Monday, July 11, 2011

Money Maker and Free Gas at MARTIN’S

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I was checking out on-line forums and other blogs this morning to see if there were any hidden deals at MARTIN’S this week.  I came across this post on forthemommas.com about Budweiser Barbecue Sauce. 

I remembered seeing the tags in MARTIN’S and seeing the information on Coupon Network last month about a $2.50 Catalina when you purchased two bottles of Budweiser Barbecue Sauce.  The Catalina was suppose to expire 7/6.  I didn’t pick-up any then because the deal didn’t make it below my price point ($0.50 or less a bottle).  I am so glad that I waited. The Catalina is still active! ***Please realize that this deal can stop without any warning, but I was able to get it at three different stores today.***

The great thing about this deal is that the Budweiser Barbecue Sauce is on sale this week for $1 each.  You earn a $2.50 Catalina for every two bottles you buy.  What makes this deal go from great to fantastic is for every 7 bottles of Budweiser Barbecue Sauce you buy, you earn $0.20/gallon, or $4 off your gas purchase (assuming you get the full 20 gallons that is available in the Richmond area.)

Here is the breakdown of the deal:

Buy 8 bottles of Budweiser Barbecue Sauce = $8

Earn (4) $2.50 Catalinas towards a future purchase and

Earn $0.20/gallon with your fuelperks!

You just made $6 – from buying barbecue sauce!

I was buying 14 bottles (after I tested the deal with 8) to get $0.40/gallon and $17.50 back in Catalinas.

I then used my Catalinas for the Sprouts Organic Baby Food deal.  The baby food is on sale this week for $0.89 each.  They are part of the Buy 4 Save $0.20/gallon fuelperks! deal.  In all three stores that I shopped in today (Westpark, John Rolfe, and Short Pump) I found a blinkie machine with coupons for Buy 3 Get 1 Free.  That brings the cost of each package down to $0.67 each. 

Here is the breakdown of the deal:

Buy 4 packages of Sprout Organic Baby Food = $3.56

Redeem Buy 3 Get 1 Free Coupon = (-$0.89)

Subtotal = $2.67

Redeem $2.50 Catalina from the Budweiser Barbecue Sauce (if you want to reduce your out of pocket)

Final Total = $0.17 (+ tax)

Earn $0.20/gallon with your fuelperks!

You just made $1.33 - from buying baby food!

I realize that not all of you reading this have young children that need or use pureed baby food, but if you want to do this deal baby food is always a welcomed item at food donation centers.

By the way – in case you are wondering. I did not clear the shelves at any of the stores I hit today.  I ended up with 36 bottles of barbecue sauce and 44 packages of baby food.  I paid a grand total of $20.25 (including tax) and earned $3.20 off per gallon with my fuelperks!  - a savings of $64 in gas!  I still have $10 in Catalinas to use on future purchases.

Please feel free to share your “brags” if you hit this deal and if you found the blinkie machine coupons at the store(s) you hit.

Happy Shopping!

~Ann

26 comments:

Jennifer said...

I'm just happy you didn't go to the VCC or the Ashland Martins. :)~ I'll definitely do that barbecue sauce deal!!! I'll pass on the baby food deal to a few friends that have little ones. :)

GettinJiggly said...

There used to be a Cellfire printable for BOGO FREE on the BBQ Sauce. So if anyone was lucky enough to print it that means even more savings.

Ann said...

Jennifer - I hope you find it in those stores. There was still a decent amount at John Rolfe and Short Pump. Leave another comment to let us know how you did. :)

Ann said...

WWadeII - You can't use any internet printable coupons that are for a "free" item at MARTIN's this includes Buy One Get One Free.

Alison said...

Sweet deal, thanks for sharing Ann!

Stacey Davis said...

Hi Ann...
Did you buy 8 bottles in one transaction and still receive the catalinas for every two or did you buy two at a time? Thanks, Stacey.

