What a promo shopping trip looks like...

I did my weekly Albies trip this morning and did really well. I thought I would use this trip as an example of how I break down my groups (to work with promos) and tell you exactly which coupons I used with what and basically just give you an idea of what a basic shopping trip for me looks like. So to begin...here is my picture and totals, then afterward I will tell you exactly what I did.

The items I got:

11 - All Small & Mighty
4 - Yoplait GoGurt
2 - Yoplait Kids drinkable yogurt
4 - Yoplait Kids Yogurt cups
10 - Ragu Spaghetti Sauce
6 - Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-up/Gusher/Fruit by the foot variety
4 - General Mills Cereal
4 - Chex Mix Bars
4 - Chex Mix
4 -Nature Valley Sweet n' Salty Bars
Dasani Water (24pk)
5 - Wishbone Salad Spritzers
4 - Betty Crocker Cake Mixes
6 - Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes
4 - Betty Crocker Frosting
4 - Lipton 2 Go boxes
1 - Lipton Cold Brew (22ct)
1 - Suddenly Salad
2 - Minute Maid OJ (64oz)
5 - Marie Callender's Cobblers
5 - Breyer's Ice Cream (1.5qt)
5 - Off Repelent Clip-On Starters
3 - Dial handsoap

The total for all of these items would have been $423.72 plus tax.
I only spent a total of $124.89 + tax!
That's a savings of 71%

Alright, so now I will break this down to give you a idea what this trip entailed.

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I made a mistake in my previous post about how to ring up your promo deals. I assumed that this promo would work like the last promo, but apparently promos where you get an instant discount at the register, and promos where you get an OYNSO catalina work a bit different. With a promo where you get a certain amount taken off instantly, you do not need to do separate transactions to get your savings. You just have to group your items in groups of whatever dollar amount you must reach to get the promo discount, but you can pay for them all at once. Well, with the promos where you get a certain dollar amount OYNSO catalina, you MUST DO SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS for each set! If you don't, your catalina will NOT print. (HERE is a link to a great blog post about FAQ for catalina promos. Might answer some of your other questions.)

Ok, so now to break it down. The current Albertson's promo requires you to buy $25 worth in qualifying items to receive a $10 OYNSO catalina. Each qualifying item is listed on the grocerysmarts.com printable grocery list for Albertson's for the week of 6/10-6/16. (Remember to use the price to the left of the '/' to add to $25) I, personally, had 9 sets of $25 plus a few individual items that weren't part of the promo, so that would mean 10 separate transactions to complete my shopping! I decided to break it up into two different "sessions." I gathered the items for my first 5 transactions first. Here is a breakdown of what I got in each transaction (the prices I list with the item are before promo discount) as well as what coupons I used in each transaction, and what I paid out of pocket (OOP) for each transaction (not including sales tax).

#1
4 - Yoplait GoGurts = $10
5 - Breyers Ice Cream = $15
Total: $25.00

I then used 2-$.75/2 GoGurt & 5-$1/1 Breyers Ice Cream bringing my OOP down to $18.50 plus received my $10 OYNSO cat.

#2
10 - Ragu Spaghetti Sauces = $15
4 - Gusher/FBTF/Roll-up variety boxes = $10
Total: $25.00

I then used 5-$.30/1 Ragu, 5-$.60/1 Ragu, and 2-$.75/2 Gushers/etc, bringing my OOP to $19.50 plus received another $10 OYNSO cat.

#3
4 - General Mills Cereal = $8
2 - Gusher/FBTF/Roll-up variety boxes = $5
4 - Chex Mix Bars = $12
Total: $25.00

I then used 2-$1/2 General Mills cereal, 1-$.75/2 Gushers/etc., and 4-$.60/1 Chex Mix Bars bringing my OOP to 23.63 plus received another $10 OYNSO cat. Now, I made a mistake with this transaction that I didn't even catch until JUST NOW as I was figuring everything out. I actually grabbed two non-participating GM cereals. :( I could not find the right size Cocoa Puffs and grabbed something else..well, these cereals didn't ring up at the $2.00 I was supposed to get them for (they rang up for 3.89 ea!) so I actually overpaid $3.78 on this transaction. It should have cost me $19.85. :( See...I still make mistakes. But if I would have caught this at the store I would have gone to customer service if I had to and see if they would fix it for me. But I'm not willing to make a trip this time. Lol. Anyway...make sure you get the RIGHT ITEMS! I'm wondering why, though, my $10 cat still printed, since I didn't get the right cereals? Hm...not sure.

#4
5 - All Small & Mighty = $22.50
1 - Lipton Cold Brew =$2.50
Total: $25.00

I then used 5-$1/1 All Small & Mighty and 1-$.50/1 Lipton bringing my OOP to $21.30 plus received another $10 OYNSO cat.

