Walgreen's Register Rewards Deals that you can work through Saturday, May 2

I wouldn't normally spend this much cash out of pocket, but we needed the body wash. I'll list the deals and then tell you the order I did them. This is a great week to get started.

first thing: The Bayer crystals, which are $2.49 have a $1 coupon with the display.
second thing: I tried to use an Ecotrin coupon for $2.25 on the $2 item and it didn't work.
third thing: You cannot have more manufacturer coupons than items. Register Rewards count as manufacturer coupon, so you need to find something cheap to add to an order where this is a problem. I found caramels for $0.35 each.

Deal 1:

Bayer Crystals: $2.49
Ecotrin: $2.00
Coupon: -$1.00

Final price: $3.49 get $2.50 and $2.00 in RRs

Deal 2:

Nivea Body Wash: $4.99
RR -$2.50
RR -$2.00
Final price: $0.49, get $5 in RRs BUT I needed an additional item, so add 1 caramel
Final price: $0.84

Deal 3:

Rembrandt Toothpaste: $5.99
RR: -$5.00
Final Price: $0.99 get $6 in RRs

Deal 4:

Nivea Body Wash: $4.99
Bayer Crystals: $2.49
RR from last: -$6
Q from display: -$1

Final price: $0.48 get $5 in RRS and $2.50 in RRs

Deal 5:

Rembrandt Toothpaste: $5.99
Bayer Crystals: $2.49
RR from last: -$5
RR from last: -$2.50
Q from display -$1

Final Price: $0.48 get $6 in RRs But again, I needed a caramel to make it work (2 items, 3 coupons)

Note: I made a mistake here. Can you see what it was? Ok, I'll tell you. I used a Bayer RR in a transaction with another Bayer RR, so, while I got the item for free, I did NOT get another RR for the item. I also needed another caramel, so cash out of pocket was really $0.84

Deal 6: Can you guess it? (it's really Deal 4)

Bayer Crystals: $2.49
Nivea Body Wash: $4.99
RRs from last: -$6
Q from display: -1

Final price: $0.48 get $2.50 and $5 in RRs

You could then go do the Rembrandt deal again and add an Ecotrin, which would be $8.00, use the last two RRs, pay $0.49 and get 2 RRs--a $6 RR and a $2 RR. I had to get home, though, so I stopped.


The clerk was impressed, though.

And in case you weren't keeping track, I spent just under $10 total (including tax), got $36 in items and got $7.50 in RRs when I was done.

Publix Deals beginning 4/29 or 4/30

Here are the deals that are BOGO plus Q; that is, Buy One, Get One Free plus coupons in the Sunday paper at Publix. This does not include deals that have coupons from other sources. For those, go to www.iheartpublix.com and/or www.southernsavers.com. Those sites, along with www.couponmom.com will also have the dates the coupons were published and the actual source so you can find them easily.

If I find other deals that are notable, or are good charity items, I'll come back and post them.

Breakstone's Sour Cream: All Natural Grade A, Reduced Fat, or Fat Free, 8-oz cup .
Dannon Danimals Smoothie: 6-pk. 3.1-oz ctn. or Dannon Yogurt, 6-pk. 4-oz multi-pack, Assorted Varieties .
Keebler Sandies Shortbread Cookies: Or Vienna Fingers or Oatmeal, Assorted Varieties, 9.5 to 16-oz pkg
Kellogg's Special K Cereal: 11.4 to 14-oz, Raisin Bran, 20-oz, or All-Bran, 13.2 to 18.3-oz box .
Northland 100% Cranberry Juice: Or Naturals Plus 100% Juice Blend, Assorted Varieties, No Sugar Added, 64-oz bot
Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn: Assorted Varieties, 4.8 to 9.9-oz box .
Pace Chunky Salsa: Or Picante Salsa or Sauce, Assorted Varieties, 16-oz jar
Pledge Grab-it Dry Cloths: Disposable: Unscented or Orange Citrus Scented; or Vinegar Floor Wet Wipes, 12 or 16-ct. pkg
Pup-Peroni Dog Snacks: Assorted Varieties, 5.6-oz pkg
Schick Disposable Razors: Quattro High Performance Razors for Women, 3-ct. pkg. or Xtreme 3, 4-ct. pkg.
Smart Balance Spread: Assorted Varieties, 13 or 15-oz or 2-pk. 7.5-oz tub or Spray, 8-oz bot
T. Marzetti's Dressing: Assorted Varieties, Excellent for Topping Your Favorite Salad, 12 or 15-oz cont

Coupon Seminar-Sunday, May 17

By popular demand, I'm holding another coupon seminar. I'm fine tuning it a bit, so if you've been once and want to go over the material again, here's your chance. If you're new to this whole thing, I think you'll find it very helpful. And best of all--it's FREE!

In it, I'll cover the following subjects:

1. 6 coupon myths
2. The 5 steps to saving with coupons
3. Saving at the Grocery Store
4. Saving at the Drug store
5. Charity--how to become a giver for pennies on the dollar.

There will be prize drawings and giveaway gifts for all attendees. I don't know who all will be contributing, but in the past I've had help from the following organizations and I'm going to be hitting them up again.

Publix
The Coupon Mom
Lifeway Christian
Chick Fil A

Here's the info:

Cutting Costs with Coupons
Sunday, May 17 at 5:00 p.m.
Marietta First United Methodist Church
56 Whitlock Ave.
Marietta, GA

E-mail me if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

The Publix Mystery Coupon is publix brand spring water.

Kroger Deals Beginning 4/26

Kroger is having an $0.88 sale this week. It's all Kroger brand, so there aren't any coupons, but it looks like a pretty good deal all around.

If I see any deals tomorrow, I'll post them along with my weekend wrap-up.

