By Kristen, on May 18th, 2012% After teaching school and piano lessons, but before confirmation questioning, I squeezed in quick shopping trips to Meijer and Kroger on Tuesday.
First, I went to Meijer.
I was disappointed to find that they were out of my Boston contact solution. This was the main reason I went there, as I have contact solution solutions that are expiring this week. Sigh. I’ll try to make it to Walmart or Target this weekend to use my coupons before they expire. It’s rare to find coupons for hard contact solution! Contact solution ramblings aside, here’s what I bought at Meijer.
The best deal was certainly my razor with the free package of refills. The orange peppers were on the mark-down rack for $0.67 so that was a pretty good deal, too.
At Meijer, I spent $8.87.
Then, I hurried down the road to Kroger.
Due to coupons (free product coupons and tripled ones), the Dawn dish soap, Wisk laundry detergent, Kraft Fresh Takes, and Del Monte vegetables were all free.
After the current “Buy 10 products, get $4 off” promotion, which I stacked with two $1.50/1 Hillshire coupons, I bought the Hillshire brats for $1.57 a package. I love the grilling deals I’ve been finding recently, as this is the prime time for those!
I was also excited to get a box of Trix for $0.49. I haven’t had this cereal in awhile, but it is a fun treat, especially at this low price. It has a Boxtop, too!
At Kroger, I spent $9.92 and saved 82 percent! I also was surprised (and delighted) to receive a $2 catalina off my next purchase, due to an unknown grilling promotion.
I found it interesting that I spent almost the same amount at both grocery stores, but I had a lot more to show for my money (and coupons) when I shopped at Kroger.
This week, I spent $18.79 on my quick shopping trips. This brought my May total to $89.90. Oh! I did “sell” 4 cases of my surplus water to Ascension for their DC trip. That means I can add $10 back to my grocery budget, so I’ve actually spent $79.90 this month. Half way through the month, I’ve spent almost exactly half of my grocery budget.
How was your shopping this week? Are you stocking up on grilling bargains like I am?
By Kristen, on May 11th, 2012% My shopping trip for this week begins with a story.
Last weekend, my husband was busy with preparations for taking his junior high class to Washington, D.C.. After repeatedly asking what I could do to help, he asked me to pick up water. He figured 2 bottles a day for 50, over 4 walking days. He needed 200 hundred bottles of water.
Being the helpful wife that I am, I sat down and did the math by dividing by 24. Somehow, my math got off because instead of buying the 8 cases needed, I rounded up…and bought 20 cases! Oops! Have you ever done something like that?
Andy took 10 cases along with him, and I needed 2 cases for my field trip coming up. The remaining 8 we will keep for our summer travels and company visits. It’s a good thing water doesn’t go bad…and an extra good thing that I got such a good deal on it.
I bought it for only $2.49 at Aldi, and $2.48 at Walmart. I cleaned Aldi out and had to go to Walmart. If I stopped at 8 cases, I could have stopped at Aldi. Silly me. Here’s my first shopping picture, as a result.
The water cost me $19.92. It is a lot of water!
While I was at Walmart and Aldi, I picked up a couple deals that caught my eye.
For the produce and tortillas, I spent $4.15.
My main shopping trip of the week was Sunday morning, after our two hour long confirmation church service. I needed lettuce for tacos, and I wanted to pick up the Oscar Meyer hotdog deal that I had seen in the Meijer ad that morning. I stopped to shop at Meijer, quickly, on my way home from church.
I stocked up on meat, produce and dairy!
The Oscar Meyer All-Beef Select Hot Dogs were on sale for $1.99 each, when you bought 5. I bought 4, and 1 package of bacon which qualified as well. I then had two $1/1 coupons, as well as a $0.75/2 coupon that I used. This took my price for the hot dogs down to $1.30 a package. Since they are normally priced at $3.98 a package, I was more than pleased with this price! They are in our freezer, waiting for a nice summer cook-out.
My other great find was on produce. I have started regularly shopping the marked-down produce because of the great deals I find.
Green peppers were $0.99 regularly – and I got 2 for $0.64 on the marked-down shelf.
Lemons were $0.67 regularly – and I got 4 for $1 on the marked-down shelf.
All the produce was fine, with no serious blemishes, and it tastes great! This is a great way to save.
At Meijer, I spent $21.64.
Oh! I almost forgot that I shopped at Kroger last Friday, and never shared that trip with you. Here’s what I bought at Kroger – during a great 4 day sale.
My best deals were the Haribo gummy bears for $0.10 and 2 free family sized bottles of Suave, all thanks to tripled coupons!
