Preview Albies sale this Wednesday!

Click HERE to preview Albertsons sale this Wednesday. Is it just me, or does this look a lot like this weeks sale? Anyway, we continue to have great savings and another chance to get these great buys in case you missed out on them!!!

Before and After

I love before and after pictures! This week there wasn't alot I needed at the stores but I had to take advantage of the free cereal at Albertsons, and picked up a few other things while I was there. Here is my list with clipped and printed coupons ready to go. Remember I write out in the column on my list how many I wanted of each item.

and Voila!! After... I came home with a few prizes! My total for this trip was $33.55! Now do you know what was the best part? I still had $40.00 worth of Catalina coupons from my last shopping trip! So technically they paid me $6.45 for all this!!! Now Albertsons will never give you money back on trips like these. Knowing I would be in the negative I threw in some gift cards to make up the rest! Shopping is so much fun!!!

P.S. My husband and I were both over in the Santa Clara area today so we took advantage of my gas savings at the Albertsons over there. I had $1.00 off a gallon I had earned! I filled up my van with 16 gallons and he pulled in after me and we topped off his car with the remaining 4 gallons you are allowed. So a total of 20 gallons we purchase and saved $20.00 on gas!!!

Vacation Savings!!!

So, obviously i've been vacationing for awhile (hence the lack of posts). I've been wanting to post ways to save money while spending time with your families on vacations. One of the biggest expenses is food, right? Well, Last week I went to lake powell with my extended family. Each sibling is assigned one dinner to feed the entire family, and every individual family brings all their own breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. The entire week was so cheap for my family! I brought 3 boxes of cereal which cost me about $0.25 each. I brought deli meat, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch which was also in my pantry and freezers when I stocked up. Then I made chinese chicken salad for dinner for about 25 people, which was my biggest expense but still didn't cost me much! On top of all that I brought water bottles, capri suns, pop, and all kinds of snacks which mostly came from my pantry!!!

We are also going to Park City over the July 4th weekend to spend a few days in a condo. This condo has a kitchen!!! Guess what that means? Yes, I can bring lots of food from home to save money! I am actually gonna make up a few dinners from home so I won't have to spend my time cooking! Who wants to cook while on vacation? Definitely not me! I am going to make 3 lasagna dishes. We'll have one tonight, one to take on vacation, and freeze one to make up when you get home. I definitely need a break when I get home too!

By planning your meals around items you already have in your food storage and freezer, or from those items that are on sale for the week, you can save hundreds of dollars! If you have a large family like mine, you can spend $50+ every time you take your family to a restaurant. Save that money for more fun activities, be frugal with your food budget and you can make your vacation inexpensive and still fun!!!

Please add a comment if you have a great idea you'd like to share for saving money while on vacation!!

Another last day shopping trip!

I had to take 2 pictures of my groceries cause I bought so much stuff! I was pleasantly surprised that everything was in stock that I wanted except the go-gurts. Not bad for a last minute stock piling trip! Here is my breakdown...

Total value of purchase $265.28
Total amount I paid $118.16

Total amount saved $147.12
Total percentage saved 55%

The best part about this trip was that I left the store with $40.00 in catalina coupons that is good for my next trip (see picture above)! If I figure this into my trip today it would leave me with a total percentage saved at 70%!!! If you noticed also I got quite a few items that were not on sale that I needed for our Lake Powell trip this week. So this kind of savings is why I shop with Grocery Smarts and spend 30 min to prepare for a grocery trip. I just saved technically $187.12. What kind of job can pay me that for just grocery shopping!!!

FYI - I won't be posting til Monday cause I am vacationing in Powell! Have a great week and email me pictures of your shopping trip success so we all can admire!

jodigardner@yahoo.com

Preview Albertsons Sale!

Click HERE to preview Albertsons sale from 6/17-6/22. Looks like there's some good stock-up items on sale. Here are a few things I will be stocking up on!

Kellogg's cereals .49
Pillsburg brownie mix .50
Hillshire farm rope or link sausage 1.23
Hillshire farm summer sausage 2.00
Sara Lee white/wheat bread 1.00
Chef Boyardee pasta .48
Dannon drinkables 6-pack 1.20
Dreyers fruit bars 6-12 count 1.49 (My favorite)
Dreyer Dibs 1.00
Eskimo pies 6-12 count 1.00
Nestle drumsticks 4 count 1.49
Skinny cow truffle bars 1.99
Hunts Ketchup .60
Hunts manwhich sloppy joe sauce .40
Hunts Spaghetti sauce .60
Marie Callender pasta Al Dente .50
Orville Redenbacher 3-pack .50
Wesson Cooking oil 48oz 1.80

I'd say it's another good week for stock piling your pantries (and freezers)!!!

Why do you get 6 newspapers?