Everyday Living Glass Cleaner: or Soap Scum Remover, Clean-It with Bleach or Multi-Surface Cleaner with Vinegar, 32 oz Varieties
Everyday Living Ultra 48 oz Bleach:
Kroger 25 sq ft Aluminum Foil:
Kroger 3 Minute French Bread Pizza: Selected Varieties, 5-5.3 oz
Kroger 3 Minute Microwave Pizza: Selected Varieties, 8 oz
Kroger Alcohol: 70% Solution, 16 oz
Kroger Aspirin: 100 ct
Kroger Canned Chicken: 5 oz
Kroger Canned Fruit: Selected Varieties, 15-15.25 oz
Kroger Dry Pasta: Selected Varieties, 16 oz
Kroger Everyday Napkins: 120 ct
Kroger Frozen Vegetables: Selected Varieties, 16 oz
Kroger Frozen Whipped Topping: 8 oz
Kroger Microwave Popcorn: 3 ct, Selected Varieties
Kroger Nice 'n Soft Facial Tissues: Assorted Varieties 65-160 ct
Kroger Nice 'n Strong Foam Cups: 51 ct 8 oz or 24 ct 16 oz
Kroger Yellow Mustard: 24 oz or 12 oz Spicy Brown
Sunnyland Meat Hot Dogs: or Meat Bologna, 16 oz

CVS Extra Care Deals and Walgreens Register Rewards beginning 4/26. I've included some tips for beginners as well.

I'm only going to highlight the free items and some of the better "other" deals for both stores. If you want to know more, you can go to http://www.iheartcvs.com/ and http://www.iheartwags.com/ for each of the stores.

Also, on Sundays, The Coupon Mom will post a good coupon match for those and other drug stores. The nice thing about her list is she lists the total net % savings. You can just go down the column looking for whatever % savings is your minimum (mine's 65% off or better) and then get your coupons together for that item.

CVS

Free items this week will depend on whether you’ve got coupons or not. Here’s what I found at http://www.iheartcvs.com/

band-aid brand bandages
$1Coupons: -$1 Band-Aid, any SS 3/15/09 or rp 4/26/09

This is also part of a larger Extra Care deal

-$10 ECBs (Extra Care Bucks) with $20 of items Limit 1 deal (not one box of band-aids)

Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler $2.99 get $2 eb Limit 1
-$1 Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner or Treatment, any except trial size RP 1/4/09
-$1 Garnier Fructis Style Product, any except trial size SS 1/4/09

Here’s another deal that might be worth the effort as well:

Crest Cavity, Tartar, or Baking Soda & Peroxide TP 6.4 oz or Oral B Indicator $1.99 get $1 ECBs Limit 2

There’s a coupon for $0.75 off Crest from March’s P&G Brandsaver that should still be good.

So, if you don’t have any ECBs already, here’s what you do.

Buy One:

Price: $1.99
-Q: $0.75

Final: $1.25, get $1.00 ECB

Buy the second one:

Price: $1.99
-Q: $0.75
-ECBs:$1.00

Final: $0.24 get $1 ECB

Now, if your CVS is anything like mine, in addition to the ECBs, you’ll probably get a bunch of other coupons. Look for one that says $3 off $15 purchase. This might vary regionally, but you get the point.

Now, look for another deal of things you might want. I typically am only interested in deals where I get at least one half the purchase price back in ECBs, but once in a while, a lower amount will work.

For example: There’s a Colgate/SC Johnson bunch, get $5 ECBs when you buy $15.

See if you can get online coupons for any of it. Here’s one for scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner or refills.

It’s a $5 coupon off the purchase of 2, so, get 3 items and do this, but read the whole thing because there’s a trick to it:

Price: 3 x $5 = $15
CVS Q ($3 off $15)-$3
Online Q: -$5 (from link above)
ECB from last: -$1
Final: $6 get $5 ECBs

Here’s the trick: make sure you hand the cashier the $3 off $15 first. If they apply any of the other Qs first, the total is now less than $15 and that one no longer applies.

If this is your first try at CVS, my advice at this point is to stop there unless you NEED something else that’s on sale. With patience, you’ll find that sooner or later, your favorite brands all go on sale and most of them will get ECBs.

If you take my advice, the final result will be $7.49 cash out of pocket and $5 ECBs for next time. The total value of products you bring home will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 unless you included the freebies listed first. Then it gets somewhere around $45 in goods.

Walgreen’s

There are some good free items this week.

Just an FYI-the blood glucose meter below is one of many that are almost always free after rebate somewhere. I guess the money’s in the test strips. However, with the Register Rewards, you can make money. Thanks to http://www.iheartwags.com/ for this content.

Free Items after RRs

Bayer Breeze2 or Contour Meter $14.99 get $5 RR
-$14.99 Bayer Breeze2 or Contour Meter, free (up to $30) SS 3/22/09, RP 10/26/08, or RP 2/1/09

Bayer quick release crystals 4 ct $2.49 get $2.49 RR

Ecotrin 45 ct tablets $2 get $2 RR
-$1 Ecotrin product any (exp 4/30/09) 1/25/09 SS

Nivea body wash 16.9 oz $4.99 get $4.99 RR -$1 off Any Nivea Body Product 2 oz + (print limit of 25!)-$1
Nivea body wash for women 16.9 oz, or $3 off wyb 2 (Found on store display)

Rembrandt toothpaste 2.6 -3.2 oz or mouthwash 16 oz $5.99 get $5.99 rr

Here are some other deals that caught my eye

Schick quattro, Quattro trimstyle, or Intuition $8.99 get $3 RR
-$4 Schick Intuition or Intuition Plus Razor or Refill SS 3/22/09
-$4 Schick Quattro for Women Razor, TrimStyle Razor or Refill SS 3/22/09

Scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner kit or Windex all in glass cleaning kit $13.99 get $3 RR
-$3 Windex Outdoor All-In-One Glass Cleaning Tool Starter Kit SS 3/29/09
-$7 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit
-$3 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit SS 3/29/09

Suave or rave hair care 3/$5 get $2 RR wyb 3
-$1 off 2 Suave Shampoo, Conditioner or Hairspray RP 3/1/09
-$1.75 off 3 Suave Shampoo, Conditioner or Hairspray RP 3/1/09

Now don’t forget—at Walgreen’s there’s no limit on Register Rewards, BUT, you can’t roll the deals the way you can at CVS.

For example, let's say you buy the Bayer Quick Release crystals above and get your $2.49 RRs.

