Farewell

So you might have been wondering what I've been up to the past 2 months since I haven't bothered to post ANYTHING on this blog. Well, to be honest, my reasons are many. Basically though, it came down to being busy, wanting to enjoy the holidays, and there not being a whole ton of fabulous sales for the past few months.

After sitting down this year to make some goals for the new year, I decided that the thing I needed to work on most of all was to SIMPLIFY! I now have two kids that are getting old enough to be involved in numerous school and after school activities, I'm 5 months pregnant with my 3rd child, and with working and trying to keep up things at home, I'm realizing that I need to cut out some non-essential things in my life. After brainstorming a few things that I'm doing that aren't necessary, I realized that this blog was probably one of the top things on my list. To be honest, I don't feel I provide any information that you can't go and find elsewhere on the internet. So with very sad feelings, I've decided that this will be my last post. I had grand ideas of what I wanted to do with this blog including getting into food storage and 72 hr kits and none of that ever happened (sorry to those of you waiting for those specific topics). But to be honest, there are some great blogs out there that have a bunch of information already compiled and anything I would say would be almost a cut and paste. No one needs a middle man like me doing just that - being a middle man. So take the opportunity to write down some of the links I have on the right column for reference on your own. There are also tons of other sites out there that can provide tons of information, just do a quick internet search and you'll hook up with many of them!

For those of you who depend on my shopping purchases to determine your own shopping lists, think of this as a way to force yourself into learning how to put together your shopping list from the PYP or GS lists out there on your own. I know it can be a little daunting at first, but I have complete faith that you can do it. By the way, there's a Mega Sale at Smith's this week (buy 10 participating items get $5 off instantly) that would be a good place to give it a try.

Good Luck to all of you in your shopping endeavors - I've enjoyed doing this blog while I was able and hope that in some way you were helped a bit in the shopping process!

Here's to a more simplified life for us all!

Good Deals - Thanksgiving Week

Well, there are some good deals out there this week for a bunch of Thanksgiving dinner items. Most have been on sale the last week or so anyway, so there isn't much that is new. If you are looking for deals on all the ingredients to make your Thanksgiving dinner a success, be sure to check out the PYP/GS lists to see where you can get the best deals. It may take some running around, but if you have the time and energy, you can really get some great deals by making it to more than just one store. I'm lucky in the fact that we are having Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom and Dad's this year, so I'm not in the scramble to put on an entire dinner on my own (in fact, my saint of a mother assigned us chips and dips to bring - how sweet was that? Thanks Mom!).

Since almost 100% of the focus will be on Christmas gifts for the next week or two, I may not be posting much grocery-wise. And I'll leave it up to you find the best deals on all those Christmas gifts. I'm more of a shop early and get a pretty good deal rather than get up before 3am to make it to the store by 3:30am, to stand in line cold and freezing to MAYBE get a slightly better deal the day after Thanksgiving. So needless to say, my Christmas shopping is all but complete and I'll be sleeping in on Friday! Not to knock any of you who relish in the excitment of the beginning day of the holiday shopping season - I'm well aware that sometimes it's more about the experience than the prizes. So I'm saying good luck to all of you who brave the cold and the crowds, I wish you tons of success in your shopping excursions. Me, I'll be cuddled up cozy and warm in my bed and probably won't make it out until some of you have hit at least 4 or 5 stores. To each his own and may we all have a wonderful day, however we decide to enjoy it. :)

Good Luck One and All!

Batteries

Sorry for the lateness of this post, it's been another crazy week. Seems like I always have good intentions about getting around to this earlier, but with the craziness of the holidays upon us, it seems like there's so much competing for my time. But I wanted to make sure I got this deal posted on here before the sale is over (tonight). Smith's has Duracell batteries on sale for $1.88 each for the 4-pks of AA and AAA batteries this week. If you combine that with the coupon from the 11/1 P&G packet ($.75 off 1 pkg), you can get them for $1.13 - or just over $.28 a battery. There is also a catalina going on at Smith's:

Duracell Batteries
Spend $10 get $2 OYNSO
Spend $20 get $5 OYNSO
11/8/09 - 12/5/09

I bought 5 pkgs and got the $2 catalina, even though I didn't reach the $10. I saw someone else post that they bough 6 pkgs and got the $5 catalina.

