Day #31: Grocery Deals for the Week!

Below is a link to this week's grocery deals!  Have fun shopping!!!

Pinching Your Pennies - Grocery Deals for the Week

Day#30: $2 meal from Fresh & Easy

Today I went to Fresh and Easy and bought 2lbs of hamburger meat, 1 bag of frozen French fries, 1 pkg of hamburger buns and 1 2-liter soda. I used my "friends" card and had $7 of reward cash loaded on it. After the reward, I paid just a few cents over $2 for all of my food! I really love the generous friends reward program at f&e. For each $1 you spend you accumulate a point and the points add up quick since the popular items typically have bonus point incentives. Once you reach 500 points you can convert them to cash. Each 100 points = $1.00 off your transaction! It's a great way to save even more money! I don't mind paying $2 for dinner for a family of four!!!

Day #29: Walgreens, CVS & Target Deals for the week

Below is a link to this week's advertised deals at Target, CVS & Walgreen's!  Have fun shopping!!!

Pinching Your Pennies - CVS, Walgreens & Target

Day#26: Free or almost Free items at Frys

After dinner, my husband and I went to Frys to pick up some of the great deals this week! Here are some things that. picked up that were free or very close to it: Blistex lip balm: on sale for $.89, had a $.35 coupon which doubled to $.89 so they were FREE! (bought 3) Carefree pantyliners: on sale for $1.00, had a $.50 coupon which doubled to $1.00, so they were FREE! (bought 3) Rotel tomato sauce: on sale for $.79, used digital coupon for $.25 off, had coupon buy 2 cans Rigel, get 1 tomato sauce for free! Hunts tomatoes: on sale for $.49 ea, used coupon buy 3 save $1.00, paid $.16 ea. (bought 9) Nice and Easy hair color was regular $9.99, on clearance for $4.25, I had a $3 off coupon, paid $1.25 ea (bought the only 2) Welch's light grape juice and essentials juices: regular $3.69 on sale for $1.99, had a $1.00 coupon, paid $.99 (bought 4) There were definitely some great deals but these were the highlight of my shopping trip!!!

Day#25: Free Movie Prescreening

Today my 17 yr old (almost 18-yikes!) daughter and I went and enjoyed a great "chick" flick called "The Vow.". This is one of those movies that we saw previews to weeks ago and promised each other we would go see it together once it came out. It's not due to debut in theaters until February 10th, but tonight we had the opportunity to prescreen it....for FREE! How you might ask? Well I signed up at www.gofobo.com. It's a website that offers free movie screening opportunities. Because I signed up and added my email address, which is free by the way, I get notifications of upcoming movie offers. Watching a movie a couple weeks before it comes out, and for free, is pretty nice!!! When a movie is available, you log in, print out your passes (two per person typically) and go to the theater on the specified date. So what's the catch? Well for starters, passes are limited. There are only so many available, so you want to make sure you print the passes as soon as you can. Passes are like invitations, not tickets, however you need a pass to take to the theater in order to get a ticket. The theater will also give out more passes than tickets, so you want to make sure you get to the theater early! My daughter and I got there about 2.5 hrs early, got our tickets, left to grab a bite to eat and went back and got in line for the movie. So if you are patient enough to wait a bit, then you can handle the worst of it. At our movie Prescreening, the theater gave out a gift bag to a lucky winner and at the end of the movie the ladies were given a Ralph Lauren romance perfume sample. So all in all, I have to say the wait was definitely worth it. My daughter and I liked the movie and had a great time together! So check out www.gofobo.com for Prescreening opportunities!!!

Day#24: Grocery deals foe the week

Below is a link to this weeks grocery deals. Have fun shopping!!! http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

Day #23: Grab Bags Valued at over $300

Day #23:  Although this next bit isn't about coupons, it's such a GREAT deal that I had to share!!!  Today my husband and I were in Phoenix and had some extra time before our next meeting, so I persuaded him to go into the store "Last Chance" at 18th St. and Camelback.  It's been years since I have been in there.   Last Chance is a "clearance" store which has clothing, shoes and accessories, mainly from Nordstroms.  It's one of those places where you can find a $200 jacket for $30.  You might have to look through a lot of things to find that diamond in the rough, but when you find it, its well worth it!

While we were in there, over the loud speaker I heard a woman say they had "grab bags" in checkout lane 3.  I wasn't sure what a "grab bag" was but watching the other women in the store make a bee line to checkout lane 3, I knew it had to be good!  So being people who love a great deal, my husband and I followed the others to checkout lane 3 to see what the commotion was all about.

