Saturday Shopping 1.21.12

Shopping Haul January 21st

RiteAid, Walmart, Target, Harris Teeter, and Lowes Foods

Total Value: $155.66

Total Spent: $34.33

Spent 22.5%, saved 77.5%

My savings percentage isn't as high on this haul as it was last week, but this week's spoils include almost nine pounds of meat, so I think I did alright :).

I ONLY PAID TAX FOR THE NON-FOOD ITEMS!!! THAT INCLUDES 20 PACKS OF FLOSS, 20 CANS OF SHAVING CREAM, 22 PACKS OF GUM, 3 TOOTHBRUSHES, 3 TOOTHPASTES, AND A PACK OF BIC PENS!

RiteAid: UP2U chewing gum, regularly $1.49 / pack. On sale for $1 each, used a $1 coupon for each one (22 packs).

Value $32.78, paid $2.21!

Walmart and Target: Oral B floss was only 97 cents at each location, but Walmart gives overage, whereas Target does not. Walmart only had 8 flosses, and I got the pens there as well. 

At Target, there was a promotion where if you bought a full size can of Gillette Fusion ProGlide shaving cream, you could get a travel size can for free. Target stocked a ton of the travel size cans and put them right on an endcap where I could find them easily, how nice of them! 

*Travel size shaving cream was 97 cents each, used a $1 coupon for each one (20 of them). They scaled back the coupons to match the item price. 

*I did the same with 12 Oral B flosses (purchased 20 total).

Value $42.45, paid $2.40!

HT: Same Colgate toothbrush and toothpaste deal as last week, so I got 3 of each for free.

*Quaker Chewy bars, regularly $2.85 / 8 count box. On sale for $2.29 each, used a coupon for 75 cents off 2 boxes, HT doubled the coupon. I did this 3 times and got 6 boxes.

Value $31.64, paid $9.72.

Lowes Foods: Man oh man, I didn't realize how great the BOGO deals would be until I got there! Lowes Foods has a huge selection of fresh meats for BOGO through Tuesday. I bought a lot of pork products we needed, but there are also some great steak cuts, ground turkey, and london broil on special, so don't miss out!

*Pork breakfast sausage, regularly $3.49 / lb, on BOGO deal. Purchased 2.65 lbs for $4.62. A one lb package of Neese's is usually between $4 and $5, so this was an awesome deal. My husband likes to make sausage biscuits for breakfast.

*Ground pork, regularly $3.99 / lb, on BOGO deal. Purchased $1.07 lbs for $2.13 My friend Tara said mixing ground pork and ground beef makes your meatloaf more moist, so I'm going to try it this week. 

*Italian sausage, regularly $3.99 / lb, on BOGO deal. Purchased 2.17 lbs for $4.33. Another great deal, because a one lb package of Johnsonville Italian sausage is usually $4 or so.The cheapest I've gotten was $3.48 / lb. We use about 3/4 lb of this in spaghetti or pizza once a week.

*Carolina Pride Bacon, regularly $3.99 per 12 oz package, on BOGO deal. Purchased 2. You could get just one for half price, but I know we will use it and bacon freezes well, so I got 2.

*Hormel all natural lunch meat, usually $3.99 for an 8 oz package, on BOGO. Had a 50 cent off coupon that doubled, so I got 3 packages for 99 cents each. That means $1.98 / lb for lunch meat with no preservatives or hormones folks! Hubby takes a sandwich for lunch almost everyday, so we use about half a pound each week. 

***FYI, you can freeze lunchmeat (just put it in a freezer bag. The packaging alone doesn't hold up in the freezer. I thought this was weird at first, but we both tried it and it retains all the flavor. Put it back in the fridge the night before you need it. So far I've frozen ham and turkey.

*Barilla Whole Wheat Pasta, regularly 1.75 per box. On sale 4 for $5 ($1.25 each). Had a coupon for $1 off of 2 boxes. A lot of papers had a 55 cents off 1 box coupon, which would be better, but they were not in my local paper.

