Well, after I posted about My Frugal February I went to Giant Eagle to see if there were any great deals I should snag. I really hadn’t seen much by way of ads or online matchups so I didn’t know what to expect.

I sure found more than I expected!

Before my coupons- everything in this picture totaled $60  and change.

After coupons- I paid $34.30

Tips about this trip: (aprx. totals)

4 packs of Angel Soft toilet paper cost  $.09 each = .36 cents total (before tax)

The Story: I had gone to Angel Soft’s website to print a coupon or something and the link didn’t work. Since I had to enter my personal info to get the offer I was NOT happy that their website didn’t keep its end of the deal. I emailed the company and told them. They snail-mailed me 4  $.55 cents off any Angel Soft TP and told me they’d had an issue with the website but I think it may be fixed now.  The tip: Don’t just depend on online coupons, ASK companies if they will send you some in the mail! These .55 cents off any have been the best coupons I’ve ever known for Angel Soft since they work on the smaller sized packages and double at Giant Eagle. The tp wasn’t even on sale and I got it for almost nothing!

4 packages of Ortega Taco Seasoning cost  $.03 cents = .12 cents total

The Tip: I almost always see taco seasoning (this brand?) on sale for less than $.80 cents at Giant Eagle. I often get coupons for $.75 cents off 2 products. I usually use them on taco seasoning since I make taco soup and tacos at home. You can expect to get nearly FREE taco seasoning this way!

4 packages of Breyers Yo Crunch cost $.50 each = $2.00 total

The Tip: Giant Eagle usually has great deals on yogurt. Save those coupons and wait for the sale! Yo Crunch is one of my favorites but check the expiration date!- make sure they don’t expire before you think you’ll eat them. I found some of these didn’t expire till April

6 packages of Kotex cost about $2.00 $1.58.  per package = $9.48  total (before tax)

1 / 20ct. package of Solo Squared Cups = $.50 cents (before tax)

5 boxes of Gorton’s Fish/Shrimp = 3 @ $2 each and 2 @ $4 each = $14 total

The Tip: At $4 or $2 a box- this makes for a very affordable fish dinner for our family at about $1 per person if not less!

1 bottle of Purex 46 loads laundry detergent = $4.30 (before tax)

1 box of Wheat Thins for dear hubby = $1.50

Overall Tip: I went ahead and bought some of the other things at GE because I get Fuel Perks points and I had a coupon that doubled at GE vs. Walmart. The added savings on gas makes the difference for me in that case.

To read more Super Saturday Savings posts click here to go to Money Saving Mom.

My husband and I started writing down all our expenses this year starting January 1st- we have a notebook just for this. I tape a business size envelope inside the back of the notebook cover to quickly stash our receipts.

So, January was a great month of great deals at Giant Eagle (double coupons!). I was able to do some stocking up. Add to that the Freezer Cooking Day I joined in on  and we’ve had an easy February. I’ve done very little grocery/ household shopping. Very little. In fact, it looks like I’ve spent about $97.00 on groceries this month so far (for a family of 4).

Being creative…

I shared a different Twist on a Taco that was delicious and I used items from my stock/freezer. I want to share another taco combination that I tried out.

I used some frozen taco meat I had in the freezer, a bag of the microwavable Old El Paso Fiesta Rice, Kraft cheese and Ortega Whole Grain Taco Shells (note, I didn’t have any lettuce on hand).  Just fill your tacos normally layering in your desired order.

These were DELICIOUS! I had at least 2 for lunch and  a couple more later on   The Fiesta Rice really made it extra-special.

Planning ahead…

My stockpile is dwindling and my freezer is getting down a bit too. Though we are still doing good on freezer items.

I’d really encourage anyone to spend part of  a day doing some meal-prep cooking. You could drag out your crockpots (I have 3- not all the same size) get your rice cooker if you have one (I do, got it New! for $5 at a garage sale) and let those items do the cooking for you.