Turns out Last Chance will take cosmetics, hair products, colognes, perfumes, lotions, skincare and haircare products and occassionally (sometimes daily, sometimes, weekly - depending upon the quantity on hand) and will shrink wrap them into a nice big bundle.  These items come from the cosmetic counters at Nordstroms and from various stores.  They then sell the bundle for a flat rate.  In this case $19.99!!!!

At first, I wasn't sure if I should buy one, since I hadn't experience the whole "grab bag" concept before, but I am sure glad I did!!!!  Let me tell you, it was crazy!  First of all there were so many women looking and grabbing the bundles/grab bags, but it was also crazy trying to figure out which one to buy!  They are stocked with so many products!   Now that I've gotten home and unopened the whole thing, I am shocked at the value of the items and how much money I saved, I must have saved 95% in that one purchase!  One of the items alone, a Boosting Collagen syrum from Somme Institute has a retail price of $82.  In my grab bag I had items from Origins, Perricone MD, Stila, Smashbox, Cool Water Cologne, OPI, Big Sexy Hair, Neutrogena, Burts Bees, and so many more!!! 

Below is a picture of what I got for only $19.99.  The picture is missing some OPI nailpolish, and a couple of Smashbox products that my teenage daughter has already taken to her room!!  This grab bag concept gave me that same adrenilin rush as coupon shopping!  It was definitely worth the $19.99. 

So if you are ever in Phoenix near 18th St. & Camelback, stop by Last Chance and check to see if a grab bag deal is in the horizon!!!

Walgreens, CVS & Target deals for the week

Below is the link to this weeks Walgreens, CVS, Target & more deals!! http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Day#22: Free Office Supplies

In this week's Staples ad, there are several "free" office supplies. Each are free after an "easy rebate.". An rebate is different than a mail in rebate because you can submit an easy rebate online which helps to speed the process. These are great stock up items! This week the following items are free after rebate: Scotch pop up desk grip tape dispenser - you pay $2.29 @ register, after easy rebate it's FREE Staples photo plus 4"x6" paper, gloss 60pk - you pay $9.99 @ register, after easy rebate it's FREE Command medium picture hanging strips, black - you pay $3.99 @ register, after easy rebate it's FREE Trend Titanium IS 2012, 3 users PC/MAC - you pay $69.99 @ register, after easy rebate it's FREE The following item is free after mail in rebate: McAfee Total Protection 2012, 1 PC - you pay $59.99 - $9.99 instant savings, you pay $50 @ register, after mail in rebate it's FREE There are also several $1 items in this weeks staples ad as well. It's a great time to replenish those office supplies at a low price!!!

Days #19 & 20: Cuckoo for Coupon Deals

So blogging everyday turns out to be a march harder task than I originally thought!!!  I have all the best intentions but for some reason, 24 hours in a day isn't always enough :-)

So today, in hopes of making up for my missed day, I thought I would share another resource with you all.  I came across a site with an interesting name - "Cuckoo for Coupon Deals."  Cute site with lots of great coupons and information.  Below is a link to some of the coupons available for downloading and printing:

Cuckoo for Coupon Deals

Day #18: Planned my shopping trip

Thankfully my freezer has a lot of meat and my cupboards are pretty full, so since I don't need much this week, I plan to buy only those things that will cost me very little.  Here's what I got on my list:

Fruits & Veggies: (I plan to price match most of these at Wal-mart)

Cherries 1.99lb @ Fresh & Easy (F&E)

Fiji Applies .50lb (sold in 3 lb bags @ F&E)

Blackberries .77 ea @ Sprouts

Carrots .25lb @ ElSuper

Celery .49 ea @ Food City

Red Grapes .97lb @ ElSuper

Lettuce .33 ea @ ElSuper

Navel Oranges .16lb @ Food City

Strawberries 1.50 ea @ El Super

Tangerines .33lb @ ElSuper

Tomatoes .25 @ Food City

Meat: (I will price match @ Wal-Mart)

Beef Chuck Steak $1.99 lb @ Ranch Market

Beef Roast Top Round $2.49lb @ Safeway

Boneless Chicken Breast $1.49lb @ IGA (Thursday only)

Margarine - I can't believe its not butter 1.49 - $1 coupon = .49 @ Albertsons

Milk 1.57 gal @ Albertsons

Del Monte Fruit Naturals $.98 - $1/2 = .49 ea @ Fry's

Hormel Pepperoni $.98 - $1/2 @ Fry's

Hunts Pudding/Jello .88 - .50 (digital coupon)= .38 @ Fry's

Pure Protein Bar $1 - $1 = FREE @ Fry's

Scotch brite sponges .98 - $1/2 @ Fry's

Barilla Pasta .99 - $1/2 = .49 @ Albertsons

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks .99 - $1/2 = .49 when you buy 4 @ Safeway

Cinnamon Toast Crunch 1.88 - 1 coup = .50 ($1.00) @ Safeway

Jello Pudding 1.99 - $1 = .99 @ Safeway

Post Fruity Pebbles $1.99 - $1 = .99

Colgate .99 - .99 = FREE @ Safeway

Old Ochard Juice 1.99 - .50 ($1) = .99 @ Bashas

Day #17: Grocery deals for the week 1/18/12

Below is a link to this week's grocery ads! Have fun shopping!!

