$500 challenge - update

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend! We spent the weekend with my in-laws and were treated to a wonderful meal and swimming with friends, today. As a result, I'm cramming the past three days' receipts into this post.

Y'all remember when I said that I was giving myself permission to adjust the amounts from week to week? Yes, well, that takes effect right now.

We apparently decided to enjoy this lovely holiday weekend by spending like crazy people. Let's see how my receipts break down. I'll list details when I think it's info that will be helpful - lmk if there's anything else you're wondering about. I'm not going into too much detail on the Walgreens and CVS deals, because Walgreens was last week and the CVS deals were only good yesterday and today (Sun-Mon).

First, the semi-normal spending:


Walgreens - I had several Walgreens runs throughout the day on Friday. I took advantage of the MM (moneymaker) that I mentioned in my last post. I was able to do it 4 times on Fri. I tried once more on Sat, but the deal was dead.

The deal was: buy one particular kind of Right Guard for $2.99 - I used a $1/1 coupon and paid $1.99 and received a $5 RR. So, basically I made $3 on each of the 4 that I was able to purchase on Friday.

I used one $5 RR to buy 3 packages of coffee filters, Skintimate shave gel, and a candy bar (because I was under) - I spent another .41 and received a $1 RR.

I used one $5RR to purchase saline spray that Kira needed while we were at my in-laws, another package of coffee filters, and another Skintimate - I spent .10 and received another $1 RR

Totals for Walgreens:
Spent $10.46
Saved $31.85
I have $12 in RR left - I'll either "roll" these on other RR deals this week, or use them to purchase baby wipes at the end of the month.

Kroger - I hit Kroger yesterday evening for the Huggies Pull-ups deal I mentioned in my previous post.

2 jumbo packages of Huggies Pull-ups - $9.99 ea - used 2 $2/1 manufacturers coupons, $2/1 shortcuts.com coupon (this is loaded on your shoppers card and comes off when you checkout) - $3 came off because I purchased $15 worth of Huggies
1 Mahatma Brown Rice - used .50/1 manu coupon (doubled)
1 Cheerios 14 oz - used FREE coupon - home mailer from Kroger
2.78 lbs of bananas

Kroger totals
Spent: 12.25
Saved: 17.36
I will send my receipt in to the Caregiver's Marketplace to get an additional .75 back on each package of Huggies.

Tom Thumb - just a quick check of the markdowns in the dairy dept.
1 dozen Eat Smart w/omega 3's eggs - marked down to .95
Tropicana OJ - marked down to $1.70

Spent: $2.65
Saved: $2.75

CVS - went on a fruitless hunt for this week's moneymakers. I had no ECB's to start with, but thought that the $3.99 tampons with $3 ECB back was a good way to get back in the game.

trip #1
18 ct Playtex tampons - $3.99 - used $1/1 manu coupon

spent: $3.23
saved: $2.30
rec'd: $3 ECB

trip #2 - again, a little high for me at CVS, but we use band-aids like crazy around here - .49 per box ain't bad.
2 boxes of band-aids: $2.99 ea - used 2 - $1/1 manu coupons
used previous $3 ECB

spent: $.98
saved: $8.00
rec'd: $4 ECB

Whole Foods - I hit Whole Foods on Friday to take advantage of the $2.49/lb ground beef (of course my friend, Kam, got a WAY better deal at a local natural foods grocery store - lucky!)

3 family packages of ground beef - about 7 lbs altogether
Agave Nectar - bulk foods - $1.36
Maple Syrup organic - bulk foods - $5.99
Southern Star Blonde Bombshell beer - for the weekend, of course! $7.49
cut watermelon for the kids to munch on in the store - $2.00

spent: $36.49
saved: $8.40 (based on the normal cost of the beef)

Gas: $35.01 - filled up for the weekend

Now for the unusual spending:

Dr. Jeckyll's - $8.58 - gift for Derek's dad

Half-Price Books - $27.06 - my book club book, books for the kids and Derek, and a gift for Derek's brother

Tom Thumb - $14.55 (saved $6.01) - grown-up bevs for today's cook-out - I'm breaking this down into 1/2 Derek allowance and 1/2 Wendy allowance in my totals below.

Joann's Fabrics - $45.38. I was really, really bummed about this trip. I spent almost $20 more than I had planned, because of some very poor signage that gave the impression that something was on sale that wasn't. I don't want to go into too much detail, because about 2/3 of my trip was for some gifts. I usually let this kind of thing roll right off my back, but this had me so upset that I actually emailed the company. We'll see how they respond.

