The winners of the Hanes for Kids $25 gift certificates are: Abbi Riner and Brandy (brandyu@) Congratulations!
I did a "little" grocery shopping this week. I was supposed to only spend $15 so that I’d have $65 to spend next week for a bigger stock-up trip, but alas, I didn’t quite stick with my self-imposed budget. Oh well! I’m still experimenting with this two-week grocery shopping thing. I suppose it will take me awhile to get the hang of it.
The good news is that we’ve been having more food in the house and I feel like I’m staying more ahead on groceries. Best of all, I’ve been enjoying shopping more. Where $40 was starting to feel like a bit of a stretch once we lost our Kroger stores and the great deals and super double coupon policy they had, this big-trip, little-trip thing now has me feeling like I’m able to buy plenty and not feel pinched. Maybe it’s just all in my head, but it seems like I have more breathing room now.
Here’s what we bought:
First Stop – Hen House:
Lipton instant tea – used FREE coupon
EAS bar – used FREE coupon
4 boxes Blue Bunny ice cream bars – on sale $1.49, used $1/1 coupons – $0.49 each!
2 boxes (4pack) yogurt – on sale $1.98, used $1/1 coupons – $0.98
1/2 gallon ice cream – $2.48
1/2 gallon organic milk from a local farm – $3.19
Total: $11.22 (saved $16.79 with coupons and store sales)
Second Stop – CVS (This was a really bad trip–I needed diapers and couldn’t come up with anything to buy or any deal to work so I just decided to blow some ECBs):
1 package Pampers – $10.99
2 Colgate Total toothpastes – $2.99 each
Used $5/1 Pampers coupon and $1.50/1 Colgate coupon
Paid with ECBs and $0.49 out of pocket
Got back $4 ECBs
Total: $0.49
Last Stop – Aldi:
2 Grapefruit – $0.59 each
4 Apples – $1.40
2 bunches bananas – $2.55
Tortillas – $0.99
Carrots – $0.99
Flour – $1.70
2 packages (8 oz) cheese – $1.89 each
Bread – $1.19
Bagels – $1.39
Total: $16.20
GRAND TOTAL: $27.91
So, this coming week I have about $52 to work with to last us for another 10 days. There are some great sales going on and we’re quite well stocked up here on many things, so I don’t think it will be too hard. We’ll see. I’ll report back next week and let you know how it goes.
And, since I didn’t share this picture last week, here’s what we purchased for the Sears/Dockers deal:
We did two different $100 transactions, since Jesse was really
in need of clothing. I think I figured out that we’ll pay about $70 out
of pocket (including taxes) after the gas gift cards for all of this.
Since quality men’s clothing is quite expensive, I’m thrilled to have
re-stocked Jesse’s wardrobe so inexpensively! He should be set on dress
clothes for at least another year. Yay!
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How’d you do this week? Post about the deals and
bargains you were able to snag this week on your blog (with pictures,
if possible!) and then come back here and leave your link below.
I was just curious…. Has anyone received the Dockers gift card in the mail yet? It’s been 2 months…. Thanks Crystal!
I learned about this Aveeno lotion you can sell on eBay for twice (or more) what you pay for it at CVS or Walgreens. I’ve been selling this stuff for a month. It is discontinued and hard to find. But, when I did find it, I used CVS ECB or WG RRs to get it for FREE – talk about profit!
Crystal- Thanks so much for doing this each week, it really is such a blessing. I look forward to your Frugal Friday at Biblicalwomanhood.com, and Super Savings Saturday. You really do make a difference in our lives and the lives of many others I am sure.
I’ve added my post to the Mr. Linky…this is my first week trying the CVS/Walgreens stuff. Fun! I’d love to know if you’ve had any luck getting Walgreens RR’s after the fact if they didn’t print at register. Thanks!
I was just wondering what ECB is? I am new to this and don’t know. Does Walgreens also have it? We don’t have a CVS in our area but we do have a walgreens.
Sounds like a great week!
