Friday, October 31, 2008

Free Yogurt!


Thanks to Money Saving Mom for this tip! The 10/26 Red Plum insert had a coupon for $0.50/1 Breyer's product. While ice cream is pictured on the coupon, the text says that it is good on ANY Breyer's product. If your store carries the single cups of Breyer's yogurt, this coupon will make them free or almost free. If your store doubles coupons, these should be free plus overage!
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Thursday, October 30, 2008

The only thing free this week was chocolate milk!

The sales recently have left a lot to be desired, but that's not for lack of wanting that's for sure. It's simply that time of year. The sales should pick back up soon; usually around Thanksgiving from what I've read over on Hot Coupon World. Until then, we have to get the deals we can! This week Kroger had a couple of decent deals, but FREE Nesquik chocolate milk was the hit here at our house, and the one I had 50 coupons for! We ended up with quite the milk stockpile considering they do not expire until January. Here's the math:

Total Before Coupons: $54.63
Total Money Spent: $4.63

Total Saved: $50.00 (91.5%)
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My First Giveaway!


Yay! Many thanks to MomSelect for this awesome giveaway. I have a $10 gift card to Build A Bear to giveaway!! My boys LOVE this place and I'm sure you have a little one that does as well! All I ask for you to enter is to elave me a comment with your email address and what you would do with the gift card. A winner will be drawn at random on Saturday, 11/1. I will post a winner as soon as I can on that day and email them. All entries will be considered until midnight 10/31. I will place them in a hat and my oldest son will choose the winner (since I haven't gotten the hang of things like Random.org and whatnot.) LOL :) Good Luck!!
**Also- go check out all of the awesome giveaways going on over at Bloggy Giveaways Carnival! So much FREE stuff!!
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wii Wheel, Anyone? Run!!


This is an excellent deal for these- $4.99 SHIPPED!! These won't last long, so run order NOW!!




use code WIIWHLD2
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Politics are so funny...

I don't discuss politics, but I saw this today and couldn't help but share because to me it's hilarious!
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What She Said..

****LANGUAGE ALERT: NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN!!****

The following post is not suitable for children to read as there is some language that I wouldn't want mine to read/hear.

I love reading Undomestic Diva! She's funny and very much to the point, plus she LOVES Starbucks. How could you not like her? :) Her post today is an awesome one, and she said exactly how I feel some days. Here is it:

~From kicking ass to wiping ass:

Life is not the same once you're old and married and have kids.
I remember our Saturdays used to entail nothing more involved than lying in bed, in pajamas, watching episode after episode of Cold Case Files or Forensic Files while arguing the best way to kill a person without getting caught.
Now, weekends are contaminated with household fix-it projects, soccer games and chores. There is no more sleeping in or ordering out for food, no more spontaneous adventures, fulfilling of sudden urges or being lazy for the sake of being lazy.
God, I miss lazy.
I'm not sure when weekends went from hoping we had plans to hoping we don't. At some point we went from buying ourselves nice clothes to bringing home the toilet that promises to flush a bucket of golf balls - with the same excitement.
The television is no longer ours, it's permanently tuned to cartoons and prepubescent tweens and the kids now know how to work a remote control, the DVD player, an iPod and a cell phone better than either of us.
We went from being young, smart and up-and-coming, to being the parents of kids who are young, smart and up-and-coming. Essentially, we went from kicking ass, to wiping ass.
As I look at the golf ball toilet that apparently doesn't fit within our bathroom after all, it's easy to wonder if this is as good as it gets... toilets that don't clog? Surely, this isn't the metaphor for my life, right?
There are lots of these little moments, when you wonder to yourself if this life, the one you're merely stumbling through each day, is what you wanted, had in mind, pictured.
But then life goes to shit, real shit, and you find yourself in a heap of pathetic on your couch, trying to keep it together because, goddamn it, you have no other choice. And in waddles your two year old who it takes three attempts to climb up on the couch next to you, but he finally makes it, cuddling up to you, happily pulling your arm over him and nuzzling up to you and you realize that no, this is what it's all about, right here, right now, living this small little particle of a moment on your couch. It's almost an epiphany, a sudden understanding, knowing that what it all comes down to is not clog-free toilets and excitement, kicking ass or knowing how to kill a man without being caught, but about savoring the unfiltered joy that trickles in between all the crap. ~
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Does anyone cloth diaper anymore?






