Albies Doublers in this Sunday's paper

Page A10 in the Salt Lake Tribune

Page A8 in the Deseret News

May Monthly Totals

This month I spent $374.05 and got $1,192.87 in groceries, household, beauty, baby and toiletry items.

April Totals

March Totals

More Albies Doublers

Don't throw out your Albies ad that comes in the mail today because there is a set of three doubler coupons on the back of the ad. I have already used three sets of them today (thanks to my nice friends who don't use them).

Check out this AThriftyMom post for some match up ideas.

Target Deals

I love Target for snacks. All this for $3!

Check out Hip2Save's Target posts HERE or more specificially her weekly post HERE for a list of good deals. I have found that our prices here in Utah tend to generally be a few cents higher on a lot of things but still great deals.

**One thing I learned today. They only accept 5 of each specific target coupon in a transaction so don't get more then 5 of the same item expecting to use more then 5 target coupons.

Albies Doublers

Albertsons has been really great lately and giving us lots of doubler coupons. I get 2 papers and some from my neighbor so I usually have three sets of doublers. I went to the store on 70th and Redwood this morning and just wanted to say that the manager there was really nice. She was trying to explain to a lady in the line that she could only use one set of doubles at a time and that if she wanted to use more, then she needed to go out, and then come back in and get in the back of the line. The lady was not happy about this and was giving this manager a really hard time. I felt bad for the nice manager. She was trying to explain that they just didn't have enough workers to keep the lines down when couponers are doing multiple transactions all at once and as we all know, it does take a little longer for couponers to check out. She said they do that to keep the lines down and to let people have a chance to check out in a more timely manner rather then having to wait behind a huge coupon transaction. I for one was really glad that she was willing to let us do multiple trans so long as we went to the back of the line ... not all stores are that accomodating. I usually have to make three seperate trips into the store over the course of Monday & Tuesday so I was super happy to get to do it all at once and be done. Let's just all try to remember that these employees are just doing their jobs and not give them too bad of a time. I am okay with it taking a little longer for the amount of money I am able to save.

Here are my three doublers transactions:

4 Yoplus Yogurts for $2.50 each - total $10
1 Breyers Ice Cream for $3
Oh yeah, and 1 Gallon of Whole Milk (forgot to include that in the picture) for $2.39
Register took off $4 instantly for the GM promo
Used two $1.50 off IP coupons for the Yoplus
Used two $1 off IP coupons for the Yoplus - doubled
Used one $1 off Breyers coupon from yesterday's paper - doubled
Used one FREE MILK cat that I got last week on the GM cereals promo which took off $2.39
Final cost = $.01 ... Savings = $20.84


4 Fruit Roll-ups for $2.50 each - total $10
1 Breyers Ice Cream for $3
Register took off $4 instantly for the GM promo
Used two $.75/2 off IP coupons for the Fruit Rollups - doubled
Used one $1 off Breyers coupon from yesterday's paper - doubled
Final cost = $4.19 ... Savings = $14.35

8 Suddenly Salad Pasta mixes for $1.25 each - total $10
2 Breyers Ice Cream for $3 each
Register took off $4 instantly for the GM promo
Used one $1/2 mailer coupon for the Suddenly Salad - doubled
Used two $.50/2 coupons for the Suddenly Salad
Used two $.40/1 coupons for the Suddenly Salad
Used two $1 off Breyers coupon from yesterday's paper - doubled
Final cost = $4.50 ... Savings = $28.50

Total OOP was $8.70 ... Total Savings were $63.69!!

Monday Morning Walgreens

Okay so this picture isn't complete because I am a dummy and left one of my bags at Walgreens this morning. I actually got 4 of the Dry Idea Clinical Strength deodorants, 4 of the C0lgate Visibly White toothpastes and a ton of batteries as filler items. I also got 2 coloring books as bribes to keep my boys good in the store (it worked!) I also don't have all my receipts because many of them are in my bag I forgot so I can't tell you my total savings but I can tell you that I spent nothing OOP (I spent about $23, all on my Walgreens gift card with last months rebates on it). And I got back $27.50 in RRs. So I made money on these items!!

Here is the break down incase you are interested:

8 Candy Bars

Used four B1G1 free coupons

I figured this would be good filler items because even though you are using a coupon you are only using it on the one you get for free so I can get 2 candy bars for the price of 1 and count those 2 as filler items.

Colgate Visible White toothpaste $4.49=$4.50RR

Used the $1 IP coupon from here

Final cost FREE + $1 profit!

4 Dry Idea Deodorant Professional Strength (Roll On) $5.99=$5RR

Used four $2 IP coupons (these seem to always be available on Coupons.com)

Final cost FREE + a $1 profit on each!

2 Off Clip-on mosquito repellent $8.99=$3RR

Used the buy one get one free coupon from here

Plus, use the $2 coupon from the 5/17SS (for the one you're not getting free)

Final cost $3.99 for 2, just $2 each!

