Cheap Malt o Meal cereal

If you picked up the $0.50 coupons for Malt-o-meal cereal from Kwik Trip in the last few weeks, you should know this....

At Walmart (in the back by the dairy) the strawberry mini-shredders (mini wheats) are only $1. Only
50 cents after coupon!

Showing off my big Walmart haul

You know I don't go to Walmart unless I can help it. But, now that they are price matching Piggly Wiggly AND Target I have been there a little more frequently. I made such a trip to price match and get a few things that I had coupons for and I managed to save quite a bit and I wanted to share.

• 4 Oscar Mayer hot dogs ad match Pig $0.99 each, used $1/2 MQ = $0.49 each
• 3 Kraft ranch dressing ad match $0.99, used $0.55 MQ =0.44 each
• 2 Kraft american cheese slices ad match $0.99
• 3 Caprisun ad match $1.49
• 5 Wheat thins ad match $1.49, used $1 MQ/IP to get for $0.49 each
• 4 12pk Mt dew ad match 4/$9.96, used $2 MQ from Pierce's ad = $2 each 12 pk
• 6 8th continent soy milk $2.46, used $2 IP on each = $0.46 each
• 2 Hidden Valley ranch dressing $1.86, used $1 IP = $0.86 each
• 1 Sunbelt granola bars $1.86, used $0.55 IP = $1.31
• 4 Kraft 100 calorie pack cookies/snacks $2.50, used BOGO IP= all 4 for $5
• 3 Frigo string cheese $2.98, used $1 IP = $1.98 each
• 1 Angel soft toilet paper roll $2, used $1 MQ = $1
• 2 Pull ups flushable wipes $1.64, used $1 MQ = $0.64 each
• 3 Kraft 100 calorie cheese packs $2.16, used $1 MQ = $1.16 each
• 4 Tic Tacs $1.04, used 2 BOGO IP  = $2.08  for all 4 packs

My before coupon total was $86.01, but I was able to reduce it to $46.05!!!

I was able to use my normal budgeted grocery amount to pay for this and it left enough to pick up a few sale items at the store as well.

Share your good deals with me here and I will feature them on the blog! Hope you are having a happy holiday.

Pierce's Update, Walmart Price Matching

Today I learned some great news at Pierce's! You now get a 5 point credit to your rewards point total when you bring your own bags! If you use cloth bags regularly, be sure they give you the credit!

Also~ Walmart will price match ads which we know. But thanks to reader Stephanie (which I did confirm by trying it) you should know they will also price Target in addition to Pierce's and Piggly Wiggly! Be sure to take the ad with you so they can verify it and separate those items as well. Wow, I guess I may get into Walmart more often now.

Deal on Snuggle

Ok, not so sure why this picture is so big, but here goes.

I was in Walmart to check out the after Christmas sales (dud, only wrapping paper was a deal), and found a deal on Snuggle to share with everyone.

A manufacture coupon was out recently (from the Red Plum ad I believe) for $2 off any Snuggle product. I found a small box of snuggle dryer sheets for $1.87 in the laundry aisle. Plus they gave me the overage on the coupon.

I think the coupon expires in early January so hurry to get your FREE dryer sheets:)

A few Walmart deals

I read a blog yesterday listing a lot of items that you could get for free or super cheap at Walmart right now. Check out that article here from Couponing to Disney.

I decided I would make a trip to Walmart to see what our local store has to offer. Many of our store prices were higher so I did not get everything on her list. I did however, find a few items to buy.

I did buy a few more items than pictured, but I only wanted to highlight the deals I found. Check it out.

OreIda single size Microwave fries $0.82 each, use the $1.50/2 from here to get for 7 cents each!

Birds Eye Steamfresh meal for two $4.98 each, use a $1.50 MQ (expires end of Oct) and also use a BOGO free. Total is $1.74 each!

Malt O Meal cereal $1, use $0.50 MQ (found on tearpad at Kwik Trip) to get for $0.50!