Anyway, if you are in need of batteries this is a great price for Duracell! I wasn't in immediately need, but I stocked up for Christmas since we are ALWAYS in need of batteries then for all the new gifts.

UPDATE: I just looked through the Smith's ad for the coming week and batteries are on sale next week as well, so no rush getting out right away. Catalina and coupons are also good for another week as well. Love Smith's and their two week ads - sure makes life easier sometimes!

There are a few other great deals this week as Smith's, Albertson's, Fresh Market (new Associated Store that bought out most Albertson's), other Associated Stores, etc. Take a look at the PYP/GS lists and see what's available! Also, just a heads up that the Smith's turkey deal is starting tomorrow, here are the details:

Private Selection 12 - 14 lb. frozen Hen Turkey $6 each
Private Selection 16 - 20 lb. frozen Tom Turkey $8 each
Butterball 16 - 20 lb. frozen Tom Turkey $12 each
Limit (1) with minimum $25 purchase

Walmart also has a pretty good deal on turkeys, check out the Walmart 2009 thread under Screaming Deals Around Town for more details.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping!

Good Deals for the Week 11/4/2009 - 11/10/2009

Sorry for the late post on this week's sales. I've been doing a ton of Christmas shopping and haven't had much time to concentrate on groceries. That being said, there are some good deals this week that are worth mentioning:

Albertson's:
Again, remember that most of the UT stores have been sold and are no longer Albertson's, but there are a few in the SL and Orem areas that will be Albertson's until after the first of the year. Here's a list of the stores that are still Albertson's and supporting the following deals:
915 Redcliffs Dr. Washington UT
745 N. Dixie Dr. St. George UT
835 S. Bluff St. St. George UT
740 N. Main, Tooele UT
25 W. Center St. Orem UT
1585 N. State St. Orem UT
1653 W. 9000 S. West Jordan UT
6950 S. Redwood Rd. West Jordan UT
3871 W. 5400 S. Taylorsville UT
Deals/Promos Available at Above Listed Stores:
- General Mills Promo: Save $15 on your NEXT shopping trip when you spend $30 on participating items. Great deals on a bunch of items!
- Great deals on a bunch of other items not in the promo, check out the PYP/GS lists for details.

Smith's:
- Good deals on produce items: grapes, potatoes, salad
- Good deals on dairy items: milk, eggs, OJ, dips
- 2nd week of Mega Event: Buy 10 items, receive $5 off. 1/28-11/10. New items added this week - great deals on a lot of things! Check out PYP/GS lists for more details.

Walgreen's:
- I'm not usually a big fan of Walgreen's since most of their good deals involve register rewards and since they are VERY PICKY on how, when, and how many register rewards you can use in different situations, I've decided that personally it's not worth it for me to shop there. That having been said, there are a bunch of great deals this week on baking products - most, if not all, of which do not involve any register rewards. So if you're in need of some baking products, it may be worth it to take a look at the Walgreen's list to see if any of it is worth a trip in.

Associated Food Stores:
- A few random good deals such as dairy, lunchmeat, GM cereal, and pop. Check out PYP/GS lists for more details.

Keep in mind that with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, a lot of the stores will be putting on sale a majority of their baking products. This is a great time to stock up on a bunch of these items to use throughout the year. Also, Smith's typically runs a turkey promo (spend so much get a turkey for cheap), so keep that in mind as you're looking to buy products for your Thanksgiving dinner.

Also, I wanted to let you know that if you're interested in some great online and in-store deals for Christmas this year, PYP is a great resource to find out about deals. If you go to their website, click on Forums, then Screaming Deals Online or Screaming Deals Around Town, you can find some wonderful deals! I've been checking quite often and have stocked up on almost half of my Christmas in the past week just by watching for deals on the items I need for presents. Most of the posts out there for the online deals also share percentage off or free shipping codes as well, so you can really get some great deals.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping!!

Good Deals for the Week: 10/28/2009 - 11/3/2009

I didn't post anything last week because there really wasn't anything to post about. I didn't even go out shopping for anything other than milk and some produce. This week, however, is much different, so I figured I'd tell you about a few things and share what I bought.

