Kroger Mega Event Matchups
I know Julie will be along soon with her Kroger picks, but I’m just so darned excited about this sale that I’m going to do my own too!
First a few details for those of you who are new to Mega Sales.
- Check the ad and in-store for mega sale items. Mega sale items will have a special yellow tag labeling them. If they do not have the mega sale tag, do not assume they are part of the sale. Ask the store. But Kroger is generally very good about having them marked.
- There will be items in-store that will be a part of the sale that are not in the ad. All part of the fun! So keep your eyes peeled!
- This is a mix-and-match sale. You do not need to buy 10 of any one item. You can buy 3 of x, 4 of y and 3 of z!
- There WILL be cashiers who do not know why you did not get full credit–be ready for them to say “You must get 10 of the same item” or “You must get 10 of the same price range.” Neither have EVER been true in the past, and the ad does not indicate that now.
- Mega sale items will show up on your receipt with a + next to the item. This makes it easy to count later if you find you did not get a discount you were expecting.
- ALWAYS check your receipt before leaving–it will save you headaches later.
- Plan on these trips taking longer–they just do. There’s a LOT of math involved! That doesn’t mean its hard–it just means to take your time, have a pen and paper and calculator handy. (I love my iphone for this.)
- The $5 off is instantaneous–it comes off the same order. No catalinas or gift cards to deal with.
- According to reports, its UNLIMITED $5 rewards. Typically its only 3 per transaction.
- Remember that they will NOT give you money back if your balance goes below $0!
- Now, for my favorite trick with these sales, and the reason why I’m excited about THIS one! If you’re buying a Moneymaker, balance it with an item that either has an out of pocket cost, or one that you normally cannot get on discount. For example, I will get 10 VitaminWaters for a $5 Moneymaker–but since they will not give you money back I will pick up $5 in meat or produce, milk or special treats.
I will ask one thing, and I’ll put it in bold to emphasize the importance of this request:
PLEASE DO NOT CLEAR SHELVES!!
I know I mention getting 20 Oatmeals and 50 packages of toilet paper. But you must understand that I don’t get all of those at once. These sales run for two weeks–so there is no need to rush and get it all at once. This is a key rule to stockpiling–be gracious to the stores and other customers. I have a good description of coupon etiquette (yes there is such a thing!) and the basic Couponer’s Golden Rule in my Dealbreakers at the top of the page. If you haven’t read it before, or haven’t read it in a long time, now would be a good time. We’ll wait for ya! …………… Okay, now that you’re familiar with the why of this, let me let you in on a little secret–if you want large orders, Kroger will often let you special order them! That’s right, you can special order large quantities from the front desk. You don’t need to give them a reason, or ask any questions. (Truly, the less you say the better off you are–because you can confuse them with this and get a wrong answer when they don’t understand you. But special ordering is a part of their policy at most stores. It will be at the manager’s discretion.) Simply go to the front desk and tell them you want to special order X. They will write down your order, tell you when to expect it (about 2-3 days) and send you on your way. You do NOT pay till your order arrives. At that point you come to the front desk, tell them you have a special order waiting, they will either bring it out or tell you where it is, and you go to the regular checkout with it. Checkout proceeds as usual. There are no issues with using coupons, as you checkout as usual. Why is this so beneficial? You get your products, Kroger gets your business, and the regular customers get their products off the shelves. Shelves aren’t cleared. Its a beautiful thing!
Now, just to be clear, “Clearing Shelves” does not mean that there are 5 left and you take all 5. Its being considerate and remembering that there are others who want the sale as well. If we remember that sales come again, and that every week something else will be free or deeply discounted, we’ll be okay. There is NO need to panic and crash down because you only got 10 of the Quaker Chewy Granola bars. There will be another sale soon. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my nearly three years of doing this, its that there is ALWAYS ANOTHER SALE. Sales this big only come around a few times a year…but next week, there will be another sale. May not be as good or as big as this one, but there will be another one. So when considering how many to take off the shelf, remember that. I limit myself to 10 of an item at a time unless the deal or coupon requires me to buy more. (The buy 10 get 5 free Powerade coupon comes to mind. Or the Meijer. buy 10 get the 11th free sale.)
