Kroger Mega Event 05/12-18

Just a reminder that Kroger has the same Mega event this week that they had last week. So if you didn't get the free pasta, chips or cheap cereal you still have a couple more days.

This post is to let you know there is one more really good deal out there:

Oscar Mayer Lunchables (with fruit, w/o drink) are $1.99 with the mega event, but there is a $1/1 coupon on coupons.com right now AND if you buy 4 in one transaction you get a $3 CAT to use on your next purchase. That makes these about $0.25 each. GREAT deal for a full size lunchable WITH a cup of fruit!

My girls have an all school picnic coming up next week and everything they take has to be disposable so I am thrilled to send them with one of these.

Neutrogena Sunscreen Deal @ CVS

This week CVS has Neutrogena Suncare items on sale starting at $7.99, but when you buy 2 you get $10 ECB back.
Use two $2/1 coupons found HERE to get these for $0.99/each.

This deal could get even better if you get a $3 off $10 healthcare items purchase printed off at the red machine across from the door. Then you would even get paid a little to take them :)

Remember if they are out of stock at your store to ask for a rain check! They never expire and you still get your ECBs. My favorite Neutrogena item is the sunscreen stick - especially great for babies faces!! They have an oil-free one for adult faces too. I LOVE them.

Kroger Mega Event 05/5-11

Hey guys, I wanted to make sure you all knew of some really good deals at Kroger this week (starting Thursday 05/05 through next Wed.). And this time I am even giving you plenty of time to get coupons printed and make it to the store before the sale is over! :)

I do not have time to type out all the deals and links, so I am directing you to my favorite Kroger match-up site. She has the full list (which can be overwhelming), so here are your focus items:

Ronzoni or Creamette pasta - on sale for 0.49, use $1/2 coupon to make them free
Organic Bounder Canyon potato chips - on sale for $1, use $1/1 coupon = free
Mom's Best Naturals cereal/oatmeal - sale for $1, use -0.75/1 coupon = 0.24
http://www.southernsavers.com/2011/04/kroger-ad-coupons-51-57-mega-event/

Just find these items on her list then print the coupons from her links. We LOVE having pasta around here so getting it for free is a real bonus. I use it to stretch chili (plus what kid doesn't love a little rotini in their soup?), make homemade mac-n-cheese and of course spaghetti and chili mac.
Good luck!!

p.s. - in case you haven't noticed, I am focusing primarily on free food and VERY cheap food for my blog posts. I wish I had more time to lay out all the deals, but I just don't right now. Don't forget to check my favorite bloggers for very extensive sale lists:
moneysavingmom.com
commonsensewithmoney.com
Those women do a fantastic job! I love being able to be a good steward with what God has given us and make a little income go a long way.

More FREE stuff . . .

Here are a few good freebies you can get this week at Meijer:

Green Giant boxed veggies are on sale for $1 - use $0.50 coupon (which will double) to get them free.
Totinos party pizzas - $1 sale - $0.50 coupon doubled
Powerade Water bottles - i forget the scenario, but FREE too
Bisquick - $1 sale, $0.50 coupon
Heluva Good dip (never bought it 'cause I don't like the name. i'm weird, i know) but it is free this week too.

I just don't have time to post all the coupon links etc... but I wanted you all to have the opportunity to go grab these freebies (especially the veggies!!!!) so below I have a link to a site called Savvy Spending, which is where I go for my Meijer match-ups. SHe has all the links for the coupons along with Meijer's other deals this week.
So go HERE: Meijer 4/3- 4/9 for the whole scoop.
Blessings,
~Laura

Free O.M. Hot Dogs

Surely by now you know my favorite price for anything is free :) Sorry for the short notice, but right now at Meijer you can get Oscar Mayer Hardwood Smoked Turkey franks for FREE. These are different than the regular turkey dogs -- it's supposed to be a new premium line (kind of like the angus thing for the beef dogs). The price is 1.99/pk if you buy 7 (of a list of participating Kraft items) you get instant savings at the register of $7.00 PLUS there is a $1/1 "peelie" coupon on the pks of hardwood smoked turkey franks So actually Meijer will pay you $0.01 to take each pk. I just went yesterday and they did not have any in the cooler so I asked a guy in the meat department and he went in the back and brought out 14 pks for me. And all 14 had the peelie coupon. YAY! we should be set for hot dogs for a while now. I would recommend calling your store before heading out -- just in case they're out.

eBay Groupon Deal 03/29/11

I have come out of my blogging hibernation today so that hopefully some of you can get in on the eBay Groupon deal. Today you can get a $15 voucher to anything on eBay for just $7! You must have a valid eBay and Paypal account to purchase this. Limit of one per person. If you have a groupon account, all you have to do is sign in to purchase it. If not, go through my link http://www.groupon.com/r/uu20751368 to sign up and i'll get an extra credit on my acct. :) I love eBay - not much you can't find on there.

