Frugal Friday With Marsha -- Little of This, Little of That

Last week was tremendously more busy than what my life usually is, and I didn't get a Frugal Friday post written up.  This past week has also been busy!

Frugally in my own life, I'm not sure what's gone on really.

Dillon's (Kroger) has had a catalina deal going that for every $15 you spend in Pet Pride products you get a coupon that is good for $2 off your next shopping order.  It's good through October 7th.  When I seen that a month ago, I stopped ordering my cat food from amazon with earned amazon codes and started buying the cat food at Dillon's.
Honestly, it's cheaper to buy it at the store anyway as it's $9.99 for 16 lbs.

Here are a couple of good blogs to follow to keep up with the current Catalina deals:
TheCentsableShoppin and
PennyPinchinPaul

October 7th will be here too soon when the offer ends though.  This morning I used my most recent $2 off any purchase coupon and was able to only pay 50 cents for a gallon of milk.

Funny story when I was buying the milk......there was a lady in the store also buying milk.  She asked me if I had heard about the kidnapping.  Here I thought she was being serious until she then told me it turned out ok because he woke up.  LOL!
Her next joke was to ask me why seagulls live by the sea.  Well, if they lived by the bay they would be baygulls (bagels).
It was pretty early for my brain to be processing jokes  hehe.  They were both cute jokes though.

Laugh Own Jokes Funny Quote Postcard

by EnvyClothing


The Kansas State Fair had it's last day this past Sunday.  I love going to the fair and just walking around, but it sure is a hard thing to do without money!  I had my 6 gate passes that I got for just $3 each for entering items in to the fair and hubby got 2 free gate passes from work.  
We found that we could go take an agriculture test and get a coupon for a free ice cream cone at the Dairy Bar.  We did that twice.
We took our own food and drinks in with us, which we always do.  It's a really rare occasion that we actually buy any food inside the fair----as good as it is, it's so expensive (and unhealthy).
You walk through the buildings and pick up free items---notepads, pens, pencils, clips, toothpicks, emery boards, books, and more.  There are also all the dips and soups and other foods that you get to sample as well.
We couldn't afford to go to a concert so we just stood outside the grandstand and watched it for free on the big screen as we listened to the music.  It was Charlie Daniels that I wanted to hear this year.
Here is one of the pictures I took that night of a ferris wheel, and one that I took at the free acrobat show as well.

I think I will end this post with some sweepstakes you might want to enter:

Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card

Win a Popcorn Factory NFL Tin worth $45

Win a Set of Cast Iron Skillets

Win a Google Pixel Phone from Android Authority

Win a 2017 Honda Civic Coupe in the Hot Wheels Sweepstakes

Private Selections Make Your Summer Meals

As a bzzagent I've had the opportunity to try some more of the Private Selections foods.  Private Selections is Kroger's exclusive store brand.

I was sent coupons in order to try the Private Selections Angus Ground Beef, Private Selections Ice Cream and a Private Selections 6 inch apple or cherry pie.  I was also sent a bag of the Private Selections chips in Sea Salt and Black Pepper.  The kit I received is pictured here:

Upon arriving at the store I found that our Dillon's store does not carry the Angus Ground Beef.  I chatted with the meat manager at our largest store and he hadn't heard about it.  He assured me that my coupon doesn't expire until August 1st so to keep checking back.  A few weeks later, no such luck, so let's start by talking about the chips.

My husband and daughter are big pepper fans, I'm not.  I tried the Sea Salt and Black Pepper chips though.  They weren't bad.  The pepper did come in after a few bites.  Hubby and daughter liked them, but felt they were too hard and thick.  Four of my grandkids were over and hungry--they finished off the bag of chips, not saying a word about the pepper.

But......the store has the chips on sale 2 bags for $5 and they put out a coupon to buy 1 bag get 1 free.  How could I resist not trying some of the other chips with such a great deal?  Here is what we bought:

 The Tortilla Thins were eaten by my teenage daughter.  I asked her what she thought.  She replied that they were good, but tasted like they were fried in a different oil.  I checked the bag and it says vegetable oil.  She did like them and finished off the bag in 2 days.  She did let the grandkids have a few tastes.  My 4 yr old granddaughter especially liked them.
But.....let's talk about those Sea Salt Rice and Bean Chips.    Wow!  These are outstanding and so delicious!  Thin and crisp with just the right amount of salt.  
Since buying those 2 bags, I went back to the store and bought 2 more bags of the Beans and Rice Chips in other flavors.   I chose Salsa Picante Rice and Bean Chips and Chipotle Cheese Rice and Bean Chips.   Both just as grand as the Sea Salt ones.
I noticed they had quite a variety in the Private Selections chips, even including cinnamon and sugar chips.   I can't wait to try even more of them.

Now let's move on to the pie and ice cream.   I chose to use my coupon to get the half gallon of the Private Selections Ice Cream.  I bought Crushed Vanilla Bean flavor.   I also chose to get the 6 inch Apple in the Private Selection Pie.

Just look at this photo of a little slice of the pie, warmed up, with the melting ice cream on it!

 It was yummy.  The apples tasted great.  I did think the pie crust was a little too thick for my taste.

Do you have a Kroger store in your area?  If so, I encourage you to try the Private Selections brand.  Lots more food is available on top of the items that I have reviewed.

Disclaimer:  I received a Private Selections campaign kit as a bzz agent (http://www.bzzagent.com)  in order to try the products for this review.  I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions of the products are my own.

Coupon Shopping Trips 60% and 71% Saved

This week I shopped at Walmart and Dillon's with coupons.
No, I'm not an Extreme Couponer, but I'm always happy to be able to coupon shop.


Walmart:

Purchased:
4-2 ltrs. of Dr. Pepper 10 using 4 free coupons
4 Goldfish (no coupon, just re-filling our tank)
4 Crave Cat treats using 4 free coupons
Idahoan Hashbrown potatoes using free coupon
Multi-Grain Cheerios using free coupon
Cheerios using free coupon
4 cans of Walmart brand cat food. 30 each--no coupon
2 travel size Pert shampoo @.97--used 2-$1 coupons
2 travel size Head & Shoulders shampoo @.97 each--used 2-$1 coupons
Covergirl Mascara @$4.24 and Covergirl concealer @$5.94 used $8/2 coupon
Post Marshmallow Pebbles @ $2.48 used $1.50 coupon
Carnation Instant Breakfast @$4.96  used $1 coupon
Dole Crisp @$1.98 used .75 coupon
4 different types of apples (for a school assignment) @1.28, .64, .79, and .71 (or in other words too much)  no coupon used.
2 Up2U gum @1.28--used 2-$1 coupons (not pictured)
Nesquik chocolate milk mix @$1  used .60 coupon
Yoplait yogurt cup--used free coupon
Cookies and Cream yogurt @.58  no coupon used
Rotel Tomato sauce @.58  used .20 coupon


In total I used $34.52 in coupons.  I spent $20.66 out of pocket which included $4.19 in sales tax for a savings of 60%


At Dillon's:

4- 2 ltr Dr. Pepper 10--used 4 free coupons
4 Crave cat treats--used 4 free coupons
PlayDoh Halloween pack on sale for $4.99, used $1 coupon
2-Dole Mandarin oranges on sale for $1.25, used .50/2 coupon doubled to $1
4 different types of apples on sale for 3 for $1.  (I was very upset to see these after spending so much on the apples at Walmart!  I decided to buy 4 more so that after our assignment there would be enough for the 10 of us to have apple slices with supper)

I saved $13.68 with coupons.  I spent $8.43 out of pocket which $1.61 was sales tax.  I saved a total of 71% between sale prices and coupons.

I'm happy....that I got to shop at all....and that I was able to use so many coupons.  It was a friend who sent me the coupons for the Dr. Pepper 10 and the Crave cat treats.  She sent 10 for the Dr. Pepper and 20 for the Crave.

Some Small Coupon Shopping Trips

Armed with a little money I was able to do some coupon shopping this week.

First stop was Wal Mart.  I only bought 2 items, and used 2 coupons.  I used my free coupon for Jif on The Go and a $1 coupon off U by Kotex pantyliners (this made them .24).  I went with .52 change in my wallet and spent .51 of it.

Next I was off to Walgreen's.  I had $7 in RR's from a previous trip that I didn't post about to use before they expired.
I bought:
Revlon Nail polish for $3.99--rec'd back $3 in RR's
2-Sure deoderants, on sale for 2 for $3 with Walgreen's coupon and I used 2-$1 coupons making them .50 each.
Pert Plus 24.5 oz shampoo on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon and got back $3 in RR's.
2-Brach's Mellowcreme candy on sale 2 for $3--I had one .50 coupon to use and got back $1 in RR's  making them $1.25 per bag
I used my 2 previous RR's since I didn't have a coupon for the 2nd bag of Brach's or the nail polish.
I paid $4.61 OOP with $1.13 of that being sales tax.  I walked out with $7 in RR's to spend later.  I saved a total of $12.50 with coupons and Walgreen's coupon.
Please note:  I do not count what I get back in RR's off the price since I use them as coupons on future purchases.




Next I was off to the grocery store (Dillon's) for a few items.
I bought:
3 boxes of Hamburger Helper on sale for $1 each.  I used .75/3 coupon (doubled to $1) making them 3 boxes for $2.
2- Suave deoderant at $1.06 each.  I used 2- .50 coupons (doubled) making them .06 each.
1-Idahoan boxed potatoes--used free coupon that had previously printed out at the register.
I spent $2.51 including .39 sales tax.  I saved $4 with coupons for a savings of 75% including sales.

I also want to mention a previous trip to Wal Mart as well.  I've sent my receipt off in a refund but want to talk about my good deals.


I used my free Pantene coupon for a full size conditioner.
I used 2-$2/2 any Pantane coupons to get 2 shampoo and 2 conditioner in the travel sizes.  This left me with .12 total in overage.
I bought my Carnation Instant Breakfast with a $1 coupon making it $3.96
I bought 3 canisters of Scotch Brite Botanical disenfecting wipes at $1.62 each.  I used 3-.50 coupons making them just $1.12 each.  I then sent for the buy 3 get 1 free refund check.  Taking away the .44 spent on the stamp I will net $1.18 (assuming they send the $1.62 price pre-coupon).  This makes each one of them just over .72 each!
Pull-Ups Flushable wipes using $1 coupon making them .64
This is where my memory fails me and I am kicking myself for not making notes before sending off the receipt.  I only wrote down that I saved $15.28 with coupons.  The above items total $11.28 in coupons so I'm not recalling $4 in coupons somewhere.
Anyway, I spent $25.22 and saved $15.28 in coupons so I was quite happy with my shopping.  I bought things like cat food without any coupons at all.


I plan on getting right in to my coupon shopping.  In fact, I got in 60 coupon binder pages with a bonus of 22 coupon inserts today that I bought from  http://www.momsaves.com   I'm currently going through the inserts --they are older and many of the coupons have already expired--but I'm excited to start putting my binder together.

Walgreen's and A Little More Grocery Shopping 3/23/11

I made my trip to Walgreen's this morning.  I only bought 3 items:
Pure Silk shave cream on sale for $1.99 with $1.50 back in RR's
Tone Body Wash on sale for $3.99 with $3 back in RR's
Scunchi hair ties on sale for $2 with $2 back in RR's.

I didn't have any coupons, but I used my $4.50 in RR's from my previous trip.  I spent $4.12 out of pocket and got back $6.50 in RR's for my next shopping, so I am happy.


Yesterday while shopping I had seen that the Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce was on sale for just $1 a bottle.  I passed it by but once home and cutting and sorting the coupons from yesterday paper, I noticed a $1 off coupon.  I had 2.  I started on my little trek of seeing what else to buy.

I ended up buying:
Driscoll Strawberries, $2.50, used .50 coupon printed from their website making them $1.50
2- Fancy Feast Medleys cat food, used free coupon from recycle bank
2- Suave deoderant, regular price of $1.06, used 2-.50 coupons making them just .06 each
2-Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, on sale for $1, used 2-$1 coupons.

I paid just $2.12 out of pocket.  I used a total of $6.98 in coupons.  87% savings including sales and coupons!  You know I had to do it!

Pictured are the items from both trips.

Happy Shopping!

Dillon's (Kroger) Shopping 5/22/11--72% Savings

I'm already happier because I say I saved 72%!

This week the mega event includes only frozen items.  The deal is still the same--buy 10 get an additional $5 off your order.  Pricing below will reflect the price after the additional .50 off per item.  Also, my store doubles coupons up to $1 off.

 2-New York Texas Toast on sale for $1.79 each.  Used .40 and .50 coupons making them .99 and .79 each.
5-Sister Shubert dinner rolls on sale for $1.79.  Used 2-$1 coupons and 3-.50 coupons making them .79 each.
2-Green Giant boxed veggies on sale for .99 each.  No coupons (what has happened to our GG coupons?)
Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries on sale for $2.49.  Used $1 coupon making them $1.49
3-Kool-Aid on sale 6 for $1.  I used the buy 2 get 1 free coupon.  Register took off .25 and then doubled making them free.
2 half gallons milk on sale 2 for $3.
2 Lipton side dishes $1 each, used .50/2 coupon making them .50 each.
2 Colgate toothpaste on sale for .88 each.  Used 2-.75 coupons making them free plus .24 total overage.
2-Colgate toothbrushes at .98 each.  Used 2-.75 coupons making them free plus .04 total overage. (The store was out of the .88 toothbrushes on sale so I just grabbed the cheap ones)


I spent $14.70 OOP of which $1.78 was sales tax.  I saved $18.30 with coupons including the additional $5 off.  With sales and coupons I saved 72%!


I made a trip to Aldi this last week where I did a little grocery stock up with a lot of meat and canned fruits and veggies.  This will allow me to concentrate on my coupon shopping, and hopefully I can get it more mastered.  I spent $159 at Aldi, which also included several non-food household items as well.

Dillon's (Kroger) Shopping 5/16/11--52% Savings

I can't seem to get much over just 50% savings on my shopping, but I'm working on it.  It's pretty easy to do a huge % savings when you are ONLY buying the good things with coupons.  However, there are things we need that there aren't coupons for (for the most part).

Dillon's is having the Mega Buy 10 Items get $5 off your order sale.  I bought 20 items getting $10 off total.  Pricing includes the .50 additional off each item.  My store doubles coupons, not to exceed $1 off.

Mega Event items:

4-Kraft BBQ sauce at .49 each (no coupons)
Ronzoli Smart Taste Pasta $1.49, used $1 coupon--.49
Puffs $1.48, used .50 coupon--.48
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice--$1.25, used .75 coupon--.25
Ragu Pasta Sauce  $1.17 (no coupon)
Dole Salad $1.99 (no coupon)
American Beauty Pasta .49 (no coupon)
Jello Refirdgerated Pudding, $1.99, used .60 coupon--.99
2-Cap'n Crunch cereal at $1.99 each, used 2-.50 coupons--.99 each
2-Gillette Shave Gel at $1.49 each, used 2-.55 coupons--.49 each
Philadelphia Cooking Creme--$2.29, used $1.50 coupon--.79
Freschetta Pizza--$4.99, used $2 coupon--$2.99
1 Gillette Body Wash and 1 Gillette deoderant--Body was was $2.99, used $2 coupon--.99-----I then used a Buy the Body Wash, get the Deoderant free coupon---taking off $3.90 (deoderant was $3.40 after .50 off with Mega Event savings, so I ended up with both items for just .49 each)


(Here is where I messed up--somehow miscounted on how many items and ended up paying the .99 each for 2 more  bottles of the BBQ sauce---this really ticks me off when I do things like this--$1.98 plus sales tax that I did not need to spend)


Other good deals:
Pantene shampoo on sale for $3.33, used $2 coupon--$1.33
gallon milk on sale for $2.99
Potatoes and strawberries were to total cost of $5.28, I used a $1 off coupon so both together cost me $4.28
Mentos--sale $1, used .35 coupon--.30
Kraft 2% cheese slices on sale for $1.79, used $1 coupon--.79
Kroger Ice Cream (my indulgent item), on sale for $2.50, used store coupon for .40 off--$2.10


In total, with sales tax I paid $49.16 for the items in the photo (notice that my daughter ate the Lunchable on the way home from the store)
I saved 52% including sales and coupons.   Including the $10 extra as coupons, I saved a total of $32.10 with coupons.


As much as I would like to get my % of savings higher, I am still very pleased with what I did get for the money.  Tonights supper---Freschetta pizza, Dole salad, and strawberries--yum! yum!  and at a total cost of $6.47 plus tax not including the milk we will drink.  Not bad at all!!

Dillon's (Kroger) Shopping--70% Savings!!

Another week where my store is offering where you buy 10 of the certain items and you get an additional $5 off your order.  Woo Hoo!  You all know how I love these sales.
I purchased 30 items for a total of $15.00 off my total order.  The prices I put behind the item reflects the price after the .50 is taken off each one.  Also, remember that my store doubles coupons up to $1 total taken off.
Special items:
5-Green Giant Steamers--on sale for $1.39, used 1-$1/2 coupon, 2-.50/2 coupons as well as .50/2 from each cellfire and shortcuts-- each .69.
3-Honest Tea--on sale for .75--used 3-.50 coupons--profit of .25 on each
4-Carnation Evaporated Milk--on sale for .49 each--used 2-.50/2--profit of .01 on each
3 Heinz Turkey Gravy--on sale for .79 each--used $1/3 coupon --.46/.47 each
5 Swanson Broth--on sale for .49 each, use $1/5 coupon--.28/.29 each
1-Temptations for cats--on sale for $1.09, used .55 coupon--.09
4- Pringles--on sale for .99 each, used $3/1 coupon and a free coupon--each one .65/.66 each
1-Red Baron Pizza--on sale for $2.99--used $1 coupon--$1.99
1- Advil--sale $3--used free coupon and register took off reg.  of $4.35
1-Miracle Whip--sale $2.49--used free coupon and register took off $2.99
1-Colgate toothbrush--on sale for $1--used $1 coupon--free
1-Chunky Soup--$1.15--used .50 coupon--.15

Other items bought:
Idahoan potatoes pouch--on sale for $1--used .40 coupon--.20
Carnation Instant Breakfast--$5.99--used $1 coupon--$4.99
Gallon of milk--$3.08
2 jars of Dole fruit--on sale for $1 each, used $.50/2 coupon--.50 each
Cottonelle Wipes--$2.95--used free coupon
2-Kroger 12 pack soda--$2 each, used $1.2 coupon--$1.50 each
9-Lives dry cat food--on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon--$2.99
3 cans of store brand wet cat food--$3 for 1
Green Giant Steamers--(this was a mistake, meant to get the smaller size)  It's all good since I saved so much, but this bag was $3.34 , so after .50 on one of the coupons used above $2.84.

So.....I used $33.59 in coupons, plus the extra $15 for a total of $48.59.
I paid $29.39.....woo hoo!!
My receipt shows that I saved 70%, but that takes in the sale prices as well as coupons.
Here is a photo, but I did forget to take the pizza back out of the freezer, or the milk out of the fridge, so they are not in the photo.

Good Deals at Dillon's

I just had to go back to the store for a few more things this morning.


2-Ivory Body Wash, on sale for $1 each, used 1-.50 coupon doubled to $1 and 1-$1 coupon.
5- Reach Floss, on sale for $1, used 2 internet printed $1 coupons and found 3 packages with $1 peelie coupons on them.
1-Listerine Pocket Packs, on sale for $1, used .50 coupon doubled to $1
2-Dole Mandarin Oranges, on sale for $1 each, used .50/2 coupon doubled to $1.
I paid just .81 out of pocket.... 60 cents of that was sales tax.

Now, I have to tell you that one of my coupons wouldn't scan, so the cashier keyed in the code.  I realized once I was home that whatever he keyed in took $1.79 off and it says video rental fees, instead of just the $1 off, so I should have paid .79 more.  I'm feeling, in my honest self, that I need to go back to the store and pay the other .79.

The floss, pocket packs, and body wash are now added to my gift tote for gifts as I need them.