Toshiba laptop giveaway at Happy Money Saver!

One of my favorite couponing blogs, Fistful of Coupons has changed names and become Happy Money Saver. If you've never checked out her blog you should because she's giving away a free laptop to celebrate! Go here to enter, and while you're there be sure to poke around the blog and check out her deal ideas. She's especially fabulous at coming up with Albertsons Twice The Value scenarios, FYI! Hurry on over, because today is the last day to enter!

Have Doublers left? FREE soda and lots more at Albertsons

You've got one more day to use those Twice the Value coupons and here is another great free deat at Albertsons!  If you don't have any doublers left and live close to it, the store on 132nd and 35th in Everett/Mill Creek hands them out freely at their checkstands and they'll give you a couple copies if you ask nicely :)

The Krazy Coupon Lady just reported a Catalina on Chex Mix which means not only can you score great GM products for free, but you can get some soda too.  Here's my favorite scenario with items the store had gobs of today (e.g. not GG veggies or Totino's Pizza Rolls, though if your store still has them they're good too!)

Buy 4 Chex Mix $1.50
Buy 6 Hamburger/Tuna/Chicken Helper $1.50 (if you don't like it, don't worry, it ends up being free - donate it!)

Save $5 instantly
Use 2 $1/2 Chex Mix
Use 2 $1/3 Hamburger Helper
Use 3 doublers
OOP = $3, get CAT for $3 off meat, get CAT for Free Soda (any brand) up to $3
Total Cost = FREE, plus $3 extra in CATs!!!

My Safeway shopping trip. Total = $5.14!!

I saw a couple posts this morning about some good deals at Safeway this week.  Now let me say this: I hate shopping at Safeway.  I don't know why, but nothing ever seems to go quite right there for me.  But at least they DO seem coupon-friendlier now since they revised their coupon policy and supposedly trained all their checkers on coupons.  But word to the wise, make sure to watch the register and check to make sure you got every deal you were supposed to before leaving the store, especially their in-store Buy X Save $X instantly deals - these have failed to ring for me numerous times.  All that to say I don't normally shop Safeway on a weekly basis, but could NOT pass up the Barilla pasta deal this week, so headed over this afternoon after school with my kiddos.  Boy am I glad!  I got everything you see here for $5.14!!!!!  And it includes two packages of meat, which were $7.36 by themselves!

If you need pasta, or Arm & Hammer toothpaste (or can print the coupons and want to donate some) then RUN, don't walk to Safeway this week!  Here is what I did, if you want a little inspiration!

Transaction 1:
3 Arm & Hammer toothpaste $1.49
7 Barilla Piccolini pasta $1

Saved $3 instantly for toothpaste
Used 3 $1/1 Arm & Hammer toothpaste
Used 7 $.75/1 Barilla Piccolini from SS 8/29
OOP = $.36 + received a CAT coupon for $2/3 Barilla Piccolini pasta!

Transaction 2:
3 Arm & Hammer toothpaste $1.49
4 Glad Lock Storage bags $2.49

Saved $3 instantly for toothpaste
Saved $2 instantly for a Buy 4 Save $2 promo that was on the Glad bags price sticker
Used 3 $1/1 Arm & Hammer toothpaste
Used $2/2 Glad bags Cellfire e-coupon
Uses 2 $2/2  Glad bags from Safeway Make a Muscle coupon book
OOP = $1.52

Transaction 3:
3 Arm & Hammer toothpaste $1.49
Lucerne milk 1/2 gallon  $1.79-50% because the Sell By date is in 6 days, but we'll use it first!
2 green onions $.59

Saved $3 instantly for toothpaste
Used 3 $1/1 Arm & Hammer toothpaste
OOP = $.69

Transaction 4:
3 Arm & Hammer toothpaste $1.49
Mission Tortilla chips $2.29
4 Welch's Healthy Start 100% Juice $3.00
Meat $5.16
Meat $2.20
3 Barilla Piccolini pasta $1.00

