Remember I told you guys that my shopping trips tend to average out…well this week is a prime example of how that happens!! Last week was my birthday and I splurged a bit and went over my average. well, this week I am well under average! I decided to calculate my year to date average and I am pretty much on track! For the last 31 weeks I have spent a total of $1281.31 which averages to $41.30 a week! I also decided to check and see how I was doing with my savings so I found that while I have spent $1256.83 out of pocket I have brought home almost $5468 worth of products. That means I am averaging 77% savings… which is pretty good in my book!!
I really think these numbers show how valuable couponing can be for a budget! If I chose not to use coupons I would be averaging about $176 per week which is probably pretty typical for a family of four. Now whenever someone dares to try and tell me that couponing is a waste of time I can just smile knowing that thanks to couponing I have saved almost $4200 in 31 weeks!!
This is one of the biggest reasons that I love to keep track of my spending. It is really motivating to stop and see how a little bit of effort can really make a difference! I know this is not for everyone but it is certainly a great way to keep you motivated!! I am so happy to see that I am still on budget for the year and I have a good feeling that I will make my goal for this year!
So this week I spent $24.51 for over $176 worth of groceries!! That means I saved 87% this week! I am most excited about all that milk!! I thought ahead and had my store order me a couple of boxes so it would be there when I shopped on Monday!! Since the Smart Balance milk has a long expiration date I am really hoping that we can go 6 -7 weeks before I have to get more (fingers crossed)!! Here is what I brought home this week:
| Product | quantity | price | coupon | coupon details | ||
| smart balance milk | 15 | 2.5 | 37.5 | 37.5 | 0 | 15 $2.50/1 insert |
| white house vinegar | 2 | 1.39 | 2.78 | 2 | 0.78 | smart saving booklet |
| WH cider vinegar | 1 | 1.89 | 1.89 | 1 | 0.89 | smart saving booklet |
| smuckers jam | 5 | 1.6 | 8 | 2.5 | 5.5 | five $.25/1 Insert |
| lysol hands free | 3 | 9.99 | 29.97 | 24 | 5.97 | (3) $5/1 Wags + $3/1 MQ |
| apples bag | 1 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.49 | ||
| digiorno deep dish | 1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0 | free product Q |
| crest tpaste | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .50/1 insert |
| eggs | 1 | 1.39 | 1.39 | 1.39 | ||
| sorrento mozzerella | 4 | 3.99 | 15.96 | 8 | 7.96 | (3) $1/1 blikie + smart saving |
| tax | 1 | 2.93 | 2.93 | 2.93 | ||
| (3) $3/$30 | 0 | 9 | -9 | art calendar | ||
| gift card | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | gift card -bday present | |
| diet coke | 3 | 4.33 | 12.99 | 1 | 11.99 | in ad Q |
| huggies | 1 | 8.99 | 8.99 | 2.5 | 6.49 | home mailer |
| cottonelle 12 roll | 1 | 6.99 | 6.99 | 2 | 4.99 | store Q + MQ |
| $5 off $25 | 0 | 5 | -5 | $5/$25 | ||
| plus up coupons | 0 | 10 | -10 | existing coupons | ||
| tax | 1 | 1.13 | 1.13 | 1.13 | ||
| TOTAL | 24.51 |
Black= Publix; Blue = Rite Aid
How did you do this week? Leave a comment or link to your weekly totals.
I made several shopping trips this week, 3 to Publix, 1 to Kroger:
Publix – Spent $39.66 for $214.75 worth, saved $175.09 = 82%
Kroger – Spent $3.93 for $49.48 worth, saved $45.55 = 92%
I don’t normally do more than one trip each week, but that milk deal (plus a few others) was just too good to pass up! 🙂
Where do you get the art calendar? I have never seen them… Thanks!
