Bargain hunting is equal parts art and science, mixed liberally with espionage. Anyone can cut out a few coupons or eyeball the sales circulars in the Sunday newspaper, but it takes a real savings ninja to figure out a way to get 9 bags of groceries for only $13. While the initial steps didn’t seem like much, when you put them all together, it makes for serious savings!

Thanks to a promotional deal called Safeway Savings Rally, online coupons, and some 10 item for $10 specials, that $13 turned into 21 boxes of Rice-A-Roni and Pasta Roni, 10 cans of Del Monte tomatoes, 4 tubes of Colgate toothpaste, 3 bags of Flat Earth chips, and two half-gallon jugs of Dole fruit juice. That’s an amazing haul, and the best part is the rules of the Savings Rally promotion were followed to the letter. Usually to get such a great deal in one day you have to bend the rules.

The Safeway Savings Rally says that 25 items or more gets you $20 off your next purchase, 20-24 items gets you $10 off, and 10-19 items gets you $5 off, with the caveat that it’s one coupon per store per day. Stopping at the three stores she’d normally pass on the way home, ultra-savvy shopper Xin Lu managed to compile her initial purchase into a serious bargain spree. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a row of Safeways on the same route to hit in one pass, but that’s the kind of deal worth driving all over town for.

By the time those 21 boxes were gone, I’d absolutely hate Rice-A-Roni. Fortunately that’s a product that doesn’t really have an expiration date, so your Rice-A-Roni needs are taken care of for the next year or two. It’s always nice to have at least one thing you know you won’t need to stock up on for quite a long time.

Tags: safeway, coupons, saving money, bargains, grocery shopping

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