Coupon Savings Week of 8/1 - My Second Week Back in the Game

This week can be easily summed up as cereal week for me.  I was able to get some great deals on cereal and replenish our supply that has diminished since March. I ended up with 19 boxes of cereal!  To some of you this may seem excessive, however my family goes through cereal rather quickly.  The boys usually have it for breakfast and a before bed snack (sometimes I join them).  Daphne loves trying out her new teeth by eating dry cereal.

This week again reminded me how much I enjoy couponing and being able to save my family money.  Our basement storage area is getting so full that we will need to add another set of shelves.  I realize how fortunate we are to need more space for food storage, there are families out there that can barely get anything to eat.  The food pantry at our church needed donations. It felt wonderful to be able to go into my basement and fill bags of food and personal items to donate.  I am trying to be very mindful of when the amount of an item is getting out of control and then donate some of what I have purchased.  Most of the items I donate were free or less than $1 so it is very little out of pocket for me but can make a huge difference for someone else.

This month I mostly donated meal kits, cereal, pasta, and deodorant.  When I first started couponing I was able to get at least 20 bars of deodorant in the first few weeks.  There is no way we would use all of that.  I also accumulated a nice stockpile of cereal and pasta.  All of the pasta was free and the cereal was fairly inexpensive.  After shopping this week the storage area is looking full and in a few weeks will be ready for another round of donations.  I am going to try to donate to the food pantry once a month.

Liam and Evan love to help me bring all my purchases down to the basement for storage.  Liam is old enough now that he can go down to the "store" and pick what he wants.  He always goes down and asks if anyone else wants something.

The only difficult part of having such a great supply of food is that I seem to be the only one that knows what is down there.  I think if everyone in the family knew what we had, we would be enjoying the fruits of my labor much more. Anyone have tips for how to spread the word?

I made it to Meijer, Walgreens, Kroger, CVS and Target this week.  Giant Eagle always throws me off since their ads run Thursday to Wednesday. It did make it nice since I didn't have to stop by there yesterday.  I can easily run to Giant Eagle during lunch next week to pick up the few things that I need.

This week I spent $126.93 on all of our home, grocery and personal care needs.  I saved $204.20. Summaries, spending breakdown by store, and what I purchased can by found below in my earlier posts.

Kroger Week of 8/1 - A sale combined with coupon match ups = great deals!

Kroger:
Spent:  $36.05
Saved:  $82.60
Purchased:
2 bottles of All Free & Clear detergent
1 box Nature Valley Granola bars
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3 boxes Cherrios
4 boxes Fiber One bars
1 box CoCo Puffs
1 box Quaker Oat Squares cereal
1 box Life cereal
1 box Crunch Berries
1 bottle Tide detergent
2 boxes Quaker instant oatmeal
1 pack fresh strawberries
3 Cover Girl eye shadows
4 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
2 boxes Golden Grahams snack bars
1 bag Nature Valley granola

Kroger had two deals running this weekend.  They are continuing with the P&G $4.00 off if you by 4 of the listed items.  I bought the Tide detergent and 3 eye shadows to qualify for the extra $4.00.  The Tide was originally $10.99 the P&G deal made the price $8.99. I had a $1 coupon and a Cellfire coupon that gave me an additional $3.00 off.  This made the bottle of Tide $5.99.

I keep getting an offer on the bottom of my receipt to sign up for the Rewards Mastercard.  If you apply and are approved you get a $25 Kroger gift card.  I am not really interested in using the card as we don't do that anymore, but would like the $25.  What are your thoughts on doing this?

Coupon Savings Week of 5/16 - Kroger

I was able to stock up on juice and water at Kroger this week.  My kids go through cycles where they will want juice all the time, to not really wanting it at all. We are at a juice all the time point in their drinking cycle so having this on hand for such a cheap price is great.  I am dieting so I bought the Tropicana 50 juice which has less fat and calories, so if the kids don't drink it, I will.

