Kroger Mega Sales Event

My bi-weekly Kroger shopping trip cost me $63!  I am normally able to get my bill around $50.  But hey, I saved a total of $48.   That's saying something.  Like the last Kroger post, they had a "Buy 5 Save $5 Mega Event Savings on several items (sale ends Tuesday night).  Ok, on to the fun stuff:

A couple of freebies:  

Kroger brand frozen pack of vegetables - coupon in the mail from Kroger based on regular purchases

Yoplait Greek Yogurt Whips (which was extremely tasty may I add) digital coupon

Great deal on Pull Ups and Comforts Training pants:  $11 total

Pull Ups $8.99, Mega Sales Event made them $7.99, plus a digital coupon for $2 off

Comforts Training pants $6.99, plus digital coupon for $2 off (I would have just brought two packs of the Comforts, but they only let you use the digital coupon on one item).  And side bar, I welcome any advice on how to get the toddler to do #2 on the potty vs. the prefered pull up!

Quaker Steel Cut Instant Oatmeal:  $0.69 per box

Originally $2.69, Mega Sales Event made them $1.69, 2 manufacturer coupons for $1 off

Kraft Mayo:  Buy one get one free!

Originally $3.49, Mega Sales Event made them $2.49, Kroger mailed coupon for $1.40 off two.  I basically got one mayo free!  (Hubby is a mayo-holic) 

Kroger 16oz Shredded Cheese:  $2.29

Originally $4.99, on sale for $2.79, Kroger mailed coupon for $0.50 off any dairy purchase over $2.  I normally spend a crap ton of money on cheese, so I was pleased to have a little break here.

Overall I can't complain.  I did not purchase any dinner meat during this shopping trip.  I have been on the lookout for deals on red meat, but have yet to see any that are worth me taking advantage of.  I have a good deal of chicken in my deep freezer that I can make some meals with.  Hey, maybe I'll have enough gumption to post a meal plan . . . not likely but had fun at Kroger anyway.  

Eat Healthy But Don't Bust Your Budget (Re-post/Edit)

Eating healthy can be a challenge all by itself.  Now couple that with limited funds and one can become discouraged fairly quicklly.  It is so easy to get that dollar burger, or low quality frozen heat and eat item.  Many people think that you can't buy healthy food with coupons.  While that may be  true for most coupons, it is not true for all of them.  I have had several coupons that were for vegetables, wheat breads, frozen fruit, low fat items, and so on.  While you may not be able to purchase everything in your basket with a "healthy" coupon, you can most certainly get healthy items for great prices.

For example, stores have fresh produce on sale all the time.  I personally don't buy a fresh veggie or fruit unless they are on sale for $0.99/lb or less.  Bananas are a staple in my house, and they are always cheap!  I use the stores sales that week as shopping list (see my "shopping the sales" post) and just buy whatever fruits and veggies are on sale.

Frozen veggies are another inexpensive option.  I normally spend $0.99 per bag on frozen veggies.  You could also buy frozen veggies in bulk (or larger bags) and double up on your veggies for meals.  If you have cooked a not so healthy side dish that your family loves (this happens often in my house), you can have double veggies on your plate.  Just grab a single serving out of the bag and heat it up.  Simple.

I hardly ever buy canned veggies for a couple of reasons.  The sodium content is usually unfavorable, and they just don't taste fresh at all to me.  However, if that's your thing, you can also find them on sale for $0.50 per can!  Pretty cheap too.

You can get a couple of healthy things from the Dollar Tree.  I recently started to purchase my brown rice from there.  Uncle Ben's would cost me $3.50ish per bag.  I love Uncle Ben's but I need to make cuts wherever possible.  They also sell a variety of dried beans.  My Dollar Tree also has a refrigerated section with frozen fruits and veggies.

For those cereal eaters out there, you are not forced to buy super sweet cereals with coupons.  You have a choice with most coupons.  Several will say $1.00 off any "General Mills" cereal.  I can almost always get Cheerios for $2 or less per box.  Also, I  often times receive coupons for Fiber One, Special K, and Kashi cereals as well.  As far as milk is concerned, well thats just an expensive necessary evil.  However, low fat and skim milks tend to cost less than whole milks these days.  And for you lactose intolerants, there are plenty of coupons for almond and soy milks all the time.

So these are just a few ideas to get you going on your healthy eating journey (on the cheap).  How do you save money on the healthy things you buy?

Kroger Sales 1/21/15

$50 shopping trip at Kroger was successful today.  I LOVE KROGER!  They had this awesome sale of random items where if you Buy 6 "said" items (mix/match) you get to take advantage of the sales price.  So I won't do a verbatim brake down, but here are some of the highlights.  