First of all, no ad for Albertson's this week - at least for areas where the local stores have been sold to Associated. I found out that the switch-over was delayed and didn't happen last weekend as planned. I've heard that it will be this weekend, but no guarantees since it's been postponed twice now. There are a few stores in the Salt Lake and Provo areas that didn't get sold and have some pretty good deals this week, but only those stores will be honoring the sale prices. From what I've heard, these stores will continue to be Albertson's until sometime around the first of the year and then close completely. You can check out the PYP/GS lists to see the location of those stores and what the deals are. Honestly, I didn't see anything that hasn't been on sale recently, but check it out if you live near one - it might be worth the trip!

The good deals I wanted to share this week are at Smith's. They are having one of their Mega Sales Events for the next two weeks - basically buy 10 participating items and get $5 off instantly. There are a ton of items in the sale and a bunch of great deals! Again, check out the PYP/GS lists for further details. Also, they are having a Halloween sale tomorrow and Saturday (10/30-10/31) where a bunch of halloween decorations, costumes, and food are on sale for great deals. So be sure to make note of those deals as well.

My family and I (yes, I took the whole clan with me) went to Smith's yesterday to buy our cart full of items from the Mega Sale. I didn't get a chance to get a picture (sorry about that), but here are the details of my purchase:

Items Purchased:
- 9 cans of Hormel Chili
- 5 bottles Gatorade
- 8 bottles Propel
- 2 12-pks Quilted Northern
- 2 pkgs Stayfree Maxi Pads
- 3 Danimals Crush Cups Yogurt
- 4 Tombstone Pizzas
- 2 Lays Potato Chips
- 2 Fritos Corn Chips
- 3 boxes Cheez It Crackers
- 5 12-pks Pepsi (not included in the Mega Event, but my husband was going through Wild Cherry Pepsi withdrawals!)

Coupons / Promos Used:
- Mega Sale Event: bought 40 items, saved $20 instantly
- 3 $2 off 3 cans Hormel Chili (made them $.12 each)
- 2 $1 off 1 12-pks of Quilted Northern (made them $4.49 each)
- 1 $2 off 2 pkgs Stayfree Maxi Pads (made them $1 each)
- 3 $1 off 1 pks Danimals Crush Cups Yogurt (made them $.49 each)
- 2 $1.50 off 2 Tombstone Pizzas (made them $1.24 each)
- Pepsi Promo: Buy 4 12-pks Pepsi, get 1 12-pk free (made them $2.60 each)

Total Spent = $49.50
Total Saved = $78.74
Plus I got a $.10 fuel reward to fill up our car with gas!

So if you're in need of some of the items included in the Smith's Mega Event Sale, now's a great time to stock up! Also, if you go to the PYP Smith's Forum for this week, there is a post that contains all of the items included in the sale (as you know, there's always more than listed in the ad), so be sure to check out that post for more details! Good luck and Happy Shopping!

Good Deals for the Week

Week 10/14/2009 - 10/20/2009

If you opened up your Albertson's ad yesterday or today and were sorely disappointed in the amount of items on sale, you weren't alone. I was shocked that this week's ad for the northern Utah region consisted of one page and the items on sale were mostly meat and produce. I knew this day would eventually come. It's obvious that the switch-over is happening, but I guess I was living in denial and hoping it would get postponed forever. No such luck - in fact, I'm hearing rumors that the weekend of the 24th and 25th is the official switch-over weekend. From what I've heard, there are some good things about this switch-over from Albertson's to Associated Food Stores. The first being that no shopper card will be required to get the "good deals" at the store. That will sure make it nice in shopping, I know I almost always forget to give the cashier my keys when I pull up to the checkout. Secondly, I've heard that the prices are supposed to be significantly lower. Now I'm not sure if that means the regular prices will be lower than Albertson's regular prices or if the sale prices will be lower in comparison, but lower is lower right? One bad thing I have heard is that they are rumored to be getting rid of the catalina machines - that's sad news I think because it means all of those tremendous deals (sale+promo+coupon) probably won't be as great as they have been in the past. But for those of us who hate having those little coupons floating around that we always forget to roll or use before the expiration date, maybe this isn't such a terrible thing.

All this being said, there are a few stores in the area that are participating in a General Mills Promo this week. You can find details about which stores and what the deals are at the PYP Albertson's thread for this week. Please be considerate and not "clean them out" of items if you decide to go shopping - the rumor is that they will not be restocking or providing rain checks, so let's make sure everyone gets a chance to pick up a few of these last minute deals. Also, keep in mind that the GM promo is a catalina and I would seriously consider picking up some non-promo items or perishables to use up your catalinas right away - there's been no guarantee that catalinas received this week will be honored at the store once the switch-over has taken place.

