June 2010

Jun

Albertsons deals 6/30 – 7/6

Seeing how we got doublers last weekend, I’m wondering if we’ll be getting them this weekend…the only glimmer of hope I see is the fact that it’s a holiday weekend. (Meaning, maybe they’ll want to encourage some extra foot traffic in the stores with doublers!)

Cantaloupe
$0.48/lb

Kellogg’s Cereal
$1.99 each when you buy 3
$1.25/3 printable coupon
Bottom line: $1.57 each
(an OK need-based price, not stock-up worthy though)

Breyer’s Ice Cream (first 2) $1.99
$0.75/2 coupon from 6/27 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1.61 each

Oscar Mayer Meat Wieners 2/$3
$1/2 in-ad manufacturer’s coupon
Bottom line: $1 each

Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up 12 packs
$2.50 each
(7/1 – 7/4 ONLY)

Johnsonville Brats or Italian Sausage
$2.88 each with in-ad coupon (limit 4)
Stack with $1/2 coupon from 5/2 SmartSource
Bottom line: $2.38 each

Sweet Corn
$0.25 each with in-ad coupon (limit 6)

Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade
$1 each
(again, YEAH!!)

Garden of Eatin’ Chips $2.79
$1/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $1.79

KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce $1.79
$1/1 in-ad manufacturer’s coupon
Bottom line: $0.79

Hass Avocados
$1 each

Albertsons Pasta, select varieties
$0.88

Smucker’s Toppings $1.50
$0.55/1 coupon from 5/16 Red Plum
Bottom line: $0.95

Banana Boat Suncare Products
50% off
$1/1 coupon from 6/27 SmartSource

Red or Green Seedless Grapes
$1.99/lb

M&Ms $0.50
Buy one, get one free Pretzel M&Ms coupon from 6/27 Red Plum
Bottom line: $0.25 each
(Note: these are apparently BOGO at Rite Aid through Saturday…use your coupon there to get two for free!)

Hershey’s Twizzler Licorice $1.50
$1/3 coupon from 6/27 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1.17 each

Save $2 Instantly Promotion
Buy any 4 items in a single transaction and save $2 instantly
(Prices reflect $2 savings; items in blue reflect what I think are actually decent deals)

Heinz Ketchup, 40 oz., $1.29
Heinz 57 Sauce, $3.49 ($2/1 with Lea & Perrins coupon from 6/27 SmartSource; $1/1 coupon from 5/23 SmartSource)
Lea & Perrins Wocestershire, $2.49 ($2/1 THICK coupon from 6/27 SmartSource)
Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce, 28 or 40 oz $1.99 ($0.75/1 coupon from 5/16 SmartSource)
Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce, 19 oz, $1.49 ($0.55/1 coupon from 5/16 SmartSource)
Classico Pasta Sauce, $1.49
Heinz 57 Sauce, $3.49 ($1/1 printable coupon or $1/1 coupon from 5/23 SmartSource)

Reynold’s Wrap Foil, 80 sqf $3
$0.75/1 coupon from 6/20 SmartSource
$0.75/1 coupon for non-stick variety from 6/20 SmartSource
Bottom line: $2.25

Solo Cups or Plates $2.50
$1/1 coupon from 6/20 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1.50

Henry Weinhard’s Soft Drink, 6-pack
$3.99
(Good price for this item!)

Snyder’s Pounder Pretzels $2
$1/1 coupon from 6/27 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1

John Frieda Root Awakening $4.99
$3/1 coupon from 6/6 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1.99

Pert Plus Shampoo or Conditioner $2
$1/1 coupon from 6/27 SmartSource
$1.50/1 coupon for 3-in-1 or men’s product from 5/2 SmartSource
Bottom line: $0.50 – $1

Sure Deodorant $1.99
$1/1 – $1.50/1 coupons in 5/2 SmartSource
Bottom line: $0.49 – $0.99

Stayfree, Carefree, or OB Pads and Liners $1.99
B1G1 Stayfree coupon from 6/27 Red Plum
$1/2 Carefree coupon from 6/27 Red Plum
$1.50/1 o.b. coupon from 6/27 Red Plum
Bottom line: $0.49 – $0.99 each

Old El Paso Refried Beans $1.25
$0.50/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $0.75

Smucker’s Grape Jam or Jelly $1.50
$0.25/1 coupon from 5/23 Red Plum
Bottom line: $1.25

Yoplait Greek Yogurt $0.99
$0.30/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $0.69

Save $3 Instantly Promotion
Buy $10 or more in a single transaction and save $3 instantly
(Items in blue reflect what I think are actually decent deals)