First off I would have spent $86 on this shopping trip, but I had $7.20 in manufacturer coupons ($1.20 of those were "peelies" I picked up in the store) and I had the rest from one Sunday paper.  The other $25 in coupons, or savings, were comprised of the sales that Kroger had today.  My total bill was $53!  Ignore the alcohol at the bottom of the receipt :)

I really like "Shopping the Sales" at Kroger because you can really get a random selection of food for great prices.  Now, $50 is only half of my two week food budget.  So I have the rest of my the funds to spend on bread (if I get too lazy to make my own), eggs, fresh veggies, and meats for dinner.  Please look at my post on how I "Shop the Sales" and see how you can save money when doing your weekly shopping.  I may or may not buy the rest of my food items at Kroger.  It merely depends on what sales come available on Sunday at other stores and what I am planning to cook for the weeks to come.

Other shopping highlights:

-I hit the clearance isle and found taco sauce, and canned goods for less than $0.50

-I also got a box of Fruit Loops and a large apple sauce for $1.25

-All my other boxes of cereal were $2.00 a box

-They also had several types of greens, lettuce, and several fruits on sale for $0.99/lb.

-Almost everything else was purchased from the Buy 6 and Save sale

Keep in mind, I had a pack of Pull Ups and two packs of wipes on my shopping list totaling $9.50 (normally $12.50 at Kroger and Walmart - I shop there too sometimes).  I also purchased two Arm and Hammer detergents for a sale price of $1.75 per bottle (sale price + $1.50 coupon).  So if your not potty training a toddler and or in need of laundry detergent, you could use that extra money to spend on other food items.  I highly recommend shopping at Kroger if you have one in your area.  If not, do you have a store where you live that has great sales like this?

Shopping The Sales

I do what's called, "shopping the sales."  I buy what's on sale, and I create meals from whatever I purchase.  Now, I don't go crazy and purchase things I've never heard of or don't like, but I do try something new each week.  This form of shopping has definitely enhanced my cooking skills, and recipe repertoire!  Here are the details:

I purchase 4 Sunday papers (I buy 4 papers for coupon purposes).  Once I separate and cut out my coupons, I then look through the sales papers.  I mainly focus my energies on Kroger, Martin's, CVS, and Target.  I circle the items that I am interested in buying.  I will buy anything that we normally eat/love or buy anything that I want to try and make a meal with.  For example, I don't eat yogurt every week, but if greek yogurt is on sale at a particular store i'll buy it and have it as a snack for work.  Another example, Kroger normally has some sort of fresh veggie on sale for $0.99/lb so i'll buy that (it's normally eggplant, squash, or greens).  So whatever is on sale, I figure out meals from what I bring home from the store.  Here are a couple of pics of my Kroger shopping trips:

      

   

So after I have wrote down all of the items and their prices of things I plan to buy, I then match up the coupons to what's on sale.  This part is pretty quick for me.  I am familiar with what coupons I have on hand, and also familiar with what coupons normally come in a paper. For example, if I received a P&G coupon insert, and Febreeze is on sale at Kroger, I know I more then likely have a coupon for that.  This part will get quicker with time.  Once you pull your coupons, and match them up with what's on sale, you can then finalize your list with which store has the better deal.  A lot of the time, if a coupon insert comes out on a hot item, all of your stores will have it on sale, in hopes that "us" couponers go and purchase the item from their store.  

If you have items that are on sale that you wish you had a coupon for, Google the product. There are websites like www.coupon.com that allow you to print coupons.  Also, many bloggers out there will have links directly to the coupons that you want to print.  Some of my favorites are:  

http://athriftymom.com   

http://fabulesslyfrugal.com 

http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com 

Once this is done, I write my shopping list on a piece of notebook paper that sits in the front of my coupon binder.  You can use whatever you like, smartphone, or printed list from you computer.  Here are a few downloadable sheets to get started.    

Going to the store is easy at this point.  If you have a Walmart in your area, they do price matching.  All you need is the circular from the other store, and they will give you that item, for the competitors price.  Some restrictions may apply, I suggest calling or going into your local Walmart to verify.  So if there are any name brand items on your list, you only have to shop at that one store!

Recently, I have seen that I get the most for my money at Kroger.  "Shopping their sales" has cost me $50 every two weeks.  Now that's for the bulk of my shopping.  I normally buy meats when I have extra money and only buy meats if they have been marked down (I'll throw em in my deep freezer) or if they are $0.99/lb or less.  

The price tag on this baby was $0.67!!!!!

This also really helps with bringing variety in our diets!  I try to keep rice, flour, and pasta of some sort on hand.  The rest is brought regularly.   How do you normally shop?  Has anyone tried bulk shopping and if so, how is it beneficial to your food budget?