Well, it is time to look at how I did with my grocery budget for the month of August.
We are a family of 4. We have 2 growing preteens who enjoy snacks and eat more and more as they get older. They are especially active right now and are participating in 2 sports. So, there is a lot of calorie consumption going on in order to keep them fueled for these activities.
I have been using a grocery saving service called The Grocery Game. Check out my previous posts for information about this. It helps me create my grocery list, tells me where to find the coupons, and lets me know if this item is on sale for its lowest price. Using the grocery game has helped me save more money on groceries. Another way I have been able to save more money, is that I have forced myself to keep track of my grocery spending on an index card. By writing down what I spend every week, it helps me consider what I spend at each shop. This has really helped our family. I use to have grocery bills that were over 200 dollars each time I shopped.
I shop at 3 stores: Meijer, Kroger, and Aldi. This month I have not been to Aldi because I have been able to get all of groceries at Kroger and Meijer for less!!! Our Kroger and Meijer doubles coupons up to .50 cents.
8/4-8/10
spent 98.00
saved 65.00
8/11-8/17
spent 123.00
saved 81.00
8/18-8/24
Spent 56.00
Saved 44.00
8/25-8/31
spent 92
saved 74.00
Monthy total spent = $369
Monthy total saved = $255.00- $7.50=$247.50
Now, I have to deduct $7.50 from the saved amount because this is the cost for me to get 2 lists from the grocery game for the month. Not too bad!!! A $7.50 investment in order to save $247.50!!
I hope to keep our grocery bill under $400 for the month of September. Eventually, my goal will be $75.00 a week. I know this is possible because as I shop I am creating my stockpile and I am finding that I need to purchase less and less to get through each week.
Happy saving!!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Today's Meijer shop!
I am so excited!!! I am getting better and better at saving money and I am spending less and less every week!!
Today (Saturday), I finally managed to make it Meijer before this week's sale ended (which was today). I am back to work (I am a teacher) and it was a crazy week with my daughters' sports activities so it was a challenge to find time to grocery shop.
I was able to save $51.32 on my groceries today. I had over $24.00 in coupons! The remainder of the savings came from the items being on sale!
I was able to stock up on razors, shaving creme, canned chicken, kool-aid, salad dressing, yogurt, coke zero, bread, rice, milk, peaches, glass cleaners, salad, fruit snacks, microwave popcorn, and bananas.
I will have to go back next week to get the items that I received rainchecks for. I have a great stockpile of other items in my pantry that I will be able to fix dinner from this week!!
Yeah! I love it when my receipt is so long and yet my bill is so small!!!
I just love saving money and want to share what I have learned with everyone. My stomach just cringed for the lady ahead of me who purchased almost $300 dollars worth of groceries. Her cart was about 1/2 full and she had no coupons! I want everyone I know and who reads this blog to be able to save as much money as you can on your groceries. We all have other financial priorities and goals and groceries seems like such a simple place to save!
If you are just beginning this coupon journey, I recommend reading my blog from the beginning so you can learn some of the tricks that I have learned from experts! Happy couponing!
Today (Saturday), I finally managed to make it Meijer before this week's sale ended (which was today). I am back to work (I am a teacher) and it was a crazy week with my daughters' sports activities so it was a challenge to find time to grocery shop.
I was able to save $51.32 on my groceries today. I had over $24.00 in coupons! The remainder of the savings came from the items being on sale!
I was able to stock up on razors, shaving creme, canned chicken, kool-aid, salad dressing, yogurt, coke zero, bread, rice, milk, peaches, glass cleaners, salad, fruit snacks, microwave popcorn, and bananas.
I will have to go back next week to get the items that I received rainchecks for. I have a great stockpile of other items in my pantry that I will be able to fix dinner from this week!!
Yeah! I love it when my receipt is so long and yet my bill is so small!!!
I just love saving money and want to share what I have learned with everyone. My stomach just cringed for the lady ahead of me who purchased almost $300 dollars worth of groceries. Her cart was about 1/2 full and she had no coupons! I want everyone I know and who reads this blog to be able to save as much money as you can on your groceries. We all have other financial priorities and goals and groceries seems like such a simple place to save!
If you are just beginning this coupon journey, I recommend reading my blog from the beginning so you can learn some of the tricks that I have learned from experts! Happy couponing!
Rainchecks
As more and more people are finding ways to save money in their budgets, I am finding that many times the sale items are scarce! Today for example, I hit Meijer and was disappointed that I was unable to buy super pretzels, jennie-o ground turkey, wheat hamburger buns, goldfish, and paper towels. All of these items were for sale for great prices. Well, my community took advantage of the sale of these items and I was unable to find any of these in our store. So, after I made my purchases I headed over to customer service and they wrote me rainchecks for the amount of these items that I had planned to purchase. Hopefully next week when I do my shopping these items will be available again and I will be getting this week's sale price. So, don't forget to ask for a raincheck!!
Ebates!
I think it is time to remind you about ebates. I had written about this in previous post. Ebates is a website that pays you to shop. If you are an internet shopper or a person who is trying to save money on gas, ebates is for you. They have over 900 stores that as long as you shop through their site you will earn money back. The way this works is you will earn a percentage back. After 3 months of earning money, they will send you a check. So far our family has earned $48.00 buying things that we would have bought anyways, but also receiving a refund. We recieved our first ebates check last week. I was thrilled! I also decreased my mileage as most of these purchases earned free shipping and saved our family gas money!!
Many of you may be hesistant and think that it isn't worth the money to shop online, because of the shipping charges. Most of the time I am able to find a free shopping coupon online. There is a great website http://www.freeshipping.org/ . This website will give free shipping codes for online stores. You may find that you save more money because you don't buy extra items you would if you were in the store. You may also find that you have a wider selection. Many times I know that I have gone to the store and found that they didn't have the size, color, or style I wanted but was able to find it online.
