It’s party time!

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

I recently discovered A Bookish Mom’s blog. When I’m not bargain hunting, I love to read and I look forward to reading her posts and book reviews. Today she posted about the 2009 Ultimate Blog Party, and I was intrigued. Basically, it’s a huge online gathering to celebrate and introduce blogs. If you have a blog, this is a great opportunity to share your blog with others. Plus, they are going to have lots of great prizes! You should definitely check it out! You can access the site through the banner at the top of this post or through the button on the right sidebar.

I also wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and my blog to those who may be checking it out for the first time or who have just recently begun reading. I started this blog as a way to share my bargains with family and friends and it has grown from there. Using coupons (and all of the other tricks I have learned along the way) has truly been a blessing for my family, and so I am grateful to have the opportunity to share what I have learned with others.

This year, I decided to challenge myself to feed my family of four on a weekly grocery budget of $40. I also resolved to get together a baby emergency fund (if you follow Dave Ramsey, you know what this is), a savings fund for gifts, and a savings fund for “entertainment” that would not come out of our regular monthly budget.

If you are new to the blog, here’s what you can expect on a weekly basis:

*Scenario Sunday – Scenarios for weekly deals at CVS and Walgreens

*Menu Planning Monday – my meal plan for the week complete including recipes! (I work full time so there are lots of crockpot meals, freezer meals, and meals that can be prepared quickly)

*Tip of the Day Tuesday – tips to help you save more money

*Instant Win Wednesday – links to sweepstakes and instant win games

*Thrifty Thursday – more ideas for saving money

*Freebie Friday – freebies and giveaways (once a month)

*Savings Saturday – a summary of my weekly $40 grocery trip as well as coupon match ups for upcoming ads

*Ideas for saving, freebies, and hot deal alerts all week long

And…..to kick of my ultimate blog party, be sure you check out my latest giveaway here.

Randall’s deals for the week of 3/18

Sadly, there are no “super coupons” this week, so the deals aren’t quite as good as they have been in previous weeks.

Here are a few of the weekly deals from the ad:

Kraft singles (12 oz) – $1.99

Nabisco snack crackers – $1.99

Sara Lee bread and bakery products – 2/$4

Here are the current promotions:
Mix & Match promotion – Get $5 off instantly every time you buy 10 participating items: (offer valid through 3/31/09)

These items are listed in the ad: (I’ll try to ad coupon match ups tomorrow)

$1.25 (.75 after discount)
*Altoids (1.76 oz)
*Arizona iced tea (42 oz)
*Artisan bread
*Chef Boyardee canned pasta (14.5-15 oz)
*Chicken of the Sea tuna (5 oz)
*DelMonte Fruit Naturals (7.5-8 oz)
*DelMonte vegetables (11-15.25 oz)
*Duncan Hines cake mix (14.18-18.25 oz)
*Fresh Express salad mixes (9-12 oz)
*Fuze (17.5-18 oz varieties)
*Gatorade (32 oz)
*Halls Naturals cough drops (20-25 ct)
*Hunts tomatoes (14.5 oz)
*Hunts spaghetti sauce (26-26.5 oz)
*Kleenex tissue
*Pepsi 2 liters
*Propel water (710 ml)
*Rice a Roni/Pasta Roni (3.8-7.2 oz)
*Rosarita refried beans (16 oz)
*Skinner pasta (12-16 oz)
*Sobe Life water (20 oz)
*Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (18 oz)

$2 ($1.50 after discount)
*Ajax dish soap
*Athenos pita chips (6 oz)
*Amp/Full Throttle energy drinks
*Bertolli frozen meals (13.5 oz varieties)
*Betty Crocker cookie mixes (17.5 oz)
*Capri Sun
*Crystal Light powdered drink mixes (8 qt or 10 ct)
*Dial foaming hand soap (7.5 oz)
*Evian bottled water (33.8 oz)
*GM Cheerios (8.9 oz)
*Hefty styrofoam plates (50 ct)
*Hormel pepperoni
*Kraft salad dressing (16 oz)
*Knorr sides (4.3-5.4 oz varieties)
*Monster energy drinks
*Mott’s apple juice (64 oz)
*Nabisco 100 calorie packs
*Nabisco Chips Ahoy! (4.2-15.25 oz)

$2.50 ($2 after discount)
*Ball Park franks (16 oz)
*Bertolli pasta sauce (15-24 oz)
*Colgate toothpaste or toothbrush (4-8.2 oz)
*Craisins (6 oz)
*Daisy sour cream (16 oz)
*Eating Right carrots (2 lb bag)
*Flex tall kitchen bags (20-30 ct)
*Hefty one zip storage bags (30-40 ct)
*Hormel Compleats (10 oz)
*Jimmy Dean sausage or bacon (12-16 oz varieties)
*Joy dish detergent (30 oz)
*Lysol wipes (28-35 ct)
*Lysol cleaner (40 oz)
*Motts 6 pk apple sauce
*Nature’s Own bread
*Nestle 6 pk (16.9 oz) water
*Ocean Spray juice (64 oz)
*Planters BIG Nut bars (8.1 oz)

