Acme: Cereal and Milk deals

I had a nice trip to Acme this week. A bunch of General Mills cereals are on sale 2 for $5, and if you buy 4 boxes in one transaction, you will receive a catalina for a free gallon of milk on your next transaction. I used 2 coupons ($1/2 Chex and $1/2 Cheerios) so my cereal was $2 a box, which is more than I like to pay for cereal. I usually shoot for no more than $1.50 a box. But, since since I got a free gallon of milk it was a good deal for me.

I also happened to see this new Crunchy Nut cereal had a try me free offer. I had a $1 coupon with me, so I paid $1.50 for the box and will submit for the full purchase price rebate of $2.50!

The sale runs through Thursday at Acme, so you have plenty of time to stock up on some cereal! If you are not shopping at Acme this week, be on the lookout for the Crunchy Nut try free boxes at other stores. My rebate was good through the beginning of 2012, but remember, you can only do the rebate once.

Catalina week at Acme!

There are several Catalina deals running at Acme this week. Mindi @ Moms Need to Know has coupon match-ups for both the General Mills Cat and the frozen foods Cat.

When I went to Acme today I discovered yet another Catalina! This one will overlap with the GM Catalina.

It is for General Mills Betty Crocker fruit snacks. Get a coupon for $$ off your next purchase in the following amounts:

buy 3 and get $1.50

buy 4 and get $2.50

buy 5 or more and get $3.50

My husband and I really enjoy fruit snacks as a treat, so I'm stocking up this week!

Coupon Resources

There are so many different ways to get coupons. Last week I mentioned that many companies will send you coupons when you write to them (to compliment or criticize their product). Its completely acceptable to contact a company just to ask for coupons too! Here is a list that I have complied of different coupon resources that I have really benefited from (in addition to "regular" coupon websites: Coupons.com, RedPlum, and SmartSource). I am planning to add an easy link on the sidebar to make this list more accessible in the future, and I will add to the list as I become aware of additional resources! Feel free to post in the comments any additional sources and I will add those too.

My recommendation, since many of these are e-newsletters, is to have a separate email address from your personal email. I am so glad that I have a "newsletter/coupon" email, because my regular inbox does not get clogged and I can more quickly go through the various coupons and newsletters I receive.

Sign up with Vocalpoint to get access to many different sample and coupon opportunities. Occasionally you will be notified about a sample to sign up for, but many times you will be pleasantly surprised with high-value coupons in your mailbox. Most recently I have received coupons for Pantene and Secret, along with a sample size stick of Secret deodorant.

Psst is through General Mills, and offers coupons, recipes, and other information about various General Mills Products. Currently in my account I have some information about their new yogurt smoothies, including a coupon!

Betty Crocker has a newsletter that provides many quick and easy meal ideas, naturally using Betty Crocker products. There are also a variety of coupons you can print for General Mills products. There are usually a lot of these in the regular coupon inserts in the paper, but it is nice to have another place from which to gather additional coupons, especially because General Mills products are often involved in grocery store Catalina deals. Another good source for General Mills coupons is Eat Better America.

A great place to get coupons for organic products is Mambo Sprouts. This website is filled with articles and recipes to help you eat healthier, along with many different coupon opportunities, as well as contests and giveaways.

P&GEveryday Solutions is a great resource for P&G coupons and free samples. Periodically you will be able to request different samples and coupons for P&G products. There are also helpful articles, as well as a number of different sweepstakes and contests to enter.

One newsletter I have talked about before is Right at Home. This is specifically for SC Johnson products, and is another great place to get brand specific coupons. Right at Home also offers free gift packs periodically (the current one features the Glade Sense and Spray) for the first 3,000 people to request one. I have not yet won one of these, but I am going to keep trying!

You can request a Refresh Your Nest coupon book from Home Made Simple with $35 worth of coupons for products like Dawn, Mr. Clean, Fabreeze, and more.

Kraft First Taste can give you the inside scoop about new products from Kraft. You can also recommend different products and see what other people are recommending. There are also opportunities for coupons and sometime free samples!

Many restaurants have loyalty programs that will email you coupons. I recently signed up for the Cheeseburger in Paradise email list because we have a gift card to use and received a Buy one entree, get one free coupon - just for signing up! Many other resaurants will give you something free on your birthday.

Acme Nov. 6-12

There is a catalina deal running at Acme this week, shown on the back page of the ad: $15 on your next trip when you buy $30. Remember, the $30 is before coupons!


Some highlights:


Green Giant vegetables, corn, peas, and green beans, $.69


Betty Crocker super moist cake mix, $.99


Kleenex facial tissues or Scott mega single roll paper towels, $.99
use $.75/3 from November All You mag.
use $.50/3 from 10/25 SS


Progresso broth, rich and hearty soup, or traditional soup, $1.69
use $1/3 cans and $.50/1 broth from here and here and here
also coupons insert from 9/13 (expire 11/7), 10/4, and 11/1


Chex mix, Cheerios mix, Gardettos Bugles, $1.69
use $.50/1 from here and here
also coupon inserts from 9/13 (expire 11/7), 10/4, and 11/1


Betty Crocker Specialty potatoes, Hamburger, Chicken, and Tuna Helpers, $1.69
use $.75/3 from here and here
also coupon inserts from 9/13 (expire 11/7), 10/4, and 11/1


Betty Crocker Cookie Pouches, or frosting, $1.69
use $.40/1 for cookies and $.50/1 for frosting from here and here
also 10/25 insert for frosting


Gold Medal Flour, $1.79
use $.50/1 from here


General Mills: Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Golden Graham, Cocoa Puffs, Trix, or Fiber One Toaster Pastries, $1.88
use $.55/Cheerios from here and here and here

Fiber One Bars, Chex Mix Bars, or Lipton Tea, $2.49
use coupons from 10/4 and 11/1

There are also coupons for many of these General Mills products on Coupons.com. With these internet printables, you can usually print each coupon twice by hitting the back button on your browser a few times.