Healthy Choice frozen meal $1.68, use $2 IP here to get for better than free! (and thank you to Tami as well for giving us that head's up)

Danimal Yogurt smoothie $2.50, use $1 MQ

Schick disposable razors $1.97, use $2 MQ to get better than free! (and yes, I have a razor 'problem', I can't say no to free razors and I now have enough to last for 10 years I think)

Kotex pantyliners $1, use $2/2 or $1/1 to get for free

Del Monte fruit bowl $1.33 or $1.41, use $1 IP (expiring end of Oct) to get super cheap.

Uncle Ben's rice pack $1.74, use $1 MQ from Parade magazine 2 weeks ago.

Reese's pb cups $0.50, use $0.55 MQ and BOGO MQ, I got 6 packs for 90 cents total.

That's just an example of some of the deals you can get right now. I provided the links that I know of, but many were clipped from the weekend inserts.

My total at Walmart was $60.28 before coupons and $22.57 after coupons!! Massive savings.

Grocery shopping wrap-up

I have combined my grocery shopping stops into one post for today. I will outline the deals and coupons.

First up is Walmart. You all know that I rarely shop at Walmart, but I had a couple coupons for products I knew I couldn't get at Pierce's. I've been saving those coupons up and finally had enough to justify a trip there this week.

3 Tic tacs $1.04 each, not typically a part of the budget but I had a well behaved child to rewards (and 2 brothers who would find out about the treat so they each got one)
2 Healthy Choice frozen meals $1.68 each, had a $2 IP on each and got the overage!
2 Success Rice $1.84 each, had a $1 IP on each so $0.84 each
2 Bumble Bee tuna kits $1.16 each, $1 IP on each so $0.16 each
8 Taco seasoning mix $0.58 each, $0.75/2 MQ so $0.21 each
2 V8 Fusion Juice $2.98 each, $1 IP on each so $1.98 each
2 Starkist pouches $0.93 each, $0.50 IP so $0.43 each
1 Hormel Chicken chili $2.50, $2 MQ so $0.50
2 box Snuggle fabric softener $3.48, $3 MQ so $0.48 each
2 Neosporin lip care $3.56, used $3 IP, so $0.56 each
2 Juicy Juice boxes $2.38, $1/2 IP
2 Danimals yogurts $2.50, $1 MQ on each

My total here was $21.23 after using all my coupons. Not bad for the amount of stuff I got. I don't normally spend very much for juice, but my youngest is not eating enough veggies and fruit that I try to use the V8 fusion for him when I have coupons. I also wanted to get some juice boxes for school and had a coupon I could use that was about to expire.


The above is my trip to Pierce's. Here's a recap of this trip.
Coupon deals:
2 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls $2.50, used $1 IP on each
1 Pace Salsa $2.50, used coupon for free up to $4- and got the overage!
4 Kraft Cheese $2 each, used $1/2 IP

You can see the rest of the stuff in the photo. My total after coupons and ad savings was $31.51. My coupon and club savings was $22.83.

Last up is the trip to Sentry Foods in Sun Prairie that my mom made for me. Sentry currently will double coupons on Tuesday, but only 10 coupons. Here is what I got based on their current ad.
4 Old Orchard juices $1 each on sale, $1/2 IP so free after doubled
4 Granola nut clusters $2.50, $1 MQ doubled so $0.50 each after coupon
2 Uncle Bens rice $2.14, $1 MQ on each, $0.14 each after doubled.

My total here was $2.28 after doubled coupons!

I also made a quick trip to Goodwill and picked up a Halloween costume and a book and spent $5.68.

All trips combined for a total of $60.70 spent for this week. As you may know, my budget is $70 per week for the family so I am well under budget for this week. I have a full freezer and we are trying to buy a 1/4 beef so I need to clean out the freezer. I'm trying not to buy much meat for awhile as a result. I'm going to use the money to stock up the cupboard when I can find deals!

Check out some more deals with Crystal at money saving mom.

