Monday, March 31, 2008
This Week's Total
I spent $71.60 at Fry's this morning on our "needs" and a few stockpile items. My grocery total for the week is now $80.64. That's $20 under budget, not bad! I'm not saying that's it for the week though, because there always seem to be those couple of items that we need to run out and get. I'm happy with things so far though!
I Think I Might Love CVS
Today my friend Jen and I went to CVS so I could get my free body wash. She wants to learn too, so she thought she'd watch me first. :)
Anyway, so this worked beautifully. I didn't get the Colgate, because they didn't have any of the right type on the coupon for $2.99. That's ok, because no one here really likes Colgate, so I would have given it away anyway.
Ok, so...I got:
4 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash @ $4.99 each,
2 Lady Speed Stick 24/7 @ $2.50 each.
Coupons used:
$4/$20 for signing up for their email thing.
$3/$15 beauty coupon (thanks again, Precious!)
3 - $1/1 Softsoap coupons
2 - $1/1 Lady Speed Stick.
I paid with my ECBs from two weeks ago which totaled $12.97 (my original investment in this CVS shindig). I ended up paying 39 cents OOP, and I got $22.96 back in ECBs. Wow, I love this!
Thought I'd mention also that I was at Target this morning, and in their Dollar Spot they had $1 packs of Ray-O-Vac batteries, 4 AAs, at 75% off, so each pack of 4 batteries was 25 cents. I know they're not Duracells, but at that price, I stocked up. We go through batteries like crazy around here.
I also went to Sprouts this morning for my produce.
I got:
Bananas - 57 cents/lb
Pink Lady Apples - 88 cents/lb
Onions - 33 cents/lb
Strawberries - 88 cents each for 1lb containers. What a great deal that is! I got three of them.
Total: $6.48
Total so far for the week: $9.04. I'm counting the $2.00 + tax I spent on the batteries. I think the only other place I'm going to hit this week is Fry's....I didn't see anything spectacular at Basha's or Safeway.
Anyway, so this worked beautifully. I didn't get the Colgate, because they didn't have any of the right type on the coupon for $2.99. That's ok, because no one here really likes Colgate, so I would have given it away anyway.
Ok, so...I got:
4 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash @ $4.99 each,
2 Lady Speed Stick 24/7 @ $2.50 each.
Coupons used:
$4/$20 for signing up for their email thing.
$3/$15 beauty coupon (thanks again, Precious!)
3 - $1/1 Softsoap coupons
2 - $1/1 Lady Speed Stick.
I paid with my ECBs from two weeks ago which totaled $12.97 (my original investment in this CVS shindig). I ended up paying 39 cents OOP, and I got $22.96 back in ECBs. Wow, I love this!
Thought I'd mention also that I was at Target this morning, and in their Dollar Spot they had $1 packs of Ray-O-Vac batteries, 4 AAs, at 75% off, so each pack of 4 batteries was 25 cents. I know they're not Duracells, but at that price, I stocked up. We go through batteries like crazy around here.
I also went to Sprouts this morning for my produce.
I got:
Bananas - 57 cents/lb
Pink Lady Apples - 88 cents/lb
Onions - 33 cents/lb
Strawberries - 88 cents each for 1lb containers. What a great deal that is! I got three of them.
Total: $6.48
Total so far for the week: $9.04. I'm counting the $2.00 + tax I spent on the batteries. I think the only other place I'm going to hit this week is Fry's....I didn't see anything spectacular at Basha's or Safeway.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
CVS This Week?
Ok, trying to figure this CVS thing out. I have a $4 off $20 purchase from the email thing.
Is that $20 before coupons, or after? If I give them that one first, then can I use some manuf. Qs after that one?
CVS takes two coupons for BOGO, don't they?
If I get three of the Softsoap Body Washes, they are $4.99 each and you get $4.99 in ECBs.
I have three $1 off coupons for the body wash.
Then, the Colgate Total toothpaste is $2.99 (I think), and there was a $1.50 off coupon in the paper today for that. So can I get two of those and use two coupons?
I just found in the ad also that Lady Speed Stick 24/7 has $3 in ECBs when you buy 2 @ 2/$5.
SO...if anyone could tell me if this will work, I would really appreciate it. I don't want to go in the store and look like an idiot. :)
I buy:
3 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash at $4.99 each.
2 Colgate Advance toothpaste for $2.99 (BOGO)
2 Lady Speed Stick at $2.50 each.
My total at that point is $22.96.
I use my $4/$20 coupon, making it $18.96.
Use 3 $1 off Softsoap coupons, total is now $15.96.
