My Publix Trip - Made Money w/o Moneymakers

What a great sale this week! If you have freezer space. Which I didn't think I had, until I was rummaging around and found two big bags of ice cubes we had stashed for the cooler for road trips. Dumped those pretty quick into the pool and now I had the room for all ten boxes of frozen fish and some veggies.
It was a sad day yesterday when Save A Lot announced on their facebook page that they would be ending the grocery shopper club and thus the $5 off $25 online printable competitor coupon. My last one expires early next week and that will be the end of it. I got kind of used to not using it a couple weeks ago when my favorite store started only giving $5 GC for the coupon to be used on your next trip.

Anyway, I was anxious to get my food into the freezer so I forgot to get a picture of it all. But you guys know what it looks like, just read what I got on my list. Last week I got some of the Kraft Fresh Takes and made a great hamburger with the Savory flavor for dinner this week. It tasted yummy, but for the life of me I was restless all evening and couldn't sleep. I don't have the package anymore, but I swear there must be some MSG or sulfites or nitrites in that breading. After biking and walking everyday, I usually never have any trouble sleeping, so when I do the first culprit is food. So, keep an eye on your kids if they get wacked out from eating that stuff. I'm not positive thats it, but it was the only new food that day and its processed which we don't normally eat much of. So, since its free we got more but I just opened them up and cut apart the packaged of bread crumbs and cheese and kept the cheese, throwing out the rest.

Also the chocolate cream cheese indulgence stuff is free this week too. It goes great with the strawberries. You can get a $2 off produce PQ for referring 3 friends to get the stock up coupon booklet. Just enter your email, plus 3 friends emails and shortly you will receive a link to print a bricks coupon, 2 prints per email.

Now onto today's shop. I actually did two transactions to maximize the use of Save A Lot coupons before they end. It's a new month so I have plenty of my $5 off $30 Take Your Budget By The Horns PQ's but I need to conserve for later this month. I was really bummed that there were no moneymakers in the store, no Sundown B6 or Folic acid, or Natures Made Folic Acid. I could have used some CG coupons on nail files but I haven't clipped those coupons yet. I had planned on overage and it screwed up my shop, so I had to rely on my Grocery Tracker App to keep me in line.

1-Mar	32		92.80	28.44	62.00		2.36	36	-97.46%
Product	qty	price	subtl	B1G1	-Q		total	Q#	Q details
Romaine	1	1.29	1.29		2.00		-0.71	1	$2 PQ wys $5 stocking spree
Lettuce iceburg	1	1.49	1.49		2.00		-0.51	1	$2 PQ wys $5 stocking spree
onions green	1	0.60	0.60				0.60
mushrooms	1	1.99	1.99				1.99
strawberries 1 pt	3	1.67	5.01		4.00		1.01	2	$2 PQ wys $5 stocking spree
cucumber	1	0.75	0.75				0.75
Mrs Pauls fish BOGO	6	5.99	35.94	17.97	18.00		-0.03	12	$2/1 PQ seafd + $1/1 MQ print
Mrs Pauls breaded fillet	2	3.25	6.50		6.00		0.50	4	$2/1 PQ seafd + $1/1 MQ print
green pepper	1	1.29	1.29		2.00		-0.71
Al Fresco brkfs sau BOGO	6	3.49	20.94	10.47	6.00		4.47	6	$1/1 MQ print
Kraft Fresh Takes	4	2.00	8.00		8.00		0.00	6	$2/2 PQ YAF + $1/1 MQ print
Kraft Crm Cheese Indulg	2	2.00	4.00		4.00		0.00	3	$2/2 PQ YAF + $1/1 MQ print
Publix Gift Card	1	5.00	5.00				5.00
$/$$ coupon	1	0.00	0.00		5.00		-5.00	1	$5/$25 SAL
$/$$ coupon	1	0.00	0.00		5.00		-5.00	1	$5/$30 Publix
1-Mar	15		32.93	1.96	28.97		2.00	17	-93.93%
Product	qty	price	subtl	B1G1	-Q		total	Q#	Q details
Lettuce iceburg	1	1.49	1.49				1.49
Mrs Pauls breaded fillet	2	3.25	6.50		6.00		0.50	4	$2/1 PQ seafd + $1/1 MQ print
Activia yogurt 4pk	4	2.00	8.00		8.00		0.00	4	$2/2 TQ + $1/1 MQ print
Steamfresh veg 50% off	2	1.97	3.94	1.96	1.97		0.01	2	free stmfrsh wyb Mrs Pauls MQ
Kraft Fresh Takes	2	2.00	4.00		4.00		0.00	3	$2/2 PQ YAF + $1/1 MQ print
Kraft Crm Cheese Indulg	2	2.00	4.00		4.00		0.00	3	$2/2 PQ YAF + $1/1 MQ print
Publix Gift Card	1	5.00	5.00				5.00
$/$$ coupon	1	0.00	0.00		5.00		-5.00	1	$5/$25 SAL
$/$$ coupon		0.00	0.00				0.00		$5/$30 Publix

I spent $2.36 on the first order which was just over $67 with the $5 Gift Card, my receipt says I saved $99.04. But the bottom line is I made $2.64. For the second order I paid $2 and my order was just over $30 at the register with the $5 Gift Card, and my receipt says I saved $36.29. I made $3 on that order. So all together I paid $4.36 and got all my groceries and $10 in gift cards.

Have a Great Shop!

3/4 Sunday Coupon Inserts - SS RP PG TQ

P&G (last exp 5/31/12):
Align $3/1 product ets
Always $.50/1 Pads, Clean or Feminine cleansing cloths ets
Always $.50/1 pantiliners 30ct+
Always $1/1 Infinity 12ct+
Bissell $1/1 carpet cleaning product with Febreze Freshness (5/31/12)
Bounty $.25/1 towels or napkins ets
Braun $2/1 Clean & Renew refills ets
Cascade $.25/1 ets
Charmin $.25/1 product ets
Clairol $2/1 hair color ets
Covergirl $1/1 product ets

New Coupons - Soymilk, Fresh Take, Glade, Baby Products

If you already printed your $1/1 Fresh Take coupon, here's a chance to do it again!

New Coupons:

$0.55 off one Silk® Soymilk or Almondmilk 8oz or Multi-pack
$1.00 off one Silk® Fruit & Protein quart or larger
$1.00 off one Silk® Pure Coconut Coconutmilk (Half Gallon)
$0.75 off ONE (1) package of KRAFT Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb Mix

Sign Up to Get Publix Stocking Spree Coupon Booklet

This April, the newest Stocking Spree coupon booklet arrives with over $57 in Publix® deals on all your favorite brands! If you have already signed up once, the spring Publix® coupon booklet will be automatically sent to your doorstep between 4/2–4/9/2012. The book is packed with coupons for Chips Ahoy!^®, Gatorade^®, Tide^® and more!

If you haven’t already signed up for Stocking Spree, do so fast!

http://www.stockingspree.com/'rel=nofollow'

Publix Weekly Ad Sneak Peek 3/1 - 3/7/12

This is the good ad we've been waiting for! I'm excited to use my $2 Publix Seafood coupon on the Mrs. Pauls frozen fish fillets along with the $1/1 MQ Printable to make for free fish! It's also free Dannon Yogurt time again with the $1/1 MQ 2-19SS stacked with a $2/2 TQ. 

BOGOs:
Arnold Sandwich Thins or Thomas' Bagel Thins, 12 or 13 oz pkg, save up to 3.69

Oscar Mayer Beef Bologna, Original, Light or Thick-Cut, 16 oz pkg, save up to 5.29

Athenos Crumbled Feta Cheese, Traditional, Garlic & Herb, or Basil & Tomato, 6 oz pkg, save up to 4.49

Blue Plate Mayonnaise, Real or Light, 32 oz jar, save up to 4.33

Hunt's Tomato Ketchup, 35 oz bottle, save up to 1.95

Skippy Peanut Butter, 15 or 16.3 oz jar, save up to 3.79

Ocean Spray Juice Cocktail, Juice Drink or 100% Cranberry Juice Blend, 101 or 101.4 oz bottle, save up to 5.59

Del Monte Tomatoes, 14.5 oz can, save up to 1.49

Quaker Life Cereal, 18 oz box or Oatmeal Squares, 14.5 oz box, save up to 4.89

Near East Rice Pilaf or Couscous, Taboule, or Whole Grain Blends, 5.25 to 10 oz box, save up to 2.19

Truvia Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener, 4.9 oz box, save up to 3.99

Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn 6 ct, or 10 ct Mini Bags, 11.64 to 19.8 oz box, or 30 oz jar, save up to 4.89

It's Back! $2 off $2 Publix Coupon

In the Tampa Trib (p11), or Tampa Bay Times (p4) there's a great $2 off $2 Publix coupon for any seafood purchase. Coupon expires 3/3/12. So, I think I'm getting some extra papers today.

