CVS for 4/5

Below are most of the FREEBIES for this week and my paln

SUNDAY AND MONDAY FREEBIES ONLY:
Easter Grass=.79, limit 2
Get .79 back in EB=FREE!

Bamboo Easter Baskets=1.99, limit 2
Get 1.99 back in EB=FREE!

OTHER WEEKLY FREEBIES:
Skintimate Shave Cream=3.49, limit 1
Get 3.49 back in EB=FREE!

Excedrin 20-24 ct.=1.99
Use $2/1 coupon here or here to get this FREE!

My Plan:

• 2 Easter Baskets=3.98
• 2 Easter grass=1.58
• 1 Skintimate shave cream=3.49
• 2 packs of Huggies diapers=$20 (spend $25 get 10 EB back)
  
• 1 pack of Huggies wipes=$5 (spend $25 gt 10 EB back)

Total=34.05

• -2 1.50/1 Huggies diaper coupons=-$3
• -1 .75/1 Huggie wipes (from mailer)

New Total=30.30 and I will get back 19.05 in EB. I can also turn in my receipt to Caregiver's Marketplace and get back .75 on both packs of Huggies diapers.

So after EB and rebate I "burn" $9.75 in EBs, that is like paying only $9.75 for 2 jumbo packs of diapers and mega pack of wipes!

If you are a COKE drinker this deal might interest you:

• Buy 3 12 packs=$11
• Use 3 $1/1 coupons you can print from mycokerewards.com (assuming you have enough points)

Total=$8.00 and you get 3 EB back for buying 3 12 packs which is only paying $5.00 for 3 12 pakcs or only 1.67/pack!

Be sure to see all other CVS deals for the week here!

My Super Savings for the week!

I visited both Dillons and Hy-Vee this week. I am going to highlight the best deals I got!

I took advantage of Dillons 1 day sale on Thursday and got some great deals! Be sure to see the other deals ending Tuesday here!

• 2 dozen Dillons eggs for only .79/1= $1.58
• 4 1lb. packages of Land O Lakes butter at 1.58/1=$6.32 ( I used .55/1 coupons found next these at the store in a blinkie machine to get these for only .58/1!!!)
• 24 oz (6 cup bag) of Kroger cheese=$3.00 (that is only a $1 per 2 cups... a 2 cup bag usually costs 1.87 or more at most places!!!!)
• 6 Yoplait yogurts at .58/1=3.48 (I used a .40/6 coupon combined with a .50/6 cellfire coupon to get all 6 for only $2.18 or .36 for 1!!!) **note this is a weekly deal**
  

My total before coupons would have been $14.38 but after coupons it was only $9.08, a savings of almost 40%!!!

I also did 1 transaciton as apart of the P&G saver event:

• 2 Secret Deoderants at 4.24/1=8.48
• 1 Gillette Body wash=3.50

Total=11.98

• -$3 for buying 3 qualifying items
• -2 $2/1 Secret coupons=-$4.00
• -$2/1 Gillette coupon
  

New Total=$2.98!!! It breaks down to only .50 for the Gillette and 1.24 for each deoderant... waht a steal and I saved 75% in this one transaction!!!

Hy-Vee: Don't miss the great deals to be had as apart of their 3 day sale ending tomorrow! Here are a few of the things that I got:

• 1 lb. bag of baby carrots=$1.00
• 5 lb. bag of russet potatoes=1.18/1
  
• 24 oz tub of Hy-Vee cottage cheese=.99
• Hy-Vee canola oil=1.99
• Red seedless grapes=1.29/1b. **note weekly deal**
• C&H Sugar=1.48/1- used .30/1 coupon and got this for only 1.18! **note weekly deal**

**Remember to get rain checks for items that a store is out of**

CAB Care Closet

Don't forget that tomorrow (Saturday) is the 1st Saturday of the month and that means you can go visit the CAB Care Closet!

The CAB Care Closet is open to anyone in need of clothing ranging in size from newborn to XXXL adults sizes. It is located at 1135 SW College Ave. and will be open tomorrow from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

If you or someone you know is in need of clothing I hope you will find this service helpful!

Dillons: Kid's Day

I know for sure the Dillons at 10th and Gage in Topeka is participating in this. Be sure to contact your local Dillons to see if they are hosting a kids day!