Use 2 $1.50 off Colgate coupons, total now $12.96
Use 2 $1 off Lady Speed Stick coupons, making my total $10.96, before tax.
I get $4.99 back in ECBs for each Softsoap, and $3 back from the deoderant, so $17.97 in ECBs.
I pay with the $12.97 in ECBs that I have from 2 weeks ago, and I end up with approximately $5 more in ECBs than I started with. I think. Does that sound like it would work?
Is that $20 before coupons, or after? If I give them that one first, then can I use some manuf. Qs after that one?
CVS takes two coupons for BOGO, don't they?
If I get three of the Softsoap Body Washes, they are $4.99 each and you get $4.99 in ECBs.
I have three $1 off coupons for the body wash.
Then, the Colgate Total toothpaste is $2.99 (I think), and there was a $1.50 off coupon in the paper today for that. So can I get two of those and use two coupons?
I just found in the ad also that Lady Speed Stick 24/7 has $3 in ECBs when you buy 2 @ 2/$5.
SO...if anyone could tell me if this will work, I would really appreciate it. I don't want to go in the store and look like an idiot. :)
I buy:
3 Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash at $4.99 each.
2 Colgate Advance toothpaste for $2.99 (BOGO)
2 Lady Speed Stick at $2.50 each.
My total at that point is $22.96.
I use my $4/$20 coupon, making it $18.96.
Use 3 $1 off Softsoap coupons, total is now $15.96.
Use 2 $1.50 off Colgate coupons, total now $12.96
Use 2 $1 off Lady Speed Stick coupons, making my total $10.96, before tax.
I get $4.99 back in ECBs for each Softsoap, and $3 back from the deoderant, so $17.97 in ECBs.
I pay with the $12.97 in ECBs that I have from 2 weeks ago, and I end up with approximately $5 more in ECBs than I started with. I think. Does that sound like it would work?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Basha's One More Time
I saw that the Kellogg's cereal deal is still going on, but now Basha's has the cereal for $1.88, instead of 3/$8 (which is like what, $2.67 each?) So it's a better deal now, and I was tempted, but two things stopped me.
One, I set a budget of $100 a week for groceries, and I'm going to try really hard to stick to it. Two, I already have a decent amount of cereal, and really, my kids don't go through it all that fast.
So I went to Basha's this morning to spend my last two $5 OYNSO coupons on things we needed. Since they were only going to let me use one per transaction, I did two:
#1:
1 six double-roll package of Food Club toilet paper, $3.69.
1 two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, $1.50
Used a $5 OYNSO coupon, my total OOP was 42 cents.
#2
2 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, $3.00
Gala Apples at $1.25/lb.
Used my last $5 OYNSO coupon, total OOP was 15 cents.
Total for the week: $95.94
One, I set a budget of $100 a week for groceries, and I'm going to try really hard to stick to it. Two, I already have a decent amount of cereal, and really, my kids don't go through it all that fast.
So I went to Basha's this morning to spend my last two $5 OYNSO coupons on things we needed. Since they were only going to let me use one per transaction, I did two:
#1:
1 six double-roll package of Food Club toilet paper, $3.69.
1 two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, $1.50
Used a $5 OYNSO coupon, my total OOP was 42 cents.
#2
2 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, $3.00
Gala Apples at $1.25/lb.
Used my last $5 OYNSO coupon, total OOP was 15 cents.
Total for the week: $95.94
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Adding to the Emergency Fund
Husband won $100 at work today. He does sales, so he wins stuff sometimes. Sometimes it's actual merchandise, like my awesome (but not as awesome as Jen's!) digital camera. Sometimes it's gift cards, and sometimes cash. Today was $100 cash. I wanted to put it all in the emergency fund, but he said he had to buy oldest daughter some pants for her softball game today, because she can't seem to find hers. Then he said he wanted to do something else with it, and that he wasn't even going to tell me about it at first! Hmmph. Sometimes I feel like I'm on this journey to get us out of debt by myself!
Anyway, I made a deal with him, he's going to give me half of it, so I'm updating my ticker with $50 for the emergency fund.
Anyway, I made a deal with him, he's going to give me half of it, so I'm updating my ticker with $50 for the emergency fund.
I Hit Basha's Again Today
Basha's Trip #1
Order #1
My original plan today was to get two orders at Basha's, the first one would have been 5 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, using a $1/5 coupon, and 2 Eggos, using the $1/2 coupon in the ad. (Found it Precious, thanks!) I was going to add another $3.69 6-pack of toilet paper, would have been like $10.04 plus tax, and I was going to pay with the two $5 OYNSO coupons I still had, then get another $5 OYNSO with the frozen food.
