Want to Save $ on Gas?

As most of you know, when you spend $50 at Shaw's you will be rewarded with a coupon for 0.10 off/gallon of gas. This promo comes and goes... but at the moment, there is a supplemental deal where if you buy 5 of the following products, then you will gain an addition 10 cents per gallon:

• Shaw's all beef patties
• Shaw's salad
• Ken's Steak House Dressing
• Klondike Bars
• Hood or Popsicle Frozen Novelities
• Mt Olive Pickles ($1/1 6/28 newspaper insert)
• Chatham Village Croutons
• A1
• Knorr/Lipton Pasta or Rice Sides
• Shaw's Cheese Curls
• French's Mustard ($1/2 coupon - 6/21 newspaper insert)
• Cain's Sweet Relish
• Hefty OneZip Bags
• Homelife Everyday Napkins or Cutlery
• Sargento Sliced Cheese
• Pepsi 6-pk bottles
• Grey Poupon Deli Mustard
• SoBe Life Water
• Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
• Homelife Party Cups
• Schweppes 1ltr bottles
• Smartfood Popcorn
• Kool-Aid Jammers
• Honey Maid Graham Crackers
• Shaw's Marshmallows
• Hersey's Chocolate Bars ($1/2 6/28 newspaper insert)

THEN to make the deal even sweeter, if you register your coupon or Shaw's card at override.com, you will get ANOTHER 10 cent's per gallon for a total of 30 cents off per gallon of gas which would be $6 if you were to buy 20 gallons of gas. Not bad considering that gas is creeping up in price lately...

Free Toothpaste at CVS this week...

and not much else worth mentioning in my opinion.

Colgate is on sale for $0.99 and there was a $1 coupon in yesterday's newspaper = FREE toothpaste.

Other possible deals...

2/$1 Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle soups

2/$1 Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna

2/$4 General Mills Cereals - $1/3 coupon in 6/28 Smart Source
The offer is 1 per household, but if you bought 3 boxes, you'd pay $9 - $1 coupon - $2 ECB = $2/box which is about as much as I'm willing to pay for cereal, because you can usually find deals on it.

If you REALLY need papertowels, Brawny come out to be less than $1 per roll after ECB's (6.99 - 2 ECB = 5.99 after ECB.

What I would do is... IF you need these items, buy the papertowels and the cereal. Take those out to the car and then go back in to get the soup and tuna, so that you can pay for those items w/the $4 ECB's that were earned on the cereal and papertowels.

After the past few months of horrible sales at CVS... I might start looking at Walgreen's & Rite Aid deals... stay tuned! :)

Coke & Kielbasa

So... you want to get the coke & kielbasa deal at Shaw's this week, but don't know what to do with the kielbasa? WELL, I can help!! I've just posted three kielbasa recipes on my cooking blog.

Check it out!
http://cookingchristy.blogspot.com

Shaw's Sale Starting 6/26

Just browsing the circular and saw a few things of interest...

• Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce 10 for $10 -$1 off 1 Smart Source 6/21... so FREE!!!
• Coke 5/$12 AND with that 2 FREE packages of Hillshire Farms Kielbasa or Smoked Sausage - coupon in sales ad - should be able to combine this with $1 off 2 Hillshire Farms products coupon from Red Plum 6/7 to make this an even better deal

• $0.99/lb Eggplant, Zucchini, Summer Squash (eggplant parm would make an inexpensive dinner! check out my cooking blog for an easy recipe http://cookingchristy.blogspot.com/)
• 10 for $10 - Coolwhip (time for some tasty summer desserts!)
• Sweet Corn - 10 ears for $1.99 ...MMMmmm...
  

Need soap? If so, it's a good week to stock up on Dove Products!
Spend $15 on Dove and get a $5 coupon towards your next shopping trip.

• Dove Bar Soap (6pk) $6.99 (shelf = 7.99)
• Dove Body Wash $6.99 (shelf = 7.99)
• Dove Body Mist 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Shampoo 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Conditioner 2/$6 (shelf = 4.99)
• Dove Deodorant 2/$5 (shelf = 4.69)

Just keep in mind that this deal is based on shelf price.

Scenario Example #1
1 Shampoo
1 Conditioner
1 Body Wash (or bar soap)
Shelf total = $17.97
Sale price = $12.99 and you would get a $5 coupon back.

Go back and either get the same products OR...

Scenario Example #2
2 deodorants
1 bar soap (or body wash)
Shelf total = $17.37
Sale price = 12.99 BUT you would use the $5 coupon and only pay $7.99 and get another $5 coupon

Scenario Example #3
2 Body Wash (or bar soap)
Shelf total = $15.98
Sale price = 13.98 BUT you would use the $5 coupon and only pay $8.98 and get another $5 coupon

I think you get the point...

BOGO's - generally a pretty good deal, but if you can find coupons for these products, then even better...