Pinching Your Pennies - Grocery Deals

Day#16: Want to save $117 more?

Want to save $117 more? Register at http://www.healthyessentials.com Print over $71 in coupons at home on your favorite brands. Plus receive an additional $46 in coupons by mail to use on your next shopping trip when you spend $50 on Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies' products by 3/8/2012 Offer expires 4/28/2012 or while supplies last.

Day #15: CVS, Walgreen's & Target Deals for the week

Below is a link to this week's deals at CVS, Target & Walgreen's!

Pinching Your Pennies - CVS, Target & Walgreen's

Day #14: Supermarket Rip-Offs

Day #14:  Below are some tips on how to avoid "Supermarket Rip-Offs" - the full article can be found in the February 24, 2012 issue of the "All You" magazine, wirtten by Teri Gault, founder of the TheGroceryGame.com; and Jeff Yeager, author of the Cheapskate Next Door.

Here are some of the biggest grocery store schemes and tips on how to outsmart them:

1.  Big Packages:  Items purchased in larger packages doesn't always equate to larger savings!  Divide the cost by the number of ounces of grams to determine the best value.  If you have a coupon, do your calculations after you factor in the savings it provides.

2.  Salad and Hot food bars (deli):  There's nothing wrong with picking up a quick entree or side dish for tonight's dinner but be careful what you choose.  Since its sold by the pound it will probably cost much more than preparing it yourself.

3.  Packaged lunch meat:  Cold cuts are convenient but you pay a premium for pre-slicing and packaging.  Buy uncut ham and slice it yourself for sandwiches.  Serve thicker slices for dinners and use smaller pieces to flavor soups or pastas.  Freeze anything you don't use right away.  Do the same with a whole turkey breast. 

4.  Bottled water:  Even at its cheapest, 1 cent per ounce, bottled water is still more than 300 times as costly as tap water.  Drink your tap water.  Install a filter if taste or contaminants are a concern.

5.  Sale prices in multiples:  For example, a 10 for $10 deal on applies might sound great until you realize that you are paying $1 per apple.  Use a calculator to ensure that you are actually getting a bargain!

Days 12 & 13: Sunday Coupon Preview

Oops, I missed Day 12!  I tried to blog every day, I really did, but somehow day 12 slipped by!  Funny thing is I realized I forgot at about 12:15 a.m. today.  Just missed it by 15 minutes!

Well to make up for it, I've got a great resource for you!  It's called "Sunday Coupon Preview."  You can add your email address to this webpage and you'll receive notification about the coupons that will be coming out in the next Sunday paper!

In addition there are several printable coupons on their webpage.  The address for the webpage is:  www.sundaycouponpreview.com

I think this is a great resource to not only help you plan your next week's shopping list but it also helps to determine how many newspapers to buy!  Let me know what you think about this resource.

Day #11: Grocery Prices on the rise in Arizona

Below is a link to an article that I found on the front page of the local MSN webpage.  Grocery prices are yet again on the rise in Arizona due to various factors.  It's an interesting read and another reason why coupons are a great resource to save money!!!

Grocery Prices are on the Rise in Arizona

Day #10: Grocery Deals for the week of 1/11/12

Below is a link to this week's grocery deals!  Have fun shopping!!

Pinching Your Pennies - Grocery Deals

Day #9: Groupon

Beyond groceries, there are sites that offer coupons and deep discounts towards dining, entertainment, retail, travel and more!  Groupon (www.groupon.com) is a great site that offers local deals on all of the above.  Here is how it works:  Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. They send the deals to thousands of subscribers in their free daily email, and they send the businesses a ton of new customers. That's the Groupon magic.

Here's an example of a groupon deal that I purchased:  I paid $15 for $35 worth of food at Dillons BBQ Restaurant.  I received an email with advertised deal.  I clicked the link, followed the instructions, paid the $15 and was able to print my certificate for $35.  I took that certificate to Dillons and my husband and I had a great meal!

