Clearance sale!

I love the clearance shelf at my Safeway. I check it every time I go in there. That way when new items are on the shelf, I get my pick! At my store everything on the clearance shelf is 50% off the marked price. That's not automatically a great price, but it's always worth checking. Sometimes the items ring up CHEAPER than they are marked because the items are on sale in the general merchandise area.


An example of this would be boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal. I found these on the clearance shelf because their boxes were a bit crushed. Since the packets were intact inside, I figured they were worth it. They tag said the price was $3.99, then 50% off.  When I took them to get rung up, they were actually $2.49 each, because all the oatmeal was on sale. Next came off the 50% - bringing the price down to $1.25. For the final deal maker, I used some $1 off one Quaker Oatmeal coupons I had. Final cost? $.25 a box!

Other times, they clearance merchandise that is near it's 'sell by date' or is being discontinued. I've even seen products back there which are discounted simply because the company is changing the packaging.

If I had used the coupons on the regular sale price boxes, I could have purchased them for $1.49 each. Not bad. However, by searching the clearance shelf I was able to save another $1.25 off their marked price.

This week on the clearance shelf at Safeway I found:

Scotch Brite Stay Clean Scrubbers
Original price: $3.99
Price after 50% discount: $1.99
Coupon: $1 off 2 Scotch Brite sponges.
Final price: $1.49 each pack., basically 63% off the original price or $.75 per sponge. I considered NOT buying these, thinking I might find an even better deal. Then I noticed that my coupon expired on March 31st. The reality was that there WEREN'T going to be other deals before the coupons expired, AND I was out of sponges. I feel like I got a good deal. :)

Mr Clean Magic Eraser Four-Pack
Original Price: $6.79
Price after 50% discount: $3.40
Coupon: $.75 off any Mr Clean Magic Eraser
Final price: $2.65 or $.66 each.

Kotex U Heavy Flow Pads, $1.99
These were "reduced for quick sale" and in the general merchandise area.
Coupon: $1 off I Kotex U product
Final price: $.99

One other note about clearance sales: I buy what I can when I find it. Even non-coupon shoppers like the 50% off sales, so these products are usually not there next time I look. If I have 5 coupons, and there are five available, then I will go ahead and get them.