The Highs and Lows of Coupons

I promise that I got this blog for more than just talking about coupons...promise, really! Although, coupons will be a big part of the blog.  And in that vein, I did my latest shopping trip tonight.

 Here in Montgomery we have two major grocery stores, Winn Dixie and Publix.  I stopped at both.  Great shopping at Publix, not quite so much at Winn Dixie.  So we'll start with the bad one first.

Winn Dixie

 We're carnivores, so it was about time that I actually bought some meat.  Winn Dixie was having a pretty good sale on a number of things, so I went ahead and got them.  This is what really hurt the overall savings, but we've gotta eat something other than popcorn!

What I got

2 packages Boneless chicken breasts (BOGO)

1 Bottom Round Roast

1 Package Beef Cubed Steak

Total: 42.23

Total Winn Dixie Card Savings: 16.66

Saved: 39%

I also picked up a few other items, and had to get my first rain check.  I have the chance to get 12 sticks of butter for 2.00, but they were completely out of Parkay sticks.  Those are very needed for Christmas baking!  Hopefully I'll be able to pick those up later this week.  I think what I got is pretty self-explanatory on this one.

Price before coupons: 13.83

Price after coupons and card savings: 6.28

Saved: 55%

Didn't realize I had done that well honestly.  I was very happy with the brown sugar.  It's 32 ounces for 1.00!  We ran out of vanilla recently.  Winn Dixie brand was BOGO, but it will never live up to Raleigh.  :)  I also ended up with a $5 off $55 purchase.  We'll see if I can use that, but I did find out something at Publix that made me excited...

Publix

Ah, Publix.  If I must live without Kroger, I'm so happy there is a Publix!  They have all kinds of store coupons, and they accept competitors coupons.  Starting just this week they not only accept Winn Dixie or Target coupons, but they accept CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid qs too!!!  And that 5 off 55 coupon I got...that would work at Publix.  I'm just thrilled, really and truly.  But to the groceries, I had coupons for everything I bought, and for some things I stacked coupons, one store and one manufacturer.  All the items were also on sale, except for the White Chicken Chili beans.  

What I Got:

2 cans Planters cashew halves

2 boxes Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix (with marshmallows)

2 packages of Pillsbury Pie crusts

3 bags Steamfresh mixed veggies

2 7-oz packages Kraft cheese (mozza and colby)

2 jars Ragu sauce (alfredo and parm)

2 packages Mueller's pasta (Angel hair and fettuccini)

1 package Wheat Thins sticks

1 package Triscuits

1 can Hormel White Chicken Chili

Price before coupons/sales: 49.40

Price after coupons/sales: 17.38

Tax: 2.48

Saved: 65%

Ahh, over 50% saved on groceries.  I love it!  Hopefully soon, we'll have a good enough stock pile of most items that I'll be able to start saving even more.  I've been told that the most expensive part is getting that stock pile together.  After that, you just keep the stockpile up and only buy when you have the best coupons and the best sale.

The other reason we'll start saving more money soon...we no longer have any space.  These last few shopping trips have been a little too much for our apartment.  My goal next week is to only eat from what we have.  I think we can do it, especially since we have Thanksgiving coming up.

Funny side note.  As I was walking into Publix, a lady in the parking lot said, "Are you Mary."  I have never ever seen this woman before in my life.  But I said, "Yes, that's me."  She knew me because she's friends with Josh on facebook and thought that I looked like the his new bride from his profile picture.  We went on to talk about Jamaica, Hawaii, and the Bahamas.  A little weird.  People are always stopping Josh while we grocery shop, but they never really talk to me.  In hindsight I maybe shouldn't have talked to her.  She was wearing an Auburn jacket.  ;)