I met up with some of my friends last night at Ladies Night out and we had a wonderful time together talking about what the Lord is doing in our lives. My new friend Faith Glade came out to join us. If you haven't met her then you are in for a real treat. She is a very discerning believer and she is a real joy to be around. I had taken the time to secretly plan a shop for her because I wanted her to see how easy it was to save money at Publix. Vicki Woods decided to come along too and we all headed to Publix after we drank our coffee. It was such a fun night!
We roamed the store together and I spent some time talking to them about how to throw items into their cart that provide overage so that they could buy what they wanted. I told them that they could take the items that we shopped for home with them and that it should only cost us a few dollars for everything. We decided to do a charcoal/meat deal so I let them pick out some meat so that they could see how the deal worked. I was expecting a balance of around $5.00 (according to my calculations) so you can imagine how shocked and surprised I was when the cashier turned to me and gave me .15 cents out of the register as my final balance. I was literally shocked as I had not planned to go into the negative. The customer service manager that approved my last few coupons (as I had not counted my coupons vs. items correctly) congratulated me and she turned to the cashier and said, "yep, give her the .15 cents."
It was a magical night....
We headed out to our cars and I realized that I forgot to buy the ice cream so we went back in and bought our Whole Foods Sorbet and our Klondikes. We did these deals in two transactions because we forgot the ice cream.
Here's the deal:
2 Planters Cocktail Peanuts $1.79 ea ($2/1 Food Lion Q = FREE+)
2 Planters Sunflower Seeds $1.69 ea ($2/1 Food Lion Q = FREE+)
8 Sundown vitamins $2.99-$3.29 ea ($6/2 Publix Q & $1/1 Q = FREE+)
1 Pork chop $3.62 ($6/1 pork wyb charcoal = FREE+)
1 Pork chop $3.33 ($6/1 pork wyb charcoal = FREE+)
1 Pork chop $3.29 ($6/1 pork wyb charcoal = FREE+)
1 Pork chop $3.29 ($6/1 pork wyb charcoal = FREE+)
3 KC Masterpiece $1.99 ea (FREE WYB Charcoal = FREE)
8 Revlon $1.49-$1.69 ea ($2/1 = FREE+)
V8 Splash $1.84 ea (penny item = .01)
1 Chicken $2.37 ($2/1 Food Lion Q = .37 ea)
1 Chicken $2.40 ($2/1 Food Lion Q = .40 ea)
1 Chicken $2.40 ($2/1 Food Lion Q = .40 ea)
5 Whole Foods Sorbet $1.45 ea. (.75/1 = .70 ea)
2 Kondike bars $1.80 ea ($1/1 Food Lion Q = .80 ea)
2 Sargento Cheese $3.19 ea ($2/1 WYB Charcoal = $1.19 ea)
1 Chicken $3.04 ($2/1 Food Lion Q = $1.04 ea)
3 Kingsford $9.79 ea ($3/1 Q and $3/1 Food Lion Q = $3.79 ea)
$5/50 Competitor coupon
TOTAL: $132.80
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $3.89
SAVINGS: 97%
NOTE: I bought some Sundown coupons off of EBAY that expire 7/20/09. I also bought the Whole Foods Q's off of EBAY as our region did not get that coupon. My friend Brandy gave me the $1/1 Klondike Food Lion Q's. You won't find these online; they were given to her by a fellow couponer and they were color coupons. Thanks Brandy!
NOTE: The following items were purchased but are not displayed in the photos: 6 Sundown vitamins, 2 Revlon nail clippers, 3 charcoal, 1 Sorbet and 1 Sargento cheese. Vicki and Faith supplied the above pictures which they took when they got home (thank you ladies for a great evening)!
NOTE: I just realized that I used the Food Lion Q for the wrong kind of chicken. The coupon is actually for breasts, tenders, or snack wings.
8 comments:
AMAZING, as always! I went into the negative last week but they wouldn't give me the balance. It was a magical moment! :) Great job!! You are just so inspiring.
I thought you had to buy the charcoal to do the pork deal?? Didn't realize you could do more than one at one time?
Bec, you are correct. I actually did buy the charcoal I just didn't take a picture of it. I didn't even realize it until you mentioned it. LOL.
Well you know, once you have 20+ bags of charcoal, what's one more? LOL!!! You're welcome for the Klondike q's, glad you were able to use a few ;)
I finally got to try out the charcoal deal at my Publix today (Spring Hill), and it didn't work as well as yours! They said my pork had to be at least $6 (I had picked out the cheapest one), and then they said I also needed another item to make the '$6 off pork wyb charcoal' coupon work (Hidden Valley, Vlasic, etc.). They wouldn't count my KC Masterpiece b/c I was getting it for free with the 'Free KC wyb Charcoal' coupon.
Ugh. What did I do wrong?
fromthablok, that is a real bummer. Let me address a couple of things. First of all, the KC Masterpiece does count as the qualifying product even though you are getting it for free. Technically, you are buying it and then using a coupon to get it for free (they get reimbursed for that coupon from the manufacturer). Did you talk to a manager and explain that to him/her? It helps to understand how couponing works to be able to explain this situation to the manager. I have never spent $6 on pork when I've used that coupon because the coupon doesn't say that you have to spend $6 (it says that you get $6 off of your pork purchase with charcoal and qualifying product). I suppose they can interpret the coupon that way but that has never happened to me.
Also, did you buy other items in your cart besides charcoal, pork and KC Masterpiece? If there are just a few items in your cart then the cashiers tend to be more scrutinizing of your coupons and they will not always provide overage. I'm not certain if they are required to provide overage or not. I've heard different things from different managers at Publix. It's hard to get a straight answer.
I feel for you though. Doesn't sound like a good experience. My suggestion would be to email Publix.com and let them know about your experience. The district manager is aware of this pork coupon as I have spoken with him about it. I would at least tell him that they wouldn't count your KC Masterpiece so that he can train his employees.
Thanks for hanging out at my blog. Feel free to drop by to ask questions. I'm not technically an advertising blog; this blog is just for my friends in Nashville so that they can learn more about couponing.
Yes, I had a cartload of groceries, so I don't think she was scrutinizing. I *think* she was just doing it the way she thought was right. The cashier mentioned being a couponer herself, and said she's used the same coupon so she knew how it was supposed to work. I didn't want to argue too much. I really like my Publix, but it is annoying when things like this happen. I don't want to make them mad at me, but I want my pork! LOL!
I'm definitely a lurker on here...I LOVE your deals and the fact that you live in the area is helpful to me. :)
That cashier is uninformed about the KC Masterpiece requirement. If that happens to you again then just call over a manager or go talk to customer service after the transaction and tell them what happened. Many of my friends shop at Spring Hill and they can inform you about the best cashiers to go to (that are friendly). Let me know if you want to contact my friends and chat with them about who to go to.
Please email Publix on their website if you have time. It really helps the District Manager to know what kinds of problems we are having in the stores. He is a really nice man and he wants the couponers to be happy.
Thanks for lurking.
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