Black Friday -- oops!

OK, I totally blew it. I forgot I even had a blog for the last week! And to think I left you all hanging on the biggest shopping day of the year too! Well, my one consolation to myslef is that I have tried to focus on groceries with this blog. As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't talk about other sale items. I figure groceries are one thing in life we NEED -- the others are "wants" and I don't want to tell you how to spend your money there. We just all try to be good stewards with all we're given while trying to let our families feel special at this time of year too. And that is TRICKY! At least I think it is. I love seeing my kids smile and enjoy gifts throughout the year, but it's hard knowing I'm spending money on more toys (and things of the like) rather than paying down mortgages or giving the money away.





"Black Friday" has usually been the day where I buy gifts for our kids to last almost every special event through the year. This year Nathan and I were going to buy a second laptop too (for the farm). So we hit WalMart then came home.



So since I missed telling you all the good deals out there, let me just say this -- Between now and the end of January is a really good time to buy basically all the "extra" kid stuff for the year. The sales are great before AND after Christmas. I always buy wrapping paper after Christmas for the next year too. Why pay full price when you can get it 50-75% off??



So sad as it may be, that's the only shopping advice I have for you here. I'll continue to post the free or nearly free grocery deals I find -- or let you know when I am going grocery shopping. I actually have not bought groceries since last week (except 1 gallon of milk).

FREE Toll House Cookie Dough

Surely by now you know my favorite price for anything is FREE --
So if you head to Bloomington for your free veggies tomorrow (or until next Wed.) make sure you stop by Target to get your free cookie dough. Here's what to do:

Transaction #1:

Buy 1 package of Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough at $1.96
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Spend $0.96 plus tax out of pocket, Get back a Target coupon good for $1 off your next purchase of cookie dough

Transaction #2:

Buy 1 Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough at $1.96
Use $1/1 printable coupon
Stack with $1/1 Target catalina coupon received on your previous order
Spend $0.00 out of pocket, Get another $1/1 Target Nestle Cookie Dough coupon

Repeat until you’ve stocked up (transaction details compliments of Moneysavingmom.com)

I love being ablel to combine shopping trips -- makes the gas $$ better spent!! Enjoy your cookies :)
ps - these freeze really well -- last time I bought premade cookie dough was the first time I ever have, it was 0.25/each so I bought 8-10 and froze them. I still have one in the freezer and they have all come out fine so far. Just FYI.

Jewel Deals 11/18-25

Jewel is having a savings event similar to Krogers this week (buy 10 items, get $5 off) but the Jewel sale includes FREE GREEN GIANT VEGGIES!

Sale price after instant savings is 0.50, but use the 0.50 coupon HERE to get them free. This is the same link I posted last time, so if you already printed yours, you'll have to find a new computer to print from. My print limit is already reached so it's time to get creative :)

Other good deals are: (price listed after savings)
Ragu pasta sauce - 0.99
Blue Bonnet - 0.49
Ritz crackers - $1.99

That's all I see worth buying, but if you're heading to Bloomington, make sure you grab your free veggies!
Couponingfor4 has a complete list of Jewel's sales this week so head on over to her if you want to see more. These are just the items that I think are a price worth paying.

KROGER 11/11-17

Krogers has a decent Mega event this week too (same as last week)
I went yesterday and got quite a few groceries to re-stock after our flu. I LOVE being stocked with groceries for times like that -- we already had Gatorade, soup, jell-o & crackers on hand that I bought for rock-bottom prices.
Kroger this week has Gatorade for 0.49 after the Mega 10 discount.
Annie's mac & cheese (organic, and VERY good) - $0.49
Quaker oatmeal - $2.19 (i had the $2 Q left from a while back - so used those making it 0.19)
Quaker granola bars - $1.49 (great deal if you have any 0.50 q's to double! - I had one)
Jell-O (lg boxes) - 0.79 each

