I've had many readers ask how I can shop at Shop 'n Save and only spend $5 or less a trip. I put together a scenario to help readers see how it can be done.
There are a few things that enable me to do spend to little:
- Shop on $10 off $50 Thursday
- Use $5 off $50 coupon from Entertainment Book - I pick these up for free using RR or ECB's
- Purchase/acquire 4 sets of insert per week
- I have two computers to print from
- Save coupons for a free item to use at Shop 'n Save
- Stock up on what I can get the best price on.
Shop 'n Save $5 Scenario - take a look at where to find the coupon HERE
Update: I messed up this scenario. Thanks, JB for catching it. I added a few products to make the Instant Savings work. If I found a mistake, before I shopped, I would rework the plan a bit, but I don't want to confuse anyone (more than I already did.) Sorry, my plan is now over $5.
Purchase:
(6) Green Giant Boil in Bag Veggies @ $1 each = $6.00
(4) Betty Crocker Cake Mix @ .77 = $3.08
(4) Betty Crocker Frosting @ $1.50 = $6.00
(10) Libby's Vegetables @ .48 = $4.80
(2) Old Orchard Apple Juice Cocktails @ $1.25 = $2.50
(4) California Pizza @ $5.48 = $21.92
(2) 20 oz. Diet Cokes @ $1.58 = $3.16
=
- $10 Thursday deal ($10 off $50)
- $10 GM discount (2 x buy 10, get $5 instantly)
- $5 Coupon from Entertainment Book ($5 off $50)
- $1.20 Green Giant (2 x .60 off 3)
-$3 Betty Crocker Cake Mix Frosting (4 x .75 off wyb both)
- $1 Libby Veggies (2 x .50 off 2 IP)
- $2 Libby Veggies (2 x $1 off 3)
-$2 Old Orchard Juice (2 x $1 off from Kellogg's/Keebler coupon book)
-$8 California Pizza (4 x $2 IP)
- $3.16 Diet Cokes (2 x Free coupon from My Coke Rewards)
Total coupons & savings: $45.36
Final price:
Do you have a plan for tomorrow? Please share it in comments if you do.
Posts
Thank you, thank you!! That really helps to be able to see it listed out like that! :)
ReplyDeleteYou can save an extra $5 if you pay with a gift card bought with another one of the $5 off $50 coupons from the Entertainment Book! Granted with your final price being less than $5, you'd be using that gift card for awhile!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Thanks so much for doing this!!!
ReplyDeleteHi All,
ReplyDeleteJeri once again TYVM. I will post my Turkey plan when I get back from school. I have been going over each plan and think they might be ready to go.
Sarah--Saw your plan under the reg SNS heading and it looks great =) Did you find the Kellogg/Keebler rebate booklet? TIA
Are the cokes part of the GM deal? I only counted 18 GM products.
ReplyDelete2 questions:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, where you do purchase your papers? I found out this weekend that our $ Store no longer sells them. How much do they cost where you buy them?
(Ok, 3 questions). I guess I need to read SNS's coupon policy, but I thought you could not use free coupons there. I guess I am wrong??
Hi JB,
ReplyDeleteCoke is not part of the GM promo. This one is has very limited products. HTH
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteI told Jeri I about fainted when I first saw the turkey prices then realized there was a $50 min also. I sat down and started planning.
So here goes and please let me know if you see any problems. Also, this is estimating a 19 lb Butterball Turkey @.98/lb so my total may be off a little depending of what size of turkey is available when I actually get to the store.
1 Butterball Turkey @19 lbs = $18.62
4 Heinz gravy $3.52
1 Bag Stuffing $2.48
4 12 pks Coke $12.00
20 Green Giant Box veggies $20.00
20 Green Giant Corn Niblets $13.40
Total: $70.02
-5/50 & 10/50
-$20 instant GM
-$10 (5x-1/2 GG frozen veggies coupon)*traded for
-$5 (5x-1/4 GG canned veggies coupon)*traded for
-$8 (4 x -2 any Cola WT)
-$1 Heinz gravy IP
-$4 Butterball Turkey Q
-$6 (2x $3 Catalinas from last week)
= $1.02 + tax =) Now does that look good for a 19 lb Turkey?
I'd say that's pretty darn good for a turkey. I just don't want to cook one! Everyone says it's SOOOO EASY. I think they are just trying to get me to do it.
ReplyDeleteHi All - I'm glad you like to see this type of post. Now, I need to go back and fix it. I'm short two GM items for the instant savings. Thanks, JB! That is what I get for trying to hurry and get this posted before my daily email update goes out.
