Corey, ???

mally · Senior Member

Corey, ???

Corey · Guru

like how much $ i budget?

i honestly don't have one.

i go crazy during the catalina deals--there is one going on this week at shaw's, but they had the same one a month or so ago, so i am not getting too too much.

but, with those you are rolling store credits for more product, so it isn't really $ oop except for the first transaction and a dollar here or there after.

on non-cat weeks, i just get anything i see that is free/cheap plus meat/produce/deli/dairy.

i don't freeze milk or anything like that, so i always need milk/cream/deli cheese, etc.

basically, i stock up on things i can get very very cheap and whatever else i need. since i rarely need to buy anything except for perishables from week to week b/c i have done this so long, i also have no problem splurging on pricey fresh asparagus or fresh seafood, etc...since i don't need to really buy anything else.

i feel like i didn't answer anything at all--do you have a more specific question??

mally · Senior Member

You're funny. What I was actually asking is not so much budget, but you did kind of answer it...I guess what I was wondering is, when you go weekly, what do you generally spend? I just took advantage of the gm cat deal going on now...chex, prog soups, bread crumbs, crescent rolls for xmas, etc...and took adv, of my 3 times per tranny, so I got $15 oyno. I think my question is more directed at the stuff that doesn't have coupons (milk, meats, etc...). How I am assuming people are using teh cats to get those free, or close to it?

My trip tonight was 73.67 preferred savings, 22.50 mfg q, 9.52 store q, used a $5 oyno, and got 3 $5 oyno back, so tonight's oop was $66.68 (which basically makes all those groceries $51). I am wondering how I can do better biggrin

apies · Guru

:wave: stalker here.

wdym "3 times per tranny"?

one thing i'm doing is repeating the deal over and over this week and building my cats. i'm buying for myself and that other family and also for the food bank in my school's town.

when i need a filler to meet a cat total, i put in something i need - butter, milk, eggs, etc.

then at the end of the week (friday based on my store's sale schedule), i'll use the leftover cats to buy produce, milk, dairy, etc. with Qs too, of course.

**tiptoeing out of a m2m thread that does not belong to me**

mally · Senior Member

apies wrote:

:wave: stalker here.

wdym "3 times per tranny"?

one thing i'm doing is repeating the deal over and over this week and building my cats. i'm buying for myself and that other family and also for the food bank in my school's town.

when i need a filler to meet a cat total, i put in something i need - butter, milk, eggs, etc.

then at the end of the week (friday based on my store's sale schedule), i'll use the leftover cats to buy produce, milk, dairy, etc. with Qs too, of course.

**tiptoeing out of a m2m thread that does not belong to me**

LMAO April...I didn't put this in m2m because I figured Corey could help someone else biggrin

The GM promo allows you to do it up to 3 times per transaction. So, I bought $45 worth of gm products and got 3 $5 oyno.

Thank you for the input. I am trying to figure out how to do this the easiest way.

apies · Guru

mally wrote:

apies wrote:

:wave: stalker here.

wdym "3 times per tranny"?

one thing i'm doing is repeating the deal over and over this week and building my cats. i'm buying for myself and that other family and also for the food bank in my school's town.

when i need a filler to meet a cat total, i put in something i need - butter, milk, eggs, etc.

then at the end of the week (friday based on my store's sale schedule), i'll use the leftover cats to buy produce, milk, dairy, etc. with Qs too, of course.

**tiptoeing out of a m2m thread that does not belong to me**

LMAO April...I didn't put this in m2m because I figured Corey could help someone else
The GM promo allows you to do it up to 3 times per transaction. So, I bought $45 worth of gm products and got 3 $5 oyno.
Thank you for the input. I am trying to figure out how to do this the easiest way.

um, wtf. my store is only printing 1 cat per transaction.

argh.

i've been going to the store, doing 3 transactions, going out to my car and unloading, and going back in.

bitches!

mally · Senior Member

apies wrote:

mally wrote:

apies wrote:

:wave: stalker here.

wdym "3 times per tranny"?

one thing i'm doing is repeating the deal over and over this week and building my cats. i'm buying for myself and that other family and also for the food bank in my school's town.

when i need a filler to meet a cat total, i put in something i need - butter, milk, eggs, etc.

then at the end of the week (friday based on my store's sale schedule), i'll use the leftover cats to buy produce, milk, dairy, etc. with Qs too, of course.

**tiptoeing out of a m2m thread that does not belong to me**

LMAO April...I didn't put this in m2m because I figured Corey could help someone else
The GM promo allows you to do it up to 3 times per transaction. So, I bought $45 worth of gm products and got 3 $5 oyno.
Thank you for the input. I am trying to figure out how to do this the easiest way.

um, wtf. my store is only printing 1 cat per transaction.
argh.
i've been going to the store, doing 3 transactions, going out to my car and unloading, and going back in.
bitches!