Not part of the mega event:
Bananas 0.39/lb
I stocked up on boxes of Chex for $1 - used a rain check I got 2 weeks ago + coupons.
Pillsbury sweet rolls are 2/$3 but you get $1 CAT when you buy 4. I had $1/2 coupons so they ended up being 0.50 each after coupons & CAT. We love to have these Sunday mornings for a special treat :0)

Jenno-O TURKEYS are 0.59/lb. I do not claim to be a turkey-pricing expert, but this seems like an excellent price to me. In fact, I bought 3 turkeys yesterday! We are hoping to have Nathan's cousins for a family Thanksgiving, one to make for my small family and then the third for a family retreat next summer (the turkeys don't "expire" until the end of next summer & I plan to be prepared!!)
Last year WalMart did have turkeys for ).50-60/lb but there were not very many and no substitutes. I recommend hitting up Kroger for yours as they even substituted another brand for me when I didn't see the size of Jennie-O turkey I wanted. I do love their customer service!

I think that's it for now! Hope your family stays well this holiday season!

IGA almost over

I have utterly failed you this week! My family had the puke-flu for about 8 days (one at a time we fell like dominoes -- except Anna & I) so I did NO shopping during that time & a LOT of laundry.

Well, if you checked IGA's add, obviously the front page is FULL OF GOOD DEALS this week! This is so rare for IGA I hope you all got in on the sales. I went Tuesday and they were already out of the powdered sugar and brown sugar. :( I'll check back tomorrow.

Anyway, basically all of the front page prices are really good -- and I would stock up (except the sugar -- I did buy one b/c it's a good price, but I prefer 0.99 for stocking up).

There are coupons for the $1/2 Nestle chocolate chips and $0.50/2 evaporated milk making them an even better price. If you do not have an IGA near you, remember WalMart matches any price (they are 2/$3)

Sorry there are only 2 days left on this one - i'm sure you all noticed the good prices, but may not have known about the coupons.

Free Folgers Sample

If you know Nathan & I -- you know we love our coffee! I am kind of a coffee snob and much prefer flavored coffee, but Nathan likes plain old Folgers or Maxwell House.

Go to Folger's Facebook page to request your FREE SAMPLE of their Special Roast.

It is so fun getting freebies in the mail!! And they often come with high $$ coupons too.

CVS 10/31-11/06

I found this post at commonsensewithmoney this morning:
This week you can get two free Oral B Battery operated toothbrushes at CVS with the following deal:

Buy two Oral-B Stages Power Toothbrush $4.99 each
Use two $3/1 Oral-B Battery Toothbrush 10/31/2010 P&G Insert (exp 11/30/2010)
Pay: $3.98 out of pocket and get back $4 Extra Care Bucks

What kid wouldn't LOVE to see a pooh, Cinderella or tigger toothbrush in their stocking? especially if it's BATTERY POWERED! maybe my kids are easily tickled, but trust me I need to find a way to get 3 of these, not just 2, or there will be fighting.

Also, Toy Story 3 DVD $19.99 Spend $25 in Select P&G Products get $16 off
I am not sure the best way to go about this, but there has to be something good here. For $28 (less any coupons you have) you get the Toy Story 3 movie and $25 of P&G products (T.P., batteries, Puffs, etc..) The only bummer I see here is that no ECBs are involved. So if you spend ECBs to do this deal, there's no turn-around.

Not much else at CVS this week unless you are a diabetic.

IGA 10/31-11/06

Here are a few deals at IGA this week (I am paying more attn to their ads now that I have my "beef coupon" -- looking for a sale to match).

$0.99 shredded or chunk cheese (my buy now price - except i still have a ton from the summer kraft sales)
$0.69 Bush's beans -- not as cheap as WalMart brand, but a good price for Bush's
$0.79 oyster crackers
$0.49 Banquet pot pies or fruit pies - 0.35/1 fruit pie q in a lot of SS inserts lately. Might be worth trying for $0.14!
3/$0.99 IGA chili seasoning pks
$1.99 IGA veg. oil (i usually buy if less than $2)

Then this weekend is another 3-day meat sale:
Really almost all of these are decent to good meat prices.
$1.88/lb ground beef - I was hoping for a smaller quantity sale to use my beef q's, but i'll have to check this out & see what the price breakdown is buying in bulk.
$1.99/lb boneless pork loin (I prefer closer to $1.69, but when you're out $1.99 is pretty good!)
Both steak prices are fair.
$2.49/lb slab bacon - that's a GREAT price for bacon, but I have been disappointed in the quality of this bacon in the past. Maybe it's through a different packer and will be better?

