"Well played" said the cashier (February deals I've cashed in on so far)

It's been a while since I've posted! Sorry about that, we've been busy getting ready for a baby (I'm due in less than 2 weeks).

Last week there were a few good deals that I cashed in on, one of them being Laundry Detergent from either RiteAid or Walgreens for $0.99.  The last time I saw it that cheap was in July, so I got as many as I had coupons for.  Both RiteAid and Walgreens had Arm&Hammer laundry detergent (50oz) on sale for $1.99. There was a coupon in last Sunday's paper for $1.00 off 1 Arm&Hammer laundry
detergent.  I had 4 coupons, so I only bought 4, but I still have some detergent on the shelf from when I stocked up in July, and I think 4 will get us through until it goes on sale again this summer. The original shelf price at RiteAid for that specific laundry detergent was $6.99. At that price, I would have paid $29.63 (tax included) for those same 4 bottles. But combining the sale and the coupons brought the price down to $4.44 (tax included). And this is the main reason I coupon :) I just can't afford to spend waste $25 when I know I can get it cheaper by shopping smart.

I would like to mention that when I walked into RiteAid to buy the detergent, they were out of stock and and told me that they wouldn't get more in until the last day of the sale. Lucky for me, there is a Family Dollar just across the street from my RiteAid, and they will price match if you bring in a competitor's ad. They also almost always have the same inventory as RiteAid (even matching the sizes), so I can almost always find what I need there if RiteAid is out, and still get it at the lowest price. It also saves me the hassle of having to go back to RiteAid later.

Not a couponing sale, but still a great find, was the clearance rack in Walmart. I have no tips for this one, except be in the right place at the right time (which God always seems to help me do while I'm trying to be frugal with my grocery shopping). I was in a Walmart (not even the one by my house) the other day at 9pm because on the way home I realized we were out of baby wipes. Since the baby section is right next to the food section, I noticed that there was a food clearance rack (not something we see often at Walmart) that was being filled at the moment I was there. I checked it out and scored several 20oz boxes of cereal (like Chex and Special K) for $1.00/box. I'm not sure why they were on clearance, because they weren't even close to their expiration dates. I also happened to know there was a rebate on Chex cereal in my SavingStar rebate app, so when I got home and uploaded the receipt they ended up being only $0.50 a box. The cereal didn't ring up at the right price when I was at the register, but the sticker on the boxes said $1.00 so I pointed it out to the cashier and she adjusted it for me.
The other deal I found on the clearance rack was several 8oz bags of Cheez-It Crunched snacks. They were $0.25/each, but since I had never tried them and they seemed to be a fairly new product, I decided to only get one to see if my family liked them.  We don't really care for them that much, but I don't feel bad, because I paid almost nothing for them. The Cheez-It bag also rang up for the wrong price at the register: $0.02. I pointed out the error to the cashier, but she said they only adjust the price if it rings up too much, not too little. At the time I was tempted to go back and get all the rest of the bags off the shelf, since they were only $0.02 a piece, but since it was already late and I needed to get home to put my toddler to bed, I decided against it. Good thing, because we didn't really care for them too much, but $0.02 isn't a bad impulse buy just to try something new.

It's kind of blurry, but there's the proof: $0.02 for a bag of Cheez-Its!

The last amazing deal I got was at Albertson's. They had Bushes canned beans on sale for $0.69/can when you buy 10 cans. The regular shelf price is $1.79/can.  There was a coupon in the Sunday paper last week for $1.00 off 2 cans of any variety of Bushes beans. I used 5 coupons and bought 10 cans of black beans (because that's what I'm short on). After the sale and the coupons my total came to $2.31 (tax included), which means I paid $0.23/can for black beans. At Albertson's they print on the bottom of your receipt how much money you saved because an item was on sale or because you used a coupon. When the cashier saw that my bill went from $18.97 to $2.31 he smiled and said "Well played!" I must say, that's the first time I've gotten a compliment from a cashier about being smart with my shopping. It put a smile on my face for the rest of the morning.

In case you're interested, the Albertson's sale is still on until the end of tonight, but please be aware that you have to purchase 10 qualifying items in order to get them at the sale price.
Also, I was able to use 5 coupons because I pay for the coupon service from the Press Tribune newspaper, and I get multiple copies of the Sunday paper.  It costs me $8.00 a month (there are more expensive options where you can get even more copies), but hey, when I'm saving $25 in one trip and $16 in another, it totally pays for itself!