Middle of the Month February Shopping Update

I spent a lot of time in the store at the beginning of the month because of super doubles at Harris Teeter.  I went there the first day of the sale which was in January but I got a bunch in February before the sale was over.

I figured out something early because of my first transaction.  I actually got a deal that I didn't know about which barely ever happens.  I bought 3 Splenda to get half way towards my goal to get the Saving Star bonus and I got a $3 Catalina which I didn't know what it was from.  I did my second transaction to get the other part to get to my Saving Star total of Splenda and got another $3 catalina.  I dug through my bags until I figured out that it was from the Splenda so I knew that I was going to be getting lots of free groceries with my $3 catalinas as long as there was stock of Splenda because it was free after coupon and a super big money maker for me.  I made $24 in Splenda Catalinas this month to pay for all the groceries and probably could have bought even more given enough time and inventory but there were so many other deals to use my coupons on them.  Check out some of my hauls!!

I tried moving things around in the cupboard to try to fit all of my new things in the pantries and laundry room.  I counted the Finish dishwasher tablets that we now have and I have 277.  My husband and I did a quick calculations and we think that it might last us about 2 years.  I paid under $4 for all of them so I am super excited by this new stockpile. 

Harris Teeter $9.09

 I went to the store on the first day of the month ready to start strong with a bunch of printed coupons that I didn't have on the first day because I worked hard to cut my coupons and get organized but as always I was a little lacking because I really didn't know what the deals were.  I went through and got the free hot sauce, barbecue sauce, frozen fried rice, Old El Paso Shells and tortillas, Jones sausage and Splenda.  The boxes of crackers were $0.99 each.  The pasta was $0.14 each.  My expense was the turkey lunch meat which was on sale for $4.99 and I had a coupon that took off $1.50 making it $3.49 so it is my husbands preferred brand over Aldis so it was a must buy.  I will get back $1 for the Old El Paso from Saving Star.

Harris Teeter $6.72 - $4.59- $2.05= $0.08

I bought free Splenda to get the catalina deal discussed above.  I got the pasta for $0.14 per box which I really need to stop buying because I got so many when they were free but I was having trouble keeping away from any deal.  I got the 6 Gerber which I was planning on using my catalina to buy because it was $8.94 and I used $1.50 coupon so they were $5.94 after it doubled.  The catalina didn't print out so I went to customer service and they gave me back the $2.05.  It would have been better to have the catalina during super doubles because it would have doubled but at least I got the cash back.  I used one of my catalinas from Splenda so this ended being a great deal.

I got the Texas Wing Sauce which I thought was free because of the sign but when I got home and looked even closer to my receipt, I saw that the original price was $2.79 instead of $1.99 that the sign said.  I brought back the receipt the next time and talked to customer service and they gave me $4.59 back but I don't have a clue what math he used because that is all it says on the receipt but made me not want to return them so I was happy.

Harris Teeter $3.02

One of my son's favorites so I got these for $0.75 each and used the $3 catalina to pay for it which made it an even better deal.

Harris Teeter $2.57

These are one of my husband's favorite treat so I grabbed a whole bunch of weird flavors for him and then a few that he would share with me and my son on the top.  I used a $3 catalina to pay for the transaction.

Harris Teeter $2.38

I got the free Splenda and I had a catalina for a free Liberte yogurt which is great because I will get $0.30 back from Saving Star.  The pretzels were $0.74 per bag which was a great deal.  My favorite deal of was the finish dishwasher tablets for $0.19 per bag.  I had a coupon to get the Cheez-its for $1.49 each.  I thought it would be a great way to use my Splenda catalina to get some free groceries.

Harris Teeter $2.24

I got the free hot sauce, Splenda, Yakisoba noodles, barbecue sauce and Rice Work chips.  The pasta was $0.14 per box. The Finish was $0.19 per bag.  The PF Changs sauce was the best deal because I paid $0.29 each and turned it in for Ibotta rebate to get $1.50 back on each and I got $0.25 any item rebate.

Harris Teeter $2.35

I got free Splenda, Yakisoba Noodles, Jones sausage, Old El Paso tortillas, Tasty Bite Jasmine rice, hot sauce, rice work chips and PF Chang's soy sauce.  There was a deal on buy 4 So Delicious yogurt at $1.25 and get a free Silk half gallon so I used three $1 coupons which doubled so that made it a $1 money maker.  I miscalculated in the store thinking it was going to be $2 but the first $1 paid for the yogurt.  I used the Mahatma Organic rice to cover the overage which were $1.49 per bag.

