Long time no blog!

Hey everyone, sorry for just up and disappearing at the end of last year!  School started, and along with work, just consumed my life.  At this point I'm taking one summer class, so I have a little more time to be able to devote to couponing.  I just had a pretty decent trip to Publix that I thought I'd share with you.

1 green refrigerated bag $2.49
2 Schick Hydro razors $6.99
--on sale
--2 $5/1 manuf. coupons
--2 $1/1 target coupons
2 Schick Hydro shave gel 2/$4
--2 $1/1 manuf. coupons
--2 $1/1 publix coupons
6 Yogurts $.60/ea
2 Baileys creamers
--2 $1/1 printable manuf. coupons
--2 $.55/1 publix coupons
2 wafer cookies $2.39/ea
12 Renuzit air fresheners 2/$1.69
--2 B3G3 free coupons
4 Sweet potatoes $2.45
5 Olay Total Effects body wash $5.99/ea
--5 $4/1 manuf. coupons
2 Skinny Cow ice creams $4.99/ea
--2 $1/1 publix coupons
2 Weight Watchers ice creams $5.29/ea
--1 $1/1 manuf. coupon

Grand Total (out of pocket):  $54.96
Total Savings: $58.17 (51.5%)

I think I did pretty good, considering that I got some items that weren't on sale and/or didn't have coupons.

Oh, and there is a mail-in rebate for the Schick Hydro razor here

New coupon booklet at Publix

Today at work I came across a new coupon booklet:  Campbell's Nourish Your Family with Money-Saving Meal Ideas.  It has coupons as well as recipes and ideas for some cheap meals.


All are manufacturer's coupons that expire on 12/31/09
$0.50/2 Campbell's Healthy Request Soups
$1/2 Campbell's Select Harvest soups
$1/2 V8 vegetable juice
$1/2 V8 V-Fusion juices
$1/2 Campbell's V8 soups
$1/2 Prego Italian sauces
$0.72/2 cartons Swanson cooking stocks
$1/2 cans Swanson Premium Chicken
$0.40/2 Campbell's condensed eating soups (excludes creams)
$0.40/2 Campbell's condensed kids soups
$0.40/2 Campbell's condensed French Onion, Golden Mushroom, & Consomme
$0.55/1 Pace Picante Sauce
$1/2 V8 Splash juice drink

There is also a form to get 200 bonus points for your school if you mail in 10 eligible product UPCs and the receipt.

today's shopping trip and a note

First off, I'd like to thank Sheri at Swag Grabber for making the Price Point Spreadsheet.  I took this with me today to start filling out, and was shocked to find out that everything I priced was cheaper at Target than it was at Publix!  This really opened my eyes!

Payless
First on my list of stops today was Payless Shoes.  I needed to pick up a pair of shoes to wear to my nephew's Christening next week, so I googled and found this 15% off coupon to bring with me!  Also, since I only bought one pair of shoes, the cashier told me that if I bring back my receipt and make another purchase I can still take advantage of the BOGO sale.
1 pair black fancy-ish sandals
--(1) 15% off coupon
Total Savings:  $3.45 (15%)
Out of Pocket Total: $20.91

Publix
Peaches
Jif Peanut butter
Publix Peanut butter
AAA Energizer Batteries 8 pack
2 reusable bags
--'Buy theirs, try ours' promo: FREE Publix peanut butter
--(1) $0.55/1 Publix PB coupon
--(1) $2/2 reusable bags (Peelie from the batteries, made the bags FREE)
Total Savings: $6.16 (33%)
Out of Pocket Total: 12.40

Target
40 Fancy Feast Appetizers
5 Mott's Apple Juice
--(20) BOGO Fancy Feast Manuf. coupons
--(20) BOGO Fancy Feast Target coupons
--FREE $5 Target gift card with purchase of 5 Mott's items
Total Savings: $56.76 (83%)
Out of Pocket Total: 11.85

Free rental codes for Blockbuster Express

There are two new codes being given out at my Publix for the Blockbuster Express kiosks.

PT99A (expires 10/15/09)
PTPX91X (expires 10/31/09)
GSNX9X8 (expires 11/15/09)

Just enter a code during the rental process and the movie will be free.  If you don't return the movie by the next night, you will start to incur charges, so remember to take it back!

