three's a crowd

For some strange reason I thought it would be wise to hit up three stores for their sales in one day. And actually it wasn't even a day, it was after work. I will never do that again. The main reason being that once it was all said and done, I didn't see a big enough savings in adding an additional grocery store to my trip.

First up was Walgreen's. I was actually very excited about adding the walgreen's into my trip... until I read Publix sale ad and saw that most of the things on my walgreen's list were actually cheaper at Publix. My list of about 10 items dwindled down to 3, only one of which was on sale and the other two I had coupons for. I still did good, but it was thanks to my large discount coupons and not the sales. Doubt I will be going back. I bought Cascade gel which was on sale for $3.99 (discount of $1.50) two twix bars and an old spice deodorant. I had a 3 $1 coupons making my total $5.80 with a savings of $4.50.

I think the deciding factor in my "let's go to three stores!" idea was the face that we had been living off our stockpile and pretty much depleted it. We were out of everything. Literally I do not know what we would of eaten for dinner had I not gone to the store, and we still need a few things, but they either weren't on sale or I didn't have a coupon for them so they can wait until next week.

Winn Dixie was next. This is my opinion, "their sales... are not sales". At least not compared to Publix. Everything I bought was on sale except for one thing and I had a coupon for the full price so that doesn't count. I had a coupon for 7 of the on sale items and my total still shocked me. I will list out what I bought, since it wasn't that much:
2 packs of cole's garlic toast
2 big tubs of yoplait yogurt
2 tubs of breakstone's sour cream
3 16 slice packs of kraft singles
2 packs of ball park franks
2 packs of plumrose bacon
2 hillshire farms deli meats
3 martha white muffin mixes
cascade rinse agent
2 Tennessee pride pre-cut sausage patties
1 macaroni grill box dinner
2 bags of lays potato chips

My total was $53.29 and I saved $28.57, $18.73 in store savings and $9.84 in coupons.

Publix... ahhhhh! I wish I had of taken a picture of my buggy.... geez louise. Even the under carriage thingy was full. The cashier actually asked me how many people were in my house. But I got some awesome steals. Pop tarts were pretty much free when I combined a target coupon and a manufacturer's coupon, I got a free degree deodorant with a target coupon and I had several free coupons for baby items. Sadly I do not know my exact savings amount because she tore my receipt in the middle of my coupons. But I think it was $89.something and I spent $151.16. Much better!!!

Our pantry and fridge and even toiletries are well stocked back up now and I totally learned my lesson with taking on too much.

CVSaving

I've been trying my hand at CVS sales for a little while. Nothing major. Today I actually learned alot from my CVS trip. The most important thing being to READ FINE PRINT on the ECB earning. Most earnings are one per card. Now I'm not going to cheat the system and get multiple cards, but I definitely would not of bought an additional razor if I had of realized before hand that I was only going to get 2 ecb's and not 4. Either way I only paid $5 for a $10 razor.... but still. Next time I will know!
The second thing I learned is to go to the little hub that scans your card and prints out any coupons you have waiting to be used as soon as you walk in. I was all depressed because my $5 off $25 coupon expired on 7/23 but a new one printed out when I scanned my card! Yay!! I was hoping for a neutrogena coupon I had misplaced to print out, but I guess it had already expired as well.

I purchased:

one 12 pack coca cola
one 12 pack sprite
two twelve packs 12oz dasani
one Schick quattro for men
one Schick quattro for women
one Aussie shampoo
one Aussie conditioner
two Colgate 360 toothbrushes
one Colgate total advanced toothpaste
two Irish springs 3 pack soap bars
one Palmolive dish soap
one neutrogena mascara
one neutrogena lipstick
one gallon milk
one Gillette fusion for men shave gel

total (with tax) before any sales, coupons or ecb redemption - $101.90
total (with tax) after sales, coupons and ecb redemption - $46.58

I saved 54%! I know that is a good thing, but I just feel like it could of been more. Do any of you have tips on working the CVS sales ad? What is your average savings at CVS?

