkout) so it was 2.99 for the pack. There are some other coupons in the P&G Saver though I believe.

Luvs Diapers Jumbo pack are 5.99 this week (normal sale is 6.99, so this is good, especially if you have the $2.50 off coupons they send you in the mail, they're 3.49)

Pampers or Huggies Jumbo pack are 6.97 eVIC special this week (otherwise on sale of 8.99 and originally either 10.99 or 11.99). Limit is 1. Add the $3 off Huggies Snug &Dry printable coupon and it's 3.97 for that pack. or add one of the P&G savers pampers coupons for $1 or $1.50 off. Less than $4 for a jumbo pack of diapers is a good deal in general.

Kelloggs Mini Wheats, little bites (K loves these) - all Kellogs cereals are 50 % off. The small boxes of Mini Wheats were orig. 3.49, on sale for $1.77, plus $1 off 3 coupon = about $1.44 per box. Close to $1 per box (or less) for cereal is what I try to aim for, then I stock up. It lasts for about a year usually.

Furmano 28oz diced tomatoes are BOGO - couldn't find a coupon, but this is still a decent deal for making cheap chili - orig. 2.20, sale 1.10

Peter Pan peanut butter - orig. 2.49, sale 1.67, cpn for 60 cents off on 8/1 doubles to 1.20 off = 47 cents

Orville Redenbacher popcorn - orig. 2.99, sale 1.49 (BOGO) - cpn for 40 cents off on 8/1 doubles to 80 cents = 69 cents (we like the Naturals variety, especially the simply salt 50% less fat version)

Kraft Mac n Cheese Explosion - orig. 1.35 per box, personal eVIC special of 5 for $5 (limit 5) - I had blinkie coupons for 55 cents off 2 of this variety, and these doubled. So I bought 4 at 45 cents per box.

HT Facial Tissue - orig. 1.49 per box, eVIC = 57 cents (limit 1)

Blue Dog Natural Dog Treats (20 oz) - BOGO - orig. 4.75, sale 2.37

Gillette Fusion Procare after shave lotion - orig. 7.99, sale 4.99, coupon for $2 off = 2.99

Loreal True Match Foundation makeup - orig. 10.99, sale 6.99, cpn for $2 off = 4.99

Herbal Essences haircare products - orig. 3.99, sale 2 for $5, cpn for BOGO made them 1.25 each for 2 (I got the mousse)

Angus NY Strip steak (on sale for 6.99 per lb, usually 10.99) - for example, orig. 12.86, sale 8.18

Pork Baby Back Ribs (on sale for 2.99 per lb, usually 6.99) - for example, orig. 16.38, sale 8.40 (having this for dinner tonight with a nice southwestern rub, yum!)

Fresh Mozzerella (on sale for 4.99 per lb) - for example, orig. 6.39, sale 3.19. (we're having homemade pizza this week)

Nature's Own Whole Grain bread is 1.99 - printable coupon for 75cents off doubles to 1.50 = 49 cents (I love that I rarely pay more than 50 cents for bread anymore). You can use this printable on any natures own though it says it's for the premium specialty breads.

PEACHES - eastern grown are on a great sale, 49 cents per lb. For the 2.81 lbs of peaches I bought, it would have been 5.03 normally, I paid $1.38. Always look for in-season local produce.

Bartlett pears - on sale for 1.49 per lb (we're making the poached pear recipe in the the Food Network magazine this past month - looks yummy! and easy, you use the microwave. This is how I make baked apples too - great with some cool whip or vanilla ice cream as a dessert)

Organic Strawberries - were on sale for $3 per lb. same as the conventional strawberries. I got a raincheck because they were out.

Broccoli crowns are 1.79

Hot house cucumbers - orig. 2.49, sale 1.50

White Potatoes (5lb) orig. 3.99, sale 3.49 (not great, but the only potato sale, we made hash browns this morning)

Zucchini and yellow squash on sale for 99 cents/lb - for example, orig. 2.69, sale 1.31

Sorrento string cheese - orig. 4.99, sale 3.99 - plus 65 cents off 2 tearpad coupon from the Penguin, doubled to 1.30 off 2 - 3.34 each, plus I have a $5 rebate off 2 form which was a peelie on a previous pkg of sorrento string cheese. So I'll essentially get them for 84 cents each

Dannon Yogurt - orig. 75 cents each, sale 6 for $4 (or 67 cents each) - plus $1 off 10 cpn = 57 cents each

YoKids Stonyfield 6pck yogurt - orig. 3.99, sale 2.99, cpn for $1 off on Stonyfield website = 1.99

Oscar Meyer Angus Beef Franks - orig. 5.49, sale 2 for $8, cpn for $1 off 2 = 3.50 each

I also had a catalina coupon for a Free HT hand sanatizer :-)

Harris Teeter this week 8/1/10

First post on groceries in a while! Today I spent $136.67 and saved $115.26.

We've been away for a while and have been living off the stockpile as well, so we needed to replenish a bunch of things. Here are some sale deals that helped us do that.