• Friendly's Ice Cream
• Lay's Potato Chips
• Arm & Hammer detergent (I'm a Tide snob, but just thought I'd mention it)
• Peri Italian Sausage (good for adding to spaghetti or lasagna)
• Hatfield Bacon
• Hatfield Hamsteaks
• Ken's Cocktail Sauce
• Nature's Pride Bread
  
• Shaw's Light Bread
• Wise Cheese Doodles or Popcorn
• Jolly Time Popcorn ($1 off 2 printable HERE)
  

Shop Online?

If so... do you know about www.retailmenot.com?

This site collects online discount codes and all you have to do is type in the site where you're shopping and it will give you a list of possible codes. Sometimes, you will find codes for free shipping, a percentage off of your order, or even free gifts with purchase. I ALWAYS check this site before checking out.

We recently used this site to find coupon codes for Domino's Pizza. Definitely check it out!

Free Yogurt!

Yoplait is giving away free yogurt to promote a new product.

Check it out!
http://www.redplum.com/pages/SweetFinds.aspx

One more helpful hint...
Create a new email address that can be used only for signing up for product newsletters, freebies, etc. Most legitimate sites will NOT bombard you with junk mail, but it's always a good idea to have a separate email address so that you don't have to page through pages of emails that you might not be interested in.

Like to Eat Out?

I do!! I do!!
Despite how much I've been savings on groceries, I still like to eat out once a week or so. Ok, maybe more often, but I just wanted to let everyone know that www.Restaurant.com has an 80% off sale this week.

www.Restaurant.com generally offers discounted restaurant gift certificates. The usual price is $10 for a gift certificate worth $25, however from time to time, they offer 70-80% off specials. The current discount code is DISH and it's good for 80% off, which means that you pay $2 for a $25 gift certificate. Of course, there are some restrictions, but I've had great luck with this site. Some examples of the restrictions are that you have to spend a minimum of $35 and you can't use more than one certificate at a time. No restriction on day of the week or time from what I can tell.

I've bought and used certificates for The Blue Mermaid and Radici in Portsmouth and Jonathon's in Ogunquit. I just bought a couple more so that I could test out the discount code before posting it and it worked like a charm.

One warning, you will sometimes see other *deals* when you are in the process of checking out. I'd recommend ALWAYS clicking 'no thanks' to those as they can be services that will automatically charge your card.

AND make sure you have a way to print, because you will need to print out your gift certificate for redemption.

So, go buy those gift certificates and treat yourself to an extra glass of wine with dinner since you've saved so much on the food! :)

How to Find Info on the Best Deals

AAAHHH... where to start...

When I started on my quest to save money on our grocery bill, I started with www.thegrocerygame.com. I think this is one of the easiest ways to find products at the lowest price. I liked this site, because it shows you how to match up coupons to the weekly sales. It also points out when products are at the lowest price points. I highly recommend the $1 trial at least to get the hang of things. I don't use the site anymore, because once I figured out how to find the deals on my own, I didn't find it to be a worthwhile expense. Even without the paid subscription, you can get many good internet printable coupons here.

Another good site is www.couponmom.com - similar match up by stores/weekly sales and it's FREE, but I don't think it's as user friendly. HOWEVER, I like this site, because it emails me the updates when new printable coupons are available AND where there are 70 or 80% off codes for www.restaurant.com, which means $2 or $3 for $25 restaurant gift certificates (last week, I got Radici, Four, and Cranberries @ the Holiday Inn). Again, this site also offers links to internet printable coupons.

One of my favorite sites is www.hotcouponworld.com. This site has TONS of information, but I stick to the forums and I also use the coupon database. I generally read the CVS forum (http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/cvs/) to see if I've overlooked anything in the ad or if there are any hidden deals (AKA money makers). This forum posts the ads ahead of time, which is convenient to see what specials are coming up.

I also read the Shaws forum (http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/shaws/) - especially when there are Catalina deals to be had. A catalina deal is when you buy a certain dollar amount of specific products and get money back in the form of a coupon to be spent on your next shopping trip. In my opinion, these are the best scenarios for building your stockpile. One thing that many people don't realize is that these deals are generally based on shelf rather than sale prices, so you can find some helpful scenarios on this site.

Another site to check out is www.slickdeals.net. I like to check the Shaw's forum here when there are Catalina deals to be had as well. Someone will generally post the list of participating products along with shelf prices and confirmation that the items are working based on the shelf prices.

Helpful hints that I didn't realize until I started using coupons:

• When an item is BOGO, you can use one manufactures coupon per item. For example, Revlon cosmetics are BOGO at CVS this week. So, you want to get your favorite lipstick and it's $6.99. You buy two of them and happen to have two $2 mfg coupons - one for each product. So...
  