Value S46.58, spent $20.00

 (my lowest savings percentage to date, but again, that includes 8.89 lbs of meat, which is normally a large part of our budget thanks to Hubby's appetite)!

To make a savings comparison...the meat alone would have cost $45.01 with tax at full price. Instead I got everything in the picture above for $9 less than that. Most of the floss will be donated to charity or saved for Operation Christmas Child boxes, so I'm glad I caught that deal. 

The weather was a little dreary in enemy territory today, but I still came out on top!

My Wild Friday Night...Couponing!

Shopping Haul 1/13/12

Walmart, CVS, Lowes Foods, and Harris Teeter

(Yes, I am that weirdo who lines up her purchases for photo ops like a proud mama.)

Friday night couponing is becoming a regular occurrence around these parts lately. It might not sound like a fun evening to most people, so let me explain.... My husband works a night shift, and he heads out for work at around 5:00. What am I supposed to do, just sit at home on the couch? I think not. Sure, on weeknights I stay at home and grade papers (and nap a little too, just being honest). When I leave school on Friday though, I am on a mission. The quintessential Friday night shopping trip is not just a shopping trip, it is an art form. 

Before heading into enemy territory (it's me versus the checkout, baby!) there is a great deal of preparation involved. The weekend before, I typically buy four or so newspapers and scour websites to match up coupons and sales at my local stores. Keeping track of the rest of my coupons may or may not involve a binder heavier than a newborn child which I will post about at a later date. I might go out on Sunday morning to hit up the drug stores (CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid), and I do some grocery shopping that afternoon to get ready for the upcoming week. To tell you the truth though, I don't want to spend my whole Sunday shopping for a few reasons:

A) I want to sleep in! I get up at 5:20 on weekdays. I refuse to get up before sunrise on the weekend when I am not forced to do so. 

B) My husband and I actually get to see each other on Sundays! Usually we cook breakfast (and listen to pregame football commentary). What little time we have together is very special to me, and cuddling on the couch sounds much more appealing than facing a store's fluorescent lighting in the wee hours of the morning.

C) Did I mention that I am quite fond of sleeping in?

Plenty of places are busy on Friday nights, such as restaurants, the movie theater, the bowling alley, etc. I'm going to let you in on a little secret though...drugstores and grocery stores pretty much look like ghost towns on Friday nights. I'm pretty sure no one wants to be there besides me, which works to my advantage. The midweek supply trucks come in Thursday mornings. The hardcore couponers are there before dawn on Sunday, while I am...you guessed it... taking part in comatose bliss with the rest of the population. 

On Friday nights, no one is blocking the deodorant display and giving me the stink-eye. I can take my time and roam the aisles in peace and quiet, with only the occasional glance from teenage cashiers who think I am absolutely insane. We all know there is something therapeutic about shopping in general, but paying next to nothing for essentials you hate spending money on, like cleaning supplies, just takes that euphoria to another level (insert straight jacket here). 

Now that I have thoroughly melted your brain with my long windedness (is that a word?) and destroyed any chance of you ever returning to my blog again, I will share my spoils from last Friday. 

Total Value: $235.37

Spent: $10.54

Paid 5%, Saved 95%!!!

Lowes Foods: 4 bags of Ricola Cough Drops, originally $2.19, marked down to $1.50 each. I had coupons for 75 cents off of each bag, and Lowes Foods doubles coupons up to 99 cents. Without a store card and coupons, the total would have been $9.18. But uh, Mary paid TAX ONLY.....20 cents, thank you very much!

CVS: I went to two different locations to get enough of what I needed. CVS is my favorite places to shop for toiletries because they track your purchases through your store card. For instance, if you are taking advantage of a deal where you spend $30 and get a $10 giftcard, you could spend $20 at one CVS and $10 at another CVS and still qualify for the deal. Last week I was trying to stock up on laundry detergent and dish detergent...now I have enough for the rest of the year.