I will add one more comment to this, from my own personal experience. Its easy to get caught up in the excitement. I have 45 boxes of General Mills cereal to prove this from last years Mega sale. (well, I had. I’ve been eating through them.) I didn’t need 45 boxes. At the time I didn’t have the master shopping list, so I overestimated how much I would use. Use the tools from the class to know how much you’ll actually use. If you’ve been to one of my classes or parties, you’ve heard this before. But when you’re new, its easy to get really excited and spend 5 days a week in the store. Especially at sales like this! But remember your time is just as valuable as your money! Get what you need, and leave the rest. Another sale always comes around–this has gone on for decades and will continue to go on. And while you’re at it, consider getting a few for the donation box. If the granola bars are only costing you .33, you can get a few for under $1. For under $5 at this sale you could get 3 to 4 times what your normal $5 donation would buy. Food pantries are in desperate need right now, so consider expanding the beauty of this sale by helping them out and helping out your neighbors–you likely know someone who is using a food pantry right now or has in the recent past, whether you know it or not!
So here are my top picks and matchups for the Kroger Buy 10 get $5 off your total order sale! (watch for the update–I’m working on it!)
- Kraft cheese, $1.99
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- .50 off 1 on 2% Natural (various forms–tearpads, blinkies)
- or
- $1/1 Printable (no longer available but many still have them)
- .49 each after sale and coupon!
- (The Kraft catalina ends 7/12 so it will not apply to this sale.)
- Vitamin Water, $1.00 each
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- .50/1 tearpad q on the Vitaminwater10 only
- FREE after coupon plus a .50 moneymaker!
- or
- $1/2 coupon
- FREE after coupon!
- Keebler Fudge Shoppe cookies, $1.99
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- $1/1 Printable
- or
- .55/1 Printable
- .49 each after coupon!
- or
- $1/2 Printable
- .99 each after coupon!
- Coke or 7 up Products 2 liters–$1.29
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- Many q’s available, check Ebay and other trading sites for available q’s. I have ordered .55/1 Diet Dr Pepper and $1 off 2 Coke 2liters and any produce.
- price varies after q–the Diet Dr Pepper will be free!
- Sunny D, $1.49
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- if Smoothies are included then:
- .55/1 from 5/31 Smartsource insert
- or
- .55/1 Printable
- FREE after coupon!
- Philadelphia Cream Cheese, $1.49
- .50 off per item B10G$5 sale
- Too many coupons to list them all, but there are many $1/2 coupons on ebay
- or
- $1/1 found in the June and July Sunset magazine, the July Ladies Home Journal, or June Family Circle
- with $1/2 q, its .50 after coupon
- with $1/1 q its FREE after coupon!
- Quaker Quakes, .99 each
- .50 off with B10G$5 sale
- B4G1 Free (available on ebay–no idea on the source
- .39 each after coupon!
- Quaker Chewy Granola bars, $1.98 each
- .50 off with B10G$5 sale
- .75/2 from 6/21 Redplum insert
- .98 each after coupon!
- (if True Delights are included, the sale gets better–$1/1 coupons bring this to .48 a box!)
- Betty Crocker brownie mix, $1.38 each
- .50 off with B10G$5 sale
- .75/2 cellfire coupon (must be added to Plus card by 7/13)
- or
- .75/2 shortcuts coupon
- .33 each after coupon!
Remember that cellfire and shortcuts coupons are electronic coupons that load on your Kroger plus card. They do not double and are a one time use only! They also will show directly under the item on your receipt, not down with the coupons.
- Smart Balance butter spreads or blends, $2.29 each
- .50 off with B10G$5 sale
- various q’s:
- .50/1 blinkie
- $1/1 from mailer and tearpads
- or $1/1 Printable
- .79 each after coupon!
- or
- $1/2 from 6/21 Smart Source
- or $1/2 Printable
- $1.29 each after coupon!
The big sale is on the coupons that match with this sale. Many Buy Smart Balance butter blends get X SmartBalance free. Look for Smart Balance freebies for Milk, peanut butter, oil and popcorn when you buy Smart Balance butter! Remember, you must have one smart balance butter for each free item–you cannot get one butter and then stack the milk, peanut butter, oil and popcorn on it all at once!