So, for now, grand totals:

food & eating out (includes HBA): $66.06 ($70.66 savings)
gas: 35.01
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies: $52.05
household necessities (like air filters, etc)
entertainment:
- Derek allowance: $15.46
- Wendy allowance: $18.85
- Kids' allowance: $3
crafting supplies: $45.38
gifts: $12.88

yep. that's half the $500 already. But, we're set on diapers, coffee, coffee filters, and ground beef. We shouldn't need gas again until the end of next week. I'm not expecting to buy any more gifts this month. Y'all are about to see some crazy budgeting!

Sorry for the long post - please let me know if you have any questions!

$500 challenge - on your mark

Pay check hit the account this morning, so here we go. I think I'm going to do stream-of-consciousness style posts, so you can see how I go about grocery shopping in a month. LMK if it gets confusing, or if you need more explanation.

A reminder - my $500 for the month includes:
food & eating out
gas
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies
household necessities
entertainment
crafting supplies
gifts

I've spent the past couple of days going over what we have currently. I need to restock diapers/pull-ups for Kira. Kroger has a deal this week on Huggies that I may take advantage of. I also have a back-up raincheck from a sale at Walgreens from a couple of months ago - for $4.50 per pack on the Walgreens' brand diapers. I had the cashier write the raincheck for 4 packs. Rainchecks are a great way to guarantee yourself a sale for later.

We've also used almost all of our canned organic tomatoes stash, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a chance to restock those.

We're good on pasta, but getting low on brown rice.

Whole Foods has ground beef for $2.49/lb this week - I need to get there by Wed.

Derek ordered coffee this morning - $52.05 for 10 lbs including shipping. We'll be drinking this and this this month, if you're interested.

There's a moneymaker at Walgreens right now that I may try to take advantage of. I'll do a separate post on that - if I end up making it over there today.

Just read back over this and realized that I should start at the beginning! Before I shop, I look at the current ads. I check for organic produce sales and any obvious freebies. I then check the blogs over in my blogroll for any deals they've mentioned. I check the individual forums at Hot Coupon World and then I click on "new posts" to see what people are talking about - that's how I found the moneymaker deal mentioned above. I usually do all of this checking in little bits of time a couple of days before I actually plan on shopping.

I have an envelope for each store. I note the sales I want to hit on the outside of the envelope and then put any relevant coupons inside. I try to list things in the aisle order of the store. It cuts down on my time in the store, since I rarely have to back track. I do take my coupon binder in the store, too, but I rarely use it.

Kind of a random post here, but hopefully you find a nugget of useful info!

Now for the math:
I'm taking the $52.05 from the coffee off the top and adjusting my weekly amounts. That leaves me $111 per week to work with.

$500 Challenge running totals.
$52.05 - coffee

And finally - I changed the format of the blog - I didn't like how the last template ran the top and bottom of each new post together. What do you think?

I'd love questions! Ask away!

Whole Foods this week

Some highlights from the Whole Foods ad - this is for the Texas area, check your local ad online before heading to the store.

Back to Nature Assorted Crackers, 5.5-8.5 oz- 2/$5 - use the .70/1 any Back to Nature product from The Whole Deal pamphlet (found in store usually near the front door or the check-out desk) and get them for $1.80 ea.

Wallaby Organic Low-Fat Yogurts, 6 oz - 4/$3. I don't know of any current coupons for this, but .75 is pretty good for organic yogurt. Whole Foods also offers a case discount on just about anything. If you look in the lower right hand corner (I believe it's the right hand) of the shelf tag, you'll see the number of items that qualify as a case. Buy that amount and get 10% off - in this case making the yogurts .68 ea.

Some great meat prices (for Whole Foods) this week:

Value Packs of 85% Lean Ground Beef - $2.49/lb (various sizes on the value packs, but usually around 2-3 lbs each)
Whole Chicken Wings - $1.79/lb
Country Style Pork Loin Ribs - $2.49/lb

I buy the majority of our meat from Whole Foods - I feel fairly confident that we're not eating growth hormones or antibiotics in addition to our protein. If we need meat when I'm there, I'm looking at anything that's $4.99/lb or less. Some weeks, like this one, I have a lot to choose from. Some weeks, I buy ground turkey ($3.99/lb reg price) and/or whatever specialty sausage (italian, chorizo, brats, etc) is on sale (usually $3.99 - $4.99/lb). Some weeks, we eat from the stockpile.

