There is some work involved, but, once you know what you're doing, the results are amazing. My family's grocery bill is about $80-$100 a week for a family of four. Before I started couponing, that amount was usually $350ish per week!
Walgreens gives out register rewards which makes things cheap and/or free. They're coupons that print at the register that are offered by the manufacturer.
You've got to have a Walgreens card and remember to use it! Pair the sale + a coupon + register rewards and you have good deals.
For this one, I had to check out twice. The first check out was for the starbucks, the toothbrushes, and the crystal light. I had a coupon for the starbucks. I paid $4.50 for all of it, and the immediately got $5.50 in register rewards. (Meaning I had made a dollar.)
I then checked out with the bisquick and the raisin bran. I had two coupons for the bisquick I printed from coupons.com last month that I stacked on top of the sale price which made them $1/box. I also had one $1.50 one box of raisin bran coupon that I got from the Kellogg's Family Reward site. (You enter the codes on their packages and exchange them for high value coupons.)
I then applied the $5.50 register rewards from the first purchase to the total of my second check out which made everything $1.16. Essentially, what I paid for was sales tax plus a tee tiny bit of the purchase price not covered by all the coupons.
Walgreens actually releases the sale paper early on their website on Fridays so you can get a sneak peak. You have to sign up to get to get a special email from them when it's up.
There's also a lot of coupon bloggers that do the work for you by linking you straight to the coupon(s) you need to print to get those deals.
And, even if it's not something *I* can use, I'll sometimes stockpile these items until I have a decent sized box and then donate them to the local food bank. That's actually where those boxes of bisquick are going. I also have some tomato paste and sauce I paid about 12¢/can for and some pasta I got for about 15¢/package. I'll be grabbing some Libby's canned veg next week for about 15¢/can next week before taking the whole box to the food bank. :)
Thank you so much for your item-by-item breakdown, very informative and impressive.
I do already get Walgreen's email, I just never peruse it because I buy so little food there, but in line with your idea about donating items, I'm going to give it a try.
I gave coupons.com a look and I could check there after I've made my shopping list to see which are applicable. Baby steps :)
If I manage anything even vaguely notable, I'll let you know.
Believe me; before I started couponing, I thought that idea of buying food at a drug store was weird. Milk I could see if you were doing a quick stop in for a prescription and needed a gallon, too. But food?
And then I started learning about loss leaders. It's the deep discounts companies give to get people in the door. ALL companies except Walmart do it. Walgreens is also really good about letting you try new products for "free". (You buy them and then get a register reward for the full amount that you use on your next check out.)
Those loss leaders are were you got your cheap/deeply discounted food. It's also how I save about $8K+ a year on food, health, beauty, and cleaning supplies.
Best of luck to you! I can't wait to hear about your success! :D
Walgreens gives out register rewards which makes things cheap and/or free. They're coupons that print at the register that are offered by the manufacturer.
You've got to have a Walgreens card and remember to use it! Pair the sale + a coupon + register rewards and you have good deals.
For this one, I had to check out twice. The first check out was for the starbucks, the toothbrushes, and the crystal light. I had a coupon for the starbucks. I paid $4.50 for all of it, and the immediately got $5.50 in register rewards. (Meaning I had made a dollar.)
I then checked out with the bisquick and the raisin bran. I had two coupons for the bisquick I printed from coupons.com last month that I stacked on top of the sale price which made them $1/box. I also had one $1.50 one box of raisin bran coupon that I got from the Kellogg's Family Reward site. (You enter the codes on their packages and exchange them for high value coupons.)
I then applied the $5.50 register rewards from the first purchase to the total of my second check out which made everything $1.16. Essentially, what I paid for was sales tax plus a tee tiny bit of the purchase price not covered by all the coupons.
Walgreens actually releases the sale paper early on their website on Fridays so you can get a sneak peak. You have to sign up to get to get a special email from them when it's up.
There's also a lot of coupon bloggers that do the work for you by linking you straight to the coupon(s) you need to print to get those deals.
And, even if it's not something *I* can use, I'll sometimes stockpile these items until I have a decent sized box and then donate them to the local food bank. That's actually where those boxes of bisquick are going. I also have some tomato paste and sauce I paid about 12¢/can for and some pasta I got for about 15¢/package. I'll be grabbing some Libby's canned veg next week for about 15¢/can next week before taking the whole box to the food bank. :)
Reply
I do already get Walgreen's email, I just never peruse it because I buy so little food there, but in line with your idea about donating items, I'm going to give it a try.
I gave coupons.com a look and I could check there after I've made my shopping list to see which are applicable. Baby steps :)
If I manage anything even vaguely notable, I'll let you know.
Reply
And then I started learning about loss leaders. It's the deep discounts companies give to get people in the door. ALL companies except Walmart do it. Walgreens is also really good about letting you try new products for "free". (You buy them and then get a register reward for the full amount that you use on your next check out.)
Those loss leaders are were you got your cheap/deeply discounted food. It's also how I save about $8K+ a year on food, health, beauty, and cleaning supplies.
Best of luck to you! I can't wait to hear about your success! :D
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment