I'm Back...With MORE Grocery Savings!

Being laid up with a sore foot this week has basically set me back in my couponing trips to the store. I seriously could not do any walking whatsoever this week and today was my first day without people coming over to help me keep up with the children and housework. What a blessing though to have people who are willing to help out when you need it and believe me...I NEEDED it badly. So, today I ventured out to several stores and nailed some pretty sweet deals. Thrilled I was to get out again. :) On the other hand, I am beat tonight. Hee hee. Here are some of my favorite deals from today's trip.

Ok, so this wasn't a HUGE shopping trip. I had some coupons expiring soon and had to use them...thankfully the items they were for were on sale. In the above picture, here is what I saved:

Almond Breeze Iced Coffee:  Normally $4.99 - on sale for $3.99. I used two coupons for $1 off each and only paid $2.99 per carton.
Colgate Toothpaste: Normally $2.99/tube - on sale for 2/$5. I had two coupons for $1 off two. I purchased 4 tubes and paid $1.50/tube.
Sorrento String Cheese: $5.99/bag - on sale for BOGO. I had two coupons for $1 off and paid $4.99/2 bags and received 2 bags FREE.
Bryers Toppings: Normally $2.99/pouch or jar - on sale for $2.29 - I had 5 coupons for $1 off and so I purchased 5 pouches @ $1.29 each.
Jell-O 4-Pack Pudding Cups: Normally $2.99 each - on sale for 5/$10 ($2 each) - I had 5 coupons for $1.00 off and paid $1.00 each.
Kelloggs Pop Tarts: Normally $3.49/12 ct. box - on sale for $2/6. No coupons used...still a great buy. :)

Here is the run-down which includes some items not pictured.

Total bill BEFORE discounts/coupons: $91.26

Total bill AFTER discounts/coupons: $49.75

Total saved this trip: $42.47 

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Now, we head to my Walgreens visit. I had some valuable Gillette Venus Buy One Get One Free Coupons & $5 off coupons expiring today that I wanted to use and I knew that Walgreens was probably my best bet for the highest discount. 

Proctor & Gamble coupons are very strict as to the number of coupons you can use per day, per visit. I am sure this drives big couponers absolutely nuts. This was frustrating when I got to the counter to pay for my razors, but it ended up working out...the cashier accepted two additional coupons so I could get my great discounts. Gillette Venus Razors were $5.99 each. The Gillette Venus Embrace Razor was $8.99 (they had run out of the blue ones). I used three BOGO coupons and got 6 razors total. Those coupons deducted $26.97 from my bill. Then, I used my two (I had three but their computer would only let me use two...this was probably because of the limit set on these coupons by the manufacturer) $5 off coupons on the razors that were purchased from the BOGO coupon. This took another $10 off my order. Total saved this trip: $36.97. Total paid: $5.09! That is a total savings of 95%!! I left the store feeling a bit depressed that they didn't take my third $5 off coupon which would have made my bill just $.09...but I was thankful that I purchased all of these fantastic razors for a little over five bucks!! 

Total bill BEFORE discounts/coupons: $42.06

Total bill AFTER discounts/coupons: $5.09

Total saved this trip: $36.97 

I would have to say I was pretty pleased with my $5 Gillette Razor bill...what a steal! Looking forward to better shopping trips like these in the future! How about you...what have you been doing to save money for your family this week? Leave a comment and let me know...I always love new ideas. :)

Our Weekly Shopping Savings

It was another good week at the grocery store! Sometimes, when I am clipping coupons, I will clip coupons for things that are "luxury" items for us like body wash, facial scrubs, fancier yogurts, ice cream, chips, etc. I clip these types of coupons because coupons are good for a while and luxury items go on sale randomly at different places and at different times. My husband is always telling me to not clip coupons for things we NEVER use and I do adhere to that rule of thumb. However, when I see a really good coupon for something that I want to try in the future, I will just hang onto it. If I use it, great. If I don't use it that is fine too...at least I had it just in case! Recently I purchased a new Clearasil Daily Clear facial scrub that I had never used before. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It is wonderful!! I am so glad that I had the coupons or I probably would have never tried it. 