Ann said...

Not a problem Alison - I hope you can get out with the little ones and stock-up.

Ann said...

Stacey - Yes when I bought 8 bottles and when I bought 14 bottles I got a $2.50 Catalina for every 2 bottles that I purchased.

The other great thing is that these Catalinas don't say limit one per transaction.

Here is an idea for how to do this deal. Buy 8 bottles (to test if the Catalinas are still printing- you have to buy 7 for the fuelperks!) pay $8 plus tax; earn $10 in Catalinas and $0.20off/gallon. Go back through the line with 14 bottles redeem you $10 in Catalinas from the first transaction and pay only $4 plus tax earn $17.50 in Catalinas and $0.40 off/gallon.

Your final total will be 21 bottles of sauce for $12 plus tax; $17.50 to spend on other groceries (or use towards the Sprout Organic Baby Food) plus $0.60/gallon.

It is an awesome deal! I hope that you are able to find some on the shelf.

Lissa said...

Saw a shelf tag on the Budweiser Hot sauce this morning that said the Catalina promo ends 8/6. I'm assuming that would include the BBQ sauce...??

Ann said...

Thanks for the info Lissa! That would be great if the Catalina was through 8/6. I looked for tags yesterday, but only saw the sale tag and the buy 7 get $0.20 off a gallon tag.

I hope you were able to get some.

GettinJiggly said...

Oh yeah forgot Martin's stopped doing FREE item coupons. Tried to use the Nestle Crunch candy bar a few weeks back. Guess wishful thinking blinded me lol, was hoping for an even better deal. Thanks for the reminder.

Jennifer said...

I was going to go today... still might. The day has just gotten away from me. :( I did my drugstore and Target shopping today and was planning to go to Martins this evening but I'm still not sure since I would have to drag all 3 kids with me.

I did get some awesome deals at Rite Aid, CVS and Target (haven't made it to walgreens yet but that would be a very small trip). That being said, I found 2 errors on my receipts after I came home. :( So now I have at least 1 return and I'm hoping that the Target mistake is theirs but we'll see.

Jennifer said...

I made it to Martins tonight. Pretty quiet there... Thank goodness!!! I'm not sure I could have gone there with all 3 kids in tow had it been busier.

Anyway, they STILL have the barbecue deal going on!! I tested it first to make sure. I'm glad they didn't have any more than what they had or I'm not sure I could have taken the groceries in the house. :) I got more than enough and we are going to give some out to family and some of my hubby's coworkers.

Now here is the good news. Total bill before tax was $151.31. Final out of pocket was $66.90 (before tax). That is a saving of $84.41. Not too bad for my first time out at the grocery store. The only catalinas I got were the barbecue ones. I also had a big ticket item on there (the $10/lb salmon is an awesome deal). I was sad that they were out of the 50% off chicken breast. I'll be going back every day until they stock up since it's a good deal!!

Ann said...

Great job Jennifer! Don't forget that you can always get a rain check when they are out of an item.

How old are your kids? Mine are 5&1/2, 3, & 11 months. Shopping alone with the 3 of them is definitely a challenge. ;)

Jennifer said...

I think you may have it worse when it comes to shopping with all 3 since yours are younger. Mine are 8 (will be 9 this weekend), 7 and 2.

That's a good idea about the rain check. I didn't think to ask since they said they expected to have more before the sale ended. Do you know if there is a limit on the # you can purchase using a rain check price? I actually think that would work better for me. We are going to buy a new chest freezer in the next week or so and a rain check would buy us some time. :)

Jennifer said...

Oh yeah, I can't remember where I read it but you mentioned that you can double 1 like coupon per transaction. Tonight I had 2 of the same coupon so I split up my items into separate trans. and the second coupon wouldn't even scan to give me the .50 cent (much less a $1) without the cashier (and then manager) overriding it. Just thought I would mention it. It was a Driscoll's coupon. I like getting strawberries for a $1. :)

tylerconta said...

so i see you're trying to get drunk off budweiser bbq sauce. so sad.

