Albie's Preview!

I planned to do a lot yesterday on here, but instead I went shopping with my best friend ALL day! So I know I am a little behind!
Anwho, here is the Albertson's preview for Wednesday. It is very similar from last week, but definitly some good deals!
Okay back to class...

Good morning!

I've been meaning to post these for a the past 2 days, I have just been busy dealing with my grumpy teething baby. On Friday I made a couple shopping trips after the Albertsons one I wanted to show off. Because there are other places you can shop like WalMart, Walgreens, & Target! I suggest you follow http://athriftymom.com/ , http://attentiontargetshoppers.blogspot.com/ , http://attentiontargetshoppers.blogspot.com/ , http://www.fabulesslyfrugal.com/ , and http://hip2save.blogspot.com/

Okay so first I went to WalGreens and here are my purchases (mainly I just wanted to try it out and see how the register rewards work, and they work just the same as Albie's OYNSO from the catalina)

* Aquafresh toothpaste - $3 + $3 register rewards which technically makes it FREE

* Lysol Mildew remover - $ 2.50 - $1 off coupon = $1.50

* Lysol Wipes - $2.50- $.50= $2 plus I got $1 OYNSO so pretty much I got 2 for the price of 1!

Next is Wally World (WalMart) Now I found this info at http://hip2save.blogspot.com/ I used coupons for trial sizes to get stuff for more than FREE! I spend $1.57 on these items! Heres how:

* 2 trial size Dove deoderants - .97/each, used $1.50/2 = $.44 for both

* 2 floss/tooth picks - $1/each then used 2 $1/1 coupons = FREE

* 2 boxes of bandaides - $1.50/each used 2 $1/1 coupons = $1 for both

* 2 floss - $1/each, used $2/1 = FREE + $2 in overage!

* 1 baby powder - $.97, used $1/1 = FREE + $.03 in overage!

* 2 starbucks ice cream - $ 2.58, used $2/1 = $.58/each

* 1 loaf of bread (which is made in NAMPA BTW! and is way yummy) - $1

Just a little example

So I wanted to show you all this because when you first start out you may just want to start small to get use to how it works.

So here is what I got:

* 2 Banana Boat Baby Sunblocks

* 2 starbucks cold coffees

only 4 items. I spent $10.02 on these items. I spent less on the whole purchase than ONE sunblock is itself. So the sunblock was buy one get one FREE. So I bought 2. I also had a coupon for $2 off of one. That means for 2 sunblocks that cost $10.99/each I got both for $8.99. Then the coffees I had 2 coupons for $1 off each 1. So from being $2.59 each they went down to $1.59... then I used doublers on those 2 $1 off that means they were .59/each! I saved $18.79 this trip 65%!

What is Catalina and OYNSO?

Okay another question I had was what is catalina and OYNSO?

Okay catalina is a machine that Albies uses to market to their customers who use preferred cards. So you make your purchases, they scan your preferred card... they examine what items may interest you and out comes a coupon or OYNSO coupon! (When your reciept prints)

They typically look like this:

So on Wednesday I recieved:

Save$2.50 on starkist

Save $2 on OxyClean

Save $3 for General Mills

Save $2 on Special K Protien bars

OYNSO is simply a coupon that you can use that is a certain dollar amount off your next transaction/shopping order. As you see below on Wednesday I got a $1 OYNSO... which I will be using next time I go shopping at albies!

How to get prepared for a shopping trip

Someone asked me, how do you keep organized and know what to put in seperate transactions.

Well I have tried many methods and this is the one that works for me:

Well on Wednesday I pull up the grocery smarts list. I shrink it to the items I would like. Then I go through and put numbers on the side of quantity (how much I need/want of each item) And make it work with whatever promo/deal or even how many I can buy with the coupons I have. Then I add up the prices and make sure it is in my price range. (Also so I know a round about number or what I should be spending... its never exact because I always get there and find someone else on sale that I want.. lol)

Then I write out, sort of like a list, what I need in each transaction... so I know what will be in each transaction before I even leave home. Then I paper clip that to all the coupons that belong to that transaction. Which looks like this:

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any more questions!

