Harris Teeter Triple Coupon Freebies

Those of you who have Harris Teeter stores have really been lucky to have triple coupon weeks offered on a regular basis. This one is over after Tuesday (8/18/09), but if you haven’t grabbed some of the freebies available with your triples, be sure to take advantage of these great offers.

Remember that only 20 coupons are allowed per day, with only two internet coupons per day allowed.

Another new savings Harris Teeter’s offering is their e-Vic savings. Sign up online using your Vic card. This week’s special is two pounds of ground beef for $1.99. Just having a Vic card will not get you this deal, so go to their site and make sure you sign up for “e-Vic.”

Wishbone Salad Spritzers – price $2.00
Use the 75¢/1 coupon from the 8/2/09 RP
FREE

Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild Rice – price $2.25
Use the 75¢/1 coupon from the 7/26/09 RP insert
FREE

Heluva Good Dip – price $2.15
Use the 75¢/1 coupon from the 6/28 SS insert
FREE

Suave Deodorant – price $1.47
Use the 50¢/1 coupon from the 8/2/09 RP insert
FREE

Reach Floss – price $1.39
Use the 50¢ coupon from the 8/2/09 SS insert
FREE

Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner – price $1.99
75¢/1 7/12/09 SS insert
FREE

Kroger Mega Savings Event

Also, if you’re near a Kroger, check out their website to download coupons to your shopping card (which you can combine with your paper coupons). This week they’re also having a “Mega Savings Event.” When you buy 10 participating items, you get $5 back instantly. See their ad for which items you need to buy. There are lots to choose from. When you combine your Kroger coupons with the Mega Event savings at Kroger, it makes for some very good deals!

School Supplies

If you’re still looking for school supplies, CVS has some freebies only through Tuesday (8/18/09)—so hurry! See their ad here to see if there’s anything you still need. They are advertising filler paper, composition notebooks, pens, and pencil boxes free after Extra Care Bucks, and there are other items under 50¢.

You’ll have to put in your zip code in the upper right to get your specific ad. They also have printable store coupons on their site—a new feature since the last time I checked! This is right below where you put in your zip code.

Printable Coupons

Click the banner below to print any or all of the printable grocery coupons available this week through the coupon printer!   (Subscribers need to click through to this article to use the coupon printer.)

Related Articles:

• Kroger Matchups, Deals and Printable Grocery Coupons
• Harris Teeter Triple Coupons Grocery Matchups 5/28/09
• Kmart Double Coupons, CVS Freebies, Walgreens Deals & Rite Aid Matchups
• Harris Teeter Super Doubles Coupons Matchups & Meijer Deals
• Free and Almost Free Groceries with Harris Teeter Triple Coupons

This week, I decided to write about a grocery store I don’t see mentioned a lot, yet when I check their map of locations, they are in about half of the country. I’m talking about Aldi.

All About Aldi

I have lived in a couple of cities with an Aldi or two and never set foot in them. I drove past one every Monday through Friday (actually twice a day) taking my son to and from school where I live now and never even thought about going in until about a year ago.

Then I heard Clark Howard talking about them on the radio. He has a show about how to save money that’s now on CNN every weekend too.

He mentioned that his family did a lot of shopping at Aldi and thought many of their products were as good or better than name brands.

If you haven’t been there, here’s the scoop on Aldi stores: they are not that big, they have “their” brand of products, along with some name brands, but they are very cheap. You bag your own groceries, and you bring your own bags or get charged something like a nickel per bag—a good reminder to bring along your reusable shopping bags.

You won’t find everything you want at any given time at Aldi, but I like to go get the things I know my family enjoys because they are just so much cheaper. For example, corn and other vegetables are always 50¢ a can. They are just as good as what you get at the other stores too.

They have a large bag of caramel rice cakes that one of my sons loves, and it’s much cheaper than the regular supermarket. We always grab a few bags of those to repackage in smaller bags for school snacks.

Apple juice, cereal, pop tarts, and syrup are cheaper and you literally cannot tell the difference in taste. In fact my kids like the Aldi pancake syrup better.

In the frozen section, I often find Stouffers and other brand name frozen products. By the way, they have a wide selection of frozen fruits—great for smoothies.

