Kroger and Kandoo

If anyone is still looking for the Kandoo wipes on sale at Kroger for 10/$10, the Texas City Kroger has some. I just picked up my 4. Today's the last day of the sale so if you have the $1 off coupon from the 4/3 P&G and the $1 off mailer from Kandoo, these are free!

More Kroger issues?

Seriously, Kroger? Went into the one on Gulf Freeway in Dickinson and got told they wouldn't write a rain check on a sale item that's on sale (not clearance) because it's not in the paper. I've been to 3 stores to get the Kandoo wipes on sale 10/$10 and use my $1 off q's (only wanted to buy 4). They've all been totally sold out. Sale ends on the 29th. Can't price match at the Walmart close by because they claim they've never heard of the price match guarantee where you don't need the ad. So fed up!

For old time's sake... last Kroger trip

 My son just insisted on getting in the shot.  LOL

My most recent, and probably last, trip to Kroger unless they change back their coupon policy or give a better reward program. Before any discounts it was $189 and change. After discounts and coupons it was $79.64. WIC paid $5.93, so my out of pocket total was $73.71. This is money that Kroger is no longer gonna get, including the $0.08 handling fee (and most recently I found out that most stores get an additional handling fee of over $5 per 1,000 coupons - thank you Hip2Save for the information)!

Here's my basic breakdown:

4-Frank's Hot Sauce $0.99 each, used $0.50 off that doubled

4-Yakisoba noodles $0.88 each, used $0.50 off that doubled to the $0.88 amount

1-Cuties 3lb bag $2.99, used $0.55 off coupon

1-Kroger medium eggs $1.43/dozen

1-Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn $1.50, used $1.00 off

2-Pillsbury Sweet Moments on clearance for $1.59, used $0.75 off coupon (the cashier tried to tell me that coupons don't work on discounted items, she tried it anyway and it worked)

4-Ken's Salad Dressing $1.99, used 1.00 off coupon

3-Suave deodorant $1.09, used $0.50 off coupon that doubled

4-Viva Paper Towels Big Roll $1.97, used $0.40 off coupon that doubled

1-Kroger value chicken thighs $5.57

10-Community Coffee 12 oz bags $3.99, used buy 1 get one free coupon

10-Assorted marked down bakery breads on clearance ranging from $0.99-$1.79, used $1.00 off any bakery item when you buy Community Coffee peelies from the coffee

1-Jumbo cantaloupe $1.50

2-Bananas $0.42

2-Butter $2.77, used $0.50 off 2 store mailer

1-Pork Shoulder Butt Steaks $9.01

5-Kroger frozen vegetables 10-12 oz $0.88 each

1-Kroger marinated beef fajitas 2lb bag $5.98

1-Private Selection ice cream $4.49, used $0.75 off store mailer

3-Kroger branded sodas $0.76

1-Toy from the gumball machine $0.50 (not included in the total)

Manufacturer coupon savings $44.10

Bonus coupon savings $6.58

Kroger plus savings $56.35

You saved $61.68 with your plus card

Total savings (56%) $107.03

(edited to add) I forgot to mention that I also had a $5 off $50 coupon that was mailed to me from Kroger to attempt to keep me loyal.  *sigh* Whatever  

I also used 38 manufacturer coupons.  Basing the $0.08 handling for each one, that's $3.04 just in additional handling for the coupons.(/edit)

Quite frankly, I used to do this well with sales at HEB, and at the time I only used their little yellow in-store coupons.  I would frequent their meal deals and have everything I needed, and more, to create a great meal or two for my family.  I was also disappointed that they were out of the French's Worcestershire sauce.  It's a product that I've learned to use and makes some yummy meat, but I'm all out of it myself.  It would've been free after coupon too.  I also didn't find the KC Masterpiece that I had read about being on closeout for $1.19, which would've made it $0.19 after doubled coupon.  Maybe there'll be 1 last last trip to Kroger tomorrow for the Worcestershire sauce because I really do want some.  It actually won't be out of the way considering my son's PreK is pretty close (and even closer to the HEB!).

Kroger to end double/triple coupons

OK, I'll admit that I haven't been updating in a while, but I haven't had much to update.  I'm still couponing and saving about $20 a week on my grocery bill.  I've paired down the blogs I normally read because it was just getting too overwhelming (If I missed 1 day, I'd have over 1,000 posts to sift through).  I follow a few that are super in-depth and ones that are store specific and local.  I just don't have the time to keep up with EVERYTHING and all, yknow.

