I Got Paid to Buy Cheerios! $14 for $1.88 OOP

Wow, I am really amazed at the deal I got at Copps this week. I don't usually get this excited about a deal... ok, maybe sometimes ;) but this deal is really amazing!

It's one of those times when several good deals combine to make a truly remarkable, unprecedented deal! Here are some of the factors that contributed to it:

• Cheerios deal at Copps: buy 6, get $10 off instantly plus 2 coupons for a free gallon of milk
• Those great $1/1 and $1/2 coupons that general mills has been emailing to me
• Double Coupon day at Copps, which makes each of those $1 coupons = $2 off

Here are the 2 transactions I did:

Transaction 1

(6) Cheerios 14 oz ($3.49)

(3) Dan Active Yogurt 4-packs (on sale for $2/each)

Total before coupons and instant rebates = $26.94, which is good, because it's above the $25 needed for coupons to double!

Coupons applied:

$10 off instantly for buying 6 cereals

(5) Doubled $1 Cheerios coupons = $10 off

(3) $1/1 Dan Active coupons = $3 off

Total Coupons = $23

OOP = $3.94

But wait, there's more! I also received back (2) "Free Milk Coupons" Something that was not advertised is that the Milk coupons, which say they are good "up to $3.50" actually take $3.50 off of your total when they scan. So, for the milk I buy, which is $2.59, that means a free gallon plus 91 cents overage!

Final cost = -$3.06 (3.94 - $7 in future savings)

Transaction 2

(6) Cheerios 14 oz ($3.49)

(5) Pepsi products 12 packs ($3.99 or $1.77 when you buy 5)

Total before coupons and instant rebates = $40.89

Coupons applied:

$11.10 off instantly for buying 5 Pepsi products

(1) Buy 4 get 1 Free Pepsi coupon = $1.77 off

$10 off instantly for buying 6 cereals

(5) Doubled $1 Cheerios coupons = $10 off

Total Coupons = $32.87

Tax = .49

OOP = $8.51

Again, I received 2 more Free Milk Coupons, so another $7.00 in future savings!

Final cost = $1.51 (8.51 - $7 in future savings)

Total for both transactions = -$1.55 I literally got paid to shop this week!

With a deal this good, I just wish I had more cheerios coupons so I could have done it some more.

Another way to look at this deal, not that it isn't amazing enough already, is to just look at the cost of the cereal, which ended up at $0.94 for 6 boxes, so $1.88 for both transactions, and yet I got back $14 in coupons. In other words, General Mills just paid me $1 per box for buying Cheerios. Now that's my kind of job!

Less than $5 = More Great Target Savings

Target is quickly becoming my favorite place to shop. Especially now that I have been going there for a few weeks, I feel like I know the store - I can find items easily, and when I can't I can always find a friendly "Target Team Member" to help me out. This makes my shopping trips quick and easy - like today. My fiancee helped me put these deals together last night, and today after work I just popped in, grabbed all the items, and only checked out once - I separated my items on the belt and asked them to bag it together but ring it up separately. The cashier was happy to do so, and it saved me a lot of time from having to wait in line again, or worse - go and reshop to get the items for the second transaction.

Here's the breakdown:
Transaction 1

• (1) Kraft Salad Dressing -$0.11
        sale price 1.89 minus (2) stacked $1/1 coupons
  
• (1) Kashi Waffles $0.29
        sale price $1.79 minus (1) $1.50/1 coupon
  
• (1) Degree Deodorant $0.47
        sale price 1.97 minus (1) $1.50/1 coupon
  
• (2) A1 Steak Sauce $0.99 each
        regular price 2.99 minus (2) $2/1 coupons
  

Total = $2.63 + tax (a whopping 3 cents)

OOP = $0.00 ! (thanks to the Target gift card I got last time)

Transaction 2

• (1) Kraft Miracle Whip $0.14
        regular price 2.14 minus (2) stacked $1/1 coupons
  
