2.28.10

I am sorry it has taken me a few extra days to update the rest of my shopping. Blogger has been down and I was unable to log on. It seems to be working at the moment so I will do my best to update you.

Here are the details of my trip to Sams Club and Albertsons. I apologize for not getting a picture. Once again I didn't have access to my camera. here is the breakdown...

I spent $55.09 OOP

Without coupons and sales I would have spent $73.63

That is a total savings of 25%

Not such impressive savings, but keep in mind that Sams Club does not figure in savings. Although my savings was not huge this week I was happy to still keep my total spent for this week under $100. Here are the details.

ALBERTSONS

4 jars skippy peanut butter

$1.00 each

3 bags tortilla chips

$1.00 each

3 dozen pkg. eggs

$1.00 each

2 suave deodorants

$1.00-$0.75 insert coupon

FINAL PRICE $0.25

2 # bag jumbo raw shrimp

$3.99 per #

3 # bag clementines

$2.99

1.32 # bananas

$0.49 per #

SAMS CLUB

1 quart heavy cream

$2.68

1 jar beef bouillon cubes

$4.87

4 boxes of butter

$6.76 ($1.69 each)

3 # shredded aged Parmesan

$9.93

25 # long grain rice ( I was out)

$8.59

and that is about it. Nothing too exciting. I do still need to make a trip to Safeway hopefully before Tuesday ends. I will update you guys when I do. :)

2.26.10

I was able to make a quick trip to Sprouts and King Soopers this morning to pick up a few things on my list. This weeks shopping I think will have to be done in shifts with my little ones not feeling well. Just a note to those who haven't heard yet. King Soopers is having a fantastic deal on cereal and milk. If you need either of those things this is the week to stock up! Remember milk freezes if you have room for it. I actually ended up not needing the milk (we are plenty stocked and my freezer is pretty packed), but it was part of the cereal deal so I just bought it and gave it to a friend of mine who could use it. You can read more about the deal and the specifics on Carrie's post here. Although it says that some have had problems with the catalina printing, it printed for me here in CR.

I am sorry I do not have a picture of this shopping trip. Our camera has mysteriously gone missing again. grrrrrr... Here is the breakdown from my shopping trip

My total OOP was $24.11
The total I would have spent without sales or coupons is $45.73
(keeping in mind sprouts doesn't figure in savings. :(
My total % saved was 47%.
(the total does not look great because of the sprouts savings but I am happy with it.)

King Soopers

4 boxes Kellogg's Cereal
$1.50-$1.00/2 blinkie coupons found in the store-$3.00 catalina
(that prints to use on your next order- I just did the cereal deal first and then did a second transaction for the rest of my shopping and used my catalina on that)
FINAL PRICE $0.25 each

2 gallons milk
$2.19 each-FREE with cereal promo

5 containers Kroger sour cream
$1.00 each

2 loafs earthgrain bread
$1.99-$0.55 insert coupon
FINAL PRICE $0.99 each

SPROUTS

1.75 # bulk dried cranberries
$2.99 per # ( a little more than sams club but you will not have to buy a huge container and these are nice and plump)

1.8 # Bulk Wild West Trail Mix
$1.99 per # (sams club price is $2.61 per #)

.32 # bulk whole walnuts
$3.99 per # (same price as sams club but we don't want the big bag...I don't use walnuts all that much)

1 bunch chives
$1.69

1 head iceburg lettuce
$0.77

1 bunch parsley
$0.39

1 red bell pepper
$0.77

1.43 # pears
$0.77 per #

1 head garlic
$0.54

As always if you have questions please feel free to comment and let me know :).

and the total is....

I am happy to report my totals for the month of February. My monthly amount spent on groceries and toiletries, etc. continues to go down from when I first started couponing. The best part of this is that I am buying things we never would have had money in the budget for before, which makes my carnivore husband very happy.lol. Here are the totals for the month

My total OOP (out of pocket) this month was $323.31

The total amount of food I bought was $1052.78

My total savings for the month was 69%!!!

The best part is I am spending now less than half of what I used to spend 8 months ago. My budget is $700 per month for these things so that means a savings of $376 that I get to use for something else. :) I never in my wildest dreams thought that I could do that with coupons! If you are new to my blog and want to learn more about how I do this leave me a comment with your email and I will get in touch with you. :)

Weekly Menu 2.26-3.4

I do not foresee myself getting to go shopping today as I have 2 sick kiddos at home. However I thought I would at least update the blog with our menu. This is what we are having at our house this week

Breakfast

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (didn't make last week) and fruit

Breakfast Burritos and fruit

Cereal & Fruit

Oatmeal and fruit

Lunch

Grilled Cheese and Carrots

Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches and Apple Slices

Ham & Cheese Wraps & Cucumber Slices

Chicken Noodle Soup

lots of left overs

Dinner

Date Night-Strogonoff and broccoli for the kids (didn't make last week)

Maple Pork Tenderloin, Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash and Creamy Herbed Potatoes (ditto)

Chili & Indian Frybread

Cowboy Calzones and Iceburg Wedges with Ranch Dressing

Chicken Parmesan, repeat salad and dressing from day before

Honey Chicken, Rice and steamed veggies (also a repeat from last week...we had a lot of left overs okay!)

