Super Double Coupon Week THIS WEEK at Harris Teeter!

If you are not a regular Harris Teeter shopper, THIS is the week to give them a try! It was during a Super Double Coupon week that I began my obsession with coupons and saving money because a friend of mine gave me coupons that showed me just how much money I could save. I went in using the coupons she had given me and came out with a cart of groceries and only spent about $7. I got many items for free.


So what is Super Double Coupons week? Well, Harris Teeter normally doubles all coupons that are $.99 value or lower. For example, if you take a coupon for $.75 off into Harris Teeter, any day of the year, they will double that coupon to $1.50. That's a great deal. However, if you take in a coupon that is $1, it will not double because it is over their $.99 limit.

But, every 5-7 weeks Harris Teeter does something special. They have what is called "Super Double Coupons." During that week, they will double even coupons that are over $1. So, for example, if you take in a coupon for $1.50 off of an item, Harris Teeter will match that and double the coupon to $3.00 off. That is an amazing deal, especially because so many items in the grocery store are less than that amount. That means you can use your high value coupons and get items for free or really cheap. The upper limit is $1.98- coupons of $1.99 or more do not double. Also there is a limit of 20 coupons per day.


I plan to shop early this week and I will report back with any good deals that I saw or got. This is a great week to take a  look at all of your $1 or more coupons and use those first this week, since they will only double this week. Also, I suggest not waiting until the weekend, as I find a lot of items are missing on Saturdays or Sundays because others are in there getting the good deals, too.


In the meantime, take a look at the Super Double Coupons deals list from one of my favorite websites, www.southernsavers.com. She includes a comprehensive list of all of the best deals, but remember, she doesn't find EVERY deal! I suggest using her list, but also going through your coupons this week and seeing what you have and then taking a stroll through the store to match up deals to your coupons.


Click below to see all the awesome deals at Harris Teeter this week only! (Wednesday-Tuesday)
http://www.southernsavers.com/2011/04/harris-teeter-super-double-coupons-sneak-peak-425-53/

Facebook Coupons

Are you one of the millions of Americans who is on Facebook?


If so, you can access hundreds of coupons from some of your favorite brands. Many companies are now creating Facebook pages for their products. If you go to their page and "Like" their product, you will have access to special coupons for those products.


For example, I love Wholly Guacamole. Probably at least each month, they put out coupons on their Facebook page. Since I clicked the "like" button, I am eligible to go and print out up to two copies of any coupon that they post. I have gotten some really high value coupons from their page, too, for example, "$2 or $3 off," thus making the product free.


If you like a company's products or have a favorite product, I suggest going to Facebook and typing that company's name. You will be surprised to see how many companies or products have Facebook pages and how most of them offer coupons available on the page.


Here's a deal that's available right now via Facebook:


$1 off of Wheat Thins Crunch Sticks (These are on sale at Harris Teeter this week and the coupon will make them only $.94 each when they usually cost over $2 a box).


To get the coupon, I went to Facebook, logged in, and searched for "Wheat Thins." Once it came up, I immediately clicked the "like" button and once I did, the coupon was made available to me. I can print the coupon twice (trying to print it any more times will not work because the coupon websites remember your computer's IP address).


So, next time you're on Facebook, have fun searching your favorite companies and brands for those free coupons!

Subway Buy One Get One FREE Day

This Saturday, April 16th, is Buy one Get one free day at Subway. You do not need a coupon; you only need to buy a Footlong Sub of your Choice and get another one free. 


Simple and easy and a great opportunity to treat the family to subs for half price!

Food Lion Meal Deal This Week- FREE Items!

Lately, Food Lion grocery stores have been getting in on the meal deal action like Harris Teeter has been doing for some time. I really like Meal Deals because they are usually a good deal even without having to use coupons. Using coupons only makes them better!


This week at Food Lion if you buy two Gorton's Fisherman Items, you get the following free:

FREE Cool Whip
FREE Ore-Ida Potatoes of your Choice
FREE Green Giant Valley Steamers 
FREE Mrs. Smith's Cobbler


At my local Food Lion, the Gorton's Fish Bagged Items cost $5.19 each. So, pre-coupon that will be $10.38 for all of those items, a pretty good little deal.


But.....it gets better. If you use coupons on the fish (I have two coupons for $1 off of the fish) and I also have a coupon for $1 off of Ore-Ida Potatoes, that will make the meal deal only $7.38 for all of those items. That's a really good deal!


