Harris Teeter is having a super double coupon sale. They will double coupons with a face value of $1.98 or less.

I went shopping yesterday with a 3 and 5-year-old. Yay, me!  I made it out alive and with some bargains as well.  I hope to make it back in before the sale goes off, but here’s what I got today:

Starbucks 4 pk Frappuccinos (mommy’s splurge item)
7.19 reg price, 6.49 sale price
$1 coupon
$4.49 final

Hefty one zip bags
2.99 reg price, 2.50 sale price
$1 coupon
$.50 final

Kraft dressing
$2.82 regular price, $2.50 sale price
$1 coupon
$.50 final

100 calorie packs
$2.29 reg price, $2 sale price
$.55 coupon
$.90 final

Ocean Spray Cranberry Grape juice (bought 2)
$3.19 regular, buy 1 get 1 free sale
$.55 coupon (only had 1 coupon)
$2.09 final for 2

Smart Balance peanut butter
$3.29 reg
$1 coupon
$1.29 final

Pringles canister (bought 2)
$2.15 each reg
$1 coupon off 2
$2.30 for 2

French’s Mustard (specialty mustard)
$3.29 reg, $3 sale
$1 coupon
$1 final

Beechnut DHA baby cereal, 7 oz (bought 2)
$3.29 each reg
$1 coupon on each
$1.29 each final

Dr Pepper ice cream topping
$2.99 reg, $2 sale
$1 coupon
FREE

Gold Bond baby powder
$3.49 reg, $2.49 sale
$1 coupon
$.49 final

Suave lotion
$2.97 reg
$1 coupon
$.97 final

Vaseline lotion
$3.49 reg
$1.25 coupon
$.99 final

Activia 4 pk yogurt (bought 2, had 2 coupons)
$2.50 reg, $2 sale
$1 coupon
FREE x2

Bayer Caplets
$7.59 reg, bogo sale for $3.80 (bought 1)
$1 coupon
$1.80 final (for 1)

I got all of these groceries for around $20. It would have been less, but I was supposed to get the 4 oz baby cereals. I don’t need them, but was anticipating buying them for $.39 and donating them to the church food bank. They were stocked in the wrong place. This could have happened with several other items, but I noticed it myself. It seems the people that stock the shelves put things in other areas when they run out of room. It is annoying, but seems to happen at every store, so be careful.

I’m pleased with my deals, but feel like I could have done better if I wasn’t trying to shop with two children. I hope to share some more bargains with you later in the week.

Have you been to Harris Teeter for their super double coupon sale? What kind of bargains did you find?

image (c) Karen Weideman

Hello everyone.  I went to Food Lion last night to pick up a few things and found a few bargains.  Here’s a few deals I found:

Marie Callendar’s frozen dinners and entrees are buy 1 get 1 free.  Then be sure to look on the freezer door for the blinkie machine.  There is a coupon for $.75 off one Marie Callendar’s Pasta Al Dente entree.  The pasta entrees are normally $3.99 and are on sale for $2.  Using the coupon makes them only $1.25!  If your blinkie machine is out of coupons (like mine) look inside on the freezer shelves.  Sometimes they get dropped inside.  I found 3-4 extra coupons on the shelves. 

White House High School Musical applesauce is on close-out.  Get a 6-pack of applesauce for $1.25.  I didn’t have any coupons for these, but it is still a pretty good deal.  These come in different flavors such as mango, cherry, cinnamon, and regular. 

If you have the space and a need for the items, I’d recommend stockpiling the pasta dishes and the applesauce.

Other sale items:

Food Lion bologna, sale .99
Aquarius Spring Water 24 pk, bogo 2/$5.99
Crisco oil, sale $2.50
Tylenol Cold (select varieties), $3.14 close-out, use $1 coupon
Pillsbury Reduced Sugar brownie mix, $1.09 close-out, use .35 coupon
frozen salmon, bogo
$10 off full or half graduation sheet cakes

What other Food Lion deals have you found this week?

