I broke up my shopping trip yesterday into two separate trips. I first ran to Publix to fill a prescription and to pick up a few things. I stopped at home to drop off the groceries, planning to head right back out, but was hoodwinked by a very sweet-talking Princess into bringing the girls along.
Oh will I never learn?
We first stopped at the local farmer’s market (more about that later this week), then hit CVS, Jo-Ann’s (I had promised Princess she could pick out fabric for a dress), & Walgreens. By the third stop they were fighting and by the last checkout they were both crying hysterically.
It is at those moments that all I can do is take a deep cleansing breath, count to 10, and visualize the ice-cold Appletini that will greet me when I get home.
But on a brighter note, it was a great shopping day with lots of freebies!
Here is what I got:
At Publix I spent $3.98 for $84.10 worth of groceries, a savings of 95%.
I was especially happy about the Advil deal in the new Green Advantage Flyer. We go through a lot of that in our house!
Coupons Used: (4) $1.00 off 2 Bertolli Pasta Sauce (Target coupon, printable here) (4) $1.50 off 2 Bertolli Pasta Sauce (Red Plum, 2/20) (3) $5.00 off 2 Advil or Thermacare products (Publix Green Advantage Flyer) (2) $2 off Advil (Advil flyer found at my pediatrician’s office) (4) $1 off Advil (2) $1 off any Athenos product (printable here) (4) $1 off Sundown Naturals Vitamins (printable here or Red Plum 2/20) (2) $1 off Reach Floss (printable here) (4) $3 off Sundown Naturals (Publix Green Advantage Flyer)
At CVS I spent $3.69 for $45.79 worth of drugstore merchandise, a savings of 92%.
Coupons Used (only did 1 transaction): (1) $4 off $20 purchase (CVS coupon received via email) (1) $4 ECB (from last week) (2) $0.75 off Colgate Toothpaste (4) $3.00 off Purex 3-in-1 sheets (Red Plum 2/20) Got back: $4, $1, $1 ECBs (Note: the ECB for the Cadburys didn’t print so she had to manually force it, which gave me a $1 ECB instead of $0.75 that was advertised.)
At Walgreens I spent $2.83 for $21.63 worth of drugstore merchandise, a savings of 87%.
The store was completely out of the “free” (after Register Rewards) RePhresh tampons, so I only ended up doing one transaction. For the free deodorant and free dish soap, I handed the cashier the manufacturer’s coupons first and then the Walgreens coupons. If you are planning to do those deals, make sure you have something else in your purchase to make your total more than zero, otherwise it won’t work!
Coupons Used: (4) $2 off any Dove deodorant (Red Plum 1/30) (1) $1.99 Dove Deodorant (Walgreens weekly flyer, automatically applies to all 4) (2) $1 off Gain Dish Soap (Proctor & Gamble $110 coupon booklet) (1) $0.99 Gain Dish Soap (Walgreens weekly flyer) $2 RRs (from 2 weeks ago) Got back: $2 RRs
Overall, yesterday I spent a total of $10.50 for $151.52 worth of groceries and merchandise, an average savings of 93% for the day.
I spent just under an hour making my 3 lists and gathering my coupons, and then spent just under 3 hours shopping. (Including the farmer’s market and fabric store.)
I then spent the rest of the afternoon sewing, something I haven’t done in far too long and had forgotten how much I enjoyed.
It was glorious!
(Check back tomorrow for more on my weekend sewing project1)
How was your weekend?
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Patricia February 21, 2011 at 4:50 pm
I love reading your shopping posts, but I would like to see the prices of the items to see how much you actually paid for each item. This helps me when I do my trips!
Thanks!!
Ruth February 21, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Patricia, thank you so much for the feedback. Up until now I haven’t included the prices in the posts in just to save myself a little more time. My goal with the shopping posts is to help you plan as much as possible, so I will try to include the prices in the future when I can!
