Saving and Giving has moved to savingandgiving.net! I hope that you'll all join me over at Saving & Giving's new home. I'm planning some fun giveaways to kick things off. I'm still working on the site, and I'd love to hear your input. Let me know which features you want me to keep. You can email me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. If you're currently an email subscriber, you shouldn't see any change in your daily email newsletter. I switched the feed over so that you should continue to receive your daily updates.

Friday, August 21, 2009

$30 Kroger Gift Card Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed.

I posted a few days ago about several bloggers who were giving away $30 Kroger gift cards. Now it's my turn! The generous people at General Mills and PepsiCo., in partnership with My Blog Spark, sent me a $30 Kroger gift card. The goal was to see how much I could save using the card in conjunction with the Kroger Mega Savings Event. We headed to Kroger this morning, and here's what we ended up with.

Merchandise Value: $142.15
Mega Savings Event Savings: -$20.00
eCoupon Savings: -$4.70
Coupons (Tripled this weekend): -$62.25
Gift Card from General Mills/PepsiCo./My Blog Spark: -$30.00

Out-of-Pocket Total: $23.23 plus tax
* I also got a catalina for $2.50 off my next order!

I had done a fairly large stock-up trip last week, so I only need a few items for the coming week's menu. The 5 packs of baby wipes (final price, $.77 each!) are for my brother and sister-in-law, and the Glucerna cereal is for my dad. We were headed a couple of other places after Kroger, so I didn't pick up this week's dairy items on this trip. But I wanted to go today to take advantage of my store's triple coupon weekend! I wasn't alone either. I saw more people with coupon boxes and envelopes this time than I ever have before!

The Mega Savings event is amazing this time! My husband had just commented that we were completely out of granola bars, so those were high on my priority list. My daughter has fallen in love with Sobe Lifewater, so those were a must-have too. There were SO many participating brands!

Participating brands include: AMP Energy, Aquafina, Betty Crocker Baking Mixes, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Cascadian Farms Cereals and Bars, Cap'n Crunch, Cheerios, Cheetos, Chex Mix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Dole Juices and Juice Drinks, Fiber One, Fritos, Gatorade, Golden Grahams, Green Giant, Hamburger Helper, Life , Lipton Tea, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Pepsi family of 2 Liters, Pillsbury, Progresso, Propel, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy Bars, Starbucks, Sobe Life Water, Totino's, Trix, Tropicana, Yoplait and MORE!

My favorite deals pictured above are these:

Nature Valley or Fiber One Granola Bars - $2.99 each
- $.50 Mega Event Savings
- $.40 off printable coupons from HERE (tripled here this weekend)
Final Price: $1.29 each

Cascadian Farms Granola Bars - $2.99 each
- $.50 Mega Event Savings
- $1.00 off printable coupons from HERE
Final Price: $1.49 each

Sobe Lifewater - $1.19 each
- $.50 Mega Event Savings
- Buy 1 - Get 1 FREE printable coupon HERE
Final Price: $.10 each

Betty Crocker Warm Delights - $2.15 each
- $.50 Mega Event Savings
- $.50 off printable coupons from HERE (tripled here this weekend)
Final Price: $.15 each

Betty Crocker Cookies - $2.29 each
- $.50 Mega Event Savings
- $.40 off printable coupons from HERE (tripled here this weekend)
Final Price: $.59 each

I was also interested in the General Mills cereals, but we have a nice stockpile of cereal and not much room to store any more. (Have I mentioned that I don't have closets in this house? Nope, not a one!)

You really could come up with many combinations of foods for quick breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. Here are a few ideas:

  • Breakfast: Cheerios, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Tropicana Orange Juice and Yoplait

  • Lunch: Nature Valley Granola Bars, Cheetos, Fritos, Progresso Soup, and Gatorade

  • Anytime: Betty Crocker Baking Mixes, Tostito's Chips & Salsa, Totino's Hot Snacks, Pepsi 2 Liters

  • Dinner: Hamburger Helper, Green Giant, Pillsbury, and Lipton Ready-To-Drink Tea

Now on to the giveaway....



You could win a $30 Kroger gift card courtesy of General Mills and PepsiCo., in partnership with My Blog Spark. There are five ways to enter:

  • Leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about your local Kroger store. Be sure to leave your email address or link to your Blogger profile (if it's public) so that I can contact you if you win.

  • Become a follower of this blog. You can follow by adding this site to your Google Reading list, or you can click the Follow button on the right side of this page. Once you sign up, leave a comment alerting me that you are following. Already a follower? Just leave me a comment letting me know.