However, if you try to take that RR coupon and use it on another Bayer Quick Release Crystals, you WILL get the item free, but you won’t get any RRs with the second purchase. If you want to get more, you just need to “tag team” it with another item that you want.

For example, the Ecotrin for $2. You’ll need another item for $0.49 to make it work, but there’s tons of Easter candy on clearance. So you’d spend $2.49, use the RRs from the last deal, get it for free and get $2 in RRs for your trouble.

THEN, you can use THAT $2 RR to get another Bayer.

Make Sense? If not, e-mail me at allen@thekingofcoupons.com and I’ll answer your questions.

Publix Deals Beginning 4/22 or 4/23

Publix has some notable deals today and they are higlighted in red. Charity items are marked with a *C*. Check CouponMom.com for dates of coupons where indicated.

As an aside...

Once you start saving your Sunday Paper coupons, you'll find that you have more and more of the coupons matched to sales. That's the key--these items start out cheap, but since there are coupons as well, you can really save. Don't forget--if you buy two items in a BOGO deal, you can use two of the same coupon; one for each. That's how you stock up. It takes anywhere from 6-8 weeks to really start matching what's on sale with the coupons you have. After about 12 weeks, you'll be matching all the time.

So how do you organize all these coupons? First of all--don't clip them when you get them. Just take the whole insert and put it in a manila folder with the date on it. Some people just write on the front of the insert with a big marker. It's up to you. The point is, if you clip all the coupons when you get them, you're spending a lot of time on coupons for items you may not buy.

Instead, just do the matching when you're making your list for the week. Coupon Mom (http://www.couponmom.com/) and The Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com/) both provide lists of your favorite store's sales flyer items already matched against coupons from the Sunday paper. They both list which publication and the date of the paper the coupon was in. All you have to do is go back to that publication, pull the insert and clip only what you need when you're ready to shop. This reduces the overall work load to less than 30 minute a week.

Both of these web sites have their merits. Coupon Mom is a free site and The Grocery Game is a subscription. I cover the merits of each in The Beginner's Coupon Guide, which you can read by clicking the link on the right-hand side of the blog.

Anyway, back to Publix. I want to thank Michelle from http://www.iheartpublix.com/ for the sneak peak of these items.

BOGO Plus Q (Q=coupons. That is, these are Buy One Get One Free deals where there are also coupons from the Sunday paper)

Marie Callender’s Entrees or Dinners, 10 to 21 oz box, (excluding pot pies), save up to 2.99 Coupons make these $0.50 ea
*C*Pasta Roni or Rice A Roni 3.8 to 7.2 oz box, save up to 1.17
Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, 8 ct, 14 to 15.2 oz box, save up to 2.39
*C*Wish-Bone Dressing, 16 oz bottle, save up to 2.63
*C*Skippy Peanut Butter Creamy, Reduced Fat Creamy, or Super Chunk, 16.3 oz jar or Natural Creamy Spread, 15 oz jar, save up to 2.49 Coupons make these about $0.45 ea.
Blue Diamond Almonds, 6 oz can, save up to 3.39
Nabisco Teddy Grahams or Ritz Bits or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Crackers, 7.5 to 10 oz box, save up to 2.99
Yoplait Go-Gurt Portable Yogurt, 8 pk, 2.25 oz tube, save up to 2.79
StarKist SeaSations Fish Fillets Atlantic Whole White: Savory Lemon & Herb, Thai With Basil, Mediterranean Tomato & Basil, or Teriyaki Orange & Ginger, 11.4 oz box, save up to 5.99
*C*Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner, antibacterial, 22 oz can, save up to 2.79 Coupon makes these $0.39 ea.
*C*Shout Laundry Stain Remover with Trigger, 22 oz bottle, save up to 2.99 Coupon makes these $0.50 ea.

BOGO

Cheez-Its Baked Snack Crackers or Party Mix, 11.5 to 14.5 oz box, save up to 3.99
Margaritaville Shrimp, 8 or 10 oz pkg, save up to 6.99
Campari Tomatoes, hot house-grown, 16 oz pkg, save up to 4.99
Del Monte SunFresh or Orchard Select Fruit, 23.5 or 24 oz pkg, save up to 3.99
Post Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal, 13 to 18 oz box, or Just Bunches! 17 oz box (excluding family size), save up to 3.99
Quaker Cereal Cap’N Crunch, 20.7 to 22 oz, Life, 21 oz, or Squares, 16 oz box, save up to 4.49
Kraft Easy Mac Macaroni & Cheese Dinner original, Extreme Cheese, Big Pack Original, or Animal Shapes, 12.05 or 12.9 oz box, save up to 3.39
Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry Juice, 64 oz bottle, save up to 3.99
StarKist Chunk White Tuna Premium Albacore, 6.4 oz pouch, save up to 3.19
Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup, 24 oz bottle, save up to 1.75
Entenmann’s Little Bites, 5.6 to 11 oz box, save up to 4.29
Snickers 6 To Go Bars or Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, or Twix, 6 ct, 12 to 12.78 oz pkg, save up to 4.29
Wise Potato Chips, 7 to 8 oz bag, save up to 2.99
Jose’ Ole’ Taquitos or Tacos, 20 or 22.5 oz box, save up to 5.49
50% off Weight Watchers Smart Ones Entrée or Morning Express, 6 to 12 oz pkg.
20% off Clean & Clear Facial Products, 0.75 to 8 oz pkg, or 20 or 50 count pkg, or each kit.
Glade Candle (Assorted Varieties, 4-oz jar BOGO Save up to $3.49
Weiman Cook Top Cleaner (or Stainless Steel or Granite, 12-oz bot.) Save up to $3.99

Atlanta Braves Home Game Tickets (Good on Outfield or Upper Box Seats. Sun-Thurs games only each–Excluding Yankees and Red Sox Games)

Other Items

Hebrew National Kosher All Beef Franks (Original, Reduced Fat, 97% Fat-Free or Jumbo or Knockwurst 11 or 12-oz pkg) 2 for $7.00—check online for a coupon for these—southernsavers.com may have a link. I know there is one because I have it, but can't remember where I found it.
50% off Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Coupon may make these free, but it’ll depend on what size.

A Call To Action...For Me!