Sales and prices vary by location.  Please view the online weekly circular.  image food lion

Amazon has a one year subscription to All You magazine for only $10.  Amazon has it listed for $15, but if you purchase the magazine before May 31 you can save an additional $5.  Certain restrictions apply.

You may be wondering what is so special about All You magazines.  Each All You magazine has loads of great money saving coupons. I was just in the store yesterday showing my aunt all of the coupons in the magazine.  There were $1 coupons off many every day items such as peanut butter.  I will definitely order a subscription to All You and I look forward to all of the great coupons arriving in my mailbox. 

Do you subscribe or purchase All You?

Thanks to A Full Cup for the tip.  Image from Amazon.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was challenged to use A Full Cup to see how much money I could save and how much I could get for $50.  Well, take a look at these pictures!

A Full Cup is a free online forum where others write about deals, coupons, and savings.  You can find coupon match-ups, printable coupons, and lots of information on saving money.

All of the items here were purchased from Harris Teeter using buy 1 get 1 free sales, coupons, and triple coupon deals.  The items were purchased during two separate visits to the store.

With my experience, everything went pretty smoothly.  There were a few disappointments with my transactions.  1)  I purchased the three boxes of Jose Ole’ products because they were buy 1 get 2 free.  I was really excited about getting three boxes for about $6 and my husband enjoys eating the taquitos. I bought the boxes and then in the Sunday paper there was two coupons for the products.  I didn’t have room in my freezer to go back and get more.  Oh well.  2)  The other disappointment was with Harris Teeter’s coupon policies.  They are only accepting two printable coupons for like products.  I had to put back some of my cereal and All detergent.  Boo! 

I probably could have gotten more for the money, BUT sometimes you have to weigh things.  I asked myself, ‘Would I rather get the small French’s mustard for free just so that I could say it was free . . . or would I rather get the large French’s mustard with a bonus 40% more for $.50?’.  I had to make this decision on several items.  Sometimes it is worth it to pay a little more for the better deal.

The bottom line:  Yes, there is some junk food here (please don’t cast stones), but it will be consumed in moderation.  Overall, I got things that our family can use and I was able to get a lot of groceries for about $51-52.  All of this would have cost me about $140 without the coupons and sales.  I’m pleased with my bargains.

Have you tried A Full Cup?

image (c) Karen Weideman

I’ve mentioned that I’ve been a bit busier than normal and here’s one of the reasons.  I was invited to speak at a Clark Howard event that took place this past weekend.

I have been a Clark Howard fan for quite a while, so I was very excited about this opportunity.  Unfortunately, the radio stations here do not air his shows each day, so I am not able to post his tips as frequently as I would like.  

Yep, that’s Clark and me.  :)   Two others and I spoke about saving money with couponing, meal planning, and stockpiling.  The other two speakers of the event were Faye Prosser from Smart Spending Resources and Dan Griffin from SavvyDollar.org. 

(I wonder if they could see my head over the podium. lol) 

I spoke about saving money with menu planning and stockpiling.  You’ll find many of these tips here at Thrifty Mommy, but I’ll be reviewing some with you in the next few weeks.

Welcome new readers and a special thanks to Coastal Federal Credit Union for putting on this free event for the public.

images (c) Karen Weideman

If you like to save money, then you’ll want to check out SavvyDollar.  SavvyDollar is an online forum where others come to share couponing tips, sale and coupon match-ups, sales and bargains they have found, plan coupon swaps, and more.

Although SavvyDollar has information specific to North Carolina, it can still be a source of saving information for those in other states.  I signed up for the website’s newsletter and this week I was emailed a huge list of triple coupon match-ups for Harris Teeter.  The list was compiled by Smart Spending Resources. 