$1 Category ($0.70 each after promotional discount)
Kraft BBQ Sauce
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
Taco Bell Seasoning
Taco Bell Hot Sauce
Taco Bell Refried Beans
Taco Bell Shells
Nabisco Animal Crackers
Nabisco Go Cups
Cool Whip (see Catalina alert below!!)
Jello-O Pudding or Gelatin ($0.60/3 coupon from 6/6 SmartSource – may have been regional)
Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows

$1.25 Category ($0.88 each after promotional discount*)
Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese

$2 Category ($1.40 each after promotional discount)
Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts
Kraft Singles
Kraft Melt Downs
Kraft Shredded or Brick Cheese
Nabisco Crackers ($1/2 coupon from 5/16 SmartSource)
Premium Saltine Crackers ($1/1 tearpad coupon – I’ve seen these at Albertsons before!)
Oscar Mayer Meat Bologna or Cotto Salami
Kraft Salad Dressing ($1/1 coupon from 6/20 SmartSource)
Knudsen Sour Cream
Taco Bell Salsa
Country Time or Kool Aid Sugar Sweet Canisters
Knudsen Sour Cream
Capri Sun

$3.33 Category ($2.34 each after promotional discount)
Kraft Miracle Whip or Real Mayo, 22-32 oz. ($1.50/2 coupon from 6/20 SmartSource)
Crystal Light
Claussen Pickles ($0.55/1 coupon from 6/20 SmartSource)
Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheese
Kraft Grated Parmesan
Kraft Velveeta
Nabisco Nilla Wafers

CATALINA ALERT!!

According to Coupons, Deals and More, there are a couple Catalina offers that work nicely with this Buy $10/Save $3 Promo.

Check it out:

Cool Whip (through 7/4 ONLY)
Buy 3, Receive $1 off-your-next order
Buy 4, Receive $2 off-your-next order
Buy 5+, Receive $3 off-your-next order

DEAL IDEA

Buy 4 Cool Whip
Buy 3 Kraft Salad Dressing
Subtotal: $10

Use (3) $1/1 Kraft Salad Dressing Coupons
Save $3 Instantly at checkout
Receive $2 off-your-next order

Bottom line: $2 for everything!

(Now, if ONLY we get doublers, you could turn the above deal into a money-maker scenario!)

If you find a deal I’m missing…don’t email me…leave a comment below! I’m only one person, and I always appreciate it when others find stuff I’ve missed and share it here.

Looking for even more Albertsons deals? How about deals at stores near you? Be sure to check out The Grocery Gathering

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Jun

How I spent and saved for the month of June

I did a good job this month of making sure to add my receipts to my Savings Tracker. I just entered the last of them in and here’s how the month turned out:

Basically, I’m $23 under budget! Now that does account for about $20 of rebates I’m owed, but even if you look at my out of pocket, I’m under budget for the month. What a great feeling.

If my overall savings rate looks low to you (45%), there is a rather simple explanation for that. I didn’t do much stockpiling this month. I have a VERY full pantry at the moment (in fact, I need to clean it!), so I only cherry picked a few deals here and there and pretty much bought what we needed for the week. The $58 Winco trip last week was to buy a bunch of items for my mom’s birthday BBQ bash. (And yes, I’m STILL under budget!!) If I wouldn’t have had to make that trip, I’d be under budget even more.

I also want to point out something I’ve said before: shopping sales makes the biggest dent in my budget. Check it out: coupons saved me $98, but store sales and promotions saved me $128.53. This is why I always state you should try to use your coupons on store sales. They combine to give you real money-saving power! All told, I saved $226 this month, which works out to saving about $56 per week.

Tracking my savings in this manner helps me see EXACTLY how much my couponing is saving me. It also gives me a good snapshot of my shopping in general. For instance, I see I had quite a few shopping trips this month. Maybe next month I could try to work on reducing that. Or work on lowering my budget since I did so well this month, etc.

Was this exercise helpful? I hope so. Would you like me to continue sharing what and how I’m saving and spending? I would love to know if this has been of value to you.

Don’t forget; you can download your own Savings Tracker (for Excel) to follow along. It’s free. A quick update on Google Docs: it appears many of my crazy formulas are not compatible for Google Docs and would need to be rewritten. I do plan on creating a Google Docs version at some point in the near future, but unfortunately, it’s not as simple as doing a “Save As” as I’d hoped and I imagine it will take some serious work to get up and running. Stay tuned!