However, the cashier decided that I could only use one of the OYNSO coupons. In the fine print, it does say "limit one coupon per transaction", so I guess she wasn't wrong, but it surprised me because yesterday I used a $10 and a $3 OYNSO at the same time. Those were the Kellogg's and General Mills ones though, so maybe those were different.
Anyhoo, I told her in that case I didn't want the toilet paper. I just got the 5 Michelina's and the 2 Eggos. I used one of the $5 OYNSO coupons and paid $1.37 OOP, saved $16.31, and got another $5 OYNSO.
Order #2
6 Michelina's Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, used $1/5 coupon.
Paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon, so total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.74, and received another $5 OYNSO.
Trip #2:
On the way to hand off child #3 to husband as he was getting off work so I could go to work, I stopped at a different Basha's, because I think the people at the one near me were getting a little sick of me.
I placed two separate orders, 6 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls each, used a $1/5 coupon for each, paid $0.02 OOP for each order, saving $13.74 each time, and got two more $5 OYNSO.
Handed off the two bags of 12 packages of pizza rolls to husband along with child #3, telling him to put them in the freezer when he got home. I think he looked at me weird, but I was like, "Hey, I only paid 4 cents for the 12 of them!"
Adding these to my total for the week:
Total spent: $95.37
Total saved: $190.24
Total savings % = 67%.
And, I still have two $5 OYNSO coupons. I will use those tomorrow to get TP, Diet Coke, and some apples. In two separate transactions, of course.
I think I must have goofed when I figured the percentage yesterday. Oh well, my freezer is crammed with about 40 Michelina's, most of them pizza rolls. Maybe the kids won't eat them all this week!
Order #1
My original plan today was to get two orders at Basha's, the first one would have been 5 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, using a $1/5 coupon, and 2 Eggos, using the $1/2 coupon in the ad. (Found it Precious, thanks!) I was going to add another $3.69 6-pack of toilet paper, would have been like $10.04 plus tax, and I was going to pay with the two $5 OYNSO coupons I still had, then get another $5 OYNSO with the frozen food.
However, the cashier decided that I could only use one of the OYNSO coupons. In the fine print, it does say "limit one coupon per transaction", so I guess she wasn't wrong, but it surprised me because yesterday I used a $10 and a $3 OYNSO at the same time. Those were the Kellogg's and General Mills ones though, so maybe those were different.
Anyhoo, I told her in that case I didn't want the toilet paper. I just got the 5 Michelina's and the 2 Eggos. I used one of the $5 OYNSO coupons and paid $1.37 OOP, saved $16.31, and got another $5 OYNSO.
Order #2
6 Michelina's Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls, used $1/5 coupon.
Paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon, so total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.74, and received another $5 OYNSO.
Trip #2:
On the way to hand off child #3 to husband as he was getting off work so I could go to work, I stopped at a different Basha's, because I think the people at the one near me were getting a little sick of me.
I placed two separate orders, 6 Lean Gourmet Pizza Rolls each, used a $1/5 coupon for each, paid $0.02 OOP for each order, saving $13.74 each time, and got two more $5 OYNSO.
Handed off the two bags of 12 packages of pizza rolls to husband along with child #3, telling him to put them in the freezer when he got home. I think he looked at me weird, but I was like, "Hey, I only paid 4 cents for the 12 of them!"
Adding these to my total for the week:
Total spent: $95.37
Total saved: $190.24
Total savings % = 67%.
And, I still have two $5 OYNSO coupons. I will use those tomorrow to get TP, Diet Coke, and some apples. In two separate transactions, of course.
I think I must have goofed when I figured the percentage yesterday. Oh well, my freezer is crammed with about 40 Michelina's, most of them pizza rolls. Maybe the kids won't eat them all this week!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Week of March 23 - March 29th
For right now, I've given myself a grocery budget of $100 a week. That's including toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc. Hopefully I can eventually lower that.
I had fun today. See previous post about Basha's. All three of the OYNSO coupons printed, and I was pretty psyched about it.
Trip #1 Basha's:
3 Frosted Flakes
2 Froot Loops
2 Frosted Mini Wheats
2 cartons eggs (free with the cereal)
3 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix ($1.67 each, .67 each after coupons)
4 Pop Secret Popcorn ($1.67 each, $1.17 each after coupons)
6 Michelina's Authenticos ($1.00 each, minus a $1/5 coupon)
I also had a $5 off when you spend $25 or more coupon.