That's it for this week.
Happy sale hunting!

$2/1 Huggies

There is a new $2/1 coupon available now on coupons.com -- last time this one hit its print limit really quick, so I recommend printing it now if you want it.

Walgreens has Huggies for $7.99 with a $1 RR -- I do not think this is a great deal, but better than full price if you need diapers right now.

0.50/1 ground beef -- IGA!!

Now this is certainly a rare coupon!
Follow these instructions to play an instant win game and you will either win a cart of groceries or will be able to print your 0.50 coupon.

*Visit Souped-Up Suppers webpage
*Click on “Free Code Play“ at the bottom of the page
*Use the free code to Play the Game
*Type the name of a grocery store bear you in the “Grocer name” box - I checked the list of participating grocery stores and in our area the IGA is on there!! No kroger, jewel, schnucks or Walmart. In Chicago you probably have a few more options.
*Click “Check Your Code” (you either win a cart full of groceries or a $0.50 coupon).

Oh, this keeps getting better (i'm playing the game as i'm typing this) - the coupon is in PDF form!! That usually means you can LEGALLY print to your heart's content! I printed 9 b/c 3 coupons nicely fit on each page.
It is a bummer that Kroger wasn't on there b/c they would have doubled the q to $1, but it's nice to finally have a perk living near an IGA!! My next step will be to check out their beef prices - i have never purchased ground beef at the IGA before (truth's out) so I hope it's not terribly expensive. We don't have hogs on our farm right now and I am down to TWO POUNDS of ground pork so this couldn't come at a better time for us. :0) I do love it when I feel like the Lord is blessing us with our grocery shopping - trying to make those hard-earned $$ go a bit further. Let me know if you find a good deal with these.

Slow Days . . . .

Sorry for yet another week of no posts, but it's been a S-L-O-W week at the grocery stores. I know the IGA has had their coupon books the last 3 weeks, and have had some decent prices, but I think I have only used one coupon so far & didn't make any special trips.

Next week I will probably use the smoked sausage coupon b/c there is a manu. coupon that I can stack with it making the deal even better (from the paper a few weeks ago).


Not even CVS has been able to lure me in (except to buy milk one evening). This coming week at CVS has nothing special again -- one lady whose blog I follow for CVS even says it is a "dry and dull ad" this week. I agree.


Kroger is having another Mega Event right now. It is for frozen food and I am sure there are some good deals, but I have stocked up so much at Jewel the past month that we really don't need anything at all right now (except the basic parishables).


Jewel is even having a down week. ConAgra is doing an instant $2 savings WYB 10 items at $10/10 -- making them 10/$8, but that still means you are paying 0.80 per item (stuff like pudding packs, micro popcorn, manwich & soup).

Well I am officially exhausted so will sign off. Just wanted you to know I was still out there and will SURELY let you know when another great sale strikes, but until then it will probably be slow-going over here. Enjoy your Sunday :0)

Jewel-Osco 10/14-20

I know Bloomington is a long way away (about $8 in gas for us) but some sales are just worth it. Last week I went to Jewel twice to get in on the ConAgra CAT deal (i did get a ride one time). And last night Nathan & I packed up ALL 4 KIDS to head over there again -- this time for a General Mills CAT deal. We spent $11.20 saving 96% of our grocery bill.

This deal is very similar to the ConAgra one -- spend $25 (shelf price) get $10 CAT
Here are the scenarios I did last night:

7 Pillsbury Sweet Moments $17.50/$26.25
Use $1.50/1 coupons HERE to make this a moneymaker
Pay $7.50, get $10 CAT
OR
Use $1 from Coupons.com, or 9/12 GM insert
Pay $10.50, Get $10 CAT

I went to the library and printed as many $1.50 as I could from their computers, and printed from home so I was able to add in a large can of pumpkin so that the store would not owe me money. At Jewel you have to at least pay tax.

4 yoplait splitz $8/$11.80
7 Green Giant Boxed veggies $7/$14
use .50 splitz q from 09/12 or 10/03 GM insert OR
use .75/2 coupons from coupons.com
use 0.50 Green Giant veggie coupon (link below)

3 GM cereal (price spread varies - sale price is $2)
9 G.G. boxed veggies $9/$18
I had some $3/3 q's that i gathered over the summer, but there are 0.75/1 cheerio q's on coupons.com and a lot of $1/3 q's there too.
Use 0.50 G.G. veggie q from greengiant.com - i told you about this q a while ago, but it is still available. scroll down the page to the bottom right side and click on the coupon link. This q makes this scenario a money-maker too so I added in bags of chocolate chips or spaghetti sauce so I could still pay with my CAT from the previous transaction.