- Playtex Handsaver Gloves, $1 each
- .50 off with B10G$5 free sale
- .50/1 q from 6/28 Smartsource insert
- Free after coupon plus .50 MoneyMaker!!
There are other deals but these are the ones I think are the best. Advil and Tylenol are at a good price, but I’ve gotten them free after coupon many times, so I’m not terribly excited about those.
Can’t wait to see what Julie comes up with!
Your top picks/coupon matchups aren’t listed nor is there a link to somewhere
else……?
Thanks for all the printable coupon links…they are a lifesaver for us non
coupon buyers.
I’m so looking forward to taking advantage of the Kraft & Tombstone catalina’s before it ends tomorrow since I’m in TN.
I compiled a list of current catalina’s from HCW and would love to know if there are other’s so I can update it. I know alot aren’t on the mega sale but maybe we can snag a deal. The list is here.
Jennifer´s last blog ..Rounding up some Kroger Catalina’s
As I read this, it felt like a paid ad. So I went to your disclosure page and was more confused than ever. It said that you accept “forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation,” but it doesn’t say from whom. I mean, if you’re receiving cash advertising from Kroger, this IS paid advertising.
Also, you say that “The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics.” But then you say that doesn’t affect your opinion. Well, maybe. But this is something that newspapers forbid. And yet, in the next paragraph, you not that “We are employed by or consult with: The Cincinnati Enquirer.”
So if you’re employed by the Enquirer, how is it that you don’t adhere to their ethics policies?
I have a question about the Playtex Handsaver gloves. It says that coupon should be in the 6/28 SmartSource circular, but it isn’t in mine? Does this happen a lot? I’d love to get that money Maker. I have a ton of those inserts. Just don’t see the coupon. Thanks!
HT, I am NOT paid by Kroger, biggs, or any other store. I’m simply excited by this sale and have given the details as I know them to be, or have experienced in the past.
I am however paid by the Enquirer, as part of the Cincinnati.com blogger network. They pay me a modest fee to have access to re-publish what I write here. I am considered a freelancer–nothing more. And trust me, that fee is so modest it would not taint my point of view!
As for free items, I have received them, and I ALWAYS disclose that in the post as I’m writing. So if I’m reviewing something, like the Domino’s pizza, I will let you know if I’ve gotten it free or if I’ve bought it. I’ve been raving about the $4 large pizza deal for a long time–I buy them and freeze them. However, I did once receive a pizza party from Domino’s–which I shared at the time, and I get to give one away soon on this site. I also received a donation from Domino’s for the Rave for a Cure event to raise money for cancer research. I also disclosed that at the time.
I have the disclosure so that people can know that I do from time to time receive items for free to review or to giveaway. But I limit those items to the ones I think my readers would be interested in. For example, I am pitched by hundreds of websites that want to give me things if I would just review them–nope. I was recently pitched repeatedly by a glass artist. I appreciate fine works of art, but somehow I didn’t feel it was a good fit here. Neither was the ring/jewelry maker that wanted to give me a free ring in exchange for advertising. I passed. If I receive something, I will always disclose it.
Finally, I do have advertising on this page–and on all pages. While I provide every service here free of charge, I do receive some compensation from the advertisers to the right side of the page. Hence the disclosure that says “This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.” I spend at least 30 hours a week writing, managing and researching what appears here, and I feel no guilt in earning an income from it, albeit a small one. I also sometimes pay the bloggers who contribute to this site. Which is also disclosed in that policy.
BTW, if you think this particular post sounds like its fawning over Kroger, then you should check out my recent biggs posts–especially from the Triple Coupons sale. I was practically drooling all over the place!
Amp Energy drinks are also included in the 5/10 sale. They end up being $1 each. The best part is, when you buy 10 at one time, the catalina spits out a coupon for a free $10 Kroger gift card! I have done this twice already at 2 different stores here in the Metro Atlanta area. I used the 1st gift card to buy 10 more so my oop was only $.60 tax for 10, plus I got another $10 GC.
