Free or Almost Free cereal & milk at Acme

Acme is running a deal right now on General Mills cereal. Buy 4 boxes, must buy 4, for $10. Then you will receive $4 instant savings at checkout. So 4 boxes for $6, or $1.50 each.

There are many coupons out there to get the $1.50 down. You can click here to get to the General Mills website and get yourself some $0.75 off coupons, which Acme will double to $1.50. Also, last week, there were coupons in the paper for $1 off 2 boxes of GM cereal.

If you buy 5 boxes of GM cereal, the catalina machine at the register should spit out a catalina for a free gallon of milk. This is a hidden, non-advertised deal that’s been going on for a while, so no one seems to know when it will end.

In any event, you should be able to get 5 boxes of cereal AND a gallon of milk for much less than $4 or $5.

Happy shopping.

“My head is spinning”

I was trying to explain to a friend the other day how to do a deal. She said “My head is spinning. How do you remember all this stuff?” First, I know some of it is genetic, lol. If you knew my Nan, you know how she was about deals and bargains, and she trained me well. Quite often when I am getting a great deal, I think “Nan would have loved this one!”

Second, it will get easier, I promise. Once you get used to looking for deals, it gets easier and easier. If you see an offer in a store like “Buy 4 of these items, get $5 off” your brain will start to instantly go into deal-mode and you’ll be figuring out how you can get the lowest out-of-pocket possible to get your $5. Before you know it, you will be turning up your nose at boxes of cereal for $1, because you’ll think “oh, I don’t pay that much for cereal.”

Start small. Focus on one store first. Decide which program you want to master and focus on it. Whether it be the ECB program at CVS, RR program at Walgreen’s or learning the e-coupons and double-dipping at Acme–pick one, focus on it, learn it, then add another store to your repetoire.

You have to enjoy it. If you do not have fun with this, it’s harder. I like doing it. I love, love, love standing at the register at Acme–and the cashier, the bagger and the person behind me are amazed at how much comes off my total. I love when I’m at CVS or Walgreen’s, and the cashiers get all bug-eyed when they give me my final total, and then they get even more bug-eyed when their registers spit out more $$ for me to use on my next trip. I love being able to try new cosmetics all the time, without having paid for them. I’d be lying if I told you this didn’t take some time, especially in the beginning when you’re learning. But if you’re watching tv in the evening, sitting down, why not just clip & sort coupons at the same time?

Also-know this: Stores, manufacturers, retailers, marketers, advertisers–they’re not that bright, creative or clever. Very seldom am I wowed by the originality of a deal. It’s the same deals recycled over and over. You’ll get used to seeing the same offers come up again every couple of months, which makes it easier to learn.

Get the Sunday paper. You don’t have to clip all the coupons, or any for that matter. But at the very least, pull out the inserts and keep them in a desk drawer or something. Then, at least if I reference a particular coupon, you’ll be able to go back & you’ll have it. You won’t be kicking yourself saying “man, I wish I had that coupon, I could’ve gotten free…..(whatever).”

I’ve added a list of terms and abbreviations to the side of the blog to help.

Acme Shoppers–Do you know about Avenu?

If you have an Acme card, let me tell you about Avenu of Savings. If you look on the right-hand side of this blog, under “Favorite Bargaining Sites” you’ll see a link to Acme’s Avenu of Savings. Before you go to the store, you can enter your card number and load e-coupons on to your card. If you buy the specified products, the amount will be deducted when you check out (and scan your card).

These ecoupons may be used with other coupons and store offers. I have gotten some fantastic deals thru Avenu–Gerber Graduate meals for $0.50, 4 packs of Dannon yogurt for $0.34 and Edy’s ice cream for very cheap. Sometimes the deals are good, and sometimes you get a bunch of duds.

Got some good ones, but don’t have time to get to the store? Look on the left hand side of your Avenu offers, and you’ll see a link to click “extend my customized offers.”

Right now, some soda at Acme is five 12-packs for $10. I just got an ecoupon for this same soda–$1 off any 12-pack, limit 2. So I can get five 12-packs of soda for $8. If you drink soda or are having a picnic soon, I think that’s a great price. And if you would happen to have other coupons for Dr. Pepper, Sunkist or A&W (soda in this offer) you could make it even cheaper.

If it says “Limit 2 per visit” you can ring them up separately, but on the same day. I did that with the Dannon yogurt. Included 2 with my regular grocery order, held 2 back to be rung up separately. Got the price of $0.34 per pack on all 4.

Rite Aid in Kennett–Grand Opening deals

CVS keeps me pretty busy and I’m not looking to add another store to my repetoire. But all month they’ve been celebrating their Grand Opening and some of the deals were too good to pass up. I got Kraft Mac & Cheese for $0.50 a box, and Bounty for $0.38 a roll.

Next week–from July 23 to 29, here are some highlights:

Electrasol: Two for $3! By itself this is a fantastic price–if you have the $2.25 off coupon from the 7/13 paper, even better–you’ll probably get overage. So get two boxes for $0.75. They also are offering a $2 rebate, so you could work it that Rite Aid pays you $1.25 to take two boxes of Electrasol off their hands.

Tums: $0.77 and there are lots of $1 coupons out there if you clip coupons.

Vive: the shampoo is bogo, so if you have the bogo coupon from the 7/13 paper, two free bottles of shampoo.