Let me know if you find any other great Whole Foods deals this week!

This Weekend's shopping

Are y'all ready?

First, let me say that these types of posts won't always be this long - and this one's gonna be a doozy! Since I'm just getting started with this blog and since I suspect that most of you are just getting started couponing, I'll have a lot more explanation here in the beginning.

If it's too much, don't read it all. Seriously. Just take what info will be helpful for YOUR family - however much or little that may be.

First, my stores - where I shop regularly and how often:

Whole Foods - I generally hit Whole Foods 2 times a month. I try my best to shop on Wednesdays, because their weekly sales overlap that day. I also usually have one or both kids with me. That's actually on purpose. We nosh on cut fruit for a treat and talk our way through the store. Whole Foods is about 20 minutes away, so more trips than that just aren't reasonable or worth it.

Within 5 minutes of my house, I have: Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Tom Thumb. Usually 2 times a month I do the circle - it usually takes about 2 hours start to finish. I try to do this on Sundays, because Tom Thumb marks down dairy on Sundays. I can count on getting a gallon of organic milk for $2 - $3 and usually deals on organic sour cream and sometimes, cheese. I do my circle alone, with a cup of coffee and Sunday Jazz Brunch playing on the radio. It is bliss.

Kroger - sometimes I go for weeks without stepping foot in Kroger. Some weeks I end up there 2-3 times in one week. It just depends on the deals, the shape of my stockpile, and life in general.

Tom Thumb - I'm usually there once a week for the milk. Tom Thumb is on Derek's way home from work, so this might actually be his once week a stop.

Walgreens/CVS - these are all over the place, so I usually just work in stops here on the way to or from other errands during the week - or my circle, as mentioned above.

Target - Y'all know you shop Target. I don't regularly grocery shop there. However, if I know I'm going there for something else, I'll check the blogs and hotcouponworld for current deals.

That sounds like a lot of shopping, but actual time is:

Whole Foods - 2x a month, 1 hour a trip = 2 hours per month
My "circle" 2x a month, 2 hours a trip = 4 hours per month
Other trips as needed, probably about an hour a week on average = 4 hours per month
Prep time - this is hard to figure since it's just part of my existence now, but I would say a safe estimate is an hour and a half a week. You will spend more time on this part at first. = 6 hours per month

So, 16 hours per month including drive time, or an average of 4 hours a week. I think if you add up your drive times and times in stores during an average month, you might find that you're spending that much time or more shopping, right now. Plus, I consider this the part-time job that lets me stay home with my kids - so a 4 hour work week, that often includes much needed me time.

And now for the shopping! This was a big, not typical, shopping weekend for me. Derek worked Saturday, so I shopped on Friday and Sunday. I'll list the receipts in order.

Friday - Whole Foods
Canola Oil (for baking bread) - $3.99
365 Organic Honey, 12 oz - $3.99
365 Organic Raisins, 15 oz - $3.69
2 pkg- 365 Organic Corn Tortillas - .99 ea
4 pkg - Organic Flour Tortillas - 2.19 ea
Whipped Cream Cheese - $1.98
5 lb bag Organic Red Potatoes - $4.99
Garlic - 4bulb pack (I buy this so I can use the bag for a dish scrubby) - $1.29
1.4 lb organic white onions - $2.37
2.5 lbs organic braeburn apples - $4.84
.74 lbs green beans (conventional, but local) - .73
cantaloupe chunks (for K and I to nosh on during shopping) - $1.70
Nutmeg (Whole Foods brand - for baking) - $5.99
4 lbs of ground buffalo (split into 2 - 2 lb packages - one for this week, one for the freezer) - $20.56
1/2 lb sliced nitrate/nitrite free bacon (for cooking with pinto beans) - $3.29

Total: $70.15
Saved - Whole Foods doesn't track savings on the receipts. I know I didn't use coupons on this trip. I bought the ground buffalo because it was $2/lb cheaper than usual - so savings for this trip are $8.