  • Subscribe to this blog's daily email update. This gets you a single daily update email at the end of each day. If there are any posts at all, you get one email with all of them. If there aren't any posts, then you don't get an email. I promise to never give your email address to ANYONE else, and I don't email my list anything but the daily updates. If you already subscribe, leave a comment letting me know. If you sign up to subscribe, leave a comment letting me know.

  • Post this giveaway on your blog. If you do a post, leave a link directly to the post in the comments section here.

  • Place my button on your blog site. The code is directly below the button on the left side of this page. If you do this, leave a comment letting me know. Include your blog site address so that I can check it out! If you already have my button on your blog, leave me a link. I'll stop by to say hello.

If you're entering more than once, please leave separate comments letting me know what you did. If you do four different things to enter but only leave one comment, you only end up with one entry. Instead, leave a comment for each method of entry that you use.

The winner will be chosen randomly on Monday, August 24 at 9:00 p.m. EST. Good luck!

107 comments:

Chrys said...

My favorite thing about my local Kroger is the small kid shopping carts. My son is 2 1/2 and LOVES to shop and cook, so I always take him with me to Kroger. If I am doing a small trip, everything fits in his cart. If I am doing a larger trip, we both get a cart and he puts the items he can reach into his cart. We have so much fun!! (and then he gets a sticker @ the register that says "I've been Krogering today")

Chrys said...

I am a follower!

chrys.stribling@gmail.com

Maggie- maggiebugjuice@aol.com said...

Ok favorite thing about Kroger- since they do double, triple coupons I feel they actually want us to save money!!
Thanks!
Maggie

Maggie- maggiebugjuice@aol.com said...

I am a happy subscriber!
Maggie

Anonymous said...

I just became a follower

Happy2bfrugal(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

We have Fred Meyer in Washington. I wish they did the double and triple coupons like their sister store Kroger. Fred Meyers are clean and well organized.

Happy2bfrugal(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I love my Kroger because it's HUGE!!
Michelle
couponfreak(@)ymail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I am a follower
Michelle
couponfreak(@)ymail(dot)

Anonymous said...

I am a subscriber
Michelle
couponfreak(@)ymail(dot)com

Michelle said...

I am a follower
Michelle
couponfreak(@)ymail(dot)com

Nancy said...

My favorite thing about Kroger is their excellent promotions!

Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

Nancy said...

I follow.

Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

Nancy said...

I am an e-mail subscriber.

Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

Blakely said...

My kroger has "car carts" I can seatblet my active two year old in. They also have great prices on milk and pull ups. And so far I have not had any problems using coupons - just wish my Kroger had tripled this weekend.

Anonymous said...

My favorite thing about my Kroger is the employees. Great group of people who are always willing to help me find items on my list or will special order the item for me if necessary.

Kathy A
kat1890@hotmail.com

Gabrielle said...

I'm already a follower.

Gabrielle said...

The thing that I love about our Kroger is the people who work there--they are helpful, kind, and competent!

darbie said...

I love Kroger, even though mine doesn't double coupons :(

Amanda C. said...

I love shopping at my Kroger. They are very coupon friendly and I get really good deals there.

Amanda
triplenickle05@aol.com

Angie said...

My favorite thing about Kroger is double coupons. After that I like the 4.99 Roasted chickens, and the markdown section.
angieshaler (at) yahoo (dot) com

Unknown said...

I am a follower.

tfulton0513@yahoo.com

Kristin K. said...

My favorite thing about my Kroger is the clearance finds/manager specials, especially on meat and bread!
cricketkoniski@comcast.net

Kristin K. said...

I am a follower!
cricketkoniski@comcast.net

Kristin K. said...

I am also subscribed!
cricketkoniski@comcast.net

Rachel said...

Thanks for offering this contest. Hope we win.

kroger seems to have good prices, just wish there was one closer to us

Cha Ching Queen
www.chachingqueen.com

Troy @ I Refuse to Recede said...

First off it is only 2 minutes from my house and you can load up coupons onto your Kroger card and not have to deal with cutting them out.

jthuffaker@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I love that they double coupons, and how you can earn points to get lower gas prices.

couponcupcake@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I am an email subscriber!

couponcupcake@gmail.com

story girl said...

I'm following!

Anonymous said...

The favorite things about my Krogers is alot of different things
1. 2 mins from my house !
2. Know the store mgr by name as well as he knows our names
3. know where everything is !!