Checkout Summary:
Total spent:  $38.92
Total savings:  $49.42
Earned: $5.00 toward next order

Order Summary:
10 Beechnut baby food jars
4 24 packs of Nestle water
1 2 liter of Diet Mt. Dew
2 Jumbo packs of huggies
2 packs Oscar Meyer light bologna
1 bag Dole salad
6 cartons Tropicana 50
1 box Kelloggs Blueberry mini-wheats
4 packs of blackberries
1 cucumber
1 bunch of green onions

Kroger sometimes sends me special coupons, I was able to get the salad and 1 pack of bologna for free.  I had a coupon for $1.00 off of two Oscar Meyer meats and they were on sale for $0.98 each so I ended up getting both for free.  I got the mini-wheats for free because I emailed a complaint to Kelloggs when one of the boxes of their mini-wheats was seriously lacking in frosting.  They sent me the coupon as a thank you for my feedback.

Blackberries were $1 each, the cucumber was $0.55 and the green onions were $0.50.  The baby food was 10 for $4.00.  I didn't have coupons for any of these items but the prices were good and we will use them so I went ahead and picked them up.

I had 6 coupons for $1.00 off of Tropicana 50 juice.  It was on sale this week for $2.38, using the $1.00 off made each carton $1.38 which is a pretty good price for juice. 

The water was a pretty good deal.  It was on sale for $3.34 a pack and I had coupons that were $1.00 off of 2 packs.  There was also a Catalina deal which is how I got $5.00 toward my next order.  That made the 4 packs of water $6.34 or $1.59 each.  We usually don't buy bottled water but at those prices it is nice to have when we are on the go or when we have company.

Diapers and baby products make it difficult to keep a really low grocery bill.  I know some of the bargain hunters are able to get all of their products for less than $40 a week.  I have certainly lowered my grocery bill by using coupons and stock piling but I don't think I am that low. 

I was able to get a good deal on diapers at Kroger this week.  Huggies were on sale for $8.99 and I had 2 $3.00 coupons.  This took the price for each pack to $5.99 which is a good price.  Kroger was also running a promotion that gave you and instant $3.00 off your order if you purchase $15.00 in Huggies products.  This made the diapers $4.49 a pack.

Kroger TRIPLE Coupons!

This week Kroger had triple coupons which means that any coupon $0.50 or under will be tripled.  I had my short list for Kroger but decided to take a little longer for shopping this week to make sure I maximized the triple coupon savings.  As I sorted through my coupons for those that were expired, I pulled out the ones that were $0.50 or less.  I had the organized by type when I went to the store and basically went down each isle looking at the coupons and item prices.  I was able to snag a few more deals that had I stuck to my original list.  However, the savings with triple coupons on most items was not as great as I had anticipated.  Maybe they know what coupons are out there so they don't offer sales on many of the items that a coupon would apply to.

I had three orders this week.  I made a mistake and put my Grands on separate orders, had I put them on the same order I would have earned $2 toward my next order.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  There wasn't really and logic to putting them on separate orders, just didn't think it through.

Order Summary:
Spent:  $39.01

Saved:  $115.73

Purchased:
7 2 liters of Diet Coke
2 bottles Lysol all purpose cleaner
2 spray bottles Lysol bathroom cleaner
2 bottles Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
2 spray bottle Lysol antibacterial kitchen cleaner
1 bottle Sun laundry detergent
4 Pillsbury Grands biscuits
1 pack Arm & Hammer dryer sheets
2 Suave kids body wash
2 5 lb bags Gold Medal flour
2 cans Carnation evaporated milk
4 3 packs of Irish Spring
3 Secret deodorants
6 Betty Crocker warm delights
1 Oscar Meyer lunchable
1 French's Worchestershire Sauce
1 box Hefty kids cups
1 Betty Crocker frosting
3 Listerine pocket strips
1 Progresso light soup
2 Campbell's condensed soups
3 boxes 90 calorie Fiber One bars
3 boxes Chex Mix turtle bars
1 bottle Softsoap liquid
2 bottles Suave lotion

I also received a coupon for a free 2 liter of diet Mountain Dew.  I will be sure to pick this up when I go Krogering next week!