Snacks

bell pepper slices

cucumber slices

carrots

cuties

pears

apples

bananas

yogurts

cashews

granola bars

cheese & crackers

Sugar free pudding

rice cakes

Dessert

Chocolate Mousse

If I am sitting around with the kids later I will maybe post a few recipes from my menu for you guys. Happy eating this week!

Shopping 2.19.10

This week was shopping trip was definately...um...memorable. Because Safeway is having some great deals on their P&G products I was very excited about shopping this week. After an extremely frustrating trip to Safeway I am not sure if the money I saved was worth my frustration. What should have been a pretty quick and easy shopping trip turned into an hour or two of headache. I will spare you the details. however I will suggest that if you plan to do this deal, I would recommend verifying BEFORE you shop if the store is requiring that your total of P&G products hit $25 before or after your coupons. My understanding (per the ad) is that it should be before coupons are deducted. however the store in Castle Rock apparently didn't know which end was up and they just gave me whatever explanation they thought sounded good at that moment...none of which were actually true. Needless to say I will be speaking with the general manager at my store on Monday about the $8.53 that they owe me. If it goes well I will continue to shop there...if not I will drive to extra 3 miles to go to the one in Castle Pines. It is just not worth it to shop at a store where you are not treated as you should be. Ok...I will get off my soapbox. On to the deals this week.

I got all of this

Including this...

this...

and this.

My total OOP was $76.31 (should have been $67.68)

Without coupons and sales i would have spent $206.15!

That is a savings of 67%!!

Overall it really was a good week, despite the frustration. I shopped at Sprouts, Safeway and Target this week which means I was able to stay in Castle Rock. I am really enjoying having a sprouts here in CR. It makes the distance I have to travel for decent produce a lot shorter. Here is what I got. I know this is a little ridiculous but I am having the hardest time getting blogger to let me have spaces in my listing so I am going to try to color each item a different color to give you a way to differentiate. Sorry if it gives you a headache. I am hoping to figure out why blogger hates me soo so I can fix it. :(

Sprouts

4 bags (16oz) pasta

$0.75 each

1.24 # acorn squash

$0.69 per #

2 bunches of asparagus

$0.88 per #

1.78 # braeburn apples

$0.69 per #

1 Cantaloupe

$0.50

1 yellow pepper

$0.69

1 tomato

$1.69 per #(thought it was $0.69 per #...misread the sign)

1 pineapple

$1.99

1 bunch fresh rosemary

$1.69

1 bunch celery

$0.88

Target

3 tubes Colgate Total (4.2oz)

$1.67 (price match King Soopers)- $1.50/1 coupon (at pharmacy in Safeway)

FINAL PRICE $0.17 each!

SAFEWAY (Grrrrr....)

these are all part of the P&G promo going on. To maximize your savings you can use the $10 catalina that you earn from the first transaction to pay for your second, and so on. That lends to less OOP. All my final prices are including the promo discount which works out to be about 40% off the sale price.

4 bottles dawn Direct Foam dish soap

$2.49-$1.50/1 mailer coupon (from the homemade simple mailer)

FINAL PRICE- FREE!

1 bottle tide HE (32 load) laundry detergent

$5.99-$0.35 insert coupon -$0.35 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $2.54 (this is $0.08/load. Sam's Cost is $0.18/load)

1 bottle downy fabric softener (34 oz)

$4.99-$1.00 store coupon-$1.00/1 insert coupon-$0.50/1 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $0.49 (that is $0.02/oz. Sam's price $0.07/oz)

2 bottles Fabreze Air Effects

$3.00-$1.00/1 insert coupon-$1.00/1 e-coupon (only on 1)

FINAL PRICE $0.30 each (Sam's price $2.25 each)

1 (8pk) Duracell AA Batteries

$5.49-$1.00/1 insert coupon-$1.00/1 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $1.29 ($0.16 each. Sam's price $0.37 each)

6 Dawn Hand Renewal Dish Soap

$2.49-$1.00/1 mailer coupons or $0.50/1 insert coupons-$0.50 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE- $0.41 each

24 double roll Charmin bath tissue

$12.99-$0.25/1 insert coupon-$1.00/1 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $6.24 ( $0.26 per double roll. Sam's price $0.48 per double roll)

12 Big Roll Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels (same as 16 reg. rolls)

$12.99-0.25/1 insert coupon-$1.00/1 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $6.29 ($0.39 per reg. roll. Sam's price is $0.85/roll)

1 Bounce Dryer Bar

$4.99-$1.00/1 store coupon-$1.00/1 e-coupon

FINAL PRICE $0.99

These items are not part of the P&G promo

1 Betty Crocker Frosting

$1.39-$0.50/1 printable coupon-$0.50/1 e-coupon and another from here

FINAL PRICE- FREE + $0.41 money maker!!

