Friday, January 21, 2011

Using Every Opportunity to Save on Groceries...

I had a bunch of errands to run on Thursday since we were suppose to get a snowstorm today.

I had 2 Wags RRs to spend, amounting to $3 from the Finish dishwashing tabs I bought 2 weeks ago. At first I thought I'd roll them into more RRs but there was nothing I really needed that was generating RRs this week and the thought of staying on the Wags RR merry-go-round was NOT appealing. Especially since I am on the Rite-Aid +Up merry-go-round and can't seem to get off of that one!lol

No photo but I picked up 2 liquid soaps and a jar of olives. I needed .03¢ more to get to $3 and I found 2 jars of Fluff on the clearance endcap at .39¢ each. With the tax my OOP came to .87¢.
I feel better having picked up some items I can use rather than rolling RRs and spending a bit OOP on stuff I don't really need.

We also received 2 coupon triplers on the Price Chopper weekly flyer this week and it is right over by Wags, so I stopped by to see what I could find.  I don't usually shop there but if there is a Catalina Deal or something great to cherry pick, I will head over to take advantage. 

You can only use the triplers on insert(glossy manuQs) or teapad type coupons(no internet printed qs)so I was limited in what I could find that was cheap or free.
I ended up getting the 2 bars of Helavu Good cheese....on sale $2 each and I had a $1/2 ManuQ which tripled to $3/2, so each bar cost me .50¢.
I also got the French's fried onions....my $1/1 ManuQ tripled so the $3.59 can cost me .59¢ in the end.

The egg nog was store discounted from $3.19 to $1.19(I picked those up for the teens as a treat), and the Smart Balance sour cream was store discounted from $1.55 to $.55 each.
There was also a flyer coupon for $2 off bags of Weaver chicken parts(limit 4)which were already marked down to $5, so those were $3 each.  Breaded chicken are a mainstay of #2 son's diet, right behind Taco Bell and Ramen Noodles. For fun I attempt to poison him with veggies any chance I get....

In the end I spent $17.03 at Price Chopper. Regular retail was $38.45, so I saved $21.42 or 55.70%.
The chicken is always needed, as is any kind/type/form of cheese in this house!  The fried onion thingies I like to have on hand in the stockpile and I was out.  The egg nog was a cheap treat as mentioned before.  The sour cream is reduced fat type.  While I am not a big fan of the mouth feel or flavor of reduced fat type, it will be fine incorporated into dishes.

This seems to be the way I shop lately....a little bit picked up here, a little bit picked up there.   Gleaning the good deals wherever I can find them.  Gone are the days of going to one grocery store, once a week, every week and spending $100-$150 a pop.  I scoop up a few items at a time on my travels around town.  While it does take more time shopping this way, time is something I have. ;-)

What about you?
Do you cherry pick the sales and go to more than one store a week?
What is your average weekly count of trips to the stores?

Sluggy


5 comments:

  1. I have really decreased my drugstore shopping since Wags got rid of the rebates and went to RRs. I got to CVS and Wags maybe once or twice a month each. There have to be amazing deals for me to go to Wags anymore. Last weekend they had some pretty good deals on stuff I wanted for a care package to Chance, so I split the orders. The first one was all the RR stuff. The second one non-RR stuff that I paid for with RRs. That way I didn't have to worry about having RRs that might expire. That may be the only way I do Wags from now on.

    I go to Kroger once a week. I buy deals and anything else we might need then. We rarely make any between trips.

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  2. I try to only do my shopping one day a week, usually on Thursdays. I shop at Aldi, Price Chopper (KC area chain) and Hy-Vee (midwest chain)...they are all very close to my home. I have no qualms about cherry picking only the sale items, and if there is a really good sale with limits, I might go back to get more deals and/or have Shane stop for things on his way home.

    I get our Rx at Walgreens, but if at all possible, I use drive-thru. Ours has a clinic inside and I don't want to have to walk through all the sickies to get to the pharmacy. I avoid CVS as much as possible. I just don't like the drug stores, and especially don't like CVS. :( Once in a while one or the other of them will have an item or two that draws me in, but those times are rare.

    I go to Wal-Mart when I have to, about every 6 to 8 weeks. Unless I am going to be there anyway, I don't buy groceries there. If I do buy food there, it's usually only one or two items per trip, just so I don't have to make another stop somewhere else. I never buy any grocery items at Target or Kmart. Once in a while I'll buy a grocery item at Dollar General or Big Lots.

    Finally, if I am already going to be in other parts of town, I will shop at grocery stores, outlet stores, freight salvage stores, ethnic grocers, etc. that are in those parts of town. The savings are great, but I've quit making special trips for them.

    I think I used to cherry pick more than I do now, but it has become yet another area where I want to simplify if I can. I think I've found a happy medium between saving time and saving money.

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  3. I love shopping so I cherry pick like you ;) I have the time when my kids are in school...we only got PC doubles this week, not triplers :( My Heluva Good bricks were $1 ea.

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  4. "For fun I attempt to poison him with veggies any chance I get...."

    LOL! You are an evil, Evil mother!!! ;)

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  5. I do tend to go out to the stores once a week, usually Sunday when all the new deals start, but unlike the old days of going to one grocery store for $50 and Walmart for another $100 worth of stuff, I do now buy mostly deals/coupon-related items, smaller amounts of things, and will go back during the week if other specials, deals or coupons come up.

    I spent last year getting waaaay too involved in the CVS/RA game, but as a result, our stockpile of certain items like toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, etc., will probably never run out. So this year, I'm trying even harder to go only for deals and hopefully just the deals on things we need/want. Same with hitting up multiple grocery stores (I'm very lucky to live a stone's throw from Giant, Weis, Wegman's, Target w/some food, and a Super WM. It takes more organization, but I have the time every evening when I get home, so it's definitely worth it (I hope)!

    Anything really hot coming up at RA this week starting 1/23???

    ReplyDelete

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