Many times I've posted information on this blog and at the end, I've asked for suggestions. I am now making a more formal request.

There are many sites that offer coupon information. I've tried to supplement that with a more "instructional" approach so that people can start doing this with the information I've given. Afterall, starting is always the hard part.

BUT...I'd like to know what else is needed in this world of savings. What's not being done that could be of help. One thing that has come up is organic items, another is baby items. I'm trying to incorporate those things, but organic items are tough. It's getting easier and easier, but the information out there today is still rather sparse. Baby items, I try to help whenever I find something.

I like helping y'all with this information, but in the back of my mind, I can't help but think that I'm just duplicating work being done elsewhere. If you've found my presentation is unique, I'd like to know how. If you think it's incomplete, I would like to know that as well.

E-mail me at allen@thekingofcoupons.com and let me know what you think. Otherwise, I'll just keep chugging away.

Wrap Up For the Weekend 4/19

I'll be buying a few things during the week, but in case you need a goal, try to get some deals at your grocery store. I saved $71.54 today at Publix.

Coupons: $27.44 in savings
Sales: $44.10 (thanks to e-mealz.com)


I also went to CVS and Walgreen's today and got the free stuff I posted yesterday (scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the post). Interesting, though. CVS keeps a running total of how much you spend and how much you save and puts it on your receipt.

My receipt today said the following:

Spending (so far this year): $12.46
Year to date savings: $495.86

If you want to see scenarios that will give you these types of deals, see http://www.southernsavers.com/ and also, http://www.iheartcvs.com/ and http://www.iheartwags.com/ as well. I also have step-by-step instructions in my Beginner's Coupon Guide, which you can link to from the right side of the page.

The Publix Mystery Coupon for 4/19-4/20

The Publix Mystery Coupon is Publix brand Greenwise toilet paper.

Kroger Deals Beginning 4/19--Big 10/$10 Sale! Think Charity!

Kroger is starting a big sale tomorrow. The items marked with a (*) have coupons. Check CouponMom.com to find them in the Grocery Coupon Database. Everything here is 10/$10.

I like to mark items I recommend for charity, but there's no point. Anything in this list that's non-perishable qualifies.

Angel Soft Bath Tissue, Selected Varieties, 4 Rolls
Avocados, Ripe and Ready to Eat
Banquet or Michelina's Entrees, Selected Varieties, 5-12 oz
Chef Boyardee Pasta, Selected Varieties, 14.5-15 oz Cans
Comforts Drinking Water, 1 Gallon
Cooked Salad Shrimp, Sold Frozen, 4 oz
Deer Park Spring Water, 3 Liter Bottles
Frito Lay Snacks, Selected Varieties, 2-5 oz
*Fuze, Snapple or SoBe Life Water, Selected Varieties, 18.5-20 oz
Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles, Selected Varieties, 1.5-1.6 oz Cup
Huggies Baby Wipes, Selected Varieties, 16-40 ct
Hunts Snack Pack Pudding, Selected Varieties, 1.5 oz 4 Pack
Idahoan Potatoes, Selected Varieties, 4-4.1 oz
Kool Aid Bursts, 6 Pack
Kroger 3 Minute Microwave Pizza, or Tony's Pizza for One, Selected Varieties 5.51-8 oz Pkg
Kroger Butter It's Not, 16 oz
Kroger Cheese Curls or Balls, Selected Varieties, 7 oz or Kroger Tortilla Chips, 10 oz
Kroger Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream or Dips, Selected Varieties, 16 oz
Kroger Cream Cheese, 8 oz Selected Varieties or Kroger 14.25 oz Refrigerated Bagels
Kroger Deluxe Pints, Assorted Varieties, 16 oz or Häagen- Dazs Ice Cream 4-4.25 oz Cup
Kroger Ketchup, or Mustard, 24 oz Selected Varieties
Kroger Picante Sauce or Salsa 16 oz Jar, or Kroger 12 oz Hot Sauce Selected Varieties
Kroger Sandwich or Hot Dog Buns, Selected Varieties, 8 ct
Kroger Stuffed Chicken or Fast Fixin' Chicken, Selected Varieties, 5-10 oz or Redi-Serve Chicken 8-13.5 oz
Kroger Value Frozen Dairy Dessert, Selected Varieties, 56 oz Kroger 6 ct Ice Cream Sandwiches or 12 ct Pops
*Lawry's 12 oz Marinades, or Kraft 18 oz BBQ Sauce Selected Varieties
Mangoes, Delicious and Sweet
*McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning, Selected Varieties, 2.5-3.4 oz
Nesquik Milk or Milkshakes, Refrigerated, Selected Varieties, 13.5-16 oz
Parkay or Fleischmann's Butter or Margarine, Selected Varieties, 8-16 oz
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers, Selected Varieties, 6.6-8 oz
*Pillsbury Brownie Mix, Selected Varieties, 19.5 oz or Kroger Cooking Spray 6-8 oz
Powerade Sports Drink, Selected Varieties, 32 oz
*Rice or Pasta Roni, Selected Varieties, 4.2-7.2 oz
*Softsoap Elements or Kroger Liquid Soap, Selected Varieties, 7.5 oz
*Suave Deodorant, Selected Varieties, 1.4 oz
Sundia Fruit Cups, 8 oz Cups
Turkey Hill Tea, Selected Varieties, 64 oz or Tampico Punch 128 oz
*Wrigley's 5 Gum, Selected Varieties, 15 ct
Ziegler's Lemonade or Tea, 16 oz, Assorted Varieties

CVS Extra Care Deals and Walgreen's Register Rewards Beginning 4/19

Thank you to http://www.iheartcvs.com/ and http://www.iheartwags.com/ for putting these together. You can go to each site for the full lists--I'll post the free items and some others I'm likely to consider.

