Free Kraft BBQ sauce

Real quick...
Kraft BBQ sauce is on sale at Walmart for $.98 and here is a coupon for $1.00 off.

I'm back

I'm back from my honeymoon and things are starting to get back to normal. I haven't really been grocery shopping recently, but I'm getting back to it now, so more posts will be coming. I went shopping this morning, and got an excellent deal on hamburger. My dad taught me to go to the store first thing in the morning to find the best marked-down stuff. I bought about 25 lbs of "yesterday's grind" super-lean 93/7 hamburger for $2.19 /lb. It's regularly about $3.89 /lb. Before the economy tanked, I could get it for $1.99 or sometimes $1.69 /lb, but you take what you can get. I separated all of it into 1/2 lb packages to use later. Since our family is small, I usually only use a 1/2 lb of meat per meal, depending on the recipe.

Speaking of which, I like to save money on meals by cutting the amount of meat in the recipe in half and sometimes replacing it with something else. Take tacos, for instance. The packets of taco seasoning call for 1 lb of hamburger, but I use 1/2 lb and black beans - either 1 can of beans or one package of cooked and frozen beans. The only canned beans I really buy are dark red kidney beans because I like the color they add to soup, or garbanzo beans. I started cooking and freezing dry beans because, for one thing, it saves a little money, and two, I needed to find a way to use up all the beans I got from WIC!

So, one pound of beans....

...makes four sandwich bags of cooked beans. Freeze, thaw and use in place of 1 can of beans!

Free Bic pens at Staples

Staples has 12-packs of Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip pens on sale for $1 (limit 2). Use the $1 off Bic pens coupon from Coupons.com (don't forget to print it twice!) and you get FREE pens! Here's the answer for the constant disappearing-pen problem at my house. Thanks, Heyitsfree!

Swagbucks.com

Hey everyone! Check out Swagbucks.com. I just discovered it. You just use it as your regular search engine (results are by Google and Ask.com) and you earn swagbucks to use toward prizes. I always use Google, so it wasn't that big a deal to switch. Just click the link to sign up!

Chocolate Syrup recipe!

If you buy Hershey's chocolate syrup, try this recipe! It tastes a whole lot better, costs less, and isn't full of stuff you can't pronounce. I'll never buy chocolate syrup again. If you halve the recipe, it will fit into a Hershey's chocolate syrup bottle. This recipe is courtesy of Alton Brown from the Food Network. Enjoy!

1-1/2 cups water

3 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa

1 Tbsp vanilla

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 Tbsp light corn syrup

Bring water and sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, salt and corn syrup. Whisk until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce until slightly thickened. Whisk in vanilla. Pour into squeeze bottle.

Unilever Sale at Albertsons

First of all, I wanted to mention the special holiday rebate that Unilever is doing so that you can get your Easter ham for free. Sorry - I'm a little late, but this offer is good until April 30. You can either use the rebate form from the Unilever insert in the April 5 Sunday paper, or you can go here to find out more. You just need to buy $40 worth of Unilever products(doesn't have to be all in one transaction) and a ham or turkey and you will get up to a $20 rebate. This rebate coincides with the sale at Albertsons, but along with the rebate, if you buy $25 worth of Unilever products at Albertsons, you can instantly get $10 off of any meat or seafood! I did two different transactions so I could get $20 in free meat, so I'll just list the best deals I got.

Also, I thought it would help if I listed where I got the coupon for each product I bought to help everyone out. For convenience I'll abbreviate the locations like the other couponing websites do. For example, if a coupon came from the April 5 SmartSource insert, was $1.50 off 1, and the expiration date on the coupon is 06/15/09, it would look like this: $1.50/1 (06/15/09) SS 4/5. Insert abbreviations are: SS - SmartSource, RP - Red Plum, P&G - Procter & Gamble

Anyway, these are some of the best things I got. The price listed reflects the free meat and coupon:

All Small 'n Mighty
$1.39 each [with this coupon]

