Sunday, November 8, 2015

November Shopping Trips- Halfway to Budget and One Week into the Month

I might have gone a little crazy so far this month since we are only a week in and I am no closer to getting a turkey then I was before and halfway through the month's budget of $160.  Check out my three trips to the store.

We started off with a trip to Wegman's to get ground beef, cranberry juice and a few other things.  I had a coupon to get $1 off bulk food so I let my little man pick out some candy.  He got three different kinds and I think won the scale lottery because it was set pretty low so he got a ton of candy and we paid $0.09 after the coupon.  He declared that he was starving while we were there and I was looking for the cookies because I had a coupon for $1 off bakery but I couldn't find them and he spotted doughnuts so we grabbed two of those (passing the cookies on the way to the check out) but they were yummy and $0.70 after coupon for both.  It was a great way to spend the day off school before a playdate.  I also grabbed lettuce because it was $0.99 and margarine for $0.99 each which is the lowest that I have seen them recently.

Total OOP $23.91


I was late getting to Aldi's and we were out of just about everything in the house and I was exhausted.  I need the chicken fries for my son at $4.29 and the popcorn chicken for my husband at $3.99.  I also really needed the potatoes at $3.49 (hate paying the price but we always eat them so it is worth it).  I got way more then I was planning on but milk was only $1.99 so I was excited that I didn't cave and buy it at Wegman's like I was going to because I didn't have enough time for an Aldi trip.

There were some other great surprises.  Cheese price dropped back to $1.79 so I grabbed three (not exactly a stock up price but I don't want to be sad when it goes up again).  The asparagus was on sale for $1.69 so I grabbed a great looking bag of that.  The Blue Bonnet is the first margarine that our store has had in months and it was $0.89.  I wanted to buy everything in the store but I knew that was going overboard but you never know how long it might last.  I grabbed lunch meat for my husband because we were down to the last two pieces.  More brown sugar for baking for the holidays.

My crazy splurge was steak sauce for $1.19 because we don't even use steak sauce!!  Seems weird that I would buy something we don't use but I got some free awhile ago and found the best recipe for French Dip Sloppy Joes and we used it all up so I decided to get it so that I could make them (I did and they were yummy!).  I also grabbed a huge bag of white rice for $4.69 because it is about the price that I paid per pound for the bag at Harris Teeter before and we are almost out.  I am sure we will use it but I should have stayed with a smaller bag until I found a better deal.  Of well, tired and hungry is not the way to shop.

Total OOP $37.64



Then, we went to Harris Teeter as a family.  I always need to drag another person with me to check out when there is a deal that is on my card and my mother's so that I can get it twice.  The Cheez-Its were on sale Buy 2, Get 3 Free.  For those of you thinking that must have been a great deal, you would be wrong because the shelf price is $4.99!!! I probably should have been better prepared and used a rain check to get an even better price because I know that I have some but I didn't.  I used one $1 coupon that I bought from Kelloggs family reward and two $1/2 that I had from the paper so it ended up being $7 for 5 boxes instead of $25 or $1.40 per box.  I guess it was an okay deal but I was bullied into it by two boys at my house that could live off Cheez-Its :)

They were having baking sales so I decided to get a few.  The oil was on sale for $1.97 each.  The bread flour was $2.50 which is not a great deal but not as bad as it has been (I probably could have waited and gotten a 25 lb bag at the big box store with family members).  The eggs were $1.47 per dozen so I grabbed 2 dozen (with the help of my husband checking them all over while I waited in line).  He said that other people came up and grabbed the eggs and just put them in their cart but he knows that he is supposed to check them all!!

I also grabbed raspberries which were $1 per container after sale and coupon.  I grabbed chicken from the butcher for $1.99 per pound which is double great because you can grab as little as you want and not have to get a ton.  I got Dawn for $0.50 after sale and coupon which was the thing that killed me the most because I used to get it all the time for free and I don't know what to do with myself now that I have used my entire stockpile!

The best deal was the free Oreo Thins which I was worried would be totally out of stock but there were plenty.  My son picked one normal and one mint.  He checked out with the one and his total came to $0 and he didn't even have to pay tax or change.  I had all the change ready just in case.  He was pretty happy with his purchase and I know that he will enjoy them all.

Total OOP $23.60


I can't believe how much shopping I have already done for the month and hope that this is my halfway mark for the month.  The rest is going to be saved for the turkey purchase and whatever else I need to get that turkey for the best price.  I did turn in a rebate for $0.25 for raspberries on Checkout 51.  I was trying to do MobiSave which I have never done because there is a $0.75 rebate for Cheez-Its and I can't get it to upload.  I tried three time and closed it out to try again so worked on the forth time (I feel like this is their network so I am irritated).  Anyway hoping for $1 back in rebates but no idea.  Has anyone used MobiSave before?