More and more moms are from what I am reading! I've always been of the mind that disposables were the way to go. My oldest 2 used nothing but disposables and I figured why should Jack be any different? Well, we were invited to test out some bumGenius one size fits all cloth diapers. They are bright, colorful and well made. Today is our first day using them, and to be honest, they aren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be. Jack seems to like them! I will keep you updated during our trial run of these and let you know what we make of them. You can check them out at the websites below:


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Monday, October 27, 2008

80% off at Restaurant.com!


GET $25 GIFT CERTIFICATES FOR ONLY $2! HURRY! OFFER ENDS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31
Enter Discount Code: TREATS
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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Trunk or Treat?

We took the kids to a local church this evening for thier annual "trunk or treat" and fall festival. Basically the kids go around to all of the member's cars and receive candy from the trunks which are usually brightly decorated. The kids always have a blast and it's lots of fun for us as well. I'll post more pictures tomorrow, but I wanted to share Russ's victory with you all this evening. I talkd him into a donut eating contest, and he WON!! It was truly the funniest thing i've seen in a while, and thanks to modern technology, so can you! Enjoy the video!

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Swagbucks..Interesting concept...

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Giveaways, Giveaways!


There are lots of giveaways going on in cyber space this week! Here are a few from the blogs I read:

Coupon Bag Giveaway @ Dani Saves Money

Cosmetics Giveaway @ Perfectly Provident

Formula Giveaway @ Mommy's Got Green
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Free Sesame Street Knex Blocks!


This is a really cute set of knex blocks for a small toddler. Great for a stocking stuffer! Go here, and enter promo code kks0708 as well as shipping information and they should be on their way to you in 6-8 weeks!
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Cheap Beef from Omaha Steaks.com!

Many thanks to Catherine at Catherine Wheels for this awesome post! Seriously, this is the best deal I've seen in a long time - you get five and a half pounds of ground steak for 36 cents a pound! Delivered straight to your house! The details are below:

1) Go to this link to sign up for the Geico website. You do NOT have to have Geico, you do NOT have to switch any of your insurance. It just gives you a username for their website, and they will email you within an hour or so with a link to a gift card code. Check your spam folder if you don't get the email after two hours or so. The gift card number is really long, so double check when you write it down.

2) Go to this link and type in your email address. They will send you an email confirmation right away, and there is a link within the email to start shopping. After you get your gift card code from step one, use that link to order the hamburgers (described below) and it will automatically give you 12 free 4 ounce burgers. The 12 free won't show up in your cart until you check out, so don't panic.(Update: link from step 2 should be fixed now)

3) When you get your gift card code and go to the link through the step two link, you'll be at the Omaha Steaks website. In the left hand sidebar, click on the link for "burgers/brats" etc. Scroll down until you see the option for "eight 5 ounce steak burgers" for 12.99. Add that to your cart, then checkout. (Note: apparently the $12.99 option doesn't work for everyone, if you get through the next step and it doesn't work, go back and get the $14.99 option. It will cost you $2 more out of pocket, but you'll get that much more meat.)

4) At checkout, you enter your address etc and you should see the 12.99 burgers, plus the 12 free burgers you got from doing step 2 above. At the point where they ask for payment, you'll see that they add in about $13 for shipping - don't worry, your gift card code will cover that. Before you enter your credit card (or paypal - one of the payment options is "pay by paypal" if that is easier for you), enter your gift card code and hit "apply" or whatever the button says next to that. That should take your total down to roughly $1.98. Then enter your actual payment method and you will only be charged $1.98 (it may be a few cents more or less depending on your address, it was $1.98 for me)

5) Complete the transaction. In a few days you'll be getting a cooler shipment of 5.5 pounds of Steak burgers, which works out to ONLY 36 CENTS A POUND!That is a rad deal for ground beef. They will come as hamburgers, but you can brown them like regular hamburger to use in other recipes. It's not organic beef, but should be high quality and if nothing else you can use it in meals you take to other people or whatnot.It seems more complicated a process than it is - start to finish it only took me a few minutes to do it.

Many, many thanks to Monica and Thrifty Florida Mama for figuring this deal out!
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Monday, October 20, 2008

Exciting Mail Today!

