I am a coupon shopper.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that already, as I love taking pictures of the receipts showing everyone how much money I saved.

I brag a little.

I always try to save at least 30% off at the grocery store, but my goal is about 40%.  I’ve done as well as 93%. Yes, really.  It’s a LOT of work to make that happen though, so, kudos to those Extreme Couponers.  You go on with your bad selves.  I don’t have time for that kind of lifestyle.

Nor do I have a spare 4300 square feet that I can stockpile 97 tubes of toothpaste and enough dogfood to last until the second coming.  Those people have insane amounts of product gathering dust in their garages.

More power to them.

Me?  I collect the coupons from the Sunday paper – not everyone in towns Sunday paper, merely my own.  I also hang on to those coupons the register spits out when you buy certain items.  Those are usually pretty good.  And then, most recently, I stop at the MVP Kiosk at the entrance to our newly renovated Food Lion.

I either swipe my MVP Card or punch in my phone number at the kiosk, and out pops a page full of coupons.  Good ones!  It’s a clever and handy little system they’ve got going on there.  Seven LOVES it.  A machine that gives him something? Yes, please.  Heck, if I’d let him type in the phone number, he’d stand there and giggle while it hosed him down with red wine vinegar and old rubber bands, so he’s pretty stoked just to get the coupons out.

Ever since our local Food Lion was remodeled, I seem to find myself feeling at home there.

It’s so clean! New floors, new shelves, new coolers. And the produce department is a dream. I love the way everything is arranged and displayed. It’s organic and natural – much like the look of an upscale farmer’s market. Not that I’ve ever been to one of those, should they exist, but I can imagine they do.

Let a gal dream a little, will ya?

 

On our most recent shopping experience, I took a little video for you, so you could see what shopping with my kid is like.  We were on the hunt for ingredients to make this weeks popover recipe – so, bananas, sugar, flour.  Of course, the MVP Kiosk delivered us coupons for Popsicles, and because my son’s preschool teacher has done a good job, he was able to recognize the word popsicle.

Lucky me.

Well, I shouldn’t complain.  The regular price of the Popsicles was $4.39.  They were on sale for $2.50, and then the coupon took off another $1.50.  Score! (well, except for the part about me having a couple dozen drippy Popsicles to contend with.  I’ll survive, I guess.)

I was thrilled, however,  to manage to save as much as I did on this particular trip, as I ended up having to pick up a few things I hate to have to buy.  You know – cleaners. Paper towels. Toilet paper.  Those items KILL a good coupon shop, but alas, they’re necessary.  Sure, I could scavenge rolls of toilet paper from public restrooms for home use, or load up on Wendy’s napkins for kitchen clean up, but really – not worth it.  I got a good enough deal using my MVP Card and custom coupons.  Plus, the My Essentials Food Lion Brand is pretty darned good.  It saves quite a bit of money off the name brands, and they are every bit the quality of their more expensive counterparts.

Has your Food Lion been renovated yet?  Do you live near one?  I hope you do!

Why?

I have a $50 Food Lion Gift Card  to give away to one of you! All you need to do is go take a look at the new Food Lion website.  That’s IT!  Anything you like about it?  Dislike about it?  Leave me a comment to let me know, and you’ll be entered to win the gift card.

For more chances to win -

• Follow Food Lion on Twitter
• Become a Fan of Food Lion on Facebook

There you have it…3 chances to win $50 to spend at Food Lion.  Good Luck!

US Addresses Only, please.  Prize is courtesy of Food Lion.  Contest open until May 19, 11:59pm EST.  Winner will be notified via email.  Disclaimer – I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central for Food Lion. I received a gift card and product kit to facilitate my review.

Tagged as: coupons, food lion, giveaway, groceries, shopping, video