Saturday, January 30, 2010

Coupon High- or low :)


It's been a while since I have updated about couponing. It's not because I have fallen off the bandwagon, I just haven't taken the time to take pics or document stuff, but after this weekend's trip I couldn't resist documenting this trip as I am on a coupon high from it, haha!

In planning my trip to Kroger, there were some items that we use frequently that were on sale so I planned to really stock up on stuff. This is a mega sale event week, I had a couple of coupons for free items, and I had a $5 off of a $75 purchase coupon from our Entertainment Book, so I decided that to maximize savings I would go in for a BIG shopping trip. We budget using the Dave Ramsey system to spend $34 a week on groceries and this has proven to work for us. I decided though to spend more this week and stock up on some stuff and then spend less in later weeks this month. I was quite happy with the results. A few friends have asked me what I buy, is it a lot of packaged food, etc. Stop reading now if you will be bored to tears with a recitation of my grocery list. Keep reading if your curious. I must admit that I enjoy seeing what other people are purchasing. Laugh, you feel a bit vulnerable though putting your grocery purchases out there for the world to see...no judging please :)!!

Here is the breakdown:

Mega Deal- buy 10 save $5
4 packages of Kraft cheese- 1.50 each
2 packages Mission Tortillas- Free!
1 Nature Valley Cashew Nut Clusters- .19
1 Chex Mix- Free
1 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers- .89 (a splurge, but worth it- yummy!)
1 Coffeemate Creamer (big bottle!)- 1.89

Coupons for Free Items
1 box of Tampax tampons- one week Aaron was went to the store to by one thing and it printed out this catalina, laugh. Not exactly sure how we earned this, but we'll take it.
1 Digorno 200 Calorie Pizza Portions

Items that I purchased without any coupons
2 cans of Kroger Pinto beans- .62 each
2 packages of pasta- .69 each
1 dozen large eggs- .88
1 two pound bag of Kroger honey nut cheerios- 2.99
1 Kroger creamy peanut butter 1.79 (this goes on sale much cheaper, but when you need it you need it!)
1 Kroger Flour 1.49
1 Kroger sandwich bags 1.55
1 jar minced garlic 1.50
1 can tomato paste .60
1 bottle Kroger contact solution 2.00
1 loaf Earthgrains Wheat Bread 2.50
3 bags of Kroger tortilla chips 1.00 each
3.5 pounds chicken breast- 7.07
2 pounds Anjou Pears- 1.98
1 bunch of bananas- 1.26
1 yellow onion- .42
2 green bell peppers- 1.58
1 bunch celery- 1.49
1 bunch romain lettuce- 1.99
1 bunch green onions- .63
1 jalapeno pepper- .23
1 tomato- .31
1/2 gallon Kroger skim milk- 1.99

Additional items purchased with coupons
3 packages Bumble Bee Tuna- 1 free, others .25 each
4 boxes Cascadian Farms Organic granola- .99 each
2 packages Wonka gummies- Free!
2 packages Martha White muffin mix- .45 each

Final Breakdown
kroger plus saving- 42.48
coupon savings- 29.58
total number of items- 51
total spent- 54.54
total savings- 72.06 or 59%

***That is a total of 126.60 worth of food for 54.54 (also it printed out one of those catalinas for another free box of tampons )

So you might look at this assortment and wonder what we are eating this week...here is the plan:

Breakfasts
weekday- whipped banana oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, eggs,
weekend- try this cinnamon roll recipe

Lunches
PBJ or PB and honey, tuna salad pitas, or leftover burritos
chips, chex mix, celery, carrot sticks
pears or bananas

Dinners
Burritos
Balsamic Thyme Chicken- i have made this twice now, the first time was fantastic, the second just so so, we'll see how it goes this time
Wednesday- eat at Church growth group
Homemade Pizza
Chicken Tortilla Soup- a repeat from last week but we love it, its nice and easy, and perfect for the cold weather.
Lasagna

sides- steamed broccoli, salad, peas, mashed potatoes, rolls, cornbread.

That is little glimpse into our cart/kitchen!

Part 2 of Emma tonight...YAY!!

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Thank you for posting this! Very inspiring and helpful and definitely urges me to try to save more!

Wish Smith's would take a hint from K. Roger . . .

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Score!!! You did great! You had some great coupons.

I shopped the mega event on Friday, doing the "deal" 3 times. Here is my final breakdown:

Kroger Plus Savings: $51.96
Coupon Savings: $18.20
Total number of items: 65
Total Spent: $104.81
Total Saved: $70.16 (42%)

Isn't the whipped banana oatmeal good? I ate it for dinner tonight. I made the bread machine cinnamon rolls and they turned out great, however I would recommend baking them the same day that you mix the dough. I mixed the dough and made the rolls Saturday night, then put them in the refrig overnight and baked them this a.m. They tasted great but they did rise a good bit even in the refrigerator so by the time they were baked they had morphed into great tasting but wonky looking cinnamon rolls.

Michelle Smith said...

yay! thanks for posting! i love it :) going to do my mega event shopping this week, so we'll see how it goes. i haven't been doing so well lately with the couponing, but maybe this week will help me get back into it.

i was going to do the cinnamon rolls this weekend, but never got around to it, but i'm definitely gonna try them! i'm glad i saw the previous comment, too b/c i was going to make them the night before, so that's good to know :)

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

One more cinnamon roll tip: the recipe calls for 1 egg and 2 egg whites, I just used 2 eggs instead because I hate wasting part of an egg.

Paula said...

You've challenged me, Susie! I need to analyze last week's list!

Emily said...

Hey Susie,
This link made me think of you- the Coupon Saving Queen :) I thought you might enjoy thinking about how much you are saving over a lifetime!!! (it's from my company's blog)
http://blog.xcentric.com/2010/02/17/how-much-can-coupons-save-you-a-cpa-friendly-graph/

p.s. I used some coupons yesterday and thought of you :)
p.s.s. LOVE your blog...so glad I found it :)