Price Chopper: 06/04/2011

Really small but successful Price Chopper trip!


Retail Prices:

• 2 Boxes Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta: $1.99 each (Total: $3.98)
• 1 Box Curad Bandaids: $1.89 

Retail Cost: $5.87

My Prices:

• 2 Boxes Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta: $3.98 - $0.99Sale = $2.99 - $0.99Sale = $2.00 - $1Coupon = $1.00 - $1Coupon = $0.00
• 1 Box Curad Bandaids: $1.89 - $0.90Sale = $0.99 - $0.50Coupon(Bumped to $1.00) = -$0.01

My Cost: -$0.01

$5.87 - -$0.01 = Savings of -$5.88

I expected that I would pay tax on the bandaids, but for some reason the tax came to -$0.08 and was added to my subtotal of -$0.01 so I owed nothing and the cashier handed me $0.09!!

I have had free products and overages apply to other items in my transaction before...But never have I been handed money!  I know it was less than a dime, but still quite exciting to me! :)

*All You Magazine: STILL On RollBack at Walmart!*

I keep forgetting to write that on May 26, 2011 All You Magazines were still on Roll Back at Walmart.

So I bought two copies of the June issue at $1.88 each instead of $2.49 each.


Each issue has $91.60 of coupons in it.  So just like last month,   if it were not on sale, then my two magazines (before tax) would have cost $4.98 for $183.20  worth of coupons. 

But since it was on sale, I paid only $3.76 (before tax) for $170.64 worth of coupons.

My subscription finally took, and I received my first issue (July's) in the mail.  I thought if it had a lot of good coupons in it, I would still go pick up an additional one at Walmart.  But I honestly have not used a single coupon from ANY of the All You Magazines yet, so I didn't bother buying a second July issue. 

~*~*Coupon for $3 off $3 or more at Staples*~*~

Staples has a coupon for $3 off your purchase of $3 or more.  Unfortunately you cannot combine it with any other coupons.  Although being able to stack with Manufacturer's Coupons for a sweeter deal would be nice, $3 off $3 or more is still a good deal.

Go here to print out the coupon.  :)




*Valid through 6/11/11 in Staples U.S. stores only. Excludes postage stamps, gift cards, phone cards and HP ink and toner. Minimum purchase requirement of $3 must be met with purchases to which no other coupon or instant savings offer applies. Limit 1 coupon per customer per day. No cash/credit back. Tax is not included in calculating the minimum purchase. Coupon not valid if purchased or sold and must be surrendered.

~*~*Jamberry Nail Shields Giveaway!*~*~

I just found out about these AWESOME looking nail shields called Jamberry Nail Shields!  I was debating about ordering a set, so I decided to Google for reviews on them.  I just happened to stumble upon a blog called  The Cartoon Lovin' Mama! kept by a woman named Stephanie.  She just reviewed this product today, and gave it an excellent review.  Which makes me seriously want to go order myself a set!
Jamberry has 91 AWESOME patterns to choose from.  AND what's even cuter is that they not only have them for your finger nails, but for your toenails as well!!  Super cute!!

But it gets even better...Stephanie is giving away a set of these to one lucky subscriber of her blog!  To enter, you just have to go to her blog and leave her a comment.  Stephanie's exact words are that you just need to  "Visit Jamberry and tell me what design you would choose if you won! Please remember to leave your e-mail address if it’s not visible in your profile."


It's THAT simple, folks!  :-Þ

The full contest rules and additional details are in her blog post.  But I am super excited to try to win a set of these awesome looking nail shields!

Everyone should start following her blog and enter to win this contest, I know I did!

Hurry, the contest ends June 13, 2011 at midnight CST!!

I'm thinking of trying out these pretty sweet looking Pink on Black Zebra pattern shields...How about you?  

Price Chopper: 05/28/2011

I could not find too many amazing deals for this week, so I only had one small Price Chopper trip today.  I did not get very much, but I think that I did well for what I did get.


