1/8 - 1/14 Tops deals

I didn't buy too many different items at Tops this week, but I did stock up on the things I did decide to purchase.  Check out my groceries this week (my last transaction isn't in the picture)...

In order to maximize my gas points and follow the 4 like coupon doubling limits, I made multiple transactions over 2 days.  Here's how my transactions worked out:

Transaction 1
4 boxes Dulce de Leche Cheerios - $1.00 each
On sale 4/$10, used 4 $0.75 coupons (double to $1.50) printed from here (use 77477 if you don't see it)

4 boxes Peanut Butter Cheerios - $1.00 each
On sale 4/$10, used 4 $0.75 coupons (double to $1.50) printed from here (use 77477 if you don't see it)

4 bottles POM juice - FREE
On sale 10/$10, used 4 $1.00 tearpad coupons (if you can't find any tearpad coupons in your local produce department, there are also $1 coupons from the 12/4 and 1/8 SmartSource coupon inserts)

Transaction 2
4 boxes Frosted Toast Crunch - $1.00 each
On sale 4/$10, used 4 $0.75 coupons (double to $1.50) printed from here but no are longer available

4 boxes of Yoplait Go-gurt - $1.15 each
On sale 5/$10, used 2 $0.85 off 2 coupons (double to $1.70) printed from here (it looks like this one isn't available now, but there are $0.75/2 coupons available over here which will make them $1.25 each)

4 bottles POM juice - FREE
On sale 10/$10, used 4 $1.00 tearpad coupons

Transaction 3
12 cans Campbell's chicken noodle soup - $0.23 each
On sale 20/$10, used 4 $0.40 off 3 coupons (double to $0.80) printed from here

5 bottles of POM juice - FREE
On sale 10/$10, used 4 $1.00 tearpad coupons

4 cans Libby's vegetables - $0.25 each
On sale 20/$10, used $1 off 4 coupon from the 11/13 Red Plum coupon insert

Transaction 4
4 boxes of Yoplait Go-gurt - $1.15 each
On sale 5/$10, used 2 $0.85 off 2 coupons (double to $1.70) printed from here

4 packages of Yoplait Splitz yogurt - $1.15 each
On sale 5/$10, used 2 $0.85 off 2 coupons (double to $1.70) printed from here

4 bottles POM juice - FREE
On sale 10/$10, used 4 $1.00 tearpad coupons

2 boxes Peanut Butter Cheerios - $1.00 each
On sale 4/$10, used 4 $0.75 coupons (double to $1.50) printed from here (zip 77477)

Transaction 5
4 bottles POM juice - FREE
On sale 10/$10, used 4 $1.00 tearpad coupons

6 cans Campbell's chicken noodle soup - $0.23 each
On sale 20/$10, used 2 $0.40 off 3 coupons (double to $0.80) printed from here

The total retail value was $163.72 but after discounts and coupons I paid only $30.50, for a savings of approximately 81%.  Can I just tell you how excited this made me?!  And the best part is, my gas discount is now...wait for it...$3.50 off per gallon!  I'm going to be able to fill my car for pennies!  After I fill up at the gas station, I think I'm going to have to frame my receipt as a memento.  :-)

Another great deal you might want to try to take advantage of:
Hot Pocket Snackers singles are on sale 10/$5.  Use the $1 off 2 coupons printed here and you can get the nacho bites for free!  I forgot to look for them when I hit the store Sunday morning, but I checked today and my Tops was completely cleared out. :-(  Since I still have my insert coupons for the POM juice, I'll try to remember to ask for a rain check for the Hot Pockets on my next shopping trip later this week.

Coupon giveaway ends tonight!

Remember to head over to this post to enter a drawing for an envelope of coupons!  The drawing will take place tonight and the winner announced tomorrow.

2012 Money Saving Challenge - Week 1 in review

As I mentioned on a previous blog post, I've joined the 2012 Money Saving Challenge hosted by Precious at Frugal Makes Cents.  It's been a week, and here are the things I've done in the past 7 days to help save money:

• I made homemade turkey stock from a free turkey carcass courtesy of my in-laws.  I had never made stock before because it seemed like a daunting task.  It turned out to be really easy to do, and it tastes great to boot!  I'll post a how-to in the future for anyone else who's never done it before.
• I avoided using my vehicle 2 days this week in an effort to save on gas.
• I picked up some hand-me-down clothes from a friend for my daughters.  The girls were so excited!
• We ate leftovers for dinner one night and packed other leftovers in my husband's lunch.
• I downloaded some free e-books onto my Nook.
• I was tempted one day to hit a drive-thru for lunch, but stayed strong and ate at home instead.
• I consolidated my errands on outings to help conserve gas.
• I held off running an "almost full" dishwasher until it was completely full.
• After I was done using the oven on a cold day, I opened the oven door while it was cooling down in order to help heat the kitchen.
• I matched coupons and sales at Wegmans, Tops, and Target.

