The Charcoal/Meat deal @ Publix...

UPDATE: The charcoal is no longer on sale; it is $9.79 @ my Publix. We did a new deal for the charcoal today (5/31) which I will post tomorrow.

My blogging friend Bethany was wondering how the charcoal/meat deal worked at Publix this week. Well this post is for you!

This is what you buy:

2 bags of charcoal @ $6.99 (on sale this week)

2 KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce @ $1.99

$25 in meat and/or produce (some of the meat must be pork; I usually buy the two smallest packages of pork)

Here's the coupons you use:

-$6 off Pork wyb any Kingsford 13.5 Lbs.+ and (1) other participating product printable (click on the picture on the right)

-$3 off Kingsford Charcoal “Summer is Here” Booklet at Publix (or buy them on EBAY)

- FREE KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce when you buy charcoal RP 5/10

- $1/$5 Beef Food Lion Q printable

- $5/$25 in meat and/or produce competitor coupon printable

- $5/$50 or $10/$40 competitor coupon (you need to find a source for these; I use several different ones that I either receive through the mail, or get out of the recycle bin, or buy off of ebay.

If you use all of the coupons above you will receive two bags of charcoal, 2 BBQ sauces, and $25 in meat and/or produce..........all for $3.00-$8.00. I usually throw in some moneymaker items to get all of my meat for free. Then I list my charcoal on craigslist and make $3.33 on each of the charcoal bags. So, I get my meat for free and I make a profit. LOL. You can use just the printables above and get the charcoal, bbq sauce and $25 in meat and/or produce for $19 (that's a savings of 50% since all of those items would cost $39 without the coupons). You can buy glad wrap (on sale for $1.00 a roll until Tuesday) instead of BBQ sauce (since it is a qualifying product also) and spend $18 instead of $19.

Hope that helps. Keep in mind that the Food Lion coupons and the $5/50 and the $5/25 coupons are all competitor coupons (just tell your cashier that they are competitor coupons so that they can be deducted by hand; i.e. they will not scan; they have to be entered manually). Publix takes grocery store competitor coupons.

Publix, Saturday, 5/23/09

Jason and I woke up on Saturday and we couldn't stop thinking about the charcoal deal. We only have a few more days to use that $5/25 Whole Foods coupon and we are going to go to Publix every day for the next few days to get that FREE meat! So, we packed up the children and headed out to the Royal Oaks (Franklin, TN) Publix. I love this Publix because they have such a huge selection of items to choose from. They are a GIGANTIC store. We got there around 8:00am and left by 9:15am. We broke up our transactions into two carts and went shopping. Jason and I checked out separately so that we could both use a $5/50 competitor coupon and a $5/25 Whole Foods meat competitor coupon.

At this point I must tell you that I have a terrific husband that is not only willing to go shopping with me but gets just as excited about saving money as I do. "The family that shops together saves together" is his motto. Corny, yes......but true.

OK, here's the deal:

16 Pedigree Dentastix $1.90 ea ($2.50/1 = FREE+)

12 J&J First Aid $1.79 ea ($3/2 Q and $2/2 Publix Q = FREE+)

3 Kraft BBQ Sauce $.67 ea ($1/1 Q = FREE+)

1 Kraft BBQ Sauce $.67 ea (.75/1 Q = FREE+)

4 Ground Pork $2.27-$2.53 ea ($6/1 Pork WYB Charcoal Q = FREE+)

4 Glad Wrap $1.00 ea ($1/1 Q = FREE)

4 Kraft Mayo $2.00 ea ($1/1 Q and $1/2 Target Q = .50 ea)

4 Ocean Spray Juice $1.99 ea ($1/1 Q = $1.00 ea)

2 Pie Crusts $2.89 ea (.25/1 = $2.39 ea)

1 ground turkey $2.89 ea (no coupons = $2.89)

1 drumstick package $3.93 (no coupons = $3.93)

4 Charcoal $6.99 ea ($3/1 Q "Fire up the Grill" booklet = $3.99 ea)

1 Boston Butt Roast $6.14 (no coupons = $6.14)

3 Ground Beef $3.29-$3.55 ea (Two $1/$5 Food Lion Q = $8.19 total)

1 Filet Mignon $8.87 (no coupons = $8.87)

1 Tri-tip $10.51 (no coupons = $10.51)

Two $5/50 GFS marketplace competitor coupon

Two $5/25 Whole Foods meat competitor coupon

TOTAL: $222.82

TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $17.88

SAVINGS: 92%

NOTE: When Jason and I returned to the car we noticed that his balance was really low and he had coupons left over that he didn't even have the cashier scan because his balance was at .97 cents. We couldn't figure out what had happened. His balance should have been about $12.00 after all of his coupons. Then it hit us. He forgot to have the cashier scan his charcoal on the bottom of his cart. We were in a hurry to get him to a friends house to help him move so he just ran back into the store and told the customer service desk what happened and he gave them back the charcoal because we weren't charged for it properly. His balance should have been about $5.00 higher but we didn't have time for them to re-ring up all of our items, pull the coupons out of the drawer, and then ensure that everything got wrung up correctly.