If you haven’t tried Aldi, I really encourage you to check out a few products. That’s what I did. I think it was their cereals first, which the kids liked, then I moved on to more and more products.

Let me know if you’re an Aldi shopper, what you like, or how you started.

Aldi Deals This Week (7/13/09)

Here are a few of Aldi’s advertised offers this week, but their regular prices are probably the real reason to shop there!

• Red Baron flavored crust supreme pizza – price $3.29
• Fresh Gourmet croutons – price 99¢
• Blueberries – price 99¢/pt.
• Cantaloupe (large) – price 99¢
• Whole Watermelon (regular or seedless) – price $2.99
• Peaches – price 25¢ ea.
• Happy Farms shredded cheese (12-oz.) – price $1.99
• Fresh Gourmet tortilla strips – price $1.49
• Freshine automatic bowl cleaner (3 pack) – price $1.29

Printable Coupons

Click the banner below to print any or all of the printable grocery coupons available this week through the coupon printer!   (Subscribers need to click through to this article to use the coupon printer.)

Related Articles:

• Harris Teeter Triple Coupons Grocery Matchups 5/28/09
• Grocery Matchups & Deals: Free at Walmart
• Funny Video: Plastic & Reusable Grocery Shopping Bags
• Wordless Wednesday: No Rice For Us Today
• Target & Walgreens Deals and Matchups + Coupons

This week, I’ve found a few good Target and Walgreens deals and matchups and some freebies. Enjoy!

Target Deals & Matchups

Rayovac Batteries (2-4 ct.)–look in the $1 section at the front of the store
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 6/21 SS insert
FREE

Eggo BakeShop products – price $1.50
Use the $1.00/1 printable coupon
you pay – 50¢

A1 Steak Sauce (small size) – price $2.09
Use the $2/1 from the 5/10/09 SS insert
you pay – 9¢

Dreyer’s ice cream – price 3/$7
Use the $1/1 Dreyer’s printable coupon on Target.com
you pay – $1.33/each

Strawberries – price$1.99
Use the $1/1 printable coupon on Target.com
you pay – 99¢

Walgreens

Oust Air Sanitizer – price $2.99
Use the $2/1 coupon from the 5/10/09 SS insert
you pay – 99¢

Dry Idea – price $2.99
Earn $2 in Register Rewards
Use the $2 printable from Coupons.com
FREE + earn $1.01

Aquafresh Toothpaste – price $1.99
Use the $1/1 printable coupon
Earn $1 in Register Reward
FREE

Colgate Total Toothpaste – price 2 for $5
Use two $1/1 printable coupons
Earn $2 Register Rewards
you pay – 50¢ each

Twizzlers – price $1.50
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 6/28/09 SS insert
you pay – 50¢

Freebies

Buy one, get one FREE sundaes on Mondays at Ben and Jerry’s! Click for details.

Free 12-oz. beverage from Seattle’s Best Coffee at Borders with this printable coupon through 7/2/09

Free Veggie Tales DVD with newsletter signup. Just pay $2.99 shipping.

Get a free sample of fish oil capsules and a $1 coupon toward a future purchase here.

Free sample of Aquaphor Healing Ointment from Eucirin.

Receive a free sample bottle of Kiss My Face© Aromatherapeutic Anti-Stress Shower/Bath gel here.

Printable Coupons

Click the banner below to print any or all of the 68 printable grocery coupons available this week through the coupon printer!   (Subscribers need to click through to this article to use the coupon printer.)

More Walgreen’s matchups and savings scenarios are available here at Money Saving Mom.

Related Articles:

• Kmart Double Coupons, CVS Freebies, Walgreens Deals & Rite Aid Matchups
• KMart Double Coupons, Grocery Matchups & Printable Coupons
• Coupons: Drugstore Deals & Matchups at CVS, Walgreen’s
• Meijer Deals & Walgreen’s Free Stuff + Register Rewards
• Kroger Matchups, Deals and Printable Grocery Coupons

Hey Coupon Shoppers!

I hope you all picked up your Sunday papers 4/5/09 and maybe even grabbed an extra one. I don’t know about the rest of you, but in my part of the country, there were extra coupon inserts. Besides the usual Smart Source and Red Plum, I had a Proctor and Gamble insert and a Unilever insert. I hope all of you were as lucky.

