I am always amazed when others can go and get groceries for pennies on the dollar. I read of how they went and bought $300.00 worth of groceries, and yet they only paid $33.56. Or how they bought $112.38 worth and spent $5.72 in cash. I know that most of these women have been doing this for years, and have plenty of food in their pantries, so they can wait for big sales, use their coupons, and get register rewards.
Occasionally, I can do a fair job of saving money, when I get groceries. But, most of the time, I need things that aren't on sale, or I don't have a good coupon for it. But, this time, I managed to find the perfect sales.
I am sharing this with you now, because it is time for another shopping spree, and I'm not sure I'll be able to do this again. So here is my great shopping story.
First, I went to Walgreens. They were having a one day only 15% sale, if you went to the cosmetic or photo counters to checkout. I went late that evening, and made several transactions. They were more than happy to assist me with the check out. I ended up at the photo counter, and there wasn't anyone there waiting behind me, so we took our time and tried to get it all right. (the cashier and I) Here's what I did:
I bought 2 Children's Motrins. The were on sale, so that saved me $3.40. I had a coupon, so that was another $3.00 off. Plus I got 15% off the total, which was another $1.20. I spent OOP(out of pocket) $4.29. I got back a $3.00 RR(Register Reward ~ it's like cash).
Then, because RR are used like a Manufacturer's Coupon, and you have to have a ratio of item:coupon, I bought Diapers and two candy bars. *side note: This happened before Valentines, and I haven't eaten it all yet. Just thought I'd share that with you. The diapers were on sale, so that saved me $2.55. I had a coupon for the diapers for $2.00, and a coupon for the candy. It was a B1G1, so that saved me $.59. The 15% discount saved me another $1.59. I then used the RR from the Motrin, and saved another $3.00. My OOP expense was $4.02, plus I got another $3.00 RR.
Next I bought 3 Gillette Fusion Shaving Creams and 2 Brown'N Serve Sausages.They were all on sale, so there was $1.70 off. The 15% discount gave me another $2.22 off. I had 3 $1.00 coupons for the Shaving cream, and an In-Store coupon that I could stack with my coupons. that gave me another $3.00 and $5.88 off. Plus I used my RR from the Diapers and got another $3.00 off. My OOP was $1.19.
Next, I bought another package of Huggies. With the sale price, the 15% discount, and another $2.00 coupon, I saved $5.90. My OOP was 6.21, and I got back another $3.00 RR.
I then bought 3 packages of Hall's Coughdrops and 3 more Brown'N Serves. They were on sale, so I saved $2.55. I had a couple of coupons for the Coughdrops, so I saved another $1.50.I also had an In-Store Coupon for the Coughdrops, which saved me another $3.50. With the discount, I saved $1.50, and I used my $3.00 RR from the Diapers. My OOP expense was $.82!
My next purchase was a package of Goodnites. They were on sale, so there was a $2.38 savings. I had a $1.50 coupon, and the discount gave me a savings of $1.35. My OOP was $6.71, and I got another $3.00 RR.
I then bought 2 Children's Benadryls. They were on sale, so I saved $3.40. I Used the $3.00 RR from the Goodnites, and the discount saved me another $1.50. My OOP exsense was $6.12, and I got another RR for $3.00.
Next, I bought Pull-Ups and, because of the Item:Coupon ratio, I also bought a candy bar.*I DID eat this one, the other day. The candy was on sale, as was the Pull-Ups. That was a savings of $2.47. I had a $2.00 coupon for the Pull-Ups, and the discount gave me a $1.45 savings. I also used the $3.00 RR from the Benadryl. My OOP was $3.64, and I got another $3.00 RR.
My final purchase at Walgreens was 2 boxes of Fruity Pebbles. Being on sale, they saved me $4.27, right off. The discount gave me another $.60 savings. I also used my $3.00 RR from the Pull-Ups. My OOP was $.50!
All in all, I bought $113.88 worth of groceries, at Walgreens, for only $33.50. I saved $80.38. That was close to a 71% difference. I have NEVER been able to buy 4 packages of Diapers PLUS all that other stuff for UNDER $34.00!
I don't have anymore pictures, but my next trip was to Target. I bought a couple of Fusion Razors, $ Oral-B Toothbrush Double Packs, 2 6pack Ribbons, 2 Writing Geogropy Books, and a Notebook Dictionary.
The Razors were on sale for $4.99, and I had 2 $4.00 coupons. The Toothbruses were on sale for $1.99 each, and I had 2 $.75/2 coupons. The other 5 items were all $1.00 each.
I bought $29.02 worth of things for only $13.32 OOP. That was a savings of $15.70, which was about a 55% savings.
My next trip was to Kroger. I bought 10 items worth $21.40, for only $6.80. I had $2.20 in coupons, which were doubled, giving me another $2.20 off. My Kroger Card gave me another $10.20 off, making it a total of $14.60 that I saved. That is about a 67% savings. I also got a $3.00 RR (or whatever they're called at Kroger), but I let it expire while I was gone to my Husband's Uncle's funeral. Oh well.
Now, my last trip was to Wal-Mart. Remember how I said I always need things that aren't on sale, or I don't have a coupon for? Well, this is were it got all messed up. Although, on any given day, I would not have been able to walk away with 2 packs of diapers, meat, and other daily essentials and still get all the things I'd gotten at the other 3 stores for the amount I spent.
At Wal-Mart, I spent $184.96. But, like I'd said, I was out of EVERTHING!! I'd had a hysterectomy in Dec. We stayed with my parents for a few weeks. Then, I and my four boys all became sick for several weeks. I had not been able to go to the store and get what we needed, for a LONG time.
Before coupons, it would have been $207.26. So I did save $22.30, which was only about 11% in savings, but better than nothing. And that $22.30 was ALL COUPONS. I had some really good ones.
All together, I bought $371.56 worth of groceries, for $238.58. That was a savings of $132.98, or nearly 36%. The Wal-Mart trip did me in, but the other stores, I got great deals. My goal is to not have to spend so much at Wal-Mart either, some day.
I just have to remember that , no other time have I ever been able to buy that many diapers and as much food as I did, for that much money. I normally would have had to choose to not get the diapers or the meat, or go WAY over budget.
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