Earth's Best jars 3 for $1.00

Shop Rite
Nov 6-12
Must buy 3.
Additional or lesser quantity will scan at 0.83

1 gallon Milk and 3 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios for $4.50!

Shop Rite
Nov. 6-12


Buy 3 General Mills Cereals and get Catalina for a free gallon of milk (up to $4.50).  


There are 0.50/1 printable coupons for Honey Nut Cheerios at www.coupons.com , www.thecouponnetwork.com, and www.smartsource.com, making them $1.50 per box. so you'd pay $4.50 out of pocket, and get a $4.50 coupon for milk!

Newman's Own Pasta Sauce $0.99

Shop Rite 

Nov. 6-12

Reg. $2.59

Sale: $1.99

Coupon: $0.50/1 (doubled to $1) or $1.00/2 (check newmansown.com and the other printable coupon sites!)

You Pay: As low as $0.99 depending on which coupon you find/print

Newman's Own Pizza $2.99

Stop & Shop
Oct. 28-Nov 3

Reg: $6.99
Sale: $4.99
Coupon: $1.00/1 (from http://newmansown.com/coupons.aspx)
+ Stop & Shop $1.00 Doubler Coupon (from circular)
You Pay: $2.99

DEAL! Beech Nut Baby Food

On sale at Shop Rite until Saturday, October 29


Stage 2 Beech Nut Baby Food is on sale at Shop Rite 10 for $3.00. The regular price is $0.66 ea.

There are many online coupons available for printing at the following sites:

www.couponnetwork.com
www.coupons.com
www.smartsource.com

Also, if you buy Beech Nut Statge 2 1/2 (NEW), you get a Catalina too!
Buy 1-14 jars Get $1.00
Buy 15-19 jars, Get $2.00
Buy 20 or more, Get $3.00

If you don't use baby food, consider printing the coupons for me, or donating to Person to Person!

Spend $20, Get $10 Catalina at Shop Right

Ends Saturday, Oct. 29th


Buy $20 worth of Shop Rite Health and Beauty items and get a $10 check out Catalina for your next order (any items).  One $10 Catalina per transaction. (So if you're buying $40 worth, do two transaction to get two $10 Catalinas).

Shop Rite items on sale this week are listed in circular:


Deal Idea:
Buy
4 Shop Rite Baby Shampoo (4 x $1.99)
4 Shop Rite Bubble bath (4 x $1.99)
2 Shop Rite Baby lotion: (2 x $1.99)
1 Shop Rite toothbrush (1 x $0.99)
Pay: $20.89
*Get a $10 Catalina (some cashiers will let you use it right away)
Total after Catalina: $10.89

Where Is My Milk From?

Just found this awesome site that tells you which dairy your milk is from. It's very interesting because if you do a little investigating, you can find out that a generic brand (i.e. Fairway Grass-Fed Organic Milk) is from the same dairy as the more expensive Natural By Nature!

I am curious to know which dairy the ShopRite Organic milk is from. If anyone has a 6-digit code from the gallon, please let me know!
http://whereismymilkfrom.com/allDairies.php

Hunt's Tomatoes: 10 for $5

Shop Rite: October 2-8: Buy $10 worth of Hunt's Products (canned tomatoes, tomato paste, sauce, ketchup) and get a $5 catalina off your next order!

$0.49 Fantastic

Fantastic cleaner is on sale for $1.99 Sunday Oct 9- Saturday Oct 15.
I will be getting 60 coupons for $0.75 off Fantastic cleaner (worth $1.50 when doubled), so will cost only 49 cents.
I'm planning to donate 40 to Person to Person in Darien. The rest are for friends. Who wants some coupons?

FREE Tabasco Sauce!

Stop & Shop, July 22-28

Tabasco Sauce bottle (2 fl oz) are on sale for $1 each (10 for $10) Excludes Habanero variety.

Print up to 6 coupons from the Tabasco website for $0.50 off ONE, and since Stop & Shop will double all six identical coupons, you get them all FREE!

I'm going to test it out tomorrow and report back.

And remember, the Stop & Shops I've gone to have all doubled idenical coupons. Maybe there isn't a limit after all...If you want more, just print from a different computer.

$1.00 Tribe Hummus

Tribe Hummus was on sale at Stop & Shop this week.

