This October marks our fifth Halloween living in a family neighborhood, and therefore our fifth season of distributing candy to roaming mobs of masked trick-or-treaters. So I’ve had plenty of chances to hone my candy hand-out strategy:

1. Don’t offer a choice. Stock up on one kind or it gets too complicated.
2. Hand it out. Everyone gets approximately the same amount and no one gets greedy.
3. Get the good stuff. Like Snickers. None of that off-brand nonsense.
4. Overestimate. I buy more than I need. Someone will eat it…

This week, Ukrop’s, Rite Aid, and Walgreens have the best sale prices on bags of snack size/fun size candy: $2 a bag. (Ukrop’s is with Savings Spot coupon, limit 6) There was a manufacturer’s coupon in the 10-11 Red Plum for $1 off 2 Mars fun size bags, and last Sunday’s Smart Source insert contained a “Buy 3, get 1 free” coupon for Hershey’s, Reese’s, or Kit Kat snack size bags.

Expect to see similar prices next week. If there’s a sale price under $2, I’ll make sure to mention it!

Meat Top Pick

Pick up packages of Tyson sliced bacon for half-price at Kroger.

Veggie Top Pick

Avocados for $1 apiece at Kroger and Whole Foods. Technically, they are fruit.

Fruit Top Pick

At Kroger, Bartlett pears cost $1/lb.

Dairy Top Pick

Kroger shredded or bar cheese $1.25 each this week.

Staples Top Pick

Swanson broth is on sale for $.50/can at Ukrop’s. The 9-27 Smartsource insert had a coupon for $1 off 5.

Snacks & Sweets Top Pick

Kroger is running a great promo on Post cereal, Nature Valley Granola Bars, and Fiber One Granola Bars: Get them for $1.50 a box when you buy 4 in a single transaction.
To sweeten the deal use

• Manufacturer’s coupons for Nature Valley granola bars or nut clusters from 10-4 and 9-13 Smart Source inserts
• E-Coupons for Nature Valley Nut Clusters and Nature Valley Granola bars available at Shortcuts and Cellfire
• Print $.40 off Nature Valley coupons from SmartSource.com and CoolSavings (limit 2 prints at each site)
• Printable coupon $2 off Honey Bunches of Oats
• Catalina deal for Honey Bunches of Oats: You’ll also receive a checkout coupon for $2 off your next Kroger purchase when you buy 2 boxes (or a $3 coupon with 3 boxes or a $4 coupon with 4).

Beverage Top Pick

Maxwell House coffee bags 11-11.5oz are $2 at Ukrop’s. Coupons.com has a printable for $1 off 2 packages of Maxwell House.

Household Top Pick

At Ukrop’s, receive $5 off your order when you purchase 4 participating P&G products. Pampers diaper jumbo packs are included, on sale for $8.99. Deduct the average savings of $1.25 ea when buying 4 to bring the cost down to $7.74. Plus use manufacturer’s coupons for more savings.

Other participating items include Dawn ($2.69), Iams Cat Food ($6.99), Iams Dog Food ($16.99), and Pantene ($3.99) (All prices before additional promotion savings, combine with coupons from 10-11 or 9-27 Proctor & Gamble coupon inserts).

Find more deals by accessing the stores’ weekly ads online:

• Prices valid 10/18-10/24: Kroger, Ukrop’s, Target, Walgreen’s, CVS
• Prices valid 10/21-10/27: Tom Leonard’s, Whole Foods, Fresh Market

Check out more of Alison’s stellar cost-cutting tricks and tips over at Richmond Bargains or follow her on Twitter. Your wallet is sure to thank you.

Check out more of Alison's stellar cost-cutting tricks and tips over at Richmond Bargains or follow her on Twitter. Your wallet is sure to thank you.

One Response to “RVA Deals”

1. 1. Alison says:

   A few notes from my Kroger shopping trip yesterday:

   The Bartlett pears were marked and advertised $1/lb, but rang up $.69 a pound!

   On the Post deal, I forgot to mention the limit is 2 $4 discounts (so 8 items) per transaction. Chex Mix & Fiber One bars are also included, e-coupons & manufacturer coupons are available for those as well. And for the Honey Bunches of Oats Catalina, it seems like you have to buy 3 boxes instead of 2 to get a $2 checkout coupon.

   I posted a pic of my haul on the blog!

   on October 21st, 2009 at 10:02 am