My favorite deals of the week

I have a confession to make. I'm one of those people who sit around, flip through the sale ads like it's on Oprah's reading list, and clip coupons.

Hi, my name is Alex, and I'm a coupon shopper.
*hi alex*

Laugh all you like, shopping this way saves me a crapload of money every week. Chris isn't that fond of it (because it involves driving to 3-4 different stores to maximize the savings), but even he admits the sense in it.

SO! I'm gonna start posting my favorites every week on here. If nothing else, it'll keep the dust from collecting on this poor blog.

Now, the thing you have to keep in mind when shopping like this, is that you can't get overly attached to brands. Yes, I know -this- is better than -that- but -that- is $2.00 cheaper today. And, oh wait, the store brand has another $2.00 off -that- one's price. Guess which one I'm gonna buy?

Also, you need to think further ahead than just -this- week. Are you almost out of bacon, but not quite? It'll probably last another week, sure, but there's a sale on 4 lbs of bacon for $2.00. Guess what keeps really well if you don't open it, and freezes even better?

Bacon.

In fact, most things freeze really well. I even found a way to freeze EGGS (which comes in real handy when there's a sale on an 18 pack of large eggs for $0.99.

To the deals. I'll start with grocery items and move on from there.

I like to guess roughly how much I'm going to be buying (either by pound or quantity) to get a better picture of what I'm spending.

Save Mart Supermarkets:

-Foster Farms Chicken Breasts (with ribs) Max Pak: $0.99/lb. x4lbs (roughly) = $3.96
-Asparagus: $0.97/lb. x1 = $0.97
-Celery: $0.87/ea. x1 = $0.87
-Minute Maid Orange Juice 64oz: $2.00/ea. x1 = $2.00
-Bohemian Hearth Bread (mmm, potato bread): $1.79/ea. x1 = $1.79
-Sunny Select Cooking Oil (Canola's the best): $2.99/ea. x1 = $2.99

Raley's

-Large Bulk Russet Potatoes: $0.25/lb. x4 = $1.00 (-super- deal here. If I didn't already have 15 pounds of potatoes under my sink I'd be jumping at this.)
-Red Seedless Grapes: $0.95/lb. x1 = $0.95
-Barefoot Wine (Pretty good wine for the money): $4.99/ea. x1 = $4.99
-All Pepsi 2-liters: $0.88/ea with in-ad coupon (limit 3). x2 = $1.76
-Hefty One Zip Storage/Sandwich bags: $0.99/ea with in-ad coupon (limit 2). x2 = $1.98
-18pk Raley's LG Eggs Grade AA: $1.99/ea. x1 = $1.99
-Raley's Chunk Cheese 8oz: $2.00/ea. x1 = $2.00
-Kettle Potato chips 5oz: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00
-Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil 17oz: $5.99/ea. x1 = $5.99
-Large Artichokes: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00

Safeway (a tricky one. Sometimes certain items are only on sale Saturday and Sunday, or you have to buy a certain number of them to qualify for the sale price. Keep an eye out for these... sometimes they aren't such a great deal afterall. Also, if you're going to shop here, you HAVE to get a Safeway card. Their prices are -ridiculous- otherwise.)

-Foster Farms Whole Chicken: Buy 1 Get 1 Free (not sure the price/lb, still a good deal.)
-Nabisco Oreo or Ritz crackers: $2.50/ea. x1 = $2.50 (yes, it was the oreos. Pfft.)
-Safeway Hickory Smoked Thick sliced bacon 3lb: $7.98/ea. (this is -really- good bacon for the money.)
-Hillshire Farm lunchmeat: $2.99/ea.
-Sweet red/orange/yellow bell peppers: $1.50/ea. x2 = $3.00
-Golden Grain Pasta: $1.00/ea. (This is -really- good pasta, and it's never this cheap.)
-Duncan Hines Cake or Brownie Mix: $1.00/ea. (This is the time to stock up!)

Safeway saturday/sunday only sales:

-Bananas: $0.48/lb.
-Kraft Macaroni and Cheese: $0.50/ea.

That's pretty much it for grocery stuff. It's a little list-y, so I think I'll save the other couple ones for a separate post. :)