Weekly Summary Weekly Summary (April 19th - April 25th)

How I did last week. Oops.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Safeway: $34.62
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Shoppers: $2.00
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Shoppers: $27.55

Weekly amount spent: $64.17

Not too shabby. Someone remind me to go to Shoppers/Safeway again this week. Safeway I still need to deal with customer service (can you tell I'm putting this off??) to get my 2nd $10 CAT and we definitely need milk at Shoppers. CVS "deals" didn't seem to great this week so I'm hoping May brings better ones.

DAYS	MONEY SPENT
SEP 28 - OCT 4	$49.18
OCT 5 - OCT 11	$13.88
OCT 12 - OCT 18	$75.08
OCT 19 - OCT 25	$10.04
OCT 26 - NOV 1	$43.58
NOV 2 - NOV 8	$42.00
NOV 9 - NOV 15	$20.94
NOV 16 - NOV 22	$80.16
NOV 23 - NOV 29	$16.39
NOV 30 - DEC 6	$25.49
DEC 7 - DEC 13	$24.32
DEC 14 - DEC 20	$117.75
DEC 21 - DEC 27	$2.26
DEC 28 - JAN 3	$36.81
JAN 4 - JAN 10	$42.83
JAN 11 - JAN 17	$14.60
JAN 18 - JAN 24	$55.84
JAN 25 - JAN 31	$8.29
FEB 1 - FEB 7	$82.26
FEB 8 - FEB 14	$42.24
FEB 15 - FEB 21	$0.00
FEB 22 - FEB 28	$79.45
MAR 1 - MAR 7	$53.20
MAR 8 - MAR 14	$5.88
MAR 15 - MAR 21	$44.35
MAR 22 - MAR 28	$17.81
MAR 23 - APR 4	$39.96
APR 5 - APR 11	$50.94
APR 12 - APR 18	$1.09
APR 19 - APR 25	$64.17
APR 26 - MAY 2	$?

Shoppers... is it Ground Hog day?

Shoppers is once again this week running a triple up to $.50 and double up to and including $1.00 coupon promotion!

Hooray! Sorry for my lack of posting. I have been quite busy with work (until yesterday I hadn't had a day off since my wedding reception which we all know isn't quite the vacation one gets on a true day off) so look for a weekly summary for last week hopefully before the week is out!

And milk this week at Shoppers is.... $1.99 per gallon! Kind of glad I didn't buy milk last week like I was planning to. Definitely heading there to get milk nearly 1/2 priced! Yay!

Shoppers

Shoppers is running its double $1 and triple $.50 coupon promotion for a 2nd week in a row for select MD/DC/VA stores! Yes! Not that I actually need anymore groceries at this point, but I'll probably go back again just for fun. They also have milk on sale for $2.39 so I'll be visiting them again at the very least for the milk.

I suppose this is all because of the economy, and quite frankly, I'm not complaining! I feel very blessed that both of us are as of now gainfully employed and can afford to stock up our kitchen and not have to worry about such important things like being able to eat well if one of us were to lose a job (let's hope that doesn't happen!).

And of course, Safeway is still running its' promotion till May 5th. Plenty of time for all of us to stock up on mostly healthy food (did anyone else notice that there was plenty of junk food on the list as well?!) for April and May.

And it's finally starting to feel like spring outside too!

Safeway & Shoppers

**edit I just realized after reading another post, that you can do multiple promotions in one transaction so I should have gotten another $10 CAT. I'm going to head back to Safeway sometime this week to go to the CS and try to get the extra $10 I should have gotten**

After I left work yesterday, I went to both Safeway and Shoppers in one trip! When I came home with my several bags of groceries, the husband said that I overdid it, of course when I told him how much the groceries cost and that we wouldn't need to buy anything other than skim milk, bread and other perishables for the next few weeks, he was pretty impressed. I spent $64.17 total and got lots of stuff, including cleaning supplies!