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Jun

Sites you should know about: Unclutterer

Several weeks ago, I kicked off a weekly feature called “Sites you should know about.” The idea is to shake things up in your Google Reader a bit by introducing you to blogs I feel are complementary to living a frugal lifestyle.

Today’s feature site is one my friend Keri introduced me to awhile ago: Unclutterer. According to the home page: “Unclutterer is the blog is about getting and staying organized. A place for everything, and everything in its place is our gospel.”

The blog is a combination of practical and whimsy and the overall effect leaves you craving a more organized life. Even the design of this blog is…uncluttered. White background, two button Nav bar, tidy sidebars.

Keri emailed me over the weekend to share that one of Unclutterer’s recent posts would be perfect introductory material for Coupon Project readers. I had to agree. The post (which happens to be a guest post) is titled Four Tips to Unclutter Your Family Finances.

You’ll also find forums if you have a burning organizational question you want to discuss. And of course, blogger Erin Doland has a book out now, too. Unclutter your Life in One Week is available on Amazon for just under $15.

I find it coincidental I’ve selected Unclutterer for today’s “Sites You Should Know” feature because I’m seeing QUITE a bit of clutter on my own desk and office as I type this. Maybe it’s time I head over to Unclutterer myself for a few ideas!

Do you have a great site you think I should highlight in an upcoming “Sites you should know about” feature? I’m primarily looking for blogs or websites that are complementary to frugal living. Rich content is key! Got one? Email me at thecouponproject at hotmail dot com for consideration.

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Jun

“Like” Famous Daves, get $15 gift certificate – hurry!

The first 100,000 people to “like” Famous Daves on Facebook will receive a $15 gift certificate! They will email the winners on July 6th.

The locations for Washington State include Everett, Kennewick, Puyallup, Silverdale, Tacoma, and Tukwila.

I just “liked” them myself and I can tell you they’re up to over 77,000 already. I wouldn’t wait on this one if you want it!

Thanks, Free Snatcher!

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Jun

Vitamin World $20 off $50 printable coupon

Right now, you can print a coupon good for $20 off your purchase of $50 or more at Vitamin World. According to the fine print, you can use this coupon on top of buy one get one free and buy one get one 50% off sales!

Only one coupon may be used per customer and it expires July 13, 2010.

Prefer to shop online? Use coupon code VE6QC5F at checkout. Shipping is a flat $1.95 or free if you spend $75 or more.

If you do choose to shop online, initiate your purchase at Shop at Home or Ebates to earn 6% cash back! (How do Shop at Home and Ebates Work?)

Thank you, The Thrifty Mama!

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Jun

Last call for SC Johnson rebates!

Today is IT if you want to take advantage of the $5 SC Johnson rebate!

What exactly is this rebate?

Buy ANY three SC Johnson items and submit for a $5 rebate. There is a limit of three per household, too.

What are the SC Johnson brands?

Ziploc
Glade
Windex
Scrubbing Bubbles
Shout
Pledge
Fantastic
Draino
Raid
Off
Saran
Nature’s Source

Your rebate form must be postmarked by 7/15 and received no later than 7/30. So I recommend getting it in the mail right away. Please note that receipts are eligible dated way back through October 1…so you might want to check your receipt stash! There have been a lot of Scrubbing Bubbles deals at Target, and don’t forget the recent Ziploc container deal at Safeway. These items should qualify.

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An amazing Rite Aid shopping photo

June 30, 2010

I have a particularly amazing reader shop to share with you today. Jessica tells me she bought the following at Rite Aid over 2 days and 6 transactions: Guess how much ALL of this cost her? Try $1.08 out of pocket!! Yes, you read that right! And that includes the diapers and batteries…everything. EDITED: I [...]

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Vlog: Second Garden Video Update!

June 29, 2010

My garden is growing leaps and bounds from my initial video garden update a couple weeks ago. Note to gardeners: I post a couple questions about some issues I’m having with my garden in the video. I’d love your input! To learn more about how and why my family is growing a garden this year, [...]

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New Mission Tortilla $0.75/1 coupon!

June 29, 2010

There’s a new $0.75/1 Mission Tortilla printable coupon! Tortilla coupons only seem to come around a handful of times a year (at best), so I recommend taking advantage if your family eats ‘em! Will I personally be printing and using this coupon? Ummm…let’s just say I still have a whole stack of these guys hanging [...]

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Want to work from home? Beware of scams!

June 29, 2010

Today on The Consumerist I read this post about work-from-home scams and I thought it was a good opportunity to share my thoughts on this topic with you. You see, I DO work from home. And yes, I actually make some money from it, too. But let me tell you, it’s not as easy as you’d like to think. [...]

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