My Esteem for Kroger Increases

Since I have started couponing, I have developed a prejudice against Kroger. 

I try to avoid going there as much as possible, and each time I go, I tell myself that I won't go back. 

They have a lot of restrictions for coupon use, they are consistently out of stock of items with a good sale (i.e. every single thing on my list), they have super long lines at checkout, their employees are rude and inconsistent with policy implementation, and on top of everything else, they don't have the right car-children-seat shopping carts. That's right. They only have the ones with a toy car in front, at ground level. Natalie can only ride in the ones where the car toy is at the top, right in front of the place where you push it. 

However, I keep returning, because every once in a blue moon, they have a truly stellar deal. One that is so good that I return on multiple days in the same week to take advantage of them, since Kroger kindly caps the number of like coupons you can use in a day.

This is one of those weeks.

When I went in on Monday, I was pretty proud of this steal:

 Shelf Price: $111.77

Paid: $3.65

Items include:

1 box cereal

16 boxes+5 individual granola bars

4 cases lysol wipes

4 cans shaving gel

5 packs bic pens

some overripe bananas

I took advantage of a couple of sweet deals. First, there was a mega event, where you buy 5 participating items and save $5 instantly. So for example, the Nature Valley Granola Bars were on sale for $2.49, but when I bought 5 items, that made them only $1. Then I used my coupons. Each box of granola bars had a $.50 coupon that doubled to $1, making them $.49 each. Then there was a catalina deal, a promotions where you buy a certain item and a coupon prints with your receipt for an amount off of a future purchase. For every 5 boxes of granola bars, I got a $3 catalina coupon. 

So, all in all, I was feeling like the bomb diggity for being able to employ all of these tactics while shopping with a crazy toddler and spending over 10 minutes at checkout splitting my transactions to comply with Kroger's complex coupon limitations, all with a huge line of customers behind me. In all fairness, it's not my fault that this store is perpetually understaffed. The cashier called 3 times over the intercom for backup, but nobody came. Still I feel guilty because when I'm the one stuck in a long, unmoving checkout line, I'm pissed.

But while I was getting the shave gel (which I had a raincheck on from the previous decent sale, 3 weeks prior), I noticed that the cheaper shave gels were on sale for $1.99 and were part to the mega event sale. I had some coupons for $6 off 3 Gillette items. Though Kroger's computer system usually does not allow overage, during mega events, the sale price and the $1 off after buying 5 ring up separately, so I was able to use those in the following transaction:

Shelf Price: 64.52

Paid: -$2.98

(paid $.02, got a catalina coupon for $3)

Items include:

2 boxes cereal

6 boxes granola bars

4 pack gum

8 cans shaving gel

5 bottles after shave

I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself :)
And I'm ready to admit that Kroger isn't that bad.