CVS

Free Deals

Bayer Aspirin Quick Release Crystals 4 ct $2 get $2 ECBs limit 1
Edge Infused Comfort or Hydrate Shave Gel $2.89, get $2.89 ECBs limit 1

Other Deals

Tresemme 3/$10 get $5 ECBs wyb 3 limit 2
Act Rinse 18oz $3.79 get $2 ECBs limit 2

Walgreens

Free Deals

Edge Infused Comfort and Edge Infused Hydrate $2.99 get $2.99 RR
Skintimate Shave Gel $2.99 get $2.99 RR

Other Deals

Mitchum $2.99 get $2 RR
Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer, Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel 6pk, or Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber 2/$7 get $1 RR wyb 2
Windex Scrubbing Bubbles or Shout 2/$6 get $1 RR wyb 2

I'll be posting my grocery store results tomorrow hopefully. It will be my first attempt at posting from my cell phone, so we'll see how that goes.

6 Coupon Myths

I’ve been doing seminars and talking individually to a lot of people about coupons and I’ve found some misconceptions out there that I’d like to address. Some of these myths I believed myself and was pleasantly surprised when I found them to be false.

Myth 1: I can’t possibly save that much money using coupons without cheating

Fact: By following the rules, you can easily cut your grocery bill in half. To show this, I document my savings each week so you can see what I’m doing. And I do follow the rules. All the cashiers know who I am, so I couldn’t cheat even if I wanted to. I want to be known as “The King of Coupons” not the guy who tries to get away with something at every turn. That would be stealing.

Myth 2: I have to buy a bunch of stuff that I’d never eat.

Fact: This is only as true as you want it to be. One of the things I stress in my blog and articles is that you should always build your plan around things you normally use. Flexibility helps, and I encourage you to try new things, but only to the extent you’re comfortable. We didn’t change our eating habits and we’ve cut our bill in half. I will admit, however, that if you build your menu around the super cheap stuff, you will save more on a weekly basis, but we’ve chosen not to do that.

Myth 3: The things I normally use never have coupons

Fact: Eventually, every name brand item in a grocery store will go on sale or will have a coupon and most of the time, both. The trick is to save coupons from the Sunday paper every week. Then, when your item goes on sale, dig up the coupon and go shopping.

Myth 4: I don’t buy processed food, so there aren’t any coupons to use.

Fact: This really depends on your definition of “processed.” If you make your own bread from scratch, flour and yeast do go on sale and have coupons—especially around the holidays. If you don’t eat cold cereal, oatmeal goes on sale with coupons about 3 times a year. Once you start paying attention, you’ll see some manufacturers create promotions around appropriate staples; for example, a salad dressing might come with a free head of lettuce when you buy some. Also, if you join your grocery store clubs (like baby clubs or wine clubs) you get coupons on fresh meat and produce in the mail! Of course, this doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough.

So, unless you make your own bread, jelly, peanut butter and cheese from scratch and unless you grow all your own vegetables and slaughter your own animals for meat, there are a ton of coupons out there that you can use.

Myth 5: It takes too much time.

Fact: There are several web sites that match coupons to sales and tell you where to get the coupons, too. If you use them (and the process I outline) you’ll spend no more than 30 minutes a week doing this. Other people have done the hard work and all you need to do is take advantage of it.

Myth 6: I can do better buying store brand/generic items

Fact: Store brand/generic items never have coupons and never go on sale. Combining coupons and sales on a brand name item makes generic equivalents look expensive!

Here’s a real life example: 1 lb of store brand rice sells for $0.79 and the brand name $1.59. But recently, the name brand went on sale for $1.09 and I had a $0.50 coupon. I made out like a bandit because that coupon got doubled, making the name brand rice $0.09. NOW who’s saving money?

Kroger Savings Through Saturday, 4/18-Definitely Worth the Trip

I normally shop at Publix, but these deals were too good to pass up. I posted most of these already, but there were some 'unadvertised' deals that popped up as well. For more details, check CouponMom.com under "Grocery Deals By State."

Barilla Piccolini Pasta: Free after coupons
Barilla Whole Grain Pasta: Free after coupons
Johnson and Johnson Baby Bar Soap: $0.09 after coupons
Suave Shampoo: Free after coupons
Softsoap hand soap: Free after coupons
Mahatma Long Grain Rice: $0.09 after coupons
Suave Deodorant: Free after coupons
Quaker Rice Cake snacks: Free after coupons

There are others, but these are the highlights. When I got done, I had bought about $110 worth of stuff, spending $35. Over half that was dog food that didn't have a coupon.

Free Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs at Home Depot April 19

In honor of Earth Day, Home Depot will be giving away 1 million CFLs. This will be ONLY on April 19, so mark your calendar.

Here's a link that covers the promotion.

Publix Mystery Coupon for 4/13 and Sales Flyer Deals through 4/22

Publix is posting a new sales flyer today that will last all the way through until next Wednesday. I also found an announcement that they have a Mystery Coupon Deal today--although I don't know where you would get the coupon, since yesterday's Sunday paper did not have a Publix flyer in it.

Anyway, if you can get one, the Publix Mystery Coupon is Publix brand bleach.

Here are the BOGO items that have coupons and other BOGO items as well. Check CouponMom for the dates and pubs of the coupons and Southernsavers.com for a list of items that have online coupons as well.

BOGO plus Q

Mueller’s Pasta 12-16 oz box save up to $1.39
Crystal Light Drink or On the Go Mix, 10-12 qt or 10-14- ct box, save up to $3.99
Kellogg’s Smart Start, Raisin Bran, Raisin Bran Crunch, or Corn Flakes $4.19 ea
Betty Crocker Potatoes save up to $1.59
Ken’s Steak House Marinade or Buffalo Wing Sauce, 16-oz bot. save up to $2.79
Pam Cooking Spray 5 or 6-oz can, save up $3.39
Kraft BBQ Sauce, 16.25-18-oz bot. save up $1.59
Yoplait Yogurt 6pk 4oz cup save up $2.79
Sargento Shredded or Shapes Cheese 5 to 8-oz pkg. save up $3.19
Lysol Disinfectant Bathroom Cleaner 32-oz bot. save up $3.39