Tribe Hummus (8 oz): 2 for $4.
I purchased 24 for $48
I used 24 "$1.00 off ONE" coupon (from http://www.thecouponsclippers.com/) ($24 savings)
Total: $1 for each 8oz Hummus

$1.16 Cheerios

I scored 12 boxes of Cheerios for $14

Cheerios were on sale 3 for $5 (or $1.67 each).
12 boxes = $20.00
I used 6 "Buy Two, Get $1.00 off" coupons (from http://www.thecouponsclippers.com/)($6 savings)
Total: $1.16 per box

$0.49 L'Oreal Kids Shampoo or detangler

One of my favourite deals is the L'Oreal Kids Shampoo for $0.49.  There are often L'Oreal coupons in the Sunday paper (or with Saturday circulars if you have home delivered.)  There is one $0.75 coupon that is specifically for any L'Oreal Kids Product, and it will be doubled at both Stop & Shop and Shop Rite.

L'Oreal Kids Shampoo (or detanger) is normally $2.99 but often goes on sale for $1.99. That's when you want to use the coupons you've collected. At a $1.99 sale price, your $0.75 coupons will be doubled, making the shampoo only $0.49.

If you really want to stock up quickly, you can pay a shipping and handling fee on http://www.thecouponclippers/.  They often have this coupon available. I think it's 10 cents per coupon, so if you include that would make the total cost $0.59.

$1 Purex Laundry Detergent

Shop Rite, ends Saturday July 23

Purex Laundry Detergent (regular, sensitive, baby, hypoallergenic)
Sale Price: 2 for $5
Catalina coupon* : $3.00
You pay: $2 for two!

*The Catalina coupon prints in the machine next to the cash register immediately after the second Purex is scanned. You can use it on that transaction. The limit is 4 Purex per transaction, but be sure to buy ONLY TWO (per day) because only one $3.00 coupon will print.

$0.99 Driscoll's Strawberries

Shop Rite, July 17-23

Driscol Strawberries: $1.99
Printable coupon emailed after you sign up for emails: $0.50
Doubled: $0.50
You Pay $0.99

OR

Driscol Organic Strawberries: $2.49
Printable coupon emailed after you sign up for emails: $0.50
Doubled: $0.50
You Pay: $1.49

Oops! Honey Nut Cheerios

Several General Mills cereals are on sale at Shop Rite this week but Honey Nut Cheerios is NOT included in this week's sale. Sorry if you tried to get some for 88 cents!

If you want to print and hold on to coupons in case it goes on sale next week, here is the link again:
http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/lrwc-coupon-database?

The Coupon Clippers & Coupon Policies

I often use an online clipping service called The Coupon Clippers to get my hands on a large number of identical coupons. It's less time-consuming than searching online, and less paper waste than buying multiple copies of the Sunday paper. Clipping services do charge a handling fee that can range between $0.08 to $0.50 per coupon, depending on the value of the coupon.

I usually stock up on coupons for items that my family purchases regularly. That way, when it goes sale (which it usually does before the coupon expiry date), I can head to the store armed with my coupon binder and save more than 50% of my bill.

As always, I respect the 4 identical coupon limit per day for Shop Rite/Grade A.  Here is the complete policy.

The cashier at a Stop & Shop in Greenwich told me that there is no limit for identical coupons; however I looked it up on the website and it states that up to 16 identical coupons can be used (but only the first 4 identical coupons will be doubled if under 99 cents).  I guess no one in Greenwich has ever tried to use more than 16 identical coupons... Read the complete policy here.

Remember that at both stores coupons marked "Do Not Double" will usually double automatically at the register if the bar code starts with the number "5" (but defnitely won't if it starts with a "9").

Two for $0.49 Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals

Stop & Shop
July 14-21


Sale: Buy One, Get One Free (2 for $3.49)
Use one Coupon for each box you purchase from TheCouponClippers.com: $0.75
Coupon doubled at check-out: $0.75
Final Price:  2 for $0.49

Tribe Hummus for $1

Stop & Shop
July 14-21, 2011

Sale Price: 2 for $4.00
Coupon: $1.00 off ONE (8 oz Jalapeno, Roasted Red Pepper, Forty Spices, Calamata Olive, and Pizza flavors)  from TheCouponClippers.com (type "Tribe" in Search bar ).
You Pay: $1.00 each

$4.99 Flintstones Vitamins

Stop & Shop has all varieties of Flintstones Vitamins on sale this week (July 14-July 21).

