Shaw's Cereal deal, Free Cascade at Target, & Cheap Gain Fabric Softener...

I had several coupons due to expire today which would allow me to "purchase" some free cascade dishwashing soap, and boxes of cereal and cleaners very inexpensively. I had intended to take full advantage of these sales during my shopping yesterday, but the shelves were depleted of their wares. So, I decided to try once more before resigning myself to missing these sales this round. I am very pleased that I did.

Today's Adventure:

Shaw's Supermarket
Ideally, you would use (3) $1/3 GM coupons available online at smart source.
You would purchase 10 boxes of Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, or one of several other cereals on sale for 2/$4. Total cost $20.00 less the three $1 coupons= $17.00 for 10 boxes of cereal or $1.70 per box. But, the deal really sweetens when you get an instant savings of an additional $5.00 discount bringing your total to $12.00 for 10 boxes of cereal or $1.20 per box.

I had to mix and match my cereal purchase because I did not have enough of any one type coupon to fully maximize this deal. I used (3) $1/2 Chex Cereals which were on sale for 2/$5.00 and (1) $1/3 Any GM Cereal. My total came to $23.00 for 10 boxes of cereal. Less $4.00 in coupons= $19.00, Less $5.00 instant savings for buying 10 boxes= $14.00 for 10 boxes or $1.40 each box.

I also purchased Cains Dill Relish using a .55/1 coupon (which doubled to $1.10) for a profit of .13 cents. Additionally I needed butter and used a .50/1 Land-O-Lakes coupon (which doubled) to cost a total of $1.68 for the tub.

Catalina perk: I earned a coupon for $2/5 GM cereals to use on my next visit and I earned 35 bonus box tops for my kids' school's PTG group. I register the codes online for free. It takes mere minutes to do and I earn money towards field trips and other extras for my local school by buying things I already planned to purchase. Today's trip added another $3.50 donation.

Target:

I searched for trial size Cascade dish detergent yesterday, but the shelf was empty. I was happy to find them today. Trial size bags (3-4 cts) regularly sell for .97 cents. The coupon for $1/1 makes these a nice little Freebie. I know, I only got 16 packets buying 4 of the 4 ct bags, but that is 16 FREE loads of dishes. No matter how good the sale, there is no real way to beat FREE for a price. I bought the peppermint patty to eat up the overage on the coupon in case the cashier scanned the coupon at the $1.00 rate. Sidenote: I did not need the York patty, but it was delicious.

At first, the cashier declined to accept the coupon because it was for more than the price of the item. But, I explained that Target's coupon policy is to modify the amount of the coupon to the price of the item. She was very confused and called over her manaager to assist. The manager listened to my explanation and agreed it made sense, but could not see a way to modify the coupon, so she called over another manager to assist. The 2nd manager showed both the cashier and 1st manager how to modify the coupon. I felt badly for the poor customers waiting in line behind me, but choose to consider this a "cashier training moment". You are welcome, Target crew. 

Walmart:

I had several $1/1 Gain detergent or fabric softener coupons which were ready to expire today. Each time I visited Walmart I checked for the 40 count Gain Fabric Softener Sheets, but they have been out of stock for over a week. Thankfully, today there were many in stock. I used 5 of these coupons and stocked up. I did not clear the shelf; there were plenty left for others, too.

Hannaford:Our local Hannaford donates bakery goods, fruits and veggies that cannot be sold to a local community center. Any person may glean a free bag of these items for their families each day Monday-Friday. When I am in town and near the center, I pop in to see if there is anything I would use. 



Last week, I got an entire shopping bag of green beans. I canned several jars of dilly beans from my unexpected bounty and gave the rest to my goats as a treat.

This week, I brought home eleven loaves of various artisan and french breads, which would have cost $31.94. I do not have all eleven loaves pictured because I gave two loaves to my mother, one to my grandmother, and split one between my goats and hens. I put some in my bread basket for immediate use, but the rest are in the freezer waiting to be eaten with some nice homemade soup, a Sunday brunch, or spread with some garlic butter and grilled to serve up beside a pasta dish. Bread freezes wonderfully and is a good staple to have on hand... especially when it is given to you for free.

Final Tally:

Shaws             Regular Retail $41.08         Out of Pocket $15.58

Target             Regular Retail $  4.91         Out of Pocket $  1.03

Walmart          Regular Retail $11.70         Out of Pocket $  5.70

Hannafords     Regular Retail $ 31.94        Out of Pocket $   0.00

Total               Regular Retail $89.63         Out of Pocket $ 22.31

Savings of 75%