ReplyDeleteLisa - I've been getting my papers at CVS or Walgreens. The only places I know of that sell the paper for less than $2 is Sam's Club and the two new CVS's in town (Gravois/Chippewa and Creve Couer), both have it for $1.50. I think the new CVS's selling it for $1.50 is a fluke. The price went up just about the time they opened.
I am sure looking at the inserts closer before deciding how many to buy. I have one neighbor who always gives me their inserts. I need to find a few more people who get the paper but don't use coupon.
Jen - I do have a giftcard I purchsed with a $5 off $50 coupon. It takes me a lot of weeks to use it up.
Kelly I agree Janet's plan is a darn good one. I'll be no where close.
Don't be afraid of cooking a turkey. I'm not much of a cook, and I think turkey is one of the easiest things to do. I like to buy one with a pop up and stick it in an oven bag. Put it in the oven and forget about it until that thing pops up.
Has anyone found the Keebler coupon books? If so where? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeri-
ReplyDeleteSomeone recently gave me their entertainment book and I can't find the Shop n Save coupons in there. They might have already used them, so I was wondering if you would mind telling me where they are in the book so I can see if they are missing or if I just can't find them!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate what you do for us looking to save some money!!
I grabbed the booklet up at a couple grocery stores in Florissant.
ReplyDeleteFor those buying the cheap birds, have a cheap meat thermometer on hand. Test between a leg and the body without touching a bone with the metal. The turkey is cooked when the temp is >160 F.
Remember before cooking to remove the metal or plastic holding the legs together, take out the bags inside the cavity, I usually cut off excessive skin and fat and finally, prep the bird for the home. I use an electric roaster that has a removal pan. Once the grease is cool I can pour it into a jar and leave the pan to soak overnight.
Now in regard to turkey soup, a baked carcess won't cut it, IMHO. Since one can't buy an old hen like for chicken soup, deboning a turkey is the answer. If you have watched cooking shows, there's a good chance you watched a cook or chef debone a duck or some other bird. On the other hand, if this is too time consuming, just go buy a 1 lb. jar of refrigerated turkey base and use the leftover meat.
Emily - the entertainment Q is located very close to the front of the book. Mine says page A2 on the bottom right corner.
ReplyDelete3 Betty Crocker Cake Mix $2.31
ReplyDelete3 Betty Crocker Frosting $4.50
2 Fiber One Bars $5.00
4 Pillsbury Cookie Dough $10.00
2 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $3.34
6 Green Giant Box Veggies $6.00
5 Old orchard apple blends $6.25
3 Jello $1.68
6 Philly Cream Cheese $7.50
3 Libby's Vegetables $1.44
1 Hamburger Meat $2.00
Total: $50.02
-5/50 & 10/50
-$10 instant GM
-2.25 (3) .75/2 Frosting/Cake Mix Q
-1.00 (2) .50/1 Fiber One Q
-4.00 (4) $1/1 Pillsbury Cookie IP
-0.50 (1).50/2 Pillsbury Crescent Roll IP
-1.20 (2) .60/3 GG Veggies Q
-5.00 (5) $1/1 Old Orchard Q
-1.25 (1) $1.25/3 Jello-O tearpad Q
-3.00 (3) $1/2 Philly Cream Cheese tearpad Q
-1.00 (1) $1/3 Libby's Q
-1.00 (1) $1/1 Meat winetag
-3.00 Catalina from previous week
= $1.82 + tax and earn another $3cat from Pillsbury products
Previous trans. will vary due to Hamburger meat price.
ReplyDeleteRound 2:
1.77 BC Cake Mix
1.50 BC Frosting (.75/2 BC Q)
6.00 (6)GG Box Veggies (.60/3 x 2)
6.00 (6)GG Steamers (.50/2 x 3)
10.00 (6)Crescent Rolls (.50/2 IP x 3)
21.92 (4)CPK ($2/1 IP x 4)
3.00 Hamburger Meat ($1/1 winetag)
50.71 Total before Qs
-5/50 & 10/50
-$10 instant GM
-13.95 Qs listed above
-3.00 Cat from previous transaction
$8.76 + tax and earn $3cat from Pillsbury and $3cat from CPK
I think I will just use the $6cats and purchase $50 of meat. We are low....
Andrea, where are you getting the Pillsbury Cookie $1 IP? thanks!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, (it's me again...I posted above). I saw your posting in the other thread about the $1 IP but that's for Nestle cookies, right?
