A Whirlwind Shopping Day!

Today was payday so it was time to do my twice-a-month major shopping trip.  I had already taken the following steps:

1. My Master Menu has been planned for the month of December
2. I had inventoried my Prepared Pantry to see what I needed to purchase to complete my meals for the rest of the month
3. I went through my coupons to match them to items I needed
4. I had made my lists for the 4 stores I was going to shop at to get the best deals possible
   
5. I had my shopping list ready to go at 9 a.m.  

My shopping list looked like this:

Smiths

• Pasta Roni - sale price 10/$10
• Cheese-its - sale price $2.69 each and after purchasing 3 I got $3 off - PLUS I had a $1.00 off 2 MANUFACTURER'S COUPONS
  
• Bananas - sale price $.39 lb
• Chef-Boy-R-De Ravioli - sale price 10/$10 plus I had a STORE COUPON for $1.00 off 5
• Kroger Butter 1 pound - $.99 - in store sale price
  
• Cutie Oranges - $3.99 plus I had a .55 off one MANUFACTURER'S COUPON
• Stouffer's Lasagne - $8.89 plus I had a 1.00 off one MANUFACTURER'S COUPON (FOUND ONLINE) - I bought 3 and received a $4 off my next shopping trip catalina
• I also bought some Kraft colored mini-marshmallows to make some fun Christmas cookies.

Retail total $94.04 - paid $61.86 - saved 35% - plus have $4.00 in free groceries next shopping trip plus I received a $.10 off fuel rewards up to 100 gallons

Albertsons

• Cheetoes/Fritos $2.89 each paid .99 with STORE COUPON
• Tropicana OJ $3.99 each paid $2.39 with STORE COUPON
• Tillamook Brick Cheddar 2 pound brick $6.99 paid $4.99 with STORE COUPON
• Darigold Butter $2.79 paid $1.79 with STORE COUPON
• Green Giant Steamers Vegetables $2.39 paid $1.59 with MANUFACTURER'S COUPON
• Tyson Bag Frozen Chicken Breasts $6.99 paid $3.99 with a CATALINA COUPON that I received on a previous shopping trip

$73.61 Retail paid $43.15 saved 42% PLUS I received a $5.00 off your next shopping trip catalina coupon to use on my next shopping trip!

Walmart

• Purchased several small trial size items for Christmas Gift Bags I am putting together, including Blistex Lip Balm that I had a .55 off coupon for
• Purchased stocking stuffers, including Chocolate Oranges for $2.88 and I had a $1.00 off coupons
• Air Freshener
• Several medications - I had MANUFACTURER'S COUPONS as well as a MANUFACTURER'S COUPON (FOUND ONLINE)
• I purchased 1 store brand and all the rest name brands
• Gum
• Wall Calendar & small message board
• A couple of last Christmas gifts

$116.54 retail and spent $93.04 saved 21% with coupon savings

Costco

• Tillamook Shredded Cheddar
• 4 packages frozen Egg Rolls (18 count) 7.59
• Christmas gift
• Head & Shoulders
• Hot Pockets & Lean Pockets
• Cottage Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Skim Milk
• Electrasol
• Mandarin Oranges
• 5 dozen Eggs
  

Spent  $128.62 (with $12.00 in COSTCO COUPON savings)

I checked at Walmart before I shopped at Costco to get a per ounce price and these items were all better priced - EVEN if I had used coupons at Walmart.

BOTTOM LINE: I spent 1 hour preparing creating the shopping list, matching coupons and doing an inventory of my pantry/freezer.  I spent 2 hours shopping and putting items away.  I will now only need to shop twice the rest of the month for milk and fresh fruits and vegetables.   Those trips should take less than 30 minutes total.  ALSO, I have $9.00 to use at the grocery stores for other items that I may need/want.

I have 4 teenagers (ages 12, 14, 16 & 18) and will have them home for 9 days at the end of the month for Christmas break so I needed to make sure I had items for lunches and snacks. Also, many of the items I purchased will last much longer than the two weeks for the pay period.

Retail cost of my items $424.81 and I spent $326.67 saving $97.84.  With 3 hours worth of work and a ton of time saved the rest of the month - I figure I just paid myself $32.61 an hour!