Here’s a sample of the email I received:

Breyers Ice Cream BOGO Reg price $5.39 Sale 2.69 - .75q = .44

Pace Picante or salsa sale 2.00each - .75/2 q = .87 each (2 for 1.75)

Cheerios Honey Nut, Multigrain, Basic 4 sale $2.50 - various coupons including .75 multigrain and .55 honey nut = .25 to .85

Palmolive 25 oz BOGO sale 1.89 each sale price - .25 q = 1.35

Daisy Sour Cream 8 oz sale $1 - .50 or .60 q = FREE

Spot Shot sale BOGO reg $5.49 sale 2.74 - .55 q = 1.09

Skintimate shaving gel - trial size - $1.50
.75/1 4/26 SS = FREE

Rhodes Roll s- $2.19
.75/1 Rhodes Traditional Rolls, Any - 03-22-09 SS = FREE

Speed Stick 24/7 and Lady Speed Stick 24/7 - $2
.75/1 4/26 SS = FREE

Tabasco Pepper Sauce - Original Flavor 2oz - $1.79
Corona de Mayo beer booklet $0.75/1 = FREE
(booklet found at Food Lion)

Mahatma rice 1.49
50¢ /1=FREE (3/1 RP)

Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna Pouch In Water
3.00 oz ——Express Lane price $1.29
Blinkie at FL for .55/1 ———– FREE

8 oz French’s Yello Mustard - $1.50
.50/1 Great Recipes and Tips for the whole family - FRENCH’S® Foods = FREE

20oz Cherry Dr Pepper $1.49
.50/1 Tearpad Q = FREE

Dawn - small size - $1
.50/1 P&G $120 in Brand Savings homemailer = FREE (free now)

New YorkTexas Toast Croutons = 1.59
.55/1 4/5 Insert= FREE

Daisy Sour Cream - $1.00
.50/1 or .60/1 4/5 SS= FREE

Ortega Taco sauce, salsa or taco shells sale $1.50 each - .75/2 q = .37 each (2 for .75)

Ortega refried beans sale $1 each - .75/2 = FREE

Eat Smart Veggie Crisps sale 3.00 - .75 q = .75 each

Grande Tortilla chips sale 2.00 - .75 q = FREE

Nature’s Own Whitewheat bread sale 1.99 - .55 or .75q = FREE or .34

Enjoy the savings!

image from SavvyDollar.org

For those of you that enjoy a store bought coffee or breakfast sandwich from time to time, there are McDonald’s coupons in today’s Sunday paper.  Just look in the Redplum coupon section for these coupons:

• get a free medium McCafe’ brewed ice coffee (with purchase of any large breakfast or regular menu sandwich)
• get a free medium McCafe’ iced mocha (with the purchase of any large breakfast or regular menu sandwich)
• buy any McCafe’ coffee and get a free McCafe’ coffee
• buy any breakfast sandwich and get a free breakfast sandwich
• buy any breakfast sandwich and get a free breakfast sandwich
• buy any large regular menu sandwich and get a free large regular menu sandwich

Sorry, but some papers do not carry the Redplum coupon section.  Image from McDonald’s.

Guest post by Katie.

*Lowes Foods always Doubles Coupons up to .99, so the price reflects the doubled coupons.
Also - On Buy 1 Get 1 Free Items, you only have to purchase one and it will ring up at half price. If you buy 2, you can use 2 coupons!

All of the following are a part of the 4 packages for 20.00:
Center Cut Bone In Pork Chops
Center Cut Thick Sliced Boneless Pork Chops
Boneless Blade End Pork Roast
5 ct. Bone In Pork Chops Family Pack
Bone-In Pork Steaks
Boneless Beef Top Sirloin Steaks
Family Pack Beef
Boneless Cube Steaks
Perdue Fresh Chicken - Value Pack Leg Quarters, Drumsticks or Thighs Sanderson Farms Boneless Chicken Breast, Chicken Breast Tenderloins or Whole Cut-Up Chickens
Shady Brook Farms 99% Lean Ground Turkey Breast
80% Lean Premium Ground Beef (2 lb. pkgs.)
80% Lean Ground Beef Patties- sold in pkgs. of four (4) 6 oz. patties
2 lb. Steak-Umm Burgers
3 lb. Jennie-O Turkey Burgers
3 lb. Valleydale Franks
Curly’s Pulled Pork Barbecue
Fast Fixins Italian or Beef Meatballs
.75q from All You Magazine
Fast Fixins Popcorn Chicken Nuggets or Strips T
.75q from All You Magazine
Tennessee Pride Breakfast Sandwiches
1.00q from 2/18 SS
Swaggerty’s Sausage Patties
1.00q printable
Foster Farms Corn Dogs