Pam said...

Ann,

I am trying to do your trans and kept my oop low? So you got eight bottles on your 1st trans with $8.00 + tax oop? Then bought 14 bottles used the cats from your second trans paid $4 + tax and then repeated this a third time? left with (10) $2.50 cats right? Please help? Thanks so much! God Bless

Ann said...

Jennifer - I wonder if your barcode got wet or smeared on the Driscoll's printable. I haven't had that problem before and I routinely do multiple transactions.

I have a rain check at home. I will look at it and write a post about it. It is a good reminder for all of us. :)

Tyler - you know me so well, or really Steve. ;)

Ann said...

Pam you are exactly right here is how it worked -

Transaction #1:
Buy 8 Budweiser BBQ Sauce = Pay$8 (+tax). As your receipt is printing the catalina machine will print (4) $2.50 off your next order catalinas. (Assuming the catalina deal is still working go on to transaction #2)

Transaction #2:
Buy 14 Budweiser BBQ Sauce = $14 (+ tax). Pay with the (4) $2.50 Catalinas from trasaction #1 plus $4 + tax. When your receipt is printing the Catalina machine will print (7) $2.50 off your next order catalinas.

You now have 22 bottles of BBQ sauce and only paid $12 (+ tax) and still have $17.50 remaining in catalinas to use on your "weekly shopping" for things like produce and meat that don't generally have coupons.

The Catalinas are good for 14 days from when they are printed. These particular ones do not limit you to one per transaction (sometimes they do).

If you don't like the sauce donate it the food bank. :)

PS - If you want to do a third transaction:

Buy 14 Bottles of BBQ Sauce = $14 (+ tax). Redeem 5 of you $2.50 Catalinas from transaction #2 (= $12.50) you pay $1.50 (+ tax) and earn another $17.50 in Catalinas (to go with the $5 you still have left over from transaction #2).

Good luck - I hope you find plenty of it in stock. Leave me a comment to let me know how it works out for you. :)

Pam said...

Ann,

Thanks so much. I was only able to find two my first trip and eight on the second one. I think I will just stick to the baby food and just use the coupons instead. At least that is on the shelf.

They had very small spaces on the shelf for the BBQ sauce. Poor marketing/vendors I think on there part. Ad says buy 7 get $0.20 off. Seems to me that would order more than 20 for the whole week LOL.

Thanks,
Pam

Ann said...

Pam - I don't know what store you are shopping in (or if even in Richmond), but double check the end caps. I found it in several stores (John Rolfe and Short Pump) in a section in the front that has the fuel deal items.

The baby food is a great deal as well - and if you don't need it for a little one you can always donate it to your local food bank as well.

Stacy said...

Wow! I just love good deals like this!

debbielynne said...

Fingers crossed this is still good - heading to Martins tonight!

Ann said...

Pam -

I was in 3 different stores last night and none of them had the sauce in stock. The baby food was even getting empty.

It may be worth it to see if you can get a rain check. From several reports there is a possibility that the Catalina is printing until 8/6.

I don't know for certain if you can get the fuel bonus. I got a rain check a few weeks ago for the Weber marinades that were a fuel deal and not in stock anywhere. The service center representative attached the portion of the ad that showed it as a fuel deal to my rain check. She told me that if or when the item came in I would have to give the raincheck to the cashier and then go to the service center to have them manually add in the fuel discount. I haven't seen the item in the stores to verify it works that easily.

Ann said...

Debbielynne -

The Catalina deal worked for me today around 1. I found 2 bottles and bought them and got the $2.50 Catalina.

The problem you may run into is having the item in stock. Check out what I just told Pam (in the comment above) about getting a rain check for the sauce.


I hope you find a full shelf, and fell free to report back to let us know how you did. :)