Kid's Day at Dillons is this Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. There will be cookie decorating, a coloring contest and pin the tale on the rabbit! Also at 11:00 and 2:00 there will be Easter egg hunts!

If you are looking for something fun and FREE to do this weekend this just might be the activity for you! And while you are at it you can get your grocery shopping one as well! To see all the great deals at Dillons along with coupon match ups visit my post here.

To see what other families are planning for their weekend on $10 or less be sure to visit Lori's Family Fun Friday post here!

For other ideas on activities to do around Topeka this weekend be sure to visit TopekaKidsRock.com.

Getting Control of The Grocery Bill Part IV

You can also see this post on TopekaKidsRock.com! Be sure to visit there today for a list of all the fun things happening around Topeka this week!

Getting Control of The Grocery Bill Part IV

Coupons. What more can I say? These little money savers have helped me save a TON of money! I purposely saved this post for last in my series because using coupons can be quite overwhelming when you first start. While using coupons is not something you HAVE to do it is something I suggest that everyone look into.

Why Use coupons?
If you have certain products you are going to buy no matter the cost, then why not use a coupon? For instance if you only buy Tide, then clip that $1 off coupon and save yourself a $1! Do I need to explain further?

Where to get coupons:
Coupons are pretty easy to come by these days. The easiest place to get them is in the Sunday paper. Here in Topeka you have 2 main options of papers: The Topeka Capital Journal or the Kansas City Star. Both of these papers usually contain at least 2 coupon inserts. These are called "Smartsource" and "Red Plum". The first Sunday of every month there is usually a 3rd insert called the "P&G Brand Saver."

You can also print coupons from on-line resources. Two of the post popular are coupons.com and smartsource.com. There are actually about 10 sites I print coupons from. To see those please visit my blog The Grocery Weekly and scroll down to the header "Coupon Sites". There you will find an array of places to print coupons from.

Which ones do I clip?
Which coupons you clip and how many is up to you. I personally clip them all and organize them in a big black binder filled with baseball card holder pages. Others clip them and put them in envelops. Some just clip the coupons they know they will use and wait to use them. For organizing options see the post on my blog about this here. There is no one right way, it is just important that you find out what works for you.

Where will I use them?
You can use coupons at just about any place that will take them. Most major grocery/drug store retailers in Topeka accept them. Some of those places include: Dillons, Hy-Vee, Walmart, K-mart, Target, CVS and Walgreens. There are others out there too.

This is a pretty brief overview of coupons. If you want to know more about using coupons I invite you to explore my blog for more infomration. Another blog I have always found helpful when using coupons is Money Saving Mom.

Well that is it for this short series "Getting Control of the Grocery Bill." In the coming weeks I will be sharing many other helpful hints and tricks I have learned when it comes to saving money. If you have questions or comments I can be reached by email at thegroceryweekly@gmail.com

Happy Thursday!

Hy-Vee 4/1-4/7

Hy-Vee has some great deals that definately beat the Aldi price this week! I don't post all the items in the ad, just the ones that I see as the best buy. See them below:

Regular Deals:

• Hy-Vee 100% boneless skinless chicken breast=1.99/lb. (Any meat 1.99/lb. and under is a good deal)
• 4 lb. bag of C&H sugar=1.48/1 (use .30/1 coupon to get this for only 1.18/1!!!!)
• Hy-Vee gelatin or pudding=3/$1
• Betty Crocker Cake mix=.88/1
• Sara Lee whole grain white bread=1.88/1 (great price for Sara lee)
• 5 lb. bag of Gold Medal Flour=1.68/1 (beats Aldi regular price of 1.70 and up)
• Hy-Vee baking chips=1.48/1 (Aldi price is 1.29/1)
• Midwest County Fair cans of pineapple=.88/1 (comparable to Aldi price)
• Hy-Vee 1 quart ice cream=1.77/1 (beats Aldi price of 1.99/1)
• Dole classic iceberg or cole slaw mix= .68/1 with in-ad coupon (beats Aldi price of .99/1)
• Hy-Vee spagehtti or angle hair pasta=.68/1 with in-ad coupon (beats any price!)
• 12 packs of Pepsi=4/$10 or $2.50/1 with in-ad coupon (use $2/1 coupons from Pepsi rebate and get these for only .50/12 pack!!!)
• Hy-Vee whipped topping=.88/1 (beats Aldi price of .99/1)
• Midwest county fair gram cracker pie crust=.99/1

Produce

• Red Seedless grapes=1.29/lb. (beats Aldi and Dillons price!)
• Bartlett pears=1.28/lb.
• 3 lb. bags of select apple varities=1.99 (great price!!!)
• Disney tangelos=.99/lb.