There is another website that I also pair with freeshipping.org. It is called http://www.retailmeknot.com/ . This website consists of additional codes that that allow you to apply an additional discount to your purchase. Sometimes it is a percentage off or a flat dollar amount. This is what you would enter during checkout and it is the promotional code that I always wished that I had.
So check out ebates!!! Use my link at the side of this page and see how many stores you can shop and enjoy saving money!!
Many of you may be hesistant and think that it isn't worth the money to shop online, because of the shipping charges. Most of the time I am able to find a free shopping coupon online. There is a great website http://www.freeshipping.org/ . This website will give free shipping codes for online stores. You may find that you save more money because you don't buy extra items you would if you were in the store. You may also find that you have a wider selection. Many times I know that I have gone to the store and found that they didn't have the size, color, or style I wanted but was able to find it online.
There is another website that I also pair with freeshipping.org. It is called http://www.retailmeknot.com/ . This website consists of additional codes that that allow you to apply an additional discount to your purchase. Sometimes it is a percentage off or a flat dollar amount. This is what you would enter during checkout and it is the promotional code that I always wished that I had.
So check out ebates!!! Use my link at the side of this page and see how many stores you can shop and enjoy saving money!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Kroger 8/24
Again, if you haven't checked out The Grocery Game I highly recommend it.
I shopped of their list for Kroger today and saved 46%.
I purchased 24 items for $26.48 and saved $22.46
Yeah!
Check out my other posting about The Grocery Game for the nitty gritty. I showed my sister how this worked and she signed up yesterday and loves it!! She has already shopped at Meijer and Jewel and is looking forward to giving Walgreens a try.
Remember it only costs a $1.00 to try it for a month. Give it a try and I think you will be thrilled with the savings.
I shopped of their list for Kroger today and saved 46%.
I purchased 24 items for $26.48 and saved $22.46
Yeah!
Check out my other posting about The Grocery Game for the nitty gritty. I showed my sister how this worked and she signed up yesterday and loves it!! She has already shopped at Meijer and Jewel and is looking forward to giving Walgreens a try.
Remember it only costs a $1.00 to try it for a month. Give it a try and I think you will be thrilled with the savings.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Ann Taylor Loft
There is a sale this weekend at The Loft.
This is one of my favorite stores. I recommend that you register to receive emails from them. Today, I received an email about a great sale this weekend.
For every $50 you spend, you will get 2 - $25 cards that can be used at a future date. Also, they are offering 25% off coupon.
So, I recommend that you check them out this weekend!!
This is one of my favorite stores. I recommend that you register to receive emails from them. Today, I received an email about a great sale this weekend.
For every $50 you spend, you will get 2 - $25 cards that can be used at a future date. Also, they are offering 25% off coupon.
So, I recommend that you check them out this weekend!!
Meijer sale this week....
Another great sale at Meijer this week.....I didn't go to Kroger this last week because there wasn't much that was on sale and it didn't seem worth it to go for just a few items. However, this week's sale that started yesterday looks really good. They have a lot of $1.00 items.
I finally made it to the grocery store this week. It has been crazy since everyone in my home is now back to school.
I just got a few things that we needed and some things that we will use later that are on sale.
I spent $38.75 and saved $24.03 = a 39% savings....
I bought 12 Yoplait yogurts, 3 mac and cheese, 2 pkg. english muffins, 3 edy's yogurt ice cream, 3 pkg. of 2 magic erasers, 3 marinade, 3 bags pretzels, 1 orange juice, 1 milk, 1 lb turkey breast, and 6 ramen noodles.
I had $8.84 worth of coupons. Some of my friends have asked me how I have gotten these coupons, especially when I have multiples. For this shop, most of my coupons came from the coupon clippers. I bought the Edy's yogurt coupons from them, 2 of the magic eraser coupons, and the 3 marinades. The total I spent on coupons for these items was less than a $1.oo total but I saved 8.84. So my $1.00 investment was worth the money. I have been using the coupon clippers for coupons for items that I will always use and always need. The items that I used these coupons for were also on sale; therefore saving me even more money. The only down side to the coupon clippers is to make sure you use your coupon by the expiration date. There have been a few times when I have let a coupon expire. For coupons that I get in the Sunday paper it doesn't stress me out, but for coupons that I had to pay for....I want to make sure that I use them.
I saved almost $15.00 buying items that were on sale. Again, I am amazed at my savings now that I pay attention to what is on sale and then apply coupons to those sale items. I remember the days of going up to cashier with a full grocery cart and having my groceries cost over 200.00.
I am so glad that I found the grocery game and the grocery gathering!!
I finally made it to the grocery store this week. It has been crazy since everyone in my home is now back to school.
I just got a few things that we needed and some things that we will use later that are on sale.
I spent $38.75 and saved $24.03 = a 39% savings....
I bought 12 Yoplait yogurts, 3 mac and cheese, 2 pkg. english muffins, 3 edy's yogurt ice cream, 3 pkg. of 2 magic erasers, 3 marinade, 3 bags pretzels, 1 orange juice, 1 milk, 1 lb turkey breast, and 6 ramen noodles.
I had $8.84 worth of coupons. Some of my friends have asked me how I have gotten these coupons, especially when I have multiples. For this shop, most of my coupons came from the coupon clippers. I bought the Edy's yogurt coupons from them, 2 of the magic eraser coupons, and the 3 marinades. The total I spent on coupons for these items was less than a $1.oo total but I saved 8.84. So my $1.00 investment was worth the money. I have been using the coupon clippers for coupons for items that I will always use and always need. The items that I used these coupons for were also on sale; therefore saving me even more money. The only down side to the coupon clippers is to make sure you use your coupon by the expiration date. There have been a few times when I have let a coupon expire. For coupons that I get in the Sunday paper it doesn't stress me out, but for coupons that I had to pay for....I want to make sure that I use them.