I did this deal already this week, mostly to get the flour! I got 9 bags plus a few other things for $20 out of pocket, plus the $15 catalina for later!

Acme Oct. 16-22, 2009

I really wasn't planning on shopping at Acme this week because of all that I was able to get last week, but there is a great catalina deal! Actually, this is a 3 in 1 catalina deal (2 are not advertised, but they will work).

On the back page of the Acme circular this week is a General Mills deal: get $10 coupon when you buy $25 worth of products. Remember, the $25 is before your coupons.

Second, there is a Pillsbury refrigerated products catalina. The products that are included in both this Cat and the General Mills Cat are the cookies, pie crust, Grands biscuits, crescent dinner rolls, and grands cinnamon rolls. The Cat is get $2 off next purchase when you buy 2 products, $2.50 for 3, and $3 for 4.

Third, there is a Catalina on Betty Crocker fruit flavored snacks (shapes, fruit by the foot, fruit roll-ups, which are included in the GM cat). Get $1.50 off your next purchase when you buy 3, $2.50 off when you buy 4, $3.50 off for 5.

There are tons of ways to double or triple up on these deals to get extra catalinas, and there are an abundance of General Mills coupons floating around out there. Check your inserts from 9/13 and 10/4 especially, and there are many many on coupons.com also.

One other thing that I wanted to add. Pretty much all of these products are snack-type foods or pre-packaged meal options. While you can definitely get some great deals, I try not to buy pre-packaged stuff that I can make at home easily. I don't buy any ready-made cookie dough, for example, because I love to make cookies, and I can freeze dough and have it ready to go just as quickly as the packaged stuff. Granola bars and yogurt are things that I can make too, though I will buy granola bars if they are super cheap (I'm not going to on this deal though). Specialty yogurt like in this deal is a treat for us once in a while because I can make vanilla yogurt for less than the cost of a multipack. With all that said, I'm not trying to deter anyone from buying snacky foods or premade cookie dough! We all have choices to make, and I'm just explaining some of mine!

Here are the best deals that I see, making use of coupons.

2/$4

Gold Medal flour: $.50/1 printable coupon ($1/5lb. bag)

Whole grain total: $.75/1 printable coupon ($.50/box)

2/$5

Betty crocker fruit snacks deal: $.50/2 (9/13 insert and coupons.com) ($4/2 boxes or $8/4 boxes plus $2.50 CAT)

Pillsbury deal: pie crust ($.50/2 coupons.com and smartsource)

3/$5

Pillsbury again: crescent rolls ($.50/2 9/13 and 10/4 inserts)

Warm delights: $.50/1 (9/13 and 10/4 inserts)

Progresso High Fiber: click here to get a $1/1 coupon (the link is for an article, but there is an ad midway down on the right side of the page. you may have to refresh several times to get the Progresso ad)

Like I said, there are coupons for nearly all of these products (click here to see), but I wanted to list just a few. I have my trips planned out and it looks like it will be a great week! Happy Saving!

What is a Catalina?

I'm sure you've noticed grocery store ads that say something like

Buy $20 in participating products and receive a coupon for $5 off your next purchase

or

Buy 5 of participating products and receive a coupon for free milk

These coupons print out as you check out, often making the simple receipt the cashier hands you turn into quite a handful! The coupons are made by Catalina Category Marketing, so coupon gurus call the offers printed out "Catalinas". The machine that prints them looks something like this:

Catalinas can be a coupon for a specific item or for money off your next purchase. I have both different kinds in this picture:

Save $5 off your purchase (top) and save $3 off fresh seafood (bottom).

Two main differences with these coupons. Look closely:

Did you catch it?

The top one, printed at Acme, says it is an Manufacturer's coupon. The bottom, printed at Giant, is a store coupon. Big difference! A manufacturer's coupon can be used ANYWHERE, but the store coupon is only good for the store listed. Even though my manufacturer's coupon printed at Acme, I could use it at Giant (or another grocery that accepts catalinas. General rule is that any store that prints catalinas will accept them. Since Walmart does not print them, they will not accept them.) Just like regular coupons, catalinas expire too, usually about 2 weeks from when they are printed, though some are good for only a week.

Here's a quick practical example of how benificial catalinas can be.

This week at Acme there is an advertised catalina deal running on select General Mills products. It reads: Save $5 when you buy $20 in participating General Mills products. Translation: when you buy $20 worth of products (and use your Acme card) you will get a coupon (manufacturer's) for $5 off next time you shop). The best part about this is that you can use coupons to lower the amount that you actually spend. The $20 you have to spend is BEFORE coupons!