Deals worth mentioning

I scored a few deals worth mentioning today.

Smiths has select GM cereals on sale for $2.99 each. Buy 4 and get $6 off instantly which makes them $1.49 each. Use $1/2 coupons making each box only $.99. That is pretty okay but the best part is that there are speciality marked boxes which can score you free movie tickets. For each 2 specially marked boxes you get a free movie ticket. So I bought 8 big boxes of Lucky Charms (the only specially marked boxes my store had) for just over $8 and will get FOUR free movie tickets!! That is a pretty sweet deal!!!

Then I went to Target and got the following Olay deals:

Buy 2 Select P&G items get a $5 Target gift card
Buy 2 Olay Refreshing Toners $2.84 each
Pay $5.68
Get back a $5 Target gift card
Final cost only $0.68 for both items (no coupons needed!)

Olay Beauty Bar (Single Bar) $0.97
Used the $1/1 coupon from the 10/31 PG
Final cost FREE!

Olay Body Wash $5.04 AND Secret Travel Size Deodorant $0.97
Total = $6.01
Used the $5/1 Olay Body Wash with Any Secret product coupon from the 10/31 PG
Final cost only $1.01 for both items!

Cereal Deal at Smiths this Week

We were down to almost no cereal and my kids know that I won't buy things like cereal until there is a great deal. Well, lucky them ... Smiths has a great deal this week.

40 boxes of cereal for less then $40. Each box cost between $0.88 and $0.97. Smiths promo this week takes $6 off instantly when you buy 4 boxes of GM cereals. That takes $1.50 off each box. Then with coupons the amount drops below $1 per box. Check out the Grocery Smarts Planner to find details on the deal and coupons to use.

Smiths Deals 8/12

By combining sales, promotions, coupons and catalinas I was able to get all of the above for $45.16! Normally this would've cost $112.74!!

The pizzas worked out to be $3.74 each.
The fruit snacks worked out to be $.74 each.
The granola thins worked out to be $.54 each.
The cereal averaged out to be $.43 each using regular coupons and e-coupons.
The nut clusters worked out to be FREE!

Here are the catalinas I took advantage of today.

General Mills Fruit Shapes, Fruit By the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Stickerz Catalina Offer (Valid 8/9/10 - 9/5/10)
• Buy 3, get $1.50 OYNO {.50 savings per item}
• Buy 4, get $2.00 OYNO {.50 savings per item}
• Buy 5, get $3.00 OYNO {.60 savings per item}

California Pizza Kitchen Catalina offer (Valid 8/9/10 - 9/5/1)

• Buy 2, get $1 OYNO {.50 savings per item}
• Buy 3, get $2 OYNO {.67 savings per item}
• Buy 4 + get $3 OYNO {.75 savings per item}

General Mills Granola Bars and Snack Items offer
• Buy 3, get $1.50 OYNO {.50 savings per item}
• Buy 4, get $2.50 OYNO {.63 savings per item}
• Buy 5, or more get $3.50 OYNO {.70 savings per item}

Remember these items that have catalinas also work with the buy 8 items get $4 off instantly promo so make sure you buy in increments of 8. You want to buy 8 items but you don't want to buy more the the number that will trigger the catalina in a transaction. So here is what I did. Hopefully this will help you think about how to capitilize on this easily.

1st transaction:

4 pizzas
4 fruit snacks
5 nut clusters
3 boxes of cereal
= 16 items, two $4 off promos
Got back a $3 cat for the pizzas, a $2 cat for the fruit snacks and a $3.50 cat for the nut clusters.

2nd transaction:
4 pizzas
4 fruit snacks
4 granola thins
1 nut clusters
3 boxes of cereal
= 16 items, two $4 off promos
Got back a $3 cat for the pizzas, a $2 cat for the fruit snacks and a $3.50 cat for the nut clusters/granola thins.

Smiths Doubles

Smiths is rounding any coupon lower then $1 up to $1 today through Saturday. I ran there this morning and got $76.34 worth of groceries AND one free movie ticket for $27.22!!

Quick Smiths Trip

I ran to Smiths today to stock up on cheese while the Mega Event was still going on (ends tomorrow). I got 10 bags of Kraft Naturals shredded cheese and 10 cans of Hunts diced tomatoes for $14.30. I did this deal WITHOUT using ANY COUPONS but by taking advantage of the store promo and the Kraft cheese catalina deal running right now I was able to save $33.10. Paying full price this would've cost $47.40.