Harris Teeter $14.46

I got buy 2, get 3 free soda deal and the free Splenda to get another catalina but didn't use any catalinas to pay for this transaction.  I will get back around $0.14 from Saving Star for the Coke purchase.

Harris Teeter $7.36

This was a great transaction but could have been better.  I got the $0.14 pasta, $0.74 pretzels, $0.97 Frosted Flakes, $0.29 PF Chang's sauce and $0.99 meatballs.  The turkey lunch meat was $3.49.  I turned in a Checkout 51 rebate for $1 for the meatball and $0.15 for the Frosted Flakes.  I used two catalinas to pay for the transaction.

I realized after I turned it in that if I bought 2 Corn Pops that I would have made another $1 in rebates but that was my mistake for not checking before buying.  Another mistake for not grabbing a 5 box because there was a Saving Star rebate for $3 that I would have gotten for buying 5 on one receipt!  I left $4 on the table because I was so busy trying to get organized in the store but still a decent transaction.

Harris Teeter $0.95 

My last trip for super doubles at a different store after a birthday party because I was looking for the frozen fried rice with the two coupons that I had left in my pile and the diapers.  I did two transactions but the customer service person said that she was making an exception.  I told her I was well under the coupon limit and I wasn't trying to do anything but use the catalina on the next transaction.  I got free noodles, free Splenda, one free Finish, two $0.20 Finish, six $0.14 pasta, and the yogurt deal with the Silk milk in the first transaction.  I accidently picked up the wrong milk and had to run to the back corner of the store to get the right milk but they put both milks in the bags that they were packing which I didn't know until I got to the car.  The one yogurt rang up wrong and the milk didn't come off as free but I couldn't figure out the receipt.  I went to customer service and they thought that I didn't pay for 4 so they charged me for an extra yogurt and took off the milk so I got a refund.  I finally figured out what went wrong and went back inside and got another refund which was exhausting. 

My second transaction was the three Splenda Naturals and the Huggies diapers which I used the catalina from the first and got another one for the Splenda Naturals which I wasn't sure would happen.  Glad that wasn't my store and that I won't be going back there anytime soon but glad that I got these last few deals.

Aldi $13.48

I had Salsa Sloppy Joes on the menu and someone finished all the salsa in the house....oops!!  I really thought that there was another jar in the cupboard but there wasn't.  I made it with taco sauce, siracha, tomato sauce and brown sugar and it just tasted a little different so totally worked out okay but we were out of more then that so I headed to grab all of the things we had little or none left.

I got a new cashier and she apologized twice that she was new and made any mistakes.  She charged me for two eggs so I had to wait for her to refund me and then she messed up the refund and didn't print me a receipt so she started scanning the next person and it was still on the void.  I told her that she was still in the void but she had to call someone from the back.  She said that she was new but I don't know how patient Aldi is with cashiers who can't check out quickly.  I probably should have just gotten a second egg that she charged me for.  Oh well!!!

Harris Teeter $1.05

I couldn't find the baking sale online or in my specials but I really wanted it so I headed to the store to see if it was really going to work here after seeing it online.  If you bought 5 items at $0.99, you got $1 off so that each item was $0.79 each.  I also had a $3 catalina to use so I got this really cheap!!

Harris Teeter $4.05

Did another transaction and got the same exact things but without the $3 catalina but still a great deal!  Saved over $10 and these will last a long time.

Shoppers $0.08

I just downloaded the app and added two items to get for free so I was pretty excited that I was going to try this new way to get freebies!!!  The app was way easy to use and the prices came off as expected without any trouble. 

Giant $0.71

I went to get the freebies and the best deals at Giant.  They had a freebie loaded to the app to get So Delicious Almond Milk, Kinder Egg and Fage Yogurt.  There was also a electronic coupon for the So Delicious for $1 off which didn't come off.  I used a coupon to get the Chobani for free plus there was an electronic coupon which didn't come off.  The Betty Crocker Delight cake mix was on sale for $1.25 each and if you bought 4 then there was an electronic coupon for $2 off.  I used my overage on the other items to pay for the rest of the cake mix.  It was lots of great deals that I paid a little over just tax.

Total Retail $682.72
Total Savings $619.64
Total OOP $63.08

The beginning of the month was a little too busy for my tastes but the deals were so hard to pass up on.  I worked for a few days cleaning up cupboards to pack things in differently to try to fit it all in the kitchen.  I moved things around and got most of the things in but a box of hot sauce and bottles of other sauces went to the basement.  I can't believe how full everything is.  This is going to be many months to use up all the things in the house.  I have ground beef, mac and cheese, and blocks of cheese on my list to still get.  I always have milk and eggs on my list too but we are currently good for awhile!!

How have you done this month?