Jewel - Great Deal on General Mills Products!

From 10/15 through 10/21, Jewel will be running a promotion on select General Mills products, including certain Betty Crocker, Green Giant, Progresso, Pillsbury, Cascadian Farms, and Totino's items, plus some General Mills cereals: when you buy $25, you get a $10 "off your next order" coupon (OYNO). However, the thing that makes these deals so great at Jewel is that the $25 threshold required to get the $10 coupon is based on the prices before you scan your preferred card. This can make for some truly amazing deals!

In addition to the "buy $25, get $10" promo, there is also an overlapping deal on Pillsbury refrigerated products: buy 4, get $2 off your next order; buy 5, get $3; buy 6 or more, get $4. Items that appear to be included in both promotions are crescent rolls, cookie dough, cinnamon rolls, Grands!, and pie crusts. If you satisfy the requirements of both promotions, you should get both coupons, so you could potentially get back a total of $14 if you buy the right items.

Here are some of what I consider the highlights of the promotion:

2/$4 sale price (pre-Pref. Card price = 2/$9.90, or $4.95 each)
General Mills cereal (selected varieties)
Betty Crocker fruit snacks (selected varieties)
Fiber One toaster pastries
Gold Medal Flour, 5 lb. bag

2/$5 sale price (pre-Pref. Card price = 2/$9.90, or $4.95 each)
Betty Crocker fruit snacks (selected varieties)
Pillsbury Simply Cookies, Ready to Bake Cookies, Chub Cookie Dough, or Pie Crust (selected varieties)
Yoplait Gogurt, Kids Yogurt, Yo-Plus, or Fiber One Yogurt, 4-8 pk. (selected varieties)
General Mills or Nature Valley Cereal Bars (selected varieties)

3/$5 sale price (pre-Pref. Card price = 3/$8.90)
Progresso High Fiber Soup (19 oz.), Progresso Microwave Soup (15.25 oz.), Progresso Rich & Hearty Soup (18.5-19 oz.), Progresso Traditional Soup (18.5-19 oz.)

3/$5 sale price (pre-Pref. Card price = 3/$9.50)
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Grands!, or Cinnamon Rolls


As a general rule, my strategy when doing these deals at Jewel is to do multiple transactions, starting with the one that requires paying the least amount out of pocket but still yields the OYNO coupon. Then, in subsequent transactions (usually over the course of several days), I buy $25 worth (based on pre-Preferred Card prices) and use my OYNO coupon (s) to pay for it. If I have done my math right, I usually pay less than a dollar out of pocket after using my OYNO coupons. Then, each transaction yields new OYNO coupons, which I can use on your next transaction. If you want to really stock up and get the most for your money, you can keep on "rolling" your OYNO coupons into the same deal over and over again, until you have sufficiently stocked up on what you need. If you combine this sale with other manufacturer coupons, you can also often create overage, which I use to buy meat and other things that are harder to get good deals on. The last time Jewel had a similar deal, I got a few hundred dollars worth of groceries for a total of less than $20 out of pocket, so these deals can definitely help with your grocery budget! I have outlined a couple scenarios below that I thought might be helpful.

Buy 5 General Mills cereals, including at least 2 Fiber One and 1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch @ $2 sale price/$4.95 shelf price
Buy 1 can Green Giant vegetables @ $.75 sale price/$1.25 shelf price
Use (2) $.75/1 Fiber One printable coupons, (1) $1/2 General Mills cereals printable coupon, and (1) $.55/1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch printable coupon
Total before Preferred Card (shelf prices) = $26
Total after Preferred Card (sale prices) = $10.75
Total after coupons = $7.70
Get back $10 OYNO coupon, for a profit of $2.30!