Total OOP was $27.19 with tax. I saved $39.49 and got $3, $5, and $10 in OYNSO coupons.
Basha's #2:
I decided to grab another 6 Michelina's. This time my $1/5 coupon was for the Lean Gourmet. They have pizza rolls! My kids have already eaten 4 boxes of them, I think.
Anyway, used my $1/5 coupon, paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon.
Total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.72, and got another $5 OYNSO.
I didn't have two cents, thank goodness my friend Jen did. She wanted to try this too, and I had fun showing her the deals I was getting. I think she made out pretty good for her first time, with about 6 boxes of cereal, 2 dozen free eggs, and 12 Michelina's. Plus $8 worth of OYNSO coupons. Woohoo!
Fry's:
Ok, something happened at Fry's that kind of put a damper on my money-saving fun. In their ad, they had buy four 12-packs of Coke, get the 5th one free. Plus, with the Coke you got $5 off a Cook's spiral ham, which was already on sale for $1.27 a lb. So with my groceries, I got 5 12-packs of Coke, and waited while the butcher brought me out a nice 7 lb spiral ham, since they didn't have any out front. Well, when I got to the checkout, I found out that the 5 for $12 was only good through Easter, including the $5 off the ham. Poo. So, I put back one of the Cokes, and just got the 4. I almost put the ham back too, but it was a $23 ham, and I paid $10.12 for it. Still a good deal, but not the fantastic deal I was expecting by paying $5.12 for it! I looked at the ad, and sure enough in tiny print next to the $5 off the ham, it said "good thru 3/23." Oh well, live and learn.
Total at Fry's was $66.63, saved $50.85, for a 43% savings.
Basha's #3:
2 Hormel Black Label Bacon, on sale 2$5, used two 50 cent coupons doubled - $3.00
6 Michelina's - $6.00
1 package Food Club toilet paper, 6 double rolls, $3.69.
Total was $12.69+tax. I paid with the $10 and $3 OYNSO coupons.
Total OOP was $0.08, saved $29.22, and got another $5 OYNSO.
Total spent today was $93.94, and I saved $132.71.That's 70% savings! Yeah, I totally messed up on that percentage. It's actually 58%.
I still have $10 worth of OYNSO coupons for Basha's. I see more Michelina's in my future tomorrow! Maybe some more TP too, and some apples.
I had fun today. See previous post about Basha's. All three of the OYNSO coupons printed, and I was pretty psyched about it.
Trip #1 Basha's:
3 Frosted Flakes
2 Froot Loops
2 Frosted Mini Wheats
2 cartons eggs (free with the cereal)
3 Betty Crocker Cookie Mix ($1.67 each, .67 each after coupons)
4 Pop Secret Popcorn ($1.67 each, $1.17 each after coupons)
6 Michelina's Authenticos ($1.00 each, minus a $1/5 coupon)
I also had a $5 off when you spend $25 or more coupon.
Total OOP was $27.19 with tax. I saved $39.49 and got $3, $5, and $10 in OYNSO coupons.
Basha's #2:
I decided to grab another 6 Michelina's. This time my $1/5 coupon was for the Lean Gourmet. They have pizza rolls! My kids have already eaten 4 boxes of them, I think.
Anyway, used my $1/5 coupon, paid with a $5 OYNSO coupon.
Total OOP was $0.02, saved $13.72, and got another $5 OYNSO.
I didn't have two cents, thank goodness my friend Jen did. She wanted to try this too, and I had fun showing her the deals I was getting. I think she made out pretty good for her first time, with about 6 boxes of cereal, 2 dozen free eggs, and 12 Michelina's. Plus $8 worth of OYNSO coupons. Woohoo!
Fry's:
Ok, something happened at Fry's that kind of put a damper on my money-saving fun. In their ad, they had buy four 12-packs of Coke, get the 5th one free. Plus, with the Coke you got $5 off a Cook's spiral ham, which was already on sale for $1.27 a lb. So with my groceries, I got 5 12-packs of Coke, and waited while the butcher brought me out a nice 7 lb spiral ham, since they didn't have any out front. Well, when I got to the checkout, I found out that the 5 for $12 was only good through Easter, including the $5 off the ham. Poo. So, I put back one of the Cokes, and just got the 4. I almost put the ham back too, but it was a $23 ham, and I paid $10.12 for it. Still a good deal, but not the fantastic deal I was expecting by paying $5.12 for it! I looked at the ad, and sure enough in tiny print next to the $5 off the ham, it said "good thru 3/23." Oh well, live and learn.
Total at Fry's was $66.63, saved $50.85, for a 43% savings.