1 Quaker instant oatmeal, 2 kraft MAC & cheese deluxe, 4 simply mashed potatoes, 2 publix pasta, 8 pop tarts, 2 yoplait gogurts, 5 nature valley family pack granola bars, 6 playtex tampons, 10 Sobe Lifewaters, 1 Smuckers squeeze jelly, 2 Starbucks Ice cream, 1 Bustello Coffee, 1 publix frozen veggies, 4 Sprout baby foods, 1 baby portabella, 4 Febreeze Air Effects, 4 Soft Soap dispenser, 1 Suave Hair Product, $48.30 @ Publix. Saved $113.19=$161.49 for a 70% savings. Would have been better if my husband wasnt texting me while I was at the store asking me to get things that weren’t on my list. Grrrr!
You really do an amazing job Michelle! I am having a hard time keeping my weekly total under $80, and now that I have all three boys home it is especially tough.
We spent $63 on $149 worth of groceries… which included a few splurge items. Not too shabby! Thanks for all the great ad match-ups, every little bit helps. 🙂
Totally not understanding how to calculate how much you save. Can someone explain.
hi! where do you get the $5 off $25? thanks
karen it took me awhile too. take your total saved divide by total worth times 100. this will give you the %
I spent $50.00 on $130.00 that’s wonderful thanks and God bless you for helping us.
Hi there i have been following your website for quite a while, and im not quite sure if you know. But the Publix’s in Tampa, and St.Pete Beach area all accept the Save A Lot $5 off $25 off of the entire total, so if before coupons your total is $100, you can use 4 coupons for $20 off. Give them these coupons first, some of the cashiers sometimes dont know, so i just take my receipt to the manager and they give me the discount right off of my receipt. I have saved myself and friends and family hundreds of dollars just with these. In fact Thursday i helped a single mom of 5 purchase $330 in groceries for OOP $106!!!!
My Publix in Gainesville, FL took the $5/25 Save A Lot, too! 🙂
My Publix will only take 1 $5 off $25 at a time. That is awesome your store will take more than 1 that rocks!!!
Thats awsome! Great Job! I was going to see what I have saved this year-actually it was a punishment for my 12 year old who told me that coupons are a waist of my time-I am interested to see what my numbers are even more now!
I spent $107.24 (incl. 9.89 tax) but was thrilled that my pre-tax was below $100. It’s just DH & I so after realizing how much we spent on food in June & July we are budgeting to just $100/mo for the 2 of us. We saved $59.83 — 55% off! Every BoGo we bought we had a coupon for… some of the deals we really saved good on was:
GoGurt (BoGo at 2/$2.79, we had a $0.75 Q) = $2.04
Cheerios (BoGo at 2/4.99, we had a $1.00 Q) = $3.99
Softsoap ($1.00, we had a $0.25 Q which doubled) = $0.50
Diet V8 Splash (BoGo at 2/$3.29, we had a $1.00 Q) = $2.29
PopTarts (BoGo at 2/$1.95, we had a $1.00 Q) = $.95
Angel Soft Double 9 Roll ($5.69, we had a $0.50 Q which doubled) = $4.69
That’s just the main things we go through in our household, so to get them so ridiculously cheap was awesome! I “googled” the poptarts, diet v8 splash & angel soft Q’s… and got the gogurt & cheerios off of coupons.com, and had the softsoap Q from another blog 🙂
Thank you Crissy! I went to the store last night! I save 54%. I spent $30.63 for $65.89 worth of groceries and save $35.26!
thank you for sharing your weekly totals! i study your grocery list 🙂 in addition to your weekly ad and super deals to make sure that i am not missing something! great shopping this week!
🙂
My 7/11/10 RP had $1.00 off Smart balance Milk. Not $2.50 I’m confused on that one.
It was regional…some areas got the $2.50, others got the $1.00. Just depends in which area you live.
I spent $84.04 for $222 worth of groceries. That’s great. AND it’s enough for me to not shop for 2 weeks, unless something unusual happens! We’re full up!
I am amazed by your self control.
That is the most detrimental part to me. I do save a lot. But if I am craving say–Boar’s Head Deli Ham, I break down and get it usually (and that stuff is never cheap)
My total was 246.01 before coupons and after it was $72.98 including tax! Thank you for all of the help! I love your site!
I had a great day yesterday spent 76.00 and saved 190.00. best ever