The cheese freezes well so if you stock up when they are at a great price then you won't have to pay the $3+ price they want to charge you normally. It pays to stock up so that you can buy things at the price you want to pay, not at the price the store wants to charge you.

Smiths Mega Event

Smiths is running a "Buy 10 items get $5 off instantly" promo this week. You can check out the grocery smarts list for partipating items HERE or check out UtahDealDiva's post HERE for some ideas.

I don't take advantage of every sale that comes along but I did run to Smiths for this one because with three little boys, frozen pizzas come in handy and we use cream cheese a lot in pastas and desserts and you can't beat FREE.

I got these 10 items for $1.42!

Smiths Doubling to $1 event

As you may know, Smiths is doing a doubling even this entire week (Wed - Tues). All coupons under $1 will be rounded up to $1. So those $0.30 coupons are now worth $1, $0.50 coupons are worth $1 and so forth. I went to the Smiths marketplace on 90th and Redwood this morning and found everything I was looking for in stock. The doubling part worked great. I did run into a couple items that didn't ring up for the sale price I was expecting but for the most part everything went really smoothly. I had a large list of not only coupon deals but also birthday party needs for my soon to be 5 year olds birthday party this weekend. I ended up spending $62 and saving $78!!

Check out these PYP posts HERE and HERE for deal details or use the GrocerySmarts planner HERE to plan your trip. And remember that this doubling even goes all week so they should have time to restock if your best deals are out of stock today.

Smiths Doubling Event

Through tomorrow (Tuesday) Smiths will round any coupon under $1 up to $1. So a $.25 coupon is now worth $1, a $.40 is now worth $1, etc. I went this morning and found most of the things that I was looking for.

All of this cost me $13.29 but without coupons it would've cost me $49.63.

Check out THIS PYP thred for a list of great deals to look for!

GM Cereals for $.25 a box at Smiths

**UPDATE: I bought 4 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch this morning at Smiths and no cat printed out. I will update again if I get more info. :(

My children have gotten really good about understanding that there are somethings that I just won't buy unless I find a great deal on them. Cereal is one of them. My kids haven't had their favorite, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal for a long time but it looks like now they will finally get to have some.

Starting tomorrow, 5/12, select GM cereals will be on sale at Smiths for $2/box. Combine that with THIS $1.50/2 coupon and the current catalina that is running (Buy 4 participating GM products, get back a $4 cat to use on your next order) to get them for $.25 each.

Buy 4 GM cereals at $2 each
Use two $1.50/2 coupons
Pay $5 OOP

Get back a $4 catalina to use on your next order
Final cost $1 or $.25 each!!

Remember, if you are going to buy more then 4 boxes, to seperate your orders so you only have 4 per transaction. And you can use the $4 cat you got from your first transaction to pay for your next one.

Thanks UtahDealDiva!

Smiths Quaker Update

I didn't want to post this until I tried it myself to make sure it worked but if you buy 10 Quaker Instant Oatmeals in one transaction and use two $3/5 coupons from the AFS ads you will end up paying $4 for 10 boxes of oatmeal PLUS you will get a catalina coupon with a code for a free movie ticket. 100 packets of instant oatmeal and a free movie ticket for $4 ... WOW!!

See THIS post for more details.

Quaker Deal at Smiths

This morning I was able to get 10 boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal at Smiths for $4 total (or $.40 each) and so did my friend Liz!

Smiths has a promo right now where if you buy 5 participating Quaker products ($2 each) get $5 off instantly making each item essentially $1 each. Participating items are Cap'n Crunch and Life cereals as well as Quaker Instant Oatmeal.

Make the deal even better by using the $3/5 coupon that can be found in AFS store ads (such as Harmons, Macey's, Reams). You should've received these in the mail yesterday. Using these coupons makes each 5 items only $2 or $.40 each!!

There is also a $1/1 Oatmeal coupon HERE or a $1/1 Quaker True Delights Oatmeal coupon HERE. If you can print off 5 of these coupons you would get 5 packs of oatmeal for FREE!!

Smiths CaseLot Sale

There are caselot sales going on at AFS (Macey's) right now as well as Smiths. Thanks to UtahDealDiva for THIS post that compares some of the prices. Personally, there wasn't any great deals at Macey's this time around that I wanted to take advantage of. So I went to Smiths today and took advantage of a the case lot sale (2 week sale) for a few things that I was low on.