My first stop was Safeway. I bought (items in green are part of the Living Well Feeling Great promotion):

1-12 pack Lipton Diet bottled green tea
1 18oz box Cheerios
1 box Kashi Heart Cereal
1 bag Kraft 2% singles
1 bottle Kraft free dressing
1 box Smart Balance 50/50 butter
1 jar Smart Balance peanut butter
1 bag Bertolli dinner for 2
1 package jello sugar free pudding
1 box Reynolds earth wrap foil (will mail in for free rebate)
1 bottle Dove body wash
2 bottles Green works cleanser
1 box 100 calorie packs
1 box Post Cereal trail mix (also a $.75 CAT will print when you buy 1)
2 jars Skippy peanut butter
2 bags Ronzoni Bistro (BOGO plus had BOGO coupon so free)
1 can Muer Glen tomatoes
1 bottle Clorox 2 33oz
1 box Kashi frozen entrees

- many coupons
- $5/$50 I was mailed
- $10 off frozen foods from chill out promotion
- $1.50 CAT from buying Starbucks

= $34.62 OOP
Received $10 CAT from the promotion and $.75 CAT from Post cereal promotion.
Total Savings, $69.44 or 67%!

And then Shoppers. I was so busy with reception related stuff that I wasn't able to get to Shoppers for the triple/double promotion until yesterday but it will be my only stop since we have plenty of food.

First I redeemed my rain check for the Post Raisin Bran.
I bought 4 boxes and paid $2 OOP!

Then I actually went shopping, I bought:
2 boxes of Betty Crocker warm delights minis
1 jar Betty Crocker frosting
1 box Success brown rice
1 bottle Newman's Own balsamic vinaigrette
1 container Lawsons' seasoned salt
4 boxes of Pop Tarts
6 cans of Dole diced fruit
2 boxes Oreo Fun Stixx
1 bottle Natural Source cleanser
1 bag Thomas English muffins
1 jar McCormick curry powder
1 box Puffins cereal
2 packages Mission tortillas
1 package Snyder pretzal sandwhich single serve packs
1 package Snyder multigrain chip single serve packs
2 small boxes Equal
1 bag Snyder tortilla chips
1 bag Tuna Creations
2 bags Snyder veggie chips
1 box Cascadian Farm cereal

= $27.55 OOP

33 items so about $.83 an item! Saved 65% or $50.79!

There was an older couple in front of me that spent $225 on their groceries. I can't even imagine. They used no coupons and I got a very "soccer mom" vibe from the mom - not that it's a bad thing but I imagine they probably do that every week. Even if they are feeding a family of say, 4 or 5 (the average family size in this area), that's nearly 4x what my husband and I spend. It's pretty amazing how much you can save with couponing and no matter how rich I were to ever get (knock on wood!), I don't think I would ever stop. The less you spend on groceries, cleaning supplies and simple things like toilet paper, the more you can spend on fun things and the more you can save. It's not only for people scrimping for money, it can really be beneficial for everyone with minimal costs and time once you get the hang of it.

Is anyone else simply amazed at what others spend on groceries?

Is It Really Over?

It's amazing what a wedding reception can do to a week of blogging, or rather the lack of blogging! I was able to get to CVS this week and the husband picked up some bread, but otherwise, I was either making something, making lists of things yet to be done or worrying about last minute stuff. Thankfully, we have plenty of food in the house and didn't need to worry about things other than bread or milk, but I figured that a shopping trip would help calm me down so I hit CVS on Friday morning and the husband went and bought bread Friday evening since I was in no state to do so. I think between reception nerves and the weird weather fluctuations, my body said "No!" and I spent the entire day (except for the super short CVS trip) on the couch.