For those who are not familiar with Grocery Smarts and our methods, this is the most common question I get asked. Why in the world would you buy 6 Sunday newspapers? Well, This is my #1 tool to saving hundreds of dollars each month! For example: Crest toothpaste is on sale for $1.50 each at the grocery store this week. Through the Grocery Smarts website I find that I have a $1.00 off coupon for Crest toothpaste in one of my inserts that come in my Sunday papers. The website tells me when my insert with crest coupon came. Now when I go to the store to buy the toothpaste I will end up buying it for $0.50 each! Now this is the kicker...I have 6 coupons, right? That means I will be able to buy 6 tubes of Crest toothpaste for $0.50 cents each so a total of $3.00 for 6 tubes of Crest toothpaste! This is how I have personally cut my families grocery bill by 60%!!!

There is much more information that I teach at my free classes such as how to organize your coupons, how to stock-up, and how to shop the sales! I also can get killer deals on all newspapers in Utah and Nevada!

Call or email me today to get more info about my classes!!!

Jodi Gardner

435-862-5718

jodigardner@yahoo.com

tip of the day!

Can I use a BOGO (buy one get one free) coupon on a BOGO sale?
Thanks to Harmony for figuring this one out for us, YES you can! You will technically be paying for one and getting 3 free. She tried this out at Rite Aid this week on their BOGO candy bars, used a BOGO coupon with the sale and ended up getting 4 for $0.88. In order to shop at other stores that are not on our Grocery Smarts list like Rite Aid, Kmart, Target you will have to look through the store ads that come in the Sunday papers and find a coupon to match up. All the coupons are found in Grocery Smarts aphabetical Coupon index. Click HERE to find out more about it!

Preview Albies Sale tomorrow!!

Click HERE to preview Albertsons sale for week 6/10-6/16. Definitely a stock up week. Below is a list of some hot buys that I will be stock piling!

Dial liquid hand soap $0.45

All liquid detergent $1.70

Cherries $1.99lb

beef round rump roasts $1.88lb

Bertolli pasta sauces $0.25

Best foods mayo $0.90

Breyers ice cream $0.80

Chex mix $0.40

Dasani water 24 pack $2.70

Cheerios/trix/etc. $0.70

Total whole grain cereal $0.20

Ragu pasta sauce $0.30

Skippy Peanut Butter $0.80

Wish Bone Spritzers FREE

Gogurt 8 pack $1.10

Let's print off our lists and get cutting!!!

forgotten items

As I was putting away my groceries after I posted the picture, I saw a forgotten bag that was not included in the pic. I didn't want to leave these puppies out! I love balsamic vinegar for salad dressing and Country time Strawberry Lemonade is awesome for the summer, two great buys that couldn't be left out!!!

My Shopping trip

This weeks trip was a bit smaller than I'd planned. I only got 2 California Pizza Kitchen pizzas but I wanted 9, and the good crystal light flavors were out but all in all it was a decent trip. I did get my beef sirloin tip roasts that I had a raincheck on. Always good to stock up on meats. Anyhow, here's my breakdown for todays trip...
Total Value of purchase $115.42
Total Saved $70.94
Total Spent $44.48
Total Percent Saved 61%
I love shopping, it's so much fun!!!

Host your own Grocery Smarts Class!!!

The SINGLE BEST WAY to learn how to SHOP SMART and SAVE BIG is at one of my coupon classes!!!

At each class I teach the basic concept of couponing, how to stay organized in less than 5-10 minutes a week, how to use the Grocery Smarts website, and how by following a few super simple rules you'll be able to cut your grocery bill in half (or more) and start SAVING HUNDREDS immediately!

I teach the class in your home with your family and friends, but also teach church or women's groups as well. Minimum attendance required is 8 moms to hold a class, but I prefer groups of 12 or more. I also offer killer deals through all the newspapers in Utah and incentives on the Sunday Only paper. I can also take orders over the phone if you can't wait to get your papers going!
CLASS INCENTIVES FOR IN-HOME CLASSES
Earn a $10 gift card to Albertsons or Wal-Mart for hosting and getting 8 or more moms to attend.
if you get 12 or more moms to your class, earn the gift card PLUS an invitation for you and a friend to attend my Advanced Couponing Class. This class will launch you into a whole new level of savings ~ I teach you how to shop Target and Walgreens and how following a few more tips and tricks will increase your savings even more. See my post HERE for more info about my advanced class!
If 20 or more NEW moms attend, you'll earn a $20.00 gift card plus an extra invitation for a second friend to join you at the Advanced Couponing Class! (church groups do not apply for incentives)

To schedule a class call or email me today!!!

435-862-5718

jodigardner@yahoo.com

FYI- I am coming up to Utah, Salt Lake, and Davis counties the week of June 29-July 3rd to teach classes so if you live in these areas call me today to book a class cause I'm filling up fast!!!

Preview Albies sale this Wednesday!!!

Okay, we've waited for awhile to get to the meaty sales! Here comes a pretty decent one this Wednesday! Preview the list HERE! I'm looking forward to stocking up on the following...
Angel Soft 12 roll $1.83
Country time drink mix 19oz. $1.00
Hawaii's own juice blend (great for smoothie base) $0.70
Kraft salad dressing (just in case you missed out on the free ones) $0.25
Kraft chunk or shredded cheese 6-8 oz $0.40
balsamic vinegar $0.90
Grapes $0.99 lb
Quaker Life Cereal $0.49
Check out PYP for more savings on these products!
Let's get ready to SAVE!!!!