Lipstick #1 = 6.99
Lipstick#2 = FREE
Coupon #1 = -2.00
Coupon #2 = -2.00
Final Cost = $2.99 for BOTH tubes (OR 1.50 each)

• Store coupons can be used in conjunction WITH manufactures coupon. For example, Shaw's has Glad trash bags on sale AND they have a coupon for them in their weekly printable coupons for $1 off. In the newspaper, there is $0.75 which is very good news, because Shaw's doubles. The scenario would work out as follows:
  

Trash Bags = 5.99
Shaw's Coupon = -1.00
Mfg Coupon = -0.75
Mfg Coupon Doubled = -0.75
Final Cost = $3.49

Where to get coupons....
The best place to find coupons is your local Sunday newspaper. Some people subscribe to get ONLY the Sunday paper, some people make friends w/the convenience store cashiers to get the extras at the end of the day. Ask family and friends for the inserts.

Where to get internet printable coupons...
www.smartsource.com
www.redplum.com
www.coupons.com
www.thegrocerygame.com
www.couponmom.com
www.bettycrocker.com

Always check the websites for your favorite products to see if they have any current coupon or promotions. Be sure to watch your mailbox - email and the old fashioned kind - for coupons.

That's all I can think of for now... but please bear with me while I try to figure out a good format for listing the weekly specials. Thanks!

June 21-27 Shopping

CVS
Just reviewed the CVS flyer for the week and nothing too exciting or notable... I'll probably make a trip for the free after ECB* Soy Joy Bars. Not my favorite snack, but Jaden likes 'em and they're good to have in my purse for those times when I'm out shopping too long and he's getting cranky. AND I have a couple of CRT* coupons that will make them more than free (AKA money maker!). There were also some BOGO* and $2 off 10 coupons for these in Smart Source 5/31 newspaper. Frank's Red Hot is also on sale for $1/bottle. Might be good to get one of those to stash in my desk, since it's my fav hot sauce and I love to put it on just about everything, except for jello and pudding. Summary of possible CVS purchases:

• Soy Joy protein bars buy 4 @ $4 and get $4 ECB's back. (BOGO & $2/10 Smart Source 5/31; $2 off 5 CRT): final price = FREE or money maker if coupons are used
  
• Frank's Red Hot $1
• French's Mustard $1 - buy 2 and use $1 off 2 coupon (Smart Source 6/21): final price = 0.50 each
  
• Tylenol $4.99 - 2 ECB's - $2 coupon (Smart Source 6/21): final price = 0.99
• Revlon cosmetics - BOGO (there are some $1 off coupons out there and I have a couple of $2 and a $3 CRT that I'll use if I find anything that I want/need.)
  

Shaws
Sadly, no good deals like the past couple of weeks, but a few things that I'll probably pick up...

• 99 cent split chicken breasts look tempting, BUT... I don't usually deal w/chicken on the bone unless it's a rotisserie chicken from the deli
  
• BOGO* Blueberries. MMMmmm.
• BOGO Nature Sweet on the vine cherry tomatos ($1 off coupons from Smart Source 3/31 & other weeks)
• Pineapple 2/$5 (0.50 printable coupon HERE that will double): final price = $1.50 SWEET!
  
• The Pepsi deal: buy 5 12pks for $5 when you also buy a Frito Lays multipack @ $5.99. ot sure how reasonable that price is for the Frito Lay multipack, but might be ok if you need or want soda.
• Drumsticks ice cream are 2/$6 and buy 4, get back $4 coupon towards your next shopping trip; $1 off 2 coupon in Smart Source 6/14 or printable HERE
  

BJ's
Finally got a new BJ's membership... so it's been awhile since I've been there. Had some coupons from the mailer and got a few things that seemed to be reasonable prices.

• 2pk Soy Milk (1/2 gal each) @ 4.89 = 2.45 each - VERY good deal on a necessity as the best price I can usually find is 2.99 and Jaden drinks a LOT of soy milk.
• 10pk Puffs @ 10.99 - 3 = 0.79/cube. I've gotten them for less, but we needed em. Lil man always has a runny nose. :(
  
• 12pk Bounty @ 15.99 - 3 = 1.08/roll; again, I've definitely gotten paper towels cheaper, but they were much needed and the pkg said soft like a cloth, so I was thinking Viva soft, but not quite.
• 36pk of individual bags of snack crackers (Teddy Grahams, Nilla Wafers, etc) on sale for 7.29 (normally $10.29)
  
• Pampers Cruisers @ 39.99 - $10 coupon from BJ's welcome booklet - $1 P&G
• Downey @ 11.99 (again needed it, finally ran out of the bottles that I got at Kmart nearly free last year)

That's all I've seen so far this week... haven't looked at Rite Aid or Walgreens...

* acronyms:
ECB = Extra Care Bucks - CVS's instant rebate program where they give you a coupon at checkout that can be used towards your next purchase
CRT = Cash Register Tape; at CVS coupons will print on the bottom of your reciept or you can scan your card at the red machine to get CRT coupons
BOGO = buy one get one free