Purex Laundry Detergent B1G1 free at Wags this week - $8.99

Used a B1G1 free IP coupon (good up to $7)

Final cost $1.99 for 2!

4 Dove Single bar Soap $.99

Used four $1 Dove Face Care coupon from the 5/17RP

Final cost FREE!

Walgreens 101

I have had a few people lately ask me about how Walgreens works. Walgreens is a great place to get great deals on health & beauty, toiletries, cleaning supplies and many other things. Much of what I have stocked our bathroom closet with has come from Walgreens (Wags for short) and much of it has been free of better then free. Walgreens has changed this month so I will try to explain the basic idea of how Walgreens works and then feel free to ask me any questions that you have.

COUPONS:

Walgreens accepts 2 types of coupons. Store coupons and manufacturers coupons. Store coupons can be found in their weekly ad which comes in the Sunday paper, in the front of the store, or online at Walgreens.com. You can potentially use 2 coupons on the same product. If they have a coupon for an item in their weekly ad you can use that as well as a manufacturers coupon on the same product!

REGISTER REWARDS:
Register rewards are store coupons that print out of a catalina machine next to the registers in all Walgreen's stores. You have probably seen these when you shop at stores like Albertsons and a coupon will print out along with your receipt. It's the same type of machine. The values vary depending upon the promotions going on at the time. Basically you save them to use like cash on your next purchase. For example if you have a $3 Register Reward and you purchase $3.75 worth of products the RR(register reward) will bring your total down to $.75! And sometimes the RRs are what makes an item better then free. For example, sometimes you will see items that are on sale for $4.50 with a $4.50 RR. But there is also a $1 off coupon for that item. So you pay $3.50 out of pocket (OOP) and get back a $4.50 RR making that item a $1 profit! HERE is a link to a typical weekly Walgreens post showing what I do.

Catalina machines are generally programmed to print one Register Reward coupon for one qualifying item. If you purchase more than one of the same qualifying items per transaction, you will only receive one Register Reward coupon. For example, if your weekly ad shows Colgate Total Toothpaste on sale for $2.50 with a $2.50 Register Reward, making it free, then you only want to by one of this item per transaction. If you bought 2 of these in the same transaction then only one $2.50RR would print out. In order to get more than one Register Reward coupon when purchasing more than one of the same qualifying items, request that the each item be rung up on a separate transaction. If you purchase different qualifying items in the same transaction you will receive one register reward for each item. So for example, if you bought two different items that have a RR you can put those in the same transaction and you will get the RR for both of those items. You just can't do two of the same item in the same transaction to get more then one RR. Most weeks if you check the ad you will see 3 or more items that have RRs.

** One thing to remember, RR coupons expire 2 weeks after they are issued so make sure you spend them before they expire. I usually use the RRs I get one week on the next weeks RR items which is often called "Rolling" your RRs.

Maximize Your Savings:

The best scenario for maximizing your savings is to purchase sale items with a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupons plus a Register Reward. However, Walgreens' registers do not accept more MANUFACTURERS coupons than items. For example, if you buy 4 items and have 4 manufacturers coupons you can't use a RR to pay the remainder on those items because you would be using more coupons then items. The register treats the RR coupon like a manufacturers coupon. The store coupons don't count in the coupon to item ratio so you don't need to worry about that. To get around this, pick up an inexpensive item so that you have more items than coupons and the transaction will be processed. Drastically reduced items and end-of-season deals can often be found on the end of the aisles at Walgreens. By combining items you find at 75 percent or more off with coupons you can maximize your savings. I like to use the clearance items as my "filler" items. I have also found that photos from the photo department make good filler items. A 4x6" photo costs about $.19 with tax so if I need some pictures I just go online, submit them all as seperate orders and then I have a handful of filler items so that I can use my RRs and get something that I need. They often have little candies on clearance, especially after a holiday that make good cheap filler items.

Confused? Too much work?

It probably seems that way now. I know I was so confused when I first started trying to figure out Wags because they do have lots of little rules but after you have done it a few times, and messed up a few times :) you will see that it is worth it and that you can really get some killer deals. It used to seem like my husband was buying deodorant every couple weeks and paying $5 or more for them. Now he has more then a dozen in our bathroom cupboard and I got them all for free. There are so many things that you can get for free or very cheap and once you figure out the system, you will be amazed at how much you can get for very little!

I find it's much easier for me when I plan out my Walgreens trip before I go. Now of course, they don't always have everything I want in stock, especially when it's a free item but if I have a plan then I can get in and out much quicker and I know what to expect and find I get better deals. Many of the blogs in my blog list in the right hand column will post the upcoming weeks Walgreens deals. Hip2Save is as always, my favorite frugal blog. You can go to her blog, click on the Walgreens link in the right hand column and all the Walgreens posts will come up showing clearance items found, RR deals both advertised and unadvertised and the weekly deals. I plan using that and then know what I am looking for when I get to the store. It does get much easier, I promise and it is SO WORTH IT!