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you would get $5 off for every ten item sI was only taking advantage of tyhis once and doing several transactions good to know thank You
ReplyDeleteThe Crestwood Schnucks has a large supply of the Keebler booklets. Its in a freestanding display near the seasonal things.
ReplyDeleteJanet, your scenario looks fantastic! The only possible error I see is:
ReplyDelete-$10 (5x-1/2 GG frozen veggies coupon)*traded for
Shouldn't this be -$5 rather than -$10?
here is my plan
ReplyDelete15 Green Giant Boil In Bag ($15)
10 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers ($12.50)
5 Betty Crocker Cake Mix ($3.85)
5 Betty Crocker Icing ($7.50)
10 Betty Crocker Potatoes ($12.50)
5 Green Giant Corn Niblets ($3.35)
[if no corn niblets, will sub 5 Betty Crocker Cake Mix]
Total with corn= $54.70 with cake mix = $55.20
COUPONS
$5/$50 $10/$50
$25 off General Mills instant (assuming it stacks 5 times)
$3.00 Boil In Bag (5 x .60/3)
$2.50 Fresh Steamers (5 x .50/2)
$3.75 cake mix/icing (5 x .75/both)
$2.50 potatoes (5 x .50/2)
total with corn = $2.95 plus tax
total with cake mix = $3.45 plus tax
this is really just to see if it stacks 5 high, I have other ideas too, but want to spend as little as possible to see if it stacks that high. Will let you know as soon as the 2 year old gets breakfast and the 7 month old wakes up and we head out! =)
Maybe someone can offer some suggestions to bring my total down further... I don't really buy many pre-packaged or convenience foods, so I'm struggling to come up with a list of sale items.
ReplyDelete6 Green Giant Boil in Bag Veg ($6)
4 Green Giant Steamers Veg ($5)
6 Green Giant Nibblers Corn ($4.02)
4 Gold Medal Flour ($6)
1 Flav R Pac Veg ($1)
1 Wheat Thin ($2)
2 Miracle Whip ($5.96)
3 S&W Beans ($2.34)
1 Grande Tortilla Chips ($2)
2 Shop n Save Cream Cheese ($2)
Total $36.32
Coupons
-10 GM Instant
-.50/1 Green Giant Veg (x6)
-.50/2 Green Giant Steamers (x2)
-.35/1 Flav R Pac
-1/1 Wheat Thins
-1/2 Miracle Whip
-B2G1 Beans
-.50/2 Beans
-1/1 Chips
Total $-18.63
There are some other basics I need that aren't featured in the ad that should put me over the $50 mark, but I'm still looking at about $16 for $50 worth of groceries. I feel like everyone else is so much lower!
Hi All
ReplyDeletekas - Thanks for the cooking lessons. I do have a friend who didn't know the giblets were inside and cooked them in the bird. It freaked her out when she found them.
Great scenarios, Andrea!
Tonya - Let us know if GM stacks 5 high.
Jen - You shouldn't compare yourself to others. Your SNS trip isn't a competition, your not being graded, it won't be on your premanent reconrd.....
Your store might have run out of GG niblets. Stock at my store was very low and others have said their stores were out early this a.m.
Jen - I think your plan is great. We don't eat a lot of processed foods either, so I always end up in the $12-$20 range on SNS Thursdays. It's rare to find Q's on fresh food, but at 20% off on Thursdays there's still good deals to be had.
ReplyDeleteIf you're buying food you won't or don't want to eat, doesn't matter how cheap it is!
Had a great morning at Shop n Save, Schuncks and Dierbers. At Shop n Save they will no longer let you divide your order up in two seperate transactions. I guess loosing to much money. Lucky me though I have 3 stores within a 5 mile range.
ReplyDeleteThe Crestwood store said just go out & come back in & do another order which is better than driving all over.
ReplyDeleteDON"T GO! ITs awful there today. Seriously. After waiting in a check out lane for about 20 min the woman 2 people back from me asked the manager (was running the express lane) to cal more cashiers to the front. He just rolled his eyes at her. Really? They only had 6 lanes open and people were lined up almost to the end of the food aisles behind each lane.
ReplyDeleteIf I hadn't already walked around the store with a screaming 3 yr old to get all my things I would have just walked out leaving my cart. People were crazed, rude, blocking aisles/shelves, glaring at me (might have been my 3 yr old's fault on that one lol), pushy and things were out of stock. Then the lines...I've never, ever seen shopping lines that long. Ever.
