grocery game virgin

no more. I’ve been reading blog after blog after blog about how to save money on groceries and household items. At first, I was like WHAT? No way, not worth it, too confusing, too many catches, not to mention the embarrassment (why is this?) of being the coupon lady in line. But the more I read, the more I thought about it. I certainly have the luxury of time to figure this out (although time without a baby attached to me is currently almost nonexistent). And who wouldn’t want to save money? The savings could be put away for our future, but most likely, it will fund ordering dinner in or little girl clothing! So, here is my first try at matching coupons with sales. I tried Target first. Tomorrow I hope to do Walgreens and Jewel. I sort of totally sucked at it, but I’ll hopefully learn soon. Here’s the breakdown:

Kashi Cereal… on sale for $2.88
used $1.50 mfr coupon
GE Reveal Light bulbs… on sale for $3.59
used $1.00/2 mfr coupon and $1.50 Target coupon
Seventh Generation Disinfecting Spray…..regular price $2.99
used $1.00 Target coupon and $1.00 mfr coupon

Bandaids… regular price $1.82
used $1.00 Target coupon
Glade 3 Wick Soy Candles… regular price $8.29
used $2.00 mfr coupon and will use $5.00 mail-in rebate

Kids Crest Toothpaste…………. regular price $1.97
used $1.00 Target coupon (should have had newspaper coupon $1.00)

Skittles…...regular price $0.69
used BOGO mfr coupon (Nisey got the free pack so just imagine it in the picture)

Clorox Toilet Wand Kit………….. regular price $9.69
used $5.00 mfr coupon and will use $5.00 mail-in rebate

Total Cost of Items: $52.78

What I Paid: $25.09

Total Savings: $27.69

What I did right: I planned the trip pretty well and only purchased things that I would normally purchase.

What I did wrong: I let Nisey have my free pack of Skittles. :P If I had been saving the Sunday Paper coupons, I could have saved an additional $2.00. In two instances, I should have printed one more coupon. I could have saved an additional $2.50. Here’s the biggy --- the Glade deal could have worked on their cheaper items. I could have worked it for free Glad Plug-Ins instead of discounted soy candles. I hate plug-ins and the soy candles smell so nice. For us, this was the best use of the coupons. If I corrected my errors, I could have actually come out $0.28 ahead!