worth the trip- get thee to the grocery store!

i’m still having a hard time getting my shit sorted out well enough to get my worth the trip dispatches out by sunday- which is probably when they would actually be useful. however, i do have high hopes that at some point i’ll finally be able to shift everything back into its proper place. but for now… GET YOUR ASS TO SHAW’S IMMEDIATELY! there isn’t anything worth getting at any other store in town- unless of course  you want a page full of crappy weirdo cold remedies from rite aid, or some marginally discounted pumpkin pop tarts at target (ick).

i’m very serious.

now, take your flier, and flip it over. $10 back (coupon toward a future trip) when you buy $25 worth of jazz on this page. with the vast array of coupons available on bettycrocker.com, smartsource, & coupons.com… basically, it’s a page of mostly free food. here’s what i did:

-3 boxes cheerios- @ $2 each w/3 $.55/1 coupons doubled- $2.70

-3 boxes cinnamon toast crunch- @ $2 each w/3 $.55/1 coupons doubled- $2.70

-2 boxes reeses peanut butter puffs (BEST CEREAL EVER)- @ $2 each w/2 $.65/1 coupons doubled- $1.40

-2 boxes scalloped potaoes (gross, i know, but i love their salty dehydrated goodness)- @ $1 each w 1 $.55/2 coupon doubled- $.90

-2 “healthy colors” valley fresh steamers- @ $1.50 each w/2 $.50/1 coupon doubled- $1.00

-2 boxes cascadian farms sweet & salty granola bars- @ $2.50 each w/2 $.75/1 coupons doubled- $2.00

-2 packages pillsbury simply refrigerated cookies- @ $2.50 each w/2 $.55/1 coupons doubled- $2.80

SPENT: $13.50

GOT BACK IN CATALINAS: $20

basically, shaw’s paid me $6.50 to take home 8 boxes of cereal and a bunch of other jazz. i know that save for the veggies and the cheerios, it’s not exactly the parade of health food- BUT next week i have $20 that i can spend on whatever the fuck i want. zebra cakes? crisco? crystal light? i think i may re-attempt the freezer cooking dance come november (need to free up my time for nanowrimo), so maybe i’ll spend my bonus cash on supplies.

in case you wanna see what other magic can be worked with this deal, the coupon goddess is back from greece and officially tearing shit up at her local shaw’s. also, she totally spotted the free crest toothpaste (on sale 10 for $10 with $1/1 from the last P&G brandsaver), which i completely missed.

worth the trip- an inauspicious beginning.

so i’ve been feeling a little (a lot) guilty for my complete lack of deal mongering lately.  the humble coupon lady roots of this blog have been lost somewhere along the way, and i don’t care for it. my original mission had been to make the coupon clipping, corner cutting lifestyle more accessible for single childless jerks like me, and i want to try to bring that element back a little bit. that said, it’s a fact:  i will never be a slick and sexy deal hunting machine. however, i do think it’s a worthwhile exercise to really take a look at the weekly deals, and make a perfectly edited list of everything that’s worth bringing home. not just what’s free or what’s cheap, but what’s actually good stuff. thus, i bring to you a new weekly feature: worth the trip.

unfortunately, as with most beta testing phases, there are a few bugs. for example, there really isn’t shit worth getting this week. i had hoped deeply that big lots might have a new shipment of $3 movies, or that target would have some sort of crazy gift card deal… but nothing. no, WORSE than nothing- BABY SALE?! or what about walmart’s pet sale (hasn’t that iams food been recalled enough?). lame.

cvs: if i were going to bother to head over to the cvs this week, i would pick up 2 packs of trident layers gum.  at $.99 each with $.99 in extrabucks back (limit 1), you can get 2 packs for free when you use this coupon. gum is good to have around, and this layers shit is pretty tasty. but seriously, that’s it this week for cvs. i’ll probably pass.

rite aid: not much better than cvs. i will be scoring on the free crest ($2.99 with $2 in +up rewards and a $1/1 coupon from last weekend’s p&g brandsaver). and if my sources (deal seeking mom) are correct, the right guard that’s on bogo (online price $3.99) will also be free after two of these printable babies. you can also get some free biotrue contact lens solution… but i don’t wear contacts and it’s not really donatable, so i’m gonna skip it.

shaw’s: again (are we sensing a pattern here?), nothing earth shattering, but a couple of decent deals on foods that i regularly eat. morningstar fake meats are all on sale for 2/$7. this is generally unremarkable (knowing that you can get them at target for $3.24 most of the time), but shaw’s does the double coupon thang, and i scored a bunch of $.50/1 coupons off a tearpad in the south portland store (don’t worry, i took almost all of them at first, but then felt guilty and threw a bunch back when no one was looking). $2.50 each still isn’t dirt cheap, but it’s about as good as it gets when it comes to morningstar. secondly, i think i’ll score a few larabars in the cart as well. you can rarely get these pricey fuckers for less than a dollar, and since they’re on sale for $.99 each, you can get 3 for $.50/ea. with this doubled coupon.

and that’s IT. not very exciting (or timely at this point), but it is my hope that with less of a vacation hangover and a more proactive spirit, i can get this going as a regular sunday feature (and get the weekend pickthrough back to friday where it belongs).  hopefully, the shopping universe will also give me something a little sexier to report than just free gum. now, i’m fully capable of missing things (or generally not paying attention), so if you see something awesome that i missed, please let me know. i want to know what you’re buying!!! (so i can get to the store first and clean them out).