Soup and a Word of Warning

Campbell's Chunky Soups are on sale for $1.11 with a store coupon at Safeway. Then you have two choices...this past Sunday's paper had a bunch of coupons for these soups. They aren't fabulous, but they can be doubled and will get you 25 cents off each can (two coupons will get you to the limit of 8). The other option is that there are several combinations of online coupons that can get you to the limit of 8 cans and they are a better deal than the ones out of this past week's paper.

HOWEVER....

My word of warning is that my checker this evening wouldn't double my coupons that I had printed off the internet <>. That is literally the FIRST time that has happened to me, which I find weird. When I asked her she said that it has always been their policy. Hmmm...

Have any of you had this experience? Needless to say, I let it drop since I'm not an extreme couponer who will call over management over a quarter - although tonight it was a dollar. ;)

Kraft salad dressings and Prego spaghetti sauces are also on sale for slightly over one dollar with Safeway coupons. There have been coupons for these products in fairly recent newspapers, so you might have some to use. And, when doubled (since they are "real" coupons), you can get them for less than a dollar - which is my standard for stocking up for food storage.

Buy Two Papers!

Like I have said before, I am not an extreme couponer...I don't dumpster dive and stockpile circulars and (until this week) I haven't even purchased multiple Sunday papers. However, this week would be a great time to buy two papers.

First, at Rite Aid, Bayer Advanced Aspirin is on sale for 3.99 with a $2.00 UP reward, making it essentially $1.99. In the Sunday paper is a coupon for $2 off, so you get it for free. Rite Aid has a limit of 2 of these UP offers, so by purchasing a second Sunday paper you can get two of these for free.

Next, at Walgreens, they are having a toothpaste sale. Their Crest Complete toothpaste, OralB Complete floss and OralB Complete toothbrushes are on sale 2 for $5. There is a $3 register reward, making them 2 for $2. However, in the Sunday paper, there is a $2 off ONE of these items. So by using one coupon you could get the two items for free. But if you bought a second paper, you would actually make $2. Nearly all of the Walgreens Register Rewards have a limit of one per household.

**Note: Because the toothpaste deal is so good, they were already out at our local Walgreens when I went first thing this morning. They restock their shelves on Wednesday afternoons...so you have plenty of time to get your paper and make your shopping plan.**

Plus, there are several coupon circulars in the paper this week with really good coupons to use in the future, so you would definitely make your money back if you bought a Sunday paper (or two) this week.

Cheap Salad

I'm still here and I'm still couponing! Life has just been slightly chaotic lately. I thought I would take a quick second to tell you about a deal that isn't evident just from reading the ads.

In the produce section at Safeway, they have these newsletter things hanging on the sides of some of the produce stands. This month there is a picture of heirloom tomatoes on the front. Inside are four coupons, one of which is for 2.00 off a "Bonus-Sized" bag of Fresh Express Salad. They are currently priced at 2.69 which makes them 69 cents each. They were recently on sale for $2.00, which made them free with the coupon, but that deal has passed. You could also hold on to the coupon to see if they go on sale again (they are only good at Safeway).

I just thought I would let you know about another source of coupons that I use. These newsletters are there all the time and there is a new one, with new coupons, every month.

Cheap Cereal & Fruit Snacks, Make Money on Goldfish

First of all, remember last month when I encouraged you to print off the 55 cent coupon for Goldfish Grahams? Well, if you printed them off, now is the time to use them!

WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND

Safeway's Circular from the Sunday Paper - You will need the coupon for Goldfish that makes them $1.00 per bag.

Coupon from Campbell's - Like I said, you should have printed them off a while ago to get the best deal...but if you didn't you can still go to the [Campbell's] website and print off a coupon for 35 cents off one bag (you can print off two). When doubled, that will make them 30 cents per bag. Still a good deal!

Doubler from Safeway Circular - Find this at the entrance to the store.