I did get a print out babout a catalina:
Any Pillsbury refridgerated baked goods:
Buy 4 get $1
Buy 5 get $2
Buy 6+ get $3
Offer expires 12/26
Oh, also, When my things were finally on the conveyor the lane openned up next to me. Instead of walking the next person in line up to his register the cashier just said, "I"m open" So some person who had previously been trying to cut the line rammed her cart up to his lane and put her stuff on the conveyor. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing. I saw a woman with a print out from your blog.I was going to say Hi to her but she was on the phone. That was my first offical Coupon STL follower sighting :)
Hi Lynda - If you can do back to back transactions has always been on a store by store basis. I've always done as Rachel suggested and taken my groceries out the the car and headed back for another go-around. The stores doen't seem to care if you do your transactions that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcella - I was out of the house around 8 this morning. I didn't think I had it in me to go if the store was crazy.
I've only ran into a coupon CSTL readers. It's always fun to chat with them.
Gm stacking only 3
ReplyDeleteCount me in as another who went early to avoid the madhouse atmosphere. Was there by 6:45 and there were already two lanes open (normally there's only one open that early at my Fenton location) and at least 15-20 shoppers milling around (typically at that time I'll only see two or three other people), including quite a few yawning men who kept consulting their lists with a bafflement that suggested they weren't used to shouldering shopping duty. There were more shelf-stockers plugging away than usual but several Thanksgiving displays were already heavily picked over, including the roasted turkey section of the Heinz gravy endcap. All of you heading out today during regular shopping hours are brave!
ReplyDeleteI headed out early this morning. Decided to take my Mom with me and intiate her into the fracas. Turned out good as we lost my Dad 1 1/2 weeks ago. All the stuff I bought was for the food pantry except for the Diet Coke. Ran into Janet on one of her trips in and Mom ran into some friends. I ended up spending about $35 on 5 trips (includes 20 twelve packs of Diet Coke). Had a great donation for the pantry. All in all a good day.
ReplyDeleteI kept telling my Mom, wait until 8:45 am and see what happens. Wow, the people just would not stop coming in then. Had a back up at the turkey cooler. It was too funny and I was glad to be heading out soon.
Did anyone else run into a problem with buying the turkey? My cashier said that the turkey couldn't count toward my $50, but that if I spent $50 I'd get the turkey for half of what was on the tag. I was sitting at $36 with a turkey that said $14.75. I ended up just having her add 8 12 packs of soda, then my turkey was redused to $7something. I ended up spending $29 though and I was only planning to spend about $17. I guess I look at it as though I got 8 sodas for only about $12 more. I was just curious if anyone else had this happen. I checked the add and it didn't say anything about the turkey pricing.
ReplyDeleteSmartsource's website has a new $0.55/2 dozen eggs q. I could print 2x/computer and mine have an expiration of 12/17. Plenty of time for holiday baking!
ReplyDeleteHi All,
ReplyDeleteKelly--It should have been -10 (10x -1/2).
First transaction went well except for the stacking, only 3 high, but CS gladly refunded me the extra $5. Finally total for my 19 lb turkey was $1.71 + .79 tax =$2.50 =)
Was very happy to run into Rhonda and her mom. That was when things were kinda slow this morning. Hi Rhonda =)
Just got back in from 11 trips and I am beat. I have to add my totals and such to see exactly how things came out today.
I had to laugh and tell one of my Fav cashiers it was like "Black Thursday". HaHaHa. All in all a very good day.
Janet, which store do you shop at? Do you do 11 trips all at once?
ReplyDeleteWhether it be soda, when it was a real bargain, or turkey or ham, when a buy requirement is in ad, the item(s) don't count toward the amount. Now there is an honor system in place at some chains and one could most likely receive the sale price at a U-Scan without the necessary requirements. Way back when Price Chopper was around, I witness plenty of packages of hamburger get rang up at the sales prices and the customer got away without buying the extra $10 in other items.
ReplyDeleteHope everyone got some great deals yesterday. So sorry I realized my Cookie IP mistake (well the cashier figured it out...) but I was tied up all day and could not reply here. I hope I didn't confuse anyone too much.
ReplyDeleteI ended up with about $150 groceries for $30!! And a pizza survey printed out and will get $5back for that. I bought the CPK, guessing that triggered it.
Wierd though - I bought 4 pizzas and only got a $2cat. The cat had the instructions on it and it said I should have gotten the $3..... I already spent the cat, do you think I can still call Catalina?
