Saving 75% at Kroger - a walkthrough

I am not a coupon queen. There are some people out there who can get ridiculous amounts of things for free with coupons. They have stockpiles of soap, shampoo and toothpaste in their house. I'm not quite that skilled, but I'm getting there.

With a minimum of effort, I saved 75% at Kroger yesterday, and so can you.

I'm going to walk you through it.

What we're going to buy:

• 9 boxes of Hamburger Helper. Regular retail price: $1.59 per box.
  
• 1 box of Trix cereal. Regular retail price: $2.99 per box.
• Total cost before coupons and discounts: $18.89

Remember these numbers, okay?

Now, I know you're thinking... why do I need 9 boxes of Hamburger Helper? Let me justify it for you.

1. It's shelf stable. Hamburger Helper doesn't go bad. You can stock up and not have to worry. Stash those boxes in your pantry, under the kitchen sink, on top of the fridge... wherever you can find the space.
   
2. It's quick and easy to fix - ideal for a parent who got home from work and has only an hour to feed the family before having to take Junior to Cub Scouts and Buddy to 4-H horse club.
3. Kids like it, or at least mine do.
4. It's budget friendly.
5. We're going to buy it at a ridiculously low price.

What you'll need:

• A Kroger Plus Card - it's the store discount card that the cashier always asks whether or not you have. If you don't have one, get one. You'll need it.
• A computer with an internet connection. If you're reading this, you've got one.
• A printer.
• Scissors.

How to do it:

1. If you've checked Kroger's sale flyer, or visited the Kroger website, you noticed that now through August 30th, 2009, Kroger is having a Mega Event. If you buy any 10 things that are included in the Mega Event, you get an instant $5 off. It just so happens that Hamburger Helper and Trix cereal are included on the list.
2. If you haven't already, register your Kroger card at Cellfire and Shortcuts. These are websites where you can load electronic coupons right on to your shopper card. Whenever you buy the product, the coupon will be automatically applied. Once you've registered your Kroger card, find and load the coupons for Trix cereal and Hamburger Helper. Cellfire has a coupon for 55 cents off any Trix cereal. Both Cellfire and Shortcuts have coupons for 75 cents off 3 Hamburger Helpers.
3. Go to Smartsource, Boodle, Coupons.com and the Kroger website to print paper coupons. Among other things, you will find a coupon for 55 cents off any Trix cereal and 75 cents off 3 Hamburger Helpers. BE SURE TO PRINT 3 of the Hamburger Helper coupons. (You'll need to visit 3 coupon websites to do so.)
4. Cut out your coupons, get your Kroger card, grab a couple of reusable shopping bags, and prepare to head to Kroger.

How the savings work:

First of all, notice that we're buying 10 things from the Mega Event list. That qualifies us for the instant $5 off. $5 divided by 10 items equals 50 cents off each item.

Trix cereal: Regular price: $2.99

With your Kroger card, the cereal is on sale for $1.99.
Minus 50 cents from the Mega Event brings it down to $1.49.
Our Cellfire coupon takes off 55 cents, making the price 94 cents.
And our paper coupon for 55 cents off (yes, you can "stack" Cellfire/Shortcuts coupons and paper coupons at Kroger) makes the final price 39 cents.

39 cents for a box of Trix isn't too bad, is it? Silly Rabbit!

Let's move on to the Hamburger Helper.

Hamburger Helper: Regular price: $1.59

With your Kroger card, the helper is on sale for $1.39.
Minus 50 cents from the Mega Event brings it down to 89 cents.
For our first three boxes, we have a Cellfire coupon for 75 cents off 3 boxes.
89 cents x 3 boxes = $2.67.
$2.67 - 75 cents off (Cellfire coupon) = $1.92 (or 64 cents per box)
We also have a paper coupon for these 3 boxes (75 cents off 3 boxes), which brings the cost for these 3 boxes down to $1.17, which is 39 cents per box.

For our next three boxes, we have a Shortcuts coupon for 75 cents off three boxes.
89 cents x 3 boxes = $2.67.
$2.67 - 75 cents off (Shortcuts coupon) = $1.92 (or 64 cents per box)
We also have a paper coupon for these 3 boxes (75 cents off 3 boxes), which brings the cost for these 3 boxes down to $1.17, which is 39 cents per box.

For our last three boxes, we can only use our paper coupon. The Cellfire and Shortcuts coupons can only be used once per transaction.
89 cents x 3 boxes = $2.67.
$2.67 - 75 cents off (paper coupon) = $1.92, which is 64 cents per box.

The final breakdown:
1 box of Trix @ 39 cents
6 boxes of Hamburger Helper @ 39 cents = $2.34
3 boxes of Hamburger Helper @ .64 cents = $1.92

Grand total: $4.65
Original retail price: $18.89
Savings: 75.39% or $14.24

Imagine what would happen if you were to walk in to your local grocery store today and say, "You know what? I don't feel like paying full price today. I feel like knocking 75% off... that's what I'll pay you."

They'd laugh you right out the door, wouldn't they?

Well, guess what? That's exactly what we just did.

Who's laughing now? We are... all the way to the bank.