groceries

Juni · Guru

RE: groceries

Corey · Guru

yay! so happy to hear you found a local source of info jenn!

be forewarned...this can easily turn into a p/t job all it's own:)

Juni · Guru

Corey wrote:

yay! so happy to hear you found a local source of info jenn!

be forewarned...this can easily turn into a p/t job all it's own:)

I was thinking that! I wish I would have thought to do this over the summer when I wasn't working but I'm still excited to try now. :)

sappy · Guru

i'm some kind of idiot.

i spent HOURS getting shit together, making lists, ordering coupons, etc...

i STILL couldn't make it work on 3/5 orders i had. even though i had them return that shit and re-ring the orders. AAAAAAHHHHHHHH

i still spent over $100 in one trip today and didn't get near the amount of stuff i'm going to need.

from now on i'm going to do one transaction, get my coupons & leave. & repeat that process as many times as i need to because there is something too complicated about this for my tiny ass brain.

Lizzy · Guru

Corey wrote:

sappy wrote:

Corey wrote:

why aren't you sticking at jewel for everything? start ordering coupons and hit the catalina deals hard. use your extra cats for non-cat items like milk, produce, and meat???

ok, so my jewel is running a spend $30 get $15 cat promotion starting thursday. i went through the ad and separated out the things i would buy into $30 groups. right now i have 4 groups of items each costing $30 according to their sale prices.

can you walk me through this?

so i can order coupons online from....where?

and then what's the best way to roll these cats so i can spend the least amount of money.

we have the same deal starting friday:)
i am cooking lunch now, but will get back to this in a bit...

what are "catalina" deals? Is it a certain brand?

Robin · Guru

Alicia wrote:

Has anyone read this book?

Not Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family Favorites: Not Just Beans is a collection of frugal recipes and tips from the cooking expertise of three generations of Tawra Kellam's family. Using these tips and suggestions, Mrs. Kellam shows how anyone can tighten his or her food budget. In the book, Tawra shares the secrets of how she spends an average of $125 per month feeding her family of four.

Not Just Beans is designed for the beginner as well as the more experienced cook. It contains over 540 recipes and 420 tips explaining how to eat well while slashing your grocery bill. The recipes are easy to cook with ingredients readily found at your local grocery store. With hard-to- find frugal recipes like buttermilk, enchilada sauce and granola bars, classic favorites like slow cooked roast, hush puppies and apple crisp and old-fashioned comfort foods like watermelon pickles, lemon bars, rice pudding and fried green tomatoes, Not Just Beans has it all.

I have an older Not Just Beans cookbook. It is BY FAR my favorite cookbook. Ever.

Corey · Guru

Lizzy wrote:

Corey wrote:

sappy wrote:

Corey wrote:

why aren't you sticking at jewel for everything? start ordering coupons and hit the catalina deals hard. use your extra cats for non-cat items like milk, produce, and meat???

ok, so my jewel is running a spend $30 get $15 cat promotion starting thursday. i went through the ad and separated out the things i would buy into $30 groups. right now i have 4 groups of items each costing $30 according to their sale prices.

can you walk me through this?

so i can order coupons online from....where?

and then what's the best way to roll these cats so i can spend the least amount of money.

we have the same deal starting friday:)
i am cooking lunch now, but will get back to this in a bit...

what are "catalina" deals? Is it a certain brand?

it is a marketing company that pairs promotions between manufacturers and stores. stores that use them have a second machine next to where the receipts print out that strictly prints out catalina coupons.

Corey · Guru

sara,

do you mind telling me what was in the non-working orders?

i know for a fact old el paso isn't working...apparently the catalina company didn't enter those codes into the system. i haven't heard of any other culprit products yet and i have tripled the deal twice.

Lizzy · Guru

Thanks Corey! I would have felt really stupid asking on any other board

Alison · Guru

Corey - how do you find out what stores have Catalina deals? This thread is the first I've ever heard of them!

sappy · Guru

Corey wrote:

sara,

do you mind telling me what was in the non-working orders?

i know for a fact old el paso isn't working...apparently the catalina company didn't enter those codes into the system. i haven't heard of any other culprit products yet and i have tripled the deal twice.

ok so i obsessed over this for hours and have finally straightened everything out.

it was totally me. i got all flustered feeling like a jerk for holding up the ONE line they had open last night. i didn't add right.

on a side note - i tried doing the scott towel/kleenex one and i don't know if it's just over (i can't believe i didn't check dates on that) but it is the only one that legitimately didn't work.

so ... basically, i'm a boob. but i have lots of cereal and peanut butter. wink

once i get the rest of my coupons i'm going to try the cat again for my shampoo (dove) and ice cream.

sappy · Guru

Alison wrote:

Corey - how do you find out what stores have Catalina deals? This thread is the first I've ever heard of them!

i'm not corey but i've been stalking this one that corey sent me to and it's good!