My next venture is to try out the Walgreen's sales. I have NEVER sale shopped there but they had some good deals that matched up with my coupons, so I plan on trying them out Friday. Woo Hoo Friday night out on the town - saving! Ha!!

Be Prepared!

Always makes me think of the Lion King song. Where Scar is singing with the laughing hyenas. Tee he he.

Anyway - Now that I have a baby on the way quick and easy dinners have been at the top of my list. Not only in the here and now when I am too tired to cook my usual over the top dinners, but for when we bring home our son. Something that can be made in minutes and is easy enough that Bradley won't freak out when I ask him to make it.

When I was little, mom use to make me "philly cheese and noodles". (I was actually in college before I was told that cream cheese was not called "philly cheese") Well these days there are tons of flavored cream cheeses out there. From sweet to savory. Two new kinds were introduced this summer, one of those being spinach and artichoke.

Bradley loves spinach and artichoke dip. So I bought it. I actually bought it when I was still battling nausea and I was nauseous when I bought it so just looking at the tub made me feel nauseous again. The pregnancy brain is an odd creature. But today I decided to bite the bullet, open the tub and make philly cheese and noodles.

Talk about quick AND easy!! This takes all of ten minutes. I boiled three servings of small sea shells in salty water, drained them and returned them to the warm pot. Then I scooped out a little less than half the tub, and stirred the pasta until the cheese melted and covered the noodles. I then stirred in a splash of milk to keep it from setting back up. There were actually big pieces of spinach and artichokes in the cheese, not just tiny specks.

Next time you're at the store pick up a savory blend that catches your eye and try it out. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Blog Number 2

it might explain my current lack of enthusiasm for blog number 1

www.travismakes3.blogspot.com

weekly publix trip

this week I needed a LOT - so I knew my ticket would be expensive but I still expected to get a lot and save a lot. I did both and my ticket was cheaper than it normally would of been. The BEST deal I found, and this was just luck, was that the b/s chicken breasts were on sale for $3.99 a pound.... but my publix (trussville) had them priced $1.99 a pound!! They even had them under a sign that said $3.99. I didn't say anything so go get you some extra cheap chicken before they notice. I should of bought more than 3 packs....

Some of my favorite deals this week were:

French's yellow mustard - BoGo - regular $1.39 after a coupon for each - FREE!

Taco bell home orignals dinner kit - BoGo - regular $2.69 after a coupon for each - $0.34

Kraft Mac n Cheese (blue box) - BoGo - regular $1.19 after a B3G1 coupon - $0.44

Uncle Ben's Country Inn rice - BoGo - regular $1.49 after a coupon for each - $0.25

I could just tell you my total and my savings.... but you wouldn't get a very good idea of how much I actually got (and I'm trying to get some friends on the bandwagon) so I'm going to list it out.....

2 bags Alexia frozen parmesan potatoes (delish, btw!)
philadelphia spinach artichoke cream cheese
2 18 count kraft cheese slices
2 8oz blocks Cabot cheese
3 packs boneless pork chops
3 packs boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 packs ground beef
2 pack oscar meyer bun length hotdogs
6 pack vienna sausages (for bradley.... im not THAT pregnant - yet)
4 can hunts tomato paste
8 cans hunts tomato sauce
2 shakers weber grill spices
2 bottles heinz vinegar
handle of publix veg oil
2 taco bell dinners
2 frenchs mustard
5 lb domino sugar
2 uncle bens rice
4 kraft mac n cheese
1 pack peanut butter chips ahoy (pregnant)
2 50 count boxes ziploc gallon storage bags
one clorox ready mop refill
1 4 pack of fresh corn on the cob
1/4 watermelon (pregnant)
publix white bread
publix hot dog buns
2 bags baked lays
publix tortilla chips
24 pack aquafina

Grand total $97.42.... savings of $48.86!!!!!!!!!!