I saved almost $15.00 buying items that were on sale. Again, I am amazed at my savings now that I pay attention to what is on sale and then apply coupons to those sale items. I remember the days of going up to cashier with a full grocery cart and having my groceries cost over 200.00.
I am so glad that I found the grocery game and the grocery gathering!!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
More coupons.....
Today, I made a Walmart run with my daughters to get the last of their school supplies. Since, I knew that we were going to Walmart I checked the blogs at The Grocery Gathering to read about the deals for the week. I don't got to Walmart very often because I get frustrated from the long lines and I can find better deals at Meijer and Kroger because they double their coupons.
I got some great deals and had $10.75 in coupons!
A great deal that I want to pass on....
At Walmart, they have Huggies Clean Team flushable moist wipes. There are 42 in package. I use these in my car. This item is packaged with a plastic top and you can pull each wipe and then close the top. I love them. You can find them in the health and beauty area not where the diapers are.
There are coupons for these in the 7/20 Smart Source flyer. The coupon is $3.00/2. These are for sale at Walmart for $1.67. So, if you have the coupon you are buying these for .17 cents a piece. Not too bad!!! I had 2 coupons so I bought 4.
Another great deal that I had been reading about is a magazine that is for sale at Walmart called All You. It is a magazine that you can subscribe to but you can buy individual copies at Walmart. The ladies on all of the blogs have been raving about the amount of coupons that are in this magazine. I figured that I would give it a try and see what I thought. The magazine comes out monthly and costs $1.97 if you buy it at the store and $1.80 a month if you subscribe. I have decided to subscribe. I really liked the articles in the magazine. It features many organizational ideas, beauty, and recipes. So, I will get to enjoy reading it, and it is full of coupons. This month they have over $35 dollars in coupons for products that I will use. The $35 isn't including if your store would double the coupons. If your store doubles, you could be getting $70 dollars off of your groceries for a 1.97 investment.
Here are the coupons that are featured in this month's magazine. (I won't use all of these because some of the products don't appeal to our family.)
2000 Flushes Automatic Toliet Bowl Cleaner -1.00
Abaya Naturals -2.00
All concentrated laundry detergent -1.00
Ban deoderant -1.00
Biz laundry stain fighter -2.50
Boston Market Froven Entrees -1.00/4
Bundinos Frozen Snacks -.50
Crystal Light - free with purchase
Dole Fruit Bowls -.75
Emerald Breakfast on the Go Trail Mix -1.00
Fram Rich Product -1.00
Fruit chillers -1.00
Giant Chewy Nerds buy 1 get 1
Glade Fabric and air odor eliminator -1.00
Greased Lightning -1.50
Jif to go -.75
Kellogg Mini Wheats - 1.00
Kid Cuisine -1.00/2
Kotex tampons -1.00
Kraft salad dressing - free with purchase
Kraft singles - free with purchase
Miralax -2.00
Nabisco wheat thins - free with purchase
Nature Made Mulitvitamins - 1.00
Ore-ida frozen potatoes -1.00/2
Orville Redenbacher mini smart cakes -1.00
Oscar Meyer hot dogs -free with purchase
Peter Pan peanut butter - 1.00
Smuckers uncrustables -.55
Splenda mini's-1.00
Spot shot carpet stain eliminator -1.00
Sunny D -.55
TGI Friday skillet meals -1.00
TGI Friday Frozen snacks -1.00/2
Trident Xtra care gum -.75
Visine -3.00
Weight Watchers Smart Ones - purchase 5 get 1 free
White Castle Hamburgers -.50
Wow! That is a lot!!!
So, if you are interested check out this magazine. You can pick it up at Walmart. I found mine in the aisles by the checkout lanes. You could also subscribe online at
www.allyou.com/customerservice
I got some great deals and had $10.75 in coupons!
A great deal that I want to pass on....
At Walmart, they have Huggies Clean Team flushable moist wipes. There are 42 in package. I use these in my car. This item is packaged with a plastic top and you can pull each wipe and then close the top. I love them. You can find them in the health and beauty area not where the diapers are.
There are coupons for these in the 7/20 Smart Source flyer. The coupon is $3.00/2. These are for sale at Walmart for $1.67. So, if you have the coupon you are buying these for .17 cents a piece. Not too bad!!! I had 2 coupons so I bought 4.
Another great deal that I had been reading about is a magazine that is for sale at Walmart called All You. It is a magazine that you can subscribe to but you can buy individual copies at Walmart. The ladies on all of the blogs have been raving about the amount of coupons that are in this magazine. I figured that I would give it a try and see what I thought. The magazine comes out monthly and costs $1.97 if you buy it at the store and $1.80 a month if you subscribe. I have decided to subscribe. I really liked the articles in the magazine. It features many organizational ideas, beauty, and recipes. So, I will get to enjoy reading it, and it is full of coupons. This month they have over $35 dollars in coupons for products that I will use. The $35 isn't including if your store would double the coupons. If your store doubles, you could be getting $70 dollars off of your groceries for a 1.97 investment.
Here are the coupons that are featured in this month's magazine. (I won't use all of these because some of the products don't appeal to our family.)