1 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix

$1.25-$0.40 printable coupon- (2)$0.40 e-coupon also from here (not really sure how all 3 of these came off in 1 transaction, but I guess I won't complain.)

FINAL PRICE-FREE + $0.75 money maker!

1 pkg. (24 slices) Kraft Singles

$4.49-$3.00/1 store coupon from ad

FINAL PRICE $1.49

1 loaf orowheat family style 100% whole wheat bread

$1.99

5 Sanderson Farms Whole Chicken (approx 5# each)

$0.69 per #

1.5 # bananas

$0.49 per #

2 # red seedless grapes

$0.99 per #

Well that does it for this week! If you decided you want to do the P&G deal go to Castle Pines I am thinking you might have better luck with their catalina printer. Let me know if you have any questions or need help putting your deals together. :)

Weekly Meal Plan

Once again a few repeats from last week. Here is what we are having this week.

Breakfast
Cereal & Fruit
Breakfast Yogurt Parfaits
Cinnamon Rolls and Fruit
Scrambled Eggs & Fruit
Breakfast Burritos (homemade, frozen previously)

Lunch
Quesadilla's & Bell Pepper Slices
Paninis & Salad
Lots of Left overs
Turkey & Cheese Wraps
Chicken Nuggets & Grapes
Peanut butter & Honey Sandwiches & Cantaloupe

Dinner
Date Night -Left overs for the kiddos
Turkey & Cheese Panini's & Spinach Salad from (repeat from last week)
Ribs, Roasted Asparagus and Spinach Salad (ditto)
Strogonoff & Steamed Broccoli (ditto)
Chicken Stew & Green Salad
Maple Pork Tenderloin, Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash and Scalloped Potatoes
Honey Baked Chicken, Rice and Steamed Veggies

Snacks
Bananas
Apples
Cuties
Grapes
Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Yogurt
Carrots
Celery & Peanut butter
Granola Bars
Chips & Salsa
Bell Pepper Slices
Cheerios Snack Mix

Now...lest you should all think that I am a Pioneer Woman stalker let me assure you, I most definately AM! My sister in laws and I have been trying out many of her recipes and have yet to find one that disappointed (except for the red velvet cake which I am sure was due to the high altitude here...sigh). I will keep ya posted as I forge through her cookbook and website. Have a great week!

2.12.10

Let me just apologize in advance for the HORRIBLE pictures! My hubby took the camera with him today so I had to use my cell phone. 2MP camera? I think NOT! I guess you can get a general idea of what my trip consisted of this week, but that's about it...sorry. When putting my menu together this week I was really excited that I only needed a few things for our actual eating this week. I mean like 4 things! The total I had to spend this week was a mere $5.35. This is why I love couponing. Eating for a whole week on $5.35! Now keep in mind the way we do things here, I don't only buy what I need unless I have to. The idea is to spend my budget on things that are super low prices and stockpile them till you need them. This week I shopped Target, King Soopers, Sprouts Market and Safeway. Sprouts just opened in Castle Rock today and they are having fantastic sales. I was just excited to do all of my shopping in CR this week. :) Just beware if you plan to visit Sprouts this weekend for their deals. it was CRAZ-Y! Well worth it though. The bagged my entire order in FREE reusable shopping bags! Love that!

Here are a few pictures of my loot :) (sorry again for the poor quality)

For all of this I spent a total of $63.48. In turn I got a Target gift card worth $7.57 to use on my next trip. I also plan to submit for this rebate for $15.

Making my total OOP for this trip $40.91!!!

Without sales coupons and rebates I would have spent $223.44!

That is a savings of 82%!

A very good week!

