Money Saving Monday - Stockpiling

I wanted to write about stockpiling today, since we are in another season where it is good to stockpile items. If you have noticed all the baking supplies in the stores have gone on sale. It is baking season and it is time to stockpile on all your baking supplies. Each season has different items you want to stockpile.

Here are a few items that are on sale right now at most stores and have great coupons to match:

Yeast

Sugar

Canned Soup

French Fried Onions

Corn Starch

Flour

Chocolate chips

The time you want to stockpile and item is when it is FREE or 70% off retail price. I will be making a list and publish it soon of what I found to be my rock bottom or stockpile price for an item. I started my extreme couponing hobby in Feb. of this year and I have now seen all four seasons and I am more familiar when to stockpile an item and when to wait. I used coupons before, but I would only clip the ones I was going to use and when I went to the store the next time I would buy that item. I shopped at Walmart so the prices didn’t change. Or so I thought. Walmart does change their pricing and they do have sales on items. Especially this time of year. Walmart will change prices about once a month or once a quarter depending on the season and the item.

At first this is difficult creating a stockpile. You need to manage having enough food for your family to eat each week and create a stockpile. You may wind up spending more in the first month, but once you acquire a lot of coupons and a lot of variety of items and learn the sales cycles, you will be a pro in no time. If I can learn how to do this, so can you. After the second and third month you should start to see a significant savings in your grocery budget. You will find your list of items you need will decrease, and you spend more money on less expensive items. Saving you money all around.

In order to stockpile you will need a large number of coupons to combine them with the sales. The more coupons you have the easier it is to match up with the items on sale. The general rule of thumb is to purchase as many papers as there are members in your family. I purchase 4 papers and clip the coupons from those in order to match them with the sales when they come along. I print additional coupons on items I really think my family will eat. But normally four papers will do it for us. I can then purchase four of the sale item and create my stockpile when that item is at its rockbottom price and this will be enough to last me through the next time this item will go on sale. You don’t need to clear a shelf of an item. That item will go on sale again and it will have a coupon to match.

I am now at a point where I have a great variety of food to where I can buy at the rockbottom price and still have enough to eat. This takes around four to six months before you have a wide variety of food in order to do this. Stockpiling takes time. If you are like me trying to stockpile and are on a very strict budget it is difficult to accomplish both, but I like a challenge.

Here is what my stockpile looks like.

My pantry

Canned and Baking goods

Boxed items, cereal, breakfast items, Boxes meals, Pasta

My laundry room shelf with juice, Paper towels, a few other items

A shelf in my closet with my bathroom items

Friday Finals Kroger- Mega Event, Tom Thumb, Walmart 11/18/11

It has been a busy week for me. I have done two weeks worth of shopping this week. I will not be shopping next week, but I will still have a shopping linky. I might have two, one for grocery deals and any Black Friday deals you want to share. Let me know if you would like to see two to see other deals people have gotten.

Visit these ladies sites to see other great savings trips. TOP Three Visited Sites Last Week:

Family Fun on a Small Budget

Grocery Shop for FREE at the MART

HomeMaking Mom

If you are still new to couponing, now is the time to stock up on all your baking needs for the year. This is when you will find your lowest prices and great coupon matchups on items like sugar, corn starch, baking powder, yeast and more. Be sure to check expiration dates when stocking up for a long time. There is no sense in buying something to last a year even if you have a coupon, only find the expiration date is 6 months out. However, items like sugar never expire, so grab what you can to stock up now. I was so excited when I saw Tom Thumb had really great store coupons for the month of November that matched with a lot of regular coupons I had for baking items making them FREE or really cheap. Remember Tom Thumb will double or triple one coupon. So I had to make a couple of trips. This store is on my way to take my son to school, so I didn’t feel like I was wasting any gas making the extra trips. I am trying to stock up for the rest of the year for all my baking needs now and stay within budget. This is challenging.

