All You Challenge Week 4

This is the last week of the All You Challenge, and I have completed it with a 4 week average of $71.33 per week for groceries. Woo Hoo! However, I started with a great week 1 and even week 2 and went downhill after that. I even did it while still feeding my daughter all organic dairy products and lots of fresh produce and stocking up on some diapers...not bad! I did learn a lot, and I think I have refined the way I use coupons. I am not in search of every deal now. I am really focused on getting the things we need at the best price possible. I am also changing some of the things we eat. We don't need big meals every night. I try to make a good meal and then have leftovers, and then make something easy and cheap another night.

Ok, so here is how my week went. I went over a little, but I had some extra room from the first two weeks.

CVS trip - I had 2 rainchecks, so this was my best trip to CVS ever!

• Balance Bar - $1.69 (got $1.69 ECBs)
• Complete Contact Solution - $7.99 (got $7.99 ECBs)
• Always Infinity Pads - $3.99 - used $1.00 off coupon (got $2.00 ECBs)
• Rephresh Tampons - $6.79 - used $1.00 off coupon (got $7.00 ECBs)
• Used $4.00 off $20.00 CVS coupon
• Used $13.50 in ECBs
• Total OOP with Tax = $2.16 (got back $18.68 in ECBs!!!), for a savings of 91%

Publix Trip 1 - had to stop in to get some hotdog buns and drinks for friends coming over to swim(would have gotten the drinks at CVS, but they were sold out of coke products from last week's sale).

• Coca Cola 1.25 L - $.99
• Sprite 1.25 L - $.99
• SmartWater - $1.25 - used $.75 off coupon
• Powerade - on sale for $.88 (for my hubbie - he was working in the yard all day)
• Strawberries - on sale for $2.50
• 2 Yoplait Yoplus - on sale for $2.29 BOGO - had 2 $.50 off coupons that doubled to $1.00 each, making these $.29 for both!
• Publix Hot Dog Buns - $1.29
• Total OOP with tax = $8.18, for a savings of 46%

Winn-Dixie - Quick trip because we were out of swim diapers (and we have a pool!), and I won a $10 gift card to Winn-Dixie from a giveaway on www.winndixieonadime.com (Thanks Christy!), so I knew I could get some free swim diapers.

• 2 Long Grain Rice - on sale for $2.19 BOGO
• Pampers Splashers - on sale for $8.88 - used $1.50 coupon
• Dole Classic Romaine salad - on sale for $1.50 - used $.75 off coupon
• Used $10 Gift Card
• Total OOP with tax = $.95, for a total savings of 95%

Whole Foods - This is NOT a savings trip and broke my budget for the week!! I went because on Tuesday they have a 3 topping Large pizza for $10, and it is all natural. This makes for 2 great dinners at my house. While I was there, I picked up a bottle of wine because hubbie LOVES wine with pizza and some organic milk for my daughter because they are the only ones that sell Organic Valley whole milk with Omega-3 and Vitamin D. However, they have gone up $.70 a half gallon on the milk, so it was outrageous. I will just buy her the milk without the extras at Publix from now on. Here's how horrible I did (I just haven't mastered savings at Whole Foods):

• 2 Organic Valley Half Gallon Milks - $4.69 each!!
• Organic Limeade (32 oz) - $.99
• Wine - $5.99 (this was a sales price, but I don't know what regular price was)
• Pizza - on sale for $9.99 (regular $13.99)
• Total OOP with tax = $28.68 - OUCH!!! That is not much food for so much money! I can't shop at Whole Foods anymore - lesson learned! I saved a pitiful 12%

Publix quick trip 2 - I realized I needed a few more chow mein noodles (hubbie and I both eat these for lunch a lot) while they were BOGO, so we swung by Publix.

• 4 Chow Mein noodles - $.79 BOGO
• Total OOP with tax = $1.72 for 48% savings ( I always include tax in the numerator when I am calcualting savings. I figure it is part of the cost).