The coupons for the Gorton's fish were in the Sunday, Jan. 16th and Sunday, Feb. 13 Sunday paper. If you don't have those coupon inserts available, you can print some coupons at this link:

Click HERE to print Gortons Fish Coupons 

I got my coupon for $1 off of Ore-Ida potatoes from inside of a bag of Ore-Ida potatoes that I bought a few months ago, so I don't know where else to send you for that coupon.


But, as I said earlier, the meal deal still sounds like a great deal if in fact you like all of the included items. Remember that they must all be bought in a single transaction with your MVP card to get the deal!

Harris Teeter Meal Deal

 

For those who are unaware, each week Harris Teeter does a "meal deal." Basically, if you buy all of the items that they have listed as part of the meal deal, you get it for a really good price.

The meal deal is usually listed on a poster in the store and also highlighted in the store ad on the front page somewhere. I normally wouldn't post about a meal deal but this week's was exceptionally good, I thought, plus there were coupon matchups to help make it even cheaper. 

This week's meal deal cost $5.99 if you bought all four of the following items:

Ballpark Beef Franks  14-16 oz

8 Count Whitewheat Hotdog Buns

1 Gallon of Lipton Tea (any variety)

One 9-11.5 oz Bag of Lays Potato Chips (any variety)

That's a pretty good deal as it is. But.....of course it gets better.

I used a coupon from the Sunday Paper for .55 off of Lays Chips. This doubles to $1.10 off.

I also used a coupon from the Sunday Paper for .55 off of Ballpark Franks. This also doubled, becoming $1.10 off.

So, for me, the Meal Deal ended up being $3.79 plus tax for all of the above items- the chips, hot dogs, hot dog buns, and gallon of tea. I think that's a great deal! Normally, Lays Chips alone cost $3.99. I love matching up coupons with sales!

If you would like to purchase the Meal Deal, you have until midnight tomorrow (Tuesday night, April 12th). After that, on Wednesday, a new Meal Deal should come out!

Mommy, Where Do Coupons Come From?

People often ask about where do I get all of my coupons. There are so many sources....I will name a few of my favorites.

My main source for coupons is still the Sunday paper. Every Sunday I get a Sunday newspaper from a major city. I live in Wilmington, NC, but I have to admit that I buy the Raleigh News and Observer instead. I do not buy our local paper because it's coupon pickings are very slim. The coupon inserts in my local paper are filled with ads for wonderbras, combination apple/pear trees, and other bizarre objects. There are usually only a few pages of coupons in the whole insert. For this reason, I suggest getting the Raleigh paper if you can get your hands on one. It is usually LOADED with coupons each Sunday.

Another source is online. There are so many printable coupons available! I do print a good number of online coupons from sites such as www.couponmom.com. Honestly, though, I try not to print unless I know I'm going to use the coupon. Think about the ink that is spent printing coupons. Even though I'm careful, I still end up throwing away coupons that I printed that have expired, and I sure hate wasting that ink.

Another source of coupons is direct from the manufacturer. If you write in to your favorite manufacturer (you can do this via e-mail, too) or if you go to their Facebook page and join, they will often send you wonderful coupons in your e-mail and sometimes in your home mailbox, too. For example, I am on Proctor and Gamble's mail list and I would say that I get coupon books from them monthly. They are usually very high value coupons, too.

Don't forget other sources such as coupons on products in the store. Pay attention next time you go shopping. Just the other day I bought a box of Kellog's Mini Wheats. I picked up my box and then noticed that the box right beside it had a sign on it that said, "$5 worth of coupons inside this box!" I quickly put my box down and grabbed the box that had the coupons in it. That was an easy, free way to get some good coupons. Don't forget that during Super Doubles week, that $5 would actually be worth $10, which is nothing to snub one's nose to!

When you check out at the store, sometimes coupons print out at the register. Those are called, "Catalinas." Be sure to check your catalinas because they often offer store specific deals or coupons tailored to items you buy frequently. I put all of my catalinas in an envelope in my purse and flip through them before shopping. Just last week I got a Catalina notifying me of a Harris Teeter sale for free milk. Last week (I'm so mad I didn't post this in my blog) if you bought three boxes of Kellogs cereal you could get a free gallon of milk! And Kellogs were on sale last week AND you could use coupons on your cereal, thus making the cereal and milk very cheap.

Finally, don't forget magazines (I got two Proctor and Gamble coupon booklet inserts last month from People en Espanol and Essence Magazine). They had over $70 worth of coupons inside! Also, All You magazine has lots of coupons and others such as Family Fun will randomly have coupons in them. 

Coupons turn up in the strangest places; I was paying for gas and saw three booklets there loaded with coupons, so I grabbed a few. Always keep your eyes and ears peeled for those coupons! 

Later, I plan to do a post about coupon organization. I have a very easy way of organizing my coupons that makes my life easy and I can't wait to share it with you!

Follow-up to National Geographic Deal at Food Lion

So I ended up going to Food Lion to do the "Find your Footprint Promotion," where I got a free subscription to both National Geographic Magazine and National Geographic Kids magazine, simply for purchasing $25 worth of Proctor and Gamble Products.

The kicker is that I didn't even spend $25- I only spent $19.08 after submitting my coupons. The promotion redemption form still printed out because I spent $25 before using my coupons (actually, my total rang up to $28.58 but I submitted $9.50 worth of coupons that I had).

I purchased the following:

2 Mega Rolls of Charmin Toilet Paper for $8.29 each. I then used two coupons for $1 off each. Wasn't the best price I've ever seen on toilet paper, but since I had coupons I didn't cringe too much.

1 big Box of Puffs Kleenex Tissue on sale for $1.99. I then used a coupon for .50 off.

1 Always Maxi Pads 16 count on sale for $3.00. I then used a coupon for $2.00 off.

1 Secret Deoderant for $2.50. I then used a coupon for $3.00 off, making it free.

1 12.6 oz Pantene Pro-V Shampoo on sale for $2.39. I then used a coupon for $2 off, making it $.39.

My grand total ended up being $19.08 for those items, which I felt was a good deal, especially considering I also got two magazine subscriptions.

If you don't need any Proctor and Gamble products, and don't care for the magazines, obviously it wouldn't be worth doing the deal. But, again, Proctor and Gamble makes so many staple-type products that I can't imagine not finding something that you could use, such as toilet paper or paper towels or shampoo. See the full list in the Food Lion grocery flyer inside the store.

By the way, if you don't have any Proctor and Gamble coupons available, Food Lion has a neat online store coupon program on their website and you can upload free Proctor and Gamble coupons to your MVP card. They will then ring up when you pay at the register. It just so happened that I had TONS of Proctor and Gamble coupons from my newspaper and some that they mailed me, so I did not need to use their online coupons. I have heard rumors that you can use both the MVP card electronic coupons and the printed traditional coupons at the same time, but I forgot to try that. I might have saved even more!

You have until Tuesday, April 12th to get this deal. Also, you must submit your form by April 19th to receive your magazines, so don't delay. You will need your store receipt and a fine-tip pen to fill out the form because it is the tiniest print I have ever seen on a form (see below)!

Exciting National Geographic Promotion at Lowes Food and Food Lion

The new grocery store deals started today and there are a lot of great deals out there this week! One deal that I can't wait to do is the Proctor and Gamble/National Geographic Promotion going on THIS WEEK ONLY at Lowes Foods and Food Lion.


It's simple- at Food Lion, when you buy $25 worth of Proctor and Gamble Products and you automatically get a free subscription to both National Geographic AND National Geographic Kids magazine! At Lowe's Foods if you spend the $25, you can have your choice of one magazine or the other. A redemption form for the magazines will print out for you at the register. The ad says that the magazines alone are worth $120 value. Obviously that's a little inflated but I do know that those two magazines are not cheap. My husband loves National Geographic and I think my son will enjoy the kids version, so I plan to get this deal tomorrow.


The great thing is that Proctor and Gamble makes so many products that it won't be hard to find $25 worth of something. Pantene, Pampers, Pull Ups, Dawn, Cascade, and Prilosec are just a few of the brands that qualify. The complete list can also be found in this week's grocery store ad, so be sure to look it over when you go into the grocery store. Proctor and Gamble also makes Charmin toilet paper and Bounty Paper towels, so this would be a good week to stock up on those types of items. Many of the Proctor and Gamble items are on sale this week, too.


Even better is that you can use coupons on all of the items to bring down the total cost. In other words, as long as you spend $25 pre-coupon, you will still get the free magazines! How awesome is that?! 

I plan to go to Food Lion tomorrow so I can get both magazines; I will update tomorrow to let you know how I did!

Gotta Love Hump Day!

Hump Day (more commonly known as Wednesday) is an exciting day in my household! Since tomorrow will be Wednesday, I figured I should tell you why I like it so much.