I have decided I am not going shopping in the grocery stores next week. It will be way too crowded, so I doubled my budget for this week to make up for it. Since I am still working on growing my stockpile, I am a tinsy bit over budget. But I did a lot of shopping this week. Here are the results:

SPROUTS 11/15/11

1.71 lbs Whole Wheat Flour @ $0.69 lb - $1.18

1.11 lbs Broccoli @ $0.77 lb - $0.85

1 32 oz Stonyfield Yogurt $2.50 - $1/1 Sprouts magazine

            -Final $1.50

1 32oz Stonyfield Yogurt Vanilla $2.50 - $1/1 Sprouts magazine

I spent $4.98 and saved $2.05 on $7.03 worth of produce and yogurt this week. If you use your own bags at Sprouts you get a $0.05 credit for each bag you use.

Tom Thumb 11/14/11

1 Safeway Mac and Beef $0.99 – Catalina Print FREE Safeway MAC and BEEF

            -Final FREE – I LOVE FREE

1 Wesson Best Blend oil $3.99 – Store Q $0.75/1, $0.30/1 tripled

            -Final $2.34

2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.99 – B1G1 Store coupon

            -Final $0.99 each

1 Wheat Bread $1.50

I spent $5.83 and saved $6.74 on $12.57 worth of food. I went because the mac and beef coupon was about to expire. I will probably donate this when my daughter has a canned food drive this Feb. at school. We have enough Chef already at our house.

Tom Thumb 11/15/11

1 Crisco Shortening Sticks $3.39 – Store Q $0.50/1, $0.50/1 Doubled

            -Final $1.89

1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix $1.79 – Store Q $.50/1, $0.75/ Cake and Frosting purchase

            -Final $0.92

1 Betty Crocker Frosting $1.69 - $0.75/ Cake and Frosting purchase

            -Final $1.32

2 Kraft Parmesan Cheese Tubs $2.50 – 2 $1/1 Peelies found at store

            -Final $1.50 each

2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.99 – B1G1 Store Coupon

            -Final $0.99 each

1 Mission Tortillas $2.19 – Store Q $1/1

            -Final $1.19

2 Dole Tropical Fruit $1.25 – Store Q $0.99 each, $0.50/2 Doubled

            -Final $0.49 each

1 Argo Corn Starch $1.39 – Store Q $0.50/1, $0.30/1 tripled

            -Final FREE – I LOVE FREE

1 Safeway Marshmallows $1.09 – Store Q $0.50/1

            -Final $0.59

1 Fleischman’s Yeast $1.79 – Store Q $0.50/1, $0.30/1 Tripled

            -Final $0.39

2 Bisquick 40oz $2.99 – Store Q $1.00/2, 2 $0.50/1 Printable 1^st Doubled

            -Final $1.99 each

1 McCormick Vanilla 1oz. $3.39 – Store Q $1.50/1

            -Final $1.89

I spent $19.46 and saved $25.97 on $45.43 worth of retail groceries this week. The receipt printed all weird and different on this transaction, so I did my best trying to make it all match up. The regular price for the item printed all at once, then the Reward Card savings printed, then the Store Q, then the Manufacturer Q’s. It was hard to read, but it looked like every transaction took. I went back to the same Tom Thumb later in the week and it printed fine.

Tom Thumb 11/17/11

1 Marshmallows $1.09 – Store  Q $0.50/1

            -Final $0.59

2 Cans Pineapple $1.25 – Store Q $0.52/2, $0.50/2 Dole Pineapple

            -Final $0.49 each

1 Fleischman’s Yeast $1.79 – Store Q $0.50/1, She missed my coupon here $0.40

            -Final $1.29

1 Crisco Stick Shortening $3.39 – Store Q $0.50/1, $0.50/1 Crisco Product Doubled

            -Final $1.89

1 McCormick Vanilla 1oz $3.39 – Store Q $1.50/1

            -Final $1.89

1 Argo Corn Starch $1.39 – Store Q $0.50/1, $0.30/1 Argo corn Starch tripled

            -Final FREE

I spent $6.63 and saved $8.76 on $15.39 worth of groceries. I am stocking up for the holidays and on baking items for the rest of the year. I may do one more small trip to Tom Thumb this week to get the free or close to free items.

