Bargain Quest

I think we’re set on toilet paper til the baby’s potty-trained…

OK, maybe not quite, but 100 double rolls of Cottonelle will last us quite a while. Net cost from CVS in the deal I did? $9.50 plus some tax, less than 10 cents a roll.

The deal is that the special 20 roll bonus packs are now half-price, $4.99 (down from $9.99) and each generates $2 in ECB’s as part of the January monthly promotion. (Limit is 5 per ExtraCare card) Combined with $.50 manufacturer’s coupons and $ off $$ CVS coupons, they are uber-cheap!

Here’s a simple scenario -
-Buy 4 packs x $4.99 = $19.96
-Add a little filler to bring your total over $20, like a $.25 pencil = $20.21
-Use a $4 off $20 CVS coupon = $16.21
-Use as many manufacturer coupons as you have, up to 4 x $.50 = $14.21
-And receive $8 back in ECB’s
So $6.21 net cost (plus tax) for 80 rolls.

Can you ever have too much TP?

While at CVS, you might as well use a $10 off $50 coupon instead and get your free after ECB Stayfree pads, Speedstick, SoyJoy, etc. Crystal has all the scoop on this week’s hot deals.

Do you shop at Kroger, City Market, Dillon’s, Fry’s, JC, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs, or Smith’s and could you use an extra set of Proctor & Gamble monthly coupons? Check out P&G eSAVER, where you can select coupons to be automatically loaded onto your frequent shopper card. When you use your card at checkout and purchase a coupon item, the discount should ring up automatically. Through your account online, you can track which coupons you have and which have been used. You can only load 25 at a time, but I doubt there are more than 25 that any one person would use. I should also note that not all the coupons in last Sunday’s P&G insert were listed as available through the eSAVER portal.

I started writing a post about how I didn’t expect the program to provide me much bargain value, but that was under the assumption that this would be an “either/or” situation in respect to using newspaper coupons and loaded coupons on the same products. According to Crystal’s post about it, however, you can “double dip” using the loaded coupons and the newspaper coupons at the same time. That means the program will be more helpful to me than I had previously thought. (FYI, the coupons loaded on your shopper’s card do not get doubled in value). I don’t normally buy P&G at Kroger because it’s still too expensive after coupons, but having an extra coupon for certain items might change the math.

Currently, there’s also a “$5 off $25 of participating P&G products” promotion at Kroger that could be combined for some deals, and Crystal has the details on some products that can be had for cheap this week.

And if you’re someone who buys a lot of P&G at the grocery store, but doesn’t receive or cut newspaper coupons, this makes for a fairly simple method of saving some dough without paying for or keeping track of coupons.

In addition to changing the self-checkout menus (for the worse, because more steps are required), the Krogers in my region have been implementing a new style of Catalina coupons over the past several months. (Catalinas are the manufacturer coupons that print from a separate machine at the register when you check out.) The old style printed on slick white paper, black ink, red borders at top and bottom, just like the Walgreens Catalinas. The “new and improved” register coupons feel more like regular printer paper and print in light color.

I won’t pretend to care about that switch, but I bring it up because it seems to coincide with a significant improvement in the types and value of coupons printing out. Catalina values used to be on par with the blinkie coupon dispensers around the store, nice if it was a product I already used but not usually enough to alter my spending habits. They also seemed to be triggered by specific products purchased in that transaction. Lately, the average dollar value is substantially higher, and I can’t always trace a particular item causing the coupon to print.

Here are some of the better coupons I’ve received under the new regime:

$5 off $50 purchase
$1.50 off $7 frozen food purchase
$3.25 off 2 boxes of Kudos
$3.25 off any Always pads
$2.00 off Crest Pro-Health toothpaste
$4 off Viva paper towel rolls, 8-pk or larger
$1.50 off Juicy Juice Healthy Harvest
$4.50 off Iams dry cat food
Free Afrin (up to $6.00)

It doesn’t make up for Kroger abandoning Super Double Coupon week, but I’ll take it!

