Seacoast Price Shopper

Rite Aid 8/14/10

seacoastshopper — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 11:59:27 +0000

So Saturday I stopped at not 1, but 2 Rite Aid’s. It was not planned, but was an interesting trip.

First, can I say we don’t appreciate good sales people until we run into some who just aren’t as pleasant? While I can say I have not shopped at EVERY Rite Aid in Portsmouth or the Seacoast, there really is a difference! The folks at the Woodbury Ave Rite Aid ROCK! I mean that in a seriously good way. I had a hard time finding a few things… like the 20-roll package of Cottonelle that was on special until 8/14 (and there was a $2 off coupon in the 8/15-21 flyer that I was able to use!), the M&M’s 2/$5 (I had a buy 2 get 1 free coupon!) and one or two other things. The Ass’t Manager was great helping me find everything and the cashier was really nice ringing up all my things… really nice considering my +UP Rewards receipt was NOT scanning and she had to enter over half of them by hand! And they double-checked my receipt to make sure they got all of them. In all I spent just under $11 for $24 worth of stuff.

But here’s where my next adventure comes up. I saw these small pop up hampers in the flyer for $4.99. I’ve been looking for something to help me sort clothes when I switch from summer to fall clothes for the kids. Woodbury Ave was sold out. The Ass’t Manager called around and the Lafayette Rd store had 2 left and she asked them to put them aside for me! So I drive over and that’s when I began to appreciate the really nice folks on Woodbury Ave. I asked at the register, they had them for me, and when I went to pay I handed her my +UP Rewards Receipt from Woodbury Ave since I had earned $3 on my earlier trip. The cashier instantly says “You can only use 1″. So I say, … ummm, no I should be able to use ALL of them. So she makes a big deal of calling the manager to ask, and the manager says “Yes, she can use all of them”. Then of course, they don’t scan! There is a line forming, the cashier looks unhappy at me, the manager is now ringing up at another register and ends up swapping registers to finish ringing me up.

So I’m thinking I’m not planning on going to Rite Aid on Lafayette Rd anytime soon.

Big HAPPY KUDOS to the folks at the WOODBURY AVE RITE AID. You guys ROCK!

My Target trip 7/25/10

seacoastshopper — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:41:48 +0000

After my exciting Rite Aid trip I ventured over to Target. I had some Dove coupons that were expiring that day so I was wanting to pick up those items, plus I had Target coupons for Dove products.

How did my trip go?

I used $8.69 worth of coupons (well $8.64 – I get $.05 off for my reusable bag) for a final cost of $17.62. I even splurged on 2 items -Goldfish (pizza flavor) and “Chickadees” for the kids. But I picked up Dove conditioner, 4 bottles of Dove deodorant, Wheat Thins, Act fluoride rinse and the aforementioned snacks. I had coupons for everything except my splurge items.

The cashier had a bit of a problem with 1 coupon, and it was one I clipped from the paper not an internet printable. I think he was new at the register because he seemed a bit lost but someone came and helped him out.

While the cashier was struggling with the coupon that wouldn’t scan I began to feel bad for the man in line behind me with his 1 item. But then I began to wonder why he didn’t change registers since there were other cashiers who didn’t have lines. When I finally said something to him he said I should do his shopping for him! So I guess he had never seen someone with so many coupons for so few items! Anyway I guess he was awed enough to not mind waiting while we got my coupons sorted out.

BTW “chickadees” are the Target version of Goldfish. A box is $.91. They taste like a cross between Goldfish and Better Cheddars. Pretty yummy and only a fraction of the cost of the name brand snacks!

Happy Shopping!

I’m back and shopping at Rite Aid

seacoastshopper — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:15:02 +0000

After a much needed hiatus I’m back! Since my last post I took some time to reconnect and refocus what I’m doing. I even cut back on couponing a bit! [gasp!] But honestly, I missed it.

So I’m restarting the blog. Looking forward to some serious blog growth in the fall. Right now I can’t maintain multiple postings each day, but look forward to several a week. And the Seacoast Grocery Price List will be updated & posted monthly.

So what’s new? …. I’ve discovered Rite Aid’s Wellness + Card! To be honest I never, ever thought of shopping at Rite Aid other than to fill prescriptions – especially since the one near me has a drive up pharmacy! But NH Mommy Saves really got me interested in trying it out.