Coupon Savings Week of 3/14 - Kroger

Order Quick View:  Spent:  $35.99

Total Savings: $93.75

Earned: $1 on my next order

Purchased:
9 Tyson Anytizer frozen snacks
2 Oscar Meyer bacon
2 Capri Sun packs
4 Ronzoni pasta boxes
3 Flintstones Gummy vitamins
1 Bumblebee Tuna pouch
1 4 pack light bulbs
1 Macaroni Grill meal helper
2 Turtle Chex Mix
3 Del Monte Fruit Naturals
1 King Size Reese's Cup
1 20 oz. Coke Zero
2 Warm Delights
4 Snickers
7 2 liters Diet Coke
1 large bag Reese's Pieces

This week I had three orders and two trips to Kroger. The two trips was not by choice.  I stopped there before dropping off the kids to pick up drinks for Liam's snack day.  The plan was to complete my list while I had all 3 kids at the store.  Thankfully, the sitter called and was able to take them so the first trip included only the 2 packs of Capri Sun and the 2 packs of Oscar Meyer bacon.  I had $1.50 each pack of bacon and they were on sale for $2.99. I didn't know there was a catalina deal as well where I received $1.00 off my next order with the bacon purchase.  With the price, coupons, and $1 this made the bacon $0.99 a pack.

When I went back to Kroger later in the afternoon, I was able to split my purchases into the two separate orders that were originally planned.  I did most of my coupon match ups on my own using the Kroger ad.  I had a tip from the blogs on the Ronzoni pasta which I used a $0.75 coupon on each of the 4 I purchased.

I made sure to buy 8 of the required items on each order to get the benefit of the March to Savings event.  This gave reduced prices on certain items and $4.00 off at the end of the order.  Tyson frozen anytizers were part of the sale, once you purchased 8 items the price was $2.49  I had a few $1 off coupons, 1 $1.50 off, and some $0.55 coupons.  This made the price of them $1.50, $1, and $1.40.  I had one for dinner last night and it was pretty good.  I like having items like this to have around for a quick dinner.

I had coupons for $0.50 off two Snickers and Kroger had them 2 for $1. After the coupon and it being doubled, they were free.

My boys really like the Flintstones Sour Gummy vitamins, they are usually pretty expensive but Kroger had them on sale for $4.99 and I had a few $1 off coupons.  This let me pick up 3 bottles of the vitamins for $3.99 each.

Details for the three orders are below:
Kroger Order #1
Spent:  $6.90

Total Savings: $9.00

Earned: $1 on my next order

Purchased:
2 packs Oscar Meyer bacon
2 boxes of Capri Sun

Kroger Order #2:
Spent:  $16.11

Total Savings: $29.27

Purchased:
4 2 liters of Diet Coke
4 Tyson Anytizer snacks
1 Turtle Chex Mix
1 Warm Delights
1 bottle Flintstones vitamins
2 Snickers
1 Bumblebee tuna pack
2 boxes Ronzoni pasta

Kroger Order #3: 
Spent:  $12.98

Total Savings: $55.48

Purchased:
5 Tyson Anytizer snacks
1 Turtle Chex Mix
1 Warm Delights
2 Snickers
2 boxes Ronzoni pasta
1 Romano's Macaroni Grill meal helper
2 bottles Flintstones vitamins
3 2 liters of Diet Coke
3 Del Monte Fruit Naturals
1 large bag Reese's Pieces
1 King Size Reese's cup (won in the Kroger march to savings online sweeps)
1 box light bulbs (had coupon for one free box from Kroger)
1 20 oz Coke Zero (won in the Kroger march to savings online sweeps)

On this last order I used $10.50 earned last week after purchasing all the fruit snacks and getting $3.50 for every 5 boxes purchased.

Coupon Savings Week of 3/7 (Part 1)

I was able to stop at CVS and Kroger before heading home today. Did pretty well at Kroger since I had $20 from last week to put toward my order for this week. I also used the three order method this time to maximize my money toward the next order.