So, when the 55 cent coupon is doubled, you will get $1.05 off your $1.00 Goldfish, making yourself a shiny nickel per bag! :)

Safeway is also having (yet another) Buy 4, Save $4 event on their cereals, fruit snacks, etc. The cereals (Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Cocoa Puffs, are the ones I saw and had coupons for...but there are more) that are involved in the sale are $1.49 each when you buy 4. The Betty Crocker fruit snacks (Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, etc.) are 99 cents this time. If you printed off your coupons at the beginning of the month, you should have a plethora of coupons that work in this sale. You might still check Pillsbury and coupons.com for more. You can get cereal ranging from 10 cents per box to 80'ish cents per box, depending on what coupons you use and if you double them or not. There are also coupons in this past Sunday's paper for some of these items. It's definitely worth your time to check it out!

Have a great week!

Free Pine Sol at Safeway

Now that I've finished my big homework assignment for the week, I can spend some time couponing (another reason why I can never be an extreme couponer...I have to take care of most of my to-do list before I will sit down and clip coupons.)

So this is an awesome deal that you can do right now...without a Sunday paper!

WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND

Safeway Circular - You can get it at the entrance to the store. There is a Safeway coupon for Pine-Sol at $1.49 each (limit 3). You will also need the doubler coupon.

Pine-Sol Printable Coupon - You will need to go to the [Pine-Sol] website and print off a coupon for $1.00 off one bottle. You can print two of these.

Using the doubler, the printable coupon, and the Safeway coupon, you can get the Pine-Sol for free (and even make a penny for each bottle...lol). And these aren't the sissy bottles of Pine-Sol either! 48 ounces, my friends... :)

Good deal even without coupons!

This week (until Tuesday, 7/26) there is a small "Buy 4, Save $4" deal going on at Safeway. There aren't many items included, and I almost skipped over it when I went through the circular. But then I noticed that two of the items included were items I had coupons for. So off I went to see what the prices would be if I bought 4 (since that information wasn't in the circular) and used my coupons.



The Smucker's ice cream toppings are $1.00 each in this sale, Pillsbury cake mixes are 99 cents and...wait for it...the Pillsbury brownie mixes are 25 cents each, even without coupons!

So here's the beauty of it (and a lesson to print off EVERY coupon you think you might use, even if it's not a regular item in your household). I had a coupon for $1.00 of two Smuckers toppings which, when doubled, made them 25 cents each. Then I bought two brownie mixes to get my four items. But I also had a coupon for 55 cents off one Pillsbury brownie mix which, when doubled, EARNED me 80 cents - which paid for my other three items that totaled 75 cents. I just wanted to show you that even a less-than-extreme couponer can get things for free every once in a while.

So even if you don't have the coupons, I'd say it's worth your time to hit up this sale at Safeway. 25-cent brownie mix isn't too shabby!

SAFEWAY - Fruit Snacks, Cereal, Herbal Essences

So right now Safeway is having their "Buy 5, Save $5" promotion on cereals, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. This is an awesome time to use your coupons! I was able to get LIFE cereal for 24 cents today with a coupon I had cut out of a circular.

Another deal from circular coupons (I mention this quickly because I don't know if you have the coupons or not...) is Herbal Essences. I was able to use two different coupons, along with the Safeway coupon in the paper and their doubler, to get two bottles of Herbal Essences conditioner for free (actually, I made 2 cents...lol). Just wanted to throw these in here to show you that if you clip the coupons, the deals will come! :)

Here's a deal you can get with coupons you can print off right now. In the "Buy 5, Save $5" promotion, all of the Betty Crocker fruit snacks (including Gushers, Fruit Roll-Up, Fruit By The Foot) are on sale for $1.19. Go to the [Pillsbury] website, register if you haven't already, and print off the coupon for 60 cents off two boxes (you can print off two, I believe). Use the doubler and you will pay 64 cents per box for four boxes. But make sure you find one other item to buy so that you can get that price. You can also check out sites like coupons.com, who have other coupons for these snacks if you just want to stock up on this (They aren't quite as good - you would pay 13 cents more per box).