Sale Price: $5.99
Printable Coupon: $1.00
You Pay: $4.99

FREE Movies for Kids!

This summer Bow Tie Cinemas is offering a Kid's Club Film Series. Showings are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am at Stamford's Landmark 9 Theatre.

It's absolutely FREE! 

http://www.bowtiecinemas.com/summer_2011.html

I'll probably take my four year old to the Wed. August 17th showing of Shrek: The Final Chapter. Anyone want to join us? Email me!

Goya Premium Beans as low as 4 for $0.50!

Shop Rite, July 2-9


Regular Price: $0.89 each OR

Print coupons from Goya website: $0.75 off any three Blue Label or Premium Beans (also available $0.60 off two Low Sodium Beans)

Shop Rite Super Coupon Price: 4 for $2.00 if you have Super Coupon from circular (Limit 1. Need $10 additional purchase.)

Manufacturer Coupon only Price: 3 for $1.17 / 4 for $2.06 ($0.75 printable coupon will be doubled)

Manufacturer's Coupon PLUS Super Coupon: 4 for $0.50

(Super Coupon does not include  Low-Sodium Beans. The PREMIUM BEANS are on the top shelf of our local Shippan Shop Rite.


(Low Sodium Beans are on sale for 3 for $2 ($0.67ea) so you can use the Low-Sodium Coupons ($0.60 off two) from Goya site and they will be doubled. If you buy 3 you'll pay $0.80 for 3. If you buy only 2, you'll pay $0.14!)

$0.68 Hunt's All Natural Ketchup (44.5oz)

Shop Rite July 2-9

Sale Price: $1.18
Printable Coupon from SmartSource: $0.25
Coupon doubled at cash: $0.25
You Pay: $0.68


You can print two coupons per computer in your home. Max 4 identical coupons per transaction at Shop Rite.

Coleman Organic Chicken Grill Pack $1.99/lb

Dates: Shop Rite July 2-9
Regular Price: $2.59/lb
With Super Coupon from Circular: $1.99/lb

*This sale is for Grill Packs only, which include 2 breasts & drumsticks. (Bottom left shelf at Shippan Shop Rite).

$0.29 Resolve Laundry Stain Remover

Resolve Laundry Stain Remover is on sale at Shop Rite July 3-9.

Sale Price: $1.79

Printable Online Coupon: $0.75 off ONE
Coupon Doubled at Cash: $0.75

You Pay: $0.29

You can print the coupons twice from each computer in your home. 

Shop Rite accepts a maximum of 4 identical coupons per transaction.

If you want to get more stain remover, print the "$0.50 coupons off ANY stain remover" coupon from the link above and you'll pay $0.79 after coupon is doubled.

Yogurt in Wraps

I've been buying a lot of yogurt lately. Organic yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt in tubes, yogurt smoothies.  I don't even like yogurt. Can hardly stand the smell, actually. And I get seriously annoyed if someone (whose name rhymes with Bouis) forgets to rinse a yogurt container before putting it in the recyling bin.

I bought a couple of plain Oikos Greek yogurts a couple of weeks ago, and wasn't sure if my kids would like it without the fruit on the bottom. Then when I was flipping through the channels, I came across a show called the "5 Ingredient Fix" on the Food Network. Basically, Claire Robinson puts together dishes with 5 ingredients or less. My kind of show.

Here are the ingredients for "Schoolhouse Wraps" that I made for the boys today. My preschooler loved it. Not a hit with my toddler though, but he also refused strawberries, so I think he was just too tired and cranky for food.

I can't offer suggestions for improvement since I didn't try it, but the sitter said it was good and would make it at home.

The 5 ingredients are:
1) roasted chicken
2) plain Greek yogurt
3) diced celery (for crunch factor - I used green pepper instead cause we were out of celery),
4) red grapes sliced in half
5) flour tortillas

Here is the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/schoolhouse-wraps-recipe/index.html


If you're feeling adventurous, you can also make tzatziki: http://greekfood.about.com/od/dipsspreadspures1/r/Tzatziki.htm

Enjoy!

Wednesday Groceries: $24.96

I am definitely getting faster at shopping with coupons. I get distracted less easily, and today I was in and out of the store within 15 minutes.