• (1) Degree Deodorant $0.47
        sale price 1.97 minus (1) $1.50/1 coupon
  
• (2) A1 Steak Sauce $0.99 each
        regular price 2.99 minus (2) $2/1 coupon
  

Total = $1.59 + tax

OOP = $0.00 *used gift card again :)


So, for less than $5 I'd say I did pretty good. The deodorants will get donated, possibly to our service men & women overseas, or to the usual food pantry. The A1, dressing, and Miracle Whip will be used for our bachelor/bachelorette party. And the waffles? Those are breakfast! My fiancee and I just love them - not sure what we'll do when they aren't 29 cents any more. I guess it will be time to invest in a waffle iron :)

- Mister Deals

Copps Shopping Trip 2

• (6) Wacky Mac ($0.25)
  
• (4) Honey Maid Graham Crackers ($2.50)
  
• (2) Ritz Crackers (1.75)
  
• (6) Tuna Helper ($1)
  
• (6) Clif / Luna Bars (FREE! plus $0.12 overage)
  
• (2) Wheat Thins (FREE! plus $1 overage)
• (6) Colgate Toothpaste (FREE!)

Total OOP = $12.98

Almost everything in this shopping trip (except for the toothpaste, which will be donated) is going to used as part of the combined bachelor/bachelorette party we are having a couple of days before our wedding. We are going to have a big meal for everyone, and by buying things now at the best possible prices, we are saving a ton of money. We're planning to do a big post about it soon to tell you the whole menu and how little it all cost!

- Mister Deals

Free Chocolate

Hershey's is running a promotion where you can register for free chocolate.  The limit is one per person/per Friday and throughout the promotion there is a limit of four coupons for a household.  

https://secure.realchocolate.com/default.aspx?ar=1

So head to this link and fill out your form fast (you have a five minute limit for filling it out).

Also, I would recommend bookmarking this site so you can come back to it easily next Friday!

-Mister Deals

Copps Shopping Trip 1

Due to my recent traveling, I haven't really been buying a lot of groceries; however, this week I am planning to spend right around $50. Usually I would be okay with missing a week, but with the upcoming wedding there are a few items we still need and planning this far ahead allows me to find great deals on most of the products. With a majority of my kraft coupons expiring today, I knew it was a use them or lose them situation, so I decided this month it was worth going over the weekly allowance. I know I won't have time for deal hunting during the weeks surrounding the wedding, so to prevent a store run where I end up paying full price for a meal to serve a large group of people, my fiancee and I sat down and planned out a rough menu (I'll post more about that later). Overall, this week is filled with a lot of staples for ourselves and party hosting, along with a few items pegged for donation.

Transaction 1:

(2) Fiber One 4-pack Yogurts 2/$4.00 minus a B1G1F coupon so $2/2

(2) Land O' Lake Butter $2.50 each (No coupons)

(1) Ritz Cracker $2.75 minus a $1/1 coupon doubled so .75 cents

(1) Wheat Thin $2.50 Free after purchasing the Ritz

(4) Colgate Toothpastes .99 cents minus (4) $1/1 coupons doubled so -$4.04

(9) Tuna Helper Box Meals $9.00 minus (3) .75/3 coupons so $6.75

My total came out to $10.60 and I used a $7 gift card from a previous promotion

Paid out: $3.60

Transaction 2:

(1) Ritz Cracker $2.75 minus a $1/1 coupon doubled so .75 cents

(1) Wheat Thin $2.50 Free after purchasing the Ritz

(1) Puffs Plus Tissue $1.25

(9) Dawn Pure Dish Soaps $2.50ea minus (9) $1.50/1 coupons so $9.00

(8) Pringles $12 minus (4) $1/2 coupons doubled so $4.00

The last 3 lines were a part of the P&G promotion, which gave me $10.00 back for a future meat purchase. I plan to use this during next weeks sales.

