Kroger 5/13

*First I'd like to note that Blogger had some issues this morning and a few of my entries have been lost. I do not know if they will come back (I really hope they will :( ) but if something seems like it is missing, it probably is.*

Since I shopped earlier this week, I did not buy much today. I just knew that the meat sales at Kroger were going to get better, so I waited on that. I even got out $20 extra when I shopped to buy meat with, so that I would be able to just keep one amount in the check book. Not having cash on me backfired again when my total was $20.27. Oops ;) Not too shabby though.

One tip for Kroger is to follow blogs that have the ads before your area. For me, Kroger has their sales start on Thursdays. When I follow blogs like Dealseekingmom.com I get to see their ads start on Monday. Not everything will be identical, but you can get an idea of what the sales will be like. You can also start locating coupons that would help you during this time too.

These were my freebies! I got a Free Breve Creme coupon from Vocalpoint. I actually intended to use this on my last shopping trip, but I forgot I had an ecoupon loaded onto it and now Kroger will not let you use both an ecoupon and a paper one for the same item. I also got the Magnum classic completely free from an ecoupon on my Kroger card. So they aren't all bad. The Softsoap was on sale for $1, and I had a 50 cent coupon that doubled to make it free.

Meat can be difficult to get for cheap. Kroger had great sales this week, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts were only $1.77 a pound! I also got 2 Angus Chuck Roasts and an Angus Flat Steak. On top of the good sales, I had a $3 off $15 coupon that Kroger sent and a $1 of Angus coupon, so my meat was $4 cheaper!

Spending only $20.27 was not bad for all that I got and I have well over 2 weeks of meals ready to plan now (adding in the meat I bought with what I had in the freezer).

I plan to make a post going over how to menu plan later, so look for that!

Kroger deals 5/10

I have not been doing well at being frugal lately. We have been so busy so it has been really hard. I do the best I can though, so it isn't like we are going totally off the deep end (we can't afford to do that ;) ) but it still has not been the best lately.

Today I did some much needed grocery shopping. I went in armed with a stack of FREE coupons. I get these from twitter parties, following brands on Facebook, and joining different online groups like Kraft First Taste and Vocalpoint. Really it may not seem worthwhile to sign up for freebie offers, but they really add up!

The Freebies:
8 boxes of Pasta (using the coupon Here plus the sale at Kroger)
1 Bottle of Coffee-Mate (from their #TGIFCM promotion)
1 Bottle of Glade (from Right @ home)
1 Uncle Ben's Ready Rice
1 Pampers Kandoo wipes
2 Johnsonville Chicken Sausage (from their Houseparty)
1 Heinz ketchup (from a $2 coupon on Facebook)
1 Kraft cheese (from Kraft First Taste)

Missing from the picture are a few Power bars, from "Buy One Get one Free" coupons.

I think this can also show how you can eat a balanced meal while couponing. I don't do it extensively (I should do more, but with a teething baby and 2 other kids I don't dedicate the time to it), but I do use coupons to help round out our budget. I didn't just get the free stuff, though there a many things in that which can help make meals, like the pasta and brown rice. I also bought uncooked brown rice which was on sale 2lbs for $1. That is a really wonderful deal and it is a whole food that can be used to stretch meals out. I also bought fruit, veggies, and salad.

I need to go back on Thursday to get meat. I have a feeling the meat that we eat will be on sale then. I usually try to just get it all in one trip (less risk of grabbing what I didn't need) but the meat prices were not what I felt comfortable spending at all.

I will be working on my Menu Plan for Monday to get back in the swing of things :) I also may attempt a Walgreens sale soon. I usually get excited for their sales, then mess it up somehow or the items I want are out of stock. I hope to get into the swing of that, I have heard many good things about the "Drug Store Game" and I really would love to get in on it :)

When a good plan goes bad.

I wanted to start out by saying that I have been working with different companies and am so excited about what I will get to do soon! I have been working on different ideas daily and have been putting myself out there so that I can start doing more of what I want to do. I am frugal by nature and necessity. I am also a mother and I have only one semester left before I am a teacher as well. I want to work all these facets of my life into my blog and am finding new, exciting ways to do so! So stay tuned, good things are coming!

With that said, I didn't have the best grocery experience today. I left with a small list of the stuff I wanted to be sure to remember, but since we have a stocked pantry I felt like a big detailed list wasn't necessary since I could wing it and just get what we needed.

I was wrong. SO wrong.

I found that I need my list. I need my menus! I am tired of playing "what's for dinner?" each day. The options seem overwhelming or I'm missing one ingredient that I would like to have for it. I also shopped with 2 of my kids, which usually isn't a problem because I have a game plan and get in and get out. I found myself giving in to the older kids requests and those added up! I also wanted to get 10 of the Mega Kroger items and when I looked at my receipt as I left I had 9. Nine! I was one away from saving another $5, but was flustered and ready to get out so I misjudged what I had in the cart. That would not have happened with a list.

So now I have the motivation to do better next time. I know that it all evens out in the end, so I am trying not to worry too much about it. I also am going to sit down and make a menu for the week so that even though I am doing it out of order, I still have the convenience of knowing what is coming up.

Have you had bad days at the check out? How do you handle it?

