New Years Shop-stravaganza!

Happy New Year, y'all! I got (just about all) my grocery shopping done today! HOLLA!

Jason and I drove separate cars to church this morning, something I don't enjoy doing (since the church is 20 miles away), but I also don't enjoy having to have myself and Anna Marie ready to be there by 8:15 (when he had to be there) when we don't have to be there until about 10:15.

Catch my drift?

Well, today afforded me a great opportunity, because Anna Marie rode home with her dad and I got to shop alone! Oh happy day!

Since there were so many coupons in this week's paper, we bought both a Commercial Appeal (the Memphis paper) and a Clarion-Ledger (the Jackson, MS paper) so I wouldn't miss any. Red Plum no longer inserts in the Memphis paper, but mails their coupons directly. Except, they don't mail down here where I live - so the only way I get their inserts is if my sister, who lives in Memphis, remembers to save them and then get them to me in a timely manner. I discovered a few weeks ago, though, that they DO still insert in the Jackson paper. So today I got both!

(I got the Memphis paper also, because it has circulars for stores that are local, and Jackson doesn't.)

Two of the inserts had coupons for $2.50 off Electrasol tabs. And what do you know? Target's circular said they had those very same items for $3.49! And what else do you know, but I had a $5 Target card from buying dog food there last week!

So - I stopped at Target, which was next to the Kroger I was shopping at. And found the regular Electrasol tabs (not those high-falutin Quantam things) for $3.23. I got two boxes for $0.63 each!

Here is the total rundown of my Target trip:

2 boxes of Electrasol tabs
1 bag Baked Doritos
1 pks. Act II 94% Fat Free Popcorn
1 box of Target brand juice pouches
1 package of Folgers Caramel Drizzle coffee (my one splurge!)

Total before coupons/sales/gift card: $19.53
Total after coupons/sales/gift card: $8.97

I saved $10.55 - over 50%!

Next, I went to Kroger. Three things happened that threw off my mojo: my mother called, and I left my list somewhere (later discovered to be the van). I already had my coupons laid out in my folder, so I used those as a guide to what I needed.

The third thing was that our church is starting 21 days of fasting and prayer tomorrow, and Jason and I have decided to fast meat, so I had to buy some staple-type things to make meatless meals - potatoes, beans, rice, etc. Last year he also fasted meat, so in consideration of him I didn't cook any at home anyway.

(Lest you thing that giving up meat isn't much of a sacrifice, remember we're talking about the Chicken King and the Hamburger Queen. And our local grocery store has Boston Butts on sale this week, and I won't be buying one. The sacrifice starts already!)


I'm not real impressed with my performance at Kroger, but I think the Target trip (and my trip to Walgreens, which I'll explain later) kind of make up for it.

Kroger rundown:

2 cans of Progresso soup (they were on clearance, and I had a paper coupon and a Shortcuts coupon loaded on my card, so these were only $0.25 each!)
1 box Kroger boil-in-bag brown rice
1 box Kellogs Corn Flakes with Honey (on clearance, plus my coupon, means it cost me $0.09!)
2 cans of black-eyed peas
3 cans of black beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 packages of Betty Crocker Cornbread Mix (I wanted the Jiffy Mix that was 3/$1 but they were all sold out and I didn't want to mess with rain checks.)
1 can of Chili Magic
1 package of Kroger 2% milk shredded cheddar
1/2 gallon milk
1 box Hershey's 100 Calorie chocolate-covered pretzel bars
1 dozen eggs
1 20-oz Coke Zero (Hey, I was thirsty, OK?)
3 lbs. Clementines
2.91 lbs. bananas
1.67 lbs. Granny Smith apples
1 Kroger cheese pizza (for Jason and Anna Marie when I work late Tuesday)
10 lbs. potatoes
2 Lunchmakers (on sale, but not by much)
1 loaf Natures Own light bread

Total before coupons/sales: $49.56
Total coupons/sales: $10.49
Total after: $37.07 (only 23%)

In my defense, that total does not take into account the soup or the Corn Flakes, both of which were on clearance (only the clearance price is listed on the receipt, not the regular price).

Now, for Walgreens. I did this before dinner tonight, because I wanted to get all of my shopping over with for the week. I have to work late several nights, and they're calling for a significant amount of snow mid-week, so I didn't want to have to get back into the store if I didn't have to.

I may end up going back later, though, because they have their Progresso soup 4/$5, and I have two coupons for 50 cents off two, so they'd be $1 a can. Also, if you spend $10 on this group of products, you get $3 in Register Rewards, so that helps.

Anyway - I had $6 in RR from last week. And their Smuckers Jelly and Jif Peanut Butter were on 2/$4. And I had two coupons for $1 when you bought both the PB and the J.

And I left that store with two jars of Jif and two squeeze bottles of Smuckers for $0.56!

(And I had to bum 6 cents off the cashier, because I'd miscalculated how much tax I'd need and only brought two quarters!)

So there you have it - I spent $46.60, and saved $35.09 - nearly 50%. I'm a little down about that Kroger trip, but I know I got a lot of groceries. I'm not used to doing all of my shopping in one day, and I kind of like getting a more complete picture of what I've gotten and what I've spent.

Hopefully, we won't get snowed in around here!