Ali's Coupon Adventures

People who do not coupon tend to think that Walmart is the cheapest place to shop, no matter what. So I thought I would do some price comparisons. Hopefully this will make you rethink that a little bit! Don't get me wrong, there are times when you can score GREAT deals and even freebies at Walmart, but generally speaking...you can almost always find better deals at your local supermarket/grocery store with their in-store promotions and sales. Here are some examples of products that we are getting at a great price by matching sales with coupons: (to see last week's "Price Check" click HERE)

 Last week I did a price comparison between a lot of items, but I got the following email:

"I can definitely see how you are saving money on brand-name items, but for someone like me who generally buys store brands, the savings don't seem to be as great. It would be nice to see what the TRUE savings are for someone who buys store brand items."

I thought this was a very good point. So, this week I thought I'd start giving both name brand price comparisons and also the comparison between buying name brand with coupons and buying store brand. This should give you a more accurate view of what you are truly saving if you are someone who generally buys (or use to buy) store brand!

Here's a GREAT example! Huggies Diapers (jumbo pack) at Walmart: on rollback for $8.97 (reg. $9.97)

Store Brand (Parent's Choice): $6.67 at Walmart. (I did compare and every size, N-6, had the same exact number of diapers in their jumbo packs as the Huggies brand) So, you save $2.30 by buying the store brand over the name brand, even without coupons. That's pretty great, right? Well, sure it is. However, this week at Walgreens, you can get Huggies Jumbo pack diapers for only $4.32/pack by combining sales, coupons, store coupon, and RR! (details HERE) So, you're saving $2.34 over the store brand at Walmart. (You're saving $2.65 over the same pack of Huggies at Walmart if you use the same $2 off coupon). I bought 6 packs for a total of $25.92. The same six packs of STORE BRAND diapers at Walmart would have cost me $40.02. I saved $14.10 or 35%!

This one was a little bit harder, because they either do not sell 12oz cans of Planters peanuts at Walmart or I just could NOT find them (I looked for a long time, even at the empty spaces where they may have been out, but none of them said 12oz.) Any way, so I don't really have a true price comparison between the actual Planters nuts, but I did do a comparison of the store brand (Great Value) brand 12oz peanuts.

 

The GV honey roasted peanuts were $2.88 for the 12oz can. At Walgreens last week I actually am going to get PAID $5.00 to purchase TEN 12oz Planters honey roasted peanut cans. Yep. They were on sale for $1.99 (already $.89 less than Walmart's price). I bought ten, used a $1/1 STORE coupon (that actually automatically took off $10.00 for buying ten cans, making them $1.00 each. Then I used five $1/2 manufacturer coupons, making them $.50/ea. I paid $5.00 out-of-pocket for the ten cans, however, I then qualified for a $10 Nabisco rebate for purchasing ten products! I'll get $10 back in the mail and will have basically made $5 to buy those ten cans of peanuts! Crazy, huh? The same ten cans of STORE BRAND peanuts would have cost me $28.80! So, this time I EARNED $5 so I essentially saved $32.80 or 117%! :)

Tostitos chips: $3.50 at Walmart

Great Value tortilla chips: $1.58 at Walmart! Wow, now that IS a big savings! You'd think that it's a no-brainer. Well, this week (and last week) at Walgreens we are able to get the Tostitos brand chips for $.98/ea! (Details HERE)

Tostitos dip: $3.48 at Walmart (they don't have a store brand of this). At Walgreens these are $.98/each, too! So...I bought four bags of chips and four dips for $7.80 after using four $.55 off coupons (wyb chips AND dip) and after factoring in the $10 RR you get back when you spend $20 on participating products.The same four bags of STORE BRAND chips and Tostitos dip would have cost me $20.24 and I wouldn't have been able to use the four $.55 off coupons. I saved $12.44 or 61%. If I had bought the same NAME BRAND chips and dip it would have cost me $25.72.

 

Tillamook cheese 2lb: $5.97 at Walmart.

Great Value cheese 2lb - $6.12! Already $.15 MORE than the Tillamook! Hm...any way, if you were to use the $1 off 2lbs ANY cheese printable (Idaho & Utah only), it would still be $5.12. At Albertsons you can often find Tillamook cheese (or other brands)on sale for $3.99, so only $2.99 after the same coupon. I bought four 2lb bricks for $11.96. The same four STORE BRAND cheese bricks would have cost me $20.48. I saved $8.52 or 42%!

I also noticed that the Great Value milk went up! It was $2.17 for a long time (at my store) and now it's $2.33! At Albies, the Shopper's Value milk is only $2.29. Not a huge difference, I know...but it just goes to show that even staples can be cheaper at places other than Walmart at times.

So, for the above items only I saved $67.86 by matching sales with coupons over what I would have paid just shopping at Walmart and buying store brand!!

How do I get all of those coupons?? Read all about why I get multiple newspaper subscriptions HERE. Are you ready to start learning how to save your family a ton of money by matching coupons with sales? YOU can do it, too...I PROMISE! Click HERE to get started.! And these are just a couple of the items I purchased at such a great price!