This week I have some Kroger deals for you, some printable coupons we all can use, and a couple of nice freebies.

Kroger Grocery Deals & Matchups

Here are some good coupon match-ups at Kroger. (Note: Most Kroger stores will double coupons of 50¢ or less.)

Wish-Bone Dressings or Spritzers – price $1.49
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 3/15 Red Plum coupon insert
you pay – .49

Duncan Hines Cake Mix – price $1
Use the .35/1 coupon from the 3/29 Smart Source coupon insert
you pay – .30

Sister Schubert Rolls – price $2.50
Use the .50/1 coupon (doubles) from the 4/5 Red Plum coupon insert
you pay – $1.50 ea

Activia Yogurt 4 pk – price $2
Use the $1 off coupon from the 3/1 Smart Source coupon insert
you pay – $1

Pillsbury Biscuits or Rolls 8 ct. – price $1.69
Use any of these coupons:
.30/2 from the 3/15 Smart Source insert
.50/2 printable Pillsbury biscuits or rolls coupon
.40/2 from the 3/8 Smart Source insert
you pay – will vary depending on coupon you use

John Frieda Hair Care is 20% off
Use the $2 off any John Frieda product coupon from the 4/5 Smart Source coupon insert

The following are on sale at Kroger this week, and they don’t have coupons to go along with them. I had to list them though, since they are just great deals!

• Capri Sun or Kool-Aid Jammers Drinks, 10 ct. – price $1.79
• Pepsi 12-pack cans – price 4 for $10
• Oscar Meyer Bacon is Buy One, Get One Free
• Fresh Whole Fryer – price 79¢ – 99¢/lb. (depending on your market)
• Cumberland Gap Whole Semi-Boneless Ham – price 99¢/lb. (with additional $25 purchase)

Printable Coupons for All Stores

The banner below allows you to print any or all of the 96 printable grocery coupons available this week through the coupon printer!  Click on “scroll coupons” to look through them or “see all coupons” to view them all.

• Special offer: Click to print a $2 coupon for All Small & Mighty (after 11 p.m. April 6, it reverts back to a $1 coupon)
• Order the Home Made Simple coupon booklet, and get over $30 in coupons from Swiffer, Dawn, Cascade, Febreze, and Mr. Clean. You can also choose to sign up for the Home Made Simple newsletter by email which often has printable coupons for these same brands.
• Libby’s vegetables coupons (look for the coupon link in the left sidebar)
• Printable coupon for $1.50/3 Hershey’s packaged candy coupon
• Printable coupon for $2.00 off Snuggle Creme Fabric Softener coupon
• Honey Baked Ham coupons (Please note the states where this coupon is accepted.)

Freebies

Finally, how about some freebies?

• First, if you’re going to the mall, print this coupon for a free mini body lotion from Victoria’s Secret.
• Next, get three free diapers from Huggies Pure and Natural and coupons for your future purchases.
• Click to order a free sample of Caress Body Wash.
• And, last but not least, here’s a good one: Get a free sippy cup here (skip the intro, next click “special offers,” and click sippy cup offer to order yours free)

Related Articles:

• Printable Coupons: Degree, Aquafresh, Healthy Choice & More
• Printable Coupons, Grocery Deals, and Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter
• Printable Grocery Coupons, Kmart and Walgreens Deals
• KMart Double Coupons, Grocery Matchups & Printable Coupons
• Coupons: Drugstore Deals & Matchups at CVS, Walgreen’s

Teresa Britton is a married mom of three who’s always loved a good bargain.  Now she finds bargains for you, and posts the best deals, coupons, and freebies every day on her website at

It’s another good week for coupons—both at the grocery stores and the drugstores. Here are some of the highlights:

If you live in Harris Teeter territory, they’ve been offering triple coupons for a few days, and will be through Tuesday, March 31st. Click here for their sale flyer and match your coupons with the sale items. There’s a limit of twenty coupons per household per day.

Walgreen’s Deals

Walgreen’s has some freebies both with their Easy Saver Rebate program and through Register Rewards.