Anonymous said...

I am a follower

lhdh@aol.com
Denise Higgins

Anonymous said...

I subscribe to your e-mail

Denise Higgins
lhdh@aol.com

Kriket said...

my fave thing about kroger is that if you plan carefully, you can get sooo much or so little!

Kriket said...

i follow you

Kriket said...

i posted your button on my blog http://doitonless.blogspot.com/

Kriket said...

i linked to you givaway http://doitonless.blogspot.com/

Kriket said...

i signed up for you email feed! thanks for offering this giveaway, my 4 month old is starting to get interested in solids! i feel like this is the beginning of the end for my grocery budget! lol

Heather said...

I love the produce at Kroger.

Tia said...

My kroger has the best manager specials. If you go late in the day, esp. after 6ish, you can get the meat for almost half off. I just put it in my freezer and stock up!

SPENCER said...

Our Kroger is close enough to walk to if I want. But my favorite thing is the friendly workers in our store.

Unknown said...

My favorite thing is the mega deals and clearance finds.

Amanda Y. said...

I love my Kroger because they are fair, really good with customer service, and the store is almost always well-stocked! They double coupons with their mostly low prices and they're right near my work on the way home! Love my Kroger! Would love the gift card to stretch our tight grocery budget!
ayyogurt at yahoo.com

Amanda Y. said...

I'm a subscriber! I'd love the gift card :-) ayyogurt at yahoo dot com

Amy L said...

I like many things about Kroger. Kroger brands save me money and are good quality, they always have some things on sale that I want or need, and the staff are helpful and friendly.

Sticklings said...

I love the great prices for meat and the double coupons!

Anonymous said...

I love Kroger--it is my favorite grocery store ever!! I love the Manager Specials, double coupons, and great sales like the Mega Event!!! I would be so excited to win this!
Elizabeth
ellenbeth1981 at yahoo dot com

Laura said...

My favorite things about my Kroger store are the double coupons and Mega Sales.
tcgirl11(at)yahoo(dot)com

Laura said...

I follow your blog. Laura - tcgirl11(at)yahoo(dot)com

Laura said...

I subscribe!
tcgirl11(at)yahoo(dot)com

Laura said...

I love my Kroger because it's so clean, and because the cashiers never give me dirty looks when I approach with my huge stack of coupons! :-D
Thanks for the great giveaway!
lauragirl_84 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Unknown said...

I love my favorite cashier! She never hassles me about my pile of coupons and she is excited when I get a great deal.
THanks for the chance to win!
proudyaya04 {at} yahoo {dot} com

Linda Shifflett said...

I love my Kroger because they double coupons and they always have the freshest meats and produce. Some of their sales are over the charts.
lindashifflett@yahoo.com

Linda Shifflett said...

I just subscribed by email.
lindashifflett@yahoo.com

Ginny said...

My favorite thing about my local Kroger is they sell these great Greek Pita's that my kids eat with chicken. Haven't been able to find another grocery store that will sell them.

Ginny said...

Following

Frugal Femina said...

I love that the produce is always fresh.

FrugalFemina @gmail .com

Anonymous said...

I love the fact that they double coupons. I was just there yesterday stocking up on some of the deals. Employees are helpful and friendly as well.
dthorne22(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I love that my Kroger store doubles coupons, has great prices on meat and produce and is close to my house.
steveandlaurie(at)att(dot).net

Lori said...

Favorite things about Kroger:

1. Double and Triple Coupons
2. Mega Sale Events
3. Tortillas made in store. (YUM!)
4. Earning savings on gas.

Debbie said...

My favorite thing about my Kroger store are the great prices you find in the store. Not just the advertised ones in the ad, but just walking around the store you'll see stickers saying it's a closeout price, and then if you use coupons on top of that, you can get a lot of products for not much money. It's great!

Debbie: rebbiedeed(at)hotmail(dot)com

Debbie said...

I now follow your blog.

Debbie: rebbiedeed(at)hotmail(dot)com

Dolphin Girl said...

I like that it is so close and that they have great markdowns!

Anonymous said...

I am now following your blog, love it!!

tresamnky@yahoo.com

Theresa

Kathy Rambousek said...

Our store truely is a one-stop shopping place. I can get everything I want in one shopping trip. I also like the customer service and prices.

Kathy Rambousek said...

I'm a new follower

Kathy Rambousek said...

I just subscribed

Anonymous said...