And on the subject of Catalinas, I’m baffled when I look around the Self-Checkout kiosks and see streams of unclaimed coupons left dangling from Catalina machines. It seems that most shoppers don’t even look at them. I don’t have the guts to harvest all the wealth, but I have been known to detour to machines that have the longest leftovers.

And on the subject of groceries, check out Meredith’s “Cheerful Frugality and the Grocery Budget” contribution at Frugal Hacks for “a few ideas for developing a grocery budget that pleases your family - and your wallet.”

When we bought our house as newlyweds, the walk-in pantry was an asset whose value I seriously underestimated. After three-and-a-half years and the development of a bargain-hunting passion, the pantry’s worth as a stockpile storehouse is no longer lost on me, especially during weeks like this.

Between CVS and Walgreen’s deals, I got 8 boxes of cereal and 12 boxes of snacks for free.

Walgreens:
This deal combines register rewards available this week, and a $10 Kellogg’s mail-in-rebate (form in last Sunday’s paper)

After $5.10 in manufacturer coupons ($1 off 2 Special K, $1 off 2 Smart Start, $1 off 2 Nutra Grain, $1 off 2 Pop Tarts, 2 $.55 off Cheez-It), my total was $19.50, which I paid with a combination of Register Rewards from last week’s P&G deal and my gift card balance from EasySaver deals.

I received $5 in RR for buying 4 Kellogg’s cereals, $5 in RR for buying 4 Cheez-Its/Nutrgrains, and $1 for 2 Pop Tarts. Plus, I’ll mail in my receipt and UPC’s for the $10 rebate for buying 10 Kellogg’s items.

$24.60 w/tax initial total
-$5.10 manuf coupons
-$11 received back as Register Rewards
-$10 to be received as rebate
= -$1.50 total (-$1.09 including the cost of stamp)

The CVS Kraft deal is a little simpler.
This week, buy $20 worth of specified Kraft products such as coffee, cereal, and snacks, and receive $20 back in ECB’s!

My transaction-
$21.11 initial total
-$4 CVS coupon ($4 off $20 purchase)
-$2.35 manufacturer’s coupons ($1 off 2 Honey Bunches of Oats, $1 off 2 Post Cereal, $.35 off Nabisco cracker and cookie purchase)
= $14.76 (mostly paid w/previous ECB’s)
$20 ECB received, so net total cost = -$5.24

$45.00 worth of food for a (sort of) $6.33 profit. Like I said, I love my pantry!

The time has come to put forth a code of Self-Checkout usage. Learn it, love it, live it.

1. DO NOT use the self-checkout system if you can’t check yourself out. I can’t believe I even have to make this a rule, but the concept is apparently too much for some folks to grasp. (I have to interject here that I realize new technology takes some folks longer to learn than others, so I’m not talking about the couple of runs through that it might take to figure it out, preferably with only a few items at a slow time of day.)

2. If there’s a line, use your time in line productively. Have your shopper card out, your credit card at the ready, and coupons in hand. (This applies to regular checkout too).

3. If there is an item number limit, abide by it! Even if there’s no limit, avoid having more than 15 items.

4. Handbaskets are best suited to self-checkout. If you must bring a shopping cart, make sure you have it pushed to the side so that it is not impeding traffic of those trying to reach other kiosks or exit the store.

5. Preferably, have the order of screens and position of buttons memorized so you can blaze right through them. OK, so this isn’t really a rule, but it’s nice.

6. Swipe an item once where you guess the bar code will be, then hold it over the bag and wait for it to register. If it doesn’t, do a quick check to make sure you’re right about the code location, and scan again, slightly slower. After scanning, immediately place it in the bag so that the weight registers.

7. Don’t remove bags until the transaction is over, and never lean on the bagging area! It throws off the sensors.

8. Ideally, don’t bring non-bar-coded fruits and veggies in the self-check line. But if you must, try only bring ones that have their numerical code printed on a sticker so you can punch them right in. If that isn’t possible, make sure you know how to use the code list to look them up.