All in all, I felt this to be something important to make further known.  Kroger has announced that in Houston and the surrounding areas, they will be ending their coupon policy of doubling and tripling!  How insane is that!  I have to admit that there are 2 reasons I frequent Kroger - the doubling and tripling of coupons and using the fuel rewards.  Kroger is further away from me than my Wal-Mart and now Wal-Mart has adapted their policy to allow for overage on any coupons!  Let's see... Kroger stopped allowing overage (thus pocketing the money from the manufacturers) and now they're stopping tripling and doubling coupons.  Where am I more likely to shop?  My answer?  The more coupon friendly location!  

I'm not going to go into all the details because quite frankly I'm not versed enough in them, but Stephanie from Katy Couponers has a post with all the details she's found out so far here.  You can also join the FaceBook group Kroger Couponers to follow what's going on.  And if you'll like to change your shopping habits to Wal-Mart, might I suggest the blog I Heart the Mart.  They've posted their take on Wal-Mart's new policies as well as early tests to see how well it works.

My opinion is that Kroger is shooting themselves in the foot with this new policy.  What do you think?

Does a phone call make everything better?

I just got a call from the store manager from Friday's shopping trip.  He asked for me to come back in because they'd hate to loose me as a customer.  Part of me wonders if he looked back on my Plus Card history and saw that I spend upwards of $400 a month (after discounts and coupons) at the store.  Yeah, you sure would hate  to loose me as a customer!  That would mean $400 less in sales a month.  I don't mean to be arrogant about it, but that's a huge chunk of change right there. 

Nonetheless, the manager promised he'd take all my coupons.  He didn't promise they'd be for face value, but he did promise to take them all.  I had called corporate about this and they did a courtesy of putting a $3 credit on my Kroger card too.  Personally, I don't know how right this makes everything - I mean I've had so many problems over the past year with the Kroger stores in general. 

I guess we'll see.

First trip "back"

I'm so tired, y'all!  Seriously.  I spent most of the afternoon making up a grocery list and clipping q's from inserts that I haven't clipped yet.  It's exhausting, but rewarding.  In the end, it was worth it.  I ended up with this:

Yup... it's my first 'haul' photo in my new place!  We live in an older house - probably about 50 years old or so.  I love it!  It's so beautiful.  I know, I know, it's hardly frugal to live in an energy sucking house, but on the other hand it's hardly frugal to be spending twice as much in rent for a perfectly sealed one either.  The table was frugal, at least.  I had a yard sale while staying at my in-law's and their neighbor donated this table.  I liked it much better than the rectangle one I had been using, so I got rid of that in favor of this.  The tablecloth had been purchased almost 3 years ago on a trip to Wisconsin at the K-Mart Christmas clearance.  I think I paid about $3 for Martha Stewart!  Until now it had been used as a curtain.  LOL

Back to the trip.  I researched as much as I could with I Heart Kroger, Katy Couponers, Zeal for a Deal and Frugal Reality.  I had missed a bunch of sweeeeeeeet deals like free hummus, but I scored on others like free liquid soap.  I didn't bring my binder even though I needed some items that weren't on sale, but I definitely could've used coupons toward those items.  I'm not too terribly upset, though.  I'm more upset that I didn't realize I had 13 items from the current mega event instead of just 10.  I guess I shouldn't be too upset.  Five of those items were completely free, Mega Event or not.  

Would you forgive me if I didn't break everything down?  No?  How about this:

Does that make you forgive me?  No.  :(  Didn't think so.  Here's the best I can do:

Regular Items

• 2 Kroger Beer & Cheddar brats $1.99 each
• 2 Yakisoba noodles on sale for $0.80, used 2 $0.50 coupons that fully doubled to $1.00 off!
• 3 Sunny D's $1.00, used 3 $0.25 off coupons that tripled, paid $0.75 for all 3
• Asparagus on sale for $1.99/lb, paid $1.93
• Broccoli crowns on sale for $1.00/lb, paid $0.83 (it didn't look super good therefore I only got 1)
• 2 Angel Soft Bath Tissue $1.00 each
• Mission Low Carb Fajita Tortillas $2.89
• Cat Litter $2.79
• Kroger Value Iced Oatmeal Cookies (been craving something sweet) $0.99
• 2 Jennie-O Ground Turkey marked down to $1.59 each
• Kroger Crackers $1.00
• 2 Big K 24 pack can soda $3.99 each
• Kroger Hot Dog Buns $1.00
• Kroger Deluxe American Slices $2.99
• Yoplait Yo Plus yogurt on clearance for $0.49/4 cartons
• Cat Chow Cat Food $3.00
• Dial Liquid Soap $1.00, used $0.35 off coupon that tripled and gave me $0.05 overage each

Mega Event items (prices before $5.00, or $0.50 each item, taken off):

