Jewel shopping - Unilever promotion

I have been spending a LOT of time at Jewel these past couple weeks! The promotion runs through this week -so I may not be done yet!

I've bought CASES (literally - Jewel special orders for me) of items for the Center for Hope food pantry during this promotion. I always like to total up my receipts for them so they can see the amazing cost of these items! Some of the items included below are for my family - but most are for the pantry. They were all on the same receipts - so they are all on this list.

So here we go:

Items I bought:

Skippy naturals peanut butter - 60 jars
Pillsbury Ready to Bake cookies - 12 packages
Macaroni Grill meals - 58 boxes (similar to Hamburger Helper - but more YUMMY)
Knorr pasta side dishes - 99 pouches
Lipton soup mixes - 64 boxes (2 pouches per box)
Lipton tea bags - 8 boxes
Breyers ice cream 1/2 gal - 6 cartons
Klondike bars - 4 packages
Betty Crocker boxes brownies - 93 boxes
Cascadian Farms granola cereal - 15 boxes
Honey Nut Cheerios - 46 boxes
Cookie Crisp cereal - 31 boxes
Kix cereal - 7 boxes
Reeses Puffs cereal - 4 boxes
Hellman's real mayo - 65 bottles
Chex Mix bars - 19 boxes
Bertolli spaghetti sauce - 63 jars
Muffin mix - 1 box
cake mix - 3 boxes
Frosting - 8 tubs
Chex Mix - 12 bags
All detergent - 45 bottles
Dove shampoo/conditioner - 14 bottles
Qtips - 10 packages
Vaseline lotion - 16 bottles
Snapple bottles 12 pk - 1 pkg


Bottom line money Budget Wise:

Cash spent: $86.14
Catalinas earned: $1482.00
Catalinas spent: $1255.00
Manufacturer Coupons used: $410.75

This may not make much sense to you - but if you take the catalinas earned minus the cash I spent minus the catalinas spent you will see the total of catalinas I have leftover. That total is $140.86!! So even though I spend $86 out of my pocket - I now I have $140 in catalinas to spend at Jewel! Which means I can now purchase MORE items for the pantry!!

Some of you may have some questions regarding shopping at Jewel and catalina deals. My friend Kim with Retire With Coupons (www.retirewithcoupons.com) summed it up nicely - so I've borrowed her verbiage:

* Yes, Jewel is normally considered to be an extremely expensive store. But, by combining store sales, Catalina deals, and coupons, you will pay less than you would at other stores that are considered the least expensive! And, yes, we're buying all name brands!

* What's a Catalina? A Catalina is a coupon you receive when you check out. It normally prints after you've paid, and these particular coupons (for these deals) are used like cash on your next order.

A couple more questions that come up often:

* WHERE do I get all my coupons? I have multiple copies of the Chicago Tribune delivered. I also have many friends and neighbors that save their coupons for me. The food pantry has coupon donors as well. If it weren't for these sources - I wouldn't be able to shop for the pantry the way I do! So THANKS to everyone who saves papers for me!

*How do I find out about deals? Most time I just read the sales flyers! I also know some people from different areas of the country who are "ahead" of us with their sales cycle. Their stores have the sales a week ahead of our store. Their stores are owned by the same people as ours.

* How do I learn to shop like this? I know of someone who runs an AWESOME business who teaches others how to "coupon". I encourage everyone to check out her website and sign up for a class or a shopping crew subscription! www.retirewithcoupons.com


More questions? Comments? Please leave comments and I will do my best to answer as soon as I can!

Happy Shopping!