New Publix General Mills printable coupons

General Mills has some new Publix store coupons out that are available to print here.  Briana, over at Bargain Briana, has paired each of these coupons up with the available manufacturer's coupons here so you can stack them and increase your savings!  Be sure to check out that page to get the most for your money!

Today's buy

I had a coupon that expired tomorrow that I wanted to use today, so I got a BIG bag of cat food at Publix today before my shift started.

1 16lb bag of Friskies dry cat food
--(1) $3.00 off Publix coupon
--(1) $3.50 off manuf. coupon
Total Savings: $6.50 (53%)
Out of Pocket Total: $6.33

I also got more of those manuf. BOGO coupons for the Fancy Feast Appetizers that I mentioned a few days ago to pair up with the printable BOGO coupons from Target.  My girls will have food for a year at the rate I'm stockpiling with these deals! :)

Today's shopping trip (Target and Publix)

Publix
4 plastic things to put under my potted plants
10 Marie Callender meals
6 Publix yogurts
2 16oz Cottage Cheese
--$1/2 cottage cheese coupons
--(10) $1.50/1 M.C. coupons
Total Savings: $16.00 (35%)
Out of Pocket Total: $30.26
~~Not that great of a trip today, but it was more of things that we needed than stocking up on things that were on sale.

Target
12 boxes Pop Tarts (12 count)
1 box Blueberry Pop Tart (8 count)
4 Fancy Feast Appetizers
--(6) $1/2 Pop Tarts Target coupon
--(1) $1/2 Pop Tarts coupon
--(1) FREE blueberry Pop Tarts coupon
--(2) $0.55/1 Pop Tarts coupon
--(2) BOGO Fancy Feast Appetizers Target coupon
--(2) BOGO Fancy Feast Appetizers coupon
Total Savings: $24.73 (61%)
Out of Pocket Total: $16.08
~~This trip was pretty good.  I'm really excited that I was able to get the Fancy Feast Appetizers for my cats for FREE! We got a free sample of this in the mail a while back and the girls just LOVED it and devoured it! lol.  At $1.29 for a 2oz package, this will be one of the rare occasions that I actually buy it for them.  Thank goodness for coupons.


Remember, Pop Tarts are included in Kellogg's list of participating products for the $10 mail in rebate.  I already sent in mine, and unfortunately I can't send in for another one.  The application, in pdf format, is here at their site.

Today's shopping trip

I stopped at Publix today to pick up dinner, and while I was there I got some granola bars.  Quaker granola bars are BOGO this week, plus I had three $1/2 coupons!

6 boxes granola bars
Total Savings: $11.97 (66%)
Total:  $5.97

It was a great deal, coming out to less than $1/box :)

Publix coupon policy

The email I just received in response to my request for the coupon policy wasn't very helpful in spelling everything out.  Below is the relevant part of the email.

Because the stipulations by manufacturers can be different, it is difficult to have a policy that covers all situations.  Our basic policy is to adhere to the stipulations printed on all coupons.

We do accept coupons printed from the Internet.  Our goal is to accept coupons unless there is a legal compliance issue.  If you have a question about a particular coupon, I would suggest checking with the Store Manager or Customer Service Manager at the store where you will be shopping.


I know the coupon policy for the store I work and shop at fairly well, and assume its similar, if not the same, at most other stores.  Here are the highlights:

• You can use one store coupon (Publix, Target, etc) AND one manufacturer's coupon per item purchased (this is called stacking)
  
• You can use printable coupons from the internet (In our store the coupon can value up to $5, even for a free item
• If an item is BOGO, you can still use one coupon for each item (or two if you're stacking store/manuf)
• You will not get money back if the coupon value is greater than the price of the item, but the difference will be taken off your bill if you are purchasing more items
• You can use competitor's coupons, based on the discretion of the store.  Competitors are other local grocery chains, as well as Target, Walmart, and the like.  My store (perhaps others as well) does not currently take drug store coupons (Walgreens, CVS, etc)

Also a tip from experience.  If the value of your total coupons is more than $50, you might want to break up your purchases so that your coupons stay under the $50 mark.  For each and every coupon over $50 (of coupon savings), a manager needs to put in an override code, and that can be time consuming.