Buy 5 Pillsbury Simply Cookies @ $2.50 sale price/$4.95 shelf price
Buy 1 can Green Giant vegetables @ $.75 sale price/$1.25 shelf price
Use (5) $1/1 Pillsbury Simply Cookies coupons from 9/13 insert
Total before Preferred Card (shelf prices) = $26
Total after Preferred Card (sale prices) = $13.25
Total after coupons = $8.25
Get back $10 and $3 OYNO coupons, for a profit of $4.75!
Note: There are also $1/2 printable coupons for cookie dough, if you don't have enough of the insert ones

Buy 5 Fiber One or Yo-Plus yogurts @ $2.50 sale price/$4.95 shelf price
Buy 1 can Green Giant vegetables @ $.75 sale price/$1.25 shelf price
Use (5) $1/1 coupons from 9/13 or 10/4 inserts or $1/1 printable coupons from Coupons.com or here
Total before Preferred Card (shelf prices) = $26
Total after Preferred Card (sale prices) = $13.25
Total after coupons = $8.25
Get back $10 OYNO coupon, for a profit of $1.75!

Another thing to watch out for: the pre-Preferred Card price is not always the same as the shelf price that is marked on the shelf above the sale sticker. Sometimes it is listed in very small print, but not always. If it's not listed anywhere, you can find a price scanner at your store (my store has them in the liquor and frozen food sections); the scanner will typically show 3 prices for an item: the regular price, sale price, and preferred price. The amount that counts toward this deal is the middle one, what the scanner calls the "sale price."


Other participating products include:

Betty Crocker cookie pouches @ 3/$5 (pre-Pref. Card price?)
Betty Crocker Warm Delights and Warm Delights Minis @ 3/$5 (pre-Pref. Card price?)
Totino's Pizza Rolls @ $3.49 (pre-Pref. Card price = $3.99)
Pillsbury Savorings @ $3.49 (pre-Pref. Card price = $4.49)
Betty Crocker Traditional Brownie Mix @ $10 (pre-Pref. Card price?)
Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes @ $1.67 (pre-Pref. Card price?)
Green Giant Boil in Bag Veggies @ $1.99 (pre-Pref. Card price = $2.29)
Green Giant Vegetables @ 4/$3 (pre-Pref. Card price = 4/$5)
Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers (no sauce) @ $2.19 (pre-Pref. Card price = $2.40)
Cascadian Farm All Natural Cereals (selected varieties) @ $3.99 (pre-Pref. Card price = $4.99)

$.20 Ronzoni Pasta at Jewel!

Through Wednesday, Jewel is running a promotion to get $3 off your order instantly when you buy $10 worth of participating products. One of the items is Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta, which is on sale for $1/box. There are printable coupons for $1 off 2 at both Coupons.com (mine was on pg. 3 of the coupons) and here. I was able to print 2 coupons from each site by hitting the back button. After coupons and store promotion, each box of pasta is $.20 each! Here's the math for a sample scenario:

Buy 10 boxes of Ronzoni @ $1 = $10
Use (5) $1/2 coupons = -$5
Minus $3 instant savings
Final cost = $2 for 10 boxes, or $.20 each!

That is a great deal, especially for all-natural whole grain pasta! But, to make this deal even better, there is also a Upromise coupon for $1 off 2 boxes of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest, making the final cost $1 for 10 boxes, or $.10 each! The Upromise coupon will not come off at the register, but the amount will be added to your Upromise account if your Jewel card is registered with them. If you don't have a Upromise account yet, you can go here to get started. As I mentioned in my posts here and here, money earned through Upromise can be used to either save for college or pay existing college loans.

You may remember that in previous Jewel posts, I wrote that the deals that generate coupons for money off your next order work off the price before you scan your preferred card. I wanted to point out that this is not the case with the instant savings promotions like this one. These kinds of promotions are based on the sale price advertised in the ad; you will see the discount come off at the register after you scan the required dollar amount.

Check out what's free at Menard's this week!