Basha's #3:
2 Hormel Black Label Bacon, on sale 2$5, used two 50 cent coupons doubled - $3.00
6 Michelina's - $6.00
1 package Food Club toilet paper, 6 double rolls, $3.69.
Total was $12.69+tax. I paid with the $10 and $3 OYNSO coupons.
Total OOP was $0.08, saved $29.22, and got another $5 OYNSO.
Total spent today was $93.94, and I saved $132.71.
I still have $10 worth of OYNSO coupons for Basha's. I see more Michelina's in my future tomorrow! Maybe some more TP too, and some apples.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
My Savings Ticker
Ok, I have a ticker up there for savings for my emergency fund. If anyone is familiar with Dave Ramsey's principles, you'll probably be saying "Shelley, you only need $1000 in your emergency fund!"
This is true. However, I consider $1000 an emergency fund, and I need an extra $1000 to compensate for our fluctuating (read: partially commission-based) income. I feel better knowing that we have some protection against a bad month. So this is my first goal: Saving $2000. I should have put a snail up there for the progress thing...I feel like this is going to take a long time.
This is true. However, I consider $1000 an emergency fund, and I need an extra $1000 to compensate for our fluctuating (read: partially commission-based) income. I feel better knowing that we have some protection against a bad month. So this is my first goal: Saving $2000. I should have put a snail up there for the progress thing...I feel like this is going to take a long time.
Trying to Work a Deal at Bashas
I'm at work, trying to figure this out...oy, math hurts my head.
According to what I've found online, mostly at Pinching Your Pennies, I've come up with this:
If I buy 7 Kellogg's cereals at 3 for $8, I get a $10 OYNSO back. That's $18.67 worth of cereal. I wish I still had some Kellogg's coupons to go with this, but I don't. However, I will get two dozen eggs free by buying 3 cereals each.
$3 OYNSO when you buy 6 General Mills products. I will get 3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes, 67 cents each after coupons, and 4 boxes of Pop Secret popcorn (a staple for work!) for $1.17 each after coupons.
$5 OYNSO when you buy 6 participating frozen food products. 6 Michelina's Authenticos minus a $1 coupon I have when you buy 5.
I also have a coupon that I got in the mail for Basha's for $5.00 off when you spend $25.00 or more. I'm assuming that's after coupons. They sent that to me in a "new moms" flyer, along with coupons for diapers, baby food and bananas. Do they know something that I don't?
Anyway, so if my math is right, after coupons ... $18.67 for the cereal, $4.68 for the popcorn, $2.01 for the cookie mixes, $5 for the Michelina's = $30.36 - $5.00/$25.00 coupon = $25.36 OOP, plus I should get $18.00 worth of OYNSO coupons. Plus two free cartons of eggs.
Then I'll go back and get another 6 Michelina's, use the other $1/5 coupon that I have, use the $5 OYNSO to pay for it, and I should get another $5 OYNSO.
I'm thinking I can use the $18 in OYNSO coupons for bacon (Hormel Black Label, which I also have coupons for, will be $1.50 each), and toilet paper, which we need desperately. Maybe some bread or produce too.
Hope this works!
According to what I've found online, mostly at Pinching Your Pennies, I've come up with this:
If I buy 7 Kellogg's cereals at 3 for $8, I get a $10 OYNSO back. That's $18.67 worth of cereal. I wish I still had some Kellogg's coupons to go with this, but I don't. However, I will get two dozen eggs free by buying 3 cereals each.
$3 OYNSO when you buy 6 General Mills products. I will get 3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes, 67 cents each after coupons, and 4 boxes of Pop Secret popcorn (a staple for work!) for $1.17 each after coupons.
$5 OYNSO when you buy 6 participating frozen food products. 6 Michelina's Authenticos minus a $1 coupon I have when you buy 5.
I also have a coupon that I got in the mail for Basha's for $5.00 off when you spend $25.00 or more. I'm assuming that's after coupons. They sent that to me in a "new moms" flyer, along with coupons for diapers, baby food and bananas. Do they know something that I don't?
Anyway, so if my math is right, after coupons ... $18.67 for the cereal, $4.68 for the popcorn, $2.01 for the cookie mixes, $5 for the Michelina's = $30.36 - $5.00/$25.00 coupon = $25.36 OOP, plus I should get $18.00 worth of OYNSO coupons. Plus two free cartons of eggs.
Then I'll go back and get another 6 Michelina's, use the other $1/5 coupon that I have, use the $5 OYNSO to pay for it, and I should get another $5 OYNSO.
