Friday Finals - Week of 8/14

A pic of my CVS Trip (Details below!)

My weekly budget for the three of us, including one child in diapers, is $75 per week. This week my total was $76.62, so I was $1.62 over budget... not too bad. I did go to the store more times than my goal of 1 grocery store and 1 drugstore per week. However, I did only go to 1 grocery store...Ha! Ha! I just went a few times to take advantage of the Publix Gas card deal, plus the mystery penny item on Wednesday! Anyway, here's how I did:

• Publix - 8/13: I paid $18.19 for $57.69 worth of groceries for a savings of 68%!! This included a box of Pampers, a ham, and a Greenwise chicken, along with a few other items!
• Publix - 8/16: I paid $22.63 for $67.92 worth of groceries for a savings of 67%! This included organic milk, cheese, pancake mix, orange juice, organic frozen veggies, salad, shrimp, raisins, tampons I found on clearance for $1.50 per pack, and much much more!P
• Publix - 8/17 - I paid $33.07 for $79.35 worth of groceries for a savings of 58%! I know the percentage looks ok, but I was not too happy with this transaction. I didn't go in with a very good plan, and I spent far more than I thought I would. I only wanted to pick up a few items that were on BOGO in order to get the penny item, and somehow I came out spending much more! I was hoping to be way under budget this week, but this transaction killed it! Sad!
• CVS - 8/19 - I paid $2.73 for $34.05 worth of groceries and personal care items for a savings of 92%. Now, this was one of my best CVS trips ever! I went to a new one. It was really quiet in the sore, and the cashier was very helpful. It looked like there were some executives there, so that may have encouraged them to go the extra mile. They were out of a lot of items, but were willing to substitute for many of them, which was the first I had ever seen! I got a candy bar, bandaids, tampons, diapers, fingernail polish, and bodywash. I used $5 in ECBs from last week, but I got $6 ECBs back, so I think I did pretty good!

My total for the week was $76.62 for $239.01 worth of groceries, for a savings of 64%! Not too shabby! This couponing thing is really amazing! I have never been so stocked on diapers, wipes, tampons, pads, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, and much more, and we are spending less than ever! Amazing! What a blessing! :)

If you have any questions about how I did it, leave a comment below, or check out my favorite websites, which are posted on my sidebar! Hope your week went as well as mine!

Weekly Totals 8/7 - Gas Card Savings

This is a picture of my big Publix trip where I closed down the lane (Details below)!

I did much better this week on both of my goals:

• The first goal was to stay within my $75 per week budget and try to make up for my shortfall last week when I was over $18.58. This week I only spent $59.95, so I was $15.05 under budget, so now I am just $3.53 over for the month! Also, I saved 76% this week!
• The second goal was to not go to the grocery store more than once (twice at most) and one drugstore. I went to CVS one time, and I went to Publix twice. However, I really did do much better on the grocery store part! I only made one big shopping trip. The second one was only because I went to return a movie to the Blockbuster Express, and my hubbie had asked for homemade mac n cheese and I didn't have enough cheese. I only picked up 3 items, so I think I did really good this week on both of my goals!

Here are the details for my big Publix trip... I had so many coupons that they actually had to shut down the lane and call the manager over. I typically warn people behind me that they might want to choose another lane because I have a lot of coupons, but this time, they saved me the hassle and closed the lane altogether. It was quite an event and every manager in the store was watching over it. I felt like I was on "Extreme Couponing". However, I didn't clear any shelves. I only bought things we need/would use and probably within the next week or two. I just had a lot of coupons come in the mail lately for FREE items, plus the gas card deal was really great ($10 off $50 gas cards wyb $25 in groceries(before coupons)!!), so I stocked up!! I actually got 6 gas cards! Keep in mind, that the $25 is BEFORE coupons, so my total was actually over $160 before coupons, but only came out to $44.46 after! Anyway, here are my totals:

