Is it possible to be a dedicated homeschooling mom while still making time for myself as an individual (a girlie girl who likes cute shoes)? I like to think so. Follow along, and I'll let you know for sure.

Trust me . . . it's not ALL about the shoes.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I Just Saved $62 On My Groceries!

Yes, this is one of those posts that has absolutely nothing to do with homeschooling. At least if I'd taken the kids to the store, I could have educated them on the art of snagging unbelievable deals. But this was serious shopping, and sometimes serious shopping is best done alone.

So let me start by revealing that I've never been a coupon girl. I like the idea of them, and if I can find one for a store or restaurant I like, I'll definitely use it. But when it came to groceries, there never seemed to be coupons for the products I actually used.

Recently, however, I've noticed many of the natural foods manufacturers running sales and offering coupons, and Publix has had their own specials for these products as well. In fact, it was their great buy one, get one free specials that inspired me to start purchasing extra items every week to donate to a food pantry.

So, I started using a random coupon here or there . . . and then I found this wonderful blog. At Fiddledeedee, Sarah shares "strategic shopping" tips and provides weekly lists of in-store specials at local supermarkets. Then, she pairs each special with links to additional coupons for that product.

For example, I noticed that Post Trail Mix cereal was buy one, get one free and decided to get two boxes for my food pantry collection. The normal price for two boxes would have been $8.40, but I could get them both for $4.20 with the Publix sale. Then, using the link on the blog, I printed a coupon for $2 off one box and ended up paying $2.20 for two boxes! I think you can actually take this one step further and actually use another $2 off coupon for the second "free" box, but hey, I'm just learning.

The total savings on my receipt - including manufacturer's coupons, in-store savings and advertised specials - was $62.52. The 30% savings was definitely worth the few minutes it took me to plan my purchases and print the coupons. I love that she has lots of information on Publix, since that's where I do most of my shopping, and that she posts organic deals every Friday.

Some extra deals not listed on the blog that were a nice surprise:
  • The buy one, get one free on Ragu pasta sauce included their organic sauces ($2.59 for 2, and that's without even printing the coupon - didn't know it included organic before I got there).
  • Muir Glen soups had a $1 off coupon on every can (only $1.19/can with the coupon).
  • True North nut clusters are still on sale 2 for $5.
Happy shopping!

3 comments:

  1. I've been using her blog for a while now and am so thankful for the work she does to organize it all for us!

    I've only done the buying extra for the food bank thing a few times, but you've inspired me to try to make more of an effort there. My church has a bin for the food right there so between the blog and the church I bet I can make a good contribution w/o much effort or money.

    Thanks for the inspiration, again!
    Tara L.F.

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  2. Isn't it a great blog? I don't have the patience to compile all that info myself, so it's wonderful to have someone put it all in one place!

    So now you've inspired ME to get my food collection out of MY pantry and to a food pantry! I've been struggling to find a good place to take it and haven't heard back from the organization I was really hoping to work with.

    I know that there are a lot of great local agencies, but I was really hoping to find a place where anyone who needed food could walk in and get some. Still searching, but I need to at least start sharing what I have in the meantime. I've been doing it for about two months, so I have a nice little pile.

    I've found that buying just 2-3 items each week (which ends up being 4-6 items with the buy one, get one free specials) is really easy. :)

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  3. Jessica,
    Thanks for the link and for joining in on Publix Super Savers! I'm so glad you've found a way to save on your groceries ;)

    Keep up the great work!

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