My Publix Trip - Made $6

This was my big trip of the week so I went to a store where they were more likely to have the moneymakers like Natures Made vitamins, Sundown vitamins, and Tena sanitary napkins. This also happens to be a store that won't give you $5 off for the Save A Lot coupon, they will give you a $5 gift card for next time. This means you can essentially go negative on your order for that $5. It doesn't really matter to me if they do this, I just like to know before I get to the register this is whats going to happen so I plan my gift card amount appropriately.
Today I paid $4.18 cents on a gift card, saved $129.96 on my groceries and got a $10 gift card too, so they paid me almost $6 to shop today, so it was over 100% saved.

25-Feb	43		99.83	0.00	95.65		4.18	36	-95.81%
Product	qty	price	subtl	B1G1	-Q		total	Q#	Q details
Romaine	1	1.69	1.69				1.69
Lettuce iceburg	1	1.49	1.49				1.49
onions green	1	0.60	0.60				0.60
mushrooms	1	1.99	1.99				1.99
strawberries 1 pt	3	1.67	5.01				5.01
cucumber	1	0.75	0.75				0.75
Kelloggs Raisin Bran/Cinnabon	10	1.99	19.90		15.00		4.90	7	$5/5 MQ print + $1/2 TQ
Kashi Frozen entrée	4	2.50	10.00		9.00		1.00	6	$2/1 MQ rcyclbnk + $0.50/2 TQ
Milk Gallon	1	3.65	3.65		3.65		0.00	1	free gal wyb 3 brkfst MQ facbk
Carrot matchsticks	1	1.69	1.69				1.69
Kraft indulgence cream	4	2.00	8.00		8.00		0.00	6	$2/2 PQ YAF + $1/1 MQ print
Limes	3	0.50	1.50				1.50
Tena 30 ct	2	5.19	10.38		14.00		-3.62	2	$7/1 MQ print
Nature Made Folic Acid 250ct	3	2.94	8.82		18.00		-9.18	6	$5/1 MQ print + $1/1 TQ
Sundown B6 120 ct	4	3.59	14.36		18.00		-3.64	6	$3/1 PQ GAB + $3/2 MQ print
Publix Gift Card	1	10.00	10.00				10.00
$/$$ coupon	1	0.00	0.00		5.00		-5.00	1	$5/$25 SAL
$/$$ coupon	1	0.00	0.00		5.00		-5.00	1	$5/$30 Publix

The Potential of Lent

Today is the beginning of Lent. As a recovering Catholic, I was raised to conform to the various religious sacrifices and behavioral limitations of the religion. Anyway, the beginning of Lent has always been an opportunity to improve ones self by restraining from partaking in some activity that may be limiting our potential. It isn't necessarily an addiction, but it could be something that takes up way too much of your time, money, or is unhealthy. It may be you're obsessed with your smartphone, or facebook. Or perhaps you drink too much soda, coffee, beer or alcohol. Maybe you eat chocolate for breakfast everyday, or eat too much processed food, or you need to lose weight. Perhaps you watch too much TV and neglect your exercises, or skip walking the dog. It may be that you just love your new Kindle and spend too much money from your budget on Amazon.

 

My point of view concerning any of these activities, is that it's not a problem until it's a problem. And you'll know when its a problem. You could ask yourself, what is the one thing I could never give up for forty days? If you have one thing, it may be a problem. Is that one thing affecting your time, money, health or relationships in a negative manner? Then maybe you should give it a rest.

 

Thus the Opportunity of Lent, which is an article I read today among the hundreds of blogs I follow via RSS. Its about the benefits of giving something up for Lent. And the reasons have nothing to do with religion. It has to do with behaving intentially, developing empathy, confronting your excesses, gaining better self control and saving time and money. All of these are positive things and giving something up for Lent may help you.

 

When I ask myself what I could never give up for forty days, there are several things. If I think about giving one of them up, for instance, beer; it may create some disharmony in my relationship with my spouse. I personally think I could give up beer (after all I quit drinking soda at the beginning of the year and haven't missed it) but it will change our habit of going out weekly for wings and beer. If I give up beer, that means DH will have to drink the WHOLE pitcher of beer that comes with the wing special, instead of splitting it with me. But we could just quit getting the chicken wing special and he could just order a 1/2 pitcher or a bottle of beer. I don't drink soda now, so that leaves wine or water. And whats the point of giving up beer to just replace it with wine? So that leaves water. How dull. And cheap. I like to be frugal, but I don't like being cheap. So my choice would probably be to just skip going out to eat. It wouldn't hurt me to give up chicken wings too.

 

So, I'm seriously going to think about how I can improve myself by giving up something for Lent. How about you?

Publix $25 GC #Giveaway - Last Day to Enter

If you haven't already entered this Publix Italian Days giveaway for a $25 Publix gift card, be sure to take a minute to enter using the rafflecopter widget. A winner will be announced tomorrow.