I just wanted to brag share the most recent round of incredible deals I have been playing with at the grocery. In the picture above, you can see:

• 1 box of Lucky Charms cereal
• 1 box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
• 2 bags of Chex Mix
• 1 sugar cookie mix
• 1 box of Go-Gurt yogurt
• 2 cups of Greek yogurt
• 1 can chocolate cake frosting
• 8 boxes Stove Top stuffing
• 4 boxes of instant mashed potatoes
• 1 Warm Delights brownie mix
• 8 boxes of 100-calorie snack packs

But get this: my total for all of the above was -$0.94. After taxes and all of the catalina (on your next order) rebates, the store actually paid me $0.94 to take all of those items home!

Several of the items are things I would not ordinarily purchase (i.e. the instant mashed potatoes, cookie mix, and cake frosting), but if the manufacturers want to pay me to take them, then I will be more than happy to oblige. Besides, my coworkers would love it if I brought in a cake or some cookies to pawn off on them share. And, if I can do that for free, then all the better!

You will still be able to get some of these deals, but you would have to act quickly. For example, Meijer has a promotion where you can get a $10 catalina coupon (on your next order) for purchasing $20 worth of any combination of Betty Crocker, General Mills, or Yoplait products. So, buy $20 and get a $10 off coupon. That is great, but the criteria does not say that you have to actually PAY $20, you just have to scan $20 worth of products. So, if you buy things that are on sale, and combine with a coupon, you can very likely get these products for either next to nothing, or FREE like I did. Here are a couple of quick ideas you could use:

• Several GM cereals are on sale for $2, combine that with a $0.55 off coupon (Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, etc.) – $1.45
• Yoplait Greek yogurt cups are on sale for $0.99. Grab a $0.30 off coupon, and it should double, making them only $0.39 each.
• The Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes are on sale for about $1.75, and most had a coupon sticker on the front for $1.00 off of 2. I could be wrong on this, but I think you can acutally use those coupons on each, making them just $0.75 each, but just in case, I only scanned one $1.00 off coupon per pair. Also, they were printing an additional $1.00 off your next order catalina coupon when you purchase 2 boxes of those potatoes. I’m not sure if that extra coupon is still printing, but if so, that is a great deal!
• Betty Crocker Warm Delights brownie and cake mixes are on sale for about $1.75. Use a $0.50 coupon, which will double, and make the total about $0.75 each.

These are just a few of the combinations you can make, and I did not maximize the savings as much as I could have Yes, you could actually end up receiving more money back than I did on this deal. Check out Erin’s Coupon Database for some coupons. Just do a search for “cheerios”, “lucky charms”, “greek yogurt”, or “warm delights”, etc.

This offer is only valid through May 19, so like I said, you would have to act quickly.

We actually went back yesterday and used this promotion again. My wife loves Cheerios, and when we noticed they were on sale for $2 (that is for the big 14 oz. box), we decided we needed to go stock up. I had a bunch of $0.55 off coupons for Cheerios, so I think we ended up buying about 5-6 boxes. But, hey, after you count the catalina coupon, they cost us well under $1 a box. I am very happy to pay that for a big 14 oz. box of Cheerios!

I am still just beginning this coupon / catalina stuff, and am mainly participating in some of these offers just to start learning how to “play the game”. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t normally have necessarily purchased many of those items, but as I learn more about how to do these things, I will tailor my deal hunting more to my food preferences.

Now, I want to hear from you. Where do you like to look to find out about these deals? Please feel free to link up in the comments.