3 Day Sale! Valid May 1st, 2nd & 3rd ONLY!!
Lowes Foods Large Eggs .99 ea. (limit 2)
Cabot Salted Butter $1.99 (limit 4)
Lowes Foods Apple Juice (64 oz.) .99 (limit 4)
Fresh Express Iceberg Garden .99 (limit 2)
Bounty Paper Towels (8 giant rolls) $8.49 (limit 2)
1.00q 4/5 P & G
.25q 4/5 P & G
Gain 2x Detergent (100 oz.) $8.49 (limit 2)
1.00q 3/15 P & G
.25q 1/18 P & G

Buy One Get One Free Deals
Russet Potatoes 5 lb. - Makes it 2.24 ea
Edy’s Ice Cream - Makes it 2.69 ea
Lowes Foods Macaroni & Cheese - Makes it .44 ea
Star’s Pimento Spread - Makes it .74 ea

Other Sales:
Hormel Pork Roast 4.99
House of Raeford Chicken Drummettes (2.5 lb.) 5.99
Gwaltney Ham Slice (smoked center cut) 3.49/lb.
Smithfield Smoked Sausage 2/5.00
John Morrell Off The Bone 2/6.00
Oscar Mayer Lunchables 2/3.00
Weight Watchers Yogurt 10/5.00
Borden Cheese Singles 2/4.00
California Pizza Kitchens 2/10.00
Yo Crunch Yogurt 10/6.00
Eggland’s Best Large White Eggs 2/4.00
Totino’s Pizza Rolls 2/6.00
.35q 1/11 SS
General Mills Cereals: Total Whole Grain, Raisin Nut Brand, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios 2/$6
1.00 Coupon Booklet
Dole Fruitbowls 5/10.00
1.00/2 4/26 SS - Makes it 2/3.00
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 2/0.90
Fiber One Toaster Pastries 2/4.00
1.00q 2/22 SS - Makes it 2/3.00
Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars 2/5.00
Chef Boyardee Pasta Bowls 5/5.00
Success White Rice 2/4.00
1.00q 2/8 SS - Makes it 2/3.00
Bertolli Pasta Sauce 2/5.00
1.00q 4/5 SS - Makes it 2/3.00
Lowes Foods Salt & Pepper Set 2/2.00
Van Camp’s Baked Beans (28 oz.) 4/5.00
Betty Crocker Browines (family size) 4/5.00
Furmano’s Tomatoes (28 oz.) 2/3.00
Miracle Whip or Kraft Real Mayo 2.99
Fritos Dip 2/5.00
Sunshine Cheez-Its 2/5.00
Kool-Aid Jammers (10 packs) 2/4.00
Gatorade (64 oz) 1.66
Welch’s Grape Juice (64 oz) 2.99
Spray n’ Wash 2/4.00
Glad Cling Wrap 2/4.00
Crystal Light Drink Mixes 2.99
Use Buy 2, Get 1 Freeq Makes it 5.98/3

Produce
Hass Avocados 3/5.00
Concord Guacamole Mix 0.99
Mangos 5/5.00
Vidalia Onions 0.99/lb.
Fresh Express Shredded Lettuce (8 oz.) 3/5.00

Katie is a blogger and married mom with two kids. You can find her at Coupon Queens of Laurel Run.

Last year, I wrote numerous articles about grocery shopping, saving money with coupons, stockpiling, The Grocery Game, and getting groceries for next to nothing.  This year, I’m really struggling.

