I did two small trips to Publix this week –there really was not much that we needed from the last ad! My stockpile is HUGE right now so it was nice to have a slower week to make me use some of my “inventory”. I am a bit disappointed in my totals since I spent more than I should have for less product than I would have typically brought home. My total spending this week was $29.74 for a total of $101 worth of groceries (70% savings). Although I am a bit disappointed I know where I went wrong. I strayed from my grocery list and bought things that were really not as good of a deal as it seemed at the time! We will make use of everything …but from now on I am sticking to that list. I could have just bought the milk, bread and watermelon and been fine for the week! Looking at the list –I feel like I got a bunch of unnecessary junk…oh well! I love this weekly post as it really holds me accountable!! So here is what I got this week:
Kraft Mac & Cheese x 12
Taco Bell Dinners x 4
French’s mustard x 2
McCormick’s Pepper x 2
Publix Shells & Cheese Penny Item x 1
Nonni Biscotti x 3
Glad Wrap x 2
Birds Eye Steamfresh x 2
Avocado x 2
Limes x 2
Publix Milk Gallon x 1
Loaf of Bread x 1
Tomato x 1
Watermelon Half x 1
Glad Gallon Bags x 2
*Easy Mac Cup x 2
*Aquafina 24 pk x 1
*Hotpocket x 1
*Sargento Shredded Cheese x 2
*Tombstone Pizza x 1
*Hillshire Farm Deli Meat x 3
*Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage x 1
*Velveeta Shells & Cheese x 8
*Oikos yogurt x 2
*Lysol Toilet Cleaner x 4
*Comforts Diapers x 1
*Tomatoes x 5
*Avocado x 2
*Cilantro bunch x 1
I am already working on my list for next week–I am hoping I get back on track! So how did you do this week?
(* items are from my Kroger run)
10 Comments
I didn’t do as well as normal, but spent $23 for $119 worth of groceries…still not too shabby tho.
Hope my linky doesn’t show up twice – if so, the first one should be deleted – looks like Mr. Linky remembered an old post and popped it in there. Sorry about that!
I made a couple of trips, but like others, didn’t really need much of anything. I don’t have the receipts handy, but the 2nd one was mostly to donate to charity.
Taco Bell dinner x1
Kraft mac & cheese x 4
Uncle Ben rice x4
Nonni’s Biscotti x 1 (for me!)
French’s Mustard x1
Glad wrap x3
Seems like there was something else….
Anyway $3.73 for everything. The cashier was impressed.
I’m so intrigued by the savings I see on here, but I am new to this. How do you get all of those items for such low totals? Could someone please explain?
I’m a newcomer to your blog, but I have to say that your perspective must be skewed by longtime savings. Seventy percent is amazing and to read that you’re disappointed in 70% savings makes me, a coupon neophyte, feel overwhelmed and think that I’ll never achieve such numbers. It seems like it goes without saying that 70% is quite an achievement.
I am sooo impressed and LOVE your blog. My question is …when you use 7 coupons for something are you buying 7 newspapers? Where do you get such a large amount of coupons. I only get 2 papers but am going to increase that to 4. Am I missing something? Thank you sooo much for everything.
Michele
Oh and one more thing. I do most of my grocery shopping at Pulix. It seem as if I am still spending about $60 and saving about $40 becasue I need meat and such. I use the the newspaper coupons and competitors coupons but is there something more I can do?
Again..Thank you 🙂
Michele
Kristen, Tracy & Michelle
I will try to address all your comments at once 🙂
I have one paper delivered and purchase no more than 1 double paper each week (if any). I have access to free community papers that have a majority of the weekly inserts. I also trade a bunch so that I can get access to coupons that may not be available in my areas. As you can tell by the match ups there are TONS of other coupons besides those you find in the Sunday paper coupon inserts. So–trading allows me to have access to coupons that I would otherwise never see!
I have been couponing for over a year now so I am at the point where I only buy things when they are cheap or free. I try to get meat, produce, bread, milk and the other weekly necessities through overage or by using $5/30 (and the like) coupons. Just a few weeks ago I was able to completely stock my freezer since there was an abundance of meat coupons available. Using coupons to stockpile an item means that I have the option to wait for the next “big” deal to come around thus keeping my weekly budget small since I do not “have” to buy many things!
My weekly spending varies week to week. I do not have a set budget –instead I try to spend the least amount of money to gain the maximum amount of products. I generally try to stay under $30 per week. I have found this to be a good amount based on the needs of my family. I think any savings is a great thing and should have been more specific in why I was disapppointed in my totals this week. I feel like I bought too much “junk” that was uneccesary. I don’t feel like I used my money wisely!
It takes some time to learn how to use coupons –we have all been newbies at one point. Start slow –don’t buy something you will not use just because you have a coupon. Start detemine what is your buy it now price point. If you can –stock up on things you use on a regular basis so that you don’t have to buy it at full price!
I made one trip this week and that will probably be it until next week. The BOGOs weren’t as good as they have been in past weeks, but I was happy with the results regardless. The ad said that they had Pillsbury Crescent Rolls for a 10 for $10 (or $1 per), but the products themselves were not supposed to be included in that sale, just the biscuits and the cinnamon rolls. I talked to a manager and got my rolls for a dollar per can because of the misprint; this is yet another reason why I love Publix. Everyone was really helpful!
I spent about $70 (bought lots of Starbucks coffee on sale + $1.50 off coupons — gifts for hubby) and had to stock up on fruit and more for the munchkin. I spent about as much as I saved ($70 spent, $69 saved), but I wish I could be like you guys and get the totals down more. This week was one of those weeks when most of the items were pricey even after coupons. Alas…perhaps next week will be better!
I love reading your blog, this was only introduced to me about a month ago, I will hopefully be up and running soon.