Great Week for Groceries at Publix!

This was an amazing week at Publix... I might go back for more beginning of next week before the sales end. I must admit that I was a little stressed at the checkout counter at Publix this week. My total just kept rising and rising. Even after sales, my total was still over $185 and I didn’t have ANY dollar off total order coupons! I usually know how much my total will come to after coupons, but I made so many last minute changes this week. It was enough to just recount out the number of coupons I needed to hand over… let alone recalculate my totals. So, you can imagine my excitement when my total, after scanning all the coupons, came to less than $20! I even decided to buy a couple more bags of broccoli (added another $2 to my total), since I had done so well. Bought a couple other things at Walmart and the Centrum vitamins at CVS and still kept my budget under the $50 mark! Plus, I have two $10 gift cards (from the Centrum deal at CVS) to use next week. I am so thankful for coupons!

Total before sales and coupons: $394.58

Total paid, including tax: $47.56

Here is what I bought:

4 boxes Swiss Miss hot chocolate

4 Zephyrhills Sparkling water

1 gallon milk

2 (30 oz.) Kraft mayo (one given away in exchange for the extra Publix coupon – coupon given to me by the individual who in turn received the product)

4 lbs. Navel oranges

3 ½ lbs. Gala apples

6 Snaplock containers

4 Ghiradelli chocolate bars (2 already mailed out with gifts)

4 boxes Quaker granola bars

4 Nature Made vitamins

6 Sundown vitamins

1 first aid kit

1 bag grits

2 Keebler crackers

4 oz. pack Chips Ahoy cookies

1 Lumene face cream

1 gingerbread house kit

9 Crest Whitestrips, trial size (before you freak out and think that I didn’t use my coupons correctly, I special ordered the Whitestrips and have been waiting well over a month now for them to come in. I did not use the Publix coupon on them, since it now states that it can only be used on boxes 4 ct. or larger. I used 4 “like” coupons from inside other Procter and Gamble items I purchased previously, 1 coupon I received in the mail and 4 “like” coupons from the recent newspaper inserts. So, I only used a maximum of 4 “like” coupons and I special ordered the items, as well).

6 Centrum vitamins/fish oil

2 boxes Mueller’s pasta

5 ½ lbs. boneless chicken breasts

1 Pulsar toothbrush

2 boxes (18 ft. each) icicle Christmas lights (the look so pretty!)

1 small box regular lights (we needed to replace a small section of the lights on our Christmas tree)

4 bags Snausages dog treats

1 bag Combos

4 Kern’s juice

4 half gallons Smart Balance milk

3 lbs. butter

2 lbs. ICBNB (will be donated along with the vitamins and some other items I have been collecting)

2 Kraft salad dressing (same deal as mayo – 1 given away)

7 bags frozen broccoli

1 lb. fresh asparagus (not pictured)

Ham, Cheese and French Bread!

This past week was a little slower than most, so I stocked up on ground beef (again) and bought a nice big ham! I also splurged on the chicken Cordon Bleu (my husband's favorite easy dinner) and the packs of string cheese for my boys… which is why my total is a little over the $50 mark. I like to bring a couple snacks for my boys when we go out and the individually packed string cheese is great. My favorite purchase for the week, however, would have to be the French bread. It is SO delicious and we have been able to use it to make both sandwiches and garlic bread.

Total before sales and coupons: $214.84

Total paid, including tax: $59.08

Not pictured, but included in totals:

6 ½ lbs. ground beef

4 (1 lb. packs) mozzarella cheese (pizza and lasagna were on the menu this past week)

In picture:

2 boxes Honey Maid graham crackers

3 (12 packs) Nestea iced tea

8 bags Pepperidge Farm French bread (2 bags already eaten)

2 boxes chicken Cordon Bleu

3 Jell-O pudding mixes

4 trial size Crest Whitestrips

4 Oral B toothbrushes

2 packs string cheese

1 roll shipping tape

1 Revlon nail polish

6 packs UP2U gum

2 packs Revlon emory boards

1 snowman picture frame ornament

1 bottle Sundown B6

3 boxes Panko

1 box candy canes

2 tubes toothpaste (coupons inside!)

8 Zephyrhills sparking water

1 (over 6 lb.) ham

4 tubes Pillsbury cookie dough

2 packs Schick disposable razors

1 Schick shaving cream

2 cans organic tomato paste

2 containers cherry tomatoes (from my garden, not included in total value)

3 lbs. gala apples (some eaten)

1 (8 pack) hamburger buns

A Meat and Dairy Week

Went to a couple different stores this week, as usual. I was hoping to get some of the ham that Save-A-Lot has for $1.19 a pound and the chicken at $.49 a pound, but they were all sold out… again. I haven’t really figured out how to shop there and they are always out of the items that I want. Oh, well, we can’t win them all, right? There wasn’t much I needed at Publix this week either, so I did most my shopping at Walmart. We were out of milk, eggs and cheese, so I actually paid full price for those things. Gasp! The pork chops are from Winn-Dixie where they were priced at $2.10 after sales – not an amazing price, but I really wanted some pork chops to make Pork Pizzaiola. It is pork chops simmered in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, garlic and basil and then we mix in angel hair pasta to soak up the broth… so yummy! My total is a little over the $50 mark this week, but since I have been under budget the past couple weeks I think I am still okay. It was the puppy food that threw me off – over $5 for a little bag of food! I need to figure out how to save on puppy food and fast!

Total before sales and coupons: $248.83

Total spent, including tax: $56.17

Here is what I bought:

6 (4 ct. each) Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie

10 bags Rachael Ray dog treats (special ordered)

1 loaf bread

8 lbs. pork chops

3 packs bacon (one not pictured)

7 V8 Smoothies (one not pictured)

4 Snaplock containers (underneath V8)

5 or 6 pack Ramen noodles

4 lbs. bananas (some already eaten)

1 lb. ground pork

3 packages pepperoni

1 lb. pork sausage

1 gallon milk

4.4 lb bag Puppy Chow

2 (6 ct.) Kern’s peach juice

1 can sliced mushrooms

1 container Chips Ahoy cookies

1 can cream mushroom soup

20 oz. ricotta cheese

1 box lasagna noodles

18 ct. eggs

8 oz. cheddar cheese

1 pack provolone cheese

3 lbs. apples (some already eaten)

3 bulbs garlic

1 lb. Velveeta cheese

2 boxes Velveeta shells and cheese

4 (10 oz. each) packages Smithfield ham

2 strips yeast

2 Green and Black chocolate bars