Free Groceries: The MOTHERload!

I wasn't going to post about my savings until I was done with all of my shopping trips, but when I found out that Albertsons is also in Utah I decided that since half of my readers live in Utah they might string me up if they missed out on this sale! So instead, I am missing out on a nap after two nights of very little sleep (I love you too.)

Basically, this is an AMAZING sale! Because of this sale I can get

25 cake mixes
74 cans of Progresso
40 boxes of Fruit Snacks
4 boxes of Toaster Strudels
2 boxes of Chex Mix bars
2 boxes of Supreme brownie mix
5 tubes of Pillsbury Grands biscuits
2 tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
3 warm delights brownie desserts
1 loaf of Grandma Sycamore bread, and
6 pounds of butter

for


$37.49


Yes, it's true. It's AWESOME! That is why I'm telling all of you! (Warning: All of this information is about my local Idaho Falls Albertsons and may or may not work where you are.)

The first thing you need is a lot of Progresso coupons. If you've never printed coupons from bricks.com then you should try to print this Chex Mix coupon first, so if you mess up you don't miss out on your Progresso! (If you mess up you miss out--it won't give you another chance!)

To print a bricks.com coupon
1. Very Important! Make sure your printer is turned on and has paper in it. If you are printing on the back of used paper (I do, to save paper) then make sure your paper is turned the right way. If you don't want to waste colored ink, go into your printer preferences and select "grayscale". (You have to change the printing preferences for your whole computer because there is no pop-up print window when you do this, so there's no chance to make adjustments then.)
2. Click on the Print Coupon button. It will tell you to install the coupon printer. Go ahead and do it, it is nothing bad (you just need the software so the bar codes will print correctly.) Once the coupon printer software is installed your coupon should print automatically. If it didn't, then perhaps you only saved the file, instead of "run"-ing it. Find where you saved it (probably on your desktop) and finish the install. If it still won't print, try closing the window and going back to the coupon.
3. Also Very Important! After you print the coupon the screen will say "You may now close this window" but don't! Click you "Back" button a few times and print it again! All bricks.com coupons can be printed twice. That is how you are going to get your free soup!

Did it work on the Chex Mix? Okay, now try it on the Progresso soup. As you can see, there are two coupons, so you can print out four. For every computer that has access to a printer, you can print out four coupons, good for $.50 off 12 cans of soup per computer. I used my computer, my husband's, my brother's two computers, and the two computers at my mom's office, for a grand total of 72 cans of soup! (Plus one more coupon that a friend gave me, for an amended grand total of 74.)

So, how do you get it for free?

The Albertson's sale works like this: Buy any 10 participating items, and after you pay a coupon will print out with your receipt that's good for $10 off your next order. So today, my orders looked like this:

10 Cans Progresso soup @ $1.50 a can = $15.00
subtract $.50 x 10 for my coupons ($5) = $10.00 + $.90 tax = $10.90
A $10 coupon printed out.

Order Two
10 Cans Progresso soup @ $1.50 a can = $15.00
subtract $.50 x 10 for my coupons ($5) = $10.00 + $.90 tax = $10.90
subtract $10 coupon, total is $.90
A $10 coupon printed out.

I did this 4 more times, and went home with 60 cans of soup for $15.40, or about 25 cents each (tax included)! (And I still had a $10 coupon at the end.)

But wait, there's more! Cake mixes are $1.25 each, so my next order could look like this:

10 cake mixes @ $1.25 = $12.50
add Idaho tax of $.75 = $13.25
Subtract $10 coupon, total is $3.25. You get cake mixes for 32 cents each, including tax! AND another $10 coupon prints out!

But wait, there's even more!!!

Nature Valley granola bars and Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, etc) have a secret print-out of $3.50 when you buy 5 or more. (I'm not sure if this is in Utah too, but I think it is. Don't be mad if it doesn't work! Try a test order first!)

5 Fruit Snacks @ $2 each = $10
2 Toaster Strudels @ $2 each = $4
2 Progresso @ $1 each after coupon = $2
1 Cake mix = $1.25
Total = $17.25 + 1.03 tax - $10 coupon = $8.28
A $10 coupon AND a $3.50 coupon prints out!