• 4 Kids Cuisine Entrees $1.89 each, used some coupons, paid very little
• 3 Bird's Eye Frozen Vegetables $1.89 each, used buy a Steam Fresh vegetable get a sauce item free coupons, total of 6 for $5.67 or $0.95 each... but the cashier took the entire amount of 2.99 each off instead of $1.49 for 3 off essentially making them all FREE
• 2 Hungry Man Dinners $2.28 (used FaceBook coupon for $2.00 off)
• 1 Tombstone Pizza $2.49

Meal Deal

Buy this

• Kroger Fajita meat (I chose the beef over chicken) $8.99

Get this free

• Mission Tortillas  $1.00
• Eddy Sausage $4.99
• Dole Shredded Lettuce $1.69
• Kroger Potato Salad $1.99

WIC Items:

• Sara Lee Bread $1.89
• Springdale White Milk $2.68
• Kroger Medium Eggs $0.88

What's for dinner tonight?

I have to admit that yesterday I wasn't a good, frugal girl. 

*gasp!*

Yes, sometimes it happens.  4PM rolls around and I realize that I haven't taken anything out of the freezer for dinner.  I HATE using the microwave to defrost meat because it tends to get cooked even in defrost mode. 

So, I ran to Kroger with the intent to buy only some meat and good deals if they had them.  I did pretty well.  I stuck to buying meat and WIC items mostly.  We were almost out of milk and the cereal wasn't going to spoil any time soon.  I held off on the WIC bread and juice for the day.  I picked up some mozzarella cheese.  Oh, can't forget the broccoli and bananas for PreK Newbie.

I still spent about $12, but most of that was on meat.  They had some killer deals on beef and pork chops.  I'm considering going back since it's right across the street from my closest Walgreens that I haven't checked on the Good Nites deal yet.  In fact, I'll do that.

I digress.  LOL.  I didn't do anything special with the meat, just fried in a pan with some salt and McCormic onion/garlic seasoning.  Boiled the broccoli and added some cheese.  Found some generic minute rice on the clearance aisle for $0.69 because when they opened the big box to stock it, this box was cut open.  Nice, inexpensive dinner.

Tonight?  It's time for something completely different (dang Monty Python references swimming in my head).  I decided to plug in all the ingredients I have into Super Cook.  Apparently with what I already have on hand I can make over 2,000 recipes!  Wow!  I'm definitely going to use this again.  Best of all?  It's totally FREE!  Going to try a little of this with a little of that on the side.  It's all gonna be served over rice.  I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Kroger trip Tuesday 7/21/10

I wanted to get a bit of stuff that was in last week's Kroger Mega Event, so I headed off to the store on Tuesday afternoon.  My neighbor graciously watched my son which was great!  I had so much stuff in my cart I could barely push it.

Yeah, it looks like all I bought was pop, but that's not true.  I just happened to have most of my pop on that side of the cart and on the bottom.  I usually do stock up on pop when it's this cheap because we do drink a lot of it.  No lectures, I know how bad it is for us.  It's my vice and I'm keeping it!  Turns out I made a mistake of 1 item regarding the Mega Event.  I forgot the coffee creamer was on it.  I would've bought 1 less pop had I remembered.

I decided to go to another store that was nearby, but not the closest.  I've been having way too many problems at my closest store for a trip this large.  If it's a quick run for 5 items or less, I might still go there, but not for one this large any more!

Breakdown of Mega Event items:

• 3 Tombstones pizzas $2.49 each, used 3 $2 off coupons.  Paid $0.50 each
• 3 assorted Snyder's pretzels $1.99 each, used 3 $0.50 off coupons that doubled.  Paid $0.99 each
• 8 assorted Pepsi 2-liters $0.79 each (got 2 free Redbox rentals)
• 3 Advils $2.49 each.  Used $2.00 off Advil PM coupons (the store let it go since they were out of the PM - it was their choice and they were knowledgeable about it).  Paid $0.50 each
• 2 shredded Sargento Parmesan cheeses $1.88 each.  Used one $1.00 off when you buy 2 coupons.  Paid $1.39 each.
• 3 cans of Spaghetti O's.  I misread the coupon and it was $0.50 off when you buy 2, so I paid more than I had planned for this.  They were on sale for $0.50 each, the coupon would've doubled making these FREE if I had read right.  Instead I paid $0.50 for all 3 which still isn't bad at all. 
• 4 softsoaps on sale for $1.00 each.  Used 4 $0.50 off coupons which doubled making these FREE
• 3 Dan-o-nino Yougurt packs $2.29 each.  Used 3 $2.00 off coupons and received a $1.50 on your next order Catalina coupon.  Paid $0.29 each out of pocket, but made $0.63 profit once you factor in the Catalina.
• 1 International Delight coffee creamer.  Paid $1.99

