Spending--6/10/09

Besides my CVS trip on Sunday, I also went to Target and the grocery store this week (on double coupon day, of course!).

At Target I got 2 Kraft BBQ sauce, a bottle of Kraft salad dressing, and 2 Kraft Mayo for $0 after coupons! I actually would have had $0.15 overage, but I didn't buy anything else, so they just adjusted my total down to $0.

I also went to the grocery store where I did 4 separate transactions so I could use more of those great Kraft coupons that were expiring this week. My store only doubles 5 coupons per $25 order, so this way I was able to double 20 coupons. I also used some coupons for free products (like Free Chocolate Friday and free Diet Mtn Dew from BzzAgent) to help reach my total. Highlights were free Cheerios, free Wheat Thins, free 100 Calorie Packs, free Philadelphia cream cheese, free Cascade rinse agent, free Easy Mac, and of course free Diet Mtn Dew and free chocolate! Almost free items included Jell-O pudding (for Amish Friendship Bread), Triscuits, Minute Rice, Flat Earth Chips, and Ortega enchilada sauce. I also bought coleslaw and sausage to make our version of Mahndu (a Korean dish our family likes), bread flour so I can make more delicious homemade bread, produce, milk, garlic bread, ice cream, and 2 meals worth of ribs.

I have to admit I screwed up. I could have saved more if I had read the fine print. The Triscuits, Wheat Thins, and 100 Calorie Packs were on sale 2/$4, but there was a limit of 2 per transaction. I bought 4 each in 2 transactions and had to pay $0.79 each for 2 boxes of crackers and $1.19 each for 2 boxes of 100 Calorie Packs, when I could have bought 2 each in my 4 transactions and gotten them all for free. Sigh. This has happened to me before, so you would think I would learn to read the fine print!

On a more positive note, I received some rebate checks in the mail from items I had bought in February and April. Since the purchase of those items came out of the grocery budget, the checks go back into the grocery budget.

Groceries: $51.17 (59 items)
Target: $0 (5 items)
Rebate Checks Received: -$3.47 (Grande Chips) and -$3.69 (All-Bran)
Week 2 Total: $44.01
Week 1 Total: $38.47
June Total so far: $82.48

How about you? Are you getting better at the grocery game? Is your monthly bill lower?