The one deal that I wanted to highlight is on Skippy Peanut Butter. We go through PB like crazy so I almost always need more. Smiths has a case of 12 Skippy PB's on sale for $15.60. That works out to be $1.30 each. There are also a $.75/2 coupon in the 3/28RP that came in your mail box. This would make them about $.93 each. I actually went onto ebay at the beginning of the week and ordered a batch of 15 higher value coupons, $1/2 for a grand total of $.99. That makes them $.80 each if you buy them in the case. NOW THAT BEING SAID, there has been some discussion on the PYP threads about whether they will allow you to use coupons on a case item as they are often times skewed my the case, not individually. So you will want to ask at the store before you check out to find out if you can use your coupons. Some items at Smiths can be bought individually at the same lower price as they would be in the case and some can not.

Okay so onto the Skippy deal. The individual Skippys are marked at $1.30 each (the caselot price). If you buy 10 of them you will get a catalina that prints out for a free Digital Choice Reward which is you choice of 15 free music downloads, 1 free movie ticket OR 15 free ringtones.

So for me it was worth it to just buy 10 seperate Skippy's instead of a case of 12.

10 Skippys for $1.30 each
Used five $1/2 coupons (from ebay)
Paid $8 for 10 Peanut Butters and one free movie ticket!

Smiths 3/18

I got all of the above for $18!! My savings were $41.18!

Smiths has a buy 8 participating items get $4 off instantly promo going on right now.

Check out UtahDealDiva's posts HERE and HERE for more details and items included in the promo. The GrocerySmartPlanner is also a great resource for finding what is a great price in this week's sale.

Winco Info

My friend Lisa just called me to tell me about some info that she got while shopping at Winco this morning. She spoke with a checker who has worked for Winco for 14 years and she said that they only do an ad for the Grand Opening but after this there will be no ads or in store coupons. Hopefully PYP will keep a running thread where people can post the latest deals they find at Winco. And I will try to keep a list on my blog as well so let me know when you go to Winco what great deals you find and I will post them. The checker also told Lisa that if she thought the price for chicken was good this week, just wait until Christmas and see how cheap you can get Prime Rib! She said that there is a competition between all the Winco stores to see who can sell the most. I know my husband will LOVE LOVE LOVE it if I can stock up on Prime Rib!! (thanks Lisa!)

I also found this on PYP. If you don't want to brave the crowds at Winco this week then Smiths has some comparable deals:

There is a separate ad for certain Smith’s locations this week again (likely competing with Winco).

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.29/lb
Chicken Breasts sold in 40lb cases .99/lb
Kroger Deluxe Ice Cream .99 (limit 4)
Asparagus $1.50/lb
Wonder Bread 20oz .99 (limit 4)
Hostess Cupcakes or Twinkies 3 for $5 (limit 6)
use coupon: Hostess snack cakes, any family-size .50/1 DND (12-31-09) RP-10/11
John Morrell Meat Franks 16oz .49
Pepsi products 2 liter .89 (limit 8)
Sunny D .83
use coupon: SunnyD Original or SunnyD Smoothies Product, any .25/1 (11-29-09) SS-9/27
Country Potato or Macaroni Salad $1.09/lb
Café Valley Bundt Cakes $1.99

Also, it looks like some of the prices from last week’s ad are still good. I noticed a couple of things but didn’t check any other items:

Russet Potatoes 10lb .99
Granny’s Pride Bread 5 for $5
Red Grapes .89/lb

Good only at these participating Smith’s locations:
Murray 665 W 5300 S
Magna 8055 W 3500 S
West Valley City 5620 W 4100 S
West Valley City 4643 S 4000 W
Midvale 980 E Fort Union
West Jordan 7061 S. Redwood
West Jordan 1820 W 9000 S

Cheap Pillsbury Rolls @ Smiths

If you look at the Grocery Smarts Planner for Smiths this week you will see that they have their Pillsbury refrigerated rolls on sale but listed only as a 3 star deal. BUT there is a catalina deal going right now which makes them a really cheap buy.

