Frugal Shopping SUCCESS!

Yesterday I read on one of my favorite frugal blogs, A Thrifty Mom (see my sidebar for a link!), that there was a great deal at Albertson's and NO Coupons were required. I've been attempting to shop with coupons and I'm relatively new at the whole stockpiling concept,etc. but I'm trying! I googled "frugal grocery shopping" and was bombarded with hundreds of blogs dedicated to shoppers that share their success and tips on how they fill their cupboards for little to NO cash...saving more than 75% or MORE on their grocery bills. That's pretty eye catching, isn't it? I thought so! A THRIFTY MOM is one of my favorites that frequently posts the best deals at various grocery stores.

BACK to the great Albertson's deal!

*Buy 10 Kraft BBQ sauce at $1.00 each, but they are part of the epic promo so when you buy 10 you get $5.00 off instantly.

*After you pay 5 $1.00 catalinas print out for a total of $5.00 ( now you can use them on anything in the store, or you can turn around and buy another 10 bottles, pay with the catalinas and have another 5 catalinas print!)

So I headed to the closest Albertsons (not bad- 10 minutes away)and hoped for the best. I've never shopped there before but after my great success, I'm DEFINITELY going to be a frequent customer! When I arrived, I signed up for the store card, grabbed a flyer and headed to the bbq sauce. I followed the deal- purchased 10 bottles and received the instant $5 off and then the $1 Catalinas. I then had a kind lady hand me 5 MORE $1 Catalinas she'd just received and didn't want (??!). So then I decided to go for ANOTHER deal I'd read about.... for Breyer's ice cream.

..here's the deal on the Breyer's:

The Breyer’s pints are on sale at Albertson’s for $1 each!
There's a catalina deal that is still valid:
Buy (2) & get $2/3 Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle, or Good HumorBuy (3) & get $3/4 Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle, or Good HumorBuy (4) & get $4/5 Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle, or Good HumorValid through 9/23/09

Here's what I did....
*Bought 4 pints Breyers for $4.00
*Used two $1/2 coupons (coupon doesn’t specify size!)
*Used two doubles (Albertson's doubles up to $1 on mfq. coupons)

My Grand Total: FREE! PLUS I got a $4/5 catalina!
I bought another 5 small containers and paid $1 total for 9 containers of ice cream!!!
And I got another $4/5 catalina!!
I went back through and bought some supplies for an easy dinner (tuna fish sandwiches) and due to their great sales and using a $1 catalina I only paid $4 for it. Essentially $4 for all that ice cream and my dinner stuff. YESSSSSS!!!! My children and husband were dually impressed (or maybe just scared into acting so- by the manic woman bouncing around the kitchen taking pictures of her groceries and flailing the bill about!).

So today we headed BACK to Albertson's to stock up on more pints but they were gone! Cleaned out! Luckily- I had some Klondike coupons I had printed and they were also on sale and part of the Catalina deal!

Albertson's had 6-packs of Klondike bars on sale Buy One Get One Free. Price per pkg: $4.99
I had two $1/2 pkg. of Klondike coupons. Plus using the Albertson's doubles...
$4.99x2 (2 free)= $ 9.98 MINUS $2 mfq. coupons= $7.98 MINUS the Albertson's doubles, another $2= $5.98
Then I pulled a few of the $1 catalinas I had from the day before and ended up only paying for the magazine I caved and bought for $3!

Not too shabby, right?!?!
I'm still pretty elated...

XOXO
~S

PS- I tweaked my blog a bit. I felt like adding some color and lightening it up a bit... plus I added a new blog for my photography and homeschooling... leaving this one for general family news, my own interests, shopping successes,etc! I've added links in the sidebar for the other two blogs! Not much there yet but you're invited to check them out. I enjoy comments a great deal, so if you'd be so kind....?? I know you're out there...