That stinks. Shaws is doing up to three in 1 transaction. Spit out 3 $5 oyno.
What are you stocking up on?

apies · Guru

mally wrote:

apies wrote:

mally wrote:

apies wrote:

:wave: stalker here.

wdym "3 times per tranny"?

one thing i'm doing is repeating the deal over and over this week and building my cats. i'm buying for myself and that other family and also for the food bank in my school's town.

when i need a filler to meet a cat total, i put in something i need - butter, milk, eggs, etc.

then at the end of the week (friday based on my store's sale schedule), i'll use the leftover cats to buy produce, milk, dairy, etc. with Qs too, of course.

**tiptoeing out of a m2m thread that does not belong to me**

LMAO April...I didn't put this in m2m because I figured Corey could help someone else
The GM promo allows you to do it up to 3 times per transaction. So, I bought $45 worth of gm products and got 3 $5 oyno.
Thank you for the input. I am trying to figure out how to do this the easiest way.

um, wtf. my store is only printing 1 cat per transaction.
argh.
i've been going to the store, doing 3 transactions, going out to my car and unloading, and going back in.
bitches!

That stinks. Shaws is doing up to three in 1 transaction. Spit out 3 $5 oyno.
What are you stocking up on?

right now, i'm buying a lot of soup.

also, i've bought quite a few of the simply cookie dough & cookie dough pouches - i was paying around $2 per package or box for cookies for my kids (after dinner, etc). this is SO much cheaper!!! i have cookies out the wazoo.

i also bought quite a few of the steamfresh veggies - we eat them almost every night. also the new savorings. i'm going to use them as appetizers when i have my family here for nye - 13 people. phew!

i'm also going to get quite a few of the chocolate chex mix since i have a lot of Qs for that and it can be a special treat.

how about you?

mally · Senior Member

Some of the same...progresso soups and bread crumbs.
Chex (allyson loves that...there is a trail mix and peanut butter as well)
Crescent rolls for christmas dogs in blankets

Vegies
Got two of the cookies tonight...may get more if I can find a q
Good idea with the savorings. I have a few q's for those. Will have to try them. Want to make at least 1 or two more runs.
When you go back, do you use your $5 or do you wait to use that?
On top of my savings tonight, I also get another .10 cents off gas, so I am up to .20, which helps.

mally · Senior Member

Also got some cinn. toast crunch. The kids like that and got 1 scalloped potato...not something I use ALOT but it's good when I don't have a lot of time.

Lizzy · Guru

mally wrote:

I was going to put this in m2m, but I'm figuring your post will help someone else as well (assuming you reply )

Can you post a typical week for you with shopping/coupons? Whether you are shopping to stockpile or for daily items, etc...I am struggling with a balance

I'm not Corey, but what I am *trying* to do is make a budget amount -- my goal is $50 a week - but I am assuming this will be more doable when I get a good stock of pantry things.

I am also shopping different stores for the best bargains - I have been shopping at Aldis for milk, eggs, fruit (and any other low price items).

Then I have been shopping at the wonder bread outlet and I have been getting outrageous deals - they have "buy one get one free" so I get sourdough (2), italian, and regular bread (2) and if I plan on making hamburgers or something, I will get buns. I have been averaging $5.00 there!

Next, I shop at Shop-N-save on Thurs because they have a deal where you get $10.00 off if you spend $50 (and that is pre-coupon). I also got an entertainment book for free (using Walgreens RR) and they have $5.00 off coupons in there. So, I save 30% before coupons!! They also have really good deals and also do catalinas.

Next, I shop at schnucks because they double coupons (up to .40) and I have found that they have lots of those coupon machines (I don't know what they are called, but they spit out coupons). they also run lots of "10 for $10 deals".

I have also been doing the Walgreens RR - and I have been scoring. I spent less than $15 and got almost $200 worth of stuff. I even got Christmas presents and I have enough All detergent to last a long time!

I also scored big at Target with last week's gift card promotion. I spent $153 and got back $45 in gift cards! and it was all stuff I needed and christmas gifts.

I follow a blog where she tells where to get the coupons and matches them up.

mally · Senior Member

Thanks! I have to learn about the walgreens rr...i haven't figured that out yet.

What is the blog you are following?

Corey · Guru

i think april covered most of how to fit in produce, milk, etc on the cheap.

as far as tripling this weeks promo...i assume you know that the deal is running on shelf price, not sale price, correct? and that you can use coupons and it doesn't affect it?

like for example, my first triple was:

1 box savorings-shelf price 4.39
6 boxes frozen veggies- shelf price 1.79x 6=10.74
6 bags BC cookie mix-shelf price 2.50x 6= 15.00
4 simply pilsbury refrig. cookies- shelf price 3.99x 4=15.96
=46.09 shelf price to get 3 $5 Cats

sale price savorings 3.49- 1 .55/1 q doubled (-1.10)= 2.39
sale price veggies .99x6- 2 .60/3 q's doubled (-2.40)=3.54
sale price cookies 1.79x6=10.74- 6 .40/1 q's doubled (-4.80)=5.94
sale price simply 2.49x4 - 4 .55/1 q's doubled (-4.40)=5.56

total oop=17.43 got back $15 OYNO

now, i probably sould have done much better if i had bothered planning my transaction, but this was a run in run out trip while my kids were at my sister's and i had 15 minutes til i needed to pick them up.

the second time i went, i got my total using other items and coupons a little below $15, then added in something i needed for dinner to get it right over $15, paid with the Cat plus some change.

rinse. repeat. all week long:)

does this help more??

