Since a lot of people do not believe that you can get name brand items and not just junk food with coupons, I decided to post my deals each month. I will post how much I spent, saved, and what items I purchased. My budget for my family of 5 is $200.00 per month.
-So for the month of March we usually spend an extra $100 to stock up on case lot or sale items since we get our tax returns. I have also been trying to stock up because my baby is due on the 16th and I don't plan on doing a lot of shopping in April. I am making sure we are stocked up on the basics and also getting items that are easy for my husband to make quick meals or snacks while I'm recovering. I am hoping to find a great deal on diapers seeing I will soon have 2 in diapers. But as of now I only have 1 big box of New Born diapers to hopefully last until there is a good sale. Click on the link below to see what I have purchased so far for the month of March.
So it's a new year and I'm planning on keeping track of my grocery budget and savings for the whole year and documenting them here. I have a family of 4 soon to be 5 and my grocery budget is $150 per month. I can spend $37.50 per week to stay in my budget of $150 per month. Here is what I have purchased so far for the month of January.
Spent:$15.80 Saved:$49.59 Items Purchased: 41 Items (evened out to .38 cents per item)
*I bought 3 Packs of Minute Maid Juice Boxes,2 Welch's Grape Juice, 4 Nesquik Milks, 6 boxes of Cheese Nips, 3 Hunt's Snack Packs, 1 Tub of Sour Cream, 2 Packs of Dannon Activia Yogurt, 3 Boxes of Mac & Cheese, 1 box of Post Shredded Wheat Cereal, 2 Bags of Ruffles Chips, 3 Cans of Muir Glen Tomatoes, 1 Starkist Tuna Pouch, 1 Pack of UP2U gum, 1 box of Hefty Trash Bags, and 2 Ruffles Trash Bags (my total came to $14.90 for these items) I then found out they were price matching Ridley's double days and went back and got 5 bottles of Mentos Gum for a total of .90 cents and 1 box of Colgate (came to free) making my grand total $15.80. (I price matched the mac & cheese, hunts snack packs, and sour cream and used doublers for the rest of the items I purchased.)
*I was able to get 2 lbs of Baking Soda, 3 Bottles of Vitamins, Noxzema Cleansing Pads, and a Free sample for just $4.99! I had a $20 credit which I was able to use bringing my total to FREE I just had to pay shipping which was $4.99 + I'll be getting 8% cash back since I went through Ebates. This was a great deal for me because it would've cost me at least $5 in gas just to go to the store to buy the vitamins I needed.
Subtotal:
$19.86
Promotion Discount Applied:
($19.86)
Shipping & Handling:
$4.99
Tax:
$0.00
Grand Total:
$4.99
-Bob's Baking Soda 2 lbs
-Prenatal Vitamins 60 ct.
-Vitamin B6 100ct.
-Saw Palmetto 90 ct.
-Noxzema Pads 90 ct.
-Free Sample of Moisturizer
*See this post for details on how to get a $10 credit to Vitacost and 8% Cash Back when you go through Ebates!
TARGET DEALS SPENT:$2.06 (I still had $3.70 left on a Gift Card from my diaper deal last month and used it on this transaction) SAVED:$29.42#ITEMS PURCHASED:10 Items I bought 1 Glade Twin Warmer Refill pack, 2 Glade Candles, 2 Glade Scented Oil Candle Refill Packs, 1 Febreze candle, 2 boxes of Mac & Cheese, and 2 Boxes of Aquafresh Toothpaste
I got 3 Hunt's Pudding Packs, 6 cans of Dole Pineapple, 8 Starkist Tuna Pouches, 2 Bags of Tillamook Shredded Cheese, 2 Yoplait Yogurt 32 oz Tubs, 2 Old Orchard Juices, 2 Cans of Muir Glen Tomato Sauce, 2 lb Bag of C&H Powdered Sugar, 1 Tub of Argo Corn Starch, 1 Betty Crocker Cookie Pouch, 2 bags of Haribo Gold Bears, 1 bag of Rips, 1 Clorox2 Stain Remover, 2 Colgate Total Advance Toothpaste, 1 Dole Fruit Cups, 4 Dulcolax, 2 Scotch Brite Wipes, and 2 Eco Tools Bath Sponges
(I made money on the Eco Tools Sponges, Colgate, and Dulcolax. I price matched the cheese & juice. I used BOGO coupon for the Scotch Wipes and $1.50/1 coupon for the Stain Remover. All other items I used coupons and price matched Ridley's double days.)
