Friday shopping...ROCKS!

As much as I don't like lugging the kids around with me from store to store, we did awesome today on the deals! AWESOME!

First stop was Publix.

Here's a picture of what was purchased. Let me tell you... Even though I had done the math last night and knew what I thought I would be spending... I wasn't so sure as it was all being scanned. However I should trust what I plan. It is so awesome to see the little savings amount go UP and the total go DOWN as they scan each and every coupon! I had planned to spend about $15.05. On all of that. Seriously! Let me break down what you see:

8 four-packs of yogurt
6 boxes of instant oatmeal
4 packs of kraft homestyle mac and cheese
4 bottles of veg oil
4 travel packs of band-aids
3 cans of hunts tomatoes
2 tubs of butter
2 baby jar foods
1 box of cake mix
1 box of baby cereal
(and a partridge in a pear tree)

The honest truth: I got ONLY what was on my list. Nothing jumped in the cart miraculously. I LOVE STICKING TO THE LIST and knowing what to expect! ... back to the totals: I wanted to spend 15.05 for all that.

I'm going to repeat that list and break it down:
8 four-packs of yogurt-- FREE
6 boxes of instant oatmeal --$0.84 each
4 packs of kraft homestyle mac and cheese --$0.24 each
4 bottles of veg oil --$1.29 each
4 travel packs of band-aids --FREE
3 cans of hunts tomatoes --$0.26 each
2 tubs of butter --$0.14 each
2 baby jar foods-- FREE
1 box of cake mix --$0.87
1 box of baby cereal -- FREE

Some how... my total ended up being $12.03 with a savings of $64.80! I spent three dollars less than I thought I would. Which means somewhere in my calculations from the sales ad, there was something marked higher than what they'd actually marked it for at the store! I CAN NOT believe I got all that stuff for TWELVE BUCKS!

The second stop was CVS.

Last week or the week before, I forget now, they had this crazy deal where you buy $25 dollars worth of marked products you get 10ECBs back. Well Wisk was on this list. Wisk was also on sale for $5.00 instead of normal price of $8.99. AND there were $2.00 off coupons in the paper for Wisk the same week... SCORE. However... at my CVS and the one down the road and the one in loganville and the two others I called... this was GOBBLED up the first day and no Wisk was left to be had. I went in and got TWO rainchecks to do this deal. So 6 bottles on each rain check.

I went to try to do my deals today and there wasn't enough Wisk on the shelf to do both. I left four bottles there and got my six. I'll be going back next week to get the other deal. SO... I paid $19.80 on SIX bottles. A savings of $34.14 AND got back the 10ECBs.

Next week I'll do it again... spending $9.80 be/c I can use the ECBs on that purchase. So I'll spend $9.80 and then ALSO get another 10ECBs back, making those six bottles basically free! WHAT?! LOVE IT. LOVE IT! ... I don't normally use Wisk, but um. yah, we will now. LOVE IT!

The third stop was Kroger.

There is no picture for this stop. It was mostly ingredients needed for meals I'm making this weekend. I am cooking for three families this weekend in addition to my own. I got the normal fruit/milk/eggs purchases and we also scored some FREE OJ, FREE soda, and TEN more FREE toothpastes! I think we're SET on toothpaste for the rest of 2011. Overall, I spent $45.95 and saved $34.05. So not bad really, considering that I had to get a lot without coupons for the meals I want to make.


~~Daily totals~~
Spent: $77.78
Saved: $132.99 (63% savings for the day)
Earned: 10 ECBs (if you aren't familiar with that, it's like ten bucks to spend only in a CVS store)

WAH CHA!

I'm WELL within my grocery budget and eager to see what the sales are next week. I love stocking up. Love it! I love FREE. Say it with me... FR-EE! FREEEEEEEEE!