Not the best Walgreens Trip

So I was out running errands and I decided that this was a Walgreens week.  I made my plan and was going to get $96 worth of stuff for $26.  Sounds good right?  Well I guess in the few weeks since I've been there the coupon policy changed.  I'm sure by time I left the store the manager was hoping I wouldn't be shopping there again with all the questions I asked since I didn't get the deal I had planned.  I ended up spending $40, not too bad but most of my coupons didn't scan and the manager, who looked younger than me really didn't seem that confident with what she was telling me about my missing register rewards. 

On a side note, I used the unscanable coupon at Wal-Mart today to buy some eye shadow.  I just looked at the coupon policy and I think I'm ready for next time. 

Never Steal your Coupons

Free Milk at Kroger!

So my best deal this week had to have been the 2 free gallons of milk when you bought 4 boxes of cereal, that were on sale too!  I had 2 coupons for a dollar off 2 boxes.  Not the best but there were only 4 types of cereal to choose from.  Anyway it worked out perfectly since we needed to stock up on cereal.

Monthly Wal-Mart Trip - July

So yesterday I finally had my day off and got to make my trip over to Evergreen for our monthly WalMart & bank run.

I was considering going on Thursday night but we had a major rain storm and driving an hour, one way, in the pouring rain when you need to drive 70 mph to keep up didn't sound like the best idea.  I decided instead to run to our local store and grab a few things.  I was so tired that when I went to buy my 10 items to get $3 off at the register I only got 8.  Who knows how I would have messed up with my big trip.  Plus the rain was so bad that when I went to make the right turn to the store the road was washed out.  I hear all those commercials that say don't drive thru standing water so I turned around and went the long way.  That part of the road has been closed since and any road that is near running water has been sandbagged to try to keep it off the road.  Just more Colorado Craziness!

I recently inventoried the stock pile and was planning to get a few things that we needed.  When I came up with my first list the total was almost $300 with coupons.  And that just isn't practical.  So I went over it again and cut it down to the best deals I could find and even a few options for certain items so I would have the choice of the best deal.  My total was just under $200.  I usually save all our change and use it as a cash coupon when I do my big trip.  This month I didn't have much and my credit was only $13.  I had almost $200 in cash from my last week of taking tables and couldn't spend any more than what I had. 
I didn't leave at the best time yesterday, we were waiting for our new fridge.  Can't complain since our landlord wants to upgrade the kitchen a bit and he's looking for a stainless one that will work better for us than our last one.  But I was really nervous about traffic on the way home since it was Friday during the summer season.  You never know how long you'll be sitting on the highway.  Thankfully I missed traffic going both directions. 

When I finally got there I started working my way down my list and was more than a little nervous when I got to the register.  My cart was really full but I wasn't able to get a few big ticket items on my list so I was hoping it was going to be much less than my estimated total.  I managed to get out of the store for $132 and I had 72 items.  I used about $30 in coupons and my $13 voucher.

Shopping Plan for the Week of 6/25/11

So here is the spreadsheet format that I use to calculate my savings.  I'm not sure how to upload a copy of the excel sheet so you can see the formulas but this gives you an idea at least.

Click on the image to see a larger view....

Best Savings to Date

This is Pete's favorite deodorant.  It can cost up to $5 a piece!  I recently went thru my digital coupons and manufacturer coupons after he mentioned that he was going to need some soon.

I managed to get 2 of these for only......$1!  This is by far my best savings yet.  

The Plan - 6.5

So according to all the couponers out there you should really focus on 1 store until you get your process down.  They also suggest using the store closest to your house since it's last travel time.  I noticed on the weekly flyer for Safeway that it mentions they double coupons up to .50 so even though it's a little further, maybe 20 miles, I'm going to focus on them.  The only problem is not being able to scope out the store before I actually go shop.

SAFEWAY - Running a great sale this week where if you buy 8 participating items (mix & match) you get an additional .50 (per item) off the sale price.

CITY MARKET - Also having some really good sales on a few things we need.  Chocolate, I have a 1.50 off Catalina for snacksize butterfingers and they are 2/$4 this week.  Chicken Quarters are .59! That's such a great deal so we'll be getting 10 lbs if we can.  I have coupons for Blue Tortilla chips with the sale this week they'll be .89 ea.  Cheese is on sale 2/$5, not the best price but cheaper than safeway this week.  


With my Sunday papers, we will be spending more that our budget this week but there are a few deals we just can't pass up.