$79 Grocery Shopping Marathon
Grocery store savings are where I try to save the most money. My monthly budget is $180 for food and $30 for household, or about $53/week. I try to pay for groceries and household in cash so that we don’t go over budget and because I am more aware of what I’m spending with cash than what I spend on a debit card. Also, when I pay in cash I round up to the nearest dollar and put my change in a savings jar.
I usually split the month in half and allot myself $105 the first half and $105 the second. If there is money left over I add it to the next week in case a good deal comes up. I make two big shopping trips at the beginning and middle of each month. I usually spend all but $15-$25 which I leave for staples for the next week and for any good deals.
The grocery portion of our budget includes soy milk for our son (at $5/gallon we spend about $25-$30/month just on the milk), meats, produce and others. The only items it doesn’t include is bulk rice and oatmeal which I buy about twice a year for an exceptional price. We are also working on setting aside three months of food for emergencies and have budgeted a separate $40/month to build up our supply more quickly.
The household portion of the budget includes cleaning products, toilet paper, medicine, paper products, and hygiene items. It does not include diapers.
Yesterday was one of our big shopping days and I hit Krogers, Aldis, Trader Joe, WalMart and Target. I usually don’t go to more than three stores in one day (Kroger, WalMart and Aldis) but yesterday I made a couple of more stops. Here is what I bought and the totals below.
Kroger:
Total: $18.00. The only coupons I used were for the Cottonelle Toilet Paper.
Aldis: (The flour and tortilla chips accidently got in the picture)
Total: $33.00
WalMart: (We had already eaten one bunch of bananas before I took this picture)
Total: $22
Target: More details here
Total $1.00
Trader Joe: More details here
Total: $5.00
Grand Total: $79
This wasn’t the best week for me, but it wasn’t the worst. I couldn’t find many coupon deals but this is our typical shopping spending. We will round this out with food we already have in the cupboard and freezer. I am also excited that we have so much fresh produce to use.
Trader Joe $0.49 Pasta
When my budget has a little wiggle room I try to buy whole wheat pasta. The best deal I have found without coupons is Trader Joe multigrain pasta with flax for $0.99.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the price today at $0.49. I stocked up on 10 packages for $4.90 and mentioned it to the cashiers. They were very surprised at the price as well.
One of them asked their manager about it, and they said that they were discontinuing the pasta which is why it was reduced so much.
I don’t know if this price is nationwide or just at my store. But if you’re driving by a Trader Joe I would be sure to check it out.
As a side note, I think this pasta tastes pretty good and very filling. If you need serve it with sauce you won’t really notice that it’s whole grain.
Target Diaper Catalina
The other day Tim got some apple juice at Target and received a $1 catalina (coupon that prints when you check out) good on $1 off Target brand wipes (216-ct or higher) or diapers. I used the catalina to purchase a box of diapers and another $1 catalina printed out good on our next box of diapers.
With the catalina I got 92 size 4 diapers for $12.69 or $0.14/diaper.
I’m not sure how long the promotion is running but my catalina doesn’t expire until January 31st. I have found Target diapers to be the best deal for daytime use between their quality and price so I was excited that this catalina made them even cheaper.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts is a program that loads coupons onto your Kroger (or Kroger affiliated store) card so you don’t have to worry about the hassle of bringing coupons with you. These coupons don’t double but you can use these coupons in addition to manufacturers coupons. This post shows how Shortcuts cut my Kroger bill earlier this month.
The signup is quick and easy. You just fill out some personal information and then your Kroger card number. Shortcuts allows you to store over 25 different coupons on your card. The coupons have an expiration date similar to paper coupons.
The biggest trick with Shortcuts is remembering what coupons I have loaded in my card. I find it easiest to print out a list of the coupons that I can take with me and look at for quick reference.
My favorite Shortcuts deal is their Cottonelle coupon, which they frequently carry. The coupon is $0.50 off a 4-pk Cottonelle toilet paper which typically is priced at $1.00. That means you get 4 rolls of quality t.p. for $0.50. That beats even the Wal-Mart generic price.
Here’s one example of a deal at Kroger’s this week using Shortcuts. Kroger’s salsa is on sale for $1.00, but there’s a Shortcuts coupon for $0.50 off 1 salsa making the salsa $0.50.
Shortcuts is just one of the way that I save money on my grocery bill, leaving me more money to pay off debt and save.