Pillsbury Grands:
$1/1 Pillsbury Grands biscuits link (IE) link (FF)
OR $.30/2 IP

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls:
$1/1 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls or Grands! Sweet Rolls link (IE) link (Firefox)
OR $1/2 IP

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls:
$1/1 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls or Italian Meal Breads link (IE) link (FF)
$1/1 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls link (IE) link (FF)
OR $1/2 IP

Okay so there are the coupons. These items are on sale for $1.67 each this week so with these coupons alone they rang in price from $.67 to $1.52 each.

There is also a catalina deal associated with these that runs until 11/1/09.
Pillsbury Refrigerated Baked Goods
(Crescents, Cookies, Sweet Rolls, Grands Biscuits, Grands Cinnamon Rolls, Pie Crusts, Dinner Rolls, Loaves, Breadsticks or Pizza Crust)
Buy 3 get $2
Buy 4 get $2.50
Buy 5 or more get $3 OYNSO

What I did was buy 5 Cinnamon Rolls in my first transaction and used three $1/1 coupons and one $1/2 coupon. My total came to $4.59 but because I bought 5 I got back a $3 cat to use like cash on my next purchase. This made them about $.32 each. I then bought 2 more cinnamon rolls and 3 dinner rolls, also used three $1/1 coupons and one $1/2 coupons and did the same thing. :)

From what I've read these can be frozen. I have never done it myself but my boys LOVE cinnamon rolls so I figured at this price it's worth a try.

Store Specifics - Grocery Stores

Okay, on to grocery stores. I am combining them into one post because the same basic rules apply to all the grocery stores I shop at like Albertsons, Smiths, Maceys etc.

1) As far as I know, all the grocery stores accept internet printable coupons. The Associated Foods stores such as Maceys have just changed their policy to accept these which is great!

2) Use the Grocery Smart Printable Planner to find the best deals of the week. Now, I don't shop the way normal people do. I don't write a list of what I need that week and then go out and buy it. I look at the upcoming deals and see what items have a great price (4 & 5 star deals) and stock up on those items that we need if I am out or running low on them. I do have to do some regular shopping for milk, bread and produce but I usually just do it while I am doing my stocking up shopping. You will find that as you build up a good store of items you don't NEED to buy so much in the week because you already have so many items on hand.

3) Promos are Great! Smiths & Albertsons (and occasionally the Associated Foods stores) will run promos that make it easy to get killer deals on many items. There are 2 main types of promos.

Here is an example from this weeks Albies ad of a CATALINA promo:
**Campbell's promo: Save $5 on your NEXT shopping order when you spend $15 on participating products.**
Included in this promo are their Campbells Chunky Soup. The planner will show you the sale price which is $1.25 each. The price is listed as 1.25/.84 which means that they are on sale for $1.25 each but with the promo factored in they work out to be $.84 each. So if you were to buy 12 of these (which equals $15) then after you pay a $5 catalina coupon will print out which you can use on your next order. This means you got all 12 of them for $10. The planner also shows coupons that you can use on that item. There is a $1/4 coupon in the 8/16 Smart Source so if you used 3 of these you would end up getting all 12 soups for $7 or $.59 each which is the price they show as the bottom line price in the right hand column.

Now you don't have to buy all of the same item, you can mix or match, just be sure that you get your BEFORE coupons total (using the first dollar amount listed in the planner) to $15. In this case if you were going to buy a lot of items you would want to seperate your transactions into $15 batches. If you bought $30 in one transaction only one $5 cat would print out. If you are going to go multiple transaction, do your first one, then use the cat that you got from that transaction to help pay down your out of pocket total on your next transaction and so on. It's a great way to get really great deals. Just be sure to check the dates on your catalina coupons because they do expire in 2 weeks from the date you get them.

Here is an example from this weeks Albies ad of a promo where you get a specific dollar amount off INSTANTLY:
**Nabisco promo: Save $3 instantly when you buy 4 participating items.**
Included in this promo are their Ritz Crackerfuls. The planner will show you the sale price which is $2.50 each. The price is listed as 2.50/1.75 which means that they are on sale for $2.50 each but with the promo factored in they work out to be $1.75 each. So if you were to buy 4 of these then the register will automatically take off $3 from your total. This means you got all 4 of them for $7. The planner also shows a $1/1 coupon from the 7/12 Smart Source so if you used 4 of these you would end up getting all 4 boxes of crackers for $3 or $.75 each which is the price they show as the bottom line price in the right hand column.