One A Day Multivitamin Drink Mix, 2 Pack – price $1.49
FREE after rebate

Chapstick 100% Naturals or True Shimmer Lip Balm or Butter .15 oz. – price $1.99
Earns $1.99 in Register Rewards
FREE

Wal-itin Allergy Relief – price $6.99
Free after rebate

Printer Cartridge Refill – price $7.50
Free after rebate

Physician Formula Organic Wear Make Up Products (Buy $10 worth)
Use the $1/1 from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert
$10 rebate
FREE after rebate + $1 overage

Skintimate Shave Gel – price $2.99
Earns $2.99 in Register Rewards
FREE

Buy Softsoap Body Wash and receive a coupon at checkout good for a FREE Softsoap Body Wash on your next store visit –plus $1 printable off Softsoap if your Walgreen’s accepts internet coupons.

Rite-Aid Freebies

I only see one good Rite-Aid freebie today, but if you’re in the neighborhood, pick up this one.

M5 Magnum Razor – price $4.99
Free after rebate (rebate good through 4/4 or 4/2 in select California stores)

Walmart Coupons and Deals

Wal-Mart also has some good coupon match-ups. Remember though that your prices may vary slightly from those listed here.

Seventh Generation wipes – price $2.00
Use the printable $2 coupon here
FREE

(Here is Wal-Mart’s coupon policy. They do accept internet coupons, but many shoppers take this printed policy with them in case they run into an uninformed cashier.)

Glade Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator – price $1.97
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert
you pay – .97

Danimals crush cups – price $2.00
Use the $1/1 coupon from the 3/1 Smart Source coupon insert
you pay – $1

Kotex Pantiliners – price $1.00
Use the .75/1 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert
you pay – .25

Printable Grocery Coupons – All Stores

The banner below allows you to print any or all of the 67 printable grocery coupons available this week through the coupon printer!  Click on “scroll coupons” to look through them or “see all coupons” to view them all.

I’ve found some more printable coupons I hope you’ll find helpful.

$1 off any Nature’s Source Cleaning Product

Click for printable coupons from Eat Better America. These are good ones, including cereal, Fiber One bars, pasta sauce, and more. They do vary, so check back with them frequently.

Coffee-Mate coupons

Softsoap and Palmolive coupons You can try this one at Walgreen’s on the Softsoap, but I am not sure of their internet coupon policy. I have personally had some trouble with them.

And, last but not least—this is a good one if you’ve got little ones—here’s a printable coupon for Build-a-Bear Workshop. Not exactly groceries, but I had to throw it in. Click to print a coupon good for $5 off a $10 purchase good through April 19th. (Note: I would check with the cashier before you start your bear to make sure your store is accepting this coupon.)

Let me know in the comments what great deals you find this week!

Related Articles:

• Kroger Matchups, Deals and Printable Grocery Coupons
• Printable Grocery Coupons, Kmart and Walgreens Deals
• Printable Coupons: Degree, Aquafresh, Healthy Choice & More
• Printable Coupons, Huggies Diapers and Seeking Coupon Columnist
• Printable Coupons: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

This is my first post for Homemaker Barbi, and I’m so excited to be part of the team. It’s a great week for coupons too, so get ready to save some money!

KMart Sales, Deals & Coupons

K-Mart is doubling coupons through $2 this week (click here for your local ad to be sure your store is participating and see specific dates for your area). There are some restrictions too, so please see your local ad or store for details, such as restrictions on doubling internet coupons, limits on number of coupons that can be doubled, etc.

If you spend $50 or more, you can also use this printable coupon to take an extra $5 off your purchase!

Here are a few of the best deals you’ll find at K-Mart this week:

General Mills Banana Nut Cheerios – price $2
Use the .50/1 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source insert, doubles to $1
you pay – $1

Other select General Mills cereals -price $2 per box
Use the $1/3 coupon from the 3/8 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $2
you pay – $1.34 per box

General Mills Fiber One Bars – price $2.00
Use the .50/1 coupon from the 3/8 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $1
you pay – $1.00

Kotex 22 ct. Pantyliners – price $1.29
Use the .75 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $1.50
you pay nothing for this product!

