I’m not turning into a coupon blog, but since I’ve committed to cleaning out my pantry/freezer this month and only spending 50 a week, I thought I’d show what I got for the last 9.00 I had this week.
Also included in the amount, but not pictured, are two Sunday newspapers for 2.00 apiece, purchased for the coupons, since today’s paper had LOTS of coupons. I always take this out of our grocery budget since the coupons are used to buy groceries. I think of them as an investment.
So for 5.00, I got everything in the picture. And 2.97 of that was the bread and milk. I got the cheapest milk, 1.99 with the farthest out expiration date. And I normally only buy whole wheat bread, but I needed some to make grilled cheese since I have TONS of cheese and butter to use up. Since you can go through an entire loaf, it seems like, making sandwiches for the family, I got the white bread since grilled cheese is awesome on cheap white bread. And it was only .99!
The cereal bars are what I eat for breakfast, and the rest is all stuff that is on sale this week at CVS or Walgreens. I did also get the Christmas dog treats on clearance for .75 at CVS, but I used extra bucks to pay for them so I actually only spent about .24 cents of real money there.
If you don’t coupon, and you want to know how it all works, I recommend Common Sense with Money. At the top of her site, she has tabs for both of those stores which will take you to their current deals and explanations of how it all works. There are also other blogs that you might find that suit your personal shopping tastes. If you have a frugal blog, feel free to leave your link in the comments. I’d love to come visit!
It isn't my blog, but I really enjoy moneysavingmom.com. I've been reading it for probably about 2 years now, long enough to be a bit envious that I don't have a CVS or Rite-Aid nearby and that the Walgreen's isn't close enough to do the deals that I see… I'm pretty sure you're seeing the same deals at common Sense with Money.
I think you'll understand this . . . my hubs got a bit ticked at me (well, maybe not AT me, but in my general direction) because there are piles everywhere and he couldn't find his filet knives to clean fish. (Said fish were waiting in the kitchen sink – eew!) My lame excuses include the holidays and just having returned yesterday from traveling but really I should be working on it instead of scrolling through my google reader. 8-/
I myself am starting to do some couponing this year. However, we live in Northern Cali – the land of no doubles so I will give it a good honest try and then decide which is better, store brands or coupons. I am already leaning towards store brands though…..Julie
Mom2 – Have you checked out Hotcouponworld.com? They have discussion boards for what seems like every grocery store and region that exists. It's overwhelming at first, but I've learned a lot there.
Lenetta – I TOTALLY understand.