So, our weekly savings were better than ever this week and I was pretty close to our grocery bill being $80. My husband said he would be impressed if our bill was down to $80 and I was SO close this week. Here are some of my favorite deals this week...

Tops Brand Sour Cream: 2/$3 - I purchased 2.
Luigi's Italian Ice: BOGO
Thomas Bagels: BOGO
Mama Lucia Meatballs: BOGO
Tops Ranch w/Bacon Salad Dressing: BOGO
Kellogg's Pop Tarts: 2 large boxes for $6.
Fresh Express Bagged Salad: 2/$5
YoBaby Yoplait Organic Yogurt: $2.99/4 pk - I had a coupon for $1 off so I only paid $1.99.
Activia Yogurt: $2.99/4 or 6 pk - I had two coupons for $1 off so I paid $1.99 for each 6-pack
Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls: $2.69/tube - I had three coupons - 2 for $.50 off which my store doubled to $1.00 off and 1 coupon for $1.00 off. I paid $1.69/tube.
Chow Mein Noodle Meals: 10 for $10 - I purchased 4 @ $1 each.
Huggies Little Movers Diapers: FREE FREE FREE! Our store has a diaper club...when you purchase diapers you earn points towards a $20 off coupon good on any diapers. I used that coupon today and saved $19.99 on a box of diapers. WOO. HOO. :) :)

So, here's the total rundown:

Total bill BEFORE discounts/coupons: $143.14

Total bill AFTER discounts/coupons: $88.99

Total saved this trip: $54.95 

I like to keep an eye on Dollar General's weekly ads as well because they can have really good prices on brand name products. This week, they had a sale on their Zest Body Wash and it was priced at $2.75 (normally $3.00). I happened to have 6 coupons for $1.00 off Zest Body wash so I only paid $1.75 per bottle. Their Garnier Fructis shampoos/conditioners were also on sale for $3.00 and I had four coupons for $1.50 off any Garnier Fructis products. So I purchased four at just $1.50 each. Before my coupons, my total was a little over $30. After my coupons, my total was $18.78. Pretty good I would say. 

I also had some pretty neat freebies come in this week...Gevalia Kaffe K-Cup Sample, Garnier Ultra-Lift Targeted Line Smoother w/ $2.00 coupon and a cute Always Tampax Radiant Clutch filled with samples & coupons! I do post about freebies here on my blog so keep your eyes open for those...free is always nice! :)

So, needless to say we had some great savings this week. Each week it is so fun to see the money come off our receipt. I was SO happy to see the total savings we experienced. :) How about you...have you had any good savings from using coupons this week? I would love to hear your stories. :) 

Weekly Grocery Savings :)

This week we again experienced some fantastic savings at our local Tops Friendly Markets. We really don't have a lot of grocery stores from which to choose and so I am grateful that they have really good buys each week. This week, between our coupons and store sales we saved $67.40 total, which is great! We eat LOADS of yogurt so I am always on the lookout for yogurt coupons and this week, Yoplait was on sale for 10 for $10! I will show you how I used coupons for that deal. Here is a quick photo of some of my favorite buys.

Fresh Express Salad: On sale for 2/$5
Fresh Deli Rolls: BOGO
Celentano Frozen Ravioli: BOGO
Thomas Bagels: BOGO
Yoplait Whips Yogurt: 20 for $10: I had a coupon for $.40 (which was doubled to $.80) off 6 so I purchased 6 for $.38 each.
Yoplait GoGurt: On sale for 5/$10. I had three Yoplait coupons (two for $.75 off...doubled to $1.50 off two and one for $1.00 off) that brought my price down to just $2 total for three boxes of Gogurt!!
Hamburger Helper: 10 for $10: I purchased 3
VO5 Shampoo: On sale for $.77 each (normally $1.29 each).
Chow Mein Meals: On sale 10 for $10...I purchased 6.
Fiber One Bars: On sale for 4/$10. I had four coupons for $.50 off per box (which was doubled to $1.00/box) and so I purchased four boxes for $1.50 each.
Velveeta Skillets: On sale for $2.50 each. I had 3 coupons for $1.00 off so I purchased three for $1.50 each.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese: $1.59/each. I had coupons three coupons for $1.00 off 2 so I purchased 6 boxes and paid $6.54 total.