Mess up

So on my last post I forgot to post a few things like the tomatoes and pork chops!! I will do better next time ;-)

Shopping trip today

Well... I thought it went really well until I got home and checked my receipt. I did 2 separate transactions to buy 10 and get $5 off. Well on one of them I have gone over and over and cannot figure out why I didn't get the $5! I bought 4 mac & cheese, 5 tuna fish , and monster drink. All had the tag showing the promo.

I am bummed, but these things happen. I can't figure out where I went wrong... just maybe the monster drink was in the wrong spot and I didn't buy the right one... But hey it happens. I still saved a ton of money.

Another thing I forgot to do was use my doublers on my first transaction... (the one the $5 was missing from as well) PLUS PYP said that for 4 mac & cheese you would get a $1 OYNSO.. I only got the one for the tuna! =(

But on the positive side this time was much quicker... even tho I didn't have hubby with me. I think I need to start going with him.. so he can watch the baby lol.

So here is my haul:

1st transaction:

* 2 Airwick Air-fresheners. $.50/ea (after $1 coupon should have been FREE with doublers)

* 4 boxes of Mac & Cheese - $1/each (should have been $.50 if I had the $5 promo go through)

* 9 Hamburger/Chicken/Tuna Helpers - about $.74 each ( I had 3 coupons - (2)$.75/3 and (1)$.80/3)

* 5 Tuna Pouches - $1.25 each (should have been $.75/each with promo) =(

* 1 Monster energy drink - $1.50 (should have been $1 with promo)

* 1 gal milk (

If I had used doublers and had the promo work right I would have saved an extra $6.80!! UGH! The cost of this transaction was $23.71. Actually I just realized she didn't scan my milk coupon!! so that's another $.75 I could have saved. That's what I get for going to the upset cashier!

2nd transaction:

* 2 Taco Bell Shells ($.50/each)

* 4 Airwick Air-fresheners (FREE)

* 2 cans of re fried beans ($.50/ea)

* 1 Taco Bell taco sauce ($.50)

* 1 fruit snack box ($1.49)

* 1 bottle of spray-n-wash ($1.99! after using $1.50/1 coupon)

* 1 Airwick freshmatic ( $1.49 after using $4/1)

* 1 Airwick imotion ($2.49 after $3/1)

* 1 South Beach cereal bars ($.99 after $1/1)

* 5 jars of baby food ($.29/each after using $.75/5 and they were clearance)

* Pork Chops ($1.88/lb so I paid $4.46)

* Romain Lettuce ($.99)

So I loved this receipt!! I also used doublers and had an extra $1.75 off! Check this out:

I don't know if you can see but I saved a lot! So I got $116.50 worth of groceries and only spent $41.68. That's a savings of $74.82 = 64%! It would have been 70% had I not messed up.. which would be my highest savings yet. Everyone makes mistakes =)

Happy Wednesday!

The list is now up on GrocerySmarts.com

Just a pointer that I believe I forgot to mention before. When pulling up the list at the top you will see a little button that says "start" then what you do is click the items you want on your list.. press "shrink" (in that same area) and wala! You have a list of just the items you will be purchasing.
Also make sure to grab the Albertsons ad because it sounds like their should be doublers in them! Doublers are double the coupon, up to $1. So if you have a coupon for $1 off of cheese, you would be getting $2 off!

Have fun, and please e-mail with any questions!

Great coupons!

Got to this link:
http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Login.aspx?pid=12812&nid=10&zid=dl89

Group A is offering .75 off any milk, $1 off any cheese, and $.75 off any yogurt! These typically do not last long, so go print them NOW!

Thanks to..

My mom & dad I now have a tripod!! Woohoo! That video is coming soon ;-)
Followed by many others hopefully.. I love making them.. its so much better demostration than typing!