Today was my "big" shopping day. I usually save that for Friday, after I've done all the uber-deals I think I'll get at Walgreens and Target (and wherever else, but mostly those two stores) and I know how many clams I have left to use in buffering the food storage pantry. But, this week I found some deals that couldn't be missed in last week's grocery circulars and today was the last day of the sale, so out we went! The kidlets and I hit the road early in the morning and it was a dream - all 3 of us were generally still in good spirits, no one freaking out b/c someone's arm was touching theirs, etc. We hit two grocery stores and came home with this haul:
And I spent: $30.74
Yippee!
Yippee!
If my receipts are correct, I saved 53% on this stuff. Highlights for me were purchasing:
toothpaste - $0.25
kikkoman teriyaki sauce - $0.42
kraft ranch dressing - $0.49
Dole pineapple chunks - $0.71/ea (not amazing, but not bad, either)
and...
FISH SAUCE!! $1.98 This wasn't on sale at all, but I am determined to try my hand at making Thai food and all the yellow curry recipes I've looked at call for this fishy stuff. I actually can't think about it too long b/c it gives me the urge to gag... BUT I cannot get Thai food off the brain and from what I've read, fish sauce is a must, so into the cart it went! ps - anyone with experience making Thai food?? Please drop me a line!!!
Anyway, back to the shopping... :) The 5 lb bag of potatoes and the grapes were free - hooray! And the bagels came free when I bought the yogurt, so that worked out to be about $1 each (yogurt and bagels).
Since I've already revealed how neck-deep I am in this couponing thing, I will also tell you that I've set up this system for myself where I rotate an area to focus on each week. This is more for the food storage side of my shopping than the coupons, but I give myself a rough amount of dough to use towards that specific area each week. I've divided up the month into these 4 areas: 1) paper goods/bath (basically anything that's not food), 2) sauces & dressings, 3) baking items, and 4) canned & boxed goods. This week was actually my sauces & dressings week, so I had planned to be purchasing some applesauce, molasses, a few other things that aren't generally on sale and that I don't often see coupons for. BUT, I noticed a deal on canned vegetables at the grocery store and decided to switcheroo, so I made this week my canned goods week. So all those cans up there were $0.50/each. The cheapest I've found around here is $0.63 per can (and we don't have those nifty case sales some areas of the country do), so I was pretty jazzed about it. Anyway, I really love my little rotating system. It helps me make sure our storage is rounded out and not 98% ketchup or something. It's also helpful to have a certain amount of money set aside specifically for storage items, so I can buy them a little at a time before we need them, saving myself from the freak out that comes when we run out of dried mustard (or even worse, chocolate chips!!!) and I have to go pay full price and add it to my groceries that week. So nerdy. So wonderful. I love it! :)
The best part is that having a loaded pantry has totally changed how I shop. Instead of menu planning and then going out to buy whatever I need for those menus, I menu plan using what's in the cupboards and end up needing very few items from the store. Leaving more money for getting DEALS! I know a lot of you are thinking, "DUH, Lisa! Where've you been the last x number of years?!" But this is life changing for me, ok people? This week, I menu-planned and found that all I needed for our meals this week were:
1 red pepper
3 limes
6 potatoes
Sa-WEET!!!!! I will also need to buy milk, eggs and a bit more produce, but that is all!
Oh, I could ramble on and on, but I really must go put those bagels in the freezer, find space for my canned corn, and add those chips to the pantry (so we can use them when I make Chicken Tortilla soup in a couple weeks -- which is DIVINE, by the way. if you want the recipe, let me know...)... Happy Shopping everyone!!
toothpaste - $0.25
kikkoman teriyaki sauce - $0.42
kraft ranch dressing - $0.49
Dole pineapple chunks - $0.71/ea (not amazing, but not bad, either)
and...
FISH SAUCE!! $1.98 This wasn't on sale at all, but I am determined to try my hand at making Thai food and all the yellow curry recipes I've looked at call for this fishy stuff. I actually can't think about it too long b/c it gives me the urge to gag... BUT I cannot get Thai food off the brain and from what I've read, fish sauce is a must, so into the cart it went! ps - anyone with experience making Thai food?? Please drop me a line!!!
Anyway, back to the shopping... :) The 5 lb bag of potatoes and the grapes were free - hooray! And the bagels came free when I bought the yogurt, so that worked out to be about $1 each (yogurt and bagels).
Since I've already revealed how neck-deep I am in this couponing thing, I will also tell you that I've set up this system for myself where I rotate an area to focus on each week. This is more for the food storage side of my shopping than the coupons, but I give myself a rough amount of dough to use towards that specific area each week. I've divided up the month into these 4 areas: 1) paper goods/bath (basically anything that's not food), 2) sauces & dressings, 3) baking items, and 4) canned & boxed goods. This week was actually my sauces & dressings week, so I had planned to be purchasing some applesauce, molasses, a few other things that aren't generally on sale and that I don't often see coupons for. BUT, I noticed a deal on canned vegetables at the grocery store and decided to switcheroo, so I made this week my canned goods week. So all those cans up there were $0.50/each. The cheapest I've found around here is $0.63 per can (and we don't have those nifty case sales some areas of the country do), so I was pretty jazzed about it. Anyway, I really love my little rotating system. It helps me make sure our storage is rounded out and not 98% ketchup or something. It's also helpful to have a certain amount of money set aside specifically for storage items, so I can buy them a little at a time before we need them, saving myself from the freak out that comes when we run out of dried mustard (or even worse, chocolate chips!!!) and I have to go pay full price and add it to my groceries that week. So nerdy. So wonderful. I love it! :)
The best part is that having a loaded pantry has totally changed how I shop. Instead of menu planning and then going out to buy whatever I need for those menus, I menu plan using what's in the cupboards and end up needing very few items from the store. Leaving more money for getting DEALS! I know a lot of you are thinking, "DUH, Lisa! Where've you been the last x number of years?!" But this is life changing for me, ok people? This week, I menu-planned and found that all I needed for our meals this week were:
1 red pepper
3 limes
6 potatoes
Sa-WEET!!!!! I will also need to buy milk, eggs and a bit more produce, but that is all!
Oh, I could ramble on and on, but I really must go put those bagels in the freezer, find space for my canned corn, and add those chips to the pantry (so we can use them when I make Chicken Tortilla soup in a couple weeks -- which is DIVINE, by the way. if you want the recipe, let me know...)... Happy Shopping everyone!!