Walmart for just a couple things

I ran to the (dreaded) Walmart to take advantage of a couple coupons, and because hubby insisted he needed the Walmart generic of Metamucil. I choose not to ask questions. Here are the notable deals only:
2 Sunkist sandwich ready pouch $1.33, $0.75 IP
6 Starkist tuna pouches $0.93, $1.50/3 MQ
4 Starkist tuna pouches $0.93, $1.00/2 IP
6 Old El Paso taco mix $0.86, $0.60/2 IP
6 Taco seasoning (brand name escapes me) $0.58, $0.75/2 MQ
2 Crystal Light boxes $1.97 each, $2/2 MQ

My total here was $29.02, but I did save quite a bit on the above.

Playing catch up on grocery posts

My camera broke. I'm very sad. I just got this camera for Christmas last year and love it. But I had to put it in the mail to get fixed. Needless to say, I will be posting without pictures for a couple weeks until I get the camera back and in working order.

Kmart: I made one final run to Kmart to get some double coupons.

4 Welch's jelly $2 each, $0.75 IP doubled, made them $0.50 each.
My total was $2 exactly and I was able to put it on the gift card I got last week at Kmart. Nothing out of pocket.

Pierce's:
First up is my normal shopping trip that happened on Friday. Coupon items included:

Philly cream cheese $0.99 each with $1/2 MQ
Free Krackerfulls when you buy Ritz, $3.29 value and Ritz on sale for 2/$5
Kraft cheese slices $1.50 each, $1/2 MQ
Kraft chunk cheese $2.00, $1/2 MQ
Eggo waffles $1.66, $1/2 MQ
Freshlike frozen veggies $0.99, $1/2 MQ

Obviously I had other groceries as well. My total for this visit was $67.43 with a coupon and ad savings of $70.88

Pierce's trip made on Sunday for the "3 day sale" (Check it out here)

Wisconsin farms milk 1 gallon $1.88
Quaker granola bars $1.88, $0.75 MQ

This trip cost me $25.40 with a coupon and ad savings of $16.25.

Both trips I consider quite successful.

Finally, I made a trip to the land of Wally world that I do not venture into easily. Hopefully I will not need to step back there for a long while. Items bought with coupons include:

4 Oscar Mayer hot dogs $1.50 each, they ad matched to Pig which was BOGO, plus I used a $1/2 MQ making them $0.25 each

2 bags Kingsford charcoal ad matched to $5.88 with Pierce's ad, then used $2 IP for each.

2 Bottles of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, used "buy charcoal get BBQ free" IP
2 Starkist pouch $0.93, $0.50 IP
2 box Van de Kamps fish sticks $4.56, $3 IP
White cloud TP $2, $1 MQ
5 Soy milk $2.73, $2 IP
4 Grands biscuits $1.62, $1 IP

Saved quite a bit here as well and my total ended up as $26.60. I still don't like shopping there. I plan to avoid that place as much as I can.

So you can see that I had a busy shopping week. I think I will be making a run to Target this week. I have to run to Madison anyways, so I might as well. I hope everyone is having/had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Walmart resolution

I talked briefly about my Walmart experience last week. To recap....

I was attempting to make several purchases of which I had coupons for every item. The clerk rang it all up and proceeded to the coupons. The first one beeped and she handed it back and said "you didn't buy this". I reached over to lift it from the top of the bag she just finished packing and showed her it was right there. She told me since the register beeped she could not take it and handed it back.

More items, same story. One of the items were a Tide coupon which stated "$1 off any size Tide". She told me that I couldn't use that coupon since I didn't have the same size bottle that was pictured. I assured her that since the coupon read any size, it means any size. She called a manager over who agreed with her and said it had to be the size pictured. Clearly this is WRONG.

The manager got a little pissy with me as well and told me that she was in charge so if she said no, I could not use it. I told them that I have bought other items with that coupon in this same store and did not encounter this problem but the manager insisted that the previous cashier was in error.

Another coupon I tried to use was an internet printable from the Arm and Hammer website for a cleaning product. The clerk again called the manager over because my coupon 'didn't look right'. She stated the coupon looked copied and was fraudulent because there was nothing on the back. I explained that it is printed on a home printer so there wouldn't be anything on the back. They refused to also take that coupon.

