Hannaford Catalina Happiness

I was so excited about this deal that I almost forgot the bag of yogurts I purchased when I walked out of the store. Thankfully, my husband was less distracted than I and caught my error. My sale purchases would have been less exciting had I forgotten a bag at the register and then, had to turn around to retrieve them. Crisis averted, this is what happened.

I cashed my check at Hannaford last Friday because I needed to be at a friend's house early in the morning and was in town before the bank was to be open. I hate doing that, but it was a necessary evil for the day. This being so, I had a $2 rebate coming, if I spent $15 in groceries. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make this work for myself. I did not intend to spend this much money. I also had (2) $2 and (1) $1 catalinas in my wallet, and I had a catalina for $2 off Rachel Ray's Nutrish Dog Food. Keep in mind that for every 4 Hannaford My Essentials items I purchased, I would earn another $1 catalina.

I started by purchasing:
3- cans My Essentials Chicken Soups 2/$1
2- cans My Essentials Evaporated Milk (Sean wanted to make "snow cream" after the storm with the kids today) .99¢
2- cans My Essentials Green Beans 2/$1
2- cans My Essentials Peas 2/$1
2- cans My Essentials Corn 2/$1
1- 5 lb bag My Essentials Sugar $3.39 (needed it for the table wine Sean and I racked today)
13- My Essential Yogurts .45¢
Total Cost: $15.85 less $5 Catalinas= $10.85 out of pocket and I earned (1) $6 Catalina.
Net total spent $4.85

Then, I purchased 1 bag of Rachel Ray's Nutrish Dog Food for $8.49. Less $2/1 catalina which printed when I bought my last bag and $6 catalina equalled .92 cents out of pocket and I earned another $2/1 Catalina for Rachel Ray's Nutrish Dog Food.

I was very happy with this result.
How have you used the Hannaford Catalina Event?
Sonja ♥

Hannaford... More Catalina Purchases

Since I needed to bring my eldest son and eldest daughter into town to work today, I decided to go next door and attempt to roll the catalinas I earned a couple of days ago at the Hannaford in Hampden. I had (1) $2 and (1) $1 catalinas to start today.

I decided to buy (8) cans of My Essentials canned vegetables. The total came to $4. I paid with a $2 catalina, $2 cash, and I earned a $2 Catalina. 8 cans of vegetables for $2 equals .25¢ each can. Then, I purchased (2) cans of My Essentials chicken soup and (2) packages of My Essentials biscuits. The total came to $1.90. I paid with $1 catalina, .90¢ cash, and earned a $1 catalina. The soup cost .25¢ each and the biscuits cost .20¢ each.

I have to drive passed a Hannaford's tomorrow and I think I will purchase My Essentials Yogurt on sale for .45¢ each. I'm going to buy (8) yogurts for $3.60 and use (1) $2 catalina, $1.60 in cash, and earn a $2 catalina. Yogurt cups for .20¢? I can soooo live with that. Which makes me wonder....

According to Dannon Yogurt (and I assume if you can freeze Dannon's yogurt, you can freeze other brands, too.) Read the article yourself HERE.

Can DANNON yogurt be frozen?

It's okay to freeze yogurt, especially if you're packing yogurt for lunch the next day. However, when refrigerated cup yogurt is frozen it may not retain all of its live culture activity and the product may undergo some changes. These changes could include texture and/or taste changes. Because some individuals do not find these changes to their liking, it is recommended that you "test freeze" one cup or just a small sample from a 32 oz. container first, before freezing a large quantity...

Here is  fun snack idea- push a wooden stick into the center before freezing the cup.

I think there may be lots of yogurts moving in to live in my freezer, while this promotion is underway. My kids love yogurt. And, I love the idea a frozen yogurt as a treat.

Have any of you frozen yogurt before? What were the results?

Sonja ♥ 

Hannafords My Essentials Catalina

With Hannaford's change in coupon policies, I honestly doubted my continued shopping there. I still look through the flyer that comes in the mail each week, because I don't want to miss a good sale, if one comes up- just in case. This week's flyer piqued my interest.

Hannaford's is offering catalinas based on purchasing their store brand, labeled "my essentials". For every four My Essential products you purchase, you earn a $1 catalina for use on your next order. You can earn up to a $10 catalina. As I mentioned, interesting. So, I looked at what was on sale that might make this deal worth my shopping at Hannaford's this week.

My Essentials canned vegetables are on sale for 2/$1. As are My Essentials chicken noodle and tomato soups. My Essentials refrigerated biscuits and yogurt are on sale for .45¢ each. You can mix and match My Essential items. Hmmmm....

