Bi-lo -- saved 85%!

My friends and I also went to Bi-lo. They did pretty well; one even got a catalina deal I didn't know about. I saved my shopping for later in the night.

Trip summary:
I had a raincheck for Bounty Basic single rolls BOGO. I bought 16 rolls (don't worry, they had plenty left).

Total before savings and coupon: $20.68
Total out of pocket: $3.07
--------------------------
saved 85% -- that's just .19 a roll! also this trip will go towards the $50 I need for the P&G $100 coupon book I mentioned here

Publix ---- saved 94%

As I said in my earlier post, I went shopping with a friend this week. I brought coupons for both of us. She was able to save about 50%! I gave her some of the stuff I bought too; I got out so cheap it would be criminal not to share! :)

Trip summary:
I bought 5lbs of Publix sugar (.01), 4 boxes of Special K, 2 Sobe water, 5 Knox Gelatin, 1 Heinz Ketchup, 2 French's mustard, Marzetti dip, 4 packs of Ball Park Franks, 2 packs of Smithfield bacon, 2 Heluva Good dip, and a special birthday surprise. I did get overage from the Knox and French's, but most of the savings were from BOGO and double coupons. We also got a senior discount because it was Wednesday.

Total before savings: 65.02
Total out of pocket: 4.10
-------------------------
saved 94% ---- our pre-tax total was $1.41, I wish Tennessee did not have such a high food tax

Get FREE eggs from the Incredible Edible Egg!

America's egg farmers are offering BOGO egg coupons to the first 30,000 at 10 am EST tomorrow! You must be a fan of Incredible Edible Egg on Facebook. The coupon will be under the "Free Eggs" tab on their Facebook page. These coupons always go fast, so sign up tonight to save time in the morning (don't forget to print twice, use your back button).

(Thanks, The Prudent Patron!)

2 New Earth Fare Bogo coupons & a contest!

BOGO Earth Fare Deli Chicken Wings good 2/3-2/9

BOGO 1lb Baby Back Ribs good 2/5 ONLY

See ASavvySaver for a list of the great deals this week.

The new contest is My Decade – My Health – My Journey. It is a video contest on Youtube that lasts until April 30. Grand prize is a $1,500 gift card to Earth Fare! See all the details here.

Earth Fare ---- new coupons and matchups for February

There are two great coupons available now!
20% off ALL Health and Body Care until 2/2
BOGO Muir Glen soup valid TODAY ONLY!

A Savvy Saver has the February deals with coupon matches; I'm really liking the organic baby spinach and carrots for .69!

Earth Fare has also twittered that Meyer lemons will be 4/$1 starting this weekend. Is it too soon for lemonade? Yum!

Even more FREE food! Subway & Dairy Queen

Click here to sign up to get a BOGO Subway 6 inch sub coupon emailed to you just for creating your own custom sub! (Thanks, CouponDealsandSteals!)

Go here or here to sign up for the Blizzard Fan club. You'll get 6 BOGO 16oz Blizzard coupons throughout the year including your birthday and after signing up. (Thanks, Jessica's Coupons!)

Bi-lo ---- saved 99%!

There are some nice BOGO items on sale this week at Bi-lo. I didn't need much, but if you haven't started on your stockpile, Bi-lo is worth checking out this week.

I got 5 Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetable bags BOGO 2/$2 with 5 .50/1 coupons. I also wanted to get Marcal paper towels/toliet paper BOGO 2/9.99 (I have $2 coupons!), but both my nearby Bi-los were out (but I got my raincheck). Also, I had a coupon for 1 FREE 2-liter of SH soda that I got from Bi-lo. I always make sure to fill out those surveys on the receipts; Bi-lo will give you a free item coupon at the end!

Trip summary:
I bought 5 Birds Eye and a 2 liter of SH soda.

Total before savings and coupons: $10.96
Total out of pocket: $0.08
---------------------------------
saved 99%!