Kroger 11/15/11 MEGA EVENT

MEI = Mega Event Item $0.50 off of item

2 Gallons Milk $1.99 each

2 18count Eggs $1.88 each

1 Turkey Bacon $2.00

1 Bananas $1.18

10 Del Monte canned Veggies $1.00 – MEI

            -Final $0.50 each

3 International Delight Creamer 32oz $2.49 – MEI, 1 $0.75/1 Kroger E-Q, $1/2 Int’l Delight creamer

            -Final average $1.40 each

2 I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter $2.49 – MEI, 2 $1/1 ICBNB Q

            -Final $0.99 each

4 Hormel Turkey Pepperoni $2.99 – MEI, $0.55/2 Hormel Pepperoni Products

            -Final $2.22 each

4 Pringles Cans $1.49 – MEI, $1/4 Pringles Q

            -Final $0.74 each

1 Cool Whip $1.49 – MEI

            -Final $0.99

1 Hillshire Farms Lunch Meat $3.49 – MEI, $0.35/1 Hillshire Lunch Meat

            -Final $2.64

3 Kleenex Tissue $1.49 – MEI, $0.50/3 Kleenex boxes

            -Final $0.82 each

2 Honey Grahams $2.97 – MEI, $1/2 Nabisco Products

            -Final $1.97 each

2 Ritz Crakers $2.00 - $1/2 Nabisco Products

            -Final $1.50 each

2 Kroger Tuna $0.69 - $0.40/2 Kroger E-Q

            -Final $0.49 each

1 Heluva Dips $1.50 - $0.75/1 Heluva Dips

            -Final $0.75 each

1 Carnation Dry Milk $2.00 - $0.50/1 Carnation Dry Milk

            -Final $1.50

2 Nutri Grain Bread B1G1 $4.09

            -Final $2.05 each

I spent $55.50 and Saved $48.45 on $103.95 worth of groceries retail. This should have been more.  As I was reviewing my receipt I noticed a few price discrepancies that should have made it more like 50% savings. I am now stocked up for the winter on baking and canned goods, which is something my pantry was lacking. I can’t wait until the frozen veggies go on sale in a few months. I really would rather buy frozen, but canned it good when you need something fast.

Walmart 11/17/11

2 Huggies Slip on diapers $9.47 – 2 $3/1 Slip on diapers

            -Final $6.47 each

1 Millstone coffee $11.88 - $2/1 Millstone K-cup

            -Final $9.88 each

1 Celestial seasonings Chai Tea $2.28 - $1/1 Celestial Seasonings Tea

            -Final $1.28

1 Eight o Clock Coffee $4.88 - $0.75/1 All You

            -Final $4.13

1 White Chicken Chili Pack $1.08

2 Minute Maid Juice $2.98 – 2 $2/1 Minute Maid Boxes Printable

            -Final $0.98 each

2 lbs Sweet Potatoes $0.65 - $0.33 lb. TIME TO STOCK UP. You can cook these and freeze them

1 Marzetti Pepperocini $1.72 - $0.50/1 ALL You

            -Final $1.22

1 Ovaltine Malt $3.48 - $1/1 Ovaltine

            -Final $2.48

4 Libby’s Veggies $0.75 - $1/4 Libby’s Veggies

            -Final $0.50 each

2 Nestle Cocoa 6 pack $1.00 - $0.55/1 Printable

            -Final $0.45 each

I spent $40.02 and saved $17.35 with coupons for $57.37 items at Walmart. There were a few coupons on items that I wanted and didn’t want to wait to try to fit them into the budget, so I just got them without having to keep coming back and work them into the budget each week. Some of the coupons were close to expiring, so I used them instead of wasting that coupon.

GRAND Totals for the week. I spent $132.42 and saved $109.32 on $241.74 worth of grocery and household items this week for two weeks worth of shopping. I am a little over, but I can make that up in the next weeks.

How did you do this week? Did you stock up on baking items? Share your results below, so others can learn from your savings trips.

