Groceries 2.18.09 Wow!!!

Ahhhh, Wednesday. My favorite day of the week... shopping day. It just makes me so happy. :) Today, there were some really great sales, and I took full advantage of them. I must say, I am getting much more efficient too. I discovered this week that I can see a preview of the sales/coupon shopping lists at Albertsons, Smith's, and Maceys the evening before the sale at Pinching Your Pennies. Before, I had to wait until Wednesday morning to view/customize/print the list from Grocery Smarts, but this week, I was able to view/print on Tuesday evening, so that I could have all my coupons clipped and everything organized for an early start on Wednesday! It made it so much more wonderful. The only downside is that, as far as I can tell, on the PYP preview, you can't customize the list and print only the things that you want. I was still able to have half the work done the evening before. So today, I was able to have the whole family up, dressed, and fed, have been to 3 grocery stores, dropped off 4-year-old T-Nootie at preschool, and arrived back home to put 1-year-old Bren-Dunks down for his morning nap... all by 9:15 am. I call that pretty darn efficient, and I love it!

Today, I bought this:

The total that I spent out the door at all three stores was $67.51. HOWEVER, upon checkout, I received 4 of these little beauties (this is a scan of an old one, so the exp. date is not correct):

I also used the $10 coupon that I received last week on today's purchase (which I factored into last week's purchase total), so the bottom line on this week's whole purchase was $37.51!!! Confused? :)

Here is the bottom line breakdown of all that I purchased:

• $10.00 - 6 gallons milk (4-2%, 2-whole) - $1.67 ea
• $3.52 - 4 pkgs American singles cheese 8 oz - $.88 ea
• $1.00 - 2 Campbell's Soup at Hand 10.75 oz - $.50 ea
• $2.97 - 3 Chicken of the Sea chunk white Albacore tuna 6 oz - $.99 ea
• $1.57 - 1 loaf Grandma Sycamore's bread 20 oz - $1.57 ea
• $.90 - 2 pkgs Mentos sugar-free gum 15 pcs - $.45 ea
• $.75 - 3 Betty Crocker cake mixes 19.5 oz - $.25 ea
• $.68 - 4 Betty Crocker frostings 16 oz - $.17 ea
• $2.52 - 4 Betty Crocker Premium brownies 26.7 oz - $.63 ea
• $.80 - 2 Cheerios Snack Mix 8 oz - $.40 ea
• FREE - 2 Chex Mix 8 oz - FREE
• $.65 - 1 Pillsbury Crescent Roll tube 8 oz - $.65 ea
• $.40 - 4 Pillsbury Grands biscuits 16.3 oz - $.10 ea
• FREE - 6 Pillsbury Grands biscuits 16.3 oz - FREE
• $2.00 - 2 Pillsbury Ready to Bake cookies 16.5 oz - $1.00 ea
• $2.60 - 4 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel 11.5 oz - $.65 ea
• $2.00 - 8 Progresso Soups 19 oz - $.25 ea
• $1.00 - 1 cottage cheese 16 oz - $1.00 ea
• $1.29 - 1 dozen large eggs - $1.29 ea
• $1.68 - 8 envelopes McCormick's seasoning mixes - $.21 ea
• $2.76 - 4 cans Enchilada Sauce - $.69 ea
• $.90 - 1.3 lbs fresh broccoli - $.69/lb
• $.99 - 1 Dole iceberg salad 12 oz - $.99 ea
• $.71 - 1.2 lbs fresh Roma tomatoes - $.59/lb
• $2.99 - 3 lb bag Gala apples - $2.99 ea
• $1.68 - 1.13 lb fresh asparagus - $1.49/lb

Add it all up, add the tax, and it equals the bottom line (after the $10 coupons are factored in) of spent $37.51, saved $116.46 (75.6%)!!!!

To highlight all that I got for FREE:

• 6 tubes Pillsbury Grands biscuits
• 2 bags Chex Mix

Oh why, oh why, can't everybody love grocery shopping as much as I do? :)

As a side note, I'm especially thrilled about keeping this purchase so far below my weekly budget ($50). I will not be adding the difference to next week's purchase. Actually, I will be trying to keep next week's purchase far below the budget as well. That is because I will be picking up my monthly food co-op order this Saturday, and I need to make up the difference throughout the month. This month, my co-op order comes to $59, but wait until you see all that I will get! Stay tuned....

For more inspiring shopping success stories, visit The Grocery Cart Challenge.