I'm thinking I can use the $18 in OYNSO coupons for bacon (Hormel Black Label, which I also have coupons for, will be $1.50 each), and toilet paper, which we need desperately. Maybe some bread or produce too.
Hope this works!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Basha's
Guess I have to add this to my total for the week. Two dozen eggs and a Paas egg-coloring kit, plus two 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke, which I should probably cut back on but I can't seem to. Anyway...$6.39 at Basha's. Total for the week now is $119.06.
Payday
I have a love/hate relationship with payday. Obviously, I love getting money. It's just that husband's check is partially based on commission. One check a month for him has no commission, and the other one has it. Of course, theoretically, the commission check should be much larger. So once a month, I hem, haw, have an anxiety attack, and then finally panic, because I never know how much money is coming. I hate that. The uncertainty of it all tends to make me a nervous wreck. Yes, we usually have a general idea, but for some reason, once a month on that Thursday before commission payday, I have a panic attack.
Luckily, this month was...good. Not fantastic, but definitely on the better side of average. I paid all the bills that need to be paid for the next two weeks, put aside money for gas, groceries and incidentals, and contributed $250 to our emergency fund. That makes $450, which is a far cry from the at least $1500 I want to have in there. It's frustrating, because I want to start attacking the credit cards, but I know I need to have that emergency fund in place first.
Now I need to start getting organized for shopping this coming week. I'll be going to Basha's today to get eggs for coloring, since they seem to be the only store that has them on sale. Hoping for some good CVS deals on Sunday!
Luckily, this month was...good. Not fantastic, but definitely on the better side of average. I paid all the bills that need to be paid for the next two weeks, put aside money for gas, groceries and incidentals, and contributed $250 to our emergency fund. That makes $450, which is a far cry from the at least $1500 I want to have in there. It's frustrating, because I want to start attacking the credit cards, but I know I need to have that emergency fund in place first.
Now I need to start getting organized for shopping this coming week. I'll be going to Basha's today to get eggs for coloring, since they seem to be the only store that has them on sale. Hoping for some good CVS deals on Sunday!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Totals for Week One of the Great Grocery Experiment
Well, this didn't quite work out the way I thought it would. Kind of disappointing, actually. Anyway, here's what I did today:
Safeway
2 gallons 1% milk, $2 each
Red grapes, 75 cents/lb.
Navel oranges, 79 cents/lb.
Total - $7.38.
Sprouts
Broccoli, 99 cents/lb. I wasn't planning on getting this because it wasn't a great sale, but it was a request from Kylie. And when Miss Sweet Tooth requests broccoli? Oh yeah, I bought it.
1 Cantaloupe, 99 cents each
1 Pineapple, 99 cents each
1 head of cabbage, 25 cents/lb. We don't eat cabbage, but for that price, it's a treat for Shannon's hamsters.
Green leaf lettuce, 69 cents/lb.
Roma tomatoes, 77 cents/lb.
Gala apples, 99 cents/lb.
Total - $7.52 I thought that was decent, especially after I saw the produce prices at Fry's.
Fry's
This was the disappointing part. I spent $80.45 and saved $85.79, for a 52% savings. Not bad, but I was hoping to spend less. Of course, this did include $12 worth of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I found on clearance, 4 packages at about $3 each. I use that every week to make my dinners for work, so that's enough for a month.
Some good deals there were:
3 bottles of Ivory body wash, 50 cents each after coupons.
2 Colgate toothbrushes, free after coupons.
2 24 ct. Excedrin Migraine, free after coupons.
3 Russell Stover 3 oz chocolate rabbits, free after coupons.
3 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, 20 cents each after coupons
Grocery total for the week: $112.67. Bleh. I was really hoping to do better than that.
Then I went to CVS. I decided to see if I can get this Extra Bucks thing going. This is what I bought:
1 Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor. 15 year-old daughter REALLY appreciated this one. Paid $8.99, earned $8.99 in EB. Wish I had the $2 Maybelline coupon, but I didn't.
4 Glade Sprays, 99 cents each, used 2 BOGO coupons. Paid $1.98 earned $2 in EB.
2 packages 12 count plastic Easter eggs, 99 cents each. Earned $1.98 in EB
3 bags Hershey's Easter candy, $1.99 each, used a $1.50 off 3 bags coupon.
So, my total paid at CVS was $18.67. I earned $12.97 in EB, and got a coupon for a $25 gift card with a new or transfered prescription. We'll use that next time DH refills one of his scripts.
Hopefully next weeks goes a little better.
Safeway
2 gallons 1% milk, $2 each
Red grapes, 75 cents/lb.
