My schedule is a little off this week, being Spring Break and all, so I decided to include my 7-year old in this week’s shopping mission. I normally don’t advocate dragging your children to the store (I usually go when she is sleeping), but I figured this could be an interesting learning experience for us both. First stop:
Not my best week, but I managed to include a few “need” items in my deals. The salad was 100% free, thanks to a coupon. The canned veggies were $1/3, and the Totinos Pizza Rolls were 20 cents each. I got the whole bag of ripe bananas for only .99 cents (normally 60 cents/lb).
The grand total for these 16 items?:
Shelf price= $34.07
My price after “Great Deals” and coupons=$13.91 OOP
I needed milk (notice it is already in use), so that reduced my savings %, but overall I did very well at Kroger. The milk was on sale 2/$6, which is a great price for this area. Free salad again thanks to a manager’s special and a coupon! Free cat treats after coupon! Free crackers after coupon!
The other good deal is on the cereal and granola bars- after buying 4 (with coupons, of course) I automatically saved another $4 off my total. The ice cream was only $1 thanks to a Catalina I had been saving for $3.50 off. I even picked up some bread and 2 packs of bagels which will save me another trip to Wal-Mart.
The grand total for 15 items?:
Shelf price= $38.16
My price after Plus Card and coupons= $14.69 OOP
I figured I averaged about .92 cents per item all together. Beat that, Wal-Mart!
My daughter was in charge of the coupons and cart loading, and she quickly realized that Mommy was not going to budge on anything not on “the list”. Just say NO!
These sales end tonight, so try to squeeze in a shopping trip if you can. Happy Hunting!
Great Trip! I agree with you 110% about taking the kiddie poos! But, I guess you are teaching them about economics and all 🙂 Thanks for linking me too!
Thank you. My daughter even clips all my coupons for me on Sundays! Soon she will be finding deals too. 🙂
Crystal at Money Saving Mom said that she learned from her mom. These are good skills you are teaching her, even though it can be hard on everyone sometimes.
What is a Catalina?
Loni:
Good question! Sorry for not clarifying. A catalina is a coupon that the machine spits out with your receipt at many different stores.
Most people just throw them away, but I have a special section in my coupon binder just for these. They are actually manufacturers coupons, and can be used anywhere!
The store puts their logo on them in hopes that you will return to spend them there, but I know better, and use them whenever I can stack them with a sale.
You’re right. I didn’t know that you could use those anywhere. I’ll have to pay more attention next time. Thanks for letting me/us know!