Bertolli Oven Bakes
$1.60 each [ with this coupon]

Knorr rice and pasta dishes
$.23 each [with this coupon and also $.75/2 (5/31/09) Unilever insert-4/5 and RP-1/18]

Lipton Recipe Secrets dry soup mix
$.30 each [with $.60/2 (6/28/09) Unilever insert-4/5

Snuggle Creme fabric softener
$.39 each [ with this coupon]

Snuggle Creme dryer sheets
$1.39 each [ with this coupon and also $1/1 (4/12/09) RP-1/18]

Taco Bell taco shells
$.60 each [special Catalina offer: buy 2 get $1 off your next shopping order. buy 3 get $2 oynso. buy 4 or more get $3 oynso.]

Cool Whip
$.60 each

Vaseline Intensive Care lotion
$.25 each [ with $1.25/1 (4/26/09) RP-3/1]

Vaseline Intensive Care lotion
$.50 each [ with $1/1 (5/31/09) Unilever -4/5]

Wishbone salad dressings
$.45 each [with this coupon and also $.75/1 (6/6/09) RP-3/15]

Wishbone Bountifuls salad dressings
$.25 each [ with $1/1 (6/6/09) RP-3/15]

After I got home and looked at the receipts, they accidently gave me $20 off of meat on one of them. So in all, I got $30 meant to go to meat or seafood, I will be getting $20 back for my easter ham, and received a $3 Catalina from Taco Bell. Awesome!

Just a couple of awesome deals

I just have a couple of items to tell you about. Hopefully next week will have more good stuff!

1. At Smith's you can get Quaker Quakes for Free! But today is the last day! They are on sale for $.99 and there is a coupon in last Sunday's inserts for $1.00 of Quaker rice snack products.

2. Walmart has Kraft salad dressings (16 oz) on sale for $1.58. Last Sunday's inserts have a coupon for $1.50 off one Kraft salad dressing. How's $.08 for salad dressing?!

P.S. When you buy something kinda expensive, keep an eye on the ads for the store you got it from. I went to Kohl's to buy a new slipcover for my couch last week. I got it on sale for $53.99, originally $89.99. I thought I found a great deal. In last Sunday's Kohl's ad, the same one was on sale for $29.99! I went back to Kohl's today and told them what I paid last week, and they gave me $25.65 back! I'm really glad I looked at that ad again!

Just in case you didn't know....

In my posts, when I talk about the coupons I use, I am sharing the printable ones with you. Just click on the word "coupon" if its hyperlinked and it takes you to where the coupon is. Just in case you didn't know.

Kellogg's sale at Albertson's

There is a Kellogg's sale going on at Albertson's right now. You buy 10 participating items and get $10.00 off instantly. They also had four coupons for doubling manufacturer's coupons in Sunday's paper, which is super handy! I don't really need Pop Tarts or Hannah Montana cereal, but it's good for food storage. Here's what I got:

4 Frosted Flakes
$.50 each (with 2 $1.00 off 2 coupons, doubled)

1 Hannah Montana cereal
$.50 each (with 1 $1.00 off 1 coupon, doubled)

4 Pop Tarts
$.50 each (with 1 $1.00 off 2 coupon, doubled; and 2 $1.00 off 1 peelies)

2 Pop Tarts
$.95 each (with 2 $.55 off 1 coupons)

So, after Preferred Savings, coupons, and $10.00 off in instant savings, I spent $6.40 on $42.66 worth of Kellogg's products!

All You magazine

I just discovered All You magazine. It is chock full of coupons and useful articles! They sell it at Walmart (I'm not sure if they sell it other places) for $2.24. The April issue has a coupon for a Free Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara. That pays for the magazine by itself! There is a total of $51.00 worth of coupons inside. I think it may be worth the $2.24.

