PRICE MATCHING ROCKS!!!

Price Matching at Walmart~ 30 items for $26



Some Things I Did Right Today

I went to check out the new Hyvee today. Had some time to kill while waiting for the hubby's phone repair and since I had coupons in hand I thought I'd give it a spin.

I'm not quite sure if the drop in temperature sent everyone into a tizzy or the "newness" of this location is still a huge draw, but that place was crazy! The ailses were packed and I felt I was taking my life into my hands trying to navigate through them a few times.

People were clamoring about this "good deal" and that "crazy price" everywhere.

Now for TIP #1.

Prepare.

The first thing I did right today was spend 20 minutes in the car previewing all the ads for the local stores. I made notes of the best prices this week on my items (things I either need or like to keep in stock). That way, I wasn't tempted to scramble over the other ladies who were clearing the shelf of $1.98 powdered sugar (on sale elsewhere for .99) or .69 cream of mushroom soup (.49 eleswhere).

TIP #2

Don't get caught up in the crazy.

Susie So-and-so thinks it's a great deal. She is telling her shopping buddy all about it. They are both very excited, but think it over for yourself and really ponder if it is a product you even wanted, and especially think about what the final cost is and if it is truly a good deal. In other words, use your noggin!

TIP #3

Tally your total.

My small purchase was off by a large chunk~ 30%. In the past I might have figured it was my own miscalculations and slunked off to inspect my receipt at home.

But this time I questioned the total (respectfully and politely) and the cashier and I viewed the receipt together. Yep, a handful of items rang up incorrectly. More than double the sale price they should have been. She called a manger and he reimbursed me for the amount of the items.

How often do I take the time to think it through before I am in the car and driving home? Not as much as I should!

Hyvee Purchase $28
5 General Mills Cereal
2 Cookie Mixes
2 Butters
2 Applesauce 6-Packs
10 Smart One Frozen Entrees

(About 1/2 price of regular retail)

Saved $110 today...spent $12!!!

Today was a good day for the coupons! My friend and I hit JC Penney's with coupons in hand and our Penney's FastCash burning holes in our wallets.
I was in search of a new winter coat for my daughter, as well as any new clothes that might be a good deal. I struck gold!!!
The coat (which I love~ nice weight that will keep her warm and so cute) was on an incredible sale. Original price was $70, on sale for $19.99! Plus I had my FastCash form last week's much needed jeans purchase (these kids are growing by leaps and bounds) which was $10 off. I PAID $10.96 for this coat!!!!!
Then I had a "$10 off any $10 purchase" coupon, which I used on the jeggings ($7), skirt ($2), and shorts($2). I paid $1.
My favorite part is when you read the bottom of the receipt and it says "YOUR TOTAL SAVINGS TODAY..."

Mom's Learning How To Coupon Too!

Teaching Mom the ropes of couponing, and this is the trip we had today...

75 items, original retail $188.23, and with her coupons she paid only $87.21.

Saved $100....yipee :)

Good Deals Today!!!

Price Cutter and Dillon's, I got 85 items for a total of $78! Some of the bet deals were

Yakisoba- .99 ~.50 coupon doubled= free

KC Masterpiece-.88~ .50 coupon doubled= free

Rice A Roni-.79~ buy 3 get 1 Pasta Roni free= .10 a box

Lay's 1.99- .55 matched to 1.00= .99 each

Bumble Bee Tuna .79- Buy 2 get .75 off= less than .50

Wheat Thins 1.69- 1.00 off 2= 1.19 ea

BandAids 1.79- .50 double to 1.00= .79 ea

Ajax .99-.50 double to 1.00= free

Free Shipping At Disney Store~ Over 30 items for less than $5!

 

Club Penguin 2'' Plush Puffle $2.99

 

Shop at Disney Store today and get free shipping on any order with the code LUCKY. I found several fun things in the Sale section under $5! Maybe some good Easter basket items???

 

 

Tron Toys $1.99 and up

 

http://www.disneystore.com

 

 

TIP~ Don't Be In A Big Hurry!

So I was shopping yesterday with my Mom, hoping to show her the ropes of this whole couponing thing, and it was going decently. We had ordered our coupons and made a tentative plan of attack. First one store to scoop up a few goodies, and then off to the other store for their sales.

But then I realized time got away from me! It was 12:30 one minute, and then all of a sudden it was time to get the kids out of school!

So I rushed over to the self-check lane, leaving Mom to her grocery cart and praying I could get out the door and on my way to pick up the kiddos at school. Scanned my shopper's card, all my items, and all of my coupons. Swiped my card. Waited. Why isn't this transaction over with yet???

"Ma'am, these 2 coupons are past our allowed expiration, I'll have to take them off your ticket."

Uggggghhhhhh. Fine. Do it. (I didn't say this out loud. I am polite and calm.)

So she proceeds to remove the coupons and my total goes up $2.00. I pay and leave.

Then I realize that she was incorrect, and in fact, my coupons were EXACTLY TO THE DATE allowable. 2 weeks. Excatly. That is this particular store's policy. But I was in a hurry, so I didn't catch it in time to politely discuss with her. Lesson learned, right?

On to today's shopping experience...
I went to the other store that I don't particularly love for two specific deals. Of course, like any trip to this store, you cannot leave with only the items you came there for.
Again, I am a little rushed. Not because I need to be somewhere immediately, but because this store is overrun with people for some unknown reason at 2:00 in the afternoon.
She scans my items. I hand her my coupons, and she studies them. And then she scans them, oddly making 3 piles of my coupons on her register... I pay, I collect my items (oddly enough you CAN fit 15 heavy items into ONE plastic bag!)
and I look at my reciept.

Hmmm... what happened to those 7 coupons I handed her???

1, 2, 3, 4, nope. Not 7.

So 3 of my coupons went into a pile on her register. No big deal, right? It's just a couple of coupons, right?

Nope. That's $4.50.

You bet I asked her about them. She was a bit shocked, I believe.

"Well, they are right here."

And she hands me the coupons.So I fan them out to show her all 7 of the one coupon. Instead of holding up the whole line (If you were in that line, you are welcome!) I took my coupons and left. At least I wasn't getting to pay full price AND lose the coupons. I could have gone to the service desk and gotten it fixed, but you can guess what that line looked like.

There are times when I let it fly, but not today. I really didn't care if it held the line up a little bit. I am not giving away my time and energy to make these deals work to let someone's inability to do their job affect me.

So, the morals of my long-winded story are...

Don't be in a hurry.

Count your coupons and watch the screen for them. All of them. 

Know what the policies are. (She also doubted me on the store's new policy regarding Catalinas)

Stay polite.