Publix regular Wednesday trip

• Publix Bran Flakes - Penny item (Regular $2.49)
• 2 Lipton Onion Soup Mixes - $1.47 each - used $.6 off 2 coupon
• Milkbones chewy snacks - on sale for $1.60 (Regular $3.19)
• Milkbones Essentials Plus - $3.99 - used coupon for free Milkbones essentials wyb any milkbones
• OJ Home Squeezed - on sale for $3.00 (Regular $3.99)
• 2 Yoplait smoothies - BOGO $3.19 - used two $1.00 off coupons
• Juicy Juice - on sale for $2.50 (Regular $3.79)
• Arnold Bread - on sale for $2.15 (Regular $4.29)
• Coleslaw mix - $1.49
• Stonyfield Squeezers organic yogurt - $2.99 - used $1.00 off coupon
• Sockeye salmon - on sale for $9.99/lb - bought .8 lbs for $8.00 ( I bought frozen last week and it is still in the freezer, but this week fresh was on sale, so we wanted to get it fresh while we could. I am so glad this is back in season.)
• Egglands Best - $2.49 - used $.35 off coupon that doubled to $.70
• Scotch Scissors - on sale for $1.00 - used $1.00 off coupon to make it free (These are kids, but I plan to put them in my purse to use to cut coupons in the store)
• Buddy Fruit - $1.00 - I wanted Olivia to try this. I heard that other kids her age love it (and she did love it!)
• $5 off $30 Winn-Dixie coupon
• Total OOP with tax = $25.28, for a savings of 53%

Aldi - I tried my hand at Aldi for the first time today. This caused me to go over budget for the week, but technically we will be eating these things next week. I found some good deals. I think it is really good for things that you need but don't have any coupons for. I thought it would be hard to leave the coupons behind, but I found it somewhat nice to get a break from them, yet still not spend too much money! I wich it was closer to my house. I would probably shop at Publix for the sale items and the organic items for my daughter and Aldi for the rest. For this post, I used "comparable" Publix prices to calculate my savings. In fact, I used the Publix sale price on things that are on sale, so I think my trip was worth while!

• Plain Potato chips - $1.39 (comparable price - Ruffles on sale at Publix- $2.14)
• Wavy Potato chips - $1.39 (comparable price - $2.14) - I need these chips for a family reunion tomorrow. I don't usually buy very many chips.
• Bananas ($.40/lb) - $1.00 (comparable price $1.72)
• Red Grapes (2 lbs) - $2.98 (comparable price $3.98)
• 2 Apple Juice - $1.49 each (comparable price - Juicy Juice on sale at Publix - $2.50)
• Half Gallon milk - $1.89 (comparable price - $1.85) - I didn't really save on this one. It was more that I just didn't want to make another stop, and I decided my husband and I could drink regular milk instead of using our daughter's expensive organic milk for our cereal in the morning!
• Cookie Dough - $1.89 (comparable price - $2.50)
• Chocolate chips - $1.79 (comparable price - $2.99) - I plan to make some frozen chocolate covered bananas
• Pork Luncheon meat - $1.69 (comparable price - $2.00) - this is like spam. My hubbie has been begging me for it, since he saw a special about SPAM on tv the other day.
• Vienna Sausage - $.39 (comparable price - $.69) - another hubbie request
• 2 packs Baby carrots - $.99 each (comparable price $1.49)
• Total OOP with tax = $22.95, which is a 28% savings using comparable prices! It was weird to check out so quickly, and not hand over any coupons. However, I think I did pretty good without them. Don't worry, I am not giving up my coupons any time soon, but I will keep these Aldi prices in mind when I am comparing prices of items with coupons. I do know I will never be able to buy the toothpaste, toothbrushes, contact lens solution, etc for free at Aldi, but it definitely has its place for produce and juice!!

My total for this week was $89.92, with a 50% savings. That is just ok, but it seems like I got a lot of stuff (At least my post was long!).

So, that is the end of the challenge, but I plan to keep posting on my weekly deals. I might start posting them as I do them, so I don't have such a long post at the end of the week, but we will see.

My total OOP for the 4 weeks was $285.30, which is $71.33 a week, and I saved 62% off regular price! I am so happy I did it, and I can't believe I saved that much including all of our groceries for 4 weeks! I plan to keep up this $75 a week budget as long as I can!

I am not posting our meals this week. This post is just already way too long! I went to too many stores, which is probably why I spent so much!