Non Mega Event items:

• 4 Kroger brand 12 packs of pop $1.88 each.  I had a $1.50 off when you buy $10 worth of products from the soft drinks department.  Between these and what I got in the Mega Event, I was more than covered.
• Cat's Pride Cat Litter $5.99.  Used FREE item coupon.  The cashier took $6.99 off for it, so $1.00 MONEYMAKER!
• 1 pork loin on sale for $1.99/lb.  I had the meat guy cut it into 1/2" chops.  Paid $7.88 for it.  
• 1 12-pack of Cottonelle toilet paper $4.99.  Used a $1.00 off coupon from All You magazine.  Paid $3.99.
• Dulcina Pureheart watermelon for $2.50.  Used $0.45 off coupon that doubled.  Paid $1.60
• 1 Minute Maid 2-liter for $1.79.  Used winetag to get this FREE when you buy any watermelon. 
• 1 dozen Eggland's Best Eggs $2.59.  Used $0.35 off coupon that tripled.  Paid $1.54.
• 6 Eggland's Best boiled and peeled eggs (I eat boiled eggs every day so I figured it was worth a try) $2.29.  Used $0.35 off coupon that tripled.  Paid $1.24
• Kroger cookie dough (I went to the store hungry)  $1.89
• Dannon chocolate cake mix (like I said, I was hungry... oh and TMI'ing) on clearance for $0.89 each
• Kroger Olive Oil $2.50
• 4 HAAS avocados.  I was planning on using the $1.00 off when you buy 2 coupons, but they're for the large ones.  The ones on sale were the small ones.  Paid $2.00 for all 4, which I found acceptable.
• Kroger drink mix $1.99
• Kroger butter $1.99
• Bananas $1.11
• 2 Dog food cans $0.99 each.  Used 1 buy one get one free coupon.  Paid $0.99 for both.
• Kroger AuGratin potatoes $0.99
• Morton Sea Salt $1.99.  Used a $0.50 off Morton Sea Salt coupon that doubled.  Paid $0.99
• Some fancy bread that was "reduced for quick sale" $1.99
• 1 Chevarie goat cheese $2.99.  Used FREE item coupon.  Cashier took $4.49 off.  $1.50 MONEYMAKER!

I did this in 2 transactions which is why I was able to get the coupon for the Softsoap to double.  I was hoping to do the same with the Spaghetti O's, but it didn't turn out as planned, as I said before.

Here's my receipts:

Total spent=$63.38
Manufacturer coupon savings=$36.51
Bonus coupon savings=$3.65
Kroger plus savings=$48.61
Total savings (65%) =$88.77

The sad thing is that I know there are people out there paying $152.15 for similar shopping trips.  I feel sorry for them.

Kroger answers the call

A few days ago I had a problem at my local Kroger. Here was my email to them:

To whom it may concern

I am inquiring about the Catalina coupons at my local Kroger store at (a location near my house). This particular store has a coupon exchange basket at the front of the store which frequently has Catalina coupons that the original recipient isn't interested in using. I have used these in the past with no problem, but when I came in today and was looking through the basket, the front end manager on duty (this was around 7pm on Wednesday 6/23/10) saw what I was doing and proceeded to take them out of the coupon exchange basket and rip them in half. She said that corporate has told her to do this.

I was wondering why this may be? I thought these were manufacturer coupons, as they state this directly on front of the coupon and they state a clearinghouse address to send them to as well as the redemption terms. Nowhere on the coupon does it state that it's for the rewards card it was issued to, as other stores do state on their Catalinas. It felt as if she was committing fraud and keeping the contentious consumer from getting the discounts that are allowed by the manufacturer and that the manufacturer reimburses you for plus handling.

Personally, I do not wish to commit coupon fraud, so I would like to know if using the Catalina coupons from others are allowed or not. I do enjoy shopping at my local Kroger store and do so very frequently. I spend hundreds of dollars a month at Kroger and would like to know that I'm doing right by the company that has been doing so right by me.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,
CoupoNewbie

I was starting to get a little worried because after a few days, the weekend, and some more days I hadn't heard back. So, I called their corporate office at 1-800-KROGERS. I was informed by the representative I spoke with that the front end manager was in fact NOT supposed to be tearing up the Catalinas and they could, in fact, be used by anyone who was interested in using a coupon. This afternoon, I checked my inbox and also got a response:

Dear Ms. Newbie:

Thank you for contacting The Kroger Company. I do apologize for the confusion regarding your coupons. It is not our policy to not allow you or anyone else to use the Catalina Coupons. I am forwarding your comments to the store manager, where I feel confident he will use this as a training tool. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience. If there is anything else I can assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for shopping at Kroger. We appreciate your business.