Navel oranges, 79 cents/lb.
Total - $7.38.
Sprouts
Broccoli, 99 cents/lb. I wasn't planning on getting this because it wasn't a great sale, but it was a request from Kylie. And when Miss Sweet Tooth requests broccoli? Oh yeah, I bought it.
1 Cantaloupe, 99 cents each
1 Pineapple, 99 cents each
1 head of cabbage, 25 cents/lb. We don't eat cabbage, but for that price, it's a treat for Shannon's hamsters.
Green leaf lettuce, 69 cents/lb.
Roma tomatoes, 77 cents/lb.
Gala apples, 99 cents/lb.
Total - $7.52 I thought that was decent, especially after I saw the produce prices at Fry's.
Fry's
This was the disappointing part. I spent $80.45 and saved $85.79, for a 52% savings. Not bad, but I was hoping to spend less. Of course, this did include $12 worth of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I found on clearance, 4 packages at about $3 each. I use that every week to make my dinners for work, so that's enough for a month.
Some good deals there were:
3 bottles of Ivory body wash, 50 cents each after coupons.
2 Colgate toothbrushes, free after coupons.
2 24 ct. Excedrin Migraine, free after coupons.
3 Russell Stover 3 oz chocolate rabbits, free after coupons.
3 I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, 20 cents each after coupons
Grocery total for the week: $112.67. Bleh. I was really hoping to do better than that.
Then I went to CVS. I decided to see if I can get this Extra Bucks thing going. This is what I bought:
1 Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor. 15 year-old daughter REALLY appreciated this one. Paid $8.99, earned $8.99 in EB. Wish I had the $2 Maybelline coupon, but I didn't.
4 Glade Sprays, 99 cents each, used 2 BOGO coupons. Paid $1.98 earned $2 in EB.
2 packages 12 count plastic Easter eggs, 99 cents each. Earned $1.98 in EB
3 bags Hershey's Easter candy, $1.99 each, used a $1.50 off 3 bags coupon.
So, my total paid at CVS was $18.67. I earned $12.97 in EB, and got a coupon for a $25 gift card with a new or transfered prescription. We'll use that next time DH refills one of his scripts.
Hopefully next weeks goes a little better.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Question #1
Question #1 is: Where do we get extra money to throw at this debt? The obviously answer is either:
A) Generate more income, or
B) Spend less
A) I do have a couple of ideas to generate more income. Since I work evenings at the present time, one thing I may do is work in the school lunchroom 2-3 days a week for about 3 hours for a small third income. I wouldn't be able to do that until August though. Also, April 1st will be the last tuition payment we have to make on Kylie's preschool, so that's a bit more money. I also work overtime whenever I'm given an opportunity. Any bonuses that Steve gets will also go towards the debt.
B) Spending less is a tough one. I feel like we already live pretty frugally in a lot of areas. I clip coupons, bargain shop and try to keep our spending to a minimum. I'm not always successful, but I try. And holy cow, are kids money-sucking machines, or what?
I've been playing The Grocery Game for a while now, and I think I've learned a lot about couponing and deal-finding. However, I've been doing the majority of my grocery shopping at Fry's, using their sales and matching up coupons. I normally spend an average of $400 a month on groceries, which includes food, toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies.
I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to seek out the best deals at several different stores, and see if that saves any money. I don't think gas is an issue, since I have Fry's, Albertsons, Basha's, Sprouts and Safeway all within 2 miles of my house. The test will be to see whether or not it saves any significant money, and whether going to different stores is worth the hassle and time.
Trying this for the week of March 16th - March 22nd, so far we have:
Albertsons
2 bags Fresh Express salad, on sale for $1 each, minus a 50 cent coupon each.
7.25 lbs of pork ribs, on sale for $1 a lb.
Total paid, $8.39, total saved $9.55. Just over 50%. Eh.
Basha's
3 lbs bananas @ 69 cents a lb, minus a $1 off coupon for bananas when you buy at least 3 lbs. In retrospect, this wasn't such a great deal. I should've waited until the bananas were on sale, and then used it. They're normally 49 cents a lb at Fry's.
2 loaves of Basha's 100% whole wheat bread, $1.50 each. I normally buy this kind of bread at Fry's for $2.29 a loaf.
2 bottles (32 loads) Purex laundry detergent, on sale for $2.99 - $1 coupon for each, so $1.99 each.
Total paid, $8.93, total saved $11.58. A little bit better.
So far this week, total grocery money spent: $17.32. Tomorrow I'm hitting Sprouts for some fruit and veggie deals, Safeway for a few things, and the majority of my shopping at Fry's. We'll see how it goes!
