Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Is August Over Yet?? Too Much Shopping!!!

I have been on a granola bar buying binge!!  I feel like there are more granola bars out there to be purchased but I already hit two stores and waiting until the last day of the sale is never a good thing... I was supposed to have my act together yesterday and all the coupons cut but I didn't :(  So here is what I got with 5 transactions and three different Harris Teeters over a few days.

Harris Teeter $9.23-$2 cash back= $7.23 

We were already out as a family near the Harris Teeter farther away from the house so I stopped in and grabbed the Saturday freebies (yogurt and juice).  I also grabbed six boxes of granola bars which were supposed to ring up 6/$10 and there was a shelf promotion of $3 off 5.  I got the $3 off 5 and didn't get the 6/$10 promotion so I went to customer service even though it wasn't my store and they gave me $2 cash back.



Check out these promotions and together they make an amazing deal!!! It means 6 boxes for $7 with simple math and then I realized when I went through my coupons that I hadn't cut that I had coupons for $1/3 boxes of Chewy granola bars and $1 off the new Chewy Snackwich granola bars.  I lost out on $2 because I didn't have a clue what coupons I had because I was behind cutting but check out the deal below that I did at two of the stores!!!



Harris Teeter $5.23 + $5.23 - $2.05 cash back= $8.41

I dropped my son off at camp and went directly to the store but still not the store closest to the house so they don't know me there either.  I did two transactions which they didn't have a problem with.  I bought three of the Quaker Big Chewy Bars and three of the Chewy Snackwich bars in each transaction.  I used one $1/3 Big Chewy Bars and three $1 off Chewy Snackwich Bars to get them for $5.23 for each transaction.  Of course, the 6/$10 didn't ring up again so I went to customer service and asked and they gave me $2.05 cash back (including tax this time).  I didn't want to push my luck since I did two transactions so I only asked for the money on one receipt.
 

Harris Teeter $5.23 + $5.23 - $3.08 cash back= $7.38

 I went to my store and did the same thing.  I explained to customer service that there were two deals and showed them the newspaper and online and she decided that I missed the $3 promotion and not the $2 promotion because of the way that it rang up so she gave me back more money.


I realized that I could get a great deal on the Chewy Snackwich bars but I needed to buy too many per transaction to use the coupons.  There is a limit of 3 or 4 of the same coupons per transaction so I didn't want to push my luck and my son only likes the Big Chewy Chocolate Chip ones so I decided that I got a great deal at $0.70 per box at the first store and $0.61 per box at the second store.  It really makes my $1.20 per box from the weekend look horrible but I am going to call it all a win because I got a ton which is great because we just used up the last bar from the last time that I bought them!! 

Total Retail $104.44
Total Savings $81.57
Total OOP $22.87

I came home and stocked the cupboard shelf.  We are going to have lots of granola bars to last us through the beginning of school.  Of course, I was tempted to try to go to another store and get another two transactions but I decided to get some things done at home.  I estimated that I would spend $20 on granola bars getting 12 of them but I really went a little farther then I thought by getting 18 of the ones for my son and 12 for my husband and I.  I know I got a great bargain and they are going to come in handy for breakfast when school gets back in session!!  Trying to talk myself out of going to another store and doing it again!!!!!!!!!!


I got a bunch this month but there are always a few things that I think that I need which is why I try to leave a cushion at the end of the month.  This month we only have $31.35 left as long as I stay out of the stores to get more granola bars this afternoon!!!    Here is hoping that you are having a great month too!!!

Total Monthly Retail $378.14+ 104.44= $482.58
Total Monthly Saving $272.36+ 81.57= $353.93
Total Monthly OOP $105.78+ 22.87= $128.65

6 comments:

  1. That's a lot of granola bars! At my house I'd have to hide it otherwise that's all the kids would eat and the whole stash would be gone in a week :) You're doing good with your budget, only a week to go in the month!

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    1. LOL!!! My son likes his granola bars that he eats in the morning. It is what gets him to let us sleep in the morning past 5 am when he gets up. I told him that his limit is one a day...sometimes he sneaks two if he is starving. Yeah one week left and only laziness is keeping me at home and not heading to another store to clear their stock of granola bars. We don't do too well at hiding because we usually forget about the hiding spots :) Although candy does get hidden...cause mama has got a sweet tooth!!!

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  2. Wow! You never cease to amaze me with your grocery shopping skills!

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    1. LOL!! Thanks! I am lucky to have the coupons that go with the sales (and stores who like to do that). It is great to stock up on the things that my family loves while they are super cheap instead of paying $3 per box :( I would rather pay $0.60 a box instead of $0.60 per bar!! I helps save later but it is a different way of shopping.

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  3. You have done great with the deals on granola bars. I shall be watching to see how long they last you into the school term. You actually have a great cushion for the remaining week of August, I ran my household budget out after the first week in August. My Shopper's Drug Mart gift card was used up late last week. I had $40 trip money remaining after my Girls' Weekend, so that has been my "cushion" for the remainder of the month. I am down to $10 remaining. Mind you, I have been purchasing a lot of non-grocery items this month.

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    1. I am hoping that these last at least 3 months so we will see how that goes!! I am pretty happy with the remaining cushion but I know that I need to do another trip to Aldis for some basics which will likely run $20-$30 which will kill the budget for the month. I am putting it off so that it seems like it is not all spent yet but I feel it going soon easily. I wrote the list and estimated around $30 so I guess I will see if I put that off longer into the new month :) It is nice to have the gift cards for a cushion because when those are gone, then you have to spend real money :) Hope you find lots of good things to spend your last $10 on :)

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