It's all about the bottom line! What is your best price?

[Mikki 316]

Originally Posted by katieprov19 My issue is finding prepackaged foods on sale on a miniscule budget. I work for a food kitchen and I need to know good prices for things like Hamburger helper, instant potatoes, evaporated milk, muffin mix, basically Thanksgiving type food. We are given a list of foods and about $100 to use it on. I got Hamburger helper today for 3/$2.25 and I have no idea if that was a good deal or not. If anyone has a basic price list on these things or could help me out it would be great.

As for Thanksgiving type food, the Qs will start coming out closer to the Holiday, maybe in mid-to late-October if I recall correctly. Also, some grocery stores will have promotions for free turkey when you buy $x at their store for a given time period. The huge sales on the ingredients for baking and other holiday recipes will begin sometime in October as well.
Basically, I just keep my eyes open for long expiration dated products and store them in airtight containers/freeze them if I find a good deal before that time.
Also, don't forget to think "outside the box" when looking for these deals. Sometimes, WAG, CVS, etc will have deals on baking products and packaged foods that you can get free or close to free with their incentive programs. Also, Kmart, Walmart, Target, etc.
Keep an eye out for OYNO catalina promotions during Sept and Oct for good deals on boxed products, including Hamburger Helper, instant potatoes and muffin mixes. Kroger family stores are having a Mega Event next week (and probably the following week) and these items might be included, so check your regions sales circulars.
Oh, and don't forget the local "mom & pops" type stores. I find amazing deals in those type stores, even though they don't double coupons. HTH.

[ladycat00]

Originally Posted by katieprov19 I got Hamburger helper today for 3/$2.25 and I have no idea if that was a good deal or no.

That's an excellent price, I wish I could find it for that cheap! Hamburger Helper is one of the items I scrounge for to fill the food boxes (my mother and I operate a food pantry and we have gotten NO donations in a long time AND we're on a fixed income so I have to coupon to the max).

About those bottom line prices- HBA are all free, most non-foods (cleaning supplies, toilet paper etc), I usually manage to get awfully cheap.

So food prices are my biggest concern. My maximum prices (usually) on some of the staples are:

Cereal 50 cents a box
Mac and Cheese 25 cents a box
Produce $1 a pound
Tomato products $1 for 28oz cans, 25 cents for 8oz cans
Meat $2/lb, but usually manage to keep it much less
Cheese $3/lb
Sugar $1 per 4# bag
Condiments- usually manage to keep them under 50 cents
Mayo- $1/qt

Lots more, of course, too much to list.

It can get difficult because none of the stores here have double or triple coupons.

[faeryedark]

Originally Posted by katieprov19 My issue is finding prepackaged foods on sale on a miniscule budget. I work for a food kitchen and I need to know good prices for things like Hamburger helper, instant potatoes, evaporated milk, muffin mix, basically Thanksgiving type food. We are given a list of foods and about $100 to use it on. I got Hamburger helper today for 3/$2.25 and I have no idea if that was a good deal or not. If anyone has a basic price list on these things or could help me out it would be great.

If you have a store that puts it on sale 10/$10 and doubles then if you use the 75c off 3 doubled it'd be $1.50 for 3 boxes.
This is the best I'm able to get it in my area.

[angeleyeza]

cheese : .99/lb usually get enough to stock for a while
fruit .99/lb or less
vegs: .99/lb or less
laundry soap $2.99 or less
HBA : free at cvs and RA & Kmart(when they double)
poptarts: .50 or less
cat litter: $2 or less big buckets
cat food/Dog Food : .99 or less
bottled water $2 or less
dish soap: .50 or less ( havent had to buy in over 2 yrs
paper plates: .50 or less
pastas : .50 or less
spag. sauce $1 or less /jar

[mama2kangaandroo]

Originally Posted by mommytaylor Morningstar Crumbles $.97

Would LOVE to know how you get this deal. That's amazing! lol!

[Alleynn]

I have been couponing for about 17 years now. I treat it like a second job and it usually pays better then my main job.lol.

Here are the deals I got this last week.

secret deodorant, .64 cents
international delight, .64 cents
nestle cookie dough, .50 cents
crest toothpast, .50 cents
big bag of 9 lives cat food can't remember size. $2
off bug spray, 29 cents
angel soft tissue, .9 cents
A-1 steak sauce, big bottle .50 cents
chef micheals dry dog food, $1.00
betty crocker potatoes, .29 cents a box
betty crocker frosting, .50 cents
suave shampoo for men, .60 cents
arm and hammer laundry detergent, $1.50 got 6 of them for $9

here was the hard one
Aussie shampoo and conditioner, $1.50 each. but wont use anything else.

Just remember on sundays to buy as much news papers as your budget will allow. You will always earn your money back. But I check the inserts first before I buy them. To make sure I can use the coupons.

[scrappinJudy]

what are you finding recently (last 3 months or so) as best you can do for:

• 2-ply TP? pls. specify single, double, triple roll
• paper towels, esp. the kind that tears into a couple of more sized sheets (1/2 sheets, etc).

brands & how'd you do it?

TIA, Judy

[faeryedark]

Originally Posted by scrappinJudy what are you finding recently (last 3 months or so) as best you can do for: 2-ply TP? pls. specify single, double, triple roll paper towels, esp. the kind that tears into a couple of more sized sheets (1/2 sheets, etc). brands & how'd you do it? TIA, Judy

best deal on paper towels i've gotten has been the 8pk of Sm Step for $1 after the $4 coupon. They don't tear into smaller sizes tho' but at $1 for 8, I don't care

[thecouponclippa]

TP - .20 per double roll
Ground Beef - $1.49/lb
Bacon - 1.89/lb
Canned Veggies - .34/can
Cereal - 1.00/box - Only because Capn Crunch rarely goes on sale anymore
Peanut Butter - .25 a jar
HBA - always free. I'll pay tax, but that's it.
Ketchup - .60 a bottle
Crackers ( regular saltines ).89 per box
Dishwashing detergent - .25
Boneless Skinless Chicken - 1.49/lb

I wish I could find cheap kitty litter. We use World's Best, It's $35 for a 40 lb bag. >.< BUT we only buy 1 bag every 3 months, so we definitely give it a work out.

[BARGINSHOPS]

Gosh I wish we had better stores here! You all have such low 'max' prices! I could never find such staples for so cheap, even with all my coupons. Bummer. The best I ever did for TP was .18c per regular roll a few months back when walgreens did that great "top shelf mark down"

You must have lots of stores that double?