Retail Prices:

• 2 Bottles of Kraft Dressing: $2.50 each: (Total: $5.00)
• 1 Box Price Chopper Brand Pasta: $1.00
• 1 Bottle Lawry's Marinade: $3.29
• 1 1Pound Bag Green Giant Baby Carrots: $1.99
• 1 Bag Oreida Sweet Potato Fries: $3.49

Retail SubTotal: $14.77

My Prices:

• 2 Bottles of Kraft Dressing: $5.00 - $1.00offSale = $4.00 - $0.55Coupon(Bumped to $1.00) = $3.00 - $0.55Coupon(Bumped to $1.00) = $2.00
• 1 Box Price Chopper Brand Pasta: $1.00 - $1.00Coupon(For buying the 2 Kraft Dressings) = $0.00
• 1 Bottle Lawry's Marinade: $3.29 - $1.80Coupon = $1.49 - $0.50Coupon(Doubled to $1.00) = $0.49
• 1 1Pound Bag Green Giant Baby Carrots: $1.99 - $1.11Coupon = $0.88
• 1 Bag Oreida Sweet Potato Fries: $3.49 - (I had a Coupon for whatever the cost of a bag up to $4.89 is to make it completely free) So $3.49 - $3.49 = $0.00

My SubTotal: $3.37

$14.77 - $3.37 = Savings of $11.40

Price Chopper: 05/21/2011

This was not a great weekend for couponing for me.  I had a list for Rite Aid, but when I got there they didn't have anything I planned on buying, so I walked out empty-handed.
Of course now I keep thinking about one item I was going to get and my husband talked me out of it, saying that it was an unnecessary item. But now I just keep thinking about what a great deal it was.  They had Air Wic Freshmatic Ultra Starter Kits for $12.99 BOGO.  And with all of the coupons I had, I would have got TWO kits for $0.99 total (before tax) instead of $25.98!  So that would have been a savings of $24.99.  Oh well.

As far as Price Chopper goes, in addition to their normal weekly sales, they had a special Moonlight Madness Sale yesterday.  It was actually the cause of some stress for me this week.  The main reason that it was so stressful was because it was supposed to be a mostly unadvertised sale that was only from 5pm to Midnight yesterday.  So all week I tried to get my coupon binder completely organized so that I could just bring every coupon with me to the store since I could not prepare for the trip.  Normally I have lists and math all done before I get to the store, but with the sales being unadvertised, I would not be able to prepare.

So by Thursday night I saw that my coupon binder was not going to be organized in time.  So I finally decided that since Price Chopper is not that far from my job or my house, I would just go straight from work to Price Chopper and take notes on what was on sale and then go home and grab the appropriate coupons and then go back.  It would not be a ton of extra driving, so it would not be a huge waste of gas money.

So I got to Price Chopper at about 5:10pm and it was already MOBBED!  I finally found a parking spot far away in the parking lot, and then had to practically push my way into the store.  And they were all out of carts already, so I just walked around aisle by aisle trying to find the "hidden deals".  I expected there to be some signs or something to point out which items were the "hidden deal".  I know I would have to search for the deals, but I expected that certain items on the shelf would have some kind of sign letting you know that you found the special super sale items.  But I could not find any signs.  I went through each aisle at least two or three times...Some aisles were a little more difficult than others, due to the crowds of people.

After I decided that I had walked around enough, I had seen sooooo many people with two or three carts each FULL to the top with items.  So I thought that I must have been missing something, because I could not find anything worth it.  So at this point I thought that either they knew something I didn't and I was missing out, OR that they don't know what real good sales are and they are just buying stuff at less than ideal prices.

It was too overwhelming and stressful to deal with any longer, so I left empty-handed and went home.  When I got home I checked a few couponing blogs to see if people mentioned any great deals that they found, because I would go back to the store if it was worth it.  But they all agreed that it was an over-hyped up sale that did not have anything worth it.  And they all said that anyone who was buying tons of stuff was because they did not know what good prices for items really were.  So they were kind of suckered into it, and I was smart enough to know not to buy anything.


So today I went back to Price Chopper for their normal weekly sale that was ending today.
I didn't get all that much, but here is what I got:


Retail Prices:

• 2 Boboli 8" Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts, 2-Pack: $4.89 each (Total: $9.78)
• 4 Bags of Dole Lettuce: $3.99 each (Total: $15.96)
• 2 Bags of Texas Toast Croutons: $1.99 each (Total: $3.98)
• 1 Container Philadelphia Cooking Creme: $2.99
• 1 Package Budding Turkey: $4.39 
• 1 Bag Green Giants Baby Carrots, 1pound: $1.99

Retail SubTotal: $39.09

My Prices:

• 2 Boboli 8" Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts, 2-Pack: $9.78 - $1.89Sale = $7.89 - $1.89Sale = $6.00 
• 4 Bags of Dole Lettuce: $15.96 - $2.00Sale = $13.96 - $2.00Sale = $11.96 - $2.00Sale = $9.96 - $2.00Sale = $7.96
• 2 Bags of Texas Toast Croutons: $3.98 - $1.00Sale = $2.98 - $1.00Sale = $1.98 - $1.00coupon = $0.98
• 1 Container Philadelphia Cooking Creme: $2.99 - $1.50 Coupon = $1.49
• 1 Package Budding Turkey: $4.39 - $0.89Sale = $3.50 - $1.00 Coupon = $2.50
• 1 Bag Green Giants Baby Carrots, 1pound: $1.99 - $0.49Sale = $1.50

My SubTotal: $20.43 

$39.09 - $20.43 = Savings of $18.66

So, not the best trip ever...But not the worst either.  

