Mission Accomplished....the Price Chopper Saga

I'm back to report in on my Price Chopper "Triplers Shopping".

Price Chopper in my area had 2 TRIPLERS in their sales circular. You could put a manufacturer's Coupon, with a face value up to $3, with one of these triplers and the store would triple the value of that coupon. I misspoke on Friday morning(see previous post)about the number of TRIPLER Coupons I had. Though I had bought 11 Sunday newspapers(these were only available in the Sunday paper-not in the flyers at the store), 1 of the papers did NOT have a Price Chopper sales flyer, so I only had 20 triplers, not 22 triplers. Oh well....

You could only use TWO Triplers with each order(and it was enforced), so in total I made 10 trips into the store to shop. Actually, the daugher helped me out on Sat. and made 1 trip in, so I only had to make 9 trips.

The challenge was twofold for me.

1-finding coupons with high value($2 or $3)in my stash. Some high value coupons when tripled were way over the item price, so I couldn't use them without losing some of my 'couponage value'.

2-finding coupons that when tripled would give me FREE or ALMOST FREE products to cart home. Price Chopper in these parts, is NOT known for having low prices, so #2 was a bit more difficult that it sounds.

I am working with a self-imposed, very limited food budget this month of $150 too boot, so I couldn't go hog wild with purchases.

This was the game plan going in. But, oh how things can change....

I could have accomplished this mission with a much lower total of 20-30 free products and 10 lbs. of butter for $9.90 + approx. $8 of tax on the toiletry items.

But along the way, I found some very good deals I couldn't pass up. Yes, stores do lure you in with gimmicks like triple coupons and loss leaders in hopes you will spend on the other "not a good deal" items. But I did well overall by resisting the siren song of all those pretty packages with high price tags.

I did find that I am in love with the Dairy manager in this store. He/She is very generous about marking down items weeks and weeks BEFORE their sell by dates come to pass, unlike some stores where they NEVER discount dairy as it gets to the sell by date and just toss it after it hits the date and take a write-off loss on the item.

Here are the pictures of everything I purchased....or the store gave me for FREE.

Thursday Evening's Price Chopper Haul (2 trips)

Friday's Price Chopper Haul (4 Trips)

Saturday's Price Chopper Haul (4 Trips)

With tax, I spent $67.97
The sale prices and coupons used came to $216.61
Total Value of everything I bought was $284.58
A Savings of over 76%!

Here is a breakdown of what was purchased and price

1 Sm. Bag Dog Food FREE Q with tripler
3 Rolls Aluminum Foil FREE Q with tripler
3 Pkgs. Razors FREE Q with tripler
8 Candy Bars FREE Q w/sale price
2 Herbal Essence Shampoo FREE Q with tripler
9 Suave Shampoo FREE Q with tripler
2 Glucerna Cereals FREE Q-high value
1 Carnation Breakfast FREE Q with tripler
4 Boxes Ritz Crackers FREE Q with tripler
6 Suave Body Wash (2 FREE/4 .19ea) $ .76 Q with tripler
10 1lb. Butter (.99 ea) $9.90 Store Q
8 Carnation Breakfast (2.24ea.) $17.92 Q+WYB2 $1.50 OYNO
8 Boxes Cheerios (.75 ea.) $6.00 Store Q &/or Q with tripler
2 12pks. Pepsi (1.99ea.) $3.98 Store Q
2 Yoplait 6pks. (.69 ea.) $1.38 Dairy Disc. + Q
2 16 ct. Tortillas ($1.99 ea.) $3.98 Dairy Disc.+$1 Q
4 lg. Cans Tomatoes(.50 ea.) $2.00 on markdown table
5 1lb. Swiss Cheese(2.99 ea.) $14.95 Dairy Disc.
1 container Sour Cream $1.19 Dairy Disc.
2 lb. Prepared Sweet Potatoes $.69 Dairy Disc.
2 Tropicana O.J. (.49 ea.) $.98 Dairy Disc. + Q
1 Over the Moon 1/2 Gal.Milk $1.29 Dairy Disc. + Q

86 items---$67.97 Out of Pocket

No meat but some pricey cheese, dog food, cereal and toiletries.
The OJ, Cheese, Tortillas, Sour Cream, Yogurt & Sweet Potatoes were all discounted in the dairy section.

By bringing along my spare coupons and finding all those nice Dairy Discounts on products, I was able to combine the two and get some very nice prices on items I can freeze for later. I needed the sour cream and the tortillas to make dinner on friday, so I came prepared to pay *gasp* retail on those items. I put my needs out into the Universe and the coupon fairy heard me & put all those little Dairy Peelies in my path!

I find the price of cold cereal is c-r-a-z-y!....how about you? Anytime I can get boxes of cereals the kids will eat, I am a happy woman. I don't much like getting them the sugary stuff but for a change I wasn't "meany mom" and got them Frosted Cheerios. I am thinking I'll mix it with regular Cheerios to lessen the sugar high.lol

Price Chopper had a deal on assorted GM Cereals this week. With the coupon and a FOUR Box purchase, you paid $8($2 per box). I did that deal twice. The 1st time, I used 4 Qs that doubled(every day store policy up to $1), so those 4 boxes cost me $1 each. I had 2 $1/2 Qs for the 2nd deal, so I combined those with the triplers, making each coupon worth $3. I paid 50 cents for each of those 4 boxes.

The Carnation Instant Breakfast(CIB) is something the daughter likes to have in the morning. It's rather pricey so if I find it for a good price, I stock up. I was bummed out that both the CVS stores around here were cleaned out of their stock of it, because of the ECBs you get this month to purchase CIB there. So when I saw Price Chopper had it $1 off I brought my $1/1Qs to the store. There was also a shelf tag...Get $1.50 OYNO(off your next order)when you purchase two. So during my multiple trips through the checkout, I bought in 2s, & used the Catalinas on every other trip where I didn't buy any CIB.

Yes, it did take longer having to checkout multiple times. Saturday was particularly bad(being the weekend). If I had decided to use these Triplers earlier in the week, the crowds wouldn't have been so bad.
But the extra time spent was well worth the savings. It helped to have a plan of what I wanted to purchase and all my coupons in order beforehand.

Couponing is a beautiful thing!

Next time, a report on my Walgreen's Saturday Siege. ;-)

Sluggy