Anyway, mostly fun stuff was bought (except for the milk/paper towels):
$2.50 Nivea lipbalm
$7.99 Venus Embrace razor
$3.99 Colgate toothpaste
$4.99 Softsoap body wash/scrub
$7.79 Neutrogena mineral sheers blush
$7.79 Neutrogena mineral sheers blush
$3.39 gallon skim milk
$6.99 Skin Effect foaming cleanser
$7.49 Viva paper towels

- $1/1 Nivea
- $1/1 Colgate
- $1/1 Softsoap
- $3/$15 Neutrogena CRT
- $3/2 Neutrogena
- $3/1 Venus CRT
- $4/$20 CVS Beauty Coupon (was e-mailed)
- $5.00 Skin Effect CRT
- $10.00 Extra Bucks

= $23.40 OOP but really nothing thanks to a gift card!
And I received $2 for the Viva, $3.99 for the Colgate, $4.99 for the Softsoap, $4.00 for the Venus or $14.98 in Extrabucks. Not too shabby.

I also used a gift card so it wasn't really anything out of pocket. =)

Then the husband went to Safeway and bought (drum roll please):
$1.09 1 loaf bread

$1.09 OOP

We went out to dinner Friday, had a "dress rehearsal" dinner Saturday and of course the wedding reception meal earlier today. Plenty of food and plenty of leftover cake! Tiramisu, lemon curd and cream and chocolate mint cake for the win!

As far as blogging goes, I am not going to be posting a weekly summary since it would be so boring. Oh gee, $1.09! How exciting! But I've of course put it in my table for tracking purchases. Just think, I could spend $98 this week (not that I would, we have so much food) and still be under budget!

However, I am going to Safeway tomorrow to do a round of the new promotion out. I am slowly working through coupon matching set ups, plus I need to remember to roll the $10 from the Chill Out promotion. I also want to hit Shoppers to redeem my rain check. And I have to go to the MVA to get my license changed to my new name!

Weekly Summary (April 4th - April 11th)

How I did this week:

Sunday, April 5, 2009 CVS: $8.93
Sunday, April 5, 2009 Shoppers: $12.46
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Safeway: $25.55
Thursday, April 9, 2009 Target: $0.00
Saturday, April 11, 2009 Safeway: $4.00

= $50.94 OOP for the week $.94 over budget not a huge deal for me obviously

DAYS	MONEY SPENT
SEP 28 - OCT 4	$49.18
OCT 5 - OCT 11	$13.88
OCT 12 - OCT 18	$75.08
OCT 19 - OCT 25	$10.04
OCT 26 - NOV 1	$43.58
NOV 2 - NOV 8	$42.00
NOV 9 - NOV 15	$20.94
NOV 16 - NOV 22	$80.16
NOV 23 - NOV 29	$16.39
NOV 30 - DEC 6	$25.49
DEC 7 - DEC 13	$24.32
DEC 14 - DEC 20	$117.75
DEC 21 - DEC 27	$2.26
DEC 28 - JAN 3	$36.81
JAN 4 - JAN 10	$42.83
JAN 11 - JAN 17	$14.60
JAN 18 - JAN 24	$55.84
JAN 25 - JAN 31	$8.29
FEB 1 - FEB 7	$82.26
FEB 8 - FEB 14	$42.24
FEB 15 - FEB 21	$0.00
FEB 22 - FEB 28	$79.45
MAR 1 - MAR 7	$53.20
MAR 8 - MAR 14	$5.88
MAR 15 - MAR 21	$44.35
MAR 22 - MAR 28	$17.81
MAR 23 - APR 4	$39.96
APR 5 - APR 11	$50.94
APR 12 - APR 18	$1.09
APR 19 - APR 25	$?
APR 26 - MAY 2	$?

Safeway (I think?)

The husband went to pick up milk yesterday. His first stop at CVS was less than successful, the milk was bad and he had to return it (considering it was disgusting outside this was most unfortunate) but I think he eventually went to Safeway. We'll say $4 for budgeting purchases?

$4.00 OOP

Target

Nothing very exciting. I stopped by Target after work to do a return and pick up more fruit snacks for the husband (yep, still weird).