7 yoplait splitz
2 fruit snacks
used q's from coupons.com and from the GM inserts

Those are all the scenarios I did, but here are a few more I came up with:
If you are just after cereal, the Multigrain Cheerios had the highest shelf price so,
7 Multigrain Cheerios 14/27.65
7 - 0.75 q from coupons.com AND smartsource.com
Pay $8.75 get $10 CAT
This would be a good one to use as your first transaction if you do not have a CAT left from the ConAGra deal -- lower your OOP. Or add an item to make $10 if using a CAT to pay for it.

Buy 13 participating Progresso Soup $13/$26
Use 3 $1/4 from 9/12 GM or 10/10 GM inserts
Pay $10, Get $10 CAT
Final Price: 13 Free! (or the price of tax)

Sorry for the length of this post, but I wanted you to have as many details as possible to help you get organized. Our trip only took us 1 hour and that was WITH all four kids!

If you are specifically after the yoplait splitz or the sweet moments, i would call Jewel to see when they re-stock b/c they were low when we were there and out of the splitz when we left. I went to the one on Veterans, there is another Jewel on 51 near ISU campus. Hope you find something good!! I love, love, love deals that are for HEALTHY stuff like veggies, yogurt, cereal and soup.
There were deals for totinos pizza and cake mixes on this CAT deal too, but I didn't buy any. CHeck out couponingfor4.net for even more scenarios if you want the other stuff. She is absolutely amazing with these things.

$1/1 Jimmy Dean

Facebook has a coupon right now for $1/1 Jimmy Dean product if you "like" them on FB. We do not usually buy meat in the store so I am not sure how much it runs, but surely $1 off will help!

As always, look for sales to pair this with and you should have a decent deal on sausage (or their sandwiches).

CVS 10/10-16

There are a couple nice freebies at CVS this week:
(put together by commonsensewithmoney)

Azo Itch Relief $6.99 Earn 5 ECBs Limit 5 (month-long deal)
Use $2/1 AZO Itch Relief Maximum Strength
FREE after coupon and ECBs

Colgate Total Advanced or Enamel Toothpaste $2.99 Earn 2.99 ECBs Limit 2
Use $0.75/1 Colgate Toothpaste 10/3/2010 SS Insert (exp 10/23/2010)
Free plus $0.75 overage after coupon and ECBs

Dial or Tone Bar Soap 2-3 pk $1.99 Earn 1 ECB Limit 1
Use $1 Dial Bar Multi-Pack or Liquid Hand Soap 10/10/2010 RP Insert (exp 11/28/2010)
FREE after coupon and ECBs

Quaker Oats Products 2/$5 Earn 2 ECBs Limit 2
Use $2/1 Quaker Instant Oatmeal (this is a FB coupon, click on the "coupon" tab)
Use $1/2 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars 9/19/2010 RP Insert (exp 11/13/2010)
Free plus $1 overage for boxed oatmeal after two $2 coupons and ECBs

Brach's candy corn - 0.99
the "red machine" by the door is printing a 0.99/1 coupon making these free too.

If you are new to CVS, buy oatmeal first to lower your OOP (out of pocket):
1) buy 2 boxed oatmeal. use 2 $2/1 coupons. pay $1, get $2 ECB back.
2) buy 2 more oatmeal. use 2 coupons. pay with ECB from #1. owe tax. get $2 ECB back.
3)buy toothpaste. use 0.75 coupon. pay with ECB from #2. owe 0.25. get $2.99 ECB back.
4)buy Azo itch relief. use $2 coupon. pay with ECB from #3. owe $1. get $5 ECB.

Now you have $5 to either keep for next week or to buy something your family needs. I personally like to keep them and roll them following weeks. I currenetly have $19 in ECB. The Azo deal will be great for you if you need to "renew" some ECBs that are about to expire!!

CVS is also running the P&G spend $25 get $10 ECB. I have done this in the past for the Charmin TP and it comes out to be a good price. So you could take your $5 ECB from #4 and put it toward the P&G deal to lower your OOP there and go home with TP too! I am pretty stocked up on TP right now (previous CVS deals and yesterday's trip to Jewel)

Make sure to scan your card at the "red machine" shortly inside the door to see if there are money-saving coupons you want to use.