Hi and welcome to the Krazy Koupon Gal! So many people want to start using coupons to lower their monthly grocery bill, yet few know where to begin. It can be confusing at first, but, with a little persistence and a friendly guide to lead the way, you will be using coupons like a pro in no time!
$2/1 Organic Girl produce, any (Expires 9/30/11)
My goal is to spend an average of $50 per week on groceries (and everything else) and so far I have been doing pretty well. BUT, I know by now some of you are wondering when I buy meat and vegetables… that will be in next week’s shopping list. Between the free organic carrots from a couple weeks back and all the frozen veggies I purchased a few months ago, we have been eating our share of veggies. I also still have some pork (that I put in the freezer) from a while back that was purchased on sale with coupons. I ended up paying $16 for 16lbs of pork ribs! We really do eat pretty healthy: there is always a meat, starch (pasta, potatoes, rice, etc) and at least one vegetable on our dinner plates every night. Sometimes there is even a fruit – but most of the time we eat fruit throughout the day as snacks. Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you that it is possible to save money and still eat healthy. The key is to purchase items when they are at their rock bottom prices, not when you need them. So, for example, my shopping lists each week may not seem to make any coherent meals, but if you looked at my overall stockpile you would see that I have most everything I need each week to make delicious meals for my family. I actually just a couple days ago wrote out a list of all the meals I could prepare from my stockpile. The result was about 3-4 meals that I would not have to purchase anything for and 15-20 meals that would only need one or two more ingredients each. I’m sure I could come up with a lot more meals, but a plan for over three weeks is enough for me right now. It can take a while to build a good stockpile (I have been at it for 9 months now), but the savings are worth it! I used to spend $110-$125 per week before becoming a Krazy Koupon Gal and it never felt like enough food. Now I am spending $50 or less and we have plenty of food, all the personal care products we could ever want, art supplies for my boys, a stocked vitamin and medicine cabinet, lots of cleaning supplies (including laundry and dishwashing products) and some early Christmas shopping done!
Purchased this week: 1 (30ct) Zyrtec allergy medicine (not pictured)
12 V8 Fusion 100% juice
3 Huggies diapers
2 panties from VS (got coupons in the mail for 2 free)
4 K-Y jelly (moneymaker at Walmart)
1 natural kid’s cold and cough medicine
1 travel size Connect 4
1 Monopoly card game
1 Sorry card game
1 Scrabble apple game
2 microwave popcorn
5 Mott’s apple and white grape juice
3 Lumene face cream
2 Revlon make-up
2 Revlon concealer
12 Vick’s throat lozenges (these are great when you have a cold)
12 trial size Cascade dishwasher detergent
6 Orville Redenbacher popcorn containers
1 bag candy corn
3 Blistex lip balm
3 Voskos Greek yogurts
1 dozen eggs
2 rubbery alligators (not pictured - my boys were so good shopping with me that I decided to get them a little treat and they really love these alligators!)
various candies used as fillers (already eaten)
Note: out of pocket total ($42) includes tax and is before any rebates. The $42 amount is what actually came out of my wallet this week.
That being said, the deal gets even better: There is a mail in rebate on the Lumene to "try it free", so I will be getting a check back in the mail for $13.99 in the next couple of weeks (check can be cashed at my bank and used to purchase whatever I want)! AND, the popcorn I purchased is part of a special rebate type offer that will get me a $10 Publix gift card in about 6-7 weeks.