Jen - I agree with Denise. Unless you buy a lot of processed foods, it is hard to get your totals that low. I am in the same boat here. I did three transactions yesterday (out to van and back is the way I have to do it at St. John store) and spent around $60-65, but I got things that we need and I am satisfied with that. Rarely will you see things like fresh produce, meat, dry beans, etc. in the really low OOP transactions. I am pleased to have purchased $150+ worth of groceries for $60-65!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI think Catalina would send the extra $1 if everything checks out. WTG on your shopping trip. =)
Also to Anonymous, I have 4 stores to choose from. I do only one transaction at a time to be respectful to the store, staff and other customers, I take my items outside and then come back in. Yesterday was: Store #1 3 trans, Store #2 1 trans, Store 3# 4 and Store #4 3 trans. HTH =) I do mostly shop at only 2 stores but yesterday was a day to really stock up for me and to be able to make a considerable donation to the local food pantry was a plus.
Hi Staci,
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to cut costs on fresh produce but these are coupons out there for these items also. Last week when SNS had the $1 Veggies I was able to pick up $35 in Fresh produce for Free with coupons. It helps to be able to have the coupons then be able to match the sales. DH just loves the bags of cauliflower with the Marzetti veggie dips.
DH also wanted Crablegs this week so I sat down and came up with this:
20 GG niblets $13.40
10 GG box veggies $10.00
2 sm Maxwell House $8.57
@1 lb Sweet Potatoes $.91
2 JD Sausage rolls $5.00
1 lb Butter $2.48
2.68 lbs Crab legs $16.03
Total $56.39
-Discounts & Coupons $55.50
= $1.89 + .14 tax = $2.03
And rec'd back a $1 Cat for the Maxwell House coffee.
The GG items are for the food pantry, the Maxwell House is for a friend, a couple items are for T-day and DH can have crab legs tonight for $2.03. And I only show this so you guys can see how to work the deals and be able to get what you want also.
Hi All - Even this the madhouse it was yesterday, it sounds like everyone saved a ton of moeny.
ReplyDeleteRhonda - Sorry to hear about your Dad. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Tonya, Staci, Denise - I agree it is harder to save money on non-processed foods, but not impossible. I finally found the hang tag on Absolute Vodka for $5 off fruit mail-in rebate. I'll post a pic.
For all you fresh veggies eaters out there- :)
ReplyDeleteWe buy most of our produce from communityhelpingscoop.com we go through Fairview Heights Parks and Recreation. You don't have to live in Fairview (we live in Swansea). Pick up is every other week, you order it and pay for it on opposite weeks. The cost is $23 for a unit. You may order more than one if you want. They also have additional things you can order. You DO NOT have to participate every time.
This week when I picked up this is what was in my order:
1 pomegranate,
2 large green leaf lettuce
1 bag spinach
personal fridge watermelon
2 small bags baby carrots
1 bag mixed fruit (oranges, apples,pears)
2 or 3 large apples
1 pineapple
8 small onions
5lbs white potatoes
couple pounds green beans
large bunch banans
2 LARGE sweet potatoes
all for $23 I think it is a pretty good deal!
the weird thing to me is how long fruit and veggies last when they are not exposed to the lights at the stores. over the summer, we got peaches and plums that lasted a month! I found them in the bottom of the drawer and they had been hiding under a bag of bay carrots. They were still good!
Just passing along a frugal tip of ours
Janet - Thanks for posting that scenario! Yes, I know it is possible, but tends to be the exception. The majority of scenarios include mostly processed food, soda, etc (at least the ones that are shared). You seem to be able to get your hands on a lot of those elusive Qs that I can never find. =) I would have loved to have gotten all of that fresh produce for free, but when I see produce Qs, it is usually a "get $x.xx off produce wyb ..." Where did you get those Qs, if you don't mind me asking. I also use overages to bring my overall totals down, as I know many others do as well.
ReplyDeletePlease know that I am not judging anyone for their food choices, just trying to encourage those who can't seem to get their totals so low when buying more whole foods.
I sure hope you took some pics or send Jeri a summary. I would LOVE to see the results of your marathon!
Jeri - Unfortunately, the SNS and Schnucks near me almost NEVER has any of the Qs or rebates in the liquor section. I found my last Budweiser rebate form at Wags. I wish I had more time to hunt them down, but time is money. I am learning to just be satisfied with the savings I can get. =) It's all about balance, right? I did just get some Muir Glen canned tomatoes, brown rice, yogurt (32 oz.), chocolate, and OV sour cream at Whole Foods for a little over $2, so I know it can be done!
ReplyDeleteTonya - Thanks for sharing about that resource! I'll take a look.
Rhonda - My condolences to your family as well.