3-DAY SALE, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY ONLY!!!

• Hy-Vee 5 lb. bag of russet potatoes=1.18/1 (beats any price!)
• Hy-Vee bacon=1.99/1 (both Dillons and Aldi price is around 1.89/1)
• 24 oz. cottage cheese=.99/1 (beats Aldi price of 2.12/1)
• Select Hy-Vee cereal=4/$5 or $1.25/1 (beats Aldi price of 1.69 or higher)
• Hy-Vee canola or veggie oil=1.99/1 (beats Aldi price of $2.29 and higher)
• Hy-Vee big cans of coffee=4.88/1 (beats Aldi price of 4.99/1)
• 1lb. bags of baby carrots=$1 (Aldi price is .99/1)
• Hy-vee 16 oz. bags of frozen veggies=$1 (Aldi price is .95/1)
• Fast Fixin chicken nuggets or patties=$1 (sign your email up here and get 10 .30/1 coupons making these only .70/1)

Remember the best way to support this blog besides your readership is to continue using the coupons.com widget found here. If you would like to see deals at other grocery stores be sure to visit the BeCentsAble Grocery Gathering here!

See the weekly Dillons (Kroger) deals here and the Apple market deals here!

Dillons 4/1-4/7

Well unfortunately for those of you who live outside of Topeka this ad says prices good for Topeka stores only:( Be sure to check your ad for the best deals. Chances are some of ours line up. There are a lot of different deals going on and a great week to stock up on some items! Many items compare to the Aldi price so I will tell you that I prefer to spend my $ at Dillons so I can get my gas discount!

Regular deals:

• Dillons Milk=2/$5 or $2.50/1 (Aldi has the better price of $2.30 for most of their milk)
• Boneless Pork Loin=1.88/lb. (meat for under 1.99/lb. is a good deal)
• Cook's shank half ham=.99/lb.
• Sara Lee whole grain bread=1.88/1 ( great price for Sara lee)
• Kroger canned veggies=2/$1 or .50/1 ( Aldi canned veggies are .49/can)
• Kellog's cereal=$2.18/1 (use $1/1 peelies found on many boxes are most Dillons stores to pay only $1.18/1!) *deal idea*: Buy 2 boxes of frosted flakes, use 2 $1/1 peelies and use $1/2 shortcuts coupon to only pay .59/box!
• Betty Crocker fruit snacks=2/$4. Use .75/2 coupon combined with .75/2 cellfire.com coupon to pay $1.13/box
  
• Individual YoPlait yogurt cups are .58/1 (use .40/6 coupon combined with .40/6 shortcuts.com coupon to get 6 for $2.18 or .38/1) (beats the Aldi price of .43/1)
• 2 liters of Pepsi are on sale 4/$5. WYB 4 you get a FREE 2 liter of Siera mist Ruby Read so it makes these 2 liters 5/$5 after sale.
• Farmland Bologna, salami or pimento loaf=110/$10 (use any coupon from Farmland Mailer to get this FREE!)
• Farmland breakfast sausage and hot dogs=2/$3 or $1.50/1 (use any coupon from Farmland mailer to get these for only .50/1!)
• Honey Suckle fresh ground turket (93% lean)=BIGI with the regular price at 3.49/1. Buy 2 and get both packages for only $1.73/1 (good deal!)
• Pillsbury rolls, biscuits or Pizza crust=4/$5 When you buy 4 you get an automatic $1 taken off your total making these 4/$4. Use .40/1 coupons pizza crust to get these for only .20! You may also have .40/1 coupons for rolls too making these .20 also!

Produce: (remember any produce for a $1/lb. or under is a good deal!)

