Safeway Deals 9/30 - 10/6

Here are a few good deals from Safeway's ad this week.

Yoplait Yogurt .50 cents when you buy 10

Use .50/6 here 

Final Price: $4.50 for 10

Strawberries (1 lb.) 2 for $3

Navel Oranges .77 cents/lb.

Kellogg’s Raisin Bran (20 oz.) or Fruit Loops (12.2 oz.) $1.49 when you buy 5

Use $1.50 off 2 (Raisin Bran) here (look for the Frosted Mini-Wheats) print twice

Final Price: $4.45 for 5 boxes of cereal, .89 cents a box – stock up!

Jennie-O Turkey Line - Buy 1 Get 1 Free

Eating Right Baby Carrots (2lbs.)– Buy 1 Get 1 Free

Use Safeway's $1 off here

Nabisco Snack Crackers (5.5 – 10 oz.) 2 for $5

Use $1 off here

Final Price: $1.50

Lucerne Shredded or Chunk Cheese (2 lb.) $4.99 limit 1 – In-Ad Coupon

Safeway Canned Vegetables (11 – 15.25 oz) .79 cents

Hamburger Helper 2 for $3

Use .75 cents off 3 here 

Load .75 cents off 3 here 

Load .75 cents off 3 here

Final Price: $2.25 for 3, .75 cents each!

Freschetta Naturally Rising Pizza $4.99

Use $1 off here

Final Price: $3.99

72 Hour Sale

Kraft Singles $1.49, limit 2

Free Cookie Thursday!

October is Cookie Month!  Mrs. Fields is celebrating National Cookie Month with it's First Annual Free Cookie Day on Thursday, October 1, 2009.  Stop by between 11am - 1pm for a free chocolate chip cookie!  Yum!

October Goals

We're trying something new this month as a family.  We are setting some goals. 

Goal #1:  For the month of October, we are going to try to cut our grocery and household budget by $250.  This budget will include all food, cleaning supplies, health/beauty products, diapers, and even dining out.  I think we can do it!  In order to help achieve this goal, we are going to use the envelope budget.  We will put a specific amount of cash for our groceries and household items into an envelope.  Once the money is spent, that's it..no more shopping for the month! 

Goal #2:  Decrease our use of paper towels.  I realized we were going through almost a roll a day.  Not only is this wasteful, but costly!  Our goal is to use hand towels more frequently and cut our paper towel usage down to only 1 roll a week.

At the end of the month, I'll let you know how we did!

What are your goals?

Target Deals 9/27 - 10/3

Suave Shampoo or Conditioner (22.5 oz) $1.49

Use $1/2 here

Final Price: $1.98 for 2

Smart Ones Weight Watchers $1.88

Use $4/10 here 

Final Price: $1.48 each when you purchase 10

Coca-Cola Products 4 for $12

Ziploc Bags (selected varieties) 3 for $7

Use $1.50/2 here 

Final Price: $5.50 for 3

Dannon Danimals (6 pk) or Activia (4pk) $2

Use $1 off from 8/30 SS

Final Price: $1

Campbell’s Chunky Soups (selected varieties) 2 for $3

Huggies or Pampers Jumbo Pack Diapers or Training Pants $8.99

Use $2 8/30 P&G on Pampers

Use $3 Huggies Pure and Natural here

Final Price: as low as $5.99

Gillette Fusion Manual Razors $7.94 each – Buy 2 and get a $5 Target Gift Card

Use 2 -$4 off 9/27 P&G

Final Price: $2.88 for 2 when you include the coupons and use the $5 gift card

Hershey Kisses 2 for $5

Use $1 9/13 SS

Final Price: $1.50

M&M’s $2.50

Get a free reusable shopping bag with the purchase of any 2 Halloween M&M’s bags

Use $1/2  9/27 RP and $1/2 Target coupon here

Final Price:  $3 for 2 plus a free reusable bag!

