My Shopping Trips

After my not-quite-successful shopping trip last week, I decided to try another transaction at Dillon’s. And I’m happy to report that it went off without a hitch:

Dillon’s Shopping Trip

2 boxes of Hefty OneZip Bags — $0.99 each after the Buy 10, Get $5 Off Promotion — used 1 $1/2 coupon (there are also $0.55/1 coupons here and here which make it free, but I’d already printed/used  my limit!) = $0.50 per box after coupons
1 Luna bar – used free coupon that printed on my receipt last week
1 Sunsweet Prune Juice — used free coupon that I got in the mail
1 Herbal Essence shampoo — used free coupon that I signed up for
1 package of Oscar Mayer beef hot dogs — used free coupon that I signed up for
6 boxes of Nature Valley & Fiber One Bars/Thins — $1.99 per box after the Buy 10 Get, $5 Off promotion — used 6 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled) (There are also $0.50/2 coupon and $0.40/1 coupons available) = $0.66 per box after coupons and catalina
Dawn dish soap – $1.49, used $0.50/1 coupon (doubled) = $0.49 after coupon
2 packages of Huggies wipes — $1.49 each after the Buy 10, Get $5 Off Promotion — used 2 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled) = $0.49 after coupon
Organic bananas — marked down to $0.39/lb.

I misplaced my receipt today, but if I’m remembering right, my total was right around $10 with tax (after my $3 catalina from my last shopping trip), plus I got back a $2 catalina for purchasing 6 GM cereal bar products!

Silas said, “I’m going to get in the picture!”

Health Food Store Shopping Trip

Ezekiel Tortillas — $3.99
Raw cheese from a local farm — $6.35
Farm fresh eggs from a local farm — $3.29
Pineapple — marked down to $0.99
Bag of organic potatoes — marked down to $0.99
2 tubs of organic lettuce — marked down to $0.99 each
Plums — $0.99/lb. — $1.63 total

Total with tax: $19.56

Yesterday’s Dillon’s Shopping Trip

Bag of Tyson Chicken Breasts — $6.99
6 boxes of Hefty OneZip Bags — $0.99 each after the Buy 10, Get $5 Off Promotion — used 6 $0.55/1 coupons here and here = free after coupons and promotion
4 bags of Nabisco Oreos/Animal Crackers — $0.99 each after the Buy 10, Get $5 Off promotion — used 2 $1/2 coupons = $0.50 per bag after coupons and promotion
2 bags of cheese — $1.79 each
1 dozen eggs — $2.50
7 boxes of Nature Valley & Fiber One Bars/Thins — $1.99 per box after the Buy 10 Get, $5 Off promotion — used 2 $0.40/1 coupons (doubled), used 2 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled), used 1 $0.50/2 coupon (doubled) = $9.33 total + got back a $3 catalina for buying 6 boxes of GM bars = about $0.91 per box (would’ve been less if they would have had all the boxes in stock that I had $0.50/1 coupons for — I’m going to check another store!)
1 SmartBalance Butter — $1.99 after the Buy 10 Get, $5 Off promotion — used $1.75/1 coupon = $0.24 after coupon
1 BirdsEye frozen veggies (not pictured) — $0.99 after the Buy 10 Get, $5 Off promotion — used $0.35/1 coupon (doubled) = $0.29 after coupon
1 Dial hand soap — $0.88 — used $0.35/1 coupon (doubled) = $0.18 after coupon
1 package of Goldfish crackers (not pictured) — $0.99 after the Buy 10 Get, $5 Off promotion

Total plus tax: $27.59 + got a $3 catalina back for purchase six boxes of General Mills cereal bars

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been doing much coupon-shopping recently. I took the summer “off” from many different normal activities — including using coupons. I was feeling rather burnt out after a busy winter and spring and a laid-back summer was the perfect antidote.

But when my friend emailed me yesterday and told me about the really hot Buy 10, Get $5 Off deals at Dillons, I knew it was time to get out my coupon box again. So I consulted Frugal Fritzie, revved up the printer, and made my list.

After Jesse and Silas headed to a men’s meeting yesterday evening, I finally got my shower in for the day (yes, I know, that’s terrible, isn’t it?!) and headed out to Dillon’s with the two girls in tow and my envelope of coupons.

