Shopping Trip – September 10th

September 11th, 2009

I haven’t gone shopping since my Johnson & Johnson cause party almost 3 weeks ago, save for one $3.49 dairy purchase earlier this week. I had so much food left over!! But we’ve eaten our way through a lot of it now, and we also have company coming today who will be staying through the weekend, so I stopped by the store yesterday afternoon.


Total spent: $43.15, but I will receive $5.89 back in rebates, making my final total $37.26 – plus a stamp to mail the rebate in!
Total before coupons: $49.62
View receipt – Yay! My desktop PC is back up and running, so I can scan things again! When I have time, I will scan in the receipts from the shopping trips that happened while my system was down.

Got:

1 box of Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal – regularly price at $3.99, used a free product coupon that I received in the mail from Vocalpoint. Final price: Free! If you haven’t signed up for Vocalpoint yet, I highly recommend it. I frequently receive free product coupons in the mail just for being a member.
1 box of store brand Ritz crackers – price: $2.49
1 bag of flour – price: $1.99
2 candy bars – regularly priced at .89 cents each, used two free product coupons that I won in a giveaway from Psychic Mama Indigo Child’s blog. Final price: Free! Thanks again!
1 bag of Starbucks coffee – price: $7.99. This was the best price on coffee this week, and as a bonus, there is a coupon on the packaging that says I can bring the empty bag into any Starbucks and receive a free drink.
1 dozen eggs – on sale for $1.59, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.49. However, the coupon took off .70 cents, which really confuses me – I also used another store coupon for cheese (see below), which didn’t appear anywhere on the receipt, but the cheese came up at the right price. I’m wondering if the .70 cents was for both? Was the original price of the eggs higher than I thought? Or did it just take the wrong amount off?
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.49
1 quart of half & half – price: $2.29
1 package of pepperoni – price: $2.49
2.22 lbs. of bananas – on sale for .69 per pound, final price: $1.53
1.74 lbs of oranges – on sale for $1.49 per pound, final price: $2.59
1 head of lettuce – price: $1.29
1.60 lbs of gala apples – on sale for .78 per pound, final price: $1.25
2 lbs of grapes – price: $2.99
1 package of deli pastrami – price: $4.99
1 package of Alpine Swiss cheese – I used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price of this to $1.99, but the coupon appears nowhere on the receipt, as I mentioned above – however, the price of the cheese is listed as $1.99. The receipt lists the original price for this as $5.99.
1 package of Alouette brie cheese – price: $5.89, but I will submit this rebate to receive my full purchase price back, meaning I will have only spent a stamp for it.

I had other free coupons that I had planned to redeem, but the store is being remodeled and everything is torn apart – whole aisles are missing and products are scattered throughout the building. I wasn’t able to find the other items that I had coupons for, so I’ll just check back later or try Fred Meyer! And since this is a tourist town and Safeway is pretty much the only grocery store here, it gets completely packed during the summer – so it was a little chaotic! I would have gone to customer service to ask about the egg coupon, but it was so hectic in there that I just went home.

Free Box of Quaker Granola Bars

September 11th, 2009


Lots of free coupon offers to report tonight! If you have a Facebook account, click here to add the Quaker application and sign up for a free coupon good for a box of Quaker Fiber & Omega-3 Granola Bars. And if you don’t have a Facebook page – you might want to make one just so you can get in on all these Facebook coupon deals!

Thanks, Common Sense With Money!

Free Baby Food

September 11th, 2009


According to Money Saving Mom, if you click here to sign up for the Beech-Nut Baby Food newsletter, you will receive a kit that includes a coupon good for four free jars of baby food.

Free Bag of SniKiddy Snacks

September 10th, 2009


Click here to find out how you can get a coupon for a free bag of SniKiddy Snacks. You can locate a store that carries these by clicking here. Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Free Bottle of Coke

September 9th, 2009


Money Saving Mom has the scoop on how you can receive a coupon good for a free bottle of Coke, Dasani, Powerade, or Minute Maid through MyCokeRewards – click here to learn how.