Signing up with Groupon is free and once you do, you'll begin receiving deals for all sorts of great businesses and travel destinations.  The catch with groupon is the deals are limited, sometimes to a quantity and sometimes to a time period.  So make sure you get your deal quick.  Each day there is a new daily deal.  Sign up and see how much  you can save!!

Day #8: Sunday coupons

I'd you get your paper today? There are several inserts in it. Make sure you pick up copies before the day is over!!!

Day #7: College & Coupons

College and coupons aren't two words you normally see together but they are a great pair! Our daughter is getting close to finishing her senior year of high school and will be starting college in the fall. She will be older and responsible for much more. She will have her first job, which means first checking account and first budget. So one of the best skills I can give her to take into adulthood is how to shop wisely and stretch her budget as far as she can using coupons. She knows that when she does move out, mom will fill her pantry with Many sorts of coupon items but eventually her pantry will become her responsibility. To prepare her for this, she has been couponing now. She doesn't buy much yet, but when she does, she checks for coupons! She buys certain makeup products and other small items and isn't embarrassed to use her coupons. She realizes each coupon is typically valued at $1, so evey dollar she can keep, is in her favor. Hopefully when she is in college she won't have to live on a diet of roman noodles like most of us had to. Hopefully she will have full cupboards of great food on a roman noodle budget because she understood the value of coupons at an early age! it's never to early to teach your kids how to use coupons or too late for that matter!

Day #6: Spent the day grocery shopping

Seems like I spent most of my day grocery shopping. Usually I will go to one or two grocery stores but today I visited just about every one of them. There were various sales at different stores that I wanted to get, so I found myself all over town. I don't mind days like this, it's nice to go alone, take my time and save money. I find it relaxing, almost therapeutic; but I will say at the end of the day, I am very tired. I noticed several shoppers with coupon binders at the different stores today! It's great that coupons are really catching on. I was able to stock my freezer with great deals on meat from Fresh and Easy (I was able to use special coupons I received for additional money off) and chicken from Safeway. I picked up great snacks at low prices from Safeway, Albertsons and Walmart. Both of my pantries are stocked with things we all like and I was able to do some price matching at Walmart on fruits and veggies. The best part of my day was not having to cook dinner! My husband decided to BBQ for all of us!!! So all of my shopping, time and use of energy paid off - I brought home the bacon, well in this case the chicken and he cooked it!! Not a bad way to end a shopping day!

Day #5: A Coupon Corporation?

Believe it or not, there is a corporation dedicated to Couponing.  It's called the "Coupon Information Corporation (CIC)."  The CIC was founded to encourage integrity in connection with the redemption of manufacturers' coupons and participation in other promotional programs.

On their website: http://www.couponinformationcenter.com you can find valuable information about couponing as well as the laws and policies regarding the appropriate use of coupons.  You can also view an up to date list of counterfeit coupons circulating the web.

Day #4: Frustrated at Walmart

Day #4:  So today is day #4 of my 365 days of blogging and I thought I would focus on my experience at Walmart today.  Whenever I talk about coupon policies at stores, it never fails, our class will spend a big chunk of time on the subject of Wal-Mart.  Many are frustrated about the differences in the coupon  and price matching policy from store to store and today I experienced some of that frustration.  But I must say, it ended on a positive note.

Today my daughter and I went to Walmart to price match some of the deals at local grocery stores.  I was specifically looking for Nivea lip balm.  It's on sale for $1 at Albertson's and I had 6 - buy 2 save $3 coupons!  This is a great deal.  I buy 2 for $2 and get $1 overage to use towards my other items.  The Nivea coupon clearly states that you can use only 4 coupons in one transaction.  I was prepared to follow and stay within this limit, as I strongly encourage other couponers to do.  In addition to the Nivea items, I was also purchasing 2 free Speedstick deodorants, 2 free packs of gum and some price matched produce and laundry soap.  So as you can see, not very much in my grocery cart, but according to my calculations, these strategic purchases would really pay off.

Once we got to the register, I let the cashier know about my price matched items.  She would not price match my produce because I didn't have the ad with me, but thankfully the lady behind me had hers.  The customers behind me also became nervous, because like me, they hadn't received all of the ads in the mail yet (due to the holiday mail run) and were using lists that they compiled from the internet ads.  This is another confusing part of their policy - the commercials make it appear that they price match based on the information we give them with little to no hassle, however at some Walmarts and depending on the cashier, you may be required to show the ad in order to receive the matched price.

Once we got to the Nivea lip balm, the transaction went south.  She would not price match those because I didn't have the ad.  I asked if they had the ad in the store at one of the checkout lanes, which they normally do and she went to look but came back with last week's ad and told me they just didn't have the current ad and that was the end of that.