BOGO

Fast Classics Flame Roasted Chicken Breast save up to $7.99
Juicy Juice 100% Premium Juice 64-oz bot. save up to $3.49
General Mills Cheerios assorted varieties or Frosted Cheerios, save up to $4.29
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars save up to $2.99
Pompeian EVOO 32-oz bot. save up $11.99
Arnold Whole Grains Bread, 24-oz Loaf. save up $3.69
Birds Eye Voila Meals, save up to $4.99
M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Twix, minis or fun size. 34.5 to 42-oz bag. save up $10.99
Mott’s 100% Apple Juice or Mott’s for Tot’s, 64-oz, save up $2.95
Hunt’s Tomatoes 14.5 oz can, save up to $1.39
La Famiglia DelGrosso Pasta Sauce, 26oz jar save up to $7.99
Ruffles Potato Chips, save up to $3.99
Nabisco Chips Ahoy, save up to $3.79
Kashi Granola Bars 6.7 to 8.4-oz box. save up $3.89
Toufayah Wrap 10-oz pkg. save up to $1.99
Nabisco Toasted Chips 8.1-oz bag. save up $3.39

Kroger Savings, CVS Extra Care Deals, Walgreens Register Rewards Beginning 4/12

Kroger

Kroger is running a great promo of 10/$10 items. Here are the items covered. Items marked with a single asterisk (*) have coupons available. Items with a double (**) have coupons that (assuming I've got the sizes right) make the items FREE!!! Check CouponMom.com for dates and pubs to find the coupon.

Angel Soft Bath Tissue: 4 Roll
Balance Energy Bars: 1.76 oz
Deer Park Water: 3 Liter Bottles
Gerber 2nd Foods: Selected Varieties, 3.5-7 oz, 2 pks
*Green Giant Vegetables: Frozen, Selected Varieties, 7-10 oz
*Huggies Baby Wipes: Selected Varieties, 16-40 ct
**Kellogg's Cereal in a Cup: Selected Varieties, 1.5-2.1 oz
Kraft Easy Mac: Selected Varieties, 2.05 oz Cups
Kroger Cotton Balls or Cotton Swabs: 200-300 ct
Kroger Cream Cheese: 8 oz or Kroger Refrigerated Bagels 14.25 oz
Kroger Dips, Cottage Cheese or Sour Cream: Selected Varieties, 16 oz
Kroger Fruit Snacks: Assorted Varieties 5.4 oz
Kroger Microwave Pizza: Selected Varieties, 8 oz
Kroger Microwave Popcorn: Selected Varieties, 3 Pack
Kroger Pretzels or Tortilla Chips: Selected Varieties, 10-15 oz
Kroger Toaster Treats: Assorted Varieties, 8 ct
Kroger White or Wheat Bread: Selected Varieties, 20 oz
Michelina's Entrees: Selected Varieties, 5-9 oz
POWERade Sports Drink: Selected Varieties, 32 oz
*Quaker Rice Cakes: Selected Varieties, 3-4 oz
*Rice or Pasta Roni: Selected Varieties, 4.2-7.2 oz
Scott Paper Towels: Single Roll
Simply Juice Singles: Selected Varieties, 13.5 oz
**Softsoap or Kroger Liquid Soap: Selected Varieties, 7.5 oz
**Suave or Brut Deodorant: Selected Varieties, 1.4-2.5 oz
Tony's Pizza For One: Selected Varieties, 5.1-5.8 oz

Regarding the drug stores, I’m only going to cover the freebies today. The two sites that outline this stuff the best are http://www.iheartcvs.com/ and http://www.iheartwags.com/. Since it’s Easter and I’m in between coupon seminars this weekend, I’m taking it easy on myself regarding this info. However, please check these two sites for scenarios and other coupons that can turn these into money makers. Also, check http://www.southernsavers.com/ and on Facebook: Angela’s Money Saving Tips.

CVS

Softsoap scrub body wash 18oz $4.99 get $4.99 EB Limit 1
Coupon: -$1 Softsoap Brand Body Wash 3/29 SS

Colgate Enamel Protect, sensitive whitening toothpaste 6oz or 360 sensitive toothbrush $3.99 get $3.99 EB Limit 2
Coupon: -$.75 Colgate Toothpaste, any SS 3/29/09

Walgreens

Colgate Max White Or Max Fresh Toothbrush $3.29 get $3.29 RR
Click this link and sign up to get coupons for $1 off

Fiber Choice 10 ct $2.49 get $2.49 RR Scunci Elastics 18 pack $2 get $2 RR

Enjoy your weekend! My next official post is Wednesday. Please e-mail me if you see anything to pass on and I'll post it here. My e-mail address is allen@thekingofcoupons.com

A Review-Strategies for Grocery Store Savings

With the ‘lull’ in deals, I thought this would be a good time to review some of the useful practices that save money. Today, I’ll start with Grocery Store deals. If you do what I show here, you can do better at your typical grocery store than you can at Wal-Mart buying generic items.

The key to saving at the grocery store revolves around the following four concepts:

Coupon Doubling: Most stores double coupons that are valued $0.50 and under. Some of them have special events where they are tripled. In any event, it’s important to know what your store’s doubling policy is because you are going to take advantage of it.

Coupon Stacking. While you’re only ever allowed to redeem one manufacturer coupon per item, it’s not unusual for a store to publish coupons for special promotions. At my store, they double them under $0.50 just like manufacturer coupons! If there’s a manufacturer coupon and the store has an ‘in store’ coupon, you can use both on the same item.

Combining Sales with Coupons: In my blog and elsewhere, you might hear/see the term BOGO plus Q. That’s shorthand for Buy One Get One Free plus Coupons. When buying 2 of an item, make sure you have 2 coupons—one for each item. That will mean buying two copies of your Sunday paper. Because of my stocking up, I actually buy 6 papers each week. If your store does 10/$10 deals, you might decide to start buying 10 papers each week.

On Sunday afternoon, most stores here have Sunday papers bundled 2 for $2.50, which saves me money on those multiple purchases, so check around for this. It’s a common practice in many parts of the country.

PLUS--don’t forget what I just said about stacking--in the case of in store flyers, 4 total coupons could be used. When this happens, the item might be free after all is said and done.

Competitor Coupons: If there’s an ‘in store’ coupon from a flyer for another store, your store may take it. It won’t get doubled, but it’s easier than going elsewhere. Also, some in-store coupons are for “buy one get one free.” So if you see one of those, you’ve actually created a BOGO sale at YOUR store that didn’t exist before! Combine that with other manufacturer coupons and suddenly things get very interesting.