Kroger - Friday
3 - 4 pks Angel Soft Toilet Paper - used 3 .50/1 coupons from inserts (doubled) - FREE
3 - Birds Eye Steamfresh Broccoli @ .99 ea - used one .35/1 insert coupon (tripled) and one $1/2 insert coupon - 1 package FREE, 2 packages .49 ea (The whole steam in bag thing weirds me out, so we actually cook these in our regular steamer.)
1 - Challenge Spreadable Butter @ .99 - used .50/1 coupon from inside previous package of butter (doubled) - FREE
1 - Mahatma Jasmine Rice @ 2.69 - used one .50/1 insert coupon (doubled) - $1.69
1 - Eggland's Best Eggs @ 2.59 - used one .50/1 insert coupon (doubled) - $1.59
2 - 16 oz Kroger Sharp Cheddar @ 2.50 ea
2 - 16 oz Kroger Shredded Cheese @ 2.50 ea

Spent: $14.04
Saved: $19.83 (coupons and store savings)

Tom Thumb - Friday
I mentioned before that Tom Thumb (Randalls or Safeway in other areas) has a promotion going on right now - Living Well, Feeling Great - spend $30 on particular products, receive a $10 oyno coupon. This particular promo has lots of organic products included. There are also several freebie/really cheap options, but I was focused on buying things we really needed for the next two weeks. If you'd like more info on scenarios for this promo, check here.

A note about Tom Thumb promos, they are notoriously screwy. Knowing this, I made a point of selecting items that put me at $30 AFTER calculating in Tom Thumb store coupons. In this instance, I only used one manufacturer coupon - manufacturer's coupons come off of the $30 total - they shouldn't affect the promo. If you do shop a promo and it doesn't work - odds are one of the products you selected wasn't included correctly in the computer. The manu coupons have nothing to do it with it - even if the cashier thinks they do. When this happens, I just go wait in line at the service desk. I let them know what I purchased and they have always gone ahead and printed my coupon for me.

1 - 18 oz box of Cheerios (with a pack of flower seeds inside!) - $2.99
1 - All 2x Free & Clear - $4.49 - used .35/1 insert coupon (tripled)
1 - O Organics 1/2 gal whole milk - $2.99 (used .50/1 store coupon)
1 - O Organics 1/2 gal 1% milk - $2.99
1 - O Organics Orange Juice - $3.99
1 - O Organics Herb Salad, 16 oz - $5.49 - (used $1/1 store coupon)
1 - O Organics Almonds, 11 oz - $8.99 (I mix these with Cheerios and Whole Foods organic raisins for a trail mix for the kids - and use them in salads for the adults).
1 - organic carrots, 1 lb - $1 (not part of the promo)

So, my total for the promo after store coupons was $30.43. My all coupon came off of that total.

Spent: $30.66
Saved: $15.33 - and have a $10 oyno for next week's milk and produce.

I could also "roll" that $10 oyno into another round of the promo. I could buy the exact same list above, use the $10 oyno and pay $19.66 out of pocket and receive another $10 oyno.

Kroger - Sunday (This trip would normally have happened right after the first Kroger trip. I could only use 3 Angel Soft coupons at a time - I had six. I normally would have put the first round in the car and then walked back in for a quick second run. However, I took the last three bags of broccoli and wanted to check back when they restocked.)

3 - 4 pks Angel Soft Toilet Paper - used 3 .50/1 coupons from inserts (doubled) - FREE
8 - Birds Eye Steamfresh Broccoli @ .99 ea - used 4 $1/2 insert coupon - .49 ea
1 - Wholly Salsa - clearanced at $1.49
1 - Lays Potato Chips (for D & J's "boys' night") - $2.68 - used $3 off chips wyb Wholly Salsa insert coupon. - yep, they paid me .32 for the chips.

Spent: $5.09
Saved: $18.07

Big Takeaway from this trip - sometimes More is Less with coupons. I could have bought the chips alone for $2.69. Because of the coupon I was able to get the salsa AND the chips for $1.17.

CVS - Sunday
1 - Neutrogena Soap - $2.99
1 - Bandaids - $4.49 - used $1/1 Band-Aid product

used $6 ECB to "pay" for this trip - there are larger Neutrogena and Bandaid deals going on at CVS this week - I may or may not take advantage. Part of why I CVS is so that I can burn ECB's when I need to.

Spent: .48
Saved: $7

Grand totals:
Spent: $120.42
Saved: $68.23 and have the $10 oyno coupon

I'm actually shooting for $150 this month. I'll use the $10 oyno on milk and produce when we run out of milk. I don't plan on buying any more meat for the month - we'll use what I have frozen. So really just produce and milk as needed. I bake our bread in the bread machine and have yeast for a year and flour for 3 months already stockpiled.

Ok...questions?