Q&A: Preventing Coupon Fraud

September 8th, 2009

I get great emails from my readers, often asking questions on a variety of coupon topics. I always love to hear from you, and my readers pose excellent questions – so I thought it might be fun to start a Q&A column where I can share some of these questions and their answers. I was inspired to write this article based on a question I got a while ago from Christina of Saving 4 My Family – she wrote, “I have a question about IP’s. How do you know when you have a legitimate Internet coupon vs. a fraudulent one?”

This is a question I get frequently – how do you determine if Internet printable coupons (also known as printables or IPs) are legitimate? Printable coupons are a great way to save, and everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in the coupon community have been ethical and conscientious. Unfortunately, printable coupons are still a target for fraud, and the actions of a few “bad apples” hurt everyone. So how can you be sure if the great coupon you found online is the real deal? Here are a few steps you can take to identify legitimate printables:

1. You can verify printables from Coupons.com by clicking here. This is a great resource for verifying any coupon printed using the Coupons.com software – simply enter the “Veri-Fi” code found on the front of each coupon, and it will instantly tell you if the coupon is valid or not.

2. When in doubt, ask. Hot Coupon World has a great forum titled “It’s Got To Be Real”, where they research the validity of coupons and post warnings about fraudulent ones. They contact manufacturers directly and verify all coupons that they post, so I find this to be an invaluable resource if I’m unsure about a coupon. Alternatively, you can contact the manufacturer directly to inquire about the coupon in question.

3. Use PDF and JPEG coupons with caution. Most printable coupons are printed via special software from Coupons.com or SmartSource.com. This software is designed to be fairly secure and prevent fraudulent activity. However, you will sometimes run across printable coupons in another format – sometimes as a downloadable PDF file, other times saved as an image file (.jpg, .gif, etc). This doesn’t automatically make the coupon invalid, but it does mean that you should proceed with caution, as these types of coupons usually allow unlimited prints and are more prone to fraud. Before using these coupons, I would always email the manufacturer or check Hot Coupon World to make sure that it is legitimate.

By keeping these points in mind, you can help to stamp out illegitimate coupons and do your part to ensure that coupon redemption continues to be a win-win situation for both consumers and manufacturers.

Got a frugal question for Super Coupon Girl? Feel free to send me an email at supercoupongirl@gmail.com, and your question may be addressed in a future Q&A column.

Happy Labor Day!

September 7th, 2009

I hope my US readers have been enjoying the Labor Day weekend! I’m taking advantage of the holiday today to get ahead on some work projects. However you spend your day, I hope it’s a happy one!

Free Energy Drink at Krystal Restaurants

September 6th, 2009


If you live near a Krystal restaurant, click here to print out a coupon good for one free 20 oz. Blitz energy drink. Coupon must be redeemed between the hours of 2 pm and 4 pm.

Thanks to The “Cents”ible Sawyer for the link!

Free Food For Facebook Fans

September 5th, 2009

Two free food offers for Facebook users:

The first 500,000 Facebook users who click here to become a fan of T.G.I. Friday’s “Woody” will receive a coupon for a free Jack Daniel’s hamburger. The coupon will be valid from October 11th through the 14th.

Also, Facebook fans of Pei Wei Asian Diner can sign their “Upgrade Your Ramen” petition, and the first 30,000 signatures will receive a coupon for a free order of their Japanese Chile Beef Ramen.

Thanks for the tips, Coupon Journey, Money Saving Mom, and Frugal, Freebies and Deals!

Free Blue Bunny Ice Cream After Rebate

September 4th, 2009


If you purchase any Blue Bunny Aspen or Sedona Frozen Yogurt Granola Novelty during Labor Day weekend, September 5th – 7th, you can click here to access a rebate form and be reimbursed for your purchase. If you’re in the mood for ice cream, getting it for the cost of a stamp isn’t bad. Thanks, Your Frugal Buddy!
Money Saving Mom also has some ideas for a potential money-making scenario using coupons and UPromise in conjunction with this rebate – click here to read more.