Juicing

I love 100% fresh juice!  It’s good for you and it tastes great!  I enjoy combining fruits and vegetables.  Here are a few combinations I’ve tried:

3 Carrots, 2 apples, and ¼ lime

1 Nectarine, 1 pear, 3 carrots, and ¼ lime

2 Carrots, 2 apples, 1/4 lime, and 1 zucchini  - I can’t taste the zucchini, but I feel good knowing it’s in there! J

4 Oranges (or mandarins) and 3 carrots

1 Apple, 1 pear, 3 carrots, and ¼ lime

These combinations make about 2 cups of juice.

The possibilities are endless!  You can adjust the amount of all the ingredients to your liking.  If you have a juicer I suggest you pull it out and see what you come up with.  Be sure to leave a comment and share your creation. 

What to do with all that leftover pulp?

I didn’t want the leftover pulp to go to waste, so I started finding ways to use it:

Fruit Pulp: Add it to pancakes or bread mixes.

Veggie Pulp:  Throw it in soups, meatloaf, lasagna, or spaghetti sauce.

Do you have any other ideas? 

My Safeway Shopping Trip

I was able to get all of the groceries in these two pictures for just $65.19.  It really is cost effective to shop the sales and use coupons!

Total Before Sales and Coupons : $140.79

Savings: $75.60, 54 percent!

Sunday Coupon Insert Preview

There will be 3 coupon inserts in this Sunday's newspaper.  Click on the picture below to check out what coupons will be included (some deals vary by location).  I like to preview the coupon deals to see if it's worth buying more than one paper to get extra coupons.  Larger newspapers seem to carry more coupons and sometimes higher value coupons too!  Happy clipping!

                 

Rachael Ray's Coupon Show

Yesterday, Rachael Ray did a show about coupons.  Check out her page here to receive 20% or more off from many retailers and restaurants (Soma, Denny's, Crabtree & Evelyn, Office Depot, JoAnn Frabics and many more!) This promotion will run until October 24. 

Check out this interesting segment from the show here.

Free Chocolate Friday!

Today is the last day to sign up for the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act.  Click here to sign up.  You will be sent a coupon for a free Mars candy by mail.  It says you'll get your coupon in about 6 weeks, but mine usually arrive in about a week.  Hurry, this offer is limited to the first 250,000!

Free Museum Day

Are you looking for something fun and inexpensive to do this weekend?  This Saturday, September 26, 2009, is Smithsonian Magazine Free General Admission Museum Day.  Click here to see what museums near you are participating and to get your free admission pass.  Have fun!

Cold Stone Ice Cream

Enjoy a "free" Cold Stone ice cream today, September 24th, between 5pm - 8pm when you make a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  See details here.  Enjoy!

Safeway Deals 9/23 - 9/29

Here are some of the good deals in this week's Safeway ad, using your club card.

Foster Farms Whole Chicken .79 cents

Fresh Express Salads $1

Vine Ripe Tomatoes .88 cents lb.

Bananas .48 cents lb.

Aquafresh Toothpaste .88 cents

Rice or Pasta Roni $1

Safeway Canned Fruit $1

Safeway Brown Rice or Pinto Beans $1

Safeway Canned Tomatoes (14.5 oz.) $1

Bartlett Pears $1/lb.

Zucchini or Yellow Squash $1/lb.

Iceberg Lettuce $1/lb.

English Cucumbers $1 each

Granny Smith, Red or Golden Delicious $1/lb. 

Broccoli Crowns $1 each

Gatorade (32 oz.) $1, Buy 10 and get 5 Propel (710ml.) FREE

Kellogg's Rice Krispies Cereal (12 oz) or Pop Tarts (8count) $1.49 - must buy 5 to get this price

Use this coupon here on the Pop Tarts to get an additional .55 cents off

Final Pop Tart Price: .94 cents

Dial Hand Soap $1 use coupon here for .55 cents off

Final Price: .45 cents

Suave Hair Care .88 cents

Use coupon here for $1 off 2

Final Suave price: .76 cents for 2

Del Monte Fruit Naturals $1, use $1 off 3 here

Final Price: $2 for 3

72 Hour Sale Friday - Sunday

Driscoll's Raspberries (5.6 oz.) .99 cents each

Oreos or Oreo Cakesters $1.99 (limit 3)

Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice $2.98 (Limit 1)

Super Price In-Add Coupons:

Lucerne Eggs 18 count $1.49

Ziploc Food Storage Bags (15 - 30ct.) $1.99 (Limit4)

Soup Sale

Save $2 on first 4 purchased and .50 cents more on every item after 4.

