It’s good to know that my budget categories have started over this month. I’m going to try to still eat from the pantry a bit as I stock up on good deals. I started out my month by stocking up on a great Kraft deal.
I took my husband along after church for what I (hoped) would be a quick run into Meijer. The check-out took than the shopping actually did, but more on that in a moment. Here’s what I bought.
There was a Kraft catalina going on that I’d heard about where if you bought 10 Kraft items, you got $10 back in catalinas. I did it twice. Well, Andy did it once, and I used his catalina to do the deal again. Since cheese was on sale for $1.88, after catalinas, I was getting it for $0.88 a bag. Phenomenal! I was so pleased that I bought 16 bags of cheese. 
I’m glad I tried it out first, though, because it didn’t go smoothly.
The first time, my catalina printed at $5. The guy promised to fix it…and then another lady came in to take over for him before he fixed it. He briefly explained it to her, but I had to explain it to her. She adjusted it and it did work. However, the second time, my catalina didn’t print at all! I went up to customer service, explained it to two girls and finally, one of them handed me $10 in cash. Not a catalina, and I don’t think her manager would have done it that way, but it works the same for me. The $10 is my grocery envelope for my next trip to Meijer.
Hamburger was on sale for $2.27/lb, so I bought 5 pounds. I had a rain check for Old Orchard juices at $1 each, with the 11th free – and two $1 coupons. Andy is happy that we’re stocked up orange juice again.
At Meijer, I spent $55.78. I still have $10 for next time, so the trip really cost me $45, but I’m adding the full cost in now and will use the $10 next time.
This week, I shopped at Target for lots of freebies!
Both ibuprofen containers were free, as were the Glade air fresheners – thanks to stacked coupons. The Diet Dr. Peppers were $0.45 each. I have thoughts of giving up caffeine, but my 11 three-year-old students keep me on my toes…drinking caffeine!
At Target, I spent $1.24.
Next, I went to Kroger for another “Buy 10, Get $5″ promotion. I did that promotion twice – in one checkout. Here’s what I bought there.
Here’s what I got free: 4 Dove chocolate bars (yea for this chocolate coupons), 1 Dawn dish soap and 2 Carefree liners (again, thanks to this coupon).
These items all cost me less than $0.50 each: 2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, 2 bags of Boulder Natural potato chips, Daisy cottage cheese, 2 bottles of Honest Ade Lemonade, as well as each of my Yoplait yogurts.
These items were under a $1 each: 6 boxes of Puffs, 2 Lean Cuisine meals (for fast lunches), and 2 bottles of Prego pasta sauce.
The rest of the items were all on sale, so I spent $25.78 at Kroger. I saved 66 percent, which makes me happy!
Oh, I almost forgot that I ran to Kroger last Friday to use two catalinas that were expiring. I only picked up a couple things.
Let’s keep it simple. The gummies were $0.10 each, the mustards was free, and the peanut butter $1.50 each. I spent $3.07.
Looking at all these pictures, I guess I shopped more than I thought. I guess I was making up for not shopping last week? This week, to start off my September, I spent $85.87. It was more shopping than I realized – since I spent half my budget this week. Yikes!
It is becoming more clear that grocery prices have really started going up. Yes, I bought 16 bags (32 cups) of cheese to stock the freezer at great prices, but everything else seems to be going up. This is causing me to re-evaluate my budget…AGAIN! I haven’t come to any decisions yet. Stay tuned for future posts as I muse through this budget dilemma.
For now, I’m still excited about my great cheese deal! Have you bought any exciting recent deals?
