thursday shopping 9-2-10

I'm still working on getting into the swing of things with our new fall schedule and I ended up feeling like I was just running all day long--bring C. to work, then M. to school, going to the Medical Supply store for my MIL then delivering her new walker pouch to her assisted living facility, cleaning the house, picking up M. from school, going to Winn-Dixie, picking up C. from work early & dropping him off at the dentist (we really need to get a second vehicle!), going to Publix, unloading groceries, baking a cake (the fun part of my day!), picking up C. from the dentist, going back to Publix for a price adjustment (grrrr), feeding the girls some dinner, and then tidying the house once again (toys!) just in time for some of C.'s work colleagues to arrive for Scotch & dessert.  Whew!  I honestly think that this may be the first time I sat down all day (and yes, this glass of cabernet I'm drinking is quite delicious, thank you.)

But despite my frenetic pace, it was a really good day.  I had a lot of fun with A. this morning when it was just the 2 of us--she's such a troublemaker, but OH is she cute!  The girls were in great spirits at both stores (despite M.'s major wipeout at Winn-Dixie) and they were thrilled at Publix when our favorite bakery guy, who has come to expect us on Thursdays, had saved pink sprinkle cookies for both of them.  Happy happy, joy joy.  Thank-you Publix bakery guy!  It was also fun relaxing this evening with a few drinks.  So I have no complaints.

And despite all my running around today, my shopping results wasn't too bad.  I was running very low on cheese (another big staple in this house) so I was ecstatic when Kraft posted their $5 off of 5 coupon this week.  It meant free sour cream at Publix, $0.04 Philadelphia cream cheese at Winn-Dixie, and lots of cheap cheese at both stores.  Score!

Here is what I got:

At Winn-Dixie I spent $12.24 for $43.89 worth of groceries, a savings of 72%.  The Zatarain's rice was a bit of an impulse buy.  I didn't have a coupon but they were on BOGO sale and my family really likes it.  I needed corn meal for my cake and it happened to be on BOGO sale as well.  I ended up with a LOT of bananas because they had some bags of ripe ones on clearance for $0.39 a pound, which I figured would be great for banana bread.  Time to start baking!  The manager had a lot of trouble with my 2 $5 off Kraft coupons, but he was very nice and made it work eventually.

At Publix I spent $31.94 for 117.30 worth of groceries, a savings of 73%.  After I got home I realized that the Sabra Hummus (mmmmmmmm--love that stuff!) didn't ring up as Buy 1, Get 1 Free, which meant I had to go back later for a price adjustment.  Luckily my Publix is very close by and they are very nice there, so it wasn't a huge hassle.  The Green Giant steamers probably weren't the best frozen vegetable deal I could've found, but I was completely out of frozen vegetables.  (Which is why it is so important to have a good stockpile!)

Altogether I spent $44.18 for $161.19 worth of groceries, an overall savings of 73%.  

Coupons Used:

Winn-Dixie:

(2)-$5 off 5 participating Kraft food items (printable here)

Publix:

(8)-$1 off Yoplait YoPlus (printable at Pillsbury.com and at YoPlus.com)(use 2 computers!)

(4)-$1 off 2 Green Giant Steamers (printable at Pillsbury.com)

(2)-$2 off BallPark Franks (printable on facebook.com, no longer available)

(2)-$2 off 5 Mueller Pasta (printable here)

(2)-$5 off 5 Kraft food items (printable here)

(2)-$0.75 off Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner (printable on facebook here)

(1)-$0.90 off any Glory product (printable here)

Combined with my totals from Tuesday and Sunday, this week I spent a total of $67.12 for $295.46 worth of groceries and merchandise, an overall average savings of 77%.