My couponing trip today

It has been awhile since I posted some of my couponing deals.  It is really hard to coupon in the summer with three kids in tow but now that they are back in school it is much easier.
However, I have been struggling with the conflict between getting good deals and feeding my kids healthier.  A lot of the really great deals are junk.  While I do buy some junk (I love ice cream and poptarts!) I try to limit it for my kids. 
So while I am trying to still find great deals, I am trying to incorporate healthy foods into them.  Right now Safeway has a buy 8 save .50 per item which with paired with coupons can make for some pretty good deals.  They have a lot of stuff throughout the store that they don't even have listed in their ads.  I am pretty sure I will be doing more of these deals over the next week.
Here is what I got today:

So if you ignore the ice cream cones and cheetos, I think I did pretty good.  The gum was buy one get one free and I had (2) $1/3 coupons that doubled making them $1.17 for 6 packs.  Trident is sugar free but doesn't have aspartame which I don't like, so I don't mind my kids chewing it.

The spinach and green leaf lettuces were $1 each and the jalapeno was .99c (I am making salsa this week!)  The cream cheese was buy one get one free so 2/$2.99.

The instant potatoes were free with a catalina (I know it's processed but my daughter will only eat instant garlic potatoes so sometimes I get them)

I think everything else was part of the buy 8 promo. These are the coupons I had:

 (2) $1/1 coupons for the artisan tortillas making them .49c each,

 .55c/1 dairy farmers making the cheese .74c with the doubler (so wish I had had another of those coupons!)

 the broth was 1.99 each (no coupon but it's good broth and it's organic!)

My total was $16.50 for all of that.  Not too bad considering I didn't have coupons for everything I bought.

Then I went to Rite Aid:

My total there after coupons was 7.61, I used $6 in UPs and received $10.38 back in UPs rewards.  They were running a spend $25 get a $5 UP for the past month and today was the last day to do it.  I had to spend just over $9 to get my total over $25 (I hit 25.83!)  The toothbrushes were on sale for 2.69 each and you got a 2.69 UP back plus I had a .75c off and a $1 off coupon so I really ended up making $1.75 on toothbrushes!  The mouthwash was on sale for $4 and I had a $1/1 coupon plus it put me over the 25 so I was good with that.

The tuna was buy one get one free and I had (2) $1/2 coupons so that made them .25c each!

Next week I will have over $12 in UPs to spend so I might not even have any out of pocket there.  I just love Rite Aid!!

There you go.  My big couponing for the week.  It's a good thing it was a good week b/c my grocery cash envelope only has $2 in it.  Yay for a new month starting saturday!  

My Couponing Strategies

I have had some people recently ask me how I coupon.  So I thought I would do a little series on how I do it.
     There are lots of great couponing sites out there where I have gleaned information from.  I will say right upfront that I am not an extreme couponer.  I don't clear shelves, I don't buy 20 of anything, I don't dumpster dive for coupons or buy 4 sunday papers or buy coupons off of ebay.  I am a middle of the road couponer.  I work outside of the home so I want to be a good steward of my time at home as well as my money.  And couponing can take a lot of time if you aren't careful.
     First though, I am going to talk budget.  I used to have no idea how much I spent on groceries.  I used coupons sometimes, I bought things when I saw them on sale but if I felt I really needed it, and it wasn't on sale, I would go ahead and buy it.  I used my debit card always.
     A few years ago, my husband set up a spreadsheet to track expenses (remember, he is the spreadsheet king) and it started giving us a better idea of how much we spent.  It was all over the place though.  Some months it would be $500, some $800.  It was crazy.  It wasn't unheard of for us to go to Costco and spend $200.  I will add, that at the time we were buying diapers and formula which is a big expense.  At one time, I had 2 kids in diapers and 1 in pullups at night.  That does really add up. 
     Then we started on the cash system.  My original grocery budget was $600/month.  This was for groceries and toiletries.  We did this for a year or 2. 
     Then, about a year ago, we started thinking more about trying to pay off our car and school loans.  That's when I got interested in really couponing.  I was reading blogs and seeing what people were budgeting for groceries.  The rule of thumb seemed to b $50 per person per month.  $250 a month.  I didn't think I could go from $600 to $250.  That's kind of crazy.  So I settled on $400, $100 per adult, $50 per kid, plus $50 for miscellaneous things like animals. 
     Here's the thing though.  It is really easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to what others are spending.  People have all sorts of different needs.  For example, my son is allergic to peanuts.  That counts out a lot of inexpensive, coupon friendly foods.  Instead of peanut butter which you can find super cheap, I buy lunch meat which isn't.  Instead of granola bars, again that you can find super cheap, I buy cereal bars which aren't quite as inexpensive.  So, you may be gluten free.  That adds a lot to your budget.  And that's okay.  Or you may buy only organic, that is great!  I wish I was there.  My goal is to eventually buy more organic stuff but I haven't gotten there yet.
     I love this post by Laura: our-real-food-grocery-budget because she puts it into perspective.  This is someone who used to spend $100 on groceries per month with couponing.  Now she grows a huge garden, grinds her own flour, eats organic meats and produce and dairy.  So her budget is higher and you know what?  She is okay with that.  She knows her family is eating healthier and that is more important. 
     So, do what you have to do.  Look at your budget.  You may be able to find places where you can cut back.  Toiletries is a big one.  I used to spend a ton on toilet paper, soap, toothpaste.  But I now save a lot on that stuff.  Because, there are things that I won't do without foodwise,  there are things I will spend more money on.  I wil tell you what they are later.
Next time, I will show you my system for couponing.  It's not perfect but it works for me. 