I made an impulse purchase of chocolate covered Craisins for $1 a bag. Oh my goodness! If you find these, buy them. They might possibly be the best splurge ever! I need to hurry back and buy more before the price jumps up on this fabulous new product.
Wholly Guacamole was $1 a box, after a sale and coupon. Jack Pizza’s were $1.25 each, after sale and several coupons. Kashi Go Lean was $0.99, after a sale and $2/1 Recyclebank coupon.
At Kroger, I spent $25.40.
This brings my total for these various trips to $71.11. The water pushed my total higher than planned, but since these were my first shopping trips for May, my budget is still doing okay.
How did you do with your shopping this week? Did you find any good deals? Have you ever miscalculated as much as I did? Most importantly, have you tried the new chocolate covered Craisins? 
By Kristen, on May 4th, 2012% 
I didn’t go shopping this week. I almost did but I didn’t.
I looked at the ads for Meijer and Kroger and nothing really caught my eye. I take that back. Chocolate chips are on sale at Meijer, but since that was the only item on my list, I didn’t deem it worth the gas money.
I didn’t go shopping – and saved quite a bit of money in the process. My husband did stop by Kroger to pick up some groceries for a school party and picked up 2 bags of chips for home. As I requested, he brought home the receipt. The total for 2 bags of Lays chips was $5.
Kroger now has a new ad out with some good deals so I plan to head there after school today. Maybe I’ll make it to Meijer, too, since I’ll be out in that direction. We shall see. I’ll update you when I actually do go shopping…as I always do!
Question. Do you ever have no shopping weeks?
By Kristen, on April 27th, 2012% As I mentioned earlier this week, I had a great shopping trip at Meijer.
It was one of their great buy “8 items, get $8 off” promotions. With $1 off each item on a wide variety of Kraft products, I knew it was time to stock up!
Here’s what I bought at Meijer this week.
Since you could only do 8 promotion items during one transaction, I did three seperate transactions. It was worth it.
After the promotions, I got Kraft cheese for $1.49 a bag / block / container, Crystal Light for $1 a box, Triscuits for $1.50, Homestyle Macaroni for $0.99 a bag, and Kraft dressing for $0.99.
I had two $1 coupons from Meijer that I could use when I bought a certain amount of dairy products. I broke up my cheese purchases up so I could use them both. That took a quarter off each bag so I spent $1.24 apiece, and that is a great stock-up price. That’s why I bought so much cheese! The shredded went straight to the freezer and the rest is in the fridge.
I had several Crystal Light coupons which took my final cost down to $0.50 a box.
I stacked manufacturer coupons with Meijer mealbox coupons for the Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese. Have you tasted this yet? It is delicious. It is going to be even more delicious since I ended up paying only $0.25 a bag, after promotions and coupons.
The Kraft dressing was only $0.99 a piece and I found produce peelies that were attached to the display. For every 2 Kraft dressings that I bought, these coupons entitled me to $1 off any fresh produce. Since I already had six dressings (this ranch is my husband’s favorite), I was happy to apply it to fresh produce.
The carrots were completely free after this coupon, the cauliflower was only $0.50 and the romaine lettuce was then $1.49. These are great ways to save on fresh produce! Keep your eyes open for peelies and be willing to make decisions on the spot to make the most of these coupons.
At Meijer, I spent $38.37 and saved $49.66! I paid less than $40 for all the name brand items purchased on my grocery table. This is why I love to coupon. I love to see significant savings on my grocery bill!
In April, I spent $126.84.
Since this leaves me with almost $33 left in my budget, I will do a bit more shopping yet this month, but this week was too busy to make it out again. Perhaps this weekend?
Did any of you make it to Meijer to stock-up on these Kraft deals? I certainly hope so!
By Kristen, on April 20th, 2012% My husband and I have been trying to eat more healthy. We all have room for improvement, but my latest goals are to stay stocked with good produce and find deals on organic products. Do you buy any organic products?
I did both this week at Meijer!
Meijer was running a promotion where if you bought 10 organic items, you received $5 off. By the time I made it to the store on Monday, they were already out of all the organic canned vegetables. No rainchecks, either. Sad.
I did still buy 10 organic items – rather than the 20 I had planned. I bought 3 containers of quick oats (at $1.49 each), 5 big cans of organic diced tomatoes (at $0.75 each), and 2 cans of organic black beans (at $0.49 each). All of those prices were after the promotion, of course.
My husband requests spreadable margarine for his toast, so I was pleased to see Country Crock on sale for $1.25 each. I had one $1/1 coupon, as well as a $0.40/1 coupon, that doubled. I used them both, which took my cost $0.35 a carton. Plus, I had a $1 off coupon when I bought any Country Crock and a Lenders bagels. The bagels were only $1.67, so I got a bag of bagels for only $0.67, in addition to my cheap margarine.
