Oh, the possibilities!

You may hear of some amazing deals and wonder how people actually USE the things they buy? I wanted to show you how I've been using one item that was a real steal.

I recently scored a bunch of Mott's applesauce cups for 10 cents each! That's right, 10 for $1. I grabbed about 100, so cheap! I got these at a little store in Ogden, called "Carl's Super Saver." You may have seen it, but never dared to go in! At least that's how it was for me until I heard that they have some smokin' hot deals! Carl's is one of those store that buys close-outs and "scratch and dent" items.

I decided to get my courage up and try Carl's out one day. When I discovered the applesauce cups I was so glad that I did! The cups must have been discounted because they are sold individually, and not in their original packaging. They don't expire until July. (That is one thing that you do have to look out for at discount stores like Carl's, the expiration dates.)

So, I use these little cups for my daughter's "home lunches":

Along with the 35 cent Lunchables and 8 cent juice box, this lunch cost 53 cents! (Getting a Lunchables is an extra treat for them, they usually have ham or peanut butter sandwiches on homemade bread.)

I realize that there are 2 apple products here. To mix it up, I could have substituted a Juicy Juice juice box from Target. Target recently had both a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon for their 8 packs of Juicy Juice. Each coupon was $1/2 8 packs. I used both coupons and got $2/2 packs along with the sale price of $2.25 and got 8 packs for $1.25 each! So, subbing the Juicy Juice of another flavor (Berry or grape for instance)- those were only 16 cents for each juice box! (We made the switch to juice boxes when our school district's milk price for one milk at lunch each day went up to 50 cents! CHOKE! I just couldn't pay that much for one milk.)

I was also recently asked to be in charge of a breakfast for about 45 kids and 15 adults. Guess what we're having?


More applesauce! Along with pancakes, syrup, jam and juice. These Lehi Roller Mills whole wheat pancake mixes were on sale for $1 each. Just add water! The syrup and jam I picked up at Albertson's awhile ago when they were on sale and with coupons, and the juice is a fruit juice mix in a #10 can from the LDS food cannery.

So, all together the breakfast cost breakdown is this:

60 applesauce cups= $6.00
6 boxes of pancake mix= $6.00
2 Log Cabin syrups= $3.10
1 Welch's squeezable jam= $1.25
1 #10 dry fruit drink mix= $6.60

Breakfast for 60? Grand total is $22.95!

I need to add on another success story for Family Fresh Foods here. Reader, Autumn sent this picture along with a message:

"I live about 35 minutes from FFF but had to make a trip in to Ogden to the Dentist. I decided to prep my shopping list and see what I could do. Not pictured here is 2 more rolls of sausage and a loaf of bread (which came free that day with a $10 purchase). My total after coupons was $22. Thank you so much for the heads up on this grocery store, I never knew it existed. If every week brings this magnitude of deals, it will be worth it to include this in my weekend errands in Ogden. BTW, I too was introduced to couponing through Grocery Smarts and it happened right about the time my husband was layed off. It has changed my family's life forever. I now spend less on groceries than ever before and have almost a year supply stockpiled in my basement in only 8 months time (this is on top of the groceries we consume daily). I have shared everything I've learned with everyone I know, and have an appreciation for those of you who spend the time blogging the deals I would otherwise not know about.Thank you, Autumn"
She later sent another message saying she left out of the picture 20 cans of Progresso Soup. That is included in the $22 she spent! Wow, Autumn, you are a savvy shopper!

I hope you all will continue to send in your stories and the deals you find, so we can share the joy! Please include your stories of how you are using your deals in real life situations. Send to: savvysistershops@live.com