Also don't forget about my Purex Complete Crystals giveaway!

Kroger Deals- 3/22

Is it obsessive to go to the grocery store first thing in the morning just to get a few deals? Probably, but I did anyway :)

I needed to get more free pasta since I was given a few more coupons. The boxes are on sale for 49 cents (when you buy 10 participating items) and I had 2 $1/2 coupons and one $1/1 coupon. I was paid 55 cents to take these off the shelves! I am well stocked on pasta now. I hope enough to last until the next big pasta sale.

I also was able to get more of the Philadelphia Cooking Creme. I tried the original this week in place of cream cheese, and I was really pleased with the results. I also used the Santa Fe version for fajitas and they were so good. I am sold. Though the $2.99 price tag makes it something I won't get often, unless it is on sale. It was $1.99 after buying 10 participating items, and I had three $1.50/1 coupons so I got them for 49 cents apiece. Not too shabby :)

I needed 2 more items to get 10 participating ones so I grabbed the Danimals yogurt ($1.55 after sale) and Sunny D (99 cents after sale). I had a $1/1 coupon for the Danimals and a 25 cents/1 coupon for Sunny D so I paid a little over $1 for both items. Worth it to save $5 total, I had a coffee playdate today and the Sunny D was a hit with the kids who came.

Speaking of a coffee playdate, I got the coffee cake marked down to $1.79. I planned to make my own and picked up sugar (since I was out- $2.29, ouch!) but saw the bakery marking these down and thought it'd be worth it to save myself the trouble of making it. I also picked up bananas to have on hand as a snack. I think next time I'll cut them in half so that they last longer. The Yoplait Kids yogurts were $2 for 4, but I had 2, 50 cent coupons that doubled to $1 making them $1 for a 4 pack. I also used my 2 FREE Coffeemate coupons on the creamer so I am stocked up for future coffee playdates.


I ended up spending $9.71, saving $30.52. Completely worth going to the store first thing in the morning :)

Kroger Deals- 3/17

I knew I should have waited on pasta!

Ronzoni pasta is on sale for 49 cents a box when you buy 10 Mega Event items. I had 3 $1/2 Smart Taste coupons and 5 $1/2 Healthy Harvest coupons. So I was paid 16 cents to take these off the shelves :)

Breakdown:
10 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest (6 Spaghetti, 4 Linguine) $1.84 ea, $18.40 total. Sale .99 ea. $9.90 total.
6 Ronzoni Smart Taste (3 Penne, 3 Rotini) $2.09 ea, $12.54 total. Sale .99 ea, $5.94 total.
Kraft Light House Italian $2.99, Sale $2.29.
Aquafresh $3.17, Sale $2.49.
2 Quaker Quakes $1.29 ea $2.58; Sale $0.79, $1.58

Total $39.68
-$17.48 Kroger Sales
-$10 Mega Event Sale
-$9 in Coupons
Total = $3.20

Not too bad :)

Kroger Deals! 3/16

I did something I haven't done in awhile, I left Kroger feeling good about what I spent! I saved $49.44 and bought what I went there to buy- which is a victory in itself! I actually saved more than the receipt reported because I bought a few things on Manager Special and that doesn't reflect the total savings on the receipt.

This was the first deal. Kroger had boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 lb, but these were marked down to $1.95 per lb (not a huge difference, but I'll take the pennies!). They also had a $1.50 coupon for the Philadelphia Cooking Creme on them, which was on sale for $2.50, so I got it for $1 each! I actually had a $1 coupon that I planned to use, so this was even better.

My next find was stew meat. Usually this is too pricey for me to get, but it was marked down to $5 cheaper than even the sale price! I buy meat in bulk and then divide it on my own to make meal-sized servings, so these packages of meat will last a long time for us.

These were completely free after coupon! I had 2 free Johnsonville coupons from my House Party left (I tried to get it before the party but my store didn't restock in time), I redeemed the free Philadelphia Cooking Creme coupon, and I had a 50 cent Softsoap coupon that doubled up to $1 making the soap free.

These were all under $1. The baby food was 89 cents (I will plan better with coupons for this next time. My son loved the sweet potatoes so I wanted to grab another one). The Ronzoni Smart Taste were $1.34 each, but I had two $1/2 coupons, making them 84 cents each. I try to hold out for free pasta or under 50 cents, but I didn't want to risk not getting any at all. I have more coupons to use if it happens to drop soon. The Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta were $1.29 and I had two $1/1 coupons making them 29 cents each. The yogurt was $2 and I had a 50 cent coupon that doubled to $1 off. I also used another $1.50 coupon from the Kraft First Taste mailer on the Cooking Creme.

I bought the two Cascade items to try them out (I'm still enjoying the novelty of a dishwasher!). The rinse aid was $3.99 on sale, I had an ecoupon (that I forgot about) for 50 cents, and a 50 coupon that doubled to $1, making it only $2.49. The dish tablets were $4.29 and I had an ecoupon for 50 cents and was able to use another $1 coupon, making it $2.81. The Bounce sheets were $4.99 and I had a 50 cent ecoupon and a 50 cent coupon that doubled to $1, making it $3.49.

I also got soda for my husband, lunchmeat, ice cream, and stuff for his lunches.