I had a pretty good shopping trip the other day. Not Apies and Corey good ;), but good.
I had gotten a free sample of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal in the mail, and it came with a coupon for a free box. At the store, the cereal was $4.99 but on sale for $3.99. The coupon rang up for $4.99, so I basically got paid $1 to get a full box of cereal!
I had a coupon for $.55 off Earth Grains bread, that said "Not to be doubled". It was doubled anyway! I don't know if my store always does that because I don't usually check, but yay!
I also had a coupon for $1 off Thomas' Honey Wheat English muffins. My store was out, so I got the regular kind. And the coupon still worked!
Last but not least - my store (Ralphs, which is owned by Kroger) has customer rewards. It basically works out to 1 point per cent spent, but they always have deals where you can get bonus points, and I work the shit out of them. In a few weeks, I will have a voucher worth at least $26 mailed to me for the first 3 months of this year, and I sure as hell didn't spend $2600 in groceries in that time!
I just had to share. I don't think I'll ever be an expert at this, but you guys have definitely inspired me to put forth the effort to save money on groceries, and it's been working well and is kind of fun!
alison, that's awesome! that point systems is really cool. we have system where we can earn points, but it's only on select items so i never have more than a few dollars worth. :jealous:
also, regarding the doubling, most of the coupons that say DND have a UPC under the barcode that starts with a 5. when that's the case, your cashier has to recognize that it says DND and then manually override the doubling, b/c they WILL double automatically. if the cashier does NOT override it, you get the double. this is one of the many reasons that i look for idiot cashiers. (eta that the coupons that have a upc that start with a 9 and say DND will NOT double automatically. this is usually the case with the blinkies you find in the stores.)
couponing has TOTALLY changed the way i shop. i couldn't understand it at the time, but like corey has said, my weekly grocery spending is probably 50% fresh fruits, veggies and meats and then the remainder goes toward stockpiling. i went from spending $750 or so a month to spending around $200 per month. while i'd love to get that number even lower, you guys know that i drop off groceries at a student's house (and i just recently added a 2nd student to that), so i'm more than happy spending that $200 a month for the 3 families.
i love hearing everyone's couponing stories!
-- Edited by apies on Sunday 28th of March 2010 06:50:37 AM
I am not at all where Apies and Corey are either-but I do shop coupons and sales, and I do pretty well saving on things we definitely use.
Since we are sharing, I got a couple of good deals today-my Giant store had 4 coupon doublers this week that would double $1 coupons. I would have gotten a couple more flyers to get more of them (you can only do 4 in one transaction and you have to have a $15 min. order), but I didn't get around to it, so I just used the four.
I got two bags of no yolks noodles for $1/each, a bag of the new Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ chips for $1 (normally $3.99), a free pack of Fruitables juice boxes (on sale 2/$4-I got one, had a coupon for $1 off and used one of the coupon doublers to get it for free) and a free dozen eggs for buying 2 packages of Starbucks (Bill's fave) which they had on sale for $5.99/each.
Nothing earth shattering, but I love getting things for free or discounted!!
April, I LOVE that you give groceries to students in need-that is AWESOME.
I am not at all where Apies and Corey are either-but I do shop coupons and sales, and I do pretty well saving on things we definitely use.
Since we are sharing, I got a couple of good deals today-my Giant store had 4 coupon doublers this week that would double $1 coupons. I would have gotten a couple more flyers to get more of them (you can only do 4 in one transaction and you have to have a $15 min. order), but I didn't get around to it, so I just used the four.
I got two bags of no yolks noodles for $1/each, a bag of the new Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ chips for $1 (normally $3.99), a free pack of Fruitables juice boxes (on sale 2/$4-I got one, had a coupon for $1 off and used one of the coupon doublers to get it for free) and a free dozen eggs for buying 2 packages of Starbucks (Bill's fave) which they had on sale for $5.99/each.
Nothing earth shattering, but I love getting things for free or discounted!!
April, I LOVE that you give groceries to students in need-that is AWESOME.
I had a pretty good shopping trip the other day. Not Apies and Corey good ;), but good.
I had gotten a free sample of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal in the mail, and it came with a coupon for a free box. At the store, the cereal was $4.99 but on sale for $3.99. The coupon rang up for $4.99, so I basically got paid $1 to get a full box of cereal!
I had a coupon for $.55 off Earth Grains bread, that said "Not to be doubled". It was doubled anyway! I don't know if my store always does that because I don't usually check, but yay!
I also had a coupon for $1 off Thomas' Honey Wheat English muffins. My store was out, so I got the regular kind. And the coupon still worked!