Some of these things may only save me pennies at a time, but eventually those pennies add up.  I was able to put aside some of my grocery savings this week. Hopefully I can see my savings grow by the end of the year!

Are you taking steps to save money this year?  Do you have any great frugal tips?  I'd love to read about them in the comments. :-)

Print coupons for less

I refuse to pay a lot for paper I use for Internet printable coupons, so I always jump on a good paper deal when I see one. 

A 500-sheet ream of HammerMill Copy Plus paper is priced at $5.99 at Staples but they are offering a $4.99 easy rebate, which makes it only $1 after the rebate.  There is a limit of 2 rebates per household.

Hurry!  This rebate is valid only until tomorrow, January 7th.

My first giveaway!

To commemorate my recent 250th blog post, I'm going to do my first coupon giveaway!  I'll send the winner an envelope containing a minimum of 12 coupons.  For each giveaway entry I receive, I'll add another 2 coupons to the envelope!  You will earn one entry into the drawing for each of the following:

1.  Publicly follow Reality Couponing in Rochester via Google Friend Connect (see the link to the right) and leave me comment letting me know you did this.
2. "Like" Reality Couponing in Rochester on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know you did this.
3. Follow Reality Couponing in Rochester via email (sign up to the right) and leave me a comment letting me know you did this.
4. Blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment letting me know you did this along with the link to your blog post.
5. Follow Reality Couponing in Rochester on NetworkedBlogs (see the link to the right) and leave me a comment letting me know you did this.

The coupon giveaway is open to U.S. residents and will end at 11:00pm on Monday, January 9th.  The winner will be chosen at random.org.  Good luck!

January Nature's Marketplace coupons

The next time you're in Wegmans, don't forget to stop by the Nature's Marketplace section and pick up the free January issue of Nature's Marketplace magazine.  The coupons inside this month's issue are:

• $1.00 off 2 single serve Kettle Cuisine soups (exp. 3/21/12)
• $1.00 off any one box of Cascadian Farm granola bars or cereal (exp. 4/1/12)
• $1.00 off Olbas inhaler (exp. 2/29/12)

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed that the coupons are so scarce in this issue.  But the cover is certainly bright and cheerful!

Happy Mega Swag Bucks Day!

Today is Friday, so you know what that means, right? Every Friday is Mega Swag Bucks Day, where the chances of being rewarded large denominations of Swag Bucks is increased. Go do your searches now!

Not familiar with Swagbucks? Here's the deal:

Swagbucks is a search engine (like Google or Yahoo). You are awarded points randomly (called Swag Bucks) when you search the internet, answer surveys, watch videos, play games, etc. Once you sign up (it's free!), you can also refer friends and family and earn points from their referrals.

I normally earn my points through doing the web searches only (and really, who doesn't already do that? Why not get rewarded for what you're already doing?). I seem to get points after my third or fourth search and I try to do it once in the morning and again in the evening. When I earn points for a search, they are generally in the 7 - 10 point range. I've also done some surveys and earned a bunch of points very quickly. And every Friday is Mega Swag Bucks Day, where the odds of winning high-value Swag Bucks are increased.

Swag Bucks are redeemed in the Swagstore. While there are a lot of things to choose from, my favorite item hands down is the $5 Amazon gift card for 450 points. I know, that sounds like a lot of points, right? I've been using Swagbucks for about 6 months or so (and as much as I try to get my search points twice a day, life often gets in the way or I forget) and I've already cashed in for $45 in Amazon gift cards which really helped with my Christmas shopping. I figure this year I'll be consistent enough about it that I will have quite a bit of free money to play with!

Interested? Sign up at Swagbucks (remember, it's free) and start earning free stuff!

And on an entirely different topic, this is my 250th blog post!  That's a nice milestone number, right?  I think we'll have to celebrate in some way.  :-)  Stay tuned for more details to come shortly...