Tips 4 Tuesday

First I would like to make sure you are getting all you can from Pounds4Pennies. I offer additional savings information and HOT coupons on my Facebook page and in my BlogFrog community. Please be sure to LIKE me on Facebook to keep up with the latest coupons and savings deals. I also offer additional tips and coupons on BLOGFROG. If you do like my site be sure to click Top Mommy Blogs and vote for me. One click = one vote. I am 108 and would love to get into the top 100 this week just eight more places to go. I know all my fabulous readers can take a few moments to vote for me. THANKS in advance.

I have a few tips to share with you about not throwing things out. My wonderful husband and I try to avoid throwing anything away. If something is about to spoil or we don't think we will use it in time, we just pop it into the freezer. Why let something go bad and have to throw it away. You might as well take that money and throw it in the trash that you purchased that food with. It is basically the same thing.

Do you ever make a pot of coffee and have some left over? Don’t throw it out. My husband and I love ice coffee. We make a little extra during the summer, so we can have ice coffee in the afternoons. We take the left over coffee and put it a plastic cup or make ice cubes out of it. We use plastic cups, since this is water and it will expand and break a glass container. We then put confectioners sugar and creamer and blend to make a great tasting frappe or just have iced coffee. The confectioners sugar dissolves quickly in ice coffee and you don’t have to worry about the grainy texture from granulated sugar.

What do you do with the left over heels of a piece of bread? Again don’t throw them out. There are several great uses for these. I put some butter on them and toast them in the toaster. Then I place them in my food processor to finely chop them up. I never need to buy bread crumbs. Another thing I do with the bread is make croutons. I butter them and cut them into cubes. Then place them on a cookie sheet and put the oven on broil. Watch very closely as these can burn quickly. I even sprinkle some seasonings on them to make them extra tasty. The kids all time favorite is to save these for duck food. We also keep a bag in the freezer and put left over hot dog buns, hamburger buns or bread crusts in there. When we want to go to the park we automatically have duck food ready for the kids to feed the ducks. This also make a great time for family photos.

My husband and I try not to throw anything out. I hope you will be able to use these tips in the future. Do you have any great tips on how to save or use the extra things you might consider throwing out? I love your comments and I would love to hear from you.

Friday Finals 11 4 11

I wanted to thank everyone who voted for me at Top Mommy Blogs. I am now #3 on the Frugal Living page and I am ranked 116 overall.  It only takes a second to vote by clicking Top Mommy Blogs and that gets me one vote. Let’s see if my readers can get me into the top 100 this week! I would be so delighted. Now on to shopping…

Last week the most viewed were:


1. Weekly Shopping
2. Saving a Bundle
3. Saved by the Sale

Stop by these ladies sites to view some awesome savings!

I went shopping at Kroger twice this week, since my parents came into town and I needed a few things. Hence, the tiny shopping trip listed first.

Kroger shopping

1 Kroger corn chips $1.00
4 Barrilla pasta $1.00 - 4 $0.55/1 Barrilla Pasta SS 09/18/11
            - Final $0.45 each
2 lunchmeat $2.99

I spent $8.78 and saved $3.72 on $12.50 worth of retail food. My parents came into town and we wanted sandwiches. I didn’t have any lunch meat, so I had to go to the store.

Kroger # 2

3 Kuerig coffees 12 Pack $4.49 clearance rack reg. $11.88 each
2 Sour Cream $1.00 each
2 lbs Cheese $2.99 each
1 Planters Peanut butter $2.50 - $1/1 Kroger eCoupons
            -Final $1.50
1 Package Sliced Cheese 1lb. $2.99
1 lb carrots $1.00
1 turkey @ $0.59 lb $6.82

$35.74 and saved $18.12 on $53.86 worth of groceries retail. This is more savings, since the Kuerig coffees did not reflect as savings on the receipt. I could add another $15.00 in savings and value. I bought peanut butter because of the $1.00 ecoupon and the Peanut crisis. I have enough to last until June. So if any more sales come up. I will get some more. 

Walmart Shopping

No Pic

1 Huggies Slip on Diapers $9.49 - $3/1 Huggies slip on diapers

            -Final $6.49

Overall this week I spent $51.01 on family needs and saved $24.84 on $75.85 worth of Grocery needs. This is more savings, since the Kuerig coffees did not reflect as savings on the receipt. I could add another $15.00 in savings and value.

