Thanks, Walgreens!

I think I'm getting the hang of working the Walgreens deals, and I'd like to say THANK YOU to Walgreens! And I'd also like to say THANK YOU to Grandma, who sat in the car with the kids while I ran inside Walgreens!!!!! Grandma asked me where I found all these coupons, so I'm including that also. MC means manufacturer's coupon.

Pam Cooking Spray: $3.99 - $1 MC from All You Magazine = $2.99
Peter Pan Peanut Butter: $3.49 - $.50 MC Internet Printable = $2.99
Hunt's Tomato Sauce: In Ad Coupon $0.39 x 4 = $1.56
Triaminic Sore Throat Formula: $5.99 - $1.50 MC Internet Printable = $4.49
Expecta Lipil DHA Supplement: $12.99 - $2 MC which was expired! from the last box I had = $10.99 (I'll continue to take while nursing)
Excedrin Menstrual Complete Express Gels: $5.99 - $4 Walgreens coupon - $2 MC Internet Printable = $0.02 overage! (I thought these might come in handy after the baby!)
Excedrin Menstrual Complete Express Gels: $5.99 - $4 Walgreens coupon - $2 MC Internet Printable = $0.02 overage!
Nature Made Prenatal Vitamins: $12.99 - $1 MC from newspaper = $11.99 (I'll continue to take while nursing)
Nature Made Chewable Vitamin C: $8.49 - B1G1 on Nature Made Vitamins -$1 MC from newspaper = $1.00 overage!!
(if I'd realized this one applied, I would have gotten 2 prenatals instead!)
Glade Sense & Spray Air Freshner: $9.99 - $4 Walgreens coupon - $4 MC from newspaper= $1.99
Huggies Gentle Care Wipes: on sale 2/$5.00 - my last $5 Huggies MC Internet Printable = FREE
- $10.00 Walgreens coupon from my previous Huggies / Kimberly Clark deal
So my total came up to $25.98!

Now... Rebates!

Walgreens Rebate on ConAgra items (Pam, Peter Pan, Hunt's): $5.00
Walgreens Rebate on Triaminic: $3.00
Walgreens Rebate on Nature Made items: Free Denise Austin DVD
Expecta Rebate: $12.00 (got this one in the mail after registering on their website)
Caregiver's Marketplace Rebate on Nature Made Prenatal Vitamins: $1.00
Caregiver's Marketplace Rebate on Nature Made Vitamin C: $1.00

So... if I apply the rebates to the receipt total...

$3.98 and a free DVD for over $68 worth of groceries & health items!

Aunt Sissy asked me where I found some of my information, so here are a few of my favorite sites for finding the coupon match-ups (I've got these in my reader):

Money Saving Mom
Being Frugal is Fabulous
Frugal 4 a Busy Life
Stretching a Buck

I also find it easy to find coupon match-ups myself by viewing the weekly sales ads online. Both Walgreens' & Kroger's weekly ads are online and are searchable by product. For example, if I have a coupon for Peter Pan, I can search each ad to see if anyone has Peter Pan on sale this week. Then I try to wait to use the coupon until I find someone with it on sale. If it's not on sale & I need it, and if it's 50c or less, I'll use that coupon at Kroger where they double and triple coupons. This usually gets the cost of the item below the other "every day low price."

50% Off My Grocery Bill!

Yes, I've become one of those people who's so excited about coupons that I actually scanned my receipt. This is a new high for me, though! $25.05 in manufacturer's coupons, including those from cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, and pgesaver.com! The bonus coupons are the ones Kroger doubled & tripled. And the plus savings are sale prices I got because I used the Kroger Plus Card. Just think, if I'd forgotten to hand over my card, my bill would have been about $30 more!

And I got catalinas worth $9.50 off future purchases and another for a free pack of "kids yogurt".

And most exciting - Really the only thing I've been craving this pregnancy is cream soda! I was able to get A&W Diet Cream Soda (no need to add the extra sugar) for $0.75 per 2L! Whoo-hoo!!!! Now hand me my cup and nobody gets hurt...

The Proof

You've got to check out this lady's Walgreen's receipt - She paid $0 oop (out of pocket) for over $90 of merchandise! Granted, she covered the last 8 bucks with a gift card, but still pretty amazing.

The Proof by Coupon Katie

Coupon Savings

Aunt Sissy suggested blogging my exciting coupon shopping trips, so I figured why not? I had a small shopping trip this week, but did have some noticeable savings that I was proud of! (Is it strange that coupons make me so excited?) How about you?

Wal-Mart Coupons
Most of these coupons were printed coupons from coupons.com or manufacturers' websites. The Suave coupon I got in the mail by doing a survey or something.

