[dadof4teens]

Hey all,

Well tough emotional week for us, dropped our oldest off at college, 10 and a half hour drive. Took a large trailer and left the bulk of my stockpile with him

We have Vons and Pavilions here, they have a Safeway right across the street.

The ads are very different.

Does anyone know if they double? Any hints for a college kid on a budget?

Thanks,

Dad - oh he is going to Chico so any locals that can chime in, please do

[dadof4teens]

Oh the large trailer was for his bed, couch, dishes ect . Don't want someone to think I dropped off a trailer full of stockpile! LOL

[livermoremom]

Hey Dad of 4 Teens,

Congratulations on your son going to college! I must admit, I did think at first that you filled the trailer with stockpile, I was thinking, wow, that's one cool dad, !

Well, I'm a No Cal native, and Safeway is the same company as Von's and Pavilion, but unfortunately up here our stores do not double. Bummer! However, my advice to your son is as follows:

Take advantage of the coupons that come out in the weekly Safeway ads, up here they come out on frequent Sundays and every Wednesday. Those super coupons can be combined with manufacturers' coupons, and you can also load up your Safeway Club Card with electronic coupons from Cellfire or P&G e-saver (there's one other one, I can't think of it at the moment) Anyway, in my experience, you can get two or three discounts at once by combining all of these methods, often yielding free items or very cheap ones. Every time I go to Safeway, the cashiers congratulate me.

Also, if your son drives, and I'm sure he does if he's up in Chico, have him take advantage of the fuel discounts you can rack up using the Safeway Club Card. For every $100 you spend, you get a 10 cent fuel discount. These accumulate quarterly; you have to use them up before the end of the three months, but say if you rack up 7 or 8 10 cent fuel discounts, you get a one-time 70 or 80 cent discount per gallon when you go to fill up at a Safeway gas station or Arco (if you use the Arco stations, you have to apply for a fuel card to use there, which you can do at Safeway, just ask for the fuel rewards card to use at Arco). Your son is probably most likely to find an Arco station, or many Arco stations, in the Chico area rather than a Safeway with a gas station.

Anyway, those are my best suggestions for Safeway. I hope that helps! Use the Safeway super coupons, combine them with man q's and e-coupons loaded to the club card, and you should be doing pretty good! Also, if your son eats meat, make sure that he waits for the sales to come around; they cycle regularly up here every four to six weeks-you should be paying no more than $1.99 per lb. for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, no more than $1,99 per lb. for 80% lean ground beef, etc.

Take care and good luck to your son!

[dadof4teens]

Thanks So much Livermoremom!

I did send him with a good start to his own stockpile about 20 jars of ragu, 30 boxes of pasta, 45 pasta sides, 15 boxes of cereal hehe and all the deoderant, toothpaste and stuff like that he could go thru.

Bummer they don't double, I've never done the cellfire but will look into that as well. I went online and saw the super coupons.

Thanks again! take care.

[lovethecold]

The Other EQ's website is Shortcuts.com - FREE Grocery Coupons that link to your grocery card. You can load those coupons to a safeway club card, provided you know the actual safeway club card number. Heck, if he won't bother to load them on, you can always do it for him and he will get surprise savings if he buys those products :-)

[dadof4teens]

I need to work on loading the coupons, not thinking he'll spend much time doing it . Thanks !!

[CA_Mom_of_1]

Originally Posted by livermoremom

Your son is probably most likely to find an Arco station, or many Arco stations, in the Chico area rather than a Safeway with a gas station.

Actually, the Safeway on Manzanita does have a fuel station and is near enough to campus.

[livermoremom]

Good to know CA Mom of 1-it's been a long while since I've been to Chico-my early college days