9. Don’t use coupons. I break this one all the the time, but only use a couple at a time and avoid it during busy times of day. Buying alcohol is another issue that causes a delay because of the need to check ID.

10. Cash is good. Credit/debit is much much better. Do.not.write.checks (That’s its own tirade.)

11. Get your bags, your receipt, and go. Get out of the way ASAP. If you want to double check your receipt, do it beyond the checkout lanes so that the next person can check out.

Did I miss any?

Like the pirates’ code, these are more a set of guidelines than hard-and-fast rules. But please be aware of them out of consideration for fellow shoppers! The self-check option is supposed to be a speedy alternative to free up cashiers for more complicated transactions. If everyone abided by the preceding principles, the experience would be smooth and relatively hassle-free, instead of the disaster I frequently encounter.

This post is inspired by one such disastrous episode at Kroger a few days ago. The store wasn’t busy, but my checkout was seriously impeded by another customer breaking rules 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 and especially 1! She had between 30 and 40 items in her cart, half of which were produce. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared since there were open kiosks, but for some reason this woman was unable or unwilling to complete the tasks herself. She stood back (blocking the aisle), while the designated self-check cashier handled her entire transaction, choosing all the options, keying every lousy vegetable, bagging the items, putting items in her cart, and waiting for her to write the check. Meanwhile, I had chosen to break rule #8 and had 3 coupons that needed to be scanned. I was left waiting for assistance for upwards of 10 minutes while this saga played out.

I do practice what I preach in self-checkout, especially when shopping with my husband. The two of us make a formidable self-check team. More than once, we’ve received comments from someone behind us in line about the speed with which we complete transactions. My husband handles the goods while I ready the appropriate cards (credit, shoppers, driver’s license, etc.). Then he positions the shopping basket while I get the transaction underway. I scan, he prepares bags. I swipe the credit card and grab the receipt, he picks up the merchandise. It’s a veritable ballet of efficiency. A little over the top to be sure, but someone has to compensate for the 90% of shoppers that just don’t get it.

A quick post for Kroger shoppers of the world - Check out the the “Buy One, Get One Free” Lysol sale this week. As usual with Kroger BOGO sales, all Lysol products ring up at 50% off. That combined with a number of newspaper coupons floating around makes for some good deals.

For instance, I found

Neutra Air Freshmatic Start Kit for $.99 (50% off $11.99, -$5.00 coupon)
Toilet Bowl Cleaner for $.39 (50% off 2.79, -$.50 coupon doubled)
Disinfectant Spray for $1.39 (50% off 4.79, -$1.00 coupon)
Bathroom Cleaner spray bottle for $.74 (50% off 3.49, -$.50 coupon doubled)
3-in-1 All Purpose cleaner refill for $.59 (50% off 3.19, -$.50 coupon doubled)

Recently I have been making it more of a priority to, um, keep up with house cleaning, so this sale came at a good time for me

(As always, sales vary by region, check your local ad)

It’s rare these days for me to find great deals by myself. Usually some helpful internet source points them out to me. But this one I stumbled across on my own….

Hillshire Farm 6 oz. Deli Select lunchmeat is on sale 10 for $10 this week at Kroger. This may vary by region, so check your local ad. I’m always on the prowl for $1 lunchmeat sales, to pack sandwiches for my husband’s lunch. (When I run out of sale meats, I have to resort to Kroger 1 lb bags and they aren’t nearly as good.) Hillshire Farm is our favorite, over Butterball, Healthy Choice, etc. The Mesquite Smoked Turkey Breast is particularly yummy.

Where does the free part come in? Through 6/17, when you buy 5 participating Sara Lee products (including Hillshire Farm), a checkout coupon prints for $5 off your next order. I realized this when I found a $5 coupon in my register printouts after buying 6 boxes.

So buy 5 packages for $5, get a coupon for $5 off your next Kroger purchase.