Sincerely,


(an informed CSR)
Consumer Affairs

I'm so glad I contacted them via email. Regardless of whether or not they will talk to that particular manager, I now have something concrete in writing that I can show her as to why she is not supposed to be tearing up the Catalinas, rendering them useless for anyone else who would like to use them. This particular front end "manager" has refused me using coupons with a Target logo even though it clearly stated "Manufacturer coupon" on it and had a clearinghouse address too. I pointed this out to her, she showed it to someone, and they still wouldn't take it. I've used them in the past with other cashiers, but this particular one just is not coupon friendly! It's nice to know they're willing to go the extra mile when someone is a loyal customer.


Edit: 7/2/2010
The manager of the store contacted me and stated that this particular store was told by their general district manager that they were informed to not allow customers to use Catalina's from other customers because you can't tell which is a money of your next order because they bought so many of a certain product Catalina or just a coupon Catalina. We all know this is boloney! Sounds like an excuse to me. They also stated that manufacturer coupons with another stores logo, even if it expressly states manufacturer coupon, wasn't allowed at the store. I tried to clarify that these manufacturer coupons did have a clearing house address and terms of redemption on them, but she held to her story that they wouldn't get reimbursed for them because they are only intended for use at the specified store. Another load of boloney! *sigh* The good thing I did learn from this call was that I will be able to keep my Kroger card for my move to Arizona and use it at Fry's without opening another loyalty card. At least they have that going for them.

My Kroger Haul

I don't have my receipt with me, but I'm so excited on how well I did on this trip that I just had to get something updated. I have a short photo montage ;)

I did pretty well here! I got 24 boxes of Ronzoni pasta for $3.50 after the March Into Savings sale and my $0.75 off 1 and $1.00 off 2 coupons! I'm so totally proud of that! :)

Now to concentrate on getting some of the Betty Crocker potatoes this week ;)

Kroger trip 3/21/2010

I'll admit, I've been out for a bit longer than I wanted to be. My internet is down, so I'm blogging this from a local McDonald's where my son can play in the playland and I can soak up some beautiful free wi-fi. In the meantime, here's my latest trip to Kroger:

They had a March Into Savings event to get $4 when you buy 8 participating products. I really don't like these deals. I have to keep track of everything each time or else I end up counting wrong. Fortunately this time I was only 1 item over, so I just let it be.

Items on March Into Savings Event:
1-Snyders Pretzels $2.49
3-Lay's Potato Chips $2.79
2-Ronzoni Pasta $1.25
4-2-liter Coke products $1.25
12-DelMonte Tomatoes $1.00
1-Daisy Sour Cream $1.89
1-Kraft cheese $2.17
So, on the above items I got $12 off.

Not on event:
3-Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners $2.49
1-Broccoli $0.99 per bunch
1-Cauliflower $1.88 per head
1-Eggland Eggs $2.69
7-Frank's BOGO hot sauce $1.00 each (manager special)
2-Salsbury Steak meals (bogo) $7.99
3-Hillshire Farm Turkey Lunchmeats (on markdown) $1.39 each
2-I don't remember what this means, but the receipt says MC CH SS L S $0.99
1-Oscar Meyer Bacon $2.99
1-Turkey Drumstick package $3.72
Chicken Thighs $1.99
Pork Ribs $5.29 (this will make at least 2 meals for us)



ALL of the hot sauces were obtained free either with free item coupons or $0.50 off coupons that got doubled. Most of these are going to be donated as my family will never use up 14 bottles of hot sauce. LOL. I can't remember what the rest of the coupons were for, but I'm happy with how I did.

Also, I started joking with the checkout boy. He said they have a special "code" for those ladies that get $100 worth of products and pay only $4. I think he said it was a code 16 which is basically lets the manager know to come to their register and re-check all the coupons to be sure they're all legit. It's a shame they have to do this. They don't trust their customers because they've had too many shots in the feet from them.

Kroger trip 3/10/10 22% savings!

I went to Kroger yesterday because we were low on meat. I pretty much stuck to sales and what was marked down for quick sale. I literally only ran in to get some meat and leave. I did take one detour through the pharmacy to see if I could find some of the Vick's cough drops mostly because I need some tissues in my house and I'm all out of my favorite - Puffs Plus with Vick's. I can't seem to find these cough drops ANYWHERE!!! I guess I'll just have to figure out another deal because I definitely don't want those coupons to expire!