Schick Quattro disposable razors – price $5
Use the $4 coupon from the 3/22 Smart Source coupon insert (does not double)
you pay – $1

Pledge Multi-Surface cleaning products – price $3.50
Use the $1.25 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $2.50
you pay – $1

Nature’s Source 26-oz. cleaners  – price $2.50
Use the $1 coupon from the 3/1 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $2
you pay – $.50

Colgate kids’ or adults’ toothpaste – price $2 – $2.50
Use the .75 coupon from the 2/22 Smart Source coupon insert, doubles to $1.50
you pay – $.50 – $1.00

Most stores never double coupons over $1.00, so this is a great opportunity to go through your coupons and pull out those $1.00 to $2.00 coupons and head to K-Mart.

Walgreen’s Sales & Deals

Walgreen’s can usually be counted on for a few freebies from their EasySaver Catalog. Here are the three for this month if you haven’t picked them up yet:

Axe Shampoo, Conditioner or Stylers, 2.64 or 12 oz.
FREE After Rebate

Advanced Memory Formula, 45 Softgels (this one says up to a $19.99 value!)
FREE After Rebate

Walgreens Extra Strength Quickgels, 20 Pack
FREE After Rebate

This week at CVS, be sure to pick up their freebie–Crest Pro-Health Enamel Care toothpaste or rinse. It’s $3.49, but earns you $3.49 in Extra Care Bucks.

Printable Grocery Coupons for All Stores

Use this coupon printer to get printable coupons good at your favorite grocery stores (scroll through or click “see all to choose your coupons and print):

Finally, here are a few printable coupons and sites where you can register to receive coupons. As always, combine these with sales whenever possible to save the most money.

Betty Crocker coupons are available here. Click “sign up to print coupons now” and then come back anytime to print their coupons. What is available varies, so check back often.

Arm and Hammer has coupons here. Click “get coupons” at the upper left. They have printable coupons for cleaning products, toothpaste, and more.

Click for $4 off any one product from The Fragrance Collection by Glade®

$5 coupon for Glucerna cereal (for diabetics or people with diet concerns)

$1 printable coupon for Hellman’s mayonnaise

$1.00 off Classico pasta sauce printable or mailed coupon

To have the coupon mailed, click on “help” at the lower right on the print page.

$2 printable coupon for Advil PM Click link at lower left of page.

Did you find any good bargains this week? Or, are there any other great double coupon deals at K-Mart? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Articles:

• Printable Coupons, Grocery Deals, and Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter
• Kroger Matchups, Deals and Printable Grocery Coupons
• Printable Coupons: Degree, Aquafresh, Healthy Choice & More
• Printable Coupons, Huggies Diapers and Seeking Coupon Columnist
• I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Coupons $2 Off

Many new printable coupons have been added this week, such as:

We’ve also got a free printable menu plan set for the upcoming week, so be sure to check back here tonight to print out your Tex-Mex Extravaganza in the Take and Make Menu Plans.  The Mexican meals featured are very frugal and easy on the grocery budget. 

Aldi

• Aldi Deals 2/1 – 2/7

CVS

• CVS deals for the week ending 2/7/09 (thanks to HomemakersResource for the tip).
• Look through the CVS ad circular online.

Kroger

• Kroger Deals 2/1 – 2/7 
• Kroger Deals (Midatlantic Area) 2/1 – 2/7

Meijer

• Meijer Deals 2/1 – 2/7

Walgreen’s

• Walgreen’s Deals 2/1 – 2/7

Walmart

• Walmart grocery and other deals starting 2/1/09 (thanks to CentsibleSawyer for the tips).

Grocery Tips Saved Me $228.07 on Groceries in 2 Weeks!

Homemaker Barbi has partnered with Oscar Mayer and Ellie Kay to bring you grocery tips that can revolutionize the way you spend your family’s grocery money! (If you missed it, read the 12 Grocery Saving Tips here.)

To prove it, I took the 2 week Oscar Mayer “Get Savings Savvy Challenge” myself to see just how much money I would save.  Check out the video I made (below) to see how the challenge works, and to learn how to use tip #2 to set up a Kids Lunch Station in your house (subscribers will have to click through to HomemakerBarbi.com to view the video).

Below are a few of the tips that my family tried, how they worked for us, and most importantly, how much money they saved us: $228.07!

Tip #1a- Pack a lunch to take to school. Savings: $12.10. 