$3 ($2.50 after discount)
*Aquafina water, 6 pk (24 oz)
*Chinet plates
*Coke/Dr Pepper bottled drinks, 6 pk (16.9 oz)
*Crisco (48 oz)
*Doritos (11.75-13 oz)
*Duracell batteries
*Fiber One bars (5 ct)
*Glad zipper storage (40-50 ct)
*Gortons sea food
*Hellmann’s mayonnaise (22 oz)
*Hormel Chili Master chili (20 oz)
*Hormel Natural Choice lunch meat
*hostess donettes
*Johnsonville sausages (13.5-16 oz)
*Keebler crackers and cookies (9-18 oz)
*Klondike bars (6-8 ct)
*Langers juice (64 oz)
*M&Ms (9.9-12.7 oz)
*Maxwell House coffee (11-13 oz)
*Ocean Spray juice (64 oz)
*Oscar Mayer lunch meat (16 oz)
*Planters nuts (16 oz)
*Post cereals (19 oz)
*Promise activ yogurt, 6 pk (3.3 oz)
*Spray & Wash (4.3-30 oz)
*Suave lotion (18 oz)
*Sunsilk (5.1-12 oz)
*Trix/Yoplait yogurt, 6 pk (4 oz)

CHILL OUT AT HOME PROMO
(most of this is reposted from last week)

If you have a grocery store that is part of the “Safeway” family of stores (Randalls/Tom Thumb/Dominick’s/Genuardi’s/Carrs/Vons/Pavilions), they are having a great promotion this month called the “Chill Out at Home” promotion. The way it works is that you spend $25 on selected frozen foods, and you get a $10 catalina back that is good on your next purchase. You can use the $10 catalina to “roll” into the promotion again (so you spend $15 or less depending on your coupons the next time around).

The list of participating items is HUGE! You can check out the entire list (courtesy of SD) here. If you haven’t already, check out my blog post here to see how much fun I’ve had already with this promotion!

Here are the prices for some of the items (YMMV on prices based on where you are located). I went to the grocery store and scoped out prices and participating items before I made my trip so that I could plan out scenarios. (this is NOT all of the items on the list – it is just some of the items I was pricing)

Bird’s Eye Voila frozen meal kits – $3.99 (If you got Madagascar and saved your receipt, you can get a $5 MIR if you buy two of these!)
$1 printable coupon here

Cheese Texas Toast – 2/$6
.75/1 New York Texas Toast – 3-1-09 RP

Digiorno Pizza – $5.99

Dreyer’s ice cream – $4.49

Eating Right frozen dinners – $2/each (5/$10)

Eggo waffles (10 ct) – $1.77

Freschetta Pizza – $4.49
$1/1 Freschetta Pizza Products, any – 03-01-09 SS
$1/1 Freschetta Pizzamore Pizza, Any – 01-04-09 SS
.75/1 Freschetta Pizza, Any – 02-08-09 SS

Hawaii’s Own frozen Juice – $1/each (this makes a good ‘Filler’ item)

Healthy Choice frozen dinners – 4/$10 or 5/$10 depending on the meal/size
Buy 5, get one free Healthy Choice Frozen Meals, Any – 02-08-09 SS – valid up to $3.00
$1/2 Healthy Choice All Natural Or Complete Selections, Any – 02-08-09 SS

Hot Pockets/Lean Pockets – $1.99
$2/5 Lean Pockets Brand Sandwiches, Any – 02-01-09 SS
*catalinas printed out each time I bought them for $1/3 or $1/4

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel – $2.50
.35/1 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel Pastries, Any – 02-08-09 GM
.35/1 printable on coupons.com (see the link on the right sidebar)

Red Baron single serve pizzas – 2/$5

Safeway hashbrown potatoes – $1.99 (this includes the tator tots, french fries, etc. as well)

Skinny Cow ice cream treats – $3.99
$1/1 Skinny Cow frozen snacks multipacks, 4-count or larger – All You, January 23, 2009 (issue 1)

Stouffer’s Single Serve meals – $1.99

Tai Pei entrees – $2.50
.50/1 Tai Pei Frozen Entree Or Appetizer Up To 14.2 Oz. – 01-25-09 SS
$1/2 Tai Pei Frozen Entree or appetizer, off any (2) – 03-01-09 RP

Tony’s pizza – $1.99

Totino’s pizza – $1.19

Check out your store’s coupon policies. At my store, they will double the face value of one “like” coupon up to .50 and triple the face value of one “like” coupon up to .39.

Fannie has a lot of information and some scenarios here on her blog. A word of caution: check the coupon policies for your area before applying these scenarios. In her area, they double multiple “like” coupons and double coupons with a higher face value.

GET AN ADDITIONAL 10% OFF ADDED TO YOUR CARD THROUGH 3/31

Call the 1-800 number on the back of your Randalls card and ask them to add the courtesy “10% off” If they add this to your card, it will be active through 3/31. I know that people in my area have been successful in getting this to work already.