Trip One: 5 bottles of ALL detergent, originally $8.00, on sale for $4, and had a $1 coupon for each. This was part of the giftcard promotion. Also, three Finish dishwasher gelpacs, 20 count. Originally they were $7.00, on sale for $3.50 each, and I had a coupon for $2.15 off of each box. Total before discounts would have been $65.12. I got the total down to $21.11 with coupons, paid $10 of it with a previous giftcard, and earned a $10 giftcard. That means I paid... $1.11 for $65.12 in products! 

Trip Two: Three more bottles of ALL (same deal), six more boxes of Finish dishwasher tabs (same deal) and to reach the $30 minimum (that's before coupons) I got a fuze drink that was marked down. The total would have been $72.05 before discounts. I got it down to $20.40, used the $10 giftcard from trip #1, and earned another $10 giftcard (the limit for giftcards is five per week). That was my last giftcard for the week at CVS. Anywho...40 cents for $72.05 in products! 

Walmart: Walmart doesn't offer promotions, double coupons, or run BOGO (buy one get one free) deals, but you can price match there, which helps if you don't want to visit several different stores. I am collecting travel size toiletries which I can usually score for free at Walmart to donate to a local soup kitchen that makes care baskets. Oh, also, if your coupon is worth more than the item you are purchasing, Walmart will pay you the difference. Yes, they will actually pay you to carry things out of the store! I purchased... 

*16 packs of Bic ink pens. There were 10 per pack for 97 cents. A $1 coupon for each one meant Walmart gave me the extra 3 cents back for each pack of pens. 

*Next, 21 travel size tubes of Aquafresh toothpaste, 97 cents each and I had a $1 coupon for 20 of them (I miscounted and only meant to purchase 20, not 21). 

*I had a 50 cents off coupon for deodorant, and the "overage" from the pens and toothpaste paid for the rest of it. 

*Last, I got 3 containers of Teddy Grahams, $1 each, and used a coupon that gave $2 off when you purchase 3, so I got them all for a dollar. I had to pay for one tube of toothpaste, one container of Teddy Grahams, and sales tax. 

Total value $42.55, paid $3.91.

Last Stop...Harris Teeter: Harris Teeter is a grocery store in the southeastern portion of the country. It can be pretty pricey, but they have an excellent coupon policy and lots of BOGO deals. I went back and bought the same exact items on this list on Sunday and Monday as well. HT doubles coupons up to 99 cents each day, but they limit you to 20 per day, and will only double three of the same coupon in one transaction., hence the multiple trips.

*2 boxes of kleenex @ 2.59 each, on sale BOGO (made them $1.30) used a 50 cent coupon that doubled for each of them.

*StarKist Tuna Pouches, 3 @1.35 each, on sale for $1, used a 50 cent coupon that doubled.

* 3 Colgate toothbrushes @ $1.19 each, on sale for $1, used a 50 cent coupon that doubled.

* 3 Colgate toothpastes @ $2.99 each, on sale BOGO (made them $1.49) used a 75 cent coupon that doubled for each of them.

* 2 Gorton's Fisherman Grilled Fillets @ $5.19 each, on sale BOGO (made them $2.60), used a 75 cent coupon that doubled for each of them.

*2 Bird's Eye steamfresh vegetable packs @ $2.56 each, on sale BOGO (made them $1.32), used a 75 cent coupon that doubled for each of them.

Total value $46.47, paid $4.92.

I could have just purchased a bottle of laundry detergent and a drink for $10.54. Instead, I got everything listed above. I call that time well spent. That's why I love Friday night couponing. I can get my shopping fix, stock my house with things we need, and collect things I don't need for free in order to donate.

It is my goal to write at least one post each week reporting my shopping totals. This will motivate me to stay on track, and hopefully it will inspire some readers to venture into couponing as well! I want to track my totals each week and determine how much I save in 2012. I think I'm off to a good start!

If you are still reading this, either I'm quite entertaining or you have the patience of a saint. Either way, now you know how I "spend" my Friday nights.