apies · Guru

i'm so glad this thread got started!

i found out yesterday that the grocery store that i actually prefer doubles coupons up to 99c! that means if you have a 75c/1 coupon, you get $1.50 off! that is CRAZY!

in light of this revelation (i used to think that store was too expensive), i will now be ordering coupons for that store specifically and shop at both stores (they are literally right across the street from each other).

yippee!!!!!!!!!!!

supergrover · Guru

Y'll are killing me. I've had to stop stock-piling because we legit do not have room in this tiny apartment. Il ove hearing about your crazy deals and will be looking for pointers in 18 months when I'm finally a big kid with a house of our own :)

Alicia · Senior Member

Robin wrote:

Alicia wrote:

Has anyone read this book?

Not Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family Favorites: Not Just Beans is a collection of frugal recipes and tips from the cooking expertise of three generations of Tawra Kellam's family. Using these tips and suggestions, Mrs. Kellam shows how anyone can tighten his or her food budget. In the book, Tawra shares the secrets of how she spends an average of $125 per month feeding her family of four.

Not Just Beans is designed for the beginner as well as the more experienced cook. It contains over 540 recipes and 420 tips explaining how to eat well while slashing your grocery bill. The recipes are easy to cook with ingredients readily found at your local grocery store. With hard-to- find frugal recipes like buttermilk, enchilada sauce and granola bars, classic favorites like slow cooked roast, hush puppies and apple crisp and old-fashioned comfort foods like watermelon pickles, lemon bars, rice pudding and fried green tomatoes, Not Just Beans has it all.

I have an older Not Just Beans cookbook. It is BY FAR my favorite cookbook. Ever.

Glad to hear that. I'm going to see if my library has it.

apies · Guru

corey, another question for you -

is there a good way to know the shelf price of the items before the sale? i would rather be prepared before i get to the store.

tia!

Lizzy · Guru

supergrover wrote:

Y'll are killing me. I've had to stop stock-piling because we legit do not have room in this tiny apartment. Il ove hearing about your crazy deals and will be looking for pointers in 18 months when I'm finally a big kid with a house of our own :)

i am considering doing this and donating to a food bank. I would really feel like I was contributing something - time that it takes to do it and the energy.

Corey · Guru

Alison wrote:

Corey - how do you find out what stores have Catalina deals? This thread is the first I've ever heard of them!

you would see promos in the sales flyer that say buy XX amount, get XX off your next order. it is just like the rr machine at wags.

Corey · Guru

sappy wrote:

Corey wrote:

sara,

do you mind telling me what was in the non-working orders?

i know for a fact old el paso isn't working...apparently the catalina company didn't enter those codes into the system. i haven't heard of any other culprit products yet and i have tripled the deal twice.

ok so i obsessed over this for hours and have finally straightened everything out.

it was totally me. i got all flustered feeling like a jerk for holding up the ONE line they had open last night. i didn't add right.

on a side note - i tried doing the scott towel/kleenex one and i don't know if it's just over (i can't believe i didn't check dates on that) but it is the only one that legitimately didn't work.

so ... basically, i'm a boob. but i have lots of cereal and peanut butter.

once i get the rest of my coupons i'm going to try the cat again for my shampoo (dove) and ice cream.

breyers definitely works--i have bought a bunch of different flavors, even the non fat kind, no problemo.

kleenex is 110 ct only. and do not get anti-viral.

scott-- mega roll upc 5400016445 should work fine.

idk about dove.

Corey · Guru

Corey wrote:

sappy wrote:

Corey wrote:

sara,

do you mind telling me what was in the non-working orders?

i know for a fact old el paso isn't working...apparently the catalina company didn't enter those codes into the system. i haven't heard of any other culprit products yet and i have tripled the deal twice.

ok so i obsessed over this for hours and have finally straightened everything out.

it was totally me. i got all flustered feeling like a jerk for holding up the ONE line they had open last night. i didn't add right.

on a side note - i tried doing the scott towel/kleenex one and i don't know if it's just over (i can't believe i didn't check dates on that) but it is the only one that legitimately didn't work.

so ... basically, i'm a boob. but i have lots of cereal and peanut butter.

once i get the rest of my coupons i'm going to try the cat again for my shampoo (dove) and ice cream.

breyers definitely works--i have bought a bunch of different flavors, even the non fat kind, no problemo.

kleenex is 110 ct only. and do not get anti-viral.

scott-- mega roll upc 5400016445 should work fine.

idk about dove.

next time, so you don't get flustered, here is what i suggest.
go to the store before you shop and get the shelf prices. write them down and do your math and separate and paperclip your coupons for each transaction at home first. then make a list of items and stick that on top. i usually number mine #1, #2, etc. when you get to the store you just need to get your stuff--you can even handle bringing the kids this way b/c you aren't trying to add in your head over whining:)