I love saving $

I guess most of us do but I know a lot of people who don't feel it is worth the effort to coupon.  Which is fine with me b/c that leaves more on the shelves for me when there are great sales.
Tuesday is typically my run errands/couponing day.  Sometimes, I am organized.  I know exactly what I want, my coupons are in order and I am all set.  Other days are more like today, where I had a general idea of what I was going to get but my coupons were all over the place and it felt a little more like work.  Plus, there was the Safeway $10/50 coupon which I sort of hate but feel compelled to use anyway.  I know there are people out there that can get their stores to take the $10 off before manufacturers coupons but I have been to 2 stores and they won't do it.  They say the computer does it for them and won't take it off unless I have $50 total and that exludes liquid diary:-(  Knowing this, and knowing I needed dog food which adds up quickly, I went ahead and used the dumb coupon.  But even though I was being careful, adding in my head the after sale/coupon price of things, I didn't count on 2 ecoupons that I had.  They were really good coupons (can I just say 24 rolls of Charmin for $6.95!) but it put me under.  So I quickly grabbed gum (buy 2 get 1 free Trident which my kids love) and yay, that put me at $50.43 so I could use the coupon and drop it to $40.43.  Phew. I still wish I could get my total under $40 but oh well.  I either gotta deal with it or don't use the coupon.

But, Albertson's.  Oh Albertson's.  I love them.  Never used to shop there b/c their ad is over the top with too much information.  And I still don't really look at the ad, I look at couponing blogs.  And this is what happens: (don't you just loovvee my new Fiestaware canisters?  They are so pretty!)

 

That's 5 boxes of pasta, 2 soy candles, 2 bottles of kids shampoo, 2 salsas, 2 Swiss Miss, 1 Finish dishwashing tabs, 1 package Halls: $4. 77.  It could have been $1 less had I not splurged in the Swiss Miss Capuccino but oh well, it was too tempting to pass up.  Quite honestly, I am not even sure how I did it.  I did have coupons for everything and 6 doublers and did this in 2 transactions (the cashier was awesome!).  The thing I love about this is that except for the hot chocolate, it is all either healthy stuff or household stuff that is needed.  One thing I don't like about couponing is seeing people get 20 boxes of fruit snacks for like $2.  Okay, really, do you need that many fruit snacks?  (Honestly, I did something like that a few months ago and haven't even touched the boxes, I think I am using them in Valentines for school).  But this shows you can get stuff you need and save lots of money.  And if I had been organized to begin with, it would have taken hardly any time at all.  

And just in case you were wondering, at Safeway, I did buy my normal groceries...eggs, milk, produce, yogurt, stuff like that.  So now I am set for the week because my pantry is full and I don't even have to go to Winco this week.  Which is super exciting!  I might have to go to Rite Aid on my way home from work instead.  I really like Rite Aid! :-) 

No More Rack

Apparently this is a new site where when you sign up you get a $10 credit.  And if you sign up here then I get an extra credit as well.  They put new deals out every day at noon and shipping is $2.
If you decide to sign up, make sure the code P1070 is in the "redeem gift card" box.  You can add it later if it doesn't work the first time.
Yesterday when I looked, they had stuff under $10 so it would be getting something for free.  Which is my favorite!
Let me know if the link doesn't work, it should bring up a box where register by putting your email and password and the spot to enter the code.

