Giddy for Grocery Smarts

The Run Down:

Total: $171.04
Bonus buy savings: $27.26
Preferred savings: $51.98
Coupons: $16.11

Total Spent: $ 75.69 (67% savings!!)

All of the meat I got (2 steaks, 1 pk of chicken, and 2 roasts) were all FREE! Don't you LOVE Albertsons.

Free Money from Albertsons!!

Smart sister here...Albertsons is having an awesome deal right now. If you get a $250 gift card they give you $20, and if you get a $300 gift card they give you $30. This deal is happening until April 15.

What a great deal...I love free money.

Walgreens Trip Today

Here's a breakdown of my Walgreen's trip today:

Total Value: $136.99

Walgreen's Advertised Savings: $40.08

Register Rewards: $12.00

Manufacturer Coupons: $36.80

Total Spent: $48.11

But...I'm also going to get $8.99 back in rebates + 10% because I'm going to put in on a Walgreen's gift card. So that brings my total out of pocket to $39.12 which is a 71% savings!

Not all the items here are "stars of today's show" (example...the 8 cans of wasabi soy sauce almonds my husband is addicted to), but things we needed and were on sale (and I had coupons for OF COURSE)!

But here are a few stars of the show:

• Colgate: $3.49-$2.50 ivc (instant value coupon)-$.75 mfg coupon=$.24
• Right Gaurd Deoderant: $2.99-$2 rr(register rewards)-$.55 mfg coupon=$.44
• Excedrin: $5.99-$4 ivc-$2 mfg coupon=FREE
• Glade Lasting Impressions: $7.99-$4 ivc-$4 mgf coupon=FREE
• Glade Motion Sensor: $7.99-$4 ivc-$4 mgf coupon=FREE
• Axe Shampoo: $5.99-$5.99 rebate=FREE

And last but not least, the diapers, toilet paper(12 rolls) and 6 boxes of kleenex: $25.00-$10 rr-$7 mfg coupons=$8.00.

5 Tips for Stretching Your Dollar!

So a while back I taught a class for a BYU stake enrichment on stretching your dollar....so I thought I'd share. I hope these tips are helpful!

1. Grocery Shop according to weekly sales
- find these weekly sales items on grocerysmarts.com

2. Plan your menu around the sales that week.
- a good place to start is to see what meat is on sale that week
- be sure to go to the store with a list so you don't find yourself buying unnecessary items
- if you don't love to cook, make double when you do and freeze it for another meal
- bringing your lunch to work once a week can save anywhere from $250-$1000 per year!

3. Stock up on sale items!!!
- grocery smarts has a GREAT rating system to help you to know how good of a sale it really is
- don't be afraid to try new brands

4. Combine coupons with sale items for OVER-THE-TOP savings
- the best system for this is obviously grocery smarts...contact us if you don't know this system yet!
- a few sites for online coupons: http://www.couponmom.com/, http://afullcup.com/, http://www.coupons.com, http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/, ttp://www.ppgazette.com/
- the newspaper is probably the best way to access coupons but if this is not an option fpr you take advantage of all of the online coupons out there.

5. Lastly...distinguish between needs and wants

A while ago the lady that started couponmom.com was on the Oprah show. She figured that in the last 15 years she has saved her family around $70,000 usuing these steps! That is HUGE! For any stay at home moms out there that is a ginormous contribution to your families income/savings.

Bonus!

Yesterday was a double insert day!! Did you get your P&G inserts along with your Smart Source inserts? The awesome thing about that is they usually come in the mail which means you only get one! If you are getting multiple papers, congratulations...you scored big time yesterday!

Score at Albertsons!

(sorry for the poor quality photo...my camera's still in the shop)

Don't let this week go by without checking out the sale going on at Albertson's! They have a couple promotions going on: buy 10 items (from a select list) and receive a $10 voucher for your next transaction. This sale might take a little more planning than others, but it is well worth it. Consider doing separate transactions since only one $10 voucher is allowed per "transaction."

Here's the rundown:

Total Value: $203.44

I paid: $75.02

Bonus Buy/Preferred Savings: $67.42

Manufacturer's Coupons: $61.00
63% savings

(I must add: I got two packages of diapers and $10 of ground beef for my husband's pack meeting last night. Those alone are a $35 value. Plus, I got 12 Betty Crocker Warm Delights and 4 Progresso Bread Crumbs for FREE thanks to my multiple coupons from the Sunday paper)

This is so much fun! Don't you agree?

No Inserts Today

Sorry, ladies... no inserts this weekend. None in your junk mail this past week and none in the Sunday paper on 2/15.

Rule of Thumb - Anytime a holiday falls on a weekend, major coupon publishers (SS, RP & PG) take a break. Sad, but true.

For a complete schedule of 2009 inserts, click here.