Spent:$28.82 (still have a $10 catalina to use next time)Saved: $162.58 Items Purchased:66 Items I bought 15 cans of Campbell's soup, 6 bottles of All Laundry Detergent, 4 boxes of Finish Electrasol Tabs, 8 boxes of Hefty One Zips, 6 Del Monte Fruit Cups, 6 Bottles of Old Orchard Naturals Juice, 6 Tony's Pizza's, 2 Boxes of Emerald Breakfast To Go, 3 Kikkoman Marinades, 2 Stayfree Pads, 2 Sunbird Seasoning Packets, 4 Jars of Beechnut Baby Food, and 2 3 Packs of Kleenex (*You can click here to see step by step how I did this deal.)
I bought 4 boxes of Toaster Strudels, 4 boxes of Go-Gurt, and 2 Yoplait Kids Trix yogurt packs. (1 box of Toaster Strudels and 1 box of Go-Gurt not pictured because I left it at my parents house for my kids to have.)
-I bought 5 packs of Frigo string cheese, 2 Seneca Applesauce 6 packs, and 2 bags of Snyder's Pretzel Dipped Sandwiches
(I wanted to stock up on string cheese it was only $1.98 after my $1/1 coupon, the applesauce was $1.58 and I had $1/2 coupons making it $1.08 each not a great price but I wanted to use my coupons before they expire since I don't think we'll get doublers before then. The Snyder's were on sale for $1.48 I used $1/1 coupons making them .48 cents.)
My Albertson's Trip
Spent:$2.34Saved:$36.03
# Items Purchased:17 Items
-I bought 6 Hunt's Pasta Sauce, 3 Hunt's Pudding Packs, 2 Bags of Goldfish, 2 boxes of Pasta, 1 box of Oatmeal, 2 Glade Refills, and 1 package of Chorizo (I had a coupon for FREE hot cereal up to $2.50 and I used my $10 catalina from last week. The Glade was on clearance for $1.89 and I used a $2/2 coupon. I also used a .45/3 hunt's coupon, and 2 $1.50/1 pasta sauce wyb1 box of pasta coupons.)
*I had a $15 credit to use through Eversave and this Mineral Kit was only $16 with free shipping so all I had to pay was $1.00 for the voucher.
My Albertson's Trip Spent:$4.97 Saved:$19.00 # Items Purchased:3 -I got 3 bottles of Arm & Hammer laundry detergent. (They were on sale for $1.99 and I used a $1/3 coupon.)
-I bought 8 Arizona Drinks and 1 box of Walgreens Spoons.
(I used a $2 RR and $3 RR from last and an in-ad coupon for the Arizona drinks.)
My Walmart Trip Spent:$31.33 Saved:$97.63 # Items Purchased:76 Items -I bought 6 boxes of Capri Suns, 4 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, 8 boxes of Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks, 2 packs of 4 double Roll Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 2 packs of White Cloud 6 Triple Rolls Toilet Paper, 2 Transformers Kre-o Sets, 2 Welch's Essentials Juice, 2 Reach Floss, 2 UP2U gums, 4 Yoplait Lactose Free Yogurt Cups, 5 Yeast Strips, 8 Carmex, 1 Chapstick, 2 Carefree Actifresh Liners, 10 cans of Dole Pineapple, 5 Suave Deodorant, 2 Jars of Pace Salsa, 1 Box of Jolly Time Popcorn 10 ct, 1 Betty Crocker Bonus size cookie pouch, 2 Jars of Frank's Red Hot Sauce, 1 Glass Plus Cleaner, 1 Florida's Natural Grapefruit Juice, and 2 Reynolds Baking Cups *Click here to see a breakdown of how I got these deals at Walmart.