Here’s an example that combines most of these concepts. Let’s look at Ore Ida Steaming Mashed potatoes. I showed this example at one of my seminars. This is a deal I actually took advantage of recently.

Ore-Ida Potatoes usually sell for $3.99. This particular week, they were “Buy One, Get One Free.” There also happened to be a coupon in the Sunday paper for $0.50 off one bag. I had two of them. When I walked up to the freezer, there was also a coupon provided by the grocer for $1.00 off. I grabbed two of them as well. So here’s what the final transaction looked like:

Original Price: 2 x $3.99 = $7.98
BOGO sale: -$3.99
Mfr coupon: 2 x $0.50 (doubled) =-$2.00 (remember, they double these coupons)
In store coupon: 2 x $1.00 = -$2.00

Final Price: FREE!

You may ask yourself, okay, how often does that happen? Well, it happens a lot more now that I’ve been paying attention. I don’t always get items for free, but here are some other recent deals I got:

-6 tubes of Crest toothpaste for FREE

-6 bottles of Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner for $0.50 each, but there was also a rebate for $3.00 making them FREE

-6 bottles of Glass Plus cleaner for $0.25 each

-6 bottles of Spray n’ Wash for $0.50 each.

That’s the basics in a nutshell, but another thing to consider is price matching. Your store may match prices of competitors, so ask what their policy is. For example, while Wal-Mart doesn’t double coupons, they DO match prices published in a current sales flyer. The trick there, is to have the sales flyers with you when you shop and they must be current. If the deal has expired, Wal-Mart won’t match it.

I’ve seen some remarkable deals by doing this, but you must be forewarned. You’re going to need an associate or manager to verify the price and do the overrides. This adds extra time for the poor souls behind you in line, so you might want to do this only during “slow” times of day. It also seems like quite a bit of work, so for these two reasons, I don't really go this route.

If you want to learn more about finding coupons, finding deals and organizing all of this quickly and easily, read more in the Beginner’s Coupon Guide available on the right hand side of this blog.

Stay tuned for more deals!

Update for Easter Weekend 2009

In doing the research, a couple of things came to light:

1. There are no coupon inserts in Sunday's paper (4/12)
2. Publix (my usual grocery store) has a sales flyer that came out last week that is good through Saturday.

As a result, there will be no update until I've reviewed the Drug store deals on Saturday.

See you then!

Publix Mystery Coupon for 4/5 and 4/6

The Publix Mystery Coupon is Publix brand white bread.

Ingles Deals Beginning 4/5

Ingles usually has some pretty good sales, but today the light went on when I saw these in my e-mail, so I'm passing them along:

Hamburger or Tuna Helper: 10/$10 plus Q from 3/15 ($1 off 2) makes these $0.50 ea
Kraft Salad Dressing 3/$10 plus Q from 3/29 ($1.50 off 1) makes these $0.18 ea
Green Giant frozen veggies 10/$10 plus Q from 4/05 ($0.50 off 1) makes these FREE!
Cheerios or Trix 3/$6 plus Q from 3/8 or 4/5 ($1 off 3) makes these $1.67 ea
Scott Bathroom Tissue $6.88 for 12-roll pack plus Q from 3/29 ($1 off 1) makes these $5.88
Country Time Lemonade or Tang BOGO
Heinz Ketchup $1.98 ea

Let me know if you find any deals you'd like to pass along to allen@thekingofcoupons.com

Kroger, CVS and Walgreen's Beginning 4/5

Here’s what Kroger has to offer this week. All deals marked with a ‘Q’ have coupons for the items, so check CouponMom for the date/pubs.

7*UP or Diet Rite, 12 Pack Cans Soft Drinks: *4 For $11
Q-Betty Crocker Premium Brownies, Selected Varieties, 19.5-26.7 oz: 2 For $4
Q-Duncan Hines Cake Mix, Selected Varieties, 18.25 oz: 10 For $10
Hormel Sliced Bacon, Original, Low Salt or Maple Bacon, 16 oz: Buy One, Get One Free
Jimmy Dean Roll Sausage, Mild, Hot, Light, Natural or Special Recipe, 12-16 oz: Buy One, Get One Free
Q-Knorr Rice or Pasta Sides, Selected Varieties, 4-6.4 oz: 10 For $10
Kroger 8 oz Cheese, Selected Varieties Bars or Shreds: 4 For $5
Kroger Vegetables, Selected Varieties, 11-15.25 oz Can: 59¢ ea
Lay's Potato Chips, Selected Varieties, 10.5-11 oz or Fritos 9.25-11.13 oz or Cheetos 8-10.25 oz: 2 For $4
Q-Nabisco Snack Crackers, Assorted Varieties 7-10 oz, Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies 8.5-12.5 oz: 2 For $4
Q-Pepsi-Cola Fridge Mate Soft Drinks, 12 Pack Cans, Assorted Varieties: *4 For $10
Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Selected Varieties, 8 oz: 99¢ ea

These items are all “buy 3, get $3 off.” You’ll notice that I couldn’t find any coupons for these, however, they are all Procter and Gamble items and there is a new P&G BrandSaver in this week’s Sunday paper, so I suspect you can find coupons in there—they probably just aren’t matched yet.

Bounty Paper Towels, 6 Big Roll or 8 Regular: *$6.88 ea
Cascade Complete Dish Detergent, Assorted Varieties, 75 oz Gel or Powder or 26 ct ActionPacs: $4.99 ea
Charmin Bath Tissue, Assorted Varieties, 12 Big Roll: $6.88 ea
Downy Fabric Softener, Selected Varieties, 48-60 ld Liquid or 100-120 ct Bounce Fabric Sheets: $4.99 ea
Febreze Candles, Assorted Varieties, 5.5 oz: $4.99 ea
IAMS Dry Dog Food, Selected Varieties, 15.5-17.5 lb Bag: $15.99 ea
Pampers Jumbo Diapers or Easy Ups Training Pants, Selected Varieties, Sizes 1-6, 18-56 ct: $8.99 ea
Puffs 3-Pack Facial Tissue: $4.69 ea
Tide Laundry Detergent, Assorted Varieties, 40-64 ld Liquid or 63-80 ld Powder or Cheer 52-64 ld Liquid or 80 ld Powder: $10.88 ea

CVS and Walgreen’s

I was going to post some individual scenarios for Walgreen’s and CVS, but SouthernSavers has them outlined so well, I’m just going to point you there. I am visiting my in-laws, so I won’t be going to either this week. That is, unless, my mother-in law wants me to teach her this stuff.