I was excited to get some smoking hot deals again! And I did get some great deals, but I ran into a few snags along the way…

Problem number one: By the time I got around and go out the door, it was pushing 8:30 p.m. No sweat, I figured. My list wasn’t too long, the store should be deserted, and I’ll just run in and run out really quickly.

Problem number two: The shelves were empty of some of the best deals. Again, I just re-worked my plan and figured out how to pull it off so that I was

Problem number three: Somehow I thought the Dial soap was a part of the Buy 10, Get $5 Off deal. So, while I counted and re-counted to make sure I had 20 participating items, one of the items wasn’t participating — which meant I only had purchased 19 items. But I didn’t realize this.

The shopping trip took me quite a bit longer than I was expecting and long gone were my visions of getting home before 9 p.m. so I could get to bed by my bedtime. Oh well, life happens sometimes, I told myself.

But since we were running late, I called Jesse who was on his way home from the meeting. He said he’d meet us at the store since he wanted to pick out some ice cream for an evening snack.

I went through the lane, had a very coupon-friendly cashier, and paid for my groceries. But the total just didn’t sound right. I waved off the feeling at first while we met up with Jesse and Silas.

The nagging feeling of having paid too much was still there, so I pulled out my receipt and immediately figured out the problem: the $5 hadn’t been taken off for one of the Buy 10, Get $5 Off promotions. I really didn’t want to pay an extra $0.50 for each of those nine items, so I headed back to the checkout lanes and two really kind cashiers helped me look over my receipt.

We couldn’t figure out what went wrong where, but we counted and re-counted the items and realized I had only gotten 19 items. They graciously offered to let me purchase one more item in order to get the $5 off.

I ran over to pick up a package of Goldfish crackers and went back to the checkout lane where the helpful cashiers were waiting for me. One of them started ringing up the Goldfish crackers and then I realized that Jesse had already taken my other groceries and the kids out to the car — along with my wallet and Dillon’s card.

We stopped the transaction and I ran out to the car to get the Dillon’s card. The cashiers were so patient and amazing about all of this. I kept apologizing and they kept saying, “Don’t worry about it; it’s no big deal. It happens all the time!”

I finally got everything squared away and walked out with my groceries — only to realize that Jesse had already gone back into the store with all the kids and he had the keys! So I stood at the entrance for what felt like a very long time (in reality, it was only about 10 minutes) while they picked out ice cream, checked out, and finally met back up with me again.

So much for my quick shopping trip — and my bedtime. But I did get some great deals and the cashiers were amazingly helpful, so it could have been a whole lot worse!

Mostly, it just cracked Jesse and me up. Apparently, I’m pretty out-of-practice when it comes to using coupons and scoring bargains at the grocery store. And I hope to rectify that over the next few months as I really want to get my coupon mojo back!

I ran out to Dillon’s today since I didn’t get to go last week as I didn’t feel up to it. I didn’t get as great of deals as I was hoping for since I couldn’t get all the coupons to print that I wanted to (my computer/printer combo has been finicky about printing things recently!) and then some of the prices I’d seen online didn’t match up to what was on the shelves at the store.

But I was still happy for the few deals I found — and it was also just plain nice to go out shopping after being home all week long last week!

Dillon’s Shopping Trip

2 Plum Organic Baby Food Pouches — on sale for $1 each, used 2 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled) = free after coupons

4 Yoplait Kids Yogurts 4-packs — on sale for $2 each, used 2 $0.75/2 coupons (“doubled” to $1 off) = $1.50 each, plus get $4 back as part of the Buy 6, Get $6 Back promo (so $0.50 per yogurt pack after the catalina) — The $0.75/2 coupon is no longer available, but I just found a $0.35/1 coupon here that would make it even less with doubles.

2 Turkey Hill Sweet Tea half gallons (my husband’s favorite!) — $1.25 each, used $1/2 coupon = $0.75 each after coupon

2 Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes — $2.39 each, used $0.50/1 coupons (“doubled” to $1 off) = $1.39 each, plus got $2 back as part of the Buy 6, Get $6 Back promo (so $0.39 each after the catalina)

Total with tax: $11.65 + I got a $6 catalina back that is good off my next shopping trip!

Did you get any great deals today?