Buy 1 Revlon Age Defying Foundation $13.99 (should ring up 40% off = $8.40) Buy 1 Revlon Age Defying Concealer $9.99 (should ring up 40% off = $5.99)
Spend $10.00, Receive $3.00 Register Reward (must equal over $10 after Walgreens coupons for Register Reward to print)
Use 2 $5.00/1 Revlon Age Defying Product, SS 9/18
And Use $2.00/1 Revlon Cosmetics (Walgreens Coupon) SS 7/24 (should deduct $4.00)
Pay $0.38
Get back $3.00 Register Reward
Final Price: $2.62 moneymaker
Thanks to The Krazy Coupon Lady
Spent a little bit more this week than last, but I’m still happy with my purchases. Everything was purchased at Publix (three separate stores), Walmart and Kmart. The games (worth over $72 total) are going to make great birthday and Christmas gifts… and I spent under $10 for all of them! My favorite purchase for the week was the juice, though, because my littlest isn’t very fond of vegetables and the juice masks a full serving of veggies quite nicely.
Here’s what I did:
Total value: $397.18
Total out of pocket, including tax: $54.93
That is a savings of over 85%!
3 (2 ct) Pillsbury breakfast biscuits
2 boxes graham crackers
2 boxes microwave popcorn (one already opened… didn’t make it into the picture)
1 box cookies
6 boxes toaster strudels (my husband will be so thrilled when he finds out about these!)
8 (12 ct) Sun Drop soda
16 boxes Puff with Vicks tissues
14 bottles V8 Fusion 100% Juice
2 Cooties games
1 Sorry U-Build game
1 gallon milk
12 bags Kettle Brand chips
11 Febreze warmers
2 travel size Connect 4 games
3 T.G.I. Fridays frozen dinners
2 boxes organic waffles
4 bags Goldfish
2 Sorry card games
2 Monopoly card games
1 Scrabble card game
1 dozen eggs
6 Yoplait smoothie mixes
3 mangos
3 pounds apples (some already eaten)
4 Degree deodorant
2 bottles vitamin D
1 loaf of bread (not pictured)
1 pack cranberry cookies (also not pictured – free with coupon from CVS)
Buy 1 Vicks Vapo Drops $0.99
Use $1/1 Vicks Product, PG 08/28/11
Final Price: Free
Or
Buy 1 Puffs with Vicks tissues $1.00 (price is from Publix – sale ends today)
Use $1/1 Vicks Product, PG 08/28/11
Final Price: Free
There is also a $3/2 Vicks products coupon from the PG 8/28 insert that could be used for purchasing these products.
Important note about Puffs with Vicks: some people feel this is not a Vicks product, so the coupon would not apply, but it is listed as one on the products page of the Vicks website. I would not be mentioning this product if I did not think it was an ethical use of the coupon. I do NOT believe it is enough for a coupon to scan without beeping for it to be used on a product, but (after looking at the Vicks website) my understanding is that this is in fact a Vicks product.
This week went really well. I wasn’t able to get everything I wanted because the items were out of stock, but I got rain checks for next week. These items were purchased at Publix, Walmart, Walgreens and a couple things from CVS. All in all, I am happy to have my cereal cabinet restocked (with two of my husband’s favorite cereals), lots of organic carrots, several jars of marinara sauce and some frozen dinners for quick, easy meals. I saved more than 93%! Total value: $475.33
Amount saved: $444.50
What I actually paid, including tax: $30.83
Shopping list:
10 frozen dinners (sorry, they didn't make it into the picture... I knew I was forgetting something, but didn't realize it was the frozen dinners until after I had put everything else away)
7 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4 (12 pack) Sun Drop soda
7 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios
10 jars Barilla marinara sauce (only 9 in picture)
3 bottles shampoo
1 bottle conditioner
1 bottle dry shampoo
3 bottles hair spray
4 boxes Combat ant bate
5 packs Huggies diapers
8 packs orgainic carrots
1 Mitchum deodorant
1 bottle Neosporin
2 bags Goldfish
3 (10 pack) guaze pads
3 cans tomato sauce
1 roll first aid tape
4-5 peppermint candies (My favorite candy, which is why there are only 2 left)
2 Milkway bars (only one in picture… my boys ate the other one as soon as we got in the car)
8 Osteo Bi-Flex (only 7 in picture - I already gave one away, and the rest will be donated)
4 bottles vitamin D
