Grocery highlights for 3/25-3/31

Not a lot of excitement out there this week for deals.

Randalls
This week's ad is dedicated to the same promotion they had last week. $5 off when you buy 10 participating items. (Read last week's post) There are some good deals in this promotion, but I think it is confusing. Please keep in mind that the prices in the ad are the final price. You will not receive another discount. Also you must buy groups of 10. For example if you buy 12 items you will not get a discount off the last two.

My favorite part of this promotion is the Ozarka Aquapods. They are the small bottles great for kids. The card price is $2 each for an 8pack. In the "10" promotion they are $1.50. However, if you buy 2 you will receive a coupon for $2 off your next purchase at Randalls. Good deal!

The only other deal I liked not included in last week's post is the following:

Del monte fruit naturals .75 cents use $1 off 2 HERE = .25 cents each

HEB
White seedless grapes .88/lb
Hill Country Fare shredded cheese 8oz $1
Hill Country Fare milk $2.99
Post Pebbles Cereals $1


Target
Same deals continue at Target. Please go take advantage of these! I had a great time just walking the aisles and seeing all of the "New Store Specials" And if you got this week's mailer you can enjoy your free smoothie while shopping!

CVS
If you are ready to get into the drugstore game you can pick up some free toothpaste. Crest Prohealth Enamel care is $3.49. You will receive $3.49 back in Extra Care Bucks. Also, you can use the .75 coupon from 3/1 and actually make money!

I also picked up some campbells soup for .25 each. They are $1.49 and buy one get one free. Use the coupon here to make it .25 each. $1/2 printable coupon

Bargain Shopping at Thrift Stores

As many of you know, I am a thrift store (Savers, Goodwill, and Salvation Army) shopper--I recently found a 20" girls Schwinn bike ($150.00 new and maybe ridden 10 times in it's short life!) for $20.00 for my six year old grand daughter. During the same visit, I found no less than ten almost new Gymboree girls outfits (various sizes), all for under five dollars, Children's Place outfits in the same price range and almost new, a pair of almost new "light -up" little girls sneakers for $3, and tons of dress up items for little girlies for practically nothing! I am constantly amazed at what people get rid of to thrift stores!! Gently used men and womens clothing, furniture, housewares, toys, and even single and double running strollers!! If you are familiar with good brand names and values, you can even put these things on ebay and make quite a bit of money if you're willing to spend the time on it. I don't ebay them, but love to recycle in this way! I would never spend the money for these name brands new, but at these prices, who can resist! Try it!!
Also try craigslist.com for amazing buys on just about everything you can imagine! Some of it is even free! I'll happily walk you thru it or tell you my favorite store locations if you're interested. This could be a part of your "second income" in your family--shopping for bargains and recycling in this way!
Happy bargain hunting!!

Grocery highlights for 3/18-3/24

Randalls

Fresh Boneless-skinless chicken breast 1.99/lb
Lucerne shredded or chunk cheese 32oz 4.99

This week there is a mix and match promotion where you buy 10 participating items in a single transaction and then receive $5 off. The ad is confusing because it lists the price AFTER the promotional discount. There are over 1000 participating items. They are at varying levels of pricing from $1.25-$3.00. Then, when you buy 10 from any pricing level you get $5 off the total. Basically it is $.50 0ff each item (when you buy 10) making the prices anywhere from .75-2.50

Depending on your families needs you will find good deals in this promotion. I will attempt to point out a few in my opinion. Remeber there are many,many more options.

Fress Express bags of salad .75 after card and with discount (usually includes spinach)
Cheerios 1.50 after card and discount, use $1 off coupon HERE =.50
Capri sun drinks 1.50 after card and discount
Jimmy Dean Sausage 2.00 after card and discount
Motts apple juice 64 oz 1.50 after card and discount use .55 cents off HERE = .95 cents
Angel Soft 4 pack- use .50 cents off from 2/ 22 Red plum = .25 cents
pasta roni or rice aroni use $1 off 4 from 3.8 RedPlum = .50 cents each
Nabisco 100 calorie packs use $1 off 2 HERE = $1 each
Better Crocker cookie mix use .50 cents off one HERE = $1 (may be doubled and =.50)

HEB

Large cantaloupe .88
Hill Country Fare all purpose flour $1

(remember you can take your ad to walmart and they will price match)

TARGET

Great deals at the new Supertarget in Pflugerville good through 4/14/09. You should have received another mailer this week with more fabulous coupons. Here are a few of the deals I liked.