Didn't take a picture, but here's the breakdown:

2 corned beef briskets on sale for $2.99/lb - spent $11.75, saved $5.91 off of regular price
1 beef steak reduced to #3.81
4 Kroger frozen chicken Cordon Bleu/Broccoli Cheese - $1.00 each, saved $0.29 each
1 Kroger decongestant - $2.99
1 Pork Steaks $4.87 - saved $0.86

Kroger Plus Savings $7.93 22% savings
No coupons used
Spent $27.42 out of pocket

I really think I did pretty well considering it's all meat. I love me some corned beef! I've been stocking up on it because this is the only time of year we can get it here in Houston without special ordering it. I've been freezing a lot of it to have later on. I love how I can just put it in the slow cooker early in the morning and when everyone comes home all I have to worry about is a vegetable and maybe some potatoes. I do this when we have to go out early and will be home late. It's so worth it!

Oh, has anyone else ever tried the nasal decongestant inhalers? I have really bad sinus problems. Seriously, bad!!! I haven't been able to smell anything in 3 years. Taking over the counter medications don't do anything except relieve the pain. They don't help clear the stuffiness. I have a prescription that's run out, but can't afford to see the doc to get it refilled and he won't allow it through the pharmacy (besides, it costs $40 and it's a generic). I would prefer this one the most because it also has a steroid for the inflammation, but I need to do what I can which is OTC remedies. Any suggestions?

Kroger trip 2/22/10

That is one full shopping cart! I love it! Now, I must admit that the stuff on the lower right was all WIC and I had picked out the wrong orange juice so I had to put it back. Nonetheless, I did pretty well with the Daytona sale they were running. This time I actually got a full 20 items, not 23, not 29, but actually 20! I got a lot of looks over my coupon binder and comments on how I was a professional couponer. LOL. I'm humored easily. Also, the cashier pointed out to me that Kroger is considering not taking internet printable coupons any longer due to the high amount of fraud. Great. Idiots ruining it for the rest of us again.

The breakdown:
2 Diet Coke $1.25 each = $2.50
Sweet 'n' low $1.96
5 Kroger chicken cordon blue's and chicken with broccoli & cheeses $1.00 each, paid $5.00
2 Kroger sour cream on clearance for $0.39 each
4 Gorton Fish Fillets $3.49 each = $13.96
Orida Frozen Fries $2.79 each = $5.58
Round Steak "reduced for quick sale" $3.90
Jennie-O Turkey Store breakfast sausages "reduced for quick sale" $1.69
2 Corned Beef (love this stuff!) $10.21 total
2 - Mission Tortillas $1.59 each = 3.18
16 Chef Boyardee cans on sale for $1.00 each = $16.00
Kroger pumpkin spice on clearance for $1.49
Kroger Value Paper Towels $0.63
Meow Mix Cat Food on clearance for $2.29
Beneful Dog Food on clearance for $2.19 (couldn't find coupons for either pet food, but apparently I had a Cellfire coupon for the Beneful)
2 Land O' Frost ham lunch meats - $3.49 each = $6.98
2 Ragu Pasta Sauces $1.95 each = $3.90
2 Go-Gurts $2.50 each = $5.00

WIC Items:
1 Gallon milk $2.38
4 Golden Delicious Apples $1.34
5 Naval Oranges $1.66
1 Quart milk $1.19
Jiff Peanut Butter $2.49

Ok, I'll be honest here. I'm being lazy and don't want to re-calculate the totals below. $7.40 was too much for the WIC that I had left. I think only the apples, milk, and pb were counted as WIC items and I paid cash for the rest.

I can't even begin to remember which coupon went where. I had a bunch that doubled and a couple of high value ones that didn't, as well as $6 off for the Daytona deal and a $4.00 on-your-next-order Catalina from buying all the Pillsbury pizza dough last week.

Total before coupons & sales: $107.26
Manufacturer coupon savings: $19.10
Bonus coupon savings: $3.78
Kroger plus card savings: $26.31
Total Savings: $49.19 - 45%!

Great Kroger GC Giveaway

Hey, everyone! Head on over to That's Just Nifty Thrifty to enter her contest to win a $25 Kroger gift card!!!!! She's giving away 2 of them, so hurry!

Kroger trip 2/20/2010 - saved 75%

All right, I know I haven't been here in a while. That's life, right? Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug, but bugs like me learn to scrape themselves off the windshield and keep flying. Long story short, I'm a stay-at-home mom now and that means we're down to 1 income and I've become a home economist. Don't get me wrong - I've slipped in the past few months, but now I'm back and working my butt off to save my family money again. To celebrate, I thought I'd post my Kroger trip for today. Kroger was running the Mega Event where when you buy 10 items you get an automatic $5 off your grocery order. This made a lot of my stuff free to close to free after coupons. I didn't take a picture in my home. I'm too tired for that... but I did take a picture of what a full cart looks like in the parking lot.