A) Generate more income, or
B) Spend less
A) I do have a couple of ideas to generate more income. Since I work evenings at the present time, one thing I may do is work in the school lunchroom 2-3 days a week for about 3 hours for a small third income. I wouldn't be able to do that until August though. Also, April 1st will be the last tuition payment we have to make on Kylie's preschool, so that's a bit more money. I also work overtime whenever I'm given an opportunity. Any bonuses that Steve gets will also go towards the debt.
B) Spending less is a tough one. I feel like we already live pretty frugally in a lot of areas. I clip coupons, bargain shop and try to keep our spending to a minimum. I'm not always successful, but I try. And holy cow, are kids money-sucking machines, or what?
I've been playing The Grocery Game for a while now, and I think I've learned a lot about couponing and deal-finding. However, I've been doing the majority of my grocery shopping at Fry's, using their sales and matching up coupons. I normally spend an average of $400 a month on groceries, which includes food, toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies.
I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to seek out the best deals at several different stores, and see if that saves any money. I don't think gas is an issue, since I have Fry's, Albertsons, Basha's, Sprouts and Safeway all within 2 miles of my house. The test will be to see whether or not it saves any significant money, and whether going to different stores is worth the hassle and time.
Trying this for the week of March 16th - March 22nd, so far we have:
Albertsons
2 bags Fresh Express salad, on sale for $1 each, minus a 50 cent coupon each.
7.25 lbs of pork ribs, on sale for $1 a lb.
Total paid, $8.39, total saved $9.55. Just over 50%. Eh.
Basha's
3 lbs bananas @ 69 cents a lb, minus a $1 off coupon for bananas when you buy at least 3 lbs. In retrospect, this wasn't such a great deal. I should've waited until the bananas were on sale, and then used it. They're normally 49 cents a lb at Fry's.
2 loaves of Basha's 100% whole wheat bread, $1.50 each. I normally buy this kind of bread at Fry's for $2.29 a loaf.
2 bottles (32 loads) Purex laundry detergent, on sale for $2.99 - $1 coupon for each, so $1.99 each.
Total paid, $8.93, total saved $11.58. A little bit better.
So far this week, total grocery money spent: $17.32. Tomorrow I'm hitting Sprouts for some fruit and veggie deals, Safeway for a few things, and the majority of my shopping at Fry's. We'll see how it goes!
Time to Get Serious
The idea behind this blog is for me to be accountable (to myself, mostly) about our financial situation. I'm tired of being in debt, and I'm tired of feeling poor. Without getting into detail, let's just say that between our two cars, and 4 credit cards, we are pretty deep in debt. And it doesn't feel very good. We make payments of about $1000 to this debt every month, and that's just making the minimum payments. That sucks. How great would it be to have an extra $1000 every month? We could actually start saving for retirement. As of right now, we have for retirement? Nothing.
I'm going to start trying to dig us out of this mess, using Dave Ramsey's principles, for the most part. So, the first baby step is to make a $1000 mini emergency fund. I'm starting right now with $200 in that fund, which is in a money-market account. Hopefully after next Friday, I will be much closer to the $1000. Ideally, I'd like to have $2000 in that fund. A $1000 emergency fund, and another $1000 to compensate for what Dave Ramsey calls our "fluctuating income". Part of our income comes from commission, so some months are better than others. The second $1000 is there, theoretically, to protect us against those not-so-good-months.
I realize this is not going to happen overnight. In fact, I'm thinking more like 5 years. 5 years sounds like a long time, but where will we be in 5 years if I do nothing? Probably still sitting here with roughly the same amount of debt. I'm going to try and document this journey so I'm more aware of what I'm doing and what we're spending. Wish me luck.
I'm going to start trying to dig us out of this mess, using Dave Ramsey's principles, for the most part. So, the first baby step is to make a $1000 mini emergency fund. I'm starting right now with $200 in that fund, which is in a money-market account. Hopefully after next Friday, I will be much closer to the $1000. Ideally, I'd like to have $2000 in that fund. A $1000 emergency fund, and another $1000 to compensate for what Dave Ramsey calls our "fluctuating income". Part of our income comes from commission, so some months are better than others. The second $1000 is there, theoretically, to protect us against those not-so-good-months.
I realize this is not going to happen overnight. In fact, I'm thinking more like 5 years. 5 years sounds like a long time, but where will we be in 5 years if I do nothing? Probably still sitting here with roughly the same amount of debt. I'm going to try and document this journey so I'm more aware of what I'm doing and what we're spending. Wish me luck.
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