2000 Flushes Automatic Toliet Bowl Cleaner -1.00
Abaya Naturals -2.00
All concentrated laundry detergent -1.00
Ban deoderant -1.00
Biz laundry stain fighter -2.50
Boston Market Froven Entrees -1.00/4
Bundinos Frozen Snacks -.50
Crystal Light - free with purchase
Dole Fruit Bowls -.75
Emerald Breakfast on the Go Trail Mix -1.00
Fram Rich Product -1.00
Fruit chillers -1.00
Giant Chewy Nerds buy 1 get 1
Glade Fabric and air odor eliminator -1.00
Greased Lightning -1.50
Jif to go -.75
Kellogg Mini Wheats - 1.00
Kid Cuisine -1.00/2
Kotex tampons -1.00
Kraft salad dressing - free with purchase
Kraft singles - free with purchase
Miralax -2.00
Nabisco wheat thins - free with purchase
Nature Made Mulitvitamins - 1.00
Ore-ida frozen potatoes -1.00/2
Orville Redenbacher mini smart cakes -1.00
Oscar Meyer hot dogs -free with purchase
Peter Pan peanut butter - 1.00
Smuckers uncrustables -.55
Splenda mini's-1.00
Spot shot carpet stain eliminator -1.00
Sunny D -.55
TGI Friday skillet meals -1.00
TGI Friday Frozen snacks -1.00/2
Trident Xtra care gum -.75
Visine -3.00
Weight Watchers Smart Ones - purchase 5 get 1 free
White Castle Hamburgers -.50
Wow! That is a lot!!!
So, if you are interested check out this magazine. You can pick it up at Walmart. I found mine in the aisles by the checkout lanes. You could also subscribe online at
www.allyou.com/customerservice
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Grocery saving tips
I wanted to share some grocery saving strategies that may be new to you....
1. Menu plan based on the sales for that week.
I plan our meals on Sunday. Sunday is a good planning day because I begin my grocery shopping on Sunday. I grocery shop on Sunday at Kroger and on Tuesday at Meijer. I also consider items for our meals that I may have stocked up on during previous weeks.
I found a really great website that you can input the items you have in your pantry and/or fridge and it will give you a recipe to use.
http://www.supercook.com/
2. Challenge yourself to create meals from what you have in the fridge/pantry/freezer.
I am always amazed how many meals I can get out of this stash. Many times I don't feel like eating it or making it but forcing myself to use what I have really decreases my weekly grocery bill.
3. Try to buy as many of your frequently used products as you can when they are on sale. If you aren't a member of the grocery game, I would keep a price book. You don't need to keep track of every single item but keep track of your most commonly used and/or expensive items. Also with your price book consider the price of the item per unit/ounce. Many times you will find that the smaller package is actually cheaper, especially when you can apply a coupon to the item. You might be able to get it for free.
4. Keep an index card in your purse and/or wallet and keep track of your weekly spending. If you are looking at a way to cut your expenses, set a weekly goal.
After each shop, I write down what I spent and what I saved.
I carry this in my wallet. I use this to help (force) me to reconsider running out to get more things because they are on sale or I "need" it. Usually, I can wait until the next week to get it. This has really helped me keep to my grocery budget. I am considering trying this process for other budgetary items. Many of you may have some great strategies that you use. If you have a good strategy please share by posting a comment.
Happy saving!!!
1. Menu plan based on the sales for that week.
I plan our meals on Sunday. Sunday is a good planning day because I begin my grocery shopping on Sunday. I grocery shop on Sunday at Kroger and on Tuesday at Meijer. I also consider items for our meals that I may have stocked up on during previous weeks.
I found a really great website that you can input the items you have in your pantry and/or fridge and it will give you a recipe to use.
http://www.supercook.com/
2. Challenge yourself to create meals from what you have in the fridge/pantry/freezer.
I am always amazed how many meals I can get out of this stash. Many times I don't feel like eating it or making it but forcing myself to use what I have really decreases my weekly grocery bill.
3. Try to buy as many of your frequently used products as you can when they are on sale. If you aren't a member of the grocery game, I would keep a price book. You don't need to keep track of every single item but keep track of your most commonly used and/or expensive items. Also with your price book consider the price of the item per unit/ounce. Many times you will find that the smaller package is actually cheaper, especially when you can apply a coupon to the item. You might be able to get it for free.
4. Keep an index card in your purse and/or wallet and keep track of your weekly spending. If you are looking at a way to cut your expenses, set a weekly goal.
After each shop, I write down what I spent and what I saved.
I carry this in my wallet. I use this to help (force) me to reconsider running out to get more things because they are on sale or I "need" it. Usually, I can wait until the next week to get it. This has really helped me keep to my grocery budget. I am considering trying this process for other budgetary items. Many of you may have some great strategies that you use. If you have a good strategy please share by posting a comment.Happy saving!!!
Kroger coupons
Hello! There are coupons in today's Pantagraph that are good for 4 days only. These look like great coupons.
1/2 gallon of milk for .99 cents
12 eggs for .79 cents
4 lb bag of sugar for .99 cents
Wheat/White bread for .69 cents
Bacon 1.49
Dole Classic Salad Mix .77 cents
Bar S Franks .67 cents
Ibuprofen .49 cents
These are only valid from 8/14 through 8/17. The coupons are on the back of the GO section.
1/2 gallon of milk for .99 cents
12 eggs for .79 cents
4 lb bag of sugar for .99 cents
Wheat/White bread for .69 cents
Bacon 1.49
Dole Classic Salad Mix .77 cents
Bar S Franks .67 cents
Ibuprofen .49 cents
These are only valid from 8/14 through 8/17. The coupons are on the back of the GO section.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Meijer shopping this week!
Hello! Well, I spent more than I planned today, but it was worth it. I had hoped to spend 50 dollars. I had even decided I would spend 75 if needed. Well, I spent 98.00. I had to buy toilet paper and this was about 15 dollars of my grocery bill.
My children accompanied me on this shop and this is part of the reason I was over. We didn't buy anything that wasn't on sale, but I did give in on a few items. I don't know about you but shopping with my children stresses me out. By the end of the shop, I am frustrated and crabby.
My goal this week was to get my weekly grocery bill down to $75 this week. With my shop from yesterday at Kroger, I spent 125.00 dollars this week. Oh well! I still got some great deals that we will eat over this month.
I wanted to share a really good deal on Turkey italian sausage.