Safeway delivery

I have never had groceries delivered to me before but this was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up.  They were having a special code to get $20 off of a $50 order and free delivery.  Plus they were having a great buy one get one free sale and that comes off after you hitthe $50.  Way better deal than what I can get in the store.  Plus, Tillamook cheese was on sale for $3.99.  Since my hubby is a cheese snob so this is a great price and it lasts a long time.
Here's what I got:
     6 2pound bricks of cheddar cheese
     2 packages Jimmy Dean sausage (BOGO free)
     2 packages Hebrew National beef hot dogs (BOGO free)
     2 packages Thomas' English muffins (BOGO free)
Total before savings comes off $52.68.  After $18.41!!  Seriously, that is a great deal and I didn't have to worry about coupons.  Plus, since it's free delivery, I could pick a 1 hour delivery window and they deliver in the evening so I will get it tomorrow night.
The only thing that could have made this deal better is getting the .25c/pound turkey (when you spend $50).  Apparently they were out of the turkeys but I didn't need it for Thanksgiving anyway so it's fine.
I know, I get so excited about this stuff don't I?  I just love saving money.

It's been a while...

This summer has been crazy and really hard to coupon with three kids.  My little one is soooo easy to take shopping when I don't have the 2 older ones to contend with.  This is the first week of school and I already have done a lot of shopping.  Here is my score today.  I spent $11.18 which seems like a lot actually but I had to get some essentials like milk and yogurt.  If you take the milk (1.99) and yogurt (6.75 all together) that leaves $2.44 for three bags of tortilla chips and three boxes of toothpaste.  The chips were $1.49 and I had (3) .55c/1 coupons and the toothpaste was $1.49 as well if you buy 3 and I had (3) .75c/1 coupons plus doublers.  So the toothpaste was .24c each and the chips were roughly .57c each.
I could have made money on the toothpaste if my Safeway doubled internet coupons b/c I have (3) $1/1 coupons that could be doubled.  I may still go to another one and see if I can do it again.  Even though I honestly have more toothpaste now than I know what to do with, I could always give it away to shelters or for our Operation Christmas Child boxes that we do every year.
Now that the kids are back in school, I am hoping to be back here more often!

Aha moment

You know that moment where you finally come to a realization and wonder what took you so long to see it?  I had that today.
I had big plans for today.  I was going to study.  After dropping my kids off at school, I was going to put a movie in for Sweet Pea and study for 2 hours.  That was my plan.  Well, that was plan B.  Plan A didn't work out. 
If you know me, you know I like to procrastinate.  So sitting down to study is really hard which is why I had a plan.  Then I decided to deviate from it.  Plan C: I was just going to run to Safeway, do some couponing stuff and come home and study.  I really should have stuck with Plan B.  I thought I did pretty well at Safeway.  I was stocking up on tp (.23c per roll which is better than Costco), 3 boxes of tampax for just over $3,(... and man I just realized I forgot to give my yogurt coupons, such a bummer!), plus they were still doing a frozen food thing spend $25 get $10 cat and I had a $10 cat to spend.  I planned it all perfectly.
I came home thinking I did pretty well until I noticed theFoodDay on my driveway.  It never comes on tuesday morning.  If I had known it was coming tuesday morning I would have come home.  What was in there?  A $10 off if you spend$50 coupon.  I could have saved $10!!  That really eats away at me.  Especially when I am trying so hard to save money on the one thing I can save money on, my groceries.
It really has bothered me all day.  Until about an hour ago and I realized something.  Had I followed through on my plan.  Had I been obedient to God.  Because He got me into this class, He wants me to pass, and I really need to study.  I cannot stress that enough.  Had I listened to Him and came home to study for 2 hours, I would have had that coupon arrive and been able to use it before picking Princess up from school.
What I realized in my Aha moment is that I really honestly and truly need to give everything to God.  Everything.  Did you catch that?  Because I obviously need reminding constantly.  Even the things I feel I can have control of like couponing.  That is what I am talking about.  It is easy for me to give my studying to Him b/c I sort of already feel out of control with it.  But couponing is something I have been trying to do by myself.  I have been trying to be good stewards of the money God has given us but haven't been relying on Him with how to really do that. 
So I am going to try really hard to stop obsessing about couponing and give it to Him.  It seems like such a trivial thing to waste His time on but I know that is what He is there for. 

Groceries again...

Since I am going to bore you with more grocery shopping stuff, I took a picture:

I got all of this for...$42.07 which I feel is pretty good.  It could have been a little better and I will tell you why.