I highly take offense of being accused of fraud when using coupons. I strive to be honest, truthful and to use coupons as they are meant to be used. Needless to say, I had flames shooting out of my head by the time I was leaving.

I made them give me back my coupons and take all the items off my bill. I also told them I would be calling their corporate office as I knew I was using my coupons correctly.

Fast forward to Saturday when I received a call back from Walmart corporate. The woman apologized and gave me a chance to explain my story. We reviewed what happened and she stated that they have a list of fraudulent internet coupons that the clerk should have consulted had they feared my was not legitimate. The final outcome is they are sending me a $10 gift card for my troubles and have apologized.

My reflections on the matter
=============================
1. When I approached this clerk initially, I got a pit in my stomach that she might give me a hard time and be difficult to work with but I was in a hurry. Next time I will follow my gut instinct and try to work with a clerk who will at least listen to me.

2. Will I shop there in the future? Good question. I hadn't had a difficult time using coupons at Walmart except that it is always busy, people are rude, etc. As it is, I don't shop there often as I am able to get better prices/deals at Pierce's by shopping their weekly sale ads. Plus, Target has such a wonderful coupon policy and I have not experienced any problems with a cashier ever. As of right now, I can't think of a single thing that Walmart has that I have to buy there. I am planning to shop Target once a month and Pierce's in between and that will probably work for my family at this time. So no, I don't plan on shopping there for now.

3. You should never accuse someone of doing something illegal if you aren't sure. Upon further review, thanks to my sister, I realized that the bar code numbers on the internet coupons were different (as they are when you print them from the internet) and I should have pointed that out to them at the time to prove they weren't copies.

4. Customer service still matters. People talk about their experiences, and make decisions on how to spend their money and where.

5. It is my money and I don't have to spend it at Walmart where I am not appreciated.

6. I went to a different Walmart that same day and bought the items in question without a problem, it wasn't the coupon, it was the individual.

Sorry to go on so long but I was really affected by this experience. I'm glad it is over as I spent too much time talking about it. Time to move on.

Pierce's ad review and Walmart issues

I am working on the Pierce's ad this evening and I hope to get it up on Thursday midday. Thanks for your patience. Also wanted to let you know that I had a horrible experience with a clerk at Walmart today that accused me of coupon fraud. I will be writing about this experience soon, once I get resolution on it. The call has been made to their corporate headquarters and I hope to hear back from them in a day or two. I will keep you posted.

Have a great day!

A TP run to Walmart

I heard there were some TP deals to be had at Walmart, so off I went. I will highlight my sale and coupon items.

Scott Extra Soft tissue %5.23, $1 MQ from mailer

Soy milk $2.73, $2 IP

Chef boyardee cans $0.88, $1 IP (yes, I made money on it)

Ziploc bags $2, $1.50/2 IP

Clearance sponge $1.50, $1 MQ

Scott wipes $2.24, $0.50 MQ

Charmen TP $3.36, $1 MQ from mailer

Scott tissue $2.68, $1 MQ

Angel soft tissue $1, $0.50 IP

So you can see that I was able to get quite a bit with my coupons, and we are set for quite awhile. My out of pocket was $53.86, but I got several other items for the house such as a storage tote and training wheels for one of the kids bikes. I used $14 in coupons on this order!

Grocery deals at Pierce's and Walmart

So, I made a couple shopping trips this week, and I've got more to go. The picture above is from Pierce's, many of which are the deals I previously posted. I used coupons on the following:

Pop tarts 0.55 MQ
Hunt's Ketchup MQ to get free
David's sunflower seeds $1/2
Fisher sunflower seeds $1
Store coupon for produce 0.25

My total out of pocket for this trip was $26.03, with a coupon/ad savings of $19.58.

This is my trip to Walmart. Before you say anything, I already know I have a ton of Koolaid (and I do mean a ton), but I found another coupon for free sugar with 10 koolaid, and a coupon to get 2 additional packets free when you buy 10 so I had to! I will list the coupons below.