I need cheese. If anyone has any good cheese deals out there PLEASE let me know. I am having a difficult time.

I didn’t feel like I got a whole lot for my money this week. I seem to be in a bit of a slump. Does anyone else feel there are not as many GOOD deals out there as there used to be?

How did you do this week? Please share your shopping trips below so others can see and learn how to save. 

Friday Finals 10-28-11

Wow what a night. First my daughter had a soccer game after the cold front blew in while it was raining. The sign of a true athlete will play in the freezing rain. The sign of true love is the parents who sit there and cheer them on.  It was very cold and it took me a long time to warm up. Then to come home and stay up late to watch the Rangers loose last night makes for a very slow day today. Lots of caffeine has been consumed to write this post. Since I normally prepare my shopping post on Thursday evenings, I just didn’t have time last night. I will post what I spent and how much I saved. Then maybe later tonight I can update this post.

I still would like to see how everyone else did this week, so LINK UP below! Here are the entries with the most links:

Saved by the SALE

Grocery Shop for FREE

Weekly Grocery Shopping

Frugal Stepmom

Walmart

I spend $31.27 and saved $17.10 plus more, since I did several price matches, on $48.37 retail.

Sprouts

$2.28 on fresh produce

Tom Thumb

I spent $12.43 and saved $22.80 on $34.72 worth of retail.

CVS

I spend around $10.00 Saved $6.00 on $16.00 retail at CVS.

I spent around $56.00 and saved $45.90 on $101.90 retail.

How did your shopping trip go this week? Link UP below

Whatever Wednesday - Movie Party Birthday Bash

First I wanted to say thanks for all of you who voted for me at the Top Mommy Blogs. I went from 480 to 127, and I am listed in the top five on the Frugal Living page. You can vote daily. Thanks to all my visitors!

This year my daughter turned 10. Yep she is double digits now. I can't believe it. Where did the time go? I remember she was born a little over two weeks after 9/11. I was thinking of what kind of world was I bringing her into. Things have not changed as drastically as I thought they might.

MOVIE PARTY IDEAS

She picked her party theme "A Night at the Movies." She wanted this to be a red carpet event. So I did my best to give her a fabulous Movie Party event on an extreme budget.

The Menu

We are talking eight 9-10 year old girls, so I wanted to keep the menu simple. My first thought is what do you get at the movies? Hotdogs are served at the movies. Remember the nearly 20lbs of hotdogs I purchased around memorial day? I still had some in the freezer. Then I thought nachos. My all time favorite and hers too. I purchased processed cheese for this event. One of the most expensive things for the party. I had plenty of salsa from this trip and I bought some chips. Then of course the most obvious thing at the movies popcorn. I didn't want to spend my time popping a million bags of popcorn in the microwave. I knew they could eat a ton from the last party she had. So I borrowed a hot air popper from a friend. I popped five batches of popcorn. Yes that is a lot of popcorn. Then I got all sorts of candy from CVS from their sale a couple of weeks ago and chocolate chips to mix in the popcorn purchased here.

Menu:

Hot Dogs & Buns

Nachos

Popcorn

Candy

Chocolate Chips
Popcorn Cake

By the way the plain chocolate chips were a big hit. Who knew? Hint hint if you are throwing a party soon, chocolate chips are cheaper than candy.

And of course, since it is a birthday party you will need a cake. I didn’t feel like buying one from the store. So I decided to make one instead. It is a Popcorn cake. Click the link to see how to make this fabulous cake. Super cute. I even made a Popcorn Cake of these for a friend who had a Movie Party.
 

She enjoyed putting the "popcorn" on the cake.

Decorations

I purchased a generic silver star set from the party store last year. I choose this since it would go with a lot of party themes and not be a one time purchase. We just recycled these and hung them around the house. I found a cheap red carpet at the party store we place outside our door. I colored large yellow stars with sidewalk chalk in front of the house to make it look like the Hollywood walk of Fame. (If I had a little more time I was going to write the girls name who were attending the party in the stars).