If you buy the Turkey store ground turkey (It is on sale for 2.99.), many of the packages have a coupon to save a $1.00 on Turkey store Italian sausage. Well, the Turkey store Italian sausage is also on sale for 2.99 so I got it for 1.99!
I bought 2 packages of ground turkey (I did leave some with coupons) and 2 packages of Italian Sausage. I used the coupons on both.
I spent 98 dollars and saved 64 dollars! With my shop yesterday and today, I saved 81 dollars! Yeah!
Have a great week!
My children accompanied me on this shop and this is part of the reason I was over. We didn't buy anything that wasn't on sale, but I did give in on a few items. I don't know about you but shopping with my children stresses me out. By the end of the shop, I am frustrated and crabby.
My goal this week was to get my weekly grocery bill down to $75 this week. With my shop from yesterday at Kroger, I spent 125.00 dollars this week. Oh well! I still got some great deals that we will eat over this month.
I wanted to share a really good deal on Turkey italian sausage.
If you buy the Turkey store ground turkey (It is on sale for 2.99.), many of the packages have a coupon to save a $1.00 on Turkey store Italian sausage. Well, the Turkey store Italian sausage is also on sale for 2.99 so I got it for 1.99!
I bought 2 packages of ground turkey (I did leave some with coupons) and 2 packages of Italian Sausage. I used the coupons on both.
I spent 98 dollars and saved 64 dollars! With my shop yesterday and today, I saved 81 dollars! Yeah!
Have a great week!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Diaper Savings this week!!!
Info from the Grocery Gathering about all the diaper and baby product sales for this week!!
My checkbook feels for you as baby items are soooooo expensive. We have twins and I remember the diaper/formula/wipes/daycare debt that we had every month!!
http://www.becentsable.net/2008/03/weekly-diaper-formula-and-baby-food.html
My checkbook feels for you as baby items are soooooo expensive. We have twins and I remember the diaper/formula/wipes/daycare debt that we had every month!!
http://www.becentsable.net/2008/03/weekly-diaper-formula-and-baby-food.html
Coupon Envy
Well, yesterday I experienced extreme coupon envy.
Yesterday, I spoke to my mother-in-law who bless her heart saved the Sunday coupons for me. This was a really good paper and I was going to get another paper during my Kroger run on Sunday. This saved me $1.00!
Well, she was sharing that I would be so proud of her and how much she saved at Kroger the other day. I said that I was proud of her. But then she told me that she got a TON of Kroger only coupons in the mail last week. I about died. What Kroger coupons I said? Well, I never received any coupons. I teased her that they were mine because there was a brief period that we lived with them and that is when I orginally signed up for my Kroger card.
Then later on Sunday I made my Kroger run and my envy continued!! I saw tons of people walking around with a WAD of coupons in their hand. I knew that these were the ones that my mother-in-law had talked about. I just can't believe that I didn't get any.
Well, when I got home I logged into Kroger.com and saw under my profile that they didn't have my address in the system. So if you are Kroger shopper and use your card double check that your address is in the system so you don't have coupon envy!!
I just hate missing out on a deal.....
I still saved a lot on my Sunday shop. I purchased 29 items for $25.33. I saved $16.53 (39%) using my Kroger card and coupons!
The deals weren't very good this week. This was more of an essentials trip. We needed yogurt, luna bars were on sale (these are great for on the go breakfasts!), milk, canned chicken, peanut butter, and poptarts. I also bought cheese and bananas.
I plan on making my Meijer run on Tuesday. My grocery goal this week is only $75.00. So I am going to try to spend only 49 dollars at Meijer. I have created quite a stockpile so I don't need as much to have us up and running this week. I am hoping to stay at this number for the rest of the school year! We will see how this goes!!
Yesterday, I spoke to my mother-in-law who bless her heart saved the Sunday coupons for me. This was a really good paper and I was going to get another paper during my Kroger run on Sunday. This saved me $1.00!
Well, she was sharing that I would be so proud of her and how much she saved at Kroger the other day. I said that I was proud of her. But then she told me that she got a TON of Kroger only coupons in the mail last week. I about died. What Kroger coupons I said? Well, I never received any coupons. I teased her that they were mine because there was a brief period that we lived with them and that is when I orginally signed up for my Kroger card.
Then later on Sunday I made my Kroger run and my envy continued!! I saw tons of people walking around with a WAD of coupons in their hand. I knew that these were the ones that my mother-in-law had talked about. I just can't believe that I didn't get any.
Well, when I got home I logged into Kroger.com and saw under my profile that they didn't have my address in the system. So if you are Kroger shopper and use your card double check that your address is in the system so you don't have coupon envy!!
I just hate missing out on a deal.....
I still saved a lot on my Sunday shop. I purchased 29 items for $25.33. I saved $16.53 (39%) using my Kroger card and coupons!
The deals weren't very good this week. This was more of an essentials trip. We needed yogurt, luna bars were on sale (these are great for on the go breakfasts!), milk, canned chicken, peanut butter, and poptarts. I also bought cheese and bananas.
I plan on making my Meijer run on Tuesday. My grocery goal this week is only $75.00. So I am going to try to spend only 49 dollars at Meijer. I have created quite a stockpile so I don't need as much to have us up and running this week. I am hoping to stay at this number for the rest of the school year! We will see how this goes!!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Time to start cooking!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-pizza-soup-recipe.html
This looks really yummy! In my frantic crazyness that has now set in (because I go back to work in a week), I am thinking about how this would be a great dinner for when I am working again.
If you are not a regular reader of my blog, I recommend this site. This wonderful woman has vowed to use her crockpot every day for an entire year. Bless her heart! I wish that I could vow to cook everyday. I love to cook, but I go through stages when I just don't feel like it!
She has gained a lot of attention and was featured on Rachel Ray in June!
So far I have made only one of her recipes - spaghetti sauce. It was good!! I think it would be yummier with turkey italian sausage. I would also add some fresh basil.