If you have any specific questions, ask the manager at your local store and they will help you out.

New coupons at Publix

Today the One Stop. One Store.  coupon book showed up in my Publix.  The great thing about this book is that there are both Publix coupons and manufacurer's coupons!  Remember--the two types can be stacked together (one of each type for each item bought) for even greater savings!

Publix Coupons
$2/1 package Huggies Diapers
$2/1 package PULL-UPS Training Pants (33-44 ct.) or GoodNites Products (21-27 ct.)
$3/1 Enfamil Instant Formula Powder (23.4 oz+)
$3/1 Enfamil Instant Formula Convenience Item
$2/1 Enfamil RestFull Instant Formula
$1/1 Iams Dry dog or cat food
$0.50/1 Bounty Paper Towels (6+ rolls)
$0.50/1 Febreeze product
$0.40/1 Palmolive Aroma Sensations
$0.50/1 Suavitel Fabric Softener
$0.40/1 Fabuloso All Purpose Cleaner

Manufacurer's Coupons
$1/10 Jars Earth's Best Organic Baby Food
$0.55/1 Any Earth's Best Sesame Street Product
$3/1 Purina ONE Dry Dog Food (8lb+)
$2/1 Purina ONE Dry Cat Food (3lb+)
$2/1 Purina ONE Biscuits
$3/1 Purina Beneful Dry Dog Food (15lb+)
$1/2 Purina Beneful Prepared Meals (10oz)
$1.50/1 Purina Beneful Snackin Slices
$4/1 Glade Sense & Spray starter kit or Lasting Impressions holder
$2/1 Glad Plugins Scented Oil twin refill
$3/1 any product from The Fragrance Collection by Glade
$1/1 any Pledge Furniture Care product
$1/1 any Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner
$1/1 any Nature's Source natural cleaner
$0.50/1 Clorox Bleach (96oz+)
$0.50/1 Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (35ct+)
$0.50/1 Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach (32oz+)
$1/1 all Laundry Detergent
$0.55/1 Snuggle Liquid Fabric Softener or Dryer Sheets
FREE Publix reusable shopping bag when you buy 1 Angel Soft Bath Tissue (4pack) AND 1 Sparkle Paper Towel (2pack)

New P&G coupons in Publix

Yesterday I discovered new Procter & Gamble coupons in my Publix.  There was a cardboard display by each entrance with fliers with the coupons, as well as tearpads around the store.

$2.00/1 Simply Ageless foundation or any Cover Girl product
$7.00/1 Crest Whitestrips product
$4.00/1 Align
$3.00/1 PUR item
$0.50/1 Head and Shoulders product
$0.50/1 Gilette hair care product
$0.50/1 Pantene hair care product
$0.50/1  Herbal Essences or Aussie hair care product
$1.00/1 Olay facial moisturizer or cleanser
$0.55/1 Satin Care shave gel
$0.50/1 Always or Tampax product
$0.50/1 Olay body wash, bar soap, or Quench body lotion

All coupons are Publix coupons, which means they can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons!  All coupons expire on 10/11/09.

Shopping trips to Target, Publix, and Wags

My shopping trips from August 21, 2009

TARGET
10 boxes of pop tarts*^
2 Schick Intuition razor refill packs*
1 gallon of milk
Total Savings: $29.05 (59%)
Total: $20.35


PUBLIX
4 boxes ritz crackers*
10 boxes lipton tea bags*
3 peaches
5 plums
1 snickers bar
6 marie callender meals*
4 packs bagels
1 large box raisins
Total Savings: $50.39 (51%)
Total: $48.77

WALGREENS
2 5lb bags sugar*
2 boxes oatmeal*
1 pack mechanical pencils
3 packs pencil lead
4 packs filler paper
3 packs dividers
1 small notebook
Total Savings: $18.19 (42%)
Total: $25.19




*I had coupons for these items

^When you buy 10 Kellogg's or Keebler's products in the same transaction you can send it in to get a $10 rebate, which is what I'm doing here.

So, all in all, not one of my best saving days, but I think I did pretty darn good!