Even better (believe it!), most packages seem to have coupons printed inside for “$1 off any 3 Hillshire Farm Deli Select Products.” Look for labels on the upper right of the package marking boxes containing coupons.

After an initial purchase and acquiring coupons, you can repeat transactions of either

5 packages (using 1 coupon and only paying $4, “making” $1 each time) OR

6 packages (using 2 coupons and still only paying $4 and making the $1 extra). Nifty, no?

Any one have experience freezing lunchmeat - are there any tricks beside stuffing it in the freezer and does the quality suffer?

Edited to add: I saw a post on Slickdeals that Ballpark Franks are on sale for $1 in Texas Krogers. They’re also part of the Sara Lee “Buy 5 get $5 Catalina coupon” deal, so if you don’t have Hillshire Farm for $1, check to see if you have Ballpark Franks.

Nothing earth-shattering, but here are some bargains I’ll be picking up at Kroger this week:

Shadybrook Farms Turkey Roll Frozen 16oz. package - $1 (This is the ground turkey deal I was raving about last week, and is now being officially advertised. If you have the $.55 off Shadybrook Farms coupon, it’s $.45/lb!)

Tyson Boneless Skinless chicken breasts - 1/2 price (~$2.50/lb, still not cheap!)

Athenos Hummus 7oz. - $1 (There have been “$1 off 2″ coupons in the paper and in-store dispensers, so these will be $.50 each for me)

Bounty Super Duty paper towels - $1 (Final price $.50, after $1 off 2 coupon)

Orville Redenbacher 3 ct pkg popcorn - $1 (Final price $.20, after doubled $.40 coupon)

Dial Bath Soap 2-3 bar pkg - $1 (Final price $.30, after doubled $.35 coupon from last Sunday’s paper. I have a lot of soap, but I pick these up with a plan to donate them)

Friskies canned cat food 5.5 oz - 3 Free with coupon from last Sunday. Our cat will be happy for an occasional break from dry food.

Alpo canned dog food 13.2 oz - 3 Free with coupon. Somebody else’s dog will be happy.

Listerine PocketPak - $1 (Free after doubled $.50 coupon)

2-Liter Diet Dr. Pepper - Free with $20+ grocery purchase

*Also wine is 15% off when you buy 6 or more bottles this week*

You know you’ve crossed the bargain sanity line when a frozen loaf of raw meat completely makes your day…

Here’s a deal I found at Kroger this week - 1 lb rolls of Shadybrook Farms frozen ground turkey for $1 ea! Even better, the Sunday 3/11 newspaper coupons included a “$.55 off one Shadybrook Farms product”…

$1-$.55= $.45/lb

I had two coupons already, plus I ordered 10 more on Ebay ($1.88 w/shipping, bringing my cost for those 10 turkeys to around $.64/lb).

You can never have enough ground turkey. Seriously. And these compact frozen rolls are much more freezer space-friendly than the pillow packs I usually buy fresh. I’ll stack them at the back of my freezer and just pull one out to defrost at a time.

I’m not sure if this deal is local to Richmond - I’ve found it in two Krogers (In the center freezer bins), but it wasn’t in the weekly ad. One store just had a handwritten sign advertising “10 for $10,” which I how I found out about it. The other had no signage at all. It’s worth a look if you’re there!

(Just watched Legally Blonde II - purchased at Hollywood Video for $3 - and the title is a reference to Elle Woods and her “snap cup”)

Some highlights :
-$7 off my total for purchasing 8 participating Kraft products (for which I had coupons)
-Aquafresh toothpaste for $.25
-Crest Pro-Health toothpaste for $.34
-Garnier Fructis hair gel for $.49
-4 jars of Ragu pasta sauce for $.50/ea
-2 I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter tubs $.20/ea
-3 15-count boxes Tostino’s pizza rolls $.20/ea
-6 boxes of Hamburger Helper $.75/ea
-2 cans Valley Fresh chunk chicken $.20/ea

On the subject of grocery shopping, check out Not Made of Money who has been working hard to cut back on their grocery spending and keep it within budget!