Corey · Guru

another great deal this week, michelle, is the pick 4 meat promo.

shaws says that purchasing 4 of those will add up to 19.99, but they lie:)

the coupon automatically takes off 5.17, no matter what you buy. so, if you buy 4 of those cheap $2.xx ham steaks you'd spend around $10 -5.17=4.83ish for 4 packages.

apies · Guru

Corey wrote:

another great deal this week, michelle, is the pick 4 meat promo.

shaws says that purchasing 4 of those will add up to 19.99, but they lie:)

the coupon automatically takes off 5.17, no matter what you buy. so, if you buy 4 of those cheap $2.xx ham steaks you'd spend around $10 -5.17=4.83ish for 4 packages.

um, what?

i wonder if this will work at my acme since they do this deal too.

just pick out 4 packages, add them up and subtract $5.17?

holy crap. i need to look at this stuff tonight when i go.

mally · Senior Member

Corey wrote:

i think april covered most of how to fit in produce, milk, etc on the cheap.

as far as tripling this weeks promo...i assume you know that the deal is running on shelf price, not sale price, correct? and that you can use coupons and it doesn't affect it?

like for example, my first triple was:

1 box savorings-shelf price 4.39
6 boxes frozen veggies- shelf price 1.79x 6=10.74
6 bags BC cookie mix-shelf price 2.50x 6= 15.00
4 simply pilsbury refrig. cookies- shelf price 3.99x 4=15.96
=46.09 shelf price to get 3 $5 Cats

sale price savorings 3.49- 1 .55/1 q doubled (-1.10)= 2.39
sale price veggies .99x6- 2 .60/3 q's doubled (-2.40)=3.54
sale price cookies 1.79x6=10.74- 6 .40/1 q's doubled (-4.80)=5.94
sale price simply 2.49x4 - 4 .55/1 q's doubled (-4.40)=5.56

total oop=17.43 got back $15 OYNO

now, i probably sould have done much better if i had bothered planning my transaction, but this was a run in run out trip while my kids were at my sister's and i had 15 minutes til i needed to pick them up.

the second time i went, i got my total using other items and coupons a little below $15, then added in something i needed for dinner to get it right over $15, paid with the Cat plus some change.

rinse. repeat. all week long:)

does this help more??

No...I thought it was sale price before the coupons. Doi.

mally · Senior Member

Corey wrote:

another great deal this week, michelle, is the pick 4 meat promo.

shaws says that purchasing 4 of those will add up to 19.99, but they lie:)

the coupon automatically takes off 5.17, no matter what you buy. so, if you buy 4 of those cheap $2.xx ham steaks you'd spend around $10 -5.17=4.83ish for 4 packages.

I did do this...cheapest I could find were $3.xx hams, so I bought 4. My kids like those.

mally · Senior Member

Corey wrote:

i think april covered most of how to fit in produce, milk, etc on the cheap.

as far as tripling this weeks promo...i assume you know that the deal is running on shelf price, not sale price, correct? and that you can use coupons and it doesn't affect it?

like for example, my first triple was:

1 box savorings-shelf price 4.39
6 boxes frozen veggies- shelf price 1.79x 6=10.74
6 bags BC cookie mix-shelf price 2.50x 6= 15.00
4 simply pilsbury refrig. cookies- shelf price 3.99x 4=15.96
=46.09 shelf price to get 3 $5 Cats

sale price savorings 3.49- 1 .55/1 q doubled (-1.10)= 2.39
sale price veggies .99x6- 2 .60/3 q's doubled (-2.40)=3.54
sale price cookies 1.79x6=10.74- 6 .40/1 q's doubled (-4.80)=5.94
sale price simply 2.49x4 - 4 .55/1 q's doubled (-4.40)=5.56

total oop=17.43 got back $15 OYNO

now, i probably sould have done much better if i had bothered planning my transaction, but this was a run in run out trip while my kids were at my sister's and i had 15 minutes til i needed to pick them up.

the second time i went, i got my total using other items and coupons a little below $15, then added in something i needed for dinner to get it right over $15, paid with the Cat plus some change.

rinse. repeat. all week long:)

does this help more??

Do you mean you bought something you needed for the cat deal, putting it over the $15 mark?
I am heading today again...

mally · Senior Member

Oh, and is there somewhere to know all the items covered under a CAT like this one? I know they post some on the boards, but some of it seems to be trial and error.

Corey · Guru

mally wrote:

Oh, and is there somewhere to know all the items covered under a CAT like this one? I know they post some on the boards, but some of it seems to be trial and error.

to your first question, no--i bought something else i needed non-cat to spend atleast $15 so i could use up all 3 cats. i already had $45 presale/after coupons to produce another 3 $5's for under $15--make sense??

the boards like slickdeals and afc typically get a UPC list you can check for specific items that are included.