Publix ---- saved 60%

I've had a craving for bagel pizza lately. Luckily, all the ingredients are on sale at Publix this week! Lender's bagels are BOGO and there is a coupon that should make them about .50 each pack. I also picked up some Kraft shredded cheese for just $2 (cheaper if you have a coupon). Since I'm still working on my stockpile, I also picked up Green Giant Frozen Vegetables boxes for .50 each (here or here).

I was able to get 3 items free this trip: 2 packs of GE light bulbs and 1 box of Scotties tissues (say "no" here when it asks if you use them regularly).

Trip summary:
I bought 21 items. Three items were free and I also got the Penny item.

Total before savings and coupons: $46.36
Total savings: $27.60
Total out of pocket: $18.76
-----------------------------
saved 60% ----- .89/item

(I used IHeartPublix and SouthernSavers to help make my shopping list and find my coupons. Thanks!)

Michael Angelo's Coupon Offer

Tomorrow Michael Angelo's is sending out their January coupon.  If you haven't already joined their Family Table, make sure you register now! Their coupons are usually pretty nice and this one is for BOGO single serve meals.

Emery Cat board - buy 1, get 1 free!

Emery Cat board is a new product to help keep your cat's nails trimmed. Go here to order a set for $19.95 (plus shipping&handling) with a free de-shedder comb and get a set and comb free (with additional shipping&handling). It also has a 30 day money back guarantee. 

This would be a nice gift for someone with cats!

Trip to Walgreens --- saved 88%!

Had to make a quick trip to Walgreens tonight because I had a $4 Register Reward that was expiring.  Register Rewards are just like cash (exceptions apply) and I am not one to throw money away.  I didn't see any reason to waste it either, so I took some coupons along to lower my total.

The Honey Nut Cheerios are on sale this week 2/$4 with a $2 Register Reward. *The ad says you have to buy milk too, but the reward will print out without it.* The Sally Hansen La Cross items are buy 1, get 1 this week.  I had 2 $1 Cheerios coupons (go to their website) and a buy 1, get 1 Sally Hansen coupon (Dec All You magazine). Basically, I got those 4 items free!
The little penguin post-its were on Xmas clearance for .99 (I love penguins!).

Total before coupons and RR: $24.07
Total out of pocket: $2.91
------------------------------
saved 88% and I have a $2 Register Reward for next time

The importance of buy 1, get 1 free

I talked to my sister the other night and she said she still doesn't quite understand how to save so much at the store. She's getting married soon and would like to save more. I'm planning to give her some hands on tips over Christmas. Couponing and saving can be daunting to someone that hasn't really done it before. I won't be seeing all of you over Christmas, so I'll be giving little tips on saving over the next few days.

Do you know someone that wants to save money, but has no coupons? Tell them about buy 1, get 1 free and similar deals. With buy 1, get one free, even without coupons, you will save at least 50%!

Or maybe you know someone that does use coupons, but never seems to save much money? Combine coupons with buy 1, get 1 free and save more than 50%!

With buy 1, get 1 free, I can even get 100% off. Combine a buy 1, get 1 free coupon with a buy 1, get 1 free sale and you get BOTH items free! I did this recently with paper plates and saved almost $8. I never would have bought them otherwise.

Most of you have probably seen how there are not a lot of high dollar coupons readily available (especially on groceries). Most grocery coupons don't go over $1 and not every store doubles coupons either.  Without buy 1, get 1 free, I would be hard pressed to save 50%+ on items over $2.

Buy 1, get 1 free is so very important when trying to save money. It's so easy too; all you have to do is buy the items. If you can combine with a coupon, you'll save over 50% easily. Wouldn't you like to save 50%+ everytime you went to the store? Just think of how much money you'ld save!

I hope this tip helped! Feel free to ask questions by email or in the comments below.

Giving back is not so hard

The reason for my Publix trip today was to buy food for my local food bank. I always gave in school, but since then, not so much. I'm planning to do this next year all year long.

I bought 30 items (plus some free balloons). I tried to get healthier items and things with some kid appeal.

As you can see, everything is name brand and good quality items. Since it is for the food bank, I had to make sure all were non-perishable, so there's no meat or produce. Most of these items were buy 1, get 1 and I had coupons for everything to help stretch how much I could buy.