In December, our family moved to a very rural area.  It’s beautiful out here.  The neighbors have llamas, donkeys, horses, and cows.  It’s nice and quiet.  There’s just one problem . . . the only grocery store around is Food Lion. 

Food Lion does have some nice weekly specials that I like to stockpile, but I am really missing my Lowe’s Foods.  Each week, I would print out The Grocery Game list for Lowe’s Food, clip my coupons, and I felt a great deal of satisfaction when I rolled out of there saving such a nice chunk of change.  It was a personal goal to keep our weekly grocery budget under $75.  Many weeks I did not spend half that amount.  Some weeks I did, but our cabinets were so full!!!!  After my husband was laid off, we ate off our stockpile for months and was able to share with others too!

There are other groceries stores around in the larger cities, but who wants to drive 15-20 miles to the grocery store?  I sure don’t.  That takes a lot of extra time from my schedule. 

Since moving here, I have had to increase our food budget by at least $25 per month.  Now that we have an active, growing 11-year-old (who eats more than I do), I find I’m spending even more.  As a very thrifty person, this is really hard for me.  Sometimes I am spending over $100 per week on groceries!!!!! 

I need to put all this out of control spending to rest.  I think if I had a regular plan in place, I could start saving a lot more money.  I’m thinking I need to plan one day each week to go to “the big city” (lol) to do my grocery shopping.

What do you think?  How can this thrifty mommy get back on track?

A Full Cup is a FREE online forum with printable coupons and the latest information on money saving deals.  You can click on links to find sale and coupon information for just about any store.   They are celebrating the new look and enhanced features by offering giveaways on their site and one here at Thrifty Mommy.

I have been challenged to see how much I can save by using A Full Cup.  I am excited about using the online printable coupons and the information on coupon match-ups to find the most savings.  It’s a thrill to find food and toiletries for almost free!  I will be posting my A Full Cup savings later this week, so stay tuned for that.

Here’s a YouTube video that explains a little bit about how the site works. I found it to be beneficial.

Save Green and Go Green with AFullCup.com Giveaway - A Full Cup is sponsoring a Thrifty Mommy giveaway with an A Full Cup reusable shopping bag and a $25 prepaid American Express card!  Woohoo!

Ways to enter the giveaway:

Please leave a comment for each one.  It just makes it easier when choosing a winner.

1)  Register at A Full Cup using the referral link here at Thrifty Mommy.  Leave me your AFullCup name.

2)  Be an active member at A Full Cup.  After you have registered using the referral link, to become an active member you need to post five or more times on the forum.  Leave me your AFullCup name.

3)  Check out A Full Cup and leave a comment below telling me your favorite features of the online forum.

4)  Take the A Full Cup savings challenge.  Since you have to shop for groceries anyway, see how much you can purchase with $25 or $50 while using A Full Cup.  Post your savings on your blog and leave a link here or let us know in the comments.  We’d really enjoy hearing how you did.

5)  Follow @thriftymommy on Twitter.  Leave a comment with your Twitter name.

6)  Tweet this post and leave your Twitter name or status url. To retrieve your Twitter status url, simply click on the timestamp of your tweet. It will say something like, “5 seconds ago from the web”. You can earn 3 twitter entries each day for each time you tweet this giveaway. You must leave a comment for each tweet.

7)  Give the post a thumbs up on Stumble Upon and leave your Stumble name.

8)  Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to your post.

9)  Mention this giveaway on any forums or message boards and leave me a link.

10)  Add Thrifty Mommy and/or Keeping the Castle and/or to your blogroll.  You can earn a separate entry for each one.

This contest ends Thursday, April 23, 2009 and is available to those with a U.S. shipping address (no P.O. boxes please). The winner will be contacted by email and will have only24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen so be sure to check your email. You will not be put on a mailing list, but you must include your email address in the second box under your name (not in comment box).

Good luck everyone and thanks for playing!