Free Razors at RiteAid

Again, this might be something you know about already since it was in the Rite Aid circular.

WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND

RedPlum circular in the Sunday Oregonian - $2.00 off Noxema razors

At Rite Aid this week, these razors are on sale for $2.00, making them free with this coupon. What you may not know is that in every package of razors there is yet another coupon. In the package of pink razors is a $2.00 off coupon for the purple razors (giving you another opportunity for free razors). In the package of purple razors is a $1.00 off coupon for any Noxema razor. The employee checking me out this morning was totally cool with me opening the package to get the coupon out for that purchase. However, I knew that I had taken the last purple razors off the shelf so I knew it wouldn't do me any good right then as I already had enough coupons for what I was getting.

Have a great week! I might be back with another tip later this week when I figure out my grocery list.

Make Money on Toothpaste

I hope you got your Sunday paper this past weekend. The P&G Brandsaver circular was in there and you can use some of those coupons to get some good deals this week.


First, you can make money when you buy toothpaste at Rite-Aid.

WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND

Sunday Newspaper/P&G Brandsaver: Coupon for 75 cents off one Crest toothpaste

COUPON MATH

Regular Price: 3.99

On Sale For: 2.57

Less Coupon: - .75

You Pay: 1.82

Then, when you check out, a coupon will print off for $2 off your next order. These coupons are treated just like cash. So, ultimately, you make 18 cents off this toothpaste.

Also in the Brandsaver is a coupon for $2 off when you buy two Oral B Indicator toothbrushes. Walgreens has those toothbrushes on sale this week for 2/$2. So with the coupon you get those two toothbrushes for free. This was in their circular, so it wasn't a big secret. That being said, I didn't get my free toothbrushes...they were out when I got there. But if you want to keep checking you might have better timing than I did.

Didn't get the Sunday paper? Don't fret, there are still deals to be had. Like this pasta (which is normally hovering around $2.00 regular price) is on sale for $1.00 a box at Fred Meyer. If you go to the [Ronzoni] website and put in your e-mail address, several Ronzoni coupons will print off. They are for $1.00 off when you buy two boxes of these pastas. So I got 4 boxes of this pasta for 50 cents each. Not the best pasta deal you would find but this pasta doesn't go on sale as often as the regular stuff.

Lysol Deal and Online Tip

This week was not a week of stellar deals for me. I used a lot of coupons and had overall good savings, but the best one that you can recreate right now is the deal on Lysol products at Safeway.

WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND

Coupon in the Safeway circular (if you don't have one you can get it at the entrance of the store) - 35 count wipes or MULTIPURPOSE spray for $1.69(it needs to say multipurpose on the label. I experimented with this coupon using a BATHROOM spray and it wasn't the 19 cent deal I was hoping for, but still a good deal...). You also need the "Double Manufacterers Coupons" coupon.

Online coupon at lysol.com - $1.00 off two disinfecting wipes (click on the "Special Offers" tab and then register...there are a whole bunch of coupons you could print)

THE COUPON MATH

Original Price: 3.19

On Sale: 2.99

With Store Coupon: 2 @ 1.69 = 3.38

Manuf. Coupon plus Doubler: - 1.50

Total Spent: 1.88 (94 cents each)

If you really want to get technical, I also used my $10 off an order of $50 coupon when I bought these. If you divided the $10 among the 41 items I purchased, it would take off an additional 24 cents from each one of these wipes. So I really spent 70 cents on each of these (a savings of 88%).

If you held on to your coupons and waited around, you MIGHT get them for cheaper, but I didn't want to gamble. It's a REALLY good deal for me this week, because I was almost out of these wipes and I was going to buy them anyway. So getting them for 94 cents each was a major plus!

If you think this deal will work for you, the sale will be going on until Tuesday.

Did you print out your online coupons?? There are some good ones this month. I would recommend going to the Campbell's website and printing off the Goldfish Grahams coupon (it will let you print out two). They will most likely go on sale for around $1 before that coupon expires and, with doubling, you could get them for super cheap!

