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.

DIY Valentine Snail Mail Boxes for Love Notes

Last year after Valentines Day I purchased the red and pink mail boxes at Superstore when they were 75% off. All year I was planning on making a little love note station for everyone to write little family love notes. I just never actually got around to it.

The other day I found these paper snails and I knew instantly that these snails would be perfect to finally make our mailboxes.

If you don't have a little tin mail box to use you could make these with a small shoe box.

Here is how we made ours:

1) Gather your supplies
-mailbox (tin or a shoebox or similar)
-felt
-fabric paint
-scissors, glue, pencil, paper

note shown optional items
-a candle holder or mini vase to use as the base of your mail box
-googly eyes, heart gems, heart stickers

after your mailboxes are finished you will need
-paper, envelops, markers, stickers etc for your love note writing

2) Draw a snail pattern or print out mine below. Please link back in comments if you use it as I'd love to see how yours turned out.

3) Decide on the colours of felt you want to use and cut out your snail pieces. You will need one colour for the snail body and either two or three colours for the shell. We made both the largest heart and the smallest hearts the same colours.

4) Glue your felt snail on your mail box (we used a glue gun for this). You can also glue on other felt hearts or heart gems. Our heart gems all came from the dollar store last year after Valentines day. As much as I'd love to be a minimalist...I'm just not!

5) Add fabric paint details. We put a monogrammed heart on the mailbox door and made the mistake of doing the fabric paint before I had the idea for the gems. It was tricky to glue on the gems with wet fabric paint but we managed.

6) You can leave your mailboxes like above but Sierra actually came up with the idea of needing a post for the base. All I could find to use were a couple vases we used for our snowman milk one Christmas and they have been waiting for a new use ever since.

7) Set your snail mail love note mailboxes out for easy access. I really wanted to leave them out on this fabulous owl table I got for Christmas but when I put out the markers there was no room to write their notes.

FYI I got the inspiration from the heart mason jars from HERE. We also made a banner shown below too. For our hearts we painted newspaper with red liquid water colour paint instead of using construction paper. I love using newspaper in crafts.


We found another area more suitable for easy use and set up the mailboxes with markers, mini note pads, doilies, scissors, envelopes, glue and stickers.

And the love note making began.

I'm not sure if it was more fun writing the love notes, or receiving them.

I am so glad we finally got around to making these "snail mail" mail boxes and I am looking forward to all the little love notes that will be finding their way not only into our mail boxes, but into our hearts as well.

Blast from the past...past DIY Valentine cards we have made

Our Newspaper Roses Valentines in 2011 were probably my all time favourite valentines to make I love recycling eveyday items into new beginnings. The DIY for these Newspaper Lollipop Roses can be found HERE.

Newspaper Valentine Lollipop Rose cards

In 2012 both girls made heart butterflies as cards and wrote Happy Valentines Day on the back of the wings. We also added magnets to the back of the bodies so their teachers could stick them on a filing cabinet or fridge. DIY with link to printable HERE.

In 2013 Sierra made the butterfly suckers and our gumball monster Aayla made the gumball machine Valentines for their classes. You can see how to make both of them HERE.

 This year we made watercolour valentines which can be found HERE incase you missed them. They are ranked up there as one of my favourites as well. Painting is a medium we all enjoy in our house and we need to make time to do it more often.

My favourite Valentine from the web (which I planned on making this year but couldn't find the wood discs I have been saving for it; time to organize the craft room) are these "wood you be my valentine" cards. I think they are fantastic!

Source

Will you be making or buying Valentines cards with your kids this year?

Crafting with felt and how I make my felt story pattern pieces (giveaway is over)

***Read on for a coupon code for my Etsy shop until Feb 14th and a giveaway to win one of my felt stories*** Giveaway is now over

I love felt and the rainbow of colours it comes in.

I love pinning felt ideas. Most I will never try but they are so pretty to browse through. You can have a wander through my felt, felt and fiber fun Pinterest board HERE.

I love crafting with felt.

Being a jack of all creative trades I find the creative process quite magical no matter which medium you like to work with. Taking a blank canvas and creating a painting, or taking a piece of wood and carving beautiful toys and bowls. It's an amazing magical process from raw to finished project...don't you think? The same goes for felt...taking a rectangular piece of felt and transforming it into a usable story or game is a wonderous process.

To make my felt pieces I first draw a pattern on computer paper.

 Next I make a tracing pattern from empty cereal boxes on to the inside of the box (we go through enough Cheerios that some days I think we should buy stocks in it). The cereal boxes are more sturdy than the paper and last through many years of use. I also like to write the name of the story on each piece so when you have a table full of scraps and patterns you can easily find the piece you need. I don't know about you but my table is always a creative mess (when finished I store each stories pieces in a small ziplock bag).

Next comes the fun part...choosing your colours of felt.

Once you have your cardboard pattern piece all cut out trace it onto your chosen felt colour. When it is traced on the felt, cut it out. I like to cut along the inside edge of my pattern pieces (approximately 2 mm). This ensures that all the ink is cut off and your pieces don't have inked edges...a pet peeve of mine.

This week I've been crafting up a storm creating felt (flannel) stories for Valentines day. I haven't made any felt stories since we sold the daycares and I honestly miss it. I know it's almost Valentine's Day but I added a bunch to my Etsy shop if you'd like to have a look. I will be busy making more stories for upcoming themes in the coming weeks so check back often.

Psst...I love to hear what you think of the stories I've added so far (keep reading to possibly win a story for yourself).

I have a special coupon code for my blog readers in celebration of Valentines day I am offering a discount of 14% to anyone who uses the coupon code " loveday " at the checkout. This coupon code is valid for my blog and facebook readers only; a small thank you for following along. Hurry though this coupon code ends on Feb 14th.

Sierra joined me in making some pieces of her own this week and she even made her own mini felt board. if you are wondering what the orange things are on her felt board; they are pizza slices...all orange because she only like cheese pizza.

She also enjoyed playing the lovebug game shown at the beginning of this post. A game where you hide the lovebug behind the felt hearts and another person has to guess which heart it is behind. Younger children can guess by stating a colour choice while beginning readers can read the words. The one in the shop comes with two different poems to use with it; a short version for younger kids and a slightly longer version for older kids.

Sierra and I played a few games while Aayla was playing at the neighbours but as soon as Aayla came home Sierra asked to have the pieces she made so she could teach Aayla to play.

If you'd like to make a felt board of your own HERE is a DIY I did a few years ago to make one like this with a storage pocket for the piece on the back:

If you are local to Barrie, Ontario I'm hosting a bead giveaway here. The owner could only donate a gift card to be used in store but I'd love to offer another giveaway open to everyone everywhere to make it fair. So here you go! Good luck and I look forward to seeing which story is your favourite.

a Rafflecopter giveaway