Through her blog, you can set up to receive emails of when she posts a new dish. I like receiving these via email as they give me some good ideas.
Happy cooking!
This looks really yummy! In my frantic crazyness that has now set in (because I go back to work in a week), I am thinking about how this would be a great dinner for when I am working again.
If you are not a regular reader of my blog, I recommend this site. This wonderful woman has vowed to use her crockpot every day for an entire year. Bless her heart! I wish that I could vow to cook everyday. I love to cook, but I go through stages when I just don't feel like it!
She has gained a lot of attention and was featured on Rachel Ray in June!
So far I have made only one of her recipes - spaghetti sauce. It was good!! I think it would be yummier with turkey italian sausage. I would also add some fresh basil.
Through her blog, you can set up to receive emails of when she posts a new dish. I like receiving these via email as they give me some good ideas.
Happy cooking!
Meijer sale 8/8 and 8/9
I have many friends that are die hard Meijer fans!
Here is info about their 2 day sale from a blog that I read!
http://thriftyinthecincy.blogspot.com/2008/08/meijer-2-day-super-sale-88-89.html
Here is info about their 2 day sale from a blog that I read!
http://thriftyinthecincy.blogspot.com/2008/08/meijer-2-day-super-sale-88-89.html
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Tips about the Grocery Game
For my friends who live here in Bloomington/Normal, I recommend that you enter Normal's zipcode to choose your stores for the grocery game. This way you will have more stores to choose.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I have finally found the easiest way to grocery shop and save money!!
Hello! If you have been reading my posts, you may remember me mentioning that I was trying out something that should save time and still save money!! I am now able to share this information with you. This is what I plan on continuing to use.
Well, I have spent the last 4 weeks trying something called The Grocery Game. This is a paid service that does all of the work for you. They match up coupons and better yet they keep track of the prices of items.
In April at the beginning of my coupon journey, I spent A LOT of time going to blogs and reading the postings at The Grocery Gathering at BeCentsable. This is a great resource and I saved a lot of money using this. I appreciate all of their work. They take the sale flyers of the grocery stores that you shop at and then match coupons to the sales. The only downside is they don't keep track if the item that is on sale is at its cheapest. (I was saving about 20-30% off my grocery bill when I was doing this.)
This is where the Grocery Game comes into play. They have a database and keep track of the sale trends of the items that are sale. Most items will circulate through a sale period and will be at it's cheapest price once every 12 weeks. The key is to try to apply your coupon to the item when it is the cheapest. (I have been saving 35-50% off since I have used their lists.)
They offer a month trial period for only $1.00. I would also recommend that you sign up when you have also saved at least a month or so of coupons. Otherwise, your savings wouldn't be as great.
You can sign up for as many stores as you want during this trial period. After the trial period is over you only pay for the stores that you want. I originally signed up for Jewel/Meijer/CVS/Kroger/Walgreens. Honestly, I looked at the other store's lists but still continued to shop at Kroger and Meijer.
Once a week, you can access your store's list. The list is based on that week's sale flyer. They color code the list based on percentage of savings. If an item is green, you can get that item for FREE with the matched up coupon. Blue items should be purchased if you use the products featured on this week's list because according to their databases this is the time to buy. This item may be on sale again but not for as low as this price -until the next cycle (which is usually 12 weeks).
They refer to blue items as things that you should stockpile. This means that you would buy as much of this product as you can afford and/or store (if it has a good shelf life). The theory would be that if you stockpiled this item and used your stockpile during the 12 week cycle you would always be buying this item at it's cheapest. This may or may not work for you. During this process, I have stockpiled deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, shampoo, shaving creme, and pasta. Most of these items were less than a 1.00. I shouldn't need to buy these items again for another 12 weeks. For example, we eat pasta at least once a week. I have bought 12-15 boxes of whole wheat Barilla pasta when it was the cheapest and with a coupon!!! This should last us until the next time it hits the lowest price again.
Black items on the list are good prices but not the lowest. They recommend that you buy these items only if you need them.
I spent a lot of time investigating this site and read lots of reviews from people who have tried this. The majority of these people LOVED this service. There were a few that didn't like and their reasons were hilarious. One lady said that she gained weight because she only bought junk food! Really!!! I also viewed video clips and read many references to The Grocery Game on such sites as MSNBC, Fox, etc. This company has been favorably mentioned everywhere that I have read.
There are a few negatives I have noticed, but I will still be using this service!!
1. Sometimes I am not able to find the coupon they are referring to. I have learned that certain areas get more coupons than others. Since we live in a smaller city, we don't receive as large of a circular as the bigger cities. This hasn't been that much of a problem.
2. The other negative is when they release their list for each store. They wait to release the list to advantage of the most recent Sunday paper. For our area, Meijer's list isn't released until Tuesday. The sale flyer comes out on Sunday but the list isn't available until Monday evening. So you would have to shop at Meijer on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. For Kroger, their sale flyer comes out on Thursday and the list isn't available until Sunday. So you would have to shop at Kroger Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
I shop at Meijer on Tuesday's and Kroger on Sunday's. This is what works for me. My time in the grocery store is also a lot shorter because I am shopping off the list and not browsing the aisles. I am in each store for less than 20 minutes! HONEST!!!
When the list comes out, you can manipulate the list to print only the items you would purchase. This week's Meijer's list was over 13 pages long. I chose the items that we needed or would eat and my list was only one page. You take the list and then match up the coupon to the item. They tell you where to find the coupon. I recommend using the binder system I had mentioned in an earlier post. This only takes me about 10-15 minutes to find the coupons for each list! This is a HUGE reason for me to continue with this service!!! I have no problem taking 20-30 minutes a week on this process. This is less than the 40 minutes to an hour that I spent using the other method.
Well, many of you are wondering the cost..... It depends on how many stores lists' you want to receive. I will be paying for 2 lists. For one list it costs 5.00/month. For 2 lists, it costs 7.50/month.