Delimex chicken taquitos .99 after coupon
3lb bag apples 1.99
Bananas .39/lb
grapes red or green .99/lb
iceberg lettuce .79
24 pack of market pantry water $2
Hungry Jack syrup or pancake mix 1.49
Simply Orange juice .99 after coupon
Mission 10ct flour tortillas .99
eggs .99
Toaster strudel (strawberry only) .99
Kraft mac and cheese .39
Hunt's diced tomatoes .49
Prego sauce (traditional only) .99
Strawberries $2
Market Pantry milk $2.89
Tostitos scoops $1.75 plus coupon $1 off when you buy 2, plus this week only get free tostitos salsa or queso when you buy 2 tostitos chips.

This week at all Targets- coupons HERE

Betty crocker brownie mix .89
Shredded 8oz cheese 1.49

RSS Feed

As requested, I've added an RSS feed button to the sidebar.

For those of you who know what that means, there is a button for the posts and another for the comments. I'm excited to have the comment feed so that all of us can share finds like the strawberries for 99 cents a pound at Newflower market (through Wed 3/18).

For those of you who have no idea what an RSS feed is but who read a lot of blogs, comment! If people want to know, I'll post about what RSS is, how to use an RSS reader, and how much time it will save you.

We're not alone in our frugality!

Ladies, The following article is proof that we are not alone in our attempts at frugality! I personally have always found these ideas to be a very rewarding way to retain control of my resources rather than giving that control over to the merchants and vendors. The more of these kinds of things we can do, the more control we retain over our hard earned money! (This mentality can translate into our family's second income", so to speak). Lets Do It!

Extreme cheapskates: Tightwads revel in frugality

Amy VanDeventer has always been a cheapskate. The recession is taking her to new extremes.

Before the economy tanked, she was still wearing maternity clothes from her last pregnancy, clipping coupons and using hand-me-downs to dress her daughters, ages 2 and 3. Now, she's salvaging bagel scraps left on their plates for pizza toppings and cutting lotion bottles in half so she can scrape out the last drops.

"I was already cheap," said VanDeventer, a 36-year-old mortgage loan underwriter from Broomfield, Colo. "Now I am neurotic about it."

If you thought those cheapskate friends and relatives couldn't pinch pennies any tighter,think again. The recession is making tightwads like VanDeventer cut back even more. They're going way beyond sharpening their coupon scissors, replacing already cheap store-brand fabric softener with vinegar and even making their own detergent. VanDeventer was drying her hair in front of a fan after her portable hair dryer broke -- until her friends bought her a new one.

The recession is radically changing behavior among many different types of people, from the Wall Street bankers who are now waltzing into Wal-Mart for the first time to buy their groceries to teens who are now thumbing through the piles of status jeans at secondhand shops to save money

. And experts say that such behavior could linger long after the economy recovers.

What surprises frugality bloggers is that many cheapskates such as VanDeventer haven't lost their jobs and are not in danger of losing their homes. Many have stashed a good chunk of cash away. But the economic uncertainty is catapulting them to new levels of thriftiness.

"I do it out of fear because I would rather put that money in the bank or purchase something we really need," said VanDeventer, who now saves about 50 percent of her take-home pay, up from 25 percent before the recession began more than a year ago.

"Frugal people are now looking at more ways not to spend money," said Lynnae McCoy, who runs a blog called beingfrugal.net, which attracts seasoned penny pinchers. In January, her site received 110,000 hits, up 30 percent from a year ago. What intrigued McCoy was the interest among frugal folks to save even more money by making their own detergent and other household goods.

Grocery highlights for 3/11-3/17

I am sorry I will be unable to post the highlights this week, but will be back on board for next week. If you do not have the ads you can always check them online for your favorite stores. Also, the new Target i n Pflugerville has great specials all month long. I found many items at great "new store" prices that were not even in their mailer. When I return I will post these deals with coupon match ups.

If anyone finds any great deals please post them here in the comments for others to enjoy!

Diaper Coupons

Hey ladies the high value diaper coupons I told you about last night have been reloaded! That means if you already printed them go back and try to print again. If you don't know what I am talking about go to coupons.com and you will find $5 and $3 coupons for Huggies. These are the Gentle Care (newborn to size 2 I believe) and Natural Fit (size 2 to 6) lines. They can be used for diapers or wipes. Any coupons from coupons.com can be printed twice. And when they have been reloaded (like today) you can print two more times. If you only need the small sizes maybe you can trade with someone who needs the larger size and vice versa. Hooray for coupons!