Since it's 10pm here and I'm dealing with a 3-year-old that refuses to go to bed or sit still watching Monsters, Inc., I'll be brief.

In my haste, I realize I was 3 items short of getting another $5 off. Man, I hate it when that happens especially since I used tick marks on my shopping list to be sure I had enough for the event. I would've gotten 3 more sodas for $.79 each. I still would've saved about $2.50 more. :(

Before I go on, notice the front seat of the cart. In it I have my backpack and my new coupon binder. Filled as it is now, I can't even zip it up! It takes forever to organize, but I can find my coupons super easily, which is just the opposite of where I was before. At least with it all being easier to find, it'll be much easier when I come across a good clearance deal!

This is how my binder looked as of mid January. I could still close it then. I certainly can't now! I used the dividers I downloaded from The Krazy Coupon Lady. The coupons are stored in baseball card holders. I needed 3 packages for mine and now I need one more! I definitely need a bigger binder.

On to my shopping trip!!!

Mega Event Items (prices reflect cost each after mega event deducted):

• 2 Coffee Mate Coffee Creamers, $2.50 each, used $1 off when you buy 2 coupon, paid $4.00 for 2
• 3 Ro-Tel Tomatoes, $0.40 each, used buy 2 get 1 free coupon which took $.090 off, paid $0.40 for 3
• 3 Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, $.88 each, used 3-$0.75 off coupons, paid $0.39 for 3
• 2 Capri Suns, $1.49 each, used $1.00 off when you buy 2 coupon, paid $2.98 for 2
• 3 Craft Cheese shreds or chunks, $1.49 each, used 2-$1.00 off when you buy 2 coupons, paid $??? for 4 (see below in the non mega sale list)
• 4 So Be Life Waters $.50 each, used 2 buy-1-get-1-free coupons which took off $1.79 each, got $1.50 toward the rest of my purchase (a money maker!)
• 2 Kraft Velveeta Shells and Cheese Dinners, $1.29 each, used $1.00 off when you buy 2 coupons, paid $1.58 for 3
• 11 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter tubs at $0.99 each, used 11 $1.00 off coupons, $0 out of pocket!
• 2 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers $1.49 each, used 2 $0.40 off coupons that doubled to $0.80 off, paid $2.18 for 2
• 4 Tidy Cats Cat Litter 10 pound bags, $1.49 each, used 4 $1.00 off coupons and 1 $1 off cellfire coupon, paid $0.96 for 40 pounds of cat litter.
• 1 Quilted Northern 12 count bath tissue $5.99, used $1 off coupon, paid $4.99

Not on mega sale:

• 1 Diet Orange Crush 2 Liter (I thought this was a mega sale item) $1.29
• 1 Kraft cheese $4.49 (again, thought this was a mega sale item or else I would've gotten something different)
• 1 Cat Litter Liners $1.89
• 1 bag of sliced portabella mushrooms $2.39
• 1 bag discounted navel oranges $1.80
• 2 Kroger Frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu $2.00
• 1 Beef Steak (reduced for quick sale) $4.99

Purchased with WIC and not in my "before" total:

• 1 Gallon Milk
• 1 Dozen Eggs
• 1 Bunch Bananas

Well, that's my trip back. Made a couple of mistakes, but not too bad nonetheless. I'm happy! I only have $80 total for groceries and fun for the week, so I'm doing well stretching it the best I can so far. Had I not used the coupons and sales I would've been over already.

$103.94 before coupons and sales
Manufacturer coupon savings $40.48
Bonus coupon savings $1.50
Kroger plus savings $37.11
Total coupons $79.09

Kroger trip 6/26/09 - 24% Savings!

Springdale milk - 2 gallons at $1.99 each, purchased through WIC
Cheese - 2 pounds at $3.59 each, purchased through WIC
Pure & Clean laundry soap still on sale for $4.99 each, had $1.00 off coupons, paid $7.98 for both
Jalapeno garlic bread, Pepperoni garlic bread, and Cheese garlic bread on clearance for $1.69 each, $5.07 for all 3
Chex Mix on sale for $1.50, regularly $1.49, $0.50 cellfire coupon, $0.50 manufacturer coupon doubled to $1.00, so FREE
Fresh Express Salad blends on sale for $2.50 each, had a Shortcuts coupon for $1.00 off and a manufacturer coupon for $1.00 off so paid $3.00 for the two bags.
Red onion $1.14
Big K rootbeer $0.79
Big K soda $0.50
Bacon $4.99 (regularly $5.99)
Greated Cheese $2.99

Balance was $40.45
WIC paid $13.60
Manufacturer coupons were $5.50
Kroger card savings was $13.29
Paid out of pocket $26.85 = 24% Savings!!!!