I have been saving a greater percentage using The Grocery Game's shopping list. I feel that the $7.50 investment a month is worth the savings....
Week 1 of the game I spent 101 and saved 86 =46% savings
Week 2 I spent 41 and saved 43=51% savings
Week 3 I spent 134 and saved 77=36% savings
Week 4 I spent 98 and saved 64=39% savings
So, I saved $270 dollars this month for a $7.50 investment....You do the math!!!
Here is the website: http://www.thegrocerygame.com/
If you decide to sign up, I would appreciate you using me as a referral. My email address is rexie.wl@verizon.net.
In a quick summary, I am now a Grocery Game girl because I can save more money and save a ton of time!!
Well, I have spent the last 4 weeks trying something called The Grocery Game. This is a paid service that does all of the work for you. They match up coupons and better yet they keep track of the prices of items.
In April at the beginning of my coupon journey, I spent A LOT of time going to blogs and reading the postings at The Grocery Gathering at BeCentsable. This is a great resource and I saved a lot of money using this. I appreciate all of their work. They take the sale flyers of the grocery stores that you shop at and then match coupons to the sales. The only downside is they don't keep track if the item that is on sale is at its cheapest. (I was saving about 20-30% off my grocery bill when I was doing this.)
This is where the Grocery Game comes into play. They have a database and keep track of the sale trends of the items that are sale. Most items will circulate through a sale period and will be at it's cheapest price once every 12 weeks. The key is to try to apply your coupon to the item when it is the cheapest. (I have been saving 35-50% off since I have used their lists.)
They offer a month trial period for only $1.00. I would also recommend that you sign up when you have also saved at least a month or so of coupons. Otherwise, your savings wouldn't be as great.
You can sign up for as many stores as you want during this trial period. After the trial period is over you only pay for the stores that you want. I originally signed up for Jewel/Meijer/CVS/Kroger/Walgreens. Honestly, I looked at the other store's lists but still continued to shop at Kroger and Meijer.
Once a week, you can access your store's list. The list is based on that week's sale flyer. They color code the list based on percentage of savings. If an item is green, you can get that item for FREE with the matched up coupon. Blue items should be purchased if you use the products featured on this week's list because according to their databases this is the time to buy. This item may be on sale again but not for as low as this price -until the next cycle (which is usually 12 weeks).
They refer to blue items as things that you should stockpile. This means that you would buy as much of this product as you can afford and/or store (if it has a good shelf life). The theory would be that if you stockpiled this item and used your stockpile during the 12 week cycle you would always be buying this item at it's cheapest. This may or may not work for you. During this process, I have stockpiled deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, shampoo, shaving creme, and pasta. Most of these items were less than a 1.00. I shouldn't need to buy these items again for another 12 weeks. For example, we eat pasta at least once a week. I have bought 12-15 boxes of whole wheat Barilla pasta when it was the cheapest and with a coupon!!! This should last us until the next time it hits the lowest price again.
Black items on the list are good prices but not the lowest. They recommend that you buy these items only if you need them.
I spent a lot of time investigating this site and read lots of reviews from people who have tried this. The majority of these people LOVED this service. There were a few that didn't like and their reasons were hilarious. One lady said that she gained weight because she only bought junk food! Really!!! I also viewed video clips and read many references to The Grocery Game on such sites as MSNBC, Fox, etc. This company has been favorably mentioned everywhere that I have read.
There are a few negatives I have noticed, but I will still be using this service!!
1. Sometimes I am not able to find the coupon they are referring to. I have learned that certain areas get more coupons than others. Since we live in a smaller city, we don't receive as large of a circular as the bigger cities. This hasn't been that much of a problem.
2. The other negative is when they release their list for each store. They wait to release the list to advantage of the most recent Sunday paper. For our area, Meijer's list isn't released until Tuesday. The sale flyer comes out on Sunday but the list isn't available until Monday evening. So you would have to shop at Meijer on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. For Kroger, their sale flyer comes out on Thursday and the list isn't available until Sunday. So you would have to shop at Kroger Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
I shop at Meijer on Tuesday's and Kroger on Sunday's. This is what works for me. My time in the grocery store is also a lot shorter because I am shopping off the list and not browsing the aisles. I am in each store for less than 20 minutes! HONEST!!!
When the list comes out, you can manipulate the list to print only the items you would purchase. This week's Meijer's list was over 13 pages long. I chose the items that we needed or would eat and my list was only one page. You take the list and then match up the coupon to the item. They tell you where to find the coupon. I recommend using the binder system I had mentioned in an earlier post. This only takes me about 10-15 minutes to find the coupons for each list! This is a HUGE reason for me to continue with this service!!! I have no problem taking 20-30 minutes a week on this process. This is less than the 40 minutes to an hour that I spent using the other method.
Well, many of you are wondering the cost..... It depends on how many stores lists' you want to receive. I will be paying for 2 lists. For one list it costs 5.00/month. For 2 lists, it costs 7.50/month.
I have been saving a greater percentage using The Grocery Game's shopping list. I feel that the $7.50 investment a month is worth the savings....
Week 1 of the game I spent 101 and saved 86 =46% savings
Week 2 I spent 41 and saved 43=51% savings
Week 3 I spent 134 and saved 77=36% savings
Week 4 I spent 98 and saved 64=39% savings
So, I saved $270 dollars this month for a $7.50 investment....You do the math!!!
Here is the website: http://www.thegrocerygame.com/
If you decide to sign up, I would appreciate you using me as a referral. My email address is rexie.wl@verizon.net.
In a quick summary, I am now a Grocery Game girl because I can save more money and save a ton of time!!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Meijer sale ends on Saturday 8/9
Another great shop!!!
This is so much fun!!