Progresso Vegetable Classics $1, when you buy 4 or more

Progresso 50% Less Sodium, Light, High Fiber, or O Organics Chicken Noodle $1.25, when you buy 4 or more.

Load Cellfire coupon to your club card to save .50 cents off 2 here

Load Shortcuts.com coupon to your club card to save .50 cents off 2 here

Campbell's Chunky or Healthy Choice $1.50, when you buy 4 or more

Newspaper Coupons 101

The Sunday newspaper is a wonderful source for coupons.  I have found that the larger city papers contain more coupons and sometimes higher value coupons than smaller newspapers.  There are two companies that regularly send out coupon inserts: Red Plum (RP) and Smart Source (SS).  Proctor and Gamble(P&G) usually sends out a coupon insert once a month. When I do coupon match-ups in the future, you will commonly see me using the abbreviations RP, SS, and P&G. 

It's a good idea to get at least one, if not more Sunday papers a week to start building a collection of coupons.  You can use one manufacturer's coupon per item.  Having duplicate coupons for the same item allows you to stock up on an item when it goes on sale.  

Many stores will allow you to stack coupons.  Stacking is the use of an in-store coupon along with a manufacturer's coupon.  This is the best way to save money on groceries and household items!

Walmart Shopping Trip

I was able to get all of this for just $6.69.  Before coupons it would have been $19.61.  Savings of 66 percent!  

I don’t usually buy candy bars, but they were all FREE with coupons!

2 Wet Ones Wipes 1.97 each

Use $1 coupon here  

Final Price .97 cents each

Dove Ultimate Deodorant $3.47

Use coupon $2 coupon here  

Final Price: $1.47

2 Hershey Kisses,  Sale $2.24

Used two $1 off coupons from the newspaper coupon inserts

Final Price: $1.24 each   Great for holiday baking!

2 Huggies Wipes, 40 count (Great size for in the car or diaper bag.) $1.46

I used a $1.50 coupon – A $2 Huggies Coupon can be found here

Can be used for any Huggies Product

Final Price:  FREE

Bic Razors $2.88

Used a $2 off coupon from the newspaper coupon insert

Final Price: .88 cents

Target Deals 9/20 - 9/26

Here are a few good deals I found in the Target ad for this week.

Board Games: Sale $15 plus get Free Doritos and a 2-liter Pepsi with purchase 

Connect 4x4, Bop It, Monopoly Championship Edition, or Hungry,Hungry Hippos

Use $4 off  here

Final Price: $11 for game, chips, and soda

Kellogg’s Pop Tarts 12 count: Sale $2

Use $1 off 2 here

Final Price: $3 for 2 boxes, $1.50 a box

Market Pantry Cheese: Sale 1.79

Use  $1 off 2 here

Final Price:  $2.58 for 2, $1.29 each

Market Pantry Pasta Sauce: Sale .87 cents

Market Pantry Milk: $2.09 a gallon

Thomas’ Plain Bagels: Sale $1.99

Eggs: $1.09 a dozen

General Mills Cereals (selected varieties): Sale $2.50

Use $1 off 2 here

Use .75 cents off (print it twice) or $1/2 here

Final Price: $1.25 - $1.50 per box

Bic Disposable Razors: Sale $3.99

Use $3 off from the 9/20/09 coupon insert in the newspaper

Final Price: .99 cents

Target is having a trade in your old iPod or iPhone and get a Target gift card event.  I’m not sure how much they’ll give you, but you might want to check it out.

Banana Bread

I frequently buy bananas with the intention of using them all up before they go brown, but that doesn't always happen.  So here's a great banana bread recipe to use up those old bananas that no one wants to eat.

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 cups mashed bananas - about 4 large bananas (When I don't have enough, I throw in some applesauce to make up the difference.)

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together the butter and sugar.  Blend in the bananas, milk, sour cream, and eggs.  Add in the remaining ingredients and blend well.  Pour into a greased loaf pan.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  This bread tastes best and is nice and moist when wrapped in saran wrap overnight before serving.  Enjoy!