 I made her  a banner for her birthday. Her name is at the end, I do not want to share it to protect her identity. She loved it.

I found the popcorn buckets at Target for $1.00 each. And the paper ones at hobby lobby for 8 for $2.49. I couldn't find my coupon or it would have been cheaper. They made their popcorn buckets and filled them with candy and popcorn and everything. I didn't care what they ate as long as they had a great time.

For the table I used a red table cloth. I covered my cake dish with black tissue paper for the stand where the popcorn gift bags were. I also covered a bowl with black tissue paper to place the Popcorn cake on. I thought it looked fabulous for a movie party idea.

Entertainment

My husband borrowed the projector from his work and we hooked it up outside and put a large white sheet on the back of the house. He used a staple gun to tack it up. It looked great. I spread several blankets outside on the lawn where they could lay down eat popcorn and watch the movie. (not too much movie watching happened) They even had a popcorn fight and I didn't care since all of this was outside. I just picked up the blankets shook them off and I was done with clean up. Super easy.

Everyone had a great time! This was fun for me too, since most of the party took place outside I didn’t have a lot to clean up inside.

Money Saving Monday

Step 3: Big Savings on your Grocery Bill

If you have been following my couponing series the past couple of weeks, you should have accumulated tons of coupons by now. You can read my previous two posts:


1. How to start couponing. Coupoing 101
2. Go Shopping


If you do not have a lot of coupons you can PRINT COUPONS for free. If you have started trying to acquire coupons, you have probably printed a ton off the internet in order to create a nice coupon stash. I know I did when I first started. I had stacks and stacks of coupons to cut. I had the whole family cutting them out for me for a while. Now it is under control.

Now that you have quite a few coupons and you have made your first trip to the store, you are ready to take it up a notch. How did you feel the first time you scored saving 60-70%? It felt great, right? I know it was great for me, since we needed food and we needed food fast.

Maximizing Grocery Savings
Let's talk about your next trip to the store where you are going to do a larger shopping trip and make a larger list. Go to a matchup website such as Saving Well Spending Less or Southern Savers and pick the items where you can save 60-70% on items. Now that you have more coupons you should find more items to matchup. You will want to find items at the lowest price, then purchase as many of them as you have coupons for. This way you will save the most on that particular item until it goes on sale again.  The major grocery stores have sales that are discounted below Walmart price to entice you to go there and do your normal shopping buying items on sale and items that are not on sale.

Make a Grocery List
Now it is a good idea to gather your coupons from the matchup sites and make or print your list. Keep your coupons in a separate folder or envelope. Before you check out, check your coupons to see if they match according to brand size and type. Count the number of items in your cart and make sure you have the same number of corresponding items to match the coupons you have clipped. Then proceed to the check out. Be nice to your cashier as you check out. Find out if they would like coupons as they scan the items or after they scan.

When you are checking out pay close attention to the scanned price of an item and also make sure all your coupons are scanned. This is much easier to do if you don't have your kids with you, but if you are like me, most times that is not an option. If not try to review your receipt before you leave the store. I saved over four dollars on a trip because something didn’t ring up correctly and went to customer service for my refund.  Always be courteous, especially if you can calmly explain the error they will give a refund.

My standard price to buy an item is below Walmart price or 50% or higher. It is a good idea to know your prices when you are shopping for an item. Walmart claims to have the best price. What that really means is they have the better than the stores normal price. I will share a price list with you in a later post. It is not quite complete, since many rock bottom prices are going up. The only thing I normally buy that is not on sale is milk.

If you can also take a moment to vote for me at Rate My Blog @ Top Mommy Blogs

1. How to Start Couponing. Couponing 101


2. Step Two Shopping


4.  Step Four Drug Store Shopping - CVS

Have you tried the first two steps in my series? Do you have any questions? I will do my best to help answer any questions you may have.

Friday Finals 10/21/11

Wowee wow wow! I have such exciting news to share today. First, I am a guest blogger at Grocery Cart Challenge. I am very excited and honored to be chosen. I came across Gayle’s site and notice she was feeding a family of six with $60.00 a week. I knew I could do this too! A few years back I was trying to feed a family of three on $30.00 a week. It was difficult, but I was able to do it. The most important thing I learned was how to cook from very few ingredients and make great meals.

