How I saved $117.61 at the grocery store today with sales, flyers, coupons, Apps and more

Today at the grocery store while I was checking a price in my flyers a lady stopped and asked me if price matching was really worth the hassle. My answer was YES! She was very interested so I explained to her how quickly the savings add up at the grocery store. Everyone likes to save money...Right? So I thought I'd share a few flyers saving, "coupon-ing", App using ideas with you too. If you prefer paying full price then this isn't the post for youand I apologize for boring you with this one ;)

Every week I scour my weekly flyers and make a list of items that we buy regularly or know I need this week.

I look to see if I have any coupons I can use in conjunction with my flyers. I had a $1.00 off coupon that was in the RedPlum flyer for Magnum ice cream bars (these are super duper good and once in awhile I splurge on them).  Walmart had Magnums on sale for $4.97 this week (which I price matched) and with my RedPlum coupon I purchased my treat for only $3.97! That is about the cost of one at the convenience store.

One other way I save money while shopping is with a couple Apps that I use. One is Checkout 51 and a new one I have just found is called SnapSaves. I have a look at the Apps and see what items are available for money back before leaving the house and make note on my shopping list to purchase them. I'll explain these Apps in more detail later.

Next I grab my reusable bags, list, flyers and head out the door (look the sun was shining here today...it almost looked warm).

Reusable bags saves me about $25 a year on bag fees. That might not sound like a lot but paying for bags drives me crazy! Even if I forget my bags I will use the stores produce bags for the little things and just carry a crazy armload out to the truck...yes I hate paying for bags that much. I also keep a couple rolled up bags from places like Target or Walmart who still give out free bags, in my purse. Most of my reusable bags have either come from thrift stores and yardsales, or have been giving to us as packaging for gifts for the girls birthday. I don't even buy the reusable bags!

I have considered making some of THESE from pillow cases but I always seem to have a surplus of reusable bags and haven't had to yet. One year I made my mom some reusable produce bags from sheer curtains like THESE and really should make myself some as well...someday.

I happen to shop at the Superstore because it is closest to where I live. My other two options at the other end of town are Walmart or Foodland. Superstore is slightly higher priced sometimes then Walmart but Walmart isn't always as cheap as they would like you to believe either when you look closely at their prices. Now that Superstore has their PC Plus rewards card I do almost all my shopping there.

The PC Plus points card is fantastic! It gives you not only weekly points in store but with my PC Plus App I can get bonus points on various items (you MUST refresh and reload your card before going to the teller so you don't miss out on any points).

I know what you are thinking...points cards take forever to accumulate! Well that's not the case with this card. I started my points card at the end of November and by Christmas I had a savings of $50 which I used on some of the girls Christmas gifts. Now it's the beginning of February and I already have 45,400 points which is a $40 savings available (you need 20,00 to get $20 off to start but then each increment of 10,00 points equals $10 off). It is my plan now to just save my points towards special occasions like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and I bet I will be able to host all those dinners with our families for FREE!

 My first stop on the way into Superstore is their coupon board. Today there was a coupon for $3 off Pull-Ups and $1.50 off childrens chewable vitamins which were on my list.

I'd like to make a note here that coupon-ing in Canada is way different then in the States. We have way more rules and can not double dip as is possible in a lot of the States. There is more I could do with coupon-ing but to be honest I collect coupons from sites like Save.ca but then forget to use them before they expire. I really need to work on a system to organize coupons better. Do you have a great tip to share?

Pull-Ups happened to be on sale this week for $14.98 from $19.93. When I see items we use regularly I buy in quantity. I spend more at the time but it saves me money down the road. Just with this weekly sale by purchasing 4 packs instead of one I saved $19.80 in total plus one of those packs I only paid $11.98 as I had the $3 off coupon from the front of the store for a total savings of $22.80.

On to the shopping...flyers save me lots of money each week in exchange of a little time and effort. Here for instance Grapes were on sale at FreshCo for $2 lb (4.41 kg) That is a savings of $1.79lb. The amount of grapes I purchased should have cost me $7.48 but instead with price matching I only paid $3.95 which is a savings of $3.53 just on one bag of grapes!

I also price matched kidney beans, tea, Mr Noodles, clams, Danino drinks, taco kits, spahetti sauce (I use it as a base), Tostitos nacho chips, sour cream, cucumber, avacados and pineapple.

Wonder bread and buns were on sale in-store this week for $2.18 but even that is expensive when we eat close to a loaf a day!