Last but not least - my store (Ralphs, which is owned by Kroger) has customer rewards. It basically works out to 1 point per cent spent, but they always have deals where you can get bonus points, and I work the shit out of them. In a few weeks, I will have a voucher worth at least $26 mailed to me for the first 3 months of this year, and I sure as hell didn't spend $2600 in groceries in that time!
I just had to share. I don't think I'll ever be an expert at this, but you guys have definitely inspired me to put forth the effort to save money on groceries, and it's been working well and is kind of fun!
That's great, Allison! I love couponing and the added bonus is that me and my sister have been doing it together and so now see her more often and we are becoming alot closer.
alison, that's awesome! that point systems is really cool. we have system where we can earn points, but it's only on select items so i never have more than a few dollars worth. :jealous:
also, regarding the doubling, most of the coupons that say DND have a UPC under the barcode that starts with a 5. when that's the case, your cashier has to recognize that it says DND and then manually override the doubling, b/c they WILL double automatically. if the cashier does NOT override it, you get the double. this is one of the many reasons that i look for idiot cashiers. (eta that the coupons that have a upc that start with a 9 and say DND will NOT double automatically. this is usually the case with the blinkies you find in the stores.)
couponing has TOTALLY changed the way i shop. i couldn't understand it at the time, but like corey has said, my weekly grocery spending is probably 50% fresh fruits, veggies and meats and then the remainder goes toward stockpiling. i went from spending $750 or so a month to spending around $200 per month. while i'd love to get that number even lower, you guys know that i drop off groceries at a student's house (and i just recently added a 2nd student to that), so i'm more than happy spending that $200 a month for the 3 families.
i love hearing everyone's couponing stories!
-- Edited by apies on Sunday 28th of March 2010 06:50:37 AM
awesome, April! right now, i am giving food and stuff to my brother and andrew so don't have a big stockpile going on,, but it feels good to help.
yup. always go to the teenage boy cashiers...they are too busy looking at the girls to bother undoubling your dnd #5s:)
i don't understand why the manufacturer gives an eff anyways--the store pays for the coupon to double, not them.
today i did a quick run to the store to get a bday card for my brother in law. i came home and asked dave "which do you think cost more...the one bday card or my 2 bags of groceries??" lmao.
did anyone catch the nightline special the other night about "Mr. Coupon"??
that guy was an ass...stockpiling to feed your family and/or help others is one thing--hoarding a decade worth of groceries and bayer meters in your garage is another thing entirely. i think he made couponers look crazy and greedy.
oh, and supa, i didn't realize you shopped at giant. my other grocery store (not my main favorite, but another one i use) is stop & shop, which is the same corporation as giant.
i don't know about giant, but at stop & shop, they let the $15 minimum to use doublers be before coupons, not after, so you can use them and still have a really low total.
I just get so jealous of you who are able to double.
I did get some good deals at K-Mart last week. I got the Princess and Frog DVD and Barbie for 7.49. I got two jumbo packs of Huggies Little Movers for $2 each.
If you all have K-Marts, their double, sometimes even quadruple, coupon week is coming up soon. Mine, unfortunately, is not participating.
I just get so jealous of you who are able to double.
I did get some good deals at K-Mart last week. I got the Princess and Frog DVD and Barbie for 7.49. I got two jumbo packs of Huggies Little Movers for $2 each.
If you all have K-Marts, their double, sometimes even quadruple, coupon week is coming up soon. Mine, unfortunately, is not participating.
stacey, i never go there, but would make the trip for this.
you should probably call your store directly. i know the one closest to me was listed as a participant one time on their website and people i know who trekked there were told by management that they were accidentally listed. kmarts customer service blows and from what i heard corporate would not make good on the mistake or even really apologize. unless it is a super close stop, i would definitely call and confirm first.
oh, and supa, i didn't realize you shopped at giant. my other grocery store (not my main favorite, but another one i use) is stop & shop, which is the same corporation as giant.
i don't know about giant, but at stop & shop, they let the $15 minimum to use doublers be before coupons, not after, so you can use them and still have a really low total.
You know, I think mine does this because I think I have done it before-I bet they do. Good to know!!
I just get so jealous of you who are able to double.
I did get some good deals at K-Mart last week. I got the Princess and Frog DVD and Barbie for 7.49. I got two jumbo packs of Huggies Little Movers for $2 each.
If you all have K-Marts, their double, sometimes even quadruple, coupon week is coming up soon. Mine, unfortunately, is not participating.
stacey, i never go there, but would make the trip for this.
(eta that the coupons that have a upc that start with a 9 and say DND will NOT double automatically. this is usually the case with the blinkies you find in the stores.)