When you sign up you receive a coupon for $5 off your purchase of $25 or more. You can print off a temporary card while they mail you your actual card. Check the flyer or website each week to see what items are on sale with the Wellness+ card. You pay the lower cost, which may be less than what it is posted on in the store. In addition you also earn +UP rewards, which print on your receipt. So on my first trip I earned $4 in +UP rewards, which I used on my shopping trip today. You can also use manufacturers coupons and some items quality for rebates that you can mail in or submit on the Rite Aid website

In a nutshell today I bought:

4 boxes Kellogg’s cereal, regularly $4.49/box; with Wellness+ 2/$4 and I had 2 $1/2 coupons. I also earned $2 in +UP credits. Total cost = $1.50/box

2 8-bar pkgs Dove bath soap, regularly $11.99; with Wellness+ $8.99 and I had 2 $1 coupons. I also earned $4 in +UP credits. Total cost = $15.98 or less than $1/bar

Dove shampoo & conditioner, regularly $4.99 each; with Wellness+ $3.99 each and I had a $1/2 coupon. Total cost = $3.49 each

Colgate toothpaste, regular $3.69; with Wellness+ $3. I also earned $3 in +UP credits. Total cost $3

2 pkgs Stayfree Maxi pads, regularly 3.99; with Wellness+ 2/$6. I also earned $2 in +UP credits. Total cost $3/pkg.

Not sure if I read the receipt right for the individual breakdowns, but I saved $6 with manufacturer’s coupons. I used $4 in +UP rewards from my last trip for a total savings of $10 after the Wellness+ price reductions were taken.

While Rite Aid‘s overall prices tend to be higher than the supermarket, at their regular prices this would have cost $67.28. Today I paid $32.96 and I earned $11 off my next shopping trip. Not a bad deal! A few of these items I would have purchased for a little less at Target, but the +UP credit made Rite Aid the better deal.

Wicked Cool Deals has a great post on this week’s Rite Aid match ups!

I also went to Target… but I’ll save that for tomorrow. Let’s just say the guy in line behind me could have moved to another register with his 1 item when we had problems scanning one of my coupons, but he stayed and asked if I would do his shopping for him!

The Almost Last Post

seacoastshopper — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:04:44 +0000

Spring has finally come to the Seacoast, well it was here last weekend. I’ve been procrastinating writing this post so it did get cold and rainy for a few days, but Spring is here and so is Spring cleaning. I’m writing about Spring cleaning because I’ve spent the past few weeks doing a different type of Spring cleaning. The re-prioritize and re-evaluate kind. What I’ve come to realize is that I again have overextended myself and need to refocus on what is really important. For me that is my family, my home and my business. What this translates to is that this blog is a result of my hobby of comparing grocery prices. As of late I have not been posting as frequently and I’ve had a hard time keeping up with it. What I thought would be a simple 15-30 minutes a day has become really time consuming. It’s not just writing the posts, it is checking prices when I’m shopping – adding even more time to each trip to the store. The initial plan was to grow this blog, but in some ways the dark cloud of major car repairs several months ago has turned into the silver lining that I am still at a stage where I have invested no real money into this blog or my price comparing hobby.

So this is the Almost Last Post. It doesn’t mean the blog is done or I’m completely giving up on it. What it means is that I am backing off for a while to put my energies towards family and back into my primary business, which I think has been suffering a bit with my distracted attention. I don’t know how many people actually read this blog, if you do then Thank You! I’ll be putting the blog back on my ping list so when I ping sales & deals it will post here as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Please feel free to follow Seacoast Shopper at www.facebook.com/SeacoastShopper and www.twitter.com/SeacoastShopper.

Thanks so much for your patience and readership! Happy Shopping!

Monday 3/29/10

seacoastshopper — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:05:21 +0000

Happy rainy windy Monday…..

So who thinks the really nice weather we had 2 weekends ago was just a tease? This past weekend was cold and windy. We spent most of Saturday walking around downtown Portsmouth and part of me still feels chilled.

Cool find of the weekend was this link – Kids can bowl for free all summer! Bowl-a-rama in Portsmouth is listed as a participating alley. You purchase one family pass (for up to 4 adults) for $24.95 and kids bowl free. This includes up to 2 games EVERY day of the summer! I don’t know if that includes shoe rentals or not, but I’ll post when I find out. My kids love to bowl and we just don’t go often enough.

Second deal we found over the weekend – Easter Dinner savings at @PeapodDelivers. Spiral sliced ham at $1.39/lb! I have a free delivery coupon, coupons for several items on sale and if you fan them on Facebook you can get their Facebook code for $5 off your order! Add to that a busy week and the forecast for rain. So guess where I’m getting my Easter dinner this year?