The Activia 4-pack Yogurt didn't end up being that much of a bargain as someone threw one in the wrong place and I picked it up thinking it was priced lower and it really wasn't priced low at all. :( However, I did save $3 on those yogurts.

Sooo, here's the run-down...

Total bill BEFORE discounts/coupons: $202.99

Total bill AFTER discounts/coupons: $135.94

Total saved this trip: $67.40 

I also earned 100 extra gas points this trip! YAY! We love to save money on Gas.

We made a quick trip to Walmart and I happened to be walking down the clearance aisle and came across this FANTASTIC deal. (Didn't know it was totally fantastic until we checked out.

Enfamil Tri-Vi-Sol Drops are the only liquid vitamin that I give my youngest at this point and it usually costs upwards to $9-$10 depending on where you shop for it. Well, I found this (and several other boxes) box marked down to just $5. When we got to the register, it only rang up for $2!!!! Wow! I was glad I found this and was actually in need of it too. So, it pays to check out the clearance aisle in Walmart!

So, there you have it...our shopping savings for this week. Hopefully next week will be even better!! :)

This Week's Grocery Shopping Savings!

Well, as you all know I recently reviewed a book by Christi the Coupon Coach and let me tell you...I am having a BLAST using my coupons. My grocery store has loads of great sales and we are really enjoying the savings that we are experiencing. I now purchase 4 Sunday papers and thought I would feel really silly about it. But, I don't. What we do is buy one paper on the way to church and I review the coupons in the afternoon. If there are valuable coupons in that paper than we buy three more papers when we go on our shopping trip later in the day. This has worked SO well. I do my clipping and organizing after the children go to bed so I am not distracted and it takes about an hour to sort, clip and organize the coupons. NOT BAD! When I first heard about couponing, I was afraid that I would waste hours upon hours trying to get my coupons. After this weeks shopping trip, I am so sad that I never clipped and used coupons before now. Lesson learned...I am now a dedicated coupon clipper. Here is a quick photo of some of my great buys...

Kelloggs Pop Tarts - Assorted Varieties - 3 for $6
Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs - BOGO
Strawberries - BOGO
ACT Anticavity Mouth Rinse - Normally $4.99 - on sale for $3.99 - I used three coupons for $1 off each. Only paid $2.99 per bottle.
Muller Yogurt - 10 for $10 - I used a coupon for $1 off 4 and paid $.75 each.
YoBaby Yogurt - $2.99 each - I used 3 coupons for $1 off and paid $1.99 each.
St. Ives Apricot Scrub - $3.99 - I used a coupon for $.75 off which my store doubled and so I paid $2.49.
Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt 4 pk- $3.49 - I used three coupons for $1 off each and paid $2.49 each.
General Mills Cereal - On sale 3 for $5- I used 3 coupons for $1 off 3 boxes and paid $1.33/box.

We had more groceries than are in the photo, but I just wanted to show you some of my favorite deals. So, here is the run-down:

Total bill BEFORE discounts/coupons: $171.38

Total bill AFTER discounts/coupons: $115.54

Total saved this trip: $57.94 

Tops had so many great deals this week...we really saved a ton! Hubby jokingly said that it would be great to get our bill under $80 a week. I think I can do it...and know that with time, couponing will get easier and better!

I am going to try and do this weekly, so if couponing and saving money interests you, be sure to check out my blog for more posts on the money we are saving and the fun I am having in the process! :)