Monday, January 26, 2009

Deals I did this week
by Jen Chick

I took a look at the coupons early Sunday morning and did not see many that I know will bring great deals (but then again, you never know), so I picked up only 5 extra copies with my RR at Wags.

I headed to CVS first and bought Pantene. I was able to get two 8.5 oz. bottles for highlighted hair, use a $3 off 2 coupon plus a $3 ECB I had from last week, so my OOP was $4.44—which printed me a new $3 ECB. I also did the Almay deal, which gives you $5 ECB when you spend $10. I bought clearance Almay, used coupons, so my OOP for the make-up was $14.65—which then got me $10 in ECB. Now, for some reason the ECBs don’t print when you buy clearance make-up (not sure about all clearance items), and so that is your manager’s decision to print them or not. I don’t know about a corporate policy, but at the CVS I shop at most frequently, one manager will and one will not. The ad clearly reads “all Almay make-up” and NOT “excludes clearance.”

I then used those ECB’s to purchase some GE fluorescent light bulbs, which they have at 20% off, making them cheaper than Meijer. Since I bought 6, this made my total at CVS higher than normal, but I know that I will receive ECB’s during the year based on my spending there, so it will be ok. At the bottom of my last receipt, it says my winter 2009 spending is $83.20 and my savings during this time is $238.49. Not bad!

Then I rocked at Walgreens! This is what I bought:

6 pkgs. Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil .89 sale price Wags coupon, then I had $1 off coupons ( FREE, well really an .11 MM per pkg)
1 Carefree pantiliner .99 sale price Wags coupon, then I had $1 off coupon
6 Reeses Whipps candy bars 2/1.59 at Wags sale price, then I had $1 off 2 coupons
3 2-Liters of Dr. Pepper 3/$4, plus I had a “get one free” coupon from People
magazine—and then got $2 RR from this transaction
4 Wags brand gallon zip bagges .99 in-store sale price
5 newspapers full price!
10 HIP L’oreal eye shadow dues They are BOGO, and I had $3 off one coupons—which made each eye shadow $.25!

I used my 2 RR from last week, and my total OOP was $3.71 for all the above listed items! My total savings for this trip: $108.14.

And, I took home $4 in RR for next week’s trip. One of my favorite Wags cashiers, Aimee, is always impressed with my shopping trips, so I gave her a business card for her family to learn how to shop smarter. She was especially impressed with this week’s total—and so was I!

At Meijer, I spent $87 and saved $67—so that was a good trip for me. I bought $30 worth of air filters for the furnace, so that total is a little higher than normal for me. I would like to mention the following good deals this week:
Ground beef from chuck $1.89/lb
Duncan Hines carrot cake mixes $.99 ($1 off coupon) These did not ring up correctly, but I showed the ad to the cashier and she did a price correction for me! These are usually $3.50 so it was quite a savings!
Keebler crackers 50% off (stock up price, because of course I had coupons)

I have heard from several people who attended Saturday's class, and they were happy to find some good deals in the paper yesterday. Remember, failing to plan is like planning to fail.

- Jen Chick

Wow Jen,
those were some really great deals! I need to head over to Walgreens!! I wanted to let everyone know about the great FREE items out there this week (besides the great items Jen mentioned):


Meijer deals:
Dinty Moore cans, sale price 99c, - 55c MQ (MQ= manufacturer coupon) (from Sunday's paper for people just starting) = Free
Nestle Toll House Morsels on sale for $1, - 1.50 MQ on 3 = .50c each (reg price around $3 ea)

Kroger deals:

Buy 10 get $5 Sale (50c off per item, when you buy 10):
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE QUANTITIES OF 10 (mix and match), or you won't get the .50c off each...
FREE items:
Cottonelle toilet tissue, on sale for .99c, - .50c MQ = FREE
Hormel Chili on sale for $1, -50c KS(Kroger Sale), - .55c MQ = FREE (MM 55c per can!)
Rotel Diced Tomato's on sale for .87c, -.50c KS, - .30MQ = FREE (MM .23c per can!)
French's Mustard on sale for $1.69, -.50c KS, - .30Q = .59c each... BUT
on the shelf you'll see a small ad that says: buy 2 French's mustard products and get a $1 instant print at the register. I bought 4 (this was a nice filler to get me to another quantity of 10 items).
So, I bought 4 @ .59c each = 2.36, minus $2 at the register = .36c (well, it's almost FREE)

GREAT PRICED items:
Nestle Toll House Refridgerated cookies on sale for $2.50, - .50c KS, - $1 MQ = $1 each
Phill Cream Cheese $1.49, -.50KS, -.20MQ = .59c each
Pepsi products are also a great price, 12pk for $3, - .50c KS, = 2.50 per 12 pk

Have a great shopping trip!
- Bonnie Chick

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I actually had a great deal on Baby formula this week. I had called the Similac company to have them mail me some coupons. They sent 5 coupons for $5 off Similac Advance. A grocery store by me, Ingles, had these on sale for $17.98...originally $21.99. I was able to use all the coupons and only spent $65.80 on 5 Formulas!!! It normally would have been about $110.

Unknown said...

Thanks Bonnis Chick! I LOVE the breakdown of the sale items. That's what I need...a CHICK to show me the shortcut! PS-Any word on when the class will be aired on the news? Anne

Two Cheap Chicks said...

To all of you CCC (Charter Cheap Chicks), Channel 19 will contact me this week to let me know when the segment will air! Keep checking the blog for updates, and more deals we see.

Anonymous said...

That is a great tip Laura. If you have a product you really like and never find coupons for, call the company! You've gotta love a $5 coupon!

Anonymous said...

You know if you just bought store brand and purchased based on price/ounce and not total price, you'd save every time you go without even needing coupons. These types of "savings" are misleading because they cause you to buy more quantities of brand name items you do not normally need. You are only saving in relative terms but not total.

Two Cheap Chicks said...

Dear Anonymous, regarding buying the store brand:

Well, that is what we thought for years! You are right that most of the times, without coupons, the store brand has the lowest price per ounce. From time to time, if I am out of a product, and in desperate need, then I might buy store brand (my stockpile contains almost everything I regularly use,but let's say I need a certain spice for a recipe or something). However-- there is no lower price per ounce than FREE, and that is often what our purchases end up being. Plus, you need to worry about the OOP (out of pocket) expense. I don't know why someone would not clip coupons (or order them from coupon clipping services) to get a name brand item for a great discount. For example, I would never buy "generic" paper towels, as the only brand I will use are Kleenex Viva.

Couponing is not for everyone, but we invite you to attend one of our future classes. If you don't see the value in what we are doing, we will give you your money back-- no questions asked. We just wish you had left your name so that we know who you are. Contact us and let us know if you want to give it a try.