Couponing Tip

One important thing you need to try to remember when couponing is this: Do not be brand-loyal! I admit, there are a few things that I will only buy the brand I like. Things like toothpaste, shampoo and laundry detergent, though, I will buy what I can get the best deal on. Recently, I was able to buy Suave shampoo for $.17 each and stocked up. Now I know you're like, "Suave?!! $.17 is about all it's worth!" But, if the whole point of couponing is to save money and get the most for your money, then who really cares? Suave gets your hair clean, which is what shampoo is supposed to do. Who cares if you think it doesn't add that extra little bit of shine or whatever? Sometimes, you can get amazing deals on good brands too. I was able to get a bottle of Garnier shampoo at Wallgreens for free! So, keep an eye out for the good deals, and don't pay so much attention to your favorite brand.

Kraft sale at Albertsons

Albertson's is having a sale on Kraft items. If you buy $25.00 worth of the participating items, you get $10.00 off instantly. This is what I got:

4 Crystal Light
$.80 each (with 2 $1.00 off 2 coupons, doubled)

2 Kraft Bagelfuls
$.80 each (with 2 $1.00 off 1 coupons)

Kraft Horseradish sauce
$.90 each

2 Triscuit
$.50 each (with 1 $1.00 off 2 coupon, doubled)

1 HoneyMaid Delight bars
$.75 (with 1 $.75 off 1 coupon)

Plus, 1 big Hershey Special Dark
$.25 (wifh 1 $1.00 off 1 coupon)

So, with Preferred Savings, coupons, and $10.00 instant savings, I spent about $7.70 on $43.19 worth of groceries!
P.S. Also, I got a $2.00 coupon off of groceries coupon from the Catalina machine that another customer forgot to take. Bonus!
P.P.S. I almost forgot! I also got a $2.00 Catalina from Crystal Light to go towards a future shopping trip! So total spent today is $3.70!

Robin's Eggs

It's never too early to start stocking up on Easter goodies! These Robin's Eggs were on sale at Albertson's for $1.00 and I printed off a coupon for $1.50 off 3 packages, so they ended up being $.50 each!

Smith's shopping trip

I drove to Magna today to go to Smith's because we don't have one. I felt I got a good enough deal to justify the trip. Granted, it's not the best deal I've ever gotten, but still pretty good.
This is what I got:

21 packages of American Beauty pasta
$.49 each (except the lasagna) (no coupons)

2 Betty Crocker potatoes
$.59 each (with coupons)

1 Colgate toothpaste
$.25 each (with coupon)

3 Fiber One granola bars
$.99 each (with coupons)

2 Land O Lakes Spreadable butter
$.44 each (with coupons)

1 Gallon milk
$1.59 (on sale)

1 Quaker Quakes
Free! (with coupon)

So, after coupons, $15 in instant savings, and Fresh Values savings, I spent $21.73 for $63.46 worth of groceries!

Couponing: Getting started

The best way to stretch your dollar when it comes to grocery shopping is to combine sales with coupons. It really doesn't take that much time to cut coupons and plan your shopping trip, and besides, the savings are worth your effort.

There are a few different places to get coupons. The most popular place is in the sunday paper. There are people who subscribe to extra sunday papers (one per family member) just to get the extra coupons. You can also find coupons online and print them off, or you can get coupon booklets in the mail. Sometimes you can find coupons on products at the store (called peelies).

There are different ways to organize your coupons, but my preferred way is a plastic filing box (see picture). I keep four hanging folders in it. One for SmartSource inserts, one for Red Plum inserts, one for Procter & Gamble inserts, and one for booklets I get in the mail, peelies, etc. You should keep your coupon inserts for about five months.

I use a website called GrocerySmarts.com that helps me match sales in my area with coupons. This makes it MUCH easier to find the best deals. As far as I know, you can only use it if you get a passport from a friend or family member. The passport I use is "studio5". It allows you to see ads for stores in the Salt Lake area, but I think the ads for Albertsons, Smiths, Walgreens, and Walmart would be pretty much the same. Maybe even the Associated Food Stores will be similar in other areas.

It's very easy, but if you need help, just let me know!