Try Celine Dion’s Newest Fragrance for Free! Simply fill out a small survey and you will receive a sample in the mail. I would never mind a free perfume sample.
You can get this free perfume sample here.

This article is a continuation of my previous post. Please read my previous post first if you haven’t already done so to understand what this is about.

The following post is a detailed explanation of how you could make good use of the We’re Fresh Obsessed concept to get free food. Thank you Mike for this awesome article.

There are a lot of other grocery stores that offer a “fresh or free” policy as well:

A&P Canada
Dominion
Kohl’s
Farmer Jack
Rainbow Foods

However, to keep things simple, I will only concentrate on A&P grocery stores in Canada. By all means, see if other grocery stores have similar policies for yourself!

There are extra rules to the policy that aren’t advertised. For example, you can NOT take any expired food from the in-store bakery. Also, you can NOT take anything that has any sort of Clearance or $1 off stickers on them. Everything else is pretty much up for grabs though. If you aren’t sure, don’t take it.

To get an item that says “best before: July 12th” for free, it must be July 13th or after. Even though the “best before” implies that it is actually expired on the 12th. Don’t argue with A&P employees. The customer is never right, apparently.

You can only get 1 of each item. You can’t score 2 bags of Lays BBQ chips. However, you CAN score a bag of Lays BBQ and a bag of Lays Salt & Vinegar. Or the same flavour in different bag sizes.

These policies aren’t put into place for the customer’s sake, they are used to make the customer do the job of their employees. Keep the merchandise moving. Because you can only have 1 of each item, if a customer finds 1 item out-of-date, usually there are 20 of the same item also out of date. Now that they are aware, hey can check for and return the 20 other items.

FINDING A&P LOCATIONS.

Obviously, you are going to want to find A&P’s near your house. Preferably 24 hour ones, but that isn’t necessary. As far as I know you can locate stores here.
If you click on the “info” button beside each store, you can also see its operating hours.

Most other grocery store websites also have a “Store Locator” type section.

WHEN TO GO

Now that you’ve found a few A&P’s near you, you have to know what time to go to maximize you free food intake. Obviously, you can go at any time if you want some food.

If the A&P is open 24 hours, going in slightly before midnight is your best bet. The food only has a few more minutes before it is out-of-date. By the time you go to cash out, just make sure it is past midnight.

If the A&P isn’t open 24 hours, then the earlier the better. The less time they have for the employees to find the out-of-date items the better. Regardless, any A&P at any time can possibly yield an amazing score.

Items are usually dated in groups. For example, certain brands of chips will all be dated for the same day of the week, regardless of what day of the week the product was actually produced on. This is most likely to help store employees remove the items from the shelves, by only having to check once a week instead of daily. Knowing the day of the week that items go out-of-date will definitely help a score. If all bags of chips go out on Wednesdays, then going on a Monday won’t increase your amount of scored chips any.

Check the items dates, and look for patterns. Usually the dates will always be 7 days apart. A lot of chips (Lays, etc) are out-of-date (ready to be scored) on Wednesdays. A few brands are Tuesdays. Pillsbury products also have a date pattern.

ITEMS TO CHECK / ITEMS NOT TO CHECK
Check:

Juices (in the cooler, not on the shelves)
Milk (not bags)
Pillsbury products
Cheese Wiz (usually Black Diamond)
Chip Dip
Yogurt (12 packs & large containers)
Pudding
Little Debbie Snacks (Joe Louis, Ah Caramel, etc.)
Pies
Butter Cups
Pitas
Flat Bread
Chips / Nachos
Cream Cheese
Pizzas
Pizza Crusts
Pastas and Sauces (Just the refrigerated fancy ones).
Cheese Cakes
Some Fancy Chocolate Bars (with dates)

Don’t waste your time on:

Dried Pasta
Canned Stuff
Margarine
Milk in Bags
Individual little yogurts
Lunchables
Anything being displayed in the cardboard box it was shipped in.
– These haven’t even been taken out and put on shelves yet!
Most things that are on sale.
– they are on sale to get them out of the store.
Almost any Meat Product.
– they change the dates anyways to make sure they don’t go out-of-date.

HOW TO CHECK FOR OUT-OF-DATE ITEMS

For the most part, the out-of-date items are usually right in the front. The grocery store is hoping someone will still buy it without looking at the date, then they can still make a profit off of their out-of-date items. Sometimes lazy employees do not put the newest items to the back, so there may be out-of-date items far in the back as well. This is almost always the case with Pillsbury products, do to the weird dispenser thing. It is usually a good idea to take a “random sample” from somewhere near the back as well, especially if it’s something you really want! 🙂

Don’t forget to look up and down! As silly as it sounds, when shopping, people have a tendency to only see things at eye-level (studies have proven this). Things at the top or bottom have probably been there the longest. Plus, it probably also applies to the employees looking for out-of-date items. Out-of-date items will most likely be found on the top or the bottom shelf.