Toaster Scrambles: $1.88 - $1 coupon = $.88
8 Yoplait Yogurt Cups: $.60/each - $1/8 coupon = $.48/each
(Elizabeth & I have been eating a lot of yogurt lately)
2 Yoplait Kids Yogurt Drinks with DHA: $2.58/each - $1/2 = $1.58/each
Suave 2-n-1 Shampoo/Cond, large bottle: $3.00 - $3 coupon = FREE!
Aveeno Baby Wash/Shampoo: $2.97 - $2 coupon = $.97
18 gal Rubbermaid Storage Tote: $8.94 - $1 coupon = $7.94
(for storing outgrown girl's clothes)
Total savings through coupons (some of these were done more than once) = $14.00

Kroger Deals
Most of these coupons were from Sunday paper coupon inserts. Some printed coupons from coupons.com or manufacturers' websites. The e-coupons I used were from cellfire.com.

Pillsbury Cake Mix: Sale Price $0.94 - .40 coupon, doubled = $0.14/each
(got 2 for upcoming birthdays)
Red Seedless Grapes: Sale Price $.99/lb = $1.08
Viva Big Roll Paper Towel: $2.39 - .35 coupon, tripled = $1.34
Frito's: Sale Price $2
Cottonelle 4-pk: $1.19 - .25 e-coupon - $1.00 coupon = $0.06 OVERAGE
Cottonelle 4-pk: $1.19 - .50 coupon, doubled = $0.19
Cottonelle 4-pk: $1.19 - .50 coupon, doubled = $0.19
Kleenex with Lotion, large box: $2.09 - .40 coupon, doubled = $1.29
Kroger Milk: reduced for quick sale to $1.89/gal
Kroger Milk: reduced to $1.89/gal
Kroger Milk: reduced to $1.89/gal
(the sell by date on the milk was Feb 19, so I put it into the freezer until I need to pull it out)
Mr. Bubble Bubble Bath: $2.89 - .50 coupon, doubled = $1.89
Eggland's Best Large Eggs: $2.59 - .35 coupon, tripled = $1.54
Eggland's Best Large Eggs: $2.59 - .35 coupon, tripled = $1.54
6 Yoplait Light Yogurt Cups: $.60/each - .50 e-coupon - .50 coupon, doubled = $.35/each
Total savings through sale prices, coupons, and doubles/triples = $14.11

Total savings on this small trip = $28.11 !!!

The one that got away...

I find it's easiest for me to get away to do shopping by myself on Monday or Tuesday. Our Kroger sales run Wednesday-Tuesday. So on the last day of this week's sale, one biggie got away from me. They had the small boxes of Totino's Pizza Rolls on sale for 4/$5. Then I had 4 coupons for $.35 off, which would have been tripled, making each box $.20! I normally don't buy these, but at $.20/box I thought it would be something different for the kids or a quick snack for Dad. Apparently, this had been a popular sale, because they were completely out of the small boxes! Oh, well...

And nothing I've tried has helped, but I still can not print coupons from my computer from smartsource.com or eversave.com. : ( It's really annoying me, too, because I missed some more Cottonelle coupons and Tidy Cat!

Coupon shopping takes some prep-work, but it works for me!

Sorry about that massive banner for coupons.com. I put in the code for the smaller banner & this big one keeps showing up. If you're seeing a small one, never mind.

Potatoes

I signed up with SheSpeaks and my first assignment was to review Ore-Ida's new Steam & Mash Potatoes. I got a free bag of the product, a free potato masher, and coupons to share.

I tried the Garlic Seasoned Potatoes. They were very easy to prepare - you just put the whole bag in the microwave for 10 minutes, let them stand for 2 minutes, dump them into a bowl and mash with some milk & butter. Super easy.

What I liked about them was not having to buy a 5lb bag of potatoes and not having to peel them. I found that a whole bag was a lot of potatoes.

The flavor was pretty good, but we thought the texture was a little dry & undercooked. Maybe it's my small microwave or maybe I didn't add enough milk. Dad said they had the texture of leftover potatoes. I reheated a bowl later & added more butter and some cheese and I thought they tasted better that time. The next day, I made potato patties from the leftovers & they were enjoyed by all. Here's my mom's potato patty recipe:

Grandma's Potato Patties

Leftover Mashed Potatoes
1 egg (or 2 if you have a lot of leftovers)
diced onion (amount based on your preference)
flour

Saute the onions. Mix together the leftover mashed potatoes, egg and sauteed onions. It will be kinda runny. Add flour, a little at a time, to thicken. Heat oil in a skillet. Drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil and gently flatten. When it's lightly brown on one side, flip them over. When done, drain on paper towels.

I like to dip mine in ketchup, but Dad used Cholula. I served them with pigs-in-a-blanket.

If anyone wants to give Ore-Ida's Steam & Mash Potatoes a try, let me know. They sent me plenty of coupons to share - $1 off!