• Quick Publix trip: Paid $5.65 for $8.94 worth of groceries for a savings of 37%.
• Big Publix trip on 8/10: Paid $44.46 for $194.70 worth of groceries, for a savings of about 77%. I am having trouble getting my calculations to match Publix's. They say I saved over $156, but I only calculate about $150. I think some coupons got messed up along the way in all of the chaos. I tried to duplicate the receipt, but it just doesn't match up. Oh well, it was still a really good shopping trip. I got a lot of stuff for $45, including organic milk, cheese, fruit, produce, bread, lunch meat, popcorn, meat, Advil, tampons, shampoo, etc.
• CVS on 8/11: Paid $10.00 for $34.09 worth of groceries, for a savings of 71%, plus I got $8 in ECBs for next week! I went to pick up my rain check items from last week, and they only had one in stock, but I got it (the Gillette razor), plus the Pampers diaper deal, and some water and coke for our upcoming vacation. Not bad considering the diapers alone would usually cost me that much, and I have $8 for next week! :)

I won't list everything we ate this week, but one highlight is the slow cooker pulled pork tacos. They were AWESOME... These were so good that my hubbie went back for seconds, even after he had actually gone to Salsaritas and eaten pork quesadillas for lunch not knowing what I was making. So here is the recipe... http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pulled-pork-tacos-00000000008021/index.html Thanks to iheartpublix.com for recommending them!

All in all, it was a good week! I averaged a 76% savings and stayed under budget for the week and only $3.53 over for the month. Check back next week to see how I do!

If you have questions about how I do this, feel free to leave a comment below or check out my favorite websites. They save me a TON of money!

www.iheartpublix.com

www.southernsavers.com

www.winndixieonadime.com

www.thekrazycouponlady.com

Weekly Totals - Week of 7/31 - 60%

So, do you ever just feel like throwing the budget out of the window and taking a break for a week? Well, that is how I felt this week! I have been really busy, plus I have really worn myself out with going to the store too many times. I have decided that I have a new goal to go along with the budget. I am going to attempt going to the grocery store only once (or twice max) per week, plus one drugstore. Ok, so that is why I went over budget this week, I bought enough stuff on Wednesday at Publix to get me through until next Wednesday (I think). If I find out about some great deals, I may stop back by, but I am going to try to make it until next Wednesday.

For this week, I spent $93.58 (OUCH!! Way over my $75 per week budget), but I bought a box of diapers, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and paper towels. We are brand loyal on both the diapers and laundry detergent, so when I find them on a decent sale, I have to pick them up. do have $6 in ECB still sitting in my wallet waiting on next week, so with that, plus not going to the grocery store until Wednesday, I am hoping to make up my deficit and still be within budget for the two weeks.

I am not detailing every transaction this week. It just takes too much time. I will tell you about one good deal I found if you are brand loyal to Tide. At Publix, the Stock up on Savings booklet has a coupon for "Free Stain Release wyb Tide". I don't really use the Stain Release, but it did allow me to use a $2 off man coupon for both the Tide detergent and the Stain Release, so I ended up getting the Tide $4 off the sale price, ($11.99 - $4.00 = $7.99 for the 100oz!!) plus I have some free Tide Stain Release!

Here's the summary of my transactions:

• Publix 7/30 (I know this is last week, but I already did my totals on 7/29, so I included this in this week's) - This was a last minute run before company came over plus I included a pack of diapers, so I could use one of my $5 off transaction coupons. It is not very good savings because I had to pick up some things that weren't on sale - Paid $20.76 for $38.80 worth of groceries for a savings of 40%
• Aldi 8/1 - I got a lot of produce and stocked up on juice, plus got some frozen fish - Paid $27.37 for what would have cost me $37.33 on sale at Publix, for a savings of 27%
• Publix 8/2 - I ran to Publix to pick up the last of the sale items I wanted - Paid $11.53 for $27.53 worth of groceries, for a savings of 71%
• Publix 8/3 - I picked up the big sale items, grabbed the Tide sale, plus stocked up on enough of my weekly items, i.e. milk, yogurt, etc to get us to next Wednesday - Paid $33.27 for $85.24 worth of groceries, for a savings of 61%
• CVS 8/5 - I decided to make a last minute run to CVS because I checked my account online and they gave me a $4 off $20 coupon. They didn't have what I wanted, so I got a raincheck on those items. I then decided I would pick up a few things that we are running low on and use the $4 off $20 plus burn a few ECBs. My subtotal was negative (much to my cashier's dismay - see how to do this at www.simplycvsshopping.com - it is all about coupon order). I paid $.65 with tax for $35.41 worth of groceries for a savings of 98%!