One last piece of advice is to just try it out and find a checker that is coupon friendly that you like and try to go to that checker as often as you can. I find it so much easier when I don't have to worry about getting a checker who is going to look at me like I just pointed a gun at their head for pulling out coupons. :)

Questions? Feel free to ask!

$.50 Kelloggs cereal at Albies (among other things)

This week Albies is running a Kelloggs promo where when you buy 4 boxes of participating cereal (Rice Krispies, Frosted mini wheat’s, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, and Pop tarts) at $2.50/box you get $4 off instantly making it $1.50 a box.

There are also $1 off printable coupons at coupons.com on many of these making them even cheaper. And on Kelloggs's website.

Here's what I did today:

Bought 2 Raisin Bran and 2 Rice Crispies for $10

Got $4 off instantly for buying 4

Used four $1/1 coupons

Final cost $2 for 4 boxes of cereal!

They are also running a GM buy $10 get $4 off instantly promo running right now which makes a lot of items super cheap and good things to stock up on. Check out THIS post from athriftymom for details.

Albies GM Cereal deal

This week select GM cereals are on sale for $2.50 with $4 off instantly when you buy 4. This makes them $1.50 each. There are also $1/3 coupons in the 5/3 and 4/5 SS that will make it even cheaper. PLUS, if you buy 4 you will get a catalina for a free gallon of milk (up to $4.50).

It only works on these General Mills cereal - Cheerios 8.9 oz, Cinnamon Toast Crunch 12.8 oz., Golden Grahams 12 oz., Cheerios Oat Clusters 11.3 oz., Fruity Cheerios 12 oz.

I did it myself today and bought 4 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and it worked fine so that is the one type that I myself can confirm is working.

In the end I got 4 boxes of cereal plus a coupon for a free gallon of milk for $5.

Albies Doublers

Don't forget to use your Albertsons Double coupons that were in Sunday's paper this week. Here are some ideas of how to use those doublers:

Nabisco Ritz Crackers $1.88 Limit 4 with instore coupon
use $1.00 off 1 coupon from here
use double
final price FREE

Breyers Ice Cream 1.5 qt 2 for $5.00
use .75 cent coupon from 4/5 unilever Red plum coupon insert
use double
Final price $1.00 each

Nabisco Family Size Snack Cracker 12-16 oz $1.99
use $1 off 2 coupon from 3/1 smart source coupon insert
use double
Final price .99 cents each

Scotts tissue $2.15
use $1.00 off coupon 3/29 smart source
use double
Final price .15 cents each

Colgate advanced total $2.50
use $1.00 off coupon 5/10 smart source
use double
Final price .50 cents each

Bar S HotDogs are B1G1 $2.29
Use the coupon for $1/2 in the 5/10 Red Plum
Use double
they would be $.29

Kraft promo: Save $3 instantly when you spend $10 on participating items.

EasyMac cups 10 for $10 with promo only .70 cents each
Use $1.00 off coupon from here
Use double
Final price FREE

Kraft Bagel-fuls $2.50 each only $1.75 with promo
use .75 cent coupon from 4/19 smart source
or $1.00 coupon from here
Final price .25 cents or FREE

Capri Sun Sunrise 10 pack $2.50 each only $1.75 with promo
use $1.00 off coupon from 4/19 smart source
use double
final price FREE

Tree Top apple juice 64 oz. $2.50 each only $1.75 with promo
use $1.00 off 2 coupon from 3/29 smart source or HERE
use double
Final price $.75 cents

South Beach Diet $2.50 each only $1.75 with promo
use $1.00 off coupon from here
Final price FREE
Buy 4 or more & get $4 catalina

Thanks to AThriftyMom for these match ups!

And HERE is a link to next weeks (starting Wed) Albies ad. There are some good deals coming up, especially on cereal I noticed.

$1 off Coke 12 packs!

Okay all you Coke drinkers (you know who you are). Hurry to this link for IE or this link for Firefox and you can print out a $1 off Coke 12 packs. And there doesn't appear to be a print limit on this. I have been able to print this coupon about 3 dozen times. Yeah! These will come in handy with all the summer BBQs we host here at our house!

This Week

Anyone else feel like this is kind of a slow week?

I was able to stock up on Right Guard deodorant and Colgate Sensitive toothpaste for my husband at Wags this week but that was about it. These are free or in some cases money makers.

Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste (4.6 - 6 oz ) $4.49 = $4.50RR

Use the $1 coupon from here

Or the .75 coupon from the 4/26SS

Final cost as low as FREE + a $1 moneymaker!

Right Guard Deodorant at $2.99 = $2RR

Use the $1 coupon from the 4/19SS or the $1 coupon here.

Final cost FREE!

OR if you were able to snag some of those coupons for a free Right Guard Fast Break deodorant you can get this for free AND get back a $2 RR as well.

Albies has a couple promos running this week that you might want to check out HERE (Utah Grocery Smarts planner). I didn't see anything that I really needed but they do have some good deals depending on what you are looking for.