I celebrated a bunch of wins AND losses on this weekend’s shopping trip. I was so excited, because I had a huge stack of coupons, and I knew exactly what I wanted and it was just going to be awesome. But I should have known that no matter how prepared I am, something always inevitably goes wrong, and that’s definitely what happened.
My biggest oops was at Meijer. I needed to buy Halloween candy, and Kroger no longer had their sale going on. There were signs that said “Buy 2, get 1 free” for Hershey and Nestle candy. I grabbed some candy that was right under the sign (Twix), checked the price, and calculated that I’d be right at my budget goal after my 2 coupons. Turns out that Twix is owned by Mars and wasn’t part of the sale, so my mistake went from a $10.00 purchase to $16.00 after coupons. I know $6.00 isn’t a whole lot, but when I typically budget to the penny, it can hurt. Luckily I had some extra room in the budget so I didn’t go over!
My wins, though, included a bunch of free stuff, including produce. I have a link down below too, but if you haven’t signed up for Earthbound Farm’s email list, do so now! Every so often they’ll send you coupons, and mine were for $1.00 off one item. Meijer had a 10 for $10.00 sale, so guess who got 2 free bags of organic carrots? Keep an eye out! Here’s what else I was able to buy this week.
Kroger
2 jars peanut butter: $1.50 each
Bush’s Hummus Made Easy: Free with Free Friday Download
Belvita breakfast bars: Free with Free Friday Download
Total: $3.00
Meijer
Softsoap hand soap: $.99
- Used $.25/1 mPerks coupon
- Total: $.74
2 packages Schick razors: $3.19 each
- Used $7/2 printable coupon (No longer available)
- Total: Free for both, with a little overage
Deli ham: $1.96
White whole wheat flour: $2.39
Chicken breasts: $8.17
Bananas: $1.67
Onion: $.96
2 boxes Nature Valley granola bars: $1.49 each
- Used $.50/2 printable coupon
- Final Cost: $1.25 each
2 bags Paqui tortilla chips: $2.49 each
- Used two $1.50/1 coupons
- Final Cost: $.99 each
6 bags Halloween candy: $2.99 each
- Used two $1/2 printable coupons
Strawberries: $2.00
Baby spinach: $1.00
2 bags Earthbound Farms baby carrots: $1.00
- Used two $1/1 printable coupons
- Final Cost: Both for free
3 bags frozen vegetables: $1.00 each
Animal crackers: $1.00
- Used $.55/1 printable coupon (No longer available)
- Final Cost: $.45
Tissues: $1.00
- Used $1/1 Meijer store coupon
- Final Cost: Free
Total: $42.66, plus got a $5.00 reward toward my next order!
Aldi
Green peppers: $1.49
Greek yogurt: $3.49
Mini bagels: $1.99
Hummus: $1.99 (Says $.99, but it rang up wrong… didn’t feel like going back to fix it)
Milk: $1.69
3 cans pumpkin: $.89 each
Turkey kielbasa: $1.99
Broccoli: $1.79
Jarred jalapenos: $1.49
Applesauce: $1.89
Sliced swiss cheese: $1.99
Grapes: $1.98
Sweet potatoes: $1.99
Eggs: $.99
Bread: $1.79
Butternut squash: $.69
3 spaghetti squash: $1.29 each
Total: $33.78
Menu
Lunch is always leftovers. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were purchased in previous weeks.
Dinner
Spaghetti squash with freezer spaghetti sauce*, dinner rolls from freezer*
Butternut squash enchilada casserole, chips and salsa*
Buffalo chicken spaghetti squash, sweet potato fries
Grilled ham and swiss sandwiches, sweet potatoes
Cheesy kielbasa rice broccoli skillet
Pumpkin waffles
Leftovers
Breakfast
Spinach mozzarella* egg bake, banana
Mini bagels with sausage patties*
What’s on your menu this week? Share below in the comments!
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Stephanie Cox
Wednesday 19th of October 2016
I love Kroger's free downloads. I don't always want the item but I usually get it anyway and figure out how to use it. The hummas for example isn't something we would normally want but for free, I'll take it.