NOTE2: We will sell the two bags of charcoal for $6.66 total which will bring our final balance to $11.88. That's a good deal for all of that meat. I made the filet mignon last night with a peppercorn cream sauce. Delicious. BTW, one of the juices and one of the glad wraps is missing; I gave them to a friend before taking the picture.

Whole Foods Competitor Coupon for the Charcoal Deal!!

COUPON EXPIRED NOW!!......Thank you to Brandy for alerting me to this new competitor coupon (Carissa, I told you there would be another great deal coming)!

You can use this coupon with the charcoal/meat deal that I did at Publix on Wednesday (see post below). This would give you more free meat.

http://cdn.statics.live.spongecell.com/wholefoods/v2p/ad1/assets/WFM_FillGrillHandout09v2.pdf

One-stop-shop at Kroger....

I had to make a quick stop at Kroger because my buddy Brandy gave me several Vitamin Water coupons this week and she also told me about a killer diaper deal. Well, I DO have a new baby so I scurried off to Kroger after meeting Jason at the park today for lunch.

It was a beautiful day BTW. Hope you all made it outside today.

Here's the deal:

30 Vitamin Waters $1.00 ea (.50/1 Q = FREE)

18 Vitamin Waters $1.00 ea (B1G1 Q = FREE)

2 Huggies jumbo $8.99 ea ($3/1 = $5.99 ea)

NOTE: I also had two eCoupons for the diapers ($1/1 and $1.50/1) and then Kroger took off another $3.00 when you bought $15 in Huggies products.

TOTAL: $99.71

TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $2.89

SAVINGS: 97%

NOTE: I was confused as I left the register re: why my balance was so low. I think the cashier made a mistake and took off $1.59 for each of my B1G1 coupons. The register automatically took off this amount when she hit a button on the register (I guess it deducted the regular price instead of the sale price). That's why my balance is so low. My balance would have actually been .89 cents as I forgot to give her two coupons (found in my purse). Shopping with toddler/baby is a deadly combination. LOL. I was directing Savannah to fill the cart with the Vitamin Waters as I was feeding baby with bottle in her Bjorn. It was a sight to see.

NOTE 2: The cashier was confused by the language on the coupon (one coupon per purchase). She told me that she thought that I could only use one coupon per transaction. I had to explain to her that one coupon per purchase means that I can only use one coupon per item purchased. She sent someone over to the customer service desk. The customer service desk manager came over and told me that the manager sometimes limits the number of items that you can buy with coupons. I told her that I was unaware of this policy. She called the manager and she ok'd the transaction (the customer service manager kept telling her that the coupons that I had were paper coupons and not IP coupons; I know that they don't like to see alot of IP coupons). So, the deal went through. On my way out, I stopped by the customer service desk and thanked her and told her that I would check with the desk the next time I came in with that many coupons. I also told her that I didn't take their entire stock of Vitamin Waters. There over 150 left in the bin. She said that it was "fine" and not to worry about it but that I might want to stop by to let them know what I am planning on doing when I have a large transaction like that. Fair enough. :)

Back from the Dead....Wednesday, 5/20/09

Hallelujah. The charcoal deal is back! I get pretty excited about the charcoal deal. Yep, pretty excited. Why? Because that means more free meat. How can you not get excited? Be on the look out for the "Fire Up the Grill" coupon booklet which houses the $3/1 Kingsford Charcoal. The booklet is located where they make the meals in the store. I found them at two different Publix stores in the "meal" booth. They were either displayed right by the sample of the meal or behind where the person stands in the booth.

On another note........I always say that it pays to keep every coupon and this week is no exception to that rule. I would never (in a million years) think that I would need to keep a "Pedigree Dentastix Dog Treat" coupon in my possession. Mainly for the following reasons:

1. I don't own a dog

2. If I did own a dog I would not buy it treats

So, it was with great joy that I saw that the Pedigree Dentastix coupon was going to provide approximately .60 in overage per coupon. I did a test run today and had 8 of them in my possession and was able to obtain $4.80 in overage with this coupon. I also used a $5/50 coupon which provided close to $10 in overage. I then threw in several Johnson and Johnson gauze pads to provide even more overage. I had about $17 in overage today to apply to more meat.

I LOVE free meat!