So there's my first post...I hope this saves someone some money! Let me know if it does... :)

Give It A Go!

Have you ever watched "Extreme Couponing" and thought, that's cool but... ?

Ever heard a friend tell you about her find at the grocery store and wonder how you missed it?

The point of this blog is to tell you about the deals I'm finding in real time. I'm not going to go on and on about finding something for cheap two weeks ago. That deal is dead! HOWEVER, in order for you to get anything out of this set-up, there are a few things you'll need to do so that you can get the same deals I'm finding.

First, get your hands on a Sunday paper (I, myself, get the Oregonian on Monday morning...Safeway carries it most of the week.). The circulars that I cut out of are RedPlum and SmartSource, and then of course any good coupons from the store circulars. Believe me, you will always make your money back and then some!

Next, fire up your printer! Online coupons are a must! A lot of coupons I will print off as I need them throughout the month, but it's very important that you print off the bulk of your coupons on the first day of the month, because they only release so many and the good ones are usually gone within a week. SO, if you're reading this it is not too late to print off your coupons for the month of July. Eventually I will have a list of my favorite websites, but for now make sure you check out pillsbury.com, coupons.com, redplum.com, smartsource.com, mycoupons.com, grocerycoupons4u.com or just google "Printable Coupons", check out the sites, and add any that look good to your favorites.

A few tips for online printing:

- Print ANYTHING that you think you might use and print as many as the computer will let you (usually two or three) even if it's not a brand you normally use, particularly because it's usually too expensive. Believe me, I'm not picky about brands if I can get it for 19 cents! This amount of printing will seem excessive at the time, but at the end of the month you will find that you've used most of them.

- You will find that many websites offer the same coupons. This can sometimes work to your advantage. For example, our family eats GoGurt like it's going out of style. This is a coupon that runs out early every month, so I go to every site that offers it and print off as many as I can. Without fail, it goes on sale during the month and I stock up when it's extra cheap with all of my coupons. If it doesn't ever go on sale extremely cheap?? Well, then I am still paying less than I normally would have for a product I was going to buy anyway. (Hence LESS-THAN-Extreme couponing....I don't have to get everything for free!) When doesn't the multiple website thing work to your advantage? Some websites monitor your printing among any site that uses that particular printing add-on, so it can track your print limit and you're stuck with that two or three.

- Go through the store ads and see what's really cheap, particularly with a store coupon. I will then google "______ Coupon" and see if they have any manufacturer coupons to add to that deal. Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes I'm not...but it only takes two minutes, so it's worth a try!

- You will find that online coupons are typically worth a little less than the ones you can find in the paper. So for that reason I especially don't waste my time with "fluff" coupons (i.e. something that I rarely see for less than $4 and its coupon is only worth 40 cents or a coupon for 25 cents off when you buy 3...stuff like that)

- You will find that many sites (particularly brand sites) will ask you to register before your first time printing. It's painless, usually just your name, age, and e-mail. Keep in mind that they will send you an occasional e-mail, so if you're picky about your e-mail clutter I might suggest having a separate e-mail that you give out to sites like that (I don't, but it seems like a good idea).

Finally, it will be important for you to know if you can follow along with my blog based on the stores where I shop. The deals I will share will be at: Fred Meyer (Kroger), Safeway (Vons), Walgreens, RiteAid, Bi-Mart, K-Mart and possibly SavALot (I haven't ventured into that store yet). I will be interested to see if my "interstate" friends can get the same sales!

Does this seem like a lot? Believe me, it's NOT! I fit it into my routine with two young children, working on my masters, church work, and the normal day-to-day stuff, like my current obsession with "Lost" on Netflix (I clip and organize my coupons while I watch). If less-than-extreme couponing sucked up a bunch of my time, I definitely wouldn't be taking MORE time out of my day to blog about it. :)

So, if you're game to follow along with my deal finding and want to follow the steps above, welcome to less-than-extreme couponing! This will be fun!!