I got 2 boxes of Market Pantry fruit snacks, "paid $3.04" and used a gift card from Capital One (of course) so nothing out of pocket.

Safeway

I had to run to Safeway to get bread and take advantage of the Super Coupons that were expiring and/or starting today.

I bought:
1 box Natures Valley value pack granola bars
2 bottles of orange cream seltzer
1 box of Life cereal
1 bag of Oreo cookies
1 box of whole wheat Ritz crackers
1 bag of Starbucks coffee (when you buy this you get a CAT for $1.50 off your next purchase!)
1 18-ct Lucerne eggs
1 lb Lucerne butter
1 loaf of Nature's Pride bread
1 box of Seapak frozen salmon with butter sauce

= $25.55 OOP

Even without any coupons (other than the super) I saved 51% or $27.

Shoppers & CVS

Shoppers is running a promotion with Post cereal that would have been wonderful had they actually had the cereal in stock. I was promised that I would be able to use the current promotion(s) when they get some more. We'll see how that goes.

The current Post deal is:
They are on sale for $2.00 each. The 3/29 insert had a $1.00/2 coupon, which will double, plus you can use the $1.00/2 from the front of the Shoppers ad - I don't think this doubles -. There is also a Catalina running: buy 3, get $2.00; buy 4, get $3.00, and buy 5 and get $5.00 back.

I have no idea when the Catalina promo ends, but I'm hoping that they'll honor my coupons, doubles and the Catalina the next time I can get there. Hopefully.

Anyway, first I went to CVS where I bought:
$7.00 Cover Girl mascara
$13.00 Cover Girl foundation
$4.99 Revlon Simply Matte eyeshadow
$0.00 Revlon Simply Matte eyeshadow (BOGO)
$.99 Puffs tissues
$.99 Puffs tissues

- $2/1 CAT for Revlon
- $2/1 Revlon
- $1/1 Revlon
- $4/1 Cover Girl foundation
- $1/1 Cover Girl mascara
- $2 Extrabucks
- $4 Extrabucks
- $3 Extrabucks

= $8.93 OOP

And received $10 for the Cover Girl deal. The Revlon products turned out free:
spent $4.99 (for 2 eyeshadows that are on sale buy 1 get 1 free - I believe the limit is 6 products total)
- $2
- $2
- $1
= -$.01 I guess technically, I made a cent?

And then Shoppers. I bought:
$3.79 1 Cream of Wheat ($1.79 after doubled coupon)
$1.79 1 box of Truvia sweetener (on markdown)
$2.19 1 box Success brown rice ($.19 after doubled coupon)
$2.50 Nestle truffles ($.50 after doubled coupon)
$1.89 Quaker popcorn cakes (FREE plus $.11 overage!)
$2.29 Starkist Tuna Creation ($.29 after doubled Vocal Point coupon)
$2.29 Starkist Tuna Creation ($.29 after doubled Vocal Point coupon)
$2.29 Starkist Tuna Creation ($.29 after doubled Vocal Point coupon)
$2.29 Starkist Tuna Creation ($.29 after doubled Vocal Point coupon)
$3.00 Gatorade G2 powder ($1 after doubled coupon)
$4.79 Finish Electrosol detergent tabs ($2.79 after doubled coupon)
$3.49 Del Monte large grapefruit fruit cup ($1.49 after doubled coupon)
$2.79 Dannon Activia ($.79 after doubled coupon)
$2.50 Dannon La Creme ($.50 after doubled coupon)

= $12.46 OOP
"You saved a grand total of $27.63 or 70%!"
14 items - so under $1 per item!

So not too bad, but I really wish I would have been able to do the Post deal. I accidentally picked up the Kelloggs version and was back and forth between the cereal aisle and my very annoyed cashier before I gave up.

Weekly & Month Summary (March 23rd - April 4th)

How I did this week:

Monday, March 30, 2009 Giant: $10.64
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Safeway: $29.13
Saturday, April 4, 2009 CVS: $.19

= $39.96 OOP for the week

And for March?

