My Grocery Trip

I enjoy finding a good deal. It excites me.

After spending the whole day cutting Sunday’s coupon inserts and reading through about 100 emails of my 300 that are piling up, I was getting excited about doing my weekly grocery shopping trip. The grocery store ads run Wed-Tues, but it always seems Tuesday at 9pm before I get to our local store (they close at 10pm). About 7pm tonight, I picked up my purse, grocery store ads and my coupon basket and took off with the car. Three stops in mind, an estimated two hours to shop, turned into having fun finding good deals.
Three-and-a-half hours later, even though Hubby was in bed, he came out to see what had entertained me for 3.5 hours. “Did you need a night out or something?” was his question as to why I just disappeared out the door and left him with three kids to put to bed. Well, actually the baby had gone to bed for the night when I left.
Though I had not intended to spend anymore than $50 altogether tonight, my trips did add up a little more. So maybe it was a little shopping spree for me, but the ability to shop alone is a rare occasion these days. Poor Hubby, he was half asleep and I was rambling on and on about getting him some sweet tea, and the almost free toothpaste and the good deal on dishwasher tabs. He finally looked at me, grunted and said, “you’re wired. I’m going back to bed.” Yep, a great buy excites me.
First stop, our little city’s grocery store – J&M Foods – a part of the Price Cutter family, at least they seem a lot like Price Cutter. They had Malt O Meal cereals 2/$4. Picked up two MOM Frosted Flakes for $4.00, normally 3.39 each. Savings $2.80.
Second stop, Dollar General. Normally, I visit the Dollar General website before coming to the store. They have store coupons that you can stack against manufacturer coupons for even greater savings. Tonight, I just needed kitchen garbage bags, dishwasher tabs, and to use a stack of air freshener coupons.

I had my cart loaded up with air fresheners and but put some of it back because I discovered that all yellow tag clothing was half-price. They had so many great clothes there. Since I’m a nursing mommy and love dresses, for me to find a dress I can nurse in at a great bargain, it is hard for me to pass up. I found a summer dress for $10.00 at half-price. There were so many good clothes there I would have loved to have bought, but I practiced a little self-control here by just getting the one dress. Savings $10.00.


To buy the dress, I ended up putting back the air fresheners, except what I needed to fill at home. Here’s what my deals could have been:


Glade Oil Warmers $1.25 - $1.00 coupon = $0.25/e, I had three coupons.


Glade Oil Refills 2pks $5.00 - $1.00 coupon = $4.00 for two oils, I had three coupons


I found on the shelf a 2pk with a free warmer. Since I already had one warmer at home, I needed two refills and this free warmer gave me two warmers to use. So I ended up with 2 warmers and 2 oils for $3.50 ($0.50 savings from first warmer purchase). Savings $2.50.


Dishwasher tabs were next on my list. Finish tabs $3.00 for 12 tabs - $0.75 coupon = $2.25. Savings $0.75.


I had a coupon for my dog’s food, Beneful, so I stopped on that aisle to compare prices to Walmart. I was just a little higher and they didn’t have the flavor he likes, so I skipped it. He also eats canned meat, so I glanced there for any good buys. They had large store-brand cans 2/$1, so I grabbed two of those. Compared to 2 Alpo cans at Walmart = Savings $0.60.


Garbage bags were my next stop. The Glad Trash Bags coupon was for $2/2. The Glad bags were more than $5.00 each and I just didn’t want to spend $10 on trash bags. The store brand was $4 for 27 bags, so I just went with this. Savings $1.50.


Third stop, Subway. What’s a Mom’s night out with a little snack break?? Soda and chips for me tonight.


Fourth stop, Murfins Market. This is locally owned. What I do for this store is compare their store ads to the coupons I have on hand. If an item is on sale and I have a coupon, I’ll add the item to my shopping list. Beware, sometimes things might be cheaper at Walmart, but most grocery stores double up to $0.50, making it a $1 savings which could bring down the item to cheaper than Walmart. Sometimes too a doubled coupon could still be more than Walmart or another store, so it is good to know what is available around you.


Store finds


Lofthouse mini cookies Cars-themed = clearance $1


Gerber baby Oatmeal cereal = clearance $1.37


Store-brand dishwasher tabs in dollar aisle 10pk for $1 = I’m returning the Finish tabs I just bought to Dollar General


Store-brand kitchen garbage bags in dollar aisle 13pk for $1 = I’m returning the DG garbage bags back to Dollar General.


Bananas $0.33/lb


Store sale - Velveeta items $5 off when buy 5 items


Velveeta Cheesy Potatoes $0.99


Velveeta Cheesy Skillets $1.49


Velveeta Salsa & Queso jar $1.99


Velveeta Loaf 16oz $2.49


Velveeta sandwich slices 16pk $2.49


Sale & coupon items (x2 means doubled)


Red Diamond tea = $1.79


Betty Crocker boxed potatoes $1.50/e - $0.50 x2 coupon = 2/$2


Allen canned veggies $0.99/e - $0.50 x2 coupon = 3/$2


Smuckers jelly not on sale :( $3.59 - $0.25 x2 coupon = $3.09


Gold Peak tea 16oz not on sale :( $1.69 - $0.50 x2 coupon = $0.69


Eggo Waffles $3.49 - $0.75/2 coupon = 2/$6.25


Best Choice frozen pancakes 3/$5 or $1.67/e


Purex laundry det 2/$7 or $3.50 - $0.50 x2 = $2.50


Crest Baking Soda/Perox 4.6oz $1.19 - $0.75 had two = $0.55/e


With all store prices and coupons, in the end I saved about 30%. Not too bad. Before coupons, the total was $50, after coupons, I paid $40. The WIC package I bought was about $28, making my cart-full $80 for only $40. I like the sound of that. :)