The Power of Cash

Back to blogging!  Sorry for my long break, but I'm back with a new plan to save money!  It's all about the power of cash (and coupons).  This idea started (kinda) with the All You magazine Grocery Challenge.  The challenge is to spend just 25 bucks per family member per week on groceries for 4 weeks.  I signed up for the challenge, but really didn't do so well at all.  In the first week, I spent something like 80 bucks.  :( 

But, the challenge did help me figure out one of my biggest issues.  I always shop with my debit card, always!  I can't even remember the last time that I carried cash with me on a regular basis.  By using the card, though, if I went over the weekly budget of 50 bucks, it was no big deal.  I always had more than that in my checking account, so I would just spend it.  Now though, I have decided to take cash with me into the grocery stores...and only 50 bucks.  The power of cash is that it forced me to sit down and plan everything out - absolutely no splurge purchases and if something was more than I thought it would be, it stayed on the shelf.  And I'm budgeting for tax, too.  Crazy that I've lived in Alabama for a year and a half now, but I always forget about that pesky 9.5 - 10% sales tax, even on groceries. 

Now, the breakdown of my first under 50 dollar grocery trip!

Publix

What I got:

1 gallon of milk

1 package frozen Tyson mini-chicken sandwiches

1 package ground beef (burgers were already on grill at time of picture-taking)

1 package frozen Perdue chicken breasts

1 package Lance crackers

1 16 oz package Kraft shredded cheese

3 boxes Pop-tarts

1 carton strawberries

1 12-roll package Cottonelle toilet paper

1 notebook

1 box Kashi cookies

1 box Kashi cereal

1 box Kashi cereal bars

1 Coffee House creamer

1 pint Blue Bell ice cream

1 package Hillshire Farm roast beef

Used:

5.00/55.00 purchase Winn Dixie coupon (competitor)

1 free Coffee House Breve creamer mq

1 free pint Blue Bell ice cream mq

1 Free Kashi cookie wyb Kashi cereal and cereal bars sq

1 2.00 off Kashi mq (recyclebank reward)

1 1.00 off two Kashi cookies/crackers/bars mq

1 1.00 off Cottonelle sq

1 .50 off Cottonelle mq (doubled)

1 .75 off gallon milk mq

1 1.00 off 1 lb of cheese mq

1 .55 off Lance crackers mq

1 .35 off Hillshire farm lunch meat mq (doubled)

1 1.00 off Tyson chicken sandwiches mq

1 .50 off Driscoll's strawberries mq (doubled)

1 2.00 off 3 Pop-tarts mq

Total before coupons/sales/tax: 73.75

Total after coupons/sales but before tax: 36.59

Saved: 50%

Total spent (including tax) 41.73

Winn Dixie

What I got:

2 brownie mixes

1 Strawberry cake mix

1 carton of 18 eggs

1 package steak (for country fried steak)

Used:

2 50 cents off Duncan Hines boxed product coupon

1 B2 Duncan Hines products, G1 brownie or cake mix free coupon

Total before coupons and tax: 14.02

Total after coupons (still before tax): 5.40

Saved: 61%

Total including taxes: 6.24

Overall savings: 52%

Total spent: 47.97

I was really very proud of myself that I was able to make it under 50 bucks.  It did make me nervous though to see the totals before any of the coupons scanned...knowing that I wasn't going to use a debit card for back-up!  Hubby seemed pretty happy too, especially since there's a good amount of things in this trip that will really make for good meals!