My Albertsons trip today + ideas for the coupon-less

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I know last night’s post had a LOT going on! So I made a point to make a couple good transactions so I can show you how I personally plan my trips and maybe inspire you with a few ideas.

First, I took a look at my post (and then the one today) and made sure to read all the comments – I have some AWESOME readers leaving HOT comments by the way – be sure to read them!

Next, I wrote down all the items that we use (or would try for free!) in my house. Then, I collected my coupons. I wanted to do the Betty Crocker Fruit Snack promotion, the Big Chill promotion, and the ConAgra. Knowing that, I decided to break my trip into two transactions to help keep my out-of-pocket expenses lower. (Yeah, I could’ve done more transactions today, but I wanted to keep things fairly simple!) Let me show you what I ended up with, and then I’ll explain how I did it.

 

After Catalinas and the $5 Jennie-o rebate, my bottom line for everything? 
$14.31!!!!!!!! And that includes tax and a $1 donation to the Muscular Dystrophy!

(Please note you can find all the sources to the coupons I mention below in my original posts here and here.)

Transaction One:
5 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks
2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (2 $1/1 printable coupons)
8 Old Orchard Juice (2 $1/4 printable coupons)
2 Ore-Ida Mash (2 $1/1 printable coupons)
2 Clearance Diego Colgate toothpaste $1.49 each (2 $0.75/1 insert coupons)
3 Doubler coupons
Paid: $17.83; Saved: $34.65
Received: $3.50 Catalina for fruit snacks & $10 in Catalinas for the Big Chill Promo

Transaction Two:
2 Orville SmartPop ($1/2 insert coupon)
2 Swiss Miss Cocoa
4 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (2 $0.50/2 printable coupons)
1 Wesson Cooking Oil ($1 ConAgra mailer)
4 Van Camp Pork & Beans ($1/4 ConAgra mailer)
4 Hunt’s Tomatoes ($1/4 ConAgra mailer)
2 Hunt’s Manwich ($1/2 ConAgra mailer)
3 RoTel Tomatoes ($1/3 ConAgra mailer)
1 Egg Beaters ($1/1 ConAgra mailer)
1 Danonino Yogurt ($1/1 insert coupon)
1 Danimals Yogurt ($1/1 insert coupon)
Zone Nutrition Bar ($0.55 insert coupon)
2 Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey Breast 20-oz packs (BOGO sale this week!)
$1 MD donation (it’s the least I can do considering my gratitude for Albertsons’ sales this week!!)
3 Doubler coupons
$13.50 Catalina coupons from Transaction One
Paid: $14.96; Saved: $65.85
Received: $3.50 Catalina for fruit snacks & $10 in Catalinas for ConAgra Promo

I will then mail for my $5 Jennie-O rebate. All told, I spent about $32 today, saved $105.00 and have $13.50 left in Catalinas and will be getting my $5 rebate! That’s like getting all that food for just about $14! Crazy, right? So what will I do with my Catalinas?

Probably buy 10 more Old Orchard Juice and 5 more Betty Crocker fruit snacks!

I was thinking today, these sales are so great, one would STILL score a great deal without coupons. Consider this trip I thought up on the way home.

Transaction One:
Buy 5 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
Pay: $5, get a $3.50 Catalina coupon

Transaction Two:
Buy 10 Old Orchard juices
Use your $3.50 Catalina from Transaction One
Pay: $9.40, get a $10 Catalina coupon

Transaction Three:
Buy 10 Old Orchard Juices
Use your $10 Catalina from Transaction Two
Pay: $2.90, get a $10 Catalina coupon

And so forth. You could also roll that $10 Catalina into $25 worth of participating ConAgra products. You’d end up paying $15 out of pocket, and yielding a $10 Catalina. LOTS of possibilities this week. I would LOVE to feature your Albertsons trips and ideas! Please email me a photo of your goodies with a breakdown of how you did it to thecouponproject at hotmail dot com.

By the way, a reader commented that her Albertsons will double coupons that read “Do not double.” I asked my store today and they were unaware of any new policy about this – and they WILL double coupons that read that. Why? Because Albertsons is paying for the double value, and not the manufacturer. I was certain I’d heard there was a policy change recently, but either way, it might be worth asking your store how they feel about that – they just might give you the green light!!

I’ll end this post with the highlight of any stockpile trip: putting away the goodies and enjoying a well-stocked pantry! Here’s my little guy, lovingly stacking up his fruit snacks!