I got a little anxious at check out thinking I wouldn't stay within my weekly grocery budget, having already spent $104 on Monday & Tuesday. The cashier rang up the total and it was fifty-nine dollars and change. BUT, after my coupons and Price Plus Card, it went down to $24.96!! I was super stoked. Here's what I got:

3 packages of Coleman Organic Chicken ($1.99/lb)
4x Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
6x 8oz French's Yellow Mustard
3x L'Oreal Kids Detangler
1x L'Oreal Kids Shampoo
Excedrin Migraine
Celery
Asparagus
Tomatoes
Baby Carrots
Bananas
Excedrin Migraine

Coupons Used
$1.00 off Excedrin
4x 0.75 off ANY L'Oreal Kids Product (all doubled)
4x 0.75 off Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (all doubled)
2x 0.50 off French's Mustard (doubled= FREE!)
4x 0.30 off French's Mustard (doubled)

This means I've spent $129.49 so far this week and still have $20.51 left for this week!

FREE Mustard at Shop Rite!

French's Yellow Mustard (8oz) is currently on sale for $0.99 at Shop Rite.  That means you only need a $0.50 coupon to get it FREE (because the coupon will be doubled).

You can print a $0.50 coupon on the French's website. There is a two print limit per computer.

Deals at Shop Rite This Week (ends Saturday)

1) General Mills Cereal for $0.50-$1.50 per box
A variety of General Mills cereals are on sale 4 for $8 (Limit 4 & Must buy 4) . You can use...

-Four “$0.75 off ONE box” coupons, which will all be doubled, so each box comes out to $0.50, OR
-Four "$0.55 off ONE" coupons (comes out to $0.90/box)
-Two "$1.00 off TWO" coupons (comes out to $1.50/box)
You can find coupons here:

* http://www.coupons.com/
* http://www.smartsource.com/
* http://www.shopathome.com/
* http://www.coupons.target.com/ (it’s a manufacturer’s coupon, not target store coupon).

There have been some in the weekly newspaper inserts, too.

(Remember that a “$0.75 off ONE box” coupon is a better deal than “$1.50 off TWO boxes” because the latter won’t be doubled.)

2) Excedrin ½ price this week (and the store has some promo packs that include FREE Excedrin PM)!
Reg: $3.48
Sale: $1.74
Coupon: $1.00 (found here: http://www.excedrin.com/offers.shtml)
You pay: $0.74

3) Eggland’s Best Large Eggs
Reg: $2.89
Sale: $2.49
Coupon (from Smart Source newspaper insert a few weeks ago): $0.50
Doubled: $0.50
You pay: $1.49

4) Half Gallon Stonyfield Organic Milk
Reg: $4.09
Sale: $3.79
Coupon: $0.75 http://www.stonyfield.com/ (coupons updated monthly; can only print once)
Doubled: $0.75
You Pay: $2.29

5) Land O Lakes Butter
Reg. $3.37
Sale: $2.99
With Store coupon from front page of circular: $1.99

6) Shake ‘N Bake
Reg. $2.49
Sale: $1.99
Coupon: $0.75
Doubled: $0.75
You Pay: $0.49

You can find (at least) two $0.75 coupons online. I just did a quick search and there was one at http://www.coupons.com/ and the second at http://www.kraftbrands.com/Shake-n-bake/7)

7) Near East Couscous is on sale for $1.79 (reg. $2.19)

8) Apple & Eve 8-pack Juice boxes on sale for $2.99 (reg. $3.69)  There is a "$1 off TWO) coupon on the Apple & Eve website, but you can only print once.

9) L'Oreal Kids Shampoo (reg. 2.99) is on sale again for $1.99 (not advertised in flyer). If you have a $0.75 coupon for L'Oreal Kids Shampoo (there have been some in the Sunday paper recently), it comes out to $0.49 per shampoo with the coupon doubled.

UPDATE 3/9: These were not scanning at 1.99 but rather at 3.19, so I am going to take my receipts back and show them. The items are definitely marked on sale at 1.99 at the store. Does this mean I get them free because they scanned incorrectly? Not sure.