Next order:
5 Fruit Snacks @ $2 each = $10
2 Toaster Strudels @ $2 each = $4
2 Progresso @ $1 each after coupon = $2
1 Cake mix = $1.25
Total = $17.25 + 1.03 tax - $10 coupon - $3.50 coupon = $4.78
A $10 coupon AND a $3.50 coupon prints out!
Do this order a billion times! (That's how I'm getting 40 boxes of fruit snacks.)

The same holds true for the Nature Valley granola bars (a $3.50 coupon prints out) but we are not that into granola bars and they are 2 for $5 instead of 2 for $4 like the fruit snacks. If you did an order of 5 Fruit Snacks and 5 Granola bars you would get $17 off your next order (2 coupons for $3.50)! However, you can't get 10 Fruit snacks in one order to get the $17 because it will only print out the $10 and the $3.50 since the deal is "5 or more Fruit Snacks". (The same for the granola bars.)

Yes, this sale is a little confusing, but so worth it. It took me 4 hours of planning yesterday to plan out my 17 transactions, so I thought I'd pass my knowledge on to you. Of course, if you have coupons for any of these things, it starts to get really fun! ;) I was originally going to do the plan I put at the top of this post (all that stuff, 17 transactions, $37.49) but then I decided to do something I've never done before and buy coupons on eBay. Okay, technically I am not buying the coupons so much as the effort of the person who cuts them out and mails them (selling the coupon itself is not legal) but it is basically the same. So I did all my soup transactions this morning at 6:00 and I will do the rest on Monday or Tuesday when my coupons come in. I bought coupons for Progresso ($.50 off 2 cans, making the final price $.32 a can, counting how much the coupon cost me), Toaster Strudel, Warm Delights, Fruit Snacks, and Multigrain Cheerios. Most coupons end up costing 5-12 cents each, depending on whether they are for one or two items, and on whether you are getting other coupons from the same seller and combining shipping. I don't know if it would be smart for you guys to buy coupons at this point, since they might not get here in time unless the seller is from a nearby state, but even without coupons this is a fantabulous sale!

But wait, there's more! You can get fuel rewards on the amount your groceries were supposed to cost not on what you actually paid. So while you aren't spending very much you can still rack up the fuel rewards. I ran into my friend Lezhai yesterday and her receipt said she would get $1.20 off PER GALLON on her next fill up! (For locals, that's at the Ammon Albertsons.)

But wait, there's even more more more! For every $250 you rack up (in what it was supposed to cost, not what you paid) you get a coupon for 5% off you next purchase, and you can stack several of these up to 20%. So, next week when the sale is not so good, you can use a percent-off coupon on your whole big order (then hand over the coupons, and let the savings frenzy begin!)

My local Broadway Albertson's is the best in town. (Locals, no matter which Albertson's is closest, go to the Broadway Albertson's because they are the nicest to couponers. They don't care if you have 17 transactions, and they will sincerely do their best to get you the best savings!) For those of you not local, you might want to go to the store during a non-busy time, like 6 in the morning so you don't make other customers mad and the checkers frustrated. If some poor guy with a doughnut and an OJ gets in line behind you, stop after one of your transactions and let him go. Also, you should sit down with the ad and make your plan before you go. Write out and number each transaction like I was doing above. Paperclip your coupons together so you have everything ready when you get to the checkout. If you like Progresso, do at least one Progresso transaction first, as it works out cheaper than anything else. You might want to save the rest of your Progresso coupons for mixing and matching with the Fruit Snacks and granola bars to keep the cost down.

Disclaimer: I do not do this every week. I am not that insane. This is just a really good sale, and I am stocking up my food storage for very cheap! By the way, if your Albertson's runs out of something, ask for a raincheck. You won't get the dollar print outs once the sale is over, but you could still get some things for a good price.

P.S. Locals, you should add http://kimberlovesadeal.blogspot.com/ to your blog list and check her stuff often. Also, her family blog has a lot of cool stuff like her Ode to the Idaho Falls Broadway Albertsons and the first post of hers that I ever read, The Ray of Light in the Crappy Day, which I found hilarious!