Total came to: $16.33

Transaction 3:

(9) Tuna Helper Box Meals $9.00 minus (3) .75/3 coupons so $6.75

(6) Colgate Toothpastes .99 ea minus (1) $1/1 coupon doubled and (5) .75 ea so $0.19

(12) Clif/Luna Bars .88 ea minus (4) $1/3 coupon doubled so $2.56

Total: $9.77

My total out of pocket for these 3 transactions: $29.70

And I got back a coupon for $10.00 off for a future meat department purchase (I'm planning on chicken breasts)

**I also got .40/gal off of my next fill up, which saves me about $5.60 (I need to do fill up before I go in for more deals tonight, so I can rack up more savings for the next time)**

A picture will come later, I just wanted to take some time out to post this deal.

Best of luck with your own deal hunting too!

General Mills Cereal Brands on Sale at Copps 5/$10

Once again Copps grocery store has General Mills cereal on sale, this time the sale price is even better: 5 / $10 (last time it was 4 / $10), but note that it is limited to 5 per transaction. I stopped in to see which varieties are actually on sale at my Copps, and what they are regularly priced at:

• Reese's Puffs 13oz ($3.69)
  
• Wheaties 10.9oz ($3.35)
• Chocolate Lucky Charms 12oz ($3.39)
• Oatmeal Crisp Almond 17oz ($3.85)
• Oatmeal Crisp Raisin 18oz ($3.85)
• Multi-Grain Cheerios 9oz ($3.39)
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch 12.8oz ($3.19)

As you can see, these are an ok deal at $2 per box. On the other hand, if you have some good coupons for any of these varieties and can double them, then it could be a great deal! Personally, I am going to pass on this deal, as I don't have any matching coupons. Of course, it is much easier to pass up considering I just got so much cereal a few weeks ago for 50 cents per box or less.

Hope this post is helpful to my fellow Copps shoppers :)

- Mister Deals

Money Making Travel Tips

I've been really neglecting this blog lately - and this week I have been out of town on business, so I once again thought I would not get around to posting about the great deals I have picked up lately. However, I discovered something on this trip that really surprised me and I just had to share it.

You can literally make money on business trips... without lying or cheating on your expense report!

1. Earn $5 per day by making your own bed. Starwood hotels (like Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points, etc) have a program called "You Tidy - We Treat." They way it works is that if you decline housekeeping service for the day (by hanging their special tag on your door the night before), they give you a $5 coupon good towards any of the hotel's dining services. You can do it for each day, except the day you check out, so I managed to rack up $15 in savings this week, which I used to buy my breakfast yesterday.

Of course, a free or nearly-free meal is great, but what's even better is that because I am on a business trip, my employer will reimburse the cost of my meals. So, I will actually get paid back the $15. It's like getting a mail in rebate for an item that was free w/ coupon :)

I'm afraid that some could argue that it is a moral dilemma: if the meal is $20, and I have $15 in coupons, and put only the remaining $5 charge on my credit card, what should I ask my company to pay back? $20 or $5? For me it's easy, and I offer this as a counter example: If I were to pay for my meal with say $15 in cash and $5 credit, I would certainly expect the company to pay me back for the whole $20. What if I had a gift card for $15, and used that? I still consider that to be my money, and if my employer is going to pay me back for the total cost of the meal, then my method of payment is irrelevant.

Not to mention, I had to make my own bed everyday! So I really feel I earned the $15 ;)


2. Vendor Giveaways. If you are going to a trade show or a conference, you know that vendors will be giving away swag: pens, candy, stress relief balls, hats, etc. And all this stuff is great, but I can tell you that my favorite vendor at this conference was the one who was giving out $10 Starbucks Gift Cards! Of course it was limited to 1 per person, and the catch was that you were supposed to watch a demo of their product, but when I stopped by, their booth was so swamped they just handed me the gift card. Needless to say, I will be keeping my eye on this vendor at future shows. And hopefully more vendors will wake up to the fact that I have already enough pens and key-chain-flashlights :)


Well, that's all for right now, I certainly plan to share some more travel tips in the future, but it is Sunday morning, so right now I have some coupon collecting to do! I'm excited to see what coupons Charlotte, NC has to offer today.

- Mister Deals