The paper towels, TP and bounce ball were $22.47.  If they had had the correct kind of both it would have been a better transaction and I would not have had to buy the bounce ball.  As it was, the tp was on sale for $13.99 + $3 off as an ecoupon and $1 off manufacturers coupon.  The bounce ball had a $1off ecoupon and was already on sale for $4.99.  But I did get a $10 catalina which rolled to my next transaction.  (yes, I actually did 2 transactions in one but asked the cashier first and she was super nice!!) (If they had had the correct sizes of tp and paper towels, I would have only spent $11.98 and gotten the $10 cat so that is a bummer but what are you going to do? It was still a good deal)

Here, I spent $19.60.  This is really where you can see the savings I think.  Disregard the tp and make it 4 milks.  I had a coupon for the cereal buy cereal +milk get $2 off cereal. The cereal was on sale for $2 so go it free, plus got a $3 catalina to spend next time b/c I bought 4 boxes of the cereal. (I didn't add that cat in my above total). The eggs were B1G1 free from a coupon off a facebook promotion.  The Prego was only$1.25 each.  The yogurt and lunchmeat are my splurges b/c I like good quality lunchmeat and good yogurt.  Oh and the toothepaste was $1.49 with store and manufactureres coupons.  I did use my above $10 catalina and still have my $3 cat to use this weekend for a newspaper and probably needed produce.

It is only the 2nd of March and I am going to have a hard time keeping with my budget this month.  I will definitely be using my supply on hand for meals.  I am freezing 2 of the milks so won't need to buy any more of that this month.  We went to Costco which is why I will struggle b/c we spent $100 of our $400 there.  So that leaves me with $75 each week.  That gives me $33 for the rest of this week.  That is actually doable I think unless there is some great promotion that I can't resist.

Normally we buy cheap tp at Costco, but I think it is rubbing my poor little girls bottom raw.  It is about .33c per roll, but the Charmin ended up being .42c/roll so not too bad. (okay it is bugging me a little that my tp and paper towel scenario didn't go as planned but I just need to remember that overall, it was a good trip)

Last month I did stay within my $400 budget and I did calculate how much I spent on junk food, it was $55.  Probably higher than it should be.  I did include in that V8 fusion juice which we will use in smoothies so that is not a horrible kind of junk:-)

Finding balance

     I have been doing pretty good with getting my grocery budget under control.  $100 a week.  Of course, February is a short month so that makes it a little easier.  When I was at the store last week, I even splurged on expensive honey crisp apples (2.99/pound yikes) but I knew I was saving a lot of money otherwise and I absolutely love this apple and know none of it will go to waste.  But then I get to reading couponing blogs and see how women are getting groceries for free and have a $200/month budget for groceries and I start feeling like I am doing something wrong.  I mean, before I was spending $600/month on groceries and so I was thinking I was doing pretty good, saving $200 a month. 
     Then I read this blog.  She said a lot of what I was feeling.  When I see these blogs, a lot of what people are getting are snacks, boxed pasta's and potatoes, processed foods.  Now I am not saying my family doesn't eat it's share fair of processed foods.  We definitely do.  But my goal this year is to get away from processed foods.  I really want to start making more things from scratch including bread.  I haven't started that process yet as I am in this year long class that is sort of taking my thought energy but once it is over in April, I really want to start cooking more and better foods.  The other thing is, I don't want to exclude fresh fruits and vegetables from my diet.  My saving that money is going to allow us to join a CSA this year and pay cash for it.  We did it last summer but I didn't have the money saved up and it was a big chunk of change for us.  But it was so worth it.  Maybe someday we will have a garden but I just don't have the energy for that yet so this really is the next best thing.  The other thing we really want to do is buy 1/2 cow.  It is so much better than the stuff you buy in the store. 
So I am trying to let my guilt and yes, I will admit, my competive nature go on this one.  Be happy with my grocery budget and know I don't have the time or energy to go to multiple stores every day just to get all these "great" deals. 
But hey, I will still be excited when I get a good deal.  Today I got 2 boxes of granola bars for $1.40.  I am happy with that!

Couponing again...and more

I just have to share I finally got paid to buy a product.  Safeway was having by 4 save money deal so if you bought 4 of various products, they were only $1 each.  I had coupons for some of it.  So I bought 2 boxes of fruit roll ups (normally don't buy but son absolutely loves them and I had $1 off coupons).  I also had loaded coupons on my safeway card but didn't know how that would pan out.  With the 2 boxes of roll ups I got 2 boxes of Life cereal but didn't have any coupons for that.  But buying the four together only cost $4 except with my $1 off coupon and my three ecoupons for .50 each, I got paid .50 for the 2 boxes of fruit roll ups.  (or you could say I only spent $1.50 for 4 boxes of items but I like saying I got paid for something).