Motts natural applesauce was my canned fruit purchase. The carrots and celery were my fresh vegetable purchase.
The Ovaltine was to encourage me to drink my milk. Plus, I had a $2 off any purchase from Mperks, so I only paid $1.99 for that. That’s a good deal for me!
At Meijer this week, I spent $16.44 and saved $15.29.
I also went to Walgreens, to use up a Register Reward that was to expire. I really do prefer CVS over Walgreens, because I don’t think Walgreens is as coupon friendly.
I didn’t take a picture because I only bought one item. I bought a box of Hefty kitchen bags for $1.41 (after sale, in-store coupon and my register reward). That was a good price for something I needed.
I didn’t make it anywhere else because it’s musical week for this teacher and director! I love directing our musicals, but it does consume a lot of my energy. I didn’t have the energy to go running any more errands after school.
Therefore, my April totals stand at $88.47. That leaves me with just under half my budget left to spend in the final week and a half of April. I wonder what deals I’ll find next week!
By Kristen, on April 13th, 2012% It’s hard to believe that I didn’t go grocery shopping until the end of spring break! It was nice to be able to walk leisurely around the stores and shop for bargains. I did quite well, if I may say so myself!
My shopping trip to Kroger was excellent. Here’s what I bought there.
There were lots of great details to be found with sales and matching coupons that resulted in many free products – and many products that I purchased for pennies.
In fact, here’s a picture of everything that was free from this trip.
Yea for great frugal shopping trips! For everything at Kroger, I spent only $11.91 and saved 85%. Wow! That is an excellent shopping trip, even for me.
Then, I went to Meijer, to stock up on fresh produce.
There was lots of great produce as part of the 10 for $10 deals. I’ve enjoyed healthy variety this week, as a result.
Do you normally shop the discards shelf for produce? I always check it out, and there was plenty to choose from this week! I got onions for only $0.39/lb, rather than the sale price of $0.99/lb. I also got 2 green peppers for $0.74. Since bell peppers were on sale for $1, I was excited to get 2 for less than that. This produce had minor marks, but was perfect fine otherwise.
At Meijer, I spent $56.74. Considering the three bottles of contact solution were more than half my cost, it was still a decent trip.
Oh, I stopped by Target, too. I only picked up three things – and some clearance things for school. My grocery purchases were these.
Thanks to a free Target Coke coupon and a $1/1 slow cooker liners coupon, I spent only $1.97 for these items. Have you used these slow cooker liners? They are amazing!
My total grocery shopping bills were $70.62. Since this was my only shopping day for April so far, I have $89.83 left to spend this month.
Did you get any free products this week?
By Kristen, on March 30th, 2012% Is it already the end of March? My, how time continues to fly on by. This week, I made a trip to Walmart as well as a trip to Meijer.
At Walmart, I picked up a couple of last minute things for my Mother-in-law’s birthday dinner. Here’s what I bought there.
I needed hamburger and some ingredients for buckeye cake. I’m going to share that recipe soon. It’s delicious!
While I was there, I price matched butter and milk to the Aldi’s price. I saved over $1.50 just by pricing matching milk to Aldi’s price of $1.79. That savings allowed me to buy a fresh pineapple for only $1!
At Walmart, I spent $21.81.
Then, later in the week, I went to Meijer, to pick up some pork ribs, per the request of my husband.
Boneless ribs were on sale for $1.89/lb. I made sure to buy at least $9 worth, because I had a Meijer coupon for $1.50 off any meat purchase over $9. This is one of the best ways I know to save on meat. I love it when these coupons print for me! I also had a $3 catalina from my last shopping trip so that took my price down even lower.
For five pounds of meat and a dozen eggs, I spent $5.79.
I also went to Walgreens, across from Meijer. They had a catalina deal running on Kotex. I did the deal twice and bought these.
The deal was simple. Buy 2 U by Kotex products at 2 for $7 and get a $3 catalina. This took the price to $2 a box. That’s a good deal – but I had lots of U coupons that were soon expiring. I ended up paying only $1 a box, after coupons and catalinas! The deal is still good through tomorrow, so you can pick it up yourself, if you want.
At Walgreens (subtracting the catalinas), I spent $4.98.
Oh, I also stopped by Save-a-Lot on my way home yesterday to pick up two boxes of generic rice krispies. I volunteered to bring dessert for 87 to the basketball tournament, so needed those for my peanut butter rice krispie treats. I spent $3.58 there.
This brings my shopping total for the week to $36.16. This also brings my total for March to $142.16. I thought I was higher than that, so didn’t purchase much extra. Hmm. Good to see I was lower than I thought, but I really should check my totals before I go shopping.