-I bought 6 rolls of Bounty Paper Towels, 4 Nabisco To Go Cookies, 4 Cans of Libby's Peaches, 2 cans of Libby's Fruit Cocktail, New York Garlic Bread Sticks, 1 French Bread Loaf, 5 Blistex, 2 Starkist Tuna Pouches, 1 Sambazon Juice, 1 Hormel Country Crock Sides, Land O Frost Turkey Lunch Meat 1 lb, 8 Dawn Dish Soap, and 2 Fantastik Cleaners
*Got these Free Samples in the mail yesterday... -Free Dove Shampoo & Conditioner, Carefree Liner, Kleenex Cool Touch, Gluten Free Chex, and a Free Red Box code
*Got these Free samples in the mail this week... -Atkins Starter Pack (included starter guide, carb counter book, coupons, and 3 bars), $2/1 Tide coupon, rePHresh Starter Kit (Feminine gel, week supply of tablets, box of tampons, and coupons), Poise Starter Kit (2 Poise Pads and $2/1 coupon), and Shop Runner Welcome Kit (Free Trial membership coupons for friends and family, 1 Reusable bag, and booklet), and Sample of Acne Cream with $5/1 coupon
*Got these FREE samples in the mail this week... -Babies R Us baby formula with $2/1 coupon, Free book with a cleaning cloth, Free $10 Home Depot Gift Card (from signing up for Ebates), and $10 in Albertson's coupons
I got 2 Cottonelle Ultra Toilet Paper 12 Double Roll Packs, 6 Purex To Go Packs, & Canister of Moms Best Naturals Oats
I price matched the TP for $5.99 at Albertson's used a .50/1 coupon (get $10.00 Gift Card for buying 2) makes them .98 cents for both packs! Had $1/1 coupons for the Purex they were .97 cents so I made .03 cents on each pack (I did grab 6 and they still had over 30 left on the shelf) the oats were on sale for $1.00 I used a .75/1 printable coupon making them .25 cents (I will be using the Purex & Oats as prizes for my upcoming classes).
RITE AID (FEB.1ST) SPENT: $2.22 (got back $8.00 in +UPR to use next time, this was a $5.78 Money Maker!) SAVED: $29.48 # ITEMS: 16 Items
-I bought 2 bags of Chex Mix, 3 bags of gloves, 1 pack of cleaning wipes, 2 glass cleaning wipes, 1 Afrin Nasal Spray, 1 Coricidin HBP, and 6 Vaseline Travel Size Lotions
Transaction #1: *Since I started without any +UPR I did the cheapest item first, which was the Chex Mix. *I bought 2 bags of Chex mix & 6 Spic & Span items. Spic & Span were on clearance for .50 cents, I used 3 $1/2 coupons making them free. The Chex Mix was $1.50. I used 2 .50/1 Video Value Coupons & .50/2 mfg. coupon. I also used a $1.00 any purchase Video Value coupon. Making my first total .50 cents (after I paid I got 2 $1.00 +UPR’s back from the Chex Mix).
Transaction #2: *I bought 1 Afrin Nasal Spray it was on sale for $5.99 (I used $2/1 coupon). I bought 1 Coricidin HB for $5.99 (I used a $2/1 mfg. coupon & $2/1 Video Value coupon). I bought 6 travel size Vaseline Lotions they were .79 cents (I had $1/1 coupons so I made .21 cents on each one). I used $1/1 any purchase Video Value coupon, and my 2 $1.00 +UPR from my Chex Mix. *My total came to $1.72 (I got 2 $4.00 +UPR’s back from the Afrin & Coricidin making this a Money Maker!)
I got 26 Packs of Tree Top Juice Boxes (free used $1/2 coupon), 10 Canisters of Quaker Oats (free used $1/1 coupon), Florida's Natural Orange Juice (.50 cents used $1/1 coupon), Guerrero Wheat Tortillas (.29 cents used $1/1 coupon), and 2 Similac Ready Feed Baby Formula (.99 cents each used $3/1 coupon)
I got a Box Set of 4 Disney Wooden Puzzles, 1 Classic Train Set, 3 Toy Story Action Figures, 3 Toy Story Pez, 2 Hello Kitty Pez, Nyquil, and 1 Vicks Baby Rub (I used a $5.00 off your $25.00 purchase coupon, Vick's coupons and +Up Rewards that were money makers)