Here's one of the problems with couponing.  And I have said this before.  A lot of the stuff is for junk.  I mean I saw people writing how you could buy 8-12 boxes of fruit snacks and have it be a money maker blah blah blah but really?  That's a lot.  I really thought 2 boxes was sufficient.  We don't go through that stuff that quickly.  I mean seriously, we still have candy leftover from Halloween. 

Plus, I am on the verge of trying to eat healthier around here.  On the verge b/c I am not sure how much time and energy I will have until my class is over in April.  Really I should be studying.  Plus I am trying to keep my house cleaner with the planner.  Do I really have time to make a complete makeover in our eating? 
But it was pointed out to me recently by a friend who is not subtle about anything, that we keep a lot of junk food in our house.  We keep more than her but I didn't think it was a lot.  Here's my plan though for the month of february.  I am going to keep my receipts for groceries and at the end of the month, add up all the money we spend on junk food.  This includes chips, candy, cookies, ice cream.  Maybe I will throw in a processed food category as well (since one of my goals is to get away from processed foods).  At the end of the month, I will decide how much of our budget should go to this stuff.  Because, honetly, I am not going to deprive myself of some stuff.  I just won't do it.  But I can limit it.  Here's the other thing, my kids don't really eat a lot of the junk that we have.  Hubby and I do.  I rarely give my kids chips but I eat them for lunches at work.  They rarely get ice cream but I looove ice cream.  You get the point.  I probably need to find some healthy alternatives for myself.
Wow, this post became much more than I meant it to be.  I will keep you posted.

shopping

Seriously why does it stress me out to use coupons?  Safeway had another $10/50 coupon along with some other good coupons so I decided to go there instead of Winco.  But I end up spending so much more simply b/c I am sure I will get up to the register and not have enough to use the coupon and then I will be mad. 
I actually did get a lot and I had a really good checker which definitely makes things better.  Am still loving the ecoupons that you load to your card, I bought a box of mashed potatoes (I know not as good as the real thing but I can't seem to make good garlic mashed potatoes), the box was $2.00 plus I had a .35c coupon but when I looked at my receipt, it had also taken .80cents off from my card.  I didn't even realize it was on there.
Tampons: 4.99 on sale, plus I had a BOGO coupon (3.79 value) but the cashier was a little confused and ended up giving me 6.99 off.  Seriously, 2 boxes for under 2 bucks.  That was a score and they were Tampax which are expensive.
Cleaning products: Scrubbing bubbles BOGO plus there was a $2 off coupon on the bottle so I got 2 bottles for 2.29.
Kraft products: buy 5 get $5 catalina.  I didn't have any great coupons for this except cheese slices for $1.49 but you could only buy 2 and I didn't really need it.  Well, the whipped cream cheese was on sale for .99 each if you bought 5.  So I got 5 of those and the singles and got a $5 catalina so really all 6 products for $1.48.  Awesome,  I won't need to by cream cheese for months!
Pillsbury biscuits: I never buy these but they had the little packs .75 cents off which made them .33 cents each, I bought 2.
Clearance meat: got a big pot roast for 30% off making it only $7.
All in all I spent $71.55 and saved $63.  Plus I can't forget the $5 catalina I get to use next week. I was planning on spending less than $50 since I am trying to cut my grocery budget down but oh well.  I got some good deals and chances are, next week I will only have to buy milk and produce.
Oh, I almost forgot I stopped at Freddy's first b/c they had bagged salad for $1, you can't buy fresh lettuce that cheap.  And they had Life cereal on sale for $1.88, if you bought 5 you got $3 off so I got 4 boxes of cereal and a box of granola bars(should have had a coupon for that but don't ususally buy them b/c of sons allergy-they are in a separate bag ready to be taken to daddy's work) for $6.52.  Pretty good I thought.
I know it isn't as good as the crazy people who spend $25/week on groceries but I don't have that much time.  I spent 1 1/2 hours at the 2 stores, plus all the time trying to figure out my best scenarios.  I am pretty satisfied with my savings and relieved shopping is over for another week.