OK, here's the deal:

1 Pork Rib Chops $3.94 ea ($6/1 Q = FREE+)

4 Kraft BBQ $.67 ea ($1/1 = FREE+)

4 J&J Gauze $1.79 ea ($3/2 Q and $2/2 Publix Q = FREE+)

4 J&J Gauze $1.99 ea ($3/2 Q and $2/2 Publix Q = FREE+)

2 KC Masterpiece $1.99 ea (FREE w/Charcoal and $1/1 Q = FREE+)

8 Pedigree Dentastix $1.90 ea ($2.50/1 = FREE+)

6 Mueller's Pasta $.75 ea ($1/3 Q = .41 ea)

4 Kraft Mayo $2.00 ea ($1/1 Q and $1/2 Target Q = .50 ea)

5 Edy's Ice Cream $2.50 ea ($2/1 Food Lion Q = .50 ea)

2 Charcoal $6.99 ea ($3/1 Q "Fire up the Grill" booklet = $3.99 ea)
2 Ground Turkey $2.91 ea (no coupons)
2 Ground Turkey $2.87 ea (no coupons)

$5/50 competitor coupon

TOTAL: $151.13

TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $5.34

SAVINGS: 97%

NOTE: We will sell the Charcoal and make $6.66 on it so our final balance is $-1.32

Publix, Monday 5/18/09

Well, now that we have a new baby it looks like my weekly shopping trip is going to change to Monday nights. I went to the Maryland Farms store tonight and checked out with my favorite cashier (Herjin....pronounced Her-sheen) and my favorite bagger (Jonathan). I got to the store at about 8:00pm and checked out at around 9:30pm.

I spent the majority of the time that I was in the store looking for the new publix coupons that everyone has been talking about. I found a few of them which I will post about tomorrow.

I had a really fun trip tonight. It was very relaxing checking out and I enjoyed the banter with my favorite cashier. She knows that I am a serious couponer and she and Jonathan were both guessing at my total.

Ok, here's the deal:

4 J&J Gauze $1.99 ea. ($3/2 Q and $2/2 Publix Q = FREE+)
2 Purina Friskies Cat Food $3.00 ea. ($3.50 Q = FREE+)
4 Reach Floss $1.49 ea. ($.50/1 Q and $1/1 Publix Q = FREE+)
5 CoverGirl Lip $3.59 ea. ($2/1 Q and $2/1 Publix Q = FREE+)
2 Covergirl $2.49 ea. ($2/1 Q and $2/1 Publix Q = FREE+)
5 Ritz Crackers $1.90 ea. ($1/1 Q and $1/1 Target Q = FREE)
5 Wheat Thins $3.39 ea. (Buy Ritz get Wheat Thins FREE Q = FREE)
17 McCormick Spices $1.00 ea. ($.50/1 Q = FREE)
3 Mahatma Short Grain $.99 ea ($.50/1 = FREE)
1 Publix Window Cleaner $2.19 ea (Penny item = .01 ea)
2 Mahatma Medium Grain $1.19 ea ($.50/1 = .19 ea)
1 Softsoap $1.00 ea (.75/1 = .25 ea)
5 Yoplait Yo-Plus $1.25 ea ($.50/1 = .25 ea)
9 Mahatma Long Grain $1.29 ea. ($.50/1 = .29 ea)
1 Softsoap $1.00 ea (.35/1 = .30 ea)
8 Kraft Cheese $2.00 ea ($1/2 Q and $1/2 Target Q = $1.00 ea)
17 produce items thrown in to absorb coupons = $4.20
$5/25 competitor coupon

TOTAL: $188.34
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $11.42
SAVINGS: 94%

She's a believer....

So, Jennifer MacFarquahar came over yesterday afternoon and she watched our children while Jason and I went on a date. Afterwards I spent some time planning a shopping trip for her to Publix. I thought it would be fun to organize a trip for her and see how she liked it......

HER RESPONSE VIA EMAIL (which made me giggle with delight).

Ok, so I have this friend named Kelly, who is single-handedly trying to change the culture of grocery shopping. In other words, she is teaching ladies how to perform grocery shopping in an extremely frugal manner. For my first extreme couponing shopping experience today, I went to Publix, and purchased the following items.

4 packages of Kraft shredded cheese
2 packages of Mahatma rice
2 bottles of McCormick spices
2 Publix brand 5lb sugar
4 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
3 7.5oz bottles of liquid SoftSoap
4 boxes of Ritz crackers (4 sleeves crackers/box)
8 packages of Yoplait YoPlus 4-pack yogurt
Publix penny item: window cleaner (value: $2.19).

All for a grand total of........$4.08 (including tax)!

Grand savings: $67.49. In other words, it was a 96% savings. Not bad for a first venture. Thanks, Kel!!! It was way too much fun! And these are all items either I or my family members will use...