This week I only went to the grocery store for double coupon day. WOW. It was incredibly busy there! Apparently everyone loved the sales they were offering! I did two transactions, then put them in my car and went back for three more. I bought 73 items, doubled 25 coupons, spent $57.26, and saved $132.13, a savings of 70%!
These items were free: 3 gallons of milk, Cool Whip, Bagel Bites, and 24 of the 32 boxes of Keebler/Kellogg's products!
These items were $1 or less: Ice cream x2, stir fry x2, Egg Beaters x2, baggies, frosting x3, cake mix x3, chocolate milk 1/2 gallon, cream cheese x2, Buddig ham x5, carrots, Warm Delights, and the other 8 boxes of Kellogg's/Keebler products.
Considering the other things I bought, I got a great deal on my groceries this week! I also bought dry milk for $16 and dry chocolate mix for $6 (I use these to make my homemade hot chocolate mix), 4 cases of Mtn Dew for $10, coffee (less than $4), pretzels, broccoli, Karo syrup, cottage cheese, and more milk.
What am I going to do with ALL this cereal? The cereal will be donated, since cereal has been on sale for the past 3 weeks and we're pretty well stocked already. I figure the food pantries probably can't get cereal as cheap as I can, so I might as well help out when I can! But it was nice to be able to buy a couple of things that I normally don't buy because they usually aren't on sale for this cheap (iced animal crackers and soft batch cookies, for example). And the white cheddar Cheez-Its? Chalk it up to pregnancy cravings! ;-)
How did you do this week? What deals did you take advantage of? Leave a comment!
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Weekly Shopping-saved 70%!
| Posted by Jessica-MomForHim at 6:47 AM | Labels: Couponing, Weekly Groceries |
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8 comments:
I spent 83.43 in 4 transactions.
I saved 79.83 in store specials and my coupons.
SO... I got 163.26 in groceries for 83.43!
I had 2 of the milk catalinas for 3.25 each, a coupon for .75 on colgate toothpaste that was on sale for .99....I doubled my coupon! I had lots of coupons for the crackers that were on sale for .99 and the cereal. I got another catalina for milk with my 4/$10 cereal buy! Plus all of the great sales on cheese, cream cheese and buddig lunch meat~that was 10 packs for $5 and I had a coupon for 1.00...so it was 10 packs for $3! Sweet!
It was a zoo in my grocery store too! I only did 2 transactions at 2 different stores since the first store said that we could only do the Kellogg's deal once. I guess there was a big argument w/ some customers b/c the store was running out of stock early in the day. Anyway, I did 2 transactions and got 8 cereal, 8 cracker/snack type items, 4-12 pks Pepsi, 2 choc chips, 2 butter, 2 block cheese, 2 chx breasts, 2 cream cheese, beef broth, and baguette (spendy, but needed it for supper last night!) for $19.93! I saved $78.54!! Woohoo! To think I could've done more if I could've done the other transaction I had ready in the first store. Oh well!!
How long does it take you to gather all these coupons? Are you able to buy the products that you like using coupons, or do you have to constantly buy different brands? How do you store all that food?
Sorry if that seems nosy...but it would be great to be able to save $132 on groceries!
Poverty Stricken Student-
Those are all really good questions, worthy of their own post! The short answer is it's about changing the way you shop--buying extra of things when they are on sale and using coupons to their maximum (which for me means shopping on double coupon days--get to know your store's policies).
It takes about an hour to gather coupons and check the sale ads, and about 1 1/2 hrs to do my multiple transactions at the store. It takes me a little longer at home because I scour the ad and put together the double coupon deal post every Tuesday so that others can just come to my blog and print off the coupons that they are interested in--saving them time and money!
One thing I do like about using coupons is I get to try new brands that I wouldn't usually buy because the product is free. I am brand-loyal for some things (diapers, toilet paper, and deodorant, for example), but otherwise my family is pretty flexible. There are some favorite items that I don't always get coupons for, but then I just watch for when those items go on sale and buy as many as I think I will need to get to the next sale (about 2 months). That's called stockpiling--so you never have to pay full-price again! Even if you don't use coupons, but shop this way, you will save a LOT of money!
The storage question is a VERY good one. My husband and I were just talking about this last night! We've decided this is NOT just another phase, it's a new way of shopping and it IS saving us a lot of money, so we need to figure out something for storage. We don't have a large pantry, so we bought one of those free-standing pantries (like a bookcase with doors) and put it in the adjoining office. We decided we now need another one to help store cereal, crackers, juice, etc. I don't want to put food in the basement, but I do keep the Mtn Dew down there, and paper towels and kleenex in those extra large Ziploc storage bags. Toilet paper and toiletries (shampoo, lotion, razors, etc) I keep in various cupboards and drawers upstairs. Extra laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, and dish soap are kept in the laundry room. Just find a nook or cranny and fill it with something--just remember to rotate your stockpile so stuff doesn't expire.
We also bought a medium sized chest freezer (not huge) that has been a BIG help. This way I can freeze all sorts of things when they are on sale (besides ice cream, pizza or vegetables, you can also freeze bread, cheese, even milk--though our family goes through it fast enough I don't need to freeze it!). Another thing I can do it buy meat when it's on sale and then either cook and freeze it or freeze it uncooked to use later. I can make extra of meals and freeze for a later meal. This saves money AND time! I have a lot of freezer recipes posted on my blog.
I also answer a lot of questions in my Coupon 101 posts, so check those out as well!
I'll do a post with this, too--since these are good questions! Thanks for asking!
Just wanted to let you know about a little Christmas present the store is giving us next Wednesday. Double up to 10 $1.00 maunfactures coupons Wednesday December 23 in a single $25 transaction.
Merry Christmas :)
Staci
I can't get off your site right now!
I came here from Amber's at Journey of Grace. I've been tinkering with Meal Planning and have used coupons in the past but really haven't saved a lot of money. I'm going to navigate on your site a little. This week I did 3 weeks of Meal Planning and did grocery lists for those three weeks (with hopes of marking some of those items off since they are not needed.) Anyhow, I'm still working on it and looking at blogs like yours for help.
Any help you may offer please send my way!! And my question #1 is how did you get three gallons of milk for free? And does your family of 6.5 drink 5 or 6 gallons/week???!!!
My email is m_franklin@vzw.blackberry.net and my site is http://mefindingmichelle.blogspot.com
THANK YOU!
Michelle-
I wasn't ignoring you, your comments went to spam! Aack! I will email you, but check out my Coupon 101 and Coupon Lingo to help you get started. You might also be interested in the Freezer Cooking Recipes I posted.
Jessica
To answer your milk question:
Yes, we do drink about 5 gallons of milk a week. For some reason other people don't, which I don't understand! Our pediatrician tells us how much milk to give our kids (2-3 glasses a day), which we follow. Ted and I only drink about 1 per day. I don't know why every family of 4+ isn't buying this much milk! I can't understand it!!
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