Weekly Shopping Trip--Savings $56.64

This week, I took advantage of the sales for the majority of my savings rather than relying heavily on coupons.  I still used coupons but only $12.10 worth for this week! Gone are the days of mega savings with coupons for me! I am finding that shifting my focus to buying things that we will use rather than buying things that we might never use because they are a good deal is actually pulling my coupon usage down along with my savings.  Stores that I shop at do not double or triple coupons...it is all face value for the coupons.   Also, most coupons are for processed foods or items that my family will not eat so I am not even cutting those coupons. 

I am not saying that not using coupons is a bad thing, it is just that I have had to become more aware of the sales and shopping more at Aldi's or Save A Lot in order to keep my grocery budget in check.  It has been refreshing not getting everything that is a good deal!  I guess you could say that I am saving money by not "chasing" after every item that is on sale and has a coupon making it a good deal.  Matter of fact, I still have a stockpile of shampoo from a year ago when I was trying to chase every deal that was to be had each week!

For this week, I did my monthly run to Sam's Club and then just went to Meijers(twice) and Save A Lot!  I had to go to Meijers twice because they had milk on sale!

Here is the breakdown of my shopping trip...

Meijer(1st trip): (forgot to take pics of this trip!)

• 6.5lbs split chicken breasts $6.50
• 4 boxes mac & cheese $3.00(1 free with 10 for $10 get 11th free sale!)
• 3 boxes brown & serve sausage $3.00
• 5 cans Old Orchard Juice $5.00
• 2 bags Doritos $4.00
• 2 tubs Country Crock margarine $4.25
• 2 bags Rold Gold Honey Wheat pretzels $5.00
• 2 loaves bread $1.65
• 1 family pack bag Tyson anytizers $6.25
• 2 boxes Cookie Crisp cereal $3.84($1.92/box)

Last week, I received a $2.50 off next shopping trip that I used this week! 

Total: $72.95

Total out of pocket: $39.99

Total Savings: $32.96

Meijer(2nd trip):

• 3.02lbs bananas $1.78
• 3lbs baby carrots $3.00
• 8 cans Old Orchard Juice $7.00(1 FREE--10 for $10 get 11th free sale)
• 3 gallons Milk $6.00
• 1 box Pillsbury brownies 92¢ (had a 75¢ off Catalina coupon that expired 2/20!) 
• 3 boxes General Mills Cereal $7.00 
• 2 bottles Lysol bathroom cleaner $$3.00
• 1 bottle Suave shampoo FREE + an extra $1.31!!!!

Total: $51.31

Total out of pocket: $27.63

Total Savings: $23.68

**about the Suave....I got the "Suavenomics"/Free bottle of Suave product coupon in the mail the other day and I looked at the expiration date and saw 2/28/09 on it!!  So instead of filing my coupon in with my other coupons, I took it to the store and used it!  The cashier scanned the coupon and it scanned for $3.00--the max value on the coupon so instead of changing the price to the price I paid for the bottle, the cashier gave me the full $3.00!!!!!  I guess that was my "pay back" for last week when several of my coupons just did not want to scan. 

Save A Lot: 

• 3.05lbs hamburger $3.02(markdown to 99¢/lb!!)
• 4 cans beef broth $1.96
• 1 jar blackberry preserves $1.99 (going to use it for this recipe!)
• 6 cans cream of chicken soup $2.94
• 3 bags egg noodles $2.97
• 1 box swiss cake rolls $1.00 (my weakness!)
• 1 gallon chocolate milk $2.49
• 10lbs russet potatoes $3.00
• 2 jars pizza sauce $1.98

Total: $21.35

Total Savings: priceless!!

Grand Total: $145.61

Grand Total OOP: $88.97

Grand Total Savings: $56.64 plus the savings from shopping at Save A Lot!

For more savings stories head over to MoneySavingMom's Super Saturday Savings or to BeCentsAble's Centsable Savings Stories.