2 Juicy juice $2.38 each, $1/2 IP
6 Starkist tuna pouches $0.93 each, $1.50/3 MQ
2 Bumblebee chicken salad 0.98, $1/2 IP
2 Bumblebee tuna salad 0.98, $1/2 IP
Tide single load 0.97, $1 MQ
2 bags chocolate chips $2.68 each, 0.758/2 IP
12 Koolaid 0.20 each, MQ buy 10, get 2 free
Soy milk $2.73, $2 IP
2 Eggo Swirls $1.94, $1 IP
2 C & H sugar $0.94 each, $2 off when you buy 10 koolaid
Oreo cakester $2, $1 MQ

My before total was $33.48, but after coupons the final out of pocket was $18.52! If you are keeping track the total from the two trips was $44.55 so far for the week! I am making a run to Piggly Wiggly and Target on Tuesday as I have budget wiggle room to pick up some freebies there. I am looking forward to the deals. Piggly Wiggly especially, Tuesday is the last day for their 11 for 10 deal they have going on!

Walmart for cakesters

Somebody bought all the cakesters at Kmart this week, and with the packing of the school lunches looming over my head, I decided to check out Walmart. Indeed the cakesters were on sale, and I snatched up a couple other items I had coupons for.

• 6 Cakesters $2 each, used $1 MQ for each as well
• 9 Tide single load size (in trial size section) 0.97 each, used $1 MQ each
• Fiber $7.24 no coupon
• Ranch fries $2.48, got coupon in mail to try for free
• 2 Crunch and Munch $1 each, $1/2 MQ

Subtotal for all of the above was $32.45, and after coupons I paid $15.23 for everything. The cashier did override the coupon for the Tide down to 0.97 each so I did not make anything on those. It is helpful to check if there is a size limit when looking at coupons. The Tide coupons that came out last weekend did not exclude a trial size bottle.

We have a front load washing machine and what we do is either use 1/2 to 1/3 less soap than a normal load, or we water down the soap we have. (before you correct me, the salesman for this appliance reassured me this was ok if I wasn't buying the HE soap). Anywho, we will open a few of these babies and add water. We have been doing this for a looooong time and our clothes clean up and smell just fine thank you very much. Another way to be frugal!

Watermelon

Had a great tip from a couple readers today. It seems that Walmart has watermelons on sale for $1 today. If you are out and about be sure to head over there. That is some very inexpensive fruit for the weekend.

If you have a choice between the oblong and circular melons, sources are telling me to choose the round ones. The others are full of seeds and not as good.

Thanks for the tips!

Snacks at Walmart

So, I hear these Eggo Bake Shop cinnamon flavored things are delicious. I'd thought we'd give it a try to use the coupons.

• Eggo Bake shop $1.94 each, $1 IP
• Oreo Cakesters $2, $1 MQ
• Hi-C juice boxes 1.97 (for a cookout we're going to)

My total spent was $8.78, with a coupon savings of $7. Saving almost 1/2 at Walmart is actually pretty good.

I don't buy a lot at Walmart. If I use coupons and wait for sales, I can do better on prices most times at Pierce's or Target (if I am running to Madison). I don't like how big and spread out the shopping is at Walmart so I avoid it if I can. For non food items, I can find it fairly close in price at Kmart as well.

Where do you find the best deals? Leave a comment and let me know.

Walmart 6-23-09

I haven't been to Walmart in quite awhile, so I thought I'd head over to see what they had. Then I remembered that I needed printer ink soon.

• Peanuts $1.38
• 2 Fibercon $2.12 each, $2 MQ that I found at Walgreen's today
• Printer ink $15.97

Total was $18.70, bt saved $4 at least. It's something! Wishing I had bought a laser printer......

Some Walmart deals I found

Hey all. I ran to Walmart the other day and found a few deals, plus many things I didn't need of course!

• 2 Free chocolate bars - received in the mail from free chocolate Fridays
• free Oscar Mayer hot dogs- received coupon in mail from free offer online
• 5 packs of Koolaid 0.88, 0.50 IP
• Jack's Pizza $2.98 each, $1/2 IP
• Country Time lemonade $2.28- $1/2 IP
• Minute rice instant cups $1.78, 0.50 IP
• Seapak shrimp poppers $1.58, $1/2 IP
• Graham crackers $2.50, $1 IP
• Velveeta singles cups 0.98, $1/2 IP
• Caprisun sunrise pouches $1.97, $1 MQ

My subtotal was $52.72 and the final out of pocket was $37.73 which means I saved a total of $15 in coupons. Some of my Kraft coupons are expiring this week, so I wanted to be sure to use some of them for things I would buy anyways in the next week or two.