I like Kroger because they have double coupons and are close by, plus they have great deals!

mthorne53(at)gmail(dot)com

alexis said...

My favorite thing at my Korger are the great Manager mark-downs especially on meat. Saves us a ton of money!

lexbyam at gmail dot com

ThriftyandProudofIt said...

Kroger is great to respond to the up-and-coming trends. Our local Kroger's is remodeling the store and introducing new foods.

Thriftyandproudofit.blogspot.com

Danielle said...

They just built a new Kroger here which is really big with lots of room and has tons of new selections and variety.
drellis500(At)gmail.com

MimiDebbie said...

The associates are so friendly at my local store. They know me and are curious to see how much I am going to save. If I buy several non coupon items they say I am slipping...LOL. Working on my blog...
mimisavesyoumoney.com

Amanda said...

My favorite thing is that they seem to always have several things on clearance! And I also love the amazing sales they have!

mandalyn927@yahoo.com

Leah said...

My favorite thing about Kroger is that they double and triple coupons here all the time!! That has helped me save sooo much money!!

leahvopitz@yahoo.com

Lisa with Saving Money...Living Better said...

I love that my Kroger triples coupons up to $.50 on a regular basis!

Lisa with Saving Money...Living Better said...

I have your button! Thanks for the great giveaway!

Anonymous said...

My favorite thing about my local store is its great prices & sales combined with its convenient location.

Pat said...

My favorite thing about Kroger is that they double coupons.
pkildow at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I am a subscriber!
Pam B.
plboyd@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

I love Krogers, especially when they do these Mega Events. I also like it when I find a Manager markdown special, it's like finding treasure!!
Pam
plboyd@hotmail.com

Leandrea at Coupons Are Great said...

My favorite thing about Kroger is the free balloons they give kids. Those balloons make my shopping trips soooo much easier! leandrea (at) gmail (dot) com

Ginaw said...

I just subscribed to your e-mail. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love the Mega Events @ Krogers!

paulahume@insightbb.com

Liliana said...

My favorite thing is the mark-downs and the right price scan guarantee.

martha.deals@gmail.com

Jinxy and Me said...

I don't have a local Kroger, but I like to shop there on vacation. I'm kind of a dork in that I always like to check out the local grocery stores when we vacation and I always bring along my coupons!

Jo said...

I follow this blog faithfully!
jschwartz805@yahoo.com

Jo said...

My favorite things about Krogers is probably the large variety of products available!
jschwartz805@yahoo.com

Jo said...

I'm pretty sure I get daily updates -- at least I will now.
jschwartz805@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I love the fact that there are no limits on the number of coupons you can use. My Krogers has very nice personnel too, always polite and helpful.
Victoria
chian97@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I subscribe to your feed.

Victoria
chian97@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I get your daily email.

Victoria
chian97@yahoo.com

McCurdysZoo said...

My Kroger just renovated to a Fresh Fare Kroger... Awesome!

Amber H said...

I am a new subscriber!!

Candra said...

I love my Kroger cashiers. They never make me feel like a pest for bringing them all my coupons. They are always friendly and helpful and get excited over the good deals with me.

candrac{at}gmail{dot}com

Amie taylor-77@live.com said...

I love that they double and the mega event!!!

Amie taylor-77@live.com said...

I also subscribe

Amie taylor-77@live.com said...

I am also a follower

Sarah said...

My favorite thing about my local store is the double coupons. I also love sales like this one!

Anonymous said...

Double coupons and manager's specials! Saving money!

christymail at go dot com

Anonymous said...

I'm a subscriber!

christymail at go dot com

Out in Them Sticks said...

I love that kroger doubles coupons! That makes for some great deals!

merritt_1976 at hotmail dot com

Out in Them Sticks said...

I am a subscriber

merritt_1976 at hotmail dot com

Angela said...

I love Krogering, who doesn't?
tlapcottrell@zoomtown.com

Angela said...

I am a new follower! Glad I found you!
tlapcottrell@zoomtown.com

Dina said...

I love kroger because of them doubling and tripling coupons!

tredinadavis@yahoo.com

Dina said...

I am a subscriber!

tredinadavis@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I love my Krogers because they are coupon friendly and most staff are overall very helpful
nyc_girl_90210@yahoo.com

Monica said...

I'm a Follower!! YAY!!! I just started using coupons about a month ago. I had no idea how much money you could save. I found your blog and just wanted to say THANK YOU!! You are such an inspiration to me!!

mglover@yahoo.com
http://neatrepeats.blogspot.com