Once you’ve been to the store a few times, you can get a good pattern to follow to check everything. You can visit things that are a priority first, like the pizzas. The less time you aren’t in the A&P, the better. Also, when you score an item, remember where you found it. When you cash-out, you will most likely be told to find fresh versions of your items.

CASHING OUT

You don’t want to get bugged for not buying ANYTHING, because it will look like you went to the store just for the purpose of scoring. So, if you have to do some grocery shopping, save it until you go to score. If there’s nothing you have to buy, just pick up something cheap, maybe a pack of Generic Mr. Noodles for $0.25. Enough to let them know that you are a real customer who just happens to have a good eye, not a teenager with the munchies and no money.

Bring your score to the Service Counter, which is usually near the entrance (it’s where they sell lottery tickets and cigarettes). If nobody shows up, bring it all to a cashier. Show them what you’d like to purchase, nd then point to your score and tell them that the items are out-of-date. After that, you can stand back and watch the confusion…

You will most likely be told to “find fresh ones”, so you can go do that while the cashier tries to figure out how to handle the situation. Make sure you get the freshest replacement items available, since you want to keep the items going out-of-date soon on the shelves, so you can score them later. If all the items are out-of-date, the policy says that you can replace it with a similar item. However, some Managers might not know that, and try to not let you have anything (or they may try to give you a rain-cheque). Take what they give you, and don’t argue.

The whole check-out process is quite amusing. Cashiers must void each product and apply stickers to things. Cashiers usually aren’t trained in the process, and usually make up their own little way of doing it. Once everything has been voided, you can pay for any items you may have legitimately purchased, and then you are on your way!!

TIPS
– If you visit the same A&P regularly, you might want to make mental-notes on things that are going out-of-date soon. If you see a Cheese cake that is going out next Wednesday, try to remember it!

– Go with a friend or two! You can split up to find items, so you only have to be in the store for a few minutes. At the same time, avoid going in a huge pack.
– Avoid conflict with Managers. They are very bone-headed individuals, who are often quite defensive after seeing you score $30 worth of free food. After all, it may take them all day to earn enough money to afford that food, and you are just reminding them of how bad of a job they are doing at being “fresh obsessed”.

– Double check your dates before you cash-out! A bitter cashier would love nothing more than to make you pay for some pitas after you thought you’d be getting them for free.

– Don’t talk about you score while you are scoring. Think of yourself as doing A&P a service.

– Try to mix up the days, times and locations that you visit an A&P. After a few visits, Managers will definitely be keeping an eye out for you.

– Don’t do anything stupid!! Sure, you can easily bring in your old bread-clips and clip them onto any loaf you want. Sure you can hide a Cheese Cake under a few other products, and get it next week. The problem is, if you’ve scored several times before, there are definitely Managers watching you. If you do something “illegal”, they will definitely find out on the video tape. After all, they are probably just waiting for an excuse to kick you out of the store, and fraud is a pretty good reason.

You can get a free (large) sample of Elactrasol dishwashing detergent. If you have a dishwasher this freebie can’t be ignored.

Get your free Elactrasol dishwashing detergent here.

Futureshop.ca (online only) is having a 24 hours sale on the April 16th, 2006.
Sale starts at 0:00 EST and ends at 23:59 EST. More details here.
Here is a list of the items on sale:

TVs
SAVE 10%	on all TVs
SAVE 10%	on all DVD players & DVD recorders
SAVE 10%	on all wall mounts
SAVE 10%	on all TV Stands

Home Audio
SAVE 10%	on all home theatre systems
SAVE 15%	on all receivers
SAVE 25%	on all speakers
SAVE 10%	on all shelf systems
SAVE 20%	on all speaker wire
SAVE 20%	on all audio cables
SAVE 20%	on all speaker stands/Brackets
SAVE 20%	on all audio stands

Music
SAVE 10%	on all cds & music DVDs
SAVE 20%	on all cd wallets
SAVE 20%	on all cd storage
SAVE 10%	on all wireless headphones

Movies
SAVE 10%	on all DVDs
SAVE 20%	on all DVD wallets
SAVE 20%	on all DVD storage