I was thrilled to find your blog today as I have been couponing at Kroger’s for several months now but get VERY frustrated when people say things are included in the sale and when I arrive at the store they ARE NOT. An example this week might be the SUNNY D sale – the Kroger ad shows regular Sunny D so I suspect the Smoothies will not be included. However, YOU ARE THE FIRST blog I have found that actually tells us that up front. I don’t like that other blogs encourage people to “beat the system” by using coupons that do not apply to the items on sale. Thank you for being candid and letting me know this information up front. Now I can mark that deal as one to look at when I arrive at the store, but I won’t cut and pull my coupons until I’m sure the items featured on the coupon are included in the sale. And I also appreciate your couponers etiquette thoughts – so very true and relevant!!
Sonya, thank you. In all honesty, I make a lot of mistakes myself. I often rely on the footwork of others–there is no way I could be in all of these stores every single week. But I try to be honest with you guys and let you know that sometimes I get it wrong. And sometimes we just don’t know until we get into the store! For example, I have the Supreme brownies q listed on my matchups, but today I’ve found that the supreme brownies were not included. I need to go change that, btw. Anyway, that’s one I’ll have to fix.
If any site is advocating you use coupons that do not apply, please let me know. Myself and several others try to keep an eye on that and let the stores know. Why? Because it hurts all of us when they do that. Stores have trouble and then they look at the rest of us suspiciously.
LMKIA, Sorry to see the comment made about the “paid ad” feeling. Though free speech is certainly
something I believe in, it’s sad to see you criticized for helping us find bargains! It has to feel
rotten, but hope you know your regular readers see your excitement about many different store deals,
and even about products you personally don’t need/want, but want to share with those that might. I
have found your ethics to be admired – if someone gives you a free pizza or something along the road,
I’m glad, though I know this doesn’t happen often enough to “pay” for all you do. Thanks again.
Where do I get the “.50/1 tearpad q on the Vitaminwater10 only” coupon? Under your current printable coupon” link the vitamin water coupon expired on 06/01/09.
The SunnyD might only picture the regular as part of the mega event, but the Smoothies are definately included, per the shelf signs in the store. Trust me – I obsess over the ads, then the actual tags and then my Qs. Scored the Orange Smoothy SunnyD for .24, BTW
LMKIA, In a post on Cincinnati Cents for Kroger week of 7/20 (under pantry), Eclipse gum is listed as Buy 1 Get 1 Free, then lists 2 buy one get 1 q’s to use to make it free. Either I am totally confused, or this is not right. Any opinion? Thanks Hopefully it’s a posting mistake or I’m wrong.
LMKIA, Re: the above quest about the eclipse gum, I would have asked in a comment on that site, but don’t know how!! I do think you did explain recently that with a B1G1 we could pay for one item, then
use a B1G1 q and get an extra free, so in this case pay for 1 pack and get 2 free with q (total 3)
Maybe that is what is meant, but I was confused since final price was free, not 1/3 of 1 pack. Good
for all of us to understand for proper q use. Not big deal for me on this item but…
LMKIA, Thanks for clarifying the gum issue. I am really, really glad I can trust the postings there too. What confused me wasn’t the 2 possible q’s listed, but rather the final price of free. I guess
that is the final price of the “extra” gum the q allowed, not the final price of all 3.I’m sorry for
the misunderstanding. Everyone posts different, and I read it different/wrong. It is confusing, especially when some do give examples of scenarios that are “better”, but are not acceptable at the store. Of course it makes it more frustrating when you follow the “rules” and some stores or cashiers tell you it is not allowed. I do try to do it right. Thanks again for your help. I do not know how any of you who run these sites don’t get frustrated and lose motivation. Sometimes I don’t get to the store after compiling my lists and I am not doing all you do.
Katrina, you can often find them on ebay. I’m not sure if they’re still in stores or not.
Okay, I’ll go look. Be right back!
Okay, she’s not advocating that at all. She’s really good and I’ve never seen her suggest anything like that. All she’s doing there is listing two different sources for the same coupon.
So the deal goes: Get two packs of gum. Use one BOGO coupon, combined with BOGO sale, both packs are free! All you pay is sales tax!