So I head over to the discount area and today found 6 packs of buns on sale for 50% off. There wasn't any bread left but my freezer is full of bread right now anyway. We did need buns though so I checked the expiry date.

 Today is the 4th so it is still good for five days. I bought all six that were left take them home and pop them in the freezer until needed and you'd never know the difference.

My buns regular price ($2.69 each) would have cost me $16.14 but with the sale and the 50% off discount I only paid $6.54 for 6 bags of buns.

Another way to save instore is when looking for items look for those sale stickers. Meat and produce have discounts of 30% instead of 50% but still the savings add up.

Today I bought 2 packs of sausages and a pack of chicken drumsticks which regularly would have cost me $19.60 but because they were 30% off I only paid $13.72 for a savings of $5.88. By itself not a huge amount but when combined with all the other savings it adds up each week. Again I bring these home and freeze them until needed.

Superstore actually had quite a few in-store sales this week. We always buy a few pizzas when they are on sale for those nights when you just can't be bothered to cook. Today pizza was on sale for $2.00 off so I bought 5 and saved a total of $10.00 (my girls only like Hawaiian).

As mentioned earlier I use a couple Apps when shopping too. Some weeks are better then others and you really need to be quick with claiming them as they run out. I could have saved another $1.00 with Checkout 51 on my sour cream but when I got home to submit it, it had expired. There were no other items on Checkout 51 for me to claim this trip.

On the other App I have just started using, SnapSaves, I saved .50 on the sour cream and $1.00 on the cucumber which made the cucumber FREE with my price match. I also received $1.00 for spending X amount ( I can't remember the exact number) and because I spent over $40 I am entered in a draw to win $100. SnapSaves also has a referral program so if you're interested let me know I'd love to refer you and get $1 :)

So today with price matching other stores (and Apps) I saved:

• 7 avocados reg $1.47 each price matched for .77cents = $4.90 savings

• 1 cucumber reg $1.99 each price matched for $1.00 but $1.00 refund by SnapSaves = $1.99 savings

• 1 bag of grapes reg $7.38 each price matched for $3.95 = $3.53 savings

• 1 sour cream reg $2.97 each price matched for $2.00 but .50 cent refund by SnapSaves = $1.47 savings(This could have had another $1.00 off with Checkout 51 but this deal was sold out by the time I got out to get groceries this week)

• 3 Tostito nachos reg $3.17 each price matched for $2 = $3.51 savings

• 6 spaghetti sauce reg $1.27 each price matched for .97 cents = $1.80 savings

• 3 taco kits reg $4.69 each price matched for $2.97 = $5.16 savings

• 2 Danino drinks reg $4.99 each price matched for $3.47 = $3.04 savings

• 3 Teas reg $6.97 each price matched for $4.97 = $6.00 savings

• 8 kidney beans reg $1.27 each price matched for .88 cents = $3.12 savings

• 4 cans clams reg $1.99 each price matched for $1.79 = .80 cent savings (yes I price match for even 20 cents off and have priced matched for amounts like 1 and 2 cents off because at the end of the year it all adds up)

• 2 12 pks Mr noodles reg $3.99 pk price matched for $2.99 = $2.00 savings

• 1 box Magnum ice cream bars reg 6.97 ecch price matched for $4.97 plus -$1.00 coupon =  $3 savings
• 1 pineapple reg $3.47 each pricematched for $1.97 = $1.50

Total savings for price matching and SnapSaves equals a total of $42.82.

Total savings for in-store sales, discounts and coupons equals $49.79.

I also received a gift card for $25 off my next order for spending over $250.

My grand total for savings (including the free $25 gift card) was $117.61. Not bad for about 20 minutes of prepwork before heading to the store, a little extra time when wandering the isles looking for sales and about 5-7 minutes extra time at the checkout getting the pricematches taken care of (I always apologize to who ever is behind me as sometimes people get annoyed).

Oh I almost forgot to mention with my PC Points card I received 7900 points today which popped me into the next discount bracket and I now have $50 available to be spent instore for our next holiday dinner.

One other way to save at Superstore is when you buy gas there, the top of your reciept has a Superbucks coupon to take off your in-store purchase. I forgot to use this one today :( I am sure we will run out of milk so I can use it before it expires.

So you tell me...do you think price matching, coupon-ing, sale seeking, App using tactics are worth it? Do you have another tip I haven't mentioned? Please share!

FYI I did not receive anything from any of the companies mentioned in this post. I am merely stating my own honest opinions about these products and sharing how I save money grocery shopping.