Good Friends & Good Deals

My very kind, sweet, amazing, thoughtful, friend Steph dropped by with an out-of-the-blue present for me today. Lorna Doone snack packs! I've mentioned before my new found obsession with Lorna Doone cookies since hoarding them while in the hospital for Ellie's birth. Turns out, these 'crisps' are even better than the regular cookies. And far fewer calories! Thanks Steph!


Thanks to all of you who posted on my budget/money post . . . and if anyone else has anything to add, it's always appreciated. Last night, while grocery shopping, I ended up making two seperate trips up to the customer service counter at Albertson's getting refunds. Reminding me of my number one grocery savings tip. Always, always, always, pay attention as they're ringing you up at the grocery store (any store, really.) For me this means having all coupons, shoppers cards and money/credit cards ready to go, and Ellie usually back into her carseat, so that I can pay attention. I race to get everything up on the belt before they are actually checking me out, 'cause I like to be watching the check out process from the beginning. No exaggeration, I think I catch a mistake at least one out of every three shopping trips. (Especially if you go the first night of a sale . . . you're more likely to be able to get the items you want and not need a raincheck for the super cool deals, but they haven't worked all of the bugs out of the system). Last night's mistakes at Albertsons totaled fifteen dollars. In one transaction. Had I not been watching or paying attention to what I was buying, and what the offers were, I would have been out all that money. And for me, that's a chunk of the grocery budget I can't spare. One of my purchases tonight was a chunk of money off if you bought ten of one item. Which I did. But, apparently, one variety of the product that I bought wasn't coming up in the system as part of the same promotion (even though it should have been), so when the sale totalled, it didn't take the discount off any of the items. The other 'mistake' I came across tonight was on Albertson's buy two, get two promotion. I'd bought my four items, and it wasn't until I got out to the car that I realized the purchase price of two of those items hadn't been taken off. So, I went back inside to have it fixed. I was informed that those items weren't listed in the ad. I walked the service desk lady to the display where the item was not only marked with the promotion, but the sign had a picture of the actual item on it. She still seemed wary of giving me the deal, saying again, "Well, it's not supposed to be on sale, it's not on the ad." To which I responded sweetly, "Yeah, but it is on this sign. You can take the sign down so you guys don't run into this again, but it's pretty obvious what's being advertised here, so I'd like my refund on these two items." Sometimes you have to nicely tell them what you expect from them. Usually, they'll see things your way. If not, a manager will. As long as you're being polite and reasonable.

Make a mental note of what things should cost, especially clearance items. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten something like a lipstick that was marked down to like two bucks on the shelf, and it rang it at regular price at the checkstand. If you're not watching these things (or at least checking your receipt closely when you get back to your car), you're just throwing money away (and if you're me, probably ending up with a lipstick that you would've never paid full price for . . . what is it about something being marked two bucks that makes me think I can pull off 'pink stardust' lipgloss).

So, anyway, long story short (too late), paying attention at the checkstand, knowing what you're buying and what it should cost, can save you a ton of money in the long run.

And speaking of saving money, right now at Albertson's they're running a pretty cool deal. We don't drink much soda at our house, but for the occassional root beer floats or for parties, we like to keep a couple two liter A&Ws around. Well, this week at Albertson's, buy ten 7-Up, A&W Root Beer or Sunkist two liters for ten dollars, and they'll print a ten dollar rebate form for you at the checkstand. Yep, making ten bottles of soda completely free. Not necessarily the healthiest food storage items around, but can't beat free!