Kroger trip 6/21/09 - 61% Savings!

I went on this trip with my in-laws. My dad-in-law couldn't believe how much I saved! He was skeptical at first thinking I would have to buy a bunch of things I wouldn't normally buy in order to "save" money and how is that money saved if I won't use those products anyway? Well, here's what I got:

Purex laundry soap (these'll be perfect for my fiance since he's a trucker now) regularly $6.99, on sale for $4.99, had a $1 off coupon.
Teddy Grahams (to keep 2 kidlets quiet) $1.00 each on sale. Regularly $1.50 each.
Angel Soft TP on sale for $1.00 regularly $1.28, had a $0.50 coupon that doubled to $1.00 so got this for FREE
M&M's, Snickers, and Dove candy all gotten with FREE coupons or buy 1 get 1 free coupons, out of pocket $0.00
Asparagus on sale for $1.87/lb normally over $4 a pound - cost $1.94
Paper Towels $0.63 because I desperately needed some
Strawberries $2.00
Raspberries $2.50 (I didn't realize I got the organic or else it would've been $2.00)
Blackberries $2.00
Kraft Easy Mac all purchased with $1 off or buy 1 get 1 free and Cellfire coupons so FREE
Chicken Seasoning on sale for $1.00, regularly $1.99, had a $0.50 off coupon that doubled so FREE
Suave deodorant on sale for $1.00, regularly $1.19, had $0.50 off coupons that doubled, so FREE
Cucumber $0.79
Softsoap on sale for $1.00, regularly $1.09 had a $0.50 off coupon that doubled, so FREE
Lettuce $0.87
Bleach $1.36


Manufacturer coupons $12.93
Doubled coupons $2.90
Kroger card savings $8.22

Would've cost me $39.25
Total savings $24.05
Paid 15.20 out of pocket.

61% savings!!!

And, yes, we have or do use all those items.

Kroger trip 6/8/09

Did pretty well at Kroger yesterday. Coupon Papa watched Coupon Boy so that allowed me to have some time to myself and just lumber through the store. Ah, the simple things in life! If I hadn't, I wouldn't have known that the AXE body wash was on sale (something my fiance LOVES) or that True Orange is being discontinued at that store. The one I went to also triples coupons up to $0.35 and doubles ones up to $0.50. I only had one that got doubled, but still saved some money along the way!

Carl Budding lunch meats, buy 1 get 1 free = $3.69 total
Bratwurst & Italian sausage (had to buy 2 for meal deal) $3.49 each
Beef steak on clearance for $2.34
Marinade $1.50
4 2-liters of pop $0.85 each
Cherries - I somehow got exactly 1 pound $1.98
Hamburger helper - 6 boxes with $0.75 off 3 coupons & a Cellfire coupon = paid $3.75 for all of them
2 Knorr rice sides - on sale with the 10 for 10 deal, had a $0.75 off 2 coupon and another $0.75 Cellfire coupon = $0.50 for 2
Shake-n-bake type thing $1.79 (love the stuff - had to get something because I was jonesin' for it)
Diced onions - FREE with the sausages
Sour Kraut - FREE with the sausages
AXE - sale for $3.89, $1 off coupon - paid $2.89
Milk - purchased via WIC
Bananas $1.25
Mustard - FREE with the sausages
Chicken seasoning - 10 for 10, $.75 off coupon = paid $0.25
True Orange on clearance for $1.49, $.50 coupon doubled, paid $0.49
Baby food veggies (I mix these in with regular foods because my fiance and son HATE veggies - gotta get them in somehow) $0.50 each, had a $0.50 Kroger Catalina, paid $1.00 for all 3


Total before coupons & discount = $$62.40
Manufacturer savings = $7.10
Kroger plus savings = $16.47
Total savings = $23.57
Paid out of pocket = $38.83

Looks like I had a total savings of 38%. Not too shabby!

Kroger trip 5/29/09

Kroger trip 5/29/09

Don't have a picture of this one because last night I was frankly too tired... but here's the deal.

Bananas $0.64
Edy's Ice Cream on sale for $2.37
Pork Chops on clearance for $5.80
2 Tombstone pizzas at $3.99 each = 7.98 / $1 off coupon when you buy 2 = $6.98
Quarter of a watermelon $1.79
Peanut butter $2.39 (this was supposed to have been paid for by WIC, but it didn't come off, so I'll probably be returning this item)

Total before coupons = 24.09, paid out of pocket $19.97 (4.12 saved) = 9% savings.

Well, a savings is a savings, even when it's not great, right?