Well, I should be done shopping for the week. I am planning on making a quick CVS trip but this shouldn't cost me anything because of my ECB's (extra care bucks). I have over $10.00 and many of the items I am getting this week are free...
Well, Meijer is having their 10 for 10.00 sale with the 11th item, for free.
I spent $50.48 and saved $24.75. My groceries should have cost $75.23. Therefore, saving our family 33%. Yeah!
Our shop consists of....
3 Garlic toast on sale for 2.25 with 3 -.40 cent coupons (doubled to .80) = 1.45 each
1 breadstick on sale for 2.00 with .40 cent coupon (doubled to .80) = 1.20 each
Hard Salami
2 pkg. English muffins
5 Yoplait yogurt whips with one FREE
8 Barilla pastas with 2 - 1.00 coupons off of 8.
1 Country crock on sale for 1.00 with .55 cents off coupon= .45 each
Jennie-O turkey breast on sale 4.96/lb
1 Frozen Green Beans on sale for 1.00
1 Dial soap 3 on sale for 1.00
2 Banquet turkey sausage 1.00 each
2 Meijer Microwave popcorn packages 1.00 each
2 Aunt Jamima breakfast great starts 1.00 each
1 Breaded Chicken patties 1. 00 each
1 Tortilla chips Meijer brand 1.89
1 Cottage Cheese 1.50
3 Coffee mate creamers for 1.50 each - coupons 1.00 off and .50 cents off (doubled to 1.00)= .50 each
1 BBQ chips 3.79
This week's shop combined with previous shops should feed us for the week. Therefore our weekly grocery bill is $98.21 not too bad for a family of 4 with 2 growing preteens!!
This is so much fun!!
Well, I should be done shopping for the week. I am planning on making a quick CVS trip but this shouldn't cost me anything because of my ECB's (extra care bucks). I have over $10.00 and many of the items I am getting this week are free...
Well, Meijer is having their 10 for 10.00 sale with the 11th item, for free.
I spent $50.48 and saved $24.75. My groceries should have cost $75.23. Therefore, saving our family 33%. Yeah!
Our shop consists of....
3 Garlic toast on sale for 2.25 with 3 -.40 cent coupons (doubled to .80) = 1.45 each
1 breadstick on sale for 2.00 with .40 cent coupon (doubled to .80) = 1.20 each
Hard Salami
2 pkg. English muffins
5 Yoplait yogurt whips with one FREE
8 Barilla pastas with 2 - 1.00 coupons off of 8.
1 Country crock on sale for 1.00 with .55 cents off coupon= .45 each
Jennie-O turkey breast on sale 4.96/lb
1 Frozen Green Beans on sale for 1.00
1 Dial soap 3 on sale for 1.00
2 Banquet turkey sausage 1.00 each
2 Meijer Microwave popcorn packages 1.00 each
2 Aunt Jamima breakfast great starts 1.00 each
1 Breaded Chicken patties 1. 00 each
1 Tortilla chips Meijer brand 1.89
1 Cottage Cheese 1.50
3 Coffee mate creamers for 1.50 each - coupons 1.00 off and .50 cents off (doubled to 1.00)= .50 each
1 BBQ chips 3.79
This week's shop combined with previous shops should feed us for the week. Therefore our weekly grocery bill is $98.21 not too bad for a family of 4 with 2 growing preteens!!
Kroger Sale ends on Wednesday 8/6
I love grocery shopping!!
Today, I bought an extra Sunday paper. This is the first time that I have done this. There were 3 inserts this week in our paper: Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G.
I bought 34 items. I spent $47.73 and saved $38.79. My groceries would have cost me $86.52. I saved 45% today on my groceries.
They are having their promotion if you buy 10 of their qualifying items you will get $5.00 off your grocery bill.
Here is what we got....
4 packages of cheese (sliced for sandwiches and shredded) 4 for $6
5 yoplait whips and got 1 free w/ coupon (Not on sale :( )
3 packages of Ore-ida french fries and crowns on sale for $2.50
2 containers of Daisy sour cream - FREE.
2 Clearasil wipes on sale 1/2 off each
3 Skintimate shaving gel each one with a .55 cents coupon On sale for $2.00
1 Ken's salad dressing -1.00 off coupon
1 Ken's spray -1.00 off coupon
1 loaf of wheat bread
Hamburger patties (DH has been craving red meat. We have been eating a lot of turkey burgers)
4 Salmon
1 Hebrew National Hotdogs -.75 cents off coupon (I love these.)
2 packages of toaster poptarts
Edy's yogurt -.50 cent coupon which is doubled to 1.00. So, it was 2.00
6 pk. propel
3 bars of Irish Spring
Not too bad...
Today, I bought an extra Sunday paper. This is the first time that I have done this. There were 3 inserts this week in our paper: Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G.
I bought 34 items. I spent $47.73 and saved $38.79. My groceries would have cost me $86.52. I saved 45% today on my groceries.
They are having their promotion if you buy 10 of their qualifying items you will get $5.00 off your grocery bill.
Here is what we got....
4 packages of cheese (sliced for sandwiches and shredded) 4 for $6
5 yoplait whips and got 1 free w/ coupon (Not on sale :( )
3 packages of Ore-ida french fries and crowns on sale for $2.50
2 containers of Daisy sour cream - FREE.
2 Clearasil wipes on sale 1/2 off each
3 Skintimate shaving gel each one with a .55 cents coupon On sale for $2.00
1 Ken's salad dressing -1.00 off coupon
1 Ken's spray -1.00 off coupon
1 loaf of wheat bread
Hamburger patties (DH has been craving red meat. We have been eating a lot of turkey burgers)
4 Salmon
1 Hebrew National Hotdogs -.75 cents off coupon (I love these.)
2 packages of toaster poptarts
Edy's yogurt -.50 cent coupon which is doubled to 1.00. So, it was 2.00
6 pk. propel
3 bars of Irish Spring
Not too bad...
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