Welcome everyone!!! Things are starting to look good for deals in the grocery store.
If this is your first time here this is my goal: to help you cut your finances by teaching you how to match store sales with coupons to make deals and how to turn those deals into realistic and easy meals. I have been doing this for over 10 years and feel like I have it down pat enough to share to others. I have saved over $28,000 since I got married in 1998 and my monthly grocery budget has gone from $250.00 to $200.00 to the current $150.00. I have 3 kids. Yes we do eat meat and yes I do eat name brands all the time! Included in this monthly budget is all hygiene items and cleaning supplies too. The only thing that I do include in my grocery budget is diapers and wipes. That being said you probably think I am either crazy or super uptight organized. I am neither- just a super strategic shopper and meal planner. I do make mistakes, I lose coupons, I sometimes pay too much and I sometimes walk right past a deal and not even see it. Couponing is an ever changing hobby or whatever you would call it and I am always learning something new. (sometimes I call it survival in the world of $3.00++ a gallon of gas).
I don't know if it is me, but I saw more ways to save money in the grocery store this week than normal. Who-when-what you must be thinking.
There are several rebates that I found that are going to match up with things that are currently on sale. First, at Lowes Foods, Food Lion and at Harris Teeter there are phamplets by Coors (beer). They don't look like a "regular" rebate so you have to look at them to see the rebate that is on the last page of the phamplet. The phamplet says "Super Bowl Party Guide" on the front and has a picture of a group of people watching tv. When you buy $20.00 worth of "Tostitos chips/dips/meat/soup/chili/condiments/or soda" you will get a rebate of $10.00. That is great. You can send in more than one receipt so you will have have to buy 20.00 at once or even at the same store. Save all your receipts and you will save yourself 10.00 that you can put back into your grocery budget. The items are so varied there is no way you can't refuse to do this one. I would suggest that you always make copies of any rebate/receipts you send it and date it so that you remember when you sent it in. If you have problems finding the official phamplet, go to http://www.checkmyrebate.com/ and look under the Coors rebate lists and see if they have put up this Superbowl one yet and then print off the eligibility page and list you NAZ (name-address-zip), add your DOB and SIGN IT and send it off.
Second, there is another rebate for seafood. This one I only found in Food Lion! This one is through Fosters (aka Miller Brewing Co). You buy $13.98 of seafood and get $6.99 back. I will describe on the Teeter page who to make this FREE.
Keep your eyes open. I found a hangtag on a wine bottle at Harris Teeter for a $5.00 rebate on Pointsettias and on another bottle a tag for 1.00 off floral. You could double dip and use the 1.00 off when you initially purchase the pointsettias and then send in and receive the $5.00 rebate. I know the big ones are more than 6.00 but some of the smaller ones I have seen for right around 5.00 so that would be FREE. Take it and give it to a teacher or the school office or the librarian/art teacher/ whomever and make just a random act of niceness for free. Just a thought.
I did a walk through in Food Lion for the first time in months and was shocked. I had written that store off because they do not double my coupons and most of the time I don't find "good deals there". But.... surprise surprise they had both rebates and several unadvertised sales that were great deals (refer to the Food Lion page). Guess I will add them to my weekly walk through....
Genna