This tip might seem insignificant until you figure out how much lunch really costs.  A child buying hot lunch at school can easily be spending a large chunk of your grocery budget ONLY on one meal per day.

For my daughter to buy hot lunch for 2 weeks, it would cost $30! By way of comparison, I figured out how much a lunch from home cost (calculated from actual prices and serving sizes of the ingredients): Peanut butter and jelly sandwich: 72¢, Yogurt: 59¢, Snack crackers: 10¢, Orange: 38¢ = Cost for lunch from home: $1.79.

The savings from packing her lunch for 2 weeks was $12.10, which might not seem like much, but for the entire school year our savings would be $193.60!  Keep in mind we only have 1 child in school; imagine if we had 5 school-aged kids, like my friend Happy Housewife. She’d be saving $968 a year.

Tip #1b- Pack a lunch to take to work.  Savings: $80. My husband ate lunch at home every day for the last 2 weeks instead of eating fast food on his lunch break.  He’d normally spend $8 per meal at Taco Bell (near his work). By my husband eating leftovers at home, we saved $80!

Tip #2- “Big to Little”. Savings: $20. Repackaging large quantities of food into single servings was my favorite tip (and one that I was already practicing), as you could probably tell in the video above. Example: a 3-pack of Hannah Montana lunch-sized packs of dried cranberries cost $4.12, while a whole bag of dried cranberries cost only $1.68! I saved approximately $20 by using this tip for 2 weeks’ worth of snacks.

Tip #4- Have a soup and sandwich night. Savings: $20. As directed, we had 1 soup and sandwich meal per week (and it saved me time, too!). Making homemade bread would lower the cost even more.

Tip #5- “Fast Food Switcheroo”. Savings: $60. We bought enough convenience foods for 2 meals (think frozen pizzas) to take the place of going out to a restaurant when I didn’t have time to cook dinner. Considering that our restaurant tabs would’ve been between $40 and $50, this tip worked wonders.

Tip #12- Go Beyond the List.  Savings: $35.97. I often find the best sales when I least expect them. It’s important to allow myself to buy things not on my shopping list when I find these great deals, and to stock up by buying a large quantity to maximize my savings.  To take advantage of this tip, don’t just look for your list items; keep your eyes open for clearance tags and sale signs for unadvertised specials.

This week I bought a lot of items that weren’t originally on my list because they were on sale, such as: 6 loaves of bread to freeze, coffee, crackers, 11 pounds of ground turkey, pomegranates, and more.  By watching for these sales and stocking up, I RARELY pay full price for the grocery items I need. You can do the same!

This challenge proved a valuable point to me:

Grocery shopping is a large spending category in which we can plan ahead and shop smarter to spend less on groceries without sacrificing quality or nutritional value.  Go ahead, take the Get Savings Savvy Challenge and see how much you save!  I’d love to know how you do- feel free to email savings(at)HomemakerBarbi(dot)com or leave your experience in the comments. Now get saving!

We Teamed Up with Oscar Mayer & Ellie Kay to Save You Money on Groceries!

We talk a lot about smart grocery shopping and saving money on cooking here at Homemaker Barbi. So I was very excited when Oscar Mayer contacted me to work with them and Ellie Kay, America’s family financial expert, as part of their “Smart Saving Tips” Value Challenge!

My family took the “Smart Saving Tips” challenge over the past two weeks. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about our grocery spending. Check back tomorrow to read about how much money we saved on groceries in two weeks using these 12 simple tips, as well as our video teaching you how to save money on snacks and kids’ lunches!

Here’s how it worked: Ellie Kay gave us 12 smart grocery shopping tips to use for two weeks. Many of her tips were things that we already practice in my house –I’ve been very lucky in converting my family to the frugal lifestyle! However, she touches on a lot of areas that can be huge money-sinks, such as kids’ school lunches and breaking down for fast food when we don’t have time to prepare a meal.

Grocery shopping is an area in the family budget that we have a lot of control over, so it’s usually the place that we can save the most money. The recession has hit not only the country’s economy, but also many of our home economies as well. As parents, we don’t want to sacrifice nutritional value and healthy food for our families. At the same time, we can’t afford to spend a fortune during our weekly grocery shopping trips.