Crazy couponing

     So I wrote about the crazy couponing people here.  I might be becoming one of them.  Seriously, how can you not try to save money?  I don't have a picture to post but just spent $47 at Safeway and saved $55.  Yes, $55.  Some was just regular club card savings, some coupons, some ecoupons which I am really enjoying b/c you seemingly can combine them with manufacturers coupons, and some internet coupons I printed oh and a $10/$50 coupon.  Really, that is the only way I would shop at Safeway regularly, otherwise it is way more expensive than Winco. (Here's hoping Winco will start taking internet printables soon, that would really make my day!)
     My best buy.  5 boxes of wheat thins for free.  Yep. Free.  If you bought 5 they were only $1 a piece, plus by becoming a fan of wheat things on facebook here you can print off $1/1 box.  I hit my back button, printed 2 at home and at work printed 2 more.  Plus I had the same coupon from the sunday paper that I had cut out.  That makes 5 $1 off coupons bringing the cost to FREE!  Okay, so not only that, but there is a rebate form if you buy 10 Nabisco products, you get $10 rebate check.  So, not only were 5 of the boxes free, I get money back on them.  I bought 3 boxes at Winco for $1.66 each and have 2 more boxes to buy for the rebate.  There were other good deals as well but won't go into them.  But I will say a big chunk of the $47 was $11 for a bag of cat food.  When I think about the milk, yogurt, bread, meat, produce, crackers, cereal, chips, pudding that I got for really $36 it makes me happy.  Okay, I said I wasn't going to go into it. 
     I know, I said I didn't have the pantry space.  Well, I created a small amount in the garage when I stocked up on hubby's favorite cereal a couple of months ago.  Here is what I won't do though.  I don't plan on going through the line for multiple transactions (at this point anyway), I don't plan on buying things I don't need just to give them away (Like get a glucose meter for free).  I don't have the energy or time for stuff like that. 
     I will say this stresses me out just a little.  Like I was worried I hadn't spent enough at Safeway as I thought you had to use the $10 off coupon after all other coupons but the cashier did it second.  And it took me longer to shop b/c I wanted to find all the right deals and make sure my coupons were for the right stuff. 
I think I need a better way to organize my coupons for when I am shopping, but will work on that.
Here is the best part of this:  there are lots of blogs out there with women who have more time than I do to find all the great deals and write about them.  Not only do they write about them but put the links up for all the printable coupons and rebates.  It makes it almost easy which is why I am doing this. Seriously, I have three children and work part time.  I don't have a lot of extra time for stuff like this.
I didn't really save any on my grocery budget this month because of Christmas, but am looking forward to saving some next month.  Will keep you posted.

Coupon Mania

No I don't have it. But it is all over the web. Blogs are written about coupon deals and how best to use coupons and special store savings. I like coupons. I do. But honestly, I don't have the time or the energy that some of these women put into couponing. It's exhausting just reading about it. That being said, I like a good deal. When I get those $10 off at Penny's if you spend $10, I always use them. If not, it is like throwing ten bucks away. Even if all I buy is socks, I make sure it doesn't go to waste. I also clip coupons from the sunday paper and make the most of those as I can. I shop at Winco which saves me money. I try to keep our grocery budget in check is what I am saying.
That being said, I have a friend who has gone over to the dark side of couponing. The ones who go back multiple times to the same store to stock up on 20 boxes of cereal. I will admit, it is intriguing. So I went b/c there were some deals that I couldn't pass up. You can see what I got in the above picture. I spent $16.03. Is that good? I think so. Here is how it adds up. The cereals were 4 for $6 plus I had coupons for 2 of the boxes for an additional $1.30 off. The Gogurts were on sale for 2 for $4 and I had an additional .80 cents off. The Prego was $1.67 each (which is better than I can get it at Winco, wish I had gotten more) and the cleaning supplies were buy one get one free so saved $4.29 there.
There are a couple of issues I have with couponing mania:
One, the idea of it is to stock up when things are on sale and I just don't have the pantry for 20 boxes of cereal.
Two, usually things that are crazy on sale like the above cereal are things that I wouldn't normall buy. Honestly, 3 boxes of sugar cereal?? I love sugar cereal but I try not to buy it that often. The sale did have stuff like granola bars in it but that brings me to:
Three, I often can't buy the stuff on sale b/c of sons peanut allergy.
This is why I wouldn't go back and go crazy stocking up. But I will try to watch some of these sales closer (or watch my friends blogs to make it even less work for me) to try to trim my grocery budget. Oh I almost forgot to mention with the cereal deal came a coupon for a free box of Capri Sun which I also don't normally buy but it is my turn to take soccer treats in a few weeks so hey, why not.