However, don’t discount this week’s Market Basket flyer! There are some great deals there this week as well. If you don’t have the flyer check out Old Fashioned New England Saving for a run-down on this week’s sales.

What I’ve been pinging lately …

Market Basket Deals of the week from Old Fashioned New England Saving

This week’s Hannaford’s deals from Old Fashioned New England Savings…

Grocery coupons from Coupon Divas!

Target deals from Attention Target Shoppers and Brandy’s Big Bargains

Easter Dinner savings at @PeapodDelivers

Red Plum Coupons – includes Twilight DVD’s

Keep those sump pumps running and happy shopping!

Happy St. Pat’s Pings! 3/17/10

seacoastshopper — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:52:07 +0000

Happy St. Pat’s! Home with sick kiddos so today is just a list of some the interesting things to show up in my email or that I saw on Facebook:

Free Cookbook … thanks to The Suburban Mom!

Chuck E Cheese Good Behavior Calendars

New Coupon Database at Attention Target Shoppers!

Target coupon match ups from Attention Target Shoppers

More Target match ups from Attention Target Shoppers and Save at Home Mommy

Coupons from Coupons.com

Coupons, freebies & deals at Consumer Queen

Happy Shopping!

Target 3/10/10

seacoastshopper — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:21 +0000

I realized I hadn’t been to Target in a while so I stopped by tonight and let me just mention …. HUGGIES DIAPERS …. The medium size box is on sale for $19.99, but they had the huge box (I was picking up size 4, so it was 105 count) with no price listed. As always there was a Target Associate nearby who nicely and efficiently checked the price and HOT DANG it was on clearance for $16.98 – More diapers for a lower price! Matched that with a $2 manufacturer’s coupon and a $1.50 Target coupon for a total price of $13.48 for 105 diapers! I was so excited AND had extra coupons so I picked up 2 cases! Now watch.. my daughter will become more successful on the potty by the weekend….

Oh, and as always many thanks go to Ginger at Attention Target Shoppers who always has the Target coupon match ups and links posted. I would have missed this Huggies deal and we really needed to pick up more diapers.

While I was there I ran into a newly elected School Board member and so I just want to say congratulations to everyone who won an elected seat and a big Thank You to everyone who turned out for municipal elections. Your participation is what makes our communities what they are.

Grocery price comparisons FINALLY updated. I have to say prices have not fluctuated much recently. Market Basket has maintained or slightly raised their store brand prices and many brand name items have come down in price. I’ve been excited to see the increase in pull off coupons at Market Basket each week.

Anyone on the Seacoast using Alice? I’m debating checking it out… like Peapod it looks like it might be a bit pricier… but they advertise free shipping and they do the coupons. I’m debating a test purchase just to do a review. Comments? Bueller? Looking for a little feedback if anyone has used it.

Happy Shopping!

Knowing the better deal

seacoastshopper — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:09:12 +0000

I was at work a week or so ago and someone asked me what was the most I had saved using coupons. I had to really think about it. My average savings is anywhere between $5 and $10. Not huge in the greater scheme of things, but then again I am not one of those amazing coupon moms who purchases $200 worth of groceries for $5. My weekly bill is around $100, but that’s not bad for a family of 6. I don’t use as many coupons because sometimes the brand name product with the coupon is not the better deal. Often times the store brand is much less.

However this is not always true. Case in point, last week I bought sugar. I did not print the $.40/1 bag of Domino sugar because the store brand is usually less. Well, Market Basket lowered their price on Domino sugar so that it is the same price as the store brand. So the Domino with the coupon would have been the better deal. Just a good reminder for myself why I started the grocery price comparison sheet. I’ve been neglecting price checking lately but later this week when I hit the stores I’ll be checking….

Deals I found today are:

What is on sale at Market Basket this week from Old Fashioned New England Savings

Free Cookies! Become a fan of Nabisco on Facebook & print a coupon for free cookies with a purchase of milk and cookies.

Target coupon match ups from Attention Target Shoppers and Moms by Heart

New March Coupons listed at Coupons.com!

Happy Shopping!

seacoastshopper — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:45:58 +0000

What is on sale at Market Basket this week from Old Fashioned New England Savings http://ping.fm/j8rii

seacoastshopper — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:43:35 +0000

Free Cookies! Become a fan of Nabisco on Facebook & print a coupon for free cookies with a purchase of milk and cookies. http://ping.fm/fPCZh