How did you do this week?
By Kristen, on March 23rd, 2012% Last weekend, I stopped by Kroger (and Aldi, briefly) with my sister. We picked up a couple things for our meals and a couple deals.
The sugar, Riesling and sweetened condensed milk was from Aldi. The rest was for Kroger.
At these two stores, I spent $19.65.
This week, I shopped at Meijer for some staples and some deals.
I volunteered to make tortilla soup for our Lenten Soup Suppers so that’s why the hamburger, salsa, tomatoes and pinto beans. Did you know pinto beans are cheaper in the Mexican aisle? I find that amusing – but good to know!
The yogurt was on sale for $0.60 each. I used three coupons – $0.40/6, $0.20/1 and $0.20/1, all of which tripled. There was also an instant catalina deal for $1 off. The retail price of Yoplait yogurt is $0.70. I got it for $0.34.
I discovered a hidden catalina deal on the French Onion dip. It was on sale for $1.29 and I had coupons for $0.75. I bought three cartons and used three coupons because then I received a catalina for $3 off my next order. Free products and making money for next time? Yes, please! The catalina deal is running through the rest of the month if you want to check it out for yourself.
The Duncan Hines gourmet cake mix was free, thanks to a free product coupon I had received in the mail.
At Meijer, I spent $25.52.
My weekly grocery total was $45.17. This brings my monthly total to $106, even. This leaves me with $54 to spend for the rest of the month.
By Kristen, on March 16th, 2012% My sister went grocery shopping with me this week. I had our meals planned before she came, and tried to have most of my shopping done, too.
Mikaela did come with me to do a bit of shopping in town. I love that I live in a small town where I can walk to two stores for my grocery shopping needs!
It was a nice day so we walked to the Grabill Bulk Food Store. Here’s what I bought there.
I bought a big bag of couscous, vanilla chai, dried pumpkin seeds, craisins and lots of chicken bouillon cubes. It’s nice to have a place where I can stock up on bulk deals at good prices.
I spent $16.24 at Grabill Country Sales.
Then, we walked next door to Save-a-Lot. Seriously, I love how convenient these stores are for me!
At Save-a-Lot, I picked up lettuce for dinner and bananas for breakfast. The biscuits are for monkey bread and the butter was for baking. The marshmallow cream was only $0.50 and since I never have it when I feel inspired to make fudge, I decided to pick up a jar.
At Save-a-Lot, I spent $5.84.
This week, I spent $22.08 and saved money from driving in to shop at Meijer.
This also brings my monthly total for March to $60.83. This leaves me with almost $100 left to spend this month.
Sometimes, it’s nice to save money by staying at home. It’s always nice to have your sister around!
By Kristen, on March 9th, 2012% This week, my shopping trips weren’t as big as last week, but I still managed to find a couple good deals.
First, I shopped at Kroger because I wanted to get pick up the Tide deal. I did – and also bought a couple more things while I was there.
The Tide deal was my favorite!
Tide as on sale for $4.99 (50 percent off). I had an electronic manufacturer’s coupon for $2.50/1 and I had another manufacturer’s coupon for $0.50/1 (which tripled). Then, I stacked it with a store coupon for $1.50 off detergent. When all was said and done, I paid $4.48 for 2 boxes of Tide. $2.24 is below my stock-up price for Tide, so that was a happy trip!
While I was there, I also bought another free bottle of Dawn (tripled coupon) and some on sale sour cream and cottage cheese. I had a $2 catalina from my last trip that I applied to these purchases.
At Kroger, I spent $5.39 for everything purchased. Savings of 80 percent make this gal very happy, too!
Then, I shopped at Meijer. Here’s what I bought there this week.
I mentioned the Ore-Ida deal earlier this week. That was great to stock up on these potatoes for my freezer, at $1.33 a bag.
I was pleased to see that orange juice was finally on sale for $1.25. Has anyone else noticed the increase in oj prices recently? It’s normally $1.79 now!
We were out of onions and hamburger. It was 85% lean, fresh ground round for $2.99/lb. Meat is really going up in price, too!
Strawberries were on sale for $1, which is a nice produce price!
Finally, the peanut butter chips, whipping cream, chocolate squares and parchment paper are for a buckeye cake that I’m baking for the St. Paul’s auction. I’m making one for us to eat at home and one for the auction. I need to make sure it tastes good, you know!
At Meijer, I didn’t use a single coupon this week. You can still be frugal doing so! I shopped the sales and picked up what I needed – and nothing more.
At Meijer, I spent $33.36 and got a $1 catalina for next time.
This week, I spent $38.75 altogether. Since this was my first shopping trip of March, I have $121.25 left to spend this month.
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