Video Games
SAVE 10%	on all video games (excludes video game hardware)
SAVE 10%	on all XBOX 360 accessories
SAVE 10%	on all XBOX accessories
SAVE 10%	on all PS2 accessories
SAVE 10%	on all PSP accessories
SAVE 10%	on all GameCube accessories
SAVE 10%	on all PC Gaming accessories

Laptops
SAVE 5%	on all Centrino Duo laptops
SAVE 15%	on all Laptop accessories

Computers
SAVE 15%	on all refurbished desktops
SAVE 15%	on all desktop accessories
SAVE 15%	on all surge protectors & battery back-ups

Monitors
SAVE 10%	on all LCD monitors

Printers & All-In-Ones
SAVE 10%	on all printers and all-in-ones
SAVE 10%	on all ink & toner
SAVE 10%	on all scanners

 

Computer Add-Ons
SAVE 15%	on all networking gear
SAVE 10%	on all video cards and TV tuners
SAVE 15%	on all computer speakers
SAVE 15%	on all mice & keyboards
SAVE 10%	on all USB drives
SAVE 5%	on all computer memory
SAVE 10%	on all external hard drives

Software
SAVE 10%	on all software

Digital Cameras
SAVE 10%	on all Digital Cameras
SAVE 10%	on all SLR digital cameras
SAVE 15%	on all SD memory cards
SAVE 15%	on all compact flash memory cards
SAVE 15%	on all memory Stick media
SAVE 15%	on all digital SLR lenses & adapters
SAVE 15%	on all camera accessories

Camcorders
SAVE 10%	on all hard drive camcorders
SAVE 10%	on all DVD camcorders
SAVE 15%	on all camcorder accessories

Digital Audio
SAVE 10%	on all MP3 players (excludes iPods)
SAVE 15%	on all iPod accessories
SAVE 15%	on all MP3 player accessories
SAVE 15%	on all headphones

Portable Audio
SAVE 15%	on all personal cd players
SAVE 15%	on all boomboxes

Appliances
SAVE 10%	on all major appliances
SAVE 10%	on all small applianes (includes microwaves and vacuums)

Car Audio
SAVE 15%	on all car speakers
SAVE 10%	on all car decks
SAVE 10%	on all car audio accessories

Phones
SAVE 10%	on Solo Mobile‚ Fido and Virgin handsets
SAVE 15%	on all cell phone accessories
SAVE 10%	on all cordless phones
SAVE 15%	on all cordless phone accessories

If you visit save.ca you’ll only find a small collection of coupons. That’s because most of their valuable coupon links are hidden. So here is a full list of all (thousands) of save.ca coupons! Thanks Kimberly.

http://www.save.ca – Pizza Crescendo, Fuit Smootheez, Added Touch, Cavendish Fries, Right Guard, Cool Quenchers, CarpetFlick, Smoothwear Lipstick, B2G1F Noxema, Lou’s Entree/Bacon, Shick Intuition, baby MumMums, simlac 1&2, Heinz Baby food/Cereal, etc.

http://www.save.ca/pampers1_en/prodpage.php
Pampers coupons ($1.50 off diapers, $0.50 off wipes)

http://www.save.ca/caa
buy 1 get 1 Free Olay Facials, buy 2 get 1 free herbal essence, $1 tide, Mr. clean car care

http://www.save.ca/rougee
Pantene, Inner Science, Nice ‘n Easy, L’Image, Hydrience, B2G1F Herbal Essence, Febreeze Scentstories

http://www.save.ca/en/ProductsFsi34.php
$2 off Tampax Pearl, $1 Tampax, $0.75 off Tide, $2 off Similac, $2 off Similac2, Pampers Diapers (Econ Box) & wipes

http://www.save.ca/ristorantee/prod_page.php
Dr Oetker Restaurante Pizza B2 Save $2

http://www.save.ca/olay_en/
Olay Products – $9 in coupons

http://www.save.ca/en/hms/ProductsFsi36.php
Febreeze Scentstories, Noxema

http://save.ca/en/hms/ProductsFsi37.php
Noxema

http://www.save.ca/gerber/
Gerber Products

http://www.brandsaver.ca/
P&G coupons – up and running!

http://www.carnetrabais.ca/
Brandsaver en francais

http://www.save.ca/cheer/index.php
$2 off Cheer

http://www.save.ca/iamsdogfriende/index.php
IAMS dog food coupons

http://www.save.ca/iamsdogambassadore/index.php
Another IAMS dog food coupons

http://www.save.ca/iamscatfriende/index.php
IAMS cat food coupons

http://www.save.ca/iamscatambassadore/index.php
Another IAMS cat food coupons

http://www.save.ca/magicreachdrtv/prodpage.php
Mr Clean MagicReach coupons

http://www.save.ca/fancyfeast_en/prod_page.php
Fancy feast coupons

http://save.ca/en/ProductsFsi37.php
Accu-chek Aviva & Accu-Chek Compact Blood Monitor
Free strips with purchase

Print out these Nivea coupons and use them to get up to $5 off certain Nivea products:

$2 off when you buy one Nivea Visage
$2 off when you buy one Nivea body, Cream, Soft or Hand
$5 off when you buy one Nivea Visage and one Nivea body, Cream, Soft or Hand.