10) Coleman Organic Chicken:  Drumsticks (maybe thighs too) were on sale for $1.99/lb (not advertised). I bought a pack of 5 drumsticks (1.13 lbs) for $2.37 (saved $1.19).  Guess what we're having for dinner. :)

11) Blue Bunny Ice Cream
Reg.$2.99
Sale. $1.99
Coupon: $1.00  (Sign up for newsletter on their website and they will email you the coupon. There is also aother one somewhere online.) 
You Pay: $0.99
.
12) Organix Shampoo. I've never tried this shampoo, but the regular price is $5.99. It's on sale for $2.99, and if you buy two, you get a $5 coupon at checkout on your next purchase, (So it comes out to $1.49 each). If it sucks I don't mind having spent $3.

Organic & All Natural Foods

I've been paying very little to nothing for Stonyfield Organic Yogurt lately.  The $0.50 off ONE coupons are the best because they are doubled at Shop Rite and Stop & Shop. I'm going to save those until the yogurt goes on sale for 1/2 price again ($0.50), so that way I get 2 yogurts FREE for every $0.50 coupon I collect!

http://www.stonyfield.com/register/ (updated monthly)

http://newmansown.com/ (updated monthly)

http://www.horizondairy.com/

http://www.chobani.com/Coupons/

Print Coupons for Free

Here are websites that I check regularly.  (Many websites ask that you login/register first, so I created a separate email address for couponing.)

http://www.smartsource.com/

http://www.coupons.com/

http://www.redplum.com/

http://www.shopathome.com/

Groupon: $35 for $75 worth Home-Delivered Organic Groceries

Pay $35 for $75 Worth of Home Delivered Organic Groceries from Nature's Prime Organic Foods:
 
Hurry, ends at midnight!

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu23560956

The Beginning

My friend suggested I start a blog. I think she just wanted me to stop spamming her with emails. :)

Here's the back story to this blog. In January 2011, TLC aired a show called "Extreme Couponing."  My sister and I texted each other throughout the episode, commenting on how ridiculous these people are, and how they are only buying processed junk. Seriously, no one actually needs 800 chocolate bars or 100 toothbrushes. They all seemed crazy (and not particularly healthy).

But then one hoarder couponer said he was donating some of his bargain finds to a local food bank. Something inside me clicked. What a great idea. I had recently started making weekly donating to a self-serve food bank called Person To Person (Darien, CT) and thought that couponing could maybe help me make larger contributions of their mega high-demand items (i.e. peanut butter, jelly, coffee, and oatmeal).

So I started reading up on how to get started in this couponing business: where to find coupons, when to use them, when NOT to use them, why buying in bulk at warehouse stores doesn't save you nearly as much money as very strategic couponing.

The key is to to use your coupons during a sale. My two local grocery stores, Stop & Shop and Shop Rite/Grade A both *double* the value of coupons that are under a dollar. (Even the ones that say "Do Not Double" if the bar code on the bottom left starts with a '5'!) That meals a $0.50 coupon is really $1.00 off, $0.75 is $1.50 off, and $1 off is, well, $1.00 off.

Two coupons for "$0.50 off ONE item" are worth more than one "$1.00 off TWO items" because in the former, the coupons will be doubled for a total value of $2. Cool, eh?

So my basic strategy was to:

1) Stop throwing away weekly circulars.  Once I started looking through them, I noticed how many of the products I used actually went on sale. Suddenly, my focus changed from couponing for the food bank, into using my newfound couponing skills for ALL my grocery shopping. I am now officially on my mission to cut my family's grocery bill in half.  Since I don't even know what I used to spend on groceries, (I'm guessing it was about $1200 per month or more.) my goal is to spend $600 per month. We are a family of four - two adults, a toddler and a preschooler. I think this is reasonable. We shall see....

2) Started clipping coupons from the Sunday newspaper inserts. I also found several websites where I could print internet coupons. (Never photocopy printable coupons; they each have a unique bar code or PIN and you'd look like a real loser for getting busted for coupon fraud!)
3) Get organized. I quickly realized that sifting though an envelope full of coupons caused me major anxiety at checkout, so I bought a binder and those plastic sheets that are used for collecting baseball cards. Do I take my binder to the grocery store? Yes. Do I look ridicuous? Yes. Do I care? No! In the 8 weeks that I've been couponing, I've already saved about $800!

So that's basically it.  In this blog I will include my grocery lists, track my spending, and share some deals I've spotted.

So welcome, and I hope you enjoy my posts!