This week was all about stocking up on fruit snacks. I bought some last week and the kids have been loving them. Also, if you buy 5 or more you get $3.50 toward your next order. I had two orders with 6 fruit snacks each (my coupon was $0.50 off two) so this let me get $10.50 toward my next order.

In total I spent $19.71 out of pocket at Kroger and I received $10.50 toward my next shopping trip so the actual money spent was $9.21 for all three Kroger orders detailed below.

At CVS I used $3.50 in Extra Care Bucks that I earned last week and spent $22.89 out of pocket. I earned $11 in Extra Care Bucks for my next order so the actual money spent was $11.89 for the items purchased at CVS.

Kroger - Order Number 1:
Spent: $1.84
Total Savings: $25.55
Received $3.50 for my next order
What I purchased:
6 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
2 Betty Crocker mashed potato packets
3 Betty Crocker Warm Delights

Kroger - Order Number 2:
Spent: $17.13
Total Savings: $17.86
Received $3.50 for my next order
What I purchased:
2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
2 Betty Crocker Mashed Potato packets
6 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
1 bottle of Tide detergent

Kroger - Order Number 3:
Spent: $0.74
Total Savings: $17.20
Received $3.50 for my next order
What I purchased:
6 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks

Total Items for All Three Kroger Orders:
6 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
4 Betty Crocker Mashed Potato packets
1 bottle of Tide detergent
18 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks

CVS:
Spent: $22.89
Total Savings: $30.74
Earned $11 in Extra Care Bucks to use on my next order
What I purchased:
2 bottles of Cascade liquid dishwasher detergent
1 bottle of Tide detergent
1 Venus Embrace razor kit
1 Hershey bar (Evan was with me)
4 boxes of Raisin Bran

Coupon Savings Week of 2/28 (Part 2)

I finished my shopping today. I think I figured out the trick at Kroger but should have planned better for Walgreens. Meijer was okay, the number is a little higher than I would like it to be but I also purchased some clearance clothes for the kids.

My trick at Kroger was figuring out how many of a certain item I had to buy to get money toward my next order. Once I figured that out, I broke my order into 3 separate transactions to maximize the savings. All of this planning was done at home, prior to going to the store. I had my list for each order and was able to get out of the store in about a half hour (maybe less).

In total I spent $50.79 at Kroger, but I received $20 toward my next shopping trip so the actual money spent was $30.79 for all three Kroger orders detailed below.

At Walgreens, I purchased Starbucks drinks that were 4 for $5. I only printed 2 $1 off coupons so I got 4 for $3. In hindsight, I should have printed two more coupons so I would have received 4 for $1.

Kroger - Order Number 1:
Spent: $17.81
Total Savings: $36.83
Received $6.50 for my next order
What I purchased:
1 box Kroger Chewy Granola Bars
5 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars
5 boxes Fiber One Bars
4 bags of Chex Mix

Kroger - Order Number 2:
Spent: $13.99
Total Savings: $32.08
Received $6.50 for my next order
What I purchased:
2 bags of Chex Mix
5 boxes of Fiber One Bars
2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
2 Betty Crocker Mashed Potato packets
4 boxes of Nature Valley Granola Bars

Kroger - Order Number 3:
Spent: $18.99
Total Savings: $31.15
Received $7.00 for my next order
What I purchased:
5 boxes of Fiber One Bars
1 bag of Green Giant Steamed Vegetables
2 bags of Chex Mix
2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
6 boxes of Fruit Snacks

Total Items for All Three Kroger Orders:
1 box Kroger Chewy Granola Bars
9 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars
15 boxes Fiber One Bars
8 bags of Chex Mix
4 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
2 Betty Crocker Mashed Potato packets
1 bag of Green Giant Steamed Vegetables
6 boxes of Fruit Snacks

Walgreens:
Spent: $8.94
Total Savings: $34.50
What I purchased:
4 Starbucks drinks
12 Right Guard Deodorants