Safeway Savings

Safeway has some great deals going on this week.  The sale ends Tuesday, September 22. Using just the sale prices, all of this would have cost me $37.48, but by combining these deals with coupons, my total was $16.23 Plus 2 FREE boxes of Capri-Suns! 

Using Safeway’s 4 for $6 Deal

First Deal

1 box of Nature Valley Granola Bars  $1.50– 40 cent coupon, -40 cent off e-coupon = .70 cents total

1 box of Nature Valley Granola Bars  $1.50– 40 cent coupon, -40 cent off e-coupon = .70 cents total

1 Box Chex Mix Bars $1.50 – 60 cent coupon, -60 e-coupon = .30 total

1 Bag of Nature Valley Nut Clusters $1.50 - $1.00 coupon = .50 cents

Total: $2.20 for all 4 items, Plus a FREE box of Capri-Sun drinks on my next order

Second Deal

4 Bags of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters 4 for $6

-       -1.60 coupon

-       -1.60 coupon

-       -1.00 coupon

-       -1.00 coupon

Total: .80 for all 4 items, Plus a FREE box of Capri-Sun drinks on my next order

3 Colgate Total Toothpaste $2.49 each

Used a Safeway coupon to get them for $1.99 each, then used 3 $1.00 coupons to bring the price down to .99 each

Total: $2.97 for 3 tubes of toothpaste

2lb bags of Eating Right Carrots $3.29 Buy 1 Get 1 Free Sale

-$1.00 coupon from Safeway.com to get a total of 4 lbs of carrots for $2.29!

Good Deal on Grapes: .79 lb

2.19 lbs = $1.73

Yoplait Yo-Plus Yogurt $2.50

-       $1.00 Coupon

-       $1.00 e-coupon

Total: .50 cents

Pistachios $2.99 a pound

-       $1.00 tear pad coupon, located on the display

Total: $1.99

8 cans of Campbell’s Chicken and Tomato Soup .50 each

-       $1.00 off 2

-       $1.00 off 2

-       .40 off 4

Total $1.60 for 8 cans of soup, or .20 cents a can

Milano Cookies $2

-       $1 coupon

Total: $1

Frozen Veggies $1.50

-       .35 coupon

Total: $1.15

Target Savings

Before clearance prices and coupons, these 3- 20 oz. bottles of J&J shampoo and Target Brand diaper cream would have cost me $11.96, but with coupons and a clearance price, my total was $6.11.  A savings of 49 percent! 

Coupons:

$1 off Target's UP and UP brand found in Real Simple Magazine (Oct. 2009)

Johnson and Johnson coupons can be found here

E-Coupons

Want to save some money without having to clip, print, or remember coupons?  Give electronic coupons (e-coupons) a try!  These coupons can be added to your store club card and the savings will be automatically be deducted from your total.  These coupons can be used in addition to store and manufacturer coupons.  For example, I was able to buy a box of granola bars with a sale price of $1.50 and use a $1 off coupon, plus an e-coupon for .40 cents off.  This reduced the price of the granola bars to .10 cents!

Check out these E- coupon websites:

shortcuts.com

cellfire.com

pgesaver.com

Welcome!

I've always considered myself a frugal shopper, but recently started wondering what more I could do to save money.  About a month ago, I started reading blogs about how to save money on groceries and make great recipes from these items.  I started using coupons and shopping the sales and was amazed by how much I was able to save.  I was so impressed and excited by my savings that I wanted to create a blog to share them with you.  

To get you started, here a few coupon sources:

coupons.com

smartsource.com

redplum.com

The Sunday paper coupon inserts are also a great source.

Money Saving Tip No.1

To get the best bang for your buck, try to match up coupons with store sales.  For example: If you're able to find your favorite cereal on sale for $2.50 and have a manufacturer's coupon for $1 off, you'd only pay $1.50 a box, rather than the non-sale price of $4.  This would also be a good time to stock up.  Print or clip as many coupons as you want, so that you don't have to buy this item until it goes on sale again.

Many more tips to come!