Wednesdays are when the grocery store sales start over. Grocery stores (I am speaking of Food Lion, Lowes Food and Harris Teeter) start their sales each Wednesday and run them until the next Tuesday. I think most other grocery stores follow the same pattern.


Every Wednesday I suggest trying to get your hands on a store flyer from the store you like the most. I actually get one from all three of the grocery stores in my area. This way, I know what the best deals are and can plan my shopping trips for the week accordingly. If you pick up a Wednesday newspaper, you can avoid driving around to each store because the Wednesday paper will have all of the grocery store ads in your area in the middle of it. You can also use a website such as www.southernsavers.com to get a list of the best deals at each grocery store. That website usually posts the deals every Tuesday in preparation for the new sales that will start the next day.


Even if you use an online database such as Southern Savers, you still have to do your homework! By looking at the flyers I often find deals that the online databases didn't see. Don't worry- it's fun! Each Wednesday, I look through the ads and match up items that are on sale with the coupons that I currently have. This way I am buying the items on sale AND saving even further by using a coupon.


Also, I suggest paying close attention to the front page of each grocery store ad because that page usually contains the "loss leaders." Loss leaders are the items that the grocery store puts on extreme discount. They may even lose money on those items, hoping to get you into the store. The front page will usually have some of the best deals of the week, so even if you don't have time for anything else, skim the front page of each grocery store flyer for the really good deals of the week.


Since tomorrow is Wednesday, I will be checking out the sales and will post anything that I find that looks promising!

Weekly Roundup of Harris Teeter Deals

              Read on to see how I paid only $ 3.54 plus tax for these groceries!                        

Pictured above- New England Coffee, Bertolli Pasta Sauce, Rosina Frozen Meatballs, Lays Potato Chips, Chicken Noodle Soup, 3lb bag of Gala Apples

Harris Teeter has the best consistent deals on groceries each week! There are many weeks where I get items there for free or less than a dollar. Many of these same items would cost twice as much at Walmart, just as a comparison.


Although this week is not as exciting as last week's Super Double Coupons deals, I still managed to snag some awesome deals on groceries this week. Below are some of the best deals I found:


Rosina Frozen Meatballs, 12 oz bag is on sale for $2.22. After my .75 off coupon, which doubled at Harris Teeter, I only paid $.72 for them. They usually sell for $4.45 a bag.


Another good deal was Lay's Potato Chips. I got them on sale for $1.88. I had a coupon for $.55 off, which Harris Teeter doubled, so I only paid $.78. These normally sell for $3.99 a bag.


I also got a bag of New England coffee for $3.39. I used a coupon for $.50, which doubled to $1.00 off, so I only paid $2.39. It normally sells for $6.79 a bag!


This week Bertolli Pasta Sauce in a jar was on sale for $1.27, if you are an EVIC member at Harris Teeter. It's normally $2.99, so that was a nice, easy deal that did not even require a coupon. Combine this with the Rosina Meatballs and some spaghetti noodles I got for free a few weeks ago and I've got an awesome spaghetti and meatballs dinner for only $1.99!


By the way, if you are not currently a Harris Teeter EVIC member, I suggest you join. It is free and you sign up online at their website using your EVIC card number. Each week you will get special deals sent right to your e-mail box.


One final sweet deal that I enjoyed was a bag of Gala Apples that were on sale for EVIC members. This bag was listed in the store for $4.99 but I only had to pay $2.49 since I used my VIC card. To make things better, Harris Teeter gave me a $5.00 fresh foods credit on my receipt (still not sure how I earned this), thus making the apples free! The remaining $2.51 went towards the rest of my grocery bill, too, making my total even lower.


I love shopping and getting great deals!

Kids Eat Free at IHOP

                             My daughter enjoying a pancake at IHOP.

Happy April Fool's Day!

This April is a great month to have breakfast for dinner! Why? Because IHOP is offering kids eat free EVERY DAY for the month of April. With each adult entree purchased, kids get to choose one item off of the kids menu at no cost.

Just a little FYI- if you haven't been to IHOP lately, you may not know that they have an extensive lunch and dinner menu, in addition to their delicious breakfast selections. I actually ordered a really good pot roast and mashed potatoes dinner there a few months ago and I was impressed.

The only catch about the kids eat free is that it must be dine in from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. So, if you were planning to have some of IHOP's yummy breakfast, you will have to wait until evening for your pancakes if you want the kids to eat for free.