So, for the week, I paid $93.58 for $236.97 worth of groceries, for a savings of 60%! It is probably a little more savings than that because I was very conservative on my Aldi estimates.

Friday Finals - Week of 7/24

Friday Finals are here! Man, the weeks fly by so fast! This week I spent a total of $87.51, but my Mom gave me $20 for diapers, so only $67.51 out of my grocery budget, which is under my $75 goal! Woo Hoo! I saved $168.74, which is 66%! That is pretty good for a week! I went to way too many stores and too many times. I am so tired of shopping this week. I've really got to work on that part. Below is how I did at each store. You can click on the links to see what I bought at each one:

• CVS Trip - 7/24/11 - Paid $1.74, Saved $34.02, or 95%http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/cvs-trip-72411.html
• Publix Trip - 7/24/11 -Paid $27.34, Saved $27.81, or 52%http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/cvs-trip-72411.html
• Aldi 7/26/11 - Paid $10.51, Saved $3.12, or 23% http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/aldi-72611.html
• Publix Penny Item Day - Paid $6.59, Saved $58.53, or 69% http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/publix-penny-item-day-7272011.html
• CVS Trip -7/29/11- Paid $2.95, Saved $37.44, or 93% http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/cvs-trip-72911.html
• Wal-Mart - Free Chiquit Bites - Paid $.47, Saved $8.00, or 94% http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/wal-mart-free-chiquita-bites.html
• Bruno's - Paid $17.91 http://dealninjamom.blogspot.com/2011/07/brunos.html

Bruno's

I am not a Bruno's shopper at all, but we are having some family over to hang out at the pool and cookout tomorrow, and I needed a Boston Butt because that is what my husband wanted to cook. When I was at Publix, I noticed the cheapest one was $20!!! So, I looked through the weekly ads and noticed that Bruno's had theirs on sale for $1.99/lb, so I ran over to get one. I also had to pick up a few things I forgot to grab at Publix. I don't show any savings here, but technically the Boston Butt was about $7 cheaper than Publix!!

• Boston Butt - $13.05
• Sour Cream - $.99
• Cole Slaw - $2.39
• Total OOP with tax = $17.91

Wal-Mart - Free Chiquita Bites

I am not much of a Wal-Mart shopper, but I had some coupons for Chiquita Bites, and I didn't find any at Publix, so we ran in for about 5 minutes to pick up some. They only had 8 left, so we grabbed those. They will make great snacks for my daughter for the upcoming week.

• 8 Chiquita Bites - $.98 - Used (8) $1.00 off coupons
• Total OOP with tax = $0.47, for a savings of $8.00, or 94% ( I always include tax in my calcuations because I do have to pay something, even when the items are "Free")

CVS Trip - 7/29/11

I went back to CVS to see if they had gotten the Skintimate shave cream in, and, amazingly, they still had some in stock. I think we are stocked up on shaving cream for probably the next year or two. We don't really use that much, but I was out, and I got this large stock for less than I would have spent on one anyway. Here's what I got:

• 2 Edge Gels - $2.19 -used (2) .55 off coupons
• 4 Skintimate Creams -$2.19 each - used (2) $1.50 off coupons + (2) $1.00 off coupons
• 1 Hydro 5 Razor - $7.99 - used $4.00 off coupon (Got back $10 ECBs for purchasing $20 in Schick products)
• 1 Bengay - $5.99 - used $5.00 off coupon (plus I got $2.00 ECBs), so this made me $.99
• Used $5 off $25 transaction coupon
• Used $5.68 in ECBs
• Total OOP with Tax = $2.95. I saved $37.44, or 93%, plus I got $12 in ECBs for next time! :)