The photo is actually missing the second package of Boboli Crusts, because we were hungry and ate them for dinner right after we got home...So we put all of the groceries away and ate dinner...And then I took them back out after dinner to take the picture.  LOL  

Walmart: 05/16/2011

Sadly, our kitchen has ants.  I did not know of any particularly good ant trap sales going on right now, and we obviously wanted to take care of the issue ASAP and not wait for a good sale.  So I searched for any brand of ant trap coupons that I could find and headed on over to Walmart to see which brand came out to be the cheapest.

My Husband and I searched the shelves and found one brand for $2.47, and we had a $2 off coupon.  JACKPOT!  So we grabbed them and went to the register.

I noticed that they rang up as $3.97, so I asked the cashier why it was so much higher than it was listed on the shelf as.  She told me because sales tax had been added to it to make it over $4.  I told her that is not what I meant.  I told her that the shelf had a whole box of them labeled at only $2.47, and they are ringing up now as $3.97.  She said she didn't know.

As a quick side note, I should point out that I am the talker in the relationship.  My husband hates confrontations even more than I do.  Also, he talks less than the average person...And I talk more than the average person.

So with a long line of angry customers forming behind us, I was ready to just accept the higher price, take the $2.00 off, and then get them for $1.97 plus tax.  But at this point even my husband was wondering if we grabbed the wrong item.  So I waited at the register, and he ran back to the aisle to see if he could grab the cheaper item.  He called my cell while he was there and said that he double-checked the price tag and the box of  traps that were sitting there, and that we definitely got the correct product and that they are definitely supposed to be $2.47.

Now the cashier was still waiting for someone to come over and help her.  I repeated to her what my husband just told me on the phone, but she said she couldn't overwrite the price without a manager.  So my husband gets back to the register, and tells her that he double-checked the price and that there is a whole box sitting there, not just the one we got.

Finally a CSM comes over and we tell him that it is labeled on the shelf as $2.47 but is ringing up as $3.97.  So he said he wanted to go see the shelf with the price label.  So he takes the product we were trying to ring up, and him and my husband walk back to the aisle.  And the CSM sees the box, the price tag, and decides that the whole box is in the wrong spot, and that they are the higher-priced Combat product, and a lower-priced Combat product should be sitting there.  Yet, there were NO other Combat products on the shelf.  Otherwise we would have gladly taken the lower-priced item he was referring to.  Also, there were NO other Combat price labels on the shelf showing a $3.97 price.

Furthermore, it was absolutely not our fault that the items were set out in the wrong spot.  We didn't move them!  And the CSM compared the barcode on the item to the barcode on the label, and said that the very last number was different.  Yet, there wasn't a different barcode label on that shelf for the supposedly higher-priced item that we were scanning.

In the end, because it was not our fault that the higher-priced item was in the lower-priced items' spot...And because there was no lower-priced item to get...And because we were completely innocent throughout the whole thing, and were never once trying to do anything wrong...Because of all of that, our attention to detail, and persistence paid off....And he allowed the cashier to overwrite the item from $3.97 to $2.74.

Again, had we had any idea we were grabbing the wrong item, I never would have tried to get a price adjustment.  Not a single thing that happened was our fault.  It is not like I just argue my way into getting good deals, I don't advocate lying to get discounts.  This was a legit argument, because it was not our fault at all.  The store was absolutely at fault.
I am just glad that they adjusted the price, because then with the coupon we got an amazing deal.



So here's how it ended up:


Retail Cost:

• 1 6ct Box Combat Ant Traps: $3.97

Retail Subtotal: $3.97

My Cost:

• 1 6ct Box Combat Ant Traps: $3.97 - $1.50Price Adjustment = $2.47 - $2.00 Coupon = $0.47

My Subtotal: $0.47

$3.97 - $0.47 = Savings of $3.50

I was excited when I thought we were just saving $2...But now I'm even more excited that we ended up saving $3.50!

Even with the $0.22 added Sales Tax...For a total of $0.69...That comes to less than $0.12 a trap!  :)