The second piece of exciting new I have to share is I was accepted to the Top Mommy Blogs. In order to vote for my blog and check out other exciting blogs just click the brown button located on the left or the link provided. I just received the email last night. It would be very exciting to get at least one vote.

Now on to shopping! I didn’t stick to my budget very well this week. I was kind of winging it again. I didn’t have a great plan. We were out of some items I have been searching for the past couple of weeks and needed to purchase this week. I was able to get cheese and oil on sale, but purchasing both was a bit expensive. My husband and I were dying for some wings since it has been cold and it is football season. So I splurged for wings. I have been looking for weeks and just couldn’t find any on sale. In case you were wondering, yes, they were so delicious. Still cheaper than going out and buying wings at a restaurant.

I went to Kroger twice without much savings.

Kroger 10/16/11

2 Capri sun Juice $1.29 each – I need to buy juice for my daughters soccer game

4 Kettle Chips $2.50 each – 4 $1/1 Kettle Chips RP 09/25/11

            -Final $1.50 each

1 Kroger Tortilla chips $1.00

1 Pilgrims Wings $10.49 – Shelf price said $8.19 $2/1 Pilgrims Pride Chicken

            -Final $8.49 – Should have been $6.19

2 Mission Tortillas $1.00

1 Zapps Chips $2.19 – Splurge item for my hubby

I spent $22.47 and saved $11.14 on $33.61 worth of retail. I had two major splurge items this trip the wings and the Zapps chips. This change in weather has gotten me a little off my game. I am still looking for cheap snacks for soccer. If anyone know of any great sales, please share in the comments.

Kroger 10/18/10

2 Gallons Milk $2.49

2 lbs Cheese $6.99 – Best price I have found. Cheaper than Wal-Mart

4 Progresso Soups $1.25 - $1/4 Progresso Soup Coupon GM 09/11/11

            -Final $1.00 each

1 Huggies Slip on Diapers $9.85 - $2/1 Blinkie in Store Slip on Diapers

            -Final $7.85

2 Bertolli Olive Oil B1G1 store deal $10.49 I was nearly out of oil

            -Final $5.24 each

3 Kroger Sweet Corn $0.88 each – I had an eQ for $0.60/3 that did not scan. Not Happy

            -Final $0.88 each

1 Kroger Oatmeal $1.39 on sale – Daughter wanted Oatmeal for the cooler weather.

4 Dr. Pepper 10 $1.00 each – 4 FREE coupons for Dr. Pepper 10 SS 10/09/11

            -Final FREE

I spent $40.39 and saved $24.44 on $64.83 retail. Milk went up again $0.10 a gallon. I have to say I loved it when milk was a $1.00 a gallon. I would buy four gallons a week and we would drink it all. Now I have to ration it a little at the house. I need to make sure little Face gets his share every day.

Sprouts

4.18 lbs Gala Apples @ $0.69/lbs - $2.88

3.88 lbs Golden Delicious @ $0.69/lbs. - $2.68

3.47 lbs Onions @ $0.49/lbs - $1.70

Bag Credit -$0.10

I spent $7.16 and saved $0.10 on $7.26 worth of produce. I plan on making homemade applesauce and maybe some apple butter today. I have seen these on others sites and I am itching to try it. If I do, I will share on Wednesday. I didn't take a picture.

Overall I spent $70.02 and saved $35.68 on $105.70 worth of retail food and diapers. Not the best, but there were not very many good deals this week.  I needed to buy cheese and there have not been very good sales for the past couple of months and very few coupons. I had two splurge items that really put me over this week. But these will last a while for us. I can make it stretch.

If you are just starting out I am posting a series on how to coupon every Monday. You can read my first article here and my second post here. Looking to print coupons you can go to Coupons.com.

How did you do this week? Please share your shopping trips below with the linky. If you don't have a blog please share your shopping trips in the comments area. You can share more than one trip; however, I do ask to keep the trips current. The best way to learn to save money is to share so others can learn from you experience.