I split the tax three ways with family members (see last post), so my numbers may be a little inflated.

Total before coupons and tax: $27.59
Total after coupons and tax: $4.04
----------------------------
saved 85% ----- about .13 cents per item (without tax, it was 91% and .08 per item)

Publix trip ---- saved 65%!

Made a quick trip to Publix today to pick up items for the food bank. I'll be talking more about that in my next post. Other family members had made some requests, so I ended up spending a little more than I wanted to. The $5 off a $50 purchase coupon from Sunday's Publix circular came in handy.

I had a very nice staff member help me find items. I've only been shopping at Publix for about 2 months and I still don't know where everything is located. I'm like a chicken with its head cut off in there most days. The coupon fairy kindly left 2 coupons on the potato chips which I'm very grateful for. I had extra coupons, but the items were not sold at that Publix, so I'll have to make it up to the coupon fairy later.

Publix trip overview:
The items I bought included dishwasher detergent, potato chips, and cooking oil.
*My favorite deal was Finish Quantum for only $2.80. It's normally $7.59 (63% savings).*

Total before savings and tax: $106.71
Total after savings and coupons: $37.68
------------------------------------
saved $69.03 ----- 65% off!

Saved 90% at Bi-lo!

Bi-lo has a great deal ending today on Bounty Basics single rolls B1G1. When I went earlier in the week, I was only able to get one roll because I only had one coupon. Some people would say that is foolish, but I try never to buy without a coupon if I can.  Luckily, I obtained 5 P&G Saver inserts from 11/29 from ebay and they arrived yesterday.  That meant I could buy 5 more rolls of paper towels!

Bi-lo highlights:
I bought 5 items, all Bounty Basics single rolls. I used 5 .25 Bounty manufacturer coupons that doubled.

Sub-total before savings: $6.30   (this was unusual but awesome because most Bi-los had them at .69/each)
Sub-total after card and coupons: .65
-------------------------------------------------
saved $5.65 ----- saved 90%!

Great trips to Bi-lo and Publix! part two

After Bi-lo, we headed to Publix (they're on the same road). I didn't need much from Publix, but my friend hadn't ever been to Publix before and was curious. She really liked how nice it was and she was able to sample some pasta she had never eaten before. I have been really impressed with Publix ever since I started shopping there in October. The aisles are wide and clean, the employees are friendly, and the cashiers never have a problem with fistfuls of coupons.

Publix highlights:
I bought 17 items including pet food, cheese, and garbage bags.
** My favorite deal was a Publix coupon for free eggs when purchasing two bags of Sargento cheese. I also had coupons for the Sargento cheeses. I gave my friend the eggs since I got some free last week and we each paid $1.12 for the cheese. She had only recently tried mozzarella, so this was great for her! **

Subtotal before coupons and Publix card: 43.86
Subtotal after savings: 13.56
-----------------------------
saved 30.30 ----- 70% off!!!!!

Great trips to Bi-lo and Publix! part one

Yesterday a friend joined me to go grocery shopping. She's had a really hard year, just lost her job, and her food stamps haven't started yet.  Luckily, she has been diligent about stockpiling and didn't really need much at the store. Still, I thought shopping would be fun and maybe we could get some great deals!

Our first stop was Bi-lo. I had never been to that particular store before, so I called ahead to check on part of their coupon policy (this is always good to do before going to a new store). Because they accepted competitor coupons, I took a $2 off a $6 produce purchase coupon from Food Lion. I planned to get some pears for a great price, but unfortunately, they had not arrived yet. Still, we were able to get veggies for cheaper than they would have been at Aldi's.

Bi-lo highlights:
I bought 18 items including produce, bottled water, and meat.
** My favorite deal was on boneless beef chuck roast that was on sale for buy 1, get 1 free. My friend and I split the deal, so I got a roast for about $6! **

Subtotal before coupons and Bi-lo card: 89.27
Subtotal after savings: 47.51
----------------------------------------
saved 41.76 ----- 53% off!!!!!!!