I live about 45 minutes from the USA/Canada border, and everytime I go across the border, I wish I lived closer. Because even with all the great deals and stacking opportunities we have here in BC, we just can't beat the fantastic sales and coupons available in the USA - so all you in the US, count yourselves blessed!
Every so often, I go down for business and I try to squeeze in a quick shopping trip, and such was the case last week. Note that I missed some catalina deals by a few days (could've gotten more items for free), and also, I didn't have some insert coupons since I don't get the papers from there.
Still, it's pretty fun to shop there and we can still get some coupons here, which I'll share with you in another post.
First, I went to
Fred Meyer, which I hadn't been to in years:
I got 3 blocks of butter and 4 bags of cheese for $8. Just for comparison sake, the same size Kraft cheese (380g) goes for about $4-$5 here, and I got the 195g packs for .75c each.
Next up was
Target, where I was disappointed with some empty shelves, and also I missed the
Kashi deal I was hoping to get, by a few days. Still...
I got 2 boxes of Kashi cereal, 4 boxes of Kashi bars, 4 individual Kashi cereal cups and 2 travel sized Johnson& Johnson lotion and shampoo for $5.34. I would have paid about $22 for them here.
Right after Target I headed to
Walgreens which turned out to be a big mess as I hardly shop there and I was not familiar with its policies. I was given wrong info by the cashier which I followed, and that ended up costing me $ so my deals ended up not being great. That's a good warning to know your store policies, so you don't get taken advantage of.
First, I bought 2 Neosporin lip chapsticks, which were on sale 2/$8, and I had a $6coupon, which would generate a $3 Register Reward and thus a $1 moneymaker:
Next, I bought some Chex with coupons:
Then I bought 4 pop, and that was a mistake. WG had a sale which was 3 for $4, and get a $2 RR in return. I should've just bought 3 but bought 4 in error.
Also, I had planned for paying for the pop with the previous RR I had received but was advised I could not. Not knowing the store policies, I complied and paid with real cash. Totally not an Extreme Shopper thing to do! LOL.
I then tried to buy Glade candles with coupons which would have netted me a $2 RR but when I bought them I did not get a Catalina, so I returned them.
At this time I had a $3 RR and a $2 RR and I wanted to spend them but was so overwhelmed with all the wrong information the cashier was giving me, so I just scanned the shelves and got $5 worth of Valentine's stuff - so all this was free:
I noticed after the fact that the cashier did not put in 2 Chex coupons I had, and she actually "hid" my $2 RR by her register, and only gave it to me when I asked for it. Throughout the transactions she was also sighing and punching in the keys really hard to show me she was not liking having to deal with coupons, etc, so that really put me off. I spent about $12 for the 2 Neosporin sticks, 4 pop, 8 Chex and the Valentines stuff - and I have mixed feelings about this deal... but what I know for sure is, the next time I enter Walgreens, I will have the store policy down to a T!
Lastly, on my way home I hit
Safeway:
I got 6 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of oatmeal, 4 boxes of Cheese Nips, 4 boxes of roll ups, and 4 packages of tortillas, all utilizing the specials that Safeway was having at that time and stacking with coupons. I also used an FPC for free creamer.
It was a real pleasure to see my total decreasing with every coupon I used, and there was an older couple behind me who were cheering me on, and the cashier even said,"great job!" I ended up paying $13.62 for 23 items.
I saved 80% off my bill!!
This is what I got on my quick trip, for about $38, and no customs at the border!
On top of that, I received a catalina for $1.50 and another for $1 from Safeway to put towards future purchases!
Before I get any emails about how it's all packaged stuff, I must say this is the first time in a LONG time that I've gotten fruit roll ups for the kids as a treat. The Chex is for my hubby as a treat as well, and I think it was my first time buying Cheese Nibs. And cereal, well, we go through it like crazy.
All I used were instore specials and coupons I printed off the internet. If I had access to the Sunday papers I would've been able to get more $ off with the coupons from there but I'm ok with it, since I was pretty happy with my purchases.
And that's how you have a shopping party down in the USA!
Next up, a video on shopping in the USA and some explanations on some coupon lingo and also how I plan my USA shopping and get my coupons.
First up was Rite Aid.
Safeway is having a great deal on cereal - buy 5 participating items and get $5 off immediately. Good news - coupons can be used along with this offer! So I mixed and matched and worked out which coupon to use with which cereal - came came away with this haul:
Here's the Target list:
Next up was Walgreens, where I messed up by forgetting to bring in the proper Tylenol coupons so only ended up getting 3 toothbrushes.
And lastly, Walmart.