But even if you don’t have all that, you can just brown a few pounds of hamburger, mix up some taco meat, bake a whole chicken…etc.. This past week I used one of our snowed-in (no school days) to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker and then I deboned it before bedtime. I save the broth for future homemade chicken or vegetable soups and the shredded chicken for cream of chicken sandwiches, chicken soup or maybe I’ll make another pot pie

Personally speaking…

During my daily devotions I’m reading in Proverbs right now and came across these verses that I’ve read countless times before but I felt it really applied to these past couple of weeks of enduring snowstorm after snowstorm in our area (and we may be getting another one this Sunday/Monday).  Though I don’t advocate hoarding, I do believe in being prepared when we are able to do so.  By being diligent in my coupon use and deal matching I am able to stock up on items we will use when the prices are at their lowest. Sometimes FREE! Can’t be that with a stick, can you?

Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

Provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

So shall they poverty come as one that travelleth, and they want as an armed man.

My point is this, I plan and prepare for what my family needs as best I can when the timing is best. When the bad weather struck, I didn’t have to fret about driving through it to pick up more groceries. We were prepared.

Sponsors of Hall of Fame Moms…

Tiny Dimples, Kirsten, Brandy, Melody, and DIYShoppe Designer.

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I got all of this at Giant Eagle for about $35.00- by stacking coupons on top of sale prices.

12 boxes of Green Giant vegies (various kinds)

a whole chicken (had a $2 off coupon for this)

about 3# of hamburger (had another $2 off coupons for this)

2 bags of salad

package of small tomatoes

bananas & apples

6 cans of Progresso Soups

1 pack of Old Elpaso rice mix

1 container of cottage cheese

2 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes

I’ve had a few very good Giant Eagle trips this month. To learn more about how I save money, who my resources are and pictures of my shopping deals go to “categories” and click on My Stockpile.  Don’t miss my previous article below on Coupon Help and Stockpiling.

Stockpiling is  about stocking up (on what our family uses or things I can give away to others) when the prices are just too good to pass up.  I’ve been getting so many good deals using coupons stacked with sale prices that I like to have pictures to show you and share the details. Now, I’m not a coupon teacher although you can learn a few things by reading how I save. I let the “couponista-girls” do the detailed teaching and deal-finding- although I do come across some deals without their help and I will share some spontaneous bargain finds usually with my Facebook Fans- click here to join us.  FrugalHacks.com has an alphabetical list of frugal websites. You may find one that does the deals for your area.

I’ve made a category called “My Stockpile” to share pictures of the deals I get.  I’ve been really fortunate with Giant Eagle this month of January. I can’t recall a month quite so good for me- but getting those deals has required me to…

1-  ask for rainchecks for current sale prices when items on sale are out of stock.

2-  buy extra Sunday newspapers (I can get them half-off on Mondays). Do it at Giant Eagle so you get your Fuelperks.

3-  subscribe to my favorite coupon-blogger’s newsletters (I may miss a deal if I don’t subscribe) to keep me “in-the-know”, cuz I know I won’t do that on my own!

Its all paid off.  I’m pretty comfy with what I know now about stacking coupons with sale prices and using rebates. I’ve been doing this for some time now but you may not be as familiar so let me point you in a helpful direction. I know of two couponing websites that offer tips and teaching. Check out…

Happy Homemaker Cindy

CouponAllies.com

I plan on sharing more about how to stockpile as in where to put your stock and about  finding new purpose for old things!  This would be a good time to subscribe to my free email or RSS updates. You’ll see the option to do so in my side bar.

I recently took the advice of my die-hard friends at Couponallies.com  to get rainchecks from Giant Eagle (again). I’m so glad I took the time to do it.  I’ve asked for rainchecks a couple of times over the past several months and it has paid off!