Lara February 21, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Sounds like you all had a great weekend. I had Projects lined up for my weekend which included a remake of the oh so delicious red velvet cupcakes I made from scratch for Valentines. Non of which got done because myself, my 4 year old and 2 year old were all bed ridden with the flu. I’ve never had the flu or been this sick before. I managed to run out to CVS last night and grabbed a couple of deals. That’s how you knnow you’re frugal!!
Ruth February 21, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Lara, I hope you and your little ones are feeling better soon. The only thing worse than sick kids is having to care for sick kids when you are sick yourself! You are a trooper for going out!
Tina February 21, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Ruth I have a question for you I had a really good shopping trip to publix today i saved 89.00 I spent 32.20 which i thought was awesome im still trying to get organized with my coupons anyway my question, when I looked at my receipt and i noticed a few of my coupons were not taken off i noticed because i had three .75 coupons and only one scanned any ideas ? thank you ,Tina
Ruth February 21, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Great job on your savings! I try to check my receipt before I leave the store for that very reason–if I notice a problem, I can quick stop back at the CS desk and get an adjustment. There have been a few times where I haven’t noticed the mistake until I got home (which is why I now always check before leaving) and I have gone back to the store to get it fixed.
That said, those times were for a bigger discrepancy (over $5 both times) and my store is only a mile from my house. In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t have made a special trip back for $1.50. You could also try calling the store and speaking with the manager about it; he or she might be willing to set aside a credit that you could pick up the next time you shopped. That way you wouldn’t have to waste the gas.
In my experience, Publix customer service has always been MORE than accommodating, even when the problem was my mistake and not theirs.
Hope that helps!
Jessica @ These Are The Days February 21, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Nice job Ruth. I don’t feel like yesterday’s coupons were so hot…kinda stinks considering I got 13 newspapers but maybe I’ll be surprised and save more than I think. I still need to read the rest of your ‘Beginners Homework’ days to figure out what the heck I’m supposed to be doing.
Sounds like a good weekend, you rocked it!!
Ruth February 21, 2011 at 10:03 pm
It is a bummer that it wasn’t a week with more coupons but there is a really good one for $2 off dog food that would be great if you had a dog and could match it with a BOGO sale. The Bertolli pasta sauce is a good one to stack with the Target one. Even if your grocery store doesn’t accept Target coupons, it would probably make for very cheap sauce at SuperTarget!
Maybe your newspaper guy has a crush on you and he’ll hook you up every week!
Amanda P February 22, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I have a question about ( ) the numbers inside. Is this how many items you got with this coupon? Can you list how many coupons you used? Very New at this. Thank you
Ruth February 22, 2011 at 4:14 pm
The number inside the ( ) is how many of that particular coupon I used. Going forward I am going to *try* to include prices and how many of each item I purchased on my shopping results. I shop twice a week and post results on Monday and Thursday. Hope that helps!
If you are new, definitely check out my Beginner’s Guide to Coupon series under the Coupons 101 tab above. It breaks the whole process down into “baby steps,” which makes it not so overwhelming.
Thank you so much for being willing to ask a question!
Debi @ Bluegrass Savers February 25, 2011 at 8:33 pm
WOW! I would never attempt to actually sew something! Maybe not never but not now any way. Great job. I’m inspired. Thanks for linking up at the Bluegrass Savers weekly shopping page.
Wendy February 27, 2011 at 2:00 am
I have a quick question…how do you get more than 1 P&G booklet? Don’t you have to sign up for them? Can you sign up for more than 1? Just curious. Thanks!
Ruth February 27, 2011 at 2:09 am
I have 3 books obtained through two different channels. One I signed up for through P&G on Facebook a few weeks ago; the other two were rebates. I had to mail in receipts showing $50 in P&G purchases between September and December (not a problem with all those Qs they put out!) There was a limit of 1 per household, but I also do the shopping for my mother-in-law so I had one book sent to her address and one sent to mine. I don’t think any of the books are available to sign up for at the moment.
I hope that helps answer your question!