Follow me on Twitter and when I see "on the spot" deals, I'll send a tweet. I also post all my Twitter messages under "Deals Right Now" on the right-hand side of the blog.

E-mail me if you have any questions at allen@thekingofcoupons.com

Tips for Shopping This Week and a Note about Next Week's (4/12) Sunday Paper

I’m not going to be available for a few days, which means my Sunday post might be late. You can check http://www.southernsavers.com/ to see what’s available and also check Angela’s Money Saving Tips on Facebook as well. As I’ve mentioned, those are great resources for the same information.

However, I did want to mention a couple of things:

First, be aware that next week (Easter Weekend) there are no coupons in the Sunday paper, so if you’re someone who buys multiple copies for this purpose, you can save your money as well as, perhaps, an extra trip to the store.

Second, if you’re a Publix shopper (and even if you’re not), this weekend has some deals that are G-R-E-A-T!

I picked up the following:

Chex Mix: $0.28 after coupons
Kraft Salad Dressing: Free after coupons
Birds Eye Frozen Veggies (Steam Fresh): $0.19 after coupon. Interestingly, the Birds Eye coupon doesn’t show up on any database search, but it’s in SmartSource for 3/29 (last week)
Duncan Hines Cake Mix $0.11 after coupon
Land O Lakes butter $1.00 after coupon

This is just a sample, so you definitely want to do a little digging. SouthernSavers, as I said, is helpful, but also, in CouponMom.com, the same list can be generated, but it also provides the percent savings after all the eligible deals.

If you don’t normally shop at Publix, do what I do for other stores—I go down the CouponMom list and look for deals in excess of 65%. That’s usually the threshold after which I consider making a trip to a second store.

That’s it for now.

Publix for 4/2 or 4/3 Plus a Link to Whole Foods

Here’s the Whole Foods Flyer

Now here’s Publix. Charity items are marked with a *C* Check CouponMom or SouthernSavers.com for dates and pubs to find the coupons.

BOGO plus Q

*C*(Free w/q)Del Monte Tomatoes, 14.5 oz can, at $ 1.39
*C*(Free w/q)Kraft or Seven Seas Dressing 16 oz bottle, or Good Seasons, 14 oz bottle, at $ 2.75
Duncan Hines Brownie Mix Chocolate Lover’s or Candy Shop, 16.76 to 18 oz box, at $ 2.59
Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake Mix, 17.52 to 18.5 oz box, at $ 1.63
Emerald Nuts, 10-11 oz canister, at $ 5.79
Fiber One, Total, Wheaties, Raisin Nut Bran, Raisin Bran Crunch, Basic 4, Oatmeal Crisp or Honey Nut Clusters
General Mills Cereal, 14.25-18.25 oz box, at $ 4.29
General Mills Chex Mix, Cheerios Mix, Gardetto’s or Bugles, 7.5-8.6 oz bag, at $2.53
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spread: tub, carton, bottle or spray, at $2.39
Kellogg’s Cereal Fruit Loops, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, Smacks or Rice Krispies, at $ 3.99
*C*Kraft Deluxe or Velvetta Macaroni & Cheese Dinner, 9.4-14. oz box, at $1.99
Kraft Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip Dressing, 32 oz jar, at $ 3.99
Lipton Family Size Tea Bags Iced Brew, 24 ct, (excluding decaf), at $2.59
McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract, 2 oz bottle, at $ 8.49
Nabisco Baked Snack Crackers or Wheat Crackers, 7 -10 oz box, at $ 2.75
Orville Redenbacher’s Popping Corn, 6-10 pk, at $4.89
Ragu Pasta Sauce, 16-26.3oz jar or 13.5oz pouch, at $ 3.29
*C*Ronzoni Pasta, 8 - 16 oz box, at $ 1.99
*C*Swanson Broth, 14oz can, at $ 1.09
Thomas’ English Muffins 12 oz pkg, at $ 2.99

BOGO

A1 Steak Sauce, 10 oz bottle, at $ 4.19
Athenos Hummus, located in the deli, 7 oz, at $2.99
Bantry Bay Mussels, 16 oz pkg, at $4.99
Breyers Ice Cream, 48 oz carton, at $4.99
Cool Whip Whipped Topping, 8 oz bowl, at $ 1.49
Diner’s Choice Mashed Potatoes, 32 oz pkg, at $3.69
Dove Chocolate Easter Eggs or Dark Rich or Milk Chocolate, 8.5-9.5 oz bag, at $ 3.79
Et Tu Spinach Salad Kit or Vinaigrette Box, 4.7 oz, at $2.50
Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips, 11 to 12 oz bag, at $2.99
Lay’s Potato Chips, 10.5-13.25 oz bag, at $ 3.99
Medium Shrimp Ring and cocktail sauce, shrimp, at $11.99
Mott’s Applesauce, 46-48 oz jar, at $ 2.73
Mrs. Paul’s Breaded Fish Sticks or Fillets, 10.1 -11.4 oz pkg, at $4.49
Mt. Olive Pickles, 16-46 oz jar, at $ 2.79
Ocean Spray Craisins, 6 oz bag, at $2.29
Ocean Spray Juice or Juice Cocktail, 101oz bottle, at $5.39
Simply Potatoes Mashed Potatoes, 24 oz pkg, at $2.59
Smithfield Bacon, 16 oz pkg, at $3.99Banquet Brown ‘N Serve Sausage Links or Patties, 6.4-7 oz pkg, at $1.89
Sun-Maid Natural California Raisins, 24 oz canister, at $3.69
Tropicana Orange Juice or Ruby Red Grapefruit, 64 oz, at $3.79