Also interesting is that sprouts receipt did not figure in savings so these figures are assuming that Sprouts prices were not sales, which they most definitely were. I would guess that would boost my totals even more.I finally fixed the formatting (I think) so I am going to list it out for you. Happy shopping this week. :)

SPROUTS

1 pkg. Robinson Cottage Cheese

$1.99

2 dozen eggs

$0.99 each

1 # Pepper Jack Cheese

$2.06

1/2 # Havarti Cheese

$2.07

1 bag blue corn tortilla chips

$0.99

1 # asparagus

$1.33

1.4 # broccoli

$0.77 per #

1 cantaloupe

$0.49 each

2 # fuji apples

$0.77 per #

1 yellow pepper

$0.49 each

1 red pepper

$0.49 each

2 pints grape tomatoes

$0.99 each

2 red mangos

$0.77 each

1 red onion

$0.69 per #

3/4 # roma tomatoes

$0.49 per #

1 very large head romaine lettuce

$0.88

2 (1# clams) strawberries

$0.99 each

2 (8oz) pkg. mushrooms

$.99 each

1 bunch spinach

$0.88

ok...obviously I am still have problems. I will keep working on it and get the rest up later sorry. :(

Weekly Menu- 2.12.10

Another week, another menu. You will notice a few repeats...again. Still not feeling too great this week, so I haven't wanted to cook as much, plus we ended up having left overs more than planned. Here's what we are having this week.

Breakfast
Breakfast Burritos (from the freezer) & Fruit
Cereal & Fruit
Oatmeal & Fruit
Waffles (from the freezer) & Fruit
Hard Boiled Eggs & Fruit
Banana Bread & Fruit

Lunch
Turkey & Cheese Wraps
Peanubutter & honey sandwiches
Pizza-for Naomi's b-day party
Lots and Lots of Left overs

Dinner
Haystacks (didn't make last week)
Strogonoff (ditto) & Steamed Broccoli
Chicken Enchiladas (ditto)
Dinner Out (Valentines Day)-Chicken Nuggets and Bell Peppers for the kiddos
Spaghetti & Green Salad
Baby Back Ribs, Roasted Asparagus and Spinach Salad
Turkey and Cheese Panini's & Spinach Salad

Snacks
Strawberries
Cantelope
Cuties
Apples
Oranges
Bananas
Bell Pepper Slices
Mushrooms
Grape Tomatoes
Granola Bars
Yogurt
Sugar Free pudding
Crackers & Cheese
Goldfish Crackers

Dessert
Rainbow chip cupcakes (Naomi's b-day party)

I will post my shopping trip this week soon. Have a great week!

2.05.10

There are quite a few good deals to be had this week. I decided to start off my shopping day at Albertsons, Sunflower Market & Target. Here is a breakdown of my trip.

I got all of this...

(yes those are baby back ribs...don't tell my hubby they

are in my freezer or they will disappear. lol.)

for a total of $79.72 OOP!

Without sales & coupons I would have spent $195.75!

That is a savings of 59%!

King Soopers 2.05.10

Kings has sure stepped it up this week in the deal department. I received a whole stack of manufacturers and store coupons from King Soopers in the mail that totally coincide with their MEGA-event going on again this week. Unfortunately, I am having problems with my formatting on blogger. At this point I cant figure out how to list out the items without it being one big blob of words (any ideas of how to fix it would be a BIG help). Anywho...here are the basics of my shopping trip to King Soopers. If you want to know how to score some of these deals yourself, please check out Bargain Blessings site for a breakdown of the sale at King Soopers this week. If I can get it to work I will update it later. On to the details...

I got all of this.

Including this...

and this...
for a total of $28.98 OOP!
Without coupons and sales I would have spent $130.91!
That is savings of 78% folks!
Not bad...not bad at all.

Weekly Menu

Sorry I am just a little bit late in getting my menu up this week. My little girl has been sick so I am off a day on my shopping and posting. I also have not been feeling well this week so my menu this week will have a lot of repeats as I did not cook as much as planned last week. I will post probably tomorrow about my shopping escapades today. :) But for now here is what we are having this week. :)

Breakfast
Cereal & Fruit
Oatmeal & Fruit
Waffles( from the freezer) & Fruit
Breakfast Burritos

Lunch (a summary of what everyone is eating this week)
Lots of Left Overs
Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches & Grapes
Ham & Cheese Wraps & Carrots
Peanutbutter & Honey Sandwiches & cucumbers
Cheese Quesadillas & Bell Pepper slices

Dinner
BBQ Chicken, Baked Potatoes & Roasted Asparagus (from last week)
Haystacks (also from last week)
Super Bowl Sunday-(my portion of what we are having)Potatoe skins and jalepeno poppers from the Pioneer Woman cooks cookbook and hot wings
Strogonoff, Noodles and Green Beans
Homemade Pizza & Salad
Chicken Enchiladas and Green Salad

Snacks
Grapes
Apples
Cuties
Bananas
Bell Pepper Slices
Carrots
Cheese & Crackers
Granola Bars
Yogurt
Applesauce

Desserts
Red Velvet Cupcakes (for Super Bowl Sunday)-never tried these before...I will let you know how they turn out. :)

Happy Eating this week! :)