To read the full list of grocery shopping tips from Ellie Kay, you can view, print, or download it here.  Here is a recap of the basics:

12 Smart Grocery Shopping Tips from Ellie Kay

1. Pack a lunch to take to school or work instead of buying lunch.

2. Buy large packages in the store, and split them into small serving sizes at home (see tips for this on our video tomorrow).

3. Pack kids’ lunches in advance to avoid the morning rush (and keep yourself from running out of time –forcing hot lunch to be your only option).

4. Have a soup and sandwich night one dinner a week.

5. Have a “restaurant food at home” meal once a week, meaning that you buy convenience foods similar to your favorite restaurants. It’s true that convenience foods cost more than ingredients to make meals from scratch. But on nights when you’re running behind schedule and don’t have time to cook, convenience foods from the grocery store are still much more economical than eating at a restaurant.

6. Let kids pick which ingredients they want to make their sandwiches. Choosing fixings they like will mean they’re more likely to eat the sandwiches once they get to school (and not complain about their lunches)!

7. Use technology in grocery shopping. If your spouse or teens are helping with grocery shopping, they can text or “tweet” the items and prices in the grocery store so that you can help them pick the product that is the best value. What a great idea! This works especially well if you and a spouse are in separate stores to compare which has better prices.

8. Use e-coupons and link them to your grocery shopping cards. That way you won’t even have to remember to bring the coupons with you.

9. Combine store coupons with manufacturer’s coupons on the same items for double discount. Big plus if you can combine these two coupons on an item that is already on sale! Have you ever wondered how people buy things for free or nearly-free? Now you know!

10. Start shopping with cash instead of cards. When you make the family budget, setting aside cash to use for grocery shopping will ensure that you stick to the spending limits you’ve set.

11. Shop at a store that does price matching. Choosing a grocery store that will match competitors’ sale prices allows you to save time and gas by not having to drive to different stores.

12. Forget the old rule of sticking to your shopping list. You can find clearance markdowns, discontinued items, rollbacks, unadvertised specials and more in your store aisles for items that aren’t on your shopping list. It’s OK to stray from your list if you’re stocking up on items which are a great value.

Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of the Oscar Mayer & Ellie Kay “Smart Saving Tips” challenge. Find out how much money we saved on groceries in two weeks using these 12 grocery shopping tips, and watch the video I made showing how to stock up a kids’ lunch-making station. See you then! If you found these tips helpful, consider subscribing to our updates for free!

(Pictured above items were SO free that the store paid me $1.04 to take them home!)

My shopping trip this week was so great this week that as I unloaded the bags in the kitchen to show off, I amazed myself! Not only that, but my husband and daughter were shocked as I took out the items and explained how I paid almost nothing or zero for our groceries.

Some of the food in the photo above doesn’t count, because we’re still on the WIC program for the baby. That ends when he turns 1 year old in August, but for now it sure helps with free formula, juice and baby cereal. If you’re not sure if you qualify for WIC in your area, visit the WIC website and check with your local office. Every little bit helps, and in our case it helps a LOT!

For my regular groceries (not counting the WIC items),

• Total regular price of groceries (appx): $150.00
• Total sale price of groceries: $101.79
• Store coupons used: – $6.53
• Manufacturer coupons used: – $25.83

Total Paid for $150 worth of groceries: $69.43!

• Similac formula x 10 cans = $146.90 regular = $0.00
• Welch’s juice x 2 = $5.58 egular = $0.00
• Gerber baby cereal x2 = $5.18 regular = $0.00

• Old El Paso taco seasoning = $.99 regular – $1 coupon = +$.01
• Myoplex bar = $2.29 regular – Free coupon = $0.00
• 18 pk eggs = $3.89 regular – Free coupon = $0.00
• Glucerna shakes = $9.59 regular – $10 coupon = +$.41
• Glucerna bars = $9.38 regular – $10 coupon = +$.62

The regular price of my coupon items was $26.14, but after using my coupons, I actually MADE money from the store. That’s right, Fred Meyer paid me $1.04 to take those items home!

Homemaker Barbi Says: Use coupons on items that cost less than the amount of the coupon to achieve coupon overage!

For more Super Saturday Savings, check out Money Saving Mom.

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