Total Retail $143.64
Total Saving $58.49
Total OOP $85.15

6 comments:

  1. I have seen bloggers talk about MobiSave but I haven't downloaded it. Between Checkout 51, SavingStar, Snap and now Ibotta, I'm already feeling too flustered and I do feel that (especially Ibotta) is pushing me to buy things that I probably wouldn't have bought. Let us know if it ends up working for you and if you like it and if they have a referral program, let me know your link so you can't get something if I do sign up!

    I chuckled a couple of times while reading your post, especially at the fact that you stocked up on cheese when it's only 10 cents cheaper because you don't want to feel sad when it goes back to to $1.89. That is SOOOO me, hahaha. I also laughed (in commiseration) at your distress at having to pay for the dish soap. I used to have a huge stash of it a few years ago and now that it's gone I hate having to pay for it. My free shampoo stash is almost gone too (all I have left is conditioner,I think) and I hate paying for it but I might have to. Arrgh.
    I've been buying the dish soap at Dollar Tree, a huge 50 oz bottle for just $1. While it's better than the one I used to make myself, it's no way as good as Dawn (my favorite) or any of the branded ones so I use more of it. So I'm thinking it might be something that I just bite the bullet and buy even though it costs more.
    You got very good deals! Do you do the Driscoll's Consumer Panel surveys too? if not, make sure to get started. You'll probably only earn the 50 cent coupons between now and the end of the year, but it's still better than nothing and raspberries tend to be on sale at this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that I just got the MobiSave fixed and it told me that it couldn't move the money because my PayPal account wasn't in that name. UGH! Right because it is my husband's account. It came into there after some fighting with it but make sure if you do it, you set it up with the same email as a PayPal because it deposits immediately. No other choices for gift cards but at least you have the money right away. I don't have Snap so I might have to look into that one.

      I sold a bunch of free shampoo and conditioner at yard sale and shavers the previous year. I still have some shampoo so that is good but most of the other stuff is gone because I am not doing the drug stores anymore in my attempt to keep my shopping totals so low.

      Dawn is the only dish soap that I use. It works so much better and you don't have to use as much. They carry the watered down one at the Dollar Tree here but I like the concentrated one so after coupon, I grouchily paid $0.50 but I will enjoy using it.

      I did sign up for the Driscoll consumer panel. I have the codes on the bottom so I will do whatever to get those neat coupons in the future. I will let you know if I have any questions!!

      Delete
    2. Ah, thanks for the warning about MobiSave and Paypal. I'll keep that in mind. I wouldn't bother with Snap if you don't already have it, I haven't used it in MONTHS. They started with good generic rebates that you could use anywhere, although several times I submitted my receipts from the parking lot at 8:30 am. when the new rebates had just gotten activated and STILL they rejected me and told me all had been awarded already. Nowadays they only seem to have rebates for all natural, organic, gluten free kind of items that I haven't even seen at my regular stores and don't need to purchase anyway. Most of the time I don't even bother looking up what they offer anymore.

      A couple of tips about Driscoll's: keep the codes until you need to print a coupon because as soon as they send you the link, you only have 30 days to print them and then they expire after 30 days. Whereas if you keep the codes, you can take the survey at your leisure (i.e. when you need a coupon!) and then just select "I bought this package 7+ days ago). I have a huge pile of empty containers right now and I take the surveys on the "oldest ones" that were bought in late July. When I get back from the store, I stick a piece of masking tape on the bottom of each container right away with the date of purchase, the price and the store (I usually buy them at Target but sometimes at Publix and they're in different zip codes... they do want to know the zip code of the store where you bought them). If I'm particularly unhappy with a package, I will leave a note on it too or take that survey right away so I can remember to leave accurate feedback.

      The reason why you might not want to redeem all your codes right now, is that their "levels" will go back to zero as of 1/1/16. So if you saved some surveys to take after 1/1, you can start earning your way to the Gold Level (16 surveys, I think) where you earn the $1.00 coupons right away. At least, that's MY plan, lol.

      Also, as you probably know, when they email you the coupon link, make sure, after you print it, to use your browser's Back button to go back to the "Click to Print" page so you can print a 2nd coupon with a different PIN code on it. So 2 coupons per survey. I was re-reading my November 2014 Frugal Successes posts last night and at some point the Driscoll's raspberries were 3 for $5 at Target so if you have a SuperTarget nearby, you might want to check them out. In my area they're advertised at $2.50 per container right now. Poop.

      Delete
    3. Totally going to do that to save the raspberry containers :) I will put them with the coke codes!!!

      Delete
    4. And the Kellogg's codes too (did you see that there are double and triple code KFR bonuses coming up next week until 11/26? I posted about it yesterday).

      Delete
    5. I have a few Kelloggs code in my basket so I will have to get that on the list for next week :) I was disappointed with the coke ones because of the super small weekly limit. I can't get bonuses if you limit it that much but at least Kelloggs doesn't do limits :)

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I really appreciate any input or ideas so add your comment below.