Holiday Sample Fest

I just learned that on Saturday, December 10th, from 11 am-3pm, the Price Chopper off West Mountain Street in Worcester, MA will be offering "delicious samplings and special offers in every department throughout the store."  Apparently, there will be samples of sweet clementines, turkey rollups, fresh fried Swai fillets, Boursin spreads, Chevrai cranberry cinnamon goat cheese, Central Market Classics -- Italian meatballs, peppermint ice cream, coffee cake, gourmet coffee, dipping sauces, and more.  If you are in the neighborhood, it might be worth a try.  It sounds much more organized  and packed with goodies than a recent fall fest Hannaford in Marlborough offered.

Cashless and Creditless Week

As retribution for overspending last month, I am trying my best this week to not charge anything.  I was able to exchange $20 worth of luau decorations from my daughter's party with Dollar tree grocery items.  From non-nutritious study break staples such as Utz cheese curls to bottled jalapenos and pumpkin seeds (15 g protein per serving, 45% DV of phosphorus, 50% magnesium, plus a lot of Vitamin A, folic acid, iron, niacin, magnesium, and zinc), the food section really has a wonderful selection of inexpensive snacks.

I have a bunch of gift cards to use to help me out this week.  Our neighbors gave us a $50 gift card to Price Chopper on Thanksgiving.  Which was strange, because neither of us really celebrate that holiday (Thanksgiving is every day).  I think they were extending their gratitude for when my husband helped jump-start their car and when he and my oldest son broke down their back door the night our neighbors were locked out of their home...

So, I have this card to use, which is great since Price Chopper has a buy one get one free sale on potatoes this week, along with $1.99 detergent.  Plus, I have a bunch of gas gift cards from when it was a twice the gas points sale at Stop and Shop and Price Chopper.  And, I'll be using my $30 of CVS rewards bucks for food items as well.  Cashews and chocolate (another staple) are all on sale this week over there.

We'll see how this goes...

Free with rebate items

Check out the cleaning product aisle in your local grocery store.  Today I found rebates forms for free Lysol wipes and Woolite pet urine eliminators.  

$2 Milk

The Stop and Shop in Shrewsbury, MA normally sells store brand milk gallons for $2.50.  This week their special is to buy two gallons of milk and receive $1 instantly off your bill.  That's certainly a great deal for whole milk (cheaper than BJs).

Gasping Victory

A wind of exhilaration overcame me the other day as I filled up my SUV for under ten bucks.  I used Price Chopper's two week opportunity of double points with gift card purchases and a $1 off per gallon with a new prescription at their pharmacy to achieve this small feat.  

FREE GROCERIES!

Shaw's supermarket is offering an incredible deal this week -- buy $100 or more of select gift cards and receive a coupon for $20 off your next grocery order (coupon expires 7 days after the transaction).  Our family generally spends at least $2200 a year in books (my kids have to purchase textbooks for school and my husband is also taking classes), so my obvious choice today was to buy $100 worth of amazon.com cards.   Not only did a $20 coupon spit out, but also a $5 one off a $25 gas gift card purchase.  I quickly took these and shopped around for groceries, not remembering until I reached around $18 worth of items to check the clearance rack.  And there they sat -- 3 huge boxes of Pampers, regularly priced at at least $19.99 reduced to only $10!  With the $20 off, that came out to $10 for a three month supply. It would have been cheaper if I had coupons to add to it, but I only had $3 Huggies coupons.  I put the rest of the groceries back, except for the bakery item, a chocolate chip muffin for my daughter.  I'll definitely go back each day this week (limit of one such transaction per day) until the sale ends.  I hope it works for you, too!

A New Month, A New Membership

I am not an avid warehouse shopper, but I finally paid for a membership at BJs, having not shopped there for a few years.  Their new membership fees were attractive:  $40 for 14 months, with a money back guarantee.  The deciding factor was their new gas station.  It consistently sells gas at least 10- 15 cents less than local stations, which should save me money when I am out of Price Chopper Sunoco or Stop and Shop Shell gas points.