I heard a knock on my door today while I was doing dishes, and of course the dog and small boy went nuts. "Mama, somebody's knocking on your door," he says. So I went to open the door and there was a package that the FedEx man had left. I had not ordered anything so I couldn't for the life of me think of what it could be. I opened it, and apparently some time ago I entered a contest for Nivea "Fashion Rocks." I was one of a few chosen to receive a gift pack of sorts. It includes several very cool things. Here are the contents:

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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Fourth (and final) trip to Kmart for Doubles

I made my final trup for Kmart doubles today. I didn't really have a lot of coupons to use, but like anything else, I hated to see the ones I had go to waste on a non double sale! Here's the pic and the math:

Total Before Coupons: $65.52

Total Money Spent: $11.23

Total Saved: $54.29(83%)
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Friday, October 17, 2008

Third Trip to Kmart for Doubles

I made my 3rd trip to Kmart for doubles today. I am just using up the coupons I got in the mail today from trades and coupon trains. Here is what I got:


Total Before Coupons: $129.86

Total Money Spent: $22.18

Total Saved: $107.68(83%)
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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Crazy Coupon NIghtmares - Part 2

Being the husband of a coupon diva is not all fun, games and cheap Powerade!It happened again.....the excitement of the KMart double coupon events was obviously torturing my subconscious....I had another coupon related dream. Just as weird as before - in color and with sound.
I am frantically trying to repair a rabbit hutch, puzzling over how to patch holes in the wooden sides, debating over how to make sure things measured up correctly, looked good etc (to the point where i was tossing and turning and complaining in my sleep). I was under a severe time pinch - i had to paint the rabbit hutch white and get it ready before Diane needed to go shopping. I just abut have everything ready to go by the time Diane is ready to leave. As we arrive at the supermarket it all becomes clear. Diane has attached long wooden arms to one end of the rabbit hutch and is using it as a kind of Roman chariot - except rather than having a horse...it is being pulled along on wheels by me. As she scurries me down the aisles, Diane follows; grabbing groceries from the shelves and using the rabbit hutch as a strange 'spouse propelled' shopping cart. It was not a happy dream.

If anybody has coupons for Xanax please forward them to me via Diane...
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What's for Dinner?


If you are like me, the inspiration for what to put on the dinner table every night ran out a LONG time ago. I struggle with this usually on a daily basis. I see new recipes I would like to try only to discover they are horrible, or require some extremely expensive ingredient that never has a coupon, etc. I have found 2 blogs that I intend to follow more closely that have some awesome ideas! The first is A Year of Crockpotting. She intends to use her crockpot every day of this year, and has some very tasty looking things on her blog that she has made in them! The other is Meal Planning Mommies where 3 moms come up with new things to try every week. Check them out and let me know what you think!
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My Second Trip to Kmart for Doubles!

I went to Kmart again last night with DH and the kids in tow to use up some of the coupons I had. I didn't know if they would enforce their "75 coupons per customer, per day" rule, so this is why Russ was forced to go! LOL (He loves getting the deals as much as I do, he just won't admit it!) I have another trip, and probably my last for this doubles event, planned for this evening. I got some more Dove q's in the mail today, so we can't let those go to waste! Anyway- here's the pic and the math from last night:



Total Before Coupons: $245.66
Total Money Spent: $27.11


Total Saved: $218.55(89%)
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

More Kmart Doubles!

Kmart is at it again! They are doubling coupons up to $2.00 for the next 3 days. I was there at the crack of dawn this morning, actually it was well before dawn, like 5AM. I wanted to be sure I got everything I wanted, and with only one Kmart around and so many coupon shoppers, you have to be first! :) Anyway, not a lot to post about. Mostly the same deals as the last time doubles happened, and actually some of the deals that were great then are no longer because the sale has expired. I got some good bargains though! Here is the pic and the math:


Total Before Coupons: $294.40
Total Money Spent: $33.38

Total Saved: $261.02(88.7%)
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Friday, October 10, 2008

Why I coupon...

I thought it was important to introduce you all to the reasons I coupon. These are "my boys." :)








Aren't they cute?







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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Pssst....

General Mills has a new program called Pssst... It's basically a try-this-product-and-tell-others kind of program. I like these sorts of programs because I am a huge believer in word of mouth advertising. I have tried their new Pillsbury Thin Pizza Crust and the Chex Mix bars.

Crun-chewy-licious!• Experience the Joy of Snacking in Every Bite!• NEW Chex Mix® Bars are a unique combination of ingredients, including corn and wheat Chex cereal pieces, chocolate, peanuts and pretzels.• And with less than 150 calories, they're a delicious snack you can feel good about eating!

Here's an awesome recipe for homemade pizza using the new Pillsbury Thin Crust:


Cheeseburger Pizza

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Start to Finish: 30 Minutes

1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated thin pizza crust

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup pickle relish (not sweet)

3/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

4 slices crisply cooked hickory smoked bacon, chopped

1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (6 oz)

1 cup shredded lettuce

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray or grease 15x10-inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet. Unroll dough on cookie sheet; starting at center, press dough into 15x10-inch rectangle.

2. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion and pepper over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until cooked thoroughly; drain. Stir in relish, ketchup and mustard. Spoon evenly over dough. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese.

3. Bake 14 to 19 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Top with lettuce and tomato.

Serve immediately. 8 servings

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 2 to 4 minutes longer.

1 Serving: Calories 350 (Calories from Fat 170); Total Fat 18g (Saturated Fat 8g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium 910mg; Potassium 320mg; Total Carbohydrate 26g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 20g% Daily Value: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 6%; Calcium 15%; Iron 15%; Vitamin D 2%; Folic Acid 4%Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1/2 Other Carbohydrate, 2 1/2 Medium-Fat Meat, 1 FatCarbohydrate Choices: 22008

© and ®/™ of General Mills


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Sunday, October 5, 2008

Last trip for Kmart doubles!

Russ was up early (5AM) this morning to get the newspapers! It took me a couple of hours to sort and clip coupons and plan my last trip for Kmart doubles this morning. Our Kmart was still out of most of the high dollar items (Endust, etc.). I was able to get a lot of deals with the coupons from today's paper- Ronzoni pastas, Progresso broth, and Green Giant Steamers. Here is the pic and the math:

Total Before Coupons: $158.26
Total Money Spent: $12.39

Total Saved: $145.87(92.2%)
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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Russ scored a HUGE deal...on his own!!!

Russ went out tonight to Schnuck's to "harvest" some tuna coupons for tomorrow's trip to Kmart, and ran across an AWESOME deal! He found these Gillette shave gels on clearnace for .44 EACH!!! No coupon needed! He's very proud of his addition to the stockpile, and I am proud of him as well! Here's the pic and the math:

Total Before Sale Price: $22.68
Total Money Spent: $1.92

Total Saved: $20.76(91.5%)

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More Milk!



We raided Target today and managed to find 58 more of the Horizon Organic Milk singles. I actually called ahead and had the dairy person put these aside for me so I would be able to get them when I finally got there. For those that don't know, these are the same milk singles that Starbucks sells for almost $2 EACH. I paid .09 each for the ones I got. Here's the pic and the math:


Total Before Coupons: $68.12
Total Money Spent: $4.55

Total Saved: $63.57(93.3%)

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Crazy Coupon Nightmares - Part 1

Hi - Beleaguered coupon husband Russ here with a cautionary tale for any guys out there with coupon crazed spouses!


Over the past few months I have grown to accept the fact that I am now sharing my wife with a filing cabinet full of coupons, a freezer full of hot dog sausages and enough Powerade to hydrate the Sahara. It has been an interesting time - the highs of the now famous Target 'Poptart deals', the lows of endless fights with Walmart cashiers and the 'somewhere in-betweens' of having to carry literally dozens of sacks full of Vitamin Water in from the trunk of the car. Trips to the supermarket or shopping malls are no longer recreational activities but precisely planned coupon harvesting events. We are no longer a couple who are shopping, we are a highly trained coupon snatch squad, trained to spot blinkies at a range of 100 yards. I never thought I would see the day where I was boasting of my wife's shampoo stockpile to my co-workers or stacking hundreds of packs of toilet paper into aesthetically pleasing structures for a blog picture.

Now as a mildly OCD individual I can understand my wife's new hobby - although I hope never to need them I can identify with the pleasure of fifty packs of Prep H medicated wipes beautifully arranged on a shelf. Nothing warms the soul quite like a tower of Coca Cola twelve packs stacked by Product Expiry dates. We have saved huge amounts of money in a very short space of time and there is no better form of marital bonding than standing side by side with your wife during a heated 'debate' with Kroger cashiers over the validity of a Cottonelle coupon.

I am however starting to receive signs from my subconscious that the whole couponing thing is starting to take over our lives. This week alone I have had two very alarming 'coupon related' dreams. We are not talking about 'pleasant sort of remember it in the morning' dreams but full on colour and sound dreams that have caused me to wake in a panic and keep Diane awake all night as a result of my talking in my sleep. What do they mean? I am too scared to Google them for the specifics but I have summarised the details below..