• Red or green seedless grapes=$1.67/lb. (Aldi price is around $1.49/lb. for grapes)
• Red ripe slices tomatoes= $1.00/lb.
• Avacados or mangos=$1/1 (Aldi is around this price but sometimes less depending on the week)
• Select varieties of apples=$1/lb.
• Cantaloupe=$1.58 each
  
• 1 lb. tub of Driscoll strawberries=1.99/1 (Aldi tubs are usually 1.89 or less)
• Kroger 5 lb. bags of russet potatoes are 1.98/1 (Aldi 10 lb. bags on a usual week are $3.99/1)

1 DAY ONLY SALE THURSDAY APRIL 2nd

• 1 dozen Dillons eggs=.79/1 (haven't seen a price this low in a LONG TIME!)
• 1 lb. Land o Lakes stick butter=1.58/1 (same as Aldi off brand price this week) (see details here about signing up your email with Land O lakes and how to get a .55/1 coupon making this only .58/1!!)
  
• 24 oz. Kroger shreds or bars of cheese=$3.00 (great price!)

Proctor and Gamble Event:
Buy 3 Participating items and get $3 off your total or $1 off per item. All prices below represent this price after discount. You can purchase up to 9 qualifiying items in each transaction for a max amount of $9 off your total per transaction.

Because most of our prices match up with this blogger's ad here I am not going to reinvent the wheel here. I am going to direct to her site for all the details. I will be updating this list Sunday when our new P&G coupons come out.

Chances are this deal will go for 2 weeks so we have plenty of time to take advantage of the great savings! Be sure to let us know if you see any other marked items in the store that are not in the ad.

Be sure to visit Amy's blog here for a great inexpensive meal idea based on these regular weekly sales!

If you see a good deal or coupon match up I missed please let me know in the comment section. If you have a question you can leave that in the comment section as well or use the e-mail me button at the top right hand corner of the page.

One great way to continue to support this blog is to print your coupons from the coupons.com widget found here.

***Be sure to check out cellfire.com and shortcuts.com for great E-Coupons that can be added to your Kroger card!

If you don't live in this region or are looking for an ad for another store I hope you visit The Grocery Gathering found here. See Hy-Vee deals here. Also be sure to visit Cara's blog here for the scoop on Apple Market deals!

Frugal Recipe Price Breakdowns:

I couldn't decide which recipe I wanted to post his week so I decided to share with you one of my favorite recipe sites that also breaks down the price of their frugal recipes as well.

This site is called Miserly Moms and I love it! If you scroll down the left side of the page you will see a tab called Frugal Recipes. Simply click on it and browse for any recipe you want! I use this site often and it has been very helpful.

This was also a site I included in my post about "Why I Menu Plan" as a means of "Getting Control of the Grocery Bill."

Enjoy!

Filtrete Dirty Filter Challange

From now until July 30th, 2009 you have to chance to receive a FREE Filtrete filter. You can read details about how you accomplish this here.

The way I understand this is that you can either purchase a filter and follow instructions here to get a rebate check. Or you can go to this site here and submit a picture of your old filter along with why you would choose Filtrete and you will get a FREE filter just for doing this.

Thanks Blaire!

It's BACK!!!

The Cottonelle coupon is back on coupons.com. Go here to print 2 coupons per computer.

In case you are new to this deal most Dillons (Kroger) stores have Cottonelle 4 packs marked at .99/1. Use the .50/1 coupon and get FREE TOILET PAPER after the coupon doubles!!!

Kids Bowl FREE!

Thanks an email from a good friend, I just found about about this great program where kids can bowl 2 games a day for FREE ALL SUMMER LONG! Click this link here to find out if your city/state is participating in this. Thankfully for us Topeka people we have 2 places participating!!!!

Happy Monday!

Menu Plan Monday for March 30th

Here is my $50/week plan. We didn't get to the Red Beans and Rice last week so hopefully we will this week.

Sunday: Meat, bean and cheese burritos
Monday: Bacon Pasta Toss, apple slices
Tuesday: Cheeseburger Rolls, oven fries and corn
Wednesday: Red Beans and rice (repeat from last week)
Thursday: Left overs
Friday: Pizza!
Saturday: ???

I am not sure what recipe I will posting Tuesday, but there will be one! See you then!

Walgreens: Jane Products on sale

A number of Jane cosmetic products are marked down in Walgreens. Many of them are under $3! The best deal I saw was eyeliner for only $2.19. If you have a $2/1 coupon you may have received from either the April All You or recent inserts you can get some pretty cheap Jane cosmetic items!!!