How did you do this week? Next up will be some of my Kmart double deals!!!

Walmart deals

Well, I also made a run to Walmart to use a few coupons that were going to expire, and I knew I could get a couple things cheaper here, like the soymilk my son drinks. Here is the run down:

• Campbells cream soups 1.36 each, IP for $1/2
• Ritz Bits $2, $1 IP
• Tricuits $2, $1 IP
• Sponges 0.84, 0.75/2 MQ
• Tombstone pizza 3.33, $1/2 IP- save UPC for the rebate!
• CA kitchen flatbread melt 2.78, $1 MQ
• Digorno flatbreat melt 2.78, $1.50 IP
• Head and shoulders shampoo trial size 0.97, $1 MQ
• Axe deodorant trial size 0.97, $1 MQ
• Banana boat sunscreen trial size 1.97, $2 IP
• Kool aid 5 packs 0.88, 0.50/2 IP
• Crystal Light packs 1.97, $2/2 IP, and BIGI IP's (got 6, paid for 2)

Overall, I saved $30.44 in coupons here on this trip. Pretty good!

A Walmart run

After my grocery run to Pierce's I had almost $30 left, so I decided to run to Walmart to use some coupons! Here is the run down:

• 4 Hot dogs $1.50 each; $1/2 MQ and IP
• Velveeta cheese $4.42; $1 IP
• 2 Ronzoni pasta $1.50 ea; $1/2 MQ
• 2 Ritz bits $2; $1 MQ
• Quaker True Delights 2.50, $1 MQ
• 4 Shells/cheese $1.50 ea; $1 IP and $1/2 IP
• 4 Crystal light 1.97 ea; BOGO IP and $1 IP
• 2 Poptarts 1.50 ea; $1/2 MQ
• Marshmallows 1.16, no coupon
• brat buns 1.13, no coupon
• generic plax rinse 2.88, no coupon
• 3 Tuna pouches 0.93, no coupon
• 4 Colgate toothpaste 1.00, 0.75 MQ
• 5 Colgate toothpaste 0.97, $1 MQ
• Soymilk 2.64, no coupon

Subtotal was $58.23, after all the coupons I paid $33.87 out of pocket, savings $24.36 in coupons! That is a savings of 42%. It was worth the time for sure.

How is your shopping trip? What kind of savings have you had today?

Walmart savings- I needed ink!

After printing all those coupons yesterday, I needed ink. I have a new printer and haven't found any great deals on ink yet. Anyone have any ideas? I will probably take to Walgreen's in the future to get them filled.

I am going to show my deals and take the ink out of the equation when figuring totals and savings.

• 4 Kraft BBQ sauce 0.98, $1 IP
• 2 Kraft dressing 1.58, $1.50 MQ from this past Sunday
• 3 Velveeta shells/cheese $1.50, $1/1 IP
• Oscar Mayer hot dogs 1.50, $1/2 IP
• Mini Farfale pasta 1.28, 0.75 IP
• Ritz Bits 2.00, $1 IP
• Dole mandarin oranges 0.86, 0.50 IP
• Dole pineapple 0.72, 0.50 IP
• CapriSun pouches 1.97, $1 MQ

You'll see I also bought some sugar and coffee creamer that I didn't have coupons for but desperately needed. Wish the hubby would have warned me they were low and not waited until empty!

All told the subtotal was $40.70 (minus the ink). After coupons I had to pay $23.63! Almost half in savings! I blame the excess on Dave! I could have done much better! But I love him anyways!

As always, I hope I am inspiring you all to save money and show how you can do it too! I definitely see a trend that I am using a lot of Internet coupons- so happy my computer is up to speed!

Have a great week everyone!