You can get the Nivea coupon here.

Montana is offering a free sample of Arabica Gourmet Coffee. You can order your free sample here.

The buy 1 XBox, Playstation 2 or Gamecube controller and get the second for free on the 12th and 13th April seems to be available in Ontario too!

Reminder: this deal started today. More details here.

Sign up for beach-nut’s newsletter and receive a cute little Beech-Nut bowl for free.

Please only sign up if you’re seriously interested in their newsletter to avoid harming their business.

You can get this free bowl here.

… Yes! you can get a free issue of Blueprint. Blueprint (Martha Stewart) is a “new magazine with timeless and easy beauty tips for your home, your wardrobe, your life”. Blueprint team are offering a free preview of their premier issue.

You don’t need a credit card to subscribe but you’ll need to phone/email to cancel the subscription after you receive your free issue, to avoid getting annoying bills.

You can get your free issue here.

TIMEX Warehouse Outlet and Kiosk is having a huge sale.

Date:
April 21st to 23rd, 2006

Time:
Friday 3pm – 9pm
Saturday 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday 9 am – 5 pm

Location:
45 Hood Road, Markham, Ontario, L3R 8H1
Warden Road & Denison Street.

You’ll find all brands that Timex produces with at least 50% off suggested retail prices at the warehouse location. These locations stock discontinued styles and current models with brand names such as Guess, Nautica, Reebok, Timex, Liz Claiborne, and Joe Boxer. Twice a year they have a warehouse sale at their Markham location.

If you live near the outlet this mega sale might be worth checking out. I live in Kingston, and this warehouse is unfortunately just too far.

Here are just some of the brands on sale:

Tropicana Orange Juice is on sale at Costco. 2  bottles (2.84L / 96 oz) cost $5.96. If you’re a Costco member and like Tropicana orange juice, then don’t miss this deal!

This deal is available in Ontario. I’m not sure if it’s available in other Canadian provinces. If you find out whether or not it’s available in another province please post a comment to let us know.

Next time a cashier hands you change at Shoppers Drug Mart, you may notice two-bits worth of colour in your palm. The newest Canadian quarter, a collaboration between the Royal Canadian Mint and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, is adorned with the image of a pink ribbon in the centre. The coin, which went into circulation this Saturday, is part of an effort to remind people of the Breast Cancer disease that touches many lives.

You can get the 25-cent Pink Ribbon Coin from any Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.

This post is by JB7. He explains how you can get fancy soccer shoes (boots/cleats) for very good prices.

I’ve been researching and trying to decide on what soccer boots to get for the last month. I was looking for the adidas f50+’s and came across www.justsocca.com which had them for £40.00 which made me pretty excited because they had my size and the best price I had found before that was £70. I ended up ordering the Air Zoom Total 90 III’s because they are an even better deal(£25) and I couldn’t find any soccer shops that had the f50+’s in stock to try on. Anyway, there are some crazy deals deals to be had. Remember that sizing is in UK sizes and I would recommend trying them on in a local soccer shop before ordering. If your not sure what UK size you are just check the shoe box when you’re trying them on. I ordered these(a bit flashy for me but the best price in my size and hopefully they will blind my opponents ) on Saturday, March 18 and they came on Monday. I’m pretty impressed with the speed of their shipping for coming all the way from England. I tried out my cleats at practice last night and they are awesome. The place that I went to try them on at had them marked down to $260. I paid a total of $77.81 CAD but I’m expecting to be billed for taxes and duty later. I just hope they didn’t over value them. There are probably lots of good prices but IMO the best are the AZT 90 III’s, f50+’s, Pulses and the vapor’s but those are just what I have noticed. I think the reason these are so heavily discounted is because there are going to be newer models coming out in the UK.

Sorry for not posting yesterday and today. I’ve been busy studying for exams. Once my exams are over (tomorrow) posts will be back to normal.

If by any chance you’re interested in contributing to SmartCanucks.ca by posting deals, offers, tips etc. please let me know and I’ll be glad to create a membership for you 🙂