I've only been doing this 2 weeks and so far I've spent $108.80 and saved $75.85. I think that is a GOOD DEAL!

ok im hooked

A couple of months ago I decided to start clipping coupons. Well, I did, but I didn't use them in conjunction with sales, so it was depressing. I would save a little, but nothing fun. Lately coupons and saving has been the talk of the town. It seems like everyone I know has a coupon binder and only shops for items that are on sale and saves BIG. So I took the time to put together a binder and separate my coupons by month of expiration, then I matched it up with this weeks Publix sales ad and - voila!

3 - 1 pound boxes of muellers pasta
2 - 16 oz bottles of kraft dressing
2 - 16 oz bottles of kraft bbq sauce
2 - 16 oz containers breakstones sour cream
2 - 8 oz tubs kraft cream cheese
1 - 13 oz bag lays potato chips
1 - 10 oz box wheat thins
1 - 10 oz box triscuits
2 - 16 oz packages of Cole's garlic toast

All of these items were on sale, and I had a coupon for every item except the lay's chips, in some cases a coupons for each item (ie. I only had one coupon for all 3 pastas but had a coupon for each garlic toast). After the sales discounts and my vendor coupons........ my grand total was $11.38 and i SAVED $26.99!!!!!! I saved over double what I spent!!! And it's all good name brand stuff. Plus my wheels were turning, and as I was going down my grocery list I was coming up with meal ideas. Dressing as a marinade for chicken, cream cheese to make a sauce for the pasta. It is all becoming clear to me and I am definitely HOOKED!

Some highlights of my trip were -

the pasta was bogo and ended up being $0.75 a box. I had a coupon for $1 off 3 boxes so I paid $0.50 cents for three boxes, or - $0.17 PER BOX!! The boxes are regularly $1.49

the bbq sauce was bogo and ended up being $0.75 a bottle. I had a $1 off coupon for each bottle. So, these two bottles were FREE. The bottles are regularly $1.49

the cole's bread was bogo and ended up being $1.40 each. I had a $0.50 coupon for EACH package that doubled to $1, so I paid $0.40 PER PACKAGE! The packages are regularly $2.79!

The best part..... I never dug through a bunch of newspapers looking for coupons. I simply went to this website, where she has the sale ad posted for you with links to the coupons for each item. I just printed out the ones I wanted, made my list and went to the store! EASY!!!

I love this because Publix is my favorite grocery store. I despise wal mart. Publix's groceries and meats and produce are SO much better. Most people think that Publix is the highest priced grocery store around.... but you would be surprised! They also accept ALL competitor coupons. Just the other week I had a CVS coupon that entitled me to $5 off a $25 purchase, and Publix accepted it!

three quick things, ya gotta try!!

first of all, for anyone who may read my blog but not my friend jaime's - the grocery game is something that really intrigues me and i plan on signing up for soon. i despise coupons...... UGH! but love saving money, and now that im buying a lot of fresh fruits and veggies for full price i need to be saving money else where. well that and the whole economy thing. basically im a sucker for easyness. go into the grocery, get what you want, get out. making a list and clipping coupons does NOT appeal to me, but its something i need to grow up and do. i dont budget and im a horrible impulse buyer. which is so not mature! i need to act my wage, so im going to use the grocery game to help me out and i wish you would, too!! ive already been clipping coupons and checking out the sales paper, and i cant wait to pick up a sunday paper for even more coupons! yay for growing up!!

number two - and this kind of ties into the grocery game and eating healthy. e-mealz.com is a co-workers sister's business. (jaime, look at the picture and guess which one, they look exactly alike!) the grocery game helps you make a list, emealz goes one step further and creates your menu!! how awesome is that!! for just $5 bucks a month, you pick your plan (points, low fat, just for two, family size, etc...) and pick your store and print out your recipes complete with grocery list. it even puts the correct price by each item!! this is also something i plan on implementing.

lastly, and not nearly as exciting as saving money and having a meal plan made for you with the push of a button..... but still tasty.... is asian pears. oh.... my.... gosh!!!! also known as (thanks to me) "appears", they are delicious bites of heaven. so juicy with a honey like sweetness. please go get one. i have found them at wal mart and publix and am totally addicted to them.