#5
2 - Wishbone Salad Spritzers = $3
4 - Betty Crocker Cake Mixes = $5
4 - Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes = $5
4 - Betty Crocker Frosting = $6
4 - Chex Mix Bags = $6
Total: $25.00

I then used 2-$1/1 Wishbone Salad Spritzers, 1-$.50/1 Wishbone Salad Spritzers, 4-$.50/1 Chex Mix, 3-$.75/1 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, 1-$.50/1 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, 4-$.50/1 Betty Crocker Frosting bringing my OOP to $15.00 plus received another $10 OYNSO cat.

So, now I have $50 worth of catalinas to use on my next "session." I could have rolled each $10 cat onto my next transaction until I was done, but I chose not to do this. Not really sure why. Lol. Maybe I just like the feeling of having $50 worth of "cash" in my hand. :)

Just an FYI, I rounded up all of my groceries for my first 5 transactions at once, and grouped them together at the conveyor belt. I didn't have to keep going back and getting in line because there was hardly anyone else in the store. That is why I LOVE going early in the morning. I don't feel rushed and I have the store to myself...practically. However, if you happen to go at a time that is busy, it is common coupon-mom courtesy to do 1-2 transactions at a time and then get back in line. That way you are not holding up the line, especially for those who are not couponners and don't understand why it takes so long sometimes.

Ok, from there, I took all of my things out to the car, unloaded, and headed back in. I then loaded my cart with my last 5 transactions' items and headed back to the check-out.

#6:
6 - All Small & Mighty = $27.00
1 - Lipton To-Go = $2.50
Total: $29.50
(as you can see, I messed up YET AGAIN here. Somehow I threw the Lipton Tea in with this transaction, even though it wasn't supposed to be there. So since it wasn't part of a group of $25, I essentially didn't get it for the price grocerysmarts said I would after the promo discount. So I overpaid $1.00 here PLUS didn't have the coupon I had for this with that group of coupons since it wasn't supposed to be there, so it didn't get used. Thus, I overpaid $.50 more. Again, I didn't notice this until just now or I would have simple returned it. :( Oh well...just goes to show you that no matter how much time you spend preparing (which, for me, is A LOT) things can still go wrong. I would just say check and double-check EVERYTHING!

On #6 I used 3-$1/1 All Small & Mighty plus 2 of my $10 cats bringing my OOP to $6.50 plus earned another $10 OYNSO cat.

#7
5 - Marie Callender Cobblers = $22.50
1 - Lipton To-Go = $2.50
Total: $25.00

I then used 1 $.50/1 Lipton and 2 of my $10 cats bringing my OOP to $4.50

#8
2 - Yoplait Kids drinkable yogurts = $5
4 - Yoplait kids multipack = $10
2 - Nature Valley granola bars = $6
1 - Dasani 24pk = $4.50
Total: $25

(I am now seeing that for some reason one of those yogurts I got rang up as $2.99, even though I got all 4 the same so it's not like I got a non-qualifying item. I'm not sure why that happened. :( But, it should have rung up as $2.50 like the rest. So there is yet another $.49 overpaid. Boooo)

I then used 2-$.80/2 Yoplait, 3-$.40/1 Yoplait (which I now see is actually taking $.40 off of 7 yogurts and I only bought 6...oops. So they gave me $.40 extra off that shouldn't have counted. I guess I made up most of that $.49. My bad.)
I also used 1-$.75/2 Nature Valley and 2 of my $10 cats bringing my OOP to $2.44 (would have been $2.35 with the extra $.09 I paid. Lol)

#9
3 - Lipton To-Go = $7.50
2 - Nature Valley granola bars = $6
3 - Wishbone Salad Spritzers = $4.50
2 - Brownie Mixes = $2.50
1 - Suddenly Salad = $1.25
Total: $25.25

I then used 3-$.50/1 Lipton, 3-$1/1 Wishbone, 2-$.75 Nature Valley, 1-$.40/1 Suddenly Salad plus 2 of my $10 cats bringing my OOP to $1.60 plus received another $10 OYNSO cat.

#10
5 - Off Repellent Clip On Starters = $39.95
3 - Dial Liquid Handsoap = $3.00

I then used 2 Buy One Get one Free (BOGF) for the Off Clip-ons, 1-$4/1 Off Clip-on, and 3 $.35/1 Dial plus used my last $10 cat bringing my OOP to 11.92.

And I'm done! Holy cow what a shopping trip this morning. So, again, my total spent was $124.89+tax (which actually should have been $119.52 if you take away the amounts I overpaid by making mistakes. My total % savings was 71%, but should have been 72%. Oh well, I keep learning every time! Hopefully by having this breakdown and seeing exactly how I plan my trip will help you figure out yours! I would love for you guys to send me your pictures and totals and I'll post them! You can send them to me via E-MAIL. Happy shopping this week!