Dream 1
Diane and I have just finished shopping in Kroger. Diane is complaining that she has coupons left over and is determined to use them. She is feeding coupons into the Coke machine outside the store and groceries are dropping into the tray at the bottom of the machine. She is putting the groceries into a plastic sack and cursing the store for not having the items she needs. At the end she is standing there like the crazy cat woman in The Simpsons hurling bags of groceries at passing cars and screaming at security guards while I am trying to calm her down.

Dream 2
For some reason I am co-ordinating a marketing campaign that involves giving away free grey colored Porsche cars to people. With each car I am giving away a weird looking computer console that has been customised with three bottles of red Powerade Zero on the top. (No love for the Grape or Berry flavors for some reason!) The bottles rotate like a carousel. People around me are all complaining that it is hopelessly impractical as the motion of the cars causes the bottles to fall off the top of the computer. I am standing there arguing that they look great and they are a fantastic idea...


To be honest...I am worried!
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Super Kmart Doubles

So I found out on Monday that the Super Kmart in my area was actually going to honor the double coupon promotion!! I couldn't believe it! I had tried this about 2 weeks ago when it was SUPPOSED to happen at my store, and the manager went around pulling down the signs while I was in the middle of shopping. Anyway- I've made 3 trips as of today. Here are the pics and the math:



Total Before Coupons: $242.12
Total Money Spent: $37.82

Total Saved: $204.30(84.4%)
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Cheap Milk @ Target


Target put out a printable coupon this past weekend for $1 off any Horizon Organic milk single or 3 pack. The single milk boxes prove to be difficult to find, but I managed to land 50 of them! I was so excited! I don't normally buy in such quantity, and always leave more for others, but I was afraid I wouldn't find them again since they are only available in one store here. I was only able to find the 2% white milk, but the kids love it! With the coupon I paid .09 each plus tax for them, but the cashier was so confused from scanning 50 coupons that she scanned it about 5 times too many. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. So, I ended up with some REALLY cheap milk!


Total Before Coupons: $59.54
Total Money Spent: $1.62

Total Saved: $57.92(97.3%)
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This past weekend's deals- Walgreens (Part 3)

I went to Walgreens this past weekend as well to try my hand at rolling the Oral B toothbrush Regiater Rewards with the Fusion razor RR's. I did the deal 4 times each! The Fusion razor RR's were the same price as the regular razor, but you got an extra trial size shower gel and shave gel with it as well as 2 cartridges. Awesome stocking stuffer for the guys on your list! Here is the pic and the math:



Total Before Coupons: $58.91
Total Money Spent: $6.59

Total Saved: $52.32(88.8%)
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Recap of last weekend's deals- Kroger (Part 2)


I made another trip to Kroger last weekend to make use of some of the formula checks I had piling up. My usual Kroger still had Enfamil Soy Formula concentrate on clearance for $2.19 per can. I must be the only person who has purchased any of this since they put it on the clearance shelves because there always seems to be the same amount I left! The expiration date is the middle of next year so I can't imagine why no one wants half price formula! No worries, more for me! Anyway- I didn't take a pic because it was dinner time when I got home, so here is the breakdown:

13 Enfamil Soy Formula
1 Dole Salad Mix
1 Tomato
1 Bag of dog food
2 Gallons of Nursery Water



Total Before Coupons: $44.41
Total Money Spent: $1.61

Total Saved: $42.80(96.3%)
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Recap of last weekend's deals- Kroger (Part 1)

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted! Life sort of gets in the way sometimes, as well as 3 little ones younger than 6! Let me try to recap this past weekend’s deals as best as I can. Kroger- we were trying to use up all of the Powerade and Glade catalinas before they expired by using them to get things we wouldn’t normally buy, or things we needed and may or may not have the cash for all the time. For instance, the Lithium batteries for my camera, and things we always need like meat, pasta and sauces. We also found several things on the clearance shelves for Christmas like the toy cars from the movie CARS that my boys are so in love with. They were clearanced out for $2.14 each. We bought one of each. Here’s the math for that trip (we did 2 transactions) added together for the sake of easiness. No pic of this deal, but here you go:


Total Before Coupons: $130.64
Total Money Spent: $42.99

Total Saved: $87.65(68%)
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