I was frustrated and asked to have my order canceled.  I placed the items back in my basket and told her I would look for the ad at one of the checkout lanes.  My teenage daughter was ready to go and leave these little purchases behind, but it was the principle of it all for me.  I just couldn't leave without it resolved.

Three lanes down, there was a cashier with all of the current ads and there it was - a picture of the Nivea lip balm with a big $1 price advertised next to it.  I had a total of 8 Nivea lip balms and 4 coupons. So at that point, I thought it was all gravy from there - clearly it was advertised and I was within the limits of my coupon...but it wasn't that smooth of a transaction.  The cashier called her manager over before she would price match.  The manager said she would only price match to a total of 2 of my coupons.  So instead of 8 lip balms and my 4 coupons, I could only buy 4 and use 2 coupons.  At this point, the frustration really mounted up, but of course, I had to keep my composure and be polite while getting my point across - that which I did.

I ended up purchasing only 4 Nivea Lip balms and using only 2 coupons as the manager allowed.  However, I did talk with the manager for about 30 minutes about the confusion and frustration many of us couponers experience when shopping at Walmart.  I expressed my concern about different rules at different stores and different registers for that matter, and I listened as she expressed her concerns and frustrations with different couponers.  It was interesting.

Apparently there is much fraud going on and couponers abusing the system, so much so that store managers are using their right to limit couponers on the number of items they can price match and purchase using coupons.  Unfortunately shows like Extreme Couponers make it appear as though we can buy hundreds of dollars of groceries for $.01 or so; but in reality there are many coupon rules that are broken in order to accomplish that feat.

I could only hope that Walmarts across the board clear up their coupon policy and create a standard that is applied at every register and every store across the country.  This would definitely alleviate all of the confusion and much of the frustration!

I also encourage you to have your ads with you when you go to Walmart because you will probably have issues price matching if you don't.

I also encourage you to stay within the coupon limits.  Don't go extreme.  3 or 4 coupons is an acceptable max.  Unfortunately a few "extreme" couponers are ruining it for the rest of us.  I miss the "old days" when a coupon was accepted and there weren't so many limits and so many managers having to get involved.  Unfortunately "shelf clearers" have created a bad name for us couponers and have put the manager's eyes on us.

And another thing, fraudulent coupons are a crime.  You can get arrested.  So please be sure you are not duplicating coupons or trying to use fraudulent ones.  This is also a big crime on the rise, creating obstacles for us trying to do things by the book.

My conversation with the store manager ended on a positive note.  We were very supportive of one another and understand each other's frustrations.  I'm glad it ended that way.  Hopefully she'll be much more understanding when dealing with the next coupon shopper and I, well hopefully I'll experience less frustration while at Walmart.  :-)

Grocery Deals for the week of 1/4/11

Below is a link to the grocery deals for the week!  Have fun shopping!!

Pinching Your Pennies - Grocery Deals

Day #3: Organize Your Coupon Book

I have gotten so far behind with my coupon organization during the holidays.  I find that I have coupons floating all around my binder and many coupon inserts that I still need to clip!!!  I went to the store yesterday only to wind up frustrated because I was so unorganized! 

So I have decided that today will be a day of coupon organizer organization!  Sometimes you just have to take that extra time to set yourself up correctly, if you know what I mean?!  So I encourage you, take some time out this week, clean up your coupon binder, clip those coupons, put them in the right spots and get ready for the next big sale!!!

Day #2: FREE Coupon Workshops

I just updated the calendar with the latest Coupon Workshops.  The next class will be on February 18th from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Goodyear City Hall, 190 N. Litchfield Rd, Room 117.  Classes are FREE and open to the public.  To register for the class call the City of Goodyear at 623-882-7525. 

Check out the FREE Coupon Workshop page on my blog for more information about the class!!! 

CVS, Walgreens, & Target Deals of the week

Below is a link to this week's deals at Target, CVS, & Walgreens!  Have fun shopping!!!

Pinching Your Pennies - CVS, Walgreens & Target

Day 1: Blogging my Year of Coupons

Day #1:  I thought I would try something new this year.  Since this will be my first complete year of coupon blogging, I thought I would make an effort to blog each day about coupons, shopping, special deals & anything else that may be relevant! 

Today, I was pleased to start off the new year with 4 coupon inserts in each Sunday paper!  There was a P&G insert (yippeee!), a Red Plum insert and 2 Smart Source inserts in today's paper!  That's a great way to start 2012!!!  If you haven't picked up your papers yet, you still have a couple of hours to do so!  This is a great way to start the new year of savings off right!!!