All-Purpose Paint Brushes (3" trim brush or 2" angle sash brush) @ $4 - $4 mail-in rebate = FREE after rebate
Limit 4 brushes per household

16' Tool Shop chrome tape measure @ $2 - $2 mail-in rebate = FREE after rebate
Limit 3 per household

Turtle Wax Cotton Shop Towels 12 Pack, Cleaning Cloth 16" x 12", or Chenille Wash Pad @ $2 - $2 mail-in rebate = FREE after rebate
Limit 2 per household

ProWash Detergent or Dry Cleaner's Secret @ $5 - $5 mail-in rebate = FREE after rebate
Limit 2 per household

Oven Mate Drip Sheet @ $3.99 - $3 mail-in rebate = $.99 after rebate
Limit 2 per household

100-ct. clear mini light set @ $1.97 - $1 mail-in rebate = $.97 after rebate
Limit 5 per household

Dash Duster @ $3.99 - $3 mail-in rebate = $.99 after rebate
Limit 3 per household


There are some additional things to be aware of concerning Menards rebates. For items that are simply free after rebate, you are required to also purchase $10 of products that are not free after rebate. However, you should be able to count items that have rebates but are not free toward that $10. If you don't want or need anything else, you could also get a $10 gift card to meet that purchase requirement. Most (maybe all?) Menards also accept competitor coupons, so if you have a coupon for money off your next order at another hardware store such as Home Depot or Lowe's, you could use that to get an even better deal.

Unless otherwise noted, all rebates are submitted directly to Menards, not to each individual manufacturer, so you can submit everything all at once. Also, the rebate will come in the form of a merchandise check, which is good only at Menard's. However, you can "roll" your Menards gift checks, meaning that you can use your merchandise check from one week to purchase the items for another week. By doing this, you will minimize your out-of-pocket expenses.

Free Universal Remote at Staples!

This week at Staples, the GE 4-device universal remote is free after rebate! It is priced at $9.99 after the instant savings discount, and it has a $10 Easy Rebate. This could make a good stocking stuffer for someone at Christmas!

According to their ad, these rebates are both done through their Easy Rebate program. If you've never done a Staples rebate before, their "easy rebates" really are, well, easy. The rebate forms will print at the end of your transaction so you can mail it in, or you can submit it online here. Personally, I prefer to do the online submission because it's easy and I know I won't lose anything before mailing it in.

Coupon Highlights - Week of 10/11/09

There are some good coupons in this week's newspaper inserts, in case you're wondering if they're worth buying or not! These are some that I think might come in handy at some point:

Ricola Natural Mixed Berry with Vitamin C supplement drops, B1G1 - These could potentially be a good deal at Walgreens (probably paired with an in-ad coupon) or at Kmart during super doubles.

Revlon Color Cosmetic Product, $1/1 - Sales and ECB offers for Revlon products cycle around fairly often at CVS, so these coupons could get you some free or very cheap make-up.

Playtex tampons, $1/1 - These sometimes go on sale for free to $.99 after ECB at CVS, so they would be free or better after coupons.

Campbell's soup/gravy coupons, various products and values - Fall and winter is the time for good soup deals, which could be even better with coupons.

Schick Disposable Razor, $2/1 - Schick 2-packs are $.99 in the CVS travel section. Use this coupon, and get them for free! Note: The register will prompt the cashier to adjust the coupon down to the total value of the products sold, so to get the most out of your money, you should buy 2.

Dentek floss, $1/1 - Dentek roll floss is still free after Register Rewards (buy 1 @ $2 RR, get $2 RR) as part of the monthly deal. Use this coupon and make a $1 profit!

Ecotrin aspirin, $2/1 - Walgreens sometimes has Register Reward deals on Ecotrin, which could be free or better after the coupon.

Select GlaxoSmithKline products, $10/3 and $7/2 - This coupon includes Ecotrin. See above note on Ecotrin.

Thai Kitchen, $.50/1 - Thai Kitchen noodle packets are $.99 at Super Kmart, so they are free after coupon there if Kmart is doubling coupons.