MAR 1 - MAR 7: $53.20
MAR 8 - MAR 14: $5.88
MAR 15 - MAR 21: $44.35
MAR 22 - MAR 28: $17.81
MAR 23 - APR 4: $39.96

= $161.20 $38.80 under budget even with the extra week!

DAYS	MONEY SPENT
SEP 28 - OCT 4	$49.18
OCT 5 - OCT 11	$13.88
OCT 12 - OCT 18	$75.08
OCT 19 - OCT 25	$10.04
OCT 26 - NOV 1	$43.58
NOV 2 - NOV 8	$42.00
NOV 9 - NOV 15	$20.94
NOV 16 - NOV 22	$80.16
NOV 23 - NOV 29	$16.39
NOV 30 - DEC 6	$25.49
DEC 7 - DEC 13	$24.32
DEC 14 - DEC 20	$117.75
DEC 21 - DEC 27	$2.26
DEC 28 - JAN 3	$36.81
JAN 4 - JAN 10	$42.83
JAN 11 - JAN 17	$14.60
JAN 18 - JAN 24	$55.84
JAN 25 - JAN 31	$8.29
FEB 1 - FEB 7	$82.26
FEB 8 - FEB 14	$42.24
FEB 15 - FEB 21	$0.00
FEB 22 - FEB 28	$79.45
MAR 1 - MAR 7	$53.20
MAR 8 - MAR 14	$5.88
MAR 15 - MAR 21	$44.35
MAR 22 - MAR 28	$17.81
MAR 23 - APR 4	$39.96
APR 5 - APR 11	$?
APR 12 - APR 18	$?
APR 19 - APR 25	$?
APR 26 - MAY 2	$?

CVS

Last night we needed milk again so I went to CVS. I got my Extrabucks for the quarter ($4! Whee!) and a couple of other coupons from the red machine, but I was good and only bought milk. There are some good deals in the circulars this week, plus 3 coupon inserts! I might go buy another paper!

Friday, April 3rd:

$3.19 1 gallon skim milk

- $3.00 Extrabucks

= $.19 OOP

As of right now, at least in my area, CVS has the cheapest milk, which is amazing and convenient since I can just use Extra Bucks to pay for it.

Oh, there are also Safeway Super Coupons in tomorrow's paper - some of which aren't that great, but some that I will definitely use!

Amazon Food Deals

Most of the time I don't participate in these deals from Amazon.

a) We often stock up during grocery sales and get items cheaper.
and
b) We are only 2 people so does it make sense to buy 24 boxes of any one thing at a time? Usually, my answer is no.

Nonetheless, sometimes taking advantage of Amazon Grocery is good. Case in point. If you don't want to pay tax on items that are taxable, you can buy them through Amazon Grocery and pay no tax or shipping. If you live far away from a grocery store, having items delivered to your door, albeit a little more expensive can be cheaper in the long run.

Anyway, Amazon is currently running a few grocery deals right now:

• Save $25 when you spend $69 or more on any combination of eligible grocery products, including Stacy's, Quaker, and more sold by Amazon.com. Use the following promotional code when you check out: ALLPEPSI. LINK with more info
• Save 25% when you purchase select Zoe's Food products sold by Amazon.com. Enter code ZOEF4444 at checkout. Plus, save an additional 15% when you combine this instant rebate with your Subscribe & Save order--bringing the total savings to 40%. LINK with more info
• And a bunch of others.

We've done bulk ordering from Amazon twice and found that things are shipped well and quickly. It doesn't always work for us, but it might work for you.

Day Old Bread

I purposefully bought some day old bread (challah) the other day to mix with the several day old french bread we had leftover from the wedding to make some bread pudding. My husband informed me that he also never finished the apples I bought him so I made 2 types. Apple bread pudding and regular.

See the fruits of my labor. Heehee.



Just another way to use things up before they go bad.