Again, you don't have to buy all of the same item, you can mix or match, just be sure that you buy items in increments of 4. If you are going to buy 7 items, you might as well pick up one more and get the extra discount. In this case you DO NOT have to seperate out your items. If you buy 12 participating items the register will take off $9.

Clear as Mud? Questions?

Smiths 8/19

Smiths and Albies have similar ads this week but I chose to do Smiths over Albies because their promo takes off $5 instantly rather then giving you back a $5 cat. The prices in the end are similar but Smiths had a few more things that I wanted.

The promo is Buy 10 participating items and get $5 off instantly at checkout. The Smiths by me is always really good about coupons and I don't have to worry about how many of each type of IP so that makes it easier.

Here are the details:

12 Sobe Life Waters - $.89 each, $.39 with the promo

Used 6 Buy one get one free coupons from here

Final price $.19 each!

5 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks - $1.99 each, $1.49 with the promo

Used five $.40/1 coupons

Plus I got back a $3.50 cat for buying 5 boxes

Final price $.39 each!

5 boxes of Nature Valley Granola Bars - $2.49 each, $1.99 with the promo
Used five $.40/1 coupons
Plus I got back a $3.50 cat for buying 5 boxes
Final price $.89 each!

8 Wanchai Ferry Dinner Kits - $3.49 each, $2.99 with the promo

Used eight $1.10/1 coupons

Final price $1.89 each!

Have you tried these? I LOVE THEM! They are so tasty! I have been waiting for a sale on these. They are normally $5.79 each so this was a great price!

In the end I got 30 items for less then $1 each and saved $53.40!

Check out the grocery smarts planner for coupon links and locations.

Smiths is Doubling

So now that Albies is in the process of being sold to Associated Foods a lot of people have been hoping to see Smiths step up to take their place and today they impressed me. They are having a 3 day double coupon sale (Sun - Tues). And the nice thing is that you don't have to do doublers like at Albies and only do 2 or 3 per transaction. It was so easy. The register just automatically doubles anything under $2 (up to $2). They won't give you an overage so if the item that you are buying is $.79 and you have a $50/1 coupon then it just doubles up $.29 to make that item free.

My total before coupons was $62 and after coupons I paid $11.05. (Sorry no picture today).

Here is what I got:

1 - Dannon Activia $1.88

Used $1/1 (SS-7/26) doubled - FREE

2 - Dole pineapple tidbits *tuna sized can* .79

Used two IP coupons $.50/1 doubled - $.29 each

1 - French's mustard $1.49
Used $.75/1 (SS-5/10) doubled - FREE

3 - Ken's salad dressing $1.99
Used three $1/1 (SS-8/2) doubled - FREE

4 - Land O Frost Bistro Lunchmeat, 6 oz $2.99
Used four $1/1 (RP-6/28) doubled - $ .99 each

1 - McCormick Imitation Vanilla Extract $2.99
Used $1/1 IP doubled - $.99

6 - Ortega green chiles 4 oz. $1.29
Used six $1/2 (SS-6/28) doubled - $.29 each wyb two

4 - True North snacks $2.50
Used four $1/1 (SS-2/8) doubled - $.50 each

4 - Cover Girl nail polish $2.99
Used four $1/1 (PG-8/2)

Promo: buy 4 Cover Girl items get $4 off non P&G items in your transaction (comes off instantly) - FREE

2 - Campbells Mushroom Soup $1.09

Used $1/2 IP doubled - $.09 each

1 bag of Jennie-O Frozen Turkey Burgers $5.99

Used $5 Biggest Loser coupon (can't double) - $.99

Horray for Smiths! The checker was so nice and had no trouble with the coupons and the register made it so easy. I hope they do this more often!

HERE is a link to the PYP thread that gives you some good doubler ideas!

$.21

Here is a great Albies deal this week. Their 1 Pint Breyers are on sale for $1. There are $1/2 coupons in Group A (HERE is a link). You can print this 2 times per computer. Buy four of these, use two $1/2 coupons and two doublers and you will end up with free ice cream. Then because you bought four a $4/5 coupon will print out for Breyers ice cream. Use this on 5 more and you will just pay $1 for all 5. I had a $1 cat left over so I used that and ended up only paying $.06 for the first 4 and $.15 for the next 5.

Also, Smiths has a GREAT price on their New York steak this week. Only $2.99/lb (usually about $8.99/lb). I got 6 family packs of New York steaks for $50, steak that would've cost me $150 normally. The carnivores in my house will be very happy!