Saved $3 instantly on toothpaste
Used 3 $1/1 Arm & Hammer toothpaste
Used 2 $.55/1 Mission e-coupons from Cellfire (they both were on my acct and both came off!)
Used $.55/1 Mission product from Safeway Make a Muscle coupon book
Used 4 $1.50/1 Welch's Healthy Start Juice printables
Used Safeway ad coupon for $1.29 Mission chips
Used Safeway ad coupon for $1.99 Welch's juice
Used $2/3 Barilla Piccolini received in Transaction 1
Used $3 CAT from a couple weeks ago
Used $3 CAT from a couple weeks ago
OOP = $2.57

Total Cost = $5.14
Ok, so $11.14 if you don't count my CATs from a couple weeks ago, but still with milk and meat that had no coupons, pretty awesome since that means everything else cost only $2.88!

New Kraft Catalina = Kraft Mayo $.49 at Albertsons! (2 days only - hurry!)

I got a preview last week of this new Catalina that starts printing today at Albertsons.  Combine this with the Buy 5 Save $5 CAT for a great deal on mayo.  The Buy 5 Save $5 ends 9/7, so hurry out to do this deal!

Idea:
buy 2 Kraft Mayo $2.49
buy 2 Oscar Mayer hotdogs 2/$3
buy 1 Cool Whip $1.00
= $8.98

Use $1.00/2 Kraft Mayo
Use $1.00/2 Oscar Mayer hot dogs
Pay $6.98, get $5 CAT for Buy 5, Save $5 promo, get $1 CAT for Kraft Mayo
=$.98

FREE Cool Whip at Albertsons!!

Starting tomorrow (9/1) through 9/7 you can get FREE Cool Whip at Albertsons, no coupons needed.

Cool Whip is on sale for $1.00 and is a part of the Buy 5, Save $5 Catalina promo

Buy 5 Cool Whip $1.00
Pay $5.00 OOP, get $5 Catalina
= FREE

So, what yummy recipes are you going to use yours in?

"Holy $.12 Mac & Cheese, Batman!!!" (Albertsons Doublers deal)

Yes, you heard right - Kraft Mac & Cheese for $.12/box!

Mac & Cheese is on sale at Albertsons this week for $.79.  The in-store Fall Into Good Things coupon book contains a coupon for $1/3 boxes (these coupon books just finally appeared at my 2 closest Albertsons on Friday).  Combine them and this week's doublers for a hot deal!

Buy 3 Kraft Mac & Cheese $.79
Use 1 $1/3 from Fall Into Good Things coupon book + Doubler
= $.37 for 3 boxes!!!

Why I always take my whole coupon binder to the store! (or...Pillsbury Grands Bisbuits for $.04!)

I'm a coupon planner...I prefer it if everything is organized BEFORE I go to the store.  I have my coupon binder, plus a bunch of envelopes marked with the names of store I shop frequently that I store inside my binder.  When I'm going shopping I plan out my trip, pull the coupons I'm planning to use out of my binder and put them in the envelope for that store.  Geeky, I know, but that's how I roll. :)

However, after a couple disappointing trips where I saw great deals I knew I had coupons for...at home...I started carrying my big binder with me everywhere.  I still pre-plan, but now the envelope just gets tucked into the front pocket of my binder and I bring the whole thing.

Last week it paid off at Albertsons!  My store had one variety of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits on an unadvertised Bonus Buy for $.99/can, and they were marked as part of the GM promo (buy 10 items, save $5 instantly).  I happened down that aisle, saw the sign and thought "I know I've got coupons for those!"

And because I had my binder with me, I ended up with 10 cans for $.40 TOTAL.

10 Biscuits at $.99 = $9.90
Save $5 instantly
Used (3) $.75/3 Pillsbury Rolls or Biscuits printables + 3 Doublers
= $.40

They don't expire for a couple months, so in the meantime we'll be having biscuits with dinner, making Monkey Bread, mini-pizzas with the biscuits as dough, maybe some Mini Taco Bowls.  Yum!

All that to say I encourage you to clip all the coupons you know your family would use if you got the product for free (or nearly so), organize them and take them shopping!