It was only maybe a week or so ago that Giant Eagle had these 2 pack giant paper towels by Marcal on sale for $2 a pack and I had a few coupons for $2 off and several more for $1.50 off. Likewise the Blistex lip balm was on sale $1 a pack and I had coupons for$1 off 2. I picked up rainchecks making sure to ask for a larger quantity than I probably needed-( I could always choose to buy less, but couldn’t add to it later).  When the sales ended, the stock increasedd (go figure).  Aside from any sales tax I owed here is what that picture above cost me:

6 packs of Blistex Lip Balm  .50 each = $3.00 (raincheck for sale price  & coupons)

3 packs of giant 2 roll packs of Marcal paper towels (6 rolls)=  FREE (raincheck for sale price & coupons)

6 packs of giant 2 roll packs of Marcal paper towels (12 rolls)=   $3.00  (raincheck for sale price & coupons)

2 boxes of 40ct Snuggle dryer sheets  ( priced at $1.99 and I had 2 /$2 off coupons) = FREE

16 cans of Cambells Chicken Noodle/Tomato Soups on sales + coupons = .40 x16 = $6.40

plus $1.82 in sales tax…

Total $14.22  -for 18 rolls of giant paper towels, 16 cans of soup, 80 dryer sheets and 6 lip balms.

So, how much did using rainchecks save me? Well as I can recall  (before sales tax) the Marcal towels were $3.69 per pack I bought $33.21 worth , the Blistex were $1.49 each and I bought  $8.94 worth…total $42.15. I guarantee you I wouldn’t have bought all of that at those prices. Rainchecks allowed me the affordability to stock up!! And I was just talking about the 2 products I used rainchecks for…I saved so much using coupons for the other things as well.

I couldn’t save like I do without the help of those who do the work for me. You’ll find my resources for saving on groceries and finding freebies by clicking here. For a better way to shop online for clothes, etc you can read my post on that here.

Special thanks to my sponsors…

Melody for Watkins : Cinnamon is on special the month of January!

Brandy for Work At Home United : Working from home with NO Large Investment, NO Carrying Inventory, NO Taking Orders and Making Deliveries, NO Billing, NO Risk…contact me for more info.

Thanks again to none other than CouponAllies (no, they don’t pay me to talk about them but we all have known each other since before we started our websites)…I learned about a low-key, kinda hidden $5 catalina offer for Kraft/Velveeta cheese products. I like to use the self-checkouts at Giant Eagle myself so I can monitor my coupon progress. I did 2 separate transactions so I’d get a $5 coupon for each one. It worked!

Okay, so there were 2 deals Giant Eagle was offering that  I worked 2 times each to get everything in that picture for $20.95 plus $4 in coupons off my next meat purchases.  Couponallies says that catalina deal started Jan. 6th and is going on for a couple weeks or so. You can find out how Allie found it and what the exact deal is by clicking here.

Here’s what I bought…

6 (8oz) bags of Kraft Natural shredded cheese.

4 (8oz) blocks of Velveeta Cheese.

5 (12oz) bags of GreenGiant Valley Fresh Steamers

3 cans of a variety of  Pillsbury crescent rolls/dough (they have new stuff out!)

1 (16oz) International Delight’s Carmel Macchiato coffee creamer (I think this is NEW!)

Working the Deals.

The “kinda-secret”  $5 catalina deal was for buying 5 qualifying Kraft/Velveeta cheese products. GE has some of them on sale for 2/$5.  Since I wanted to use the $5 coupons today I rang up the first 5 bags of cheese and used 2  coupons I printed off the internet for $1.00 off 2 packages. I ended up paying $10.50 out of pocket as well as got my $5 “on your next visit” catalina coupon.

I then rang up my 4 velveetas and the other bag of Kraft cheese,  and 4 of my Green Giant steamers (the vegie deal will get me a $2 off my next meat purchase coupon)…I use my .55 velveeta coupons that double to $1.10 of each block of cheese,  then my .40cents off Green Giant steamers that double to .80 off per bag. and my $5 catalina coupon…out of pocket spent $7.86 total and got a $2 off meat purchase coupon for future use and another $5 catalina from the Kraft deal.

Next, rang up my coffee creamer (no coupon here), 3 cans of  crescent rolls and one bag of Green Giant steamers…use my regular coupons plus my 2nd $5 off catalina….out of pocket spent $2.59 and got another $2 off my next meat purchase. 

Grand Total: $20.95 out of pocket… saved $25.51 per my receipts.

I will freeze the shredded cheese for future meals.