If you are in an area that has a Safeway store, this information comes from Slick Deals:

Need a 10% discount? This number (509) 557-3581 is giving one until 5/6/09 for the North West area. Please be kind and do not use the fuel rewards for yourself!!

(509) 557-3581 10% 5/6/09 Washington State

Petaluma, CA – Worked
Colorado – Worked
Albany, OR – Worked
Everett, WA – Worked
Chico, CA – Worked
Salinas, CA – Worked
Omak, WA – Worked
Portland, OR – Worked
San Jose, CA – Worked
Houston, TX – Worked
Spokane, WA – Worked
Hermiston, OR – Worked
Renton, WA – Worked

(703) 560-4732 10% 3/7/09 East Coast (possibly only MD/VA)

Fairfax, VA- Worked
Alexandria, VA – Worked

(209) 242-4745 10% 4/30/09 Central CA
(Please, don’t call this number, just use it to get the 10% discount)

Stockton, CA – Worked
Lodi, CA – Worked
Sacramento, CA – Worked
Oahu, HI – Worked

(765) 430-1512 10% Expires 4/5/09 Chicago, IL (Please don’t use the fuel rewards!)

Question :How Do I get the 10% Discount added to my card?

Answer : Call Safeway at 1-877-723-3929 and ask. If denied call back as many times as necessary to get the discount applied to your card.
Alternate means of contact would be an email. http://shop.safeway.com/superstor…e=corphome Same thing email as many times as you need to in order to get the discount.

**KEY** There is no secret to getting this discount. The people who have it either have a store that has been remodeled or a grand opening. Others have called, called, and called again until they have received it.

Save $10 or $15 off at JC Penney

Save more at JC Penney in store and online March 18-21st. Print a coupon for $10 off a single purchase of $50 or more or $15 off a single purchase of $75 or more here. If you’re shopping online, use code 318HUGE at check-out. Don’t forget to shop through Ebates to get 4% cash back. Browse the doorbuster offers (valid on Saturday from 9 am-10 pm) here.

Here’s the “fine print”:
*$10 or $15 savings coupon is valid for one-time use on a single purchase of $50 or $75 or more respectively, excluding taxes and shipping charges in our stores, jcp.com & catalog Wednesday-Saturday, March 18-21, 2009. Coupon must be surrendered at time of purchase. One coupon per customer. Discount does not apply to: Value Right, “2 or more” prices, Cosmetics & Fragrances, Cookware, Electronics, Floor Care, Furniture & Mattresses, Kitchen Electrics, Personal Care & Fitness, Sephora, Clarks, Easy Spirit, Hunter Douglas, Levi’s, Webkinz, Outlet Stores, Services, Salon Service & Service Contracts, Gift Card/e-Gift Cards, current orders or prior purchases, and the following additional jcp.com and catalog purchases: Combo prices, Teleflora, Jodee Catalogs, Baby Gear and Toys. Discounts cannot be combined with any other discount coupon. Discount is applied to all qualifying items purchased on a prorated basis; any applicable refunds will be given in the prorated amount. No Cash Value.

If you haven’t signed up for JC Penney Rewards yet, there is this offer (valid through 3/31/09):
Get a $5 off a purchase of $5 or more coupon valid for online and in-store purchases when you sign up for JC Penney Rewards using source code 3080 and this link.

You will be prompted to register a credit card, which is required to earn future rewards, but it’s not required to get the $5 certificate. Just submit without a credit card. After signing up, log into your account and then go to rewards to print out the reward certificate.

Old Navy weekly update


I got the “heads up” on this from brubend on BBC who found it on SD.

The “hot” Old Navy weekly coupon hunts have been fun these past few weeks, but sadly, all good things must come to and end and it sounds like the “hot” coupons will not be up on the site for a few weeks. They should be posting a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon tomorrow, but they won’t be posting any of the big ticket coupons until possibly April. You can read more about this on their blog here.

Instant Win Wednesday: Famous Footwear, Maid Service, NASCAR, and Scott Towels

Famous Footwear: The Color of Spring – Click here to win $10,000 or a $50 Famous Footwear Gift code (ends 5/9/09).

Nobody Outcleans the Maids (ends 6/14/09): This contest includes a sweepstakes and an instant win game. Through the sweepstakes, you can enter to win a year of free maid service (I would LOVE that!), a luxury family vacation at a Beaches resort, or flowers for one year from Flowers.com. Through the instant win game, you can win a gift certificate for free maid service, a gift basket, a gift certificate for food and flower gifts, or subscriptions to Country Living or Good Housekeeping magazines. Click here to enter.

Scott Towels Leave Nothing Behind (ends 3/31/09): Click here to enter to win a one year supply of Scott paper towels, a $1,000 gift card, a $100 gift card, a $50 gift card, or a $25 gift card.

To view the instant win games from previous weeks, click here (some may have ended already).