Smithfield Bacon - Buy 2 get 3 free
Porktenderloin - BOGO
Lean Ground Turkey - BOGO
HT Natural Ice Cream - Buy 2 get 3 free
Nathan's Hot Dogs - BOGO
Angus London Broil - BOGO
Angus top round steak - BOGO
Thomas's English Muffins - BOGO
grapes - orig 2.58/lb, sale 1.99/lb.
maple syrup - orig.7.45, sale 4.99

Muellers pasta - orig. $1.39, sale 5 for $5 - blinkie cpn for $2 off 5 = 60 cents each
Skippy PB - orig. 2,79, sale BOGO or 1.39 each - 60 cent cpn on 8/1 x2 = 19 cents
Peter Pan - orig 2.49, sale $2 - 60 cents cpn on 7/25 x2 = 80 cents
Eggo waffles - orig 2.99, sale $2 - cpn for $1 off 2 on 7/25 = $1.50 per box

eVIC specials

HT thin or old fashioned bread - 67 cents
HT large eggs - 67 cents
HT Churned Lowfat ice cream - FREE
HT organic milk $3.99
HT Milk $1.97
,

Dick's Sporting Goods Coupons

You've probably noticed I haven't posted in a while. Things have been hectic to say the least! Now that they've calmed down slightly you might see more posts.

My friend L. at work informed me that if you are a member of an outdoor club like the Sierra Club or the Boy Scouts, you can get a special packet of coupons at Dick's Sporting Goods. Some great ones for tents, sleeping bags, water bottles - mostly camping type gear. They're good through Jan of 2011 so they'd be good for buying Christmas gifts for your outdoorsy family members or friends. Thanks for the tip, L.!

Old Navy and LOFT - $1 flip flops at ON and 50% off sale styles at LOFT

Just passing it on, there are $1 Flip Flops at Old Navy on Sat. July 3rd, 2010

Plus, In-Store 50% off sale styles at LOFT

Some Sale Price Reminders for HT

Hey everyone - I just wanted to remind you guys about a few points related to Harris Teeter sales:

1. Things that are on sale 2 for $4, 2 for $5, 3 for $5, 10 for $10 (of the same item) etc - you can buy just one at the divided price. You do not have to buy multiples.

2. Things that are Buy One Get One free (BOGO)- you can just buy 1 and it will ring up at half price almost all the time (unless otherwise noted in the sale paper).

3. Super specials like Buy 2 get 3 free - You DO have to buy all 5 to get the discount - they cannot be split up.

At Kroger, they frequently do a 10 for $10 sale that allows you to mix and match items. To get this discount you DO have to purchase 10 items involved in the sale. You CAN use coupons within this sale though and can often get items for free or really cheap that way.

At both stores, there are sometimes special promotions like Buy 4 boxes of General Mills cereal and get $5 off. Special promotions have to be purchased the way they are listed, but again you can use coupons to get great deals on things this way. In the General Mills example, if you had two copies of a "$1 off two boxes" coupon, and bought 4 boxes, you would get the $5 off for the promotion, plus 2 more dollars off using the coupons. And coupons up to 99 cents will double, so you could use a 55 cents off honey nut cheerios coupon, which would double to $1.10. If you had two of those coupons and a $1 off two boxes coupon, would would get $5 off for the promotion, $2.20 off for the honey nut cheerios coupons, and $1 off for the two boxes coupon. A total of $8.20 off of four boxes of cereal. HT's coupon policy states that you can only double coupons on up to three identical items. So if you had 4 coupons for Honey Nut Cheerios for 55 cents off, only three of them would double to $1.10 - the fourth would ring at face value.

Click here for Harris Teeters Coupon Policy to read more.

Keep in mind that you can get Rain Checks for things that are on sale if the store is out of them unless they have a "while supplies last" specification. A rain check is essentially a piece of paper that states that you are entitled to the item at the sale price even after the sale is over. For example, Starbucks Hot Chocolate Ice Cream was on sale for $2 several months ago when it first came out. The store was out of it, so I got a rain check which stated I could purchase up to three of them at the $2 price once they were back in stock. You can use coupons with Rain Checks, so I was able to get my ice cream for free during Super Double Coupons because I had a $1 off coupon and the $2 rain check. If I didn't have the rain check or coupon, I would have had to pay the full price which was almost $5 for the pint. Rain checks are especially great for meat sales since they frequently run out of meat. You actually could get a rain check for something you're not necessarily planning to purchase that day if they are out of that item, and then use the rain check later with a coupon if a coupon comes out for that item later. I might do this for items I use frequently.

If you need a refresher on these and other coupon/grocery store savings related issues, feel free to re-read one of my original blog posts on grocery store savings - you can find it in the archives back in October - it's called "The Updated Grocery Store Savings Post". Ask me if you have questions!

Super Double Coupons this week at Harris Teeter! - starts Wednesday

Ok, here they come folks, super doubles!!!!! It will start when the new prices are posted on Wednesday. That means any coupon valued up to $1.99 will be doubled! Sue Stock says she'll have a deals list up in the next couple of days so check her site (link is to the left of this page). They always run out of stuff that is free or uber-cheap so get there early. Remember, most printable coupons will likely double!