The Scenerio:

Purchase 4 Biscuits= $1.80. Pay $1.80 cash and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 Yogurts= $1.80. Pay .80¢ cash and $1 catalina, and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 cans Vegetables= $2.00. Pay $1 cash and $1 Catalina, and receive $1 Catalina back.
Purchase 4 cans Soup= $2.00. Pay $1 cash and $1 Catalina and receive $1 Catalina back.

I like to use the catalinas to purchase low cost items that my family would use and that are on sale. Taking into consideration the catalinas earned, yogurt and biscuits on sale for .45¢ get marked down to merely .20¢. And, the price of canned vegetables and soup reduce from .50¢/can to .25¢/can.

You can do a total of 10 different transactions of four items (since the limit on this offer is $10). In the end, the net cost of the items are the same, but the amount you pay out of your pocket is significantly less. In this scenerio, purchasing all the items at once would cost $7.60 in cash and earn you a $4 catalina. This makes your net transaction $3.60. Using multiple transactions, the cost out of pocket would be reduced to $4.60 and you would still have $1 catalina to use another day for a net transaction of $3.60. I choose to use multiple transactions. It takes more time, but in the end, I spend nearly half as much cash from my wallet.

I have earned $3 in catalinas so far, but I plan to stop in when I go passed a Hannaford, again, this week. How about you?

Sonja ♥

Rainy Day $20 Gift Card Give Away

Good Morning, Friends!

I woke this morning at 6am to find it still raining. It looks to clear tomorrow, but for now, it does not make the body feel much like being up and about, ready to take on the new day. I don't care for dreary days. So, I said to myself, "Self, we are going to need to do something special today."

I got a little excited about the Shaw's possibilities starting today, and organizing my sale strategy for that helped brighten my mood a bit, but then I thought... how about a contest???? There truly is more happiness in giving than receiving. I would love to give every reader an extra $20 to use for their shopping needs, but that would not be realistic. So, the next best thing is this:

I am entering every "follower" (aka Member) of this blog into a contest to win your choice of one $20 gift card to either Shaw's, Hannaford, Rite Aid, or Walgreen's.
To enter the contest, all you must do is this:

1. Simply scroll down and watch the right hand side to find the "Members" list. Click the "sign in" link and complete the easy sign in instructions. If you are already a member, no worries: no need to sign up, go on to step 2.

2. Once you are a "member", comment your choice of which gift card you would prefer to win in the comments section of this blog.

3. To gain a second chance to win, comment your gift card choice on our facebook post, also.

For complete contest rules, Please visit HERE.

Have a Happy Day, Everyone!
Sonja ♥

Free Milk @ Hannaford!!!

Here is the Deal:
From now until April 10th, when you purchase Any (3) thress boxes (12 oz or larger) of Kellogg's Cereals, a Catalina Coupon will print that looks like this:

Hannaford has Kellogg's Cereals on sale for 2/$5.
I tried out this deal today. I purchased 4 boxes of cereal, used (2) $1/2 coupons (Sunday insert)= $8.00 out of pocket. I scanned my Hannaford tag and received: (1) $5 off $50 order or more and (1) Catalina for Free milk up to 3.59.

Final Cost $8.00 for 4 boxes of Cereal & 1 Gallon of Milk. Not bad, but there may be a better deal.

Looking ahead at coming sales, my mind has been working on lots of possible scenerios. Walgreen's has Kellogg's cereals on sale beginning tomorrow, (4/3/11) for $1.88 each.

If the Catalina prints there, this will be my plan:
Buy four (4) boxes= $7.52
Use (2) $1/2 coupons= $5.52 (1.38 ea)
Receive 1 Free Milk Catalina
Net Transaction=
$5.52- $3.58=$1.93 (.48 cents ea)

After sorting through all the postings nationally about this deal, this is what I think it will be for our area:

Purchase 3 boxes= 1 Free Milk (works!)
Purchase 5 boxes= 2 Free Milk
Purchase 7 boxes= 3 Free Milk
Remember, Your Mileage May Vary. These are posted nationally and don't always include us.

I need to discuss with my husband first, but I may also try this:
Buy five (5) boxes= $9.40
Use: (1) $1/2 (Sunday insert) and
(1) $1/3 (Sunday insert)= $7.40 ($1.48 ea)
It looks like .10 cents more, BUT...
Receive 2 Free Milk Catalinas ($3.59ea)
Net Transaction:
$7.40- $3.59 (2)= .22 cents (.04 cents ea)

I will update this post if I try the "2 Milk" Catalina offer to let you know if it works or not.

What deals are you excited about this week?
Sonja ♥