Meijer:
Spent: $47.75
Total Savings: $141.54 (this includes non-coupon savings of $125.04)
Received $4.00 off my next order of $60 or more. I used the same coupon for the order today, just use it FIRST. As long as the register total is $60 you get the $4.00 off. I was then able to have him apply the $4.00 I received toward my next order from last week as well as the manufacturer coupons.
What I purchased:
2 pairs of pants for Daphne
1 pair of jeans for Daphne
1 pull over fleece for Liam
2 long sleeve tees for Liam
1 fleece outfit by Carters for Daphne
1 Gallon 2% Milk
3 boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal
3 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Sprays
1 Sure Deodorant
6 bottles of Dynamo Laundry Detergent

Coupon Savings Week of 2/28 (Part 1)

Kroger is having a great sale this week. I am spending the extra money we have and stocking up on what I can. Ideally once I have a nice stockpile of non-perishable goods, I will be able to spend $30-$70 a week on great deals and replenishing depleted items.

I still have a few items to pick up at Meijer and Walgreens. I might stop back by Kroger tomorrow to stock up on a few more items and use the $9.00 I earned for my next order. I was amazed when the register total before the scanned coupons was $157.00, once all the coupons were applied my total was $67.

The total savings includes coupons, bonus coupons, and card savings.

Kroger:
Spent: $67.49
Total Savings: $144.00
Received $9.00 for my next order
What I purchased:
4 bags Green Giant Steamed Vegetables
4 boxes of Fruit Roll Ups
5 6-packs of Trix Yogurt
3 boxes of GoGurt
11 Betty Crocker Warm Delights
6 bags of Chex Mix (various flavors)
9 cans of Progresso Light Soup
1 Betty Crocker Frosting
4 Betty Crocker Mashed Potato Pouches
4 boxes Fiber One Muffin Mix
6 bags Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters
1 pack Jennie O Turkey Sausage (free with mail in rebate)
3 boxes Chex Mix Bars
1 Tide Detergent
1 Tide Stain Booster
4 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars

CVS:
Spent: $11.49
Total Savings: $8.55
Extra Care Bucks Earned: 3.50
What I purchased:
4 packs of Bower Bar Energy Gels (for Jason)
1 bottle Excedrin Back and Body
1 Gain Laundry Detergent

Giant Eagle:
Spent: $35.27
Total Savings: $41.71
Received $2.00 for my next order
What I purchased:
10 boxes Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats
4 12-packs Diet Dr. Pepper
4 boxes Super Pretzels
3 boxes Special K Granola Cereal
3 boxes Betty Crocker Muffin Mix
2 Coffee Mate Creamers

Coupon Savings Week of 2/21

I went on my first couponing trip yesterday. I think I did pretty well and expect to do better as my experience increases. I spent more than I wanted to out of pocket, but used part of my money for the week for stocking up which why I purchased so many cereals and boxed meals. Here is what I ended up with:

Giant Eagle:
Spent: $51.46

Total Savings: $47.73

What I purchased:
5 boxes Wheaties Fuel
3 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch
2 boxes Chocolate Cherrios
8 Romano's Macaroni Grill Complete Boxed Meals
8 Wanchai Ferry Complete Boxed Meals
4 packs of Starkist Tuna Creations

Kroger:
Spent: $40.11

Total Savings: $61.71

What I purchased:
5 boxes Green Giant Frozen Vegetable
5 Freschetta Pizzas
5 Oscar Meyer Lunchables
5 packs Kroger Shredded Cheese
2 boxes of Capri Sun
1 2-liter of 7-up
1 jar of Kraft Mayo
3 tubes of Chapstick
1 tube of Blistex
1 tube of Colgate

Meijer:
Spent: $16.71

Total Savings: $33.01

Money Toward Next Order: $8.00

What I purchased:
6 boxes of Grape Nuts
2 6-packs of Trix Yogurt
1 4-pack of Activia Yogurt
4 gallons 2% Milk
1 Marzetti's Salad Dressing
2 packs of Sargento Shredded Cheese
2 boxes of Orville Reddenbacher Microwave Popcorn