Hi Crystal,
Good news…it’s not all in your head! I’ve been shopping this way for years. I used to shop once a week and with 3 small children in tow it was a very difficult day for us all. Eventually I moved to shopping every two weeks and then once a month which is what I do now.
I buy the bulk of our food one day a month. Then once a week (usually on Sunday coming home from church services), I stop for those things that don’t last a month (fresh veggies, milk, etc.).
This has been working great for our large family and it saves tons of money both on groceries, gas and my sanity!
Hope this helps,
Mavis D.
I also went to Sears and stocked up for my husband. (He wears a uniform all week, but really needed new Church clothes!) We got him 2 pair pants, 1 wallet, 1 tie, 1 shirt for $103! My husband couldn’t believe that I got all of that for just over $100 and then a gas gift card to boot! Thanks again for sharing.
I love your Sears/Dockers deal. I missed it completely. My fiance does construction work so his “nice” clothes last him for years. But I usually pass those kinds of deals on to other family members.
Hats off to you! Looks like a great week you had on shopping.
I’m headed out now…hopefully mine will be a good one too.
Ok, so yesterday i recieved some awesome special k coupons from VocalPoint. There was a coupon for b1g1 free any special k product. Well this week at CVS special k cereal is b1g1. So i got two boxes of cereal for free this morning! Also they sent (8) $1.oo off coupons for any special k item. At the commissary all of the special k bars are $1.53…. so they were .53 each!
Great job Crystal!
I scored some markdown meat this week and found eggs for 99cents/dz. that I couldn’t pass up so this was my “light shopping” week.
I wanted to thank you for the Sears deal. I told my husband (also an attorney — yours is too, right?) about this offer and despite his professionally-inbred-skepticism, we went to the mall, and he went to town. So when we got to the checkout, he had $148 worth of clothes. I tried to stop the transaction to find the small print about the legality of 2 $100 sales, but was unsuccessful (then). I found it when we got home on the mail-in offer sheet, so I went back to Sears, returned everything, bought T-shirts, socks, and black Dockers for our 18-year-old who works in a restaurant, and split it into 2 piles: one for $100.49 before tax (I was v impressed with my own self).
Part of the reason he needed new clothes is that he is running for judge this year, and I decided paint-splattered (from home repairs) t-shirts and jersey shorts (which makes up the majority of his casual wardrobe) were not allowed!
Thanks again for all you do,
Heather near Atlanta
This is so impressive – you’ve inspired me!!
Hey, just wanted to let you know a couple of things.
1) Walgreens baby formula – They have their brand formula priced at $13.99 where I am. There’s a coupon in the easysaver for $5 off the purchase of 2. Today I bought 2 cans, used the $5 off instant coupon, then I used the $5 off $20 Friday coupon. I ended up getting the formula for around $8.50 a can, which was great for me! Even though the $5 off Friday coupon is done now, the $5 off EasySaver coupon still makes this a good deal at just over $20 for two cans of baby formula.
2) Dockers – In the past I’ve had to buy nice clothes for my husband to wear to work. I go to Ross because I can get Izod polo shirts for less than $10 brand new, and Dockers are priced excellent, also. So, if you have a Ross near you, you might want to check it out.
Tahsha’s right, I got the coupon for writing to Pampers about some defective diapers we’d purchased. You can read more about my experience with that here:
https://moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/06/writing-to-comp.html
In case Chrystal doesn’t get a chance to respond…I believe I remember her stating in her post about writing companies that she got the $5 Pampers q for calling them about a defective package that she’d purchased.
I still don’t have a blog, but I had another great week at Publix b/c of the Walgreens coupon, so I wanted to share. I got $198.87 worth for $21.76! I’m anxious for another cvs $/$$ coupon for Publix more than cvs I think.
Thanks again for the winnings!
is the $5 coupon the one from target? can you use a target coupon at cvs?
what is the $5 pampers coupon that you used at cvs?
Did you use the $5 Target (Pampers) coupon for your CVS purchase?
Super great deals this week Crystal. Thanks for the heads up on the many great sales!