Go Ahead And Rain On My Parade

I just had to quickly boast about my run to Price Chopper this evening.  It was my first and only trip there this week, which was unfortunate as there were some really good sales.  BUT I think it ended up working to my advantage. 

First, you get to shop alone if you go after 7PM on a Saturday.  And that makes me a very happy crocodile. 

Second, there is a glass half full view of sale items being sold out.  Especially if they are on your list only because of the sale price.  I am quickly learning to rock the Rain Checks!  I LOVE them!  They allow me to have another 30 days to get that same deal.  As long as they get the item in before my coupon expires, I get to buy said sale items when I feel like it.  Considering Price Chopper is pretty good about stocking things within a few days, I will probably be able to get my items this coming week if I want them. 

I took full advantage of the buy one get one free Classico pasta sauce sale though.  Because I had two hang tag coupons for buy two white sauces, get one red sauce for free.  So I bought six Classico pasta sauces @ $2.99/each.  B1G1 meant three of the six were free.  Two coupons gave me another two for free.  So I bought SIX jars of sauce for the price of ONE!  That's just $0.50/jar!!  I know a lot of coupon bloggers manage to get pasta sauce for free.  And I think that's fantastic.  But as I have only been super couponing since Jan 01 of this year, this is by far my best deal on one of my favorite brands of pasta sauce.  I'm quite proud, y'all!  Six jars is about my max given my tiny pantry (which until a month ago was my coat closet) so I consider myself fully stocked for the next several months.  I actually did quite well at PChop tonight, even with many of my sale/coupon deals out of stock.  I figured out that I saved more than 71% on my total bill which included two packages of meat and fresh produce.  Probably my very best all food shopping experience!

Oh I also popped into CVS for the second time this week hoping to take advantage of the toothbrush deal.  I thought that perhaps they might have re-stocked on a quiet Saturday evening.  Notsomuch.  But I asked for a Rain Check there too and they were so nice about it.  I asked when it expires as I know that Price Chopper's Rain Checks expire a month after issue.  She said they never expire.  Of course, my coupons do expire so I hope they get the toothbrushes in fairly quickly.  But that's nice to know their policy all the same.

I also took advantage of the deal for mascara and yet another pair of cheap jeans at Target thanks to the text coupons.  Which did not scan and required two managers and much chatter over how to figure this all out.  I believe the bottom line is that the store scanners have issues.  But it all worked out in the end.  Always an adventure...right?

I have read a lot of chatter on blogs this week about how unwelcome new couponers are to the club and how we are clearing shelves and taking away items that are rightfully intended for those who have been couponing for more than a decade and are self-taught.  To that I say...ala Stephanie from Full House...How Rude!  There is room for everyone who wants to play the game fairly.  My stores were out of most of the stock I wanted to buy this week but I still got some great deals on necessities.  And I got several fabulous Rain Checks to use at a later date.  No need to be so snippy about the matter.  Just enjoy the great deals you are able to gather and get a Rain Check for those that are already sold out.  Life goes on and another sale is just around the corner.

For me, this was a surprisingly great coupon week.  I got a lot of food and laundry supplies and jeans and make-up for such great prices.  I love that!