I ran out to Jewel and Walgreens today to get a few things before having to subject my son to the CAT deal shops tomorrow. If I can arm my daughter with snacks, things go a lot more smoothly than having to keep both of them calm. Especially since they both now insist on sitting in the large part of the cart. You can imagine how comfortable they are(n’t)!
I stopped at Jewel first to try a run at the Kraft/P&G deal. I honestly didn’t see anything that looked amazing, so I figured I would just buy the things we actually needed (as calculatingly as I could) and see what happened.
Here’s what I did:
2 Oscar Mayer Lunchmeat $3/$3.50 shelf (Used $1/2 coupon)
2 Kraft Natural Shreds $2.49/$4.29 shelf (Used $1/2 coupon)
2 Crystal Light $1.99/$3.89 shelf (Used 2 $1 coupons)
2 Hot Pockets 2/$4 (Used $.75/2 CAT coupon from previous transaction)
I also used $2 Your Bucks CAT
Final Price: $12.64 (which I paid on a gift card)
I got back $10 CATS ($5 Kraft/P&G, $1 Oscar Mayer YB, $1 Kraft YB, $1 Crystal Light YB, $2 Lean Pockets)
Total Cost: $4.64
The actual price of the Kraft/P&G deal was $3.39 ($1.25 came from buying the Lean Pockets – I’m stocking up) which is okay – not free, but not bad. I will probably do this exact same transaction again tomorrow when I go to do the Post cereal moneymaker, but this time I’ll have the extra CATs to lessen my out of pocket expense.
One quick note about this shop – the $.75/2 Lean Pockets coupon would not scan. I am not sure why and we actually tried to scan the new CAT coupon that printed as well, but no luck. I told the cashier that I would prefer to just pay and use the coupon next time when I saw that she was going to enter it as “Grocery.” They were very nice and ended up letting me redeem the coupon at Customer Service.
If you are doing a CAT deal with shelf prices, it is better to pay the extra money and work out the coupon later than have something entered as “Grocery.” Your CAT deal WILL NOT work and you won’t have any recourse other than to return the items and start again (sometimes minus your coupons).
After my happy Jewel shop, I went to Walgreens to grab a few moneymakers:
2 Planter’s Trail Mix 2/$3 (Used 2 $1.50 coupons and 1 $1/2 Wags coupon)
1 Olay Quench Body Lotion $7.99 (Used $1 coupon)
1 Olay In-Shower Body Lotion (free w/Body Lotion)
I also used $3 RR
Final Price: $4.12
I’ll get $7.99 back from the Olay Rebate
Final Price: I made $.43 after Rebate minus the stamp
So basically, all of this stuff was free – which is just fine by me.
Alli is a Chicago based wife and mother of two children. She has turned money-saving into a game and enjoys searching out the best deals to help you save money! Alli shares her insight, tips and up-to-the-minute deals for local and national retailers and brands. Her hope is that you will play the game and learn to save money at the same time!