I'm not bothering to make the trip to one of these stores that's participating in the GM promo. One reason is that none are really close to me anyway, the second is that since I've heard about the Albertson's buyout, I've been carefully stocking up as much as possible on things I use and since a lot of the GM items on sale have been in recent promos, I'm pretty much stocked (plus some) on all of them. I have to admit that I'm extrememy jealous of any of you who are lucky enough to have your local stores remain Albertson's (Idaho, Nevada, Southern Utah, and other surrounding states). I may just have to do a road trip every once in a while to take advantage of the great deals!

As far as good deals at the other stores, here's a few worth mentioning:

Smith's:
- Same promo as last week: Mega Event: Buy any 10 participating items, get $5 off - again, not a whole ton of stuff, almost all of it frozen.
- Kroger Cheese - 8 oz for 99 cents, also some good deals on milk, eggs, produce.
- No other promos, but some good deals on sale items. Check out the PYP list for deails.

Associated Food Stores:
- No promos, but again, good deals on sale items with coupons. Nothing really fabulous jumped out at me, check out PYP list for details.


As far as my shopping goes, I'm planning to just head to Smith's this week. I haven't made it out yet since it's raining cats and dogs down here right now, but at some point I'm planning to pick up some milk, cheese, and whole pork loins (we like to cut this up into boneless pork spare ribs). I won't post a picture since it's a pretty boring list, but thought I'd mention what I was picking up this week in case anyone was interested.

Have a great week and Happy Shopping!

Good Deals for the Week and My Purchases

Week 10/7/09 - 10/13/09

Ever have one of those weeks where you seem to forget things? Well, I had one of those week this last week. I swear I had typed up a post about last weeks sales, but looking the blog, I can see that I never did. Sorry to everyone on that! But I'm not forgetting this weeks deals - there are some good ones! Here's a few things to be aware of:

Albertson's:
- Quaker sale: Save $5 instantly when you purchase 10 participating items. Great deals on Pancake mix, syrup, cereal, granola bars, oatmeal.
- Mix or Match promo: Save $3 instantly when you spend $10 on participating items. Great deals on a ton of products!
- Mix or Match - 4 for $19.96 or 4 for $9.96. Not a ton of great deals.
- Also check out the deals on potatoes, Hamburger Helper, Red Baron Pizza, Health & Beauty Aids, etc.

Smith's:
- Mega Event: Buy any 10 participating items, get $5 off. Not on a ton of items, but the ones that are there are a pretty good deal.
- Also check out the deals on potatoes, tomatoes, OJ, etc.

Associated Food Stores:
- Good deals on Yoplait yogurt, Kellogg's cereal, BIC shavers, and produce

This may one of the last times we see the Quaker items for such a great deal at Albertson's - they only have this sale once a year and with the buyout from Associated Foods, I'm not sure what will happen in the future. I would seriously consider stocking up if you're in a position to be able to do so.

I definitely took advantage of the Albertson's promos this week (I didn't need anything at Smith's, so I didn't go there), here's what I got:



Items Purchased:
- 10 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- 40 McCormick County Gravy Mix
- 2 Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Dough
- 3 Colgate battery powered toothbrushes
- 2 Barber Stuffed Chicken

Promos/Coupons Used:
- 4 $1.00 off 2 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- 1 $.75 off 2 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- 2 $1.00 off 1 Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Dough
- 3 $1.00 off 1 Colgate toothbrush
- 2 $1.00 off 1 Barber Stuffed Chicken
- Quaker Promo: Buy 10 items, saved $5 instantly - purchased 10 items, saved $5
- Mix & Match Promo: Spend $10 in participating items, saved $3 instantly. Purchased $60 in participating items, saved $18

Total Spent = $50.59
Total Saved = $98.40

Even though the gravy wasn't listed as more than a 3 star deal, my family loves this and it hasn't been on a promo for over a year, so I decided to stock up big time. The regular price for these packets is over $1.00 at Walmart, so I decided it was good enough of a sale for me to pick up a bunch (especially since Albertson's is transitioning to Associated Foods in the next few weeks). Just an example of how even though they might not rate it as a 4 star or above deal, I do still buy things I think are a good deal.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping!